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Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati hosts 17th annual meeting The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati held its 17th Annual Meeting last week at the Mayerson JCC. The Foundation’s leadership reviewed the core themes and principles guiding its investments in our community, reported on its grant-making activity during the past year, and outlined some of the priorities that the Foundation will focus on in the year ahead. The Foundation also paid tribute to one of its original Trustees, Benjamin Gettler, who passed away in June. Jewish Foundation President Michael R. Oestreicher opened the meeting by reviewing the progress made by the Foundation since the sale of the Jewish Hospital. This included the development and implementation of the Foundation’s strategic plan for investing new community resources in five priority goal areas: Unmet Basic Needs, Jewish Education, Leadership Development, Continuous Jewish Involvement and Israel Connection. Also during this period, the Foundation established basic principles for its overall grant-making approach, and began to see the fruits of some of its early major philanthropic investments. “We are Trustees of financial resources that, in a certain sense, belong to the entire community: those who participate in it, those who need help from it, and those who support it,” said Oestreicher. “We made a solemn commitment to our community to work hard on its behalf, and to be transparent and accountable. Our Annual Meeting was an opportunity to report on our early progress, and to give a preview of what’s in store for the coming year.” Jewish Foundation Chairman Gary Heiman provided updates on the four initiatives featured at last year’s Foundation Annual Meeting. The Foundation invested $2.6 million as an initial installment in its overall investment in senior services, including rehab services and an aquatic therapy center at Cedar Village, as well as several new partnerships among the local
Jewish organizations focusing on seniors. A major grant to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion established the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Rabbinic Fellows Program and Office of Community Engagement so that HUC-JIR could interact more dynamically with the local Jewish community. In an attempt to help move the needle on Jewish Poverty, the Foundation joined several partners in launching the Jewish Family Service’s Barbash Family Vital Support Center by investing $1 million in renovating the new location for this Center on HUC’s campus, as well as $2.2 million to support the expanded operations. Finally, the Foundation’s partnership with the Jewish Federation was highlighted,
particularly its investment in the Federation’s fundraising capacity and infrastructure. The Foundation’s Executive Director, Brian Jaffee, highlighted significant examples from the $14.4 million in grants approved by the Foundation during the past year. The Foundation’s investment in Jewish Education was emphasized – including, for the first time, financial support for individual congregations – along with its additional support for Cincinnati’s Jewish Day Schools and an enhanced investment in Overnight Jewish Camping. The report also focused on progress in each of the Foundation’s goal areas, and described the Foundation’s continued involvement in initiatives that are consistent with its legal charter
to advance the Jewish community, but benefit the entire community as well. Oestreicher then closed the meeting by explaining how the Foundation’s investments are interwoven in a “community tapestry” that is beginning to come together, the content and design of which will become even clearer in the years ahead. Examples of this include the inter-connection between HUC and Jewish Family Service in the grants made to the Barbash Family Vital Support Center, and the partnerships that have formed, and continue to evolve, among the Jewish organizations responsible for senior services. Oestreicher also described the capacity-building initiatives at the Federation and JCC as further strengthening of the “three-legged community stool” in which the Foundation is the unique investment resource, the Federation represents fundraising and leadership development expertise, and the JCC provides programming and engagement expertise. “Our grantees have been successful in finding exciting and gratifying points of connection with other organizations and leveraging each other’s strengths to enhance what each is doing – and what they and their constituents, and our community, are receiving in return,” said Oestreicher. In the coming year, the Foundation’s priorities and key activities will focus on continued monitoring of the outcomes and impact of its current community investments, significant progress in its efforts to support congregations, new investments in jobs and career services and other unmet basic needs, a reorganization of its Israel Connection goals and objectives, and several other projects intended to strengthen the Cincinnati Jewish community. A full breakdown of allocations can be found on page 21.
ALLOCATION on page 21
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“Remembering the Kristallnacht Program” with commemoration and day of learning The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education in partnership with Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion will present “75 Years Later: Remembering the Kristallnacht Pogrom” on Sunday, November 10, at Mayerson Hall on the campus of Hebrew Union College. The featured event in a Day of Learning will occur at 5:30 p.m. with the commemoration and dedication of Mária Lugossy’s Crystal Night sculpture in memory of Rabbi Dr. Alfred Gottschalk. Kristallnacht was a series of coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on the nights of November 9-10, 1938. The name Kristallnacht comes from the pieces of broken glass that lay on the streets after Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues had their windows smashed. Lugossy’s sculpture commemorates this night of terror. Mária Lugossy (1950-2012) is still considered Hungary’s leading glass artist of modern time. During her life she had over 50 solo exhibitions, contributed to over 70 group shows and won numerous awards. Her works are exhibited in 25 art museums and
collections in seven countries. Other activities during the day include: 3:00 p.m.: Film screening of “Rescue in the Philippines”. This one-hour documentary tells the previously untold story of how the five Frieder brothers spearheaded a rescue to help 1,200 Jews escape the Nazis and immigrate to the Philippines. 4:00 p.m.: Discussion with Eszter and Aron Bohus, the daughter and son of Maria
Free Estimates Contras, LLC • Cell: 513-276-9258
Lugossy. 6:15 p.m.: Reception. 7:00 p.m.: Lecture by Dr. James Young on The Arts of Holocaust Memory in Time and Space. James Young is Professor of English and Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has written extensively on memory, art and the Holocaust. His book The Texture of Memory won the National Jewish Book Award in 1994.
Original musical “Sounds of the Shtetl” performs at the Mayerson JCC The Mayerson JCC and the Cincinnati Jewish Theater are proud to stage an original musical production, “Sounds of the Shtetl” featuring Yiddish songs and dances, and music by the Cincinnati Klezmer Project. The performance will take place at the JCC on Sunday, November 17 at 2:30pm. “Sounds of the Shtetl” follows the lives of a group of Jewish immigrants on their path from Eastern Europe to America at the beginning of the 20th century. Opening in a European Jewish settlement, known as a “shtetl,” this musical depicts the simple, yet dignified, life of the group. With lives full of hard, physical work and poverty, they prayed each day for relief and new perspective. At last, the decision was made to make the voyage to America, to one of the most popular Eastern European neighborhoods, Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn. The story culminates with the celebration of a Jewish wedding with familiar aspects of culture from the old country. Tickets are available now with a pre-sale discount. “‘Sounds of the Shtetl’ is full
of memorable Yiddish songs and dances, and recalls Eastern European Jewish culture of the early 1900s. This musical performance is a great opportunity to experience Jewish heritage and appreciate the stories of immigrants on their path to America,” said Marc Fisher, CEO of the JCC. “We’re looking forward to presenting this powerful community theater production, including a performance by the popular Cincinnati Klezmer Project.” For this lively production, Director Regina Appatova brings together several experienced performers, including Oleg Chtelmakh, who is known for his engaging performance in the productions of “Cinderella” and “The Nutcracker” at the Aronoff Center Stage. Appatova herself has performed for over 30 years on stage, including the recent lead in “Love Rides the Rails” at the Miami University Theatre. Choreographer Denis Ermin has traveled across Europe with the Krasnodar Folk Theater, and earned a professional degree in choreography. “We are proud to be presenting this story to the Cincinnati
community. I wanted to give our audience a true taste of life in the Shtetl and celebrate our traditions, history and culture,” said Appatova. “The cast and crew are excellent, and we are so excited for opening night!”
College Students from Cincinnati – Summer Internships Available! Give back to the Jewish community and get paid to intern in a Jewish agency in Cincinnati. The Workum Fund provides highly rewarding summer internships for Jewish college students from Cincinnati. Applications are available at our website at www.workum.org and are due by December 15. Interviews will take place over Winter break. Contact Workum Fund Program Director, Brett Pelchovitz Stern, at 513-899-1836 or intern@workum.org for more information. *Partially funded by the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati
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Overnight Jewish Camping and Israel Travel Fair meeting invaluable. The fair will be held on Sunday, November 24th at Adath Israel Congregation from 5:00pm-7:00pm. It is open and free to all; no registration is necessary.
Live from New York: it’s Piers Morgan! drama of a nightly broadcast on CNN. Hear about his surprising career, his passionate campaign against gun control, and his new book (based on his diary), Shooting Straight: Guns, Gays, God and George Clooney, as he talks with Dr. Gail Saltz, psychiatrist and Today Show con-
tributor. The 92YLive series highlights prominent Jews from all aspects of American life. This series originates and is broadcast live from New York’s prestigious Jewish cultural center, the 92nd Street Y. The broadcasts are fed into Wise Center
and are viewed on a large screen. These events are exclusively a program of Wise Temple’s adult education program. The program starts at 7:30 PM (doors open at 7:00 PM). Tickets are available for purchase at the door and are open to the public.
Wise Temple hosts Ellen G. van der Horst, head of Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber
Ellen G. van der Horst
On Friday, November 8 Wise Temple will host a congregational Shabbat dinner and program featuring Ellen G. van der Horst, President and CEO of Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber who will speak about “A New Cincinnati.” The Chamber, which serves the 15-county tri-state region, has a mission of establishing this region as one of the world’s favorite American business centers. As President and CEO since 2006, Ms. van der Horst has been involved in many of this region’s most critical initiatives. She has worked to position Cincinnati
as a compelling, attractive region for young, creative professionals to live, work and play by co-chairing the group that developed the “GO Cincinnati” economic growth strategy for the city and continues to identify transformational priorities for the entire Cincinnati region. She is also leading efforts to address regional transportation issues, including air service and the Brent Spence Bridge. Ms. van der Horst plans to speak at Shabbat services at which time she will focus on the progress in downtown Cincinnati and why everyone should care
about it. After dinner, she will focus on the drivers of progress and impediments to future success. Come to learn all about the changes that have occurred and will continue to occur in the Cincinnati region. Services begin at Wise Center at 6:15 and dinner follows. Both are open to the public. There is a charge for the dinner. For reservations or more information, please contact the Wise Temple office.
hammered out a plan to rescue Jews from Nazi Germany by using their cigar factory in the Philippines. Alice Weston, daughter of Alex Frieder, will introduce the film and entertain questions after the film. While open to everyone, these Sunday series presentations are perfect for parents bringing their children to Sunday school! More popular than ever,: Tuesdays with Torah happens every Tuesday from noon – 1:00 PM. Rabbi Sydney Henning will use ancient texts from the Torah and Talmud and modern Reform Responsa to explore the Jewish take on modern hot topics of
VOL. 160 • NO. 15 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013 27 CHESHVAN 5774 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 6:20 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 7:21 PM THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO., PUBLISHERS 18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037 Phone: (513) 621-3145 Fax: (513) 621-3744 publisher@americanisraelite.com editor@americanisraelite.com production@americanisraelite.com RABBI ISAAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 PHYLLIS R. SINGER Editor & General Manager, 1985-1999 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher JORY EDLIN BETH KOTZIN Assistant Editors YOSEFF FRANCUS Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor
abortion, on Tuesday, November 5, and the death penalty on Tuesday, November 12. Following that, on Tuesday, November 19 and Tuesday, November 26, Barbara Dragul, Director of Education and Lifelong Learning will discuss Jewish Identity, delving into how different contemporary researchers understand Jewish identity and how they study it, while also exploring individual ways of defining our own unique Jewish identity.
MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR ZELL SCHULMAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists BONNIE ULLNER Advertising Sales JENNIFER CARROLL Production Manager
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ing Jewish practice, Jewish values, and Jewish religious life than the Talmud. This class will help you familiarize yourself with the history, and the worldview of the ancient rabbis who shaped the tradition and the values we hold today. On Sunday November 17 from 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM Wise will present the one-hour DVD documentary of the littleknown holocaust story with a Cincinnati connection: Rescue in the Philippines, Refuge from the Holocaust. Learn how a fascinating “cast of characters,” the Frieder brothers of Cincinnati and their high-placed friends,
“LET THERE BE LIGHT” THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN AMERICA - EST. JULY 15, 1854
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Say yes to Jewish learning with adult learning opportunities at Wise Temple “Hineni,” responded Moses when God called to him out of the burning bush. “Hineni,” meaning “I am here, I am ready and willing.” This year Wise Temple calls all novice, intermediate and advanced learners to participate in a variety of adult Jewish learning opportunities. Answer “Hineni! I am here; I am ready to deepen my own Jewish learning.” The ever-popular monthly Talmud Class with Rabbi Lewis Kamrass continues on Monday, November 11 from 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM. Other than the Bible itself, no other sacred literature has had such an impact on shap-
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On Sunday, November 3 Wise Temple presents, via satellite, a 92YLive program featuring Piers Morgan with Dr. Gail Saltz. Piers Morgan thrives in the rough-and-tumble world of British tabloids, the primetime performances of America’s Got Talent and the high-profile
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Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, meet Israeli emissaries, as well as experience a taste of Israeli food, music, and culture. Those with children of camping age through age 18, or young adults from age18-26, will find this informational
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options are available for overnight Jewish camping and Israel travel. Representatives from a variety of overnight Jewish camps and Israel trip providers will be present. You will be able to apply for generous grants provided by The
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If you are looking for the perfect overnight Jewish camp for your child, or perhaps the ideal Israel trip, the upcoming Overnight Jewish Camping and Israel Travel Fair is a must. This event provides an opportunity to explore what
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $44 per year and $2.00 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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SALES REPRESENTATIVE •Calling on restaurants, car dealers, and high-end retail establishments. Rachel Festenstein, Linton Sharpnack and Diane Slovin
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Cedar Village names three individuals to senior positions Three people have been appointed to senior positions at Cedar Village Retirement Community. Carol Silver Elliott, Cedar Village’s president and chief executive officer, made the following appointments: Linton Sharpnack to chief operating officer; Rachel Festenstein to director of independent and assisted living; and Diane Slovin to special events and volunteer manager. “We are thrilled to have Linton and Diane join Cedar Village and to have Rachel take on a new role,” Elliott said. “We have a strong and dedicated management team and these additions help to make that team even stronger.” Sharpnack has an extensive experience in the management of hospitals and health care facilities as well as nursing. At the University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland, he served as director of clinical operations, chief nursing officer, director of nursing, clinical coordinator and staff nurse at its Extended Care Campus. He supervised nurses for the Visiting Nurses Association of Cleveland, worked as president and CEO of PHS Mount Sinai Inc., a 140-bed acute care hospital; and vice president for Edgepark Surgical, a medical equipment provider. He owns Healthy Deposits, which is a health food-nutritional supplement business. He has a diploma in nursing
from the M.B. Johnson School of Nursing, a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lake Erie-Garfield Senior College, a bachelor’s in nursing from Ursuline College and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University. Festenstein, who has been affiliated with Cedar Village for nine years, is the new director of the Fountain View and Oak View Apartments at Cedar Village. In addition, she will continue to coordinate social media for Cedar Village. Previously, she served in various roles directing Cedar Village’s marketing and community outreach efforts and coordinating its volunteers and special programs. Festenstein also has served as the director of the Las Vegas Senior Lifeline and the community relations director for Merrill Gardens at Green Valley Ranch, a retirement community in Henderson, Nevada. In 2008, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati gave her its Harris K. and Alice Weston Junior Avodah Award, given to a Jewish community professional who demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities. Slovin was the office and accounting manager for ProKids, a Cincinnati nonprofit that trains volunteers to support foster children; the grant coordinator for the Northeast Community Challenge Coalition; and a trainer and corporate account representative for Sarcom Educational Services. She served as the president of
the board of trustees of Camp Livingston, a Jewish overnight camp in southeast Indiana. She helped to charter -- and served as local president of -- the National Council of Jewish Women, Business and Professional Branch. She has a bachelor’s degree in education from Indiana University.
•Experience not required. TO APPLY, please contact Ted Deutsch at (513) 621-3145 or send your resume to publisher@americanisraelite.com
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En Garde, Society!: Eugene Mirman and the comedy of the absurd By Talia Lavin NEW YORK (JTA) – “Everyone knows that Jews control the media and banks and stuff,” comedian Eugene Mirman quips in a recent stand-up routine. “But did you know that when you go to a carnival and you have to be a certain height to go on a ride, Jews control that height? It has nothing to do with safety. It’s just us flexing our Semitic muscles.” Mirman, 39, has an impressive list of credits, including opening for popular indie bands such as Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, and appearing on “The Colbert Report.” But many of Mirman’s roles – from Yvgeny Mirminsky on the Adult Swim mockumentary “Delocated” to Eugene the landlord on HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords” – are thinly veiled versions of himself. Which is just fine for Mirman, a self-declared eccentric who has defied convention from his earliest
years. The Moscow native immigrated with his family at 4 to the Boston suburb of Lexington, Mass. His Russian-Jewish family had experienced persecution and wiretapping in Moscow, according to Mirman, who is not above mocking his origins. In an early recording, he claimed to have spent his childhood eating only “government-allotted bowls of cold tears.” At school, Mirman had a difficult time fitting in with his American peers. In the sixth grade, tasked with presenting a book report, he instead lip-synced an entire Bill Cosby stand-up routine. Afterward he was labeled “foreign and a little special,” and relegated to special-needs education for the remainder of elementary school. “The only thing wrong with me was that I was a weirdo that hated school,” Mirman told JTA. “I’m sure now there’d be a disorder for it, but I was just an oddball.” Stand-up comedy provided an
outlet. In the 1980s he watched comedians such as Emo Phillips, Bobcat Goldthwaite and Woody Allen. He identified with their “weirdo outcast” personas and was inspired by their work. After graduating from high school, Mirman attended Hampshire College, which allows students to design their own majors. Mirman went with comedy. His coursework involved organizing comedy nights and writing a humor column for the student newspaper. His senior thesis was a onehour stand-up routine that he later used as the basis for his professional act. “It was the most helpful education I could’ve gotten,” Mirman said. His parents, Boris and Marina, supported their son’s pursuits. Unlike many immigrant parents, the Mirmans saw a comedy career as a sign of the possibilities of America and didn’t push Eugene toward the more “practical” professions adopt-
ed by many immigrants. “My parents never put pressure on me,” Mirman said. “They brought my brother and me here so we could pursue things we enjoy.” Mirman is a well-known, if not quite mainstream, comedy figure. His early work included a series of surreal YouTube videos in which, adopting personas ranging from a Kurt Cobain-esque grunge musician to a secret agent, he satirizes sex education, spy thrillers and politics. He has produced four comedy albums, including the two-disc “En Garde, Society!” He says his current role in “Bob’s Burgers,” a FOX animated show entering its fourth season, has been a “wonderful” chance to reach a new, mainstream type of audience – one that doesn’t necessarily frequent underground comedy clubs. Now living in Brooklyn, Mirman’s schedule is a hectic hodgepodge of comedy tours, show tapings and miscellaneous projects. He wrote a faux self-help book pub-
lished in 2009, “The Will to Whatevs,” in which he dispensed dubious advice such as suggesting that new office workers “pretend every day is Bring a Coyote to Work Day.” Mirman just embarked on a sixcity tour with fellow comedians Kristen Schaal and John Hodgman – the “MirmanHodgmanSchaal Sandwich-To-Go Tour.” He also is working on a pilot for a travel show. After 10 years of touring, Mirman is candid about the challenges of the stand-up life, like hecklers. He struggles, too, with the solitary life of the road. “You arrive in a new place, do a sound check, do the show,” he says of the nightly routine. “By the time you’re done, most things are closed in a lot of cities, and you can maybe get a meal and go to bed.” Perhaps Mirman’s greatest asset is his distinctive voice, a flexible instrument that can descend to a EN GARDE on page 20
Liberal Jews laying claim to Jewish burial rituals By Julie Wiener NEW YORK (JTA) – When his cousin died unexpectedly a few years ago, Hal Miller-Jacobs was recruited to oversee the funeral arrangements and wound up helping with the tahara – the traditional preparation of the body for burial. For the first time in his life, the 76-year-old computer professional joined with other volunteers in carefully washing, cleaning and dressing the body in a simple white shroud. “It was probably the most moving Jewish experience I ever had in my life,” Miller-Jacobs said. But when he tried to volunteer with his local chevra kadisha, or Jewish burial society, he was turned away. Miller-Jacobs said he believes it’s because he is not Orthodox. So Miller-Jacobs teamed up with Judith Himber, a friend and fellow congregant at his Conservative synagogue in Lexington, Mass., to launch Community Hevra Kadisha of Greater Boston, an inclusive Jewish burial society. “We have no dissatisfaction with the work they do,” Miller-Jacobs said of the society that declined his membership. “We’re just looking to open this up to more people.” (Henry Feuerstein, the coordinator for the Boston-area chevra kadisha Miller-Jacobs sought to join, did not respond to a call for comment.) Often shrouded in secrecy, Jewish burial societies and traditional Jewish funeral rituals are largely unfamiliar to most non-Orthodox American Jews, who generally outsource the details of preparation and burial to funeral homes. Many American Jews increasingly are opt-
ing for cremation, long a Jewish taboo. But now a growing network of liberal and pluralistic burial societies like the fledgling Boston one are hoping to popularize traditions that they believe offer powerful spiritual experiences and comfort in the face of death and loss. “I see this as a major educational opportunity for the American Jewish community and frankly as a way for serving aging baby boomers,” said Stuart Kelman, a Conservative rabbi who is the dean of the Gamliel Institute, a training center that provides online courses addressing the how-tos of chevra kadisha work. “They’re beginning to realize they’re going to die, and they’re going to come to the question of what is that all about, what do I do, what happens, how do I talk about this?” Kelman said. “The secular world is not prepared to deal with that, but the religious world is. And I’m hoping to create a large cadre of individuals around the country who will be able to deal with those questions and help guide the aging baby boomer population into settings – ideally synagogues – where these questions will be talked about openly, respectfully and Jewishly.” Kelman says many Orthodox burial societies will only use Orthodox chevra kadisha members because they believe that those participating in the mitzvah of preparing the dead for burial must be Sabbath observant. Kelman’s institute seeks to broaden chevra kadisha societies beyond the Orthodox world. In Boston, Community Hevra Kadisha has recruited more than 20 partner synagogues and obtained
Courtesy of JTA
Baruch Bloom, in white shirt, a former board member of Kavod v’Nichum, demonstrates how to prepare a body for burial at the organization’s 2012 conference in Los Angeles.
permission to perform pre-burial rituals in a Jewish funeral home. It recently hosted a two-day training session attended by 100 would-be volunteers and recruited a board that includes bestselling author Anita Diamant. Diamant is hoping to do for Jewish burial something akin to what she did for Jewish ritual baths with the founding a decade ago of Mayyim Hayyim, a “pluralist mikvah” in the Boston suburbs: Taking an ancient and often intimidating ritual traditionally the sole domain of the Orthodox and making it accessible, if not mainstream, for modern liberal Jews. “It feels like part of the same wonderful movement of liberal Jews owning the tradition and feeling authentic in their understanding and practice,” Diamant said. “It’s one of the oldest things in the world, but it’s new for us – and that’s exciting.” The Gamliel Institute is a project
of Kavod v’Nichum, literally “honor and comfort,” a 13-year-old nonprofit that sponsors annual conferences for chevra kadisha groups and offers a variety of training and resource materials, including a howto manual outlining tahara procedures. The group was recognized this year in Slingshot’s Jewish innovation guide – no small coup for an organization focused on death and dying. Slingshot is a nine-year-old group best known for promoting innovative new programs that target Jews in their 20s and 30s. Julie Finkelstein, Slingshot’s program director, said Kavod v’Nichum helps communities offer Jews a “moment for really deep, meaningful, substantive Jewish connection” at a time of loss when “they often seek out religious ritual.” David Zinner, Kavod v’Nichum’s founding president and executive director, got involved in
Jewish end-of-life issues in the mid1990s when his Reconstructionist synagogue in Maryland was approached about buying a section in a new cemetery. While researching the issue, he discovered the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, a volunteerrun organization that helps arrange for affordable funerals. Before long, he was doing a tahara for the first time. No one knows how many nonOrthodox chevra kadisha groups exist in North America, but Zinner said he is seeing a steady growth. He says he personally has led training sessions for groups seeking to get off the ground in 100 different locations over the past decade, including Los Angeles and Boston. “We’re sort of unique in that we’re more than an educational organization,” Zinner said. “We’re also a community-organizing group.” Michael Slater, a member of Chicago’s Progressive Chevra Kadisha and Kavod v’Nichum’s president, said the national group is in the process of transforming from a startup into an established organization. “We think we’re doing something important, that addressing death openly and through the lens of Jewish tradition and practice counters the trend toward death denial in our culture,” said Slater, a 47-yearold emergency room doctor. “When you don’t think about death and don’t approach it in an intentional, focused way, then when it happens it’s all the more scary and painful.”
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Bloomberg ‘flattered’ by inaugural $1 million ‘Jewish Nobel Prize’ By Julie Wiener NEW YORK (JTA) – In August, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told New York magazine, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all the Russian billionaires to move here?” Today, the Russian billionaires – or at least some Jewish ones – returned the compliment, naming Bloomberg the first winner of the Genesis Prize. The new $1 million prize, administered by a partnership that includes the Genesis Philanthropy Group and the Israeli government, is intended to show “the importance of Jewish values to the fulfillment of human potential and to the betterment of the world,” and to highlight that importance to strengthen Jewish identity and combat assimilation. On Monday, at a news conference scheduled to announce the consolidation of New York City vehicles, Bloomberg said he was “flattered” to have received what is being called the "Jewish Nobel Prize" but acknowledged, “I don't need the money.” Bloomberg, who reportedly is worth $31 billion, said he would probably donate the money to a cause in the Middle East. “I want it to go for something unconventional that my foundation hasn’t supported in the past,” he said. Bloomberg has supported Jewish causes in the past, including the dedication of a women and child center at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem in honor of his late mother, and Magen David Adom, the emergency medical service. But the bulk of his philanthropy has been to non-Jewish causes, most notably his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, to which he has donated more than $1 billion. Wayne Firestone, the former Hillel International president who now runs the Genesis Prize Foundation, told JTA that Bloomberg is a “very sophisticated philanthropist who has made a huge impact globally and an outspoken friend of Israel.” Asked how the 71-year-old outgoing mayor will inspire young Jews, Firestone said Genesis will be embarking on a “process to introduce him to younger Jews” and arrange forums for him to interact with young Jews, although he acknowledged Bloomberg “hasn’t planned his post-mayoral
Courtesy of Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, shown here at the National Tennis Center on Aug. 26, 2013, was named the first winner of the Genesis Prize.
schedule.” Bloomberg will complete his third term as New York mayor at the end of the year. The awarding of $1 million to a well-known public figure with a huge personal fortune spurred some head scratching and ridicule in the Jewish communal world. One foundation leader who asked not to be identified said in an email that the reaction in her office has been “one of some surprise.” Most had expected the prize “would bring into the light someone doing amazingly deep unknown work, someone who needs the prize to advance that work and perhaps someone better to relate to the very demographic the prize seeks to attract,” she said. Writing in The New Republic, Marc Tracy noted that awarding Bloomberg $1 million “is like giving the average U.S. household $1.56.” “The soon-to-be-ex-mayor is a great philanthropist,” Tracy wrote. “Which begs the question of whether the Genesis Philanthropy Group’s $100 million endowment couldn’t be put to wiser use.” But Ilia Salita, executive director of Genesis Philanthropy Group North America, said younger generations are inspired by innovation. “There is hardly a better example of innovators than Bloomberg,” Salita said. Firestone and Salita declined to name the other finalists for the prize.
