AI2010_11_25

Mel Fisher, philanthropist and entrepreneur, remembered

By LeeAnne Galioto Assistant Editor Melvyn Fisher lived a life dedicated to others, his family and philanthropy, and to business. He was an entrepreneur and one of Cincinnati’s leading philanthropists.

Mr. Fisher passed away on Nov. 18, 2010 of natural causes at Cedar Village in Mason. He was 80 years old.

Born and raised in Camp Washington, Mr. Fisher lived above the family-owned paint store.

Throughout his life, he owned or ran a number of businesses, and those who knew him referred to him fondly as a “serial entrepreneur.”

He worked hard to build his companies, and he made sure his four sons had the same opportunity to become entrepreneurs.

“He really did it because he envisioned his sons being partners forever but each having their own stage on which they could work,” his son Bobby Fisher said. “He did such a good job at making us entrepreneurs that we each have our own interests. But that’s just part of his legacy. He was also a terrific, warm human being who didn’t meet anyone who wasn’t his friend.”

Mr. Fisher’s four sons definitely have their father’s entrepreneurial passion.

Bobby Fisher now runs Washing Systems, David Fisher is CEO of Jones the Florist, Marc Fisher operates a new venture called Donations 2 Dollars, and Michael Fisher is CEO of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

“Mel was always inclusive of

his boys when they were very young, giving them real responsibility,” said Mark Jahnke, Mr. Fisher’s personal and company attorney since 1982.

Mr. Fisher’s most recent business venture was Galaxy Associates, the Blue Ash-based chemical company. He founded the company in 2002 and served as chairman until this year when he retired due to health concerns.

His entrepreneurial career began in 1964 when he and his brother-inlaw, Jerry Lerner, teamed up to buy a struggling chemical maker called Texo Corp. Other companies he owned or ran include Straus Kielson Co., Premier Manufacturing Support Services, Ampac and West Chester Holdings.

Ellen van der Horst, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA

Melvyn Fisher

Regional Chamber, said Fisher left an “indelible impression on Cincinnati.”

“Mel Fisher was a successful entrepreneur and strong businessman, and his passion for his family and community equaled his passion for his work,” she said in a statement.

Bill Oeters, the president of Galaxy Associates, first met Mr. Fisher in the 1970s when he caddied for him during a round of golf at Crest Hills Country Club.

“He was a wonderful man, a great guy to work with, and he knew how to motivate people and challenge people,” Oeters said.

“He never changed. He was as nice to the caddies as he was to anyone in a professional environment.”

FISHER on page 22

Hella Moritz leaves a lasting imprint on the Jewish community

Philly museum opens with stars, speeches, plenty of American nostalgia

By Rabbi Pinchas Shapiro Jewish Telegraphic Agency

By Deborah Hirsch The Jewish Exponent

NEW YORK (JTA) — Hella Moritz died as she lived: quiet, unassuming and removed from the bustling, tumultuous world in which she served. But as her life left an indelible imprint on the Jewish community, her death last week leaves a great void.

Hella faithfully served the Jewish people for five decades. More than a profession, her commitment was a way of life and her legacy is one of charity, justice and irrepressible spirit.

Born in Saarbrucken in 1929, her birthplace is part of a world long forgotten — a mandate governed under the Treaty of

Versailles and the League of Nations. Her family fled the Nazi inferno and arrived in Brazil where Hella grew, studied and made the choices that led her to a lifetime of service.

A witness to power, Hella was the secretary to the presidents of the World Jewish Congress.

Promoted throughout the decades, Hella characteristically preferred to remain with the title “secretary,” for she found in it a truly noble profession, shunning all modern variations of the term. She was one of the few who met with every prime minister of Israel and who was able to speak at will with noble laureates, heads of state and leading religious officials.

MORITZ on page 19

PHILADELPHIA (Jewish Exponent) — Her granddaughter at her elbow, 89-year-old Ruth SarnerLibros walked slowly through the fourth floor of the National Museum of American Jewish History, drinking in every display.

Flashing a broad smile, Sarner-Libros said it was beyond anything she had MUSEUM on page 22

Courtesy of Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Barbra Streisand, left, Jerry Seinfeld and Bette Midler were among the stars who gathered for a gala celebrating the new National Museum of American Jewish History, Nov. 13, 2010.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010 18 KISLEV, 5771 CINCINNATI, OHIO LIGHT CANDLES AT 5:00 SHABBAT ENDS 5:59 VOL. 157 • NO. 18 $2.00

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DINING OUT

What can Israel, the Palestinians figure out in 90 days?

Filmmaker marries Hollywood to tikkun olam

Rockwern Academy Tribute Dinner

Dingle House— Mingle at Dingle’s

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LOCAL

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

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Yad Vashem honors Boymel’s rescuer as Righteous Among Nations

By Nicole Simon Assistant Editor On Sunday, Nov. 21, at the Fairfield Pavilion, Yad Vashem posthumously honored Petrivna (Petr) Tokarsky for sheltering Cincinnati businessman Sam Boymel during the Holocaust.

Before a reception of 430 people, S. Isaac Mekel from the American Society of Yad Vashem, and Louis Balcher, representing the Israeli government through the Consulate General of Israel, presented Tokarsky’s granddaughter Olga Khvas and great-granddaughter Antonina Potysiuk, both of Ukraine, with a medal and diploma that commemorated their family member as Righteous Among the Nations.

The two women, who have never ventured out of their home country, were discovered by Mark Shaberman, a Ukrainian expert of Yad Vashem, after an investigation into Tokarsky’s next of kin. Instead of having the ceremony in their home country, Khvas and Potysiuk were flown here to Cincinnati to meet Mr. Boymel and his family.

Sam Boymel

During the evening they received this honor, which also coincided with the publication of “Run, My Child,” the autobiographical account of Boymel and his wife Rachel’s lives before, during and after World War II. “Over 23,200 people have been recognized as having risked their lives during the Holocaust,” noted Mekel, detailing the number of Righteous Gentiles Tokarsky now has officially joined. Through his working friendship with

Boymel, Mekel encouraged Boymel to tell his story for Yad Vashem, which not only led to the aforementioned book, but also the meeting of Tokarsky’s family with the man their relative was responsible for saving.

“Run my child, run!” Boymel, 85, related his mother’s final words to him. “If you live through the war, don’t forget where you came from.”

After watching his family murdered and left in a mass grave in the outskirts of Turzysk, Poland, he ran the 20 kilometers to Tokarsky’s farm in Rastov (both towns are now part of Ukraine). Boymel also noted that it meant a lot to meet the family of his rescuer.

“Without him, I would not be here,” Boymel relayed about the Ukrainian farmer who, for a year and a half, actively hid and helped the teenage boy, knowing death awaited him if he was caught.

When it was too dangerous for Boymel to stay, Tokarsky took Boymel to military partisans to care for him.

RESCUER on page 19

Liska discusses interim leader role and the future of Jewish Hospital

By LeeAnne Galioto Assistant Editor Lee Ann Liska, chief operating officer of Mercy Health Partners assumed the role of interim leader of The Jewish Hospital on Oct. 1.

Since then, she has divided her time throughout the week to serve as both the president of Jewish Hospital and the COO of Mercy.

Liska’s number one goal is to make the transition from the past president to the new president as seamless as possible as she supports the managers and physicians.

She says her biggest challenge is “feeling like you’re doing both jobs justice,” and she continuously monitors her priorities so that both of her jobs are done well and that she’s in “the right place at the right time.”

No stranger to Jewish Hospital, Liska helps to provide stability until the new president begins in early 2011. Liska worked with the hospital while she was the CEO and executive director at UC Health – University Hospital. At that time Jewish and University hospitals were part of the Health Alliance, and as part of that relationship the two hospitals shared a lot of goals, support services and marketing strategies. That past relationship helped Liska to feel comfortable at Jewish

Lee Ann Liska

now. Additionally, she became the COO of Mercy Health Partners in May 2010, and Jewish Hospital joined Mercy in March 2010.

Liska became inspired to work in healthcare when she took a graduate level course on healthcare communication. She now has over 25 years experience in healthcare administration, including previous roles as COO of The Cleveland Clinic Florida Hospitals and vice president of operations for The MetroHealth System. With Mercy, Liska oversees operations for the organization’s six area hospitals, its service line development, and sys-

tem-wide ancillary services.

Aurora Lambert, previous president of The Jewish Hospital, retired on Sept. 30. Lambert had been at Jewish for 27 years and served as its executive leader for 12 of those years.

After Lambert announced in June her plans to retire, Mercy began the search for the next leader of Jewish Hospital with the help of Witt/Kieffer, a healthcare recruitment firm.

In October, the hospital was presented with 13 finalists out of 47 applicants, and a final slate of four people have come to the hospital for panel interviews. The hospital plans to have a decision after Thanksgiving and the new president will begin in January 2011.

The new president will be someone with transition and strategic planning experience and someone who can further strengthen the relationship with physicians and make sure patients’ needs are being met.

The Jewish Hospital is a 200bed tertiary acute care facility.

Prominent services include their cardiovascular services and openheart surgery program, the area’s largest mammography program, the region’s only bone and marrow transplant program for adults, and a robust orthopedic program.

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Israeli journalist blasts bias news coverage

By Barbara L. Morgenstern Senior Writer While fighting for survival amid terrorists who have no interest in peace, the press often unfairly portrays Israel’s role in the Middle East conflict.

So said Herb Keinon, the diplomatic correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, who recently spoke on “Israel and the Press” at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center in Cincinnati. The American Jewish Committee sponsored his visit.

A common, superficial narrative often leaves the false impression that Israelis are “rich and powerful,” while Palestinians are “poor and weak,” he said.

The journalist said there is a “radical disconnect” between

these perceptions, particularly since the Second Intifada in 2002 when the Israeli people were “mugged by reality” and feared even sending their children to school on a bus. “The Intifada has transformed the country as much as the Six Day war,” said Keinon, who was raised in Denver and has lived in Israel for 26 years with his wife and four children.

The Second Intifada prompted suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism against mostly Israeli civilians. Israel responded by confiscation of some Palestinian land and access roads; erecting a security fence; and establishing roadblocks and checkpoints, among other things. “They were blowing us up and the fence has helped.”

Keinon said Israelis still yearn for peace. But with ramped-up ter-

rorism he said the government had no choice but to combat the violence by defending itself, resulting in Israeli casualties decreasing from 200 in 2002 to 15 last year.

The only solution is for Israel to continue to practice “conflict management” and defend its people “to the utmost,” while building the most creative society possible without letting terrorists define their lives.

Americans have such a sense of fair play that they believe if Palestinians’ basic needs are met, all will be well. But Keinon explained that the harsh reality is “not every problem has a solution” and “ideology is huge” among the terrorist groups bent on the destruction of Israel. Further, coming to an agreement with one terrorist group would not necessarily result in persuading a rival terrorist group, he said.

Keinon said that even if it is not politically correct, American Jews should speak out to provide this information.

He also discussed the reasons behind unfair press coverage.

Some correspondents can reflect historic guilt over European colo-

nialism, while ignoring thousands of years of connection between Israelis and their land, Keinon said.

Also, after two world wars, nationalism sometimes has a negative connotation to Europeans, who consequently might find the idea of Zionism distasteful, he explained.

Also, the collapse of newspapers worldwide means that many journalists no longer invest time staffing bureaus in Israel. Rather, they become “helicopter” journalists, he explained, dropping in to cover breaking news. This also results in “pack journalism,” where reporters, lacking sources and a historical context, write the same narrative, he explained. For example, a photo of destruction by Israelis might be very “emotive,” but might not be countered with reports of a Palestinian bomb launched earlier.

Also, while the press in Israel is free and offers a wide range of views, “there is no free flow of information” in Gaza, he explained, adding that Palestinian correspondents, also known as “stringers,” always are “on message” and their reports unchallenged.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

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

by Isaac M.Wise VOL. 157 • NO. 18 Thursday, November 25, 2010 18 Kislev 5771 Shabbat begins Fri, 5:00 p.m.

Shabbat ends Sat, 5:59 p.m.

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO., PUBLISHERS 18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037 PHONE: (513) 621-3145 FAX: (513) 621-3744 publisher@americanisraelite.com editor@americanisraelite.com articles@americanisraelite.com production@americanisraelite.com 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

JCC Early Childhood School students love the tzedakah garden.

