The American Israelite, May 2, 2013

AI

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013 22 IYYAR, 5773

Latkapalooza @ Local’s Bar & Grill p.11

CINCINNATI, OH Candle Lighting Times Shabbat begins Fri 8:14p Shabbat ends Sat 9:15p

VOL. 159 • NO. 41

The American Israelite T H E

O L D E S T

05 LOCAL

E N G L I S H

From unfathomable pain and despair to resilience and celebration—an... p.4

SINGLE ISSUE: $1.00 J E W I S H

06

W E E K L Y

I N

A M E R I C A

Alan Dershowitz and Caroline Glick clash on two-state solution

|

09

E S T .

1 8 5 4

|

“ L E T

In Syria, reports of Israeli strike on chemical weapons site and increasing...

T H E R E

10

B E

L I G H T ”

Can a moderate chief rabbi transform the Israeli Rabbinate...

Teens celebrate Israel, thank Foundation for travel grants

Hadassah’s national president speaks

NATIONAL

p.7

Brewing up a new connection to Lag...

NATIONAL

p.8

100 teens celebrate the birthday of Israel

In budget battles, Obama administration sees Jews as playing...

ISRAEL

p.10

New research sheds light on Nazi influence in Arab world

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

On Tuesday, April 16, about 100 teens—from various youth groups, congregations and schools throughout the community—gathered to celebrate Israel Independence Day (Yom Ha’Atzmaut) with a picnic and party at the Mayerson JCC. Along with the Chaverim m’Israel (Friends from Israel), Tomer Flischer and Mor Ninio, they enjoyed a traditional “mangal” cookout with Israeli activities, games, music and sports.

The event also gave students who will travel to Israel this summer a chance to connect with those who did so last summer and who then participated in the first year of Israel HERE, a pre- and post-trip enrichment program for recipients of Israel Travel Grants funded by The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati. Through Israel HERE, students process their experiences in Israel, strengthen their own personal Jewish identity and explore and expand their relationships with the local Jewish community. The program grew out of a desire to maximize the value of the Foundation’s investment in the community by increasing recipients’

engagement and thereby encouraging them to eventually become the next generation of leaders and philanthropists.

Sam Levitt and Elise Spiegel, Israel HERE “graduates,” spoke at the Independence Day celebration about their experiences in Israel.

Levitt traveled to Israel on a twomonth Alexander Muss High School trip. He said, “I had the most amazing experience on this program. I really fell in love with Israel and came to the conclusion that I would give my life for the country. I gained a newfound sense of nationalism and pride for the State of Israel and the Jewish people…I truly discovered how important it is for all of us to remain strong and stay together because of all that we have suffered and, quite possibly, will suffer.”

Levitt continued, “I am so happy the Foundation gave me this opportunity to travel to Israel and so grateful, because I will remember this for the rest of my life. I would highly encourage any teen to take advantage of the very generous opportunity we have in Cincinnati

to travel to Israel.”

Since 2000, more than 1,400 Jewish young people from Cincinnati have traveled to Israel to develop stronger, more personal connections with Israel and their Jewish heritage. Cincinnati holds the distinction of sending more Jewish youth, per capita, on these Israel programs than any other Jewish community in North America.

“During my trip to Israel, I connected not only with my Jewish identity more, but with my identity as a whole,” said Elise Spiegel, who traveled to Israel on the Jewish Federation’s JQuest trip. “The fact that I was even given a chance to go means a lot to me, and there are no words to thank the Foundation except for ‘thank you.’”

This is the first year for Israel HERE, but, going forward, it will be an ongoing component of the Foundation’s Israel Travel Grant Program. In order to make sure future grant recipients will get the most out of their trips, they will all be expected to contribute 25 hours of community service to the Jewish

community and attend two pre-trip and six post-trip sessions.

Community Shaliach (Emissary from Israel) Yair Cohen, who codeveloped the Israel HERE program with Sharon Spiegel, director of Youth Israel Experiences at the Jewish Federation, said, “This is just as important as the trip to Israel itself. It is a way for participants to invest the passion and understanding they gained in Israel back into their own community. It’s a must-have component of any travel to Israel.”

“The Israel HERE initiative is a supremely important program,” said Dr. Gary P. Zola, executive director of The Jacob Marcus Rader Center of the American Jewish Archives, who led the participants on a bus tour of Jewish Cincinnati in December 2012.

“Typically, American Jews send their young people to Israel where their Jewish identity is strengthened. Yet once back in the U.S., there is little or no follow up. Israel HERE strives to build on the Jewish excitement that was sparked in Israel, and this is precisely what needs to be done.”

PUBLISHES NEXT THURSDAY!

SPECIAL ISSUE

ADVERTISING DEADLINE IS TOMORROW!

Israel@65 is an international effort led by the government of the State of Israel to recognize and celebrate the unique and unprecedented achievements of the State of Israel in its first 65 years of existence.

1/16 $132.00

1/8 $264.00

1/4 $536.25

1/2 $1,072.00

Full $2,145.00

4”X2”

4”X4”

6.083”X5.45”

10.25”X6.5”

10.25”X13”

The American Israelite newspaper along with many Jewish community organizations is producing a commemorative keepsake issue for the Jewish and secular communities to acknowledge this historic event.

AI

Show your support for Israel’s 65th birthday by purchasing a personal greeting or an advertisement for your business.

The American Israelite

PLEASE INCLUDE MY PERSONAL OR BUSINESS GREETING IN THE SPECIAL ISSUE. (PLEASE PRINT)

SIZE:

PRICE:

NAME or BUSINESS GREETING (As you want it to appear):

NAME: ADDRESS: CITY: EMAIL:

STATE:

ZIP: PHONE:

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West 9TH Street Ste. 2 Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: (513) 621-3145 • Email: publisher@americanisraelite.com

LOCAL • 3

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

Upcoming youth, family events at Adath This May, Adath Israel will have various youth and family events. Every weekend includes an event for all ages.

The Adath Israel Confirmation Class—high school sophomores— will lead the Shabbat morning service on Saturday, May 4, including the Torah reading, Haftarah and D’var Torah. A special kiddush will follow in their honor.

The confirmation class has been involved in a year-long tzedakah project volunteering at both the Halom House and at Cedar Village. Their final volunteer visit will take place on Sunday, May 5, when they will be leading games in the health care area.

Current members of Adath

Israel and prospective members of Adath Israel are invited to meet for Mazel Tots in the Adath Israel school lobby at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 5. Mazel Tots will have breakfast and shmoozing with their newborn through kindergarten-age children. Following breakfast, there will be a lively music session sponsored by the Frances Zakem Memorial Fund and a craft led by a different parent each month, focusing primarily on upcoming Jewish hoidays. Play time and the option of listening to a book-reading from the PJ library selection are also included.

Adath Israel’s annual end-ofthe-year picnic party will be held on Sunday, May 19, from 11 a.m. -

1 p.m at Adath Israel. It’s a cookout with tons of fun games and activities for the whole family. There will be food, inflatables, a dunk tank, big foot racing and more!

On Friday, May 31, at 5:30 p.m., there will be a wonderful Friday Night Live Shabbat Evening Service with music and dancing. Adath Israel’s annual endof-the-year banquet will follow. It will have a delicious Shabbat dinner and will honor all of their youth groups and give out awards as well as install the new Kadima and USY boards.

For more information about these events, see the Adath Israel contact information in the directory of the issue.

This month at Rockdale Temple The month of May is a busy time at Rockdale Temple. Here are a few of the activities planned: Friday, May 3, Shabbat Services will honor Religious School Teachers, Madrichim, 8th grade students and High School seniors.

Sunday, May 5, Yair Cohen, Cincinnati Shaliach, will speak about current trends, policies and activities in Israel. Yair has been involved in the Israel @65 programming and has brought a taste of Israel to our community over the past eight months. Rockdale is pleased to welcome him and invites anyone interested in learning more about current events in Israel to join us at 10:15 a.m.

Sunday morning at the Temple.

Our monthly Rock Shabbat service is Friday, May 10! Come join Rabbinic Intern Meredith Kahan as she leads the Rock Shabbat band in a musical service

that features many of our favorite tunes. This service is perfect for people of all ages; it is engaging, moving, fun and uplifting. Bring a friend and come pray with us. If you have a birthday during the month of May you can come up to the bimah and receive a special birthday blessing. Dinner will follow in the social hall; please call the Temple office for reservations.

Saturday, May 11, will be another Tot Shabbat with Shabbi the Dinosaur! This special Shabbat service is designed for children who are pre-readers and their parents/caregivers. Siblings and grandparents are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Services begin at 10 a.m. and are followed by a snack and activity in keeping with the story of the morning. Visitors are always welcome.

Sunday, May 12, Rockdale Women of Reform Judaism will

BARRY KAPLAN

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

(513) 368-9000 AboutBarry.com

SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY, MAY 19 A world class concert to look forward to!

The America-Israel Cultural Foundation and HAZAK present the Ariel String Quartet at Adath Israel at 7 p.m. followed by a gourmet wine & cheese reception.

Send $20 check in advance payable to: HAZAK Adath Israel (Attn: Arnold Wasserman) 3164 Esther Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45213 Students $10. Reservations due by May 10.

hold their Annual Maj Marathon from 9 a.m.—noon in the Boardroom. This is always a highlight of the year—great games, lots of food, laughter, and friendship.

Rockdale will hold Shavuot services on Tuesday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 15. Evening services will consist of a study session, refreshments and services; Festival morning services will conclude with a luncheon on Wednesday. All are welcome to attend and participate.

Confirmation will be held for our 10th grade students during our regular Shabbat Services, Friday, May 17. On this night, the service time is moved from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend this moving service as our teens commit themselves to a life of Torah, avodah (work) and gemilut hasidim (acts of loving kindness).

NHS installs new officers, trustees Northern Hills Synagogue Congregation B’nai Avraham is pleased to announce it will install officers and trustees at the Friday evening service on May 3, which will begin at 8 p.m. A deluxe Oneg Shabbat will follow.

Joe Lazear will serve a second one year term as president. Other officers to be installed include David Bernstein, president-elect; Bobbi Handwerger, Kathy Hart, Henry Spitz and Jeanne Aronoff, vice-presidents; Joel Suddleson, treasurer; Laurie Dubin, financial secretary; Lynn Kohel, recording secretary; Amy Frankel, corresponding secretary; and Matt Yosafat, cemetery warden.

Trustees selected for two year terms include Mark Bratslavsky, Lisa Crawford, Natalie Freeman, Fred Joffe, Judy Knapp, Matt Lee, Sonia Milrod, Jim Silver, and Margie Stayton. Steve Weiss will be installed as a trustee for a one year term. They will join continu-

ing trustees Jeff Bassin, Barbara Goldstein, Arnold Horowitz, Brian Leshner, Dennis Manes, George Smulian and Ron Richards. Past presidents Karroll Miller, David Zucker and Steven Pentelnik will also serve on the board.

Northern Hills’ Sisterhood and Men’s Club will also install their boards at the May 6 service. The Sisterhood board includes Bobbie Winkler, president; Bobbi Handwerger and Sandy Spitz, vice-presidents; Phyliss Shubs, treasurer; Eileen Metz, financial secretary; Connie Hinitz, recording secretary; Jeanne Aronoff, corresponding secretary; Roslyn Shapiro, immediate past president; and Gayna Bassin, Candy Gellen, Grace Lehrer and Diana Fenichel, trustees.

The Men’s Club board includes Barry Wolfson, president; Herb Brass and Hal Winkler, vice-presidents; Bob Stayton,

treasurer; and Todd Winkler, Joel Suddleson, Joe Zukor, Norm Nevins and Maksim Shilkrot, trustees.

“I have experienced many joys as president of Northern Hills Synagogue-Congregation B’nai Avraham this past year. The commitment of our many hard working volunteers, the dedication of Rabbi Barnard and Maksim Shilkrot, our director of Education and Programming, and the rest of the staff is amazing. I am honored to be asked to serve as president for another year as we look forward to continuing the proud traditions that define Northern Hills.

Northern Hills is a dynamic, vibrant kehilla committed to Conservative traditions,” commented Joe Lazear.

The service and installation will take place at the synagogue and are open to the public. For more information, please call the synagogue office.

WANTED PING PONG TABLE in excellent condition Please call or email: Ted Deutsch 513-621-3145 publisher@americanisraelite.com

4 • LOCAL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Hadassah’s national president speaks

AI

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

VOL. 159 • NO. 41 THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013 22 IYYAR 5773 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 8:14 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 9:15 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

(L-R) Marcie Natan, Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, and Bonnie Juran Ullner

Wednesday evening event, after Natan was finished speaking, a young Hadassah doctor, who is currently at CCHMC studying adolescent medicine with Dr. Jessica Kahn for three years, unexpectedly got up to speak and share with the crowd her personal story.

This young Hadassah doctor is named Shelly Negari, and Shiri Negari was her younger sister. She told the attendees at the event the story of her younger sister, and how she in fact did not survive a bomb blast like the one in Boston recently, and how the love of her sister and her sister’s unique personality had, in turn, given Shelly the drive to be the best doctor possible for her patients. She said that the room in which Shiri died at Hadassah Hospital later became a room in which Shelly administered care to delivered babies; thus it has passed from darkness to light, and Shelly believes it is more than fitting to have Shiri’s name associated with a building that houses those dedicated to improving and saving lives.

RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 PHYLLIS R. SINGER Editor & General Manager, 1985-1999 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher GABRIELLE COHEN JORY EDLIN MICHAEL SAWAN Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN ZELL SCHULMAN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager

Est. 1854

•

e Oldest Eng Th

• ca

dealing with large numbers of traumatic injury victims being brought into his hospital following a terrorist bombing, and treating victims and suspected terrorists in the same place at the same time and with the same level of care.

Massachusetts General Hospital, which also treated many of the injured victims, reported that they were immeasurably more prepared for the massive number of casualties in a short span of time, due to the training they received eight years ago when Israeli doctors and nurses spent two days at the hospital teaching the staff the methods pioneered in Israel.

Techniques that were routine in Israel by 2005, and which helped save lives in Boston last week, began evolving in the 1990s, when Israel experienced a spate of bus bombings. Israeli doctors “rewrote the bible of blast trauma,” said Avi Rivkind, the director of surgery at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, where 60 percent of Israeli victims have been treated.

One of the patients Dr. Rivkind was not able to save, and which he and Marcie Natan still speak of today, was a 21-year-old named Shiri Negari who came into the hospital after a bomb blast and appeared unhurt and coherent, and yet 45 minutes later she was dead. What the Hadassah doctors learned from Shiri’s death was that an enclosed bomb blast, such as in a bus, can cause massive internal injuries that are not apparent to the naked eye. Thus they have forever changed the protocol of how they treat bus bomb patients, based on the gut-wrenching loss of Shiri Negari.

And so it was somehow beshert (Yiddish for destiny) that at the

r in Am ape er sp i

Irreversible Electroporation—does not generate excessive heat or cold in the body and can therefore be applied close to blood vessels and vital organs without harming them," explains Dr. Mouhammad Faroja, Hadassah senior surgeon, who learned the procedure at London’s Hammersmith Hospital.

Requiring just a few minutes under anesthesia, Hadassah’s first patient to receive the treatment was deemed a complete success, and the patient left with only a few scars where the tumor had been, and has already returned to work.

Natan mentioned a few times throughout the two days the immediate and overwhelming response to the Sandy Hook tragedy by Hadassah members worldwide.

The mother of Noah Pozner, one of the Jewish victims, asked that those who were so inclined plant trees in Israel in Noah’s memory.

Natan said the response was beyond overwhelming and through Hadassah’s partner organization JNF, thousands of trees will be planted in memory of Noah and the other 19 children.