National Briefs Hate crime charge for alleged attacker of Hebrew speakers in Wisconsin (JTA) – A man in Wisconsin was charged with a hate crime for allegedly punching two men who were having a conversation in Hebrew. Dylan Grall, 23, was charged with battery and two counts of hate crime for the incident on a Madison street early Saturday morning, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The alleged attacker denied hitting the men despite a witness account saying Grall did strike them. Grall said he told the men to speak English and believed they were speaking Spanish, according to the police report. Anti-Israel ads placed on Denver buses during JNF conference (JTA) – Advertisements accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” are appearing on Denver-area buses while the Jewish National Fund holds its national conference in the city. The ads, which include the slogan “Want peace? Stop ethnic cleansing in Palestine,” are sponsored by the website Notaxdollarstoisrael.com and the
Colorado BDS Campaign, the Intermountain Jewish News reports. Survivors blast Jewish Foundation for the Righteous for honoring Allianz exec WASHINGTON (JTA) – A group of Holocaust survivors blasted the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous for honoring an executive of an insurance company that had denied claims to families of Holocaust victims. The Holocaust Survivors Foundation, the umbrella body for a number of U.S. survivors groups, last week wrote to JFR, saying that its decision to honor Peter Lefkin, a senior vice president at Allianz North America, would become a “permanent blot” on the group. In its letter, HSF noted the World War II role of Allianz in insuring Nazi enterprises and its postwar failure to honor insurance claims of Jews who died in the Holocaust, a figure that the Holocaust Survivors Foundation says amounts to over $2.5 billion today. Ads call out Newton, Mass., school officials over anti-Israel materials (JNS) – A new advertising campaign in Boston-area newspapers calls out officials in the public school system of Newton, Mass., over the alleged presence of anti-Israel materials in those schools. The Boston-based nonprofit Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) took out the ads in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Newton Tab, Boston Metro, and Jewish Advocate.
The ads focus on research by concerned parents and students that revealed the presence of anti-Israel texts in Newton schools, including “The Arab World Studies Notebook,” which claims that Israeli soldiers murdered hundreds of Palestinian nurses in Israeli prisons; “A Muslim Primer,” which claims that astronaut Neil Armstrong converted to Islam but the anti-Muslim U.S. government warned him “to keep his new religion to himself or he could be fired” from his government job; “Flashpoints: Guide to World History,” which asserts that Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem, is the capital of Israel and that Jerusalem is the capital of “Palestine;” and other materials. Sen. Chuck Schumer: Iraqi archive belongs to Jewish community (JNS) – Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to stop the State Department from returning 2,700 Jewish books and ancient documents to Iraq. The collection includes a 1793 Babylonian Talmud and a Zohar from 1815. Since its arrival in the U.S., the collection has been stored and restored in the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC. Twenty-four pieces have been on display since Oct. 11. The State Department plans to return the archive to the Iraqi government, in line with a written agreement between the two governments.
8 • INTERNATIONAL
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Ukraine Jews see alleged beating of Jewish man as sign of mounting nationalism
Putin’s party loses key city to tough Jew with checkered past By Cnaan Liphshiz YEKATERINBURG, Russia (JTA) – Growing up in one of the Soviet Union’s richest cities, Elena Chudnovskaya never imagined that she would be raising her daughter in a place so full of drug addicts that “the flowerbeds became strewn with syringes.” But that is what became of her downtown apartment block after the collapse of communism, when soaring unemployment and the proximity to drug-producing countries unleashed a narcotics epidemic of alarming proportions in this district capital of 1.3 million people 900 miles east of Moscow. Over the past decade, however, everything changed. Chudnovskaya and her 15-year-old daughter gradually forgot to look out for the junkies, who are now a rare sight in Yekaterinburg. For this change, she credits the man she helped elect mayor last month: Yevgeny Roizman, a toughminded activist who parlayed his successful record addressing the city’s drug problem into a rare defeat for President Vladimir Putin’s preferred candidate. “People in the drug business were already scared of Roizman before he was elected,” Chudnovskaya said. “Now they’re talking about finding a different place to live.” Even before he became mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city, Roizman, 51, already was an international celebrity thanks to the success of City Without Drugs, the organization he set up in 1999 that is
International Briefs Alleged anti-Semitic attack leaves five Jews injured in Australia (JNS) – Five Jews were viciously attacked in an apparent anti-Semitic assault at a popular beach town near Sydney, Australia over the weekend. Police said four men ages 66, 48, 39, and 27, along with a 62-year-old woman, were walking along the street in Bondi beach when eight young males shouted anti-Semitic comments at them and physically attacked them. One of the victims was Jewish National Fund emissary Shlomo Ben-Chaim. “They started yelling ‘dirty Jews’ at us and then they just assaulted us. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Ben-Chaim told Israel Radio.
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Courtesy of Cnaan Liphshiz
Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman meeting with a constituent in his office, Oct. 17, 2013.
widely credited with effecting a dramatic transformation in Yekaterinburg. But the change has not come cost-free. Allegations of violence and intimidation have dogged Roizman and the organization’s staff, which engaged in radical practices such as abducting drug addicts and chaining them to metal beds while they endured anguished withdrawals. “We raised the drug issue and today there is practically no heroin being sold in this city,” said Roizman, a 6-foot-2-inch hunk of muscle who wears skintight T-shirts and sneakers to work. City without Drugs now works with law enforcement, but it began as a rogue agency. Over the years it has “treated” more than 6,500 addicts and helped arrest and prosecute more than 3,300 suspected drug
dealers, according to the organization’s own figures. Roizman, who spent two years in jail for theft during the 1980s, says he knows “how to communicate” with drug users. But prosecutors say the organization’s methods go well beyond communicating. One addict, Tatyana Kuznetsova, died last year after being chained to a bed by City Without Drugs. Two of Roizman’s associates are currently on trial for her death from meningitis, which prosecutors say turned lethal because she was denied medical treatment for days. “In fighting the drug problem, he did illegal things that I couldn’t condone,” said Fyodor Krasheninnikov, a democracy activist who used to work with Roizman. “He is too
Australian anti-Semitic attack spurs KKL-JNF emergency meeting (JNS) – The World Chairman of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) plans to convene an emergency meeting between the organization’s international representatives after the violent Sydney attack which came just hours after an anti-Israel protest in Denver, Colorado, as well as demonstrations in France and Belgium.
Sinai Peninsula is costing Hamas $230 million in lost revenue a month in “industry, commerce, agriculture, transport and (the) construction sectors,” said Hatem Oweida, Hamas’ deputy economic minister, AFP reported. Hamas used the smuggling tunnels to transfer economic goods, as well as weapons and rockets, into Gaza. However, Egypt’s militarybacked government accused Hamas of supporting terrorists in the Sinai and said it has shut down more than 130 tunnels between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last month.
Israel and Japan to collaborate in agricultural research (JNS) – Israeli Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir announced Monday that the Israeli and Japanese governments will establish a joint research and development fund after a meeting with Japanese Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo. Hamas loses $230 million a month due to Tunnel closure (JNS) – Egypt’s closure of smuggling tunnels between Gaza and the
PUTIN on page 22
Hamas growing arsenal of rockets that can reach Tel Aviv (JNS) – Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is amassing M-75 rockets with a range 43 miles and the capability to reach the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area. While the number of such rockets currently in the group’s possession is still small, Hamas is rapidly working to grow the arsenal.
KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) – The police station on Stefan Bandera Street in Lviv used to be just another government building to Dmitry Flekman. But that changed earlier this month following a nine-hour interrogation by two detectives, who were accused of torturing and humiliating the 29-year-old Jewish businessman. It’s an incident that some see as indicative of rising nationalism and anti-Semitism in Ukraine. “Many people here want to move away from Soviet days to the Western model, but that can only happen if the fundamental rights of law-abiding people like me are respected,” Flekman told JTA last week. “To me, it’s a symbol of injustice.” Flekman’s ordeal began Oct. 1, when the officers arrested him on his way back from the bank. At the police station, Flekman says, the officers tried to extort $10,000 from him. “They picked on me because they thought they could get money out of it, but it turned anti-Semitic when they discovered my mother’s maiden name is Rosenberg,” he said, adding, “One of them told me he’d do to me what Hitler did and beat me.” After the first beating, one of the officers urinated on Flekman and fractured his tailbone with blows to the back, Flekman told prosecutors. Flekman also said the officers forced him to sit on the floor, explaining the Syrian troops take over Christian town from Jihadi rebels (JNS) – Syrian government soldiers retook the ancient Christian town of Sadad from Jihadi rebels. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, residents from Sadad reported that rebels from the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization have retreated from the town after heavy fighting with the Syrian army. Iran could build nuclear bomb within one month, report says (JNS) – Iran is currently able to produce a sufficient quantity of uranium for a nuclear bomb by using its installed centrifuges and low enriched uranium stockpiles in as little as one month, a report by the U.S. Institute for Science and International Security has found. Former Israel Air Force chief: Don’t underestimate Israel’s Iran strike capability (JNS) – In a thinly veiled mes-
Courtesy of Ukrainian Jewish Committee
Dmitry Flekman claims he was assaulted by two Ukrainian policemen in Lviv who tried to extort money from him.
chair “was not for stinking Jews.” Ukrainian authorities have not named either detective. Flekman eventually was released and collapsed on the street, where passers-by helped him get to a hospital. Police said he was not harmed during his arrest, but the Lviv Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal investigation based on medical reports that show his injuries “could only have been caused by blows with a blunt object.” Anti-Semitic assaults are rare in Ukraine. But the severity of Flekman’s beating and its timing – just days before a violent nationalist march and a major conference on fighting anti-Semitism, both in Kiev UKRAINE on page 22 sage to Iran, former Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen. (res.) Ido Nechushtan on Saturday warned that Israel’s attack capabilities must not be underestimated. “I wouldn’t underestimate the capacity of the Israeli Air Force to fulfill the missions it is ordered to carry out. And I think I’ve said enough,” Nechushtan said at an event in Beersheba, according to Israel Hayom. Weakening Iran sanctions a ‘tragic mistake,’ Netanyahu tells Kerry (JNS) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against the weakening of Iran sanctions during a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry last week in Rome. “The best way to [stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program] peacefully is to maintain the pressure on Iran,” Netanyahu said.
INTERNATIONAL / ISRAEL • 9
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013
Is a common fear of Iran driving Israel and Saudi Arabia together? By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping the enemy of one’s enemy truly does become a friend. In recent years, Netanyahu has said the enmity for Iran shared by Israel and the Arab states could become a spur to regional reconciliation. Last week, in a speech to the Knesset, he noted the “many issues” on which Israel and the Arabs have shared interests could open up “new possibilities,” including a peace accord with the Palestinians. But while experts say that intelligence sharing between Israel and the Persian Gulf states has grown in
recent years, thanks in large part to the facilitation of the United States, the possibility of a breakthrough appears to be overstated. “There may be some common interest on Iran and how to reply to Muslim Brotherhood groups,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress. “That doesn’t mean these countries are going to play ball with Israel. It’s quite a stretch to imply that this means these countries will coordinate” on defense issues with Israel. Israel has long maintained lowlevel representations in a few of the smaller Arab Gulf states. But any serious breakthrough would likely hinge on Saudi Arabia, which enjoys
outsized influence in the Arab world because of its unparalleled oil wealth and curatorship of the holiest Islamic sites. Simon Henderson, the director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said there had been increased rapprochement in recent years among Israel, the Saudis and the Gulf states because of shared concerns over Iran and the Arab Spring. “For many years, the Israeli Mossad and the Saudi General Intelligence directorate have maintained a backchannel communications link,” Henderson said. FEAR on page 19
Courtesy of NIAC
Former Saudi ambassador Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud confers with Israeli strategic affairs analyst Yossi Alpher at the National Iranian American Council conference in Washington, Oct. 15, 2013.
