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JCRC’s annual meeting disputes lies about Israel, installs new president About 100 people attended the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 11, at the Mayerson JCC. The JCRC is the arm of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati that focuses on public affairs and community relations. The mission of the JCRC is to protect Jewish security while recognizing that Jewish security depends on a just society for all. There are JCRCs in most cities within the United States that have sizeable Jewish populations. Former JCRC Director Michael Rapp opened the meeting with a tribute to Ben Gettler, who recently passed away. Rapp said he knew Gettler for 34 years, and called him an “American patriot, a loyal Jew and a fierce defender of Israel.” He mentioned that Gettler served on the board of a national organization similar to JCRC called JINSA, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, which is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit think-tank focusing on issues relating to the national security of the United States and Israel. JCRC board member and Vice President-elect Walter Spiegel thanked the outgoing board members whose terms were coming to an end; they include Todd Schild, Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Chris Bortz. He also welcomed new board members Gavi Begtrup, Joanne Grossman and Nina Paul. The slate of officers for the next two years was approved, which included immediate past President Gary Greenberg, Vice Presidents Michelle Kohn and Walter Spiegel and incoming President John Youkilis. In saluting outgoing President Gary Greenberg, past President Arna Poupko Fisher said Greenberg’s leadership style demonstrated the advocacy of Moses, the zeal of Elijah and the quest for justice of Jonah. “To
John Youkilis, Gary Greenberg and (speaker) Jonathan Miller
describe Gary Greenberg requires not one Biblical hero, but the amalgamation of three remarkable ones, in addition to mentioning his large and wise heart, and we thank you for sharing both,” she stated. Greenberg, in response, said he “hoped his service as JCRC President had been of some value” and that he “looked forward to continuing to serve the community as immediate past president.” Bret Caller, immediate past President of the Jewish Federation, introduced the keynote speaker by telling the audience that they had been friends since Hebrew school in their hometown of Lexington, Ky. Caller added that Jonathan Miller, an author and former politician, attended Harvard, as both an undergrad and for law school, and served two terms as Kentucky State Treasurer. He currently practices law at Frost Brown Todd. Keynote speaker Jonathan Miller, who terms himself a “recov-
ering politician,”" stated proudly that he is a liberal, adding that, as he is no longer in politics, “it is refreshing to be able to share his views without parsing them [into politically correct sound bites].” He said he feels strongly about marriage equality, the separation of church and state and economic inequality, and labeled himself a “tree hugger.” He is also passionate about Israel, which “aced” the definition of a moral government, as defined by the late Hubert Humphrey, by how it “treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” Miller conceded that Israel has its challenges, including a vocal minority of Biblical literalists, right-wing politicians who stoke anger by demonizing minority groups and terrorist attacks, which
engender fear. But, he argued, because of its core of liberal values, Israel is a model of economic justice, children’s health and empowerment, civil liberties and gay rights, to name a few. Unfortunately, many things are said about Israel that seek to undermine support of the Jewish state, he said. In his latest book, The Liberal Case for Israel: Debunking Eight Crazy Lies about the Jewish State, Miller outlines some of these and detailed four for the Annual Meeting attendees. Specifically, he listed “labeling Israel an apartheid state, pinkwashing [alleging that the Israeli government uses its support for one traditionally oppressed group (LGBTQs) to draw attention away from the oppression of another (Palestinians)], asserting that women are second class citizens and characterizing the country’s economy as an example of ‘vulgar capitalism.’” Miller went on to debunk all of these myths, concluding with the story of Gilad Shalit, the soldier who was held captive for five years and then traded for 1,000 political prisoners. Miller asked why Israel would do this, and, after showing a scene from Schindler’s List, answered his own question: To Jews, “every life is pure and holy, and saving lives is the fundamental mission of Israel.” Incoming JCRC President John Youkilis thanked JCRC Director Sarah Weiss for conducting the Annual Meeting, welcomed the new board members and thanked former Associate Director Gal Adam Spinrad, as well as welcoming her replacement, Seth Harlan. Youkilis concluded the meeting by stating that he was honored to follow in the footsteps of Gary Greenberg, adding that the Jewish Federation’s Cincinnati 2020 initiative “has galvanized the JCRC to build new relationships and be in the forefront of a changing community.”
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UC’s Department of Judaic Studies brings students to Israel and Jordan With so many programs available, it is hard to imagine an innovative approach to experiencing Israel. Innovative, however, most aptly describes the travel-study course for University of Cincinnati students entitled, “Ancient and Modern Encounters: Israel and Jordan.” Sponsored by the Department of Judaic Studies and UC International, the trip was organized and led by Matthew Kraus, assistant professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Rarely does a diverse group of students travel the country together. Rarely does a group compare and contrast how ancient and modern regularly meet in Israel and Jordan: Old City/New City, Tel-Aviv/Yafo, Wadi Rum/Amman, Netanya/Caesarea, poetry/papyri, taxis/camels and Qumran/Eliezer ben Yehudah. For three weeks, from the end of April through mid-May, Professor Kraus and the students traversed both countries, visiting antiquities such as Masada, Petra, and Gamla and the contemporary sites of Yad Vashem, Kibbutz Lotan, the heart of Amman, and the Hula Nature reserve, to name a few. One UC student, Maggie Rivera, described the course thusly, “at the end of each day, it was hard to imagine how the next day could be even more amazing, and yet it was.” A highlight of the class was studying relevant texts on location—discussing T.E. Lawrence’s description of Wadi Rum, reflecting upon Yehudah Amichai’s poem “Tourists” on the steps of David’s Citadel in Jerusalem, comparing biblical and rabbinic texts on the death of Moses with Rachel’s poem “MiNeged” on Mt. Nebo with its panoramic view of the land of Israel (“in every expectation there is a Mt. Nebo”). Another highlight was a five-night homestay in Cincinnati’s partner city of Netanya, organized and sponsored by Partnership2Gether (P2G), a Jewish Federation of Cincinnati program that builds living bridges between the two cities. In addition to spending Shabbat and Shavuot in the vibrant city of Netanya, the group enjoyed a fascinating morning at Netanya Academic College, which included a tour of the beautiful campus and a presentation on the Arab-Israeli conflict from Elie Friedman, project manager at NAC’s S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue. In addition, the group attended a seminar on Irish conversos/crypto-Jews introduced by Breifne O’Reilly, the Irish ambassador to Israel and had a study-session on the Jerusalem Talmud with campus rabbi, Moshe Pinchuk. Notes
UC students on the steps in Tzfat Back L-R: Dr. Matthew Kraus, Noah Glaser, Peter Vorhees, Alex Minardo Front L-R: Maggie Rivera, Samantha Gerstein, Rachel Meeks, Jason Schapera
UC students at Netanya Academic College L-R: Noah Glaser, Maggie Rivera, Alex Minardo, Samantha Gerstein, Rachel Meeks, Dr. Matthew Kraus, Jason Schapera, Peter Vorhees
Professor Kraus, “in Netanya, the UC group received an in-depth and authentic understanding of daily life in Israel.” Kraus further explains that each day, students were required to present on relevant topics including mosaic production, Roman baths, the differences between Sunni and Shi’ite Islam, and the story of the Danish rescue of Jews in 1943. Students also took turns blogging about each
day’s adventures. Here are some excerpts from the blogs that provide a sense of the trip’s content and significance in the students’ own words as they described the day and reflected on the interaction between antiquity and modernity. Day Four (Rachel Meeks): We began the morning discussing poems by Yehuda Amichai. The
STUDENTS on page 21
JFS Outgoing Board President Michael Schwartz, JFS Executive Director Beth Schwartz and JFS Incoming Board President Mark Miller
Jewish Family Service annual meeting Jewish Family Service invites the community to attend its annual meeting Tuesday, June 25, in the Amberley Room at the Mayerson JCC. The meeting will begin with a complimentary kosher dessert reception at 7 p.m. followed at 7:30 p.m. by the installation of new officers and board members, highlights of the past year, a look
toward the future, and the presentation of awards. Danny Lipson and Larry Juran will be the recipients of the Miriam Dettelbach Award, which is given in honor of the first executive director of Jewish Family Service as recognition of exceptional volunteer service to the agency. RSVP to Paula Tompkins or online.
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Enjoy an evening with Peter Sagal at the JCC the country—on a Harley Davidson Road King—to find out where the Constitution lives, how it works, its history and its vital relevance today. Sagal is also a graduate of Harvard University, has worked as a literary manager for a regional theater, has been a stage director, an actor, an extra in a Michael Jackson video, travel writer, an essayist, and a staff writer for a motorcycle magazine. To purchase tickets to see Peter Sagal on Sept. 17 or for more information, please contact the Mayerson JCC.
Camp Chabad offers top When Helen Keller sports instruction on UC confronted the Nazis fields and courts By Rafael Medoff JointMedia News Service
June 27 is Helen Keller Day – the annual occasion when students across America learn about the disabilities activist whose remarkable achievements inspired her generation, and every generation since. Less well known, but no less deserving of commemoration, was Keller’s powerful outcry against the Nazis. One of Adolf Hitler’s top priorities when he became chancellor of Germany in 1933 was to prevent schools from using books that the Nazis regarded as “degenerate.” Eighty years ago this spring, Germany was transformed into one huge funeral pyre for any books that differed from the Nazis’ perspective on political, social, or cultural matters, as well as all books by Jewish authors. The Hitler regime chose May 10, 1933 as the date for a nationwide “Action Against the UnGerman Spirit,” a series of public burnings of the banned books. The gatherings were organized by pro-Nazi student groups under the supervision of the Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. The largest of the 34 bookburning rallies, held in Berlin, was attended by an estimated 40,000 people. Books by German Jews such as Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud were burned, as well as books by the British science fiction writer H.G. Wells (author of The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds) and many American writers, including Ernest Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls), Jack London (Call of the Wild), and even Helen Keller. “No to decadence and moral corruption!” Goebbels declared in his remarks at the rally. “Yes to decency and morality and state!... The soul of the German people can again express itself. These
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Helen Keller.
flames not only illuminate the final end of an old era; they also light up the new.” A New York Times editorial sarcastically suggested that the Nazis might next begin “burning microphones” to stamp out free speech. Time called the Nazis’ action “a bibliocaust,” and Newsweek described it as “a holocaust of books.” This was one of the first instances in which the term “holocaust” (an ancient Greek word meaning a burnt offering to a deity) was used in connection with the Nazis. The outcry around the world included this moving letter from Keller, addressed to “the Student Body of Germany.” “History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas,” Keller wrote. “Tyrants have tried to do that often before, and the ideas have risen up in their might and destroyed them. You can burn my books and the books of the best minds in Europe, but the ideas in them have seeped through a million channels, and will continue to quicken other minds. I gave all the royalties of my books to the soldiers blinded KELLER on page 22
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 JENNIFER CARROLL Production Manager ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager e Oldest Eng Th
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gymnasiums, climbing walls, swimming facilities and airconditioned bunk rooms; surrounded by professional sports fields at UC. Camp Chabad offers free transportation from the Blue Ash and Mason areas with professionally driven buses. In addition to sports, girls and boys ages 6-14 choose their own “Ishops” including: Acting, Jewelry Design, Martial Arts, Amazing Accessories, Plasterworks, Tennis, Bead Creations, Adventures with Robots, Room Decorating 101, Leather Designs, The Art of Magic, Master Chef, Woodworking, Chocolate Creations, Engineering with Lego. Campers can sign up for certified swim lessons in the leisure pool, featuring a lazy river, water wall and bubble bench. Weekly field trips to Kings Island, ice skating, Laser tag, Pump it up, and horseback riding add excitement. Campers ages 2-5 attend camp at Chai Tots in Mason. A low camper-counselor ratio ensures a fun and safe experience that includes pony rides, t-ball clinics, visits from a petting zoo and trips to Run Jump and Play. “An outstanding, nurturing and mature staff is handpicked for both locations from across the globe for their experience working with children,” Rabbi Majeski noted. Morning care and after care are available for an additional fee. A T-shirt, most trips and a nutritious kosher lunch and snacks are included in the cost.
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Summer is the perfect time for children to learn a new sport or to improve their skills with excellent coaching. Whether they have never tried a sport or are an experienced player, Camp Chabad helps children ages 2-14 move to the next level. Camp Chabad runs from June 24-Aug. 9, but families can sign up for all seven weeks or “mix and match” any week to suit their schedule. Tyler Martin brings Camp Chabad extensive experience as an Athletic Director known for getting children excited about sports and building sportsmanship. “My goal is to make sure every camper has fun as they improve their skills,” Coach Martin said. “We have a program that is great for campers who have limited experience on the court or field and those that are passionate about athletics.” Rabbi Menachem Majeski, Director of Camp Chabad said, “Instead of registering their children for different sports specialty camps, Camp Chabad provides high quality instruction in basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball, and flag football. Sports for campers ages 6-14 are held on the state-of-the-art fields and courts of the University of Cincinnati Recreation Center.” “Imagine your son playing football, shooting hoops and serving tennis balls on the UC fields and courts,” said Coach Martin. “It doesn’t get any more fun, or exciting, than that!” Camp Chabad uses over 200,000 square feet of indoor
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Supreme Court, and the day he brought MinnieJean Brown, one of the Little Rock Nine, back to Little Rock Central High School. He’ll tell stories of the material PBS wouldn’t or couldn’t broadcast, and how his opinion of this country and its founding document radically changed during his journey. All that, plus stories from backstage at “Wait, Wait...” Sagal has a wide and varied background. In addition to his NPR career, he is also the host of PBS’ new series, “Constitution USA with Peter Sagal.” The show follows him as he travels across
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with its lighthearted approach to current events, and has become the biggest and most beloved weekend radio phenomenon. On Sept. 17–Constitution Day –at the Mayerson JCC, Sagal will give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Constitution USA,” his acclaimed four-part PBS documentary on the U.S. Constitution and how it is lived, and being fought over today. He’ll discuss his meetings with scholars, experts, medical marijuana activists, gun enthusiasts, the plaintiffs in the current same sex marriage case before the U.S.