She also spoke of the recent tragedy in Boston, and how she was actually on a conference call with Dr. Kevin Taub, president and chief executive officer of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Mass., when the bombings occurred.The BI, as it is referred to locally, is the hospital to which many of the victims were taken, as well as the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Dr. Taub was a commissioned officer, and served as a combat physician in the Israeli Defense Forces in the 1980s. Therefore he is familiar with two things that most American physicians are not:

ewish N h-J ew lis

So why did the Cincinnati Chapter of Hadassah keep stating, as in the story of Passover, that this year would be different than all other years for Hadassah members? Because this year, as part of their annual donor fundraising events, they brought in the national president of Hadassah, Marcie Natan, as the guest speaker at three events, as well as had her meet personally with other Hadassah supporters in the community. She also toured Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and heard from CCHMC doctors, and one Hadassah doctor who is here working and studying for three years, about the incredible benefits to CCHMC and the two Hadassah Hospitals in Jerusalem brought about by the Israel Exchange Program (IEP). This was capped off by Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld giving Marcie and chapter president, Bonnie Juran Ullner, a proclamation signed by the mayor designating it Hadassah Day in Cincinnati on April 25, 2013.

A tremendous amount was accomplished in the two whirlwind days that Marcie Natan spent in Cincinnati. At the Major Gifts elegant evening dessert reception in Hyde Park on the evening of April 24, Natan was able to share, in an intimate setting with the approximately 50 attendees, the many successes and advances by Hadassah in patient research and care. She described in detail the new Sarah Weitzman Davidson Tower that provides state-of-theart care to patients, similar to what she observed at CCHMC the next day. She also described how there are four floors underground, due to new law in Israel, so that the hospital can function even while under attack, and 14 floors above ground.

Natan also shared some of the recent research emanating from Hadassah. On an interview on Channel 9 news the next day, she spoke of how Hadassah was able to continue with stem cell research when it was banned in this country, and is thus ahead of the curve in advancing the use of this type of treatment.

She also discussed, throughout the two days, the recent advances in operating on patients with liver cancer who were until this time considered inoperable.The Hadassah University Medical Center has pioneered a new treatment for liver cancer, using a direct flow of high-voltage electric current to destroy a malignant tumor. Typically, a cancerous growth in the liver proves fatal, because the cancerous growth is attached to blood vessels and thus difficult to reach and remove, but this new procedure offers hope to those suffering from liver cancer.

“The new procedure—

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

Shiri Negari

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

LOCAL • 5

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

J Spa celebrates moms with spa specials In honor of the women who give their all to make our lives extra special, the J Spa at the Mayerson JCC is offering special promotions for the Mom in your life. The J Spa has something to pamper every Mom, offering services from head to toe, including facials, waxing, massages, manicures, pedicures and makeovers. In the month of May, there are offers to receive free services for mom when you purchase a gift certificate.

This Mother’s Day, let Mom put her feet up with a relaxing manicure and pedicure with Ahava Dead Sea products. She will enjoy a foot and hand massage, exfoliation and polish treatment. Ahava products are all natural and use active Dead Sea minerals which help nourish the skin.

“I love Ahava products. I’ve tried many body lotions and none

of them compare. I love the texture and it makes me happy that I am supporting an Israeli company,” said Pam Barnett, a J Spa client.

Suzanne Kennedy, J Spa director and licensed massage therapist, commented, “Massages, exfoliations and facials are great gifts for mothers. The 50 or 80 minute hot stone massages are among the most popular J Spa treatments.

These full-body massages incorporate the use of heated stones to penetrate deep into muscles to stimulate a feeling of intense relaxation.”

She continued, “The Dead Sea Scrub exfoliation begins with an invigorating scrub that removes several layers of dead skin cells, followed by a hydrating massage with natural oils and antioxidants, leaving the skin soft and moisturized.

This service jump starts the immune system to help ward off illness.”

In addition to services, the J Spa also offers Glo Minerals makeovers. Moms will learn how to care for their skin, choose the right cosmetics for their skin type and apply makeup for any occasion. Glo Minerals makeup is an award-winning makeup that uses the finest natural ingredients and is filled with antioxidants.

The J Spa is open to everyone and J Members enjoy discounts. J Spa services are available by appointment, every day of the week. Walk-in appointments are based on availability, and daily schedules are posted at the JCC front desk and fitness desk.

Appointments may be made in person, by phone or on the JCC website. For more information about the J Spa, see the Mayerson JCC contact information in the community directory of this issue.

From unfathomable pain and despair to resilience and celebration—an evening with Sherri Mandell camps for families of terror victims.

And she finds that a “new normal” really has emerged, one this courageous woman and her family have grown into together. “We are a happy family. We have lots of guests; my kids’ friends enjoy hanging out at our home. While my children have experienced intense loss and pain, maybe even because of that, they also appreciate and experience intense joy.”

By Miriam Karp Guest Writer Anyone who has suffered loss or pain (most anyone living on the planet) will have a unique opportunity to gain inspiration and new perspectives, Tuesday, May 7, when Sherri Mandell of Tekoa, Israel will be speaking at Chabad Jewish Center, at 7:30 p.m. Mandell is uniquely qualified to speak about choosing life and light, even when the darkness seems unending, the pain searing. No Pollyanna niceties or platitudes here.

On May 8, 2001, her 13-year-old son Koby skipped school with a friend, Yosef Ish-Ran, to go hiking in caves near their home. The boys were found the next day, brutally stoned to death by Arabs.

How can a mother, a family continue living? Mandell penned a painful, moving and inspiring book during the early phase of her mourning and recovery. She honestly chronicles her struggles, her grappling, digging deep, and slowly and courageously pulling herself out of the abyss.

On Sunday, May 5, Mandell will be in Newtown, Conn., speaking with the families of the Sandy Hook victims. As someone who intimately knows the arduous road these families are traveling, she hopes to share what she has learned; “It doesn’t have to destroy you, you think it’s going to kill you, you even want it to kill you, but it won’t.” From Newtown, Mandell comes to Chabad Jewish Center to speak with us.

Mandell noted that as Jews we have invaluable assets and tools that have helped her cope. One is community. “Our incredible community gave us the strength to handle the

MANDELL on page 19

Sherri Mandell

trauma, connected us to resilience.

We all need to learn how to best be there for each other.” She’s also gained solace in our cycle of celebration. “It’s wonderful to have Shabbat—time to slow down and reconnect with our families.”

“We Jews don’t try to forget and move on from the past. This time of year is very painful for me, but I know I am not alone; we are part of Jewish history. Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Koby’s yahrzeit all fall within weeks of each other. I think the idea of ‘moving forward’ and closing the door doesn’t work—instead, with every forward motion we bring memory with us.”

Sherri and her husband Seth, a former Hillel director, and their three children, had every reason to marinate in anger or despair. But they have chosen to look upward and outward, to focus on growth and healing, of themselves and others.

They have created the Koby Mandell Foundation, perpetuating the generosity of Koby’s effusive spirit, providing support, retreats and

6 • LOCAL / NATIONAL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

COMMUNITY NEWS NFTY Regionals “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Who is a brother? And what defines a keeper? In NFTY, everyone is a brother and a keeper. A junior in high school, Sydney Jaffre, knew only two people in Cincinnati, but she flew here from Atlanta for a NFTY event, because she knew that NFTYites are all siblings, regardless of geographical location or pre-existing knowledge of each other’s existence. Instantly, she befriended over 100 Jewish teenagers. It has been only a few weeks, but it feels like I’ve known her forever and I cannot imagine what it would be like not to be Sydney’s keeper, nor she be mine. We were not only instant friends, but also—I am certain—lasting friends. This is what NFTY is: feeling closer to a NFTYite you met an hour ago than to classmates you’ve known for years; NFTY is being a keeper and a brother.

It seems like seconds ago the room was deserted. Now over 100 Jewish teenagers sit, talk, laugh and hug on the carpeted floor of the JCC Amberley Room. Then these teens are untangling a human knot. A few minutes later, it feels like all of the young voices blend in song, welcoming Shabbat, with the voices of the Rockdale congregation. Now they are stuck in social traps, then packaging supplies for the Battered Women’s Shelter, then

dancing to hit music, then weeping because it’s over, whether just for now or forever. For some, this is life and college not only brings an end to high school, but also an end to NFTY. In the blink of an eye, four years have passed, years filled with Jewish friendship, Jewish education and Jewish action. In a fraction of a blink, four days have passed, days filled

by Reform Jewish high schoolers with the study of relationships— amongst each other, friends, family, strangers, God, anyone and everyone—through a Jewish lens.

This is NFTY-OV’s Regionals.

Regionals, how can I even begin to describe Regionals?

Regionals is one weekend that feels shorter than a second.

Regionals is a whirlwind of emotions: euphoria, excitement, sorrow, joy, love. Regionals is the beginning and the end—eighth graders start with bright, innocent eyes what seniors lament the end of. Regionals is the creation of hard-working teenagers, advisors and Jewish professionals who love Judaism, each other and NFTY. NFTY is the acronym-loving North American Federation of Temple Youth, a group of thousands of Reform Jewish high school students from California to Maine and from Toronto to Texas; OV—Ohio Valley—is just one of NFTY’s 19 regions and includes Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia (one

youth group) and Pittsburgh. The student members of these 19 regions hold events during the year. TYGs—Temple Youth Groups—often host these events, collaborating with the Regional board to plan, run and lead their region in mixers, socials, educationals, services and social action.

This year, Rockdale’s TYG, YGOR—the Youth Group of Rockdale—began in October to plan Regionals, an exciting weekend of fun, Jewish learning and social action.

As YGOR’s Social Action Vice-President, I co-led the Social Action Committee. My cochair, our two group members, and I worked with an HUC student to plan an exciting and interactive social action program that would make a positive difference in the world and inspire others to do the same. We decided to focus on domestic violence, in accordance with the theme of relationships and inspired by Jewish texts like Sefer Nashim 15:19: “And thus the sages commanded that a man should honor his wife more than he honors himself, and love her as he loves himself. And if he has money, he should increase her benefits according to his wealth.

He should not intimidate her too much; he should speak with her gently, and should be neither saddened nor angry.” We decided to play a movie, discuss it, package supplies and do an interactive activity. For months, we held

meetings to type, tweak, discuss and act out our program. It’s crazy to think that all of that work was over in two hours. It’s crazy, because the action wasn’t over, it didn’t end. We gained so much from working together and the effects of our action have not worn off: The supplies we donated are still in use, the skills we learned have made us better, our group of four became so close, and—I hope—Ohio Valley learned what it means to have a healthy relationship and what to do if there is danger of abuse. I know—at the very least—this experience taught me something lasting and special. I know that we became closer and we reinforced our love for Judaism and each other.

“You can’t have lOVe without the OV!” The members of NFTYOV not only coin this phrase often; we live it constantly. Our lOVe is made visible by the work and dedication high school students, advisors, Jewish professionals and parents put into NFTY. This lOVe is everywhere.

Mother Theresa once said, “Work is love made visible.”

NFTYites make love visible every day in the work we do for each other. We fly miles and miles for each other, from Atlanta to California, from California to Israel and back again. NFTYites spend summers and breaks together, lose sleep for each other, donate arms for tears, hold hands,

pray, link arms, hug for longerthan-average amounts of time, bless, learn, teach, grow, lead, work, laugh, and lOVe, because every NFTYite is a brother and a keeper. And just being in NFTY has helped me to be more of a “brother” and “keeper” wherever I am.

Shirah Kraus is a Junior at Walnut Hills High School and the Social Action Vice-President of YGOR, the Youth Group of Rockdale Temple. She is the daughter of Rabbis Sigma Faye Coran, Senior Rabbi of Rockdale Temple, and Matthew Kraus, Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Cincinnati. She is passionate about making a difference in the world by helping those in need, the environment, Judaism, and, of course, anything to do with NFTY.

Bourbon Tour The Kiddush Club at Chabad Jewish Center of Blue Ash is sponsoring a bourbon tour, Sunday May 19. It leaves Chabad in Blue Ash at 10 a.m. and will return around 6 p.m. Learn how small batch bourbon is handcrafted and what distinguishes it from scotch or Canadian whiskey. The tour includes Woodford Reserve and Wild Turkey distilleries, a kosher lunch and more. For more information contact Chabad Blue Ash

Alan Dershowitz and Caroline Glick clash on two-state solution

By Maxine Dovere JointMedia News Service NEW YORK – Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz and Jerusalem Post columnist and senior contributing editor Caroline Glick, following their sharp disagreement on a twostate solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict during a panel discussion at Sunday’s second annual Jerusalem Post Conference in New York City, continued their debate in interviews with JNS. Dershowitz had presented the audience with a plan under which peace negotiations would restart if Israel halted construction in areas where there is “reasonable disagreement” with the Palestinians, saying Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas personally gave him a signed paper that stated Abbas would agree to that condition for negotiations if Israel agreed to it.

Glick, who during the panel discussion said she needed to “catch my breath for a second” after Dershowitz’s idea, told JNS in an interview after the panel that Israel

should “apply Israeli law to Judea and Samaria, just like we did in the Golan Heights.”

“It would just be permanently incorporated into Israel,” Glick said. “[Judea and Samaria would fall] under Israeli law, and the Arabs can stay,” she added. “They would become Israeli citizens.” Those Arabs would be able to vote in Israeli elections, Glick said, explaining that she was “willing to take a chance on the demographic outcome rather than on a two-state solution.”

Dershowitz, asked by JNS about Glick’s plan, responded, “Well, before long, Israel would cease to be a Jewish state. The demographics would ultimately turn Israel first, into a multinational state, and ultimately, possibly, into an Islamic state. That would not be an acceptable solution. It would be the end of Israel as we know it. I don’t think that’s a viable solution.”

During the panel discussion, Dershowitz’s plan to restart peace talks was also criticized by Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz and former Israeli national

security adviser Uzi Arad, with Arad saying that reciprocity in negotiations with the Palestinians, not “unilateral concessions” by Israel, is what is needed.

On stage, Dershowitz recounted what he called his “serious exchange” with Abbas about restarting peace talks. The audience laughed at Dershowitz when he described the following part of his conversation with Abbas: “[I asked Abbas] if this deal were made, would you agree to not bring cases [against Israel] before the International Criminal Court?’ His answer was: ‘That’s a serious question, and I’m going to give it serious consideration.’”

Dershowitz told JNS that the audience’s response to his comments was “not representative of the American Jewish community.”

“The American Jewish community is much more supportive of a two-state solution,” Dershowitz said. “And, the Israeli Jewish community is much more supportive of a two-state solution. This [reaction] was very skewed.”

Also earning a negative audi-

ence reaction, much like he did at last year’s Jerusalem Post Conference, was former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who defended his government’s aborted attempts to secure a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Olmert drew loud boos when he said Israel “must split the land in order to have Israel continue as a democratic and Jewish state.”

Olmert also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the Iranian nuclear threat, telling the crowd, “Israelis disagree with those who say the Iranians have arrived at the ‘red line’ drawn by Prime Minister Netanyahu during his speech at the United Nations…

When I was Prime Minister I never overlooked this threat. Iranians do not have nuclear capacity because of their failures.”

Commenting on the peace process, Olmert said a two-state solution “is the only way to go forward.”

“We can’t eat the cake and have it,” he said.

Dershowitz told JNS, “I don’t

think that people should boo the former Prime Minister of Israel or the President of the United States on suggestions that they may disagree with. I think you can have reasoned discussion without booing. I don’t think that’s a legitimate part of a discussion.”

“Booing ideas shows disrespect,” he added. “Booing is not a way of expressing ideas.”

When Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren also spoke about a two-state solution at the conference, stating the Netanyahu government’s support for that outcome, he was not booed.

Oren, who accompanied U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel during his recent three-day tour of Israel, said Hagel has made an “unequivocal commitment to maintaining Israel’s QME (qualitative military edge)” by providing support for additional Iron Dome missile defense system batteries as well as “new capabilities for the IDF Air Force.” Israel is the first foreign country to receive the V-22 Osprey aircraft and the F-35 fighter jet from the U.S.

