Essays and viewpoints

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That’s a Slap in the Face

Sixty-five years ago, in 1956, the rabbis who taught Hebrew subjects at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, then located on Dexter and Cortland, were allowed to slap male students for not behaving properly during class. Each teacher had a different type of slap. Most slapped across the face, some harder than others. Two longtime teachers were different kinds of hitters. Rabbi F. would walk behind the seated student and deliver a hard slap across the back. Rabbi Z., who hailed from Germany, would ask the student to come up front to his desk and open their hand and while seated he slapped the open hand with his clear plastic ruler.

Once he asked me to come up front and meet his ruler. He didn’t notice that behind my back I had my baseball fielders glove. As he raised his rulered hand, I switched hands and the ruler came down on my mitt and broke. After the class finished erupting in laughter, Rabbi Z. announced he would slap each hand the next day with his new ruler. He did.

I received a slap across the face on Oct. 8, 1956, that I never forgot and never deserved.

It was Game Five of the 1956 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, and each team had won two games. Don Larsen, 27, who didn’t last through the second inning in Game Two was pitching for the Yankees, and Sal Maglie was on the mound for the Dodgers.

The odds favored the latter as the 39-year-old veteran posted a 13-6 record with a nifty 2.89 ERA in 1956. It was the seventh straight winning season for Maglie, who won 108 career games at the time and lost 49 times. Larsen’s career record was 30-40.

Between classes, I raced across the street to the gas station for updates. During the last break, the attendants were huddled around the radio, and it looked like something important happened. I soon learned that nothing of importance happened for the Dodgers. Larsen was pitching a perfect game, no runs, no hits, no errors, and I was able to hear the end of the historic game that the Yankees won 2-0.

I ran back to the YBY and headed to the classroom. I encountered my next Hebrew studies teacher in the hallway. Rabbi K. was a street-smart New Yorker and a big Yankees fan. “How’s the game going?” he asked. “The Yankees won. and Larsen pitched a perfect game,” I answered. Rabbi K. responded by slapping me across the face and said, “Don’t lie.”

I assume he found out the truth after school, but he never said anything to me and never apologized. New Yorkers are not known for apologizing.

Fast forward some 20 years, and I headed a national baseball monthly at the time. I was schmoozing with United Press International’s baseball writer Milt Richman prior to a game at Yankee Irwin J. Stadium. Milt told me that he forged Cohen a friendship with Larsen several years before he was traded to the Yankees. Richman often invited Larsen to his parents’ home on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx and enjoyed the kosher cuisine. The night before the perfect game, Larsen dined with the Richmans and told the writer to expect a no-hitter. He punctuated his prediction by pulling out a dollar and instructed Richman to give it to his mother for a donation to her synagogue. So armed with confidence and a donated dollar to receive help from above, Larsen took the mound in front of 65,419 paying fans and pitched the only perfect game in World Series history. And it was the only time in my history that I didn’t deserve a slap in the face.

letters

Thanks for the Recognition

Awards and commendations are vehicles of encouragement to do more activism.

Those contributing to the successes are the indispensable value and inspiration.

My achievements for Volunteers for Israel, Zionist Organization of America, Michigan Jewish Action Council, CAMERA, Adat Shalom Synagogue, StandWithUs, Walk for Israel and others have only been possible with the myriad help of extraordinary, selfless team members I have been privileged and grateful to work with.

I thank those team members, the Detroit Jewish News, those that nominated me for the Volunteer of the Year Award and my Volunteers for Israel team congratulating me in the Detroit Jewish News.

— Ed Kohl West Bloomfield

Author, columnist, public speaker Irwin J. Cohen headed a national baseball publication for five years and earned a 1984 World Series ring while working in a front office position with the Detroit Tigers. He may be reached in his dugout at irdav@sbcglobal.net.

essay

The Joy of Sukkot

During the Sukkot holiday, the PicoRobertson neighborhood of Los Angeles erupts in joyful celebration. Our 40-plus kosher restaurants all have sukkot attached. \ There’s a sukkah on top of Ralph’s supermarket. One could conceivably sukkah hop to a different hut every five minutes and not exhaust the inventory.

Google “Sukkah’s on Fire” to see my music video showcasing an assortment of local sukkot, accompanied by a wacky parody of the Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire” classic. The next video in the cue will likely be my brother Yom Tov’s enormous Jerusalem-based sukkah going up in flames. A wellplaced security camera caught the tragic conflagration, and his kids mischievously added my song as a soundtrack.

For those driving down Pico Boulevard, it must look strange to see all the Jews happily parading with palm fronds. I’m sure people wonder what we are doing with those sticks. Well, what are we doing with those sticks? Waving the lulav is perhaps our most primordial chok (superrational commandment). We circulate the four species (willow, myrtle, palm and citron) in six directions during the daily Hallel service and then hold them aloft while marching around the bimah.