Hungary launches PR blitz to combat extremist image By Ron Kampeas
Courtesy of Babette Rittmeyer/Lantos Foundation
Hungary’s deputy prime minister, Tibor Navracsics, speaking at a conference in Budapest in early October, acknowledged his country’s responsibility for the Holocaust in Hungary.
WASHINGTON (JTA) -Armed with a powerful New York public relations outfit and a pledge to commemorate the mass deportation of Hungarian Jewry, the Hungarian government is preparing to challenge what it says is an inaccurate image of a country lax in confronting home-grown extremism. Ferenc Kumin, an adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who handles international communications, reached out to JTA last week to counter what he says are unfair perceptions of his government’s treatment of Jews and other
minorities. “In the American public discourse, there is a lot of talking of anti-Semitism and racism in Hungary and the connected concerns,” Kumin said in an interview. “We try to bring a realistic picture. We don’t want to say it's not there. But in certain accounts this issue is exaggerated.” Kumin’s outreach is part of an intense effort over the last month to push back against perceptions that Hungary has failed to address the rise of anti-Semitism -- particularly the emergence of the extremist Jobbik party, which controls 47 of 486 seats in the parliament.
Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics told a conference on Jewish life and anti-Semitism in Budapest this month that it was time for Hungarians to accept their responsibility for their role in the Holocaust. “We know that we were responsible for the Holocaust in Hungary,” he said. “We know that Hungarian state interests were responsible.” Hungary also announced that 2014 would mark Holocaust Remembrance Year, 70 years after the deportation of at least 450,000 Hungarian Jews to the Nazi death camps. And on Monday, the government announced that it had hired
Burston-Marsteller, a PR heavyweight based in New York, in part to reach out to the Jewish community. But U.S. Jewish officials and Hungarian critics say the country's issues with extremism run deeper and broader than its treatment of the Jews. Navracsic’s speech was a major step forward, they say, but it was just that -- a step. “The fact that he said clearly that we are responsible for the Holocaust here in Hungary was a powerful statement, but why was that dramatic?" wondered Rabbi Andrew Baker, the American Jewish Committee’s HUNGARY on page 19
‘Lost’ Indian Jews coming to Israel despite skepticism over ties to faith By Ben Sales SDEROT, Israel (JTA) – A Kassam rocket had just landed across the street, but it couldn’t wipe the smile off David Lhundgim’s face as he entered his apartment in this embattled town near the Gaza border. Born in the rural provinces of northeast India, Lhundgim had lived in Sderot since he moved to Israel in 2007, and by at least one measure he seemed to be welladjusted: Lhundgim didn’t flinch when he heard bombs explode outside. For him, immigration to Israel was the fulfillment of a biblical promise; explosions were but a minor nuisance. “After 2,000 years in exile we would have lost our community,” Lhundgim said in an interview last year. “All of our lives were about how to move to Israel and keep the commandments.” It’s not hard to understand why Lhundgim sees his life story as one of biblical prophecy fulfilled. Until age 24, he lived in a remote corner of northeast India in a community that believes itself to be
descended from the ancient Israelite tribe of Menashe. Ritual similarities to Judaism – such as an animal sacrifice around Passover time – strengthened those beliefs. Today, Lhundgim is among some 2,000 Bnei Menashe that live in Israel; another 7,000 are in the pipeline waiting to immigrate. This week, the Israeli government gave approval for 899 more Bnei Menashe to come. The community has been permitted to move en masse despite having once practiced rituals with only glancing similarity to Judaism and claims of ancient Jewish ancestry that some politicians and experts find dubious. “This is a bluff,” said Avraham Poraz, a former Israeli interior minister who temporarily halted Bnei Menashe immigration a decade ago. “They don’t have any connection to Judaism.” The Bnei Menashe are hardly the first group to make claims of ancient Jewish ancestry in a bid to gain Israeli citizenship. The Falash Mura, Ethiopians who claimed to be descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity
Courtesy of Uriel Sinai/Getty Images
Jewish immigrants of the Bnei Menashe arriving at Ben Gurion airport in Israel, Dec. 24, 2012.
more than a century ago, were brought to Israel starting in the early 2000s. But unlike the Falash Mura, whose immigration, absorption and conversion to Judaism was largely organized and funded by the government and the Jewish Agency, the Bnei Menashe’s immigration has been wholly organized and financed by a private organization – Shavei Israel,
a nonprofit that aims to bring groups with Jewish ancestry to Israel and reconnect them to Judaism. Shavei founder Michael Freund, a conservative columnist and former aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing the Bnei Menashe to Israel. His organization has provided them with a Jewish educa-
tion in India, taught them Orthodox Judaism in preparation for conversion and brought them to Israel – all on Shavei’s dollar. Founded in 2004, Shavei now works with groups of claimed Jewish descent in Europe, South America and China. Permanent Shavei emissaries are stationed in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Poland, Italy and India – spots with particularly large populations of potential recruits. With an annual budget of approximately $1 million, the organization funds Jewish education and programming for what it calls “our lost brethren,” brings them on tours to Israel and, in some cases, manages their immigration. “Many of them are looking for ways to reconnect, and it behooves us to reach out to them and facilitate that process,” said Freund. “It is a strategic opportunity, and it is one that is not being exploited to the fullest.” Nowhere has Shavei’s focus been more intense than with the Bnei Menashe. Freund began LOST on page 19
10 • ISRAEL
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Israeli groups bringing new ideas to ‘brain drain’ battle By Ben Sales JERUSALEM (JTA) – The son of a Jewish philosophy lecturer, Menahem Ben-Sasson has had an academic’s dream career. After earning his doctorate in Jewish history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Ben-Sasson completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. He then returned to Hebrew University as a professor, eventually becoming its rector and in 2009 its president. In between, he held a decidedly less glamorous position – as a teacher at Jerusalem’s Himmelfarb High School. “If someone says why study to be a doctor, there won’t be a position available, I say I want to be a doctor
because I want to finish my studies,” Ben-Sasson told JTA. “I got a doctorate and I was a high school teacher. I was happy.” Ben-Sasson sees his story as one way to combat Israel’s so-called “brain drain,” in which talented academics leave the country to work in the United States or Europe. According to a recent report by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, for every 100 Israeli scholars who stayed in Israel, 29 left for positions abroad in 2008, the most recent year for which data was available. The problem gained new urgency earlier this month when Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt, two Israeli professors working in the United States, won the Nobel Prize for chemistry. Several Israeli organizations are
working to bring academics back to Israel, offering them incentives, professional guidance and a range of job opportunities. Last year, Hebrew University attracted far more applicants for academic positions than it had openings, prompting Ben-Sasson to suggest that Israeli academics should consider positions outside of higher education, including in Israel’s vaunted high-tech industry. “There are high schools, there is industry, there are educational programs, there are positions in the Education Ministry,” he said. “There are government positions that need academics.” A new governmental organization founded this year aims to match Israelis living abroad with job oppor-
tunities back home. The Israel Brain Gain Program – a joint venture of Israel’s Chief Scientist, the Council for Higher Education and the Absorption and Finance ministries – aims to obtain a precise count of Israeli academics living abroad and to ensure that those who want to come back can find work. Ben-Sasson said Israeli universities often encourage promising scholars to gain experience abroad, but Nurit Eyal, Brain Gain’s director, said most hope to return. “Most Israeli academics say I want to come back to Israel sometime,” Eyal said. “Someone who left for a post-doc doesn’t have a network. And if you’re five or six years abroad, you lose some of your connections.”
Courtesy of Hebrew University
Hebrew University President Menahem Ben-Sasson wants the government to spend more money to attract its best minds back to Israel.
Israeli group quietly feeding Syrian refugees in Jordan By Ben Sales
A Syrian refugee in a small refugee camp outside the Jordanian city of Mafraq collects supplies funded by IsraAid, an Israeli humanitarian aid organization.
MAFRAQ, Jordan (JTA) – The purple plastic sacks fill two rooms in the otherwise sparsely furnished headquarters of a Jordanian NGO, awaiting distribution to Syrian refugees already lined up on the sidewalk. They contain an array of staple dry goods – lentils, pasta, powdered milk, tea – as well as a range of hygiene products like soap and detergent, enough for 250 refugee families. But before the goods were
Israel Briefs
in permanent and temporary settlement, in the journeys of pilgrims and the longing of worshippers, never stopped and never ceased,” Netanyahu wrote.
Courtesy of Mickey Alon
Families of Israeli terror victims protest at prison JERUSALEM (JTA) – Family members of terror victims and other Israelis protested outside the Ofer Prison, from where 26 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released. The demonstrators, put at about 3,000 by Ynet, formed a human chain around the prison on Monday night. Many held the pictures of victims of Palestinian terror attacks. Knesset approves marriage registration reform law JERUSALEM (JTA) – The Knesset approved the so-called Tzohar Law, which would allow couples to choose the city in which to register their marriage. The law passed its second and third readings Monday evening, over the objections of the country’s two chief rabbis, by a vote of 57 to 14, with one abstention. All of the no votes were from haredi Orthodox lawmakers.
Retaliatory Israel strike hits Gaza rocket launchers JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli airstrikes hit two concealed rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel. The Israeli military confirmed direct hits on the targeted launchers Monday morning, several hours after two rockets were fired at Ashkelon and surrounding communities. One of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system above Ashkelon, according to the Israel Defense Forces. A second landed in an open area near Ashkelon. On Sunday, two mortars fired from Gaza landed in Israel near the border fence with the coastal strip. Netanyahu: Jewish people have ‘deep connection to Hebron’ (JNS) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week sent a letter of support to the Jewish community of Hebron. Several hundred Jews live in the majority Palestinian city that is home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, a significant holy site for Jews. “Our deep connection to Hebron,
Carmel Caves named newest UNESCO World Heritage Site (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – The Carmel Caves site in northern Israel has been named the newest World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for “providing a definitive chronological framework at a key period of human development.” Other World Heritage Sites in Israel are: the Masada fortress; the Old City of Acre; the White City of Tel Aviv; the biblical tels of Megiddo, Hazor and Beersheba; the Incense Route of desert cities in the Negev; and the Baha’i temples in Haifa and the Western Galilee. New bill to give Israeli fathers eight days of paid paternity leave (JNS) – A Knesset committee has approved a bill that will grant new fathers in Israel eight days of paternity leave. The bill gives new fathers three days of paid leave and five days of
handed out, one thing will be removed – the word “Jewish.” Going sack by sack with a pair of scissors, an aid worker begins to cut. “We don’t announce with trumpets that we’re Israeli,” the worker says. “There’s no need for that. Once you let that cat out of the bag, everything starts to blow up.” The sacks are paid for by IsraAid, an Israeli nonprofit that provides disaster relief and humanitarian aid across the world. The group has provided medical care and psy-
chological services following earthquakes in Japan and Haiti, and supplies food and other materials to refugees at two camps in Kenya. IsraAid began working in Jordan early this year. Since then, the organization says it has provided approximately $100,000 worth of supplies to refugees who have escaped Syria’s brutal civil war. But because Syria and Israel technically have been at war for four decades, discretion and security are paramount in IsraAid’s Jordanian operation.
paid sick leave, to be paid by the employer.
Testament scriptures, illuminated manuscripts, and rare fragments from the Cairo Geniza and Gutenberg Bible, the Times of Israel reported.
IDF’s Golani Bridge gets first Druze commander (JNS) – Col. Rasan Alian was appointed last week as the commander of the prestigious Golani Brigade, making Israel Defense Forces history as the first member of the Druze community to fill the role. Alian, 41, is from the northern city of Shfaram and will be the second Druze officer to become an infantry brigade commander-the first was Brig. Gen. (ret.) Imad Fares, who was the commander of the Givati Brigade. Bible Lands Museum exhibit features rare Judeo-Christian biblical manuscripts and artifacts (JNS) – A new exhibit at Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum features rare Judeo-Christian biblical manuscripts and artifacts that seek to highlight the role the Bible has played in Western history. The exhibit entitled “Book of Books” features more than 200 Judeo-Christian texts that range from fragments from an ancient Greek translation of the Bible known as the Septuagint, to early Christian
Paula Abdul to celebrate her bat mitzvah at Western Wall (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – Singer, dancer, choreographer and celebrity judge Paula Abdul is coming to Israel this week as a guest of the Israeli Tourism Ministry. Drought led to rise of ancient Israelite kingdom, study says (JNS) – A series of major droughts may have led to the collapse of several great Bronze Age civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean between 1250 and 1100 B.C.E, leading to the rise of new civilizations such as the ancient Israelite kingdom, a new three-year study published in the Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University says. Using samples of sediment retrieved from up to 18 meters underneath the Sea of Galilee and other sites such as the Dead Sea, researchers were able to use fossilized pollen grains to understand ancient climate conditions.