NATIONAL • 7

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

Brewing up a new connection to Lag b’Omer

By Edmon J. Rodman Jewish Telegraphic Agency LOS ANGELES – Sit back by the bonfire and pop open a brewski, it’s Lag b’Omer.

Since we have been counting the Omer – a biblical measure of barley that was brought as an offering to the Temple – each evening from the second night of Passover, what better way to mark the coming holiday than by downing a barley beverage, cold and carbonated?

What’s the occasion?

Lag b’Omer marks the ending of a plague during the Bar Kochba revolt in the second century CE. According to tradition, students and soldiers were dying and the plague ended on that day.

The one-day holiday, which this year began on the night of April 27, is the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer – in Hebrew, the letters that spell “lag” represent the number 33.

In remembrance of those who died, the Omer season, which lasts 49 days and ends the night before Shavuot, is a period of partial mourning – no dancing, parties, weddings, not even haircuts. It is also a period of study and reflection.

Today to celebrate the reprieve, the holiday for many has turned into a day to cut loose. Festivals are held with rides for the kids and, especially in Israel, there are bonfires.

The bonfire flames are said to represent the light of the kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai, whose yahrzeit, also called Yom Hillula – day of festivity – is observed on Lag b’Omer.

Thousands visit his tomb on Mount Meron, not far from Safed, to pay homage. There it is considered an honor to offer the visitors a Chai rotel – an ancient measurement of about 15 gallons of drink. The choices are non-alcoholic beverages and wine; why not beer?

In the United States, seeing a barley and beer connection, the college-age demographic and beyond has found other ways to brew up enthusiasm for this minor holiday.

Beginning several years ago at college campus Hillels, such as at the Universities of Wisconsin and Washington, the holiday was observed in part by the quaffing of beer at “Lager b’Omer” events.

Last year, three Boston synagogues brought in seasoned home brewer Aidan Acker for an evening of beer making and talking about the holiday called “Fermenting the Omer,” which made sense since most beer is made by fermenting a brew of malted barley, hops and yeast.

This year, I was planning a Lag b’Omer bonfire and get-together in my backyard. Wanting in on this new Jewish use of beer, I spoke with Alex Ourieff, a Jewish foodie from Southern California’s San Fernando Valley and a self-taught home brewer. Ourieff had tied beer recently to another Jewish holiday, Tu b’Shvat,

Courtesy of Edmon J. Rodman

A display of home-brewed beers. Thinking of the bonfires of Lag b’Omer, a Jewish home brewer suggests a smoked porter.

by brewing a seven species beer at a local Moishe House – a home-based host of Jewish programming mostly for twentysomethings.

“For the seven species brew, I combined pomegranate molasses, barley, wheat, dried figs, green grapes, date sugar and olive leaf extract,” said Ourieff, 25, who is moving on to the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, Calif.

“I like layering flavors, it’s a mental exercise,” he added, providing a taste of his creativity.

I wondered if he was planning something special for Lag b’Omer.

Home brewing has grown as a hobby since President Jimmy Carter signed a bill in 1978 allowing up to 100 gallons per adult to be home brewed, tax free. Stores such as the Culver City Home Brewing Supply Company near Los Angeles have bubbled up to supply and educate the hobbyists.

“The Sumerian Hymn to Ninkasi is about beer making, and the Code of Hammurabi includes laws about beer,” said Greg Beron, one of the store’s owners, after I had explained to him my Lag b’Omer mission of connecting with barley.

“In recent excavations near the Pyramids in Egypt near where the people who built them were housed, they have found bakery/breweries,” he added, trying to give me a historical connection.

In his shop, filled with more than 30 bins of barley varieties, as well as shelves stocked with the apparatus of home brewing – plastic tubing, thermometers, brushes, yeasts and enzymes, caps and bottles – I wondered if after a hard day in the brick pits of Egypt, our forefathers had enjoyed the brew.

A more recent fan of the brew was Michael Steinberg, a friend of Beron’s and prize-winning home brewer who had retired and moved to Las Vegas. Since he was given a beer-making kit in 1999, Steinberg estimates he has brewed hundreds of gallons.

“I like beer at Chanukah,” Steinberg said. “It goes better with brisket and latkes than wine.”

“I never quite got the Omer,” he said of the rabbinic explanations he had heard, though Steinberg bright-

ened considerably when I brought up the barley connection.

“Drinking the beer is secondary. It’s about the people you meet and doors that are opened,” he concluded.

As to a special Lag b’Omer brew? Ourieff, thinking about the holiday bonfires, suggested making a smoked beer by roasting the barley before brewing.

“It will have a dark, smoky flavor,” he said, suddenly making a columnist thirsty.

Since the days until Lag b’Omer were few – it takes about five weeks to make beer – Ourieff directed me to several craft breweries that made “smoked porters.”

Sitting by the fire with a smoky barley brew, we could raise our glasses to friendship, to Bar Yochai’s light and drink our Omer.

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE’S ARCHIVES ARE NOW ONLINE. THE REST IS JUST HISTORY. It’s time for you to check out The American Israelite’s Archives Online.

The Archives features issues from years past and search tools to help you find that long-lost article that you’ve been searching for!

AI

The American Israelite

These archives are only available at

americanisraelite.com

8 • NATIONAL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

In budget battles, Obama administration sees Jews as playing key role

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – In the battle to end the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration, it’s all hands on deck.

Increasingly for the Obama administration, which is deadlocked over the budget with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, that means reaching out to Jews.

In conference calls and in appearances at Jewish events, administration officials are soliciting Jewish support in their bid to end the congressionally mandated budget cuts that kicked in March 1 and which critics warn could have a dramatic impact on vital government programs. In recent days, top administration officials have noted – and none-too-subtly – that programs dear to the organized Jewish community will face cuts should the sequester continue.

“Israel got a plus-up in the budget, I think, to $3.1 billion total,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in

Courtesy of Religious Action Center

Gene Sperling, the chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, speaking at the Reform movement’s Consultation on Conscience, April 23, 2013.

April 17 testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, referring to a hike in defense assistance that is part of a 10-year deal negotiated in 2007.

“But that is subject to sequester, as is everything,” Kerry said. “And we’re not able to undo that. So there’ll be a plus-up, but then there’ll be a reduction from the plus-up. It’s still a net plus-up, but there is a sequester that

will apply to everything, including Jordan, Egypt, Israel.”

The full impact of the sequester, a package of wide-ranging budget cuts Congress adopted in 2011 as an inducement to compel policymakers to reach a budget deal by 2013, has yet to take effect. If it proceeds unchecked, it will result in cuts to defense assistance of about $155 million, or 5 percent of the total assistance package, according to congressional and pro-Israel officials. Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity say that cuts also are expected to the $200 million budgeted for missile defense cooperation, which is not included in the larger defense assistance package.

The pro-Israel community is pushing back against the cuts in their encounters with congressional Republicans. In an April 12 meeting between Jewish leaders and the congressional Republican leadership, Howard Kohr, the director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, argued forcefully for the overall foreign aid package, according to participants.

The Obama administration, in its April 10 presentation, allocated $52 billion for foreign assistance, a number commensurate with figures dating back to the early years of the administration of George W. Bush, who significantly increased assistance to the developing world.

Congressional Republicans, influenced in part by the rise of the party’s conservative Tea Party wing, have called for slashing the foreign aid budget, in some cases to zero.

Jewish groups favor continuing foreign assistance, and not just to Israel. B’nai B’rith International welcomed the $52 billion allocation, calling it “a serious effort to address America’s strategic interests abroad in an era of fiscal austerity.”

In an appearance at the Reform movement’s Consultation on Conscience this week, Gene Sperling, the chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, opened by referencing his Jewish upbringing – something the onetime consultant to “The West Wing” TV show rarely has done.

“I feel a bond not because it’s a

Jewish organization per se, but you’re an organization that wakes up and asks yourself what you can do for this in our society who need the most justice,” Sperling said. “For me those things are bonded. That’s how my parents raised me. That’s how they raised me about what it meant to be Jewish.”

Sperling outlined the administration’s economic goals – securing a middle class that lives in dignity and extending opportunity to all, not just those born to privilege, he said – and slammed what he described as Republicans’ “slash everything” strategy. Tax cuts instituted during the Bush years, he said, needed redress.

“You can simply slash everything regardless of its impact on the economy or people [so] you can say you met your deficit target,” he said.

“You could meet that metric, but at the expense of your larger goals.”

Sperling nonetheless suggested that some spending cuts were inevitable.

BATTLES on page 19

GOP wants more sit-downs with Jews—even if they bring up ‘forcible rape’

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – He had them until abortion.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) was addressing the Reform movement’s Consultation on Conscience conference about his passion, human rights and success in creating mechanisms to combat human trafficking and shine a light on global antiSemitism. The crowd gathered in a large Capitol Hill conference room Tuesday afternoon was transfixed, laughing along with Smith’s practiced self-deprecation and applauding his commitment.

Until Joanna Blotner, a reproductive rights activist, asked him about his other signature legislation – a bid last year to cut all funding for abortion except in cases of “forcible

rape.” Why, Blotner wondered, would Smith seek to limit women’s options?

There was a fraught silence.

Smith stumbled through a series of non-sequiturs before settling on the classic congressional non-defense defense: The language cited by the woman already appeared in earlier laws.

“We went back to that,” he said, referring to a 1976 law banning funding for abortion overseas.

Forcible rape – the term implies that rape without violence is consensual – became a buzzword last year that helped topple what had been seen as two surefire GOP Senate bids, in Indiana and Missouri, and became a symbol for the party’s supposed alienation from growing swaths of the electorate.

In the wake of Mitt Romney’s

sound defeat in the presidential election, Republican leaders have regularly emphasized the need to reach out to groups among which the GOP made a poor showing – women, minorities and increasingly, Jews.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the chairwoman of the Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives, hosted a roundtable recently for Jewish leaders that brought together figures who rarely find themselves in the same room together, let alone in dialogue.

Hardcore conservatives such as Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks and Sarah Stern, founder of the Endowment for Middle East Truth, exchanged laughs with liberal counterparts like Rabbis David Saperstein and Jack Moline, both of whom are known in the media for

their closeness to the Obama White House.

“In order to be an effective leader, you have to reach out to the whole community,” said Nicolas Muzin, the conference’s director of coalitions, who leads outreach to minority communities.

Such GOP-Jewish confabs, while never commonplace, once were at least as frequent as the annual get-together between Senate Democrats and Jewish groups. They stopped soon after the 2000 election of President George W. Bush, whose first term was notorious for its withus-or-against-us posture toward interest groups, and the ascension of an uncompromising congressional GOP led by hardliners such as Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the former majority leader known for seeking to crush liberal influence in

Washington. Leaders of interest groups perceived as liberal – a sobriquet that characterized many of the mainstream Jewish groups – stopped having their calls to Republican leaders returned. Worse, they were told to stop trying.

No longer. After a decade in which Jewish outreach was largely restricted to a small coterie of likeminded conservative groups, Republicans are reaching beyond their comfort zone in an effort to make inroads with the wider Jewish community. Muzin said there are plans to replicate the meeting with other minority communities on the national level and to encourage lawmakers to use the meetings as templates for similar get-togethers in their districts.

GOP on page 21

Philanthropist Tad Taube wants Polish Jewry remembered for life, not death

By Ben Harris Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – When the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews opened its doors to the public last week after years of delays and tens of millions of dollars in spending, it was in no small part thanks to the work of Tad Taube.

A successful San Francisco businessman and philanthropist, Taube (pronounced Toby) has been directing the considerable resources of the Taube Philanthropies and the Koret Foundation, both of which he helms, to support efforts to revive Jewish life in Poland.

Between them, the organizations have devoted some $16 million to the museum, which also is supported by the Polish government and other

Courtesy of Malgorzata Turczynska

Philanthropist Tad Taube attends the dedication of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

donors. Taube has spent millions more supporting Jewish educational and cultural efforts in Poland, all in a country Taube fled as a child as invading armies approached.

Taube is also a major donor in the United States, where he supports a dizzying array of causes, including conservative and libertarian groups, Republican political campaigns, schools, an opera and the Jewish Renewal movement.

Rather than harbor resentment toward Poland, Taube has become one of the country’s most irrepressible boosters, and not just through his philanthropy. Since 2007, he has served as Poland’s honorary consul in the Bay Area. Taube also has publicly criticized the Jewish fixation on Poland’s Holocaust era, exemplified by programs like March of the

Living, that ignores the hundreds of years of Polish Jewish history that preceded it.

“I think it is essential that we not lose our connection with the country that was the historical center of Jewish life and culture for a millenium,” Taube told JTA. “Our JudeoChristian culture came from that 1,000-year period of Jewish history in Poland.”

Born in Krakow and raised in Torun and Warsaw, Taube fled Poland in 1939 when he was 8, just months before the country was invaded by the Nazis and the Soviets. The following year, the family relocated from New York to Los Angeles, where Taube’s father believed he would have better success in business.

As a kid, Taube starred in

wartime propaganda films produced

by Hollywood studios, playing Polish and Russian children. He was educated in Los Angeles public schools before going on to earn two degrees from Stanford University and serve in the Air Force ROTC. After a brief technology career in what was then the burgeoning hightech hub of Silicon Valley, Taube got into real estate.

One of his clients was Joseph Koret, the founder of an apparel company with his wife, Stephanie.

In the 1970s, the company, Koracorp, faced legal and financial trouble and Koret asked Taube to take it over and effect a turnaround.

The company eventually was sold to Levi Strauss & Co. TAUBE on page 20

INTERNATIONAL • 9

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

International In Syria, reports of Israeli strike on chemical weapons site and increasing Islamic control of rebels Briefs

By JNS Staff JointMedia News Service EU Parliament cancels Iran visit, criticized for not including meeting with human rights winners (JNS) A European Parliament (EP) trip to Iran, which was criticized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) for going forward despite Iran’s refusal to allow the delegation to meet with two human rights prizewinners, has been canceled.

“The simple fact is this trip should never have been considered in the first place,” Daniel Schwammenthal, director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute, said in a statement. “The mere suggestion of a desire to visit Iran only emboldens its repressive leadership and weakens those struggling for freedom. That is counter to the mission and values of the European Parliament.”

Kidnapped Syrian Christian archbishops freed (JNS) Two Syrian Christian archbishops have reportedly been freed after being kidnapped at gunpoint outside their home in Aleppo a day earlier, Al Jazeera reported.

Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim, head of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Aleppo, and Bishop Boulos Yaziji, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Aleppo, the largest Christian denomination in Syria, were kidnapped after their driver was killed. The two Christian leaders were reportedly on a humanitarian mission at the time.

Syrian Christians, who comprise 10 percent of Syria’s estimated population of 22 million, have been put into a difficult situation by the civil war. On one hand, many support the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But at the same time, under Assad they were a protected minority. Many Christians fear that if Assad is overthrown and replaced by Islamists, they will face greater persecution.

Professor finds possible ‘Lost Tribe of Israel’ in Papua New Guinea (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) The scholar known internationally as the “British Indiana Jones” has tracked a tribal people identifying itself as a “Lost Tribe of Israel” in a remote corner of Papua New Guinea.

Florida International University religious studies professor Tudor Parfitt recently conducted an expedition to Papua New Guinea, where he studies the Gogodala, a tribe of former cannibals who believe they are one of the Lost Tribes, according to a Florida International University press release.

After the United States revealed last week that it now believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons against rebel forces, the Israel Air Force reportedly struck a Syrian chemical weapons site near Damascus over the weekend.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group posted a video of smoke rising from a chemical weapons site that it claims Israeli jets struck on Saturday, the Israeli newspaper Maariv reported. FSA said the jets flew over the palace of Assad before the strike, and that a Syrian air defense battery went on to fire at the jets. Neither Israeli nor Syrian officials have confirmed the reported strike.

