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Standard Textile President and CEO Gary Heiman was presented with the Carl H. Lindner Award for Entrepreneurial and Civic Spirit at the 2013 Deloitte Cincinnati USA 100 luncheon on November 6, 2013. The annual Deloitte Cincinnati USA 100 list recognizes the outstanding achievements of Greater Cincinnati’s largest privately-held businesses. The Carl H. Lindner Award for Entrepreneurial and Civic Spirit was presented by Deloitte to Heiman for personifying the leadership, business success, and civic involvement that was characterized by Carl Lindner, who made a profound impact on the Cincinnati community. Heiman became president of Standard Textile in 1986. His grandfather, Charles Heiman, founded the company in 1940. Charles, a German immigrant who had been incarcerated
in the Dachau concentration camp, escaped from Germany and brought his family to the U.S. Standard Textile began as a small linen distribution company based out of the family’s small, third floor apartment in downtown Cincinnati. Paul Heiman, Charles’s son, took over the business in 1961. With Paul as CEO, Standard Textile expanded into a successful, growing company, specializing in healthcare textiles. Prior to leading Standard Textile, Gary Heiman lived in Israel for 14 years. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel, he served in an elite searchand-rescue unit of the Israel Defense Forces. After serving in the Israeli army during the Yom Kippur War, he established Standard Textile’s first international manufacturing facility in Arad at the edge of Israel’s Negev desert. In 2001, Heiman was awarded the
“Industrialist of the Year” prize by the President of the State of Israel. In July 2008, Heiman received the “Pioneer of Negev” award by the President of the State of Israel, which recognized Heiman as one of the twelve major contributors to the development of the Negev desert. Since Heiman became CEO of Standard Textile in 1994, the company has expanded into the hospitality and workwear industries. Heiman also established the first textile wholly owned foreign enterprise in China. Now, it is one of the largest vertically integrated textile manufacturing facilities in Asia. Under Heiman’s leadership, Standard Textile has demonstrated a commitment to providing innovative, end-to-end solutions for customers around the globe through 70+ patented products and technologies. The new, state-of-the-art C.O.R.E.
(Concepts. Operation. Results. Execution.) facility will open at the company’s world headquarters in Cincinnati later this month. Early next year, Standard Textile’s Global Institute for Innovation & Leadership will open in Cincinnati, and together, the two new facilities will be transformative resources for the world’s textile industry. Heiman is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Cincinnati where he also serves as Chairman of the Finance and Administration Committee. Additionally, he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, former Chairman of the Jewish Community Center, a member of the Cincinnati Business Committee, and former Chairman of the Board of The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati.
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Wise Temple goes bowling The Isaac M. Wise Temple Brotherhood will host the 4th Annual Wise Temple Family Bowling Event at Loveland Lanes on December 25 from noon until 3:00 PM. Unlimited bowling and all-you-can-eat lunch and snacks are what make this a special event. Brotherhood President David Snyder explains, “We are always looking for things to do on Christmas Day and this is a great way to spend part of that day in a family friendly environ-
ment, having a great time, and hanging out with your Wise Temple family and friends.” Each year this event has grown in number and fun. The Brotherhood takes steps to ensure that food and snacks are up to the typical Brotherhood standards. Brotherhood Treasurer Ed Waterman, who chairs this event, says, “We have a reputation to uphold. Our congregants expect great food from the Brotherhood, and we always want to deliver.”
What could be better than finding something to do on Christmas day with your entire family? Past Brotherhood President Andy Markiewitz reiterates, “This event has filled a great need in our congregation, and gives us an alternative to going to the movies on Christmas Day.” So whether you’ve been naughty or nice, Wise Temple Brotherhood will be looking for all the Wise Temple families to come join in the fun.
Cincinnati leader Richard Weiland to be honored at gala event
JCC beats the ‘brrr’ with winter classes for kids Goodbye cold weather boredom; hello, hands-on fun! It may be chilly outside, but there’s no reason for children to spend their free time in front of the TV when the JCC has a wide variety of ways for them to warm up and stay active during the frostiest months. From the tried-and-true, to the imaginative and new, JCC Kids’ Classes offer something for every interest and age. Registration is now open for Winter Session, which begins the week of January 5th! Several new classes have been added to the J’s great lineup this session, including the Happen Inc.’s Make Your Own Toy Lab. This popular program offers kids a chance to breathe new life into old toys that would otherwise be left to live out their lives in a landfill. Each week, participants will get to visit the “Hunks ‘O Junk” bin and take parts and pieces of previously owned and sanitized toys to turn into new creations such as a Star Warsasaurus, a Little Mermaidmobile, or any number of fun new thingamajigs to take home each time! “We’ve designed our Kids’ Class lineup to fit with the individual lifestyles of today’s busy families,” explains Julie
Robenson, Children and Family Program Manager at the Mayerson JCC. “For working families, or for those who are interested in classes later in the evening, there’s the Later Gator Gang, a roster of classes that start after 6pm. In addition we offer traditional after school classes as well as the new No Nappers Club for children who stay active all day!” she adds. “We are working hard to be responsive to the needs of our members and constituents.” Kids can get the coolest moves and hippest grooves when they join the J Street Jam, a brand new class that combines contemporary movement with popular music sure to keep participants on their toes. And, for junior jetsetters eager to encounter life outside the Queen City, there’s World Travels with Ms. Teeny. In this class, tiny globetrotters get a taste of a new international hot spot each week, and will experience some of the music, language, crafts, food and games that make each destination distinct! Also new for winter is Roly Poly Junior Gymnastics, a tumbling class sure to have all little gymnasts jumping for joy! Taught by professional coach,
with more than a decade of experience in competitive gymnastics, this class focuses on fundamentals such as listening and cooperative skills, motor movement, and skill building. The class features special equipment, including spring boards, balance beams, a trampoline and a mini bounce house for jumping and jiving at the end of each session. Of course the J offers plenty of options for budding sports stars such as T-ball, tennis, martial arts, soccer and more! And for those who want to give their taste buds a new treat each week, there’s Top Chef Tots where they can stir up some fun with other junior foodies in this hands-on class that combines creative cooking with culinary skill building. From honey cake to hamentaschen, classes are based around special holidays, and include a make-your-own cookbook to take home! No matter the class, every family gets a give-away this winter. From a free weekly beverage to an apron for cooking or a cap for baseball, there’s always an extra perk to picking the J! Advance registration is required for all classes, and sessions fill up quickly.
Cincinnati Leader Richard Weiland will be among 15 recipients from throughout the United States and Canada of the Israel66 Award at the Israel Bonds Prime Minister’s Club Dinner, January 26, 2014, in Boca Raton, Florida. Weiland will be recognized for dedication to Israel and the Jewish community. Yair Lapid, Finance Minister of Israel, will present the award to the honorees. Paul Reiser, renowned actor and entertainer, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.
In 2013, over $230 million in Israel bond investments were announced at the event. Development Corporation for Israel/Israel Bonds ranks among Israel’s most valued economic and strategic resources, with a record of proven success spanning more than six decades. Praised for consistency and dependability, the Bonds organization has helped build every sector of Israel’s economy. Worldwide sales since the first bonds were issued in 1951 are over $35 billion.
For event information contact pmc@israelbonds.com or call 212-339-8897. This is not an offering, which can be made only by prospectus. Read the prospectus carefully before investing to fully evaluate the risks associated with investing in State of Israel bonds. This is a representative sampling of the securities offered. Issues subject to availability. Development Corporation for Israel/Israel Bonds. Member FINRA
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JNF to take former ‘Tree of Life’ recipient Father Michael Graham to Israel By Beth Kotzin Assistant Editor
VOL. 160 • NO. 22 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013 16 TEVET 5774 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 5:00 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 6:01 PM THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO., PUBLISHERS 18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037 Phone: (513) 621-3145 Fax: (513) 621-3744 publisher@americanisraelite.com editor@americanisraelite.com production@americanisraelite.com RABBI ISAAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 PHYLLIS R. SINGER Editor & General Manager, 1985-1999 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher JORY EDLIN BETH KOTZIN Assistant Editors
opment. Its mission is to make the vision of the Jewish People come true, transforming it into Israel’s new reality. Chesley’s new position will allow him to help make this vision come true. “We raise the money,” he says, “and they are the workers who make it happen.” With his extensive travel there, and his relationships with those in the Knesset, Chesley will be a great addition to the trip. Since November of 2012, Rabbi Abie Ingber has been executive director of the Center for Interfaith Community Engagement at Xavier University in Cincinnati. In 2008 he founded the Office of Interfaith Community Engagement at Xavier and serves as adjunct professor of theology. For over 30 years, he was executive director at Hillel Jewish Student Center. Ingber is joining this trip as a colleague of Father Graham’s. A professional guide will be with the group throughout the trip, and they will be staying the 4 nights in the holy city of Jerusalem.
YOSEFF FRANCUS Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor JULIE TOREM Special Assignment Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR ZELL SCHULMAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists JENNIFER CARROLL Production Manager BARBARA ROTHSTEIN Advertising Sales
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both on the National board of JNF. Nina is VP of Woman's Campaign and Eddie is VP of Environment. They both were JNF Tree of Life Honorees in 2011, when the National JNF Conference was here in Cincinnati. The Pauls travel extensively to Israel, and this opportunity to take Father Graham will be a unique and special experience. Stan Chesley was National President of JNF (leading the 42 chapters in the United States) for six years. Under his leadership, he brought about the creation of the 20,000-squarefoot Sderot Indoor Recreation Center, made great progress in the development of the Be’er Sheva River Park, and terrific strides in water conservation. Currently, Chesley is serving as Ambassador to Kayemeth Leisrael (KKL)-JNF, Israel’s largest green NGO and Israel. KKL- JNF's work in Israel is concentrated into six action areas that include water, forestry and environment, education, community development and security, tourism and recreation, and research and devel-
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In 2009, Father Michael Graham was honored by Jewish National Fund as their Tree of Life Award recipient. And now, in 2014, JNF is taking him to Israel. They will be leaving for Israel on January 4, 2014, and returning January 10th. It will be an intense 4 day/4 night mission, focusing on all the Christian sites in Israel; in addition, they will be taking a day trip with JNF to the Northern Negev, primarily to visit Aleh Negev. This state-ofthe-art residential facility is for the most severely disabled in Israel, and Father Graham's contribution plus the money raised at his Tree of Life dinner all went to build a new hydrotherapy pool there. Nina Paul, one of the organizers of the trip, says “We always said that we would love to take him to Israel and show him where his money actually went.” Father Graham has been a big supporter of JNF, and has been increasingly involved in the Jewish community. In fact, Graham has a niece with severe mental retardation and when she aged out of the available facilities at 21, her parents were lucky enough to set up a group home for her, but so many people aren’t that fortunate. Therefore, Father Graham really understood the pressing concerns and was focused on helping this facility succeed. Said Graham, “Aleh Negev is the answer for many people in Israel and the pool itself seemed like a good focus to wrap our arms around.” Furthermore, Nina Paul added, “Aleh Negev is an amazing facility, and not one often seen here in the United States.” When Father Graham received his Tree of Life Award, Chesley said “Father Graham’s life work is an example of what the Tree of Life Award is all about.” As president of Xavier University, Chesley believed Graham was a great interdisciplinary leader, caring about each and every member of the human community at large expanding borders at every opportunity. “He is a warm and gracious testament to American-Israeli friendship.” Currently traveling to Israel with Father Graham are Nina and Eddie Paul, Rabbi Abie Ingber, and Stan Chesley. Nina and Eddie Paul are
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Synagogues hoping to build ‘relational’ communities through better data
As 8-year-old succumbs to cancer, rabbis vow head-shaving tribute to ‘Superman Sam’
By Julie Wiener NEW YORK (JTA) – Before Sacha Litman shares his data analysis with his synagogue clients, he likes to have the board members and staff guess the contents. Which programs are most expensive and most popular? Who is more satisfied, senior citizens or nursery school parents? How many Hebrew school parents would recommend the congregation to a friend? Eighty percent of the time, Litman says, the assumptions of synagogue leaders are disproved by the data. “Synagogue board members often make decisions based on what they heard from a friend at kiddush or at the Shabbos table,” said Litman, the founder and managing director of Measuring Success, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm. “It’s their job to represent the needs and interests of all the [synagogue] members, but if they don’t understand what they’re feeling and thinking, how can they claim to do that?” Litman’s firm, which has worked extensively with Jewish day schools and community centers across the country, is a key player in an effort backed by federations and the national arms of the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements to bring data-based decision making to the synagogue world. Perhaps counterintuitively, the data champions argue that by taking a page from for-profit giants such as Amazon and Netflix, whose data analysis algorithms enable them to gain powerful insights about their customers, synagogues can shift from “transactional” to a “relational” model of serving their members. Good use of data, the advocates say, can help synagogue members feel less like a number and more like part of a community. “The more that synagogues know about their existing and potential congregants, hopefully the more able they will be to customize programs, meet needs and make congregants feel they are known and not anonymous,” said Adina Frydman, executive director of Synergy, the synagogue services department of UJA-Federation of New York. Over the past four years, Synergy has invested almost $750,000 in promoting more sophisticated data use among synagogues, the bulk of which has gone to cover Measuring Success’ work with 12 New York-area congregations. Founded 10 years ago, Measuring Success works exclusively with nonprofit organizations and foundations, roughly half of them Jewish. Litman calls Measuring Success “for-prophet” because its fees are lower than the
By Julie Wiener
Courtesy of JTA Staff
Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York used data analysis to increase participation of teens in programs like the High School Teen Exchange.
for-profit sector. The 12 New York synagogues learned to develop useful surveys and better analyze their financial data to determine how much they are spending in various areas and whether it aligns with what the congregants want. “In some ways the support was very technical, and in other ways it was holding up a mirror, helping synagogues to be reflective and ask the right questions,” Frydman said. At Temple Shaaray Tefila in Manhattan, leaders explored, among other things, why Hebrew school parents weren’t more involved in the community and what could be done to keep the kids involved after their bar or bat mitzvahs. Leaders of the large Reform congregation had assumed Hebrew school parents simply weren’t interested in connecting socially since they rarely showed up for events. But a 2009 survey revealed that parents had a hunger to get to know each other. The problem, synagogue leaders discovered, was that timepressed parents didn’t want to attend separate programs. So the synagogue began incorporating programs for parents into existing programs, like holding a cocktail party for parents after they dropped off their children for a synagogue sleepover. Other changes included assigning parents to invite and welcome other parents to class activities. To address post-bar/bat mitzvah retention, the synagogue lowered fees for teen programming, offered new options for those not interested in confirmation class and assigned clergy members to meet individually with sixth and seventh-graders. As a result, the percentage of parents who said they would recommend the religious school to a friend increased from 33 percent in 2009 to 47 percent in 2012. In 2009, there were 65 students in grades 8 to 12 involved with the synagogue’s youth programming. Today there are 121.
