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Cincinnati’s Michal Washofsky, lone (Israeli) soldier
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Would Youkilis play on Yom Kippur?
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Israeli expats flocking to Berlin for the culture and the passport
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Cumin — Eclectic Cuisine
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Rabbi Dellal, UC Hillel’s new executive director The Hillel of the University of Cincinnati is pleased to announce that Rabbi Elana Dellal has been selected as the organization’s new executive director. Dellal officially began as executive director on June 27 of this year. “Rabbi Elana brings warmth, passion and a clear vision for Jewish life on campus and in our community,” noted Chase Kohn, the newly elected Hillel board president. “I’m looking forward to our partnership as we build a better Hillel for the students, the campus and our broader community.” Previously, Kohn led the executive director search committee. All of the candidates interviewed with board members, leaders and stakeholders in the Jewish community and with University leaders. The final step of the process for Dellal was interviewing with Hillel’s Schusterman International Center in Washington D.C. Originally from Madison, Wis., Rabbi Dellal was ordained at Hebrew Union College in May of this year. She has already made herself a member of the local community as she has worked with Cincinnati’s JFS, was a rabbinic intern at Valley Temple and also was last year’s Rabbinic intern at Hillel. She was able to develop relationships with students and community members while strengthening Hillel’s commitment to Jewish Education and programming — all of which led to applying for the position she now has. “I found it exhilarating working with the students and the staff and quickly saw a desire from the students and the community members
Executive Director of UC’s Hillel, Rabbi Elana Dellal
for growth in the institution,” noted Dellal. Early on in the year, I realized that I wanted to be a real part of
this growth, that I wanted to help Cincinnati Hillel reach its potential.” Dellal plans to build bridges in
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the community, significantly develop programming for students and to increase Hillel’s presence on and off UC’s campus. Some of Dellal’s short-term goals for Hillel include re-thinking how Hillel’s programming is done. “We must aim to create a culture and structure that seeks to advance the spiritual, emotional, cultural and career growth of every student.” As for long term, “The students of the Hillel community are extremely skilled individuals, a stronger Hillel will strengthen the Jewish community at large. We want to develop more community partnerships, encouraging Cincinnati students to gain from and give to the exquisite resources and opportunities in the wider Jewish community. We want to redefine ourselves an institute of, for and about the Cincinnati community at large.” According to Kohn, the strategic plan is focused in two areas. “The first is to build a foundation for success by training and supporting our professional staff; building, nurturing, sustaining and engaging a strong board; and attending to the organizational infrastructure by addressing sound fiscal management, improving our data management, developing marketing and brand identity, and working toward a comprehensive approach to fund development. The second part of our strategic plan focuses on strategies for a Renaissance at UC Hillel. There are several components: students shall have an opportunity to advance their own spiritual, emotional, cultural and career growth; our Hillel model will shift from programmer to convener DELLAL on page 19
MatureLiving 2011 SPECIAL SECTION.
REACH THE JEWISH SENIOR COMMUNITY WITH YOUR ADVERTISING MESSAGE Deadline for ad submission is Thursday, July 21 Publishes on Thursday, July 28 To Advertise or For More Information, Contact Ted Deutsch at 621-3145 or publisher@americanisraelite.com
LOCAL • 3
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
Westboro Baptist Church pickets Mayerson JCC On the morning of July 7, 2011, the Westboro Baptist Church began their picket of the Mayerson JCC at 10 a.m. After protesting a Christian convention downtown earlier, a group made up of five or so of the Kansasbased church — signs in hand — stood near the Ridge Road entrance to the J, saying the Jews were cursed as Christ killers, and
other such signs. About 15 more people were also there to counterprotest the group known mostly for its vocal picketing of military funerals, such as the 2008 funeral of local soldier, Matt Maupin. The organizations within the J’s building, as well as the Amberley police, had prior knowledge of the event, since the WBC notes on their website where they plan to
protest. According to the Jewish Community Relations Council, the WBC’s nearly 45-minute picket went without incident thanks in part to the police presence — by not allowing the counter-protesters to be baited and start a fight. According to the group’s website, their next picket will be the United Jewish Fund in Springfield, Ill.
AI website garners more readers on Facebook Plus this week’s Facebook Fan of the Week The American Israelite website has gained many new Facebook fans since launching our new website earlier this year. Our readership spans across a wide audience from young professionals to baby boomers, teens to families, senior adults and more — even those living outside the United States — rep-
resenting the various segments advertisers want to reach online to promote their products and services. The American Israelite website is the online version of the oldest English-Jewish weekly in America, established July 15, 1854 by Isaac M. Wise. Our loyal readers know to stick with the oldest for what’s new. We appreciate all of our returning users and welcome new users as we continue to serve as Cincinnati’s source for local, national and inter-
national Jewish community news. If you have yet to visit the site, please try it now. In addition, subscribe to our email newsletter the Esraelite, which you can access by going to the top right corner of The American Israelite site’s homepage and typing in your email address. Also, congratulations to Rob Festenstein, 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!
Northern Hills holds ‘Shabbat on the Range’ dinner The Wild West will be the theme as the Men’s Club of Northern Hills Synagogue Congregation B’nai Avraham sponsors its annual “Shabbat on the Range” western-style dinner. Featuring barbecued chicken and baked beans, the dinner will take place on Friday evening, July 22, following the 6 p.m. service.
Vegetarian and children’s options will also be available. Ron Richards, the Men’s Club president, noted that the evening will also feature a cowboy music sing-along and a Jewish cowboy trivia game. “This has become a real fun tradition in the congregation, bringing together people of all ages,” Richards said. “This will
be the best ‘Shabbat on the Range’ ever, so don’t be left out,” Richards added. The dinner will be held at the Synagogue and there is a cost for adults and for children ages 4 - 10. Younger children eat for free. For more information or to make reservations, please call Northern Hills.
Chris Kraus, Temple Sholom’s Director of Lifelong Learning Temple Sholom has recently announced that Chris Kraus has joined the congregation as its new Director of Lifelong Learning as of July 1. In this role, Kraus will be working with Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp and the congregation to develop and implement a new educational vision that is consistent with Temple Sholom’s unique niche in the Cincinnati Jewish community. Kraus brings a wealth of experience to this position that covers four decades of learning and teaching. He has taught at all levels of Wise Temple Religious School, had a decade of camping and counseling experience at the URJ Goldman
Chris Kraus
Union Camp Institution, a 4-year liberal arts studies in the psycholo-
gy of religion at Bowdoin College, two years of graduate ecumenical theological studies at The Harvard Divinity School, Kivunim (New Directions) Institute of Experiential Learning for Israel & World Jewish Communities Studies 2008. Kraus is also currently a visiting instructor in Jewish Education at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. Kraus and his wife Bari, who is an early childhood educational professional, have two teenage daughters. Temple Sholom is very excited to have Kraus join and lead them in creating a truly unique and community-centered lifelong educational vision.
Dynamic professionals like you raise the bar for excellence. The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton is seeking a forward thinking leader to assume the role of Director of the Dayton Area Jewish Senior Services Agency. Our population is aging & we’ve taken the proactive steps to create this unique one-point agency to care for our senior populace including, Outreach, Emergency Services, Transportation/Chore Service and Counseling & Case Management. This cutting-edge thinker will provide vision to develop and implement new programs and services to Jewish seniors in Dayton, Ohio.
The successful candidate will possess: Min. 10 yrs. related exp. & Master’s Degree in Social Work or related field; Exp. in senior services program development & demonstrated understanding of issues affecting senior adults & Jewish communities; History of successful private and public fund procurement; Excellent supervisory, organizational, communication and administrative skills
We offer an excellent benefits & compensation package. Qualified candidates submit resume with cover letter in confidence to:
Larry Skolnick, Executive Vice President Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton lskolnick@jfgd.net
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Friends of Cedar Village plan new brick garden, sundial The Friends of Cedar Village, a caring group of volunteers for the retirement community, are breaking ground on a new brick garden that features a centerpiece sundial. The sundial will be an original, artistic, analemmatic (flat) installation bearing similarities to ancient sundials of Israel. The sundial contains just 15 pieces, or hours, available to donors and supporters. The cost of an hour provides visible, permanent recognition. The sundial and brick garden will be a new feature built along a walking path leading to the community gazebo. “The sundial will be a wonderful addition to our campus,” said Leigh Faulk, president of the Friends of Cedar Village. “On any sunny day, you can stand in the middle to tell what time it is. Purchasing an hour on the sundial is a lasting way to make a permanent contribution to Cedar Village that will be seen and enjoyed by everyone,” said Faulk.
The American Israelite “LET THERE BE LIGHT” THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN AMERICA - EST. JULY 15, 1854
VOL. 157 • NO. 51 THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011 12 TAMMUZ 5771 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 8:46 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 9:47 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
Current and past board members of The Friends of Cedar Village group.
The sundial and brick garden is a testament to life; a permanent memorial of life’s cycle of events celebrated and cherished by residents, family members and the
entire Jewish community. Once complete, it will be a serene place for loved ones to gather and share stories and memories of their family and friends. Memorial bricks
will be available for purchase in the fall. To contribute an hour to the sundial project, contact Leigh Faulk or Cedar Village.
S’More Camp fun for preschoolers at the J Nature adventures, crafts and water fun are not just for the big kids at Camp at the J. Children, ages 18 months to pre-K, can have some more fun this summer with 1-week specialty S’More Camps, an extension of Camp at the J at the Mayerson JCC. S’More Camps are open to the public and advance registration is required. Preschool S’More Camps are August 1-5 and also August 8-12 at the JCC. Camp at the J runs Monday through Friday. For ages 18 – 36 months, camp is 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Ages 3 – 4 have the option to stay at camp 9:30 a.m. -
3:30 p.m. Extended day options (for ages 3 – 4) are available for an extra fee. Children are divided into groups (based on age) to enjoy age-appropriate activities such as water coloring to mimic the illustrations in “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” They will also enjoy other theme-oriented activities, such as making butterfly-shaped snacks. “This is the fourth year of the late-summer early childhood S’More Camps, and we are excited to have the kids doing activities that correlate with the books they
will read,” said Sherri Zimmer, Early Childhood Camp coordinator. “The theme for the first week is ‘Story Book Fun’ and the second week is ‘Amazing Toys.’” Water fun is one of the many popular activities for children of all ages at Camp at the J. Children, ages 18 – 36 months, will have fun playing in the sprinkler. Kids, ages 3 – 4 years, will swim in the JCC’s temperature-controlled outdoor pool and indoor waterpark. The days will be filled with other fun camp activities like crafts, field games and nature exploration. For grades 1 – 8, 1-week spe-
cialty S’More Camps include programs like cooking, sports and horseback riding (filled). An extension of the regular JCC camps that run throughout the summer, these specialty camps provide kids the opportunity to spend half their day with professional instructors and the other half day doing fun camp activities. Early registration is encouraged as all S’More Camps are expected to sell out. For more information or to register your child for S’More Camp at the JCC, visit the J’s website or contact the JCC camp office.
Cinti’s Michal Washofsky, lone (Israeli) soldier Not very many people can boast the fact that they work daily side by side with Israeli Air Force pilots and F-15 Eagle fighter jets. Michal Washofsky, 20, of Cincinnati, Ohio can. An F-15 Eagle fighter jet technician, not a day goes by where she isn’t dealing with high ranking officers and pilots in the Israeli Air Force. But that’s not the only thing that makes her super-special. Washofsky is a lone soldier, coming to Israel alone, without any family, to join the Israeli Army. Now living on Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak in the south, Washofsky made Aliyah in summer 2010 with Garin Tzabar, a program for lone soldiers intending to join the army. Washofsky was first inspired to move to Israel during
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her gap year while participating in Young Judea’s Year Course. Originally, she was intent on going back to the states and applying for college, but after just two and a half months, she decided that Israel was the place to be. “It’s more comfortable in Israel,” Washofsky says, “from the food to the ocean, it just can’t get any better. Aside from the fact that if you want to be Jewish, it’s so much easier here.” Joining the army was also a given to her. “I feel like if you make Aliyah young, the best way to integrate into society is through the army. It’s something everyone here can connect to, a sort of ‘National Experience.’” Originally drafting into Michve Alon—a program for new
immigrants to improve their Hebrew before going to a final job in the army—Washofsky wasn’t sure she was even going to be in the Air Force at all. She had never studied mechanics before and worried that her Hebrew wasn’t up to par. Despite her reservations, she tried out for the technicians’ course anyway and was accepted. “My work is AMAZING. The people are really friendly and the work is rewarding, even though it’s really hard. Sometimes I even have 20-hour days! But I see the results of what I do and it’s satisfying to know that the things I do make a difference.” At first intimidated by the myriads of officers and pilots who she works with daily, Washofsky found them to be polite and appreciative of her and
her fellow technicians. “They realize that without us they can’t fly.” In addition to her duties as a mechanic, Washofsky also loads the planes with bombs and weapons. But coming to Israel alone, leaving family and friends behind to join the Israeli Defense Forces and doing it all in a language that’s not your mother tongue is really far from simple. Talking to her family only once a week, Washofsky really misses advising with her parents, especially because she is an only child. “In hindsight, I’m really glad to have taken the path I did,” Washofsky says of her decision to join the IDF. Currently serving a two-year term, Michal is considering signing on more time, maybe even pursuing a military career.
