American Israelite, April 4, 2012

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Emma Schneider, 12, Rockwern Academy – Winner of the 2012 Passover Cover Coloring Contest

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THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

Remembering Dr. I Leonard Bernstein

Dr. I. Leonard Bernstein

Dr. I. Leonard Bernstein was a stalwart figure in the field of allergy and immunology, making sentinel contributions on a local, national and international level.

Dr. Bernstein passed away March 26, 2012 at the age of 88.

Dr. Bernstein attended the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine on the GI bill in 1944, graduating in 1949. While in

After medical school, Dr. Bernstein completed an internal medicine residency at the former Cincinnati General, as well as Jewish Hospital. He enlisted in the Air Force as a flight surgeon from 1951-1953 during the Korean War. Upon completion of his postgraduate training at Columbia University and Northwestern University, Dr. Bernstein returned

“Grandpa Leonard was a man of so many passions. He was a huge supporter of Jewish causes, as he and grandma contributed a large portion of their lives to Yavneh Day School.”

Aaron Ellison

Cincinnati, two important events occurred that shaped his life irrevocably. First, he met his wife, Miriam, whom he was married to for 63 years, and second, he served as a research assistant in Dr. Albert Sabin's laboratory, where he worked on projects related to the polio vaccine.

to Cincinnati to practice as the first board-certified allergist. He established and directed an allergy research laboratory and asthma rehabilitation program at the Convalescent Hospital for Children, as well as the allergy and immunology residency training program.

Dr. Bernstein’s academic career at the University of Cincinnati began in 1962 when Dr. Evelyn Hess invited him to join the division of immunology. During his career at UC he matriculated to professor of clinical medicine, established and directed the allergy laboratory and allergy fellowship program and received many government funded grants to investigate a number of important conditions in allergy and immunology.

He is most noted for his work investigating occupational asthma, novel respiratory allergens such as Algae and Cyanobacteria, seminal plasma hypersensitivity, platelet aggregation dysfunction in allergy and novel asthma drug therapies.

He published over 300 manuscripts and co-edited two books, including “Asthma in the Workplace,” now in its fourth edition.

He was president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, chairman of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia Pulmonary/Allergy Advisory Committee, and chairman of both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Bernstein was a founding member of the Joint Task Force Practice Parameter committee which is the representative body of the AAAAI and ACAAI charged with generating scientifically evidence based guidelines for the specialty of Allergy and Immunology. In 1999, Dr. Bernstein received the Daniel Drake Medal, the highest honor awarded for clinical research by the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine to alumni or faculty.

Although his children and grandchildren were his proudest achievements he was especially happy to have his sons David and Jonathan follow his footsteps into the field of allergy and immunology. Dr. Bernstein was an avid supporter of the University of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and countless other organizations.

“Grandpa Leonard was a man of so many passions. He was a huge supporter of Jewish causes, as he and grandma contributed a large portion of their lives to Yavneh Day School,” grandson Aaron Ellison recalled.

Following is a portion of the eulogy that granddaughter, Rachel Ellison, delivered: “Grandpa has always been so supportive of my art practice. The last time I was with him he gave me some of the most helpful perspective on art and life that I have ever received. I was trying to explain my latest art project but struggling to get across its intentions. Grandpa drew on his own experience to help me realize it. He said he often wondered what was meant by the phrase ‘medicine is an art, not a science.’ He said that

while medicine is of course a science, as an art form it is about relating to another individual through a particular form of thinking and interacting. In medicine you learn the methods and you are given tools, but when it comes down to it, grandpa said, you can’t teach a medical student the art of connecting with a patient. Through experience he or she develops that nuanced way of relating through medicine. He said everything is an art form, but how can we communicate what we really mean through any type of new or already familiar art form as a way of thinking and being human?”

Dr. Bernstein was predeceased by a daughter, Ellen Ganson, in 2006.

He is survived by his wife, Miriam; his children, David (Cheryl) Bernstein, Susan (Howard Ain) Bernstein, Jonathan (Lisa)

Bernstein, son-in-law, Michael Ganson; and his grandchildren, Daniel (Jaime Aronson) and William Bernstein, Aaron, Joel (Alyce Baier), Rachel and Marisa Ellison, Jason and Andrew (Emily Sanchez) Ain, Adam, Sarah and Philip Ganson and Alison, Joshua, Rebecca and Caren Bernstein.

“He has left an imprint on all of his grandchildren. We owe a large portion of our commitments to learning, the arts, Judaism, Israel, the Bearcats, and especially family, to him,” reflected grandson, Joel Ellison.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Ellen B. Ganson Fund c/o Rockwern Academy, 8401 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236 or the Bernstein Endowment Fund for Allergy Research & Education at the U.C. Foundation, P.O. Box 670544, Cincinnati, OH 45321-0544.

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Xavier faculty helps Ethiopian Jews immigrate to Israel

By Joshua Mizrachi Assistant Editor Operations Moses, Joshua and Solomon are all fitting names for the immigrant iniatives of moving Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Over the past 25 years these operations have helped large populations of Ethiopian Jews move to Israel safely.

Two Xavier faculty members recently got an up-close experience of these immigrations.

From Jan. 28 to Feb 3, Rabbi Abie Ingber, founding director of

the Interfaith Community Engagement, and Arthur Shriberg, Ed.D. professor of management and entreprenurship, helped a group called the Falash Mura—or Beta Israeli—consisting of 78 Ethiopian Jews, to emirgrate from Ethiopia to Israel as part of an international religious relocation effort.

For over 3,000 years, since the time of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba, there has been a population of Jews in Ethiopia that some have called part of the “Ten Lost Tribes.”

These Jews have been perse-

cuted for years. In the 1700s the Beta Israeli’s were targeted. They were forced to convert to Christianity. It wasn’t until modern times when the situation became more publicized that others began to step in to help.

Imagine, they have survived over 300 years of persecution and forced conversions, yet still there are those amongst them who practice Judaism.

The Jewish Ethiopians began to take big risks. They traveled across dangerous, mountainous deserts, through Sudan by them-

selves with no help. The United States got involved with a desire to help these people and their religious exodus.

Rabbi Ingber’s and Shriberg’s trip allowed them to meet with many of the helpfuls involved.

They met with interpreters and others who helped with the operation and took much away from it.

“The uniqueness of such an event is that African people were reqesting to be transfered to a western country,” said Rabbi Ingber.

In Israel today there are 120,000 Ethiopian Jews.

Give a Day offers 35 social action projects in one day Projects are scheduled throughout the day, from 8:45 a.m. to 8 p.m., and across Hamilton County as well as in Butler and Warren Counties.

Families with children, teens, young professionals and adults from the entire community can choose from projects such as cleaning up parks and cemeteries, sewing blankets for children in hospitals, serving dinner at Ronald McDonald House, making jewelry with retirement home residents, providing childcare during a Walnut Hills church service, helping low-income families weatherize their homes, painting a mural, visiting with homeless teens and much more.

“Give a Day is about the entire community—congregations, agencies, young adults, teens, seniors, families and more—coming together to give their time,” said Jan Armstrong Cobb, who is cochairing the event along with Stephanie Rubin.

This third-annual Give a Day will “go global” with a partnership with Netanya, Cincinnati’s sister

city in Israel. Netanya residents will take part in social action projects and then video chat with Cincinnati volunteers at a kick-off at 10:15 a.m. at the Mayerson JCC. At the kick-off, participants will also have the opportunity to meet up with fellow volunteers and get energized for their projects.

One of Give a Day’s most popular projects, Super Sunday, is recruiting volunteers to make phone calls to raise funds for the 2012 Community Campaign, which supports 39 programs, 25 agencies and 13 congregations that provide a safety net for those in need and nurture and sustain Jewish life in Cincinnati, in Israel and around the world. Super Sunday shifts are from 8:45–10:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Both phone and clerical positions are available. Volunteers are encouraged to help with Super Sunday in the morning and then go out into the community in the afternoon for another Give a Day project. This year’s Super Sunday chairs are Tulane and Jack Chartock.

“LET THERE BE LIGHT” THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN AMERICA - EST. JULY 15, 1854

VOL. 158 • NO. 37 THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012 13 NISSAN 5772 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 7:49 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 8:50 PM THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO., PUBLISHERS 18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037 Phone: (513) 621-3145 Fax: (513) 621-3744 publisher@americanisraelite.com editor@americanisraelite.com production@americanisraelite.com RABBI ISSAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 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 YEHOSHUA MIZRACHI NICOLE SIMON Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel 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

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projects throughout the greater Cincinnati area. Volunteers from across the community will give their time in support of a core Jewish value of repairing the world (tikkun olam).

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On Sunday, April 29, Give a Day, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s community-wide day of service, will bring together more than 650 volunteers to impact over 30,000 lives in one day with 35

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THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

JFS organizes spa day for residents at Bridgeway Point A little nail polish goes a long way to making a woman feel special.

Women at the Bridgeway Pointe assisted living community felt extra special when Jewish Family Service organized a spa day for them on March 27. Eight of the residents were pampered by students at Paul Mitchell, the School, who volunteered to do manicures and hair styling.

The spa day idea was spawned from resident Shelley Shapiro, 63, who receives pastoral care through a collaboration of Jewish Family Service and Hebrew Union College.

Shapiro asked Stephanie Covitz, a rabbinic intern, to give her a manicure. Because of paralysis on one side, Shapiro is unable to polish her own nails.

“I started wanting a manicure for me and thought let’s do it for all the other girls here,” said Shapiro.

A manicure isn’t quite in the

Residents enjoy their spa day.

realm of support rabbinic students normally provide; but after thinking about what the request really meant, Covitz shared the request with Pat Rosenberg, Jewish Family Service Jewish Visiting Initiative: Bikur Cholim project coordinator.

“We decided the idea had significant value,” said Rosenberg. “It links people to a more enabled past, bumps up their self-esteem, and provides a social interaction that so many of us take for granted.”

Sandee Golden, Jewish Family Service volunteer coordinator, arranged for the beauty school students to provide the manicures and hair styling to the women who, according to Rosenberg, may not get their hands held very often, or their hair stroked ever.

“Stephanie is my rabbi and my friend. And Jewish Family Service is a good organization. They always come through,” said the beautiful Shelley staring at her bright orange nails.

“It is an extraordinary gift, the gentle touch of a human being,” said Rosenberg.

From the giggles heard down the hallway, the residents agreed.

Valley Temple holds Passover morning service at Freedom Center Jews living in America sometimes need a reminder about just how relevant a timeless tradition can be. It is a commandment for Jewish people to recall the Exodus from Egypt, but this can sometimes feel remote. Yet, accessing more modern liberation experiences can transport holiday observers to the sea’s parting, the paschal lamb and much more. This is what is motivating the Valley Temple to hold its Passover morning worship service at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on Saturday, April 7, at 10:30 a.m.

Most Jews will be recalling the Exodus from Egypt during the special home service called the seder. It is common for synagogues all over

the world to hold worship services on the first morning of the holiday to commemorate the festival. “We decided to try to transform the special atmosphere of the Freedom Center into a sacred space for worshipers in order to enhance our worship experience,” said Rabbi Sandford Kopnick, spiritual leader of the Valley Temple in Wyoming.

“The Freedom Center’s unique story speaks to all people.

Judaism’s recurring philosophy to ‘remember the stranger, for we were strangers in the land of Egypt’ speaks to freedom in a timeless way. It is a natural link to connect the journey some took through the Underground Railroad and the Biblical Exodus of the Israelites

Adath Israel hosts forum on gentrification The Adath Israel Rabbi’s Critical Issues Forum will present: “Gentrification: Is this a Good Word for a Bad Thing, a Bad Word for a Good Thing, or is it Both?” at 7:30 p.m. on April 23, at Adath Israel Congregation.

Moderated by Louis D. Bilionis, JD, the dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, the forum will include presenter Michael Romanos, PhD, AICO, professor of planning and economic development, University of Cincinnati; and respondents Chad Munitz, executive vice president of development and operations, 3CDC, and Josh Spring, executive director, Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition.

Rabbi Irvin M. Wise of Adath Israel commented that Judaism has been interested in and committed to social and economic justice from our very inception, in addition to our deep concern for those less fortunate and in need. Judaism also understands the importance of a strong economic infrastructure and economic development for society to be healthy and vibrant.

The challenge that many, if not most, cities face, is how to be true to our values and fulfill our commitments to our low income citizens and assure the viability of our downtown and other areas.

The forum, which will be followed by a dessert reception, is free and open to the public.

from Egypt,” Kopnick said.

The service will celebrate the Jewish Sabbath and the first festival morning of Passover. The service is open to the public and will include liturgy, music, special readings and the reading of the Torah. The service is free, but those wishing to tour the Freedom Center are expected to pay for admission. Those wishing to pay in advance may do so by calling or emailing Jan at the Valley Temple.

