The American Israelite, November 1, 2012

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The American Israelite T H E

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CSO bridges community with ‘One City, One Symphony’

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Three young leaders honored for service to Jewish community

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Local project spreads Chanukah light to IDF soldiers

ISRAEL

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Gaza rockets close Beersheba schools for a day

DINING OUT

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Eclectic success at the Blue Elephant

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012 16 CHESHVAN, 5773

Access’ Tuscan Summer Shabbat Dinner p.12

CINCINNATI, OH Candle Lighting Times Shabbat begins Fri 6:18p Shabbat ends Sat 7:19p

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Rescued from Kristallnacht, a family Torah reaches a new generation

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Seeking Kin: Honoring those who assured Nazi loot’s return

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At its centennial, Hadassah looking for Israeli donors and new members

Young professionals working for social change Jewish young professionals (YPs) in Greater Cincinnati are turning into real social animals. Not as it relates to attending parties and events, but more as it relates to embracing the notion of social responsibility, social justice and social action. Thanks to Access, and its JCafe and ACTout initiatives, thousands of YPs in the Jewish community have had the opportunity to engage in numerous programs over the years that have helped to inform and inspire them to make a difference both locally and globally.

When it comes to social responsibility for example, this past Oct. 3, Access hosted The Political Party, a bi-partisan presidential candidates’ forum at the Aronoff Center in which more than 100 YPs had the opportunity to meet a U.S. Congressman and hear from surrogates from the Obama and Romney campaigns, as well as converse with dozens of local and state politicians. The event emphasized the importance of voting, making educated decisions about who to vote for and about being knowledgeable about the issues that impact our world. In addition, many YPs who had never voted before, or who are new to town, registered to vote that evening.

“The Political Party event allowed us to engage with candidates, and/or their representatives, on issues that matter to us specifically as young professionals and as Jews,” says Elida Kamine, a young professional and local attorney who is active in politics. “This event will enable us to cast more informed votes, which is critical especially because Hamilton County may be a

Smiling faces at one of the recent young professional events.

deciding county on the federal level.”

Access’ next foray into the social justice arena will focus on the slave trade in the coffee industry on Sunday, Nov. 18 at Coffee Emporium. Participants will go on a virtual tour of a coffee plantation, explore the difference between Fair and Direct Trade, and learn how everyone’s favorite brew goes from bean to beverage. They will have a chance to taste coffees from around the world and learn what they can do to create change. Then, guests will have the opportunity to get in on the conversation as frequent Access participant Rabbi Ari Boxman explores what Judaism has to say about insuring that workers receive enough income to live a sustainable life, as well as other related Torah text.

“Life gets busy and even though I have the best of intentions I’m not always up on all of the social issues

of the day. That’s why it’s so great that Access brings things like this to our attention. It’s nice to be able to attend a JCafe event and know that I am going to walk out having learned something I might not have known otherwise, and more importantly, that I will have the tools and information I need to make a difference,” says Jon Michaelson.

Access’ JCafe programs aim to bring Jewish YPs together around topics of particular interest to them.

In addition to rich discussion, JCafe events seek to engage participants in thinking and learning about something they didn’t know before, or enhancing their knowledge and perspective about something they already did.

Social action has always been a top priority for Access and thanks to its ACTout initiative, hundreds of Jewish YPs have had the chance to

engage in important projects in and around the community such as feeding the homeless on Christmas and Easter, sending Hanukkah packages to our Jewish troops, providing opportunities for young adults with disabilities to socialize with their typical peers and most recently, erecting a water park for the day in Over the Rhine to give underprivileged children and their families a fun and free chance to cool off during one of the most sweltering days of the summer.

Access’ next social action event will take place on Sunday, Dec. 13, when YPs will spend the evening at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) to make blankets, sleeping mats, fleece hats and scarves for Cincinnati’s homeless. Afterward they will go across the street to the Drop Inn Center to deliver the items and visit with some of the residents there.

Jami Dalin, a participant in nearly all of the ACTout programs, appreciates the opportunities these events afford her to do what she couldn’t do on her own. “It’s great to be able to give back to the community while working side-by-side with friends to help those in need.

ACTout events have enabled me to get to know about so many of the organizations out there that are doing such important work. Thanks to Access, I have been able to give back to my community in meaningful ways!”

ACTout events occur several times throughout the year and give Jewish YPs a chance to participate in hands-on projects that directly impact the recipients.

I stand with President Barack Obama and I endorse his re-election.

Will you join me?

Barbara Myers Mark Weisser Julie Weisser Kenneth Kabel Carol Kabel Margaret and Michael Meyer Sandra and Edward Augort Jeff and Gayna Bassin Bernice Pollack Lynn and Daniel Ticotsky Joanne and Dr. Sidney Cohen Nora Moreira, MD Daniel Hoffheimer Jean Hoffheimer Rachel Hoffheimer Joseph Hoffheimer Leah Hoffheimer Rebecca Hoffheimer Sites Bethe Goldenfield Martha Paige Barbara and David Neman Dr. Charles Margolis Dr. Jennifer Margolis Pam and Dr. Mark Kuby Glenn Reinhart, MD Glynnis Reinhart Dana Reinhart Adam Reinhart Amy Gerowitz Mark Lorberbaum Esther and Mark Bender Ethel and Marvin Guttenberg Frederick Fink Julia Fink Iris Wigman Arny Stoller Councilwoman Stephanie Stoller Roberta Kalman Sanford Kalman Nancy Postow Ann Neuer Patricia and Simon Foster Julie and Dr. Barry Brook Loren Brook Melissa Brook Daniel Brook Jane and Jon Schiff Rabbi Abie Ingber Arielle Ingber Tamar Ingber Paul Heldman Deborah Kirshner Donna Richshafer Regine Ransohoff Myron Gerson, MD Joanne Gerson Zelda and Louis Jacobs Elizabeth and Peter Seidner Diana Herbe Rabbi Jonathan Perlman and Dr. Terry Schwartz Donald L. Wayne, MD Beth G. Wayne

Fanchon and Bonia* Shur Kathy Wise Harriet and Alan Lazarus Anita Marks Edward Marks Pat and Richard Rosenberg Ruth Joffe, Ph.D Dr. Sandra Berg Phyllis and Peter Schiff Karen and John Bunyan Anne Straus Caroline "Chessie" Vigran Hera Reines Ellen Doyne Sondra and Fred Ross Esther and Jack Grubbs Margie and Alan Schneider Ellen Bierhorst, Ph.D. Leah Levine Diane Fishbein Mary Lee and Louie Sirkin Terry and Stuart Susskind Jacqueline M. Mack Edward B. Silberstein, M.D. Joanne and Kurt Grossman Barbara Swift Dr. Leslie Swift Dr. Robert Smith Myfanwy Smith Tobe and Dr. Steve Snow Andrea and Dr. Edward Herzig Phyllis and Paul Tobias Donna and Dr. Emil Dansker Raye and Dr. Herb Brass Rosemary Bloom Frank Bloom Dolores Goldfinger Haley and Robert Rapoport Diana and Professor Henry Fenichel Natalie and Scott Wolf Freddie Wolf and Adam Wolf Cliff Pleatman, MD Eugene Pyatigorsky Susan and Ken Newmark Betty Rosenthal Pam and Sonny Saeks Terri Feldman Barr, Ph.D. Rachel Barr Simi Barr G. G. Silverblatt Dorothy Anne Blatt Julie and Dr. John Cohen Marianna Bettman Elizabeth and David Zucker Karen and Stuart Zanger Charlotte Brooks Gloria and Dr. Alter Peerless Donald Hordes Elaina Hordes Peter Levin Alison Kamine and Bob Bloom Diane Marcus, Ph.D.

Nancy Gibberman Dr. Barry Gibberman Ann Moss Meranus Margot and Harry Gotoff Amy Katzman Tracy Yarchi Marlene Ostrow and Dr. Bernie Lenchitz Gilah Pomeranz Dr. Karen Gail Lewis Patti Malm and Barry Belinky Carol and Charles Specter Ben Glassman Regina Moskowitz Maxine and Mark Bookbinder Atarah Jablonsky Rozlyn Bleznick Jan and Professor Dan Jacobs Allan Satin Lois Miller Janice and Jeffrey Weiss Peninah Frankel Nancy and Gerald Schwartz Bill Friedlander Sue Friedlander Annette Horwitz Elaine Moscovitz Idit Isaacsohn and Dr. Jonathan Isaacsohn Isaacsohn Children Sylvia Shor Elizabeth Motter Ilene and Robert Hayes Marianne and Paul Nidich Rabbi Steven Greenberg and Steven Goldstein Reuel Ash and Family Abby and Dr. David Schwartz Audrey Martin Lynda and Elliot Grossman Judy and Neil Okum Sandra S. Wittstein Sally and Alex Cohen Joyce Alpiner Sarah and Mark Newman Julie Feldstein and Gen Bryd Dr. Susan and James Farber Ginny and Bruce Whitman Fay B. May and Robert E. Prescott Dian and Dr. Allan Robinson Carolyn and Stuart Lowitz Gerry and Marvin Kraus Cherie and Stuart Rosenstein Sandy and Rick Stern John Isidor Sandy Kaltman Hope Glassman Jody and Dr. Joel Tsevat Phyllis Bossin and Dr. Robert Strauss Barbara and Jim Hilb Adele Goldman Ira Goldman Stephanie and Rabbi Barry Kogan Miriam and Michael Brod

For more information, contact SWOhioJewsforObama@gmail.com Paid for by the names listed above. Not endorsed or approved by any candidate or campaign.

*of blessed memory

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

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LEVEY TUTORIAL

Discussing the Jewish vote at upcoming Wise dinner On Friday, November 16, Wise Temple will hold a congregational dinner immediately following Shabbat services. During the dinner, Wise Temple will welcome Dr. Steven Windmueller, the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. Dr. Windmueller will give a talk on the topic of The Jewish Vote. He will discuss the

subjects of whether the Jewish vote is changing and what we can learn about Jewish political behavior as a result of the presidential election.

Dr. Windmueller, a specialist on political issues and American Jewish affairs, has appeared on CNN, PBS, NBC, and other nationally syndicated media offering commentaries on Jewish public affairs matters. He will provide us with a historical and political con-

MATH HELP IS HERE!!!

GARY LEVEY, INSTRUCTOR Over 30 years of Teaching and Tutoring, 9 years at Seven Hills Upper School

text for framing what he describes as the “Jewish Contract with America.” This promises to be both a fascinating and timely program. The service and dinner are open to the community.

Shabbat services begin at 6:15 p.m. and the dinner and presentation will follow immediately afterwards at 7:15 p.m.. To RSVP for the dinner, contact Wise Temple by Friday, November 9.

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Three young leaders honored for service to Jewish community On Oct. 24, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati recognized three area young adults for their service to the Jewish community. Edward R. Kuresman, Benjamin Schneider and Tamar Smith received their awards at the Jewish Federation’s annual dinner honoring its major donors.

Ed Kuresman began his involvement with the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati through its Young Adult Division (YAD), by participating in the first class of the annual leadership development program LEAD. He has since chaired the YAD campaign, overseeing the fundraising solicitations of the young adults in the Federation’s donor base, and is now president of the YAD board. He also volunteers for the Planning & Allocations committee – helping determine how the funds raised by the Federation’s Community Campaign will be allocated to programs in the community – and sits on the Finance & Administrative Board committee.

Ed received the Kate S. Mack Award, which was established in 1966 in honor of Kate’s 80th birthday. The purpose of the award is to further the work of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati by helping young community leaders, present and prospective, to study charitable

Tamar Smith, Edward R. Kuresman and Benjamin Schneider

activities in Israel. The Mack Award provides the recipient with a trip to Israel on a mission sponsored by the Jewish Federation.

Ben Schneider applies his passion for the Jewish community both in Cincinnati and nationally.

He is immediate past president of Rockwern Academy and a past president of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cincinnati. Ben is a founding member of Congregation Sha’arei Torah. He has supported the Jewish Federation as a member of the Financial Oversight com-

mittee and a campaign solicitor.

He is also entering his fourth year on the Jewish Federation of North America’s (JFNA) National Young Leadership (NYL) Cabinet; he planned their annual retreat and co-chaired a trip to Israel with his wife, Ronna.

LEADERS on page 19

College Students from Cincinnati – Summer Internships Available!

Give back to the Jewish community and get paid to intern in a Jewish agency in Cincinnati.

VOTE FOR

MOSHIACH Add in acts of goodness and kindness

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 9.

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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engaging program on bravery and family history, which concluded with writing and sharing monologues about courageous acts performed by our ancestors. This fit well into our sixth grade curriculum, which focuses on Jewish history.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, and we were thrilled to share it with 44 of our incredible students, plus our amazing staff and madrichim!

Local project spreads Chanukah light to IDF soldiers In coordination with Israel @ 65, the Cincinnati Kollel and its affiliate Sarah’s Place have teamed up with the J to arrange a fun-filled way for kids to say “thank you” to their brave Israeli cousins who defend Israel’s borders.

Younger children will make “Happy Chanukah” cards which will be sent to IDF bases in time for Chanukah. Older children will make age-appropriate crafts that they will be able to share with friends and relatives in return for donations that will be converted into meaningful packages and warm winter gear for soldiers spending Chanukah up North.

Local children of all ages, and their folks, are invited to “Thank Israeli Soldiers” at the Mayerson JCC on Sunday, Nov. 18.

Pictures of the happy recipients thanking their new, young Cincinnati friends will be posted on the Thank Israeli Soldiers (TIS) website as well as on local sponsoring agency websites and Facebook pages for all to see.

Sarah’s Place initiated local TIS programming last year, but this is the first venue that is being opened to the entire community.

Program committee chair Marla Lisman is proud to announce that this will be the first in a series of local, collaborative TIS projects.

A special extra for this season’s kick-off event will be the participation of several

Cincinnatians who served in the IDF. Each will share brief recollections with the children and they will be happy to field questions about their experiences in the Israeli military.

TIS will be hosted in the board room near the entrance to the Mayerson JCC. Participants are welcome anytime from 12 – 3 p.m. Pizza and other refreshments will be available for purchase to make it easier for anyone coming straight from religious schools. TIS coordinators recommend that families expect to spend half hour to 45 minutes at the program.

Kristallnacht commemoration at Cedar Village On the eve of the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE) will hold a commemoration at Cedar Village.

CHHE presents a new theatrical work, By Action or Inaction: A Show of Attitude and Colors, about the devastating night of Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass” and the global reactions to the Pogrom. The evening will feature music from cellist Deborah Netanel, who has played for audiences around the world. A candle will also be lit in commemoration of Kristallnacht by a local

Holocaust survivor.

The new production seeks to explore the reactions of individuals, institutions and nations to Kristallnacht. The performance, cosponsored by Cedar Village, will feature local actors Mary Jo Beresford, Pete Effler and Mary Effler. The production includes actual reactions to Kristallnacht from everyday Germans, to recognizable individuals such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the media around the world, and uniquely Germans Jews who witnessed Kristallnacht and after the war found their homes in Cincinnati.