Did the temple need a consulting firm to figure that out? Barri Waltcher, the congregation’s vice president, says yes. “No one really had the time or competency to do the activity-based accounting analysis,” Waltcher said. Without a consultant, “undertaking something like that would’ve only happened if the one right person with the right skill set was in our community. “Beyond that, in trying to get at the culture of anecdote, which is so pervasive on the board level, it’s helpful to have someone come in from the outside and in an impersonal way talk about why those types of anecdotal conversations aren’t helpful.”
NEW YORK (JTA) – In March, dozens of rabbis will shave their heads at the Reform movement’s Central Conference of American Rabbis conference in Chicago. But the 8-year-old boy whose struggle with cancer inspired the rabbis’campaign will not be there to witness their act of solidarity. Samuel Asher Sommer, the son of Rabbis Phyllis and Michael Sommer, died Saturday in his Chicago-area home after an 18month battle against refractory acute myeloid leukemia. His funeral was held Monday afternoon at Am Shalom, where Phyllis Sommer is an associate rabbi. Phyllis Sommer had created “Superman Sam,” a blog that documented her son’s struggle. Along with a fellow Reform rabbi, she came up with the idea for the “36 Rabbis Shave For The Brave” in order to raise money for pediatric cancer research and show solidarity with Sam, who lost his hair due to chemotherapy. In the days since Samuel’s death, rabbis have continued to join the campaign. As of Monday, 51 rabbis, most affiliated with the Reform movement, have pledged to lose their locks. Another 11 have volunteered to help in other ways. According to the according to the “36 Rabbis Shave For The
Brave” Web page, the campaign has raised $122,808 as of Monday afternoon for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a 13-year-old nonprofit that raises money for pediatric cancer research. Rabbi Charles Briskin, one of the rabbis who has pledged to shave his head and raised $4,339, said he signed on because he is friends with the Sommers and “felt propelled by the cause.” “Following Sammy’s death, there’s just greater resolve to get more people on board to prevent more [families] from having to endure this,” he said. “Our goal is to keep the momentum going as we make our way to Chicago.” The idea for “36 Rabbis Shave for the Brave” came in late October, according to Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr, who is coordinating the campaign with another rabbi. “Phyllis was talking about St. Baldrick’s and said maybe it was time for her to shave her head,” she said. “I said, ‘That’s a wonderful idea, and we could probably get some of our colleagues to do it.’ “ The two set a goal of $180,000 and 36 rabbis. “Then we said, we should all do it together at the CCAR conference since it’s in Chicago, and Sammy can come, too,” Schorr said. Schorr said the shaving is to show solidarity with children undergoing chemotherapy and to raise awareness.
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John Kerry, members of Congress praise JDC at its centennial By Larry Luxner WASHINGTON (JNS) – On John Kerry’s first visit to Israel in 1986, he toured a bomb shelter in Kiryat Shemona, inserted a prayer into the cracks of the Western Wall, and tried swimming in the Dead Sea. But for Kerry, the most stirring memory of that trip was when the young senator from Massachusetts and his Israeli tour guide stood at the edge of a cliff at Masada, shouting “Am Yisrael Chai” across the chasm-and the echo faintly came back moments later. “It was stunning to hear that echo,” Kerry recalled Monday at a dinner marking the 100th anniversary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). “You sort of felt like you were listening to the souls of the past tell you Israel is going to survive. And that’s why, my friends, you have a secretary of state who gets it, who understands this mission. And with your help and your support, we’ll get it done the right way.” It wasn’t the first time Kerry has told his Masada story, but even so, it elicited an enthusiastic round of applause from the 300 or so dignitaries, diplomats, lawmakers, and other guests at the dinner – the first of several events this week celebrating the JDC’s centennial. The following evening, some 150 guests, including a dozen U.S. senators and representatives, attended a JDC congressional reception on Capitol Hill emceed by Irene Kaplan, chair of the organization’s government affairs committee.
National Briefs Academic boycott of Israel endorsed by American Studies Association members (JNS) – The membership of the American Studies Association (ASA), the oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history, has voted to endorse the ASA’s participate in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. In a vote that attracted the largest number of participants in the 5,000-member organization’s history, more than 66 percent endorsed the resolution, while 31 percent were against it, according to an ASA announcement. Reform movement, Ruderman Family Foundation launch synagogue inclusion initiative (JNS) – The Union for Reform
Courtesy of The U.S. State Department
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s 100th Anniversary Celebration at the National Women in the Arts Museum in Washington, DC, on December 9, 2013.
“JDC goes God’s work. Mazel tov!” cheered House Democratic Whip U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, while House Majority Leader U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (RVA) praised the humanitarian group for its passion for tikkun olam (repairing the world). U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (DNY) presented a resolution co-sponsored by 25 lawmakers commemorating JDC’s century of service. “Wherever there are people in need, you go,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “You don’t go there to help people who are Jewish. You go there to help people because you are Jewish.” At the Monday dinner, Kerry was introduced by Stuart Eizenstat, chairman of the newly formed JDC National Advisory Council and deputy secretary of treasury from Judaism (URJ), Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, and the Ruderman Family Foundation announced a new initiative to foster the inclusion of people with disabilities in synagogue life at the Reform movement’s biennial convention in San Diego. The Ruderman Synagogue Inclusion Initiative invites the nearly 900 synagogues affiliated with the Reform movement to participate in an “Active Learning Network,” in which they will explore topics such as eliminating misconceptions about physical and emotional disabilities, creating congregational inclusion committees, and forging partnerships with other congregations and organizations. ADL commends Time’s selection of Pope Francis as ‘Person of the Year’ (JNS) – Time magazine’s selection of Pope Francis as its “Person of the Year” drew praise from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “Time magazine has made the right choice. Pope Francis has managed in a short time to re-
1999 to 2001. “It’s fitting that we open the year-long centennial celebration of the JDC – the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian assistance organization – by having John Kerry speak to us in our nation’s capital,” said Eizenstat, whose late wife Fran served on the JDC board for 12 years. “It’s a perfect convergence of a genuine American hero who has contributed so much to our nation to the Jewish people and to Israel.” The JDC, which has helped people in 70 countries – from victims of Haiti’s 2010 earth – quake, to survivors of last month’s typhoon in the Philippines – is now working with the State Department to launch a partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development for disaster relief programs in East Asia and the Pacific. “You have provided relief to millions of people from every corner of the globe – all of whom are in desperate need of a helping hand,” said Kerry. “You also support Jewish life around the world, and you’re involved in ways that connect young Jewish men and women to their communities and inspire them to address social challenges.” Kerry reserved his toughest remarks of the evening for the issue of Israel’s security– particularly as it relates to the Iranian nuclear program. “The United States has long viewed Israel’s security as fundamental to our own,” Kerry said. “We stand squarely beside our Israeli friends and allies, and that bond is ironclad and will never be broken.
Every time I land at Ben-Gurion Airport, I truly feel in my gut how precious and how vulnerable and how real Israel’s security challenge is.” This is why, said Kerry, the Obama administration is “deeply committed” to a diplomatic solution to the Iran issue. “We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon – not now, not ever,” he stressed. “I know that some people are apprehensive and wonder that we somehow stumbled into something, and that Iran has pulled the wool over our eyes. Let me just say to you very simply: I’ve spent 30 years in the Senate, I’ve chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I understand military and security issues, and I understand the fundamental basis of what is necessary to prove Iran has a peaceful nuclear program. I can’t stand here today and say that the Iranians will do what they say they’re going to do, but I can say that Israel is safer today than it was the day before yesterday.” The interim deal on Iran’s nuclear program ordered the Islamic Republic to dilute its 20-percentenriched (high grade) uranium stockpiles to 5 percent, while allowing Iran to continue production of 3.5-percent enriched uranium while the agreement is in force. The U.S. has said Iran will receive about $7 billion in sanctions relief, but a Dec. 11 report in Haaretz cited security sources in Israel who said the relief could amount to $20 billion. Kerry told the JDC audience that the Iranians are “not allowed to install
any new centrifuges, they have to allow us daily inspections at Fordow and Natanz, there will be regular inspections of their heavy water reactor, they can’t test additional fuels, and we’re allowed to go into the storage sites of all their centrifuge production facilities – all things we couldn’t do before we made this agreement.” What happens if Washington isn’t successful? “If we get to the end of these six months and they don’t do what they need to do – then we will have kept united the P5+1 and we will shown the global community our bona fides,” Kerry said. “We will go back to Congress and ratchet them up, and if need be, we will take no other options, military or otherwise, off the table.” Reports indicate that Congress is close to passing a new bipartisan sanctions bill. The bill would give the Obama administration flexibility by not imposing the sanctions for six months, the length of the interim Iran nuclear deal. But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Time magazine that the “entire deal is dead” if Congress passes new sanctions. “We’ll do sanctions tied to the end game where the relief will only come if they stop the enrichment program, dismantle the reactor, and turn over the enriched uranium,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told CNN. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders, like advocates for new sanctions in Congress, believe a final deal with Iran should halt all enrichment.
energize his own Church by his personal humility and his personal touch and he has reached out to those who may have felt unattended to, including gays and the poor,” Abraham H. Foxman, ADL’s national director, told JNS.
Israel Defense Forces murdered hundreds of Palestinian nurses in Israeli jails. Other study materials in Newton incorrectly identify Jerusalem as the capital of “Palestine” and intimated that Israelis intentionally killed American sailors during the 1967 Six-Day War.
(D-NY) was recently appointed as chairman of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), an initiative of the World Jewish Congress whose stated mission is to “promote an ongoing dialogue and a sense of fraternity among Jewish legislators and ministers,” among other goals. Engel, one of the leading congressional skeptics on the interim Iran nuclear deal, believes that the ICJP can be a powerful resource for addressing global Jewish concerns, including Iran.
Alan Dershowitz, famed Harvard law professor and Israel supporter, to retire (JNS) – Alan Dershowitz, the famed law professor, vocal supporter of Israel, and civil liberties advocate, says that he is retiring from Harvard Law School. ADL treatment of anti-Israel school texts criticized by Massachusetts Jewish paper (JNS) – The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was criticized by a Massachusetts Jewish newspaper for its treatment of anti-Israel teaching materials in the public high schools of Newton, a suburb of Boston. The Newton school system was forced to withdraw a textbook, The Arab World Studies Notebook, after parent complaints about the book’s assertion that the
Stanley Fischer, former Bank of Israel chief, reportedly offered No. 2 post at U.S. Fed (JNS) – Stanley Fischer, who served for eight years as the head of Israel’s central bank, has been offered the job of vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous source. As Bank of Israel governor, Fischer was generally credited with helping the Jewish state avoid many of the economic pitfalls that have plagued Western economies. Rep. Eliot Engel, new chair of Jewish legislators council, hopes group can address concerns on Iran (JNS) – U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel
Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson calls for Jonathan Pollard’s release (JNS) – Bill Richardson, who served as the governor of New Mexico and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, called for jailed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard’s release in a Dec. 10 letter to President Barack Obama. Pollard, in his 29th year in U.S. prison, is the only person to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
Economic, security concerns driving record levels of French aliyah By Cnaan Liphshiz
Courtesy of Wikicommons
Swarthmore Hillel picks fight over campus group’s Israel guidelines
Swarthmore Hillel picks fight over campus group’s Israel guidelines By Julie Wiener NEW YORK (JTA) – With an estimated Jewish population of 275 undergraduates, the Quaker-founded Swarthmore College outside Philadelphia is home to one of the smaller Hillel chapters in the country. But that hasn’t stopped student activists at the small suburban school from picking a fight of potentially epic proportions with the umbrella group, Hillel International. On Dec. 8, the Swarthmore Hillel student board announced that it had voted unanimously to defy Hillel International’s guidelines for Israel activities and become the first college to join the Open Hillel movement, a campaign aimed at widening the Israel discourse on campus. Two days later, Hillel International President Eric Fingerhut responded with a letter declaring the position unacceptable. “I hope you will inform your colleagues on the Student Board of Swarthmore Hillel that Hillel International expects all campus organizations that use the Hillel name to adhere to these guidelines,” Fingerhut wrote. “No organization that uses the Hillel name may choose to do otherwise.” The conflict comes amid growing criticism of the 2010 Israel guidelines, which some argue stifles debate and excludes too many people from the communal discourse around Israel. The guidelines forbid individual Hillel chapters from hosting groups or speakers that among other things deny Israel’s right to exist or support boycott or divestment from the Jewish state. Just how far Hillel will go to enforce the policy remains unclear. David Eden, its chief administrative officer, declined to say whether the group would strip the Swarthmore group of its name or take other punitive measures. Eden
said a meeting between Fingerhut and Joshua Wolfsun, communications chair of the Swarthmore Hillel, would likely take place in January. “Hillel is an open organization,” Eden told JTA. “We embrace dialogue on all sorts of issues, especially with our students.” Israel has long been an explosive issue on college campuses, with proPalestinian groups routinely sponsoring events like Israel Apartheid Week and pro-Israel activists struggling to determine whether to react to provocations or focus instead on promoting positive aspects of Israeli culture. The challenges have multiplied with the recent growth of the movement to boycott or divest from the Jewish state, known by the acronym BDS. Wolfsun, a sophomore from Amherst, Mass., said his board had been thinking for a while about publicly distancing itself from Hillel’s Israel policy. They were moved to act by Harvard Hillel’s decision in November to cancel an appearance by former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg because it was cosponsored by a student group that supports BDS. Wolfsun emphasized that Swarthmore Hillel board members represent a range of views on Israel, but are united in the belief that the chapter should be a place to discuss and disagree. “It’s not that we all support BDS or even that any of us support BDS,” Wolfsun said. “But we want to make room for everybody who does.” Ira Stup, director of the campus arm of the liberal Israel policy group J Street, said Hillel’s hard line may have ramifications for efforts to engage Jewish students. “For so many Jewish students Israel is such an important part of their Jewish identity and how they express Jewishness, so that to not have a space where they can explore SWARTHMORE on page 22
PARIS (JTA) – In an overcrowded conference room in the heart of Paris’ 14th arrondissement, a hundred French Jews are losing their patience. They have gathered at the Paris office of the Jewish Agency for Israel for a lecture on immigrating to Israel, but the agency staff is running behind. Its 20 staffers are coping with a 57 percent jump in the number of French Jews moving to Israel over the last year and a surge of applications. In addition to four weekly public talks, they are struggling to finish 30 applicant interviews each day. “It’s hot and stuffy, we had to go through a ton of security just to get in the door and our appointment is 30 minutes late,” one potential emigrant remarks loudly. “[It’s] a good preparation.” But the crowd in the office last week is not in the mood for jokes. Many are moving imminently and have pressing questions about the validity of their Jewish marriage contract and Israeli taxes on their cars. Others still harbor resentment over a perceived lack of security for French Jews that ultimately has led them to seek safe harbor in the Jewish state. Their stories paint a portrait of a community rich with educated professionals who are finding it increas-
ingly hard to envision a future here amid rising anti-Semitism and a stagnant economy. Some profess a deep desire to become part of Israel’s vibrant society and economy. Looming in the background is what many Jews here refer to simply as “Toulouse,” the 2012 slaying of three children and a rabbi by an Islamist at a Jewish school in the southeastern city. Many of France’s estimated 600,000 Jews, the thirdlargest Jewish community in the world, live in the shadow of the attack. “Since Toulouse, my family and I worry every day that my grandchildren go to school,” says Menache Manet, a 64-year-old Parisian who will be leaving for Israel in several weeks with his son and four grandchildren. “I grew up in a civilized country,” he adds, his voice trembling with anger. “Nowadays, I take off my kippah on my way to synagogue.” According to a European Union survey of nearly 6,000 Jews from nine countries released last month, France ranked second only to Hungary in the number of Jews contemplating emigration because of anti-Semitism, with a staggering 46 percent of 1,137 French Jews polled. France also was second in the number of Jews who feared self-identifying as such in public, with 29 per-
cent. The figures correlate with an explosion in anti-Semitic attacks registered last year: A total of 614 recorded incidents that constituted a 58 percent increase from 2011. Some 40 percent of the increase happened within 10 days of Toulouse. Ariel Kandel, the head of the Jewish Agency’s France bureau, said the figures play a role in the surge in aliyah, among other factors. Kandel would not name a figure ahead of his annual report, but said that more than 3,000 Jews will have made aliyah by January – an increase of at least 57 percent from last year and a 31 percent jump from the annual average between 1999 and 2012. Before this year, annual French aliyah totaled more than 3,000 people just four times, most recently in 2005. Since the spike in anti-Semitic incidents in France during the second intifada in 2002, the average annual French aliyah has increased by some 60 percent, from 1,357 immigrants per year in 1985-2001 to 2,194 in 2002-12. The latest surge began last year and caught the Jewish Agency by surprise, says Kandel, himself a French Jew who made aliyah when he was 17. In 2012, his office handled a few dozen applicant interviews each month. In November, it handled about 500. FRENCH on page 22
8 • INTERNATIONAL
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U.S. talk of ‘framework’ agreement roiling Palestinians By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) – Amid simmering tensions over Iran policy, the Obama and Netanyahu governments appear to have quietly forged common ground in recent weeks on Israeli-Palestinian talks, with the United States accepting that a possible “framework” agreement might not address every outstanding issue in the negotiations. Such an agreement, the United States and Israel seem to agree, would maintain a role for Israel in providing for its security, presumably by maintaining some form of military presence in the West Bank. What’s not clear is if the
Palestinians will go along. As recently as October, Martin Indyk, the lead American peace negotiator, told J Street that an interim agreement was not in the cards. The objective, he told the liberal Israel policy group, was a final-status agreement. Yet over the weekend, addressing the annual Saban Forum in Washington, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry each suggested there would be a middle phase aimed at addressing Israel’s lingering security concerns. “I think it is possible over the next several months to arrive at a framework that does not address every single detail but gets us to a
point where everybody recognizes better to move forward than move backwards,” Obama told the annual forum on Saturday. “We have spent a lot of time working with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his entire team to understand from an Israeli perspective what is required for the security of Israel in such a scenario,” he said. Netanyahu’s comments to the forum, delivered the next day via satellite, reiterated Israel’s longstanding position that under any agreement, it must retain the ability to provide for its own security. “I think that any kind of peace we’ll have is likely, initially at least, to be a cold peace,” Netanyahu said.
