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Security experts: To prevent extremist violence, look at behavior...
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p.7 Rabbi Irvin M. Wise along with Adath Israel’s confirmands
Daniel Gushin, Rabbi Gershom Barnard and Eddie Bassin
Adath Israel Northern Hills Synagogue confirmation Synagogue confirmation After ruinous tornado, rabbis head to Joplin to help
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Housing protests roil Israel as tent cities pop up
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Sixteen Adath Israel students were confirmed this spring. The confirmation students celebrated their achievement by leading Shavuot services on Wednesday, June 8, including reading the complete Torah portion and Haftorah. Each student was presented with a copy of the JPS Tanach and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin’s Jewish Literacy. Students also had a tree planted in Israel honoring their commitment to Jewish education. Certificates were given by Hillary Hirsch, the director of Youth and Family Programming, and Debbie Lempert, vice president of Education and Youth Programming. During their confirmation year students reaffirm their relationship to and with the 613 mitzvot given at Mount Sinai. The students find some of the mitzvot personally relevant today. They also learn that they have the rest of their lives to contin-
ue their study of mitzvot. Each confirmation student attended Mercaz, the conservative Hebrew High School. In her Dvar Torah Samantha Wolkoff encouraged all of her classmates to continue their commitment to Jewish education and graduate from Mercaz in two years. The confirmation students met regularly with Rabbi Wise to discuss what confirmation means to them. According to Rabbi Wise, senior rabbi at Adath Israel Congregation, “In Conservative Judaism Confirmation is a creation of 20th century America. It has become an important Jewish experience allowing our youth to confirm their commitment to Judaism at a more mature age than when they became b’nai and b’not mitzvah. The level of discussion and study is significant ADATH on page 19
Northern Hills Synagogue – Congregation B’nai Avraham celebrated the confirmation of two of its young people at Shabbat morning services on June 11. Daniel Gushin, son of Jeffrey and Lois Gushin, and Eddie Bassin, son of Jeffrey and Gayna Bassin, who had completed the 10th grade at Sycamore High School and at Mercaz, Cincinnati’s Conservative Hebrew High School, marked this religious and educational milestone by leading parts of the service and speaking to the congregation about topics which they had studied. “For us, confirmation is not in any way a sacrament or a freestanding religious ceremony, but an opportunity for high school students to come together again, midway between bar/bat mitzvahs and high school graduation, to return to several topics of Jewish concern in
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a more mature way,” noted Rabbi Gershom Barnard of Northern Hills Synagogue. In addition to taking Sunday evening classes at Mercaz, Northern Hills’ confirmands took part in six special activities, each focused on a Jewish topic: Shabbat, prayer, social action, social justice, personal ethics and kashrut. For example, the social action activity involved learning about the Jewish values of tzedakah and gemilut hasadim, as well as hunger in America, and then working at the Over-the-Rhine Soup Kitchen. Eddie chose that activity as the subject of his confirmation presentation. He quoted Talmud Yerushalmi Peah, where it is said, “In a city where there are both Jews and non-Jews, collectors of tzedakah … feed the poor of both.” NHS on page 19
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Special delivery for Jewish community’s new babies “Whether it’s your first baby or your fourth… adding a brand new member to your family can be as stressful as it is joyful — that’s why we created the Shalom Baby Starter Kit Series,” explains Nikki Sandor, program coordinator. “These kits are free and sent right to the recipient’s front door three times throughout the year. They contain gifts and goodies for parents and babies, and offer a perfect no-strings-attached way to help young Jewish families get connected to each other and to the Jewish community.” Hundreds of Shalom Baby Starter Kits are sent out each year at no cost to families with children 18 months and younger in which at least one parent is Jewish, and are made possible thanks to the generosity of The Mayerson Foundation. The boxes contain a wide variety of items such as a “Tushy Towelettes To Go” container, a Baby’s First Jewish Holiday board book, a fork and spoon set, a hardbound copy of the popular book “Jewish Family & Life” for parents, a Schlep Bag for toting toys and books, a Children’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook, Hebrew alphabet placemat and much more. In addition, each child receives ritual items such as candle sticks or a wine cup, and even a mezuzah for his or her bedroom door along with a step-by-step guidebook to help those who are interested in learning a little bit, or a little bit more, about how to use these and other items that come in the gift boxes. “These Starter Kits are often a young family’s first introduction to the Jewish community, and are a great way to help introduce them to the many resources it has to offer, such as the PJ Library program, Jewish preschools and camps, congregations, the JCC, and everything else that makes our community such a great place in which to raise Jewish
kids!” says Pam Saeks, director of Jewish Giving for The Mayerson Foundation. “Recently, we began sending not just one, but three gift boxes to each family, allowing us to have more ‘touchpoints’ with these young families during that critical first year,” she adds.
Shalom Baby Starter Kits, which contain Jewish themed items for babies and parents, are sent out to help young Jewish families get connected to the Jewish community.
“Being Jewish didn’t really matter much to me before I had kids. However, that all changed when my daughter was born. Suddenly it mattered a lot! The problem was, I didn’t even know where to begin,” says Jana Bronstein Anderson. “It was right around that time that a Shalom Baby Starter Kit arrived at my door. I never realized that the Cincinnati Jewish community offered so many options for young families. Soon we started going to the Sensory Sunday playgroups in Mason and have met a lot of really nice people,” she continues. “Some of us
Yoga, Yagoot at the JCC Whether you’re a yoga lover or have never even tried it, participants of all ages and abilities are sure to love this JCC event on Tuesday, Aug. 23. Who wouldn’t like mixing fitness and fashion with frozen yogurt and fun? So get your “om” on and experience an evening that starts with some super-sized yoga and winds down with a poolside party. This event is free, but advance registration is suggested. Yoga & Yagoot is at the Mayerson JCC and it’s open to the public. This free event is co- sponsored by YPs (Young Professionals) at the JCC and the Mayerson Foundation. Tours of the JCC will be available. Vinyasa yoga is a more physically demanding style of yoga that develops endurance, strength and
flexibility for the body, as well as focus and clarity for the mind. This free class is at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 23 in the Amberley Room at the JCC. Mindful yoga is a blend of hatha yoga and meditation to deepen the mental and emotional benefits of yoga. This free class is limited to 25 people, and will be at 6:30 p.m. in the JCC dance studio. After an energizing yoga session, everyone can head to the JCC outdoor pool at 7:30 p.m. to enjoy free samples of Yagoot frozen yogurt and check out some cool athletic clothing. A kosher yogurt option is available with advance notice. To register for Yoga & Yagoot, contact Josh Rothstein at the J by Aug. 22.
have started talking about sending our kids to Jewish preschool in a few years! It’s amazing what a difference that box full of goodies has made in our lives!” The Shalom Baby Starter Kit Series is a program of Shalom Family, which offers Sensory Sunday playgroups twice a month at Gymboree in Mason for families with children 18 months and younger. In addition, Shalom Family hosts some of the largest family events in the Jewish community, attracting hundreds of people each time. These events are always free and take place at some of the most popular family-friendly venues in town. Shalom Family’s next event will be the Dream Job-A-Rama: Career Fair for Kids, in partnership with Rockwern Academy and will take place on Sunday, October 2 from 3-5 p.m. in Rockwern’s gymnasium and outdoor parking lot. To sign up for the free Shalom Baby Starter Kit Series and to learn more about Sensory Sunday and Shalom Family events, go to the Shalom Family website. And, for families in which one parent is Jewish and the other isn’t, or in which one or both parents have converted to Judaism, The Mayerson Foundation offers Fusion Family, and the New Traditions Gift program to help young families get connected to Jewish life and the Jewish community on their own terms. For more information, see the Community Directory in this issue for contact information.
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Find Jewish schools on AI’s website Plus this week’s Facebook Fan of the Week The American Israelite website and The American Israelite newspaper will be the places to go this year to find the right school for your child. Whether you are looking for a Jewish preschool, a Jewish early childhood school, a Jewish Day School, a Jewish Sunday School or a Hebrew School, the upcoming Back to
School issue will list what the Jewish community of Cincinnati has to offer for your family. The groupings will be broken down into Preschools, Congregational Schools, Day Schools and will also offer listings of additional programming options. The listing will be available online on Wednesday, Aug. 10, and will be
in the following day’s print edition. To locate the listings online, go to the search box on the top right corner of the The American Israelite website’s homepage and type in “Back to School” or “school listings” then click the magnifying glass to the right of the box. The Back to School listings should be the first to come
up. In addition, you can identify the article by its online published date, which will be August 10. Remember to stick with the oldest for what’s new. Also, congratulations to Diane Rubin Turner, this week’s new Facebook Fan of the Week. Don’t forget to “like” us for your chance to be the Fan of the Week!
Rockdale Temple to host prospective member service, dinner Rockdale Temple will host a Prospective Member Evening on Friday, Aug. 26. Everyone in the community seeking a congregational home is invited to attend a special erev Shabbat service and stay for dinner as guests of the Rockdale congregation. The evening’s events begin at
5:45 p.m. with a “Shabbat Nosh” of finger foods, cold beverages and a chance to visit with current congregants. At 6:15 p.m., Rabbi Sissy Coran will lead Rock Shabbat, a contemporary service, with music by the Temple’s Rock Shabbat band. Dinner will follow with choice of meat or vegetarian
entrees and a children’s menu. “Rock Shabbat services have become very popular with our congregants and are always fun and family-friendly,” said Rabbi Coran. “They reflect the warm, welcoming ruach (spirit) of Rockdale. This service and festive meal will offer a relaxing way to
welcome Shabbat and get acquainted with all the exciting opportunities that Rockdale offers.” Further information and reservation forms are available on the temple’s website, or from the temple office. Reservations are due by Wednesday, Aug. 24.
This fun beach party is open to all Jewish teenagers in grades 912. Hosted by the Mayerson JCC, teens from around the city including NFTY, BBYO and USY members will have fun at Grand Sands enjoying beach volleyball, dancing and mechanical surfboard riding. Music will be played by DJ Eddie Sotto. Slushies and munchies will
also be provided free of charge. “The Beach Bash will be a fun opportunity to meet different kids from around the city,” said Dani Reichman, a junior at Loveland High School. “I am excited to play volleyball and ride the mechanical surfboard, and also to get together with all of my friends after not seeing them all summer.”
secure more spaces on upcoming JWRP missions. The “men left behind” have expressed their interest in a similarly inspiring “spiritual-growthoriented” Israel trip. Fortunately,
designed to provide the sense of attachment to the Land that can only come through knowledge of its history and corroborated facts, as well as opportunities to delve into classic Jewish wisdom
“This was such a gift to spend my first trip to Israel with such amazing women…a very spiritual, fun learning experience for women from all denominations of Judaism.” Linda Shaw
Aish Hatorah, with whom JWRP is affiliated, has been coordinating men’s learning missions. Cincinnati has been awarded spots on such a mission this coming fall. This “Learn and Know” mission is
through exposure to the texts. The mens’ mission will offer three tracks. The first will combine many unique “only-in-Israel” experiences with fascinating tours led by Israeli guides. The second
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VOL. 158 • NO. 2 THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011 4 AV 5771 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 8:28 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 9:29 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 production@americanisraelite.com RABBI ISSAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928
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It’s easy to sign up in advance for the free Beach Bash. Those interested can reserve on Facebook (search for JCC Back to School Beach Bash) or by calling the J. Everyone who reserves by Aug. 25 will be entered to win an iTunes gift card. The winner will be awarded at the Beach Bash on Aug. 27.
A ‘Birthright for Moms,’ now for Dads too Recently, 20 local women joined hundreds of other moms from communities across the U.S. for the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) T.A.G. (Transform and Grow) Mission. JWRP has brought thousands of Jewish mothers to Israel on what it calls a “Birthright for Moms.” Julie Torem was one of the local participants. She described the experience as providing “sisterhood, graciousness, love, introspection and fun!” “This was such a gift to spend my first trip to Israel with such amazing women…a very spiritual, fun learning experience for women from all denominations of Judaism,” noted Linda Shaw, another trip participant. “We danced, we prayed, we learned, we bonded but most importantly we came together as Jewish women and mothers to enhance our Judaism on all levels.” This was the first time Cincinnati was awarded spots on this mission, and given the many women wishing to be involved, Sarah’s Place will attempt to
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JCC Beach Bash is fun for teens going back to school High school teens in the Jewish community should plan to attend the free JCC Back to School Beach Bash on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 9 – 11 p.m. at Grand Sands in Loveland. All those interested in attending the party are asked to reserve by Aug. 25 on the JCC Facebook page or by calling the J.
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track will allow participants the opportunity to immerse themselves in textual study in the Aish Hatorah Beit Medrash (study hall) overlooking the Temple Mount. No previous background will be necessary to appreciate this “taste of Yeshiva” experience. This track will also include several tours and inspiring lectures. The third track is geared to those who can spend a full two weeks in Israel. It will build on the “taste of Yeshsiva” track and offer varied learning opportunities and educational tours during a second incredible week. For men ages 26 and under this track is eligible for full funding. The Aish Israel mission is scheduled to depart from Cincinnati on Nov. 6. Any local Jewish men can apply for this trip. All packages are subsidized. The local provider for this trip is the Cincinnati Community Kollel and the city leader will be Kollel outreach director, Rabbi Yitzchok Preis. For application information, please contact him.
MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher BARBARA L. MORGENSTERN Senior Writer NICOLE SIMON RITA TONGPITUK Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor STEPHANIE DAVIS-NOVAK Fashion Editor SONDRA KATKIN Dining Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN ZELL SCHULMAN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists LEV LOKSHIN JANE KARLSBERG Staff Photographers JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager MICHAEL MAZER Sales ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $44 per year and $2.00 per single copy in Cincinnati and $49 per year and $3.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. The views and opinions expressed by the columnists of The American Israelite do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the newspaper.
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Security experts: To prevent extremist violence, look at behavior, not ideology By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Courtesy Security Community Network
A poster campaign sponsored in part by the Jewish community’s Security Community Network urges Jews to keep an eye out for suspicious objects.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Focus on behaviors common to all extremists: That’s the advice security experts are offering in the wake of the recent attacks in Norway by a perpetrator who appeared to be anti-Muslim rather than an Islamist. In the United States, the attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utoya are prompting government officials and those advising the Jewish community on security to look for lessons that can be applied to America. The Secure Community Network, known as SCN and funded by the Jewish Federations of North America, set up a conference call this week for Jewish summer camp officials with a top Homeland Security Department official. Most of the 77 people killed in Norway died in a shooting attack at a youth camp on Utoya. SCN in its notice to camp officials said the call, scheduled for Wednesday, was to “discuss plan-
ning, mitigation and response policies and procedures camps can implement to address the risk, threat and impact of active shooters and other events.” Anders Behring Breivik has claimed responsibility for the Norway attacks but has pleaded not guilty, saying the killings were justified. Whether one is a right-wing or Islamic extremist, the telltale signs of a possible attack in the works may be the same, a senior Homeland Security official told JTA. The likely attacker is “an individual becoming increasingly vocal and visible in their anti-American, anti-Jewish community, anti-government rhetoric” — whatever the provenance of their beliefs, said the official, who spoke on condition of not being named. That was true, the official noted, of Faisal Shahzad, the Islamist convicted of attempting to set off a car bomb in Times Square in May 2010, as it was of Richard Poplawski, the white supremacist
on death row for killing three Pittsburgh policemen in 2009. Past and current U.S. government security officials laid out three interlocking strategies for prevention: Getting family and acquaintances to report such behavioral changes; getting others in the community to note suspicious behavior around likely targets; and making sure such reports are streamlined so that local and federal authorities are able to coordinate a response. “We seek through intelligence and information-sharing to better inform local authorities and community members to recognize the behaviors associated with violence,” the Homeland Security official said. In reports after the Pittsburgh shootings, friends and family of Poplawski said they had noted, but not made an issue of, his legal weapons purchases as well as his propensity for anti-government, racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. SECURITY on page 22
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Judge strikes circumcision ban from S.F. ballot By Dan Klein Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) — A state Superior Court judge in California ruled that a proposal to ban circumcision for minors must be struck from San Francisco’s November ballot. In a final ruling on Thursday, Judge Loretta Giorgi affirmed her tentative ruling from the previous day in which she agreed with the plaintiffs that the proposed ballot initiative is “expressly pre-empted” by state law because the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that “circumcision is a widely practiced medical procedure.” California law prohibits local governments from regulating medical procedures. “It serves no legitimate purpose to allow a measure whose invalidity can be determined as a matter of law to remain on the bal-
lot after such a ruling has been made,” the judge said. The initiative, if passed, would have made the practice of circumcision a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year in jail, and offered no exemption for religious ritual. The initiative had gotten on the ballot in San Francisco after anti-circumcision activists launched a campaign last fall to collect the signatures necessary to force a vote on the issue. In all, 12,000 people signed the petition to have it put on the November ballot. Jewish groups then launched a counter-campaign, joined by Muslims and doctors, to derail the ballot initiative. They hailed Thursday’s ruling as an affirmation of the right to free exercise of religion. “We appreciate Judge Giorgi’s careful review of the proposed measure, and her willingness to put a stop to this extreme, hurtful meas-
ure,” said Abby Michelson Porth, the associate director of San Francisco’s Jewish Community Relations Council — one of several plaintiffs in the suit — in an interview with j., the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish newspaper. “There is no place on the ballot for a measure that contradicts California law and would put doctors in jail for performing a procedure with known health benefits and a religious purpose. The court ruling is an affirmation of the values of parental choice and religious freedom.” Other Jewish leaders added their praise of this week’s ruling. “Today’s ruling is a win for religious liberty, a win for American values and a win for all San Franciscans,” said Howie Beigelman, the director of state affairs for the Orthodox Union. “Heartened as we are by polls suggesting this measure will be resound-
ingly defeated at the ballot box if it ever gets there, we hope that courts taking up this appeal will affirm this ruling so that it never does.” Daniel Mariaschin, the executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, said, “The ballot initiative would have directly impinged on Jews’ ability to carry out a basic pillar of our faith.” Matthew Hess, the anti-circumcision activist who authored the language of the San Francisco ballot measure, told JTA that the measure’s proponents were working out the details of an appeal. “The measure didn’t target one specific religion — it targeted all forced circumcisions of male minors,” Hess said. “We feel that we have a strong case for an appeal.” Hess argues that circumcision is not a medical procedure, but this week the judge rejected that argument by Michael Kinane, a
lawyer for Hess’ coalition. Michael Jacobs, the lawyer who represented the alliance opposing the ballot initiative, told JTA that he was pleased the judge had agreed with the core legal argument. He said that an appeal was unlikely to succeed. “Any appeal would have to occur very quickly in order to be meaningful for the upcoming ballot,” Jacobs said. “We are quite optimistic that the appellate court will see it as clearly as Judge Giorgi did.” The anti-circumcision movement has hit rocky waters of late. An anti-circumcision comic book written by Hess was described by the Anti-Defamation League as “grotesque anti-Semitic imagery and themes.” The furor over the comic book led to the withdrawal of a similar anti-circumcision ballot initiative in the Southern California city of Santa Monica.
In California farming town, a Latino congregation commits to Judaism By Roberto Loiederman Jewish Telegraphic Agency LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Located in the northern part of Santa Barbara County, but as distant from chic Santa Barbara as one can imagine, Santa Maria is a blue-collar town dotted with fastfood and barbecue joints. In recent years its population, at least half of which is Latino, has mushroomed to 100,000 fueled by agribusiness — including vineyards and wineries — and the city’s other growing industries. On a Friday afternoon, the local radio stations play mostly Christian music or gospel chants in English and Spanish. The city’s main drags are lined with churches of all denominations. But one church in particular stands out. Out front, a large banner reads in all capital letters Congregacion Beth Shalom. The spelling of Congregacion isn’t a mistake; it’s Spanish. Edgar de la Pena, 36, a Mexican-born graphic artist who grew up in Santa Maria, is the founder and leader of Beth Shalom, a devout community with a dozen families — approximately 60 people — including many children. On Shabbat and Jewish holidays, as well as other occasions, they gather in the sanctuary and meeting hall they rent from the church or at people’s homes. Though fairly new to the religion, they worship, study and live their Judaism wholeheartedly, and they do it communally. Like many Latinos who were raised Christian and later became Jews by choice, de la Pena has family memories that connect him to Judaism.
Courtesy Edgar de la Pena
Children from Congregacion Beth Shalom in Santa Maria, Calif., celebrating Purim.
He recalls that at 7 years old, while still living in Michoacan, Mexico, he traveled to Jalisco to see relatives. He and his family arrived on a Friday. Before sundown, his grandmother told him to put on good clothes and turn off the TV. The table for Friday night dinner was set elegantly, and the family didn’t go out in the public square until after sundown on Saturday evening. At 11, de la Pena’s family moved to the United States, settling in Santa Maria, and he attended a Pentecostal church. While still a teen, he married his high school sweetheart, Irene — of Filipino background — and they had children soon thereafter. In his early 20s, already a father of two young daughters, de la Pena became a lay minister in his church. “But as I began to search the Bible for its essential meaning,” de la Pena said, “I felt more and more
that I wasn’t getting what I needed from the church, what I needed spiritually. I felt I was being told what to think and not to question things.” De la Pena heard some in the church speak badly of Judaism. “So on my own, I started to study Torah,” he said. He visited a synagogue and heard a sound that struck him at his core: the blowing of a shofar. The bleating of the ram’s horn not only moved him deeply, it also brought back other memories of his grandmother — and of certain behaviors he suddenly realized were based on family traditions that indicated possible Jewish roots. If he did, indeed, have Jewish ancestors, de la Pena was determined to learn what the religion meant, so he became more and more involved with Judaism. LATINO on page 19
NATIONAL • 7
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Jewish Dems aim to After ruinous tornado, rabbis give Obama more head to Joplin to help leeway on aid to Arabs By Miriam Grossman Jewish Telegraphic Agency
By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — In the face of growing congressional concern over Middle Eastern extremism, some key Jewish Democrats are working to make sure President Obama has the leeway to dole out aid to Arab entities. The issue came to a head last week in the form of a State Department funding bill that makes clear the unhappiness of Congress. Through sharp exchanges and in subtle changes, Jewish members on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee attempted to advance the bill while leaving Obama room to engage with unfriendly regimes. The committee, chaired by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), referred the bill to the full House last Friday following a grueling session that lasted most of two days and often erupted with tensions. The battle featured several Jewish Democrats arguing that despite growing congressional concern over Middle Eastern extremism — including Palestinian incitement to violence against Israel — it was vital to maintain the president’s flexibility in doling out foreign aid. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), the senior Democrat on the committee’s Middle East subcommittee, said severe limitations on the president’s ability to control foreign policy undercut U.S. security. “There’s always unforeseen consequences,” Ackerman said, “and the president must have the authority to make a determination in accordance with national security concerns.” But others, including Republicans such as Ros-Lehtinen, warned that the danger of U.S. funds reaching terrorists can be contained only through tough congressional oversight, which was stipulated in the State Department funding bill. “We must require specific certifications from the administration prior to the distribution of any further security assistance to Pakistan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Yemen to ensure that such assistance is halted if it jeopardizes U.S. security interests or is benefiting or being manipulated by extremist groups,” Ros-Lehtinen said in her introductory remarks to the committee debate on the bill. In recent decades, the Democratic faction on the committee has had a disproportionate number of Jewish lawmakers, and its two previous chairmen, Rep.
Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), have been Jewish. (Ros-Lehtinen is of Jewish descent.) Currently, seven of the committee’s 20 Democrats are Jewish. Many of the battles over the bill were over the conditions under which the president would be allowed to waive bans on funding assistance to the Arab world. Berman, the senior Democrat on the committee, said that cutting off nations and entities deemed hostile by the Republican majority in the House ultimately would undercut democracy promotion — a cause, which he noted, that the Republicans champion, too. “If we did actually do what some of the amendments required, causes that are very dear to a lot of people who supported the amendment would be very upset,” Berman said. Berman cited his proposed amendment to language in the authorization bill that would require certification from the U.S. president that Lebanon’s government was dismantling terrorist groups as a condition for waiving a ban on aid. That made sense, he said, with the current government, which is backed by Hezbollah. But should the pro-Western, so-called March 14 coalition return to power, it would hamper a friendly government that would be unable to disarm Hezbollah, at least at first. “Why would we want to limit assistance to a friend?” Berman said. His amendment failed to pass the committee. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) succeeded in passing an amendment that altered similar language that would have placed stricter restrictions on assistance to the Palestinian Authority. Ros-Lehtinen’s original language would have allowed the president to waive a ban on funding of the Palestinian Authority only if the president was able to certify that “the Palestinian Authority has halted all anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian Authority-controlled electronic and print media and in schools, mosques, and other institutions it controls, and is replacing these materials, including textbooks, with materials that promote tolerance, peace, and coexistence with Israel.” Engel’s amendment, which Ros-Lehtinen approved, significantly softened that language to “is not engaging in a pattern of incitement against Israel” — a considerably lower bar for the White House. DEMS on page 20
NEW YORK (JTA) — When a tornado devastated the small city of Joplin, Mo., in late May, the city’s lone synagogue was left untouched — at least, physically. But then came the flood. Not as water, but in the form of phone calls from across the United States from rabbis asking how they could help. While the United Hebrew Congregation has a part-time student rabbi who visits the community every other weekend — Ariel Boxman, who attends the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati — the Reform shul has no full-time spiritual leader. So Boxman, who was going to be away for the summer, came up with an idea: Each of the rabbis seeking to help could come to the community for a Shabbat. “A rabbi was scheduled to visit the community almost every weekend,” she told JTA. “People needed some sort of stability in the face of the destruction that surrounded them. Shabbat is something people are used to — it’s familiar. People come together and relax, and" with so many visiting rabbis, “the congregation didn’t have to worry about lay leaders.” The rabbis are leading Shabbat services, helping out at aid distri-
John Daves/U.S. Army via Creative Commons
Trees left standing by Joplin High School following the May 22, 2011 tornado collected debris from the heavily damaged school, June 4, 2011.
bution centers and counseling congregants. They’re also working with local volunteer organizations like AmeriCorps to help the residents of Joplin get back on their feet. All the rabbis, who have come from as far away as Florida and Pennsylvania, are past student rabbis in Joplin, and they have received warm welcomes from their former congregation. The visiting rabbi program faced certain challenges. There were scheduling complications, and volunteer rabbis must pay their
own way or raise funds for the trip from their home synagogues. Rabbi Brian Stoller, who came to Joplin from Chicago for a weekend in late June along with nine of his congregants, said it’s well worth the effort. “Going forward beyond relief efforts, one of the greatest things we and other congregations can do is reach out to small Jewish communities in Joplin and across the country,” Stoller said, “and build a relationship that helps bring those communities into the fold.”
