THE JEWISH VOICE AND OPINION Promoting Classical Judaism
December 2012
Vol. 26 • No. 4
Tevet 5773
In a More Right-Wing Israel, Voters Will Choose from Nationalists in the Likud, in the Religious Parties, and…in Labor For many years, pundits
watching demographic changes in Israel have predicted a move to the right by the electorate. Ahead of the January election, outcomes of several primaries in Israel, coupled with positions taken by even the Labor Party, seem to validate those predictions. Israel seems poised to elect its most nationalist government in years, perhaps ever. Last month, the Likud primary saw victory for the party’s most nationalist leaders, and,
MK Yaakov “Ketzele” Katz with MK Naftali Bennett
according to the most recent polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will easily win reelection and have no trouble putting together what looks like a 70-seat coalition in the 120-seat Knesset. In union with Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud is expected to win between 37 and 40 seats. Jewish Home In any coalition Mr. Netanyahu puts together, Jewish
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Jerusalem and Ramallah Are Seven Minutes Apart, but Abbas Preferred to Bypass Negotiations and Speak at the UN Despite what some pundits
have said and Palestinian leaders have declared, after 138 General Assembly delegates voted in the UN on November 29th for the resolution in favor of upgrading the Palestinian Authority to the status of non-member state, a legal foreign affairs expert said Palestine is still not a state and there will be no changes on the ground. “The GA does not have the power to establish states and
any GA resolution is nothing more than a recommendation. It has no mandatory powers. It merely constitutes the opinion of states voting for it, nothing more,” said Alan Baker, an international lawyer, former advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former Israeli ambassador to Canada, and director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. The UN’s Security Council, where the US has a veto, is the
only body that can confirm full UN-recognized statehood. Practically speaking, said Mr. Baker, the only change after the vote is that in the UN, the Palestinian delegation will be moved from its observer seats to a place near the Vatican, which is another state with non-member status. ICC He did not deny that one of the Palestinians’ chief motivations in seeking this upgrade is the hope that it will enable
them to bring suits against Israel and individual Israelis in the International Criminal Court (ICC). In light of the fact that they still do not have the component of statehood, Mr. Baker said it is doubtful they will be able to succeed, especially considering “considerable opposition within the enlightened elements of the international community.” The ICC operates under the Rome Statute, which was adopted in 1998. It permits the
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Inside the Voice Stern Gang Chanukah......................... 5 Kol Ami: Bride’s Cooking?................... 6 The Current Crisis............................... 7 Jewish Identity....................................18 Carly’z Craze Chanukah.................23 The Log..........................................................24
New Classes........................................32 New Contests.....................................33 Mazal Tov.............................................33 Chesed Ops..........................................34 Ess Gezint: Chanukah.......................36 FIDF Visit the Troops.........................37
Important Reading..........................38 Index of Advertisers ........................41 Pesach in Florida...............................42 Honor the Professional...................43 Letters to the Editor ........................44 OHEL Trains Group Leaders..........47
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As Rebels Age, One Less Chanukah Party in Tel Aviv by Zev Golan They are in their 80s and 90s now, but when the British ruled Eretz Israel they were teenagers. Their faces were on “wanted” posters; those who were caught went to prison or were exiled to Africa. They are the remnants of the most feared Jewish militia that fought the British – Lehi, commonly known as the Stern Gang. Every Chanukah they met in Tel Aviv, lit Chanukah candles, shared some donuts, and watched their numbers dwindle. They chose to meet on Chanukah because it commemorates the victory of
the few against the many. They also began as a group of a few dozen extremists in 1940. Even in 1948, when they all joined the Israeli army, they numbered under 1,000. Since 1932, Abraham Stern, their future leader, had been writing songs about “anonymous soldiers” who would “live underground” while fighting to liberate the homeland. By 1941. his followers were killing officials of the British regime that had promised to make the holy land a Jewish home but more or less reneged, and they were bombing the British offices that were preventing Jewish immigration.
By then Stern was on the run and many of his men were in jail. His imprisoned troops crafted an olivewood Chanukah lamp and smuggled it to him with a note: “To our days’ Hasmonean, from his soldiers in captivity.” A Divine Flame Chanukah was a special time for the fighters. Stern wrote, “We are a handful of freedom fighters, possessed with a crazy desire for sovereignty, and according to our detractors of little strength. But this is not so. The little strength is much greater than it appears. Like the Hasmoneans’ oil, the fire of zealousness and heroism burns in the temple of our hearts, a divine flame.
The day is coming soon when we will use this flame to light the candles of our Chanukah, the Chanukah of the Hebrew kingdom, in a free Zion.” Stern was captured by British police in a rooftop apartment in south Tel Aviv and shot to death. The veterans have held their Chanukah gatherings in this hideout, now an Israeli museum. They were joined every year by Stern’s son, Yair, now 70. He was always the youngest “veteran” in the room. Though he was six years old when the British left and Israel was established, he paid the price of
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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 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: What Should the Bride Know about Cooking? There were more than 325 companies from around the world at last month’s KosherFest at the Meadowlands in Secaucus, a Jewish lifestyle extravaganza filled with kosher foods and beverages, everything to put them on and eat them with, and travel programs to take them to. During the Author’s Corner, a program devoted to cookbooks, we asked the featured chefs: What is the next big thing in kosher cooking that every bride should know? Y
Health is always important. As the Rambam says, “Everything in moderation.” When a girl is a bride, it’s time to have fun and experiment in the kitchen. It’s great to do this when you’re newly married and your husband is still willing to taste new things. Leah Schapira Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking Lakewood, NJ
No bride can go wrong learning how to cook Italian. It’s classic cuisine and will never go out of fashion. Right now, of course, Mexican food is very important as well. Esther Deutsch Chic Made Simple Brooklyn, NY
To keep on top of the culinary what’s-hot list, a bride should learn everything she can about glutenfree cooking and it wouldn’t hurt to learn some recipes for the lactose intolerant. Flour today is not what it was a generation ago. There is an increasing gluten-free variety. Learn to read labels and take some classes. Rabbi Gil Marks Encyclopedia of Jewish Food Gush Etzion, Israel, and NY, NY
The core of all cooking is the basics. A bride should get herself a good knife and learn how to use it. Once she knows how to make a great brisket, a delicious chicken soup, and meltingly good challah, the sky’s the limit. Jamie Geller Quick & Kosher Recipe Books Beit Shemesh, Israel
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The Current Crisis: “Even in Laughter, the Heart Can Ache”
Haifa University Business Professor Steven Plaut didn’t exactly hand out candies and ululate when word came that Israel had killed the Hamas military commander Ahmed alJabari, in a targeted airstrike as he rode in a car on a Gaza street—in response to hundreds of missiles raining down on civilians in southern Israel. Al-Jabari had played a key role in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, among other operations. Professor Plaut was moved by the terrorist’s death to compose an elegiac rhyme, filled with aesthetic language and soaring thoughts: All around the Gazan Brush, Our monkeys chased the weasel. The Hamas-nik stopped to pull up his sock, Pop! went the weasel. Steve says he was inspired by watching the 12-second video (http://www.israellycool.com/2012/11/14/when-ahmed-becamea-dead-terrorist/) of Jabari being recycled and sent to meet his 72-year-old virgin. Isn’t that romantic! *** The latest game spreading through the nation for all disappointed Romney voters is called “How to Secede from the Union without Even Trying.” To play, you go to the White House’s “We the People” website, pick a state, say NJ, and find out who is leading the movement. In mid-November, a man from Sewell filed a petition so that fellow Garden State residents could ask to “peacefully grant the State of NJ to withdraw from the United States to create its own new government.” We’ve just been told that in all 50 states, someone has filed a
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petition to secede from the union. Texas’s petition has more than 100,000 e-votes. Little New Jersey has attracted about 11,000. Last we looked, they still needed 13,000 more signatures. Hey, it’s a navy-blue state. Looking at papers, we came across this quote: “Maybe peace would have broken out with a different kind of White House, one less committed to waging a perpetual campaign—a White House that would see a 51-48 victory as a call to humility and compromise rather than an irrefutable mandate.” We couldn’t wait to find the author, undoubtedly another miserable Romney voter, and misery loves company—just look at all those petitions. Hey, it wasn’t from a Republican at all. It was written by a Democrat, referring to George W. Bush after the 2004 election. Omigosh, the author was Barack Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois. It’s from a book called “The Audacity of Hope.” Maybe he is “just like us,” after all. We’ve got a petition he can sign. *** Israel Is, by Efraim Kishon, z”l Israel is a country surrounded on all sides by enemies, but the people’s headaches are caused by the neighbors upstairs. Israel is the only country in the world where bank robbers kiss the mezuzah as they leave with their loot. Israel is the only country in the world where everyone on a flight gets to know one another before the plane lands. In many cases, they also get to know the pilot and all about his health or marital problems. Happy Chanukah, everyone! -SLR
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
Stern Gang Chanukah being his father’s son. During the War of Independence, an Israeli army unit drove past his house on its way to battle. The commander jumped out of a jeep and ran to Yair, who was playing in the yard. “We have an army and a state thanks to your father,” he said, then drove off. “If I hadn’t heard that, I don’t know how I would have turned out,” Yair said recently. He became a sports reporter and ultimately the director of Israel Television. Now retired, he promotes the memory of his father and the 127 Lehi members killed by the British or in the 1948 war with the Arabs. More Grandchildren Over the years, the number of fighters attending the party dropped and the number of grandchildren rose. One regular
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was Hanna Armoni, now 87. In the 1940s she brought food to the underground’s prison escapees and blew up bridges. Her husband, Haim, helped blow up some British oil refineries and was one of 19 Lehi fighters sentenced to death for the deed. Hanna took out an ad in a local paper to inform Haim that he’d become a father, but he was killed escaping from Acco prison before he met his daughter. The daughter attended last year’s party with her own children. “Lehi was violent,” Hanna says, “but in all the years of our war with the British, Lehi never targeted a woman or child. Our targets were British police, soldiers, and government officials.” Tuvia Henzion, 92, was a synagogue choirboy who had
studied auto mechanics. He fought with British Colonel Orde Wingate’s raiders before joining Stern’s militia. When Stern was killed, Henzion reorganized some of the remaining fighters into secret cells of three or four members; Lehi kept this structure for the rest of its war. One of the young people he drafted into Lehi was Armoni. In recent years, the two organized the Chanukah parties. Saved by History Stern himself liked parties. He had been considered the life of any party he attended, and usually led the guests in songs and dances. When he died he was hated by the British and almost all of Palestinian Jewry, which did not understand his insistence on throwing the British out of the homeland,
especially during a World War. Today, Stern has been honored by the Knesset and has streets and even a town named for him. His followers, once “the few against the many,” are today the consensus in Israel. But every year, fewer of the original “few” meet on Chanukah, because fewer survive. This year they decided not to spend the time and money on invitations and refreshments. Instead, they appealed for contributions and have hired someone to put their literature online and revamp an old website. They haven’t given up hope and plan on having a party next year. Perhaps Judah Maccabee’s troops gathered on Chanukah to celebrate their victory, too, until none of them were left, and history was entrusted with their stories. Y
and the crime of aggression. Limited Jurisdiction The court’s jurisdiction is limited to those situations in which states are unable or unwilling to subject their citizens to trials. Unless authorized by the UN Security Council or the ICC prosecutor, the court can accept complaints and investigate crimes only if asked by genuine states that have signed the Rome Statute. As of July 2012, 121 states— all of South America, nearly all of Europe, and about half the countries in Africa—had signed onto the statute. Three states—Israel, Sudan, and the United States—have informed the UN Secretary General that they do not intend to become states parties. These states, therefore, are not under the court’s jurisdiction. Not a State In 2009, the PA formally accepted the jurisdiction of the Court, but the ICC prosecu-
tor declared himself unable to determine whether Palestine was a “state” for the purposes of the Rome Statute. The PA’s intention was to recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC over “the territory of Palestine,” and, thus, be able to accuse Israel or specific Israelis of perpetrating, in Palestine, one of the core crimes. After an investigation, the ICC rejected the PA’s request, seeing it as one in which an international arena was being “hijacked for political purposes,” said Anne Herzberg, legal advisor for the pro-Israel NGO Monitor. Writing in the Jerusalem Post, Ms. Herzberg said, “Had the ICC accepted the PA’s recognition of its jurisdiction, it would have also tacitly accepted its statehood.” No Change Mr. Baker does not think the situation will be different now. The same issues that blocked
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the PA in 2009 at the ICC and in 2011 at the UN Security Council are still present, he said. He called the performance by PA President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN “a classical PR exercise without any legal significance.” “After a failed career without any real achievement of peace or anything else, he needs to go down in history with something, and this will be it. He’ll get two days of glory, and then nothing,” said Mr. Baker. “Disputed” No Longer Others are not so sure. Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik of Palestinian Media Watch, said UN delegates who voted for the PA’s resolution may have thought they were voting for the future of a sovereign Palestine living side by side with Israel in peace. But they said the PA believes the delegates voted to change the status of Judea and Samaria, including eastern Jerusalem,
from what Israel calls “disputed territory,” whose future, according to the Oslo Accords, must be negotiated, into “occupied territory” whose residents have the moral right to liberate it. According Mr. Marcus and Ms. Zilberdik, the PA’s plan is to accuse an Israeli of war crimes on Palestinian “occupied territory” and then ask the ICC to try it. The PA’s problem is that Mr. Abbas’s Fatah may claim Palestine consists of all of Judea and Samaria, including eastern Jerusalem, but, for Hamas, the country would include all of Israel. The lack of definitive borders was a problem for the PA in the past at the ICC and the UN, and Mr. Baker thinks that would continue. But even if the ICC accepted “Palestine” as the PA defines it, the court would probably still not accept cases against Israelis because the court expects states with recognized judiciary
systems to try its own people. Because Israel’s judiciary is well respected, it would be very hard for the PA to convince the ICC that Israel was unable to try its own accused citizens. Finally, the ICC’s prosecutor would apply his very limited resources only to those cases considered to be the most grievous violations of international law. While the Palestinians have endeavored to posture their grievances as rising to that level, many others probably would disagree. No More “Terrorists” According to Mr. Marcus and Ms. Zilberdik, another change the PA believes the UN vote brought is in the legal status of Palestinians who have targeted civilians. According to the PA, defining Palestine as a state will turn terrorists into either legitimate fighters or prisoners of war. Most legal experts deny the validity of that semantic transformation. “Nothing will change unless Israel decides to view the Palestinians’ exercise at the UN as a fundamental breach of the interim agreement forbidding unilateral actions and declare the Oslo Accords no longer valid,” said Mr. Baker. Sanctions Some Israelis say sanctions that would negatively affect the PA, such as terminating the Oslo Accords all together, would be appropriate. The accords specifically forbid any unilateral action, making going to the UN a gross violation of the agreement. Likud Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said it would be simpler just to annex the Jewish communities throughout Judea and Samaria. He recognized that the Obama administration would object, but he said there should be no more trouble with this
operation than there was 30 years ago when Israel established sovereignty over all of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Likud MK Yariv Levin told reporters he has a bill calling to apply Israeli sovereignty throughout Judea and Samaria and plans to submit it for approval immediately after Israel’s January elections. Financial Sanctions Other ideas for sanctions deal only with finances. Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) suggested Israel repeat a sanction it has applied before: halt the transfer of the taxes it collects for the PA. This is what Israel did for a short while in 2011 after the PA applied for and received full membership in UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Another sanction could include calling in some of the PA’s debts. Its debt to the Israeli Electric Company alone is approximately $183.5 million. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that, in light of the fact that the bid for unilateral recognition in the UN “will put an end to the chances to resume peace negotiations,” Israel might as well “work to ensure that the PA will collapse.” Ignoring It This might have grabbed the PA’s attention, but, according to some reports, none of these sanctions will be applied because Mr. Obama is putting pressure on the Netanyahu government to avoid any punishment. According to these reports, the President has gone so far as to threaten to withhold replacement parts Israel needs if any sanctions are leveled. Other analysts doubt Mr. Obama is that involved. According to these sources, in 2010,
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when the PA went back on its word to conduct negotiations with Israel after Mr. Netanyahu imposed a 10-month freeze on building homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria, the Obama administration lost its appetite for a renewed US engagement in the region. Many say no matter what Mr. Obama’s role, Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to eschew sanctions and ignore the UN vote is the right policy because the UN vote has no real significance. Lip Service Jonathan Tobin, editor of Commentary magazine, saw the overwhelming vote in the GA as “merely a way for the inter-
national community to pay lip service to the plight of the Palestinians.” Addressing Israelis about the vote in the UN, Mr. Netanyahu advised against getting upset because, he said, the entire exercise was essentially “meaningless.” “The decision by the General Assembly to raise the PA delegation’s status to a non-member observer state will not advance the establishment of a Palestinian state. I suggest that we not be impressed with the applause at the General Assembly. It doesn’t matter how many hands are raised against us, we have no intention of compromising on Israel’s security,” he said.