JCC Early Childhood School children grow with tzedakah garden The JCC Early Childhood School at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center has established itself as one of the community’s top educational institutions for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The high-quality standards in education and childcare, as well as experienced staff and modern classrooms, are just a few of the reasons why the school has become so popular that it now has a waiting list for all

age groups (ages 6 weeks–5 years).

Another aspect that sets this preschool apart from other schools in the tri-state is that it offers a one-ofa-kind tzedakah (charity) garden built by Cincinnati State Landscaping and Design students.

The garden features a greenhouse donated by Louis Katz in memory of his parents, Adele and Alfred JCC on page 22

PATTY YOUKILIS Advertising Sales JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ALLISON CHANDLER Office Manager

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $40 per year and $2.00 per single copy in Cincinnati and $45 per year and $3.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037.

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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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

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Upcoming program shares untold stories of rescuers The Talmud teaches us that “Whoever saves a life, is considered as if they saved the entire world.”

On Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Rockwern Academy, Stanlee Stahl, executive vice president of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous will share the incredible stories of men and women who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. In addition to her talk, local rescuer Anne-Willem Meijer will be in attendance as the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education honors him for his work with the Dutch Resistance.

Stahl will speak to the work of righteous gentiles who risked their lives–and the lives of their families–by aiding, hiding and saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

JFR was established in 1986 to fulfill the traditional Jewish commitment to hakarat hatov, the searching out and recognition of goodness. To this end, the organization provides monthly financial assistance to over 900 aged and needy rescuers in 23 countries. The majority of the rescuers live in Poland and are Christian, but the

Stanlee Stahl

organization also assists Muslim rescuers. At its height, the organization provided aid to 1,700 rescuers in 33 countries.

Stahl knows the stories of hundreds of rescuers–all of them incredible: a Nazi’s wife in Berlin who hid Jews in defiance of her husband, an Olympic rower in Denmark who rowed Jews in a canoe to neutral Sweden, a male non-Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz who escaped with a Jewish

woman he loved.

Prior to her position at JFR, Stahl established Extra Helping, New Jersey’s first prepared food transfer program. In addition, she spent 20 years working for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to this, she worked for Magen David Adom, Israel’s Red Cross Society.

She received her undergraduate degree from Miami University of Ohio and has graduate degrees from George Washington University and New York University.

Meijer, an Indiana man featured in “Mapping Our Tears,” will be honored for his bravery as a child in Haarlem, Holland. As an 11-yearold boy, Meijer risked his life during the Holocaust, delivering ration books for resistance leader Corrie ten Boom to aid Jews in hiding. The Meijer family also hid Jews inside their own home. At the event, Meijer will be honored for both his and his family’s courageous actions.

This program is free and open to the public, but reservations are recommended. Contact CHHE to make a reservation.

Wise Temple WiseUP social action projects for December Wise Temple congregants will be volunteering for a wide range of WiseUP Social Action projects this month to fulfill the mission of Tikkun Olam — repairing the world — to bring greater meaning

On Dec. 22, volunteers will cook and serve a holiday dinner at the St. Francis Seraph Christmas Soup Kitchen. to their lives and the lives of others. WiseUP projects provide congregants with opportunities to help those who are disadvantaged or in need. Co-chairs of WiseUP are Carol Kabel and Jody Tsevat.

Projects include sorting and packing food at the Freestore Foodbank on Dec. 4, donating blood and registering for the National Bone Marrow Registry

for the WiseUP Annual Blood Drive on Dec. 5, volunteering for the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) the week of Dec. 19 – 26, and wrapping holiday presents at Mental Health America of Northern Kentucky on Christmas Day. In addition, there are two new WiseUP projects for December this year.

On Dec. 22, volunteers will cook and serve a holiday dinner at the St. Francis Seraph Christmas Soup Kitchen.

Volunteers will also cook and serve a lunch at the Drop Inn Center on Christmas Day. Sisterhood is sponsoring its annual Bedtime Bundles Collection. For this, congregants are asked to create a welcoming “Bedtime Bundle” by filling a new pillowcase with pajamas, socks, underwear, toothpaste and toothbrush, a new book or a stuffed animal for a boy or girl ages infant through 14 years.

Bundles will be collected in the crib in the Temple lobby.

The Brotherhood will have dinner and spend time with disadvantaged youth at Lighthouse Youth Services on Dec. 16.

For more information or to register for WiseUP projects,

call Wise or go to the Temple website.

The American Israelite is currently seeking a

S ALES R EPRESENTATIVE • HIGH COMMISSION • PART TIME OR F LEX T IME • NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED

For more information or to apply, call Ted Deutsch (513) 621-3145

You can also send your resume to publisher@americanisraelite.com

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Community briefing on U.S.-Israel relationship On Monday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m.

Richard Fishman will present a Cincinnati community briefing titled, “Iran, the Peace Process, and the Future of the U.S.-Israel Alliance: An Insider’s Briefing on the 2010 Election and Middle East

Policy.” The event will take place at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center in the Amberley Room and dietary laws will be observed for the dessert reception.

Fishman is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee manag-

ing director in Washington, D.C. The 2010 mid-term elections swept in several dozen new members of Congress, and party control of the House of Representatives as well as several state governments will alter the political landscape

between now and the next presidential election. Fishman will present an expert analysis of how these developments will impact policy and politics connected to the U.S.-Israel relationship.

This event is free and open to the

public, and is being co-sponsored

by AIPAC and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.

To register, or for more information, contact the Cincinnati area director in AIPAC’s Midwest office.

UC’s Hillel commemorates Kristallnacht Last week Holocaust survivor Werner Coppel visited the University of Cincinnati’s Hillel to share his story. Students, faculty and college administrators attended this event in remembrance of the horrific event of Kristallnacht that happened on the same evening, 72 years earlier.

Coppel shared his story: his birth into a family that was well integrated, the first time he experienced anti-Semitism, his time in Auschwitz, his miraculous and courageous escape from a death march, meeting his wife after liberation and their life here in Cincinnati. His story is a testament

of hope and courage.

Coppel encouraged all those in attendance to never tolerate prejudice, even when it is not happening to one’s self. This message moved the audience.

As freshman Judith Wertheim reflected, “As a grandchild of a survivor of Kristallnacht and the

Kinder transport it is important to me each year to commemorate Kristallnacht. UC Hillel brought an incredible speaker to talk about his experiences in the Holocaust. This was the perfect way to remember the horrific events that occurred.

Being that there are few survivors still around to hear the stories first-

hand it is, as Warner Coppel said, our job to stop injustice.”

After a period of questions student Rabbi Elana Dellal led a memorial candle lighting ceremony. Six of the attendees did a reading, and each lit a memorial candle representing the six million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust.

What can Israel, the Palestinians figure out in 90 days?

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — What can happen in 90 days?

That’s the question Middle East observers are asking as Israel and the United States move closer to a deal on a 90-day West Bank Jewish settlement freeze to lure the Palestinians back to the negotiating table and revive peace talks.

A seven-hour tete-a-tete last week between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resulted in new willingness by Netanyahu to press his Cabinet to agree to another settlement freeze.

In exchange, the United States reportedly offered 20 F-35 fighter jets and $3 billion in weapons, as well as a pledge not to seek any further settlement freezes. Clinton reportedly also promised Netanyahu that the U.S. would veto any attempt by the Palestinians to get the U.N. Security Council to recognize a unilateral declaration of statehood, and that the Obama administration would intensify efforts to isolate Iran.

Netanyahu’s refusal to extend the first 10-month freeze when it lapsed Sept. 26 prompted the Palestinians to suspend direct talks that had been renewed four weeks earlier.

It wasn’t clear by Tuesday whether Netanyahu would be able to persuade his Cabinet to accept the proposal. An Israeli official told The Associated Press that the Cabinet was awaiting a written U.S. proposal and would not vote on the matter by Wednesday, as planned. It also was not clear

Courtesy of Avi Ohayon / FLASH90 / JTA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York, Nov. 11, 2010. The two reportedly are close to a deal for Israel to freeze settlement construction for another 90 days.

whether the Palestinians would accept the proposal.

One thing that is clear, Middle East experts said: Even if such hurdles are overcome, three months are unlikely to produce any major breakthroughs.

Aaron David Miller, a negotiator whose experience spanned the administrations of the first President Bush, President Clinton and the second President Bush, said Netanyahu could not possibly deliver the minimum demands of the Palestinians within 90 days: borders that conform to the pre1967 lines, albeit with land swaps, and compromises on Jerusalem and refugees.

“There’s no way that Benjamin Netanyahu can make a deal with the government he now has,” said Miller, now a scholar at the

Woodrow Wilson International Center and author of “The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace.”

Instead, Miller said, the best the Americans could hope for was to get Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the point where they trust one another enough to stick with the process. Instead of the Obama administration “owning” the process, Miller said, the Palestinians and the Israelis would be committed to the talks to the point where they would not need American prodding.

“You need Netanyahu and Abbas thinking the other guy is serious and I will stretch to meet his needs,” Miller said.

Another tack, suggested

Steven Spiegel, a political science professor at UCLA, would be for the sides to agree on the settlement blocs that eventually would become part of Israel, and that there would be a one-for-one land swap with a future Palestinian state for these lands. That would allow Israel to build unfettered in those blocs while bringing the Palestinians a step closer to recognized statehood.

“The aim is to settle the settlement question and get it off the table,” Spiegel said, noting that it has been the principal issue vexing talks until now.

Much could stand in the way of such an outcome, not least of which is the distance that still separates Abbas and Netanyahu. The Palestinian leader reportedly is seeking his own assurances from the United States before returning to the negotiating table, including a freeze on building in eastern Jerusalem — something that has been rejected emphatically by Netanyahu.

Other factors that could inhibit an accommodation are a resurgence of terrorist attacks engineered by Hamas, and the economic and political realities in the United States now preoccupying President Obama after massive Democratic losses in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) already told Netanyahu in a separate meeting that a Republican majority would “serve as a check” on the Obama administration. A Cantor spokesman clarified later to say that the lawmaker was speaking broadly, but the context of the statement suggested that it would include matters of U.S.Israel relations.

It was clear even before the

Clinton-Netanyahu meeting that the Obama administration was going out of its way to smooth a path for Netanyahu back to the talks.

When Israel announced a major building start in eastern Jerusalem on Nov. 8, just as Netanyahu came to the United States for a visit, Obama’s response was much more muted than in March, when a similar announcement occurred during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel. Instead of the tough language Obama administration officials had used in March, Obama merely said the announcement was “unhelpful” and called on both sides not to make unilateral moves.

In a phone call last Friday with Jewish organizational leaders, Daniel Shapiro, the most senior National Security Council official dealing with Israel and its neighbors, took pains to reassure his listeners that all of Netanyahu’s meetings with U.S. officials — including Biden and Clinton — had been “excellent.”

There were signs also that with the delays and suspicions still besetting the process, the administration was trimming its hopes for a settled outcome within a year.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley admitted Monday in a briefing that the administration was no longer as confident in the 12-month “clock.”

“As you know, when the process started, we said this could be accomplished within 12 months,” he said. “Hard to say at this point, given the delay over the issue of settlements, where we stand on that clock. But the first step in the process is to get them back to the bargaining table.”

NATIONAL

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

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In the lions’ den: Federation women cap week in the Big Easy

By Jacob Berkman Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW ORLEANS, La. (JTA) — Just down the road from where the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America had concluded a day earlier, more than a thousand of the federation system’s most generous women found a philanthropic sanctuary of their own.

At the Hilton Hotel here, the International Lion of Judah Conference drew about 1,100 of the women that the federation system refers to as “lions” — those who give at least $5,000 each year to the system — for a number of sessions dedicated to showcasing the best of what that system supports and highlighting some of the interesting projects women are running in the broader Jewish nonprofit world.

They told stories about strong women and mothers. And at a conference without men, the humor was decidedly female-centric: Comic Judy Gold, performing at its closing gala, got her biggest laugh in response to a joke involving a yeast infection and Passover.

The absence of men was vitally important to making the five-day event a success, said guests at the Nov. 10 closing gala at the Hilton.

“You can let your hair down more,” Shanny Morgenstern, the president of women’s philanthropy at the Kansas City federation, told JTA. While annual campaigns have fallen across the country with the recession, women’s giving to the federation has held steady over the past two years, said Kim Fish, the senior director of national women’s philanthropy for the Jewish Federations of North America.

The lions made $19.1 million in pledges over the course of their conference — a 12 percent increase compared to their last get-together in late 2008, just before the recession took hold. In the Big Easy, their average gift was more than $17,000.

The Lion of Judah has become something of a cultural phenomenon within the federation world since Norma Wilson came up with the concept in Miami in 1972.

