THE JEWISH VOICE AND OPINION Promoting Classical Judaism
May 2012
Vol. 25 • No. 8
Iyar 5772
New Elections Because Bibi Must Save Yesha; Integrate the Hareidim; and Win before Obama Can Interfere When Israeli Prime Min-
ister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that new elections will probably be held on September 4, a full year before his government’s term was due to expire, it took many people in Israel and abroad by surprise. For months, Mr. Netanyahu’s center-right coalition has been touted as the single most stable government Israel has enjoyed in decades. Common wisdom is that domestic political issues, ranging from the controversial Tal
By calling for new elections now, Netanyahu can be fairly confident of winning a comfortable majority for himself and the Likud with no attempts at intervention on behalf of his more left-wing opponents from the Obama administration
Law, which has exempted thousands of hareidi young men from serving in the IDF, to left-wing lawsuits aimed at forcing thousands of Jews in Judea and Samaria from their homes, lay behind Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to dissolve his Likud-led government. But other observers believe Mr. Netanyahu’s action has as much or more to do with the election cycle in the United States as with political issues in Israel. By calling for new elections now, Mr.
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Families of the Israeli Athletes Murdered in Munch in 1972 Ask the Olympic Committee for One Minute of Silence; Arabs Object (IOC) will change its mind and agree to hold an official commemoration on this, the 40th anniversary of the massacre. This will be the tenth Summer Olympics since Munich 1972, and the families would like either a moment of silence or a mention in the IOC president’s opening remarks. According to Ankie Spitzer, the widow of Andre Spitzer, who, in 1972, was an Olympic fencing coach and one of the
Despite valiant efforts by
the families of the 11 Israeli athletes, coaches, and referees murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympics in 1972, there probably will be no recognition or memorial to the slain Jews at this year’s summer games, scheduled to be held in London. The families of the murdered athletes and their supporters are still hoping the International Olympic Committee
Turkish Tantrums................................... 5 Kol Ami: Tough Jews?.......................... 6 The Current Crisis............................... 7 MyEretz Combats BDS....................13 Pascrell’s Islamists.............................16 Christie Visits Israel...........................23
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Reva and Danny Judas Dr. Jessica and Laizer Kornwasser Leah and AJ Schreiber Sara and Dr. Daniel Walzman
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Turkey Blocks Israel and the EU from the NATO Summit, and Obama Seems to Be Acquiescing to His Favorite Foreign Leader For supporters of Israel, the
news last month from Turkey was both bad and good. On the good side, Turkish officials, acting on information from an outside intelligence agency and in cooperation with Israel, discovered and thwarted an underground Iranian terrorist cell that had been fielding agents to Ankara to attack Jews, Israelis, and Western targets. On the bad side, Turkey is seeking to block Israel from attending a NATO summit, scheduled to take place in Chicago on May 20 and 21, and the Obama administration seems poised to allow
the virulently antisemitic Islamist Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to have his way. In April, President Barack Obama identified Mr. Erdogan as one of the five world leaders with whom he enjoys the closest ties. The others are German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Blocking the EU If Turkey is successful, Israel will not be the only entity barred from the summit. Turkey intends to block the European Union from attending if NATO
does not permit the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to participate as well. The OIC, a block of 57 Muslim countries, supports the principle that Islam’s sharia law constitutes sufficient human rights, a position opposed by most of NATO’s democratic members. Because they are not members of NATO, Israel and the EU need to be invited to attend events sponsored by the alliance. But NATO operates by consensus, which means any member can veto the participation of any non-NATO entity at any NATO event. Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, is seeking to exercise its veto against Israel and the EU.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso have already received their summit invitations, which now may have to be rescinded. Israel has been designated a major non-NATO ally by the US, meaning that while it is not a part of the treaty organization for mutual defense, it has a strategic working relationship with the American armed forces. As such, the Jewish state receives a variety of military and financial advantages otherwise not obtainable by non-NATO countries. Israel is
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THE JEWISH VOICE AND OPINION, Inc. © 2012; Publisher and Editor-in-Chief: Susan L. Rosenbluth Phone (201)569-2845 Managing Editor: Sharon Beck, 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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Kol Ami: Tough Jews? Recently, PR maven Ronn Torossian came up with his own list of “Tough Jews,” that he said was not so much about people with brute physical strength, as it was about those with intelligence, creativity, moral strength, resilience, stamina, boldness, audacity, and courage. The question we asked this month was: Who do you think fits the bill? Y
My father, Bernard Glickman, z”l, was one of the toughest, proudest, most creative and thoughtful Jews in the world. A renowned artist and photographer as well as the DP-born child of Holocaust survivors, he lived by the motto “Never Again,” fearlessly protesting against Kurt Waldheim in Austria, for Soviet Jews in Russia, and against building a convent on Jewish graves in Auschwitz. There was not a Sunday that he wasn’t protesting something, even if it was just he and Rabbi Avi Weiss yelling for
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exemplifies the persona of a strong Jew. He has made Israel’s security his highest priority, even in the face of unrelenting world pressure and despite character assassination whispered into open microphones. Zoe Levin-Deluty Englewood, NJ freedom for Natan Sharansky or Jonathan Pollard. Renee Glick West Orange, NJ
Most rabbis and Jewish educators fit the bill. They devote their lives, 24/7, to serving the Jewish community. They not only have no holidays off, they have to work harder on the Jewish holidays. They get all the complaints and little praise or thanks. They are not well-paid, and the demands of their calling often leaves little time for friends, family, or even Torah study. Len Auerbach Edison, NJ
Dr. Felix Zandman, z”l, was a Shoah survivor, brilliant multicultural scholar, professor, inventor, and Zionist, who came to America and epitomized Jewish strength and moral values. He was one of the toughest yet most compassionate people I ever met and inspired generations of students to follow in his footsteps. I am honored to be one of them. Dr. Val Golan Fair Lawn, NJ
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The Current Crisis: “Even in Laughter, the Heart Can Ache” Even those who follow carefully the news about the beliefs of the adherents of the religion of peace probably don’t know that Muslim claims that eminent Western figures—including William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, and even Leonardo Da Vinci—were Muslim believers are as frequent as they are unfounded. Now, according to Raymond Ibraham, an AmericanCoptic researcher and columnist, there has been another attempt. During a recent interview on Arabic TV, a Shia Muslim cleric took for his topic “How Islam Came to America before Christopher Columbus.” To make his point, the cleric pointed to California—which he called “the most important state in America”—and then to “its most important city,” which he decided must be San Jose. He understood the “San” part means “Saint,” but when he got to “Jose,” the fun began, because the cleric insisted “hozay” is actually (drum roll) the Latin word and pronunciation for one of Shia Islam’s most important figures, “Hussein.” Triumphantly the cleric concluded, “You see San Jose is really Saint Hussein.” The host who conducted the interview sighed in wonder, “Oh Allah.” But then the cleric had a problem. “Now how did Imam Hussein get to California?” he asked. “See these are the matters that need investigating.” Indeed. Miguel Cervantes, call your office. *** While some Muslims are trying to figure out whether William Shakespeare is a secret Muslim (we know some folks who think Shakespeare was a Jewish woman), a “Palestinian”
in Gaza knows exactly who he is, and was ready to scream it on Hamas television on a show in which he was pleading with an Egyptian interlocutor to allow the gas to flow again over the Sinai. In a translation provided by MEMRI, the Gazan starts fairly intellectually, asking the Egyptian to explain why “Egypt is incapable of supplying fuel for 1.5 to 2 million people in Gaza.” “In Egypt, there are about 90 million people. We equal merely two percent of the Egyptian population. Supplying us with fuel would not burden you at all,” says the Palestinian. And why do Palestinians want Egyptian help? Not because the Palestinians want to eat, live, drink, dress, or “live a life of luxury.” “No, when we seek their help, it is in order to continue to wage Jihad,” the Palestinian passionately explains. But now he is on a roll. Explaining who his people are, he tells the Egyptian, “We all have Arab roots, and every Palestinian in Gaza and throughout Palestine can prove his Arab roots— whether from Saudi Arabia, from Yemen, or anywhere,” he says. His own family, he tells the Egyptian is Egyptian, too. “We are all like that. More than 30 families in Gaza are called ‘Al-Masri’ (‘Egyptian’). Brothers, half the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis. Who are the Palestinians? We have many families called Al-Masri, whose roots are Egyptian. They may be from Alexandria, from Cairo, from Damietta, from the North, from Aswan, from Upper Egypt. We are Egyptians. We are Arabs. We are Muslims. We are a part of you,” he screams. It’s really quite touching. But what the Palestinians clearly are not is native to the land “from time immemorial.” Happy Cheesecake, Everyone, SLR
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Turkish Tantrums also a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, a NATO outreach program, along with six other non-NATO countries. Noncommittal State Dept. As of the beginning of May, Obama administration gave no indication that it would try to prevent Turkey’s veto. When asked directly at a press conference if the US wants Israel, America’s major ally in the Middle East, to participate in the NATO summit, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said only that the Obama administration is “still working on what the partnership arrangements are going to look like for the summit.” When asked if the Obama administration was “comfortable with the Turkish position,” she had no comment. “There have been NATO summits where no [non-NATO] partners were invited, so every summit is done on a case-bycase basis, and we haven’t made
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a decision about who’s going to be invited yet,” she said. Kowtowing to Turkey The reporter pointed out that Turkey would not be objecting to Israel’s participation unless one of the NATO partners, presumably the US, had proposed inviting the Jewish state. When the reporter said he did not understand why, if the US had proposed that Israel participate, the administration was not willing “to stick up for it,” Ms. Nuland said, “I’m not going to get into here what we have proposed and where we are in the internal dialogue at NATO until the issues are settled by consensus. That’s not the way NATO works, okay?” In the Washington Post online, blogger Jennifer Rubin pointed out that Ms. Nuland’s statements made a mockery of Mr. Obama’s recent assertion of his support for Israel, in
which he insisted that “when international fora single out Israel with unfair resolutions, we vote against them; when attempts are made to delegitimize the state of Israel, we oppose them.” “But stand up to Turkey? Oh, no,” said Ms. Rubin. X Band Radar After the press conference, a source close to the administration said the situation for Israel and her supporters was not as bleak as it appeared. According to the source, Mr. Obama, either because of his close ties with Mr. Erdogan or despite them, has persuaded Ankara to place the United States’ most advanced X band radar, operated solely by US personnel, on Turkish soil, with all the information relayed directly to the US and Israel in “real time.” The equipment gives Israel a window onto Iran’s activities. “There are no delays or edits. I’d take the radar, now operational in Turkey, any day over a symbolic snub,” said the source. In addition, many sources now say Mr. Erdogan is suffering from cancer and may not be in power for too long. Some say he has two years, others think it closer to one. If and when he leaves office, there are indications that Turkey’s major secular parties, one liberal and the other conservative, may join forces to beat Mr. Erdogan’s Islamist party at the polls and regain the country as a secular democracy, which would bode well for Israeli-Turkish relations. Unit 400 Last March, media reports indicated that “a secret study conducted by a foreign intelligence agency” had discovered information about “Unit
400,” a shadowy “special-operation” unit within the elite overseas wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which was said to be operating in Turkey and planning to carry out attacks against western targets, as well as Israeli and Jewish ones. According to the report, Unit 400, directed personally by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was responsible for planning and carrying out terror attacks on targets outside of Iran and providing material support to foreign militia groups. According to Sky News, the planned attack in Turkey was in response to the growing threat of an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. “Immediate Threat” Sky News quoted the intelligence source as saying, “It is our firm assessment that these [Iranian] procedures are in a very advanced stage, and that the intention is to act on the plans very soon.” The intelligence source said this was “in accordance with the [Iranian] regime’s core strategic considerations about how best to challenge perceived enemies in Israel and the west—through asymmetric warfare—and to cope with mounting international pressure over its nuclear program.” According to the report, there was evidence that Unit 400 had instructions to carry out more frequent and daring attacks around the world as a demonstration of “Iran’s asymmetric power.” As a result, Jerusalem raised its threat warning for Israelis considering travel to Turkey, advising them that there was an “immediate-threat” and that such a trip entailed significant potential danger.
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Iranian Attacks In recent months, Iranian agents have undertaken a series of attacks targeting Israelis in Asia. A botched bombing attempt in Bangkok was carried out by three Iranian nationals, and police in Delhi, India, arrested and deported a 40-year-old Iranian national, Hamid Kashkouli, who was found spying on the city’s Chabad House, the Rasta Peth Synagogue, and other Jewish and Israeli targets. In January, 400 boxes of bombmaking material were found in Bangkok hidden in cartons labeled for electric fans. Police learned of the cache from a Lebanese national who was arrested
for allegedly working with Hezbollah to plan a bombing attack. He told Thai police the material was to be smuggled out of Thailand and used in an attack in another country, presumably Turkey. Last February, Tal Yehoshua Koren, the wife of an Israeli diplomat stationed with the Israeli mission in India, was injured by a car bomb widely believed to have been planted by Iranian agents. In Tbilisi, Georgia, in the former Soviet Union, a bomb was disabled in a staff member’s car at the Israeli embassy. Two Iranians with alleged links to the covert Quds force were also recently
indicted in a US court for seeking to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington. Suffering Tourism For Ankara, Israel’s move to increase the warning level on travel to Turkey had an economic impact. For many years, Turkey had been a popular tourist destination for Israelis as well as for Americans. With the establishment of Mr. Erdogan’s Islamist government, Israeli tourism has dwindled as relations between the two countries have soured. Israel’s heightened security warning regarding travel to Turkey was seen in Ankara as potentially affecting other western tourists as well, especially from the United States. Turkish officials, therefore, called Israel’s heightened security warning “alarmist, unjustified, and designed to harm Turkey’s image.” In an apparent effort to persuade Israel to lower its threat-warning against travel to Turkey, at the beginning of May, officials in Ankara ordered a series of raids on Iranian groups that were allegedly going to target Israelis. Secret Cooperation According to reports, the raids were possible due to behind-the-scenes cooperation between Israeli and Turkish security teams. While the Turkish raids did not eradicate the terror groups bent on targeting Israelis, the swoops were deemed sufficiently effective by Israel’s CounterTerrorism Bureau (CTB) to downgrade “the immediate-threat” level warning to “continuous potential threat,” the lowest level of threat-warning issued by the CTB. “Turkey is still a country where there is an ongoing threat of terrorist attacks against Israelis,” the advisory said. “Therefore, the CTB recommends avoiding nonessential visits to Turkey, or, at least, taking the necessary precautions.” Flotilla Incident While collaboration between Israelis and Turks used to be routine, such cooperation has been in short supply since the Mavi Marmora flotilla incident of May 2010, in which activists on a convoy of ships from Turkey tried to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza which was put in place to prevent terrorists and weapons from entering the Hamas-ruled territory.
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com When the flotilla neared Gaza, Israeli naval officials ordered the boats to stop. All but one of the ships complied. On the Mavi Marmora, Turkish nationals affiliated with the IHH terrorist group attacked the Israeli security team, seriously wounding three naval commandos. The Israelis returned fire and nine Turkish nationals were killed. A special UN panel convened to investigate the episode found that Israel was within its internationally legal rights to maintain the blockade and had not behaved unlawfully in the flotilla incident. Apology Although Israel expressed regret for the loss of life, Turkey would accept nothing but an abject apology, which has not been forthcoming. Ankara also expects some sort of financial compensation. Officially, Israel maintains that the Jewish state did nothing for which to apologize. In Jerusalem, some sources have explained that while Israeli compliance might improve relations between the Jewish state and Turkey, it would also leave Israeli military personnel at risk of being subjected to international court proceedings in a setting widely seen as anti-Israel if not antisemitic. Israel’s position on the flotilla incident is Turkey’s excuse for blocking the Jewish state from attending the NATO summit in Chicago. Pressuring Turkey At the April 18th NATO meeting in Brussels, a senior Turkish official told the Turkish daily Hürriyet, “There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters.” The unnamed official admitted other NATO members were pressing Turkey to revoke the veto, but Ankara refused to acquiesce. He called on Israel’s supporters to convince the Jewish state to bow to Turkey’s wishes. Ali Riza Alaboyun, a member of Mr. Erdogan’s party in parliament and Turkey’s NATO Parliamentary Assembly Group chairman, equated Turkey’s sentiments towards Israel with Washington’s feelings about the current government in Iran. “Just as the US would not like to see an Iranian diplomat today attending the summit as an observer, we also have the right to deny Israel’s participation,” he said.
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Footing the Bill The difference, according to Alex Alexiev, chairman of the executive council of the Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies in Sofia, Bulgaria, and currently a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute, is that the US and its taxpayers foot the bill for NATO. “NATO no longer exists as a real union for mutual defense. At the moment, NATO’s security is guaranteed almost exclusively by the US military and the money of US taxpayers,” he said. He cited former Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who said in his farewell address that a military union in which one of the members pays 75 percent of the expenses
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for the common defense cannot and will not exist for too long. Turkey, said Mr. Alexiev, seems “more interested in sabotaging NATO than in being a loyal member.” NATO’s Values The proposed ban on Israel’s attendance at the summit is just the latest in a string of Turkish moves against Israeli cooperation with NATO. A few months ago, Turkey blocked Israel from opening an office at NATO headquarters and from participating in the Mediterranean Dialogue group to which it belongs. At the Brussels meeting, American and French officials as well as NATO
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Turkish Tantrums Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen reportedly criticized Turkey for bringing a bilateral conflict into the alliance’s affairs. According to Hürriyet, they told Turkey its position was “a violation of NATO’s values.” In response, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said NATO’s “partnership values hardly correspond to a situation in which a country NATO calls a partner kills citizens of a NATO member and fails to apologize for it.” “It is out of the question for us to be together with Israel in any partnership activity in any international organization, not just NATO. We have already said that we have suspended such cooperation, except for forums such as the United Nations, where all countries are members,” said Mr. Davutoğlu. Paying the Price Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to Turkey, said Mr.
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Erdogan’s behavior reflected Turkish thinking that Ankara will not only avoid paying a price for its intransigence, but that it will increase its popularity in the Middle East. However, said Mr. Liel, events in the Middle East are showing that the lack of cooperation between Israel and Turkey could have negative consequences for both sides. “Turkey’s harsh stand against the ongoing crackdown in Syria, worsening relations between Turkey and Iran, as well as increasingly tense relations between Turkey and Iraq are showing that instead of zero problems with neighbors, Turkey now has multiple problems,” said Mr. Liel, adding that bilateral relations between Israel and Turkey could have been helpful in the conflict between Turkey and Syria. Increased Trade Atilla Kart, a member of
the opposition to Mr. Erdogan’s Islamist Party in the Turkish Parliament, said the government’s tough posture against Israel does not necessarily damage the Jewish state’s interests in the region. Another former Israeli Ambassador to Turkey, Uri BarNer, agreed, pointing out that trade between Turkey and Israel has been steadily increasing, despite the hostility from Mr. Erdogan’s government. “In the past six months, trade and profits were up 30 percent between the two countries,” said Mr. Bar-Ner. Mr. Kart said Mr. Erdogan may be earning popularity on the Arab street by “exploiting hatred towards Israel,” but, he said, “that image does not represent the reality in Turkey.” Cyprus The situation is even more complicated regarding Mr. Erdogan and the European Union. While Turkey has conditioned the EU’s presence at the summit on other NATO members permitting the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation to attend as well, most observers say Mr. Erdogan’s animosity towards the EU has more to do with his hatred for Cyprus than it does with his love for the OIC. The Republic of Cyprus became a member of the EU in 2004. This was a bitter pill for Ankara, which does not recognize Cyprus. Further, the EU has refused to accept Turkey as a member. Since Cyprus became a member, Turkey has refused to exchange information with the EU. In July, Cyprus will assume the six-month rotating EU presidency. Turkey has warned it will freeze relations completely with the EU during this period. Ankara has also threatened to consider annexing northern
Cyprus, land which is technically EU territory. Pressuring Obama In the US, strong voices that Mr. Obama will need for his re-election are beginning to speak out on the issue. The American Jewish Committee’s president, Robert Elman, and executive director, David Harris, have asked the President to insist that Turkey lift its veto on Israel’s participation at the summit, saying the US should not allow Israel, its “most reliable and capable ally in the region” to be ostracized due to Turkey’s position. “Israel has a unique perspective and can offer unique insights on a range of strategic developments on NATO’s doorstep, including instability in Syria, the continuing threat posed by Iran’s undeterred drive for nuclear weapons capability, and political transitions across North Africa,” they said. Destroying NATO Writing in Commentary magazine, Michael Rubin suggested that while Mr. Erdogan “may believe he is riding high. What he is actually doing is forcing Western states to question Turkey’s role in the treaty alliance.” Mr. Alexiev said Turkey’s behavior has shaken NATO and the EU, and, he said, brought into question whether there is still a need for the alliance. He pointed out that only about four percent of NATO’s 2 million-man European army is sufficiently trained for military action and that the European countries themselves continue cutting their military budgets, believing there is no threat to their security. “In NATO, we have a picture of a military union which has lost its raison d’être,” said Mr. Alexiev. Asked why he thought Mr. Obama continues protecting
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To Combat BDS Bullies, MyEretz Brings Israel to the World After thinking long and hard about how
to push back against anti-Israel bullies, Doris Wise Montrose, leader of the Los Angeles-based Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (CJHSLA), came up with an idea: MyEretz.com, a new online shopping mall, the only one devoted exclusively to Israeli craftspeople and businesses and offering personalized virtual “storefronts.” “So much media attention is given these days to groups trying to bring Israel to its economic knees that one might assume these protesters constitute a majority and are actually enjoying a significant impact. In reality, the boycotters’ bark is worse than their bite. Whenever Israel’s supporters stand up to this loud but impotent gang of Jew haters, like those planning and participating in the flopped Global March on Jerusalem, the bullies slink away like the cowards they are,” she says. Nevertheless, Ms. Montrose admits, “the barking continues.” To counteract the howling, she initiated MyEretz.com, in which independent Israeli artisans who create unique handmade crafts are featured on the website’s virtual bazaar side by side with “storefronts” of major Israeli brands known worldwide. “The website shows a side of Israel not usually seen, a richly unique combination of local innovation and global vision that could come only from the most timeless, inspirational place on earth,” she says. Advocacy beyond Rhetoric Coming up with ideas like this is nothing new for Ms. Montrose, who has been called “an atypical child of Holocaust
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the Turkish government and viewing Ankara as a reliable ally, Mr. Alexiev said it was emblematic of the President’s foreign policy. “The policy towards Turkey, the Arab world, and Russia is characterized with a big dose of naiveté and incompetence,” he said, adding that it is “natural for the leftist views of the President.” “I can guarantee that this policy will change drastically if the Republicans win the elections in November,” he said.S.L.R.
survivors.” Rather than dedication to remembering and studying the Holocaust, which are activities undertaken by many other groups for survivors and their descendants, her group took as its mission grassroots political advocacy for Israel and against terrorism. While it was originally known as Children of Holocaust Survivors Los Angeles, because that it is where it started in 2006, it is now international, with tens of thousands of people on the email list, many of them neither survivors nor children of survivors, all drawn by Ms. Montrose’s active and vocal online presence.
