AI2011_01_13

Second Cinti 2020 The American Cedar Village Israelite set to Leaders Forum announces ‘Eight launch new website Over Eighty’ held tonight The American Israelite Online nominations Makor – The Source/Cincinnati The second Cincinnati 2020 Leaders Forum for representatives from all our Jewish community agencies, congregations and organizations will be held on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 5:30 p.m., in the Amberley Room at the Mayerson JCC. At this forum four goals will be developed: community resources, quality of life, Jewish community leadership and civic leadership.

Information about the Cincinnati 2020 November forum is listed on Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s website with photos, lists of all the forum ideas, and names of those who attended.

Last month the New York Times published an article titled “In Pursuit of the Perfect Brainstorm” that described a type of brainstorming method similar to the one used at the first forum in November.

For more information contact Sharon Stern at the Jewish Federation.

Soon, The American Israelite will be bigger and better.

The paper is launching a new and improved website on Jan. 28. The new website will also get a new name, The American Israelite - Makor - The Source/Cincinnati. Makor is the Hebrew word for source.

The new website will give free, easy access to all of the local Jewish community news as well as national and international stories, updated daily, Monday through Friday.

News and social announcements will be posted to Makor daily and printed in our weekly print edition that comes out every Thursday. Social announcements include births, bar and bat mitzvahs, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, job promotions, honors and awards.

The third annual Eight Over Eighty event sponsored by Cedar Village will recognize eight senior adults, 80 years or older, who have dedicated their time, talents and lives to our Jewish community. All honorees will be inducted into the Cedar Village Jewish Senior Hall of Fame on May 19, 2011.

“Do you know someone over the age of 80 who is inspiring and remarkable? Do you know someone 80 or over who has been a life-long volunteer in the Jewish community and is an example of strong Jewish values? If so, Cedar Village has a unique opportunity for you to honor those special individuals. This gala celebration provides us with a way to honor the special gifts and blessings that our elders bring us.

We are delighted to sponsor this event in the Cincinnati

WEBSITE on page 19

NOMINATIONS on page 19

Debbie Friedman dies at 59

By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — Over the weekend, as singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman lay dying in a hospital bed in Southern California, the call went out to Jewish congregations around the world to pray for the popular musician.

But early Sunday morning Friedman, who composed "Mi Shebeirach," a popular version of the Jewish prayer for healing, was unable to find healing herself. Friedman died after years of suffering from an undisclosed illness at age 59.

The funeral was held at 11

a.m. Tuesday at Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana, Calif.

"One of the blessings that Debbie gave us" was helping people understand that the "healing of the body is something somewhat distinct from the healing of the soul,” said Rabbi Jacqueline Koch Ellenson, director of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, at the start of a memorial Sunday night at the Manhattan JCC just hours after the singer's death.

Hundreds turned out to mourn Friedman in an event originally planned as a prayer gathering for her recovery from illness.

Giffords known for her openness and Judaism

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — The event was typical Gabrielle Giffords: no barriers, all comers — Democrats, Republicans and independents welcome to talk about what was on their minds and in their hearts.

While she was deep in a conversation with an older couple about health care — the issue for which she was willing to risk her career — a gunman strode up to the Arizona congresswoman and shot her point blank in the head.

The critical wounding Jan. 8 of Giffords and the slaughter of six people standing near her — including a federal judge, her chief of community outreach and a 9-year-old girl

Courtesy of DebbieFriedman.com

Debbie Friedman

FRIEDMAN on page 22

GIFFORDS on page 19

Courtesy of Robert A. Cumins

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shown speaking to a Chicago Jewish group in Washington, D.C., said a turning point in her spiritual path took place after a trip to Israel in 2001.

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Journalists’ group considers dropping Helen Thomas award

Bird spy, Goofy in Haifa, mansion mania

Pure gold in dining at Stone Creek

2010: The year in retrospect

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MatureLiving 2011 SPECIAL SECTION.

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Catch ‘Snowball’ at NHS Winter getting you down? Got the winter blues and blahs? Then it’s probably best to embrace the season and come to Northern Hills Synagogue for the Snow Ball dance on Saturday, Jan. 22, from 8–11 p.m.

Music by The 4 Hubcaps, one of Cincinnati’s premier “oldies”

bands, will make the evening rock, with classics from the ‘50s, ‘60s and early ‘70s. Featuring five musicians—John Fox (guitar/vocals), Dave Stonehill (bass/keyboards), Dave Goodman (sax/guitar), Barry Wagner (drums/vocals), and the irrepressible Oscar Jarnicki as emcee—The 4 Hubcaps promise an

evening of rollicking music and high-energy entertainment.

Refreshments will include drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts, including snow cones.

There is a nominal charge. For more information or for reservations, contact Northern Hills Synagogue.

NHS sponsors story time Northern Hills Synagogue Congregation B’nai Avraham invites children and adults of all ages to enjoy a Jewish story time on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 23, from 2–3 p.m. The event, “Sharing Jewish Stories,” will be held at the Barnes & Noble in the Waterstone Shopping Center, off of Fields-Ertel Road.

The afternoon will feature Tracy Weisberger, Northern Hills’

director of programming and education, reading classic Jewish stories as retold in recently published books for children. Among the stories to be read are “What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street”

by Elsa Okon Rael, “Shlemazel and the Remarkable Spoon of Pohost” by Ann Redisch Stampler, and “The Littlest Tree” by Silvia Rouss.

Weisberger commented, “We

are very excited about the opportunity we have to work with Barnes and Noble to draw attention to the new Jewish children’s books that have been published over the past few years. It’s very exciting to have the younger generation hear old Yiddish stories that have been told and retold for many generations.”

For more information, please call Northern Hills.

JCC hosts 2011 Cincinnati Jewish and Israeli Film Festival The Cincinnati Jewish and Israeli Film Festival has been providing the community with insights on various aspects of Jewish and Israeli life, culture and history for more than a dozen years. This popular Cincinnati event explores cultural similarities and differences via films that feature Jewish and/or Israeli characters and content. The 2011 Cincinnati Jewish and Israeli Film Festival will be held at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center from Saturday, Jan. 29 through Thursday, Feb. 3. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling the JCC or visiting their website.

The festival features seven recently produced (many of them award-winning) films. Opening night is Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. and there will be five other films shown at 7 p.m. each night through Feb. 3.

The opening night film is called “The Yankles.” It’s a feelgood sports comedy about overcoming bigotry and self-doubt.

This bawdy and uplifting film tells the story of an ex-con who finds redemption by coaching an upstart Orthodox Jewish baseball team.

Tickets to this opening night film include a pre-film reception with popular baseball snacks like peanuts, popcorn, kosher “ballpark” franks and more.

Madelyn Ritrosky of Entertainment Magazine says, “‘The Yankles’ is fun, engrossing, enlightening — especially for those who are unfamiliar with the Orthodox Jewish community...It’s

funny without being silly and delivers principals without being preachy.”

The movie “Berlin 36” will be shown at the JCC at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 30, and again at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 2.

Inspired by a true story, this film replays a remarkable piece of forgotten Olympic history when the Nazis conspired to replace a female Jewish athlete with an unknown male über-athlete pretending to be a girl.

On Sunday, Jan. 30, the awardwinning drama “Anita” will be shown. This Argentinean film (with English subtitles) tells a touching survival story of a young woman with Down syndrome who learns to care for herself and touches the lives of others after losing her mother during a tragic bombing. This screening is a collaboration between the Mayerson JCC and Jewish Vocational Service and will be followed by a post film discussion led by Ariella Cohen and Cindy Guttman.

“The Matchmaker,” a romantic and nostalgic Israeli film with English subtitles will be shown on Monday, Jan. 31. This film creates a portrait of life and love in Israel in 1968, shortly after the historic Six Day War. On Tuesday, Feb. 1, the unique documentary, “An Article of Hope,” will be shown. This film commemorates the eighth anniversary of the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster and spotlights Israeli Colonel, Ilan Ramon, one of the astronauts who perished

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in the tragic accident. The storyline focuses on the heights of scientific achievement, the depths of a nation’s cruelty, the private grief of a boy who came of age during the Holocaust, as well as the public mourning of the Columbia Shuttle catastrophe.

There will be a post-film program with Dr. Henry Fenichel, the Holocaust survivor (and former board president of Northern Hills Synagogue), whose tiny Torah was taken into space to commemorate the loss of Col. Ramon. This screening is a collaboration between the Mayerson JCC and The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education.

There will be a showing of the Israeli drama, “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” on Feb. 2. This awardwinning film (with English subtitles) tells the story of a young Jerusalem woman who struggles to reclaim her memory after a horrific suicide bombing left her clinically dead for seven minutes.

On Thursday, Feb. 3, the final day of the 2011 Cincinnati Jewish & Israeli Film Festival, the highly-acclaimed documentary, “100 Voices: A Journey Home,” will be shown. This compelling and moving musical documentary tells the history of Jewish culture through a group of 72 cantors who visit Poland (the original home of cantorial music) to join local choruses in a series of sold-out concerts.

One of the cantors in the film, Cantor Steve Stoehr, will lead a special program at the JCC following the screening.

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Adath Israel service features special music On Friday, Jan. 14, at 5 p.m., Adath Israel will host a special music service during Minhah and

Maariv services titled, “Friday Night Live: Carlebach Rhythm of the Night.”

The service features the Adath Israel band, Shir Ami, with bongos, congas and more. The congrega-

tion invites you to, “Get out of the winter cold and get up and dance to the Rhythm of the Night!”

Congregation Zichron Eliezer treats firefighters to Thanksgiving feast

By Adina Cyperstein Congregation Zichron Eliezer On a cold and wet Thursday morning, warm Jewish hearts opened up to give thanks to the firefighters and police officers of Amberley Village by delivering them a hot Thanksgiving meal complete with all the trimmings.

The meal was cooked, prepared and delivered by a large group of volunteers from Congregation Zichron Eliezer.

The Thanksgiving day program began in the synagogue with a delicious breakfast following

shachrit (morning prayers).

The congregants then proceeded with some last minute food preparations and arrangements in CZE’s kitchen to warm up and put the final touches on the feast, which was mostly cooked the night before. A fleet of 10 cars then took the carved turkeys, rolls, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies, vegetables and desserts to Amberley Town Hall to deliver it to the officers.

At the station, the volunteers, along with the throngs of other men, women and children who joined in the procession, were

greeted warmly and enthusiastically by the officers who were on duty that morning. Community activist Mickey Fishman then articulated the community’s deep appreciation to the officers for their caring about the community, their amazing response time and especially for giving up Thanksgiving with their friends and families in order to serve and protect us.

The officers then spoke about how touched they were by the congregation’s gracious gesture on this day of giving thanks. They discussed how they enjoy working and living in such a warm com-

munity and how grateful they were to be thanked by the community in such a special way. The volunteers then brought the delicious feast into the station’s kitchen to be enjoyed during lunch of that day and then later by the second shift for dinner. All the children were given play fireman hats and stickers to take home with them as souvenirs.

This wonderful idea was the brainchild of the Kesher Israel Congregation in Harrisburg, Penn., who have been running a similar program every Thanksgiving since 9/11.

Northern Hills Synagogue’s newly renovated bima.

One of the adjustable book stands.

gogue had a sound-enhancement device system, it only worked in

the Roth Sanctuary. The improvements expanded the system to the

VOL. 157 • NO. 25 THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010 8 SHEVAT 5771 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 5:18 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 6:17 PM 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 RABBI ISSAC M. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus

NHS upgrades accessibility Through the generosity of The Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation and individual donors, Northern Hills Synagogue –Congregation B’nai Avraham has enhanced the accessibility of its facility for people with disabilities.

Although the congregation has been in its new building for less than seven years, and the facility met building code requirements for accessibility, experience taught the Conservative congregation that additional improvements would benefit members and guests.

The matching grant from The Mayerson Foundation made possible a number of improvements.

Among the most significant involved the bima in the sanctuary. While the bima had ramps on each side, it was difficult for a large motorized wheelchair to navigate the turn from a ramp onto the bima itself. The renovations widened the ramps and the access from the ramps to the bima. In addition, handrails and color-contrasting carpeting were installed for the benefit of those accessing the bima via the front steps, to help prevent tripping.

The renovated sanctuary also includes two adjustable book stands for people in wheelchairs.

Electronic door openers were installed for both the men’s and ladies’ restrooms. Existing curb cuts were improved, and additional curb cuts were added.