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Think JCC for Jewish learning The Mayerson JCC can help you increase your knowledge about Judaism. Discover new insights into Judaism as it relates to complex issues by enrolling in adult Jewish learning courses offered at the J. Registration is currently open for several programs that start in April.

Two dynamic courses, which are

open to everyone, will be offered at the J this spring. “Israel at a Religious Crossroads,” taught by Rabbi Hanan Balk, examines the relationship of the state of Israel with Jews, on both a community and personal level. Questions of separation of “church and state,” ultimate authority, and the degree to which

the tenets of Judaism should influence the state of Israel will be discussed. “Bioethics and Jewish Tradition,” taught by Rabbi Mark Washofsky, will focus on the mitzvah of medicine, the duty of the medical practitioner, end-of-life issues, JCC on page 19

Rockwern’s innovative math program Rockwern Academy is proud to announce the continuation of grades 4, 5, 6’s innovative math program called “Math Challenge.”

This program is taught by staff teachers Judy Diekmeyer, Dana Gehri and Linda Jansen.

The emphasis and goal of the program is to expose the students to a math experience which will strengthen their mental math calculation ability and allow them to feel more confident with their math capabilities.

This program was created with

material from three sources: Jason Gibson, who wrote “Mental Math Secrets”; Scott Flansburg, author of “Math Magic” and sponsor of the American Math Challenge; and a 300-year-old ancient India program called Vedics.

The aim is to help every student to be able to think zero to nine, not one to 10 and to work math problems left to right, not right to left.

There is no theory, there are no complex methods of equations, and there are no long-winded explanations.

There are just simple statements of techniques, careful observations, examples and an abundance of practice. Each program literally turns on the human calculator in the brain by emphasizing that our number system begins with zero, not one.

The students are into week 25 of the program and are making amazing progress. This program has become very effective in providing the best math educational experience being taught at Rockwern Academy and in today’s world.

Wise Temple Senior Adults present ‘Jewish-Muslim Dialogue’ The Wise Temple Senior Adults are sponsoring the upcoming program, “Jewish-Muslim Dialogue” with guest presenter, Baher S. Foad, M.D. on Tuesday, April 10, at 1:15 p.m. at Wise Center.

“The Islamic Center senior adults will be joining Wise Seniors as we welcome each other and as we participate in the dialogue. The program endeavors to promote education, friendship and under-

standing, followed by a question and answer period,” commented Barb Mandell, program chair.

“Dr. Foad is founding member of the Islamic Center of Cincinnati and has been involved in interfaith activity for the past 30 years. He is on the Board of Trustees at Xavier University and teaches about Islam at University of Cincinnati, and has written several books on Islam. Dr. Foad is a physician in private practice,” noted co-chair,

Shirley Behr.

“Our Senior Adult Committee is an integral part of the overall activities at Wise Temple. Our Senior Adult Committee always creates educational, entertaining and thought-provoking programs for our Temple membership, as well as being inclusive to the overall Jewish and non-Jewish community,” Mandell continued.

A Passover dessert buffet will follow the program.

JYPs enlist in the Circus du Soiree

JYPs run away to the circus for a night It’s the greatest show on earth but this time, the guests will get to be the stars! Young professionals (YPs) are invited to join the circus for the night and experience life under the big top at Access’ Circus-inspired event, Cirque du Soiree, on Saturday, April 21, at 9 p.m. at Circus Mojo in Ludlow, Ky.—less than five miles from Downtown Cincinnati. The event is free to all young professionals 21-35 with advance reservations and includes a free drink ticket with an RSVP before April 17.

It all starts with a three-ring show where professional circus performers will demonstrate their skills, then they will teach partygoers the how-to’s involved in juggling, plate spinning, tightrope- and stilt-walking, balancing on a giant ball, rolling in the German Wheel and more. Trapeze demonstrations and fire breathing will also be featured, but will not be available for guests to try! Traditional circus

fare such as cotton candy, popcorn, soft pretzels and lots of other junk food sure to add to the event’s ambience will be served. And even though participants will get to act like kids for the night, adult beverages will be served.

“This is Access’ first big event of 2012 and hundreds of YPs from all across the region are expected to attend,” explains Access event coordinator, Rachel Plowden.

“RSVPs have been pouring in and we are pulling out all the stops to make Cirque du Soiree one of the most fun and engaging events we’ve ever had!”

“Even though most Access programs and events are only open to Jewish YPs, I really appreciate that they open up their big, main events to non-Jewish guests too,” explains Josh Greenberg. “When I moved to Cincinnati the only people I knew at first were a few of my coworkers, JYPS on page 19

Adath Israel announces new religious program Religious School. You remember it; two days a week after “regular” school plus Sunday morning.

That’s how it was done. That’s how we grew up. Well today our children are growing up in a very different world that includes more homework and more after-school activities. So how will we include these important activities in our children’s lives without short-changing religious school? Parents, teachers and synagogue leadership all struggle with this important issue of balance.

Adath Israel Congregation regularly revisits and reevaluates this issue. In 2008, synagogue members determined that a religious school that met for three days a week (six hours total per week) continued to be the best choice and provide the right balance. In the fall of 2011, parents, teachers and synagogue leadership agreed that it was time to

strike a new balance.

Congregational families needed more flexibility, but also wanted to maintain precious religious school programming. To accomplish both of these goals, the congregation decided to move to a two day a week schedule that maintains 5.5 hours of religious school programming per week.

Starting in September 2012, the new religious school schedule for the Jarson Education Center Religious School of Adath Israel Congregation will be as follows: second through seventh grades will meet on Wednesdays from 4:15 – 6:15 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Kindergarteners and first grade will meet on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

More in-depth information will be provided to religious school families in the coming weeks.

NATIONAL • 7

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

In Las Vegas, Jewish federations take a gamble on engaging young Jews

By Adam Soclof Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Courtesy of J.A.Hyman Titanics Ltd.

Richard Hyman, great-grandson of Titanic survivor Joseph Abraham Hyman, in front of the family business his great-grandfather started a year after the ship sank.

Kosher deli in England a Titanic survivor’s legacy

By Marshall Weiss The Dayton Jewish Observer (The Dayton Jewish Observer) — Manchester, England is home to an estimated 20,000-30,000 Jews, roughly 40 percent of whom keep kosher. Three of the community’s six kosher butcher/delicatessen shops are run by Richard Hyman and his wife, Joanna.

The 99-year-old family business, known to locals as “Titanics,” was born out of the most famous maritime disaster in history.

Richard, 42, is the greatgrandson of Joseph Abraham Hyman, a survivor of the Titanic who was a third-class passenger aboard the ship.

“He was traveling alone,” Richard says of his great-grandfather in an email conversation with The Observer. “The idea was that the streets were paved with gold in the U.S. and he would earn money to send back to the family so that they could follow in.”

Born in Russia in 1878, Joseph Abraham Hyman lived in Manchester before boarding Titanic at Southampton. He listed his destination as Springfield, Mass., where he planned to join his brother.

Three days after the sinking, when the rescue ship Carpathia arrived in New York on the evening of April 18, 1912, Hyman gave extensive accounts of the disaster to The New York Herald and The New York Times. Both were published the following day.

After Titanic’s collision, Hyman related, he ultimately made it to the boat deck. He found himself on the starboard side near collapsible boat C and noticed this was the last boat at that part of the ship.

“The forward deck was jammed with the people, all of them pushing and clawing and fighting, and so I walked forward and stepped over the end of the

boat that was being got ready and sat down,” he told The New York Times. “Nobody disturbed me, and then a line of men gathered along the side, and only opened when a woman or a child came forward.

When a man tried to get through he would be pushed back.”

Also on collapsible C was J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line.

Hyman told The New York Herald that after the men had rowed collapsible C about a half mile from Titanic, they heard a small explosion and a terrible cry.

“The cry was blood curdling and never stopped until the Titanic went down, when it seemed to be sort of choked off. The cry is ringing in my ears now and always will.”

Shaken to the core, Hyman’s wife refused to make the crossing to join him in America, Richard says. But Hyman, too, was afraid to travel by ship to England.

“So a cousin of his got him drunk and put him on a boat back,” Richard explains. “We don’t know who the cousin was, as I don’t think my great-grandfather spoke to him again!”

Hyman got the idea for a kosher deli/grocery store while he was in New York. This kind of shop was new to England. Although Hyman named his business J.A. Hyman Ltd., locals referred to him as “the man from the Titanic.” Soon enough, customers began calling the North Manchester shop “Titanics.”

Hyman died in 1956, 13 years before Richard was born. The family tells Richard that his great-grandfather never spoke about his escape once he was back in England.

“We still have customers who come in and tell me now they used to get the salmon fligel (fin) of Jewish lollipop as they called it from my great-grandfather when they were little — a tradition that still continues today,” Richard says.

LAS VEGAS (JTA) — In this city of betting and sin, the Jewish Federations of North America took a gamble.

Jewish federations from the United States and Canada collectively kicked in tens of thousands of dollars in subsidies to send 1,500 Jews aged 22 to 45 to the Venetian resort and casino in Las Vegas for last week’s TribeFest, a gathering designed to engage participants in Jewish communal life.

The question now is whether the gamble will pay off.

Marty Paz, the incoming campaign chairman of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, believes it will.

“I think everyone in this room can give $18 a year,” Paz said, describing how TribeFest could be a vehicle to cultivate a “habit of giving” among participants. A small request now for a cause that people care for, he said, “could later on, as they reach professional success, turn into hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

This was the second year that the umbrella organization for Jewish federations has organized TribeFest, and Jewish Federations CEO Jerry Silverman said last year’s event, also held in Las Vegas, resulted in some clear success stories.

In one case, he said, participants from San Diego began organizing social justice programming around food. In another, he pointed to a woman from Richmond, Va., Danielle Aaronson, who attended last year’s TribeFest and now is the young leadership director of her federation.

But event organizers stressed that TribeFest was neither a fundraising pitch nor a call for participants to be involved with their federations, per se, so long as they’re involved with the Jewish community.

“I think that each community has a responsibility to follow up,” said event co-chair Jason Rubinoff of Toronto.

The three-day retreat March 2527 didn’t have a central theme.

Rather, TribeFest tried a something-for-everybody approach.

Presenters ranged from Jewish celebrities — former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Rachel Dratch and Olympic gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg – to two parents of children with genetic disorders who urged audience members to undergo testing for the 19 genetic diseases common to Ashkenazi Jews.

There also was a service component. Armed with 4,000 books donated by the PJ Library — an organization that promotes Jewish

literacy by distributing free Jewish books to thousands of American Jewish households — 600 participants loaded onto buses early on a Monday morning to distribute books and read to local elementary public school students.

Participants cited a wide range of reasons for coming to TribeFest.

Some said they came to meet other Jewish singles. One lawyer toying with switching to a career in the rabbinate said she came to learn. An engineer from Houston who spent the last two years building an oil rig in Russia’s Far East came to socialize. A young federation professional from Delaware said she was seeking ways to strengthen messaging for her community’s campaign.

Sessions covered everything

from dating tips to an election debate featuring representatives from the National Jewish Democratic Council and the Republican Jewish Coalition.

During that session, billionaire Sheldon Adelson – the casino magnate who owns the Venetian and whose philanthropy portfolio includes both Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign and Birthright Israel — briefly took the microphone to express his displeasure with President Obama.

Outside programming hours, TribeFest goers were granted drink specials and free admission to some of the most popular nightclubs on the Las Vegas Strip. A few also ventured their way to food and drink receptions hosted by partner organizations.

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Technology, volunteerism helping new A video game you can’t win — about Israeli red tape day schools cut costs in a big way

By Josh Lipowsky Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK (JTA) — The nondenominational Pre-Collegiate Learning Center of New Jersey doesn’t have a math teacher. The East Brunswick school instead relies on experienced math tutors who help students work through an online math curriculum relying on outside sources.

At Baltimore’s Ohr Chadash, a Modern Orthodox primary school in its first year, students receive iPads beginning in the fourth grade to do more online and group work.

“The things the teachers ask us to do for work are fun,” said 9-yearold Nili Hefetz, a fourth-grader at the school. For example, using Adobe Ideas, Nili and other students draw pictures on the iPads inspired by the Chumash (Bible) lessons.

“The idea was to incorporate technology into the school in a seamless way,” said the school’s president, Saul Weinreb. “It became

a way of doing things both in education and administration.”

It’s also a way to save money.

With tuition that can reach $30,000 or more per student, the day school tuition crisis has spurred a search for new options and given rise to a new breed of day schools where technology and blended learning — mixing traditional classroom learning with online education — are reducing costs.