The organization, known by its initials, CJHS, even though the website is still www. cjhsla.org, takes as its goal the promotion of Western democratic values “to combat the threat of complacency in the West, especially in the face of political Islam.” Ms. Montrose is convinced this is the way to prevent another Holocaust. “A safe and secure Israel, prospering as a Jewish state, is a prerequisite to longterm global peace. The Holocaust imposes on all people of goodwill a moral and political imperative to prevent the next one,” she said. “I believe in taking
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steps that go beyond rhetoric. I’m an activist.” Stirred to Action Now 62, Ms. Montrose is the financially independent daughter of an Auschwitz survivor, originally from Lodz, Poland, who became a successful businessman in Los Angeles. Her mother, also from Lodz, escaped to Siberia and returned after the war to a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany, where she met and married her husband. In 1987, Ms. Montrose’s life changed when her father, Mayer Weizhandler, died at the age of 74. Although she has a grown daughter and son and her now-95-year-old mother still lives with her, the emotional impact of the death of her father prompted Ms. Montrose to become involved with other children of Holocaust survivors. She started CJHS in 2006, when she was stirred to action by the abductions of Israeli soldiers Gilad Shalit by Hamas terrorists, and Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser by Hezbollah, a kidnapping and murder that eventually sparked the Second Israel-Lebanon War. CJHS’s first action involved letters to the International Red Cross, urging the organization’s intervention by reminding the IRC that it had maintained a similar silence during the Holocaust, a
fact admitted by the Red Cross in 1997 when it handed over 60,000 pages of Holocaust-era documents to Israel. Causes to Promote Israel Since then, CJHS has taken on causes ranging from protests to Congress over the release of US tax dollars to the Palestinian Authority in light of the PA’s ongoing support for terrorism and terrorists, to endorsement of Christian leaders, such as Christians United for Israel’s Pastor John Hagee, “for his stalwart leadership in American Zionism, as well as his overt, compassionate, and financially substantial support for Israel.” CJHS regularly sponsors speakers, roundtables, and other programs, publicizing them extensively online both before and after the events. MyEretz.com falls squarely into this agenda. Two Years of Planning The idea took root two years ago when Ms. Montrose and a handful of her pro-Israel friends in Los Angeles began discussing the relentless boycott efforts targeting Israel. The diverse group, consisting of Jews, Christians, and those who identify as neither, brought to the table a broad range of talents and experience, including journalism, product development, social media networking skills, politics, and public relations.
Doris Wise Montrose with Pastor John Hagee of Christians United for Israel Many of them either work for or have contacts with people involved in a wide range of media outlets, including bloggers, news services, and organizations that support the Jewish state and are active in important Israeli causes. “As American supporters of Israel, we didn’t want to remain passive in the face of this economic offensive against the Jewish state. We felt that while it is very important to support stores outside Israel that sell Israeli products, supporting Israeli citizens directly sends a strong message to them and the world that we are on their side,” says Ms. Montrose. Her group took as their goal connecting Israelis with their friends and supporters around the world, while, at the same time, providing shoppers who want to stand up for Israel with a means of doing so from the comfort of their own homes. “We also felt that personalizing individual sellers would make it more difficult for the protesters to focus their attacks on real people with faces, families, and personal
stories, rather than faceless corporations,” she says. Enhanced Exposure Her group recognized that a problem faced by small businesses and individual craftspeople anywhere is that they can easily get lost in the crowded international marketplace of e-Bay and other e-commerce channels. But by focusing only on Israel and offering personalized stores all on a single online location, MyEretz.com can serve to benefit businesses of every size by giving them enhanced exposure. “This way, we are supporting Israeli commerce on both an individual and national scale,” says Ms. Montrose. Now successfully launched, MyEretz is becoming an entity that is about far more than just politics. “Yes, many shoppers come to MyEretz out of a sense of solidarity with Israel, but many more come simply to enjoy the extraordinary quality and variety of wares on MyEretz, not to mention the personalized shopping experience on a site de-
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Islamist Fellow Traveler: Rep Bill Pascrell By Steven Emerson, The Investigative Project Islamists on Capitol Hill have few better allies than Rep. Bill Pascrell, (D-NJ), who is currently running against fellow Democrat Rep Steve Rothman in what will be a tough primary on June 5. A former mayor of Paterson, Mr. Pascrell, 75, is in his eighth term representing Passaic County in New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District. He is an outspoken critic of congressional efforts to investigate Muslim radicalization in the US and a top ally of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations (CAIR), which has long been accused of supporting Islamist terrorists and the implementation of Sharia law in the US. Like Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Rothman (whose old district was dismantled in redistricting) is a liberal Democrat who entered Congress in 1997. But the two men have very
Rep Pascrell with Imam Mohammad Qatanani whose deportation from the US for lying about his ties to Hamas is pending. different records on Israel. Mr. Rothman is a strong supporter of the Jewish state. Mr. Pascrell has been a strong supporter of Islamists whose goal is to destroy it. Grieving Father Just last year, at a House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee hearing
on radicalization within the Muslim community, witnesses discussed the dramatic increase in jihadist terror plots on American soil. Mr. Pascrell attacked the premise that radical Islamic terror deserved any special focus, stating that “some pretty bad people come out of Catholic churches.”
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One witness at the hearing was Melvin Bledsoe, whose son, Carlos (AKA Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad), was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for shooting to death one soldier and wounding another outside a Little Rock, Ark. military recruiting center in June 2009. Melvin Bledsoe testified about his family tragedy, specifically about his son’s transformation from a normal American teen-ager into a jihadist. The elder Bledsoe’s call for Americans to unite against jihadist recruitment efforts drew a sharp rebuke from Mr. Pascrell, who denied any divisions existed. “When you say ‘the other side,’ I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Mr. Pascrell told Mr. Bledsoe. “We are all in this together.” Letters for Hamas Mr. Pascrell’s history of support for the Islamists is
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http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com nothing new. In 2009, he was one of 62 lawmakers—including Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)— who signed a January 2009 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggesting that Israel was to blame for
MyEretz.com
May 2012/Iyar 5772
denying “critically needed aid” to Palestinian residents of Gaza. After the letter was sent, CAIR’s New Jersey chapter (CAIR-NJ) issued an “Action Alert,” urging supporters to thank signers of the letter for “their support of human rights” by “address[ing] the
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signed to be easy-to-navigate, intuitive, colorful and engaging,” she says. Although it is brand new, My Eretz already has stores featuring a wide array of items ranging from jewelry to beauty products, from children’s furniture to baby clothes, from hand-crafted Judaica to fashion accessories, from artwork to musical instruments, and more. No Startup Expenses or Risk While many would-be online vendors face steep startup expenses, MyEretz allows Israeli sellers to open their virtual “stores” at no cost, quickly customize their storefronts to showcase their products and themselves, and start selling without commitment or risk. MyEretz charges vendors a small commission on each item sold, based on price, only after the sale is completed. “The individualized ‘storefronts,’ in which the sellers share information about themselves and their wares or crafts, enable shoppers to feel that they’ve made a personal connection with the vendor,” says Ms. Montrose. For a limited time, MyEretz is offering free editing of videos promoting Israeli sellers and their items. These will be posted on MyEretz, the MyEretz blog, and YouTube. Easy for Shoppers Ms. Montrose is pleased that MyEretz.com has simplified the process for buyers, too. No registration is required to “window shop,” and the purchasing process is easy and secure through PayPal. Shoppers and sellers can communicate with one another through MyEretz’s internal messaging system. “Whether it’s an independent artisan or an international brand, MyEretz connects Israel’s talented community of craftspeople, vendors, and retailers with millions of online customers around the world looking to purchase items that combine the exotic and the beautiful, the
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” The letter neglected to mention the role played by Gaza’s ruling Hamas regime in creating the humanitarian crisis by provoking war with Israel, sending rockets into its civilian centers, and exacerbating the situation through its extensive use of civilian human shields.
ancient and the modern, that can come only from Israel,” says Ms. Montrose. The site can be accessed at www.myeretz.com. Ms. Montrose can be reached at doris@myeretz.com.
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In 2010, Mr. Pascrell was one of 54 House members (including Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison), who signed a one-sided letter to President Barack Obama accusing Israel of imposing “de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip.”
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“In the process, we are showing the world that the voices of Israel and its supporters are louder and more numerous than those of the anti-Israel bullies,” says Ms. Montrose. S.L.R.
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The Hill reported that after Mr. Pascrell signed the 2010 letter, Mr. Rothman (at that time a political ally) defended his colleague’s record on Israel. These days, Mr. Rothman and his supporters are singing a different tune about Mr. Pascrell. Non-Credible Endorsements Although Mr. Pascrell has portrayed himself as pro-Israel, his efforts to do so in the current campaign have been marred by missteps. He won the endorsement of NJ real-estate mogul David Steiner, a former president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), only to learn that, in 1993, Mr. Steiner was forced to resign in disgrace after publicly exaggerating the organization’s power to choose President Bill Clinton’s cabinet. “I’m not sure why Pascrell proactively calls attention to how little support he has within the pro-Israel community,” an unnamed NJ Democrat recently told the Washington Free Beacon. “First, he bragged about the endorsement of a one-term, 80-plus year-old congressman [former Democratic Rep. Herb Klein] and now the endorsement of a former president of AIPAC who embarrassed AIPAC so much when he was president that they forced him to resign.” Mr. Pascrell’s bid for Jewish votes has been further undercut by his refusal to denounce local Arab-American activist Aref Assaf, who responded with accusations of dual loyalty to reports that OrthodoxJewish Republicans were changing their party registration in order to vote for Mr.
Rothman in the Democratic primary. “As total and blind support for Israel becomes the only reason for choosing Rothman, voters who do not view the elections in this prism will need to take notice: Loyalty to a foreign flag is not loyalty to America’s,” wrote Mr. Assaf, president of the American Arab Forum (AAF) which posted the op-ed, printed in a local newspaper, on its website. No Disavowal Many of Mr. Rothman’s supporters demanded that Mr. Pascrell disavow Assaf’s comments, but he refused. Mr. Assaf termed complaints about his column “Islamophobia” and “deplorable blanket racism.” He published another op-ed on the primary suggesting Mr. Pascrell was under fire from “Jewish sources” because he is not regarded as “a perfect example of an Israeli loyalist.” “While some of Rothman’s supporters put the flag and the security of another country above ours, we place America first and unconditionally,” Mr. Assaf wrote. “While they put Israel first, we place America second to none.” Asked about Mr. Pascrell’s refusal to repudiate Mr. Assaf’s comments, veteran Democratic Party activist Joshua Block didn’t mince words. “The unwillingness to directly confront and condemn this antisemitic invective and bigotry is despicable,” said Mr. Block, a former spokesman for AIPAC. “Silence in the face of this kind of hate speech says it all.”
But Passaic County Democratic Party leaders view the matter differently. On March 24, party executive leaders unanimously endorsed Mr. Pascrell. He “was the best choice and had the most experience on the diverse issues that affect Passaic County,” said county Democratic Party chairman John Currie. Sami Merhi Mr. Assaf is not the first political ally Mr. Pascrell has refused to condemn for making antisemitic comments. Speaking at a Pascrell fundraiser in 2002, LebaneseAmerican businessman Sami Merhi likened then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Adolf Hitler and said he “can’t see the comparison” between the 9/11 hijackers and Palestinian suicide bombers. When Mr. Merhi ran for a seat as Passaic County freeholder in 2006, senior NJ Democrats, including Sen. Robert Menendez, repudiated his remarks and said they could not support his candidacy. Mr. Pascrell called Mr. Merhi’s comments a “mistake,” but refused to abandon Mr. Merhi, a friend who had raised money for the congressman’s previous campaigns. “He’s a well-vetted candidate,” Mr. Pascrell said of Mr. Merhi. “I believe he’s a good man, and he’ll represent all the people of Passaic County.” But Mr. Pascrell’s support wasn’t enough to save Mr. Merhi. One week after endorsing his nomination, the Passaic County Democratic screening committee reversed itself, voting 20-3 to withdraw its support. “Political lynching of Arab Americans is now an accepted practice,” Mr. Assaf said at the time. “Every Arab American is now Sami Merhi.” Embarrassing Connections Mr. Assaf went on to accuse a Jewish official who supported Mr. Merhi’s ouster of seeking “to transform [sic] the conflict between Arabs and Jews from the streets of Jerusalem to the streets of Passaic County.” Connections with Mr. Assaf and CAIR are not just an embarrassing problem for Pascrell. Last month, Gary Schaer, a prominent Democratic NJ state assemblyman whose endorsement prompted 15 local Orthodox synagogues to back Mr. Rothman, blasted Mr. Assaf for impugning the motives of Jewish voters.
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com But as recently as last December, Messrs Assaf and Schaer were on much friendlier terms. They appeared together at CAIR-NJ’s annual banquet, where Mr. Assaf made a “special presentation” to Mr. Schaer, giving him the “CAIR-NJ 2011 Public Leadership Award” for “his dedication to protecting the civil and religious rights of all citizens.” While he has avoided repudiating antisemites and conspiracy-mongers, Mr. Pascrell has shown less reticence about criticizing the New York Police Department (NYPD) for using “religious profiling” in surveillance at NJ mosques. Considers CAIR “Preeminent” Over the years, Mr. Pascrell has been a leading congressional ally of CAIR, which has established roots in the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), an organization found to be a front group for Hamas. Prosecutors designated CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in the government’s case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). CAIR was so designated because of its associations with the US Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee. Prosecutors charged that the Palestine Committee was created to provide Hamas with financial and political support in the US. Five senior HLF officials were convicted of all charges for funneling approximately $12 million to Hamas and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years. The FBI cut off contact with CAIR in 2008 based on evidence in the HLF case, writing that “until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner.” But longstanding concerns about CAIR’s radical record haven’t prevented Mr. Pascrell from forging close ties with the organization. CAIR’s website contains this glowing testimonial from the New Jersey lawmaker: “With over 30 CAIR Chapters spread throughout the United States and Canada, it is clear that CAIR has become the preeminent organization representing the concerns of Muslim Americans. I want to personally commend CAIR for its work on issues including civil liberties and opening dialogue with various communities in America.”
May 2012/Iyar 5772
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Lauding CAIR Mr. Pascrell was one of 23 members of Congress who printed proclamations in the program at CAIR’s 12th annual national banquet in November 2006. He was one of nine members who printed proclamations at CAIR’s 2008 national banquet. “Since 2003, the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ NJ Chapter has encouraged progressive dialogue throughout my district and throughout many NJ communities. The NJ Chapter’s hard work does not go unrecognized by this office,” Mr. Pascrell wrote. “I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations … to wish you the same success in the future you have had in your past.”
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Mr. Pascrell joined three other members of Congress in publishing proclamations at CAIR’s 2009 national banquet. Giving CAIR a Room In March 2007, Mr. Pascrell created a stir after he reserved a conference room in the US Capitol for a CAIR panel discussion entitled “Global Attitudes on Islam-West Relations: US Policy Implications.” The panel included Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, who analyzed polls on relations between Muslims and the West, and CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. Mr. Pascrell’s spokesman Caley Gray said the forum “opens up an important
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Pascrell’s Islamists dialogue about global public opinion concerning the US.” “We see it as a simple room request,” said Mr. Gray. “We did receive a room request and evaluated it and approved it.” Not everyone on Capitol Hill regarded it as an ordinary request. “It does happen all the time, but usually it is the United Way or some constituent group or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, not a group with supposed ties to terrorism— in the Capitol no less,” a Hill staffer said at the time. “We know [CAIR] has ties to terrorism,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (NY), a member of the party’s Senate leadership. Mr. Schumer has criticized CAIR for its “intimate links with Hamas.” Pascrell and Corzine In February 2004, CAIR’s NJ office issued a statement praising Mr. Pascrell and thenSen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J) for
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condemning NY Republican Rep. Peter King’s assertion that most American mosques were controlled by radicals. Messrs Pascrell and Corzine both spoke at the Annual Community Brunch held by the American Muslim Union (AMU) on Feb. 21, 2004, which was cosponsored by 10 other organizations, including CAIRNJ and the Islamic Center of Passaic County (ICPC). According to a report by Joel Mowbray in the Boston Sun, Magdy Mahmoud, co-founder and president of CAIR’s NJ chapter, was another cosponsor of the AMU brunch. Mr. Mahmoud served on the executive board of the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) from 1993-98 and directed MAYA’s chapters committee. During Mr. Mahmoud’s tenure, the organization hosted a 1995 event in Toledo where Imam Yusuf al-Qaradawi praised
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Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. “Our brothers in Hamas, in Palestine, the Islamic resistance, the Islamic Jihad, after the rest have given up and despaired, the movement of the jihad brings us back to our faith,” Mr. Qaradawi declared. In the same speech, Mr. Qaradawi advocated killing Jews. He said that “the balance of power will change, and this is what is told in the Hadith of Ibn Omar and the Hadith of Abu-Harairah: ‘You shall continue to fight the Jews and they will fight you, until the Muslims will kill them. And the Jew will hide behind the stone and the tree will say: Oh servant of Allah, Oh Muslim, there is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him!’ The resurrection will not come before this happens. This is a text from the good omens in which we believe.” Mr. Qaradawi vowed that Muslims would conquer Europe and the US. “Islam will come back to Europe for the third time, after it was expelled from it twice,” Mr. Qaradawi said. “We will conquer Europe; we will conquer America! Not through sword but through da’wa [proselytizing].” Other Brunch Sponsors Another sponsor or the 2004 AMU brunch was The Dar-ul-Islah Islamic Center. Its co-founder Waheed Khalid has defended Hamas and declined comment when asked whether he believed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were forgeries. Asked by The Record in 1998 about Hamas activities, Mr. Khalid replied: “They are trying to get the occupiers out of their home.” In 1989, Mohammed ElMezain, one of the five HLF officials convicted in 2008, cofounded another sponsor of the
brunch, the ICPC, and served as its first imam. According to a memorandum written by former FBI Assistant Counterterrorism Director Dale Watson, Mr. Mezain (now serving a 15-year prison term for his HLF conviction) claimed in a 1994 speech at the mosque that he raised $1.8 million in the US for Hamas. In February 2003, the ICPC reportedly hosted Islamist militant Abdelhaleem Ashqar, later sentenced to 11 years in prison for criminal contempt and obstruction of justice after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating Hamas support in the US. No Radical Islamists Here Mr. Pascrell described allegations that any cosponsors of the February 2004 community brunch were radical Islamists or linked to terrorist organizations as “pure crap.” Asked by Mr. Mowbray if he believed he was providing legitimacy to radical organizations by appearing at the event, Mr. Pascrell replied: “I’m not going to deal in rumors. The rest is crap. I know these men as fine family men.” A spokesman for Mr. Pascrell later clarified that his boss was not referring to Alaa alSadawi, former imam at El Tawheed Islamic Center in Jersey City (another sponsor of the event), who was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to five years, three months in prison for attempting to smuggle $659,000 to Egypt. Mr. Sadawi raised money for the Global Relief Foundation, designated as a terrorist financier by the Treasury Department for its links with al-Qaeda. Mr. Sadawi later pleaded guilty to lying in order to obtain US citizenship. “That guy should be in jail,” the spokesman said of Mr. Sadawi. “But you can’t hold the members of the mosque responsible for his actions.”
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Mohammad Qatanani Another imam at the ICPC, Mohammad Qatanani, was accused of lying on his US immigration documents when he failed to disclose his confession to Israeli authorities that he was a member of Hamas, and his Israeli court conviction for membership in the terror group. Federal Immigration Judge Alberto Riefkohl ruled in favor of Mr. Qatanani in 2008, but the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned part of the order the following year, holding that Judge Riefkohl had erred in downplaying Israeli evidence showing Mr. Qatanani’s links with Hamas. There was plenty of evidence in the US. Mr. Qatanani spoke at a November 1999 IAP conference, an organization to which Mousa Abu Marzook, a senior Hamas official and former IAP board member, gave $490,000. Evidence at the HLF trial showed the IAP played a central role in the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee—in essence, serving as Hamas’ US-based infrastructure. In a September 2004 article in the NJ Herald-News, Mr. Qatanani advocated supporting the children of suicide bombers. During the HLF trial, he publicly prayed for the Hamas-linked defendants and delivered a sermon condemning Christians to eternal hellfire. In another sermon, Mr. Qatanani suggested all of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza were part of “Greater Syria” and that fighting to conquer these lands is a divine commandment for Muslims. These sermons were available in English on the mosque’s website. Supporting His Friend None of this stopped Mr. Pascrell from praising Mr. Qatanani and lobbying on his behalf. When the imam faced deportation, Mr. Pascrell submitted a court affidavit calling Mr. Qatanani “peace-loving” and “magnanimous.” “As a religious leader, Imam Qatanani has had an enormously positive impact in my district,” the congressman wrote. “Our community would suffer a serious loss should he be required to leave.” The Record published photos of Mr. Pascrell warmly greeting Mr. Qatanani during a 2009 interfaith event marking the start of Ramadan. Hours after Judge Riefkohl’s initial 2008 ruling that Mr. Qatanani could remain in the US, Mr. Pascrell joined Gov.