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On Sept. 17 at 8 p.m., the JCC Wolf Center for Arts & Ideas will open its 2013-14 season with Peter Sagal. As the host of NPR’s “Wait Wait ... Don’t Tell Me!” Peter Sagal is heard by more than 3 million people every week, broadcast on 620 public radio stations nationwide and via a popular podcast. Each week on “Wait, Wait…,” Sagal leads NPR veteran newscaster Carl Kasell and esteemed guest panelists through a satirical review of the week’s news in the form of a quiz. This hour-long show captivates news junkies from across the country
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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Mapping out the ‘actual conditions’ of the Middle East By Maxine Dovere JointMedia News Service Israeli Minister of Tourism Uzi Landau caused a media stir last month when, at a cabinet meeting, he quoted from former Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban’s statement that Israel’s 1967 borders are reminiscent of “Auschwitz” because of their indefensibility. But New York attorney Mark Langfan has been saying – rather, portraying – that same point for years. Langfan for more than two decades has been designing his own Middle East maps – which depict what he calls “actual conditions” in the region, including topography, natural resources, geopolitics, and trade and trans-
Mark Langfan with one of his Middle East maps.
portation routes – and schlepping (as he puts it) them to Capitol Hill, where members of Congress from day one told him their constituents
believe Israel is an apartheid state. “The maps provided a tool to enable [legislators] to say to these people, basically, Israel should exist,” Langfan says in an interview with JNS. Langfan says his maps work off the assumption that the 1967 “Auschwitz borders” mentioned by Landau “are indefensible and will cause another Holocaust.” Furthermore, the maps seek to counter the assumption of Israel’s enemies that all of the problems in the Middle East “are because of the Jews.” “According to that theory, if Israel is gone, all the regional problems are solved,” Langfan says. “Well, that’s not exactly what would be likely to happen.” The motivation behind
Langfan’s self-funded maps project, he says, is “trying to leverage the maps as a valuable tool to help Israel.” “The issues of the Middle East are complex and multifaceted,” Langfan says. “The maps serve as a tool to help explain the realities and put them into perspective – an important means of presenting issues to Congress and American and Israeli Jews.” Langfan presents his maps in 8-10 minute explanatory talks during which the understanding of topography “becomes an important, simple base for additional information,” he says. “These are not interpretive renditions of reality,” he says. MAPPING on page 19
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Tisha B’Av in the 21st century By Binyamin Kagedan JointMedia News Service It is a testament to the amazing variability of Jewish synagogue life in America that the summertime fast of Tisha B’Av is for some a time of momentous communal mourning, and for others a normal and unremarkable day. In contrast to Yom Kippur, which sees widespread observance in one fashion or another across the denominational spectrum, Tisha B’Av and its ritual restrictions (which are nearly identical to those of Yom Kippur) are unfamiliar to a sizable contingent of American Jews.
A bit of anecdotal evidence: This author recently worked as the Judaics director for a summer camp affiliated with the JCC movement and was asked to put together a brief Tisha B’Av ceremony, something this particular camp had never before included in its Jewish programming. The campers were so incredulous about the existence of this holy day that many were whispering to each other that it had been invented by the camp staff as a color war breakout prank. How could Tisha B’av, traditionally one of the most intense and salient religious experiences of the year, be wholly foreign to a
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large portion of American Jewry? Surely it cannot simply come down to the fact that most people are averse to fasting – if that were the case, how could we explain the ongoing popularity of Yom Kippur? The actual answer revolves around the traditional thematic elements of the fast. The narrative of Tisha B’Av centers on the destruction of the holy temple in Jerusalem, a national calamity that marked the end of Jewish sovereignty in ancient Israel and the official onset of the long Jewish diaspora. The day’s liturgy mourns the disappearance of high priests and animal sacrifices, and
Courtesy of Francesco Hayez
The destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, oil on canvas, by Francesco Hayez. Both the first and second iterations of the “Beit HaMikdash” were razed on Tisha B'Av, hundreds of years apart.
woven into its eulogizing is the wish for a return to these original forms or worship. It is in reaction to these sentiTISHA B’AV on page 22
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Heads up: Jewish brewer thriving amid craft beer boom By Lisa Alcalay Klug Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – With the creation of David’s Slingshot Hoppy Summer Lager, beer maker Jeremy Cowan is evoking the image of the legendary battle between David and Goliath – a match-up that’s also apt for Cowan himself. Though still a small player in the world of craft beers, Cowan is catapulting himself onto a much larger field. After years in which his company, Shmaltz Brewing, paid others to produce its He’Brew beers, Cowan is preparing to open his own brewing facility in suburban Albany, N.Y. The Clifton Park facility, which will open July 7, includes a 1,700square-foot tasting room, custommade brew tanks and a 120 bottleper-minute Italian packaging line. On May 13, local officials and community leaders participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Now the only thing left to do is wait for the hops to brew. “We’re controlling our destiny,” says Cowan, Shmaltz’s owner and founder. It’s certainly been “shofar so good” for the beer maker, who has relied on Jewish puns and assorted kitsch to move 3 million bottles in 2012 alone. Those 125,000 cases – Cowan’s largest run yet – have grossed $3.9 million, a 42 percent increase over 2011. Cowan’s libations are now sold by 4,000 retail specialty shops in more than 30 states. Cowan recognizes that members of the tribe don’t typically drink as much as other barflies. So if it’s not Jewish consumers lugging home those distinctive six packs, or throwing one back at the
Courtesy of Shmaltz Brewing Facebook
A menorah made of Shmaltz Brewing’s He’Brew beer bottles
legions of bars where He’Brew and its sister label Coney Island Lagers are sold, just who is consuming his booze? “You don’t have to be Irish to drink Guinness. You don’t have to be Belgian to drink Chimay. And you don’t have to be Jewish to drink great Jewish beer,” Cowan says. “If the beer tastes great and the shtick is funny, then why wouldn’t anybody like it?” Though Jews carry a reputation as lightweight drinkers, Jewish brewers have a storied history in the United States. One of the earliest Jewish-owned breweries in the country, Rheingold Beer, was founded in 1850 by Samuel Liebmann and became quite popular. Today, beer lovers looking for Jewish-inspired alternatives to He’Brew can choose from Maccabee, marketed in the United States by Israel’s Tempo Beer Industries; Lompoc Brewing’s 8 Malty Nights, a chocolate rye porter; and the microbrews of New York-based Lost Tribes, which
incorporates exotic ingredients from the Middle East. But Shmaltz has embraced its Jewish side with a gusto unmatched by any of the others. Its newest addition, David’s Slingshot Hoppy Lager, joins a host of quirky labels including Funky Jewbilation, Hop Manna, Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale, Messiah Nut Brown Ale and Rejewvenator. Cowan, a Stanford University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English, devises the shtick, as well as the written product descriptions and marketing concepts. His art director, Nat Polacheck, interprets the concepts into the company’s signature style. The new brewery is a far cry from the brand’s humble beginnings in 1996, when Cowan started selling cases from his grandmother’s Volvo – a story he shares in his memoir, “Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah: How It Took 13 Years, Extreme Jewish Brewing, and Circus Sideshow Freaks to Make Shmaltz Brewing Company an International Success.”
National Briefs Ya’alon, in Washington, says Arab Peace Initiative is ‘spin’ (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) The Arab Peace Initiative, promoted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, is nothing but “spin” that is designed to have Israel commit to certain conditions even before negotiations commence, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Friday in a speech before the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Ya’alon said the Arab Peace Initiative was “not a decision of the Arab League,” and reiterated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israel is “ready to sit without preconditions with any initiative but without dictation.” The initiative effectively says, “First you have to give up territory – and then we the Arabs will consider relations with you,” according to Ya’alon. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry thinks the Arab Peace initiative is “significant” because it “shows a unity among several Arab nations, that they support an effort to move toward a peace plan and that they would support that if it were to be completed.” World’s oldest Jew dies at 113 (JNS) Evelyn Kozak, the world’s oldest Jew, died at the age of 113 on June 11 after suffering a heart attack. Kozak’s family escaped from Russia due to anti-Semitism in the late 19th century. According to the Los
Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, an organization that validates the ages of supercentenarians, Kozak was the world’s oldest documented Jewish person and the seventholdest person in the world. Stanley Fischer, Bank of Israel governor, possible pick to head U.S. Federal Reserve (JNS) Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer, who will step down later this month, is not denying the possibility of vying for the top post at the U.S. Federal Reserve after the position becomes vacant in January. Fischer did not confirm or deny the possibility when he was asked about it in London on Wednesday, saying only that it was unwise to “accept a job offer that no one has made to you” and that he “did not want to get into whether or not he would accept an offer,” the Financial Times reported. Nablus rejected as sister city for Boulder, Colorado, because of Palestinian terrorism (JNS) Concerns over Palestinian terrorism spawning from the West Bank city of Nablus led the city council of Boulder, Colo., to reject Nablus’s bid to become Boulder’s sister city in a 7-2 vote this week, the Middle East news website The Tower reported. Nablus is well known as a city where a significant amount of Palestinian terrorism originates. In addition to terrorism, Boulder’s city council attributed its rejection of Nablus’s sister-city bid on June 10 to the Palestinian Authority’s human rights abuses and suppression of freedom of the press in the city.
Nearly 70 years after liberation, Holocaust memorials continue to proliferate By Gil Shefler Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – No earth was moved last month at the groundbreaking of one of the nation’s newest Holocaust memorials. Instead, the gatherers stood silently, symbolic shovels in hand, on the immaculate lawn where the privately funded $400,000 monument will soon rise. A succession of speakers delivered somber homilies remembering one of the darkest chapters in human history. “It was an absolutely unbelievable world that I lived in,” survivor Fred Lorber was quoted as saying by local media. “It’s hard for me to describe, but whatever time I think about it, it’s there. It never left my
Courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines
Groundbreaking of Holocaust memorial in Des Moines, Iowa, May 14, 2013.
memory.” The construction of a new Holocaust memorial is hardly unusual. But this was Des Moines,
Iowa, home to a small Jewish community and an even smaller number of survivors. Just 2,800 Jews live in the cap-
ital of the Hawkeye State, among them a rapidly diminishing number of survivors like Lorber. Yet local authorities, along with the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines and Jewish philanthropists, nevertheless felt it important for the city to set aside prominent public space near the state capitol to remember the victims of Nazi persecution and their liberators. “As time went by and as the last survivors pass away, the study of the Holocaust in the school districts began to wane and the Jewish community felt the memory of it needed to be perpetuated,” said Mark Finkelstein, the head of the federation. The Jews of Des Moines are hardly the first to push for such a
project. Though precise numbers are difficult to come by, Holocaust studies experts say museums and monuments dedicated to the genocide have proliferated across the United States over the past two decades. Major American cities typically have at least one Holocaust memorial, but now many midsized ones do too, like Richmond, Va., Charleston, S.C., and El Paso, Texas. Memorials are even found in relatively small cities, like Whitwell, Tenn., and Palm Desert, Calif. And more are in the works, including a recently approved monument designed by architect Daniel Libeskind to be built on the statehouse grounds in Columbus, Ohio.
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Feinstein and Wyden, on opposite ends of intel debate, are known for independence By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) – Dianne Feinstein and Ron Wyden have much in common. Both are longtime U.S. senators, Democrats, Jewish and fiercely independent West Coasters. They’ve also both been members of the Senate Intelligence Committee since before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and privy to classified materials that describe how the government systematized radical changes in intelligence gathering in their wake. Now the two lawmakers are on opposite sides of the debate over the massive information-gather-
ing machine developed by the intelligence community since 9/11. Government agencies have been collecting troves of data on the phone calls of Americans – socalled “metadata,” including the length, origin and number of virtually every call in America, but not its content – as well as information from the country’s leading Internet companies. A series of disclosures about such efforts has reignited debate over where to draw the line between national security and individual privacy. “It’s called protecting America,” Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Intelligence
Committee, said in a June 6 news conference, arguing that the collection of metadata is routine. B u t Wyden says Dianne Feinstein the issue is protecting the rule of law, arguing that Americans don’t know enough to assess whether the government is protecting their rights or violating them. “There is a significant gap between what the American people and most members of
Congress believe is legal under laws like the Patriot Act and how government agencies are interpreting the law,” says Ron Wyden a lengthy page on Wyden’s website outlining his longstanding efforts to make the government’s information-gathering practices more transparent. The split between Feinstein and Wyden reflects the degree to which the intelligence-gathering debate is scrambling the pre-
dictable partisan positions taken on most big issues in today’s Washington – in this case, prompting liberals and conservatives to line up on all sides of the issue. Friends of both senators – Feinstein of California and Wyden of Oregon – say their strikingly opposed positions result both from their independent spirit, but also from strong beliefs forged by precongressional experiences. In 1978, Feinstein was president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when a gunman entered City Hall and shot to death Harvey Milk, a fellow supervisor and gay activist, along with the city’s mayor, George Moscone. FEINSTEIN on page 22
For century-old ADL, curbing online hate proves a modern-day dilemma By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – How do you confront hatred when it has no fixed address? Abraham Foxman, the AntiDefamation League national director, attempts to pin down an answer to the question in his latest book, “Viral Hate.” Co-authored with privacy lawyer Christopher Wolf, the book chronicles the complications of countering hate on the Internet. The takeaway? It’s up to us. “Let’s take back responsibility for our culture – both online and off” is the book’s main conclusion. Calling on the public to be alert and reactive to the dangers of bigotry is not new terrain for the ADL, which throughout its 100-year history has coupled behind-the-scenes suasions with public appeals to lobby leadership and engage with peers. Yet while many of the book’s accounts of broad, spontaneous action against Internet hate speech end in triumph, Foxman’s reliance on more traditional ADL tactics in the digital age are less successful. Efforts to engage with the powers that run the Internet – indeed, Foxman’s attempt to discover who those powers even are – peter out in frustration. “We have been talking to the geniuses at Palo Alto,” Foxman said in an interview. “We have said to them, ‘thanks but no thanks. You developed a technol-
ogy that has some wonderful things but also has unintended consequences.’” Such dead ends do not mean the public is powerless, however. Foxman and Wolf cite the example of JuicyCampus, a gossip website brought to heel after direct appeals to the website went nowhere. As the authors tell it, the website, established in 2007 as a clearinghouse for campus gossip, quickly devolved into speech replete with misogyny and race hatred. The site’s founding pledge to ban “unlawful, threatening, abusive, tortuous, defamatory, obscene, libelous or invasion of another person’s privacy” was honored mostly in the breach. Efforts to ban its usage by the student government and administrators at Pepperdine University in Southern California – one of seven schools initially targeted by the site – kept rubbing up against First Amendment protections. Ultimately, what led to the site’s demise was an independent campaign launched by a student at Pepperdine, a Christian school that does not allow alcohol on campus, urging boycotts of the site. The campaign went viral, advertisers abandoned the site and by February 2009 it folded. Foxman and Wolf conclude the anecdote by contrasting the success of the student initiative with the impotence of administrators hobbled by the need to balance free speech with their desire to curb online hate. “Viral Hate,” which comes out this month, recommends an array
Courtesy of David Karp
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, speaking at the ADL Centennial Summit in Washington, April 29, 2013.