RABBI ISSAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 PHYLLIS R. SINGER Editor & General Manager, 1985-1999 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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Fusion Family: a blending of backgrounds and traditions for interfaith families “It’s not always easy for one couple from two different religious backgrounds to turn ‘yours and mine’ into ‘ours,’” explains Julie Robenson, program coordinator for Fusion Family, an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation for families in which one partner is Jewish and the other isn’t, or one or both partners have converted to Judaism. “Being part of a ‘blended’ family can have its share of challenges. That’s why we created Fusion Family,” explains Julie Robenson. “It’s the perfect ‘no strings attached’ way for young families to meet others just like themselves, learn a little bit—or a little bit more—about Jewish customs, rituals and traditions, socialize with one another, and have a great time!” The Mayerson Foundation started Fusion Family three years ago primarily to address the needs of those interfaith and conversionary families who were not affiliated with a congregation or other Jewish organization. “The less engaged the parents are in Jewish life, inside and outside of the home, the fewer opportunities their children will have to be exposed to any type of Jewish culture or tradition,”
says Pam Saeks, director of Jewish Giving for The Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation. “As a result, these children will be at much greater risk of growing up with little or no Jewish identity. That’s why we felt it was important to take away as many hurdles to participation as possible and offer high quality events at no cost, with no membership requirements and no questions asked,” she adds. “We have numerous stories of families who attend our events and then go on to celebrate Shabbat, Passover and other holidays. Some even join the JCC, send their children to Jewish preschools and/or camps, and there are even some who have become members of several of our area congregations. And while we are thrilled that so many have increased the level of their Jewish engagement, we have no other goal than to give these families a chance to connect with one another and with Jewish life on their own terms in a way that feels comfortable for them,” Saeks continues. “For some, Fusion Family is the only Jewish thing they do…or may ever do for that matter. But that’s perfectly okay with us
Don’t feel ostracized, join Fusion, and be part of the community.
because before that, they weren’t doing anything Jewish at all!” Fusion Family hosts a number of events throughout the year, attracting upwards of 150 or more people. Some have included: Love and Knishes: Families Cookin’ Up Jewish Dishes, a hands-on cooking event in a private venue where kids and their parents got to make and eat three traditional foods typically served on Passover; Beary Merry Mitzvah, a holiday event at Builda-Bear where children learned about the concept of mitzvot and the importance of helping others;
the High Holiday Honeybee Buzz About, an engaging event focused on the Jewish New Year; Sunday Under the Sea at Newport Aquarium, which focused on tzedakah and giving; and the recent Camp Shabbat-a-Waname, a traditional camp-style Shabbat dinner at Lakeside Lodge in Sharon Woods, among many other events. “Our different religions were never an issue for my husband and me…until we had our first child,” says Megan Cohen. “Suddenly it mattered a lot. The only problem was, we didn’t belong to a church or
temple, and didn’t know how to get started. That’s when we heard about Fusion Family,” she explains. “Now we are exploring how Judaism can play a role in our family’s life. Plus, we’ve met a lot of other families who are in the process of making the same kind of decisions. Fusion has really made a big difference for us!” Fusion Family also offers the New Traditions Tool Kit program, a series of free no-strings-attached gifts to help blended families incorporate Jewish holidays and customs into their homes. They include ritual items, recipes, books and other resources, as well as easy to follow step-by-step guides for those who want to try starting something new, or just learning something they didn’t know before. The New Traditions Tool Kits, as well as the Fusion Family events, are free and available to families with children 10 and younger in which one parent is Jewish and the other is not, or in which one or both parents have converted to Judaism. For more information about this and other Fusion Family events and resources, please consult the community directory in the back of this issue.
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Would Youkilis play on Yom Kippur? By Jon Marks Jewish Exponent
Courtesy of Julia Elkin
Zumba instructors, including Shelley Engel (center) and Esther Goldberg (right), join the Phillie Phanatic in a performance for a charity fundraiser last summer.
Meshugah for Zumba By Deborah Hirsch Jewish Exponent PHILADELPHIA (Jewish Exponent) — At age 54, Esther Goldberg has danced in front of 46,000 people at a sold-out Phillies game and behind a casino bar wearing little more than a see-through mesh shirt over a sparkly bra. This is what Zumba can do to an otherwise mild-mannered masseuse and yoga instructor from Northeast Philadelphia. If you haven’t heard about Zumba yet, Goldberg and more than 500 other certified instructors located within 25 miles of Philadelphia’s Center City will clamor to tell you how the Latininspired dance fitness phenomenon can not only get you in shape but truly change your life. As Goldberg put it, “You never know where it will take you.” Sound a little cultish? It is. I can say that because I, too, fell prey to the Zumba addiction and have been teaching it since February 2010. Since there’s nothing inherently Jewish about Zumba, I hadn’t considered it newsworthy for the Jewish Exponent until a fellow instructor began ticking off names of members of the tribe among our ranks. Her point was confirmed a few months later when I posted a query for Jewish instructors on our Philly Zumba Instructor Network Facebook group. Fifteen people responded, generating a string of more than 40 comments that included lots of “oys” and a suggestion to form a Jewish burlesque group. Short of these anecdotes, there’s no data to indicate whether Jews comprise an unusually high share
of Zumba enthusiasts. But there’s also no denying how much this fitness frenzy has reached into our local Jewish community. Aside from Jews who have made Zumba part of their weekly routine, at least six area synagogues have added classes to their lineup of community programs. A few teachers have even given it a Jewish twist, infusing Israeli music, Yiddish humor and their background in folk dancing to guide participants through the moves. Although Zumba seems to be a relatively recent fad in the Northeast, it’s been around in other parts of the country for years. A crowd of more than 6,000 instructors will mark its 10th anniversary at a sold-out convention this weekend in Orlando, Fla. Of course, Zumba has evolved quite a bit since 2001, when creator Beto Perez, a Colombian aerobics instructor living in Miami, pulled out some salsa music he had in his backpack as a desperate substitution for the formatted fitness tracks he’d forgotten. In 2005, Perez began licensing instructors to bring his format to their local health clubs. Instructor training and classes began cropping up in the Philadelphia area about three years ago, according to fitness professionals. By now, Zumba has morphed into a kind of international cultural showcase, with 12 million people taking classes in 110,000 locations around the world, according to the company’s website. Goldberg found Zumba, with its loud, quick, “out there” moves, a perfect counterbalance to the other forms of dance and yoga she’d been teaching since she was a teenager. What started as one class at Congregation Adath Jeshurun in
Elkins Park, Pa., quickly expanded to four, not counting the yoga she was already teaching there. “People like to move their bodies but often feel like they can’t dance since they didn’t have training or they feel self-conscious,” Goldberg said. With catchy music and repetitive steps, “Zumba eliminates that.” Because of the Jewish setting, Goldberg continued, it’s easy to throw in “Hava Nagila” or other Jewish songs, talk about upcoming holidays or joke about how much everyone ate at Chanukah. “My name is so Jewish, it’s like I’m more comfortable fitting in,” Goldberg explained. “It’s like heimische. Especially if they are members of the synagogue, it’s like, ‘Wow, I can come to my synagogue and work out, it’s here.’ ” The phenomenon represents a shift for synagogues wanting to be seen as community centers, not only houses of worship, said Adath Jeshurun’s executive director, Robert Friedman. “We’re here anyway, so why not have the building open for different community needs,” he said. “We like to think that it helps us when people come here and have a good feeling: ‘I bring my kid for preschool and I play mahjongg and I do Zumba, yeah, maybe I should join here.’ ” Growing up, instructor Donna Harris just wanted to dance on Broadway. “My Jewish mother wouldn’t hear of it,” said Harris, 62. So instead, she attended Temple University and became a teacher. After retiring in 2008, the “frustrated dancer” finally got her chance to cut loose. ZUMBA on page 19
PHILADELPHIA (Jewish Exponent) — Kevin Youkilis says he truly doesn’t know what he would do if faced with the same dilemma as Hank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax and Shawn Green. What if the Boston Red Sox are scheduled for a post-season game on Yom Kippur, which begins on Friday night, Oct. 7? Both Greenberg, the Hall of Fame first baseman for the Detroit Tigers in 1934, and Koufax, the L.A. Dodgers’ ace left-hander, while not particularly religious, felt enough of an obligation to their faith not to play on that holy day. In Koufax’s case, it meant missing the opening game of the 1965 World Series. In 2004, with the Dodgers fighting for first place, Green elected to sit out the Friday evening Kol Nidre game but played Saturday afternoon. For the 32-year-old Youkilis, a two-time all-star currently among the American League RBI leaders, it would be a tough decision. “I don’t put religion into sports,” Youkilis said recently when the Red Sox were in Philadelphia for a threegame series in what was being seen as a World Series preview. “I consider religion entirely different, so I don’t bring it to the field. “I’ve never played on Yom Kippur. Hopefully if we were playing, it would be a night game, not a day game.” Youkilis acknowledged a “lot of pressure” from the Jewish community not to play. “But you have to stick with your beliefs,” he said. “You can’t worry about people who aren’t influential in your life who say things or tell you you’re wrong. “I know Shawn Green had a tough time with it. It just depends upon the community. In Boston they probably don’t even care. They’d want you to play.” For one who grew up in Cincinnati rooting for the Reds, who dutifully went to Hebrew school through bar mitzvah (“It was a long haftarah,” he recalls), before his parents allowed him to concentrate on baseball, playing in Boston has both its perks and drawbacks. While you’re an instant celebrity, it also means you don’t have much privacy — including at synagogue. “Boston’s not a town where you go unnoticed,” said the 6-foot-1inch, 220-pound Youkilis, whose grandparents emigrated from Romania. “Synagogue is no different. “People want you to go to their synagogue. But sometimes it can be a little difficult. People approach you and sometimes get starstruck. “You just have to pick and choose where you go. You just hope
Courtesy of Jewish Exponent
Will Kevin Youkilis’ next trip to Philly involve an October World Series date?
people realize what you’re there for.” In his eight-season career, during which he has earned a Hank Aaron Award and a Gold Glove, Youkilis has emerged as one of the Red Sox mainstays. For a Jewish kid to have such success — Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun and Texas’ Ian Kinsler also are playing at all-star levels — it’s hard to dodge the tendency to make him a role model. Youkilis, however, dismisses that notion. “I know kids look up to us, but to me the biggest role models in your life are your parents,” said Youkilis, voted Jewish Player of the Decade in 2010 and who recently began marketing a “L’Chaim” T-shirt. “We don’t make it out to be as big as the Jewish community does,” he said. “We just see ourselves as baseball players. It’s very special to be among a select few; a great thing for Jewish kids, but more so for Jewish fathers and adults.'” As much as he says he doesn’t want to kill anyone’s dream, the twotime All-American at the University of Cincinnati advises young people that “school and education are more important than sports.” Youkilis, who turned pro in 2001, encourages students to “set your goals high, but also realize education is more important and will take you farther in life than sports.” Youkilis is an exception. His baseball career has led to two World Series titles, and his current contract is for four years and more than $41 million. Still, pro sports isn’t always a fairy-tale life. “It’s work, it’s a job,” said Youkilis, who is involved in several charitable endeavors, including Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Boston, where he attends the annual Chanukah party. Still, he said, “It’s probably the best job you can ask for compared to sitting behind a desk and wearing a suit and tie. But to say it’s an easy, fun-going thing, I’d be lying.”
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
NATIONAL • 7
Courtesy of Mark Taylor, via CreativeCommons
Dick Morris, shown speaking at a Tea Party rally in Washington on March 31, 2011, has written a guidebook on defeating President Obama in the next election and says his polling shows Jews abandoning Obama, although he has refused to share the data.
