AI2010_11_18

JNF Rubin Legal Society honors Bettman, hosts Clinton advisor

Brian Jaffee to lead AJC hosts Jewish Foundation Thanksgiving of Cincinnati diversity lunch

By Nicole Simon Assistant Editor On Sunday, Nov. 14, the Jewish National Fund/Judge Carl B. Rubin Legal Society honored Professor Marianna Brown Bettman as Attorney of the Year at the home of Todd Bailey, the society’s previous honoree.

“We are honored to have Marianna as our 2010-2011 Attorney of the Year recipient,” noted Louise Roselle, Southern Ohio Regional president of JNF. Roselle, who is also a lawyer, said that Bettman was chosen as the recipient for the honor “because of her lifetime commitment to the law, and also, she is the embodiment of a true professional.”

JNF on page 21

Brian Jaffee

The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati announced the appointment of Brian Jaffee as its executive director, effective early January 2011, to facilitate the dramatic expansion of the Foundation’s philanthropic capacity and to develop new strategies to invest its resources. In this newlycreated executive staff position, Jaffee will direct all of the Foundation’s day-to-day operations during a period of unprecedented growth in

On Thursday Nov. 18, the American Jewish Committee, a global Jewish advocacy organization, will celebrate an early Thanksgiving get together for a holiday lunch with diverse Cincinnati civic leaders at Xavier University.

AJC will salute Alfonso Cornejo of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and highlight the contributions of immigrants to the U.S. The featured speaker will be Laura Brunner, executive vice president of Al Neyer Inc. Co-chairs are Nina Croog and Ken Heldman and AJC Board members are table hosts.

Expected to attend are: UC president, Greg Williams; Cincinnati State president, O’dell Owens; Cincinnati School superintendent, Mary Ronan; Cincinnati School Board president, Eileen Cooper Reed; Ohio Senator Eric Kearney; Judge Tyrone Yates; LULAC leader Jason Riveiro; NKU educator Leo Calderon; the Consul of Mexico Juan Solana and others.

JAFFEE on page 21

AJC on page 21

Beck under fire over Soros comments

17 arrested in $42.5 million fraud at Claims Conference

By Ron Kampeas and Ami Eden Jewish Telegraphic Agency

By Uriel Heilman Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Fox News provocateur Glenn Beck spent several days taking aim at billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros, but so far — at least within Jewish circles — the barrage appears to be backfiring.

On his radio and TV shows last week, Beck portrayed Soros as running a shadow government bent on controlling the global economy. Some liberal pundits and organizations responded by accusing Beck of relying on anti-Semitic tropes. But the widest range of condemnations came in response to Beck’s Nov. 10 comments on Soros’ childhood activities during the Holocaust:

“And George Soros used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews and confiscate their property and then ship them off,” Beck said. “And George Soros was part of it. He would help confiscate the stuff. It was frightening.

“Here’s a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps. And I am certainly not saying that George Soros enjoyed that, even had a choice. I mean, he’s 14 years old. He was surviving. So I’m not making a judgment.

That’s between him and God. As a 14-yearold boy, I don’t know what you would do.”

In fact Soros, then 13 and living under the protection of a non-Jewish Hungarian, on one occasion joined the older man when he was ordered by Nazis to inventory the estate of a BECK on page 21

NEW YORK (JTA) — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York has arrested 17 people for participating in a $42.5 million fraud at the Claims Conference.

Those arrested include former and current employees of the Claims Conference, which distributes more than $400 million per year from the German government to victims of Nazism. The alleged ringleader oversaw the two funds from which the tens of mil-

Courtesy of Claims Conference

Gregory Schneider, executive vice president at the Claims Conference, which together with the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the discovery of a $42.5 million fraud scheme, Nov. 9, 2010.

lions of dollars were allegedly fraudulently obtained.

In a news conference Tuesday, Claims Conference officials stressed that no Holocaust victims were deprived of any funds because of the crime.

Manhattan District Attorney Preet Bharara praised the Claims Conference for contacting the authorities as soon as the seriousness of the fraud became apparent and for cooperating with the FBI throughout its investigation.

FRAUD on page 22

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010 11 KISLEV, 5771 CINCINNATI, OHIO LIGHT CANDLES AT 5:03 SHABBAT ENDS 6:02 VOL. 157 • NO. 17 $2.00

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Chaverim M’Israel in Cincinnati for year of service

By Nicole Simon Assistant Editor Since the Chaverim M’Israel (Friends From Israel) program’s founding in 2004, Gaby Silver, 18, and Matan Moyal, 19, are the seventh pairing of young people from Cincinnati’s Partnership 2000 (P2K) city in Netanya, Israel.

They both have deferred their service from the army for a year of volunteer service in Cincinnati.

“They are here to teach Israel,” their supervisor and program director, Sharon Spiegel noted.

While here, the Chaverim develop and provide informal and formal educational programs and activities throughout Greater Cincinnati. So far, they have spoken at Rockwern, Hadassah, the Temple Sholom Sisterhood, numerous Catholic schools, and

Wyoming High School.

Topics centered on contemporary Israel, Israeli culture, history, current events, Hebrew language, and Jewish holidays are brought up during these meetings. Hands on projects occur as well, such as making hummus with the kids after talking about Israeli food, and classrooms creating a map of how they view Israel after meeting with the Chaverim.

Silver and Moyal have been in Cincinnati since Monday, Oct. 11— and since the following Wednesday, they have been speaking in front of children and adults. “They had to hit the ground running this year,” said Spiegel. The Chaverim usually are here in August to adjust to America.

Due to the High Holidays, their arrival time was pushed back.

Spiegel also explained how the Chaverim went through an applica-

tion process of written tests and observations of their interactions with children before being selected.

Their goals of their year here include Silver’s wish to help break down the stereotypes that Americans may have about the Chaverim’s home country, and to teach our community about their “real” Israel. Moyal has taken this year of service because he feels it is important that Americans learn about Israel as well. They have until next summer to make those goals a reality, as their final tasks will be acting as counselors at Camp Livingston. When camp ends in August, they will return to Israel to make room for the next two Chaverim.

Chaverim M’Israel is a program of the Netanya P2K Program of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Cincinnati’s Jewish community creates shared community plan For the first time in its history, the Cincinnati Jewish community is coming together to develop a long-term strategic plan “Cincinnati 2020” with the goal of making Cincinnati a model community and a Jewish destination.

Once completed, with input from the entire community, this plan will offer a framework within which all agencies, congregations and organizations can align their visions and efforts to collaboratively achieve an innovative and sustainable community.

For the past several months, a strategic plan steering committee has been working in collaboration with congregational rabbis and agency executives to develop a shared community vision that will provide a basis for the development of this long-range plan.

“Every organization and congregation will have an opportunity to sign on to the process and to the emerging vision,” said Rabbi Sigma Faye Coran. “Ultimately, it is our hope that this process will help us engage more Jewish people from within our community, serve them, uplift them and have them feel a sense of ownership and investment in the community.”

Now, with the working draft of the community vision in place, seven long-term strategic goals have been identified as necessary to achieve the vision of making Cincinnati a “Jewish Destination”—an engaged community that retains and attracts

Jewish individuals and families and increases the region’s Jewish population. For each of these goals, a small representative “goal team” of community members will work to develop measurable objectives and strategies for achieving the goals.

On Tuesday, Nov. 30 and Thursday, Jan. 13, leaders forums—which will include lay and professional representatives from every community agency, congregation and organization— will be held at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center.

During the forums, the designated representatives will be asked to contribute their thoughts and ideas about ways to achieve each strategic goal. The Nov. 30 session will focus on three goals; and the Jan. 13 session will address the remaining four goals. A process is also being developed to permit all those in the community who would like to do so, to share their thoughts and opinions about the strategic goals, or the “Cincinnati 2020” initiative; details will be announced in the near future.

Bret Caller, president of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, believes that although this is an ambitious process, its aspirational approach is one that will pay large dividends in the future. “When no one goes hungry; when every member of our community has a roof over their heads, ample educational opportunities; and secure jobs in a community where social

service needs have been met and everyone has access to synagogue and JCC membership, then we will truly have a first-class community well into the future.”

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JCC celebrates Hanukkah with Shalom Sesame At 1 p.m .on Sunday, Dec. 5, families can come together for a free, fun and meaningful Hanukkah celebration at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center. “Giving, Giggles, and Gelt,” presented by One Candle for Tzedakah, features Hanukkah songs, crafts, tzedakah (charity) projects, inflatables and menorah lighting. This holiday event also features a special children’s movie premiere.

As part of a collaboration between the JCC Association and Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that pioneered the educational model for Sesame Street, the Mayerson JCC joins with more than 100 Jewish Community

Centers across the continent to present the popular Sesame Street characters in the first public viewing of Shalom Sesame’s “Chanukah: The Missing Menorah.”

Well-known actresses Anneliese van der Pol (of “That's So Raven”) and Debi Mazar (of “Entourage” and “Batman Forever”) are featured in this episode, which is the first of 12 shows in the new Shalom Sesame series set in Israel. This compilation of shows has been made available exclusively to JCCs around the country. Each episode focuses on storylines drawn from Jewish cultural traditions, highlighting lessons about Hebrew let-

ters and words, unique sites in Israel and Jewish values. The series is designed to help bring the vitality of Jewish culture and tradition, as well as the diversity of Israeli life, to American children and their families.

“The collaboration between the JCC Association and Sesame Workshop allows us to use an internationally recognized and beloved brand to encourage families with young children on their Jewish journeys,” said Mark Horowitz, director of the JCC Association’s early childhood department. “We hope this Hanukkah film will motivate parents to start conversations with their children and other fami-

lies about the Jewish values so lovingly portrayed.”

Everyone who attends the “Giving, Giggles, and Gelt” event is encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys, clothing or gift certificates for less fortunate children and teens. These gifts will be distributed via Jewish Family Service, Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association, ProKids and other local organizations.

Gifts for the JCC holiday toy drive can be dropped off before Dec. 5 at the Mayerson JCC, the JCC Early Childhood School, Cedar Village in Mason, Rockwern

LET THERE BE LIGHT

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

by Isaac M.Wise VOL. 157 • NO. 16 Thursday, November 11, 2010 4 Kislev 5771 Shabbat begins Fri, 5:09 p.m.

Shabbat ends Sat, 6:08 p.m.

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Fall adult education classes held at Wise Temple

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The Isaac M. Wise Temple is offering a variety of adult education classes at different times, and there is still time to take several of these fall classes.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass will be teaching a class on “The Creation Stories of Genesis” on Tuesdays, Nov. 16, 23 and 30 from noon to 1 p.m. This class will examine several questions including: How do we respond to the variety of interpretations of Genesis in America and around the world? How have Jews interpreted the text throughout the ages? Rabbi Kamrass will use the creation stories of Genesis to teach a rich interpretative process for understanding Torah from a nonfundamentalist interpretive understanding of the Torah.

A class on “Biblical Models of Leadership” will take place on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 10–11 a.m. In

examining various biblical personalities, Rabbi Michael Shulman will look at the different types of leadership embodied by the biblical characters. This series will focus on four figures from the Bible: Moses, Joshua, Deborah and Solomon, and the Nov. 21 session will look at Joshua. The class will study the biblical text and commentaries in order to analyze leadership styles, methods and efficacy. The class will also explore what can be learned and taken from each biblical model so that we can each be more effective leaders in our own realms. This class will also be offered at a downtown location on Thursday, Dec. 2 from noon to 1 p.m. as part of Wise Temple’s Downtown Lunch and Learn Series.

Wise Temple’s next “On-going Rabbinic Literature Class” is on

Monday, Nov. 29 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. This class takes a more in depth investigation into rabbinic literature, from Talmud to Midrash. This monthly class is for those who want to engage in serious study, debate and discussion of Jewish texts.

Texts chosen illuminate key theological and ethical issues as they relate not only to the age in which they were written, but also to today.

Rabbi Shulman will teach a three-session class called “Tuesdays with Torah: Blessings, Prayers and Worship” beginning Dec. 7 at noon to 1 p.m. This class will investigate the power and meaning of the prayer and worship experience. Some of the questions the class will explore include: How do we pray? What is the structure of prayer? Why do we pray? Why are there so many different ways to communicate with God? Wise Temple will host special

guest Rabbi Emily Huebscher teaching on “Women in the Rabbinate” on Sunday, Dec. 12 from 10–11:30 a.m. One of the most powerful changes perceived by the pioneering women in the Reform rabbinate is how they understand the definition of success. Rabbi Huebscher will explore the personal testimony of women ordained between 1972 and 1981 on the subject of what makes a successful rabbinate. The class will investigate how these rabbis understood success prior to the integration of women in the rabbinate.

The class will also consider their responses to the question of what, in their rabbinates, they feel was their greatest success as rabbis.

These classes are sponsored by Wise Temple’s adult education committee, Eitz Chayim. For more information contact Wise Temple.

Crisis cards are a gift to seniors this Thankgiving

By LeeAnne Galioto Assistant Editor When there’s a crisis, do you know who to call for help? Thanks to Rockdale Temple, teens, seniors, Spanish-speakers, and soon veterans can all get personalized cards printed with hotline phone numbers ready to respond to a variety of emergencies. These compact, wallet-sized cards are free and small, but they provide a lot.

Rockdale Temple members recognized that many people lacked awareness of available community service programs.

Rockdale is offering these cards as a Thanksgiving gift to seniors.