“So there must be ironclad security arrangements to protect the peace, arrangements that allow Israel to defend itself by itself against any possible threat. And those arrangements must be based on Israel’s own forces.” For years, the question of Israel’s long-term security presence in the West Bank has dogged attempts by Israel and the Palestinians to return to peace talks. Israel has long maintained that it must retain a security corridor in the Jordan Valley. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that keeping Israeli forces in place would PALESTINIANS on page 22
Courtesy of Kobi Gideon/GPO/FLASH90
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary Of State John Kerry (not pictured) holding a joint news conference in Jerusalem, Dec. 5, 2013.
John Kerry’s optimism on negotiations not shared by Israelis and Palestinians By Dmitriy Shapiro (JNS) – While U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry returned from his Middle East trip last week with an optimistic message, following his latest attempt to foster progress in IsraelPalestinian peace talks and the presentation of a security proposal to both sides, Israelis and Palestinians aren’t sharing his positive outlook. From Dec. 4-6, Kerry was accompanied in Jerusalem and Ramallah by retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen, the former U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Allen presented Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian
International Briefs Jacob Ostreicher released after more than two years in Bolivia WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jacob Ostreicher, a New York businessman held in Bolivia since 2010, is back in the United States. Ostreicher invested money with a group involved in a rice-growing venture in Bolivia and was managing the business when he was arrested on suspicion of money laundering. However, in June, Bolivian authorities arrested 15 people – including government officials – on charges of engineering his arrest in hopes of extracting cash payment. Coup attempt in South Sudan imperils Israeli aid group (JTA) – Intense fighting amid a coup attempt in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, has forced the Israeli aid group IsraAid to suspend its operations in the country and go on lockdown. The heavy gunfire in Juba began
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas with what Kerry and the State Department have carefully described as only “some thoughts” on the resolution of security issues that have been obstructing progress in negotiations. “President Obama and I are absolutely committed to reaching a final status agreement that recognizes two states for two peoples, living side-by-side in peace and security,” Kerry said Dec. 7 in his keynote address to the Tenth Annual Saban Forum, sponsored by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Joining the secretary of state at the
forum were major players such as President Barack Obama and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, while Netanyahu spoke via webcast. “Peace is possible today because we have courageous leaders who have already taken significant political risks for peace – and the time is approaching when they will have to take even more,” Kerry said. The exact contents of Gen. Allen’s proposal – compiled after months of conversations at the helm of a core group of security advisers and security officials on both sides – remain confidential. From the start, Kerry made certain that a strict gag order was placed on the negotiations,
declaring that he will act as the sole source of information on the talks. The State Department insists that this level of secrecy is necessary to facilitate frank discussion and is one of the hard-learned lessons from past failures on the Israeli-Palestinian track. But Elliott Abrams, former top National Security Council official and currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the Washington Jewish Week (WJW), “I don’t know any Israelis or Palestinians who share Secretary Kerry’s optimism or can understand its basis.” “The most recent Israeli polls show that very few Israelis think he
will succeed in getting a final status agreement, and I don’t think so either,” Abrams said, referring to a recent poll compiled by New Wave Research for Israel Hayom. The poll showed 87.5 percent of Israeli Jews saying that they did not believe the new talks would lead to peace. Israeli and Palestinian officials are also sounding pessimistic notes on negotiations. Top Palestinian Liberation Organization official Yasser Abed Rabbo told AFP that Kerry’s security proposals “will drive Kerry’s efforts to an impasse and to total failure.” Netanyahu said at a
late Sunday night. IsraAid members reported artillery and automatic weapons fire in their vicinity.
resents 47 leaders of the United Church of Canada.
Organization’s super flyweight champion, won her first bantamweight title. Duer, popularly known as “The Turk,” defeated Estrella Valverde of Mexico by a unanimous decision last Friday in Buenos Aires to take the crown in the 115- to 118-pound class.
The draft constitution eliminates the 2012 Muslim Brotherhood constitution’s Article 219, which defined aspects of Sharia law on which legislation could be based. Nevertheless, remaining in the new draft constitution is Article 2, which states that the principles of Sharia are “the main source of legislation.”
Spanish ruling party submits bill on Jewish return (JTA) – Spain’s ruling party has submitted a bill proposing to put in place a procedure for granting Spanish citizenship to descendants of expelled Sephardic Jews, a Spanish news agency reported. Ukraine chief rabbi pushing for unity government to end crisis (JTA) – Ukraine’s chief rabbi is advocating the formation of a national unity government to resolve the country’s political crisis over its relationship with the European Union and Russia. Protestant leaders decry Canadian church’s boycott of settlement products TORONTO (JTA) – Leaders of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination are speaking out against their church’s boycott of products made in Israeli settlements. “We believe that this decision [to boycott] has damaged relationships that are vital to growing a just peace,” according to the website of United Against Boycott, which rep-
Two children from Canadian Jewish sect taken into protective custody TORONTO (JTA) – Child-protection authorities in Ontario have taken two children into protective custody from the reclusive Jewish sect Lev Tahor. A lawyer for the group told The Toronto Star on Monday that officials with the Chatham-Kent Children’s Services in southwest Ontario seized the two children from one family on Dec. 12. Report: Iran may receive $20 billion in sanctions relief, tripling stated figures (JNS) – Senior Obama Administration officials are admitting that the interim nuclear deal between Iran and world powers may give the Islamic Republic sanctions relief that is three times as large as figures announced in official statements, Haaretz reported. Argentine boxer Carolina Duer takes first bantamweight crown BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) – Carolina Raquel Duer of Argentina, the World Boxing
Hamas and Russia discuss ‘common relations’ (JNS) – Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed “common relations” during a Dec. 11 phone conversation, The Associated Press reported. After the conversation, Lavrov in a statement called for the “quick lifting” of the Israel-Egyptian naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, which the United Nations has deemed to be legal. A terrorist group with the stated mission of destroying Israel, Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007. Sharia law de-emphasized, but still remains in Egypt’s new draft constitution (JNS) – Egypt’s new draft constitution de-emphasizes Islamic Sharia law, but still references Sharia as the foundation of Egyptian law.
KERRY on page 22
Iraqi Catholic leader says ‘extremist political Islam’ is growing in Middle East (JNS) – Patriarch Louis Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, said “extremist political Islam is growing in the Middle East,” causing the death and destruction of the region’s Christian communities. EU to offer massive aid package to Israel, Palestinians if peace deal reached (JNS) – The European Union is set to vote on a massive aid package to the Israelis and Palestinians as an incentive for both sides to reach a final-status peace deal. The package-spearheaded by the foreign ministers of Germany, U.K., France, Spain, and Italy – is reportedly worth billions of euros.
ISRAEL • 9
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
Pipeline won’t save Dead Sea, but could supply needed water to ‘thirsty’ neighbors By Alex Traiman (JNS) – A recently approved trilateral plan to create a water pipeline connecting the Red Sea and the rapidly evaporating Dead Sea has everything to do with providing freshwater to a desperate region, and less to do with reversing the receding water levels in the Dead Sea. “This project will not save the Dead Sea,” Prof. Jiwchar Ganor, faculty member at the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, told JNS. Each year, the Dead Sea loses approximately 800 million cubic meters of water, and the shoreline recedes by approximately one meter. Tourists visiting the sea can easily
see the impact of water recession. “You would need to add 800 million cubic meters per year to stabilize the levels of the sea. This will be a project of approximately 100 million cubic meter per year,” Ganor said. As part of the project, approximately 100 million cubic meters of water will be desalinated in the Gulf of Aqaba, in Jordanian territory, and divided between Israel and Jordan, with the majority of the water going to provide drinking and irrigation to Israel’s Arava desert. As part of the cooperation, Israel will then provide desperately needed water to Jordan in the north. “In Jordan, they have a very severe problem of water shortage. It is not like the shortage we have in
Israel. In Amman, you do not have fresh water everyday in the taps. They have a huge water shortage,” said Ganor. According to Ganor, a water shortage for Jordanians could fuel growing instability for the Hashemite regime. Citizens without water may act in unpredictable ways, including taking to the streets. “If you look at the entire region, Jordan, Syria, Israel, and Lebanon all take water. This area has a huge population, and it needs a huge amount of water. It’s not good to have neighbors that are thirsty,” Ganor said. “For Israel, it is very important, as I see it, that Jordan will have more water,” he said. “Through this cooperation, Israel gains water where it
needs it in the South, and Jordan gains it where they need it in the North.” It is this demand for fresh water that has caused the evaporation of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Waters that flow into the Jordan River and Israel’s Kinneret Lake, also known as the Sea of Galilee, are all diverted for consumption, meaning the natural flow through the Jordan River and ultimately into the Dead Sea has been greatly reduced. For years, environmentalists have warned about the dangers to the future of the Dead Sea if appropriate water flow is not restored. Several plans have been floated to bring water to the Dead Sea, either from the Mediterranean Sea to the West, or the Red Sea to the South.
Most recently, Israeli President Shimon Peres was a vocal advocate of a plan to build a canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea – which at 400 meters below sea level is the lowest point on Earth. The plan approved by Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority last week will bring water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea via a pipeline. Yet the waters that will be piped to the Dead Sea will neither be desalinated freshwater nor seawater. “What will be brought to the Dead Sea is the waste of the desalination project, known as brine,” Ganor said. “The present plan is to desalinate sea water in Aqaba, [Jordan]. As part DEAD SEA on page 19
Unlikely right-left partnership floated to oppose Bedouin resettlement By Ben Sales (JTA) – They can’t agree on the project’s goal. They can’t agree on who supports it. They can’t even agree on its name. But when it comes to the Israeli government’s plan to relocate 30,000 Negev Bedouin, representatives and allies of the Bedouin community agree with the right wing on one thing: the Prawer plan must be stopped. At a meeting this week, leaders of an alliance between Negev Bedouin and several left-wing groups adopted a proposal to join with “right-wing opponents” of a bill that would relocate tens of thousands of Bedouin from their homes in unrecognized villages in southern
Israel. The plan calls for moving the Bedouin into recognized towns nearby with modern services and amenities while providing them with partial compensation for their property. “You need to have an elementary school, kindergarten and health care at the center of the modern community,” said Doron Almog, director of the Headquarters for Economic and Community Development of the Negev Bedouin in the Prime Minister’s Office. “We’d like to replace poverty with modernity.” The plan is alternatively referred to as Begin-Prawer or Prawer after its two authors – former Knesset member Benny Begin and Ehud Prawer, the director of planning in the Prime Minister’s Office. It
would recognize some of the unrecognized villages while moving the inhabitants of others. The government says the plan is a comprehensive land reform measure aimed at providing infrastructure, education and employment opportunities to the historically underserved Bedouin population in the South. But critics of the proposal point to the 30,000-40,000 Bedouin that would be uprooted in what they claim is just the latest move by the government to strip them of their land to create space for Jewish settlement. “We want rights like everyone else,” said Attia Alasam, the head of the Regional Council of BEDOUIN on page 19
Courtesy of David Buimovitch/Flash 90
Demonstrators gathered on Nov. 30, 2013 in the southern Israeli town of Hura during a protest against the government’s plan to resettle some 30,000 Bedouin residents of the Negev.