Jewish Rights For those concerned about the rights of the Jewish people, Mr. Netanyahu said he had “a simple message for those gathered in the General Assembly: No decision by the UN can break the 4,000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel.” Stressing that he would not allow an Iranian base to be established in Judea and Samaria, only two miles from Jerusalem, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel is prepared to live in peace with a Palestinian state, “but for peace to endure, Israel’s security must be protected. He stressed that while Israel wants peace, it cannot be achieved without negotiations. At the UN, PA President Mahmoud Abbas made clear that, as far as he was concerned, Israel and the PA had nothing to negotiate. Palestinians, he said, would accept “no less than the independence of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on all the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967.” This land, the Palestinians have said, must be relinquished to them judenrein. No Jews would be permitted to reside in any of the land given to form a Palestinian state. Refugees At the UN, Mr. Abbas demanded “a solution for the refugee issue,” which the Palestinians define as their “right of return.” For the Palestinians, this means the right of all Arabs who fled Israel in 1948 and 1967, and their millions of descendants, to flood back, not into a Palestinian state, but, rather, to Israel proper, where they would demographically change the nature of the country, ending its character as a Jewish state. For a few hours at the beginning of November, it appeared Mr. Abbas had changed the terms of his demand for repatriation of Palestinian refugees. He told Israel television that he had accepted the fact that he cannot return to his pre1948 home in Safed. “Palestine for me is 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. I am a refugee, but I am living in Ramallah. I believe that the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine, and the other part is Israel. I want to see Safed. It is my right to see it, but not to live there,” he said.
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Protests Within hours, leaders of Hamas in Gaza as well as residents throughout Judea and Samaria, including members of Mr. Abbas’s own Fatah faction, mounted protests, condemning the remarks. In Israel, by contrast, proponents of the two-state solution were lavish with praise. Israeli President Shimon Peres said Mr. Abbas’s remarks were “a brave and important public declaration in which [Mr. Abbas] makes clear that his aim for a state is only within the West Bank and Gaza and not in [pre-1967] territory of the State of Israel.” Using Mr. Abbas’s nom-de-guerre, Mr. Peres added, “Abu Mazen’s courageous words prove that Israel has a real partner for peace.” Backpedaling But the euphoria lasted less than 24 hours. The next day, Mr. Abbas backpedaled, clarifying his position in an interview, in Arabic, with the PA’s semi-official newspaper Al-Hayat. He told the paper that his comments on not returning to live within Israel’s 1967 borders were a matter of his personal choice and not policy. “What I said about Safed is my personal stance,” he explained. “No one would give up their right of return.” He said he had not relinquished his demand for the “right of return” for PA Arab refugees. On Egyptian television, he repeated that while he personally would give up living in Safed, he recognized that “the right of return is holy and no one can deny it.” Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman summed up the incident by reminding Israelis that “what’s important is what Abu Mazen tells his own people in Arabic, not what he tells the Israeli and American public in English.” Jewish Themes This did not seem to be on the delegates’ minds as they listened to Mr. Abbas in the UN and then voted. Speaking 65 years to the day after the GA voted in 1947 to divide British Mandate Palestine into two new states, one (Israel) for Jews and the other (TransJordan) for Arabs, Mr. Abbas said nothing about the fact that the Palestinians could have had a state as old as Israel. Mirroring the fact that many Jews accuse the PA of stealing their land, Mr. Abbas seemed consciously to purloin Jewish themes and metaphors in his speech. For
December 2012/Tevet 5773
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example, a staple Jewish leitmotif is the notion that Israel arose out of the “ashes of the Holocaust,” which was designed to obliterate the entire Jewish people. At the UN, Mr. Abbas announced that he represented the “Palestinian people, who miraculously recovered from the ashes of the Al-Nakba of 1948, which was intended to extinguish their being and to expel them in order to uproot and erase their presence, which was rooted in the depths of their land and depths of history.” Accusations His speech was rife with accusations of Israeli violence and war crimes. “What permits the Israeli Government to blatantly
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continue with its aggressive policies and the perpetration of war crimes stems from its conviction that it is above the law and that it has immunity from accountability and consequences. This belief is bolstered by the failure by some to condemn and demand the cessation of its violations and crimes and by position that equate the victim and the executioner,” he said. Mr. Netanyahu characterized the speech as “defamatory and venomous, full of mendacious propaganda against the IDF and the citizens of Israel.” “Someone who wants peace does not talk in such a manner,” he said.
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
PA at the UN
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Voting Most member states at the UN had decided well in advance how they were going to vote on this issue, and, as Mr. Netanyahu had predicted, its outcome in favor of the Palestinians was inevitable. Voting with Israel against the Palestinians’ bid to upgrade its status were Canada, the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Panama, and the US. While all along, Germany had said it would vote against the measure, Berlin changed its mind at the last minute and abstained, as did Australia, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and most of the Eastern European countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia,
Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine, that are trying to ally themselves with Israel. The United Kingdom’s abstention seemed somewhat tortured. The British government tried to extract a promise from the PA that it would not use its new status to attempt to prosecute Israel in the ICC. If it could secure that promise, the UK said, it would vote in favor of the PA’s status upgrade. But being able to take Israel to the ICC was one of the preeminent reasons behind the PA’s efforts to upgrade its status at the UN, even though most experts believe the Palestinians will reap no benefits— except from the standpoint of public relations—from such attempts.
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Oh Canada Before the vote, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper conducted what the Globe and Mail newspaper called “a short, brusque meeting with Abbas” during which the prime minister warned the PA leader of consequences. According to the paper, sources said the Canadian government warned the PA that, as a consequence of its attempt to bypass direct negotiations with Israel, the Palestinian “embassy” in Ottawa, which is really a delegation office because Palestine is not a state, might be closed and the Palestinian envoy, Said Hamad, sent home. In addition, the $300 million in aid, pledged by Canada to the PA over five years, which began in 2008, might not be renewed. Mr. Harper, long recognized as one of Israel’s strongest friends, has pledged Canada to oppose “demonization, double standards, and de-legitimization.” “When Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because history shows us, and the ideology of the antiIsrael mob tells us all too well, that those who threaten the existence of the Jewish people are, in the longer term, a threat to us all,” he said. He noted that, at the UN and other international forums, “the easiest thing to do is simply to just get along and go along with this antiIsrael rhetoric, pretend it is just about being even-handed, and excuse oneself with the label of honest broker.”
“As long as I am prime minister, Canada will not take that stand, whatever the cost,” he said. Congressional Threat In the US, too, there are serious efforts in Congress to cut all aid to the Palestinians and close the Washington PLO office if possible. Some voices have suggested stopping the UN’s funding just as UNESCO’s funding was halted last year. PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat acknowledged this possibility on Voice of Palestine radio. “Obama did not utter any threats,” he said, “but there are threats from Congress.” A bipartisan group of Senators warned Mr. Abbas that he was putting millions of dollars of American aid at risk. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) co-authored a Senate resolution denouncing Mr. Abbas’s statehood bid and warning him that “any such efforts may cause consequences to US policy and foreign aid.” The resolution reaffirms “the commitment of the US to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israel-Palestinian negotiations, reaffirming opposition to the inclusion of Hamas in a unity government unless it is willing to accept peace with Israel and renounce violence.” The PA seems to be trying to prepare for that. According to Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh, the Arab League, which has never come through before with funds for the Palestinians, has promised the PA a financial safety net of $100 million per month “in case Israel blocks our money and the US closes the PLO office and halts aid,” said Mr. Shtayeh. S.L.R.
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Israeli Elections
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Home, a reincarnation of the former National Religious Party (NRP), now headed by Naftali Bennett, will play a major part. Because of a recent merger with National Union (NU), headed by MK Yaakov “Ketzele” Katz, Jewish Home is expected to receive anywhere from 9 to 13 seats, which could make it the second largest party in a new coalition. Among those at the top of the NU list are MK Uri Ariel, Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, former director-general of the rabbinical court system; Zevulum Calfa, former chairman of the Gush Katif Residents’ Council; Orit Strook, chairwoman of the Yesha Human Rights Organization; Rabbi Hillel Horowitz, a leader of the Hebron Jewish community; and Nachi Eyal, director-general of the nationalist Legal Forum for Israel. MK Katz asked the central committee to place him in the 7th slot, which means he probably will not serve in the next Knesset. At the top of the Jewish Home faction are former NRP MK Nissan Slomiansky, Ayelet Shaked, MK Uri Orbach, and Deputy Mayor of Be’er Sheva Avi Wortsman. Other Right-Wing Parties Jewish Home could get 4 more seats if they are, as some predict, joined by Am Shalem (Whole Nation) which was formed last year by MK Rabbi Chaim Amsalem after he was asked to leave Shas. The new party focuses on “bringing the secular and religious sectors closer together, encouraging hareidim to join the workforce, separating religion from poli-
tics—but not from the state, opposing communal segregation in hareidi communities, and recognition of religious conversions conducted by the rabbinate of the IDF.” Polls show that Am Shalem will win 4 seats on its own. Four more seats are expected to go to Otzma L’Yisrael (Power to Israel), a breakaway from NU headed by MKs Michael Ben-Ari and Dr. Aryeh Eldad. Despite pressure exerted by leaders of Jewish Home and National Union, Otzma L’Yisrael is not part of their coalition. The hareidi United Torah Judaism is expected to win six seats, and polls show that the Sephardic hareidi party, Shas, which, under the leadership of Aryeh Deri, could go into either a left-wing or rightwing government, will get 10. Pro-Yesha Labor Surprisingly, MK Shelly Yachimovich, leader of the Labor Party, has told reporters she could join a coalition with Mr. Netanyahu as well. Their differences, she said, are in the socio-economic area, not the Oslo Process or land-for-peace. She has put social affairs, women’s rights, and the economic plight of the poor at the top of her agenda. In many interviews, she has said that Jews have the right to live in Judea and Samaria. “The pragmatic approach of the Labor party is a two-state solution, a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. Determining borders, swapping territories, and maintaining settlement blocs that will keep 80 percent of the settlers in their
homes. The opposite of such a formula is a bi-national state that poses a danger to a democratic Jewish state,” she said. She announced that her criteria for negotiations with the PA are similar to Mr. Netanyahu’s, including no construction freeze and the demand for recognition of Israel as “the Jewish state.” Polls show that under Ms. Yachimovich, Labor will receive 18-24 seats. Pro-Religious Labor Known for her positive comments and attitudes towards hareidim and other religious Jews, she has advocated for the closure of all businesses on Shabbat in order to preserve the character of the day as one of rest for workers and to prevent stores that open on Shabbat from enjoying an economic advantage over those that remain closed. She is, however, in favor of allowing restaurants, theaters, and places of entertainment to be open on Shabbat. She has said that, as Prime Minister, she would seek to include all the religious parties as “natural partners.” Statements such as these have made her a target for her opponents in the farleft Meretz Party, which has painted her as a politician willing to “sell out” to the hareidim. Meretz, under its chairwoman MK Zahava Galon is expected to win between 3 and 6 seats. A few more left-wing seats will be won by Yesh Atid (There Is a Future), headed by former television journalist Yair Lapid. Son of the late virulently anti-religious Shinui Party leader Tommy Lapid and an activist on behalf of the two-state solution with the Palestinians, Yair Lapid is expected to receive between 3 and 6 seats. Livni’s Return In a surprise move, Tzipi Livni, the former head of the Opposition when she was the leader of Kadima, is running as the head of a new independent party, which she is calling “The Movement— Headed by Tzipi Livni.” Ms. Livni was head of Kadima before she was ousted by Shaul Mofaz and then left the Knesset. For a while, there were reports that Ms. Livni was planning on joining another party, either Labor with Ms. Yachimovich or Yesh Atid with Mr. Lapid. Some said she was planning to team up with former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was recently convicted on one count of
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com breach of trust and exonerated on two others. The prosecution is appealing the acquittals and relatively light sentence he received, and another trial against him for bribery is still pending. According to reports, Ms. Livni refused their offers, because she said that she would not accept the number two position on any list except one headed by President Shimon Peres should he decide to run. The 89-year-old politician has ruled out any such aspiration. Polls show Ms. Livni’s old Kadima Party, like Atzmaut (Independence), the party started by Defense Minister Ehud Barak when Ms. Yachimovich won leadership of Labor, will not receive sufficient votes to win any seats at all. Refugees Ms. Livni’s running mates in “The Movement” are primarily Kadima MKs who have been scurrying to find new parties with which to affiliate now that Kadima is virtually moribund. Before joining Kadima, most of them had been members of Likud, prompting Ms. Yachimovich to call them now “refugees from refugees.” Ms. Yachimovich said Ms. Livni’s decision to run by herself is “a bitter mistake” which was “causing Lieberman and Netanyahu to smile a wide grin.” Asked at a press conference why she refused to join one of the existing parties, Ms. Livni said, “Because, unfortunately, there is a vacuum on the political map in Israel on the values that I believe need to be represented in politics. And not only the vision, but also the experience to replace Netanyahu.” “Divide and Lose” Labor Party members protesting outside her press conference accused Ms. Livni of ensuring Likud’s “overwhelming victory” in the elections. “Ego isn’t everything,” they chanted as she exited. Others said her strategy seems to be “divide and lose.” In an official statement, the Likud accused Ms. Livni of having “supported the Disengagement and brought Hamas to Gaza.” “Now she is working energetically in order to bring Hamas and Iran into Judea and Samaria,” said the statement. “The Movement” is expected to win between 7 and 10 seats, drawn mostly from other left-wing parties, which has not endeared her to their leaders or politicians. The rest of the Knesset’s seats will be won by predominantly Arab parties.
December 2012/Tevet 5773
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Barak’s Farewell In a dramatic press conference at the end of November, Ehud Barak announced that he was ending his political career, thus halting the rumors that he might be joining Ms. Livni’s “The Movement.” Now 70, Mr. Barak said he wanted to spend more time with his family. While he is generally recognized as having served well as Defense Minister, the nationalist camp sees him as the enemy of the residents of Judea and Samaria. Repeatedly during his tenure he ordered middle-of-the-night expulsions of Jewish families, including infants, from disputed settlements. He has also continuously blocked plans for building new homes
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in communities in Judea and Samaria. MK Danny Danon, who won the fifth slot in the Likud primary, responded to Mr. Barak’s farewell announcement with a prayer: “Thank G-d, we are rid of him.” Information and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, who placed 11th on the Likud list, called Mr. Barak’s departure “Likud’s independence day.” “Barak will go down in the history of Israel’s governments as the worst defense minister that the Jewish settlement enterprise ever experienced,” he said. “His behavior is full of political and egotistic considerations and he does all this on the backs of the settlers.”
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
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Jeanne Litvin: Jewish Identity, The Sanctity of the Synagogue, and JewishWoman.com The re-publication of the
1965 book, Jewish Identity, by Baruch Litvin and Sidney Hoenig, comes just as several Jewish groups are trying once again to make the “Who is a Jew?” (Mi Yehudi?) question an issue in Israeli politics. The first book was a result of a letter sent in the late 1950s by then-Prime Minister David BenGurion to rabbis and Jewish scholars around the world, asking for their opinions on the Who-is-aJew question. The original Jewish Identity consisted of a compilation of 43 of those responses. According to Mr. Litvin’s granddaughter, Jeanne Litvin, who assisted her grandfather in organizing the material and preparing the original publica-
Israeli Elections Recognition Some on the right were
tion and who served as editor of the newly revised edition, the surprising result of Mr. BenGurion’s question was that respondents from movements other than the Orthodox endorsed the Orthodox viewpoint. “Since the ‘Mi Yehudi’ issue hasn’t been decided in Israel yet, the book is being republished in order to highlight the fact that important rabbis and scholars representing other factions and movements supported the Orthodox on this important issue,” she says. New Material The revised edition, published by Ktav Publishing, contains new material as well. There are articles by Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, former chair of NYU’s Skir-
ball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and currently Yeshiva University’s Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education; Rabbi Michael Broyde, an attorney, professor of law at Emory University, and a dayan of the Rabbinical Council of America’s Beis Din of America; and Rabbi Kenneth Brander, dean of YU’s Center for the Jewish Future. Ms. Litvin, the force behind KosherWoman.com, also served as editor of the third edition of The Sanctity of the Synagogue, a book originally published in 1959 after her grandfather’s success in the Michigan Supreme Court on behalf of a synagogue’s right to a mechitza. The revised edition has more than 100 new pages, including many articles
and stories about shul mechitzas and a translation of all the teshuvas and responsa by Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, on the issue. The new edition of The Sanctity of the Synagogue is available by contacting office@ KosherWoman.com. KosherWoman.com, which Ms. Litvin says was designed for “the nn-observant to the most observant, for young adults to senior citizens,” has sections ranging from prayers (how to start a tehillim group, what to think while praying); to travel (easy kosher travel foods, travel halacha, and “The Truth about Passover Travel”); Kitchen information; and Jewish lifestyle issues, including health, nutrition, diet, and exercise.S.L.R.
and highly decorated soldier and officer known for daring feats as an elite commando. Environmental Minister Gilad Erdan, who won the second slot in the Likud primary, recognized that Mr. Barak had contributed to Israel’s national security over many years, “and when people like that leave, it is a sad thing,” he said. Nevertheless, he said, “I would prefer that the defense minister in the next government will have a nationalist
approach.” Jewish Home’s Mr. Bennett credited Mr. Barak with having made “a huge contribution to the state and many of us owe him our lives.” But he, too, called on Mr. Netanyahu to announce that the next government will have “a defense minister who is committed to the defense and security of Israel without compromise.” Celebrating in Gaza If Israel’s political leaders
continued from page 17 more charitable towards Mr. Barak, a former IDF Chief of Staff
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
Israeli Elections
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were divided on Mr. Barak’s announcement, leaders of Hamas were not. In Gaza, Hamas supporters shot celebratory blasts into the air and sang songs calling for Israel’s destruction, claiming they had “chased” Mr. Barak away with their “bravery” while under Israeli attack during the recent Operation Pillar of Cloud Defense. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said it was “clear” that Mr. Barak was leaving because he was unable to stand up to Hamas. An Islamic Jihad spokesman said Mr. Barak “admitted he had failed miserably against the Gaza resistance and its high-quality attacks that have shocked Tel Aviv.” In fact, the only reference Mr. Barak made to the Pillar of Cloud Defense operation was that he had been “honored to be able to steer [it], both strategically and diplomatically, to its successful conclusion.” Challenges Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, who won the number 15 slot in the Likud primary, suggested that Mr. Barak should now instruct the IDF’s commander for Judea and Samaria to sign an order confirming university status for the Ariel University Center in Samaria. Thus far, Mr. Barak has refused. Mr. Ben-Ari and Dr. Eldad of Power to Israel used Mr. Barak’s departure to pose a challenge to Mr. Netanyahu. They called on the prime minister to approve
the construction projects in Judea and Samaria that Mr. Barak had been blocking for several years. “Otherwise, this will prove that Barak was just a fig leaf and that the Prime Minister is responsible for the ill treatment of the settlers,” they said. In fact, the success of Likud’s nationalists in the primary coupled with Mr. Bennett’s party’s strong right-wing positions will likely compel Mr. Netanyahu to support the communities in Judea and Samaria. Unearned Posts In addition to Messrs Erdan, Danon, Edelstein, and Steinitz, others in the top 15 Likud slots—those likely to be MKs in the next government—include Education Minister Gidon Sa’ar, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, Knesset Speaker MK Reuven Rivlin, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon, coalition chairman MK Ze’ev Elkin, MK Tzipi Hotovely, MK Yariv Levin, MK Haim Katz, MK Miri Regev, and soon-to-be-freshman Moshe Feiglin, who placed 14th. More centrist members of Likud, such as Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat (17), Minister Benny Begin (21), and Minister Dan Meridor (24), will probably not receive earned seats in the Knesset, but, after the primary, Mr. Netanyahu told them that posts in his new cabinet would not be determined based on their showings. According to reports, he virtually promised all four that they would be ministers in any new government he forms.