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Chris Christie and other officials in paying tribute to the imam. At a breaking of the Ramadan fast in Paterson that evening, Mr. Pascrell gushed about Mr. Qatanani: “You put so much time into bringing peace for all of us. Thank you imam, for all you’ve done for America since you’ve come here.” Others attending the celebration included Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano and Weysan Dun, FBI special agent in charge of the Bureau’s Newark office; the director of the NJ Office of Homeland Security; and various sheriffs and county prosecutors. After the Board of Immigration Appeals held that Judge Riefkohl had erred in downplaying Israeli evidence showing Mr. Qatanani’s links with Hamas, the imam is still in the US pending the outcome of deportation proceedings. Islamists’ Reliable Ally In 2008, Mr. Pascrell defended controversial New York City subway ads promoting Islam. The ads, financed by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), featured phrases like “Head Scarf?” and “Prophet Muhammad?” on one side, with the words “You deserve to know” and “WhysIam.org” on the other. NY’s Rep. King urged transit officials not to run the ads, citing the high-profile role in promoting the ad campaign played by radical Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a former CAIR advisory board member and a frequent speaker at the group’s events. Mr. Wahhaj was an unindicted coconspirator in the 1995 federal trial of Omar Abdel Rahman (“the Blind Sheik”), who was convicted of conspiring to bomb NY landmarks, including FBI headquarters, and is serving a life sentence in prison. Mr. Wahhaj testified in defense of the sheik, whom he called a “respected scholar” and “bold, as a strong preacher of Islam.” Mr. Abdel Rahman was convicted also of plotting to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Mr. Wahhaj has also called for the establishment of an Islamic state in the US and has urged Muslim involvement in American politics because “politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam.” When Mr. King pointed to Mr. Wahhaj’s radicalism, Mr. Pascrell expressed disappointment that “any public official” would oppose the subway advertisements. Mr. Pascrell described Mr. Wahhaj’s ad
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campaign as “exactly the kind of dialogue we need,” one that would “bridge the gaps in our collective knowledge.” Small wonder that CAIR’s NJ chapter sent out a July 31, 2008 “Action Alert” urging American Muslims and “other people of conscience” to thank Mr. Pascrell for “standing up to those who seek to marginalize the American Muslim community.” Al-Qaeda Threat Mr. Pascrell can sound strident when the facts don’t completely match his Islamist-supporting political narrative.
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When ABC Television announced plans to broadcast a “docudrama” criticizing the Clinton administration’s handling of the al-Qaeda threat, Mr. Pascrell denounced the film at a September 2006 Capitol Hill press conference, suggesting it was little more than fiction aimed at advancing the Republican Party. Mr. Pascrell insisted the 9/11 Commission had found no evidence of “retreat or negligence” by the Clinton administration. But Mr. Pascrell neglected to point out that the commission’s report was sharply critical of both the Bush and Clinton administrations’ handling of the threat.
It found that the Clinton administration had as many as four chances to capture or kill Osama bin Laden from December 1998 to July 1999 but failed to act. Attracting Jews There is no public polling data to indicate whether Mr. Pascrell faces any political backlash for collaborating with CAIR or treating with contempt a father like Mr. Bledsoe, who lost his son to Islamist radicalism. But there are indications that Mr. Pascrell’s pro-Islamist views could be helping attract more Jews into the Rothman camp in this Democrat-dominated district.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
The website NorthJersey.com reported that, in April, voter registration data from six Passaic County towns in the new district showed that since January 1 (shortly after Mr. Rothman announced he would run against Mr. Pascrell) more than 900 previously registered Republican or unaffiliated voters switched to the Democratic Party, with less than 200 switching from Democrat to Republican. In an effort to continue this trend, a recent letter paid for by the Rothman campaign urged Orthodox-Jewish Republicans to switch their registration so they could vote for him in the June primary. A Pascrell spokesman suggested Mr. Rothman’s efforts to encourage GOP party-switching constituted disloyalty to the Democratic Party, terming it “a slap in the face.” But many in the local Jewish community may conclude that Mr. Pascrell’s own behavior (and in particular his refusal to repudiate antisemitic slurs from prominent supporters like Mr. Assaf) may be spurring Jews to cross party lines to vote against him. Israel’s Survival In another op-ed last month, Mr. Assaf suggested that opposition to Mr. Pascrell from the local Jewish community threatened to undermine what had been a “cordial and cooperative” relationship with Paterson’s Arabs and Muslims. He hinted that Jewish opposition to the congressman would be regarded as evidence of anti-Muslim bigotry. Mr. Assaf claimed that Mr. Pascrell “is being condemned for failing to be 100 percent on the side of a foreign country (Israel)” and for “sleeping with a suspect community (Arab/Muslim) whose vote will most likely determine the outcome of the elections.” “Sadly, politics, money, lobbying and disinformation are about to spoil whatever semblance of friendship and hope there are,” he added. “The turf war has begun, and while we did not start it, the community of Arabs and Muslims in the district gave Pascrell victory. Jewish and now some mainstream newspapers have framed the June 5 primary as a litmus test for the survival of Israel.” Pro-Israel voters in NJ’s new 9th District may think he’s right. Y
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Already Aware of Terrorism Pressures, Gov Christie Visits Israel for History, Perspective, and Jobs New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
returned from a trip to Israel last month convinced that Jerusalem should remain under Israeli control and that individuals and countries that don’t appreciate all that the Jewish state has accomplished and contributes have judgment that is “clouded or obscured by a political agenda regarding Israel’s very existence.” “They’ve had 64 years to get over the fact that Israel is here to stay,” said Mr. Christie. The Republican governor, who is being touted as a potential vice-presidential pick for Mitt Romney, made his remarks at a kosher luncheon with New Jersey Jewish newspaper editors, held at Drumthwacket, New Jersey’s official gubernatorial residence in Princeton. The purpose was to discuss his trip to Israel this past April. An Open City Mr. Christie said he became aware of the importance of Israel’s sovereignty over the holy sites when, contrary to many skewed media reports, he saw people of all faiths and creeds visiting them freely throughout Jerusalem. “I was aware that when the holy sites were not under Israeli control, various people often were not permitted to visit them. But having been there and seen it myself, I know the places have never been freer than they are under Israel’s auspices,” he said. Equally important, he said, he came away from his trip convinced that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that stands up for the same “bedrock” values that it shares with the US. “Israel and the US share the same values of freedom, liberty, and everyone being allowed to worship as they see fit,” said Mr. Christie. Business Mission The trip—Mr. Christie’s first official foreign tour as governor—was entitled the “Jersey to Jerusalem Trade Mission.” The goal was to to spur more trade and business partnerships between the Jewish state and New Jersey. In addition to his wife, Mary Pat, and three of their four children, the governor’s entourage included members of the New Jersey Jewish and business communities.
Among those who traveled with Mr. Christie were: Mark Levenson, chairman of the NJ-Israel Commission; Rabbi Aaron Kotler, of Beth Medrash Gevoha in Lakewood; Josh Pruzansky, NJ regional director of Public Policy at the Orthodox Union Institute for Public Affairs; Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, director the Chabad House of Central and Southern New Jersey as well as of Rutgers; New Jersey State Sen Robert Singer; and Dan Senor, co-author of Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle.
Mr. Christie said the trip represented a unique experience for his family that he and his wife had planned for years. “I had been invited to go to visit Israel many times, but we wanted to wait until we could go as a family,” he said. Shepping Nachas For the Christies, like most parents, many of the trip’s highlights involved their children. For example, he said, on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, his group’s guide discussed
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Christie Visits Israel the Biblical narrative of Abraham and Isaac, Mr. Christie said he and his wife were delighted to hear their 11-year-old son complete the story. “We send our children to parochial school, and it was a supreme moment of parental pride to hear our son Patrick so engaged,” said Mr. Christie. At Yad Vashem, he was amazed at how much his children knew thanks to NJ’s mandated Holocaust education program. “It’s a great idea and it’s working,” he said. The group’s itinerary included many Biblical sites from the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. At the Western Wall, he said, he and his wife were besieged with warm wishes from fellow New Jerseyites, many of them from Teaneck, Englewood, and Fair Lawn. Dinner with Bibi What was supposed to be a perfunctory dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sarah, was, for Mr. and Mrs. Christie, a 2½ hour experience in which the couples spoke about domestic politics, the problems with Iran, and the challenges of raising children in the public eye. Mr. Christie characterized the prime minister as “an articulate spokesman and advocate for how peace negotiations should be conducted.” Mr. Christie’s meeting with President Shimon Peres, 89, reminded him of what it must feel like to “walk into a history book.” Business Meetings At his many business meetings, he was reminded constantly of what Israel and New Jersey have in common. They are very similar in area and population size. That, he said, was useful information when his group met with representatives of A Better Place, the Tel Aviv-based company developing electric cars.
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“They told me the cars will be able to go from one end of Israel to the other, which is good news because that’s the same size as Israel,” said Mr. Christie. Teva In Petach Tikva, the group visited Teva Pharmaceuticals, the world’s largest manufacturer
economically,” he said. “We met with entrepreneurs who are creating amazing things.” Security Briefings From a foreign affairs point of view, Governor Christie’s security briefings were perhaps the most dramatic episodes on his trip. He was taken on a helicopter
Governor Chris Christie, First Lady Mary Pat Christie and the Israel Delegation visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel of generic drugs. Mr. Christie said he spoke with Teva about a potential partnership between “Israel’s leading pharma company and the world’s medicine cabinet, New Jersey.” He said he was very optimistic that Teva would open a New Jersey location in the near future. “More than 700 New Jersey companies do business with Israel, and 65 Israeli firms maintain operations in our state. It only make sense. Americans and Israelis both believe in free enterprise, accountability, in transparency, and in rewarding excellence. We both believe in the rule of law and limits on the power of the state. We both believe in peace through strength,” said Mr. Christie. He said it was wonderful knowing the trip had resulted in potential jobs for New Jersey. “Israel is doing very well
ride from Judea to the Mediterranean sea, a 9.5-mile trip that was one of the tools used by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to show visitors how small and vulnerable the area actually is. Calling it “eye-opening,” Mr. Christie said he understood how such a perspective would inform strategic planning. “Anyone who thinks they have an opinion that’s worth something on the Israeli-Palestinian issue should take that tour. It took about three minutes from the area, where many Jewish communities are located, to the Mediterranean, and a missile goes much faster than a helicopter,” he said. The group was also taken on a tour of the Golan Heights, where one briefing discussed Israel’s fragile relations with neighboring Lebanon, and another explained the implications for Israel of the close
proximity to Syria. Dealing with Terrorism Mr. Christie said that being in Israel opened his eyes to many realities faced by the Jewish state, especially its geographical constraints, but he said he did not need this trip to make him appreciative of security challenges. As a US Attorney in the post-9/11 era and a governor of a state that many terrorists seem to find irresistible, he was already fully aware of the pressures of dealing with Islamist terrorism. He said, it was ironic that the media has characterized him as furious over reports of surveillance of Muslims in NJ by NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and his counter-terrorism security team. The governor said he has been misquoted and certainly misinterpreted. His objections, he said, were not to Mr. Kelly’s reasons or methods, and he was not challenging the NYPD’s jurisdiction. Mr. Christie’s major complaint was that neither he nor any New Jersey law enforcement officials had been briefed in advance. “I know the NYPD came to New Jersey to protect their own people as well as all of us in the region, but they have to tell us what they are doing so that we don’t stumble over one another. I’m not saying they don’t belong in New Jersey; I’m saying they have to tell us they’re here. We live in an era in which right hands must know what left hands are doing. After 9-11, we learned that law enforcement agencies must share information. It’s too dangerous when they don’t.” It’s the way law enforcement people, G-d forbid, get hurt or killed. I just want Kelly to understand that, hey, he can tell us what he’s doing. We can keep a secret in NJ,” said Mr. Christie. S.L.R.
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Jewish Heritage Tours to France, Monaco and Morocco Jewish Heritage Tours, a
leader in glatt kosher tours to Western Europe and Africa, has announced its third exciting tour of Paris, South France, and Monaco, which will take place from July 31 through August 9. Its tour to Morocco will take place during the August holiday vacation. According to Rabbi Dr. Nosson Dovid Rabinowich, an historian who serves as JHT’s Jewish guide and scholar, the primary objectives of the tour to France and Monaco are: to appreciate the natural beauty of Provence; to learn about the Jewish heritage in Provence and the Languedoc regions during the Medieval era; to visit Normandy to pay respects to America’s heroes; to travel to the towns known well to Rashi and his family; and thoroughly to explore Paris, which Rabbi Rabinowich calls “one of the world’s most fascinating cities.”
Among the tour’s highlights will be visits to the Versailles Castle, residence of the Sun King, Louis XIV, and the famous iconic French gardens; Avignon, the site of the majestic Palace of the Popes who welcomed and protected the Jews of Provence and Languedoc after they were expelled in the 14th century and, thus, became “the Pope’s Jews”; and the captivating cities of Marseilles, Cannes, and Nice. Monaco, which at only ¾-square mile is the second smallest independent state in the world, nevertheless boasts awesome buildings, amazing gardens, and worldfamous casinos. Morocco On August 19th, those participating on JHT’s exciting Morocco excursion will depart the US to return on August 28th. In 8½ days, they will visit a large swathe of exotic Morocco,
The tour to South France will visit towns known well to Rashi and his family which sits at the very tip of North Africa, less than nine miles from Europe. They will also learn a great deal of is Jewish history. “It is a very safe country. After all, it is North Africa, not the Middle East, and security is not an issue,” said Rabbi Rabinowich. On all Jewish Heritage Tours, Rabbi Rabinowich offers introductory Jewish history lectures and Chumash shiurim. During the trip to Morocco, he
will focus on commentaries by the Ramban and Ibn Ezra. Personable and knowledgeable local guides, selected by JHT, will teach the secular history of the countries being visited and help participants appreciate the art, museums, and architecture. Meals and Hotels Two glatt kosher meals, plus a filling box lunch, are served daily by the group’s personal caterer. All land travel is by ultramodern buses, and the hotels are all four- and five-star. Special attention is given to accommodating singles, and major discounts are offered to synagogues, schools, and organizations. A reasonable extension to Israel before or after the tours is available. Space on Jewish Heritage Tours is limited. For reservations or more information, call 917753-5178. Y
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Teaneck Community OHEL Awareness Shabbos, May 11-12 On May 11-12, Parshas
Emor, OHEL will hold its first Teaneck Community OHEL Awareness Shabbos. The theme of the program will be “Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available: A Revealing Look at the Increased Demands on Every Day Individuals and Families in the Community.” According to OHEL, the program will offer an opportunity to learn about a variety of challenges and developments affecting the community, including protecting children, normal families and mental-health challenges, addictive behavior— deeper than you think, aging baby boomers and growing geriatric needs, and much more.
OHEL, which is based in Brooklyn, maintains an office in Teaneck in Bergen County. Challenges “OHEL does so much ‘heavy lifting’ for so many individuals throughout the tri-state area,” said Robert Katz, director of development at OHEL. He noted that most people are confronted by challenges “that keep coming at us in myriad ways.” “OHEL is uniquely positioned, through its excellent clinical and programming staff of professionals, to help ease the serious personal burdens that so many of us face on a daily basis. For one Shabbos, we will be in shuls to help the
community identify challenges and, more importantly, discuss solutions,” he said. Important Speakers Featured speakers for the program include author and lecturer Rabbi Paysach Krohn; David Mandel, CEO of OHEL; Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, director of operations for OHEL and president of Nefesh International; entertainer Shloime Dachs, who is also an OHEL board member; and marital therapist Donny Frank. One of the weekend’s highlights will be an open house at a private home in Teaneck featuring David Mandel on the topic of “Mental Health, Stigma, Trauma, and Our Need for Resilience.”
Shuls participating in the OHEL Awareness Shabbos include Congregations Beth Aaron, Bnai Yeshurun, Rinat Yisrael, and Young Israel of Teaneck, in Teaneck, and Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield. OHEL offered its thanks to Jessica Kornwasser, OHEL’s NJ leadership chair, as well as to the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County for their support for the Awareness Shabbos. For more information about the Teaneck Community Awareness Shabbos or for OHEL’s NJ Behavioral Health and Family Center and its program, contact OHEL at 718-686-3214 or Robert_Katz@ohelfamily. org Y.
Touro’s Online Graduate Program Offers Pastoral Counseling Certificate Touro University Worldwide (TUW), an online division of Touro University Los Angeles, part of Touro College and University System, has just announced the addition of a certificate program in pastoral counseling. “Pastors, military and civilian chaplains, rabbis, priests, and lay individuals seeking to enhance their knowledge of family-andcouples therapy as part of their pastoral-counseling responsibilities will benefit from and be attracted to this new certificate program,” said Dr. Bernard Luskin, CEO and Senior Provost of TUW. TUW, which is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, offers its classes online. It currently offers online Master’s Degree programs in Business (MBA), Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Media and Communications Psychology, Physician Assistant, and Marriage and Family Therapy. Stand-Alone Program According to Dr. Michael Hamlin, director of TUW’s professional psychology programs,
the certificate in pastoral counseling may be completed as a stand-alone certificate or as a supplement to licensure courses leading the TUW master’s degree program in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), which is taken by many clergymen. “The pastoral counseling certificate program is appropriate for those wishing to develop additional insights and greater expertise in providing family therapy support services. A certificate in pastoral counseling from TUW offers an opportunity to enhance understanding of human behavior and improve skills in working with groups, families, couples, adults, and children,” he said. TUW offers five eight-week terms each year. The certificate in pastoral counseling may be completed in one year. The five required courses include Contemporary Issues in Marriage and Family Therapy, Adult and Child Development within the Family Life Cycle, Counseling Couples, Pastoral Counseling Theory, and Pastoral Counseling Practice.
