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THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013 28 SIVAN, 5773
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Assistant German Ambassador Jens Hanefeld visits Cincinnati, hosts lunch at Plum Street Temple On May 13, a luncheon was given and hosted by the Honorary German Counsel to Cincinnati, Martin Wilhelmy, and Jens Hanefeld, the Assistant German Ambassador to the United States. A select group of 40 people were in attendance, both Jews and nonJews but all of German extraction. The purpose of the event was to showcase the great contribution that German immigrants made to the city and notably the contribution of the German Jews. The German Government has sought to reach out to communities all over America and Cincinnati is of great interest. Plum Street Temple was chosen for its historical and monumental significance. The guests were greeted by Rabbi Lewis Kamrass of Wise Temple and treated to a personal tour of the sanctuary. Many of the non-Jewish guests were surprised to learn that not all Jewish places of worship have organs and they greatly admired the magnificent one at Plum Street. After the tour, the guests convened in the banquet hall for a “prosit” or toast with German sparkling wine and a few words were said in both German and English. This was followed by a lunch of veal bratwurst, sauerkraut, and potato salad and schnecken for dessert. The tables were decorated
Left to right-AM Kinney-Munich Sister Cities, Dan Hoffheimer, Netanel (Ted) Deutsch, Ambassador Jens Hanefeld, Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, Marin Wilhelmy, Honory German Consul, and John Mack.
Guests are welcomed to Plum Street Temple by Rabbi Lewis Kamrass.
with German and American flags and each table had a stand of pretzels. The atmosphere was warm and informal which encouraged
those who wished to share stories about their family’s journey to Cincinnati. For many years, a number of Cincinnati’s German Jewish
communities have been investigating their roots in Germany. At the lunch, many interesting stories were told. As a matter of historical note, many German Jewish families arrived before the Civil War. Several factors drew them to Cincinnati. Most obvious were the economic opportunities. By 1840, a thriving German community already existed in Cincinnati. Cultural and linguistic barriers were therefore reduced. Cincinnati had already developed a reputation as a “sort of paradise for Hebrews,” where Jews were readily accepted into the economic and even social circles not open to them in other American cities. A substantial, if not flourishing Jewish community already existed in Cincinnati such that no one needed to worry about the lack of opportunity to remain pious. As word of this “paradise” got back to Bavaria and other parts of Germany, a chain migration occurred. Many descendants of those early families were present at the lunch: Rauhs, Hoffheimers, Stixs, Workums, Franks, Mendelsohns, and Macks to name a few. Our non-Jewish German friends, including the Ambassador, were so appreciative of the chance to get to know the Jewish community.
The American Israelite offers condolences to the family of Benjamin Gettler, who passed away on June 4, 2013—26 Sivan, 5773. A full obituary will follow next week.
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THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
Wise Temple Brotherhood presents Men’s Health Night This year, on Thursday, June 13, the Wise Temple Brotherhood will present the Eighth Annual Men’s Health Night. The focus of this event is to heighten awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of diseases that may, but not exclusively, affect men. Many of the topics presented are equally important to women and thus, we encourage husbands to bring their spouses and siblings to this informative event. Over the years, local experts in a variety of fields have presented talks on medical topics important to maintaining good health. The membership at Wise includes a strong base of medical professionals encompassing nearly every medical field. These members have presented on numerous topics such as the importance of Vitamin D and bone health, common orthopedic problems, Alzheimer’s Disease, ophthalmo-
logic problems, dental issues, erectile dysfunction, angina and coronary artery disease, carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, prostate cancer, colon cancer screening, nutritional considerations, obstructive sleep apnea, anxiety and depression, and so on. This year they are presenting an equally exciting series of lectures, beginning with “Rheumatology at a Glance,” presented by Kerry Burte, MD. Dr. Burte is a rheumatologist with Tristate Arthritis & Rheumatology and a longtime member of this community. Rheumatologic problems include different types of arthritis and autoimmune diseases. This topic is new to Men’s Health. Dr. Burte’s presentation is sure to be insightful. Jon Rapp, MD, FACC, FSCAI, will address heart healthy topics in his presentation, “Thou Shalt Not Smoke and Other Commandments
to Keep Your Heart Healthy.” Dr. Rapp is an interventional cardiologist with Mercy Health Physicians Heart Institute and practices primarily at The Jewish Hospital. Dr. Rapp has a keen sense of humor, which in addition to his skill, is important in caring for patients. The final presentation will be by Richard Goodman, MD, who will speak on “Infectious Disease Topics.” Dr. Goodman is an infectious disease specialist with Infectious Disease Consultants of Cincinnati. He primarily services The Jewish Hospital and will be speaking on a variety of topics including MRSA, C-Diff, community concerns regarding HIV/AIDS, vaccines, and awareness and prevention of infections. Please join Wise Temple for an energizing and informative evening. The evening will begin with a dinner at 6 p.m. at Wise Center. RSVP required to the brotherhood Wise Temple.
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Northern Hills focuses on prayer at Chavurat Shabbat service On Saturday, June 8, Northern Hills Synagogue - Congregation B’nai Avraham will hold another in its popular series of Chavurat Shabbat programs, enriching the Shabbat morning service with special programming parallel to the regular service. This time, the theme of the program will be “Prayer: On the Bima and in the Pews.” The program is part of Northern Hills’ participation in the community Israel@65 observance.
According to Rabbi Gershom Barnard, the program’s objective is to move the congregation and individuals toward a better worship experience. There will be three special segments running parallel to parts of the service. Oded Zmora will lead a session on Torah chanting. David Zucker will lead a program providing a detailed explanation of Ahavah Rabbah prayer, which appears right before the Shema. And Sarah
Barnard will lead a session on “Kavvanah: A Spiritual Approach to Prayer.” Following the morning service and programs, an Israeli style lunch will be served. There is no charge for this program or the luncheon, but reservations are appreciated. For more information about the service or Northern Hills Synagogue, or to make reservations, please call the Synagogue office.
JCC professionals win arts awards Two inspiring and creative JCC professionals recently received arts awards in music and dance. In an attempt to perfect their art and challenge themselves, Allie Weiner and Bonnie Loftspring embarked upon individual endeavors in the arts, relating to their positions at the Mayerson JCC. Through this type of continued growth, they are able to inspire their students to reach further and develop in their own areas of interest. Weiner is making change in the Cincinnati community. A longtime JCC Early Childhood School teacher and Shabbat song leader for the school, she uses music to teach and inspire children. “We are lucky to have Allie. She is such a talented and compassionate person and she really creates a love for music and learning in our children,” said Denise Schnur, JCC Early Childhood School Director. Weiner received her Bachelor of Science in Special Education from the University of Cincinnati
and was recently awarded a Professional Education Grant from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati to attend Hava Nashira. Additional support was provided by Wise Temple. Hava Nashira is led by the Union for Reform Judaism and is an annual, five day song-leading and music workshop with nationally known music innovators and composers. Attendees gain knowledge in song writing, composing, as well as how to lead and inspire Jewish music in schools, camps and congregations. “I am very excited to bring new songs and techniques to the Jewish community of Cincinnati. The level of Jewish teaching at Hava Nashira surpasses any I have ever experienced. I am honored and blessed to be able to attend Hava Nashira 2013,” Weiner said. The other arts award recipient is Bonnie Loftspring. Loftspring is a multi-talented dance and fitness instructor at the Mayerson JCC. She has a background in ballet and jazz, and has recently added ball-
room dance to her repertoire. In May 2013, the two-year novice ballroom dancer won first place for Ballroom Dancing in every Bronze category of the Dancesport Crown Jewel Competition in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “Bonnie is a valued member of the JCC team and we love the fact that she is branching out to try— and succeed—in new dance forms. This kind of continued dedication is extremely beneficial to her students and to her colleagues,” said Courtney Cummings, JCC Cultural Arts Manager. Triple Crown Dancesport competitions take place four times a year. Each weeklong regional championship takes place in Florida, South Carolina and New Orleans. Dancers can then qualify for other national and international competitions. “This has been a big discipline change from my Jazz and Ballet background, but my goal is to compete and place in Ballroom Dancing internationally this November,” Loftspring added.
Elizabeth Mason receives Clifford Award from the College of Mount St. Joseph Elizabeth Mason, Ph.D., has received the 2013 Sister Adele Clifford Award, the most prestigious teaching honor presented to a fulltime member of the faculty at the College of Mount St. Joseph. Mason is an assistant professor of English and is the faculty advisor to Lions-on-Line, the Mount’s student operated literary magazine. The Clifford Award recognizes faculty members who have significantly influenced students’ lives and demonstrated excellence in teaching. The award is named in honor of the late Sister Adele Clifford, a Sister of Charity, longtime biology professor and former president of the College. Clifford Award recipients are nominated by students and chosen by a committee of past faculty recipients and current students. The nomination requirements include a narrative essay in support of the nominee. Mason has been a faculty member at the Mount for five years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in creative writing/poetry from Bowling Green State University, and a doctorate in English Literature from Case Western Reserve. She and her husband, Jeremy, live in Clifton Heights with their son, Zachary. Mason is the daughter of Mary Lee and Louie Sirkin.
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VOL. 159 • NO. 46 THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013 21 SIVAN 5773 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 8:43 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 9:44 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
Wise Temple’s Kulanu Graduates of 2013 Top row (left to right): Peter Mintz, Rachel McCoucha, Marc Czulewicz, Mitchel Bie, Jay Burgin, Jayne Lester, Margaret Lazarus, Matthew Roth, Graham David. Middle row (left to right): Barbara Dragul, Director of Education & Lifelong Learning, Alexandra Abel, Anna Fagin, Genevieve Pecsok, Sarah Jobalia, Phoebe Chaiken, Elana Wetzler, Jill Tochtermann, Danielle Johnson, Rabbi Lewis Kamrass. Bottom row (left to right): Austin Post, Jessica Rabin, Lainie Eichner, Tessa Rothfeld, Lilly Lefton, Randall Buka. Not pictured: Sara Boyle, Jena Buck
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 GABRIELLE COHEN JORY EDLIN Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN ZELL SCHULMAN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager
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Wise Temple’s Confirmation Class of 2013 Row 1: Isaac Goldstein, Matthew Heldman, Adam Dock, Maddie Hecht, Anna Tunis, Benjamin Cohen, Daniel Youkilis. Row 2: Matt Zerwekh, Deborrah Cannizzaro, Elly Kolesar, Blake Fishman, Lauren Glynn, Esther Kaplan, Barbara Dragul, Rabbi Lewis Kamrass. Row 3: Drew Gold, Jake Friedman, Mallory Kraus, Sydney Scherer, Sydney Chaiken, Allie Levine, Sam Markiewitz, Spencer Mandell. Row 4: Jake Sullivan, Sarah Kanter, Samantha Abel, Madeline Weiler, Sophie Leigh Greenberg, Zachary Fritzhand. Row 5: Ace Steiner, Alyssa Zobel, Emma Raider-Roth, Michael Szuch. Row 6: Jake Kolesar, Reed Bie, Will Cohen, Mitchell Polonsky (Not pictured: Andrea Goldstein and Alma Rechnitzer)
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 $3.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. The views and opinions expressed by the columnists of The American Israelite do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the newspaper.
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THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
In Senate, Lautenberg maintained commitment to the Jewish community By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – In 1982, Frank Lautenberg was running for New Jersey’s U.S. Senate spot at a time when Democrats in the state were down on their political fortunes. The Jewish community knew and liked Lautenberg, a data processing magnate who died Monday at 89 after serving more than 30 years in Washington. Lautenberg had been chairman of the United Jewish Appeal in the previous decade and turned the charity around during a parlous economy. But Jacob Toporek, who managed Lautenberg’s Jewish campaign that year, recalls that New Jersey Jews were skeptical of Lautenberg’s chances: How likely was this political neophyte to win when the Republicans were on the rise both in the state and nationally? “We ran an ad in Jewish papers with a picture of him with Golda Meir, with a simple caption: ‘Commitment then, commitment now,’” said Toporek, who now directs the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations. The pitch worked, and the Jewish vote helped vault Lautenberg to 30 years in the Senate, where he made good on the implicit promise in the ad, becoming a history-making champion of Soviet Jewry. “When he became involved in electoral Jewish politics, he didn’t forget his Jewish involvement,” said Mark Levin, the director of NCSJ, formerly the National
Council of Soviet Jewry. “He became one of the leading advocates for Jews in the Soviet Union. Lautenberg died Monday morning of viral pneumonia, his office said in a statement that outlined an array of far-reaching legislation in which he had a hand. It included laws that kept convicted domestic abusers from owning guns, banned smoking on planes and made 21 the minimum drinking age. Those who were closest to Lautenberg said the law that had the most meaning for him was the one that bears his name. The Lautenberg Amendment, passed in October 1989, facilitated the emigration of Soviet Jews by relaxing the stringent standards for refugee status, granting immigrant status to those who could show religious persecution in their native lands. At a tribute in New York to Lautenberg last week hosted by Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Lautenberg’s wife, Bonnie, called the amendment his “proudest achievement.” Bonnie Lautenberg accepted the award in his stead because the senator was too ill to attend. The law “fundamentally changed the face of the American Jewish community,” Levin said, noting that it resulted in the emigration of hundreds of thousands of former Soviet Jews to these shores. Mark Hetfield, the president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the leading Jewish immigrant advocacy group, said Lautenberg’s final legacy may be making his amendment permanent.
