THE JEWISH VOICE AND OPINION Promoting Classical Judaism
October 2011
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PA on a Roll, Looking for Statehood in All Sorts of Places, but Congress Allocates the Funds and Is Not Amused
he UN Security Council was not the only venue chosen by the Palestinians last month in their bid to have their unilateral declaration of independence recognized by the international community. In early October, it was reported that Palestinian officials are seeking membership in the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Geneva-based World Trade Organization; and the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body.
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If UNESCO Admits the PA, Both Lose US Funding While President Barack Obama has made it clear his administration opposes these Palestinian actions, he is, nevertheless, opposed to Congressional efforts to shut off aid to either the Palestinian Authority
or the UN bodies that agree to recognize its statehood or upgrade its status. The administration has argued that assistance to the Palestinians is “an essential part of the US commitment to
a secure future and two-state solution.” But despite the administration’s position, Congress, especially the Republicandominated House of Representatives, is putting forth initiatives that express US— or at least Congressional— displeasure. And it is Congress that controls the allocation of funds. Cutting the Funds Once the PA formally made its request for membership to the UN’s Security Council on September 30, ignoring Mr.
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Herman Cain and the “Cain Doctrine”: “If You Mess with Israel, You Are Messing with the US”
ast May, Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain did something virtually no politician would even consider: On national television, he admitted he had been asked a question on an issue about which he feels passionate but also knew nothing about. His response was to do his homework and then come back to give the country a real response. The subject: The Palestinian “right of return” to Israel.
Presidential candidate Herman Cain greets Ron Nachman, mayor of Ariel, during his August 2011 visit to Israel.
The first time Mr. Cain ever heard the term was as a guest on Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace. When Mr. Wallace asked about the Palestinians’ “right of return,” Mr. Cain froze and then sufficiently recovered to piece together a reply that fooled no one. He clearly had no idea what the phrase meant or what it implied. He told Mr. Wallace that the “right of return” had to be “negotiated.”
Inside the Voice
School Choice Now......................... 3 Kol Ami:Righteous Gentile?............ 4 The Current Crisis.......................... 5 Wounded GIs in Israel .................. 11 Chai Ko Tapas . ........................... 15 An OHEL Concert ...................... 16
Interesting Reading ..................... 22 Traveling with Kosherica . .......... 23 The Log........................................ 24 New Classes................................. 31 Mazal Tov.................................... 31 School Open Houses ................... 33
“But do you think the Palestinian refugees, the people who were kicked out of the land in 1948, should be able or should have any right to return to Israeli land?” Mr. Wallace asked. “Yes,” Mr. Cain hesitated, “but not under Palestinian conditions.” The Real Answer The next evening, Mr. Cain was back on Fox News, this time on the Sean Hannity program,
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Ess Gezint: Dairy Sukkoth .......... 38 Index of Advertisers . .................. 41 Honor the Professional................. 43 Letters to the Editor .................... 44 Rep Joe Walsh on the Job ........... 46 Walk to Shul . ............................. 47
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Republicans in Next Month’s Election Support Voucher Plans That Let the Dollar Follow the Scholar
retary of the Alliance for Free or the NJ Orthodox-Jewish Choice in Education. community, the 2011 elecWhile the issue affects tions this November may decide parents across the board, Rethe most important issue facing publicans are as a whole more parents whose skyrocketing open to school choice, while yeshiva and day school tuition Democrats and their allies in bills are causing premature gray the Teachers Union are generhair and widespread despair. If ally opposed. a sufficient number of schoolPROPA and FSF choice candidates are elected The bills that Rabbi Teitelto the state legislature, New baum hopes will transform the Jersey could be the first state in system are the Parental Rights the country to boast a bill that Program Act, sometimes known would mandate parental choice as “The Bucco Bill” or PROPA, for every student in grades K-12, and the Fair School Funding (FSF) including those attending private bill, authored by NJ State Sen and religious schools. Michael Doherty (R-23). “This to the ‘civil rights According to Debi Merz, issue’ of this century,” said jewish voice oct 2011:Layout 1 10/3/2011 18:08 Page a spokeswoman for AssemblyRabbi Israel Teitelbaum, sec-
man Tony Bucco (R-25), who authored PROPA, the bill, if passed, would result in “sweeping education reform.” “This bill was “modeled on the principle that the money expended on a student follows the child to another public school or another approved institution in the form of a voucher,” she said. She does not think passage of the bill will be easy and is expecting “strong opposition.” Nevertheless, like Rabbi Teitelbaum, she is hopeful. So is Mr. Doherty, who, when asked to explain his bill, comes with detailed reports 1 and charts demonstrating how
the present funding system has “built-in incentives for abuse and corruption and no pretense of equal treatment under the law.” Equal Funding Under the current system, districts in different parts of the state receive different funding for their schools. Under Mr. Doherty’s Fair plan, each district would receive aid on a per-pupil basis. Bergen County’s District 37 Republican candidates for State Assembly (Keith Jensen and John Aslanian) and Senate (Dr. Robert Lebovics) all assert that, if elected, they will support the FSF plan, which
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THE JEWISH VOICE AND OPINION, Inc. © 2011; Publisher and Editor-in-Chief: Susan L. Rosenbluth Phone (201)569-2845 Managing Editor: S. Edelman, Advertising: Rivkie Lichstein-Stall The Jewish Voice & Opinion (ISSN # 1527-3814), POB 8097, Englewood, NJ 07631, is published monthly in coordination with The Central Committee for Israel. A one-year subscription is $18. Periodicals postage is paid at Englewood, NJ and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Jewish Voice and Opinion, POB 8097, Englewood, NJ 07631. All advertising in the Jewish Voice and Opinion must conform to the standards of the Orthodox Rabbinic kashruth. Editorial content reflects the views of the writer and not necessarily any other group. The Jewish Voice is not responsible for typographical errors.
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion October 2011 Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
by Eric Edelman
Kol Ami: Righteous Gentile?
Which non-Jew has had the most positive effect for the Jewish community this year?
My choice is the actor Jon Voight, a courageous and loyal friend of Israel and the Jewish people. On a recent trip to Israel, Mr. Voight visited the heartland of the Jewish patrimony and expressed his strong support for the right of Jews to live in all parts of their historic homeland. Mr. Voight has been involved in Jewish causes in Los Angeles, most notably on behalf of the Chabad movement. He has demonstrated that even on the “left coast,” especially in the entertainment world, we have influential friends willing to go against the grain of political correctness. May Jon Voight go from strength to strength. Deborah Hart Strober New York, NY
A tie between Cong. Ileana RosLehtinen (R-Fl.) and Glenn Beck. RosLehtinen, chair of House Foreign Relations Committee, placed a hold on $700 million Obama granted the Palestian Authority, after she exposed it as a regime promoting hatred and violence against Jews and Israel in its media,schools,and speeches; names schools,streets and sports teams after jew-killing terrorists; and allies with Hamas. Beck has had numerous TV/radio programs and massive rallies promoting love for Israel and warning of the dangers it faces from a hostile anti-Israel world. Morton A. Klein, president Zionist Organization of America
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Glenn Beck, a Mormon, may have advanced Klal Yisroel more than any other non-Jew this past year. Most recently, he led a group of Israel’s strongest supporters to Jerusalem to make a global statement of commitment to Eretz Yisroel and The Jewish People. He has done more than anyone else to engage individuals and thought leaders to appreciate the madness of the current regime in Iran and the threats it poses not just to Israel but to the entire world. Mitch Shapiro Edison, NJ
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The Current Crisis: “Even in Laughter, the Heart Can Ache”
You Couldn’t Make This Up Department. The media and the administration would have us believe that Vice-President Joe Biden was sent to Florida to shore up Jewish support for the President, who is not so popular anymore among those of the Hebrew persuasion. Biden meets a number of rabbis, some of whom he figures are concerned about the plight of Jonathan Pollard. Although there is no indication that any of the ravs so much as asked about Pollard, the media tells us that, in order to take a bullet for his boss, Biden tells the rabbis that Obama was ready to write the pardon; but Biden claims it was he who laid down the law to the tender-hearted Commander-in-Chief. Like the Jewish mother whose son would like to take a year off from college to ride his motorcycle around the Pyrenees, Biden told Obama, “Over my dead body” would he permit Pollard to be pardoned. “If it were up to me, he would stay in jail for life,” Biden told the rabbis. Never mind that, in 2007, as senior Senator from Delaware, Biden told a reporter he supported releasing Pollard via commutation of his sentence to time served. Never mind that the picture he conjured up of Obama is that of a weak-kneed idiot child who would snap to attention when bumbling Joe gave the command. Never mind that what happens to Pollard isn’t up to Biden anyway. Perhaps none of the rabbis even asked him, because no one figured he had any clout to do anything one way or the other. Some of the rabbis at the meeting seem to be under the impression that Biden had an excellent record on Israel. That would be true only if supporting Ahmadinejad’s Iran to the hilt is someone’s idea of showing love for Jerusalem. And Biden was a supporter of Iran for years before Ahmadinejad came on the scene.
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In 2007, then-Senator Biden (who, when he wasn’t expressing support for Pollard, had Presidential aspirations of his own) went on the campaign trail, where he had an exchange with a New Hampshirite who feared that Dick Cheney (a VP who really was respected by his President) might convince George W. Bush to bomb Iran (keyn yehi ratzon): Biden: “Legitimate concern. I am not one who, if you’ve observed me for some time, engages in excessive populist rhetoric. I’m not one who’s gone out there and made false threats against presidents. I’m not Dennis Kucinich saying impeach everybody now. But let me tell you, I have written an extensive legal memorandum with the help of a group of legal scholars who are sort of a stable of people, the best-known constitutional scholars in America, because for 17 years I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. I asked them to put together a draft, which I’m now literally riding between towns editing, that I want to make clear and submit to the US Senate pointing out the President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran. I want it on the record, if he does, as chairman of the foreign relations committee and former chair of the judiciary committee, I will move to impeach him.” Guess neither Biden nor his experts knew impeachment starts only in the House and that he, as a Senator, had no more chance of impeaching President Bush than he does of telling Obama what to do with Pollard. Our take: If (when) Obama’s numbers and contributions really start tumbling in the Jewish community, look for Obama to play hero and then let Pollard out of prison. Anybody who plays the “Joe-and-the Rabbis”/good cop-bad cop game must believe we’re as stupid as Biden is. Chag Sameach, S.L.R.
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
School Choice
would add about $163 million to their northeast Bergen County district. “The current school-funding formula is an indecipherable bureaucratic mess that invites litigation, such as was just initiated by 15 rural school districts, mostly in South Jersey, who are arguing that they are entitled to more school funding. Money is getting eaten up in drawn-out lawsuits as districts fight for more state aid. In the long run, none of this is helping the children,” said Mr. Aslanian. Waste and Corruption Teaneck resident Mr. Jensen, a successful businessman, said the current system “punishes students and taxpayers in Bergen County and throws billions of dollars on poor-performing schools districts that have shown little sign of progress.” The waste and corruption
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this promotes in the state’s education system is pervasive, he said. “A preschool teacher in Garfield throws away her classroom furniture every year only to justify buying new furniture. In Passaic, they send their school bus drivers home to charge their phones and they pay them timeand-a-half to do so. In Newark, there are over 400 administrators making over $100,000 a year,” said Mr. Jenson. Rising Property Taxes Dr. Lebovics, a member of the Englewood Orthodox-Jewish community, calls himself “a radical centrist who believes in fiscal responsibility, public safety, education reform, government transparency, and is socially moderate.” He is convinced that District 37 does not receive its fair share of its own tax money for its public schools.
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“Our tax dollars leave Bergen County to pay for bloated, inefficient schools statewide, while our property taxes have to be raised year after year to make up for the shortfall,” he said. Different Treatment All three Republican candidates from District 37 agreed that while billions of dollars are going to urban districts—mostly the 31 so-called Abbott Districts, those whose schools are so substandard that since 1985, the NJ Supreme Court has mandated the state to come up with additional funding for them—suburban taxpayers get comparatively little state aid for their schools. “Consequently, property taxes are rising in the suburbs, while some urban districts are awash in taxpayer money. Why are the children and parents who live in Bogota or Cresskill or Englewood treated differently by the state than children and parents in Newark, Paterson, or Asbury Park?” said Mr. Jensen. Dr. Lebovics said all school alternatives, including charter schools and vouchers, should be explored. Messrs Jensen, Aslanian, and Lebovics pointed out that none of their Democratic incumbent opponents, Assemblymen Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Gordon Johnson, and State Senator Loretta Weinberg, support either PROPA or FSF. Voucher System For Rabbi Teitelbaum, the supreme benefit of FSF’s restoration of equitable disbursement of state funding is that it may be “the ideal mechanism to gradually transform the system from top-down to a pure voucher system, with equitable educational opportunity for every child.” This, he said, can be accomplished by redirecting the state funds currently disbursed to municipalities. Instead, the money should be directed to
every student in grades K-12 in the state, he said. “At the current rate, this would provide every K-12 child in NJ with a $6,500 educational voucher to be turned in to any approved public, private, or religious school chosen by the parents. The savings thus generated would then be returned to the municipalities to reduce property taxes,” he said. Opportunity Scholarship Act While, thus far, these measures have been endorsed primarily by Republican candidates, the Democrats have touted the 2010 Opportunity Scholarship Act (OSA), a fiveyear pilot program to provide scholarships to private or public schools for children from low-income families attending chronically failing public schools. It has bipartisan support in the legislature. Sara Rosengarten, the 25year-old Republican candidate for Assembly in District 36, which includes heavily Jewish Passaic, said that while OSA is “a step in the right direction, it leaves out all children not residing in the 31 failing districts enumerated in the legislation.” “Unfortunately, if you are living in another district and cannot afford to send your child to private school, the only choice you have is to put him or her in public school. PROPA provides you with a choice. We want to take education away from the bureaucrats in Trenton and return it to the parents,” said Ms. Rosengarten, a member of the Orthodox community in Passaic. TEA for Education On September 18th, school choice advocates and candidates came together in Perth Amboy to discuss the issue. One of the leaders of the effort is Anna Little, former mayor of Highlands and the 2010 Republican candidate for Congress from
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com NJ’s 6th District. A Tea Party “darling,” she now serves as coordinator of TEA for Education, a national organization dedicated to bringing school choice to all 50 states. She told the group that after campaigning for candidates promoting PROPA and/or FSF and speaking with grassroots groups throughout the state, she is “very enthused and hopeful for the 2011 election cycle and beyond.” “By working together in harmony, we can overcome all adversaries,” she said, urging those for whom school choice is an important issue to fight for their candidates. System in Collapse Among those who attended the September 18th meeting was Bruno Behrend, of the Chicagobased Heartland Institute, a think tank designed “to develop, discover, and promote free-market solutions to America’s social and economic problems.” Mr. Behrend described American schools as “a government-education complex that is failing our children.”
He pointed to statistics indicating that despite the money thrown into public education, 75 percent of American high school students earn SAT scores below college entrance level. “You’re not getting what you pay for, and every taxpayer here knows it,” said Mr. Behrend. He is convinced the current system, which he described as “in collapse,” is not amenable to a simple fix. “No amount of tweaking is going to reform the system. It needs to be transformed into an open-source learning network, where the money follows the child to a vast new array of educational services,” he said. The Heartland Institute, he said, plans to focus much of its attention on New Jersey because “the kinds of bills that I see NJ putting forth are the kinds of bills that will leapfrog the work that’s been done in Florida and Indiana.” Constitutionality Confirmed While supporters of the voucher plan admit NJ is a rela-
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tive latecomer to the schoolchoice movement, the state may benefit from the experience of others which have adopted innovative programs to address quality and cost issues. This year, more than 200,000 students in 18 states and the District of Columbia are participating in private schoolchoice plans. Nine states offer education tax credits to attend private schools and the other nine and Washington DC have voucher programs. In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court affirmed the validity of Cleveland’s system, which permits parents to choose parochial schools in a voucher program as long as the funding is assigned to the parents. Arizona’s tax-credit program involving religious schools was also upheld by the Supreme Court. Proponents of the programs point to studies indicating that the results of choice programs in achievement testing, graduation rates, parental satisfac-
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tion, and student safety have been encouraging. Reducing Costs In addition, some say that, in this era of budgetary crises, school-choice programs have actually provided a way to reduce overall education costs. At a meeting last month on this issue, held at the Passaic Public Library, Ms. Rosengarten; her Republican colleague in the 36th District, State Senate candidate Don Diorio; and Mr. Jensen, pointed out that at the Passaic public high school, where the expenditure is approximately $17,000 per child, the scores in math and verbal skills are “abysmal.” The education information website, education.com, gave Passaic High School a rating of 1 on a scale of 1-10, on which 10 was the best. Some Passaic residents at the meeting noted that if students were offered a $10,000 voucher, those who opted out of the public school system would
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School Choice
save the city $7,000 each. “Assuming one in ten students leave the public school system, that’s about 1300 children, and a net savings of $9.1 million, which would cover the cover the costs of $5,000 vouchers or tax credits for about 1800 non-public school students, such as those who always attended yeshiva. There is great untapped potential to expand free choice while incurring fiscal savings at the same time,” said the resident. Mr. Diorio, a member of the Passaic school board with extensive experience with the public school system, is challenging Democratic incumbent Paul Sarlo. Mr. Diorio said the system is now run from “topdown.” It needs to be transformed to “bottom-up, where there is a choice,” he said. “Just as in a free economy, where we consumers have choice in what we buy and how much we spend, we should have the choice when it comes to the education of our children,” he said. Two-Hour Commute At the Perth Amboy meeting, other candidates discussed their experiences with the current public school system. Several of this crop of Republican candidates were teachers, including David Pinkney, an inner-city civics teacher and candidate for the State Assembly from District 28
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(Belleville, Bloomfield, Irvington, and parts of Newark), and Paul Lund, who is running for Senate in District 19 (Carteret, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Amboy, Woodbridge). A teacher at an inner-city Catholic school, where tuition is $5,500 per year, Mr. Lund said some of the children in his school travel two hours just to get there in the morning. “Don’t tell me parents in the inner city don’t have a passion to see their children have better educational opportunities. PROPA will sell everywhere, especially in districts such as Perth Amboy and Elizabeth. We have to take the word to the people and get them involved,” he said. Keeping Students Stuck The 15th District, which includes Princeton and Trenton, is another example of a race in which voters will choose between Democrats who all oppose and Republicans who all support school choice. The district’s Republican candidate for State Senate, Donald Cox, is a former businessman who now teaches at Trenton High School. A worldtraveler fluent in Spanish, he teaches bilingual classes with a total of 83 students. Over time, he said, he learned that all but three of his students were ready to transfer to regular English classes.