Special Considerations “Clergy have special ethical considerations plus unique sensitive situational requirements when dealing with congregants and parishioners. Many times, clergy have a unique and substantial history with all members of a family,” said Dr. Luskin, explaining that the TUW professional psychology advisory committee recommended offering this certificate after recognizing that many members of the clergy benefit significantly from professional development and training. For more information on the Pastoral Counseling
Program or TUW in general, contact Heather Grace Hoglund, director of enrollment management at 818-874-4121 (Heather.Hoglund@tuw.edu) or Matteo Indelicato, senior program advisor, at 818-874-4118 (Matteo.Indelicato@tuw.edu). “At TUW, participants learn as members of a community of common interest and practice. Participants are taught by gifted faculty who are educators as well as experienced mental health professionals. A team of IT professionals also provides assistance to those enrolled in using TUW’s advanced e-learning management system,” said Dr. Luskin. Y
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Sium HaShas, for men and women, separate seating, scheduled for Wed. Aug 1, at the MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands, East Rutherford, 7pm. They are expecting 100,000 people, the largest celebration of Jewish learning in 2,000 years. Tickets range from $18-$1,000, but $54 seats are considered good, 1-877-SIYUM-12 (877-749-8612) or siyumhashas@ agudathisrael.org; Teaneck residents can contact schwartz.will@ gmail.com; Monsey residents contact 845-352-2501 Put away used children’s clothing in very good condition to be dropped off the week of July 8 at Cong Keter Torah for the Community Wide Clothing Drive. They will accept all clothing, including uniforms, simcha dress, shoes (only if barely worn or in great condition), outdoor wear, yardkay@yahoo.com Pick up a Night Reflector to wear on Friday nights, motzei Shabbat, and on Yom Tovim, available from the Sequoia Senior Center, a program of the
Jewish Family Service of Passaic, at Cong Adas Israel, Passaic, Mon, Tues, and Thurs, 10am-1pm; Wed, 10am-2pm, 973-246-7717 The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is accepting applications from teenagers for its Generation 2 Generation four-week paid internship, June 25-July 20 and July 23-Aug 17, 718-581-1404
Sun., May 6
Torah Home-Education Conference, for mothers and fathers looking for ideas about teaching their children, whether for homeschooling or supplementary teaching, Yael Aldrich, Baltimore, MD, aldrich613@hotmail.com 2012 Komen North Jersey Race for the Cure, Essex County South Mountain Recreation Complex, West Orange, registration, 7am; 5K run, 8:30am; expo, 9am; survivor ceremony, 9:30am; 5K and 1.5 mile fun walk, 10am, 908277-2904 ext 14 “Patriots’s Day” Trip to the US Military Academy of West Point, spons by Road Scholars, includes kosher meals and guided tours of the academy and the
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion” National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, leave Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 7:30am, 201-568-1315 Hadassah South NJ Region’s Education Symposium and Spring Conference, includes performance by Tzofim Israeli Scouts Friendship Caravan, officers installation, and lunch, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Monroe Twnshp, 9am-3pm, 732-643-1100 Torah Tuesday Breakfast, honroing Ralph Cheifetz and honoring Regina Bowski, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, 9am, torahtuesday@yahoo.com Explanatory Morning Service, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:15am, 201-966-4490 G.E.M. (Gathering for Encouragement of Modesty): Hashkafa and Halacha from Bnos Melachim and Individual Thoughts, for women, private home in Passaic, 9:15am, 973-365-2342 Mother’s Day Cookie Baking, Mommy and Me, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, ages 2-4, 9:15am; PreK-1st Grade, 10:15am; Grades 2-5, 11:15am; 973-736-1407 Learning Service, Rabbi Moshe Edelman, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 9:30am, 718-796-4730 Areyvut Breakfast, honoring Anna, Julia, and Noah Greenblatt and Yeshivat Noam, at Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 9:30am, 201-244-6702 Learn to Share Your Family Legacy: “Mark It with a Stone” and “The Bearing Witness Project for Descendants of Holocaust Survivors,” Sandy Rubenstein, bring a photograph or artifact connected to your history, private home in Livingston, 9:30am, shel4p@aol.com Clean Up Cong Ahavas Achim Shul Cemetery, bring shovel, rake, and elbow grease, Shalom Cemetery, Somerset, 9:30am, 732-895-4594 or 732-843-5239 “The Art of Marriage: Jewish Bedroom Secrets,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, 9:45am, 718-549-1100 Memorial to Arthur Joseph, z”l, The Jewish Center of Teaneck, 10am, minnah@jfnnj.org
The Log:
Spring Boutique, JCC, Tenafly, 10am-5pm, also Mon., May 7, 9am-4pm, 201-408-1438 Exhibit: “Adina Raviv: A Retrospective,” JCC, West Orange, through Sun, June 24, Sun, 10am-5pm; Mon-Thurs, 9am-9pm; Fri, 9am-4pm, 973-530-3413 Sharsheret Benefit, for young women facing breast and uterine cancer, honoring Gail Propp and Moe Rice, at the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe, 10:30am, 866-474-2774 Coffee-Brunch for Jewish Singles 38-55, at Bagel Munch, Passaic, 10:30am, RSVP a must, shoshilender7@sbcglobal.net “Letter from a Stranger,” Barbara Taylor Bradford, spons by East Brunswick chapter of AMIT, includes brunch and reception, at Young Israel of East Brunswick, 11am, 732-238-4062 Hoboken Arts Festival, HudsonJewish will have a booth, Washington Street between 1st and 6th Streets, Hoboken, 11am6pm, michelle@hudsonjewish.org Dedication of New Building and Open House, includes lunch and activities, Chabad Jewish Center, Franklin Lakes, 11:30am, onerabbi@gmail.com Film: “The Road to Batman and Dark Knight,” about Michael Uslan, Montclair Art Museum, 12:30pm, 917-693-0357 Panel: “The Art of Screenwriting,” with Joel Stillerman, Brian Koppelman, and David Levien, Montclair Public Library, 1:45pm, 917-693-0357 Spring Comedy: “The Bloody Attack of the Evil, Demonic Giraffe Puppet,” Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, Livingston, 3pm, 973-597-1115 ext 1164 Friendship Circle Bowling League, for Jewish specialneeds children and volunteers, Van Houten Lanes, Clifton, 3pm, 973-694-6274 Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion Chinese Auction, at Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, 3pm, 732-202-5311, 732-745-9449, or 732-985-1866 Kids in Action Kindness Project: Bowling for Camp Scholarships, Fire Science and Safety, for boys and girls 6-10, Rabbi Michoel Goldin, includes
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“Separate Yourself Not from the Community”
pizza supper, Chabad House, Teaneck, 3:30pm, 201-907-0686 Bat Mitzvah Shiur: B(at Mitzvah) A(mazing) T(rue you) Shiur on “Tzniut,” for bat mitzvah girls and their mothers, Gila Manolson, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 4pm, leah.silver@gmail.com Film: “Downtown Express,” Clairidge Cinema, Montclair, 4:30pm, 917-693-0357 Mesivta of Clifton Dinner, honoring Mr. & Mrs. Duvy Gross, Mr. & Dr. Steven Joseph, Mr. & Mrs. Avi Leiter, Mr. & Mrs. Leon Lichter, Mr. & Mrs. Malkiel Nechamkin, Mr. & Mrs. Michael Sage, and Mr. & Mrs. Yossi Twersky, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Fairfield, 5:15pm, 973-779-4800 “Raising a Child with a Soul,” Slovie Jungreis-Wolff, Kehillat New Hempstead, 7:30pm, 845-362-2425 or 845-304-9433 “Shalom Bayis: Practical Applications and How-To’s,” for women, Devorah Rose Kigel, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, allyson.guraryeh@gmail.com Tanach Series, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-837-2795
“The Jersey Sting,” Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin, the story of a black-market kidney deal, spons by the Men’s Clubs and the Sisterhoods of Congs Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David and Ohr Torah, at Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8pm, 973-669-0938 Writers Group, to discuss work informally, private home in Teaneck, 8:30pm, 347-200-5009
Mon., May 7
Parenting Using the KAZDIN Method for Reducing Oppositional/Definate Behavior in Children, Jewish Family Service of Clifton-Passaic, 10am, 973-777-7638 Bnai Mitzvah Fair, featuring representatives of many organizations to help children decide how to impact their community, the Jewish people, and the world at large, spons by Areyvut, at Yeshivat Noam, Paramus, for 5th grade girls and 6th grade boys, 3:45-4:30pm; for parents of 5th grade girls and 6th grade boys, 7-7:45pm; for the community, 7:45-8:30pm, 201-244-6702
“The Art of Marriage: The Case for Marriage,” Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 973-486-2362; Chabad Jewish Center of Suffern, Rabbi Samuel Gancz, 845-368-1889, 7:30pm Community Synagogue of Monsey Sisterhood Book Club: “Room” by Emma Donoghue, private home in Monsey, 8pm, 845-352-2496 Shidduch Meeting, to help put singles together, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 8pm, cvsschwartz@aol.com Telecall Shiur: “Shavuot: Make Your Own Ten Commandments for Your Family to Live By, Focus on What’s Important to You and How to Practice It,” Slovie Jungreis-Wolff, spons by MetroImma, 8:30pm, events@ metroimma.com with Slovie Web Call in the subject
Tues., May 8
Teaneck Municipal Elections, every registered voter must vote, polls are open 6am-8pm Jewish Business Network, for Jewish professionals, Whole Foods Market, Paramus, 8:15am,
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info@businessnetwork.net “The Art of Marriage: The Case for Marriage,” Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 “Outing to Presby Iris Garden in Montclair,” for seniors, if it rains, there will be a film “Preserving the Natural Wildlife of Israel,” Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 11:15am, 973-763-1407 ext 240 “Westward Oy: Pioneer Jews in America,” Dr. Kenneth Libo, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 1pm, 845-362-4400 Blood Drive, those who donate will receive 2 Mets tickets for a future home game from NY/NJ blood services, Cong Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, 3:30-9:30pm, dwagner100000@yahoo.com Boat-Building Project to Learn the Art of Floating Sculpture, for young children and their parents, Jim Norman, Teaneck General Store, 6:30pm, 201-530-5046 “The Three Secrets Every Woman Must Know about Men,”
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for women, Rabbi Dr. M. Gary Neuman, as part of the Mikvah Chana of Livingston benefit, includes Chinese auction and dessert reception, Hotel Westminster, Livingston, 7pm, 973-994-0200 “Seven Steps to Success,” Rod Colon, spons by Jewish Vocational Services, at The Pine Brook Jewish Center, Montville, 7pm, 973-674-0871 “Yiddish and Its Millenium: The Language and Culture of Ashkenazic Jews,” David Braun, BookLink, Bogota, 7pm, 201-725-7257 “Who Is a Wealthy Woman: She Who Is Healthy,” for women, spons by SPARKS, serving pre-and post-natal women, featuring Esther Kenigberg; “From Fatigue to Fulfillment: A Torah Perspective on Motherhood,” Aviva Orlian; “Love and Touch, a Mother’s Special Gift: How Massage Can Help Develop Bonding and Enhance an Infant’s Mood,” Faye Levy; and video: “The Best Kept Secret,” private home in Monsey, includes dessert buffet, 7:30pm, 845-362-6996 “The Art of Marriage: The Case for Marriage,” Rabbi Levi Dubinsky, Chabad of Mountain Lakes, 7:30pm, 973-551-1898 “The Art of Marriage: Jewish Bedroom Secrets,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Riverdale YMHA, 7:30pm, 718-549-1100 “The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change?” Rabbi Dov Drizen, Valley Chabad, Woodcliff Lake, 8pm, 201-376-0157
Wed., May 9
NORPAC Mission to Washington, for adults and children 12 and up, under 18 must be accompanied by parent or legal guardian, kosher meals included, buses will leave from various locations throughout NJ and NY, 6:15am, 201788-5133 or bchouake@aol.com Lag B’Omer Party at Riverdale Israel House (iHouse), gym and Israeli-style brunch, for children and adults, in Hebrew, Talya Leib, Riverdale YMHA, 10:30am, 718-548-8200 Mother’s Day Luncheon and Program, for seniors, Riverdale YMHA, 11:45am, 718-548-8200 “Children and the Holocaust: Changing Perspectives
in Holocaust Education for Children,” for middle and high school teachers, Master Teacher Institute in Holocaust Education, Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers, New Brunswick, 4:30pm, 732-932-2033 Abused Women’s Confidential Support Group, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 JCC Rockland Book Club: “Zeitoun” by Dave Eggers, facilitated by Arlene Sandner, West Nyack, 7:30pm, 845-362-4400 Schmooze on the News B’Ivrit, Danniel Sonnenschein, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7:30pm, 845-362-4400 Mom’s Support Group, for mothers of children with special needs, Amy Brunswick, LSW, spons by Jewish Family Service of MetroWest, 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, 7:30m, 201-408-1450 “The Art of Marriage: Jewish Bedroom Secrets,” Rabbi Mendy Mangel, Chabad Center, Cherry Hill, 856-874-1500; Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 732-972-3687, 7:30pm “The Art of Marriage: Jewish Bedroom Secrets,” Rabbi Ephraim Simon, Chabad House, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-907-0686 “The Suffering of the Innocents, a Symphonic Homage and Prayer,” composed by Kiko Arguello in memory of all innocent victims, especially of the Holocaust, and performed by the orchestra and choir of the Neocatechumenal Way, an international group of 180 musicians and singers, under the baton of Pau Jorquera; includes a Jewish service component led by Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, at the Jewish Center of Teaneck, 8pm, 201-833-0515 ext 200 “Chicks with Sticks Knitting Circle,” hats for preemies, children with cancer, and IDF soldiers in Israel, private home in Highland Park, 8:15pm, 732-339-8492 Lag B’Omer Bonfire and BBQ, for men, women, and children,
includes live music, popcorn, ices, Yeshiva Gedolah of Teaneck, 8:45pm, 201-833-5920 “Sefira Teleworkshop Workshop: Make Every Day Count—49 Steps to Greatness,” for women, Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller, 10pm, 732-806-1578
Thurs., May 10 Lag B’Omer
Lag B’Omer Family Carnival, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 4-7pm, 201-568-1315, rain date, Mon., May 14 Lag B’Omer Picnic, spons by Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, featuring bike stunt show, moon bounce, obstacle course, and food, at Seton Park, 235th St & Independence Ave, 4:30pm, 718-548-1850 Family BBQ, Bonfire, and Kite Making for Lag B’Omer, Chabad at the Shore, Ventnor, 4:30pm, 609-822-8500 Lag B’Omer Bonfire, includes BBQ, carnival rides, live music, bonfire, and Kumzitz, spons by the Chabad Center of Northwest NJ, at White Meadow Lake-Beach 1, Rockaway, 5pm, 973-625-1525 ext 202 BBQ to Celebrate Chaim Fisher’s Upsherin, for children in grades N-5, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 5pm, 732-618-9473 Lag B’Omer Family Fun Night, includes BBQ, Moon Bounce, Anshei Lubavitch Congregation, Fair Lawn, 5-7pm, 201-797-3770, 201-797-2770, or 201-398-0770 Lag B’Omer Barbeque and Family Fun, includes moon bounce and bonfire, Chabad of PassaicClifton, Chabad House, Passaic, 5:30pm, 973-246-5251 Lag B’Omer BBQ and Fun and Games, includes an outdoor rock wall, mechanical bull, rolling video game truck, arts-and crafts, sandart, archery, and Moonbounce, Chabad Center, Wayne, 5:30pm, 973-694-6274 Lag B’Omer Community Event, Rabbi Shmulie Greene, spons by the Mekor Chayim Steinsaltz Ambassadors, includes food, entertainment, children’s activities, and adult learning, at Donaldson Park, Grove 1, Highland Park, 5:308:30pm, rabbishmulie@steinsaltz.org Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy and Rae Kushner Yeshiva
High School Dinner, honoring Gail and Mark Hausdorff, Shirley and Philip Levitan, and Diane Bohs, at The Grove, Cedar Grove, 6pm, 973-597-1115 ext 1112 Lag B’Omer Carnival, BBQ, and Kumsitz, Rabbi Avremel and Chany Kotlarsky, includes balloonmaking, face-painting, games, food, and music, Chabad Jewish Community Center, New City, 6pm, 845-634-0951 ext 102 Cholent Cook-Off, for teens, followed by basketball tournament or challah baking, shul will provide utensils, cholent meat, beans, barley, onions, and 5 potatoes for each team, other food with proper hechshers may be brought by the team, Riverdale Jewish Center, 7:15pm, rjcyouthdirectors@gmail.com Lag B’Omer Bonfire, Bongos, and BBQ, for those over 21, includes music (bring your own instruments), marshmallows, and beer, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7:30pm, jlipowsky@optonline.net
Fri., May 11
Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva Nursery School Mother’s Day Program, Edison, 10am “The Bible through Literary Eyes,” Gary Rendsburg, Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers, New Brunswick, 2pm, 732-932-2033 “Judaism’s Relevance to Modern Life: Seasons for the Soul—Jewish Festivals in Answer to Life’s Challenges,” Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport, spons by Chabad at the Shore, at the Linwood Public Library, 12:15pm, 609-822-8500 Kids of Courage Shabbaton, a volunteer organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults with serious medical diagnoses, homes in Teaneck needed for hospitality, especially wheelchair-accessible, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, through Shabbat, May 12, 201adlers@gmail. com or 4boyzmom@optonline.net Senior NCSY Spring Regional and Banquet, at Hudson Valley Resort, Kerhonkson, NY, through Sunday, May 13, info@ ncsy.org or 732-672-5214 Three-Day Limmud Former Soviet Union, a shomer-Shabbos
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com festival of Jewish learning with lectures, round-table discussions, music, and cultural events in Russian, English, and Hebrew, featuring Yossi Bachar, Ronen Plot, Micah Levinson, Prof Menachem Ben-Sasson, and Prof Hanoch Gutfreund, at Princeton University, through Sun., May 13, 212-315-1201 or 248-318-1072 Riverdale Jewish Center Teen Shabbaton, with Rabbi Aaron Fleksher, teen minyan, followed by Friday night meal, cholent cook-off tasting, and voting for Cholent Master, rjcyouthdirectors@gmail.com Shloime Dachs leading Kabbalas Shabbas, spons by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 7pm, 718-686-3214 “The Beauty of Shabbos,” Rabbi Paysach Krohn, spons by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, 8pm, 718-686-3214
Shabbat, May 12
Mystery Guest Shabbat, sign up to be a guest or a host, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 201-837-2795 Sandra Rapoport, Scholarin-Residence, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, “Making Choices: Lot Chooses Sodom,” 11am; “The Bridegroom of Blood: Zipporah Saves Moses,” seudah shlishit, 201-568-1315 “What Happens to the Marriage When the Kids Are Gone,” Donny Frank, spons by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 10:30am, 718-686-3214 Rabbi Paysach Krohn, spons by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, “Tefillah: A Way of Connection,” 10:30am; “Becoming a Person of Productivity and Simcha,” shalosh seudos, 718-686-3214 “Mindfulness as a Way to Healthier Relationships and Personal Growth,” Simcha Feuerman, spons by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 10:30 am, 718-686-3214 “Lessons Learned from Penn State to Better Protect Our
May 2012/Iyar 5772
Children,” David Mandel, spons by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 10:30am, 718-686-3214 Shloime Dachs, leading Musaf, spons by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 11am, 718-686-3214 Minyan Tiferet: Shira Hadasha-Style Shabbat Mincha and Seudah Shlishit, private home in Englewood, 4pm, minyantiferet@gmail.com Women’s Study, Tamar Berger, Cong Ohr Torah Cindy Turkeltaub Grossman Women’s Library, West Orange, 5:30pm, 973-325-3749 “Mental Health, Stigma, Trauma, and Our Need for Resilience,” David Mandel, by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” private home in Teaneck, 5:30pm, 718-686-3214 “Installing in Our Children (and Ourselves) Relationship Tools for Life,” Simcha Feuerman, by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 5:30m, 718-686-3214 “How Can I Get My Children to Listen to Me,” Donny Frank, by OHEL’s “Awareness Shabbos: Challenges Unwrapped, Solutions Available,” at Young Israel of Teaneck, 5:30pm, 718-686-3214 “Sefirah and Avelut: Ancient Connections and Modern Associations,” Rabbi Jacob Schacter, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 6:35pm, 201-837-279 “Kiruv: Our Responsibility to Give Back to Others,” Sam Kaplan, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Netivot Shalom, Teaneck, 7:45pm, 201-966-4498
Motzei Shabbat, May 12
Book Signing: “Biblical Seductions,” by Sandra Rapoport, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 9pm, 201-568-1315
Sun., May 13
Shavuoth Flower Sale, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8am, 201-568-1315 Riverdale YMHA Sunday Market and Environmental Fair, includes kosher food and “Stop ‘n’ Swap,”bring clean, working,
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
and portable items no longer needed and take what you want, includes clothing, towels, sheets, electronics (no small household appliances such as toasters), compact fluorescent light bulbs, rechargeable batteries, used athletic shoes (can be turned into Nike Grind, a material used for sports surfaces), Middle School/ High School 141, Independence Ave and West 237th St, Riverdale, 9am-1pm, 718-548-8200 “The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change?” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, 9:45am, 718-549-1100 Riverdale Israel House (iHouse), gym and Israeli-style brunch, for children and adults, in Hebrew, Talya Leib, Riverdale YMHA, 10:30am; 718-548-8200 Mother’s Day Gardening Event, for mothers and/or fathers and children, playground at Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 1pm, amirgold@gmail.com Cong Ohav Emeth of Highland Park Bowl-a-Thon, spons Rabbi Eliyahu Kaufman to support the shul, Majestic Lanes, Perth Amboy, 2pm, 732-826-6800
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Teens Needed to Staff Family Soup Kitchen, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 11:45am4:15pm, 917-885-4542 Cong Arzei Darom of Teaneck Dinner, honoring Julie and Shabsi Polinsky, at Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 5:30pm, dinner@arzeidarom.org Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Dinner, celebrating the school’s 30year partnership with the community and honoring the local Rabbis David Bassous, Reuven Drucker, Mechel Horowitz, Gedaliah Jaffe, Eliyahu Kaufman, Yaakov Luban, Steven Miodownik, and Abraham Mykoff, at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, Iselin, 5:30pm, 732-985-6533 Lag B’Omer Celebration, with bonfire, Israeli music and food, YMHA, Riverdale, 7pm, 718-548-8200 Tanach, Rabbi Nati Helfgot, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-837-2795 “Super Mom: It’s Attainable,” for mothers of children of all ages, Debbie Selengut, spons by Neve Passaic Torah Institute, private home in Clifton, 8pm, 908-278-4059 “All of Tanach in 60 Minures: How the Book of Ruth Provides