Her idea was to spur giving by rewarding women who gave $5,000 or more with a gold brooch featuring a roaring lion and a diamond eye. As the idea spread from federation to federation the lion evolved, with the diamond eye turning into a ruby for a gift of $10,000, a sapphire for $18,000 and an emerald for $25,000. The lion turns platinum if a woman has given a gift of more than $100,000 — and if a woman endows her gift, the philanthropic feline gets a little gold torch to hold in its outstretched paw.

And while the GA, the annual

Courtesy of Bernie Saul for Jewish Federations of North America

One of the “lions” at the International Lion of Judah conference helps a young New Orleans reader during the event’s community service literacy project.

conference for the federation system’s lay and professional leaders, is more about the system’s functionality, best practices and policy, the biannual Lion of Judah conference is strictly about fundraising — and instilling a sense of feminine camaraderie in some of the most generous benefactors of the multibillion-dollar per year charitable system.

“It’s about sisterhood,” Bari Freiden, a Lion from Kansas City, told JTA between sessions. “You are all the same because you are at a certain giving level or above no matter where you are from. You recognize a lion and all of a sudden you have a connection.”

The idea has worked — big time. The federations may do a better job of raising money from women than any other philanthropy, Jewish or not. About 17,000 women in the United States have become Lions, and they provide the core of the $180 million raised by the federations through their women’s philanthropy campaign.

All told, giving by women accounts for about 23 percent of the annual $900 million general campaign, according to Fish.

At federations like the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, the women’s campaign brings in about 40 percent of the organization’s overall annual campaign, according to Steve Rakitt, the federation’s president.

While some insiders openly wondered whether federations should have spent more time at the GA working on how to articulate their story more clearly, the system clearly knew how to pitch its Lions.

Their conference this year was orchestrated to put the federations front and center, and to pull at the heartstrings of its participants.

Sessions ranging from “Slim Peace: Diet for a Peaceful Planet” to “Strong Women and ‘Lipstick’ Leadership” to “Business Women and Politics” generally avoided

becoming bogged down in philanthropic theory, instead focusing on making the attendees aware of the more interesting programs being funded by the federations. The sessions told the stories of the programs through women’s voices.

For example, during one session, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee — one of the federation system's two main overseas partners — focused on a woman it rescued from Georgia and another it saved from Bosnia. The session also highlighted the generosity of Anne Heyman, a major funder who worked with the JDC to establish the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda for orphans of the country’s genocide.

Each presentation drew more on the emotional than on nuts and bolts — and each included a pitch for the federation system.

Plenary sessions were more about positioning the federation and the Lion of Judah as not just organizations offering opportunities to donate to good works, but also venues for making friends and empowering women through philanthropy.

Having no men around was key, participants said.

“You can say things you wouldn’t necessarily say with men there,” said Morgenstern of the Kansas City federation. “If there would be men, the women would be less open to share.”

“It is an exclusive network both because it is women and the giving dollar amount,” said Freiden, a fellow Kansas City lion.

And while that included a bit of feminine high-jinks on Bourbon Street that both acknowledged, the conference all led up to a caucus closed not only to the press but also to all but the highest-level staff, at which the women poured out their hearts and opened their checkbooks.

After spending five days hearing about the power of the federa-

tions and of being women associated with the federations, the Lions broke into groups. The women sat in a circle and, one by one, told their stories about how their local federation had personally touched them.

The caucus became a tear-filled affair as the women related their intensely personal stories — and made financial pledges to their local federations, often disclosing the dollar amount or at least the percentage of increase over their last pledge, according to several participants.

Despite the success, some federation insiders say the model would need to be tweaked to attract a younger generation. This year the conference included a service project in which Lions, in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon

Foundation’s PJ Library, handed out backpacks of books to underprivileged New Orleans children as the federations become convinced that service is the gateway to a younger generation.

But for now, the federations are banking on inspiring more giving through sisterhood.

“If you put women in a situation where there is abundance and where they can all succeed, they are incredibly cooperative and helpful to each other,” Freiden said.

“Whereas if you are in a situation where you are taking from my cubs, they come out with their claws.

Here it doesn’t hurt us to share good things. It helps us and we help each other.”

This article was adapted from The Fundermentalist newsletter.

8

NATIONAL

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In deposition, porn claims made, AIPAC officials admit lack of policy on classified info

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Courtesy of Nationlight Productions

Filmmaker Marc Erlbaum with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt during the filming of “Cafe,” May 2009.

Filmmaker marries Hollywood to tikkun olam

By Uri Fintzy Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK (JTA) — What was Elisabeth Moss, star of the AMC hit series “Mad Men” and an avowed Scientologist, doing hanging out with a Lubavitcher Jew? They were making a movie together to promote “tikkun olam,” the Jewish value of repairing the world.

The product of their work, “A Buddy Story” — a romantic drama about a singer-songwriter who finds love on a weeklong trip with his neighbor — is expected to make it to the silver screen next year.

It’s just one of several films that Mark Erlbaum, an Orthodox “ba’al teshuvah,” or returnee to the faith, is making with Hollywood stars to promote positive messages to movie audiences.

“I am a religious person,” Erlbaum told JTA. “I very much believe in tikkun olam and the core Jewish values of hope, self-sacrifice and mutual helpfulness.”

Aside from Moss, actors Jennifer Love Hewitt, Will Ferrell and Jamie Kennedy are involved in film projects at Erlbaum’s production company, Nationlight Productions.

“I adore Marc; he is such a wonderful and funny man,” Moss told JTA in an interview. “He was the first interaction I had with the Orthodox community. Although I was exposed to so many different people growing up in New York, I didn’t know what to expect, but he is so cool and funny. It was a terrific experience.”

The journey that brought Erlbaum, 40, from the real estate business to independent filmmak-

ing also had something to do with the journey that transformed him from a casual Jew to an Orthodox one.

Erlbaum discovered Orthodoxy during his college years, when his father began bringing a ChabadLubavitch rabbi to their Philadelphia home to talk religion.

Erlbaum hadn’t thought much about his Judaism, but he quickly became captivated. The rabbi soon had a transformative effect on him and his two brothers.

“We were all stimulated and realized we actually knew nothing about Judaism,” Erlbaum said.

In time he became strictly observant. Erlbaum, along with his wife and family, embraced Orthodoxy.

Erlbaum had worked at his family’s bridal chain and founded a Philadelphia real estate agency before turning to writing. By 2005 he already had written, directed and co-produced a short film.

It wasn’t enough. Erlbaum said he needed to do more to spread the positive messages about human values he had found in Judaism.

So in 2009, Erlbaum said, he decided to launch a film production company “focused on creating inspiring, meaningful content for mainstream audiences of all backgrounds and affiliations.” He sees his work as promoting Jewish values.

“There is no better way than film to reach people, and I have the power to be that ‘or lagoyim,’ or ‘nation light,’ like the production company’s title,” he said. Or lagoyim is Hebrew for “light unto the nations.”

Erlbaum’s latest drama, “Cafe,” starring Hewitt and Kennedy, is about a Philadelphia coffee shop

where the stories of workers and customers dealing with life challenges intersect to weave a web of spirituality. The film, though not yet in wide release, was shown at the 2010 Philadelphia Film Festival.

“Although there is no explicit Jewish content in the film, the values certainly guide the characters in their development,” Erlbaum said.

In addition to Moss, “A Buddy Story” features Orthodox Jewish hip-hop star Matisyahu. The film was shot more than three years ago and is now in post-production.

Moss said it was the storyline that drew her into the project.

“I just loved the plot — it’s such a simple love story and it really has uplifting moments to it,” she said.

Erlbaum laments the fact that Hollywood makes so few such films, and he recently started a Facebook campaign to encourage studios to make more positive, family-oriented films with uplifting messages. He also is starting a campaign he calls “Filmanthropy” to encourage donors to support the production of films that promote the value of tikkun olam.

“There is definitely a cynical edge to media, and we as a society act accordingly, and that is too bad,” he said.

By producing uplifting films, Erlbaum said, he hopes to increase the positivity that will make people act more respectfully and kindly toward each other.

“I believe that everyone should be more thoughtful and giving,” he said. “We are not here to push for Judaism. I believe that everybody can do something significant for others, and I’m glad I have a medium like film to express that.”

WASHINGTON (JTA) — AIPAC officials acknowledged in depositions that the organization only recently adopted a stated policy forbidding the receipt of classified information. The depositions also produced claims regarding the viewing of pornographic materials on office computers.

The depositions are part of a brief filed earlier this month in the District of Columbia Superior Court by lawyers for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee seeking the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit by Steve Rosen, AIPAC’s former foreign policy chief.

Rosen was fired in March 2005, seven months after the FBI raided AIPAC offices on Aug. 27, 2004 seeking evidence in a federal case that would charge Rosen and Keith Weissman, AIPAC’s top Iran analyst, with dealing in classified information.

The firing came after federal law enforcement officials replayed a wiretapped conversation for AIPAC lawyer Nathan Lewin with Rosen, Weissman and Glenn Kessler, a Washington Post correspondent, in which Weissman and Rosen relay information to Kessler about a purported Iranian plan to attack Americans and Israelis in Iraq.

Weissman in the conversation wondered if relaying the information would get him in trouble, and Rosen countered that the United States does not have an “Official Secrets Act,” the British law that criminalizes the receipt of classified information by civilians.

After hearing the conversation, Lewin recommended firing Rosen and Weissman.

“What happened in the conversation was that these two AIPAC employees were trying to persuade a Washington Post reporter that they had information that was so hot that he should print; that they could go to jail as a result of printing it, but they are disclosing it to him notwithstanding that,” Lewin said. “And my feeling was that was something that, as I said in the letter [recommending the firings], AIPAC could not condone, much as I felt that they had not committed a crime.”

Lewin instructed an outside

publicist, Patrick Dorton, to say that Rosen and Weissman were fired because “their conduct did not comport with what AIPAC would expect of its employees,” he recalled in the deposition.

That claim is the crux of Rosen’s defamation lawsuit, which he filed in March 2009, just weeks before the government dropped its criminal case.

In the deposition, a lawyer for Rosen pressed Lewin if he knew of relevant AIPAC standards.

“I didn’t,” he acknowledged. “It wasn't a question of knowing what the standards were. I just knew, in terms of my general experience and my feeling in terms of a Washington lawyer, that if it became public that AIPAC’s employees were trying to peddle a story based on classified information, AIPAC would not be able to withstand the criticism that would follow the fact that those employees were retained.”

In the same filing Richard Fishman, AIPAC’s managing director, also acknowledged in a deposition the lack of a stated policy. He noted that AIPAC within the last two years has made explicit a policy against receiving classified information.

When Rosen was employed, Fishman said, it was a “common sense understanding,” although he did not elaborate how such an understanding was conveyed.

Dorton in his deposition said Rosen was fired also for not being candid with AIPAC officials about his conversations with the FBI prior to the raid. AIPAC’s lawyers pressed Rosen in his deposition about his decision to contact an Israeli diplomat when he learned that the FBI was planning a raid — even before he spoke to Howard Kohr, AIPAC’s executive director.

Much of the material in Rosen’s deposition had to do with his viewing pornography on an office computer. Rosen countered that he knew Kohr and others at AIPAC also viewed pornography on AIPAC computers.

Additionally, AIPAC’s lawyers insisted that Rosen list the AIPAC donors whose donations helped sustain him between the time he was fired and the time the government dropped the case, in May 2009.

Rosen has been at pains not to identify the donors in order not to create tensions between them and AIPAC.

NATIONAL

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

9

Conservative movement tipping toward openness to children of intermarried

By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Courtesy of Ben Harris

Participants in a chant circle led by Rabbi Shefa Gold intone Hebrew phrases at Congregation Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque, N.M., Nov. 4, 2010.

With shruti boxes, drums, practitioners chant their way into Judaism

By Ben Harris Jewish Telegraphic Agency ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (JTA) — In a darkened room at a synagogue affiliated with the Jewish Renewal movement, 20 women gather by candlelight for Rabbi Shefa Gold’s monthly Jewish chant circle.

As a shruti box drones and a hand drum keeps rhythm, many rock in their seats, their eyes closed and faces lifted in almost ecstatic rapture while they chant biblical verses and liturgical phrases Gold has selected for the evening.

The volume rises and their voices intensify as they intone the verses over and over, building to a climactic moment when the chant ceases and a heavy silence falls across the room.