The words of eyewitnesses such as Ruth Tauber reflect the horror of that night: “I remember walking in the street and seeing synagogues burning. I saw the Nazi hooligans throwing Torahs around. I saw prayer books in the street. They were cutting up yarmulkas. It was awful. It was terrible.”

The reactions of eyewitnesses, politicians, activists and others weave together the voices of outrage to this Pogrom but also tragically reflect the lack of action that was taken in reaction to Kristallnacht. The production’s theatrical director Bob Sauerbrey

observed, “Bigotry, hatred, and indifference affect all, both the perpetrators and the victims.

Compassion is our Earth’s greatest need, compassion for every one of our sisters and brothers, whether human or not. The production reveals the affects of active caring and of indifference – not to choose one or the other is already a choice, for, as many have shown us, silence empowers the perpetrator, never the victim.”

CHHE’s Kristallnacht commemoration will take place on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. at Cedar Village.

J Spa: A hot spot during cold weather also services just for men, including facials, pedicures and manicures.

The J Spa is open to everyone, but J Members enjoy discounts. In addition, there are monthly specials that offer significant savings on spa services, so visit the JCC website to see current offers.

The 50 or 80 minute hot stone massages are among the most popular J Spa treatments during the winter. These full-body massages incorporate the use of heated stones to penetrate deep into muscles to stimulate a feeling of intense relaxation. To learn more about monthly discounts and gift cards at the J Spa, contact the JCC or visit their website. The Dead Sea scrub exfoliation and purifying facials are also in high demand at the J Spa this season. The Dead Sea Scrub exfolia-

tion begins with an invigorating scrub that removes several layers of dead skin cells, followed by a hydrating massage with natural oils and antioxidants, leaving the skin soft and moisturized. This service jump starts the immune system to help ward off illness. There are a broad array of rejuvenating, healing and cleansing facials at the J Spa designed to benefit men, women and teens of all skin types.

In addition to all of the great J Spa services, the J Spa is offering a Glo Minerals Makeup workshop on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 10 a.m.

Advanced registration is recommended. You’ll learn how to care for your skin, choose the right cosmetics for your skin type and apply makeup for any occasion. Glo Minerals make-up is an award winning make-

up that uses the finest natural ingredients and is filled with antioxidants.

Group packages for special events such as bridal showers or birthdays are available at the J Spa with advance reservations. They also offer in-office/corporate chair massages as a cost effective way for local businesses to boost employee moral and recondition employees work-related neck and back strain.

J Spa services are available by appointment, every day of the week. Walk-in appointments are based on availability, and daily schedules are posted at the JCC front desk and fitness desk.

Appointments may be made in person, by phone or on the JCC website. For more information about the J Spa, visit the JCC website or contact the Mayerson JCC.

The American Israelite “LET THERE BE LIGHT” THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN AMERICA - EST. JULY 15, 1854

VOL. 159 • NO. 15 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012 16 CHESHVAN 5773 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 6:18 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 7:19 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 MICHAEL SAWAN Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN ZELL SCHULMAN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager e Oldest Eng Th

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Heal your body and refresh your spirit at the Mayerson JCC’s J Spa. More than just a place to be pampered, the J Spa offers a full array of therapeutic massages and body care services to make you feel and look your best. As one of the JCC facilities that is open to the public, the J Spa has become a hot spot for many Cincinnatians to combat the cold weather. Winter conditions cause dry, cracked skin which can be easily remedied with the hydrating and therapeutic body treatments, facials and massages performed by licensed massage therapists and estheticians at the J Spa. The J Spa offers services from head to toe, including facials, waxing, massage, manicures, pedicures and make-up, including eyelash tinting and extensions. There are

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s’mores either—they tasted just as good out of the oven!

Sunday morning began bright and early with an Israel Trivia game, led by Mor and Tomer, our Chaverim M’Israel. Then we enjoyed a delicious breakfast cooked by the Wise Temple Brotherhood: pancakes, waffles, and French toast sticks—yum! The retreat atmosphere carried over into Religious School as we participated in an

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through learning, games, prayer, singing and community building activities. After the circus activities, students enjoyed a taco bar for dinner, then decorated their own wooden spice boxes for Havdalah.

While it was too wet to enjoy our campfire outside, we recreated the effect by gathering in the social hall with flashlights, and singing campfire songs accompanied by guitar. We didn’t miss out on

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Have you ever wanted to run away and join the circus? Well, Wise Temple sixth graders did! At our annual 6th Grade Retreat in October, students had the opportunity to fly on a trapeze, walk on a tightrope and hone their juggling skills with the Cincinnati Circus.

And that was just a fraction of the fun! The 6th Grade Retreat provides our students with a handson, interactive Jewish experience

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Circus, sixth graders and s’mores at Wise Temple

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $44 per year and $1.00 per single copy in Cincinnati and $49 per year and $3.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037.

The views and opinions expressed by the columnists of The American Israelite do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the newspaper.

LOCAL • 5

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NHS salutes veterans with special Havdalah service Northern Hills Synagogue – Congregation B’nai Avraham will salute veterans of the American and Israeli military with a special Havdalah service and program on Saturday evening, Nov. 10.

Sponsored by the Synagogue and its Sisterhood and Men’s Club, the program will begin at 6 p.m. and take place at the Synagogue.

Following a light dinner, veterans of the American and Israeli military will speak about their experiences. The education of our youth about the experiences and sacrifices of our military personnel is a special goal of the program.

Bobbie Winkler, Northern Hills’ Sisterhood president, noted,

“This is an opportunity for people of all ages to come together to enjoy the beauty of the Havdalah service, enjoy dinner together, and celebrate and honor our veterans on Veterans Day weekend.”

There is no charge for the dinner or program, but reservations are requested by calling the Synagogue office.

MOVING TO

BOSTON OR CHICAGO...

shop selections, will be dreidels, mezuzahs, Hanukkah menorahs and both Safed Shabbat and Hanukkah candles.

Rockdale Sisterhood Gift Shop has expanded to include a greater selection of Judaica with many unique pieces. As part of the expansion, the Gift Shop is launching a Judaica-of-the-Month opportunity, a hand-picked selection that will be available by special order for that month. The Judaica in stock will allow immediate availability of unusual pieces as well as special orders for those giving gifts and/or

adding to collections. The Safed candles, hand dipped in the ancient city of Tzfat, Israel, are available in a wide array of colors and designs.

They are truly lovely not only for Shabbat , but to display all week or to give as a gift.

Rockdale Gift Shop will also be expanding its hours and will now be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Tuesdays from 4 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Please contact Rockdale Temple to arrange appointments at other times.s

CSO bridges community with ‘One City, One Symphony’ Sylvia Samis, violinist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Rabbi Abie Ingber, the founding director of Xavier University’s department of Interfaith Community Engagement, share more in common than just a passion for great music. They both also happen to be children of Holocaust survivors, which is why one of the CSO’s upcoming concerts carries a particularly significant meaning. On November 15, 17 and 18, the CSO and the May Festival Chorus, under the baton of Music Director Designate Louis Langrée, will perform one of the most beloved pieces of music in the repertoire, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which culminates in the soaring “Ode to Joy” finale.

Also on the program is Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw, a haunting piece that depicts exactly what the title indicates. The overall arc of the program – darkness to light, despair to elated joy – has given rise to the CSO’s new “One City, One Symphony” initiative. The program encourages the entire Greater Cincinnati community to come together through music.

“This program provides us with the opportunity to really come together in our shared humanity. These are some of the most moving pieces of music in history, and it seems so natural for

us to use this program to get to know each other,” said Langrée.

The overarching themes of universal brotherhood and shared humanity will be discussed in a series of listening parties throughout Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. All are invited to come together and listen to excerpts from this music and discuss its meaning and significance. Samis and Ingber welcomed the opportunity to share their story in the context of this powerful music. They will be the presenters at two of the CSO’s listening parties. The first will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 1 at Xavier University’s Bellarmine Chapel, while the other will be at 2 p.m., Tuesday, November 13 at the Mayerson JCC on the Jewish Foundation Campus. During both events, Samis will perform excerpts from the works while inviting listeners to ask questions and share their thoughts and reactions to the music in an informal setting.

“During our presentations, we will use our personal and family histories to focus heavily on Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw to tell a universal story of coming out of the darkness into the light of a world of hope, through Beethoven’s 9th,” said Samis.

“I am very much looking forward to working with Sylvia on these discussions,” said Ingber.

“Music has the power to tell a story when words are inadequate.”

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION. BOSTON: Eric Schneider (513) 519-8444 epschnei@gmail.com CHICAGO: Lauren Zemboch (513) 313-3434 lauren.zemboch @bairdwarner.com

Art show and Judaica offered by Rockdale Sisterhood On Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., the Sisterhood of Rockdale Temple will host an art show featuring select vendors selling their handmade wares. It’s the perfect opportunity to find a unique and special gift or the perfect piece of art for your home. Artists were selected to provide an array of art forms including pottery, jewelry, fiber arts, handmade books/journals, photographs, paintings and glass. There will be offerings in a range of prices.

Featured at the art show, and also as a part of the expansion of the Rockdale Temple Sisterhood Gift

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CSO on page 19

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Keinon speaks on effect of U.S. election on Israel policy Herb Keinon, diplomatic correspondent of the Jerusalem Post, returns to Cincinnati on Monday, Nov. 12, to speak at Wise Temple in Amberley Village. AJC and Wise Temple are cosponsoring his talk, “Will the U.S. Election Change Israeli Policy?” He will look at the results of the U.S. election, and assess their significance for Israel and U.S. policy toward Iran, diplomacy with the Palestinians, and attitudes toward the settlements.

The program, which begins at 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.

Keinon has written for the Jerusalem Post for 27 years, the last 12 years covering the diplomatic beat. He has followed Ehud Barak to Paris, Ariel Sharon to Crawford, Texas, Ehud Olmert to Annapolis, and Binyamin Netanyahu to Washington. He has up-close knowledge and an intimate perspective of the country’s political, diplomatic and strategic

challenges – from Hamas to Hizbullah, Kadima to Likud.

Keinon spoke for AJC in 2010 in a lively session on Israel and the press. A Denver native, he has a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Colorado and a master’s in journalism from the University of Illinois. He has lived in Israel for 28 years, is married with four children, and lives in Ma’ale Adumim, just outside of Jerusalem.

Tikkun Olam-athon offers help throughout the city Over 300 Wise Temple members gathered at both Wise Center and Plum Street Temple on Oct. 28 for the eighth annual Wise Temple Tikkun Olam-athon. This day is a marathon day of tikkun olam, or “repairing the world.” Wise Temple partnered with 28 agencies throughout Greater Cincinnati to perform needed tasks, introduce congregants to new social action opportunities and continue the on-going social action commitments Wise Temple makes to these agencies during the year through WiseUP, Wise Temple’s social action program.

Wise Temple members entertained veterans, disabled adults, the elderly, homeless women, and homeless adults with emotional disorders. Wise Temple members made dozens of blankets and drawstring bags for needy children and hula hoops to entertain homeless

families. They cooked meals for the homeless, the poor and for cancer and AIDS victims. They cleaned, painted, organized, stocked, planted and did other chores for food pantries, parks, animal shelters and other service organizations that will benefit from this work throughout the year.

This year, Deborah Birckhead and Amy Magenheim, Wise Center co-chairs, were thrilled to have new partnerships with Gabriel’s Place in Avondale, Jewish Family Service Food Pantry, Easter Seals Tristate and Crayons to Computers as well as the continuing partnerships with agencies that have participated in Tikkun Olam-athon for many years including Bethany House Services, Caracole House, and Fernside Center for Grieving Children.

Wise Temple adults, working at Plum Street Temple, were also

treated to an inspiring speech by Tommy Thompson, a Cincinnati native who struggled with homelessness and was able to recover by selling Streetvibes newspapers through the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition. Plum Street Temple co-chairs Scott Joseph and Valerie Friedman observed that Tikkun Olam-athon for adults at Plum Street Temple leads to deeper connections among the mid-life congregants as they do this meaningful work together.

Finally, it was fitting on such a cold day that Tikkun Olam-athon participants filled two large barrels with new and gently used coats, and plenty of new hats, mittens and gloves which will be donated to Faces without Places and the Cincinnati Public Schools to be used by school children experiencing homelessness.

Rescued from Kristallnacht, a family Torah reaches a new generation

By Edmon J. Rodman Jewish Telegraph Agency LOS ANGELES – It was the “Night of Broken Glass” in Germany, Kristallnacht – a national pogrom of death and destruction of Jewish property and the rounding up of Jews – and Dietrich (David) Hamburger was in hiding.

Hamburger was the leader of a small congregation that met in his home in Fuerstenau, a countryside village in what now is the province of Niedersachsen. Someone had warned him about the coming onslaught, and on Nov. 9, 1938 he went into hiding in the local Catholic hospital.

“The cover story was that he was in for a hernia,” said Edith Strauss Kodmur, his granddaughter and the family’s historian.

This spring – 75 years later and a continent away at a Californian winery – Kodmur’s granddaughter will have her bat mitzvah. And Charlotte Ruth Smith on that day will read from the Torah scroll that her great-great-grandfather rescued soon after that tragic night.

But Hamburger would need to escape Germany and the Torah would need to find its way back to his family.

“By prior arrangement, one of his hired hands met him in the hospital garden while the nuns were at Mass,” Kodmur recalled from detailed notes. “He drove Dietrich back to his home where he packed, taking an oil portrait of wife Rosa [he was a widower] and the community Torah with him.”

Kodmur thought Hamburger had removed the rollers, or etz chaim, to make the Torah easier to transport.

“He then boarded the train to Holland, to Winterswijk, to his daughter Bette,” said Kodmur, whose family as well as her uncle Siegried, Hamburger’s son, had left Germany for the United States in 1938.

Kodmur as a small child had visited her grandfather frequently, she said, recalling that he would sit in the garden with his children on the Sabbath, reading to them and discussing the Bible.

“He was very adventuresome, and well-dressed. Involved with the horse and cattle trade business,” she said.

A memorial book for the Holocaust victims of Winterswijk titled “We Once Knew Them All” uses quotes from the people who lived in the eastern Holland town to tell what happened to Hamburger and his family.

“My parents had a Jewish person in hiding during the last year of the war, a Mister Hamburger. We called him by his alias, ‘Uncle

Courtesy of Julie Ann Kodmur

Charlotte Smith and Rabbi Jerry Levy at the dedication of the family Torah scroll rescued by her great-great-grandfather, at AlmaVia, a senior residence community in San Rafael, Calif., October 2012.

Derk,’” a community member recalls in the book. “His daughter, son-in-law and their children died in the concentration camps. He also had a son in America.”

“Once we were threatened by a posting of German soldiers at our home. Uncle Derk hid behind a wardrobe. Obviously we noticed that Mr. Hamburger was very afraid of being discovered. My Father told Uncle Derk to act differently, otherwise everyone might be arrested.”