8 • NATIONAL
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Beck and the Jews: Does he get them? Do they get him? By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — Does Glenn Beck get Jews? It depends on whom you ask – to a degree – but it also seems to depend on the day of the week. Here he is on the night of July 19: “The Jewish people have been chased out of almost every country on this planet,” he told a crowd of thousands at the annual Christians United for Israel gathering in Washington. “This is why the nation of Israel is vital.” And here he less than a week later, speaking July 25 on his syndicated radio show, broadcast on 400 stations, describing the July 22 massacre in Norway of dozens of teenagers at a Labor Party summer camp: “There was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler youth,” he said. “I mean, who does a camp for kids that’s all about politics? Disturbing.” The statement about Israel earned Beck plaudits from Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, in a column he wrote for The Jerusalem Post. “I sat there thinking, if only the Jewish community could offer such unequivocal support for Israel,” Boteach said. Boteach is hardly alone. Beck earned a rapturous reception when he appeared earlier this month
Courtesy CUFI
Glenn Beck talks about anti-Semitism and identifying with Jews at the annual Christian United for Israel conference in Washington, July 19, 2011.
before the Knesset committee dealing with Diaspora affairs and immigration, and he is planning a mass rally in Jerusalem on Aug. 24. “We tend to give up and be hopeless,” Likud’s Danny Danon, a settler leader and the Knesset committee chairman who proffered the invitation to Beck, told JTA. “And it’s heartening to see Glenn Beck and his show winning the battle.” Mort Zuckerman, the New York publishing magnate and a past chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the umbrella
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foreign policy group, wrote Beck to praise him for his rally plans. “I am happy to support your efforts to explain why today more than ever we need people who are willing to stand with Israel and people who can explain Israel’s unique position in the history of the world,” Zuckerman wrote. A number of liberal groups in the United States have opposed the rally as exploitative. The statement about the massacre, likening the slaughtered Norwegian teens to Nazis, also produced Jewish comment.
“He’s back!” Dana Milbank, a Jewish columnist for The Washington Post, posted on Twitter, with a link to the audio. Milbank is the author of “Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America,” which alleges that Beck’s theories are rooted in conspiratorial anti-Semitism. Both of Beck’s statements are rooted in the overarching theory he peddles on his radio show — that despotic movements, like communism, fascism and Islamism, continue to seek world domination, and that they have tentacles inside the establishment reaching as far as the White House. Beck’s speech at CUFI conflated the threats Jews faced in Nazi Germany with his familiar rhetoric about the threats posed by big government. “You cannot break down people’s doors and snatch them,” he said. “All of us have a right to practice peacefully our religion, to raise a family and to use our God-given talent” to start businesses. Milbank, who launched a campaign in his column to keep prominent Jews from joining Beck onstage in Jerusalem, says such talk is rooted in a conspiratorial mindset that has never been good news for the Jews. He notes that some of the books Beck urges his followers to read contain ancient tropes about Jewish domination and control. Writing in The Washington Post,
Milbank outlined a greatest-hits list of Beck’s offenses: “Hosting a guest on his show who describes as ‘accurate’ the anti-Semitic tract ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’; likening Reform rabbis to ‘radicalized Islam’; calling Holocaust survivor George Soros a ‘puppet master,’ a bloodsucker and a Nazi collaborator; touting the work of a Nazi sympathizer who referred to Eisenhower as ‘Ike the Kike’; and claiming the Jews killed Jesus.” Such lists are ripped from context, David Brog, CUFI’s Jewish director, wrote in a counterattack on the conservative website the Daily Caller, and they ignore Beck’s efforts to shine a light on Israel’s delegitimization, which Brog characterized as the new anti-Semitism. “Beck has not only recognized the threat of this new antiSemitism, but he’s become a leading opponent of it,” Brog said. “How often do cable news shows devote entire episodes to such ratings busters as reviewing the history of anti-Semitism — with a special focus on Christian antiSemitism — or interviewing Holocaust survivors?” Beck declined an interview for this story, but his aides provided background on his friendliness to Jewish groups, dating back to February 2008, when he spoke at a fund-raising event for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
A Pennsylvania coal-mining town rediscovers its abandoned shul By Toby Tabachnick The Jewish Chronicle PITTSBURGH (The Jewish Chronicle) — The students of Northern Cambria High School often walked by the 85-year-old deserted synagogue, but never paid it much attention. Some did not even know what it was. But all that has changed. And in a big way. For the past year, 15 of the school’s juniors and seniors have embarked on a project researching the local Jewish history of their small town, and they are participating in the $341,000 renovation of the former B’nai Israel synagogue building so it can be used for social services. Under the tutelage of Karen Bowman, a history teacher and chair of the social studies department, students have traced census records and deeds. They also have conducted oral interviews with the descendants of the Jewish merchants who helped build the once thriving coal-mining town of Barnesboro. Barnesboro merged with another small coal-mining town, Spangler, several years ago and is now Northern Cambria.
Courtesy the Karp family
A portrait of the Karp family, members of the Barnesboro Jewish community.
“My father grew up there,” said David Karp, who teaches at Temple Emanuel of South Hills Torah Center in Mount Lebanon, as well as second grade in Peters Township. “He was born in 1922. The synagogue was closed by the time he was growing up. He didn’t have a bar mitzvah in 1935. They would have yahrzeits there only. Whenever the coal mine went
down, the town started dying out.” In 1925, when the synagogue was built, there were about 20 Jewish families living in the town, according to Karp. The tiny congregation did not have its own rabbi, so one from Altoona would come to lead services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. SHUL on page 21
INTERNATIONAL • 9
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
Norway attacks spotlight far-right outreach to Jews, Israel By Uriel Heilman Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) — For decades after World War II, far-right political movements in Europe stirred up for Jews images of skinheads and Nazi storm troopers marching across the continent. But in recent years, as European xenophobia has focused on the exploding growth of Muslims on the continent, right-wing antiSemitism has been replaced in some corners by outreach to Jews and Israel. It’s part of an effort in far-right movements to gain broader, mainstream support for an antiMuslim alliance opposed to the notion of a multicultural Europe. Indeed, in the anti-Muslim manifesto attributed to Anders Behring Breivik, the accused perpetrator of the July 22 deadly attacks in Oslo and the nearby Norwegian island of Utoya, the pseudonymous author expresses sympathy for Israel’s plight and cites numerous critiques of the Palestinians. “Aided by a pre-existing antiAmericanism and anti-Semitism, European media have been willing to demonise the United States and
Israel while remaining largely silent on the topic Eurabia,” the author writes in his manifesto, titled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence.” Later, he lists four potential political allies among Israel’s political parties: Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and National Union. Breivik’s apparent proto-Zionist viewpoint is shared by a number of far-right leaders around Europe. “The Arab-Israeli conflict illustrates the struggle between Western culture and radical Islam,” Filip Dewinter, the head of Belgium’s far-right, anti-immigrant Vlaams Belang Party, said last December during a visit to Tel Aviv. “Israel is of central importance to us,” German Freedom Party head Rene Stadtkewitz told JTA last year. What Israelis do to fight terrorism, he said, “is what we would have to be doing here. And I am very thankful that they are doing it.” But after the deadly attacks in Norway, which authorities say left at least 76 people dead, the dangers of making common cause with movements where extremists like Breivik can find an ideological home and where some support-
Alex Weisler
Norwegian mourners lighting memorial candles outside the Domkirke Cathedral in Oslo for the July 22 attack victims in their country, July 25, 2011.
ers are known for being violent is all too clear, some Jewish figures are saying. “A large-scale hate crime attack such as the one in Norway demonstrates the clear and present danger of incitement against political, ethnic and religious groups,” said Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Berlin Ramer Institute for
German-Jewish Relations. “Hate crimes are among the most insidious of dangers to democracy.” To be sure, Breivik is an extreme example of the anti-multicultural tide rising in Europe, and far-right leaders say they eschew the killing of innocents in their crusade to restore Europe to its pre-heterogeneous state. But some watchdog groups say that
European far-right movements provided the ideological underpinnings to Breivik’s attack and they must be held to account. “Breivik was clearly influenced by an ideological movement both in the United States and Europe that is rousing public fear by consistently vilifying the Islamic faith,” warned the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman. The fact that Breivik attacked those he viewed as collaborators with Muslims rather than Muslims themselves shows just how dangerous extremist ideology can be, the ADL suggested in a statement. Jewish leaders in Europe, who in recent days have taken pains to distance themselves from Breivik’s proto-Zionism, long have warned that even far rightists who do not espouse anti-Semitism are dangerous for the Jews. Far rightists “want a Sweden for the Swedes, France for the French and Jews to Israel,” Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary general of the European Jewish Congress, told JTA last October. ATTACKS on page 21
As Norway’s Jews mourn, concern about muting of pro-Israel voices By Alex Weisler Jewish Telegraphic Agency OSLO, Norway (JTA) — Norway has just 1,500 Jews, but to hear Avi Ring tell it, the country is reacting to last Friday’s bombing of a government office building and massacre at a political summer camp in a traditionally Jewish way. “As soon as people speak about it, they start to cry,” said Ring, a neuroscientist and former board member of Norway’s official Jewish community organization, called the Mosaic Religious Community and known by its Norwegian acronym, DMT. “It’s like a country sitting shiva.” A sea of flower bouquets, candles, photographs and handwritten notes line not just major Oslo memorials — like the fence of the exclusion zone around the blast site or the central Domkirke Cathedral — but far-flung fountains, parks and statues with no connection to the violence. “We’ll be together in the grief,” said Ervin Kohn, the leader of DMT, which is also the country’s main synagogue and counts about half the country’s Jews as members. No Jews are known to have been injured in the attacks. Yet even as they mourn along with their fellow countrymen, some Jews here are quietly expressing concern that the attack by a right-wing xenophobe who apparently sympathized with Israel may further mute pro-Israel voices in Norway, where anti-Zionist sen-
timent already runs strong. In the rambling 1,500-page manifesto attributed to the alleged perpetrator of the attacks, Andres Behring Breivik, anti-Muslim diatribes are punctuated at times with expressions of admiration for Israel and its fight against Islamic terrorism. And on Utoya island, the young Labor Party activists who were holding a retreat when Breivik ambushed them, had spent part of the day before discussing the organization of a boycott against Israel and pressing the country’s foreign minister, who was visiting the camp, to recognize a Palestinian state. If the Norwegian public is looking for a larger villain than Breivik, Jews here are worried that Zionism and pro-Israel organizations may be singled out. “Can the average Norwegian accept that this is the one random act of one confused ethnic Norwegian?” Ring asked. “What I’m worried about is that in the Norwegian mind it will slowly attach an antagonism to Israel.” Joakim Plavnik, a young Norwegian Jew who works in the financial sector, said he’s already worried by news reports that have focused on the seemingly proZionist parts of Breivik’s writings. “That can potentially have very negative ramifications toward the small, vulnerable Jewish community,” Plavnik said. But, he added, “We can’t be paralyzed by that fear.”
Rachel Suissa runs the Center Against Antisemitism, a pro-Israel group that counts about 23,000 supporters and 10,000 subscribers to a quarterly journal. She said the
Norwegian government’s general pro-Palestinian stance — Norway’s foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Store, recently said that Oslo soon would announce its support
for an independent Palestinian state — makes Zionism difficult to promote here. CONCERN on page 21
10 • ISRAEL
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Housing protests roil Israel as tent cities pop up By Dina Kraft Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEL AVIV (JTA) — On Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv’s version of Park Avenue, a burgeoning tent city has sprung up amid crowded cafes and its canopy of ficus trees. The squatters are protesting soaring housing prices in the country, and they have galvanized a sudden full-scale national protest, from Kiryat Shemona in the North to Beersheva in the South, that has plunged the government into crisis mode. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned trip to Poland this week and the interior minister has called for the Knesset to cancel its summer recess. Tent cities are swelling in cities across Israel, protesters are blocking roads and activists have practically besieged the Knesset. On Saturday evening, an estimated 20,000 marchers filled the streets of Tel Aviv calling for affordable housing. “For years, Israelis have been like zombies because of the security situation and did not speak out when other areas were ignored, like education and the economy,” said Amir Ben-Cohen, a 30-year-old graduate student camping out on Rothschild Boulevard. “Enough. We are a new generation.” Some are hailing the protests as
Liron Almog/Flash90/JTA
Young Israelis seen near tents set up on Rothschild Avenue in Tel Aviv are pressing the Israeli government to find a solution to the soaring cost of housing, July 26, 2011.