Thanks to help from the Freestore Foodbank, 75,000 cards for seniors will be distributed over the Thanksgiving holiday. Every person who receives food will also be given a card.

The cards for seniors provide information for quality health care

and awareness of available community resources. The Council on Aging helped identify organizations for the senior cards including Medicare, housing and home repairs, support groups and more.

The Health Foundation generously provides funding for the senior and Hispanic cards.

Over 22 years ago, Rockdale began with one card to help teens in Hamilton County to become self-sufficient, productive members of the community. The organizations listed also help youth get the most accurate advice and provide information on qualified resources in the community.

These cards can help parents and people who work with youth, but they are also helpful for kids who can’t or don’t want to talk to parents or people at school.

Rockdale worked with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to identify appropriate organizations to be listed on the teen card.

Groups’ needs were also discovered by reading the newspaper.

Because of an article from the paper, the youth cards include information on a hotline to alert police to suspected gang activity.

The Neediest Kids of All generously provides funding for these cards.

The most recent project is crisis cards for veterans. There will be one card with resources for men and a separate card with resources for women. The veterans’ crisis cards will be ready sometime in 2011 around Memorial Day. When Barbara Rosenberg, a member of Rockdale Temple and a major force behind these cards, goes to the Department of Veterans Affairs with her husband, she notices how full the waiting room is even in the middle of the week and what a large need there is for these cards.

“To me the Veterans Card is the most meaningful card we’ve done,” says Rosenberg. She goes on to say that everyone that they’ve

taken care of over the years has needed the help, but “some of these veterans will need help for years.”

Rockdale Temple has distributed over 3 million cards. Two weeks ago, they received 27,000 cards from the printer, and they have only 10 left, and will soon be reprinting more. Rosenberg and Judy Heldman, the brains behind the computer, both work on the crisis cards with help from volunteers from Rockdale.

Social agencies, boards of education, hospitals, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the Diocese of Covington and police departments distribute the crisis cards. The cards are updated every year and distributed in Hamilton County, Clermont County, Butler County, and Northern Kentucky.

For more information and to obtain free cards for your organization or for yourself, contact Rockdale Temple. Agencies often give a donation.

HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher 1930-1985 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher BARBARA L. MORGENSTERN Senior Writer LEEANNE GALIOTO NICOLE SIMON Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor STEPHANIE DAVIS-NOVAK Fashion Editor MARILYN GALE Dining Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN Contributing Writers LEV LOKSHIN JANE KARLSBERG Staff Photographers PATTY YOUKILIS Advertising Sales JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ALLISON CHANDLER Office Manager

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Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037.

The views and opinions expressed by American Israelite columnists do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the newspaper.

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Wise Temple welcomes 39 consecrants On Sept. 29, the eve of Simchat Torah, 39 children of the Isaac M. Wise Temple were welcomed as consecrants into the study of Torah at the Plum Street Temple. This beautiful ceremony was a very exceptional and meaningful milestone in the lives of the children and their families.

The service was the creation of the late Rabbi Samuel Wohl.

Students carried their own small Torahs as they walked down the aisle of Plum Street Temple led in by the Temple’s board of trustees.

The children sang songs from the bimah, danced around the sanctuary in celebration of Simchat Torah, received individual blessings from the rabbis and were presented with a certificate of consecration.

The consecration of a new generation of Jews, as they begin their formal education, coincides with the occasion of Simchat Torah on which our faith celebrates the beginning of a new cycle of Torah reading.

Wise Temple’s consecration students begin their Jewish education on Sunday mornings in the Open Room. The Open Room is a setting where children explore the realm of Jewish time through four activity centers: the main lesson, art, games and drama, and free creative play, all built around a week-byweek curriclum. The last rotation of the morning is reserved for a music period for the entire room.

The children come to know the Jewish calendar cycle of holidays as well as ceremonies, symbols and reasons for celebration. Other topics explored include Jewish values, symbols and selected Bible stories.

(Top to bottom) Row 4: Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, Mary Lee Sirkin, Linda Arnold, Robin Hartmann, Michelle Strapko; Row 3: Barbara Dragul, Ian Saladonis, Nathan Barron, David Jennings, Aaron Friedman, Jack Ringel, Peter Brownell, Sofia Capone, Jack Randman, Rose Vigran, Nathan Vigran, Daniel Goldstein, Jack Crawford, Elliott Fisher, Logan Strunk, Sydney Meyers, Rabbi Michael Shulman; Row 2: Joel O'Koon, Shane Werthaiser, Isaac Green, Hannah Malott, Elena Malott, Lindsay Ruskin, Sarah Croog, Madison Kahn, Jeremy Newman, Sofia Cohen, Benjamin Vigran, Gabriella Zollett, Lauren Weizer, Alexander Kernish, Rabbi Ilana Baden; Row 1: Emma Silverman, Lyla Zawatsky, Gabrielle Frischer, Tahlia Little, Lissa Kerstine, Savannah Reppart, Noa Dagenbach, Zachary Baden, Lilah Ploetz, Benjamin Schwartz.

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Adath Israel hosts Chanukah Shabbat dinner Adath Israel Congregation’s Chanukah Shabbat dinner, held this year on Friday, Dec. 3 at 5 p.m., and sponsored by the Herb Byer Memorial Fund has become one of the synagogue’s largest events.

“The fund has sponsored two dinners yearly for the past three years and they have grown from 150 people when we first started to 375 last year at the Chanukah dinner,” said Dara Wood, chairperson and daughter-in-law of the late Herb Byer, whose family has been Adath Israel members for several generations. The Dec. 3 event will be the fund’s second annual Chanukah

Shabbat dinner.

“The idea to have these dinners was the brainchild of my husband Rob Wood and my mother-in-law Pat Wood-Byer who wanted to do something special with the fund they created in Herb’s memory,” explained Wood. “Herb would have been so proud to know that these dinners have brought so many Adath Israel members and friends together to enjoy Shabbat.”

Not only does the Herb Byer Memorial Fund underwrite the entire event, which is free to members, their guests and prospective members, but the evening is truly a

family event. Wood, her parents, in-laws and Adath Israel members cook the dinner themselves. “My Mom makes latkes and applesauce from her own recipe,” Wood said.

The home-cooked menu also includes pasta with marinara sauce, salmon, roasted asparagus, corn, salad, and sufganiyots (fried jelly filled donuts).

The evening begins with a Friday Night Live service featuring spirited, uplifting music and Israeli dancing. The sing-along service, inspired by Shlomo Carlebach’s joyous melodies, will generate ruach throughout the auditorium

with tambourines, bongos, congas and other drums. It’s a perfect way to welcome Shabbat and Chanukah.

Carlebach’s melodies will be sung and played by Adath Israel’s house band, Shir Ami. Wood is also a singer in the band along with band director Mitch Cohen, Debra Feldman, Debbie Lempert, Judy Levenson, Tiffany Mannion, Jill Segerman and a number of musicians recruited from the congregation.

“This evening is our way of saying thank you to our members,” Wood said. It is also a way to introduce prospective members to Adath

Israel. “Before joining Adath Israel we enjoyed a Shabbat service followed by a family dinner,” said Marci Bachrach. “The room was filled with ruach, delicious food, and a welcoming feeling. This was a nice introduction to the Adath family.” Another new member, Sharon Spiegel, described the Chanukah dinner as a “fun, informal way to interact with different people in the Adath Israel community and everyone was so warm, welcoming and happy to include us in the celebration.”

Contact Adath Israel’s office for information and reservations.

As Feingold exits, Senate loses a principled liberal

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — The speech that Russ Feingold gave to end his career in the U.S. Senate was much like his career itself: by turns crystal clear, obscure, ornery, defiant and gracious—and quoting a fellow Great Plains Jew to boot.

“But my heart is not weary, it’s light and it’s free, I’ve got nothing but affection for all those who’ve sailed with me,” the three-term U.S. senator from Wisconsin said Nov. 2, quoting Bob Dylan while conceding to Republican Ron Johnson, a Tea Party-backed plastics billionaire who beat him by a

52-47 percent split at the polls.

Then, “It’s on to the next fight.

It’s on to the next battle. It’s on to 2012!”

Feingold’s spokesmen later denied that the senator was hinting at a Democratic presidential bid exploration like the one he had pursued in 2006-07. What he did mean they wouldn’t say.

It was typical of the fiercely independent streak that put Feingold into office and may well have pushed him out.

Ira Forman, the former director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said Feingold’s refusal to accept outside campaign money may have helped elect him in the

past but likely was his downfall in this election.

“He wouldn’t accept DSCC ads,” Forman said, referring to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, typical of the bodies that run negative ads against opponents. “He often ran against people who were the beneficiary of that kind of advertising. He hoped people would stand up for his integrity, as they had in the past.”

Forman’s voice tinged with regret.

“He’s an independent voice, a loss to Democrats and the Jewish community,” he said of Feingold.

In fact, Feingold’s Jewish identity, while strong, rarely manifest-

ed itself in leadership roles on Israel, Holocaust commemoration or the other areas that many Jewish lawmakers have made their own.

That was an approach rooted in a childhood in Janesville, Wis., a Plains town near the Illinois border. Feingold, 57, has described his upbringing as blessedly free of anti-Semitism.

“I was honored because I was Jewish,” Feingold said, describing teachers and other grown-ups to Sanford Horwitt, who wrote a political biography, “Feingold: A New Democratic Party.” “It was an amazing way to be treated.”

In 2003, asked by the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle whether Sen. Joe Lieberman (DConn.) stood a chance in his presidential bid, Feingold’s answer was why not?

“As a Jewish candidate from a state with a small Jewish population, I don’t feel I faced any issues as a Jew,” Feingold said. “In fact, it may sound naive, but I think some voters regarded my being Jewish as interesting. I’ve only had a good experience.”

The Feingold family was socially involved, erudite and reserved— characteristics that continue to define Russ Feingold. His staff is fiercely loyal to him, although he keeps them at a distance.

Feingold is discomfited by forthright fans. The Dylan song he chose to quote, “Mississippi,” speaks to the senator’s teasing intellect: It is not from Dylan’s heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, but from his 2001 album, “Love and Theft.”

Feingold’s lawyer father, Leon, was the first Jewish president of the local Rotary Club who mingled with farmer clients at 4-H events. (Leon’s father, Max, a refugee from Russia, established the family to the town and immigrated to Israel in 1950.)

Feingold has said that his Jewish legacy is manifest in his political career.

“I understood my religion as the

pursuit of justice,” he told Horwitt.

That’s pretty much the extent of his public leadership on Jewish issues, although he routinely joins initiatives launched by other Jewish Congress members, recently expressing concerns to the Turkish government over its distancing from Israel and in 2008 joining a raft of Jewish senators pushing back against rumors that President Obama is a Muslim. He attends services on the High Holidays, and his sister, Dena, is a rabbi in Kenosha, south of Milwaukee.

Still, a national Jewish community that has a soft spot for independent liberals embraced Feingold. He drew Jewish support in his successful 1992 senatorial bid to oust the Republican incumbent, Bob Kasten, even though Kasten had a strong pro-Israel record.

“He is somebody who’s remarkably dedicated to civil liberties and to the Constitution, and has the courage of his convictions,” said Sammie Moshenberg, the Washington director of the National Council for Jewish Women. “He took a lot of gutsy stands,” she said, citing Feingold’s lone dissent in 2001 when the Senate approved the U.S. Patriot Act. That vote drew derision at a time of heightened concerns over terrorism, but eventually made him a hero of the Democratic base.

It is a legacy still in dispute: A televised encounter last week between two liberals, Salon’s Glenn Greenwald and MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell over whether Feingold should have tacked further right to get re-elected — O’Donnell’s position — has gone viral in the blogosphere.

Feingold was among a handful of lawmakers in the recent election who drew the endorsement of both J Street, the “pro-peace, pro-Israel” group, and donors associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Officials in both groups lamented his departure.

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Is Reform movement At Thanksgiving, a going kosher? cornucopia of Jewish sides

By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — Kosher — it’s the first word in the book. And tackling the “k” word head-on is part of what makes the first Reform guide to Jewish dietary practice so significant.

“The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic,” to be published next month by the Reform rabbinical association, uses an array of essays by Reform rabbis and activists to challenge Reform Jews to develop a conscious dietary practice grounded in Jewish values.

Courtesy of CCAR Press

“The Sacred Table,” soon to be published by CCAR Press, suggests that Reform Jews develop a Jewish dietary practice.

And it’s not shy about suggesting kashrut, both traditional and reimagined.

“No longer an oxymoron, ‘Reform kashrut’ has entered the Jewish lexicon, although there is no consensus on what this means exactly,” Rabbi Carole Balin, a Jewish history professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, writes in the book, which is being published by Central Conference of American Rabbis Press.

For a movement whose founding Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 rejected kosher laws along with other traditional Jewish rituals of dress and body as “entirely foreign” to modern sensibilities, the book represents a significant milestone in the development of Reform spirituality and practice.

It also illustrates the increased attention focused on kashrut across the denominational spectrum since the 2008 Agriprocessors scandal, which shuttered the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse and spurred a rash of “ethical kosher” initiatives — from small, humane kosher meat operations to the Conservative movement’s Magen

Tzedek project, which certifies kosher food products that meet certain ethical standards.

In Reform circles over the past two years, conversation about kashrut and Jewish values has come from the grass roots, youth groups and the pulpit. It’s part of the movement’s new readiness to examine once-discarded Jewish rituals for their spiritual potential, and the focus on kashrut comes within the context of heightened interest among Americans generally in the politics and morality of food production and distribution.