“The most important part of the chant is the silence,” Gold explains. “With the chant we're building a mishkan, we’re building a sanctuary, a holy place, with our intention and with all the beauty we can bring to it. And then in the silence afterward we step into that mishkan that we have built and we receive God’s presence.”

Once a practice confined largely to the fringe, Jewish chanting is making inroads well beyond its roots in Jewish retreat centers and New Age spirituality. Regular Jewish chant circles are cropping up across the United States — at least three in the Boston area alone, where a festival was held earlier this month focusing on Hebrew kirtan, a variety of Hindu chanting involving call and response.

At the Conservative Temple Emanu-El in Providence, R.I., an alternative “soulful” Shabbat morning service begins with 30

minutes of chanting attracting some 40 participants to its monthly meetings. At the recent convention of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation in Southern California, Gold was invited to lead a chanting workshop and a Shabbat morning service — an invitation she saw as further evidence of the mainstreaming of Jewish chanting.

“It was something that I felt was a bit more fringe in the past,” Gold told JTA. “And now people are recognizing it as an important modality of prayer.”

Nearly all the growth in Jewish chanting can be traced back to Gold, a soft-spoken rabbi ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College who lives with her husband in the mountains of northern New Mexico.

From her home in Jemez Springs, Gold runs Kol Zimra, the country’s only formal training program in Jewish chant. Its graduates have gone on to found chanting groups across the country. More than 100 rabbis, cantors and lay leaders have completed the 18month training course, now in its fourth cohort.

The practice appears to have particular appeal to women and to those already inclined to spiritual pursuits. Participants speak of the healing and meditational qualities of chanting, its ability to open the heart and engage body and mind in ways that more traditional Jewish synagogue practices do not.

“The chanting practice allowed access to an understanding of spiritual things, and an experience of spiritual things, that I wasn’t getting any other way,” said Bruce Phillips, an alumnus of Kol Zimra who with his wife runs the monthly chant service in Providence.

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — What should a Jewish teacher say to a child who talks about helping grandma decorate the Christmas tree?

“What the teacher should not say is, ‘You’re not supposed to do that — you’re Jewish,’ ” says Rachel Glaser, education director of the religious school at Beth Israel Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in Owings Mills, Md. “That hurts the child and shuts a door.”

That was among the lessons Glaser and 70 other Conservative educators in the Baltimore area learned during a “keruv,” or outreach workshop, held last month and focused on sensitizing Conservative educators to the needs of children who have nonJewish family members — a population that is growing in Conservative preschools and religious schools as intermarried couples fill more of the pews in the movement’s synagogues.

It was the first such seminar for religious school teachers organized by the Conservative

movement’s Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs.

The movement has been divided on the issue in recent years, with the Men’s Clubs as the voice of openness toward intermarried families and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism coming out more forcefully for conversion.

At its 2005 biennial conference, the Conservative movement’s leadership asked its congregations, schools and summer camps to be more welcoming to the children of non-Jewish parents even as it urged rabbis and lay leaders to “encourage conversion” of the non-Jewish spouse.

Five years later the balance seems to be tipping in favor of openness. Movement insiders chalk that up to the efforts of the Men’s Clubs’ Keruv Initiative, which has run workshops on outreach for rabbis and lay leaders for several years and is now branching out to religious school teachers. In January, a second teachers’ workshop will be held in San Francisco, and four or five are planned for the coming academic year.

Keruv, which is Hebrew for “bringing closer,” is the term used

for the act of bringing people closer to Judaism.

“I’ve evolved a lot,” said Rabbi Carl Wolkin of Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook, Ill., who attended one of the early rabbinical keruv think tanks.

Over the past three years, his congregation has developed an active outreach committee, and it now offers worship services and other programs for intermarried couples. Wolkin now makes sure that both parents, Jewish or not, come up to the pulpit at b’nai mitzvahs and baby-naming ceremonies.

It’s not about compromising standards, Wolkin says.

Like other Conservative rabbis, Wolkin will not officiate at an interfaith wedding, but he wants the couple to know they are wanted in the congregation as they explore their Jewish future. That message has been blurred too often in the Conservative world, which hurts the movement, he says.

“We’ve lost a lot of the kids of people who grew up in this congregation because we haven’t let them know in an effective way that we want them back,” Wolkin told JTA.

10

INTERNATIONAL/ISRAEL

International Briefs Wanted Nazi Samuel Kunz dies in Germany (JTA) — Samuel Kunz, one of the world’s most wanted Nazis, died in Germany before he could be brought to trial.

Kunz, 89, who was charged earlier this year with assisting in the murder of 430,000 Jews during the Holocaust, died Nov. 18, the court in the German city of Bonn said Monday, according to reports.

He was No. 3 on The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of most wanted Nazi war criminals.

Kunz allegedly assisted in murdering Jews at the Belzec death camp, and also was accused of taking victims from trains, pushing them into gas chambers and throwing victims’ bodies into mass graves.

Kunz’s activities were revealed during investigations into John Demjanjuk, who is on trial in Munich for allegedly helping to kill 27,900 Jews.

No trial date had been set for Kunz, who was behind only Sandor Kepiro of Hungary and Milivoj Asner of Austria on the Most Wanted list.

Protest forces London Ahava store to close (JTA) — An Ahava store in London was forced to close again after pro-Palestinian activists blocked the entrance.

Two activists reportedly chained themselves to a cement-filled barrel and had to be removed by police, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Ahava produces lotions and bath crystals using Dead Sea minerals on West Bank land claimed by the Palestinians. It has been the target of boycotts and protests worldwide.

The same London store was forced to close twice in 2009, in September and December, due to protests in which activists locked themselves to the same barrels.

Kristallnacht memorial stolen (JTA) — Thieves made off with a Kristallnacht monument weighing nearly a ton from the Jewish cemetery in Cologne.

The theft occurred on Nov. 14, Ha’aretz reported last Friday. The local Jewish community is offering a reward of 4,000 Euro (about $5,500) for information leading to its retrieval.

The monument, representing religious objects rescued during the night of Nazi-spurred violence and looting in 1938, stood about 9 feet high.

The theft took place days after commemorations of Kristallnacht, or “the Night of Broken Glass” — named for the Jewish shops that were destroyed during the attacks.

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Ariel theater opening pits left, right in fight over who is hurting Israel

By Leslie Susser Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — Residents of the arid West Bank town of Ariel got a taste last week of Paris.

Defying left-wing calls for an actors’ boycott, the Beersheba theater group inaugurated a new cultural center with a moving performance of “Piaf,” a musical tribute to the undisputed doyenne of the French chanson.

The very staging of the show went to the heart of a bitter argument between left and right over which side can claim to be today’s true Zionists. Each accuses the other of betraying the Zionist heritage and giving succor to a rising tide of delegitimization that calls for Israel’s dismantlement or at least questions its right to exist.

For the left-wingers, the tricky dilemma is how to criticize the government and the occupation without providing ammunition for Israel’s foes.

Right-wingers argue that sharp left-wing attacks on the settler project, like calling for a cultural boycott of the settlements, play into the hands of would-be delegitimizers, who also use the boycott weapon. Left-wingers retort that only by ending the occupation, the target of virtually all their criticism, will Israel finally be able to put to rest the growing rumblings against its international legitimacy.

In the run-up to the Piaf performance, left-wing actors, directors, authors and academics wrote letters calling for a boycott of the Ariel cultural center to make crystal clear their opposition to the ongoing settlement enterprise.

“It was essential to remind Israeli public opinion that there is no consensus on the legitimacy of the settlements,” playwright Yehoshua Sobol, one of the leaders of the protest, told JTA. “It’s a case of Ariel or Israel. Ariel will destroy Israel if it goes on like this.”

Israeli Culture Minister Limor Livnat responded with two proposals, both of which enraged the left: that government financing for theater groups be dependent on prior agreement to perform anywhere under Israeli control, and that a prize be created for “Zionist” work.

Outraged left-wingers argued that it would be wrong to attach government strings of any kind to creative work. Moreover, they asked, who would define what was or was not “Zionist?”

“There is a semantic confusion

here,” Gadi Baltiansky, director of the Geneva Initiative, a 2003 blueprint for peace with the Palestinians, said in an interview with JTA. “When Culture Minister Limor Livnat says her answer to those who don’t want to perform in Ariel is to give a prize to a ‘Zionist’ work, she is turning things upside down. The true Zionists are the people who don’t want to keep the West Bank, and those who do are the ones undermining the legitimacy of the

Reut Institute has been working on strategies to combat Israel’s would-be delegitimizers. In an interview with JTA, Shayshon argued that vocal Israeli left-wing critics can actually play a key role in the fight against delegitimization. Coming from them, he said, criticism of the delegitimizers carries more weight.

But Shayshon says that not all left-wingers take a helpful stance.

Some are wary of even acknowledging that a delegitimization

Courtesy of Gili Yaari/Flash90/JTA

Visitors attending the opening night of the controversial new cultural center in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, Nov. 8, 2010.

Zionist enterprise.”

The right-wingers contend that Israel, surrounded by irredentist enemies and facing growing international criticism aimed at delegitimizing its very existence, desperately needs a single unifying ideology based on the justice of its cause. Otherwise, they say, the country might not survive.

“If we are to withstand everything the Israeli Arabs, the Islamic world and the post-modernists who see nationalism as outmoded and immoral want to do to us, we need a defining ideology that highlights the justice of our cause,” Yisrael Harel, chairman of the Institute for Zionist Strategies, told JTA. “Otherwise, over time, there won’t be a Jewish state because there will be no one left to fight for it.”

Left-wingers respond that it is precisely the monolithic ultranationalism pushed by people like Harel that could make Israel an international pariah. On the contrary, they say, a place of honor for Israel among the nations depends on a commitment to universal, humanistic ideals and an end to the occupation.

For the past few years, Eran Shayshon of the Tel Aviv-based

problem exists, he says, because they fear that to do so might compromise their freedom to criticize the government. Others go too far, using terms like “apartheid,” which plays into the hands of delegitimizers.

“We need people from the liberal left first to acknowledge that a delegitimization problem exists and then to distance themselves clearly from the phenomenon,” Shayshon said.

Shayshon maintains that while the ultranationalism on the Israeli right is clearly a response to delegitimization, it is not a very effective way of fighting it. In some cases, he says, it even helps the delegitimizers depict Israel as an intolerant and close-minded society.

In Shayshon’s view, what Israel needs is to make a very clear distinction between delegitimization of the state and legitimate criticism of government policy, and then to be receptive to the criticism while isolating and marginalizing the delegitimitizers.

The trouble is that this requires a subtlety of mind — Shayshon says that doesn’t readily exist in Israel.

“Israelis tend to adopt a ‘narrow tent’ mind-set, which says, ‘If

you are not with me, you are against me,’ whereas the delegitimizers do the opposite, embracing anyone who is not against them,” he said. “That is a much more effective strategy and I think we should adopt it. The narrowtent approach could push critics who care about the country into the arms of the delegitimizers who don’t.”

Nevertheless Shayshon — who has been focusing on areas like London, the San Francisco Bay Area, Madrid and Montreal, where delegimization groups are strong — predicted the beginnings of a positive turnaround.

“2011 is going to be the first year we fight back. When I say we, I mean the government as well as pro-Zionist groups in Israel and abroad,” he said. “There is a much greater awareness of the potential power of delegitimization, and we are finally gearing up to meet it.”

Left-wingers insist that it is relatively easy for them to be against the occupation but for the Israeli state and against the delegitimizers who would destroy it.

“I, for example, came out against the boycott calls and wrote a letter to the University of California at Berkeley when it was necessary,” Baltiansky said. “I also came out against those who are in favor of a Palestinian state but forget there is another state here, too.”

Baltiansky does not think the delegitimizers pose an immediate threat to Israel’s existence, but he is worried about longer-term trends.

“It could start with an isolated academic boycott, which turns into a much larger economic boycott, followed by refusal to meet Israeli officials,” he said. “People could start asking, why is Israel necessary? And that could lead to really damaging isolation. That’s why we are so strongly against BDS” — the term used to describe the campaign for anti-Israel boycotts, divestment measures and sanctions.

In Baltiansky’s view, a credible peace process would help arrest the negative trend, and achieving a two-state solution as envisaged by the left would finally remove questions about Israel’s legitimacy and marginalize the remaining hardcore delegitimizers.

“The two-state solution gives legitimacy to Israel, to Zionism and to the right of the Jewish people to self-determination,” Baltiansky maintained. “And the lack of such a solution puts our legitimacy at risk.”