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The Log
May 2012/Iyar 5772
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
continued from page 31
a Window for Contextualizing the Entire Bible,” Rabbi David Fohrman, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 8:15pm, 201-907-0180 “Ruth: Foundations of Kindness,” for women, Raizi Chechik, Cong Ohr HaTorah, Bergenfield, 8:30pm, 201-385-5333
East,” Mitchell Bard, JCC, Tenafly, 8pm, 201-569-7900 “The LAW and the Law: Brandenburg vs Ohio and the Torah’s View of Freedom of Speech,” Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 8:30pm, 201-836-8916
Deadline to submit application for scholarships for private music lessons at the Riverdale YMHA, for students, ages 8-15, who live or study in Riverdale, 718-548-8200 ext 256 Deadline to apply for the Schonfeld Jewish Community College Scholarship, for college-bound Jewish students, including those with specialneeds, in Bergen County; must be four 4-year college or university in the US or Israel, 201-408-1470 Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David of West Orange Youth Department Raffle Drawing, prizes range from a $300 “eataround-town” to a $1500 gift card, 973-324-9080 or 973-736-1407 Israel Film Club: “James’ Journey to Jerusalem,” in Hebrew with English subtitles, discussion led by Danniel Sonnenschein, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7pm, 845-362-4200 “The Connection between Auditory Processing and Learning,” for parents of children having difficulty in school, Janet Krebs, West Orange High School, 7pm, 973-202-0592 “The Art of Marriage: Jewish Bedroom Secrets,” 7:30pm, Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 973-4862362; Chabad Jewish Center of Suffern, Rabbi Samuel Gancz, 845-368-1889 “The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance That Undermines America’s Interest in the Middle
Trip to West Point, for seniors, includes tour of the Jewish Chapel with TLC Harry Garten and a picnic lunch, leave Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:45am, 973-736-1407 ext 240 Elder-Care Workshop: “Navigating Community Resources— Connect with Services in Your Community,” Ellen Masnaghetti and Patty Stoll, spons by Jewish Family Services, at Temple Beth Shalom, Fair Lawn, 10am, 201-837-9090 Women’s Club for Widows, Jewish Federation and Vocational Services, Concordia Shopping Center, Monroe, 10:30am, 732777-1940 or 609-395-7979 “The Art of Marriage: Jewish Bedroom Secrets,” Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 “The Comedian Harmonists: The Last Great Jewish Performers in Nazi Germany,” Douglas Friedman, includes film, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, Manalapan, 2pm, 732-431-7220 ext 7222 Latte and Learn: Weekly Parsha through a Literary Perspective, Ben Keil, Teaneck General Store, 7pm, 201-530-5046 Cong Ahavath Torah Sisterhood Mitzvah Dinner, honoring Fran Schub and Marcy Cohen, shul, Englewood, 7:30pm, 201-568-1315 “The Art of Marriage: Jewish Bedroom Secrets,” Rabbi Levi
Mon., May 14
Tues., May 15
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
Dubinsky, Chabad of Mountain Lakes, 7:30pm, 973-551-1898 “The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change?” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Riverdale YMHA, 7:30pm, 718-549-1100 JCC Annual Meeting, honoring Deborah Goodman Davis, Judy and Ron Gold, and Diane Bukart, JCC, Tenafly, 7:45pm, 201-569-7900 “The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” Rabbi Dov Drizen, Valley Chabad, Woodcliff Lake, 8pm, 201-376-0157
Wed., May 16
Webinar: “Special Needs and Elder Law Planning,” Lori Wolf, 8am, loriwolf@coleschotz.com Elder-Care Workshop: “Navigating Community Resources— Connect with Services in Your Community,” Ellen Masnaghetti and Patty Stoll, spons by Jewish Family Services, at Jewish Center of Teaneck, 10am, 201-837-9090 Parenting Using the KAZDIN Method for Reducing Oppositional/Definate Behavior in Children, Jewish Family Service of Clifton-Passaic, 10am, 973-777-7638 Yeshiva University High Schools Dinner, dedicating the YU High School for Boys Beis Medrash Katan Program in memory of Julius Wrubel, z”l, and honoring Rabbi Tanchum Cohen, Harvey and Deena Wrubel, and Rabbi Zvi Lew, at Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 5:30pm, 201-697-3009 or 212-960-5489 “And I Am a Stranger: Becoming Ruth,” Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, JCC, Tenafly, 7:30pm, 201-408-1458 Schmooze on the News B’Ivrit, Danniel Sonnenschein, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7:30pm, 845-362-4400 “Ethical Campaigning: An Oxymoron?” Harman Grossman, spons by the Melton Alumni Association, at the Jewish Federation, Paramus, 7:30pm, 201-820-3913 “The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change?” Rabbi Mendy Mangel, Chabad Center, Cherry Hill, 856-874-1500; Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 732-9723687; Rabbi Mendy Herson, Chabad Jewish Center, Basking Ridge, 908604-8844 ext 210; 7:30pm Comedy and Music Show, for
adults, to benefit Wounded Warriots, Multiple Sclerosis, and NJ Tea Party Coalition, American Legion Hall, Teaneck, 7:30pm, curtisprod@msn.com Rav Herschel Schachter, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8pm, 973-736-1407 “The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change?” Rabbi Ephraim Simon, Chabad House, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-907-0686 “Sefira Teleworkshop Workshop: Make Every Day Count—49 Steps to Greatness,” for women, Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller, 10pm, 732-806-1578
Thurs., May 17
“Rescue as Resistance: Teaching the Holocaust in the Future,” for Middle School and High School Teachers, featuring Dr. Eva Fogelman, Dr. Mordechai Paldiel, Dr. Paul Winkler, Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, Judith Alter Kallman, Colleen Tambuscio, and Jeanette Friedman, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8:30am1:30pm brenninstitute@aol.com Workshop: “Justice after Genocide,” Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center, Ramapo College, Mahwah, 9am-3pm, 201-684-7409 La Leche League of Bronx/ Riverdale, Mia Damond Padwa, pregnant women, babies and small children welcome, healthy snacks, Riverdale YMHA, 9:30am, 718-543-0314 “Changing Dynamics in the Middle East—From Tahrir Square to Rothschild Boulevard, Sagi Melamed, JCC, Tenafly, 10:30am, 201-408-1427 Yeshiva Basketball Dinner, honoring Irv Bader’s 50 years of association with Jewish Basketball, YUMA, Union, 5:30pm, pkess33@ aol.com or eauerbacher@gmail.com Sumptuous Shavuoth Dinner, Lisa Chalfin, includes tri-colored gefilte fish; candied almond, pear, and goat cheese salad with shallot vinaigrette; salmon Wellington with cucumber dill sauce; asparagus Tivoli; and chocolate-covered pretzel tart, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-408-1457 “Disordered Eating or Eating Disorders: A Seminar for Parents and Teens,” JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-408-1469 Poetry Slam, an evening of poetic readings, discussions, and fun,
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Teaneck General Store, 201-530-5046
Fri., May 18
“A Taste of Shabbat,” for parents and children, Daniel Sonnenschein, YJCC Rockland, West Nyack, 10:45am, 845-362-4400 “Judaism’s Relevance to Modern Life: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow—What Really Matters? Really,” Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport, spons by Chabad at the Shore, at the Linwood Public Library, 12:15pm, 609-822-8500 Chazzan Sherwood Goffin, scholar-in-residence, Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, includes melodic davening and the rationale and guidelines—both halachic and musical—of Tefillah Shabbat and the general structural roadmap for all tefillot of the year, through Shabbat, May 19, 732-777-6840 Rabbi Elazar Muskin, scholarin-residence, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, through Shabbat, May 19, 201-907-0180 Carlebach Minyan at the Jewish Center of Teaneck, 7pm, 201-833-0515 ext 200
Shabbat, May 19
Carlebach Minyan, Cong Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, 8:45am Carlebach Minyan, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 9am, 201-8330515 ext 200 The Rabbi’s Tish: The Three C’s: Cholent, Cugel, and Conversation: What It Means to Belong to a Community Social and Religious Structure—The Move from Joiners to Consumers,” Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, noon, 201-833-0515 ext 200 Bnei Akiva Snif Chadash of Teaneck Darom, for students in grades 1-6, fun with an educational Zionist element, Cong Arzei Darom, 4pm, pscheininger@hotmail.com “Study of Megillat Ruth,” for women, Pearl Mattenson, Cong Ohr Torah Cindy Turkeltaub Grossman Women’s Library, West Orange, 5:30pm, 973-325-3749 “The History of Jewish Music,” Chazzan Sherwood Goffin, Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, seudat shlishit, 732-777-6840
Motzei Shabbat, May 19
Yom Yerushalayim Tefillah Chagagit and Musical Havdalah, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 9pm, 718-796-4730 Tiferes Chofetz Chaim
May 2012/Iyar 5772
Heritage Foundation Program, for women, private home in Edison, 10pm, 732-572-4713
Sun., May 20
Team AY of Cong Ahavas Yisrael of Edison is participating in Highland Park’s 5K Run in the Park, 3.1 miles for runners, walkers, children, and adults, to benefit the Highland Park Library, Volunteer Fire Department, FirstAid, Police, and Office of Recreation, Raritan Ave, Highland Park, 9am, teamay@ayedison.org Explanatory Morning Service, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:15am, 201-966-4490 Rutgers Jewish Xperience Breakfast, honoring Elie and Iris Borger, Katie Landy, and Eric Weinberg, Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, 9am, office@rutgersjx.com Pars for Parkison’s Paul Kudowitz Memorial Golf Outing, at Tarry Brae, South Fallsburg, NY, includes kosher breakfast and BBQ, 9:30am, 201-862-0575 Bike for Israel, for children, teens, and adults, at Columbia Bike Train in Morris County, includes BBQ lunch, meet at Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, 9:30am, 732-220-2946 “The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, 9:45am, 718-549-1100 Pool and Water Park, JCC, Tenafly, 12-7pm, 201-569-7900 C-Teens, for teenagers, membership not required, afternoon of paintball and BBQ, meet at Chabad Center, Wayne, 1pm, 201-696-7609 JEC Elmora Ave Shul Bowa-Thon, featuring bowler Rabbi Avrohom Herman, at Linden Lanes, Linden, 1:30pm, 908-445-5308 Family Fun Day, spons by Jewish Federation of Northern NJ, includes music, scavenger hunt, bounce house, gymnastics, tennis, fishing, karate, yoga, pony rides, sand-and-water play, basketball, bumper cars, at Blue Rill Day Camp, Airmont, NY, 2-6pm, 201-820-3921 Friendship Circle Sports Sunday, for special-needs children, Chabad House, Wayne, 2:30pm, 973-694-6274 Friendship Circle Bowling League, for Jewish special-needs
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
children and volunteers, Holiday Bowl, Oakland, 3pm, 973-694-6274 Brotherhood-Sisterhood of Bergen County Luncheon, spons in part by the Jewish Federation, Marriott Glenponte, Teaneck, 3pm, 201-820-3946 Cong Beth Abraham of Bergenfield BBQ, 5:30pm, 201-3855725 or rivkichudnoff@gmail.com Cong Ahavas Achim of Highland Park Dinner and Chinese Auction, honoring Elliot and Susan Frank and Mark and Jessica Kligman, shul in Highland Park, 5:30pm, 908-347-9501, 732-9854510, 732-247-6903, or 732-572-2792 SINAI Special Needs Institute Get Ready for Summer Boutique, at the Torah Academy of Bergen County, Teaneck, 5:309:30pm, 201-387-8218, 201-8378309, or 201-837-1848 Yeshiva Ktana of Passaic Dinner, honoring Rabbi and Mrs Heshie Hirth, at the Sheraton Meadowlands, East Rutherford, 5:30pm, 973-365-0100 Yom Yerushalayim Film, includes refreshments, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 6:15pm, 718-796-4730 Writers Group, to discuss
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work informally, private home in Teaneck, 8:30pm, 347-200-5009
Mon., May 21
Jewish Vocational Service Taste and Toast, honoring Jeffrey B. Gewirtz and CVS/Caremark, at Crystal Plaza, Livingston, 6:30pm, 973-674-6330 ext 311 Jewelry Making, Whitney Ullman, spons by Chabad at the Shore’s Jewish Women’s Circle, private home in Galloway, 7pm, 609-992-4900 Pre-Shavuot Event: “You Are Beautiful, You Are Enough: Thoughts on Megillat Ruth,” for women, Rachel Besser, includes spring fashion presentation and light supper, to benefit Sharsheret, The Frisch School, Paramus, 7:15pm, tikvah.wiener@frisch.org “The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change?” 7:30pm, Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 973-486-2362; Chabad Jewish Center of Suffern, Rabbi Samuel Gancz, 845-368-1889
Tues., May 22
“The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change?” Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 Shavuoth Celebration,
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Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
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for seniors, includes dairy lunch with Shavuoth favorites, Cong Ahawas Achim, Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 11:15am, 973-763-1407 ext 240 “The Golden Age of Television: What Made the 1950s so Special for American TV,” Prof Brian Rose, Riverdale YMHA, 1pm, 718-548-8200 “The Art of Marriage: Will My Spouse Ever Change” Rabbi Levi Dubinsky, Chabad of Mountain Lakes, 7:30pm, 973-551-1898 “The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Riverdale YMHA, 7:30pm, 718-549-1100 “The Art of Marriage: Danger Ahead—Boredom and Temptation,” Rabbi Dov Drizen, Valley Chabad, Woodcliff Lake, 8pm, 201-376-0157
Wed., May 23
“History of the Lower East Side” Walking Tour, for seniors, leave YMHA, Riverdale, 10am, 718-548-8200 “The Art of Listening: Active Listening Tips for Interview Success,” spons by Project Ezrah, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 11am, Jennifer@ezrah.org Abused Women’s Confidential Support Group, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 Schmooze on the News B’Ivrit, Danniel Sonnenschein, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7:30pm, 845-362-4400 “The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” Rabbi Mendy Mangel, Chabad Center, Cherry Hill, 856-874-1500; Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 732-972-3687; Rabbi Mendy Herson, Chabad Jewish Center, Basking Ridge, 908-6048844 ext 210; 7:30pm “The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” Rabbi Ephraim Simon, Chabad House, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-907-0686 Super Jewish Singles, 65+, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 8pm, 845-362-4400 “Shavuot Program and Recipes,” spons by Hadassah L’Dor V’Dor Young Women’s Group, private home in Highland Park, 8pm, ywhadassahevents@yahoo.com “Chicks with Sticks Knitting Circle,” hats for preemies, children
with cancer, and IDF soldiers in Israel, private home in Highland Park, 8:15pm, 732-339-8492 “Sefira Teleworkshop Workshop: Make Every Day Count—49 Steps to Greatness,” for women, Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller, 10pm, 732-806-1578
Thurs., May 24
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 Volunteer Managers’ Lunch and Learn,” for professionals who work with or manage volunteers in non-profit, corporate, governmental, or faith-based settings, bring your own lunch, The Non-Profit Training and Resource Center of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County, Hackensack, 11:30pm, 201-489-9454 ext 118 Chabad Jewish Center of Basking Ridge, Zimmer School and Olam Academy, and Breitman Family Hebrew School Dinner, honoring Jaime and Justin Demola and Jill and Eric Lavitsky, includes “Giving Tree” directed-giving opportunities, Grand Summit Hotel, Summit, 6:30pm, 908-604-8844
Fri., May 25
Deadline to Sign up for Cong Ohav Emeth’s Trenton Thunder vs The Altoona Curve Baseball Game, to be held on The Trenton Thunder’s Jewish Heritage Night, July 31, includes Tzofim Concert, glatt kosher food, and the game, 732-247-3038 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 “Judaism’s Relevance to Modern Life: The Kabbalah of Cheesecake—What’s the Fuss over Milk and Meat?” Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport, spons by Chabad at the Shore, at the Linwood Public Library, 12:15pm, 609-822-8500
Shabbat, May 26
Erev Shavuot Lunch for New Members, for women, spons by BNOT of Cong Bnai Yeshurun, includes entertainment for children,
Teaneck, noon, cbybnot@gmail.com Riverdale Bnai Akiva Afternoon Shabbat Groups, for grades 1-5, spons by Riverdale Jewish Center, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, and Young Israel OZ, at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 4:30pm, rjcyouthdirectors@gmail.com “Study of Megillat Ruth,” for women, Chagit Raskin, Cong Ohr Torah Cindy Turkeltaub Grossman Women’s Library, West Orange, 5:30pm, 973-325-3749
Sun., May 27, Shavuoth
Children’s Learning Program, Young Israel of Passaic-Clifton, Passaic, 4:30pm, 973-330-2285
Mon, May 28, Shavuoth
Shavuoth Kiddush, honoring those who learned for the shul’s Sefer Hachinuch Siyum, Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, noon, 732-247-0532 Dairy Family Lunch, for the community, the Sephardic Cong of Teaneck-Shaarei Orah, noon, 201-357-0820 Shavuos Siyum on Torah and Mishna, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, noon, 201-796-1915 Women’s Learning Program, Young Israel of Passaic-Clifton, Passaic, 4pm, 973-330-2285
Tues., May 29
“The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 “Jewish Classical Composers,” for seniors, Lloyd Kishinsky, Cong Ahawas Achim, Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 11:15am, 973-763-1407 ext 240 Lubavitch of Essex County Dinner: An Evening of Music and Entertainment, honoring Dr. Robert and Rochelle Rush, Chaia Sagorsky, Menucha Libson, and Dr. Richard Kaplan, z”l, featuring music by B’nai Jazz and mind reader/mentalist Maurice Sabloff, Atrium Country Club, West Orange, 6:30pm, 973-486-2362 “The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” Rabbi Levi Dubinsky, Chabad of Mountain Lakes, 7:30pm, 973-551-1898 “The Art of Marriage: Danger Ahead—Boredom and Temptation,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Riverdale YMHA, 7:30pm, 718-549-1100
Meet Rep Steve Rothman (DNJ), parlor meeting spons by Mayor Michael and Amy Wildes, private home in Englewood, 7:30pm,mw@ wildesforcongreess.com “The Art of Marriage: Make Up or Break Up?” Rabbi Dov Drizen, Valley Chabad, Woodcliff Lake, 8pm, 201-376-0157
Wed., May 30
Celebrate Israel Night: Mets vs Phillies, Citi Field, Queens, glatt-kosher tailgate, spons by AMIT, 4:30pm; mincha, 5:30pm; first pitch, 7:10pm, 201-615-0222, 212-477-4725, or 718-559-3037 “The Art of Marriage: Danger Ahead—Boredom and Temptation,” Rabbi Mendy Mangel, Chabad Center, Cherry Hill, 856-874-1500; Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 732-972-3687; Rabbi Mendy Herson, Chabad Jewish Center, Basking Ridge, 908-6048844 ext 210; 7:30pm Dad’s Support Group: Common Experiences, Expectations, Successes, and Disappointments, for fathers of special-needs children, MetroWest UJC, Florham Park, 7:30pm, 973-929-3129 “The Art of Marriage: Danger Ahead—Boredom and Temptation,” Rabbi Ephraim Simon, Chabad House, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-907-0686 Kosher Cupcake Decorating, for women, Limor Levy, private home in Livingston, 8pm, limormlevy@yahoo.com An Evening with Mayim Bialik, Riverdale Jewish Center, 8pm, 718-548-1850
Thurs., May 31
Desert Reception, honoring the Friendship Circle, the group serving local children with special needs, featuring NFL offensive lineman Alan Veingrad, autographs available, Chabad Center, Wayne, 7pm, 973-694-6274 “Evening under the Stars,” to benefit Chai Lifeline, private home in West Orange, 8pm, 973-325-2712 Rabbi Isaac Swift, z”l, Memorial Lecture: “Jewish Medical Ethics in the 21st Century: A Brief Glimpse into the Medical Halacha of the Near Future,” Dr. Edward Reichman, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8:15pm, 201-568-1315
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Fri., June 1
“Challenging Intuition: Three Life-Lessons from King David’s Counselor,” Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport, spons by Chabad at the Shore, at the Linwood Public Library, 12:15pm, 609-822-8500
Shabbat, June 2
Siyum Mishnayot, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, gala seudah shlishit, 201-907-0309
Sun., June 3
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 Explanatory Morning Service, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:15am, 201-966-4490 Gathering for Encouragement of Modest (GEM) Tznius Group: Hashkafa and Halacha from Bnos Melachim and Individual Thoughts, for women, private home in Passaic, 9:15am, 973-365-2342 “The Art of Marriage: Danger Ahead—Boredom and Temptation,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, 9:45am, 718-549-1100 Israel Day Parade: Israel Branches Out, Fifth Ave from 57th to 74th Streets, Manhattan, 11am4pm, 212.983.4800 ext 162 or ext 487 Pool and Water Park, JCC, Tenafly, 12-7pm, 201-569-7900 Kids in Action Awards Ceremony and Carnival, for boys and girls 6-10, Rabbi Michoel Goldin, includes pizza supper, Chabad House, Teaneck, 3:30pm, 201-907-0686 “Super Mom: It’s Attainable,” for mothers of children of all ages, Debbie Selengut, spons by Neve Passaic Torah Institute, private home in Clifton, 8pm, 908-278-4059 Writers Group, to discuss work informally, private home in Teaneck, 8:30pm, 347-200-5009
Mon., June 4
“The Art of Marriage: Becoming a Better Half,” 7:30pm, Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 973-486-2362; Chabad Jewish Center of Suffern, Rabbi Samuel Gancz, 845-368-1889
Tues., June 5
La Leche League, YJCC, West Nyack, 10:15am, 845-362-4400 Women’s Club for Widows,
May 2012/Iyar 5772
Jewish Federation and Vocational Services, Concordia Shopping Center, Monroe, 10:30am, 732777-1940 or 609-395-7979 “The Art of Marriage: Danger Ahead—Boredom and Temptation,” Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 “Recounting the Battle of Midway,” for seniors, Dr. Ed Shapiro, Cong Ahawas Achim, Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 11:15am, 973-763-1407 ext 240 Cong Adas Israel Dinner, at the shul in Passaic, 6:30pm, 973-773-7272 “The Art of Marriage: Danger Ahead—Boredom and Temptation,” Rabbi Levi Dubinsky, Chabad of Mountain Lakes, 7:30pm, 973-551-1898 “The Art of Marriage: Make Up or Break Up?” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Riverdale YMHA, 7:30pm, 718-549-1100
Wed., June 6
Contemporary Israeli Poetry Group, in the original with English translation and discussion, Atara Fobar, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 7pm, 718-796-4730 Thurnauer Symphony Orchestram Philharmonia, and String Camerata Concert, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-408-1465 Abused Women’s Confidential Support Group, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 Jewish 12-Step Meeting, JACS—Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons, and Significant Others, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:30pm, 201837-9090, ask for IRA (Information and Referral) or 201-981-1071 Monthly Israel Update, Daniel Sonnenschein, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7:30pm, 845-362-4400 “The Art of Marriage: Make Up or Break Up?” Rabbi Mendy Mangel, Chabad Center, Cherry Hill, 856-874-1500; Rabbi Levi Wolosow, Chabad House, Manalapan, 732-9723687; Rabbi Mendy Herson, Chabad Jewish Center, Basking Ridge, 908604-8844 ext 210; 7:30pm “The Art of Marriage: Make Up or Break Up?” Rabbi Ephraim Simon, Chabad House, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-907-0686
