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THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014 17 NISSAN, 5774

The Reunion: Camp Livingston and Camp at the J

CINCINNATI, OH Candle Lighting Times Shabbat begins Fri 8:00p Shabbat ends Sat 9:01p

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VOL. 160 • NO. 39

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First-of-its-kind movie provides insights into Alzheimer’s disease

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Peter Bloch honored for his years of service to Jewish Vocational Service

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Jewish organizations on alert after fatal shootings in Kansas City

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From Alsatian town, France’s oldest matzahmaker sells to the world

DINING OUT

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Stone Creek a “carryout” and fine-dining destination LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

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Incidentally Iris: Tripping the smell fantastic

Beth Guttman to be next Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati President The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati announced that Beth Guttman has been elected by the Trustees to serve as the next President of the Board, effective as of the 2014 Foundation Annual Meeting on October 30th. Ms. Guttman will become the Foundation’s seventh President, and will succeed Michael R. Oestreicher, who was elected Chairman of the Board, also effective as of the 2014 Annual Meeting.

The remainder of the Officers slate will be filled by J. David Rosenberg, who was elected Vice President and Chairman of The Investment and Finance Committee; Robert E. Brant, who will serve as Treasurer; and Dr. Jeffrey Zipkin, who was re-elected Secretary of the Board.

Since joining the Foundation Board as a Trustee in 2011, Ms. Guttman has taken on leadership roles in several key projects, including serving on the Foundation’s Senior Services working group, shaping the Foundation’s investment in Jewish Family Service’s Barbash Family Vital Support Center, and participating in the Foundation’s working group to develop an Overnight Jewish Camping Initiative.

“In electing Beth Guttman to be our next President, the Foundation Board has chosen a leader of incredibly high caliber,” said Mr. Oestreicher. “Beth has the vision, skills and relationships that are needed to continue the progress that we have begun to make in this new era as a trusted, high-impact investor in our community.”

Oestreicher added: “We are also very fortunate to have David

Rosenberg stewarding the Foundation’s Investment and Finance Committee. His continued leadership should give our community confidence that the Foundation will be making responsible investment decisions about these precious community resources.”

Ms. Guttman is an active volunteer in an array of Jewish and civic charitable causes. In addition to having served

as President of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, she worked her way up through the ranks of that organization, including a term as Vice President of Financial Resources Development, and service on the Planning and Allocations Committee and Youth and Family/Connecting Council. In addition, she Co-Chaired Cincinnati’s celebration of Israel’s 50th birthday and

was instrumental in creating a Biblical Garden of Peace on permanent exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo. Guttman is also a devoted leader in her synagogue, Adath Israel Congregation, serving in a variety of roles during worship services and throughout the year.

A 2008 recipient of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s “Woman of the Year” award, Beth complements her involvement in Jewish causes by generously giving both time and resources to institutions and projects beyond the Jewish community. She is a member of the Cincinnati YWCA Board, volunteers weekly for the character-building “Winners Walk Tall” program at Silverton Paidea Elementary School, and is involved with the Tender Mercies homeless shelter.

“I am honored to follow Mike Oestreicher’s bold leadership of The Jewish Foundation,” said Ms. Guttman. “Along with our other Officers and Trustees, my goal is to honor the legacy of the founders of this Board and continue our work of thoughtfully investing in our community. The Jewish Foundation is poised to continue to address some significant pent-up community needs as well as to help develop and fund meaningful new initiatives as Cincinnati becomes one of the most vibrant and exciting Jewish communities in North America. Along with committed partners, agencies and individuals – this will become a reality.”

Beth Guttman is married to Louis Guttman, and is the proud mother of four children.

Miami Beach Kollel honors Mr. Sam Boymel of Cincinnati

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he Miami Beach Kollel, along with Ohr on campus, has started a new undertaking in conjunction with the Kollel younger life program.

The new Ohr fellowship project will bring up to 50 students between the ages of 17 to 25 to come together to study and learn for two hours each week at the Kollel.

The Miami Beach Kollel recently hosted its nineteenth annual dinner highlighting their community work and recognizing student, family and benefactors for their contributions.

At the dinner, Mr. Sam Boymel was presented with a special Education Outreach Award in honor of his support of student outreach. According to Rabbi Schmuel Kalos, these students come from many diverse backgrounds. Some of them came with minimal Jewish education and were not able read Hebrew and some came with a day-school education. The program has been so suc-

cessful that the Ohr fellowship is already planning on expanding to a second night.

When asked about the program, Mr. Boymel said, " I never had a chance to study in such a group as a boy, and I am grateful that the Almighty gave me the ability to support these special young people in Jewish studies in such a wonderful Kollel environment.

Mr. Boymel is a Holocaust survivor who was born in the town of Turzysk, Poland. His story has been published in a book by Yad Vashem Publications entitled, "Run My Child". After the war, Sam and his wife Rachel settled in Cincinnati, where they raised their family and have been leaders in philanthropic and educational endeavors. The Boymels have supported and founded educational and community-based helping programs in the United States, in Israel, and around the world. In Cincinnati the Boymel name is well known, as evidenced by the Sam and

Rachel Boymel campus at the Cincinnati Hebrew Day School, and the Boymel Chapel at Yavneh Day school. The Boymels have also been major contributors to The Cincinnati Jewish Hospital, The Jewish Community Center, the Chai Tots nursery school in Mason as well as the Jewish Discovery Center in Cincinnati and Mason. Most recently the Boymels have been instrumental in the founding of the Boymel Rabbinical College.

Sam's many years as chairman of Israel Bonds resulted in record sales, providing tremendous support for the State of Israel. Sam has also been the recipient of the Israel Peace Award, the Elie Wiesel Humanitarian Award, and the Gates of Jerusalem Medal. In Israel, the Boymel name is well known, especially in the city of Nahariya, where everything from the beautiful Boymel Tennis Center to the Sam and Rachel Boymel Cultural Hall proclaim their generosity to the people of Nahariya.

The Boymel Yad Labanim is a landmark in Nahariya and was established by Sam and Rachel to honor fallen soldiers and terror victims of the town. It serves the families of the victims by offering a variety of programs to engage them in a communal setting to bring people together and enrich their social lives.

The campus offers art and cultural opportunities, Torah classes, a Synagogue and a beautiful auditorium for theatrical productions. The center also offers a Yad Vashem-style computer center, featuring the lives and history of the local men and women who perished in service to their country. A central feature at the entry is an everlasting flame and 232 plaques each displaying a respective hero's name.

Close to 400 community members representing the entire spectrum of the community from all age groups attended the dinner in Miami.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

Peter Bloch honored for his years of service to Jewish Vocational Service “He who serves the community brings redemption to the world.”

These are the words that are inscribed upon the plaque honoring Peter Bloch - outstanding community member, advocate, visionary, and friend to many.

After 37 years of service with Jewish Vocational Service, Mr. Bloch retired and on Thursday, March 18, 2014, he was honored by his peers, his mentors, several individuals who received services at Jewish Vocational Service, and leaders in our community.

During his career, Bloch also served as Executive Vice President, Integration, of Easter Seals TriState, the Interim CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Executive Director of the Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation, President of Isaac M. Wise Temple, Chairman of the Board of the Freestore Foodbank, Trustee of the Walnut Hills High School Alumni Foundation and the Mercy Health Foundation.

To say that you could feel the love in the room on this evening would be a gross understatement.

Mr. Bloch was honored by his peers who shared personal and professional stories of their shared history. Jan Armstrong Cobb, JVS Career Services Immediate Past Board Chair and Mistress of Ceremonies, set the tone for the evening with her warmth and fun-loving spirit.

People who have worked with Bloch, including Jan Armstrong Cobb, Kim Slaton, Sandy Kaltman,

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Peter Bloch with past Board Chairs of JVS

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, June Gutterman, Genie Cohen, and Shep Englander came out to honor their friend.

Kim Slaton, Acting CEO and Director of Connections, of JVS Career Services, discussed how, under the guidance and support of Peter Bloch, more than 340 people received help with their job searches and more than 130 jobs were started

by JVS Career Services clients in 2013.

Throughout the night, Bloch was described as a “visionary who is able to meet needs and accept challenges…a decent human being and a good friend.”

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, longtime friend of Bloch said that Bloch exhibits “a generosity of spirit and is community minded.” Kamrass continued to say that Bloch is a “visionary who leads by example and leads with deeds. He has a quiet passion and strength and is inspired by devotion to service and focus on the needs

of community. He has a focused vision of building a better community.”

June Gutterman, CEO of Jewish Family Service in Columbus, OH has known Bloch for 25 years.

Gutterman summed up her thoughts of Bloch when she said, “You taught us what it means to lead…what it means to be a friend…what it means to be a mensch.”

According to Shep Englander, CEO of Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, our community has been “forever changed by (Bloch) and his commitment.”

After thanking everyone for sharing their kind words, fond memories, and humorous stories, Bloch had the opportunity to speak. He graciously gave thanks to everyone “whose lives (JVS) has touched - whatever good we may have done has been returned 100 times over.”

As a token of thanks, Bloch was presented with a stunning etched glass shofar.

AJC to honor UC President Santa Ono at May 5 tribute dinner American Jewish Committee Cincinnati Regional Office will present its 2014 National Human Relations Award to Santa J. Ono, president of the University of Cincinnati, at a tribute dinner on Monday, May 5. The award recognizes Dr. Ono’s outstanding professional achievements, community leadership, and dedication to excellence.

The dinner at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza salutes Dr. Ono, and at the same time, raises funds for the global advocacy and human rights work of AJC, which advances freedom, liberty, tolerance, and mutual respect worldwide.

Co-chairs are Dianne Dunkelman, Bobby Fisher, and John M. Tew, Jr., MD. Keynote speaker is Kenneth W. Stein, Emory University Professor, whose topic is "American foreign policy towards the Middle East: Does it matter who is president?"

Dr. Ono earned his PhD at McGill University and his BA at the University of Chicago. His active

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UC President Santa Ono

research career began at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. He has consulted for industry and served on journal editorial boards, winning numerous awards for his work in ophthalmology. Just prior to arriving at UC, he

was Senior Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs at Emory University.

In just a few short years, Dr. Ono has immersed himself in community service through the Cincinnati Business Committee and numerous local boards. Among them are Ohio’s Third Frontier, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Art Museum and Symphony. He chairs the UC Research Institute board and the United Way Research Council, and co-chairs the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Early Grade-Level Reading Campaign. He is also on the Executive Committee of the STRIVE partnership. He is Cincinnati’s first honorary consul representing Japan.

AJC is the global advocate for the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel, and for the advancement of democratic values for all.

Dietary laws will be observed. For ticket information and reservations, please contact the AJC Cincinnati office.

Free Estimates Contras, LLC • Cell: 513-276-9258

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Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Greta Garbo, Marx foil Margaret Dumont and MGM's Louis B. Mayer. A show perfect for all ages!

“Part of my mission is to garner the same laughs as if [Groucho] was working live, in 1934,” Ferrante said to the Queens Chronicle. “I try to make it close to what he would have come up with.”

For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, please contact the JCC.

Jewish Family Service Passover delivery project helps those in need With the help and dedication of 120 volunteers, Jewish Family Service delivered 400 Passover meals to Cincinnati Jewish families in need. Sunday, April 6 marked the 16th annual Dr. Samuel S. Rockwern Passover Delivery of Jewish Family Service. This community project is enjoyed as much by volunteers as the clients receiving food.

The high cost of Kosher for Passover food compelled families to volunteer their time to ensure those less fortunate had an adequate holiday meal. Volunteers of all ages delivered boxes filled with matzah, matzah ball soup mix, macaroons, gefilte fish, horseradish, Passover candy, grape juice, nuts, apples, and chicken dinner. Deliveries stretched over 30 zip codes confirming that Jewish families in need live throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

This year the Passover Delivery project was held at the new Jewish

Marcie, Arielle, and Micah Bachrach

Family Service Barbash Family Vital Support Center, conveniently located on the campus of Hebrew Union College in Clifton. The new location drew volunteers from all over the city including Northern

Kentucky, Monroe, and Loveland.

Volunteers enjoyed the opportunity to tour the expanded food pantry as they picked up their boxes.

“The Dr. Samuel S. Rockwern Passover Delivery of Jewish Family

Service project was started by a group of dedicated volunteers in 1998 and continues to be embraced by the community. It involves more than just delivering food; it personally connects the volunteers with families,” says Fran Gafvert, Jewish Family Service Director of Vital Support Services.

Volunteers also came during the week to sort the thousands of cans and boxes of donated food. Local congregations, organizations, and businesses collected nonperishable, boxed food. The balance was purchased with monetary donations from The Rockwern Charitable Foundation, The Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation, and individual community donors.

Remke Markets at Highland/Ridge made it easy for shoppers to donate money. The store displayed signs with tear-off slips for shoppers to donate specifically to this project by adding different set amounts to their purchase.

First-of-its-kind movie provides powerful insights into Alzheimer’s disease

Director/Producer Scott Kirschenbaum; movie poster

out her bedroom. She mistakes an everyday outfit in her closet for her wedding dress. She finds a birthday card but does not realize that she is the “Mom” to whom the card is addressed.

“Due to that constant sense of disorientation, in the span of minutes Lee could morph from pensive thinker to gregarious helper, from bubbly mover-and-shaker to morose and sometimes cruel instigator,” Kirschenbaum wrote in the director’s

statement. “When in good spirits, she consoled heartbroken women, kissed caregivers and shook a tail-feather even after the music had stopped. And with no realistic option for leaving, Lee also gave in to frustration: She argued with her tablemate at lunch, kicked a bouncy ball at a frail man's legs and unapologetically told a sickly woman that she is going to die.”

The screening and discussion is being presented by Cedar Village Retirement Community of Mason, the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University and Miami’s VOA Learning Center. Scripps and Cedar Village – close collaborators – are pioneers in creating effective programming for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

The movie was filmed at the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living in Danville, California.

Reutlinger and Cedar Village are members of the Association of Jewish Aging Services.

In addition to Kirschenbaum, the panel will be composed of Suzanne Kunkel, director, Scripps Gerontology Center; Jennifer Kinney, Miami professor of gerontology; and Kate de

Medeiros, Miami assistant professor of gerontology. Kinney and de Medeiro are Scripps Research Fellows. Carol Silver Elliott, CEO and President of Cedar Village, will moderate.