Other enhancements are designed to encourage participation in synagogue programs by the hearing impaired. While the syna-

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Zorndorf Social Hall, to facilitate the enjoyment of programs held there, such as the popular monthly HaZaK lunches for seniors. A portable sound system was also acquired, for use in any room in the building, to help people with hearing issues better participate.

“The trustees of The Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation are impressed by the tremendous commitment Northern Hills Synagogue has always had to welcoming and including people with disabilities,” says Pam Saeks, director of Jewish Giving for the Foundation. “Enhancing a building’s accessibility is one important phase in the process of becoming inclusive. However, having a Rabbi, board, and congregants who understand why it’s important is the key to truly being inclusive,” she adds. “We are proud to have had a part in helping Northern Hills in its efforts to be a model of inclusion in Greater Cincinnati and beyond!”

Renee Roth, chair of Northern Hills’ Accessibility/Inclusion Committee, commented, “We worked very hard to identify problems in the building and how to best solve them. We also wrote policies to help make our services and programs more inclusive. Northern Hills Synagogue is so appreciative of the matching grant from The Mayerson Foundation that enabled us to make these improvements.

We could never have achieved our goal without their help.”

For more information, contact the synagogue.

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 JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ALLISON CHANDLER Office Manager

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

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

OU president visits Ohr Chadash On Dec. 14, Steve Savitsky, the international president of the Orthodox Union came to Cincinnati to visit Congregation Ohr Chadash.

While in Cincinnati, Savitsky had a chance to meet with many of the donors and founders of Ohr Chadash, as well as the synagogue’s membership. At a dinner in the synagogue, Savitsky had the opportunity to hear members’ personal stories

on how they came to be a part of this unique congregation.

The congregation also had an opportunity to hear from Savitsky.

He spoke about the importance of having sincere connections to traditional Judaism. He explained how Jews do what they do not because they have to, but because they want to. All who heard were inspired by his words.

Ohr Chadash was founded over

the summer by a group of young and vibrant members of the Cincinnati Jewish Community who felt that Cincinnati needed a synagogue where Jews from all walks of life would be comfortable while keeping to traditional Judaism. Congregation Ohr Chadash is already making its mark locally and nationally, which is evident by Savitsky’s visit to the new congregation.

Did heated rhetoric play role in shooting of Giffords?

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — The 8th District in southern Arizona represented by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords comprises liberal Tucson and its rural hinterlands, which means moderation is a must. But it also means that spirits and tensions run high.

Giffords’ office in Tucson was ransacked in March following her vote for health care reform -- a vote the Democrat told reporters that she would cast even if it meant her career. She refused to be cowed, but she also took aim at the hyped rhetoric. She cast the back-and-forth as part of the democratic process.

“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of protesters over the course of the last several months,” Giffords told MSNBC after the middle-of-the-night attack, which left a window shattered. “Our democracy is a light -- really a beacon -- around the world because we effect change at the ballot box and not because of these outbursts of violence and the yelling.”

She called on all leaders -- of both parties and in the community -- to consider how they cast their arguments. Giffords, who last week took the oath of office for her third term, noted how her reelection bid was being treated by 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Sarah Palin.

“The way she has it depicted is that she has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district,” Giffords said. “When people do that they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that action.”

Palin removed the chart from her Facebook page after news of the Jan. 8 shootings of 17 at a Tucson shopping center that left Giffords in critical condition and extended her prayers to the Arizona lawmaker and the other

victims. Six people were killed in the attack.

Such gestures were not likely to tamp down suggestions that the fevered rhetoric from some rightwing precincts helped create the atmosphere that led to the shooting allegedly by Jared Lee Loughner, who was said to be "mentally unstable."

“You have a vice-presidential candidate for a major party who runs ads with targets saying ‘remove Gabby Giffords’ and a young man with issues,” Mark Rubin, a Tucson-area lawyer and a Democratic Party activist, told JTA. “You're going to spend a long time convincing me it doesn't have something to do with it.”

Spencer Giffords, the congresswoman’s father, wept when the New York Post asked him if his daughter had enemies.

“The Tea Party,” he said, referring to the conservative insurgency that targeted her, resulting in one of last November's closest elections.

Local Tea Party leaders condemned the attack, but also reportedly rejected the notion that they needed to tone down their rhetoric.

Giffords supported gun rights, but it didn’t stop opponents from identifying her with her party’s efforts to increase restrictions on possession. Police in 2009 removed a man carrying a gun from Giffords' meet-the-voters event in 2009, and her opponent, Jesse Kelly, hosted a campaign event inviting supporters to shoot with him titled “Get on Target for Victory in November.”

Loughner, who is being held by the FBI, may have been influenced by American Renaissance, an extremist anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic group, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo distributed to law enforcement and obtained by Fox News Channel.

Loughner, 22, listed Adolf Hitler’s manifesto “Mein Kampf” as a favorite book on one of his social media sites. Police were seeking a white middle-aged man as a possible accomplice.

“One suspect, now in custody, may be directly responsible for this crime,” the National Jewish Democratic Council said in a statement. “But it is fair to say -in today's political climate, and given today's political rhetoric -that many have contributed to the building levels of vitriol in our political discourse that have surely contributed to the atmosphere in which this event transpired.”

Conservatives were quick to say that drawing lines between the attack and heated rhetoric was premature.

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Friedman, inspired by the last words of Daniel Pearl (JTA) — Debbie Friedman, the popular singer and songwriter who died Sunday, wrote the following for “I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl,” a collection of writings following the 2002 murder of Wall Street reporter Daniel Pearl.

Dear Daniel, This is the first time I have had to think about the “why” of the words “I am a Jew.” I have never defined myself or my work before.

I was born into a Jewish family, exposed to Jewish experiences and Jewish people.

The concept “I am a Jew” never crossed my mind until I was asked to reflect on your words.

I actually chose to be who I am. I felt that my life was incom-

plete. I was looking for connection. I was always drawn to the Jewish people and our history, and particularly to the values that were so easily translated and incorporated into life. It chose me back when at a point I began to interpret those values. Through songs and prayers I was able to reconstruct the same ideas and share them with others.

In your last moments, when you uttered the words “I am a Jew,” you gave some people their first experience of acknowledging their Jewish selves. Those who never identified before were awakened by your strength and conviction.

In every interaction — be it a concert, or when I function as a sh’licha tzibur, or at a healing service — in any of my relation-

ships, no matter what I do, I am a Jew. I feel the presence of the Divine and a link to the past. I know there are many who have come before me who have made their mark. They, like you, have left pieces of themselves so that we, the living, might incorporate them into our lives in order to reconstruct the places in our world that have been shattered.

I am a Jew because I know that it is not meant for me to do this work alone. I am engaged both with the Holy One and with all of those with whom I am involved.

I am a Jew because I know the world that you and I and many others like us envision is a world yet to be created by us.

I am a Jew because in spite of all the hatred and violence in this

world, I believe we must hope and live together as if the world were sheltered beneath the wings of the Shekhinah. We must live as if we were enveloped in a world of love and compassion. I am a Jew because together we must pray for the day when all people will sit beneath the vine and fig tree — when none shall be afraid and when all the words that come forth shall be words that speak of the family of humanity.

The world you had envisioned is a world that we will continue to build through song and prayer, through action and acts of lovingkindness.

Often we dreamers are laughed at for our lofty thoughts.

In truth it is love and peace that are two values that cannot be touched or defiled by anyone.

They are held in one’s heart and soul in the most sacred parts of us, and they soar to the highest heights in the heavens.

I had to write you because, though we never met, we were engaged in a shared dream of a world in which all human beings would be seen as precious — to be celebrated and loved.

This piece was not to have been a tribute to you, but it would have been hard to write about “I am a Jew” without making reference to you, since you were and will always be the one who made me think about why I am a Jew. Your memory is a blessing.

From “I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl,” edited

by Judea and Ruth Pearl.

Journalists’ group considers dropping Helen Thomas award

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — Helen Thomas’ decision to take her disparagement of Zionists from off the cuff (last May) to on the record (last month) has led a journalists’ group to consider dropping her name from a lifetime achievement award.

The Society of Professional Journalists is revisiting its decision last summer not to change the name of its Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award after Thomas, 90, told an ArabAmerican group in Dearborn, Mich., last month that Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street “are owned by the Zionists.”

Thomas, a 67-year-veteran of Washington reporting, resigned from her job as a columnist at Hearst last June after remarking to a video blogger that Jews “should get the hell out of Palestine” and “go home” to Poland, Germany and the United States. She later apologized, but her remarks in Michigan on Dec. 2 have raised fresh concerns about the sincerity of the apology.

“Ms. Thomas’ most recent remarks led to calls for a reconsideration of the issue by the executive board,” said Hagit Limor, president of the Society of Professional Journalists and an investigative journalist for WCPO-TV in Cincinnati.

The decision will be considered Jan. 8 at a meeting of the society’s executive committee.

Ahead of the meeting, the society

Courtesy of Rachael Voorhees

Helen Thomas, shown meeting students from the Maxwell School in Washington, D.C., in February 2009, may lose an award named for her by a journalists’ society.

posted on its online magazine Quill what it said were two typical letters — one for renaming the award and one against.

Limor said the society, which advocates for press freedoms and promotes high-quality journalism through scholarships and awards, had been in touch with Thomas.

A message left at Thomas’ home by JTA was not returned.

Her website still leads with her statement of regret, saying her remarks at the time “do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the

need for mutual respect and tolerance.”

After her June remarks to blogger Rabbi David Nesenoff, the society considered calls from members and some Jewish groups to rename its Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement but decided against it, noting her apology and the off-the-cuff nature of the remarks, an official with the organization told JTA. That changed a few weeks ago with her speech in Dearborn, where Thomas grew up.

“We are owned by the propagandists against the Arabs.

There’s no question about that,” Thomas told the Arab Detroit group. “Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists.

No question in my opinion. They put their money where their mouth is.”

Wayne State University, her alma mater, immediately withdrew its Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in the Media Award.

Under deluge again, the Society for Professional Journalists said it would reconsider.

“This episode was a sad final chapter to an otherwise illustrious career as a trailblazer for women and minorities in journalism,” Abraham Foxman, the AntiDefamation League’s national director, wrote in the online letter to Quill seeking to rename the award. “Unlike her first off-thecuff remarks into a camera, Thomas’ comments were carefully thought out and reveal a person who is deeply infected with antiSemitism.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

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A half-century later, rabbis recall marching with MLK

By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — Rabbi Israel Dresner, 81, says he’s the most arrested rabbi in America.

At least that was the case in the 1960s, he says, when Dresner was one of dozens of rabbis who answered the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call for clergy from the North to join the civil rights movement in the Jim Crow South.

From the Freedom Rides of 1961 to the famous march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery in March 1965, when Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel walked in the front row with King, Jews were prominent participants in the battle for civil rights that dominated the first half of the ‘60s.

Of the thousands of white activists who headed South, nearly half were Jewish, according to “Jewish Dimensions of Social Justice,” a 1998 publication of the Reform movement.

“This was living out what Judaism itself has been teaching all along, that you have to help the oppressed, the underprivileged, not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” said Rabbi David Teitelbaum, 84, of Redwood City, Calif.

As the United States gets set to mark Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 17, some rabbis who traveled South to join the man who would go on to win a Nobel Peace Prize talked to JTA about the civil rights struggle.

Teitelbaum went to Alabama with four other rabbis from northern California in March 1965 for the voter registration drive of African Americans and the Selma march.

The rabbis who joined these efforts were arrested, jailed and sometimes beaten, protected by the color of their skin from the worst physical dangers, but nonetheless threatened on a daily basis.

Dresner’s first arrest was in June 1961, when he and the late Rabbi Martin Freedman of Paterson, N.J., along with eight Protestant ministers, formed the first interfaith clergy Freedom Ride.

Their bus was part of a summer long campaign of white and black activists, many of them clergy, who traveled together throughout the South to draw attention to the evils of segregation.

The young Dresner went to jail each summer for the next three years as he brought ever-larger groups of rabbis and ministers to join the struggle in the South.

“I was a Reform rabbi, but I always wore a yarmulke,” said Dresner, now rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Wayne, N.J. “I wanted people to

know I was Jewish.”

The president of the NAACP at the time was Kivie Kaplan, a prominent member of the Reform movement’s social action commission.

Kaplan bought the Washington building that became the headquarters for the movement’s new Religious Action Center and also housed the fledgling Leadership Council on Civil Rights.