When he reported this to the principal, he was told, “But we get extra money for each of the bilingual students.” Controlling Waste His State Assembly candidate colleague, Kathy Kilcommons, said she resents the Supreme Court’s dictating to the legislature how much money should be allocated to the different school districts. She said she supports FSF because it will help parents in the state’s poorer districts from which a great deal of funding is now being diverted. “A lot of the money that is being spent is flushed down to waste, mismanagement, and corruption. That money is not reaching your child. With FSF, you have the control over the school where your child goes and the quality of the education you will get,” she said. Gloria Dittman, the Republican candidate for State Senate in the 8th District, served on the Board of Education in Edison, where she found the amount of waste overwhelming. With her background in human resources, she realized that public speaking was an important skill for any student interested in going into business. “I just tried to get one thing done while on the board. I wanted public speaking to be offered as an elective in the high schools. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen, because I was not on the inside,” she said. Simple Message The founder of a Christian day school, Rose Ann Salanitri, a third-party candidate for Assembly in the 24th District, is promoting legislation to provide tax incentives for contributions to private, religious, and public schools. “When you allow private business and individuals to donate money to the schools of their
choice, there is accountability that arises between the donor and the school. People will not keep donating to a school that is not performing,” she said. At the Perth Amboy meeting, Mr. Behrend advised the candidates who attended the forum to tell voters: Here’s the failure and here’s the solution. “Money follows the child, and this is the kind of bill that is going to do the work to fix things,” he said. Passionate Support Many of the candidates enthusiastically agreed. In her quest to provide sweeping educational reform, Ms. Rosengarten, the youngest candidate vying for an office in Trenton, said she expects passionate support from the “people of the book.” “In private and public schools, NJ has great teachers, but we have a horrible educational system that shortchanges both students from underprivileged communities and taxpayers, and the situation in our failing schools continues to worsen. Ironically, in the view of politicians who support the status quo, any effort at education reform is portrayed as if reformers are taking textbooks out of the hands of children,” she said. A 25-year-old attorney who was raised in East Brunswick, Ms. Rosengarten has just graduated from Rutgers Law School. She interned with the NJ Supreme Court and was a student leader for women’s rights and with the Bergen County Prosecutors Office. Four years ago, when she was just 21, she helped form a Rutgers campus group to raise awareness about the issue of domestic violence and relationship abuse. Addressing Inequities Ms. Rosengarten said she supports education reform, first, because the so-called
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School Choice
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Abbott school districts are still not providing adequate education, and, second, because “all tax-paying parents deserve to benefit from their contributions.” She sees the PROPA voucher plan as the solution because “it addresses both inequities.” “Rather than continue to send money to failing schools, essentially rewarding failure, it sends money to whatever institution the child attends, be it a yeshiva or preparatory academy. It gives underprivileged children an opportunity to escape failing schools and have a brighter future. It even improves public schools by introducing an element previously missing: accountabil-
ity. Moreover, it gives tax-paying parents money to send their kids to the schools of their choice, regardless of whether they are already sending their children to a private or public school,” she said. Improving Public School Free choice in education would help improve the quality of education in the state’s public schools because the voucher plan would force the government schools to compete, she said. “Competition never fails to help bring out quality,” she said. She said she views her candidacy for state office as part of the Jewish community’s legacy of emphasizing education.
“With the voters’ help, we can create quality education for those in NJ who have been left behind. We can ensure that tax payers already sending their children to the schools of their choice do not have to pay for that education twice, and we can build a brighter future for all of NJ’s children,” she said. Constitutional Issues Her opponent is Democratic incumbent Gary Schaer who, like Ms. Rosengarten, is part of the Orthodox community in Passaic. Mr. Schaer was a prime sponsor of OSA, which, he pointed out, counts Passaic among the communities whose children are eligible for financial support. It has been endorsed by, among other groups, Agudath Israel and the Orthodox Union. “Though he has not given OSA the full public support I would like, Governor Christie has stated he is supportive of it. The diversity of the bill’s supporters makes it strong and provides it the greatest possibility of passage,” said Mr. Schaer, expressing hope that the bill will pass by the end of 2011. He does not support PROPA, which, he said, “has serious NJ constitutional questions” and, therefore, “does not provide a serious attempt to lessen the high cost of private school tuition in NJ.” “Under NJ’s Constitution, the private nature of the funds associated with OSA ensure the bill’s constitutionality. However, the direct payments in PROPA from public school to private ones will not survive a NJ constitutional challenge,” he said. “Any education reform must be able to pass a NJ constitutional challenge. Measures that fail to meet this threshold may be appealing on first glance, but do not bring the community where we need to be.” According to Mr. Schaer, the challenge for NJ’s Jewish community, like the others in the state, “is to develop ways to increase accountability, augment efficiency of taxpayer dollars, and provide all residents the ability to send their children to top quality schools.” Halfway Solution Calling OSA “a halfway solution which would provide help for less than one percent of NJ’s schoolchildren and far fewer yeshiva students,” Rabbi Teitelbaum said this approach has been “languishing in Trenton for the past 18 years, when then-gubernatorial candidate Christie Whitman promised a school voucher
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American Wounded GIs Visit Israel: A Mission of Friendship, Hope, and Healing
ast month, the America-Israel Friendship League (AIFL), in conjunction with the Fort Lee-based Heroes to Heroes organization, led a delegation of ten wounded American servicemen, including two women soldiers, to Israel, where these American veterans of the current conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan were introduced to Israeli soldiers who had also suffered injuries in the course of duty. AIFL’s goal in sponsoring the delegation was to allow the Americans to see firsthand how Israeli soldiers are treated by their countrymen, as well as to help the American and Israeli veterans establish bonds of friendship based on the commonality of their experiences. The participating Americans were
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veterans of the Army, Air Force, Special friendship between citizens of both counForces, and Marines. tries, based on their common values of eth“The American and Israeli war vetics and democracy. erans who participated in this program Heroes to Heroes sustained their wounds while fighting Heroes to Heroes, founded by Judy for freedom and against terrorism. This Isaacson Schaffer of Teaneck, is dedicated provided a basis for their bonding which to helping disabled American veterans grew during the ten days they were tobridge the gap between their military exgether,” said Kenneth Bialkin, chairman perience and civilian life. of the AIFL. For Heroes to Heroes, the trip to Israel Established in 1971, the AIFL, each was designed to “educate, motivate, stimyear, sends delegations of Americans on ulate discussion and bonding with peers, missions the goal of fostering and be springboard forPMemotional Week 40 to- Israel 10-5with Jewish Voice - 1-4:Layout 1 a10/3/11 3:31 Page 1 and strong personal and professional bonds of continued on page 12
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pilot program.” “And it does not resolve the constitutional issue of government intruding into the individual choice parents make regarding the raising of their children,” he said. “All parents, especially the poor and those who seek religious education for their children, are being subjected to the greatest government-sanctioned violation of their civil rights in all America: the right to raise and educate their children with minimal government intrusion. Surely the present system, which discriminates against nonpublic school students, is inconsistent with the liberties and equality of treatment endorsed in the US Constitution.” He maintained that the “only” way to restore the liberty of parents to choose is to adopt the voucher plan first proffered by the late free-enterprise economist Milton Friedman in 1955. Mr. Friedman compared his plan to the GI Bill, which granted World War II veterans funding for their college education, redeemable at public, private, and religious schools of higher education. Rabbi Teitelbaum pointed out that the PROPA voucher plan would function like the GI Bill, college PELL grants, and school scholarship programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and elsewhere, “all of which have passed constitutional muster in the US Supreme Court.” “Rather than violating the Constitution, the voucher system actually restores to parents their constitutional liberty,” he said. S.L.R.
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Heroes
October 2011
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spiritual healing both during and after the experience.” “There are over 37,000 men and women who have been injured during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Some have had successful re-entries into civilian life. Many find the return overwhelming and a constant struggle,” said Ms. Schaffer. She pointed out that the soldiers’ often devastating wounds can lead to depression, isolation, suicidal tendencies, and actual suicides, as well as a host of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social challenges. A member of the executive board of Orthodox Congregation Beth Aaron in Teaneck, Ms. Schaffer took her motivation for founding Heroes to Heroes from the Talmud: Whoever saves a life is considered to have saved an entire world. Securing a Donor The American delegation was led by AIFL president Har-
ley Lippman, founder and CEO of Genesis 10, a business-andtechnology consulting firm. Mr. Lippman, who was thanked by Mr. Bialkin for finding a donor to sponsor the mission, said he became involved in the project based on his conviction that the trip would be mutually beneficial for the participating Israelis and Americans. “I wanted to do this because of my love for both countries,” he said. Unique Experience According to Mr. Bialkin, by working together, AIFL and Heroes to Heroes provided the visiting American wounded veterans with an experience available only in Israel: education on living with terrorism and understanding the importance of keeping terrorism from domestic borders; an exploration of Christian and Jewish holy sites; visits to Israeli facilities available to disabled veterans; and meetings with Israeli veterans who, despite their
Wounded American and Israel war vets visit a Beit Halochem center injuries, have been able to turn their professional and personal dreams into reality. Some of the wounded Israelis who met with the Americans have become leaders in various fields. These Israelis were able to provide the Americans with advice on turning military service skills into marketable private-sector expertise. “As a result of this trip to Israel, the wounded American GIs, none of whom is Jewish, formed what will undoubtedly be lasting friendships with wounded Israeli soldiers and, at the same time, gained an appreciation for the kindness and expertise with which the disabled are treated in the Jewish state,” said Mr. Bialkin. “Transformational” Some of the American veterans described their participation in the delegation as “transformational” not only for themselves, but also for their families when they returned. According to Dr. Alex Grobman, executive director of AIFL, upon their return to the US from Israel, the American veterans expressed their love for the Jewish state and their willingness to defend it in any way possible. “They are furious with the media for portraying Israel as a war-torn area. Before the trip, some of the Americans
thought they would have to be transported by armed guard from one burned-out city to the next,” said Dr. Grobman. Instead, they found a modern Westernized country filled with history, culture, and physical and spiritual beauty and warmth. Knesset Meeting “All throughout the country, the American veterans stopped and were stopped by Israelis to introduce themselves, take pictures, and exchange contact information. By the end of the ten days, the American vets had become a new group of dedicated Zionists. What is remarkable is that it happened so quickly,” said Dr. Grobman. The veterans’ visit to the Knesset, where they met and chatted with Speaker Reuven Rivlin and MKs Nissim Ze’ev and Yaakov “Ketzele” Katz, was described as “incredible.” “They were joined at the Knesset by ten well-known Israeli veterans, and when all the vets—the Americans and Israelis—went around the room to introduce themselves, everyone was moved to tears,” said Dr. Grobman. Beit Halochem In addition to their physical injuries, many of the wounded American and Israeli GIs still suffer from post-traumatic
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stress disorder (PTSD). In Israel, the Americans saw how the Jewish state’s treatment centers incorporate a holistic approach to the condition. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Beit Halochem, literally “Home of the Warrior,” in Tel Aviv. Run by the IDF’s Disabled Veterans Fund, Beit Halochem has centers throughout Israel. Ranging in size from 60,000 to 108,000 square feet, most of the centers are equipped with swimming pools, gyms, fitness rooms, occupational and physical therapy units, auditoriums, classrooms, and areas for socializing, including cafeterias. “After they leave the hospital, Beit Halochem is there to help them rebuild their lives. It is a place where the disabled can regain their dignity and quality of life,” said Ruby Shamir, executive director of AIFL’s Israel
Office who helped coordinate the American wounded veterans’ mission to Israel. Dr. Grobman said the visiting Americans were impressed. “They told us there was nothing like this in America for them,” he said. Other Resources Other resources in Israel for disabled soldiers include the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem and its Hadasit Technology Transfer Company, which sponsors and promotes many of the renowned medical center’s novel therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices; the Rehabilitation Hospital at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv; and the Natal Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War. There is also Etgarim-Challenge, an Israeli outdoor and recreation association for the disabled, which sponsors races and
cruises for Israelis with a wide variety of disabilities, including the blind and those suffering from PTSD. “Etgarim-Challenge engages in many activities throughout Israel, throughout the year,” said Ms. Shamir. Through Etgarim-Challenge, the disabled in Israel enjoy sailing trips lasting from one to three days, instructed by top racers, in a treatment that has become known as “adventure therapy by sailing.” More Than Survival Accompanying the American delegation was Arturo Marguia, a wounded US Army Captain who serves as a coach to many of his fellow American serviceman and sometimes acts as liaison on their behalf to officials in Washington. Mr. Marguia, who received a traumatic brain injury when a rocket-propelled grenade blew up during a security-and-combat patrol in the Iraq desert in September 2006, urges wounded veterans to continue their treatment and exert themselves to the fullest in order to heal. “It’s not enough to survive,” said Mr. Marguia. “You have to live.” Reinforced Message It was a message reinforced during the mission to Israel where the visiting Americans said they were overwhelmed by the care and concern shown to them by Israelis from every walk of life. “Many of the wounded American vets told us that, when they are home, they find themselves often sitting alone and feeling sorry for themselves. In Israel, wherever they went, they found people who understood because they, too, were veterans,” said Dr. Grobman. Before leaving Israel, two of the wounded Americans had themselves tattooed in Hebrew as a sign of solidarity with the Israeli people. Another wounded American vet plans to take courses at the Hebrew University. Keeping Close Since their return home, many of the participating American and Israeli wounded veterans have remained in close contact, helping one another and offering each other strength and encouragement. “America’s wounded GIs have put themselves in harm’s way for us, and, on this trip to Israel, the veterans had the chance to see for themselves the warmth,
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Chai Ko Tapas: Asian Fusion Steakhouse and Sushi on Cedar Lane
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ot long ago, Yamin and Ofira Dayan, owners of the famed Estihana kosher restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn, brought their kosher restaurant expertise to Cedar Lane in Teaneck with the opening of Chai Ko Tapas. The restaurant’s crafty blend of high-quality steak cuts and Far Eastern culinary influences make this an “Asian fusion steakhouse” whose menu also includes sushi. The restaurant’s Chef Ming is responsible for Chai Ko Tapas’s signature savory dishes, such as Thai Steak, Portobello Steak, and Mongolian Steak, which have become classics. Because the Dayans have owned Estihana for 15 years, it is not surprising that kosher diners in Teaneck can now enjoy dishes made famous at those sites, including appetizers such as Shredded Crispy Beef, Beef Dumplings, and Honey Baby Ribs. The Dayans have built a strong reputation for providing great service and exceptional food, as their countless satisfied customers can attest. “We now want to extend our vision of high-quality kosher dining to New Jersey, bringing with us the same commitment to excellence that has established Estihana as a staple of New York’s kosher dining experience,” says Mrs. Dayan. Commitment to Value In addition to the Asian-style steaks and appetizers, Chai Ko Tapas offers a huge variety of hand-made sushi, created in front of waiting diners by the restaurant’s devoted, experienced chef. Patrons who come before 4pm are invited to ask about the Sushi Lunch Special and “experience great value in the middle of your day,” as Mr. Dayan says. Chai Ko Tapas provides a relaxing, pleasant atmosphere with a classic “steak-
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care, and love all Israelis have not only for their own wounded soldiers, but for those who were wounded fighting for America as well,” said Mr. Bialkin. Because of the response to the mission, AIFL intends to plan future similar delegations subject to available funding. “Simply sharing their thoughts and feelings and learning how similar they are has become part of the healing process for the American and Israeli wounded soldiers who participated in this delegation,” said Dr. Grobman. S.L.R.