In hardscrabble villages, Bedouin want recognition, not relocation By Ben Sales WADI AL-NAAM, Israel (JTA) – In this unofficial Bedouin town of 14,000 not far from Beersheva in the Negev Desert, families live in clusters of shanties with intermittent electricity provided by generators or solar panels. A communal structure has soft plastic walls and dirt floors, with a small pit at one end for an open fire that provides the room’s only heat. Roads in many places are demarcated only by piles of rocks. For decades, Bedouin tribes like those living in Wadi al-Naam and similar settlements all over southern Israel have waged a battle with the Israeli government over land rights, with the government refusing to recognize the unofficial settlements or give them electricity or infrastructure and the Bedouins refusing to move. Ismail Barfash, a local locksmith, says if he wanted to move to the nearby recognized Bedouin town of Segev Shalom, he would have
long ago. “I like the quiet here,” Barfash said. “No one comes here to ask what you’re doing. I prefer to die here and not move somewhere else.” Last week, Israel was set to bring a major resolution to the dispute by enacting a law -- years in the making and following months of Knesset debate -- that would have legalized some Bedouin villages and given them infrastructure while forcing others to relocate to recognized towns, where they would be given small land plots and some cash grants. But the plan was shelved late last week with no vote after opponents on the right and left expressed concerns. Now the government must go back to the drawing board. Some opponents of the law and many Bedouin say the government wants to confiscate their land and profit from it, using it for industry or the military. The government says it wants to settle the claims so that it can use the lands to develop housing and infrastructure.
Courtesy of Yossi Zamir/Flash 90
The city of Rahat is the largest Bedouin settlement in Israel.
The law would have addressed the status of approximately 110,000 Bedouin who live in unrecognized villages in the northern Negev. “It’s not about taking the Bedouin and making a transfer,” said Doron Almog, director of the office of Economic and Community Development of the Negev Bedouin in the Prime Minister’s Office. “It’s
relocation from poverty to modernity. This will happen together with the Bedouin.” In Lakia, one of seven Bedouin towns set up by the government about four decades ago as an experiment in transitioning the historically nomadic group to a more modern, urban lifestyle, one vexing issue is what the newly resettled nomadic
Bedouin would do in their new urban digs. “Bedouins used to plant olive trees and work the land, but that isn’t appropriate for the city,” said Nabhan El-Sana, project director for the Lakia Local Council. Life in the Bedouin towns is not easy. According to Israel’s socioeconomic rating system, no Bedouin town scores better than a two out of 10. Residents tend to be poor, unemployment is high, infrastructure is in short supply and municipal budgets are small. Those who work usually do so outside of town in nearby Jewish villages or cities. “The situation is very difficult,” said Talal Alkrinawi, mayor of Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in Israel. “The worst communities are the Bedouin towns. The reason is that the government didn’t invest resources to develop industry and economy in the Bedouin cities. They didn’t worry about quality of life.” Alkrinawi says that 79 percent of RECOGNITION on page 21
10 • ISRAEL
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Thousands of Israeli households still without power after snowstorm
Courtesy of Hadas Parush/Flash 90
Young people sit at a cafe table set up amid the snow on Jerusalem's Jaffa Road on Dec. 15, 2013.
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Some 14,000 Israeli households remained without power in the wake of what is being called Israel’s worst snowstorm in decades. The Israel Electric Corp. reported that 6,000 of the households still without power on Sunday, 72 hours after the storm, are in Jerusalem. At the height of the bad weather, some 60,000 households did not have electricity, many due to downed power lines from trees that fell in the storm. At least four people died as a result of the storm, according to reports. On Sunday, Israel began transferring fuel to the Gaza to run the strip’s sole power plant, and has committed to sending more fuel on Monday and Tuesday. Two
days earlier, Israel allowed fuel transfers into Gaza gas for home heating. The Israeli army assisted in clearing roads in the Palestinian Authority areas of the West Bank. Schools in Jerusalem and its environs remained closed on Sunday, as were schools in Safed, the Golan Heights and areas of the Galilee. The major Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway on Sunday morning was open in both directions for public transportation, but was open to private vehicles only for leaving the city. The road was opened and closed several times Sunday due to dangerous ice patches. Trains left from Jerusalem for Haifa and Tel Aviv on Saturday after the ban on public transportation on the Sabbath was lifted for the emergency.
Courtesy of Meital Cohen/Flash 90
A man walks along the light-rail tracks on Jaffa Road on Dec. 13, 2013 after a major snowstorm hit Jerusalem.
“We were as prepared as a country should be for an event like this,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Saturday evening news conference amid calls for an investigation into responses to the emergency. It is estimated that repairing storm damage will cost Israel more than $34 million, according to reports. Temperatures throughout Israel on Sunday remained colder than expected for this time of year under sunny skies. Courtesy of Flash90
The grounds of Israel's Knesset in Jerusalem are blanketed with snow on Dec. 16, 2013.
Israel Briefs Israeli soldier killed while on patrol on Lebanese border JERUSALEM (JTA) – An Israeli soldier patrolling Israel’s border with Lebanon was killed by what is believed to be a rogue Lebanese soldier. Master Sgt. Sholmi Cohen, 31, of Afula, was killed on Sunday night when the Lebanese soldier fired as many as seven shots from a pistol at an army patrol near the Israeli army outpost at Rosh Hanikra. Israeli reports say several Lebanese soldiers attempted to stop their fellow soldier, jumping on him as he began shooting. Knesset bill would penalize NGOs that support Israel boycott JERUSALEM (JTA) – A
Knesset committee approved a bill that would heavily tax foreign donations to organizations that call for a boycott of Israel. The bill, which has spurred controversy, passed the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday by an 8-4 vote. Tzipi Livni blocks bill that curbs tax benefits to antiIsrael NGOS (JNS) – Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni blocked a bill that would rescind government tax breaks for Israeli NGOs that support a boycott of Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported. Syrian civil war refugee receives pacemaker at Israeli hospital (JNS) – A 4-year-old Syrian civil war refugee from the besieged city of Homs recently underwent what was likely life-saving surgery at the pediatric cardiology ward of the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel. Hamudi’s father told Israel Hayom, “The Israeli doctors
brought him back to life, and I am happy to have met this country.” Palestinian teen indicted for murder of IDF soldier, has ‘no regrets’ (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – Sixteen-year-old Hussein Jawadra from Jenin, who murdered Israel Defense Forces Cpl. Eden Atias, 18, in a terror attack in Afula last month, was indicted Thursday. Jawadra stands accused of committing nationalistically motivated murder. Aboard the 823 Egged bus from Nazareth Illit to Tel Aviv, Jawadra crept up on the sleeping soldier from behind, placed his hand on Atias’s mouth to keep him from yelling for help, and slit his throat, according to the indictment. Walking into the courtroom, which was crowded with Atias’s family and friends, Jawadra said, “I have absolutely no regrets.” BDS activists infuriated by Abbas rejection of boycotts of Israel (JNS) – A statement by Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas rejecting a boycott of Israel has infuriated Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) leaders. “No, we do not support the boycott of Israel,” Abbas said Dec. 9, South Africa’s The Star reported. “But we ask everyone to boycott the products of the settlements. Because the settlements are in our territories. It is illegal,” Abbas added.
Strip on Friday to transfer emergency aid to residents suffering from wide-scale flooding and no heating. The Jewish state sent gas for heating and water pumps to deal with the rampant flooding in Gaza. Yet Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said, “Israel is the one to blame for what is happening in the Gaza Strip.
Poll: 70 percent of Israelis support equal rights for LGBT community (JNS) – A new poll finds that 70 percent of Israelis support equal rights for the LGBT community. According to the poll conducted for Haaretz by the Dialog Institute, 89 percent of secular Israelis support full equality, as did 72 percent of traditional respondents and 46 percent who defined themselves as religious or Arab.
YU, Wiesenthal Center heads top list of highest-paid Jewish non-profit executives (JNS) – Yeshiva University President Richard Joel ($855,037) and Simon Wiesenthal Center Dean Rabbi Marvin Hier ($751,054) topped the Forward newspaper’s 2013 list of the highest-paid heads of American Jewish non-profits. Rounding out the top five were Stephen Hoffman of the Jewish Community Federation of the Cleveland ($722,061), Frederick Lawrence of Brandeis University ($705,843), and Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League ($688,280).
Hamas blames Israel for floods despite receiving emergency aid from Jewish state (JNS) – Israel opened the Kerem Shalom border crossing to the Gaza
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
“REMEMBERING THE KRISTALLNACHT”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
On November 10th, 2013, 75 years after Kristallnacht, a program was held at the Mayerson Hall at Hebrew Union College to honor both those who perished in the Holocaust and those survivors who are still able to share their life stories with the world. In addition, the late Rabbi Dr. Alfred Gottschalk was honored with the dedication of a sculpture by renowned glass artist, Maria Lugosi (1950-2012) of Hungary. Photos continued on Page 12
Jennifer Singer and Scott Morris
MARRIAGE ennifer Singer and Scott Morris were wed on October 13, 2013 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. Rabbi JP Katz officiated at the Chuppah. Jennifer is the daughter of Tova and Leonard Singer of Blue Ash and the granddaughter of Gina and the late Gerson Singer of Miami Beach and Berek and the late Regina Ofman of Phoenix. She is a graduate of Yavneh Day School, the University of Wisconsin and the BSN program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute and aspires to an advanced nurs-
J
Crystal Night Sculpture by Hungarian Artist, Maria Lugossy makes its North American Premiere in honor of Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk.
Aron Bohus, son of Crystal Night artist Maria Lugossy, stands with Nancy & David Wolf beside one of two Lugossy pieces currently being displayed at Hebrew Union College through January 31, 2014.
ing career. Scott is the son of Susie and Michael Morris of Framingham, Massachusetts and the grandson of Sara and the late Oscar Morris and of Shaney and the late Charles Goldstein of Scranton. He is a graduate of the University of Miami, is currently working on his Masters degree in taxation and is a senior partner at the accounting firm of Morris and Morris, PC. The couple met at a fundraiser for the Jewish Federation of Boston. They reside in Boston.
12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE
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“REMEMBERING THE KRISTALLNACHT” Continued from Page 11
Survivor Werner Coppel lights a candle in memory of the events of Kristallnacht.
Guests admire the newly unveiled Crystal Night sculpture.
Students (from left to right) Isaiah Reaves, Catherine Hidy, Rachel Bearman & Leah Citrin participated in the commemoration ceremony reading survivor testimony
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
Moeller High School Student, Isaiah Reaves, reads the testimony of Rabbi Dr. Alfred Gottschalk.
A speaker at the Kristallnacht commemoration.
HAVE PHOTOS FROM AN EVENT? Whether they are from a Bar Mitzvah, Annual Meeting, School Field Trip or Your Congregation’s Annual Picnic, spread the joy and share them with our readers in the Cincinnati Jewish Life section! MAIL: MAIL Send CD to The American Israelite, 18 W 9th St Ste 2, Cincinnati, OH 45202 or E-MAIL: E-MAIL production@americanisraelite.com Please make sure to include a Word doc. that includes the captions, if available, and a short synopsis of the event (date, place, reason, etc.). If sending photos by e-mail, please send them in batches of 3-5 per e-mail (16MB MAX). All photos should be Hi-Res to ensure print quality. THIS IS 100% FREE. For more information, please contact Jennifer at (513) 621-3145. All photos are subject to review before publishing.
14 • DINING OUT
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Cafe Mediterranean gains from Mediterranean diet popularity by Bob Wilhelmy Benefits of the Mediterranean diet were showcased in a recent article in the New York Times, according to Fahri Ozdil, owner of Café Mediterranean restaurant. The gist of that article is becoming more widely known among health-conscious Americans—a diet centered around vegetables, grains, fruits, garlic, herbs and olive oil is a winner in the healthy-human category. This fact is no news in Jewish circles, where eating “clean,” careful and kosher dates back thousands of years. Given the fact, Café Mediterranean is a place Jewish diners should put at the top of their list of good places to eat, Ozdil reasons. “Since that article in the Times, we have had more people here to eat. They come here, then 95 percent, they come back again. Those people over there—he pointed to a table of diners—they come all the way from Anderson; every time, they come here, because the food, they cannot find it as good anywhere,” Ozdil stated, in Turkish-seasoned English. Ozdil was born in Turkey, and raised in the southern area of that country near the Mediterranean Sea. He knows the allure of a Mediterranean diet inside and out, and he works hard to assure that he can provide an authentic version of his native cuisine here in the River City. Ozdil travels to New York City three or four times a year (he’s traveling there soon on another buying trip) to buy herbs and spices for the foods he prepares in his Blue Ash eatery. Why? Because those particular herbs and spices he buys are imported directly from Turkey, and the imported varieties are not available here. He could buy herbs here, such as oregano, but he says the flavors are just not the same. So, he travels to the Big Apple to get the imported Turkish varieties. “Dry mint, dry oregano, they are very important for us,” he said. “Without them (the Turkish-grown herbs and spices), the food is not the same.” Some ingredients are unavailable in the U.S, such as red pepper paste (both hot and mild), which is a flavoring that goes into a lot of the dishes found at Café Mediterranean. “Turkish cuisine, we need the spices and herbs 100percent the same to have everything taste the same as in Turkey.” Those specially-sought seasonings go into dishes that are common to the Middle East, but with a Turkish twist. Dishes featuring lamb are central to Turkish cuisine, according to Ozdil. “We eat lots of lamb in Turkey.” “When we have lamb shanks (pictured), we have people call and reserve the dish, so they are sure to get the lamb shank—80 percent of
Llamb shank entrée.