This may take some doing. Nationalists have often expressed disappointment with Mr. Begin, whom they have not found sympathetic to their cause, and with Mr. Meridor, who has said he would consider ceding most of the strategic Golan Heights in exchange for a peace treaty with Syria. Placating Some observers suggested Mr. Netanyahu placated these longtime Likud leaders because without some wooing, they might have been tempted to join Ms. Livni, who had expressed interest in offering Mr. Meridor a spot with The Movement. A Likud source said he doubted Mr. Meridor would accept an invitation to join a party that is unlikely to be part of the next coalition. Some observers have suggested Mr. Netanyahu might be considering asking Mr. Barak to serve once again as Minister of Defense. But the prime minister is unlikely to do so, given the right-wing MKs who won the primary. In the next Knesset, Mr. Netanyahu is unlikely to find much support from his Likud MKs for a two-state solution. According to Dr. Aaron Lerner of the IMRA news agency, this could work to Mr. Netanyahu’s advantage when faced with demands from US left-wing President Barack Obama “The greater the ‘national camp’ orientation of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, the harder it will be for him to make ‘gestures’ and ‘concessions’ to the
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Palestinians. And the harder it is for him to make ‘gestures’ and ‘concessions,’ the lower the White House’s expectations will be. Netanyahu’s weakness will thus be his strength,” he said. Feiglin A leading light in this scenario will be Mr. Feiglin, whose victory was greeted by his supporters in the very right-wing Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction as a vindication of their years of effort. Although he had never won a viable place on the Likud list before, he has been recognized, even by his detractors, as one of the most influential leaders in Israeli politics. In previous Likud primaries, Mr. Netanyahu, afraid Mr. Feiglin would hurt the party’s chances in the general election, succeeded in executing a number of bureaucratic moves to deny the Manhigut Yehudit leader, who has been identified as a follower of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, a realistic spot on the list. This time, Mr. Netanyahu may be hoping Mr. Feiglin’s presence on the list will help siphon off strength from the Jewish Home-National Union to give the Likud additional seats in the next Knesset. Controversial Much less fiery than Rabbi Kahane, Mr. Feiglin has said he disagrees with many of the positions taken by the rabbi’s Kach Party. But Mr. Feiglin is controversial. In addition to opposing the surrender of any Jewish land, he has called for restructuring Israel’s undemocratically selected Supreme Court. He wants judges to undergo a confirmation process in the Knesset, just as they do in the US. He also wants to change the Israeli education system, ending the common practice of teaching the Arab view of history, such as describing Israel’s creation as a “Naqba,” disaster. In addition to his own Manhigut Yehudit faction, which represents about 25 percent of the Likud, Mr. Feiglin received the endorsement of Likud MK Haim Katz, who, in addition to coming in 12th in the primary, heads the Israel Aerospace Industries workers’ union. While Likud primary ballots were secret, union members are said to hold Mr. Katz in high esteem. Mr. Feiglin said his main objective is to turn Israel “into a free Jewish state that is proud of its justice.” Left-Wing Rage When Mr. Feiglin’s rank in the primary was
December 2012/Tevet 5773
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
announced, the left-wing parties lost no time pouncing on his victory to attack the Likud. “The Likud’s list is desperate and hopeless, devoid of social representation,” said Ms. Yachimovich. “The list that was chosen turns the Likud into an extreme right-wing party, and any connection between it and the national party it once was is purely coincidental.” Mr. Lapid called the list “alarming” and said it “revolves around the axis of the deals of old politics and extremist ideology.” Meretz’s Ms. Galon accused the Likud of “turning back on its heritage.” “The liberal Likud has died. Even Menachem Begin would not find his place
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in this dubious team. It is scary to think what will happen here if the power remains in the hands of the Likud,” she said. Mr. Netanyahu, however, rejected criticism that the list was too right-wing. Predicting that he and the party would continue in office after the election, he said, “It was proven once again that the Likud is the party of the nation.” He called the list “experienced, varied, and talented,” and characterized the party as “strong, energetic, and full of pizzazz.” Vying for the Right While some reports predicted that the presence of high-profile nationalists at
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
Israeli Elections the top of the Likud list would translate to fewer voters for National Union-Jewish Home, others said that events surrounding the recent Operation Pillar of Defense conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza would work to Likud’s disadvantage with right-wing voters. Polls show the ceasefire and the agreement by Mr. Netanyahu to stop shy of toppling Hamas were not popular. Maj-Gen (ret) Elazar Stern, the former IDF head of manpower and a critic of the Hesder Yeshiva program which allows religious young men to divide their time between Torah study and the army, accused Messrs Netanyahu and Barak of starting Operation Pillar of Defense because they hoped for an electoral advantage. “How can it be that the prime minister and the defense minister decide on such an operation two months before the
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continued from page 21 election,” said Mr. Stern, who is considering a run for the Knesset himself as part of Rabbi Amsalem’s Am Shalem party. Looking at History NU’s Mr. Katz and Power to Israel’s Mr. Ben-Ari made no such accusations, concentrating instead on Likud’s history, which, they said, was not favorable to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Mr. Ben-Ari said he recognized MKs such as Messrs Elkin, Levin, and Danon and Ms. Hotovely are “honest and mean what they say.” “However,” he said, “we must remember that they were already in the Knesset, and that did not prevent Netanyahu from recognizing a Palestinian state and freezing construction in Judea and Samaria. The influence of these members is marginal, I am sorry to say, and it will remain marginal.” For proof, he pointed to
Mr. Netanyahu’s determination to keep Messrs Begin and Meridor “at his side.” Failure in Gaza Mr. Ben-Ari criticized Mr. Lieberman as “an elections hound” who, “on the eve of elections, always makes rightwing statements and is suddenly deep within the Right, but it is no secret that inside, at home, in critical government votes, Lieberman turns out to be an opportunist, and he was a partner to all of this government’s failures.” As an example, he pointed to the government’s “surrender” in Gaza after Pillar of Cloud Defense. “Instead of entering Gaza, erasing the enemy, and bringing Hamas to its knees, the Netanyahu-Lieberman government delivered a disappointment, and not for the first time,” he said. Mr. Feiglin, whom Mr. BenAri did not mention, agreed.
“What they did to us during Operation Pillar of Cloud Defense will not be done again,” he said. Other right-wing critics of Mr. Netanyahu have pointed to his acquiescence to the destruction of the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El and the Jewish community of Migron in Samaria. Even the “Best” On his Facebook page, the NU’s Mr. Katz noted that even though the Likud primaries had produced a slate of “our kind of people,” the leaders of the party “were able to lead Likud MKs to do things the founders of the party would never have imagined.” He recalled that “even the ‘best’ members of the Likud were unable to prevent the destruction of Gush Katif [in 2005 under then-Likud Prime Minister Ariel Sharon], and neither could they prevent the building freeze in Judea and
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
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Carly’z Craze Celebrates Chanukah and Its First Birthday
and a whole section that is just about as funky as it gets. Treats Because it’s a party, those who come into the store will be treated to goody-bags and other surprises, and everyone who buys something will be
automatically entered into a raffle to win a $50 gift certificate. “Then, you can finish your Chanukah shopping or buy yourself a gift,” said Mrs. Borodkin. Carly’z Craze offers a fine selection of exquisite sterling silver jewelry from Israel, Sara Kety Onesies and footsies, and other terrific accessories, ranging from bows, headbands, scarves, and bags, to caps, berets, and snoods. Located at 398 Cedar Lane in Teaneck, Carly’z Craze is open Mon-Wed, 10:30am-6:30pm; Thurs until 8pm; Fri from 10am-2pm; and on Motzei Shabbat from 7-9pm. The phone number is 201-3423398, the email is carlyzcraze@ gmail.com; and the website can be accessed at carlyzcraze.com.
to the right, and the national camp stands united behind the leadership of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while
Tzipi, Shelly, Yair, Tibi, Barak, Galon, and Mofaz are fighting over a few seats in the next opposition.” S.L.R.
Arlene Brodsky and Wendy
Borodkin of Carly’z Craze on Cedar Lane in Teaneck, have two reasons for celebrating this month. First, it’s Chanukah, and the store is brimming over with fun, fashionable, and modest clothing and accessories to make every woman, teen, girl, or baby on your list smile. Second, on December 12, the store will mark its first anniversary, and Mrs. Brodsky and Mrs. Borodkin want everyone to celebrate. “Carly’z Craze burst onto the fashion scene last year, and this year we have a vast array of items on sale. Everyone is invited to join the festivities,” said Mrs. Brodsky.
The store features the latest in trendy clothing for work, school, special occasions, just “hanging out,” and even exercise and swim wear. Yummy colors, styles to meet most school dress-code requirements, layering tops,
Israeli Elections
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Samaria [for ten months in 20092010 under Mr. Netanyahu].” “Worst of all,” wrote Mr. Katz, “they could not prevent the demolishing of hundreds of buildings and the prevention of construction of hundreds more by the Likud government.” And, he said, right-wing Likud MKs were unable to prevent Mr. Netanyahu from accepting the principle of “two states for two peoples.” From Inside and Outside He disagreed with Mr. Feiglin’s contention that the only way to change the Likud was from within.
“The only solution is to support the two sister parties, the National Union and Jewish Home, under the leadership of Naftali Bennett. This list must be able to produce 14 mandates in order to be a main pillar of the next government and a senior coalition partner that will be a moral and nationalistic anchor for the government,” Mr. Katz wrote. Those numbers seemed fine to Mr. Danon. Referring to the MKs of the left wing and Israeli-Arab MK Ahmed Tibi of the United Arab List, Mr. Danon said, “Israel moved
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
The Log: Do It Now
Sign up your single friends and family members with the North Jersey Shidduch Organization, composed of discreet women volunteers to facilitate introductions of like-minded Jewish singles, http://www.northjerseyshidduch.org/ ARTikva is a project designed to allow young children in the US to send messages of hope to their counterparts in Israel living under fear of fire. Send paintings, drawings, and artwork (the actual piece, a photo of it, or a scan of the artwork) to ilya@seymourpr. com with ARTikva in the subject.
Tues., Dec 4
“The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: Perfectly Imperfect,” Rabbi Chaim Zvi Ehrenreich, Nyack Library, 845-356-6686, 7:15am; Chabad of Union County, Fanwood, 7:30pm, 908-790-0008, Rabbi Dov Drizen, Valley Chabad, WoodCliff Lake, 8pm, 201-476-0157 Shalom Yeladim Nursery School Open House, Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School, 9:30am, 201615-9093, also Thurs., Dec 6, 9:30am “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: A Question of Faithfulness,” Rabbis Levi Wolosow and Boruch Chazanow, Chabad, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 Women’s Club for Widows, Jewish Federation and Vocational Services, Concordia Shopping Center, Monroe, 10:30am, 732-7771940 or 609-395-7979 Job Search Workshop: “Today Tough Interviews,” Jewish
Family Service, Teaneck, 11:30am, 201-837-9090 Jewish Business Network, for Jewish professionals, Fumio Grill, Livingston, 11:30am, 973275-1313 Orthodox Union Webcast: “Facing Illness: The Torah Approach, Rav Yisrael Belsky and Rav Hershel Schachter, includes questions dealing with Hurricane Sandy, emailed to safrane@ou.org or ferrelle@ou.org, webcast is at 2pm “Six-Word Memoirs on Jewish Life: Oy, Only Six? Why Not More?” Larry Smith, JCC, Tenafly, 7:30pm, 201-408-1448 “Israeli Authors Forum,” coordinated by Ronit Matalon, in Hebrew, Trayes Hall, Douglass Campus Center, New Brunswick, 7:30pm, 732-932-2033 Chanukah Finger Foods, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7:30pm, 845-362-4400 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: The Self That Loves Your Neighbor,” Rabbi Levi Azimov, Chabad of North Brunswick, 7:45pm, 732-398-9492 Camp Moshava Parlor Meeting, Alan Silverman, private home in Riverdale, 7:45pm, 212-465-9021 “An Introduction to the Study of Medrash and Aggada: Fact or Fiction?” Rabbi Jeremy Donath, Cong Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, 8pm, rabbidonath@gmail.com Nechama Support Group, for family members who have experienced infant and/or pregnancy loss at any time in their lives, Reva Judas, Holy Name Medical Center, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-692-9302
Ben Porat Yosef of Paramus Parlor Meeting, for parents of prospective students, toddlers (2½) through elementary school, private home in Riverdale, 8pm, ruthr@benporatyosef.org or mts@ sarao.com Cooking Techniques and Great Kosher Recipes, Chef Giora Malka, of Hummus Elite, spons by Cong Ahavath Torah, at Modiani Kitchens, Englewood, 8pm, ATC. Sisterhood@gmail.com “The Purpose of Praise: Understanding the Meaning and Purpose of the Tehillim of Hallel,” Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, Yeshiva Ketana of Passaic, 8:30pm, 973-779-0688 or 973-769-8640 Shidduch Project, a chance to present candidates with a photo, private home in West Orange, 8:30pm, 973-731-6897 or rglickusa@yahoo.com Birthright Orientation, for free trip to Israel, Student Activities Center, Rutgers, New Brunswick, 9pm, 732-545-2407 “Digging Deeper: Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Judaism: The Nature of Providence,” for men and women, Rabbi Netanel Wiederblank, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 9:15pm, 201-836-8916
Wed., Dec 5
Jewish Professional and Business Women’s Network, Starbucks at the Meadowlands Sheraton Hotel, E Rutherford, 9:30am, 973-902-5932 “The Tune of Ambivalence: Navigating through Tough Existential Dilemmas,” Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Chabad Center, West Orange, 10am, 973-486-2362 Mini-Chefs Fry and Decorate Donuts, for children ages 2-6, Chabad Center, Wayne, 4:30pm, 973-694-6274 Shalom Yeladim Nursery School Open House, Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School, 5pm, 201615-9093 Teen Scene, spons by the Friendship Circle, for special-needs teens ages 13-21, at the Frisch Yeshiva High School, Paramus, 6pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Strength-to-Strength Support Group for Parents Whose
Children, Ages 15-25, Are Dealing with Chemical Dependency, Psychological Disorders, or CoOccurring Issues, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-408-1403 Shifra and Sam Coleman Lecture: Alan Elsner, Ellipse Theater, Rockland Community College, Suffern, 7pm, 845-356-2700 Contemporary Israeli Poetry Group, in the original with English translation and discussion, Atara Fobar, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 7pm, 718-796-4730 Abused Women’s Confidential Support Group, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 Second Generation Discussion Group, for children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, includes video on children and grandchildren of Auschwitz survivors tattooing themselves, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 Kosher Cake Decorating, for women and girls, 10 and up, accompanied by adult, L’via Weisinger, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 7:30pm, h.kupperman@yahoo.com 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 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: The Self That Loves Your Neighbor,” Rabbis Levi Wolosow and Boruch Chazanow, Chabad of Manalapan, 7:30pm, 732-972-3687 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: Perfectly Imperfect,” Rabbi Ephraim Simon, Chabad of Teaneck, 8pm, 201-907-0686 “An In-Depth Analysis of One of the Sugyos That Comes Up in the Daf Yomi Studies,” Rav Tanchum Cohen, Cong Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, 8pm, 201-384-0434 Bar-Bat Mitzvah for Adults: “Hakaras Hatov—Gratitude and Appreciation,” Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-966-4498
