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THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014 28 SIVAN, 5774

Hamentaschen Hip Hop at the JCC

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20th annual JCC Adams Classic a huge success

Cedar Village CEO tells White House more attention is needed to fight elder abuse

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Barry Kohn, Aubrey Herman, Bill Lazarus, Netanel ( Ted ) Deutsch along with many others had a great day Golfing in the Mayerson JCC golf outing.

On Thursday, June 19 the Mayerson JCC held its 20th Annual JCC Adams Classic fundraiser recognizing the JCC Early Childhood School at Losantiville Country Club.

Betsy Singer-Lefton, JCC Adams Classic organizer said, “The event was a huge success! We are happy to say that each year the Adams Classic keeps growing. This year we sold out of afternoon golf spots and reservations to the Course of Caterers dinner.” She continued, “We are very happy that so many people are dedicated to supporting the JCC and its important role in the community.”

This year’s tournament included

a record breaking 156 golfers, 20 tennis players, 136 sponsors, and over 50 volunteers who made sure the day went smoothly.

“We had an exceptional volunteer planning committee led by Mark Newman and Cory Pollock.

They helped plan a record breaking fundraiser,” said Marc Fisher, CEO of the Mayerson JCC. “The Adams Classic is very important to the success of the JCC. The support of the many volunteers and generous sponsors of this event allow us to make a difference at our J and for our entire community.”

One of the highlights of the beautiful day was the Course of Caterers dinner where popular local

restaurants offered their most popular dishes. Although the dinner was moved inside due to late afternoon rain, nothing dampened the spirits of the golfers, tennis players and dinner guests as they visited the dinner booths grabbing an eclectic meal that included sushi, special salads, appetizers, dinner entrées, and a variety of tasty desserts. After the meal, many stayed to socialize and hear the announcement of raffle and tournament winners.

The tennis tournament winners included the doubles team of Marc Schneider and Richard Goodman.

Tennis finalists were Brad Greenberg and John Silverman.

First place net winners of the morn-

ing golf scramble were Nate Gruber, Jamie Bertke, Dennis Glosser and Brian Shapiro.

Afternoon first place net winners were Jody Brant, Ken Heldman and Bob Ringel.

This year’s dedicated volunteer planning committee included Mark Newman and Cory Pollock (event chairs), Debbie Brant (Mayerson JCC President), Bob Brant (Sponsorship Chair), Vallie BrantFreeman and Amy Fisher (Raffle Co-chairs), Jody Brant (Golf Chair), Colin Nourie (Tennis Chair) and Sherri Symson (Dinner Chair).

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THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

B’nai Tzedek honors memory of Louis Nidich Congregation B'nai Tzedek has planned a program to honor the memory of Louis Nidich z”l. The event will occur on Sunday, July 20, 2014 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Congregation B'nai Tzedek.

As a founding member and past president, Lou Nidich gave much of himself to the growth and development of the B'nai Tzedek congregation, and he was an avid and active supporter of the Cincinnati commu-

nity overall. Expressions of Lou’s devotion to family, the congregation, and the Cincinnati community will mark this occasion. Attendees will also have the opportunity to record their own memories on-site, which will become part of a memory book that will be presented to his extended family at the event. Adding special choral selections throughout the program, the Pri Yadeiha women’s choir will feature a composition by

Lou’s granddaughter, Rachel Covitch. The program will close with the presentation of a plaque acknowledging the planting of a garden of trees in Israel in Lou's memory, followed by a dessert reception.

B’nai Tzedek is pleased to invite the many friends that Lou had in the Cincinnati community to this event.

Please call the congregation office for more information or to RSVP.

Jewish Family Service Board President Mark Miller looks towards the future

Mark Miller

Beth Schwartz and Lilly Narusevich

Board President Mark Miller was proud to look at the future during the Jewish Family Service (JFS) Annual Meeting June 18.

“I am pleased and excited to tell you that 2013 was a breakout year for JFS and that 2014, and beyond, look even brighter,” announced Mark. J As Mark cited the future goals of Jewish Family Service funders United Way and Jewish Federation, he recognized that JFS will be more necessary and important to its clients and to the community. “We are the social service agency of the Jewish community AND the Jewish voice in the social service community,” he said.

Mark shared a few highlights from the past year including the opening of the Barbash Family Vital Support Center and the agency’s strong financial foundation.

“As part of the audit review, the audit professionals complimented JFS on its exemplary expense control. They were impressed that 93% of expenses went directly to direct program and service expenses.”

However this low overhead and lack of capacity building is actually hurting the agency’s ability to directly help more Cincinnati individuals and families.

“If we can invest more in the agency’s infrastructure, we can grow our agency, plan for our future, and deliver even more on our mission,” Mark stated.

Mark concluded his report with thanks for a caring dedicated staff, well-respected and knowledgeable leadership, committed and visionary board, and trusting community partners and funders.

Andi Lerner Levenson then presented the nominating report and

installation of officers. Continuing their two year term on the Board are Mark Miller, president; Andi Levenson, vice president; Larry Juran, vice president/treasurer; and Susan Shorr, secretary. New Board members serving a three year term are Amy Diamond, Stuart Rabkin, Marcus Saskin, Tonja Goldman, Lev Orlov, and Paul Spitz. Scott Slovin was reelected for a 2nd three-year term.

Members remaining on the Board are Bruce Baker, Melanie Blumental, Joni Burton, Alyce Ellison, Stephen Goldberg, Suzy Marcus Goldberg, Elanie Kaplan, Daniel Kerbel, Mark Knue, Daniel Phillips, Pam Sacherman, Tom Smith, Michael Sutter and Max Yamson. Lauren Scharf and Leslie Miller completed their terms.

Many awards were presented during the evening.

There was a special presentation recognizing the retirement of Lilly Narusevich, who has been with JFS for almost 20 years. Among her many responsibilities, Lilly has been a care manager for Russian Speaking seniors and Holocaust survivors, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program coordinator, and ESOL and Citizenship teacher. “Lilly is loved by her co-workers, volunteers, students, partnering professionals, and everyone who knows her. We will miss her kind, caring, warm and compassionate personality around the office, but expect to see her return as a volunteer,” said Ann Sutton Burke, JFS Director of Aging and Caregiver Services.

The Miriam Dettelbach Award was presented to Michael Schwartz.

This award is given in honor of the first executive director of Jewish Family

Service as recognition of exceptional volunteer service to the agency.

Michael served an additional year to the normal two-year term as Board President in order to complete a restructuring of the Board to a true governance model. In accepting his award, Michael explained how personally rewarding being involved in the agency has been. He shared that his “goal from the beginning was to leave agency a little better off when I finished my term than when I started.” Fellow Board members agreed that he accomplished this goal.

Awards were also presented to Jewish Family Service staff recognizing years they have been with the agency. Stephanie Aronhalt received a 5-year Staff Longevity Award. Ann Sutton Burke, Sandee Golden, Carrie Krach, and Gail Ziegler were recipients of the 10-year award.

Beth Schwartz then presented her Executive Director’s Report, which focused on the essence of Jewish Family Service.

“While we celebrate tonight What We Do, we also must celebrate our essence of Who We Are. Our essence is in cherishing the fact that we are the organization that our community counts on to do whatever it takes to provide help to anyone who needs it…anyone. Our essence is our strong unwavering inner conviction that as a positive, constructive, community-oriented team player, we have or can find the resources to strengthen each life,” shared Beth.

She concluded the meeting by thanking the agency’s staff. “We helped 4,188 people last year…47 of us. And not all 47 of us work full time.

I appreciate that you ignore the risks of unstable neighborhoods, bedbug infestations, unsafe or unsanitary household conditions; that you patiently honor those clients who cannot or choose not to make what we might consider the best or right decisions, and that you mourn the loss of clients through death, destruction, and disappearance.

“Last year you helped 4,188 individuals find their inner strength and provided solutions when they didn’t know which way to turn. You are the Essence of Jewish Family Service.

What We Do is because of Who YOU Are. And we all thank you.”

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Cedar Village CEO tells White House more attention is needed to fight elder abuse

Jay Price and Carol Silver Elliott

In a continuing effort to combat elder abuse, Carol Silver Elliott, president and CEO of Cedar Village Retirement Community in Mason, told White House officials that elder abuse does not receive the attention it deserves, even though there are millions of victims.

She said more people must work together to protect older adults. “We have to do this for them because they cannot do it for themselves.”

More than 40 experts in health care for older adults gathered in a June 13 briefing for White House officials in Washington, D.C., coordinated by the Association of Jewish Aging Services. AJAS represents nearly 100 North American nursing homes, housing communities and outreach programs. It was the third time Cedar Village was representated at a White House briefing about elder abuse prevention.

Cedar Village has taken a leadership role in elder abuse prevention since launching the Shalom Center for Elder Abuse Prevention in January 2012. The Shalom Center at Cedar Village protects victims of elder abuse and generates awareness of elder abuse in Greater Cincinnati.

It is the only shelter of its kind in the Midwest.

The Shalom Center has a full staff separate from Cedar Village; however, any medical attention or services needed are handled by the physicians at Cedar Village.

Recently, the Shalom Center received a call from a social worker at a home care agency who was attuned to elder abuse because she

had attended one of their training sessions. She had met a new client who was being abused.

Within three hours, the Shalom Center had provided shelter to the client, who is now healing and very grateful to be living in a place where no one hurts here anymore.

Providing shelter is only one of the major objectives of the Shalom Center. Generating awareness is another. It’s important to educate the community to understand and be on the lookout for signs of elder abuse.

Professionals need to know what questions to ask - and then ask them.

Also speaking about elder abuse was Dan Reingold, president & CEO of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in New York City, where the Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention is located. It was the nation’s first shelter for victims of elder abuse and served as a model for the Shalom Center.

The White House officials included Tina Tchen, assistant to President Obama and chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama; Aviva Sufian, special envoy for U.S. Holocaust Survivor Services; and Lynne Johnson, health insurance specialist at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Other topics addressed at the briefing included the Affordable Care Act and Health Care Reform Initiatives instituted by AJAS organizations, technological innovations in elder care and Holocaust provider programs and practices at AJAS communities.

AI

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NATIONAL • 5

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

Met cancels simulcast of anti-Israel opera, proceeds with live showings

By JNS Staff (JNS) – New York’s Metropolitan Opera (Met) canceled an HD transmission of the anti-Israel opera “The Death of Klinghoffer” following widespread outreach efforts that began with a letter from a media watchdog organization, but eight live performances of the opera will proceed as scheduled this fall.

The opera, about the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and Palestinian terrorists’ murder of one of its Jewish passengers, has been heavily criticized for its sanitization of Palestinian terrorism and invoking of anti-Semitic canards.

Klinghoffer’s daughters, Lisa and Ilsa, have written regarding the opera for The New York Times, “We are outraged at the exploitation of our parents and the coldblooded murder of our father as the centerpiece of a production that appears to us to be anti-

Semitic.”

Myron Kaplan, an opera expert and a senior research analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), was the first commentator to publicly criticize the Met’s planned Nov. 15 simulcast of the anti-Israel opera. In an open letter to Met General Manager Peter Gelb that was published by JNS, Kaplan wrote that the HD transmission would give “wide international distribution to what is, at its heart, an anti-Jewish slander.”

“The choice of the title, ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ and not ‘The Murder of Klinghoffer,’ signals the work’s moral evasion and misrepresentation,” he wrote. “In a sense, it is consistent with the PLO’s (Palestine Liberation Organization) initial comments on the murder, that either Klinghoffer had died of natural causes or his wife pushed him overboard to be able to claim life insurance. The

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Outside the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in New York City.

title’s sanitizing of murder is, however, also consistent with the opera’s anti-Jewish tone. Instead of properly characterizing the Palestinian hijackers of the cruise

them.”

Kaplan’s letter sparked a broader Jewish community campaign against the Met’s simulcast and live showings of the opera.

The Met then announced Tuesday that it would pull the simulcast, but not the eight live performances from Oct. 20 to Nov. 15, citing discussions on the issue between Gelb and Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman.

“I’m convinced that the opera is not anti-Semitic,” Gelb said in a statement. “But I’ve also become convinced that there is genuine concern in the international Jewish community that the live transmission of ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ would be inappropriate at this time of rising antiSemitism, particularly in Europe.”

ship as permanent prisoners of their own rage originating from cultural indoctrination, [composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman] impart idealism to

Anti-Israel text remained in schools longer than officials let on, research shows

By Jacob Kamaras (JNS) – An anti-Israel text that school officials and some Jewish organizations say was removed from a Boston suburb’s public school curriculum during the 2011-12 academic year was being distributed to students longer than the aforementioned parties let on, new research shows. Furthermore, references to the controversial text remain on a website that is routinely visited by those students to access materials for class.

The Boston-based advocacy group Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) said in late May that “The Arab World Studies Notebook” (AWSN), a Saudifinanced text on Middle East history that falsely claims Israeli soldiers murdered hundreds of Palestinian nurses in Israeli prisons, was still being used in at least three separate classes during the 2012-13 school year in the public school system of Newton, Mass.

In a letter to Robert Trestan, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) regional director, and Jeremy Burton, executive director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston, Newton School Committee Chair Matt Hills wrote that APT’s allegation is “without merit.”

“The ‘evidence’ submitted [by APT] is a course outline, developed by a new teacher in the summer of 2012, with a section on Islamic dynasties,” wrote Hills.

“The new teacher initially included the AWSN readings on Islamic dynasties in the early syllabus.

However, a veteran teacher saw

the outline and ensured that the new teacher understood that the AWSN could not be used, and the readings were removed and never distributed. At no time was the AWSN used.”

But Hills’s claim that the AWSN was removed during the summer of 2012 is seemingly refuted by a downloadable lesson plan that remains on the independent website of teacher Faye Cassell, of Newton South High School’s History & Social Science Department. The lesson plan contains two assignments called “Arab World Studies reading” – references to the AWSN – due Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, 2012. The Microsoft Word document containing the lesson plan was last edited during the academic year on Sept. 22, 2012, and shows that Cassell’s lesson was scheduled to begin two days later.