Black and Jewish lawyers on a table in that office drafted what became the major civil rights laws of the mid-‘60s, recounted Al Vorspan, who directed the Reform commission for 50 years.

It was a time when Jews and blacks often found common cause in the struggle for justice in a country where both had been oppressed.

Rabbi Matthew Simon, 79, now the emeritus rabbi of B’nai Israel in Rockville, Md., was working at a Conservative congregation in Los Angeles when he joined the 1965 Selma march.

“I had very good relationships with the black clergy in the San Fernando Valley,” he recalled. “We worked together on social action issues, on voting rights and housing rights, not just in Los Angeles but all over the country.”

Jews who took part in these efforts took considerable pushback from fellow Jews who felt that Jewish activism was better directed at issues of Jewish, not general, concern.

Most of the rabbis who marched with King, or joined the Freedom Riders, were Reform, said Vorspan, now senior vice president emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism, formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

UAHC came out “strongly and unequivocally” in favor of civil rights activism, he said, but the rabbis who went South risked more than physical danger.

“Many of their congregations were on the verge of firing them for it,” Vorspan said. “I personally went to several congregations threatening to fire their rabbis and told them it would be a ‘chilul Hashem,’ ” a desecration of God’s name.

Three of the largest Reform temples in the country, including Temple Emanuel in New York, temporarily withdrew from the Reform movement, he recalled, because of the movement’s support for the civil rights struggle and later opposition to the war in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, leading black activists were borrowing heavily from Jewish sources, particularly the Bible, in their sermons and speeches. King himself often used biblical motifs, especially the Exodus, to dramatize the AfricanAmerican journey from slavery to freedom.

Courtesy of Matthew Simon

The late Rabbi Ralph Simon, then the president of the Rabbinical Assembly and father of Rabbi Matthew Simon of Rockville, Md., accompanying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who addressed the RA convention at the Concord Hotel in New York’s Catskill Mountains, March 25, 1968.

One night in Georgia in the summer of 1962, Dresner and King were trapped with other activists in a house surrounded by hundreds of members of the local White Citizens Council.

While they were waiting for help, King told Dresner about the Passover Seder he’d attended that spring at a Reform synagogue in Atlanta. He particularly recalled reading the Haggadah and hearing the phrase “We were slaves in Egypt.”

“Dr. King said to me, ‘I was enormously impressed that 3,000 years later, these people remember their ancestors were slaves, and they’re not ashamed,” Dresner said.

“He told me, ‘We Negroes have to learn that, not to be ashamed of our slave heritage.’”

Negro was the accepted term for African American in the 1960s, Dresner noted.

In March 1965, Rabbi Saul Berman, then the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in

Berkeley, Calif., traveled to Alabama with the rabbinic delegation from northern California.

Black leaders in Selma called, asking the rabbis to bring a box of kipot, or yarmulkes, with them.

“At that time, black people in the South were wearing kipot as a freedom cap,” explained Berman, now a prominent Orthodox scholar who teaches at Stern College and Columbia University School of Law in New York. “It was an extraordinary indication of the extreme penetration of the Jewish community.”

At the same time, Berman said, a “disturbing undercurrent” began to surface in the movement. As his group of 150 activists was arrested for the second time on its way to Selma, debate broke out as to whether they should disband, with a promise not to return, as local police were urging.

“They didn’t want to book us — half the group was clergy,” Berman said.

As the white ministers pondered the best move, the black participants became angry.

“The question arose, whose movement is this?” Berman said.

“It was a precursor of much more intense feelings of that sort that emerged in the late ‘60s as black leaders began to resent white leaders who felt the civil rights movement was ‘theirs.’ I didn’t recognize the significance of that scene until much later.”

8

NATIONAL

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE ONLINE - MAKOR - THE SOURCE/CINCINNATI @ WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Anti-earmark pledges seen hurting Jewish-run projects Nonprofits see gaps if House passes ban on spending method

By Robert Wiener The New Jersey Jewish News WHIPPANY, NJ (New Jersey Jewish News) — As Republicans reclaim the majority in the House of Representatives, key members of New Jersey’s Jewish community are concerned that they will lose federal funding for important social programs.

Local not-for-profit agencies have been key recipients of earmark funds arranged by individual members of Congress. Earmarks have helped finance such nondenominational projects as Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities, job-training programs, and senior transportation, all run by or including Jewishaffiliated agencies.

While the Senate rejected an earmarks ban during the lameduck session of Congress, members of the incoming Republican majority in the House have pledged to an earmark moratorium since early 2010 and have promised to ban the practice next

session.

“We expect a very difficult road ahead in terms of allocated spending for aging in place projects or counseling for domestic violence victims,” said Jacob Toporek, executive director of the NJ State Association of Jewish Federations. “In my discussions with Republicans, I was told they don’t know how they are going to be able to provide the funding for all these worthwhile projects they supported in the past.”

Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University in Lawrenceville, also considers earmarks “a significant issue for the Jewish community.”

“The fact that earmarks are being phased out or eliminated is significant because so much of the funding for Jewish communal services comes from the earmarks put in by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress,” he said.

“Losing that tactic to get money out of Congress can be a significant blow to the way Jewish communal programs are funded.”

During his two previous terms in the House, Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Dist. 7) helped procure thousands of dollars for aging-in-place programs for his district, even though, he said, he opposed earmarks on principle.

In a Dec. 27 e-mail interview, he told NJJN, “Since coming to Congress, I have strongly supported Jewish social service programs that support Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities.”

But as an opponent of earmarking, he promised to “stand ready to help programs, like NORCs, by working to identify existing competitive federal grant funds” and promised to “keep in touch” with Toporek about the issue.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Dist. 11) previously obtained $478,000 for a NORC project to be administered in large part by United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ. Responding to an NJJN email, Frelinghuysen didn’t reply directly to a question on the future of NORCs without earmark funding. “It is clear the American people want an immediate reduction in federal spending — not a freeze, but a real cut,” he wrote Dec. 27. “With respect to domestic spending, the continuing earmark moratorium presents new challenges in funding a range of New Jersey priorities.”

Toporek hasn’t given up hope for the lawmakers’ support.

“I do not feel betrayed at this juncture” by the House Republicans who once helped pro-

vide “vital support for federationassisted social programs in New Jersey,” said Toporek. “We have approached them, and they have indicated they will try to be helpful, but I’m not sure how they can be helpful. They know our concerns and they know the problems, but perhaps a message was sent in the last election and they have to deal with it.”

House Democrats who have obtained earmarks for Jewish-run programs said they are troubled by their probable abolition.

“I am deeply disappointed that the new Republican majority plans to eliminate earmarks for critical district projects in the next year,” wrote Rep. Bill Pascrell (DDist. 8) on Dec. 24.

“Members of Congress certainly know more about the needs of their districts than faceless bureaucrats in DC. I have been proud to win funding for a number of naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs) operated in Essex and Passaic counties by Jewish social service agencies. I stand by all district projects I have designated.”

In a Dec. 27 e-mail to NJJN, Rep. Rush Holt (D-Dist. 12) pointed out he “has worked in the past to support and fund Naturally Occurring Retirement Community programs and helped increase the

National Briefs References to pork, Jesus lead to retrial (JTA) — References to the trial of Jesus and a pork comment made by a defense lawyer for Cisco Systems during a federal trial have led a judge to grant a new trial.

Jurors in Marshall, Texas, last May awarded Commil USA more than $3.7 million in patent infringement damages, though the company asked for $57 million.

Commil charged in a motion for a new trial that the remarks and illusions to the trial of Jesus Christ prejudiced the jury in the case, The American Lawyer reported.

Judge Charles Everingham IV, who presided over the original trial, on Dec. 29 granted the motion for a new trial.

During the questioning of Commil’s owner Jonathan David, who is Jewish and lives in Israel, Cisco counsel Otis Carroll remarked “I bet not pork” after David said that he had dinner with

program funding” — not just nationally but specifically with earmarks “for local efforts like those coordinated by the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Mercer County.

“If the new majority is talking about eliminating earmarks and making an across-the-board cut (as much as 20 percent), this would have a harmful impact on NORCs and other programs that serve the community,” Holt wrote.

But Jim Horney, director of federal fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, believes other funding streams may keep such programs afloat.

“Without earmarks, the administration will have a lot of discretion over where to spend money, and it is entirely possible that they would spend the money in the ways it had been spent with earmarks,” he told NJJN in a Jan. 3 telephone interview. “That gives much more responsibility to the administration. It is interesting that people portray themselves as conservatives and oppose the earmarks. Conservatives traditionally oppose giving power to the executive branch, but that is exactly what getting rid of earmarks does.”

Reprinted with permission of New Jersey Jewish News patent inventors at a barbecue restaurant.

The judge rebuked Carroll in front of the jury and Carroll apologized to David, the jury and Commil’s lawyers for the remark.

During his closing remarks, Carroll invoked the trial of Jesus Christ, asking jurors to “remember the most important trial in history, which we all read about as kids, in the Bible.”

Commil’s request for a new trial cited the Jesus reference in the closing argument and the pork comment.

The judge also cited both in granting the new trial.

“This argument, when read in context with Cisco’s counsel’s comment regarding Mr. David and [patent co-inventor] Mr. Arazi’s religious heritage, impliedly aligns Cisco’s counsel’s religious preference with that of the jurors and employs an ‘us v. them’ mentality — i.e., ‘we are Christian and they are Jewish,’ “ Everingham said in his ruling.

Cisco’s motion opposing a new trial said that Carroll’s remarks were “off the cuff” and that Commil was using them to create “the illusion of some kind of antiJewish conspiracy by Cisco.”

NATIONAL

9

Memo notes Giffords’ Judaism in motives of alleged attacker

By JTA Staff Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) — A U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo reportedly notes that Gabrielle Giffords is Jewish in describing the motives of the Arizona congresswoman’s alleged assailant.

The memo, obtained by Fox News Channel, says that Jared Lee Loughner mentioned American Renaissance, an extremist anti-immigrant group, in some of his own postings.

“The group’s ideology is antigovernment, anti-immigration, anti-ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti-Semitic,” says the memo sent to law enforcement, which also notes that Giffords, a Democrat, was the first Jewish congresswoman from Arizona.

Loughner was arrested after Giffords and at least 16 others were shot Saturday at a meetyour-lawmaker event at a Tucson shopping mall. Six people were killed, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge, John Roll.

Loughner was tackled and arrested. Giffords, a Democrat in her third term, remains in critical condition after being shot in the head.

Loughner, who is being held by the FBI and has been described by authorities as “unstable,” reportedly listed “Mein Kampf” and the “Communist Manifesto” as two of his favorite books on his MySpace page. Several hours before the shooting he reportedly left a “Goodbye friends” message, which also said “Please don’t be mad at me.”

Giffords was outside one of her signature “Congress at your corner” events outside a Safeway in Tucson, part of her congressional district, when the gunman approached and shot her. A Giffords staff member, Gabe Zimmerman, 30, the organizer of the event, was among the six fatalities.

Dr. Michael Lemole a surgeon at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. said Sunday morning at a news conference that Giffords was responding to doctors’ commands. During a twohour surgery on Saturday, doctors removed bone fragments from her brain in order to help reduce

swelling. The bullet went through the left side of her head, he said.

Giffords was elected to Congress in the Democratic sweep in 2006. She made her Jewish identity part of her campaign.

“If you want something done, your best bet is to ask a Jewish woman to do it,” Giffords, a former state senator, said at the time.

“Jewish women — by our tradition and by the way we were raised — have an ability to cut through all the reasons why something should, shouldn’t or can’t be done, and pull people together to be successful.”

Giffords, 40, was raised “mixed” by a Christian Scientist mother and Jewish father, but said she decided she was Jewish only following a visit to Israel in 2001.

She attended services at a local Reform synagogue.

In a recent photo, she posed with the new U.S. House of Representatives speaker, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), at her swearing-in with her hand on the Five Books of Moses.

Giffords fought a hard re-election battle last year against the national anti-incumbent, antiDemocratic mood. She tacked to the right of her party on immigration, saying border security was of primary consideration.

The election was called in her favor weeks after the vote.

Giffords’ office had been vandalized in March after she voted for health care reform. Friends said she had received threats for her positions on health care and for opposing her state’s new law allowing police to arrest undocumented immigrants during routine stops.

The National Jewish Democratic Council suggested that the heated rhetoric of the last year contributed to the climate that led to the attack.

“One suspect, now in custody, may be directly responsible for this crime,” the group said in a statement. “But it is fair to say — in today’s political climate, and given today’s political rhetoric — that many have contributed to the building levels of vitriol in our political discourse that have surely contributed to the atmosphere in which this event transpired.”