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
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“Separate Yourself Not from the Community” Mom’s Night Out, for mothers of special-needs children, spons by the Friendship Circle, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, zeesy@ bcfriendship.com Anshei Lubavitch Women’s Workshop: Aromatherapy, Rivkie Bergstein, Anshei Lubavitch Congregation, Fair Lawn, 8pm, rivks1@ gmail.com “Halachic Living Wills and Other End-of-Life Issues,” Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:15pm, 973-736-1407 “Surfing through Shas: OK, I’ll Sell You My Kidney (Temurah), Can I sell my organ(s) to Someone Else? With Whom Is the Organ Buried? Is There a Difference in Which Body Part?” Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, 8:15pm, 201-791-7910 “Pre-Chanukah Shiur for women: “Beauty: The JewishPerspective,” “The Halachos of Makeup on Shabbos,” and “PracticalApplication: What Is Shabbos Makeup and How to Make It Last,”Rebbetzin Rebecca Belizon, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, 8:30pm Rutgers Israel Public Affairs Committee, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 9pm, 732-545-2407
Parenting Tele-Conference: “Al Pi Darko: Finding the Uniqueness in Each Child,” Rabbi Shmuel Zimmerman, spons by the National Association of Support and Outreach, http://www.nasoamerica.org/recorded-programs.html, 9:30pm, call 712-432-1001, Access Code: 431-701-747#; to playback the shiur anytime, call 712-4321011, Playback Access Code: 412184-214#; am@NASOamerica.org
Thurs., Dec 6
NCSY Winter Regional, buses leave for Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, Kerhonkson, NY, through Sun., Dec 9, 201-862-0250 “The Town That Fought Hate,” 1993 holiday season in Billings, MT, for grades 3-5, JCC, Cherry Hill, 10am, 856-751-9500 ext 1249 JCC MetroWest Early Childhood Department Open House, for families with children ages 2-5, includes preschool and camp, West Orange, 10am and 7:30pm, 973-530-3468 “Real Problems and Solutions in Israel,” Irwin Graulich, JCC, Tenafly, 11:15am, 201-408-1450 “The Rodgers and Hammerstein Era: Reinventing Musical Theatre, Marc Courtade, Riverdale YMHA, 1:15pm, 718-548-8200 “Why Were So Many Jews
Attracted to the Ancient Greek Culture?” lecture and slide show, Sheryl Intrator Urman, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 3pm, 201568-1315 Sports Night, for specialneeds children 5-12, spons by the Friendship Circle, at the Moriah School of Englewood, 5:30pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Latke Mix and Applesauce Drive, for children, to benefit Tomchei Shabbat, learn about how people help each other prepare and celebrate Shabbat and holidays, make Chanukah cards to accompany care packages, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 6:30pm, 201-837-2795 Chabad Book Club: “The Chosen” by Chaim Potok, with Rabbi Mendy Herson, Chabad Jewish Center, Basking Ridge, 8pm, 908-604-8844 “Tolkien on Torah: Themes from His Novels to Explore Bigger Ideas in Torah,” Rabbi Akiva Weiss, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 9:45pm, 732-545-2407 Nefesh HaChaim Shiur: Jewish Mysticism and Spirituality, Rabbi Akiva Weiss, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 11pm, 732-545-2407
Fri., Dec 7
Holocaust Educators Con-
ference: “Museums and Schools: An Alliance for Learning,” Center for Holocaust, Human Rights, and Genocide Education, Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, registration, 8:15am; “Accessing Museum Resources,” Stephen Feinberg, 9:30am; “9/11 Memorial Museum,” Noah Rauch, 11am; “NJ Commission of Holocaust Education,” Dr. Paul Winkler,” 12:30pm; “Virtual Field Trips,” Dale Daniels and Jane Denny,” 1:15pm; “Utilizing 9/11 Curriculum Resources,” Helen Simpkins, Dena Dobrish, Karen Levine, Vernoy Paolini, and Jill McCracken, 1:45pm, 732-224-1889 “25th Anniversary of ‘Freedom Sunday,’ The Dec 6, 1967 March on Washington for Soviet Jewry,” the plight and movement to free Soviet Jewry and lessons learned, Dr. Jay Blum, Avital and Dmitry Chizhik, and Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg, Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva, Edison, 9:30am, 732-572-5052 Young Israel of East Brunswick Shabbaton, for grades 6-8 from throughout NJ, through Shabbat, Dec 8, youthdirector@yieb.org Carlebach-Style Davening, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 4pm,
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Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
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201-833-0515 Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David Israel Social Action Committee Oneg, featuring Gush Katif Mayor Davidi Perel, private home in West Orange, 8pm, 973-726-1407 or 973-669-1166 Teen Minyan Oneg, for grades 6-12, Rabbi Beni Krohn, private home in Teaneck, 8pm, 201-837-2795
Shabbat, Dec 8
Carlebach Minyan, Cong Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, 8:45am, rabbidonath@gmail.com Tefilat Shlomo: The Carlebach Tefila of Riverdale, at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 9am, 718-796-4730 Rabbi’s Tish: “What’s Culture Got to Do with It?” Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, Jewish Center of Teaneck, noon, 201-833-0515 Bnei Akiva Snif Chadash Group, for grades 1-6 South of Route 4, at Cong Netivot Shalom, Teaneck, 4pm, val@mileslevin.com
Motzei Shabbat, Dec 8
First Night of Chanukah
Candle-Lighting Program, Cong Netivot Shalom, Teaneck, 5:30pm, DavidMontag@rocketmail.com Family Chanukah Party, includes menorah lighting, Bingo, magic show, and dinner, Lubavitch Center Shul, West Orange, 6:30pm, 973-731-0770 Children’s Chanukah Chagigah, Cong Ohav Emeth, Highland Park, 7pm, 732-247-3038 Chanukah Bash, for families, featuring Matty Roxx and Doug, balloon and face artist, includes dinner buffet, Kehillas Bais Yehudah, Wesley Hills, 7:30pm, graceofnewyork@yahoo.com Russ Guerney Blues on Tap, at Smokey Joe’s restaurant, Teaneck, 8pm and 9:30pm, 201-836-7427 “13” The Musical, about a 13-year-old Jewish boy and his friends, Riverdale Children’s Theatre, at the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, 8pm, also Sun., Dec 9, 2pm and 6pm; Motzei Shabbat,
Dec 15, 8pm; and Sun, Dec 16, 2pm and 6pm, 646-436-3045
Sun., Dec 9 Second Night of Chanukah
Book Fair, spons by the Adolph Schreiber Hebrew Academy of Rockland (ASHAR), using code 10962686 benefits the school, Nanuet Barnes and Noble, through Dec 10 Blood Drive, for those 1775 and in good health, Riverdale Jewish Center, 8:30am-3:30pm, 718-548-1850 Defensive Driving, Riverdale Jewish Center, 9:30am, 718548-1850 Chanukah Cookie Baking and Clown Show, for children 2-11,Riverdale Jewish Center, 9:30am, 718-548-1850 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: The Self That Loves Your Neighbor,” Rabbi Avrohom Bergstein, Chabad of Fair Lawn, 718-839-5296; Valley Chabad, Park Ridge, 201-476-0157, 10am Giant Playdate, spons by Riverdale Israelis and Friends, for families with young children, Riverdale YMHA, 10am, 718-548-8200 Chanukah Wonderland, spons by Chabad of Northern Monmouth County, includes chocolate menorah making, Maccabee show, and Grand Dreidel Game, at the Team Life Building, Colts Neck, 10am, 732-858-1770 Chanukah Play, for children 5-10, starring staff and residents of SINAI’s Sheli House, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 10am, 201-833-0515 Film: “Lights: The Miracle of Chanukah,” for young children, Riverdale YMHA, 10:30am, 718-548-8200 Cong Etz Chaim Youth Chanukah Chagigah, Livingston, 10:30am, 973-597-1655 Chanukah Concert with Danna Banana, for families, Riverdale YMHA, 11am, 718-548-8200 Chug Ivrit: Hadassah’s Hebrew Club, for men and women, private home in Highland Park, 11am, 732-819-9298 Chabad of West Orange Smile on Seniors Chanukah Program, Brighton Gardens, West Orange, 11am, 973-486-2362 Chabad Magic Show, spons
by Chabad at the Shore, includes holiday crafts, donuts, and menorah lighting, The Shore Mall, Egg Harbor Twnshp, 11am, 609-822-8500 Interactive Yiddish Concert, for children, Alisa Eilenberg, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 11am, 718-796-4730 Chanukah Festival, featuring M-Generation Choir, Menorah Contest with prizes, crafts, donuts, and latkes, Lubavitch on the Palisades, Tenafly, 11:30am, 201-871-1152 Chanukah Carnival, for children, includes games, prizes, raffles, music, latke-making, and lunch, to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, noon, 718-796-4730 Chanukah Concert, Shirah Community Chorus on the Palisades, Matthew Lazar, JCC, Tenafly, 2pm, 201-408-1465 Chanukah Party, with music, snacks, contests, and prizes, CareOne, Teaneck, 2pm, 201-862-3300 Chanukah Carnival and Puppet Show, Anshei Lubavitch Congregation, Fair Lawn, Carnival and Chanukah Workshops, 2:30pm; Puppet Show, 3:45pm; Menorah Lighting and Raffle, 4:15pm, 201-794-3770 Menorah Lighting, with Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz and Livingston Mayor Arlene Johnson, spons by Chabad of West Orange, includes face-painting, activities, music, and treats, at the Livingston Mall, 4pm, 973-486-2362 Chanukah Festival and Menorah Lighting, includes menorah ice sculpture and refreshments, Chabad Center, Wayne, 3pm; menorah lighting, 4:30pm, 973-694-6274 Beth Aharon Chanukah Party, for families, includes music, dreidels, donuts, and crafts, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 5pm, bethaharon@gmail.com Giant Menorah Lighting and Grand Fire Show, spons by Chabad of Northern Monmouth County, with Holmdel Mayor Patrick Impreveduto and Colts Neck Mayor Jarrett Engle, includes latkes, donuts, menorah kits, and dreidels, PNC Art Center, Exit 116 on the Garden State Parkway, 5pm, 732-858-1770 Menorah Lighting at The
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Walk Shopping Outlets, spons by Chabad at the Shore, Atlantic City, 5:30pm, 609-822-8500 “The Big Flood: Hebrew vs Pagan,” similarities and contrasts between the Hebrew Bible and the Gilgamesh Epic, Prof Benjamin Nelson, Englewood Public Library, 6pm, 201-568-2215 Rockland and Bergen Adoptive Families Meet-Up, for families that have already adopted or who are in the process of adopting— internationally and domestically, Panera Bread (Kohl’s Shopping Center), Paramus, 7:30pm, http:// www.meetup.com/Rockland-andBergen-Adoptive-Families “Decorate, Then Sweep— Starting Out on a Positive Note,” Rabbi Avremel Rimler, Chabad Lubavitch of Rockland, New City, 8pm, 845-634-0951 ext 104
Mon, Dec 10 Third Night of Chanukah
Chabad of West Orange Smile on Seniors Chanukah Program, Green Hill, West Orange, 2:15pm, 973-486-2362 Giant Chanukah Lighting, with Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz and NJ Gov Chris Christie, State House, Trenton, 3:30pm, 973-486-2362 Chanukah Story Time, for children, includes stories, dreidels, calendars, menorah lighting, and gelt, Barnes & Noble, West Nyack, 4pm, 845-358-3767 Dunkin Donuts Candle Lighting, includes music and donuts, 259th St and Riverdale Ave, Riverdale, 4:30pm Chanukah Celebration, for families with special-needs children, spons by the Friendship Circle, Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, River Edge, 5pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com 9-Foot Ice Menorah Sculpture and Chanukah Celebration, spons by Chabad Jewish Learning Center, includes music, crafts, latkes and Chanukah treats, at the Suffern Gazebo/Community Center, 6pm, 845-368-1889 Confidential Support Group for Single Women Involved in the Process of Egg Freezing, Izetta Siegal Stern, LCSW, private location in Manhattan, 6:50pm, 212-691-1266 Menorah Lighting and Chanukah Celebration, includes
December 2012/Tevet 5773
music and refreshments, JCC of Middlesex County, Edison, 7pm, 732-494-3232 Chanukah in Chocolate Land Party, spons by Chabad of Upper Passaic County, includes entertainer Adam Rinn, lighting of a chocolate menorah, chocolate gelt, hot latkes, chocolate donuts, music, and crafts, Haskell Towne Center, 7pm, 201-797-7609 Artist Beryl Brenner, spons by the Jewish Federation of Northern NJ’s Women’s Philanthropy Business and Professionals, at the Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, dinner, 7pm; program, 7:45pm, 201-820-3906 Ladies Night Out: Wine and Cheese Tasting, bring a Chanukah gift for a child affected by Hurricane Sandy, spons by Chabad Center, private home in Wayne, 7pm, 973-694-6274 “From the Rav’s Desk: The Published and Unpublished Letters of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, z”l,” Rav Nati Helfgot, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, Riverdale, 8pm, abatalion@yctorah.org Rabbi David Silber, in memory of Dr. Charles Feldman, z”l, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-907-0180 Donut Study Break, Chabad of Princeton, 10pm, 609-683-3780
Tues., Dec 11 Fourth Night of Chanukah
“The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: The Self That Loves Your Neighbor,” Rabbis Levi Wolosow and Boruch Chazanow, Chabad, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 Chanukah Luncheon, for seniors, featuring The Klezmer Singers, Riverdale YMHA, 11:45am, 718-548-8200 Chabad of West Orange Smile on Seniors Chanukah Program, JCC, West Orange, 12:30pm, 973-486-2362 “The National Yiddish Theatre—Folksbiene—Presents ‘My Yiddishe Chanukah,’” directed by Zalmen Mlotek, JCC, Tenafly, 5pm, 201-408-1429 Chanukah Chagigah, music and menorah lighting, The Century, 2600 Netherland Ave, Riverdale, 5pm Menorah Lighting, includes chocolate gelt, latkes, and a 9-foot menorah, spons by Friends of Lubavitch
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
of Bergen County, Englewood City Hall, 5:30pm, 201-907-0686 Menorah Lighting, with Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, spons by Chabad of West Orange, Roseland Town Hall, 6pm, 973-486-2362 Menorah Lighting, Bergen Town Center, Paramus, 6pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Chabad Center for Jewish Life 10th Anniversary Dinner, honoring Donny Epstein, at The Imperia, Somerset, 6pm, 908-874-0444 Teen Chanukah Party, Chabad of Fort Lee, 6pm, 201886-1238 Chanukah Grand Menorah Lighting, includes music, hot chocolate and latkes, light show, gifts, and characters, Fair Lawn Borough Hall, 6:30pm, 201-794-3770 Menorah Lighting, spons by Chabad of Upper Passaic County, includes latkes, donuts, and gelt, Wells Fargo Bank, Ringwood, 7pm, 201-696-7609 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: Perfectly Imperfect,” Rabbi Levi Azimov, Chabad of North
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Brunswick, 7:45pm, 732-398-9492 “Digging Deeper: Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Judaism: The Religious Value of Secular Studies,” for men and women, Rabbi Netanel Wiederblank, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 9:15pm, 201-836-8916
Wed., Dec 12 Fifth Night of Chanukah
“Decorate, then Sweep: Starting Out on a Positive Note,” Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Chabad Center, West Orange, 10am, 973-486-2362 Café Europa’s Chanukah Luncheon for Holocaust Survivors, featuring Allen and Raphael Sweifach, spons by Jewish Family Service, at Temple Emanu-El, Closter, 11:30am, 201-837-9090 Senior Adult Chanukah Luncheon, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 1pm, 845-362-4400 Chabad of West Orange Smile on Seniors Chanukah Program, Canterbury Village, West Orange, 2:15pm, 973-486-2362 Menorah Lighting, with Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz and West
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Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
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Orange Mayor Robert Parisi, spons by Chabad of West Orange, at the West Orange Town Hall, 3:30pm, 973-486-2362 Menorah Lighting at the Ventnor Library, spons by Chabad at the Shore, 4pm, 609-822-8500 Chabad’s Chanukah in the Park, menorah lighting with Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco, includes a Fun Bus, hot dogs, latkes, donuts, music, Third Ward Park, Passaic, 5pm, 973-246-5251 Menorah Lighting, Frist Campus Center, Princeton, 5pm, 609-683-3780 Menorah Lighting, Garden State Plaza, Paramus, 6pm, zeesy@ bcfriendship.com Chanukah Dinner and Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Community Choir Concert, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 6:30pm, 718-796-4730 Menorah Lighting, includes latkes, donuts, and gelt, Wanaque Municipal Building, 7pm, 201-696-7609 Mom’s Support Group, for mothers of children with special needs, Amy Brunswick, LSW, spons by Jewish Family Service, JCC, West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-765-9050 or 973-929-3129 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: Perfectly Imperfect,” Rabbis Levi Wolosow and Boruch Chazanow, Chabad of Manalapan, 7:30pm, 732-972-3687 Art Program, for special-needs teens and young adults age 15 and up, Debbie Greenwald, spons by Yachad, at The Art Place, Englewood, 7:45pm, 201-833-1349 Tehillim Group, Cong Shaare Tefillah, Teaneck, 8:30pm, 201-2895474 or 917-902-9303
Thurs., Dec 13 Sixth Night of Chanukah