Thurs., June 7
Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Jacob and David Sisterhood Donor Dinner, honoring Lisa Schwarzbaum and Mindy Saibel, catered by Beth Indyk, at the shul, West Orange, 6pm, 973-736-1407 “The Fool and the Genius: The True Fiction of Isaac Bashevis Singer,” Nadia Kalman, JCC, Tenafly, 7:30pm, 201-408-1458
Fri., June 8
“Igniting the Spark Within: A Wholesome Approach to Personal Growth,” Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport, spons by Chabad at the Shore, at the Linwood Public Library, 12:15pm, 609-822-8500
Shabbat, June 9
“I Wish I Understood Everything I Was Saying” Minyan, Rabbi Steven Weil, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 8:45am, 201-907-0180 Graduation Kiddush, Young Israel of Passaic-Clifton, Passaic, noon, 973-330-1244 “The Tefilla Tightrope: Something Old, Something New,” Rebbetzin Peshi Neuberger, at the Atara Spring Tea, for women, honoring Rebbetzin Debbie Baum and Estee Kirsch, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 4pm, shari_katz@yahoo.com
Sun., June 10
“The Art of Marriage: Make Up or Break Up?” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, 9:45am, 718-549-1100 Riverdale Israel House (iHouse), gym and Israeli-style brunch, for children and adults, in Hebrew, Talya Leib, Riverdale YMHA, 10:30am; 718-548-8200 Teens Needed to Staff Family Soup Kitchen, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 11:45am4:15pm, 917-885-4542 Pool and Water Park, JCC, Tenafly, 12-7pm, 201-569-7900
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State-Wide Gathering of Generations of the Shoah, for survivors and their families (2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations), featuring Michael Berenbaum, Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, 1:30pm, holocaust@ doe.state.nj.us or 609-292-9274 “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Riverdale YMHA, 2pm, 718-548-8200 Bnei Akiva Snif Chadash of Teaneck Darom End of Year Program, for students in grades 1-6, fun with an educational Zionist element, Cong Arzei Darom, 4pm, pscheininger@hotmail.com Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Dinner, honoring Stanley and Ruby Langer, Phil and Jean Schneider, and James and Ann Lapin, at the shul in Riverdale, 5pm, 718-796-4730 Yeshiva of Spring Valley Dinner, honoring Eli and Bea Hirsch, Danny and Atara Gilbert, Jason Cury, and Joel Beritz, at the Doubletree Hotel, Tarrytown, 5:30pm, 845-356-1400 ext 154 “Israel in Our Hearts and Voices,” Shirah community choir concert with Matthew Lazar, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-569-7900 Tanach, Rabbi Nati Helfgot, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-837-2795 “Super Mom: It’s Attainable,” for mothers of children of all ages, Debbie Selengut, spons by Neve Passaic Torah Institute, private home in Clifton, 8pm, 908-278-4059
Mon., June 11
Kosher Trip to Western Massachusetts, for seniors, includes Tanglewood and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the National Yiddish Book Center, spons by the Riverdale YMHA, return Wed., June 13, 718-548-8200 Y
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May 2012/Iyar 5772
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
New Classes This Month Sundays
Breakfast and Learn, for children, Rabbi Shalom Baum, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 8:30am, 201-907-0180 Shiur, Rabbi Duvie Weiss, Cong Keter Torah, 8:30am, 201-907-0180 “Practical Halacha,” Rabbi Gedalia Jaffe, Cong Ahavas Yisrael, Edison, 8:30am, 732-572-7796 or teamay@ayedison.org Riverdale YMHA Sunday Market, includes kosher food, Middle School/High School 141, Independence Ave and West 237th St, Riverdale, 9am-1pm, 718-548-8200 Recreation Program, for special-needs children ages 4-13, Deena Spindler, includes sports and gym, arts and crafts, music and movement, martial arts, drama, storytelling, and Jewish culture, YMHA of Washington Heights, 9:15am, 212-569-6200 ext 217 Gemara Shiur, Rabbi Avrumy Fein, Riverdale Jewish Center. 9:15am, 718-548-1850 “Souls on Fire: The Great Chassidic Masters, Their Teachings, and Related Stories,” for women, Rabbi Aba Wagensberg, Cong Ahavas Israel, Passaic, 11am, 973-777-5929 ext 2 Mommy-Baby Playgroup, for mothers and infants under one year, private home in Teaneck, 11:30am, dxb329@gmail.com Avot uBanim Father-Son Learning, includes snacks and raffles, Yeshiva Gedolah of Teaneck, 7pm, 201-833-5920 Adult Sewing Class, Shana Kesselman, private home in West Orange, 8pm, 718-473-7561 Chaburah Avodah Zorah, Binyomin Halberstam, Cong Tifereth Israel, Passaic, 9pm, benhalberstam@yahoo.com Daf-a-Week & PCCK, Rav Menachem Zupnik, Cong Bais Torah U’Tefilah, Passaic, 9pm, 845-709-9340
Mondays
“The Book of Ezra: The Most Relevant Sefer of Our Time,” Rabbi Alex Mondrow, in loving memory of Rochi Lerner, z”l, at Yeshivat Noam, Paramus, 10am, 201-261-1919 Intermediate Israeli Folk Dance, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, noon, 845-362-4400
Mazal Tov
Mazal Tov to the Bat Mitzvah Girls: Sarah Bleiberg, Adina Brooks, Mikayala Elk, Eliana Frank, Rachel Lefkowitz, and Jessie Orgel; and the Bar Mitzvah Boys: David Baruch, Sammy Friedman, Jordan Gartenberg, Aryeh Halpert, Raanan Kimmel, Eytan Lebowitz, J.J. Mandelbaum, David Needle, Yitzy Nissel, Yitzy Richter, Shai Rosalimsky, Simcha Dovid Rozenberg, Tzvi Sabo, Sam Schwartz, Feivel Segelov, Benjamin Shanblatt, Yair Tennenberg, and Jacob Zakheim Mazal Tov to Teaneck Councilman Yitz Stern on being appointed by Governor Chris Christie to the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education Mazal Tov to Melinda Lowell Paltrow on being named Bergen County chairwoman of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. The NJ chapter is also known as the “Lone Soldier” chapter because of its focus on providing aid to soldiers serving in Israel without any immediate family in the country. For more information, 646-274-9678 Mazal Tov to Bruriah Graduate Miriam Rosenbaum on being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship Mazal Tov to Shmuel Hoffman on his new “Tribute to the Jewish Mother,” sponsored by Wossotzky Tea and just in time for Mother’s Day, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDp59hzOC4 Y
Zumba Classes, for girls, Francine Weisbrot, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, grades 3-5, 5:45pm; grades 5-8, 6:45pm, francineweisbrot@ gmail.com “The Bais Yaakov Education You Always Dreamed Of,” for women, Blimie Lampel, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, 201-530-0245 or 908-278-4059 The Bais Yaakov Education You Always Dreamed Of,” for women, Goldie Cohen, private home in Passaic, 8pm, 973-458-0331 or 908-278-4059 Dikduk, Rabbi Shaya Jaffe, Yeshiva Passaic Torah Institute, 8pm, 862-371-3186 Navi Shiur: Sefer Shmuel II, for women, Aviva Orlian, private home in Spring Valley, 8:15pm, 845-300-4880 or 845-364-5148 Gemara Masechet Moed Katan, Rabbi Steven Miodownik, private home in Highland Park, 9pm, 732-565-0744
Tuesdays
“Gems of Torah,” Rabbi Moshe Goldberger, Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, 8:30am, 732-247-0532 Sefer Divrei HaYamim, Chavura, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9am, 201-907-0180 Mishnayot Yoma/Rosh Hashana, Rabbi Avigdor Weitzner, Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, 9:30am, 732-247-0532 Gemara: Tractate Ketubot, Rabbi Menahem Meier, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:45am, 201-907-0180 Group to Knit Woolen Hats for IDF Soldiers and Cancer Patients, private home in Monsey, 10am, 845-426-2980 “Exploring the Background and Practical Applications of Hilchot Shabbat,” for women, Rabbi Daniel Fox, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 10am, 201-530-5780 or 201-907-0180 Pirkei Avot, for women, Rabbi Neal Turk, Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, 10am, 732-247-0532 Parshat Hashavua, for women, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 10am, 973-736-1407 Navi Shiur: The Book of Chavakuk, Rabbi Shalom Baum, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 11am, 201-907-0180 Shiur, Rabbi Yonah Lazar, private office in Verona, 1pm, 973-736-1407 Nach Shiur: Shmuel Alef, Rabbi Nachum Muschel, private home in Monsey, 4pm, 845-356-3832 NCSY Tuesday Night Chill, private home in West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-731-0030 Navi Shiur, for women, Rachel Frazer, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 7:30pm, 201-692-8271 Gemara Shiur, for women, Rabbi Michael Stein, Jewish Center of Riverdale, 7:30pm, 718-548-1850 “The 39 Melachos of Shabbos,” for women, Rabbi Eliezer Krohn, private home in Passaic, 7:45pm, 973-471-9536 Divorce Support Group for Orthodox Women, Dr. Carol Glaser, confidential participation, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, 201-833-8822 Yeshiva Night, study with bachurim from the Rabbinical College of America, at the Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 8pm, 973-486-2362 Parshat Hashavua, for women, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:15pm, 973-736-1407 Rabbi Shiur’s, Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, Riverdale Jewish Center, 8:30pm, 718-548-1850 Young Professionals Chaburah, Rabbi Michael Bleicher, private homes in West Orange, 9pm, 973-736-1407
Wednesdays
Shiur on Tefillah, Rabbi Shalom Baum, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 7:45am, 201-907-0180 Coffee and Kabbalah, with Rabbi Baruch Klar, Lubavitch Center Judaica, West Orange, 10am, 973-731-0770
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com
May 2012/Iyar 5772
Bikur Cholim Baby Brigade, for mothers and children to meet, play, and visit senior citizens, at Daughters of Miriam, Clifton, 10:30am, DOMBabybrigade@gmail.com Le Isha Exercise Class, for women and girls ages 12 and up, Fariba Rabban, spons by the Sephardic Women’s Organization of Paramus, at the JCC of Paramus, 7pm, faribarabban@optonline.net Chicks with Sticks, knitting hats for Israeli soldiers, Jewish Center of Riverdale, 7:30pm, 718-796-3775 “Introduction to Kabbalah: Uncovering the Secrets of Jewish Mysticism,” Rabbi Mordechai Gershon, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8pm, 201-568-1315 Women’s Tehillim Group, for the refuah shleima of Ruchama Sayla bat Gella and all cholei Yisroel, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, debbieshalom@yahoo.com Bava Kama Shiur, Rabbi Larry Rothwachs, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 8:30pm, 201-836-6210 “Halachot of the Ben Ish Chai,” Rabbi Ari Elbaz, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:30pm, 973-736-1407 Shiur in Moreh Nevuchim, Dr. Isaac Chavel, Riverdale Jewish Center, 8:30pm, 718-548-1850 “Chaos in the Kitchen: Kashruth from the Sources to the Modern Palate,” Rabbi Jonathan, Cohen, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8:45pm, 201-568-1315 “Direction for Dating: Dating Readiness,” an interactive webinar for girls in shidduchim, Rabbi Donniel Frank, 10pm, 646-4935597 or info@mapseminars.com
Thursdays
Gemara Sukkah (Iyun), Rabbi Shlomo Nussbaum, Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, 8:35am, 732-247-0532 Sefer Divrei HaYamim, Chavura, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9am, 201-907-0180 Gemara: Tractate Ketubot, Rabbi Menahem Meier, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:45am, 201-907-0180 “Hot Topics of Today,” featuring professors and experts, includes lunch, JCC, Tenafly, 10am-2:30pm, 201-408-1454 Shiur HaShirim, Rabbi Menahem Meier, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 10:50am, 201-907-0180 Dorot University without Walls TeleConference Class: “Edouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, Focusing on the Crucial Role of the Jewish Patrons, Dealers, and Collectors Who Became His Lifelong Friends and Supporters,” Phyllis Gitlin and Liliane Yurkofsky, 10am, 212-769-2850, begins May 24 “Thoughts on the Parsha,” Rabbi Yosef Sharbat, Sephardic Shul, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8pm, 973-736-1407 Chaburah: Daas Tevunos by the Ramchal, Rabbi Herschel Grossman, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 8:15pm, 201-836-6210 Chumash Shiur, Rabbi Chaim Davis, BMT/Zichron Moshe, Passaic, 8:30pm, 973-473-3666 Gemara: Masechet Brachot, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:30pm, 973-736-1407 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 (201-907-0180); Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange (973-669-7320); Cong Tifereth Israel, Passaic (973773-2552), Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park (732-247-0532), 9pm Pirkei Avot Shiur, Rabbi Larry Rothwachs, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 9:45pm, 201-836-6210 In-Depth Chumash and Rashi Parshas HaShavua Shiur, Passaic Kollel, Cong Bais Torah U’Tefilah, Passaic, 9:45pm, passaiccliftonkollel@gmail.com
Shabbat
Chumash Shiur, George Silfen, Young Israel of Teaneck, 8:30am. 201-837-1710
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
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Kollel Learning Seder, Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, 4pm, 732-777-6840 Pirkei Avos Gatherings, for women, children welcome for Brachos Party and trampoline, spons by Cong Knesses Yisrael, private home in Spring Valley, 4:30pm, 845-362-2349 Pirkei Avos in Depth, for men and women, Rabbi Mordechai Becher, Yeshiva Passaic Torah Institute, 5pm, begins May 19, ptitorah@gmail.com Megilas Rus, for women, Marcy Stern, spons by Agudas Yisrael Bircas Yaakov, private home in Clifton, 5pm, 973-249-1167, through May 26 “The Origins, Beliefs, and Contributions of the Chassidic Movement,” for women, Rabbi Reuven Drucker, Cong Agudath Israel, Highland Park, 5pm, 732-819-0333 or ubenjamin@msn.com Pirkei Avot Shiur, for bar mitzvah age children and up, Yoni Okin, Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange, 30 minutes before mincha, 973-669-7320 Jewish 12-Step Meeting, for all those—and their families—who suffer from addiction, Highland Park Conservative Temple-Cong Anshe Emeth, Classroom #6, Highland Park, 6pm, 732-545-6482
Motzei Shabbat
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 (908-591-5929); Cong Khal Zichron Mordechai, Monsey (845-356-7188); Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck; Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange (973-669-7320), 10:15pm
New Minyanim
Sunday Mincha Gedola, Riverdale Jewish Center, 1:30pm; and late mincha, 9:30pm, 718-548-1850 Friday Night Minyan, spons by the Hashkama Minyan at Cong Zichron Mordechai, Teaneck, 7:10pm, yitzshul@aol.com Shabbat Mincha Minyan, Cong Tifereth Israel, Passaic, 2:30pm, davids@lawdms.com Balabatish Shacharis Minyan, Cong Zichron Mordechai, Teaneck, Mondays and Thursdays, 6:45am, jgitstein@gmail.com
Chesed Ops
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No Olympic Minute of Silence 11 victims of the terrorists, the IOC has been sympathetic. In the end, however, just as with the nine previous Summer Games, the Committee refused, saying they did not want to “annoy” Arab countries by mentioning the tragedy. “They told us the Arab delegations will get up and leave, to which I said, ‘It’s okay; if they don’t understand what the Olympics are all about, let them leave,’” said Mrs. Spitzer, who has since remarried and now uses the name Ankie Rekhess-Spitzer. She is a correspondent based in Israel for Dutch and Belgian television. “We want the IOC, with all 10,000 young athletes in front of them, to say, ‘Let’s not forget what happened in Munch.’ We want this for only one reason: so it will never happen again,” she said. “The 11 murdered athletes were members of the Olympic family; we feel they should be
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remembered within the framework of the Olympic Games.” “Politics” The IOC, she said, has insisted that even the moment of silence would “introduce politics” into the Olympics, an unwanted intrusion. “We are not political, but are the IOC officials so corrupt— and I’m not afraid to use that word—that they will give in to all kinds of political and outside pressure? Sometimes, I think these people are not worth it—the nepotists, the dictators, and the corrupt—because it is humiliating,” she said. According to Ms. RekhessSpitzer, who is now 66, the IOC President, Dr. Jacques Rogge, told her that even though it has been 40 years, it is still “too early” to hold an official Olympic memorial for the murdered athletes. “Cowards” In 1972, Dr. Rogge was in
Munich, competing in yachting as a member of the Belgian Olympic team. He told Ms. Rekhess-Spitzer that, after the murders, he considered leaving the Games, but he reconsidered when it seemed to him that would be “giving the terrorists what they wanted.” “I said, ‘Okay, but at least take a stance now. If not, you are a coward,” she said. Such accusations, she said, do not come easily to her. “I have nothing to lose. I was raised a good girl, but I am losing my politeness. This time, I am taking my gloves off,” she said. Country with No Capital Some of the family members of the slain athletes are convinced the refusal lies in simple antisemitism. This year, that argument found ammunition in the list of participating countries posted on the official website of the 2012 London Olympics. When the list first went up, Israel was shown as being located in “Europe” and it had no capital city. “Palestine,” on the other hand, was listed as being located in “Asia,” along with all other Middle Eastern countries, and its capital was “Jerusalem.” On April 30, the website was changed, making Jerusalem the capital of both entries. According to some reports, the correction may have been the result of efforts by the online advocacy group, My Israel, whose members demanded it. The Palestinian Authority will be fielding its own Olympic Team this year, but because the PA is not a country, they required and received permission from Israel to do so. Although the IOC balked at the political implications of a moment of silence for the slain Israeli athletes, the UK Consul General, Sir Vincent Fean, on a visit to Ramallah
in late April, told the Palestinian Olympic Team he hoped they would one day be able to compete “under the name of their state,” which, he said, should be “on 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as a shared capital” with Israel. Petitions Although it may be hopeless, Ms. Rekhess-Spitzer and Ilana Romano, widow of slain Olympic weightlifter Yossie Romano, are continuing their campaign for an official Olympic moment of silence for the athletes. In recent months, the JCC of Rockland County in West Nyack joined the effort, offering in conjunction with Ms. Rekhess-Spitzer and Mrs. Romano an online petition that has already garnered almost 25,000 signatures. “It is amazing to witness the worldwide support we have achieved. There are signatures from dozens of countries and all over the United States,” said David Kirschtel, CEO of JCC Rockland. A similar petition has been launched by Catholic University of America Adjunct Professor Jeszek J. Sibilski and his “Sociology of Sports” students. A former member of the Polish National Olympic cycling team, Professor Sibilski wrote to Dr. Rogge “on behalf of a younger generation who didn’t witness these events but still feel connected to them.” The petition Professor Sibilski and his Washington, DC-based students launched reads: “As students who did not live through the Munich massacre, one may question our knowledge about the tragedy and why it is important to us. We lived through the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. We mourn these civilians. We are the September 11th generation.
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com We do understand and believe passionately that a minute of silence to honor these men is the right thing to do, period.” Maccabiah Dedication Allan Finkelstein, JCC Association President and CEO, said the JCC movement as a whole “is deeply involved in an effort to create a worldwide viral response to a wrong that has not been addressed since 1972.” “Let us finally get the Munich 11 the acknowledgement and respect they deserve from the international sports community,” he said. Since 1995, the JCC Association has recognized the Munich 11 during every Maccabiah Game, an international competition for young Jewish athletes held at different JCCs throughout the US. This summer, the JCC Maccabiah is being hosted by JCC Rockland. According to Mr. Kirschtel, the games will be held in honor of the slain
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Israeli athletes. Government Request In Israel, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon personally asked Dr. Rogge “to send a clear message that we must not forget the terrible events of Munich 40 years ago so they will not be repeated.” “Throughout those dark days during the Olympics 40 years ago, the terrorists didn’t just target Israelis; they tried to pierce the very spirit and fraternity upon which the Olympic Games are built,” he wrote, expressing the Israeli government’s support for the petition. Ms. Rekhess-Spitzer and Mrs. Romano said Mr. Ayalon’s support on behalf of the state of Israel gave them “hope and honors the memory of the athletes who were sent to represent the State.” “For 40 years, the IOC has refused our request to commemorate the sacrifice of our loved ones. It has been 20 million minutes since Munch
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1972. We are asking only for one,” said Ms. Rekhess-Spitzer. Jewish Memorials This is not to say there have been no memorials to the slain Israeli athletes. Every four years, before leaving for the Olympic Games, Israeli athletes pay homage at the graves of their 11 compatriots who were murdered in Munich. In addition, each year, the Israeli Olympic Committee organizes a commemorative event, but it is never part of the official program. The only formal commemoration at an Olympic venue took place in the Munich Olympic stadium on the day after the attacks. The games were suspended for one day, and 80,000 people packed the Olympic Stadium for a memorial. “Whenever we have discussed the issue with the IOC, our position has always been, at every meeting, that the time has come for the IOC to initiate
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its own commemoration,” said Efraim Zinger, secretary-general of the Olympic Committee of Israel. Guildhall This year in London, the Israeli-sponsored event will be held in the glittering, 800-yearold Guildhall, in which visiting heads of state and other dignitaries have been honored. The event will take place during the second week of the Olympic Games, which will run from July 27 through August 12. The Paralympic Games for specialneeds athletes will take place from August 29-September 9. As in all the years since the murders, IOC officials, including Dr. Rogge, will attend the unofficial memorial. Barbara Berger, the sister of the 28-year-old Clevelandborn weightlifter, David Berger, who was murdered in Munich, was not impressed. “Everybody wants to be ‘rah, rah, rah, bring on the games.’