house” look. The service is casual and the steaks are reasonably priced. “Customers are always encouraged to bring their own wine or beer to the restaurant, and, at Chai Ko Tapas, will never have to worry about a sneaky ‘cork charge’,” says Mr. Dayan. Catering While reservations are not required, they are recommended for parties of five or more. Those planning special occasions, such as simchas, family events, or office parties, can enjoy the Chai Ko experience at their own venues. The restaurant guarantees its reasonable catering prices and quality. For more information about Chai Ko
Tapas or its catering service, call 201-5305665, email info@chaikotapas.com, or visit the website at www.chaikotapas.com. The fax number is 201-530-5662. Located at 515 Cedar Lane in Teaneck, the restaurant’s hours are Sunday through Thursday, 12-10pm. Now, the restaurant is open motzei Shabbat as well. Chai Ko Tapas is under the kashruth supervision of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County (RCBC). “Each dish served at Chai Ko is important and taken seriously in order to ensure that every patron who comes in the door leaves smiling and satisfied,” says Mrs. Dayan. Y
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October 2011
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
OHEL’s “The Music We Love” Interactive Concert
By Sandy Eller, sandyeller1@gmail.com n Monday, Nov 14th, 2011 at 7:30pm, the term “Jewish music concert” will be forever redefined at the annual OHEL Benefit Concert which will be an event unlike anything concert patrons have ever experienced. With design and production by the exclusive talents at NYFF Events and Sheer Productions, every moment and every inch of OHEL’s star-studded performance at the magnificent Mason Hall in the Baruch Performing Arts Center on Manhattan’s East Side will envelop concert patrons in the excitement of the ultimate musical experience that is the hallmark of every OHEL concert. While most concerts focus on the performers, the star of this year’s OHEL concert, entitled “The Music We Love,” is the music itself. The list of
O
scheduled performers is a closely guarded secret, adding to the excitement and mystique of this one-of-a kind show. “There is so much music out there that touches the heart and the soul. It has the power to unify us and inspire us to do good. It is the soundtrack of our joyous moments and gives us solace in times of trouble. What better choice could there be to headline this year’s concert?” said Elly Kleinman, concert chairman and president and CEO of The Americare Companies, primary sponsor of the event. Interactive Concert Ms. Kleinman expects the air to be positively electric as concert patrons enter the hall and take their seats, waiting to discover the musical delights that await them and the identities of the all-star performers who will be taking the stage. “We pride ourselves on thinking outside the box, and
we wanted to do something fresh and fun that had never been done before,” said Norman B. Gildin, OHEL’s chief development officer. With a potpourri of musical genres, an array of international performers, and a selection of songs including much-loved favorites and exciting original compositions, OHEL expects the evening to have universal appeal. In another musical first, this concert will be an interactive event. The public is invited to become part of this landmark evening by sharing their favorite songs, artists, musical genres, thoughts, and the memorable musical moments of their lives via email or video submissions for possible inclusion in the concert. “We want people to contact us and tell us about their favorite music, in either email or video format. What songs inspired them, what emotions were sparked hearing certain
songs. The possibilities are endless. Those talented individuals who are truly innovative can submit short videos of themselves enjoying their favorite music, or sharing their ideas in some creative way. We want people to have fun with this concert, to really be a part of it,” said Mr. Gildin. Video submissions should be up to one minute in length and can be mailed to OHEL Benefit Concert, 4510 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11204 or uploaded directly to OHEL’s site at: ohelfamily.org/ concertvideos. Emails can be sent to: music@ohelfamily.org, and the public is invited to interact with the concert Facebook page at: facebook.com/ohelconcert. The Twitter link is: http://twitter.com/ohelconcert. Sponsors and Dedications Three live dedication opportunities are also available for this event, giving sponsors a unique opportunity to dedicate
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and he was there for a reason: to let viewers know he had been stumped, had gone home to do some research, and was back with a more cogent response. When Mr. Hannity told him that “a lot of people think you didn’t understand the ‘right of return,’” Mr. Cain replied coolly, “They are exactly right.” He then went onto explain what he had since learned about the issue. “It wasn’t that the Palestinians were kicked out of Israel by the Jews. No. Their Arab leaders asked them to leave because they thought they were going to annihilate [the Jews] and then pick up what was left. So, yes, I still stick by my answer. It is the responsibility and the decision to be made by Israel,” he said. He was certain his take on the “right of return” matched that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “That’s not something that he wants to give in on. And I would agree with him,” said Mr. Cain. Borders When Mr. Hannity asked him if he now understands Israel’s borders in terms of the UN partition plan and the wars of 1948, 1967, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Mr. Cain said, “It is not the President’s responsibility or authority to dictate to Israel where those
a song which will be announced by the master of ceremonies. A video or photo montage of the person to whom the song is being dedicated will be displayed as the performer sings, allowing for a truly memorable experience. Numerous sponsorship opportunities are available for the concert, which is one of OHEL’s major annual fundraisers and
borders ought to be. That’s Israel’s decision.” In explaining his prior gaffe, he told Mr. Hannity, “The thing you’re going to learn about Herman Cain, if he doesn’t know something, he’s not going to try and fake it or give an answer that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” The part of the interview with Mr. Wallace that Mr. Cain did not apologize for was his contention that when Mr. Obama insisted that Israel accept the 1967 lines as its borders in a two-state solution with the Palestinians, the President was essentially throwing Israel “under the bus.” Israel’s Prerogative In a prepared statement issued after his appearance on the program with Mr. Wallace, Mr. Cain identified himself as “a vocal and unwavering supporter of our friend and ally, Israel.” “All Israeli governments have rejected the ‘right’ of large numbers of Arabs or Palestinians to return to what is now the state of Israel. Such an en masse return would unbalance Israel’s demographic makeup as the world’s sole Jewish state,” he wrote. It is from this perspective, he wrote, that the question about the “right of return” should be asked. “If that is a decision that Israel wants to make, cer-
all patrons will receive a CD with music by the evening’s performers. Tickets can be purchased at 866-OHEL-TIX. For more information, go to: ohelfamily.org/concert. All concert patrons are requested to be in their seats at 7:30pm so as not to miss a moment of this exciting experience, which will begin promptly at the scheduled time. Y
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tainly,” he said, stressing that it would have to be “Israel’s call.” “Israel has a long record of being more gracious to its enemies than its enemies are to it, and this would be yet another example of that. But is the ‘right of return’ a moral imperative? Is it something IsRepublican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain rael must grant? Is it something I would,” he said. the US ought to encourage? Humble Beginnings The answer is no on every Sources close to Mr. Cain count,” he said. say the entire episode was a good Friend and Ally example of what the country could He insisted US policy expect from a Cain Presidency. on Palestinian affairs “must “It’s how he was raised,” said the be wholly a function of our source, a friend of Mr.Cain’s who policy on Israeli affairs.” asked for anonymity. Israel, he said, is a friend Born in Memphis, Tenand ally who shares common nessee, in 1945, and raised in values and interests with us, Georgia, Mr. Cain grew up with “especially in the eradication of his mother, Lenora, a cleaning terrorism and the need for bringwoman, and his father, Luther ing peace to the region.” Cain, Jr, a chauffeur who grew “As President, I will never up on a farm. lose sight of these basic facts,” he Mr. Cain said his father said. “Any aspirant to the Presigave him “a sense of pride.” dency must have the unshakeable “He was the best damn chaufUS-Israeli alliance at the core of feur. He knew it, and everybody his or her strategic vision in the else knew it,” he said. Middle East. As your President, continued on page 18
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The friend said his parents were G-d-fearing people who told their son never to see himself as a victim, but, rather, to engage with hard work and perseverance “to fulfill the American dream.” He is still a member of the Antioch Baptist Church in Atlanta, which he joined at the age of ten. He has been married for 43 years to his wife, Gloria, and they have two children and three grandchildren. Math Major In 1967, he graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in mathematics and received a Master’s in computer science from Purdue in 1971, while working fulltime in ballistics for the US Department of the Navy. As a civilian ballistics analyst, he was responsible for developing fire-control systems for ships and fighter planes. After completing his master’s degree, he left the government for the private sector, working for Coca-Cola in Atlanta as a business analyst. In 1977, he moved to Minneapolis to join Pillsbury, soon becoming director of analysis in its restaurant and foods group. Ultimately, he was given the reins of Burger King which was, at the time, a Pillsbury subsidiary, and he managed 400 stores in the Philadelphia area. Under Mr. Cain’s leader-
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continued from page 17 ship, in three years, the region went from the least to the most profitable for Burger King. Godfather’s Pizza This prompted Pillsbury to appoint him president and CEO of another subsidiary, Godfather’s Pizza. Aiming to cut costs, Mr. Cain reduced the company from 911 stores to 420 in a 14-month period, making the chain profitable. In a leveraged buyout in 1988, Mr. Cain and a group of investors bought Godfather’s from Pillsbury. Mr. Cain continued as CEO until 1996, when he resigned to become CEO of the 380,000-member National Restaurant Association, a trade group and lobby organization. He also became a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and served as its chairman until 1996, when he resigned to become active in national politics. He served on the board of directors for Hallmark, Whirlpool, Nabisco, Reader’s Digest, and AGCO corporations. He serves as a commentator for Fox Business, writes a syndicated op-ed column, and, until Feb 2011, hosted the Herman Cain Show on Atlanta talk radio station WSB. In 2009, he founded “Hermanator’s Intelligent Thinker Movement,” aimed at organizing 100,000
activists in every congressional district in the US in support of a strong national defense, the Fair Tax, tax cuts, energy independence, capping government spending, and restructuring Social Security. Debating Clinton While many people credit the fictional couple, “Harry and Louise,” for killing the 1993-1994 healthcare plan devised by President Bill and First Lady Hillary Clinton, some insiders say the plan was actually demolished by Mr. Cain when he transformed the debate by asking Mr. Clinton what he was supposed to say to the workers he would have to lay off because of the cost of the “employer mandate.” Mr. Clinton responded that there would be “plenty of subsidies for small businessmen,” but Mr. Cain did not buy it. “Quite honestly, your calculation is inaccurate. In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn’t work that way,” he told the President. Joshua Green of The Atlantic called Mr. Cain’s exchange with Mr. Clinton an “auspicious debut on the national political stage,” and former Housing Secretary and Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, the late Jack Kemp, was so impressed with Mr. Cain’s performance that he flew to Nebraska to meet him. Mr. Cain credits Mr. Kemp for piquing his interest in politics.
But Mr. Cain is also no stranger to struggles. In 2006, he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and liver. He underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and has been declared cancer-free for five years. Muslims The kerfuffle over the “right of return” was not Mr. Cain’s last controversy on the campaign trail. During some interviews, he voiced his concern about accepting Muslims into his cabinet. When questioned on this point, he clarified that while he would appoint a qualified Muslim, he was well aware that “you have peaceful Muslims and then you have militant Muslims, those that are trying to kill us.” “And so when I said I wouldn’t be comfortable, I was thinking about the ones that were trying to kill us,” he said. He went on to say that he does not support Sharia law in American courts and that all people who would work in his administration would be evaluated based on personal interviews, “to get a sense of their loyalty to the Constitution.” Mosques Not long after, at a private event with supporters in Bethesda, MD, he spoke frankly about his opposition to a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, TN. He explained that a Tennessee
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion October 2011 Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
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attorney representing opponents of the mosque told him that the controversial project is being supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, a violent, intolerant group that has endorsed Islamist violence. Mr. Cain said Americans should be able to ban mosques from their communities if they so choose. Further, said Mr. Cain, he considers Islam not merely a religion, but also a political system that does not recognize separation of church and state. His remarks prompted political activist Pamela Geller, who blogs on Atlas Shrugged, to exclaim, “Herman Cain gets it.” “He will be slammed by the leftist/ Islamist machine as they continue to enforce Islamic blasphemy laws, bulldoze the American people, and bulldoze individual rights. Any Republican candidate that hopes to win the nomination had better have the guts and political courage to speak to the greatest threat facing our nation, foreign and domestic,” she said. Not an Apology A few weeks later, Mr. Cain issued words of regret that were not quite an apology. He stood by his past remarks about Islam and Sharia law, but he apolo-
gized to the Muslims whom he may have offended. “While I stand by my opposition to the interference of Sharia law into the American legal system, I remain humble and contrite for any statements I have made that might have caused offense to Muslim Americans and their friends,” he said. “I am truly sorry for any comments that may have betrayed my commitment to the US Constitution and the freedom of religion guaranteed by it.” He made his remarks after meeting with Imam Mohamed Magid, executive director of the ADAMS Center, a Northern Virginia mosque complex that recently hosted deputy National Security advisor Denis McDonough. Mr. Cain said he found common ground with the Muslims with whom he met. “As I expected, we discovered we have much more in common in our values and virtues,” Mr. Cain said. “In my own life as a black youth growing up in the segregated South, I understand their frustration with stereotypes. Those in attendance, like most Muslim Americans, are peaceful Muslims and patriotic Americans whose good will is often drowned out by the reprehensible actions of jihadists.”
Visiting Israel Although he did not say it at the time, he made clear a few weeks later that he would not tolerate Muslims—or anyone else—in his administration who did not have a passion to protect and promote the right of Jews to live throughout the Jewish state of Israel. At the end of August, he visited Israel with his friends Jerry and Deborah Strober of Manhattan. Among the more meaningful stops was a five-hour visit to the Samarian community of Ariel and a meeting with its mayor Ron Nachman. “Before we left Ariel, Herman looked at Ron Nachman and said: ‘When I’m President, the first visit my Ambassador to Israel will make will be to Ariel,’” said Mr. Strober. The “Cain Doctrine” Mr. Strober said the meaning of Mr. Cain’s words were lost on no one. “He was making it clear that, as opposed to current policy, in a Cain administration, there will be support for the communities of Judea and Samaria, and, of course, Jerusalem,” said Mr. Strober. Asked how Mr. Cain would manage to alter the Arabist inclination, culture,
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com and policies of the State Department to be able to appoint such an ambassador, Mr. Strober said, “No one knows more about cleaning house than Herman Cain. As President, he will look at each agency and decide who he wants and who will have to go. The person he selects to be his ambassador to Israel will be someone whose positions reflect his own and will make going to Ariel a priority.” In Israel, Mr. Cain said he was gratified to hear from several officials that Israel expects no military assistance from US soldiers. “All Israelis told me: ‘Israel will defend itself,’” he said. Shortly after returning from Israel and fresh from his upset victory in the Florida straw poll, Mr. Cain announced that, if elected, the “Cain Doctrine” would be US policy on matters relating to the Jewish state: “If you mess with Israel, you are messing with the United States of America,” he said. Visiting New York His fresh, unvarnished approach attracted many different groups to meetings with Mr. Cain during the first week of October when the candidate was in the city on a whirlwind fundraising and informational tour. On Tuesday, Oct 4, he had a scheduled meeting with the Jewish community that had been arranged by Rabbi Pesach Lerner of the National Council of Young Israel at the Touro College Division of Graduate Studies in lower Manhattan. Although it was supposed to be a faceto-face meeting, the candidate had a true New York experience: severe traffic that kept him from getting there. Instead of disappointing the 50 or so Jewish leaders and media who had come to see him, Mr. Cain addressed the group through an improvised cell phone and microphone hook-up, and the meeting went on as arranged. “9-9-9” Confident that the group was wellaware of his pro-Israel position, Mr. Cain spent most of his time detailing his plan to boost the economy. His “9-9-9” plan, he said, is “a matter of national security.” The first item on his agenda, he said, is to discard the current tax code entirely, since it is far too broken to fix.. He would eliminate the taxes on capital gains, estates, and payroll and replace them with a 9% flat business, a 9%
Tishrei 5772 personal tax, and a 9% percent national sales tax. This, he said, would get the business community back into a growth mode and reduce uncertainty, which is always important for commerce. Defense Then, he would change the current defense approach from cost-cutting to investment, allowing the country to meet challenges and potential threats worldwide. He would extend President Ronald Reagan’s policy of “peace through strength” to “peace through strength with clarity.” Asked about how he would deal with Iran, he said he would make use of the tremendous number of Aegis-class ballistic-missile naval destroyers in the US arsenal in concert with land-based missile capability, and advocate their strategic deployment, a tactic that would serve as both a warning to and countervailing measure against Iran. In fact, he said, he would urge the enhancement of US vessels’ capacity to match the effectiveness of land-based defenses. This is important, he said, because he believes Iran is no more than a year or two away from full nuclear-delivery capability. He supports a strategy of energy independence for the US, which would entail full development of the country’s oil, natural gas, and nuclear power capability. Mr. Cain said that this would put pressure on Iran and allow the US to be independent of other oil-exporting nations
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in the Middle East. Pollard At the meeting, Mr. Cain was asked how his administration would respond to the issue of Jonathan Pollard, the former civilian Naval intelligence analyst who was convicted in 1987 of passing classified information to Israel and is serving a life sentence. Mr. Cain said he disagreed with Vice-President Joe Biden, who recently told Florida rabbis that he personally directed the President not to grant Mr. Pollard clemency. Mr. Cain said that as a supporter of Israel himself, he is sympathetic to Mr. Pollard, but would have to review the entire case before making a judgment. Repeal He had a much more ready answer for a health-care provider in the group who asked Mr. Cain what he thought of President Barack Obama’s health-care plan. Mr. Cain said he would immediately repeal it. Mort Klein, president of the ZOA, asked Mr. Cain about the $600 million in aid the US gives annually to the PA. Mr. Klein asked if a Cain administration would continue to support the PA financially. Mr. Cain told him that the PA, which is in active partnership with Hamas, does not behave as friend of the US. He said he would undertake a complete investigation, and if, as he suspects, the PA is not a friend, he would cut off all US aid to them. S.L.R.
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License to Murder: The Enduring Threat of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Dr. Alex Grobman By Susan L. Rosenbluth t is always important when an historian chooses to tackle an issue from the past that continues to send shock waves into the present. Few documents better fit that description than the notorious forgery, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. In his new book, License to Murder: The Enduring Threat of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion(Balfour Publishers and the America-Israel Friendship League), Dr. Alex Grobman examines the “Protocols” and tracks the 100 years of its sordid influence. In License to Murder, he discusses how and why a recognized falsehood is still used to justify not only raw Jew-hatred but also its latest incarnation: the unjustified, single-minded
I
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Interesting Reading for Sukkoth
condemnation and promotion of annihilation of the State of Israel by the Muslim world and, incongruously, much of the political left in Western Europe. “Too many people, even in the 21st century, embrace and transmit negative perceptions about the Jewish people and the Jewish state. In this new book, Dr. Grobman seeks to explore how and why a vicious lie, a warrant for genocide, first written in the early 1900s, aided endemic antisemitism and then morphed into anti-Zionism,” says Kenneth Bialkin, chairman of the America-Israel Friendship League, the book’s co-publisher. In his introduction to the book, Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens, suggests reasons ranging from the “politics of envy” (“There has always been a political utility in stirring populist hatred against any minority, particularly those that are economically successful but politically powerless”)
to frustration stemming from the Jewish people’s position as “the living witness for the absence of redemption.” Dr. Grobman’s new book is important, he says, because “it is a potent reminder that no libel against the Jews, however preposterous, can be safely ignored.” A prolific author of works ranging from Holocaust studies to advocacy for the State of Israel, Dr. Grobman is in a unique position to confront the enigma and the impact of the Protocols. He holds a doctorate in Contemporary Jewish History from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A member of the academic board of the David S Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, he established and directed the first Holocaust center in the United States under the auspices of a Jewish Federation in St Louis, Missouri and also served as director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in
Los Angeles, where he was the founding editor-in-chief of the Simon Wiesenthal Award, the first serial publication in the US focusing on the scholarly study of the Holocaust. Dr. Grobman now serves as executive director of the AmericaIsrael Friendship League. *** A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel’s Victims of Terrorism by Giulio Meotti By Susan L. Rosenbluth It is hard to remember just when Giulio Meotti’s name became so important in the Jewish community. A journalist with Il Foglio, a respected Rome-based politically conservative daily, Mr. Meotti, born after World War II, is too young to have saved Jews during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem cannot honor him as a Righteous Gentile. But in his recently published book, A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel’s Victims of Terrorism (Encounter Books), Mr. Meotti
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Traveling with Kosherica: Bahamas, Asia, and Jewish Music
By Yochanan Gordon fter shivering in the sukkah with family and friends, you will surely feel the need to get away. The good news is that your vacation has been entirely mapped out and is assured to be the most rewarding one of your life, thanks to the Kosherica team, which is looking forward to their greatest winter cruise season ever. For almost two decades, the Kosherica family has been partnering with the world’s leading cruise lines to provide Jewish travelers with the opportunity to see the world in five-star luxury with unparalleled kosher entertainment, dynamic and thoughtprovoking scholars-in-residence, and delectable kosher cuisine second to none. Call it therapy for the body and the soul; it is truly the most wholesome experience available. This winter, whether you are looking to travel alone or with family, Kosherica is the most logical, convenient, and rewarding option and the choices are endless.