Chabad of West Orange Smile on Seniors Chanukah Program, CareOne, Livingston, 11am, 973-486-2362 Chanukah Golden Age Program, for seniors, Rabbi Steven Exler, includes lunch, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 1pm, 718-796-4730 Celebrate Chanukah, for ages 2-5 with an adult, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 3:45pm, 845-362-4400 Chanukah Dinner Celebrating the Opening of the World’s Largest Chabad House: Chabad of Rutgers, honoring Rutgers University President Dr. Robert Barchi and Ronald Rak, with Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, at the Chabad House, New Brunswick, 6pm, 732-296-1800 Menorah Lighting, Petruska Park, Paramus, 6pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Community Candle Lighting, includes premiere of the Rockland JCC Maccabi Games movie, live music, activities for children, latkes, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 7pm, 845-362-4400 “Jewish Women’s Circle Chanukah Party: Stories of Inspiring Small Miracles in Our Lives,” Rebbetzin Tova Rapoport, includes latkes, Chabad in Margate, 7pm, 609-822-8500 Singer Mika Karny, in concert, in Hebrew, JCC, Tenafly, 8:30pm, 201-408-1448
Fri., Dec 14 Seventh Night of Chanukah
Last Day for Chanukah Wonderland Store, spons by Chabad Center, at the Wedgewood Shopping Center on Hamburg Tnpk,
Wayne, Sun-Thurs, 10:30am-6pm; Fri til 3pm, 973-694-6274 A Taste of Shabbat, for children ages 1-5 and an adult, JCC Rockland, West Nyack, 10:45am, 845-362-4400 Ohr Naava Weekend of Connection, for families, with Charlie Harary, Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein, and Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, includes day camp and babysitting for children, and the chance to connect with Ohr Naava Shidduch Division, Motzei Shabbat Melave Malka with Lipa Schmeltzer, at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel, Asbury Park, 718-647-6228, through Sun., Dec 16 Minyan Tiferet, Shira Hadasha-style, private home in Englewood, 5pm, MinyanTiferet@ gmail.com Chanukah Dinner, Cong Anshe Chesed, Linden, 5:30pm, 908-925-1693 or 908-925-5224 Shabbat Chanukah Board Game Night, for adults over 21, private home in Teaneck, 7pm, 201-530-0943 Shabbat Chanukah Daven-and-Dine, for families, Rabbi Shlomo Marks, 100-year-old building of Cong Mount Sinai, Jersey City, 7:30pm, RavShlomo.MtSinai@gmail.com Wendy Ansellem, scholar in residence, Cong Netivot Shalom, Teaneck, Shabbat Chanukah Dinner: “Like an Unopened Letter: Yosef and the Art of Dream Interpretation,” 7:30pm, DavidMontag@rocketmail.com Chanukah Oneg, spons by Cong Ahavat Shalom of the Teaneck Apartments, private home in Teaneck, 7:30pm, tmentzel@gmail.com
Shabbat Chanukah, Dec 15
Chazzan Meir Borovetz,
Shacharis, includes hot Kiddush, Cong Ohav Emeth, Highland Park, 9am, 732-247-3038 Shabbat Chanukah Luncheon, for families, BYOW (wine, water, or whiskey), Riverdale Jewish Center, noon, 718-548-1850
Motzei Shabbat, Dec 15 Eighth Night of Chanukah
Women-Only Swim, JCC, Edison, 7-8:30pm, 732-921-8855 Kids’ Night Out, for ages 5-12, divided by age, so that parents can have a night out, Riverdale YMHA, 7-10pm, 718-548-8200 ext 261 Winter Olympics, for the MetroWest Hakoah Junior Sports Club (Grades K-1) and MetroWest Hakoah Sports Club (Grades 2-5), JCC, West Orange, 7:30pm, 973-530-3425 Evening of Comedy, featuring Elon Gold and Dan Naturman, Cong Ahavath Torah, Englewood, 8pm, 201-568-1315 Mike Cohen and the Putti Project, to benefit Ugandan Jewry, at Smokey Joe’s restaurant, Teaneck, 8pm and 9:30pm, 201-836-7427 Black and White Chanukah Party, for ages 22-30, spons by the Jewish Federation’s eNgageNJ, at the Avenue Event Space, Teaneck, 9pm, 201-820-3936
Sun., Dec 16 Eighth Day of Chanukah
JCC Rockland Scholarship Phone-a-Thon, West Nyack, 9am1pm, 845-362-4400, also Mon., Dec 17 and Tues., Dec 18, 6-9pm Explanatory Morning Service, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:15am, 201-966-4490 or rabbip@jle.org Sisterhood Brunch: “Is Ev-
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
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com erything Meant to Be: Chanukah and the Question of Divine Providence,” for women and girls, Rachel Besser, babysitting available, Cong Ohr Torah, West Orange, 9:30am, sisterhoodbrunch@ congregationohrtorah.org Annual Day of Liberal Arts Study: “Everybody’s Talking About Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism… But Nobody’s Talking About Transcendentalism,” Esther Herzfeld, followed by sessions on topics in the liberal arts, Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, Teaneck, 9:30am, 201-833-4307 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: Perfectly Imperfect,” Rabbi Avrohom Bergstein, Chabad of Fair Lawn, 718-8395296; Valley Chabad, Park Ridge, 201-476-0157, 10am Unsung Heroes Celebration Brunch, spons by Rockland Jewish Family Service, honoring Lisa Katz, Barbara Rosen, Hal Roth, Lenore and Normal Schlissel, and the Hon Philip Soskin, to benefit those with Alzheimer’s Disease, Rockleigh Country Club, NJ, 10am, 845-354-2121 ext 177 Chanukah Chagigah, spons by Cong Ahavat Shalom of the Teaneck Apartments, includes carnival games, prizes, face painting, food, and a full lunch, at Cong Shaare Tefillah, Teaneck, 1-4pm, jmn462@gmail.com or EmmaMicheleKaplan@gmail.com Children’s and Teen Circle, for special-needs ages 5-21, spons by the Friendship Circle, Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, River Edge, 2pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Theater: “Forever,” for women, by Ezer Mizion, starring Bracha Jaffe, Mina Block, the Davis Sisters, and Rachel Jacobs, at Rockland Community College Theater, Suffern, 2:30pm, 718-853-8400 Chanukah Party, spons by Riverdale Israelis and Friends, for families with young children, Riverdale YMHA, 5pm, 718-548-8200 Chabad of West Orange Chanukah Extravaganza, for children and adults, includes interactive game show, music, latkes, marshmallows, gelt, Dreidel game, music with Gary Lillianthal and Chana Chosak, Judah Maccabbee, and
December 2012/Tevet 5773
menorah lighting, Lubavitch Center, West Orange, 5pm, 973-486-2362 Young Israel of East Brunswick Dinner, at the shul, 5pm, 347-640-2499 Hurricane Sandy Relief Benefit Concert, featuring the What’s Up Band, Pey Dalid, and the Persuasions, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 5pm, 718-796-4730 NJ Yachad Parent Conference and Resource Fair, to help special-needs children, featuring “Creating a Supportive Jewish Community: Fostering Meaningful Inclusion of Individuals with Special Needs,” Dr. Jeff Lichtman; workshops: Addressing Challenging Behavior, Advocacy, Education, Marriage and Communication, Inclusion, Sibling Relationships, and Summer Camps; includes dinner, at Cong Beth Shalom, Teaneck, 5:30pm, 201-833-1349 Jewish Family and Vocational Service Casino Night, At the JFK Hospital Conference Center, Edison, 6pm, 732-777-1940 “Why Are Americans so ProIsrael When the Rest of the World Isn’t?” Jeff Jacoby, spons by Israel Bonds, Cong Anshe Chesed, Linden, 7pm, 908-486-8616 Theater: “Forever,” by Ezer Mizion, starring Bracha Jaffe, Mina Block, the Davis Sisters, and Rachel Jacobs, Rockland Community College Theater, Suffern, 7:30pm, 718-853-8400 Women’s Symposium on Modesty: “Modesty in Dress: The Torah Perspective on Covering Up,” Rabbi Label Lam; “Why Do They Dress like That?” Chaya Lam, private home in Monsey, 8:30pm, 845-356-5167 Torah Studies: “Reconstructing Crossed Lines—An Exploration of the Workings of Teshuvah,” Rabbi Avremel Rimler, Chabad Lubavitch of Rockland, New City, 8pm, 845634-0951 ext 104
Mon., Dec 17
“Foundations of Judaism,” for women, Rebbetzin Leah Kohn, spons by the Jewish Renaissance Center, private home in Teaneck, 9:45am, 201-692-3757 or yehudith18@yahoo.com Chabad Center of Northwest NJ’s 25th Anniversary Dinner, honoring Rabbi Asher and
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Sarah Herson, Arthur and Sharon Draznin, ad Dr. Bruce Seidner, The Crystal Plaza, Livingston, 6pm, 973-625-1525 ext 202 Synagogue Leadership Initiative: “Overcoming Obstacles to Change,” Debra Brosan, includes light supper, Jewish Federation of Northern NJ. Paramus, 6:30pm, 201-820-3904 “From the Rav’s Desk: The Published and Unpublished Letters of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, z”l,” Rav Nati Helfgot, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, Riverdale, 8pm, abatalion@yctorah.org
Tues., Dec 18
Women’s Club for Widows, Jewish Federation and Vocational Services, Concordia Shopping Center, Monroe, 10:30am, 732-7771940 or 609-395-7979 “The Kabbalah of You—A Guide to Unlocking Your Hidden Potential: Perfectly Imperfect,” Rabbis Levi Wolosow and Boruch Chazanow, Chabad, Manalapan, 10:30am, 732-972-3687 Job Search Workshop: “Job Search Tools,” Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 11:30am, 201837-9090 Friendship Circle Volunteer
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Educational Seminar, to work with special-needs children and teens, Kids Therapy Place, Bogota, 7pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Yachad Support Group for Parents of Special-Needs Children, Chani Herrmann, Jewish Federation, South River, 7:30pm, 732-588-1800 or 917-885-7178 “An Introduction to the Study of Medrash and Aggada: Fact or Fiction?” Rabbi Jeremy Donath, Cong Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, 8pm, rabbidonath@gmail.com “Digging Deeper: Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Judaism: Rambam’s Principles of Faith,” for men and women, Rabbi Netanel Wiederblank, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 9:15pm, 201-836-8916
Wed., Dec 19
“Reconstructing Crossed Lines: An Exploration of the Workings of Teshuvah,” Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Chabad Center, West Orange, 10am, 973-486-2362 “Oy Chanukah,” for seniors, Mark Levy, includes lunch, JCC, Tenafly, 11:15am, 201-569-7900 Help-with-Homework, provided by Ma’ayanot Yeshiva
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The Log
December 2012/Tevet 5773
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
continued from page 29
High School for Girls, for children in grades 1-5 who need help, at Ma’ayanot, Teaneck, 4:40pm, weineri@maayanot.org Cooking Circle, for specialneeds children 5 and up, spons by the Friendship Circle, Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, River Edge, 5:30pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Strength-to-Strength Support Group for Parents Whose Children, Ages 15-25, Are Dealing with Chemical Dependency, Psychological Disorders, or CoOccurring Issues, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-408-1403 Abused Women’s Confidential Support Group, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 7:15pm, 201-837-9090 Art Program, for specialneeds teens and young adults age 15 and up, Debbie Greenwald, spons by Yachad, at The Art Place, Englewood, 7:45pm, 201-833-1349 “The Birds and the Bees: How to Talk to Your Children about Sexuality,” Yocheved Debrow, Ben Porat Yosef, Paramus, 8pm, 201-845-5007 Shomer Shabbos Boy Scout Meeting, for boys in 6th grade or 11 years old and up, Howard Fishman, Bais Medrash L’Torah, Passaic, 8pm, HFishman@rafterpllc.com “Chicks with Sticks Knitting Circle,” hats for preemies, children with cancer, and IDF soldiers in Israel, private home in Highland Park, 8pm, 732-339-8492 “Surfing through Shas: Laws of the Kotel (Meilah) What Is the Status of All Notes Placed in the Kotel? Is the Kotel Itself Considered Part of the Beis HaMik-
dash?” Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, 8:15pm, 201-791-7910
Thurs., Dec 20
Last Day to See Art Exposition: “The Holocaust Suite and Dante’s Inferno,” by artist Jacob Landau, on display at the Human Rights Institute Gallery, Kean University, Union, Mon, Tues, and Thurs, 12-7pm; Wed and Fri, 12-4pm, 908-737-0392 Mishmor Program, for boys and girls in grades 2-5, Rabbi Yisroel Rosenblum, includes help with homework, stores, raffles, refreshments, prizes, and sports, at Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 6:30pm, 973-251-0205 Friendship Circle Volunteer Educational Seminar, to work with special-needs children and teens, Kids Therapy Place, Bogota, 7pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com
Fri., Dec 21
Cong Anshe Chesed, Linden, Shabbaton: “Why We Love Cong Anshe Chesed and Linden,” for prospective members, through Shabbat, Dec 22, 908-486-8616 L’Dor v’Dor Hadassah Glatt Kosher Chinese Family Shabbat Dinner, private home in Highland Park, 6pm, 732-816-4712 Hanoch Teller, Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, 8pm, 732-247-0532
Shabbat, Dec 22
Hanoch Teller, Cong Ohav Emeth, Highland Park, seudah shlishit, 908-420-3878
Motzei Shabbat, Dec 22
Parent-Child Learning, Rabbi Aharon Ciment, includes stories and a review of the midrashim on
the Parsha, Cong Arzei Darom, Teaneck, 6:15pm, 201-530-0043 “The Effects of Media and the Internet on Your Children’s Morality,” keynote address by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz; “The Challenge of Parenting Teenagers Today: How to Reduce Conflict, Improve Communications, and Maintain a Healthy Relationship,” Rabbi Avrohom Herman, LSW; “Communicating with Teens about Technology,” Dr. Akiva Perlman; “Myspace Not Facebook,” Rabbi Ariel Shochet; “Coping Skills for the Anxious Child,” Dr. Tzipporah Wallach, Bruriah High School, Elizabeth, 7:15pm, 212-613-8352 Film from “November to Remember,” about Holocaust liberator Harry Feinberg and survivor Abraham Peck, filmed and edited by Maury Heller, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, 7:30pm, torahtuesday@yahoo.com American Red Cross LifeGuarding, for women, JCC, Edison, 8pm, 732-993-3720 Hanoch Teller, Cong Ohav Emeth, Highland Park, 8pm, 908420-3878 Post Chanukah Game Night: Panoply, for adults, Cong Beth Aaron and Cong Shaare Tefillah, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-836-6210 or 201-357-0613 Sibling Connection, for adults and their spouses over 21 who have a brother or sister with a disability, includes “Aging Parents, Sibling Responsibilities,” “Balancing Family and Sibling Time,” and “Decision Making,” includes dinner, spons by NJ Yachad, private home in Bergenfield, 8pm, 201-833-1349 Sasi Shalom, at Smokey Joe’s restaurant, Teaneck, 8pm and 9:30pm, 201-836-7427 Tiferes Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation Program for Women, dealing with Shalom Bayis and parenting issues, private home in Edison, 8:30pm, 732-572-4713 Parlor Meeting for Project Inspire, honoring Danny Gilbert, Lavi Needleman, and Dovid Weiss, includes Melave Malka and kumzitz, private home in Monsey, 8:30pm, 845-362-0287 or 845-362-0703
Sun., Dec 23 Fast of Tevet 10
Yoga, for grades 2-5, Sheri Klugmann, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 6pm, 973-736-1407 “Deaf to Nuance—The Positive Side to Selective Hearing,” Rabbi Avremel Rimler, Chabad Lubavitch of Rockland, New City, 8pm, 845-634-0951 ext 104
Mon., Dec 24
Friendship Circle Winter Camp, for special-needs children, 5-16, in public school programs, at The Frisch Yeshiva High School, Paramus, 10am-3pm; also Wed., Dec 26, 10am-3pm; Thurs., Dec 27, 10am-3pm; and Fri., Dec 28, 10am1pm, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Kosher Cupcake Décor: Mastering the World of Fondant, for girls ages 7-13, Limor Levy, private home in Livingston, 7pm, 973-495-0715 or limormlevy@yahoo.com Cong Ahavas Achim Book Club: “Distant Hours” by Kate Moron, private home in Highland Park, 8:30pm, 732-227-0919
Tues., Dec 25
Kosher Cupcake Decorating Class, for girls ages 5-10, Limor Levy, private home in Livingston, 9am, 973-495-0715 or limormlevy@yahoo.com Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva Open House, for prospectiveparents of grades PreK-8, Edison, 9am, 732-572-5052 ext 215 Lubavitch on the Palisades School Open House, for preschool and elementary students and their parents, Tenafly, 10am, 201-871-1152 David Broza, in Concert, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick, 3pm, 732-545-6484 “Digging Deeper: Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Judaism: The Paradox of Free Will and Divine Foreknowledge,” for men and women, Rabbi Netanel Wiederblank, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 9:15pm, 201-836-8916
Wed., Dec 26
Torah Studies: “Deaf to Nuance: The Positive Side to Selective Hearing,” Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, Chabad Center, West
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com Orange, 10am, 973-486-2362 Help-with-Homework, provided by Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls students for children in grades 1-5 who need help, at Ma’ayanot, Teaneck, 4:40pm, weineri@maayanot.org “An In-Depth Analysis of One of the Sugyos That Comes Up in the Daf Yomi Studies,” Rav Tanchum Cohen, Cong Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, 8pm, 201384-0434 “Surfing through Shas: Laws of the Kotel (Meilah) What Is the Status of All Notes Placed in the Kotel? Is the Kotel Itself Considered Part of the Beis HaMikdash?” Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, 8:15pm, 201-791-7910 Tehillim Group, Cong Shaare Tefillah, Teaneck, 8:30pm, 201-2895474 or 917-902-9303
Thurs., Dec 27
Jewish Book Discussion, YMHA, Wayne, 1pm, 973-595-0100
Fri., Dec 28
Kids of Courage Shabbaton, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, includes Shabbat, Dec 29, afternoon tea, spons by Nerot; and Elliot Zimet, master illusionist, Motzei Shabbat, Dec 29, kocatrinat@gmail.com NCSY Yarchei Kallah Shabbaton, for public school teens to learn Torah and Jewish values during their winter break, housing is needed near Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, through Shabbat, Dec 29, 310-625-3480 or beckerd@ou.org Carlebach Shabbos, includes Motzei Shabbos Concert featuring Eitan Katz, Cong Bais Torah, Suffern, through Motzei Shabbat, Dec 29, 845-352-1343