The movie is important because it offers a glimpse into a disease that is becoming increasingly common.

More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. By 2050, up to 16 million people are projected to be living with it. There is no cure, causing deaths from Alzheimer’s to soar 68 percent between 2000 and 2010 while deaths from other major diseases decreased.

Though admission to the event is free, RSVPs are requested by contacting Sally Korkin of Cedar Village.

Directions and a map to the Learning Center are available online.

In a related program, an exhibition of stunning artwork created by Cedar Village residents with dementia will remain on display at the VOA until May 1. The residents created the artwork in a Scripps research and therapy program called Opening Minds through Art, also known as OMA.

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

VOL. 160 • NO. 39 THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014 17 NISSAN 5774 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 8:00 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 9:01 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 ISAAC 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 JORY EDLIN BETH KOTZIN Assistant Editors YOSEFF FRANCUS Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor ROBERT WILHELMY Dining Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR ZELL SCHULMAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists JENNIFER CARROLL Production Manager BARBARA ROTHSTEIN Advertising Sales ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager e Oldest Eng Th

ewish N h-J ew lis

Filmmaker Scott Kirschenbaum, who created a ground-breaking documentary about Alzheimer’s disease, will discuss his movie at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 29 when the movie is presented in Ohio for the first time.

The free public screening will be at Miami University’s Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester.

After the movie, Kirschenbaum will be joined by other Alzheimer’s experts for a panel discussion about Alzheimer’s.

“You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t” is the first documentary filmed entirely in an Alzheimer’s care unit and told from the perspective of an Alzheimer’s patient.

The movie focuses on the day-today life of Lee Gorewitz in the San Francisco area nursing home where she lives. Although her mind has deteriorated, the spirit and resilience of this feisty, colorful woman remains strong.

This is the odyssey of a woman, who is in her 70s, who will not let viewers forget her, even as she struggles to remember her own identity.

She cannot recognize herself in family photographs scattered through-

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Ferrante ad-libs his way throughout the performance in grand Groucho style.

Seattle Weekly said of a recent show, "When Frank Ferrante does Groucho Marx, all the shtick- the loping crouch, the rolling eyes, the cigar, the greasepaint mustachecomes back to life. See this man. He is comic genius."

Accompanied by his onstage pianist, Ferrante portrays the young Groucho of stage and film and reacquaints us with the likes of brothers

Est. 1854

wisecracks. The Award-winning actor/director/playwright Frank Ferrante will recreate his PBS, New York and London acclaimed portrayal of legendary comedian Groucho Marx in a one-night engagement at the Mayerson JCC on Thursday, May 15 at 7:30pm.

The two-act comedy consists of the best Groucho one-liners, anecdotes and songs including "Hooray For Captain Spalding," and "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady." The audience literally becomes part of the show as

• ca

Of all American comedians, none is more instantly recognizable than Groucho Marx. With his rolling eyes, greasepaint mustache, waggling cigar and stooped posture, Groucho remains part of our national consciousness more than three decades after his death. Groucho Marx has inspired countless imitators, but when Frank Ferrante takes the stage in “An Evening with Groucho,” he brings something more than the big cigar, loud moustache and the ever-present quips and

r in Am ape er sp i

Groucho is coming to the JCC on May 15

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $44 per year and $1.00 per single copy in Cincinnati and $49 per year and $2.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037.

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

LOCAL • 5

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

Yom Hashoah commemoration features Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi On Sunday, April 27, The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education remembers the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust at the annual community-wide Yom Hashoah commemoration at 2:00 p.m. at the Mayerson JCC. The program includes a moving candle-lighting ceremony by six Holocaust survivors and their family members. This year, all descendants of survivors are asked to light candles in memory of their loved ones at the end of the program. Musical performances include Winton Woods High School String Quartet and a special piece by Cincinnati Chamber

Opera co-founder and artistic director, Shawn Mlynek.

Keynote presenter is Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi.

Rabbi Sabath is a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute.

Ordained in 1995, she earned a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is the current National Director of Recruitment & Admissions, President’s Scholar, and Director of the Office of Community Engagement at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Raised in Minneapolis, Rabbi Sabath taught in Israel for nearly 15

Hadassah’s annual Giving Luncheon coming up on April 24 Hadassah Annual Giving Luncheon will be held on Thursday, April 24th, at Kenwood Country Club in Madeira.

This is Hadassah's major fundraising campaign to contribute to the growth of our hospitals in Israel and other vital projects that benefit people around the globe. Registration will open at 11 am, during which a variety of boutique items and Hadassah cards may be purchased. The luncheon and program will begin at 12 noon.

Our honoree this year will be Allison Frankel, our chapter treasurer for the past 18 years. Mezzo soprano LeeAnne Galioto, accompanied by pianist Claire Lee, will provide "Musical Moments" of songs by George Gershwin. Ghita Sarembock is Hadassah Giving Chair.

Allison Frankel has been a member of Hadassah for over thirty years, joining when Lauren Scharf encouraged her to get involved in Ya’al group. Shortly thereafter, she was fortunate to be made a Life Member, along with her sister-inlaw, Rebbie Frankel, by their Life Member mother-in-law, Erna Frankel. Allison became treasurer of the Cincinnati Chapter in 1997 and has served continuously in that capacity since that time. She previously served in a similar capacity for the Yavneh Day School (now Rockwern Academy) PTA, the Yavneh Gift Shop, and her Kindervelt Group, which raises funds to support Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, now a partner of Hadassah Hospitals. Allison also serves on the Board of the Central States Region of Hadassah as the Major Gifts Chair and on its Fundraising Committee.

Allison is proud to be a part of Hadassah and its ability to bring healing that benefits Israel and, through its cutting edge research, the practice of medicine around the world. Allison has been married to Ed, a Hadassah Associate, for thirtyfour years and they have two chil-

Allison Frankel, Hadassah Giving Luncheon Honoree

dren, Melissa and Joel, who are both Young Judaea Alumni and are a Life Member and Associate, respectively.

Performing at the luncheon will be Hadassah Fellow and professional singer LeeAnne Galioto.

Hadassah is proud to announce the creation of the Hadassah Leadership Fellows program (HLF), a two-year leadership engagement program designed to inspire, cultivate, impact and outreach to broaden Hadassah in our community as a whole.

Twenty-five women from around the United States were accepted into the inaugural class. Of those twentyfive, two are members of the Cincinnati community, Beth Kotzin and LeeAnne Galioto.

Active in her local Jewish community, LeeAnne Galioto sings at Cedar Village Retirement Community as the Cantorial Soloist for the High Holidays. She volunteers with her synagogue, Adath Israel Congregation, where she helps lead services in the main sanctuary and helps lead in special family services. She participates in the yearly Mitzvah Day, and served on a task force for her synagogue’s religious school. She’s a sisterhood HADASSAH on page 22

years. She also currently writes a regular column in the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel and is working on a book about the future of covenant for Jewish Peoplehood.

Formally known as Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura, which translates into

“Remembrance Day for the Holocaust and Herosim”, the commemoration pays homage to the approximately six million Jews who suffered, resisted and perished at the hands of the Nazis.

The commemoration is open to people of all faiths, and is presented

in partnership with The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Jewish Family Service, and the Mayerson JCC. For more information or questions, please contact Trinity Ruggles at The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education.

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3 killed in K.C. shootings at JCC, assisted-living facility

By Ron Kampeas (JTA) – Three people were killed in shootings by a gunman at a JCC and a Jewish assisted-living facility in suburban Kansas City, Kan. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate group monitor, identified the alleged gunman, in custody, as Frazier Glenn Miller, 73, of Aurora, Mo., and said he was the “grand dragon” of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s and subsequently a founder of the White Patriot Party.

Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said at a news conference that the gunman used a shotgun; police were investigating whether he also used a handgun and an assault rifle.

Douglass said the gunman shot at five people but missed two.

The family of the victims killed

at the JCC identified them as William Lewis Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, ABC news reported. KSHB, a local TV station, said they were members of the Church of Resurrection.

The third victim, Terri LaManno, a Catholic mother of two, was killed in the parking lot of Village Shalom, where she had come to visit her mother, a resident at the home.

The chief said it was too early to call the attack a hate crime and that there was no indication the gunman knew his victims.

“It’s too early in the investigation to try and label it,” Douglass said, adding however that with “two Jewish facilities, one might make that assumption.”

The Secure Community Network, the security affiliate of national Jewish groups, asked communities nationwide to increase

security measures, but urged Jews to attend services and other Passoverrelated events as they had planned before the shooting.

“They need to review secure plans and reach out to police partners to ensure that they work closely with the Jewish community over the next couple of days – review, test and exercise their response plans,” SCN director Paul Goldenberg told JTA. “They need to trust their instincts and err on the side of caution.”

“The community has worked really really hard to maintain a safe environment and we have worked with them,” he said.

Goldenberg said it was critical that Jews carry on with their Passover plans.

“The Passover celebration is a precious moment for American Jews, and an act such as this should not keep them from synagogues, cel-

ebrations and Jewish centers,” he said.

Rabbi Herbert Mandl, who works with the Overland Park police, told CNN that the gunman asked people if they were Jewish.

“If you answered yes, you were shot,” Mandl said.

Miller was apprehended at a nearby elementary school and was heard yelling “heil Hitler,” according to KSHB-TV. Karen Aroesty, the director of the local Anti-Defamation League office, cautioned against drawing conclusions about the attack until more details were known.

Douglass echoed the caution, saying, “While there is a lot of innuendo and a lot of rumors floating around, there is really not a lot of information.”

Aroesty praised the police response.

“The law enforcement response so far has been very quick and substantive,” she said.

“My son and I were walking into the Jewish Community Center this afternoon for an umpire clinic, around the west side, and all of the sudden we heard a gunshot, a pretty loud gunshot,” Mike Metcalf, an area resident, told Fox News. “I turned to look to my right and I can see a man standing outside a car with a shotgun, what to me looked like a shotgun, and there was somebody laying on the ground.”

A JCC member, Mark Brodky, told a KSHB photographer that the gunman shot the windows out of his car after pointing the gun at him.

President Obama in a statement “pledged the full support of the federal government” in the investigation.

Jewish organizations on alert after fatal shootings in Kansas City

By Heather Norris

Courtesy of Facebook

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City.

National Briefs Brandeis accused of double standard after pulling honor of Islam critic Hirsi Ali (JNS) – Brandeis University is being accused of applying a double standard after its April 8 decision to rescind an honorary degree for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a women’s rights activist and critic of Islam, over her past statements that the school deemed “inconsistent” with its “core values.”

Hirsi Ali stated, “Neither Brandeis nor my critics knew or even inquired as to what I might say.

They simply wanted me to be silenced.”

Kerry focuses on Israeli moves in explanation of peace talks impasse (JNS) – During a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on April 8, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry focused heavily on Israeli actions in his explanation of what he

believes has caused the current impasse in the American-brokered peace talks.

“Unfortunately, prisoners were not released on the Saturday (March 29) they were supposed to be released... Kerry said.

Kerry said the Palestinian move to join 15 international conventions also hurt negotiations.

“Clearly, going to these treaties is not helpful, and we have made that crystal-clear,” he said.

Reacting to Kerry’s remarks, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) told JNS, “He put that [‘poof’] postscript in, which I thought was unfortunate because I don’t believe that’s at all the reason. The question is whether the Palestinians are sincere about moving forward with a peace agreement, and we’ve seen this beforeevery time we get close, there doesn’t seem to be the courage among the Palestinian leaders.”

Former Hamas captive Gilad Shalit makes rare public appearance at Texas gala (JNS) – Former Hamas captive Gilad Shalit made a rare public appearance at the recent Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Texas Chapter Gala in Houston.

(JNS / Baltimore Jewish Times) – Kansas’s tight-knit Jewish community was rocked just one day before the beginning of Passover as an alleged gunman took the lives of three people and injured another in attacks just minutes apart outside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in Overland Park and a local retirement village.

According to various news reports, at about 1 p.m., shots were reported outside the JCC’s theater Shalit, who spent five years in captivity before returning to Israel in October 2011 as part of an exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, said at the April 6 event that FIDF “is a very important organization that does amazing things for our brothers and sisters in the Israel Defense Forces.”

The gala raised nearly $475,000 to support the wellbeing of IDF soldiers.

Alan Gross stops hunger strike at mother’s urging WASHINGTON (JTA) – Alan Gross suspended his hunger strike in a Cuban prison after a week at the behest of his elderly mother.

“Alan’s mother asked him to stop the fast,” Jill Zuckman, the spokeswoman for the family, told JTA. “He agreed to do that today.”

Gross, a Jewish-American subcontractor for the State Department, told his lawyer in a weekly call last Friday that he planned further protest actions, Zuckman said, although he did not elaborate. He had launched his fast April 3.

Gross’ mother, who is suffering from cancer, turns 92 on Tuesday, which is the first day of Passover.

On a mission to hook up Cuba’s

entrance, where auditions were being held for a singling competition for area teenagers. One man was reportedly killed at the scene, while another died at a local hospital. The suspectdescribed later in the day by police officers who apprehended him as a bearded white male in his 70s – then fled to the Village Shalom community and opened fire, killing one woman before fleeing to a school, where he was arrested.

Two others were shot at, but not injured. Some reports said that the gunman asked people if they were

Jewish before firing his weapon and that he shouted “Heil Hitler” about the time of his arrest.

A post on the JCC’s Facebook page says the institution would be closed Monday. As people in cities across the country finished their lastminute Passover preparations – the eight-day festival begins Monday night – JCCs, including those in the Owings Mills and Park Heights areas in and around Baltimore, benefited from a beefed-up police presence.

small Jewish community to the Internet, Gross was arrested in December 2009 as he was leaving Cuba. The Maryland resident is serving a 15-year sentence for “crimes against the state.”

ing through a divestment resolution on Passover may be part of a larger trend.

According to Jacobson, April 16 is a coordinated National Day of Action in support of the Palestinians called by the national Students for Justice in Palestine organization.

Cornell student gov’t votes to table divestment resolution (JTA) – The Cornell University Student Assembly voted to table indefinitely a resolution to divest from companies that do business in Israel.

The April 10 vote to table the resolution, which called on the Ithaca, N.Y., university to divest from companies that “profit from the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territories,” was 15-8 with one abstention, according to the Cornell Sun student newspaper.