SOCIAL LIFE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

11

A N N O U N C E M E N TS WEDDING r. and Mrs. Alan Jay Friedman are pleased to announce the upcoming marriage of their daughter, Laura Beth, to Adam Ethan Witkov.

Laura is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Nadler, of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mrs. Arthur H. Friedman, of Boca Raton, Fla. and Cincinnati, Ohio and the late Arthur H. Friedman.

Laura graduated from Kentucky Country Day School and Indiana University, where she was a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. She is currently a reading specialist in Milwaukee, Wis., and is also working toward her masters degree in reading, at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee.

Adam is the son of Adalynn and Stewart Witkov, of

M

R E F UA H S H L E M A H Frieda Berger Fraida bat Raizel

Pepa Kaufman Perel Tova bat Sima Sora

Daniel Eliyahu Daniel ben Tikvah

Murray Kirschner Chaim Meir ben Basha

Edith Kaffeman Yehudit bat B’racha

Ravid Sulam Ravid Chaya bat Ayelet

Roma Kaltman Ruchama bat Perl

Edward Ziv Raphael Eliezer Aharon ben Esther Enya

Laura Beth Friedman & Adam Ethan Witkov

Chicago, Ill. and De Pere, Wis. He is the grandson of Ann Kaplan, of Chicago, Ill. and the late Leo Kaplan and the late Mildred and Sidney Witkov. Adam graduated from New Trier High School, in Winnetka, Ill., the University of Texas, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu frater-

nity and the University of Wisconsin Law School. He is currently an attorney with the law firm of Michael Best and Friedrich in Milwaukee, Wis. Laura and Adam will be married at the Brown Hotel, in Louisville, Ky. on December 18, 2010 and will reside in Milwaukee, Wis.

ROCKWERN ACADEMY TRIBUTE DINNER

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COLORING

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MATERIALS:

Anything that shows up bold and bright, such as markers, crayons, paint or cut paper.

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Open to children of all ages.

All entries must be received by FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH

The Finestone family enjoys the evening

Peter Cline, head of school, delivering the welcoming address

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Dr. Elizabeth Mason introduces her mother, Mary Lee Sirkin

Louis and Mary Lee Sirkin listen to the speeches

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PART TWO

The Sirkin family, daughters, Jennifer, Tami, Elizabeth and her husband Jeremy Mason

The Finestone family, Ethan, Mia, and Gabrielle with their parents and grandparents, Natalio and Rayna Kogan

The Adath Israel Party Room was filled with over 450 guests

Several students from the Rockwern Choir lead Hatikvah and the HaMotzi

Barry Finestone passionately spoke about the gift of a Jewish education that his parents bestowed upon him

Ellen’s parents, Natalio and Rayna Kogan, enjoy her speech

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

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Ben Schneider, current Rockwern Academy board president, applauds the honorees

Dianne Rosenberg introduces Barry and Ellen Finestone

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Mary Lee Sirkin addresses the audience

Ellen Finestone speaks about the unique spirit of community at Rockwern Academy

14

DINING OUT

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Dingle House — Mingle at Dingle’s

By Marilyn Gale Dining Editor Cincinnati is growing—really sprawling—as evidenced by the West Chester suburb that I traveled to in order to check out this eatery which opened in 2008. To meet the needs of thriving Generation X Americans, entire upscale shopping centers have sprung up like bright spring flowers, beckoning one to venture into that part of town. Sure, Ikea helped bring newcomers to the surrounding bustling Union Centre arenas, but Dingle House Irish Pub is keeping locals and business travelers staying at the brand new hotels in the area smiling, happy and festive. Even the name of the restaurant sounds happy.

Dingle House is a pub with attitude and the restaurant is a worthy mate. Gastropubs is the correct name for taverns that also serve food. Irish pubs are known for craic – a term for fun, entertainment and enjoyable conversation. I hear buying drinks in rounds is a common occurrence in traditional Irish pubs.

Also singing is widely accepted especially later in the evening when the jovial customers have been mellowed by the tasty brews.

Packed with all types of beer, dark, light, ale, lagers, stout, wheat – familiar words for connoisseurs of the hops—the food is equally robust with flavor. Dingle’s executive chef, John Willemin, whips up traditional Irish specialties with a bit of pizzazz. I had the pleasure of tasting Irish egg rolls: a Reuben filling stuffed with tasty strings of sauerkraut covered in melted Swiss cheese, nestled inside a crispy, flakey miniature egg roll wrapper. A popular appetizer and a dynamite side to go with the multiple beers – I counted 20 – on draft, Willemin recommends his French onion soup blanketed in thick layers of provolone cheese.

It’s a great winter comfort combination, paired with beer, of course.

Willemin is a local man from Loveland. Friendly, with Scottish roots, he could easily be an extra from the movie Braveheart. His first job was washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant at age 12. His next experience was working at Kenwood Country Club for extra money and there he learned the art of fine din-

(Clockwise) John Willemin, executive chef, has a passion for feeding people; Pretty as a picture, Dingle House is always festive; Irish egg rolls are a yummy, can’t-stop-eating-them appetizer; Jovial servers in traditional Irish kilts add to the atmosphere at Dingle House.

ing. “Food needs to taste as good as it looks, and look as good as it tastes,” said Willemin. His voice boomed with authority, and after sampling the egg rolls and the fish and chips, I had little doubt of the truth of this statement.

The atmosphere at Dingle House is full of Irish pub décor: with a stone fireplace, a long winding oak

OUTDOOR DINING AVAILABLE

bar, and an S-curved seating area.

There is even an outside patio. The waiters and waitresses wear plaid kilts, increasing the fanciful feeling of being in a pub. They move swiftly through the eatery, carrying trays of beer and food. All appeared to have a jovial expression. High definition televisions hang unobtrusively in the corners of the rooms so one

need not miss a sports event or major news coverage. Suspended from a wall in the center of the pub was a large blackboard covered with daily beer specials. Many had odd names that I had never heard before. Sure, Sam Adams is recognizable, but Dogfish Indian Brown and Rogue Dead Guy weren’t familiar to me.

The names were alluring enough for

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Dingle House is generously offering a free buffet for anyone who shows up on Thanksgiving.

“Free?” I asked, my tone slightly incredulous, thinking if that were true, I might drive up with a family member and get a free meal. I had already sampled Willemin’s cooking and knew a turkey spread would be an equally satisfying experience.

“For the neighboring hotels, while supplies last, for people who are here on business and can’t get home for the holiday. It is a nice gesture for the community as we are surrounded by hotels,” replied Willemin. Hmm, I thought, a mitzvah, I see the Jewish roots in this Irish pub setting.

Special friendly deals are plentiful here. They have a late night happy hour, every day, 10 p.m. till closing. The Monday night all-youcan-eat fish and chips for $12.95 is also a great deal. Sprinkled with vinegar, paired with a dark brew, the beer battered Atlantic haddock is delicately fried to a golden brown and is succulent and crispy at the same time. Try the Wednesday special, a burger and beer, 8 ounce certified Angus beef, for $9.95. Or go native and dine on Irish stew, a mixture of beef and lamb with root vegetables and potatoes simmered in a red wine bordelaise and Guinness for $11.95. Perhaps you want the Shepherds Pie, also swimming in wine and Guinness for $12.25.

There is a Lads and Lasses menu for children age 12 and under for $3.95.

Besides the usual mac and cheese and chicken fingers, children can enjoy pub wedges, seasoned thick potatoes, great for dunking into ketchup, with their meal.

This neighborhood gastropub has a Sunday treat, currently called the NFL ticket, where pub wings are only 35 cents all day. Of course, Dingle House promises multiple beer specials to accompany the exuberant crowd.

So please mingle at Dingle’s especially during the season of the jingle. Toast the season, enjoy good cheer. Greater Cincinnati is prospering with the arrival of the Irish pub.

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OPINION

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Punishing people for their beliefs

Rabbi Shafran is dir ector of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.

Dear Editor, Last week the ADL criticized Glenn Beck for his exposing George Soros’ collaboration with the Nazis. He showed how Soros gave Jews deportation orders while robbing them.

Soros also called 1944 his happiest year, the year in which one million of Hungary’s Jews were shipped to Auschwitz and murdered. I heard Glenn Beck’s program and don’t understand why Abraham Foxman would condemn Glenn Beck who told the truth about the despicable anti Semitic Jew hating Soros. I also heard from Jewish survivors from Hungary who confirm that Glenn Beck is right.

This is not the first time Foxman has been wrongly

accusing people of antiSemitism. In 1994 the ADL published a booklet accusing Republicans and conservatives of being anti-Semitic including many who are pro-Israel while ignoring leftist and Democrat Jew haters. This brought criticism by Don Feder who wrote in the New York Times that “the ADL lost its credibility on calling people anti-Semitic with this publication.” The ADL also criticized the Jews for Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) who defend our right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. JPFO accuses Foxman of “supporting Nazi based gun control laws in America.” The ADL also called those who criticize the Ground Zero Mosque as bigots and

Abraham Foxman criticized Irv Rubin of the Jewish Defense League when he was arrested by the FBI as “a loser” instead of saying he is innocent until proven guilty by law.

George Soros has been a thorn in the Jewish community’s side and is financing anti Israel organizations like J Street. Soros is the one Foxman should have condemned — not Glenn Beck.

Perhaps someone should follow the money trail to find out how much of Abraham Foxman’s $405,609 * annual salary may be funded by Soros. * New York Daily News May 11, 2003.

Ezra Kattan Cincinnati, OH

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T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: VAYESHEV (BRAISHITH 37:1Å\40:23) c.) Pharaoh's butler

1. How does the Torah describe Jacob's living in Canaan? a.) Peaceful and tranquil b.) He lived in the land of his Fathers c.) Lived among the Canaanites

4. In the dream what happened to the vine? a.) It withered in the sun b.) The grapes grew to an almost supernatural size c.) The grapes were crushed into wine for Pharaoh

2. How old was Joseph at the beginning of the Parsha? a.) 17 b.) 27 c.) 40 3. Who had a dream about a grapevine? a.) Joseph b.) Pharaoh celebrate three festivals.

4. B 40:11 5. C 40:8

In a letter to the Jewish weekly the Forward, a medical doctor from Long Island expressed chagrin over an advertisement that had appeared in an earlier issue of the paper. The ad was sponsored by a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting people suffering from kidney disease, including facilitating kidney transplants, with “special attention given to the Jewish community to address specialized issues and concerns.” The letter-writer was “astounded” by the ad. It sought a donor for a “pious Jew” suffering from kidney disease. To be sure, the doctor took pains to note, “A kidney transplant can miraculously transform a person’s life, freeing him from the shackles of the dialysis machine.” But the ad nevertheless outraged him. It is “the height of chutzpah,” he explained, to solicit “altruistic donors for an act that is seldom, if ever, reciprocated by the Haredi community.” “The vast majority of gedolim, decision makers about Jewish law and policy, in the Haredi community,” he continued, “have refused to endorse halachic procedures to take organs from either normal living or braindead people to heal chronically ill patients.” And so, he contended, “Although altruism, by definition, is an act performed without any reward,” the “wider Jewish community” should recognize that “it is unseemly and cynical to recruit potential donors when there is no theoretical potential for paying the good deed forward.” For starters, the doctor is seriously misinformed.

Although there are halachic considerations regarding any organ donation, there have in fact been many Orthodox kidney donors, including haredi ones, and all made their decisions with the full blessings of their rabbinic decisors. What presents qualitatively different halachic issues is the bequeathal, for removal after death, of other vital organs, like hearts, lungs and livers. That is because organs are most successfully transplanted when “harvested” from a stillbreathing patient, whose blood is still oxygenated and circulating. Thus, many hospitals routinely take vital organs from people who are what has come to be called “brain dead” – who have received a diagnosis of irreversible cessation of brain-stem function, which modern medicine and secular law consider sufficient to permit the removal of organs even from a patient with a still-beating heart.

(Increasingly common, too, in many countries, is “donation after cardiac death” – the procurement of

organs from people who are purposely disconnected from the ventilators helping them breathe, causing their hearts to stop. After a short wait, sometimes less than 30 seconds, the organs are taken.)

Merely “brain-dead” human beings, in the judgment of major halachic decisors, are still alive.

And so, while saving another’s life is a most weighty imperative, Jewish religious law, or halacha, does not permit one life to be taken to save the life of another – no matter how diminished the “quality” of the life of the former, no matter how great the potential of the life of the latter. And halacha forbids any action that might hasten death, including the death of a person in extremis. The letter-writing doctor presumably does not advocate ending the lives of conscious terminal patients in order to harvest their organs. What rankles him is that halacha, in the opinion of many of its most respected decisors, considers a “brain dead” patient still alive.

