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Celebrating Eight Over Eighty
CINCINNATI, OH Candle Lighting Times Shabbat begins Fri 8:15p Shabbat ends Sat 9:16p
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Book Review: ‘Saving Henry: A Mother’s Journey’
JCC After Crew: Later days at the J
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Has the era of the kosher cheeseburger arrived?
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The wonderful visit of Oz
DINING OUT
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Children enjoy all of the activities offered during After Crew.
Johnny Chan 2 – top notch Chinese eatery
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The second the last bell rings ... after school becomes after “cool” when the kids head over to the Mayerson JCC for an afternoon jampacked with amazing possibilities. Introducing: After Crew, a creative, caring after school community offered five days a week at the JCC, with parttime options available and shuttle bus service from many neighboring schools to fit the needs of busy families. From swimming and dance, to art and athletics, this popular program combines the highest quality after school enrichment with the best of what the J has to offer, including a gym and pool plus a full array of classes for kids who want to stay active and engaged. No other program in the area
offers a state-of–the-art facility with so many awesome amenities! “It gives me peace of mind to know that my children are being well cared for by a warm and supportive staff who are tuned into their needs,” says Sherry Simon whose two daughters attend the JCC’s After Crew program. “As working parents, the time my husband and I get to just hang out with our kids during the week is limited,” she explains. “So knowing they can get their schoolwork done, take swimming or piano lessons and burn off some energy before they get home means more quality time for us to spend together!” After Crew boasts a staff with training in child development, a safe and healthy environment and quality
programming and administrative practices. “Children need a chance to unwind and have fun after sitting in school all day,” says Christina Zaffiro, After Crew Manager. “Because our program is located in the JCC, it affords them the chance to take full advantage of everything the building has to offer, including a playground, gymnasium, running track, indoor water park and so much more,” she adds. “We plan lots of special events, sports, games, field trips, visits from surprise guests and more to keep things fresh and fun throughout the year! And in addition to homework help, there are lots of popular classes such as Tae Kwando, dance, sports and even private swimming and piano lessons. We have
something to fit every child’s interests and needs!” After Crew is offered Monday through Friday, from after school until 6 p.m. Part-time options are available from one to four days a week. Free shuttle service is offered from many neighboring schools including Mapledale Elementary, Montgomery Elementary, Nativity School, Pleasant Ridge Montessori, Reading Hilltop Elementary and Rockwern Academy. Other schools may be added upon request. Space is limited and registration is required. For more information about the After Crew program, contact information for the JCC is listed in the community directory in the back of this issue.
2013 Rosh Hashanah Cover
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2013 Rosh Hashanah Cover Coloring Contest Entry Form
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Adath Israel welcomes new rabbinic intern Adath Israel is pleased to welcome Ricky Kamil, a 4th year Rabbinical School student at Hebrew Union College, as their Rabbinic Intern. Ricky received his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University in 2008, in a combination major of religion and philosophy. Since entering Rabbinical School, he has served as student rabbi in two pulpits, in Rapid City, Iowa, and Terre Haute, Ind. Kamil’s duties include, but are not limited to, assisting and supporting Rabbi Wise, the congregation’s Senior Rabbi, periodically leading services, including family and youth services, helping plan and implement family education programs, and teaching in the adult education program.
Ricky Kamil
Double your donations for Jewish Family Service Food Pantry Next time you are grocery shopping, you can easily help feed families in need. Meijer’s Marburg Avenue location will match every donation to Jewish Family Service Food Pantry given through its Simply Give food pantry campaign July 28 through September 28. Donation cards are available throughout the Marburg store, at Jewish Family Service, and at the Jewish Family Service display in the Mayerson JCC lobby. Pick up a card, take it to the cashier when you
check out (at the Marburg location only), and your donation will be added to your grocery purchase. Jewish Family Service uses these gift cards to purchase fresh food and produce for its food pantry, which is the source for free kosher food, personal and household care items for individuals in the Greater Cincinnati Jewish community experiencing financial difficulties. In addition, Jewish Family Service provides guidance and support for clients of the pantry to help improve their situation toward self-sufficiency.
Northen Hills to hold annual picnic Northern Hills Synagogue Congregation B'nai Avraham invites the entire community to join in the fun when it holds its annual picnic on Sunday, August 18 from 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. For the first time, the picnic will be held on the grounds of the Synagogue, and feature both outdoor and indoor activities. The picnic is sponsored by the congregation's Men's Club. There is no charge. The picnic's menu will feature hot dogs and veggie burgers, along with other picnic treats. Enjoy bingo, rummikub, corn hole, roulette, mah jong, and poker, along with additional games and activities for the youngest ones. Joe Lazear, Northern Hills' president, observed, “This provides a great opportunity for our members, our friends, and the entire community to get together to socialize and have a good time. This will afford people who may not be familiar with our congregation to see our beautiful facility and enjoy our hospitality. I am sure everyone will have a good time, regardless of age or skill level.” Northern Hills Synagogue is located in Deerfield Township. For more information, please call the Synagogue office.
Cantor Abraham Lubin to sing at Congregation Ohav Shalom Congregation Ohav Shalom is pleased to announce that renowned cantor Abraham Lubin will be leading the upcoming High Holy Day services. Cantor Lubin’s engagement will begin on Rosh Hashanah, and will continue through Yom Kippur. Cantor Lubin is recognized as one of the leading cantors in the United States. He has appeared in concerts in Israel, England, Canada, the former Soviet Union and throughout the United States. He was born in London and at a young age, returned to Israel, the birthplace of his family, where he began to show a love and talent for singing. At the age of eight, he sang solo with the famous Rivlin Choir in Jerusalem. Congregation president Randy Slovin says, “We are honored to have someone of Cantor Lubin’s caliber sing for us during the High Holy Days, a time of great reflection for the Jewish community. Knowing that he has performed
Cantor Abraham Lubin
internationally, recorded cantorial music, and received numerous honors, it is a privilege to welcome him to Ohav Shalom.” Cantor Lubin was educated both in London and in the United States. In London, he graduated from the Cantorial School at the London School of Jewish Studies
(then called Jews’ College). In addition, he is a graduate of the College Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree and went on to receive his Master of Music degree (with distinction) at De Paul University. He also earned the Doctor of Music degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Over his career, Cantor Lubin has served at synagogues in Dayton, Chicago and most recently, at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Maryland from which he retired. Cantor Lubin and his wife Sandy are the proud parents of three children and eight grandchildren. As part of the High Holy Days activities, there will be a luncheon on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, following services, to honor Cantor Lubin and to celebrate the New Year. For more information contact Ohav Shalom.
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join Wise Temple on August 31 at Plum Street Temple. At 9 p.m. enjoy an amazing dessert reception. At 10 p.m. enter the peaceful sanctuary for a spiritual service where we will celebrate Havdalah, participate in prayer and hear the sound of the shofar in the still of the night. This is a great opportunity to invite a friend or perhaps make an evening out of it by planning dinner with others before the dessert reception and service.
Experience first–hand what everyone is talking about! Chabad Hebrew School has made a name for itself in Cincinnati in the past 23 years. With a curriculum that is fun and diverse, covering a wide range of Jewish traditions, heritage and history, the dynamic program excites children while offering practical relevance to today’s day and age. The teachers bring Jewish traditions to life and share their own love and passion for Judaism, so that students don’t just love to learn about Judaism – they learn to love Judaism! “Chabad Hebrew School is a great gift for our kids because it builds a strong foundation of Jewish knowledge and, even more importantly, love and pride in being Jewish,” Stephanie Jaffe, parent said. Adds Orly Segal, “Once being a kid myself, I wish I had a
Hebrew school program like this. No matter if you were raised Reform, Conservative or Orthodox we are all one family here at Chabad." This is precisely what makes Chabad Hebrew School (CHS) unique. It is a program that instills Jewish pride and creates spiritual connections that last a lifetime, where children don't want to miss a day. Where students enter with a smile and leave humming a Hebrew song. A school where the halls are filled with the sounds of lively discussion, singing, prayer and laughter. Imagine a place where one can tangibly feel the warmth and spirit of Judaism. Hebrew reading has become popular part of the day at CHS. The Hebrew reading curriculum is based on the internationally acclaimed Aleph Champ™
Reading Program, a motivational system that been proven to be the most effective method of teaching Hebrew reading and writing to children. Nancy, a CHS parent, said, “The Aleph Champ program is fabulous! Its ability to let my daughter learn at her own pace – however fast or slow that may be in a given week – is exactly the type of learning environment she needs. Her experience at CHS has been invaluable and she will carry those benefits with her for the rest of her life." “Our goal extends beyond the basic skills and knowledge students need in preparation for their Bar or Bat Mitzvahs,” said Chana Mangel, Principal, “We create a solid foundation of love for Jewish living and learning that will serve our students for the rest of their lives. And not only is it
affordable, it’s one of the safest investments you can make in today’s economy.” Chabad Hebrew School requires no membership fees or dues, only an affordable tuition for the year. The friendly and inclusive policy means every Jewish child is welcome, regardless of affiliation, religious observance, prior knowledge or current financial capability. They also offer early bird discounts, additional child discounts, and refer a friend discounts to create more opportunities for families to save. This year the school is once again offering half-price special for students ages 3-5. For more information and to RSVP for the Open House, please contact Chana Mangel.
Cedar Village shows substantial growth by adding services Cedar Village opened a satellite rehab center at the Mayerson JCC in Amberley Village and broke ground on an Aquatic Therapy Center on its Mason campus. A few years ago, it launched its Home Care and Hospice services. Rosen said that, as chair, his goals include helping to identify even more services Cedar Village can provide to generate additional revenue and engaging board members more to draw on their wideranging expertise and talents. He said that personally he would like to see Cedar Village build on one of its major competitive advantages – to develop an even stronger Jewish identity. And he would like Jews in Greater Cincinnati to think of Cedar Village as the only retirement community where they would consider living. Andrew Shott, Chair of the Cedar Village Foundation, reported that the Foundation is taking steps to attract even more grants and gifts, including hiring a grant writer. The Foundation oversees Cedar Village’s fund-raising and
investment efforts. Cedar Village’s endowment helps to support its activities and programs, which make Cedar Village a special place to live, including programs that help people with dementia express themselves artistically. Even the extra expense for kosher food is supported by the endowment. “There are a lot of things going on at Cedar Village that do not go on at any other retirement community,” Shott said. Sally Korkin, the Foundation’s Executive Director, reported that Cedar Village’s capital campaign exceeded its goal immensely. The funds have been paying for expansion of Cedar Village’s rehabilitation facilities. The campaign included money from Cedar Village employees and money from the estate of Fannie Bundman, who lived at Cedar Village for almost 10 years. She died in 2007 at age 101. Korkin also reported that the 2013 Cedar Village Golf Classic will be Aug. 19 at the Heritage Club in Mason.
Also at the meeting, Bobby Fisher was elected to a new threeyear term on the 24-member Cedar Village Board. Barb Reed of Cincinnati was selected to be chair-elect. Elected to additional threeyear terms were Dr. Richard Goldfarb, Steve Gutter, Louis Guttman, Mark Moskowitz, Rachel Schild and Rosen. In addition to Rosen and Reed, officers of the Cedar Village Board are Rachel Schild, Vice Chair; Chuck Bissinger, Treasurer; Michael Kadetz, Assistant Treasurer; Merrie Stillpass, Secretary; Mark Mayer, Assistant Secretary; and Jay Price, Immediate Past Chair. In addition to Shott, officers of the Cedar Village Foundation are Louise Roselle, Vice Chair and Chair-Elect; Jerry Lerner, Treasurer; and Jay Price, Secretary. Ken Cohen, Murray Guttman, Roz Harkavy, Louise Roselle and Dr. Jeff Zipkin were elected to three-year terms.
The American Israelite “LET THERE BE LIGHT” THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN AMERICA - EST. JULY 15, 1854
VOL. 159 • NO. 56 THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013 9 ELUL 5773 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 8:15 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 9:16 PM THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO., PUBLISHERS 18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037 Phone: (513) 621-3145 Fax: (513) 621-3744 publisher@americanisraelite.com editor@americanisraelite.com production@americanisraelite.com RABBI ISAAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 PHYLLIS R. SINGER Editor & General Manager, 1985-1999 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher GABRIELLE COHEN JORY EDLIN Assistant Editors YOSEFF FRANCUS ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editors JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR ZELL SCHULMAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists BONNIE ULLNER Advertising Sales Manager JENNIFER CARROLL Production Manager ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager
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Robert Rosen, the Chair of Cedar Village’s Board of Trustees, is confident about the retirement community’s future as Cedar Village continues to show “tremendous” growth by adding new services. Rosen, who is serving the second of two years as chair, gave that assessment at the annual joint meeting of the boards of Cedar Village and the Cedar Village Foundation. Cedar Village is keeping up with new technology and trends in retirement communities, he reported. “We’re setting a bar of excellence in everything we do. The future is incredibly exciting.” Rosen pointed out that Cedar Village’s leadership years ago recognized the need to expand the institution’s services because Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates have been declining. Cedar Village has been launching new services, including services to people other than older adults and services in places other than the Mason campus. For example, in the last year,
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and gas-lit sanctuary in silence. The beautiful music and thoughtprovoking prayers help me transition to a reflective mindset in anticipation for the High Holidays. After services, it’s a joy and a personal thrill to participate with other congregants in changing the Torah covers to welcome in the Days of Awe. It's a not-tobe-missed event for me every year!” If you want a beautiful beginning to the High Holy Days and a truly unique service experience,
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“One of the best ways I have found to enhance my connection to my congregation and my Judaism, is by attending the Selichot service at Plum Street Temple,” says Naomi Ruben who hasn’t missed this service in years. “I enjoy indulging in both fruit and a bit of chocolate at the preservice dessert buffet, while talking with adults I know and those I meet for the first time that evening. I eagerly anticipate the moment when Rabbi Kamrass instructs us to enter the historic
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Picture beautiful, historic Plum Street Temple gas-lit as it was in days of old. Imagine a sense of calm that comes from serene music, quiet prayer and personal reflection. This spiritual deep breath is found at Wise Temple’s Selichot service, often referred to as the most beautiful service of the year. Wise Temple welcomes everyone to this poetic and reflective service which prepares one’s heart, mind and spirit for the Days of Awe and Repentance.
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Wise Temple welcomes you to Selichot services
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $44 per year and $1.00 per single copy in Cincinnati and $49 per year and $3.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. The views and opinions expressed by the columnists of The American Israelite do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the newspaper.