The Cornell chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine sponsored the resolution, which had it advanced would have been voted on this week – in the middle of Passover, when it was assumed there would be a reduced presence of Jewish students on campus.

William Jacobson, a clinical professor of law at the Cornell Law School, reported on his blog, Legal Insurrection, that the tactic of push-

SHOOTINGS on page 20

Jacob Birnbaum, founder of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, dies (JTA) – Jacob Birnbaum, who helped launch the movement to free Soviet Jews, has died.

Birnbaum, the founder of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, died Wednesday at the age of 87.

A native of Germany, Birnbaum escaped with his family to England after the Nazis came to power and later moved to France.

Upon moving to New York in 1964, he set out to mobilize students to call on the Kremlin to stop the oppression of Soviet Jews, believing that Soviet Jews should not have to suffer the way Eastern European Jews did under the Nazis.

In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives honored Birnbaum for his efforts on behalf of Soviet Jews.

NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL • 7

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

Jews (and non-Jews) with health concerns find the Passover aisle liberating

By Hillel Kuttler BALTIMORE (JTA) – Grasping a jar of jam in the Passover aisle of a large supermarket here, Kevin Brinson turned to a stranger and asked, “Do you know when Passover ends this year?”

Brinson isn’t dreading the holiday to the extent that two weeks before its start, he’s already anticipating its conclusion.

In fact, he eagerly awaits Passover each year. For Brinson, who isn’t Jewish, Passover is personal.

Having a medical intolerance of corn, Brinson, an electronics technician with the city’s Transit Authority, knows he’ll find an array of products on the shelves each spring that aren’t readily available the rest of the year.

He then purchases items free of corn and corn syrup – for Brinson, this means mayonnaise, ketchup, macaroons and Coca-Cola – before the holiday.

And as soon as Passover ends, he returns to buy in bulk whatever’s been drastically discounted when the demand drops.

While corn is not a prohibited

food for Passover observers, it falls into the category of kitniyot, or legumes, that Ashkenazic Jews traditionally avoid.

Foods omitting other ingredients bothersome or dangerous to those with sensitivities or allergies similarly find a market among consumers who don’t observe Passover but look for items with kosher-for-Passover certification. They include people who avoid products containing gluten and seek items that substitute potato starch for wheat because of the holiday’s prohibitions against consuming leavened products.

Rabbi Menachem Genack, chief executive officer of the kashrus division of the Orthodox Union, said he’s unable to quantify the sales of such items to those not observing Passover but who buy products for medical reasons. Still, like for kosher products year-round, “the market is larger than for people who are just concerned with kosherdietary laws,” he said.

Menachem Lubinsky, whose Brooklyn, N.Y., marketing firm specializes in kosher products, said kosher-for-Passover items in 2013 produced $1.1 billion in sales,

including $90 million in matzah.

Among those relying on O.U. certification of Passover products is Cynthia Kupper, the executive director of the Gluten Intolerance Group, which is based near Seattle and has 5,000 members nationally.

“Passover is the time of year that people with celiac disease will stock up,” said Kupper, a Methodist who has the disease. “Even my nonJewish friends will go out and look for things not produced except at Passover.”

The Gluten Intolerance Group, in fact, certifies gluten-free food items with a GF symbol throughout the year (nearly 21,000 in 2013). In 2005, it began partnering with the O.U. in that venture, Kupper said.

Because of the Orthodox agency’s expertise regarding ingredients and its relationships with food manufacturers, she explained, it was “very instrumental in helping us get that started.” Kupper said she was alerted to the O.U. by a Jewish friend living in New York.

Consumers with gluten intolerances are known to create and share lists digitally of kosher-for-Passover, gluten-free products, she said.

On Ukraine, Israel and neoconservatives not on the same page

By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) – When it comes to Ukraine, Israel is parting ways with some of its staunchest American allies, namely neoconservatives – and it’s not the first time.

Israel’s reluctance to side too closely with the United States in its bid to isolate Russia is typical of an Israeli realpolitik that has led to past conflicts with the American neoconservatives, who prize humanitarian interventionism.

But Israel’s stance is not sufficiently consequential to set off a fight between friends, neoconservative scholars said.

“There’s generally, when it comes to the categories of differences of opinions between Israel and neoconservatives, two categories: the ones that directly impact U.S. policy and the ones that don’t,” said Seth Mandel, assistant editor at the neoconservative Jewish magazine Commentary.

Ukraine does not rise to the level of an Israeli policy that would rattle the relationship, Mandel said, as opposed to earlier examples of disagreements, including Israeli policy on the Arab Spring and the Israeli sale of arms to China.

An Israeli government official – one in regular contact with what

Courtesy of Allison Shelley/Getty Images

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has advocated a tough stance toward Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

he described as some of “Israel’s best friends” in Congress – agreed, saying that the Israelis had not heard complaints from neoconservatives, as they had in the past, like when Israel opposed the 2011 ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

“Israel is wrong on Syria, wrong on Egypt, wrong on lots of things,” Danielle Pletka, the vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, the flagship neoconservative think tank, wrote in an email. “It doesn’t affect support for the democratic state of Israel among American friends.

That’s not the way it works.

They’re an independent country, and have the right to be foolish; I don’t think anyone devotes even a minute to considering the Israeli position on Ukraine.”

It took nearly a week for Israel to issue a response to the Feb. 28 Russian takeover of Crimea.

The March 5 statement by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, himself a Russianspeaking native of Moldova, was terse and did not mention Russia, whose leadership Liberman has long favored cultivating.

“Israel is following with great concern the events in Ukraine, it is anxious for peace for all its citizens and hopes that the situation will not deteriorate to a loss of human life,” said the statement published in the Israeli media.

“Israel expects the crisis in Ukraine will be handled through diplomatic means and will be resolved peacefully.”

Israel abstained from a March 27 United Nations General Assembly vote condemning a March 16 referendum in Crimea in favor of joining Russia; it was virtually alone among American allies in not voting for the resolution.

Republicans in Congress allied with the neoconservative movement have blamed what they say is the Obama administration’s UKRAINE on page 22

Courtesy of Hillel Kuttler

More gluten-free products are available at Passover, and an array of blogs offers recipes on how to use them.

Websites such as Gluten Free Palace present various Passover products, and an array of blogs offer gluten-free Passover recipes. They include one run by Jules Shepard, who writes that Passover “is not just for those in the Jewish faith” and urges readers to “take a few extra minutes the next time you’re in the grocery store and peruse the kosher section” for gluten-free products.

The Passover and Easter section of Shepard’s blog offers a basic explanation of the religious basis for the Passover diet of Jews and informs gluten-intolerant readers about some products available primarily at Passover time. Shepard also provides recipes for baking matzah made from oat flour and PASSOVER on page 22

THE ART OF

PASSOVER

2014 Passover Cover Coloring Contest entries can be seen at Marx Hot Bagels 9701 KENWOOD ROAD • BLUE ASH

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From Alsatian town, France’s oldest matzah-maker sells to the world

By Toni L. Kamins

Courtesy of Etablissements Rene Neymann

The Etablissements René Neymann matzah factory is located in the Alsatian city of Wasselonne.

(JTA) – For most Jews, matzah season comes once a year. But for Jean-Claude Neymann, matzah, or “pain azyme” in French, is a defining family tradition.

Neymann runs the oldest matzah bakery in France, located in the town of Wasselonne near the German border. The family company, Etablissements Rene Neymann, traces its matzah-making tradition to 1850.

“I’m the fifth generation of my family to bake matzah here in Wasselonne,” Neymann said.

Walking along the steep, cobblestoned streets of Wasselonne, a city of nearly 6,000 people at the foot of the Vosges Mountains in northeast-

ern France, is like stepping into a Grimm’s fairy tale. Timbered facades look more German than French, a reminder that Alsace and Lorraine have been shunted back and forth between two countries that regularly warred with each other in the not-so- distant past.

Salomon Neymann, a peddler and the father of this unleavenedbread dynasty, set up his first bakery in nearby Odratzheim, where he began to bake Passover matzah for his family and the local Jewish community. His matzah became popular, and by 1870 he and his son Benoit moved the factory to larger quarters in Wasselonne, a market city with an industrial district that also had the advantage of being the site of a flour mill.

Between 1870 and 1919 the Neymann family manufactured regular and shmura matzah in their factory, but Benoit Neymann’s youngest son, Rene, had bigger ideas for the company. In 1919 he industrialized production, changed the company name to Etablissements Rene Neymann and in 1930 began to market the wonders of unleavened bread to the nonJewish public. It was a hit and sales grew.

After France fell to the Nazis in 1940, the bakery was shuttered and the Neymann family was forced into exile in southern France.

Liberation came in November 1944 with the army of Gen. Phillipe MATZAH on page 21

French Jews say Prime Minister Manuel Valls has their back

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Courtesy of Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Manuel Valls at the ceremony in which he assumed the power as French prime minister, April 1, 2014.

(JTA) – Even among those who anticipated it, the intensity of antiSemitic violence that hit France in 2002 was shocking.

That year – the height of the second Palestinian intifada – synagogues and schools were torched, previously rare anti-Semitic beatings occurred in Paris and elsewhere, and a new generation of Jews were introduced to dangers their grandparents recognized from the 1930s.

So when teenagers started throwing stones at Jews walking to synagogue in Evry, Manuel Valls, then the mayor of the Paris suburb, did more than issue a condemnatory

news release. Valls, who became prime minister last week, joined the weekly synagogue walk, signaling to the perpetrators and anyone who cared to look that the Jews had a powerful ally.

“There is a new reality for French Jews,” Valls said years later, describing the atmosphere in 2002.

“And it is palpable to me.”

Valls’ promotion last week from interior minister owed less to this kind of dramatic gesture on antiSemitism and more to his reputation as an energetic and reform-minded politician, assets that have helped him rise to become France’s secondmost powerful politician in the shakeup that followed his Socialist

Party’s defeat in local elections last month.

But to many French Jews, Valls is something of a hero for his unusually robust defense of Israel and the French Jewish community, and his elevation is seen as a reassuring sign amid one of French Jewry’s most troublesome periods.

“I don’t think we ever knew a minister who said things the way he says them,” Roger Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, told JTA last week.

Cukierman was referring specifically to a speech last month by Valls at a rally marking the two-year anniversary of the slaying of four

Jews in Toulouse in which Valls said that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.

But Cukierman could have had in mind any of several explicit displays of Jewish solidarity that Valls has undertaken over the years.

As interior minister, Valls led an uncompromising assault on the comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, who created a quasi-Nazi salute known as the quenelle that Valls has described as “an antiSemitic gesture of hate.” And Valls has been filmed wearing a yarmulke at numerous Jewish community functions, exposing him to charges of hypocrisy since he supported FRENCH on page 21

Are Iberia’s pseudo Passovers all about the afiko-money?

By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA) – In the center of the medieval Portuguese town of Medelim, two newlyweds in Sephardic wedding clothes are serenaded by a musical ensemble performing Ladino music.

Nearby, several members of the knights Templar march in white capes and chain mail while a harlequin on stilts prances around carrying a pole topped with a Star of David.

The scene may have been familiar to someone living in Medelim 500 years ago, when the town had a large population of Sephardic Jews. But today there are no Jews in Medelim, their memory evoked solely by actors hired to play period roles during the municipally organized “Jewish and Christian Passover,” an annual cultural event held for the second time last month.

Occurring just months after both Portugal and Spain introduced legislation to naturalize Sephardic Jews, the festival is part

Courtesy of Beira Baixa TV

An actor entertaining visitors to the Jewish Christian Passover Celebration last month at Medelim, Portugal.

of a growing embrace of Iberian Jewish heritage. Both countries have seen a surge in festivals celebrating Jewish culture, often timed to Jewish holidays such as Passover and Sukkot.

“In Portugal, there is much ignorance on how important Jews have been to our cultural roots, so events that familiarize people with

Jewish traditions are welcome,” said Jose Antonio Oliveira, a geography lecturer at the Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies in Lisbon who participated in a panel discussion at the Medelim event.

But there is also a financial aspect to the embrace of Jewish heritage. Local officials hope the

events will raise the town’s profile and attract tourists.

Medelim’s tourism department hired Mor Karbasi, an Israel-born rising star on the world music scene, to perform in Ladino.

Kosher wine, cheese and matzah were on sale in several stalls of the medieval-themed market set up around the festival compound. A boutique hotel called Sefarad had its grand opening.

“This Jewish holiday and the popularity of restaurants and artisans are ideal for distinguishing Medelim in the region, which will generate economic value for our populations,” Albano Pires Marques, the president of Medelim’s local council, told Portuguese media at the event.

Medelim’s Passover event was one of several Jewish-themed celebrations held recently in Iberian towns with no Jewish populations.

In October, the towns of San Juan and Rio Jerte in northwestern Spain held their first Sukkot festivals featuring Jewish foods, a crafts market and a fake Jewish

wedding.

Last year, the Spanish town of Ribadavia hosted its first kosher Passover seder in centuries. Led by a Jewish historian, the dinner was attended by a mostly nonJewish crowd and organized by local tourism officials who charged guests $40 a plate.

In February, lawmakers from the Spanish ruling party submitted a bill to the parliament of the Andalucia region that would encourage Jewish weddings at the 14th-century Cordoba Synagogue.

The bill said the goal was to boost local tourism.

But not everyone is happy with the embrace of Jewish heritage.

Rabbi Daniel Litvak of the northern Portuguese city of Porto said the Medelim event was born of a “desire to spread the idea that Portuguese people retain Jewish customs,” while in reality the festival “has nothing to do with Pesach and nothing to do with Jews.”

IBERIA on page 19

INTERNATIONAL / ISRAEL • 9

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

Does Adelson buying another newspaper imperil Israeli media?

By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA) – What happens when one man controls three major Israeli news outlets?

That’s the question Israeli media experts are asking just days after Sheldon Adelson, the American casino magnate and Republican megadonor, purchased the respected conservative weekly Makor Rishon for nearly $5 million.

On Sunday, a Jerusalem court approved Adelson’s purchase of the paper, which had acquired the nowdefunct Maariv newspaper and its website, NRG.co.il, in 2012. Adelson already owned Israel Hayom, a free daily tabloid he founded in 2007 that is Israel’s most widely distributed paper.