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No Olympic Minute of Silence They don’t want any kind of pall over the celebration,” she said. Her brother, who had made aliyah in 1970, told his sister the day before he died that he would return home to America “for weddings and funerals.” “Defining Moment” According to IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau, Dr. Rogge has attended Israeli- and German-hosted events held while the games were taking place as well as during IOC meetings. “The Olympic governing committee has paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions and will continue to do so. The memory of the victims is not fading away,” said Ms. Moreau. “One thing is certain: We will never forget.” She called the terrorist murders in Munich “a defining moment in many ways, not least of all on the security front.” She noted that, since 1972, the IOC has put security “on the top of its agenda, relying of course on the host city government to put in place measures in hopes of avoiding such a tragedy in the future.” Security Concerns It is a message that has been reiterated by many OIC and British officials. When visiting members of the Israeli Olympic team, British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould promised that their security was of paramount concern to
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everyone affiliated with the Olympics in London. “We are doing everything possible to keep you safe,” he told them. “Forty years on, the lessons of Munich have not been forgotten.” Ms. Moreau said the murders “strengthened the determination of the Olympic Movement to contribute more than ever to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit.” Non-Violence? That message may not have reached the PA. Although Mr. Fean told the PA’s Olympic Team that the “Palestinian cause is one that resonates in the UK, especially at a time when people around the world focus on the principles of the Olympic Truce and the concept of non-violence,” there is reason to question the Palestinian team’s fealty to that concept, based on the actions of at least one of its members. On April 2, Israeli security forces arrested 13 members of a terror cell that fired on IDF soldiers in Ramallah. No one was hurt in that incident, but an IDF vehicle was damaged. One of the two men who fired at the IDF, Omar Abu Rawis, 22, is the goalkeeper for the PA’s Olympic soccer team. He, like several others who were arrested, is also an employee
of the PA’s Red Crescent medical emergency service. The terror cell received the Kalashnikov rifles that it used in the attack from an officer in the PA’s General Intelligence, who is in charge of guards at the Red Crescent. After carrying out the shooting, Mr. Rawis and a second suspect left the guns inside a bag in an abandoned building and came back for them the next day. According to reports, the suspects admitted planning additional attacks at sites throughout Judea and Samaria, including Maaleh Adumim. Black September The attack on the Israeli athletes in 1972 was carried out by Palestinian Liberation Organization terrorists operating under the name “Black September,” which actually referred to the suppression and killing of Palestinian armed groups by King Hussein in Jordan in 1970 and the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon in July 1971. Nevertheless, on September 5, 1972, eight heavily armed PLO-Black September terrorists stormed the Israeli team’s apartment in the Munich Olympic Village, killing wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg, 33, and Mr. Romano, 31, immediately. They took nine other athletes hostage and demanded that then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir release 234 Arab prisoners from Israeli jails and two German terrorist leaders imprisoned in Frankfurt. The terrorists also wanted safe passage out of Germany to Libya. At the Munich Airport, the nine Israelis and a German police officer died during an abortive attempt to rescue the hostages after a 20-hour standoff, during which much of the world, and especially the Jewish international community, watched in horror. Five of
the PLO terrorists were killed during the rescue effort. International Revulsion The entire episode was broadcast to viewers throughout the world. “Given the supposedly apolitical Olympic backdrop, the sight of Jewish sportsmen, blindfolded and manacled, shuffling to their doom in Germany, stirred international revulsion,” recalled Italian journalist Giulio Meotti, author of A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel’s Victims of Terrorism. “Some of the Israeli athletes assassinated by Arafat’s death squads were Holocaust survivors, while others were ‘sabras’ born in Israel. Each of their stories calls up weeping and prayer. Every one of them was a member of the great body of Israel,” said Mr. Meotti. After the massacre, Mrs. Meir’s government sent Israeli Mossad agents to sites throughout the world to hunt down the remaining Palestinian murderers in an operation the Israelis dubbed “Wrath of G-d.” Reportedly, 12 PLO terrorists were killed. Grisly Memoirs In memoirs published in 1999, Palestine: From Jerusalem to Munich, the commander of Black September, Mohammed Oudeh, also known as Abu Daoud, admitted that he planned the terrorist attack with the full knowledge and consent of PLO chairman Yasir Arafat, despite the PLO’s longtime denial of direct links to Black September. In the book, Mr. Oudeh wrote that Arafat and two other Palestinians waived him off to Munich with the words “Allah protect you, Abu Daoud.” After the Olympic murders, Mr. Oudeh relocated to Eastern Europe and Lebanon, but, after the 1993 Oslo Accords, he settled in Ramallah. After his book was
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com published, he took a trip to nearby Jordan and was then banned by Israel from returning. “The Israeli decision to bar my return is linked to an event which happened 27 years ago, the Munich operation, which we considered a legitimate struggle against the enemy we in the PLO were fighting,” he said at the time. He relocated to Syria, the only country that would accept him. Unrepentant Murderer The book’s publication
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prompted German prosecutors to issue an international warrant for Mr. Oudeh’s arrest, but it was never served. The Palestinian Authority, by then involved in the Oslo process with Israel, recognized the book by bestowing on Mr. Oudeh its Palestinian Prize for Culture, which included 10,000 French francs. When the Steven Spielberg film, “Munich,” about the attacks and their aftermath, was released, Mr. Oudeh told
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German television, “I regret nothing. You can only dream that I would apologize.” In an interview with the Associated Press, he tried to legitimize the massacre. “Before Munich, we were simply terrorists. After Munich, at least people started asking who are these terrorists? What do they want? Before Munich, nobody had the slightest idea about Palestine,” he said. Unrepentant to the end, Mr. Oudeh died of kidney failure in 2010 at the age of 73,
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and was buried, draped in a Palestinian flag, in the Martyrs Cemetery of the Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee camp outside Damascus. Representatives of various Palestinian groups, including Fatah, which, by then was purporting to stand as Israel’s peace partner, attended the funeral. Honored by the PA In a condolence letter to Mr. Oudeh’s family, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas wrote:
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No Olympic Minute of Silence “He is missed. He was one of the leading figures of Fatah and spent his life in resistance and sincere work as well as physical sacrifice for his people’s just cause.” Hailing him as a hero, Mr. Abbas described him as “a wonderful brother, companion, [a] tough and stubborn and relentless fighter.” The official PA newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Hadida called Mr. Oudeh “a great Fatah fighter and patriot” whose name had “shone brightly” in Munch in 1972. Other Arab newspapers quoted Fatah officials who praised him as a “martyr.” One month after Mr. Oudeh died, another Fatah terrorist involved in planning the Munich massacre, Amin Al-Hindi, was given a military funeral in Ramallah by the PA. Mr. Al-Hindi, who later headed Arafat’s General Intelligence Service, died in Amman, Jordan, at the age of 70. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, Mr. Abbas “attended the funeral, reciting passages of the Quran in Al-Hindi’s honor.” Racing to Death Each of the 11 men the terrorists killed has become dear to Israelis and their supporters throughout the world. Ms. Rekhess-Spitzer’s husband, Andre, a veteran of the Israeli Air Force, was 27 when he was murdered. Shortly before the attack, Mr. Spitzer
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was called back to the Netherlands because his then-baby daughter fell ill. When it was time for him to return to the Munich Olympics, he missed his train and his wife drove quickly so that he could meet it at the next station. He arrived at the Olympic Village four hours before he was taken hostage. The first member of the team who heard the terrorists was 300-pound wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund, 40, who had immigrated to Israel after spending months in prison in his native Romania for “spreading Zionist propaganda.” Mr. Gutfreund shouted a warming to his sleeping roommates and threw his body against the door in a futile attempt to prevent the terrorists from entering. His actions gave his roommate, weightlifting coach Tuvia Sokolovsky, time to smash a window and escape. Creating Diversions Mr. Weinberg, a native Israeli and a director of Israel’s Wingate Institute, fought the intruders, who then shot him. Although wounded, Mr. Weinberg knocked one of the terrorists unconscious and slashed another with a fruit knife before being shot to death. In the confusion, Gad Tsobari, one of the wrestlers, was able to escape through an underground parking garage. Mr. Romano, a veteran of the Six-Day War, also fought back, wounding one of the terrorists before being shot and killed. The day before he died, Mr. Romano had told his wife this would be his last competition. “I don’t have enough time for my children,” he told her. When the terrorists tied up their remaining nine hostages, they left Mr. Romano’s bullet-riddled body at their feet as a warning. The hostages who died in the failed rescue attempt, in addition to Mr. Gutfreund, Mr. Spitzer, and Mr. Berger, were sharpshooting coach Kehat Shorr, 53, who had fought against Nazi troops in the Carpathian Mountains; track-and-field coach Amitzur Shapira, 40, a teacher in Herzliya who left four children; weightlifting referee Yakov Springer, 51, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto who taught school in Bat Yam; wrestlers Eliezer Halfin, 24, who had lost all his relatives in the Holocaust, and Mark Slavin, 18, who had kissed the ground upon his arrival in Jerusalem from Minsk; and weightlifter Ze’ev Friedman, 28, who
spoke Yiddish and Russian and was the last male member of his family, the rest having been murdered in the Holocaust. Each an Individual “These men were sons, fathers, uncles, brothers, friends, teammates, athletes. They came to Munich in 1972 to play as athletes in the Olympics. They came in peace and went home in coffins,” said Ms. Rekhess-Spitzer. She believes a moment of silence is the “fitting tribute” for these athletes who lost their lives on the Olympic stage. “Silence contains no statements, assumptions, or beliefs, and requires no understanding of language to interpret,” she said. Survivors Her message resonated to seven Israeli Olympic members of the 1972 team who returned to Munich recently to participate in a Biography Channel documentary on the attack. Now in their 60s, these athletes had mixed sentiments about the city. Swimmer Avraham Melamed said that while it was “fantastic” to return, “the families of the victims share a completely different reality.” Dan Alon, who competed in fencing, said that while he feels no anger towards the German people, he is still furious at the terrorists. He said he hoped his appearance in the documentary would serve to “tell the world everything that we know.” Saved Other survivors of the Munich attack included race-walker Shaul Ladany, who had also survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Now a professor of industrial engineering at Ben-Gurion University, he was jolted awake in the apartment in the Olympic Village by Mr. Gutfreund’s screams and escaped by jumping off a balcony. Other residents of the apartment— sharpshooters Henry Hershkowitz and Zelig Stroch, fencers Yehuda Weisenstein and Mr. Alon, the chief of the mission Shmuel Lalkin, and the two team doctors—managed to hide and later fled the besieged building. The two female members of Israel’s Olympic team in Munich, sprinter and hurdler Esther Roth-Shahamorov and swimmer Shlomit Nir, were housed in a separate part of the Olympic Village and were not taken hostage. Three other members of the team, two sailors and their manager, were housed in Kiel, 550 miles from Munich.
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New Elections
May 2012/Iyar 5772
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Netanyahu will be fairly confident of winning a comfortable majority for himself and his party. He also can be assured of no attempts at intervention on behalf of his opponents from the Obama administration, who will be too involved in the President’s own campaign for reelection to bother much with Israel’s. American Intervention Many Israeli nationalists recall with
distaste the efforts of some former US Presidents to infuse the campaigns of left-wing Israeli candidates with donors and advisors, hoping to elect an Israeli government willing to acquiesce to unilateral concessions demanded by the Palestinians. If Mr. Obama wins re-election, Mr. Netanyahu’s place as Israeli prime minister could be secure for the duration
No Olympic Minute of Silence Olympic Medals Israelis have been competing in the Olympic Games since 1952. They skipped the 1980 Summer Olympics, following the lead of the Americans who boycotted them that year. Israelis have competed in each Winter Olympic Games since 1994. In the Israeli team’s tenth Olympic appearance, in 1992, Judo competitor Yael Arad took a silver medal and her teammate, judoka Oren Smadja won bronze. Since then, Israel has won at least one medal in each Summer Olympics. In 2004, Gal Fridman became Israel’s first gold medalist in men’s windsurfing. It was his second medal. He took a bronze medal in 1996. While this year is the first since 1988 that Israel will not be fielding a fencing team, the Israel Olympic Committee expects to send between 40 and 50 athletes competing in windsurfing, gymnastics, and judo. The top prospects are judo champion Alice Shlesinger; tennis player Shahar Peer; gymnast Alex Shatilov; and the sailing team led by Era Sela and Gidi Klinger. Israel has been more successful in the Paralympic Games, winning, in total, 113 gold medals since 1968, when the Jewish state hosted the entire international competition. The top hopes for medals this year in the Paralympics are with the swimming and wheelchair basketball teams. Around 70 percent of the Israeli athletes competing in the Paralympic are soldiers who were wounded in combat or victims of terrorism. Signing the Petition To sign the petition urging the IOC to commemorate the slain Israeli athletes and learn more about the struggle, go to www.munich11.org. Mr. Meotti pointed out that the building that housed the Israeli athletes in 1972 was located less than 10 miles from the Dachau concentration camp.
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of the US administration’s second term. If Mr. Obama’s Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, wins, Mr. Netanyahu will find himself working with an old friend who has already called the Israeli Prime Minister his “partner.” The rocky relationship between Messrs Netanyahu and Obama is no
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“The Israeli athletes were the first Jews killed in Germany for being Jewish since 1945. Since then, their murder vanished from international memory,” he said, adding that because the IOC has
refused the few seconds of silence in their honor, this year’s distribution of medals “will be stained in disgrace and shame.” “The 11 Israelis died a second time when the IOC refused,” he said. S.L.R.
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New Elections secret. Although Mr. Obama has tried to present himself as pro-Israel, many of his statements and policies, in addition to the staff he has chosen, put him at odds with the current majority in Israel and their government. Mixed Message While some supporters of the President point to significant military cooperation between the US and Israel during the Obama and Netanyahu governments—joint military exercises, the development of the Iron Dome missile defense system—others say the President showed his true sentiments when he was caught off-guard speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. On that occasion, when they did not know they were speaking into an open microphone, Messrs Obama and Sarkozy expressed disdain, bordering on abhorrence, for Mr. Netanyahu. Throughout Mr. Obama’s presidency, the administration has applied what has been called “merciless pressure” on the Netanyahu government not to consider a strike against Iran, not to allow Jews living throughout Judea and Samaria to add as much as a porch to their homes, and not to do any building in eastern Jerusalem, even in the traditionally Jewish neighborhoods. Mr. Obama has also
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continued from page 43 demanded that Israel accept the pre-June 1967 armistice line as the border for a proposed Palestinian state, and he has made it clear he will support the Palestinian demand that Jerusalem be divided. Good and Bad Given these pressures, not everyone in the Israeli nationalist camp is sanguine at the prospect of new elections. Likud Coalition chairman MK Ze’ev Elkins recognized that elections are probably good for his party, but, he said, not for those with right-wing goals. “The current coalition is the most nationalist one I can see on the horizon. I am afraid that specific weight of the nationalist forces in the next coalition will be less than what we have now,” he said. Likud Environment Minister Gilad Erdan disagreed, saying that “the larger and stronger the Likud is, and the less dependent it is on its coalition partners, the more it will be able to stand firmly regarding its ideological positions, and not—as we saw in the past, regrettably—do things that do not reflect the Likud ideology.” “The stronger Likud is, the more we will be able to explain our right to this land in a strong and clear fashion,” he said. Likud’s strength will, of course, depend on what sort of coalition Mr. Netanyahu
will be able to put together. Beating Labor According to polls released at the beginning of May, if elections were held now, the Likud would win between 31 and 32 (up from its current 27) seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Labor with its new chairman, MK Shelley Yachimovich, will do far better than its current 8 seats, but even its projected 17 mandates would place it a distant second to Likud. Originally, under current Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Labor had 13 seats, but when Mr. Barak defected from Labor with five other MKs to form the Independence Party, Ms. Yachimovich assumed leadership of a very small faction. Polls show that the Independence Party will not win sufficient votes to pass the threshold to seat any MKs at all, including Mr. Barak. His only hope of remaining in the government would be if Mr. Netanyahu wins re-election and chooses to appoint him to a ministerial position. No Place for Barak If Mr. Netanyahu puts together a right-wing coalition, it is not likely that the very unpopular Mr. Barak would be part of it. As Defense Minister, he has garnered a notorious reputation for sending police in the middle of the night to expel young families from so-called Yesha hilltop communities, some of which have been found illegal in court cases strongly contested by residents of Judea and Samaria. In going after the residents of Yesha, Mr. Barak has been accused of pursuing his own private political agenda rather than upholding the view of the government that he serves. For this reason, Likud Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom ruled out reserving a spot on the Likud list for Mr. Barak.
“The Likud is a democratic movement and everyone can run for election,” said Mr. Shalom. Yisrael Beiteinu & Kadima The one party Mr. Netanyahu will undoubtedly take into the coalition will be Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, which polls show would win 14, one less than it has now. The current Opposition leader, Kadima and its new chairman, Shaul Mofaz, will probably be the big losers. In 2009, Kadima, positioned as a centrist party and led by Tzipi Livni, won 28 seats, making it the largest party in the Knesset. Because Ms. Livni could not form the centerleft government she wanted, Mr. Netanyahu was given the opportunity to structure the current center-right coalition. After losing control of the party to Mr. Mofaz in last month’s Kadima primary, Ms. Livni said she was leaving politics. Some see her departure as evidence of Mr. Obama’s lack of understanding of Israelis and their politics. Three years ago, Mr. Obama and his closest advisors thought it would be possible to bring down Mr. Netanyahu or Mr. Lieberman, whose policies were detested by the new administration, and replace at least one of them with the more left-wing Ms. Livni. “In fact, by its periodic bashing of Israel and ham-handed Middle East policy promoting Israel-hating Islamists, Obama unintentionally mobilized domestic support for Netanyahu,” said political pundit Barry Rubin. Rounding Out the Numbers Polls show that this year, Kadima will win 10-12 seats, with the remaining 15-17 divided among Likud, Labor, and a new party, Yesh Atid (There is a Future), which will be headed by former journalist Yair Lapid, who is best
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com known, as was his father, the late Tommy Lapid, for anti-hareidi positions. Atid is expected to win 12 seats. In the religious sector, Shas is projected to win 8-9 (down from 11), United Torah Judaism will get 6, the National Union Party will retain its 4, while the New Religious Party (Jewish Home) will drop one seat to the required minimum of 2. The poll shows the far left-wing Meretz Party garnering 4 seats; among the Arabs, Hadash gets 4; and Ra’am Ta’al and the National Democratic Assembly each receive 3. Challenging Bibi While both Ms. Yachimovich and Mr. Mofaz will officially challenge Mr. Netanyahu for prime minister, neither is given much of a chance. The same is true of Mr. Barak. In a Ha’aretz-Dialog poll released at the beginning of May, 48 percent of respondents said Mr. Netanyahu was most suited for the job of prime minister; 15 percent said the same of Ms. Yachimovich; nine percent supported Mr. Lieberman; and six percent endorsed Mr. Mofaz, who has been touting himself as Mr. Netanyahu’s only realistic rival. Mr. Mofaz has positioned himself to Mr. Netanyahu’s left, and has said he will not join a government headed by Likud. Mr. Mofaz has been especially harsh on residents living in Judea and Samaria, telling them that he is ready to respond “to 100 percent of the territorial demands of the Palestinians,” and that he believes it is possible to reach an agreement on borders and security “within one year.” He did not discuss the Palestinians’ non-negotiable demand which has thwarted all peace talks before they get off the ground: the insistence on the so-called Palestinian “right of return” which would give all Palestinian refugees and their descendants the right to flood back into Israel proper, changing the demographics and leading to the demise of the Jewish state. Mr. Netanyahu has said any peace deal with the Palestinians would require their recognizing Israel as “the Jewish state,” something the Palestinians have said they will never do. Giving 100 Percent When asked what he would do with the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria living in communities he would cede to the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Mofaz said, “If they’re given the right incentives they
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will leave their homes. Those who do not, we would have to evacuate.” His response prompted condemnation from right-wing leaders who seemed pleased that Mr. Mofaz is not a frontrunner for prime minister. “A man who would give the Palestinians 100 percent of what they demand in a territorial power play and evict tens of thousands of Israelis is unfit to be prime minister of Israel,” said Yesha Council Chairman and Likud MK Danny Danon, adding that he is not worried because “Kadima will not be chosen to lead the nation again.” Mr. Danon said during the upcoming campaign, he intends “to expose the true face” of Mr. Mofaz, who, he said, “is
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an out-and-out leftist.” Expulsions from Yesha Those who say the approaching elections are the result of rifts in the government caused by Mr. Barak’s expulsions of Jews from Judea and Samaria point to three recent examples of Yesha communities threatened with demolition: Migron; Machpela House, Hebron; and Ulpana, in Beit El. Migron Migron is an outpost built with military assistance whose legality was questioned by Peace Now, even though there is no evidence to support the claim. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court ruled that, even
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Ess Gezint: Salmon and Cheesecake for Shavuot A few years ago, the Torah Academy for Girls: Bais Yaakov of Long Island, put out a cookbook entitled Sharing Our Best. Just recently, the school introduced a new collection of recipes its editors have entitled “Dash,” as in beautiful dishes that look like they took hours, but, in fact, are ready in a flash, or a dash. The book is available through The Judaica Press or by calling the school at 718-471-8444. (Wait til you taste their Chocolate Nut Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce.) Y Salmon Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing Chocolate Nut Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce 2 (8 oz) salmon fillets rings 4 (8 oz) bars cream cheese, broken into pieces 1 head romaine lettuce, sliced 3 cloves garlic, crushed softened Prepared 10x13-inch unthin 1 cup mayonnaise 3 Tbs unsalted butter, softened baked crust 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved ¼ cup tarragon vinegar 2¼ cups packed brown sugar Purchased kosher caramel 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced ¼ cup sugar 5 large eggs sauce 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted ¼ cup water ¾ cup sour cream 1 (3½-oz) bittersweet ⅓ cup craisins ¼ cup fresh dill 3 candy bars (total 6.5 oz), chocolate bar, shaved 1 medium red onion, cut into ½ cup salad croutons filled with nuts and caramel, into curls Preheat oven to 400º. Spray a baking pan with cooking Preheat oven to 300º. Using an electric mixer, beat cream spray and bake fish fillets, covered, for 20 minutes. Once salmon cheese and butter at medium speed in a large bowl until creamy has cooled, use a fork to flake it gently into pieces. In a large and well blended, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and continue bowl, mix flaked salmon with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, beating until combined. Reduce mixer to low speed, adding eggs cucumbers, peas, craisins, and onion. In a cruet or zip-top bag, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add sour cream and shake or mix garlic, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, water, and blend. Add broken candy bars, beating for 15-20 seconds, until dill until well combined. Sprinkle with croutons and serve 6. bars are broken up. Pour mixture into prepared crust and place into a large roasting pan. Fill pan with hot water until it comes halfway up the pie pan. Bake for about two hours, until center has set completely and top is golden brown. Remove from roasting pan and set on wire rack until it comes to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Before serving, warm caramel sauce slightly and pour over cheesecake, covering the top and letting it drip down the sides. Decorate with shaved chocolate.