“On the morning of liberation, I woke up Uncle Derk. He was so shaken by my excited talk that his false teeth fell out: into the chamber pot!”

From another community member: “Father Hamburger stayed a while in Winterswijk after the war.

My, my how that man cried over his grandchildren.”

After the war, while Siegfried was visiting his father in Holland, Hamburger gave him the Torah scroll to bring back to his home in Redwood City, Calif. It stayed there until Siegfried died.

Kodmur, who lives in the San Diego area, knew that Siegfried had given the Torah to his son Steven.

But she had lost touch with that part of the family and was uncertain of its whereabouts.

In 1996, Kodmur’s daughter Julie Ann and her fiancee, Stuart Smith, attended a pre-wedding counseling session with Rabbi Jerry Winston in San Anselmo, Calif. The rabbi mentioned that he had officiated at the marriage of Julie Ann’s cousin.

Julie Ann had heard the stories of her great-grandfather’s escape with the Torah and its unknown whereabouts, and in the whirr of Jewish geography and family history that ensued, both Julie Ann and Winston soon realized that Steven Hamburger had given the rescued Torah to the rabbi.

“I didn’t even think to ask him for it,” said Julie Ann, thinking back on that meeting.

TORAH on page 21

BARRY KAPLAN

NATIONAL • 7

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

“SERVING THE LOCAL REAL ESTATE COMMUNITY FOR 24 YEARS.”

Israeli Oscar’s entry offers ‘window to the Orthodox world’

By Maxine Dovere JointMedia News Service NEW YORK – At a time when the secular world looms just beyond the boundaries of Tel Aviv’s Haredi neighborhoods and the government of Israel considers ways to integrate young men of the ultraOrthodox communities into the general social fabric of the country, Rama Burshtein has “opened a window” into the day-to-day life of the deeply religious, traditionbound community – so often mysterious and shrouded behind the curtains of separation.

Her film Fill the Void – which took the top prize at this year’s “Ophir Awards” (Israel’s version of the Oscars), thereby earning an

Courtesy of Ronen Shnidman

Hadas Yaron, pictured at the 2012 Israeli “Ophir Awards,” plays 18-year-old Shira in “Fill the Void,” Israel Oscars nominee.

(513) 368-9000 AboutBarry.com

entry into the “Best Foreign Language Film” category at the 2013 American Oscars – welcomes the viewer into this family-focused, Torah-centered world, viewed from the perspective of protagonist Shira, an 18-year-old young woman tasked with making the decision that will define her life.

Burshtein provides an unprecedented entry into the Haredi community of Tel Aviv. In conversation following the film’s recent screening at the 50th New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, she said Fill the Void provides “a look inside the private world of Tel Aviv’s Hasidic community.” The film, she said, is “a movie taken from within… a window to the Orthodox world.”

For Hispanic ‘Crypto-Jews,’ lawsuits may follow religious rediscovery

By Paul Foer and Chananette Pascal Cohen JointMedia News Service Sonya Loya’s path of rediscovery aligns with the journey potentially millions of other “CryptoJews” take back to their Jewish roots. Her story, and the stories of others with similar backgrounds, is also still unfolding – with legal action against the Catholic Church as the possible next chapter.

Loya – a Hispanic-American woman raised as a Catholic in New Mexico – left the Catholic Church at age 18, a mutual parting because she asked too many questions.

When she was 44, her father told her that when he was a child, his family members made him swear to secrecy about their Jewish roots.

His uncles, who served as American soldiers in World War II and witnessed death camps in Europe, told their mother, “It’s still not safe to be a Jew.” When her father’s DNA was tested in 2005, it showed several markers common to Levites. She found many other Loyas and learned of an ancient Loya Synagogue in Tiberias in northern Israel, as well as a lineage of rabbis of that name. There are Jewish Loyas today in Portugal, Israel, Morocco, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Sonya Loya, a glassblower, eventually converted to Judaism. She was married in 2011 in the Sephardic Education Center in the old city of Jerusalem.

Today there are some 50 million people of Hispanic/Latino origin in the United States. Rabbi Stephen A. Leon of El Paso, Texas, suggests that possibly 10 percent of them have a story like Loya’s – they have Jewish roots and are known as Crypto-Jews or “B’nei

Anousim,” translated as children of the coerced or forced. But Leon, a leader of B’nei Anousim, and other experts caution that determining their numbers is problematic. Very few potential B’nei Anousim have had their DNA tested, and the results of such testing may not be conclusive.

Loya, organizerof the Ninth Annual Anousim Conference held in El Paso this past August, told an audience of about 100 hundred Mexican and American Anousim to organize genealogical and DNA research and consider bringing lawsuits against the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly The Holy Office of The Inquisition) for what was done to their Jewish ancestors as far back as the 15th Century.

The audience reacted with mainly silence but also with a few murmured “wows.”

Leon, a coordinator of the conference with Loya, calls filing claims against the Catholic Church “a justifiable procedure. It is similar to claims made by Holocaust survivors.” He detailed the longterm effects of the Inquisition upon his ancestors and Spanish Jewry and concluded, “It is about time to show remorse as well provide legitimate compensation for what was stolen from my people. I would challenge a knowledgeable attorney to take on this historic case.”

Attempts by JNS to contact the Vatican and other church officials for comment went unanswered.

Bennett Greenspan, who operates a DNA testing company in Houston, says that sometimes as many as three Hispanic persons a day ask to be tested for their possible Jewish roots. The simple and

relatively inexpensive test requires just a cotton swab of saliva and can test for male and female family roots. Greenspan reports that approximately one in 10 tested exhibit a possible Jewish lineage.

Greenspan also said, “It appears that people who arrived in the New World prior to 1600 were more likely to be Jewish, and more likely to know that they were Jewish, than people who arrived from Spain after Mexico was quite settled, a few hundred years later.”

LAWSUITS on page 20

with

The Jewish Vote Dr. Steven Windmueller

Friday, November 16, 2012 6:15 PM – Shabbat Services 7:15 PM – Dinner and Presentation

Is the Jewish vote changing? What will we learn about Jewish political behavior as a result of the November 6th presidential election?

Dr. Steven Windmueller, the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, will join us on Friday evening, November 16 to explore these intriguing questions and other issues related to the evolution of the Jewish vote in America. Dr. Windmueller, who is an expert on Jewish public affairs, will provide a historical and political context for framing what he describes as the “Jewish Contract with America.”

Visit www.wisetemple.org/thejewishvote for more information or to register for the dinner.

Isaac M. Wise Temple

8329 Ridge Road

793-2556

8 • NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Seeking Kin: Honoring those who assured Nazi loot’s return

By Hillel Kuttler Jewish Telegraph Agency BALTIMORE – Like many immigrants from Germany who fought in the U.S. military during World War II, Harry Ettlinger served his adopted country by translating captured materials and interpreting during interrogations of enemy prisoners.

But within that population of soldiers, Ettlinger played a unique role. He was assigned to a littleknown department of the Allied forces that located and returned important documents and works of art that the Nazis had taken from public and private collections. The 350-member department operated in small groups attached to military units in Western Europe at the end of World War II and in its aftermath.

Ettlinger, 86, of Rockaway, N.J., is one of six surviving Monuments Men – the male and female members of the Allies’ Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Department – and will receive an award from the American Jewish Historical Society at its Nov. 1 dinner in Manhattan.

Col. Seymour Pomrenze will be honored posthumously at the event

Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration

Harry Ettlinger, right, and Dale Ford, U.S. soldiers who served in the Monuments Men, are shown in 1945 or 1946 inspecting a Rembrandt self-portrait in a salt mine where the Nazis stored stolen and hidden art.

for having sent to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research thousands of documents and other items that the Nazis had looted from Vilna’s Strashun library of Jewish works. Pomrenze also returned Judaica to communities or their former residents, and when that wasn’t

possible the treasures, including Torah scrolls and crowns, were given to Jewish museums.

All told, the Monuments Men restored more than 5 million cultural objects to their rightful owners, and they are the model for contemporary restitution efforts relat-

ing to Nazi-plundered art, according to the American Jewish Historical Society’s executive director, Jonathan Karp. And their story is about to become much more well known: George Clooney is in Europe directing a movie titled “The Monuments Men” that is due out late next year.

While the Monuments Men helped return items that the Nazis “stole indiscriminately from all sources,” Jews had owned “a disproportionate amount” of the looted art, Karp said.

The department’s mission stemmed from the position taken by the Roosevelt administration’s Roberts Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas, which Karp summarized as “To the victors do not go the spoils.”

It was “a unique decision in the history of warfare,” he said.

Helping the cause was that many of the Monuments Men were scholars and museum officials themselves, enabling them to identify what the Nazis had stolen from public and private collections.

They also were aided by non-Nazi German museum officials.

Ettlinger, however, was not an

On Israel Philharmonic’s whirlwind U.S. tour, a N.Y. debut for Israeli’s symphony

By Tom Tugend Jewish Telegraph Agency LOS ANGELES – Few can chronicle the changes in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra better than Gabriel Vole, a veteran double bass player.

Vole represents the third generation of his family to perform with the orchestra. His maternal grandfather, the Polish-born violinist Jacob Surowicz, was a co-founder and was followed by Gabriel’s father, Leopold, whose son inherited his love for the double bass. In addition, Gabriel’s mother, Sarah, and uncle Maurice filled in occasionally.

The biggest change, Vole says, is the number of women.

“When I signed up in 1967, there were maybe three or four women in the orchestra,” Vole said.

“Now I’d say they make up 40 percent or more of the members.”

Vole and the IPO, led by music director for life Zubin Mehta, are kicking off a five-day concert tour spanning four American cities with a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York on Oct. 25 before moving on to Palm Springs, Calif., Las Vegas and Disney Hall in Los Angeles on successive nights starting Oct. 28.

Complementing the IPO’s tour will be the release of the film “Orchestra of Exiles,” which documents the struggle to establish the orchestra in 1936 and to rescue German Jewish musicians from

Courtesy of Shai Skiff

Zubin Mehta will be conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in a four-city U.S. tour.

Nazi persecution.

The Carnegie Hall concert will include the New York premiere of “Mechaye Hametim” (Revival of the Dead), a choral symphony by Israeli composer and conductor Noam Sheriff that is dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust and the builders of Israel. Also at the famed venue, Chinese pianist Yuja Wang, 25, an audience favorite for her musicianship and fashion statements, will play in Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor.

In the other venues, Wang will perform in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor. The program for all four concerts will

feature Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.

Over its 76 years, the IPO has undergone many transformations.

Vole noted that the orchestra early on was comprised mainly of refugees from Germany and a large Polish contingent, and rounded out by a smattering of Russians, Hungarians, Romanians and native Israelis.

“At that time, the rehearsals, the correspondence, everything was in German,” Vole said in a phone interview with JTA. That lasted until the 1950s, when an increasing number of nativetrained musicians joined. An influx of talented musicians from the

art expert. Shortly after being shipped to Europe with his U.S. Army unit, he was tapped for duty as an interpreter because he was fluent in German.

A native of Karlsruhe in southwestern Germany, he had moved to the United States with his parents and two younger brothers in late 1938. The Ettlingers spent several months living in upper Manhattan, where the teenage Harry often ascended to the roof of the family’s apartment building to watch Columbia University football games being played at Baker Field below. The family soon moved to nearby Newark, N.J. His work with Monuments Men began shortly after Ettlinger reached the 7th Army’s headquarters in Munich in 1945. He accompanied an American officer to the jail cell of Heinrich Hoffmann, Adolf Hitler’s personal photographer. Ettlinger interpreted during the prisoner’s interrogation.

In a telephone interview Monday, he recalled that the interrogation centered on Hoffman’s knowledge of the whereabouts of artworks looted by the Nazis.

SEEKING on page 21

International Briefs

Soviet Union came in the 1970s and ‘80s, and they now make up about half of the 100-piece orchestra.

A number of players from North and South America also have entered the ranks, and the main working languages now are Hebrew and English.

The latter is mainly to accommodate many of the Russians, who understand English better than Hebrew.

Vole tells the story of Gustavo Dudamel, now the effervescent conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leading the IPO in 2008 and 2010 and once setting a rehearsal for late Saturday afternoon. Some religiously observant players did not show up until after the end of Sabbath.

When Dudamel asked about their absence, a violinist gave a one-word explanation: “Shabbes.”

The conductor grew extremely agitated and shouted, “Chavez?

What does this have to do with Hugo Chavez?” referring to the president of Dudamel’s native Venezuela.

Vole says playing for the IPO is not purely about playing music “but about solidarity and making music together.”

The love affair between the orchestra and the India-born Mehta is passionate and long standing. He knows the musicians and their spouses by their first names, and will converse in Yiddish with Russian newcomers.

Danish Jews angered by request not to display Israeli flag (JTA) – The organizers of a Copenhagen event celebrating diversity asked Danish Jews refrain from displaying the Israeli flag “for security reasons.”

The request came during preparations for the city-sponsored Mangfoldigheds festival held early last month, according to the Copenhagen-born Jonas Herzberg Karpantschof, former chairman of the European Union of Jewish Students.

The Danish Zionist Federation displayed the Israeli flags despite the requests. Several verbal confrontations occurred in front of the federation’s stand but they did not escalate into physical violence, Karpantschof wrote in a report for the website of CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jews.

Karpantschof said that “in reality, it [the request] was an attempt to block the group’s participation.”

Other groups also displayed country flags at the event, the Copenhagen Post reported, and had not been asked to refrain from displaying them.

One of the event organizers, Pernille Kjeldgaard, told the Post, “It is not that there is a flag policy

SYMPHONY on page 21

BRIEFS on page 20

ISRAEL • 9

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

At its centennial, Hadassah looking for Israeli donors and new members

By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraph Agency

Courtesy of Dudu Greenspan/Flash9

Medics carry a man wounded by a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip, for treatment in Soroka hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012.

Gaza rockets close Beersheba schools for a day

By Israel Hayom Jewish Telegraph Agency Two Grad rockets fired from the Gaza Strip exploded near Beersheba in southern Israel on Sunday morning, prompting Mayor Ruvik Danilovich to close down the city’s schools for the day.

Fire continued overnight Sunday with more than 15 rockets exploding in Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip, with no injuries or damage to structures reported. Hamas’s military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, took responsibility for the attacks.

Despite the renewed hostilities, schools in Beersheba were open on Monday and operated as usual.

In an interview with Army Radio, Danilovich said, “In recent years, missiles were fired directly into educational facilities while they were empty. We are not protected, and as long as there is not full protection within the education system, I will put human life first.”

Earlier Sunday morning, Israeli military forces along the Gaza Strip border fence were targeted with a salvo of mortar shells. The Israel Defense Forces identified a launch squad preparing to fire rockets into Israel and the Israel Air Force carried out a subsequent airstrike.

Gaza health official Ashraf alKidra said the early morning strike killed one Palestinian man and wounded another. The identity of the dead Palestinian was not immediately known.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit later said forces had launched another air attack that also targeted a rocket launching site. No casualties were reported in the second airstrike.