Corroborating an earlier Israeli intelligence assessment, White House aide Miguel Rodriguez wrote last week in letters to Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (RAZ), the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee, that the U.S. intelligence community “does

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The U.S. now believes that Syrian President Bashar alAssad, pictured, has used chemical weapons against rebel forces, corroborating an earlier Israeli intelligence assessment.

assess with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chem-

ical agent sarin,” the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel also confirmed that policy shift while touring the Middle East last week.

Earlier in the week, the head of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence Research Branch, Brig. Gen. Itay Baron, had said that the Syrian government used lethal chemical weapons, mainly sarin gas, against armed rebels several times over the few weeks and is continuing to do so.

Meanwhile, reports indicate a mounting presence of Islamic terror groups within Syria’s rebel forces, complicating options for Western policymakers to address the Syrian civil war.

According to a report in the New York Times, Islamic groups have provided basic government and local services such as running bakeries, controlling power plants and providing medical services in rebel-controlled areas.

Local residents have grown to respect the Islamic groups who receive funding and weapons from sympathetic donors in the Arab

Gulf states. As a result, Islamic commanders have risen up the Syrian rebel ranks, now controlling many positions in the rebel umbrella group, the Supreme Military Council.

The biggest concern for the West is a U.S.-designated foreign terror group, the Al-Nusra Front, which has direct ties to Al-Qaeda in Iraq and has pledged loyalty to AlQaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Another prominent terror group is Ahrar al-Sham, which is made up primarily of native Syrians.

“My sense is that there are no seculars,” Elizabeth O’Bagy of the Institute for the Study of War, who has recently interviewed several rebel commanders, told the New York Times.

U.S. President Barack Obama has previously said that Assad’s use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” for his administration, possibly triggering U.S. military action. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also recently refused to rule out possible Israeli military action in Syria in a BBC interview.

Ukrainian Jews worry that rise of Svoboda party will bring anti-Semitism back into vogue

By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency KIEV, Ukraine – Marching in formation, six young men in dark jackets approach an anti-government rally in Cherkasy, a city some 125 miles southeast of Kiev.

At the appointed moment, they remove their windbreakers to reveal white T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Beat the kikes.”

Their jackets carry the name of Svoboda, the ultranationalist Ukrainian political party.

A small riot quickly ensues.

Angry protestors rip at the Tshirts, but the Svoboda-labeled men give as good as they get. One of the men beats Victor Smal, a lawyer and human rights activist, so savagely that he is rendered

Courtesy of Svoboda

Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok speaking at a party congress, 2012.

barely recognizable.

In the days after this April 6 melee, Svoboda denied that the provocateurs at the rally were their men. Yuriy Syrotiuk, a Svoboda parliamentarian, called the men criminals and complained that police were not responding to an act of incitement, Interfax report-

ed. Some suggested the men were anti-Svoboda activists seeking to tarnish its image.

But denials notwithstanding, the incident has raised anxieties among Ukrainian Jews fearful of rising xenophobia and racially motivated violence they say is inspired by Svoboda, a party with neo-Nazi roots and a penchant for thuggery.

“Svoboda lifted the lid from the sewer of anti-Semitism in Ukraine and it’s spilling out,” said Joel Rubinfeld, co-chair of the European Jewish Parliament.

A U.S. State Department report this month singled out Ukraine, along with Hungary and Greece, as places of “concern” because of growing anti-Semitic parties. But open anti-Semitism is still rare in

Ukraine. Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry documented just 15 cases of antiSemitic violence in 2012. In France, the number was 200.

But the behavior of some Svoboda politicians risks changing that, some Ukrainian Jews worry.

Founded in 2004, Svoboda (“freedom” in Ukrainian) is the latest incarnation of the SocialNational Party, a far-right movement ideologically aligned with Nazism. But while the SocialNational Party never enjoyed any electoral success, Svoboda garnered more than 10 percent of the vote in the 2012 elections, becoming the country’s fourth-largest party.

SVOBODA on page 22

Across Warsaw, remembering Warsaw Ghetto heroes with yellow daffodils

By Ruth Ellen Gruber Jewish Telegraphic Agency WARSAW, Poland (JTA) – In Warsaw, sirens wailed and church bells rang to mark the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, a valiant but failed revolt by Jewish fighters against the Nazi occupiers who already had deported hundreds of thousands of Jews to the Treblinka extermination camp.

An official commemoration, held Friday, April 19, in a plaza between the monument honoring the ghetto heroes and the new

Museum of the History of Polish Jews, was attended by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, as well as Israeli Education Minister Shai Piron. But a halfmile away, a small group gathered under leaden skies at the entrance to Warsaw’s huge Jewish cemetery for an alternative memorial.

Carrying bunches of bright yellow daffodils, they walked down the main path and laid the flowers on the grave of Marek Edelman, the last surviving uprising commander, who died in 2009

in his early 90s. The group, most now in their 60s and 70s, has come together for decades to mark the anniversary of the uprising.

Until his death, Edelman was usually with them, laying a bunch of daffodils at the towering, dark monument to ghetto heroes.

For years, Edelman had received yellow flowers, usually daffodils, from an anonymous person on the anniversary. Eventually the flowers became a symbol of the remembrance. The group laying flowers on Edelman’s grave this year included an Italian who

wrote a book about Edelman, several Polish Jews forced to leave the country during the communist anti-Semitic campaign of 1968, and former dissidents and Solidarity activists.

One of them, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, served as Poland’s defense minister following the fall of communism. In 1983, he was arrested and jailed for four months by the communist regime for speaking at an anniversary ceremony organized by dissidents.

WARSAW on page 19

10 • ISRAEL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Can a moderate chief rabbi transform the Israeli Rabbinate? Not really

By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEL AVIV – To get married in Israel, Dima Motel had to bring his family photo album and two of his ancestors’ birth certificates to a rabbinical court.

Then an investigator quizzed his mother in Yiddish. Israel’s Chief Rabbinate often asks Russian immigrants like Motel to prove that they’re Jewish, sometimes requiring documentary evidence that can be hard to obtain. Those who won’t submit to the process or who can’t firmly establish their Jewish bona fides can’t get legally married in the country.

“I felt like it was an invasion of my privacy,” said Motel, 27, who was declared Jewish after three hours of questioning. “It’s called an investigation of Judaism.

It seemed like I was accused, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Israelis who chafe at procedures like these have rallied around a new source of hope: David Stav, a Modern Orthodox rabbi in the running to be Israel’s next Ashkenazi chief rabbi. Stav

Courtesy of Tzohar

David Stav, a moderate, Modern Orthodox rabbi running to be Israel’s next Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, hopes to reform the Chief Rabbinate.

has cultivated an image as the liberals’ solution to a Rabbinate dominated by the haredi Orthodox, and he is waging a public campaign in advance of the chief rabbi elections that has won him a strong base of popular support.

“The Chief Rabbinate has arrived at a point where we have to decide whether it will have completed its historical duty or will change itself to the point where it will become a kind of institution that can confront the current challenges of Israeli society,” Stav told JTA. But even if Stav prevails in the June elections, in which some 150 rabbis and public representatives vote for a chief rabbi, he will have little power to institute reforms – let alone instigate the sweeping changes many Israelis want.

The Rabbinate controls marriage, divorce and conversion for all Israeli Jews, secular or religious. Changes to the way the Rabbinate handles these matters cannot be made unilaterally, even by a trailblazing, reform-minded chief rabbi. Such a chief would be hemmed in by a sprawling bureaucracy, a potentially resistant Sephardic counterpart, and conservative-minded haredi opponents who can be expected to stridently oppose any perceived liberalization in religious standards.

Perhaps mindful of these limitations, Stav has called for a set of

changes that focus more on streamlining the Rabbinate’s services rather than reforming them.

He proposes eliminating a rule that requires couples to be married by their hometown rabbi, which would allow Israeli couples to go shopping around for the rabbi who best suits their needs even as it maintains the Rabbinate’s Orthodox monopoly over marriage. Stav also says he would cut down on the number of women refused a writ of divorce, or get, from their husbands by encouraging the signing of a prenuptial agreement that includes severe financial penalties if the husband demurs. And he wants to transform the Rabbinate into an aid for people like Motel, rather than an inquisitor, by hiring investigators to help establish Jewishness.

Yet chief rabbis – whose role includes a demanding schedule of ceremonial functions – cannot insitute such changes on their own.

Altering the hometown rabbi rule and hiring investigators both require the assent of the deputy minister of religious services, Eli Ben Dahan, a Moroccan-born rabbi and member of the Jewish Home party. Ben

Dahan has personally expressed support for a Modern Orthodox and Zionist candidate for chief rabbi, but his party has not endorsed Stav and it’s unclear whether he’d agree to free up money for investigators.

More substantive reforms would require the approval of both chief rabbis, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, as well as the approval of the Chief Rabbinical Council, a 17-member voting body that controls Rabbinate policy. The council, a mix of appointed and elected members, is dominated by conservative elements.

“We need a radical revolution, and Rabbi Stav won’t bring that,” said Rabbi Gilad Kariv, CEO of Israel’s Reform Movement. He said Stav would “just give a cellophane cover to a ruined candy.

“Maybe it matters who the chief rabbi is for formal ceremonies, but it doesn’t really matter for how conversion and kashrut happen,” Kariv said. “The processes within the rabbinic establishment are so extreme that who the chief rabbi is doesn’t matter.”

RABBINATE on page 22

Palestinian terrorist kills father of five in stabbing at Tapuach Junction

By Efrat Forsher and Israel Hayom JointMedia News Service A Palestinian terrorist killed a 31-year-old resident of Yitzhar on Tuesday morning at a bus stop at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria.

The victim, father of five Evyatar Borovsky, was the first Israeli to be killed in a terror attack in Judea and Samaria since 2011.

A preliminary investigation of the incident suggested that the terrorist, Salam Za’al, a resident of

Tulkarem, arrived at the junction armed with a knife. He stabbed the victim, who was waiting at a hitchhiking stop, several times in the chest, and grabbed his handgun. He then opened fire at a nearby Border Police patrol and subsequently tried to flee, but the police officers returned fire and subdued him. According to a Border Police spokesman, Za’al had run into a roadblock, preventing him from causing more damage with the stolen gun.

Za’al sustained moderate

wounds in the exchange of fire. An emergency medical team was dispatched, and provided emergency care to Borovsky, who sustained critical stab wounds. Resuscitation efforts failed and he was declared dead at the scene. Za’al was evacuated to a hospital in Petach Tikva for further medical attention.

According to media reports, Za’al had been released from an Israeli prison, where he served a three-year sentence for throwing rocks, less than six months ago.

The terrorist’s brother, who is cur-

rently jailed in the Palestinian Authority, faced trial on Sunday for allegedly cooperating with Israel. Speculation has been raised that Za’al may have committed the attack in order to restore his family’s honor.

Later Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces troops raided Za’al’s home, Israeli media reported.

Borovsky was the youngest of four brothers, and has been living in the Jewish community of Yitzhar for five years. He worked as an actor in several ensembles and was

a part of the Yitzhar security team.

His eldest son is 7 years old.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the incident on Tuesday, saying, “I want to extend my condolences, and the condolences of the entire Israeli people, to the family of Evyatar Borovsky, may he rest in peace.

The terrorist who perpetrated the murder has been apprehended and we will continue to act on this front as well to protect our citizens.”

TERRORIST on page 20

New research sheds light on Nazi influence in Arab world Israel

By Rafael Medoff JointMedia News Service Nazi Germany’s effort to recruit supporters in the Arab world is attracting new attention among scholars.

With the 70th anniversary of a Palestinian Arab leader’s sabotage of a plan to rescue Jewish children from Europe coming up next month, Israeli scholar Edy Cohen spoke exclusively to JNS about his current research on the role of Nazi and Axis propaganda in the Middle East. Cohen, 41, is on the staff of the Israel State Archives.

During the Holocaust years, Haj Amin el-Husseini, better known as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, lived in Berlin, where he recorded pro-Nazi radio broadcasts that were beamed to the Arab world and recruited Bosnian Muslims to join an all-Muslim unit of the SS. Seventy years ago, on May 13, 1943, Husseini caught

Courtesy of German Federal Archives

Haj Amin el-Husseini, better known as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, with Nazi SS officers in November 1943.

wind of a plan to permit 4,000 Jewish children, accompanied by 500 adults, to travel to Palestine in exchange for the release of 20,000 German prisoners of war. Both the Germans and the British had agreed to the exchange, but the Germans backed down when the Mufti objected.

The Mufti was the most prominent Arab figure to support the Nazis, but he was not alone. “My

research tracks the effort by the Germans, Italians, and Japanese to spread their propaganda and influence in Palestine and various Arab countries,” said Dr. Cohen, who was born and raised in Beirut and immigrated to Israel in 1995.

“They worked hard at it and, to a significant extent, they succeeded.” Cohen has been combing through Arabic-language Nazi and Axis leaflets and radio broadcasts that were collected and analyzed

by Haganah intelligence in the 1930s and 1940s.

Some of the leaflets found by Cohen feature stark headlines such as “Kill the Jews and the British!”

Some were printed on the back of facsimile British pounds or American dollars, so that when they were dropped by German planes over Arab regions of Palestine, they looked like money and immediately attracted attention.

According to Cohen, some of the Arabic-language Nazi propa-

ganda promised that those who attacked Jews would be rewarded by being given “the most beautiful of the Jewish girls” after Palestine’s Jewish community was vanquished. “That sort of language makes one think of the promise that Muslim terrorist leaders today sometimes offer – that those who die while killing Jews will receive seventy virgins in heaven,” Cohen said.

The text of the leaflets and broadcasts were composed by Nazi authors, and then translated into Arabic by members of the Mufti’s entourage in Berlin. Some of the Mufti’s men in Germany were more than writers: several parachuted into Palestine in 1944 with vials of poison that they intended to dump in the Tel Aviv water system. They were intercepted by the British police before they could carry out the attack.

RESEARCH on page 22

Briefs Israel’s security cabinet meets on Syria JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel’s security cabinet discussed the possibility that chemical weapons have been used by the Syrian government in that country’s civil war.

Sunday’s meeting – the first discussion on Syria of senior government ministers since the swearing-in of the new government – also looked at formulating Israeli policy on the civil war in Syria, Haaretz reported, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asked the government ministers not to make any public statements on Syria.

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

SOCIAL LIFE • 11

LATKAPALOOZA @ LOCAL’S BAR & GRILL On Christmas Eve, over 200 Jewish young adults attended Latkapalooza at Local’s Bar & Grill in downtown Cincinnati. They enjoyed a festive atmosphere, danced to a live DJ, and entered a free raffle that included prizes from Embers, 4EG, Izzy’s, the Mayerson JCC, Sia Spa, Bortz Jewelers and more. Latkapalooza was sponsored by the Jewish Federation's Young Adult Division (YAD) and Access, an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation. Photos continued on page 13.

12 • CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

MINI MACCABEES

AT THE

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

MUSEUM: A FESTIVAL

OF LIGHTS

CELEBRATION

Shalom Family got into the holiday spirit by giving families in the Jewish community a very special treat just in time for Hanukkah… FREE admission to the Duke Energy Children’s Museum! It was handson Hanukkah fun for everyone when more than 500 children and their families took part in Mini Maccabees at the Museum: A Festival of Lights Celebration, featuring a Time Capsule Photo Booth, in partnership with the Jacob Radar Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, where families got to step inside and snap some photos to be stored at the AJA, along with information about themselves until the year 2037. Plus children also made Maccabee shields, enjoyed story time and crafts with the PJ Library and plenty of other engaging activities designed to showcase one of the world’s greatest archeological discoveries, the Dead Sea Scrolls. Shalom Family is an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation. For more information about Shalom Family, consult the Community Directory located in this issue.

CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

LATKAPALOOZA

CONTINUED

14 • DINING OUT

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Johnny Chan 2—for when hunger has you

By Michael Sawan Assistant Editor No one will argue with a happy accident. I went in to Johnny Chan 2 unaware of the lunch buffet that was soon to greet me, and the feeling of accidental perfection, the release that accompanies a stroke of good luck, was something I would pay money for.

The only thing better is when this very same feeling is planned.

When an individual (or group) has the foresight to put the right pieces into place, to craft the scenario necessary to make for the emotions of a happy accident with the planning of an operation. Johnny Chan 2 is in possession of this most excellent strategic skill.

It is a restaurant that, from the ambiance up, knows how to craft the right experience one item at a time. The setting is casual but nice, with a pleasing color scheme and exceptionally friendly staff. The menu is all that you would expect from a traditional AmericanizedChinese restaurant, but prepared fresh to order: nothing freeze dried, no microwave entrees, no illcooked food. Everything is prepared by hand according to the methods that Johnny Chan 2’s kitchen has cultivated since 1998.

This is all encapsulated in Johnny Chan 2’s take on that most basic of chinese restaurant dishes, Fried Rice. The rice was smooth, reminiscent of the evenness of cream, and had the ability to mesh seamlessly with any other item at the buffet. Was it a happy accident that the egg roll and fried rice have a terrific texture together? Or maybe it was all a part of Johnny Chan 2’s master plan, to put compatible tastes all in a neat, convenient row.

The Sweet and Sour Chicken used pure white meat as its base, generous chunks fried until a delicately crispy shell encapsulated the still juicy chicken. This served as a jumping off point for the sweet and sour sauce, which added an extra layer of juiciness to the pot. When combined with the fried rice, things very nearly got out of hand, the textures and flavors all melding into a tight package of savory sweetness.

I turned my attention to the Egg Roll, which was unique in that it was strictly vegetarian. This meant that the veggies, by necessity, took center stage. The cabbage led the way, giving a slight bite that guided the warm, giving texture of the other veggies well.

This, combined with the crispy outer shell, meant a double whammy of texture, and yet again begged the question: Happy accident? It is safe to assume this one was not. Additionally, lest we forget, sweet and sour sauce plus an egg roll is always a good idea.

The Teriyaki Chicken strip was my first surprising encounter of the afternoon. If I had to guess, I

Courtesy of Michael Sawan

(Clockwise) Three employees of Johnny Chan 2; A serving of Johnny Chan 2’s Veggie Egg Roll, Teriyaki Chicken strip, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Fried Rice; Mushroom Beef in brown sauce, more fried rice, Chinese Doughnuts, Lo Mein and Moo Goo Gai Pan; A Cream Puff, slice of Vanilla Cake and an Almond Cookie; The front room entry way, giving a first impression of the restaurant.

would say it was either cooked over an open fire or smoked. It had a solid, full bodied taste dense with warm earthy tones. The teriyaki accompanied this taste terrifically, creating a mature, pointed taste that allowed the chicken to supplement the flavors. Things really shone once I began combining yet again, with the texture of the chicken being a new voice in the buffet style conversation.

My second plate of food presented various other hallmarks of the Americanized Chinese restaurant, all with the same flair that Johnny Chan 2 was starting to establish in my taste buds. I tried the Moo Goo Gai Pan, a savory dish of all white meat chicken, carrots, zucchini, and baby corn. One can judge a Chinese restaurant by the quality of their baby corn: too hard and you know the restaurant lacks confi-

dence, or the time to cook the veggie properly. Too soft and the restaurant comes across as careless, unperturbed by gooey vegetables.

Johnny Chan 2 is neither of these, instead occupying the perfect comfort zone of baby corn: crisp in the center, tender on the outside, a slightly limp string of vegetable that is emblematic of Chinese food. The rest of the dish followed suit, particularly the chicken. It had just the right texture, tender but with a slight amount of give.

The Mushroom Beef was similarly good, but in this case it was the sauce that stood out. It shared the smokey characteristic of the Teriyaki Chicken, that savory, mature flavor that begs to be eaten.

This flavor combined terrifically with the crispiness of the veggies.

As you might imagine, it all mixed to even greater effect with a little

bit of fried rice, the whole combination having a smooth, smokey, savory eat-ability that could have easily stood in as my main entree of the night.

The restaurant’s Lo Mein was the sort of dish that made me wonder, “why don’t I eat more of this?”

Because it’s true! Every time I go to a Chinese restaurant I automatically order fried rice; if I’m feeling saucy I get General Tso’s. But Lo Mein has its own power, a dish that has all of the appeal of fried rice, but with a little extra soy, a touch more umami, making it sparkle in the right situations. As it happens, one of these is when combined with Mushroom Beef and Moo Goo Gai Pan. Dessert time proved to be a great success, with the stand out being the slice of Vanilla Cake. It reminded me of the birthday cakes

I would enjoy in my childhood years, a no nonsense confection with a focus on vanilla, sugar and butter, all to great effect. Only a birthday candle could have made it more perfect. The Dessert Tray Honorable Mention goes to the Almond Cookie, a surprise sweet that combined vanilla wafer, sugar cookie and fortune cookie all into one deliciously crispy package.

It’s combinations like this, the familiar with the unexpected, that make Johnny Chan 2 a stand out.

Their hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Johnny Chan 2 11296 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, OH 45249 (513) 489-2388

DINING OUT • 15

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

RESTAURANT DIRECTORY 20 Brix

Eddie Merlot’s

Parkers Blue Ash Tavern

101 Main St

10808 Montgomery Rd

4200 Cooper Rd

Historic Milford

Cincinnati

Blue Ash

831-Brix (2749)

489-1212

891-8300

Ambar India Restaurant

Izzy’s

Pomodori’s

350 Ludlow Ave

800 Elm St • 721-4241

121West McMillan • 861-0080

Cincinnati

612 Main St • 241-6246

7880 Remington Rd

281-7000

1198 Smiley Ave • 825-3888

Montgomery • 794-0080

7625 Beechmont Ave • 231-5550 Andy’s Mediterranean Grille

4766 Red Bank Expy • 376-6008

Slatt’s Pub

At Gilbert & Nassau

5098B Glencrossing Way • 347-9699

4858 Cooper Rd

2 blocks North of Eden Park

8179 Princeton-Glendale • 942-7800

Blue Ash

281-9791

300 Madison Ave • 859-292-0065

791-2223 • 791-1381 (fax)

7905 Mall Road • 859-525-2333 Asian Paradise

NEW SPRING MENU &

LUNCH & DINNER (for 2) SPECIALS

906 Nassau St • Cincinnati, 45206 2 BLOCKS FROM EDEN PARK

FAMOUS CORNED BEEF Uncompromised Quality at Popular Prices

andyskabob.com • 513.281.9791

(513) 369-0245 Izzys.com

Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-3 Dinner: Mon-Thu 5-9:30 Fri 5-10:30 • Sat 4:30-10:30

8102 Market Place Lane Montgomery, OH 45242 794-0057 • 794-0235 (fax) www.sukhothaicincy.com

Stone Creek Dining Co.

9521 Fields Ertel Rd

Johnny Chan 2

9386 Montgomery Rd

Loveland

11296 Montgomery Rd

Montgomery • 489-1444

239-8881

The Shops at Harper’s Point

6200 Muhlhauser Rd

489-2388 • 489-3616 (fx)

West Chester • 942-2100

3120 Madison Rd

Kanak India Restaurant

Sukhothai Thai Cuisine

Cincinnati

10040B Montgomery Rd

8102 Market Place Ln

321-1600

Montgomery

Montgomery

4858 Hunt Rd • Blue Ash, 45242 (513) 891-8900 • Fax 834-8012

793-6800

794-0057

www.BangkokTerrace.com

4858 Hunt Rd

Marx Hot Bagels

Tandoor

Blue Ash

9701 Kenwood Rd

8702 Market Place Ln

891-8900 • 834-8012 (fx)

Blue Ash

Montgomery

891-5542

793-7484

2912 Wasson Rd

Mecklenburg Gardens

Tony’s

Cincinnati

302 E. University Ave

12110 Montgomery Rd

Baba India Restaurant

Dine-In / Take-Out / Delivery ✳EXOTIC DISHES✳ ✳ADJUSTABLE SPICE SCALE✳ ✳FABULOUS DRINKS✳ ✳VEGETARIAN - FRIENDLY✳

Bangkok Terrace

Blue Elephant

Ask about our Specials!

"Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America" Chinese Restaurant News - 2004

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER:

351-0123

Clifton

Montgomery

221-5353

677-1993

9525 Kenwood Rd

Padrino

Wertheim’s Restaurant

Cincinnati

111 Main St

514 W 6th St

745-9386

Milford

Covington, KY

965-0100

(859) 261-1233

1/2

. Sushi Bar . Full Bar, Liquor . Sunday Brunch The Shops at Harpers Point . 11296 Montgomery Road Banquets

(513) 489-2388

Cafe Mediterranean

Carlo & Johnny 9769 Montgomery Rd

The Best Japanese Cuisine, Asian Food & Dining Experience In Town

Cincinnati

9521 FIELDS ERTEL ROAD, LOVELAND

936-8600

(513) 239-8881 asianparadiserestaurant.com

AI

The American Israelite

AVAILABLE AT THESE FINE LOCATIONS:

bigg’s

Marx Hot Bagels

Ridge & Highland

9701 Kenwood Rd. Blue Ash

Izzy’s 612 Main St. 800 Elm St.

Kroger Hunt Rd. – Blue Ash

GET RESULTS.

In MainStrasse Village

Free Parking

Place your restaurant ad here!

Rascals’ Deli 9525 Kenwood Rd. Blue Ash

Your restaurant will also receive featured articles and a spot in the dining out guide.

Call 621-3145 today.

EARLY-BIRD DINNER SPECIALS NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS.

LUNCH & DINNER SPECIALS COME ENJOY A WIDE VARIETY OF GERMAN & AMERICAN SPECIALTIES.

514 W 6TH ST, COVINGTON, KY

(859) 261-1233

16 • OPINION

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

Don’t ruin Robinson’s Arch

By Anne Mintz Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK – I have mixed emotions about Natan Sharansky’s proposed agreement to expand the public space at the Western Wall to include the currently secluded area known as Robinson’s Arch.

As a lifelong Conservative Jew, I applaud any plan that seeks to treat egalitarian worshipers and women’s prayer groups as full members of the Jewish people deserving of a place to pray at Judaism’s holiest site. But I worry that in the zeal to achieve equality, Reform and Conservative Jews are about to shut the door on a unique spiritual experience.

I had never heard of Robinson’s Arch until the summer of 2010, when I joined one day with a few dozen other students and faculty from The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem to convene the morning minyan there.

Only that morning did I learn that Robinson’s Arch was a secluded location, an archaeological site at the southern part of the Western Wall, two stories below the main area on the other side of a tall (really tall) and thick (really thick) wall (the Mughrabi Bridge that leads up to the mosques atop the Temple Mount). And I also learned that under a court-mandated agreement with the Israeli government, groups affiliated with Masorti – the worldwide arm of the Conservative movement – had been holding egalitarian prayer services there for nearly a decade.

It was so removed from the main plaza that one may have thought it was miles away. Less developed and commoditized, I found the multi-level area to be a secluded, quiet place, where one didn’t hear the buzz from the main plan area, one that wasn’t a bustling tourist destination.

Frankly, I think Masorti got the better of the deal. It’s visually stunning. In addition to the massive retaining walls, there are huge boulders placed there that look like they were thrown down to the street outside the Temple during the destruction in 70 C.E. One can see charring on some of them from the burning that took place after the sacking. These were likely uncovered during the excavations in the Archeological Park, where Robinson’s Arch is located.

The emotional and spiritual experience I had that morning took me by surprise.

Later that summer, and because being there had evoked such emotion, I eagerly joined a group of about 30 people from The Conservative Yeshiva who went to Robinson’s Arch on the night of Tisha b’Av for the reading of Eicha (Lamentations), as we com-

memorated the destruction of the two Temples and other national tragedies endured by the Jewish people. The site is as beautiful at night as it is during the quiet of the morning. The entire area was filled with hundreds of non-Orthodox Jews – a few teen groups but mostly adults and families.

After the main part of the evening service, we sat down on the stone pavement and low walls; a different person led the reading of each of the five chapters.

Everyone else followed along or chanted quietly with the leader.

One could have heard a pin drop. It was awesome, sitting on stones just next to the structure about whose destruction we were reading.

Just after, as is traditional, we sang a long kinah with a beautiful melody, and as we rose as one to finish the evening service – literally just then – the minaret above us on the Temple Mount called the Muslims to prayer. It’s really loud if you are standing just under the mosque, but we didn’t miss a beat of our prayers. It was another powerful reminder that this structure we were facing, this very wall, was at Mount Zion in Jerusalem and nowhere else in the world. The minaret call seemed out of place, yet strangely not out of place. If only these two cultures could blend so well in the rest of daily life.

One would never have known of the noisy area on the other side of the high, dense wall where dozens of Eicha readings were taking place. That’s how separate it is.

Separate but equal is an American construct, and one that in the racist context of Jim Crow was understandably rejected more than half a century ago in the United States. But Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are not in America, and the opportunity to pray in seclusion at Robinson’s Arch is not the same as being relegated to a dilapidated, underfunded public school in Little Rock.

So, yes, the Sharansky plan should be cheered for providing 24/7/365 access to the Robinson’s Arch area, ending the entrance fee and creating a more accessible entrance via the main plaza security gates. But there are also disturbing reports that the plan will involve the creation of a raised platform that will put egalitarian groups on the same level as worshipers in the main area – above instead of amid the archeological remains at the site. This would be a terrible mistake. The area should be preserved, not expanded or further developed, so that Robinson’s Arch will continue to retain its serene and spiritual nature for the foreseeable future.

Sometimes separate is not only equal, it’s better.

For Carmen, preserve Jewish heritage in Egypt

By Andrew Baker Jewish Telegraphic Agency CAIRO – My first visit to Egypt was eight years ago. My guide was Carmen Weinstein, the head of Egypt’s Jewish community, and on a hot September day we drove through the usual chaotic traffic with our driver to visit 10 synagogues.

I am the son of American Jews, the grandchild of Jews from Poland, Lithuania and White Russia, and knew little about the history of Jewish life in Egypt. But the synagogues tell that story.

Together, the ancient Ben Ezra synagogue in Fustat; the stately Shaar Hashamaim on Adly Street; the soaring interior of the Karaite synagogue; the Italianate Vitali Madjar synagogue in Heliopolis, the modest synagogue in upscale Maadi built to lure prosperous Jewish residents to the new suburb; and the Maimonides yeshiva and synagogue, a rubble-strewn, roofless building at the time, reflect the rich and diverse religious life that once was Egyptian Jewry.

Nearly all the buildings were empty and unused. In some places a caretaker living in or near the synagogue let us in and escorted us through. Carmen gave each a few pounds and some disapproving words about the conditions, although it was obvious that they had done their best to clean in advance of our visit.

It was evident then, and would become clearer on my many subsequent visits, that Carmen’s mission was to preserve this Jewish heritage of Egypt.

To an outsider like me, this seemed like an impossible task.

What could one expect with a Jewish community that had dwindled to a few dozen, a government that was at best indifferent and an

Egyptian Jewish Diaspora that had grown increasingly distant?

We have the experience in Eastern Europe to compare – synagogues abandoned and in disrepair, or after Nazi occupation and communist nationalization, turned into factories or theaters or meeting halls. This is the “normal” fate of synagogues when Jews disappear. Everybody knows that.

But not Carmen. And that was the reason for her success. She didn’t know this couldn’t be done.

She brought as many of these synagogues as she could under the protection of the country’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and pressed it to make repairs. She simply assumed that each building deserved to be protected, preserved and ultimately restored. She had little patience for those who disagreed.

On each of my visits, we would go together to the Cultural Ministry or the Antiquities Council. Carmen focused on the repairs that were needed and the work to be done.

Usually we left with promises.

