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14 AV 5776 • AUGUST 18, 2016 • VOLUME XXXVII, NUMBER 16 • PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID, SYRACUSE, NY

Teen pool party at the JCC August 28

BY WILLIAM WALLAK Jewish teenagers from throughout the Syracuse area have been invited to an end-of-summer event on Sunday, August 28, from 7-8:30 pm, at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse, 5655 Thompson Rd., DeWitt. The pool party, which is open to high school students entering grades 9-12, will include swimming and a kosher barbecue.

The free event will be held rain or shine, and is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Central New York and the JCC. Registration will be required. To sign up, participants should contact their synagogue’s teen youth leader. United Synagogue Youth (Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas

and Temple Adath Yeshurun), North American Federation of Temple Youth (Temple Concord) and National Conference of Synagogue Youth (Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse) are helping to coordinate the event.

“We’re excited to bring teens together from all the local temples for an evening of food and fun,” said Linda Alexander, president/CEO of the Jewish Federation of Central New York. “It will be a great way for teens to wind down the summer and connect with friends both new and old.”

The pool party will be held after the JCC’s regular pool hours for its members, so attendees will have the entire pool deck area to themselves. Lifeguards will be

present to ensure the safety of all swimmers. There will be a kosher barbecue, which will include a vegetarian option.

For more information, contact CBS-CS USY advisor Sara Goldfarb at sagoldfa@ gmail.com.

Remember to remember!

The local Jewish community organizations are now in the process, or have just completed, planning their schedules of meetings and events for the coming year.

It is considered important to share this information on the Federation’s Community Calendar to encourage attendance at various events throughout the year.

It is also a way of avoiding scheduling conflicts by having events listed on the Community Calendar for everyone to see.

Community members have been asked to forward this information to the Federation by e-mailing it to jstander@jewishfederationcny.org; faxing it to 445-1559; or through the Federation website. On the website, go to “calendar” and click on “submit a calendar event.” Fill in the information and click “send.”

For any questions, call Judith Stander at 445-0161, ext. 114.

NCJW to present 44th Annual Hannah G. Solomon Award to Orit Antosh

BY VICKI FELDMAN The National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Syracuse Section At Large, has announced Orit Antosh as the recipient of the 2016 Hannah G. Solomon Award. The award will be presented at a luncheon on Tuesday, September 27, at Justin’s Grill, 6400 Yorktown Cir., East Syracuse. Registration will start at 11:30 am, with the luncheon and program beginning sharply at noon and ending by 1:30 pm. There will be a charge to attend.

Born in Israel, Antosh served in the Israel Defense Forces. In her first year, she served as a soldier teacher in moshavim in the south of Israel near Kiryat Gat, a position she created for religious girls who wanted to serve in the IDF and, at the same time, maintain their religious observance.

In her second year of service, she was an officer responsible for 100 soldiers at the soldier teacher unit.

She is the daughter of the late Men-

achem Magen, an Israel War is responsible for each other, by of Independence veteran who example and by actions.” volunteered at the age of 17 to For the past eight years, she serve his country in battle; and has been co-chair of the annual the late Ahuva Magen, a HoloYom Ha’aztmaut community celebration. Nine years ago, caust survivor who, at age 17, she and her family started a stayed in Budapest, Hungary, family tradition of picking up after World War II to find and and delivering breads and baked rescue Jewish children who had goods from Panera Bread once survived the Holocaust by hiding a week to the Samaritan Cenin churches around Hungary.

Antosh is considered “a familter soup kitchen in downtown Orit Antosh Syracuse and to the Cathedral iar face” in the Syracuse Jewish community, having chaired the Jewish Fed- Emergency services.

She also chaired the Israeli art show eration of Central NewYork “Super Sunday” with her husband, Mark Antosh, for the past at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community 14 years. Early on, she saw a need to make the Center of Syracuse for eight years and cofund-raiser a multi-generational event. She chaired the JCC dinner dance. She is an created the teen leadership program at Super active volunteer in the Jamesville-DeWitt Sunday with the mission of “l’dor v’dor – School District.

She has served on the boards of the from generation to generation.” This means that it is the community’s responsibility to Federation, the JCC, Syracuse Hebrew teach the younger generation that “everyone Day School and Temple Adath Yeshurun.

At the Hannah G. Solomon luncheon, the Greater Syracuse Section At-Large of National Council of Jewish Women will continue its efforts on behalf of children in Central New York. Guests have been asked to bring children’s items to donate to McCarthy@Beard, a program run by the Syracuse City School District.

The Hannah G. Solomon Award is a national award presented by individual sections of NCJW. This is the 44th year of the Syracuse Hannah G. Solomon Award. Event organizers said, “The award is named for the founder of NCJW and is given to women who have demonstrated exceptional service to both the Jewish community and the community-at-large, and Orit has made a commitment to improving the quality of life in Syracuse.”

For more information, to make a reservation and/or to send a tribute card honoring Antosh, contact Marlene Holstein at 446-7648 by Tuesday, September 20.

Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish Holocaust hero, executed in Soviet prison, diaries reveal

BY JTA STAFF (JTA) – Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi gas chambers, was executed in a Soviet prison, according to a KGB head’s diaries.

The diaries of Ivan A. Serov, who ran the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency from 1954-58, were discovered inside the walls of his second home in northwestern Moscow, which his granddaughter is now renovating. Discovered four years ago, the diaries were published this summer, The New York Times reported.

“I have no doubts that Wallenberg was liquidated in 1947,” Serov wrote.

The diaries contain references to several previously unknown documents referring to Wallenberg, including one recording the cremation of his body. They were published under the title “Notes From a Suitcase: Secret Diaries of the First KGB. Chairman, Found Over 25 Years After His Death,” which went for sale in Russia in June.