A
Bahamas, Asia, & Jewish Music Kicking off the winter season is a Dec 25th cruise which embarks from NYC to the Bahamas, making stops at the beaches in Orlando, the private Island of Great Stirrup Cay, and then on to Nassau before heading back to NYC. The 10 scheduled hours in Orlando and Nassau, as well as seven hours to tour Great Stirrup Cay, are sufficient to bask in their beauty and see the historic sights before heading back to the cruise ship and home. On Jan 8th, 2012, Kosherica will lead a 14-night cruise to Asia, exploring the fascinating sights of Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Visas for China will be required for travelers interested in embarking on this particular cruise, which is exploring territory new in cruise history. The trip is indicative of Kosherica’s innovation and ingenuity, and it is what sets the company apart. January 22, 2012, marks the start of Kosherica’s annual
Interesting Reading
shows he is clearly in that tradition. In powerful and beautiful prose, he has built a memorial to the almost 2,000 Israeli civilians who were murdered by terrorists for no other reason than that each was a Jew living in the Jewish state. Mr. Meotti devotes parts of the book to his investigation of the current attempts to dehumanize Jews and suppress their identity as legitimate heirs to the land. He exposes the “blame Israel” approach that has become so much the standard line at the UN and in Western media that there is something close to shock when Israel receives any support at all in those venues. Mr. Meotti recognizes that while the terrorists, like
Jewish Music Festival at Sea. This mid-winter cruise to the Caribbean is a must for Jewish Music fans, and features the Jewish world’s most talented voices, including Avraham Fried, Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, World renowned Israeli Broadway sensation Dudu Fisher, and more. Even more unique than the concerts and heartrending cantorial Shabbos tefillos is the opportunity to spend a week close-up and personal with the entertainers, an opportunity available only on a Kosherica cruise. Bring the Kids Those considering bringing the children on a mid-winter break cruise will appreciate Kosherica’s Jan 22nd Cruise to the Caribbean aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, the world’s largest and most exciting cruise ship to date. The children (and adults) will be kept so busy that you may have to fight to convince them to join you for meals or an excursion or two. The ship boasts an impres-
sive 28 ultra-modern loft suites, 2700 rooms, and 16 decks. It is the only cruise liner home to the Dreamwork’s experience, featuring the characters from Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. Travelers aboard this ship will have the opportunity to pose for pictures and interact with the characters during meals, and watch their three-dimensional movies in a designated onboard theatre. With the traveler in mind, Kosherica pays endless attention to each nuance in its itinerary. Every new destination is studied; all scholars-in-residence and entertainers are leaders in their respective areas of expertise. And all that is in addition to the intricately detailed schedule prepared by the experts at the Kosherica Family. From one season to the next, Kosherica cruises have been known to sell out quickly, so call 305-695-2700 or 877-724-5567, or visit their website at kosherica. com, and secure your mid-winter plans. Bon Voyage! Y
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their Nazi predecessors, act solely because they hate Jews, the terrorists have managed to bamboozle much of Western Europe, with its own psychological need to distance and excuse itself from the Holocaust and traditional antisemitism, into accepting that the Palestinians have grievances which allow and excuse their murderous outrages. In his forward to the book, the English philosopher and author Roger Scruton explains that “Israel is not the cause but the target of the current belligerence, and there can be no solution to the Middle East that does not place the blame on those who live by hatred and who have nothing to offer save destruction.”
The heart of Mr. Meotti’s book are the individual Jewish men, women, and children, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, grandparents, brothers, and sisters, whom he carefully depicts as people living their lives until brutal Arab terrorists, bent on wanton destruction, murdered them. Unlike most Arabs who died during the conflict with Israel, these Jews were not killed while throwing rocks or engaging in warfare. They were not wanted criminals charged with anything except breathing in Israel. They died while riding buses, eating pizza, or, in the case of babies, sitting in car seats, sleeping in their own cribs, or snuggling in their parents’ arms. Many of the names will ring
painful bells of memory for those who follow the news in Israel. Others are not so well-known. All are seen by Mr. Meotti as deserving a place in history: the latest victims of the Shoah that began with Hitler’s “Final Solution” and continues to this day in the malicious thoughts and deeds of Islamist terrorists and their supporters. A New Shoah is a soulwrenching, compelling commemorative, written by a cleareyed reporter with an eye for history, nuances, and truth. Those looking for political correctness or moral equivalence will be displeased. Mr. Meotti recognizes the crimes of various nations of the world against the Jewish people and he is not
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
October 2011
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
The Log: Mon., Oct 10, Columbus Day
“Becoming Grounded—Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, The Book of Deuteronomy, the Last Will and Testament of Moses: Vezot Habracha/Simchat Torah, In Praise of Our Teacher Moshe,” Rabbi Asher Herson, Chabad Center of Northwest NJ, Rockaway, 8:15pm, 973-625-1525 ext 227
Tues., Oct 11
“The Mezuzah in the Madonna’s Foot,” Fred Grossman, JCC, Tenafly, 12:30pm, 201-569-7900 Sukkah Build (Outside) and Dunkin Donuts, Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Fairleigh Dickinson University, University Chapel, Teaneck, 3:30pm, 201-820-3905 or 201-966-3040 EMUNAH Pre-Sukkot Bake Sale, private home in Teaneck, 5:30-8:30pm, 201-692-1569 or green.alana@gmail.com Kaplan Kosher Kitchen Shower, Silvia Lehrer, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-569-7900 Book Group: “Devotion” by Dani Shapiro, with Carol Berman, JCC, West Orange, 7:30pm,
973-530-3421 G.E.M. (Gathering for Encouragement of Modesty,” for women, private home in Passaic, 8pm, 973-365-2342
Wed., Oct 12 Erev Sukkot
“The Failure of Denazification—and Its Eventual Success,” Prof Jack Needle, spons by the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education Center, Student Life Center, Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, 10am, 732224-2074 or 732-224-1889 Babysitting so Mother Can Get Ready for the Holiday, for children 3-grade 3, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 10am, aabjdyouth@gmail.com Chai Café, games and lunch, Bayonne JCC, 10:30am, 201697-3355 Book Group: “Day after Night” by Anita Diamant, with Carol Berman, JCC, West Orange, 11am, 973-530-3421 “A Look at a Few of the Many Great Jewish Violinists: Elfman, Heifets, and Milstein,” Maestro George Marriner Maull, JCC, West
Orange, 1pm, 973-530-3406 Sukkot Communal Meal, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Sukkah, 6pm, 718-796-4730
Thurs., Oct 13, Sukkot
Sukkah Hop, Cong Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, 2pm, aryeh. morris@gmail.com Sukkat Hop, for grades 3-5, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 2pm, bethaaronyouth@yahoo.com Sukkah Hop, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 3:10pm, youth@ rinat.org Sukkot Communal Meal, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Sukkah, 6pm, 718-796-4730
Fri., Oct 14, Sukkot
Bnai Akiva Sukkah Hop, for grades K-6, spons by Cong Netivot Shalom, at various private sukkoth in Teaneck, 4pm, pscheininger@hotmail.com Sukkot Communal Meal, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Sukkah, 6pm, 718-796-4730
Shabbat, Oct 15, Chol Hamoed
Sukkah Hop, for children in grades K-5, spons by Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 2pm
Sukkah Hop, for children in 2nd grade and younger, with a parent, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 2pm, bethaaronyouth@ yahoo.com Women’s Shiur, Mahnaz Shmalo, Cong Adas Israel, Passaic, 3pm Young Israel of PassaicClifton Sukkah Open House, private home in Passaic, 3:305:15pm, 973-365-1797 or 973330-2285
Motzei Shabbat, Oct 15
Simcha Beis Hashoeva Trip to Crown Heights, leave Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 8pm, 973486-2362 or 973-731-0770 Shomer Shabbat and Shomer Kashrut Cub Scout Pack 613 Sleepover, for boys in grades 1-5, Cubmaster Jonathan Schachter, in Fair Lawn’s Cong Ahavat Achim Sukkah, 8:45pm, through Sun., Oct 16, jschachter2@gmail.com
Sun., Oct 16, Chol Hamoed
NCSY Day at Six Flags Great Adventure, includes a sukkah and kosher food in the park, Jackson, buses and carpools available, Safari, 9am-4pm; park, 10:30am-10pm, 201-862-0250
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“Separate Yourself Not from the Community�
“Step Up for Israel Advocacy Summit: Gain the Knowledge and Tools Necessary to Speak up for Israel with Confidence,� spons by ADL, AIPAC, AJC, CAMERA, the David Project, Hasbara Fellowships, HonestReporting, Israel Action Network, The Israel Project, Israeli Consulate, MEMRI, and Stand with Us, “Countering Assaults on Israel’s Legitimacy,� former British MK Lorna Fitzsimons; “Media Monitoring and Response,� Gary Kenzer, Alex Sufian, and Nathan Klein; “Advocacy and Political Engagement,� Sharon Goldman; “Where Do We Go from Here?Step Up for Israel,� Elliot Matthias and Sarit Catz; “Advocacy on College Campuses;� “Political Advocacy;� “Talking to Christians and Churches;� Aidekman JCC, Whippany, 9am-4pm, 973-929-3000 Book Fair, JCC, Tenafly, 9am-4pm, also Mon, Oct. 17, 9am-4pm, and Tues, Oct 18, 9am1pm, 201-408-1438 Sukkot Festival, spons by the Friendship Circle, for specialneeds children, the group is looking for 7th-12th-grade volunteers for the event, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 10am, 201-833-0755 Breakfast in the Sukkah, includes magic, comedy, and juggling show with Keith Leaf, Chabad Center, Wayne, 10am, 973-694-6274 Film: “Someday Melissa,� about eating disorders, JCC, West Orange, 2pm, 973-509-9777 ext 104 Simchat Beit Hashoeva, coordinated by the Medor Chaim/ Steinsaltz Ambassadors Program, with Rabbi Shmulie Greene, at the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva sukkah, Edison, 5pm, rabbishmulie@steinsaltz.org World Series Pre-Game Sukkah Party, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 6pm, 732-545-2407 Greater Teaneck Simchat Beit Hashoeva, for the entire community, spons by Congs Arzei Darom, Beth Aaron, Beth Abraham, Bnai Yeshurun, Etz Chaim, Friends of Lubavitch, Jewish Center of Teaneck, Keter Torah, Netivot Shalom, Rinat Yisrael, Shaare Tefillah, Young Israel of Teaneck, and Zichron Mordechai, with
live music, simcha dancing, and snacks, Cong Keter Torah, 6:30pm, swruble@gmail.com “If you’re Happy and You Know It‌Understanding the Mitzvah of Simcha on Yom Tov,â€? for girls in grades 5-7 and their mothers, as part of the shul’s B(at Mitzvah) A(mazing) T(rue you) program, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 7pm
Mon., Oct 17, Chol Hamoed
“Jews and the Stars and Chinese Food,� Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Bergen Community College, Paramus, 12:30pm, 201820-3905 or 201-966-3040 “Pizza in the Hut,� Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Ramapo College, Student Center, Mahwah, 1pm, 201820-3905 or 201-966-3040 Israeli TV: “Arab Labor: Avoda Aravit (Shoddy or SecondRate Work),� with Sayed Kashua (Israel-Arab journalist, the Arab “Seinfeld�), taught by Daniel Sonnenschein, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7pm, 845-362-4200
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Jacob and David, West Orange, 11:15am, 973-736-1407 ext 240 Women to Women Rachel Coalition Luncheon: “Raising Awareness of Teen Dating Violence,� Vicki Crompton-Tetter, Dr. Jennifer Hartstein, includes kosher lunch, Cedar Hill Country Club, Livingston, 11:30am, 973-765-9050 Soup and Salads in the Sukkah, for women and children, includes painting a ceramic mug to go, Chabad Center, Wayne, noon, 973-694-6274 “Sukkot at the YMHA with the Elderly,� Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of William Paterson University, Science Room, Wayne, 12:45pm, 201-820-3905 or 201-966-3040 “Bogeymen of English Literature and Theater: Barabas,� Prof Benjamin Nelson, JCC, West Orange, 1:30pm, 973-530-3406 or 973-530-3480 Pizza in the Hut (Sukkah), Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Fairleigh Dickinson University, University Chapel, Teaneck, 3:30pm, 201-
“Going Viral: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the Role of the Media,� Kenneth Stern and Dr. Jack Shaheen, moderated by Prof Clement Price, spons by the Center for the Study of Jewish Life, at Trayes Hall, Douglass Campus Center, New Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-2033 Women’s Shiur, Rabbi Robert Grosberg, Cong Ohr Torah Sukkah, West Orange, 8pm, 973669-7320 Men’s Club “Fresser Society� BBQ, with Seth Washaw of ETC Steakhouse, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David Sukkah, West Orange, 8pm, leemorreale@gmail.com Hookah in the Hut Sukkah Party, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 8pm, 732-545-2407
Tues., Oct 18, Chol Hamoed
“Together on Tuesday� Sukkah Party, for seniors, Rabbi Michael Bleicher and musician Tuvia Zimber, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai
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Stories and the
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24th Annual Conference on Visiting the Sick Sunday, November 13, 2011 | : AM-3:30PM UJA-Federation of New York | 130 East 59 St., New York, NY th
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
The Log
October 2011
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
continued from page 25
820-3905 or 201-966-3040 Celebrate Sukkot, for children 2-6 with an adult, crafts, an edible sukkah, and songs, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 3:45pm, 845-362-4200 “Islam and the West: Confrontation or Cooperation,” Imam Hendi, Ramapo College of NJ, Mahwah, 4pm, 201-684-7430 Family Sukkah Dinner, JCC, West Orange, 5:30pm Euro Café, for grades 7-12 with Holocaust survivors, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 6pm, 845-362-4400 ext 173 Reel to Reel Film: “Among the Righteous,” Arabs who saved Jews during the Holocaust, with Robert Sarloff, Aidekman JCC, Whippany, 7pm, 973-929-3067 Maccabeats in Concert, spons by the Politz Day School of Cherry Hill, at the JCC, Cherry Hill, 7pm, 856-667-1013
Wed., Oct 19, Hoshana Rabba
Lunch and Learn: Hebrew University’s Conference on Antisemitism, Drs. Esther and Jaime Gildengers, Aidekman JCC, Whippany, noon, 973-929-3194 Simchat Torah Simchaton, for Yachad special-needs young people, spons by Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, through Shabbat, Oct 22, brieder@chestnutholding.com
Thurs., Oct 20, Shemini Atzeret
Youth Hakafot, music, flags, and ruach, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, one hour before mincha Simchat Torah Party, for children ages 3-7 with their parents, includes deli sandwiches, stories, songs, games, and dancing, Cong Ohav Emeth, Highland Park, two hours before ma’ariv
Fri., Oct 21, Simchat Torah
Kol Ha’Nearim Tisch, with Rabbi Yosef Adler, Divrei Torah and songs, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, during laining Women’s Torah Reading, Deborah Wenger, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 10:45am, 201833-0515 AMIT Simchat Torah Shiur, for women, Rebecca Feldman, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 10:45am “The Three Faces of Eve: What We Learn about the Role of Women in the Opening Parsha of the Torah,” for women, Janice Michaelis, Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange, 7:45pm, 973-669-7320
Shabbat, Oct 22
Carlebach Minyan, Cong Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, 8:45am Women’s Shiur, Mira Guggenheim, Cong Adas Israel, Passaic, 3pm
Sun., Oct 23
Mitzvah Clowning Program Training: Bikur Cholim, spons by Areyvut, for adults and children 4th grade and up, includes visit to CareOne, at Young Israel of Teaneck, 8am, 201-244-6702 Sunday Morning Kickoff, featuring breakfast and a clas, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:30am Explanatory Morning Service, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:15am, 201-966-4490 Bnot Mitzvah Program: “Hadlakat Ha-nerot Shiur and Craft Project,” for 6th grade girls and their mothers, Lea-Nora Kordova and Chanie Kirschner, Cong Ahawas
Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 10am, lkordova@comcast. net or aabjdyouth@gmail.com “Pink Ribbon Journey: Stories from the Heart—Celebrating Women with Breast Cancer,” Norma Roth, Birnbaum JCC, Bridgewater, 10am, 908-725-6994 Sefer Celebration: A Festival of Children’s Books, YJCC, Washington Twnshp, 10am-2pm; also Mon., Oct 24, 9am-2:30pm, 201-666-6610 SibShops, support group for children 7-12 who have a special-needs sibling, JCC, Tenafly, 10:30am, 201-408-1489 Shomer Shabbat and Shomer Kashruth Cub Scout Pack 613, for boys in grades 1-5, Cubmaster Jonathan Schachter, Fairfield or Alstede Farm Corn Maze Trip, leave Cong Ahavat Achim, Fair Lawn, 1pm, jschachter2@gmail.com Rockland County Candidates Forum, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 1:30pm, 845-362-4400 Hadassah Book Club: “The Pity of It All” by Amos Elan, discussed by Gustine Matt, private home in Highland Park, 7:30pm, 732-545-3147
Mon., Oct 24
Beginning of Online Class: “The Jewish Metropolis: Warsaw and Vilna before the Holocaust,” with Prof Sam Kassow, spons by the Yiddish Book Center, through Sun., Nov 13, www.yiddishbookcenter. org/jewish-metropolis-reg “Which is True: The Torah or Our Science Books?” Irwin Graulich, JCC, Tenafly, 11:15am “Smile on Seniors: Make Your Own Mandel Bread,” Chabad Center, Wayne, 11:30pm, 973-694-6274 Book Group: “The Great House” by Nicole Krauss, Ruthann Eckstein, JCC, Tenafly, 11:30am, 201-408-1457 Yachad Mothers’ Support Group Lunch, for mothers of special-needs children, Chani Herrmann, private home in Teaneck, 12:30pm, herrmann@ou.org “Jews and the Stars and Chinese Food,” Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Ramapo College, Student Center, Mahwah, 1pm, 201-8203905 or 201-966-3040
“Learning from the Challenges of Our Times: Global Security, Terrorism, and 9/11 in the Classroom,” a New Curricular Initiative for Students in Grades K-12, includes documentary film, “Rebirth,” spons by the Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Grand Conference Center, Raritan Valley Community College, Somerville, 4-7pm, 908-526-1200 ext 8524 Israel Film Club: “Sima the Witch,” JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7pm, 845-362-4200 AIPAC Meeting, private home in West Orange, 7:30pm, 212-750-4110
Tues., Oct 25
“The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What It Really Rakes to Stay Married,” Iris Krasnow, JCC, Tenafly, 10am “Jews and the Stars and Chinese Food,” Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of William Paterson University, Science Room, Wayne, 12:45pm, 201-820-3905 or 201-966-3040 “Bogeymen of English Literature and Theater: Shylock,” Prof Benjamin Nelson, JCC, West Orange, 1:30pm, 973-530-3406 or 973-530-3480 New Beginnings: “Living Life in a Changing World: The Differences between Today’s Seniors and Our Adult Children,” Fran Levine, MSW, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 1:30pm, 201-833-0515 “Jews and the Stars and Chinese Food,” Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Fairleigh Dickinson University, University Chapel, Teaneck, 3:30pm, 201-820-3905 or 201-966-3040 “Saving the Past: The Yiddish Book Center of Amherst, MA,” spons by Hudsonjewish.org, at the CASE Museum, Jersey City, 7pm, Harvey@hudsonjewish.org G.E.M. (Gathering for Encouragement of Modesty,” for women, private home in Passaic, 8pm, 973-365-2342 Film: “Crossing the Line: The Intifada Comes to Campus,” discussion on advocacy for Israel led by Rabbi Elliot Mathias, Suburban Torah Center, Livingston, 8pm, 973-994-2620 or 973994-0122
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Wed., Oct 26
Women of Valor Film: “Sophie Scholl,” spons by the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education Center, at the Student Life Center, Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, 10am, 732224-2074 or 732-224-1889 “Houdini: Art and Magic,” YMHA, Riverdale, 1:15pm, 718-548-8200 “Before the Holocaust: Historical Background—Jewish Life in Prewar Europe,” Karen Small, Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers, New Brunswick, 4:30pm, 732-932-3345 Kosher Super Soups, JoJo Rubach, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201408-1457 Girls Shorashim Youth Group, swim and gym for girls grades 4-7, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7pm, 201-833-0515 ext 205 Kosher Sushi-Making, Samona Sufian, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 7pm, 732-545-2407 Confidential Abused Women’s Support Group, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 “Cyber Bully Protection,” for parents and children, 8th grade and
older, West Orange Cyber Crimes Unit, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-736-1407 ext 260 “Chicks with Sticks Knitting Circle,” hats for preemies, children with cancer, and IDF soldiers in Israel, private home in Highland Park, 8pm, 732-339-8492 Rutgers Hillel Book Club, New Brunswick, 8pm, 732-545-2407
Thurs., Oct 27