Those promises were not empty. Shaar Hashamaim synagogue, where Carmen’s funeral took place on April 18, was repaired and restored in time for the 100th anniversary of its dedication. A small exhibition space was built opposite Ben Ezra to tell the story of the Genizah documents that were discovered here. And in the most elaborate project to date, the Maimonides yeshiva was fully restored and the adjacent synagogue completely rebuilt.

As I learned from Carmen and other Egyptian Jews, the 12th century Maimonides building was considered a place of miracles – the sick and infirm would spend the night there and be healed. But the biggest miracle in our lifetime was its restoration and dedication

two years ago.

One of the greatest challenges she faced was the Bassatine Cemetery, where more than 20,000 squatters were living on the historic Jewish site. Carmen valiantly fought off further encroachment, building walls and imploring authorities to prevent the looting of memorial stones and the dumping of trash that had become commonplace. In her more optimistic moments she planted trees and flowering shrubs. Carmen took special care of and frequently visited her mother’s grave there.

Last month we went, at my request, to Bassatine. Conditions had clearly deteriorated. Walls had been removed, originally to facilitate construction of sewage drains from the squatters’ dwellings. But that work was never completed. Sewage water now flows freely, submerging several acres. The place is open to trash, looters and grazing animals.

I walked through the cemetery until I came to the gravesite of Carmen’s mother. The shrubs that had been planted were uprooted and gone. The facing stones were stolen.

Saddest of all, the enclosure to the grave itself had been cemented shut.

She would no longer be able to visit, but at least no one would be able to do more damage.

“I never come here anymore,” she told me, and I understood why.

She now has made one final trip.

We say, in the spirit of Jewish tradition, Yehi zichronah l’vrachah, “May her memory be a blessing.”

If we redouble our efforts to preserve and protect the Jewish heritage of Egypt, if we prevent the further desecration of Bassatine, if we secure the support of friends and allies in this work even in these difficult economic and political times in Egypt, Carmen’s memory will indeed be a blessing.

Have something on your mind?

Write a letter to the editor and let your voice be heard.

Send your letter by e-mail:

editor@ americanisraelite.com

JEWISH LIFE • 17

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

resident ger? Because he is permitted to live among us in the Land of Israel.” (Laws of Forbidden Relationships 14:7-8).

Since the rabbis were speaking of a situation like today, when the majority of Israel’s residents are Jews, this discussion refers to a minority group of non-Jewish residents. We may allow them residence here as long as they keep the fundamental laws of ethics and morality which protect the inviolability of every human being and certainly of the Jewish majority among whom they are living. It is interesting to note that Maimonides grants them permission to live “among us.” This is based on the verses (Deuteronomy 23:16-17): “You may not return a runaway slave [clearly a gentile] to his master if he has sought refuge with you. He must dwell with you, in your midst, in the place of his choice, in any of your gates which is good for him; you shall not oppress him.” These verses were written 4,000 years ago.

The 1896 American Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson decided that Blacks in America could be forced to live separately as long as they lived equally. This meant they could be barred from White schools, White neighborhoods, and White sections of the bus. It was not until 1954, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, that the Supreme Court overturned its earlier decision and ruled that separate was not equal. Our Torah understood 4,000 years ago that not entitling a resident to live anywhere he chooses (as long as he can afford it) constitutes an act of oppression.

The verses cited above from this week’s biblical portion go even further. The Ramban (Nahmanides), in his comments on Maimonides’s Book of Commandments, writes the following: “We are commanded to preserve the life of a resident alien, and to save him from evil. If he is drowning in a river or a heap of stones has fallen on him, we must labor with all our strength in order to save him, and if he is sick, we must engage in his healing...

and this is considered to be for them [the resident aliens] a matter of preserving a life, which pushes aside Shabbat restrictions. And this is what the Bible teaches: ‘If your brother becomes impoverished and his support is faltering when he is with you, you must strengthen him, the stranger and resident (ger vetoshav), so that his life may be preserved with you,’” (Positive Commandment 16).

What is most significant about these biblical verses is that the resident alien, who is uncircumcised and has not ritually immersed – and is therefore not at all Jewish, in fact or in potential – is nevertheless referred to as “our brother.” I believe this is an excellent start to the way we must treat minorities who are completely moral, ethical residents of the State of Israel.

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

WHAT’S HAPPENING @ YOUR SYNAGOGUE? NAME ADDRESS CITY

STATE

CHECK TYPE OF SUBSCRIPTION

1 YEAR, IN-TOWN

CHECK TYPE OF PAYMENT

CHECK

ZIP 1 YEAR, OUT-OF-TOWN

VISA

MASTERCARD

LIFETIME

DISCOVER

1-Year Subscription: $44 In-town, $49 Out-of-town Send completed form with payment to: The American Israelite

18 W. 9th St. Ste. 2 • Cincinnati, OH 45202-2037

CHANGE OF ADDRESS? SEND AN EMAIL TO PUBLISHER@AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

www.americanisraelite.com

AI

The American Israelite

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: BEHAR-BCHUKOTAI (VAYIKRA 25—27) 1. When does Hashem show that the land is his? a.) During a war b.) During the Jubilee year c.) During time of famine 2. What sale does the Jubilee year (50th year) effect? a.) Land b.) Personal household item c.) Sale of Torah scrolls 3. What can a Jew not bow down on?

4. B 27:8 The kohen must make sure he has basic subsistence and not to take away his job. Rashi 5. A 27:25

EFRAT, Israel – “If your brother becomes impoverished and his support is faltering when he is with you, you must strengthen him, the stranger and resident [ger vetoshav], so that his life may be preserved with you,” (Leviticus 25:35).

Now that after 2,000 years of exile, we have returned to our homeland and become a nationstate, we are faced with new challenges for which we must find solutions. These solutions must accord with the compassionate righteousness and moral justice which is Israel’s mission to teach to the world, without compromising our security. One of these new challenges is our relationship to the Arab minority that lives in our midst. Our millennia-old Biblical and Talmudic tradition certainly contain meaningful directions for meeting this challenge.

There are many places in the Bible where the term ger, usually translated either as “stranger” or “convert,” appears. The key to the most proper translation of this word is the directive that emerged directly from the Exodus: “You shall love the ger, because you were gerim in the land of Egypt,” (Leviticus 19:34). We were total strangers to the Egyptians, who therefore dehumanized us and enslaved us. We are enjoined to treat the “other” or the stranger – clearly in this context the non-Jew – with love rather than discrimination and persecution.

Undoubtedly, there are biblical verses in which ger means “convert,” and there are cases in which ger means “stranger.” In the context cited above, the verse enjoins us to help the “ger vetoshav,” the stranger who is also a resident, thereby creating a new category, the resident-alien. Maimonides defines this category in his great Jewish law compendium Mishneh Torah as follows: “Who is a ger toshav? He is an idolater who accepts upon himself no longer to serve idols and to keep the other commandments which were commanded to the Noahides [not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to eat the blood or limb of a living animal, not to blaspheme God and to establish law courts]. This individual is not circumcised and has not ritually immersed, but he is accepted as one of the pious of the nations of the world. And why is he called a

We were total strangers to the Egyptians, who therefore dehumanized us and enslaved us. We are enjoined to treat the “other” or the stranger – clearly in this context the non-Jew – with love rather than discrimination and persecution.

a.) Red Carpets b.) A mosaic c.) A stone floor 4. What happens, if a person can not afford his value to the Temple? a.) His vow is absolved b.) The Kohen will evaluate him c.) Can pay off in installments 5. How much is a shekel? a.) 20 Gerah b.) A dinar c.) 100 pretah (pennies)

2. A 25:13 3. C 26:1 A Jew can not bow down to Hashem on a stone floor because it was an idolatrous practice.

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT BEHAR BEHUKOTAI • LEVITICUS 25:1 – 27:34

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

Answers 1. B 25:23 Fields that were sold are returned to the original owner in the Jubilee year. Rashi

Sedra of the Week

18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

JEWZ

IN THE

By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist IRON MAN 3 AND MORE Opening on Friday, May 3, is “Iron Man 3.” Robert Downey, Jr. returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man. As the film opens, he is in quite a funk and this causes friction with his girlfriend and business associate Pepper Potts (GWYNETH PALTROW, 40). But he snaps out of it when his bodyguard and friend, Happy Hogan (JON FAVREAU, 46), joins many others as a victim of a series of terrorist bombing attacks. These attacks are engineered by the evil “Mandarin” (Sir Ben Kingsley).

Favreau, who also directed the first two “Iron Man” films, did not direct this one, which is in 3-D. “Iron Man” was, of course, originally a Marvel Comic, cocreated by STAN LEE, 90. The Mandarin character was created

by Lee for a 1964 comic book.

The first “Iron Man” movie, a blockbuster hit in 2008, was the crown jewel in Downey’s career resurrection. In 2001, he had hit rock bottom: he was caught using drugs again despite just finishing a year in jail for drug use. But he turned things around by 2004 and he has stayed sober for about a decade now. He gives much of the credit to his wife, producer SUSAN LEVIN, now 39, who he met in 2003 and wed in a Jewish ceremony in 2005. As I have noted before, Downey’s paternal grandfather was Jewish and he’s referred to himself as “JewBuddhist” since meeting Levin.

I have to believe that MICHAEL DOUGLAS, 68, who co-starred with Downey in “Wonder Boys” (2000), has asked Downey for advice about his son, Cameron Douglas, now 34.

Cameron has had a very longterm and severe drug problem.

I guess Downey had no “magic helpful words” – because Cameron was sent to federal prison in 2010 for dealing heroin and “meth.” He was caught using drugs in prison in 2011 and, last January, he again tested positive for in-prison use. On April 15, an appeals court affirmed that his original five-year sentence was properly lengthened to 10 years because of his in-prison drug use.

He isn’t eligible for release, now, until 2018. Cameron, whose only Jewish grandparent is actor KIRK DOUGLAS, 96, costarred opposite Michael and Kirk in the 2003 movie, “It Runs in the Family.”

On a more upbeat note: on April 24, “People” magazine announced that Gwyneth Paltrow

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

NEWZ

was their selection as “the world’s most beautiful woman” for 2013.

MARON ON IFC Starting on Friday, May 3, at 10PM, is the new IFC comedy series, “Maron.” It stars MARC MARON, 49, and is based on his life as a comedian and as the host of a very popular podcast. Each of the 10 half-hour episodes show Maron’s day-to-day struggle to maintain relationships (other than the ones he has with his cats and podcast audience).

JUDD HIRSCH, 78, plays his father, with ANDY KINDLER, 56, as his loyal friend. Kindler, who had a recurring role on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” is a real-life friend of Maron and the two have often done Jewish-themed comic bits together.

LANDAU AND ARBUS The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles recently covered the Los Angeles Israeli film festival.

Oscar-winning actor MARTIN LANDAU, 85, was awarded the Festival’s career achievement award. Here’s part of his acceptance speech: “Israel and I grew up together… I was 28 and working in the art department at the New York Daily News when Israel became a state. When I was struggling to make a living, Israel too was struggling to survive… to convert a strip of arid land into a fertile farmland… Israel and I have aged together, witnessed and experienced massive change, but we’re still very much alive.”

Actor ALLAN ARBUS died on April 19, age 95. He is best known for playing Dr. Sidney Freedman, a psychiatrist, on TV’s “MASH.” The show’s star, Alan Alda, once said that he thought that Arbus must have had some medical training (he didn’t) because he was so believable in the role. In 1941, when he was 23, he wed DIANE NEMEROV, 18. He served as an Army photographer during WWII. After the war, he and Diane began a joint career as advertising photographers and they had two daughters.

In 1956, they closed their photography studio because Diane Arbus wanted to move into art photography. They separated in 1959 and divorced in 1969.

Diane, who died in 1971, went on to become a famous art photographer. Allan, meanwhile, became a full-time actor in 1969 and that same year he got a co-starring role in “Putney Swope,” a cult indie film directed by Robert Downey, Sr. He steadily worked, mostly in TV, until 2000.

FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO The two greatest tragic artists of the American stage, Mr. J.W. Wallack and E. L. Davenport, close an engagement at this Theater Saturday evening, after a run of two weeks of the most unprecedented success. They have appeared in a series of Shakespeare’s master pieces together with a number of other sterling tragedies, in which they have stamped themselves as masters in their profession. Mr. Wallak’s Macbeth and Iago, Mr. Davenport’s Richard III and Hamlet, were wonderful personations and fully sustained their reputation. Mr. Davenport takes a benefit this (Friday) evening on which occasion an immense bill is offered.

Of course the house will be crowded. The dramatic season will close with Saturday evening to make way for the Italian Opera which commences Monday, May 18; the excellent artists who comprise the company have already been announced, and we no doubt will attract an immense concourse of lovers of good music. – May 15, 1863

125 Y EARS A GO On Wednesday, May 2nd, a children’s entertainment was given in honor of Mr. Alfred Seasongood’s birthday, at the residence of Mrs. Nannie Fechheimer, 126 Garfield Place. “Die Brantbewerburg,” a one-act facre, was presented by the Misses Netta and Stella Sachs and Martha and Roselle Seasongood.

Mr. Dan Kiefer and Miss Rose Danziger were married at the home of the bride’s parents on East Walnut Hills, on Tuesday last at 3 p.m. The Rev. Dr. Wise performed the ceremony. The wedding was a strictly family affair, and attended only by the immediate relatives and family connections. The newlymarried couple will go to California and Alaska on their bridal tour.

Among the pleasant events of the week was a social dance given

by Miss Yetta Baumgarten, Monday evening, to a number of her friends at her home, 147 Barr Street.

Among those present were the Misses Belle Mielziner, Jennie Mannheimer, Essie Haas, Sara Wolfstein, Belle Rosenbaum, Dora Mielziner, Mollie Bowman; Messrs.

Fred A. Powers, Phil Poltz, Philip Reinauer, Max Seasongood, J. Joseph, Leo Mielziner, Allie Haas, C. Lauber and Morris Baumgarten.

– May 4, 1888

100 Y EARS A GO The twentieth annual contest of the University of Cincinnati for the Jones prizes for oratory will take place on Friday evening, May 2, at 8 o’clock, in McMicken Hall, Burnet Woods. The first prize car-

ries with it a douceur of $40, and the second one of $20. There will be four contestants to the oratory prizes, viz: Sybil M. Heck, Samuel Spier Mayerberg, Marius Rasinsky and Jacob Isa Meyer. The three young men are students at the Hebrew Union College. Rasinsky, a Cincinnatian, is a Junior; Mayerberg, whose home is in Godlboro, N.C., and Meyer, who lives in New Orleans, La., are members of the first collegiate class. – May 1, 1913

75 Y EARS A GO Mrs. Siegfried Geismar is to speak at the annual luncheon meeting of the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, Wednesday, May 25th, at the Netherland Plaza.

The program chairman, Mrs. B. H. Schaeffer, reports a clever program is being arranged by her committee and assures all who attend an afternoon of entertainment.

Mrs. Eugene Lowenthal (Esther Frank) and her young daughters, Jane and Nancy, are with Mrs. Lowenthal’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Frank, at Vernon Manor.

Young Israel invites all to attend the dedication of a Torah in memory of its late member, Louis Cohen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Cohen, Sunday, May 15th, at 2 p. m.

The procession will proceed from the residence of Rabbi Eliezer Silver, 820 Hutchins Avenue, to Washington Avenue Synagogue, Washington and Rockdale Avenues.

The Siyum then will be held.

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Wolfson, 1524 Yarmouth Avenue, Bond Hill, will be at home Sunday, May 15th, from 7 to 11 p. m. in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Wolfson, who are leaving to make their home in California. – May 12, 1938

23 he received a Robert-Koch Medal at a meeting of the German Association for Hygiene and Microbiology. – May 2, 1963

25 Y EARS A GO U.S. Rep. Willis D. Gradison received Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life Award at a tribute dinner April 28.