Although the website is not officially affiliated with Newton South, Cassell uses the site to distribute materials to her students, meaning those students may still come across the references to AWSN. The teacher’s 2013-14 lessons plans, however, are not currently posted on the website. In a public records request, APT obtained the same lesson plan that can be accessed by visiting this webpage on Cassell’s site. The lesson plan can also downloaded here.

“The teacher who created the lesson plan kept a website for her classes where she told students, ‘Here you will find all the lesson plans, handouts, and assignments for 9th Grade Ancient World History,” Ilya Feoktistov, APT’s

research director, told JNS. “The same exact version of the lesson plan that we showed to the ADL and JCRC is to this day still up on her website and the AWSN readings are still in the lesson plan.

They were never removed before being distributed to students through the website. Furthermore, the lesson plan was finalized just hours before the beginning of classes listed in the lesson plan, not during the previous summer as Hills alleges.”

The ADL and JCRC, however, parroted the Newton School Committee’s stance and criticized APT after receiving Hills’s letter, which responded to those groups’ inquiry into the AWSN issue. In a joint statement on June 6, ADL and JCRC said Hills’s letter indicates how “APT’s assertion, like others before it, turned out to be inaccurate.”

“Mr. Hills reports that, in fact, AWSN was not actually used in connection with the syllabus in question in 2012 or at any time since the Committee represented it was no longer being used,” ADL and JCRC stated.

The groups proceeded to lament, “The leveling of accusations ought to take place considerably more scrupulously than has occurred in connection with this matter. Careful, responsible, and civil discourse is far preferable to exaggerated or misleading accusations that are unsupported by the facts.”

Advertisements placed in Boston-area newspapers by APT last fall called out Newton school officials over the alleged presence of anti-Israel materials in the cur-

riculum – not limited to the AWSN. The ads claimed the appearance of texts in Newton schools including “A Muslim Primer,” which claims that astronaut Neil Armstrong converted to Islam, but that the anti-Muslim U.S. government warned him “to keep his new religion to himself or he could be fired” from his government job; “Flashpoints: Guide to World History,” which asserts that Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem, is the capital of Israel, and that Jerusalem is the capital of “Palestine;” and other materials.

In that instance, too, the ADL attempted to dismiss APT’s findings, joining leaders from the JCRC and Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Boston’s Jewish federation) in a November 2013 statement which said that “based on a careful review of the materials at issue by ADL and JCRC, there is substantial reason to believe that the allegations made in the [APT] ad are without merit.”

At the same time, the ADL had refused to make its own findings on the teaching materials public.

Furthermore, ADL officials contradicted themselves on the existence of an ADL report on Newton schools. Regional director Trestan told The Jewish Advocate newspaper at the time that a report of an ADL investigation did not exist, regional board chair Jeffrey Robbins had said, “It’s an internal report. People do this stuff internally all the time. ... It involves all kinds of proprietary research.”

The ADL would eventually release its report on Dec. 30, 2013.

The report again targeted APT’s

ad campaign, stating, “While APT’s ad suggests that Newton uses the volume The Arab World Studies Notebook as a textbook to teach hate and extremism, it emerged that the reading that was singled out for criticism was highlighted by one teacher who used it on a sole occasion in 2011 when it was actually used to teach about bias, and not in the context of advancing a political viewpoint.

The Arab World Studies Notebook has since been removed from Newton schools.”

In a January 2014 response to the ADL’s report, APT said the report “cannot be the original report presented to Boston Jewish leadership” and “appears to have been prepared in response to public doubts about the existence of any ADL report.”

“Despite previous ADL claims that its Newton schools report cannot be released due to the fact that ‘it involves all kinds of proprietary research,’ there is nothing that can be considered proprietary about the weakly researched content of the report released on December 30th. … Jewish leadership relied on a sham report by ADL, which was based primarily on trust in the Newton School officials’ verbal assurances to ADL leaders,” APT stated.

APT’s Feoktistov told JNS this week that once the school year ends June 26, the group will attempt to gain insight into more recent Newton lesson plans by filing a public records request for the school system’s 2013-14 curricula.

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Campus eviction notices are fake, but their anti-Semitism is real, experts say

By Alina Dain Sharon Contributing Columnist (JNS) – The latest anti-Israel trend to gain momentum on college campuses has been the distribution of mock eviction notices in dormitories by members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Whether or not the notices have specifically targeted Jewish students, experts say the tactic highlights the convergence of antiZionism and anti-Semitism on campus, creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.

Over the last two years, the mock eviction notices have appeared on at least a dozen campuses around the U.S., garnering the most attention at major East Coast schools including New York University (NYU), Northeastern University, and Harvard University.

The notices at NYU, slid under dorm room doors in April, falsely stated, “Palestinian homes are destroyed as part of the state of Israel’s ongoing attempts to ethnically cleanse the region of its Arab inhabitants and maintain an exclusively ‘Jewish’character of the state.”

According to Tammi RossmanBenjamin – a lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz and co-founder of the AMCHA Initiative, an organization addressing campus anti-Semitism across the U.S. – the notices are not a criticism intended to “improve Israel as a modern state” or “legitimate criticism about settlements, the Likud government, or any particular aspect of

National Briefs Ex-Israeli coach David Blatt hired to lead NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers (JNS) – Coach David Blatt, who spearheaded the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv to a Euroleague championship this season, accepted a head-coaching job with the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

The 55-year-old Blatt hails from Massachusetts and played at Princeton University under Hall of Fame coach Pete Carill. Other than coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv, Blatt also coached in Greece, Russia, and Turkey over a 20-year career. He coached the Russian national team to the bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in London.

“I’m not leaving Maccabi for a bigger contract. I’m not necessarily leaving for a better place. I’m leaving to follow my dream [to coach in the NBA],” Blatt had said after announcing his resigna-

Israeli policy,” as defenders of the mock evictions may claim. Rather, she said the notices are a fundamental “delegitimization of the very notion of the existence of the Jewish state.”

“That in of itself is the key to understanding the difference between legitimate criticism of Israel and antiSemitic criticism of Israel,” she told JNS. Brett Cohen, national campus program director for the Israel education organization StandWithUs, agrees that the notices anti-Semitic.

“The intent of a [mock eviction] campaign, which is to demonize Israel and delegitimize the Jewish people’s indigenous right to selfdetermination in their homeland, is an action deeply rooted in hate and qualifies for the U.S. State Department’s definition for anti-Semitism,” Cohen told JNS. But the more pressing issue, Cohen said, is how SJP “flagrantly violated the universities’ rules with unapproved flyering, and the intimidation of pro-Israel students and invasion of private space that went along with their disruptive actions.”

Harvey Silverglate, a civil liberties attorney in Boston and cofounder of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, told the Boston Globe in March that the eviction notices at Northeastern University “were obviously not meant to be taken as real eviction notices; they were political statements,” and that the regulations requiring permission for political speech “could, and should, readily be tion from Maccabi Tel Aviv earlier this month.

Alan Gross’s mother dies as he remains in Cuban prison (JNS) – The mother of Alan Gross, who has been imprisoned in Cuba since December 2009 after he was sentenced to a 15year term for bringing communications devices to the country’s Jewish community, died June 18.

Gross was working for a U.S. firm called Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) to promote democracy, but Cuba convicted him of “crimes against the state.”

Evelyn Gross, 92, died in Plano, Texas, from lung cancer.

The Gross family said in a statement that she was diagnosed four years ago and that her “last wish was to see her son before she died.”

“Cuban officials refused to give Alan a humanitarian furlough to visit his mother, despite repeated pleas and the certainty that she was dying,” the family said.

Israeli pilot killed in light plane crash in New York (JNS) – Israeli businessman and recreational pilot Hanan

Courtesy of Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions

An anti-Israel mock eviction notice that was posted on student dorms at Northeastern University.

declared invalid under Massachusetts state law.”

But although the notices did state that they were not real, at Northeastern University the flyers were designed to look like legitimate eviction notices that “listed information about a ‘Municipal Court’ ordering the eviction, a case number, a warrant number, and an issue date; it also cited a building code within the explanation of the eviction,” Max Klapholz, a third-year student and copresident of the Huskies for Israel group, told JNS. Northeastern administrators initially decided to ban SJP for at least one year for “a series of violations, which included vandalizing university property, disrupting another

group’s event, failure to write a civility statement, and distributing flyers without permission,” according to the university, which eventually reinstated the group.

At the various schools, SJP distributed the notices to the dorms of Jewish and non-Jewish alike. At NYU, the anti-Israel group defended itself against the accusation of antiSemitism by saying in a statement, “Racism is not limited to the practices of the Israeli government, and opposing policies and racist rhetoric, including anti-Semitism, is vital…

This action addresses only one of the many horrific aspects of the occupation that Palestinians face daily.”

But AMCHA’s RossmanBenjamin said the issue is less about

Shoshany was killed in a plane crash in Long Island, NY, last week.

Shoshany, 53, lived in New York. For reasons still unknown, Shoshany’s light aircraft crashed in the backyard of a Long Island home, yards from a house with a mother and baby inside. The impact from the crash shattered one of the house’s windows, and fragments landed near the sleeping infant’s crib. The child was not harmed.

“It’s a miracle that no one in the house or neighbors were hurt,” a neighbor told local media outlets. Witnesses said it appeared Shoshany was trying to land in the backyard so that he would not crash into nearby houses.

Fitzpatrick said at a news conference Monday.

Neulander, an obstetrician, was arraigned in county court Monday morning and pleaded not guilty. He was freed on $100,000 cash bail; a trial was scheduled for January.

In April 2013, CNY Central, a Syracuse news site, first reported that police were investigating Neulander in the death of his 61year-old wife, Leslie, whose body was found in a shower in the family’s home. The county medical examiner had ruled initially that Leslie Neulander’s death was an accident.

Syracuse doctor who chaired federation campaign charged in wife’s murder NEW YORK (JTA) – A prominent physician active in the Syracuse, N.Y., Jewish community was indicted for the September 2012 murder of his wife.

Robert Neulander, 62, was indicted on charges of seconddegree murder and tampering with physical evidence, Onondaga County District Attorney William

AmeriCorps launches recruitment drive for volunteers for Holocaust survivors WASHINGTON (JTA) – AmeriCorps-VISTA, the federal anti-poverty volunteer program, launched its recruitment drive for volunteers who will assist Holocaust survivors.

The program is seeking volunteers for 14 agencies operating in seven states, according to a June 19 release from the Jewish Federations of North America, one of the partner agencies.

The states are California,

whether the notices were intended to specifically target Jews, and more about how they impacted Jewish students.

First, the notices are being distributed at dorms and invading student privacy, she said. Second, said Rossman-Benjamin, is that “you can have a [mock] eviction notice at a Catholic university that has no Jewish students,” which, while still antiSemitic, is “not influencing any Jewish students on campus and not creating a hostile environment for them.”

Students “felt unsafe on their campus” because of the notices, and in their aftermath worried “about just expressing their Jewishness on their campus,” she added.

AMCHA makes the case that at federally funded universities, Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act – which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, color or national origin by federally funded programs – can apply on college campuses if a group is being singled out with harassment, intimidation, or by otherwise negatively impacting students’ rights to a normal academic experience.

This kind of harassment is evident, Brett Cohen said, not only in the mock eviction cases but also in other SJP anti-Israel protests and incidents on campuses, such as the recent University of California, Los Angeles student government elections, in which SJP asked candidates to sign a pledge that they would not take educational trips to Israel.

Illinois, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and New York. The yearlong volunteer stints are expected to begin in the fall.

Vice President Joe Biden announced the partnership with AmeriCorps in December in outlining plans to assist impoverished Holocaust survivors.

Other partnering agencies include the Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies; Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles and Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles; Jewish Child and Family Services and CJE Senior Life in Chicago; the Alpert Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Palm Beach County, Fla.; the Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services of Boca Raton, Fla.; Jewish Family Service of Broward County, Fla.; Jewish Community Services of South Florida; Jewish Family Services of Metropolitan Detroit; the Jewish Social Service Agency in Greater Washington; Samost Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern New Jersey; Selfhelp Community Services in New York; and UJA-Federation of New York.

NATIONAL • 7

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

Presbyterian Church approves Israel divestment, but does its boycott even matter?

By Sean Savage (JNS) – Leaders of Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) voted Friday at the church’s biennial general assembly in Detroit to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola Solutions, all companies that do business with Israel, in a 310303 vote.

“The good news is that despite efforts by anti-Israel extremists, voting members realized that divestment was part of the toxic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), and added amendments explicitly stating that PCUSA does not endorse global BDS,” said Roberta Seid, Ph.D., director of education/research for the Israel education group StandWithUs, who attended the Presbyterian assembly.

“The bad news is that BDS has groomed a Presbyterian contingent which manipulates committee rules to hijack the agenda, skew the debate and silence alternative views.

The Committee barely heard about Palestinian terrorism or about Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that governs Gaza and just kidnapped three Israeli teenagers,” she added.

But with Presbyterianism being one of America’s smallest Christian denominations, with a sharply declining membership base, does this decision even matter?

The latest effort represents the third Presbyterian biennial in a row in which a pro-BDS resolution appeared at the denomination’s general assembly, as BDS supporters who make up part of PCUSA’s Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) have gained momentum following a narrow two-vote loss (333-331) for a boycott measure at the 2012 biennial.

Similar to past BDS resolutions, the current one called on PCUSA to label Israel as an “apartheid” nation, while calling for divestment from major companies such as Motorola, Caterpillar, and Hewlett-Packard who “participate in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

“Over the last decade, numerous divestment and boycott resolutions uniquely and solely aimed at Israel have been brought by a small minority of anti-Israel activists in the Presbyterian Church. They in turn are partnered with the global BDS campaign to demonize and delegitimize Israel,” Yitzhak Santis, chief programs officer and “BDS in the Pews” project director at the watchdog group NGO Monitor, told JNS. The IPMN’s efforts inside the church culminated in its January release of a virulently anti-Israel document, “Zionism Unsettled: A Congregational Study Guide.” ProIsrael groups blasted the guide, with the American Jewish Committee calling it “a devastating distortion of Jewish and Israeli history, aimed at nothing less than eradicating the

state of Israel.”