With the new purchase, Adelson now has control of Israel’s major right-wing media outlets, as well as two of the country’s four major newspapers.

“Adelson’s purchase of Makor Rishon is sad,” said Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, head of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Media Reform Project. “It consolidates the media market, which is bad for content, but we shouldn’t mourn it. There are opportunities we haven’t seen yet.”

Adelson’s increasing hold on Israeli media has prompted concerns of increasing ideological conformity and less government criticism. A

International Briefs Switzerland approves Palestinian move to join Geneva Conventions (JNS) – The Swiss government on Friday approved the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) bid for accession to the Geneva Conventions, Swiss foreign ministry spokesman PierreAlain Elschinger told Agence France-Presse.

The Geneva Convention move is part of the larger PA effort to join 15 international conventions, despite its agreement not to do so while in peace talks with Israel.

Lockheed Martin officially opens Israel office (JNS) – American defense, aerospace, and technology company Lockheed Martin has officially opened its first office in Israel.

The office, located in Be’er Sheva, is part of Israel’s plan to transform the Negev Desert region into a hub of the defense and hightech industries.

Sheldon Adelson donates $16.4 million to Israeli lunar mission (JNS) – Jewish philanthropist

staunch supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Adelson is widely seen as having used Israel Hayom to increase popular support for the Israeli leader.

Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, the chairman of the pro-settler Jewish Home party, likened Israel Hayom to Pravda, the state newspaper of the former Soviet Union.

“The paper is the trumpet of one man, the prime minister,” Bennett told Galei Tzahal, the Israel Defense Forces radio station. “At every intersection, every point of friction between the national interest and the prime minister’s interest, it chooses the prime minister’s side. I very much hope that Makor Rishon will maintain an independent, nationalist position. “ The CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., with a net worth of more than $28 billion – the 11th richest American, according to Forbes magazine – Adelson has never been shy about using his wealth to advance his political interests.

In 2012, he was a generous supporter of the failed presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich. When Gingrich dropped out, Adelson threw his support behind Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, donating $20 million to a Romney-supporting Super PAC. Last week, a number of

Republican presidential hopefuls gathered at Adelson’s Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas for what some were calling the “Sheldon primary” in recognition of the casino magnate’s power as a Republican kingmaker.

In Israel, there is little expectation that Adelson’s latest deal will augur the death of Israel’s free press.

Israel’s other dailies – the centrist Yediot Acharonot and the left-wing Haaretz – are both critical of Netanyahu and remain widely read.

Maariv, once Israel’s most popular paper, fell on hard times in recent years and ceased publication in March.

Still, some worry that Adelson’s purchase may narrow the parameters of public discussion. Last month, in an effort to maintain competition in Israel’s media market, Knesset members from seven parties – including the right-wing Jewish Home – proposed a law that would require readers to pay for Israel Hayom.

“There can be two right-wing papers that think differently,” said Tamir Sheafer, a professor of communications and journalism at Hebrew University. “There can be a right-wing paper that criticizes the prime minister from the right. But if Sheldon Adelson has a favorable attitude toward Netanyahu, will Makor Rishon criticize Netanyahu from the right?”

A Makor Rishon reporter who wished to remain anonymous acknowledged that political correspondents are “a little worried,” but said the Adelson deal will allow the staff to continue its in-depth reporting and analysis from a right-wing perspective.

“For us as journalists, it was very reassuring to know people like the paper and want to buy it,” the reporter said. “They see the importance of holding on to this type of paper. I would always joke that if I wrote the same article for Maariv and Makor Rishon, I would dumb it down for Maariv and keep it intellectual for Makor Rishon.”

The closing of Maariv, along with recent financial struggles at Haaretz and across Israel’s print media landscape, raise the question of whether a country of 8 million people can sustain four daily papers in the age of the Internet.

“The market in Israel is very small,” Altshuler said. “Its ability to sustain three papers or three TV stations, that’s something people don’t pay attention to. It was clear that one of them needed to close.”

Altshuler sees a potential boon for Israeli media in the growth of online journalism. But Tal Schneider, who writes the Plog, a well-respected Israeli political blog, says her work cannot replace the staff of a large newspaper.

Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam have donated $16.4 million to SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit seeking to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon.

SpaceIL is the only Israeli team currently competing in the Google Lunar X Prize competition to become the first team to successfully land a robotic spacecraft on the Moon and send pictures back to earth.

attacks on Israel, Egyptian security services, and tourists in the Sinai Peninsula.

tivals held in city squares at Easter, or drinking in general.

U.S. denying visa to Iranian U.N. ambassador involved in hostage crisis (JNS) – The Obama administration on Friday notified Iran and the United Nations that it would deny a visa to newly appointed Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Hamid Aboutalebi, who was part of an extremist student group that stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, taking 52 U.S. diplomats hostage for 444 days.

State Dept. designates Sinai group as terror org. for attacks on Israel, others (JNS) – The U.S. State Department designated Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), a group operating in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

According to the State Department, ABM – which shares an ideology with al-Qaeda but isn’t a formal affiliate – is responsible for

Hezbollah reportedly faces financial crisis over Iran cutbacks and Syrian civil war (JNS) – Hezbollah is facing a growing financial crisis, according to new reports.

A report in Asharq Al-Awsat, citing sources in Lebanon, said Hezbollah is facing increasing financial pressure over austerity measures by the Iranian government since President Hassan Rouhani took office last summer, as well as strain over the terror group’s involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Spanish village called ‘kill Jews’ mulling name change (JTA) – A Spanish village is considering removing the phrase “kill Jews” from its name.

The village of Castrillo Matajudios near Leon in northern Spain will convene its 60 resident families at a town hall meeting this week to discuss and vote on the first formal proposal to change the village’s name, the regional daily Diario de Burgos reported last Friday.

In parts of Spain, and especially in the north, locals use the term “killing Jews” (matar Judios) to describe the traditional drinking of lemonade spiked with alcohol at fes-

Shimon Peres: China has ‘central role’ in preventing a nuclear Iran (JNS) – During his state visit to China, Israeli President Shimon Peres said last week that China is a key to preventing a nuclear Iran.

“China has a central role in the efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb. Iran is the center of terror in the world. Iran funds terrorism and exports it across the entire Middle East and beyond,” said Peres, whose trip was the first to China by an Israeli president in 10 years.

Don’t shelter accused rabbi, South Africa’s chief rabbi warns (JTA) – South Africa’s chief rabbi called on the Jewish community not to shelter or support Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who fled Israel after accusations of sexual assault.

Berland, 77, of the Breslov Hasidic movement, left Israel after being accused of sexually abusing several women as well as a 15-yearold girl.

London teacher threatens to send Jewish student to ‘your gas chambers’ (JTA) – The parents of a Jewish student at an exclusive girls’ school

Courtesy of Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Sheldon Adelson (L) is escorted to his seat to listen to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speak during the Republican Jewish Coalition spring leadership meeting in Las Vegas.

“On my blog, we are not 100 reporters – we are a two-person business,” Schneider said. “We cannot provide the [same] extent of coverage. I cannot replace Maariv or Makor Rishon.”

Despite the worry, few see Adelson’s growing control of Israeli publications as an immediate threat to the country’s free press. But should the rise of digital media continue to erode the financial viability of traditional publications, that could change. in London called on the head of school to make a public statement about an incident in which a teacher told their daughter that she would be sent “to one of your gas chambers.”

The teacher reportedly apologized to the student, but the school has not gone public with what, if any, disciplinary action was taken against the teacher.

Health bosses in Denmark, Norway resist calls to ban circumcision (JTA) – Norway’s health ministry has submitted a bill that proposes placing some limitations and fees on ritual circumcision but not banning it outright, while Denmark’s health board issued guidelines stating that the practice is legal.

Amid drop in anti-Semitic incidents in Canada, vandalism rises sharply TORONTO (JTA) – AntiSemitic incidents decreased slightly in Canada in 2013 over the previous year, but cases of vandalism rose “significantly,” according to B’nai Brith Canada.

While episodes of harassment decreased to 872 from 1,013, representing a nearly 14 percent drop, acts of vandalism rose by 21.6 percent – 388 in 2013 from 319 the prior year. Cases of violence also increased, to 14 from 13.

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Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid says settlement freeze preferable to prisoner release

By Ben Sales

Courtesy of Elad Gutman

Yair Lapid says he would leave the coalition if the Israeli government did not “exhaust all options” in its peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid said he supports freezing settlement growth to help jump-start peace negotiations and vowed that his centrist Yesh Atid party would leave Israel’s governing coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were responsible for the collapse of the peace process.

In an interview this week with JTA, his first with an American Jewish news organization since

entering the Knesset last year, Lapid continued his recent shift toward placing the peace process at the top of his party’s agenda.

A year ago he told The New York Times that Israel should not change its settlement policy to advance negotiations, nor should it curb its “natural expansion” or limit financial inducements to Israelis who move there.

But on Monday, Lapid told JTA that he would sooner agree to freeze settlement growth than free Palestinian prisoners, as Netanyahu

has done previously in an effort to advance the process. A fourth round of prisoner releases was due to take place March 29, but Israel reneged.

“I would choose, every day of the week, freezing the settlements over freeing prisoners,” he said.

“But in this coalition, in this particular moment, this was the favorable option.”

A former television news anchor, Lapid entered politics for the first time in advance of the January 2013 elections with the aim of reenergizing Israel’s political center.

He stayed relatively quiet on security issues during the campaign, running on a largely domestic platform of lowering the cost of living and expanding the mandatory military draft to include the haredi Orthodox.

But over the past year, Lapid has become increasingly vocal about the need for Israel to reach a two-state solution to its conflict with the Palestinians. And while he laid the blame for the current impasse in peace talks squarely at the feet of the FINANCE on page 19

Israelis treating Syria’s wounded confront complex injuries, cultural gaps

By Ben Sales

Courtesy of Kobi Gideon /GPO/FLASH90

A medical worker at a field hospital on the Golan Heights treating an individual wounded in Syria’s civil war, February 2014.

Israel Briefs Israeli economy grew 3.3 percent in 2013 (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – Israel’s economy grew by 3.3 percent in 2013, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.

The figure marks a slight drop from 2012 and 2011, when the economy expanded by 3.4 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.

International Monetary Fund: Israel’s economy will grow 3.5% in 2015 (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – The Israeli economy will grow by 3.5 percent in 2015, up from 3.2 percent in 2014 and 3.4 percent in 2013, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook mid-year report.

Israeli border policemen injured in Temple Mount clash (JNS) – Three Israeli border policemen sustained mild injuries Sunday following clashes that broke out on the Temple Mount

shortly after it was opened for Jewish visitors, Israel Hayom reported.

Muslims praying in the area threw stones and Molotov cocktails at border police stationed at the Mughrabi Gate entrance.

Immigration to Israel jumps 14% in first three months of 2014 (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – The first three months of 2014 saw a 14-percent increase in the number of new immigrants to Israel compared to the same period of 2013, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported.

Jerusalem court convicts Islamic Movement head of obstructing police operations (JNS) – The Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court on Thursday convicted Islamic Movement head Sheikh Raed Salah of obstructing a police officer in the line of duty.

Salah was accused of interfering with police officers while they were questioning his wife when he accompanied her to enter Israel from Jordan in 2011, via the Allenby Bridge border crossing.

The court ruled that Salah “sought to frustrate the search of his wife because to him it represented an affront to his honor.”

SAFED, Israel (JTA) – When an Israeli army ambulance brought an injured Syrian man to Ziv Medical Center in this northern Israeli city two months ago, the doctors didn’t know where exactly he was from.

They saw that his leg had been amputated, and based on his own fragmented account and the physical evidence, the doctors surmised he had been hit by a shell.

But they didn’t know exactly Bereaved Israeli families stage mock Passover seder to protest prisoner release (JNS) – Bereaved Israeli families and victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks staged a mock Passover seder as part of a demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem on Thursday.

The families and members of the Almagor Terror Victims Association arranged the table with matzot, wine, food, and seder plates, but instead of people sitting at the chairs there were pictures of the 183 victims of the terrorists freed in the last three stages of the Palestinian terrorist prisoner release by Israel.

Israeli government to allot $289 million to aid Holocaust survivors (JNS) – The Israeli government is expected to approve an additional annual budget of $289 million in aid for the 200,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel. The finance and social services ministries are expected to present within a month, the alterations to the law needed to increase the budget so that the National Plan for Aid to Holocaust Survivors can be implemented as soon as possible, Israel Hayom reported.

how he had gotten there. And when he leaves the hospital later this month, they don’t know where he’s going.

“I’m not scared,” said the Syrian, whose name was withheld by the hospital because Israel and Syria are in a state of war.

“Nothing worse will happen to me, so who cares if I’m in Israel?”

Despite decades of hostility between Israel and Syria, hundreds of victims of Syria’s 3-yearold civil war have received lifesaving treatments in Israeli hospi-

tals. Israeli medical personnel say that while they’re happy to treat Syrians, the wounded pose a unique set of challenges.

For one, their injuries are often complex, owing to the heavy artillery used in the conflict. They sometimes arrive at the hospital as much as days after suffering the injury, complicating treatment.

And the wounded often are wary of Israelis they have been taught to despise, making it hard for

Naftali Bennett threatens to quit Israeli coalition over prisoner release (JNS) – Israeli Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of the Habayit Hayehudi party, announced Thursday that if Israeli Arab prisoners are released as part of a U.S.-brokered deal to extend the Israeli-Palestinians peace talks, he and his party would leave the governing coalition.

orbit on Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced.

The “Ofek 10” satellite, launched in cooperation with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), is expected to be used to keep tabs on Iran and terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Israel is a ‘paradise’ for Christians, says Israeli Christian leader (JNS) – Israeli Christian leader Shadi Khalloul, spokesman for the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, called Israel a “paradise” for Christians as part of a wideranging interview on the status of Middle East Christians with the Italian newspaper Informazione Corretta.

“Israel is a paradise for us.

Israel is the paradise for Christians from the Middle East,” Khalloul said. “In Israel we enjoy freedom and have rights, we can say what we want, organize activities, found associations, and that is why we can be so active in society.”

Israel successfully launches new spy satellite (JNS) – Israel successfully launched a new spy satellite into

WOUNDED on page 22

Gaza mortar explodes in southern Israeli community, no sirens sound (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – A mortar fired from the Gaza Strip exploded and damaged infrastructure in a community in the Shaar Hanegev region of southern Israel on April 9, with residents saying warning sirens did not sound.