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Best-selling career expert predicts surge in job opportunities Career expert Donald Asher predicts that the next two decades will offer “unprecedented” career opportunities as thousands of baby boomers leave the job market every day. And Asher, who has studied careers for decades, has suggestions to capitalize on those opportunities. He’ll offer those tips to the Jewish community on Aug. 29 at an event called “Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t and Why” presented by JVS Career Services. “Even if you’ve been stalled for years, this could be your time,” Asher said. “By showing up and playing to win, you could find yourself promoted soon and often, as organizations struggle to replace retiring boomers.” In the coming years, he said,
people who want to accelerate their careers can experience success by changing jobs more often and targeting growing companies. Asher knows some of his advice can be controversial. But he also knows his tips and techniques work. His strategies, after all, come from the highly successful people he has coached as a career consultant. “I spent twenty years studying what fast-track careerists do, and I have distilled their advice, and their strategies and techniques,” he wrote. “I am merely the vessel. The content comes from the real experts, that is, people who get promoted, again and again, throughout their careers.” Asher noted that one way to repeatedly get promoted is to join a
Has the era of the kosher cheeseburger arrived? By Talia Levin Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – When the world’s first lab-grown burger was introduced and taste-tested on Monday, the event seemed full of promise for environmentalists, animal lovers and vegetarians. Another group that had good reason to be excited? Kosher consumers. The burger was created by harvesting stem cells from a portion of cow shoulder muscle that were multiplied in petri dishes to form tiny strips of muscle fiber. About 20,000 of the strips were needed to create the five-ounce burger, which was financed partially by Google founder Sergey Brin and unveiled by Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands. PETA hailed the event as a “first step” toward humanely producing meat products. A University of Amsterdam study shows that labgrown meat could significantly reduce the environmental impact of beef production. For kosher-observant Jews, the “cultured” burgers could open the door to radical dietary changes – namely, the birth of the kosher cheeseburger. That’s because meat produced through this process could be considered parve – neither meat nor dairy – according to Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the Orthodox Union’s kosher division. Thus under traditional Jewish law, the burger could be paired with dairy products. Several key conditions would have to be met to create kosher, parve cultured beef. The tissue samples would have to come from an animal that had been slaughtered according to kosher rules, not from a
biopsy from a live animal, Genack said. The principle underlying this theory is much like the status of gelatin in Jewish law: Though it is derived from an animal, it is not meat (the OU certifies some bovinederived gelatin as parve). Genack noted another source for viewing cultured meat as parve: a 19th century Vilna-born scholar known as the Heshek Shlomo wrote that the meat of an animal conjured up in a magical incantation could be considered parve. It may not be too much of a stretch, then, to apply the same logic to modern genetic wizardry. But kosher chefs aren’t heating up the parve griddles just yet. The lab-born burger, which cost $325,000 and took two years to make, is still a long way from market viability, kosher or otherwise. If mass produced, it could still cost $30 per pound, researchers said. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Jeff Nathan, the executive chef at Abigael’s on Broadway, a kosher restaurant in Manhattan. “Until it’s in my hands and I can touch it, smell it and taste it, I don’t believe it.” Even if cultured beef became commonplace, consumers still might not be interested, said Elie Rosenfeld, a spokesman for Empire Kosher, the nation’s largest kosher poultry producer. “Parve burgers made of tofu and vegetables have been on the market for years,” Rosenfeld said. “But customers are still looking for the real deal, a product that’s wholesome and genuine.” Nevertheless, Nathan sounded an enthusiastic note about the potential for parve meat. “I’m all for experimentation and science,” he said. “Let’s see what it tastes like!”
company experiencing strong growth. Those are often mezzanine companies, which he defines as companies with 100 to 5,000 employees. As an example, he pointed to a high-tech company he studied years ago while in graduate school. “They were growing so fast they were hiring people without telling them what their job was. They hired people without telling them who their boss was, too, because their boss had not been hired yet. They were hiring people and putting them at desks in hallways, where some of them stayed for up to six weeks waiting for a phone, an assignment, and a boss.” That company was Yahoo! For people whose careers were damaged by the Great Recession --
who are underpaid and under-challenged -- Asher recommends exhausting opportunities with their current employers, then looking for a new job and changing jobs as often as needed until their careers are back on track. “Fast-track careerists wring every promotion and skill-set development opportunity they can from each employer, but they don’t stay in a dead-end job once those opportunities cease,” he said. “Changing employers is sometimes the only way to move up.” Asher will offer more advice and insights as he speaks in the first of a series of events about careers presented by JVS Career Services. Just as important will be the opportunity the same night for the community to network with key
professionals representing various businesses and careers in Greater Cincinnati. The event will be 6 to 9 p.m. at The Carnegie Center in Columbia Tusculum. Asher will speak at 7 p.m. Networking receptions will precede and follow Asher’s presentation. Registration will be accepted by going to the website of JVS Career Services. Contact information for JVS Career Services can be found in The American Israelite’s Community Directory near the back of this edition. The event is being co-sponsored by Access, an initiative of the Mayerson Foundation, and the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.
John Kerry: U.S. views all Jewish communities beyond pre-1967 lines as ‘illegitimate’ By JNS Staff JNS Reacting to Israel’s announcement of 1,200 new housing units in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the U.S. “views all of the settlements as illegitimate.” Israel is “only building within the borders of communities established before [the 1993] Oslo [Accords] on unallocated land that Jordan illegally occupied from 1948 to 1967, that the UN never recognized as sovereign Arab land,” Morton A. Klein, nation-
al president of the Zionist Organization of America, told JNS. “Why isn’t Kerry complaining about illegal Arab building [within those borders], and [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas’s racist proclamation that no Jews will be allowed in Palestine?” Klein asked, referring to Abbas’s recent statement that ruled out the “presence of a single Israeli” in a future Palestinian state. Sarah Stern, founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), told JNS that Kerry’s statement was “almost racist.” She said it is ironic that Israel, the Jewish state, would be asked to
remove all Jews from certain communities. “Why should Israel be the only country that has certain areas within it as Judenrein (clean of Jews)?” Stern asked. The territories acquired by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War are considered disputed and subject to the result of final status negotiations. In 2004, President George W. Bush wrote in a letter to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that it is “unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949.”
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Jewish groups ramping up response to sex trafficking By Josh Lipowsky Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – It started when she was 13. “Sarah” became involved with a man 10 years her elder. He began setting her up with his friends for sex. She knew they would sometimes pay him, but she always thought she could trust him. He became her world. Even though he would beat her, Sarah internalized it as affection. When she tried to leave, threats to
her family kept her coming back. “I didn’t realize I was a sex-trafficking victim until I got out,” said Sarah, who grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home and is now in her 20s. “I thought he cared about me. I started distancing myself from my family and he was the only support I had.” While Sarah’s is not a typical story for an American Jewish girl, neither is it unique. Though exact figures on Jewish girls involved in sex trafficking are unknown, the overall problem is a
major one. Some 21 million to 27 million people around the world are involved human trafficking, either as sex workers or forced laborers – an epidemic President Obama has described as modern-day slavery. The U.S. State Department estimates that worldwide trafficking is a $32 billion industry. Though not an issue that particularly effects Jews, Jewish federations and national organizations have pushed in recent years to bring the scope of the problem to public attention while providing aid and
services to its victims. “It’s a problem in the Jewish community and a problem people don’t want to acknowledge and a problem in society as a whole,” said Nancy Kaufman, CEO of the National Council on Jewish Women, which is developing a strategy to address sex trafficking. “It’s an issue that has not gone away and gotten worse.” Last year, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s community SEX on page 22
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Lori Cohen of Sanctuary for Families chaired a recent UJA Federation of New York conference on sex trafficking.
As peace talks kick off, right wing intensifies efforts to influence their outcome By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – Israeli settler leader Dani Dayan has made it his mission over the years to warn members of Congress, particularly Republicans, of the perils of IsraeliPalestinian peace talks. Dayan has been a regular visitor to Washington, his trips often coinciding with developments in the peace process. During the Annapolis talks in 2007-08, Dayan would watch Israeli officials as they met with the media in the lobby of the venerable Mayflower Hotel, just blocks from the White House, and then move in to offer his own spin. In June, Dayan met with GOP House leaders in a meeting organized with help from the Zionist Organization of America. The meeting was followed by a
Washington Jewish Week report that another settler leader, Gershon Mesika, met with 20 Congress members just days before the relaunch of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The intensive cultivation of relationships on Capitol Hill appears to be bearing fruit. Within days of talks kicking off in Washington last week, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), a freshman who attended the June meeting with Dayan, drafted a letter asking the U.S. attorney general to hinder the release of Palestinian prisoners – a move approved by Israel to help kick-start negotiations. Dayan didn’t ask Salmon to write the letter. That request was made by the Endowment for Middle East Truth, a conservative lobby funded in part by gaming billionaire Sheldon Adelson. But the congressional measures
now being undertaken to impact the trajectory of peace talks have their roots in the warm relations that settlers and their American friends have forged in Congress over the past two decades. “It was important to meet with the Yesha people,” a GOP official said of the June meeting, using the Hebrew acronym for the settlers’ council, “to find out who the settlers are, what they feel obstacles to peace are, what Judea and Samaria means from a historical perspective.” In addition to Salmon’s letter, a perennial effort to tighten a 1995 law requiring the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem reappeared just as talks resumed. The strengthened law would remove a presidential waiver that has enabled successive presidents to delay the move on the grounds of national security.
Members of Congress behind both initiatives deny that the measures – neither in timing nor in substance – are intended to scuttle the peace talks. On the contrary, the lawmakers say they are intended to improve the chances of success for the talks by strengthening Israel’s bargaining position and making American parameters clear to the Palestinians. “There will never be clear sailing as long as there are people who do not recognize Israel as a Jewish nation,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), one of the sponsors of the new Jerusalem bill. But the settler leaders and the right-wing pro-Israel groups that support them are more blunt about their objectives. “I told the congresspersons that the strategic choice that John Kerry made to go on with the conventional peace process to try to renew
negotiations … will have catastrophic consequences for the American national interests,” Dayan said. “Because when he fails – and he will fail – the fact that the secretary of state of the United States failed will be noticed very clearly in Tehran and in Damascus and in Moscow and in Pyongyang.” Daniel Mandel, the director of ZOA’s Center for Middle East Policy, said his group was gearing up to push back against talks it believes are doomed because the Palestinians remain unwilling to accept Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. “Our strategy now that negotiations have resumed is to unblinkingly focus on the unregenerative nature of Abbas’ Palestinian Authority,” Mandel said, referring to Mahmoud Abbas, the P.A. president.
Despite Netanyahu’s pleas, top House Dems open to testing Iran’s new leader By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – In increasingly strident tones, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling his American friends that the purported moderation of Iran’s new president is a ploy aimed at relieving international pressure and buying the Islamic Republic more time to cross the nuclear threshold. But in ways both subtle and direct, some of those friends – among them some of Israel’s closest allies in Washington – are saying that maybe Hassan Rohani is worth hearing out. That was the message delivered this week by Rep. Steny Hoyer (DMd.), the second-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, while leading a tour of Israel for 36 fellow House Democrats. “We have a new [Iranian] president,” Hoyer told JTA from Israel, where the stalwart supporter of the Jewish state was on his 13th tour as a congressman. “It makes sense for
Courtesy of Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, seen in a January 2011 photo, are among top-ranking House Democrats inclined to engage Iran’s new president in talks on his country’s nuclear program.
the [Obama] administration to test the sincerity, willingness and ability of the new president to accomplish the objective of assuring the West and Israel and the U.N. what the Iranians are not doing, and will reverse what they already have done, toward a nuclear capability.” The divergence represents a rare
public gap on a crucial security issue between pro-Israel lawmakers and Netanyahu, who in a succession of meetings this month with congressional delegations to Israel has lobbied hard to persuade American leaders to ignore Rohani’s overtures. “I know that some place their hopes on Iran’s new president,” Netanyahu told a delegation on Wednesday led by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). “He knows how to exploit this, and yesterday he called for more talks. “Of course he wants more talks. He wants to talk and talk and talk. And while everybody is busy talking to him, he’ll be busy enriching uranium. The centrifuges will keep on spinning.” In his first news conference as president, Rohani said Iran wants to improve its relations with the United States and intimated he was prepared to increase transparency of his country’s nuclear program, which he insists is peaceful but which Western intelligence agencies believe is aimed at producing weapons.
Netanyahu dismisses such talk as a sham, but the Democratic leadership in the House doesn’t appear to agree. Though she backed new sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Pelosi also welcomed Rohani’s openness to talks aimed at ending the nuclear standoff. “Let’s do it diplomatically. Let’s do it with economic sanctions. Let’s do it by encouraging dialogue, engagement and the rest,” she said. “But let’s do that engagement from strength.” Like Pelosi, Hoyer backs both increased economic pressure and an openness to talks – a position he said is not inconsistent with Netanyahu’s tough line. Nor is a letter signed by 131 House members urging President Obama to test Rohani’s offer, Hoyer said. For Netanyahu and some in the pro-Israel community like Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N .Y.), the clock has run out on that approach. In July, Netanyahu told the news program “Face the Nation” that Iran was “within a few weeks” of crossing the red line – a boundary the
prime minister defined as possessing 250 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium – and vowed it would not be permitted to do so. “If this were three years ago, I would have said, we have a couple of months to lose, OK,” said Engel, the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Now, while Iran is playing out the clock spinning centrifuges, pretending Rohani is a moderate and stepping back, thinking we might be pleasantly surprised – we would not be pleasantly surprised. We would be three months closer to Iran having a nuclear weapon.”. But in a sign of how the “test Rohani” message is gaining traction, the AIPAC-backed letter notes Rohani’s offer to engage and counsels “a sincere demonstration of openness to negotiations.” Obama appears to have embraced the message, although in carefully restrained tones. After Rohani’s inauguration, the White House issued a statement praising Iranian voters, not Rohani. It was issued by the White House, not by Obama.
NATIONAL • 7
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
The war over intermarriage has been lost. Now what? By Uriel Heilman Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – When the nation’s largest Jewish federation convened its first-ever conference recently on engaging interfaith families, perhaps the most notable thing about it was the utter lack of controversy that greeted the event. There was a time when the stereotypical Jewish approach to intermarriage was to shun the offender and sit shiva. A generation ago, the publication of the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey showing intermarriage at the alarmingly high rate of 52 percent turned into a rallying cry. No matter that subsequent scholarship revised the figure down to 43 percent, interfaith marriage was seen as the core of the problem of Jewish assimilation in America. Jewish institutions poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Jewish identity building with an eye toward stemming intermarriage. Fast forward two decades and the question is no longer how to fight intermarriage, but how Jewish institutions can be as welcoming as possible to intermarried Jews and the gentiles who love them. “Clearly, Jewish communal attitudes have changed,” said David Mallach, managing director of the Commission on the Jewish People at UJA-Federation of New York, which hosted the one-day interfaith conference in June. “One of the results of the whole process begun with the 1990 study
National Briefs Kerry briefs Jewish leaders on peace talks WASHINGTON (JTA) Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice briefed Jewish leaders on Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The Aug. 8 meeting at the White House lasted 90 minutes, participants said, and was characterized mostly by Kerry’s enthusiasm for the resumed talks and the serious commitment he said he saw from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Jackie Robinson statue in Brooklyn spray-painted with ‘Heil Hitler,’ swastika (JNS) The words “Heil Hitler” and a swastika, in addition to other racist graffiti, were found spray-painted on the base of the Jackie Robinson statue outside of
was that in a free America we’re all Jews by choice. That’s been a profound insight that has permeated a lot of the work of the Jewish community in the last 20-plus years,” Mallach said. “It shifted the discussion from the classic stereotypical sitting shiva and never talking to a person again to saying that if we’re all Jews by choice, let’s also sit with this segment of the community and offer them that choice.” In 1973, the Reform movement’s rabbinical arm, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, issued a nonbinding resolution opposing officiating at intermarriages. Today, more than half the movement’s rabbis perform interfaith weddings. In 2010, a task force at the CCAR recommended shifting away from focus on preventing intermarriage to reaching out to intermarried families and adapting rituals to include non-Jewish family members. Now the movement is considering a further step. Rabbi Aaron Panken, the new president of the rabbinical seminary of the Reform movement, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, told JTA last week that HUC is planning to take a “very serious look” at whether to end the school’s longstanding policy against admitting intermarried rabbinical school students. In the Conservative movement, it’s no longer uncommon to see nonJews on the bimah during a bar mitzvah service. Some Conservative synagogues even grant voting rights to the Minor League Baseball stadium of the Brooklyn Cyclones on Wednesday. The Cyclones, an affiliate of the New York Mets, said in a statement, “It is both heartbreaking and deeply disturbing that this statue, which is a symbol of equality and tolerance, has been defaced in such an offensive and hateful way.” Catholic school educators learn about history of Holocaust and antiSemitism (JNS) A group of 40 Catholic school educators traveled to Washington, DC, in late July as part of a program to learn more about the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. The Eileen Ludwig Greenland National Bearing Witness Summer Institute is a long-running program sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Catholic Educational Association, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Georgetown University’s Program for Jewish Civilization.