Meanwhile, during the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the government was ready to provide rocket protection and fortifications for a wider radius from the strip.

“Today we are about to make the

decision to complete the fortification of the southern communities,” he told his cabinet. “Until now, residents of the south living up to 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) from the Gaza Strip have been given full protection. The addition of the Iron Dome missile defense system provides protection to communities 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the strip and beyond. We are left with the area in between.”

“In this middle area, schools have been fortified, and today we are deciding to fully fortify all structures, homes [and] residences, and this will obviously grant security to residents of the south,” Netanyahu said. “We are doing this because the vulnerability to short-range rocket attacks is far greater in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip than anywhere else. I think that this will answer the needs and hopes the residents of the south have had for a long time.”

The prime minister’s proposal was unanimously approved by the cabinet. The cost of completing fortifications in the region comes to about 270 million shekels ($70 million). The cabinet authorized Netanyahu to come up with a source of funding within 30 days without having to bring the subject to a second vote.

Subsequently, The Jewish Agency for Israel announced Sunday that it will provide 40 million shekels for the fortification of houses between 4.5 to 7km from the Gaza Strip.

The funds will be used to build protected rooms in residential housing in the area. The protected spaces will be built by the Jewish Agency’s subsidiary company, Amigour, which is responsible today for the building of 5,000 protected spaces in Sderot and other communities in the Gaza area.

ROCKETS on page 20

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Five years before the Balfour Declaration gave Jews their first realistic hope for a modern state in the Land of Israel, Henrietta Szold founded the women’s Zionist organization Hadassah and sent two nurses here to fight disease and provide milk to infants and their mothers.

A century later, Hadassah runs one of Israel’s premier hospitals – a medical center with two campuses in Jerusalem and a budget of $500 million. The organization also has created and supported Israeli educational, youth and medical programs, built a membership base of 330,000 Jewish women and male associates in the United States, and developed a budget of more than $100 million.

“Our activities and our mission have stayed very close to what they were when Henrietta Szold stayed here,” Hadassah’s national president, Marcie Natan, told JTA in an interview while in Israel to celebrate the movement’s centennial.

“When we see a need, we find a way to try to meet that need.”

But as it enters its second century, Hadassah is struggling to attract Israeli donors, government funding for its hospitals and young women to its American membership.

“We have tried to create rela-

Courtesy of Hadassah

(L-R) Hadassah National President Marcie Natan, Assaf Galay and his wife, Hannah Pollin-Galay, and past Hadassah National President Nancy Falchuk, at Hadassah’s 100th anniversary convention in Jerusalem, Oct. 17, 2012.

tionships with those in Israel who are in a position to provide significant philanthropic support, not with any great amount of success,” Natan said. “We are going to need help. We cannot bring in the dollars to support all of what is not covered by the health care system here.”

According to a senior official at the Hadassah Medical Center, the Hadassah organization, which owns the hospital, covers 4 percent of the hospital’s daily operations and 96 percent of its research and development budget – a total cost of nearly $30 million per year.

Hadassah also is raising funds for the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower at its Ein Kerem campus in Jerusalem, an inpatient facility that went operational in March and that Hadassah inaugurated last week at its centennial celebration. The facility costs $363 million, some of which Hadassah has yet to raise.

The struggling U.S. economy has hurt U.S. fundraising and led the hospital to ask the Israeli government for more funding, the official said.

HADASSAH on page 19

10 • ISRAEL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

By merging with Liberman, Netanyahu knocks out the left and casts his lot with the right

By Ben Sales and Uriel Heilman Jewish Telegraph Agency TEL AVIV – Political pundits long have debated who is the real Benjamin Netanyahu.

Is he a pragmatist handcuffed by his right-wing support base and, until his father’s recent death, fealty to his father’s nationalist vision?

Or is he a true right-wing ideologue whose apparent concessions, like a 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University in which he accepted the principle of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are but feints?

Or is he merely a political survivor willing to do whatever it takes to stay in office, ideology be damned?

This week’s surprise announcement that Netanyahu’s Likud Party and Avigdor Liberman’s nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party would merge their candidate slates in the upcoming election – under the name HaLikud Beiteinu – offers some signs that the smart money is on the right-wingers.

The move dealt a potential knockout blow to Netanyahu’s leftwing rivals and makes it more likely than ever that the prime minister will win a third term.

It also makes it more likely that Liberman’s nationalist agenda will gain further traction in the next government, not less. The agenda has included legislation requiring loyalty oaths for new non-Jewish Israeli citizens and a ban on settlement boycotts – moves that many

Courtesy of Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, of Likud and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beiteinu holding a joint news conference announcing that their two parties are joining forces ahead of the upcoming Israeli general elections, Oct. 25, 2012.

Israeli and American Jewish critics have slammed as undemocratic.

“The real government reform starts now,” Liberman said at a news conference Thursday night.

“We advance to finish the work.”

Critics worry that with the merger, Netanyahu has unambiguously embraced Liberman’s hardline domestic agenda.

“The prime minister is essentially signaling that he has chosen the extremist, pro-settlement right, that he has chosen to walk in place, not to make progress in the diplomatic process,” Zehava Gal-On, head of the liberal Meretz party, told Israel’s Army Radio, according to Reuters.

Not that the Orthodox parties will be happy with the deal.

Liberman, a secular immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Moldova, is one of Israel’s most prominent anti-haredi politicians.

He wants Israel to allow civil marriage in addition to religious marriage, and he has railed against government privileges granted to the haredi Orthodox. The current coalition’s tensest moments came this summer when Liberman and the haredi Orthodox parties battled over whether to require army service for haredi Orthodox youths, who previously had received exemptions to study Torah.

In that battle, Netanyahu sided with the haredim, breaking up the committee assigned to draft a new military service law.

The HaLikud Beiteinu merger

represents a real triumph for Liberman. He founded Yisrael Beiteinu in 1999 as a right-wing party for Russian constituents, then quickly broadened its appeal. In 2009, when Israel last held elections, Yisrael Beiteinu won 15 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, becoming the nation’s third-largest party.

Liberman was awarded the coveted post of foreign minister.

In the elections scheduled for Jan. 22, Netanyahu’s party was expected to win a plurality of votes, but there has been talk among Israel’s left and center-left parties of creating an alliance to challenge Likud. Since the elections were announced, rumors have swirled about former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or former opposition leader Tzipi Livni, both of the Kadima Party, returning to politics and uniting the Knesset’s centrist and leftwing factions. A recent poll by Haaretz showed such a party potentially edging Likud.

HaLikud Beiteinu, however, is expected to win more votes than any center-left alliance. Polls before the merger showed Likud winning 29 seats and Yisrael Beiteinu winning close to its current 15 seats. If those numbers hold, the united party could win more Knesset seats than any since Labor won 44 seats in 1992 under Yitzhak Rabin.

“The time has come to unite for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said in Thursday’s news conference announcing the merger. “We ask for a mandate to lead Israel with strength.”

A Reform rabbi in the Knesset? Gilad Kariv, head of Israeli Reform, is mulling a run

By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraph Agency JERUSALEM – Growing up secular in Tel Aviv, Gilad Kariv often would spend Saturdays hiking around rural Israel with his family, appreciating its nature and telling its history.

But one Shabbat early in his childhood, Kariv decided to go to his neighborhood Orthodox synagogue.

“To the place my heart loves, there my legs take me,” Kariv said, quoting Rabbi Hillel of the Talmud.

Soon he became a regular.

Even as he attended secular schools and youth groups, Kariv continued going to the synagogue, teaching himself Jewish texts for much of his adolescence. On one Shavuot, the synagogue’s rabbi delivered a talk that struck the wrong chord.

“Instead of talking about the giving of the Torah, he attacked kibbutzim for their values,” Kariv recalled in an interview with JTA at his office

in the Jerusalem headquarters of Israel’s Reform movement, where he sat in front of a bookshelf lined with religious journals and a compilation of foundational Zionist writings.

The synagogue’s non-egalitarianism and strict adherence to halachah, or Jewish law, made Kariv feel out of place, and eventually he began to learn more about liberal Judaism. Now a Reform rabbi and the CEO of Israel’s Reform movement, Kariv, 39, is mulling yet another life-altering shift: Just as he went from secular to religious, and from Orthodox to Reform, he is deciding whether to move from the synagogue – the “beit ha-knesset” in Hebrew – to the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament.

Kariv is the standout figure in a growing turn toward politics in Israeli Reform and Conservative circles. The movements were part of a recent conference on liberal Jewish political involvement and hope to break Orthodoxy’s traditional domi-

nance of religion in Israel.

Kariv says he’s unsure whether he will run in Israel’s elections scheduled for Jan. 22, but if he does he’ll compete for a spot in the center-left Labor Party. At the moment, Kariv is the only prominent liberal religious leader actively contemplating a run for office.

Conservative and Reform officials here say it’s vital to have a pluralist voice to counter the Orthodox presence in the Knesset, which is growing along with the haredi Orthodox population in Israel. Kariv says he’s concerned with a range of issues, from the economy to security, but that he would focus on religious pluralism if he wins a Knesset seat.

Getting in, though, is no small matter. With elections in three months, Kariv would have to campaign and establish a base of support in Labor and beat out other candidates for a spot on the party’s Knesset list. The Knesset has never had a Reform rabbi in its ranks.

Kariv says increasing greater religious and racial pluralism in Israel is more important than advancing the rights of Reform Jews specifically. Israel’s Rabbinate, which is supported by the government, funds Orthodox rabbis and institutions almost exclusively. The scant funding provided to Reform and Conservative rabbis is the result of a suit won this year by Israel’s Reform movement that requires the government to fund the salaries of non-Orthodox rabbis in rural communities.

“I think the state doesn’t need to get involved in religious communal life,” Kariv said. “I don’t ask for the Reform movement to have a government position like the Orthodox.

Communal religious life needs to be organized voluntarily.”

When he talks about policy, Kariv skips his usual frequent quotation of the traditional Jewish canon and starts to speak like a politician.

KARIV on page 22

Israel Briefs Rockets from Gaza continue to bombard southern Israel JERUSALEM (JTA) – Some 20 rockets fired from Gaza struck southern Israel on Sunday night and Monday morning.

The rockets landed in unpopulated areas and did not cause any injury or damage.

Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. The attacks were “in response to the continued Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip,” the brigades reportedly stated..

More than 70 rockets and mortars were fired last week from Gaza at southern Israeli communities.

More than 615 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip have hit communities in southern Israel since January, including 150 in October, according to the IDF. Iran has photos of Israeli restricted areas, Iranian lawmaker says JERUSALEM (JTA) – An Iranian lawmaker said that Iran has photos of Israeli military bases and other restricted areas.

Esmail Kowsari, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s defense committee, told the Iranian Arabic-language Al-Alam that a drone that breached Israeli airspace earlier this month transmitted photos of restricted Israeli military sites before it was shot down, Reuters reported, citing Iran’s Mehr news agency.

Israeli troops shot down the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, on Oct. 6 over the Negev Desert after it entered Israeli airspace near the Mediterranean Sea. The drone was launched from Lebanon in a cooperation between the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, the Sunday Times of London reported at the time, citing unnamed sources.

U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman Martin Dempsey arrives in Israel JERUSALEM (JTA) – Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Israel to oversee the largestever joint aerial defense exercise of the U.S. and Israel.

Dempsey met Monday with his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, after arriving late the previous day and meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

On Oct. 21, Israeli and U.S. troops began Austere Challenge 12, part of a training exercise designed to increase military cooperation between the two countries. Its planning began more than two years ago and is not a response to specific events in the Middle East, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

12 • CINCINNATI SOCIAL LIFE

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ACCESS’ TUSCAN SUMMER SHABBAT DINNER On Friday, August 24th, Access presented the latest in its Got Shabbat series with a Tuscan Summer Shabbat dinner at The Art of Entertaining in O’Bryonville. Nearly 200 Jewish young professionals participated in this event which featured an Italian wine tasting and an authentic four-course Italian dinner prepared by top chefs in the open view kitchen. Guests got to dine in an outdoor trattoria style setting while they wound down their work week in a fun and relaxing atmosphere. The Got Shabbat dinner series focuses on a different country every quarter and showcases the special culture, customs and cuisine that are unique to each one. Access has hosted four other international Got Shabbat events to date, including Mexican-Style Shabbat, CelebRUSSIAN Shabbat, Israeli Wine and Dine Shabbat and an Indian Summer Shabbat. Coming in November, Access will introduce a brand new series entitled, The United States of Shabbat, which will focus on the iconic tastes and traditions of our own country’s many unique cities and regions. First in the series will be Cincy Shabbat, a tribute to the Queen City’s rich Jewish legacy which will be held at Plum Street Temple, one of the most famous Temples in the U.S. and around the world. Access is an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation for Jewish young professionals, 21-35.

14 • DINING OUT

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Eclectic success at the Blue Elephant

By Michael Sawan Assistant Editor Sometimes eclecticism borders on messiness. When I worked at my college radio station we would have many new DJs come in and request a show. “Well,” we’d ask, “what are you going to play?” The response came like clockwork: “Oh, I don’t know. I figure I’d just plug in my laptop and play whatever.” There’s been a move in music – and food, and I’d assume everything else – for people to like all sorts of things.

No longer will people claim to like only X, Y or Z, instead being a fan of “anything but Country.”

The great thing about the Blue Elephant is that their eclecticism is focused. Their menu is thick, their offerings are broad and all the while their melding of styles is thoughtful, focused and coherent. This is not some freshman DJ who’d jump between opposites on a whim, but an old hand who knows that, if you plan correctly, any and all opposites can be connected.

I spoke with Saowanit Wongtouwan, manager and owner of the Blue Elephant. She offered more insight into the business, telling me that the restaurant’s location has been in business since February 2010. I hadn’t known there was another location, but that turned out to be reasonable: the original restaurant is in San Jose, Calif. Wongtouwan explained that the Cincinnati location had been built on an opportunity, with the structure itself purpose-made for the new Blue Elephant. It is a relatively green building, too, having been made out of recycled materials.

Wongtouwan went on to explain her restaurant’s food and clientele. The Blue Elephant’s food is “not sweet, but fresh and healthy... We have customers who like our food. The salmon is good, nice and fresh. The people who like it know they like it.” Wongtouwan then went on to note her repeat customers with a healthy amount of satisfaction, some coming for Thai, some for Sushi and some even for the restaurant’s Italian offerings.

The ambiance of the restaurant is actually something like an elephant. The space inside is large and high, with plenty of natural, unobtrusive earth tones. It also feels like some sort of nature preserve, with an assortment of decor: rocks, wood paneling, carpet, plants, and even a piece of elephant themed art or two. The music was on the blue side, with a penchant for jazz and the like. As I sat I could see out onto Wasson Road and all of the people managing to exercise in the now cold weather. This area of Oakley-Hyde Park is surprisingly lively, once you take a minute to look, and the restaurant benefits from the energy.