Santis said pro-BDS groups specifically target churches, seeking to twist their Christian morality to fit their own anti-Israel agenda.

“BDS leaders have specifically targeted the churches for co-optation; they hope to capture the churches’ moral voice to act as a stalking horse for their cause, which is to dismantle the state of Israel,” he said.

Yet there have been efforts by some Presbyterian leaders to gain a more balanced education on the Arab-Israeli conflict. In February, a delegation of more than a dozen Presbyterian lay leaders visited SodaStream’s factory in the Israeli West Bank city of Ma’ale Adumim.

The factory’s location has made it the target of BDS attacks, but it is also touted as a unique model of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation since it employs nearly 500 Palestinian workers alongside Israelis.

Despite its generation of headlines, it is debatable what type of influence an anti-Israel divestment resolution passed by the PCUSA can have.

The latest figures released by PCUSA in 2012 indicate that membership has dramatically declined over the last half decade, with the loss of nearly 465,000 members between 2006 and 2012, including 103,000 between 2011 and 2012.

These declines have coincided with a growing push by anti-Israel members within PCUSA to have the church divest from Israel.

At the same time, according to the Pew Research Center, PCUSA is one of America’s smallest churches, constituting only 2 percent of total Protestants and 1.1 percent of the American population as a whole.

When compared to largely pro-Israel Evangelical Christians, who constitute over a quarter of all Americans, making it the largest single denomination in America, it would appear their influence is limited.

“When you don’t have the moral clarity to denounce an anti-Semitic diatribe such as ‘Zionism Unsettled,’” then something is clearly wrong, David Brog, executive director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), told JNS. Brog sees a link between the growing radical anti-Israel agenda within PCUSA and a steady decline in the church’s membership over the last decade, leading some PCUSA members to cross denominational boundaries and seek support from pro-Israel evangelical Christian groups like CUFI. “The leadership of the PCUSA is out of touch with the membership in the pews,” he said. “This is certainly one reason why the number of members in those pews has been steadily declining. And this is also one reason why the number of Presbyterians seeking to work with CUFI has been on the rise. People

will gravitate towards those who are best representing their morality both within church walls and beyond.”

Nevertheless, Dexter Van Zile, Christian media analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), fears that PCUSA’s actions could spark anti-Israel divestment measures in other mainline Protestant churches.

“It might spark another round of resolutions in other mainline churches. I’ve seen, for example, a group of activists in the United Church of Christ (UCC) who have modeled their organization after the Israel/Palestine Mission Network in the PCUSA. This group might think they can win in the UCC’s General Synod next year,” he told JNS. Santis echoed Van Zile’s concerns.

“The PCUSA, though small in numbers, is being watched by a number of other mainline churches,” he said. “Passage of divestment could signal to these other churches, which have refrained from passing divestment, to move forward on that front.”

At the same time, as the Middle East falls into more chaos and instability by the day – with news of Islamic jihadists conquering cities in Iraq and Syria, as well as Iran’s nuclear ambitions – observers may realize that Israel is not the source of the region’s woes.

“They [BDS supporters] might face an obstacle,” Van Zile said.

“The region is blowing up. Syria is a

Courtesy of Israel/Palestine Mission Network

The cover of the anti-Israel “Zionism Unsettled” study guide and its companion DVD. The guide's authors are from Presbyterian Church USA’s Israel/Palestine Mission Network.

disaster. Iraq is getting much worse.

At a certain point people will have to

admit that Israel is not the problem.”

8 • NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

American Jews take up cause of missing Israeli teens Palestinian activists have

formed their own viral social media campaign to celebrate the June 12 kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers

By Uriel Heilman NEW YORK (JTA) – The Reform movement posted a prayer. Chabad asked followers to pledge to do a mitzvah. The Jewish Federations of North America set up a Web page to express solidarity.

The disappearance of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last week is being taken as a call to action uniting many disparate elements of the American Jewish community.

At synagogues across America spanning the major denominations, Jews recited psalms or offered special prayers for the safe return of the teens, echoing a prayer rally held Sunday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. On Monday, demonstrators held a rally in New York opposite the Israeli Consulate.

“I have a 16-year-old myself,” Steven Levine of Brooklyn told JTA at the rally. “It could have been any of us. They’re my brothers, they’re my children. That’s why I’m here.”

The missing teens – Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel, both 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19 – were last seen at a hitchhiking post near Gush Etzion, a Jewish settlement bloc in the West Bank. Shaar and Frenkel were on their way home from Mekor Chaim, an in-residence yeshiva high school in Kfar

International Briefs Rachel Frankel, mother of kidnapped teen, tells UNHRC that she is living a ‘nightmare’ (JNS) – Rachel Frankel, the mother of one of the kidnapped Israeli teens, told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that she is living “every mother’s nightmare” as she urged the international body to do more to help rescue her son Naftali, along with two other teens abducted on June 12th.

“My son texted me – said he’s on his way home – and then he’s gone. Every mother’s nightmare is waiting and waiting endlessly for her child to come home,” Frankel told the UNHRC. Frankel, who was given floor time by the NGO UN Watch, addressed the UNHRC during its “Agenda Item 7” debate, which at each UNHRC session mandates a discussion of Israel’s human rights record.

By JNS Staff

Courtesy of Miriam Moster/JTA

Demonstrators rally outside the Israeli consulate in Manhattan to express solidarity with three Israeli teens who were abducted in the West Bank, June 16, 2014.

Etzion run by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. Yifrach, who met up with them at the hitchhiking post, was on his way home from a prearmy yeshiva program near Hebron.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Hamas for kidnapping the teens and said he was holding the Palestinian Authority responsible.

Among American Jews, the focus has been on supporting the teens’ families, largely through prayer.

On New York’s Upper West Side on Monday evening, the Manhattan Day School organized a prayer vigil that drew hundreds

of people representing multiple Orthodox synagogues and organizations.

Chavie Kahn, the school parent and board member who organized the event, praised Rachel Frenkel, the mother of one of the missing teens, for the grace she has displayed under the international media spotlight as well as for her pioneering work as a “yoetzet halachah” – an Orthodox Jewish religious adviser.

Kahn said a video of the service would be shared with the teens’ families and hoped it would provide them with some measure

The UNHRC is widely criticized as being an anti-Israel and anti-Semitic body.

fact,” he said, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

Meanwhile, the commander of Iran’s Basij force, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Reza Naqdi, blamed the recent ISIS surge on a U.S. plot.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee visits missing Israeli teen’s family (JNS) – Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee visited the family of kidnapped Israeli teen Naftali Frenkel on Sunday immediately after landing in Israel.

“I came here to show solidarity with the Frenkel family.

This is a young man who is also an American citizen and I am here not just as an American, but as a father,” Huckabee said, according to Israel Hayom.

Iranian leaders blame ISIS jihadist attacks on Israel and U.S. (JNS) – Iranian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi on Wednesday blamed Israel for creating and supporting the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“ISIS is Israel’s cover up for distancing the revolutionary forces from Israeli borders and creating a margin of security for the Zionists, and the Zionist media have also admitted this

AMERICAN on page 20

Palestinians to push for full EU recognition by end of year (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – In light of the collapsed peace talks with Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is planning a diplomatic push for full recognition by the European Union by the end of 2014, PA Foreign Minister Riyad alMaliki told the Ramallah-based newspaper Al-Ayyam.

Kerry says U.S. will share information with Iran on Iraq crisis (JNS) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the U.S. will share limited information with Iraq over the crisis in Iraq, but the two foes will not work closely together.

“We are interested in communicating with Iran. That the Iranians know what we’re thinking, that we know what they’re thinking and there is a sharing of information so people aren’t

(JNS) – Called “Three Shalits,” the Palestinian social media campaign references Gilad Shalit, the former Israeli soldier who was abducted by Hamas in 2006 and swapped for 1,027 Palestinian terrorist prisoners in 2011.

The campaign’s logo is characterized by a three-finger salute in reference to the three recently kidnapped Israeli teens.

Using the “Three Shalits” hashtag on Facebook and Twitter, there are hundreds of photographs of Palestinians and their supporters, including many young children, brandishing the three-finger salute in hopes that the Israeli teens will be used to free more Palestinian prisoners.

“The campaign has raised the slogan ‘three Shalits’ in support of capturing Israeli occupation soldiers and exchanging them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails,” the official Palestinian daily Al-Quds reported. “While containing making mistakes,” Kerry said in an interview with NBC’s “The Today Show” on Thursday.

But when asked about stronger cooperation with Iran, who has deep ties with Iraq’s Shi’a population, Kerry said, “No. We’re not sitting around contemplating how we’re going to do that or if we’re going to do that. That’s not on the table.”

Israeli officials, along with numerous American leaders, have expressed caution over cooperating with Iran over Iraq, fearing that Iran could use it as leverage in nuclear talks.

Tunisian jihadist group may target Jewish tourists during Ramadan (JNS) – A report by a Tunisian counterterrorism expert claims that the North African jihadist group Ansar alSharia may be planning attacks against Jewish tourists as well as other Western targets in North Africa during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Sheldon Adelson to donate $25 million to Ariel U. (JNS) – U.S. businessman and philanthropist Sheldon Adelson, along with his wife Miriam, will donate $25 million

Courtesy of Facebook screenshot

An Arab child in military fatigues with a gun does the “three Shalits” salute.a

Palestinian messages, the campaign has spread to include Arab countries, as well as Arab and Palestinian ex-patriots the world over.”

to Israel’s Ariel University located in Judea and Samaria.

The donation is for the university’s School of Health Sciences department, which enrolls nearly 1,200 students of the school’s nearly 14,000 students. The school is embarking on an ambitious expansion plan that includes the establishment a regional medical center that will service the area’s Jewish and Arab populations.

UNESCO adds Israeli national park to World Heritage List (JNS) – The UNESCO World Heritage Committee voted in Qatar on Sunday to add Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park to its World Heritage List, making it the eighth site in Israel designated as such.

Beit Guvrin-Maresha joins seven other Israeli world heritage sites: Masada, the Old City of Acre, the White City of Tel Aviv, the Negev incense route, the biblical tels of Megiddo, Hazor and Beersheba, the Bahai holy places in Haifa and the Western Galilee, and the Nahal Me’arot caves on Mount Carmel.

INTERNATIONAL • 9

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

For Moldova’s impoverished Jews, Limmud conference is big deal

By Cnaan Liphshiz CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) – Standing opposite the house at Romana Street 13 in the Moldovan capital, a group of tourists is struggling to hear Irina Shihova’s account of the horrors that transpired here more than a century ago, but her voice is drowned out by a pop song playing on a nearby boombox.

Ignoring the distraction, Shihova, a historian at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Moldova, explains how an anti-Semitic blood libel prompted locals to gather outside the house on April 19, 1903.

Five Jews who lived inside were beaten to death in what would turn out to be the opening shot of the Kishinev pogrom, a three-day killing spree that left 49 Jews dead and which historians consider a turning point in the history of modern Zionism.

Only later does Shihova reveal that the pop song – “We Are the Champions” by Queen – is part of the epilogue to her story.

The song is the theme of this year’s graduation ceremony at ORT Herzl, one of two Jewish high schools in Chisinau, chosen for its evocation of Jewish survival in a spot that has come to symbolize the precariousness of Jewish life in Europe.

“The existence of a Jewish school opposite the massacre site is accidental,” Shihova told JTA, “but unbelievably symbolic.”

Like many Eastern European Jewish communities, Moldova is but a shadow of its former self. Before the Holocaust, half of Chisinau’s 125,000 inhabitants were Jews.

Many had stayed despite the pogrom and a second that followed in 1905, but the community was all but wiped out by Romanian troops who deport-

ed 300,000 Jews from the territory that is today Moldova. Of the few that survived the Holocaust and returned, nearly all left following the collapse of communism in the 1990s, Shihova said.

However, unlike other former communist countries that are now part of the European Union and experiencing something of a Jewish cultural revival, Moldova remains small and poor. Shihova says the community of several thousand is mostly elderly people. Events involving more than a few dozen Jews are rare here, and graduates of ORT Herzl speak with uncertainty about the prospects for Jewish survival in the poorest country in the World Health Organization’s Europe zone, with a median monthly salary of $250.

“Approximately half of our class want to go away to Israel after graduation,” said Nataly Fedayava, an

Courtesy of George Omen/Limmud FSU

Misha Gorbachov, deputy director of the Jewish Community of Chisinau, and Limmud Moldova co-organizer Julia Seinman in Chisinau, May 23, 2014.

ORT Herzl graduate. “I personally want to stay because my family is here, but maybe I, too, will go in the future. The general feeling is that if you want to develop as a young per-

son, you need to leave.”

A walk around the centrally located Jewish school illustrates MOLDOVA on page 19

Like Jews before them, Iraq’s Christians may face extinction after jihadist invasion

By Sean Savage (JNS) – For most Westerners, Iraq is a foreboding and dangerous place that is filled with extremists and daily violence. Yet as little as 75 years ago Iraq was a vibrant country that was home to many different ethnic and religious minorities, including large Jewish and Christian populations.

But the latest round of violence spearheaded by the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is driving through the heart of Iraq to the capital of Baghdad and inflicting medievalstyle Islamic justice on anyone in its path, might be the last gasp of Iraq’s ancient Christian community, which faces extinction like Iraq’s Jewish community before it.

“Iraq used to be a beautiful mosaic made of many different faiths, including Judaism,” Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, told JNS. Like the Jewish people, the Christians of Iraq have a long and storied history that can be traced back to the very foundations of human civilization.

Most Iraqi Christians belong to an ethnic group known as the Assyrians. The Assyrian people consider themselves to be direct descendants of the numerous ancient Mesopotamian civilizations such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians.