Israel’s version of the Arab Spring. This Israeli Summer movement is being led by university students and young professionals in their 20s and 30s who until now have shown little interest in demonstrations or activism. One sign strung between tents in Tel Aviv read, “Rothschild, corner of Tahrir,” a reference to the Egyptian uprising that centered in Tahrir Square. With a recent Haaretz poll showing 87 percent of Israelis supporting the housing protesters, their grievances appear to be striking a chord nationwide. Like much of the world, Israelis recently have seen cost-of-living
metrics rise across the board, especially for food and gas. But unlike in the United States, where real estate prices are in retreat, housing prices in Israel have skyrocketed, on average doubling since 2002. With the average Israeli salary at $2,500 a month and modestsized apartments in Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv area selling for $600,000, many Israelis feel priced out of their own neighborhoods, particularly young people who live in places where there is a dearth of rental properties. “What is very troubling for Netanyahu is that this is not a left wing versus right wing protest. It’s
one of the few issues that cuts across all political spectrums,” said Sam Lehman-Wilzig, a Bar-Ilan University political scientist. He noted that in Israel it’s unusual for socioeconomic issues to take priority over politicalsecurity issues. Netanyahu “is definitely nervous,” Lehman-Wilzig said, “and he should be nervous.” Netanyahu, who had identified the shortage of affordable housing as a potential crisis when he came to power in 2009, has been busy scolding his own ministers for not doing enough. “Give me ideas for a solution,” Netanyahu was quoted by the Israeli media telling his Cabinet ministers. The prime minister announced Tuesday that his government was preparing a battery of solutions, among them plans to reduce bureaucratic hurdles to building new housing projects and measures that would help young people make their first real estate purchases. He also promised construction of new student dormitories and the construction of 10,000 two- and three-bedroom units, mostly in central Israel, to be earmarked for young couples, large families and students. Half would be available as rentals. HOUSING on page 20
Sports entice teens to Israel for Maccabi Games By Allison Kaplan Sommer Jewish Telegraphic Agency KIRYAT SHEMONA, Israel (JTA) — It’s not easy getting American Jewish teenagers to Israel these days. With Birthright Israel offering free trips to 18- to 26-year-olds, parents are wary of shelling out cash for their high school-aged children to visit the Jewish state when they know a freebie is right around the corner. For the JCC Association of North America, it is an acute problem. Last summer, only 160 teenagers from JCCs, camps and other institutions came on trips organized by the association. This year, JCC Association officials were expecting 210. But when the association decided to move its annual summertime American Jewish athletic competition to Israel for the first time, interest in going to Israel for the games soared — after the JCC Association secured assurances from Birthright that participating in the games would not make teenagers ineligible for Birthright trips. Some 900 students from middle school and high school came to Israel for the 30th annual JCC
Courtesy JCC Association
Soccer action at the 30th annual JCC Maccabi Games and Arts Fest being held in Israel.
Maccabi Games and ArtsFest, which runs through Aug. 5. They brought with them several hundred coaches and family members, as well as an “American Idol” finalist. “For me to be able to stand here with my family in Israel and watch them stand with their teammates and sing ‘Hatikvah’ is an unbelievable experience — it is just giving me chills,” Joanne Williams, a mother of six from Columbus, Ohio, told JTA at the Kiryat Shemona soccer stadium where the
gala opening ceremonies were held. For 15 years, Williams has traveled across the United States every summer to watch her children compete against teens from other JCCs at the annual games. The games are organized jointly by the JCC Association and the Maccabi World Union, which puts together Jewish sporting events the world over, including the so-called Jewish Olympics: the Maccabiah Games, which are held in Israel every four years.
If the JCC competition was coming to Israel, Williams decided, she and the rest of her family would come, too. She had never been to Israel before. The fact that the games were being held in a part of Israel that was besieged by rocket attacks five years ago, during the 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, did not deter Williams. For organizers, putting the games in northern Israel was key. Israel is trying to boost investment and tourism in the North — far from where the vast majority of Israelis work and live — so the JCC Games were able to receive subsidies and support from four separate Israeli government ministries. “The dream of doing these games in Israel has been around for more than 10 years, and we have tried for many years to figure out how it would be feasible,” said Amir Peled, a member the Maccabi World Union executive and chairman of the 2013 Maccabiah Games. “Once it was established and stipulated that we would do it in the North, which would bring tremendous benefits to the region, they really moved forward.” GAMES on page 22
Israel Briefs Jerusalem formalizes South Sudan ties JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel formally established relations with the new Republic of South Sudan. The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem announced Thursday the institution of ambassadoriallevel ties with Juba “on the basis of equality, mutual respect and non interference in the internal affairs of one another.” The declaration followed swift declarations of mutual recognition by Israel and South Sudan after the latter officially ceded from the mostly Muslim Arab north on July 9. An Israeli diplomatic delegation was in Juba, the South Sudan capital, on Thursday and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said talks already were under way on offering the new African republic humanitarian assistance. Two Palestinians killed in raid on refugee camp JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Palestinians were reportedly killed and five Israeli soldiers wounded in an Israeli army raid on a West Bank refugee camp. The soldiers entered the Kalandiyah camp near Ramallah on Monday morning during a routine operation to arrest Palestinian suspects, which set off rioting by the Palestinian residents, according to reports. Rioters pelted the soldiers with rocks and bottles, injuring the soldiers. Two Palestinians died from gunshot wounds, Ramallah hospital officials told news services. Several Palestinian residents of the refugee camp were arrested. The raid came on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Resignations of key Turkish army officials concern Israel J E R U S A L E M ( J TA ) — Israeli officials reportedly are concerned over the resignation of the head of the Turkish armed forces and three other senior officers. “This move plays right into the hands of Islamic extremists and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan,” an unnamed official told the Ynet Israeli news service, citing unnamed officials. The official called the July 29 resignations “troubling because it means the last fortress against Islam has collapsed.”
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
BARRY KAPLAN
ANNOUNCMENTS BIR THS ylvia and Bob Maltz announce the birth of their grandson, Ryan Andrew Maltz, born on June 6, 2011. Parents are Julie Hoffman and David Maltz.
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enjamin Henry Herman was born in the early hours of June 18, 2011 in Cincinnati. Benjamin is the son of Rob Herman and Valerie Laser-Herman and
B
Benjamin Herman
younger brother of twins Eli and Gabriel. Proud paternal grandparents are Edward and Halina Herman, formerly of Cincinnati and now of St. Petersburg, Fla. Proud maternal grandparents are Vadim and Inna Laser of Maineville, Ohio.
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ENGAGEMENT r. and Mrs. John Fox of Wyoming, Ohio, are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Marjorie Dara (“Jori”) to Jonathan David Graham, son of Mr. and Mrs. Steven Graham of Leawood, Kan. Jori is a 1999 graduate of Wyoming High School, a 2003 graduate of the University of Illinois, and earned a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. She is a middle school teacher in the Chicago area. Jori is the granddaughter of the late Ilsa and Bill West of
M
B IR THS • B AT /B AR M I T ZVAHS E NGAGE ME N TS • W E DDINGS Jon Graham and Jori Fox
Philadelphia and Marjorie and Frank Fox of Cincinnati. Jon is a 2003 graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Economics, and works in commercial real estate in Chicago. He is the grandson of Elizabeth Glick Sugar and the late Joshua Glick, Helen and Martie Graham. A November wedding in Cincinnati is planned.
B IR THDAYS • A NNIVE R SAR IE S Place your FREE announcement in The American Israelite Newspaper & Website by sending an email to articles@americanisraelite.com
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12 • CINCINNATI SOCIAL LIFE
JFS PEACE
OF THE
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CITY DINNER, HONORING DICK WEILAND
U.S. Senator Rob Portman with Dick Weiland
U.S. Senator Rob Portman gets the crowd laughing with jokes about honoree Dick Weiland
Rabbi Gary Zola (American Jewish Archives) and Rev. Damon Lynch Jr. (New Jerusalem Baptist Church) with Dick Weiland
Dick Weiland with U.S. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt and Michael and Diane Oestreicher
Dick Weiland with president of Cincinnati State O’Dell Owens
Oscar Robertson, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, Dick Weiland,and Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder
Dick Friedman, Michael Fischer, president and CEO of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Shep Englander, CEO of Jewish Federation
Executive Director of Jewish Family Service Beth Schwartz and U.S. Senator Rob Portman
Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder and the Honorable Alice Batchelder with Dick Weiland
Executive Director of JFS Beth Schwartz presents Dick Weiland with a shofar
President of University of Cincinnati Gregory H. Williams with Dick Weiland
U.S. Senator Rob Portman introduces Dick Weiland
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
Steve Rosedale, Dick Weiland and Ronald Wilheim
Penny Pensak and Dick Weiland
Nina Paul and Shep Englander
Steve Miller, Dick Weiland and Brett Caller
Dave Schaff (left) and Rich King (right) from PNC bank with Dick Weiland
Dick Weiland with Barbra Glueck
Members of Dick Weiland’s family—Fred Weiland, Jonathan Moscovitz, Jay Moscovitz, Jeanne Moscovitz, Sarah Moscovitz, Michael Safdi, Olivia Weiland, Dick Weiland, Alan Safdi and Ann Safdi
Neil Tilow, Terry Nau,and Dick Weiland
Dick Weiland and Cincinnati Councilmember Cecil Thomas
Dick Weiland and Sallie Westheimer
Eddie Paul, Dick Weiland and Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune
14 • DINING OUT
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Slatts Pub offers friendly atmosphere, good food By Sondra Katkin Dining Editor “A lean, mean, deli cuisine.” My husband was referring to the classic corned beef sandwich he had inhaled from Slatts Pub in downtown Blue Ash. He has corned beef credibility for two reasons: ( 1) He grew up eating top quality “cold cuts” from great Jewish delicatessens in Philadelphia. (2) Since he is gluten challenged, he had to remove the bread so that no phantom flavor could intrude between his taste buds and the beef. He said you could tell by just looking, it wasn’t fatty. Wai-chun Yee, the general manager who enthusiastically supplied me with the information I needed for this article, told me that she had tried many “cold cut” purveyors before choosing the one she thought was best. She applies that standard to all the food served at Slatts, never sparing the money for good quality. Her steaks are chosen from the top five percent beef, certified Angus. “The fish and chips are the best in town,” she added. “We have a good reputation and many loyal customers who also enjoy our warm service and become like family. It really makes life interesting, watching children grow and come back here for rehearsal dinners,” Yee said. Slatts has an area in the back of the restaurant reserved for guests who want a quieter experience when dining or for private parties, bar and bat mitzvahs and other celebrations. The comfortable tavern like interior has a cozy living room feel, enhanced by a beautiful natural stone wall, wainscoting and soft colored wallpaper. According to Yee, all the rooms are media oriented for the frequent business meetings they host and feature high tech audio/visual equipment, including high speed wireless internet (watch out Starbucks), wireless micro-
(Clockwise) Lean and meaty corned beef sandwich; Southwestern chicken salad bites back with spice; Grandma’s cookie for chocolate fanciers, creamy New York cheesecake, “sinful seven” chocolate cake (the eighth sin?); Warm and inviting pub interior; Wai-chun Yee, General Manager; Lovely patio surrounded by colorful hanging baskets.
phone, DVD and power point presentation capabilities on big screen plasma HDTVs. Totally opposite in appearance, the front conservatory dining area is surrounded by glass, infused with light and features a lovely view of the spacious patio. This is another option for a private party. Inside the main room, a feeling of English pub style bonhomie is reflected in the honey colored wooden floors, black and tan upholstered booths and large wooden bar. During Happy Hour, from 4 – 7 p.m. Monday
through Friday, most beer and wine is reduced and selected appetizers are half price. Yee said that they are famous for their spring rolls with blackened chicken, grilled corn and creole mustard sauce. Sounds “spicealicious.” They have a large selection of bottled and draft beer, single malt scotches, aged bourbons, specialty cocktails and reasonably priced wines by the bottle or glass, including special summer wines. On Fridays from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. there is live music featuring local talent.