“In the general world, online and blended learning is becoming a wave of the future,” said Rachel Mohl Abrahams, a program officer at the Avi Chai Foundation in New York.

PCLC opened in the fall with 20 students in grades 8 to 11. Its director, Lauren Ariev Gellman, predicts that in 10 to 15 years, all schools — public and private — will have an online component.

“Everybody is going to move in this direction,” Gellman said. “It would serve Jewish schools well to get ahead of the curve. And bring

the costs way down.”

Tuition is just $5,000 at the PCLC. The blended learning style has allowed the school to save in a big area: faculty. It employs only two full-time administrators and only part-time teachers. Teachers assign lessons from online curricula, such as math and science lessons from Khan Academy or language lessons from Rosetta Stone, and then provide individual help while students work at their own pace.

The Judaic studies curriculum is more traditional — simply because the resources are not there yet. Two of the classes, however, are run over Skype with a teacher in Israel and students participating from four or five other yeshivas.

Volunteering is also helping to keep down costs at the new schools.

At Ohr Chadash, where tuition is $8,400 this year, each family is required to volunteer 25 hours per year. Nili’s mother, Shayna, is coSCHOOLS on page 22

Producer threatens L.A. Jewish film fest over rejection of sex-abuse documentary

By Ben Harris Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK (JTA) — Producer Scott Rosenfelt, whose credits include “Home Alone” and “Mystic Pizza,” is threatening a major Jewish film festival after its director raised concerns that Rosenfelt’s documentary about sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community amounts to a “witch hunt.”

Rosenfelt sent a scathing email last week to the director of the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival after learning that she had warned colleagues at other film festivals about “Standing Silent.”

The film, which features interviews with several victims of sexual abuse by Baltimore-area Orthodox rabbis, is slated to be screened at several Jewish film festivals across the United States. It was the subject of a lengthy feature article in The Washington Post.

In an email to Jewish film festival directors in September, L.A. festival chief Hilary Helstein wrote that while the film was well made, “Our committee felt with a community that reveres it’s [sic] rabbis this was not something they wanted to show.”

Rosenfelt called the email the “most unprofessional act” he has seen in his 35-year career.

“The idea that a festival director would go behind the back of a filmmaker and do this gives me great pause to ever recommend your festival to anyone,” Rosenfelt wrote to Helstein on March 22.

Courtesy of Standing Silent

Phil Jacobs, a journalist who was vilified for reporting allegations of sexual abuse in Baltimore’s Orthodox community, is the subject of the film “Standing Silent.” The director of the L.A. Jewish Film festival called it a “witch hunt.”

“As you know, I’ve produced films such as ‘Home Alone,’ so I know a couple of people in the business. I plan on letting EVERYONE I know to stay away from you and your festival, because you are clearly not someone who supports filmmakers.”

Rosenfelt concluded by calling Helstein “a disgrace to Judaism, and not only that, a disgrace to all humanity.”

In an interview with JTA, Rosenfelt stood by his comments, saying that Helstein was complicit in the kind of silence surrounding sexual abuse that his film aims to combat. Asked if he really felt Helstein was a disgrace to humanity, Rosenfelt said “Absolutely.”

Helstein’s email was sent in the context of a discussion among festival officials about possible films to show. She wrote that her

festival’s team rejected the film because of its subject matter.

“They felt the film was more of a ‘witch hunt,’ ” she wrote.

“We all show different things and each community has a different level of tolerance,” Helstein concluded. “I just wanted to put a warning sticker on this one so that you are aware.”

Helstein did not respond to requests seeking comment, but John Fishel, the L.A. festival chairman, told JTA that the determination not to screen “Standing Silent” was made by a small group of volunteers on the selection committee. Fishel said the committee did not feel the film was appropriate to screen and worried that it would provoke controversy that would overshadow the film itself.

DOCUMENTARY on page 19

By Emanuel Maiberg j. weekly In most video games, players battle dragons or space aliens, or engage in modern warfare. The goal in the Israeli-made game “Arnona Race” is mundane by comparison, yet equally heroic: paying Jerusalem’s municipal property tax.

The game begins when Yigal, a Jerusalem university student, comes back from vacation in India and discovers that his feckless roommate has failed to pay 8,000 shekels (about $2,100) on their basement apartment’s arnona (the local government tax tied to the size, location and type of property).

To avoid eviction, Yigal needs to run a gantlet of paperwork, local government officials and shady landlords.

The game’s creators, Alon Simon and Oren Rubin, both 30, started “Arnona Race” in 2009 as a senior animation project at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. After graduation, Simon and Rubin continued working on the game until it went online Feb. 11.

“Arnona Race” is inspired by “point-and-click” adventures made popular in the ’90s by Bay Area developer LucasArts. These games rely on good writing as opposed to frenetic action, and ask players to solve puzzles by exploring the environment and finding inventive ways to use objects.

Since its release, “Arnona Race” has received a lot of attention in the Israeli press, over 40,600 unique visitors, and 6,700 “likes” on Facebook.

Few games are developed in Israel, and even fewer are entirely in Hebrew because of the limited potential audience. But it is exactly this specific, local perspective that makes “Arnona Race” relevant and funny to many Israelis in situations similar to that of Yigal’s.

It pokes fun at the expected stereotypes: an ultra-Orthodox Jew from Mea Shearim, an old Arab woman from east Jerusalem, an Ethiopian security guard. The punch line, it seems, is that all of them stand in the same long line, waiting to resolve equally dull issues at the city council.

“Arnona Race” is apolitical in its humor. Everyone is equally ridiculed. But the game’s conceit is inherently tied to the country’s ongoing housing crisis, which came to a boil with the tent protests across Israel last summer, which were focused on deteriorating public services and the cost of living.

The obstacles before Yigal are seemingly endless. In order to get a student discount on his taxes and bring them down to a manageable sum, he must navigate the local gov-

Courtesy of Alon Simon and Oren Rubin

The video game’s cover shows Yigal running the bureaucratic gauntlet.

ernment bureaucracy, known for obtuseness of Soviet proportions.

“But I’m a student,” Yigal pleads with the stone-faced clerk as melodramatic violin music illlustrates his despair. “I don’t have money. . . . pita bread with dry rice is all I eat!”

Yigal must also obtain his lease from his surly landlord, Moshe, who isn’t even willing to cooperate on a leaky sink, let alone a nuanced municipal dispute.

“I know plenty of people that would die to move into that apartment for that price,” Moshe threatens Yigal. “And I’m raising it by the way!”

“The story is a little exaggerated, but it’s based on reality,” Simon said. “It’s true that the bureaucracy is complicated and clumsy, but the bottom line is that as a student you really are entitled to a significant discount when paying the arnona.”

“I don’t know how it is in the United States,” Rubin adds, “but here in Israel customer service is not good. There’s a feeling that [government employees] are doing you a favor as opposed to doing their job.”

What’s most telling about “Arnona Race” is that the player doesn’t get to win. Different games tell different stories and sometimes address real issues, especially in student and independent projects.

However, one thing they all have in common is that with skill and time they allow the player to overcome the obstacles and succeed.

However, helping Yigal solve all the problems, get all the paperwork, and deliver it to the city council on time doesn’t make a difference.

In the end, Moshe sells the apartment to a real estate agent who, we can assume, will renovate and make it unaffordable, a common practice that was one of the tent protesters’ main grievances.

Simon and Rubin, who live in Tel Aviv, took part in the massive demonstrations connected with the tent protests, the largest in the country’s history.

INTERNATIONAL • 9

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

Amsterdam Jews want out of long-distance relationship with U.S. rabbi

By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency AMSTERDAM (JTA) — He was exotic, but familiar; well connected, yet independent; serious, but flexible. It was love at first sight for Amsterdam’s Orthodox community and Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag.

But six years after appointing Ralbag as the chief rabbi of Amsterdam, the community’s board is considering an end to the long-distance relationship, which has been strained by cultural gaps.

Ralbag, a rabbinical judge and the rabbi of a congregation in Brooklyn, N.Y., has traveled several times a year to Amsterdam since accepting the non-salaried position in 2005. It is his second go-round in Amsterdam. He had worked here in the 1970s, making a name for himself as a reformer who married New World entrepreneurship with an understanding of European communities.

Some, however, worry that Ralbag’s U.S. obligations shackle Amsterdam’s Jews to his politics and business across the ocean while depriving them of effective guidance because of his frequent absence.

The relationship reached a boiling point in January when the Dutch Orthodox community briefly suspended Ralbag for cosigning a rabbinical declaration describing homosexuality as a curable condition.

Last week, roughly a third of the community’s board of 30 members voted not to Ralbag’s contract, which expires in June 2013. Finding a suitable replacement, though, may prove tricky for this small, divided community.

To fill the position of chief

International Briefs French Islamic militants planned to kidnap Jewish judge (JTA) — Suspected Islamic militants arrested throughout France were planning terrorist attacks that included kidnapping a Jewish judge.

The 13 members of the extremist group Forsane Alizza, or Knights of Pride, were among 19 suspected Islamic militants arrested last week in France. They are under investigation for alleged terrorist activities,

rabbi of Amsterdam, the board of the community — known locally by its Dutch initials, NIHS — requires an internationally acclaimed, liberal-leaning Orthodox rabbi who is also a dayan, or rabbinical jurist. A secular academic degree also is required, along with experience working with Western European congregations. Plus he must to agree to live here.

With few domestic candidates, the tall order compelled the community of approximately 2,500 to hire an American. Community members say Ralbag was chosen for his rabbinical standing, familiarity with the Dutch community and openness to reform.

“Ralbag has done some very good things, and it’s extremely difficult for me to go against my rabbi – I know it’s not the Jewish thing to do,” says Hadassa Hirschfeld, who chairs the largest faction on the NIHS board, Kol Chadasj. “But the community doesn’t feel connected.”

Although Hirschfeld argues in favor of ending the engagement with Ralbag, she also credits him with opening the board to women in 2009 — a reform that enabled her tenure.

“At first almost everyone was very favorably impressed with Ralbag’s vision,” she recalls.

After Ralbag co-signed the rabbinical declaration on homosexuality as a condition that can be “healed,” the board briefly suspended him and said the community “welcomes” gays. The board then declared that it “unanimously found the position of long-distance chief rabbi no longer works the way it should.”

AMSTERDAM on page 22 Paris public prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters Tuesday.

Preliminary charges are being filed against the 13, and nine will remain in police custody, he said.

The men reportedly planned to kidnap a Jewish judge in Lyon, in southeast France.

Molins said that there is no tie between the group and Mohamed Merah, the gunman who killed three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulose on March 21, as well as three French military personnel the previous week.

Merah had claimed links to alQaida, as does Forsane Alizza.

The terrorists’ arrests were part of a French crackdown in the wake of Merah’s attack in Toulouse.

France on Monday also expelled five radical Islamic ministers.

After Toulouse attack, French Jews are reconsidering Sarkozy

By Daniel Hoffman Jewish Telegraphic Agency PARIS (JTA) — With the first round of France’s presidential election less than four weeks away, the attacks that left four Jews and three French soldiers dead are reshaping the race — but for now it’s not clear exactly how.

In the days leading up to the attacks, President Nicolas Sarkozy had managed to close most of the gap behind the leader in the polls, Socialist candidate Francoise Hollande, with a rightward turn that included calls by Sarkozy in favor of tougher immigration restrictions and against the labeling of halal meat.

Since the March 19 attack on the Jewish Otzar Hatorah school in Toulouse, Sarkozy has announced several measures to clamp down on right-wing and Islamic extremists. He ordered French security forces to seek out Muslim extremists, barred an influential Egyptian Sunni cleric from attending a conference in France next month and urged TV networks not to air footage of the Toulouse attack and the one on soldiers in nearby Montauban that had been delivered to the Al Jazeera bureau here.

While politicians across the political spectrum condemned the attacks, Sarkozy won praise from the Jewish community for suspending his campaign and flying to Toulouse immediately after the school shooting, calling it “obviously anti-Semitic” and saying that the “whole republic” was mobilized to face the tragedy.

But it’s not clear how long the focus will remain on security before shifting back to the main issue facing France: the economy.

“The political debate will probably refocus on the fundamental economic topics,” said Jean-Yves Camus, a political scientist who specializes in rightwing extremism. “Still, it is very important to French Jews to make the population understand that the Toulouse attack does not only concern their community but the whole country.”

French Jews, he said, “will most certainly vote for politicians with solid experience who are able to put in practice legal and credible measures to answer an Islamic threat.”

The latest national polls show Sarkozy and his center-right Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, trailing Hollande by a percentage point or two in the first round scheduled for April 22, but by a wider gap in a theoretical runoff scheduled for May 6.

Since the Toulouse attack, the National Front, France’s largest

Courtesy of Daniel Hoffman

Women raising French flags during a silent demonstration in Paris to protest recent murders in France, March 20, 2012.

far-right party, has tried to take advantage of the changed climate.