“The Assyrians, also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs are the children of Sumerians, the original people of Iraq,” Taimoorazy said.

Mentioned numerous times in the bible from Genesis and onward, the peoples of Mesopotamia were key in formation of Judeo-Christian history. It is the land where the bibli-

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The flag of the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is driving through the heart of Iraq to the capital of Baghdad and inflicting medieval-style Islamic justice on anyone in its path.

cal patriarch Abraham hailed from.

And later on, the Assyrians played a notable role in Jewish history, as they conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and expelled the Jewish people to Mesopotamia. That led to the creation of Iraq’s Jewish community, which continued until the 20th century. Additionally, their successor state, the Babylonians, were the ones who later destroyed the First Temple in 587 BCE. Christianity was first brought to modern-day Iraq by Jesus’s Apostle St. Thomas during the 1st century CE, making it one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.

Christians formed the majority of the country’s population until the 14th century. The region’s Christians have subdivided since then into a number of churches, with the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East forming the largest denominations.

Today, the Assyrians are based in northern Iraq’s Nineveh plains, where they have fought to preserve the customs, culture, and languages of the area’s past, despite facing numerous waves of persecution, mass killings, and expulsions since

the invasion of Islam in the 7th century CE. “For hundreds of years Christians have been marginalized in the Islam dominated part of the world. After the fall of Saddam the situation has been devastating for Christian Assyrians and other minorities such as Mandeans and Yezidies,” Nuri Kino – a SwedishAssyrian Christian who is an independent investigative reporter, filmmaker, author, and Middle East and human rights analyst – told JNS.

“More than 60 churches have been attacked and bombed. Rapes, kidnappings, robberies and executions [are all prevalent],” Kino added.

Kino, who has been in constant communication with friends on the ground in Iraq, said that these attacks are all a part of daily life for Assyrians “who don’t have their own militia or any neighboring country to back them up.”

According to Taimoorazy, who has also been in contact with a num-

ber of people in Iraq regularly, the situation has deteriorated rapidly since the jihadist invasion.

Taimoorazy said that “water and electricity have been cut, there is a shortage of cooking gas, clean water is running out and there is a fear of an outbreak of illness where the refugees have fled.”

“This is a complete disaster for the wellbeing of our nation,” she added.

10 • ISRAEL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Israeli president-elect Rivlin contrasts sharply with outgoing Peres

By Alex Traiman (JNS) – As a well-respected parliamentarian who has served as the government’s Minister of Communications and the speaker of the Knesset, Israeli president-elect MK Reuven “Ruby” Rivlin has the expected profile for his position. But when he takes the reins in July, Rivlin’s strong nationalistic ideology and low-key international presence will provide an immediate contrast to outgoing President Shimon Peres.

“He won’t have the international stature of Shimon Peres, who was a former prime minister, defense minister, and foreign minister,” said pollster Mitchell Barak, director of Keevoon Research and a former spokesperson for Peres in the Office of the President.

Barak told JNS that there is a “stark contrast” between Peres and Rivlin. Peres, at age 90, continues to be a vocal supporter of a two-state solution, and was an architect of the now-defunct Oslo peace process-a role for which he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize along with former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat in the early ‘90s. The 74-year-old Rivlin, on the other hand, is an opponent of a two-state solution and a promoter of what he calls “a greater Israel” between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, in which

Israel Briefs Security prisoners indicted over plot to abduct Israeli soldiers (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – Five Palestinian security prisoners were indicted Monday for plotting the abduction of Israeli soldiers with aim of using them as bargaining chips to ensure the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The indictment stated that evidence suggested the abduction was to be funded by Hamas. The five planned to demand the release of 477 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the return of any Israeli.

Israeli police: enough evidence to investigate Arab MK Zoabi for incitement (JNS) – Israeli police say there is enough evidence to investigate ArabIsraeli MK Haneen Zoabi for incitement over controversial statements she recently made about the three kidnapped Israeli teens.

Israeli police received several complaints after Zoabi said the kidnappers were not terrorists. Police authorities have passed their opinion to Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein, who will conduct the

Palestinians would be granted full and equal rights. Rivlin opposed Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

The post of president carries significant weight in Israel, even though most of the president’s functions are largely ceremonial. The role is similar to that of a monarch in many of the world’s parliamentary democracies.

In addition to welcoming world leaders and high-profile guests to the country, the president’s most noteworthy function is to officially charge a party leader to form a governing coalition-essentially selecting the prime minister. Yet, even this function is largely ceremonial, as election results and the willingness of smaller parties to join a leader’s government are the primary factors weighed in determining which leader can successfully form a ruling coalition.

Peres, however, often used the post of president to advance his political agenda, as a super-ambassador of the state of Israel. He often spoke with world leaders about the prospects for a peace agreement, and recently met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican for a joint prayer session with Pope Francis.

Based on statements that Rivlin made during the campaign, and immediately following his election, it does not appear that Rivlin intends to utilize the post in the same way as his

immediate predecessor.

“Rivlin promised that we would not make partisan, political announcements,” said Professor Gideon Rahat, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. “So he might be very helpful, not for external politics, rather for internal politics.”

In an address to the Knesset immediately following his election victory on June 10, Rivlin stated his intention to represent “all the citizens of Israel: Jews, Arabs, Druze, rich, poor, religious, and less religious.”

The Likud party member added that in his new post, he will no longer adhere to partisan politics, but rather will serve as “a man of all the people.”

In his first official interview since the election, Rivlin told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth that as president he would not lobby “in favor or against an agreement with the Palestinians.” He said that “if the Israeli government will inform me that there is an agreement, and if the Knesset will approve it, as head of state I will do everything possible to make sure it is implemented.”

“Ruby Rivlin is a very strong supporter of ‘greater Israel,’but at the same time he has demonstrated his commitment to democracy. He is kind of a nationalist liberal, and a true democrat, which is a very rare kind these days. He is probably the last

investigation.

“They are people that cannot see any way to change their reality, and they are forced to use these means until Israeli society wises up a bit and sees and feels the suffering of the other,” Zoabi said in an interview with Radio Tel Aviv.

crossing between Syria and the Israeli-controlled portion of the Golan Heights. The teenage victim, identified as Mohammed Karaka, of the Arab village of Arraba, was killed while riding in a vehicle with his father, an Israeli Defense Ministry employee working to bolster Israel’s border fence with Syria.

Hamas terrorist freed in Shalit deal arrested for Passover attack (JNS) – A Hamas terrorist who was freed as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal was arrested last month for his role in a Passover eve terror attack in April, the Israeli Shin Bet security service revealed Monday.

According to the Shin Bet, Ziad Awad, 42, a Hamas operative who had been jailed for 11 years for terrorist activity, along with his son Azzadin Ziad Hassan Awad, 18, were arrested May 7 for the shooting attack on April 14 that killed Baruch Mizrahi and injured his wife and child as they drove to attend a Passover seder near Hebron.

Israeli teen killed by mortar fire from Syria (JNS) – A 13-year-old Israeli boy was killed Sunday in the Golan Heights by an explosion resulting from a mortar shell fired from Syria.

Three others were injured after the detonation of the mortar, which was fired from near the Quneitra

Israel strikes Syrian targets in response to boy’s death by mortar (JNS) – Israeli warplanes bombed targets inside Syria on Monday in response to the mortar shell fired from Syria that killed a 13-year-old Israeli boy Sunday.

“Our enemies don’t differentiate between Jews and non-Jews, adults and children,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

IDF uncovers secret tunnels, explosives labs in West Bank (JNS) – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Combat Engineering Corps uncovered numerous secret underground compartments in Palestinian homes during the course of the ongoing search for three Israeli teens kidnapped in the West Bank.

Engineering Corps special forces discovered the secret compartments in various locations, in one case under a washing machine. Israeli troops have also uncovered more than a dozen explosives laboratories, the IDF said.

one,” Rahat told JNS. According to Rahat, it is Rivlin’s longstanding commitment to Israel and the democratic process that helped him win the election, garnering strong support from opposition party members-including Arab Knesset members-as well as support from his own Likud party.

“He was probably the best candidate because he was demonstrating his abilities to be independent and to be loyal to an institution when he was speaker of the Knesset,” said Rahat.

“He really demonstrated his abilities, his will to stand up and to be non-partisan.”

Israeli columnist Gideon Allon reported that Arab Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi said regarding Rivlin’s election, “The president of the country has a secondary role in political matters. Peres is closer to me in his political stances, but he did not bring the peace process closer. By comparison, Rivlin fights with all his might against racist legislation and for equality and strengthening the status of the Arab Knesset members, and he has paid a political price for that.

When Rivlin believes in something, he is prepared to go all the way for it.

Besides, there is good chemistry between us.”

Mitchell Barak elaborated on Rivlin’s ability to gain support from across the partisan spectrum, despite today’s fractious political environArmed Gazan arrested after infiltrating southern Israel (JNS) – A terrorist armed with a grenade infiltrated southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday. He was apprehended between the Yated and Sdei Avraham communities by a local patrol, Israel Hayom reported.

Israeli forces called to the scene arrested him and brought him in for interrogation. The man said he infiltrated the border to Israel from southern Gaza. No casualties were reported in the incident.

Netanyahu: Israel has proof that Hamas is behind kidnapping (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – As the massive effort to rescue three kidnapped Israeli teens entered its 10th day on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel possesses “clear-cut evidence” that Hamas was behind the abduction.

“Soon, this information will be made public and then the world will put the remarks made by [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas in Saudi Arabia to the test in a practical manner,” Netanyahu said, referring to Abbas’ call for the release of the captured boys.

In his remarks last week, Abbas said the three teens are “human beings like us and should be returned.” He also vowed to dissolve the Fatah-Hamas unity government if

ment.

“The advantage is that Rivlin is respected by both the political left and political right,” Barak told JNS. “Rivlin got a ringing endorsement from Avraham Burg in Haaretz, and he had the support of [the Labor party’s] Shelly Yachimovich.”

“The right likes him because he’s an old-time [Zionist pioneer Ze’ev] Jabotinsky guy, and he’s hard right on a lot of political issues, including a Palestinian state,” added Barak. “The reason the left likes him is because he respects democracy and he upholds democracy. He protects minorities and protects the rule of law.”

According to Barak, Rivlin will have no trouble serving the ceremonial functions of head of state with foreign leaders, in addition to assisting in the advancement of domestic issues.

“He’s a regular guy,” Barak said.

“He has a great sense of humor. He has a personality. People that meet him warm to him. He has relationships with a lot of leaders and legislators from around the world. Being chairman of the Knesset, he’s welcomed many world leaders who have come to the Knesset. He’s led delegations to foreign parliaments. …

Politicians on all sides of the political spectrum can say, ‘That’s a man that deserves to be speaker of the Knesset, and that’s a man who deserves to be president.’”

Hamas is proven to have been behind the kidnapping, adding that those who kidnapped the three teenagers “want to destroy us” and that the Palestinian Authority would “hold them accountable.”

While Israeli teens remain missing, crackdown on Hamas continues (JNS) – The Israel Defense Forces arrested another 25 Palestinian terrorists overnight on Thursday as part of its widespread campaign against Hamas, the Palestinian terror group believed to be behind the recent abduction of three Israeli teens.

Overall, 320 Palestinians have been arrested by Israel since the kidnapping, nearly 240 of whom are members of Hamas, the IDF said.

Israeli students’ nanosatellite launched into space (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – Israel successfully launched its first nanosatellite into space Thursday night, from the Yasny Airbase in Russia, along with 36 other civilian satellites sponsored by various countries.

The satellite was designed to assist travelers and hikers who lose their way in areas where there is no regular cellular reception, enabling them to send a distress call to the satellite from any communication device.

SOCIAL LIFE • 11

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This picture features (from left to right, bottom to top): Rabbi Sydney Henning, Lauren Kohn, Amanda Peck, Joshua Pelberg, Jordan Baker, Jacob Fagin, Eli Zawatsky, Rebecca Kuhr, Claire Ruben, Alexis Czulewicz, Rabbi Rachel Maimin, Barbara Dragul, Lauren Fershtman, Claire Lefton, Isaac Delev, Michael Finer, Jason Morris, Jay Klein, Sophia Kroscher, Hannah Kaplan, Rabbi Karen Thomashow, Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, Adina Ballaban, Melissa Goodman, Max Fritzhand, Carter Ross, Noah Silverman, Hannah Vigran, Amelia Pittman, Sophia Pardo, Jeremy Fogel, Jay Simha, Max Weiss, Morgen Alford, Ali Richter, Zoë Zelkind, Jacob Young, Joshua Young, Caroline Shor, Jonathan Prangley, Elijah Koreman, Gabriel Koreman, Jared Winter

CONFIRMANDS fter a year of intense study and activity, thirty-nine 10th Graders took their place on the Plum Street Bimah and declared their commitment to the Jewish faith and community during Isaac M. Wise Temple’s Confirmation ceremo-

A

ny on Saturday, May 31, 2014.

As part of the curriculum, the students explored many pertinent issues and themes, including their relationship to G-d, their understanding of Reform Judaism, their interpretation of Torah, and their appreciation of the Jewish community. In addition to the classroom

sessions on Sunday evenings, students participated in other activities, such as working in the Over-the-Rhine Soup Kitchen. They also convened for a social event in which the students had the opportunity to get to know each other better and prepare a Middle Eastern Feast together. Another high-

HAMENTASCHEN HIP HOP AT THE JCC On Sunday, March 16th, more than 500 people got into the spirit of Purim with a kids’ concert and supersized carnival presented by Shalom Family and the Mayerson JCC. First, the JCCilly Players premiered their 2014 Purim Video, a spoof of Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.” Then, popular Jewish children’s recording artist, Mama Doni and her band took to the Amberley room stage and entertained the audience with her fun and energetic songs that got everyone up on their feet, and some up on the stage, in no time flat. After the concert, everyone headed down to the gym for the carnival, featuring games and prizes galore, face painting and balloon artistry, art projects, carnival food and of course, hamentaschen! The JCC was abuzz with activity and a great time was had by all. Shalom Family is an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation.