Economy or Israel: Which is bringing down Obama’s Jewish numbers? By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — The numbers don’t lie: Barack Obama’s favorability ratings among Jews are down by as much as 18 points. Jews, however, still like the president more than Americans in general. The drop, from 78 points when Obama was elected in November 2008 to 60 in a Gallup survey in June, is not really news. For months, Obama has been scoring in the low 60s when it comes to Jewish approval. The only interruption was in May, when his popularity spiked in the wake of the killing of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Now the overall approval of Obama is at 46 percent. The question is whether Obama’s Jewish popularity dip since ‘08 stems from the same cause of his fall generally — America’s persistent economic problems — or whether it has to do with the president’s policies on Israel. Apparently the interpretation depends on who is answering: Democrats and Gallup say it’s the economy; Republicans say it’s Israel. “If the economy were better, he would be doing not insignificantly better with the Jewish community — as well as other constituencies,” Ira Forman, a former director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, told JTA. Matt Brooks, the director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, has a different take. “President Obama’s actions have ensured that a wide swath of the Jewish vote is ‘in play’ for 2012,” Brooks wrote on his blog. Gallup in agreeing with the Democrats says Jews are less happy with Obama because of the
fiscal picture. “Gallup’s monthly trend in Jewish approval of Obama continues to roughly follow the path of all Americans’ approval of the president, more generally, as it has since Obama took office in January 2009,” the polling company said in a July 5 analysis. “The 14-percentage-point difference in the two groups’ approval ratings in June — 60 percent among U.S. Jews vs. 46 percent among all U.S. adults — is identical to the average gap seen over the past two-and-a-half years.” That tracks with American Jewish Committee polling that for years has shown Jewish voters consistently prioritize the economy over Israel when they enter the polling booth. In a poll last fall that showed Obama with an approval rating of just 51 percent, those who approved of his Israel policy slightly outnumbered those who disapproved, 49 to 45 percent, while disapproval of the his handling of the economy was at 51 percent, as opposed to 45 percent who approved. The AJC polls also show Jewish voters consistently listing Israel as fifth among their priorities, outranked by issues such as the economy, health care and broader foreign policy concerns. Gallup was inspired to dip into the Jewish numbers of its weekly tracking polls, which survey 21,000 Americans, and assess where its approximately 350 Jewish respondents stood because of an influential column by Ben Smith at Politico that forecast Jewish problems for Obama ahead of the 2012 election year. Smith said that Obama’s May 19 Middle East policy speech, in which he called for negotiations with the Palestinians based on the pre-1967 lines, with land swaps, had shaken Jewish confidence in the president.
8 • NATIONAL
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Romney’s deal-closing skills appeal to Jewish Republicans
Courtesy of Ron Kampeas
Left to right, potential GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney chatting with Mel Sembler, a lead Romney backer and Sheldon Adelson, major backers of the Republican Jewish Coalition, at the RJC’s winter leadership conference at the Adelson-owned Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, April 2, 2011.
By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — For all the talk among pundits of Mitt Romney’s charisma problem, Romney’s Jewish supporters say what’s most inspiring about the Republican presidential candidate is that he actually does rather than just talk. Furthermore, the very characteristics that cost the former Massachusetts governor his 2008 presidential bid and dogged his reentry into the ‘12 race are what have made Romney the front-runner among Jewish Republican givers, notably his readiness to compromise in order to seal a deal. “He’s got a lot of common sense, he’s got a success pattern in his life,” Mel Sembler, one of Romney’s principal Jewish backers, told JTA on Tuesday after accompanying him on a fundraising swing in Florida that netted the campaign $1.8 million. “I like a man who’s been in business for 25 years, who’s made a payroll and who understands what the real world is like,” Sembler said. It’s no coincidence that Romney’s Jewish backers come out of the business community, say those who know him. Unlike much of the 2012 crop of GOP candidates, who appeal to the party’s Tea Party insurgency with a language of no compromise, Romney knows how to close a deal with allies and rivals alike. Nancy Kaufman, who directed the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston when Romney was governor from 2003 to 2007, said his willingness to work with Democrats in the state
Legislature was critical to passing health care reform in Massachusetts. “No matter how hard he tries to distance himself, now health care in Massachusetts is a model for the country,” said Kaufman, who now guides the National Council of Jewish Women. “We were all surprised by his leadership. It wasn’t what we expected.” Republican rivals have slammed Romney for helping to shape a Massachusetts policy that goes further than the policy that President Obama signed off on in subsidizing care. Romney has said that he opposes Obama’s national health care reforms mainly because they override the authorities of states to form their own policies. The National Jewish Democratic Council recently called Romney the “ultimate political chameleon” for what the council said were his efforts to distance himself from the health care policy of Massachusetts. Romney’s campaign told JTA that he is too busy now for an interview. Romney, the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, who also ran for president in 1968, has made his business acumen a central plank of his appeal to Jewish backers. In his inaugural “Jewish” speech in his last run, to an audience of Yeshiva University donors in April 2007, he cast his career successes as a buyout czar as a matter of “chutzpah.” “I spent most of my life in the private sector, first by consulting the major corporations, and then by starting and acquiring companies,” he said. “It takes chutzpah, I believe, to buy a company from somebody else, someone who
knows the business inside out, someone who has decided that now is the best time to sell, someone who has hired an investment banker to hawk it to everybody in the world, and then to think that you — having paid more than anyone else in the entire world — you somehow think you are going to make a profit on your investment.” He added, “What we did is done every day by you in the private sector.” It’s an approach that helped Romney win what Matt Brooks, who directs the Republican Jewish Coalition, calls the “fundraiser primary”: the race to raise cash. “They see him as a real leader on the economic stuff,” Brooks said of Romney’s supporters. In addition to Sembler, a shopping center developer, Romney has the backing of other prominent Jews, including investment manager Lew Eisenberg, investor Sam Fox and lobbyist Wayne Berman. Another emphasis for Romney in his appeal to Jewish backers is the shared experience of being in a religious minority. Romney, 64, is a Mormon. “Mitt and I can appreciate coming from another heritage,” his wife, Ann, told the Republican Jewish Coalition in April. Romney is much more focused this time around, Brooks says, with a campaign intent on taking on Obama and not trading potshots with his rivals. “One of the reasons candidates do better historically is they learn the lessons from the past,” Brooks said. “They’re doing things very differently, they’re being much more strategic and much more focused than in 2008, much leaner, not being everywhere all over the place and overexposed.” Romney refused to criticize his party rivals in his first GOP debate, although polls of Republicans show him virtually tied with Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite. He makes a point of saying that Obama did not inherit the financial crisis, although he charges him with making it worse. At an RJC event in April, Romney pointedly refused to make an issue of Obama’s birth. It’s an approach that some Republicans privately deride as “gentlemanly.” Romney’s backers say he seems more comfortable in his skin this time, extemporizing more and making jokes at his own expense. Sometimes he tries a little too hard — at the RJC event in Las Vegas, he made a point of saying that he’s a country music fan. ROMNEY on page 22
Courtesy of The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland
The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, whose latest campaign kick-off event is pictured here, is one of dozens of Jewish communities with its own Jewish community study.
With flurry of new local studies, Jewish communities seeing trends, making changes By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — The American Jewish community spends a lot of money counting itself. So does the United States as a whole: The 2010 U.S. Census cost taxpayers $13 billion. The Jewish community counts its own for much the same reasons: to get a representative picture of the Jewish population, as well as detailed information to assess needs, raise money, plan services and measure the effectiveness of existing programs. While the era of the national Jewish study appears to be over — there are no plans for continuing the decennial National Jewish Population Survey, which last time around cost $6 million — local Jewish communal leaders are still investing heavily in surveying their own communities. Ira Sheskin, director of the Jewish Demographer Project at the University of Miami, says he’s done 55 population studies for local Jewish communities since 1993. “Local studies turn out to be more important because planning is done at the local level,” he said. When the recession hit in 2008, three cities scrapped their plans for local studies, according to Sheskin. But in the last year and a half, 10 local studies were completed, and major studies are under way in Cleveland, Chicago and New York City. Good population studies aren’t cheap. The average price for Sheskin’s crew to do its work is $125,000. That’s about what Baltimore
paid for its 2010 Jewish community study. The federation’s planning vice president, Michael Hoffman, says it was worth every penny, calling the last study Baltimore did in 1999 “transformative.” The new study, released in January, already has changed how the federation allocates its dollars, Hoffman said. It showed that the number of seniors older than 85 had tripled since 1999, so a task force is now looking at how to increase services to that population. It also showed that while 55 percent of non-Orthodox Jews between 18 and 34 say that being Jewish is important to them, just 14 percent want to be part of the Jewish community. So the federation is pumping more dollars into grass-roots, noninstitutional Jewish programs to help younger Jews connect Jewishly. The Jewish federation of Greater New Haven just completed its latest study a few weeks ago. While the results are not yet tabulated, demographer and study chair Rena Cheskis-Gold said it is clear already that the community there is not growing. That has strategic implications. “Each new person is precious to us, so we want to step up our welcome wagon, to give new people an opportunity to learn about different areas of membership in the community,” she said. The New York study, commissioned by the UJA-Federation of New York at an estimated cost of $1.8 million, will be the single largest Jewish community study ever conducted outside Israel, according to the federation’s research director, Jennifer Rosenberg. STUDIES on page 22
INTERNATIONAL • 9
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
In Dutch shechitah ban, Jews see a sign they are unwanted By Alex Weisler Jewish Telegraphic Agency AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A few streets over from the bookstore where Anne Frank bought her famous diary, the only kosher butcher shop in Holland is bustling. Two employees man the long counter at Slagerij Marcus, pausing from chopping meat to sell customers a bit of this or that for Shabbat dinner. In the wake of an overwhelming vote by the Dutch House of Representatives to ban the type of ritual slaughter required for kosher and halal meat, this butcher shop famous for its handmade sausage is at the front lines of a battle between two competing ideals in Holland: freedom of religion and animal welfare. What put shechitah, or kosher slaughter, in the crosshairs was an unlikely convergence between animal rights activists and Holland’s far-right, anti-Muslim movement. The Party for the Animals is interested in banning all forms of what it considers inhumane slaughter, while the Freedom Party led by firebrand Geert Wilders is interested in making Holland inhospitable to Muslims. For Wilders, who in 2009 called Islam “the ideology of a retarded culture,” the impact on shechitah is collateral damage. “It’s a shift from the Netherlands as an open society to the Netherlands as a closed, monocultural society,” said Joel Erwteman, a Jewish lawyer who helped Dutch Jewish leaders draft a position paper opposing the slaughter bill. “It’s becoming completely normal to talk about Muslims as being a problem.” Kosher slaughter seems secure for now — the Parliament is on recess until September, and approval by the Dutch Senate, a
key step for the measure to become law, is no guarantee. If the ban does pass, Jewish leaders plan to challenge it in court, arguing that the guarantee of freedom of religion enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights precludes banning shechitah. The law also could be amended to make an exception for kosher slaughter if it can be proven that no additional harm is caused to animals by killing them the kosher way. And if that fails, Dutch Jews easily could procure kosher meat by importing it legally from nearby countries. But for many Jews in the country, the most disconcerting element of the drive to outlaw shechitah isn’t so much the legality of kosher slaughter per se but the symbolism of Holland’s move to outlaw a basic element of Jewish life. It’s a sign, some say, that after 400 years of a Jewish presence in the Netherlands, the traditions of the country’s approximately 40,000 Jews count for little. “Do I want to be in a society that acts like this?” Erwteman said. “I don’t think many of us are feeling very welcome right now.” Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, president of the Dutch union of rabbis and chief rabbi of the country’s Inter-Provincial Chief Rabbinate, said the proposed law reflects the growing feeling in Dutch society that religion is something to be feared, or at least kept at arms’ length. “They put it on the level of fairy tales,” he said of religion, while elevating animal rights to an article of faith. “They can be so fanatic that they care more about the animals than they do about the feelings of the people.” BAN on page 22
Courtesy of Alex Weisler
Luuk Koole, the manager of Holland’s only kosher butcher, Slagerij Marcus, says a proposed shechitah ban would make doing business more expensive.
Courtesy of Toby Axelrod
Performers of “Minute of Silence,” a new production by Hila Golan and Ariel Nil Levy in Berlin that explores German and Israeli ways of confronting the Holocaust.