Serov died of a heart attack in 1990 at age 84. He is thought to have hidden the diaries around 1971.

A 1991 joint Russian-Swedish effort to discover what happened to Wallenberg, which included archival research and interviews with retired state security employees, yielded no definitive conclusion

when it ended in 2000. The investigation found that documents had been destroyed or altered to eliminate all traces of him.

Wallenberg was posted to Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II, where he issued protective passports to Jews in the final months of the Holocaust.

He disappeared in 1945 after being seen surrounded by Soviet officers in Budapest.

The Soviets later claimed Wallenberg had

died of heart failure in prison.

The diplomat’s parents both reportedly committed suicide in 1979 in despair over his disappearance. In November 2015, Wallenberg family members asked Swedish authorities to declare him dead.

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C A N D L E L I G H T I N G A N D P A R AS H A August 19.................7:42 pm................................................. Parasha-Vaetchanan August 26.................7:31 pm............................................................. Parasha-Ekev September 2.............7:19 pm............................................................Parasha-Re’eh

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Scholar-in-residence

Welcome back to school

BDS in Canada

S h a a r e i Tor a h O r t h o d ox The Syracuse Community Hebrew The head of Canada’s Green party Congregation will a host scholar- School will hold a “welcome back” may resign after party members event on August 28. in-residence in September. voted to support BDS. Story on page 3 Story on page 3 Story on page 8

PLUS Congregational Notes............ 4 Home and Real Estate........... 6 Calendar Highlights............... 7 Obituaries................................. 7

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 18, 2016/14 AV 5776

A MATTER OF OPINION Response to Movement for Black Lives Matter platform says Israel an “apartheid state” Black Lives platform There were a number of virulently anti-Israel elements in a platform issued by the Movement for Black Lives on August 2. This is a coalition representing more than 50 groups from around the country, including the Black Lives Matter Network.

Their platform includes provisions that demonize Israel, erroneously equating the experience of African-Americans with Palestinians and asserting that Israel is guilty of committing “genocide.”

The Jewish Federation of Central New York will not align itself with organizations that falsely and maliciously malign and defame Israel. We reject any platform that attempts to isolate and delegitimize the state of Israel singularly amongst the nations of the world.

We are dismayed by the acceptance of

a platform that vilifies Israel, diverting attention from urgent, unresolved problems that African-Americans and other people of color continue to face in the U.S. The American Jewish community has a strong tradition of commitment to social and racial equality and we will continue to work with leaders in our community to achieve this goal.

We recommit ourselves unequivocally to the pursuit of justice for all Americans, and to working together with our friends and neighbors in both the African-American and wider Multi-Cultural communities.

Ruth Stein, Chair of Board Michael Balanoff, Community Relations Chair Linda Alexander, President/CEO

Religious hate crime on the rise, says political scientist

BY LINDA GLASER Linda Glaser is the staff writer and publicist of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. She is also the chair of the Ithaca Coalition for Unity and Cooperation in the Middle East. ICUCME helped publicize and handle logistics for an event featuring Miriam Elman, associate professor of political science and a research director in the Program for the Advancement of Research in Conflict and Collaboration at Syracuse University. Elman gave a lecture and workshop in Ithaca on July 31. About 70 community people from the Ithaca area attended the two-hour event.

Elman’s lecture is available for viewing on YouTube at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JrmxRDB9wKc. Elman has also published a summary of the lecture and workshop’s main themes at Legal Insurrection at http://legalinsurrection. com/2016/08/video-combating-antizionist-antisemitism/.

ITHACA, NY – Religious bigotry is more visible in America than we’ve seen in decades. And while conversations about Islamophobia abound in the media, the FBI reports that almost 60 percent of religiously-oriented hate speech and crimes are actually committed against Jews – and only 16 percent against Muslims.

Why, then, is there an absence of conversation about antisemitism? To answer this question, the Ithaca Area United Jewish Community invited political scientist Miriam Elman to discuss “Hate Speech and the New Antisemitism” on July 31 at the Space@Greenstar. More than 70 people attended.

According to Elman, associate professor of political science and a research director in the Program for the Advancement of Research in Conflict and Collaboration at Syracuse University, the rise in antisemitism is directly tied to anti-Zionist rhetoric and the demonization of Israel.

Zionism, said Elman, is simply the belief that Jews have a right to self-determination in their national homeland of

Israel, where they have been an indigenous population for more than 2,000 years.

“Despite the fact that almost half of Jewish Israelis are of Arab descent and that many more are people of color from other parts of the world, in the global campaign for social justice, Jews are cast as white colonial Westerners and Palestinians as people of color,” said Elman.

She called for an intellectual “firewall” separating criticism of Israeli politics and policy from the demonization of Zionism and Israel – which she said “is not legitimate, and which can be lethal.”

As an example, Elman pointed to the proliferation of antisemitic tropes in conversations about Zionism. “It’s become acceptable to talk about Jews controlling the world, such as the Stanford student government representative who recently argued at a public meeting that it wasn’t antisemitic to say that Jews control the media and the government.”

One way to counter the antisemitic rhetoric, said Elman, was to call out how anti-Zionism can be antisemitic in its effects, such as the myth of Jewish centrality, a belief demonstrated on a poster from a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions rally that said, “For world peace, Israel must be destroyed.”

“But Yemen is not a mess because of Israel; Syria isn’t disintegrating because of Israel... the rise of al-Qaida and ISIS have nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Elman. “This is just a recycled version of the old trope of Jews as dangerous purveyors of all the evil in the world.”

After Elman’s talk, attendees gathered at tables to discuss examples of antisemitic images and social media posts, and to debate what can be done to counteract antisemitism in this community.