He is entitled to his personal opinion, of course, but if anything truly qualifies as the height of chutzpah, it would be insisting that halachic decisors hew to ones’ own personal point of view. Perhaps more disturbing still is the doctor’s odd ethical calculus, by which only the ability to donate an organ qualifies one to receive one. At first thought, that might seem logical. But that’s why we’re blessed with the ability to have second thoughts. There are many reasons one might be unable to donate a vital organ. If a non-terminal patient has only one functioning kidney, for instance, no one would fault him for not offering it to a dialysis patient. If a patient was diagnosed with kidney disease, no one would want him to donate a compromised organ, even postmortem. Would anyone deny such unable-to-donate patients freely donated organs that they needed?

One hopes not. The letter-writer surely sees religious convictions as a less valid reason for an inability to bequeath vital organs. Is it, though?

Is logic behind the doctor’s view?

Or might it be disdain, for a community of whose beliefs he doesn’t approve? Is reason at work here, or a desire to punish people for their beliefs? If anything is “unseemly and cynical” – the doctor’s characterization of the effort to match kidney donors with Jewish patients committed to halacha – it is the attitude that such Jews are, for their deep-seated and sincere beliefs, less worthy of life than others.

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

5. To whom did Joseph attribute his ability to interpret dreams? a.) Palm reading b.) He was wise in Torah c.) Hashem

3. C 40:9 The Midrash says that the dream alludes to the four cups of wine on Passover because the word ÅgcupÅh is mentioned four times. Or the vine is the Children of Israel who

By Rabbi Avi Shafran Contributing Columnist

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

ANSWERS 1. B 41:1 Jacob lived in Canaan, in the same part that Abraham and Isaac lived. Sforno 2. A 37:2

16

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

JEWISH LIFE

17

Sedra of the Week

By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT VAYESHEV • GENESIS 37:1–40:23

Efrat, Israel - “Recognize now the cloak of your son...” (Genesis 37:32) “Recognize now the owner of the signet ring, the cord garb and the staff.” (Genesis 38:25) This week’s portion of Vayeshev introduces us to Joseph, the beloved firstborn son of Rachel and Jacob, whose personality will dominate the last five portions of Genesis. Yet strangely, Chapter 38 disrupts the Joseph narrative with an aside about his brother Judah.

Why is Joseph’s life story interrupted by Judah’s? What does it teach us?

The birthright demands familial responsibility; a commitment to preserving the covenantal charge of transmitting compassionate righteousness and moral justice to the next generations. When Jacob’s sons—including Judah—sell their brother Joseph, the heir apparent, into Egyptian slavery, they are reneging on their primary responsibility to maintain family unity.

Judah, clearly the leader, bears the major blame for the sin against their father and their mission. In suggesting Joseph’s sale, Judah has torn the family asunder.

Chapter 38 opens by recording an additional blemish on Judah’s character as he “assimilates” by marrying a Canaanite woman— repeating the transgression of his uncle Esau. Judah’s sins are further compounded when, after the death of his two elder sons, he refuses to allow his youngest, Shelah, to marry their widow Tamar. According to the laws of yibum (levirate marriage), Judah should have encouraged Shelah to marry Tamar in order to provide heirs for the childless deceased; Judah, however, refuses to permit the marriage, rendering all his sons—and ultimately himself— without offspring. Just as his sale of Joseph robbed Jacob of progeny from his favored son, now Judah has robbed Jacob of descendants from himself as well.

Tamar, however, is determined to continue the line. She disguises herself with the shawl of a prostitute (a cloak reminiscent of Jacob’s costume in deceiving his father Isaac, and Joseph’s coat of many colors), hides her face with a veil, and agrees to sell herself to Judah in exchange for a goat (reminiscent of the goat’s blood in which the brothers soaked Joseph’s coat before giving it to their father to identify). As Judah does not have a goat with him, Tamar extracts col-

lateral; she keeps his signet ring, his outer garb, and his staff of leadership—the three external symbols of Judah’s identity. When Judah is told three months later that his daughter-in-law is pregnant, he sentences her to death. But Tamar responds by sending Judah his ring, wrap and staff, telling him to “recognize” his possessions and thereby admit paternity. Judah rises to the challenge: declaring publicly that Tamar is correct, admitting his error in not allowing her to marry Shelah, and accepting fatherhood of the twins in her womb.

The name of the crossroads where Judah and Tamar’s rendezvous took place is Petah Enayim, literally “opening of the eyes.” Perhaps the name symbolizes the clarity which resulted from the encounter. Tamar has taught Judah to own up to his mistakes and fulfill his familial responsibilities; he can now return to Jacob’s family as a son and father, loyal to his past and committed to his destiny.

This interlude about Judah is intimately linked to the story of Joseph. The literary device connecting the two chapters is the repetition of the two Hebrew words haker na (Recognize now). The words which the brothers used when they brought Joseph’s bloody coat to their father Jacob for identification (37:32) are the same words that Tamar uses when she forces

Judah to recognize the pledges he gave her in lieu of money (38:25).

With these words, Tamar teaches Judah to see through disguises. This skill will prove useful to him in later life, when Joseph stands before him dressed in the clothes of the Egyptian grand vizier.

According to some commentators, Judah saw through Joseph’s uniform and because he was able to recognize his brother, he was able to speak passionately and reunite the family, thereby atoning for his earlier sins. Judah redeems himself, proving himself truly worthy of the Abrahamic legacy of familial leadership (the bechora). This search for a worthy leader for our people is the underlying theme of the Book of Genesis from the election of Abraham to the death of Jacob.

Lest we doubt the significance of this tale, history repeats itself when the twins born to Judah and Tamar enter the world with the younger (Perez) overtaking the elder (Zerah) — much in the way Jacob overtook Esau by grasping at his heel. The Book of Ruth teaches us that the younger son Perez is destined to be the forefather of King David, progenitor of the Messiah.

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

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18

JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

Jewz in the Newz

By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist SAGET’S STRANGE DAYS/GLEEFUL HOLIDAYS Comedian BOB SAGET, 54, hosts the new reality show, “Bob Saget’s Strange Days.” The sixepisode series premieres Wednesday, Dec. 1, on the “A&E” cable station. Saget has had dual careers. He was G-rated when he hosted “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” and when he co-starred on the family sit-com “Full House.” At other times, Saget is pretty raunchy—his stand-up routines are “very blue” and he’s a real foul mouth when he plays a wacky version of himself on HBO’s “Entourage.”

I suspect the real people in his new “A&E” show who don’t know the “raunchy Bob” will be surprised at what comes out of his mouth. “Strange” features Saget visiting with members of various subcultures and, to some extent, trying to be accepted by them. In the first episode, he rides (in a sidecar) with a group of “hardcore” motorcycle riders. In later episodes, he visits with a survivalist cult; with frat boys during pledge week; and with partying Amish teens.

Older Amish teens are allowed some freedom to sample the secular world before they make their decision to leave their community or become adult members of their church, with all its strict rules.

Most Amish youth don’t go “very wild” and most decide to join their church. But media attention has all gone to the wild minority.

Jane Lynch (“Glee”) hosts the Fox TV special: “TV’s Funniest Moments: A Paley Center Special” (airs 8-10 PM on Friday, Nov. 26).

Featured are clips from the “30 Most Memorable Holiday Moments on TV.” So far can tell, the holidays are Thanksgiving and Christmas—but maybe a Chanukah moment will make the cut. No doubt, many Jewish comedic performers of yesterday and today will appear in the clips.

IF I WAS A RICH MAN, I’D EAT A WHOLE COW? ADAM RICHMAN, 36, is best known as the host of the hit Travel Channel series, “Man v. Food,” in which he almost always is able to beat a restaurant’s challenge and consume a huge and/or spicy portion of food. This sounds like a “schluby” talent—but Richman, a Brooklyn native who has a Yale graduate degree, is actually a very literate, well-spoken guy.

His new book, “America the Edible” was just released and it is a witty tour of America’s regional cuisine. He explains why certain foods are popular in certain regions,

gives tips on eating in unfamiliar places, and provides unusual restaurant recommendations.

EASTWOOD HONORED The Nov. 13 opening of the new National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia got a lot of publicity—what with BETTE MIDLER entertaining, JERRY SEINFELD hosting, and BARBRA STREISAND sitting in the front row. Less noticed was the presentation, on Nov. 14, of “The Tolerance Award” to actor/director Clint Eastwood at the Museum of Tolerance’s first annual film festival. The Los Angeles-based Museum is part of the SIMON WIESENTHAL Center, whose founder and head is Rabbi MARVIN HIER, 71.

Hier said of Eastwood, “As a filmmaker, you have quite a fan club among the clergy.” He then cited Eastwood’s recent films, “Gran Torino” and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” both of which promote tolerance and inclusion.

Eastwood seemed truly touched by the award and by the presence of a lot of old friends. He expressed his appreciation and then told the crowd, “I’m 80. I wouldn’t normally admit that, except that ELI WALLACH’s here and it’s all relative.”

Wallach, 94, who was just given an honorary Oscar for his lifetime of work, told the Museum audience that his friendship with Eastwood went back to “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” the 1966 Western that made Eastwood a star. Since then, he said, Clint has been “a delicious, good, wonderful friend.”

I’ve long admired how Eastwood has grown as an actor and director. I’ve also kept “mental track” of two “Jewish-related” moments in his life. The first came in 1992 when Eastwood, a Republican, broke party lines and supported DIANNE FEINSTEIN, a moderate Democrat, for Senate.

Eastwood, once mayor of Carmel, California, appreciated Feinstein’s governing style when she was San Francisco’s mayor. Her opponent, Michael Huffington (the then-husband of then Republican Ariana Huffington) had tons of money— but even his campaign manager later called him “an empty suit.”

The second moment came in January 2004 when a reporter asked Eastwood about the possibility of Oscars for his movie, “Mystic River.” Eastwood replied: “Kin ahora! Kin ahora!” The reporter retorted, “Pardon?”

Eastwood said, “That’s a Jewish expression meaning ‘Don’t talk about it. It’s bad luck.’” (And then Clint laughed.)

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FROM THE PAGES 100 Years Ago Mrs. Henry Grinsfelder (Florence Heldman) of Baltimore, Md., is visiting relatives at 3628 Washington Avenue, Avondale, where she will be pleased to see her friends.

Miss Clara Senior, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Senior, was married to Mr. Charles Iglauer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Iglauer, Wednesday evening at the Cincinnati Club by Dr. Grossman.

Julius Geismar, aged 67, a retired merchant, dropped dead Friday,

November 18, as he entered the store of the Liberty Clothing Company at Fifth and Plum Streets. He leaves a wife and four children.

Mrs. Rose Cohn Block, beloved wife of Joseph Block and mother of Mrs. Alice Berman, Mrs. Ben Lehman of Ft. Wayne, Ind., Mrs. J. G. Joseph of Buffalo, N.Y., Mrs. Herbert L. Hart and Leopold E. Philip D., and Emanuel J. Block of Chicago, died in Chicago on November 15. Mrs. Block was in her 73rd year. Funeral services

were held at the K. A. M. Temple, Dr. Schanfarber officiating. Mrs. Block moved to Chicago about 10 years ago, after a residence in Cincinnati of more than 40 years. She will surely be remembered by her friends and acquaintances for her noble services in the field of charity and for her endearing friendliness and hospitality.

Mr. and Mrs. Block have been residing at the Congress Hotel, Chicago, for several years. — November 24, 1910

75 Years Ago Mr. Carl J. Kiefer has been elected vice president in charge of plants construction and maintenance of the Schenley Products Co., New York.

Mr. Kiefer has long been active as a consulting engineer for various large firms in Cincinnati and other cities.

Two of his Schenley projects have been the construction of the Old Quaker Distillery at Lawrenceburg, Ind., and the Joseph S. Finch plant at Schenley, Pa., which rank among the largest distilleries in the country.

Mr. and Mrs. Morris Ukelson announce the marriage of their daughter, Miss Sarah Helen, to Mr. Lester Allen Russin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Russin, Sunday, Nov. 3rd. The couple are at home to their friends at 3418 Larona Ave. The Jolly Helpers Club enjoyed a weiner roast at Alms Park Sunday, Nov. 24th. Those enjoying the affair were Miss Ann Sigman, Miss Billy Levine, Mr. Herman Rosedale, Mr. and Mrs. Dave Timmer, Mr. and

Mrs. Dave Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Pilder and Mr. and Mrs. Herman Weiss.