Support Group for Caregivers, those caring for an older adult who is physically frail or suffering from memory loss, JCC, Tenafly, 11am, 201-408-1450 “Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World,” Prof Jeffrey Herf, Aidekman JCC, Whippany, 7pm, 973-929-3194 Boys Shorashim Youth Group, swim and gym for boys grades 4-7, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7pm, 201-833-0515 ext 205 Breast and Ovarian Cancer Genetics: The Jewish Cancer Genetics Panel, includes Ellen Levine, Shera Dubitsky, Hetal Vig, and Tova Friedman, Flemington JCC, 7pm, 908-725-6994 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Gei Oni” (Valley of Forti-
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tude), with director Dan Wolman, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Mishmar with Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, includes “Study with a Buddy” and pizza, Beit Midrash, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 8pm, 732-545-2407
Fri., Oct 28
Sleep Disturbances in Children, Heidi Rinsky Schnapp, JCC, West Orange, 9:30am, 973322-5620 A Taste of Shabbat, for children 1-5 with an adult, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, noon, 845-362-4200 Chai Lifeline Highland ParkEdison Shabbaton, for children suffering from chronic or lifethreatening illnesses, at Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, through Shabbat, Oct 29, to volunteer, borck99@ gmail.com, eli@isourcenyc.com, 732-777-9207 or 973-923-4477
Shabbat, Oct 29
Bnai Akiva of Teaneck Darom Afternoon Groups, for children in grades 1-5, spons by Congs Arzei Darom, Netivot Shalom, Etz Chaim, and Shaare Tefilla, at
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Cong Netivot Shalom, 2pm Women’s Shiur, Devora Ehrlich, Cong Adas Israel, Passaic, 3pm Bnai Akiva of Teaneck Darom Snif, for teens, spons by Congs Arzei Darom, Netivot Shalom, Etz Chaim, and Shaare Tefilla, at Cong Arzei Darom, 4pm Seudah Shlishit, for Chai Lifeline Highland Park-Edison Shabbaton, Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, 5:40pm, borck99@gmail. com, eli@isourcenyc.com, 732777-9207 or 973-923-4477
Motzei Shabbat, Oct 29
SibZone, for children with special-needs siblings, spons by Yachad, at the Bogota Golf Center, 7:30pm, herrmann@ou.org Wine and Food Tasting: A Taste of Kosher Metro-New York, JCC, Tenafly, 8pm, 201-569-7900 Tiferes, a Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation inspiratonal program for women, private home in Edison, 9pm, 732-572-4713
Sun., Oct 30
Mother-and-Daughter Matan Bat Mitzvah Program, for girls 10-12 and their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, Pnina
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
The Log
October 2011
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
continued from page 27
Yahid, Ben Porat Yosef, Paramus, 9:30am, 201-845-5007 ext 10 Noach’s Petting Zoo, including pony rides, Cong Rinat Yisrael, 10:30am-12:30pm Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Eichmann’s End: Love, Betrayal, Death,” with Prof Jeffrey Shandler, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater A, North Brunswick, noon, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Friendship Circle Walk to Celebrate Children and Teens with Autism and Special Needs, adults and children select 5K or 1 mile, includes activities and attractions all ages, and kosher food, at the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy, Livingston, noon, 973-2510202 or 973-420-6808 Raritan Valley Hadassah Mitzvah of Love Tribute Luncheon, honoring Gittel Footerman, Leah Silver, Selma Goldblatt, Barbara Nathan, Millie Reuben, and Finette Ziment, at Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, noon, 732-828-4806 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Blood Relation,” with Isaac Zablocki, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater B, North Brunswick, 12:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Dressing America: Tales from the Garment Center,” with director Joel Sucher, producer Steve Fischler, associate producer Phyllis Dillon, and others in the film, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater A, North Brunswick, 2:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 “‘S Wonderful—The New Gershwin Musical,” celebrating the genius of George and Ira Gershwin, State Theatre, New Bruns-
wick, 3pm, 732-246-7469 Shomer Shabbat and Shomer Kashrut Cub Scout Pack 613 Den Meeting, for boys in grades 1-5, cubmaster Jonathan Schachter, Cong Ahavat Achim, Fair Lawn, 4pm, jschachter2@gmail.com Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Auf Weidersehen: ‘Til We Meet Again,” with director Linda Mills and co-writer and producer Peter Goodrich, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater B, North Brunswick, 4:15pm, 732-932-4166, 732-8289555, or 732-940-8343 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Gei Oni” (Valley of Fortitude), with director Dan Wolman, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater A, North Brunswick, 4:45pm, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 JACS Meeting, 12-steps meeting for Jews in recovery, Rabbi Steven Bayar, Cong B’nai Israel, Millburn, 6pm, 973-379-3811 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Srugim,” Israel’s Orthodox “Friends,” episodes 1-3, with Shayna Weiss, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater A, North Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Shalom Bayis Shiur: “Mikveh and Becoming a Force for Renewal,” for women, Devorah Rose Kigel, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, allyson.guraryeh@gmail.com
Mon., Oct 31
Café Europa Holocaust Survivor Group, Jacob Weiland, MSW, spons by the Claims Conference, YMHA, Riverdale, 1pm, 718-548-8200 “Fascinating Facts—Exploring the Myths and Mysteries of Judaism: Know Something about the Bible?” Rabbis Bo-
The Log is a free service provided to the Jewish community in northern and central New Jersey, Rockland County and Riverdale. Events that we list include special and guest lectures, concerts, boutiques, dinners, open houses, club meetings, and new classes. Announcements are requested by the 25th of the month prior to the month of the event. Due to space and editorial constraints, we cannot guarantee publication of any announcement. Please email them to : susan@jewishvoiceandopinion.com.
ruch Klar and Mendy Kasowitz, Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 7:30, 973-486-2362
Tues., Nov 1
Deadline for Submissions of Full-Length Plays on Jewish Themes, spons by JCC MetroWest and the Jewish Plays Project; judged on clarity, importance, and personal connection of Jewish ideas; finalists’ plays will be staged, 347878-5771, 973-530-3421, or jpc@ jewishplaysproject.org Art Exhibit: The Light of Israel,” Oren Cohen, JCC, Tenafly, 201569-7900, through Wed., Nov 30 Rockland Jewish Cultural Arts Festival Exhibit, featuring works by Phil Fine, Barbara Green, Ned Harris, Simon Jeruchim, Ilse Lang, Moshe Monzon, Herb Rogoff, Natasha Rubin, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, through Sun., Nov 20, 845-362-4400 ext 175 New Resources for Holocaust/Genocide Education Workshop, featuring survivor Roman Kent; “US Holocaust Memorial Museum,” Christina Chavarria; “Jewish Foundation for the Righteous,” Stanlee Stahl; “Museum of Jewish Heritage/A Living Memorial to the Holocaust,” Dr. Paul Radensky; “Echoes and Reflections: A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust,” Ariel Fried; “Bearing Witness (for Catholic Educators),” Sr Joseph Spring; “Facing History and Ourselves,” David Schwartz; “Hidden Child Foundation,” Ann Shore and Lore Baer; “Holocaust Council of Metrowest,” Barbara Wind; “A Study of Heroes: Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the US,” Dr Kathleen Morin and Rachel Oestreicher Bernheim; College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, 8:15am, holocaustcenter@cse.edu or hsepinwall@cse.edu Jewish History Adventure: Trip to Kehila Kedosha Janina Romaniote Synagogue and Eldridge Street Synagogue in Manhattan, includes kosher Greek lunch, leave YJCC, Washington Twnshp 8:45am, 201-666-6610 “All You Ever Wanted to Know about Breast Feeding,” Elly Gail Egenberg, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 10:15am, 845-362-4400 Rutgers Jewish Film Fes-
tival: “Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray,” at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 11:30am, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 “Bogeymen of English Literature and Theater: Fagin,” Prof Benjamin Nelson, JCC, West Orange, 1:30pm, 973-530-3406 or 973-530-3480 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “The Matchmaker” (Pa’am Ha’iti), at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 1:45pm, 732-932-4166, 732-8289555, or 732-940-8343 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Little Rose,” at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 4:15pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Contemporary Israeli Poetry Group, in the original with English translation and discussion, Atara Fobar, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 7pm, 718-796-4730 Rockland Jewish Cultural Arts Festival Film: “An Article of Hope,” the story of Ilan Ramon, the Space Shuttle Columbia, and the tiny Holocaust Torah Scroll, with Joseph Lennox, at the Lafayette Theater, Suffern, 7pm, 845-362-4400 ext 175 or 845-369-8234 “Biblical Beauty: Ancient Secrets and Modern Solutions,” cosmetologist Rachelle Weisberger, JCC, Tenafly, 7:30pm, 201-408-1458 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “The Flood” (Mabul), with Peter Bell of Autism Speaks, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343
Wed., Nov 2
“Armchair Tour of Jewish Harlem,” Marty Schneit, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 1pm, 845-362-4400 Jewish 12-Step Meeting, JACS—Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons, and Significant Others, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:30pm, 201-8379090, ask for IRA (Information and Referral) or 201-981-1071 “Israel in Light of the New Middle East,” Gil Lainer, Con-
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com sul for Public Diplomacy, Israeli Consulate, JCC, Tenafly, 8:15pm, 201-408-1426
Ancient Civilization,” Liel Leibovitz, JCC, Rockland, West Nyack, noon, 845-362-4400 ext 175
Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Sholom Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness,” with Dr. Eddy Portnoy, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 12:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 “Jewish Gangsters: But They Were Good to Their Mothers,” Edith Sobel, JCC, Tenafly, 1:30pm, 201-408-1457 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “The Round Up” (La Rafle), at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 3pm, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Israeli Short Films, presented by the Ma’aleh School of Television Film and the Arts in Jerusalem, includes dinner, Birnbaum JCC, Bridgewater, 6:30pm, 908-725-6994 Future Planning for Families with Special-Needs Members, Rebecca Wanatick, JCC, West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-929-3129 “Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War against Israel,” Thanassis Cambanis, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7:30pm, 845362-4400 ext 175 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Little Rose,” with Dr. Anna Manchin, includes a Young Professionals Gathering after the film, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-8289555, or 732-940-8343 Mishmar with Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot, includes “Study with a Buddy” and pizza, Beit Midrash, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 8pm, 732-545-2407
Women’s Shiur, Rebbetzin Shoshana Rybak, Cong Adas Israel, Passaic, 3pm
Thurs., Nov 3
Fri., Nov 4
“Is My Child Normal? Typical Development for Preschool Children,” Tricia Stern, LCSW, Jewish Family Service, Livingston, 9:30am, 973-637-1773 A Taste of Shabbat, for children 1-5 with an adult, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, noon, 845-362-4200 “Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America in the 1870s, Went to School, and Revolutionized an
Shabbat, Nov 5
Motzei Shabbat, Nov 5
Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Eichman’s End: Love, Betrayal, Death,” at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 7:15pm, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 “Ishmael: Then and Now,” for men and women, Shai BenTekoa, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 8pm Cong Beth Aaron Sisterhood Book Club: “The Game of Opposites” by Norman Lebrecht, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, 201-837-0651 NJ Chapter of Friends of the IDF Dinner, honoring lone soldiers, featuring the Maccabeats, Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel, E Rutherford, 8pm, 646-274-9614 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “The Matchmaker” (Pa’am Ha’iti), at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 9:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-8289555, or 732-940-8343
Sun., Nov 6
Clowning Program Training: Bikur Cholim, spons by Areyvut, for adults and children 4th grade and up, includes visit to CareOne, at Young Israel of Teaneck, 8am, 201-244-6702 Mitzvah Day, spons by the Jewish Federation of Northern NJ, at several locations throughout Bergen County, 9am-4pm, 201-820-3921 Fall Boutique, JCC, Tenafly, 10am-5pm, also Mon, Nov 7, 9am-4pm, 201-408-1438 Explanatory Morning Service, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:15am, 201-966-4490 Mother-and-Daughter Matan Bat Mitzvah Program, for girls 10-12 and their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, Pnina Yahid, Ben Porat Yosef, Paramus, 9:30am, 201-845-5007 ext 10 Creative Maturity Expo, focusing on healthy living and job-search strategies for the ma-
Tishrei 5712
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
ture worker, JCC, West Orange, 10am-4pm; “The Beat Goes On,” Max Weinberg, drummer of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, 1:15pm, 973-674-6330 ext 311 Shabbat Stop, for children, create a box filled with items necessary to celebrate Shabbat, JCC, West Orange, 10:15am “Lazar, the Good Deed Dog,” for children, Myrna Gelman Shankar, includes presentation by Luke Montgomery of “Music for Aardvarks,” JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 10:30am, 845-3624400 ext 175 Hadassah Chug Ivrit, Hebrew Club, for men and women, intermediate to advanced Hebrew speakers, private home in Highland Park, 11am, 732-819-9298 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness,” with director Joseph Dorman, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater B, North Brunswick, 11:30am, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Meet the Artist Reception: Oren Cohen, for “The Light of Israel,” JCC, Tenafly, 1-3pm, 201-569-7900 Film: “About Face: The Story of the Jewish Refugee Soldiers of World War II,” JCC, Tenafly, 1pm Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “My Life with Carlos,” (Mi Vida con Carlos), with poet and Prof Marjorie Agosin, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater B, North Brunswick, 2pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Tour of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue in Manhattan and Kosher Dinner, spons by
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HudsonJewish.org, meet on the PATH platform, Hoboken, 3pm, Harvey@HudsonJewish.org Jewish Cultural Arts Festival Photography Workshop, Maya Barkai, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 4pm, 845-362-4400 ext 175 Shomer Shabbat and Shomer Kashrut Cub Scout Pack 613 Den Meeting, for boys in grades 1-5, cubmaster Jonathan Schachter, Cong Ahavat Achim, Fair Lawn, 4pm, jschachter2@gmail.com Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Amos Oz: The Nature of Dreams,” with Prof Muli Peleg, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater A, North Brunswick, 4:15pm, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray,” at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater B, North Brunswick, 4:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “The Round Up” (La Rafle), with Prof Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater A, North Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “Srugim,” Israel’s Orthodox “Friends,” episodes 4-6, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center Theater B, North Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-8289555, or 732-940-8343
Mon., Nov 7
Film and Brown-Bag Lunch: “The Little Drummer Girl,” Lautenberg JCC, Whippany, 10:30am, 973-929-2917 Café Europa Holocaust Survi-
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The Log
October 2011
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
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vor Group, Linda Storfer, Riverdale YMHA, noon, 718-548-8200 Howard Leshaw Klezmer Orchestra, in concert, JCC, West Orange, 1pm, 973-530-3400 Jewish Cultural Arts Festival: Marc Chagall, Irene Wisoff, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 1pm, 845-362-4400 ext 175 “Havdala Candle Factory and Sushi,” Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Ramapo College, Student Center, Mahwah, 1pm, 201-8203905 or 201-966-3040 “Fascinating Facts—Exploring the Myths and Mysteries of Judaism: From Womb to Tomb,” Rabbis Boruch Klar and Mendy Kasowitz, Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 7:30, 973-486-2362 “Fascinating Facts—Exploring the Myths and Mysteries of Judaism: Know Something about the Bible?” Rabbi Dov Drizin, Chabad of Woodcliff Lake, 8pm, 201-476-0157 “Teach Our Children: Educating and Empowering Mothers in the Orthodox Community to Break the Cycle of Child Sexual Abuse—Signs and Symptoms of Sexual Abuse,” private home in Teaneck, 8pm, 347-746-7361, 201953-9952, or 201-692-3957 Rep Rick Berg (R-ND), spons by NORPAC, private home in Riverdale, 8pm, 201-788-5133 or 201-951-7900
Tues., Nov 8
Kosherfest Trade Show, showcasing kosher food, beverages, and equipment, Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, 9am-5pm; “The Kosher Food Industry in 2012: On a Superhighway to New Vistas,” Menachem Lubinsky, 9am; floor
exhibit opening with Israel’s Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger, 10am; “The New Demands of an Ever-Changing Kosher Palate,” Leah Schapira, Joan Nathan, Jeffrey Nathan, Gil Marks, Levana Kirschenbaum, and Jamie Geller, 11am; “‘Mainstreaming’ Kosher: Taking Ethnic/Specialty Foods to the Masses and Growing Beyond Your Specialty Niche,” Milt Weinstock and Menachem Lubinsky, 1pm; “Leveraging Technology to Empower Your Mobile Sales Force in the Food and Beverage Industry,” Jory Weissman, 2pm; “Canadian Kosher,” panel of kashrut certifiers, 3pm, 201-947-4133 Stand with Us: Israel Advocacy on Campus, for grades 10-12, includes lunch, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, noon, 845-3624200 ext 115 “The History of Sephardic Jews in the US,” Dr. Nathan Reiss, JCC, Tenafly, 12:30pm, 201569-7900 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: “The Flood” (Mabul), at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 12:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-828-9555, or 732-940-8343 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: Documentary: “Torn,” a priest discovers he was born to Jewish parents, with director Ronit Kertsner, at The Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick, 3:15 and 7:30pm, 732-932-4166, 732-8289555, or 732-940-8343 Havdalah Candle Factory and Sushi, Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Fairleigh Dickinson University, University Chapel, Teaneck, 3:30pm, 201-820-3905 or 201-966-3040
“Fascinating Facts—Exploring the Myths and Mysteries of Judaism: Know Something about the Bible?” Rabbi Levi Dubinsky, Chabad of Mountain Lakes, 973551-1898, 7:30pm; Rabbis Yitzchok Dubov, Levi Shemtov, and Hershel Weiszner, Chabad of Riverdale, at the Riverdale YMHA, 718-549-1100, 8pm G.E.M. (Gathering for Encouragement of Modesty, for women, private home in Passaic, 8pm, 973-365-2342
Wed., Nov 9
Kosherfest Trade Show, showcasing kosher food, beverages, and equipment, Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, 9am-4pm; Culinary Competition, 11am, 201-947-4133 Book Reading: “Life Gave Me a Chance,” Manfred Gans, JCC, Tenafly, 10:45am, 201-569-7900 Book Group: “Triangle” by Katharine Weber, with Carol Berman, JCC, West Orange, 11am, 973-530-3421 Kristallnacht Commemoration: An Evening of Remembrance, NJ State Government Officials, NJ Holocaust Education Commissioners, Survivors Ilse Loeb, Paul Beller, and Esther Clifford, music by the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North Choir and the Nonettes, Jefferson Arts Academy High School Choir of Elizabeth, and the Lashir Jewish Community Choir of Princeton, Assembly Chamber, State House, Trenton, 7pm, 609-292-9274 Confidential Abused Women’s Support Group, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 Support Group for Mothers of Special-Needs Children, Amy Brunswick, LSW, JCC, West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-765-9050 or 973-929-3129 Support Group for Caregivers, those caring for an older adult who is physically frail or suffering from memory loss, JCC, Tenafly, 7:30pm, 201-408-1450 JCC Rockland Book Club: “The Three Weissmans of Westport” by Cathleen Schine, facilitated by Arlene Sandner, West Ny-
ack, 7:30pm, 845-362-4400 “Fascinating Facts—Exploring the Myths and Mysteries of Judaism: Know Something about the Bible?” Rabbis Levi Wolosow and Boruch Chazanow, Chabad of Manalapan, 732-972-3687, 7:30pm; Rabbi Avrohom Bergstein, Chabad of Fair Lawn, 718-839-5296; Rabbi Chanoch Kaplan, Chabad of Franklin Lakes, 201-848-0449; Rabbi Mordechai Baumgarten, Chabad Center of Northwest NJ, Rockaway, 973-625-1525; Rabbi Ephraim Simon, Chabad House, Teaneck, 201-907-0686, 8pm “Defining Moments in Hadassah’s 100 Years,” Barbara Rothstein, private home in Fair Lawn, 7:45pm, 201-791-7125 “Chicks with Sticks Knitting Circle,” hats for preemies, children with cancer, and IDF soldiers in Israel, private home in Highland Park, 8pm, 732-339-8492
Thurs., Nov 10