Netanyahu orders Israeli ministers to halt cooperation with Palestinians (JNS) – Amid the faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week ordered Israeli government ministries to cut off high-level contacts with the Palestinian Authority on non-security related issues.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the move was a response to the recent Palestinian decision to submit applications to join 15 international organizations and conventions.

12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

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ANNOUNCEMENTS WEDDING teven and Barbara Rothstein and Alan Golding and Nina Golding announce the marriage of their children, Adam Scott Rothstein and Chelsea Lauren Golding, on Saturday, March 8, 2014. Rabbi Elana Dellal officiated at the evening ceremony at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza Hotel. The ceremony was followed by a reception in the Hall of Mirrors. After a honeymoon to Costa Rica, the couple WILL reside in Oakley.

Adam is the grandson of Elaine Rothstein of Sarasota, Florida, the late Kerry Rothstein, and the late Morton and Ada Schwartz. Chelsea is the granddaughter of Bernard and Jolene Shapiro of Columbus and the late Carol Shapiro and Joanne and Sanford Golding.

S

THE REUNION: CAMP LIVINGSTON AND CAMP AT THE J On January 19th, campers, staff and families from Camp Livingston and Camp at the J gathered at the Mayerson JCC for a joint gettogether to bring back fond memories from Summer 2013. Whether they were bouncing around in the bounce house, eating from the popcorn machine, decorating cookies, posing in the photo booth, winning raffle prizes, or enjoying the JCC’s brand new indoor gaga arena, everyone had a great time!

Photos continued on Page 13

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13

14 • DINING OUT

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Stone Creek a “carryout” and fine-dining destination

By Bob Wilhelmy Did you know that Stone Creek Dining Company offers a new wrinkle in the family carryout arena? They’ve called it the Party Pan Menu.

If you are planning a party, a special family meal, or any gathering where there will be eight or more hungry mouths to feed, Stone Creek can help—big time.

All you need to do is call 24 hours ahead, and come pick up your order. A small party pan will feed eight people, and a large pan, 16 people, according to the Stone Creek menu. The price includes serving utensils, plates, napkins and flatware service for eight and 16, respectively.

For example, if you wanted to start the meal with an appetizer such as spinach & artichoke dip, with crostinis (toast crisps) and bruschetta tomatoes, a small pan is $38, a large, $74. On to salad, a Caesar perhaps, $30 and $55, respectively; followed by an entrée of blackened mahi-mahi, with black bean-cucumber salsa and cilantro aioli, at $68 and $138, respectively; or perhaps penne Romani, featuring spinach, caramelized onions, Kalamata olives, in a rosa-red cream sauce, for $52 and $104, respectively. Do the math, and that’s a really good deal, and (and!) the food is finedining quality. There are sides to go with entrees, as well as cookies or bite-size carrot or cheese cakes for dessert.

Of course, if you want to carryout any menu item for one or two or several, that’s another option for many on-the-go diners. Says GM Sarah Cunningham: “We have a very strong carryout business, and the busier people become, the more we seem to do of that part of our business.”

While carryout can be perfect some of the time, Stone Creek is a special place when it comes to a restaurant setting. Just stop in at the happy hour (the scene hops beginning at 5 p.m. or so, M-F) bar area and you’ll gain a sense of just how vibrant the place is.

Why is that? Stone Creek features a perfect mix of fine-dining attributes on the food end, and casual I-like-it-here ambiance on the social and service side. Those two, together, are hard to come by in fine-dining eateries. Plus, as Cunningham will tell you: “Everything is made to order.”

The made to order feature is important to Jewish diners, because entrees, sandwiches and salads can be adjusted to meet dietary requirements. That is not always possible in many restaurants, fine-dining or otherwise.

For the record, the I have tried ten or so entrée items on Stone

Fish tacos.

The exterior signage of the Montgomery location of Stone Creek Dining Company.

Roasted chicken with baby carrots.

Creek’s menu over the years, and they all rate a scrumptious “Wow!” on the Taste/Quality/Value index.

Entrées are plated with fine-dining panache, dishes are inventive, inviting and tasty, and prices are comfortably moderate for fine dining fare. So Stone Creek gets an “A” on cuisine.

Now, what about the service side of the operation? This is somewhat intangible territory in dining, but you’ll know what I mean when you visit Stone Creek.

The “intangible” is a laid-back, just-folks style that is just right: no pretense, no phony-baloney stuff at the service end. Just people

intent on doing a good job for you, and knowing they have the good food to win your approval.

Tom Cunningham, a principal of Montgomery’s Stone Creek location, put it this way: “Part of the reason people like to come here is because we aren’t pushy.

We’re not trying to get every last dollar. We don’t think that way. If a customer wants a sandwich or a bowl of soup or an appetizer instead of an entrée, that’s fine with us. We’re trying to give them a good experience: great food and good value.”

Stone Creek is one of only a few fine-dine eateries in our area

offering continuous service throughout the day, from lunch to close. That’s especially advantageous to those of us with irregular schedules and business get-togethers in the middle of the afternoon.

So what about that cuisine? A good gauge of taste and quality is the roasted chicken breast with baby carrots, Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and a cabernet demi-glace ($17). Another good option is the floro salmon, a generous cut of salmon grilled and placed upon sautéed spinach and caramelized onions, dotted with pine nuts, and seasoned with Valencia orange citrus vinaigrette

($20). And a third dish is the braised short ribs of beef, coated in a tasty gravy, and set atop horseradish seasoned mashed potatoes, with sautéed green beans, trumpet mushrooms and a cabernet demiglace ($23).

There’s plenty more from which to choose. See you as Stone Creek!

Stone Creek Dining Company 9386 Montgomery Road Olde Montgomery 489-1444 6200 Muhlauser Road West Chester 942-2100

DINING OUT • 15

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

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16 • OPINION

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‘Occupied territories’ is a flawed and biased term

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

By Alan Baker JERUSALEM (JTA) – When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologized to Republican donor Sheldon Adelson for using the term “occupied territories” to refer to the West Bank, critics pounced. Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” ridiculed the apology, insisting that the phrase is “widely accepted” and accurate.

While the term is indeed widely used to describe Israel’s relationship to the West Bank areas of Judea and Samaria, that doesn’t make it accurate.

Indeed, the use of the term “occupied territories” in this context is flawed legally, historically and factually.

The phrase does not accurately reflect the status of the areas that it purports to describe. Yet it has regrettably become lingua franca in contemporary international and U.N. parlance, including for senior members of the U.S. administration and European leaders.

The expressions “occupied territory” and “occupied Palestinian territory” are political terms frequently used in nonbinding political resolutions, principally in the U.N. General Assembly, representing nothing more than the political viewpoint of the majority of states voting in favor of such resolutions.

These political pronouncements have never constituted, nor should they constitute, an authority for any determination that the territories are Palestinian or that they are occupied. Such determinations would appear to be based on incorrect and partisan readings of the factual situation and of the relevant international legal documentation.

In the 1967 Six Day War Israel took control of Samaria, Judea, eastern Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. These areas had previously been seized by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Egypt and held by them since the 1948 war, initiated by them against Israel.

International law relates to occupation of foreign territory from a “prior legitimate sovereign,” and these areas never constituted the legitimate sovereign territory of Jordan or Egypt. Hence, the accepted international law definition of “occupation” of territory cannot be attributed to Israel’s status in these areas.

The unique historic and legal nature of these territories, in which there has existed a basic indigenous Jewish presence since at least 1500 BCE, long before the arrival of Islam in the 7th-century CE, with concomitant Jewish historic rights, inevitably renders these territories as sui generis, or having a unique legal status.

This status runs counter to any attempt to use standard definitions such as “occupied territories” in order to designate or describe these areas.

Furthermore, the historic and legal rights of the Jewish people to this territory, rendering it unique and not “occupied,” have been acknowledged and encapsulated legally and historically in official, binding and still valid international documents: the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the 1920 San Remo Declaration, the 1922 League of Nations Mandate Instrument and the 1945 U.N. Charter.

By any objective criteria, the status of the territory could therefore only be considered to be at the most “disputed territory,” subject to an agreed-upon negotiation process between Israel and the Palestinians aimed at determining its ultimate status by agreement. This negotiating process includes the requirement to agree on secure and recognized permanent boundaries.

Demands that Israel withdraw to the “1967 lines,” which are in effect the 1949 armistice demarcation lines, are equally flawed and misleading. Such demands attempt to prejudge an open negotiating issue.

Efforts by leading elements in the international community to assign the territory to the Palestinians, prior to a successful conclusion of the negotiating process, or to deny the rights and status of Israel, demonstrate nothing more than political ignorance and bias.

Alan Baker is director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, as well as of the International Action Division of the Legal Forum for Israel. He has served as the legal counsel to Israel’s Foreign Ministry and as Israel’s ambassador to Canada.

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The American Israelite

The West Bank is under military occupation, and that’s a fact

By Jessica Montell JERUSALEM (JTA) – According to press reports, the crowd at a recent Republican Jewish Coalition conference “noticeably gasped” when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie referred to the West Bank as “occupied territories.” Christie promptly apologized to the event’s host, mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, clarifying that his remarks “were not meant to be a statement of policy,” according to a source.

This incident illustrates the many semantic land mines involved in talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The terms employed to talk about the separation barrier or the Israeli settlements or some of Jerusalem’s holy sites often belie a political agenda intended not only to describe reality but also to affect it.

Yet this incident also illustrates the way in which an inherently legal term has been branded as somehow part of a radical political agenda.

Acknowledging that the West Bank is presently subject to military occupation is not at all a statement of policy. It is a statement of fact.

Many Jews, both in Israel and in the United States, use the biblical names Judea and Samaria, highlighting the belief that this territory forms the foundation of the Jewish people. This territory is indeed the biblical heartland of the Jewish tradition, where according to our Bible the Patriarch Abraham purchased a plot of land for his family, where Joshua

brought the people after 40 years of wandering in the desert and built the tabernacle to house the Ark of the Covenant.

But calling this area Judea and Samaria tells us nothing about the applicable legal framework: Who is the legislator in Judea and Samaria? Who is the executive branch of government in the West Bank? What is the judiciary there?

The answer to all three questions is the Israeli military. The military passes laws, in the form of military orders that supersede the local laws that otherwise remain in force. Even the fact that Israeli law applies in the settlements, and personally to settlers, is not due to legislation from the Knesset but because the military commander signed an order giving force to that particular piece of Knesset legislation.

The military is also the executive, administering all aspects of the governance of this territory.

Many of the Israeli civil authorities operate in the settlements, and the Palestinian Authority has responsibility for civil affairs within Palestinian cities.

However, all of these authorities operate within the overall control of the Israeli military.

And the military is the judiciary. The military legal advisors decide what is lawful and what is not. The Israeli military maintains a military court system in which Palestinians are tried for everything from security offenses to traffic violations.

All Palestinians – including those living in Area A under the nominal control of the Palestinian Authority – are subject to the jurisdiction of the Israeli military.

Some 300,000 Israelis live in this territory as well (not counting the 200,000 Israelis in the territory annexed to the city of Jerusalem).

Though they also live in territory governed by military law, settlers enjoy all the rights of the Israeli democracy, as well as additional financial benefits intended to encourage Israelis to live there.

The result is that two different and discriminatory legal systems operate in the same territory, with a person’s rights and benefits determined by his or her national origin.

The words “military occupation” might sound harsh to the American ear. Many Israelis don’t like the sound of it either. Yet the reality is indeed harsh. Millions of Palestinians have lived for almost half a century under military rule, denied basic rights and subject to the whims of a government they did not elect and have no ability to influence.

Adelson and his ilk may be able to dictate a form of censorship of the political conversation in the United States. This ostrichlike behavior, however, does not alter the reality on the ground.

This is a rotten system. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is currently devoting massive efforts to address this problem. If his efforts are to have any hope of success, we must first of all call it like it is.

Jessica Montell is executive director of B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.

JEWISH LIFE • 17

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

blood. Hence, just as the brothers dipped Joseph’s cloak of many colors into the blood of the goat claiming to their father that Joseph had been torn apart by a wild beast; we dip our karpas into the charoset.

What does this have to do with Passover? The Babylonian Talmud (B.T. Shabbat 10b) teaches in the name of Rav: “One should never favor one child over the other children in a family. It was because of an expensive garment bought for two sela’im that Jacob gave to Joseph – more expensive than anything he had given to any of his other children – he was envied by his brothers and the issue ‘snowballed’ until our forefathers were enslaved in Egypt.” Hence, the seder begins by warning every leader of the family to learn from the Joseph story the importance of showing equal affection and treatment to all of one’s children so as not to engender causeless hatred and strife.

The seder’s theme of the Joseph story continues with the cups of wine. Although the Babylonian Talmud (Pesachim 99b) links the four cups with the four (or five) expressions of redemption in the Book of Exodus (6:6-7), the Jerusalem Talmud (Pesachim 10:1) connects the cups of wine to the four or five times the word kos – cup appears in the butler’s dream in the book of Genesis (40:9-13, 21).

And of course Joseph’s interpretation of the butler’s dream is that he would be freed from his prison enslavement and would be able to once again serve his master. Since this source deals with freedom from slavery in Egypt and actually uses the word kos, it is certainly legitimate to see it as a source for the cups of wine that we drink in remembrance of our exodus from Egypt.

Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, (known as the Vilna Gaon, 1720-1797) identifies a reference to Joseph at the very end of the seder as well, with the Had Gadya song. He masterfully interprets the little goat bought for two zuzim as the goat whose blood was used to soil Joseph’s coat of many colors: Jacob ‘acquired’ the shock that he received upon seeing the bloodied

cloak by virtue of the two sela’im he had spent on the expensive cloak which engendered the causeless hatred of the other brothers – a hatred unto death.

In a fascinating and parallel symbolic manner, the Jewish people are also the blameless goat whom our Father in Heaven bought unto Himself with the Two Tablets of Stone, the Decalogue He gave them at Sinai. Because of that gift, and the status of the Jewish people as the chosen people, we have been hated throughout the generations and persecuted unto death by cruel tyrant after cruel tyrant. And despite the causeless hatred against us, each of our attackers will be destroyed in turn until eventually even the angel of death will be destroyed by our Father in Heaven.