Mousaka, made with eggplant and a ground lamb-beef combination.
the lamb shank is reserved,” he said, meaning that four out of five of those entrees are spoken for before the first customer walks through the door. Kebabs are widely available in Turkey, and Ozdil has a variety of kebab choices on his menu. Among the favorites are: shish kebab, featuring char-grilled chunks of lamb, marinated in chef’s seasonings; doner kebab, featuring the lambbeef mix that is cooked on a vertical spit, sliced thin and served; and chicken kebab, featuring marinated
chicken chunks.. One new dish is the zucchini pancake, seen in the photos associated with this article. The pancake features shredded zucchini, carrots, red onion, scallions, flour and eggs, worked to a potato-like mush. The mixture then is shaped to a pancake and pan-seared, topped with feta cheese crumbles and served with Ozdil’s house-made fresh yogurt. The appetizer is crunchy-crisp on the outside, and creamy-moist on the inside, tasty, and is deliciously complimented by the yogurt sauce
The exterior of Café Mediterranean.
that accompanies the dish. Vegetarian dishes such as the zucchini pancake are central to Café Mediterranean’s menu. You may want to try the veggie casserole, with broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and other vegetables, with melted mozzarella cheese on top; the okra stew, made with baby okra, other veggies, and served over rice; or the falafel dinner, served with a shepherd’s salad and hummus. Of note for Jewish diners wanting to ring in the New Year in a restaurant catering to their dining
needs, Café Mediterranean will be offering special New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day evening meals. The New Year’s Eve celebration includes a complimentary glass of champagne with the 5-course, fixed-price meal offering that features choices in the entrée category. Reservations are recommended. See you at Café Mediterranean! Cafe Mediterranean 9525 Kenwood Road Cincinnati, OH 745-9386
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
RESTAURANT DIRECTORY 20 Brix
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Phoenician Taverna
101 Main St
800 Elm St • 721-4241
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Historic Milford
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4858 Hunt Rd
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Mecklenburg Gardens 302 E. University Ave
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Clifton
9525 Kenwood Rd
221-5353
Cincinnati 745-9386
Mei Japanese Restaurant 8608 Market Place Lane
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Montgomery
9769 Montgomery Rd
891-6880
Cincinnati 936-8600
Padrino 111 Main St
Durum Grill
Milford
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16 • OPINION
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Egyptian Nazi scandal exposes academic dishonesty By Ben Cohen (JNS) – Imagine the following scenario. A storied American university holds a conference on the future of democracy in Europe. Among the invited speakers are representatives of two of the continent's neo-Nazi parties, Jobbik in Hungary and Golden Dawn in Greece. Better yet, imagine that same university holding a conference on current trends in Israeli politics, featuring a speaker who is an open admirer of Baruch Goldstein, the Jewish extremist who murdered 29 worshippers and wounded more than 100 when he opened fire in a Palestinian mosque in Hebron in 1994. You might think that the ensuing public outcry would be so raucous that the invitations would be rescinded. Or, more accurately, you might conclude that this thought experiment is pointless, because the invitations would never have been extended in the first place. European neo-Nazis and Jewish ultranationalists are definitely two distinct groups who wouldn’t get a look-in on an American campus. But what if the Nazis are also Arabs? No, that’s not a thought experiment. This exact dilemma surfaced last week, after Georgetown University’s Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding announced a Dec. 5 conference entitled “Egypt and the Struggle for Democracy.” Among the speakers was a littleknown Egyptian Copt named Remy Jan, who was invited because he is a founder of an equally little-known activist group in Egypt called “Christians Against the Coup” – the “coup” in this case being the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi as Egyptian president this past July. A handful of bloggers and journalists did some digging on Jan. They came up with a particularly juicy detail of Jan’s career that had apparently eluded the organizers of the conference. Jan, they revealed, was also a founder of the Egyptian Nazi Party. Once the news broke, the Al Waleed Center swiftly canceled Jan’s invitation. At the same time, they claimed no prior knowledge of Jan’s
Correction In the article "Taglit-Birthright Yachad helps local young adult take her first trip to Israel”, published on December 12th, there is a correction.. Carl Slater, Rosemary’s father, is in fact not supportive of this trip to Israel. It is occurring against his expressed concerns and wishes. The Israelite apologizes for the misinformation and any undue duress it has caused.
Nazi loyalties. “We had no idea that there was this issue out there,” said the center’s director, John Esposito, in response to a series of tweets from Eric Trager of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that highlighted Jan’s affiliation. Another conference participant, Dalia Mogahed, who is a former adviser to President Barack Obama on interfaith matters, tweeted this about Jan’s invite: “I can assure you the organizers had no idea about his ‘other baggage.’” Had the conference organizers done their due diligence, they would have had a very clear idea of Jan’s toxic beliefs. After all, we’re not talking about a cloak and dagger espionage operation. A few seconds of Googling would have taken them to a video from 2011, in which Jan and other Egyptian Nazis explained their raison d’etre to a shocked Egyptian television host. Also, the Alwaleed Center has a Facebook account, as does Jan. Had the conference organizers paid a brief visit to the Facebook page of a man they were willing to fly to Washington, they would have discovered that he’d posted several pictures of Adolf Hitler alongside admiring tributes to the Fuhrer. That they failed to do any of these things reinforces a suspicion that many of us have had about the blindness in the western academic world toward prejudice, bigotry and racism not against, but among, Arabs and Muslims. And in my view, it is this – and not the specific invitation to Jan – that is the real concern here. What’s needed is a reality check. We have to stop thinking that institutions like the Alwaleed Center are dispassionate centers of academic inquiry. They are political advocacy operations, as proven by the Dec. 5 conference on Egypt, which is chock full of speakers from the Muslim Brotherhood, whose views on subjects like Jews and Israel are little different from those of the disinvited Remy Jan. As the distinguished academic Martin Kramer observed, at the launch ceremony for the Alwaleed Center, which was a project of a private university, Georgetown, and a private businessman, the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, both the U.S. and Saudi flags were on display. Kramer wrote, tellingly, “The national flags send the implied message that this deal is somehow in the interests of the two countries and deserves their blessing.” Is it in our national interest to treat Islamists as honored guests with a valuable perspective? Most Americans would demur if asked this question. And quite a few of them would ask how we got to a situation where universities are presenting political messaging as honest scholarship. That’s the right question to ask.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Do you have something to say? E-mail your letter to editor@americanisraelite.com
Dear Editor The fact that Dr. Schapera's brother was the prison doctor to Nelson Mandela, hardly qualifies Dr. Schapera to make the statement that Mandela was a friend of the Jews. There is no doubt that Mandela was associated with Jews throughout his early and adult life. Jews gave him his first job as an articled clerk in their lawyers office, Jews were very much involved in the struggle to overturn apartheid. In fact several Jews were caught in Rivonia at the time of Mandela's arrest. But Mandela, as President of the country, publically embraced Yasser Arafat, kissed him several times and called him an icon of his time. The video is available for all to see. It is the view of this writer that you cannot be a friend of the Jews and embrace Arafat at the same time. It is also the view of this writer that you cannot be a friend of the Jews and an enemy of Israel. Those two elements go hand in hand. Being anti Israel (and embracing the
architect of her destruction) is a copout and is synonymous with antiSemitism. Many Jews in South Africa worked and died for and were imprisoned (and many didn't) to overturn the apartheid regime. I find it curious that in all the name changes of streets and towns and cities that were named after African nationalists, not one is named after any Jew who was involved in the struggle. There is a Helen Suzman Street but she was not part of the underground struggle. I think it is important to add some facts to the Mandela story. Mandela was a pacifist. He belonged to the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress, both of which were outlawed by the South African proApartheid regime. It was at that point that Mandela turned from being pacifist to terrorist. He was caught with the blue print to blow up several parts of Johannesburg, intending to cause death and destruction of thousands of innocent
people. This is what he was prosecuted for and convicted of. In most countries, certainly in Africa and Asia, he would have been executed for this crime. This country too, has executed people for treason, viz. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Mandela did have an alternate option. He could have called for a general strike among all the black workers of the country and crippled the economy in a matter of days, but he did not elect to do so. He chose the other route. Fast forward 27 years in prison and the miracle of Mandela emerges. He came out a changed man with a genuine pacifist view for the the country and a genuine hope for peace, forgiveness and goodwill for all of his countrymen. That is the miracle, and for that he should be forever praised, but the liberals of our time should not be entitled to rewrite history. Respectfully submitted Julius S. Kassar
Sing us the songs of Zion By Jeffrey Salkin BAYONNE, N.J. (JTA) – Arik Einstein, who died November 26th, at the age of 74, basically invented Israeli popular music. He was a unique Israeli combination of Sinatra, Dylan and the Beatles, embodying the spirit and the struggles of a younger, more optimistic Israel. His death brought tributes from the top leaders of Israeli society. Shy, almost reclusive, he died in the same Tel Aviv house in which he had been born. Find another rock star who has never changed addresses. But Einstein’s death has broader cultural implications. At a time when the U.S.-Israel relationship appears particularly fragile, and with the state of American Jewry’s ties to Israel again under discussion, the death of Arik Einstein presents us with the opportunity to ask if, musically, American Jews and Israelis are on the same page? I’m grateful to my friend and colleague Rabbi Morley Feinstein of the University Synagogue in Los Angeles for posing the question. Feinstein noted that Einstein’s classic “Ani v’Atta” (“You and I”) had been sung in Reform movement summer camps, youth groups and creative services, helping to forge an important link between American Jewish youth and Israel. Back in the early 1970s, Israeli pop songs were a mainstay of
American Jewish camping. The playlist I remember includes “Bashana ha ba-ah,” an optimistic song that in the heady days between the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War proclaimed the hope that next year will be better. We were full participants in the post-1967 Israel euphoria. The Naomi Shemer classic “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav,” despite its right-wing connotations, expressed the conviction that Jerusalem would always be in our hearts as well as on our lips. And years later there was “Abanibi,” an exercise in pure fun based on jumbled Hebrew sentences. It was all rather easy. The songs flowed into each other. Everything was in A minor or D minor, depending on where you put the capo on the neck of the guitar. In those days there was an unbroken link between Israeli popular culture and American Jewish youth culture. Our song leaders listened to Israeli rock music and almost instantly imported it into camps and youth programs. And today? Based on largely anecdotal evidence, most of the songs sung at Jewish summer camps are written by contemporary American Jewish composers. By and large, our American Jewish youth are not singing the songs of Zion. The proliferation of American Jewish popular songs at summer camps is quite understandable. First,
the golden age of Israeli popular music in our camps coincided with the post-Six-Day War American Jewish infatuation with Israel – an infatuation that has deepened into a more mature love, but one in which the bloom is clearly off the rose. Second, our ways of teaching and presenting music has changed over the years. Kids are less likely to have song sheets in their hands, making the singing of complex modern Hebrew lyrics much more unwieldy. Third, in the early 1970s there were essentially no American Jewish composers writing for a youth market. It was the BDF era – Before Debbie Friedman. We were dependent on Israeli imports and, to a lesser degree, on the music of Shlomo Carlebach. In some ways, the absence of Israeli popular music from our summer camps demonstrates that American Jewish culture has come of age. But with that cultural declaration of independence, what do we lose? The Zionist thinker Ahad Ha-am hoped that the reborn state would become the cultural center of the Jewish world, with a new kind of Torah coming forth from Zion. Without Israeli songs on our lips, we lose a connection between American Jewish youth and Israeli culture. A pop culture connection represents the opportunity to see an Israel that ZION on page 19
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
while, I felt a nagging sense that something was amiss, that a weird phenomenon could be felt roundabout. There were hardly any children. Many adults of all ages were strolling about; I even noticed many people walking with their dogs! But almost no children. When the professor who introduced me at the public forum asked if I had had an opportunity to do some sightseeing (I had previously written to him that this would be my first visit), I shared with him and the audience the strange feelings I had about the dearth of progeny. His response almost bowled me over. “We Europeans have difficulties with younger children, who make noise and dirt and cannot be controlled; we have even greater problems with young adult children, who cost a great deal of money to be educated, who often fall short of expectations and who are generally ungrateful and insensitive…” I was initially stunned by his words, an attitude so very different from the “children worship” which characterizes most of the Jewish and Israeli families I know. After all, the Hebrew-Yiddish word “nachas” – joyous satisfaction – is heavily identified with celebrations involving one’s children and grandchildren. But then I recognized the logic of his words and when I looked into the negative population growth of the vast majority of the European countries, I realized that perhaps it is observant Jewry which is out of step with the world. However, I am truly convinced that it is precisely our Jewish obsession with progeny which is responsible for our continued survival and contemporary rebirth, and which will guarantee our future. One early Talmudic Commentary, Rabbenu Asher (12501328), maintains that there is no specific command to be married; marriage is merely the necessary preparation for fulfilling the commandment “to be fruitful and to multiply” (Ketubot 1:12). For, you see, Judaism is a grand “unfinished symphony”: the Abrahamic mission is to convey to the world of nations a God of love, morality and peace in historic time. God promises through His prophets that eventually a more perfect society will be formed and the world will
be redeemed. Our narrative is to be found in the Bible, our unique lifestyle, celebrations and memorials are detailed in the Talmud, and each Jewish parent lives in order to convey this mission to his/her child. To be a Jew is to parent – or to take responsibility – for a Jewish child of the next generation. Hence the formation of our nation in the Book of Exodus emanates from the continuity of the family in the Book of Genesis. Each family of patriarchs and matriarchs bequeathed those in the direct chain of continuity. Jacob – the man and his household, the man and his forebears – came along with all of his children and their children into Egypt. These verses are not repetition of past events; they are guideposts for our future. All Jews must carry with them – wherever Jewish destiny takes them – the Jewish portable household civilization which formed our peoplehood. Only on the basis of that glorious past will we be equipped to shape a significant and blessed future. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi – Efrat Israel
LITTLE KNOWN CINCINNATI FACTS Who read the benediction at the swearing-in ceremony of President John F. Kennedy? Nelson Glueck was one of the foremost leaders in the field of biblical archaeology and Reform Judaism. He served in the Office of Strategic Services during WW II and served as President of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death in 1971. He appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in 1963, the same year he created the HUC Biblical and Archaeological School in Jerusalem. He is interred in JCGC’s Walnut Hills cemetery. This quiz provided by:
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T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: SHMOT (SHMOT 1:1—6:1) 1. What did the Children of Israel build for Pharaoh? a.) Pyramids b.) Store houses c.) Chariots and other weaponry 2. What was the basket that Moshe was put in made of? a.) Wood b.) Leather c.) Reeds 3. Where did Moshe hide the Egyptian he killed? 3. B 2:12 4. A 2:16 5. C 4:25