I sampled my husband’s sandwich with the perfectly toasted rye and agreed with him (happens occasionally), it was very good. It came with generously cut french fries and he was so delighted to learn that they are fried separately and uncontaminated by gluten, a rare occurrence. My selection was the southwest chicken salad with blackened chicken, pico de gallo, tortilla strips (no gluten), garden fresh greens and Santa Fe ranch dressing. There was a crunch with every bite. Another popular salad entree (there are 10) is the Shanghai chicken salad with sesame crusted chicken, bok choy, romaine, snow peas and bean sprouts, tossed in soy ginger vinaigrette. I suspect a tasty Asian influence here. Yee creates the menu and is presently working on a new one to keep it fresh and incorporate new ideas. She is always trying new combinations to find better flavors for her “family.” Her continental culinary training in Hong Kong early in her career proved useful since she has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years. In so many interviews, the chefs and managers I meet have come to culinary careers from other erudite professions, in this instance, a master’s in geography and a specialist degree in educational administration. She loves cooking and is frequently in the kitchen lending a hand as well as overseeing every aspect of the business administration of Slatts. She had planned to
retire when as she describes it, “Bob Slattery grabbed me to create and manage his new restaurant.” She admires his entrepreneurial skills and his business philosophy to hire good people and then give them autonomy. In addition to the high quality steaks and chicken selections, “We sell tons of halibut; all our fish is very good,” according to Yee. The entrees also include pasta dishes. She praised the red bell pepper pesto salmon over penne as one of her favorites. They have three soups available throughout the day and nine different burgers, including a black bean vegetarian. Most entrees include two sides, a good value. To complete with a sweet, the desserts include creamy New York cheesecake, creme brulee, a very rich and moist “sinful” seven layer chocolate cake, and Grandma Glo’s cookie, a warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream, and chocolate sauce. We enjoyed our taste of Slatts and look forward to trying their other choices, but you know there’s going to be a french fry involvement here. Slatts has a large off street parking lot, accepts reservations and is open 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. – 1:30 a.m. with live music on Friday, 12 p.m. – 10 p.m. on Saturday and 12 – 9 p.m. Sunday. Slatts Pub 4888 Cooper Rd Blue Ash, OH 45242 513-791-2223
AMERICAN CUISINE WITH AN ITALIAN FLAIR
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
OPEN LUNCH & DINNER EVERYDAY
RESTAURANT DIRECTORY 20 Brix
Johnny Chan 2
Parkers Blue Ash Grill
101 Main St
11296 Montgomery Rd
4200 Cooper Rd
Historic Milford
The Shops at Harper’s Point
Blue Ash
831-Brix (2749)
489-2388 • 489-3616 (fx)
891-8300
Ambar India Restaurant
K.T.’s Barbecue & Deli
Pomodori’s
350 Ludlow Ave
8501 Reading Rd
121West McMillan • 861-0080
Cincinnati
Reading
7880 Remington Rd
281-7000
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Stone Creek Dining Co.
3120 Madison Rd
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Mecklenburg Gardens
Sukhothai Thai Cuisine
4858 Hunt Rd
302 E. University Ave
8102 Market Place Ln
Blue Ash
Clifton
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Carlo & Johnny
MEI Japanese Restaurant
Sultan’s Med. Cuisine
9769 Montgomery Rd
8608 Market Place Ln
7305 Tyler’s Corner Dr
Cincinnati
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West Chester
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Oriental Wok
Tandoor
515 Wyoming Ave
2444 Madison Rd
8702 Market Place Ln
Wyoming
Hyde Park
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871-6888
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Padrino
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16 • OPINION
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Looking back at 640,000 words
Rabbi Rudin is the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser.
James Buchanan, director of Xavier University’s Edward B. Brueggeman Center for Dialogue, completed an intensive 13-month educational program on Judaism. The last stage of the program, the Christian Leadership Initiative (CLI), took place where it began, in July 2010, in Jerusalem. Participants engaged in 10 days of studying Jewish texts, focusing on Jewish concepts of community. In between the two programs in Israel, the 10 Christian leaders, representing 10 institutions and six religious denominations, engaged in monthly distance-learning sessions, studying classical Jewish texts with leading Israeli scholars. “Christian Leadership Initiative participants dedicated more than a year to explore Jewish religion, thought, culture and politics in depth,” said Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC’s director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations. “We look forward to working with them as they apply their expertise to their work in Jewish-Christian relations.” CLI, a partnership of AJC and the Shalom Hartman Institute, has been training top leadership of Christian seminaries, denominations and theological schools since 2008. “CLI is the kind of program
that is essential to advancing interreligious relations,” said Marans. “It provides an open space for Christian leadership to experience and study Judaism and Israel from a Jewish perspective.” “Over the last two summers, studying and interacting with the amazing collection of scholars at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem has been enriching on many levels,” noted Buchanan. “Intellectually, it has not only given us a deeper understanding of the Jewish tradition but has changed the way in which we understand our own Christian traditions. Institutionally, it has made possible new relationships with the Shalom Hartman Institute, which has exciting potential for not only Xavier but Hebrew Union College and Institute of Religion as well. It will certainly add rich new dimensions to our work with the AJC here in Cincinnati to whom we owe much gratitude for making this possible. In a world in which the lack of interfaith understanding and engagement is at the core of so many issues, programs such as the AJC’s CLI program and the work of the Shalom Hartman Institute are among the truly bright lights which give us hope for a better future.”
Dear Editor, The Norwegians who are still reeling from their homegrown terrorist attack continue to show their hatred for Jews and Israel. The political camp (similar to what the Nazis had), which was attacked, showed signs in English against Israel accusing Israel of occupation (of Jewish land). They were indoctrinating their youth in Israel hatred before the attack. The Norwegians blame Israel’s socalled occupation every time Arabs commit terrorist attacks on Jews. They cheered whenever innocent Jewish children were blown up by Arab terrorists and many Norwegian leftists are in Israel actively aiding the Arabs against the Jewish state. Norway has a history of anti-Semitism and kosher slaughter is illegal there while Islamic slaughter is not. Norwegian women during World War II were willing to breed with the Germans to what they thought was a master race. When Norway condemns Israel the Israeli government should remind them of their treatment of these German-Norwegian hybrids. Ezra Kattan Cincinnati, Ohio
Barbara Glueck Director, AJC Cincinnati Office
T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: DEVARIM (DEVARIM 1:1—3:22) 1. What happened at Mount Seir? a.) A war between The Children of Israel and Edom b.) Station for The Children of Israel in the desert c.) Where the manna fell 2. What happened at Mount Emori? a.) The Children of Israel did not have food or water b.) Moshe sent the spies to Canaan c.) Hashem supplied The Children of Israel with quail 3. What was negative about the spies report? a.) The land was unhealthy 3. C 1:28 They exaggerated by saying the cities were fortified to the sky. Rashi 4. C 1:44 5. C 1:11
(RNS) — I salute New York Yankee Derek Jeter, who recently recorded his 3,000th base hit. But I also have an eye on another statistic: my own. Since 1991, I have written nearly a thousand Religion News Service columns, numbering about 640,000 words. While that may represent lots of verbiage, crafting 700-word columns is like squeezing into tight clothes. Everything has to fit and look good. In addition to deadlines that always come too quickly, columnists must survive an editor’s fearsome obstacle course: abandon passive verbs and most adverbs, use only one adjective per noun, don’t pad a column with quotations, shun cliches, express opinions clearly — oops! there’s an adverb — and always avoid this kind of sentence: “On the other hand, the clergyperson seemed to appear to nearly break into a hint of a faint barely visible almost hidden half smile.” A bewildered reader only wants to know if the person smiled. Two column subjects attracted the biggest responses during the past 20 years: family life and the Bible. Since 1991, I have written columns about Marcia and me seeing our daughters graduate from college and embark on their careers — Eve is a rabbi and Jennifer a casting director for films, TV and the stage. Max, my wife’s father, died in 1998, and her mother, Betty, in 2000; the same year our granddaughter, Emma, was born. Such events — the universal stuff of life — evoked positive responses from readers. Every time I wrote a column about Scripture, I received praise and criticism. Some readers believe each of the Bible’s 474,316 Hebrew words was written by God along with the 823,156 English words in the King James Version. One angry reader wrote that I am headed for hell because I don’t believe the entire Bible is literally true. Another reader dismissed the Bible as “ancient male-centered
Dear Editor,
b.) The fruits were unusual c.) The inhabitants were too strong 4. How does the Torah describe the attack of the Emorite a.) They were strong b.) They stung like bees c.) They melted 5. Moshe blessed the Children of Israel that they should multiple by how much? a.) Double b.) Ten c.) Thousand
Mount Seir (Kingdom of Edom). At the southeastern part of the border they turned north. Rashi 2. B 1:20-22
by Rabbi A. James Rudin
Do you have something to say? E-mail your letter to editor@americanisraelite.com
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
ANSWERS 1. B 2:1 After Hashem decreed The Children of Israel would not enter Canaan because of the sin of the spies, they went by the southern border of
Point of View
fairy tales unworthy of reverence in our enlightened age.” That such anti-biblical folks read my columns continues to amaze. Every December I write the “Top Ten Religion Stories of the Year” column. Choosing the first nine is exciting and challenging even if some subjects are painful: the 9/11 attacks, continuing antiSemitism, racism, sexism, ageism, assaults on sexual orientation, Middle East wars, genocide and the religious right. The 10th entry is sorrowful because I list prominent religious leaders and colleagues who died during the year. I offer no apologies for three lifelong passions that appear in my commentaries: commemorating the Holocaust, guaranteeing the survival and security of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state, and improving interreligious relations. I was born in Pittsburgh during the 1930s. Had my birthplace been Transylvania instead of Pennsylvania, I would likely have been among the 1.5 million Jewish youngsters murdered during the Holocaust by the Nazis and their collaborators. I remember when Israel won its 1948-49 war of independence in which one percent of the new nation’s population was killed. That’s the equivalent of the U.S. today losing about 3.1 million people in combat. Because the prophet Zechariah urged us to be “prisoners of hope,” I look forward to writing a column celebrating not only Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but also the establishment of peaceful relations between Israel and its neighbors, including the Palestinians. Finally, the world’s religions continue to play both decisive and divisive roles on the world stage. During the past two decades, I have criticized political leaders who minimize or refuse to acknowledge the potent power of faith communities to shape events. In the quest for global security, constructive relations among religious groups is not a luxury or a “feelgood” diversion. Diplomats cite “realpolitik” as the basis for international affairs. But nothing is more “real” than building mutual respect and understanding among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and people of all other religions. I believe interreligious relations, for good or ill, will be the biggest news story in the next 20 years, and I look forward to covering it with another 640,000 words.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
Sedra of the Week
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT DEVARIM DEUTERONOMY 1:1–3:22
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel — “Zion shall be redeemed because of her moral justice and her children shall return to her because of her compassionate righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27). The Shabbat before the bleak day of Tisha B’Av, the fast commemorating the destruction of both Holy Temples, is called Shabbat Hazon, the Shabbat of Vision. This title is based on the prophetic reading of that day which starts: “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz which he saw concerning Judea and Jerusalem...” (Isaiah 1:1). But a “vision” usually refers to a positive sight intensified with a Divine revelation, a manifestation of the Divine presence as when “the elite youth of Israel...envisaged the Almighty” (Exodus 24:11). Likewise, in our liturgy, we pray in the Amida: “May our eyes envisage Your return to Zion in compassion.” Isaiah’s vision, however, is one of moral turpitude and religious hypocrisy: “Woe to the sinning nation, people heavy with transgression...My soul despises your festivals...your hands are filled with blood...” Where is the positive “vision” of Divine grace? The answer may be found in last week’s portion, where we read about the journeys of the Israelites through the desert — perhaps a metaphor for the journeys of the Israelites through history. “And Moses transcribed the places of origin toward their places of destinations and these are the places of destinations toward their places of origin” (Numbers 33:2). This verse contains an internal contradiction: Where do we ever find a point of destination leading to a point of origin? If your point of origin is the place where you discovered your personal or national destiny, you must always return to it, no matter how many places you settle along the way, in pursuit of your original destiny. Israel began her historic journey with Abraham in Hebron, where God charged the first Hebrew with our universal mis-
The true vision in the first chapter of Isaiah is not the tragedy of Israel’s backsliding or the reality of Israel’s hypocritical sacrifices; the inspiring prophetic vision — from which this tragic Shabbat is named — is the vision which concludes the prophetic reading, “Zion shall be redeemed because of her moral justice, and her children shall return to her because of her compassionate righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27). sion: “Through you shall be blessed all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:13). God, likewise, revealed what it was that Abraham was to teach the world: “I have known him in order that he command his children...to observe the path of the Lord, to do compassionate righteousness and moral justice” (Gen. 18:19). This is the Abrahamic mission and destiny, and so wherever Israel may travel, she must always return to her roots and purpose — being in Hebron, where her journey began. It is fascinating that in Hebrew past and future tenses are inextricably bound together; a single letter vav can transform a verb in the past tense into the future tense, and vice versa. Similarly, when used in the context of time, the word “lifnei” means “before” (as in “Simeon was born one year before [lifnei] Reuben”), whereas, when used in the context of space the same word means “ahead” (as in “Simeon is walking one step ahead of [lifnei] Reuben”). Temporally, the Hebron experience came before our Babylonian experience, but Hebron and its message — as well as its geographic locus — was always in Israel’s future; the Cave of the Patriarchs is both the fount of Israel’s mission and the guidepost for Israel’s ultimate destiny. It serves both as a burial site (kever) and a womb (rehem) — and both of these words are used interchangeably by the Talmudic Sages. Hence when Moses makes ref-