Some Reform leaders, including the book’s editor, Rabbi Mary Zamore of Temple B’nai Or in Morristown, N.J., want to play down the trendiness aspect.

“This is part of a continuum within Reform Judaism,” said Zamore, who pushed the project along for 13 years. “It’s not liberal Judaism becoming something different; it’s that we continue to evolve. Here is a topic which for many Reform Jews was taboo or a non-starter. Now everywhere I go, people are talking about these topics as Reform Jews.”

“The Sacred Table” opens with a discussion of the historical Reform approach to kashrut and includes an overview of traditional kosher laws — a first for an official Reform publication, according to Zamore.

It also includes chapters on each of the Jewish values that proponents of ethical kashrut embrace as they seek to broaden the traditional definition of the Jewish diet, from the ban on “tzaar baalei chayim,” or cruelty to animals, to preventing “oshek,” or oppression of workers.

It includes the results of a 2005 survey that showed increasing numbers of Reform synagogues, clergy and lay leaders are keeping kosher, partially or entirely. And it ends with a guide that Reform congregations can use to develop their own communal dietary practice, which may or may not include kashrut.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism and a longtime advocate of bringing more Jewish ritual into Reform practice, says he was pleasantly surprised to see the book’s forthright approach.

In the summer of 2009, while putting together his keynote speech for the movement’s biennial conference, Yoffie said he planned to suggest kashrut as a model for Reform dietary practice. But after running his speech by key Reform lay leaders, the rabbi told JTA, he heard so much pushback that he dropped the “k” word from the final initiative.

By Linda Morel Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK (JTA) — The best thing about Thanksgiving is that it invites Americans of all religions and ethnic backgrounds. On the same autumn Thursday, most American families eat turkey and a cornucopia of side dishes.

No country has been more welcoming to the Jews than the United States. Thanksgiving is a metaphor for the opportunities this country offers Jewish people.

While turkey is the centerpiece of the harvest table, I’ve seen people of various ethnic groups put their own spin on the side dishes they serve. I grew up with an Italian friend whose mother always made two lasagnas — for either side of the turkey. An Indian woman who used to baby-sit for my daughter prepared vegetable curry every year. The family of a Cuban friend offered up black beans and rice.

Recently I started thinking, why can’t foods from the canon of Jewish cuisine accompany the Thanksgiving turkey? After all, most traditional Thanksgiving foods, such as sweet potatoes, string beans and dried fruit, are pareve and were readily available in many of the countries where Jews have lived. Surely there must be many recipes to tap.

The first that came to mind was a basic sweet potato tzimmes, a wildly popular dish throughout the Ashkenazi world. Loaded with carrots and dried fruit surrounded by a sweetened sauce, tzimmes would be perfect to serve with turkey. I add a generous amount of ginger to my recipe, giving this traditional dish a sassy air.

Many recipes from Sephardic countries start with instructions to saute onions in olive oil. Add a vegetable, such as green beans or Brussels sprouts, before simmering in tomato sauce for an easy dish that’s always delicious.

Perusing Jewish cookbooks, I found a medley of recipes, including cranberry rice from Iran, a luscious Moroccan couscous stuffing, Indian curries, and stuffed pumpkin dishes from Bukhara to Iraq.

If your family adores a particular Jewish delicacy from its country of origin, serve it this Thanksgiving. There’s no reason why you can’t celebrate being Jewish and American at the same time.

I’m always a bit dashed when I hear people say they take a pass on Thanksgiving because it’s not a Jewish holiday. With its inclusiveness, Thanksgiving not only reflects the principles for which

this country stands but also Jewish values.

The holiday’s name encourages us to be thankful for the food on our table and for living in a land of plenty. I find it poignant that the concept of plenty has diminished during our current economic downturn.

The fourth Thursday in November is all about celebrating the end of the growing season and getting together with family and friends to share warm feelings and a nice meal. It actually reminds me of a one-day version of Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival that stretches over seven glorious days.

THANKSGIVING on page 22

Courtesy of Linda Morel

Tangy tzimmes provides an excellent side dish for the Thanksgiving turkey.

8

NATIONAL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

First sign of the new U.S. political reality—Bibi’s swagger

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — The sharpest signal of what the recent elections meant for Jews came not from Washington but from New Orleans, Nova Scotia and Australia.

In New Orleans, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech calling for moving beyond sanctions to mounting a “credible military threat” against Iran as a means of avoiding war.

“Containment will not work,” Netanyahu said in his address to the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.

The prime minister’s remarks echoed the precise terminology used by Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) in Nova Scotia days earlier, when he told the Halifax International Security Forum that “containment is off the table.” The likely new majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), referred to a “credible military threat” in the days before the election.

It was a clear sign that Netanyahu feels empowered by the Republican sweep of the House of Representatives to trump the Obama administration’s emphasis on peacemaking with the Palestinians with his own priority: confronting Iran.

The emerging gap between Israel and its Republican friends on one side and the White House on the other could presage a repeat of tensions in the late 1990s between Netanyahu, in his first term, and President Clinton—tensions that pro-Israel officials found themselves brokering, often to their discomfiture.

Obama administration officials have indicated that they will not be taking cues from anyone in setting foreign policy.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered a rejoinder to Netanyahu’s remarks.

“We are prepared to do what is necessary, but at this point we continue to believe that the politicaleconomic approach that we are taking is in fact having an impact in Iran,” Gates said.

Gates’ response implicitly rejected not only an escalation, but Netanyahu’s claim that sanctions are not working. It also signaled that the Obama administration was going to protect its foreign policy turf—the traditional White House posture when opponents take one of the houses of Congress.

That was clear already when Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama’s top aides, told sympathetic nongovernmental groups in an off-the-record phone call that the White House would be unwavering—even after losing the House majority—in pressing Israel and the Palestinians to return to the peace talks.

“The president has made it very clear that he is committed to doing whatever he can to foster talks in the Middle East,” said Jarrett, Obama’s senior adviser for public engagement. “That’s not a partisan issue; his commitment to that is unwavering.”

But Netanyahu, speaking at the federations’ General Assembly, expressed confidence that he had U.S. backing in resisting Palestinian demands. He listed a number of items the Palestinian Authority is seeking, including a freeze on Jewish West Bank settlement activity and a final-status deal that would remove Israeli forces from the West Bank.

Netanyahu, however, told the crowd in New Orleans that Israel would stay in the Jordan Valley, the eastern part of the West Bank, “for the foreseeable future.” The audience applauded.

“The Palestinians may think they can avoid negotiations,” Netanyahu said. “They may think that the world will dictate Palestinian demands to Israel. I firmly believe that will not happen because I am confident that friends of Israel, led by the United States, will not let that happen.”

GOP love for Israel Beyond the ramping up of Iran rhetoric, the first signal that new Republican members who swept into office were going to make Israel a priority came from Marco Rubio, the Tea Party-backed candidate in Florida who romped to victory in the race for that state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Rubio, 39 and the son of Cuban exiles, punctuated five days of celebrations with a trip to Israel with his wife. He left on the private trip, which will include holy sites.

Rubio, who converted from Roman Catholicism to Southern Baptist, plans an official visit after assuming his seat, a campaign official told the French news agency AFP. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which for decades has managed to secure the support of the leadership of both parties, responded to the elections with a positive message.

“It is abundantly clear that the 112th Congress will continue America’s long tradition of staunch support for a strong, safe and secure Israel and an abiding friendship between the United States and our most reliable ally in the Middle East,” AIPAC said in a statement. “Many of the strongest friends and supporters of the U.S.Israel relationship were re-elected on Tuesday.”

The statement named Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the once and future Senate majority leader, and Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio), likely to become the House speaker; Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who

Jewish wife has raised his children as Jews.

JTA projected a win for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), and that became official last Friday night. The victory means a third term for Giffords, who was first elected in the GOP-leaning district in the Democratic sweep of 2006.

She embraced tough immigration policies as part of her campaign this year, distancing herself from national Democrats.

Courtesy Randy Altschuler for Congress

Randy Altschuler, right, a Republican who holds a slim lead in his suburban New York congressional district, campaigning this summer with Rep. Eric Cantor, currently the only GOP Jewish lawmaker in the Congress.

loses the speakership and is vying to become minority leader along with Steny Hoyer (D-Md.); and Cantor, who is vying for majority leader. Sen. Mitch McConnell (RKy.), the Senate minority leader, also is a staunch Israel supporter but was not up for re-election.

Backing Democrats, growing unease with Obama Exit polls showed Jewish support for Democrats remained strong, although commensurate with other recent polling showing increased misgivings with President Obama over his economic policies.

J Street, the “pro-peace, proIsrael” group, conducted the only national exit poll. It showed that 66 percent of Jews supported Democrats in congressional elections, compared with 31 percent for Republicans. An American Jewish Committee poll conducted in September and October showed 57 percent of Jewish respondents supporting Democrats vs. 33 percent for Republicans. The numbers are sharply down from the 78 percent of Jews who voted for Obama in 2008, according to exit polling.

The J Street poll was conducted by Gerstein/Agne Strategic Communications on Election Day, Nov. 2, and surveyed 1,000 voters who identified as Jews as part of a broader consumer panel. It had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. Jim Gerstein, the pollster, is on J Street’s advisory council.

J Street and Gerstein also conducted an Election Day statewide poll in Pennsylvania, where conservative groups targeted Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) as antiIsrael in part because he was backed by J Street. The J Street poll showed 76 percent of Jews favoring Sestak to 19 percent for the winner, Republican Pat Toomey. The Republican Jewish

Coalition also conducted a statewide poll of Jews the same day showing the break favoring Sestak 62 percent to 30 percent.

The difference apparently was that the RJC canvassed only Jews who were affiliated with synagogues. When unaffiliated Jews were polled—as they were in the J Street poll and as they are in AJC’s polls—the gap between Democratic and Republican support widens considerably.

By the numbers JTA reported last week that Congress lost seven Jews in both houses, and gained two. The gain might be three.

In New York’s 1st Congressional District, a recanvassing of the voting machines erased Republican Randy Altschuler’s 3,400-vote deficit, propelling him to a lead of 392 votes over incumbent Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), who represents eastern Long Island.

Neither party was set to declare victory, as counting had yet to begin on 9,000 absentee ballots, but Bishop said that he would demand a hand recount.

Altschuler, who owns a recycling company, would become the second Jewish GOP congressman, joining Cantor. His win would bring the number of Jews to 28 in the House, along with the 12 in the Senate.

A little farther upstate, GOP candidate Nan Hayworth, a physician, ousted Rep. John Hall (DN.Y.) from the 19th District.

Hayworth is a Lutheran but belongs to a synagogue with her Jewish husband and her two sons, whom she has raised as Jewish.

That makes her the mirror image of Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), who was elected from his Baltimore-area district in 2006.

He is Greek Orthodox but belongs to a synagogue, and with his

Welcoming Blumenthal, Cicilline The other two new Jewish congressmen are New Englanders: Sen.-elect Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), until now the state’s longtime attorney general, and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the mayor of Providence.

Cicilline is the first Jewish Rhode Islander elected to national office, the Providence Journal quoted David Goodwin, a historian of the island’s community, as saying. The state has elected a number of Jews to statewide offices, however, including governors.

Cicilline, whose mother is Jewish and a congregant of Temple Beth-El in Providence, also is the third openly gay male in Congress—and the third openly gay Jewish male in Congress, joining Rep. Barney Frank (DMass.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.).

The only openly gay woman in Congress, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), is not Jewish.

Success in the states As Blumenthal’s election demonstrates, election to statewide office often is a steppingstone to federal office. Count four more such steppingstones on Nov. 2: Jews won statewide races in Massachusetts, Arizona, Georgia and Ohio.

Republicans Tom Horne in Arizona and Sam Olens in Georgia were elected attorney general. Both are active in their communities and with the Republican Jewish Coalition.

So is Josh Mandel, a Republican state lawmaker and former Marine who was elected treasurer in Ohio. In Massachusetts, Steve Grossman, a former AIPAC president and ex-chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also won the treasurer spot.

Pro-Israel insiders in Washington noted that in different ways, Mandel and Grossman both have been leaders in the effort to sanction Iran and now are positioned to make sure that their states enforce such sanctions. As a lawmaker, Mandel led the effort to divest Ohio from Iran.

Grossman, as AIPAC president in the mid-1990s, lobbied for the Iran sanctions passed by Congress at that time.

INTERNATIONAL

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

International Briefs Canadian reality show producer sorry for slur TORONTO (JTA) — The makers of a new Canadian reality TV show have apologized for an online trailer in which one of the program’s characters says she hates Jews.

“Lake Shore,” a Toronto-based program modeled on MTV’s hugely successful show “Jersey Shore,” has not started filming yet but already was at the center of controversy last week when a trailer on YouTube showed one of the main characters saying, “I’m not racist because I hate everybody equally, especially Jewish people.”

Maryam Rahimi, executive producer of “Lake Shore,” told media last week that “we are not a racist show. If we offended anyone in any way, we apologize.”

In interviews last week Sibel Atlug, 23, who made the remark about Jews, said “I don’t hate Jewish people. I actually say I hate everybody equally. I was just poking fun at it.”

Rahimi told the CanWest media network that “our intention is to make provocative television,” but she stressed that the show will be about “exposing stereotypes in order to break them down and build relationships rather than destroy them.”