EFRAT, Israel – “And these are the names of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each individual came with his household... And all the souls who emerged from the loins of Jacob were seventy souls…” (Exodus 1:1,5). These opening verses of the Book of Exodus are actually an abridged, shorter repetition of a much more detailed account of the family, which Grandfather Jacob brought with him on his journey to Egypt to meet his beloved son Joseph: “And Jacob arose from Be’er Sheba, and the Children of Israel lifted Jacob their father, their children and their wives onto the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to bring them… And these are the names of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt: Jacob and his sons; the first born of Jacob is Reuven…. All the souls of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy” (Genesis 46:5, 8, 27). Rashi and Ramban, the two most classic Biblical Commentaries, explain that with these opening verses, the Book of Exodus establishes its connection to and continuity with the Book of Genesis; they both add that the repetition of names expresses the great love that our Biblical Author (God!) has for Jacob and his family. I believe that the seemingly repetitive verses contain a message that not only goes beyond this and but holds the key to understanding the major mission and national mystery of the eternity of our people. Please allow me to interpret our opening verses by reference to a totally different issue, a question that many young Jews are asking and which raises a serious Jewish existential problem: Why get married? And even more to the point: Why have children? About a decade ago, I was invited to lecture to the faculty, the students and general public at a European university. Since this was my first visit to that city, I arrived in the early afternoon, checked into the hotel, and set out for an exploratory walk. It was a perfect autumnal Sunday afternoon. The weather was refreshingly cool and invigorating, the sun shone and I had at least three hours to spare before my lecture. It was an area with many parks, the architecture of the buildings was interesting and I was greatly enjoying a few hours of rare solitude.. But after a
“And Jacob arose from Be’er Sheba, and the Children of Israel lifted Jacob their father, their children and their wives onto the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to bring them…”
a.) He threw him into the Nile b.) Sand c.) Behind a building 4. What did the daughters of Yisro do? a.) They were shepherds b.) seamstresses c.) Warriors 5. What did Moshe's wife Tziporah do with a rock flint? a.) Slaughter and animal b.) Cut a tree c.) Perform a circumcision on her son
to Pharaoh. Rashi 2. C 2:3 The boat was sealed with tar on the outside and clay on the inside. Rashi
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT SHEMOT Exodus 1:1-6:1
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
ANSWERS 1. B 1:11 The Children of Israel built/improved these cities as storage centers to pay their “tax”
Sedra of the Week
JEWISH LIFE • 17
18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
JEWZ
IN THE
By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist Movies: Something for Everyone The 2004 satire, “Anchorman,” starring Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, an incredibly pompous TV newsman, was a surprise hit that’s now called a comedy classic. So, there’s a sequel: “Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy Continues.” It reunites Burgundy and his crew of goofy news colleagues, including PAUL RUDD, 44 (as Brian Fantana, a ladies’ man with a big mustache). The sequel takes place in the 1980s and the news crew is joining a new cable news network. A recent issue of “USA Weekend” had Rudd on the cover, with a caption that read: “America’s Most Loveable Leading Man.” About this film he said, “It’s even more bizarre than the first one, I think.” He added that trying to cut back on work so he could spend more time with his (Jewish) wife, JULIE, and their 7-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. By the way, Rudd says his daughter loves his Fantana mustache. More serious is “American Hustle,” directed and co-written by DAVID O. RUSSELL, 55 (“Silver Linings Playbook”). Christian Bale stars as Irving Rosenfeld, a brilliant con-man who is forced by the FBI to ensnare some corrupt New Jersey politicians with Mafia ties. Jennifer Lawrence plays Irving’s wife, with Amy Adams as Rosenfeld’s con-woman mistress. Rosenfeld, by the way, is wearing a big Star of David in the film’s trailer. “Hustle,” which has some humor, has already landed on many critics’ top ten lists based on their seeing it in film festivals. It is inspired by the real FBI “Abscam” operation, a ‘70s sting in which a phony Arab sheik offered bribes to members of Congress. MEL WEINBERG, now 89, was a real Jewish conman who, like the Rosenfeld character, helped the FBI plan the sting – which resulted in five Congressmen and one Senator doing jail time for bribe-taking. Opening the same day is “Saving Mr. Banks,” which purports to tell the true story of how the author of the “Mary Poppins” children’s books, Brit P.J.Travers (Emma Thompson), was cajoled into giving Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) the right to make a “Mary Poppins” film. Disney did this by bringing (1964) Travers to Hollywood where, among others, she met with his crack young songwriting
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM
NEWZ
team, RICHARD SHERMAN, now 85, and his brother, ROBERT SHERMAN (19252012). They are played, respectively, by JASON SCHWARTZMAN, 33, and B.J. NOVAK, 34 (“The Office”). These two actors (while in character) sing the Sherman brothers’ Oscar-winning (Mary Poppins) song, “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” Yes, the Baroness was Jewish The obits for ELEANOR PARKER, who died on Dec. 10, age 91, all mentioned her three Oscar nominations in the ‘50s (“Caged,” “Detective Story,” and “Interrupted Melody”), as well as her praised performance as the Baroness in “The Sound of Music” (1965). Most obits included lovely tributes from Julie Andrews, 78, and Christopher Plummer, 83, her “Music” co-stars. (Plummer said, “[She] was and is one of the most beautiful ladies I have ever known. Both as a person and as a beauty. I hardly believe the sad news for I was sure she was enchanted and would live forever.”) No obit I saw mentioned Parker’s conversion to Judaism, which occurred near the time of her 1966 marriage to RAYMOND HIRSCH, a Shubert theater manager who was her husband until his 2001 death. In 1969, she said: “I think we’re all Jews at heart. I know I have always felt more Jewish than anything else. I wanted to convert for a long time.” (Parker’s second husband, the father of three of four of her children, was also Jewish.) Fifth Beatle News A year ago, it was announced that Tom Hanks was producing a film on the life of BRIAN EPSTEIN, the Liverpool Jew who managed the Beatles from 1961 until his accidental death, age 32, in 1967. He is universally given great credit for making them superstars (securing a recording contract; packaging them). The drama in Epstein’s life wasn’t limited to the Beatles – he also managed a lot of other famous British rock acts – and he struggled with being gay when gay relations were illegal in the UK (legalized in ‘67). The Hanks film seems now on the back burner. But IndianAmerican Broadway producer Vivek J. Tiwary has moved ahead with his Epstein bio-pic, “The Fifth Beatle.” He’s signed a respected director and he has secured the rights to use the Beatles’ recordings.
FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO We have been informed by our young friend, Joe Aub, that some of our young men are about to establish an Association, exclusively literary, for the purpose of improving in the art of elocution, as well as to cultivate themselves in the various branches of science, so essential to gentlemen who would command honor and respect of their fellowmen. We hail this move with particular delight as but a few years will elapse ‘til these very young men will step into the places of their fathers, to be the rulers of a rising generation; and what will best fit them for the high and responsible position than a mind stored with knowledge and a consciousness of being able to take charge of Israel’s time-honored banner, and to defend, in word or deed, our inheritance, as men and free-born citizens. We shall speak more anon upon this subject, and in the meantime we pray for the best success of this laudable enterprise. – January 15, 1864
125 Y EARS A GO The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Heinsheimer, of Gilbert Avenue, Walnut Hills, was the scene of a brilliant wedding last Wednesday evening, the contracting parties being Mr. Albert M. Stadler, only son of the late Martin Stadler, Esq, and Miss Cora, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the host and hostess. Rabbi Wise officiated. The gathering was a notable one, comprising the elite of the city. The costumes were superb, the presents numerous, handsome, and valuable. The young people left for the West on a bridal tour, during which they will visit Denver and Colorado Springs, CO. On their return they will, for the present, make their home with the parents of the bride. Mr. A.B. Levy, formerly of Brownsville and Memphis, TN, is now a resident of Chrystal Hall, the finest glass and chinaware house in the city, at 79 West Fourth Street, where he will be pleased to see all of his old friends and make new ones of all who favor him with a call.– December 21, 1888
100 Y EARS A GO A great deal of interest is being expressed in the lecture on “Instruction of Sex Hygiene in the School and at the Home” which is to be delivered this Thursday afternoon before the Cincinnati Section Council of Jewish Women at the Sabbath School building, Reading Road and Whittier St. Dr. Zenner is not only in a position to speak authoritatively on this subject, but he is able to present it in such a manner as to make it easily intelligible and interesting to the layman. As this
topic is of such general interest, the Council has kindly extended invitations to all who desire to hear Dr. Zenner, to be present whether they are members of the Council or not, and no doubt very many will avail themselves of this exceptional opportunity to receive information on a topic in which every parent should be interested. Mrs. Jacob Bloch will read from the Scriptures. Mr. and Mrs. O. Roth of 1541 Ruth Ave., Walnut Hills, announce the engagements of their daughters, Hannah, to Samuel G. Friedlander and Mary, to Sigmund Reiser, all of Cincinnati. – December 18, 1913
75 Y EARS A GO Soured with lemon but sweetened with welcoming smiles of the charter members of the Bas Ami Club, the season officially opened with a tea for prospective members. During the tea, Dorothy Greenberg, president, gave a resume of the club’s activities for the past year. Morton Fierman read Ogden Nash’s latest poems. Those invited were Florence Schwartz, Minnie Blumberg, Idell Moeller, Fred Moscowitz, Gertrude Horn, and Shirley Schindler. Mr. Walton H. Bachrach has been elected secretary and Mr. Milton Lowenstein has been chosen as a director of the Hamilton County Republican Club. Phi Sigma Kappa Sorority announces the election of Lily Wander, president; Edythe Lepof, secretary; and Gertrude Cohn, treasurer. Mrs. Lillian Tyler Plogstedt, widely-known musician and music critic, is recuperating at Jewish Hospital from injuries inflicted by an auto. – December 22, 1938
50 Y EARS A GO Mr. Chaim P. Kerman announces the engagment of his daughter, Marlene Estelle, to Mr. Maurice Beraha, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Beraha. Mr. Beraha graduated from the University of Cincinnati. Miss Kerman is a graduate of UC Teachers College. The wedding will take place in summer. Benjamin Harkavy, retired executive of the Cincinnati office of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., passed away Thursday, Dec. 12 at his residence, 6616 Meadowridge Lane, Amberley Village. Mr. Harkavy had been with Metropolitan 40 years and manager of the office 25 years before retiring in 1956. He was a trustee of Adath Israel Synagogue. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Gussie Harkavy; a son, Franklyn Harkavy of this city; a daughter, Mrs. Leonard Edlin of Atlanta; a brother, Morris of Brooklyn; and six grandchildren. Rabbi Fishel J. Goldfeder officiated
at the services at the Weil Funeral Home Friday, Dec. 13. Interment was in Adath Israel Cemetary. – December 19, 1963
25 Y EARS A GO Dr. and Mrs. Nathan Rendler (Beverly Shabtay) of Columbus announce the birth of a son, Ori Daniel, Nov. 23. Ori has a sister, Sheri. Maternal grandparents are Joseph and Jeannette Shabtay. Paternal grandparents are Samuel and Zahava Rendler, all of Cincinnati. As the winner of the 40th anniversary essay contest sponsored by Israel Programs of the Jewish Federation, Nathan Anthony Fenner received a round-trip ticket to Israel where he decided to continue his research in city planning. Fenner, a masters degree candidate in community planning at the University of Cincinnati chose “Planning for War, Planning for Peace: How Israelis Anticipate the Future Amid Prolonged Conflicts and Sporadic Hostility” as the subject of his thesis. Israel Programs has arranged for Fenner to confer with Dr. Rachel Alterman, head of the city planning department at the Technion in Haifa. There, he will also meet with Israeli planners who are experts in planning and developing neighborhoods that house a mixure of Jews and Arabs. In 1984, Fenner participated in a one-year “Otzma” project sponsored by the Council of Jewish Federations for young community leaders. He is also actively involved with Students for Israel at UC. – December 29, 1988
10 Y EARS A GO Richard Weiland was honored with the Kindred Spirit Award at the annual luncheon of The Center for Chemical Addictions Treatment Dec. 10, held at the Westin Hotel. Weiland has actively worked to promote the prevention and/or treatment of alcoholism and substance abuse in Greater Cincinnati. He was also involved in the successful transfer of the old Rollman’s Hospital to the Hamilton County Alcohol and Drug Addication Board. Beckett Ann Broh, daughter of Bob and Jenny Broh of Amberley Village, received her Ph.D. in Sociology from The Ohio State University at the autumn commencement exercises. Beckett is a 1990 graduate of Finneytown High School. She attended Indiana University and received her BS in Psychology with honors from Albion College, Albion, MI and her Masters in Sociology from Ohio State. Dr. Broh lives in Columbus, where she works in the Legislative Office of Education Oversight for the State of Ohio as a Program Evaluator. – December 25, 2003
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY / CLASSIFIEDS • 19
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS Access (513) 373-0300 • jypaccess.org Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc. (513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Chabad (513) 731-5111 • campchabad.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 •camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 •cincinnatimikveh.org Eruv Hotline (513) 351-3788 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 JVS Career Services (513) 936-WORK (9675) • www.jvscinti.org Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org
BEDOUIN from page 9 Unrecognized Villages. “The state doesn’t see that the Bedouin have problems. They see the Bedouin as the problem. The state can’t put people on trucks and spill them into towns.” The fight over the plan has been contentious. Protests across Israel have left several Israeli police officers injured and led to dozens of arrests. Several human rights groups have blasted the plan. Last week, Arab lawmakers appealed to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, asking him to block what they allege amounts to “ethnic cleansing” of the Bedouin. It’s far from certain that the partnership proposal will come to fruition, but the effort represents a rare attempt at pragmatic compromise in a debate that has been dominated by dueling perceptions of reality. At the meeting – representatives of the Arab-Jewish political party Hadash, the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages and the Negev Coexistence Forum
The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org CONGREGATIONS CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net B’nai Tikvah Chavurah (513) 284-5845 • rabbibruce.com Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org Congregation Ohr Chadash (513) 252-7267 • ohrchadashcincinnati.com Congregation Sha’arei Torah (513) 620-8080 • 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 Shevet Achim, (513) 602-7801 • shevetachimohio.com Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com
Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) (513) 262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com Yeshivas Lubavitch High School of Cincinnati (513) 631-2452 • ylcincinnati.com ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 • mayersonjcc.org Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (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
EDUCA EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com
for Civic Equality attended – Alasam and others sounded optimistic that they could find common ground with right-wing activists even though their ultimate objectives are almost certainly incompatible. Alasam wants the government to allow the Bedouin to stay in the unrecognized villages. Right-wing activists believe the Bedouin have no right to stay where they are. Moshe Feiglin, the head of the Jewish Leadership faction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, voted against the plan because it “hands the Negev over to the Arabs.” Zvulun Kalfa of the Jewish Home party opposes the bill because it’s too vague. That’s also the objection of Ari Briggs, the director of international relations for Regavim, a rightwing organization that wants to protect Israel’s lands from “foreign elements” and compel state bodies “to act based on the fundamental principles of Zionism.” Briggs says the plan is not specific enough about the final bound-
aries of recognized villages. “The only reason we need to solve those land claims is so the Bedouin can move into those cities,” Briggs said. If the law doesn’t address the unrecognized villages, he added, “We haven’t solved anything.” Knesset member Miri Regev, who heads the committee debating the bill, echoed that criticism last week when she criticized Almog for not presenting her committee with a proposed map of Negev towns. “I think the time has come to organize Bedouin settlement,” Regev wrote on Facebook last week. “It’s unlikely that the Bedouin are taking over the Negev’s lands, and given that, the solution needs to be formulated deliberatively and in a way that’s transparent to all sides.”