Courtesy of Allyson Magda/Facebook
Jewish communal attitudes toward interfaith marriages, like the wedding between Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan in 2012, have shifted considerably since 1990.
non-Jewish members. Officially, the movement’s only rules on the subject are that rabbis must neither perform nor attend interfaith weddings. But the latter regulation often is ignored. “First someone has to make a complaint, and nobody has ever brought a complaint against a colleague for having attended an intermarriage,” said Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the movement’s Rabbinical Assembly. “It would be hard to imagine that someone would be punOver a five-day period, the program seeks to educate participants about the history of antiSemitism, the Holocaust, and recent changes in Catholic-Jewish relations. Obama to award Presidential Medal of Freedom to Israeli professor Kahneman (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) Israel’s Professor Daniel Kahneman, 79, who received the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics, has been named one of the 16 recipients of the 2013 United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House announced Thursday. End support for Hamas, 24 U.S. Reps tell Qatar (JNS) A bipartisan letter urging Qatar to end its support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, sent Aug. 2 to Qatari Ambassador to the U.S. Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, garnered 24 signatures from members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Qatar reportedly pledged more than $400 million to Hamas in October 2012 during a visit to Gaza by Qatar’s ruling emir at the
ished for it.” Even in the Orthodox movement, the idea of shunning the intermarried is passe, seen as counterproductive to the ultimate goal of getting unaffiliated Jews to embrace their Jewish identity. “The preponderance of intermarriage has made it usually pointless to shun those who have married out,” said Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for the haredi Orthodox Agudath Israel of America. “Once upon a time, intermarriage was a sign that the Jewish partner was rejecting his or her Jewish heritage. That is no longer the case, of course, and hasn’t been for decades.” While there have been no national studies of Jewish intermarriage rates since the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Survey, which reported an intermarriage rate of 47 percent, anecdotal evidence and general population surveys suggest intermarriage is on the rise. A landmark 2008 study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that one-third of all marriages in the United States are now interfaith, and Jews are the most intermarrying ethnic group of all (Mormons are the least). The survey also found a growing number of Americans switching religions: Twenty-eight percent no longer belong to the religion in which they were born, or 44 percent if switching Protestant denominations is counted. “What was once seen as abnormal, socially taboo, something you did not publicize has become socially acceptable,” Erika Seamon, author
of “Interfaith Marriage in America: The Transformation of Religion and Christianity,” said at the UJAFederation conference in June. “This is a huge shift.” Today, the very notion of fighting a battle against intermarriage in America seems as likely to succeed as a war against rain: It’s going to happen, like it or not. The question is how to react. Given that the children of intermarriages are only one-third as likely as the children of inmarried couples to be raised as Jews, according to the 2000-01 NJPS, the overall strategy appears to be the same across the denominations: Engage with the intermarried in an effort to have them embrace Judaism. That’s true from the Reform movement to Chabad, with the exception of some haredi Orthodox. Where the denominations differ is how far one may go in that embrace, and how strongly – if at all – to push for conversion of the non-Jewish spouse. At Orthodox synagogues, nonJews cannot ascend to the bimah, and many synagogues go so far as to deny certain ritual roles to Jews married to non-Jews. The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism leaves it to the discretion of its member synagogues to set the rules on how to treat nonJews. Rabbi Steven Wernick, the association’s executive vice president, says conversion of the nonJewish spouse should be a goal. The
time, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Force (IAF) Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, the Israeli website Walla News reported Friday. According to the report, the visit was made secretly at the request of the U.S., in light of regional tensions and the current discourse in Israel on the possibility of attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. The visit was Welsh’s first visit to Israel as the head of the U.S. Air Force.
U.S. ‘red light’ on Israeli strike against Iran nuclear program turns ‘yellow’ (JNS) Amos Yadlin, former head of military intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces, said America might be warming up to the prospect of an Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear program. “In 2012 the [U.S.] red light [regarding an Israeli strike] was as red as it can get, the brightest red,” Yadlin told Army Radio on Wednesday in an interview cited by the Times of Israel. “But the music I’m hearing lately from Washington says, ‘If this is truly an overriding Israeli security interest, and you think you want to strike,’ then the light hasn’t changed to green, I think, but it’s definitely yellow.” U.S. Air Force chief makes under-the-radar visit to Israel (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III concluded a week-long secret visit to Israel on Thursday as a guest of Israel Air
INTERMARRIAGE on page 19
Eydie Gorme, JewishAmerican singer, dies at 84 (JNS) Jewish-American singer Eydie Gorme, who became famous for her popular duet performances with her husband Steve Lawrence in the 1950s, died in Las Vegas on Saturday at the age of 84. Born Edith Gorme in New York City in 1932, the singer’s parents were Jews of Spanish descent who were born in Turkey and later immigrated to the U.S. Gorme’s publicist confirmed her death, the New York Times reported. She is survived by her husband, son, and granddaughter.
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It’s rabbi vs. rabbi in competing campaigns to overturn Poland’s shechitah ban By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency A few weeks before Poland’s parliament voted last month on whether to overturn a ban on ritual slaughter, Rabbi Menachem Margolin was scheduled to meet the Polish president in an effort to find a solution to the problem. The ban had been imposed in January, when a Polish constitutional court outlawed Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter in response to a petition filed by animal welfare activists.
But shortly before Margolin’s meeting was to take place, President Bronislaw Komorowski’s office unexpectedly canceled. Margolin, director of the European Jewish Association and the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, both based in Brussels, saw a reason for the cancellation: Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, whom Margolin accused of “torpedoing” the meeting. Schudrich denied the charge, and one of his associates told JTA that the meeting was canceled after the president’s office learned Schudrich
would not be attending the meeting with Margolin. When parliament followed through with its 222-178 vote to uphold the ban on Jewish ritual slaughter, known as shechitah, Margolin again blamed Schudrich, calling him incompetent and demanding that he resign. Schudrich in turn accused Margolin of meddling and jeopardizing Polish Jewry’s coordinated campaign to overturn the ban. To outsiders, the back-and-forth RABBI on page 19
Courtesy of Creative Commons/Facebook
Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, left, and Rabbi Menachem Margolin of the Chabad-affiliated Rabbinical Centre of Europe have been at odds publicly over Schudrich's handling of the kosher slaughter case in Poland.
As Dutch markets deny boycott, EU pressure on settlements grows By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Two weeks ago, the Dutch public learned of what appeared to be an unprecedented victory for European advocates of boycotting Israeli products. Four major supermarket chains reportedly declared a boycott of products from the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. But the “victory,” as some activists in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement called it, was short lived. Days later, the international supermarket chains Aldi and Hema,
along with the smaller Hoogvliet and Jumbo chains, distanced themselves from the boycott they were said to be enacting. According to the companies, the reports owed to a corporate error or inaccurate reporting. Yet spokespeople for the four chains also acknowledged that their stocks currently include no products from Israeli settlements. That allowed both Israel’s supporters and its critics to claim victory in a fight that is quickly spreading across the continent, as various European groups have sought to use their economic power as leverage to oppose Israeli settlements they consider illegal. “The chains’ hurried about-face
proves the failure of attempts by anti-Israel groups to single Israel out for criticism in the supermarket,” said Esther Voet, director of the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, a pro-Israel lobby group based in The Hague. But Sander Becker, a reporter for the Trouw daily, which broke news of the supposed boycott, said the affair may have exposed the existence of a “silent boycott” in which stores keep settlement products from the shelves but don’t admit to what they are doing. Companies may “shun products from settlements while publicly claiming it’s because of ‘price, qual-
ity and availability’ – the three harmless [parameters] stipulated in statements by all the supermarket chains,” Becker said. Becker’s report was based on a document published in April by a research agency called Profundo at the request of several Dutch NGOs critical of Israel. Titled “Dutch economic links with the occupation,” the report said Hoogvliet, Aldi and Jumbo admitted to instructing Israeli suppliers to refrain from sending goods produced in the settlements. Dutch media later reported that Hema made similar requests. A spokesperson for Profundo told JTA the report is accurate and
that statements were based on answers to its questions. But a spokesperson for the Dutch subsidiary of Aldi, a German chain with stores in 18 countries, told JTA the statement on the boycott was “a false representation of reality” caused by “a mistake in the answers provided” to Profundo. Aldi “has no policy on products from the West Bank and the Golan,” the spokesperson said. Hema, a large Dutch supermarket chain with branches in five European countries, also denied a boycott policy. Jumbo and Hoogvliet issued statements saying politics play no role in decisions about what products to stock.
death in absentia for his crimes in 1948 by a Czechoslovakian court after he fled to Canada. He was deported back to Hungary in 1997.
weekend and raised the black flag of Al-Qaeda over the church. According to Coptic Solidarity, a U.S.-based Coptic human rights organization that cited a local Egyptian report in Shorouk News, the Islamists chanted that Egypt should be an “Islamic [state] despite [the wishes of] secularists.” The church immediately closed its doors after the demonstration and prevented the entry or exit of its members. Additionally, hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters surrounded a church in the Egyptian city of Girga to denounce Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros and his support for the interim military-backed government.
1983 U.S. Marine barracks terrorist attack in Beirut that killed 199 American and French servicemen, says an Israeli think tank. According to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), Dehghan was sent to Lebanon in the early 1980s to help organize and train Shi’a militia units that would become known as Hezbollah. “The order to carry out the attacks was transmitted, and the funding and operational training provided, with the help of the Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon under the command of Hossein Dehghan,” Dr. Shimon Shapira wrote for JCPA.
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International Briefs
mArgentinian rabbi wins handily in parliament primary BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) Rabbi Sergio Bergman won the most votes in the midterm congressional primary elections in Argentina, his first national test for a seat in parliament. Bergman, a Buenos Aires city lawmaker for the center-right PRO Party, had 27.7 percent of the votes in Sunday’s primary for the lower house of the National Congress. He was followed by the Peronist candidate Juan Cabandie with 18.9 percent. Hungarian war criminal Laszlo Csatary dies at 98 (JTA) Hungarian war criminal Laszlo Csatary has died while awaiting trial for torturing Jews and deporting thousands of them to their deaths during World War II. He was 98. Csatary, a former police commander of the Kassa internment camp in Slovakia, was sentenced to
Police launch hate crimes probe of Toronto Palestinian leader TORONTO (JTA) Toronto police launched a hate crimes investigation into comments made by a Palestinian community leader who called for the murder of Israelis. “We have received a complaint with regards to things said at the Al-Quds Day rally. There is an investigation ongoing,” Toronto police spokeswoman Wendy Drummond told the Canadian Jewish News. Addressing an Al-Quds Day rally on Aug. 3, Elias Hazineh, former president of Palestine House in suburban Toronto, said “an ultimatum” must be issued to Israelis: “You have to leave Jerusalem. You have to leave Palestine,” he said. Al-Qaeda flag raised by Islamists over Egypt Coptic Christian church (JNS) Hundreds of supporters of Mohamed Morsi gathered in front of St. George Church in the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag last
Italian wines feature Nazi slogans and Hitler pictures on labels (JNS) The Simon Wiesenthal Center has called for a global boycott of a company producing Italian wines whose labels sport Nazi slogans and images of Adolph Hitler. Iran’s new defense minister linked to 1983 U.S. Marine barracks bombing (JNS) Iran’s newly appointed defense minister, Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, has links to the
Netanyahu to Kerry: ‘Incitement and peace cannot coexist’ (JNS) “Incitement and peace cannot coexist,” wrote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday night, ahead of the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations this week. Netanyahu’s letter, according to Israel Hayom, referred to a statement made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas July 29 that a future Palestinian state “would not see the
Israeli drone strike inside Egypt reportedly kills four terrorists (JNS) An Israeli drone strike inside Egypt in the troubled Sinai Peninsula has killed four terrorists and destroyed a rocket launcher, two senior Egyptian security officials said, the Associated Press reported. The Egyptian military said the strike was coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), AFP reported. Allegations of anti-Semitism in trial of Russian Jew sentenced to seven years in prison (JNS) Russia’s Kremlin human rights council plans to review the case of Russian-Jewish teacher Ilya Farber, who in a Russian regional court last week was sentenced for the second time to seven years in a maximum security penal colony on bribery charges. The human rights council called the sentence “too harsh,” according to the Moscow Times. Farber pleaded not guilty, and the Russian Supreme Court had overturned his first conviction.
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The wonderful visit of Oz By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEL AVIV – Dr. Mehmet Oz sat down to talk with JTA on the Tel Aviv coast last week, but what he really wanted to do was go to the beach. Oz, the surgeon and well-known TV personality, was in Israel for the first time and had a packed itinerary. He traversed the country from the Red Sea to the Golan, lectured Israeli physicians in a northern Israeli hospital and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His host on this whirlwind tour was Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author and sexpert who lives in New Jersey. The two met when they were both on an Oprah Winfrey radio program. Boteach recently gave Oz an award for being a “champion of Jewish values,” and the trip was paid for by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, another recipient of the award. A Muslim of Turkish descent, Oz delivered a relatively conservative line on Israel in an interview,
Courtesy of The Jewish Values Network
Dr. Mehmet Oz, right, and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem, August 2, 2013.
even casting doubt on the viability of the two-state solution. He also explained why he went to Hebron and Psagot, two controversial Israeli settlements deep in the West Bank. JTA: What drove you to come to Israel and what has surprised you most about the country? Oz: I come every summer to Istanbul and keep meeting Israeli
tourists. What was most surprising was that I knew about the historical sites, I traveled the whole country, and I know now that that’s the tip of the iceberg. What’s special is the energy of this nation, which was able to build a thriving modern society out of the desert. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations restarted recently and it’s assumed that any final deal would involve the dismantling of Israeli West Bank settlements. Why did you decide to visit Hebron? Was it problematic for you as a Muslim? I went there especially because I was a Muslim, to the burial place of the patriarch of my religion. Hebron meant connecting to a place that represents that connection, and to be able to see Islamic writing, Jewish writing, Christian writing and all three [religions] worshiping at the same tomb. I went out of curiosity to see a place that is sacred to me. There will be political discussions forever, and we should follow an inner instinct. I went with love in my heart. In addition to practicing Western
medicine, you’re a big believer in non-Western cures and you preach the importance of patients having a positive mindset. In that regard, what’s your takeaway from Israeli culture and Jewish values? It’s difficult to understand the world if you don’t understand Israel. There’s a clear intersection of Jewish values, modern society and coping with the modern world. In a society like Israel, where there’s tremendous stress, it is important to remember those deep values. If you don’t love yourself you can’t love your neighbor. The most important thing in life is to have purpose. If you give your heart a reason to keep beating, it will always keep beating. Because of their will to take on the physical forces of the desert and their neighbors, [Israelis] have a clear purpose to change the world. What has been the most challenging part of the trip? We were driving and I saw workers from South Asia, and I wondered, “Why are South Asians working in these fields when there
are workers who live in the West Bank?” We must find a way for people to work together peacefully. There are such wonderful opportunities to work together. We should build a bigger pie. Israel is a microcosm for so many problems you have around the world. It’s the gold standard of conflict. If we could solve this, it’s a toolkit for solving other problems. How has visiting Israel and the West Bank changed your perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? You learn about the fictions you create around solutions. It would be very difficult to pass laws that intersect between people living next door to each other. It’s not as easy as being for or against it. You realize it’s much more difficult. It’s much grayer. It’s not black and white. The ultimate solution will be driven by financial means. Peace is an imperative for that. When people love their children so much, they’ll do whatever it takes to make their future brighter.