The amendment now requires renewal every year, and at times has been threatened when Congress cannot agree on a budget, as was the case this year. An amendment authored by Lautenberg to the immigration overhaul now under consideration in Congress would allow the president to fund the Lautenberg provisions without congressional approval. The amendment was part of a package approved last month by the Judiciary Committee, and the odds are that the full bill will pass. “The law has been a lifesaver for hundreds of thousands of people who have fled religious persecution,” Hetfield said. Lautenberg grew up in Paterson, N.J., the son of poor Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia. He liked to say his parents “could not pass on valuables, but left me a legacy of values,” according to a release from his office. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in World War II and then earned a degree in economics at Columbia University through the G.I. Bill. The role of government in giving a poor kid from Paterson a shot at an Ivy League education undergirded Lautenberg’s subsequent commitment to social justice. He started Automatic Data Processing and built it into the largest data processing firm in the world by 1974, when he became chairman of the United Jewish Appeal. Within a year Lautenberg had increased its charitable intake to the second-highest level in its
history – an extraordinary accomplishment at a time when the United States was reeling from the energy crisis. His business success meant he could pay for much of his Senate run in 1982, when the seat was open because the incumbent Democrat, Harrison Williams, resigned after being implicated in a bribe-taking scandal. Lautenberg’s opponent, moderate Republican congresswoman Millicent Fenwick, had the backing of the state’s popular GOP governor, Thomas Kean, and was favored to win. But Lautenberg prevailed, 52 percent to 48 percent. His Senate career was marked both by unflinching liberalism and his reputation for integrity. Lautenberg retired in 2001, but in a replay of his 1982 election, the state party called on him to run in 2002 after the scandal-plagued Robert Torricelli was forced to resign. This time, Lautenberg won handily. His liberalism was rooted in his hardscrabble youth overshadowed by the death of his father from cancer when he was a boy, according to lifelong friend and fellow Paterson native Stephen Greenberg, now chairman of NCSJ. “Paterson was the silk center of the world at the time,” Greenberg said. “You had this massive number of Jews from Russia and Poland in that whole area. His father worked in the silk mills, and Frank believed that was the predominant source of his cancer.” Lautenberg became the Senate’s leading advocate of public safety, writing laws that improved stan-
dards for clean coastal waters and tripled liability for oil spills. In 1968 he founded the Lautenberg Center for Immunology and Cancer Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He launched crusades for safer conduct on the roads, rails and in the air. During his short absence from the Senate in 2001-02, the Secaucus Junction train station was named for him, honoring his work on expanding rail transportation in the eastern United States. The last World War II veteran in Congress, Lautenberg also led passage of the “G.I. Bill for the 21st Century,” extending education benefits to veterans of the post-Sept. 11 wars. He also was a lead champion of women’s rights, advancing laws mandating sex education and keeping pharmacists from invoking religious beliefs in order to deny service to women seeking birth control medications. At the time of his death, Lautenberg was pushing hard on a number of reproductive issues, including the repeal of a law banning funding for groups overseas that provide abortions and extending abortion rights to women serving in the military overseas. “It’s a loss,” said Linda Slucker, the president of the National Council of Jewish Women. “We always needed that voice, and he brought that voice to the Senate.” Lautenberg was in Israel on Sept. 11 2001, on a federation mission that included a stop at a park in SENATE on page 19
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National Briefs Kerry calls on U.S. Jews to press for peace talks WASHINGTON (JTA) – Secretary of State John Kerry said talks toward a two-state solution were critical and U.S. Jews could play a role in advancing them. Kerry has placed a premium on reviving Israeli-Palestinian talks and chided those who say that now is not the time because of gaps between the sides and unrest roiling the region. Under tightened security, N.Y. celebrates Israel with parade (JTA) – More than 30,000 marchers participated in New York City’s annual Celebrate Israel Parade, which was held under ramped-up security in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said security was tightened “significantly” for Sunday’s event, pre-
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viously called the Salute to Israel Parade, in the aftermath of the March bombings in Boston that killed three and injured more than 200. Kelly said SWAT teams were put on alert. The parade was dominated by the participation of Orthodox Jewish groups marching and viewing, according to Haaretz. Eric Rosenthal wins Bronfman prize NEW YORK (JTA) – Eric Rosenthal, the founder of Disability Rights International, won the $100,000 Charles Bronfman Prize. The Bronfman prize honors Jews under age 50 for humanitarian work. Rosenthal, a 49-year-old attorney, won for his work to end the segregation and abuse of the mentally disabled. Yiddish word is final hurdle to national spelling bee win (JNS) – Arvind Mahankali, a 13-year-old from the Bayside neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, carrying a $30,000 prize, by correctly spelling the German-derived Yiddish word “Knaidel.”
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Google Glass portends brave new Jewish world Students in various locations could participate in classes together, following text as seen through the eyes of a teacher. HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. – Cohen, who teaches at a public Over the past few weeks, school in central New Jersey, strangers have begun stopping plans to develop an application high school computer science that will help him learn his stuteacher Chaim Cohen on the dents’ names. street. A few accuse him of “I don’t remember all the recording them without their names of my students during the knowledge. Even fewer blame first weeks of school,” he said. “I him for all of society’s ills. want to be able to look at them But many just want an answer and have their names overlapped to a simple question: Is he wearing on top.” Google Glass? Despite the enthusiasm, tech Cohen is among the approxiexperts from mately 2,000 Jewish day schools developers are skeptical. Price throughout the is one factor. At United States $1,500, Glass is who are trying significantly more out the search expensive than an giant’s muchiPad or similar hyped wearable devices. computer, a Educators also futuristic are understandably Internet-conuneasy about a nected gadget device that can that users wear snap pictures, literlike a pair of ally, with the wink glasses and of an eye. Others enables them to point out that since stream inforGlass’ apps are still mation from being developed, the Web directits educational ly into their Courtesy of Justin Sullivan/Getty/JTA value remains to be field of vision. seen. Using voice Participants wearing Google Glass during Google's I/O Developers Conference in San Francisco, May 1, 2013. “In a traditional commands and classroom, I don’t hand gestures, Google Glass users can take pic- blessing flashed before their eyes. see where wearing the computer Potential Jewish applications on my face is an enormous quantures, record videos, get directions for Glass are endless, Schwartz tum leap in ease of use, efficiency and send messages. and productivity over traditional “I offer to let them try it on,” says. “Let’s say you want to buy an computer modalities,” said Seth Cohen said. “My goal is to advocate for this and show people that etrog,” he said. “You can create a Dimbert, director of educational this is not a bad thing. It’s a good Google Hangout and have a rabbi technology at the Scheck Hillel look at the etrog as you are look- Community School in North thing.” Well before Google Glass is ing at it. The rabbi can ask you to Miami Beach, Fla. “It’s actually less useful if only expected to be publicly available turn it to the right and turn it to the sometime in 2014, the device left, and can give you an opinion I can see a computer screen. Classrooms are about collaboraalready is generating controversy. about it right away.” Mike Vidikan of the tion with the people around you Critics worry that users will be able to surreptitiously take photo- Washington, D.C.-based organiza- and making screens bigger and graphs with an app that permits tion Innovaro, which provides more portable, so more people can wearers to snap pictures just by insights about how new technolo- gather around them at once.” Rabbi Tzvi Pittinsky, director winking. Some bars and casinos, gies will shape the future business citing privacy concerns, have pre- environment, expects that Glass of educational technology at The emptively banned the device. In also could significantly change Frisch School in Paramus, N.J., West Virginia, legislators have how consumers shop for kosher expressed doubts as well. “Teenagers are freaked out by tried to make it illegal to wear food. “As they start inspecting a par- Google Glass,” he said. “Who Glass while driving. But none of this concerns ticular group of foods,” he would want to have these glasses Barry Schwartz, CEO of the Web explained, “notifications could on all the time? It’s scary.” Ultimately, however, many development firm RustyBrick, pop up with information about the who can hardly wait to get his kosher certifications, as well as believe that it’s just a matter of hands on it. Schwartz is one of the reviews, and who in their social time before Glass becomes more widely accepted. Many technolo8,000 “explorers” chosen by networks recommend it.” In education, where informa- gies now considered indispensaGoogle to receive the device for tion technology already is trans- ble were greeted initially with $1,500 apiece. “We would be programming forming the classroom experience, skepticism. “If people adopt it at the rate Jewish-related apps to help Jewish Glass could be yet another gamepeople use the technology to live changer. Hebrew school classes that they adopted smartphones,” their Jewish lives,” said Schwartz, could tour Israel virtually, seeing Schwartz predicts, “then it will whose company has already the country though the eyes of a have a huge impact on Jewish developed popular Jewish appli- guide equipped with the device. life.” By Yaffa Klugerman Jewish Telegraphic Agency
cations for smartphones, like a digital prayer book and Hebrew translator. Schwartz’s vision of a Glassenabled Jewish life sounds incredibly futuristic. Notifications flash when it’s time to pray. Nearby synagogues or kosher restaurants are instantly located. Important Jewish dates such as yahrtzeits and holidays are never forgotten. Recently, a Chabad rabbi at Stanford University set up a Google Glass tefillin stand. Men who chose to don the ritual leather straps then put on Glass and the
NATIONAL • 7
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
Seeking Kin: Finding one relative in Israel—and looking for more
Law cited in Fox News furor has AIPAC history
By Hillel Kuttler Jewish Telegraphic Agency
By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency
BALTIMORE – Sabina Faynberg decided recently to visit the grave of her cousin Shalom Schwartzbard on a moshav near the Israeli city of Netanya. Going online to find directions, the Jerusalem woman stumbled upon a “Seeking Kin” column that discussed Schwartzbard, who had murdered Semyon Petliura on a Paris street in 1926. Many Jews of the time had held Petliura responsible for instigating pogroms in Ukraine that killed thousands of their relatives and thus believed the killing was justifiable. Shwartzbard, Faynberg knew, was a first cousin of her paternal grandfather, Shmuel Tzvi “Herman” Schwartzbard. The column’s focus on Tamar Dagan’s search for her own Schwartzbard relatives meant that Faynberg had inadvertently discovered another cousin – someone she never heard of but who lives in a bordering neighborhood. So Faynberg contacted “Seeking Kin,” and the column connected Faynberg and Dagan. The two spoke by phone last week and hope to meet soon. “It was an amazing surprise,” Faynberg said about realizing, while reading the column, that Dagan is related to her. “For me, it’s very exciting to find my relatives, especially relatives of such a great man, Shalom Schwartzbard.” Faynberg took the opportunity to tell of her own search – for cousins related to her father’s mother. In the late 1950s, the cousins moved to Israel from Stettin, Poland. The mother of the household was Malvina, nicknamed Manya. She was married and had at least three children, of whom one was known to be a boy and one a girl. Faynberg doesn’t know Manya’s married name, her husband’s first name, the children’s names or where in Israel they settled. She is sure only that Manya’s maiden name was Kern and that Manya’s mother was Leah (nee Uran). Faynberg never met Manya, but she remembers Manya’s brother, Karol or Karl, known as Lolek. In the late 1950s, Lolek and his wife, Pesta, visited the Moscow home of Sabina and her parents, Yakov and Asya Schwartzbard. The Kerns had stopped off on their way to visit Manya in Israel – and later would settle there, too. On the back of the photograph that shows her and her children (the one accompanying this column), Manya had noted that the image was taken in 1956 in Stettin.
WASHINGTON – With its talk of signal books, sketches and photographic negatives, the Espionage Act suggests a period long ago consigned to Cold Warera thrillers. In fact, the law is even older, first drafted in 1917, at a time when secret orders were conveyed by telegraph and semaphore codes were bound in pocket-sized books weighted with lead so they could be thrown overboard at the approach of the enemy. The era also was the beginning of the Red Scare, the belief that the socialist revolution in Europe soon would infect the United States. Communications since then have evolved quite a bit. Yet the law’s most controversial statute – targeting those who receive defense information, including reporters and lobbyists – persists. Recently it formed the basis for a warrant used by the FBI to monitor the email and phone records of James Rosen, a Fox News reporter at the center of an investigation into government leaks. The disclosure of the investigation has embroiled the Obama administration in controversy over what looks to some like an attempt to criminalize journalism. “Rosen was not charged with any crime, but it is unprecedented for the government, in an official court document, to accuse a reporter of breaking the law for conducting the routine business of reporting on government secrets,” wrote Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker’s Washington correspondent. The controversial statute also was at the heart of a case several years ago targeting two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or
Courtesy of Sabina Faynberg
Sabina Faynberg hopes to find the descendants of her father’s first cousin, known as Manya – shown at left with her two children and at right with her husband and daughter – who moved to Israel in the 1950s.
Faynberg surmises that the picture was made as a keepsake just before the family left for Israel. According to a family history that Yakov wrote for Faynberg’s son, Moshe, the Kerns lived in Stanislavov (now known as IvanoFrankivsk, in western Ukraine), as did the entire Uran and Schwartzbard clans. During World War II, Lolek, Manya and their parents escaped to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The siblings’ brother, Saleh (perhaps a diminutive of Solomon, Faynberg thinks), remained in Stanislavov and was killed in the Holocaust. So, too, were Faynberg’s paternal grandparents, Herman and Sabina Schwartzbard. Sabina Uran Schwartzbard, Faynberg said, had five siblings: three sisters and two brothers. Besides Leah, they included Samuel, who moved to Switzerland and died, childless, before World War II; Pinya, perhaps short for Pinhas, who was a Stanislavov businessman and lived in a big house; and two sisters whose names Faynberg does not know. One sister had a son, Haim Frish, who moved to Sao Paolo, Brazil. As happened with Dagan, Faynberg is hoping the names and places will spark a connection in the minds of readers who are longlost kin and will help reunite her with them. Faynberg and her husband, Vladimir, have Moshe and his wife and four children living nearby in Jerusalem. Moshe making aliyah in 2002 from New York, where the family lived in the Bayside section of Queens after emigrating from Moscow, spurred Vladimir and Sabina to move to Israel, too. Whether or not Moshe has more children, Faynberg would like to add more people to her family tree. “I don’t have many relatives, especially on my father’s side,” she said. Another who fortuitously came upon a recent “Seeking Kin” column is Joseph Long, a retiree from
Cleveland now living on St. Simon’s Island in Georgia. Long wants to get the word out about a reunion of Polish children who were sheltered during part of World War II in the estate of a maharajah in India. A “Seeking Kin” column last summer told of one of the 12 Jewish children from Poland known to have been relocated temporarily to the estate, known as Balachadi. Francis Pluta, Long’s greatuncle, was the priest who was in charge of the children sheltered there. Reunions of the overwhelmingly Catholic group are held every two years in Poland. Next year’s reunion likely will be held in London, since a good number of the children – many of them orphaned during the war – would later settle in England. At one of the recent reunions, participants decided to make the 2014 London gathering their last because of the age and infirmity of many of their number. Some of those sheltered at the India estate – Long isn’t sure how many – now live in North America. That’s why Long, who is not Jewish, decided to arrange a reunion. He came across the column and asked for the help of “Seeking Kin” in spreading the news about the Aug. 3-4 event at the Orchard Lake Seminary, near Detroit, where he hopes the names can be recited of those children who have since died or are unable to attend. Long is organizing the gathering because he feels a personal connection to the children’s group because of Pluta, the brother of Long’s maternal grandfather. “I think that if he were to be asked, would you want a reunion to be organized of these orphans at the twilight of their lives, he would want that,” Long said of Pluta, who died in Ontario in 1990. “It’s wonderful that in those terrible times, when it was [vital] to get those kids out of harm’s way, Father Pluta and everyone else didn’t care about religion. They just wanted to save kids.”