erence to God’s command that we inherit and conquer the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 1:8), it is immediately followed by the necessity to establish a proper moral, judicial system; and when Moses deals with the rebellion of the scouts, he excludes Caleb from punishment, since he was in favor of conquering the Land of Israel. What made him stand virtually alone with God, Moses and Joshua? Our Sages explain that he began the reconnaissance journey with a side trip to Hebron to garner inspiration from the patriarch who established the mission in the first place. Caleb went back in order to properly forge ahead. The true vision in the first chapter of Isaiah is not the tragedy of Israel’s backsliding or the reality of Israel’s hypocritical sacrifices; the inspiring prophetic vision — from which this tragic Shabbat is named — is the vision which concludes the prophetic reading, “Zion shall be redeemed because of her moral justice, and her children shall return to her because of her compassionate righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27). God guarantees that Israel will return to her Abrahamic mission and that she will ultimately arrive at her point of origin. At that time, with the Third Temple, the entire world will be blessed by Israel’s message of a God of moral justice and compassionate righteousness. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi — Efrat Israel
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18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
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By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist CHANGE, APES, AND OZ Opening Friday, August 5, are “The Change-Up” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” “Change” is a romantic comedy with a familiar fantasy twist — two very different people wake up to find themselves in the body of the other. The movie’s publicity release, however, says that the screenwriting team of “The Hangover” has taken this premise in many unexpected new directions. I expect that there will be more “raunchy” comedy than in most other similar films. Ryan Reynolds plays Mitch, an unmarried, slacker, “man child.” Dave (Jason Bateman), his life-long buddy, is a hard-working, successful lawyer with a pretty wife (Leslie Mann) and kids. After the “body switch,” the two guys have to avoid ruining each other’s lives while they figure out a way to switch back. ALAN ARKIN, 77, co-stars as Mitch’s estranged father, with Olivia Wilde as Dave’s “hot” colleague. “Rise” purports to give us the origins of the talking non-human primates that were featured in the “Planet of the Apes” movies. Genetic engineering, in the present day, we learn, gave our “cousins” the power of speech and set humankind and “the great apes” on the path to war. JAMES FRANCO, 33, stars as a wellmeaning scientist who creates a formula that gives an ape human intelligence and the ability to talk. This ape escapes with the formula and creates a huge army of gorilla, chimp and orangutan smarties. Speaking of Franco, he is now filming “Oz, The Great and Powerful.” It is a prequel of sorts to the famous Oz stories by L. Frank Baum. Franco plays a small-time circus magician who finds himself magically transported to the Land of Oz. MILA KUNIS, 27, RACHEL WEISZ, 41, and Michelle Williams co-star as Oz witches, with ZACH BRAFF, 36, (“Scrubs”) as Franco’s assistant. Directed by SAM RAIMI, 51, (“SpiderMan”) the film will open in March 2013. Raimi’s “Oz” is “heavily Jewish” — but so was the famous 1939 film — with BERT LAHR as the Cowardly Lion; songs by E.Y. HARBURG and HAROLD ARLEN; and costumes (including the “ruby red” slippers) by ADRIAN GREENBERG. BRAFF ON BROADWAY ZACH BRAFF, who wrote, directed and co-starred in the
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2004 indie drama film hit, “Garden State,” has written his first stage play. Entitled, “All New People,” this black comedy opened on Broadway on July 25 and runs through August 14. JUSTIN BARTHA, 33 (“The Hangover”), stars as a depressed guy holed-up during the winter in a summer house on the Jersey shore. His thoughts of suicide are interrupted by a pretty real estate agent, a prostitute and the town’s fire chief. Most reviews were mildly bad: calling the play “a kooky sit-com” or labeling it weak “NEIL SIMON-like” material. Still, critics praised the performers and noted that there were many funny lines. Writing a play that deftly balances laughs with pathos is very difficult and it isn’t a surprise that Braff stumbled the first time “out of the box.” Neil Simon got much better as he matured. I hope Braff sticks with it. There aren’t many people, today, even trying to write smart, funny plays. SURFS UP WITH THE PASKOWITZ FAMILY On Saturday, August 6, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will air a complete, nine-part series called “The Swell Life.” The half-hour long episodes will play, in order, from 12PM to 4:30PM. (You can DVR or tape for later playback.) The show’s publicity release says: “[It] takes a look inside the lives of former competitive surfer IZZY PASKOWITZ, his wife, their three children — one of whom [ISAIAH, now 20] is autistic — and their surf school business. We will watch their highs and lows, as they manage a business and a foundation for autistic children.” Israel “Izzy” Paskowitz, 48, is the son of legendary surfing personality DORIAN “Doc” PASKOWITZ, now 90. Doc is a Stanford-trained physician who became a full-time surfer/instructor upon returning to the States after a year-stay in Israel in 195556. He and his third wife (Izzy’s mother) have nine children — eight sons and a daughter. All the kids became competitive surfers and Izzy won dozens of championships. In 1998, Izzy became head of his father’s surf camp near San Diego. In 1997, he began doing surf clinics nationwide for autistic kids. In 2007, he said of this charitable work: “I really want to keep doing this, but it’s so difficult. It gets taxing on my personal life, and it takes away from the regular business, which is the Paskowitz Surf Camp. Sometimes I feel like I’m the world’s worst Jewish businessman.”
FROM THE PAGES 100 Y EARS A GO James Levy, founder of the distilling firm of James Levy & Brother, a pioneer resident of Cincinnati, died at his summer home, Charlevoix, Mich., late Wednesday night, July 26. Death was sudden and entirely unexpected. Heart failure was the cause. Mr. Levy was a charter member of the Queen City Club. During his entire life he was a bountiful giver to many charities, but his name was seldom mentioned in connection with them. He never married. Ever since 1892 he had resided at the Alms Hotel. He leaves four nephews, Harry M. Levy, Morris Levy, Dr. Alfred Springer and Gustav R. Freis and two nieces, Mrs. Marion Hoffheimer and Mrs. J. E. Friend, the latter of Milwaukee, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Klein and Mr. Eugene Klein have just returned from a motor trip through Kentucky and Indiana. During their ten days’ absence they visited Lexington, Louisville, French Lick Springs, Indianapolis and New York Castle. Mr. Eugene has gone to the East, and after a visit in the Virginia mountains will go on to New York. — August 3, 1911
75 Y EARS A GO Mr. and Mrs. S. Horace Wildberg are anticipating a St. Lawrence River trip of several weeks. They plan to leave the end of this week. Their daughter, Mrs. Harold S. Lion, who has been in the East for a visit with her daughter, Miss Marjorie, at Camp Wildwood, is visiting friends in the mountains near Mill Run, Pa. Cincinnati boys enrolled this summer in Camp Strongheart, on Lake Tomahawk in the North Woods of Wisconsin, are: Howard Schuman, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Schuman, of Greenwood Avenue; Troy Kaichen, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Troy Kaichen, of Rose Hill Avenue; Jerry Knoll, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Knoll, of Greenwood Avenue; Michael Kahn, son of Mr. and Mrs. Myron Kahn of Wyoming; and Louis Mendelson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Simon Mendelson, of Burton Woods Lane. Cincinnati counselors are Mr. Harry Struck, instructor in physical education at the Avondale School, and Mr. Samuel Sandmel, senior at Hebrew Union College. Dr. Nathan R. Abrahms, of 825 Blair Avenue, former resident physician at Jewish Hospital, has been awarded the Dalton Fellowship in Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, for 1936-37. Dr. Abrahms
has been in Boston for the past year and will remain for another year to continue his studies. Rabbi and Mrs. Louis I. Egelson have returned from a vacation at Minocqua, Wis., where they visited their son, Louis, Jr., who is summering at Camp Kawaga. — August 6, 1936
50 Y EARS A GO Eight men have been named to serve on the Board of Directors of the Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged, 601 Maple Avenue. The increase in board members from 24 to 32 was announced by Jacob Jacobson, president. The new board members are: Abe Dennis, Charles Froiken, Max F. Kraus, Morris G. Levin, Dr. Sidney A. Peerless, Arthur Rabkin, Louis Shulman, and Morris Weintraub. Felix S. Mayer, of New York City, board chairman of the Joseph & Feiss Co. of Cleveland and Michaels Stern & Co. of Rochester, men’s clothing manufacturers, passed away Tuesday, June 25, in his summer home at Oden, Mich. His age was 69. Robert L. Mayer, 860 Glenwood Avenue, is his brother. Felix Mayer, a former Cincinnatian, began his career with Isaac Faller Sons, of Cincinnati, and became a vice president of that firm. In 1928 the Joseph & Feiss Co. invited him to become general manager and to reorganize the firm. He was elected its president in 1931 and president of Michael Sterb & Co. in 1951. Miss Marcia Schultz and Mr. Robert Lukin were married Sunday, July 23, in the Pavillion Caprice of the Netherland Hilton. The bride is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Melvin Schultz of Cincinnati. The bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lukin of Cleveland. — August 3, 1961
25 Y EARS A GO Wolf Blitzer, the Jerusalem Post’s Washington correspondent, bumped and then un-bumped from the press entourage traveling with Vice President George Bush, received the final word that he would not be welcome in Jordan. Blitzer was to have joined the press contingent traveling with the Vice President in Jordan on July 30. Bush was on a 10-day threenation tour of the Middle East, which included stopovers in Israel and Egypt. Blitzer, an American citizen and accredited White House correspondent, had originally been
invited by Bush to join the press group, only to be told at the last moment that he would not be welcome in Jordan. Mrs. Bella Passer passed away in Buffalo, N.Y., on July 30. She is survived by a daughter, Loda Golos of Elmira, N.Y.; a son, Morris Passer of Cincinnati; five grandchildren, Marc Greenberg of Cincinnati, Anita Mayer and Cindy Golos of Elmira, David Passer of Boston, and Alice Passer Barton of Cincinnati; and four grandchildren. Mrs. Passer was the wife of the late Jack Passer and the sister of the late Jennie Taylor, Louis Aldort of Chicago and Sarah Greenberg of Buffalo, N.Y. Lester C. Mayer, formerly of Cincinnati, passed away in Philadelphia on July 30. He was 72. He is survived by his wife, Julie Mayer; a son, Gary Mayer; a brother, Jules B. Mayer; nieces, Anne Mayer-Weiss of Orlando, Fla. and Barbara Weiss of New York; nephews, Michael J. Mayer of Cincinnati, Mark J. Mayer of Cincinnati and Martin J. Mayer of Long Beach, Calif. — August 7, 1986
10 Y EARS A GO Ann M. Safdi, 78, passed away in the Vitas Hospice of Deaconess Hospital, July 25, 2001, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Mrs. Safdi was born October 24, 1924 in Baltimore, Md. She was a daughter of the late Herbert and Stella Moses. She was the wife of the late Stuart A. Safdi. Mrs. Safdi is survived by her children: Linda Safdi Langmore and her husband, John Langomore, Ph.D. of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Michael Andres Safdi, M.D., and his spouse, Rosemary Safdi; Alan Victor Safdi, M.D., and his wife, Anne S. Safdi. Esther Lucky celebrated her 90th birthday in a generous and unselfish way – just as she has lived her life. She asked that, in lieu of gifts, family and friends contribute to the first Lucky Scholarship in Holocaust Studies at the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Lucky’s buoyant approach to life is fueled by her survival of more than a dozen concentration and slave labor camps in Eastern Europe and Germany. Her vivid memories of her experiences during the Holocaust have been told to groups of Cincinnati youth since she moved here to be closer to her son a decade ago. — August 2, 2001
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
CLASSIFIEDS • 19
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS Access (513) 373-0300 • www.jypaccess.org 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 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • www.fusionnati.org 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 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • www.myshalomfamily.org The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.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
Congregation Ohr Chadash (513) 252-7267 • ohrchadashcincinnati.com Congregation Sha’arei Torah shaareitorahcincy.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
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production@ americanisraelite.com ADATH from page 1 and the opportunity to influence them and give Jewish context for their lives and their decisions is very important.” Confirmation students also volunteered at Adath Israel’s annual Mitzvah Day and attended the Martin Luther King Day march. NHS from page 1
EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com 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 Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com 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
Eddie commented, “Feeding the hungry is important in our task of repairing the world. By helping non-Jews as well as Jews, we also serve the cause of bringing peace to our community.” The kashrut activity involved learning about Jewish dietary laws and then shopping for a synagogue event, taking care to buy only kosher food. Daniel spoke at confirmation about that activity. He summarized the main aspects of the Jewish dietary laws and LATINO from page 6 “I put Jewish holy objects in my house — a menorah, holiday decorations,” he said. “I stopped eating pork. I started to light candles on Friday night. I was still in the Pentecostal church at the time, so there were those in the church that made my life miserable.” Finally, de la Pena wrote a letter to the elders telling them that he wanted to leave the church for good. In response, some threw eggs at his home, secretly fed his kids sandwiches with pork and prohibited their children from playing with his children. De la Pena apologized to his family for what they had to endure, but he felt he had to stop hiding who he was. Once he was away from the Pentecostal church, de la Pena became involved with Messianic Judaism, a growing movement whose adherents observe elements of Judaism: They pray in Hebrew, observe Shabbat, maintain kashrut, adore Israel and celebrate Jewish holidays. But they also venerate Yeshua — Jesus Christ. Messianic Judaism, especially when practiced by Latinos, seems to grow out of a desire to live the life that Yeshua and his disciples lived, which was that of observant Jews. De la Pena is very much aware that others might suspect his group of being Messianic Jews. He says
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(513) 531-9600 This years confirmands were; Anna Bailes, Elka Bresler, Kali Cohen, Sallie Cohen, Jake Fisher, Zach Fisher, Louis Goldsmith, Isabella Guttman, Rebecca Kahn, Benji Kriner, Nathan Meisner, Ethan Padnos, Jake Paul, Allison Schwartz, Hannah Wise and Samantha Wolkoff. added, “There are many reasons to keep kosher and most of them are quite simple. First of all just for the simple reason that it is in the Torah and is one of God’s commandments. Also, it identifies you with the Jewish people, both historically and today. Lastly it reminds you to be thankful for the food you are eating by making you think about it while following kashrut.” Following the service, the congregation enjoyed a special kiddush sponsored by the Gushin and Bassin families. emphatically they are not. “We passed through a period with Messianic Judaism and realized it was not what we were looking for,” he said. “Once I began studying Judaism seriously, I realized that it’s very different — and a lot more — than the Judaism presented by the Messianic Jewish groups.” The next step for de la Pena was to attend what at the time was the one shul in Santa Maria, a Reform congregation. “These people are also Children of Israel,” the rabbi told the congregants. Nevertheless, de la Pena and those with him felt uncomfortable, largely because the service was in English. Eventually, with the support of his family and friends, de la Pena founded the Beth Shalom minyan. The congregation is far from wealthy, but all the families contribute. Spanish-speaking Rabbi Daniel Mehlman, who officiates at Studio City’s Congregation Beth Meier, occasionally visits Santa Maria and offers guidance to those in the community who have embarked on the conversion process. Mehlman says the group’s members “come from an observant [Christian] tradition,” which may account for — in Mehlman’s words — their “genuine spiritual yearnings.”