Israeli expats flocking to Berlin for the culture and the passport By Toby Axelrod Jewish Telegraphic Agency BERLIN (JTA) — Aviv Russ stands behind a console with his headphones on and speaks into a large microphone. “We’re here: ‘Kol Berlin,’ the German-Israeli radio program. Shabbat shalom!” says Russ, 34, an Israeli expatriate. Russ has been on the radio in Berlin nearly every Friday for about three years hosting an hourlong program in a melange of Hebrew and German that offers an often irreverent take on being Israeli in Germany. The market for his program is growing. Thousands of Israelis are living in Berlin, though nobody knows exactly how many. The GermanIsrael Society, which promotes ties between the two countries, puts the estimate at 8,000; the Israeli Embassy says it doesn’t keep any figures. Aside from the Israelis, Berlin has an estimated 20,000 Jews, 11,000 of whom are officially registered with the Jewish community. Many Israelis come to Berlin for the same reasons that young people all over flock to this city: It is Europe’s hippest capital, a magnet for young artists, musicians and writers from around the world. But the Israelis also are coming to Germany because it’s a relatively easy country from which Jews can obtain a second passport: To be eligible, they must have a parent or grandparent who was persecuted by the Nazis. Once they
have a German passport, they can live anywhere in Europe. Some 100,000 Israelis currently hold a German passport, according to a report by Israeli sociologist Sima Zalcberg published last month in Israel’s Eretz Acheret magazine. About 7,000 people per year apply for citizenship at the German Embassy in Tel Aviv, she found. The Israeli presence in Berlin is palpable at nightclubs, artistic venues and Jewish social gatherings, and in Jewish schools. “You just hear Hebrew really often today, and it would have been really exotic five years ago,” says Nirit Bialer, who works on youth exchange programs between Germany and Israel. Five years ago, she says, “When I would tell people in Israel that I live in Berlin, people would say, ‘You live in Berlin? With those Nazis!?’ Now they say, ‘Oh, you’re living in Berlin? You are so lucky. I wish I could go. My neighbor was there, my cousin was there.’ ” Compared to Tel Aviv, says Reinhold Robbe, president of the German-Israel Society, Berlin is “just as hip and just as alternative and multicultural, and Israelis get very comfortable here.” But Israelis also come here, he adds, “to get away from the stress of living in Israel.” Where once there was little more than an email newsletter for Israelis in Berlin — a kind of internal craigslist circulated by Berliner Ilan Weiss — now there are also Israeli Facebook groups for Berlin, popular “Meshuggah” dance par-
ties for the city’s gay Israeli scene, and now a Chabad-Lubavitch center opening in trendy east Berlin that plans to target Israelis for Jewish outreach. Bialer’s new project, a German-Israeli social program called Habayit, Hebrew for “the house,” is planning its second event: transforming a Berlin hangout on the Spree River into a Tel Aviv beach, complete with paddle ball, watermelon with goat cheese and popsicles. “Germany is very attractive now for Jews because Germans try very much to regain Jewish respect, which is of course impossible,” Bambi Sheleg, editor in chief of Eretz Acheret, tells JTA in a telephone interview. “Berlin is very attractive because it is an international city, and Jews have long, ancient roots in Germany.” Sheleg, whose parents both came from prewar Germany, acknowledged that the pursuit of German citizenship by so many Israelis is also kind of weird for her. “I have been to Germany and actually I speak a good German,” she says. “But my parents would not go back there, and I would not take a German passport.” Germany and Israel have had strong ties since West Germany established diplomatic relations with the Jewish state in 1965. But Germany’s postwar Jewish population remained below 30,000 until the fall of the Soviet Union. Since 1990, more than 200,000 Jews or members of Jewish families have immigrated to Germany from the former Soviet Union.
10 • INTERNATIONAL / ISRAEL
International Briefs German court upholds Holocaust-denying bishop’s conviction (JTA) — A German court upheld the Holocaust denial conviction of a Catholic bishop from a breakaway sect, but lowered his fine. The Regensburg Appeals Court on Monday lowered the fine for Richard Williamson of the Society of Saint Pius X by several thousand dollars to about $9,000, citing the bishop’s financial circumstances, according to reports. German prosecutors had wanted the fine to be increased. Williamson was found guilty last year of Holocaust denial in a German district court. Williamson, who is British and lives in London, was fined in connection with an interview in Regensburg in late 2008 with the Swedish SVT broadcaster in which he called the murder of Jews in gas chambers during the Holocaust “lies, lies, lies.” He also allegedly denied that any Jews were murdered in gas chambers during the Holocaust and insisted that not more than 300,000 European Jews were killed in total. Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany. Williamson was one of four bishops rehabilitated by Pope Benedict XVI in January 2009 in hopes of healing a rift between conservative and progressive Catholics. The pope said later that he would not have rehabilitated Williamson if he had been aware of his far-right views. Monday’s decision can be further appealed. Canada is fertile ground for anti-Semitism, report says TORONTO (JTA) — Canada is fertile ground for antiSemitism, especially on university campuses, a parliamentary committee has concluded. After two years of hearings, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat AntiSemitism in a report released last week called on the federal government to do more to fight antiSemitism in Canada, which it said is rising, due partly to increased hostility toward Israel. Over 10 days of hearings between November 2009 and February 2010, the coalition’s 22 members, consisting of lawmakers from all federal parties, heard from 74 witnesses, including federal and provincial politicians, diplomats, university administrators, academics, chiefs of police, journalists and other interested individuals.
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Flotilla fails at sea, succeeds on the airwaves By Marcy Oster Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — On the face of it, the so-called Gaza Freedom Flotilla seemed to be a bust. Greek authorities blocked most of the boats from setting sail for the Gaza Strip, and others experienced propeller problems that rendered them unseaworthy. On Tuesday, a small pleasure boat with eight passengers aboard became the first vessel in the planned flotilla to elude the Greek coast guard en route to Gaza. But if the true aim was to achieve a public relations victory rather than to deliver aid to Gaza — as Israeli authorities charged and flotilla participants themselves acknowledged — then the thousands of news reports about the flotilla’s plans, problems and participants succeeded by at least one measure: getting attention. “Given the tremendous obstacles placed in the way of the flotilla, we should not for a moment think this work has been in vain. Just the opposite,” Leslie Cagan, coordinator of the U.S. boat to Gaza, wrote this week on the U.S. to Gaza website. “We have called greater attention to the urgent need to end the Israeli blockade and siege of Gaza, as well as the overall occupation of the Palestinian Territories.” Reveling in the attention, proPalestinian activists talked to
Courtesy of USTOGAZA
Greece prevented the Audacity of Hope and other flotilla ships from leaving its ports in what was seen as a sign of a renewed friendship with Israel.
reporters about their next publicity stunt: a planned “fly-in” to BenGurion Airport in Tel Aviv beginning Friday to protest Israeli policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians. Hoping to disrupt airport operations, the activists reportedly are planning to declare “Palestine” as their destination upon landing in Israel; they have said they will stage demonstrations if denied entry. This year’s flotilla was organized to mark the anniversary of last year’s flotilla to Gaza, which set sail from Turkey before being stopped by the Israeli Navy on May 31, 2010. When one of the vessels refused to heed Israeli warnings to desist, IDF comman-
dos stormed the boat, the Mavi Marmara, and nine Turkish passengers were killed amid the fighting. The incident prompted an international outcry and sent TurkishIsraeli relations to a nadir. The 2011 flotilla came on the heels of an announcement by Israel that it would allow building materials into Gaza for 1,200 homes and 18 schools. Adam Shapiro, an organizer of the so-called Free Gaza Movement, said the announcement was a sign that the flotilla had resulted in real gains. He attributed the change to “flotilla pressure.” “Even this year, the concrete results of the flotilla are evident,” Shapiro wrote in a column in Gulf
News, a news outlet in the United Arab Emirates. Israel did not offer a reason for the timing of the decision, but said the construction material was for specific projects. An official with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which is overseeing the projects, said the announcement on the building material came after much negotiation. On Sunday, organizers of the flotilla rejected an offer by Greece to deliver aid to Gaza from the ships stuck in Greek harbors via either Egypt or Israel. Many pro-Israel supporters praised Greece for its handling of this year’s flotilla, including American Jewish groups. After delays from a countrywide strike and intensive port inspections, the Greek government on July 1 banned all ships bound for Gaza from leaving its ports. John Klusmire, the captain of one of the ships, the Audacity of Hope, tried to leave port last week but was arrested on charges of setting sail without permission and endangering the lives of passengers. On Tuesday, a Greek court freed him and dropped the charges. Greece’s approach to the flotilla was held up as a sign of the renewed friendship between Greece and Israel. Israel has been cultivating a closer relationship with Greece, particularly as Israel’s relationship with Turkey — a longtime rival of Greece — has faltered.
No quick reconciliation for Turkey-Israel ties, but Turkey rethinking rift
By Leslie Susser Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Turkey-Israel relationship is not out of the woods just yet. After some positive signs in recent weeks that the once close allies were moving to repair the rift that ripped wide open last year after nine Turks were killed by Israeli forces in a confrontation on a Gaza-bound flotilla of ships, Turkey’s prime minister renewed his hard line on Israel. “Normalization of relations between the two countries is unthinkable,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said July 8 in a speech to the Turkish Parliament, “unless Israel apologizes for this illegal act, which is against international law and values, pays compensation to the relatives of those who lost their lives in this atrocious event and lifts the embargo on Gaza.” Israel says it will not apologize for the incident, which took place aboard the Turkish-flagged ship Mavi Marmara on May 31, 2010,
but says it is willing to express regret for the loss of life. It is also willing to compensate the families, but on the condition that the payments preclude future civil claims against the individual soldiers involved. For most of the past decade, Israel and Turkey, two major nonArab regional players, enjoyed a very close relationship that was often described as “strategic.” Israeli fighter planes trained over Turkish airspace, the two countries held joint naval rescue exercises and Israel provided Turkey with anti-terrorist equipment and knowhow. In 2007 and 2008, Erdogan even mediated indirect IsraeliSyrian peace overtures. But the Islamist prime minister, who came to power in 2003, has been consistently critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, often using harsh language to vent his feelings. Things came to a head with the 2009 Gaza War, and relations between the two countries since then have cooled. The Mavi
Marmara affair exacerbated the already existing rift, with Erdogan demanding an apology from Israel and Israel accusing the Turkish government of encouraging the Turkish radicals behind the maritime challenge to its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. At the time, Israeli analysts saw in Turkey’s abandonment of Israel part of a wider regional foreign policy shift. Devised by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and dubbed “zero problems,” it entailed a move toward closer ties with the Iran-Syria axis at Israel’s expense. Ironically, the U.N. commission investigating the Mavi Marmara affair provided the platform for a possible Israel-Turkey reconciliation. Headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and co-chaired by former Colombian President Alvar Uribe, it included representatives from Israel and Turkey. According to unofficial reports, the Palmer Commission found that Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its
interception of the Turkish vessel on the high seas both were legal, but that the commandos used excessive force in taking over the Mavi Marmara. The report also allegedly censured Turkey for encouraging the activists. Unhappy with the text, the Turks allegedly asked that the official publication of the findings be deferred to enable the Israeli and Turkish representatives on the commission — former senior Foreign Ministry officials Yosef Ciechanover for Israel and Ozdem Sanberk for Turkey — to hammer out a compromise. But Ciechanover and Sanberk have been working for the past several months on something much wider: a compromise that will allow the full normalization of Israel-Turkey relations. With the deferment, they now have until July 27 to get the job done. Apparently they are looking for a formulation that in Turkish will sound like an Israeli apology and in Hebrew like an Israeli expression of regret for loss of life.
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
Access’ YPs meet ‘Police Women of Cincinnati’ On Wednesday, June 1, nearly 100 young professionals (YPs), ages 21-35 got the rare chance to meet TV’s Police Women of Cincinnati when they made an appearance at the Mayerson JCC as part of a special Work Out and Wind Down program hosted by the YPs at the JCC initiative. The evening began with a “supersized” Knock Out class in the J’s gym, where participants got to work out side-by-side with Sergeant Tia Pearson. Afterward, the group headed upstairs and joined other YPs in the Amberley Room for dinner, drinks and a live talk show-style interview on stage with Sergeant Pearson and Officer Rose Valentino. Outreach and Engagement coordinator, Josh Rothstein acted as the emcee asking questions which focused on some of the officers’ experiences on the streets of Cincinnati and behind the scenes of the hit TLC reality show in which they starred. Following the formal presentation, guests enjoyed a Happy Hour together with one of the officers in the J’s courtyard. YPs at the JCC is a partnership between the Mayerson JCC and Access, for Jewish young professionals, 21-35 an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
ANNOUNCEMENTS HONORED he Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council (GCPCG) recently recognized philanthropist Anne Heldman and financial advisor Robert Brant with Voices of Giving Awards for having contributed to the long-term sustainability of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati through bequests or planned gifts. Nominated by the Federation, Heldman and her late husband George have made significant permanent endowment commitments to the Jewish community. In the past two years, Heldman’s gifts to the Federation have supported adult learning and helped to provide books to
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families with young children. Her personal experience with an immigrant family led to her creation of a permanent college scholarship fund for local low-income high school graduates. Brant has served the Federation in numerous leadership and fundraising capacities for more than 20 years. He is currently the vice president of planned giving and sits on the Board of Trustees, the Finance and Administration Committee and the Executive Committee. In his professional role as an attorney, he has encouraged and guided numerous clients to commit to sizable legacy gifts that might not have otherwise been considered possible.
ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE FREE! Sarah Jarnicki, Caryn Ben-Hur, Officer Rose Valentino & daughter, Laura Rose
BIRTHS • BAT/BAR MITZVAHS ENGAGEMENTS • WEDDINGS BIRTHDAYS • ANNIVERSARIES Place your FREE announcement in The American Israelite newspaper and website by sending an e-mail to articles@americanisraelite.com
Josh Kleymeyer, Sarah Soled, Jay Shifman, Larry Jerome, Sam Schwartz, Ryan Williams enjoying a post-event Happy Hour with the Officers!
AI
The American Israelite
12 • CINCINNATI SOCIAL LIFE
Access’ YPs meet ‘Police Women of Cincinnati’
Sergeant Tia Pearson and David Kohn
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Access tours Great American Ballpark On Sunday, June 12, JSPN, a program of Access, an initiative of the Mayerson Foundation for Jewish young professionals, 21-35, hosted a private, behind the scenes tour of the Great American Ballpark! Participants got to check out the Press Box and Broadcast Booth, sit in the dugout and hear the fascinating history of the country’s first professional baseball team. Plus, they got a little bit of Reds’ history from a Jewish perspective when professional tour guide Ron Richards took center field! Afterward, the group enjoyed lunch at the ballpark! Visit www.americanisraelite.com to see more photos from this event!