DO YOU WANT TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED? Send an e-mail including what you would like in your classified & your contact information to
business@ americanisraelite.com or call 513-621-3145 DEAD SEA from page 9 of the desalination process, half the water output will be fresh water, and half will become brine that includes all the salt from the desalination, so it has a double concentration of sea salt. It is this strategic brine water will be distributed to the Dead Sea,” he said. Ganor said there are two reasons to bring the brine to the Dead Sea. “The first is reason is to avoid dumping of brine into the Red Sea. The second is to contribute some water to the Dead Sea, which has a negative water balance, so it will slow down the decrease in the Dead Sea water level,” he said. According to Ganor, substantial research has not been conducted on whether or not placing the brine back into the Red Sea would have any tangible ecological impact on the Red Sea’s famed coral reefs and colorful sea life-yet that is clearly a concern. In terms of total salinity, the water in the Dead Sea is about 10 times saltier than the seawater of the Red Sea, and five times saltier than the brine. Yet the compositions of the two waters are very different. “There are different salts in the Dead Sea,” Ganor told JNS. “In the Dead Sea, for example, calcium is high, while sulfates are low. In seawater, sulfates are high and calcium is low. And there are many other examples.” Meanwhile, some environmentalists are arguing against bringing ZION from page 16 goes beyond the crisis narrative, an Israel that is rich, vibrant, cool, sophisticated. And in fact, as I have learned from Yossi Klein Halevi, a meticulous observer and fan of this music, the music is better than ever, with much to say and teach. Let’s work on restoring the link. It is easy, painless and technologically feasible. Let’s teach the songs and their significance – to contemporary Israelis, and to us as American Jews. “Sing us the songs of Zion,” says the Psalmist. This was how the Babylonians taunted our hopeless and hapless ancestors who despaired of ever having songs to sings again. The Temple musicians, deprived of their sacred venue, hung their harps
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(513) 531-9600 the brine to the Dead Sea. “The question of risk to the ecology of the Dead Sea depends on the amounts of water deposit. In small amounts, there is no risk. If we are talking about very high amounts of new water, then there are various types of risks relating to the Dead Sea water composition, and the growth of particular types of algae that are currently not part of the Dead Sea’s environment,” Ganor said. “According to the research that we conducted at Ben-Gurion University along with other institutes including Hebrew University, we found that if you add relatively small amounts, less than 350 million cubic meters per year, there will be no ecological risk to the Dead Sea,” he said. “If you add a very high amount, say 700 or 800 million cubic meters, there is a much bigger concern.” Whether these concerns would negatively affect tourism in the Dead Sea is unknown, as the actual effects cannot be accurately studied. “We don’t know the precise amount of water that is safe to add without ecological change. The current pilot can give us a real field study to better determine the impact in larger numbers,” Ganor said. While politicians would like to enlarge the project in the future, more data is needed to do that, said the professor. “Yet again, the issue of the brine is not the major component of this deal,” he said.
on the willows.The midrash says they even broke their fingers in protest. It’s time for us to walk with history and to sing the songs of Zion. And here is the good news. Einstein’s “Ani v’atta” is still being sung at Jewish summer camps. It is Arik’s musical kaddish. In the musical world to come he now inhabits, Arik is surely smiling. And come next summer, he will surely sing along. Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Am in Bayonne, N.J., and the author of numerous books on spirituality and Jewish identity published by Jewish Lights Publishing and the Jewish Publication Society.
20 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / BOOK REVIEW
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM
Jewish artists pushing the technological frontier By Talia Lavin NEW YORK (JTA) – Jazz music drifts from speakers down to the cherry wood tables of the West Cafe in Brooklyn as the Israeli artist Nurit Bar-Shai prepares to show examples of her latest work. With deft, freckled hands, she opens a manila envelope and slides three petri dishes across the table. In the dishes are billions of Paenibaciullus vortex bacteria arranged in delicate whorls of blue. The series, which Bar-Shai calls “Objectivity [tentative],” displays “chemical tweets” of bacterial communication that expose viewers to the science behind her work while prompting them to reflect on the nature of human interaction. “When people see bacteria working together to create these designs, they might wonder, how do I depend on others in my life?” BarShai told JTA. “What do the social networks I am part of look like?” Bar-Shai is one of a number of artists incorporating cutting-edge science into their works, anything from digital images of microorgan-
isms to so-called visual synthesizers that combine visual and audio elements into one “synesthetic” signal. Tech-influenced artwork has been around for decades, but recent advances have expanded the potential for using technology in artistic creation. Artists working with such media frequently offer critical perspectives on the role technology plays in an increasingly digital world. “It’s important to maintain a healthy balance between technophilia and critical distance about technology,” Tali Hinkis told JTA. Hinkis, who grew up in Tel Aviv, is one half of an art duo known as LoVid. Her father was an Apple employee during the company’s early years of operations in Israel. Along with partner Kyle Lapidus, Hinkis produces work that joins digital sounds and images. In one piece inspired by tefillin,”Retzuot (ShinShinAgam),” a colorful video screen connected to a handmade synthesizer is embedded in an object fashioned from wire and fabric to look vaguely like the wooden boxes worn by observant
Courtesy of Cynthia Beth Rubin
Cynthia Beth Rubin's “Layered Histories” is an interactive digital representation of the history of the Marseilles Bible.
men during morning prayers. The contraption produces sounds and colors on the screen that change as the artists manipulate an electric current. Hinkis says it is part of an effort to “mute the consumerism” in today’s technology and bring computers back to their “hackable”
roots. “Nowadays, hardware is hidden and discreet,” she told JTA. “As we progress there is less accessibility in mainstream technology. We celebrate technology, but we’re looking for further possibilities. Not everything has to be boxed and sold.” Cynthia Beth Rubin, a faculty
member at the Rhode Island School of Design, uses digital technology to give audiences new ways to engage with ancient texts. Her exhibition, “Layered Histories,” created in collaboration with rabbi and composer Bob Gluck, uses leafs from the Marseilles Bible, an illuminated Bible written in 1260 in Toledo, Spain. The Bible vanished from 1492 to 1894, when it was found in the Marseilles municipal library, and Rubin and Gluck sought to create an “imagined history” of those mysterious centuries. The exhibit centers on a specially designed tablet computer that enables viewers to interact visually with the Bible. Using a specially designed pointer, users can touch images on the tablet, causing digitally altered images inspired by the Bible’s wanderings to project onto a screen, accompanied by music meant to replicate the sound of communal recitation. Since 2003, the exhibition has been presented in Florida, Connecticut, Rhode Island and at the Jewish museum in Prague.
‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ approaching 50th anniversary, proves its staying power By Michele Alperin (JNS) – Worldwide performances of “Fiddler on the Roof” attest to its cultural power, as it evokes the yearning for tradition in a changing world. What is behind its staying power? According to Alisa Solomon, author of the new book “Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof,” it is the show’s balance between the universal and the particular. During a recent symposium at Princeton University celebrating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the play’s Broadway opening on Sept. 22, 1964, Solomon, a professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, said the show – which was still going strong with no empty seats or standingroom spots at its 900th Broadway performance in November 1966, surpassing the expectations of its creators – “quickly belonged to everyone.” She shared an anecdote about a Tokyo rehearsal where a local producer asked Joseph Stein, who wrote the play, whether Americans really understood “Fiddler.” A very surprised Stein quickly asked “Why?” and received the response, “Because it’s so Japanese!” While its appeal is universal, for Jews “Fiddler” calls forth the “old country.” “To this day it is taught as a document of shtetl life and thus came to stand for Jewishness itself,” Solomon said at the Nov. 14-15 Princeton symposium, which probed the play’s roots, its creative
Courtesy of Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts
Erik Stein as Tevye in the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts summer 2013 production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
development, and its cultural resonances at home and abroad. Solomon suggested that the key to the show’s abiding power, in a way its authors couldn’t have guessed, is that it is “focused on tradition rather than Torah or law.” The idea of tradition, she adds, is dear to any culture in the modern world. “It is a way of embracing a legacy without having to adopt its strictures,” she said. By successfully representing the idea of the East European Jewish past and an idyllic idea of the shtetl, said Solomon, the show “served a need of American Jews, who both needed to honor, recognize, claim, and embrace a heritage and life that was no more and at the same time needed to distinguish themselves from that.” In pondering the implications of
her own profound response to the music of the “Sabbath Prayer” song in the show, Jenna Weissman Joselit, professor and program director of Judaic studies and professor of history at George Washington University, noted that in the new world “the Sabbath experience was more in the breach than in observance.” The power of “Sabbath Prayer,” she said, is that it “directly assuaged the concern of the American Jewish community – it’s future. “It raised the possibility that in abandoning the Sabbath, American Jews had missed something special, but it was not too late to stage its resurrection,” Joselit said. But at the same time, this “prayer” is not from the liturgy, but was totally fabricated by the creative team, and language like “keep
them from the stranger’s way” and “defend them” was included purposefully, said Joselit. “It was designed to encapsulate conditions at time of play,” she said. “The language was designed to integrate the self into the body of the play and concerns about exogamy, change, and the need to preserve the Jews.” The play came to be at a moment in the U.S. when the counterculture was growing, feminism was coming to the fore, and the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was increasing. Solomon noted that its audiences saw the developing “generation gap” through the eyes of both Tevye and his daughters. “Part of the genius of the show is to have both perspectives,” she said. To illustrate this, Solomon alludes to the arrival in Anatevka of Perchik, who will eventually marry Tevye’s daughter Hodel, but early on mocks Tevye and his friends. When they ask where he is from, Perchik responds that he is from the university in Kiev. A townsman then asks, “Is that where they teach you to speak to your elders like this?” Solomon observed that, given the developing gap between parents and children in the early 1960s, the play’s audiences “know why that was a joke in ‘64.” Politics also affected the actors themselves during the first Broadway performances of “Fiddler.” Joanna Merlin, who originated the role of Tzeitel, the eldest of Tevye’s daughters, related the tension that remained between Zero Mostel, who played Tevye, and the
show’s director/choreographer Jerome Robbins because of their different experiences with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Robbins had been a cooperative witness, eventually “naming names” to the congressional committee that investigated allegations of communist activity in the U.S. during the early years of the Cold War, whereas Mostel had been blacklisted. Merlin was blunt about the two men’s relationship. “Zero hated him but agreed to work with him because he respected him as a director, and he didn’t hide his feelings,” she said. “Jerry felt very guilty and humiliated. There was a lot of tension during rehearsals because of that.” Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist for “Fiddler on the Roof,” had a different perspective. He recalled that on the first day of rehearsal, which is kind of a meet and greet among participants, the cast wondered what would happen when the two men met. Mostel arrived first. When Robbins walked in, said Harnick, “Zero said, ‘Hi there, blabbermouth.’Luckily everyone in the cast and Robbins laughed.” His perspective was that after that incident, Mostel kept his feelings to himself and worked very hard. George Washington University’s Joselit touched on Merlin’s sentiments, but in a different way. “What the play is about, despite moments of wrenching loss, is possibility,” she said.
JEWISH LIFE / BOOK REVIEW • 21
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013
Embrace what matters most in 2014 Incidentally Iris
by Iris Ruth Pastor Within minutes of Nelson Mandela’s death in early December, we were deluged with information about his life: a conqueror of apartheid, the first black president of South Africa, a master compromiser and a champion peace broker. One facet of his multi-layered life particularly fascinates me: how did he emerge from 27 years of wrongful imprisonment devoid of bitterness and rancor? Myriad sources cite Mandela’s anger in his early years of confinement. As time passed, however, Mandela noted that he began to recognize that “hating clouds the mind and gets in the way of strategy.” (The New York Times, Dec. 6, 2013). If he wanted to achieve lifelong dreams and ambitions, he realized he needed to control what was still left for him to control - his heart, his head, his thoughts and his attitude - or his captors would have indeed triumphed. Nelson Mandela entered prison as a revolutionary and emerged as a statesman. I wonder how much time we all spend in a cage of our own making – raging about things we can’t control - rather than concentrating on strategies that will strengthen our wills and help achieve our desired results? Stuck in neutral? Shift gears like Cheryl Strayed did. Reeling from the loss of her beloved mother, her life at age 22 was spiraling downward. Her family had fragmented and scattered. She was dabbling in heroin and free sex, estranged from her husband and employed in a series of dead-end jobs. In a desperate attempt to cure her of herself, Strayed decides that hiking the Pacific Crest Trail alone - from the Mojave Dessert through California and Oregon to Washington - would be her path to salvation. That walking with no discernible reason but just to observe the wonders of nature would prove restorative. Years later, she documents her journey in Wild, a book gracing The New York Times Best Seller List for over 35 weeks. She suffers from her inexperience: not budgeting for enough money to adequately see her
through from outpost to outpost. She ignores admonishments about weighty backpacks, neglects to talk to anyone who has actually hiked the trail before her, and does woefully little physical training to prepare her for the rigors the trek will present. She encounters desert heat, frigid mountain air, rattlesnakes, eroded trails and a near rape from a lusty, lecherous mountain man. She endures massive foot blisters, bruising, hunger, thirst, exhaustion and loneliness. Among her many notable trials and triumphs on the trail, I was most drawn to one part of it: the beginning. She wakes up the morning she is to start her journey in a seedy, cheap motel 12 miles from the trail. She has trouble even lifting her back pack to position it across her back. And when she finally maneuvers that feat, she is already exhausted. Nevertheless, she closes the motel room door and steps into a parking light drenched in daylight. She realizes quickly – with great trepidation – that she is going to have to hitch a ride with strangers unless she wants to walk the 12 miles to the trail’s entrance in the searing heat of a June day. Two men in a minivan with Colorado plates offer her a ride. She climbs in gingerly, hoping she won’t get murdered. Thirty uneventful minutes later, they drop her off on a silent highway. She begins walking toward a fence post supporting a palm sized sign reading “Pacific Crest Trail.” She staggers the first few steps down the trail. She finds the trail register in a metal box nearby and signs it. She resumes walking. Her journey had begun. There were no crowds heaving fistfuls of confetti. No cheering loved-ones throwing kisses. No photographers eagerly snapping pictures documenting her first steps. No massive send-off parade. It was just an ordinary day in an ordinary town, as she took her first tentative steps off the highway and into the wilderness. And though the beginning was neither dramatic nor pain free, she emerged at the end of her trek an altered person. Like Cheryl Strayed, let us all, in the secular New Year of 2014, push ourselves to take those first faltering baby steps - as subtle and unnoticed as they may be by others - so that we can begin to achieve what really matters to us. Like Nelson Mandela, let us all, in the secular New Year of 2014, resolve to work diligently on strategies for achieving what we want in life. And let us give less credence to the wrongs heaped upon us. Keep coping and happy new year, Iris Ruth Pastor
All Our Wordly Goods: by Irene Nemirovsky By Sue Ransohoff Book Reviewer Here is a beautiful book. Irene Nemirovsky is a brilliant writer, author also of the equally acclaimed novel Suite Française, a companion piece to the current book. She died in Auschwitz in 1942. This was a great loss, comparable to that of Anne Frank, to the literary world. But she has left us these jewels. Central to the story is the enduring love between Pierre and Agnes, and there is something unique about that love – heartening to the reader who finds that it lasts not only throughout the early days of rapture but through the dreadfully difficult days of war, and a more prosaic post-war time. The reader can always count on it, no matter what form that deep affection takes; it varies with the situation – and makes the reader feel affirmed. Pierre and Agnes are starcrossed lovers; he has been engaged to a woman who is his family’s choice, whom he does not love. A possible husband has been selected for Agnes, also by her family, whom she does not love. These conventional families and their “worldly goods” are a central theme in this book; not malicious, just strongly traditional, and accepted as such in this small, French, pre World War I village. The story is set in the years before, during and immediately after World War I, and somehow Nemirovsky makes it clear to us that, whatever happens to them – and awful things do happen – this love will last, will bring happiness to the couple and, in some strange but very authentic way – to us, the readers, because we know that we can count on it. Pierre escapes from his RECOGNITION from page 9 Rahat residents live below the poverty line. In 2009, the unemployment rates for Rahat and Lakia were 12 percent and 19 percent, respectively, compared to 6 percent nationally. In Rahat, the average annual salary is less than $20,000, compared to more than $32,000 nationally. A government-sponsored employment program in Rahat run out of a new community center for young people aims to put more of the city’s young adults to work. It offers employment counseling, professional certification programs and entrepreneurship coaching. But Hasan Abu Zaid, the youth center’s director, says many challenges persist. One of the greatest is the relatively small proportion of Bedouin with college degrees.