It’s really weird and a lot of fun. Some say we are unifying four types of Jews with varying degrees of knowledge and merits. Another theory: the species represent our spine, eyes, mouth and heart. Some say waving in six directions plus the center acknowledges God’s omnipresence. Others maintain it invokes a blessing for rain or favorably impacts the lower seven kabbalistic sefirot (Divine qualities).

Sam Glaser

We have epic parties of our own in our 20-foot squared sukkah and often potluck with neighboring families. We create a new decorative theme each year; past innovations have included Japanese Spa, Autumnal Splendor, Four Species Disco and my personal favorite, a Nacho Libré-

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PURELY COMMENTARY

opinion The Urgency of Preventing a Nuclear-Armed Iran

During their meetings at the White House on Aug. 27, President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that the U.S. is committed “to ensur[ing] Iran never develops a nuclear weapon … We’re putting diplomacy first and seeing where that takes us. But if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options.”

The Biden administration made it clear from the get-go that it intended to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated by former President Barack Obama, from which former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.

Lest one think that the current attempt to reverse Trump’s move indicates the success of the previous policy forged by Obama, Iran consistently violated the JCPOA. Furthermore, the Biden administration’s efforts have not only failed abysmally but have emboldened the terror-supporting Iranian regime in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Before the JCPOA was finalized, the Obama administration had repeatedly approved the increase of sanctions on Tehran, making it desperate for a negotiated deal as its economy was crumbling. A major criticism of the JCPOA was the elimination of these sanctions, enabling Iran to receive more than $100 billion.

Moreover, the JCPOA lacked stringent nuclearoversight provisions and clauses deterring Iran’s ballistic-missile program and global terrorist activities. With the influx of cash, Iran increased its defense budget by 40%, and enhanced funding to its proxies, such as the Lebanon-based terrorist organization Hezbollah and Hamas, which rules Gaza. It was also able to expand its ballistic-missile program, while still pursuing nuclear weapons — as Israel’s 2018 seizure of a trove of documents from a warehouse in Tehran illustrated.

As a result of the above,

Trump exited the JCPOA and reinstituted massive sanctions on Iran, with much success. Iran’s economy suffered greatly, and the regime was unable to provide the same level of support to Hezbollah and Hamas. In addition, the Trump administration carried out the Jan. 3, 2020, assassination of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Subsequently, on Nov. 27 that year, Israel assassinated the head of Iran’s nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Farley Weiss It is thus that Iran did not

JNS.org want Trump to remain in office for a second term. This was borne out by U.S. intelligence that Iran was attempting to interfere in the November 2020 American presidential elections in favor of Biden. Seeking diplomacy as a way to prevent a nuclearized Iran, the Biden administration wants

THE JOY OF SUKKOT continued from page 6 movie inspired Sukkah De Los Luchadores (Mexican masked wrestlers).

When Sukkot arrives, I feel a palpable rush of simchah during that first Minchah/Maariv service. I look around at my peers and can see in their expressions the exuberance of the season. The first minyan on any given holiday is about arrival. We made it — Shehecheyanu! Anything that hasn’t been done by candlelighting won’t be done, and believe me, we never finish everything. When it’s time to cease from melachah (acts of creation), we really do stop. The feeling of letting go is intensely liberating, especially when plunging into the ultimate season of joy, Sukkot.

I strive to keep the joy flowing all eight days of the week. I go into a half-time work mode so I can attend parties and chill in my own sukkah. Jewish law stipulates that any formal meals (involving motzi or m’zonot blessings over bread) must be eaten in a sukkah. Not that I have to be coerced to dine al fresco — I love my sukkah! My kids each get their own carefully selected lulav and etrog and we proudly march about every morning holding aloft our arba minim (four species). This holiday offers permission for even the stodgy, stoic types to get on the same happy page, 24/7. We relish in the feeling of victory after our assumed favorable judgment on Rosh Hashanah and whitewashing on Yom Kippur. Most of us have spent a month-and-a-half of heightened scrutiny of our personal balance sheet. We reconnect with our true purpose; our elation is heartfelt.

SUKKOT IN ISRAEL

I wish everyone could experience what it’s like to be in Israel during Sukkot. As much as I love celebrating in L.A., there is nothing like the unfettered joy of Sukkot in the Promised Land. In Israel, the celebration of Sukkot is of another dimension.

Sukkot is indeed the capital of joy. Just sitting in a sukkah is a delightful mitzvah. The rest of the world relies on the permanence of well-built buildings and homes. Jews believe the only shelter we truly need is under the wings of our Creator, as represented by the fragile sukkah. This is where we feel totally secure and totally joyous.