20 • LEGAL
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More on Confronting Your Accuser Legally Speaking
by Marianna Bettman The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the accused in criminal cases the right to confront witnesses against them. The U.S. Supreme Court has written a series of cases on this subject. Justice Antonin Scalia has been the leader of the strict confrontation clause jurisprudence that has evolved since. The most recent case, Bullcoming v. New Mexico, issued at the end of the past term, was unusual in its 5-4 line-up — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority decision, and was joined by Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, Scalia and Thomas. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the dissent, joined by Justices Breyer, Alioto and Chief Justice Roberts. Let’s take a look at what happened. Donald Bullcoming was arrested for drunk driving after an accident in which he rear-ended a pick-up truck in Farmington, N.M. He refused to take a breathalyzer test, so the police got a warrant to take his blood to determine his blood alcohol concentration. The standard operating procedure when this happens is to send the blood sample to the New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory Division for testing. A report is then prepared, signed and certified by the analyst who did the testing. In this case that was Curtis Caylor. The procedures followed are detailed on the back of the report form. The analysts at the New Mexico lab use a gas chromatograph machine to determine blood alcohol levels. Special knowledge and training are needed to use that machine. Caylor’s report showed Bullcoming’s blood alcohol concentration at 0.21, which under New Mexico law kicked the drunk driving charge up to a more serious offense. At Bullcoming’s trial, the prosecution announced that Caylor would not be testifying because he had been placed on unpaid leave for a reason that was not disclosed. Instead, the state introduced Caylor’s report through the testimony of a different analyst who had not personally performed or observed the tests, nor signed the
certification, but who was familiar with all the procedures and did similar testing himself. Bullcoming was convicted by a jury of aggravated drunk driving. On appeal he challenged the admission of the report since he never got a chance to cross examine Curtis Caylor, the analyst who prepared it. The New Mexico Supreme Court held that the report was properly admitted through the substitute witness. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision. In a landmark decision in 2004 the U.S. Supreme Court held that any testimonial statement from a witness who is unavailable to testify at trial can only be admitted if the accused has had the prior opportunity to cross-examine that witness. Then, as is typical of the law, it took several years to develop a test to determine what is testimonial and what is not. Over time, the primary purpose test emerged as the one to use to make that call. A statement is testimonial if its primary purpose is to help in the prosecution of an offense; it is non-testimonial if its primary purpose is to help the police deal with an ongoing emergency. Even though the state tried to argue otherwise, the New Mexico Supreme Court held that the crime lab report in this case was testimonial. But the New Mexico high court also ruled the report could be admitted without Caylor’s presence without violating the confrontation clause because Caylor was nothing more than a scribe in this matter — all he did was transcribe the results of the test onto a form — and also because the substitute analyst provided by the state was available to be cross-examined at trial about the test and the laboratory procedures used. In reversing the New Mexico Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg emphasized that once the state chose to introduce the report certified by Caylor, then Caylor, and not some substitute, became the witness Bullcoming had the right to confront. Even though the substitute witness was himself an expert about the gas chromatograph machine and the lab’s procedures, he could not testify about what Caylor knew or observed or how he’d done the testing. So a substitute was not good enough. In a separate part of the majority decision that was joined only by Justice Scalia, Justice Ginsburg also addressed the state’s arguments that this rigid view of the confrontation clause imposes undue burdens on the prosecution. She probably wrote this section to answer the dissenters, who strongly supported the state on this. Justice Ginsburg noted that under New Mexico law, blood samples
are retained, and can be retested by a different analyst, which easily could have been done in this case by the analyst who subbed for Caylor. She also noted that since lab analysts’ testimony usually bolster the state’s case, defense lawyers don’t usually bother to make them testify in person. (If the defense agrees, a crime lab report can be entered into evidence without the author being present; in this case the defense lawyer did not agree to that.) Finally, she noted that New Mexico could enact a notice-and-demand statute that allows the admission of forensic reports without any testimony unless the defense demands the presence of the analyst (Ohio has such a statute). Justice Sotomayor wrote a separate concurrence to emphasize reasons why Caylor’s report was clearly testimonial evidence. She may have done this in part because of her recent decision in Michigan v. Bryant—in which Justices Ginsburg and Scalia disagreed with her—in which she wrote that statements of a dying murder victim telling the police who shot him were non testimonial. (I wrote about that case in my May column.) To emphasize that the holding in the Bullcoming case was limited, she gave a number of examples of what the report in this case was not, and gave a number of examples of non-testimonial statements that could be admitted into evidence. Much of Justice Kennedy’s dissent strongly pushes back at the majority’s view that this decision will not burden the prosecution. Kennedy wrote that “in these circumstances requiring the state to call the technician who filled out a form and recorded the results of a test is a hollow formality.” He notes that the work of many different people go into any final test report, and the Court has never held that each must appear, that the defense is free to bring out any and all of these inadequacies and let the jury evaluate them. He thinks that from now on defense lawyers everywhere will demand in-person testimony of the test analysts. And he cites statistics from New Mexico — the fifth largest state by area, by one which employs only 10 lab analysts — showing that “from 2008-2010 subpoenas requiring New Mexico analysts to testify in impaired driving cases rose 71%.” And yet, I can’t help but note that there have been a number of serious crime lab scandals in recent years. And one wonders why Curtis Caylor was placed on unpaid leave from his job as a lab analyst. The right of confrontation surely helps shed light on these important issues.
DEMS from page 7 Engel noted that his amendment still called out the Palestinians for incitement, and that a separate amendment he proposed — and that the committee passed — would ban assistance to the Palestinian Authority should it pursue recognition of statehood at the United Nations in the absence of negotiations with Israel. In an interview with JTA, Engel said he wanted to counter Republican charges that Democrats were cooling on Israel. “I wanted to send a very strong message that support for Israel is bipartisan and strong,” the veteran New York lawmaker said. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) said singling out Israel for continued assistance while cutting aid elsewhere, as some Republicans have proposed, is counterproductive. “If we go down a path that says Israel deserves foreign aid but other countries do not, we’re going to make it easier to undercut support for the U.S.-Israel relaHOUSING from page 10 Hours after Netanyahu’s news conference unveiling his plan, the protest’s leaders held their own news conference dismissing the plan as a piece-meal attempt to divide students from other protesters. “When he talks about students and discharged soldiers, what about our grandparents? What about the disabled?” said Yigal Rambam. “Every section in Israeli society suffers from the housing problem and there isn’t a general solution here. Any real solution must deal with rental prices, the prices of buying land, public housing and housing assistance.” Itzik Shmueli, head of the National Union of Israeli Students, said at the news conference that although Netanyahu’s plan was “unprecedented” and “historic,” it remained insufficient and that the union would continue participating in the protest. Experts attribute the vertiginous rise in real estate prices in recent years to a combination of Israel’s small size, relatively high population growth, a strong shekel and an influx of foreign buyers, especially American and French Jews. Demand is strongest in the central part of the country, where most Israelis work and live, though prices in the periphery have risen, too. In a country that managed to weather the international financial downturn exceptionally well and where 2011 growth is projected to reach an impressive 5.2 percent and unemployment is at a historic low, many Israelis still feel financially strapped. A significant portion of the nation’s private wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few families, the gaps between rich and
tionship,” Deutch told JTA. Deutch, who proposed successful amendments recommending additional resources to track Iran sanctions busters and stipulating that the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit be a principle of renewed peace talks, delivered one of the most impassioned speeches of the marathon debate late on the night of July 21. He spoke out against an amendment proposed by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) that would have cut funding to those nations that fail to support the United States at the United Nations. “It is high time that we disabuse ourselves of this notion that what we’re talking about is the cutting of checks to governments that we don’t agree with,” Deutch said, noting that foreign aid constitutes much less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget. “The money we spend on foreign aid isn’t a gift; it is in our self interest to promote freedom, and to promote security and to promote prosperity.” poor is wider than ever and poverty rates remain among the highest in the Western world. Israeli hospitals and health clinics are in the midst of a doctors’ strike, which followed a large social workers’ strike. Both groups cited low wages as their reasons. A boycott last month of cottage cheese to protest rising prices for an Israeli staple appears to have been a symptom of widespread economic discontent that the housing protests also are tapping into. “Whereas the street has been relatively quiet in the last 20 years, it’s beginning to wake up and demand part of national wealth that does not seem to be trickling down as much as it should,” LehmanWilzig said. “It’s not a call to return to Israel’s socialist past but to a more collective feeling of society as a whole.” While young people in particular are finding their voice when it comes to issues that affect their wallet, this segment of society appears less interested in taking to the streets when it comes to ideological issues like the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. The demonstrators have said theirs is a nonpartisan struggle. In interviews, they say they don’t want to interject hot-button political topics like the cost of subsidizing home building in West Bank settlements or for haredi Orthodox families at the risk of alienating would-be supporters of their cause. At a protest outside the Knesset on Sunday, Itay Gottler, who heads the student union at the Hebrew University, spoke of a popular movement. “This is a struggle that involves secular people, the ultra-Orthodox, religious, Arabs, young people and students,” he said. “This is the struggle of the people.”
FIRST PERSON • 21
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
This year in Jerusalem Singer Says
by Phyllis Singer One of the wonderful things about living in Israel – especially in Jerusalem – is the ever-present feeling that we are living in the land of the Bible, the land where our forefathers lived, the land where they walked, where they prayed, where they went to the Beit SHUL from page 8 “The congregation was mainly Orthodox,” Karp said, “but there was no mikvah. The families were all merchants, and they all worked on Friday nights and Saturdays.” Karp’s grandfather, also named David Karp, helped fund construction of the synagogue, which was dedicated in 1927. “Barnesboro is the only town in all of Pennsylvania with fewer than 4,000 people that had an actual synagogue,” Bowman said. “So the curiosity was there about ATTACKS from page 9 “Islamism certainly is a danger to the Jews and to Western democracy,” Stephan Kramer, secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told JTA last year. “The way to fight [Islamists] is not, however, to demonize and ostracize all Muslims.” Not all Jews have gotten the memo, however. Polls show that a small minority of European Jews supports some far-right parties, and a few far-right figures have gained a certain measure of respectability among some Jews. When firebrand Geert Wilders, the leader of Holland’s Freedom Party, spoke at an event in Berlin last year, former Israeli Knesset member Eli Cohen of the Yisrael CONCERN from page 9 “Anyone who dares support Israel is demonized,” said Suissa, a professor of medical chemistry. “The Jews need to know that they have a lot of friends in Norway, but the Norwegian politicians are not our friends.” In an interview published Tuesday by the Israeli daily Maariv, Norway’s ambassador to Israel, Svein Sevje, said it was important to
Hamikdash (the Holy Temple). We live in the suburb of Talbiyeh, not very far from the Old City. Only a few blocks from our apartment there is a clear view to the Temple Mount – today dominated by the Muslims’ Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa Mosque – but several thousand years ago the home of the First and Second Temples. There Jews went to pray, and the priests (the kohanim) carried out the rituals primarily described in the Book of Leviticus. The Book of Exodus describes in detail the garments that the priests wore – first when they served in the Tabernacle as the Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years and then when they served in the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. G-d commanded Moses about the garments of the
priests and the high priest: “On the hem [of the high priest’s robe] … a gold bell and a pomegranate, all around. It must be on Aaron in order to minister. Its sound shall be heard when he enters the sanctuary before G-d and when he leaves.” (Exodus 28: 34) Sometimes the words of the Chumash (The Five Books of Moses) seem remote, but sometimes they come alive and jump off the pages. These words from Exodus vividly came alive at the end of last month when archaeologists working at an excavation in the City of David, just outside the walls of the Old City, discovered a tiny golden bell in a drainage channel. Archaeologists Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiques Authority and Professor Ronny Reich of Haifa University identified the bell as
coming from the final period of the Second Temple, which was destroyed in 70 CE. “The bell looked as if it was sewn on the garment worn by a man of high authority in Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple Period,” they said. Perhaps that “man of high authority” was a high priest. From the Chumash and other sources, we know that the robe of the high priest had little gold bells on it. The archaeologists have not ruled out that possibility. The archaeologists believe that the bell must have fallen from the man’s garment as he walked in the area of the drainage channel. “The bell was exposed in the city’s main drainage channel of that period, between the layers of dirt that had been piled on the floor of the channel,” they explained. “This drainage channel was built
and hewn west to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and drained the rainfall in the different parts of the city, through the City of David and the Shiloah Pool to the Kidron valley.” When Shukron shook the golden bell at a press conference, a faint metallic sound was heard. The excavation area, including the drainage channel, which historians think Jewish rebels used to flee the Roman legionnaires who razed Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 CE, is set to open to the public later this summer.