AIPAC. The case eventually was dropped. The statute, known as 793(e), has been vexing reporters and lawyers for decades and was updated by Congress in 1950 over a veto by President Harry Truman. The statute criminalizes the “willful” retention of “unauthorized” national defense information and the failure to return such information to the government. In a definitive 1973 analysis of the Espionage Act for the Columbia Law Review, U.S. Constitution experts Harold Edgar and Benno Schmidt said that language poses “the greatest threat to the acquisition and publication of defense information by reporters and newspapers.” “If these statutes mean what they seem to say and are constitutional,” they wrote, “public speech in this country since World War II has been rife with criminality.” Nevertheless, despite its vagueness and reputation among constitutional lawyers as unenforceable, successive administrations at times have considered 793(e) as a tool to prevent leaks. But public officials have been divided on the question of whether it is an appropriate application of the law. John Ashcroft, the attorney general under President George W. Bush, cited the statute as one he was prepared to use to stop leaks in testimony he was set to deliver before a congressional committee days before Sept. 11, 2001. The testimony was delayed and ultimately never happened. Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor who successfully convicted vice presidential aid Lewis “Scooter” Libby on perjury charges, said at the time of FOX NEWS on page 21
Courtesy of The U.S. State Department
Fox News correspondent James Rosen, shown here interviewing Secretary of State John Kerry on March 5, 2013, was subject to a subpoena based on the same statute in the Espionage Act used to indict two former AIPAC staffers in 2005.
8 • NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL
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Why do Jews intermarry, and who wants to marry a Jew, anyway? By Daniel Krieger Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – Over the past half century, intermarriage has become increasingly common in the United States among all religions – but among Jews at the highest rate. Why that is the case is one of the questions Naomi Schaefer Riley probes in her new book, “‘Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America” (Oxford University Press). One of the main reasons, Riley finds, is that the older people get, the more likely they are to intermarry – and Jews tend to marry older than Americans generally, according to the 200001 National Jewish Population Survey. By the same token, Mormons, who encourage early nuptials, are the least likely faith to outmarry. The findings in Riley’s book, for which she commissioned a national study, raise the question of whether Jewish institutions interested in reducing interfaith marriages should be encouraging Jews to marry at a younger age. They aren’t doing that now,
according to Riley, and the American Jewish intermarriage rate is about 50 percent. Another factor behind the comparatively high Jewish intermarriage rate is, simply, that Americans like Jews. Riley cites the work of sociologists Robert Putnam and David Campbell, who measured the popularity of various religious groups with exten-
sive surveys for their 2010 book, “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.” “America, for the most part, loves its Jews,” agreed Paul Golin, the associate executive director of the Jewish Outreach Institute. “It doesn’t mean that anti-Semitism is over, but there’s much more philoSemitism than anti-Semitism in America.” Riley says intermarriage is both a cause and effect of this phe-
nomenon. “The more you have exposure to people of other faiths, the more likely you are to like them and then marry them yourself,” she said. Riley, who identifies as a Conservative Jew, is herself intermarried. She says assimilation has been a good and bad thing for American Jews. On the downside of interfaith marriage, Riley’s research showed that intermarried couples reported lower rates of marital satisfaction than inmarried couples. The children of interfaith couples also tend to grow up to be less religious than inmarried couples. Riley predicts what some might consider an ominous future for American Jewry, but one that comports to some degree with what several other scholars have hypothesized about American Jewry’s future: A small core of religious Jews will run Jewish communal institutions, and a large contingent of assimilated Jews on the periphery will have little enthusiasm for or connection to their faith. INTERMARRY on page 21
In crowdsourcing for weddings, new methods for an old idea By Lilit Marcus Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – When Amanda Melpolder began planning her wedding to Jeff Greenberg, she hoped the ceremony would be unlike others. Melpolder had become involved in an independent minyan in Brooklyn after converting to Judaism several years ago, and she and Greenberg wanted their their wedding this June to reflect the prayer group’s community spirit and sense of doit-yourself camaraderie. Friends were asked to lead prayers and narrate the signing of the ketubah, or marriage contract. Melpolder, a chef, solicited recipes from guests that would be bound in a souvenir cookbook. Assignments were
given to friends based on personalities and interests. “Since our Jewish community is one that we created and are actively part of, it made sense that our wedding would be the same theme, with people leading differ-
ent parts of the ceremony,” Melpolder said. Such participatory approaches to wedding planning might seem like a feature of the information age but may be just the latest
incarnation of an older Jewish tradition. “The word ‘crowdsourcing’ is a new word for an old thing,” said artist Nahanni Rous, who creates custom chuppahs, or wedding canopies. “We are pretending that we just invented this idea of the shtetl. It’s like everybody would come to the wedding, and that was how a community got together to celebrate.” In other words, it has always taken a village. It’s just that now the village looks quite different. Based in Washington, D.C., Rous often incorporates crowdsourcing into her work, such as asking friends to submit fabric swatches. CROWDSOURCING on page 21
Kosovo remembers Jews who perished in the Holocaust as Pristina unveils commemorative plaque By John Anderson The Podesta Group Pristina, Thursday 23 May 2013 – Tolerance Week in Kosovo – which takes place from 20 to 26 May – today marked the remembrance of Holocaust victims as a permanent commemorative plaque was unveiled in front of the Kosovo Parliament. The Jewish community in Kosovo has a long history, contributing much to the diversity of the country, as they made Kosovo their home. Many Jews were saved by the old code of honour, known as “besa,” as they fled the Nazi regime through Kosovo to Albania during the Second World War. This code called specifically for taking responsibility for refugees. Sadly, many Jews also perished as the Nazis reached Kosovo toward the end of the war. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, who unveiled the plaque at an official ceremony today said: “We are unveiling this memorial to remember Kosovo Jews who perished in the Nazi camps during the Holocaust; we must learn from this tragedy of unspeakable proportions. We must never forget Kosovo families who saved the Jewish population during this dark hour and we must also find strength today to move beyond conflict, beyond hate, to reach out to our neighbors, to join the community of free European Nations, whose freedom today was built on the blood spilled during the Second World War.” The Prime Minister added: “Whilst we remember the victims of conflict, to achieve true reconciliation, we must remember also the perpetrators in the process.” Attending the ceremony, His Excellency Mr. Yossef Levy, Ambassador of the State of Israel said: “The State of Israel cherishes and appreciates the efforts to preserve the memory of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Kosovo. It expresses its gratitude for the renewal of Jewish life in Kosovo, including the maintenance of the cemetery and the erection of the plaque on the site of the destroyed synagogue in Pristina.” The inscription on the plaque in Albanian, English, Hebrew and Serbian reads: “This is the place where last
Synagogue of Kosovo stood until 1963. This plaque is raised in memory of Kosovo Jews that perished in Nazi camps during Holocaust. People of Kosovo will never forget them”. The chosen site marks the place where the last synagogue stood. It was destroyed by the communist regime in the 1960s to make way for socialist-realist architecture, as other important cultural heritage sites including the old city bazaar were also torn down. Mr. Votim Demiri of the Kosovo Jewish Society said: “Almost 70 years after the Holocaust, we are witnessing today the moment where the past meets the present with a clear message for the future: this is never to be repeated. By placing this commemorative plaque, Kosovo society proves its maturity, showing that building of a multicultural and tolerant society is the right step toward European integration. On behalf of the Jewish Community of Kosovo, and in the name of all Jews throughout the world, thanks to the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo for this event.” Mr. Agron Rezniqi, representative of the Righteous Families of Kosovo said: “It was our duty to help Jewish refugees fleeing to safety. Kosovar families are proud to have saved as many as they could and today we remember those who sadly did not escape the Nazi terror.” Also taking place this evening is a presentation by Ron Arad Architects on Kosovo Jewish Heritage Projects at the Ethnological Museum. The Minister for Culture, Memli Krasniqi will speak at that event, alongside the Chief-of-Staff of longtime Kosovo supporter Senator Mr. Eliot Engel, Jason Steinbaum. The Kosovo Foreign Ministry will also host a dinner for guests, alongside a keynote speaker, Rabbi Levi Matusof from the European Jewish Parliament. A photo exhibition from the book “Besa – Muslims who saved Jews in World War II,” by Norman H. Gershman opens as part of the Interfaith Conference, taking place from 24 to 26 May in Peja, which will bring together almost 200 community representatives, faith leaders and experts from Kosovo, the region and beyond.
INTERNATIONAL • 9
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
Germany commits to additional $800 million International for home care for Holocaust survivors Briefs ByUriel Heilman In 2015, the amount will rise Claims Conference will be able to Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – The German government agreed to significantly expand its funding of home care for infirm Holocaust survivors and relax eligibility criteria for restitution programs to include Jews who spent time in so-called open ghettos. The agreement, reached after negotiations in Israel with the Claims Conference, will result in approximately $800 million in new funding for home care for Holocaust survivors from 2014 to 2017. This is in addition to $182 million for 2014 that already has been committed.
by 45 percent, to approximately $266 million, and then to $273 million in 2016 and $280 million in 2017. Because the sums are set in euro, the actual amounts may change depending on currency fluctuations. The $84 million increase in funding between 2014 and 2015 will represent the largest yearover-year increase since the program began with 30 million euro (approximately $36.6 million) in 2004, though a bigger percentage increase took place in 2010, when funding doubled from 55 million euro ($68 million) to 110 million euro ($136 million). “With this new agreement, the
both increase the number of beneficiaries, thus eliminating waiting lists of survivors for home care, as well as increase the number of hours per person to a minimum level of dignity,” Claims Conference board chairman Julius Berman wrote in a letter to the board. Some 56,000 survivors are now receiving home care through the Claims Conference. The announcement of new funding comes amid controversy for the Claims Conference over revelations related to bungled investigations in 2001 that failed GERMANY on page 22
Near Dutch ‘Sharia triangle,’ a small Jewish enclave endures By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency THE HAGUE, the Netherlands – On a cold winter night in 2008, Wim Kortenoeven was startled by the crackling of a large fire raging near his home on the edge of this city’s last remaining Jewish enclave. Rushing from his apartment, Kortenoeven walked 70 yards and crossed the line separating his Jewish-owned housing project from the predominantly Muslim borough containing what Dutch media have taken to calling the “Sharia triangle” – Sharia referring to Islamic law. On the seam line, he encountered dozens of Dutch Moroccans looking at several parked cars that vandals had set on fire. Fearing explosions,
Kortenoeven shouted to the people looking down from their balconies to go back inside, but his intervention was ignored. “Onlookers started closing in on me, shoving me, asking if I was police, what I was doing in ‘their neighborhood,’ “ he said. Kortenoeven scuffled with one man but managed to get away. Kortenoeven has since moved, but about a dozen Jewish households remain in the little-known Jewish enclave known as the Van Ostade Housing Project. The gated community of 200 units built in the 1880s to house poor Jews is surrounded by the Schilderswijk neighborhood – 91 percent of its residents are foreign-born, half of them Moroccan or Turkish. Earlier this month, Schilderswijk became national
news after a Dutch newspaper reported that part of the neighborhood had become a “Sharia triangle” that police dare not enter. The report prompted a high-profile visit from the stridently antiMuslim politician Geert Wilders, whose party called this month for a government study of antiSemitism among Muslim immigrants. “It is unacceptable that women in skirts should be harassed here,” Wilders said during his visit. “This is Holland. Sharia does not apply here.” Dutch police have denied that Schilderswijk has become a lawless territory and insist they have security under control. But the Holland Wilders fears is already a reality for some Jews of Van Ostade. DUTCH on page 22
After nine months of captivity, Jewish doctor returns to hero’s welcome By Moira Schneider Jewish Telegraphic Agency CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Cyril Karabus stepped into the arrivals hall at Cape Town International Airport to a rapturous welcome. A multiracial crowd numbering in the hundreds had turned out to greet him. A minstrel troupe was singing “Hevenu Shalom Aleichem.” And a rabbi stepped forward to recite the priestly blessing. The arrival two weeks ago capped a nine-month saga in which Karabus, 78, was jailed in the United Arab Emirates on charges of manslaughter and fraud. Unbeknownst to the retired
pediatric oncologist, he had been convicted in absentia in connection with the death of a 3-yearold leukemia patient he had treated in 2002 during a six-week stint at Sheikh Khalifa Medical Center in Abu Dhabi. While in transit in Dubai during his return from his son’s wedding in Toronto, he was shackled and detained by police in front of his wife, daughter, son-in-law and two small grandchildren. I was “totally bloody shocked,” Karabus said of his arrest in Dubai in August. Thus began the ordeal during which he was incarcerated in three jails for 57 nights and forbidden to leave the UAE. Checking in for his flight in Toronto, Karabus had an inkling
something was amiss: He was informed by the staff of Emirates Airlines that there was a security alert under his name. But following further investigation, he was told there was no problem and he could board. “They were complicit in having me arrested, so they’re not a bloody airline, they’re a police force,” Karabus said. Representatives of Emirate Airlines did not respond to JTA requests for comment. Following his arrest, the family called their South African lawyer, Michael Bagraim, at his home for advice. It was 3 a.m. “I didn’t know what was going on,” Bagraim recalled. “I CAPTIVITY on page 22
Widespread protests erupt against PM Erdogan in Turkey (JNS) – Widespread protests against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan erupted over the weekend and continued into Monday, as Erdogan’s increasingly authoritative policies have angered many Turks, especially within the country’s secular community. Turkish police cracked down on protesters by firing tear gas and water cannons. Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said 1,750 people were arrested since May 28 in connection with the protests. Many Turks have accused Erdogan of “Islamizing” Turkey through crackdowns on opposition journalists, forced resignations of secular military officials, and increasing Islamic-style laws such
as a recent ban on public alcohol consumption. Russia denies advanced missiles delivered to Syria, but remains determined to complete transaction (JNS) – Russia has denied Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s reported announcement that he has already received the first shipment of the vaunted S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, but the Kremlin stated on Friday that it could deliver the S-300 system to Syria “in accordance with contract no earlier than the autumn,” Israel Hayom reported, citing the Russian Interfax news agency. Interfax said that 10 Russian MiG29 combat airplanes would also be delivered to Syria “in accordance with contract.” The Lebanese newspaper AlAkhbar on Thursday reported that Assad claimed Syria had already received the S-300 Russian anti-missile missile system. But two senior U.S. officials privy to sensitive intelligence matters confirmed the shipment had not yet been made, Fox News reported.