Shabbat, Dec 29
Bnei Akiva Snif Chadash Group, for grades 1-6 South of Route 4, at Cong Netivot Shalom, Teaneck, 4pm, val@mileslevin.com
Motzei Shabbat, Dec 29
Kosher Cupcake Decorating Class, for girls ages 5-9, Limor Levy, private home in Livingston, 6:30pm, 973-495-0715 or limormlevy@yahoo.com Jordan and the Curmudgeons, at Smokey Joe’s restaurant, Teaneck, 8pm and 9:30pm, 201-836-7427 NCSY Bergen County Dinner,
December 2012/Tevet 5773
private home in Teaneck, 8pm, 201-862-0250
Sun., Dec 30
Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva Scholarship Breakfast, 9am, 732-572-5052 Explanatory Morning Service, Rabbi David Pietruszka, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:15am, 201-966-4490 or rabbip@jle.org Riverdale Israelis and Friends, for families with young children, gym, all in Hebrew, includes brunch and programs on Israeli culture, traditions, and Jewish holidays, 10am, 728-548-8200 JACS Meeting, 12-steps meeting for Jews in recovery, Rabbi Steven Bayar, Cong B’nai Israel, Millburn, 6pm, 973-379-3811 Yoga, for grades 2-5, Sheri Klugmann, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 6pm, 973-736-1407
Mon., Dec 31
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Contemporary Israeli Poetry Group, in the original with English translation and discussion, Atara Fobar, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 7pm, 718-796-4730 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 Art Program, for special-needs teens and young adults age 15 and up, Debbie Greenwald, spons by Yachad, at The Art Place, Englewood, 7:45pm, 201-833-1349 Surfing through Shas: You Can’t Go There because of My Friend Morris Ayin (Kerisus),” Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, Cong Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, 8:15pm, 201-791-7910
Thurs., Jan 3
Yedidainu Mini Day Camp, for special-needs children 5-12, spons by the Friendship Circle, at Yeshivat Noam, Paramus, 10am, zeesy@bcfriendship.com Café Europa Holocaust Survivor Group, Jacob Weiland, MSW, Riverdale YMHA, 1pm, 718548-8200 ext 303 Cumberland Band, at Smokey Joe’s restaurant, Teaneck, 8pm and 9:30pm, 201-836-7427
Mishmar Program, for boys and girls in grades 2-5, Rabbi Yisroel Rosenblum, includes help with homework, stores, raffles, refreshments, prizes, and sports, at Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 6:30pm, 973-251-0205
Uncle Moishy Concert, spons by Areyvut, at Cong Beth Sholom, Teaneck, 10am, 201-244-6702 “An Introduction to the Study of Medrash and Aggada: Fact or Fiction?” Rabbi Jeremy Donath, Cong Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, 8pm, rabbidonath@gmail.com “Digging Deeper: Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Judaism: Should We Seek to Discover Ta Amai HaMitzvos?” for men and women, Rabbi Netanel Wiederblank, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 9:15pm, 201-836-8916
Carlebach Minyan, Cong Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, 8:45am, rabbidonath@gmail.com
Tues., Jan 1
Wed., Jan 2
Strength-to-Strength Support Group for Parents Whose Children, Ages 15-25, Are Dealing with Chemical Dependency, Psychological Disorders, or CoOccurring Issues, JCC, Tenafly, 7pm, 201-408-1403
Fri., Jan 4
Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, scholar-in-residence, Cong Anshe Chesed, Linden, through Shabbat, Jan 5, 908-486-8616
Shabbat, Jan 5
Motzei Shabbat, Jan 5
Parent-Child Learning, Rabbi Aharon Ciment, includes stories and a review of the midrashim on the Parsha, Cong Arzei Darom,
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Teaneck, 6:15pm, 201-530-0043 Project Ezrah Dinner, honoring Ian Fields, Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, Rochelle and Phil Goldschmeidt, Micah Kaufman, Rebekah and Avi Mally, Shani and Yitz Norman, Dr. Benjamin and Elana Rosenbluth, Wendy and Isaac Shulman, Daniella and Jamie Stadtmauer, and Heidi and Jack Varon, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-569-9047 Israel Connection: “The Future of Electric Cars and Oil Independence,” Michael Granoff of Israeli Start-Up A Better Place, JCC, Tenafly, 8:30pm, 201-569-7900
Sun., Jan 6
Highland Park Community Kollel Breakfast, Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, 9:30am, 732-266-9354 Giant Playdate, spons by Riverdale Israelis and Friends, for families with young children, Riverdale YMHA, 10am, 718-548-8200 Hudson Jewish Community Forum Meeting for Community Leadership, 1pm, Info@ HudsonJewish.org Cong Ohav Emeth Dinner, Highland Park, 5pm, 732-247-3038 Lubavitch on the Palisades Dinner, honoring Lawrence and Jeanella Blenden, Nelon and Stacey Braff, and Joseph and Yael Chamay, Rockleigh Country Club, 5pm, 201-871-1152 Torah Academy of Bergen County Dinner, honoring Vickie and Elliot Shulman, Ellen and Stanley Stone, Ceil Olivestone, and Josh Cohen, at Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 5:30pm, 201-837-7696 Torah Links Benefit, honoring Dr. Bruce and Sara Fischer, Lisa Kaplan, and Herbert and Mildred Tanzman, Sheraton Edison Raritan Center, 6pm, 732-613-1613 Y
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
Tell Our Advertisers “I Saw It in The Jewish Voice and Opinion”
New Classes This Month Sundays
Weekly Review of the Daf, Rabbi Sauer, at Cong Ohr Torah, Edison, 7:55am, 732-819-9156 “Atonement and Its Complications,” Rabbi Gidon Rothstein, Riverdale Jewish Center, 8:30am, 718-548-1850 Riverdale YMHA Sunday Market, includes vendors and artisans, with many kosher products, and Wearable Collections which accepts all used clean clothing, including shoes and hats, and household items, such as curtains, linens, towels, handbags, and belts, no carpeting, held at Middle School/High School 141, Independence Ave and 237th St, 9am-2pm, through Sun., Dec 23, 718-548-8200 “History and Halacha Breakfasts: The Greatest Rabbinic Minds in Jewish History,” Rabbi Joshua Hess, Cong Anshe Chesed, Linden, 9am, 908-486-8616 Halachic Insights into the Past Week’s Daf Yomi, Yeshiva Passaic Torah Institute, 9:20am, 973-594-4774 Bat Mitzvah Club, for sixth-grade girls, Lubavitch on the Palisades, Tenafly, 10am, 201-871-1152 Hashkafa Topics and Our Relationship with Hashem: Chovos Halevavos, private home in New Hempstead, 10:30am, 845-5962968 or 845-521-4580 Chaburah Avodah Zorah, Binyaomin Halberstam, Cong Tifereth Israel, Passaic, 9pm, 862-686-6748
Mondays
“Tehillim,” for women, Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 11am, 201-836-8916 “Three Mitzvahs of Women,” for women, Chani Juravel, Cong Ohr Torah, Bergenfield, 1pm, 845-270-2005 Chavrusa Learning, for 7th and 8th grade boys to be paired withTorah Academy of Bergen County juniors and seniors, TABC,Teaneck, 7pm, 646-706-2553 or 201-396-5951 “Understanding the Mitzvot One Mitzvah at a Time,” Rabbi Ari Ginsberg, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 7:30pm, nataly@ rutgershillel,org or 732-545-2407 Project Inspire Chabura Learning Program, Cong Knesses Yisrael, New Hempstead, 7:45pm, davidw@elmyork.com Hebrew Club, to meet Hebrew-speaking students, engage in Israeli culture, food, and activities, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 8pm, 732-545-2407 In-Depth Navi Class: Melachim Aleph, for women, Aviva Orlian, private home in New Hempstead, 8:15pm, 845-300-4880 “The American-Jewish Experience: Choices in G-d’s Service,” Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 8:15pm, 201836-8916
Tuesdays
“Parsha Insights for Your Shabbat Table,” Rabbi Dr. Alex Mondrow, in memory of Rochi Lerner, z”l, Yeshivat Noam, Paramus, 9am, 201-261-1919 Torah in the AM: Chavura in Divrei HaYamim, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9am, 201-907-0180 Gemara Ketubot, for men and women, Rabbi Menahem Meier, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 9:45am, 201-907-0180 Parshat Hashavua, for women, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 10am, 973-726-1407 Navi Shur: Book of Micha, Rabbi Shalom Baum, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 11am, 201-907-0180 Lunch and Learn: The Essential Reasoning behind the Classic Mitzvot and Rituals of Judaism,” Rabbi Joshua Hess, Cong Anshe Chesed, Linden, noon, 908-486-8616 Lunch and Learn Shiur, Rabbi Yonah Lazar, private office in Verona, 1pm, 973-726-1407
Bergen County NCSY Latte and Learning, at The Appetizer, Teaneck, 6:30pm, 201-862-0250 Drop-In, for grades 3-8, help is available for homework, includes pizza, drinks, snacks, and games, Cong Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, 6:45-8:15pm, 732-247-0532 Englishtown NCSY Latte and Learning, at Let’s Yo, Marlboro, 7:30pm, 201-862-0250 “Davening: Navigate the Siddur and Chumash,” Marilyn Selber, Riverdale Jewish Center, 7:30pm, 718-548-1850 “39 Melachos of Shabbos,” for women, Rabbi Eliezer Krohn, private home in Passaic, 7:45pm, 973-471-9536 “The History of Jewry in the 19th Century,” Prof Larry Domnitch, spons by the Jewish Learning Experience, at Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 8:15pm, 201-966-4498 Halachot of the Workplace, Rabbi Beni Kohn, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 8:30pm, 201-837-2795 “Chesed with Chachma: The Right and Wrong Way in Chesed: An Halachic and Societal Analysis,” Rabbi Shalom Baum, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 8:30pm, 201-907-0180 Parsha, Rav Chaim Yaakov Goldwicht, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 8:30pm, 201-836-8916 Tefillah Class, for women, Esther Posen, private home in Highland Park, 8:30pm, 908-208-7144 or 732-745-8774 Parsha, Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, Riverdale Jewish Center, 8:30pm, 718-548-1850 Gemara: Kibud Av V’aym, with the Highland Park Community Kollel, Rabbi Nusbaum, Young Israel of East Brunswick, 8:30pm, 732-257-4121 Young Professionals Chavurah, Rabbi Michael Bleicher, rotating homes, West Orange, 9pm, 973-726-1407
Wednesdays
Women’s Shiur: “Mitzvas Challah: Defining the Role of Woman,” Chani Juravel, Beis Shvidler, Monsey, 9:45am, chanijuravel@verizon.net Lunch ‘n’ Learn with the Weisses, Rabbi Akiva and Rebbetzin Nataly Weiss, Rutgers Hillel, New Brunswick, 12:30pm, nataly@rutgershillel.org or 732-545-2407 Chumash Shiur, for women, Rabbi Yosef Adler, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 1pm, 201-837-2795 Matan Bat Mitzvah Class, Rebbetzin Debbie Baum, Cong Keter Torah, Teaneck, 7pm, 201-907-0180 “A Serious Look into Topics That Are Rarely Spoken about Openly,” Senior NCSY, Dov Carpe, includes “G-d’s Existence,” “The Origin of the Torah, Written and Oral Tradition,” “Reasons behind the Mitzvoth,” “Why Do We Keep Shabbat, Kosher, Family Purity?” “What’s the Purpose of Prayer, the Jewish People, the Individual?” at Dunkin’ Donuts, West Orange, 7:30pm, Dov@ncsy.org Rodfei Shalom, 12-step recovery meetings, private location in Flushing, NY, 8pm, Arnie, 718-261-4049 Gemara Shiur: Succos, for men, Rabbi Shlomo Ziegler, Cong Ohav Emeth, Highland Park, 8pm, 732-247-3038 Sefer Daniel, Rabbi Menahem Meier, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 8pm, 201-836-8916 “The Life of King David,” Rabbi Mordecai Feuerstein, Synagogue of the Suburban Torah Center, Livingston, 8pm, 973-994-2620 or 973-994-0122 Shiur, Rabbi Ari Elbaz, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:30pm, 973-726-1407 In-Depth Talmud Class, Rabbi Yaakov Weinstein, Young Israel of East Brunswick, 8:30pm, 732-257-4121 Israeli Dance, Young Israel of East Brunswick, 8:30pm, 732-257-4121 Chumash Shiur and Hilchos Shabbos, private home in New Hempstead, 9pm, Jaffe.Layla@gmail.com
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
Thursdays
“Introduction to Sefer Eyov,” Elana Flaumenhaft, Ma’ayanot Yeshiva for Girls, Teaneck, 10am, 201-833-4307 Establishing Financial Freedom Support Group, for those exploring avenues to achieve financial freedom, Jewish Family Services, Teaneck, 1pm, 201-837-9090 Parsha, Rabbi Reuven Stengel, Cong Shaarey Israel, Suffern, 7pm, 845-369-0300 NCSY Latte, Dov Carpe, Starbucks, Livingston, 7:30pm, Dov@ ncsy.org or 201-862-0250 “Thoughts on the Parsha,” Rabbi Yosef Sharbat, Sephardic Shul, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8pm, 973-726-1407 Chumash Shiur and Hilchos Shabbos Shiur, private home in Monsey, 8pm, 845-517-7931 Parsha Shiur, Rabbi Moshe Friedman, private home in Englewood, 8pm, 201-871-9621 Gemara: Masechet Brachot, Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, 8:30pm, 973-726-1407 Chabura, Rabbi Tuly Polak, Cong Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, 8:45pm, 201-836-8916 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); Kehillas Bais Yehudah, Wesley Hills, (917-623-4711), 9pm
Fridays
Mishna Chaburah, Rabbi Yaakov Weinstein, Young Israel of East Brunswick, 7:15am, 732-257-4121
Shabbat
Teen Minyan, for grades 6-12, Rabbi Beni Krohn, Cong Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, 9am, 201-837-2795, begins Dec 8 Kinder Shul, for ages 3-8, Benny Berlin, Dara Zaer, and Abbe Rosner, structured Shabbat songs and games, concludes with children singing Adon Olam in the main sanctuary, Jewish Center of Teaneck, 10:30am, 201-833-0515 Girls Shiur, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, between mincha and ma’ariv, 973-736-1407 Teenage Boys Shiur, Dovi Carpe, Cong Ahawas Achim Bnai Jacob and David, West Orange, between mincha and ma’ariv, 973-736-1407
Motzei Shabbat
Parent-Child Learning, ices and ice cream, raffle, prizes, Cong Beth Aaron, Teaneck, 6pm, 201-836-6210 Saturday Night Learning, for children in grades K-6, with an adult, Riverdale Jewish Center, 6pm, rjcyouthdirectors@gmail.com Mishmar, bring sefarim, includes pizza, donuts, raffles, and prizes, Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva, Edison, 7pm, 732-247-3038 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), 7:30pm Navi Shiur: Sefer Melachim I, for men and women, Rabbi Yosef Vienrt, spons by the Passaic Clifton Kollel, Agudas Yisroel Bircas Yaakov, Passaic, 9pm, 718-755-3515
Specials Sundays-Thursdays
Cheled Hay: Hilchos Pesach, Dirshu’s Halacha L’Bais Yisroel Program, Rav Chaim Krause, Cong Bais Torah U’Tefila, Passaic, 9:45pm, 973-470-8888
Mondays-Fridays
Cheled Hay: Hilchos Pesach, Dirshu’s Halacha L’Bais Yisroel Program, Rav Menachem Spira, Zichron Eliezer, Passaic, 6:30am, 973685-4908
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Cheled Hay: Hilchos Pesach, Dirshu’s Halacha L’Bais Yisroel Program, Rav Chaim Krause, Agudah, Passaic, 6:45am, 973-614-0196
Twice Each Week
WISE: Women, Independent, Strong, Enriched, a confidential program providing integrated employment and counseling services for victims of domestic violence, Sheila Steinbach, LPC, Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, 201-837-9090
Contests To Enter Now
Dec 5th is the last day for children to submit a home-made Chanukiah, for display at the Riverdale Jewish Center, menorah must be accompanied by child’s name and age, 718-548-1850 Moment Magazine’s “Elephant in the Room” Contest: “How Has Anxiety Affected You, Your Family, and the Jewish People in General?” a 200-300 word essay to win an iPad and be published in the magazine, elephant@momentmag.com or momentmag.com/elephant. Deadline is Fri., Dec 7 CBS has a new show, seeking to find the best non-professional bakers from across the country. While the call-back is officially on Shabbat, Dec 15, Great Kosher Restaurants has arranged to allow Shomer Shabbos baker-applicants to submit a video. Email winningbaker@gmail.com
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Mazal Tov
Mazal Tov to the Bar Mitzvah Boys: Jonathan Aranoff, Benjamin Baker, Jonathan Bash, Ariel Berman, Gavi Book, Yehuda Brinn, Aidan Cheifetz, Andrew Denis, Netanel Fiorino, Michael Gindi, Samuel Kaplan, Gordie Kolb, Adir Landes, Pinchas Preil, Noam Putterman, Eli Seidman, Efraim Tiger, Chagai and Uriel Wozner; and the Bat Mitzvah Girls: Nava and Talya Berenholz, Kayla Friedman, Abby Glass, Davina Goodman, Orly Hahn, Hannah Jablonka, Cynthia Lando, Nina Lindenbaum, Noa Mobilio, Dana Aliza Schwartz, Tehila Shedlo, and Talya Wimpfheimer Mazal Tov to Dr. Paul Winkler, executive director of the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education, who has been selected to receive a Seton Hall University Doctorate of Humane Letters Honorius Causa Mazal Tov to Geoff Rochwarger, CEO of IDT Energy, on contributing, on behalf of IDT, $50,000 to the NY Chapter of the American Red Cross in support of the Hurricane Sandy relief effort. Mazal Tov to the Golan Heights Winery, Israel’s first to win the 2012 Wine Star Award from Wine Enthusiast magazine in the New World Winery of the Year category. Mazal Tov to Rutgers’ Hillel Vice-President Aviva Rosenberg of West Orange on being one of five winners of National Hillel’s Student Exemplar of Excellence Awards. Mazal Tov to Teaneck Mayor and Mrs. Mohammed Hameeduddin on the birth of a new son, born during Hurricane Sandy. Nevertheless, the mayor continued to post helpful information to the residents of Teaneck and the surrounding areas. Mazal Tov to the Englewood Public Library on receiving a $15,000 gift from the estate of Jean Grushkin to be used for the library’s Adult Division’s Holocaust and Judaica Collection and for the Children’s Collection. Ms. Grushkin retired in 2008 after a 39-year career at the library. Mazal Tov to Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum of the Rabbinical College of America-Lubavitch on working with NJ Governor Chris Christie and NJ Dept of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan to secure the right of Jewish state-sentenced inmates in NJ to participate in candle-lighting this Chanukah. Y