It was my oncoming meal, however, that represented that afore-

(Clockwise) The Sunrise Roll, which looks pretty but is, unfortunately, not quite kosher; The sushi bar with waving Japanese cats and plenty of raw fish; Three employees of the Blue Elephant: Mint, Tay and Oy; An outside view of the Blue Elephant, located on Wasson Road; The special of the day: Fried Tilapia in Choochee Curry sauce; A wreath in the restaurant’s entry way, the colors of fall finally appropriate to the cool temperature.

mentioned eclecticism of the Blue Elephant best. In my eagerness to eat I forgot to mention the kosher standards that the Israelite tries to keep when reviewing food, and so Wongtouwan brought me one of the Blue Elephant’s most popular sushi dishes, a shrimp tempura stuffed Sunrise Roll. There’s no need for details on the dish, but I do need to mention one thing: the balance of flavors meshed wonderfully with the next dish, fried tilapia with choochee curry sauce. Isn’t that odd? Wouldn’t one expect Japanese-American sushi to do anything but complement a Thai choochee? But there it was. Both dishes had a slight spice and buttery creaminess that made them share an important level of equivalence.

They were, of course, different in important ways: the sushi had a good amount of avocado, and the wasabi-soy mixture added that extra umph of umami and nasal-clearing heat. The tilapia, meanwhile, made

fantastic use of the buttery-fry of the fish. The choochee, a zesty sauce that features red curry in a supporting role, worked wonderfully with the fish’s buttery slant. In fact, I had never before tried a curry sauce that so unusually cast the curry. The spice was there, no question about it, but hidden behind a costume, makeup and curtain. Or else, it was like Bizarro-Curry, familiar yet antithetical to what I would have expected. It was accompanied by chilled steamed broccoli. The cool temperature puzzled me at first, but after eating the tilapia for several minutes it suddenly made sense: the choochee curry sauce has an escalating quality, the heat multiplies as you eat it, and so relief must soon be sought. Some people would prescribe bread, others milk, and to that list I add chilled steamed broccoli. It has the absorbency of bread, the coolness of milk, and its ability to sweep up heat is much appreciated.

Alongside the fired tilapia came

a plate of fried rice molded into a heart. It ended up being too cute, in fact, as I felt guilty breaking into it.

It was for good cause, however, as the fried rice was about as hearthealthy as one gets with the dish.

Accompanied only by egg, the rice is very lightly fried, meaning that the flavor is pleasantly mild and surprisingly full. When mixed with the tilapia and choochee sauce you can imagine; the mix was an even tit-for-tat, with the rice cutting the heat on the choochee and adding a bit more savoriness to the fish. To put it another way, it softened certain flavors so that others might sustain longer, all to great success.

A quick side note: the wasabi provided with the sushi was surprisingly mild. I ended up using two or three times as much as I normally would to get the same effect, so keep this in mind if you visit the Blue Elephant. The ginger, meanwhile, was at full potency and had a freshness about it that I had never

before experienced. It was at the great balance of smooth and crisp, with the flavor still possessing its “green” taste, that wholesome fullness that accompanies a still fresh bit of produce.

I didn’t have room to venture into the Italian section of the restaurant, but if I did I imagine I would have found these same common grounds. The Blue Elephant is a restaurant that understands similarity and difference, and so, despite the geographical distance between their food’s native lands, the tastes themselves are the closest of neighbors. Lunch is served Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Dinner is served Monday – Thursday, 5 – 10 p.m.; Friday, 5 – 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.

The Blue Elephant 2912 Wasson Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45209 (513) 351-0123

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

DINING OUT • 15

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Andy’s Mediterranean Grille At Gilbert & Nassau 2 blocks North of Eden Park 281-9791

Izzy’s 800 Elm St • 721-4241 612 Main St • 241-6246 5098B Glencrossing Way 347-9699 1198 Smiley Ave • 825-3888 300 Madison Ave Covington • 859-292-0065

Pomodori’s 121West McMillan • 861-0080 7880 Remington Rd Montgomery • 794-0080

Baba India Restaurant 3120 Madison Rd Cincinnati 321-1600 Bangkok Terrace 4858 Hunt Rd Blue Ash 891-8900 • 834-8012 (fx) Bella Luna Café 4632 Eastern Ave Cincinnati 871-5862 Blue Elephant 2912 Wasson Rd Cincinnati 351-0123 Cafe Mediterranean 9525 Kenwood Rd Cincinnati 745-9386 Carlo & Johnny 9769 Montgomery Rd Cincinnati 936-8600 Ferrari’s Little Italy & Bakery 7677 Goff Terrace Madeira 272-2220

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16 • OPINION

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

Publisher’s note: It is the policy of The American Israelite to present all views and opinions. We have let all letters to the editor run with only minor corrections so that all readers may present their opinions as they see fit. We do not censor, as some of you wish. This will remain the policy of The American Israelite going forward.

Dear Editor, If the pollsters are close with their numbers, after the election half the people are going to be elated and the other half let down.

If I can remind everybody, we are ONE Jewish community living in the United States of America.

Please let us not forget that.

Sincerely, Alan M. Eichner Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, Regarding the hateful and biased letters that have appeared over the years in your column, we would like to add our comments.

As best as we can recall these scurrilous letters started to appear when Barack Obama became the first serious African American candidate seeking the office of President of the United States. We find it extremely difficult to comprehend why our local (and only) Jewish publication would print such hog wash!!

Jews in the world for centuries have experienced similar hate filled unwarranted attacks and even under the guise of the First Amendment there is no excuse for AI to propagate such morally offensive and despicable commentary. Please reconsider your policies!

Sincerely, Nancy & Jerry Schwartz Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, I just read the raft of letters to the editor blasting you and The Israelite for supporting America’s Constitutional right to free speech.

You are to be commended for allowing the minority – Republican Jews – the space to make their case in the Presidential election.

As to the letter writers who demonstrate their lack of writing ability with the juvenile tactic of name-calling; they are not taken seriously by people of intellect.

I hope you write an editorial explaining the right and power of a free press and that The Israelite will stand for all to voice their opinions and how those who try to silence others and to chastise you

for not doing so should be ashamed.

Sincerely, Chuck Klein Georgetown and Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, With sadness I read the October 25th edition of The American Israelite, which included an article that Senator George McGovern had passed on. The article mentioned Sen. McGovern’s service during World War II, when he flew missions in the B-24 Liberator over enemy territory. In the first week of August 1944, 200 B-24 Liberators, one piloted by Lieutenant McGovern, carpet bombed the IG Farben Buna Works, a Nazi slave labor camp at Auschwitz. I am an eyewitness of this bombing mission.

In 2005, The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education arranged a symposium, and invited Sen. McGovern as a guest to remember the heroes of WWII. I had the honor as a former prisoner at Auschwitz to meet Lt. McGovern in person, rather than 2500 feet apart.

I thank him for his service and I am ever grateful for soldiers of WWII doing their job so brilliantly so that we had the opportunity to live in a free county, in this marvelous city of Cincinnati.

May he rest in peace.

Sincerely, Werner Coppel Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, I was a bit shocked when I discovered this a.m. that AI lifted my Facebook post comment to Ms. Wolf’s Facebook comment and placed my post and Ms. Wolf’s Facebook post in this week’s newsprint edition underneath Ms. Wolf’s Facebook comment. AI also spelled Ms. Wolf’s name out in the newsprint version of my Facebook comment when I actually used NW in my Facebook comment.

I feel a bit like a guinea pig and thought of my Facebook friend, Tony Clifton the great comedian possibly doing a rendition of Dylan’s “You gotta serve somebody” as “You gotta be a guinea pig.”

I am thinking of posting this comment to Tony Clifton’s community, but as for now, I will ask the AI community, do you think AI and all other newspapers should have the right to: A. Copy and paste Facebook posts and place them in their newsprint versions?

And: B. Have the right to alter Facebook posts?

Well, although not ethical, I suppose it’s legal to copy and paste Facebook comments from your AI Facebook page. I wasn’t too excited about seeing my Facebook comment post in print, but let’s just say I am not a thrill seeker. Please do take note of my today’s comment post and you’re welcome to print both (not one without the other and with no alterations or removal or additions of text).

Sincerely, Brad Berman Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, I checked out The American Israelite online to see where my article was and I came away very upset by the lack of professionalism and sloppiness after seeing where and how it was placed. First of all, my article, “How Access Can Give ‘Access’ To All Jewish Young Adults,” was never intended to be a letter to the editor. It is an Op/Ed meant to stand on its own and I think that was very clear by the format I sent it to you. Having it sit toward the bottom of the headline-less letters to the editor makes it merely another black block of text. Furthermore, if my article was going to be treated as a letter to the editor, then please don’t include my headline as the first sentence of my response.

Having my article read “How Access Can Give ‘Access’ To All Jewish Young Adults” and then proceed with what I actually wrote makes it sound completely ridiculous. It all begs the question of whether your editorial staff actually reads the articles that are submitted to it or not.

While of course I am glad that my article is in the paper in some format, I am very disappointed it did not receive the care and attention it deserved.

Sincerely, Michael Bassin Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, The readers of this publication, myself included, should be very concerned about the make-up of our Supreme Court should Governor Romney be our next President. As we are all aware the court, today, has an effective five to four conservative majority. This majority, on party lines, awarded the 2004 presidential election to George Bush. It has voted to allow our wealthiest corporations and individuals to anonymously con-

tribute unlimited amounts of money to so-called pacs which support their favored candidates. It would have overturned the President’s medical care plan had not the Chief Justice realized that such a decision would have so politicized the court as to endanger its status among the American people.

If President Romney, as he has promised, were to bring to the court one or two more right wing conservative justices, the effect on our individual liberties would be horrendous. First to go would probably be Roe v. Wade, which for forty years has allowed women to have legal control over their persons. Then the majority would surely strike down the laws that preclude denominational prayer in the public schools. Jewish readers of the Israelite should realize that these prayers would not represent their beliefs. And, of course, those laws which provide health care to our neediest citizens would certainly be discarded. These are but a few examples of what a Romney Supreme Court could and would do to our rights as Americans I hope you will consider the ramifications of a Romney victory, and then go to the polls and make sure that it-and-they do not happen.

Vote like your liberty depends on it. It well may!

Sincerely, Lou Jacobs Cincinnati, OH (Publisher’s note: it was the 2000 election that was decided by the Supreme Court.)

Dear Editor, It has been said “When confronted with facts, liberals resort to name calling.” I have been called a “prime offender.” I thank the individual for pointing out the fact that I am not a sheep and do not follow the rantings of the liberal left in this country. I do not knuckle under to name calling and group pressure. I consider it quite a compliment to be called names by liberals. It is a clear indication that they have lost the argument, have no facts to support their position and have no rational support for their position. For many months, my conservative friends and I have been presenting facts and figures showing Obama to be anti Israel.

He bowed down to Arab leaders and skipped visiting Israel during his “apology tour of the Arab world.” He walked out on a dinner with Netanyahu. When visiting the UN Obama refused to meet with Israel, instead making an appearance on The View and Letterman.

The radical Muslims clearly see Obama’s “non support” for Israel.

Iran will unleash nukes on Israel if not stopped. Obama’s rhetoric has the force of a “Restraining Order” against a crazed ex spouse. Nevil Chamberlain was Hitler’s champion during the ‘30s and ‘40s. We are seeing that same naive thought process making a resurgence.

What do they say about those who forget history?

When faced with the obvious, liberals in Cincinnati resort to vitriol, name calling and intolerance.

With such overwhelming daily evidence of antisemitism coming from the Obama administration, the only explanation that a Jew could support Obama is clearly stated by Michael Savage (A great supporter of Israel) “Liberalism is a mental disorder. There is no cure.” Wait until your 90 year old parent or grandparent is dying of cancer, and Obama’s death panels determine that the cost of treatment outweighs your relatives life span and they are denied care.

Sincerely, Paul Glassman Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, I noticed a number of letters in The American Israelite complaining about the language used, primarily by Paul Glassman, and perhaps, no one specifically said it, by me. Have these people been listening to Liberal commentators and comedians, like Bill Maher, who are absolutely obscene? Have any of these letter writers complained about any of these? I doubt it. The complaints only fly when a conservative speaks up. While Glassman’s language was colorful it was no worse than that used by many of the leading Democrats, specifically Obama and Biden.

I also have to wonder how these people keep up with current events. They seem to be uninformed. They certainly cannot do a very good job of this by reading the Enquirer or watching ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, nor much of the rest of the media. These outlets have done a very poor job of covering the administration’s handling of the Libya situation and the administration’s notice to military contractors to ignore the law requiring notification to employees on impending layoffs due to sequestration. The administration has guaranteed indemnification from the law to these contractors.

These notices should be going out right about now, just before the election. This administration thinks it is above the law. This is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, most of the media will not report much of anything that is not favorable to this administration. Reading political commentators or party talking points does not get the job done.

These are biased sources that filter the news through their own persuasions. What is needed is raw news devoid of opinions that newspapers should provide, but few do. As it is, this information is available, but it requires some proactive work to obtain. Judging from what I have read from Obama supporters, none of them have done this. When some conLETTERS on page 22

JEWISH LIFE • 17

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

EFRAT, Israel — “Take your son….and bring him up as a dedication…” (Genesis 22:1).

A little more than four decades ago, when I was telling my young children the story of the week’s Biblical portion, my elder daughter, Batya, tearfully interrupted my tale saying, “Stop lying to me Abba and stop telling stupid and scary stories. Hashem loves everyone – that’s what you always tell us. He couldn’t have asked Abraham to do to Isaac what you said.” Trembling, she then ran into the bedroom to complain to my wife – and refused to listen to my Biblical renditions for the next two weeks.

For the first time, I was forced to re-examine the Biblical account from the viewpoint of a naïve, potential victim – and I saw the words of the Scripture in all of their awesome terror. I have been wrestling with the import of the akedah story ever since. Now, I shall attempt to answer Batya’s question; How could God have made such a cruel request of Abraham?

“And it happened after these things that God tested, or proved (Ramban) or held aloft as a banner (Maimonides, Guide) Abraham, and said to him, ‘Take your son, your only one, whom you love, and bring him up as a dedication upon one of the mountains that I shall show you’” (Genesis 22:1,2).

The opening words, “And it happened after these things (or events),” suggest that the Divine commandment came as a result and a punishment of the two preceding Biblical events. Fascinatingly, the event immediately preceding the command of the akedah could be construed a transgression according to Israel’s political right wing – a sin of giving away part of the Promised Land of Israel – and the event before that could be considered a sin by Israel’s political left wing – a sin against Yishmael.

Let us first analyze the episode immediately preceding the akedah – the treaty Abraham makes with Abimelekh the King of the Philistines, allowing him and his people to live in the Negev portion of the Promised Land (Genesis 21:22-33). The Rashbam maintains that “After the event in which Abraham made a covenant with Avimelekh, the Holy One Blessed be He became angry with him for that, since this land of the Philistines is subsumed under the (Divinely granted) borders of Israel… Hence

I have been wrestling with the import of the akedah story ever since. Now, I shall attempt to answer Batya’s question; How could God have made such a cruel request of Abraham?