“Lake Shore,” which still has to be picked up by a network, will chronicle the lives of eight 20something Torontonians as they live under the same roof, drink, party and sleep with each other.

But unlike “Jersey Shore,” each character on “Lake Shore” will be from a different ethnic background.

Two former cast hopefuls have come forward to say they felt pressured to make racist comments during their auditions.

Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber told CanWest the show “appears to be a [deliberate], provocative attempt by the producers to turn races and creeds and faiths against each other simply for ratings, simply to get a TV spot.

That to me is absolutely disgusting.”

New chief rabbi installed in Turin ROME (JTA) — Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum was formally installed as the new chief rabbi of the Italian city of Turin, ending years of tension.

The installation Saturday was preceded by years of tension over his predecessor, Rabbi Alberto Somekh, who was dismissed in May after 17 years as chief rabbi.

The dismissal marked the first time in Italy that a community’s chief rabbi had been ousted and highlighted deep divisions between strictly Orthodox and non-observant members of the community.

9

Startup continent: European Jewry

By Ruth Ellen Gruber Jewish Telegraphic Agency ROME (JTA) — When I was in the United States recently, I gave a series of talks on contemporary Jewish life in Europe. One of my aims was to shed light on some of the creative new initiatives that are shaping the Jewish experience here, often against considerable odds and expectations.

“My eyes were opened to a Jewish world I had no idea existed,” one woman told me.

Having written about the Jewish experience in Europe for many years, I sometimes forget how surprised people can be by developments that by now I take for granted.

Americans accustomed to viewing Europe through the prism of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism can be taken aback when they come face to face with such living Jewish realities as newly opened synagogues, crowded Jewish singles weekends and hip-hop klezmer fusion bands.

“American Jews don’t tend to think about European Jewry often, and when we do, it is to lament its imminent demise, the victim of an aging, diminishing population and a sharply disturbing increase in anti-Semitism,” Gary Rosenblatt, the editor of The New York Jewish Week, wrote this summer.

Some folks—metaphorically I hope—go so far as to express shock to find that a country such as Poland is “in color.”

“Where had I seen Poland outside of World War II newsreels, Holocaust movies and photos, and, of course, ‘Schindler’s List’?” Rob Eshman, the editor of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal wrote last month after visiting Poland for the first time. “That entire movie was in black and white, except for the fleeting image of a tragic figure, a doomed little Jewish girl in a bright red dress.”

The American Jewish challenge when it comes to modern Poland, he admitted, “is to reverse the ‘Schindler’s List’ images, to see the country as mostly color, with a little black and white.”

An optimistic new report now provides statistical backup for the bold new Jewish realities in Europe that I described in my talks.

Published last month, the 2010 Survey of New Jewish Initiatives in Europe aims to provide a “comprehensive snapshot” of Jewish startups -- that is, of “autonomous or independent non-commercial European initiatives” that have been established within the past decade.

“Conventional discussions of Europe often emphasize antiSemitism, Jewish continuity, and anti-Israel activism,” the survey’s

introduction states. “While we do not dismiss or diminish those concerns, we know that these are only part of the story. The European Jewry we know is confident, vibrant, and growing.”

The findings are remarkably positive.

The survey presents data on 136 European Jewish startups and estimates that some 220 to 260 such initiatives are currently in operation, nearly half of them in the former Soviet Union and other postcommunist states.

“There are more Jewish startups per capita in Europe than in North America,” it says.

These initiatives, the study says, reach as many as 250,000 people, of whom about 41,000 are “regular participants and core members.”

They span a broad range of ages and affiliation, although European Jewish startup leaders and founders themselves “tend to affiliate with progressive and secular/cultural forms of Judaism.”

Other findings reveal that the “vast majority” of these new Jewish initiatives are focused mainly on “Jewish education, arts and culture, or community building,” and most of their financing comes from foundation grants and “grass-roots labor.”

The survey was carried out by Jumpstart, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that promotes Jewish innovation, in cooperation with the British Pears Foundation and the

Courtesy of Ruth Ellen Gruber

Rabbi Zoltan Radnoti lighting the menorah during Chanukah 2009 at a “music against racism” concert, whose organizers included the Jewish startup Jewish Meeting Point.

ROI Community for Young Jewish Innovators based in Jerusalem.

I asked Shawn Landres, Jumpstart’s co-founder, whether he thought the survey’s findings presented a picture that was too rosy given the challenges still faced by European Jewry.

“I don’t think the survey is overly optimistic,” he told me.

“The numbers of initiatives and the number of people involved (especially the otherwise unaffiliated) are accurate indicators of the creativity of European Jewry.”

Still, he conceded, “the financial figures, especially the small

budgets and low number of individual financial contributors, indicate just how fragile they are.”

Landres noted that the demographic challenges facing European Jews—long a hot topic for strategic planners—were “complex.” But, he said, they could not be reduced to “a single line in a single direction.”

“Even if Jewish numbers in Europe are stagnating or declining overall, the threat or opportunity is in the details,” he said. “What about intermarried families that identify as Jewish? What about the 80,000 STARTUP on page 22

10

ISRAEL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Army converts are latest to be dragged into Israel’s conversion wars

Israel Briefs

By Dina Kraft Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEL AVIV (JTA) — For years, army conversions were seen by many as a convenient solution for resolving at least part of the “Who is a Jew?” question that hangs like a cloud over the lives of tens of thousands of Israelis.

In the Israel Defense Forces, under the guidance of army rabbis, some 5,000 young soldiers in the last decade have undergone a conversion process seen as rigorous but welcoming. That process stands in contrast to the experiences described by many of those seeking civilian conversions run by the haredi Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate.

Now the issue has come to a head with a decision by the Chief Rabbinate not to continue to stand behind IDF conversions until a panel of its rabbis can scrutinize the process.

Furthermore, the Chief Rabbinate broadened the panel’s task to re-examine Israel’s conversion process across the board.

That has left thousands of converts, most of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union, wondering where they stand.

“I am all for high standards for conversion, and I’m also for clear standards for conversion once a person converts under the Chief Rabbinate, but it’s outrageous to throw into question their sincerity or their Jewishness,” said Seth Farber, an American-born Orthodox rabbi who is the director of ITIM-The Jewish Life Information Center, an organization that helps Jews navigate the bureaucracy of the Chief Rabbinate.

The Chief Rabbinate did not answer requests for a comment on the issue.

It was a lawsuit filed by Farber’s organization that inadvertently prompted the latest crisis in Israel’s conversion wars. In the case, currently being heard by the Supreme Court, Itim is suing the Chief Rabbinate and the rabbis of four cities who have refused to recognize army conversions.

During a hearing in September, the state attorney said there was a procedural problem with recognizing the conversions—a snag that elements in the haredi Orthodox community have seized upon to turn the battle into an ideological one, Farber and other more liberal Orthodox rabbis argue.

They point to the full-page ads in two haredi newspapers taken out by the rabbinic leadership of the large Lithuanian haredi community as an example of the pressure being put on Sephardic Chief Rabbi

Courtesy of ITIM

The army conversion case of Alina Sardikov, shown marrying husband Maxim earlier this year in a wedding officiated by ITIM director Rabbi Seth Farber, has gone to the Israeli Supreme Court.

Shlomo Amar, who oversees the issue of conversion, to withdraw his sanction of IDF conversions. The ads rail against what the rabbis call fictitious conversions and say that any conversions done without converts taking on the “yoke of mitzvahs” are to be considered invalid.

Israel Eichler, a former Knesset member from the haredi United Torah Judaism party and currently the editor of a religious newspaper, said he had no specific opinion on army conversions. But he suggested that if soldiers’ observance was in doubt, there could be a problem.

“A person who converts and does not fulfill the mitzvahs is not a Jew,” he said.

Meanwhile, a bill has been submitted to the Knesset that, if passed, would cement the IDF conversions as valid according to halachah, or Jewish law.

But Rabbi Yakov Ruza, the rabbi of the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam and a member of the rabbinical council—the equivalent of the Chief Rabbinate’s high court—said those who have converted in the past through the IDF should not be concerned that their conversions could be revoked.

Ruza was appointed as one of the rabbis on the new investigative panel but has stepped down, citing technical reasons.

Taking aim at critics of the Chief Rabbinate, however, he suggested that the whole episode is being overplayed.

“There are certain sources that are battling the Rabbinate to try to make it look like an extremist

institution,” he said. “They take certain incidents and make them appear to be questioning the status quo, which they are not.”

An estimated 350,000 to 400,000 Israeli citizens are not Jewish according to Jewish law— immigrants or children of Russianspeaking immigrants who were granted citizenship under the Law of Return, which allows those with a Jewish grandparent to become Israeli even if they are not Jewish according to Jewish law.

Most of those who have converted through the army fit that category.

Among them is a young woman who preferred to be identified as Shira (not her real name). She immigrated to Israel alone 10 years ago as a teenager from a small town outside of Moscow. Her father is Jewish, her mother is not.

Shira always felt herself to be Jewish and knew one day she would formally convert, an opportunity she welcomed while serving in the Air Force.

“They do it so well in army.

They focus on all the beautiful things in Judaism like human relations and values,” she said. “They know dealing with new immigrants. There’s no brainwashing but a focus on the important things, the right things.”

Shira is distraught at the idea that army conversions might be in peril.

“We are talking about young Zionists who have come to serve in the army,” she said. “It’s not easy, but they want to serve the country

and feel connected to who they are.”

Rabbi Chaim Iram, who serves as director of conversion preparation for the Institute for Jewish Studies, the organization that coordinates IDF conversion courses, dismissed suspicions that army conversions are anything but legitimate.

“I invite anyone to come see our course, the materials we use, and the seriousness and devotion of our students, and then we can talk about criticism,” he said.

“According to any and all parameters—both knowledge and practice —we are doing top-level work.

“We need to tell all of our converts that they are Jews, period, that this is a procedural problem that cannot be made into a problem of principle. But yes, welcome to Israel. There is politics, yes. That is a problem.”

Amar’s panel, which is in disarray with three of the five appointed rabbis quitting, has been given four months to make a recommendation on the conversions. Farber notes that is exactly when a freeze on discussion of a controversial conversion bill proposed by Knesset member David Rotem is set to expire.

Farber suggested that the Chief Rabbinate is preparing to use the panel as leverage to win approval for Rotem’s bill. The measure has many opponents, among them nonOrthodox Diaspora Jewish organizations that fear it would give too much power to the Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate on conversion issues, formally shutting out the Conservative and Reform movements.

Jewish groups slam anti-African refugee decrees JERUSALEM (JTA) — U.S. Jewish groups condemned rulings by rabbis in the Israeli city Bnei Brak that ban residents from renting apartments to African refugees.

The Anti-Defamation League on Monday called the decrees issued last week in the haredi Orthodox city “biased pronouncements.” Six leading haredi rabbis in Bnei Brak issued a ruling that follows a similar call in July by rabbis in nearby Tel Aviv.

“The decision to rent an apartment to another human being shouldn’t be based on ethnic background,” the statement issued from ADL’s Israel office said.

“We encourage the rabbis to follow the Jewish tradition of tolerance and empathy toward other human beings. We call on the religious, political and civic leadership in Israel to stand by the democratic values of acceptance and understanding and speak out against these biased pronouncements.”

The American Jewish Committee also condemned the pronouncements.

“This injunction is inspired less by religious belief than by fear and prejudice,” said Eliseo Neuman, the director of AJC’s Africa Institute. “Instead of emphasizing the biblical duty to care for the ‘guest in our midst,’ it legitimizes discrimination and stokes hostility, dangerously undermining the principles of equality and tolerance upon which the State of Israel is founded.

“We call on the rabbinical community in Israel, including the Chief Rabbinate, to add its voice and authority in reversing this worrying trend. Israel does face social tensions as a result of the growing migration into the country, but these are only exacerbated by irresponsible pronouncements of this kind.”

According to figures released by Israel’s Population, Immigration and Borders Authority, and cited by AJC, the number of African migrants entering Israel this year has increased by 200 percent.

Approximately 27,000 undocumented migrants from countries across Africa—many of them practicing Christians and Muslims —are estimated to be living in Israel. While many are seeking asylum from persecution in countries such as Sudan and Eritrea, a large number venture to Israel for purely economic reasons.

SOCIAL LIFE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

A N N O U N C E M E N TS BIRTH ennifer and Devin Snider, of Fairmont, W.Va., announce the birth of their son, Liam, on Oct. 28.

Liam’s brothers are Tristan and Ronan. They are the grandchildren of Dr. Joel and Sheila Justin, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and the greatgrandchildren of Tillie Justin of Cincinnati and the late Irvin Justin.

J

ENGAGEMENT aula and Harold Jarnicki are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Judy, to Michael Bordainick, son of Sue and Izzy Bordainick of Spring Valley, N.Y. Judy graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan. She is a licensed nursing home administrator, and has sold medical and dental equipment for six years, currently for Henry Schein.

Michael graduated cum laude

P

Judy Jarnicki & Michael Bordainick

from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s degree in international finance and marketing. He received his MBA in marketing from Indiana University. Michael works for Unilever as the National Brand Marketing Manager for Dove, and previously was a consumer marketing manager for Axe. A May 2011 wedding is planned in Cincinnati. The couple reside in Clifton, N.J.