Sol Frankel, Richmond, Ind., a retired merchant, passed away Friday Nov. 22nd, after a two-year illness. He was a native Cincinnatian and father of Harry Frankel, radio entertainer. He moved to Richmond in 1899 to start his own business, and retired in 1926. A widow, two daughters and one son survive. — November 28, 1935

50 Years Ago Dr. and Mrs. Irwin Weil (Vivian Max), 15 Goden Street, Belmont, Mass., announce the birth of a son, Daniel Charles, Wednesday, Nov. 2.

The infant has a brother, Martin, and a sister, Alice.

The grandparents are Mrs. Morris Max and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Weil, all of Cincinnati.

Miss Ann Piker, 4571 Paddock Road, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Funeral services were held at the Weil Funeral Home on Nov. 16, with Rabbi Fishel J. Goldfeder officiating.

Miss Piker was executive secretary of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Hamilton County Chapter for 16 years.

Survivors include two brothers, Sidney Piker, of Los Angeles, and Philip Piker of Cincinnati, and three sisters, Mrs. Sara Friedman, Los Angeles, Mrs. Samuel Blumenthal,

Hamilton, Ohio, and Mrs. Mary Cohn, Cincinnati.

Dr. Mitchell R. Zavon will speak at the annual meeting of the board of the Bake Shop, Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 12 noon, at the Cincinnati Club.

Dr. Zavon, professor of industrial medicine at the University of Cincinnati, will speak on “Sheltered Employment as a means of Rehabilitation and prevention of Illness.” — November 24, 1960

25 Years Ago In 1931, Helen Iglauer married Nelson Glueck and began her association with Hebrew Union College.

In 1934, she graduated from the UC college of Medicine and began her lifelong combination of dedication to medicine and devotion to Hebrew Union College, which her husband served as president from 1947-71.

On Nov. 24 Dr. Glueck was honored by the Associates of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institue of Religion, “for the foundations you

and Nelson laid for us,” said Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, president of HUC-JIR, and “for the years you have placed the school among your chiefest joys.” Some 600 persons attended the tribute dinner at the Westin in honor of Dr. Glueck.

Mrs. Anna Rosenfield Mills of Tampa, Fla., formerly of Cincinnati, passed away Nov. 18.

She is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Billy and Gloria Mills of Tampa; a daughter and

son-in-law, Faith and Sylvan Golder of Cincinnati; a brother Joseph Rosenfield of Paducah, Ky.; four grandchildren, Philip (Pat) Golder, Stuart Golder, Linda Smith and Susan Levy; and four greatgrandchildren, Elizabeth and David Golder, Jonathan Smith and Dana Levy.

She was the wife of the late H. Pete Mills and the sister of the late Jake Rosenfield. — November 28, 1985

10 Years Ago Rabbi Alexander Schindler, 75, the longtime leader of the Reform movement who was considered a giant in the Jewish community, has died at his home in Westport, Conn. from heart failure. As president of Reform Judaism’s Union of American Hebrew Congregations from 197396, Schindler, who viewed Judaism as a dynamic faith, advocated a number of revolutionary changes.

Reversing the tradition of discouraging proselytizing, Schindler devised a controversial “outreach” program for non-Jewish spouses of Jews, challenging Jews to become

“champions of Judaism” to these spouses. He also called on the Jewish community to welcome intermarried couples into synagogue life and supported patrilineal descent, the controversial notion that a child with a Jewish father and gentile mother can be considered Jewish if the child is raised Jewish.

Leon I. Cohen, 88, passed away November 10, 2000. He was born in West Point, Ga. and at a very young age moved to Avondale with his parents, the late Morris Cohen and Rachel Guttman Cohen. Mr. Cohen is survived by his wife of 61 years,

Maebelle Mandeleil Cohen.

Surviving children are Richard and Judith Cohen of Cambridge, Mass. and Nancy and Dolph Berman of Evendale. Mr. Cohen is also survived by his grandchildren, Sarah Cohen, Jeffrey Berman, James Berman, and John Berman. Surviving great-grandchildren are Alexander Berman, Nicholas Berman, Nathan Berman, and Matthew Berman. Mr. Cohen is also survived by two nephews, James Dine, of New York City and Tom Dine of the Czech Republic. Also surviving him is a niece, Terri Mishos of Sarasota, Fla. — November 23, 2000

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 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) 204-5594 • 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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RESCUER from page 3 As part of the evening’s activities, when the Boymels and Khvas and Potysiuk went up to the podium, they all received standing ovations from those in attendance.

According to an interpreter, the Ukrainian women were proud of their grandfather and greatgrandfather, and were also glad MORITZ from page 1 With quiet humility, Hella played a critical role at countless junctures dotting the modern history of the Jewish people: from the release of Sharansky, Mendelovich and Edelstein, to struggles for Holocaust restitution; from peace agreements between Israel and its neighbors, to the exposure of Kurt Waldheim’s Nazi past.

Being close to power, Hella also bore witness to the darker sides of men. Never wavering in her loyalty, Hella stayed true to her principles and stood firmly as a moral compass and maternal guide to decades of leaders who sought her counsel and advice, or happened to find themselves in her orbit.

Acting with defiant purpose, Hella was a committed professional. She was always in the World Jewish Congress office before it opened; no hurricane, blizzard, blackout or terrorist attack ever kept her away. In a world of town cars, private transports and personal drivers, Hella’s prudence committed her to public transportation.

On days of poor weather, she would quip, “When it rains in New York, the only thing harder to find than the sun is a taxi. I am quite happy with the bus.”

A remarkable polyglot, Hella mastered eight languages, besting most linguists by not only speaking those languages, but by professionally writing and editing in each.

Hella employed these gifts to enrich the lives of others. If you were lucky to catch Hella in a quiet moment, you were likely treated to a thought of biblical exegesis with a corollary to Greek mythology explained by a reference to Renaissance art supported by geographical or biographic fact reserved for the dusty tomes of distant libraries.

Her quick wit was evident in a

that Boymel was from their part of the world.

In addition, they brought with them from home a small bag of sand, taken from a hiding place that Tokarsky had hidden Boymel in all those years ago. Like other Righteous Gentiles, Tokarsky will have a plaque added to the Wall of Honor at Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem. treasure trove of Jewish sayings, folk stories and humor. When speaking of fundraising, Hella often repeated an axiom we believe she created, reminding us, “My young friends, the rich did not get rich by giving away their money.”

Courtesy of World Jewish Congress

With quiet humility, Hella Moritz played a critical role at countless junctures dotting the modern history of the Jewish people.

Hella moved effortlessly among the tables of kings and presidents to the breadlines where she worked after hours. From presidential palaces to the pews of B’nai Jeshurun, to the cots of the shelter in which she slept as a volunteer several nights a week, Hella served others from morning until night with her dedicated spirit. Few were able to find fault, while many benefited from this extraordinary woman whose life was devoid of drama and spectacle, and filled purpose.

Though our eyes well with tears from the loss, we cannot help but smile knowing that the streets of heaven are filled with angels — the purest of God’s servants — rejoicing in the return of one of their own.

Hella Moritz died last week as she lived, an unassuming servant of the Jewish people.

20

BUSINESS

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Local man’s story wins film festival award The film “True Gunner” took home “Best Historical Documentary” award at the second annual Ferndale Film Festival in Ferndale, Mich.

“True Gunner” was four years in the making and was produced

and directed by Hal Levine of Detroit, Mich., nephew of Bev and Pike Levine of Cincinnati.

It is narrated by Pike Levine and relates in detail his experiences during World War II when he was a ball turret gunner aboard

a B-17 flying fortress.

Originally made for the family to pass on to future generations, by request “True Gunner” was shown at various synagogues and organizations, where it received rave reviews.

The entire Levine family thanks Hal Levine for what was indeed a true labor of love and to the Ferndale Film Festival for the coveted award.

The Ferndale Film Festival, also known as F3, took place Nov.

4 – 7, 2010 at locations throughout Ferndale, Mich. The festival features the latest indie films from Michigan and beyond and includes features, documentaries, children’s films, workshops, exhibitions, VIP events and more.

Cincinnati Athletic Club honors Dr. Ira Abrahamson At the recent Past Presidents Dinner meeting on Oct. 12, 2010 of the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati Athletic Club, President Richard Creighton announced the appointment of Ira A. Abrahamson, M.D. as the first chairman of the board, emeritus, in the history of the Cincinnati Athletic Club.

Dr. Abrahamson has been an active member for over 57 years. He

was a former All American Swimmer at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he captained the team to the Southern Conference Championship in 1943 and 1944. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. in 1974.

Dr. Abrahamson is a retired emeritus professor of Ophthalmology at the University

of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He has authored four ophthalmology textbooks and over 150 scientific papers. He received the Distinguished Service Alumni Award from the medical school in 2008. He also received the Distinguished Service Alumni Award from the University of North Carolina Medical School in 2000. Dr. Abrahamson was also inducted

into the Medical Mission Hall of Fame in Toledo, Ohio in 2007. He was the founder of the Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1995.

In 2005, he established the endowed chair of Pediatric Ophthalmology at the medical school and Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In 2003, he received the 33° Scottish Rite

Masonry.

Dr. Abrahamson received the Prestigious Walter Emmerling Award from the Cincinnati Rotary Club as the outstanding living Rotarian in 2000. He started the first vision screening program in this rotary club in 1995 to help wipe out preventable blindness in children.

This program is now in over 1,200 rotary clubs throughout the world.

Judah Maccabee to host ‘Olive Press Workshop’ Chanukah shopping turns into a family adventure with Chabad Jewish Center at the Blue Ash Kroger. The nationally acclaimed Olive Press Workshop, hosted by Judah Maccabee, will be staging two free presentations in the kosher department on Sunday, Nov. 28, at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.

After filling your cart with potato latkes, Chanukah candles,

Chanukah gelt and more, the entire family will enjoy making olive oil from scratch.

“The Olive Press Workshop demonstrates the process used by the Maccabees to refine olive oil for the Temple menorah,” explained Rabbi Berel Cohen, director of youth and family programming at Chabad. “This workshop will make the family’s

Chanukah experience so much more exciting.”

Under the guidance of Judah Maccabee, participants will squeeze fresh olives, just like in the days of the Maccabees, then purify their oil with a modern-day centrifuge. After purifying the oil, attendees will make wicks out of cotton, which will be used together with the freshly made oil in a

menorah lighting ceremony.

Participants will have the opportunity to take a picture with Judah Maccabee!

“This is a great opportunity to offer our Jewish customers a unique shopping experience this holiday season,” said Tim Schukman, manager at the Blue Ash Kroger.

The Olive Press Workshop will

also be hosting a free presentation at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center, on Thursday, Dec. 2, 5–6 p.m.

The Olive Press Workshop is part of The Living Legacy series.

The Living Legacy brings Judaism alive for children, teens and adults throughout Cincinnati through a series of hands-on educational programs and workshops.

Camp Barney Medintz hosts presentation in Cinti Camp Barney Medintz, summer resident camp of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, will present their annual new musical slide production and dessert reception in Cincinnati at the home of Heidi and Robert Bardach. The presentation takes place Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.

Camp Director Jim Mittenthal will meet with new and returning families, answer questions pertaining to the 2011 summer camp season and provide applications for registration.

Camp Barney Medintz is located in the North Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains on over 500 wooded acres surrounding two lakes just 75 miles northeast of Atlanta. According to Mittenthal, the setting facilitates “every imaginable activity,” including water skiing, hydro-tubing, wake boarding, swimming, sailing, canoeing, the “Iceberg,” the “Rave” water trampoline, leaping off the “Blob” or soaring down the 180-foot “hurricane” water slide, horseback riding, campouts, “zipping” over 1,000 feet across Lake Wendy, whitewater rafting, tennis, all land/court sports, the-

Happy campers love Camp Barney Medintz.

ater, crafts, music, Israeli culture, dance, radio, video, newspaper, mountain biking, climbing the

adjacent Appalachian Trail and a series of high-adventure rock climbing, rappelling and ropes

courses. Specific age groups may also enjoy fencing, karate, ceramics or scuba diving!

The camp, celebrating its 49th summer season, has created “a unique community that is all about adventure and self discovery, exhilarating activities and exciting events, being in a strong culturally Jewish environment with special friends, all under the supervision of a carefully selected group of mature, talented, conscientious, loving, and enthusiastic staff,” said Mittenthal.