Officer Rose Valentino and Adam Rothstein
Allison Ross, Erica Efron and Julie Kursh
Chelsea Golding, Sergeant Tia Pearson, Laura Rose and Officer Rose Valentino
Officer Rose Valentino, her daughter and Larry Jerome
Steve Ebel, Courtney Brown, Jeffrey Goldberg and Jenny Dapper
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
Jonas Kirk-Bowman, Julie Kursh, Beth Bloom and Evan Meyer
Evan Meyer
David Kohn
Alex Dal, Bobby Garfield and David Solomon
Erica Efron, Michael Israel, Allison Ross and Andrew Davis
14 • DINING OUT
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Cumin — Eclectic Cuisine By Sondra Katkin Dining Editor What does it take to create a restaurant that serves remarkable food? Evidently, it is Alex Mchaikhi’s passion for perfection. The owner of Cumin in East Hyde Park wants to please people with sophisticated palates who seek “something different and excellent.” He was reading my mind. Others must agree since Cumin has been one of the top 10 restaurants in “Cincinnati Magazine” for the last two years. He is well prepared for this outstanding achievement. After studying hotel management in Tunisia, he received a scholarship to train in Europe, including Belgium, France and Lake Como, Italy. His experience also includes working in hotel management in New York, Boston, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. A naturalized citizen for 13 years, he considers Cincinnati his hometown. “I love the people, and cherish their friendship and support,” he commented. Mchaikhi’s restaurant conveys a chic, international interior with a minimalist but comfortable decor. Original art which harmonizes with gray walls, orange accents, a black slatted screen separating the bar and dining areas, black chairs, white banquettes, white table cloths and pewter chargers contribute to the elegant, cosmopolitan ambiance. Mchaikhi added that the colors “blend like a symphony, everything complements each other and this is reflected in the food, wine and cocktails we serve.” The dining is “eclectic” with innovative American, European and Asian influences. When my husband Steve and I had dinner there, we savored all the complex and delicious flavors. Surely we had arrived at our own special “pleasure dome” of tasting paradise. The salad starter I chose was French string beans (haricot vert) mixed with wild frisee, toasted walnuts, shaved cheese and grain mustard dressing. Perfectly balanced, crunchy and slightly tart, my husband’s fork just couldn’t seem to keep its distance. That was okay since I had my own spoon to share his intensely flavored mushroom soup with accents of sherry and tarragon. Other appetizers include seasonal soup, spring chicken pot pie and fried artichokes. My dinner was the king salmon, cooked “sous vide,” which executive chef Owen Maass described as a modern take on the classic poaching process that maintains temperatures to within a tenth of a degree. The fish was very moist and differed from other salmon I’ve tasted because of its creamy texture. This lovely orange serving of healthy omega fatty acids was placed over “hen of the woods” or miataki mushrooms, a densely-flavored variety that actually resembles its
(Clockwise) Owner, Alex Mchaikhi and Executive Chef, Owen Maass; Part of Cumin’s lovely dining patio; Cosmopolitan Interior at Cumin; String Bean Salad and Mushroom Soup.
namesake with tan feather-like layers. It was accompanied by an onion confit, pesto and chilled beurre blanc which added an extra layer of sweetness. Tiny leaves of Thai basil added a pungency and bright green dash of color. Did I like it? You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out. Steve ordered the 28-day dry aged prime ham-
burger with hand cut truffle Parmesan fries. When I tasted it (why else do we get married?), it reminded me of when as a child, my mother made delicious, sweet hamburgers. It’s true, really good beef has a fresh sweetness. It was hard to resist his generous patty with my nostalgia interfering with my restraint. The fries were perfect.
Whoever thought of adding a Parmesan accent is a genius. Other entrees include a rack of domestic lamb from Colorado. Mchaikhi says that American lamb is far superior to the usual imported variety. The artichoke risotto with preserved lemons, goat cheese, truffle emulsion and parsley will give vegetarians cause to celebrate. Chicken, hal-
ibut and handmade agnolotti— which means pillows—are also outstanding choices. Our dessert, Dean’s root beer float was a splash of comfort food. Needless to say, it was executed with unexpected nuances, such as root beer flavored gelato and ice cream. It was served with a bottle of Virgil’s terrific root beer. As we sampled (inhaled) the creams, we were able to add more root beer and so prolong the heady experience. There is also warm hazelnut cake, brown butter carrot cake, creme brulee and grapefruit shortcake, all with unique touches, such as caramel whipped cream — many tempting ways to end a consummate culinary caprice. I have spent many years reading, trying and creating recipes. As I perused Cumin’s menu, I wondered if my “cosmopolitan” knowledge of food and cooking was as extensive as I thought? I learned that sous vide is very slow cooking, and that the beef ribs are cooked for 72 hours. In addition, the former mystery word, agnolotti, also contains gournay, a type of fresh cow’s milk cheese, lighter than cream cheese. At first I thought it was gourmet, however, Maass assured me that “there would never be a spelling error on his menu. It’s his attention to details like this and his wonderful food creations that echo the sophisticated, international theme of the restaurant. I told Maass that he seemed very relaxed, not driven during our interview, a personality trait not generally attributed to chefs. He agreed, but added with intensity, “That doesn’t mean I’m not driven.” I thought, another one with a passion for perfection. His background includes studying fine arts here at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts. Then, after completing his training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., he worked at Aquavit in Manhattan and Tru Restaurant in Chicago. He’s happy to be home again, sharing his skills in the fine art of cooking. He purchases the freshest local ingredients, including unusual items, commenting that, “If you don’t, why would your presentation be special? That’s what keeps me motivated.” Our dining experience was so delightful, we look forward to returning and sampling (devouring) their eclectic cuisine very soon. Cumin, which rhymes with human, serves lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday, and features live music on Wednesday nights with the Bobby Sharp Trio, “Souls of Orange.” Liquor, wines, a wide assortment of special cocktails, ports and dessert wines are featured. Sundays and Mondays are available for private parties. Cumin — Eclectic Cuisine 3520 Erie Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45208 513-871-8714
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
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16 • OPINION
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‘Science, Blinded’
Rabbi Shafran is an editor at large and columnist for Ami Magazine. This column is reproduced with permission from Ami Magazine.
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Dear Editor, AJC is teaming up with the Israeli humanitarian organization IsraAID to deliver assistance to South Sudan, Africa’s newest nation, which became an independent country yesterday. “While we celebrate South Sudan’s birth, its people face daunting challenges that require urgent international assistance,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “We are pleased to join with IsraAID, our longstanding Israeli partner in responding to humanitarian crises around the
world, to help many refugees in South Sudan who fled from the violence with their northern neighbor. The noble work of IsraAID is emblematic of Israel’s humanitarian ethos.” South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest nations, gained independence after more than five decades of civil war with the larger and predominantly Arab, Muslim north. “We call on the international community, led by the United States, which did so much to bring about South Sudan’s independence, to remain fully engaged as the country
begins a new chapter.” AJC has partnered with IsraAID: The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid in a number of crises, including Sri Lanka after the South Asian tsunami in 2004, a devastating earthquake in Peru in 2007, a tropical storm that hit the Philippines in 2009, the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in 2010, and the earthquake tsunami in Japan earlier this year. Naomi Ruben Office Manager, American Jewish Committee
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T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: PINCHAS (BAMIDBAR 25:10—30:1) 1. How did Moshe describe Hashem? a.) Merciful b.) Vengeful c.) Lord of the spirits 2. Who is described as a “person of spirit”? a.) Joshua b.) Eleazar c.) Tzelophehad 3. How did Moshe show a change in leadership? a.) By announcing his retirement to be Moshe's successor because he was always studying Torah in the “tent” aka a Beth Midrash. Rashi 3. C 27:23 4. B 26:55 5. B
“Just as ordinary, pig-headed and unreasonable as anybody else” was the eminent 20th century psychologist H.J. Eysenck’s judgment of scientists. “And their unusually high intelligence,” he added, “only makes their prejudices all the more dangerous.” A recent example of scientific unreason stands out, both for the renown of the scientist involved and the irony of where his bias led him. The evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, who died in 2002, was one of the most celebrated, influential and widelyread scientists of his time. In his 1981 book “The Mismeasure of Man,” about the measurement of intelligence, he presented the work of 19th-century physical anthropologist Samuel George Morton as Exhibit A for how racial preconceptions can prejudice scientific research. Morton, seeking evidence that the Supreme Being had created human races separately, used mustard seeds (at first, then buckshot) to meticulously calibrate the volumes of hundreds of skulls of Caucasians, Asians, American Indians and Africans. He indeed found a pattern of size differentials in the brain cavities of the various groups. Reanalyzing the data anew, however, Gould concluded that the earlier scientist had misrepresented his findings, and accused Morton of believing that the groups with the smaller cranial cavities were intellectually inferior. This month, however, a study published in a prestigious, peerreviewed journal, Public Library of Science Biology, asserts not only that there is no evidence that Morton held any racial biases but that Gould, not Morton, had misrepresented the data. Researchers re-measured 308 of the skulls Morton had collected, and found that Morton had actually underreported the extent of the differences he found. Gould’s charge that Morton had “unconscious[ly] finagl[ed]” circled around to bite him in the back. Of course, Morton’s premise that races were created separately is not what the Torah teaches (although a tripartite humanity does emerge after the time of Noach, generated by his three sons). But his research was conducted honorably. It was Gould, propelled by his antipathy to the notion that there may be brain size differences among races — which might be used to support racist beliefs — who (consciously or
otherwise) fudged the data. Scientific hubris is of more than mere academic import. Had Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich had his way in 1968, the world would have seen compulsory birth control, in the form of spiking water supplies with sterilizing chemicals. That was the year Ehrlich published “The Population Bomb,” in which his disdain for the number of babies being born led him to predict worldwide famine within 20 years without such measures. Practiced as it should be, the endeavor of science is sublime. What it yields can not only increase understanding of the world and improve lives but deeply inspire. A science book evidencing an awe of Creation and a recognition of human limitations can be a veritable work of religious inspiration. But, as more traditional Jewish texts explain, only someone who has overcome the preconceptions, desires and imperfections of character to which we all play host can truly perceive the world with clarity. The rest of us — even scientists — are subject to misjudgments, hampered as we are by our prejudices. Nowhere in science, perhaps, does bias so blind as with regard to evolution. Species, over time, retain traits that serve them well, and lose others that don’t. The ill-adapted don’t survive; the advantaged do. That’s simple, and seen. But the appearance of a new species from an existing one, or even of an entirely new limb or organ within a species — things contemporary science insists have happened literally millions of times — have never been witnessed or reproduced. Ditto doubly for an organism emerging from inert matter — a “spontaneous generation” that evolution proponents assume began the process. The solemn conviction that life appeared by chance and new species evolved from other ones countless times remains a large leap of…well, faith. Which is why “evolution” is rightly called a theory — and might better be called a religion. As a faith that hallows chance as the engine of all, Evolutionism may owe less to objectivity than to a subconscious desire to reject the concept of a Creator. And all the militant insistence on its truth should remind us all of Professor Eysenck’s words.
b.) By naming a co leader c.) Pressing his hands on his hands 4. How would portions in Canaan be divided up? a.) The leader would decree who got what b.) Lottery c.) Auction 5. Were individual portions given out before they entered Canaan? a.) Yes b.) No ANSWERS 1. C 27:16 Moshe was near the end of his life and prayed to Hashem to appoint a leader. “Hashem of spirits” means that Hashem knows the needs of everybody. A leader should be able to tolerate all. Rashi. 2. A 27:18 Joshua had the ability to relate to everybody. Joshua merited
By Rabbi Avi Shafran Contributing Columnist
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
Sedra of the Week
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT PINCHAS NUMBERS 25:10-30:1
Rashi’s commentary is based on the Midrash Tanhuma and B.T. by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel — “May the Lord G-d of the spirits of all flesh appoint a leader over the witness community...” (Numbers 27:15). After the Almighty commands Moses to ascend Mount Abarim (Mount Nebo) and gaze at the Land of Israel — to which he had been denied entry because he struck the rock — Moses proposes: “Let the Lord, G-d of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a person over the community who will go out before them, come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in.” The Almighty responds: “Take for yourself Joshua the son of Nun, a person in whom there is spirit, and rest your hand upon him...” (Numbers 27:12-18). It is fascinating that Moses refers to the Almighty as the “G-d of the spirits of all flesh.” Rashi sees this as a ringing endorsement of pluralism — the necessity of a leader to be sensitive to different attitudes and ideas: “[Moses] said before Him, Master of the Universe, it is clear to You that each individual’s understanding is different from that of their counterparts. Appoint over them a leader who will be tolerant of everyone, each in accordance with his understanding” [Rashi, ad loc]. Rashi’s commentary is based on the Midrash Tanhuma and B.T. Brachot 58a, which link this idea to the rabbinic enactment that if one sees a gathering of 600,000 Jews or more, one is to recite the blessing “Praised be G-d, the Wise One of Mysteries.” For just as the facial features of each individual are different, so are their mind-sets. Rabbi A.Y. Kook, the first chief rabbi of Israel, explains: “And in accordance with the secret mysteries known and revealed only to the Almighty, Praised be He, even antithetical notions may be joined together and synthesized, until a harmonious result emerges from the combination of different ideas ... Their views do not begin as convergent, but ultimately the different strains and strands will merge as one. And it is certain that this ultimate unity is not evident from
Brachot 58a, which link this idea to the rabbinic enactment that if one sees a gathering of 600,000 Jews or more, one is to recite the blessing “Praised be G-d, the Wise One of Mysteries.” For just as the facial features of each individual are different, so are their mind-sets.