ROCKWERN ACADEMY TRIBUTE DINNER PART ONE

Donna Mayerson introducing keynote speaker, Marc Kramer

Marc Kramer, executive director of RAVSAK, addresses the audience

Stacey and David Fisher

11

R E F UA H S H L E M A H FRIEDA BERGER Fraida bat Raizel

EDITH KAFFEMAN Yehudit bat B’racha

MURRAY KIRSCHNER Chaim Meir ben Basha

DANIEL ELIYAHU Daniel ben Tikvah

ROMA KALTMAN Ruchama bat Perl

RAVID SULAM Ravid Chaya bat Ayelet

MEL FISHER Moshe ben Hinda

PEPA KAUFMAN Perel Tova bat Sima Sora

EDWARD ZIV Raphael Eliezer Aharon ben Esther Enya

Announcements are free :) • BIRTHS • BAT/BAR MITZVAHS • ENGAGEMENTS • WEDDINGS • BIRTHDAYS • WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES • REFUAH SHLEMAHS Send your announcement to: articles@americanisraelite.com

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14

DINING OUT

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Blue Elephant — Pan Asian and More .By Marilyn Gale Dining Editor From the era of one size fits all and one stop shopping centers comes the Blue Elephant restaurant. This stylish bistro within walking distance of Hyde Park Plaza opened in February 2010.

Why the hype, the promoting this one size fits all? Because at this dining spot, you have the choice of ordering Thai, Japanese and oddly enough, Italian food. So if you are with companions who digress as to the type of cuisine they crave, come to the Blue Elephant and dine among tasteful Far East options with the addition of pasta and the famous tiramisu.

Yes, this is the American way, choices and abundance, and the influence has spread into the hospitality realm of Far East restaurants with a twist. Saowanit Wongtouwan and her husband, Danny, who is also the chef, are originally from Bangkok and arrived in Cincinnati recently after spending years in the San Francisco Bay area. Why Cincinnati? Danny answered, “the cost of living is better,” while his wife said, “Snow is pretty here.”

Regardless of the reason, the Queen City is pleased to have them and their attractive dining spot.

“We offer Thai, sushi and pasta, something for everybody’s taste— if you can’t decide, come to the Blue Elephant, we try to make everyone happy,” said Wongtouwan.

A good mantra for the customer, a win win situation for all, thank you very much.

The location is a plus, especially for young professionals who live in the area and want something other than pizza. Also, since the Blue Elephant is nestled in a residential neighborhood, walking is a possibility, whether you are 20something or a baby boomer who wants to maintain a girlish figure.

In warmer weather, one can enjoy urban dining outside as there are tables and chairs that border the sidewalk. Inside, the décor is cool and classy. Even the serving dishes are pretty; plates resembling flower petals that open to reveal brightly colored sushi, Thai salads, fried rice or pasta.

I have been trying to develop a taste for sushi if only to dine with my young adult children who appear to have a great sophistication for this burst of nutritious longlife producing cuisine. I often thought the finger food size delicacies reminded me of plates of canapés that my mother “designed” for her dinner parties. In my readings on Japanese food, I have encountered elegant descriptions of these Neptune morsels—it is as if one tastes the unbelievable soul of the sea. So I eagerly reviewed the Blue Elephant’s sushi list and was

Friendly Danny Wongtouwan, master chef, invites you to the Blue Elephant. A lovely ambience awaits diners at the Blue Elephant. Duck is one of many succulant options available.

intrigued by its Designer Makimono (inside out roll) selections. There’s the Garden maki, with cucumber and avocado on top of seaweed salad; the Boston maki, with salmon, smelt roe, cucumber, avocado and mayo; as well as lots of raw fish, plain or spicy, on the menu. Hoso maki options have sea-

weed on the outside of the sushi – an extra boost of multiple energy producing food. Bento boxes, similar to a lunch box concept, are available and in addition to the sushi, come with salad, fried rice or noodle, and one of those endearing crispy fried appetizers—reasonably priced at $9.95 for such exotic fare.

The Blue Elephant’s menu is a clever trip around the three countries, with the added bonus of America’s love for choices and new trends. Eighteen categories to choose from, vegetarian sections, soups, salads, noodles house specialties, seafood and duck, curries, pasta and of course the sushi. Under

“From Wok” category, there is the choice of meat (roasted duck is one of the options), tofu or seafood stir fried with basil, cashew nuts, garlic, ginger, sizzling in peanut, sweet and sour, hot chili or basil sauces.

Truly a mix and match taste combination and priced between $10.95 up to $15.95. Start with an appetizer of sushi and end with the remarkable tiramisu and you have given yourself a global food experience in this neighborhood restaurant.

One of the perks of writing these reviews is often I get to sample a menu item that is particularly savory or a special favorite of the chef’s. Of course, my middle age waistline is at risk but I figure a few bites here and there can only enhance the essay. I had such an experience with the tiramisu—a popular Italian cake made from ladyfingers, dipped in coffee, and layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, flavored with liquor and cocoa. I have come to the conclusion that chefs around the world have a basic talent and passion for food. Danny Wongtouwan is such a master and surely must have culinary blood in his veins. When I asked him how he learned to make a billowy melt in your mouth Italian dessert, he told me that his former boss, the head chef at the Hyatt in San Francisco, happened to be Italian. Obviously a quick learner, Wongtouwan happily incorporated Italian specialties into his cooking repertoire. Thus, there is no bias at the Blue Elephant as the ethnic dishes are, across the board, delicious.

Open on Thanksgiving, if you don’t want the same old turkey and gobs of dishes in the sink—this is a message for the baby boomers who have cooked mucho turkeys—give a global thanks to the international flavors here, even if you just want an after-dinner stroll and creamy tiramisu.

The elephant is a symbol of ancient power, strength and loyalty.

What is more powerful and basic than food and eating? With a loyalty to authentic ingredients and flavor paired with strong cooking skills, Danny and Saowanit Wongtouwan have brought a great gift to the Tristate. This restaurant is a promise of creating food from the magical Far East with the added choice of Italian—a multifaceted dining experience. It is a grand example of worldwide influence infused into the urban heart of our Queen City. So take a little walk through the glorious Hyde Park area, do some shopping, and then dine marvelously at the Blue Elephant.

Blue Elephant 2912 Wasson Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45209 513-351-0123

DINING OUT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

15

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

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Aroma Restaurant & Sushi 7875 Montgomery Rd Kenwood 791-0950 Bangkok Terrace 4858 Hunt Rd Blue Ash 891-8900 • 834-8012 (fx) Bella Luna Cafe 4632 Eastern Ave Cincinnati 871-5862 Blue Elephant 2912 Wasson Rd Cincinnati 351-0123 Carlo & Johnny 9769 Montgomery Rd Cincinnati 936-8600 CUMIN 3520 Erie Ave Hyde Park 871-8714 Dingle House 9102 Towne Centre Dr West Chester 874-PINT (7468) Embers 8120 Montgomery Rd Montgomery 984-8090 Ferrari’s Little Italy & Bakery 7677 Goff Terrace Madeira 272-2220 Gabby’s Cafe 515 Wyoming Ave Wyoming 821-6040

Johnny Chan 2 11296 Montgomery Rd The Shops at Harper’s Point 489-2388 • 489-3616 (fx) K.T.’s Barbecue & Deli 8501 Reading Rd Reading 761-0200 Kanak India Restaurant 10040B Montgomery Rd Montgomery 793-6800 Local 127 127 W. 4th St Cincinnati 721-1345 Marx Hot Bagels 9701 Kenwood Rd Blue Ash 891-5542 Mecklenburg Gardens 302 E. University Ave Clifton 221-5353 Noce’s Pizzeria 9797 Montgomery Rd Cincinnati 791-0900 Oriental Wok 2444 Madison Rd Hyde Park 871-6888 Parkers Blue Ash Grill 4200 Cooper Rd Blue Ash 891-8300

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OPINION

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Point of View

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

By Rabbi James A. Rudin

The growing Hispanic population in the United States is sure to impact our politics. In fact, it already has.

Hispanic voters matter. Just ask Republicans Meg Whitman in California and Sharron Angle in Nevada, who alienated Latino voters and ended up losing elections they were expected to win.

The warning to any future Whitman or Angle is clear: there will be 1.5 million new Hispanic voters in 2012, with many more to follow within the next decade.

That irreversible demographic fact also has important interreligious implications, especially among Christians and Jews.

For the past 1,000 years, the majority of Christians and Jews lived in Europe or North America.

It’s where major religious institutions, movements and leaders found a home, and where the first successful efforts in building mutual respect and understanding between Christians and Jews took root.

But the landscape is changing.

Today, the Christian populations of Europe and North America are relatively stagnant— part of the reason why Pope Benedict XVI attacked “secularism” and religion’s declining role in recent visits to Britain and Spain. Meanwhile, in South America, Africa and Asia, all branches of Christianity are thriving. The so-called “Third World” of geopolitics is actually the “First World” of church growth.

Until recently, most evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic Christians in the U.S. traced their family roots to Europe. Now, large numbers of Hispanics— more than a few of them former Catholics—are joining Protestant churches.

In the U.S., the rising number of Hispanic Catholics will soon eclipse the shrinking number of Catholics of European descent.

Rabbi Rudin is the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser.

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

Dear Editor, Barack Obama can’t resist any opportunity to bash Israel.

His obsession with Israel’s plan to add about 1,000 homes led to his criticism of Israel several days ago in his boyhood home country of Indonesia, not coincidentally the country with the largest Muslim population in the world and a country which excludes Israelis from visiting. Why this would be an appropriate topic to discuss with Indonesians at all is impossible to understand, yet Mr. Obama could not refrain from attacking Israel.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this continuing hostility toward Israel is the fact that he was unwilling to address Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s offer to stop settlement construction in return for Palestinian acceptance of Israel as the Jewish state. All that was needed in fact to stop settlement construction would have been Obama’s concurrence with this reasonable request; after all the Palestinians demand their own Muslim state plus, paradoxically, the “right” to return to Israel as well.

But Mr. Obama ignored and would not pursue this potential breakthrough. Why won’t he lend his support? Is he unwilling to confront the Arab League which makes the decisions for the Palestinians? Is his documented dislike for Netanyahu so profound that he can’t pursue

any Israeli suggestion? Does he really believe that he alone knows exactly what is best?

Likely all of the above.

Which brings us to the final and most important question— can Barack Obama be a truly fair and impartial arbitrator during the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations? Nothing we have seen so far indicates that he can.

John Feibel West Chester, Ohio Dear Editor, American Jewish Committee Cincinnati Region has written Senators Brown and Voinovich to urge their support for the Promoting Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles Act of 2010 (S.3815). We believe that reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels will undoubtedly strengthen our economy and bolster our national security.

Further investment in electric vehicles is vital to reducing the country’s excessive dependence on foreign oil. The transportation sector is 95 percent reliant on petroleum and accounts for more than twothirds of total national petroleum consumption. The U.S. imported more than 60 percent of the oil we needed in 2008 at a cost of some $380 billion–or nearly 60 percent of the total trade deficit.

This important bill appropri-

ates $3.8 billion for rebates to natural gas vehicle buyers and $500 million in subsidies to manufacture natural gas vehicles. In addition, it authorizes $1.5 billion for research and development of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles over the next decade.

A key component is missing in this legislation–a flexible fuel mandate on automakers requiring that automobiles powered by an internal combustion engine be flex fuel vehicles warranted to operate on gasoline, ethanol, methanol or biodiesel. Making fuel flexibility standard for all automobiles is a simple and inexpensive feature representing one of the easiest ways to use less oil.

The additional cost to the manufacturer of making a vehicle flexfuel capable is approximately an additional $100 per vehicle. We urge that the provisions of the Open Fuel Standards Act (S.835), a bipartisan bill providing for a flex-fuel mandate, be incorporated into the current initiative.

Our energy crisis will not be solved with a silver bullet.

Developing natural gas powered vehicles, plug-in hybrids and vehicle electrification, and establishing a flexible fuel requirement for automakers, are all crucial components of an urgently needed comprehensive approach to energy reform. For these reasons, we encourage Israelite readers to LETTERS on page 19

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: VAYISHLACH (BRAISHITH 32:4—36:43) 1. Whom did Jacob send to greet Esau? a.) His children b.) Angels c.) He went himself 2. How did Rachel pass away? a.) Natural death b.) Killed during the battle of Schem c.) During childbirth

b.) Hebron c.) Be'er Sheva 4. Who was Elifaz? a.) Son of Laban b.) Friend of Esau c.) Son of Esau 5. Who was Yehudit? a.) Wife of Esau b.) Sister of Laban c.) Daughter of Seir the Horite

3. Efrat is near which city? a.) Bethlechem 3. A 35:19 4. C 36:17 5. A 26:34,

Shalom, mis amigos

Numerous dioceses, faced with decreasing seminary enrollments and ordinations, import priests from overseas to fill vacant pulpits. The nation’s bishops, too, are slowly being replaced by younger bishops whose families didn’t come through Ellis Island.

The early encounters between American Catholics and Jews in the 19th and early 20th centuries were often overshadowed by suspicion, hostility and prejudice.

But Catholics and Jews had at least one thing in common: their immigrant families all faced the same systemic anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism in employment, housing and education.

Because of history and geography, Hispanic Christians have had few, if any, direct encounters with Jews, and the reverse is equally true. It’s a recipe for misunderstanding and disagreement unless we find ways to bring the two communities closer together.

There’s a similar story within the global Jewish community.

Israel will soon surpass the U.S. to become home to the world’s largest Jewish community, numbering nearly 7 million people.