10 • ISRAEL
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Syrian refugees quietly treated by Israel while UN makes latest ‘parody of itself’ By Alina Dain Sharon JointMedia News Service The script reads like this: Israel treats wounded Syrian refugees in its own hospitals. Syria produces a report alleging an “acute shortage of primary and tertiary health care services” in the Golan Heights region. A United Nations agency, citing the Syrian report rather than acknowledging Israel’s actions, condemns Israel. On the surface, this storyline contains several plot twists, but it is not surprising for Dr. Daniel Pipes, president and founder of the Middle East Forum. “The UN is a parody of itself,” Pipes told JNS, noting that a Libyan was once elected the chair of the Human Rights Commission, among other elected representatives from countries with questionable human rights records over the years. Recently, the Ziv Medical Center in Israel’s northern city of Safed treated and released 14 Syrian refugees, most of whom “arrived with gun shot wounds in the stomach and in the lower limbs,” the hospital’s communications advisor, Yael Shavit, told JNS. But while Israel quietly treated Syrian refugees, the annual assembly of the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) on May 21 adopted a resolution—based on Syrian, Palestinian, and WHO reports—condemning the “deterioration of the health conditions of the Syrian population in the occupied
Golan as a result of the suppressive practices of the Israeli occupation.” Under the rubric of “Health Conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and in the Occupied Syrian Golan,” the WHO assembly was presented with four reports scrutinizing Israel, including the report from Syria. The WHO resolution, meanwhile, ignored the thousands of civilians being slaughtered in Syria’s ongoing civil war, according to UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO monitoring the UN. Less publicized than the WHO assembly resolution, however, were the 14 Syrian refugees who received treatment at Israel’s Ziv Medical Center. “There were a few that needed very complicated orthopedic surgeries,” Shavit told JNS. “There were two that spent a long time in emergency care, a lot of surgery and orthopedics, because the shooting was probably close, I don’t know how they were injured, but there were a lot of bones [that were hit].” Daniel Pipes said the WHO assembly resolution was “so selfevidently absurd, ritualistic, meaningless.” He said it is noteworthy, however, that only three countries besides Israel—the U.S., Australia and Canada—voted against the resolution. “This is not new, it’s just dismaying to see these sophisticated, liberal, modern, western countries like Italy, France, New Zealand, not even take the trouble to vote against it,” Pipes
said. “It’s a sign of their moral weakness.” The Syrian report that contributed to the WHO resolution accused Israel of torturing Arab detainees and burying nuclear waste in the Golan. “It’s a futility by a [Syrian] regime that might well be gone any day... They just make things up, it has no bearing in reality,” Pipes said. “This is a regime that’s fighting for its life,” Pipes added, calling the Syrian report an indication of “weakness on the part of Syria and strength on the part of Israel.” The government of Israel said in a statement that the “position of the State of Israel has always been that a politically motivated debate and resolution... has no place on the agenda of the World Health Assembly…The State of Israel regards the continuous World Health Assembly’s debate on the ‘health conditions in the occupied Syrian Golan’ as an absurd example of the way the assembly’s agenda is cynically abused, World Health Organization’s limited resources squandered, and will not cooperate with it.” Another report used in the WHO assembly resolution, authored by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East stated, “The Palestinian health situation faces many challenges under the oppressive Israeli occupation of Palestinian land,” even though all residents of Israel have the legal right to medical care. Additionally, all residents of the Golan Heights
Courtesy of Ziv Medical Center
A Syrian refugee is tended to by the medical professionals of Ziv Medical Center in Israel’s northern city of Safed.
enjoy “high-quality medical services equal to all other residents of Israel,” the Israeli statement said. In fact, 400 Gaza residents were treated at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa last year, according to a report by the Jerusalem Post. In 2012, WHO itself had reported that Israel granted immediate approval to 91.5 percent of Gaza resident applications for medical care in Israel. About 7 percent more were given approval after a security check. More than 200,0000 Arabs received medical treatment inside Israel in 2012. “I’ve come here to learn from your excellent health system,” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan while visiting Gaza children being treated at Tel Aviv’s DanaDwek Children’s Hospital, according to the Jerusalem Post. Additionally, an investigation by Palestinian Media Watch this month showed that the official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper, AlHayat Al-Jadida, reported that 30 percent of the child patients in
Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital are Palestinian. The Israeli hospital is also training “60 Palestinian medical interns and specialist physicians who will be returning to the [Palestinian] Authority areas to carry out their work,” including a program training Palestinian doctors to treat children’s cancer, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida wrote. Among the Syrian refugees recently treated at Ziv Medical Center, two patients with head wounds were sent for treatment to another Israeli hospital, but since the Ziv center is closest to the border with Syria, the Israel Defense Forces approves the transfer of many of the refugees there, Shavit told JNS. “The longest time one of these patients spent at our hospital was two and a half months,” Shavit said. Reports surfaced this March that the IDF has also set up a new field hospital on the border with Syria to treat wounded refugees. “A doctor who receives a wounded patient, he treats him [or] her as a person and not as an identity,” Shavit said.
Water surplus in Israel? With desalination, once unthinkable is possible By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraphic Agency PALMACHIM, Israel – As construction workers pass through sandy corridors between huge rectangular buildings at this desalination plant on Israel’s southern coastline, the sound of rushing water resonates from behind a concrete wall. Drawn from deep in the Mediterranean Sea, the water has flowed through pipelines reaching almost 4,000 feet off of Israel’s coast and, once in Israeli soil, buried almost 50 feet underground. Now, it rushes down a tube sending it through a series of filters and purifiers. After 90 minutes, it will be ready to run through the faucets of Tel Aviv. Set to begin operating as soon as next month, Israel Desalination Enterprises’ Sorek Desalination Plant will provide up to 26,000 cubic meters – or nearly 7 million gallons – of potable water to Israelis every hour. When it’s at full capacity, it will be the largest desalination plant of its kind in the world. “If we didn’t do this, we would be sitting at home complaining that we didn’t have water,” said Raphael Semiat, a member of the Israel Desalination Society and professor
at Israel’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. “We won’t be dependent on what the rain brings us. This will give a chance for the aquifers to fill up.” The new plant and several others along Israel’s coast are part of the country’s latest tactic in its decadeslong quest to provide for the nation’s water needs. Advocates say desalination—the removal of salt from seawater—could be a game-changing solution to the challenges of Israel’s famously fickle rainfall. Instead of the sky, Israel’s thirst may be quenched by the Mediterranean’s nearly infinite, albeit salty, water supply. Until the winter of 2011-12, water shortages were a dire problem for Israel; the country had experienced seven straight years of drought beginning in 2004. The Sea of Galilee (also known as Lake Kinneret), a major freshwater source and barometer of sorts for Israel’s water supply, fell to dangerous lows. The situation got so severe that the government ran a series of commercials featuring celebrities, their faces cracking from dryness, begging Israelis not to waste any water. Even as the Sea of Galilee has returned almost to full volume this year, Israeli planners are looking to
desalination as a possible permanent solution to the problem of drought. Some even anticipate an event that was once unthinkable: a water surplus in Israel. Israel Desalination Enterprises opened the first desalination plant in the country in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon in 2005, following success with a similar plant in nearby Cyprus. With Sorek, the company will own three of Israel’s four plants, and 400 plants in 40 countries worldwide. The company’s U.S. subsidiary is designing a new desalination plant in San Diego, the $922 million Carlsbad Desalination Project, which will be the largest desalination plant in America. In Israel, desalination provides 300 million cubic meters of water per year – about 40 percent of the country’s total water needs. That number will jump to 450 million when Sorek opens, and will hit nearly 600 million as plants expand in 2014, providing up to 80 percent of Israel’s potable water. Like Israel’s other plants, Sorek will work through a process called Seawater Reverse Osmosis that removes salt and waste from the Mediterranean’s water. A prefiltration cleansing process clears waste out of the flow before the water
enters a series of smaller filters to remove virtually all the salt. After moving through another set of filters that remove boron, the water passes through a limestone filter that adds in minerals. Then, it enters Israel’s water pipes. Semiat says desalination is a virtually harmless process that can help address the water needs prompted by the world’s growing population and rising standard of living. “You take water from the deep sea, from a place that doesn’t bother anyone,” he said. But desalination is not without its critics. Some environmentalists question whether the process is worth its monetary and environmental costs. One cubic meter of desalinated water takes just under 4 kWh to produce – that’s the equivalent of burning 40 100-watt light bulbs for one hour to produce the equivalent of five bathtubs full of water. Freshwater doesn’t have that cost. Giora Shaham, a former longterm planner at Israel’s Water Authority and a critic of Israel’s current desalination policy, said that factories like Sorek could be a waste because if there is adequate rainfall the desalination plants will produce more water than Israel needs at a cost that is too high. Then, surplus
water may be wasted, or international bodies like the United Nations could pressure Israel to distribute it for free to unfriendly neighboring countries, Shaham said. “There was a long period of drought where there wasn’t a lot of rain, so everyone was in panic,” Shaham said. “Instead of cutting back until there is rain, they made decisions to produce too much.” Fredi Lokiec, an executive vice president at the Sorek plant, says the risks are greater without major desalination efforts. Israel is perennially short on rainfall, and depending on freshwater could further deplete Israel’s rivers. “We’ll always be in the shadow of the drought,” Lokiec said, but drawing from the Mediterranean is like taking “a drop from the ocean.” Some see a water surplus as an opportunity. Orit Skutelsky, water division manager at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, says desalinated water could free up freshwater to refill Israel’s northern streams and raise the level of the Sea of Galilee. “There’s no way we couldn’t have done this,” she said of desalination. “It was the right move. Now we need to let water flow again to the streams.”
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
BEBE NEUWIRTH PERFORMS IN CINCINNATI AT SCPA Bebe Neuwirth performed an evening of favorite songs from her one-woman cabaret show, Stories with Piano, on Saturday, March 9, 2013 at the School for Creative & Performing Arts’ Corbett Theatre.
12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE
NA’AMAT, SISTERHOODS PRESENT WOMEN’S SEDER NA’AMAT and the Sisterhoods of Northern Hills, Ohav Shalom and Temple Sholom in collaboration with Israel@65 presented a women’s seder on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at Temple Sholom. It was facilitated by Temple Sholom Rabbis Miriam Terlinchamp and Elana Dellal.
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14 • DINING OUT
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Andy’s brings the tastes of the Promised Land to you By Bob Wilhelmy Dining Editor Andy’s Mediterranean Grille offers a special attraction for anyone in the Jewish community who has visited Israel or the Middle East. Flavors of that part of the world abound at Andy’s. Your palate can journey there, even if the rest of you must remain behind in River City. Just ask Jon Izyk, head server at Andy’s. Izyk was born in Israel and brings his Jewish heritage to a restaurant where two Lebanese brothers offer tastes of their homeland. “The kafta (shish kafta) is my favorite. It’s delicious,” said Izyk. “Really, all the food here is very good, and being Jewish with my background and working here is a plus for everybody.” His presence at Andy’s also serves as a testament to what can be when common people work together, Izyk believes. By the way, that shish kafta is a very tasty entrée, featuring chopped steak blended with onion and parsley, skewered and charbroiled, and served over seasoned rice. It’s available in full and half entrée portions. Jewish diners will find a lot of choices on the menu. One dish I tried is the new mushroom sauté, a vegetarian entrée of white cap button mushrooms sautéed in olive oil. The generous helping of mushrooms is served on a bed of seasoned, tasty rice, and ringed with chunks of fresh tomato and kalamata olives. This new dish is loaded with flavor, and the freshbaked pita bread adds the finishing touch to an unusual, yet delicious meatless meal. The mushroom sauté is one of five veggie entrée selections on Andy’s new menu, according to Majed Hajjar, co-owner of the Mediterranean-style eatery. “We expanded the vegetarian section of our menu,” he said. “There is more interest in good flavors and lightly seasoned dishes for those who want meals without meat. And people like the dishes we have added.” The other vegetarian dishes include: the falafel platter; the veggie trio, featuring a large house salad with additions of hummus, baba ghannouj or grape leaves; the veggie kabob, served with rice; and the veggie sauté, featuring eggplant, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, tomato, bell pepper, cauliflower and seasonings, over rice. Pizzas also are of the veggie type, although meats can be added to some. The Lebanese version is made on a pita-bread crust, while the other varieties feature fresh-made, hand-tossed
From left are: Jon Izyk, server; David Hajjar, chef; mom Cherine, daughter Sophia and dad Majed Hajjar. Below (L-R): Mushroom sauté; a dining area at Andy’s; Andy’s facade
crusts, in Greek, Italian and Spanish flavors. All ingredients are fresh, making for very good flavor combos. Andy’s menu offers many new items to complement the vegetarian section. A couple of the most popular ones are chicken dishes. The chicken filet sauté features a boneless chicken breast, lightly seasoned and prepared with a sauté of onion, mushrooms, red wine and olive oil. The other new dish is the Beyrouth chicken, which again is a delicately seasoned breast, with garlic and lemon juice providing the flavor. The dish is served with a salad and hummus.