At that time, Israel and the world will be redeemed and death will be destroyed forever.

May it be speedily and in our days.

From our first issue to last week’s issue, it‘s in our

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

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: PASSOVER 1. How many times did the children of Israel celebrate Pesach in the desert? a.) None b.) One c.) Forty 2. Who was the leader of the people when Passover was first celebrated in the land of Israel? a.) Joshua b.) Samson c.) Samuel 3. Which king of Israel celebrated Passover like never before?

5. C Braishith 27:9 One goat was for the Paschal sacrifice and the second for the holiday offering that was with it. Rashi

EFRAT, Israel – While the Passover Seder is still freshly on our minds and taste buds, allow me to suggest an important lesson that we are likely to overlook.

Fascinatingly, alongside Moshe who is not really mentioned by the Haggadah, there is another great Biblical personality who plays a major role in the Haggadah, but who is likewise overlooked. This personality is Joseph, first born of Rachel, favored son of Jacob-Israel and Grand Vizier of Egypt.

Let us start at the very beginning of the Seder. After we raise the first cup of wine and recite Kiddush, we wash our hands without a blessing before eating a vegetable, usually parsley, and we make the blessing to God “Creator of the fruit of the earth”. The usual explanation for this is that karpas is the Greek word for vegetation, and Greco-Roman meals would generally begin with the vegetable horsd’oeuvre together with a ‘dip’. The seder is a reclining meal reminiscent of a Greco-Roman feast and so we begin the seder evening with this vegetable hors-d’oeuvre /dip.

For us, the vegetable is also a symbol of spring, Passover is called the Festival of the Spring – and the dip is generally salt water reminiscent of the tears of the Hebrew slaves.

There is, however, an entirely different interpretation of the karpas suggested by Rashi in his commentary on the verse which mentions the coat of many colors (k’tonet passim Gen37:3). Rashi links this source to the verse in the Scroll of Esther which describes the rich embroidery of the palace of King Achashverosh: “There were hangings of white fine linen (karpas, Esther 1:6), thereby identifying with the Persian word karpas which describes an expensive material or garment; the second syllable pas means stripe in Hebrew and evidently refers to an expensive material with stripes of many colors. The karpas would therefore refer to Joseph’s coat of many colors, the gift he received from his father elevating him over his siblings and singling him out as the bechor (firstborn). Interestingly enough, there is a custom in many Yemenite communities to dip the karpas vegetable into the charoset, a mixture of wine, nuts and sometimes dates , which the Jerusalem Talmud says is reminiscent of

Hence, the seder begins by warning every leader of the family to learn from the Joseph story the importance of showing equal affection and treatment to all of one’s children...

a.) King David b.) King Hezekayah c.) King Yoshiyahoo 4. Where is the first reference to matzot? a.) Lot b.) Joseph c.) Egypt 5. Where is the first reference to goats (goats were used for the Pascal sacrifice)? a.) Adam b.) Noah c.) Isaac

Israel at that time and celebrated Passover every year. Rashi 2. A Joshua 3. C Book of Kings 4. A Braishith 19:3

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Shabbat Shalom: Chol Hamoed Pesach Numbers 28:19-25

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

ANSWERS 1. B Bamidbar 9 This Passover was in the second year in the desert and the only one in the desert. Had the Children of Israel not sinned by the spies, they would have entered the land of

Sedra of the Week

18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

JEWZ

IN THE

By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist Catching Up with TV Hebrews If you missed prior episodes of the series listed below, all of them are viewable via multiple encore showings, on-demand viewing, and web viewing. Of course, you can set a DVR to record the whole series.

AMY SCHUMER, 32, is a guest-star on the second episode, of the new Comedy Central series, “Comedy Central Underground with Dave Attell.”

This 8-episode series airs at 1:00 AM, Sunday morning, so the three or four comedian guests (per episode) can perform a virtually uncensored stand-up act.

Expect most of them to be quite graphic, like host ATTELL, 49.

The Showtime series, “Californication,” has never shied away from graphic content. The seventh and final season of this comedy/drama about a semi out-of-control writer (played by DAVID DUCHOVNY, 53) runs through this June. Three of the main “Californication” supporting characters are played by Jewish actors (PAMELA ADLON, 47, STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY, 62, and EVAN HANDLER, 53) and the romantic triangle that has linked these actors’ characters continues this season.

Duchovny, by the way, is already set to start filming a 13part NBC series called “Aquarius.” The time period is the late ‘60s and Duchovny plays a cop who becomes aware of the Manson gang before they became infamous.

The eight-episode HBO series, “Silicon Valley,” is a fairly serious drama about the creation of a start-up company with an innovative and potentially very important new software program. There is humor, but it grows organically from the dramatic situations. One of the seven or so computer nerds recruited to work for this company is played by JOSH BRENER, 29 (so far, his character is only referred to as “Big Head”).

Brener, who was head of the famous Hasty Pudding Theatricals when he attended Harvard, also appears as Kyle, MARC MARON’s assistant, on the IFC series, “Maron,” The first season of “Maron” ran last spring. By the way, I saw Brener on a Youtube video promoting a short-lived web series.

Prompted by the interviewer, he threw out funny Jewish cultural lines and Yiddish-isms like he was a 90-year-old Borscht Belt comedian.

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NEWZ

Premiering on FX was the new, 10-episode cable series, “Fargo,” based loosely on the COEN brothers’ Oscar-winning film of the same name. Billy Bob Thornton plays a manipulative drifter who meets a small town Minnesota insurance salesman and sets him on a path of destruction. Co-stars include ADAM GOLDBERG, 43, and JOEY KING, 14. Premiering on CBS is the sit-com, “Bad Teacher.” It, too, is loosely based on a film of the same name. ARI GRAYNOR, 30, a favorite actress of mine, stars as a former trophy wife who masquerades as a teacher in order to find another rich husband – her ex-husband left her penniless.

The co-stars are talented: Kristin Davis of “Sex in the City,” David Alan Grier, and SARA GILBERT, 39, as a science teacher.

“Years of Living Dangerously” is a 9-part documentary series focusing on climate change that premiered on Showtime. The episodes feature celebrity investigators, who travel to areas around the world and throughout the U.S. affected by global warming to interview experts and ordinary people and view the impacts of climate change. The first episode featured HARRISON FORD, 71, visiting Indonesia to investigate deforestation and NY Times journalist THOMAS FRIEDMAN, 60, visiting Syria to study drought and its impact on the civil war now raging in Syria. In later episodes, “60 Minutes” journalist LESLEY STAHL, 72, will visit Greenland and report on the melting of the arctic ice sheet and NY Times food/health writer MARC BITTMAN, 64, will report on rising sea levels and the environmental impact of natural gas production. The first episode can be viewed for free on the Showtime website.

Secret to a Long Life: My Tongue-in-Cheek Advice Mickey Rooney was certainly not Jewish, but he was a very talented man. When he died, at age 93, on April 6, 2014, I remembered that famous clarinetist ARTIE SHAW, who died in 2004, was just a little over ten years older than Rooney. In other words, they lived almost exactly the same lifespan.

Moreover, they both were married eight times and both were married to Ava Gardner. So, friends, the secret to a long life is eight marriages and one has to be to the gorgeous Gardner.

FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO Wanted: A young man as salesman who is experienced in the clothing business. Good reference is required. Apply to Mr. M. Dernham, No. 183 Main Street.

For Sale: “The Essence of Judaism,” by Rev. Dr. I.M. Wise.

Apply at this office, either personally or by letter. This is a neat volume, bound in cloth, and will be sent to any address in the United States for thirty-five cents. A liberal discount allowed to the trade.

A remedy for the piles: It is a blessing to the suffering to know that we have an effecutal cure for this truly troublesome disease. Mr. J.P. Hazarde, of No. 164 Second Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, takes great pleasure in informing all who are suffering with piles that he used a small quantity of Dr. Strickland’s Pile Remedy and it effected a permanent cure. This seems to be the case with all who make use of this splendid preparation. It is manufactured at No. 6 East Fourth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, and sold by all druggists. – May 13, 1864

125 Y EARS A GO Mrs. Amalie Mack, a long-time and well-known resident of this city, peacefully passed away last Friday night at her residence on Richmond Street. She was seventy-two years of age, of a quiet, retiring disposition, devoted to her family, kind and charitable to all.

She was the widow of the late Jacob Mack, who was very well known in this community. Mrs. Mack leaves a large family, all grown, who rank among the leading people of the city and others where they have located. The funeral, which was very largely attended, took place last Sunday.

Dr. Wise officiated.

Cards are out for the wedding of Mr. Enoch L. Strickler and Miss Belle, daughter of Mr. B. Bohm, to take place on May 1st, at the residence of the bride’s mother.

Mr. Aaron Rothschild, of Richmond, VA, and Miss Rebecca, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Mayer, will be married on Tuesday evening, April 30th, at the residence of the bride’s parents, 329 W. Ninth Street. – April 18, 1889

100 Y EARS A GO The inmates of the Home for Jewish Aged and Infirm return cordial thanks to Mrs. Percy Shields for the gift of a pianola, and to the family of the late Abe Bloch for clothing.

The remains of Mrs. Rosa Rothschild, widow of the late Meyer Rothschild, who died in her eightieth year at Lakewood, N.J.,

were brought to Cincinnati and buried in the Walnut Hills Jewish Cemetary on Tuesday, morning, Rabbi Philipson officiating. She is survived by her daughter, Mrs. Nathan D. Cohen of New York and a son, Charles M. Rothschild of Chicago. Mrs. Rothschild was one of the earlier Jewish settlers in Cincinnati and lived here a great many years.

The highest honor conferred at Wellesley College, the Durant scholarship, was won by Miss Alma, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. Marks, of So. Crescent Avenue, Avondale. – April 16, 1914

75 Y EARS A GO At the annual meeting of the Big Brothers Association, Wednesday, April 13th, the following were elected: John J Frank, president; Morton A. Rauh, vicepresident; Clarence R. Goldsmith, secretary; and Max H. Thurnauer, treasurer. Frederick Rauh is retiring president.

Alfred B. Katz announces the opening of his law offices at 508 Fourth National Bank Building, 18 E. Fourth Street, associated with Abraham M. Tennenbaum. Mr. Katz was with Gilbert Bettman, former Attorney General of Ohio.

He is president of the Cincinnati Jewish Senior Council, member of the Jewish Community Council, and active in other organizations.

Mr. and Mrs. Claude R. Jacobs, Reading Road, announce the marriage of their daughter, Claudia, to Mr. Karten M. Mailender, son of Mrs. Madoline Mailender and the late Mr. Milton A. Mailender, on Wednesday evening, April 12th, at the home of the bride. Rabbi David Philipson officiated.

Judge Alfred M. Mack has been elected president of the Ohio State Association of Common Pleas Judges. – April 20, 1939

50 Y EARS A GO Rabbi Alfred Seelig, spiritual leader of one of Europe’s oldest Jewish congregations until he fled the Nazis in 1939, passed away Tuesday, April 7, at his home, 7761 Stillwell Road. He was 76.

Rabbi Seelig, a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1939 after 19 years as leader of the Jewish Congregation in Friedberg, Germany. He was rabbi of the Temple of Israel, Covington, 1939-42. From 1942 to 1957 he was executive director of the Orthodox Home. He retired in 1957.

He preached the first sermon to New Hope Congregation when it was organized and remained a member of its board.

Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Hedwig Seelig; a son, Herbert

Seelig; and two grandchildren.

Services were held at the Weil Funeral Home Wednesday April 8, the Rev. Manfred Rabenstein officiating. Interment was in New Hope Cemetary.

Mary Albert Linen Circle of the Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged will meet Wednesday, April 22, at 1:15pm at the new Home.

Mrs. Sidney Deutsch will preside, with Mrs. Minnie Effron in charge of the program. – April 16, 1964

25 Y EARS A GO Gloria and Phil Wolfson announce the marriage of their daughter, Marcie Sue, to Nathan Jacobs Bachrach of Philadelphia.

Nathan is the grandson of Marie Jacobs of Pittsburgh. The wedding took place at Plum Street Temple.

Matron of honor was Diane Yasgur. Bridesmaids were Laurel Wolfson and Rita Wolfson, sisterin-law of the bride; Barbara Marowitz, cousin of the bride; and Janet Elam. Junior bridesmaid was Jennifer Leis, niece of the bridegroom. Flower girl was Chana Leah Wolfson, niece of the bride.

Best men were Ted Mayer and Dennis Henson. Ushers were Barry and Ken Wolfson, brothers of the bride, Pieter Platten, and Michael Leis, nephew of the bridegroom.

Marcie is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and is director of Camp Livingston.

Nathan is a gradute of Hofstra University and received his master’s degree from U.C. He is a marketing consultant to financial institutions.

After a honeymoon in the Caymen Islands, the couple resides in Cincinnati. – April 20, 1989

10 Y EARS A GO David and Paige (Mezibov) Silver announce the birth of their daughter, Arianna Rose, born April 1, 2004. Arianna is the granddaughter of Ann and Marc Mezibov of Wyoming, OH, and Joanne and Robert Silver of Framington, MA. She is the greatgranddaugther of Ruth Getz and the late Jack Getz, and the late Phyllis and Julius Mezibov of West Orange, NJ. She is also the great-granddaughter of Ellis and Rose Flink of Providence, RI, and Meyer Silver and the late Helen Silver of Palm Beach, FL. Steven R. Safer, age 63, died April 14, 2004. He is survived by his mother, Esther Safer, and his sister, Dr. Jeanne Safer. – April 22, 2004

COMMUNITY DIRECTORY / CLASSIFIEDS • 19

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS Access (513) 373-0300 • jypaccess.org Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc.

(513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Chabad (513) 731-5111 • campchabad.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 •camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 •cincinnatimikveh.org Eruv Hotline (513) 351-3788 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (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) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 JVS Career Services (513) 936-WORK (9675) • www.jvscinti.org Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org

FINANCE from page 10 Palestinian leadership, Lapid said he could not stay in the government if it did not aggressively pursue a deal.

“If I would think this coalition did not exhaust all options and it is our fault that the negotiation is not in progress or process, then I can’t stay in this government,” Lapid said. “We decided we’ll do everything in our power to back up the negotiations.”