God vexed and punished Abraham as if to say, “You acted in a highhanded manner against the son I gave you by making a treaty between yourselves (You and Avimelekh) and your children and his children, giving away the patrimony promised to Isaac... Now go and bring him (Isaac) as a dedication and see how you will be benefited by this treaty!” (Rashbam ad loc).

Close to 4,000 years later, before the Partition Plan of Nov. 29, 1947, a less generous division of land was offered to David Ben Gurion. Uncharacteristically, he found it difficult to reach a decision; he asked the one person in the Labor Party he truly respected, Yitzhak Tabenkin, to make the decision for him, promising that he would go along with whatever Tabenkin decided. Tabenkin agreed, but requested time to take counsel with two people. The next morning, Tabenkin advised Ben Gurion to reject the deal. “I will listen to you,” said the Jewish leader, “But tell me, with whom did you take counsel?”

“I asked two individuals,” answered Tabenkin, “I asked my grandfather and I asked my grandson. I asked my grandfather who died 10 years ago and I asked my grandson who has not yet been born. The land of Israel belongs to them!”

Abraham’s penultimate act prior to the akeda may be called, “The sacrifice of Ishmael.” It begins when the older and more sophisticated Ishmael mocks the younger and more naive Isaac which leads Sarah to demand that Abraham banish Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham at first demurs, but then complies with the Divine command that he heed his wife Sarah. This narrative has striking parallels to the akeda story which suggests that God’s request that Abraham sacrifice Isaac comes as a punishment for his having callously sacrificed Ishmael one chapter before!

The Bible describes the banishment of Ishmael: “Early the next morning, Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.” (Genesis 21: 14)

Rashi’s commentary on this verse, points out, “Abraham (sent them out with) bread and water and not with gold and silver.” This was nothing short of a death mission!

And then we find the parallel phrases to the akeda: “Abraham rose early in the morning” (Genesis 22: 3), and “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac” (Genesis 22:6) just as he placed the meager supplies of bread and water on Ishmael.

God sends Abraham with his “olah” on what seems to be a death mission and they too must wander toward an unknown destination (ibid 22:3). In both incidents, it is an angel who saves both boys (21:17, 22:11) and the angel who blesses each with the blessing of becoming a great nation (21:17, 22:15-19).

The command of Akedat Yitzhak comes as the punishment for Akedat Yishmael!

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

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T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: VAYERA (BRAISHITH 18:1—22:24) 1. Did Abraham's guests eat? a.) Yes b.) No 2. What was the main point in Abraham's prayer for Sodom? a.) The city was not as bad as perceived b.) Eventually righteous people would come from it c.) There were righteous people now in the city 3. Did of all Lot's family escape Sodom safely? a.) Yes b.) No destruction was a joke and his wife turned to a pillar of salt. Lot's wife refused to give a poor person salt therefore she turned to a pillar of salt.

4. C 19:30 5. D 20:14-17 Avimelech gave Avraham and Sarah money and land. The forgiveness is not as clear. Rashi says he gave Avraham money so he would pray for Avimelech's healing. However, he still held he was innocent because he thought Sarah was his sister. Rashi

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT VAYERA GENESIS 18:1-22:24

4. Where did Lot go after Sodom was destroyed? a.) Lived with Avraham b.) Left Canaan c.) Went to the mountains 5. How did Avimelech make up with Avraham? a.) Gave him land b.) Gave him money c.) Requested forgivess d.) All four ANSWERS 1. A 18:8 Avraham's guests were angels, but appeared to be eating because one should not deviate from local customs. Rashi 2. C 18:24-32 10 righteous people could save each city. Less than 10 per city could not save because more people (10) have greater power than less. Ramban 3. B 19:14,26 Lot's two future son in laws thought Lot's message of

Sedra of the Week

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

JEWZ

IN THE

By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist “THE SESSIONS” You might not have heard of the indie film, “The Sessions,” but you will hear a lot about it in the months to come. It is a virtual certainty that it will garner Oscar nominations early next year. The film debuted at the 2012 Sundance Festival, where it won major awards. The film opened in a few cities on the 19th, and got absolute raves. (Opens in Cincinnati on Nov. 9) It is based on a true story of the late Mark O’Brien (played by John Hawkes). O’Brien contracted polio when he was a young child. It left him with little muscle control below his neck and he had to stay most of the time in an iron lung machine to breath. A smart, funny, and incredibly determined guy, he earned a UC Berkeley grad degree and was a pretty good poet and journalist. In 1988, when O’Brien was 38, certain events came together that led O’Brien to make a determined effort to lose his virginity.

O’Brien, a practicing Catholic, frequently sought the counsel of his very humane priest (William Macy, 62). The priest and O’Brien discussed many topics, including love and sexuality.

The priest suggested that O’Brien also consult a therapist. The therapist told O’Brien that he might be helped, in regard to sex, by seeking the services of a professional sex surrogate. The therapist contacted CHERYL COHEN GREENE (played incredibly well by Helen Hunt), a Berkeley-based sex surrogate and her relationship with, and her four sessions with O’Brien, are a large part of the film. The sex scenes between O’Brien and Greene do contain full frontal female nudity, but they are not salacious in the least. They are real and tender and even, now and again, a little funny.

The director/writer of the film, BEN LEWIN, 65, also is a polio victim and walks with canes. Born in Poland, and raised in Australia, he was a criminal barrister before becoming a TV/film director and he made some good films, including one about Jewish refugees interned in Australia (“The Dunera Boys”).

But he found it hard to get work in the last decade and was selling high end wrist watches in California before making “The Sessions.” His script is like a high-end watch with everything

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fitting just so. Gentle humor is interspersed throughout the film, thus giving this dramatic story a lightness that is an unexpected delight.

Greene, 68, who I recently spoke to, was raised a Catholic.

She converted to Judaism (“Conservative”) in 1968 and her two children were raised Jewish.

The film depicts her as converting during the time she was treating O’Brien. This minor factual change allowed Lewin to have a moving scene in which Greene enters a mikveh bath as part of her conversion. The mikveh “dip” and the comments of the female attendant (played by RHEA PERLMAN, 64)—subtly reference back to O’Brien’s condition in a way that is hard to explain in a few words.

ROBIN WEIGERT, 43, has a small, but “lovely” role at the end of the film as SUSAN FERNBACH, a writer. Greene told me that Hawkes, who played Jewish shopkeeper Sol Star on “Deadwood,” asked Weigert (who played Calamity Jane on “Deadwood”) to be in “Sessions.”

RAISMAN REDUX I know I’ve written quite a bit about Olympic gold medalist ALY RAISMAN, 22. But a recent TV station report really moved me and probably will move you, too. Raisman received an award from Women’s International Zionist Organization of South Florida on Oct. 17. Accompanied by her parents, she personally appeared to accept the award which was given to “celebrate her courage and commitment to the Jewish people after dedicating her extraordinary performance to the 11 Israeli athletes massacred 40 years ago at the Olympic Games in Munich.” Raisman told a Florida TV station about performing to the music of Hava Nagila, “It was so exciting to perform it. It gave me such an adrenaline rush, and it was so exciting to be able to represent my Jewish heritage.” Her mother told the station, “I was talking to our rabbi back home, and he shared a letter that he had gotten from a woman whose mother was a Holocaust survivor, and she was watching the Olympics, and she had no idea that Aly was performing.

When she did perform her floor routine to Hava Nagila she said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I never thought in my lifetime that I would see a Jewish girl performing at the Olympics to Hava Nagila.’”

FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO Among all the unpleasant duties of an editor, the task of writing the obituary to a deceased friend as faithful and intimate as Dr. Rothenheim was to us, – is certainly the most unpleasant and melancholy duty. – Still we owe the deceased this token of respect and this last evidence of immortal friendship. It is with a tear of mourning that we perform this duty.

Our readers are familiar with the name and literary productions of the man whose life and demise we are called upon to chronicle.

Before we do so, however, we must state his demerits. The world always sees the faults of prominent men and is very apt to magnify them, as though they were spotless. So everybody who knows Rothenheim, now thinks he was a sensual man, an egotist, and indulged too freely in spiritual beverages, in consequence of which he broke down rapidly and died after suffering better than a year of chronic diarrhea – The world is not so very hard as it is superficial in judging the characters of prominent men. Few, if any, ever asked themselves, how it is possible, how could it happen that a man of Rothenheim’s profound research, extensive erudition and learning, deep and philosophical mind should fall into such vices, vices that costed him many a year of life? Our sketch of the man’s life and works will answer this query. – November 7, 1862

nificently embroidered linen that every mother will covet it. Mr. H.C. Piefflin, the genial manager, extends a cordial invitation to all the ladies of the city to view the display, of which he is justly proud, and assures them that aside, from the pleasure, they will find many valuable hints in art needlework. – November 4, 1887

100 Y EARS A GO Mr. and Mrs. Isador Michelson have left for a trip through the South to be gone about six weeks.

Upon their return they will be glad to see their many friends in their new home on Redway Avenue, Avondale, which is nearing completion.

“Everybody’s” for November, presents a very fine portrait of George W. Harris, a member of the Sinking Fund Commission, and speaks of him as “a Cincinnati business man who retired at the age of 45 to devote the rest of his life to the common good.”

The friends of Mrs. Leo Westheimer (Delphine Ransohoff) will be interested to hear that one of her clever short stories has been accepted by Harper’s Bazaar and will be published in the November Issue. Mrs. Westheimer, who has developed quite a talent for literature, has taken the nom de plume of D. R. West, and this maiden sketch will be read with interest by her wide circle of friends. – October 31, 1912

75 Y EARS A GO 125 Y EARS A GO Most of our ladies are tolerably familiar with the wonderfully artistic work that can be done by a first-class operator with a good sewing machine. Yet we venture to say that even those who have seen most of this class of work will experience a very pleasant surprise should they visit the handsome parlor of the Domestic Sewing Machine Company, at 180 West Fourth Street. The Company has now on view an exhibit of the products of their machines which, in beauty, taste and elegance, far surpasses anything ever seen here before. It includes portieres upon which floral pieces have been wrought with an artistic loveliness and fidelity to nature and in a manner which is simply marvelous; pictures which, at the first glance, look so much like the work of an artist of high rank that it takes close examination to show that it is the work of the needle and not of the brush. Here is also a cradle which is dressed with such mag-

Mrs. Alice Roosevelt Longworth and Councilman Willis D. Gradison, will be guests of honor Friday, Oct. 29th, at 2:30 to 4 p.m. at a tea at the Belvedere ballroom, Reading Road at Rose Hill Avenue. Mrs. Saul Zielonka will be chairman of the day. All are welcome.

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Collin, 829 Hutchins Avenue, will be at home Sunday, Nov 7th, from 3 until 12 midnight, in honor of their two daughters, Misses Rose and Belle Collin, who will leave Nov. 15th for the winter in Florida.

Miss Belle Collin is convalescing from a recent operation which has delayed her return to Ohio State University for her Senior year until Spring. – October 28, 1937

50 Y EARS A GO Chaplain and Mrs. Richard E. Dryer have returned to the United States from a 4 1/2 year tour of

duty in Europe, were he was Jewish Chaplain in Nuremberg, Germany.

Ordained by the Hebrew Union College in 1957, Rabbi Dryer is attending the Career Course at the U.S. Army Chaplain School, Fort Hamilton, N.Y. His wife, the former Miss Ariene Gottlieb, and their daughter, Deborah, also are with him in Brooklyn. They will visit with friends and relatives in Cincinnati in December before taking up residence at his new post, Fort Knox, KY. Mrs. Dryer is the daughter of Mrs. Sidell K. Gottlieb of Cincinnati. – November 1, 1962

25 Y EARS A GO A select group of nationally and internationally known jazz musicians will perform at the Music Hall Ballroom on Tuesday evening, Nov. 10 to benefit the Emanuel Community Center in Over-The-Rhine.

The 8 p.m. concert will feature jazz performed by artists who are from Cincinnati, went to school here, or have established a strong following in the area.

The musicians performing include Fred Hersch, pianist, born and raised in Cincinnati and now an international performer; James Moody, tenor saxophone player known for his long association with Dizzy Gillespie; Frank Foster, Cincinnati – tenor saxophonist who currently leads the Count Basie Orchestra; and Curtis Pegler, former leader of the Modern Jazz Disciples, Cincinnati’s most popular jazz band during the 1960s and currently a resident of Los Angeles. – November 5, 1987

10 Y EARS A GO Theresa Adair Singleton, director of the prevention from abuse programs at the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati will speak at the Na’amat Self-Assessment Luncheon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m.- noon at the Amberley House, 3501 Section Road.

Na’amat members will volunteer their donor commitments for the next year at the meeting.

Singleton is a graduate of Miami University and the Ohio Public Health Leadership Institute.

She presented more than 300 workshops and programs related to domestic violence, including lectures to many local groups, synagogues and businesses and international groups, including some from Israel. – October 31, 2002

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

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COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY 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 Jewish Vocational Service (513) 985-0515 • jvscinti.org Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org

CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tikvah (513) 759-5356 • bnai-tikvah.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

EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) 513-262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com

ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (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.org

EMPLOYMENT

SENIOR SERVICES

WANTED PART TIME TORAH READER/COORDINATOR OF TORAH READING PROFESSIONAL POSITION WITH COMPETITIVE COMPENSATION

ADATH ISRAEL CONGREGATION CONTACT RABBI IRVIN WISE rabbi@adath-israel.org

LEADERS from page 3 Ben received the Allen A. Cowett Award, named for a longtime dedicated Jewish Federation professional who was a pioneer in developing and administering the allocations process for distributing funds to worthy agency recipients. The Cowett Award provides the recipient with either a trip to JFNA’s General Assembly or participation in a JFNA Young Leadership conference.

Tamar Smith demonstrates her drive and enthusiasm by actively engaging in many of our vital community initiatives, including the Mayerson JCC board, the Cincinnati Community Mikveh and Congregation Sha’arei Torah.

CSO from page 5 Among the CSO’s many community partners for “One City, One Symphony” is The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, while presenting sponHADASSAH from page 9 Hadassah Medical Center is unique among Israel’s large hospitals in that it is privately owned, which means that it receives minimal funding from Israel’s Health Ministry, though the ministry is covering 15 percent of the Davidson Tower’s costs.

Hadassah also was hit hard by Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and had to pay a $45 million in a “clawback” settlement to some of the scandal’s victims. Natan said “the Madoff scandal is behind us,” but that the organization has had to cut back on its spending.

“Our ability to continually expand has weakened a bit because Hadassah gives less money,” the official said. He added that the hospital has had trouble expanding its Israeli donor pool “because the big money is in Tel Aviv,” whereas the medical center is in Jerusalem.