Also, there are the old standards that diners order repeatedly: chicken shawarma, a sautéed breast topped with tahini sauce and served with rice; the shish kabob, featuring skewered charbroiled tenderloin of beef, with green peppers and onions on a bed of rice; filet tips sauté, the beef lightly sautéed with mushrooms and onions in red wine and olive oil; the shish tawook, featuring marinated chicken chunks skewered and charbroiled (a Taste of Cincinnati award winner); and the farrouj, a half rotisserie chicken with special Lebanese spice/herb rub, served over rice.
For those who want to nibble, there are new appetizers as well. Among my favorites are: the spanakopita, featuring spinach and feta cheese in a flaky phyllo pie; grape leaves stuffed with rice and herbs; and cabbage rolls, also stuffed with rice and herbs. For the sweet tooth, new items include the tiramisu and carrot cake. Another recent addition is draft beer, according to Hajjar, “We have a lot of draft beers now, and that’s a great addition for summer meals.” The selection includes Christian Moerlein, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Blank Slate, Yuengling,
Rivertown (local), and Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy. Andy’s also features some non-food attractions. One is belly dancing entertainment offered on Friday and Saturday evenings beginning at 7:30. Those who want to light up can do so in outdoor patio areas, selecting a hookah from Andy’s stock, or a cigar from the new humidor. Patio dining also is available. Andy’s Mediterranean Grille At Gilbert & Nassau 2 blocks North of Eden Park (513) 281-9791
STEAKS • SEAFOOD • PASTA
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
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16 • OPINION
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What if the Nazis had tweeted? By Gideon Behar Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) – What could Goebbels have done with 140 characters? The question, disturbing as it might sound, can no longer be approached only as theoretical. As the arch-propagandist of Nazism, Joseph Goebbels spread the demonic messages of his Fuehrer via the written word, mass demonstrations, radio and film. He used those avenues to near perfection, promoting what perhaps was the most evil publicity campaign in the history of humankind. Some eight decades later, the tools are different but the motivations are the same. In the place of vitriol-filled radio broadcasts and Berlin stadiums filled to capacity with saluting Nazis, the resources employed today by bigots are increasingly the Internet and social media. Undoubtedly the #HeilHitler hashtag, if launched in 1933, would have had followers in the many millions, likely surpassing even the numbers of the most revered celebrities who employ resources like Twitter. With all the tremendous good it does, and the hundreds of millions of people it entertains, inspires and educates daily, at its core the Internet is the most capable propaganda tool ever invented. The online community is both largely uncensored and without any natural borders or limits – a combination that makes it so effective and so dangerous. With the same speed it takes to reach millions with videos of laughing babies or talented Korean dancers, hate-filled messages pour into the world’s social media feeds and email inboxes. The reality in the online war against hate is that our enemies are smarter than any anti-Semitic forces we have ever seen. They understand the power of the Internet and embrace the protections under law it offers. Today’s most effective antiSemites are not the flag-waving, stormtrooping skinheads of yesteryear. While those forces still exist, their reach pales in comparison to the computer users able to spill their messages of hate to millions around the globe in a matter of minutes. The peace-loving forces within the international community are therefore faced with a daunting challenge – yet it is not insurmountable. First, we need to recognize the scope of the problem. Online hate is difficult to impossible to quantify. While perhaps we can try to count the number of problematic
websites, there is no real way to know how many people those sites reach. All the more so with social media, where the trail of content can split into literally thousands of directions in minutes. The scope of the problem is unprecedented and enormous, and thus deserving of massive resources and international cooperation. Second, and perhaps more fundamental, the world must change its mindset for what deserves protection within the online community. Most often, when people speak about the Internet and the world of social media, terms bandied about are “marketplace of ideas” or “common ground for expression” or similar terminology professing that users should be allowed to disseminate whatever ideas come into their minds at a given time. This position is defended by those who advocate that freedom of expression should be interpreted literally to allow people to express whatever they feel, regardless of how inflammatory or incendiary it might be. This must be rethought. Freedom of expression indeed means that people’s right to free speech can and must be protected. But the protection should never be extended to expressions that come at the physical expense of another. Without entering into legal discourse that is far too complex for this forum, there is no disputing that hate speech on the Internet and in social media has the very real potential to inspire acts of violence. In order for the Internet to sustain its openness, all responsible parties must commit to guarding against the use of online hate mongering. This new medium is so different from anything faced previously by the civilized world that it requires re-evaluated understandings of what is and is not acceptable. It will be a challenging process and requires an underlying commitment to protect the interests of all viewpoints, all the while rooting out those messages that cross the fine line between valid speech and toward dangerous incitement. The success of this effort will require the participation and involvement of the relevant commercial players who allow the Internet to flourish along with national governments and international law enforcement. It will not be achieved overnight. If the past has taught us anything, however, it is that the stakes are far too high to do nothing. This time the world must be sure to respond.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Do you have something to say? E-mail your letter to editor@americanisraelite.com
Dear Editor, Readers may recall that AEPi at Miami University was close to losing their right to be a legitimate authorized presence on campus and faced expulsion from Greek life a few weeks ago. The good news is that after appeals, and concerted efforts by supporters, they are to remain on campus. The AEPi chapter at Miami U, must now comply with the disciplinary criteria imposed upon them by the office of student affairs. AEPi is a unique Jewish fraternity founded about 100 years ago and gives Miami University some diversity it would not otherwise have. A welcoming attitude that reaches out to minorities can only strengthen a university and lets minorities feel welcome. For example, Bowling Green University provided platters of matzah to their buffet in their student dining room and matzah ball soup during the Passover week recognizing this important Jewish holiday. Thus recognizing diversity of some of their students. The penalties imposed on AEPi are for two years; they are on probation from May 10, 2013, to Aug. 3, 2015. There are 10 stipulations that AEPi must follow to stay on campus. Failure to comply with these sanctions will mean expulsion for four years. AEPi must refrain from having parties with alcohol for two years, despite the fact that their original infraction didn’t involve any alcohol violations. This means that no individual, even over 21 years of age, living in the frat house can drink a beer alone in their room according this ruling, which is in my opinion, somewhat harsh. Monthly reports are to be sent to the university about their activities. AEPi members are to engage in 10 hours of community service per semester. AEPi members have always recognized the importance of charity work and have engaged in volunteerism in the past and this is part of their ethos anyway. The AEPis are to have a new advisor from National AEPi alumni to oversee the chapter. AEPis are to send a representative to leadership weekends called Acropolis. There will be a workshop on recruiting new members according to campus rules.
Recruitment will be overseen by advisors. Guidance by AEPi alumni is a good thing in general. I feel matters could have been handled differently by the university. Especially shutting AEPi out of hearings and remarks made about the value of the fraternity to the community. Despite this, AEPi can be a welcoming presence of Jewish fraternity life on campus upholding the true meaning of Jewish brotherhood. They are good kids, engaging with Hillel, with decent grades and many members are the sons of past AEPi alumni. With compliance to the university’s stipulations, they will go from strength to strength as they recruit new members in years to come. This means a more unique diverse campus attracting students in an inclusive atmosphere where everyone benefits. Sincerely, Elana K Rosen
Dear Editor, The motto of the United States is “E Pluribus Unum,” which translates to “Out of Many, One.” The initial meaning was that out of the many colonies emerged one nation. The IRS apparently took it to mean out of many people target one person. A group in Liberty Township was asked to “describe your relationship with Justin BinikThomas.” At the time the response was “none” and now, thanks to the matchmakers at the IRS, we can answer “friends.” Perhaps matchmaking can be a future revenue enhancement. Out of hundreds of letters and hundreds of thousands of engaged citizens, they targeted me by name. The IRS has not formally acknowledged, clarified, or apologized for this particular question. Political targeting of a group within the IRS is immoral, unethical and illegal. Political targeting of individuals by the IRS is much more dangerous and borders on sinister. It is in direct contrast to our constitutional protections. As Jews, we should be particularly sensitive to a central government politically targeting groups and individuals who disagree with
some of its positions. Our history is full of examples when Jews were systematically blamed or singled out in an effort to silence us. I have not yet been audited, thankfully; but the question was asked and data was retrieved. And the group targeting me will soon be the Federal Healthcare Enforcement Agency. My actions as an individual have no relevance on the tax status for the group that was asked about me. As a result, it is vital to learn why the data was collected, where the data was shared, and what the data will be used for. In addition to my family, there is risk to my small business and its clients. These risks are not hypothetical— a woman in Texas has now been audited by the IRS, harassed by the ATF, questioned by the FBI and visited by OSHA. The IRS’s apology is a good first step. It is hard to look at someone wronged and say “I’m sorry,” as evidenced by a muted apology a year after the incident. The appropriate next steps for the agency include providing amnesty of sorts for use of illegally obtained data, and putting additional safeguards in place to ensure it does not happen again. There has been no public discussion or promise that they will work to mitigate future risk. There is a formal investigation underway in DC and our local officials have taken an active role. Congressman Chabot, Senator Portman, Congressman Tiberi and Congressman Wenstrup have taken leadership roles in voicing the risks; each has been directly engaged. It will take our collective pressure, however, to keep Congress as a whole focused and effective in the research step. It is never OK to target an individual. We as Jews have been on the receiving end of targeting many times and we as citizens must step up to be sure it does not happen again. The United States has been “The Land of the Free” for several hundred years and it is our responsibility to be sure it remains that way for our children. Sincerely, Justin Binik-Thomas Deer Park, OH
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
Sedra of the Week
Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Korach Numbers 16:1- 18:32
The opening verse of our portion mentions three ring-leaders: Korah, Datan and Aviram. Korah apparently led one
decision-less kollel atmosphere of the desert, refusing to sully his holy hands with the political necessities of creating a nationstate, with the military necessities of vanquishing Amalek and enthroning the God of compassionate righteous and moral justice throughout the world. Datan and Aviram sunk too low, preferring mindless enslavement in Egypt to the difficult decisions and responsibilities of attempting to perfect the world in the Kingship of God. They did not think they were holy at all. They did not recognize the image of God within themselves, that portion of the Divine from on high which cries out to us from the deepest recesses of our souls, “Give me liberty or give me death; rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.” They became overwhelmed by the very earthiness they believed was the essence of their being, and couldn’t even lift their heads above the darkness to see the light of human freedom and empowerment within their own souls. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi – Efrat Israel
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T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: KORACH (BAMIDBAR 16:1—18:30) 1. Which tribe were Dathan and Aviram from? a) Reuven b) Asher c) Dan 2. What was their complaint against Moshe? a) The Manna was insufficient b) Stranded in the desert c) Insufficient supply of fowl 3. How did they die? a) Plague b) Earth swallowed them up c) Fire
4. B 17:6 5. B 17:9
appear before him, they offer the following argument: “Is it not enough that you have brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to cause us to die in the desert, must you also rule over us, yes, rule over us?” (16:13). Note that they refer to Egypt – not the Land of Israel – as the land “flowing with milk and honey.” They are apparently the instigators of the view that wishes to “appoint a leader and return to Egypt” (14:3), that believes, “it would have been better for us to be slaves in Egypt than to die in the desert” (Exodus 14:12). No wonder Rashi identifies Datan and Aviram as the two Hebrews at the beginning of the Book of Exodus who fought amongst themselves and rebuked Moses – who had just slain the Egyptian taskmaster who was slaying a Hebrew – for presuming to be a “ruler and judge over them.” These two upstarts never wished to leave Egypt in the first place and they were punished by being swallowed by the ground. Korah was the leader of the other faction, the bearers of the censers of incense. Moses reveals to us why Korah questioned Moses’s leadership: “Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has segregated you to perform the service of the Tabernacle [as a Levite], that you yet seek the priesthood as well?” (Numbers 16:8-10). Korah wants to be a Kohen! When the Kotzker Rebbe refers to Korah as “the holy grandfather,” he seems to attribute to him the highest motivations. He and his assemblage wish to be holy and they are desperately seeking a way to come closer to God. So Moses tests them by inviting them to offer the priestly gift of incense – an offering which they, as Levites, had not been commanded to bring. They suffer the same fate as Nadav and Avihu, sons of Aaron, who also brought an uninvited sacrifice, and were consumed by Divine fire. Apparently, zealousness in the service of God is not appreciated; it can lead, God forbid, to jihadism and shahidism – and must be nipped in the bud. Korah reached up too high. He desired to remain in the rarefied,
4. What was the Children of Israel’s reaction to the people that were burnt? a) Positive b) Negative 5. Did Hashem agree with their reaction (question 4)? a) Yes b) No
And further, many of the main positions of leadership were given to Moshe's relatives. R Bchai. 3. B 16:33 They vanished instantly forever. Ramban
EFRAT, Israel - “Datan and Aviram went out erect at the entrance of their tents, with their wives, children and infants...” (Numbers 16:27,30). I have explained in a previous commentary on the biblical portion of Korah that there were a number of different political camps rebelling against Moses, each one with a different agenda. Even in their rebellious backsliding, the Israelites were bitterly and fractiously divided. One political party wished to remain in the desert, a second group wished to return to Egypt and a third wished to rush up and conquer Israel immediately. Those who supported immediate conquest probably did so in a desperate attempt to avert the punishment of death in the desert, despite the fact that the Israelites were without the ark of the Lord and were devoid of the spirit of God within their midst. This last group of rebels, known as the “ma’apilim,” was actually the first to act, and they received their punishment at the hands of the Amalekites and Canaanites, who struck them and pounded them into retreat (Numbers 14:45). The opening verse of our portion mentions three ring-leaders: Korah, Datan and Aviram. Korah apparently led one faction and Datan and Aviram the other. Our supposition regarding two separate and opposing factions emanates from the fact that the Bible delineates two separate groups of people and their distinctive punishments: “The ground which was under them [Datan and Aviram, their followers, wives and children; see 16:25,27] split open, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all the people who were with Korah [but not Korah himself], and their entire wealth” (16:31,32). Then; only three verses later, a second punishment: “A fire came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense” (16:35). Our careful reading of these verses also enables us to identify the political agenda of each leader and his camp. When Datan and Aviram refuse Moses’s request to
faction and Datan and Aviram the other.