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013
WISE TEMPLE BROTHERHOOD SUKKOT CAMPOUT On September 21, Wise Temple Brotherhood sponsored a Sukkot Campout at Wise Center. Families came to visit the Sukkah , enjoy the campfire, make S’mores and enjoy jumping in the inflatable gym. More photos on Page 12
ANNOUNCEMENTS HOMECOMING QUEEN ordan Edelheit, of Cincinnati, has been named Homecoming Queen for The Ohio State University for 2013. Jordan attended Yavneh Day Scool, and then graduated from Sycamore High School in 2010. A senior at OSU, Jordan is a member of Ohio Staters, an organization that focuses on Leadership and giving back to the OSU Community. Last year she was inducted into one of OSU’s most prestigious and oldest honorary organizations, Sphinx. She founded and organized TEDxOhioStateUniversity and also founded and organized TEDxMarionCorrectional, the
J
Jordan Edelheit
first TEDx in a 2600-man prison. Jordan has interned at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and spent the past summer in SF as in intern with St. Jude in their development office. She will be graduating in the Spring 2014.
12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE
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WISE TEMPLE BROTHERHOOD SUKKOT CAMPOUT Continued from Page 11
HAVE PHOTOS FROM AN EVENT? Whether they are from a Bar Mitzvah, Annual Meeting, School Field Trip or Your Congregation’s Annual Picnic, spread the joy and share them with our readers in the Cincinnati Jewish Life section! MAIL: MAIL Send CD to The American Israelite, 18 W 9th St Ste 2, Cincinnati, OH 45202 or E-MAIL: E-MAIL production@americanisraelite.com Please make sure to include a Word doc. that includes the captions, if available, and a short synopsis of the event (date, place, reason, etc.). If sending photos by e-mail, please send them in batches of 3-5 per e-mail (16MB MAX). All photos should be Hi-Res to ensure print quality. THIS IS 100% FREE. For more information, please contact Jennifer at (513) 621-3145. All photos are subject to review before publishing.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13
2013 Chanukah Cover
COLORING
CONTEST SIZE: Art MUST BE no larger than 8.5" Wide X 11" High. Image should be vertical on the page MATERIALS:
Anything that shows up bold and bright, such as markers, crayons, paint or cut paper. AGE CATEGORIES:
Open to children of all ages.
All entries must be received by FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22ND THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE 18 WEST NINTH, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OH 45202 All entries MUST BE no larger than 8.5” W x 11” H. Entries must have a completed entry form attached to the back. Please print clearly.
2013 Chanukah Cover Coloring Contest Entry Form
14 • DINING OUT
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Andy’s Mediterranean Grill’s wine list features labels from world’s oldest vineyards By Bob Wilhelmy Did you know that Lebanon’s hillside vineyards are some of the oldest in the world? The prophet Hosea, an Israelite who lived in the 700s B.C., is said to have urged his followers to return to Yahweh so that “they will blossom as the vine, and their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.” That was a while ago, huh? And the reference is among the first in historical chronicles to mention wine and the science or art of viticulture (grape-growing). Today, Lebanon produces some 600,000 cases of wine for domestic and export markets. Andy’s Mediterranean Grill is one place you can enjoy those exported Lebanese wines. “We are going to feature the wines of Lebanon exclusively, except for a few house wines we will offer by the glass, from Chile,” said Majed Hajjar, a principal at Andy’s. Some of those wine grapes are grown in and around the Andy’s family hometown of Zhhle, Lebanon. The wines, under the Ksara label, are ideal for pairings with Andy’s style of Mediterranean foods, according to Majed. “We have them because they are special wines and the wines of Lebanon are good with the foods we serve here. You cannot get that at every restaurant,” he said. Along with the wines, Andy’s now features draft beers. The selection on the day we visited included: Redd’s apple ale, Leinenkugel’s seasonal brew, Yuengling lager, Goose Island seasonal, Rivertown seasonal, Sam Adams seasonal, Sierra Nevada pale ale, and Moerlein Lagerhouse beer. If you are thinking of heading to Andy’s for dinner, you may want to take advantage of Monday and Tuesday dining from 6 to 9 p.m., when buying one entrée will net you half off on a second one. There is a deal on Thursday nights as well: buy an entrée and Andy’s will spring for an appetizer, free of charge, such as the spanakopita, featuring spinach and feta cheese in a flaky phyllo pie. Jewish diners will find a lot of choices on Andy’s menu. One dish I tried recently is the new mushroom sauté, a vegetarian entrée of white cap button mushrooms sautéed in olive oil. The generous helping of mushrooms is served on a bed of seasoned, tasty rice, and ringed with chunks of fresh tomato and kalamata olives. This new dish is flavorful, and the fresh-baked pita bread adds the finishing touch to an unusual, yet delicious meatless meal.
The exterior of the restaurant, along with its closed-in patio area for smoking cigars and hookahs.
The mushroom sauté entrée, including a bottle of the Lebanese Ksara wine.
The mushroom sauté is one of five veggie entrée selections on Andy’s new menu, according to Majed Hajjar. “We expanded the vegetarian section of our menu,” he said. “There is more interest in good flavors and lightly seasoned dishes for those who want meals without meat. And people like the dishes we have added.” In addition to the mushroom sauté, vegetarian options include: the falafel platter; the veggie trio, featuring a large house salad with additions of hummus, baba ghan-
noush or grape leaves; the veggie kabob, served with rice; and the veggie sauté, featuring eggplant, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, tomato, bell pepper cauliflower and seasonings, over rice. Pizzas also are of the veggie type, although meats can be added to some. The Lebanese version is made on a pita-bread crust, while the other varieties feature freshmade, hand-tossed crusts, in Greek, Italian and Spanish flavors. All ingredients are fresh, making for very good flavor combos.
One of the dining room areas at Andy’s.
Andy’s menu offers many new items to complement the vegetarian section. A couple of the most popular ones are chicken dishes. The chicken filet sauté features a boneless chicken breast, lightly seasoned and prepared with a sauté of onion, mushrooms, red wine and olive oil. The other new dish is the Beyrouth chicken, which again is a delicately seasoned breast, with garlic and lemon juice providing the flavor. The dish is served with a salad and hummus.
Andy’s also features some non-food attractions. One is belly dancing entertainment, offered on Friday and Saturday evenings beginning at 7:30. Those who want to light up can do so in outdoor patio areas, selecting a hookah from Andy’s stock or a cigar from the new humidor. Patio dining also is available. Andy’s Mediterranean Grill 906 Nassau St. Cincinnati, OH 513-281-9791
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013
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16 • OPINION
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How to stop killing in the name of God By Avi Weiss NEW YORK (JTA) – Belief in God is at the core of my very being. But that belief is sometimes challenged by the scores of innocents killed over the millennia in God’s name, from biblical times to the present day. Last month, dozens were killed at a shopping mall in Kenya by terrorists demanding to know if those they were confronting were Muslim. If Muslim, they were spared; if not, they were murdered. One man who claimed to be Muslim was asked to name Muhammad’s mother. When he could not, he was summarily shot in the head. The day after the mall attack began, dozens of Christians were murdered at a prayer service in Pakistan. And yes, though they are aberrations, it must be said there have been Jews who have murdered in the name of God, like the perpetrator of the Hebron massacre 20 years ago. The late writer Christopher Hitchens cited horrors like these to argue that we are better off without God. It is an understandable reaction. But ethics derived completely from human civilization also have their weaknesses. If ethics comes solely from the human being, from the human mind, from human reason – it is relative. As Freud is purported to have said, when it comes to selfdeception, human beings are geniuses. If Hitler were asked whether the murder of 6 million Jews was ethical, he would say it was. The same is true of the godless communist regimes that murdered millions during the course of the 20th century. But even if ethics without God has its flaws, Hitchens’ challenge still must be addressed. Ethics with God often doesn’t seem much better. There are, I believe, some necessary ingredients for a belief in an ethical God, a God whose ethics are critical to a just and better world, a God whose presence I always feel. The first ingredient is that a true God must make room for believers in other gods. This is the position of Rabbi Menachem ben Shlomo Ha-Me’iri, who believed that all human beings demand equal protection, regardless of their faith, as long as they are “members of a society based on laws and morality.” In contemporary terms, Me’iri is saying that we are obligated to treat every person, whatever the person’s belief or non-belief, as we would a fellow Jew.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The second criterion is that God must welcome, and even demand, to be challenged. God’s covenantal relationship with human beings means that there are times when we are encouraged to question and even protest God’s mandates. This goes back to the time of Abraham, who challenged God’s decision to destroy the city of Sodom. The Midrash teaches that God rewarded Abraham with direct revelation of prophecy because of his commitment to fight for the rights of the righteous. Another example is Moses, who is commanded to go to war against Sihon, but attempts to first make peace. God, the Midrash tells us, accedes to Moses’ initiative. As my son, Dov Weiss, observed in his doctoral dissertation on man’s challenges to God, “God’s response to Moses is striking as God concedes to Moses’ ethical sensibilities and ratifies this less militant approach into law.” Given this relationship between humans and God, it is important not to overstep – that is, it is important to confront God with reverence and humility. But it is equally important not to silence our inner ethical voices. Such give and take is not an expression of defiance but of mutual love. As the Midrash says, “Any love that does not include challenging each other is not true love.” While this Midrash deals with interpersonal relationships, it can be extended to apply to our relationship with God. In simple terms this would mean, if God commands us to kill an innocent, we have the responsibility to question, to challenge, to confront God. This is the dynamic of our covenantal relationship. This is what God wants from us. Indeed, the God I believe in categorically rejects the targeted killing of innocents. From this perspective, the Jewish doctrine of belief is a hybrid. It is not the ethics of the human being alone, nor is it derived from God alone. It is an interfacing of the two, with each demanding proper behavior from the other. This is the synthesis of the Written Law, which comes from God, and the Oral Law, centered on human input which – with divine mandate – explicates the written one. From this synthesis – from the Talmud, the commentaries, the codes of law, the rabbinic responsa – emerges an unequivocal and STOP on page 19
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American Jews are generally pessimistic about current political developments across the Middle East, notably the “Arab Spring,” Iran’s nuclear program and Arab intentions regarding Israel. The skepticism is reflected in the just-completed AJC 2013 Survey of American Jewish Opinion. The AJC survey, conducted annually, also gauged Jewish opinions on U.S.-Israel relations and the role of religion in Israel.. “This annual survey, which AJC has sponsored for many years, reveals many fascinating insights about the Jewish outlook. Among them are that American Jews are highly engaged in, and concerned about, top U.S. foreign policy challenges,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “Our survey shows that they are particularly worried about Iran’s drive for nuclear-weapons capacity. And despite all the reports of a decline in American Jewish enthusiasm for Israel, over three-quarters of the respondents believe that caring about Israel is a key component of Jewish identity.” “Arab Spring” The survey asked, for the first time, about the upheavals in the Arab world that began nearly three years ago. Regarding the changes in several Middle Eastern countries, 56 percent are pessimistic, and 40 percent are optimistic. Regarding the recent political developments in Egypt, 68 percent are pessimistic and 30 percent are optimistic. On the civil war in Syria, 11 percent would like to see the government win, 24 percent favor the rebels, and 63 percent chose neither side. Peace Process While American Jews are distrustful of the long-term goals of the Arabs regarding Israel, half of the respondents favor the establishment of a Palestinian state. 50 percent favor and 47 percent oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state. In 2010, 48 percent favored and 45 percent opposed.