More than 850,000 non-European Jews from Africa, the Middle East and Asia have arrived in Israel since its creation in 1948; many came with large families that have followed the biblical commandment “to be fruitful and multiply.”

Many first-time visitors to Israel are sometimes surprised that Israel is not the outpost of white European colonialism that many critics falsely charge.

Instead, it is an authentic and diverse Middle Eastern nation, not one that’s dominated by Americans or Europeans. As a result, many Israeli Jews have had limited contact with Christians and Christianity, even in the region that gave birth to Christianity.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus taught that “You cannot step twice into the same river.”

Our demographic “rivers” are rapidly changing, and the religious or political leaders who don’t understand this are doomed to drown.

ANSWERS 1. B 32:4 They were real angels and not just messengers. Rashi 2. C 35:17,18

16

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

JEWISH LIFE

17

Sedra of the Week

By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT VAYISHLACH • GENESIS 32:4-36:43

Efrat, Israel - “And Esau said, ‘I have much,’ And Jacob said, ‘I have it all’” (Genesis 33:9,11).

The Book of Genesis is filled with sibling rivalry, specifically over the patrimony. We have previously commented about the two aspects of that inheritance: the blessing (bracha) of material possessions, and the firstborn status (bechora), which brings familial leadership. We have learned from the life of Abraham and his two sons that the recipient of the patrimony was not always the one who was born first; rather, it was an issue of character, of who would be most suitable to convey the Abrahamic covenant—the message of ethical monotheism—to the next generation and to the world.

We have suggested that Isaac desired to divide the patrimony, giving the bracha to Esau (the elder) and the bechora to Jacob (the younger). It was Rebekah who insisted that the two parts remain together, and ensured that Jacob received both. Rebekah’s argument was certainly a cogent one. If the mission of the Abrahamic family is to succeed within Israel (both the nation and the land) and then spread its message of ethical monotheism to the entire world, the economic infrastructure, military and political dimensions of the bracha would be crucial. But at the same time, it is clear from the Bible that it is the bechora, the moral and ethical commitments that are the essence of the patrimony; the character traits of the bracha are more easily acquired as one matures. Even more to the point, Rebekah may have gone too far in her manipulation of events. She wanted to provide Jacob with a veneer of the tough, grasping hunter. But especially under the tutelage of Laban, that aggressive and materialistic exterior almost overwhelms Jacob’s gentle and wholehearted soul. If Jacob was to be worthy of the bechora two decades after he received it, he would have to give up the gains he had made by deceiving his father, purge the Esauistic craving for material objects from his personality, and reclaim his innate values as the true grandson of Abraham. The

If the mission of the Abrahamic family is to succeed within Israel (both the nation and the land) and then spread its message of ethical monotheism to the entire world, the economic infrastructure, military and political dimensions of the bracha would be crucial. But at the same time, it is clear from the Bible that it is the bechora, the moral and ethical commitments that are the essence of the patrimony; the character traits of the bracha are more easily acquired as one matures. internal exorcism of Esauism takes place in this week’s portion, when Jacob wrestles with an anonymous assailant identified by our sages as the “spirit of Esau” (Gen. 32:25-30). The external exorcism immediately follows, when the brothers confront each other and Jacob offers Esau extravagant gifts. Esau, ready to forgive and forget, demurs: “I have much [rav], my brother. Let what is yours remain yours.”

Jacob objects, saying, “Take my blessing [bracha], which was brought [back] to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have it all [kol, everything]” (Gen. 33:9,11).

The dialogue is revealing, especially about how each of them now views material possessions.

Esau says he has “much,” but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want more; indeed, as I learned from my childhood rebbe, Rav Menahem Manus Mandel, an individual with $100 may be wealthier than an individual with $200.

How so? Because a person’s wealth is measured not by what he has, but by what he thinks he’s lacking, and everyone wants to double what he has. Hence the person with $100, who wants $200, only lacks $100, whereas the person with $200, who wants $400, lacks $200!

Jacob, on the other hand, has

arduously learned that material blessings are merely a means to an end—a gift from God; the true prize is the bechora—the ability to transmit God’s message of compassionate righteousness and moral justice. Jacob spends his life doing just that: conveying the message of the covenant to his 12 sons and his daughter. He now understands that all material possessions must ultimately be returned to God, and that with his familial continuity secure in his ancestral homeland, he “has everything, he has it all.”

I had a close friend in elementary school who would come to class every day with two dimes, one for the charity “pushke” and another for an ice-cream. Once, as we were walking together, he tripped and one dime fell into the sewer. “Too bad, God,” he said, “there went your dime.” Much more appropriate was my beloved friend Zalman Bernstein who, from a hospital bed in the SloanKettering Cancer Center during the last days of his life, told me: “The only thing I really have is what I spent on my children’s education and what I gave to worthy charitable causes.”

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.

Egalitarian • 8100 Cornell Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45249 (513) 489-3399 • www.ohavshalom.org

18

JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

Jewz in the Newz

By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist PLAME AND LOVE “Fair Game” is a film based on the memoir of the same name by former CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose career was destroyed when her covert identity was exposed, in 2003, by a politically motivated press leak out of the Bush White House. Her exposure was revenge for the actions of her diplomat husband, Joe Wilson—who had written a 2003 NY Times column in which he said that he conducted a 2002 fact finding mission which proved that an intelligence report of uranium shipments to Saddam’s Iraq was false.

Nonetheless, Pres. Bush used this discredited report when he asked Congress for war authority.

Directed by DOUG LIMAN (“Bourne Identity”); the movie stars Naomi Watts as Plame and SEAN PENN as Wilson. It opened in limited release a couple of weeks ago to mostly stellar reviews and opens “wide” on Nov. 19. Critics praised Liman for not making a polemic treatise—but, rather, a movie about real people in crisis and how that crisis almost destroyed the Plame/Wilson marriage.

There are a couple of interesting “Jewish sidelights” to the film.

Naomi Watts recently said that several of the film’s scenes were shot in Jordan and, during a break, she and her fiancé, actor LIEV SCHREIBER, were both able to “hop over” and visit Israel for the first time. She said they really enjoyed their visit.

In her memoir, Plame wrote that the one happy benefit of her “outing” was that a Jewish relative, who knew he had relatives named Plame, got in contact with her (eventually her whole family went to a Seder at his home).

Plame was previously unaware of her Jewish background: her paternal grandfather, a rabbi’s son, was cut-off by his family when he wed her Protestant grandmother.

“Love and Other Drugs” stars JAKE GYLLENHAAL as Jamie Randall, a womanizer who is guided into a good job as a Pfizer drug salesman by his geek brother (JOSH GAD). (Their parents are played by GEORGE SEGAL and the late JILL CLAYBURGH, in her last screen role.) While talking up a doctor (HANK AZARIA), Jamie meets a patient, Maggie, with whom he begins a mostly sexual relationship (Anne Hathaway). When Jamie eventually finds out Maggie has Parkinson’s, he’s forced to examine all his personal values. Directed and

co-written by EDWARD ZWICK (“Defiance”), the film opens on Wednesday, Nov. 24.

ON JILL CLAYBURGH Clayburgh died of leukemia on Nov. 5, age 66. Her career had its ups-and-downs and she took a long time off to raise her two children with her husband, playwright David Rabe (who isn’t Jewish).

But she’ll always be remembered for her almost perfect, Oscarnominated performance as a woman struggling to cope with the break-up of her marriage in PAUL MAZURSKY’s great flick, “An Unmarried Woman.”

Clayburgh never talked about her religious background. So far as I can tell, the actress was raised in no faith and she didn’t have a funeral service. The only reliable, easily available source on her background was a biographical dictionary which simply said her father was a member of a wealthy Jewish Manhattan family.

But as I dug deeper, I learned that her late mother was Protestant and that her father’s Jewish family had a fascinating history in America. Here are some highlights: Her great-great-great grandfather was Major BENJAMIN NONES, a French Jew who came to America in 1777 and was an aide to Lafayette and Washington. He was also president of the first Philadelphia synagogue, an opponent of slavery, and he wrote a famous letter rebuking an anti-Semitic attack on him by the enemies of Thomas Jefferson, whom he supported.

Nones’ granddaughter married (1849) a German Jewish immigrant named Clayburg. Their son married Jill’s grandmother, who came from a Southern Jewish family whose male members fought for the Confederacy.

LAMBERT GETS THE “E” TREATMENT ADAM LAMBERT, who became famous singing on “American Idol,” is the subject of a new “E! True Hollywood Story,” which premieres on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 9PM (on the “E” cable station). The program features extensive interviews with Lambert, his Jewish mother, LEILA, and his non-Jewish dad, Eber. Lambert identifies as Jewish, but isn’t really religious. He has done charitable benefits for synagogues and Jewish groups.

Lambert is now on a worldwide tour to promote his debut CD, “For Your Entertainment.” The “E” special candidly addresses Lambert’s decision to be openly gay.

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

FROM THE PAGES 100 Years Ago At its annual meeting, the Harvard Club elected Lawrence Ach treasurer and Ben L. Heidingsfelder, chairman of the executive committee.

At the general meeting of the Jewish Hospital Association officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: David J. Workum, president; Samuel Straus, vice president; Samuel Mayer, secretary; Aaron l. Stix, treasurer; L. J. Mack, financial secretary. Donations to the fund for improvements: Joseph E. Block, $300; Henry Jonap, $100.

While all the rest of the civilized world is a unit in its endeavor to stamp out “the white plague” tuberculosis, the

city of Cincinnati is carefully cultivating and extending it. The death rate from the so-called dirt-diseases in this city, consumption, typhoid always large, will be greatly increased this fall and winter by the condition in which a large number of dug up and repaired streets notably Reading Road, has been left. Physicians have begun to order that children, in fact all pedestrians, keep off this main artery of the finest residential section of this city, lest they inhale the seeds of disease with the poisonous dirt which is stirred up in the clouds by every passing vehicle, more especially automobiles. The traction

company could sprinkle this street for a trifle, if it so desired, and would no doubt do so if the city would pay for it.

Why the city does not sprinkle our streets the year round is a mystery to most of us. Nearly every other city of its size in the Union does. But taking it for granted that there is good reason why this is not done, why can not sprinkling or oiling be made compulsory and all property and all property owners or their tenants whenever the streets are dusty. Very much more could be said on this subject, but this is not the Israelite’s line, so it will forebear. — November 17, 1910

75 Years Ago Dr. Julien E. Benjamin, Hebert R. Bloch, Emil Frank, Robert P. Goldman, Mrs. Walter H. Pritz, Carl J. Rauh and William Earle Stilwell, Jr., were elected trustees of University School for a threeyear term, at the annual stockholders’ meeting last week. Mr. Rauh is the new trustee.

Mr. Bloch was re-elected president; Mr. Stilwell, vice-president; Mrs. Louis G. Heyn, secretary; and Ira S. Holden succeeds the late Mr. Richard H. Wald.

Miss Myra Fred, of Lebanon, O.,

was hostess to Delta Phi Epsilon alumnae at her home Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17th.

New officers are Ann Wartik Bratburd, president; Florence Deutsch Annenberg, secretary, Florence Siebler Horwitz, treasurer.

An added feature was the shower given in honor of Dr. Bernyce Tavel, fiancée of Dr. Louis Safer.

Dr. and Mrs. Bernard C. Ehrenreich are at Vernon Manor for 10 days. He is director of Camp Kawaga, Minocqua, Wis.

Dr. Sidney Rauh, 62, for years president of Cincinnati Free Clinic Society, and pioneer in the work for dental care of children in the Cincinnati public schools, passed away Monday, Nov. 18th, at the Jewish Hospital.

Surviving him are his widow, Mrs. Selma Rosenthal Rauh, two daughters, Elizabeth, a junior at Radcliffe College, and Alice, a junior at Walnut Hills High School; four brothers, Stanley, Bertrand, Julian and Isadore Rauh, and a sister, Miss Stella Rauh. — November 21, 1935

50 Years Ago Two evenings this week— Thursday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 19—will feature Roberta Peters singing with Max Rudolf and the Cincinnati Symphony orchestra.

There will be no Friday concert.

Miss Peters’ appearance will be her seventh since 1953. Her friendship with Max Rudolf dates back to 1950, when he was responsible for her “Cinderella-like” debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

Daniel Jay Baum, son of Mrs. Millard M. Baum, 1864 Sunnybrook Drive, and the late Mr. Millard M. Baum, was awarded the degree of doctor of juridical science from the Graduate Division of the New York University School of Law last week.

Simon Comisar, 1402 Lakeland, passed away Monday, Nov. 7, at Jewish Hospital. His age was 71.

Services were held at Weil Funeral Home Tuesday, Nov. 7, Rabbi Bernard

Greenfield officiating. Interment was in Love Brothers Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife, Fay; three sons, Manny, Robert and Steve; and two grandchildren, Karen and Robin, all of Cincinnati.

Mr. Comisar was the owner of the Swing Bar on Vine Street, and originator of La Normandie Restaurant.

He was a member of Ohav Shalom and a native of Cincinnati.

— November 17, 1960

25 Years Ago The American Jewish Archives of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion has acquired a recently discovered rare collection of 95 19th century albumen print photographs of the first American Jewish sculptor, Sir Moses Ezekiel.