More photos on Page 12

light of the year was an evening of hearing from Holocaust survivor, Werner Koppel, as he shared his story.

On Friday, May 30, the Confirmands and their families attended Shabbat evening services at Plum Street Temple, where the students were invited to the bimah for individual

blessings. On Saturday, May 31, the group reconvened for the service that the students had compiled.

Each Confirmand took part in leading the liturgy. Following the worship, the Confirmation class and guests celebrated with a luncheon.

12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

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HAMENTASCHEN HIP HOP AT THE JCC Continued from Page 11

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13

14 • DINING OUT

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Bangkok Terrace draws crowds with fresh-made entree dishes

By Bob Wilhelmy Contributing columnist So, I arrive at Bangkok Terrace on a Friday afternoon, around 2:30, and ask how the lunch crowd was. The answer, with plenty of body English for emphasis: “Friday is crazy!” said Jennifer Boonyakanist, owner and chef of the restaurant. “Very busy, running everywhere to serve the customer.”

Lunch has been expanded, now available from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, she said, because business is so good. Evening hours are 5-9 p.m. M-F, 5-10 p.m. on Saturdays, and closed Sundays.

In observing dining establishments over the years, the kind of crowd situation described states better than words that the food is good and diners like the experience. There are a few key reasons for the avid customer base, according to the owner. Each meal is fresh-made, for starters.

That means your entrée is put together from its separate ingredients, rather than done in batches and heated up by the plateful when ordered. Not all Asian restaurants, including Thai eateries, prepare orders fresh-made. If you order and the food is out to the table in two or three minutes, you can bet the batch method is being used in the kitchen.

Not that the service is slow at Bangkok Terrace. But the entrée dishes are made to order, so much so that if you want them to hold this or that spice, or an ingredient in the pad Thai, or any other dish, the kitchen can easily accommodate your request. When an eatery can’t do that, chances are very good it is using either the batch prep approach or a portion-pack system of pre-made entrée items.

Pad Thai, for instance, is one of my favorite dishes. It happens to be one of the most popular dishes on the entire Bangkok Terrace menu. The dish features rice noodles that are stir-fried with bean sprouts, scallions, minced sweet radish and peanuts. The protein is a choice item, and 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 a key to authenticity in this classic Southeast 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,” said Jennifer.

Curry and teriyaki dishes also are popular at Bangkok Terrace, and for the same reason, according to the owner. “We have all the curry dishes, also mango curry, which is very popular and a house

Jennifer Boonyakanist, owner and chef of Bangkok Terrace, outside at the al fresco area.

A plate of sushi, including the rainbow roll.

specialty,” 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, chicken and salmon teriyaki entrée dishes are offered as well, all with that special Thai essence about them.

Another Asian offering at Bangkok Terrace is sushi and sashimi, with plenty from which to select for the Jewish diner.

Among my favorites is the rainbow roll, which I ate on my last

The exterior of Bangkok Terrace.

visit. The roll is a basic California combination, which then is topped with slices of sushi-grade tuna, salmon and whitefish, with thin slices of avocado between each layer of fish (pictured to the left on the plate). Mix a little wasabi into the soy sauce, dip and go to town—it’s excellent!

“A 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. Another feature of Bangkok Terrace Boonyakanist pointed out is outside seating, which she said is

popular with both the lunch and evening crowds.

Bangkok Terrace’ 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. Blue Ash 891-8900

DINING OUT • 15

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

RESTAURANT DIRECTORY 20 Brix

Izzy’s

Slatt’s Pub

101 Main St

800 Elm St • 721-4241

4858 Cooper Rd

Historic Milford

612 Main St • 241-6246

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1198 Smiley Ave • 825-3888

791-2223 • 791-1381 (fax)

Cincinnati's first and only true wine, restaurant and wine retail store.

Come in and enjoy an appetizer or entrée paired with one of the 100 wines we pour daily.

101 Main St • Historic Milford

7625 Beechmont Ave • 231-5550

831-Brix • www.20brix.com

Ambar India Restaurant

4766 Red Bank Expy • 376-6008

Spicy Olive

350 Ludlow Ave

5098B Glencrossing Way • 347-9699

7671 Cox Lane

Cincinnati

8179 Princeton-Glendale • 942-7800

West Chester • 847-4397

281-7000

300 Madison Ave • 859-292-0065

2736 Erie Ave.

7905 Mall Road • 859-525-2333

Cincinnati • 376-9061

Andy’s Mediterranean Grille

CAFE MEDITERRANEAN FRESH, HEALTHY,

1965 Highland Pk. • 859-331-4999

At Gilbert & Nassau

Stone Creek Dining Co.

Authentic Cuisine

2 blocks North of Eden Park

Johnny Chan 2

9386 Montgomery Rd

LOCATED IN THE CROSSINGS OF BLUE ASH

281-9791

11296 Montgomery Rd

Montgomery • 489-1444

The Shops at Harper’s Point

6200 Muhlhauser Rd

9525 KENWOOD ROAD (513) 745-9386

489-2388 • 489-3616 (fx)

West Chester • 942-2100

cafe-mediterranean.com

Loveland

Kanak India Restaurant

Tandoor

239-8881

10040B Montgomery Rd

8702 Market Place Ln

Montgomery

Montgomery

793-6800

793-7484

Cincinnati

Marx Hot Bagels

The Cream of Caffeine Coffee Co.

321-1600

9701 Kenwood Rd

4081 E. Galbraith Rd

Blue Ash

Cincinnati

891-5542

793-0293

Blue Ash

Mecklenburg Gardens

Tony’s

891-8900 • 834-8012 (fx)

302 E. University Ave

12110 Montgomery Rd

Clifton

Montgomery

221-5353

677-1993

Cincinnati

Padrino

Walt’s Hitching Post

541-9600

111 Main St

300 Madison Pike

Milford

Fort Wright, KY

965-0100

(859) 360-2222

Cincinnati

Parkers Blue Ash Tavern

Wertheim’s Restaurant

321-6300

4200 Cooper Rd

514 W 6th St

Blue Ash

Covington, KY

891-8300

(859) 261-1233

Asian Paradise

The Cream of Caffeine Coffee Co. Join us for our Second Sunday Brunch Buffet Quiche, breakfast meats, potatoes and more plus free coffee 4081 E. Galbraith Rd Across from the Dillonvale Shopping Center See us on facebook.com/thecreamofcaffeine

513-793-0293 M-F 7-4, Sat. and Sun. 9-3

9521 Fields Ertel Rd

Baba India Restaurant 3120 Madison Rd

Bangkok Terrace 4858 Hunt Rd

Bistro Grace 4034 Hamilton Ave.

Breadsmith

The American Israelite can not guarantee the kashrus of any establishment.

3500 Michigan Ave.

Cafe Mediterranean

(513) 489-1444

9525 Kenwood Rd Cincinnati

Pomodori’s

745-9386

121West McMillan • 861-0080

9386 Montgomery Rd Cincinnati, OH 45242

AMBAR

BABA

KANAK

350 LUDLOW AVE. CINCINNATI, OH 45220 (513) 281-7000

3120 MADISON RD. CINCINNATI, OH 45209 (513) 321-1600

10040B MONTGOMERY RD. CINCINNATI, OH 45242 (513) 793-6800

7880 Remington Rd Montgomery • 794-0080

CINCINNATI’S BEST INDIAN RESTAURANTS

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The American Israelite

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE — AVAILABLE

AT

THESE FINE LOCATIONS:

bigg’s

Kroger

Ridge & Highland

Hunt Rd. – Blue Ash

Izzy’s

Marx Hot Bagels

Rascals’ Deli

612 Main St. 800 Elm St.

9701 Kenwood Rd. Blue Ash

9525 Kenwood Rd. Blue Ash

16 • OPINION

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Praying for three boys whose plight hits close to home

By Marcy Oster KARNEI SHOMRON, West Bank (JTA) – Four days into the search for three kidnapped Israeli teens, I attended a group prayer session dedicated to their safe return.

Dozens of women gathered together to read responsively psalms seeking God’s mercy and intervention before the start of our morning Jewish studies classes. Our voices broke as we prayed for the boys’safe return, though most of us do not know the families personally.

I returned home to find my teenage daughter, who is about the same age as two of the boys and should be studying for finals, preparing to perform special mitzvot to help bring them home. My teenage son returned home from school and immediately ran off to participate with the community’s youth in special prayers on behalf of the captives.

It is amazing how quickly the rhythm of our lives and our daily schedules has begun to revolve around the three teens, including one dual Israeli-American citizen, who were kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists while trying to get rides home from a junction in Gush Etzion, a bloc of settlements located south of Jerusalem.

Since the abduction of Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel, we are all checking news sources from the Web earlier and more often on our computers at work or on our phones.

Even my younger children have been coming home from school and turning on the television news instead of their usual Nickelodeon. Not that some SpongeBob wouldn’t do us all some good.

I have not slept well since the boys were discovered kidnapped, and it is clear to me that none of my neighbors and friends here in Israel have either, if the times stamped on their Facebook posts are any indication. We ask each other for updates at the supermarket, at exercise class, at school pickup. We talk about our fears for the boys around the Shabbat table and at the “makolet,” or corner store. We curse their kidnappers as we pick up the kids from the pool and at the library.

We are living and breathing their captivity while also going about our daily lives. We simply must.

One of the day-to-day aspects of living here that has continued is that the residents of my community, located in

the northern West Bank halfway between Qalqilya and Nablus, continue to “tremp,” or hitchhike, to get around.

Some in the Israeli media have been portraying tremping as a settler phenomenon in which those who hitchhike can show their ownership over all places in Israel and their brotherhood with all Israelis. But, in fact, for most of our kids, tremping is simply a means of getting from place to place without waiting hours and hours for buses that run infrequently and do not always arrive. And it occurs not only in the West Bank but in many areas of Israel’s periphery.

After a Shabbat of anxiety over the fate of the three boys, my oldest daughter left to return to her apartment in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, where she is performing her second year of national service. She tremped to the train station near Rosh Haayin in central Israel. My husband and I do not allow my other children to tremp.

However, my oldest daughter is nearly 20, an adult who has to make her own decisions. She was not alone in deciding to continue to tremp.

For me the place where the boys were kidnapped also holds a significant resonance. That same daughter performed her first year of national service in several communities in Gush Etzion. Every Thursday night for a year she stood at the same junction where the three boys were abducted as she waited for a ride to get her home. It could have been her.

But right now, the kidnapped teens are the sons of all of us. We wait, we pray, we cry. We figuratively embrace their brave mothers who each have spoken to us through the media, their faces alight with hope and faith that their sons will be returned to them.

And we pray that our own children will be safe. I was on the phone Sunday night with my daughter in Ashkelon when she heard the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercept two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

I had called her because the Code Red alert app on my smartphone had sounded and I wanted to make sure that she had made it to the stairwell of her apartment building, which is not equipped with a bomb shelter. I put the app on my phone, which alarms in real time, out of an obsessive desire to know whether or not she is safe at all times. But it is clear that we can never be assured of that.

Correction The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and Workum Fund announced 2014 Interns article in the June 19, 2014 issue of The American Israelite, omitted the following intern: Josh Goodman will work at the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati under Barbara Miller, Director of Community Building, and Billy Bie, Planning Associate. He just finished his sophomore year at Miami University as an accounting student in the Farmer School of Business. At Miami, he is a brother of Zeta Beta Tau, holding the Heritage Chair position to maintain a strong relationship with Hillel.

We apologize for the omission.

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

Dear Editor Mr. Ganson has most appropriately called the attention of the citizens of Cincinnati that mal-practice suits in Ohio are unlikely to be of epidemic proportions. There are 15,000 to 19,000 cases per year in America. Ohio unfortunately has been in the top ten states where doctors have the most sanctions by the state medical board for a number of years. For the last 3 years we have had 3.06, 2.96 and 3.05 sanctions per 1000 doctors. South Carolina has had consistently less than 2 per 1000 doctors per year while Wyoming has had 5 or more year.

Some 55% of actions by hospitals sanctioning or limiting doctors practice are not reported to the state medical board according to the Public Policy organization. Doctors need more, not less supervision.

Mr. Ganson has done a service by correcting any misleading observations about the safety of medical practice and the need for patient protection.

Sincerely, Milton Kramer M.D. Emeritus Professor OF Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati

Dear Editor, There are three basic strategies that make for a successful cult.

1.) Hide your real mission 2.) Love bomb prospective members and play to their ego and self esteem 3.) Squash dissent.

I offer these bits of information taken directly from Church Beth Messiah’s website. It is an open site and all of this information was downloaded legally. After reading, please form your own opinion as to it’s status.

Directly from their website: 1.) Do not wear crosses or other symbols that might “offend” our Jewish brethren. Translated into English, hide who we are. Design your church to have the appearance of a synagogue and refer to your priest/minister as “Rabbi” to further hide who we are to the Jews in attendance.

2.) Ushers are to “Assist and greet people as they enter the main doors making them feel welcomed and loved.”

3.) “Be attentive to situations that might occur, that might require interaction, being watchful to help escort out those who are not at services to worship G-D.” This is from a pdf file outlining the “Mission of the ushers.” When

you read their full duties, you will see that they are responsible for keeping the children and adults “in line.” In the event that they delete the file or block access, I have the full download for your examination.

Cult or legitimate organization?

You decide. As to Dr. Schapera’s letter last week, let me state that my wife and I are observant Jews. We have dear Catholic friends who come to our home after Kiddish every Saturday. We never attempt to hide our religion, or pretend that they are actually Jews. They wear any religious items they please, and don't hide who they are. My business partner is Italian Catholic. Her children attend parochial school and we never hide our real religions from each other. As an matter of fact through our open and honest chats, we discovered that her born and raised Catholic father (75 years old) was actually born to a Jewish woman, making him a Jew. What a shock to him. He could come into an orthodox Shul and read from the Torah.