On Sunday, party leader Marine Le Pen promised to “bring radical Islam to its knees.” In her speech Le Pen, who has been polling at approximately 15 percent, also linked mass immigration with fundamentalism and denounced the risk of a “green fascism.”

Few observers believe that many Jews will opt for the National Front, even though Le Pen has sought to woo Jewish voters and distance herself and her party from the anti-Semitism of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the National Front.

“In 2002, only 6 percent of French Jews voted for the National Front, while the election occurred only a few months after 9/11,” Camus said. “A substantial movement from the Jewish community toward Marine Le Pen is very unlikely.”

The Jewish community, whose 600,000 members represent less than 1 percent of the total French population, remains more supportive of Sarkozy’s party than the general public. But prior to the Toulouse shootings, a survey of the Jewish electorate showed that Sarkozy had lost support among Jews even though he remained more popular than any

other single candidate.

According to a March 9 poll from the French polling institute IFOP, Sarkozy’s favorable ratings among Jews had fallen to 43 percent as of January from 62 percent in May 2007, when Sarkozy was elected president. The main reason, said Jerome Fourquet, who directed the survey for IFOP, was France’s economy.

“The trend is similar to the French general electorate’s disaffection with Sarkozy,” Fourquet said. “People are dissatisfied with the economic situation and their purchasing power.”

For many Jews, the economy is not the only source of discontent with the president. In early March, Sarkozy’s prime minister, Francois Fillon, made controversial statements about halal and kosher slaughter rituals, declaring that the “ancestral traditions” in Islam and Judaism were “outdated.”

The comment provoked a strong reaction from Jewish leaders.

“As religion and state are strictly separated in France, politicians should avoid giving their opinion on these topics,” said Richard Prasquier, president of the CRIF, the main French umbrella organization for Jewish institutions.

10 • ISRAEL

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Israel’s army gears up for one of its biggest operations: Passover

By Marcy Oster Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — With Passover nearing, the Israeli army is embarking on one of its biggest operations of the year.

Whether in the field, on a base or with family living abroad, “every last soldier has everything he needs for seder night,” asserts Capt. Ze’ev Rosens, rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces Tank School in southern Israel.

Preparation for the holiday begins about a month before it starts, Rosens says, and includes figuring out where each soldier will be, thus ensuring that the proper amount of matzah and other necessities are on hand.

Base kitchens, some of which serve thousands of soldiers a day, must be cleaned and koshered.

That means bringing in reinforcements days before Passover: Reserve soldiers are called up for a day or two at a time to handle this most unmilitary of duties.

“Getting rid of chametz is no less important than fighting with our enemy,” Rosens says.

At his base, many of the sol-

Courtesy of IDF Spokesperson

IDF soldiers raise a glass at a model seder on their base.

diers are part of the hesder yeshiva program, in which the soldiers combine army service and yeshiva studies, so Rosens forgoes help from the reserves. Soldiers living on a base should be responsible for their own kitchen, the rabbi says, because it lends a greater seriousness to the effort.

This year, the kitchens will be koshered for Passover beginning on Wednesday morning, two days

before the burning of the chametz.

From the moment they start the koshering, soldiers are not allowed to bring chametz on the base. That’s a strict army order; any soldier found with chametz can be punished.

What the soldiers do off the base, however, is strictly up to them, the rabbi says.

“We are not forcing anyone to keep mitzvot,” Rosens told JTA.

“But in the army, each person must respect his fellow soldier.”

Part of that respect means that the kitchens are free of kitniyot (rice and beans) to accommodate all levels of Passover observance.

In addition, soldiers may request shmurah matzah for the entire week of Passover.

The soldiers are responsible for cleaning their personal belongings and barracks. Commanders on each base perform inspections.

Rosens, 37, has been a career officer for the past six years. The New York native made aliyah with his family at the age of 9.

His fifth seder in the army will be a family affair: His wife and seven children attend, as do the spouses and children of other base commanders. “It is an amazing experience” for both the family members and the soldiers, Rosens says.

For some soldiers, the army experience is their first seder, and many want to share their own personal stories — from the Ethiopian soldier who walked hundreds of miles to make it on a transport plane to the Jewish state, to the soldier from the former

Global March to Jerusalem could bring Israel thousands of Arabs to Israel’s borders Briefs

By Marcy Oster Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — If proPalestinian calls for a so-called Global March to Jerusalem are heeded, thousands of Arabs from the West Bank, Gaza, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria could converge on Israel’s borders.

The day, March 30, marks Land Day, which commemorates the deaths of six Arab Israelis killed in 1976 during protests against Israeli government land policies that confiscated privately owned Arab land.

While last year’s Land Day commemorations were held without incident, rallies two months later to mark the anniversary of what the Palestinians call the Nakba — the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding in 1948 — brought thousands of Arabs from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza to march on Israel’s borders, and 13 marchers were killed.

A month later, on June 5, hundreds of Syrian protesters stormed the border with Israel on Naksa Day, the anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War, and there were more casualties.

“The IDF is prepared for any eventuality and will do whatever is necessary to protect Israeli borders and residents,” the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesman told JTA this week when asked how the IDF is preparing for Land Day. Citing senior defense officials, Haaretz reported that the IDF is prepared for “relatively serious

Courtesy of Hamad Almakt/ Flash90

Arab demonstrators marking the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, the term meaning “catastrophe” that Arabs use to describe the creation of the State of Israel, approaching a Golan Heights village, May 15, 2011.

events.” The Israeli daily added that the most current intelligence assessments believe that the demonstrations Friday will be “limited.”

Preparations for Land Day security have used last year’s Nakba and Naksa day rallies as models, according to reports.

Security forces have updated their knowledge of non-lethal crowd dispersal methods, while border troops have gone on higher alert and additional IDF troops have been moved to the borders.

Israeli officials reportedly were most concerned about the Lebanese border and asked the Lebanese government to rein in protesters. The main Lebanese demonstration is planned for the Beaufort Castle, which is several miles north of the

Israeli city of Metullah, rather than the border with Israel, the Lebanese branch of the Global March to Jerusalem announced last week. The number of demonstrators at Beaufort will be limited to 5,000, according to the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper, citing organizers of the march.

March general coordinator Ribhi Halloum told reporters earlier in the week that the march would be peaceful.

“The aim of the Al Quds march is to express a message of protest and condemnation against the policy of Israeli occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories,” he said, using the Arabic name for Jerusalem. “We will under no circumstances agree to MARCH on page 20

ICC prosecutor: No probe on Gaza war crimes because Palestine not a state JERUSALEM (JTA) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hague said the court cannot open an investigation into cases related to the 2008-09 Gaza war because Palestine is not a state.

Jose Luis Moreno Ocampo said Tuesday in a statement that it is up to the United Nations or the states that make up the court to determine whether the Palestinian Authority can be a signatory to the 1998 Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. According to the statute, only internationally recognized states can join the international court.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that while Israel welcomes the decision on the lack of ICC jurisdiction, “it has reservations regarding some of the legal pronouncements and assumptions in the Prosecutor's statement.”

The ICC’s decision came in response to a January 2009 request by the Palestinian Authority that the court direct its war crimes tribunal to investigate war crimes cases against Israeli officials stemming from the monthlong Gaza war that began in late December 2008. The

Soviet Union who tasted real freedom for the first time in Israel.

Soldiers can participate in at least half the seder — many split their time between the festive meal and guard duty. The end of the seder is emotional, Rosens says, with the soldiers dancing and singing “L’shanah haba b’Yerushalayim” (Next Year in Jerusalem).

Those in the field receive enough matzah, grape juice and seder plate elements to fulfill the mitzvot of seder night, Rosens says. Lone soldiers, including the 100 on his base, have hospitality for the seder night if they do not need to be on the base; those with families visiting Israel are given furloughs to be with their loved ones. Some soldiers also receive permission to travel to their home countries to be with their families.

For soldiers who may feel like slaves to the army during the festival of freedom — especially the newly conscripted soldiers who arrived on the base last week — Rosens says he communicates a different message.

“There is no greater way to celebrate freedom,” he says, “than to be a soldier for our own state.” request was in the form of a letter filed with the court in which the Palestinian Authority unilaterally accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction.

NGO Monitor had filed a legal brief on the case arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction over the Palestinian Authority since it is not a state.

“Throughout this process, the ICC — created to punish the worst perpetrators of war crimes and mass murder — was exploited by several European Union and European-government funded non-governmental organizations, which intensively lobbied the Office of the Prosecutor as part of their campaign to attack the legitimacy of the State of Israel,” said Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor’s legal adviser.

Haredi Orthodox man attacked with axe on way to Western Wall JERUSALEM (JTA) — A haredi Orthodox man on his way to the Western Wall for morning prayers was attacked by an axewielding Arab youth near the Damascus Gate.

Police reportedly found the man, 55, at the scene, bleeding heavily from his head; he also had injuries to his midsection. He reportedly told police he struggled with and fought off the attacker. He was taken by ambulance to Hadassah-Ein Kerem for treatment.

The attacker fled the scene but left the axe behind, according to reports. Police are searching for the attacker.

12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Shoshana Stern, 9, Rockwern Academy

Leah Mossman, 11, Rockwern Academy

Jonathan Levy, 8, Rockwern Academy

Danielle Jacobson, 11, Rockwern Academy

Omie Turner, 9, Rockwern Academy

Fiona Schaffzin, 8, Rockwern Academy

Molly Fisher, 8, Rockwern Academy

Lucy Schneider, 8, Rockwern Academy

Will Schneider, 8, Rockwern Academy

Mazzie Croog, 8, Rockwern Academy

Jacob Peri, 8, Rockwern Academy

Wynter Edwards, 7, Rockwern Academy

14 • DINING OUT

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Rascals’ NY Deli deserves its accolades

By Sondra Katkin Dining Editor Was I dreaming? When Gary Zakem, co-owner with Morris Zucker of Rascals’ NY Deli, gave me four breads to taste, I thought I was back in Philadelphia with the superb bread I grew up eating. It doesn’t hurt that he gets the bread delivered daily — no dilly-dallying here. It would be difficult to choose which was my favorite since each platter requires its own type. The rye with caraway seeds is perfect with their lean corned beef — tangy meets tangy. The rye had the wonderful, almost “beery” smell and sour bite I remembered. My husband (gluten free) Steve and I shared the corned beef without the bread (for him), and savored every meaty morsel. The seedless marbled rye is a tasty answer for those with caraway consternation. The slice of white bread was delicious with a hint of sourdough. And the challah that accompanied the chicken matzoh ball, noodle soup had a pronounced but pleasant yeasty flavor with a light sweetness and fluffy body that reminds your taste buds why the loaf is so loved.

I rarely order chicken soup out because my mother’s is seldom matched. This golden chicken broth was full of flavor and the matzoh balls melted in my mouth. One satisfied diner described their tenderness, “It’s like a pasta you don’t have to chew — it does all the work for you.” I was surprised that the noodles retained their firmness.

Zakem explained that they add them right before serving — no soggy bottom to slog through. The other soups were very thick the way my dad always liked them. He used to say, “Make it ‘tic’.” A friend told me she comes all the time for the minestrone, a meal in itself.

Another customer favorite, the split pea turkey soup, has a secret ingredient. My host revealed that they add their own “rendered” schmaltz, giving it a fuller, heartier flavor.

The beef barley is also “treated” with this tasty addition. A “brothier” version is available if a customer requests it.

“We have a lot of regulars who love our traditional homemade food — all made on site from my Mom’s, Aunt’s and Grandma’s recipes,” Zakem noted. This anecdote has gravitas since he comes from one of Cincinnati’s premier deli families, the former owners of Stanley’s. I spoke to fans, Lester and Florence Horwitz. Florence compared the chopped liver to her grandmother’s and said it was the best. Zakem recommends combining that or his popular potato pancakes with the cinnamon apple sauce which is spiced up with red hots. Lester noted that, “Gary revived good deli in this town.” He added, “I’m not getting paid; I’m paying.” Another customer, who

(Clockwise) Display of delicatessen delights; Street scape welcome to Rascal’s; Homemade, tempting dessert selection; Redheaded representative of tasty treats, my server, April with co-owner, Gary Zakem; My mini salad sampler surrounding cinnamon “hot” tangy applesauce.

praised their soup and corned beef sandwich, needed a fat free lunch and was very pleased that Zakem prepared it just for her. He explained, “If we know what people’s parameters are, we will accommodate them. We have enough variety. I come from a family with a lot of eating demands — vegan, lactose free, gluten free, spicy, not spicy, no mayo or vinegar — we run the gamut.” He offers lettuce wrapped sandwiches for the gluten intolerant.