10

ISRAEL

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE ONLINE - MAKOR - THE SOURCE/CINCINNATI @ WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Bird spy, Goofy in Haifa, mansion mania

By Marcy Oster Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — Here are some recent stories out of Israel that you may have missed: Spying is for the birds First sharks, now vultures — apparently Israel’s secret service will hire anything to do its dirty work.

A vulture tagged by Tel Aviv University scientists as part of a long-term research project into migration patterns was arrested in Saudi Arabia last week on suspicion of being a Mossad spy. The incident comes just weeks after Sinai regional governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha reportedly said that a shark that attacked tourists in the waters off the coastal resort town of Sharm el Sheik was sent by the Mossad to damage Egypt’s tourist industry.

The vulture, wearing a transmitter and a leg bracelet with the university’s name on it, was nabbed in a rural area of the country. The Israeli newspaper Maariv first broke the story after monitoring Arabic media.

Arabic websites called the alleged bird-spy a “Zionist plot” and charged that many more birds were being trained to spy on Arab countries.

Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it would soon release the bird.

Shalom, Mickey Make room, Bahai Temple, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and the gang are heading to Haifa.

The port city is poised to be the next home to a Disney theme park.

A 20-acre, $168 million entertainment complex including an amusement park, four theaters for live performances and a 25-screen multiplex is set to be built in Haifa, with an estimated opening date in 2013.

Israel Briefs Video calls for murder of Israeli official JERUSALEM (JTA) — A video distributed on the Internet calls for the murder of Israel’s deputy attorney general after he asked police to investigate an anti-Arab Facebook page.

The video, which came out Sunday night, was distributed using the e-mail address of Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman.

The Walt Disney Company’s investment arm Shamrock Holdings and the Israeli New Lineo cinema chain announced the plans last week.

Performing Arts Center. The couple will have their two children in tow.

Several American and French celebrities from the music and film industries are set to join the couple in Israel, according to David Stern, the producer of Paradis’ Tel Aviv performance. He declined to name any of the celebrities in an interview with Ynet, but German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, French actress Isabelle Adjani, and French singer and actress Bambou are said to be among the potential visitors.

Paradis has come under heavy pressure from pro-Palestinian groups to cancel her Tel Aviv show, Ynet reported.

Home, sweet, expensive home Israel’s most expensive home was sold.

Billionaire Teddy Sagi bought the mansion in Herzliya Pituah in the central part of the country for about $38 million. Sagi, a controlling shareholder in the gaming software development company Playtech, purchased the house from media billionaire Zaki Raab, who had bought it about five years ago for $24 million in the most expensive home purchase in Israeli history.

The 2,000-square-meter house is located on a half-acre lot on Israel’s most expensive street. It features a sealed room, fitness room, wine cellar, private swimming pool and elevator to the Mediterranean Sea. Lawmakers face up to Facebook Several members of Knesset are finally entering the social network age.

Last week the lawmakers participated in a training workshop to help them master, or at least not fear, online social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They also learned about the use of such sites by Israeli government offices and other Knesset members, and by governments around the world.

“As elected officials, it is crucial for us to know how to maintain regular contact with our voters by the use of key tools,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter requesting the workshop, The Jerusalem Post reported. “This is not a luxury but a basic skill, and it is important that the Knesset not remain behind.”

It charges that Shai Nitzan is looking only into anti-Arab incitement and is not investigating antiJewish provocations. The video accuses Nitzan of “persecuting and hassling Jews, defending Arabs and cooperating with them.”

Nitzan recently requested an investigation into a Facebook group called “Death to all Arabs.”

The Justice Ministry denied any link to the video and condemned its content.

“Instead of defending the people of Israel from the Arabs, he covers up for them and cooperates with them against the Jews,” a slide on the video reads. It concludes with the slogan “Kahane

Flying planes is women’s work Three women graduated from an Israeli Air Force cadets’ course and are ready to fly.

The fighter pilot, transport pilot and combat navigator are the first women to finish the course in the last year-and-a-half. Three women also finished cadet training in 2005.

Some 15 percent of last week’s graduates were not born in Israel and 22.5 percent had a foreign language as their mother tongue. Of the latter group, 2.5 percent were Russian speakers and 20 percent

native English speakers.

Some 20 percent of the graduates volunteered for a year of community service before being drafted, and 55 percent were members of a youth movement.

Only one of the graduating cadets was married.

In too Depp American actor Johnny Depp will bring an entourage of celebrities on a visit to Israel next month.

Depp will be accompanying his longtime girlfriend, French singer Vanessa Paradis, for her performance at the Tel Aviv

Alef-Bet comes to the web Internet domain names in Hebrew letters are now available.

Thousands of name requests on a first-come, first-serve basis were made in the early days of registration, according to the Israeli Internet Association.

Experts say the Hebrew domain names will help Israelis to utilize the Internet more effectively.

“Domain names in Hebrew are intended to make Internet access easier for part of the public that found it difficult, due to the use of Latin letters,” Doron Shikmoni, vice president of the Israeli Internet Association, explained in a public letter. “When the Hebrew domain name registration is implemented, websites with Hebrew names will be accessible in Israel and every other place in the world.”

Corporations, government offices and nonprofit organizations were allowed to register their Hebrew domains for three months before the process was open to the public in order to allow them to protect their well-known trademarked names, Haaretz reported.

Some 389 domains were registered in that phase.

was right,” referring to the slain ex-Knesset member and Kach Party founder Meir Kahane, who advocated for the transfer of Arabs out of Israel.

Right-wing groups also condemned the message in the video.

The video cropped up less than a week after Israel’s Knesset voted to form a parliamentary committee to investigate left-wing Israeli organizations that criticize the Israeli military’s actions.

working on the country’s nuclear program.

Members of the spy ring admitted to Iranian officials that they were trained by Israel’s Mossad secret service and that they received their equipment from the spy agency, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.

“The intelligence ministry has identified and arrested members of a spy and terrorist network linked to the Zionist regime,” an official statement released in Iran reportedly read.

The statement also said that Iran uncovered “vital information about Mossad’s infiltration and operations in the country, and vows to reveal some relevant

details in due time in the future.”

It claimed that the Mossad used bases in European countries and in countries neighboring Iran in order to carry out attacks on two Iranian nuclear scientists.

Last November the scientists, who taught physics at a university in Tehran, were targeted by separate bombing attacks that killed one and injured the second.

Iranian state television blamed “Zionist agents” and the United States for the attacks.

Israel has not commented on Monday’s statements out of Iran.

Last week, Israel’s outgoing Mossad director, Meir Dagan, said Iran would not produce a nuclear weapon before 2015.

Courtesy of Shay Levy/Flash 90/JTA

The Griffon vulture, of the type that was caught in Saudia Arabia and suspected of being a Mossad spy.

Iran claims it exposed an Israeli spy ring JERUSALEM (JTA) — Iran said it has exposed an Israeli spy ring linked to the assassination of an Iranian physics professor

SOCIAL LIFE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE A N N O U N C E M E N TS BIRTH r. and Mrs. Andrew Goloboy (Amy Mitman) of Cambridge, Mass. happily announce the arrival of their daughter Charlotte (Charley) Hope Goloboy on August 29, 2010.

The grandparents are Joan and Bernard Goloboy of Marblehead, Mass., Felice and Michael Young and Susan and Dennis Mitman of Cincinnati, Ohio. Charlotte’s great-grandparents are the late Bess and Charles Goloboy, Irene and Charles Wise, Pearl and Ben Schwartz, and Hilda and Max Mitman.

M

agement from Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. She is an interactive web producer at Signal US Communications.

ENGAGEMENT r. and Mrs. Jay E. Price announce the engagement of their daughter Stacey Helene to Izar Spivak, son of Rebecca Spivak-Roshal and the late Abram Spivak.

Stacey is a 1999 graduate of Indian Hill High School. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology and her master’s degree in communications man-

M

Stacey Helene Price and Izar Spivak Izar is a 1998 graduate of Sycamore High School. He received his Bachelor of Science from the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Cincinnati. He is an IT Service Manager at Cognis Corporation now part of BASF. An April 2011 wedding is planned in Cincinnati.

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

FREE!

Send your announcement, include a photo if you’d like, by e-mail to: editor@americanisraelite.com with “Announcement” in the Subject Line

11

PARTY PLANNING

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Come join us for this FREE extravaganza and learn what’s new and what’s hot. Don’t miss out on the Booths, Raffle Prizes and FREE Food plus everything you’ll need to throw the best party ever, no matter the occasion.

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Whether you are planning a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Wedding, Sweet 16, Prom or Graduation Party, the Party Planning Showcase will be the only place to be. FREE ADMISSION. Sponsored by The American Israelite & Artrageous Desserts

To reserve booth space or for more information, contact Teri Scheff at 793-6627 / dezert@aol.com or Ted Deutsch at 621-3145 / publisher@americanisraelite.com

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

Amberley Firefighters treated to Thanksgiving Feast by Congregation Zichron Eliezer

(L-R) The Adults: Uzi Kattan, Rabbi Cobi Robinson, David Bidnick, Eric Schwartzberg, Greg Schwartzberg, Rabbi Moshe Heigh, Joseph Zoimen, Mickey Fishman, A.Y. Braunstein

(L-R) The Adults: Joseph Zoimen, Mickey Fishman, Amberley Village Police Officers, Rabbi Cobi Robinson, Bernie Moskowitz, David Bidnick, Rabbi Yuval Kerneman

Joseph Zoimen with (Turkey Master) Bernie Moskowitz

Delicious Kosher Feast

13

14

DINING OUT

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE ONLINE - MAKOR - THE SOURCE/CINCINNATI @ WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Pure gold in dining at Stone Creek

By Marilyn Gale Dining Editor Walk in and feel the warmth.

Imagine being in the mountains at a luxurious lodge, fireplaces roaring in every room. Except you are not in the mountains and not one fireplace can be seen. Yet the sense of toasty cozy ambience, décor bathed in glowing browns, bronze and coffee tones, is present at Stone Creek Dining Company in Montgomery. It is the restaurant of phantom fireplaces.

I met with Sarah Cunningham, the down-to-earth general manager of Stone Creek restaurant. She told me this is a family owned business and the chic dining spot has been nestled in Montgomery since 2007.

Her uncle, who developed his culinary acumen at Cincinnati State, is the chef and her father also has a pivotal role, too. Cunningham was born and raised in Finneytown and then moved to Montgomery. She happily tells me how she loves her work. It is close to her home. The business is small enough to give an intimate feeling of caring for staff.

Cunningham says, “We actually matter.”

The menu is deluxe, the flavor combinations are novel. Let’s start with the category of Small Plates – a new name for appetizers that satisfy lighter appetites. Bistro steak bites, cuts of braised short rib on grilled French bread with mushroom demi-glace for $10 sounds tasty. If seafood is on your mind, the Ahi tuna seared rare with black and white sesame seeds, atop napa slaw with spicy sweet mustard, horseradish cream and pickled ginger, priced at $10, would be the perfect starter palate pleaser.

Moving on to the next course we have salads and soups. One can make a light meal from the Goat Cheese Salad—a warm goat cheese medallion, lightly fried over spring greens, sautéed mushrooms, red onion, grilled asparagus and sun-dried tomato balsamic vinaigrette for $13. Or the French Onion and Wild Mushroom soup might be the ideal winter brew, cup size $3.50 for a cup or $6 for a bowl.

Sandwiches are hearty and revisioned versions of classics. The cod is beer battered, the Chicago beef on a toasted roll is spicy and

(Clockwise) Sarah Cunningham, second from left, and the friendly staff provide a warm welcome; Comfortable atmosphere makes dining a pleasure; Bread pudding is a popular dessert; Blackened Mahi Mahi is a delicious and healthy entree.

the tuna melt is served with avocado, tomato and alfalfa sprouts on wheat bread. There is an “In and out menu” for lunch where diners can have a half sandwich and soup or salad.

Free refills available on soup, too.

Besides the warm atmosphere in the restaurant, there is an aura of festivity which is highlighted by generous special liquor prices.

Half price wine is Monday night which includes anything under $100, Tuesday night offers half price draft beer. Wednesday is my favorite, with half price martinis. I can personally attest to the quality preparation in two very tasty pomegranate martinis. Tiny shaker bottles are brought to the table, shaken and stirred and a potent drink emerges; half price, yet a bargain. Thursday night is “$5 you call it.” My best guess is that is the

price of a mixed drink with house liquor in it.