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New Classes
December 2012/Tevet 5773
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continued from page 33
with name, phone number, city and state, occupation, a recent photo of yourself and some of your baked goods, a brief description of your baking background and skills, a history of when and how you got into baking and what you love about it, a little about your signature dish, and be sure to mention Great Kosher Restaurants. www.cbs.com/bakingshow Yaldah Magazine, for Jewish Girls by Jewish Girls, is acceptingapplications for its 9th Editorial Board. Girls can apply for: Writer,Illustrator, Photographer, Fashion Page, Fun Page, Recipe Page or CraftPage. Editorial Board members will be the team that creates most ofthe content for the magazine. They receive a yearlong subscription tothe magazine. Applications can be found at www.yaldah.com/editorialboard and are due on December 31. To find out more about Yaldah, orto subscribe, visit www.yaldah.com. Areyvut’s Bnai Mitzvah Video Essay Contest is for children in grades 5-10 who did (or are planning to do) a bar or bat mitzvah project. In a video essay of 3-7 minutes, applicants describe the project and the impact it had on them and others. Prizes. Go to http://www.areyvut.org/bnai_mitzvah/essay_contest, or call 201244-6702. Deadline in Dec 21, 2pm Girls in Grades 8-12 can enter Torah Temimah Publications’ Writing Contest, 3,000-5,000 words (fiction or non-fiction) on “An Adventure, a Challenge, or a Momentous Occasion. ” Winners will be published in an upcoming book, teencontest@torahtemimah.com. Deadline is Sun., Dec 30 The Charles Bronfman Prize has called for nominations for its annual award of “bold and visionary young humanitarians from around the world whose endeavors are fueled by Jewish values and who serve to inspire generations to come.” Those eligible for the $100,000 award are individuals or a team under the age of 50, as of Jan 15, 2013. Nominate by Jan 15 by going to www. TheCharlesBronfmanPrize.com The Sister Rose Thering Fund is conducting an essay contest for high school students, with awards given for each grade level. To enter, secure the film, “Sister Rose’s Passion,” from the NJ Commission for Holocaust Education, and write a 500-word essay on “How Does ‘Sister Rose’s Passion’ Relate to an Experience in Your Life?” The deadline is Jan 15. For the film, call 609-292-9274 or 973-761-9006. Send the essay to: Essay Contest Committee, Sister Rose Thering Fund, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Ave, South Orange, NJ 07079 Nominations are open for the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. Up to 10 teens will receive $36,000 each in recognition of their volunteer service projects. Teens can be nominated by teachers, community leaders, rabbis, anyone who knows the value of their service, or even themselves—but not by family members. www.jewishfed. org/diller/teenawards, 415-512-6437, dillerteenaward@sfjcf.org, or 212-561-7441. Deadline is Jan 20
Tribute to the Rescuers High School Essay Contest, open to any student, including those who are home schooled, in grades 9-12. The deadline for the essay is Feb 26, and there are cash and other prizes. The purpose is to encourage students to use the lens of the Holocaust to analyze moral behavior. http://ihene.org/tribute-to-therescuers-essay/
Helping Victims of Hurricane Sandy
Using its synagogue network, the Orthodox Union has been channeling funds raised to the discretionary funds of the local rabbis who know where it is needed most. 100 percent of funds to the OU’s Hurricane Relief Fund goes to the those in need, 212-563-4000 or http://www.ou.org/giving/hurricane-sandy-ou-relief-fund Donate money or gift cards (Target, Costco, Lowe’s, or Home Depot) to the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva and Cong Ohav Emeth of Highland Park Miracle of Chanukah for Victims of Hurricane Sandy Drive, in Edison, 732-572-2558 or 732-247-3038 To “adopt” a family in Far Rockaway, Bayswater, and the Five Towns that was devastated by the hurricane, you can provide basic needs, such as clothing, shoes, school supplies, diapers, linens, towels, etc. Call 845-664-4021to be matched with a family. This program has been endorsed by Rabbi Chaim Schabes of Congregation Knesses Yisroel of Spring Valley Cong Bnai Yeshurun of Teaneck is collecting toys for Chanukah to be distributed through Achiezer to children who lost their basements and all toys in Sandy, ariwart@gmail.com TeaneckShuls is supporting NACHAMA, a non-profit organization that provides disaster response and training services nationwide. To assist with the destruction wrought by Sandy, NACHAMA anticipates being involved for the next year, helping thousands of impacted individuals and families recover from this epic storm. To donate in honor of TeaneckShuls, call 201-833-1950 As a result of Hurricane Sandy, tons of sheimos must be buried in the Cemetery in Woodridge. Helping would be a tremendous mitzvah. Call 516-279-7530 The Riverdale Jewish Center is working to get a used, affordable car for a Far Rockaway family that lost theirs in the storm, 201-600-9993 or 718-548-1850 ext 111
Other Chesed Ops
A Jewish US Army Chaplain stationed in Germany gave this wish list to KosherTroops.com: kosher gravy mix, chicken bouillon cubes, kosher stuffing, kosher marshmallows, kosher candy, dried fruit, 100 bags of chocolate Chanukah gelt, 80 sufganiyot donuts, 3 chocolate babkes, 3 cinnamon babkes, 4 marble cakes, 4 pound cakes, 6 boxes cookies, 6 large blocks of halvah. Send supplies or cash to purchase them to Sara Fuerst, KosherTroops.com, at sara@ KosherTroops.com Kosher Troops.com is also supplying kosher food to two Jewish cadets at West Point on Mondays and Wednesdays. Anyone interested in cooking or driving, even once a month, sara@KosherTroops.com Chabad of West Orange needs Chanukah volunteers to visit nursing homes for its Smile on Seniors program. To join the Smile on Seniors Volunteer Corps call Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz at 973-486-2362 Chai Lifeline Toy Drive, new toys, unwrapped, can be dropped of at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva, Edison; Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion, Piscataway; or Netivot, Highland Park, 732-819-7842 Bikur Cholim of Passaic Toy Drive for Chanukah, 973-773-5673 Jewish Family and Vocational Service of Middlesex County, Milltown, NJ, is collecting new, unwrapped toys and gift cards for Chanukah children of all ages, 732-777-1940
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
The newly-established Bikur Cholim Medical Equipment Gemach of Riverdale needs gently used items such as rollators, wheelchairs, commodes, canes, and bedrails, to borrow or donate, BikurCholimOfRiverdale@gmail.com Jewish Family Service, Teaneck, has an open pantry to help replenish food staples, 201-837-9090 The Orthodox Union is raising funds for toys for Chanukah for hospitalized children in NY and NJ. Call 212-613-8300, or email community@ou.org, or visit www.oucommunity.org
New Minyanim
Daily Minyan with Rabbi Chaim Friedman at 4 Village Green in Wesley Hills, shacharis, Sun-Fri, 7:50am; mincha, Sun-Thurs, 12:50pm; ma’ariv, Sun-Thurs, 5:50pm, gewirtzj@optonline.net Mincha, AT&T, Middletown, Mon-Thurs, 12:25pm, 732-420-2059 Mincha, Route 4, River Edge, with parking, Mon-Thurs, 1:45pm,
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mincha@approvedfunding.com Mincha, AristraCare Corporate, South Plainfield, Mon-Thurs, 2pm, 732-397-6996 Mincha, All American Poly, Piscataway, Mon-Thurs, 2pm, 732752-3200 Mincha, Dependable Food, Heller Industrial Park, Edison, MonThurs, 2pm, 732-257-4500 ext 259 Mincha, Cranbury Kollel, Mon-Fri, 2:10pm, 609-860-5620 Mincha, Meridian, Iselin, Mon-Thurs, 2:30pm, 732-301-3200 Mincha, EMI Yoshi, Inc, North Brunswick, Mon-Thurs, 3pm, 732248-5533 ext 206 Nusach Sefard Shabbat Shacharis, Cong Shaare Tefillah, Teaneck, 8am, joseph_crystal@yahoo.com Naytz Shabbat Minyan, The Shteible, 629 W 239th St, Bronx, Kiddush following services, 6:10am, 718-543-5618 Y
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
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Ess Gezint: Chanukah Latkes, Pâté, and Gelt In the kitchen of the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem, Chef Moti Buchbut is king. Well-trained and world-renowned, he takes a scientific approach to the culinary arts. When asked to come up with something different for Chanukah this year, he did so with a note that the kitchen should be “a source of vision and expertise.” For the latkes, scientific Mr. Buchbut wanted 7 oz of flour. When we tried it, it came out to 1 cup. Happy Chanukah everyone Y
Sweet Potato Latkes 2¼ lbs sweet potatoes 2 Tbs spicy chili sauce Pinch salt and pepper 1 medium egg 1 cup flour (7 oz) Oil for frying Preheat oven to 300º. Wash the potatoes and place on baking tray. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool in a colander, remove excess liquid, and peel. In a separate bowl, mash the potatoes to form a smooth puree. Add all the ingredients except the oil. Heat the oil in a frying pan and form pancakes using two tablespoons or a pastry bag. Fry for 3 minutes on each side and serve warm on a bed of apple sauce and, if desired, with mango and pineapple. If serving dairy, try a ball of cream cheese.
Chanukah Gelt 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate ⅛ tsp orange extract 1 tsp vegetable oil (optional) ½ tsp vanilla Gold and silver foil Line two baking sheets with parchment. In a double boiler over medium-low heat, melt the chocolate, oil, and extracts, stirring constantly until melted, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, but don’t remove the double boiler from the burner. Working quickly, with your hands, pinch off about ¼ tsp and roll it into a ball and flatten. Set on lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the chocolate is used. If the chocolate hardens during the process, add a tiny drizzle of oil and set over low heat until it is pliable
Chicken Liver Pâté with Honey and Brandy 2 lbs chicken liver Salt ½ cup margarine 2 tsp kosher gelatin 2 egg yolks or agar-agar 3½ Tbs parve milk ¼ cup water 2 Tbs honey 3 cups finely 3 Tbs brandy or strong coffee chopped roasted Ground pepper pistachios Broil the liver for 3 minutes on one side and then turn over and broil for 3-4 more minutes, or until cooked through. In a food processor, process the margarine with the egg yolks. Add the parve milk and liver and process again until smooth. Add the honey and brandy. Season with salt and pepper, and process again. In a sauce pan, sprinkle gelatin or agar gently on top of the water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes. Heat gently, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Check to see there are no undissolved granules clinging to the stirring spoon. Add the gelatin to the liver mixture and mix until smooth and uniform. Roll the liver mixture into a log-form and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Before serving, roll the pâté in chopped pistachios and slice with a knife dipped in boiling water. again. Place baking sheets in the refrigerator and let harden for at least 1 hour. When chilled, wrap in foil.
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American Friends of the IDF Visit the Troops Just as Israel was prepar-
ing for its next confrontation with Hamas in Gaza, more than fifty prominent lay leaders of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) embarked on a sevenday journey to the Jewish state as part of the FIDF National Mission to Israel to show appreciation and support for Israel’s soldiers. The delegation arrived in Tel Aviv on November 4th, 2012. Aimed primarily at acquainting participants with the IDF and its brave men and women in uniform, the mission provided participants with the opportunity to spend time with IDF soldiers on various military bases across Israel. The group met with soldiers from several elite IDF bases, including the Machva Alon Educational base and the famous Nevatim Air Force base, where they met F-16 pilots. Mission participants were also given a special tour of the Gaza Border Region. The group met with several top-level government and IDF officials, including the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, at his official Briefing Room, and Lieutenant General (Res.) Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon, Israel’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs, and the IDF’s 17th Chief of the General Staff. “The Friends of the IDF delegation which embarked
on this important journey to Israel signifies the deeply rooted connection between the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the brave soldiers who serve to protect it,” said FIDF National Director and CEO, Major General (Res.) Yitzhak (Jerry) Gershon. Reinforcing the Bond The mission to Israel culminated with a special FIDF ceremony, saluting the IDF commanders, at the Palmachim Air Force base. Hundreds of soldiers, FIDF supporters, and members of the IDF general staff, including General Gantz, participated in an evening of celebration and gratitude for Israel’s soldiers and the hard work they do to protect the Jewish homeland and its people around the world. FIDF was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors as a non-profit organizing whose mission is to provide and support educational, social, cultural, and recreational programs and facilities for the men and women of the IDF. Today, FIDF has more than 120,000 supporters and 16 regional offices throughout the US and Panama. Its website can be accessed at www.fidf.org “The opportunities provided by the support of FIDF reinforce the vital bond between communities in the US, the soldiers of the IDF, and the state of Israel,” said Mr. Gershon. Y
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
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Important Reading: Forced Transfer throughout the World, Evidence that the Jews Really Did Wander through Sinai, and What To Do about Iran Reviewed by Dr. Alex Grobman, author of The Palestinian Right to Israel, available at Amazon.com Removing Peoples: Forced Removal in the Modern World (Studies of the German Historical Institute London), Richard Bessel and Claudia B. Haake, Editors (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 468 pages, $150.00 In the introduction to this book, Richard Bessel, professor of 20th Century History at the University of York, and Claudia B. Haake, lecturer in History at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, note, “One of the terrible and tragic themes of
modern history is the forced removal of millions of human beings.” They point out that scarcely a corner of the world has been spared the violence of the forced removal of people from their homes for political, economic, “racial,” religious, or cultural reasons. The authors recognize that forcefully expelling people from their homes is not a 19th century phenomenon, but the growth of a global capitalist economy, modern racial thought, world wars, and the success of “popular and national sovereignty.” In addition, they tell us, “new technological methods of physically uproot-
ing and transporting peoples has given this phenomenon a quantitatively and qualitatively new character.” The authors see “removal” as a global phenomenon, and therefore treat it “within the frame of world history and international comparison.” Examples discussed by the authors range from forced removal of indigenous peoples, forced removal through war, and forced removal in post-colonial times over a period of 150 years from the movements of the Cherokee in the US in the 1830s to the relocation of Vietnamese villagers and the expulsion of the white settlers from Algeria in the 1960s. The book includes an essay on “Explaining Transfer: Zionist Thinking and the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem,” by Benny Morris, professor of history in the Middle East Studies Department at Ben-Gurion University. Professor Morris’s essay explains that this problem was not the result of a “preconceived master plan or, indeed, of a governmental policy decision, or of a blanket, systematic implementation of policy of expulsion.” In fact, the vast majority of the 700,000 Arabs who fled did so because of the battles being waged around them or in anticipation of the hostilities that would soon engulf their towns and villages. Many fled as a result of “economic privations of war—unemployment, soaring prices, and lack of fuel or fuel.” Others left when their local military and political leaders either advised or ordered them to vacate their homes for military or political reasons. Still others left for an accumulation of reasons. And some were “expelled” by advancing Israeli troops concerned about the military danger they posed. Most Arabs moved to other areas in “Palestine,” instead of neighboring Arab states, and thus were not technically refugees. Only 300,000 fled and settled in Lebanon, Syria, and Transjordan. Morris debunks claims that the Zionists had a master plan to expel the Arabs. Theodor Herzl had discussed the idea of transferring them from the area in order to make room for the considerable number of Jews who he and the early Zionists anticipated would immigrate and settle in Palestine.