University of Haifa, Ruderman Family Foundation launch pioneering ‘American Jewish Studies’ program By Jeffrey F. Barken and Jacob Kamaras JNS HAIFA – Jay Ruderman has observed for years that when American Jewish leaders visit Israel or when Israeli leaders visit the United States, the conversation is “always about Israel” and how the Jewish state relates to Iran, Syria, the Palestinians, and others. “What’s happening in the American Jewish community?” and how those events impact future support for Israel never seem to enter the conversation, according to Ruderman, who worked for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in both New England and Jerusalem and is now president of the Ruderman Family Foundation. The Ruderman Foundation, which prioritizes Israel-diaspora relations, has already tackled this issue by sponsoring U.S. trips for two delegations of Israeli Members of Knesset, and by launching a caucus designed to improve Knesset members’ understanding of the American Jewish community. Now, the foundation is further addressing knowledge gaps in the next generation of Israeli leaders through its funding of the new Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies at the University of Haifa. The formation of the program, which will be the first of its kind in Israel, was revealed exclusively to JNS.
“Israeli universities have all sorts of programs studying Asia, Africa and the Arab world, but no one is studying the American Jewish community, which is probably the most important community affecting the future of Israel,” Jay Ruderman says. “The idea is that over the course of time you have a cadre of Israelis who’ve gotten a Master’s in the American Jewish community, and that they will help Israel shape this relationship.” Headquartered in Israel and Boston – which has a sister-city partnership with Haifa – the Ruderman Foundation made an initial $1 million contribution to the new program, an amount that was matched by the University of Haifa. Starting this fall, a class of 21 graduate students will embark on the one-year, seven-course program, which will survey Jewish-American immigration history, modern foreign policy, and governmental structures, as well as gender issues and the religious makeup of U.S. Jewish communities. “The key to understanding American Jewry is first to understand American society,” Prof. Gur Alroey, chair of the School of History at the University of Haifa and director of the new program, tells JNS. A highlight of the curriculum will be a 10-day trip to the U.S. Students will attend lectures, tour Ellis Island, and explore the Tenement Museum in lower Manhattan. The group also will visit
Courtesy of University of Haifa Communications and Media Relations
Amos Shapira, president of the University of Haifa, speaks at the university’s 41st Board of Governors meeting in June 2013. Shapira says the new Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies at the University of Haifa “will create a new generation of educated and engaged citizens who share a deeper understanding of the American relationship.”
Philadelphia’s National Museum of American Jewish History, which houses a comprehensive exhibit detailing Jewish immigration to America from colonial times through the present. “The trip will be the equivalent of Birthright for Israelis, only the experience will be academic rather than primarily cultural,” Alroey says. Ronit Tirosh, a former Knesset member for the Kadima party and the first chair of the Ruderman Foundation’s Knesset caucus on relations between Israel and the
American Jewish community, introduced Alroey to Jay Ruderman, ultimately leading to the new program’s formation. Alroey spent two years guest lecturing in the U.S. at both New York University (NYU) and Rutgers University. Prof. Hasia Diner – a scholar in American Jewish history at NYU who next summer in New York will teach 10-day course on the American Jewish past and present for students of the new Ruderman program – says she has been “very impressed” with Alroey’s scholarship over the years.
“I consider his move to create this program a brilliant academic intervention and look forward to working with him,” Diner tells JNS. During his stay in the U.S., Alroey became increasingly aware of the attitudes commonly shown by Israelis toward their most important ally. “The reality is that our treatment of the Jewish American community in Israel has been superficial at best,” Alroey says. “How can it be that numerous programs exist at Israeli universities for Asian, African and European studies, yet there is not a single program dedicated to the study of the American Jewish Community?” Ruderman, who has lived in Israel since 2005, says that while American Jews “probably look at themselves as both American and Jewish,” Israelis may look at them and say, “Well, their real identity is Jewish, and they should be living in Israel, but because it’s more comfortable, or for whatever reason, they’re in America.” But that is “not a correct and honest way” to look at American Jews, Ruderman says. From Alroey’s perspective, this problem stems from Israel’s founding as a Jewish state, and as the declared gathering place for diaspora Jews. “Throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, Israeli society was very nationalist, and ideologically driven,” Alroey says. “Therefore, it was problematic HAIFA on page 22
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Formula One race a part of acceleration past regulation for Israeli motorsports By Jeffrey F. Barken JNS There is something different about taking a ride from Shlomi Bakish. Not only can he get from Haifa to Tel Aviv in half the time, but passengers also don’t feel the road. The car accelerates without strain. Unlike many Israeli drivers, Bakish doesn’t express rage when a slower car cuts him off. He sees his opportunity and easily passes on the right. It’s as though he’s driving in a race. For the past decade, talented Israeli drivers like Bakish were stranded in traffic by an unpopular law regulating motorsports. But new regulations approved in March 2011 by the Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee have opened doors for enthusiasts of Formula racing –
which encompasses several forms of open-wheeled, single-seat racecar driving including Formula Renault, Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Three, and World Series by Renault – to get back in the driver’s seat. The Jewish state’s first Formula One road show, which took place in mid-June, attracted 100,000 spectators. Formula Israel developers Boaz Meiri and Ofir Frank, instructors at the renowned Zig Zag driving school in France, and remarkably “driven” students form the unique Israeli motorsports team. When the Israeli motorsports law was lifted, Meiri and Frank saw an opportunity not only to build Israel’s first professional racetrack in the Port of Eilat, but also to experiment, and to democratize the Formula racing establishment. They are striving to make
Courtesy of Formula One
Scuderia Ferrari team driver Giancarlo Fisichella drives a Ferrari F60 past the ancient walls of Jerusalem’s old city.
Formula racing affordable and accessible to the Israeli public. “Traditionally, you have to be very rich and well licensed to drive in the Formula,” Meiri tells JNS. As racetrack construction began in Eilat, Meiri and Frank organized a new method for recruiting and training
drivers. Their efforts have created a pioneer racing culture in Israel that is likely to inspire similar programs around the world. “The idea is drivers driving,” Frank tells JNS. “We want to give enthusiasts who have the talent to race competitively but who don’t have the money to participate in the sport the rare opportunity to drive a real race car.” Every summer, Israelis are now invited to submit applications to Israel’s Formula training program. For only 300 shekels, roughly $100, every applicant receives a special evaluation by Formula Renault professionals. Ultimately, a team of 30 drivers is selected for formal training. In 2011, nearly 3,000 drivers tried out for the program. The selection process yielded a team of 20 men and
10 women. Because the mile-long racetrack in Eilat was not yet completed, the drivers were sent to France to receive hands-on instruction in preparation for Israel’s first Formula One competition. Training at the Zig Zag school consists of grueling physical conditioning courses, as well as a regimen of computer simulator exercises. “A good driver needs to know how to push the car to the limit of traction without losing control,” Bakish tells JNS. “It’s a very thin line, and it takes time. You have to handle the car gently. If you are brutal, it will punish you.” For Bakish, who participated in the pilot program and was ranked 3rd prior to the 2012 Eilat race, the opportunity to drive a Formula racecar was the fulfillment of a childhood dream.
Will terrorist prisoners released for Israeli—Palestinian conflict talks be prosecuted in the U.S.? By Sean Savage JNS Aug. 13 marks the first phase of the controversial release of 104 Palestinian terrorist prisoners that Israel agreed to as a goodwill gesture for the restarting of Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations. The terrorists, 26 of whom are being released in the first phase, were all imprisoned before the signing of 1993 Oslo Accords and are “heavyweight prisoners who have been in jail for dozens of years,” Israeli Minister of Strategic Affair Yuval Steinitz has
Israel Briefs Syrian civil war patient in Israeli hospital walks a day after major surgery (JNS) A 15-year-old Syrian girl who lost one leg during clashes in the Syrian civil war, and had shrapnel in her other leg and her abdomen, walked just one day after undergoing major surgery at Ziv hospital in Safed, Israel. On Tuesday, the Syrian girl was able to stand for the first time on her salvaged leg, and she walked with the aid of crutches. The girl’s smile “thrilled the entire staff” at Ziv, said the director of the hospital’s orthopedic department, Dr. Alexander Lerner, according to Israel Hayom and Reuters. The teenager is not the first Syrian civil war patient to be treated in Israeli hospitals and not the only child. Since March, nearly 100 Syrians arrived for treatment at two hospitals in Israel’s Galilee region. Hezbollah ambushes Israeli soldiers on border, Lebanese media reports
said. But while the Palestinian terrorists will initially earn their freedom in this deal, efforts are underway in the U.S. to bring about the further prosecution of those terrorists whose attacks harmed American citizens in Israel. With the support of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), a pro-Israel think tank and lobby group based in Washington, DC, U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to work closely with the Israeli government to ensure that no terrorists who have killed or harmed
Americans be included in the prisoner release deal. In an advance copy of a letter being circulated in Congress that was provided to JNS, Salmon calls on the DOJ to “immediately intercede in this most recent prisoner release proposal and contact the government of Israel and request that they not release any terrorist who have killed or harmed Americans.” Additionally, if the Israeli government does release any terrorists, Salmon strongly urges the DOJ to prosecute them under the AntiTerrorism Act of 1990 – which stipu-
lates that whenever an American is killed anywhere around the world, the U.S. has a right to bring the terrorist to the U.S. to stand justice. Enforcement is through the DOJ’s Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (OJVOT), which was created in 2005 to “ensure that the investigation and prosecution of terrorist attacks against American citizens overseas remain a high priority,” according to the OJVOT website. Salmon also draws on precedent in his letter. He notes that in the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal in 2011, which released 1,027 Palestinian pris-
oners in exchange for Shalit’s freedom after more than five years in Hamas captivity, “approximately 20 of those released had been involved in terrorist acts where an American citizen was killed.” At the time of the Shalit prisoner swap, a number of legislators – including U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (ROK), former U.S. Reps. Joe Walsh (R-IL) and Howard Berman (D-CA), and 52 other members of Congress – wrote to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on the matter, urging him to prosecute the released Palestinian terrorists.
(JNS) Reports in Lebanese media suggest that Hezbollah was behind the explosion that injured four Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese border on Wednesday. Calling it an “ambush,” Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is sympathetic to Hezbollah, describes how Israeli commandos crossed into Lebanese territory and were hit by an “explosive device containing four smaller devices filled with ball bearings.”
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem to aid fund for children victimized by terror (JNS) The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), a Christian Zionist organization based in Jerusalem, has announced that it will be providing support to the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund through its aid agency. The Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund is a non-profit organization that offers therapeutic and emotional support for children from Jewish communities, who have suffered from terrorist attacks.
heart of the area imagined as a future Palestinian state.” Rudoren recently wrote a separate article describing Palestinian rock throwing as a “hobby” and a “rite of passage.” The article “romanticized and heroized the Palestinian perpetrators,” wrote Ricki Hollander, senior analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
Kippur. The Israeli national tennis team had been scheduled to face Belgium in Antwerp on Sept. 14, which is Yom Kippur, in the international tournament. The Belgian Tennis Association turned down Israel’s request to postpone the match, but the International Tennis Federation, which sponsors the Davis Cup, intervened and changed the date to Sept. 15.
Western Wall superimposed with Palestinian Authority flag on Abbas Facebook page (JNS) In the midst of renewed Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations, the Facebook page of the Presidential Guard of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas recently featured a photo illustration with the PA flag superimposed on the Western Wall, Palestinian Media Watch reported. The photo included a young Palestinian man giving a two-finger peace sign, next to an Orthodox Jewish man facing the Western Wall. Above the two men, the PA flag featured the text “The Al-Buraq Wall,” which is the Muslim term for the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, and text above the flag read “Palestinian youth know their rights.”
NY Times bureau chief corrects pre1967 lines error, slammed for story that ‘heroized’ Palestinian rock throwers (JNS) New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren printed a correction on Thursday to an earlier version of an article on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which she acknowledged “misstated the United States’ view” of the settlements located on land in the West Bank beyond the 1948 armistice lines. The original article stated that the U.S. considers such settlements “illegal, and some of them sit in the
Palestinian prisoner list released prior to renewed talks JERUSALEM (JTA) A committee of Israeli government ministers released a list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel in advance of the first round of peace negotiations. The list released at 1 a.m. Monday includes 14 prisoners who will be transferred this week to Gaza, several of whom are members of Hamas. Eight prisoners on the list were due to be released in the next three years and two in the next six months. Refusal to play on Yom Kippur costs Israeli Davis Cup team JERUSALEM (JTA) The Israel Tennis Association will have to pay more than $13,000 for refusing to play a Davis Cup match on Yom
Haredi Orthodox riot at Beit Shemesh construction site JERUSALEM (JTA) Dozens of haredi Orthodox men rioted at a construction site in Beit Shemesh, which they believe is a burial site. Some 14 rioters were arrested during Monday’s protest by Jerusalem District Police, including one on charges of assaulting a police officer. More than 100 haredim protested at the site, where they set trash collection bins on fire and blocked a major city street. The haredi Orthodox Committee for Graves of Israel has said human bones were found in the caves on the site, while the construction company claims the caves were grain and oil storage houses, according to Ynet.
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
ANNOUNCEMENTS BIRTH oshua and Erin Malman of Denver, Colo. announce the arrival of a daughter, Delilah on June 2. Grandparents are Sue and Bob Malman of Denver, Colo. and Charles Constantine of Racine, Wis. Great grandmother is Dolly Clayton of Lauderhill, Fla.
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BIRTH r. Jeffrey and Jamie Weisbrot are very pleased to announce the birth of their son, Grant Rowan on July 10, 2013. Grant has a big brother, Evan Miles. Grant is the grandson of Dr. Albert and Sherry Weisbrot and Harlan and Rhoda Priesman of Lincoln, Nebraska. He is the great-grandson of Rita and the late Edwin Grusd, the late Moszek and Mindla Weisbrot, the late Jean Priesman Selo and Ernie Priesman, and the late Elsie and Herbert Levin.