Getting Israeli philanthropists to support Hadassah is especially hard because Israel lacks America’s culture of philanthropy, according to Itay Greenspan, a Hebrew University expert on Jewish donations to Israeli nonprofits. This stems from historical dependence in Israel on socialist governments and on U.S. donations, he said. Israel’s tax exemptions for charitable giving also are

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Up to 24 hour care Meal Preparation Errands/Shopping Hygiene Assistance Light Housekeeping

(513) 531-9600 She is also a graduate of the LEAD program and now volunteers on the Jewish Federation’s Planning & Allocations committee as a council chair.

Tamar received the Clara Greller Award. Clara was the respected Women’s Division Director for the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati for many years. The Greller Award, which recognizes a woman under 40 years old, provides the recipient with either a trip to JFNA’s General Assembly or participation in a JFNA Young Leadership conference.

The Young Leadership Awards were last given in 2010, to Jewish Federation volunteers Debbie Brant, Chase Kohn and Daniel Lipson. sors are the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati and the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr. U.S. Bank Foundation.

Like all of the CSO’s listening parties, these events will be free and open to the public. not nearly as broad as those in the United States.

Israel has “a long history of Diaspora support,” Greenspan said. He said that several generations ago, small groups of religious Jews in Jerusalem would receive support from Diaspora sources, and after the state was founded, “the Israeli establishment adopted the same process. People feel that this is the least that the Jewish Diaspora could do.”

Despite the paucity of local donors, Hadassah’s projects in Israel are growing. The centennial celebration, which was held over several days last week in Jerusalem, brought nearly 2,000 members and supporters to Israel.

The celebrations included tours of Hadassah philanthropic projects and speeches by Israeli government officials such as President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who received an award.

Last week, the organization announced a new $10 million gift from Irene Pollin, founder and chairman of Sister to Sister and wife of the late sports executive Abe Pollin, for a cardiovascular wellness center at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Hadassah and Sister to Sister also will collaborate to raise heart health awareness in Israel and the United States.

20 • LEGAL

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Trying Juveniles as Adults Legally Speaking

by Marianna Bettman Juveniles can be sent to adult court to be tried as adults. The hearing to determine whether to allow this is called an amenability hearing. There are a certain number of euphemisms in the juvenile justice system, and “amenability” is one of them. An amenability hearing is used to determine if a juvenile alleged to be delinquent remains “amenable” to rehabilitation – the stated goal of the juvenile system, or should be bound over to adult court to be tried as an adult.

A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court of Ohio decided a case in which the issue was whether an amenability hearing could be waived, and if so, what makes for an acceptable and effective waiver.

The case was State v. D.W. Both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Ohio Supreme Court have LAWSUITS from page 7 Leon was one of the first to reach out to descendants of CryptoJews, including Loya, who in turn reached out to him for Jewish education. In 1986, during his first week at El Paso’s Conservative B’nai Zion Synagogue, three different people visited him wanting to know more about their possible Crypto-Jewish roots. He eventually gathered a group of Hispanics who sought to learn about Judaism and/or wishing to convert or “return.”

Anousim came to the El Paso conference from Washington, Texas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Massachusetts and New York. At the summer conference, Leon presided at a group wedding of six couples, most of whom had “returned.” The conference began with a traditional Jewish Friday night service and festive meal.

Prof. Dr. Rogelio Louis Davila Martinez, Ph.D., lectured on the comingling of Jews, Conversos and Catholics in the Church and in Medieval Spain.

Following Shabbat lunch, Rabbi Stephen Landau spoke on B’nei Anousim returning to normative Judaism. Landau, of Albuquerque, N.M., believes it is important that the broader Jewish community recognize the presence and contributions of Sephardic Jews and Jews of

been deciding a lot of significant cases about juveniles recently. In a series of cases in which it has held that juveniles really are different, and not just little adults, the U.S. Supreme Court has invalidated the following: the death penalty for a capital offense committed as a juvenile, life without the possibility of parole for a juvenile offender in a non-homicide case, and most recently, mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for juvenile homicide offenders. And the Ohio Supreme Court recently invalidated lifetime registration and notification requirements for certain juvenile sex offenders.

It’s against this backdrop that the Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously held in the D.W. case that while an amenability hearing can be waived, it wasn’t properly waived in D.W.’s case. Let’s take a look at what happened.

Seventeen year old D.W. was charged with one count each of burglary and theft. An amenability hearing was held in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court to determine if D.W. should be transferred to adult court. In deciding whether or not to transfer a case a judge is supposed to look at a number of factors provided in the pertinent statute. Some of those factors are whether the victim suffered physical, psychological, or economic

harm, the vulnerability of the victim, the relationship between the juvenile and the victim, whether a gun was involved, any past record, whether the victim facilitated or provoked the incident, the maturity of the juvenile, and any issues of mental illness or retardation.

In this case, though, D.W. had been in front of the same judge and the same prosecutor, with the same lawyer six weeks earlier. At the earlier hearing the juvenile judge had decided D.W. was not amenable to rehabilitation in the juvenile justice system, and had bound him over to adult court. So, the judge short circuited the process in this case. After an off-the-record sidebar conference with both lawyers in this later case, the judge, based on his earlier determination, dispensed with the amenability hearing, and again bound D.W. over to common pleas court to be tried as an adult. D.W. was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison.

D.W. made a number of arguments in his appeal to the high court. He argued that an amenability hearing cannot be waived.

Allowing a juvenile to waive such a hearing is fundamentally inconsistent with what juvenile courts are about. At any amenability hearing the Court must consider the factors set forth in the statute. In this case there was no amenability determination made. An individualized

hearing is consistent with the philosophy that juveniles are different when it comes to punishment. As a fallback position D.W. also argued that if the Court were to find that an amenability hearing could be waived, no waiver is valid unless it is expressly stated on the record by the juvenile or his lawyer, and is voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waived, and that in this case the so-called waiver was invalid.

The state argued, quite simply, that an amenability hearing can be waived and was properly waived in this case.

The Supreme Court of Ohio characterized an amenability hearing as “a crucial stage of the proceedings,” and agreed with D.W. that he was entitled to due process protections in that hearing. But the Court, in a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice O’Connor (Justice O’Donnell concurred in judgment only) did not buy D.W.’s argument that an amenability hearing could not be waived. The Court held that it could. But it didn’t stop there, either. It agreed with D.W. that the amenability hearing was not properly waived in his case.

Why did the Court not find a valid waiver in this case? There was no meaningful discussion on the record about the amenability hearing. There was no express statement on the record waiving this hearing, and the high Court flatly

rejected the prosecution’s argument that there was an implied waiver in this case. There was no evidence that D.W. even knew he had a right to an amenability hearing, and the juvenile court failed in its duty of inquiry on this point. And the juvenile judge was just plain wrong when he determined that a prior recent bindover eliminated the need for an amenability hearing in this case. “Each case presented to the juvenile court must be assessed on its own merits,” the Court wrote.

In order for there to be a proper waiver of an amenability hearing, here is the absolute must list of requirements: – Any waiver request must be expressly stated on the record, by a lawyer. Having a lawyer do this cannot be waived.

– The juvenile court judge must determine that the waiver is knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made. This must include a colloquy with the juvenile and must be on the record.

– The record must indicate the specific factors that were applied and that underpin the juvenile judge’s determination.

So, the Ohio Supreme Court concluded that the juvenile judge had failed to conduct the necessary amenability hearing in this case, and sent the case back for an amenability hearing or a proper waiver.

different skin color.

On Saturday evening Miriam Hererra, author of Kaddish for Columbus, read her poems “Childhood Dreams in Chalk,” “Blessing the Animals,” “Valle Grande” and “Letter from Jerusalem.” Her brother, Ephraim Herrera, a cantor and musician, entertained with Ladino roman music of voice and piano.

Conference numbers swelled on

U.S. took over much of the Spanish/Mexican holdings and which were supposed to be, but were not always, honored by the U.S. Some portions of these land grants went to Crypto-Jews. In the centuries that have passed, many hidden Jews did not receive their legacies.

Texas lawyer Eileen McKenzie Fowler has been documenting similar legacies for 18 years, including research and recovery of mineral

hundreds of South Texas families in Texas courts but is not aware of any claims specifically brought by Anousim or Crypto Jews, or if any of them are among her clients.

Dr. Stanley M. Hordes, author of the 2005 book, To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico, writes, “On the basis of the clues provided by the historical record, material culture, genetics, genealogy and ethnography, it appears that crypto Jews and their descendants have been an important component of the multiethnic mosaic from the state of New Mexico (as well as other areas in the Southwest) from the initial exploration and colonization enterprise by the Spanish in the late 16th Century to the recent past.”

Leon says, “American Jews have helped Jews from the Soviet Union, Ethiopia and Syria, and it’s time to help our internal ‘hidden’ Jews.” In 2009, the Conservative Jewish Platform accepted his resolution to welcome the B’nei Anousim and to memorialize the suffering of Spanish Jews under the Inquisition as part of Tisha B’Av observances.

Whether or not any lawsuits are brought against the Catholic Church, it is likely that more people with possible Jewish roots in the American Southwest will continue to come forward with questions and seek to determine their own lineage, perhaps through DNA testing.

BRIEFS from page 8

Courtesy of Alumah Rivkah Photography.

The 2011 wedding of Sonya Loya in the Sephardic Education Center of Jerusalem’s Old City. Loya—a Hispanic-American woman raised as a Catholic in New Mexico—learned from her father at age 44 that his family swore him to secrecy about their Jewish roots.

Sunday when the Moshav Band performed their music.

That same day, Alia UresteGarcia, a returnee and activist, spoke about the Spanish and Mexican land grants that were given before the

rights for heirs and family members of Spanish and Mexican land grants who claim that their ancestors’ land was taken from them by outright theft, fraud and/or political deception. Fowler has represented

Specific associations were asked not to display their flags as a safety precaution.” His group, TaskForce Inklusion, had been tasked by the municipality to organize parts of the event.

Max Meyer, head of the Danish Zionist Federation, was quoted as saying, “It is a shame that one group is discriminated against, especially at a diversity celebration.”

In the festival, participants were supposed to offer visitors food and culture connected with their ethnicity. The festival featured a Kurdish stall and three Palestinian organizations, Meyer wrote. Jews, Muslims and Christians shared one stall at the event.

ROCKETS from page 9 In addition to the contribution from The Jewish Agency for Israel, the cabinet approved an additional allocation to be spread over three years for the building of protected spaces in the Gaza area.

Jewish and Israeli leaders attending the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors in Tel Aviv were briefed on the decision. The Board of Governors meets three times a year to hold in depth strategic discussions about issues affecting the Jewish world.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

had been a longtime friend of Winston’s, they quickly exchanged what each knew of the provenance of the scroll. It was the one. “His plan was to give it to another synagogue,” said Julie Ann. Meanwhile, Julie Ann also was looking for a rabbi to prepare Charlotte for her bat mitzvah. She connected with Rabbi Jerry Levy, who worked with students via Skype. She had known Levy

growing up in San Diego; he had been the rabbi at her brother David’s bar mitzvah.

Levy also was the chaplain at AlmaVia, a faith-based elder care community in San Rafael, Calif., where according to the rabbi, 18 to 20 of the 120 residents are Jewish.

Julie Ann inquired if Levinson would consider giving the Torah to Levy for use in his community.

Levinson agreed and this month, Levy held a dedication at AlmaVia. With Levinson, Julie Ann and Charlotte present – she helped roll the scroll to the correct reading – the scroll to be known as the Hamburger/Fuerstenau Torah was dedicated.

“They were kvelling,” said Levy of the AlmaVia residents on hand.

Speaking at the ceremony, Charlotte recounted her great-greatgrandfather’s escape on Kristallnacht and the Torah’s travels.

“We found it, and not only would I be able to use it for my bat mitzvah, we could give it a home here at AlmaVia,” she said.

“This coming spring, I will borrow the Torah from all of you here at AlmaVia for my bat mitzvah. And the story will continue.”

painting he found has a personal connection to his family: a Rembrandt self-portrait at the Heilbronn-Kochendorf mines that the department would soon return to its owner, the Karlsruhe Art Museum, which was just a few blocks from Ettlinger’s childhood home. (Ettlinger for this story provided JTA a photo of himself and a Monuments Men colleague, Lt. Dale Ford, inspecting the painting.)

The Nazis had hidden the Rembrandt and other major works to protect them from possible Allied bombings, according to Tessa Rosebrock, an art historian and provenance researcher at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe museum.

Praising Ettlinger, Rosebrock said he “did his job in helping his original country, Germany, get better after the war” and in “making a new start..”

Her research indicated that an agent of Karoline Luise, the duchess of the Baden region, had

purchased the Rembrandt at a Paris auction in 1761. It was displayed with other pieces in the duchess’s Karlsruhe Castle, forming the basis of the city’s future art museum.

Meanwhile, in 1920, Ettlinger’s grandfather, Otto Oppenheimer, had bought an etching of the Rembrandt. When Oppenheimer and his wife, Emma, fled Germany, their possessions remained behind in a warehouse in Bruchsal, the town north of Karlsruhe where they lived. After completing his military service in 1946, Ettlinger retrieved his grandparents’ possessions and shipped them to America.

Four years ago, Ettlinger was looking through some boxes in search of art. This time the boxes were his, and he smiled broadly upon locating his grandfather’s Rembrandt etching.

The etching now hangs in Ettlinger’s living room. His three children and four grandchildren see it whenever they visit.

Huberman quit at the height of his fame to broaden his education at the Sorbonne in Paris and became an ardent advocate of a panEuropean union.

With the rise of Hitler, and seeing worse to come, he set about forming a world-class orchestra in a yet largely barren land, far from the coffeehouses and opera houses of Vienna or Budapest.

In 1936, facing a critical shortfall of $80,000 to launch his venture, Huberman enlisted an amateur violinist named Albert Einstein, and together they raised the sum at one benefit dinner in New York.

For the orchestra’s inaugural

concert under the great Italian conductor and ardent anti-fascist Arturo Toscanini, 100,000 buyers — in a total Jewish population of 400,000 — vied to buy the 2,000 available tickets.

Among those paying tribute to Huberman, and demonstrating their own virtuosity in the film, are violinists Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zuckerman and Joshua Bell.

“Orchestra of Exiles” opens Oct. 26 in New York and Nov. 2 in Los Angeles.

The New York and Los Angeles concerts will include fundraising galas featuring receptions with the artists and dinners hosted by the American Friends of the IPO.

TORAH from page 6 In 2000, Winston officiated at the baby naming for her daughter Charlotte, but Julie Ann and the rabbi would lose touch.

It was more than a decade later, when Julie Ann began thinking about her daughter’s bat mitzvah, that her thoughts again turned to the Torah. Beginning a search last year, she soon discovered that Winston had died and the small congregation he led had disbanded. Could he have given the Torah to another synagogue?

She called the big synagogue in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Marin County, Rodef Shalom, and the historic synagogue in San Francisco, Temple Emanu-El, and many others leaving messages.

Then she received a call back.

“The woman had a German accent and said she was a friend of Rabbi Winston’s. She told me that his sons had given the Torah away, to Rabbi Alan Levinson of Sausalito,” remembered Julie Ann, who lives with her husband, Stuart, and Charlotte in the small town of St. Helena, Calif., near the familyowned Smith-Madrone Winery.