My first visit corroborated his customer consideration. Steve and I hadn’t been to a deli for a long time and I was having a hard time deciding what to order. Being very hungry, I might not have been as sweet as usual. Zakem patiently answered my questions and I felt myself relaxing. Dinner and therapy — wow! We enjoyed the Greek salad and thought the homemade veggie vinaigrette — a bit sweet, a bit sour — was a perfect complement to the crispy greens. The deli also features a variety of hand-

crafted salads including tuna, chicken, potato, Israeli and egg.

There is a combo plate where you can try any three you wish.

For my entree, I had the sturgeon, rich and fresh tasting. They get their fish from New York. As the scion of the renowned deli family, he knows the quality suppliers and his partner hails from Brooklyn — bona fides you can chew on. He’s proud of his parents’ homemade recipe for sour pickles and green tomatoes. Since that is placed on the table before the food arrives, it can “sour” your expectations if it’s not appealing.

No worries. Crispy, with the exact amount of sour to get that half sour ratio we love, we crunched happily until our entree was served.

Having grown up in a culturally (Jewish) deficient neighborhood, with parents who had little interest in traditional food, I did not know what “cholent” is. Zakem explained how this tasty stew is constructed with an “aside” of history. He found a meat supplier whose short ribs had

significantly less fat and combined them with onions, garlic, beans, barley and vegetables. He told me that Iraqi Jews used to put eggs on the bottom and cooked on a “blech,” a thick metal heated on the fire before Shabbos and then used to slow cook the stew — perhaps an early example of savory “savoir ‘fare’”? He adds red wine and cooks it for 18 hours in the slow cooker. “We have some big guys who work at a steel manufacturing company who love our cholent,” he said.

“Many people don’t know that we have an excellent selection of breakfasts; when you think of deli you don’t think breakfast,” Zakem said. Choices include blintzes, omelets, matzoh brie and “hopple popple” (three scrambled eggs, salami, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions and sliced potatoes). My redheaded server, April, was bringing me one taste treat after another with contagious enthusiasm.

Zakem said she is wonderful with customers. She told me that their challah French toast smells so good

when it is served, everyone wants it. If you love dessert for breakfast, the homemade choices will satisfy your cravings. My host’s favorite is rugelah with cinnamon, nuts and golden raisins, reminding him of apple strudel. The display case had tempting and very large chocolate eclairs, a seven inch chocolate layer cake, New York cheesecake and assorted pastries.

With Passover preparations upon us, Zakem informed me that a full supply of homemade, delicious holiday food is available. He recommends checking the menu and ordering ahead. “We do shiva trays, office meetings, parties, bar mitzvahs and weddings,” he added. Rascals’ is open Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; on Friday and Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; and on Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Rascals’ NY Deli 9525 Kenwood Road Cincinnati, OH 45242 (513) 429-4567

DINING OUT • 15

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

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16 • OPINION

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Seizing the lull

Repeat after me, I silently prompted:“Asher bochar bonu mikol ho’amim (who has chosen us from among all nations) “vinosan lonu es Toraso (and has given us His Torah).”

The man’s life was passing before his very eyes; you could tell.

The occasion was both momentous and terrifying to him.

When he began the bracha, he made a strange mistake. First it made me wince. Then it made me think.

“Asher bochar bonu,” he intoned, a bit tentatively, “mikol”— slight hesitation —“haleylos shebechol haleylos anu ochlim…”

The poor fellow had jumped the track of the blessing over the Torah and was barreling along with the Four Questions a Jewish child asks at the Pesach seder!

“Who has chosen us from…all other nights, for on all other nights we eat…” He was quickly corrected and set back on track.

My first thought was a sad one. The brachos on the Torah and the Four Questions may have comprised the sum of his Jewish knowledge.

But then I regarded what had happened the way I imagine Reb

Reprinted from Ami Magazine.

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

Dear Editor, The JCC or the J? First, a moment, out of respect to Manny and his family for what they have done for the JCC and the community at large.

Now, I am just wondering, Is this the JCC (Jewish Community Center) or the J? I noticed today that the J is closed on Saturday, the first day of Passover. It is also closed on several other significant Jewish holidays.

I understand there are many different “dogs in the fight” regarding the operating policies/hours of the J. But, I think we need to realize this is not the JCC of 30 years ago. Approximately 50 percent of the membership is not Jewish. The J is intentionally marketing itself to the non-Jewish community and doing a fine job. So, using simple math and not factoring in the generous donations that built the JCC, 50 percent of the operating revenue is coming from the non-Jewish community (recognizing it is not that simple, but you get the point). How are these closures fair to the non-Jewish members who joined the J, not the Jewish Community Center? If we are going to compete with the other fitness facilities in town we need to play by the same rules (hours).

Sincerely, Alan Eichner Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, Thank you for your fair reporting (Israelite, March 29, 2012) of the Gala evening that ended J Street’s 4th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. As attendees at this meeting, we were impressed with the enthusiasm of the 2,500 participants including 800 college students coming from California to Maine who had come together to promote the principles of a Democratic Jewish State and to bring peace to Israel. How to make this dream a reality was the subject of many plenary and break-out sessions during this March 24-27, 2012 Annual Meeting.

J Street “is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans fighting for the future of Israel as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people. We believe that Israel’s Jewish and Democratic character depends on a two-state solution, resulting in a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security.”

“And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; They shall never again know war.” Isaiah Sincerely, Marvin & Gerry Kraus Cincinnati, OH

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK: THE PASSOVER SEDER 1. How long did the Sages tell over the story of the Haggadah at the Seder? a.) Until midnight b.) All night, until the time to say the morning Shema c.) The whole holiday of Passover 2. Why is Terach, the father of Abraham, mentioned? a.) He lived much of his life wandering from place to place b.) He owned slaves, just like the Egyptians c.) To remind us that our ancestor was also an idolater ment of matzo.

5. The theme of the Four Questions is the difference between Passover night and all other nights. The Haggadah explains the story of the Exodus in great depth.

When he tries to recite the bracha over the Torah, they come tiptoeing in, unsummoned but determined.

The seder is a part of him.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

3. Is it enough to remember our ancestors’ experience in and when leaving Egypt? a.) Yes b.) No 4. How many blessings are said over the matzo? a.) One b.) Two c.) Three 5. What is the answer to the Four Questions?

state, we rose to greatness.

3. B—In every generation, a person must feel as if he left Egypt. Haggadah Every person has his own experience of leaving Egypt.

4. B—The blessing of “hamotzi” is said first like over bread. A second blessing for the command-

A memory from when I was a teen remains vivid. A middle-aged fellow had come to shul one Thursday morning because he had yahrtzeit. The shul hosted a mixture of Jews, some “frum from birth” (though babies can’t really be observant, you know what I mean); some who had become observant as a result of the mentorship of the rabbi (my father, may he be well); and some who hadn’t yet fully embraced their religious identities. This fellow was in the last category, and he was called up for an aliyah to the Torah.

He seemed nervous; he clearly hadn’t assumed such a privilege recently—perhaps not since his bar mitzvah. In my thoughts, I coached him.

Levi of Berdichev would have done: Here stood a simple Jew, inexperienced in most things Jewish, oblivious to the richness of his ancestral faith. And yet, he knows the Four Questions. By heart.

When he tries to recite the bracha over the Torah, they come tiptoeing in, unsummoned but determined. The seder is a part of him.

As it is of countless Jews far removed from any other aspect of Jewish observance.

Surely that is why Jews seem so compelled to create “haggados” of all sorts of bizarre types. The 1960s saw a “civil-rights haggadah” and a “Soviet Jewry haggadah.” Nuclear disarmament, vegetarian (Paschal Turnip, anyone?) and feminist versions followed. It’s still happening today; a “New American Haggadah,” with “contemporary” commentaries and musings by an assortment of personalities has been much ballyhooed in the media of late.

At the core of all the mutations, though, lies the age-old recounting of how our ancestors left Egypt and became a nation, preparing them for, 50 days later, G-d’s revelation at Har Sinai.

Jews, it seems, far as they may have drifted from their source, have a strange compulsion to preserve the Pesach seder, even if they have to coat it in foreign flavors to satisfy their pop palates.

Because the seder, with its message of Jewish peoplehood, is what links each Jewish generation to the next, and all of them, in turn, to the genesis of Klal Yisrael. Even Jews who have lapsed in belief and observance are pushed by some inner motivation they themselves cannot explain to communicate the message of the seder to their young. Sometimes the message resonates even more strongly within the newer recipients.

When I was in yeshiva, the period between Purim and Pesach was called the PPPP— “PostPurim, Pre-Pesach”—lull. It was not the most productive time for learning for most of us. But one of my rabbaim would always stress that that made it all the more special an opportunity. To apply oneself to Torah study at a challenging time is a special merit.

No such lull confronts those of us no longer in yeshiva. These weeks are busy ones—from the clean-up and mishloach manos search-and-consume missions after Purim to the immediately ensuing Pesach cleaning and preparations.

But it offers us its own special opportunity: to reach out to Jews with limited Jewish backgrounds, and invite them to join us for a more traditional seder than they might otherwise have.

A seder that, while it may not be contemporary, is timeless.

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

ANSWERS 1. B—The Haggadah says that several great sages, including Rabbi Akiva, told over the Haggadah until their students told them that it was time to say the morning Shema.

2. C—To show that even though we began in low

By Rabbi Avi Shafran Contributing Columnist

JEWISH LIFE • 17

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

Sedra of the Week

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel — The Festival of Passover is called by our sages “the time of our freedom,” the celebration of our exodus from Egypt. It is also Biblically known as the “Festival of Matzot,” the Holiday of Unleavened Bread.

The flat, rather tasteless, dough which was never given a chance to ferment and rise, was the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in Egypt. After a long day of servitude, they prepared the simplest fare possible and this was the same “bread” that our ancestors hurriedly prepared for their journey to freedom. Is it not strange that our liberty from enslavement by a mighty, totalitarian regime is symbolized by a half-baked pumpernickel flour and water interrupted from rising in its earliest stage of development?

Furthermore, the Bible teaches us that “You shall count for yourselves — from the morrow of the Festival day, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving – seven weeks, they shall be complete… you shall offer a new meal offering baked leavened loaves of bread” (Lev 23: 15-17) to celebrate the Festival of the First Fruits, the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot).

Why after all manner of leavening has been forbidden during Passover, do we celebrate this connected holiday (through the counting of each day from the second day of Passover continuing for a full seven weeks) with an offering of leavened, risen loaves of bread? And why is this culminating festival called “Weeks” (Shavuot), which connotes a period of counting rather than an achievement worthy of a significant holiday?

One final question; on Passover we read the magnificent Song of Songs, the love song between Shlomo and Shulamit, the shepherd and the shepherdess, God and Historic Israel. But this is not a poem of the lover seeking his beloved, a passionate chase culminating in conquest of the prize. It is rather a search, a hideand-seek quest for love and unity which is constantly elusive. At the moment that the beloved finally opens the door, the lover has slipped away and gone. The very final verse cries out, “Flee, my beloved, and appear to be like a gazelle or a young hart as you upon the mountains of spices.”

SHABBAT SHALOM: PESACH

Talmid Hakham, the Hebrew phrase for a Talmudic Scholar, does not mean “wise individual,” rather it means a student of the wise; a good Jew who aspires to the goal of wisdom.

The greater a person’s wisdom, the greater is their understanding that they have not yet achieved complete wisdom. What counts is their aspiration, the achievement is beyond the grasp of mortal humans.

The answer to all three of our questions lies in the distinction between the western mentality and the Jewish mind-set. Western culture measures everything by the bottom line, the result of the game: “did you win or did you lose?” The ancient world, and especially Jewish teaching, is more interested in the method, the search for meaning, how you played the game. Indeed, the Chinese religion is called Tao, the Way, and Judaism speaks of “halakha,” walking or progressing on the road.

Hence, Passover is only the beginning of the process, the road to redemption, which takes us out of Egyptian enslavement, but only brings us as far as the arid desert.

We count seven weeks paralleling the seven sabbatical years leading up to the jubilee; but the actual Festival itself—replete with the vision of Israel rooted on her land, bringing first fruits to the Holy Temple, welcoming even the Moabite Ruth into the Jewish fold as the ultimate achievement of universal redemption—is called the Festival of Weeks after the process which will get us there, overseeing the development from half-baked dough to the fully risen loaves of bread. During the last 5,000 years, the end-game, the actual redemption, has eluded us—but that is hardly the real point. It is the weeks of preparation, the arduous expectation and the paving of the way, which makes the Festival of Weeks the significant piece.

That is the true meaning behind Song of Songs. Love is not the act of conquest, the achievement of unity; it is the search for unity, and the closeness between the two which it engenders, not the obliteration of the one into the

other which absolute unity suggests.