Live entertainment is on Thursday with Kevin Fox. Light music and jazz fill the restaurant, from 8 to 10 p.m. Cunningham suggests you call ahead for reservations.

“We have the best bartending staff in the city,” said Cunningham.

“We participate in community fundraising. We have had benefits here for United Way and cancer research.” Coming up is the famous Wise Temple Brotherhood Chicken Soup cook off and Stone Creek intends to enter again this year, this time with a chicken soup. Last year, Cunningham told me they submitted a butternut squash soup that, although delicious, was not exactly in the category being judged.

Cunningham spoke about the

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new menu for 2011. Executive chef, Joaquin Valencia is creating dishes with a Spanish influence.

Look for cumin, cilantro and citrus pineapple salsa on seafood, empanadas in the appetizer realm, and tasty black bean combinations.

There is plenty in the present to enjoy at Stone Creek in the entrée category. Sesame crusted tuna, pan seared over sticky rice with an Asian vegetable medley and topped with ginger-soy cream, priced at $23 is scrumptious and depending on which night you are eating, would go beautifully with a martini or a wine special.

Blackened Mahi Mahi is a favorite, chargrilled and served on top of dirty rice, finished with black bean cucumber salsa, cilantro aioli and fresh avocado, and costs $20.

Stone Creek is a large restau-

rant with ample parking in an underground adjacent garage or across the street. The restaurant can seat 220 people comfortably. There is a banquet room, perfect for celebrations and luncheons for bridal and baby showers, which seats 50 people. A children’s menu on glossy wooden plaques is visually pleasing for the young ones. In addition to a main course, each kid’s meal has fries, soda and free dessert, for $5.99.

Cunningham summed it up best when she said, “Stone Creek Dining Company is in a good location, has good prices, and state of the art ambience.”

Stone Creek Dining Company 9386 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 513-489-1444

DINING OUT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

OUTDOOR DINING AVAILABLE

15

DINING OUT Daily Specials & Homemade Soups

Ambar India Restaurant 350 Ludlow Ave Cincinnati 281-7000

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

Parkers Blue Ash Grill 4200 Cooper Rd Blue Ash 891-8300

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

Incahoots 4110 Hunt Rd Blue Ash 793-2600

Pomodori’s 121West McMillan • 861-0080 7880 Remington Rd Montgomery • 794-0080

Aroma Restaurant & Sushi 7875 Montgomery Rd Kenwood 791-0950

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

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

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OPINION

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Getting a second opinion Back in the 1970s there was a one-of-a-kind, short-lived magazine called “Schism.” It contained nothing but reprints of news articles from widely diverse sources.

It was an eye-opening periodical, as it laid bare a plethora of perspectives well beyond those available in mainstream newspapers and newsmagazines of the time.

Some of the viewpoints – I recall in particular several emanating from Arab and Asian countries – were infuriating; the lenses through which the writers viewed the world were weirdly distorted.

Others, though, made a reader think a bit, even question some assumptions. Whether the issue was the war in Vietnam or gun control, it was deeply educative to be exposed to different points of view. One was able to at least “hear” even opinions with which one, in the end, disagreed.

Today, of course, it is easy to find very different perspectives on any issue, if one is inclined to seek them out. Few, though, do. It’s more common to hear people these days say “Oh, I don’t read that” or “I never look at him” – simply because the “that” and the “him” represent points of view at odds with those of the speaker. And so political conservatives don’t dare miss Rush Limbaugh; and liberals hold tight to their copies of The New York Times. They are all poorer for not realizing that greater gain is to be had from meeting another point of view than from exulting in having one’s own opinions duly seconded.

Needless to say, there are ideas from which we, as observant Jews, rightly insulate ourselves. The focus here, though, isn’t on things heretical or licentious, but rather on social and political issues.

Most of us have some opinion about, say, the death penalty. But thoughtful people, whatever their conclusions, realize that there are entirely legitimate arguments to be made on both sides of the issue.

Why should taxpayers be burdened with keeping horrible people fed and housed? Do such people even deserve to live?

Executions deter other would-be criminals, and can provide victims’ families a measure of solace.

Yet, killing any human being, no matter how dismal an example of the species, is a grave deed.

And mistaken convictions have sent innocent people to their deaths.

Some dismiss the first set of points as callous and pandering to a lust for revenge. And some dismiss the second as weak-willed and overly sensitive.

Thoughtful people, however, don’t dismiss either. They acknowledge the validity of all the points. And then they simply weigh them on the scale of their consciences and make, if they choose, their personal judgment.

What brings the thought to mind is the reaction some readers had to a column that appeared in this space several weeks ago. In it, I sought to stress the importance of having all the relevant information when taking political positions – using President Obama’s record as an example, pointing out a number of laudable, but largely unrecognized, decisions he has made regarding Israel and religious rights.

Among the large number of responses to the essay I received were some from people (admirers and detractors of Mr. Obama alike) who related that they had indeed been unaware of the information I had cited, and who thanked me for the essay’s message. Others seemed to miss the message but praised or berated me (depending on their personal feelings about the president) for “defending” Mr. Obama.

My intention, though, was not to judge the president one way or the other, only to point out that judgments require – and so often lack – all relevant information.

The vehement negative responses, though, reminded me of a different, if related, imperative of reasoned discourse: the willingness to recognize that different people can have different perspectives.

The Gemara teaches that “just as people’s faces all differ, so do their attitudes.” The Kotzker is said to have commented on that truth with a question: “Can you imagine disdaining someone because his face doesn’t resemble yours?”

One hopes no one could.

Rabbi Shafran is an editor at large and columnist for Ami.

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

Dear Editor; Before I was born, and for the first three years of my life Mother and I lived in New Jersey with my caring gentle Grandma Slutsky.

During that time, WWII, Daddy, Dr. Nathan Silver z"l, was a Captain in General George Patton’s 3rd Army, fighting against the Nazi’s extermination of Jews in Europe.

Zaidi had announced that he was only coming East if I was a boy!

Rather, Zaidi came to meet me at the hospital as soon as I was born.

That is how early this wondrous man became an integral part of my life.

I had a special relationship with my Zaidi. For 10 years I sat opposite him at Friday night Shabbos dinners. I remember his pride when I recounted my learning Baba Metzia.

I listened to grandfather carefully and intently, and after a time, I understood, and was able to speak his native Litvak Yiddish, his Mama Loshen (the only grandchild to do so).

Early on I knew the gravity of his mission: Not just by the way he spoke: It was in his essence.

To this day I proudly remember and continue to say the Four Questions in Yiddish.

I recall often, with a deep sense of humility, how special I felt when Zaidi would bless me and place his hands over my head.

My Mother, of blessed memory, Lillian Silver z"l, spoke a perfect Litvak Yiddish. Most thought she was his daughter. The enormity of her respect and admiration for him

was palpable.

Even though Daddy and Zaidi were less verbal, they could speak volumes to each other with a mere few words. It was a special Father/Son bond, and Daddy cared for him until his passing in 1968.

Zaidi wore Daddy’s Army Captain uniform throughout postwar Europe in his search of living Jews. This was the same uniform Dad wore when he examined the heinous and infamous Hermann Goehring who had a chronic cardiac condition. Dad pronounced him fit to stand trial. The night before Nurenberg, the Nazi coward committed suicide.

Zaidi went to Catholic orphanages all over Post War Europe to rescue living Jewish children, and in the morning when the priests or nuns told him that there were no Jewish children, he decided to return at night when they were about to go to sleep.

As he entered the large room of (non-existent) Jewish refugee children, he resolutely recited the Sh’ma, and they all joined in the prayer. He left every single orphanage with Jewish children.

Zaidi was a true patriot. He spoke with every American president since Wm. Howard Taft on behalf of Jews and regarding Jewish matters. Taft’s own descendants forged ties with the Silver family. His son Sen. Robert Taft was Zaidi’s attorney in a Mikva case he won (pro bono).

Taft’s grandson Sen. Robert Taft personally assisted me on behalf of the plight of Soviet Jewry. He also helped my Mother in her many

worthwhile endeavors.

The memories are magnificent: I remember Zaidi being called to Memphis on a matter of Kashrus.

We were told he was known as the ‘Czar’ of Kashrus throughout the South.

As I write this, I am looking at a picture of me next to Zaidi, on his wonderful porch, at my birthday party on Glenwood Ave, in 1949, where, by the way, the oldest Maple tree in the state of Ohio resided for close to a century.

I loved Zaidi’s house. It had a beautiful plaque on the outside with his name. Inside it was lovely. One large room on the second floor was my favorite: It was Zaidi’s Library and Study, lined with books from floor to ceiling, all the way around.

There were easily 1,200 books in that room. I can still remember the special smell of that room. It smelled smart. Zaidi’s writings and commentaries were plentiful. This was also the room people came to from all over the world to have disputes settled.

What fond memories I have of the Washington Avenue Shul. It had a beautiful balcony for women, and whenever I reach ed my seat in the first row, I had immediate eye-contact with Zaidi.

I remember the enormity of my pride when people stood in respect as he entered or left a room, or finished making a speech. After all that, he was still my Zaidi!

Several weeks ago, a historian opined that Zaidi would go down in LETTERS on page 22

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: BESHALACH SHEMOT 13:17-17:16 1) Who sang the song by the Red Sea? a) Moses b) the Children of Israel c) Moses and the Children of Israel

judgments given? a) Marah b) Red Sea c) Rephidim 4) Which miracle in the Parsha continued for 40 years? a) Splitting of the Red Sea b) The Manna c) Seventy palm trees

2) How did Moses make the waters by Marah sweet? a) Prayer b) Hit a rock c) Threw a tree into the waters

5) How big an army did Pharaoh chase the Children of Israel with?

3) Where were laws and before the Torah was given. Rashi 4) C 16:35 The Manna fell until Moshe passed away. That Manna lasted for over a month until they entered Canaan 5) 14:7 Pharaoh brought 600 of best chariots and the entire Egyptian army.

By Rabbi Avi Shafran Contributing Columnist

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

ANSWERS: 1) C 15:1 Moshe sang and the Children of Israel answered. The midrash says that Moses sang with the men and Miriam led the women.

2) C 15:25 3) A 15:25 Hashem gave several mitzvoth for the Children of Israel even

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Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

JEWISH LIFE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

Sedra of the Week

By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT BESHALACH • EXODUS 13:17-17:16

Efrat, Israel - The Book of Exodus refers to the God of history – “Y-H-V-H,” “I shall be what I shall be,” whereas the Book of Genesis speaks of the God of creation – E-l shaddai or E-lohim (Exodus 6:3). What is the difference between these names? Does the God of Genesis demand a different kind of fealty than the God of Exodus?

The Hebrew word el means power, so the E-lohim of the Book of Genesis is the sum total of all the powers which created and control the cosmos.

As physicist Gerald Schroeder explains in his masterful “God According to God,” “We reside on a very special planet at a very special location within a very special stellar system, formed at just the right position within the right kind of galaxy. The earth’s distance from the sun, for the right amount of warmth and its mass and gravity, for the ability to retain a proper atmosphere, put us in the only habitable zone within the solar system.”

It was this great Power who set limits to each variable in order to enable intelligent, sentient life to flourish on our planet.

And it was this same Power that set limits on human beings, restraining us in accordance with a divine legal code that will eventually produce a global society of compassionate righteousness and moral justice. The Almighty communicated His laws to Noah and Abraham in the splendid and solitary uniqueness of His glory, without the participation of any others.

Such is the E-lohim of Genesis.

Not so the Y-H-V-H of Exodus, the God that is revealed in the unfolding historical process, He is very different from the God revealed at once in the “Big Bang.” The God of Creation spoke and it came to be, majestically, solitarily. The God of Exodus required the cooperation of His covenantal nation Israel; “He will bring about” the redemption, but precisely when and where will depend on Israel, and Israel’s willingness to act in accordance with His will. The fruition of His plan will depend on Israel’s willingness to be redeemed.

Hence God almost begs Moses to accept the leadership of the Israelites. God will remain hidden in the cloud; Moses must stand on the front line and be backed up by a willing, inspired and committed nation.

After Moses complains that the Israelites will not listen to him comes a difficult verse: “The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and He instructed them regarding the Israelites and regarding Pharaoh the King of Egypt [as to how] to take the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Ex. 6:13). Rashi brilliantly explains, “He commanded them

to lead the Jews with sensitive understanding and to have patience with them.” After all, the God of history entered into a covenant with an entire nation; that nation must be taught and inspired to act in a way that will bring about its redemption.