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
ANSWERS 1. A 16:1 2. B 16:12-14 Moshe led them out of Egypt a comfortable and to tarry 40 years in the desert.
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
JEWZ
IN THE
By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist “THE VOICE” UPDATE MICHELLE CHAMUEL, as noted in last week’s column, is a contestant on the hit NBC talent program, “The Voice.” On May 28, Chamuel garnered enough votes from the TV audience to be “saved” and didn’t have to sweat-out the judges’ decision whether she would be one of the two (of eight remaining) contestants to be eliminated. As I write this, Chamuel, 23, has a great chance of surviving “the round of six” (results on June 4) and making the final rounds in which four contestants compete for the title. The last two rounds will air Monday, June 10/17 at 8PM and Tuesday, June 11/18 at 8PM. HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED Q: You seem to be part of the group of young performers who are never in the gossip pages. Did your family life have something to do with that? A: Definitely. I was raised by strict parents. I wasn’t allowed to go to the mall alone until I was around 16. I have really smart grounded parents who weren’t nouveau riche. They really earned their money and they know the value of a dollar. They gave morals to me and I wouldn’t want to do anything that would embarrass my parents. This is part of an interview I did with troubled actress AMANDA BYNES, now 27, in 2007. I’ll write more about Bynes next week. AT THE MOVIES Opening on Friday, June 7, is the “Purge,” a sci-fi thriller about a future America in which crime is legalized for a 12 hour period each year (so everybody can vent their frustrations). Ethan Hawke plays a nice guy who must decide whether to let a stranger into his bunker-like home, which also harbors his wife and two kids. MAX BURKHOLDER, 15 (“Max Braverman” on TV’s “Parenthood”) plays one of Hawke’s children. TONY TIME The Tonys, for excellence in the Broadway theatre, air on CBS on Sunday, June 9 at 8PM. Once again, Neil Patrick Harris hosts. Presenters will include JESSE EISENBERG, 29, and SCARLETT JOHANSSON, 28. LARRY KRAMER, 77, the famous playwright and AIDS activist (“The Normal Heart”) will receive the Isabelle Stevenson humanitarian award for his work as the co-founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Here are the Jewish nominees in all but the technical categories. In the categories of best play/musical (new or revival), I’ve just listed the
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work’s author or composer/lyricist. Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play: JUDITH LIGHT, 64, “Assembled Parties,” a play about the members of a secular Jewish family. Light, who won an actor Tony last year, is best known as the co-star of TV’s “Who’s the Boss?”; Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play: DANNY BURSTEIN, 48, “Golden Boy,” and RICHARD KIND, 56, “The Big Knife.” Best Book of a Musical: HARVEY FIERSTEIN, 60, “Kinky Boots”; Best Original Score: “A Christmas Story: The Musical”: music and lyrics by BENJ PASEK, 26, and Justin Paul. (These two guys began collaborating in college. Pasek comes from a religious family and Paul’s father is a Protestant minister) and “Hands on a Hardbody”: Trey Anastasio of “Phish” fame (music) and AMANDA GREEN, 48 (music and lyrics). Green is the daughter of the late, great Broadway lyricist/book writer ADOLPH GREEN and Tonywinning musical actress PHYLLIS NEWMAN, 80. Newman was the first winner (2009) of the Stevenson award for her work for women’s health services. Best (new) Play: “Assembled Parties,” by RICHARD GREENBERG, 55, and “Lucky Guy,” the last work by the late NORA EPHRON; Best (new) Musical: “A Christmas Story,” Pasek and Paul; and “Bring it On”: TOM KITT, 39 (music) and Amanda Green (lyrics); Best Revival (play): “Golden Boy”: by the late CLIFFORD ODETS; and “Orphans” by LYLE KESSLER, 69. Best Musical (revival): “Annie”: CHARLES STROUSE, 84 (music) and MARTIN CHARNIN (lyrics), 78; and “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”: RUPERT HOLMES, 66 (music/lyrics); and “Pippin”: STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, 65 (music/lyrics); and “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”: the late RICHARD RODGERS (music) and OSCAR HAMERSTEIN, II (lyrics). Nice to note: Journalist JACOB BERNSTEIN, 35, one of two sons that Ephron had with her ex-husband, journalist CARL BERNSTEIN, now 69, is now making an HBO documentary about his mother entitled “Everything Is Copy.” “Lucky Guy” is about newspaperman Mike McAlary, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997 for his stories about police brutality in NYC. A year later, he died of cancer, age 41. Last April, Jacob recounted for the NY Times magazine how his mother managed to write a great play about McAlary’s courage as she battled cancer, too, with great courage and unflagging wit.
FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO
100 Y EARS A GO
Wood’s Theater – Miss Mary Provost is now filling the second week of her engagement at this Theater with great credit to herself. She is an actress of more than ordinary talent, and combines a graceful form with a prepossessing manner. She has made a decided and favorable impression, as is envinced by the large audiences which greet her nightly. We are not advised of the programme for next week, but suppose the excellent management will produce something as attractive as usual. Louisville, Ky. – The congregation adopted the Minhag America and will introduce it shortly. The last time it was adopted on condition that the editor of The Israelite preach there once every month, which his congregation would not allow. This time it was adopted unconditionally. This is a welcome progress toward the final union of the congregations. The vacant lot adjoining the synagogue will be bought with a prospect of enlarging the building at some future day. Louisville goes ahead. – June 19, 1863
Dr. David Philipson will deliver the invocation at the baccalaureate services of the University of Cincinnati next Sunday morning. On Monday evening he will deliver the address at the annual meeting of the Linwood Education Association. The Cincinnati Lodge No. 4, B’nai B’rith, will have a social session at Meidel’s Garden, Vine Street,, Coryville, on Monday evening, June 9. There will be speeches and refreshments. This will probably be the closing meeting of the season and all members are urged to be present. Chester. – Bathing beach gates open at 7 a.m. There are motion pictures, band concerts, vaudeville, cabaret shows, dancing, all free. Both the old and new amusements are attracting large crowds and are much enjoyed. Club-house cuisine and service unexcelled. – June 5, 1913
125 Y EARS A GO Coney Island, that famous Cincinnati resort, was opened for the season on Thursday last. The entire grove has been remodeled, the buildings renovated and improved and many additional attractions added. This is a most delightful resort, especially as there are ten miles of boat ride each way, with music, dance and refreshments. The boats leave every hour and a half from the foot of Vine Street. Fare for round trip and admission to grounds only fifty cents. A Pleasant company of the rising generation attended a picnic at Silverton on Sunday last. Those present were the Misses Belle Victor, Emma Kleeman, Fannie Frohman, Retta Cohen, Helen Wachtel, Clara Adelsdorfer, Rose Wise, Mabel Weil, Jessie Weil, and the Messrs. Harry Levison, Isy Mutefelder, Horace Goldberg, Albert Stix, Mark Bohn, Jas. Silverman, Sidney Louer, Sidney Klein, Ed Karlsruher, Ben Weil. The weather was splendid and everything went off safely and pleasantly. On May 26th a very delightful and enjoyable affair was given at Eichler’s for the benefit of the poor. The Managers, Messrs. I. Burtanger and Phil Alsfeder, have cause to feel proud of the manner in which the affair was conducted and the financial and social success achieved. Another one will be given in the near future. – June 8, 1888
75 Y EARS A GO Miss Sadie Singer and Mr. Bernard Segel will be married Saturday, June 25th. Miss Singer is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Singer, 741 E. Mitchell Avenue. Mr. Segel is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Segel, 727 Gholson Avenue. The bride-elect is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where she was a member of Delta Phi Epsilon. She is on the Cincinnati Welfare Department staff. Her fiance studied at the Arts League of New York City and the Cincinnati Art Academy and has won national recognition as an artist. They will reside at 727 Gholson Avenue. Miss Frances B. Straus and Mr. Albert M. Lewis were married Sunday, June 12th, in Hebrew Union College chapel by the president of the college, Dr. Julian Morgenstern, and Rabbi Samuel Sandmel of Atlanta. They will return in October and will live in Clifton. – June 16, 1938
50 Y EARS A GO Two Hebrew Union-College Jewish Institute of Religion alumni will speak at the consecration and ordination services June 7 and 8. Dr. W. Gunther Plaut, Rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto, will deliver the sermon in the College chapel Friday evening, June 7. Rabbi Plaut was at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, where his activities included the presidency of the St. Paul Art Center and chairmanship of the Governor’s Committee on Ethics in Government.
On Saturday morning, June 8, at Plum Street Temple Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg will give the baccalaureate address. Spiritual head of Walton Way Temple in Augusta, Ga., Rabbi Goldburg is past president of the Augusta Library, and was appointed recently by the Georgia governor to the Committee on Public Welfare and Assistance. His son, Jesse Bernard, will be ordained Saturday morning. Admittance to the Friday evening service will be by ticket only, although the proceedings will be piped over loudspeaker syste to adjacent rooms. The Services at Plum Street Temple are open to the community. – June 6, 1963
25 Y EARS A GO William J. Keating, chief executive officer of the Detroit Newspaper Agency, will be honored by the Institute of Human Relations of the American Jewish Committee at a dinner on June 16, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The Institute of Human Relations Award is presented to leaders of the civic and business community throughout the country who, through their skills, influence and dedication, have demonstrated profound commitment to preserving democratic heritage. A 23-year-old Harvard graduate is the first member of Reform Judaism’s Corps of Service to the Jewish People, recently established by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Families in northeast Cincinnati now have a new option for counseling: a satellite office of the Jewish Family Service. Located at 7700 Cooper Road in Montgomery, the office opened its doors last month. – June 9, 1988
10 Y EARS A GO The staff and board of Jewish Family Service will welcome Howard Schultz, incoming JFS executive director, at its annual meeting Thursday, June 19 at the agency’s offices, 11223 Cornell Park Drive. The evening will begin at 7 p.m. with a complimentary dessert reception. Outgoing president Barry Morris will open the meeting at 7:45 p.m. by presenting the Miriam H. Dettelbach Award to Henry (Hank) Schneider, immediate past president. The award recognizes outstanding volunteer service to the agency. Newly installed board members include: Barbara C. Rabkin, president; Cindy Getty, vice president; John Youkilis, vice president; Pam Sacherman, treasurer; and Amy Marmer, secretary. – June 12, 2003
COMMUNITY CALENDAR / CLASSIFIEDS • 19
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
COMMUNITY CALENDAR June 6 Golf 8 a.m. or 1:15 p.m., Tennis 2:30 p.m., Dinner 6 p.m. - JCC Adams Golf Classic & Tennis Open Losantiville Country Club 3097 Losantiville Ave. (513) 722-7220 June 11 6 p.m. - Rockdale Temple Annual Meeting 8501 Ridge Rd. (513) 891-9900 June 11 7 p.m. - JCRC Annual Meeting Mayerson JCC 8485 Ridge Rd. (513) 985-1500 June 12 7 p.m. - Rockwern Annual Meeting 8401 Montgomery Rd. (513) 984-3770
June 20 7:30 p.m. - A Discussion with Dr. Jeffrey Burds Adath Israel 3201 E. Galbraith Rd. (513) 487-3055 June 25 7p.m. - JFS Annual Meeting 8487 Ridge Rd. (513) 766-3326 June 25 - 28 Summer Cinema Series Mayerson JCC 8485 Ridge Rd. (513) 761– 7500 September 17 Peter Sagal Mayerson JCC 8485 Ridge Rd. (513) 722-7226
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) • cincinnaticareer.net Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556
Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net 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 Ohr Chadash (513) 252-7267 • ohrchadashcincinnati.com Congregation Sha’arei Torah shaareitorahcincy.org Congregation Zichron Eliezer 513-631-4900 • czecincinnati.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com 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 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 NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org
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SENATE from page 5 Rishon Lezion named for him. Upon learning of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, he used his pull as a former senator to secure spots on flights back to the United States, so the Jewish officials on the trip could attend to families affected by the attack. “Because of him, we were able to make international flights back to the United States,” recalled Max Kleinman, the executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest in New Jersey. In 2011, Lautenberg initiated a non-binding Senate resolution that recommended marking Sept. 11 with a moment of silence; it passed unanimously. Lautenberg gave prodigiously to Israel and was its champion in the Senate. But he also was outspoken in criticizing the state when he thought it erred, said Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center. “He was a champion for us on religious pluralism and the right to marry in Israel,” Saperstein said. One of Lautenberg’s children had married a non-Jew, and that Israel would question the Jewish status of any of his grandchildren “infuriated” him, the rabbi added. Despite his firebrand reputation, Lautenberg was avuncular in person. Jewish staffers on Capitol Hill called him “zayde,” Yiddish for “grandfather,” recalled Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of American Friends of Lubavitch. Lautenberg was a regular at holiday events, and if he noted Jewish officials in the halls, he would stop and chat. “He felt connected,” Shemtov
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(513) 531-9600 said. The NCJW’s Slucker, who was friends with Lautenberg through their synagogue, Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, N.J., said he could not walk through the sanctuary’s aisles on the High Holidays without meeting and greeting fellow congregants. “He was a real listener,” she said. Lautenberg’s faith and Americanism were wrapped one into the other, the NCSJ’s Greenberg recalled. Lautenberg was outraged in 1985 to learn that President Ronald Reagan was planning to mark the 40th anniversary of V.E. Day with a visit to Bitburg, a German military cemetery that included the remains of officers of the murderous SS, the Nazis’ elite military unit. Jewish leaders were outspoken in their fury, but Lautenberg decided his protest would be personal. On May 4, 1985 – the day before the anniversary – Lautenberg toured Dachau with Greenberg and Morris Glass, a survivor of the camp. From there they went to Munich to pay tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympics. On May 5, the day Reagan was at Bitburg, the trio was at the massive U.S. military cemetery at Henri Chapelle in Belgium, where Lautenberg laid wreaths on the gravestones of three New Jersey soldiers – one Jewish and two Christians. “We were two Jewish boys from Paterson, N.J., doing their part when the president was going to the wrong place to honor the wrong people,” Greenberg said.