Last Day to See Art Exhibit: “Mufti: Nazis and Antisemitism in Today’s World,” Gaelen Art Gallery, Lautenberg JCC, Whippany Havdalah Candle Factory and Sushi, Rabbi Ely Allen, Hillel of Bergen Community College, Paramus, 12:30pm, 201-820-3905 or 201-966-3040 “Jewish Gangsters: But They Were Good to Their Mothers,” Edith Sobel, JCC, Tenafly, 1:30pm, 201-408-1457 State of Israel Bonds Commerce and Industry Tribute Dinner, Crystal Plaza, Livingston, 6:30pm, 973-534-2291 Rockland Jewish Cultural Arts Festival Film: “Jewish Soldiers in Blue & Gray,” with Shalom Lamm, at the Lafayette Theater, Suffern, 7pm, 845-3624400 ext 175 or 845-369-8234 Book Group: “Triangle” by Katharine Weber, with Carol Berman, JCC, West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-530-3421 “Beyond Bagels—Talk among Ourselves: Dating,” spons by Hillel, at the Student Activities Center, Raritan River Lounge, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 8:30pm, 732-545-2407 Y
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com
Sundays
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
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New Classes this Month
Sugyas in Shev Shmaytsa, Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky, Cong Ohr HaTorah, Bergenfield, 7:15am, ohtannounce@gmail.com Breakfast and Torah with the Rabbi, Rabbi Ari Jacobson, Young Israel of Monsey and Wesley Hills, 8:30am, 845-354-5218 “Breakfast and Halachic Topics in Sefer Yalkut Yosef,” Rabbi Mordechai Gershon, Benaroya Sephardic Center, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8:45am Mishna Class on Tractate Beitzah, Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 9:30am, 201-833-0515 Monsey Girls Saddle Club: Learn to Ride and Take Care of Horses, Dana Mase, private stable in Suffern, 12:30pm, 845-356-1464 Women’s-Only Swim, membership not required, JCC of Middlesex County, Edison, 4:30pm, 732-494-3232 ext 614 All Conversation Hebrew, JCC, West Orange, 5pm, 973-5303400, begins Oct 30 Avot uBanim (Father-Son) Learning, Yeshiva Gedola of Teaneck, 7pm, 201-820-3905 Beginners Talmud: Ninth Chapter of Tractate Berachos, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, Cong Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, 8pm, 201-966-4498 Sefer Shoftim, for women, Nechama Price, private home in Bergenfield, 8:30pm, ohtannounce@gmail.com
Mondays
Tishrei 5712
Beginning Hebrew Reading, Diana Yacobi, JCC, Tenafly, 201569-7000, 9:30am and 8pm, begins Nov 7 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level One, Havi Segal-Elad, JCC, Tenafly, 9:30am, 201-820-3908 “Understanding the Hebrew of the Bible: The Book of Genesis, Isaac to Joseph,” Etia Segall, JCC, Tenafly, 9:30am, 201-4081458, begins Oct 31 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Three (Low), Nava Regev, Jewish Federation, Paramus, 9:30am, 201-820-3908 New Moms and Babies, birth to six months, Tricia Stern, LCSW, Jewish Family Service, Livingston, 10am, begins Nov 7, 973-637-1773 Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: Jewish Spirituality, Jacob, YMHA, Riverdale, 10:30am, 718-548-8200 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Three High, Havi SegalElad, JCC, Tenafly, 11am, 201-820-3908 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Two, Drora Arussy, Jewish Federation, Paramus, 11am, 201-820-3908 “Tehillim with a Taste of Parsha,” for women, Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 11am Advanced-Intermediate Hebrew Reading: Chapters from the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, Etia Segall, JCC, Tenafly, 11:30am, 201-408-1458, begins Oct 31 Advanced Beginners Hebrew, Rachel Kushner, JCC, West Orange, 5:30pm, 973-530-3400 Widows and Widowers: You Are Not Alone, bereavement group, Judy Brauner, JCC, Tenafly, 6:30pm, begins Oct 17 Boys Karate Class, for ages 6 and up, Sensei Marty, Cong Tifereth Israel, Passaic, 6:30pm, greenhealthyliving@gmail.com Opportunity to Learn B’Chavruta, for boys in 7th and 8th grades to learn with juniors and seniors at the Torah Academy of Bergen County, includes refreshments, Teaneck, 7pm, 646-706-2553 or 201-699-2137 Leadership Teaneck, for residents interested in learning about the town’s history, government, services, public policy issues, and decision-making, with Fairleigh Dickinson faculty, State Senator Loretta Weinberg, Assemblymen Gordon Johnson and Valerie Huttle, former Bergen County Executive William “Pat” Schuber, Township Manager Willing Broughton, Township Historian Larry Robertson, and Super-
intendent of Schools Barbara Pinsak, at Teaneck Police Headquarters, 7pm, begins Oct 24, 201-837-1600 ext 1003 Absolute Beginning Hebrew, Tzipi Salzhauer, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7pm, 845-362-4400 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Three (High), Pirhia Rozman, Fair Lawn Jewish Center, 7:30pm, 201-820-3908 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Five, Orna Green, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7:30pm, 201-820-3908 “An Un-Orthodox Rabbi at the ‘Center’ of Jewish Life: Exploring Mordecai Kaplan,” Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7:30pm, 201-833-0515 ext 200, begins Oct 24 Relationship Building Course, a social-skills training program for special-needs individuals 18 and older, Yachad, Teaneck, 7:30pm, newjersey.yachad@gmail.com, begins Oct 24 Shomer Shabbat Boy Scout Troop 226, Scoutmaster Daniel Chazin, for boys ages 11-17, grade 6 and up, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7:30pm, 201-836-7019 Melachim Bet, Rabbi Ian Shaffer, Young Israel of Fair Lawn, 7:55pm, begins Oct 31 Advanced Talmud, Rabbi Jeff Fox, private home in Riverdale, 8pm, 718-796-4730 Upcoupling: Coping with Divorce and Separation, Judy Brauner, JCC, Tenafly, 8:15pm, begins Oct 17 Sefer Shmuel II, for women, Aviva Orlian, private home in Wesley Hills, 8:15pm, 845-364-0572 Women’s-Only Swim, membership not required, JCC of Middlesex County, Edison, 8:30pm, 732-494-3232 ext 614 Chazzonut, via the Internet, hosted by Charlie Bernhaut, www. charliebernhaut.com, 9pm, cbjmusic@aol.com Telephone Shiur: “Emunah and Bitachon,” Chani Juravel, 9pm, jungerh@aol.com
Mazal Tov Mazal Tov to the Bar Mitzvah Boys: Jason Blatt, Coby Cunningham, Matthew Denis, Jake Jerushalmy, Shmuel Kaplan, Hillel Koslowe, Zachary Kotzker, Jacob Kukin, Even Lebowitz, Shmuel Levenson, Emanuel Levin, Yitzchak Menachem Lewitan, Naftali Lieber, Meir Lightman, Adam Lorsch, David Lowinger, Yaakov Miller, Joseph Moskowitz, Tani Motechin, Samuel Rudy, Max Segal, Jonathan Silber, Menachem Singerman, Andrew Teigman, Isaac Weinstock, Ezra Wisotsky, and Jonathan Zughaft; and the Bat Mitzvah Girls: Andreea Band, Gabrielle Benjamin, Estee Billig, Adina Falk, Emily Farbowitz, Elisheva Feldman, Chani Kermaier, Eden Lebowitz, Meira Levine, Dalia Beth Mermelstein, Danielle Pasternak, Nava Rosenblatt, Chaviva Brocha Tova Ruda, Leah Schwartz, Raquel Schwartz, Tamar Siegel, Batya Stein, Penina Steinberg, Gila Witkin, and Avital Miriam Zeldin Mazal Tov to Yeshiva University’s Presidential Fellows: Ayelet Kahane, Yaakov Taubes, and Nava Unterman Mazal Tov to Sharsheret on being awarded a federal grant to develop a program for Jewish breast cancer survivors, “Thriving again: Life after Breast Cancer for Young Jewish Women,” including clinical support and educational resources for young Jewish breast cancer survivors and their families Mazal Tov to Dr. Chaya Rapp, Dr Margarita Vigodner, and Dr. Emil Prodan on being awarded major federal grants to pursue cutting-edge research at Stern College for Women Y
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
New Classes
October 2011
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion�
continued from page 31 Tuesdays
Lishma Chevruta Study and Shiur, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, Riverdale, 9am, jgeretz@yctorah.org Parshat Hashavua, for women, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 10am, 973-7361407 Parshat Hashavua, for women, Rabbi Ari Zahtz, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 10:15am, begins Oct 24 Tele-Conference: “My Mother, My Father, My Money: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Understanding Resistances to Making Money,� Dr. Yisrael Feuerman, 11am, 973-249-8111 “Shake It Up—Low-Stress, High-Energy, Intense Dance Fun,� Shani Nissel, Power Studio, Wesley Hills, for girls 7-11, 5:30pm; for teenage girls, 6:45pm, 845-364-9111 Beginners Hebrew Reading, Laurette Sasson, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-408-1458, begins Nov 1 Shira: Community Chorus on the Palisades, Matthew Lazar, for ages 18 and over, JCC, Tenafly, 7:30pm, 201-569-7900, begins Oct 11 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level One, Ornit Michael, Jewish Federation, Paramus, 7:30pm, 201-820-3908 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Three (Low), Orna Green, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7:30pm, 201-820-3908 Navi Shiur: Sefer Shoftim, for women, Rachel Frazer, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 7:30pm Yiddish Club, for Yiddish and non-Yiddish speakers, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 8pm, 732-545-2407 Parshat Hashavua, for women, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:30pm, 973736-1407, begins Oct 24 “Jewish Spirituality,� Rabbi Ely Allen, spons by Hillel of North-
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ern NJ, private home in Bergenfield, 9pm, 201-820-3905 or 201-9663040 Maseches Sukkah, Lieber Schachter, Bais Medrash of Bergenfield, 9:20pm, ryan@bmob.org
Wednesdays
Women’s Writing Group, Ruchama King Feuerman, private home in Passaic, 9am, 973-594-1119 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Four, Orna Green, JCC, Tenafly, 9:15am, 201-820-3908 “Keys to Joy and Wisdom: Spiritual Lessons and Legal Discussions of the Sages of the Talmud,� Rabbi Herschel Grossman, JCC, Tenafly, 9:30am, begins Oct 26, 201-569-7900 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Four (low), Bergen County YJCC, Washington Twnshp, 9:30am, 201-820-3908 “Emunah and Bitachon,� for women, Chani Juravel, at Ohr Sameach’s Beit Shvidler, Monsey, 9:45am, 845-425-1370 Parshas Hashavua, for women, Sussi Brecher, private home in Wesley Hills, 10:45am, 845-362-0693 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Five, Orna Green, JCC, Tenafly, 11am, 201-820-3908 “Ethics in Action: Everyday Ethical Dilemmas through the Lenses of Jewish Teachings and General Society,� Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 11am, 201-833-0515 Yiddish 101, Blossom Milyoner, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 12:30pm, 845-362-4400, begins Oct 26 Lunch and Learn, for seniors, Rabbi Michael Taubes, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, lunch, 1pm, shiur, 1:30pm Yiddish Vinkel, Blossom Milyoner, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 2pm, 845-362-4400, begins Oct 26 “Pay-It Forward� Club, free tutoring to help girls in grades 1-5 with their homework, offered by students at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, Teaneck, 4:40pm, weineri@maayanot.org Beginners Hebrew, Rachel Kushner, JCC, West Orange, 6pm, 973-530-3400 Matan Bat Mitvah Program, for girls approaching bat mitzvah, Rebbetzin Debbie Baum, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 7pm, begins Nov 2 “Growth through Group: Girl Talk,� for girls 13-16, Nancy Zwiebach, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-843-1373 or 201-408-1489 Yeshiva Indoor Soccer League for High School Boys, Ben Porat Yosef, Paramus, 7pm, info@bergenhakoah.com Beginners Israeli Folk Dance, Sara Burnbaum, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7:15pm, 845-362-4400, begins Oct 26 “The Writings of Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik on the Problem of Suffering in ‘Fate and Destiny,’� Rabbi Mordecai Feuerstein, Suburban Torah Center, Livingston, 7:15pm, 973-994-2620 or 973-994-0122 Advanced Hebrew, Rachel Kushner, JCC, West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-530-3400 Ulpan Conversational Hebrew Level Four (low), Pirhia Rozman, Fair Lawn Jewish Center, 7:30pm, 201-820-3908 Imrov Comedy, for ages 15-Adults, Black Box Studios, Jewish Center of Teraneck, 8pm, 201-567-6664 Women’s Tehillim Group, for the refuah shleima for Ruchama Sayla bat Gella and all cholei Yisrael, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, debbieshalom@yahoo.com Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah, for Jewish adults with little or no knowledge of the teachings of Judaism or who want a refresher course, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-966-4498, begins Nov 2 Intermediate Ulpan, Sara Kinberg, Hebrew Institute of River-
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com dale, 8pm, 718-796-4730 Men’s-Only Swim, membership not required, JCC of Middlesex County, Edison, 8:30pm, 732-494-3232 ext 614 “The Secrets of the Jewish Marriage,” for women, Mandana Bolour, based on the book Ohel Rachel, Sephardic Beit Midrash, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8:30pm, 917-544-1929 Bible: Beginners and Advanced, Rachel Kushner, JCC, West Orange, 8:45pm Shiur, Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 9:15pm, 201-836-8916
Thursdays
Lishma Chevruta Study and Shiur, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, Riverdale, 9am, jgeretz@yctorah.org Thursday Night Pizza Club, for ages 4 through 3rd grade, meet at Cong Ohav Emeth, Highland Park, then walk to the public library for a reading session, followed by pizza back at the shul, 5pm Beginners Ulpan, Sara Kinberg, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 6:30pm, 718-796-4730 Advanced Yiddish, Rebecca Levine, Lautenberg JCC, Whippany, 7pm, 973-530-3400 Pre-Intermediate Israeli Folk Dance, Sara Burnbaum, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7pm, 845-362-4400, begins Oct 27 “Aveilut: A Study of the Laws of Mourning in the Talmud and Codes,” Rabbi Mordecai Feuerstein, Suburban Torah Center, Livingston, 7:30pm, 973-994-2620 or 973-994-0122 Siddur Hebrew, Sara Kinberg, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 7:30pm, 718-796-4730 “The Book of Psalms Revealed: Lessons for Life in All Its Complexity,” Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7:45pm, 201-833-0515 Krav Maga, for men, women, and children age 10 and up, Moshe Glick, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8pm, Mglickus@gmail.com Open Israeli Folk Dance, Sara Burnbaum, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 8pm, 845-362-4400 Yiddish for Beginners, Rebecca Levine, Lautenberg JCC, Whippany, 8:10pm, 973-530-3400 Gemara: Masechet Brachot, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:30pm Chumash Shiur, Rabbi Yissocher Frand, via satellite, Cong K’Hal Zichron Mordechai, Monsey (845-356-7188);Young Israel of Fair Lawn (201-797-1800); Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck (201-9070180); Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange (973-669-7320); Cong Tifereth Israel, Passaic (973-773-2552), Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park (732-247-0532), 9pm Gemara, Rabbi Menachem Genack, Cong Shomrei Emunah, Englewood, 9pm Pastries, Pizza, and Parsha, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 9pm, 732-545-2407 Maseches Sukkah, Lieber Schachter, Bais Medrash of Bergenfield, 9:20pm, ryan@bmob.org Pirkei Avos, Rabbi Larry Rothwachs, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 9:45pm
Fridays
“The Meaning of Minhag: Origins of a Prayer or Custom,” Rabbi Lawrence Zieler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, between Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv, 201-833-0515
Shabbat
“Tea and Torah,” Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 8:15am, 201-833-0515 Shabbos Zemiros Group, Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange, 4:30pm, osehtov@yahoo.com
Tishrei 5712
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
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School Open Houses
Tues., Oct 25
Yavneh Academy, for grades N-8, Paramus, 8pm, 201-2628494 ext 325
Wed., Oct 26
SAR Academy Elementary School, for grades N-8, Riverdale, 7pm, 718-548-1717 Gan Miriam Early Learning Center, for children 18 months to 4 years, Riverdale Jewish Center, 7:30pm, 718-543-2553 The Moriah School of Englewood, for grades K-8, 8pm, 201-568-0208 ext 376
Sun., Oct 30
Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, for 8th grade girls and their parents, 9:30am, 201-833-4307 Torah Academy of Bergen County, for 8th grade boys and their parents, 10am, 201837-7696 Yeshivat Noam, for grades N-8, Paramus, 7:30pm, 201261-1919
Tues., Nov 1
Ben Porat Yosef, for grades K-8, Paramus, 8pm, 201-8455007 ext 16
Sun., Nov 6
Kushner Yeshiva High School, for 8th graders and their parents, Livingston, 9am, 973-597-1115 SAR High School Open House, for 8th graders and their parents, Riverdale, 9:30am, 718-548-2727 Bruriah High School for Girls, for 8th girls and their parents, Elizabeth, 9:30am, 908-355-4850 Yeshivas Ohr Yosef, for 8th grade boys and their parents, New Milford, 2pm, 201-977-2990
Tues., Nov 8
Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, Open House and Education Fair, for grades N-8, River Edge, 7:45pm, 201-986-1414
Wed., Nov 9
Jewish Educational Center Mesivta, for 8th grade boys and their parents, Elizabeth, 7:30pm, 908-355-4850
Sun., Nov 13
Frisch Yeshiva High School, for 8th graders and their parents, Paramus, 9:15am, 201267-9100 Y
Motzei Shabbat
Mussar Shiur: Shaarei Teshuva, Rabbi Heshy Grossman, private home in Teaneck, 9pm, yehuda.isenberg@axiscapital.com Navi, Rabbi Yisroel Reisman, live via satellite, Young Israel of Fair Lawn (201-797-1800); Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park (732247-0532); Cong Tifereth Israel, Passaic; JEC, Elizabeth (908-5915929); Cong Khal Zichron Mordechai, Monsey (845-356-7188); Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck; Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange (973-669-7320), 10:30pm
Chessed Ops
To Prepare for Her Bat Mitzvah, Shira Kosowsky is collecting new and slightly used secular and Judaica books for OHEL’s new Camp Kaylie, a groundbreaking, integrated camp for children of all abilities, 201-244-1562 Grandma’s Baby Gemach, when grandchildren or other relatives or friends come to visit, items can be borrowed, 201-446-5170 Yad Leah, a Northern NJ-based organization, collects new and gently used clothing for needy families in Israel. There is a drop-off site in Teaneck and donations of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing are always welcome, 973-594-9118 Keren Kol Kallah needs sheitals for its annual sale. All donated wigs are sold at discounted prices to women who could not usually afford to buy a good-quality wig, and all profits go to help poor brides. Drop-off locations in Monsey, Leah.bennett@yahoo.com The Toy Gemach of Passaic is looking for toys in good condition. Pick-ups can be scheduled by contacting lebovitsm@yahoo.com Y
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion October 2011 Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
Congress Acts
continued from page 1
Obama’s threat to veto the measure if it ever comes to a vote, Congress sprang into action, immediately blocking nearly $200 million in aid for the PA which had been earmarked for projects such as food aid, health care, and support for efforts to build a functioning state. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, refused to allow her committee to consider approval of $192 million that had been requested by the US government aid agency, USAID. She has also called for a cutoff of US funds to UNESCO if the Palestinian effort succeeds. In this, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen is seeking to emulate the actions of the administration of George HW Bush in 1989, the year the Palestinians, then represented by the PLO, first tried to win recognition as a member of the UN. At first, then-Secretary of State James Baker tried to convince the UN members to vote against the proposal in the General Assembly. When it became clear that was impossible, he announced the US would withhold all funds from any UN entity
that upgraded the status of the Palestinian observer mission in any way. World Health Organization The first group approached by thenPLO leader Yasir Arafat was the World Health Organization. Mr. Arafat’s intention was for his brother, Dr. Fathi Arafat, to serve as Palestine’s representative. When the Bush administration made clear that, despite the WHO’s humanitarian work, it would lose its US funding, the group capitulated and would not recognize the PLO. “The UN was forced to choose between isolating Israel and receiving US contributions, and they chose the latter. The PLO’s unilateral campaign was stopped in its tracks,” said Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Consequences Many members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, hope that a similar tactic will work this time, regarding UNESCO. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen believes the Palestinian leadership knows their efforts at the UN Security Council will fail, either because they cannot muster sufficient votes or the US will use its veto. Now,
she said, the PA “is shopping around the UN system for recognition.” “The US must strongly oppose this move,” she said. “There must be consequences for Palestinian and UN actions that undermine any hope for true and lasting peace.” No Upgrades In fact, existing US law will make cutting funds for UNESCO relatively easy. Congress is empowered to bar funding to any UN body that accepts members that do not have the “internationally recognized attributes of statehood.” That requirement is generally, but not exclusively, interpreted to mean UN membership. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen wants to extend that law to include any UN body that so much as upgrades the Palestinians’ status before negotiations with Israel have been completed. This law would take effect if, for example, the UN General Assembly decided to raise the Palestinians from their current status as “observer” to “permanent observer,” which is the status enjoyed by the Vatican. The Palestinians have said they will accept nothing less than full membership as a state.