“All hate speech and hateful actions which come in their wake are to be deplored,” said Marcia Zax, president of IAUJC. “We need to come together as a community of different and no religion, of every color of the rainbow, to fight against hate speech.”

committing “genocide”

BY JTA STAFF This article gives the background for the accompanying Jewish Federation of Central New York statement, so that readers may understand the statement’s context.

(JTA) – The wide-ranging new platform of a coalition growing out of the Black Lives Matter movement includes criticism of Israel, which it describes as an “apartheid state” that, it claims, perpetrates “genocide” against the Palestinian people.

Released on August 8, the platform of the Movement for Black Lives calls for “an end to the war against Black people” and is the campaign’s first comprehensive document addressing specific federal policies. Black Lives Matter Network is one of more than 50 black-led organizations in the coalition.

While the majority of the document addresses issues other than Israel, the section on foreign policy, titled “Invest-Divest,” objects to U.S. military aid to Israel, which it describes as “a state that practices systematic discrimination and has maintained a military occupation of Palestine for decades.”

While the section addresses other foreign policy issues, particularly the movement’s objections to the drug war and the war on terror, it criticizes no foreign country other than Israel. The section also argues that the U.S., because of its alliance with Israel, is “complicit in the genocide taking place against the

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Palestinian people.”

According to the platform, “Israel is an apartheid state with over 50 laws on the books that sanction discrimination against the Palestinian people.” The platform claims Palestinian property is “routinely bulldozed to make way for illegal Israeli settlements” and that Israeli soldiers “regularly arrest and detain Palestinians as young as 4 years old without due process.

“Every day, Palestinians are forced to walk through military checkpoints along the U.S.-funded apartheid wall,” the platform adds, referring to the security barrier Israel erected in response to a wave of terrorist attacks committed by Palestinians from the West Bank.

The section includes a link to the website of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel, and credits Adalah-The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, as one of the “organizations currently working on policy.”

Formed in response to growing outrage over the criminal justice system’s treatment of African Americans – particularly police violence against them – the Movement for Black Lives describes itself on its website as “a collective of more than 50 organizations representing thousands of Black people from across the country.”

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Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse to host Lahav Harkov, senior Knesset reporter for The Jerusalem Post

Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and Syracuse will host a scholar-in-residence, research director of the International and InLahav Harkov, senior Knesset reporter for tra-state Conflict and Collaboration, Program The Jerusalem Post, on Saturday, September for the Advancement of Research on Conflict 17. The program will be open to the entire and Collaboration. community and will be free of charge.

Reservations have been requested for the Shabbat services will begin at 9 am and lunch and shalosh seudot by contacting the synwill be followed by a kiddush luncheon and agogue at 446-6194 or info@stocsyracuse.org. the first presentation, “Knesset 101: A behindAs senior Knesset reporter for The Jeruthe-scenes guide to the ins and outs of Israeli salem Post, Harkov has interviewed figures politics” at approximately noon. Following across the Israeli political spectrum and Mincha services at 6:15 pm, there will be has the “inside scoop” on the country’s top Lahav Harkov a shalosh seudot and another presentation, lawmakers. She is often invited to lecture on “The Jewish State, American Jews, and the Future of the Israeli government and politics in Israel, and abroad by U.S.-Israel Relationship: An Informal Conversation with organizations such as AIPAC, the Conference of PresiLahav Harkov.” It will be moderated by Miriam Elman, dents of Major Jewish Organizations, HonestReporting associate professor of political science at the Citizenship and others. International news outlets, such as the BBC,

France 24, CTV, Sky News and Sun News Network, have sought her insights and analyses about breaking news.

She has published articles in Commentary, The New York Post, Tablet, The Tower, The Jewish Week and the Hebrew-language newspaper Makor Rishon. She was recognized for her social media reporting by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, which named her the “fifth most influential person” on “Jewish Twitter.”

One of Nefesh B’Nefesh’s “Millenial Olim Who Are Making Their Mark On Israel,” Lahav grew up in New Jersey and moved to Israel at age 17, where she did two years of national service (sherut leumi) at museums dealing with Jewish and Israeli history. She has a degree in political science and communications at Bar-Ilan University, and lives in Tel Aviv with her husband.

For additional information, visit the STOCS website at www.stocsyracuse.org.

Catering by the Oaks will be the first kosher food booth at New York State Fair

BY STEWART KOENIG The Oaks at Menorah Park’s kosher dining offshoot, Catering by the Oaks, will be selling “fair style” kosher food from Sunday-Fridays at the 2016 Great New York State Fair, August 25-September 5. This will be the first time there will be a kosher food booth at the State Fair.

Catering by the Oaks will be located in the Horticulture building. The menu will include a mixture of traditional kosher dishes, as well as dishes with a “fair twist.”

Troy Waffner, acting director of the New York State Fair, said, “Food is consistently the main attraction at the fair. People come to get their fair favorites and to

Syracuse Community Hebrew School

The Syracuse Community Hebrew School “welcome back” event will be held on Sunday, August 28, from 2-4 pm, at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse.

It will offer an opportunity for last year’s students to reconnect with one another; and for new students to meet their classmates. The event will be held outside by the

picnic tables. Students will be able to socialize on the playground and in the swimming pool. Refreshments will be provided. The incoming third grade students will participate in ice-breaker activities with their new classmates. The Syracuse Community Hebrew School will start its second year on Wednesday, September 14, at Temple Adath Yeshurun.

Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse senior dining menu AUGUST 22-26 Monday – chicken rollatini Tuesday – spaghetti and meatballs Wednesday – tuna wrap Thursday – turkey chili (not spicy) Friday – roast artichoke chicken AUGUST 28-SEPTEMBER 2 Monday – 5 pm dinner (last dinner) – salmon croquettes Tuesday – hamburgers with sautéed onions Wednesday – Moroccan chicken Thursday – TBA Friday – TBA The Bobbi Epstein Lewis JCC Senior Adult Dining Program at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse offers Va’ad Ha’ir-supervised ko-

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sher lunches served Tuesday-Friday at noon. Dinners are served on Monday at 5 pm throughout the summer, due in part to the Dr. Morton and Mrs. Libby Maloff Summer Senior Dinner program. Reservations for dinner are required by the Wednesday before each dinner.

Lunch reservations are required by noon on the previous business day. There is a suggested contribution per meal.

The menu is subject to change. The program is funded by a grant from the Onondaga County Department of Aging and Youth and the New York State Office for the Aging, with additional funds provided by the JCC. To attend, one need not be Jewish or a member of the JCC. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Cindy Stein at 445-2360, ext. 104, or cstein@ jccsyr.org.

try something new and fun. Every year, we dedicate ourselves to providing both delicious fair classics and new, exciting foods for people to try and enjoy. We are the coming-together of all citizens of New York, and the best way for us to show that is through a diversity of food representing the diversity of our great state.”

Jarrod Charsky, Catering by the Oaks’ general manager, said, “We had a taste panel with people who ate strictly kosher food and people who did not; both groups absolutely loved all the food. We are ecstatic to bring our one-of-a-kind menu to the fair for both kosher and non-kosher eaters to enjoy.”

Catering by the Oaks and other vendors on the fairgrounds can be located by downloading the Fair Food Finder application for smartphones and using the app’s interactive map of the Fair. The Catering by the Oaks fair menu can also be found at www.menorahparkofcny.com.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 18, 2016/14 AV 5776

CONGREGATIONAL NOTES Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas CBS-CS ANNUAL BACK-TO SHUL BBQ Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas will hold its annual Labor Day Backto-Shul barbecue on Monday, September 5, from 4-6 pm, at CBS-CS. The event will be open to the community and will offer an opportunity for those who are not familiar with the synagogue to learn about it. Clergy, staff and lay leaders, as well as congregants of all ages, will attend. In addition to a bouncy house, there will be sand art, crafts and face-painting for the children.

Donations have been encouraged to help defray the costs of the bouncy house and

the food. Attendees have been encouraged to bring school supplies – pens, pencils and crayons – for students in the Syracuse City School District. There is also a year-round collection of food for the Temple Concord Food Pantry and toiletries for Operation Soap Dish, which collects items for food pantry clients. SaveAround coupon books will be available for sale.

Reservations have been requested by Wednesday, August 31, and can be made by contacting the synagogue at office@ cbscs.org or 446-9570.

ADULT HEBREW CLASSES START IN SEPTEMBER Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra

Temple Adath Yeshurun At left, l-r: Mia Enders and Iah Murphy helped make pumpkin dog treats during “Every Day Heroes: Making a Difference” week at Camp Rothschild at Temple Adath Yeshurun. The treats were made during the campers’ nature and science activities, and were donated to Helping Hounds Dog Rescue in DeWitt. Campers also took a field trip to the Ronald McDonald House to make muffins and blankets for the families there and were able to tour the facility.

They learned more about the program and its impact on the Central New York community.

Shas will again offer opportunities for adults and teenagers to study prayer book and biblical Hebrew. The courses will be open to the community. All classes will be held on Mondays from 7-8 pm at the synagogue. A major goal of the classes is said to be helping participants feel “more engaged” with services and prayer.

Two classes will begin on September 12. Hebrew I will be taught by Ruth Stein and will meet for 12 sessions, ending on December 19. (Students will take most of October off for the Jewish holidays.)

Hebrew I starts with the letters and sounds and progresses to simple reading and basic vocabulary. This is the class for those who want to start from the beginning or review the basics. For questions about the class, contact Stein at 446-5429, 751-5377 or stein.ruth@gmail.com.

Hebrew II will also begin on September 12 and will meet for eight classes until late November. Taught by Sarah Saulson, the class emphasizes basic grammar and both prayer book and biblical vocabulary. There will be opportunities for students to practice reading skills and review Hebrew word roots as well as other basic concepts. For more information, contact Saulson at 449-9423 or sarahsaulson@gmail.com.

Starting in January, Hebrew II and Hebrew III will be offered on Mondays from 7-8 pm. The classes will start on January 9 and continue through March 13. Students are welcome to join January classes without having enrolled in the fall classes. For information about January classes, contact Saulson at 449-9423 or sarahsaulson@gmail.com.

All classes have a minimum required

enrollment. To register, contact the CBSCS office at 446-9570 or office@cbscs. org. For non-CBS-CS members, there will be a fee for the classes in addition to the small book fee for all students.

NEW YOUTH STAFF The congregation has restructured its youth staff to better serve its teenagers and pre-teens. Sara Goldfarb, a recent graduate of Syracuse University Law School and an attorney at Hiscock Legal Aid Society, will continue to advise the United Synagogue Youth group for ninth-12th grade students and lead “It’s a Girl Thing: Sara Goldfarb Rosh Hodesh,” a program of Moving Traditions. The girls-only monthly program uses games, media, the arts and conversation to bring Jewish values and practice to the concerns of adolescent girls.

Brianna Smith will be the advisor for the CBSCS Kadima youth group for students in fifth-eighth grades.

She has taught in the CBS-CS Religious School for the last two years, and graduated from the Brianna Smith Syracuse Hebrew Day School and the Rabbi Jacob Epstein Hebrew School.

See “CBS-CS” on page 7

5777 Issue Date: September 29 (Deadline: Sept. 21) Once again this year, The Jewish Observer is inviting its readers and local organizations to extend New Year’s greetings to the community by purchasing a New Year’s greeting ad, which will appear in our September 29 issue.