The dinner, attended by 360 persons, raised $80,000 for JNF, announced Richard Weiland, dinner chairman.

In presenting the Tree of Life Award to Gradison, Dr. Sidney Peerless, honorary dinner chairman, noted that the award was made in recognition of Gradison’s “outstanding commitment to the people of Ohio, the United States and the State of Israel.”

Harry S. Sudman has been nominated to serve a second term as president of the Jewish Community Center, said Albert R. Fingerman, chairman of the nominating committee.

Sudman, an attorney with Schwarz, Manes and Ruby, will head the slate to be presented at the agency’s 56th annual meeting.

Other officers nominated with Sudman are David J. Alex, Stanley L. Better and Richard L. Katz, vice president; Steven M. Adams, secretary, Renee Lemberg, financial secretary; Michael Kadetz, treasurer.

Board members: Stuart Ackerman, Robert Clayton, Evelyn Fisher, Gary Fisher, Sam Frankel, Dr. Stewart Friedman, Gary Grefer, Edward Hattenback, Ken Hiudt, David Kaplan, Richard L. Katz, Marty Mandell, James A. Markley Jr., Howard Mayers, Joseph Silverman, Sherri Goren Slovin and Robert L. Cohen. – May 5, 1988

10 Y EARS A GO 50 Y EARS A GO Dr. Robert M. Goldwyn will speak Tuesday noon, May 7, at Wise Center at the 50th annual luncheon of Jewish Care & Relief.

He is a friend and associate of the famed Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

Mrs. B. H. Schaeffer, president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Jewish Hospital, has appointed Mrs. Jerome Teller chairman of the 17th annual luncheon at Losantiville Country Club, Friday, May 24, at 12 noon. Mrs. Allan J. Sanker is vice chairman.

Dr. Albert B. Sabin, distinguished service professor of research pediatrics at UC spoke Monday, April 22, in Washington, at a symposium on virus-cancer relationships during the 100th meeting of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a member of that group.

In Wurzburg, Germany on April

Jennifer Menzies of Seven Hills School and Tara Becker of Ursuline Academy are the winners of the American Jewish Committee’s 38th annual Simon Lazarus Jr. Human Relations Awards. “The Lazarus Awards recognize students who unselfishly reach out to people from different racial, religious or socio-economic groups, said Eric Avner, Chair of the Awards Committee.

Dr. Karen Mock’s sweet demeanor belies her given nickname, Hate Hunter. As head of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation based in Toronto, Mock is a warrior against intolerance, an educator of the masses and an advocate for racial understanding.

Her keynote speech, “The Hate Hunter: A Woman Battles Intolerance,” held April 28, was part of Holocaust Awareness Week 2003. – May 8, 2003

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

CLASSIFIEDS • 19

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

(513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Chabad (513) 731-5111 • campchabad.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 • cincinnatimikveh.org Eruv Hotline (513) 351-3788 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 JVS Career Services (513) 985-0515 • jvscinti.org Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org

CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org

Congregation Ohr Chadash (513) 252-7267 • ohrchadashcincinnati.com Congregation Sha’arei Torah shaareitorahcincy.org Congregation Zichron Eliezer 513-631-4900 • czecincinnati.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com

EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) 513-262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com Yeshivas Lubavitch High School of Cincinnati 513-631-2452 • ylcincinnati.com

ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (513) 204-5594 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org

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 Erin at 621-3145

MANDELL from page 5 Many people from all walks of life have learned and grown from her talks and presentations. Her humble and gentle spirit comes across, as she freely shares tools and insights that can be applied to our everyday challenges and BATTLES from page 8 “If you say all you care about is jobs and therefore we should just load things up with huge infrastructure projects and other issues and not worry about the long-term deficit,” he said, “you don’t at the same time give people confidence that we as a country are going to deal with those long term deficits.”

Jewish groups have been alarmed by some of the proposed cuts in the Obama budget, particularly a plan to reduce Social Security spending by slowing the program’s cost-of-living increases and by cutting subsidies to pharmaceutical companies that service the Medicare program.

WARSAW from page 9 “We had all hoped that Marek Edelman would turn up and say a few words, but he couldn’t because he was being held under house arrest in Lodz,” Onyszkiewicz told JTA. “He only sent a letter that was read.

I felt that everyone was waiting for something to happen, so I got up and delivered a speech, and as a result, I was arrested immediately.”

He added, “What was rather funny is that when the secret police agent arrested me, he was rather curious. He asked me, ‘Why did you come here, you’re not a Jew?’ I replied that no, I’m not – but so what!”

Yellow daffodils were a memorial motif; a stylized daffodil was an official logo of this year’s commemorations. People placed daffodils at the foot of the ghetto memorial and at the monument at Umschlagplatz, the site from which hundreds of thousands of Warsaw Jews were deported to Treblinka. Pots and vases of daffodils decorated the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, where thousands of visitors flocked to see the striking new building, attend concerts and films, and buy

SENIOR SERVICES

• • • • •

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

(513) 531-9600 stresses, as well as to life’s inevitable losses. Moreover, she shares not only how to endure suffering, but the blessing that has come from her broken heart, a heightened sensitivity to life’s joys and mysteries, in all their fullness. For more information contact Chabad Jewish Center.

“We urge the President and Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of those among us who are most vulnerable with cuts to critical social services,” the Jewish Federations of North America said in a statement earlier this month.

The Jewish Federations also weighed in against the Obama administration’s plan to reduce the charitable tax reduction from 35 to 28 percent.

“Limiting the deductibility of charitable contributions will definitively result in less giving and therefore place a stumbling block in front of the ability of charities to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and heal the sick,” it said. souvenirs in the gift shop.

Throughout the city, young volunteers handed out paper daffodils for people to wear on their jackets or lapels. All over Warsaw, people could be seen sporting the symbol, which was reminiscent of the yellow Star of David the Nazis forced Jews to wear.

“I think one of the most moving things I’ve seen in all my years in Poland was watching volunteers all around the city giving out the daffodils and watching Warsavians walking around the city wearing them, evoking the Star of David,” said Jonathan Ornstein, the executive director of the JCC Krakow, who was in Warsaw for the commemorations. “It really felt as if the city was commemorating something from Polish history, not only Jewish history, and it made me aware that Poles realize the shared heritage.”

The anniversary proceedings attracted Jews with Polish roots from all over the world. Among them were Holocaust survivors and emigres – such as American philanthropists Tad Taube and Sigmund Rolat – and those who had fled during communism. Members of Poland’s contemporary Jewish community also turned out in numbers.

20 • LEGAL

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

What’s in a name?

Legally Speaking

by Marianna Bettman If an unmarried couple has a child, which last name should the child get? That was the issue in a case decided recently by the Supreme Court of Ohio. The Ohio high court now requires the use of initials in all cases involving juveniles, so I will use only initials in this column, which will make it a bit harder to follow. But readers will quickly get the gist in this interesting name change case. The case was argued at the high court by one of my former law students, who made me very proud of the way she handled the case.

T.L. and D.W. an unmarried couple, had a son, L.D.W.L. The boy’s name includes his own first TAUBE from page 8 Taube began visiting Poland for business in the 1970s and was struck by the deprivations wrought by communism – empty restaurants, the lack of commerce, shabby hotels. After the fall of communism, everything changed.

“The socialist state was dead,” Taube said. “The democratic and capitalistic state that evolved after the freedom that was gained in Poland in 1989 developed possibly one of the strongest economies in all of Europe, not tinged by all the problems of Greece and Spain.”

Taube’s love of free enterprise led him to a diverse business career, including a stint at the electronics company Ampex and an attempt to TERRORIST from page 10 Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika also issued a statement following the attack, saying, “This heinous murder is a direct result of [Israeli] helplessness in the face of rock-throwing terrorism, the removal of checkpoints and the ongoing, reckless classification of daily terror attacks as ‘disruptions.’ The Israel Defense Forces and the defense establishment must understand that this terrorism kills. The government has to completely change its approach and treat this terrorism as terrorism.”

Avi Roeh, the chairman of the Yesha Council, said, “The terror attack this morning is a direct con-

name (L here, for simplicity,) then his father’s full name as the second and third names, and the mother’s surname at the end. The child’s birth certificate bears the name L.D.W.L. The birth certificate was signed by both parents, after much discussion.

L’s father did not live with L for the first 18 months of L’s life.

L lived with his mother and halfsister – all of whom used the mother’s last name. When L was 18 months old, his father moved in; however, he was deployed overseas for a time and subsequently stationed in another city.

When L was 4, his parents separated.

L’s father went to the Clinton County Juvenile Court to establish parental rights and responsibilities.

Eventually, the parties agreed that L’s mother would be L’s legal custodian and residential parent. L’s father received visitation rights, and paid child support. The only issue the parents could not resolve was L’s last name. The father petitioned the court to have L’s last name changed to match his own.

Both parents testified in front of a magistrate at the name change hearing. Testimony established that L had used his mother’s surname

since birth, and had always lived with his mother and half-sister who also shared the same surname. L’s father was actively involved in L’s life and provided financial support for him.

L’s father testified that it would be “huge” to him for his son to have his name. He wanted his son to have something of his while he was deployed, in case he was killed in combat. He gave his opinion that a name change would not be harmful to L at this stage, and would be meaningful to both of them.

L’s mother testified that L’s full name already included his father’s name. She emphasized L’s developmental delays at school, and the fact that he did not adjust well to change. L knew his present name, was learning how to write it, knew it was the same as his sister’s, and lived in a residential unit where everyone had the same last name. L’s mother gave her opinion that it would be detrimental to L’s interest to have a new last name at this point.

The magistrate granted the father’s name change request, finding that it would be in the child’s best interest. Both the juvenile court judge and the Twelfth District Court of Appeals upheld this deci-

sion. But the Supreme Court of Ohio did not.

In Ohio, the test for determining whether to allow a name change for a child is what is in the child’s best interest. Well, the times they are a’changing! Under existing precedent in Ohio, trial courts are not allowed to give primary weight to a father’s interests in having the child bear his surname in conducting a best-interest-of-the child analysis.

And while it may be custom for a child to bear the father’s surname, the mother has at least equal interest in the child bearing her surname.

L’s mother argued to the Supreme Court that the juvenile judge’s decision was, at least in part, wrongly based on gender-based traditions and assumptions.

The parent who is seeking the name change has the burden of presenting sufficient evidence to show that the change is in the child’s best interest. Ultimately, that is where the Supreme Court of Ohio found the father failed in this case. In a unanimous ruling favoring L’s mother, the Supreme Court agreed with L’s mother that L’s father’s reasons for wanting the name change were for his own reasons, rather than for L’s best interests.

The Court found that in contrast,

the mother’s testimony provided specific reasons why the name change would be detrimental to L. Interestingly, the Court’s decision in this case was written by then-Justice Robert Cupp, who was the Court’s most traditional member. After hearing the arguments in this case, I was convinced he was going to vote in favor of the father. Instead, he wrote: “One of the reasons given by the trial court supporting the decision to allow the name change was that if either parent marries, ‘[t]he father is far less likely to change his surname’ than the mother. We recognize that the trial court’s comment that a woman who marries ‘often takes her spouse’s surname,’ is not an inaccurate observation.

However, this generic consideration – that a woman is more likely to change her surname if she should marry – cannot be a valid factor supporting a name change in a specific case like the one before us.”

Justice Cupp added that the trial court decision ran counter to the high Court’s past precedent which held that it was improper “to perpetuate the discrimination against mothers or against non-marital children by imposing different naming standards upon them.”

create an alternative to the NFL, the United States Football League, that foundered in the 1980s. Taube was the owner of the short-lived Oakland Invaders franchise.

“It was not a success financially, but it was an adventure,” Taube said.

As a philanthropist, Taube’s interests are similarly omnivorous.

There’s the Taube Tennis Center – including the Taube Family Tennis Stadium and the adjacent Taube South Courts – at Stanford University; the Taube Discussion Series on Teaching American Values at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington; the TaubeKoret Campus for Jewish Life in Palo Alto, Calif.; and various named initiatives at Stanford’s

Hoover Institution, the conservative think tank where Taube sits on the board of overseers.

Taube’s philanthropies, the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture and the Taube Family Foundation, support a bewildering array of civic and charitable institutions: the San Francisco Opera and Museo Italo Americano, a Bay Area museum celebrating the heritage of Italian-Americans; the Jewish Renewal movement and the Nueva School, a private school in Hillsborough, Calif; an at-risk youth program, Touchdowns for Kids, and the Cezar Chavez Academy.

He also supports a number of conservative and libertarian causes, including the Cato Institute, the Ayn Rand Institute, the David

Horowitz Freedom Center and the Claremont Institute. In 2012, Taube’s political donations went exclusively to Republicans, including the campaigns of Mitt Romney and Eric Cantor, and the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Taube also supported the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, but pulled funding over its decision to screen a film in 2009 about Rachel Corrie, an American activist killed in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting Palestinian home demolitions. Shana Penn, executive director of the Taube Foundation, resigned as festival president in protest.

“I don’t want to be pigeon-

holed as someone who is operating in Poland because I like everything about Poland,” Taube said.

“What I like in Poland is that they reclaimed their freedom and rebuilt their economy with a model I think works. I also like the support that the government is giving to the museum and other Jewish institutions.”

After the fall of communism, Taube began to support the resurgence of Jewish life in Poland. At the time, the field had a single dominant player, the cosmetics magnate Ronald Lauder, who was beginning to build a sprawling philanthropic empire across the countries of the former Eastern Bloc. Taube began working with Lauder on various projects.

Force carried out a surgical strike in the Gaza Strip, the first since November’s Operation Pillar of Defense, targeting a terrorist linked to the recent rocket fire on Eilat.

Palestinian sources in Gaza said that one man was killed and another was wounded in the strike.

A Palestinian Authority source told Israel Hayom that Egypt was briefed ahead of the operation.

The strike was part of a joint Israel Security Agency and Israel Defense Forces operation against 24-year-old Haitham Ziad Ibrahim al-Mes-hal, a resident of the Shati refugee camp in western Gaza and a known terror operative, who had been linked to al-Qaida. He was hit while riding a motorcycle in the northern part of the enclave.

An Israeli government spokesman said the military had hit a “jihadi who was an expert in manufacturing rockets.”

The IDF confirmed that an IAF strike in Gaza took place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The attack came just two days after Netanyahu had warned of a strong military response to sporadic rocket fire on Israel.

“Today, we took out one of the men involved in the criminal rocket fire on Eilat. As I said, we will not abide the trickling of rocket fire on Israel from Gaza or from Sinai,” Netanyahu said Sunday.

tinuation of the incitement within the Palestinian Authority and the forgiving [Israeli] attitude toward rock-throwing attacks. All the talk about ‘goodwill gestures’ and the release of [Palestinian] prisoners is also motivating the murderers.

We demand an urgent meeting with the defense minister on the issue of overcoming terror and exercising an iron fist to combat the rock throwing attacks and the murderers.”

Shortly after the attack, a group of Jewish residents hurled rocks at a school bus carrying young Palestinian schoolgirls near Yitzhar.

Several girls were hurt in the attack.

Additional reports suggested that settlers had also vandalized Palestinian property in the area in

Courtesy of Flash90

Israeli security forces inspect the site of a terror attack, at a bus stop at the Tapuach Junction on April 30, 2013. The Palestinian terrorist stabbed a 31-year-old Israeli man to death at a bus stop, police said.

response to the morning’s stabbing.

Also on Tuesday, the Israel Air

This story first appeared in Israel Hayom, whose English-language content is distributed exclusively in the U.S. by JNS.

FIRST PERSON • 21

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013

This year in Jerusalem This Year in Jerusalem

by Phyllis Singer It seemed really weird – sitting in Jerusalem watching TV coverage of a terrorist attack in Boston. Too many times Allen and I sat in front of our TV watching coverage of a terrorist attack here in Israel. Once before – on Sept. 11, 2001 – we sat glued to our TV watching the terrorist attacks in the United States.