the Jewish community. Today, I know of no Jewish families in our school district. The students were curious about how Barnesboro became a community for the Jewish faithful.” The synagogue closed for good in 1968, when only one Jewish family remained in the town. Descendants of Barnesboro’s Jewish families from all over the country have contacted Bowman and her students, providing photographs and other relics, as well as oral histories. “There has been a kind of revi-
talization in interest,” she said. “The Jewish community helped build the business community here,” Bowman continued. “Now our community has economic hardships. Since the coal industry has declined, economic hardship has set in.” As part of the project, Bowman managed to take her students to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., through a grant from the Allegheny Community Foundation. “We had funding to take the
students to Washington, feed them and get them back without them paying a cent,” she said. “Not many would be likely to get there themselves.” While most of the Jewish archives were collected last year, the project will continue in the fall as Bowman and her students work to get the synagogue listed as a national historic landmark in order to assure additional funding for the renovation. She hopes to eventually house the archives collected within the synagogue itself and make them
available to the public. The Coal Country Hangout Youth Center is sponsoring the renovation project, which will restore the exterior of the historic building and create four office spaces for community social services. As many families in Northern Cambria are economically disadvantaged, and have to travel to neighboring towns for social services, Bowman said it will be a boon to the community to be able to house social service agencies in the former synagogue.
Beiteinu party was one of the featured speakers. Wilders also has his Jewish fans in America. One is Daniel Pipes, a columnist and director of a think tank that warns of the dangers of domination by radical Muslims, or Islamists. In a column last year for The National Review titled “Why I Stand with Geert Wilders,” Pipes called the controversial Dutch political figure “the most important European alive today” and the man “best placed to deal with the Islamic challenge facing the continent.” Pipes’ writing was quoted extensively in Breivik’s manifesto. Reached this week by JTA, Pipes declined to comment for this story.
As for Wilders, he was quick to condemn last Friday’s attacks in Norway. “That the fight against Islam is conducted by a violent psychopath is disgusting and a slap to the face of the global anti-Islamic movement,” Wilders said in a statement. “It fills me with disgust that the perpetrator refers to the [ Freedom Party] and me in his manifesto. ... We fight for a democratic and nonviolent means against the further Islamization of society and will continue to do so.” Of course, not all far-right parties in Europe are trying to make common cause with Jews. Many, like Jobbik, a far-right movement in Hungary, lump Jews with Gypsies, Muslims and others as undesirables.
Far-right parties in Europe have varying degrees of support, but polls show their political backing is rising across the continent. In Norway, the anti-immigrant Progress Party is now the secondlargest in parliament. In Hungary, Jobbik won nearly 17 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections last year, making it the country's third-largest party. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s sagging popularity and the collapse of the anticipated presidential candidacy of Dominique Strauss-Khan following rape charges were filed against him in New York gave Marine Le Pen — leader of the anti-immigrant National Front party and daughter of Holocaust-minimizer Jean-Marie Le Pen — a lead in
some polls of French presidential contenders. In June 2009, far-right parties across Europe captured a sizable share of seats in the European Parliament, a development attributed to rising xenophobic sentiment fueled by the global economic downturn. Among the winners were the neo-fascist British National Party and the Austrian Freedom Party, which campaigned with posters reading “FPO veto for Turkey and Israel in the EU.” The appeal of far-right political positions is not relegated to the political fringes. Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim stances have permeated mainstream political discourse and influenced government policies.
recognize the distinctions between the Norwegian attacks and terrorism in Israel. “We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel,” he said. “Those who believe this will not change their mind because of the attack in Oslo.” Suissa said she is concerned that Breivik’s attack will make it more difficult for Israel supporters and the right-wing Christian groups she
works with to express their views. But Rabbi Joav Melchior, spiritual leader of the community synagogue also known as DMT, dismissed such concerns. “That someone ... calls himself pro-Israel shouldn’t in principle change anything for us,” he said of Breivik. “We don’t feel that he’s a part of our group.” The bombing in Oslo and shooting rampage on the nearby island of Utoya has sparked a national debate
in Norway about security measures in this country of 4.6 million where political leaders routinely travel without a protective security detail and police officers do not carry guns. The slow police response to the massacre — it took about an hour for police to reach Utoya — has been widely reported and debated here. “This happened in a place where if someone walks in and steals a pack of eggs, it would make the news,” Ring said. “Norway will
have to increase its awareness of security on all levels.” At Oslo’s main synagogue, which was the target of an earlymorning shooting attack in 2006 that resulted in cosmetic damage but no casualties, security already is high. Concrete barriers make it impossible to park in front of the building, and a receptionist told a reporter that he could not enter the facility on Tuesday “for security reasons.”
Phyllis Singer, former editor/general manager of The American Israelite, and her husband, Allen, can be reached by e-mail at apsinger@netvision.net.il. She and Allen always enjoy hearing from Cincinnatians visiting Israel.
22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES KAPLAN, Joseph M., age 92, died on July 27, 2011; 25 Tammuz, 5771. DRESKIN, Dr. O. Herman, age 95, died on July 28, 2011; 26 Tammuz, 5771. DUMES, William “Bill”, age 94, died on July 31, 2011; 29 Tammuz, 5771. SECURITY from page 5 The Homeland Security official said the department was examining the Norway attacks and assessing the information, just as it had previous attacks. After an attack, the official said, “we look at events that occurred, what people had observed, whether community members, family members saw something that was present that would have forewarned” of an attack. Those reports are then for-
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warded to local authorities so “they’re more sensitized to it.” Another element is educating the target community, said SCN director Paul Goldenberg. The Homeland Security Department’s recently launched “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign in the Jewish community is critical, he said. Goldenberg said that potential assailants tend to look at previous attacks for inspiration, which is what made Breivik’s assault on the Labor Party youth camp so exceptional. Some of his victims were as young as 14. “What’s remarkable is that this individual sought to kill children, and that is a wake-up call for our community and any other community to do all they can to ensure that wherever our children gather and congregate would be a potential location for someone who wants to cause direct harm to the hearts and souls of the Jewish community,” Goldenberg said. The Homeland Security official identified patterns of behavior around synagogues and other
Jewish community buildings that merit reporting to the authorities: “multiple instances of appearances” by a stranger “in an entrance or exit area, parked cars that are in places that unusual — places that people walk past as they enter a JCC, an individual trying to monitor activities, maybe photographing security personnel, photographing the building in a way that doesn’t seem typical of someone who’s interested in architecture.” It is also critical to train staff to know what to do in case of an attack, Goldenberg said. SCN has trained Jewish summer camp personnel to have planned safety routes in the event of an incident, and walkie-talkies planted in strategic places for effective communication. “Sending our children to camps and overseas and to Israel — that should never stop,” said Goldenberg, a former counterterrorism adviser to New Jersey’s state government, “but we need to be more vigilant and train those who are responsible and accompanying our children.” So-called lone wolves are an increasing concern for lawenforcement authorities because advance detection of a plot through wiretapping and similar measures is not possible. “Some people recognize that based on a lot of the plotters and
conspiracies that have been foiled, it is more likely you’re going to get caught if you have conspirators,” said Oren Segal, the co-director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. “Lone wolf attacks are most concerning, as they don’t fall into one or another movement.” Groups like the ADL track extremism, particularly on the Internet, which has facilitated the empowerment and exchange of extremist ideas. “The fact that people are reading ideologies and being influenced online poses a serious threat,” Segal said. “Extremist movements tend to ebb and flow. There have been spikes by those motivated by militant Islam; at other times we’ve seen spikes in anti-government types.” Breivik’s anti-Muslim extremism “seems to represent a developing ideology,” he said. “It’s not isolated.” The Southern Poverty Law Center along with Daryl Johnson, a former Homeland Security official, has accused the Obama and George W. Bush administrations of not aggressively tracking right-wing extremism and instead focusing more on Islamic extremists. Johnson left Homeland Security after conservatives assailed as an attack on free speech a 2009 report he authored on the
increased likelihood of attacks in the wake of the election of the first black president. The department squelched the report and shut down Johnson’s unit. Heidi Beirich, the research director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Breivik was influenced by the online writings of Americans such as Pam Geller and Robert Spencer, who see Islam generally, and not an extremist offshoot, as a threat to democracy and freedom. “We’re concerned that as the Sept. 11 10th anniversary comes up, someone may attack government buildings or Muslims,” Beirich said. “We understand the threat from Islamists, but there is also a threat from people motivated by anti-government beliefs.” The Homeland Security official told JTA that the department had not dropped its tracking of right-wing extremists in the wake of the shutdown of Johnson’s unit, and that such monitoring had been incorporated into other departments. Michael German, the American Civil Liberties Union’s counsel on security and a former FBI agent who infiltrated neo-Nazi and skinhead groups from 1988 to 2004, said that Johnson’s report was useful in many respects, but committed the flaw of tracking ideology instead of extremist activity.
GAMES from page 10 It also helped motivate teens in North America, officials said. “The interest level and the response was tremendous,” said Allan Finkelstein, the president of the JCC Association. The 900 U.S. and Canadian teenagers came to compete in soccer, basketball, volleyball, table tennis and swimming. Delegations from South Africa and Israel also participated in the competitions. The sporting events took place in six different villages in the northern Galilee near Kiryat Shemona. On Shabbat, the games organized home hospitality for the athletes, sending the teens to whichever city in Israel was the Jewish federation sister city of their hometowns. Williams’ daughter Rachel, 15, a basketball player, spent a week before the games in Columbus’ sister community, Kfar Saba. The teens from her host Israeli family were invited to participate in the games together with several hundred other young Israelis. As fireworks exploded during the team’s Olympics-style march into the stadium on opening night, Rachel and the teens from the Kfar Saba group chatted like old friends. “When we met in Kfar Saba a week ago, it felt awkward and forced, but we are now really close,” Rachel said. Designed to foster Jewish identity through sports, the JCC Games
Courtesy JCC Association
Brett Loewenstern, shown performing at the JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest in Israel, credits the ArtsFest for launching his musical career.
began in 1982 with 300 participants. Today they take place in three host communities each summer and involve thousands of teens. This year, in addition to Israel, competitions were held in Springfield, Mass., and Philadelphia. Six years ago, the JCC Association decided to broaden its outreach to teens by adding an arts component to the games. The ArtsFest includes workshops in music, dance, broadcast journalism, photography, visual art and food. One ArtsFest participant, Brett Loewenstern, reached the final 24 contestants of Fox’s “American Idol.” In an interview with JTA, the slender Florida teen with a
mane of red hair credited ArtsFest with encouraging his interest in music and boosting his confidence after he was bullied as a child. “The JCC and the ArtsFest is where I got my musical start,” Loewenstern said. “It gave me experience, confidence and a strong second family. I got such great experience there being a performer and being part of a band.” In Kiryat Shemona, Lowenstern was afforded star treatment, performing the song “Bring ‘Em Home,” dedicated to captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and advising participants in the music workshop to “have confidence, believe in themselves and just cut loose.”
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AUGUST
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7
4
1 8
Dentistry Issue/Dental Directory
14
11
21
18
28
Mature Living/Senior Lifestyles
Back to School & Shopping Guide
Medical Issue
15 22
25
29
Rosh Hashanah Jewish Year in Review
O CTOBER
N OVEMBER
DECEMBER
6
3
1
Gift Guide
8
Gift Guide
13
10
Estate Planning / Financial Planning
17
20 27
Event Planning Guide
15
Travel Guide
24
Chanukah
22
Legal Directory
29
Year in Review
1st week: Legal | 2nd week: Trav el | 3rd week: Ar ts & Enter tainment | 4th week: Business | 5th week: Varies DEADLINE
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Delta Partnership May Cause Travel Headaches For Non-Muslims
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