The plagues were a lesson to the Israelites and the Egyptians that God wants His people to be free. This lesson continued with the paschal sacrifice – a sacrifice which represented an act of commitment unto death on the part of the Israelites. And then we come to our wondrous portion, when the

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Israelites finally reach freedom in the desert. But their happiness is short-lived, soon they hear the Egyptian army approaching from behind while the seemingly impenetrable Reed (Red) Sea lies in front of them.

They cry out to Moses in panic; Moses still doesn’t seem to understand that God’s condition for redemption is Israelite action!

The prophet then declares: “The Lord will do battle for you, but you must remain silent” (14:14).

God corrects Moses: “Speak to the children of Israel and let them start moving [into the sea]” (14:15). Then the first group of Israelites, accepting their role as God’s partners, jump into the surging waters!

How beautifully does the Vilna Gaon explain the text: “The children of Israel entered the sea,

17

which then became dry land; the waters became for them a protective wall [homa] on their right and on their left” (14:22). The Bible continues, “And the children of Israel went on to the dry land [which had already emerged from the midst of the sea]; and the waters became for them an instrument of anger [hema, without a letter vav] on their right and on their left” (14:29). The Vilna Gaon says this refers to the second group of Israelites, who did not risk their lives but waited for dry land to appear. If we hope to be redeemed, we must first demonstrate that we are worthy of Redemption.

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

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JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE ONLINE - MAKOR - THE SOURCE/CINCINNATI @ WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Jewz in the Newz

By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist GOLDEN GLOBES AND MORE The Golden Globe awards, for TV and film work, are being presented live, on NBC, on Sunday, Jan. 16, at 5PM. Last week, I covered the Jewish nominees in the TV categories. Two weeks ago, The American Israelite published a piece by the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) about the Jewish film nominees. Unfortunately, the JTA piece left out about a third of the Jewish nominees for a “movie” Globe. Here is a complete list of the Jewish nominees for a “movie Globe”: Best actress, drama: NATALIE PORTMAN (“The Black Swan”); best actor, drama: JAMES FRANCO (“127 Hours”) and JESSE EISENBERG (“The Social Network”); best actor, comedy: JAKE GYLLENHAAL (“Love and Other Drugs”); best supporting actress: MILA KUNIS (“The Black Swan”); best supporting actor: ANDREW GARFIELD (“The Social Network”) and MICHAEL DOUGLAS (“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”); best director: DARREN ARONOFSKY (“The Black Swan”) and DAVID O. RUSSELL (“The Fighter”); best screenplay: AARON SORKIN (“Social Network”) and LISA CHOLODENKO and STUART BLUMBERG (“The Kids are Alright”) and DAVID SEIDLER (“The King’s Speech”); best song: ALAN MENKEN (“Tangled”) and DIANE WARREN (“Burlesque”); best score: DANNY ELFMAN (“Alice in Wonderland”).

The best foreign film category includes films written and directed by, respectively, a Danish Jew (SUSANNE — a Better World”) and a French Jew (RADU MIHAILEANU— “The Concert”).

Jake Gyllenhaal and James Franco are the secular sons of Jewish mothers and non-Jewish fathers. David O. Russell and Michael Douglas are the secular sons of Jewish fathers and nonJewish mothers. The rest of the nominees, above, have (or had) two Jewish parents.

NEW FLICKS Opening Friday, Jan. 14, are “The Dilemma” and “The Green Hornet.”

“Dilemma” is a Ron Howard comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James as brothers who are trying to land a big auto design contract that would launch their new company. Comic complications ensue when confirmed bachelor Ronny (Vaughn) accidentally sees his long-term girlfriend, Beth (JENNIFER CONNELLY, 40) out with another man and is deter-

mined to get answers. His brother Nick (James) is “apparently” happily married to Geneva, played by WINONA RYDER, 39.

Connelly, who won an Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind,” is the (secular) daughter of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father.

Ryder’s father is Jewish, her mother isn’t Jewish. She identifies as Jewish, but really isn’t religious.

As you might have heard, in the Jan. 2011 issue of GQ magazine, which came out late last month, Ryder said the following about Mel Gibson: “I remember, like, fifteen years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he [Gibson] was really drunk. I was with my friend, who’s gay. He [Gibson] made a really horrible gay joke. And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He [Gibson] said something about ‘oven dodgers,’ but I didn’t get it. I’d never heard that before. It was just this weird, weird moment. I was like, ‘He’s anti-Semitic and he’s homophobic.’ No one believed me!”

“The Green Hornet.” stars SETH ROGEN, 28, in the title role—he also co-wrote the flick. As the film begins, Britt Reid (Rogen), a slacker, inherits his father’s huge fortune. He uses the money to buy high-tech stuff (including an incredible car) and launch himself as the Green Hornet, a crime-fighting vigilante. He’s helped by Kato (Jay Chou), his sharp sidekick, and his secretary (Cameron Diaz).

The Hornet character began as a 1930s radio serial and was featured in a ‘60s TV show. The Rogen film version has more humor than the prior versions and Kato has been “upgraded” from the Green Hornet’s driver to a brilliant guy who puts together all of the Hornet’s weaponry—even inventing some of it.

SEGAL AND WALTER RETURN GEORGE SEGAL, 76, and JESSICA WALTER, 69, co-star in the original TV Land cable series, “Retired at 35.” (Starts Wednesday, Jan.19, at 10:30 PM).

The premise is that a successful 35year-old New Yorker named David (Johnathan McClain) decides to leave the rat race and move in with his parents (Segal and Walter) in a Florida retirement community.

Walter has been friends with Segal for 40 years. She says: “I first worked with him in ‘Bye Bye Braverman,’ a movie with SIDNEY LUMET directing, that came out in — are you sitting down? — 1968…Also, [my husband actor] RON LEIBMAN, has worked with him on such productions as “Where’s Poppa?” “The Hot Rock” and assorted TV shows…I played Segal’s ex-wife on his “Just Shoot Me” series as well… We bring a history to this.”

FROM THE PAGES 100 Years Ago On Sunday evening, January 15, 1911, Mr. and Mrs. I. Tuch, 3245 Beresford Avenue, Walnut Hills, will be at home to their friends, in honor of the 45th anniversary of their wedding.

The golden wedding of the venerable Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Westheimer, took place on Monday, January 9, at St. Joseph, Mo., of which city they have been residents for nearly half a century, during which time Mr. Westheimer has been very prominent both in the world and in Jewish communal affairs. Messrs. Morris F., Leo F. and Irving F. Westheimer, who live and do business in Cincinnati, went to St.

Joseph, to be present at the celebration.

General and Mrs. Lewis Seasongood will celebrate their golden wedding at the Sinton on January 16, 1911. General Seasongood was born on August 3 1836, at Burggunstadt, Bavaria, and came to America at the age of 15. He graduated from St. Xavier College, of this city. He was a member of the firms of Heidelbach, Seasongood, & Co., J. & L. Seasongood & Co., Seasongood, Menderson & Co., successively, also of the banking houses, Seasongood, Netter & Co. and Seasongood Sons Co., all of which are out of existence.

In 1861, he married Emma, the eldest daughter of Jacob and Magdelena Seasongood, and eleven children have been born to them, and of these also eleven children. Eight of these children are still living and all married, two living in New York, Mrs. Berolzheimer and Mrs. Cohn, whose husbands are at the heads of large and prosperous concerns in that city, and a son, Clifford Seasongood, is a successful attorney.

The others are Mrs. M. L. Bettman, Mrs. William Stern, Mrs. Chas W. Adler, Mr. Philip L. Seasongood, and Mr. Albert Seasongood, all of this city. — January 12, 1911

75 Years Ago Mr. and Mrs., Morris J. Frieder and their three little daughters, Jane, Peggy and Susan, will leave Thursday, Jan. 16th, for San Francisco. From this city they will sail on the S.S. President Hoover Friday, Jan. 24th, to spend the next 18 months in Manila, P.I., where Mr. Frieder has business interests. In Mr. Frieder’s honor, Mr. Jack Lauer gave

a stag Saturday evening, Jan. 11th.

Mr. Edward Woliver has been honored by election to Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Cincinnati in his junior year.

Election to this fraternity usually is made in the senior year. He is a Hughes High School graduate and a pre medic.

Abraham Levine, 65, Orthodox

Home, Knott and Maple Avenues, passed away Sunday, Jan. 12th.

Services were held from the Weil Funeral Home the following day.

Surviving Mr. Levine are three sons, Joseph, Harry and Isadore Levine, and one daughter, Mrs. Joseph Leinwohl, all of Cincinnati.

Interment was in Price Hill Cemetery. —January 16, 1936

50 Years Ago Walton H. Bachrach was elected mayor of Cincinnati by City Council at its meeting Thursday afternoon, Jan. 6, to serve through this year.

The vice mayor was elevated to succeed Mayor Donald D. Clancy, who resigned after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mayor Bachrach is the fourth person of the Jewish faith to be mayor of Cincinnati. The others include Murray Seasongood and the late Julius Fleischmann and

Frederick S. Spiegel.

City Council now includes: Mayor Bachrach, Vice Mayor Joseph DeCourcy, Gordon Rich (president pro tem), Eugene Ruehlmann, Marc Trabert, Jr., regular Republicans Mrs. Dorothy N. Dolbey and former Mayor Charles P. Taft, Charterites; John J. Gilligan and Clarence Thomas Spraul, Democrats.

Mrs. Gertrude Hirshberg, 1506 Shenandoah, passed away

Wednesday, Jan. 4.

Funeral services were held at the Weil Funeral Home, Friday, Jan. 6, Dr. Samuel Wohl officiating. Internment was in United Jewish Cemetery, Price Hill.

Survivors include her husband, David; a son, Irvin; three sisters, Mrs. Ester Tahl, Mrs. Dora Hodesh and Mrs. Hannah Schneider, a brother Albert Schmitken, of San Francisco; and one grandchild. — January 12, 1961

25 Years Ago Dr. Herbert G. Frankel of 399 West Galbraith Road passed away Jan. 11.

Dr. Frankel, 90, was one of the first orthodontists in the United States. He had practiced dentistry since his graduation in 1916 from the former Ohio College of Dental Surgery in Cincinnati until his retirement about 10 years ago. For many years his office was in the Doctor’s Building downtown, until he later moved it to Compton

Road in Wyoming.

He is survived by his wife, Josephine Richer Frankel; two sons, Dr. Alan Frankel and Dr. G. Russell Frankel; two grandchildren, Allen and Randy.

It is important for the United States always to look at Israel as an ally, “the same way we look at our NATO allies,” maintains Ohio Attorney General Anthony J. Celebreeze Jr. It is especially important, the attorney general stresses, for the U.S.

not only to provide aid for Israel but for this country to find areas of trade and technological exchange with Israel. Mr. Celebreeze has pledged to use his influence in the state of Ohio to try to affect such exchanges between Ohio enterprises and Israel.

During a visit to Cincinnati in January, Mr. Celebreeze spoke to members of the Jewish community about these ideas and other impressions of his recent trip to Israel. — January 16, 1986

10 Years Ago Patients with heart disease or kidney disease will soon benefit from a new grant provided by the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati to The Jewish Hospital. The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Trustees recently approved $800,000 for the Jewish Hospital to purchase magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) software.

“MRA is a safe and efficient technology to study various parts of the body,” says Aurora Lambert, Jewish Hospital senior vice president. “Our physicians will be able to

study arteries without the invasive techniques associated with x-rays. It is less expensive than conventional x-ray angiography and it’s fast becoming the preferred choice to evaluate carotid arteries, vessels of the brain, femoral, renal and other abdominal vessels.”

“We view responding to the medical needs of the Jewish community as one of our key agendas,” says Robert Kanter, Jewish Foundation president.

“When we reviewed the hospital’s request, we unanimously agreed on the importance of this equipment.”

Dr. Sol Kessel, 84, passed away December 30, 2000. Dr. Kessel was born in Middletown, Ohio, and was a son of the late Joseph and Dora (Tennenbaum) Kessel. Dr. Kessel was the husband of Ruth Kessel, who survives him. Dr. Kessel is also survived by his children, Jonathan and Zvia Kessel of Rehovoth, Israel and Philip Kessel. Surviving grandchildren are Yoav, Doreen, Shai, Abby, and Stephanie Kessel. Dr. Kessel was the brother of Pearl Edelstein and David Kessel, who also survive him.