of countermeasures. They include an emphasis in schools on educating kids on reliable sources, and parents encouraging their children to adopt responsible Internet practices. Consumers, according to the book, should report hate speech to social media and Internet providers using tools made available for such protests. Providers should facilitate reporting, the book says, noting that Facebook’s reporting device is obscure, requiring a mouse rollover and a click on an unnamed dropdown menu, while YouTube features an obvious flag beneath its videos. The ADL’s role is less clear. In its centenary year, the organization is grappling with the role it can play in an age when everyone is a publisher.
8 • INTERNATIONAL
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Poland’s Jewish renaissance brings to light ‘underpinnings’ of Judeo-Christian Western culture By Jacob Kamaras JointMedia News Service June 28 will mark the start of the 23rd annual Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow, Poland, whose closing event is a concert that routinely draws 20,000-25,000 people and exemplifies the re-emerging broad appeal of Jewish culture in a country that was home to 3 million Jews who died during the Holocaust. “Probably less than 10 percent of the people that are at that concert are Jewish,” San Francisco-based and Poland-born philanthropist Tad Taube tells JNS. But now, the Jewish Culture Festival is not alone as a symbol of Poland’s Jewish renaissance. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews opened to visitors this April in Warsaw and according to Taube is beginning to deliver the message that “1,000 years of Jewish history serve as the underpinnings of our own Judeo-Christian Western culture.” “I think our studies right now show that we’re going to have in excess of a million people a year visiting the museum... probably no more than 200,000 would be Jewish,” Taube says. “So it’s going to be a major global attraction.” Taube recalls a conversation he once had with a Polish consular offi-
cial who noted, “In 1939, the population of Poland was 35 million, and roughly 10 percent of that population was Jewish, but the contribution to Polish culture was probably more like 75 percent. So, when the Nazis murdered the Jews, it was as if Polish culture had been amputated.” The consulate official’s point is why Taube believes Polish culture is being revived through the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Taube says the “unfortunate aspect of modern thinking about the Holocaust” is that it “tends to obscure a great culture that existed for a millennium in Poland, and which had an enormous influence on Western culture.” “[The Jewish community] brought to Poland a great deal of art, music, theater, literature, philosophy, law, charity, family values, community values – all of the things that are embraced today as part of Judeo-Christian Western culture, and it brought those [elements] to Poland and to Jews as well as mostly non-Jews, because the Jewish population in Poland was always the minority, although a very large minority,” Taube says. The most recent chapter of preHolocaust Polish Jewish history involved the late Poland-born Pope John Paul II, whose hometown of
Courtesy of Mamik via Wikimedia Commons
The Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.
Wadowice was more than 40-percent Jewish before the Nazis annexed the town in 1939. John Paul II left Wadowice in 1938 to study at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, but would frequently return later in life, including three times as the pope. Among the current efforts to rediscover Poland’s rich history is the School for Dialogue Among Nations, a yearlong learning program through which students in Polish high schools learn about the Jewish history of their local regions. “Poland has been for many, many years a predominantly
Catholic country, and the Polish Pope John Paul II and the Polish people were essentially unified in terms of their thinking about religious issues,” Taube says. “And what Pope John Paul II did in terms of his impact on the Jewish people, is he took it upon himself to go to Poland, condemn antiSemitism, commemorate the Holocaust, and establish diplomatic relationships with Israel.” John Paul II’s most important contribution to Jewish-Christian relations was “that he delivered the message in Poland that the Jewish people were not responsible for the death of Christ, and also delivered
the message that anti-Semitism was a sin against God and the Church,” Taube says. Taube explains that his motivation for contributing to Poland’s Jewish renaissance doesn’t have a lot to do with his Polish birth, even though he lost a large segment of his family in the Holocaust. “I became involved in Jewish community life to a fairly significant extent starting about 40 years ago,” Taube recalls. “And I became concerned that what I saw was rather defensive in nature. I thought some of the Jewish organizations and in fact their Jewish leadership, were I would say eager to manifest their Jewishness, but at the same time in a very narrow context. You might have a philanthropist that gave a significant gift to a Jewish organization, but maybe 95 percent of that individual’s gifts would go to non-Jewish organizations. And I started wondering, ‘Why?’” The answer, according to Taube, involves the Holocaust, which “obscured Jewish thinking in the sense that it dominated our perception about ourselves, and what was lost in the process was the contribution that the Jewish people made to Western culture, a very important contribution.”
Will Hassan Rohani, not the first ‘moderate’ Iranian president, bring more of the same for nuclear program? By Sean Savage/ JointMedia News Service The win of the so-called “moderate” Hassan Rohani in Iran’s presidential election has renewed hope in the West that the nuclear standoff with the Islamic Republic may end, as opposed to the stalemate experienced under outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But in the past, Iran’s nuclear program has continued to progress, and nuclear negotiations with the West have broken down, under the watch of moderate leaders. Rohani was Iran’s nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005, a time when Europe was providing a diplomacy track to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program under another so-called “moderate” president, Mohammad Khatami. But those negotiations “were a spectacular failure,” Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, told JNS. “Later on, Rohani made a statement in 2006 that [Iran] leveraged Europe’s willingness to
talk to buy time for the nuclear program,” Berman said. “That should inform you how to think about him,” he added. Dr. Hooshang Amirahmadi, an Iranian-American professor at Rutgers University who considered running on a reformist platform for Iran’s presidency but decided not to submit his candidacy, explained that after the 1979 Iranian revolution, Rohani was a member of a group called the “combatant clergy organization,” which eventually split into the left and the right. The left became former Iranian presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Khatami, and Rohani went to the right, but he was “more pragmatic and moderate than most of the right,” Amirahmadi told JNS. “I would consider him to be more pro-Western than most of the leaders on the right in Iran,” Amirahmadi said. “In the domestic policy, he never was a member of the reform movement and did not support the ‘Green Movement’ in 2009. But he always stood somewhere in the middle and worked with all
sides.” Despite the Western media’s reporting that Rohani won a strong mandate, gaining a clear majority with 51 percent of the vote and avoiding a run-off, Amirahmadi explained that his victory was not as resounding as it may seem. “The problem for Rohani is he doesn’t have a very strong mandate. Most of the votes went to Rohani because Rafsanjani and other reformists were not allowed to run,” Amirahmadi said. “The most difficult thing for Rohani is that the ultra-rightist candidates still got a significant share of the votes,” Amirahmadi added. “They may have lost, but they are still there and have tremendous support. They [the ultra-conservatives] still have the Revolutionary Guards, the basij [street militias], and the fundamentalists clerics behind them. They are the real power out there.” Amirahmadi also explained that Rohani might not be able to choose many of his government ministers, including important
Courtesy of Nanking2012/Wikimedia Commons.
The Arak IR-40 heavy water reactor in Iran. The victory of so-called “moderate” Hassan Rohani in Iran’s presidential election has renewed hope in the West of a resolution to the nuclear standoff with Iran, but the country has proceeded with its nuclear program under moderate presidents in the past.
positions such as the defense, intelligence or foreign ministers. Additionally, Rohani will be constrained by a number of “red lines” that Khamenei will set for him on issues such as the nuclear program, negotiations with the West, and economic issues.
“[Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei will try his best to control him in the beginning and gradually see if he can deliver anything without passing the red line. He is a weakling at this point,” Amirahmadi said.
INTERNATIONAL • 9
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
Israel, U.S., Jordan reportedly coordinating attack on Syrian weapons By Yoni Hirsch and Israel Hayom JointMedia News Service While the U.S. administration has officially adopted the position that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons and has declared publicly that it will provide the rebels with military aid, it appears that behind-the-scenes preparations are still being made for a much larger move. Israel, Jordan and the U.S. are jointly planning an attack aimed at destroying the unconventional weapons stockpiles in Syria, Time magazine reported over the weekend. According to the report, which was based on interviews with senior Israeli military and intelligence officials, such an attack would follow several scenarios, one of which is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s removal from power, either if he is killed, flees the country or simply disappears. These scenarios, according to the Israeli sources, would prompt the allies to attack the estimated 18 depots and other sites where weapons of mass destruction are stored. Search-and-destroy operations would also reportedly be
Courtesy of Fabio Rodrigues
Pozzebom/ABr via Wikimedia Commons. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has used chemical weapons against rebels, the U.S. acknowledged last week.
called into action if the weapons appeared to be on the cusp of falling into the hands of Islamist rebels. The Israeli officials, however, stressed that it had not been decided whether Israeli or U.S. forces would act, or who would do what, according to the Time report. But the U.S. plans, said the Israeli officials, call for deploying ground
forces in addition to the airstrikes, to assure that the chemical and biological components are neutralized. The report of such a plan comes even though U.S. President Barack Obama has said on several occasions that he did not foresee a situation in which U.S. soldiers would be sent into Syria. One senior Israeli intelligence official told Time that even though the U.S. waited before adopting the Israeli position that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons, cooperation between Washington and Jerusalem never ceased. “We have our cards on the table with the Americans for a long time. They’ve had all this information,” the intelligence official said. “Things are happening behind the scenes,” another Israeli official told Time. “Things are really happening.” The Israeli officials pointed to the U.S. stationing of F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile batteries in neighboring Jordan earlier this month, ostensibly for a joint military exercise (“Eager Lion”) set to take place next week, as “a clear, purposeful, presence of a strike force near the border of Syria.”
Jewish exporter from Paris becoming hot merchandise on French music scene By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency PARIS – Using two iPhones, Marc Fichel was overseeing the shipping of tons of vegetables last week at the hectic Rungis wholesale market, where thousands of Frenchmen ship mountains of fresh perishables across Europe. The director of export at one of the market stalls, the 40-year-old Fichel fits in easily with the multitudes of Asians, Arabs and Africans who work at Rungis. It’s easy to forget the French Jew is an up-and-comer on the country’s indie pop scene, with a debut album recently released and some 20 sold-out concerts to his credit. “I think part of the fascination with me owes to my double life: my musical career and my job at the market,” Fichel told JTA. Indeed, French media have published a flurry of flattering articles about the singer. Le Figaro music critic Pierre De Boishue compared Fichel’s emotional singing and simple piano melodies to those of the late pop legend Michel Berger, also a Parisian Jew. “It was a huge, huge compliment,” Fichel said. Yet beyond Fichel’s musical
Courtesy of Cnaan Liphshiz
Marc Fichel at his stall at the Rungis wholesale market in Paris, May 29, 2013.
talent, his story also is seen as an example of how working-class Muslims and Jews can get along in a city where tensions between the groups often run high. His musical partners comprise a multicultural vichyssoise that includes guitarist Zizou Sadki, the son of a Muslim Moroccan immigrant, and Nourith, an Israeli army veteran
who performs at Jewish community events. Despite the apparent contrast between his celebrity status and day job moving vegetables, Fichel says the two professions have one thing in common: the irrelevance of politics and religion. “Here there’s no religion and no race, only business,” Fichel said. “And with music there is only harmony.” One of Fichel’s most successful songs, “My Life in the Market,” is about his work at Rungis, which also serves as backdrop for the video and features Fichel’s market colleagues. The clip has received more than 1 million views on YouTube. Fichel is a natural schmoozer, with a warm smile and a knack for sound bites. During an interview at the market restaurant, he leaps up repeatedly to hug, kiss or horse around with passing co-workers. His father, a dentist, taught him to play the piano, and it was his friends that persuaded him to pursue a musical career. “I always played for and with friends until they kind of forced me a few years ago to make a video and put it online,” Fichel said.