The photograph collection of the artist’s work and his studio in Rome was purchased by Dr. Sidney Peerless for HUC-JIR. With this gift, the largest extant collection of Ezekiel albumen print photographs will remain housed

in the same city in which the Ezekiel family settled after the Civil War. Anthony Kranes announces the engagement of his daughter, Rabbi Charisse Natalie Kranes, to Dr. Winston H. Pickett of Delray Beach, Fla. Dr. Alvin Lee Dunbar passed away Nov. 11.

Until his death, Dr. Dunbar practiced psychiatry at The Jewish Hospital, where he was recently honored for 35 years of service. A clinical professor of psychiatry at UC’s College

of Medicine, Dr. Dunbar founded the Ohio Valley Day Hospital in the early 1960s. He was a member of the Charles McMicken Society of UC, a life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and had numerous other professional affiliations.

He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Frankel Dunbar; three sons Robert, Stanley and Richard, all of Cincinnati; a grandson, Jesse Dunbar; and a brother-in-law, Donald Frankel of Los Angeles. — November 21, 1985

10 Years Ago Al Levine, who has lived at Cedar Village since 1997, was the first inductee in the campus’s Greater Cincinnati Jewish Senior Hall of Fame. Levine, 101, was honored at a dinner Oct 29. Cedar Village plans to hold these awards dinners annually.

As master of ceremonies Jerry Teller noted Levine was honored because “He is an inspiration to us all. At 101 he has aged gracefully and with dignity.

Two hundred and fifteen family members from all over the country and

friends from Cedar Village and the community were on hand for the celebration, which was co-chaired by Bert and Dolly Levine and Roberta Fisher.

Jean Oscherwitz, 86, passed away November 7, 2000. Born in Cincinnati, she was a daughter of the late Isadore and Bertha Katz. She was the wife of the late William Oscherwitz. She is survived by her children: Irwin and Sheilah Oscher, and Dr. Morris and Nan Oscherwitz; her grandchildren, Karen C.O. and

Barry Batia, John M. and Nan Oscherwitz, Anne Oscherwitz and Gary Mart, Jud S. Oscherwitz, Dr. Steven Oscherwitz, and Brian Oscherwitz and Addie Quinn Oscherwitz; hergreat-grandchildren, Zachary Batia and Jeffrey Oscherwitz.

Mrs. Oscherwitz was the sister of the late Bernard Katz, Sidney King and Bernice Katz. Mrs. Oscherwitz was the aunt of Elliot Greenberg and Tillie Spiegel, and the cousin of Ruth Goldhoff. — November 16, 2000

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

CLASSIFIEDS

19

COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc.

(513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Beth Tevilah Mikveh Society (513) 821-6679 Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7226 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 336-3183 • cedar-village.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 792-2715 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 Jewish Vocational Service (513) 985-0515 • jvscinti.org Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 335-5812 Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tikvah (513) 759-5356 • bnai-tikvah.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • bnaitzedek.us

Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com EDUCATION Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Reform Jewish High School (513) 469-6406 • crjhs.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati-hadassah.org Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (513) 459-0111 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org.org

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production@ americanisraelite.com LETTERS from page 16 write letters in support of the Promoting Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles Act of 2010 and to consider incorporating the Open Fuel Standards Act into S.3815.

John M. Stein AJC Cincinnati President Barbara Glueck AJC Cincinnati Director Dear Editor, Just wondering–is it tradition or contradiction? Is it really true that the firstborn son is always the heir?

Tradition says yes. Is tradition a contradiction when we examine the descendants of Abraham?

Let us examine the seeming contradictions in the light of tradition. Don’t let this cause a family feud in case you are trying to settle an inheritance with a family member. The old cliché that the truth hurts does not contradict what we feel when faced with rulings that one family member is awarded a portion we thought would be ours.

It is very painful, to say the least.

Sarah tells Abraham to take Hagar and have a son who would become heir, and Ishmael is born.

Later, the Almighty tells Abraham that Sarah would have a son named Isaac. Is there a contradiction of tradition or does the Almighty have the right to make His ruling in the affairs of life?

Isaac and Rebekah also have a dilemma while dealing with tradition and contradiction. Esau was the firstborn. Did the Almighty have a purpose in mind by allowing the blessing to be passed down to the second born? Is this a contradiction?

• Up to 24 hour care • Meal Preparation • Errands/Shopping • Hygiene Assistance • Light Housekeeping

513-531-9600 On his deathbed, Israel divides the land by lot to his sons. Did he inalterably contradict tradition by placing his right hand upon the head of Joseph’s younger son Ephraim and not Menasseh, the firstborn?

Does the Almighty really take what seems to us as a contradiction and work His will in our affairs without our consent?

When Samuel anointed Saul–of the tribe of Benjamin–to be King of Israel, was it contradictory that the kingdom was later translated to the tribe of Judah, with David the youngest son of Jessie receiving the throne? Saul resisted the inevitable by trying to kill David. I am wondering if we have given much consideration to the seeming contradictions to tradition.

Will we allow tradition to keep us from asking the Almighty to reveal to us what these historic circumstances have to do with us today?

Will we allow the pain of those we have previously mentioned to be in vain? Wasn’t it best in the end for those who yielded to the plan of God, even though it seemed to contradict their tradition?

Did not the Almighty say “in Isaac shall thy seed be called?”

Did not the Almighty say that “the elder shall serve the younger?”

Did not Joseph say, “you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good?”

Did not Israel say to Joseph that “Ephraim would be greater than Menasseh?”

Did not Saul say to David, “Thou art more righteous than I?” There is no contradiction to truth.

Let us meditate on these revelations.

Frank Whitson Cincinnati, OH

20

TRAVEL

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SoCal so cool: 50 miles of pure pleasure Wandering Jew

By Janet Steinberg Travel Editor

Joie de Vivre: Joy of Living in Long Beach and Catalina Island PART 3 OF A SERIES LONG BEACH: This harborside city, 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, was given its name in 1888 because of its 5.5mile stretch of sandy beaches. This was to be my gateway to Catalina Island on a Catalina Express catamaran. However, I thought, why not spend 24 hours here and see what Long Beach has to offer?

Well, I found out what Long Beach had to offer… plenty!

Karmel Shuttle transported me from Redondo Beach to the Hotel Maya in Long Beach. And what a delightful surprise that was. This stylish Joie de Vivre boutique hotel is a hidden gem on the California coastline. The Joie de Vivre hotel company’s major stake-holder is Jewish investor John Pritzker, son of Hyatt Hotel’s founder Jay Pritzker.

Hotel Maya exudes the energy and hospitality of the Latin cultures.

Its affordable waterfront setting, lush tropical grounds and skyline views of downtown Long Beach came as an unexpected surprise.

The hotel’s Fuego Restaurant was an added bonus. At Fuego I savored the cuisines of coastal Latin America as I enjoyed fine food, fine tequila, fine skyline views, and the fine view of the historic Queen Mary. Buen Provecho!

The Queen Mary was my other raison de etre (reason for being) in Long Beach. Although I have sailed on some 130 cruises, the sight of a cruise ship still ignites concupiscent feelings in me. And, although she no longer sails, the Queen Mary still takes me away.

Once the largest luxury liner afloat, the Queen Mary has been Long Beach’s flagship attraction since its final voyage in 1967.

Once a World War II troops ship bigger than the Titanic, the Queen Mary is now a hotel. You can tour the mighty ship, relax in its Art Deco lounge, or dine in its elegant Sir Winston’s Restaurant.

Adjacent to the ship, in the

Queen Mary Seaport, is the Russian Foxtrot attack submarine Scorpion. This genuine “Cold War Warrior” gives a sense of what it was like for the 78 Russian sailors who went to sea for three months at a time in this “shark of steel.”

Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific instills a sense of wonder, respect and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean and its inhabitants.

Home to over 11,000 animals, you can get up close and personal with the ultimate predators of the ocean on Shark Lagoon nights at the Aquarium.

SANTA CATALINA ISLAND: In less than an hour, a high-speed Catalina Express catamaran made the 22-mile trip between Long Beach and Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. Those of us who opted for a minimal price upgrade were afforded pre-boarding privileges, reclining seats, and a complementary beverage of choice served by a cabin attendant.

From the moment we docked in Avalon, it was obviously time to relax. No pulsing neon, no stoplights, no cars…golf carts, bicycles, and shoe leather are the favorable modes of transportation. We were on Island Time…time for romance, time for family fun, time for memories that last a lifetime.

Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is part of the eight Channel Islands archipelago.

Catalina is the only one of the eight islands with a significant permanent civilian settlement…the city of Avalon. Two Harbors is an unincorporated village that is 13.4 miles by boat or 23 miles by road from Avalon.

People have been living on Santa Catalina Island for at least 7,000 years. But it was the Wrigley family (of chewing gum fame) whose influence we enjoy on Catalina Island today.

In 1919, sight unseen, William Wrigley Jr. purchased the majority of the island. Soon after the purchase, he came to Catalina and fell in love with the island. For the next 10 years, Mr. Wrigley underwent an ambitious economic development program, building the Catalina Country Club, Bird Park, the S.S. Avalon and S.S. Catalina, and the legendary Casino Building.

Wrigley’s son, P.K. Wrigley, continued developing the island resort when he took over from his father and ushered in the Big Band era at the Casino. He redesigned the beachfront Crescent Avenue with an Early California ambiance, and built the Airport in the Sky in 1946. The Airport in the Sky occupies a 1,602-foot-tall mountaintop at the center of the island, 10 miles from the city of Avalon.

Many of the homes in Avalon were also built during this time

Avalon’s crescent-shaped harbor viewed from The Inn on Mt. Ada.

period. The original Wrigley mansion was built in 1921 atop a hill that Wrigley named Mt. Ada, after his wife Ada. This restored Georgian Colonial home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now the Inn on Mt. Ada. It’s worth the trip up the hill for a divine lunch at this Mobil 4-star, 6room inn. The Quarry Burger is sensational!

In Avalon, my hotel of choice was the Villa Portofino, where Mediterranean charm meets the Pacific Ocean. Our Bella Vista suite came complete with gas fireplace, Italian marble bath and a wrap-around balcony that offered both a hillside and full Avalon Bay view.

There are newer, sleeker hotels on the island, but at Villa Portofino I felt like I was tucked away off a courtyard somewhere on the Isle of Capri. Consistently rated one of

Avalon’s best hotels, the Hotel Villa Portofino carries on the traditions and high standards of a European seaside resort.

The adjacent Ristorante Villa Portofino is widely regarded as one of the best restaurants on the island. With its Mediterranean décor and harbor views, dining at Ristorante Villa Portofino is like an ambient sojourn to the regional areas of Italy.

Lunch at the Avalon Grille was amazing. For starters, you must try the Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Cranberries and Almonds, and the Ahi Tuna Tartare with Wasabi Guacamole. You could stop right there and walk away happy. But if you’re really hungry, the Seafood Benedict with Fried Green Tomatoes is divine.

A Salta Verde Margarita with fresh squeezed local organic tangerine juice got dinner at M

The Russian Foxtrot attack submarine docked in front of the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Restaurant off to a flying start.

Seared Wild White Sea Bass was the grand finale.

Catalina Island is a historic treasure. The Catalina Island Museum, located in the legendary Casino Building, has an outstanding collection of historic photographs, Catalina pottery, and archaeological artifacts excavated on the island.

If you want to learn Catalina’s history in a more exciting way, opt to fly through the air on the Catalina Zip Line. You will zip down five different zip line routes totaling 3,761 lineal feet cruising at speeds up to 45 miles an hour, and reaching heights of over 300 feet.

At each platform in between zips, you will learn about the island’s history, ecology and culture.

Catalina boasts a year-round Mediterranean climate, with warm, sunny days, perfect blue skies, and cool evening breezes. There are said to be only three places in the world with a Mediterranean climate: The Mediterranean…the coast of Chile around Santiago…and Catalina Island.

Catalina Island is an escape from the everyday hustle and bustle and stress of life. It is the only place in Southern California where you can fully immerse yourself in the freedom, beauty, and relaxation that only an island can provide.

Take the time to discover your Island Time. And don’t forget your sunglasses!

Janet Steinberg is an award-winning Travel Writer and Travel Consultant.

NEWS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

JNF from page 1 After hors d’œuvres, the 40 guests listened to the evening’s program, which opened with JNF’s current National president, local trial lawyer Stanley Chesley, who talked about the organization, and its commitment to planting trees in Israel (243 million since JNF’s founding 109 years ago, JAFFEE from page 1 grant-making activity. Since 2007, he has been the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), which is the public affairs arm of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.

In hiring for this vital position, the Foundation trustees considered a national search, but determined that the top priority was finding a professional who possessed both national organization experience and deep connections within the Cincinnati community. “With his intimate knowledge of this community and its needs, and his proven expertise in community relations, strategic communications, and community planning, Brian Jaffee is the right professional to take the Foundation to the next level,” said Gary Heiman, president of the board of trustees, calling Jaffee an “outstanding and respected professional both locally and nationally.”

Before joining the Cincinnati JCRC, Jaffee spent more than a decade with major Jewish and political organizations in New York City AJC from page 1 This Thanksgiving celebration is meant to address the changing society and importance of a diverse and united America. Civic officials will join in reading from BECK from page 1 Hungarian Jew who had fled. On another occasion, the local Jewish council had ordered Soros to deliver letters to local lawyers. Soros’ father, Tivadar, realized the letters were to Jewish lawyers and meant to expedite their deportation. He told his son to warn the targets to flee and ended the boy’s work with the council.