—January 11, 2001

CLASSIFIEDS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

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) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.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) 984-3393 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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production@ americanisraelite.com WEBSITE from page 1 On Makor, people can upload photos and videos for free for their stories and events. Visitors will also be able to join The American Israelite e-mail list to keep up-to-date on organizational news, synagogue news, social news, community events, national

NOMINATIONS from page 1 Jewish community during Older Americans Month,” said Carol Silver Elliott, CEO/president.

“At our inaugural Eight Over Eighty celebration, we honored eight wonderful seniors: Philip T. Cohen, Paula Gallop, Charlotte Hattenbach, Faye Horwitz, Ernst Kahn (of blessed memory), Gertie Kirzner (of blessed memory), Dr. Gordon Margolin, and Ted Schwartz. In 2010 we honored Wilbur Cohen, Dave Jacobson, Robert Kanter, Florence Lieberman, Lou Nidich, Sue Ransohoff, Richard Weiland, and Florence Zaret,” continued Elliott.

Nominations are due by Feb. 4, GIFFORDS from page 1 interested in politics — brought to a screeching halt the easy, open ambience that typified Giffords’ politics, friends and associates said.

“She’s a warm person,” Stuart Mellan, the president of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, said as he walked away from a prayer service Saturday night at Temple Emanuel in Tucson, one of the southeastern Arizona cities that Giffords represents in Congress. “Everyone called her Gabby, and she would give a hug and remember your name.”

Giffords was the president of the tire company founded by her grandfather when she was propelled into state politics in part because of her concerns about the availability of health care. She switched her registration from Republican to Democrat and in 2001, at 30, she was elected to the Arizona Legislature.

She gained prominence quickly in that body and in 2006, at 36, she became the first Jewish woman elected to Congress from

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2011. To make a nomination, please send a description of the individual’s qualifications for this recognition to Cedar Village, attention Eight Over Eighty. Please include (as applicable): name and age of nominee; duration of volunteer service (years, decades); involvement in Jewish organizations and causes; leadership positions held; current accomplishments; and letters and newspaper articles supporting the nominee’s accomplishments. Explain how the nominee’s long-standing activities exemplify a commitment to Jewish values and our Jewish community.

For more information or to receive a nomination form, contact Cedar Village. her state.

At the same time, her Judaism was becoming more central to her identity. The turning point came in 2001 following a tour of Israel with the American Jewish Committee, she told The Arizona Star in 2007.

“It just cemented the fact that I wanted to spend more time with my own personal, spiritual growth. I felt very committed to Judaism,” she said. “Religion means different things to different people. It provides me with grounding, a better understanding of who I came from.”

Her wedding to Cmdr. Mark Kelly, an astronaut, was written up in The New York Times. The item noted that a mariachi band played Jewish music and there were two canopies — a chupah and one of swords held up by Kelly’s Navy buddies.

“That was Gabby,” Jonathan Rothschild, a longtime friend who served on her campaign’s executive committee, recalled to JTA. “The real irony of this thing is her Judaism is central to her, but she is the kind of person who reaches out to everybody.”

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TRAVEL

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2010: The year in retrospect Wandering Jew

By Janet Steinberg Travel Editor “The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” ~Marcel Proust There are said to be only three places in the world with a Mediterranean climate: The Mediterranean…the coast of Chile around Santiago…and Catalina Island, Calif. The year of 2010 was to be my “Year of Mediterranean Climate.” It was the year I had planned to cruise the Mediterranean and visit Catalina Island, all the while planning for a cruise along the coast of Chile around Santiago in January 2011.

However, Iceland’s evil Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAHlah-yer-kuhl) volcano kept me from flying to Venice to cruise the Mediterranean on Silversea’s glorious Silver Wind. However, I still managed to get my Mediterranean climate on Catalina Island.

Add to that Canada and its Maritimes, the east and west coastlines of the U.S, some down-home Indiana and Kentucky time, and it all adds up to another full year of travel. Come along with me as I share with you my favorites from the year 2010.

CRUISE LINE: Crystal Cruises, an innovator in the luxury travel realm, has been voted “World’s Best Large-Ship Cruise Line” by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine for a record 15th

consecutive year. The ultra-luxury Crystal Cruises is the only vacation experience—cruise line, hotel or resort—to have been voted #1 each year since the awards’ inception. The cruise line’s Crystal Symphony ushered in my colorful autumn with an award-winning St. Lawrence River cruise.

BEACH RESORT: Laguna Beach, Calif. is a magical seaside village with a history that dates back more than 2,000 years. The beach, the food, the art, the spas, the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, and the natural beauty of this eight-mile stretch of picturesque coastal village are the reasons why I must return to Laguna Beach.

CLOSE-TO-HOME RESORT: French Lick Resort, in Southern Indiana is a $500 million historic restoration and casino development project that includes the West Baden Springs Hotel (a National Historic Landmark), French Lick Springs Hotel and the new 42,000square-foot, single-level French Lick Casino. It features two fullservice spas and 45 holes of golf, including the fully restored 1917designed Donald Ross Course at French Lick and the new, 18-hole Pete Dye Course at French Lick.

CLOSE-TO-HOME HOTEL: The 21c Museum Hotel, a 91-room hotel in Louisville, Ky., is dedicated to world-class luxuries, contemporary art from living artists, and Southern-style hospitality. The hotel features a 9,000 square foot contemporary art museum dedicated solely to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art of the 21st Century. Thus its name…21c Museum Hotel.

BOUTIQUE HOTEL: The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club is a hidden gem overlooking King Harbor in Redondo Beach, Calif.

The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club boasts breathtaking scenes from sunsets and sailboats to dolphins and pelicans. It is home to its own colony of California sea lions.

The striking New England Holocaust Memorial is located in Boston.

From our room we had a front-row view of the sea lions frolicking, feeding and basking in their natural habitat. A coastal retreat for the senses!

FAMILY FRIENDLY HOTEL: The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, adjacent to Beverly Hills, affords a contemporary style that is luxurious, yet casual and comfortable. It was the perfect spot in which we could entertain our Los Angeles family. Its Regency Club Room was amazing…the best ever. The Club Room comes complete with comfy furniture, flat screen TVs, free high-speed Internet, a communal dining table, and complimentary food, food and more food. Add to those chic cabanas, swimming pool, an adjacent spa and an awardwinning restaurant. Amazing!

FANTASY ISLAND: Catalina Island is part of the eight Channel Islands archipelago off the coast of Southern California. It boasts a year-round Mediterranean climate,

Wax seal your own personalized bottle along Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail.

with warm, sunny days, perfect blue skies and cool evening breezes. An escape from the everyday hustle, bustle and stress of life, Catalina Island seems to have transported the Isle of Capri to Southern California.

ROAD TRIP: With Louisville, Ky. as headquarters, I day-tripped along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, visiting such signature distilleries as Woodford Reserve and Maker’s Mark. Nestled among the most beautiful scenery the Bluegrass has to offer, I experienced world-renowned Bourbon, winding country roads, inviting historic towns, rolling green hills and Bluegrass hospitality at its best.

Returning to Louisville each night, there was time to hit the Urban Bourbon Trail.

ELEGANT LUNCH: Volcanic ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) vol-

Crystal Symphony anchored in Newport Rhode Island’s harbor.

cano squashed my plans to dine at one of my favorite restaurants in the world…Harry Cipriani’s Harry’s Bar, in Venice, Italy.

However, a couple of Bellinis and a fantastic lunch at Harry Cipriani Restaurant in New York’s Sherry Netherland Hotel sufficed to give me my “Harry’s Fix” for the year.

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL: The six luminous, 54-foot tall glass towers of Boston’s striking New England Holocaust Memorial, etched with six million numbers in memory of the Jews who perished in the Holocaust, serve a threefold purpose. They represent the six million Jews, they recall the chimneys of the six main Nazi death camps, and they glow as the candles on a memorial menorah.

CRUISE ITINERARY: Crystal Cruises “Links & Lobsters” cruise from Montreal to New York included such great ports as Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax (Nova Scotia), Saint John (New Brunswick), Portland, Boston, Newport and New York. Add to that two days of gliding down Canada’s St. Lawrence River and you have a cruise that’s hard to top for pure pleasure, relaxation and luxurious living.

LUGGAGE: Lightweight has been reinvented! The virtually weightless Atlantic Ultra Lite Luggage, weighing in at a mere 8.5 pounds, gave me a lighter way to travel. This affordable 28” Upright is a sure-fire way to avoid those money-grabbing overweight baggage fees. The piece de resistance is that it comes in five delicious colors…none of which is black. It’s easy to spot, and light to grasp, from the airport’s baggage conveyor belt.

OPERA-TUNITY: Cincinnati Opera’s 2010 Season celebrated nine decades of passion and romance, exhilaration and magic,

delight and longing. The lighthearted season opener Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was followed by Verdi’s Otello and La Bohème, Puccini’s sweeping score of gorgeous melodies and timeless tale of young lovers in Paris. World-class singers…the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra…the powerful Cincinnati Opera Chorus…lavish costumes…breathtaking sets…and evocative lighting. Bravissimo!

POP-ERTUNITY: Natalie Cole brought her soulful sounds to Indiana’s French Lick Resort for a special one-night-only performance that was one of two Midwest tour dates for Cole. The concert was preceded by an unforgettable dinner in the resort’s restaurant 1875:The Steakhouse. Just as Natalie Cole sang along with daddy Nat King Cole, in an electronically enhanced duet, my evening was “Unforgettable.”

DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE: The Actors Theatre of Louisville presented The Kite Runner, a universal tale of friendship and family that followed the bond between two boys in Afghanistan who are pulled apart by decades of civil unrest, and one man’s epic journey to confront the past. The Actors Theatre hosts the Humana Festival of New American Plays that has been described as “The Kentucky Derby of the American Theatre.”

SYNAGOGUE: Newport Rhode Island’s Touro Synagogue, dedicated in1763 and designated a National Historic Site in 1946, is the oldest synagogue in the United States and the only one which survives from the Colonial era. The synagogue’s simple Georgian exterior conceals a dramatic 2story Palladian interior.

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

AUTOS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011

2011 Audi A3 is sporty, fun to drive With impressive fuel economy, tight handling and a wellcrafted interior, the 2011 Audi A3 is a fun, upscale, small car. It boasts a rare combination for a small car: quality, sportiness and an attractive design.

The A3 is also one of the safest small cars on the market. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named the 2011 A3 a “Top Safety Pick.” The A3 comes with plenty of standard safety features, which include: anti-lock brakes, Electronic Brake-pressure Distribution, Electronic Differential Lock, Hydraulic Brake Assist, sideguard head curtain airbags for all passengers, front thorax airbags and front airbags.

Rear side airbags are optional. The electronic stability control system supplies the perfect balance of safety and fun, because the system only intervenes when it needs to, and it doesn’t overpower.

The A3 comes in Premium and Premium Plus trims. These trims have two engine options, a 2.0cylinder gasoline engine or a 2.0cylinder TDI diesel engine. The A3 also comes with a choice of a six-speed manual transmission or six-speed automatic transmission.

Audi’s Quattro all-wheel drive is available for automatic transmission, gasoline models only.

The TDI diesel’s fuel economy is impressive. It delivers an average 30 mpg in the city and 42 mpg on the highway. This is the best fuel economy of any luxury car sold in America. The diesel engine produces 236 pound feet of torque and 140 horsepower. It also creates 30 percent fewer carbon dioxide emissions than a comparable gasoline engine while it meets or exceeds the 50 state emissions requirements. The Green Car Journal recognized the A3 TDI as “Green Car of the Year” for its performance, efficiency and lower carbon dioxide emissions.

With 200 horsepower and 207 pound feet of torque, the A3 with a gasoline engine delivers 21 mpg city and 30 mpg highway.

The A3’s driving experience is impressive with quick acceleration, tight handling and responsive braking. The optional Sport package adds a firmer sport suspension and sport seats with more lateral support. The package also includes 18-inch wheels and summer tires.

The Titanium Sport package available on the Premium Plus adds special exterior and interior trim.

The 2011 Audi A3 follows in the Audi tradition with a cabin full of high-quality materials and craftsmanship while showing off an understated design.

The A3 features 20 cubic feet

21

The base Premium model includes: dual-zone automatic climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 10-speaker audio system and Sirius Satellite Radio. of cargo space with the rear seats up and 39 cubic feet with the seats folded. The 60/40 split-folding rear seats offer the versatility of multiple configurations.