International Briefs Al-Azhar envoy to Pope Francis: Declaring Islam ‘peaceful’ a contingency for restoring interfaith ties (JNS) An envoy from Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, one of the highest centers of learning in the Islamic world, has called on Pope Francis to declare Islam a “peaceful religion” as a precondition to restoring ties between the world’s two largest faiths. “The problems that we had were not with the Vatican but with the former pope. Now the doors of Al-Azhar are open,” Mahmoud Abdel Gawad, diplomatic envoy to the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, told the Cairo-based Italian daily Il Messaggero in a report cited by AFP. Syrian civil war death toll approaches 93,000 with no end in sight, U.N. official says (JNS) The death toll from the Syrian civil war continues to rise with no end in sight, with 92,901 killings documented through the end of April. “The constant flow of killings continues at shockingly high levels,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement, the New York Times reported. Islamic Jihad summer camp prepares ‘strong resisting generation’ to fight Israel (JNS) The Palestinian terrorist organization Islamic Jihad held a summer camp for 80 children in order to groom what a spokesman called a “strong resisting generation” of Palestinians to fight Israel. The Islamic Jihad camp included several military training exercises. Photos of the camp published by Ma’an News Agency show participating children wearing military fatigues, sporting face paint, and carrying AK-47s. Concerns grow over Egypt blasphemy cases against Christians and the media (JNS) The human rights organization Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the increase in criminal blasphemy cases in Egypt, especially those brought against Coptic Christians, for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. “Slapping criminal charges with steep fines and, in most cases, prison sentences against people for simply speaking their
mind or holding different religious beliefs is simply outrageous,” Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director, said in a statement. Most of the blasphemy cases in Egypt have been directed against Coptic Christians. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy on Facebook before elections (JNS) On the eve of Iran’s June 14 presidential elections, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promoted an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on his Facebook profile by featuring the logo of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee accompanied by text reading “the U.S. president is being elected from only two parties while Zionist regime is controlling everything behind the scenes.” Mossad reportedly supplying Ankara with intelligence about Iranian agents in Turkey (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Tamir Pardo, met secretly with the Turkish intelligence agency’s undersecretary, Hakan Fidan, on June 10 in Ankara, with Syria, Iran and the Gezi Park protests on the agenda, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported Wednesday. Pardo claimed to have information that Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Syrian intelligence were working against Turkey, according to Hurriyet. Fidan and Pardo reportedly discussed the ongoing protests in Turkey that started in opposition to a development project in Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park and have spread to other parts of the country. Moscow Jewish Museum gets Schneerson manuscripts, defying ruling to give them to U.S. Chabad community (JNS) The Russian government, which has refused to return a collection of more than 4,000 Jewish religious books and manuscripts dubbed the “Schneerson collection” to the New York-based ChabadLubavitch descendants of the collection’s last private owner, this week agreed to give part of the collection to the Moscow Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. Although a U.S. judge in January ordered Russia to pay $50,000 a day until the manuscripts were turned over to Chabad, Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering the matter closed.
10 • ISRAEL
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Border clashes may make it hard for Israel to steer clear of Syria conflict By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM – For much of the past two years, Israel has taken a singular approach to the Syrian civil war: Stay as far away as possible. But with a recent string of victories by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and the crumbling of the U.N. peacekeeping force that has kept the peace along the border for four decades, the tack is becoming considerably harder. Assad’s statement that he had decided to engage in military action against Israel, published Monday in an interview with a Lebanese paper, was followed by a terse warning from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Anyone who threatens to hit or hits Israel will be hit,” Netanyahu said. The warning follows a tense conflict June 6 on Israel’s border in which Assad’s forces recaptured the lone border crossing after it had briefly fallen into rebel hands.
Heavy fighting saw Syrian tanks enter the demilitarized zone between the two countries and prompted Austria to withdraw its 300-soldier contingent from the U.N. force, shrinking it by onethird. Israel threatened to strike the tanks, according to a leaked U.N. document, refraining only when Syria promised to fire solely on rebel troops. “The crumbling of the U.N. force on the Golan Heights underscores the fact that Israel cannot depend on international forces for its security,” Netanyahu told his weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday. Israel has assiduously sought to stay out of the Syrian morass, engaging only when its interests were directly threatened. Thrice Israel has attacked Syrian weapons convoys bound for Hezbollah – once in January and twice in May. Before this week, however, Israel had not threatened to engage Syrian forces directly. Still, Thursday’s battle probably
Courtesy of Tal Manor/IDF Spokesman/Flash 90/JTA
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz (with binoculars) tours the Israeli border with Syria on May 21, 2013.
won’t change Israel’s basic approach to the 2-year-old conflict next door. The Syrian border has been largely calm since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel won’t enter the war “as long as fire is not being directed at us.”
That attitude plays well with ordinary Israelis, who clearly don’t want their country dragged into a neighboring conflict. An Israel Democracy Institute poll released Sunday showed that 86 percent of Israeli respondents want to stay out of Syria.
Amid global focus on Jewish construction, NGO counters illegal Arab building By Alex Traiman JointMedia News Service While the international community often focuses on the legal status of Jewish construction in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, two Israeli government initiatives – a proposed transfer of Israeli land near Jericho to Palestinians and a law that would retroactively legalize tens of thousands of Bedouin structures in the south – are highlighting the issue of illegal Arab building across Israel. At the forefront of tackling this issue is Regavim, an NGO that tracks illegal Arab building and prosecutes it in Israeli courts. A Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria proposal to transfer 2,000 dunams (500 acres) of Israeli land to Palestinians near Jericho, in the Jewish-controlled Jordan Valley, represents the continuation of a pattern in which
Arabs living in Areas A and B, which are under Palestinian municipal authority, are being legally permitted to relocate to large tracts of land in Area C, areas designated for Jewish residence under full Israeli control. The move is being criticized by Jewish regional councils for being conducted at a time when Arabs can build almost at will in Areas A and B, while permits for Jewish building in Area C are being severely restricted as a result of what many believe to be the Israeli government’s efforts to pacify the international community. “If a Jewish family puts up a patio on a house – anywhere in Israel – without a permit, municipal authorities can come into your house and get you to tear it down,” Ari Briggs, the director of Regavim, told JNS. “Jews are forced to adhere to a very strict building framework,
Courtesy of Shay Levy/Flash90
A Bedouin encampment near the Ramat Hovav industrial zone in the Negev.
while Arabs in many parts of the country are given a free hand. And this is exactly the opposite view that the international community has of Israel,” Briggs said. Regavim – whose name comes from the Hebrew word “regev,” meaning a small patch of land, originating from a Zionist poem
about reclaiming the land of Israel “dunam by dunam, regev by regev” – works to track illegal Arab building across Israel, with a particular focus on the Negev in the south of the country, the Galil in the north, and in Judea and Samaria.
For Israeli students, Jerusalem auto race was just a test drive By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraphic Agency BEERSHEVA, Israel (JTA) – Last week, Rani Dekel was doing donuts on the streets of Jerusalem in a blue and orange Formula race car with hundreds of thousands cheering him on. On Sunday, the car’s skeleton sat in a bare laboratory at BenGurion University in the southern city of Beersheva, its colorful siding stacked on a shelf in the
corner and its essential parts shipped off to auto workshops across Israel. But Dekel doesn’t mind losing his car. In a couple of months, he’ll have built a new one. Dekel is part of a team of 35 Ben-Gurion automotive engineering students in the midst of a yearlong project – to design and construct a Formula race car that four of them will drive in an international competition in Italy in September.
“Building the car is super intense,” Dekel said. “It’s your whole life. It’s your focus. You get there and you’re showing what you planned and built and dreamed about.” Dekel’s car was the only Israeli-made vehicle in last week’s Jerusalem Formula show, the biggest auto racing event in the country’s history. In Formula 1 racing, drivers sit in low cars built by leading European carmakers such as
Ferrari and Mercedes and careen around twisting tracks at speeds in excess of 200 mph. The brand is especially popular in Europe. Israel has no car industry, let alone a motor sports league, so a delegation of auto racers zooming around Jerusalem was thrilling for locals. The show featured top international auto racers doing laps, spins and donuts – a spinning maneuver – in the shadow of the Old City walls.
Israel Briefs Two-state solution is dead, Israeli coalition partner Bennett says JERUSALEM (JTA) – The two-state solution is dead, Israeli government minister Naftali Bennett, head of the coalition partner Jewish Home party, told a settlers’ group. “Never has so much time been invested in something so pointless,” Bennett told a meeting Monday of the Yesha Council in Jerusalem. “We need to build, build, build.” “(T)he challenge now is how do we move forward from here, knowing that a Palestinian state within Israel is not possible, Bennett reportedly also said, adding, “We have to move from solving the problem to living with the problem.” RCA backs Stav following harassment of chief rabbi hopeful JERUSALEM (JTA) – The Rabbinical Council of America offered its support to Israeli chief rabbi candidate David Stav after he was harassed at a wedding and labeled “a wicked man” by Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. In its letter backing Stav, the head of the Tzohar organization in Israel for Modern Orthodox rabbis, the RCA wrote in Hebrew that it appreciates what Stav has done “for the good of the people of Israel, the land of Israel and the State of Israel.” Israel, P.A. to renew economic cooperation, finance ministers agree JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel and the Palestinian Authority will resume economic cooperation, their finance ministers said. Israel’s Yair Lapid and the P.A.’s newly appointed finance chief, Shukri Bishara, at a meeting Sunday in Jerusalem agreed to the resumption of economic ties, according to reports. The ties will be renewed over the course of time, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
FUSION FAMILY HOSTS LOTSA MATZAH PIZZA-MAKING PARTY In honor of Passover, Fusion Family, in collaboration with Rabbi Shena Jaffee and the Mayerson JCC, pulled out all the stops to put on a Lotsa Matzah Pizza-Making Party for interfaith families. Nearly 100 people attended this event which began with a visit to the apron decorating station so young guests could suit up in style before making their one of a kind pizza creations. But first, Rabbi Shena recruited some tiny volunteers to star in an interactive play aimed at retelling the Passover story. After the show everyone gathered at the Pizza Making Station and went down the “assembly line” to add special ingredients to create a signature matzah pizza. While the pizzas were baking, guests visited the salad bar and enjoyed a casual dinner together. Afterward, everyone headed for the dessert bar where they learned how to make fried matzah pancakes, which they then doused with ice cream, apples, caramel sauce, and other decadent toppings to make a delicious dessert that had them all coming back for more! Who knew a flat tasteless cracker could turn into something so tasty! Fusion Family is an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation. Photos continued on Page 12
ANNIVERSARY
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une 22, 2008 Congregation Bnai Tzedek - John (Debbie b”h”) & Carol Hamilton and Michael Thomas & Phyllis BinikThomas announced the marriage of their children Casey (Hamilton) Binik-Thomas and Justin Binik-Thomas. Grandparents Bill Harper, Polly Lucas, and Gloria Thomas had places of honor. And siblings Lauri (John) Atkins, Aaron (Alyssa) Binik-Thomas, and Adam and Crystal Hamilton were among the wedding party. Justin and Casey are members of Beth Israel Synagogue in Hamilton. Rabbi Eric Slaton officiated the ceremony. Justin and Casey have been blessed with Ziva and Zoe Binik-Thomas, ages 3 and 1, since marriage.
ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE FREE! BIRTHS • BAT/BAR MITZVAHS • ENGAGEMENTS WEDDINGS • BIRTHDAYS • ANNIVERSARIES Place your FREE announcement in The American Israelite newspaper and website by sending an e-mail to articles@americanisraelite.com
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12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE
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FUSION FAMILY HOSTS LOTSA MATZAH PIZZA-MAKING PARTY Continued from previous page
Families enjoying the Fusion Family Lotsa Matzah Pizza-Making Party for Passover.
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
PASSOVER MEALS Volunteers with the Dr. Samuel S. Rockwern Passover Delivery of Jewish Family Service, Sunday, March 17, 2013, delivered 420 Passover meals to families in need throughout Cincinnati.
Alta Kreindler, Mr. Shumakh, Sophie (7), Eric (9), Ryan (11) Glassman
Alex Benzaquen
Beth Schwartz interviewed by Channel 9 Lynn Mayfield
Amy Schur and Steve Albert
Kris Kish
14 • DINING OUT
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Authentic Thai ingredients are the recipe for success at Bangkok Terrace By Bob Wilhelmy Dining Editor Authentic Thai flavors derived from ingredients imported from Thailand make a difference in Thai cuisine, according to Jennifer Boonyakanist, owner and chef at Bangkok Terrace in Blue Ash. She said that many Thai natives, and especially those who work in the restaurant business, come to her restaurant to eat. Why? Because they know that many of the entrée dishes served at Bangkok Terrace feature the true tastes of Thailand. One of the most popular dishes on Thai menus is pad Thai. This dish features rice noodles that are stir-fried with bean sprouts, scallions, minced sweet radish and peanuts. The protein is a choice item, and Jewish diners may select from chicken, beef, tofu, and other items, or simply have the dish as a vegetarian entrée. Turns out, the brown sauce is the central key to authenticity in this classic Asian dish. “Most other Thai restaurant, they use vinegar for flavor (in the sauce), but we use tamarind juice to get special flavor of real pad Thai,” Boonyakanist said. Is that a big deal? It is if one considers the tamarind used must be imported from Thailand. Tamarind seeds are found in pods, like peas. At the restaurant, the pods are placed in warm water to soften them. Then the juice is squeezed from the fleshy part of the pod surrounding the seeds. The resulting juice is tangy and on the sour side. Tamarind juice gives just the right taste to the pad Thai dish when the juice is combined with palm sugar (also imported) and fish sauce. “Palm sugar very expensive,” Boonyakanist said, claiming regular granulated sugar could be substituted and is much cheaper, but the flavor profile of the finished sauce would be compromised. So, she spends the extra to provide an authentic, traditional Thai dish. “People who know the difference (Thai diners with a taste for their native cuisine) know we use the authentic ingredients,” she said. Curry and teriyaki dishes also are popular at Bangkok Terrace for the same reason, according to the chef. “We have all the curry dishes, also mango curry, which is very popular in summer,” she said. The mango curry features a hint of sweetness and is served with chicken, but also can be ordered with beef or tofu. Beef,
Jennifer Boonyakanist, owner and chef of Bangkok Terrace, seated at the sushi bar.