20 • LEGAL
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM
What is a Teacher? Legally Speaking
by Marianna Bettman Ohio public school teachers are members of the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS). The Ohio Supreme Court recently grappled with a surprising and interesting question – what exactly is a teacher? More specifically, may online instructors in the virtual world participate in STRS? Clearly the instructors “taught.” That really wasn’t the issue. For the purpose of participation in STRS, the Ohio General Assembly has defined a teacher as “any person paid from public funds employed in the public schools of the state” who is appropriately licensed, and under contract. Keep your eye on the words “employed in.” An Education Service Center (ESC), which used to be a county school district, provides services to school districts and charter schools by contract and by statute. In 2001, some school district superintendents in Jefferson County became concerned about the resource drain in their districts caused by the loss of students to charter schools. The superintendents believed some online curricular options needed to be developed to compete with the charter schools. The Jefferson County ESC began looking at a Virtual Learning Academy as such an option. A VLA is an internet-based educational delivery system designed for students from K-12. It is not a school. Think of it as a curricular option delivered in cyberspace. Instructors were needed to teach these online courses. John Nese, Donald Williams, and Catherine Miles are the parties who brought this lawsuit as VLA instructors. Nese and Williams were already traditional teachers in local school districts; Miles retired as a teacher in 2009. All three were hired by Jefferson County to provide instruction to students in the VLA. They just signed a form provided by the county, agreeing to take on VLA students. The county received a per student participation fee for each VLA student, a portion of
which was passed through to the VLA instructor. VLA instructors submitted a stipend form to the Jefferson County ESC to receive that pay. A key question in this lawsuit is whether the three instructors were employees or independent contractors. In very simplified terms, independent contractors set their own hours and employment conditions, don’t receive employee benefits like health insurance or retirement benefits, receive 1099’s instead of W-2’s, and generally aren’t controlled by those they are working for. The most important part of this test is who gets to control the manner and means of performing the work? The Jefferson County ESC originally considered its VLA instructors to be independent contractors, and not employees, and thus did not deduct retirement contributions from their pay. Initially the instructors received 1099 forms. But at some point, the ESC decided to treat its VLA instructors as employees, withheld contributions for retirement, and began issuing them W-2 forms instead of 1099’s. In November 2008, the State Teachers Retirement Board (STRB) decided that the VLA instructors were independent contractors, and not employees. It refunded all contributions made by the Jefferson County ESC on behalf of the VLA instructors. Nese, Williams and Miles went to court to challenge this decision. In this kind of matter, they get to start in the court of appeals in an original action, seeking a special order called a writ of mandamus. The three instructors sought to compel the Jefferson County ESC to make employer contributions for their VLA instruction (the Jefferson County ESC was willing to do this, but had to be a part of the suit in this fashion), to compel STRS to accept employer and employee contributions based on their work for the VLA, and to include their VLA pay in calculating their final average salary for retirement purposes. A magistrate was assigned to decide this case initially, and the magistrate sided with the instructors, finding that they were not independent contractors and should be allowed to participate in STRS. But the court of appeals in Columbus disagreed, and reversed the magistrate’s legal conclusions. In other words, the appeals court found the instructors were independent contractors and could not participate in STRS.
A Legal Look In a 4-3 decision written by Chief Justice O’Connor, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed with the court of appeals. A lot of the reason for this has to do with how narrow the scope of review is in a case like this – the Supreme Court doesn’t get to make its own decision from scratch, but rather must decide if there was any evidence to support the State Teachers’ Retirement Board’s decision that the instructors were independent contractors. STRB had found that the instructors were independent contractors, and the record in the case showed that the instructors did not have employment contracts with Jefferson County ESC. They received no fringe benefits, and no health insurance. They set their own work hours, and could create their own exams. They didn’t use the ESC facilities to perform their work. They could work from home. They were paid flat fees per student. They initially received 1099’s. All of this was enough for the majority to support STRB’s decision. Justice O’Donnell wrote a dissent which was joined by Justices Pfeifer and O’Neill. He would allow the instructors to participate in STRS. To him, the case turned on whether the instructors were teachers, not on whether they were employees or independent contractors. Unlike other public employee retirement systems such as the Ohio State Highway Patrol Retirement System and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement Systems, which statutorily make membership dependent on employment status, and specifically prohibit independent contractors from participating, membership in STRS depends on one’s status as a teacher, not as an employee. The statute says “employed in,” not “employed by” or “employed as.” O’Donnell found that the instructors met the statutory definition of teachers, and that is what is required for participation in STRS. They were employed in the capacity of teachers by a state-supported agency. They were licensed by the state to teach and provide teaching services through the VLA. And they relied on their status as teachers for retirement. I think the instructors here got a bad deal. But this problem could be fixed fairly easily by the General Assembly. Given the changing nature of teaching and learning in the age of the internet, it needs to be addressed.
DEFEND YOURSELF
by Michael Ganson Michael B. Ganson has joined The American Israelite as a contributing columnist. He will be presenting discussions of common everyday legal concerns. Born and raised in Cincinnati, he graduated from Walnut Hills, The Ohio State University, and received his Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College of law in 1978. He has been admitted to practice law in Ohio, Florida, Florida Federal District Court, Ohio Federal District Court, Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. SHOPLIFTING: UNEXPECTED CIVIL ISSUES Although on the books since July 20, 1990, House Bill 368 (Ohio Revised Code 2307.61) makes individuals who violate Ohio Revised Code 2913.02 civilly liable to the owners for the damages in the amount of the actual value stolen plus an additional penalty to the owner of not less than $50 and no more than $200. The law further states that a criminal conviction under ORC 2913.02 is not required to begin a civil action lawsuit. And payment of restitution under this law does NOT release you from attending criminal court. The store from whom an item has been stolen is able to assesss you as damages not only the actual value of what was taken but also this penalty. According to this law, payment in full must be made within 30 days of notice received from the store from whom the item was shoplifted. Failure to pay within the stated amount of time will usually result in civil action being taken against the shoplifter. If a lawsuit becomes necessary, this may result in additional penalties, court costs and the store’s legal fees. So, shoplifters beware – if caught, not only do you need to deal with the criminal court, you will probably end up paying not only for what you stole, but a civil penalty as well and potentially legal costs and fees.
LIABILITY FOR SLIPS, TRIPS AND FALLS So you slipped or tripped and fell while shopping and suffered serious injuries – the owner of the premises must be liable and has to pay for all your losses, damages and harm, right? Wrong. Under Ohio law, liability of a business owner for failure to protect a customer from injuries on its premises is generally predicated in Ohio on the owner’s superior knowledge of the specific condition that caused the injury. A business owner, however, is not an insurer of the safety of its customers. A store only owes a duty of ordinary care to its customers, which requires it to maintain the store premises in a reasonably safe condition and to warn customers of unreasonably dangerous latent conditions of which the store owner had or should have had knowledge. And while a store owner also has a duty to inspect the premises to discover possible unsafe conditions unknown to it, and to take resonable precautions to protect its customers from dangers that were foreseable in their use of the premises, the key word is foreseeable. If the unsafe condition was not foreseeable, the store owner cannot be held financially responsible for the customer’s injuries. Generally, to establish the liability of a store owner for injuries to a customer who slips or trips and falls because of a substance or item on the floor, the customer has the burden of proving one of the following: (1) that the store owner or its employee put the substance or item on the floor; (2) that the store owner had actual knowledge of the presence of the substance or item on the floor, but failed to remove it or to warn the customer; or (3) that the substance or item was on the floor long enough for the store owner to have constructive notice (should have known) of its presence, thus creating a duty to warn customers or to remove it and that the unsafe condition was not readily observable had the customer exercised reasonable diligence or otherwise open and obvious. The information contained in this article is intended to provide only general legal information and is not intended to be relied upon for specific legal issues or any particular legal matters. For specific legal issues or any particular legal matters, the reader is advised to consult with and secure the legal advice of an attorney of their choice.
NEWS • 21
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013
This year in Jerusalem This Year in Jerusalem
by Phyllis Singer This coming Saturday—June 8—marks the one-year English anniversary of Allen’s death. His yahrzeit—the Hebrew anniversary of death—occurred last Thursday, May 30, the 21st of the Hebrew month of Sivan. In future years, his yahrzeit will take place on the 18th of Sivan, the actual Hebrew date of death. Allen died on a Friday afternoon. Because we waited until our children could travel to Israel after Shabbat, the funeral took place Sunday night, and burial took place after dark. Usually, yahrzeit FOX NEWS from page 7 Libby’s indictment in 2005 that he contemplated using the Espionage Act but ultimately decided against it. He said the law’s broad application might not be appropriate in an American context. Two cases in which the government successfully invoked 793(e) involved actual documents and not just oral exchanges. In both cases, the accused were government employees charged under additional separate statutes targeting leaking and espionage. One of the major problems with the statute identified by Edgar and Schmidt would emerge in the government’s 2005-09 case against Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, the former AIPAC lobbyists: What does it mean to willfully retain unauthorized information? Edgar and Schmidt noted that the provision would seem to be criminalizing memory. More than three decades later, the judge trying the AIPAC case, T.S. Ellis III, asked the same question. “What are they supposed to do?” he asked prosecutors, referring to Weissman and Rosen. “Have a lobotomy?” The AIPAC case stemmed from a conversation Weissman had in 2004 with a midlevel Pentagon analyst, Larry Franklin, in a suburban shopping mall. Franklin informed Weissman that Iran was set to target Israeli and American targets in northern Iraq. The information was false; the
is observed on the date of death, but according to Halacha (Jewish law), if burial takes place several days after death, then the first yahrzeit is observed on the date of the burial; thereafter, yahrzeit is observed on the date of death. (Coincidentally, my family and I observed the same Halacha when my parents died in an accident in 1990. Two of our children—Hanan (Howard) and Roslyn—were in Israel at the time. Hanan had already made aliyah, and Roz was on a sixmonth program. By the time I reached them in Israel, there was no time for them to travel to the States before Shabbat, so they also came after Shabbat, and the funeral took place Sunday.) Each of my children and their families commemorated Allen’s yahrzeit in their own cities. Here in Israel, I observed the yahrzeit with Hanan and Judy and their three daughters, Sivan, Keren and Zohar. On Thursday, we visited the grave. Hanan organized a program where we recited tehillim (psalms) in Allen’s memory. The
six of us were accompanied by Connie and Sheldon Abramson, Allen’s and my very close friends. We began by reciting Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms, consisting of 22 stanzas, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is traditional to read the stanzas that spell out the deceased’s Hebrew name—in Allen’s case, Yitzchak Moshe. Then we read some additional stanzas for his neshama, his soul. After that, those of us who wanted to say a few words of remembrance about Allen did so, and we ended by reciting the 23rd psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Hanan and Judy and the girls stayed in Jerusalem for Shabbat. On Friday night, we had a family dinner in my apartment and were joined by two young women neighbors who have frequently invited me for Shabbat dinner. On Saturday, we sponsored Kiddush at our synagogue, and Hanan gave the optional English shiur (class) following services in Allen’s memory. Our shul has a lot of Anglo members, and every week
there is an optional English class given by various members (or sometimes guests) of the shul. Allen and I used to attend that class. After the shiur, Connie and Sheldon joined us for lunch. The commemoration at shul was very meaningful. Many of our friends attended and commented how proud Allen would have been. Many members of the shul who did not know Allen or me personally knew Allen on sight because of his illness. Following radiation treatments, his lower back and the area of his hip replacement weakened. For a while he used a cane, but after time, the cane did not provide enough support. Instead of a walker, his orthopedist recommended hiking poles. He felt that a walker would cause Allen to bend over a lot, but hiking poles would help him to stand straighter and walk more upright. For about two or three years—I don’t remember exactly—he used the hiking poles, and many people remember him walking with them. Often, people
come up to me and say, “I remember your husband. He was the one with those hiking poles, wasn’t he?” Allen refused to give in to the cancer and fought it as long as he could. Being in Israel gave him strength. Living in Jerusalem gave him strength. And being with our family here gave him strength. On the yahrzeit, our son Michael sent family and friends an email about Allen. Among other things, he said the following: “Rather than complain, my dad went on to live his life with a quiet dignity. He understood the limits that were now placed on him, but he was able to maintain and care for himself... My dad never complained, he never whined, he just saw the task in front of him and figured out how to get it done.” Michael explained to his friends and colleagues that “the Jewish people find great comfort in the memories of the person that has passed on.” Zichrono l’vracha—May Allen’s memory be for a blessing.
FBI was using Franklin in a sting operation to net the AIPAC staffers. Weissman relayed the information to Rosen, and together they relayed it to journalists, their colleagues at AIPAC and Israeli diplomats. They also attempted to convey it to the Bush White House. Throughout pretrial hearings in the case, prosecutors repeatedly assured the court that they did not anticipate its use against journalists; Weissman and Rosen, they argued, were in a separate category as lobbyists. Defense lawyers noted that the First Amendment extended its protections to lobbyists as well. Viet Dinh, an assistant attorney general under George W. Bush, wrote in an amicus brief in the AIPAC case – filed in 2006, after he had left the Department of Justice – that 793(e) posed constitutional challenges. Allowing its use “would only serve to chill the use of truthful information on matters of extreme public concern to advance the public’s interest in the foreign policy process,” Dinh wrote. Mindful of such constitutional hazards, Ellis set the bar high for conviction: The government would have to persuade a jury that Rosen and Weissman not only “retained” unauthorized information, but that they knew that doing so would harm the United States. On May 1, 2009, the prosecution dismissed the charges, saying it was in “the public interest.”