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ENGAGEMENT r. and Mrs. Jeffrey Lazarow announce the engagement of their son
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Rachel Routh and Andrew Lazarow
Andrew Lazarow to Rachel Routh. Rachel is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Routh of Danville, Ind. Andrew is the grandson of Dr. and Mrs. Irvin S. Silverstein, the late Marvin B. Steinberg and the late Ted and Myrna Lazarow. Rachel is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Owen S. Stamper and the late Howard and Eileen Routh. Andrew graduated cum laude with honors from Williams College. He received his Master's Degree from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Specializing in video and projection design for live performances, Andrew's most recent works include "I Am Harvey Milk" in San Francisco, working with the Philadelphia Opera Company, designing the Dalai Lama's appearance in Washington D.C. and a variety of plays and musicals in
Tamar Poupko Smith
SOCIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ore than 350 rabbinic, educational and lay leaders from 73 communities across North America and around the globe came together for Yeshiva University's Eighth Annual ChampionsGate National Leadership Conference held in Orlando, Fla., July 25-28. This year’s theme, “Kehilla: What We Bring to It,” explored the broader narrative of community, inviting participants to journey through four separate realms of communal leadership as they gained practical tools and fostered new collaborative partnerships to address pressing issues facing their communities at home and Orthodox Judaism as a whole. Tamar and Elliot Smith of Cincinnati, OH, attended the conference.
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New York. He is also a Professor at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Rachel is a graduate of DePauw University where she was a member of the University's Management Fellows Program, and she now serves as president of DePauw's New York Alumni Council. Rachel is the Executive Director of the Dramatists Guild Fund, a nonprofit that supports playwrights, lyricists, and composers of the American theater. Under her direction, the Fund has been awarded the 2013 New York Innovative Theater Award for Stewardship. The couple, who reside in Manhattan, will be wed there in 2014.
12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE
EIGHT OVER EIGHTY Eight outstanding members of the community were inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Jewish Senior Hall of Fame Thursday, May 30, 2013 at Cedar Village’s Eight Over Eighty event. The honorees have made an impact through their outstanding volunteerism within the Greater Cincinnati Jewish community. The eight honorees were Tulane and Jack Chartock, Peggy Katz, Millard Mack, Gene Mesh, Bess Paper, Judge Burton Perlman and Gerald Robinson.
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13
Happy Anniversary! Steve Leitz of Scottsdale and Bob Leitz of Maui are proud to announce the 65th Wedding Anniversary of their parents, Joan & Herb, August 29, 2013. The celebrated couple, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, met during High School in 1944. After a courtship and serving in the Armed forces, Herb returned home to marry his sweetheart, Joan Ungar, in Cincinnati. Herb began his engineering career with General Motors at Norwood, Ohio, and retired after 36 years. The family moved frequently when Herb was asked to apply his engineering & management talents at other GM facilities. Joan spent a great deal of time raising their 2 boys, keeping them out of trouble most of the time. Upon retirement, Joan & Herb moved to Phoenix to be close to their family.
Volunteer work, golf, and extensive travel with the family, they are proud grandparents of Josh, his wife Kehau, and Aaron, and spend a great deal of time passing on their wisdom, generosity & love. We cherish our time together, and we will celebrate this wonderful occasion with an intimate family dinner at a favorite local restaurant.
Congratulations Joan & Herb!
14 • DINING OUT
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Johnny Chan 2 – top notch Chinese eatery By Bob Wilhelmy Dining Editor John Pinette is a stand-up comic. He likes to eat. In fact, he does a routine called “Around the World in 80 Buffets.” If ever he’d visit Johnny Chan 2 for lunch, I bet he’d put that buffet on his list of 80 favorites. “People come here for lunch, they say: ‘Oh, very good; everything fresh.’ They like the lunch buffet,” said Frank Shi, proprietor and GM of Johnny Chan 2. Patron enthusiasm is generated by entrée dishes such as Mongolian beef, but the buffet features many dishes, including chicken, vegetarian and fried rice entrée items. That’s one of the secrets of success of this Chinese eatery’s lunch buffet. Shi says that his kitchen staff is constantly replenishing the entrée selections of the buffet. They do that to keep the buffet trays full, but also to keep every item hot, fresh and appetizing. “Not enough to just put food out, then not pay attention. Have to watch; bring out fresh all the time,” he said. We all know what he means. I’ve been at buffets where the food tends to be dried out and stuck to the bottom of the steam tray. Shi promises you will never find that at his lunch buffet, since attention to freshness is a constant. The buffet is a bargain for all you can eat, and the price increases with an accompanying drink. Beyond the buffet, another difference Shi pointed to at his Chinese restaurant is “hand skill,” which amounts to his way of saying home-made quality. “We make by hand, all sauces. Our food is all fresh and high quality.” He said that many restaurants specializing in Chinese and Asian foods rely on packetized or canned foods for the most part. The pre-made approach results in less flavor and inferior dishes in the end, he claimed. “Food not as good if you don’t have that hand skill.” Attention to quality of ingredients and fresh, home-made sauces and preparation has paid off. It’s worth noting that Johnny Chan 2 has risen to pretty lofty heights in its 14-plus years as a mainstay among Chinese restaurants. One accolade is having been voted one of the 100 best Chinese eateries in all the United States by Chinese Restaurant News. That is a real laurel when one considers the many thousands of Chinese dining spots that exist nationwide, dozens of them right here in the Greater Cincinnati area. One new dish that has been
Sami Chen, server, bringing a piping hot sizzling pan-fried noodle entrée to the table.
The exterior of the restaurant.
The luncheon buffet at Johnny Chan 2.
added to the eatery’s chalk board (for daily or ongoing specials) is pad Thai, done in the style of Thailand. Shi said the dish was
added about a month ago to the chalk board, and the response has been remarkable. While pad Thai is not yet on the menu, and not
always on the specials board, he encouraged diners to ask for it if they are interested. The kitchen will prepare it for any diner. Having eaten many meals at Johnny Chan 2, I have my favorites. Among these are: orange beef and sesame beef; Mongolian beef and beef pepper steak; chicken with eggplant and yu hsiang chicken; General Tao’s chicken and sesame chicken (the sesame chicken is exceptional!);
the steamed walleye, at market, and big enough to share with one or two others; and the vegetarian eggplant Shanghai style, and spicy Szechuan string beans. All the entrée dishes in my personal-favorite category are generously large, and I regularly resort to doggie boxes for takehome and another meal at least. As with most Chinese restaurant menus, Johnny Chan 2 features an array of Chinese dishes, including moo shu selections, soups, seafood, vegetarian, noodle entrees, fried rice, and a long list of house specialties that include entrees such as sizzling pan-fried noodles, mango chicken and walleye filet Shanghai style. Johnny Chan 2 11296 Montgomery Rd. The Shops at Harper’s Point 513–489–2388
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
RESTAURANT DIRECTORY 20 Brix
Izzy’s
Pomodori’s
101 Main St
800 Elm St • 721-4241
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Historic Milford
612 Main St • 241-6246
7880 Remington Rd
831-Brix (2749)
1198 Smiley Ave • 825-3888
Montgomery • 794-0080
7625 Beechmont Ave • 231-5550 Ambar India Restaurant
4766 Red Bank Expy • 376-6008
Slatt’s Pub
350 Ludlow Ave
5098B Glencrossing Way • 347-9699
4858 Cooper Rd
Cincinnati
8179 Princeton-Glendale • 942-7800
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281-7000
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9386 Montgomery Rd
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11296 Montgomery Rd
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6200 Muhlhauser Rd
489-2388 • 489-3616 (fx)
West Chester • 942-2100
9521 Fields Ertel Rd
Kanak India Restaurant
Sukhothai Thai Cuisine
Loveland
10040B Montgomery Rd
8102 Market Place Ln
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9701 Kenwood Rd
8702 Market Place Ln
321-1600
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Montgomery
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4858 Hunt Rd
Mecklenburg Gardens
Tony’s
Blue Ash
302 E. University Ave
12110 Montgomery Rd
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Clifton
Montgomery
221-5353
677-1993
2912 Wasson Rd
Padrino
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111 Main St
300 Madison Pike
4858 Hunt Rd • Blue Ash, 45242 (513) 891-8900 • Fax 834-8012
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Blue Elephant
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9525 Kenwood Rd
Parkers Blue Ash Tavern
Wertheim’s Restaurant
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4200 Cooper Rd
514 W 6th St
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Covington, KY
891-8300
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351-0123
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16 • OPINION
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Minister Danny Danon: Same approach to negotiations assures same result ByDanny Danon JNS Like most Israelis, I am an eternal optimist. Living day to day in our neighborhood and faced with continued threats to our legitimacy and even our existence, what choice do we have? That being said, I am extremely pessimistic about the latest round of peace talks that have been initiated in Washington, DC. There is no shortage of reasons why I should be skeptical, but what worries me most are the personalities involved in these talks and the faulty premises they represent. Almost 20 years after the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin attempted to conjure arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat into a worthy partner for peace, it seems that we have not learned the necessary lessons from the past. As the “peace process” continued to hit bumps along the way, Israel and our American allies attempted many different variations which all led to the same failed result. We initiated staged withdrawals and implemented unilateral disengagements. At times we included the Europeans and our Arab neighbors in the process, while at key points we negotiated secretly without any third party involvement. The European Union was used to monitor border crossings, and donor countries were asked to invest in an “economic peace.” Let us be brutally frank: None of this worked in changing the dynamics of the conflict or convincing the Palestinians to completely abandon hatred and violence and recognize that the Jewish State is here to stay. Perhaps the problem with IsraeliPalestinian conflict negotiations lies not with the process, but with the people involved in representing the parties at the table. In most professions, when one fails at his job and leaves the project in question in chaos and complete disarray, he is most definitely not asked to keep working on the task at hand. Again and again and again. In fact, he is usually fired. Not so when it comes to the “peace process industry.” Saeb Erekat is the main representative for the Palestinian delegation. He has held this position in one form or another since 1991. Despite the hours logged with his Israeli counterparts, and the countless interviews he has granted to western media sources where he extols peace and reconciliation, Erekat has not brought the Palestinians even one inch closer to peaceful existence with Israel. More troubling, it is clear that he never really revised his radical views about the Jewish State. During the second intifada, Erekat appeared on live international television to accuse Israel of massacring 500 Palestinians in Jenin while completely ignoring the facts showing that one-tenth of that number had been killed and most of those were armed terrorists. Further, as recently as 2007, Erekat is belligerent-
ly on record as denying the possibility of the Palestinians ever recognizing Israel's existence as a Jewish state. Representing the United States at the latest round of talks is former ambassador Martin Indyk. Like Erekat, Indyk has also been a major player in the peace industry since the early 1990s, and he also can point to zero achievements in bringing peace and prosperity to our region. On the contrary, when Indyk served as the American ambassador to Israel during Prime Minister Netanyahu's first term, he was known for his disparaging attitude towards the democratically elected government of Israel. Since leaving public office, Indyk has publicly revealed his true political leanings. Until his recent appointment by Secretary of State John Kerry, Indyk chaired the International Council of the New Israel Fund (NIF). Over the past few years, NIF has become notorious for refusing to stop funding groups that call for a BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) campaign against Israel and for actively aiding organizations that provided false details to the Goldstone Commission. Finally, we are left with the chief negotiator on behalf of the State of Israel. Compared to Erekat and Indyk, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is a relative newcomer to peace negotiations. Nevertheless, she too has endured countless hours of negotiating with the Palestinians. Most troubling, her views do not represent a majority of the current government, and are most definitely at odds with the average Likud voter, not to mention the Israeli public, which sharply spurned her in the recent elections. While serving under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Livni offered the Palestinians more than 95 percent of the historic Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria and the unprecedented division of Jerusalem – an offer that was ultimately rejected by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Erekat. It is a fair assumption that she will try to up her offer in the latest round of talks to succeed where she abjectly failed to surrender in the past. As a father of three small children, there is nothing I want more than to believe that the latest round of talks will lead to true and lasting peace in Israel. On the other hand, we all know that the definition of insanity is the endless repetition of the same experiment in the hope of obtaining a different result. If this is the case, I call on all sides to end the insanity and appoint negotiators who have not failed us all in the past and who truly represent the best interests of the people they aspire to represent in this area. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon is Chairman of Word Likud and author of “Israel: The Will to Prevail.”
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Do you have something to say? E-mail your letter to editor@americanisraelite.com
Dear Editor, My cousin John died this past weekend in London. He was a short, quiet, unassuming man, a research chemist by training. He never married and had no children. His British English had a tinge of an almost undetectable accent. To those poised to notice such things, he dismissed it as acquired during frequent business trips over many years to Norway, a bleeding of Norwegian into his university-trained English. In reality, his accent was from the residual Polish of his childhood, a childhood stolen from him, and one he worked hard to forget. John was not his real name. He was born Isaac in Lodz about 1928. He remembered the Polish boycott of Jews in the1930s, which received official government approval in 1937, and was known as the cold pogrom. Of course, it was anything but cold and incited real pogroms of terror, brutality and death. His father was out of work, and his family almost starved. Those were the good years. Lodz fell to the Germans in 1939 without a fight. Poland had already been defeated. Lodz contained the second largest Jewish population in all of Europe. The German’s brutality, sadism, and savagery during the Lodz Ghetto period are well known. Two Jewish photographers took thousands of pictures of the ghetto; the Germans themselves inadvertently added to the collection, loving to document their sadism, some of it in color photography. The Germans had made color film commercially viable in 1936 and cherished using it. For a long time, I knew little of John’s life in the ghetto or during the Holocaust. He spoke of the Holocaust as the War, when he did speak of it. Bits and pieces came out here and there, by accident. For sixteen years, I gently tried to speak to him directly of his experiences. He had no interest, and I did not pursue it. Information occasionally oozed out like puss and blood from a wound that would not heal but was well bandaged. When he finally opened up, it was as if he had opened a vein and let the blood flow freely, and it was I who was psychologically unprepared for the event. He and his twin brother, Michael, were eventually among the 130,000 shipped out from the Lodz Ghetto to death camps. They were in their early teens and fit for labor. They survived the selection process. Their parents did not. They were sent to carve tunnels out of mountains in Silesia, or he thought it was Silesia but not quite sure, to hide German rockets from allied bombs.