75 percent agree and 24 percent disagree with the statement: “The goal of the Arabs is not a peaceful two-state agreement with Israel, but rather the destruction of Israel.” 68 percent say the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace have stayed the same since a year ago, while 12 percent say the prospects have increased and 19 percent decreased. Iran Nuclear Threat While an overwhelming majority of American Jews continue to be highly concerned about Iran’s efforts to achieve nuclear-weapons capability, support for military action, whether by the U.S. especially, or by Israel, to prevent Iran from crossing that threshold has declined. 84 percent are concerned about the prospect of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. In September 2012, 91 percent were concerned. 46 percent say it is likely, and 52 percent say it is unlikely, that a combination of diplomacy and sanctions can stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In 2012, 36 percent said it is likely and 64 percent unlikely. 52 percent would support and 45 percent would oppose U.S. military action against Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to stop the Iranian program. Last year, 64 percent supported and 35 percent opposed American military action. 67 percent would support and 30 percent would oppose Israeli military action if diplomacy and sanctions fail to stop the Iranian program. In 2012, 73 percent supported and 26 percent opposed Israeli military action. Israel As in previous AJC surveys, the state of Israel is a major factor in American Jewish identity. A majority, 70 percent, agrees and 30 percent disagrees with the statement “caring about Israel is very important part of being a Jew.” For the first time, the AJC survey asked about the role of religion in the state of Israel, and found that most American Jews think that currently religion has too much influence. Forty-three percent favor separation
of religion and state; 25 percent say religion should play less of a role; 23 percent say the current relationship of religion and state is best; and 6 percent say religion should play more of a role. Separation between religion and state enjoys strong support across all denominations. 47 percent of Orthodox, 31 percent of Conservative, 41 percent of Reform, and 50 percent of Just Jewish think there should be separation of religion and state. The view that the current relationship between religion and state is best is supported by 22 percent of Orthodox, 30 percent of Conservative, 21 percent of Reform, and 23 percent of Just Jewish Religion should play more of a role is backed by 22 percent of Orthodox, 6 percent of Conservative, 6 percent of Reform, and 2 percent of Just Jewish Religion should play less of a role is supported by 10 percent of Orthodox, 33 percent of Conservative, 29 percent of Reform, and 22 percent of Just Jewish Anti-Semitism American Jews remain highly concerned about anti-Semitism, especially in Europe and, above all, in the Arab world. 14 percent consider anti-Semitism in the U.S. a very serious problem, 67 percent somewhat of a problem, and 18 percent no problem at all. 38 percent consider anti-Semitism in Europe a very serious problem, 52 percent somewhat of a problem and 9 percent not a problem. 88 percent consider anti-Semitism in the Arab world a very serious problem, 10 percent somewhat of a problem and 1 percent not a problem. AJC has commissioned surveys of American Jews for many years on a range of key questions, as a contribution to better understanding of the American Jewish community. Barbara Glueck Director, AJC Cincinnati Office
Saudi woes play well for Israel By Ben Cohen (JNS) – Ah, Saudi Arabia! The country that spawned 15 of the 19 terrorists that executed the atrocities of September 11, 2001. The country we in America are told is an ally, even though, when it comes to values, we have virtually nothing in common with the reactionary oil billionaires running the place. The country whose oil supplies us, for
the moment, with about 13 per cent of our annual energy needs. The country with one of the most abysmal human rights records in the world, which bans any religion other than Islam, which imports slave labor from the Indian subcontinent, and which subjects women to what can only be described as gender apartheid. That’s why it’s hard to feel any sympathy with the Saudis when it
comes to their current spat with the Obama Administration. Sadly, however, the continued threat posed by Iran and its Syrian and Hezbollah allies, and the absence of any coherent Middle East strategy on Washington’s part, compels us to hold our noses and pay due attention to the Saudi complaints. Earlier this month, the Saudis SAUDI on page 22
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013
refer to Him as the God of Israel? I would suggest that Abraham is hinting that the potential matriarch must understand the essence of the Jewish narrative: To enable the God of love, morality and peace to dwell within a world committed to love, morality and peace. Isaac believed that his heir apparent had to be active and aggressive, an individual who would not fear the use of power to defeat evil and terrorism. He did not believe that Jacob, the wholehearted and naïve dweller in the tent of learning, would be able to navigate his way through the international corridors of power. Rebekah, on the other hand, was certain that Jacob could rise to that challenge. She knew that in order to receive the blessings which he had purchased and which Esau had forfeited by marrying Canaanite wives, he demonstrated the ability to utilize the hands and the rough exterior of Esau in order to gain necessary mastery. She understood that Esau would soon return with the meat ready to receive the blessings – and then the ruse would be over. But by then Isaac would have realized that Jacob was capable of donning the exterior of Esau. Rebekah was successful. When Isaac realizes what has happened, he nevertheless says, “Indeed, he [Jacob] shall be blessed.” (Genesis 27:33) And we are the children of Jacob/Israel, not the children of Esau. The ideal she has set before us is not a neoPlatonic division between the material and the spiritual, the Earth below and the Heavens above. To be sure, connecting the spiritual voice of Jacob to the physical hands of Esau can be a dangerous enterprise – often the external and aggressive, wily hands of Esau can choke into silence the inner spiritual voice of the God within. However, Rebekah’s point is well-taken: if compassionate righteousness and moral justice are to rule the day, they often need the back-up of military strength and prowess. Lord Acton taught “power cor-
rupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” – but powerlessness corrupts even more! In the play The Edge of Night, someone who has achieved great success as a businessman and patron of the Jewish community is sitting at the family Passover Seder when one of the guests accuses him of having been a kapo in Auschwitz. “Yes,” he replies, tears filling his eyes. “I am guilty as charged, but just remember, you who dare to condemn me: There were no heroes in Auschwitz. There were those who survived and those who did not survive – and you who never knew that hell-hole have no right to judge how we survived.” Thank God, the great difference between 1943 and now is the fact that we have the hands and the arsenals of Esau. May we continue to use that power with restraint and ethical sensitivity, as we have heretofore Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi – Efrat Israel
Who came to HUC in 1911 and was still there at his death in 1995? Jacob Rader Marcus came to HUC as a student in 1911, joined the faculty in 1920 and started one of the first university-level courses on American Jewish history. Recognizing the need to create a central location for the study of the subject, HUC established the American Jewish Archives in 1947. Rabbi Marcus is interred in the Walnut Hills cemetery. This quiz provided by Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati.
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T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: TOLDOT (BRAISHITH 25:19-28:9) b.) He needed the money c.) It did not mean much to him
1. What did Issac pray for? a.) A wife b.) Children c.) Money 2. Where did Rivka go when she had a difficult pregnancy a.) Prayed to Hashem b.) She had bed rest c.) She asked the wise men of her time 3. Why did Esau sell the rights to the first born? a.) He was hungry
the Temple. Rashi 4. B 26:7 5. A 26:20-30
EFRAT, Israel - ‘Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies’ (Genesis 27:8-10). One of the most difficult-tounderstand stories in the Bible is Rebekah’s act of deception when she persuades her beloved son Jacob to masquerade as Esau and receive the blessings of the firstborn. How can we justify a matriarch of Israel deceiving her husband in such an underhanded manner? I believe that Rebekah never planned to deceive her husband, Isaac. To understand what lay behind her actions, we must return to last week’s portion, to Abraham’s initial appointment of Eliezer to find the proper wife for Isaac – who turned out to be Rebekah: “I bind you by an oath to God, the Lord of the Heavens and the Lord of the Earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites” (Genesis 24:3). The major task of our founding parents is to provide a suitable next generation to carry on our narrative. Abraham understands that it may be the wisdom of the wife who will recognize the most worthy person to provide continuity. After all, had it not been for Sarah, Abraham might have handed the baton to his firstborn, Ishmael. It is likewise important to remember that the first Hebrew had two very special characteristics. First, he was a man of great spiritual magnitude, a seeker and a discoverer of God and a practitioner of compassionate righteousness and moral justice; second, he was an accomplished warrior, equipped with farsighted strategic ability as well as physical prowess and courage. Did he not best the large armies of four terrorist kings? Abraham united spirit of the soul with strength of hand. Hence, when Abraham charges Eliezer with what to look for in the next matriarch, he adjures him by calling on “God, the Lord of the Heavens and the Lord of the Earth.” Why is it not sufficient to
Rebekah’s point is well-taken: if compassionate righteousness and moral justice are to rule the day, they often need the back-up of military strength and prowess.
LITTLE KNOWN CINCINNATI FACTS
4. How did Issac refer to his wife when they lived by the Philistines a.) Wife b.) Sister c.) Kept her hidden 5. What did Isaac and the Philistines quarrel about? a.) Water b.) Grazing rights c.) Idol worship
Ramban explains “to seek” only means thru prayer. 3. A,C 25:29,34 At first Esau was hungry, but at the end he showed he despised the rite of the firstborn which included the privilege to serve in
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT TOLDOT GENESIS 25:19 – 28:9
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
ANSWERS 1. B 25:21 Even though Isaac was promised to have descendants, he prayed that they would come thru his righteous wife Rivka. Sforno 2. C 25:22 She went to the yeshiva of Shem.
Sedra of the Week
18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
JEWZ
IN THE
By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist At the Movies “Ender’s Game” is a bigbudget sci-fi flick based on a best-selling novel of the same name. In the near future, an alien race’s attack on Earth is barely fended off by the heroics of Fleet Commander Rackham (Ben Kingsley). Col. Graff (HARRISON FORD, 71), prepares for the next attack by looking for the best young minds to be trained at “Battle School.” One such recruit, Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, 16), quickly distinguishes himself and Graff sends him on to be trained by Rackham, himself. Wiggin ultimately leads Earth’s forces in the epic final battle with the aliens. HAILEE STEINFELD, 16, costars as Petra, a Battle School student who acts an older sister towards Wiggin and later becomes one of Wiggin’s best combat lieutenants. Steinfeld provides the voice of ANNE FRANK for the justopened, permanent exhibit on the legendary young author at the Los Angeles-based Museum of Tolerance. The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles says: “Anne’s voice and Anne’s words, as spoken by Steinfeld, animate and enliven throughout. Steinfeld’s voice is penetrating and bright even as it brings ominous news.” The new exhibit is the largest museum exhibit on Frank outside of Amsterdam, where the house where the Frank family hid from the Nazis was turned into a museum. “Last Vegas” is a comedy about four old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single. It stars MICHAEL DOUGLAS, 69, as the “last bachelor;” with Kevin Kline, Morgan Freeman, and Robert DeNiro as the party throwers. Veteran JON TURTELTAUB, 50 (“Cool Runnings”, “National Treasure”) directs. The script is by DAN FOGELMAN, 37 (“Crazy, Stupid, Love”, “Cars”). Greek-born French filmmaker Costa-Garvas has made political thrillers since the 1960s and, much more often than not, they are exciting and thought provoking films. Several of his (well worth viewing) films have focused on anti-Semitism, including “The Confession,” “Music Box,” and “Amen.” His new film, “Capital,” is about big-time global finance. A ruthless young executive (GAD ELMALEH, 42) takes over as CEO of a big French bank. His accession is jeopardized by a
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NEWZ
hostile takeover attempt by an American hedge fund leader (Gabriel Byrne). Elmaleh, a Morocco-born French Jew, is very well-known in France as a stand-up comedian and comic actor. A few months ago, it was widely reported that he was engaged to marry Princess Charlotte of Monaco, 27, the daughter of Princess Caroline. On Sept. 27, Elmaleh spoke to the Washington Post, which reports: ‘“No, I’m not engaged,’ the comedian told us… Yes, the couple is expecting a baby at year’s end, but there’s no formal engagement, he says, despite what looks like a big diamond ring on Charlotte’s left hand. So either the press got it all wrong – or they’re faking us out in an attempt to pull off one of those surprise celebrity weddings.” “Capital”, which is playing in November in a limited number of cities, probably won’t get a theater opening in Cincinnati. But make a mental note and look for it, in the near future, on DVD or via on-demand/streaming film services. Oprah’s Back! The 3rd season of the talk show, “Where Are They Now?,” hosted by Oprah Winfrey, on the “OWN” cable network. The first show guests include actress SOLEIL MOON FRYE, 37; singer MICHAEL BOLTON, 60; and actress Lynda “Wonder Woman” Carter, 62. Frye, who is best known for playing the title role in the hit ‘80s kid show, “Punky Brewster,” was raised in her mother’s Jewish faith. She wed film producer JASON GOLDBERG, 40, in a Jewish ceremony in 1998 and the couple now have two kids, ages 5 and 8, and they are now expecting a third child. She now focuses on her popular blog about “home stuff,” has a new book out about putting-on kids’ parties; and hosts the OWN “DIY” show, “Home Simple.” Bolton, who had a string of “blue-eyed soul” hits in the ‘80s and ‘90s, rarely talks about being Jewish. However, in 2011, he told “Entertainment Weekly” that he was always a class clown, like ANDY SAMBERG, who he had just made an “SNL” short film with. He said, “Neither one of us had our bar mitzvah because we couldn’t take Hebrew school seriously.” Carter, who isn’t Jewish, has been married since 1984 to media company exec ROBERT ALTMAN, 65, and their nowgrown-up son and daughter were bar/bat mitzvah.
FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO Rubens & Nathan, dealers in watches, imported and American! We call attention to our large stock of Imported and American Watches. Being connected with the house of Charles Rubens & Co., No.15 Maiden Lane, New York, who have a manufactory in Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, we are enabled to furnish watches at the lowest New York cash prices. Persons will do well to examine our stock before making their purchses. No. 56 West Fourth Street, between Walnut and Vine, upstairs. – November 27, 1863
125 Y EARS A GO The regular meeting of the Hebrew Ladies’ Sewing Society was held Thursday, October 25th, 1888. We take pleasure in acknowledging a donation of 100 dozen O.N.T thread from Messrs. George A. Clark & Bro., of New York City, who kindly tendered same through Mrs. Nathan Stix. To both we tender our sincerest thanks, A friend who wishes her generosity to remain unknown has given us a donation of one piece of calico and one piece of muslin, for which we are very thankful. The Branch at Walnut Hills sent us tweny-seven made garments. Mrs. Sam Flechter, Sec’y. The Rev. Dr. I.M. Wise and Mr. Benjamin May have returned from Chattanooga, where they went to attend the funeral of the late Julius Ochs. – November 2nd, 1888
100 Y EARS A GO The wedding of Miss Pauline Workum, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David J. Workum of North Crescent Avenue, Avondalte, to Mr. Ernest M. Ach took place Wednesday evening, October 29 in the home of the bride’s grandmother, Mrs. H. E. Workum, Clinton Springs Avenue. Miss Workum was attended by Mrs. Julian Back of New York, matron of honor; her sister, Miss Hannah Workum, maid of honor; and four maids, the Misses Duffy Freiberg, Elizabeth Stix, Martha Beckman and Priscilla Harris. Mr. Ilfeld of Boston was best man. Dr. Louis Grossman officiated. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence J. Mayer of the Virginia Flats, Avondale, Cincinnati, O., announce the birth, on October 15, 1913, of a daughter, Marian Sara. There are great bargains at MABLEY’S every day. You are perfectly safe in coming to this store at any time expecting to find great values, and you will
find them. Our advertisements always tell a good story of good values. But no one page in this or any other paper is large enough to tell the complete story of our good values. Therefore come to Mabley’s any time you require any goods, be it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, whether you have read one of our advertisements or not. Come. There are good values awaiting you always. – October 30th, 1913
evenings. “We are known by the company we keep”. A group of physicians has formed the Cincinnati History of Medicine Society. Dr. Cecil Striker is president. “The purpose will be to develop interest in the history of medicine in Cincinnati - our local medical heritage - and the history of medicine in general,” he said. The group elected Dr. Leon Goldman vice president and Dr. George Schwemlein secretary. – October 31, 1963
25 Y EARS A GO
75 Y EARS A GO The new club program of the Rockdale Avenue Temple was enthusiastically initiated Wednesday, Oct. 26th, with a social get-together for all prospective club members. Over 100 children, who are regularly enrolled students of the Religious school, attended the affair. At the same time organization meetings were held at which applications for membership in the clubs were accepted. Mr. Julian Flieg is to take charge of the Junior Dramatic group, while Mr. Alvin Fine will be in charge of the older group. According to Mr. Fine the first project of the Dramatic Club will be to present a play for Hanukkah. Mr. Silver is to lead the Journalism Club. This group will publish a regular Religious School paper and The Rockdale Scroll. Assignments have already been made and the first issue soon will be out. Mr. Morton Fierman is to train the Junior Choir, which, in addition to its regular activitites will present a musical comedy for Hanukkah. This the first attempt by any Temple in the city to include clubs as a part of its regular educational program. Any children who did not register last week may do so this week. Fresh from a great moral and near physical victory over the highly-touted Ohio University eleven, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will return to their own field at Nippert Stadium to meet Ohio Wesleyan Saturday afternoon, November 5th. On Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24th), the traditional U.C.-Miami game in Cincinnati will close the season. – November 3, 1938
50 Y EARS A GO Carrousel Inn Cincinnati: Perfect location...for intimate dinners, private parties, receptions. Stage your next “special” function at the Carrousel. Facilities for 4 or 400. Dine in the elegant La Ronde. Music and dancing
Anna Lee (Cohen) and Yaacov Bernstein of Rehovat, Israel, announce the birth of a son, Avinoam Joshua, Oct. 15. Grandparents are Phyllis and Harry Cohen of Cincinnati and Elisheva Bernstein of Jerusalem. Great-grandmothers are Doris Reins and Esther Mutchnik of Cincinnati. Irene Friedman, daughter of Ruth Friedman and the late Ruben Friedman of Blue Ash, was the grand prize winner in the Sawyer Point Bicentennial Competition sponsored by Ameritrust. Approximately two hundred entries were submitted. The prizes were awarded at a reception at the Ameritrust Building Oct. 26. – November 10, 1988
10 Y EARS A GO Jerry and Nancy Klein announce the marriage, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on October 11, 2003 of their son, Bradley Scott Klein to Danielle Gustafson, daughter of Richard Gustafson and Mary Dryburgh of Richland, Washington. Bradley is the son of the late Arlene Rosen Klein. He grew up in Cincinnati, where he attended Walnut Hills High School, and later ws a student at Tufts University. A long-time producer, director, and reporter for television and public radio, he currently is executive producer of the New York-based Acoustiguide Corporation, producing audiotours for museums. Danielle was born in Seattle, Washington. She is a graduate f the University of California at Santa Cruz, and holds a master’s degree in photography from the California Institute of the Arts (CALARTS) program. She attending the Whitney Museum of American Arts independent study program for young emerging artists. She currently is director of the New York Stock Exchange’s public website. Brad and Danielle live and work in New York City. – November 6, 2003
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY / CLASSIFIEDS • 19
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS Access (513) 373-0300 • jypaccess.org Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc. (513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Chabad (513) 731-5111 • campchabad.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 •camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 •cincinnatimikveh.org Eruv Hotline (513) 351-3788 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 JVS Career Services (513) 936-WORK (9675) • www.jvscinti.org Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family
HUNGARY from page 9 director of international affairs. "Most countries have come to recognize their responsibility. "We need to keep those words in mind. But the question is will they rest as mere words, or do they become operational?” Unlike Jobbik, Orban’s Fidesz party is not openly anti-Semitic. But in competing for voters, Baker said Fidesz flirts with themes that unsettle Hungary’s 100,000 Jews -- for instance, reviving and honoring antiSemitic figures associated with Miklos Horthy, the nationalist regent who ruled Hungary until 1944 and was allied for a time with the Nazis. Michael Salberg, the AntiDefamation League’s associate director of international affairs, praised Navracsic’s speech as “unambiguous” in its commitment to fight anti-Semitism, but added that the problem of extremism would not be excised simply by dealing with the Jewish issue. “The real hard work is weaving this commitment into the
(513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org CONGREGATIONS CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net B’nai Tikvah Chavurah (513) 284-5845 • rabbibruce.com Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org Congregation Ohr Chadash (513) 252-7267 • ohrchadashcincinnati.com Congregation Sha’arei Torah shaareitorahcincy.org Congregation Zichron Eliezer 513-631-4900 • czecincinnati.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com EDUCA EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com
social fabric, making it part of civil society’s commitment to improving democracy,” he said, noting that Hungary's Roma minority continue to suffer discrimination and violent attacks. “What we see is a problem that goes beyond the Jewish community that needs to be addressed.” Kumin said Jobbik and its antiSemitism was marginal; Orban leads a coalition that controls 263 seats in parliament compared to Jobbik’s 47. And Kumin noted that Orban and his party have condemned every manifestation of anti-Semitism. He acknowledged, however, that the image of Hungary as extremist was among the greatest obstacles to deepening ties with its most important ally, the United States, particularly as the country seeks new investment in its emergence from an economic crisis. “We have to clarify these image problems,” Kumin said. “If we are able to do that, it can remain a well-functioning relationship.” Judit Csaki, a Jewish critic of the Hungarian government, said
Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) (513) 262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com Yeshivas Lubavitch High School of Cincinnati (513) 631-2452 • ylcincinnati.com ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 • mayersonjcc.org Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (513) 204-5594 • 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
its condemnations of antiSemitism were mere theater designed to distract the world from laws being championed by Orban that weaken the constitutional courts and limit speech that threatens the “dignity” of the Hungarian nation. The European Parliament has condemned the measures as antidemocratic, and the European Commission is considering legal action against the new laws. “Their tactic is, as long as we are upset by the anti-Semitic comments made by Jobbik, at least we are not complaining about these attempts to criminalize the opposition,” Csaki said. Andras Kovacs, who heads the Jewish Studies and Nationalism programs at Central European University in Budapest, said the government deserves credit for at least addressing the issue of antiSemitism. “The proportion of antiSemitism in Hungary is higher than in other countries” in Europe, he said. “The declarations are there. Now let’s see what happens.”
DO YOU WANT TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED? Send an e-mail including what you would like in your classified & your contact information to
business@ americanisraelite.com or call 513-621-3145 LOST from page 9 working with the group in 1997 while an aide to Netanyahu. He reached a deal with the government to allow 100 Bnei Menashe to immigrate every year under the auspices of Amishav, another organization working with the Bnei Menashe. Freund joined Amishav in 2001 and soon began running its operations. Freund sent teams of Jewish educators to Bnei Menashe communities in the Indian provinces of Manipur and Mizoram to teach Orthodox Jewish law and a rightwing narrative of Israeli history. Lhundgim said he was told that the West Bank, along with the
FEAR from page 9 Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to Washington from 2005 to 2007, acknowledged his country’s interest in preventing a nuclear Iran and tamping down extreme forms of Islamism, but blamed Israeli recalcitrance for the failure to achieve a breakthrough in relations. “Israel is kept out particularly as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned because it’s keeping itself out,” Turki said this week at the annual conference of the National Iranian American Council. Turki noted that the 2002 Arab League peace offer, which proposed comprehensive peace in exchange for an Israeli return to the 1967 lines, was unrequited. “No one has come forward and STOP from page 16 absolute conclusion: Murder in the name of God is obscene, a desecration of God’s name. A story is told about Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, two prominent 20th century philosophers. After eight years of writing to each other Rosenzweig, who was a bit younger, wrote a poem in which he asked Buber if he could address him using the word du, the German intimate expression of friendship. Buber agreed. Rosenzweig then said: Thank you. I’ll always say du, but in my heart I will continue to say sie – the
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(513) 531-9600 entire land of Israel, belongs to the Jews. Amishav settled the initial groups of Bnei Menashe immigrants in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, including hundreds in Kiryat Arba, the Israeli settlement adjacent to Hebron. Yirmiyahu Lhundgim, 62, David’s cousin, who immigrated to Kiryat Arba in 1999, says Amishav didn’t teach him to differentiate among the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. “They said it was the land of Israel, so we would live anywhere,” he said. “We didn’t know anything about it.”
said let’s sit down and talk about it,” Turki said. “If Israel is isolated in the area, it is because it chooses to be isolated.” The sticking point is not only Israeli-Palestinian issues, Katulis said, but Israel’s insistence on keeping alive the possibility of a military strike on Iran. He said the Arabs are deeply divided on the issue. In his Knesset speech, which marked the 40th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Netanyahu said a main takeaway of the war was that preemption was a valuable tool and should not be ruled out. Such talk spooked Turki. “A preemptive strike would be catastrophic for the area and completely within the purview of a personality like Mr. Netanyahu,” Turki said. more formal German term for the other – reflective of my deep respect for you. Rosenzweig’s concept is an accurate reflection of our relationship with an ethical God. Questioning with respect. Challenging with reverence. Confronting with humility. And holding each other mutually accountable. Rabbi Avi Weiss is the founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat, and senior rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New York.
20 • BUSINESS / ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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The CSO is pleased to announce One City, One Symphony 2013 Music brings people together. This was never more true than when the CSO embarked on the inaugural One City, One Symphony program this past year, capturing the imagination of thousands from throughout the region through listening parties, concerts, live video feeds, digital downloads, and radio and television broadcasts. The CSO is proud to again present One City, One Symphony in the fall of 2013, this time exploring love, fate and redemption in the dramatically vivid
Symphony No. 4 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a timeless, lushly romantic musical tapestry riddled with raw emotion, and a beautiful but nearly forgotten work based on the Psalms of David by Tchaikovsky’s musical idol, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We’ll discover or rediscover these masterpieces together as a community, building upon our understanding of the music through a remarkable shared experience. There are listening parties scheduled throughout the region
in November including one at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. It will be presented by CSO Violinist Sylvia Samis. Listening parties are presentations where a CSO musician or staff person facilitates education and discussion about a particular piece of music, playing or performing short excerpts and providing background information about the work and the composer. These are free and open to the public.
Lauren Yellen stands up for Detroit Put the “oy” in toy with “The Mensch on a Bench” By Suzanne Kurtz Sloan
Looking for a new gift idea for Hanukkah this year? Look no further than “The Mensch on a Bench,” a fun new toy that offers Jewish children an appropriate alternative to the widely popular “Elf on a Shelf.” New Cincinnatians Neal and Erin Hoffman were inspired to create this unique offering when, while walking through Macy’s last year, they were trying to explain to their 4-year old son why “Elf on the Shelf” didn’t visit their Jewish home. One year later, with a very successful Kickstarter campaign behind them, their passion project, “The Mensch on a Bench”, will make his debut this holiday season. What is “The Mensch on a Bench”? The Mensch is Moshe, and he comes with a hardcover book that tells his story. Moshe was in the temple with the Maccabees after they won the war against the Greeks. With only enough oil for one night, what would happen if the oil burned out while the Jews were sleeping? Thankfully, Moshe volunteered to sit on the bench and watch over the Menorah. What a mensch, sitting on that bench! The goal of “The Mensch on the Bench” is to “serve as a center point for young Jewish families to inspire them to honor age-old traditions, while also enjoying the opportunity to create new ones,” says co-creater Neal Hoffman. “
Each night Moshe incorporates a different Jewish tradition into the story, something families can incorporate into their own celebrations in order to make Hanukkah that much more meaningful. “The Mench on a Bench” comes with the hardcover book, their very own 12-inch plush Mensch to watch over their menorah, and of course: the bench! The Mensch loves to play dreidel, eat latkes, sing songs, and spend time with his new family, sharing in the Hanukkah rituals. There are also 8 important rules to follow when you bring a Mensch home; these include naming him, letting him hold the shamash candle; and taking lots of pictures with him that you can post online and send to your friends and family. “Christian and Jewish children alike enjoy wonderful traditions during the holidays, but too often Jewish children can feel left out because of highly popular icons like Santa Claus and most recently ‘Elf on a Shelf’”, said Erin Hoffman, co-creater of “The Mensch on the Bench. “Moshe is designed to provide Jewish families with their own iconic figure who can help bring some extra “Funukkah” to Hanukkah,” she added. The “Mensch on a Bench” is reasonably priced and only available for purchase online while supplies last.