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JCC’s teen campers take an eco excursion

Campers and counselors in the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse’s SyraCruisin’ Teen Travel Camp posed for a photo outside the Covanta Waste to Energy facility in Jamesville on July 26 before going on a roadside litter clean-up near the plant. The group also toured the Covanta facility and had a first-hand look at sustainable waste management.

BY WILLIAM WALLAK A group of teenagers in the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse’s summer camp recently had a hands-on lesson in “going green” with trash. The JCC’s SyraCruisin’ Teen Travel Camp visited the Covanta Waste to Energy facility in Jamesville on July 26 to volunteer for a roadside litter clean-up and learn about sustainable waste management.

The 14 JCC campers and their counselors cleaned up a two-mile stretch of road near the Covanta plant. Afterward, they toured the plant and saw how the facility converts trash into electricity.

The experience is part of Covanta’s ongoing goal of educating the public on generating energy from waste and keeping the areas near its facility as litter-free as possible.

“During the clean-up, we found everything from candy wrappers to a broken bowling ball,” said Logan

Woodard, SyraCruisin’ camp counselor. “The kids enjoyed helping clean up and finding some interesting and bizarre garbage.”

The waste-to-energy plant tour was very thorough, according to Woodard.

“It was really cool and very informative.

A lot of the campers asked some good questions. They were pretty engaged.”

Each summer, the JCC’s SyraCruisin’ Teen Travel Camp offers teenagers entering seventh-10th grade the opportunity to go on local and regional field trips that encourage social and cultural awareness, community service and team building.

Campers embark on a different trip each day, and are said to be “broadening their horizons and hoping to make a positive local impact.”

For more information about the JCC and its summer camp options for preschool students and school-age children and teenagers, call 445-2360 or visit www. jccsyr.org.

DO YOU KNOW? Your Federation dollars at work – Mainstages activities, costumes, sets, fun

BY JACKIE MIRON giveaways and ongoing support The Allocations Committee to ensure success.” of the Jewish Federation of The group will be coming to Central New York awards the JCC twice next year, once community Program Fund in late fall and again in early Grants annually during the fall. spring. A PJ Library® book of The grants are available to all choice will be brought to life Jewish organizations, agencies for younger students, and they and synagogues in the Central will perform an interactive New York community. The Jackie Miron game show for older children. funds come from Federation’s Mainstages will provide an interactive Annual Campaign and are given out in amounts of $10,000, $5,000 or $2,500. The Jewish program to engage each child’s Allocations Committee reviews the grant personal connection to Jewish values and requests and makes recommendations traditions in a different fashion.

Mainstages will provide a fun interto the board, which then votes on the active Jewish program that will engage recommendations. each child’s personal connection to Jewish A $2,300 request has been awarded for a collaborative Jewish Theater Project values and traditions that are special to for Children between the Sam Pomeranz them in a fun, exciting, and different way.

The goal of the JCC, which is often Jewish Community Center of Syracuse and the Syracuse Hebrew Day School. considered by community members as The proposal was funded in full but is “the nucleus of the Jewish community,” and which is built on the foundation of under the usual $2,500 amount.

Mainstages, a Jewish educational the- Jewish ethics and values, is to provide ater company, will perform for the JCC’s quality services and programs for all ages, Early Childhood Development Program serving community members in Central and Afterschool programs, and the Syra- New York, and instilling Jewish values cuse Hebrew Day School. The organiza- in their lives.

The Jewish Federation of Central New tion’s website states, “Mainstages is an educational theater company for children. York recognizes the need for the JCC to Throughout the year we implement af- continually enhance programming with ter-school programs, tour with interactive unique, high quality experiences, reachgame shows and performances, and lead ing as many members and community creative birthday parties. We provide all organizations as possible. Your Federation the tools for unique theatrical experienc- dollars are working to help make this es, including dynamic staff, innovative possible.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 18, 2016/14 AV 5776

D’VAR TORAH

What makes the Aseret Hadibrot stand out?

BY RABBI URI C. COHEN “I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.” Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), attributed The Aseret Hadibrot (commonly called “the Ten Commandments”) are the focal point of the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai. In many synagogues, everyone stands whenever the Aseret Hadibrot appear in the communal Torah reading (For Yitro, Vaetchanan, and Shavuot). They’re pretty important for us.

And we’re not the only ones who view them as important. During the 1960s, hundreds of granite monuments of the Aseret Hadibrot were installed across America in parks, city halls and courthouses. (Cecil B. DeMille, the director of the epic 1956 film “The Ten Commandments,” was one of the people involved in this effort.) While multiple court cases challenged these monuments as violations of the First Amendment’s establishment of religion clause, the United States Supreme Court eventually ruled that they are legal because the Ten Commandments have not only religious meaning, but historic and social meaning as well (“Van Orden v. Perry”). As Dennis Prager put it in his recent book, “The Ten Commandments: Still the

Best Moral Code,” “The most important words ever written are the Ten Commandments. These words changed the world when they were first presented at Mt. Sinai to the Israelites, and they are changing it now. They are the foundation stones of Western Civilization.”

Nevertheless, we have a tradition that there are 613 commandments, not just 10. The question, then, is what makes these 10 stand out? In other words, why did the Torah present this short list in such a dramatic way, calling so much attention to it that the world would never forget? There are many ways to answer this question.

I’d like to present three of them here.

THE KISS PRINCIPLE The acronym KISS is sometimes understood to stand for “Keep it simple and straightforward.” Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks suggests that the Aseret Hadibrot exemplify this principle perfectly: “What makes them special is that they are simple and easy to memorize. That is because in Judaism, law is not intended for judges alone. The covenant at Sinai, in keeping with the profound egalitarianism at the heart of Torah, was made not as other covenants were in the ancient world, between kings. The Sinai covenant was made by God with the entire people.