http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com The subject was rarely discussed or written about, in part because of the issue’s sensitivity. Moreover, when the subject was broached, the idea was that only Arabs who agreed to leave would be transferred; no Arab would be expelled by coercion. Moreover, those who agreed to leave would be paid. Neither the Zionist movement’s platform nor any of its programs ever endorsed or adopted transfer either in the 19th or 20th centuries. For the most part, Zionist leaders viewed massive immigration from Russia and Europe as the only means of ensuring a Jewish majority in Palestine. Given the distorted way in which the Arabs have used transfer against Israel, the inclusion of the article by Professor Morris is welcome. The absence of an article on the forced ethnic cleansing of approximately 1,000,000 Jews from Arab lands makes this a flawed work. Nevertheless, this work is an important contribution to our understanding of this most unfortunate phenomenon. *** Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition by James K. Hoffmeier (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 336 pgs, $55.00 At a time when a number of studies question the historical veracity of most portions of the Torah, the work of Prof James K. Hoffmeier, an Egyptologist and ancient Near Eastern scholar, is especially important. He is known for having directed important archaeological surveys in North Sinai and at Tell el-Borg on Egypt’s Eastern frontier. The studies doubting much of the Biblical narrative, and thus Israel’s origins, began making headlines in 1997, and continue to this day. Professor Shlomo Sand’s The Invention of the Jewish People is just one of the most
December 2012/Tevet 5773 recent examples of this attempt to delegitimize the Jewish people’s right to the Land of Israel. In his work, Hoffmeier recounts the Torah’s description of how the tribes of Israel lived in Egypt. According to tradition, after years of oppression, they fled with the aid of Moses to the Sinai Peninsula, where they wondered for 40 years, received the Torah, and then entered Transjordan and Canaan. Those who question or reject the traditional account often rely on sociological and anthropological models to explain early Israel. More often than not, this leads to marginalizing the Jewish experience in the wilderness. Hoffmeier’s study, which examines of authenticity of the Biblical version, is based on his analysis of archeological evidence, texts, geography, toponymy (the scientific study of place names), and personal names. From data gleaned from North Sinai, Hoffmeier is able to conclude where the Exodus itself occurred. Torah descriptions of life and travel in Sinai are consistent with Hoffmeier’s findings. He finds that the Miskan (the tabernacle), used as a mobile sanctuary, is clearly plausible for a people in transit. Prototypes of the tabernacle from Egypt are quite similar to the “tent-shrine of Exodus.” Hoffmeier finds a remarkable number of words describing ritual objects in the tabernacle and garments worn by the priests that are “of Egyptian etymology.” Similarly, a significant number of personalities in the Exodus and subsequent generations had Egyptian names. If the Israelites were never in Egypt, he asks, how can these phenomena be explained? To Hoffmeier, it is highly doubtful that an individual living in the mid-first millennium BCE in Judah or Babylon would
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
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Pesach in Florida with Passover Resorts For Passover 2013, Passover Resorts is
hosting its program at the 4-diamond, spectacular Omphoy Ocean Resort & Spa, on the beach in Palm Beach, Florida. It is the chance to enjoy Passover in the warmth and serenity of one of the most beautiful areas in South Florida. A 128 room/suite luxury hotel with sophisticated chic, the Omphoy boasts a private beachfront location with water sports, two sand volleyball courts, and panoramic water views. It is the first new hotel in Palm Beach in 18 years and, this Pesach, the rooms (1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom suites), dining room, synagogue, day camps, entertainment and classes are all in one five-story building. Guests can select rooms with a garden, pool, partial ocean, almost-oceanfront, or oceanfront view. All rooms, except for those with a pool view, have a patio, balcony, or floor-to-ceiling windows. Each bathroom has a large separate walk-in shower and the suites also have a modernistic tub. There are signature toiletries and robes. Wi-Fi is free for guests. There is also complimentary valet parking. Water, Golf, Shopping Just minutes from each room, there is an infinity pool and Jacuzzi and a private sand beach, all with lounge chairs and umbrellas and hotel staff to assist. Water sports and activities include wind surfing, kayaks, sailboats, wave runners, canoes, snorkeling, and deep sea fishing, plus yacht rentals and
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fishing on the Lake Worth Pier. Palm Beach is the golf capital of the US. The three closest courses to Omphoy are the Atlantis Golf Club, Kevin Perkins Golf Academy, and the Palm Beach Par3 Golf Club. Guests can walk along the intercoastal and Lake Worth Pier and visit the Four Seasons hotel next door. Shopping opportunities include the Worth Avenue shops, City Place, the Gardens Mall, and the recently opened Lake Worth Casino Building whose name, by the way, has nothing to do with gambling. Other attractions include the Airboat Everglades Tour and Wildlife Show, Segway and Bike Tours, the Palm Beach Water Taxi narrated sightseeing cruise, and the Antique Row guided tour. Best Resort Spa The Omphoy Spa, voted the Best Resort Spa in May 2012 by Conde Nast, has an array of exquisite treatments including Signature Facials, Transformational Massage Therapy, and pool-side or in-room massage. There are separate men’s and women’s saunas in the separate dressing rooms and, in the 24-hour fitness center, many scheduled classes and personal training sessions available. Guests are treated like royalty by a caring, warm, and experienced staff for a festive and fun-filled kosher vacation at this luxurious warm-weather resort. At www.passoverresorts.com, there are photos of the resort, and listings of its amenities and nearby attractions. Passover Resorts Package rates begin as low as $3,800 ppdo + tax and tip. Kids 5
and under are free in the same room as two adults or two teens. The Early Bird Special offers the first three kids, 6-12, free if they’re in the same rooms as two adults or two teens. Menus and Speakers Passover Resorts has been making Passover guests happy for more than 20 years, noted for coordinating the most classic and elegant Passover programs. Its menus are designed to delight the most sophisticated palette while satisfying those with more traditional tastes, including children and those on special diets. Its chefs and staff go the extra mile to ensure guests are served the finest quality meals, all cooked and prepared on site using only fresh foods and produce. A selection of fine kosher wines is stocked. Under strict Orthodox rabbinic supervision, Passover Resorts’ seders are elegant events, set to every detail. Services in the onsite shul will be held three times a day. The roster of scholars, rabbis, and professional speakers are chosen to enlighten, entertain, and amuse. Guests are treated to exciting family entertainment with comedians, Jewish and Israeli vocalists, illusionists, hypnotists, and many surprises. In the pre-school day camp, regular day camp, and teen program, the staff will keep children busy, giving parents the opportunity to relax. Passover 2013 will be a joyous, relaxing, fun-filled vacation at the Omphoy Ocean Resort & Spa. For more information, please contact 1-800-PASSOVER (1-800-727-7683) or visit our website at: www.PassoverResorts.com. Y
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December 2012/Tevet 5773
An Open Letter to British Foreign Secretary William Hague
Dear Mr Hague, You have stated that if Israel tries to defend its population through a ground offensive in Gaza “it risks losing the sympathy of the international community.” Let me tell you something about the sympathy of the international community, Mr Hague. My father was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945, having lost his entire family but gaining the sympathy of the international community at the time. After 6 million Jews had been annihilated at the hands of the Nazi regime, the international community had plenty of sympathy for the Jewish people. There is always plenty of sympathy for victims. Israel doesn’t need the sympathy of the international community. What it needs is to defend its citizens. When, as a tiny country, it gained its independence in 1948, it had to absorb 800,000 Jews who were thrown out of Arab lands in the Middle East, and it did so without fuss and with dignity, giving them shelter and a place of security in which their children could grow up to become productive citizens. When Jordan, Egypt, and Syria tried to destroy Israel in 1948 and again in 1967, they took in hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs, but did they give them dignity or shelter? No, they left them to rot in refugee camps in order to maintain a symbol of grievance against Israel and use them as a political tool against the Jewish state. What has arisen in those camps is a complicated situation, but it is what has led to Gaza today. So don’t lecture Israel on international sympathy, Mr Hague. Not when Israel has just sent in 120 truckloads of food into Gaza to feed the Palestinian people there, because their own leadership is more interested in using its population as human shields, launching rockets against Israel from within major civilian centers. Don’t lecture Israel on international sympathy, Mr Hague. Not when Israel targets, with as much military precision as it can, only terrorists and their bases, trying its utmost to prevent civilian casualties. Don’t lecture Israel on international sympathy, Mr Hague. Not when the Palestinian media deliberately uses images of victims of the Syrian civil war and presents them as casualties in Gaza to gain international sympathy. Go read your history books, Mr Hague; go see that, since the beginning of the 20th century, all the Arabs wanted to do was destroy Israel. Go look at the country of Israel now since the Jews have established a state there. Go read what advances in science, medicine, biotechnology, agriculture, and high tech Israel has developed, and dedicated that knowledge to making the world a better place for humanity. Can you imagine any other country that, after 60 years of continuously being under attack, could have achieved so much? So, Mr Hague, don’t lecture Israel on international sympathy. Israel will do whatever it takes to defend itself from outright attack on its citizens, whether it be from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran or any other country or terrorist group that attacks it. And if it loses the sympathy of the international community, so be it. We don’t need the international community’s sympathy. We don’t need another 6 million victims. Mindy Wiesenberg London, UK
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Letters to the Editor
Tzedaka with a Smile
The Arleen Ledereich Toy Chest is a wonderful program It distributes games and toys It’s run by the Bikur Cholim of Passaic-Clifton And helps lots of girls and boys. The toys go to children who have not been feeling well Or who just need some TLC They might be having a really rough time Because there’s someone else who’s sick in their family. On Chanukah we also give a whole bunch of toys To local families in financial need Because toys can seem like a far off dream When there are hungry mouths to feed. So please help us out and bring over some toys It really does bring a smile To the faces of the kinderlach Who might not have gotten anything nice in a while Try to think of something that would be fun to use And please make sure it is new If you’re not sure what a child might like, Just imagine that it was for you! There are lots of things that would be great Here are just a few: basketballs, board games, craft projects or gift cards, Almost any type of thing will do! We do already have lots of stuffed animals, So consider leaving those behind, Toy cars, trains, dolls or Jewish books Would all be very kind! Adina Muehlgay Clifton, NJ SLR: For more information, call the Bikur Cholim at 973-249-8811
It’s the Culture
It is heart rending to witness the loss of innocent life among the civilians of Gaza. However, a review of not-so-distant history reveals that tragedy is inevitable for civilians whose culture produces radical/ destructive extremists obsessively consumed with inflicting their way on neighbors and the world beyond. I cite the terrible suffering of the many thousands of innocent Germans and Japanese who gave strength (willingly or unwillingly) to vicious and tyrannical regimes during World War II. The ultimate responsibility for the horror of the Israeli/ Palestinian war rests with the culture that gives birth and sustenance to these murderers. Jerrold Terdiman, MD Woodcliff Lake, NJ
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“Thought Is the World of Freedom” (R’ Dov Ber of Mazeritch) Israeli Aircraft Pound Gaza
Does the Washington Post editorial staff really believe that, after plastering their front page with a maudlin picture of a dead Palestinian baby, three headlines about Israeli offensive actions, and text devoted solely to those actions (with Palestinian actions as mere responses to them), the Post has set the record straight by burying on page 14 the facts that the Palestinians began the round of fighting by destroying an Israeli jeep full of soldiers with an anti-tank missile and, after Israel fired back at the attackers, then fired about 130 rockets and mortar rounds at population centers in southern Israel—all of this before Israel even targeted the Hamas military chief, which the Post’s front page suggests began the round of fighting? And, even if they were also to bury it on page 14, don’t you think that, in the interest of giving a complete picture, they might mention that every rocket and mortar round fired by the Palestinians at the Israeli population centers was a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and doubly so if fired from a civilian center, and that none of the Israeli strikes were, all having been fired at military targets, even if there were incidental civilian casualties like that unfortunate Palestinian baby? Finally, considering all of the photos staged by the Palestinians, including the notorious Mohammed al-Durrah “picture of the year” at the outbreak of the intifada, which purported to show a Palestinian boy being trapped in a cross-fire and then shot by the Israeli army, and later declared a likely hoax by a high French court, how does the Post even know the authenticity of this photo that it so hurriedly splashed over its front page? Shouldn’t even a cursory look at the nine young men (Hamas fighters?) in the photo, one carrying what is purported to be the fully-wrapped body of a dead infant, and the absence of a grieving mother or any other bystanders, raise some questions in the minds of the Post’s journalists, so eager to advance the Palestinian cause? It does in mine. Judge (retired) Herbert Grossman Washington, DC
Is Hamas Coming for Dinner?
The 2008 Democratic Platform contains the following: “The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements.” The 2008 and 2012 Republican platforms contain similar language. The 2012 Democratic Platform does not mention Hamas. The Hamas Charter reads like a modern-day Mein Kampf. Among other “gems,” the charter states, “The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” I don’t believe it’s unreasonable to conclude that Hamas wants to be the modern-day equivalent of the Nazis and exterminate Jews, not “just” Israelis, from the face of the earth. Hamas did not escalate their bombings of Israel until after the election in the United States. Was this a coincidence or were they told what to do? Hillary Clinton was dispatched to the region and quickly arranged a ceasefire, which will probably open the borders of the blockaded territory thus allowing Hamas to obtain weapons more openly. More importantly, Hamas now enjoys unprecedented political recognition in the region and throughout the world. In the coming months, will we see Hamas officials invited to the White House? Will these bloodthirsty mass murderers have their crimes whitewashed by Barack Obama, much like Bill and Hillary Clinton whitewashed mass murderer and chief terrorist Yassir Arafat during the Clinton Administration? What exactly does has to happen before Democrats recognize what it’s all about? Ben Feigenbaum East Brunswick, 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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Important Reading have known these Egyptian words or would have referred to Egyptian cities that had been abandoned centuries earlier. Further, he says, it is highly questionable that someone from a later period would have bothered to research this historical and cultural information in order to provide a more accurate narrative to people who, as he puts it, “would not know the difference!” Hoffmeier’s conclusion is that it is easier “to believe that the Bible accurately preserves an authentic picture of the travels and life in the Sinai wilderness than to suppose that authors six to seven hundred years later, writing in ignorance of the past and using creative imagination, got so much certifiably correct as the investigation has demonstrated.” Hoffmeier’s book is important as a corrective and a
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response to those who wish to deny Jews their historical, legal, and moral right to their ancient homeland. *** The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West by Dore Gold (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc, 2009) 390 pgs, $27.95 One of the greatest dangers facing the world today is the rise of nuclear Iran, which is why former Israeli Ambassador Dore Gold’s book is such a significant, timely, and urgent read. By critically examining our past failures of engagement with Iran, he wants to fashion a more realistic method of dealing with this very real and present threat to world peace. For Israel, the existential danger is quite clear. The goal of “wiping Israel off the map” has been repeatedly stated over a number of years by leaders
of the Islamic Republic, and most recently by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, its president. It is important to note that Ahmadinejad is not alone in expressing this fixation with destroying Israel. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme leader, made a similar threat in December 2000. In February 2008, Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards wrote: “In the near future, we will witness the destruction of the cancerous microbe Israel by the strong capable hands of the nation of Hizbullah.” Jafari and Khamenei will most likely play key roles in the command and control of the country’s nuclear weapons in the near future. Ahmadinejad’s obsession with the advent of the Mahdi (the Hidden Imam), the messianic figure who, according to
Shiite religious tradition, will arrive just before the “end of days,” makes his threatening pronouncements especially alarming. He really seems to believe the spread of global chaos and war will hasten the arrival of the Mahdi and a new period of divine revelation, when everyone will witness “the greatness of Allah.” Khamenei and other members of the Iran leadership share Ahmadinejad’s obsession with the impending arrival of the Mahdi. In 2004, Khamenei told then-Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar that the Islamic Republic anticipated the return of the Hidden Imam and the expected annihilation of Israel and the US. Although Khamenei mentioned “setting Israel on fire,” his warning was clearly meant for the US as well. Iran’s ability to launch missiles at Europe
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OHEL Training Program for Shabbos Youth Group Leaders Kicks Off at Congregation Beth Abraham Last month, twenty teen-
agers, all of whom serve as Shabbos Youth Group leaders at Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, came back to shul on two Sunday evenings to learn from experts how to do their job better. When the young men and women were finished, they earned OHEL-endorsed Certificates in Training for Shabbat Youth Group Leaders. They had participated in sessions on awareness and prevention of social bullying, development of self-esteem, lesson and activity preparation, and child safety. Developed as a collaborative effort by OHEL and Con-
gregation Beth Abraham, the program was led by OHEL’s director of operations, Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R; Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Krug, a clinical psychologist who serves as the Frisch Yeshiva High School’s Dean of Student Life and Welfare; and Dr. Evan Kroll, a clinical psychologist who works at the Yeshiva University High School for Boys. “OHEL trained these Shabbat Youth Group leaders and provided them with a ‘tool kit’ of skills to help them serve effectively as youth leaders and role models for young children,” said Derek Saker, a spokesman for OHEL. Expanding Program The program was the
Important Reading and beyond demonstrates that their threat is not limited to the Middle East, but is also global in scope. Given these circumstances, Gold advises that the West no longer rely on defense doctrines that assume their adversaries act rationally. Not intimidated by the massive presence of American troops, even when they are encamped near their border, Iran brazenly challenges the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. The question he poses is whether diplomacy is the opti-
brainchild of Congregation Beth Abraham’s youth director, Aryeh Morris, who felt it was important for the shul’s Shabbat Youth Group leaders, all of whom attend local yeshiva high schools and junior high schools, to receive some special training. “The young men and women who participated in this groundbreaking program are indeed fortunate to have such an important job, in such a wonderful synagogue, with the opportunity to learn from OHEL’s experts how to be the best youth leaders possible,” said Dr. Jessica Kornwasser, OHEL’s New Jersey Chairwoman. While Beth Abraham is
the first and thus far only synagogue to benefit from this pilot program, Mr. Saker said OHEL has already received numerous requests from other shuls in Teaneck and beyond that want to offer the training sessions. Those interested in providing such a program for the teenage Shabbat Youth Group leaders in other synagogues, can contact Mr. Feuerman at OHEL’s Teaneck office, 201-6923972, or Mr. Morris at aryeh. morris@gmail.com. “We have even heard from Bnai Akiva in Israel. We are definitely planning to expand the program,” said Mr. Saker. S.L.R.
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mum way to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons, or should freedomseeking Iranian demonstrators, who risk life and limb to achieve political liberty and democracy, be supported. Backing this true movement of the people might be a way to ensure the government’s demise and allow for its replacement. Throughout its 30-year history, the Islamic Republic has never before encountered such a large number of protestors adamantly opposing
the legitimacy of the regime. “It just might be that freedom is not only an objective value that should be protected, but a source of global security as well,” suggests Gold. Deposing the Iranian leadership would obviously be one approach to dealing with the nuclear threat, but what assurances would the West have that a new regime could be trusted with nuclear capabilities? Exporting its revolution and subverting its neighbors has been a major objective of
the Islamic Republic since it assumed power in 1979. Though a new Iranian government might eschew the current mullahs’ approach, it still would aspire to be a major power in the region, Gold asserts. Yet there remains the tantalizing possibility that a new Iranian government might forgo exporting its radical ideology and cease trying to topple governments in the Middle East. Helping to bring this option to fruition is worth our attention Y.
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