WASHINGTON (JTA) – When Lauren Yellen was in second grade, she met a girl with cerebral palsy who was mute. As a bat mitzvah, Yellen decided to raise money for a specially trained dog to help the girl. The experience, she said, made her “realize the importance of helping people in general.” Now a high school senior in Farmington Hills, Mich., Yellen serves as a regional president of BBYO and is the driving force behind a Stand UP drive to help rebuild the city of Detroit. Launched in 2009, Stand UP is the youth organization’s initiative to empower teens to develop community service campaigns. “Despite the reputation it may have via the media, we understand that [Detroit] is a city filled with endless opportunities,” Yellen said. “Most of us want to change the world one day and, in the city, every little positive thing has an even greater impact on our larger community.” Yellen has organized field trips for suburban teens to plant trees in the city, visit the Eastern Market (a four-block farmers’ market), attend Major League Baseball games and visit the only stillstanding synagogue in Detroit. “Seeing the cool things that the city has to offer is important to building a strong Detroit and helping out the community,” Yellen said.
EN GARDE from page 6
sometimes uses his laconic style to lampoon the stodgier elements of society. He regularly makes fun of anti-abortion protesters (though he focuses on their grammar), and his latest comedy album is titled “God is a 12-Year-Old Boy with Aspergers.” Evidence for this theory? “God wants Jews to wear hats, but only in the middle of their heads. Think
about it.” Emblematic of his signature combination of self-deprecation and self-aggrandizement is an annual comedy event called “The Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival,” which this year was held in late September in Brooklyn. One of the festival’s events was called Star Talk Live!, a live
deep bass rumble or tic upward into reedy disbelief. His subject matter ranges from observational humor (poor airline customer service and gay rights) to the absurd (talking horses and a sport called “extreme bowling”). Although Mirman is more often bemused than angry, he
The oldest of four siblings, she plans to attend Northern Michigan University next year and would like to study political science and international relations. When her studies are done, she said, “I hope to come back to Detroit and bring hope back to the city.” JTA spoke to Yellen recently about her biggest influences, her first time in Israel and one of her favorite community service projects. Suzanne Kurtz Sloan: Who or what are the biggest influences in your life? Lauren Yellen: The positive work that I’m seeing in the community is my biggest influence. SKS: What have been some of the most meaningful Jewish experiences in your life? LY: During my sophomore year, I was able to raise enough money to participate in the March of the Living. That was my first time in Israel. [To experience] the progression of the Jewish people, from the concentration camps to Israel, it was super cool. SKS: What are some of the other community service projects that you are involved in? LY: I’m involved with a lot. I’m on the special education volunteer club, the “Buddies Program.” We help special-needs kids at school.
taping of celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s radio show. The show juxtaposes comedians with scientific experts, resulting in long, surreal panel discussions. Mirman is a frequent guest. At this year’s taping, the beer flowed freely, on and off the stage, as panelists conducted a rambling, digressive discussion of robotics. Lounging between deGrasse
I recruit volunteers and raise money for the program. We [create] friendship circles, organize trips to the mall, type up notes from class and help with [their] homework. SKS: What is your favorite Jewish holiday? LY: Lag b’Omer. It brings people together and defines community. I also really like campfires and singing. SKS: If you could have lunch with anyone and tell him or her about your community service projects, who would it be? LY: Hillary Clinton; I love her! I think she would be interested in the work I’m doing and she works to empower women. SKS: What kind of things do you like to do for fun? LY: I love camping, nature, swimming in Lake Superior and spending time with people. I also love making bagels from scratch, plain with salt on top. The Teen Heroes column is sponsored by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, which is dedicated to celebrating and supporting teens repairing the world. Please tell us about teens who deserve attention by sending an email.
Tyson and Jason Sudeikis of “Saturday Night Live,” Mirman offered a stream of sardonic commentary to the audience’s delight. After deGrasse Tyson mentioned the Voyager probe crossing the border between the solar system and space, Mirman quipped, “I hope it has its papers!”
ALLOCATION from page 1
2012–2013 Allocations
22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES Fuller, Sandra Skurow, age 73, died on October 3, 2013, 30 Tishrei 5774 Rosen, Dean M., age 46, died on October 21, 2013; 18 Cheshvan, 5774 Revelson, Jay D., age 62, died on October 23, 2013; 19 Cheshvan 5774 Schild, Nancy (Schwab), age 90, died on October 24, 2013, 20 Cheshvan 5774 Garfunkel, Rabbi Janice B., age 54, died October 25, 2013, 21 Cheshvan 5774 Tandler, Bernyce, age 101, died on October 28, 2013; 24 Cheshvan 5774
O BITUARIES FULLER, Sandra Skurow Sandra Skurow Fuller was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 20, 1939. Sandi attended Walnut Hills College Preparatory High School, where she was active in drama, did many summers of Summer Stock, and attended Pasadena Playhouse in LA. She attended University of Iowa, Northwestern, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati. Sandi resided in Phoenix from 1980 to the time of her death. Upon moving to Phoenix in 1980, as an antismoking advocate, Sandi lobbied for the passage of anti-smoking legislation in Arizona restaurants. Sandi owned and operated Pzaz Jewelry, located in the Biltmore PUTIN from page 8 harsh. To Roizman, anyone who tried drugs is a junkie that needs to be punished.” In an interview at his office, Roizman sandwiches short answers to a reporter’s questions between meetings with citizens whose concerns he receives two days a week, a tradition he brought
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Fashion Park in Phoenix for 15 years. She was active in her community, serving on the Boards of Phoenix Little Theatre, Jewish National Fund and the AntiDefamation League. In 2009, she became a graduate and lifetime member of the FBI Citizens’ Academy. Sandra (Sandi) Skurow Fuller passed away at the age of 73 at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, on October 3, 2013. Sandi was especially close to her children, grandchildren, brother and sister, who all survive her. Sandi is survived by her two children, Lisa Khan and David Lipson, and stepson, Marty Boyd; her loving grandchildren Alexander Khan, Talia Khan, Maxwell Lipson and Molly Lipson; son-in-law, Ali Khan; daughter-in-law, Lesa Lipson; sister, Lynda Deuble; brother, Steven Skurow, and sister-in-law Marlene Skurow. Sandi was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Sonny Shapiro in 2004, and her parents, Evelyn and Harry Skurow. She loved her life, all of the experiences that helped to stretch her in many directions and the many people in the landscape of that life. In the end, she became a warrior in efforts to stay with those she loved a bit longer. Warriors of Light (Coehlo) know when to lay down their arms and rest. She will be a part of those who loved her forever. Memorial services were held on October 6, 2013. Contributions in Sandi’s memory can be made to Bureau of Jewish Education at 12701 E. Scottsdale Rd., Suite 206, Scottsdale, AZ 85254, or Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014. Arrangements by Sinai Mortuary.
REVELSON, Jay D.
to city hall from his days at City Without Drugs. Asked about rumors that his former organization tortured drug dealers on the graves of people who died because of their product, Roizman is ambiguous. “Maybe stuff like that happened elsewhere. Around here, we solved the problem in simpler ways,” he said, declining to elaborate.
In recent years, Roizman has been the subject of several police investigations connected to complaints by addicts who spent time at City Without Drugs facilities. In past interviews, he has said that authorities wanted City Without Drugs to cease operations – not because of their illegal tactics, but because they were trying to hide their own incompetence. That argument, coupled with a sharp drop in drug-related offenses, seemed to resonate with Yekaterinburg voters, who gave Roizman 33 percent of the ballots in elections last month. Yakov Sillin, the candidate of Putin’s United Russia party, garnered 29 percent. That kind of success is unusual in Putin’s Russia, where United Russia candidates trumped challengers in the vast majority of municipal races on Sept. 9 – including in Moscow, where the opposition is particularly wellorganized. In the capital, Mayor Boris Sobyanin clinched a victory with 51 percent of the vote over opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who racked up 27 percent.
Jay D. Revelson was born to Melvin Revelson and Edythe Sonz on December 7, 1950 in Cincinnati. Jay graduated from Walnut Hills High School. He then received a BA at Tulane University and a JD at Ohio Northern University. Throughout his life, Jay led an accomplished career as an attorney. In addition to practicing law for the past 37 years in Lebanon, Jay also served as a magistrate of Maineville Mayor's Court. He was a member of the American Bar Association, Ohio Bar Association, Florida Bar Association and Warren County Bar Association. Jay was the former magistrate of Morrow Mayor's Court, former acting judge of Warren County Court, former chairman of the Metropolitan Housing Authority and former solicitor of South Lebanon. Jay was a devoted father and son. He loved jazz music, reading, sports and spending time with his children. Jay D. Revelson, 62, of Maineville passed away on Wednesday, October 23, 2013. He is survived by his mother, Edythe Sonz; three children, Megan Lavin (Jeffrey), Paige Lurie (Dean), and Paul Revelson (Robyn); and two grandchildren, Layla Lurie and Lucas Lavin. He was predeceased by his father Melvin Revelson and sister Jill Revelson. A service was held Sunday, October 27th at Weil Funeral Home. Interment took place at Schachnus/Beth Tefyla # 6. Memorial donations can be made to the MPN Research Foundation, 180 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1870, Chicago, IL 60601.
UKRAINE from page 8 – underline the growing vulnerability of the Jewish community in a country riven by a cultural and linguistic divide and beset by growing nationalism. “This is a case of anti-Semitism by state officials, which makes it extremely serious,” Meylakh Sheykhet, a Jewish human rights activist, told JTA. “Maybe western Ukraine has a special anti-Semitism problem; I don’t know. It’s complicated.” Lviv is considered the cultural capital of western Ukraine, a Ukrainianspeaking region that was part of Poland before World War II and is the locus of much of the country’s nationalist and xenophobic sentiment. Jews primarily reside in the Russian-speaking East. The precursor to the ultranationalist Svoboda party was founded in Lviv in the 1990s, and the city remains a hotbed of support. Svoboda, whose leaders routinely use anti-Semitic slogans and refer to Jews as “kikes,” SAUDI from page 16 refused to take up one of the ten seats on the U.N. Security Council reserved for non-permanent members. There was a rare agreement among regional analysts that this was an odd move to make, but most of the attention focused on the explanation the Saudis offered as to why. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi intelligence chief, said that frustration with the U.S., and not the U.N., was the reason for the Saudi decision. Two justifications were given: firstly, the tiresome ritual objection that the Palestinian question remains unresolved, something the Saudis feel duty-bound to cite in order to underline their Arab credentials. Secondly-and now we’re getting somewhere-a profound frustration with Obama’s Syria policy, which the Saudis correctly feel will simply empower the Iranians at a time when our Administration is being seduced by the overtures of the new President, Hassan Rouhani. Ultimately, there is nothing remotely attractive about either the Saudi or Iranian models of Islamic government. The Saudis impose the fanatical Islamist doctrines of Wahhabism, while the Shi’a Islamist revolution of the Iranians has been a recipe for domestic oppression and regional aggression, carried out by the Assad regime in Damascus and Hezbollah. Yet it is too easy to say, “a plague on both their houses.” In the icy moral universe of geostrategic considerations, there is a clear advantage for Israel built into these Saudi objections. Nearly all the Arab states live in perpetual fear of an Iranian nuclear bomb. Like the Israelis, they don’t trust Rouhani or Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But if Arab governments are the ones nagging the U.S. about Iran’s malicious intentions, it takes the spotlight off Israel and reminds the world that the Iranian threat is a
entered parliament for the first time last year, winning 10 percent of the vote to become the country’s fourth largest party. The party won 38 percent of the vote in Lviv, compared to only 17 percent in Kiev. Oleksandr Feldman, a member of parliament and president of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, declined to comment on the Flekman case, but he acknowledged that Jews feel increasingly targeted by nationalists emboldened by Svoboda’s success. “Even if Svoboda is not perpetrating the attacks, their activities strengthen the anti-Semitic sentiments we are trying to counter,” Feldman said. Last week, Feldman organized a conference in Kiev to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the acquittal of Mendel Beilis, a Jew that czarist authorities tried to frame for the “ritual murder” of a Christian child. Hundreds of local and foreign dignitaries listened as speakers related the history of antiSemitic blood libels. real, ongoing concern for Iran’s immediate neighbors. Additionally, the current situation forces the Arabs to acknowledge that they have common interests with Israel. That’s always been the case-Israel’s decision to strike Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981 resulted in private praise and public condemnation in Arab capitals-but this point is driven home even more explicitly in the Iranian case. Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has already hinted in the Knesset that secret talks have been taking place between the Israelis and the conservative Arab regimes, adding that there is renewed appreciation for Israel’s role in maintaining regional security. What’s telling is that the assumption that Israel and these Arab regimes would eventually realize their common purpose under American auspices has been exploded. Incredibly, it now looks as if Israel and its Arab neighbors could come together over Iran not just without the U.S., but in spite of it! All the same, let’s not count the Americans out just yet. Obama hasn’t reached a deal with the Iranians, and chances are that the current round of making nice with Tehran will go the same way as his previous overtures in in 2010, because any agreement would likely collapse through Iranian reluctance to accept a strict monitoring arrangement of their nuclear facilities. The democratization of the Middle East, and the acceptance of Israel as part of the region, remains a long way off. Absent that outcome, hardheaded calculations based on immediate interests will rule the day. That’s why it’s helpful that a chorus of Arab voices, led by the Saudis, are telling Obama that Iran under its current regime was, is, and remains the greatest threat to this part of the world.