Lapid said that overall, he is happy with how the past year has gone for his party. He dismissed criticism that Yesh Atid’s signature achievement, a bill mandating that the haredi Orthodox perform military service, is too weak. The bill defers criminal sanctions for haredi draft dodgers for three years, but Lapid said a stricter law would have been unrealistic.

“If we would just send draft bills to any young 18-year-old haredim, we’ll be the winners of some game, but nothing would have happened,” Lapid said. “The way we’ve been doing this, it will actually happen.”

Lapid also campaigned on establishing civil unions in Israel, a measure that would have broken the

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 CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net B’nai Tikvah Chavurah (513) 284-5845 • rabbibruce.com Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org Congregation Sha’arei Torah (513) 620-8080 • shaareitorahcincy.org Congregation Shevet Achim (513) 426-8613 • shevetachimohio.com 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 Shevet Achim, (513) 602-7801 • shevetachimohio.com Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com

Orthodox Chief Rabbinate’s control of Jewish marriage. Yesh Atid introduced a bill to create civil unions in October, but it is opposed by Jewish Home, a religious Zionist party that entered the coalition in alliance with Yesh Atid.

Lapid sounded confident that he could get a civil unions bill past Jewish Home, possibly with support from left-wing parties. But though he vowed to continue to push the issue, he would not say if Yesh Atid would leave the coalition of the bill fails.

“I don’t think this is good partnership,” Lapid said, “to keep a coalition under threat.”

Lapid said all Jewish denominations should have equal standing in Israel, which he said would strengthen Israel’s relationship with American Jews. He also called for ending the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly over Jewish marriage and conversion, and for an end to all forms of religious coercion.

But he stopped short of calling for the abolition of the Chief Rabbinate or for a complete separation of religion and state, which he said would hurt the country’s Jewish character.

EDUCA 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 Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com Yeshivas Lubavitch High School of Cincinnati (513) 631-2452 • ylcincinnati.com ORGANIZATIONS 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 • mayersonjcc.org 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 (937) 886-9566 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org ORT America (216) 464-3022 • ortamerica.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com

“I don’t think the American model of total separation of religion and state is feasible in Israel because it was established as a Jewish state,”Lapid said. “I don’t want to give up this identity.

“I would favor having parallel institutions to the Rabbinate. If someone wants to get married in the rabbinate, he can. If someone wants to get married at City Hall, he should be able to do so as well.”

Yesh Atid surprised pundits when it captured 19 seats in Knesset elections last year, becoming Israel’s second largest political party. Soon after, Lapid said that he expected to be prime minister after the next ballot.

On Monday, Lapid said his party was in the Knesset to stay, but he declined to make similar boasts about his own political future.

“I’ll tell you one thing I’ve learned in this last year: There’s no problem in politics being an idiot – there’s a big problem being an idiot twice,” he said. “I’ve learned my lesson and I’m not going to declare such declarations anymore because this is stupid.”

DO YOU WANT TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED? Send an e-mail including what you would like in your classified & your contact information to

business@ americanisraelite.com or call 513-621-3145

IBERIA from page 8 Abigail Cohen, an Israelborn bakery owner from the northern Spanish town of Hervas, said organizers of Jewish-themed events are more cash-hungry than interested in Jewish heritage.

“Recently, there has been a serious boost in interest by municipalities and other groups in Jewish-themed festivals, particularly during Jewish holidays,” said Cohen, who has lived in Spain for 30 years.

“Simply put, it’s because it pays off and brings in the crowds.”

Her town was among Spain’s pioneer municipalities in the field. Each summer since 1996, Hervas has hosted The Feast of the Converted, a four-day event celebrating the cultural contributions of Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition.

“The town turns into a medieval Jewish village for four whole days,” Cohen said.

And while fun activities with a Jewish flavor are welcome, she said, organizers were not open to her offers to provide more in-depth explanations about Jewish holidays and customs during the festival.

“They were not interested,” Cohen said. “The only part that they find important is the touristic element.”

Oliveira, the Portuguese university lecturer, said the Jewish festivals are a result of several factors beyond the economic one, including the gradual lifting of cultural taboos in place during decades of dictatorial rule. Oliveira also pointed to a growing realization that millions of Iberians are “in some form descended from Jews.”

Jose Carp, the president of Lisbon’s Jewish community, noted that about 20 percent of the Portuguese population in the 16th century was made up of Jews who, for the most part, converted and stayed in Portugal.

“The Jewish genetic memory,” Carp said, “is the main reason Jewish festivities are cele-

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(513) 531-9600 brated throughout the year by Portuguese non-Jews.”

But Medelim also has a potential tourist windfall in mind. The town is seeking membership in Rede de Judiarias de Portugal, a network of 19 Portuguese municipalities established in 2011 to help promote Jewish heritage tourism in the country.

A similar effort, Red de Juderias de Espana, is underway among 24 Spanish municipalities. Spain attracted 105,000 Israeli tourists in 2013 who spent an estimated $235 million.

To be accepted, mayors must invest in their Jewish patrimony and tourism infrastructure. As a member, they can expect national and European grants along with free publicity from the tourism ministry.

Last year, the Portuguese network clinched nearly $7 million in special funding from European countries, a welcome addition to the budgets of municipalities hit hard by the financial crisis gripping Iberia.

The network’s bosses estimate it has the potential to attract 300,000 tourists a year, yielding an income of $83 million.

But despite these obvious financial incentives, not everyone was quick to write off the efforts. Michael Freund, the chairman of the Israeli nongovernmental organization Shavei Israel, runs a Jewish heritage center in the Portuguese city of Trancoso as part of his outreach efforts to descendants of Jews.

“Even if there is some economic motivation involved, I don’t think we should dismiss it,” Freund said. “For the most part, what Spain did to our people has been swept under the rug there. So when there’s a new effort to better understand the Jews who contributed so much to Iberia’s cultures, we should encourage and facilitate it.”

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20 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / BOOK REVIEW

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Richard Wagner’s ‘Die “Jewish Megatrends” Walküre, act 1’ at

by Rabbi Sidney Schwartz Dunham Arts Center

By Sue Ransohoff Book Reviewer

CINCINNATI – Queen City Chamber Opera is preparing to perform a fully staged production of “Die Walküre act 1.”

The last time the work was heard in Cincinnati was ten years ago at the May Fesival, and the work has not been staged theatrically in Cincinnati since 1978. The entire performance will last about 75 minutes.

The performances will take place Friday, May 23 at 8pm and Sunday May 25 at 3pm, at the art deco theatre of the Arts Center at Dunham in Price Hill.

The opera will be fully staged, with full orchestra accompaniment, and sung in the original German. Surcap translations will be projected above the stage. Cincinnati Wagner Sociaety president

James Slouffman provides set design and stage direction.

The cast features emerging Wagnerian voices. Soprano Dr. Kimberly Buczek sings the role of Sieglinde. She is currently on the voice faculty of both Wright State University and Wittenberg University.

Heldentenor Ric Furman sings the role of Siegmund. He was recently selected as one of only eight finalists for the International Wagner competition in Seattle. Bass William Tvrdik returns to QCCO to sing the role of Hunding. He previously sang the role of Archibaldo in QCCO’s production of Montemezzi’s “L’amore dei tre re,” and sang the title role in CCM’s recent production of “Don Pasquale.”

This is one of dozens of books – articles – lectures – on Judaism today: where it is, where is it going, why is it failing – or is it? What should we be doing; how do we meet changing times; what is our true identity in this century?

This is a fine example of a thoughtful, highly intellectual and yet quite readable book. Rabbi Schwartz has invited a number of writers to include their thoughts, and has bracketed their contributions with his outstanding Preface, and his concluding chapter. There is a lot to be said for formatting a book in this way: each chapter carries a punch of its own; the primary writer does not have to extend his points for 200 plus pages until the substance thins out.

An important point the Rabbi makes is this: he divides today’s Jews into two segments: tribal and covenantal. Tribal Jews, he explains, experience their religion in political and ethnic ways; they feel threatened, they support Israel, they “have created an array of… organizations to support their work.”

Covenantal Jews, on the contrary, see their identity as a spiritual legacy.

Their affinity to Judaism stems from the ethics and values that Judaism inspires: justice, compassion, human dignity and the protection of the most vulnerable. Not only do they see their identity thus, but they pour their energy and resources into enterprises that address these values. “At a time when our political culture seems so dysfunctional and the social and environmental threats… grow… every year,” he says, “the Jewish community needs to provide ever more ways to advance tzedek (justice) in the world.”

Rabbi Sharon Brous follows with this description of Jewish life 30 or more years ago: “There were two country clubs… neither of which would take Jews. Temple youth group was our response… But today it is far too easy to find community, intellectual engagement and spiritual fulfillment outside the… Jewish SHOOTINGS from page 6 While the FBI and local police have not officially called the violence a hate crime, many national organizations are not waiting for confirmation to denounce the shootings.

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time there has been a shooting at a Jewish Community Center,” read a statement from B’nai B’rith International. “Comments attributed to the shooter after police had him in custody demonstrate a blind hatred toward Jews.”

The Anti-Defamation League, meanwhile, noted that just a week

structure. Jews no longer need a refuge from a cold and unwelcoming… scene. What they need is a reason to come back.”

Moving on to Israel and Jewish Life, by Dr Barry Chazan and Anne Lansky, they point out that “Israel is no longer a struggling democracy trying to make the desert bloom.” Yes, and since this book emphasizes the need to find ways to bring Jewish youth back, the writers state: “To the extent that younger Jews have some ambivalence about Israel, there is plenty of blame to go around. The media, Jewish communal activities and Jewish education have not been particularly effective in making the Israel story come alive for young Jews.”

Throughout, the authors declare the need to respond to the changes, the “megatrends” of Judaism, in order to bring Jewish meaning and participation to the younger generations, the millennials, who have not needed to seek community in the Jewish world, because the rest of the world is now open to them, and to us all.

In “Denominationalism: History and Hope” by Dr David Ellenson, he states: “American Judaism stands at a crossroads where trends of weakened Jewish commitment and attachment compete with pockets of intense Jewish revival and knowledge… The task of all Jews will be to strengthen before, it released a security bulletin to communal institutions warning of the increased potential for violence around Passover and the April 20 birthday of Adolf Hitler. That day “has historically been marked by extremist acts of violence and terrorism, including the violence at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and the Oklahoma City bombing,” read the statement.

“We mourn the tragic loss of life in today’s shootings in the Overland Park, Kan., Jewish community,” Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said in a statement.

those pockets…”

And how is this to be done? What are some of the recommendations, the suggestions? Wayne Firestone, President and CEO of Hillel, speaks of an assortment of myths in his chapter on Young Adults and the Jewish future: as an example (and there are other myths), myth # 1: the younger generation doesn’t care about Jewish life… He feels that this generation cares deeply, but in a different way: “They are not yearning to ‘fit in,’ rather, they are actively seeking to carve out safe spaces to be different. They want to find their authentic voices, and Jewish identity is often one piece of that.”

He states that “Jewish students are ….attracted to casual settings where they can discuss Jewish responses to universal questions; that they are pursuing Jewish knowledge for its own sake.”

Because of his senior status with Hillel, which indicates connection with Jewish youth, Firestone’s thoughts are particularly significant.

New programs and organizations are not needed so much as a way to respond to this quote from Ariel from UCLA: “How can I connect with my Jewish self?”

There are other chapters, other contributors, and all have value. The Federation, Jewish education, Social Justice are among them. Finally, Schwartz returns, and I quote at some length because the words are so meaningful: “The Jewish institutions that will be able to successfully address the next generation of American Jews will need to do one or more of the following: Convey the wisdom of Judaism and other spiritual paths. Advance social justices so that Jews can fulfill the charge of the Hebrew prophets to ally with the ‘orphan, widow and stranger in our midst.’ Offer true community and places where people can form rich and deep relationships. Provide a glimpse of what it looks like to live lives of sacred purpose.”

This is a book of major import, and great wisdom. I feel privileged to have had it brought to my attention.

“Information about the perpetrator is still being uncovered, but early reports indicate that anti-Semitism may have been a factor. If so, it is a tragic reminder, this day before Jews around the world observe Passover, of the hatred that continues to plague our world.”

“It is also yet another horrific instance of an act of senseless violence involving the use of guns to take innocent lives,” continued Saperstein. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and injured in today’s shootings. May the memories of those lost be forever a blessing.”

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FIRST PERSON • 21

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

Tripping the smell fantastic Incidentally Iris

by Iris Ruth Pastor I don't know whether it was laziness, frugality or political correctness (deferring to those unfortunate souls with allergies) but over the past few years I have stopped wearing perfume. So it's no wonder that my stash of fragrances has become markedly depleted. Upon taking inventory, I was appalled to glean this hard stat: only one half filled bottle of Chanel No. 5 graced my dressing table.

Embarking on manic and gar-

FRENCH from page 8 banning Muslim head coverings for women at French universities.

Even more unusual, Valls has explicitly linked his pro-Jewish views to his Jewish wife, the violinist Anne Gravoin, saying in 2011 that his marriage connected him “in an eternal way” to Israel and the Jewish people.

“Without Jews,” Valls said last month, “France will no longer be France.”

Such statements are highly unusual in a country with a strong secularist ideology and where government officials are typically careful not to single out any minority or group for special treatment. But Valls is not a typical politician.

Born in Barcelona to a family of Catalan intellectuals, Valls moved to Paris in his teens, where

MATZAH from page 8 Leclerc, and in 1948 Rene Neymann restarted the business.

The decades following World War II saw many changes in how people ate and shopped all over the world.

“Supermarkets started to replace traditional food markets, and eating a low-fat diet became fashionable,” Jean-Claude Neymann noted.

Robert Neymann, Rene’s son, seized the opportunities – he modernized and automated production, expanded the product lines and secured new distribution outlets.

With Robert Neymann at the helm, Etablissements Rene

gantuan organizing sprees is one way I manage stress. With my husband's current state of health still classified as "under the weather," I - with wild abandon embarked on a cleaning-out-myclosets binge. Tidying and sorting and streamlining my messy cubby holes brought a much needed sense of order and control to my physical environment.

My first frenzied foray centered on my hall linen closet. By the time I had re-folded and restacked the last bath towel in the linen closet, a pile of 31 sample bottles of perfume lay at my feet.

The identifying names on the vials had long ago faded, but the fragrances appeared to be still intact so they were spared the undignified fate of landing in the box in the garage destined for the Salvation Army.