chicken and salmon teriyaki entrée dishes are offered as well, all with that special Thai essence about them. Those who are in the mood to try a favorite Thai soup may want to order a bowl of tom yum. The soup is a hot-andsour variety, loaded with chicken or tofu, and mushrooms, then The front entrance of Bangkok Terrace spiced with chili use in our dishes (at the restaupeppers, and flavored with lime rant).” juice and lemon grass. Also, there Another Asian offering at is a noodle variety of the soup Bangkok Terrace is sushi and which includes a fish ball and sashimi, with plenty from which other ingredients. to select for the Jewish diner. A fried rice dish that is among Among my favorites is the my favorites is the spicy basil ver- Philadelphia roll, built around sion, made with onions, scallions, smoked salmon, cream cheese carrots, peppers, mushrooms and and cucumber. Another is the Thai basil leaves in a chili-garlic screaming roll (1 & 2): one, being sauce. “Hot basil dishes can be yellow tail with cucumber and made one-to-four spicy,” said scallions, seasoned with chili Boonyakanist. “We use Thai basil sauce; and two, the same, but with (for which Thailand is famous), tuna. There is an entire menu and in summer, I grow basil we
The Bang salmon dish
devoted to sushi and sashimi. “Summer dessert everybody likes is mango sticky rice,” Boonyakanist said. This dessert features “sticky” rice made with coconut milk, and served with the mango fruit—a good combination for the discerning sweet tooth. A charming feature of Bangkok Terrace is the absence of a liquor license. Patrons are encouraged to bring their own wine, beer or mixers to enjoy with meals. The restaurant charges no corkage fee, provides the glasses,
and will even open the wine and beer bottles, if need be. There is café-style al fresco dining available under umbrella tables. Bangkok Terrace’s menu includes appetizers, soups and salads, vegetarian offerings, house specials, seafood entrees, curry dishes, stir fry selections, noodle dishes, rice entrée selections, and sushi. Bangkok Terrace 4858 Hunt Rd. 513-891-8900
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THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
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16 • OPINION
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Waze could give Google a social network to rival Facebook By Ilan Gattegno JointMedia News Service This column first appeared in Israel Hayom The idea of Israeli-developed Waze was great, the execution was excellent, the name was catchy, and the application worked. Fifty million drivers using the application are pleased, and now by acquiring Waze, Google will not just be getting a navigation application, but a social network with members all over the world. If Google navigates its use of Waze correctly, it will finally succeed in creating a social network to rival Facebook, unlike its failed previous attempts. Waze’s big advantage as a social application is that its members receive updates not only from their friends, which are relatively small in numbers, but from all of the application’s users, whether they know each other or not. It is also not just Israeli drivers that are connected, but all drivers in the world that use Waze. The path of the company’s founders was clear from the start. Former CEO and now President Uri Levine, whose profile we published on Jan. 28, 2009, believed from the get-go that his software would start a revolution not unlike Wikipedia. The formula is simple: A driving experience based on crowdsourcing, or “user-uploaded content,” which makes everyday
and long-distance drives more efficient. The idea of receiving information from drivers’ phones, showed just how this kind of data sharing could happen in real-time. Additional information layers have been added to the original traffic layer, like blocked roads (very useful thanks to this year’s rainy winter), police cars, traffic accidents, cars parked in a dangerous way on the street, where one can get discounts on gas stations, stores and in general: everything that numerous other applications tried to sell us we get here in one reliable, and easy-to-use system. The integration with Facebook allowed us to share information on our destinations with our friends, though caution should be taken in case our “friends” are not really friends, and are waiting for us to leave the house so they can rob it while we drive somewhere far away. But that option can be turned off, to play it safe. Google can expand the data sharing to many other fields, as it will naturally make use of all the information at its disposal from its existing maps, Street View service and the rest of its information layers. As of now it seems Waze is headed toward becoming a global standard, a real source of pride for Israel. Ilan Gattegno is a correspondent and columnist for Israel Hayom
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Do you have something to say? E-mail your letter to editor@americanisraelite.com
Dear Editor, I was delighted to read in your issue dated June 2, 2013, the front page article, “Assistant German Ambassador Jen Hanefeld Visits Cincinnati, Hosts Lunch at Plum Street Temple.” I was also delight-
ed to read the history of so many German Jewish families who came to Cincinnati in the 19th century. One aspect that was not mentioned is that up to 1870, only the first born sons in Jewish families in Bavaria were allowed to get married, leading younger sons to
immigrate. Also, after German Jews received German citizenship, that citizenship was limited. I think these are historical facts that should not be forgotten. Sincerely, Werner Coppel
Stand with the dissidents of Iran By Mark Kirk and Irwin Cotler Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – Last Friday’s Iranian presidential election was fraught with fraud and fear–candidates vetted for their loyalty to the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards, the press muzzled by the imprisonment of independent journalists, and the leaders of Iranian civil society in detention. The absence of any free or fair election is a manifestation of the larger repression in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Simply put, the Iranian government imprisons and tortures thousands of activists, executes dissidents without due process, ruthlessly curtails free speech, enforces a system of gender apartheid and imposes severe religious discrimination, dramatized in particular by the systematic persecution and prosecution of the Baha’i and the imprisonment of
their entire leadership. Indeed, killing people for their political beliefs is nothing new to Iran’s theocrats. The government consolidated its power in the 1980s by executing thousands of dissidents. Its most brazen violation of human rights was a massacre of its political opponents in 1988. That summer, pursuant to an order by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian regime subjected all of its political prisoners to one-minute “trials” and sentenced nearly 5,000 dissidents to death by hanging. To date, no one has been held accountable for these crimes. To the contrary, those who implemented Khomeini’s order have thrived, becoming cabinet ministers and Supreme Court judges. As the 1988 killings show, Iran’s government has systematically used its prisons as sites of mass murder. With at least 2,600 political prisoners today, it would not hesitate to do so
again to create fear among a restless population with strong democratic aspirations. There are several initiatives that Canadian and American lawmakers have taken to promote accountability and prevent the Iranian regime from directing another reign of terror toward political dissidents. We recently launched the Iranian Political Prisoners Global Advocacy Project. Modeled on a similar initiative that once defended Soviet prisoners of conscience, the Advocacy Project encourages parliamentarians to “adopt” Iranian political prisoners and advocate on their behalf. Political prisoners who escape Iran have consistently said that international attention to their case was their best protection. The participation of parliamentarians in the Global Advocacy Project can literally mean
trying to burn a Jewish family near Nahariya. They prepared a firebomb, hid on the side of the road in the Western Galilee, and threw the bomb at a car as it was turning to enter the Jewish community of Tal-El. They then rolled a burning tire into the road. All the media outlets were notified about this incident by the Justice Ministry. All the media outlets chose to ignore it. Even the Israeli Arab resident of Shfaram who met with Hezbollah agents in Mecca and handed over classified military information for an extended period of time got less screen time than the weather forecast. Compare all this with the coverage of Jewish “terror” – pricetag attacks involving despicable vandalism of Arab property, which, by Israeli media standards, is tantamount to 9/11. Everyone knows that the hotline recently set up by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni for reporting acts of racism wasn’t intended for acts perpetrated by Arabs. According to the newspeak dictionary, the word “terror” means
an abominable act perpetrated only by individuals whose mother is Jewish. On the other hand, an abominable act perpetrated by an individual whose mother is not Jewish will be defined as “flying objects” or “act of mischief” or “a metaphor of resistance.” Indifference toward the terror directed at settlers has long been a cornerstone of Israeli journalistic ethics. Now this terror has spread into the rest of the country. Europe’s efforts to label products manufactured in the settlements, which were very well received by the media, will also not remain confined beyond the Green Line. All Israeli exports are on the line. Terror organizations have understood how the mechanism works: The trickle of raciallymotivated murder attempts from the Judean Mountains to the Galilee, from the Negev to central Israel, is made possible by the Israeli public’s silence. First they came for the settlers, and you didn’t speak out. Emily Amrousi, a journalist living in Samaria, and a columnist for Israel Hayom
STAND on page 21
Terror knows no boundaries By Emily Amrousi JointMedia News Service This column was originally published by Israel Hayom How comforting it must be to cultivate the delusion that everything begins and ends in the territories. But the reality is that certain things are not contained; there is osmosis. Terror doesn’t recognize boundaries, neither red lines nor green lines. But the mainstream media is hushing up any evidence that might suggest otherwise. News consumers, here’s a little test: Have you heard of the terror attacks perpetrated against Jews in Ramle in central Israel? Just this week, the windshields of about 10 cars were smashed there. Families driving their children to an after-school activity, or coming back from the supermarket, had bricks hurled at their cars. Did you happen to catch any coverage of the 10-year-old boy from Lod who was beaten and whose eye was blackened by a group of Arab teens as he was coming home from school? Did
you hear a shred of a story about the group of Jewish schoolchildren who were forced to leave an arcade due to violence, spitting and cursing by a group of Arabs? Try to imagine what would happen in the media if the ethnicities were reversed. Satisfaction guaranteed. Let’s put aside the terror in Judea and Samaria, which continues to sow fear in varying degrees (this week, among other incidents, firebombs were hurled at a bus carrying children in Samaria. Boring. Nothing to report.) Let’s pretend that terror in Judea and Samaria is a case of dog bites man. Let’s pretend that the ambushes by rock-throwing Palestinians on access roads to quiet communities are as exciting as rain in January. But what about the terrible attacks by Bedouin outlaws against the residents of the Negev community Retamim? Here’s just an example from the last few days: Rocks were thrown at women and children, cars were set ablaze, a married couple were attacked with a crowbar, violent ambushes awaited farmers in
their fields and a number of terror attacks were attempted along the roads. In the Negev. And what about the recent firebombing at a home in Mount Scopus, not far from Hebrew University in Jerusalem? Did you hear anything about that? What about the racist Arabic graffiti on the walls of a synagogue at Beit Safra in central Jerusalem? The mass gravestone vandalism at the Mount of Olives? The Ha’ohel synagogue in Bat Yam that has been vandalized four times in the last month, with swastikas spray painted on its walls and its doors destroyed? The nationalistically motivated arson of the woods in Armon Hanatziv? Anything? An Israel Railways train was recently pelted with rocks in the “occupied” Ramle station. Two University of Tel Aviv students were lightly hurt when windshields shattered, spraying shards everywhere. If you heard about this incident, you deserve a medal. Here’s another news flash: Several days ago, two Israeli Arabs were indicted for allegedly
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
what will ultimately be responsible for the success – or lack thereof – of the Israelite nation in history? Balak, the King of Moab, is in mortal fear of this new “power” on the block, which defeated the mighty Egyptians and seems to be “licking up everything around them” (Numbers 22: 4). As they inch closer and closer to Moab and Midian, he convinces the elders of Midian to join him in hiring a voodoo soothsayer, Balaam, to curse and defeat Israel through his magic powers of the occult. Balaam informs them that he, too, is under the power of God, and that even he is not able to curse those who are blessed by God. He cannot even travel with them to observe the Israelites. However, he declines the job offer in such a way as to let his “clients” know that he will nevertheless attempt to manipulate God into allowing Israel to be cursed – and he does succeed in getting God to allow him to accompany the Moabite dignitaries. At this point in the narrative, our sages declare that “God leads individuals in the path they wish to follow” (Makkot 10b) – so that if the evil voodoo man has chosen to curse, Israel shall indeed be cursed. But what follows is both comical and at the same time profound. Balaam saddles his donkey to travel with the Moabite king, but suddenly his donkey refuses to proceed, turning aside from the road and into the field. The donkey sees what the voodoo man has missed: God’s angel will not allow Balaam to come through; God’s angel is preventing the donkey from advancing with Balaam and Balak! The donkey then speaks, and, in so doing, demonstrates that speech is a gift from God. If God wishes a donkey to speak it will speak; and if God wishes Israel to be blessed, Israel will be blessed. Speech, whether blessings or curses, can only come from God. The venal, virulent voodoo man still tries to manipulate God. He and Balak attempt to bribe God with sacrifices to allow for the cursing of the Israelites, but to no avail. Instead, Balaam expresses the most magnificent of blessings: “This is a nation with the ability to dwell alone, which does not have to be counted amongst other nations...” (Numbers 23:9). No black magic can be effective against Israel and no occult powers against Jacob…” (Ibid. 23:23). How goodly are your tents,
O Jacob, your tabernacles, O Israel... (ibid. 24:5). A star shall go forth from Jacob, and a ruling scepter from Israel…” (ibid. 24:17). Israel shall emerge triumphant… in the end, Amalek will be destroyed forever (ibid. 24:19–20). “With that, Balaam set out and returned home. Balak also went on his way” (ibid. 24:25). But this is not how the portion concludes. As Chapter 25 opens, the Israelites behave immorally with Moabite women, and a prince of the tribe of Simeon publicly fornicates with a Midianite princess. A horrific plague overtakes the Israelites and Israel seems to be vanquished until Phinehas and eventually Moses punishes the wrongdoers, thereby inspiring national repentance. The message is clear. Israel is to be blessed – but only if we serve God (and not idols) and act morally and ethically. Israel’s success or lack of success is not dependent on voodoo men, black magic operators, even solely on God’s will; it is ultimately dependent on our own moral actions.