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Fair Warning With this as background, the House Appropriations Committee has enforced the freeze on all PA funds since August 18, when lawmakers were notified that USAID wanted to transfer the funds to the PA. Rep Kay Granger (R-TX), chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, which oversees all foreign aid, said she wants the freeze to be in place “until the issue of statehood is resolved” at the UN. “Since April, I have made it clear to the Palestinian leadership that I would not support sending them US taxpayer money if they sought statehood at the UN,” she said. In addition, she and the ranking member of her House subcommittee, Nita Lowey (D-NY), both urged UNESCO not to admit the Palestinians. Ending Aid for Security Congress’s decision to freeze funds that were scheduled to be dispersed in the US fiscal year that ended last month, is the most tangible sign of the bipartisan disapproval of the actions by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. According to Americans for Peace Now, an additional $150 million in security assistance to the PA is also being frozen. Last July, House Resolution 268, urging the Obama administration to suspend financial assistance to the PA if it pushed for a UN vote on recognition of statehood, passed by a huge majority. That bill also called for a renewal of direct talks between Israel and the PA. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen said the funds her committee controls have been frozen pending oversight to ensure the Palestinian recipients are not working with terrorist groups. She has expressed concern that a tentative agreement between the Fatah faction of the PA with Hamas could already be in effect. Because Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by the US, it is not permitted to receive any US funding. “Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee believe that the funding cannot be considered in a vacuum, and that the PA’s activities at the UN, its arrangement with Hamas, and its failure to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state must all be taken into consideration,” said Bradley Goehner, communications director of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs. $600 Million Some observers believe there may yet
Tishrei 5772 be a showdown between the President and Congress over the $600 million which the PA has been receiving annually since 2008. In the US House and Senate, leaders and members of the committees and subcommittees, representing both parties, have already signaled their inclination to block both economic and security aid for fiscal year 2012 if the Palestinians forge ahead with their unilateral bid for statehood. According to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, lobbying by the administration to convince Congress to release the funds for the PA has been “intensive.” “We still have some money in the pipeline, but the concern is that if we don’t
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get this going with Congress in short order, there could be an effect on the ground,” she said, adding that “there have been some concerns in some parts of Congress and we are trying to work through these.” She said the Obama administration viewed US aid as crucial to preparing the PA for its eventual role as the government of a Palestinian state. “We think it is money that is not only in the interest of the Palestinians, it is in US interest and it is also in Israeli interest and we would like to see it go forward,” she said. Helping Israel? In Israel, Secretary of Defense Leon
continued on page 36
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Congress Acts
continued from page 35
Panetta also criticized the Congressional move, insisting that the funds for the PA “have helped improve Israel’s security.” “This is no time to withhold those funds, at a point in time where we are urging the Palestinians and the Israelis to sit down and negotiate a peace agreement,” he said. Mr. Panetta made his remarks during a press conference in Tel Aviv with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak. Palestinian “No” Thus far, the PA has spurned US efforts, and those of the Quartet (the US, the European Union, the UN, and Russia). While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
initially said there could be no negotiations until the PA agreed to recognize Israel as the Jewish state, he has since withdrawn that stipulation and has agreed to begin negotiations with no preconditions. However, he has insisted that such recognition be part of any final peace treaty. For the Palestinians, recognition of a Jewish state means relinquishing their socalled “right of return,” the demand that all Arab refugees from 1948 and 1967, and their descendants, have the “right” to return to their homes in Israel proper, thereby flooding Israel with millions of Arabs and demographically erasing the Jewish state. The Palestinians have vowed
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never to abandon the “right of return.” Mr. Abbas has said he will return to the negotiating table only if Israel agrees to institute a new building freeze in all of Judea and Samaria, including eastern and southern Jerusalem. Manipulation One year ago, in an effort to appease the US and jumpstart negotiations with the PA, Mr. Netanyahu initiated a 10-month moratorium on building in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem. But instead of sitting down for talks, Mr. Abbas complained that the freeze was not completely total. He did not agree to negotiate until a few weeks before the freeze expired and then argued that Israel’s refusal to extend the moratorium precluded any further talks. The effort at manipulation was not lost on Congress. In a recent op-ed, Rep Eric Cantor (R-PA), the House Majority Leader, and Rep Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Minority Whip, noted that Mr. Abbas’s “hope that the international community would then pressure Israel into more concessions [was] a desperate ploy.” As demonstrated by Messrs Cantor and Hoyer, the Congressional freeze on aid to the PA is bipartisan. Last summer, dozens of Republican and Democratic Congressmen and Senators, including Messrs Cantor and Hoyer, returned from visits to Israel warning that Washington would seek to cut aid to the PA if the Palestinians actually went ahead with the request for a UN vote. Let the UN Pay Two of the most vocal Congressmen on the issue are Democrats: Gary Ackerman (D-NY), a member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, and Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “If the PA is willing to place its fate in the hands of the UN, perhaps they should also seek aid from the UN,” said Mr. Ackerman. In their op-ed, Messrs Cantor and Hoyer said there would be consequences for Mr. Abbas’s decision to seek UN approval for the PA’s unilateral declaration of independence. “The decision facing Abbas was a simple one: return to direct peace negotiations with Israel or rebuff the US and renew diplomatic warfare against Israel.
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com In choosing the latter, Abbas has put at risk not only the PA’s relationship with the US, but the aspirations of his own people,” they said. Noting that Israel “has always demonstrated its desire to make sacrifices for the sake of peace,” they pointed out “Unfortunately, Abbas did not take advantage of these opportunities.” Nevertheless, Messrs Cantor and Hoyer said, they remained “hopeful,” counting on the economic growth and improved living standards in the PA to persuade Palestinians, if not their leaders, that negotiations with Israel are in their own best interests. Daring the US Since last January, when PA leaders first mentioned their threat of a unilateral declaration of independence, they have mocked and minimized the significance of US aid and even dared the US to cut off its funding. Mr. Abbas said the hundreds of millions of dollars from the US “does not mean that they dictate to us whatever they want.” On February 21, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, despite his reputation as a mild-mannered economic policy wonk, criticized the US for linking its financial support to the PA’s political cooperation, calling US requests “extortion.” “We are not interested in the first place in receiving assistance from any source that threatens to halt its aid for political reasons,” he said. One day later, in a speech broadcast on PA television, Mr. Fayyad mocked US aid, insisting the PA “never referred to this [US] aid as a replacement for our legitimate aspiration to achieve all our national rights.” “Absolutely not. Because our national rights are not for sale or trade for a handful of [American] dollars,” he said. Mocking the US According to Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli NGO that monitors Palestinian public rhetoric, the anti-American language that challenges US positions while simultaneously accepting Washington dollars (and mocking the Americans for giving aid) has seeped into Palestinian culture. This past summer, Kamal Al-Basha, artistic director of the Palestinian National Theater, told PA television that when he directed “Passages of Martin Luther King” by Stanford scholar Clayborne Carson, in a production funded directly by the American Consulate, he inserted scenes that embarrassed the American Consul
Tishrei 5772 so that “his face turned red.” “This scene shows [Palestinian] refusal to have the American flag on stage because the Americans used their veto against the Palestinian people. I inserted a political statement against America with American money,” he boasted. No Compromise Just last August, Mr. Abbas once again stressed his refusal to compromise with the US on his request for statehood from the UN, even if it meant losing American financial aid. “Pressure is indeed being exerted so that we won’t go [to the UN],” he said, insisting that “ultimately there is a supreme Palestinian interest according to which we want to act.”
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He acknowledged being told that Congress was poised to halt all aid to the PA “whether we go to the UN Security Council or to the UN General Assembly.” Outrage Nevertheless, when the freeze was announced last month, the PA howled in outrage, arguing that they received no formal notification and that the reason and timeline for withholding funds was not clear. Ghassan Khatib, chief spokesman for the PA, said the freeze was “not constructive at all” and “unjustified.” “These are mainly humanitarian and development projects. It is another kind of collective punishment which is
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October 2011
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Sweet Potato Latkes
5 cooked sweet potatoes ¼ tsp curry powder 1 medium onion, ½ cup matzo meal browned 1½ tsp salt 4 eggs beaten ¼ tsp black pepper ¼ tsp nutmeg ½ cup canola oil, for frying Put potatoes and onion into a bowl or pulse in food processor; add the eggs, matzo meal, nutmeg, curry powder, salt, and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon the mixture into hot oil forming small pancakes. Cook until underside is golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until other side is golden about 2 minutes more. Serve hot and top with the standard sour cream or applesauce; or with peanut butter, jelly, and bananas; or the very decadent caviar, chives, and crème fraiche.
Sunday Stuffed Challah
½ cup strawberry jam 4 oz Mascarpone or cream cheese, room temperature Pinch of cinnamon 1 large challah loaf sliced into four pieces 4 large eggs ½ cup heavy cream
1½ cups whole milk 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp orange zest 4 Tbs butter Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish Maple syrup, for garnish In a bowl, mix jam and mascarpone or cream cheese and mix with a wooden spoon. Add a pinch of cinnamon and set aside in a cooler. Using a paring knife, cut 2-inch long slits in 1 side of each bread slice, cutting ¾ of the way through the bread and creating a pocket that leaves 3 sides of bread intact. Divide cheese and jam mixture evenly inside the 4 slices. In a large bowl, add eggs, cream, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and zest to combine. Pour mixture into a 13-x-9-inch casserole dish. Put the bread into the egg mixture and let soak for 3 minutes, turning occasionally. Using a spatula, remove the bread from the egg mixture, letting the excess drain off. Melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add egg-soaked bread and fry up both sides until golden brown. Keep an eye on it to make sure the bread and eggs don’t burn. Transfer the toast to a serving platter and garnish with confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup.
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going to harm the needs of the public without making any positive contribution,” he said. Money Owed Other Fatah leaders called the freeze “blackmail” and insisted that the US and other countries owe the Palestinians financial aid on moral grounds. They called US aid to the PA an “obligation” and a “political and moral right” because the US “aided in the establishment of the State of Israel.” By the beginning of October, the PA Minister of Economics, Hassan Abu Libdeh said two projects, one costing $55 million for the “development of the Palestinian private sector,” and the other for $26 million aimed at improving the “investment environment,” were being put on hold for lack of funding. According to Mr. Abu Libdeh, 50 Palestinians have already been laid off and another 200 would follow in November. Other PA ministries said USAID projects, including an $85 million fiveyear plan to improve Palestinian health services, were also in jeopardy. Not a Deterrence Nevertheless, PA officials said this would not deter them from seeking full UN membership for a state of Palestine in all of Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem, including the Old City where the Western Wall is located. “We feel very sorry about this decision by the American Congress, which we think came to sabotage our ability to establish a Palestinian state. This is a political measure that reflects a blind bias against the Palestinian interests and will not help the efforts of the US administration to resume negotiations. The decision [by Congress] is affecting all aspects of American support for the Palestinian people,” said Mr. Abu Libdeh. The angry rhetoric soon morphed into a violent demonstration. On Oct 4, as US diplomats hosted an event at a restaurant in Ramallah for beneficiaries of US programs, protesters chanted anti-American slogans and threw their shoes—a traditional Arab symbol of disgust. “The message that the Palestinian Authority is hoping to send through to the Americans and others is: ‘If you do not endorse our position and if you cut off financial aid, we will turn against you.’ In
one word, it is called extortion,” said IsraeliArab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh. “Enemy” He suggested the incident shows that, despite the Americans’ best efforts, “the US is viewed by many Palestinians as an enemy, mainly because of its support for Israel.” According to Mr. Abu Toameh, the demonstrators also hurled abuse at journalists who had been invited to cover the event in the restaurant. They urged the journalists to boycott the dinner in protest against the “hostile” policy of the US administration, “and to let the diplomats know that unless their demands were met, there would be more shoe-throwing.” “What the Americans do not understand is that all the money in the world will not help them win the hearts and minds of a majority of Arabs and Muslims. True, the money does have a short-term moderating effect on the Palestinians. But once Washington says what is considered the wrong thing, as was the case with the statehood bid, or threatens to suspend financial aid, it should expect more shoes to fly in the face of US diplomats,” said Mr. Abu Toameh. Making Up the Loss According to some reports, the Arab League has called on Arab states to replace the missing aid to the Palestinians with their own donations. Many observers do not believe such aid will be forthcoming, mostly because, more often than not, the Arab states have failed to fulfill such pledges to increase funds to the PA. Nevertheless, Arab League leader Nabil al-Arabi announced that “the Arabs will assist the PA.” “This will be the strongest answer” to the US cuts, he said. After meeting with Mr. al-Arabi, Saeb Erekat, the PA’s chief negotiator, said, “The Palestinian people refuse to allow economic aid to become an instrument of blackmail regarding its rights to membership of the UN.” EU and Israeli Support Mr. Erekat received encouragement from the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who assured PA officials that they could still count on EU funds. According to a report in the Palestinian daily Al-Quds, Ms. Ashton informed Mr. Abbas that EU funding for projects in the Palestinian territories “will not be frozen due to the PA leader’s moves at the UN.”