When our forefather Yaakov made it back to the Holy Land after dealing with his crooked father-in-law Lavan for 22 years, the first city he established was named after the temporary pens for his flocks, Sukkot. In the words of Chassidic master Rabbi Leibele Eiger, at that moment he made permanent the condition of impermanence. Our human fragility can be a source of consternation or celebration. As Jews, we are commanded to celebrate!

May we all merit to rejoice together in the ultimate sukkah in our Homeland, bimheira b’yameinu (speedily in our days).

Sam Glaser is a performer, composer, producer and author in Los Angeles. He has released 25 albums of his compositions and produces music in his Glaser Musicworks recording studio.

a better, stronger agreement than the JCPOA. In order to achieve this, however, Washington should have continued increasing sanctions, as the Obama administration had done.

Instead, it appointed Robert Malley, an architect of the JCPOA, as U.S. special representative to Iran and lifted additional sanctions. This has served only to embolden and further radicalize the regime in Tehran.

AN EMBOLDENED IRAN

Indeed, Iran responded to the above U.S. actions by “electing” mass murderer in Ebrahim Raisi, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s candidate, as president. Once instated in the role, Raisi appointed such figures as former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaee — wanted by Interpol for the 1994 mass murder of 85 Argentinians at the Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires — as vice president for economic affairs, and Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, also involved in the attack, as interior minister.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran, for the first time, has produced uranium metal-enriched up to 20% and has significantly increased its production capacity of enriched uranium to 60%, both of which are prohibited as part of the JCPOA.

Germany, France and Britain — parties to the JCPOA — called the above moves “serious violations” of Iran’s commitment under the deal. They said that “both are key steps in the development of a nuclear weapon, and Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure.”

The “concerns are deepened by the fact that Iran has significantly limited IAEA access through withdrawing from JCPOA-agreed monitoring arrangements,” they added in a joint statement. What they did not do, however, is reinstate sanctions.

Describing the current situation to the foreign press, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, “Right now it seems like the agreement is not going anywhere and the talks are not going anywhere. The world needs a plan B, and Iran needs to know there is a credible threat on it if they will keep on advancing their nuclear program as they do now.”

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Sept. 3, Malley said that the United States is prepared to be patient with Iran about a return to the JCPOA, but “can’t wait forever.” Isn’t it already obvious, as Lapid pointed out, that that “the agreement is not going anywhere, and a plan B is needed?”

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer has been more direct, stating that Iran will obtain nuclear weapons “if Israel doesn’t stop it.”

At this point, it may be too late for sanctions to be effective, and that the only remaining option is a military one — for which Israel has been preparing. But not imposing sanctions immediately will guarantee that the military option is the only one left.

Biden announced that he would not withdraw troops from Afghanistan until all Americans were evacuated. He didn’t keep his promise. His assurances to Israel about Iran, then, cannot be counted on. Judging by the Afghanistan debacle, there are two possibilities: a nuclear Iran or a major Israeli strike on the Islamic Republic’s facilities.

opinion

A Positive ‘Viddui’

Every year during the High Holidays, Jews recite a litany of ways we have fallen short in a confessional prayer. Known as a viddui, the prayer is a centerpiece of our Yom Kippur liturgy. This year, we again will reflect on our shortcomings. But one takeaway from the past year is that even when we do our best, it may not be enough.

So many of us joyously awaited the return to in-person High Holiday services, only to have our plans undermined by the threat posed by the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Against this backdrop, we recognized that our community would benefit from a communal expression of encouragement, comfort and balance.

So, together we crafted a positive viddui for our congregation that we are sharing here.

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of what would become Israel, once said that Jews should celebrate our good deeds as much as lament our sins.

We hope you find this meaningful. We’ve acted authentically We’ve blessed We’ve cultivated compassion We’ve delighted We’ve engaged empathically We’ve favored fairness We’ve galvanized We’ve harmonized We’ve inspired We’ve joined We’ve kindled kindness We’ve laughed We’ve matured We’ve nurtured We’ve offered optimism We’ve persevered We’ve questioned We’ve released We’ve sympathized We’ve tried We’ve uplifted We’ve vivified We’ve welcomed We’ve x’d out excess

Rabbi We’ve yearnedJillian Cameron We’ve zoomed and zoomed in

JTA For all these, Source of Life inspire us, encourage us, sustain our hope.

Cantor Juval Porat

JTA Farley Weiss, former president of the National Council of Young Israel, is an intellectual property attorney for the law firm of Weiss & Moy. The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily representative of NCYI.

Rabbi Jillian Cameron and Cantor Juval Porat are clergy at Beth Chayim Chadashim, a Reform synagogue in Los Angeles.