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T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEKÅFS PORTION: BALAK (BAMIDBAR 22:2Å\25:9) 1. Balak was the king of which nation? a.) Moav b.) Ammon c.) Moab 2. After which visit did Bilaam agree to Balak's request? a.) First b.) Second c.) Third 3. What did Balak's representatives bring when they met Bilaam? a.) Animal sacrifices b.) Representatives from many nations c.) Witchcraft 4. C 22:41 Baal was a deity. There Bilaam saw only part of the people but not all. Before Moshe died he saw Ågall of CanaanÅh. Sforno 5. A 23:14 It was a high plateau to watch if ene-
EFRAT, Israel – “No black magic can be effective against Jacob, and no occult powers against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). Who controls the fortune and destiny of nations? Does the ebb and flow of history turn nondescript, banal and ordinary individuals into great heroic personalities, or do those extraordinary heroes create for themselves the perfect historic opportunities to demonstrate their courage and heroism? Perhaps it is neither history that creates great leaders nor great leaders who create history, but rather God, the Ruler of the Universe, who plans and controls the various moves of His puppet-pawns on the great earthly chess board in order to provide the endgame which has been His purpose from the beginning of time. Or perhaps it is none of the above; perhaps there are certain soothsayers or magicians who know the secret formulae – or the black magic – to manipulate God and change reality to conform to their evil designs. Perhaps history is created by such demonic emissaries from the nether world, forces of darkness and destruction. Or perhaps nations rise and fall due to the efforts of more benign, but no less dangerous, marketers for financial profit and personal political gain, who seize control of public opinion by painting certain peoples “black” and certain peoples “white,” media moguls who understand that the bigger the lie, the greater the credulity. I believe that these are precisely the issues being dealt with in this week’s supernatural, eerie, comical, lyrical and prophetic portion of Balak. This portion follows the Israelite encampment on the plains of Moab and concludes just after the Israelites begin to behave immorally with the Moabite and Midianite women. Its narrative style is very different from most of the verses that precede and follow it; indeed, it could be removed from the Book of Numbers without affecting the storyline whatsoever. Balaam enters the scene after the Israelites have gone through desert rebellions and reorganizations and finally seem to be succeeding in defeating several of the smaller Canaanite nations and preparing the next generation to enter the Land of Israel. The unasked question throughout the portion is who or
Israel is to be blessed – but only if we serve God (and not idols) and act morally and ethically.
4. Where did Bilaam first try to curse the Children of Israel? a.) Before he left home b.) Before he hit his donkey c.) Heights of Baal 5. What was the second place where Bilaam tried to curse the Children of Israel? a.) The Plateau of viewing b.) Shittim c.) Kiryat Chutzot
2. B 22:7,18-20 Even though Hashem did not want Bilaam to go, but Hashem will allow a person to go if he really wants to. Talmud 3. C 22:7
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT BALAK NUMBERS 22:2- 25:9
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
Answers 1. A 22:4 Balak was from Midian,but was appointed as king of Moav after the defeat of Sichon
Sedra of the Week
18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
JEWZ
IN THE
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By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist
‘How many zombies did you kill today?’”
CHAMUEL: A BIT MORE As I write this, MICHELLE CHAMUEL, 27, is one of the three finalists in this season’s “The Voice” competition. I think it’s very likely that Chamuel will go on to a high profile, successful career even if she is not the winner. She has a great voice and an engaging stage presence. A cousin of Chamuel, who lives in San Francisco, contacted me after reading this column. She informed me that Chamuel’s father, JACQUES, an engineer, and her mother, JOLIE, a doctor, are both Egyptian-born Jews who moved to the States in the early ‘60s. Virtually all of Egypt’s 80,000 Jews were forced to flee Egypt between 1948 and 1967. In Egypt, I was told, Michelle’s parents were members of the Karaite Jewish community. Karaites are now a quite small wing of Judaism, but once their numbers were much larger. They embrace the Torah, but reject the oral law and the Talmud. There is only one Karaite synagogue in America with its own dedicated facility.
LEFEVRE FEVER Odds are you have seen RACHELLE LEFEVRE, 34, in more than one role. The pretty red-headed actress played the evil vampire Victoria Sutherland in the first two “Twilight” films and she played Paul Giamatti’s first wife in the 2009 movie, “Barney’s Version,” based on the late MORDECAI RICHLER novel. She’s been in several short-lived TV shows and has done a lot of guest roles. On Friday, June 28, her latest film, “White House Down,” opens. Channing Tatum stars as a Capitol policeman who wants to be a member of the President’s Secret Service detail. As he is taking his daughter on a White House tour, a paramilitary group launches an attack, and Tatum’s character gets a chance to show how tough he is. Lefevre plays Tatum’s exwife. Their daughter is played by JOEY KING, 13. Lefevre also co-stars in the new, six-part CBS mini-series, “Under the Dome,” which starts on Monday, June 24 at 10PM. It’s a sci-fi thriller based on a Stephen King novel and it’s produced by STEVEN SPIELBERG, 66. Lefevre was born and raised in Montreal. In 2011, she told Venice Magazine: “I’m Jewish and I lost my great-grandfather, who was shot down in a pogrom, and I lost great-grandparents in the Holocaust. When ‘Fugitive Pieces’ [a 2007 film about the Holocaust], came along, it was just one of those things where I read it and I thought, ‘I have to be in this’… ‘My stepfather is a rabbi; I’m not a religious Jew, but I’m certainly well informed.’”
NOT YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN “World War Z,” which opens on Friday, June 21, is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by MAX BROOKS, 41. The book was hailed as raising the intellectual level of the zombiegenre. Brooks is the son of MEL BROOKS, 86, and the late Anne Bancroft. Max’s wife, MICHELLE KHOLOS BROOKS, 45, is a former NPR producer who is now a playwright and novelist. Brad Pitt stars in “WWZ” as Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator who travels around the world trying to figure out how a plague of zombies arose and what can be done to stop them. Israel is an important stop – the Israeli government was the first to take the zombie threat seriously and it moved quickly to evacuate from the occupied areas and admit, into Israeli proper, any Jew or Palestinian who was uninfected. While in Jerusalem, and in other places, Lane is guarded by a crack Israeli security guard played by Israeli actress DANIELLE KERTESZ, 24. As the “Times of Israel” recently said, Kertesz was “plucked from relative obscurity” to play this role. She told an Israeli TV station that she liked Brad, Angelina, and their kids very much. She said: “[They were] normal kids who asked their dad things like,
REPORTING THE NEWS In January, CNN hired JAKE TAPPER, 44, to host his own program, “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” At first, Tapper looked like he would follow the downward ratings spiral of most other “straight-news” CNN anchors and he wouldn’t be around for long. But his ratings have improved and it looks like he is now being favored over JOHN KING, 49, when it comes to reporting big breaking news on the ground. (King made a howling error while reporting on the Boston Marathon bombing.) One “safe in his job” news anchor I only just learned is Jewish is JEFFREY BROWN, 61. He’s been the even-keeled co-anchor of the PBS Newshour since 2005.
FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO Wanted – The Congregation Beth Israel of Philadelphia is desirous of engaging immediately a competent person to officiate as Rabbi and Preacher, must be capable of preaching in the English and German languages and also to superintend a Hebrew school. – The congregation is strictly Orthodox. Undoubted testimonals from good authority are indispensable. – The Salary for the first year is $800 and perquisites. – Applicants must bear their own expenses. Applications to be made to B. Abeles, President, No. 54 South 2d St., Philadelphia, Penn. Wanted In a private Jewish family, a room and board, by a lady. Please answer at this office, Address Mrs. M - July 3, 1863
125 Y EARS A GO The people of Cincinnati evidently know a good thing when they see it; and the success of the Magnetic Mineral Water is no exception to this rule, as two carloads were sold and delivered here in ten days. It is the best weapon to fight disease with, and while it is wonderful in its action it is as pleasant to drink as their famous Magnetic Ginger Ale. Office 269 Main Street. Telephone 1832. The coolest and most delightful way of spending an afternoon and evening is on an excursion to Coney Island. Twenty miles on the river in a magnificent boat and the privilege of admission to the finest pleasure grounds in the West, all for fifty cents. The unusually hot weather has had its effect. Every one who can is running away from the close, hot atmosphere of the city, to seek shelter where the cool breezes play among the trees. Coney Island is going to be the place of popular resort this summer for the “stay-at-homes.” Already many parties are being formed for the purpose of going up the river to this delightful park for the purpose of spending an evening in the cool, refreshing shade of the grand old trees that ornament the “Island.” Several clubs are forming for the express purpose of going to “Coney” once a week at least. June 22, 1888
100 Y EARS A GO During the month of May the Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati, which gives free services to the poor, attended to a total number of 104 cases. Of these 89 were settled out of court and the remainder required 45 appearances in court to dispose of them. Mr. F. W. Boye,
Jr., has been elected President of the society to succeed John Fleck Winslow, deceased. Legal aid societies are being organized in Dayton and Hamilton under the auspices of the Cincinnati association. A good work done by the society recently has been to inform the newspapers that several loan companies were advertising in their columns “loans at legal rates,” when in fact they were charging usurious interest. The newspapers thereupon refused to accept the advertisements, this compelling the loan companies to keep within the law or quit advertising. - June 19, 1913
through Associated Jewish Agencies, 2905 Vernon Place, PL 1-5800. David Ben-Gurion will conclude a 15-year period as prime minister of Israel as soon as his successor is chosen. He is 76. He announced Sunday, June 16, that he is resigning for personal reasons. Moshe Sharett is the only other person ever to have served in the post. He served in 1954 while Mr. Ben-Gurion took a rest. - June 20, 1963
75 Y EARS A GO
Plans for this year’s annual Designer Dress Days Sale are in full swing. A kickoff breakfast was held June 1. This year’s chairman is Susan Mombach. The planning committee is now collecting quality fashions and accessories to be sold on Nov. 13th and 14th at Adath Israel. Mombach brings with her 14 years of retailing experience. She was the bridal and dress buyer for Bergdoff Goodman and was also affiliated with Saks Fifth Avenue. “This year’s sale promises to be very successful and exciting,” Mombach says. “Plans are in the early stages that include several social functions as well.” Mombach resides in Indian Hill with her family. Designer Dress Days is NCJW’s largest annual fundraiser. The proceeds from the sale support many community service projects. Richard E. Friedman was installed as president of the Hillel board of trustees at the annual board meeting of the Hillel Foundation on June 5. Installed with Friedman, as members of the executive board are Dr. Jerry Goodman, Walter Solomon, and David Fingerman; vice presidents, J. David Rosenberg; secretary, Matt Lee; Assistant secretary, Larry Alter; treasurer, Doug Sandor; assistant treasurer. - June 23, 1988
The girls of Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority were entertained by the Mothers’ Group at Hillcrest Country Club Monday, June 27th, at luncheon. Mrs. Edna Hahn, president, Mother’s Club, and Mrs. Harry Helming, secretary, were cochairmen. Miss Marian J. Myers returned Sunday night from St. Louis where she attended the conclave of Sigma Theta Pi Sorority. This Tuesday she motored to New York with Mrs. Alfred Liebman and daughter, Phoebe. Miss Myers will be a counselor at Camp Mitchell in the Allegheny Mountains until Sept. 1st. Red and black raspberry and currant jellies have been added to the list of canned preserves at the Bake Shop of the United Jewish Social Agencies, Melish Avenue at Durbin Place. Women working there are preparing boxes of cakes for July 4th and vacations. Many housewives have found it helpful to obtain their mayonaisse and French dressing from the Bake Shop these warm days rather than prepare it themselves. Mr. Louis W. Sturm is treasurer of the Citizens School Committee, serving with the new chairman, Mr. Herbert F. Koch. Mr. William J. Shroder acted as chairman of the Nominating Committee. - June 30, 1938
50 Y EARS A GO Miss Grace Henle will be honored at a luncheon Thursday, June 27, at 12:15 p.m., at the Netherland Hilton for her service as executive director of the Big Brothers Association. She recently announced her retirement. Albert L. Brown, Jr., is Big Brothers president. The committee chairman for the luncheon is Walter Bortz. Mrs. Melvin Schulman is program chairman. Maurice W. Jacobs will be master of ceremonies for the program. Reservations may be made
25 Y EARS A GO
10 Y EARS A GO Barbara C. Rabkin assumed the presidency of the Jewish Family Service (JFS) Board at its annual meeting June 19. The meeting also marked the introduction of the agency’s new executive director, Howard Schultz, who will assume his new duties July 1. The Miriam Dettlebach Award, presented to the volunteer whose dedication and volunteer time and effort is exceptional was, for the first time, awarded to two people. Hank Schneider, a former JFS president, and outgoing president Barry Morris shared this year’s Dettlebach award. - June 26, 2003
COMMUNITY CALENDAR / CLASSIFIEDS • 19
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
COMMUNITY CALENDAR June 20 8:15 a.m. - Elder Abuse Prevention Breakfast Cedar Village 5467 Cedar Village Dr. (513) 754-3100
June 26 7 p.m. - Opera goes to Temple Rockdale Temple 8501 Ridge Rd. (513) 891-9900
June 20 7:30 p.m. - A Discussion with Dr. Jeffrey Burds Adath Israel 3201 E. Galbraith Rd. (513) 487-3055
June 25 - 28 Summer Cinema Series Mariemont Theatre 6906 Wooster Pike (513) 722– 7226
June 24 7 p.m. - Access JGourmet Forkable Feast 3363 Madison Rd. (513) 373-0300
September 17 Peter Sagal Mayerson JCC 8485 Ridge Rd. (513) 722-7226
June 25 7 p.m. - JFS Annual Meeting 8487 Ridge Rd. (513) 766-3326
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
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Busy Reform congregation seeks self starter to help with support for Rabbi, receptionist and office duties. Computer skills required – MS Word is required; Adobe Pagemaker /In Design and Excel preferred. 16 hours per week. Send resume to 145 Springfield Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45215 or fax 513-679-7700.