Hence the need for a simple statement of basic principles that everyone can remember and recite.” (http://www. rabbisacks.org/structure-good-society-yitro-5775/) This simplicity is presumably what prompted President Reagan to make the statement cited above. Lawyers and lawmakers aren’t known for being brief and succinct, to say the least. In contrast, Commandments 6, 7 and 8 have only two words each. Nowhere else in the entire Jewish Bible is there a verse with only two words. In this sense, the Aseret Hadibrot stand out from most other laws, including those of the Torah itself.

NO PUNISHMENTS Often in the Chumash (Pentateuch), a prohibition appears along with the punishment for violating it. Not here!

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin explains: “A striking feature of the Ten Commandments is the lack of judicial penalties associated with their violation. True, God promises to personally punish violators of Commandments 2 and 3, but this itself is distinctive from most biblical legislation, the violation of which is followed by a judicial punishment (for example, murderers are to be executed, and thieves ordered to pay a 100 percent fine).

See “Stand” on page 8

Five tips for prospective homebuyers (StatePoint) – If you’re serious about homeownership in the near future, getting prepared is crucial. Consider these five tips from myhome.freddiemac.com: 1. Get your financial house in order: Good credit is key to getting a mortgage at a reasonable interest rate. If it’s been more than a year, find out what your credit score is.

You can improve your credit by paying your bills on time, working with a no-fees housing counselor and beefing up your credit literacy. Free online resources can help.

2. Figure out how much you can afford. What do you earn? What do you spend? How much do you have in savings? Answering these questions will help you learn whether you are financially ready for homeownership.

Make a budget and use free online tools and calculators to determine how much you can afford and the amount you have for a downpayment. If you’re short, reduce optional expenses and set up a monthly, automatic deposit into your savings account.

3. Explore your mortgage options. Don’t assume you don’t have enough for a down payment or won’t qualify for a mortgage without 20 percent down. In fact, about 40 percent of today’s homebuyers are making down payments that are less than 10 percent and a recent study found that 87 percent of U.S. homes would qualify for down payment help. Find out if you’re eligible for any local or state down payment assistance programs. Remember, some options may be as low as three percent. But keep in mind that if you’re not putting at least 20 percent down, you’ll pay extra each month for mortgage insurance. Contact several mortgage lenders to shop around and get the best deal.

4. Get pre-approved for financing. It’s highly recommended that you work with your lender to get pre-approved before you begin house hunting. Pre-approval will tell you how much home you can afford, and can help you move faster and with greater confidence in competitive markets.

5. Rely on professionals. The typical homebuyer will look at 10 homes over a 10-week period, so finding and working with the right team is critical. Housing counselors, realtors and lenders all play an important role in the home buying process. These professionals have the expertise to advise you every step of the way.

With financial resolve, you can make your dream of homeownership possible.

AUGUST 18, 2016/14 AV 5776 ■

OBITUARIES BERNICE BERSON

Bernice Berson, 88, died on August 1 at Menorah Park.

She was the sixth of eight children. She graduated from Blodgett High School and went to business school.

She was the manager of Knise and Krick Tool and Die Co. of Syracuse until retiring. She was also the evening manager at her brother Sid’s restaurant, “Steak and Sundae,” for more than 25 years. She will always be remembered for her love and devotion to her family and the example she set for them through her work ethic and genuine concern for them and her friends.

She was predeceased by her siblings, Pauline, Mort, Sidney, Harry, Phil and Ruth; her nephew, Allan Hammer; and her niece, Adriane Marino.

She is survived by her brother, Bill Berson; her nephews, Steven (Sonny) Berson and Gregory (Lee) Berson; her nieces, Beth (Sonny) Drogoszewski and Sharon (Frank) Elmer; and a large extended family.

Burial was in Poiley Tzedek Cemetery. Sisskind Funeral Service had arrangements.

Contributions can be made to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, P. O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265-0309. 

NEWS IN BRIEF From JNS.org

Chabad sets up donation page for Baton Rouge flooding victims

The Chabad Center in Baton Rouge, LA, has started a donation fund to help victims of the massive flooding that has hit the region over the past few days. Rescue efforts continue after parts of the area were officially declared federal disaster areas, more than 10,000 people have been displaced into shelters, and four people were killed. More than 20,000 people have been rescued across the state, USA Today reported. “Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the surrounding areas have been hit by historic floods over the last few days. People have lost their homes, cars, are out of work, and need food, clothing and shelter. Chabad, although only open one year, has many contacts here, specifically in the Jewish community, some of which have seen major devastation. It is our job to reach out and help in any way we can,” stated Chabad on a crowd funding page it set up via gofundme.com.

Jerusalem interfaith event to bring together leaders of Abrahamic faiths

A new interfaith and spiritual gathering of Christians, Jews and Muslims will take place in Jerusalem this September. “Amen-A House of Prayer For All Believers,” part of the 2016 Mekudeshet Festival from September 4-23, is an initiative created by the Jerusalem Season of Culture, an annual festival in Jerusalem, to bring together the world’s three major faiths “who share a belief in one God and a boundless love for Jerusalem to dialogue, study, sing and pray together in one temporary house of worship,” said a press release. Artists, actors, musicians and media figures from around the world are expected to participate in the event. “We will study, argue – yes, this is also allowed – and pray – together and alone. We will see if it is possible, despite all the corporeal difficulties and earthly obstacles, to create a new reality,” said Mekudeshet Artistic Director Itay Mautner. For a month, representatives from all three religions will offer a series of discussions at the Jerusalem Music Center, with options to pray three different times per day in Arabic, Hebrew and Coptic.