So the very next morning - and every morning that followed before setting out for the hospital to visit my husband, I capriciously picked a vial, sprayed liberally in appropriate and not-so-appropri-

ate places, and headed out the door. And without fail, each morning as I hugged my husband hello, he smiled broadly and told me yet again how great I smelled.

Clearly, I was onto something.

The days rolled by with little resolution of my husband's medical situation. As my frustration mounted, so did the amount of perfume I liberally poured on daily. Soon my stash of sample fragrances was sorely depleted too. Buoyed by my husband's enthusiastic reaction to my newly fragranced presence, I began to rethink my grooming routine and decided to add perfume to my morning regimen. This called for good old fashioned retail therapy.

One evening, when sleep eluded me once again, I whipped out my iPad and boldly typed in “Perfume.”

First I researched my mom's favorite: Odalisque, named after a concubine in a Turkish harem in the household of an Ottoman Turk. Released in 1946, by a nice Jewish lady - Nettie Rosenstein -

its scent was too floral to be considered a sex bomb perfume, but did manage to express the complex femininity of the 1950's, thus becoming wildly popular though pricey.

Next I read about prostitutes and courtesans, who, on the other hand, tended to favor the sexually provocative fragrances heavy with animal musk or jasmine. Coco Chanel was savvy enough to combine both, launching Chanel No. 5 in the era of the liberated flapper.

It's my favorite.

Deep into the night, I stumbled on a site profiling “The Ten Perfumes with the Longest Lasting Scents.” I was captivated.

I decided to treat myself to two of those listed. But which ones?

Comparative shopping proved difficult. First of all, although I could read lengthy entries describing each perfume in precise detail and clearly see a listing of each ingredient, I had no idea whatsoever of how each perfume smelled. And I was totally confused between cologne, perfume,

toilet water, sprays, etc. Shipping options further mudded the mess.

But, as the sun broke over the eastern horizon, I had narrowed my search down to two: Cinema by Yves St. Laurent Infusion d'iris by Prada.

I sheepishly admit I picked the latter solely due to its name, but the ingredients tantalized too: incense, cedar and iris. Cinema sported jasmine, conjuring up images of me adorned in high heels and black seamed stockings.

I figured introducing a little raciness in my life was a good thing.

So, at present, I am busy tracking my purchases, anxiously anticipating arrival of the olfactory. My husband and I are still waiting for things to medically resolve. But at least for now, I know that each and every morning I will be greeted by a smiling husband because, quite simply, I will just smell so damn good.

Keep Coping, Iris Ruth Pastor

he studied history and began his political career as president of a Socialist student union. Many French political analysts attribute Valls’ departures from the conventions of French politics to the fact that he is not a native of France.

“Through his life story and his upbringing by a Spanish anti-fascist family, Valls has a lot of points in common with the story of the Jewish community,” said Michel Zerbib, the news director at Radio J, the French Jewish station.

Valls and Gravoin wed in 2010, the second marriage for Valls. The couple’s Paris wedding reception was, according to a report in Elle magazine, a “happy mix of men wearing kippas from Manhattan and Paris, and [local] imams.”

Valls’ good looks and his very public marriage – the couple have

been photographed repeatedly exchanging affections – have not hurt his appeal to female voters, hundreds of whom voted him France’s sexiest politician in a survey by the IFOP polling company.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they would consider having an affair with him, a possibility Valls brushed off, saying, “OK, but I am [already] in love.”

In a 2011 campaign speech before a Jewish audience in Paris, Valls invoked his wife to demonstrate his credentials as a defender of the Jewish community.

“So please,” Valls said, showing some of his trademark oratory passion. “I didn’t come here to get tips on how to fight antiSemitism!”

In January, Valls lobbied mayors to ban a new tour by Dieudonne, who has been convicted multiple times for inciting

hatred against Jews, leading to its eventual cancellation. Valls also has sparked an unrelenting financial investigation of Dieudonne that could land the comedian behind bars for years.

All this has not been cost-free for Valls. The battle with Dieudonne alienated many voters, some of whom admire the comedian for his defiance. Polls conducted immediately after Valls’ move to ban the tour saw him losing 5 to 8 percentage points from his earlier 60 percent approval rate.

Nicolas Anelka, a star athlete who was fired recently by a British soccer team for performing the quenelle, said this month that Valls’ campaign was launched at his wife’s urging. Less reserved critics, including several extremist Muslim preachers and right-wing conspiracy theorists, have taken to

calling him “Valls the Jew.” Yet despite his pro-Jewish credentials and the price he has paid for them, Valls has faced distrust from Jewish supporters of the centrist UMP party and its former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who feared Sarkozy’s tough stance on anti-Semitism and his pro-Israel rhetoric would crumble under the Socialists.

Sarkozy was the clear favorite among Jews in the 2012 presidential election. But two years after Sarkozy lost to Francois Hollande, many Jews agree that Valls has made good on his pledge to follow Sarkozy’s lead in confronting Islamist fanaticism and antiSemitism in the growing ranks of the far right.

“We are fortunate,” Cukierman said, “to have a leadership that is perfectly attentive to the community’s needs.”

Neymann continued to extend its products and brands by manufacturing other types of matzah for different tastes and appetites: matzah made from rye and whole-wheat flours; bran matzah; spelt matzah; certified organic matzah. Even Neymann’s kosher for Passover matzah, under the supervision of the chief rabbi of Strasbourg, is made from an array of flours.

Jean-Claude, Robert’s son, took over the company in 1983.

“Regular matzah is still our biggest Passover item, but about 62 percent of our total manufacturing output is sold outside France,” he said. “We sell throughout Europe, to Morocco, South Africa, Japan and

China. There’s a big market for crackers in those countries.”

Asked about the state of French Jewry and mounting concerns about anti-Semitism in the country, the proprietor of this storied French Jewish company was circumspect.

“I’m not afraid at this moment, but we can never know what people will do. Nobody imagined the Shoah could happen, but it did,” Neymann said. “We and our company are very well integrated into the life of Wasselonne and of France, but in people’s minds we are always the Jew.” Toni L. Kamins, a freelance writer in New York.

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PASSOVER from page 7

MANTEL, JR., Samuel, age 92, died April 11, 2014; 11 Nissan, 5774.

other grains while noting that traditional matzah is made from wheat, making it inedible for those who are sensitive to gluten.

Jews, particularly the observant, constitute the primary market, of course, for kosher-for-Passover products – but not only for kashrut reasons.

Joel Schnur, a Brooklyn resident with Crohn’s disease who keeps strictly kosher year-round, stocks up on gluten-free Passover products ordinarily unavailable.

HADASSAH from page 5 member and her family participates in the youth and family activities.

Ms. Galioto volunteers with Cincinnati’s PJ Library program.

She also participates in the PTO at her daughters’ Jewish day school.

Formerly an Assistant Editor at the American Israelite, LeeAnne received her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Miami University of Ohio. She has performed in a wide variety of genres including opera, musical theater, recitals, concert series, and education outreach programs. She has sung with Cincinnati Opera, Knoxville Opera, Sorg/Whitewater Opera, Cincinnati Ballet and others.

Presently, she teaches private and group lessons through her own studio and performs regularly for religious services including weddings and funerals. Professionally, Ms. Galioto is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). She is also a member of the Human Rights Campaign.

Claire Lee is a graduate of UC’s College-Conservatory of Music with a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying. She is an organist and free-lance accompanist, directs the choir at Northern Hills Synagogue, and accompanies the Broadway series of student concerts at Hebrew Union College. For fun, she plays flute in the New Horizons Band and keyboards for the New Horizons Dixieland group. She is also a Life Member of Hadassah.

Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, is the largest women’s volunteer organization in America, whose members are motivated and inspired to strengthen their partnership with Israel, ensure Jewish continuity, and realize their potential as a dynamic force in American society. Donor funds support projects like healthcare and medical research (Hadassah Medical Organization), education (Hadassah College Jerusalem), youth programs (Young Judaea and Youth Aliyah/Children at Risk), and environmental resource development (Jewish National Fund).

Complimentary valet parking will be available for this event. A minimum donation to the Hadassah Giving Campaign plus a lunch couvert per person is required to attend.

Please send two separate checks, one for the Gift amount and one for the luncheon couvert, to Cincinnati Chapter of Hadassah. Reservations are required.

UKRAINE from page 7 fecklessness for fueling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s boldness.

“On the issue of Ukraine, my hero, Teddy Roosevelt, used to say talk softly but carry a big stick,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) chastised Secretary of State John Kerry at a congressional hearing this week. “What you’re doing is talking strongly and carrying a very small stick – in fact, a twig.”

The United States has led the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia, but Kerry at the hearing rejected proposals to arm Ukrainians against the possibility of further Russian incursions.

An aide to a Senate Republican who, like McCain, has been critical of Obama administration Ukraine policy said it would not be fair to demand of a small country like Israel the confrontational posture that Republicans expect WOUNDED from page 10 Israel to address their emotional traumas in addition to their physical ones.

“As nurses, it’s unique to deal with wounded like this,” said Refaat Sharf, a nurse at Ziv, which has treated 162 Syrian patients. “We hadn’t been used to these injuries, neither in terms of their character nor their frequency.”

Since last year, more than 700 wounded Syrians have come to Israeli hospitals via the Syria-Israel border crossing on the Golan Heights. The Israel Defense Forces has set up a field hospital there, and transfers patients it cannot care for to nearby hospitals. In some cases it brings a family member as well.

Northern Israel’s hospitals have extensive experience dealing with patients wounded in battle – most recently during Israel’s 2006 war with the

On Tuesday alone, Schnur said, he spent $1,500 on kosher-for-Passover glutenfree products – $1,000 just on 15 cases of chicken soup in containers, the rest on cake mixes, gefilte fish, croutons and faux-bread crumbs.

He has yet to purchase favorites such as frozen waffles and blintzes, along with such big-ticket items as oatflour matzah, which costs up to $29 a box.

Nearly all those items are acceptable only because Schnur, who works in public relations, does not follow the Passover custom observed by

some of refraining from gebrokts, matzah products containing liquid.

Schnur carefully checks ingredients on packages, anyway, to assure that his condition can tolerate them. The gluten-free offerings at Passover time are “like manna from heaven,” he said, because they “expand my ability to eat more products.”

After Passover, he races to stores to buy the expensive boxes of oat-flour matzah at about half the price.

In Baltimore, that’s what Brinson does for his favorite items, buying enough Coke

(made with sugar instead of corn syrup) to last at least a few months, when the carbonation begins to dissipate.

Knowing that Jews and non-Jews with health issues seek out kosher-for-Passover foods gratifies Rabbi Zvi Holland, a kashrut administrator at Baltimore’s Star-K, a large food-certification agency.

“We’re pleased,” he said, “that the work of kosher certification benefits a very broad population.”

from the United States as a superpower.

The aide said Israel had to consider Russian cooperation in keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and in dismantling Syria’s chemical

are the superpower.”

Neoconservatives have clashed openly with Israel in the past, particularly in the early 2000s over Israel’s sale of weapons to China, which was seen as an affront to a

logue was made on the advice of prominent neoconservatives in his administration, among them Douglas Feith, then the undersecretary for defense.

In 2011, Mandel said, neoconservatives were dismayed again when Ehud Barak, then Israel’s defense minister, made the case against backing rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Hafez Assad at a time when American neoconservatives were arguing that it would make sense to assess which rebels deserved more robust U.S. backing.

In each of those cases, Mandel said, Israel’s posture had U.S. policy consequences – for instance, in the case of Syria, Obama administration officials could cite Barak’s argument in pushing back against intervention.

“That was a situation that directly impacted American policy,” he said. “It’s not clear whether Russia gets to that point.”

“What you’re doing is talking strongly and carrying a very small stick – in fact, a twig.” weapons capability.

“We just don’t know the underlying nature of the Israeli-Russia relationship,” the aide said. “It’s incredibly complex with secret intelligence deals going on, tradeoffs for what Russia will or won’t do with Iran. In the end, I’m sure that’s what this is all about for Israel – but America doesn’t have that luxury; we

bedrock stance of the neoconservative movement – defending the interests of Taiwan.

The arms sales led the administration of President George W. Bush to suspend its strategic dialogue with Israel from 2002 to 2005, until Israel acquiesced to a U.S. demand that the Pentagon vet Israeli arms sales to China. Bush’s decision to suspend the dia-

Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. But in that conflict, the wounded typically received medical attention rather quickly.

Joseph Guilbard, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, recalled an especially severe case in which a 12year-old Syrian boy arrived in a deep coma with a severe brain injury. Guilbard performed multiple surgeries, reducing excessive pressure on the brain, removing parts of his skull and replacing them with acrylic. When he was discharged, the boy was walking.

“If you see yourself as a doctor, a surgeon and a trauma specialist, you give the same treatment to everyone,” said Hany Bathoth, the director of the trauma unit at Rambam.

“In every trauma, that’s how it is. You feel like you helped the injured. That gives you strength.”

Hospital personnel tasked with providing emotional support say Syrians are reticent to open up about their experiences. Besides the trauma of war, there is the additional fear of being in an enemy state. Israeli Arabs who share a language and certain cultural norms with the wounded are employed at all levels at Ziv and Rambam and say they help Syrian patients navigate the cultural gaps they encounter.

“If you want to talk about respect for men and women, [a male Syrian patient] can’t see a woman, say hi to a woman,” said Johnny Khbeis, an Israeli Arab who works as a medical clown at Ziv. “There are women who change their sheets, and that’s hard for them because that doesn’t happen there.”

Adi Pachter-Alt, Rambam’s deputy director of social work, said the patients’ reluctance to speak openly about their feel-

ings comes more from the trauma of being injured and less from ill will toward Israel.

“It’s hard for us to give overall emotional support because they mistrust us,” Pachter-Alt said. “It’s not due to the state of war. It’s because you’re in a different state after trauma. You’re very alone, very suspicious.”

Medical personnel said that when they do leave the hospital, Syrians are grateful for the care they received. The Syrian patient in Ziv said his opinion of Israel had flipped during his stay there.

“Before the revolt, the authorities told us Israel was the enemy and we must fight them,” he said. “But after the recent events there, I saw that in Israel they take care of the patients. All of the Israelis I met, Arabs and Jews, seemed unified