After contacting Levinson, who SEEKING from page 8 Ettlinger, a retired mechanical engineer, estimated that 10 of his 13 months with the Monuments Men were spent in the salt mines in Heilbronn-Kochendorf, not far from his hometown. The vast mines, which the Germans had booby trapped, contained 40,000 crates of looted art, books and other cultural treasures. Each box was marked with numbers and initials corresponding to its museum, library or collection of origin.

“They’d tell me, ‘Harry, get box so-and-so from this art museum and open it up here, and make sure it has this particular painting,’” Ettlinger said. The retrieved item or box was then forwarded to a collection point in Wiesbaden or Munich, and on to its rightful home.

Ettlinger was not personally involved with the repatriation of stolen Judaica, most of which the Nazis stored in Offenbach. But one SYMPHONY from page 8 “Zubin’s identification and involvement with the orchestra is complete, and so is his identification with Israel,” Vole said.

The founder of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, a precursor to the IPO, was Bronislaw Huberman, and the documentary “Orchestra of Exiles” is a tribute by filmmaker Josh Aronson to Huberman’s single-minded dedication and perseverance.

A native of Poland, Huberman was a musical child prodigy who relentlessly driven by his father became a world-renowned violinist. Disillusioned by World War I,

Courtesy of Julie Ann Kodmur

Dietrich (David) Hamburger, who rescued the community Torah of Fuerstenau, Germany, days after Kristallnacht in 1938, is shown in a 1948 photo taken in Winterswijk, the Dutch town in which he hid from the Nazis.

All about food Zell’s Bites

chives and roasted red peppers instead of the scallions, adds a new flavor.

MACARONI & CHEESE Serves 2

by Zell Schulman In looking through more than 30 years of writing about food, I never realized so much could be written about one subject. I came across the names of those I’ve taken classes with, traveled with, cooked and did television and radio shows with. So many wonderful opportunities and adventures in this vast culinary world.

Having had five cookbooks published, four no longer in print, you’d think cooking for one would be a delight. It’s been most difficult. The time and effort that goes into preparing a meal are the same and there you are, eating alone with the TV as your dinner partner. The following are my favorite Comfort Foods, enjoy: TWICE BAKED POTATOES Serves 4 to 6 Ingredients 3 Idaho potatoes, skins scrubbed and oiled 1 cup large curd cottage cheese 1 scallion, finely chopped 1/4 cup sour cream (optional) 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, divided Method 1. Preheat the oven to 350º.

Rub the potato skins with a little olive or vegetable oil. Bake 1 hour. Remove and allow to cool completely. Set in the refrigerator overnight.

2. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a teaspoon, gently remove the potato from their skin and place in a 1 quart bowl.

3. Using a knife and fork cut the potatoes into cubes, just like you do when preparing a pie crust.

4. Gently fold in the cottage cheese, scallion, sour cream and 3/4 cup of the cheddar cheese.

Lightly mix together. Fill the potato halves. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese evenly on top of the filled potato skins.

5. Place in a preheated 400º oven for 10 minutes, until the potatoes are warm and the cheese has melted. Serve.

Zell’s Tips: By using parmesan, gruyere or goat cheese instead of the cheddar and adding

Macaroni and cheese was my late husband Mel’s favorite side dish. Adding the best quality cheddar cheese and Hungarian paprika are the tasteful additions which make it your own. You may wish to prepare the casserole earlier in the day and then cover and refrigerate it until ready to bake and serve.

Ingredients One 10-ounce package of frozen Lean Cuisine Macaroni &Cheese 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika Method 1. Follow the microwave directions on the back of the package, but only microwave for 3 minutes, then remove the contents into a 2-cup casserole and fold in the cheese. Add the salt and pepper. Smooth over the top and sprinkle evenly with the paprika.

2. Preheat a toaster oven or your oven to 400º F. Place the casserole into the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the top looks a little brown and crusty. Serve.

Zell’s Tips: Sometimes I’ll use a combination of grated cheddar and grated parmesan or even add a teaspoon of goat cheese along with the cheddar.

ZELL’S TAPIOCA PUDDING TREATS Serves 6 Don’t tell anyone you didn’t start from scratch when you serve this old fashioned, favorite dessert of mine. I garnish each individual pudding container with a maraschino cherry or pecan half.

Ingredients 6-4 ounce containers of low fat tapioca pudding 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup whipping cream Method 1. Empty the contents of each pudding cup into a 2 quart bowl.

In a one-quart bowl place the whipped cream and vanilla. Beat well until stiff. Fold this into the pudding. Spoon into pretty glass dessert bowls or ramekins. Top each with a large tablespoon of whipped cream. Garnish with a cherry or nut. Refrigerate until ready to serve. YUM! Zell’s Tip: I usually prepare this ahead and keep it in a covered container in the refrigerator until I’m ready to serve dessert.

22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES LEWIN, Ruth Lee, age 81, died on October 28, 2012; 12 Cheshvan, 5773

O BITUARIES

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

LETTERS from page 16 servative does this work, and then comments on it, he/she is labeled a racist or worse. Where is the concern over name calling here?

Sincerely, Jerome C Liner Cincinnati, OH

LEWIN, Ruth Lee Ruth Lee Lewin, (nee Liebowitz), age 81, passed away October 28, 2012 in Florida, devoted wife of the late Gerald W. Leland & Rodrick Lewin, beloved mother of Larry (Deborah) Brower of West Palm Beach, Fla., Ellyn McClure of Port Orange, Fla., Cindy White of Sparta, N.J., and Dianne (Phil) Spellberg of Chevy Chase, Md., dear sister of Dr. Bernard (Adine) Liebowitz of Chicago, Ill., loving grandmother of Lance, Michael, Nicki, Tracy Lee, Claire and Jack, great-grandmother of Dominic. Graveside services Thursday, Nov. 1, 1 p.m. at Golf Manor Cemetery, 2111 Anderson Ferry Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45238. Shiva will be observed on Thursday only at 7 p.m., Embassy Suites, 10 East Rivercenter Boulevard, Covington, Ky. 41011. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the Alzheimer’s Assn. or the charity of one’s choice would be appreciated.

KARIV from page 10 “I have a fear of parties that come and go,” he said. “This phenomenon happens in the liberal camp in Israel. That’s why this camp has trouble gaining influence or taking the reins of leadership. In the Labor Party across the years, there was the ability to join together.”

In the Knesset, Kariv would face a formidable opponent in the solid bloc of Orthodox parties.

Labor Knesset member Daniel Ben-Simon says he’d be happy if Kariv decides to run, as he would present an alternative to the Orthodox regardless of whether he succeeds in passing legislation.

“He needs to make his voice heard and say there are different versions” of Judaism, Ben-Simon told JTA. “He doesn’t need to change the law. I’d be happy for another presence here so we can know that the whole world is not Orthodox.”

Some of Kariv’s allies, though, note that entering politics can complicate a religious leader’s image and principles. Uri Regev, president and CEO of the Israeli pluralism organization Hiddush, says Kariv may have to compromise if he joins the Knesset and Labor decides not to tackle religious pluralism legislation.

“For the last 65 years, coalition parties have not advanced the cause of religious pluralism,” Regev said.

“Are we going to have Reform and Conservative rabbis subject themselves to the manipulative cause of coalition work, which basically subverts the values of religious freedom and equality?”

Dear Editor, On Wednesday, September 19th, Hamilton County was honored with a visit from Natalie Portman. Ms. Portman was in town to speak about the election as it relates to women’s issues. She was in the tri-state for Rosh HaShanah visiting her Cincinnati-based grandmother, Bernice Stevens.

The event took place at the Cincinnati Museum Center located at the historic Union Terminal.

Many of Cincinnati’s Jewish women in our community were invited to meet privately to hear her charge as she wished the 50 in attendance a Happy and Healthy New Year. I was fortunate enough to have been a part of this “coffee klatsch” in which—despite a lovely spread of pastries and fruit—not a single item on the table was consumed by any of the guests. Why? They were too excited to have the chance to speak one-on-one with Ms. Portman rather than eat or drink at that moment!

After the “coffee klatsch,” Natalie Portman spoke to a group of about 300 women and a handful of men about the importance of voting in this year’s election. This Harvardeducated, Academy Award winner did not need any notes as she waxed eloquently of the many ways in which women’s lives are and will be effected by the outcome of the Presidential election next month.

Pam Saeks, Director of Jewish Giving at the Mayerson Foundation, and I noted that Natalie Portman could not have been more gracious when she came to meet and speak with women in our community about the importance of voting, the economy and a host of women’s issues.

It is not very often that Hamilton County and Cincinnati are graced by the presence of Jewish women celebrities of her stature with deep historical ties to our community. (After all, her Grandfather was a salesman for Champion Windows, a highly successful Cincinnati small business!)

This election cycle has not only brought us influential politicians from both sides of the aisle but highly informed and eloquent celebrities as well.

Sincerely, Marlene Ostrow Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, An alarming number of Jews in Cincinnati are supporting the

Romney/Ryan ticket. It’s the Middle East question, obviously.

“President Obama is a Muslim!”

“President Obama is an enemy of Israel,” etc. The rhetoric is grandiose, but the corroboration is thin. It is not the aim of this letter to debate the issue. President Obama’s solid support of Israel has been verified by international observers and journalists far more knowledgeable than I. We Jews should also be focused on domestic issues that transcend Israel, not in spite of our Jewish identity, but because of it.

You have heard the old expression that Jews earn like Episcopalians, but vote like Puerto Ricans. It’s true. For generations, American Jews have overwhelmingly supported the domestic Democratic Party agenda of fostering a robust federal government to safeguard minority rights, insure equal treatment of women, enhance economic opportunities for the less fortunate, and protect the health and welfare of all Americans. Why? Because our parents, rabbis and synagogue and temple educators instilled in us that these are all core Jewish values, values which have existed for millennia. Every Pesach, we are reminded that we were once slaves in the land of Egypt, so as to enable us to empathize with other peoples who have also been enslaved. The Prophets have repeatedly exhorted us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and be mindful of the widow and the orphan, and protect them.

The philosophy and perspective of the Romney/Ryan ticket and its Tea Party allies stand at a polar opposite to these values. The new Republican Party views government as a problem and hindrance to the welfare of our citizens. It would do away with longstanding protective regulations [which ones???] that allegedly “hamper” business growth. Its avowed goal is to appoint judges who will hew to the perceived popular will of the moment and roll back existing constitutional guarantees such as reproductive rights, including the right of access to birth control medicines.

This is a huge issue given the certainty of vacancies on the Supreme Court in the next four years.

Finally, a vote for Romney/Ryan (as well as for Josh Mandel) is a vote for greater influence of radical conservative religious groups who debunk global warming and deny the theory of evolution. A vote for the Republican ticket is also a vote for greater influence of folks like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Rick Santorum and Ann Coulter (who has gone on record as stating that Jews are “incomplete Christians”).

Even Morman doctrine exhorts its members to pray for the redemption of Jews after they have died.

That our Jewish pro-Romney supporters would make common cause with such intellectual and philosophical primitives is not only reckless but grotesque.

Sincerely, Donald B. Hordes Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, With all the letters to the editor and all the advertisements, and notwithstanding the World Series, we are certainly enjoying that other Great American Pastime – politicking!

As a supporter of President Obama, I am disappointed to see in much of the press, including The American Israelite, serious errors of fact in statements about the President’s positions on matters of Jewish-American concern.

Here I will limit my remarks to President Obama’s position on Israel. This is a short summary of the facts, easily confirmed by research in documents of the U.S. and Israeli governments, United Nations proceedings, and reputable U.S., Israeli, and world press: Thwarting Iran’s Nuclear Weapons: Prime Minister Netanyahu praised President Obama for his efforts to prevent Iranian nuclearization: “President Obama has said that the United States is determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The president successfully led the Security Council at the UN to adopt sanctions against Iran.” [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, 5/24/11] Condemning Hamas: “No country can be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization sworn to its destruction. And we will continue to demand that Hamas accept the basic responsibilities of peace, including recognizing Israel’s right to exist and rejecting violence and adhering to all existing agreements.” [Remarks to AIPAC by President Obama, 5/22/11] Supporting Israel in International Forums to Oppose De-Legitimization and Antisemitism: Despite strong international pressure, President Obama used the first Security Council veto of his administration to block a resolution condemning Israel for settlement construction – making the U.S. the only country on the 15-member Security Council not to support the resolution. [Washington Post, 2/18/11] The Obama administration has stood up for Israel in the UN Human Rights Council by consistently voting against anti-Israel resolutions, often doing so alone.

[UN Watch, 7/16/11] Financial Commitment to Israel’s Security: Despite the difficult fiscal environment, President Obama obtained $3.1 billion in security assistance for Israel in FY2013, the largest security assistance request for Israel in history. [Jerusalem Post, 2/15/12] Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Obama in his speech before Congress for being “very generous in giving us tools to

do the job of defending Israel on our own ... [and] for your steadfast commitment to Israel’s security. I know economic times are tough. I deeply appreciate this.” [Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress, 5/24/11] U.S.-Israel Military Defense Cooperation: At a press conference in Jerusalem with Vice President Biden, Prime Minster Netanyahu said, “President Obama has said in Cairo, and he has repeated this many times since, that the bonds between Israel and the United States are unbreakable ... In pursuing, for example, the joint military exercises for military defense between the Israeli army and the American military; in securing Israel’s qualitative military edge; and in many other activities along the world’s scene, including the battle against the infamous Goldstone report.” [Remarks

by Vice President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu in a joint statement to the press, 3/9/10] Israel’s Right to Self-Defense: The Obama administration rejected and pushed back against the Goldstone Report on the Gaza conflict as “unbalanced, one-sided and basically unacceptable,” pointing to serious concerns with its recommendations. [NJDC, 10/28/09] [Washington Post, 9/18/09] Standing with Israel in Opposition to Palestinian Actions at the United Nations: In response to President Obama’s speech at the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called the President’s support of Israel “a badge of honor,” saying “I want to thank you, Mr. President, for standing with Israel and supporting peace through direct negotiations ...

I think that standing your ground, taking this position of principle – which is also I think the right position to achieve peace – I think this is a badge of honor.” [Remarks by Prime Minister Netanyahu, 9/21/11] The Special Relationship Between the United States and Israel: When Israel’s embassy in Cairo was attacked by protestors last year, President Obama intervened to protect the Israelis. The next day, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “I would like to express my gratitude to the President of the United States, Barack Obama. I asked for his help.

This was a decisive and fateful moment. He said, ‘I will do everything I can.’And so he did. He used every considerable means and influence of the United States to help us.

We owe him a special measure of gratitude. This attests to the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.” [Prime Minister Netanyahu, 9/10/11] These, my friends, are the facts. President Obama is the best American President Israel has ever had, at least since President Truman promptly recognized her Statehood in 1948.

Sincerely, Daniel J. Hoffheimer Cincinnati, OH