the beginning, because then the dispute as well as the fine-tuning of the differences would not continue... And so we are taught by the Talmudic sages: ‘scholars increase peace in the world.’ The word ‘increase’ is a plural form (marbim); through the multiplicity of ideas in a dispute for the sake of heaven, an ultimate peace and unity can be formed” [Olat Reiya]. Rabbi Kook, Rashi and the Midrash all explain the phrase “Gd of the spirits of all flesh” as referring to differences of opinion not only in Halacha — as expressions of “these and those are the words of the living G-d” [B.T. Eruvin 13b]. Just as we preserve minority opinions in halachic discourse because they may become admissible, and even vital, so too in the realm of beliefs, opinions and attitudes. Contemporary Judaism is a great deal richer as a result of the differing approaches of hassidim and mitnagdim. Even secular and antinomian forms of Judaism have contributed rituals which have become integrated within more traditional expressions of our faith, such as the bat mitzvah, preaching sermons in the vernacular, and the synthesis between Judaism and socialism which characterizes the religious kibbutz. A perfect and ultimate unity, a true synthesis, can only emerge from the creative tension which is a by-product of a clash of ideals and opinions. What has all this to do with leadership? Moses asks
G-d that his successor be sensitive to the “manifold spirits of all flesh”; that Moses’ replacement not lead as a despot who silences all differing voices, but rather as a conductor who produces harmonious euphony from distinct instruments. The leader must recognize that what unites is much more significant than what divides, and so his major task is to unify without squelching individual creativity. He must produce unity but not uniformity, harmony but not a monotone. If only all Jews would work together for the sake of the entire Jewish people and the State of Israel, because “all the gates to heaven are gates of holiness.” These are the immortal words of the Hatam Sofer, who saw differing versions — nus’haot — of prayers and different time-honored customs as harking back to the varied tapestries or “flags” of each of the 12 tribes. If only our rabbinic leadership would understand that kashrut is supposed to unite our people rather than divide us. And if only we would all learn to love and respect the other, rather than to fear, delegitimize and de-humanize. After all, the truest Other is the Almighty Himself, to whom we must cleave, and whom we must emulate. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi - Efrat Israel
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18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
JEWZ
IN THE
By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist SHALOM, HARRY POTTER Opening on Friday, July 15th, is the final film in the Harry Potter film series: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2.” The epic finale pits the forces of good “wizardry,” led by Harry (DANIEL RADCLIFFE), versus the followers of evil wizardry, including Lucius Malfoy (JASON ISAACS, 48). Take out the wizardry part, and the plot is reminiscent of many Biblical stories. So, I guess it is appropriate that two Jewish actors are leading the respective sides. Radcliffe, who will turn 22 on July 23, is the son of a Protestant father and a Jewish mother. While he is secular, he also says that he is “very proud to be Jewish.” He’s not proud of having a problem with alcohol and he recently said that he quit drinking entirely about a year ago. His problem never was reported in any media outlet, so Radcliffe’s revelation came as news, and it was a genuine case of a celeb talking about his problem in the hope that others with substance abuse issues would follow his example. I’m not sure that Radcliffe, who is quite short, will maintain his “super A-list” actor status now that the “Potter” series is ending. More likely, he’ll have a DUSTIN HOFFMAN-like career of a mixture of leading and character roles. In any event, he has an estimated personal worth of $25M and a modest lifestyle — so he’ll be “fine.” On the other hand, Isaacs has emerged, in middle age, as an almost superstar actor in the U.K. with his starring role in a justaired, super-popular BBC miniseries about a soulful private detective. Last month, “The Observer,” a highly respected Brit paper, wrote: “Isaacs has won his promotion to officially approved national lust object.” There is speculation that his NBC series, “Awake,” set to start in January 2012, may make him an American star. The pilot has been praised as engrossing and very smart. TV pundits wonder, however, whether “Awake” is too complex and intellectual for broadcast TV audiences. MORE FANTASY HERO NEWS Novelist and screenwriter MICHAEL CHABON, 48, and his wife, mystery novelist and essayist AYELET WALDMAN, 46, are writing a musical, the “Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company.” It’s about a (real life) non-profit organization,
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826NYC, which runs volunteerstaffed education programs for school kids. It helps support itself by selling costumes of comic superheroes at a Brooklyn store. Chabon and Waldman are also working on an HBO pilot called “Hobgoblin” about a group of conmen and magicians who use their skills to battle Hitler. DARREN ARONOFSKY (“Black Swan”) is directing. Last month, Chabon signed to write a script for a Disney film. Called “Magic Kingdom,” it’s about a family having an adventure at the original Disneyland in California. JON FAVREAU, 44, (“Iron Man”) is set to direct. MOSTLY EDELSTEIN In May, actress LISA EDELSTEIN, 44, said that she won’t return to the hit Fox TV series, “House,” for its eighth season. Edelstein has been praised for her performance as Lisa Cuddy, a sexy, smart and Jewish hospital administrator and is a favorite of “House” fans. Despite all this, she was offered a new contract that would cut her pay and diminish her role. She decided to leave. Now comes word that Edelstein will guest star in at least three episodes of “The Good Wife,” the hit CBS lawyer show, next season. She’ll play a woman who tries to re-kindle a long-ago romance with lead character Will Gardener (JOSH CHARLES, 39). This upsets Alicia Florek (JULIANNE MARGULIES, 45), who also is involved with Gardener. Edelstein has worked with these actors before. She guested (1997) on “E.R.,” which costarred Margulies, and she guested on “Sports Night,” (1998), which starred Charles. Actually, these three have career parallels — Margulies became a TV star with “E.R.” But she didn’t have another hit role until “Good Wife” began in 2009. Likewise, Charles worked steadily in films and TV shows without a star breakthrough role until “Good Wife.” “House” was Edelstein’s first juicy star role after many years of TV guest shots and smallish film roles. At the end of June, I wrote that actor GABRIEL MACHT, 38, was starring in a new USA network series, “Suits.” I also said that his father, actor STEPHEN MACHT, 69, had completed a program to be a lay Jewish chaplain. Stephen Macht sent me an email in which he thanked me for mentioning him and his son. He added: [However] “I have not graduated as yet from the Chaplaincy Program…Am in the process and love every minute of the study.”
FROM THE PAGES 100 Y EARS A GO The marriage of Miss Eva Rafalo, of this city, and Mr. Morris Schwartz, of New York City, took place Sunday, July 9. Rabbi Lipschitz officiating. Misses Loraine and Irma Friedman, of Point Pleasant, W. Va., are the guests of their aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. E. Loth, of C17 Landon Court, Avondale. The many friends of Miss Helen, daughter of Mr. Louis Krohn, of 2902 Gilbert Avenue, Walnut Hills, will be pleased to hear of her engagement to Mr. Ludwig Stricker. At home formally in the fall. Mr. and Mrs. Morris Isaac and daughters, Stella and Irene, have left for an extended tour of the West. While in Seattle, Wash., they will be the guests of their children, Mr. and Mrs. Sali Gruenebaum, formerly of this city. Among the 200 or more dairies whose product is sold in this city and which are reported in the last weekly bulletin of the Board of Health, only three are marked as “Class A.” One of the three is the dairy of George Oscherwitz, on Slim Avenue, who runs a kosher dairy for the Russian Jews. There can be no doubt that Oscherwitz’s dairy is kosher in every sense of the word. Mrs. Sol W. Levi, widow of the late distiller, and reputed to be worth $1,000,000, was on the steamer Spokane when it struck a rock off the Pacific Coast at midnight, June 28. She lost all her baggage and a considerable amount of money. Yesterday a telegram was received from Mrs. Levi, who resides at the Alms Hotel, announcing her safe arrival at Seattle, where she will remain several days securing a new supply of clothing. Mrs. Levi left this city early last month, accompanied by her cousin, Miss Martha Altshul, of Berlin, Germany, who was her guest on a tour of the West, which was to have included a trip to Alaska. — July 13, 1911
75 Y EARS A GO Mrs. Abraham Cronbach left last week for New York where she will visit her sisters and friends. Later in the month she will join Dr. Cronbach, who is giving a summer course at the Quaker School, Pendlehill, Pa. Dr. Cronbach will spend August at the University of Virginia. Mrs. Cronbach will visit their daughter, Miss Marion, at Camp Agawalk, Minocqua, Wis. Mr. Max Pollak, widely known artist, and Mrs. Pollak are sojourning in Mexico City. For the past several weeks they have been in Cincinnati, established at the Vernon Manor. While in Mexico Mr. Pollak will make studies of various scenes of daily life in Mexico
and the inhabitants. They will return to Cincinnati in September. Mr. and Mrs. Herman Semmons and daughter, Miss Martha Betty Semmons, will leave Thursday, July 16th, for New York City, whence they sail on the SS Santa Paula for Los Angeles for two months of travel that will take them to Mexico, Central America and Lake Louise and Banff. Dr. H. Jerry Lavender and Mr. Alvin Salinger have just returned from a fishing trip at Lunge Lodge at the source of the French River, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Bella Klein entered upon the practice of internal medicine Wednesday, July 15th, with offices in the Provident Bank Building. Dr. Klein graduated in medicine at the University of Breslau, Germany, in 1928. For the next five years he was resident physician in internal medicine in Breslau City Hospital under Professor Erich Frank. Recently he has been intern and resident physician at Jewish Hospital. — July 16, 1936
50 Y EARS A GO Herbert Landsman, vice president of research and development, Federated Department Stores, spoke at the recent annual campaign leaders national conference in Dayton. The conference was sponsored by the United Community Funds and Council of American. Speakers at the dinners included Benson Ford, vice president, Ford Motor Co., Joseph A. Beirne, president of Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO; Neil H. McElroy, chairman of the board, Proctor & Gamble, Co. Dr. Joseph Ransohoff, has been named chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at New York University Medical Center, New York City. Dr. Ransohoff is the son of the late Dr. J. Louis Ransohoff and grandson of Dr. Joseph Ransohoff, both of whom were professors of surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Mr. M. Herbert Oettinger was elected to the Executive Committee of Cincinnati Area Chapter, Red Cross, Members at-large of the Board of Directors, include Dr. Stanley R. Brav, Mr. William A. Friedlander and Dr. Harry R. Mendelsohn. Robert Rubin, 1816 Catalina Avenue, passed away Sunday, July 2. He was 49 years old. Survivors include two sons, Jerry and Gilbert, both of this city, and a sister, Mrs. Tess Margolis, of New York City. Mr. Rubin was business agent and secretary-treasurer of the Bakery Drivers Union, Local 114, and was a member of Avon Masonic Lodge No. 642. — July 13, 1961
25 Y EARS A GO Dr. Avrum Edward Pastor of San Mateo, Calif., formerly of Cincinnati, passed away July 7. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn (Sanders) Pastor; his mother, Emma Pastor; three daughters, Jeanette and Amy of San Mateo and Hara, of Surrey, England: two sisters, Audrey Salzmann of Pittsfield, Mass., and Marcia Weiland of Cincinnati. A 1948 graduate of Walnut Hills High School, Dr. Pastor earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1951. He also held a degree in dentistry from Ohio State and a degree in medicine from UC. For the past 25 years he and his family have lived in the San Francisco area, where he had been practicing psychiatry. Ida Rose Schavel passed away July 13. She is survived by two brothers, Al and Lewis Schavel; two sisters, Mrs. Lillian Holbrook of Miami and Mrs. Ceil Oxlander; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was the daughter of the late Aaron and Rose Schavel and the sister of the late Sophie Schavel, Esther Snyder and Joseph Schavel. — July 17, 1986
10 Y EARS A GO Officers and board members were installed for the Cincinnati chapter of Hadassah May 23 at Crescent Hills Country Club. Laurie Serber replaces Amy Perlman as president. “Hadassah looks forward to continued success with a new board and new president Laurie Serber,” said installing officer Judy Barg. The Youth Group of Wise Temple (YGOW) elected officers for the 2001-02 school year May 12. Officers elected include copresidents Yoni Sarason and Louie Pastor; programming vice president, Skye Fischer; social action vice president, John Bloch; religious and cultural vice president, Noah Cohen; treasurer, Joel Schulman; journalist, Nicole Willins; freshman membership chair, Devon Worrell. Manfred Kramer, 74, passed away June 22, 2001. Mr. Kramer was born in Landstuhl, Germany. He was a son of Maurice and Frieda (Reinheimer) Kramer. He is survived by his wife, Rosalind Cable Kramer. Also surviving Mr. Kramer are a sister and a brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Lee (Cora) Kaufman of Sidney, OH. Also surviving him are a sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin (Goldene) Kolstein. Also surviving Mr. Kramer is an extended family of many nieces and nephews, and many friends. — July 12, 2001
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 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
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