Paul Gassman Cincinnati, OH

Anti-Israel opera to be viewed live by hundreds of thousands: part two

By Myron Kaplan (JNS) – An open letter to the New York Metropolitan Opera general manager concerning his response Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) letter arguing for the rejection of “The Death of Klinghoffer,” an anti-Jewish and anti-Israel opera.

Peter Gelb General Manager The Metropolitan Opera Lincoln Center New York, NY 10023 Dear Mr. Gelb, Thank you for your letter responding to CAMERA’s letter regarding the Met’s upcoming performances and Live in HD transmission of the Adams/Goodman “The Death of Klinghoffer” opera. In rejecting our case for at least canceling the HD transmission of this controversial and reprehensible production, you make several claims that we request you re-examine.

First, among your justifications for staging the opera is the assertion that composer John Adams is “the most important American composer of opera of the last 30 years.” This

actually amounts to damning with faint praise since there is now, and historically has been, a dearth of important American composers of opera.

Certainly, it would be unconvincing at best to rank Adams with the Italian and other European opera masters (nearly all of whom have been represented in recent Met productions), and even with acclaimed modern composers such as Strauss, Stravinsky, Britten, Shastikovich, and the American Samuel Barber.

More importantly, few critics or aficionados would support your claim that the opera in question is a “musical masterpiece,” even among those who might see nothing objectionable in the work’s perspective on the events it depicts. On the other hand, it’s much easier to find recognized experts who damn the opera: In addition to Adams’s intellectual hypocrisy, there is his artistic hypocrisy. This involves the misuse of music and libretto in this opera to sway or form viewers’ opinions and has been exposed by Richard Taruskin, the eminent American musicologist, critic, and the author of the single-most ambitious project in musicological history (a six-volume, 3,000-page Oxford History of

Western Music). Taruskin wrote in a New York Times article, “Music’s Dangers And The Case For Control” (Dec. 9, 2001): “The libretto commits many notorious breaches of evenhandedness, but the greatest one is to be found in Mr. Adams’s music. In his interview, the composer repeats the oft drawn comparison between the operatic Leon Klinghoffer and the ‘sacrificial victim’who is ‘at the heart of the Bach Passions.’ But his music, precisely insofar as it relies on Bach’s example, undermines the facile analogy… ‘timeless’ tones accompany virtually all the utterances of the choral Palestinians or the terrorists, beginning with the opening chorus.

“They underscore the words spoken by the fictitious terrorist Molqui: ‘We are not criminals and we are not vandals, but men of ideals.’ Together with an exotically ‘Oriental’obbligato bassoon, they accompany the fictitious terrorist Mamoud’s endearing reverie about his favorite love songs.

They add resonance to the fictitious terrorist Omar’s impassioned yearnings for a martyr’s afterlife; and they also appear when the ship’s captain OPERA on page 19

JEWISH LIFE • 17

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

that the people do not listen to Moses “because of impatience and hard work” (ibid. 6:9) – usually interpreted to mean that the enslaved and persecuted Hebrews were so embroiled in their toil and suffering that they lacked the patience and vision to hear Moses’ goal, to even dream of freedom and independence.

Rav Levi ben Gershon, philosopher and Biblical commentary (Languedoc, France 1288-1344), takes the text differently: the Hebrews do not listen to Moses because of his impatience and hard work (avodah, Divine service).

Moses was a prophet, a master in jurisprudence, a philosopher-theologian; he had spent sixty years in Midian – “far from the madding crowds” – attempting to come close to God, and he was continually developing his intellectual and spiritual powers so that his “active intellect” (seikhel ha’po’el) could “kiss” God’s active intellect, so that he could divine God’s will and communicate God’s Torah to the Israelites (Maimonides, Guide to the Perplexed 2: 32, 45).

Moses recognized his own prophetic potential in the realm of the intellectual and spiritual; he craved and gloried in his fellowship with the Divine. But he also realized that to be a leader of the people you must be a superb shepherd of your flock, you must get into the details of their daily lives, and you must be involved in the often petty arguments between neighbors – picayune problems between husband and wives. This requires the patience of “small-talk” and human camaraderie, whereas Moses could reach the level of communicating God’s Torah only because his soul constantly yearned for “heavy-talk,” God-talk. Moses knew he would not have the patience to “win over the nation” to his side by drinking le’haim with them and dancing at their weddings.

Hence God suggests to Moses that Aaron “be his spokesman to the people, that (Aaron) be his mouth” (for small talk) – Ex. 4:15). Hence Moses succeeded in communicating a Divine Torah for the generations, but failed in convincing the Hebrews to conquer Israel in his generation.

For, you see, the contrast between Moses the man of God and the necessity for a person of the people become only greater with every passing year in the desert. After all, in the beginning everyone felt only grati-

ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE FREE!

tude to the individual who removed their pain of enslavement. But unfortunately, such gratitude barely survives the first dearth of water.

And so when Korah rebels, not one Hebrew stands up for Moses, and when the prophet asks to meet “in his office’ with Datan and Aviram, they refuse to come!

So when the Hebrews again kvetch for water, God tells Moses to take his staff of leadership not to strike in punishment the hard, stiffnecked rock which symbolized ungrateful Israel, but rather to speak to the Hebrews with words of love and the empowerment of the leniency and softness of the Oral Law which will and must emerge from them as they continue to mature, as they partner with God in completing both His Torah and His World (Rabbenu Tzadok).

But alas, the ungrateful nation has worn Moses down; he can only strike them (the rock) in frustration and refer to them as rebels. And since Moses can no longer love and empower Israel with loving words of the Oral Law, Moses’ leadership must end in the desert.

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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The American Israelite

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

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: CHUKAT (BAMIDBAR 19:1—22:1) c.) East side of Jordan River

1. Where did Miriam die? a.) Kadesh b.) During a journey in the desert c.) The Torah does not say where 2. What did the people complain about after the death of Miriam? a.) Manna b.) Fed up of 40 years in the desert c.) Lack of water 3. Where did Aaron pass away? a.) Kadesh b.) Mount Hor 5. Yiftach was the Judge in the Haftorah who led The Children of Israel against their enemy. Even though he was not of the stature of Moshe, Aaron, or Samuel, the Talmud exhorts us to respect him in his time like those great leaders

EFRAT, Israel – “The entire House of Israel wept over Aaron” (Num. 20:29).

Why was Moses, the greatest prophet who ever lived and who sacrificed a princedom in Egypt to take the Hebrews out of Egypt, denied entry into the land of Israel? Was it because he struck the rock with his staff rather than having spoken to it?

But it was God, after all, who commanded him to “take the staff, gather together the witness-congregation, and speak to the rock” (Num. 20:8)!

And previously, shortly after the splitting of the Reed Sea, but before the Revelation at Sinai, God had commanded him to strike the rock with his staff to bring forth water for the nation (Ex. 17:5). Apparently, striking the rock could not have been such a heinous crime.

I believe that the key to our understanding of the incident of the rock lies in a curious contrast between Moses and Aaron hinted at in our Biblical text, which highlights the profound tragedy – as well as the exalted majesty – within the unique persona of Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses our teacher.

Our Biblical portion of Hukkat also records the death of Aaron the High Priest: “And Aaron died there at the top of the mountain… and the entire house of Israel wept over Aaron for thirty days” (Num. 20:2829). At the conclusion of the Pentateuch and amidst great praise, the text teaches regarding Moses’ passing: “and the children of Israel wept over Moses at the plains of Moab for thirty days” (Deut. 34:8), with Rashi commenting (ad loc) “the children of Israel refers to the males, but regarding Aaron it was written ‘the entire house of Israel wept, which includes the females; this was because Aaron pursued peace between neighbors and between husbands and wives.” Apparently, Aaron was a more popular religious leader than was Moses.

The Bible also hints at the reason for this. You will remember that in the beginning of the Book of Exodus, after the occurrence of the burning bush, whenever God proposes that Moses assume leadership over Israel, the prophet is reluctant to do so. “I am not a man of words… I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue” (Ex 4:10 – Kevad Peh, Kevad Lashon), he demurs, usually understood to mean that he stutters and stammers.

Indeed, a bit later on the Bible reports

Moses knew he would not have the patience to “win over the nation” to his side by drinking le’haim with them and dancing at their weddings.

4. What nation was the King of Arad from? a.) Edomi b.) Emori c.) Canaani 5. Who was Yiftach? a.) Judge b.) Prophet c.) One of Moshe's assistants

4. C 21:1 Actually, they were Amalakites who spoke the Canannite language. The Children of Israel prayed to Hashem for help against the Canaanites when they realized the enemy could be Amalek they prayed to victorious over their enemy.

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT HUKKAT NUMBERS 19:1 – 21:35

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

ANSWERS 1. A 20:1 Miriam died in Kadesh of the desert of Tzin and not Kadesh Barnea of desert of Paran. Ramban 2. C 20:2,3 3. B 20:22

Sedra of the Week

18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

JEWZ

IN THE

By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist Obvious Child JENNY SLATE, 32, has been a hit stand-up comedian and, despite being dropped from the cast of “SNL” after one season (2009), she’s been praised for recent recurring roles on “The Kroll Show,” “House of Lies,” and “Parks and Recreation.”

Slate recently said: My standup is primarily about my family, and my family is an odd mix of classic Boston jewy-ness and artsy fartsy stuff.”

Slate’s stand-up persona motivated “Obvious Child” screenwriter Gillian Robespierre to write a film about a person much like Slate. In the film, Slate stars as Donna Stern, a Jewish stand-up comedian. There’s no doubt Stern is Jewish – tossing off a “Birthright” reference in practically the first scene. Not long into the film, Stern has a one-night stand with a goodlooking WASPy fellow who just saw her perform. (Stern says of him: “He’s so Christian it’s like he knows Santa personally!”)

Stern gets pregnant and the movie takes a serious turn when she ultimately decides to have an abortion. Most critics have praised the way her decision is depicted. The film is pro-choice, but it doesn’t joke about abortion.

Slate says: “I really enjoyed ‘Juno’ and ‘Knocked Up’ [films in which an unplanned pregnancy is brought to term]. I understand why we’re compared to them, but our movie is not at all trying to call those movies out.

But at a time when women’s rights are under attack, I think it’s important to say in a really clear voice, in a really thoughtful way, that there’s another story to be told. We’re OK with [the movies] already out there, but there’s lots of ways the story can go, and everybody who has an unplanned pregnancy has a different experience.”

Co-stars include DAVID CROSS, 50, and RICHARD KIND, 57, as Stern’s father. It opens this week in Cincinnati.

Wain and Rudd on Demand The new film, “Then They Came,” is getting a very limited theater release. The good news it can be seen via virtually all ondemand services starting this coming week.

This flick has pretty good buzz. PAUL RUDD, 45, plays a candy mogul who threatens to shut down Amy Poehler’s little candy store. Of course, they fall in love. But you guessed it – they fall out of love and have to find

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each other again.

DAVID WAIN, 44, directs, with script by Wain and MICHAEL SHOWALTER, 43.

Tons of names in the supporting cast, including MICHAEL IAN BLACK, 42, and MAX “New Girl” GREENFIELD, 33.

Film buffs will notice that this flick re-unites many “Wet Hot American Summer” (2001) veterans. “Wet Hot”, which was set in a Jewish simmer camp, opened to okay reviews and small box office. It has since become a comedy cult classic. Wain directed that flick, too (with script by Wain and Showalter). “Wet” costars included Black, Rudd, and Pohler. Actor Bradley Cooper, now almost a household name, made his film debut in “Wet.” Second Generation TV Series BEN SAVAGE, 33, co-stars in “Girl Meets World” (“GMW”) which starts on the Disney Channel this week. Savage costarred as Cory Matthews on the ABC series “Boy Meets World” (“BMW”) from 1993-2000. It followed Cory from elementary school through college. During the last season of “BMW”, Cory married his long-time girlfriend, Topanga, who was played by Danielle Fishel, now 33.

Fishel, who is not Jewish, and Savage return as, respectively, Topanga and Cory Matthews in “Girls Meets World.” The new series focuses most on the Matthews’ daughter Riley, who is played by Rowan Blanchard, 12.

Ben Savage, as most people know, is the brother of former child star FRED “Wonder Years” SAVAGE, now 37. Fred has gone on to be a top TV director. Both brothers had a bar mitzvah.

Nice touch: Williams Daniels, now 87, who played George Feeney, Cory’s teacher/mentor on “BMW”, has a cameo role at the end of the “GMW” pilot and might appear in other episodes.

Others may remember Daniels best as Dr. Mark Craig, one of the three senior teaching physicians on “St. Elsewhere”, the hit 1980s series. The other two senior M.D.’s were played by the late Ed Flanders and NORMAN LLOYD (Dr. Auschlander). Lloyd, who is recognized by almost all TV/film buffs, will turn 100 years old this coming November. His last TV appearance was on a 2010 episode of “Modern Family.” His first pro job was in 1937, as an original member of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater.

FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO

125 Y EARS A GO Mr. Millard W. Mack gave the children of the Jewish Foster Home an outing at the Zoological Garden, in honor of his son’s third birthday.

At Milwaukee, Wis., Louis Hirsch has established a new kind of record. Less than a year ago he married Miss Martha Abrahams, aged 18 years.

She died six months later and now he is about to wed Mrs. Katherine Abrahams, her mother. Louis is 38, the mother-in-law bride 50.

Mr and Mrs. C. Newman announce the engagement of their daughter, Beulah Mae, to Mr. Jacob Joseph of this city. At home July 1st, at 933 Baymiller Street. – July 6, 1914

50 Y EARS A GO Mr. and Mrs. Charles Frankel announce the engagement of their daughter, Roberta Lee, to Mr. John S. Michaelman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Michaelman.

Miss Frankel is a graduate of Ohio State University and teaches at Hilltop School, Wyoming, OH. Mr. Michaelman, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, will receive his doctor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University. A late summer wedding is planned.