And so the truest commandment is not to effectuate the Messianic Age, but rather that we await its arrival and prepare the road for its coming. This preparation for the Messiah was the most important aspect of the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztz”l.

He taught the necessity of preparing ourselves for the coming of the Messiah rather than the identification of who it may be. The State of Israel is not Redemption Realized, not even to the most ardent religious Zionist; it is merely the “beginning of the sprouting of the redemption,” a work-inprogress which will hopefully pave the way toward our worthiness to be redeemed.

Talmid Hakham, the Hebrew phrase for a Talmudic Scholar, does not mean “wise individual,” rather it means a student of the wise; a good Jew who aspires to the goal of wisdom. The greater a person’s wisdom, the greater is their understanding that they have not yet achieved complete wisdom. What counts is their aspiration, the achievement is beyond the grasp of mortal humans.

Hence, especially during the Passover Seder, the questions are more important than the answers; indeed, the author of the haggadah “types” the four children by the quality — and music — of their questions. “When the one Great Scorer will place a grade next to your name, He will mark not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game.”

Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach 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 YOUR TITANIC SCORECARD April 15, 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, the famous ocean liner and yesterday, April 4, a 3-D re-issue of the blockbuster 1997 film “Titanic” opened in theaters. Here’s a “scorecard” of the Jewish cast members and the real-life Jewish Titanic passengers (briefly) depicted in the movie: Cast: DANNY NUCCI, 43, the American-raised son of Italian Jews, played Fabrizio, the Italian buddy of Jack, the star character (Leonardo DiCaprio). Sadly, Nucci hasn’t had any really good roles since “Titanic”; DAVID WARNER, 70, played Spicer Lovejoy, the bodyguard and valet of “Cal,” the rich American “bad guy” who wants Rose (Kate Winslet) to himself, while she’s in love with Jack.

Warner, who identifies as Jewish, is the son of an English Jewish father/non-Jewish mother. He had many movie roles before “Titanic” and he’s recently enjoyed a career “Indian summer” with acclaimed British TV roles and great Shakespearean stage work; VICTOR GARBER, 63, played the ship’s builder, Thomas Andrews.

Garber, who can also sing, stays busy on the stage and elsewhere. He co-starred as “Jack Bristow” on TV’s “Alias,” and has appeared as Will’s father on “Glee.”; and “footnote actress” ELSA RAVEN, 82, as IDA STRAUS. REAL LIFE JEWS: ISIDOR STRAUS (18451912) and his wife, IDA (18491912). Isidor and his brother NATHAN STRAUS (one of the greatest early supporters of Zionism) turned Macy’s into a great department store. Isidor and Ida were offered lifeboat seats, but Isidor refused to take his while women and children remained on the ship. Ida then refused to board the lifeboat. Witnesses recounted her saying to Isidor: “We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go” (neither survived).; also: BENJAMIN GUGGENHEIM (1865-1912), the son of mining magnate MEYER GUGGENHEIM (1828-1905). He sailed on the Titanic with his French mistress and died when the ship sank. His daughter, PEGGY GUGGENHEIM (1861-1949), was a famous art collector and patron of modern artists, as was Benjamin’s brother, SOLOMON (1861-1949). Before his death, Solomon commissioned the building of New York’s Guggenheim Museum.

THE PIE PIECES COME TOGETHER AGAIN Opening on Friday, April 6, is “American Reunion,” the fourth film in the “American Pie” film

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NEWZ

series. The comedy series, which began in 1999, is based on characters created by ADAM HERZ, 39.

The guys behind the “Harold and Kumar” movies (HAYDEN SCHOLSSBERG, 33, and JON HURWITZ, 34) co-directed and co-wrote “Reunion.” The lead character of the “Pie” movies, Jim Levenstein, is supposed to be Jewish. Playing Jim again is Italian-American, Catholic-born actor Jason Biggs, who often plays Jews and has been married to Jewish comedian JENNY MOLLEN, 32, since 2008.

Returning as Michelle, Jim’s wife, is ALYSON HANNIGAN, 38 (her mother is Jewish). Also returning are EUGENE LEVY, 65, as Jim’s father, EDDIE KAYE THOMAS, 31, as the suave Paul Finch, and NATASHA LYONNE, 31, as the sharp-tongued Jessica.

MORE ROOTS The PBS series, “Finding Your Roots,” profiles Rabbi ANGELA WARNICK BUCHDAHL, 40, on Sunday, April 15, at 8 p.m. She was born in Korea, the daughter of a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother. Currently, she is the Senior Cantor/associate rabbi for the 6,500-member Central Synagogue in New York City. She was ordained a rabbi in 2001 and she’s the first Asian-American to be ordained a rabbi or cantor in North America.

The March 23 episode of the NBC series, “Who Do You Think You Are?” explored the ancestry of actress Helen Hunt. You can watch the episode online anytime. In short: one-half of the program covered Hunt’s paternal grandmother’s family. Hunt already knew that her paternal grandmother was Jewish and that she was “one quarter” Jewish, herself. Hunt learned that her greatgreat-grandfather was WILLIAM SCHOLLE, a Bavarian Jew who came to San Francisco during the 1849 Gold Rush and became a very successful clothing merchant.

During her filmed trip to San Francisco, Hunt met with FRANCES DINKELSPIEL, who is the author of a scholarly biography of her great-great-grandfather, ISASIS HELLMAN, another very successful Gold Rush Jew. Dinkelspiel showed Hunt an 1890 newspaper article which described how Scholle, Hellman, and LEVI STRAUSS joined together to buy a big Nevada bank which later merged with Wells Fargo Bank.

By way of an editorial note, I wish Hunt, a talented actress and very intelligent and “soulful” person, had become a “full tribe member.” Back in 1999, she wed her long-time boyfriend, actor HANK AZARIA, before a rabbi. But she didn’t convert to Judaism and the marriage ended quickly.

FROM THE PAGES 100 Y EARS A GO Mr. David J. Joseph, youngest son of Mrs. Minne and the late Joseph Joseph, and Miss Emilie, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Aram were married Wednesday evening at the Sinton Hotel, Dr. Philipson officiating.

As Mayor Hunt has left the city for a brief and much-needed vacation, Cincinnati will for a while be under the rule of a Jewish acting Mayor, Mr. Simeon Johnson, the Vice-Mayor, who will act during Mayor Hunt’s absence in his stead.

Word was received last week of the death at Springfield, Mass., of Ezekiel Michael Ezekiel, the eldest brother of the well-known Cincinnati family of that name, which took place on March 27. Mr. Ezekiel was a prominent citizen of Springfield and at one time active in politics. He was born in Richmond, Va., on July 9, 1841, and was a son of Jacob and Catherine Ezekiel. The former was the first Secretary of the Hebrew Union College. Mr. Ezekiel, at the outbreak of the war enlisted in the Confederate Army and served until the fall of Richmond, as later did his brother Moses Ezekiel, the sculptor. Besides his widow and his daughter, Miss Grace Ezekiel, he is survived by Henry C., Louis P., and Walter A., of Cincinnati, and Sir Moses Ezekiel residing in Rome, Italy. The surviving sisters are Mrs. Hannah E. Workum, Mrs. Rosa G, Bernheim, Mrs. Seymour Samuels, and Miss Sallie I. Ezekiel, Cincinnati; Mrs. Rebecca J. Collier, Brooklyn, N.Y., Mrs. Ferdinand C. Brauer and Mrs. William H. Brauer, Richmond, Va. Mr. Louis P. Ezekiel attended the obsequies on behalf of the Cincinnati branch of the family.

— April 4, 1912

75 Y EARS A GO Mr. Albert Steiner has gone to Sarasota, Fla., to accompany members of his family home from that city, where they have been the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Steiner’s father, Mr. H.S. Livingston.

Beta Theta Chapter of Pi Tau Pi, national social fraternity, announces resumption of activities under the presidency of Mr. Ira Longini. He was installed, with Messrs. Charles Levinson, Milton Stuhlbarg, Sigmund Muehlfelder and Frank R. Felheim, as charter members Monday, March 22nd, in Columbus, O., while they were guests there of Rho Mu Chapter.

Mr. Longini pointed out to Beta Phi’s reputation enjoyed in former years and expressed hope for future achievements and service.

Mr. and Mrs., Arthur Lelyveld (Toby Bookholtz), 274 Senator Place, are parents of a boy, Joseph Salem Lelyveld, born Monday, April 5th.

Miss Hortense Schwartz and Mr. Nathan Kaufman will be married in the presence of their immediate families Sunday, April 11th, at 6 p.m., at the Netherland Plaza.

Miss Schwartz is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isadore Schwartz, 3921 Red Bud Avenue. Her fiancé is a son of Mrs. Sam Kaufman, Shelbyville, Ind., where he is engaged in business. He is widely known in Indiana as a basketball official. — April 9, 1937

50 Y EARS A GO Mr. Robert Fabe, instructor in art in the UC College of Design, Architecture and Art, served on the national jury of the 35th annual National Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition April 3 in New York City. The exhibit feautures high school students’ work.

Dr. Gerald Nadler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Nadler of Roselawn, will address a dinner meeting of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers at Engineering Society headquarters tonight (Thursday, April 5) at 6:30 p.m.

A native Cincinnatian, he is head of the industrial engineering department at Washington University. He is an authority on time and motion studies and work simplification, and will discuss his work measurement studies.

Herbert Bass was appointed recently an associate to the faculty of the Ohio State University Research Foundation.

He is course director and guest lecturer for the foundation’s government contract law course at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Mr. Bass continues his association in the practice of law with Allen Brown, Edward Schulzinger and Harvey Immerman, Atlas Bank Building.

Mrs. Rose Halpern, 2429 Vera Avenue, passed away Saturday, March 17.

She was the widow of Harry Halpern.

She is survived by her daughter, Mrs. Fannie Bundman, and her son, Sidney Halpern; her sister, Mrs. George Bilker, of Aroma Drive; and two grandchildren, both of 2429 Vera Avenue. — April 5, 1962

25 Y EARS A GO Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in children. Yet the number of children surviving cancer has increased dramatically during the last 10 years.

About two-thirds of the cancer patients at Children’s Hospital Medical Center are long-term survivors. During the past five years, research has focused on developing effective treatments for the remaining one-third who do not respond well to conventional therapies.

To further this effort, Children’s Hospital Medical Center is launching a fund drive to expand its bone marrow transplantation (BMT) unit. Rhoda and Manuel D. Mayerson, a Cincinnati couple known for their philanthropic projects throughout Cincinnati and the U.S., have pledged a $400,000 challenge grant for the renovation and expansion of the CHMC bone marrow transplantation unit.

CHMC’s total goal for the project is $800,000.

Celia Radin of Cincinnati, formerly of Owenton, Ky., passed away March 31.

She is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Donald and Jean Radin; a sister, Fanny Zacharia, of Louisville and Florida; three grandchildren, Dr. Robert of Virginia Beach, Va., Jerome of Los Angeles and S. Andrew; two greatgrandchildren, David and Eve Radin; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was the wife of the late Max L. Radin.

Mrs. Radin was a member of Wise Temple. — April 9, 1987

10 Y EARS A GO Henry Mayer admitted that 30 years ago, he and I would not be having this conversation.

“I would not have been understood,” he explained. “It’s so way beyond human imagination that you couldn’t believe it.”

Mayer is a Holocaust survivor.

Of his parents, brother, grandparents, aunt and uncle, hes is the family’s only survivor.

Born in Dresden, Germany, Mayer, an accomplished violinist, was a member of the Jewish Kulturbund, an organization created by Nazis to “keep the Jews under control,” as Mayer put it.

Jewish musicians of the Kulturbund would perform for exclusively Jewish audiences.

Mayer’s musical career came to a halt when he was deported to Auschwitz at the age of 19. The evening before he was to be gassed, he was brought to the prison doctor who, as a fellow Jew, assured Mayer that things would get better. Mayer doubted that very much.

The two spoke of their lives before the war and Mayer discovered that he had performed in a concert held in the doctor’s hometown. When he realized that he had attended that very concert, the doctor substituted a corpse for Mayer and had him step back into line. He was then transferred to another camp.

When asked how he could lead a fulfilling life after his experience in the Holocaust, Mayer smiled, saying, “I’m an optimist. I believed that I would make it.”

–April 4, 2002

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

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(513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Mikveh 513-351-0609 • cincinnatimikveh.org Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.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) 514-1200 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 • 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 Congregation Zichron Eliezer 513-631-4900 • czecincinnati.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 Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) 513-262-8849 • kulanucincy.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 BBYO (513) 722-7244 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

Conveniently located in Amberley Village Monday–Friday - Experienced Educator - B.A. in Psychology - Kosher Home - Warm and nurturing atmosphere - Shomer Shabbat - References upon request Contact Rebecca for further details:

513-407-3400

JCC from page 6 abortion, genetic engineering, the allocation of limited medical resources and more.