Over the years, donor countries have given the PA billions of dollars in an attempt to prop up first Mr. Arafat and then Mr. Abbas. The Americans’ annual $600 million includes tens of millions of dollars for training Palestinian security services. Security funding will not be affected by the freeze in USAID, but could be endangered if Congress decides to cut PA funding across the board. In Israel, there have been no official comments on the suspension of US aid, but Mr. Netanyahu, who is staunchly opposed to Mr. Abbas’s decision to seek UN approval for the PA’s unilateral declaration of independence, has not rushed to retaliate monetarily. While some voices in the Knesset argue that the PA’s move in the UN has breached the Oslo Accords, making Israeli transfers of funds to the Palestinians no longer required, Jerusalem is still handing over to the Abbas government tens of millions of dollars collected on their behalf in taxes and other payments. Increased Israeli Aid According to some reports, the Arabs found it particularly galling that just as the PA’s aid was cut, there was an announcement by Israel’s Finance Minister, Yuval Steinitz, that Washington not only will maintain its military aid to Israel,
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion October 2011 Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice & Opinion”
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but will add significant new funding in the form of 55 deep-penetrating bombs known as “bunker busters.” These would be especially helpful in Israel’s battles in Gaza with Hamas, which maintains a pervasive system of smuggling tunnels, and Hezbollah, which operates in subterranean basements in civilian neighborhoods in Lebanon. Mr. Steinitz, who was in Washington last month for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) conference, met with senior White House and Congressional officials on the issue of US military aid to Israel. The news for the PA at that forum
was dismal. Both the IMF and the World Bank said financial problems threatened the state-building program Mr. Fayyad has tried to oversee for the past two years. According to Ha’aretz, the PA has repeatedly failed to pay salaries on time and in full to its 150,000 employees and remains reliant on foreign aid to fill a deficit projected at $900 million this year. Testing the US These problems have not deterred PA officials from challenging the US. The PA’s request to UNESCO is being viewed as a test case to indicate their strength of support to be recognized as a state without
having to negotiate with Israel. But it is also a test for UNESCO, where the Palestinian delegation has had observer status since 1974. Every year, since the mid-1990s, the Palestinians have requested full membership in the agency, but this is the first time they tried using a draft resolution which was presented to the executive board, whose membership rotates. Israel is a member of UNESCO, but this year it does not sit on the executive board. PA Victory Not surprisingly, over the strenuous objections by the US and Israel, the Palestinians’ request was accepted by the executive board by a vote of 40 to 4 with 14 abstentions. The four who voted against the Palestinians were the US, Germany, Latvia, and Romania. The 14 abstentions included Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain. Russia joined the African and Arab states, among others, who voted to support the measure. The resolution is now scheduled to go to UNESCO’s general membership for a vote. If the Palestinians secure the backing of two-thirds of the 193 member states, it will become a full member itself. And, if it does, Congress is poised to cease funding UNESCO which currently receives 22 percent of its budget from the US. Most observers say the loss will cripple the agency, which is why, in Ramallah, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad alMalki said the PA is facing “enormous and unreasonable” diplomatic pressure to persuade his government to withdraw the bid. Premature and Counter-Productive “Making a move in another UN agency will not only jeopardize our relationship with the Palestinians, it will jeopardize our contributions to the UN,” said Ms. Granger. “There are consequences for short-cutting the process, not only for the Palestinians, but for our longstanding relationship with the UN.” Her Democratic colleague, Ms. Lowey, agreed, calling the UNESCO board’s action “premature and counter-productive” to efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the long-stalled peace talks.
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“It is incumbent on every agency affiliated with the UN to do its utmost to foster—not thwart—conditions for peace,” she said, urging UNESCO’s full membership “to reject this destructive gambit.” Diminishing UNESCO According to Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, the tragedy is that the vote on Palestinian membership will hamper the agency from doing “its real and important job.” Mr. Barkan observed that, just this fall, the agency’s board adopted six decisions concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but has “remained silent,” for example, regarding Syria or Libya where people are being slaughtered, human rights disregarded, and cultural and artistic endeavors destroyed. After the UNESCO vote, Israel thanked the four countries who opposed the decision and reiterated its belief that the “correct and only way to advance the peace process with the Palestinians is through direct, unconditional negotiations.”
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Hijacked In a prepared statement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the UNESCO vote “negates the efforts of the international community to advance the political process” and that the board’s decision “will not advance the Palestinians in their aspirations to statehood.” Mr. Barkan said Israel now plans to spend the coming weeks trying to persuade various governments not to politicize UNESCO. “What we are trying to explain is, how and why would UNESCO accept an observer member as a state, when it does not exist as a state. It is very strange for UNESCO to admit a state that does not exist,” he said, adding that the organization has been “hijacked” for political purposes. Wrong Time and Place French officials expressed their concern that the Palestinian bid at UNESCO will derail efforts to resuscitate the peace talks. After attending a closeddoor UNESCO discussion, a French diplomat who was not
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authorized to speak about the issue told the Associated Press that UNESCO is “not the right place,” and that its meeting later in October was “not the right moment” for the Palestinians to seek recognition. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also weighed in on the UNESCO vote, suggesting the agency rethink its plans for Palestinian membership. “I would urge the governing body of UNESCO to think again before proceeding with that vote because the decision about status must be made in the UN and not in auxiliary groups that are subsidiary to the UN,” she said. Anti-Israel Bias Ms. Ros-Lehtinen said she found it “deeply disappointing” to see UNESCO, “which has reformed itself in recent years, poised to support this dangerous Palestinian scheme.” There was some confusion about her reference to the agency’s reformation. Many Israelis view UNESCO as hopelessly biased against the Jewish state and motivated solely by political considerations. For example, UNESCO has declared two quintessentially Jewish holy sites, Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, to be “integral parts of the occupied Palestinian territories.” UNESCO made the determination concerning Rachel’s Tomb after Israel enclosed the site with a fortified
Reading
installation to protect Jewish pilgrims and the tomb itself from terrorism. UNESCO made its determination concerning the Cave of the Patriarchs, considered Judaism’s holiest site after the Temple Mount, when Israel gave the Cave national heritage-site protection. Dragging It Out Now that the PA’s official request for recognition as a state has been made to the UN Security Council, there have been some reports that the Obama administration is pushing the UN to delay its response. While Palestinian officials have been lobbying Security Council members, hoping to garner the nine members it needs before being able to take its bid back to the General Assembly, the US, which would prefer not to have to issue its promised veto, is counting on the council members taking several weeks before making a decision. Among the concerns of the Security Council committee is whether the Palestinians’ request meets the criteria of the UN charter, which requires that applicants be “peace-loving” and accept its provisions. According to most reports, the general consensus at the UN is that Security Council discussions on the Palestinians’ application will continue to be bogged down over technical matters, while members hope that, in the interim, efforts by the Quartet will lead to renewed negotiations between Israel and the PA. S.L.R.
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bashful about naming names and demanding justice. While the book serves as an antidote to the international campaign to dehumanize the Jewish victims of the co-called Second Intifada, the now 10year-old latest installment of the never-ending war against the Jews, it is also a testament
to Jewish resiliency and determination. Despite the attempts to annihilate them— whether by Arab murder, UN condemnations, or American and European demands for appeasement by relinquishing land—Jewish life in Israel, including Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem, thrives. Y
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
“Honor the Professional According to Your Need”
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October 2011
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All Terrorism Is Not Alike
On a Friday morning last summer, the world was confronted with the evil madness of Anders Behring Breivik, the man accused of killing 76 people in Norway (After the Massacre, Norwegians Defend Arab Terror against Israel, but Shooting at the Norwegian Camp Was Their Ma’alot,” Aug 2011). The profile coming out now describes the man as a “rightwing Christian Fundamentalist.” He also posted a manifesto online decrying multiculturalism and Islamism in Europe and calling for a revolution to rid the world of Marxists and Muslims. What are we, who have spoken out against radical Islamic jihadist acts in the past, to make of this? In June of this year, I had the privilege to testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), on the topic of threat of Islamic radicalization in the US prison system. During my testimony, I was asked a question by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), regarding a letter she stated the committee received from an inmate who she described as a “Christian Militant.” That inmate was in prison for setting an explosive device at an abortion clinic. Rep. Lee asked if I thought that individual should be considered a terrorist and if I thought that “Christian Militants” were a threat to the security of the United States. “I believe that anyone who kills (innocent) people in the name of G-d is an ideologue,” I responded. When Rep. Lee was not satisfied with my answer she asked again if I would agree that “Christian Militants” pose the same threat as radical jihadists like al-Qaida. I stated that I doubted that you would find foreign backing or financing for Christian militants, as is the case with radical Islamic jihadists. I know of no country on this planet that provides safe haven for individuals like Anders Behring Breivik, or of organizations that would support his heinous act. On the contrary, places like Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen have become havens for radical Islamists who continue to plot violent acts against innocent people in the name of Allah. They actively recruit Westerners with a call to base emotional and religious appeals in hopes of exporting their violence. We condemn the despicable twisted acts of a lone individual such as Breivik, and our sympathies go out to the survivors and families of the victims. But we understand that this was not supported by some shadow organization or government bent on ridding the worlds of infidels. Evil can take many forms; we must speak out against it wherever it is found Patrick Dunleavy NY, NY SLR: Mr. Dunleavy is former Deputy Inspector General for NY State Dept. of Corrections and author of The Fertile Soil of Jihad
Remembering Rav Kook, z”tl
Your piece last month on Rav Kook (“Rav Abraham Kook’s Yahtzeit Prompts Memories of Israel’s Spiritual Leader Who Defied Labels,” Sept 2011) was fabulous. Bruce Bublick Passaic Park, NJ SLR: Thanks so much for your kind words
Letters to the Editor
Apology in Reverse: Flotilla Fiasco
Has the world gone mad? Are we topsy-turvy? Have the perpetrators become the victims and the victims the perpetrators? And now Israel is being told to apologize for the Flotilla fiasco? (“Turkey and Israel: Will Pride and Prejudice Separate One-Time Allies and Trading Partners? Sept 2011) At the risk of being naive, don’t the democratic ideals we hold so dear in America clearly enable us to be sensitive and supportive of the only country in the Middle East which is a true democracy promoting freedom and justice for all? Doesn’t Israel or any country for that matter have a right to defend itself by inspecting cargo which may be carrying arms which ironically could be intended against its very own Israeli citizens? It seems to be ignored that last year the six ships were allowed to enter Gaza only after the required routine inspections at the Israeli port of Ashdod. Once the inspections were completed, the cargo would have been allowed to enter Gaza with full clearance. The so-called humanitarian Turkish relief organization, which, by the way, does have ties to terrorist Hamas, were the ones provoking the violence by ] resisting Israeli soldiers doing their routine jobs for safety purposes. Who are they kidding? The terrorists and suicide bombers have put the world on high alert on all fronts. Whether it’s an abandoned car in Times Square or a stranded bag at the airport, we in America, as in Israel, are continually clouded with the suspicion of imminent danger. I remember in 1971, when a stranded bag was left at the airport in Israel, the commuters would run for their lives. At the same time, in the1990’s, when America was considered immune to internal terrorism, people would just trip over a stranded bag with the arrogance of annoyance. All that has changed and fear hovers over us, suspicious of attack. The long lines we endure when checking into airports, the taking off of shoes, the removal of liquids from our carry-ons, are constant reminders of the world we live in today. Would we protest when security personnel do their jobs, inspecting to rule out any hint of disaster? Haven’t the 3,000 victims who died in the World Trade Center taught us all a lesson? When the Israeli commandos were attacked with knives, clubs, Molotov cocktails, and guns, should the public cry out that it was inhumane for them to defend themselves? It’s an oxymoron. The obvious has become obscure. The tables are turned upside down. It leaves me wondering what has happened to human compassion and logic. Ironically, a year later, the Jewish state is again being threatened, coerced to apologize for the Flotilla fiasco by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has stepped up his belligerent rhetoric against Israel, expelled the Israeli ambassador, and aggressively said his navy will use force to protect future ships attempting to break Israel’s blockade. All in response to Israel’s refusal to apologize for dutifully defending its people and country? Doesn’t the world see that Israel is the one who is continually put on the defensive? Now, who should rightfully apologize? Ruby Kaplan Teaneck, NJ
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“Thought Is the World of Freedom” (R’ Dov Ber of Mazeritch) Old Facts, New Problems
We all saw on television, and heard many stories about 9/11. We saw very little of whom the attackers were, and what motivated them. Fact: The attackers were Muslim fundamentalists who were taught to hate the United States with a goal to destroy us, and are willing to sacrifice their lives to do so. New Problem: Individuals acting on their own are very hard to detect. We must realize who our enemies are, and Congress must stop all aid to the “hate-America” countries, especially Egypt, who will use its weapons against us. Robert Jacobs Englewood, NJ Helping Sholom Rubashkin I am asking everyone to go to www.justiceforsholom.org to find out what you can do to help Sholom Rubashkin. We must call for an investigation into allegations of professional and judicial misconduct in the case of this man who did nothing more than open a meat-packing plant. He was attacked by so-called animal rights people who opposed kosher slaughter and an outside workers union which launched a brutal campaign to destroy the company financially. The final blow came when federal agents brutally rounded up employees, seized the company’s books, and constructed an elaborate case, accusing Sholom of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and engaging in bank fraud. He has been unjustly treated, charged, and sentenced. Now, his family is fighting for his release, counting on the assistance of justice-loving people everywhere. We can write letters to President Obama, telling him that we know he is committed to fairness and justice and hereby petition that he direct his Attorney General: (1) To take prompt and effective steps to correct the gross injustice that has been perpetrated with the federal prosecution of Sholom Rubashkin. (2) To initiate an investigation into this case as has been requested by 47 members of the House of Representatives, who have separately and independently written to Attorney General Eric Holder about the prosecution of Sholom Rubashkin. (3) To respond to the demand made by 75 law professors and former US Attorneys (including three former Deputy Attorneys General) to investigate prosecutorial misconduct in the case of United States vs. Sholom Rubashkin. Lori Robbins Fort Lee, NJ
Drink Israeli Wines
Personally I think that Jews and other supporters of Israel should not only refuse to visit Turkey but should boycott all Turkish products as well. In addition, such a campaign should be coordinated among the various Jewish, and other pro-Israel, organizations. I, for one, will not buy products from Turkey; nor will I buy anything from the UK for their policies of singling out products from Judea, Samaria, and the Golan; and I will boycott products from Norway as the result of the Norwegian Government’s pandering to its Muslim population’s antisemitism and anti-Zionism . In fact I have recently discovered the excellent taste of various wines, including Rieslings and other white wines, from the Golan. Steven Schwartz Riverdale, NY
American Slaps and Shame
The recent comments by Secretary Robert Gates, calling Israel an “ungrateful ally,” were shameful. I could not imagine such public comments directed towards any other ally of the United States. They represent another direct (not indirect) slap in the face by the Obama administration. The statement demonstrates that the current administration is at clear odds with the will of Congress and the American public who openly support Israel. Any American action to deny the PA a statehood bid at the UN should not in any way be viewed as a “favor” to Israel, nor should any ongoing military aid. America should do what is in its own strategic best interests with regard to aid and diplomacy. And America should never publicly shame another country or its leaders, particularly one with so many commonly shared values. Alex Traiman Jerusalem, Israel Mr. Trainman is the director of the film “Iranium.” The Jewish Voice and Opinion welcomes letters, especially if they are typed, double-spaced, and legible. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and style. Please send all correspondence to POB 8097, Englewood, NJ 07631. The phone number is (201) 569-2845. The FAX number is (201) 569-1739. The email address is susan@jewishvoiceandopinion.com
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
October 2011
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Rep Joe Walsh (R-IL): Annex Judea and Samaria Now
ongressman William “Joe” Walsh (R-IL) has been in office only since January 2011, but the freshman legislator and Tea Party favorite, who defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean, has used his time in Washington to show strong support for Israel. Last month, when it became clear that the Palestinian Authority intended to act on its threat to request the UN to accept its unilateral declaration of independence, Mr. Walsh introduced a resolution supporting Israel’s right to annex Judea and Samaria. “The PA has repeatedly violated peace agreements and has even joined forces with the terrorist group Hamas. But the United States has continued to give aid to the Palestinians on the one condition that they
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continue to negotiate with Israel for peace. Now the Palestinians can’t even do that and have cut Israel completely out of the process by pushing for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN. This is the last straw. It is clear that the PA no longer has any interest in peace,” said Mr. Walsh. He insisted that standing by Israel is “absolutely vital to American security.” “A UN-recognized Palestinian state would potentially put Israelis directly under the sovereignty of a group of people that have sworn the destruction of Israel and its people. This is unacceptable, and, in the absence of a negotiated peace agreement, Israel has the right to protect its citizens living in Judea and Samaria by annexing those territories,” he said.
Defunding It All Since January, Mr. Walsh has introduced two other bills in defense of Israel. The first, HR 1501, would withhold funding from the UN until it retracts the Goldstone Report (which appeared in 2009 and is now largely discredited) that accused Israel of war crimes. Mr. Walsh’s second bill, HR 2457, the Palestinian Accountability Act, would withhold funding from the PA until it stops inciting violence against Israel and recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. The bill also would withhold US funding to the UN if that body or any of its entities recognizes the PA’s unilaterally declared statehood. That bill means if UNESCO’s 193 member countries follow the lead of the agency’s executive board and vote to accept
Palestine as a member, not only UNESCO but the entire UN would lose US funding. “Once again the UN has proved that it is less interested in fostering peace in the Middle East than condemning and vilifying the region’s most accountable democracy, Israel,” said Mr. Walsh. “The time has come to cut off funding to the UN. It is no longer in the business of promoting peace, democracy, and human rights around the world. Instead, it has allowed Islamist and totalitarian regimes to hijack its agenda and further their single-minded campaign to destroy Israel.” He then called on Mr. Obama “to exercise leadership and join me in warning the UN that there will be ramifications to any actions, like UNESCO’s,
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Annex Now
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to reward the Palestinians for refusing to return to the negotiating table.” Similar Israeli Bill Mr. Walsh’s resolution calling for the annexation of Judea and Samaria is modeled closely on a bill recently introduced in the Israeli Knesset. Mr. Walsh moved forward with it after meeting last month in Israel with Likud MK Danny Danon, deputy speaker of the Knesset. Earlier this year, Mr. Danon introduced a bill that would annex all of “Area C,” a large portion of Judea and Samaria that includes Jewish communities and rural lands but would exclude the largest Palestinian cities. He has embarked on a campaign to convince Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the concept of unilateral annexation. Conferring in Israel According to Mr. Walsh, in Israel, he and Mr. Danon “bounced some ideas off each other” on the resolution. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Mr. Danon argued that a request from Mr. Abbas for a UN acceptance of statehood amounts to nullification of the Oslo Accords, which dictate that “neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.” According to Messrs Danon and Walsh and many others, the PA’s request to the UN means Israel is now free to annex Judea and Samaria. S.L.R.
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