Mr. and Mrs. L. Barry Berman (Madeline Bilensky), 2506 Canterbury Avenue, announce the birth of a daughter, Lisa Beth, Monday, June 22.

The grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Abe Rosensweet of Dayton and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Berman of this city.

Harry B. Dorfman has become Nationwide Insurance Co. agent of the month for May in the Cincinnati region of 13 counties in Southwestern Ohio. This is the second time this year he has achieved this honor.

An Ohio State University graduate, Miss Judith Hyman, ‘64, of 6825 Glen Acres Drive, is one of 25 students participating in Brandeis University’s fourth annual Jacob Hiatt Institute in Israel. The students represent 10 U.S. colleges and universitites.

The six-month program, conducted by Brandeis faculty members offers students of various races and creeds the opportunity to live in Jerusalem while learning the Hebrew language and studying Israel’s political and social institutions and modern Jewish history. – July 2, 1964

25 Y EARS A GO 100 Y EARS A GO Among the new members of the University Board of Trustees, recently appointed by Mayor Spiegel, was his son, Arthur M. Spiegel. He is a University graduate; was president of his class; was president of the University club; president of the Athletic Council; manager of the university paper; and was graduate manager of the university athletic teams. He is a lawyer. The position pays no salary.

The engagement has just been announced of M.V. Manischewitz, son of the late Behr Manischewitz of this city, to Miss Min Goldstein.

Miss Goldstein is a New York girl and well known there among the younger set.

Mr. Joseph Samuels and Miss Lenora Rauch were married on Wednesaya evening, June 23, at the bride’s home, 3030 Cleinview Avneue, Walnut Hills. Rabbi Jacob Mielziner officiated. – June 25, 1914

75 Y EARS A GO

Rabbis Kenneth E. Ehrlich and Lewis Kamrass were elected to the board of directors of the American Red Cross, Cincinnati area chapter, at the organization’s annual meeting on June 13.

Ehrlich, a resident of North Avondale, is dean at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Kamrass, a resident of Blue Ash, is senior rabbi at Wise Temple.

Both will serve three-year terms on the Board.

Anne Luft Grinter, a swimmer at the Jewish Community Center, won seven gold medals and one silver medal at the 11th annual Indianapolis Senior Classics held Wednesday, June 7.

Grinter won a gold medal in each of the following events: 50 meter freestyle; 50 meter breast stroke; 100 meter breast stroke; 100 meter freestyle; 200 meter freestyle; and 200 meter individual medley.

Her silver medal was in the 50 meter back stroke.

Grinter previously won six medals in the local Senior Olympics held in April. – July 6, 1989

10 Y EARS A GO Mr. and Mrs. Marc Mezibov of Wyoming announce the engagement of their son Jonathan Getz Mezibov to Deborah Jill Wayne. Jonathan is the grandson of Ruth Getz of Hyde Park, and the late Jack Getz, and the late Phyllis and Julius Mezibov of West Orange, N.J. Deborah is the daughter of Sheri and Bob Wayne of Short Hills, N.J. She is the granddaugther of the late Katherine and Saul Fainbatt of Miami, FL, and the late Charlette Wayne of West Orange, N.J. Jonathan is a graduate of Tufts University and is in his last year at New York Law School. Deborah is a graduate of Newbury College. She is a design developer with Cole Haan in New York City. an August 2005 wedding in New Jersey is planned. – July, 15, 2004

COMMUNITY DIRECTORY / CLASSIFIEDS • 19

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

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

(513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Chabad (513) 731-5111 • campchabad.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 •camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 •cincinnatimikveh.org Eruv Hotline (513) 351-3788 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • jewishcincinnati.org Jewish Foundation (513) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 JVS Career Services (513) 936-WORK (9675) • www.jvscinti.org Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org

OPERA from page 16 tries to mediate between the terrorists and the victims.

“They do not accompany the victims, except in the allegorical ‘Aria of the Falling Body,’ sung by the slain Klinghoffer’s remains as they are tossed overboard by the terrorists. Only after death does the familiar American middle-class Jew join the glamorously exotic Palestinians in mythic timelessness. Only as his body falls lifeless is his music exalted to a comparably romanticized spiritual dimension. […]

“Censorship is always deplorable, but the exercise of forbearance can be noble. Not to be able to distinguish the noble from the deplorable is morally obtuse. In the wake of Sept. 11, [2001] we might want, finally, to get beyond sentimental complacency about art. Art is not blameless. Art can inflict harm.

The Taliban know that. It’s about time we learned.”

Furthermore, a New York Times commentary in 2003 said, “In a review of the work’s New York premiere later in 1991 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Edward Rothstein, then the chief music critic of The New York

The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org CONGREGATIONS CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net B’nai Tikvah Chavurah (513) 284-5845 • rabbibruce.com Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org Congregation Sha’arei Torah (513) 620-8080 • shaareitorahcincy.org Congregation Shevet Achim (513) 426-8613 • shevetachimohio.com Congregation Zichron Eliezer (513) 631-4900 • czecincinnati.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com

Times, implicitly questioned the rectitude of the very idea that ‘the Palestinians and the Jews would be shown as symmetrical victims of each other’s hatreds.’ In a follow-up essay, Mr. Rothstein explicitly asserted that the depiction of the Jewish characters slighted their claim to an age-old mythic resonance comparable to that of the Palestinians, reducing them to petty triviality. ‘This ideological posing is morally tawdry,’he argued.”

Mr. Gelb, you write, “John Adams has said that in composing The Death of Klinghoffer he tried to understand the hijackers and their motivations, and to look for humanity in the terrorists, as well as in their victims. Tom Morris, the director of the Met’s new production, believes that the opera’s most important contribution is in providing an opportunity for the audience to wrestle with the almost unanswerable questions that arise from this seemingly endless conflict and pattern of abhorrent violent acts.”

The opera’s search for the “humanity” of the murderers echoes the French saying that “to understand is to excuse,” but one reason terrorism is a crime under international law is because terrorists deny the humanity of their vic-

EDUCA EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) (513) 262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com Yeshivas Lubavitch High School of Cincinnati (513) 631-2452 • ylcincinnati.com ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 • mayersonjcc.org Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234-0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (937) 886-9566 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org ORT America (216) 464-3022 • ortamerica.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com

tims. And by not distinguishing between combatant and non-combatant (never mind that terrorists are by definition illegal combatants) they violate one of the original legal structures that led to modern Europe and Western civilization – the 1648 Peace of Westphalia.

This ended the horrific slaughter of the 30 Years’War, in which rampaging, illdisciplined armies made no distinction between soldiers and civilians. The peace, a series of treaties, established rules of warfare and the obligations of nation states in this regard. In a fundamental way, terrorists, like those who murdered Klinghoffer, reject such civilized restrictions. That’s a functional rejection of the humanity Adams/Goodman pretend to believe the terrorists share with their victims.

Awork of art based on this misconception cannot provide audiences an opportunity to wrestle with anything of substance. The phrases you use here, “seemingly endless conflict,” “almost unanswerable questions,” and “pattern of abhorrent, violent acts” apparently are meant to convey understanding and sympathy but they do neither. Really to understand Klinghoffer’s killers would be to recognize their anti-Semitism, their nihilism. Adams/Goodman’s

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

business@ americanisraelite.com or call 513-621-3145 MOLDOVA from page 9 why so many Jewish youths contemplate leaving Chisinau, a sprawling Soviet city littered with crumbling mammoths that once were hotels and stadiums. The vast square leading to the central station here has the feel of a third world market, packed with hundreds of elderly people selling everything from kittens to rusty faucets, broken appliances and fishing nets. ‘’I think it’s horrible that so many old people need to sell junk in the sun to keep from going hungry, but this is what it’s like here,’’ Shihova said.

Such abject poverty has given the local Limmud Jewish learning conference a special significance it does not have in richer communities, according to Misha Gorbachov, the community’s deputy director.

First held in 2012, this year’s event was held last month and drew coverage from four national television stations. Participants arrived in elegant evening gowns and jackets and ties, a stark contrast to the casual style of Limmud conferences romanticizing of their Palestinian terrorists does not help audiences wrestle with or understand the violent continuation of the Palestinian conflict with Israel and their attitude toward Jews. An opera highlighting conditions in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and Fatah administered West Bank and responsibility for them might begin to do so.

There’s been no wrestling by a Met production with questions of shared humanity between, for example, nightriding Klansmen and their black victims or Chinese leaders and soldiers and those massacred in Tiananmen Square.

These would be obvious apologias and plainly polemical, not artistic. So too with “The Death of Klinghoffer.” You refer to the Met’s standing as a leading cultural institution. That status has been achieved and maintained over many years by strong artistic choices and performances. Choices like that in favor of “The Death of Klinghoffer” begin to erode the status you speak of.

Reconsideration is in order.

As CAMERA has stated, as far as the Met is concerned, in order to minimize the harm to the Met’s reputation resulting from this opera, at least the HD transmission substitution should be made in the 2014-2015 schedule, quite

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(513) 531-9600 elsewhere in Europe.

“This may be a small, informal affair in countries with many Jews, but for us this is a big, big deal,” Gorbachov said. “It’s unique.”

Unusually for Limmud conferences – often grassroots, volunteerbased affairs – the Moldova event was co-sponsored by the local Jewish community along with Limmud FSU, a not-for-profit that has set up conferences across the former Soviet Union.

Even so, the community is too small and poor to hold the event every year. Limmud Moldova is the only one of Limmud FSU’s eight ongoing projects to take place biennially, according to Roman Kogan, Limmud FSU’s executive director.

Still, some find it inspirational that the event takes place at all.

“The families of the Chisinau pogroms never received real justice at the time,” said Chaim Chesler, the founder of Limmud FSU. “Jews’ lives were cheap. The justice came later, in the presence of a Jewish school and a vibrant Jewish community right here after the Holocaust, after communism.” possibly along the lines we have suggested. Again, the feasible, high-quality alternatives detailed in CAMERA’s first letter are: “Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk,” “The Rake’s Progress,” “Aida,” “La Traviata,” “Magic Flute,” and “Barber of Seville.” The easiest substitution would be switching the times of the two operas scheduled for Nov. 15 so that “Aida” trades places with “The Death of Klinghoffer,” thus providing for a genuine opera masterpiece in the HD transmission.

A plausible reason for scheduling this opera (but not noted in your letter) is that the huge controversy resulting from this production is almost certain to dramatically raise the visibility of this HD transmission during a difficult financial period for the Met. It is indeed sad for this opera lover to contemplate that this could be the case. One is reminded here of Faust selling his soul to the Devil in both famous opera versions of the legend.

Sincerely, Myron Kaplan Senior Research Analyst CAMERA (Boston-based 65,000member Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America)

20 • BUSINESS / FOOD

Hate moving? Then you’ll love You Move Me At You Move Me, their mission is to move you, not just your boxes. Your home may be moving from Point A to Point B, but this company wants the entire experience to be stress-free. If you hate moving, you'll really love You Move Me. No matter what size your move might be, you'll have a ton on your mind that day, so it's their goal to be more than a mover.

They want to be your partner.

Partners do a lot more than move around boxes. They work hard to help you plan the day ahead of time, locate storage facilities, find enough of the right size boxes and even bring you coffee.

On moving day, you can expect a welcome call to confirm all the key details, such as address, intersection, and where to park the moving truck. Once they arrive, they do a thorough walkthrough of your home, noting any special items that will require extra care. Then they’ll get moving by quickly and carefully packing up the truck. Your most impor-

tant items packed last so you can get to them right away.

Once at your new home they will unload everything in the properly designated rooms with speed and care. To finish things off, they utilize a completion checklist to make sure everything is where it should be, and then jump at the opportunity to be the first to offer a housewarming gift.

You Move Me also offers a free wardrobe service. Just leave all your hanging items in their closets and they’ll swoop through, neatly packing them in convenient wardrobe boxes.

You Move Me prides itself on being on time, providing upfront rates, and having clean trucks to handle your move. Their staff is professional, and well-trained to get the job done right. If you want them to unpack you in the new location as well, they can do that!

You can sit back with a cup of coffee and let someone else get your boxes emptied. Of course, the decorating is still all up to you!

Gary Heiman receives 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from Ernst & Young

Gary Heiman

Gary Heiman of Standard Textile was honored with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from EY, a globally integrated professional services organization that supports entrepreneurs and empowers innovation. The “Entrepreneur of the Year” of South Central Ohio & Kentucky celebrated its finalists and award recipients on June 19, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati.

Since 1988, Heiman has been running his family’s business, Standard Textile, with a focus on the environment and a drive to give back to the communities where it operates. The firm makes and distributes textiles such as sheets, blankets, towels, window treatments,

upholestry fabrics, uniforms and work wear, table linens and other products for the hospitality, medical and industrial markets. They own 24 production and distribution facilities around the world and serves more than 55 global markets.

The company was founded in 1940 by Heiman’s grandfather, Charles Heiman. With Gary now at the helm, Standard Textile manages its own research and development operations, global manufacturing facilities, and worldwide distribution network. They’ve invested heavily in clean energy, water conservation, recycling and engineering.

When Heiman took over, he had recently been working overseas, in Israel and Jordan, where he enjoyed an exemplary entrepreneurial track record. It gave him the perspective he needed to grow Standard Textile, where he now serves at CEO. When not working, Heiman is on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati and a member of the Cincinnati Business Committee. He has also held board positions at the University of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the Jewish Community Center and The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati.

Heiman lives in Cincinnati with wife Kim, and has three children.

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A Mexican surprise Zell’s Bites

by Zell Schulman My introduction to the culinary world began about sixty years ago with cooking classes at Lazarus Department Store, downtown, now called Macy‘s. I began taking more cooking classes, then began teaching at Lazarus plus other stores, as well as a variety of community organizations and finally became a culinary writer, a culinary professional and ended up as the Food Editor of the American Israelite. Where did the years go?

As a member of The International Association of Culinary Professionals I have had outstanding culinary adventures and opportunities to travel, work with, meet and learn from some of the world’s outstanding foodies as well as food writers, chefs and culinary aficionados.