If you have always wanted to learn Hebrew, the J offers Conversational Hebrew, both beginner and intermediate courses, beginning April 5, for ages 18 and older. Get up to speed about the latest hot button issues in Israel at “Israel Up to the Minute,” a free session at the J on April 17, led by Community Shaliach (Emissary) from Israel, Yair Cohen.

Save the date on Sunday, May 20, for an afternoon of interactive, engaging sessions in “Let My People Know: Afternoon of Jewish Learning.” Dr. Hal M. Lewis, president and CEO of Spertus, A Center for Jewish Learning and Culture in JYPS from page 6 none of whom were Jewish. So when I went online and discovered Access, I was relieved that I would be able to bring one of them with me to an upcoming party. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had anyone to walk in with,” he adds. “But now, nearly a year later, I have a lot of Jewish friends too, thanks to Access! To be honest, I don’t think that would have been the case if I hadn’t been able to bring a non-Jewish friend with me to that first party.”

This event is made possible thanks to the generosity of The Mayerson Foundation.

Access aims to provide a “no strings attached” way for Jewish young professionals to connect with one another and to the Jewish community. From social events to social action and everything in between, Access offers something to suit just about every Jewish young professional between the ages of 21-35 and puts on four to

DOCUMENTARY from page 8 The exchange highlights the sensitivities and charged emotions surrounding the issue of sexual abuse in the Jewish community.

“Standing Silent” describes the experiences of a number of survivors of sex abuse in Baltimore’s Orthodox community, as well as the efforts of a journalist to bring those cases to light. The journalist, Phil Jacobs, was the victim of sexual abuse as a child. As the editor

• • • • •

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

(513) 531-9600 Chicago, former Cincinnati teacher, Jewish Federation professional and executive director of Congregation Adath Israel, is the opening speaker, followed by two rounds of breakout sessions led by community educators, including Dr. Gary P. Zola, executive director of the AJA and professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. The afternoon will also celebrate the JCC’s first Melton graduating class and honor Nancy Klein, founding Melton director.

On Thursday, April 26, honor the community’s connections to Israel at the JCC remembrance service of Yom HaZikaron, Israel Memorial Day, and celebrate at the Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel Independence Day party immediately following. six programs each month at some of the most popular venues in town, often attracting as many as 300-400 people to its larger Main Events.

Other Main Events have included: Saturday Night Fever, a ‘70s era disco party; Bootlegger’s Ball, a Gatsby-themed soiree; The World’s Biggest Bar Mitzvah Party, a flashback to days gone by with a grownup twist; Saturday Night Staycation, no planes, no passports, no packing, an indoor island getaway in the middle of winter featuring 20,000 square feet of sand and all the fun of a tropical vacation without ever leaving home; DIVE, a private event at the Newport Aquarium featuring an oxygen bar, appetizers, drinks, DJ and a 20 foot wall of sharks and other sea creatures; Wild, Wild MIDwest, lots of line dancing, horsedrawn hay rides, kegs and country western fare; and The White Party,where guests arrived in style in chauffeur-driven white stretch Escalade limos for an all-white night under the stars. of The Baltimore Jewish Times, Jacobs spent years documenting sex-abuse allegations and consequently endured opprobrium from segments of the local Orthodox community.

“We’ve got to get this out in the public and discuss it and keep our children safe,” Jacobs, who is now the editor of the Washington Jewish Week, told JTA. “Because it sounds like a big old cliche, but somebody touches you for five seconds, it can impact you forever.”

20 • LEGAL / FIRST PERSON

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Must police have a warrant to stop person, to render aid?

Legally Speaking

by Marianna Bettman The Supreme Court of Ohio recently decided an interesting case about the permissibility of the police making a stop (which later resulted in an arrest) without a warrant when they believed the driver of a truck was in need of emergency assistance. Before you say, duhhh, of course they should, there is more to it than first meets the eye. The case is State v. Dunn.

Vandalia police officer Robert Brazel received a dispatcher’s report based on a citizen’s tip that a man driving a tow truck was possibly suicidal, and had a gun in the truck. Brazel and some other officers located the truck driven by Richard Dunn and pulled it over, even though Dunn had not violated any traffic laws. A clearly-distraught Dunn told the officers there was a loaded gun in the glove compartment. The police confiscated the gun and Officer Brazel took Dunn to a hospital.

Sixteen months later the state charged Dunn with the crime of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Dunn moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that the police had no constitutional basis for making the traffic stop.

The trial court denied the motion, finding the stop was a legitimate response to an emergency situation. Dunn was convicted and sentenced to community control. The Court of Appeals reversed this conviction, and the Supreme Court of Ohio agreed to hear the case on an appeal by the prosecution.

It is always good to remember that the general rule in Fourth Amendment cases is that a warrant is required for searches and seizures. There are of course exceptions to that general rule, one of which is called the exigent circumstances exception. That’s when something is going on, usually of an emergency nature, that requires immediate intervention and there is no time to get a warrant. In an opinion written by Justice Evelyn Stratton, a 6-1 majority of the justices found this was such a case, under a renamed variant of the exigent circumstances exception to warrants known as the community care-

taking/emergency aid exception.

Justice Stratton cited an extensive number of state and federal cases, including several from the U.S. Supreme Court, recognizing that a “community-caretaking/ emergency aid exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement is necessary to allow police to respond to emergency situations where life or limb is in jeopardy.” The Court found that exception was clearly applicable in this case, where the police received a dispatch that a man with a gun in his truck was suicidal. The Court held that the traffic stop in this case was proper under this Fourth Amendment exception. The Court of Appeals decision was reversed, and Dunn’s conviction was reinstated.

The Court found that exception was clearly applicable in this case, where the police received a dispatch that a man with a gun in his truck was suicidal.

Justice Stratton went one step further. She called it “ironic” that Dunn, who was suicidal at the time, was now criticizing the police for stopping him to help him, noting that if they hadn’t stopped him and he had injured or killed himself his estate might be suing the police for failing to stop and help him. “Such is the balancing act of Fourth Amendment law,” she wrote.

There is no question that the police behaved both professionally and admirably here. All the justices agreed about that. What was less admirable was the state’s decision to criminally prosecute Dunn, and 16 months after the fact at that. To what end, one might ask? This bothered Justice Judith Lanzinger sufficiently that she wrote a separate concurrence in the case joined by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justice Yvette McGee Brown.

Here’s what she had to say: “What is troublesome here is that the state indicted Dunn for the

crime of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle 16 months after the police prevented his suicide. One wonders if it was reasonable for the state to prosecute Dunn under these circumstances after more than a year had passed. Nevertheless, a motion to suppress puts at issue the actions of police rather than prosecutors.

Because the officers in this case acted reasonably and responsibly, I agree that there was no Fourth Amendment violation and that the court of appeals’ judgment should be reversed.”

And finally, Justice Paul Pfeifer, who always marches to his own drummer, dissented. He saw the case totally differently, governed by a different body of law than the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement. First, he found there was an investigative stop in the case (the majority did not). That triggered the question of whether the police had a reasonable basis to make this stop.

Under existing law in Ohio, a telephone tip by itself can create the reasonable suspicion necessary to support a stop, but the state must prove that the tip has “sufficient indicia of reliability.” Under the Court’s own precedent, the bar for proving reliability is quite low.

Neither the informant who made the call nor the dispatcher has to testify.

All that is required is the testimony of the arresting officer about the facts that brought about the dispatch. That’s really not much. But in this case, the state presented absolutely no evidence of the facts known to the dispatcher about the caller. So to Pfeifer, there was simply no way for the trial court to evaluate the reliability of the tip, which formed the entire basis for the stop and subsequent indictment. Simply put, to him, the state failed in its burden of proof in this case.

Justice Pfeifer also disagreed that this is an exigent circumstances case, by whatever name it is called.

He distinguished each one of the cases relied on by Justice Stratton in adopting her community-caretaking/emergency aid exception. He pointed out that none of those cases relied solely on a telephone tip, and in each one the police officers relied to some degree on their own personal observations and investigation. But that was not the case here.

The Supreme Court of Ohio was unlikely to write a rule that the police could not make a warrantless stop for an emergency when they reasonably thought someone’s life was in danger. The warrant exception recognized here seems a reasonable one. What seems unreasonable in this case was criminally charging Dunn 16 months after the traffic stop. Count me with Justice Lanzinger.

Rising above tragedy with kindness This Year in Jerusalem

by Phyllis Singer One of the amazing things about living in Israel is being able to witness the personification of Jewish ideals.

During the past two weeks we have witnessed—not personally, but through news reports—two horrendous tragedies that befell young families. One in France and one in Israel. But out of those two tragedies emerged a story of chesed, of loving kindness.

On Monday, March 19, a terrorist in Toulouse, France, unleashed a murderous attack outside the Otzar HaTorah day school, killing Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 31; his two sons, Aryeh, 6, and Gavriel, 3, and leaving Eva Sandler, a young bereaved widow and mother. Also killed in the brutal attack was 8-year-old Miriam Monsonego, the daughter of the school’s principal. All the victims were killed just because they were Jews. All four victims were buried in Jerusalem.

A week later, on Monday, March 26, another family tragedy took place in Israel. This time a young family fell victim to an electrical fire in Rehovot, and six members of the seven-member Sha’ar family died: the father, Guy, 38, and five children ranging in age from 1 to 11. The only survivor was the young wife and mother, Avivit.

Two tragedies would bring these two families together for a brief interlude. After Eva Sandler completed the shiva mourning period, she went to visit Avivit Sha’ar, who was observing her shiva.

According to reports on IBA News and YNet News, the women MARCH from page 10 violence or a violation of the borders. We will maintain the policy of nonviolent protest we have agreed to uphold.”

Land Day events also will be held inside Israel’s borders under the auspices of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee with the banner “Save the lands and prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem.”

Israeli police have been cautioned to keep out of Arab villages in Israel in order to maintain calm.

Meanwhile, jailed Palestinian

embraced and shared words of comfort. Avivit Sha’ar spoke about God: “We have to believe and trust in the Holy One, that He gave and He took back,” she said. “May [all these sacrifices] truly be sacrifices that will open everyone’s hearts to faith and to very high levels of becoming closer to Hashem.”

Meanwhile, Eva Sandler published an open letter on the Chabad website. Though she said, “My heart is broken and there is no way for me to express my great pain over the murder of my dear husband and my sons,” she went on to urge people to increase their levels of observance.

“Parents, please kiss your children,” she said. “Tell them how much you love them, and how dear it is to your heart that they be living examples of our Torah, imbued with the fear of Heaven and with love of their fellow man.

“Please increase your study of Torah, whether on your own or with your family and friends.

Please bring more light into the world by kindling the Sabbath candles [and as] the holiday of Passover is approaching, please invite another person into your homes so that all have a place at a Seder to celebrate the holiday of our freedom.

“The spirit of the Jewish people can never be extinguished,” she concluded. “Its connection with Torah and its commandments can never be destroyed. May it be G-d’s will that from this moment on, we will all only know happiness.”

The Haggadah teaches that “in every generation they rise up to destroy us but that the Almighty saves us from their hands.” As we recite those words, let us remember the horrific killings in Toulouse by a madman who wanted to kill Jews, but let us also remember the words of Eva Sandler and Avivit Sha’ar and rededicate ourselves to Jewish learning, mitzvot, and good deeds.

Allen and I will be celebrating our 13th Passover in Israel this year. We wish all our friends and relatives in Israel, in Cincinnati and across the United States a Happy and Kosher Pesach. leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for his role in five murders during the second intifada, called on Palestinians to launch a popular resistance campaign against Israel. His statement, issued in advance of Land Day, called on the Palestinian Authority to stop all coordination with Israel in the economic and security realms and to stop peace negotiations.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority currently are not engaged in negotiations.

AUTOS • 21

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

2012 Infiniti G37 convertible

www.infinitiusa.com

2012 Infiniti G37 convertible

Spring is here, and summer will soon be upon us. This means sandals, motorcycles, bathing suits and convertibles. Seems like a perfect summer, but there is always room for improvement. Infiniti has done that with the convertible.

Cruising down the highway at 60mph, with the wind in your face

and the music blasting. What if you didn’t have to blast the music to overcome the sound of the wind?

The Infiniti G37 convertible gives you just that luxury. The available Bose® Open Air System monitors ambient noise, vehicle speed and hardtop position. Then it dynamically adjusts the amplifier’s

2013 Infiniti JX— Balanced Power The 2013 Infiniti JX brings a simple phrase to mind: Balanced Power. Control, power, tactile response, and inspired performance are, and will always be, the driving force behind every Infiniti, and the JX is no exception. Whether engaging the power of the V6 or Infiniti’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system, the JX’s refined driving characteristics are meticulously crafted to achieve maximum output while enhancing your feel for the road. Behind the seductive curves of the JX lives Infiniti’s signature sense of exhilaration.