INTERMARRY from page 8
teacher in New York who was raised Christian. “They tend to be very smart, successful, gentlemanly and less sexist. They are a safer choice.” Neil, a doctoral candidate in physics in Texas who was brought up Muslim in Iran, said he believes American Persians and Jews gravitate toward each other because their “common roots” enable them to communicate well and get along. He also noted that many stories in the Koran come from the Bible. “If I meet a woman who wants to raise Jewish children,” said Neil, 47, “this is something that I could wrap my mind around.” He also said he would consider converting. Will, 49, a school guidance counselor in Pennsylvania who is a practicing Catholic, joined JDate several months ago at the urging of a Presbyterian friend who had found love on the website. Will said the Jewish women he has met and dated
struck him as “more grounded” and “a lot more passionate” than his usual dating partners. Mary, a 48-year-old AfricanAmerican psychologist who was raised Southern Baptist, said she decided she wanted to meet a Jewish man after discovering that a distant ancestor had been an Ethiopian Jew and hearing positive things about Jewish men. At first she had few options – Jews are in short supply where Mary lives in North Carolina – but seven months ago she discovered JDate. Since then, Mary has met several prospective Jewish suitors, but none have progressed into a real romantic relationship. “This is the kind of guy I’ve always been looking for,” Mary said of the Jews she has met through JDate. “Whether I end up with one, I don’t know. But I do know that’s the caliber of man that I want.”
ful hodgepodge.” Since then, Rous has worked with couples to create custom chuppahs, incorporating everything from traditional Jewish symbols to quotes from poets such as e.e. cummings and Pablo Neruda. Some of her clients aren’t even Jewish but like the concept of the chuppah. In some cases, crowdsourcing is a way to make guests feel more involved in a ceremony, but it can also be a way to make logistics a little easier for the bride and groom. When Caroline Waxler and Michael Levitt married last summer, they came up with a Twitter hashtag for their wedding guests. Waxler, who runs a digital strategy
company, knew her tech-obsessed friends would be tweeting photos from the ceremony and reception. With the hashtag #waxlevittwedding, she was able to find them easily. “When you’re making a commitment in public to one other person, it’s kind of also a reminder that in your life you are supported by people, not just by one other person,” Rous said. While crowdsourcing methods can make family and friends feel more involved in the wedding, Melpolder admits that she may have other reasons for making the big day a little more social. “I really hope someone hooks up at our wedding,” she said.
What Riley doesn’t devote much attention to is who are the gentiles marrying America’s Jews. In most cases, interfaith marriages may be the result of happenstance: NonJewish Americans happen to meet and fall in love with a Jew. But some Americans are specifically looking for Jewish mates. Approximately 5 percent of the 750,000 members of JDate, the popular Jewish dating website, are nonJewish, according to JDate spokeswoman Arielle Schechtman. In more than a dozen interviews with JTA, non-Jewish JDaters talked about the reasons they are seeking out Jews (on the condition that their last names not be used), though practically all said they were not exclusively seeking Jews. “I have a positive bias toward Jewish men,” said Elizabeth, 37, a CROWDSOURCING from page 8 Her chuppah-making career began, appropriately enough, at her own wedding. She and husband Ned Lazarus, who met in Israel and married in 2004, had two ceremonies, in Jerusalem and New Hampshire, to accommodate friends in far-flung locales. Each guest was asked to bring fabric that was pinned to a sheet at the wedding. “We had people from every region of Israel and the Palestinian territories at the ceremony. We had everything from a kippah with a Magen David knitted on it to a Palestinian flag to a piece of someone’s wedding dress and a map,” Rous said. “It was a really beauti-
22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES
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O BITUARIES
FISH, Linda, age 70, died on May 31, 2013; 22 Sivan, 5773. FRANK, Peggy, age 86, died on May 31, 2013; 22 Sivan, 5773. HIRSCH, Bernice Evelyn, age 88, died on June 1, 2013; 23 Sivan, 5773. GETTLER, Benjamin, age 87, died on June 4, 2013; 26 Sivan, 5773.
five grandchildren, Adam, Josh and Rachel Rothstein, Jason Schwartz (Shira) and Amy Bazelon (Adam). Ada is also survived by four great-grandchildren, Harper, Jack and Bode Bazelon and Levi Schwartz. Ada was born in Belleville, N.J. and attended Beaver College in Pennsylvania. She and Morton raised their family in West Orange, N.J., and she had a long career as a home economics teacher in the Newark, N.J. school system. Upon her retirement, the couple moved to Cincinnati to be near their children. Ada was active in synagogue life both in New Jersey and at Rockdale Temple in Cincinnati, where she enjoyed singing in the choir. She loved being around her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. If desired, memorials may be directed to Rockdale Temple.
ROSENFIELD, Janet, age 94, died on June 4, 2013; 26 Sivan, 5773.
SCHWARTZ, Ada Goldstein
GERMANY from page 9
stopped the fraud scheme in 2009. “The lives of tens of thousands of Holocaust victims will be made easier in their old age due to Greg’s skill and vision,” Eizenstat wrote in his message to the board. “This unprecedented amount of funding means that we can give Nazi victims around the world the aid that they desperately need as they grow more frail. That the agreement encompasses funding through 2017 underscores the German government’s ongoing commitment to Holocaust survivors. It is all the more impressive because it comes at a time of budget austerity in Germany.” In last week’s negotiations, which took place in Israel, Germany also agreed to relax eligibility criteria for the Central and Eastern European Fund and Article 2 Fund, through which the German government gives pension payments of approximately $411 per month to needy Nazi victims who spent significant time in a concentration camp, in a Jewish ghetto in hiding or living under a false identity to avoid the Nazis. Until now, only those who were
interned in closed-off ghettos were eligible for pensions. As of Jan. 1, 2014, pensions will be available also to those forced to live in any of 300 specific open ghettos, such as those in Czernowitz, Romania, where Jews lived under curfew, lost their jobs and were subject to persecution. Germany in negotiations to take place this fall also agreed to discuss possible special aid for child survivors. The session that just concluded was the first time since restitution negotiations with Germany began in Luxembourg in 1951 that talks were held in Israel. For decades, the negotiations were held only in the German capital. In recent years, sessions also were held in New York and Washington. Before they began negotiating last week, German representatives met with survivors in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, visiting private homes where survivors are receiving home care, a senior day center and a soup kitchen. They also took a guided tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem. The negotiations were held in a classroom at Yad Vashem.
Holland to study, says the area’s high crime levels don’t bother him. “Here I can get fresh, cheap vegetables, tahini, olive oil and the other Middle Eastern foods I’m used to,” Genosar says. Things were much different when the Van Ostade Jewish Housing Project was built by Jewish philanthropists more than a century ago. In 1880, there were about 6,000 Jews in The Hague, many of them living in penury in the city’s diseaseinfested slums, according to the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. Van Ostade was one of Western Europe’s largest Jewish housing projects, bringing dozens of Jewish families in from the cold and charging them only a nominal rent. By 1930, the city’s Jewish population had grown to 10,000 and many more families moved to Van Ostade, but even then Jews com-
prised only 35 percent of the project’s residents. Many Jewish families passed up the subsidized rent, preferring to live near the synagogue about a half-mile away. During the Holocaust, virtually all of the city’s Jews were deported and murdered. Today, only about 250 self-identified Jews remain. Still, Van Ostade remained in Jewish hands, even as the old Jewish neighborhood near the synagogue became the local Chinatown. The project is run by an all-Jewish board that rents out subsidized apartments to low-income tenants. “The atmosphere in the Jewish neighborhood itself is very nice,” Kortenoeven says. “Everybody greets you hello. The people are good folks. Many of them are educated people, artists, some students. The problem is some elements in the environment around the neighborhood.”
to detect a broad fraud at the Holocaust restitution organization. A document obtained last week by JTA showed that top Claims Conference officials were involved in the botched probes, including then-executive vice president Gideon Taylor and Berman, who in 2001 served as outside counsel to the Claims Conference. Claims Conference employee Semen Domnitser, a director of two restitution funds who was at the center of the 2001 inquiries, was found guilty earlier this month in federal court of masterminding the scheme, which ran up more than $57 million in fraudulent claims from 1993 until 2009. The cost of the fraud was borne entirely by Germany. In his letter to the Claims Conference’s board announcing the result of the latest negotiations, former U.S. ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, who leads negotiations with Germany for the Claims Conference, hailed the work of executive vice president Greg Schneider, who along with a senior Claims Conference staffer discovered and DUTCH from page 9 “You get a lot of stares and comments,” said Jewish resident Iris Tzur, who says it’s not comfortable for a blonde woman in a dress to walk the streets of Schilderswijk. Pinchas Moelker, an Orthodox Jewish resident, says he hides his yarmulke under a hat and always tucks in the knitted fringes of his prayer shawl. He also installed a low-profile mezuzah that blends into the door frame. Such concerns aside, the remaining Jews of Van Ostade have no plans to leave, saying they enjoy a sense of togetherness that richer, less immigrant-heavy neighborhoods lack. Moelker hosts weekly Shabbat dinners for his neighbors, “who get so drunk that they zigzag all the way back home.” And Avi Genosar, who served in an elite Israeli army unit before coming to
Ada Schwartz, nee Goldstein, passed away May 26, 2013. She was 86 years old. Ada was predeceasd by her husband of 63 years, Morton. She is survived by two children, David Schwartz (Abby) and Barbara Rothstein (Steven);
CAPTIVITY from page 9 imagined it was some sort of traffic offense. I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort it out and we’ll get him back here in a few days.’ [I] told the others to get on to an airplane and come back. I slightly underestimated the situation.” For the bulk of his incarceration, Karabus was held at the Al Wathba prison, sharing a medical ward for a time with two brothers accused of murder. Karabus, who suffers from a heart condition, passed the time playing chess with one of the accused, a 26-year-old Cambridge University student who Karabus describes as “a nice guy.” Without a chess set in the ward, the student fashioned one from a checkers board, drawing the pieces on paper and attaching them to the checkers. “It wasn’t the greatest chess set but I played with him,” Karabus said. A diary entry from the time reads: “Hot as hell, waiting out in the sun with shackles on wrists and ankles. Sitting in a 15 square-metre waiting room with 40 other prisoners. No word yet.” Meanwhile, back in South Africa, Bagraim was campaigning for the doctor’s release and keeping the story alive in the media. For the past six months, Bagraim said, he has done “absolutely nothing else.” Karabus was finally acquitted of all charges in March, but the saga didn’t end there. Several administrative bungles and delays kept him in the country for another two months. His Jewishness was not a factor in his treatment by authorities in the UAE, Karabus said, but maintaining his religious obligations in a Muslim country was not always easy. At Passover, he stopped eating bread for a week. He watched a seder and his grandson’s brit over Skype. In jail over Yom Kippur, he eschewed food and drink for the duration of the holiday. “That was the easiest fast I ever did,” he said.
His retrial wasn’t nearly as easy. Karabus endured more than a dozen court postponements while authorities searched for a medical report that would have exonerated him. And though he never feared for his safety – UAE authorities even provided him with medication for his heart condition – at points he feared his ordeal would never end. “It just went on,” Karabus said. “You just schlepped along to court and stood there and nothing happened, or you weren’t told what happened. You had to read in the newspaper the next day what had transpired, but they only translated very small amounts of the court discussion. You really had no idea what was happening.” Karabus adds that the judge, a Moroccan, “never said a word to me.” Support poured in from around the world. Letters arrived from doctors, many of whom had no personal connection to Karabus but were moved by his plight. “At one time I got about 100 emails from members of the American College of Medical Science and also from the Bangladesh Community of Science,” Karabus said. “I tried to answer most of them.” While out on $24,000 bail, Karabus stayed with a fellow South African doctor, Elwin Buchel, in Abu Dhabi. Fearful that his communications were being monitored, Karabus refrained from speaking out. Instead, he read and went for walks. “I discovered where the nearest bottle store was, which nobody seemed to know about,” Karabus said. “You’ve got to find it because it’s not advertised, obviously.” Karabus said he may someday write a book about his experience. But for the moment, he’s content to enjoy just being at home. “I’m trying to find my feet again,” Karabus said. “I don’t even remember where things are in the house.”
SAM & RACHEL BOYMEL'S CONTRIBUTION TO NAHARIYA The names Nahariya and Mr. and Mrs. Sam and Rachel Boymel have been linked together with strong ties for more than 30 years. The “Boymel” name is proudly displayed all over Nahariya and has become common knowledge by the citizens of Nahariya, from the youngest ones up to the oldest ones.
are to support Israel and Nahariya. Mr. Jacky Sebag, Nahariya’s mayor, feels confident when he knows that the Boymels have undertaken a new project in Nahariya. He appreciates them very much and knows that without their charitable donations Nahariya would look completely different.
A long history of charitable donations by the Boymels have enabled the advancement of very important projects in Nahariya. Their support has allowed the construction of such places as tennis yards in the Katznelson neighborhood, “Yad Le Banim House” at the Usishkin neighborhood and the library named after Yosel Czerkiewicz; they have donated scholarships to students, sandwiches to underfed pupils, blankets and coats, ovens, baby carriages to mothers from the “Tapuz Center,” assistance in financing food packages for the Rosh Hashana and Pesach holidays and more.
Mr. and Mrs. Boymel opened 2013 with another visit to Nahariya. During this visit the “Rachel & Sam Boymel Sculptures Garden and Multimedia Library” at the Medatek site were dedicated with a festive ceremony. Along with Mayor Sebag and the Boymels, other attendees at this ceremony included the Susana and Lazarof families and the Boymel’s daughter and grandchildren.
Mr. and Mrs. Sam and Rachel Boymel donate money every year in support of the needy citizens of Nahariya, as well as to provide scholarships for students. The inspiration behind all of their educational assistance symbolically compensates for their childhoods, which were taken away from them during the Shoah. One can identify how proud the Boymels
Mayor Sebag thanked the Boymels for their charitable donations to the city of Nahariya. “I have won a large amount of respect by hosting you today in Nahariya,” said Mayor Sebag, and
added, “I am glad to award the Boymel family the honor it deserves, for demonstrating a tight friendship for over 30 years, for their largeness, generosity toward bereaved families who received the ‘Yad Le Banim House.’ It would not exist without the Boymel family’s donation, as well as their donations to underprivileged families, elderly people, new immigrants and underprivileged students. “For all this I name the sculptures garden at the Medatek’s site ‘The Rachel & Sam Boymel Sculptures Garden.’” During the festive ceremony of the sculptures garden and the multimedia library's dedication, an ensemble of the municipal youth orchestra had a performance under Mr. Arie Kfir’s conducting, followed by an Ethiopian traditional dance performed by a group of new immigrants from Ethiopia, directed by Hay Manot. This ceremony showed evidence of how strong the 30 year link is between the Boymel family and the city of Nahariya.