The work was torturous and unending, the food barely sustained life, but they survived. As the Russians approached, the camp commandant wanted the laborers to go into the tunnels. The inmates knew the plan was to blow the tunnels and leave them to die. When the order came, the inmates screamed in one voice, “Nein.” He himself was shocked by his own resistance, but more so were the Germans. For the first time, he saw fear on the faces of his enslavers. Most of all, the camp commander’s shock at the resistance invigorated the slave laborers’ refusal to go into the tunnels and be buried alive. It was one of John’s strongest memories. It gave him a sense of power that he had not known. The Germans decided not to attempt to force the slave laborers into the tunnels and moved them to Austria, as the Red Army approached. Many died during the brutal transport where inmates were treated worse than livestock, but John and his brother survived. They ended up at the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp, the bone crusher, as the Germans called it, where Nazi policies of working people to death were cruelly implemented. Figures from Mauthausen in late March of 1945 show a dramatic increase of teenagers, mostly slave laborers from other camps. John and Michael were among the 3,500 Jewish teenagers in the camp at the time of its liberation. As John and Michael were being transported to Mauthausen, their cousin, my uncle, Sid, a sergeant in the American Army, was preparing to cross the Rhine into Germany. Sid was a forward artillery observer, and one day in France, he and a brother in arms, had taken up a location in a barn and were calling in strikes on a German position. The strikes became increasingly accurate and devastating, and Sid had the presence of mind to realize that the Germans would soon figure out where their observation perch was. Sid told his fellow soldier that he had a bad feeling and that they should flee the barn. They got about 100 yards from the barn when it erupted from an artillery barrage. Sid and the other soldier got hit with pieces of wood but were otherwise uninjured. Sid’s survival would have a dramatic impact on John’s and Michael’s story. John and Michael survived Mauthausen and were assisted by the Red Cross in writing letters to their family in Chicago. The family then wrote to Sid, who, as fate would have it, was stationed in Austria, not far from the complex of
refugee camps where John and Michael were located. Having been born in Europe, Sid had a passable knowledge of German and as German prisoners were surrendering, he was recruited as a translator, was promoted, and transferred, which was how he ended up in Austria. Sid’s commanding officer let him take a jeep to look for the twins in the set of camps where they were thought to be. But he gave him a strict deadline for returning to base. After a long day, the search was beginning to prove futile and Sid was calculating how much longer he could look and still return to base on time. The driver who accompanied him was getting anxious and wanted to turn around. Sid insisted on continuing. In the next camp, Sid described the twins to several people. One man volunteered that he knew the twins. They had a cart with a donkey, played endlessly with it, and were about a half mile up the road. Minutes later, Sid found John and Michael. He later bought them airplane tickets and had them flown to live with another cousin in Manchester, England. They were 17 when they arrived in England. They had no high school education and did not speak English, although they were literate in Polish, Yiddish and Hebrew. After a year of schooling, both twins passed the examinations for admission to college. John received a degree in chemistry and in later life would get a masters degree in engineering. Michael became a psychiatrist and moved to America, doing a residency in Chicago, and later settled in Canada. What would have happened to the twins if Sid did not find them? Would they have been repatriated to Poland to die in one of the brutal pogroms launched by Poles, after the war, who did not want their Jews back? Would they have been smuggled into Palestine as tough fighters to battle for Israel’s independence in a world that still closed most of its doors to Jewish immigration. Fortunately, by sheer happenstance, after incredible suffering, John and Michael were given a chance at a semblance of a normal life. Michael died of a heart attack in October of 2012 and John followed him by nine months, also of a heart attack. The Holocaust left its scars on both of them, and that is a less pleasant and less hopeful story and one, perhaps, for another time. Today, Israel and the Palestinians negotiate peace. The Palestinians are led by Mahmoud LETTER on page 19
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
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I chanted the kiddush, gave a lesson from the Torah, they sang a tune, they did a dance, and then poured me another vodka. Another lesson, a tune, a dance and again more vodka – nine times! poured me another vodka. Another lesson, a tune, a dance and again more vodka – nine times! By the ninth time, no matter how hard I racked my brain, I didn’t have any more words of Torah to give on the portion of Ki Tetze. In the group of 15 – many of whom were young and, I learned later, studying for conversion to Judaism, I recognized the Torah reader from the synagogue. I later learned that his name was Yisrael Friedman and he was a staunch Chabadnik. I asked him to give the Torah lesson in my stead. He agreed, and it was his lesson that changed my life. Here are his words: “Elisha ben Avuya was a great rabbi of the Mishna who became a heretic. The Talmud (B.T. Kiddushin 39) explains why. He saw the great tragedy of a son who climbed a tree to bring down a pigeon for his father after sending away a mother bird; in doing this he performed two commandments which promise the reward of long life, nevertheless the youth fell from the tree and died. ‘There is no judge and no judgment,’ cried out Rav Elisha and he became a heretic. His grandson, Rabbi Ya’acov, claimed that had his grandfather only understood a major axiom of Jewish thought he would never have left the Jewish fold. ‘There is no reward for the commandments in this world.’” Friedman looked out at the basement assemblage with blazing eyes and then looked up, heavenwards. “But God, that’s not fair! How can You expect Your Jewish servants to pay the day laborer on that very day when you withhold our reward for the commandments till after our lifetime, in the world to come?! It’s not fair!” Friedman answered his own question. “The Talmud in the seventh chapter of Bava Metzia differentiates between a day laborer and a contractor. Yes, a day laborer must be paid at the end of the day, but a contractor is to be paid only at the end of the project. We, vis-a-vis God, are not day laborers, we are contractors. Each of us, given his/her unique gift and the time and place in which he/she lives, must do his share in helping to complete the world in the Kingship of God. Whether we have performed the right function or not, whether we
have done most of them or little of them or perhaps were in the wrong ballpark altogether, can only be determined at the end of our lifetimes. For us contractors there is no reward for commandments in this world.” Despite the nine vodkas, or perhaps because of them, I was moved to tears by his words. After witnessing firsthand the persecution of Soviet Jewry upon the heels of the Holocaust atrocities, I was overwhelmed by thinking of God’s great gift of a newborn State of Israel. I felt deeply in my heart that I could not possibly have been born in a free country in these most momentous times in order to fulfill a function in New York. And so, in the basement of Riga I made an oath: I will bring my family to the State of Israel and hopefully there realize my function. And when I get to Israel I will make kiddush on vodka every Shabbat afternoon. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi – Efrat Israel
The American Israelite
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LITTLE KNOWN CINCINNATI FACTS Named one of the 100 Greatest Ohio Citizens in 1974, he is buried in JCGC’s Walnut Hills Cemetery. Who is he? Murray Seasongood (1878 – 1983), who lived to be 104 years old, was Cincinnati’s first Charterite Mayor, serving from 1926 to 1930. He was a lawyer, teacher, philanthropist and author, was nationally known for his political reform efforts and left an indelible mark on Cincinnati. This quiz provided by Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati.
T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: KI SEITZEI (DEUTERONOMY 21:10—25:19) 1. What commandment is given in 22:1-4? a.) Prayer b.) Honoring parents c.) Returning a lost object 2. What law about owning property is given in 22:8? a.) Constructing a fence on a roof b.) The warning not to steal c.) The law against planting a tree too close to a neighbor's property 3. What nation hired Balaam to curse the Jews? a.) Edom gratitude for what Abraham did to their forefather Lot. 4. B—23:4. If a Moabite man converted he could not marry into the Jewish people, however a woman convert could. 5. A—23:20.
EFRAT, Israel – “Do not withhold the wages due to your hired hand... that very day shall you give him his payment” (Deuteronomy 24:14-15). An interpretation which I heard for this particular verse on the third Shabbat in the month of Elul 1970 in the synagogue of Riga, Latvia, in the then-USSR changed my life forever. I had been sent on a mission by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, to establish four underground yeshivot – one in Moscow, one in Leningrad, one in Riga and one in Vilna. These yeshivot were to be established in a communist Soviet Union which had forbidden every aspect of Jewish life. A transgressor, whose sin may have only been owning a Hebrew primer, would be exiled to Siberia and never heard from again. I had succeeded in Moscow and Leningrad. When I left my hotel in Riga that Shabbat morning, I noticed that I was being followed by four very tall and burly individuals who barely gave me breathing space. They literally surrounded me in the sanctuary where I was seated in splendid isolation on the extreme corner of the right side. The other 28 congregants, each individual clearly over the age of 65, were all sitting together on the extreme left side of a large space which could easily seat 600. The cantor and choir chanted the service as if they were performing before thousands. I was given the honor of returning the Torah to the ark. The gabbai, a short man with a white, wispy beard, whispered to me in Yiddish, “We are thirsty for Torah. We have a kiddush after the service downstairs. We expect you to teach us. Please come down after the praying – but without your friends.” The interminable service ended at exactly 12 noon, the four goons miraculously disappeared (they probably went for lunch) and I went down into a pitch-black room where 15 people were seated around the table. The table was set with many bottles of clear white liquid (which I thought was water) and slices of honey cake. A chair of honor was set for me with a large kiddush cup. The gabbai repeated, “We are thirsty for Torah” as he poured me a full glass of liquid which he told me was vodka. I chanted the kiddush, gave a lesson from the Torah, they sang a tune, they did a dance, and then
ONLINE EDITION
b.) Moab c.) Amalek 4. What was their punishment? a.) To be annihilated like the seven nations of Canaan b.) Could not marry into the Jewish people. c.) The Children of Israel could not buy their products 5. Does the prohibition against usury apply to food? a.) Yes b.) No
2. A. The Torah says that "You shall not place blood in your house." This means that you must remove any hazard from your property. 3. B—23:4. According to Nachmanides, Moab hired Bilaam to curse the Israelites, and Ammon did not offer them food. This showed a lack of
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT KI TEITZE DEUTERONOMY 21:10-25:19
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
ANSWERS 1. C A person should not act as if he did not see a lost item to avoid doing the mitzvah. It includes to protect a friend from any kind of damage. This is similar to the mitzvah to love a neighbor like one self. R Bchai
Sedra of the Week
18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
JEWZ
IN THE
By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist New at the Cineplex Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland” about Idi Amin) stars in “The Butler” as Cecil Gaines, a real-life African American who served as the White House butler from 19521986. LIEV SCHREIBER, 45, is one of many big-name actors/actresses who play a President/First Lady (he plays LBJ). Interestingly, former leftist radical Jane Fonda plays Nancy Reagan and Fonda recently said that she heard, through a third party, that Mrs. Reagan was happy with this casting choice. “Butler” is directed by AfricanAmerican Lee Gaines, with the script by Gaines and DANNY STRONG, 39. Strong, who began his career as an actor (“Buffy: the Vampire Slayer”), has made his mark as a top-notch political drama writer: Emmy-nominated for writing “Recount” (2008); he won a screenplay Emmy for writing “Game Change” (2012). Billed as a “high stakes thriller", “Paranoia” stars Liam Hemsworth as Adam Cassidy, a regular guy who makes a costly mistake and is forced by his company’s ruthless CEO to spy on the company’s corporate rival, Jock Goddard (HARRISON FORD, 71). Cassidy is well-paid for spying on Goddard, his former mentor. However, he comes to realize that his boss will stop at nothing, even murder, to get his way and he has to find a way to stop him. Ashton Kutcher has the title role in “Jobs,” about the late Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs. It begins with Jobs in college and ends with his return to head Apple in 1997 and the launch of the first of the “i” products. JOSH GAD, 32, co-stars as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, with LESLEY ANN WARREN, 66, appearing as Jobs’ mother, Clara. Other Movie-Ish News Israeli author AMOS OZ, 74, recently told Reuters that NATALIE PORTMAN, 32, will direct and co-star in a feature film adaptation of his memoir, “A Tale of Love and Darkness.” The memoir recounts Oz’s childhood in wartorn Jerusalem in the 1940s and 1950s; his mother’s suicide; and his time on a kibbutz. Oz is helping with the script and agreed, some years back, to allow the Jerusalem-born Portman to make the film because she “is an excellent actor.” Filming will begin later this year and Portman will play Oz’s mother. On Aug. 6, a publicist for actor DUSTIN HOFFMAN, 75, confirmed that the actor had been
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diagnosed with cancer, but was “feeling great”. This followed a “People” magazine report in which the same publicist said that the cancer had been “detected early and he has been surgically cured.” The publicist declined to say what type of cancer Hoffman had been treated for or when it had been diagnosed. Meanwhile, Hoffman has just finished filming the indie film, “Chef.” Directed, written, and starring JON FAVREAU, 46, it represents Favreau’s return to the smallish budget, personal film that first gained him notice (“Swingers”, 1996). Favreau had a big critical and box office hit with the mega-budget “Iron Man,” (2008). However, two of his other directing gigs didn’t do as well. He reportedly blames studio script interference for the lukewarm reviews for “Iron Man 2” (though it made mucho gelt) and the box office and critical failure of “Cowboys and Aliens” (2011). Favreau plays the title role in “Chef” – playing a guy who loses his prestigious chef job – which leads him to set up his own food truck – so he can regain his artistic promise and repair ties with his estranged family. SCARLETT JOHANSSON, 28, plays a restaurant manager who is a sometimes love interest of the chef. Robert Downey, Jr. is also co-starring, but, as with Hoffman, his character’s backstory has not been disclosed. Johansson, meanwhile, is the subject of a pretty stunning, high fashion photograph in the September issue of Harper’s Bizarre. She is the “lead woman” in a photographic portfolio entitled “Singular Beauties.” It features 20 quite diverse looking women. The text describes Johannson as “the modern Marilyn.” ESPN Goes for the Silver NATE SILVER, 35, will join ESPN later this year. Silver is now most famous for his FiveThirtyEight blog on the NY Times, where he correctly predicted the winner of every state in the last presidential election. But his “roots” go back to statistical analysis of sports. The newly expanded FiveThirtyEight website, which ESPN will own, will cover politics, sports, culture, and technology. Silver, ESPN says, will be the site’s editor-in-chief and he’ll pick his own website journalism team. Silver says: “This is a dream job for me. I’m excited to expand FiveThirtyEight’s data-driven approach into new areas, while also reuniting with my love of sports.”
FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO BECKER’S INSTITUTE OR BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOL No. 64 and 66 Hammond St., N.Y. The Institute, established in 1857, consists of a spacious double house and grounds 50–210, well calculated to accommodate a very large number of Boarding pupils, male and female. It is patronized by the most intelligent class of the Hebrew community north and south; while its lofy School-rooms, commodious Dormitories, Gymnasium, Dancing room and ample playground are the admiration of every visitor. Mr. BEECKER’S SYSTEM embraces all the facilities for the acquisition of a thorough and accomplished education in the vernacular as well as the modern languages, music, dancing and painting. – September 4, 1863
125 Y EARS A GO On Sunday last there was a most delightful gathering out on Silverton Heights, on and about the premises of Mr. Louis Frohman. The whole surrounding country was explored by inquisitive couples and quartets, and thus the day passed most pleasantly. Games, music, song and laughter passed the hours rapidly away, and in the evening a grand “watermelon feast” awaited the expectant guests. Music and dancing again until it was time to go, and after bidding a warm adieu to the genial and lovely hostess the guests departed in high glee. Among those present were the Misses Rosa and Martha Seasongeod, Stella and Nettie Sachs, Hattie Marks, Ida, Blanche and Fannie Frohman, Pauline Fechheimer and the Messrs. Jake and Henry Wildberg, Max Kahn, Jake Friedenwald, Harry and Ed. Frohman, Hugo Nathan, Abe May and others. Miss Emma Hexter tendered a “Centennial tea” at her home to Miss Etta Jackson, of Texas, Tuesday, August 14th. The young ladies present were the Misses Mamie Brunner, Ella Jackson, Stella Bauer, Tillie Lowenstein, Nettie Mannheimer, Minnie Rosin, Erna Roth, Julia Valentine, Clara Adler, Lena Brill, Emma and Clara Huttenbauer, Stella Bamburger, Corinne Hyams, Hattie Marks, Florence Gusdorfer and Minnie Shoenthal. A beautiful vase was given as a souvenir to each guest in honor of this pleasant occasion. – August 17, 1888
100 Y EARS A GO Marcus M. Marks has been nominated by the New York Fusion
Committee as President of Borough of Manhattan, the position now occupied by George McAneny. Mr. Marks has been prominent in settling labor disputes and as one of the leaders of civic reform. He is president of the Tuberculosis Preventorium, of the National Association of Clothiers, of the Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association, vice-president of the Educational Alliance and president of the Anti-Policy Society. He is a magazine writer and lecturer on business methods, ethics and philanthropy. He was born in New York in 1858 and graduated from the New York public schools and the City college. – August 14, 1913
75 Y EARS A GO Mr. and Mrs. Albert Kolitz (Mildred Mendelsohm), 4612 Reading Road, announce the birth of a son Monday Aug. 15th. Mr. and Mrs. Louis Kaladow (Harriet Klein), 3585 Van Antwerp Place, announce the birth of a son, Monday Aug. 15th. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Mendell (Rebecca Dombar), 3420 East Ridgeway Avenue, announce the birth of a son Saturday, Aug. 20th. Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Frankel (Josephine Richter), 5065 Paddock Road, announce the birth of a son Sunday, Aug. 21st. The children were born at Jewish Hospital. Mr. and Mrs. J. Goldberg announce the marriage of their daughter Estelle to Mr. William G. Pearlman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Pearlman of Attica, Ind., Friday, Aug. 19th, in the study of Dr. Henry Englander and in the presence of the immediate family. After a wedding trip of four or five weeks in the Smoky Mountains and Chicago, the young couple will be at home in the Waldorf Apartments, 19 North D. Street, Hamilton, O. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley L. Gumble have returned from their vacation at Green Lake, Wis. Their son also has returned after visiting his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Mose Gumble, at North Vernon, Ind. – August 25, 1938
50 Y EARS A GO Miss Marjorie Getz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Getz of Dayton, and Mr. Sanford Mintz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sol Mintz of Chicago, were married Sunday, Aug. 11, at the Van Cleve Hotel in Dayton, Ohio. Mrs. Melvin Berman of Chicago, sister of the bridegroom, was matron of honor. The Misses Meredith Moses and Beth Shaman were bridesmaids. Mr. Martin Bresler of Chicago was best man. Ushers were the
Messrs. Charles Getz, Jr., brother of the bride; Ralph Mandell of Pontiac, Ill., Laurie Novick and Melvin Berman of Chicago. Mrs. Mintz attended the University of Illinois and is a member of Sigma Delta Tau. Mr. Mintz received his bachelor of science degree in finance at the University of Illinois. He is a member of Zeta Beta Tau. – August 15, 1963
25 Y EARS A GO Esther J. Feuerberg has been appointed principal of Yavneh Day School and Edward Spalter, assistant principal by the board of trustees. Feuerberg has been a Yavneh staff member for 16 years. She has taught in both the Jewish studies and general studies departments. For the last two years she has been assistant principal. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in adminsitration and supervision from Xavier University. Feuerberg and her husband, Eli, have three children and reside in Symmes Township. “We are most fortunate at Yavneh to have a committed group of parents who seek the best of Jewish and secular education for their children,” Feuerberg said. “We also know that one of our major strengths as a Jewish day school lies in our community support. We have set high goals for our students and for ourselves. With continued support from dedicated parents and teachers, our board and our community we are sure to reach our goals.” Spalter worked in the Cincinnati Public School System for 32 years as principal, counselor, teacher, visiting teacher and a central office administrator. He is a graudate of the University of Cincinnati where he earned both his bachelor and master’s degrees. Spalter and his wife, Marlene, live in Roselawn. They are members of Isaac M. Wise Temple. – August 25, 1988
10 Y EARS A GO Tamar Jacobs, activities coordinator at Cedar Village, is currently exhibiting ten paintings on display at Cedar Village in the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Art Gallery. The collection, “Love Made in USA,” includes ten acrylics on canvas painted in the USA and depicting dance, song, and love coming together in life. According to Jacobs, who moved to the United States in January 2002 from Tel Aviv, Israel, “This art collection is my first made in the USA. The paintings are about my point of view of what is life, love, woman, world and other great issues that make us all connected together.” – August 21, 2003
COMMUNITY CALENDAR / CLASSIFIEDS • 19
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
COMMUNITY CALENDAR August 16 6:15 p.m. - Blue Jeans Shabbat and Meet the Rabbis BBQ Wise Temple 8329 Ridge Rd. (513) 793 - 2556
August 25 5:30 p.m. – Voices of Humanity Hyatt Regency Cincinnati 151 W. 5th St. (513) 487 - 3091
August 17 to 18 10 a.m. – Access’ The Great Escape Camp Livingston 4998 Nell Lee Rd. Benington, IN (513) 373 - 0300
August 25 5 p.m. - Dedicating the Mason “CommUnity” Torah Jewish Discovery Center in Mason (513) 234 - 0777
August 19 7 a.m. – Cedar Village Golf Classic Heritage Club 6690 Heritage Club Dr. Mason, OH 45040 (513) 754 - 3100
August 28 7 p.m. – Access’ HeBREW Happy Hour Trivia Night Tin Roof 160 Freedom Way Suite #150 (513) 373 - 0300
August 22 7 p.m. - Eat. Tour. Explore: Connecting the Jewels of the Queen City Mayerson JCC 8485 Ridge Rd. (513) 985 - 1539
August 29 6 p.m. – ‘Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t and Why’ The Carnegie Center3738 Eastern Ave. (513) 936 - 9675
August 25 Adath Israel’s Mitzvah Day Adath Israel 3201 Galbraith Rd. (513) 793 - 1800
September 17 Peter Sagal Mayerson JCC 8485 Ridge Rd. (513) 722 -7226
August 25 11 a.m. - Eat. Tour. Explore: Connecting the Jewels of the Queen City Cincinnati Art Museum (513) 985 - 1539
October 9 5:30 p.m. - AJC Community Service Award honoring Jay Price Mayerson JCC 8485 Ridge Rd. (513) 621-4020
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS Access (513) 373-0300 • jypaccess.org Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc. (513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Chabad (513) 731-5111 • campchabad.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 • cincinnatimikveh.org Eruv Hotline (513) 351-3788 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 JVS Career Services (513) 936-WORK (9675) • cincinnaticareer.net Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556
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Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) 513-262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com Yeshivas Lubavitch High School of Cincinnati 513-631-2452 • ylcincinnati.com ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (937) 886-9566 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org
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INTERMARRIAGE from page 7 only question is tactical – how and when to bring it up. “Do you have the conversation about conversion first, or do you welcome them in and then have the conversation about conversion?” Wernick said. “You build the relationship first and then you have the conversation.” In the Reform movement, there is some question about the significance of formal conversion. “There are plenty of people who want to sojourn in the synagogue and not convert and still know they’re part of the Jewish family,” said the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, who has advocated a vision for the movement as a big tent with the flaps wide open. “He’s living in the Jewish community. He’s trying on Jewish commitments,” Jacobs said. “Conversion can’t be the only thing we talk about, RABBI from page 8 accusations might seem bizarre. Why would two rabbis who ostensibly share the same goal of reinstating the legality of shechitah in Poland go at each other’s throats? The spat goes to the heart of an issue that has bedeviled communities across Eastern Europe for more than two decades, ever since the fall of the Iron Curtain: control. Schudrich, a U.S.-born rabbi who has lived in Poland almost uninterrupted since 1992, long has ruled the roost in Poland. He was named chief rabbi in 2004 and has close ties with Polish leaders. Perhaps because Schudrich has been around almost since the fall of communism, Poland is one of the exLETTER from page 16 Abbas, a man who received his doctorate from a Russian university and wrote a dissertation denying the Holocaust. Hitler’s, “Mein Kampf”, is a best seller in Arabic as is the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hitler’s personal guest in Berlin during the war years, created a Croatian, Muslim, Nazi militia and vowed to continue the denied Holocaust, after the war, in Mandate
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(513) 531-9600 but it also should not be off the table. We’d be delighted to have people join the Jewish people.” Perhaps more than anything, the shift in attitudes has changed the conventional view of intermarriage as a net loss to the Jewish community, in the form of the out-marrying Jew, to a potential gain, in the form of the non-Jewish spouse or children who may convert. “Once you’ve intermarried, it doesn’t mean you’ve left the Jewish faith,” said Rabbi Menachem Penner, acting dean at Yeshiva University’s rabbinical school, the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. “As times go on, we have to constantly evaluate what is the best response,” he said. “Given that it happens, what’s the best way for the community to approach it? The last thing we’d want that person to do is to throw everything away just because they’re intermarried.”
communist countries where Jewish affairs are not dominated by Chabad, the hasidic Orthodox outreach movement. Chabad operates only two centers in the country, compared to six serving the similarly sized Jewish community in Belarus and more than 30 each in Russia and Ukraine, where Chabad rabbis have laid claim to the title of chief rabbi – to the occasional consternation of non-Chabad colleagues. Chabad is eager to expand in Poland, says Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler, the movement’s emissary in Warsaw. Last week, Poland’s interior minister reportedly said that noncommercial ritual slaughter could continue pending a government petition. Palestine. He had earlier been successful in fomenting the pogrom against the Jews of Baghdad. As the Johns and Michaels pass from among us, we should not forget those who caused their suffering and those who promise to recreate it. We owe that to their memory. Sincerely, Abraham H. Miller Emeritus Professor of Political Science University of Cincinnati
20 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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Book Review
‘Saving Henry: A Mother’s Journey’ by Laurie Strongin By Sue W. Ransohoff Book Reviewer This affecting book belongs to a genre that is always moving, and if well written, becomes a page turner. Saving Henry is high on this list. Such a book characteristically starts in a doctor’s office or hospital setting, when the parents of someone who is – and is going to continue to be – critically ill – learns of the illness, and gets an idea of the months or years ahead. Their lives, and that of the individual who is probably still under anesthesia, will be taken over by the illness, which no matter how heroic and loving they may be, defines them, their family, their future. Laurie Strongin and Allen Goldberg are a fairly newly married couple, not only in love but best friends, whose lives have been smooth as silk up until now. They happily expect their first child; they happily welcome an infant son and everything is perfect. But – wait. There is that tiny extra thumb on one infant hand, and when the doctors see it, they rightly anticipate problems ahead, and soon the parents hear the words they had never heard before, and which will change their lives: Fanconi anemia, a syndrome which carries in its wake a host of disabilities, including the
need for heart surgery. “Allen and I spent the first few months of Henry’s life shopping for diapers, onesies, a breast pump, hematologists, cardiologists, and pediatric surgeons.” - Nothing, it seems to me, expresses the mélange of ordinary and extraordinary actions that will fill their lives from now on, like that sentence. F.A. occurs in an infant when both parents, who are not ill, carry the gene that produces the syndrome in an infant. They plunge into this extraordinariness accompanied by alphabet soup: FARF: Fanconi Anemia Research Foundation, HLA: Human Leukocyte Antigen….and let us stop right there, although there are other alphabets. The only chance to save Henry’s life is the use of stem cells from the cord blood of a perfect donor: and that dono., Statistically speaking and to be perfect, the donor will have to be a full brother or sister. The Goldbergs have always wanted several children, but now there are ethical considerations: Is it moral to conceive and to bring a child into the world, to save his or her brother? Laurie is deeply concerned about whether or not this is right; Allen reassures her that they will be bringing a child into a world of love – and who could doubt that?
But first, there is the hurdle of heart surgery, which is daunting and terrifying indeed. Henry survives, and since this is all about Henry, it’s important to note that he has certifiably enchanting dimples, plus a fierce and fighting attitude. When he is told there is a procedure aheadmaybe an injection, his response is: “Bring it on!” He also falls in love with Batman, and the family accumulates a closet full of Batman and allied costumes. Brother Jack has been born, and he and Henry become devoted friends, playing together and enjoying each other. telling “Knockknock” jokes. When Henry has had surgery and has to be isolated from everyone, including Jack, to avoid infection when his immune system is functioning poorl., Jack says the words which will break your heart: “That’s not a good plan. Brothers stay together.” Perhaps the hardest part for parents in situations like this is to explain to very little children what is happening, and why, when they are too young to understand it, and have to suffer physically or emotionally - and not know why. The couple decide to go for an infant who may – just may – have the right genes to save Henry, and Laurie embarks upon a tortuous procedure which will stimulate her body to produce many more eggs
than usual, one of which may be the right one. This is a painful journey in physical terms as well as in suspense: will this time work? Meanwhile Allen contributes his sperm, which, as Laurie rightly points out, is fairly easy compared with her journey. At the same time Henry’s condition continually worsens, and they are running out of time. While Batman and Cal Ripken are Henry’s heroes, Dr Mark Hughes is hero to the parents. He has been charged with creating guidelines for the government’s support of embryo research. And then an agonizing episode ensues: Laurie is sitting comfortably in her breakfast room, thinking that everything is going to work out, when she opens The Washington Post to read that their hope has been ruined by politics: Congress had passed an appropriations bill that banned the use of federal funds for research that destroys or endangers human embryos. This ended Dr. Hughes’ significant work, disrupted the Goldberg’s lives and hopes, as well as those of many other families. Reviewers are adjured not to give away the endings but there is no secret that this tragic journey ends in tragedy. He receives a transplant from a donor; it helps for a time, and then it doesn’t They can’t save Henry, but they leave behind two
things : this moving chronicle of their struggle, and the Hope for Henry Foundation, which provides entertainment and laughter for seriously ill children. Laurie has also entered politics: one example is her work with Nancy Pelosi to urge Congress to pass the Stem Cell Enhancement Act. She ends her extraordinary chronicle, characteristically blending poignancy with humor: “I knew that he would be with me forever, reminding me to eat dessert first.” Sue Ransohoff, has lived in Cincinnati since the end of WW II when she married Cincinnatian Jerry Ransohoff.
‘Homeland’ creator’s work shaped by Jewish heritage, IDF service By Robert Gluck JointMedia News Service Israeli-born writer and director Gideon Raff knows the cost of war. That knowledge, as well as his Jewish background, helped him create two of television’s most compelling dramas. Raff’s “Prisoners of War” series on Israel’s Channel 2 won the Israeli equivalent of an Academy Award for best drama in 2010 and was sold to 20th Century Fox. Originally titled Hatufim in Hebrew, the show was adapted into the acclaimed Showtime series “Homeland” in the United States. “Judaism affected the way I write, the way I see the world,” Raff told JNS. “It’s in my education, it’s in my history and in the way I was raised. First and foremost Jews are storytellers. I can’t think of a time my mother wouldn’t shove a book in my hand demanding that I read.” Starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, “Homeland” broke viewership marks for Showtime and won multiple Golden Globes and Emmy awards. Danes stars as Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer with bipolar disorder who comes to believe that Nicholas Brody (Lewis), a U.S. marine who was held captive by AlQaeda as a prisoner of war, was
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“Homeland” creator Gideon Raff.
turned into a traitor by the enemy and now threatens America. Set in 2008, “Prisoners of War” depicts three Israeli soldiers captured 17 years earlier while on a secret mission with their unit in Lebanon. The story begins with their return home after years of negotiations for their freedom. Nimrod Klein and Uri Zach return alive, while the remains of Amiel Ben-Horin come back in a coffin. The series explores the reintegration of Nimrod and Uri into a society that has made them national icons, and into an interrupted family life, while working through the trau-
ma of being held captive and tortured. Born and raised in Jerusalem, Raff served in the Israel Defense Forces, moved to Tel Aviv, and then completed a degree in directing at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. His Jewish heritage, especially his military service, influenced his writings and is evident in the themes of “Prisoners of War” and “Homeland.” One major difference in the two shows involves their depictions of society’s feelings about war. “The main reason for this difference is because military service is not mandatory in the U.S. but is in Israel,” Raff told JNS. “Because service in the army is mandatory in Israel, and because it’s such a small country and such a tight community, whenever something happens to a soldier in Israel it hits close to home in every household.” When he wrote “Prisoners of War,” Raff was living in Los Angeles and was influenced by how the Iraq and Afghanistan wars played out for American soldiers who served. “You heard that soldiers were hurt and dying but you never saw the funerals, never saw the coffins coming back home, and this was intentional,” Raff said. “In Israel it is
exactly the opposite. We are very well aware of the price that the boys, sons and daughters, pay for our freedom. We are asked to pay that price. So whenever something happens to a POW, Israel campaigns for his return because next time it could be me, it could be my brother or sister.” Raff’s writing addresses a topic he said isn’t usually covered on screen—how prisoners deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “Most people don’t deal with it,” Raff said. “When we try to deal with it, there is no one cure, there is no one way to get better. Captivity especially has a very unique PTSD. We do not deal with it because the people themselves, coming back from war, don't understand that it takes time to realize they have a problem. They want to forget about it and move on with their lives. It is an illness that is very hard to diagnose and see how to help. There are different ways of dealing with it but there is not one cure, no secret or magic pill for this.” Ran Tellem, vice president of programming for Keshet International, which produced “Prisoners of War,” enjoyed working with Raff because he is “not only a great guy, but an extremely talented writer, producer and director.” “Under his stewardship,
‘Prisoners of War’ became the highest-rated drama for Keshet Broadcasting and, alongside its acclaimed multi-award-winning U.S. adaptation ‘Homeland,’ has been sold to several countries all over the world from Afghanistan to Vietnam,” Tellem told JNS. After graduating from the American Film Institute (AFI) in 2003, Raff worked as director Doug Liman’s assistant on the blockbuster “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” which starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Raff’s feature directorial debut, “The Killing Floor,” was distributed in more than 40 countries and was acquired by ThinkFilm for domestic distribution. “AFI was a great part of why I am where I am right now,” Raff said. “You study in an environment where later you grow and work with the same people in the real industry. It was a good program and it helped me a lot. I’m still in touch with AFI.” In its first season, “Prisoners of War” was the highest-rated drama of the year in Israel, achieving a 37-percent share. Season II scored a 40-percent share, making it the mostviewed drama in Israel in 2012. The show won nine Israeli awards equivalent to Emmys, including best director and best drama.