Leather seating is standard, and heated front seats are available with the optional Cold Weather package.

Optional on both trims, this package also adds heated mirrors and heated windshield washer nozzles.

The base Premium model includes: dual-zone automatic climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 10-speaker audio system and Sirius Satellite Radio.

The Premium Plus model adds an eight-way power driver’s seat and Bluetooth, among other features.

Dark brown walnut wood inlays are also available. A panoramic sunroof is an additional option.

Audi’s DVD-based Navigation Plus system is optional. Audi Concert system with single CD player with MP3 playback capability, AM/FM radio, auxilary input jack and speed-dependent volume control comes standard, but a six-CD changer is optional.

Any iPod® Generation 4 and higher may be connected through the glove box, providing full iPod® controls on the navigation screen. A USB flash drive or a conventional auxiliary audio input can also be connected. A Bose premium sound system is also available on the Premium Plus trim.

Adding the Bluetooth Comfort package allows for easy, intuitive hands-free communication with your Bluetooth-enabled phone’s features via the multifunctional steering wheel. This package also allows the driver to electronically adjust the seat’s forward/backward position, height, lumbar support and angle of seat cushion and seatback.

The 2011 Audi A3 starts at $27,270.

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OBITUARIES

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DEATH NOTICES WEST, Ilse E., age 80, died on January 6, 2011; 1 Shevat, 5771.

OBITUARIES POST, Selma Gettler Selma Gettler Post passed away on December 23, 2010, at the age of 87 in Boca Raton, Fla. She was preceded in death in 1983 by her beloved husband, Lawrence Post.

Selma and Larry are survived by their beloved children, Sam (Donna) Post, Steve Post, Jeffrey Post and Nancy (Michael) Finsterer and by her beloved sister, Mona (Michael) Roghenberg of Tempe, Az., brother Benjamin (Deliaan) Gettler of Cincinnati, Ohio, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Selma lived in Cincinnati from 1938 to 1958 and graduated from Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati. Selma and Larry moved to Long Island in 1958 where she taught elementary school until her retirement in 1985.

Memorial services have been held.

MUNICK, Wendy Beth Wendy Beth Munick, age 44, a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, passed away unexpectedly on December 27, 2010. She was a daughter of Dr. Leo and the late Jane Munick, of Wyoming.

Ms. Munick graduated from Wyoming High School and received her bachelor’s degree in international studies with a concentration in peace and justice from Tufts University in Boston.

She later received her paralegal certification from the University of Cincinnati.

Ms. Munick worked at the Housing Opportunities Made Equal for many years before joining the Hammond Law Firm downtown, specializing in immigration law. Both of these career

Wendy Beth Munick

choices exemplified her strong desire to help others.

Ms. Munick suffered from polycystic kidney disease and became very ill in 2005. As she came close to needing dialysis, she received a kidney donation in 2008 from her sister, Karen Klein. Her death was caused by an unrelated illness.

The self-declared “cool aunt,” Wendy Munick had plenty to live for. She especially enjoyed showering her nieces and nephew with gifts that reflected her zest for life.

“She would bring the coolest presents and buy the most ridiculous outfits that she knew I would hate and my daughter would love,” said Lisa Haffer, a sister of Ms. Munick. “She was just so thoughtful and creative. She had so much spunk and flair.”

Ms. Munick was known for her accessories, which included matching scarves and big costume jewelry. She was a cat lover and volunteered at a local cat shelter for years before her kidney transplant kept her from being around cats.

She was very social and enjoyed going out with friends, many of whom she had known since childhood. Having successfully undergone the kidney transplant, she was full of life and always ready for fun.

“I always said that she put her two sisters to shame with her active social life,” said her sister, Lisa Haffer. “She just loved life.

The chance she was given, she just really grabbed it.”

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In addition to her father, she is survived by her sisters, Lisa (Stephen) Haffer of Columbus,Ohio, and Karen (Michael) Klein of Santa Barbara, Calif.; and her nieces and nephew, Jane and Drew Haffer, and Jordan Klein.

Funeral services were held at Congregation Beth Adam on Wednesday, December 29, 2010.

Memorial contributions can be made to Congregation Beth Adam, 10001 Loveland Madeira Road, Loveland, Ohio 45140, 513-9850400, or to a charity of choice.

TAFT, E. Gerald E. Gerald Taft, age 95, passed away on Thursday, December 30, 2010 - the 23rd day of Tevet, 5771. Born in Bentley, Mich., he was the son of the late Benjamin and Rose Touff.

Growing up during the Great Depression, Mr. Taft graduated from Hughes High School and the University of Cincinnati, receiving his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, achieving the rank of Captain.

When he returned home from the military, he worked at General Electric for 20 years.

Mr. Taft was an active member of Temple Sholom and served as a docent at Hebrew Union College.

Surviving relatives include his wife, Hope Z. Beck Taft; his children, Riva (J.N.) Taft Johnson, Eric (Eileen) Taft, Robert D. (Hannah L.) Beck, Louis S. (Patty S.) Beck, Richard A. Beck, and Mitchell A. (Patty) Beck; his grandchildren, Reid Johnson, Andrea (Fred Gartenlaub) Beck, Jayson (Kimberly) Beck, Stephanie (Jeffrey) Rhein, Tyler Beck, Jessica Beck, Staci Graef, Steven Beck, Ryan Beck, Ellie Beck, Zachary Slemmer, Brandon (Rachel) Beck, and Allyson Beck; and his greatgrandchildren, Erica and David Taft, Lily Plum Gartenlaub, Grace and Cecilia Rhein, Hunter, Julia and Emma Graef.

According to family members, Mr. Taft “was a truly brilliant man with a beautifully childlike curiosity about all things God placed on the table before him. This curious mind sustained a young spirit for 95 years and 7 months. He grew up during the Great Depression, served his country in World War II, and came home to quietly and unassumingly be part of what Tom Brokaw calls ‘The Greatest Generation.’ He was and will continue to be a truly wonderful role model.”

Funeral services were held for Mr. Taft on Sunday, January 2, 2011, at Weil Funeral Home, with interment at Clifton Jewish Cemetery.

The family would appreciate any memorial contributions to the HUC Library, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45220, 513-487-3332; or to the charity of one’s choice.

FRIEDMAN from page 1 Friedman transformed Jewish worship in hundreds, if not thousands of North American synagogues, with her sing-along style of folkinspired music that brought prayer home to liberal Jews who had never felt its power. Within minutes of her death, the guestbook on her website began to overflow with outpourings of love and grief from her fans around the world.

“Were it not for Debbie, Reform and Progressive Jews would not have discovered the connection between prayers and healing,” read the eulogy sent out by the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

“While Reform worship was once characterized by organs and choirs, Debbie taught us to sing as communities and congregations. The guitar became a sacred instrument in her hands and she opened our hearts and souls to the joy of communal song.”

Born in Utica, N.Y., Friedman started as a group song leader in the Reform movement’s Olin-SangRuby Union summer camp in LETTERS from page 16 history as a primary rescuer of his people during and after the Holocaust.

He is personally credited with saving at least 10,000+ Jews and their offspring.

I felt pride when told of his encounter with Simon Wiesenthal at his DP camp after the war. Wiesenthal questioned how a G-d could let the Holocaust happen. Whatever Zaidi’s response was, the following morning Wiesenthal davened (prayed) for the first time since his Bar Mitzva.

I shall never forget his own family Doctor telling him that it was a miracle he never got ill. He traversed postwar Europe in my Father’s Army Captain uniform, carrying all of his food with him in his briefcase. Dad had dealt with the wounded and death and dying 24/7. Later he helped liberate BergenBelsen. Dad ate powdered eggs for three years to maintain Kashrus.

How can I ever forget taking Zaidi to the farm in Dent, Ohio to get his milk? Or to Winton Place Train Station for his many trips to New York, Washington and all over the country on behalf of his people? The porters and other train employees all knew him!

Zaidi brought me back a beautiful blouse from Mitzrayim (Egypt). He also went to Cuba.

I recall his sense of humor: He told Dad there was a dent in the roof of his ‘55 black Olds because the person cleaning it washed too hard. Or the time a colleague called Dad to tell him that Zaidi was staying in the pilot’s quarters overnight at Cincinnati Airport as Shabbos quickly approached. Or, him walking down Reading Road, reading the daily newspaper, almost oblivious to the surroundings.

Someone very special watched over Zaidi.

Can I ever forget how he blew the

Wisconsin the early 1970s, where she set Jewish liturgy to her own contemporary melodies.

Her first album, “Sing Unto God,” was released in 1972, followed by 19 more over the next three decades. Her most well-known composition, “Mi Shebeirach,” a HebrewEnglish version of the Jewish prayer for healing, is sung in synagogues around the world, often by those who don’t realize its provenance.

“The issue is whether we’re reaching people and helping them pray,” Friedman told JTA in 2007.

“Whatever we can do to facilitate their worship experience and spiritual selfexploration, we’re obligated to do.”

“She had a strength and vulnerability about her that allowed people to unleash,” said Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, a cantor at Central Synagogue in Manhattan who performed at the Sunday night event in Manhattan mourning Friedman.

“She had this amazing ability to make people feel they had a connection with her, even after a short conversation.” shofar? Or, how he sucked out eggs and made our Succos decorations?

Or, that he always visited the fifth night of Chanukah and we played dreidel and heard marvelous stories. I still have one of the dreidels and see his sparkling eyes! Or, his own handbaked Shmura matzo we ate throughout Pesach.

The fact that Zaidi gave everything away is no secret. He now is in the richest and holiest part of Heaven.

I feel he is and has protected me.

When I went to Russia five times in ‘72 he was with me.

I went to a memorial for the people blown up on Bus 19 in Yerushalayim.

As I looked around I thought of Zaidi and the solo battles he fought for his people all over the world.

It is well-known and acknowledged that most (including Jews) did not want to believe him about the Holocaust.

He had a noble mission: He could not rest. He had a positive outlook and above all, was an optimist. He and his Va’ad Hatzolo (International) Rescue work directly saved 10’s of thousands during the Holocaust, and many more in its aftermath (and their descendants).

I remember a visit to Yad Vashem.

The Shomer or “guard” at the very large room (with the names of all the camps and the numbers who perished bronzed into the floor) spoke Yiddish to me, and when I said Zaidi’s name, he literally fell to the floor, exclaiming that Zaidi had saved his life.

Zaidi put his people before himself with an undaunting courage, persistence and faith that is awesome. I had the unique honor of growing up in his midst, even though we shared Zaidi with the world.

He is irreplacable! I am truly blessed.

Judy Silver-Shapiro San Rafael, C.A.

2011 CALENDAR Special Issues & Sections J ANUARY

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Rosh Hashanah Jewish Year in Review

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Gift Guide

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Event Planning Guide

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Travel Guide

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Legal Directory

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Year in Review

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SPECIAL SECTIONS – 10

DAYS BEFORE PUBLICATION

Business: publisher@americanisraelite.com | Editor: editor@americanisraelite.com | Production: production@americanisraelite.com Phone: 513.621.3145 | Fax: 513.621.3744 Dates of Special Issues & Sections may change without formal notice.

ANNOUNCING OUR

NEW AND IMPROVED

WEBSITE THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE ONLINE MAKOR - THE SOURCE/CINCINNATI

COMING SOON

Plus Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & mor e...

• Totally free

• Sign-up to receive e-mails from the site

• New articles five times a week versus once a week

• Updates on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

• Events and personal announcements are posted immediately

• Directory of Advertisers

• Upload your own announcements, including Jewish life events,

• Content is updated every business day and ads appear on every

anniversaries, birthdays, job promotions, honors and awards

news and feature page, including submission form pages

• Upload photos for free for your stories or events

• Visitors can access advertisers’ websites by clicking on ads

• “Interactive Features”— including Ask a Rabbi, Advice

• Local, National and International stories

Column, Personal Jewish Stories, Kosher Recipes

• Searchable database on website, find stories going back a year

• Access videos of events, social happenings and lectures

• Expanded Social News page

• Dedicated pages for Organizational, Synagogue, and Social

• Expanded National and International news stories

News, plus Community Events and News From Advertisers

• Forum for conversations and questions

• Suggestion Box for new ideas

• More human interest pieces

• Special link for Obituaries

• Calendar with community events with link to websites

• Coupons and promotions

• Each printed section will have a dedicated page on the website

Questions? Contact Ted Deutsch at (513) 621-3145 or publisher@americanisraelite.com 18 W. 9th St., Ste. 2, Cincinnati, OH 45202-2037