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DELLAL from page 1 and facilitator of agencies and individuals to benefit students, UC and the Cincinnati Jewish and nonJewish community; we will explore ways to bundle programs, services and opportunities for students on campus and in the community; Hillel will redefine itself as an institute of, for and about the Cincinnati community; and we will build on our strengths, which include UC, the Cincinnati Jewish community, UC Students, DAAP, CCM, etc.” “The essence of our mission is to enable young Jewish adults the ZUMBA from page 6 “While many of my friends went to Hadassah meetings, knitting circles and mahjongg games, I was Zumba-ing like there was no tomorrow,” said Harris, of Northeast Philadelphia. The best part, she said, was seeing the older population she targeted coming out of their shells during class. “Whatever is going on in their lives,” Harris said, “Zumba helps them deal with it.” She can relate to that. Instead of dwelling on ailments that threatened to slow her down — cervical cancer, depression, a non-malignant brain tumor, emphysema and severe hearing loss — she concentrated on dancing. Darcy Silvers, a copywriter and instructor from Holland, Pa., said she wouldn’t be surprised if the fact that she grew up listening and dancing to Hebrew songs made her quicker to hop on the Zumba bandwagon. Plus, she said, the format is similar to Israeli dancing — both associate each part of a song with a unique movement. “To me it’s like perfect because I get paid to exercise,” Silvers said, adding that it’s also a great way for women approaching menopause like her to help stave off weight gain and other side effects that come with that stage of life. Silvers, 52, incorporates Israeli music in all of her classes — including those at three Curves gyms — but she saves expressions like “No schleppers allowed!” and “Shake your tushies!” for her synagogue group. Around Chanukah last year, she choreographed a routine to the Yeshiva University a cappella group Maccabeats’
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Up to 24 hour care Meal Preparation Errands/Shopping Hygiene Assistance Light Housekeeping
(513) 531-9600 platform to travel on their own Jewish journeys,” noted Kohn at the annual Hillel meeting. “Whether that involves alternate spring break, trips to Israel, Jewish studies classes, or just hanging out with other Jewish students, our goal is to help these young adults in their own personal development as they transition into adulthood. Many of these young adults represent the future leadership of our Jewish community and we provide the opportunities for them to explore their Jewish identity and create a social, spiritual and personal connection to Jewish life.” “Candlelight.” As much as she loves Zumba, Silvers said, it troubles her that synagogues seem more interested in starting Zumba programs than Israeli folk dancing. She’s not the only avid folk dancer among the Philly Zumba clan. Silvers and another instructor, Beth Ladenheim, also 52, still frequent folk dancing almost every week, and a handful of their fellow dancers attend Zumba classes, too. In folk dancing, Ladenheim said, the choreography tends to be more intricate and less athletic. She wanted to sweat, and Zumba certainly made that happen. “As someone who loves to dance but not exercise, it seemed like a godsend to me during a time when I was desperately trying to lose weight.” Though Zumba classes tend to attract mostly women, men are specifically banned from the sessions Ladenheim holds at Lower Merion Synagogue and Congregation Beth Hamedrosh, two Orthodox synagogues. For Orthodox women who don’t belong to coed gyms for modesty reasons, “they would never do this anywhere else,” Ladenheim explained. “I kind of feel like I’m doing a service by going into the synagogue and giving them an opportunity to do something that everybody else is doing.” Student Beth Gottfried said the class probably played a role in her losing 10 pounds since last fall. Aside from the fact that she can’t attend other classes where men might show up, Gottfried, 52, said it was just convenient to have an option at her shul, where she could see friends and meet other Jewish women.
20 • TRAVEL
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Canadian Maritimes: Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Wandering Jew
by Janet Steinberg
So Much to ‘Sea’: Canada, The Maritimes and More PART 4 OF A SERIES Halifax, Nova Scotia: Halifax is the cosmopolitan capital city of Nova Scotia. It is Canada’s 13th largest city and its residents, called Haligonians, make up 40 percent of Nova Scotia’s population. It is a friendly city where visitors might be welcomed by the “Oyez, Oyez” of a vociferous Town Crier. Nova Scotia, the second smallest province in Canada, is approximately half the size of Ohio. In Halifax, a city that embraces the sea, all roads lead to the shore. It is a city that Mother Nature carved out of a hill…where you are never more than 35 miles away from the water. With a population just under 400,000, Halifax is the largest city east of Quebec City and north of Boston. It offers a dynamic and intriguing mix of heritage and culture. Since its founding in 1749, Halifax has played a key role in the economic and cultural development of Canada and the northeastern Atlantic seaboard. Time does not stand still in Halifax thanks to one of Halifax’s most famous landmarks…the stately Old Town Clock situated at the base of Citadel Hill. This historic timepiece was a gift of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and son of King George III. Prince Edward arranged for a turret clock to be manufactured for the Halifax garrison before his return to England in 1800. The Town Clock officially began keeping time for the residents of Halifax in 1803. In its early years, the clock was used as a guardroom and residence for the caretaker. The Halifax Citadel, a National Historic Site of Canada, was constructed between 1828 and 1856. This star-shaped fortification sits atop a hill in the heart of downtown Halifax. You can take a guided tour or browse through the
Army Museum and see the collection of British and Canadian military exhibits. The firing of the noon gun has been a daily ritual since the mid-19th century. Culinary adventures await you all across Nova Scotia. My restaurant of choice for my Crystal Symphony shore day in Halifax was the Five Fishermen Grill. Five Fishermen has been voted the Best Seafood Restaurant in Halifax for five consecutive years. It is located in an historical building at 1740 Argyle St. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic will take you on a voyage of discovery through Nova Scotia’s rich maritime heritage. The exhibits and artifacts evoke the magic of the sea and its power in the lives of Nova Scotians. Perhaps the most popular exhibit in the Maritime Museum is the one that depicts the tragic history of the ill-fated Titanic that sank some 700 miles east of Halifax on April 15, 1912. While the Cunard liner Carpathia was taking survivors to New York, 209 of the dead were brought to Halifax. Fifty-nine bodies were shipped home to relatives, but 150 were buried in three Halifax cemeteries. There were 10 graves at the Jewish Baron de Hirsch Cemetery; 19 at the Catholic Mount Olivet Cemetery; and 121 at the nondenominational Fairview Lawn. One of the first victims to be carried to his grave at Fairview Lawn was a small, unidentified baby boy. A haunting tombstone marks his grave. Thirty-five minutes southwest of downtown Halifax is the rugged fishing community of Peggys Cove (population approximately 50). Located on Halifax’s South Shore “Lighthouse Route,” Peggys Cove is an artist’s mecca in a moonscape setting. Its famous lighthouse, perched high on huge wavewashed boulders, is Canada’s only post office located in a lighthouse. The Sou’ Wester, the only restaurant in town, serves up tasty local fare. And, for $2.49, you can wash it all down with a glass of 80Degree North Iceberg Water. Saint John, New Brunswick: If you ever plan to enter a spelling bee, take note: Canada’s first incorporated city (1785) is spelled Saint John, not the abbreviated St. John as it is spelled in neighboring Newfoundland. To add to your confusion, the proper way to spell its mighty St. John River is to abbreviate it. That very St. John River is onehalf of a natural phenomenon known as Reversing Falls that takes place twice a day in Mother Nature’s own theater. It occurs when there is a headon collision between two mighty bodies of water…the St. John River and the Bay of Fundy. When the highest tides in the
world flow in and out of the Bay of Fundy through a narrow rocky gorge, they force the St. John River to reverse its flow. Twice daily the Bay of Fundy wins, forcing the St. John River to churn, tumble and flow upstream. The above-mentioned narrow (or split) rocky gorge has given a great name to an eatery located on a hilltop overlooking the Reversing Falls. What else could it be but the Split Rock Café? Munch a quick lunch with a view. For a more upscale dining experience, try the Opera Bistro in the heart of the city. The Saint John Jewish community was founded in 1858 and consisted of about 30 families, many of them affluent cigar makers. Waves of immigrants continued through the Golden Years of the 1960s when there were 250 to 300 families comprising more than 1400 people. In the 1960s, the grandchildren of the immigrants were leaving the city to pursue educational and employment opportunities. Most did not return and many parents joined their children after retirement. Once again, there are only about 30 Jewish families in Saint John. With that being said, it is interesting that a synagogue and a great little Jewish Historical Museum exist in Saint John. The latter was created in 1986 to preserve and share the city’s Jewish heritage. The museum features a number of permanent and changing exhibits along with documents and artifacts related to the Saint John Jewish community. The Saint John City Market is Canada’s oldest continuing farmers’ market. The ceiling of the City Market resembles the inverted hull of a ship. When it officially opened in 1876, Saint John was one of the world’s leading shipbuilding centers. The Market’s hand-hewn timbers and dovetailed joints have stood fast for more than a century. Fortunately, the Great Fire of 1877 left the market building undamaged. Within the market, colorful stalls display local foods and handcrafted items. Dulse, the leafy sea vegetable that grows on the shores of the Bay of Fundy, is considered a maritime delicacy. Handpicked and sun dried, it adds a light salty taste to salad and seafood dishes. Slocum & Ferris, established in 1895, is the reigning merchant at the City Market. They will be happy to give you a sample taste of dulse before you decide to purchase it. I took them up on their offer. My reaction to dulse…UGH! (Top-bottom) Janet and Irv Silverstein beneath the chupah in the Saint John, New Brunswick synagogue; Saint John, New Brunswick City Market; 150 victims of the Titanic are buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Janet Steinberg is an award-winning Travel Writer, International Travel Consultant, and winner of 38 national Travel Writing Awards.
FOOD/AUTOS • 21
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011
Favorite summer salads 2011 Audi R8 — a stylish, Zell’s Bites performance machine Mushrooms (fresh or marinated) Cheese (Grated, cubed etc.) Fruit (Fresh & Dried) Cooked Chicken Crunch Kosher smoked meat bits Salad Nuggets (boxed) Celery Sliced Water Chestnuts, Nuts (Roasted gives better flavor) Chow Mein noodles
by Zell Schulman With the summer heat upon us, our thoughts turn to “less is more.” Quick and easy meals are the focus, and the farmer’s markets are waiting with fresh corn, tomatoes off the vine, green beans and freshly picked fruits. Add a fresh fish entrée, and you have a great summer meal. One of my favorite summer salads is “Farmers chop Suey” made with tomatoes, cucumbers, chives, or sliced green onions, all chopped into bite size pieces and smothered in sour cream with a little cottage cheese folded in. Add some fresh buttered corn on the cob and fresh fish off the grill or broiled and you have the perfect summer meal. Dessert is sliced Georgia peaches topped with vanilla ice cream. Somehow, the heat of summer seems to take a back seat to the freshness of the farmers’ bounty. IMPROMPTU SALAD Makes 4 to 6 servings This formula will work for a variety of salads. Try a salad using honey or sugar in the dressing when adding fresh fruits. Use the savory type salad dressings with salads that use more vegetables or a combination of cheese and vegetables. Formula 6 cups freshly torn greens l cup accompaniments 1/2 cup crunch 1/2 cup dressing Greens Bibb lettuce Head Lettuce (Iceberg) Boston Lettuce Leaf lettuce (red or green) Celery cabbage Spinach Leaves Endive Watercress Escarole Arugula Accompaniments Avocado Olives (Black or green) Bell Peppers, (green, red or yellow) Onions (red or white) Radishes Canned Artichokes Raw vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower florets, zucchini, carrots etc.) Cherry Tomatoes Cucumbers Frozen peas Scallions (green onions)
Method Wash and dry your greens. Crisp them in the refrigerator in a large covered bowl with several paper towels in the bottom. Any accompaniments that don’t have liquid may also be added at this time. Cut up other accompaniments into bite-sized pieces and place in a separate bowl then refrigerate. Prepare your dressing. When ready to serve, toss the greens and accompaniments together with the crunch. Allow 2 tablespoons of dressing per serving. For a large crowd, I like to serve the dressing on the side. Sometimes I marinate some of the accompaniments in the dressing, and then toss the entire salad. SALAD DRESSINGS: OAR’S SWEET & SOUR SALAD DRESSING Makes 1-1/2 Cups 1/2 cup Tarragon vinegar 1/3 cup white vinegar 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup olive oil Pinch salt Combine ingredients in a pint jar. Shake well. Serve over salad. POPPY SEED DRESSING Makes 1- 1/2 Cups 3/4 cup minced shallots 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1/2 cup white wine vinegar 4 -1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds 1/4 cup honey l teaspoon paprika 1/4 cup lime juice l teaspoon Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 sprigs fresh tarragon Combine ingredients in a pint jar. Shake well. Serve over salad. HERB DRESSING 1-1/2 cups carbonated water 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 cup chives 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves l large egg 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon Freshly ground pepper Place ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times. Process for 30 seconds. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Shake well before serving on salad.