unhappy engagement by the simple expedient of meeting Agnes in the woods in the period between the engagement and his wedding – which outrages all the conventional parents and one wealthy grandfather… he and Agnes marry. The life of this small town is lovingly depicted. To the residents, accustomed as they are to security, ease, and comfort; “all will be well,” they say to each other, although war hovers on the horizon. Indeed, in his “Sleeping With the Enemy” about Coco Chanel, Hal Vaughan notes that Churchill believed that the Allies would protect France. “His love of France was too great to see her flaws.” And war comes. Pierre enlists, and the episode of his weeklong leave is written as a set piece that cannot be bettered: “I’m the happiest woman in the world,” Agnes thinks, because he will be coming home. And then – he is there; they are together – and the brief and vital time they are given begins to vanish. In an instant, she is no longer the happiest woman in the world, but a young wife counting the few remaining and disappearing hours of their time together. The couple, their parents and his grandfather are living a sensible, conventional life in Ste. Elme when World War I intervenes; the ease and comfort of knowing what to expect of life vanishes. The lives of Pierre and Agnes take different tacks: as he is about to depart, his heart sinks at the expectation of her tears: He sympathizes, but: “He was eager to be among men, to hear foul language, dirty jokes, [share] manly camaraderie.” In the town of Saint-Elme, terror takes over: the Germans are coming. The horror of evacuating one’s home, the dread and the necessity of About 46 percent of Israelis aged 25 to 64 have college degrees, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, but only 6 percent of Rahat residents do. “The picture is not rosy,” Abu Zaid told JTA. “We believe that employment must be accompanied by business development in the town. The Bedouin population always worked. It’s not that they don’t want to work.” Government officials say that programs like the youth center plus a final settlement to land disputes will help growth in Bedouin employment rates and quality of life. The government is developing an industrial park outside Rahat, as well as a new neighborhood in the city that will offer subsidized housing to local Bedouin. “We need to plan things and exe-
packing – What to take? What to leave? – is now their daily companion. The silver or family memorabilia? Make-up? Jewelry? Clothing? And at the same time denial is rampant: “It doesn’t matter if you die in your bed or somewhere else… it will happen to someone else.” After the war, calm and the foreseeable way of life return, and are not necessarily welcome. The years pass, their son Guy grows up in peacetime, and his father, Pierre, says of him: “I don’t understand this child.” Guy attempts suicide, is critically injured, and during the months of sitting by his hospital bed, the loyally loving parents, for the first time, respond separately and individually: for Agnes, the pain was violent and overwhelming; for Pierre, it was thoughtful and bitter. In time, he heals. Pierre and Agnes resume their intimacy. What follows is the trajectory of the continuance of their closeness; it changes but endures. The marriage is central; war is central as, ultimately, is peace. Nemirovsky does an exceptional job of weaving these threads together. How sad that so little of her survived; how good that this book, and a very few others, lasted. cute them slowly,” said Ami Tesler, head of the Community Relations Department for the Bedouin in the Prime Minister’s Office. “If you understand you have a certain number of families in a certain area, you have to plan schools and roads. It’s a process.” Many Bedouin living in the unrecognized villages do not see relocation as the answer, however. Attia Alasam, head of the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages, says he prefers that the government instead recognize the unofficial villages, settling land disputes and providing the villages with infrastructure and basic services. “They need to solve this with dialogue,” he told JTA. “The state says I want to do good to you. When it destroys my village, what’s good about that?”
22 • OBITUARIES
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challenging issues related to Israel ultimately does them a tremendous disservice,” Stup said. But David Bernstein, executive director of the David Project, a group that works to educate college students about Israel, said Hillel International is doing the right thing. “Openness is a great general approach, but it has its limits,” Bernstein said. “I don’t believe those who advocate for BDS or for the elimination of the Jewish state should
be included in an official Jewish discussion on Israel any more than angry, racist voices should be included in a campus race-relations dialogue.” Since the 2010 guidelines were established, some Hillel chapters have refused to sponsor events with the Israeli veterans’ group Breaking the Silence, which opposes Israel’s occupation of the West Bank by disseminating testimony from from soldiers who served there. In 2012, the Harvard Hillel reportedly invoked the guidelines in deciding not to host an event called “Jewish Voices Against
the Occupation” because a Palestinian solidarity group was a co-sponsor. In October, the University of California, Berkeley’s Jewish Student Union denied a membership application from J Street U, the campus arm of J Street, though it’s not clear whether the guidelines were a factor in the decision. Open Hillel was launched last spring “to encourage inclusivity and open discourse at campus Hillels,” according to its website. So far, 944 people have signed its petition calling on Hillel to engage with the “full
spectrum” of views on the Middle East. One reason Swarthmore is the only campus Hillel so far to openly flout the guidelines may be that it has more financial independence than other branches. That, Stup said, points to a larger issue within the Hillel movement. “This highlights the disparity between the political sentiments of a lot of donors and the political sentiments and desires of students,” he said.
communities, acknowledges the discomfort of French Jews but insists that aliyah does not amount to an exodus. “It is still within the normal spectrum of 1,500 to about 3,000,” Cukierman says. Yeshaya Dalsace, a well-known Conservative rabbi from Paris, is more outspoken. “It’s a total exaggeration,” Dalsace says. “There is a worrying reality, but by and large Jews are leaving for the same reasons other Frenchmen are leaving.” Frenchmen, especially the young, are indeed leaving, according to a Le Figaro report this week showing the number of French citizens under 35 seeking work in Canada and Australia jumped by about 10 percent over 2012. Sociologists attribute this to the recession in France, which this year
registered a growth rate of nearly zero. Among professionals under 24, the unemployment rate stands at 24 percent. These and other factors led Standard & Poor’s to lower France’s credit last month, the second cut this year. All this is felt on the ground in the French capital, where luxury businesses are closing down and many oncepopular cafes are trying to lure clients with discounts and what some are calling “crisis menus.” “I’ve been cursed at at the metro a few times because I wear a kippah, but so what,” says Olivier Cohen, a university graduate in his 20s who wants to move to Israel. “Look around , there is no movement, no prospects, no jobs. I want to go a dynamic environment.” To Cohen, life in Paris provides a stark contrast with Israel, where despite lower median incomes than in
France, the projected economic growth rate of 3.8 percent is more than triple the average among countries in the Organization for for Cooperation and Economic Development, according to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria. “Aliyah needs to be examined against general globalization trends in French society, whose younger generation is more open to the world and speaks better English than the previous ones,” says Avi Zana, the director of the Israel-based Ami Israel Association, which encourages French immigration to Israel. The wider exodus of French Jews is hard to quantify. Kandel says he has heard reports of synagogues with growing French memberships in London, New York and Miami, but his agency has no precise figures. But Israel has an addition-
al card to play, according to Zana: A 2008 tax reform gives new immigrants a 10-year pass on revenues earned abroad. “Compare that to France and other European countries where income tax can reach 75 percent, and you see why aliyah is tempting for professionals,” Zana said. Zana estimates the reform has kept the number of French immigrants who return to France at approximately 10 percent, though the Jewish Agency could not confirm that figure. But for some soon-to-be immigrants, such considerations are of little consequence. “In truth, I have no pressing reason to make aliyah,” says Albert Zeitouni, an investment consultant in his 60s. “It’s an emotional thing. I already have the Jewish identity. It’s time I take up the Israeli one.”
On Monday, Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, denied that references to a “framework” agreement implied the administration is backing away from its pursuit of a final-status agreement, though she declined to elaborate on what “framework” means. “The secretary – and this may have caused some of the confusion – and the president both used the term ‘framework’this weekend,” Psaki said at her daily media briefing. “I think some thought – took that to mean interim. It does not mean interim. We still remain focused on a final-status agreement.” Nevertheless, the administration’s language was perceived as marking a dramatic departure from previous
understandings. “This contradicts completely what we were promised by the American secretary of state at the beginning of this peace process – to avoid any partial or interim agreements,” Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top Abbas aide, told the Voice of Palestine radio on Monday, according to a report in the The Associated Press. The shift follows a comprehensive review of Israeli security needs led by Gen. John Allen, a former commander of allied forces in Afghanistan. Allen was present at the Saban Forum but did not speak publicly. Both Obama and Kerry suggested that they understood the shift would not be welcomed by the Palestinians. “We’re going to have to see
whether the Israelis agree and whether President Abbas, then, is willing to understand that this transition period requires some restraint on the part of the Palestinians as well,” Obama said. “They don’t get everything that they want on day one. And that creates some political problems for President Abbas, as well.” Kerry said those who believe “there might be an unfairness” by making Israeli security a preeminent factor in advancing toward a peace deal should “look at the history and understand why that’s a fundamental reality.” Jonathan Schanzer, the vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Israel might have demanded the shift in part because it
needs strong security assurances in the wake of upheaval in neighboring Egypt and Syria. Israel also is concerned that the recent deal between world powers and Iran could spur rather than prevent the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Schanzer, who just published “State of Failure,” a critique of Abbas’ governance, said Kerry deserved credit for keeping the parties at the table after differences over preconditions kept them apart for almost three years. “The administration has exceeded all our expectations,” he said. “We’re halfway through a process that is still going.”
KERRY from page 8
insist this round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is different from past U.S. efforts, even though most of the negotiators – led by former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk – have unsuccessfully negotiated in the region before. “Both sides have shown a recent willingness to make some very difficult decisions in the face of domestic political opposition,” a State Department official said, “with Prime Minister Netanyahu agreeing to release Palestinian prisoners and President Abbas agreeing not to try to upgrade Palestinian status at international organizations for the duration of the talks.” Amid the State Department’s optimism, The Times of Israel reports that Palestinian officials are saying Kerry
used his trip as an ultimatum to force them to agree to his security demands, threatening to have Israel delay further phases of the release of Palestinian terrorist prisoners until the Palestinian Authority agrees to framework agreements. Though not without some reservations on the current negotiations’ chances for success, Natan Sachs, a fellow at the Saban Center, told WJW that the political situation in the Middle East has changed to where there may be more incentive for Israeli and Palestinian officials to come to an agreement. “We’ve seen the Arab awakening – changes in Egypt, tragic changes in Syria that have turned into a terrible civil war, and fear that there may be
instability elsewhere as well,” Sachs said. “This of course is a cause for concern for the Israelis considering the advance of jihadi groups near Israel, in the Sinai Peninsula and in Syria, particularly if they win,” he said. Sachs said that changes in Israeli politics might also help the talks. He explained that unlike previous pushes for a peace deal, when centrist Israeli prime ministers like Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak oversaw negotiations but could not convince Israel’s right-wing parties to support their efforts, the current Netanyahu government’s more hawkish stance could spell real solutions without appearing to compromise the security of the Israeli people.
D EATH N OTICES
SWARTHMORE from page 7
ENGEL, Sam, age 67, died December 3, 2013; 30 Kislev, 5774. KAUFMAN, Saul, age 77, died December 8 2013; 5 Tevet 5774. KAHN, Ruth, age 88, died December 11, 2013; 8 Tevet, 5774.
FRENCH from page 7 In parallel, French participation in Israel’s Masa program, which sends Jewish students to study in Israel for periods of up to a year, rose by 25 percent in 2013, from 750 last year. Kandel says 70 percent of French participants make aliyah within months of finishing the program, compared to less than half of American participants. “There are more than 5 million Jews in America and about half a million in France, yet aliyah from France may surpass American aliyah,” he says. “That tells you the story right there.” While security fears seem to play a determinative role in French aliyah, community leaders say the scale has been exaggerated. Roger Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella body of French Jewish PALESTINIANS from page 8 fatally undermine a deal. The Obama administration appears to have sided with Israel on this point by accepting that at least initially, Israel will have a role in securing borders and fighting terrorism in Palestinian areas, among other security responsibilities. “Needless to say, for a period of time this will obviously involve Israeli participation,” Kerry told the Saban Forum. “It has to.”
Likud party meeting on Monday, “We are not standing before a permanent accord. We have a set of specific terms that have yet to be met in the negotiations. We are still not there, not even walking down that hall.” “The two sides are too far apart,” Abrams told WJW. Though Abrams commended Kerry for striving to achieve peace, he questioned the resources the secretary of state is putting into the process. “Is he really spending his own precious time well, pursuing an agreement that no one thinks he’ll get – and he won’t get – when so many world crises exist?” Abrams said. Kerry and the State Department
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