The JX is an adrenaline rush.

Infiniti has made the engine so in tune with the road, that you always feel like you are going fast. You constantly get that rush while at the same time, they’ve provided balance of control to keep you safe.

Acceleration swell is Infiniti’s vision of power, dedicated to delivering a shape and feel beyond raw numbers. By tuning Infiniti engines to unleash torque that climbs over a broader rev range, the force you feel seems to increase the faster you go, building like the swell of a rising wave. The emotional energy surges in tandem, creating a limitless rush rather than a momentary thrill.

Despite feeling speedy and dangerous with that pure adrenal rush, the JX is fine tuned for your

safety. The JX’s Intelligent AllWheel Drive empowers you with confidence by intuitively adjusting handling and power delivery in adverse weather conditions. By constantly monitoring wheelspin, throttle position and vehicle speed, the system automatically diverts up to 50 percent of the available power to the rear wheels, enhancing traction and control when conditions are less than optimal.

When all-wheel drive is not needed, 100 percent of the power is channeled to the front wheels.

Why should the driver be the only one having the fun in comfort? Maybe you are sitting in the back seat and are a little antsy about the smooth, fast ride? JX has you covered with Tri-Zone Automatic Temperature Control.

Because all guests have a personal idea of comfort, the JX offers three distinct climate zones. The driver, front passenger and rear passengers enjoy their own set of controls. To ensure friends or family in the second and third rows are cooled or warmed comfortably, front vents deliver air directly, while side vents direct air across the cabin. The air itself is cleansed of most allergens, germs and odors with the Advanced Climate Control System.

Infiniti has truly captured the essence of power and tempered it with their ingenuity. All this starts at an MSRP of $40,450.

equalization to create unrivaled clarity across all 13 speakers, whether the top is up or down.

Meanwhile, AudioPilot® 2.0 noise compensation technology helps reduce unwanted outside noise to preserve optimum listening conditions.

Infiniti engineers used wind tunnel analysis to inform the design of the shape and positioning of the available rear wind deflector for maximum effectiveness of keeping outside wind and noise out of the cabin.

On hot days of summer you’ll find yourself stopped at a red light burning up from the lack of a roof.

On those cool summer nights

you’ll find yourself wanting heat to warm you at a stop. Infiniti has you covered either way with their Adaptive Climate Control System.

To maintain a comfortable, consistent temperature even when the top is down, the Adaptive Climate Control System automatically adjusts according to outside temperature and your speed.

During the day when it’s warm outside and you’re slowing down, the system increases A/C output to cool you down as the refreshing wind diminishes.

At night when it’s cold outside and you’re speeding up, increased heater output warms you as more cool air enters the cabin.

Infiniti did not just think about creature comforts with this convertible. They went beyond to life safety. If the car should flip and roll, Infiniti has you covered. If an impending rollover is detected, dual Pop-up Roll Bars engage automatically behind the rear seats to help protect occupants.

Structurally reinforced A-pillars, body sills and body structure help enhance overall passenger safety.

With these creative luxury and safety innovations, Infiniti has given a whole new meaning to the convertible. Starting at an MSRP of $46,650, you should put on your sunscreen and take your significant other out for a joy ride.

22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES KAMKHA, Minna Warshavskya, age 86, died on March 27, 2012; 4 Nissan, 5772.

GOLDMAN, Morry, age 85, died on March 30, 2012; 7 Nissan, 5772.

SEGAL, Sylvia, age 88, died on March 31, 2012; 8 Nissan, 5772.

O BITUARIES GOTTSCHALK, Deanna “Dee” Zeff Deanna “Dee” Zeff Gottschalk loved her family, animals, music and travel. She was a warm, loving and empathetic daughter, mother, grandmother and friend.

SCHOOLS from page 8 president of the school’s PTA and volunteers as an art teacher. Other parents have volunteered with office work, on field trips and as lunchtime supervisors.

“We try to utilize parent volunteers as much as possible,” Shayna Hefetz said.

Going paperless also has meant major cost savings, which Weinreb estimates at a few hundred dollars per student. And a budget oversight committee comprised of people otherwise unaffiliated with the school first approves every expense and ensures that budgets are planned around only existing money, not future fundraising. The methods can frustrate administrators, Weinreb acknowledged, but keep the budget in check.

Volunteerism is the main model for keeping down costs at The Jewish Cooperative School in Hollywood, Fla., where 2011-12 tuition ran $7,500. Technology does not play as central a role in the Modern Orthodox school, but as at Ohr Chadash, the administration requires the parents of its 23 students in kindergarten through second grade to volunteer several AMSTERDAM from page 9 Ralbag — who owns and runs Triangle K, a family business offering kashrut supervision — said he had signed the declaration in his capacity as an American rabbi, providing fresh ammunition to critics who said he was mixing American meat with Dutch dairy.

“The Dutch Orthodox community is very different to other Orthodox communities — it has active members who lead halachic lives alongside people who lead non-Orthodox lives,” Hirschfeld says, referring to Jewish law. “A rabbi who can accommodate both is needed. Rabbi Ralbag did not strike the right balance.”

Boris Shapiro, who prays at the Rotterdam Orthodox Congregation,

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After a long illness, Mrs. Gottschalk passed away on her 73rd birthday, March 16, 2012— the 22nd day of Adar, 5772. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Selma and David Zeff, she grew up in North Avondale and graduated from Walnut Hills High School.

Mrs. Gottschalk attended Wheaton College and the University of Michigan and graduated from the University of Cincinnati. She earned her MSW (master’s in social work) at Smith College. She was a social worker at Family Service of Cincinnati in Mt. Auburn, and also worked at Glen Manor Home for the Aged and Jewish Family Service.

Formerly married to John Frank, in 1977 she married Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, who was serving as president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute

Deanna “Dee” Zeff Gottschalk

of Religion.

Mrs. Gottschalk will be remembered, the school said in a statement, “for sharing Dr. Gottschalk’s devotion to our institution, Governors, Overseers, students, faculty and staff, and for her gracious warmth. May Deanna Gottschalk’s commitment to her dear family and to HUC-JIR’s mission endure as an inspiring legacy.”

Mrs. Gottschalk was appointed to the City of Cincinnati Human Relations Commission and was a board member for Tender Mercies.

Her husband, Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk, preceded her in death.

Surviving relatives include her children, Andrew (Dawn) Frank, of Toronto, Canada, Charley (Amy Snyder) Frank, her step-children, Marc (Devi) Gottschalk, of Laguna Beach, Calif., and Rachel Brenner,

of Los Angeles, Calif., her grandchildren, Teddy and Lydia Frank, of Toronto, Canada, Sam and Avery Frank, Atara, Dania and Sara Gottschalk, of Laguna Beach, Calif., and Nathan and Evan Brenner, of Los Angeles, Calif., her brother, Morton (Ann) Zeff, her nephew, Larry Zeff, and her niece, Amy Zeff.

Services were held for Mrs. Gottschalk at HUC-JIR on Sunday, March 18, with Rabbi Lewis Kamrass and Rabbi Sandford Kopnick officiating.

Burial followed at United Jewish Cemetery in Clifton.

The family would appreciate memorial contributions to the Alois Alzheimer Center, 70 Damon Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45218, 513-6051000; or to Jewish Family Service, 8487 Ridge Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236, 513-469-1188.

hours a month.

“I’ve found parents really enjoy being involved in the education of their kids,” said Janessa Wasserman, one of the school’s founders and a parent of two students there. “And the kids really love it.”

Hannah Shapiro, whose 7-yearold daughter, Aliyah, attends second grade at the school, volunteers by putting out a weekly newsletter for each grade, as well as helping once a week in the classroom.

“I love to be involved with my kids’ education, so I try in any way possible to get involved,” she said.

Shapiro says that since Hannah started at The Jewish Cooperative School this year, she jumps out of bed in the morning excited about school.

“It’s like a home for them,” Shapiro said. “It’s something special.”

Avi Chai has provided grants to three of the blended learning schools, including PCLC and Ohr Chadash. The other school is Yeshivat He’Atid in Bergenfield, N.J. Overall, Avi Chai is aware of eight blended learning schools that either opened this year or plan to open next year, from California and Texas to Maryland and

Massachusetts.

The concept has started drawing attention from other funders, too.

Determined to figure out new, sustainable ways to ensure that all Jewish parents have the ability to send their children to affordable, high-quality day schools, a group of philanthropists in the New York area formed the Affordable Jewish Education Project, or AJE, earlier this year. The group began with an open mind but honed in on the concept of low-cost day schools, said its executive director, Jeff Kiderman.

“There’s more to them than just their low cost,” he told JTA. “We saw this as a tremendous opportunity to innovate in the world of Jewish education by promoting educational improvements and affordability improvements at a time when our community really needs both.”

AJE discovered several low-cost schools throughout the United States that either recently opened or are in development, but Kiderman noted that there was little connecting them to each other. That’s the role AJE hopes to fill, he said, by creating a network for the schools to share best practices and resources.

Tuition savings at the lower-

cost schools can range from 30 percent to 40 percent on the elementary level and 50 percent or more in high school, according to Kiderman. The schools focus on a mix of technology and volunteerism to keep costs down.

Kiderman calls PCLC a “classic example of a school trying to find available, innovative educational models that they can share with the rest of the country.”

The school is “constantly reexamining what they are doing and constantly trying to improve it. That’s what everybody should be doing,” he said.

“This is absolutely the future of education,” said Rebecca Coen, founder and head of Yeshiva High Tech, a Modern Orthodox Los Angeles high school scheduled to open in August with 40 students in ninth through 11th grade and tuition set at $8,500.

Distance learning has been around for years and Jewish schools are actually playing catchup in online education, Coen said, noting that advances in nonJewish education often take several years to filter down to the Jewish educational world.

While the students work on

online lessons, teachers will rotate from group to group to provide support when needed.

also believes the arrangement with Ralbag isn’t working out, but he blames the board.

“The Dutch Jewish establishment is more concerned with their public image locally than by their reputation in the Jewish World, so they punish him for presenting the halachic viewpoint with integrity,” he said.

Ralbag declined to be interviewed for this article.

In addition to giving women a seat on the board in 2009, Ralbag introduced another major reform that year when he set up a new eruv, a symbolic enclosure in which Jews are halachically allowed to carry objects on the Sabbath. Opponents and supporters praise Ralbag for the initiative.

Ralbag’s background and

training as an Anglo-Saxon rabbi were instrumental in both reforms, according to Bart Wallet, a historian from the University of Amsterdam and an expert on Dutch Jewish history. Wallet says that Ralbag used halachic precedents from England to solve the women’s vote issue. The board now has six women.

The eruv question was trickier.

Ralbag became involved with the issue during his first stint in Amsterdam, from 1975 to 1983, when he served as a community rabbi. Amsterdam at the time had no valid eruv.

Ralbag published a plan for a new eruv, proposing to set up an elaborate system of mock roadblocks that could theoretically cordon off the area, in keeping

with halachah. Meir Just, then the chief rabbi of Amsterdam, rejected the plan.

The experience Ralbag had acquired working in Amsterdam in those early days would prove “crucial” in satisfying the board that he was the right man for the title of chief rabbi, Wallet says.

The rabbi’s wife, Fanny Ralbag, an Antwerp native who is fluent in Dutch, was a major bonus. “The community is so small that it had trouble finding a rabbi of standing,” Wallet says. “It was lucky to get Ralbag.”

But Ralbag’s absence from Amsterdam apparently is being felt on the ground. Doron Sanders, one of the founders of the new popular Amos shul in the south of Amsterdam, says Ralbag

has not contacted the new congregation once.

“Rabbi Ralbag has done a lot for the community,” Sanders said, “but people need contact with their rabbis.”

The complications attached to having an imported rabbi also touch one of the Dutch community’s most important political battles in decades: defending kosher slaughter.

Last year, the Dutch parliament voted to ban ritual slaughter. The vote was blocked in the Senate.

Fighting against a secularized political establishment and media, the Jewish and Muslim communities stuck to tradition. The Jewish community rejected a compromise called post-cut stunning in which the animal is stunned immediately after its throat is cut.

Courtesy of Ohr Chadash

Nili Hefetz, a fourth grader at Ohr Chadash in Baltimore, enjoys the online aspect of the school’s curriculum on her iPad.

“It’s possible in the same classroom to have ninth-grade students working on ninth-grade English, 10th-grade students working on 10th-grade English,” Coen said.

“You can have AP in the classroom, and they can all be working simultaneously with the same teacher because the teacher is no longer the primary source for curriculum delivery.”