Second Temple-era synagogue unearthed in northern Israel

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) – The remains of an unusual structure that served as a synagogue during the Second Temple era have been unearthed at an archaeological excavation under way at Tel Rechesh in the heart of the Nahal Tavor Nature Reserve in the lower Galilee. The synagogue is one of only eight synagogues discovered in Israel that date back to the Second Temple era, said Dr. Motti Aviam, a senior researcher at the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee. “This is the first synagogue discovered in the rural part of the Galilee and it confirms historical information we have about the New Testament, which says that Jesus preached at synagogues in Galilean villages,” Aviam said. In the first century C.E., a large farm was built on the tel (a hill comprising layers of archaeological remains). The farm buildings include one structure containing a large room that measures 8 meters (26 feet) by 9 meters (29.5 feet). The walls of the room are lined with benches constructed from skillfully hewn limestone.

Along the northern wall, archaeologists also discovered two large basalt stones that formed part of a ritual altar that had been used some 1,500 years earlier in a temple in a Canaanite city that stood on the same spot.

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DAVID KATZ

David Katz, 80, of Morristown, NJ, and formerly of Syracuse, died on July 31 in the Morristown Memorial Hospital.

He was a graduate of Syracuse University. He was a professional actor, appearing in movies and on stage.

He spent many hours volunteering for the Jewish Guild for the Blind.

He is survived by his cousin, Susan (Henry) Tritter.

Burial was in the Temple Concord section of Woodlawn Cemetery. Birnbaum Funeral Service had arrangements. 

JUDITH E. MEIGHAN

Judith Meighan, of Syracuse, died at home on August 9.

Born in Philadelphia, PA, she was an alumna of Swarthmore College. She earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in art history from Columbia University.

She was a fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome, and worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York before joining the faculty of the art school at Syracuse University in 1993. For decades, she was a committed and popular teacher to thousands of students. In Syracuse, she curated exhibitions at the Everson Museum of Art and was an advisor to the museum’s education department. She was a teacher, scholar, artist, mentor, wife and mother. Her greatest pride was her children.

She is survived by her husband, Samuel D. Gruber; son, Jonah Gruber; daughter, Zoë Meighan; and cousins Cynthia and Constance Mitchell.

Burial was in Oakwood Cemetery. Birnbaum Funeral Service had arrangements.

Contributions can be made to the Everson Museum of Art, 401 Harrison St., Syracuse, NY 13202. 

JAN M. ROSWIG

Jan M. Roswig, 71, of Liverpool, died at home on August 6.

Born in Rome, NY, he was a 1967 graduate of Syracuse University, where he earned a bachelor’s in accounting.

During his professional career, he worked for Price Waterhouse and Co. in Rochester, was a senior accountant for a large local company in Binghamton and lectured to IBM sales trainee groups. In 1977, he moved to Syracuse and opened his own practice. He also remained active in many professional organizations until his death. In 1993, he was honored as the accountant advocate of the year in New York.

He was predeceased by his brother, Bruce Roswig.

He is survived by nine cousins.

Burial was in the Beth Sholom section of Oakwood Cemetery. Birnbaum Funeral Service had arrangements. 

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JEWISH OBSERVER

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Calendar Highlights

To see a full calendar of community events, visit the Federation's community calendar online at www.jewishfederationcny.org. Please notify

jstander@jewishfederationcny.org of any calendar changes.

Sunday, August 21 The Oaks presents a free concert with the Rovit Trebicka Trio at 7 pm Tuesday, August 23 Temple Concord Cinemagogue presents “Marvin Hamlisch - What He Did for Love” at 7:30 pm Wednesday, August 24 Temple Adath Yeshurun - “Chat and Challenge” at 7:30 pm Friday, August 26 Temple Concord’s Welcome Back SU Shabbat at 6 pm TAY and CBS-CS Hava Nagrilla at TAY at 6 pm Sunday, August 28 Syracuse Community Hebrew School “Welcome Back” event at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse from 2-4 pm Wednesday, August 31 Deadline for the September 15 issue of the Jewish Observer Monday, September 5 Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas Back-to-Shul barbecue from 4-6 pm

CBS-CS

Continued from page 4

She will also serve as youth coordinator and help plan, communicate and implement youth and intergenerational programs for all ages.

The USY and Kadima groups will have monthly programs. including congregational, communitywide and regional events. The USY group has a board that helps plan and implement programming, teaching teenagers leadership skills within a Jewish context. CBS-CS provides subsidies that help families send their teenagers to regional events.

For more information about CBS-CS youth and family opportunities, contact Julie Tornberg, director of youth and education, at director@cbscs.org or 701-2685.

PEXTON MEMORIALS (FORMERLY GROSKIN MEMORIALS) MONUMENTS, MARKERS, CEMETERY LETTERING, PLANTINGS ARRANGED

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“After 82 years” Providing unparalleled service to the Jewish community throughout Central New York.

1909 East Fayette St., Syracuse, NY 13210 • 315.472.5291 • 1.800.472.5182 Martin J. Birnbaum* Elaine R. Birnbaum Joel M. Friedman * Also Licensed in Florida

Visit the JO online at jewishfederationcny.org and click on Jewish Observer

email: birnbaumfs@cnymail.com www.birnbaumfuneralserviceinc.com

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 18, 2016/14 AV 5776

Head of Green Party in Canada may resign over vote to support BDS

BY JTA STAFF TORONTO (JTA) – The leader of Canada’s Green Party is pondering resigning after members voted to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.

In an interview on August 9 with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Elizabeth May said she is “struggling with the question of whether I should continue as leader or not, quite honestly,” in the wake of the vote the previous weekend by rank-and-file Greens to support BDS.