While in France at an IACP international conference, I met and became close friends with Julia Child. If this wasn’t exciting enough, for my 60th birthday, my AMERICAN from page 8 of comfort and strength.

The Orthodox Union organized a round-the-clock “virtual vigil” for members of O.U.affiliated programs to sign up for 30-minute slots to learn Torah, pray and perform mitzvahs to merit the safe return of the boys.

The Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly released a prayer for the welfare of the teens composed by Rabbi Tamar Elad Appelbaum of Jerusalem’s Zion congregation.

“Do all that must be done so that relief, rescue, and life may be the lot of the young men, Ya’akov Naftali ben Rahel (Frenkel), Gil-ad Micha’el ben Bat-Galim (Shaar) and Eyal ben Iris Teshura (Yifrach),” the prayer says. “Act on their behalf, Lord, take up their cause without delay, and may You grant them life and blessing forevermore.”

Meanwhile, a social media campaign with the hashtag #BringBackOurBoys has gone viral, generating voluminous

late husband of fifty years, Mel, gave me a wonderful gift to travel to France and take hands-on cooking lessons at the home of Simca Beck, who co-authored “The Art of French Cooking” with Julia Child.

A variety of e-mails fill my computer each day and the “delete” button gets lots of use.

Last week, I opened my e-mail, selected “Get Mail” and to my surprise, my friend Mary Francis, who is the chef and owner of Nectar Restaurant in Mt Lookout Square, was offering a cooking class featuring some of her favorites from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she lived before moving to Cincinnati.

Mary Frances and I had met several years ago at a farmers market, where I was looking for herbs and interesting produce for a cooking class I was giving. The menu for the class was going to use a variety of Mexican ingredients. Mexican food and I have not had a good relationship, but I decided it was time to “bite the bullet,” and have a new culinary adventure preparing Mexican food. Well, the class was not only fun, but I learned many interesting cooking techniques as well as an introduction to new flavors and foods cooked and prepared in new ways.

We began with Spanish Creme Caramel, then made soft flour tortillas from scratch. We were introduced to masa harina, one of the ingredients for the tamale filling, which can be purchased at a spe-

cialty store. We made the flour tortillas, which were divided and rolled into balls, rested for about 30 minutes. These were rolled out into 8 inch rounds, and fried. The corn husks had to soak in really hot water to keep them pliable and easy to work with. The filling was laid in the center of the tortillas, then rolled and tied on each end and wrapped with the corn husks, then cooked.

I have always purchased salsa in a jar, but not this time. We actually made Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa, with roasted tomatoes, chipotle chilies in adobo sauce and fresh lime juice, cilantro, ground cumin and sugar. The tamales were served along with a Mexican Seafood Cocktail we had prepared, made with fresh tuna and other fish. After preparing everything, we sat down to an interesting and flavorful dinner.

The class turned into a fabulous tasting adventure. We had a wonderful Mexican dinner accompanied with rose and white wines.

There’s an old saying, “If you don’t try it you won’t know if you’ll like it.” This also goes for many of life’s adventures. I may not make my own tamales with corn husk wrappers, but I will definitely make the salsa. “Bon Appetite” everyone.

tweets and shares. The effort was inspired by the #BringBackOurGirls online campaign demanding the return of the some 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped in April by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.

American Jews mobilized during the long captivity of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was held by Hamas for more than five years after a Palestinian attack on his post along the Israel-Gaza border in June 2006.

In Shalit’s case, it became clear relatively early on that he was alive, and the Israeli government became the target of a public campaign to negotiate with Hamas for his release. The government eventually cut a deal, agreeing to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit’s freedom in October 2011.

In the case of the teens, at this point it’s not clear who kidnapped them or whether they are still alive.

Some commentators have suggested that Israeli policies

are to blame for the kidnapping, noting that the teens studied at a yeshiva in a settlement. But Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the left-wing Tikkun magazine, condemned efforts to rationalize the kidnapping.

“We reject any attempt to imply that somehow these acts are understandable given the oppressive conditions faced by the perpetrators,” he wrote.

The teens, Lerner continued, “were not the perpetrators or the creators of the Occupation.

They were children doing what their parents had brought them up to do and to be.”

Zells Tips: The corn husks were soaked in really hot water first so they were easy to work with.

JTA’s Miriam Moster and Ami Eden contributed to this report

AUTOS • 21

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

The Porsche Boxster: fun to drive at any price If you’re looking for an engaging car that’s fun to drive, then look no further than the 2014 Porsche Boxster.

It rewards the capable driver (while encouraging those still learning) with quick acceleration, well-rounded handling, and beautiful exterior and interior design. It’s a top pick in the sports car class.

The 2014 model is unchanged from last year, save for two new colors: Rhodium Silver Metallic replaces Platinum Silver Metallic, and Sapphire Blue Metallic replaces Aqua Blue Metallic.

Two mid-mounted engines are available in the Boxster, matching the two primary trim lines: Boxster and Boxster S. The base Boxster gets a 2.7liter flat six-cylinder engine rated at 265 horsepower.

Capable of 0-60 mph runs in just 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 164 mph, even the entry-level Boxster is quick.

The Boxster S adds 50 hp for a total of 315 hp from its 3.4liter flat six-cylinder engine.

The extra power cuts acceleration to 60 mph to just 4.8 seconds elapsed and enables a top speed of 178 mph.

Both models come standard with a six-speed manual transmission, but a dual-clutch seven-speed PDK paddleshifted automatic is also available. Throw in the Sport Chrono package, which includes launch control, advanced racing-inspired shift logic for PDK models, and dynamic transmission mounts, and you have the most inspired version of the Boxster--as well as the one that rips off the quickest claimed 0-60 mph times.

The Boxster’s handling is well-balanced, which makes for an easy-to-drive-fast roadster. It’s incredibly fun to drive, and the comfort is great, especially in the models equipped with adjustable suspension.

A set of buttons in the center console provide sportier settings on top of the standard mode, which modify ride quality (and several other parameters) to suit the driver's mood.

Seating space is good for the two occupants the Boxster holds, with plenty of leg, shoulder, and head room even for a six-foot-plus frame.

When the driver isn't pushing the limits, the Boxster is actually quite reserved, cruising smoothly and quietly, just as a daily driver should. Storage space in the cabin is rather limited, thanks to the mid-

2014 Porsche Boxster S

For the sports car aficionado with a taste for the finer, higher-tech things in life, the Boxster is a smorgasbord of standard equipment and available options. engine configuration, but the trunk area holds small to medium-sized bags. The convertible top (still a soft top, unlike much of the competition) can raise or lower at speeds up to 30 mph, and takes no space away from any cargo area.

While there is no crash test data, the Boxster's standard ABS, advanced Porsche Stability Management stability and traction control, rollover protection, and full suite of front, thorax, and side airbags should comfort safety-conscious buyers.

For the sports car aficionado with a taste for the finer, higher-tech things in life, the Boxster is a smorgasbord of standard equipment and available options. All Boxsters get driver and passenger electricadjust seats; rain-sensing wipers; heated exterior mirrors; ambient lighting; cruise control; Bluetooth hands-free phone integration; a powerfolding soft top; and more.

Available extras include: a Bose surround sound audio system; a 7-inch touchscreen navigation system with infotainment; a range of available custom interior and seating packages; and many other a la carte technology and convenience upgrades.

On the green front, the 2014 Porsche Boxster scores 20 mpg city, 30 mpg highway, and 24 mpg combined when equipped with the manual transmission; with the PDK those figures rise to 22 mpg city, 32 mpg highway, and 26 mpg combined. The more powerful Boxster S rates 20 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, and 23 mpg combined with the manual; the PDK earns the Boxster S ratings of 21 mpg city, 30 mpg highway, and 24 mpg combined.

The Porsche Boxster starts at $50,400.

22 • OBITUARIES

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

D EATH N OTICES DOMBAR, Shirley, age 92, died June 9, 2014; 11 Sivan, 5774.

WACKSMAN,, Judith L., age 80, died June 17, 2014; 19 Sivan, 5774.

O BITUARIES BLATT, Dr. Ethyl Ethyl Sher Blatt was born on September 1, 1926 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Isaac and Anna Sher. Her father, Isaac, came to the US from Russia in 1906; her mother, Anna, came to the US from Lithuania – without her parents – in 1908 at the age of 10. Dr. Blatt grew up in Cincinnati. She attended South

Avondale Elementary School and Hughes High School, where she was valedictorian of her high school class. Dr. Blatt’s parents ran a well known delicatessen – Sher’s deli – on Blair street. She would often sit at the deli indulging in her hobby of comic books.

Dr. Blatt attended University of Cincinnati, receiving her B.A. in 1948; she was the first member of her family to finish college. During World War II she worked as a researcher at the Manhattan project.

She was accepted and enrolled at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine graduating with an M.D. in 1951. Dr. Blatt finished second in her class and she was the only woman in her graduating class.

Dr. Blatt chose to specialize in Radiology. During her residency she was proud to study under Dr. Ben Felson, her cousin and one of the world’s leading Radiologists. Dr. Blatt was the first woman certified in Ohio as a Radiologist. Upon completion of her residency she completed a Fellowship in Neuroradiology at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

Dr. Blatt met her future husband, Edwin Blatt, at a dance at Camp Livingston in 1954. They honeymooned in Havana, Cuba. Dr. Blatt and Edwin recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary shortly before Edwin’s passing this past May. They had two sons, Rick and Brandon.

As a Radiologist, Dr. Blatt practiced at the University of Cincinnati, Drake Hospital in Cincinnati, and Decatur Hospital in Greensburg, Indiana. Beginning in 1980 she also practiced in Deridder, Louisiana and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. She also practiced for a time at the Sioux Nation Indian Health Service Hospitals in Pine Ridge and Rosebud, South Dakota.

Dr. Blatt served as Assistant Professor of Radiology at University of Cincinnati and as a Clinical Instructor at Brooke Army Medical Center. She authored a number of professional publications in Radiology. In particular, she was proud of a chart she developed “Angiographic Localization of Intracranial Mass Lesions” which was published nationwide.

Dr. Blatt worked extensively with other family members in the

field of healthcare staffing. In this capacity she was instrumental in furnishing medical personnel, including physicians, mental health professionals, and specialty nurses throughout the U.S. and in thirteen nations including United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Iceland.

Dr. Blatt was very active in the Cincinnati community. With her family members she was active in revitalization efforts in Over the Rhine, including the revitalization of numerous historic buildings in the area. She was intensively involved in the redevelopment and establishment of the Symphony Hotel in downtown Cincinnati, a boutique style hotel with a restaurant near Music Hall. During college she was an active blackjack player and then graduated to bridge and golf. She became a Life Master in bridge and was proud to win many bridge tournaments including the Women’s Open Pairs, a national bridge tournament in 1994. Throughout her life Dr. Blatt treasured time with her friends and family.

Dr. Blatt passed away at the age of 87 on Sunday June 15, 2014 – 18 Sivan 5774. She is survived by her children Rick (Karen Meister) Blatt and Brandon (Debra Pelletiere) Blatt; grandchildren Cody, Wyatt, and Monroe Blatt and Hannah Pelletiere. She was predeceased by her sister Tillie Siegel (Sam), Evelyn Pinales (Henry), and Mary Schwartz (Harry). Services were held at the Weil Funeral Home, Rabbi Sissy Coran of Rockdale Temple officiated. The family requests that contributions be made to the Ethyl Blatt Memorial Fund, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Development and Alumni Affairs.

DOMBAR, Shirley Sloam Shirley Sloam Dombar, age 92, passed away on June 9, 2014 - 11 Sivan 5774 - beloved wife of the late Benjamin Dombar. She was a graduate of Hughes High School.

Always an enthusiastic athlete and an accomplished equestrian, she met and fell in love with her soon-to-be husband at a riding club. She lovingly reminisced at how their horses took off racing through the trails, beginning a life of adventure with a man who had just spent 7 years as an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright at

his school called Taliesin.

He soon joined the army and they decided to get married when he came home on a three day pass.

They lived at Craig Field, in Selma, Alabama, for three years, he as a master sergeant, and she as a nurse and Sunday School teacher. "Ben was able to make all of our furniture due to his apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright and our cottage became a model and was toured by all dignitaries as an example of modern architecture. It was also remarkable because we lived on $50 dollars a month."

During the army years, Ben took her to meet Mr. and Mrs. Wright to experience and understand the world of Taliesin and how it had shaped his creative lifestyle. She loved retelling the stories of her first impressions of the Wrights and Taliesin and how their world became an integral part of her own.

After the war, they returned to Cincinnati, where he began his architectural practice and she became involved in numerous charities; chairman for fashion shows and donor lunches, promoting a tax levy for the Board of Education, helping with Brownie and Girl Scout clubs, and chaperoning her teenage daughters' dances. She worked on decorations for many functions where her creativity was much sought after.

When the opera performed at the Cincinnati Zoo, she not only attended the performances, but also all of the rehearsals. She knew the stars and would join them at the Mecklenburg Gardens restaurant after the performances. When the opera moved to Music Hall, she became a docent there.

Water aerobics was recommended as a healthy exercise and so she became an enthusiastic instructor, a lifeguard certified in adult CPR with the Red Cross, and American Heart Association "Adult Heart Saver".

She and Ben loved traveling and went on cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and also loved traveling with children and grandchildren to Hilton Head and Florida. She loved the ocean and the pleasure of being with her family.

As her beloved husband Ben aged, she looked after him with such loving care, that the Ohio Department of Aging awarded her at the Statehouse in Columbus the Elder Caregiver of the Year 2007 award. They had 64 loving years together.

She kept up her correspondence with Taliesin till the end. Days before she died, she was looking forward to going swimming. She lived independently, going to movies, restaurants, and physical therapy, almost until the last days of her life.

She was spunky, always with a smile on her face, and she loved making those around her feel good. She is survived by three daughters, son-inlaws, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends.

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