FIRST PERSON & AUTOS • 21
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
Incidentally Iris Incidentally Iris
by Iris Ruth Pastor A close family friend tells me about her relationship with her boyfriend, who is not Jewish. She talks. I listen. Her list of things he must do: convert to Judaism, promise to raise future offspring in the Jewish faith and understand that during the Christmas holidays they will be refraining from visiting his family once they have kids. (My young friend doesn’t want them exposed to his family when they celebrate Christmas and put up a tree.) In addition to these contingencies, he must abide by her kosher dietary standards both inside and outside of the house. “I told him,” she remonstrated, “that once we are married, his eating shellfish is out of the question – in our home or at a restaurant.” Geez. I think her demands are excessively unreasonable, but I keep my mouth shut in order to preserve our relationship. But I am troubled by my own lack of candor and look up the definition of “friend” in “Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language” – certainly the biggest, heaviest tome I own. It says: a friend is a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard, a person who gives assistance, who is on good terms with another. Friends and friendship are popular subjects with plenty of quotes peppering internet sites too. People a lot wittier than me have quite a bit to ponder on and pontificate about when it comes to the topic of what it means to be a friend. Friends are to laugh with: “If you make good friends, no matter how much life is sucking, they can make you laugh.” – P.C. Cast Friends are to walk through life with: “You can go through life and make new friends every year - every month practically but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years. Those are the ones in
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which we are bound to one another with hoops of steel.” – Alexander McCall Smith Friends are to dream and dare with: “Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne Friends are to kick back with: “There is nothing better than a friend, unless it’s a friend with chocolate.” – Linda Grayson How about friends you can count on to tell you the truth? Ah, on that score there was a dearth of quotes. But here is the one that resonated with me by Plutarch: “I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.” That one’s a zinger. So I start searching for a role model in my own life – someone I know who tells me the truth – even when the truth is not falling on altogether welcome ears. Someone I can emulate. Take Marlyn. Through a traceable cocktail of events, Marlyn and I became friends. She is not my best friend. She is not one of my oldest friends, but she is a valued friend nonetheless. Here’s the quote on friendship that applies to her: “A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself.” – Frances Ward Weller And she has told me plenty I didn’t want to hear. On my wardrobe: “Layering your clothes in an attempt to replicate the look of Julie Christie in ‘Dr. Zhivago’ may work in cold climates, but in Florida, it simply doesn’t fly.” On my table manners: “Chewing loudly and with your mouth open is not flattering.” On my choice of conversation topics: “Expounding on something you feel strongly about is lovely, but harping on the subject is tiresome.” So my dear friend, Marlyn, thank you for displaying the courage to come forward and clue me in on things that could prove helpful for me to know. And thank you for doing so without attacking me directly. Sometimes we all need a little jumpstart – a slight nudge – to see that our wardrobes, behavior and habits may be flawed, timeworn and in need of adjustment. Keep Coping, Iris Ruth Pastor
The 2014 Audi Allroad Wagon can take on any season. With its aluminum roof rails, underbody protection, and gear-friendly trunk space it invites adventure, a 2.0-liter TFSI® engine with Audi quattro® all-wheel drive, it offers rugged performance to hit any trail. Tackle virtually any driving condition you encounter. Legendary Audi quattro® all-wheel drive distributes power to all four wheels with the most being sent to the back two wheels. When road conditions worsen, power is quickly distributed to the appropriate wheels for unequaled grip and control. The 2.0-liter TFSI engine responds with 220 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The engine helps deliver optimal power regardless of conquering a lowland trail or a mountainous pass, due to its turbocharged design. The Allroad's real strength is its cabin. With high-end materials, a thoroughly modern design and a range of upscale features, the Allroad stands out as a wonderful place to sit and motor. The Allroad offers 17 cubic feet behind the second-row seats and 51 cubes with the seats folded. These dimensions are average for the class. And although the Allroad isn't a true off-roader, its stainless steel skid plates, lower body cladding and 7.1 inches of ground clearance provide peace of mind when heading further afield in search of sand, snow or single-track. The 2014 Audi Allroad's turbocharged four-cylinder may not be the most thrilling or aurally pleasing engine in the world, but it can still pin you to your seat when you put the gas pedal to the floor. Ample torque allows for quick
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zone automatic climate control and auto-dimming mirrors. An optional MMI Navigation package adds a navigation system, a rearview camera, rear parking sensors, voice controls, HD radio, a color trip computer screen, Bluetooth audio connectivity and Audi Connect (enhanced Web-based navigation, information and WiFi access). The MMI controls are also relocated from the dash to the center console. A blindspot warning system is available as an option. Standard safety features on the 2014 Audi Allroad include antilock brakes, traction and stability control, front seat side airbags and side curtain airbags. Rear seat side airbags are optional on all trim levels, while a blind-spot warning system is standard on the Prestige. A rearview camera and parking sensors are optional on Premium Plus models and come standard on Prestige models. Every moment is full of all-terrain potential for the 2014 Audi Allroad wagon.
22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES MILLER, Sam age 88, died on August 5, 2013; 29 Av, 5773. BORDEN, Bernard B. age 82, died on August 8, 2013; 2 Elul, 5773. ROSENBAUM, Robert L. age 83, died on August 8, 2013; 2 Elul, 5773. HERMAN, Dorothy age 88, died on August 9, 2013; 3 Elul, 5773. KRUMBEIN, Milton age 90, died on August 10, 2013; 4 Elul, 5773.
O BITUARIES SELONICK, Peggy Peggy Selonick nee Frieder was born on December 9, 1929 to Juliam Simon and Morris Frieder. She was fond of saying that she was a fifth generation Cincinnatian, and grew up there, except for two stints in the Philippines in her early years. She attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and one of her last trips was to her 60th class reunion. Later she earned a Master’s in Library Science from Xavier University, and shared a job as a librarian in Cincinnati elementary schools. Throughout her life, she never stopped learning, and attending classes in many subjects. Soon after her youngest child was born, she and her husband Jim moved the family to New York for five years, then northern Virginia where Jim helped build Reston, then to Boston for two wonderful years before returning to Cincinnati. In each city she assembled a comfortable and beautiful home, made friends for life, found a supportive synagogue and took
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advantage of opportunities for fun in each place: sailing, horseback riding and skiing. In later years, she and Jim traveled extensively for business and pleasure. Their most adventurous trip was a two-month stay in Quito, Ecuador. She actively supported Walnut Hills, and the Linton Music Series, and served on both boards. She was an involved member of Congregation Beth Adam for many years where she worked on revising and writing liturgy and participating in adult education. She poured all of her talents into her relationships with her grandchildren, scattered in Washington, New York and Chicago. She called and wrote and visited, and as they grew, took them on trips without their parents to nurture the special tie. She sewed exquisite smocked dresses, quilts and knit sweaters for them. She taught them to love books and the beach, cooking for big family dinners and Broadway musicals. Peggy passed away peacefully at home July 30th after a long illness. Loving wife of the late James B. Selonick, mother of Ellen and David Berick, Jamie and Andrea Selonick, Bill Selonick and Sona Wang. Adored grandmother of Rebecca (Lois Brown), Sam, Julia, Rachel, Hannah, Anna and Lillian, beloved sister of Jane Ellis, Susan Stern, Judy Starrels, and the late David Frieder. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra or Walnut Hills High School Alumni Foundation.
SEX from page 6 relations council formed a task force on human trafficking. The year before, New Jersey’s Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest launched a coalition to combat trafficking. And in April, UJA-Federation of New York sponsored a conference on sex trafficking that attracted 450 educators and communal professionals from around the world. Ahead of the 2014 Super Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands, the MetroWest federation’s community relations council is planning to deliver 10,000 bars of soap imprinted with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number to area hotels. Sporting events are considered major venues for traffickers. “We believe our main role is to help raise awareness, decrease demand and make sure the right regulations are in place,” said the council’s director, Melanie Roth Gorelick. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was common for newly arrived Eastern European Jewish women to be shuttled away into the sex trade, according to Lori Cohen, an
to say that Jews had two good immigration options, the United States and Israel.” Such ideological complexities prevented the development of academic programs and curricula in Israel that address the AmericanJewish experience. Beyond requiring Israeli students to learn English, there is no infrastructure in place to teach American studies and to encourage its presentation in grade school and study at the university level. There is also a lack of related source materials available in Hebrew. Consequently, Israeli students and citizens are susceptible to adopting negative stereotypes about Americans. At the same time, some Israelis may take for granted the generous financial contributions American Jews make regularly to Israel, foreign aid that is crucial to ensure Israel’s security and survival in a hostile neighborhood. “In general, Israelis and Israeli scholars know little about American Jewry,” NYU’s Diner says. “Historically, they have expected the Jews of the United States to provide money and political support, particularly vis-a-vis the U.S. government, but have no idea as to how Jews in the United States have gone about the process of both integrating into American life and building their own communities. They do not understand the ways in which living in this particular multi-religious, multi-ethnic society [of America] has shaped Jewish options and expectations, and how those changed over time.”
Amos Shapira, president of the University of Haifa, says he sees the university “first and foremost as a center for research and advanced instruction in critical fields, but also as a tool for strengthening the Jewish state.” “One of the primary strategic issues in Israel is the connection with the United States, and throughout the past three decades I believe this bond has weakened,” Shapira tells JNS.org. “The program initiated by Professor Alroey will create a new generation of educated and engaged citizens who share a deeper understanding of the American relationship.” There is high demand for the pioneering Ruderman program. When the university posted an advertisement soliciting applications for the inaugural class, the school was inundated with nearly 100 responses in less than three weeks. Interviews were soon held to select a diverse group of students consisting of high school teachers, businessmen and women, and former emissaries of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Taglit-Birthright program. “The program is ideal for students who have already had significant encounters with Americans, but who now desire an academic perspective,” Alroey says. “Excellent English is a must.” A cornerstone of the program will be the initiative to conduct new research on Jewish-American topics. Each year students will assist in translating one important American text into Hebrew. Additionally, guest professors from the United States and officials involved with political,
social, and religious aspects of Israeli-American relations will be invited to share their perspectives. Course offerings will include: American Jews and the American Political System; American Jews: From Melting Pot to Minority Group; The American Zionist Leadership: Jewish Culture in America; American Jewry and the Jewish World; Immigrants, Revolutionaries, Intellectuals; American Jewry Between Culture and Politics; and New York – Tel Aviv: A Comparative Study of East European Immigrant Societies. The immediate goals of the program are exploratory, but long-term expectations of graduates are high. “Today’s students are tomorrow’s teachers, activists and Knesset members,” Shapira says. “We hope students will use what they learn to prompt a larger dialogue among Israelis and to inspire improved U.S.-Israel relations.” “The Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies will be one of a kind and an important development in Israeli academia,” says Alroey. “We expect other Israeli universities to develop similar programs soon, helping to build the informed infrastructure we need and desire.” Before, Ruderman was accustomed to hearing American Jewish leaders “whisper to me or to themselves on the side that, ‘Hey, I just talked to the [Israeli] foreign ministry, and they don’t understand what’s going on with us,’ or ‘I went to the Knesset and they didn’t know the difference between AIPAC and ADL (Anti-Defamation League).”
attorney for a New York nonprofit that serves victims of sex trafficking and the chair of the April conference. Young, impoverished Jewish women from the shtetls were easy prey for unscrupulous pimps who promised better lives. “Families were handing their daughters to these pimps who knew how to exploit values in the Jewish community,” Cohen said. As American Jews climbed the economic ladder, the issue became less pressing, though by no means did it disappear. Still, many involved in combating sex trafficking, in the United States and Israel, say the Jewish community still regards it as someone else’s problem. “When we started, 90 percent of Israelis didn’t know there was a trafficking problem in Israel,” said Rabbi Levi Lauer, executive director of ATZUM-Justice Works, an Israeli organization dedicated to eliminating trafficking. “There was a general consensus that because these weren’t Jewish women, this wasn’t an important matter.” That appears to be changing. According to a June report from the U.S. State Department, Israel is in the top tier of countries fighting trafficking. Israel previously had been listed
in the lowest tier. In the United States, the Jewish community also has become more serious about helping the victims of trafficking. In 2009, the Brooklynbased Jewish Child Care Association launched Gateways, a residential counseling program in Pleasantville, N.Y., for underage sex-trafficking victims. The program serves Jewish and non-Jewish victims like “Kimberly,” who came to Gateways after a prostitution call resulted in rape and abandonment on the street. “A lot of people think we choose to be in the life, but we’re minors,” Kimberly said. “We cannot choose and cannot consent to sex.” By age 14, Kimberly was giving her entire paycheck to her boyfriend, leaving her broke. After asking a coworker for a loan, she learned about somebody who would pay her for sex. Now 20, Kimberly has completed the Gateways program and earned a cosmetology license. She now works with another New York counseling organization to help girls escape the life she left behind. Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, has made it a priority to help girls like Kimberly. Schonfeld is a member of
President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which he charged last year with addressing trafficking. Schonfeld’s group is pushing to turn its 1,700 members into advocates for victims. A conference call with Rabbinical Assembly members this week will focus on modern-day slavery and encourage rabbis to speak about the issue during their High Holiday sermons. “Part of what we really need is for all Americans to have their eyes and ears and recognize what are the signs of slavery, not only for sex but also for labor,” Schonfeld said. The signs are not always easy to spot and often are overlooked or explained away. In Sarah’s case, her family wrote off abnormal behavior as typical of an angry teenager. Her pediatrician thought she was just falling in with a bad crowd. She would show up at school extremely tired, dropped many of her friends and often would disappear from home, returning with unexplained injuries. “There has to be a realization that anybody can be trafficked,” Sarah said. “The Jewish community has to be open to people who’ve had this experience.”
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