The camp annually develops new construction projects to improve its spectacular mountain facility. They recently completed a major cultural and performing arts complex, an exciting new sports complex and “Food Network”type camper kitchen, and much more is planned for 2011.

Inquiries about the 2011 summer season are again far exceeding previous years and all of the two- and four-week sessions are likely to fill to capacity very rapidly. For more information about programs, Family Camps, staff opportunities, or other camp adventures, please call the camp office in Atlanta or their Cincinnati parent representative, Heidi Bardach.

AUTOS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010

21

2010 LR4 boasts bigger engine, more versatile vehicle

2010 Land Rover LR4

The British practically invented the luxury SUV when it debuted the Range Rover in 1970. Since then they have been building remarkably capable luxury utility vehicles, and the 2010 Land Rover LR4 is no exception.

The LR4 has been upgraded with a new 375-hp, 5.0-liter, direct-injection V-8 that vastly improves acceleration and throttle response. The LR-V8 engine features a torque-actuated dual independent variable camshaft phasing system and harnesses the latest technology to deliver superb drivability and performance, while achieving enhanced efficiency.

The LR4 can go from 0–60 mph in 7.5 seconds.

The LR4’s exterior has undergone a design refresh. Grill and lights both front and rear are complemented by the introduction of body color bumpers and wheel arches on selected models. The LR4’s exterior also boasts electric heated and adjustable mirrors. The fender vents and a two-bar grill with mesh are both in a titan finish.

Exterior trim and door handles are in an oberon finish. In addition, the windows have privacy glass, and when it rains, forget the manual wipers. The LR4 has wipers that are rain sensitive.

The LR4 also has 19-inch lightweight alloy wheels with seven-spoke design, which are fitted as standard.

The LR4’s interior offers quality materials, such as the dashboard’s flowing curves and colors, which impart an instant sense of luxury.

The LR4’s steering wheel incorporates a switch layout that places key information and audio controls at the driver’s fingertips. Leather covered, as standard, the wheel features cruise control and telephone commands.

The LR4 comes with fold-flat second and (available) third-row seats and a square cargo hold with 90 cubic feet of space. A commanding driving position and elevated seating give the driver and passen-

gers a clear view of the road or offroad trail ahead.

With the numerous changes made to improve on-road behavior, the LR4 is still very capable offroad. By placing the Land Rover’s Terrain Response system into the appropriate setting, which can be set as general driving, grass/gravel/ snow, mud and ruts, or rock crawling, the LR4 takes care of lifting the vehicle’s chassis, and tailors the throttle response and shift patterns to suit the driving conditions.

Grouped with the traction-control system, the automatically locking center and the rear differentials, the LR4 makes it easy to take advantage of the available traction.

The LR4’s front suspension was redesigned, which increased the stiffness of the anti-roll bars and retuned the dampers. The results are better body control, reduced body roll, and improved compliance and ride quality. The LR4 now absorbs bumps better, and its responses from the steering wheel are quicker.

Safety features on the 2010 Land Rover LR4 include antilock disc brakes, traction control, stability control (with rollover mitigation technology), hill descent control, front-seat side airbags and fulllength side curtain airbags, which also includes the third-row seat when it is specified.

The LR4 also features an easyto-use Electric Parking Brake technology, which goes beyond the conventional handbrake. The EPB provides assistance for tough hill starts, and ensures more relaxed driving during stop and start city traffic.

The LR4 can have up to eight airbags, each strategically positioned around the vehicle to help protect all occupants in case of an accident. The driver and passenger seats have both front and side airbags, with each row having its own curtain airbags.

The EPA estimates the LR4 can get 12 mpg for city driving and 17 mpg for highway driving.

The Land Rover LR4 starts at $48,500.

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OBITUARIES

DEATH NOTICES

OBITUARIES

WIEDER, Mesel, age 96, died November 16, 2010; 9 Kislev, 5771.

SACHS, Jacqueline

COWEN, Ruth Jean, age 92, died November 18, 2010; 12 Kislev, 5771.

FISHER, Melvyn, age 80, died on November 18, 2010; 12 Kislev, 5771.

FISHER from page 1 Mr. Fisher had a reputation for stepping forward to support important projects, often under the public radar.

He supported a caddie scholarship program that Oeters used to pay for college, and years later stayed in touch with Oeters and hired him to run Galaxy.

“He wasn’t one who sought the limelight. For him, it was more about how he could make things happen for people and the community,” his son Marc Fisher said.

One of the life lessons Mr. Fisher learned from his father-inMUSEUM from page 1 imagined when she hosted the museum’s first board meeting back in 1974. It took two years to open the modest collection in a small space adjoining the historic Congregation Mikveh Israel in the Old City section of downtown Philadelphia.

Now, after a decade-long, $150 million campaign, those artifacts have been elevated to a sparkling new 100,000-square-foot home less than a block away in the heart of the city’s Independence Mall.

“It’s such a significant location, the exhibits are so impressive, the whole way it’s put together, it’s just an overwhelming experience to see a dream come true,” said SarnerLibros, the board president emerita, “to have a child of my imagination become a reality.”

In honor of the accomplishment, hundreds of people, many of

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Jacqueline (Jackie) Sachs, daughter of Becky and Maury Golding, passed away October 29, 2010. Jackie was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February l5, 1943. She attended Bond Hill Elementary School, Woodward High School and received a degree in Early Childhood Education

from the University of Cincinnati.

Mrs. Sachs began her career working with Dr. Jacob Marcus at Hebrew Union College. She worked in the preschool program at the Jewish Community Center and also as a religious school teacher at Wise Temple. Her career lasted more than 40 years as a teacher and administrator.

She taught hundreds of children who came to know and love her for making their learning experience exciting and meaningful.

Always with a smile and her caring and loving manner, Mrs. Sachs never forgot the children and their parents.

Mrs. Sachs was the wife of James Sachs and the devoted mother of Todd, Gary and Mark Sachs. She was the grandmother known as “Grams” and “Geemaw” to Jessica, Kayla, Corey and Drew Sachs.She was the dear sister of Marcia and Walter Rubin, Stuart and Ruth Golding, and sister-in-law of

Sandra and Stanley Kutler. She was the beloved niece of Ida Lerer. She was a very loved and special aunt to many nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Sachs will always be remembered by friends and family for her gentle and caring spirit.

Services have been held and memorial donations to the Wellness Center or the Jewish Community Center for Early Childhood School would be appreciated.

law, Louis Lerner, was that you have to have dreams. As Rabbi Wise shared at the funeral service, “Mel understood you need to be a doer in order to have your dreams come true.”

Rabbi Wise also shared how Mr. Fisher was fond of the poem, “The Guy in the Glass.” The poem is about how even if you fool everyone else, you can’t fool the “guy staring back from the glass.”

Mr. Fisher knew “you must be able to look in the mirror, see the person you are, and then do what needs to be done,” Rabbi Wise said.

In 2003, Mr. Fisher led a $13.7

million campaign to build a synagogue at the Naval Academy. In the early 1950s, he was a midshipman at the Naval Academy, and at that time there was no synagogue on campus. Students attended class on Saturday, and then were sent to mandatory religious services on Sunday.

After graduating in 1955 and spending several years in the Air Force, Mr. Fisher lost contact with the Naval Academy until the 1990s when he became involved with the effort to raise funds to build a synagogue. In 1999, he took the post of chairman of the capital campaign.

“Before Mel Fisher, there was no real campaign,” said Abe Wasserberger, executive vice president for development at Friends of the Jewish Chapel. “He’s the ultimate friend maker. People call him a great salesman, but he makes friends.”

In 2008, Mr. Fisher won the Carl H. Lindner Award for Entrepreneurial and Civic Spirit.

Mr. Fisher is survived by his wife, Roberta Lerner Fisher of Amberley Village; his four sons: Bobby (Arna) Fisher, Michael (Suzette) Fisher, Marc (Evelyn) Fisher and David (Stacey) Fisher, all of Amberley Village; his broth-

er Mendy (Ginny) Fisher of Deer Park; and his grandchildren: Benjamin (Amy), Jennifer, Ari, Jessica, Max, Nikki, Jonny, Jamie, Jake, Jared, Bryan, Zach, Ali, Lindsay and Molly Fisher, Avi (Shifra) Poupko, Tamar (Eliot) Smith, Hindy (Seth) Galena, and Adina and Ezy Poupko. He was preceded in death by his brother, Stanley Fisher.

Services were held on Nov. 21.

Memorials may be sent to Cedar Village, 5467 Cedar Village Drive, Mason, 45040; or Adath Israel Synagogue, 3201 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, 45236.

them donors, joined Sarner-Libros in a weekend of celebration headlined by Vice President Joe Biden, comedian Jerry Seinfeld and entertainer Bette Midler.

Founding members jump-started the festivities on Friday morning with discussions of the museum’s architecture and how freedoms of the Jewish people have changed throughout American history.

The next night, about 1,000 local and national supporters, stars and dignitaries gathered for a gala in a mammoth tent that spanned the block of Fifth Street just outside the building.

Despite the steep admission — individual tickets cost from $1,500 to $5,000 — the museum couldn’t accommodate about 200 would-be revelers.

Seinfeld emceed the swanky kosher dinner. The crowd ate up his Jewish-tailored shtick as he joked about everything from his mother

who couldn’t figure out a cell phone to the undignified nature of bathroom stalls.

As Midler took the stage, she jokingly wondered why the museum was located in Philadelphia rather than New York, where she quipped that “there are more Jews in my building than in this town.”

Her performance, characteristically peppered with humor and profanity, was clearly tailored to the theme of the night. She sang only songs written by Jewish artists, beginning with her signature “Friends” and ending with Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.”

Barbra Streisand created a buzz as an attendee, but she neither spoke nor sang. Instead, she sat front and center with her husband, James Brolin, with security guards nearby to keep away fans.

One of 18 individuals highlighted in the museum’s Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame,

which greets visitors on the first floor, Streisand made time to stop in the museum’s shop, where she spent $800 on three yads (Torah pointers) and silver candlesticks.

Meanwhile, in the museum’s designated event space on the fifth floor, roughly 850 “young friends” bobbed along to a cover band on a chic white dance floor. Colorchanging lights reflected on white fabric draped around the room.

“The amount of energy you feel here right now is incredible,” said Lindsey Morgan, 35, a mother of two who also helps her husband with his real estate lending company. “It’s like an unspoken thing how this evening means so much to our heritage. This is one of the most exciting things to happen to the city ever.”

The next day, a chorus of about 50 shofar blowers heralded the start of the official dedication ceremony.

Nearly 2,000 people gathered on

the mall in front of the museum, basking in the unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon.

Biden echoed that sentiment, saying that although the museum focuses on the Jewish people, “they’re American stories above all else. I can think of no other city that would be a fitting showcase for them.”

Other speakers included George Ross, co-chair of the board of trustees and chairman of the capital campaign; Pennsylvania’s outgoing governor, Ed Rendell, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

Following the ceremony, the museum opened to members of the public who had reserved free timed tickets. Donors and supporters streamed into the halls, dragging confetti from the damp lawn on their shoes. Some came from as far as Cleveland and Seattle to see material they had provided for the exhibits.

JCC from page 4

to others,” said Elisa Abes. “We plant flowers at home, so I think it’s great that she gets to learn how to plant and grow other things at school.”

Learning to harvest crops in the tzedakah garden is part of the school’s curriculum. When the children learn about vegetables through story books and art projects, they often request to grow those particular items in the garden. This environmentally-friendly project has taught many students how to appreciate nature, as well as how to share and work together as a team. The garden has become such a popular feature that the JCC plans to build a second vegetable

bed this winter.

The JCC tzedakah garden is also a great place for community members to volunteer. Students from the horticulture program at Diamond Oaks helped plant the seedlings for this year’s crops. This winter, the JCC is asking high school students and adults of all ages to help plant seeds in the greenhouse. Volunteers are also needed to help move the plants into the garden in May. For more information about the JCC Early Childhood School and its tzedakah garden, contact Denise Schnur, JCC Early Childhood School director, or visit the JCC website.

Katz, who both shared a love of gardening and nature.

In addition to learning how to care for and grow vegetables in the tzedakah garden, JCC Early Childhood School students learn the valuable lesson of giving to less fortunate families by donating the crops they grow. Between January and October 2010, JCC students grew and donated almost 150 pounds of vegetables to the food pantries run by Jewish Family Service and Kennedy Heights.

“I love that the JCC Early Childhood School is teaching my daughter the importance of giving

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