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New Elections without documentation, all non-state-owned land in Judea and Samaria is presumed to belong to Arabs, even if none comes forward to support the claim. The Netanyahu government came up with a compromise, which would have allowed the more than 50 families living in Migron to be transferred to a new community to be built nearby in three years. The Supreme Court rejected the compromise, ruling that the expulsions and demolitions must be carried out by August. In light of the dissolution of the government and coming elections, the court’s order will probably not be carried out, leaving it to the next government to find a way around the problem. Hebron: Death for Selling to Jews Machpela House in Hebron, from which Mr. Barak expelled 15 families at the end of March, even though they provided proof that the building had been purchased legally from the Arab owner. Although Mr. Netanyahu had reached an understanding with the residents that no eviction would be carried out until the purchase was further investigated, at least until after Passover, Mr. Barak took action on his own, claiming the presence of Jews in the three-story building across from the Cave of the Patriarchs constituted a “provocation.” Mr. Barak added that the IDF Civil Administration had not validated the sale, a procedure that often takes months. The evicted families said that, after they concluded the sale, they did not wait for all the paper work because they were concerned Arab squatters would take up residence in the empty building. At the end of April, the
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continued from page 45 Jerusalem District Court ruled that six more Jewish families in Hebron will also face eviction. In this case, the construction company that sold the building to the Jewish families produced a bill of sale showing the property had been legally purchased from a third-party Arab. The judge, however, accepted the Arab’s claims that the sale may have been forged. The building was deserted in 2001, after the start of the Second Intifada, and the Jewish families moved in four years later. In fact, once the Arab seller was identified, he had little choice but to claim he had not sold the property to Jews, because that is a capital offense in the PA. The Arab who brokered the purchase of Beit Hamachpela to the Jewish families, Muhammad Abu Sehala, has in fact been sentenced to death. The PA courts are reportedly waiting for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to approve his execution. Jews in Hebron have appealed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to intervene on Mr. Sehala’s behalf, but, thus far, there has been no response. Ulpana, Beit El The Ulpana Neighborhood of Beit El, where the Supreme Court has ruled that five apartment buildings must be demolished, even though Yesh Din, the leftwing movement that brought the charges, has not been able to prove who the rightful owners of the properties are. As in Migron, the Ulpana residents bought their homes on land that a developer had purchased from a Palestinian. Now the PA and Yesh Din argue that the Arab posing as the owner did not have the legal right to sell the land. Israel’s Deputy AttorneyGeneral Mike Blass suggested that Ulpana residents petition the High Court against the demolitions, on
the grounds that they bought their homes in good faith that the purchase was legal. The government, at the time led by Mr. Barak, also approved the project. Beit El Mayor Moshe Rosenbaum said the ruling to demolish the Ulpana buildings is an unjust solution to what should be viewed and settled as a simple land dispute. “Since we have acted in good faith, the buildings should never be demolished. At most, maybe we should compensate the real owners, if it turns out that a fraud was committed,” he said. Givat Assaf and Amona Thousands of other structures scattered throughout Judea and Samaria have also been declared illegal by the Court, which ordered the government to demolish them. The community of Givat Assaf, a little over two miles from Beit El, is slated for demolition by July 1, and Amona, 15 miles from Jerusalem and overlooking Ofra, is ordered to be demolished by the end of the year. In February 2006, thenPrime Minister Ehud Olmert sent security forces to destroy nine homes in Amona. In the ensuing clashes between police and Amona’s supporters, more than 200 teenagers and 80 security personnel, were hurt. Two MKs were also injured. In the wake of the many police who were photographed
as they brutally beat the teenagers and the films of the episode that were broadcast on YouTube, no government of Israel is eager for a repeat. Finding a Solution The threatened and actual expulsions caused an outcry from the segment of Israelis that Likud considers its core support, leading Mr. Netanyahu to promise that a “solution” will be found. For starters, he has taken action to legalize the Samarian communities of Rechelim and Bruchim as well as the community of Sansana, which straddles the temporary 1949 Armistice Lines north of Beersheva. Mr. Netanyahu said he personally asked Israel’s AttorneyGeneral and Legal Advisor to the Government “to make sure that the residents of Ulpana in Beit El are not evicted.” However, he said, this would be done “without straying from the letter of the law.” Reprieve The Supreme Court gave the government until May 1 to destroy the Ulpana neighborhood, but, on April 27, the State Attorney’s Office notified the court that the government decided to review its policies regarding structures built on contested and privately owned land in Judea and Samaria. This development coupled with the announcement of new
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New Elections
elections seems to have taken the wind out of Mr. Barak’s determination to send in troops to expel the Jews of Ulpana. On a visit to Ulpana on April 21, Likud Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz accused Mr. Barak of working against the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria for political gains. “If Barak works against the government’s position, the Prime Minister must fire him. He took the Ministry of Defense and turned it into a political tool at the expense of the Jewish residents. There are other ways to gather votes,” said Mr. Katz. New Law Likud Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Deputy Prime Minister Shalom suggested that, as a way to overcome the obstacles set by the Supreme Court, the Knesset pass its own law legalizing the threatened communities. One of the proposals is a law that would give homeowners the right to remain on their
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continued from page 47 property if a claim to the land is made after a defined time limit. As is the practice in most countries, the law would provide claimants with monetary compensation rather than the return of the original property. The law, which probably will be discussed by the next Knesset after elections, would affect thousands of Jewish families in Judea and Samaria who purchased homes many years ago, with government approval and help, on abandoned land located far from any Arab community. Many of these families are now facing sudden lawsuits by PA residents who show up claiming the land for themselves. Some of these Arab sellers took Jewish money; but fearing retribution from their own communities, they never went through legal channels. In other cases, the bill of sale was fraudulent, with Arabs taking advantage either of the language barrier or the
fact that many of them have similar names. A Step too Far At a Cabinet Meeting in late April, shortly before Mr. Netanyahu called for new elections, ministers in his government told him that if the Ulpana neighborhood were to be destroyed, his coalition would follow. This has led to the supposition that the fate of the Judean and Samarian communities was at least one of the issues prompting Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to call for new elections. Another is the fact that, in February, the Supreme Court ruled that the Tal Law, which allowed hareidim to avoid military service, is “unconstitutional.” It was a strange use of words given that Israel does not have a constitution and the reference by the Supreme Court was obviously to the American charter. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court’s meaning was clear: The law, named for the retired national religious Supreme Court Justice Tzvi Tal, was unfair. Failed Law Written in 2001 and drafted such that it was due to expire in August 2012 anyway, the Tal Law allowed hareidi yeshiva students to defer military or national service until they reached the age of 22, at which point they were supposed to decide whether to continue studying in the yeshiva, engage in a year of vocational training followed by 16 months of military or national service and annual reserve duty; or perform a year of unpaid civil service. It was hoped that the law would encourage hareidi young men to choose paths other than Torah study in order to integrate themselves into Israeli society. But the Tal Law was never enforced and very few hareidim actually served in the IDF because of it.
Not One More Hour While many Israeli politicians detested the law, none was more vocal than Mr. Lieberman. He had vowed that, when it expired in August, “it won’t be extended even by one more hour.” His plan, he said, was, within ten days of the Tal Law’s expiration, to replace it with a universal national service law requiring conscription into the army for all Israelis. “That means everyone, hareidim and minorities as well,” said Mr. Lieberman. In light of the almost universal agreement that the Tal Law had failed to achieve its goal, Mr. Lieberman’s threat to bring down the coalition if the Tal Law were not replaced immediately seemed gratuitous. Shas While rejecting Mr. Lieberman’s “blackmail,” Mr. Netanyahu agreed that “the division of the burden must be changed.” The Tal Law, he said, “will be replaced by a more egalitarian and just law that will also include civilian service for Arabs.” Even leaders of Shas, the Sephardic hareidi party whose constituents would be most affected, seemed willing to support a new replacement for the Tal Law. Shas’s Interior Minister Eli Yishai said merely that time was needed to increase the IDF’s budget in order to create a more robust system of programs for hareidi soldiers coming into the army. Lapid Plan Despite Mr. Yishai’s acceptance of the situation, Mr. Lapid reacted as though the hareidim had mounted a campaign of opposition. At a press conference, called to discuss the new law he was about to propose, Mr. Lapid said that, in its first stage, it would give all hareidim an
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Areyvut to Honor Yeshivat Noam and Greenblatt Triplets Areyvut, a Teaneck-based
organization dedicated to helping Jewish young people infuse their lives with the core Jewish values of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (charity), and tikkun olam (social action), will be holding its first Bergen County Breakfast on Sunday, May 20, at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, in Teaneck. A non-profit organization established in 2002, Areyvut offers Jewish day schools, educators, synagogues, and community centers unique opportunities to empower and enrich Jewish youth by creating innovative and meaningful programs that make these
New Elections automatic exemption from serving in the IDF, whether or not they study in the yeshiva. This, he said, would lead many hareidim to leave their yeshivot and seek employment. After five years, the second phase of the plan would be implemented, calling for every Israeli citizen, including hareidim and Israeli Arabs, to enlist in the IDF or perform national service upon turning 18. Those who do not, Mr. Lapid said, would lose their rights to benefits and scholarships open to all IDF soldiers who complete a tour of duty. Unnecessary Threats “I’m not anti-hareidi, but we cannot pay for you and we cannot serve our country alone,” said Mr. Lapid, addressing hareidim. “We do not want to enter Bnei Brak with tanks and turn this into a civil war. We want to flush the bums out of the yeshivot.” He called the Tal Law “unfair, immoral, and impractical” and said it had split the country in half between “those who serve and those who do not.”
core Jewish values a reality. Areyvut’s goal, according to its director, Dan Rothner, is to help mold young people so that they can become thoughtful, giving members of the future Jewish community. Among its projects is ORGANIZATIONS (Officially Recognizing Great Agencies Noteworthy in Zedakah and Aiming to Impact Others with Needed Support), an effort to feature each month a different group that is working to make a difference in the community. “It is our hope that members of the community will be inspired by the important work these organizations are
doing and prompt people to get involved in some way,” said Mr. Rothner. Bnai Mitzvah and Teens In addition, Areyvut works one-on-one with bar and bat mitzvah students and their families to find or develop meaningful social action projects that best meet their interests. To this end, Areyvut holds Bnai Mitzvah Fairs tailored to meet the specific needs of schools, synagogues, and community centers, in which agency representatives present their missions to students and families. Fairs can also include hands-on activities that allow students to experience chesed projects first hand.
Areyvut sponsors a Bnai Mitzvah Essay Contest in which students are invited to discuss their projects. Older students can participate in Areyvut’s Teen Philanthropy Institute, a project which allows young people to work together to decide how to allocate their donations among charitable organizations. “Through this project, teenagers learn the importance of philanthropy and gain leadership skills to actively make a difference,” said Mr. Rothner. On June 3, at the annual Celebrate Israel Parade in New York, teens who have participated in Areyvut’s Mitzvah Clown
who study Judaism do not receive special allowances and that the vast majority of the members of the traditionalreligious community served in IDF combat and specialized commando units while you were attacking old newspapers on the hills of the Bamachane newspaper,” said the Shas response. Volunteer Army While most Knesset leaders were planning how to replace the Tal Law, members of the New Liberal Movement and the Movement for a Professional Army held a demonstration in Tel Aviv in which they offered an alternative plan: Turn the IDF into a professional all-volunteer army in which mandatory service is abolished and soldiers are paid minimum wage. Many of the demonstrators said they were there because hareidim are not the only segment of the Israeli population that does not serve. “Most Israelis don’t go into the army,” said demonstrator Barak Hershkowitz,
“and those who do enlist are a burden on the system.” Another demonstrator, Lian Andrew, agreed, saying the current system has resulted in “many soldiers who are unnecessary and who are a great waste of money.” The idea appealed to United Torah Judaism MK Rabbi Yisrael Eichler, who called for “equality in the IDF” by cancelling the obligation to serve, a move he said would improve the army and free unneeded soldiers to work and learn. All of these ideas may be discussed after the new elections, when Mr. Netanyahu, free from having to worry about campaign intrusions from the US, will presumably be able to put together a center-right coalition not too different than the one he just had; a coalition that will legalize homes in Judea and Samaria while finding a way to integrate hareidi yeshiva students into the Israeli world of vocational opportunities and civic duty. S.L.R.
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continued from page 48 Based on their having voted for the Tal Law in the past, he said he did “not trust Kadima, Labor, and Likud to do the job for us—the public which serves, works, and pays taxes.” “They knew it was immoral, that it eats us from the inside and brings us to social and economic doom, and yet they still raised their hands to vote for this measure that extended the exemptions and released hundreds of thousands of young people from service,” he said. Hypocritical Language Games His incendiary remarks brought a sharp reproof from Shas, in which party leaders pointed out that Mr. Lapid, rather than serving in a combat unit like many national religious troops, had completed his military service as a journalist for the IDF newspaper. “Mr. Lapid, we do not hate you, but the public is getting tired of your hypocritical language games. If you had only studied the matter a little deeper, you would have found that those individuals
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Save Migron, Prevent Another Gush Katif
Thousands of people around the world are saying: Save Migron. Prevent a second Gush Katif The best way to add your voice to the effort is to please sign this Petition, and forward the information to everyone on your email, Facebook, and Twitter lists. Just go to http://www. yeshuv.org/mission/save-migron Founded in 1999 in Samaria (Shomron) with the approval of the government of Israel, Migron is a community of 50 families with more than 300 Jewish souls. It is now scheduled for destruction. Peace Now searched for and found some Arabs to claim that they owned the land, despite having no proof of ownership. In addition to using their standard approach of harassing Israelis and Israel’s legal system, Peace Now went to Israel’s Supreme Court and presented the claim to the land on behalf of the Arabs. The Court then ordered that the community of Migron be evacuated on August 1, 2012. In response, friends of Israel around the world, who are greatly concerned about Israel’s legal right to the land, created the “Global Petition to Save Migron and Prevent Any Second Gush Katif from Occurring.” This petition will be submitted to Knesset Member Dr. Arieh Eldad on July 1, 2012. Dr. Eldad will then present the petition and signatures to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Here is a tour of Migron: http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=yVthu2hAffs&feature=email. And, a video from Sept. 5, 2011, showing the eviction from, and demolition of, three homes in Migron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ri8NLf_wiM&feature=email Again, please help prevent further evictions and destruction by signing the petition and forwarding it to everyone. Buddy Macy Little Falls, NJ
Wear a Reflector
Recently, I was turning the corner in front of Congregation Ahavas Israel here in Passaic, driving maybe 5 mph because of poor weather, and I almost drove right over someone who was wearing all black. Normally, I would expect to see his face from so close, but it was obscured by his umbrella that just happened to be black as well. I had a similar instance a few months back when several yeshiva boys were, for whatever reason, walking on the road on Main Ave near Delawanna. I yelled to them about wearing reflectors if they were wearing black and going out at night, but they just giggled and rolled their eyes. This situation will change only if one of two things happen: 1) If there’s a tragedy, chas v’shalom. That is what it took to raise awareness regarding kids getting drunk on Purim, so let’s hope this can be avoided 2) If a respected community leader issues a psak saying that it is a pikuach nefesh issue, and that he personally wears a reflector at night. I don’t know if any of our rabbis are approachable on this matter. But that would do it. Name Withheld Passaic, NJ
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Letters to the Editor
Free Choice in Education
During the course of this critical election campaign, we have seen and heard countless commentaries, number crunching, and predictions as to which political army will come out on top this November. Now, thanks to the dedication and perseverance of grass roots activists throughout NJ, there is a winning strategy by which every individual can participate by simply placing a few key phone calls. The most important phone calls are to your representatives in Congress. They can be reached at 202-224-3121. The operator will put you in touch with your House and Senate Members. They now have the opportunity to sponsor the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity, which will restore the right of parents to raise and educate their children with minimal government interference. In accordance with the 10th Amendment, which leaves education “to the States respectively, or to the people,” this federal bill addresses only those jurisdictions that come directly under the Federal Government, such as the District of Columbia and US Army bases. Nevertheless, passage of this legislation will send a powerful message to all our state representatives that parental choice in education is long past due. The claim that government can provide excellent education at a reasonable cost has been disproven time after time. Parents can do far better, for far less, in the free market. Ever since January 17, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy signed into law—without a vote in Congress—Executive Order 10988, which provides government support for public employee unions, our educational system has been in decline. And with it has gone our most precious heritage—our Declaration of Independence and US Constitution. Today, the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers boast 4.7 million members. At $1,000 per member, deducted from their pay check coming directly from Joe Taxpayer, this totals $4.7 billion! This, plus an army of 4.7 million willing and unwilling political activists would be enough to upset the balance of political power that was meant to rest with the people. Most unfortunately, they have also indoctrinated our children to their way of thinking, which has contributed enormously to the present crises we face, both domestically and internationally. The Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity is key to identifying which of our candidates truly represent our interests and that of our children. By electing an overwhelming majority of representatives who truly represent us and our children, we will set our nation on the path to liberty, prosperity and blessings of all kinds. This coming election provides us with the opportunity of a lifetime to create a better future for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. Every action we take between now and November 6th will determine our future. If not now, when? Write to me for a copy of the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity at info@allianceforfreechoiceineducation.com. Israel Teitelbaum Morristown, NJ
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“Thought Is the World of Freedom” (R’ Dov Ber of Mazeritch) Another Case of Antisemitism at Rutgers?
I am a junior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. I am writing is to inform and raise awareness of one of the most significant issues that threaten this university. It is very unfortunate that a university as diverse as Rutgers does not do enough to protect its faculty, staff, and students from harassment and persecution based on religion. This is a very serious issue that I unfortunately witness too often. As part of the Coptic Orthodox Fellowship (COF) here at Rutgers, I have personally been harassed in many instances by Muslim students. On my way out of COF meetings or events, when walking with my priest, we will be looked at, pointed at, laughed at, and cursed at, with phrases such as “Allah we Agbar.” Instances like these, unfortunately, occur too often on Rutgers campuses. One of my teachers, Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg, a parttime lecturer in the Department of Communication for more than 20 years, wears a skullcap and is outspoken on behalf of the Jewish community. For this reason, he has become a target of many Muslim students on campus. I know this because, as a student in his class, I have heard it directly from other students. Recently, Rabbi Rosenberg wrote a letter to the Rutgers administration, which he shared with us in class. Although he is very well-rated by the vast majority of his students, this year, on the first day of class, an unnamed student complained that he used Twitter and YouTube in class to teach. The student also complained that he offered to sell his own textbook directly. When he was called on the carpet to answer these charges, he explained that the social media is being widely used in all facets of education, and he immediately corrected the textbook situation. It is now available in the Rutgers bookstore at $15 more than he was charging. Now he has discovered that, for the first time in ten years, he will not be teaching this summer, even though his classes have always been very popular. He cannot even get the administration to tell him if he will be asked back to teach next fall. He believes the only reason this has happened is because of the complaint. The only reason any of us can imagine such a complaint was filed is that the student who dropped out must have been antisemitic. Why else would a student present such a foolish written complaint against an instructor, the only one in the department who wears a skullcap, after one day of class? I think Rabbi Rosenberg’s argument is very plausible. In any case, it raises the question of why he has been singled
out, a question no one in the Rutgers administration seems willing to discuss or investigate. I think this is very serious, especially after Rutgers just had an incident in which The Medium, a supposedly satirical publication, made it look as if Aaron Marcus, a regular pro-Israel columnist for the campus’s daily newspaper, The Targum, had written an article entitled “What about the Good Things Hitler Did?” Rutgers is claiming this is protected speech. I think it is hate speech. Living and growing up as a member of a persecuted minority in Egypt, I found instances like this all too common. For me, it is clear that someone intended to hurt Mr. Marcus’s reputation and to destroy Rabbi Rosenberg’s career, based on their religion and beliefs. Rabbi Rosenberg is one of the most popular teachers on campus. Getting into his class can be impossible because students who respect and admire him register early for it. His public speaking class is one that I look forward to, enjoy, and learn from. I am not Jewish. I am a concerned Coptic Orthodox Christian student. And I can verify there is antisemitism on the Rutgers campus, and that Rabbi Dr. Rosenberg is suffering from it. Mena Beshay Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ
Wear a Helmet
This month, my brother, Dr. Heshy Rosenbaum, z”l, should be celebrating his birthday with 68 birthday candles on a cake. Instead, we will be lighting yahrzeit candles on the 40th anniversary of his death. His life could have been saved had he been wearing a helmet while riding his bike. In Heshy’s memory, please always wear a helmet when riding a bike, skates, or skateboard, even on the sidewalk, driveway, or in the park. You never outgrow the need for a helmet. Honey Senter Teaneck, NJ 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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May 2012/Iyar 5772
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Israel to Host International Health Congress to Help Those with Chronic Diseases and Disabilities Maximize Potential The National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development in Israel (NICHDIL), which focuses on health and development issues for individuals throughout their lives, has announced that the International Congress on Pediatric Chronic Diseases, Disability, and Human Development will take place in Jerusalem December 2-5, 2012. The congress’s goal is to promote the dissemination of best practices and service delivery to societies in danger of losing productive future workers and contributors due to “a negative social spiral.” “The future of health care for the world’s children and youth should be geared to enfranchising the disenfranchised,” said Dr. Joav Merrick, medical director of Israel’s health services in the division for intellectual disability,
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part of the government’s Social Affairs Ministry. He is also director of the NICHD-IL. Allocating Funds According to Dr. Merrick, because the many advances in the treatment of serious and life-threatening diseases of childhood and young adulthood have saved millions of lives, it is understandable that most of the resources allocated to children and youth around the world go for such treatments. However, he said, there is a need to go beyond these treatments in order to “optimize the conditions necessary for all children to achieve the best opportunities for a full and successful life.” “Through no fault of their own, millions of children worldwide are born into poverty or socially dysfunctional circumstances. The goal of this congress of medical and health-service professionals
from throughout the world will be the opportunity to share experience and expertise; present research, knowledge, and clinical practice; exchange ideas; and develop fresh insights while networking with colleagues and friends,” he said. Joint Effort The congress will represent the joint efforts of three leading institutions in the care of children with chronic diseases and individuals of all ages with disabilities: Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and NICHD-IL. At the congress, leading health-care professionals from these and other institutions will lecture and conduct symposia on a wide range of topics related to pediatric and adolescent chronic diseases, disabilities, and human development. Specific topics to be
addressed include: the management of children and adolescents with chronic diseases; pain management; intellectual disability; autism; eating disorders; mental illness; the impact of chronic disease and disability on human development; shared decision-making; and improved quality of care, and strategies for providing social and educational opportunities for children with chronic diseases or individuals with disabilities. The lectures and workshops will be geared to professionals from all disciplines concerned with the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases and individuals with disabilities, as well as those involved in the field of human development and public health. Abstracts Dr. Merrick has invited submission of abstracts of 250 words to confer@isas.co.il no
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Live Where You Can Walk to Shul
Areyvut Breakfast later than July 15. “Sooner would be even better,” he said.
For more information, Dr. Merrick can be reached at jmerrick@zahav.net.il. Y
classes will march down Fifth Avenue with the organization. Mitzvah Clowning teaches young people how to bring laughter to hospitalized children. Yeshivat Noam At the May 20th breakfast, Yeshivat Noam in Paramus will receive Areyvut’s Communal Leadership Award in recognition of the school’s efforts to educate its students about communal involvement and engagement. Yeshivat Noam is the only yeshiva day school in NJ to host a Jewish teen philanthropy program. There are only ten such programs in the United States. “The impact of Yeshivat Noam’s good works can be felt far and wide, whether from their yearly grade-wide chesed initiatives, annual Chesed Fair, or parent-child programs. Yeshivat Noam truly exemplifies the core Jewish values of chesed, tzedakah, and tikkun olam,” said Mr. Rothner.
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Greenblatt Triplets In addition, Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey 7th graders Anna, Julia, and Noah Greenblatt will be presented with Areyvut’s Young Leadership Award. Several years ago, they founded Triplets for a Cause, a program that has allowed them to impact others from all walks of life, from Jewish children with special needs to Darfur refugees now living in Israel. “It is clear that the Greenblatts engage, motivate, and inspire others to help those in need while, at the same time, playing an active role in the community,” said Mr. Rothner. The breakfast will begin at 9:30am and the formal program at 10:30am. Proceeds from the breakfast will support Areyvut’s ongoing projects and programming in the community. For reservations or more information, call 201-244-6702, contact info@areyvut.org, or visit www.areyvut.org. Y
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