But it still seemed weird last month to watch Boston coping with the aftermath of the terrorist attack.

Unfortunately, terrorism knows no geographical boundaries.

It was interesting to see and hear and read about similarities, connections and differences between responses in Boston and those we have seen in Israel. Most poignant are the first-person accounts of the survivors, the witnesses who saw the tragedies firsthand but escaped the deadly blows themselves.

I am reminded of reminisGOP from page 8 Muzin gleefully described the long and effusive “thanks for the invite” voicemail he received from Moline, and how he played it back for his delighted boss, McMorris Rodgers. The congresswoman responded by borrowing the habit cultivated by Democratic politicians of injecting a subsequent speech to a Jewish group with Jewishisms.

“You may not know that much about me, but I grew up in a rural area of eastern Washington where people grow wheat and apples,” she said a few nights later as the lead GOP guest at the Israeli Embassy’s Independence Day celebrations. “We wouldn’t have known a matzah ball from a basketball.”

At the roundtable hosted by McMorris Rodgers, participants focused on shared agendas, in particular getting tough with Iran and keeping the deduction for charitable contributions at 35 percent, as opposed to the 28 percent sought by the Obama administration.

Both are softballs when it comes to Jewish-Republican dialogue and have broad community appeal.

But participants on both sides

cences of close friends who were in downtown Jerusalem in August 2001 when the terrorist attack took place at the Sbarro restaurant at the corner of King George and Jaffa Road. Our friends were crossing that major intersection when the bomb went off. Thankfully, they were not hurt, but as they ran for safety up the street, they saw horrific sights – sights that still haunt my friend today.

Coincidentally, these friends were visiting me and watching TV at my apartment at 10 p.m. Israel time April 15 when the explosions took place at the Boston marathon.

My friend cringed as we watched the news unfold and told me how the terrible sights she saw that day in Jerusalem always haunt her. I guess the survivors in Boston will always have similar memories for the rest of their lives.

It is interesting to compare some of the aftermath between Israel and Boston. In Israel, media has almost total immediate access to the scene and to the victims and family members in the hospitals.

Too much so we Americans think.

Often when I have watched interviews with victims and their family members, I have said, “Why do the hospitals allow the media inside these rooms?” But they do.

In comparison, the crime scenes and the hospitals in Boston were closed to the media – so much so that the media was complaining. Dina Kraft, a freelance journalist in Boston and a former of the table said they anticipate areas of disagreement, like Medicaid and Medicare, two programs popular among Jewish leaders that Republicans hope to restructure.

“On domestic policy there will be differences, and the members were well prepared for that,” Muzin said.

Evidence of the gap between good intentions and working relationships was evident during the Reform confab this week, which was top heavy with Democrats from Congress and the administration. The two Republicans who participated – Smith and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – emphasized their eagerness to work with the other side, something that Democrats never felt the need to do.

Graham, like Smith, earned a warm welcome. He addressed an area of agreement with the Reform movement, immigration reform, and delivered several thinly veiled digs at Romney, whose rhetoric was seen as driving away Hispanics.

“My party has turned a corner,” Graham said. “ ‘Self-deportation’ is not a good idea.”

At the McMorris Rodgers meeting in her office, some poten-

reporter for Ha’aretz newspaper in Israel and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, was interviewed by Fox News and pointed out many of the differences that exist. For Kraft, who had had much greater access to terrorist scenes while working in Israel, talked about the frustrations facing journalists trying to get information in Boston.

The head of Beth Israel Hospital, U.S.-born Dr. Kevin (Ilan) Tabb, who immigrated to Israel at age 18, served as a combat medic in the Israel Defense Forces, and then trained as a doctor, told David Horovitz, editor-in-chief of The Times of Israel, in an exclusive interview, that journalists were even trying to pay hospital personnel to get them inside. But to no avail, he told Horovitz.

Tabb noted that in both Israel and America medical professionals put aside “personal and political” feelings when treating patients, whoever they are. “We treat everybody as much as they need it,” he said. “That frequently occurs in Israel. In this case also.”

While Beth Israel treated many victims of the attack, the hospital also treated Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger of the two brothers accused of perpetrating the bombing. Tsarnaev’s older brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police before Dzhokhar was captured. Last Friday, after a week at Beth Israel, Dzhokhar was moved to a prison hospital 30 miles from Boston. In Israel, we

often hear reports of terrorists being treated in the same hospital – or even in the same emergency room – as their victims.

Tabb was not the only Israeli connection to the attack. Numerous medical personnel in Boston are either Israeli or spent time in Israel.

In addition, according to a report in the JTA and several Israeli sources, numerous emergency personnel benefited from expertise developed

by Israeli physicians treating victims of terrorist attacks. The JTA reported that several years ago, four Israeli doctors and a staff of nurses spent two days at Massachusetts General Hospital teaching hospital staff methods developed in Israel.

The chief of emergency services at Massachusetts General Hospital, Alastair Conn, acknowledged the help provided by Israeli experts.

“About two years ago in actual fact we asked the Israelis to come across and they helped us set up our disaster team so that we could respond in this kind of manner,” Conn told reporters.

Moreover, Israel 21C reported that Israeli critical care specialist Dr. Pinchas Halpern, director of emergency medicine at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, who has been training U.S. medical personnel for many years, was one of the first people contacted to discuss handling casualties from the bombing. Several years ago, he was part of a Harvard University and U.S. government-sponsored project that brought Jewish and

Courtesy of House Republican Conference

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chairwoman of the Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives, at the center of a Jewish leaders roundtable in Washington, April 12, 2013.

tially contentious issues such as immigration reform and preserving entitlements came up briefly when the organizational leaders were asked about their priority agendas. Participants, speaking on background because the contents of the meeting were off the record, said even asking such an openended question was refreshing and was taken as evidence that the

GOP was ready to listen.

Saperstein, the head of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, said the meeting suggested that the party was ready to listen.

“They could not have been more attentive, more politely responsive at the range of views they heard, more open to engaging with the community,” he said.

Arab Israeli physicians and nurses to give two-day training sessions on emergency care, including terror attacks, at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General. And one year ago, according to Israel 21C, Halpern spent a few weeks as a visiting professor at Massachusetts General’s emergency department, sharing his experience with terror attacks, including best practices for mobilizing hospital staff in response to a mass disaster.

But there’s one area of expertise that Boston seemed to lack – or where authorities perhaps dropped the ball: advance intelligence.

According to reports in numerous media sources, in 2011, Russia had alerted the FBI to investigate Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a security risk before he traveled to Russia.

The FBI did so and found nothing of concern, even though Russia had issued the alert. Today the media, commentators and legislators are concerned that the FBI dropped the ball. Israel, on the other hand, responds to intelligence information as quickly as possible. As we know from the disastrous terrorist attacks that have taken place in Israel, no system is foolproof, and often attacks take place without warning. But when there is a warning, Israeli intelligence sources do not drop the ball.

As a result, numerous attacks have been thwarted. It’s a lesson Israeli sources can share with the United States and other allies.

The confab included presentations by two top congressmen – Reps. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Pete Roskam (R-Ill.), the chief deputy majority whip.

Royce outlined his bid to expand Iran sanctions beyond those currently targeting its energy sector to encompass virtually anyone doing business with the country – a model he said had helped moderate North Korea’s behavior in the past. Roskam discussed the charitable deduction, comprehensive immigration reform and the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Stacy Burdett, the director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Washington office, was impressed at how the meeting appeared to be more than a polite exchange.

Royce and Roskam were well briefed on what interests the Jewish community, she noted, and McMorris Rodgers wrote down every suggestion.

“It’s a renewed effort to regularize contact,” she said.

“Meetings like this are a great opportunity to exchange views and for the members to hear what the organizations are focused on, and for the organization to learn what the members are interested in.”

22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES BRANT, Nancy F. age 69, died April 26, 2013; 16 Iyyar, 5773.

WACKSMAN, Howard S. age 93, died April 27, 2013; 17 Iyyar, 5773.

COOPER, Selma. age 92, died April 29, 2013; 19 Iyyar, 5773.

O BITUARIES LOWENTHAL, Ruth Oestreicher Ruth (nee Kraus) Oestreicher Lowenthal, age 87 years, passed away Sunday, April 14, 2013.

Beloved wife of the late Robert L. Oestreicher and Charles Lowenthal, devoted mother of Michael (Diane) Oestreicher, Terry Oestreicher and Nancy Oestreicher, dear sister of Marvin (Gerry) Kraus, loving grandmother of Robert and David Oestreicher, also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions to the Plum St. Temple Historic Preservation Fund or the Taft Museum would be appreciated.

RABBINATE from page 10 Even if a reform-minded chief rabbi manages to get elected and push through some reforms, he could be thwarted when it comes to enforcement. Implementation depends on local rabbis and judges in rabbinical courts who are appointed and removed only by an appointment committee, also dominated by conservative elements.

Stav said he’s confident he’d be able to get the rabbis to cooperate. “If they don’t cooperate,” he said, “there will be problems.”

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

“Svoboda is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Ukrainian Jewry today,” Ukrainian Jewish Committee President Oleksandr Feldman told JTA. “It has no structure and operates in a political vacuum and turmoil which allow it to run rampant.”

Svoboda’s unstructured nature also makes it difficult to pigeonhole.

Party leader Oleh Tyahnybok has praised supporters for being the “worst fear of the Jewish-Russian mafia” and has called Jews “kikes.”

Yet the party also speaks admiringly of Israel, and Tyahnybok has made a point of advertising his meeting last December with Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine. Alexander Aronets, Svoboda’s press secretary, has praised Israel on his Facebook page as “one of the most nationalistic countries in the world.”

Good relations with Israel may be desirable to Svoboda as a defense against accusations of anti-Semitism, a tactic employed by other European nationalist movements that have made overtures in Israel’s direction.

“They know anti-Semitism is preventing the good relations they seek,” said Moshe Azman, Ukraine’s Chabad-affiliated chief rabbi. “But Svoboda is not a uniform entity and I’m not sure the leaders control the rank and file.”

Feldman, an energetic businessman, lawmaker and founder of the Kyiv Interfaith Forum, says Svoboda has helped erode the shame associated with open expressions of anti-Semitism and other ethnic hatreds. His interfaith forum, which each year brings together hundreds of clerics from five faiths, was marred for the first time this year by a minor assault on a Muslim participant outside the conference.

“Svoboda is very frightening to Ukrainian Jews and other minorities because it is an ultraJobbik that evolved quickly,” Feldman said, referring to the anti-Semitic and Iran-friendly Hungarian party that also has enjoyed recent electoral success.

“We had hoped Svoboda would tone it down once it’s in parliament, but the opposite has happened,” said Vyacheslav Likhachev, a Ukrainian researcher with the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. “The electoral gains

have emboldened Svoboda lawmakers to incorporate thuggery as a modus operandi, a very dangerous development.”

One example came in February, when party member Igor Miroshnichenko shimmied up the towering statue of Vladimir Lenin in the town of Akhtyrka, threw a rope around the communist leader’s head, tied the other end to a truck and brought down the monument.

In December, the same man said Mila Kunis, a UkrainianAmerican Jewish actress, was “no Ukrainian, but a kike.” Asked by a newspaper if Miroshnichenko could be prosecuted for making a racial insult, a Justice Ministry official said the word he used – “zhydovka,” a feminized version of kike – was permissible and part of the official vocabulary.

“This was another Svoboda success in poisoning the public sphere,” Likhachev says.

Svoboda officials declined several JTA requests for comment for this story.

In February, Likhachev signed a letter along with several other Jewish Ukrainians asking the Jewish Agency for Israel to cancel plans to hold its board of gover-

nors meeting in Kiev in June. The letter, which several Jewish leaders dismissed as overblown, said that poor democratic standards and Svoboda’s ascent made Kiev an ill-suited choice.

“Svoboda are riffraff – nothing comparable to Jobbik, which has its own militia and coherent policy,” said Yaakov Bleich, a Ukrainian chief rabbi.

“Svoboda is troubling as a symptom of the main challenges facing Ukrainian Jewry: the economic recession and political uncertainty,” Bleich said. Still, he added, “because Svoboda is a mob, it’s less predictable than Jobbik. Svoboda’s leaders may be unable to control anti-Semitic displays.”

Despite the disagreements, many Jewish leaders seem to agree that Svoboda’s success owes more to frustration with the establishment than to its anti-Semitic statements. Likhachev pointed specifically to the discontent that emerged in the wake of the Orange Revolution, the protests following the 2004 election that brought former president Viktor Yushchenko to power on a platform of greater government accountability.

Stav’s primary competitors for the position of chief rabbi will be several haredi rabbis seen as moderates acceptable to both Israel’s haredi and centrist Orthodox communities. Among them are Eliezer Igra, a former Israeli combat soldier and religious judge; David Lau, chief rabbi of Modiin, a booming central Israeli city; and Yaakov Shapira, who heads the Merkaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem.

The past few Israeli chief rabbis, both Ashkenazi and Sephardic, have been haredi – a testament to the growing numbers

and clout of the haredi community in Israel. Pending the likely passage of an amendment allowing chief rabbis to run for a second term, current Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar is the leading candidate in the Sephardic race.

The vote is limited to 150 people: a delegation made up of 70 rabbis, mostly from Israel’s biggest cities and towns, and 80 “public representatives” – mayors, Knesset members chosen by committee, and heads of local religious councils.

Stav’s supporters say that even

if significant change doesn’t happen right away, having a chief rabbi with a moderate, open image will help advance religious pluralism.

“Change happens slowly,” said Dov Lipman, a Knesset member from the centrist Yesh Atid party, which has endorsed Stav’s candidacy. “There’s not going to be an overnight overhaul.

But as a first step let’s have a rabbi who’s openly Zionist. Even that symbolic change is very significant.”

But other advocates for religious pluralism feel that the

Rabbinate is too broken for any chief to make a difference and that the only solution is the most radical one: abolish the Rabbinate entirely and separate church and state in Israel.

“The system has become bankrupt,” said Uri Regev, a Reform rabbi and president of Hiddush, an Israeli nonprofit that promotes religious pluralism and opposes Orthodox control over religious issues in Israel. “The Chief Rabbinate has become a threat to the State of Israel and to the Jewish people. It should be abolished.”

SVOBODA from page 9

RESEARCH from page 10 Cohen found an internal memo from British police headquarters in Jerusalem in 1939 reporting, “The Arab population in Palestine are listening to the Berlin Broadcasts in Arabic most attentively, particularly in town and village coffee shops where large crowds gather for the purpose.” The report stated that the “uneducated classes are undoubtedly being influenced” by the Nazi propaganda.

In 1945, the activists known as the Bergson Group successfully lobbied the government of Yugoslavia to indict the Mufti as a war criminal, because of atrocities committed against Allied soldiers and civilians by members of the Bosnian Muslim SS unit, known as “Handschar,” that he helped create.

The Yugoslavs never took steps to extradite him, however.

Husseini fled Berlin during the

Courtesy of American Colony (Jerusalem), Photo Dept., photographer.

Haj Amin el-Husseini, better known as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

final days of the war but was briefly detained by the French authorities and placed under house arrest in a Paris villa. In response to Arab pressure, the French permitted the Mufti to stage a faux escape, and he found haven in Cairo. Later he moved to Beirut,

where he passed away in 1974.

Earlier this year, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas stirred controversy when, in a PA television broadcast, he listed the Mufti’s name among a number of “martyrs and heroes” who have died while fighting Jews or Israelis.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah A 2013 SPECIAL SECTION OF THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE

If your business or organization wants to reach the Greater Cincinnati Jewish Community regarding Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, this is the issue to do it!

New Date

!

AI

The American Israelite

For more information on advertising, contact Ted Deutsch at (513) 621-3145 or publisher@americanisraelite.com

Publishes on May 23 Deadline

is May 17