Soros, 80, has been slammed in some Jewish circles over his calls for increased U.S. engagement in the Middle East peace process and his strong criticism of Israeli policies. In recent months, some pro-Israel advocates and pundits have ripped J Street for accepting his money and lying about it. And during the Bush administration, it was Soros who was accused of unfairly playing the Holocaust card when he compared the Bush administration to the Nazis and communist regimes.

This time around, though, the

21

according to Chesley), and the various upcoming projects in the state’s Negev region.

Following Chesley, it was the turn of the guest speaker, Jay K. Footlik, former Special Assistant to President Clinton in the White House Office of Public Liaison and currently a part of JNF’s Speaker’s Bureau. “I’m here to talk about mid term elections,” Footlik noted, and

in addition to a Q&A session, gave a policy perspective on the recent elections and discussed how he felt the current president should act and react to the results.

Then the honoree, Ms. Bettman, gave her acceptance speech. “I am deeply honored to receive this lawyer of the year award from JNF.” Bettman noted how the late Justice Rubin referred to her as “kid” even

after she became a judge herself.

Bettman talked of her career in law, and how out of 35 years of being a trial lawyer, an appellate judge, and being a law professor, being a professor was and is her favorite.

According to the JNF Legal Society newsletter, the Carl B. Rubin Legal Society was launched on May 8, 2007. Through the society, JNF hopes “to not only perpet-

uate Judge Rubin’s memory,” said Jon Lieberman, vice president of the society, “but to attract local attorneys to the society to discuss issues of law. We will also offer attorneys and judges intellectual opportunities to learn about current events from distinguished speakers while networking with other highpowered professionals, all the while supporting Jewish National Fund.”

and Washington, D.C., including Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Jaffee was instrumental in the dramatic expansion of AIPAC’s award-winning Leadership Development Department and Schusterman Advocacy Institute, training thousands of pro-Israel advocates across the country.

While continuing to work for the Federation and JCRC through the end of the calendar year, Jaffee will play an immediate and central part in the recently-announced Foundation strategic planning, which runs through Spring 2011. In addition to developing an ambitious vision for Cincinnati’s Jewish future, clarifying funding areas, and establishing new transparent application and evaluation procedures, the project will help outline optimal differentiated roles for the Federation and the Foundation, which are cooperating closely on planning. “By selecting such a community-minded, team player,” said Heiman, “the trustees of the

Jewish Foundation have reaffirmed that collaboration will remain at the heart of the Foundation’s mission, deeply enhancing Jewish life while also strengthening the historically participatory nature of this community.”

Jewish Federation President Bret Caller added, “Brian is the perfect professional to guide the Foundation as we enter this exciting era during which the Foundation and the Federation will be evolving new, complementary roles. The Foundation trustees’ choice recognizes both Brian’s leadership skills and the Federation’s ability to recruit and develop excellent professional talent for the benefit of the community.”

Connie Hinitz, who has served as the Foundation’s administrator since 1998, will conclude her tenure early next year. As the Foundation’s first and only administrator, Hinitz played an essential role in setting up the Foundation’s operations during its inception, worked diligently with community institutions on the Foundation’s grant-making process, and helped create the Foundation’s

award-winning Israel Travel Grants Initiative, which has enabled more than 1,200 Jewish Cincinnati area high school students and young adults to visit Israel since 2000.

The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati was founded as a private philanthropy in 1995 with assets from the transition of the Jewish Hospital into the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati. Its mission is to support, promote, advance and strengthen the Jewish community

and Jewish causes in Greater Cincinnati. Since its inception, the Foundation has focused on capital or capital improvement projects in and around Cincinnati. As a result of the 2009 sale of the Jewish Hospital to Mercy Health Partners, the Foundation’s asset base has grown from approximately $70 million to an estimated $250 million, increasing its philanthropic capacity threefold, to approximately $12.5 million annually.

AJC’s America’s Table, a booklet which celebrates the U.S. as a nation where its differences are a source of strength and vitality.

A project of AJC’s that began after September 11, 2001, America’s Table was created with

the intent that it should be read before a Thanksgiving meal.

The Thanksgiving event is meant to highlight two of America’s most treasured qualities: diversity and strong democratic institutions that enable us to work together.

loudest Jewish voices belong to those defending Soros from Beck’s attacks.

“This is the height of ignorance or insensitivity, or both,” said Abraham Foxman, the director of the Anti-Defamation League.

“As a kid, at 6, I spit at Jews — does that make me part of the Nazi machine?” Foxman said, referring to the fact that as a child he was protected by non-Jews who had not revealed his background to him.

“There’s an arrogance here for Glenn Beck, a non-Jew, to set the standards of what makes a good Jew.” Elan Steinberg, the vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called Beck’s attack “improper.”

“When you make a particularly monstrous accusation such as this, you have to have proof,” he said. “I have seen no proof.”

In the clearest sign that Beck may have overreached within Jewish cir-

cles, Jonathan Tobin of the conservative journal Commentary also took to the blogosphere to slam Beck.

“Political commentary that reduces every person and every thing to pure black and white may be entertaining, but it is often misleading,” wrote Tobin, who noted that he and his publication can usually be found in the camp of those bashing Soros. “There is much to criticize about George Soros’ career, and his current political activities are troubling. But Beck’s denunciation of him is marred by ignorance and offensive innuendo.”

Tobin echoed some liberal pundits in accusing Beck of taking Soros’ comments out of context, including a recording of the philanthropist discussing his efforts to undermine various governments.

According to Tobin, Beck failed to make clear that Soros was talking about his support of Cold War-era dissidents in the Soviet Union and Soviet satellite states.

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22

OBITUARIES

DEATH NOTICES FIERMAN, Edythe, age 91, died on November 9, 2010; 3 Kislev, 5771.

HORDES, Frances M., age 92, died on November 9, 2010; 3 Kislev, 5771.

SIEGEL, Debra Sue, age 59, died on November 10, 2010; 3 Kislev, 5771.

KADIS, Dorothy, age 99, died on November 14, 2010; 7 Kislev, 5771.

ZIMMERMAN, Wilbur “Sonny,” age 87, died on November 15, 2010; 8 Kislev, 5771.

FRAUD from page 1 “If ever there was a cause that you would hope and expect would be immune from base greed and criminal fraud, it would be the Claims Conference, which every day assists thousands of poor and JCC from page 4 Academy or Cincinnati Hebrew Day School. The entire community is encouraged to donate a new toy or gift certificate.

THANKSGIVING from page 7 If the November issues of food magazines prove anything, it’s that people are always searching for exotic side dishes to adorn the Thanksgiving turkey. Why not dip into the archives of Jewish cuisine to dazzle your guests with foods that our people have been savoring for centuries?

The following recipes were developed by Linda Morel.

TANGY TZIMMES (Pareve)

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elderly victims of Nazi persecution,” Bharara said. “Sadly, those victims were themselves victimized. Without the extraordinary cooperation of the Claims Conference in ferreting out this alleged scheme to defraud them, it never would have been exposed.”

Claims Conference officials first noticed about a year ago that several claimants had falsified information to receive payments from the Hardship Fund, an account established by the German government to give one-time payments of approximately $3,600 to those who fled the Nazis as they moved east through Germany.

They were tipped off when multiple claimants used the same language and details in forms in which they documented evidence of victimization by the Nazis. That prompted a wide internal investigation that turned up thousands of additional fraudulent claims. The alleged fraud, which dates back to the mid 1990s, remained hidden so long because Claims Conference staffers at various levels conspired to hide and manage the false claims.

In all, 4,957 one-time payments

totaling $18 million were obtained from the Hardship Fund through the alleged fraud. Another $24.5 million went to 658 fraudulent pension claims drawing from the Article 2 Fund, through which the German government gives pension payments of roughly $411 per month to needy Nazi victims who spent significant time in a concentration camp, in a Jewish ghetto in hiding or living under a false identity to avoid the Nazis.

Alleged ringleader Semyon Domnitser oversaw the two funds for the Claims Conference until he was fired in February. Domnitser could not be reached by JTA for comment for this story. (Read the charge sheet here.)

The other 16 people involved with the fraud all reside in Brooklyn and have been charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Eleven were arrested Tuesday morning. Charges against five others, four of whom pleaded guilty, were unsealed Tuesday. The charges carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

Since its founding shortly after

the Holocaust, the Claims Conference has processed more than 600,000 individual claims with total payments exceeding $4.3 billion. The money came from the German government following negotiations with Claims Conference officials and Jewish leaders. The Claims Conference continues to negotiate with the German government for the expansion and continuation of various restitution programs.

In addition to processing restitution payments from the German government to Nazi victims, the Claims Conference is the trustee of money from the sale of heirless Jewish properties in the former East Germany that had been seized by the Nazis and are now being restituted to the Jewish community. It uses the money from the sale of those properties to fund institutions that aid survivors and Holocaust education programs, distributing approximately $135 million per year.

About four months after the fraud was discovered, Claims Conference officials went public with the news. In July, the agency

announced the discovery of at least $7 million in allegedly fraudulent payments and said it had dismissed three employees in New York. Of those charged this week, six worked for the Claims Conference and 11 did not.

On Tuesday, Claims Conference officials stressed that the fraud represents a minimal amount of the annual payouts to survivors through the Hardship and Article 2 funds.

“The stealing of $40 million is disgusting,” Gregory Schneider, the executive vice president of the Claims Conference, told JTA. “But it’s less than 1 percent of funds distributed under those programs.

“No amount of fraud will be tolerated,” he said. “We identified it, documented it, investigated and brought it to the FBI.” In recent months, the Claims Conference said, it has taken steps to strengthen anti-fraud safeguards, overhauling procedures and shifting some claims processing away from New York. The Claims Conference also said it retained K2 Global Consulting, an international firm, to review its procedures and make recommendations.

This annual charity project is a tradition of the well-established JCC One Candle for Tzedakah family program, which helps parents educate children on the importance of giving gifts to those

less fortunate than themselves.

During the “Giving, Giggles, and Gelt” festivities, Rabbi Shena Jaffee, director of Jewish Life and Learning at the JCC, will teach children about the meaning and

importance of tzedakah.

This long-standing annual JCC event often sells out, and reservations are requested by Wednesday, Dec. 1. To register in advance for “Giving, Giggles, and Gelt,” or for

more information, contact the Mayerson JCC. Free JCC family events like “Giving, Giggles and Gelt” are funded by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.

Ingredients: 1 (4-inch) finger-shaped piece of ginger root 4 medium sized sweet potatoes 6 medium sized carrots 1 (9-ounce can), about 1 cup, pitted prunes 2/3 cup dried apricots 1/4 cup apricot jam 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon allspice Juice of 1 lemon Zest of 1 orange, plus the juice 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup white wine

Preparation: 1. Scrape the peel from the ginger. Dice ginger and then chop it fine.

2. Peel the sweet potatoes and carrots. Cut them into 1-inch chunks.

3. Place all ingredients in a large pot. Cover and simmer on a medium-low flame for 45 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots soften. Serve immediately or cool to room temperature and refrigerate in a covered container.

Recipe can be made up to three days in advance. Reheat on a low flame before serving. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Preparation: 1. In a large pot, heat olive oil on a medium flame. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until softened but not burnt, about 2 minutes. Add the string beans to the pot. Sprinkle with salt and stir.

Saute for 2 minutes, stirring.

2. Pour the tomato sauce into the pot and stir to coat string beans evenly. Cover pot and simmer on a medium low flame, until string beans are softened but not wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings.

1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1 1/2 teaspoons ground curry 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin Dash of cayenne pepper, or more if you like hot food 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Since 1864

DODDS MONUMENTS

SEPHARDIC STRING BEANS IN TOMATO SAUCE (Pareve)

HISTORIC HOME OFFICE

SERVING

THE J EWISH

AND

ENGRAVING PLANT, DOWNTOWN XENIA

COMMUNITY OF SOUTHWEST OHIO

FOR

GENERATIONS

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium-sized onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 pound string beans, rinsed in cold water, tips and ends snipped Kosher salt to taste 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce STARTUP from page 9

Cincinnati Showroom 832 State Route 28 Milford, OH 45150 (513) 248-2124 www.doddsmonuments.com

or so people engaged by these new initiatives who have no other connection to the organized Jewish community? What about key population centers like London,

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 medium-sized onions, diced 6 garlic cloves, minced 3 tomatoes, chopped 1 cauliflower, broken into florets 1 1/2 pounds baby white potatoes, cut in half or thirds, depending on size 2 tablespoons tomato paste Kosher salt to taste

Preparation: 1. Heat oil in a large pot on a medium flame. Saute onions and garlic until transparent, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer until they soften and give off a little sauce. Add the cauliflower and potatoes, stirring.

3. Place the tomato paste, kosher salt and spices into 1 cup of water.

Stir to blend. Pour this mixture into the pot and stir. Cover the pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes, or until the cauliflower and potatoes soften. Remove from heat and cool to warm before adding the peas. Gently stir to blend. Heat on a low flame and serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for 24 hours before reheating on a low flame.

While piping hot, sprinkle cilantro on top. Yield: 6 servings.

Budapest, and Berlin that will remain Jewishly vibrant for generations to come?”

Landres said the fact that the survey showed nearly twice as many startups per capita in Europe as in North America “should chal-

lenge a few stereotypes.”

But, he added, “I suppose it shouldn’t have been surprising, given the number of respondents who feel that established institutions simply aren’t making room for them and their peers.”

INDIAN CURRIED CAULIFLOWER, POTATOES AND PEAS (Pareve)