MAPPING from page 5
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS
EMPLOYMENT
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 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org
“These maps show the actual conditions on the ground, presented for the sake of understanding. The intent is to be able to lecture to informed, varied audiences, from high school kids to generals and everyone in between.” One of Langfan’s maps details major Palestinian rocket-launching sites, showing the close proximity of those battlements to Israeli population centers. “When you realize that both Hezbollah and Hamas can fire rockets – like firing from Brooklyn to Manhattan – it really brings home the reality of the distance, really, the lack of distance [between rocket-launching sites and Israel],” Langfan says. Another Langfan map, designed around the issue of energy control, “simplifies understanding of the politics of energy,” he says. “The [Middle East] has 370 million Muslims and 11 million Christians in Greece,” Langfan explains. “The only barrier between them is Israel. Without Israel, the Muslims will seek to conquer Greece and Cyprus. If Israel were not there, would oil and gas revenues be shared with the Christians of Cyprus? The discovery of natural gas and oil reserves makes the existence of a strong Israel all the more important.” Gaining control over what Langfan calls the “Black Gold Triangle – the oil-rich strip along the east and west coasts of the Persian Gulf – is what Langfan says the “world chess game is all about.” “Each component is a piece of the puzzle,” he says. “Oil is key. OPEC represents 78 percent of the world’s oil – this area has 56 percent of that supply.” Langfan points out that Shi’ite Muslims hold virtually all of the Middle East oil reserves, even in Sunni-governed Saudi Arabia. He believes that Iran’s encouragement of the continuation of turmoil in Syria “is not over Syria,” but rather over the oil triangle. “For Iran, it’s a question of
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Up to 24 hour care Meal Preparation Errands/Shopping Hygiene Assistance Light Housekeeping
(513) 531-9600 controlling territory – a smothering campaign,” Langfan says. “Amman (the capital of Jordan) and Jerusalem are hardly involved.” In almost any conversation about the Middle East, the question of Iran’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons capacity arises. Langfan says the Iranians “are not fools” and “have placed their nuclear facilities in as protected a place as possible.” A strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities “means crossing 4,500 meter-high-mountains,” he says, explaining that attacking Iran is a tougher proposition than attacking Iraq, where all of the nuclear facilities are to the east of the mountains. Regarding Israel, Langfan says, “The strategic value of that little piece of land is extraordinary.” He is opposed to a twostate solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict and says the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC) “has a problem” on that issue. “[AIPAC] has supported the two-state solution, but its position has morphed into one that recognizes Israel as a strategic asset of the United States,” Langfan says, calling that position a “contradiction” because the two stances are “mutually exclusive.” “No matter what Israeli general or politician you speak to, they all say ‘We will take painful risks for the peace process,’” Langfan says. “They never mention Israel as a strategic asset. If you have a strategic asset, do you expose your strategic asset to pain and risks for peace?” “Israel is not a dependent little entity that needs to beg for its existence,” he adds. “Rather, the Jewish state is a vital component in maintaining the integrity of western civilization.” Ultimately, Langfan dismisses the approach of those who believe “we have to beg for Israel and beg the politicians” to support of the Jewish state. “My approach is radically different,” he says. “If you think there are problems in the Middle East now, think what would happen if there were no Israel.”
20 • BUSINESS & ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS
Sara Sela Jewelry By Gabrielle Cohen Assistant Editor Sara Sela originally started to make all kinds of jewelry when she was 5 years old. It wasn’t until a rainy day with her friend when she was 12 years old that her passion for jewelry-making really set off. For the past 14 years, jewelry making has been Sela’s passion. At first, she made jewelry out of clay and plastic pieces then she moved onto using stones. She uses precious and semi-precious stone, with sterling silver and 14k gold fill. Her jewelry style ranges from every day wear to casual to cocktail. She has everything for 1 year olds to grandmas. She started selling these pieces in flea markets. In 2007, she made her jewelry business into an official business and started selling at other markets around Brooklyn. Sela has been working around to selling her pieces in Boho-chic markets. In 2010, business started to really pick up when a PR firm gave her an opportunity. They wanted to fly her to Los Angeles to the Connected
Celebrity Gifting Suite in honor of the Prime Time Emmy Awards and show them her jewelry. Ever since then, her business has been taking off. Over the past year, Sela has been refocusing on her passion for jewelry. She is kickstarting her career by launching a jewelry line based on stretchable bracelets. Fortunately, her love and passion for jewelry-making has been consistent since she was 5. With the revamping of her website, Sela made it easier for customers to navigate and look through the pieces. She plans to display more pieces on the website this week. As she diligently works on more jewelry, Sela is having a special boutique sale in Cincinnati on June 27 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. for the first 20 people that RSVP. She will be featuring afforable, exclusive jewelry pieces within every price range. On June 30, a second show will be open to the community from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sara Sela Jewelry is truly one-of-a-kind in every handmade piece of jewelry.
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Ariel Quartet performs its first Beethoven cycle during CCM’s 2013-14 season The internationally acclaimed string quartet-in-residence at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music will present a complete tour of Beethoven’s string quartets during a series of six concerts scheduled for January, February and March of 2014. The Ariel Quartet will perform its first Beethoven cycle as part of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s (CCM) 2013-14 concert season. The acclaimed string quartet-in-residence at CCM will present a complete tour of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s 17 string quartets (including the “Große Fuge” or “Grand Fugue”) during a series of six concerts in early 2014. Dubbed “The Cycle,” this concert series will be held in UC’s acoustically stunning Corbett Auditorium with performances scheduled for 8 p.m. on Jan. 23 and 25, Feb. 20 and 22 and March 27 and 29, 2014. Beethoven’s string quartets are considered by many to be the greatest achievement in the history of western chamber music. As the string quartets stem from every major period of his creative life, the complete cycle depicts in vivid
The Ariel Quartet performs as part of CCM’s 2013-2014 concert season.
detail the remarkable development of Beethoven’s talents. Public performances of the complete Beethoven cycle have become a rite of passage for the world’s finest String Quartets. About the Ariel Quartet Characterized by its youth, brilliant playing and soulful interpretations, the Ariel Quartet has quickly earned a glowing international reputation. Previously the resident ensemble in the New England Conservatory’s prestigious Professional String Quartet Training
Program, the Quartet wowed audiences throughout its inaugural concert season at CCM in 2012-13, leading Music In Cincinnati’s Mary Ellyn Hutton to observe, “There is a connectedness in their playing that extends beyond mere rhythmic and metrical precision into conceptual unity” and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Janelle Gelfand to conclude, “They are establishing a new era that could rival that of the LaSalle.” The ensemble first started playing together as youths in Israel and has been performing around the world since.
The Marx Brothers and Jewish identity By Robert Gluck JointMedia News Service The sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany and France, the Marx Brothers became zany masters of stage and screen who continue to captivate audiences. But in addition to providing comic relief, their films captured the drama of the entry of their marginalized religion into the U.S. Wayne Koestenbaum, author of the 2012 book The Anatomy of Harpo Marx, explains that the Marx Brothers’ Jewishness as a family “was evident, marked, thoroughly legible.” “Within a family already marked as Jewish within cinema culture of the ’20s and ’30s, Harpo, as the one who experiences shame most vividly in the films, became the scapegoat,” Koestenbaum tells JNS. “To the extent, then, that Jews have always been scapegoated – and certainly in the ’30s most tragically and demonstrably scapegoated – it seems to me no coincidence that the Marx Brothers made their films exactly during the time of the rise of Nazism.” Koestenbaum’s book is a detailed account of Harpo’s physical movements as captured on screen.
He guides readers through the 13 Marx Brothers films, from “The Cocoanuts” in 1929 to “Love Happy” in 1950, focusing on Harpo’s body language – its kinks, sexual multiplicities, somnolence, pathos, and Jewishness. In his appraisal of Harpo’s antics in “A Night in Casablanca,” Koestenbaum writes, “I will lean on the Nazi theme; Harpo leans on it, too. Harpo was a comic genius before the Third Reich came along, but the Third Reich gave Harpo’s anarchy extra pointedness.” Born in New York City, the Marx Brothers’ mother, Minnie Schonberg, was from Dornum in East Frisia, Germany, and their father, Simon Marx, was a native of Alsace, France, and worked as a tailor. The Marx family lived in the then-poor Yorkville section of New York’s Upper East Side, between the Irish, German, and Italian quarters. Often imitated, the Marx Brothers first mastered the stage but went on to conquer almost every medium, creating memorable sketches and classic movies. Many think of Groucho, with his familiar, now iconic mask – greasepaint mustache, eyebrows, glasses, cigar and hair – as a symbol of the Marx
Courtesy of Yousuf Karsh via Wikimedia Commons
The Marx Brothers, from left to right: Chico, Harpo, and Groucho (sitting).
Brothers. But Koestenbaum makes the case for Harpo, who the author says belongs in the same conversation as Charlie Chaplin and Marcel Marceau, the world’s greatest mimes. “Harpo is a vestige of an earlier moment in cinema, the silent era, so he’s sort of out of place. He is literally the one who gets shamed or shunted aside in a lot of the family dynamics on screen. To the extent that cinema became a sound art, he’s an exile,” Koestenbaum tells JNS. Koestenbaum says the Marx Brothers’ films “are haunted by a sense of the Jews as outsiders and
endangered.” “Obviously the Marx Brothers always get the last laugh so that they triumph,” he says. “They win the war; they win the battle against the persecutors. The other people in their movies are always bigger, more upper-class bullies and fools. They are bigger than Groucho and Chico but you notice it more with Harpo.” One of those reasons the Marx Brothers’ work lives on is Frank Ferrante, whose one-man show, “An Evening with Groucho,” is on a tour of the U.S. in 2013. An awardwinning actor, director, and playwright, Ferrante recreates his New York and London-acclaimed portrayal of Groucho Marx in 90 minutes of fast-paced hilarity. The Marx Brothers’ staying power stems from the “unspoken, spiritual connection and intimate rapport that comes with their brotherhood,” among other factors, Ferrante tells JNS. The Marx Brothers continued popularity comes from “the fact that they represent the outsider and take perverse joy in tearing down the establishment and anyone who has power and authority – the wealthy, politicians, lawyers, doctors, professors. They are simply hysterical and
can elicit belly laughs from all ages, classes, genders, race,” Ferrante says. Ferrante says Groucho was intensely loyal to his friends, many of whom were writers. “He maintained these friendships for decades,” Ferrante says. “He was also an avid proponent of young talent and made a public point of heralding newcomers, struggling artists and writers. Jack Lemmon, Woody Allen, Steve Allen, Dick Cavett, Neil Simon and countless others benefited from his influence.” With Koestenbaum’s book, the case has been made for Harpo’s physical comic genius to be mentioned in the same conversation as Groucho’s verbal virtuosity – and that is where the Marx Brothers’ Jewish identity comes into play. “Harpo’s infantilism, babyishness and cuteness makes one feel the plight of the Jews more poignantly,” Koestenbaum says. “But he moves too quickly. He wiggles, nods, runs. I wanted to pin him down, hold him, and figure out why I loved him. After writing hundreds of pages, love remains impossible to explain but I will try. He seems to be able to find comfort anywhere.”
FIRST PERSON • 21
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
Jewish book conference
Over 100 years ago, when Jews immigrated to New York City from Europe, landsmen loved to gather in cafes. In fact, there were 300 cafes alone on the Lower East Side in the 1870s and different cafes attracted different types of patrons. Today, most of these cafes no longer exist, but Jews are still talking and gathering and debating and pontificating – at conferences, coffee houses, homes and conventions centers – as I was soon to find out. Picture this: a hushed, dimly lit, vast space laced with energy and passion, cut off from the incessant clamoring of the city streets. Picture this: a room where half the occupants are experiencing spasms of
nervousness and half are experiencing spasms of anticipation. Picture this: the yearly meeting of the Jewish Book Council Convention in New York City – early June 2013. Over 200 authors from around the world gather to pitch their books. They are given a time span of two minutes, with a 360 word cap. Their appearqance is before another vast group – comprised of book lovers from all over the United States, who will then report back to their Jewish communities on who they feel would make great speakers for Jewish Book Month. Needless to say, sometimes good books don’t make good event topics and vice versa. Hence the challenge. At this conference, presenting authors are also available for follow-up questions and conversations. And for the most part, writers aren’t divas and – as past attendees can attest – most authors are highly approachable, flexible and easy to work with. But stories circulate furiously of whom to avoid booking. The best anecdote of all: the author who turned away a car service that was picking her up at the airport, deeming the car not up to
her travel standards and then proceeded to call a limousine, charging the expense to the local organization that hosted her. I don’t gossip (at least not in this column) but if you are lucky enough to attend next year’s conference, I bet the same story will still be circulating and you will have ample opportunity to learn the author’s hidden identity. Presenting authors and rapt attendees hailed from diverse backgrounds and a myriad of fields of expertise, but you would not have known it by their appearance and dress. Few skinny jeans, tattooed midriffs or spiky stilettos made an appearance among the conservatively attired crowd. However, the variety of presenter’s interests and talents belied the sameness of dress: converts to columnists, bloggers to soldiers, Pulitzer Prize winners to Rhodes Scholars. Cooks. Artist. Investigative reporters. Teachers. Imams. Rabbis. Transgenders. Their accomplishments, book content and subject matter were as varied as the Diaspora itself. Among those presenting was a descendant of the Grossinger Family – as in Catskills. Founder of Patron Tequila. Jane Weitzman,
wife of shoe tycoon Stuart Weitzman, wearing a killer pair of navy blue shoes. Charles Grodin’s daughter, who brought down the house with her humorous, wildly imaginative observations and remarks. Some were obscure. Some well known. The youngest Ephron sister. Daughter of Erich Segal (think Love Story). The first female (and Jewish) Maasai Warrior. As the days flew by, I continued to search for the Cincinnati delegation. Dayton was represented, but alas, no one from the Queen City was there. Hence this column and my picks for some great books to read and to give as gifts as a result of my attending the JBC Authors on Tour, 2013-2014. Please note some of these books have not yet been released for publication. What Do Women Want? – Adventures in the Science of Female Desire by Daniel Bergner – not only is the author a male but an orthodox sexologist! The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro – best-selling novel about how far we will go to get what we want. Marching to Zion by Mary Glickman – good summer read by a convert to Judaism who moved to the South and writes about that area
of the country too. Crossing the Borders of Time by Leslie Maitland, who appears regularly on the Diane Rehm show discussing literary concerns. Nonfiction but reads like fiction. How to be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick by Letty Cottin Pogrebin. I am an avid Letty fan. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, she interviewed 80 people on the art of compassionate communication. The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker. This book is getting rave reviews and was featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review. Matchpoint by Elise Sax. At last a mystery/ romance series for Jewish readers. You should only know: four auction houses bid on it! I hope to be at the Jewish Book Council Convention next year – maybe even as a presenter – and anticipate seeing some of you there too. I will be the one in the skinny jeans and stilettos, sans tattoos. In the meantime, be enlightened, connected, entertained and educated.