The R8 is nothing less than a supercar with a pure, clear German spirit, ready to take on the Italian competition. The Audi R8’s eager-to-rev 4.2liter, 420-horsepower V8 that sits mid-chassis is essentially the same as that found in the RS 4, Audi’s premiere midsize sedan. Maximum power is provided by a new 5.2liter V10 good for 525 horsepower. Either engine can be mated to a traditional manual transmission or Audi’s R tronic sequential-shift gearbox. Either way, six ratios are available and the redline is a lofty 8250 rpm for the V8 and an even higher 8700 for the V10. Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive is standard on the R8, and offers a performance-oriented torque distribution of just 10 percent to the front wheels and 90 percent to the rears. The all-wheel-drive system is almost completely imperceptible when driving the R8 and the chassis responds very quickly to steering input. The 420 horsepower V8 is a model of response and power and downshifting is rarely necessary, as torque is abundant and available throughout the rev range. In terms of transmission choices, anyone capable of actuating a clutch will find the manual transmission, with its stylish metal gate, a far more satisfying drive than the surprisingly unrefined optional R tronic transmission. Regardless of transmission choice, according to Audi, the R8
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2011 Audi R8
4.2 will accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds and complete the quarter mile in 12.7 seconds. The V10 sprints from zero to 60 in a scant 3.7 seconds and has a top speed of 196 mph. The brakes are up to the task, with 15-inch discs with eight-piston calipers in the front and 14-inch discs with fourpiston calipers in the rear. The Audi R8 sits wide and low, with its cabin far forward and its engine behind. The soft curvature of the hood and roof are drawn in one sweeping arc, while a vertical “sideblade” between the wheel arch and the roof section breaks the smooth door line with contrasting color. The car’s LED daytime running lights sit flush with giant air intakes.
According to Audi, the styling was dictated by aerodynamics. Even with the R8’s clear performance intentions, not a stitch was spared in making its interior every bit as luxurious and accommodating as those of Audi’s highdollar sedans. There are supportive 10-way adjustable Alcantara/leather seats with baggage space behind them, and the curvature of the roof allows ample headroom for tall occupants. Standard with the 5.2 and available with the 4.2 is the Bang and Olufsen 12-speaker audio system which is simply mind (and ear) blowing. Audi calls the driver-centered cockpit “Monoposto,” which used to mean, roughly, “singleseater,” and the controls couldn’t be easier to reach and operate, particularly the metal-gated shifter of the manual transmission. The R8 comes standard with quattro all-wheel drive (AWD), electronic stability control and traction control. The AWD’s stability control has three settings: “On,” “Sport” and “Off.” The R8 benefits from an electronic differential lock (EDL), and uses speed-dependent electromechanical power steering. LED lighting is used throughout, and also lights the engine compartment, which is visible through glass from outside the car. Inside, there are also heated 10-way power seats. The 2011 Audi R8 has an MSRP of $118,000.
22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES BERMAN, Elizabeth F., age 57, died on June 28, 2011; 26 Sivan, 5771. BLEZNICK, Donald W., age 86, died on July 5, 2011; 3 Tammuz, 5771. STATMAN, Nicholas J., age 80, died on July 6, 2011; 5 Tammuz 5771. SCHEAR, Betty Z., age 85, died on July 10, 2011; 8 Tammuz, 5771.
O BITUARIES SCHEAR, Betty Z. Betty Z. Schear, age 85 of Dayton, OH, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday morning, July 10, 2011. Mrs. Schear attended Avondale Elementary School and graduated with honors from Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. She graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in engineering and later received her MBA from the University of Dayton with honors. Mrs. Schear worked for many years as office manager at Schear Family Practice with her beloved husband, Dr. Burt E. Schear, who preceded her in death. She was a lifetime member of Hadassah and Beth Abraham Sisterhood, and was a member of ORT, the Society of Women Engineers of America and numerous other organizations. Mrs. Schear was very philanthropic and her generosity touched many lives. She is survived by her children, Abe and Linda Schear of Atlanta, Ga., Dr. Martin and BAN from page 9 Jacobs, who says that some 500 Dutch Jewish families keep kosher, worries that the shechitah ban is the first step on the road to an eventual prohibition against circumcision. He noted that the prospect of a ban is especially disturbing for Holocaust survivors because the Nazis imposed a ban on shechitah as one of their first acts after invading the Netherlands in 1940. Esther Voet, editor of a Dutch Jewish newsweekly called Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad, said playing the Holocaust card to criticize the legislation has not endeared the Dutch Jewish community to lawmakers in The Hague, the more conservative city about 45 minutes south of Amsterdam that is the seat of Dutch government. “We damaged ourselves with that,” she said. “That’s an emotional response. You should lead this discussion from reason.”
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Susan Schear of Dayton, Dr. Edith and Alan Pilzer of Atlanta, Ga., and Jesse and Shira Schear of Dayton; her grandchildren, Adam and Hana Schear of Atlanta, Dr. Jennifer Schear Bortman and her husband Dr. Jared Bortman of Birmingham, Miss., Todd Schear of Dayton, Jordan Schear of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Jacob Schear of Lawrence, Kan., Sara Pilzer of Durham, N.C., Max Pilzer of Atlanta, Ga., and Cara Schear of Ireland; her sister Sylvia Scheiber, and numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services were held Tuesday, July 12, 2011, at Beth Abraham Synagogue, with Rabbi Bernard Barsky and Cantor Andrea Raizen officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to Beth Abraham Synagogue, Hadassah or the charity of your choice.
hospitals that provide abortions. While Romney has been a more moderate critic of the Obama administration than some of his rivals, he has come out swinging forcefully on Israel and Middle East issues. In May he accused Obama of “throwing Israel under the bus” after the president called for Israel to hold talks with the Palestinians based on 1967 lines, with land swaps. And at the Las Vegas RJC event, Romney accused Obama of not being tough enough on Iran and not following through with the
threat of crippling sanctions. “The consequence of not understanding negotiations has been extraordinarily difficult,” Romney said. It’s a posture that pleased Sembler, who pointed out that he accompanied Romney on his first official Israel visit, in 2007. “His position on Israel is going to be excellent,” said Sembler, who noted the success of another governor he had accompanied to the Jewish state, in 1998: George W. Bush.
Benjamin Engel of Peabody, Mass., formerly of New York and Cincinnati, passed away June 29, 2011, at the age of 90 years. Husband of Selma (Fruchtman) Engel, and son of the late Philip and Mollie (Finkelman) Engel. Father of David Engel of Belmont, Mass., and Judith Engel of N.Y., N.Y., and grandfather of R. William Engel of Santa Monica, Calif., and Jonathan Engel of Washington, D.C. Mr. Engel is also survived by his sister Frances Kirschenbaum. He was also the brother of the late Nat Engel. A business analyst and teacher, he was a WWII veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. Memorial observance was private. The family would appreciate memorial contributions to Hallmark Health Hospice, 178 Favin Street, Suite #300, Malden, Mass., 02148.
The New York federation conducts such studies every decade or so, and they provide an invaluable picture of the nation’s largest Jewish community, influencing everything from federation allocations to media coverage to government policy decisions. When the New York City Council approved increased funding for Holocaust survivors, data about Jewish survivors from the federation’s 2002 study “was very important” in informing that decision, Rosenberg said. The study under way for the first time will ask about second-generation Russian-speaking New Yorkers and Sephardic heritage, and it will devote increased attention to intermarried families and the changing nature of Jewish identity. The results are expected by next summer. “Being able to quantify things, even if you ‘know’ them, is so important for planning,” Rosenberg said. Population studies can be conducted in various ways, ranging from the most sophisticated and expensive method of Random Digit Dialing, or RDD, which involves calling tens of thousands of computer-generated numbers,
to online surveys of an agency’s own membership base. Most studies combine RDD with federation or other membership lists, but just how that combination is constructed, and which additional tools are utilized, is a source of much political debate within demographic circles. Many demographers are not fans of studies that survey a membership base, since it is skewed toward the most active members and cannot be taken as representative of the community as a whole. Jacob Ukeles, president of Ukeles Associates Inc., one of the partners in the New York Jewish community study and the lead agency in many other local Jewish studies, says that even when a federation acknowledges that limitation — that study results, with time, take on a life of their own, and people begin referring to them as if they offer a complete portrait of the given community. Last year, a small Jewish federation in the South conducted an Internet survey of its community and asked Sheskin to review the results. They showed 85 percent synagogue membership and 65 percent membership in Hadassah, the women’s Zionist organization. It turned out, Sheskin said, that
someone brought computers to a Hadassah meeting and had everyone fill out the survey there. “The problem with Jewish community studies is, if you don’t do it right, you might as well not do it,” Sheskin said. “It can be more misleading than helpful.” But for some smaller Jewish communities that can’t afford a full-scale study, Internet surveys and phone calls to their donor lists is the best they can do. It still provides information the communities can use, say federation leaders in these places. The Jewish federation in Portland, Ore., recently released the results of its latest Jewish community study, which relied heavily on federation lists. It revealed a Jewish population of some 47,000 rather than the 20,000 that community leaders had believed lived in the area. Even if those figures aren’t completely accurate, federation executive director Marc Blattner said the study reveals general trends, such as that younger Jews are living in areas that are not well served by established Jewish institutions. That has led the federation, synagogues, schools and JCCs to think about how to move services outside the walls of their agencies.
Voet said opposition to the bill would have been stronger had the community’s liberal and Orthodox factions unified more quickly in opposition. Still, the Jewish community did bring out the big guns to stop the legislation. Britain’s chief rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, addressed the Dutch Parliament on June 16, and Cornell University food science professor Joe Regenstein wrote a report rebuking the opposition’s claims that kosher slaughter causes undue suffering to animals. The Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Simon Wiesenthal Center, World Jewish Congress, B’nai B’rith International and the Kosher Certification Service jointly sent a letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying that the bill would “cause unacceptable harm to the religious freedom of the Dutch Jewish community.”
Among the 30 parliamentarians who voted against the bill were several non-Jewish members of religious political parties. One of them, Esme Wiegman of the Christian Union Party, visited the kosher slaughterhouse to see for herself how the animals are killed. Wiegman told JTA that Dutch politicians who are not religious have a difficult time grasping the centrality of religious rituals to the lives of the devout. She said the move to outlaw shechitah was a matter of religious freedom for all, not just for Jews. “It isn’t a problem of a few people,” she said. “It’s a question for all of us.” There are several kosher stores in the leafy Amsterdam neighborhood of Buitenveldert, near the city’s world trade center and cluster of skyscrapers. Daniel Bar-on, the 22-year-old who owns the kosher meat restaurant H’ Bar-on, said he is prepared
to do whatever is necessary to continue providing his customers with a diverse set of kosher options. The ritual slaughter bill, he said, caught him by surprise. “We’ve been doing it for so many years, and no one’s ever had a problem with it, and suddenly all Holland wants to get rid of it,” he said. “I never thought it would ever get this far.” The initiative against shechitah was the brainchild of the fledgling Party for the Animals, which holds just two seats in the 150-seat Dutch House and one in the 75-seat Senate. The far-left party argues that stunning an animal is more humane than the razor-sharp knife used in kosher slaughter. A representative told JTA that the party’s leader, Marianne Thieme, was unavailable for comment due to the legislative recess. The animal rights party framed the debate as a stark choice between the mutually exclusive goals of reli-
gious freedom and animal welfare, Erwteman said. “Do you think that an animal should suffer more because of the religion of the person who killed it? That’s the way they phrased it,” he said. “I think most of the parties felt compelled to answer that question with no.” About 500 million animals are slaughtered in the Netherlands each year. Of that number, about 3,000 are slaughtered according to the laws of kashrut and about 1 million are slaughtered according to the laws of halal. Both styles of slaughter would be banned under the proposed law. Holland is not the first European country to consider banning shechitah. Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and Switzerland already ban kosher slaughter, though they all allow the import of kosher meat. The question now is whether Holland will join that club.
ENGEL, Benjamin
ROMNEY from page 8 Kaufman says she’s still not sure where Romney stands on abortion rights, which NCJW backs. As a candidate for governor in 2002, Romney famously appeared wounded when his rival challenged his pledge not to interfere with a woman’s right to choose. Now he calls himself “pro-life” and supports cutting funds to Planned Parenthood, although he will not sign on to a broader pledge to cut funding to STUDIES from page 8
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