May, who has called BDS “polarizing, ineffective and unhelpful,” told the CBC she’s “quite certain most of our members don’t support this policy, but weren’t fully engaged in the consensus-building process we normally would have had. ...So if I can’t find a way to bring that back and have the members review it with a consensus decision-making process, then I have to profoundly question whether I can continue as leader, and that’s obviously heartbreaking,” she said.

NEWS IN BRIEF From JTA

Israel’s second medal in Rio comes again from judo

Ori Sasson of Israel won a bronze medal in the men’s judo over-100 kg. competition. Sasson gave the Israeli delegation its second medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, both bronze in judo, with his victory over Alex Garcia Mendoza of Cuba on Aug. 12. It is the first time Israel has claimed two Olympic medals since 2004. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Sasson by phone on the night of Aug. 13 from Jerusalem in a call that was aired live on Israel’s Channel 2. “Every boy and girl saw not only a great athlete, but a man with values,” Netanyahu said. “You showed the true face of Israel, its beautiful face.” In the semifinals, Sasson was beaten by seven-time world champion Teddy Reiner of France, who went on to take the gold medal. On Aug. 11, Sasson defeated Egypt’s Islam El Shehaby, who refused to shake the Israeli’s outstretched hand and walked away to boos from the crowd. The slight underscored the neighboring countries’ strained relations 37 years after signing a peace

agreement. Two days earlier, Yarden Gerbi won Israel’s first medal in Rio, a bronze in the women’s 63-kg judo competition. It was the first Olympic medal for Israel since 2008 in Beijing.

ADL expresses solidarity with NYC Muslims following imam’s murder

The Anti-Defamation League expressed its solidarity with New York’s Muslim community in the wake of the murder of an imam and his assistant leaving their mosque.

Imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant Thara Uddin were wearing traditional Muslim garb when they left their mosque in Queens on the afternoon of Aug. 13 and were shot from behind at close range. The mosque serves the Bangladeshi community. “We are shocked and horrified by this unthinkable tragedy and extend our sorrow and solidarity to the families of the victims and the broader Muslim community across New York City,” said Evan Bernstein, New York regional director. “While the motivation for this crime is still being investigated, nothing can justify the killing of an innocent man walking from his place of worship.”

Ken Melamed, the Green Party’s federal council president, explained on August 8 that the vote to support BDS does not change the party’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I want to be clear. The (party) supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and we continue to advocate for good-faith negotiations,” Melamed wrote.

“This support (for BDS) is intended to further advocate to that end.”

May said the debate surrounding the vote was “very abbreviated” and left her “breathless because we actually never really properly debated this motion. I oppose it entirely, but it carried on the floor, although not overwhelmingly.” The BDS vote “does not mean I don’t want to be free to criticize what’s happening in the Middle East and to support Palestinian rights, I just think it’s a large-scale error for a party as credible as the Green Party to attach itself to a movement that is outside of us,” she also said.

Canada’s Parliament voted to condemn the BDS movement last winter. May was absent for the vote. May, who is the Green Party’s only member of Parliament, said she would continue to represent her constituents until the next federal election, which is scheduled for 2019.

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Stand

Continued from page 6

“Bible scholar Moshe Weinfeld argues that the Ten Commandments had a more elevated purpose than merely designating the permitted, the forbidden and the obligatory: ‘These commandments are... rather a formulation of conditions for membership in the community. Anyone who does not observe these commandments excludes himself from the community of the faithful... [The definition of laws and punishments is given in various legal codes, but this is not the concern of the Decalogue, which simply sets forth God’s demands of His people.’

(Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1-11, p. 248) “From this perspective, then, the Ten Commandments are more like the Declaration of Independence, in which listing a punishment for anyone who refuses to accept the principle that ‘all men are created equal’ would be inappropriate; the rest of the Torah’s legislation, however, is more similar to that of the Constitution.” (Telushkin, Biblical Literacy, p. 419)” In other words, by leaving out judicial punishments from the Aseret Hadibrot, the Torah was presenting them as a proclamation comparable to the Declaration of Independence.

UNCONDITIONAL LAWS The Torah’s laws are similar in some ways to Ancient Near Eastern law codes, and different in other ways. One of the similarities is having laws in the style that the scholars call casuistic (case-based). These are “conditional” laws, which typically start with “If” and proceed with “then.” They might be in the third person (“If someone...”) or the second person (“If you...”). Every law in the Code of Hammurabi is conditional. Many of the laws in the Torah are as well.

But there’s another style of law, which the scholars call apodictic (self-evident). These are unconditional laws, which command “Do” or “Do not.” This is unique to the Torah and is the style of the Aseret Hadibrot. (For a chart that compares the differences between the two styles within the Torah, see www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/ Periodicals/Ministry_Magazine/2006/2006_05.pdf.)

Interestingly, except for the Torah, neither ancient nor modern law codes present law in unconditional form.

What are the implications for the Aseret Hadibrot? Dr. Joel Hoffman explains by connecting their unconditional style with the point we discussed above, their omission of punishments: “In light of Leviticus 5, which details the punishment for theft, the Ten Commandments might seem superfluous. Why say ‘Don’t steal’ when another part of the Bible already has a punishment for stealing?

The answer is that Leviticus 5 is a legal system, while the Ten Commandments are a moral framework. The point is that stealing is wrong. The severity of the offense has nothing to do with getting caught or punished. So even though the Ten Commandments at first seem like modern laws, they are in fact completely different. They are different, in fact, from every other system of law (Hoffman, “And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible’s Original Meaning,” p. 175).”

To sum up, the Aseret Hadibrot stand out and make everyone pay attention. They are simple and easy to memorize, declarative and unconditional. If only following them were equally simple!