STAND from page 16
STUDENTS from page 3
the difference between life and death for many Iranian activists behind bars. We must combat the Islamic Republic’s pervasive culture of impunity by shining a light on gross human rights violations that Tehran wishes to hide. Last week, Canada became the first country to officially recognize the 1988 massacre as constituting crimes against humanity. The United States and Canada must continue to lead the annual resolution at the U.N. General Assembly that “names and shames” Iran for its terrible human rights record. We must also work with like-minded countries, particularly those in the global south, to require Iran to permit the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Iran to visit that country’s prisons and talk freely with dissidents. We must expose the fraudulence of the Iranian presidential elections where numerous candidates, specifically women, were barred from participating. Iranian citizens yearn for human rights and the rule of law, as they clearly demonstrated during their massive and peaceful 2009 post-election uprising. Solidarity and assistance from the United States, Canada and the international community will help them pursue their demands and protect their rights. It is what Iranians require. It is what Iran’s dictators fear. It is where we can help.
poems addressed co-existence and the unique blend of past and present within Jerusalem. A line that stood out was, “Jerusalem, the only city in the world where the right to vote is granted even to the dead.” We then headed to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Museum, for an interesting, but very somber and sobering exhibit. Emotions ran high as we quickly got a deeper understanding of the atrocities committed against the Jews and other minority groups of Europe. While this exhibit subjected us to a lot of the horrors that human beings are capable of, it also made visible the potential of individuals’ capacity to bond together and help their fellow people... Reflections on Antiquity and Modernity: Taking a look at the various pieces of Jewish attire, artifacts, day-to-day objects, and synagogues at the Israel Museum highlighted the depth and richness of Jewish history. Judaism, despite being one of the world’s oldest religions, has shown the resilience to thrive and continue today. It is aweinspiring to see how Judaism is still influenced by its rich history. Day Five (Maggie Rivera): Reflections: The Sabbath itself is a reflection of the past extending its hand into the present. An ancient biblical practice, Sabbath still plays a significant part in Jewish life today... I was particularly moved by a line from the prayerbook of congregation Kol Haneshamah, “The slaves of time are the slaves of a slave. Only the slave of the Lord is truly free”
(Yehuda HaLevi, 12th century Spanish-Jewish poet). It is in places like Jerusalem that the events of antiquity define modern experiences and how we view them. Day Ten (Jason Schapera). Today we woke up early and descended into the ancient Nabatean city of Petra. The city, located deep in mountainous crags of Jordan, was a holy place and a gathering site for the Nabateans. Their reverence for the place is reflected by the stunning stone-hewn architecture and gorgeous designs which adorn the walls of the deep canyons. Reflections: In ancient times, Petra was a gathering place and center of worship for the Nabateans whose trading territory extended from Egypt to the Arabian Peninsula. The Nabatean religion was very accepting of foreign gods and idols, and gave a place to a popular deity among the many niches carved around the city. Today, Petra continues to be a destination for a wide variety of people. The diversity of languages and appearances was rivaled only by the diversity of colors which swirled in the sandstone ceiling of the tombs. Day Fourteen (Rachel Meeks): Though Tel-Aviv is inextricably modern, it seizes antiquity by force through the Diaspora Museum. The museum carries the visitor through the Jewish experience outside of the land of Israel. Here the past is remembered and cherished, whereas outside its walls in the city the ancient paths are all but forgotten. Meanwhile, joined to such a city as Tel-Aviv is the ancient beauty, Jaffa
(pronounced yafo, it is related to the Hebrew word for beauty). Of course, the old stone streets of Jaffa are not totally different from the concrete sidewalks of Tel-Aviv. Even so, antiquity shines in Jaffa. Though the stones and columns were often refinished, one never feels that modernity has overwhelmed and overtaken the city. One can easily imagine Andromeda being chained to a rock and rescued by Perseus; or Jonah, fleeing the word of the Eternal, only to be swallowed by a passing giant fish. And yet, to look out across the sea at Tel-Aviv is to look from the shores of the past straight into the future. One stands where civilization was and looks out at what it will become. Day Sixteen (Peter Voorhees): Today was planned as a shorter, relaxing day because the Jewish holiday of Shavuot began at sundown. In the morning we traveled to Zippori, where we viewed some of antiquity’s most well-preserved mosaics. The most prominent mosaic is simply known as the ‘Mona Lisa of the Galilee’. After we left Zippori, we reconvened with our homestay families where we were given an authentic Israeli meal, but, in accordance with Shavuot, the meal was dairy. It was a fantastic meal, filled with dishes I couldn’t ever try to remember the names of. Reflections: Although my homestay family was not religious they maintained the general religious Jewish traditions. According to my host, approximately 90% of Israel does not identify as religious. Yet, secular families maintain the religious tradi-
tions and holidays of the religious. Just because they aren’t religious doesn’t mean that they won’t observe centuries of Jewish tradition. In the context of my American mindset, it is interesting to see the devotion to tradition in Israeli culture. Although Israeli culture is very westernized, their culture is completely different from what I had expected. In a sense, secular Israeli practice is a kind of modernized antiquity. Department of Judaic Studies major Samantha Gerstein summarized the significance of this class: “I had a lot fun in Israel and Jordan, but more importantly, I learned so much more abroad than I could have in a classroom. Studying texts on location had a powerful impact on me. The opportunity to see the visual inspiration of the written word deepened my understanding of these authors’ ideas. It was especially meaningful to put the places that I have studied about for four years into context by seeing what I usually can only visualize in pictures. This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.” To be sure, students were glad to reconnect with friends and family and return from the Middle East to the Midwest, from hummus and shwarma to pizza and Graeter’s. But the sights and sounds and smells linger. According to Professor Kraus, “the rhythms of Mediterranean life and culture leave their mark. And the daily encounter of the ancient and modern in Israel and Jordan continue to transform the students personally, culturally, and intellectually.”
Incidentally Iris
by Iris Ruth Pastor
Keep Coping, Iris Ruth Pastor
22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES GILBERT, Hilda K,. age 97, died on June 11, 2013; 3 Tammuz, 5773. KLEBANOW, Bessie, age 96, died June 14, 2013; 6 Tammuz, 5773.
O BITUARIES GILBERT, Hilda K. Hilda K. Gilbert, age 97, passed away June 11, 2013, beloved wife of the late Nathan Gilbert, devoted mother of Miriam Gilbert of Iowa City, Iowa, David and Jill Gilbert of Manassas, Va., loving sister of the late Nathan Kessler, dear grandmother of Daniel and Sarah Gilbert. Hilda and her husband, Nathan, lived the American dream. They were first generation Americans; went to public schools and public universities; had opportunities that neither of their families had; loved their work in teaching, research and administration. Although they represented the isolated nuclear family, they acquired family (not only in California) but also in Wisconsin, Alabama, Iowa, Stratford-on Avon (England) and especially in Ohio. The Gilberts were founding members of Temple Sholom in Cincinnati. Graveside services were held on Friday, June 14. Memorial contributions to Temple Sholom, Cincinnati Museum of Natural History or charity of choice would be appreciated.
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TISHA B’AV from page 5 ments that the modern Jewish thinkers have diverged on how Tisha B’Av ought to be approached in the present. Unlike Yom Kippur, whose themes of repentance and forgiveness are timelessly compelling, Tisha B’Av as traditionally observed openly longs for a way of religious life that has irrevocably passed and that even the most fervently Orthodox today would find alien. Understandably, those movements and individuals in recent history that have championed Judaism’s ability to evolve and adapt would not be interested in the message of Tisha B’v – that what is old is best. This was the feeling that guided early leaders of the Reform movement in the 18th century to do away FEINSTEIN from page 7 Feinstein announced the killings at a news conference and then succeeded Moscone as mayor. Colleagues say the murders were formative for Feinstein, who was outraged that the killer, Dan White, claimed he was depressed and was convicted only of manslaughter. The incident continued to inform her positions after her election to the Senate in 1992, most prominently in the lead she has taken on gun control advocacy since the massacre of 26 people at a school in Connecticut last year. “Dianne has always been pretty much a centrist on these issues, law enforcement, security,” said Mel Levine, a former Democratic congressman from southern California. Wyden, the child of German Holocaust survivors, entered public service through his activism as a young professor of
with the observance of Tisha B’Av. Since they were interested in making Judaism appealing to a modern, scientific milieu, the reformers emphasized the ethical elements of Jewish teaching and minimized ritual law. The transition from sacrificial worship to verbal prayer brought on by the destruction of the temple was seen not so much as a tragedy, but as an important step in the development of Judaism toward pure ethical monotheism. American Jews’ lack of familiarity with Tisha B’Av can likely be traced back to that early decision. The Reform movement is the largest denomination among American Jewry today, and there are a significant number of Reform temples across the country that do not mark Tisha B’Av on their calendars.
But in the last several decades, more and more Reform rabbis and communities have begun reintroducing some kind of Tisha B’Av observance into their annual schedule. In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle in 2011, Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of Liturgy, Worship and Ritual at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, attributed the shift to two causes. First, he attributed this to the Holocaust and the subsequent founding of the state of Israel, events that brought the experience of national tragedy and a strong sense of unified peoplehood into the modern Jewish experience. Interestingly, the second development Hoffman identified was the growth of Jewish camps. As the
anecdote above illustrates, Tisha B’Av’s placement during the summer months made it a natural choice for inclusion within the Jewish educational programming at Reform Jewish camps. Rather than focus on the destruction of the temple, Hoffman explains, educators taught their campers about the Holocaust and other tragic events from throughout Jewish history. Moved by the experience, young people brought the observance of Tisha B’Av back to their home communities. Despite these changes, Hoffman aptly described the current attitude of the Reform movement toward Tisha B’Av as “ambivalent.” Like those skeptical campers, many American Jews are still just finding out about Tisha B’Av for the first time.
gerontology concerned about insurance scams targeting seniors. “The victims of these scams – seniors who had lived through two world wars – would look at me with shame in their eyes and tell me that they should have known better,” he wrote on the Huffington Post last year. “Stopping those insurance ripoffs was one of the reasons I ran for Congress.” Wyden founded the Oregon chapter of the Gray Panthers, a social justice group focused on the rights of older Americans, in the 1970s. In 1980 he was elected to the House, and then to the Senate in 1996. “He’s always been very much an independent thinker,” said Bob Horenstein, the director of the Portland, Ore. Jewish Community Relations Council. “He’ll find allies where he needs to find allies, and if he has to oppose a colleague, he’ll do
that.” Wyden and Feinstein both have reputations for walking away from their parties – and their natural constituencies – on principle. Feinstein is an outspoken advocate for the death penalty and has close ties to the centrist pro-Israel community and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee – neither position a particularly popular one in Feinstein’s northern California base. But she has also endorsed the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for comprehensive peace in exchange for a return to the 1967 borders, and cited Israel’s use of cluster bombs in Lebanon to explain her repeated bids to ban the export of those arms. In 2011, Wyden unnerved his Democratic colleagues when he joined with Rep. Paul Ryan (RWis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, in
advocating for private options for seniors eligible for Medicare. Notably, the Gray Panthers, the organization that launched his public career, adamantly opposed the WydenRyan proposal. Wyden suggested in a lengthy response on the Huffington Post that he was not about to stop working with Republicans or anyone else if it would advance the rights of Americans. “Because we worked together, Paul Ryan now knows more about the Medicare Guarantee and protecting seniors from unscrupulous insurance practices than he did before,” Wyden said. “If that is reflected in his budget this year, as someone who has been fighting for seniors since he was 27 years old, I think that’s a step in the right direction.”
KELLER from page 4
helped prevent another mass book burning by the Nazis, this time in Austria. Shortly after Hitler annexed Austria in March 1938, the Nazis gave the Austrian National Library a long list of books to be removed and burned. Students at Williams College in Massachusetts sent a telegram to the Austrian library, offering to buy the books. Riots broke out on the Williams campus when anti-Nazi students tried to burn Hitler in effigy, and pro-Nazi students used fire hoses to stop them. Yale University’s student newspaper urged the school administration to purchase the Austrian books, which it said would both add to Yale’s “intellectual equipment” and “administer a well-justified backhanded slap” to the Nazis.
Unfortunately, Yale’s chief librarian disagreed, claiming the book-burnings in Germany were just “students letting off steam.” Nevertheless, the protests by students at Williams, Yale, and other universities appear to have had an impact. The Austrian National Library announced that the books in question would be locked away rather than burned. Helen Keller is not known to have commented specifically on the student protests. But one may assume she was deeply proud that at a time when too many Americans did not want to be bothered with Europe’s problems, these young men and women understood the message of her 1933 letter – that the principles under attack by the Nazis were something that should matter to all mankind.
in the World War with no thought in my heart but love and compassion for the German people.” “Do not imagine your barbarities to the Jews are unknown here,” she added. “God sleepeth not, and He will visit his Judgment upon you. Better were it for you to have a mill-stone hung round your neck and sink into the sea than to be hated and despised of all men.” Various foreign leaders also criticized the book burnings, but the Hitler regime ignored such protests. Perhaps if the words of condemnation had been accompanied by diplomatic or economic consequences, the Nazis would have had to reconsider. Five years later, protests by American college students
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