Jewish Observer issue of August 30, 2018 by Jewish Federation of CNY

19 ELUL 5778 • AUGUST 30, 2018 • VOLUME XXXIX, NUMBER 17 • PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID, SYRACUSE, NY

NCJW to present 46th annual Hannah G. Solomon Award to Cheryl Schotz most of her childhood in MaryBY VICKI FELDMAN land before attending the UniOn Monday, October 8, the versity of Pennsylvania, School National Council of Jewish of Dental Hygiene. Returning to Women, Greater Syracuse Maryland after graduating, she Section At-Large, is honoring met her husband, Irv, married Cheryl Schotz as the recipient and moved to Syracuse. of the 2018 Hannah G. Solomon She immediately became Award. The Hannah Solomon active in the community, joinAward will be presented at a ing National Council of Jewluncheon on Monday, October ish Women and Women’s 8, at Justin’s Grill, 6400 YorkAmerican ORT, and was ORT town Circle, East Syracuse. Cheryl Schotz president. She started her own Registration will start at 11:30 company, “The Organized am, with the luncheon and program beginning at noon sharp and ending Self,” during which time a client asked for by 1:30 pm. There is a charge to attend. her help finding a house since she knew The Hannah G. Solomon Award is a national award presented by individual sections of NCJW. This is the 46th year of the Syracuse Hannah G. Solomon Award. “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 communi- BY JNS STAFF ty-at-large,” said event organizers. (JNS) – The Episcopal Diocese of For many years, Schotz has been Massachusetts apologized on August 17 someone who has assumed many roles for spreading false atrocity stories about and responsibilities in the Syracuse and the Jewish state at the denomination’s Jewish communities. convention in July. A native of Shreveport, LA, she spent As JNS reported earlier, Bishop Gayle

so much about the area. This prompted Schotz to obtain her real estate license, and the rest is history. She is currently a licensed associate broker with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. Still active in the Central New York community, she is on the board of the Jewish Federation of Central New York, the Jewish Community Foundation of Central New York and the Greater Manlius Chamber of Commerce, where she is a past president. This past year, she and her family set up the Michelle Schotz Memorial Endowment – Remembering Her Forever – From Caterpillar to Butterfly, a tutoring

support system for elementary children, at the Jewish Community Foundation of Central New York. At the luncheon, the Greater Syracuse Section At-Large of National Council of Jewish Women will continue its efforts on behalf of youngsters in Central NewYork. Guests have been asked to bring children’s items to donate to McCarthy@Beard, a program run by the Syracuse City School District. Invitations will be mailed by early September. For more information or to make a reservation and/or send a tribute card honoring Schotz, contact Marlene Holstein at 315-446-7648 by Tuesday, October 2.

Bishops apologize for false atrocity stories about Israel spread at summer convention Harris alleged that she was on the scene when Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian teenager 10 times in the back. She also claimed that she was on the Temple Mount when Israeli soldiers tried to handcuff a 3-year-old boy for letting his toy ball “roll over” the Western Wall. Harris apparently made the comments to win congregational approval for an anti-Israel resolution. Dexter Van Zile from the watchdog group CAMERA proved that neither claim was true, and that the bishop could not have been a witness to the non-existent atrocities. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, Tablet magazine, Algemeiner and CAMERA likened her words to a modern-day “blood libel.” “She made it sound like she was an eyewitness to two terrible acts of villainy

by Israeli soldiers that never happened,” Van Zile told JNS. “After reviewing my words in the House of Bishops from a transcription, I now acknowledge that I reported stories which I had heard and unintentionally framed them as though I had personally witnessed the alleged events,” said Harris. “I sincerely apologize. ...I was ill-advised to repeat the stories without verification, and I apologize for doing so,” she added. “We recognize that for Christian leaders to relate unsubstantiated accounts of Israeli violence awakens traumatic memory of a deep history of inciting hostility and violence against Jews,” said Bishop Alan Gates, who heads the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. “We grieve damage done to our relationships with Jewish See “Bishops” on page 7

C A N D L E L I G H T I N G A N D P A R AS H A

August 31........................ 7:23 pm.................................... Parashat Ki Tavo-Selichot September 7.................... 7:11 pm.................................................Parashat Nitzavim September 9.................... 7:07 pm........................................... Erev Rosh Hashanah September 10......... after 8:06 pm....................................................Rosh Hashanah September 14.................. 6:58 pm....................Parashat Vayelech-Shabbat Shuvah September 18.................. 6:51 pm................................................. Erev Yom Kippur

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Palestine class at Tufts

High Holidays

U.S. teens in Israel

A new course at Tufts University Local synagogues announce their American teens are getting first seeks to advance the Palestinian High Holiday services; recipes; responder experience in Israel narrative while shelving the Jews. new children’s books; and more. through Camp Ramah. Story on page 2 Stories on pages 4,6,8,11,12 Story on page 5

PLUS Community Institutions.....8-9 Health Care Greetings.... 10-11 Personal Greetings..........12-13 Classifieds.............................. 14

JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778

New course at Tufts University advances Palestinian narrative while shelving the Jews

BY JACKSON RICHMAN (JNS) – A new course on the docket this fall at Tufts University outside Boston has caused a bit of blowback even before students enter the classroom. Titled “Colonizing Palestine,” it’s being offered by the Colonialism Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments, and will “explore the history and culture of modern Palestine and the centrality of colonialism in the making of this contested and symbolically potent territory,” according to the class description. “Students will examine the region in which Palestine is embedded through a range of path breaking writers, filmmakers, and thinkers,” the description states. “These include novels by Anton Shammas and Emile Habiby, the creative non-fiction of Edward Said and Suad Amiry, the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish and Naomi Nye, and the spoken word artistry of Suheir Hammad and others.”

The late Said was a Columbia University professor and leader in the anti-Israel movement, while Amiry has accused Israel of “atrocities” regarding the establishment of the Jewish state. The late Darwish wrote poems demonizing Israel, calling it a “horse’s blood” and labeling a future Palestinian state as “a prize of war.” Nye compared the 2014 riots in Ferguson, MS, to “Jerusalem, a no-man’s land [that] separated people, designated by barbed wire.” Her poetry calls for violence against Israel, saying, “Let’s be the same wound if we must bleed. Let’s fight side by side, even if the enemy is ourselves: I am yours, you are mine.” Hammad wrote a piece in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, titled “First Writing Since.” It reads: “[I] do not know how bad a life has to break in order to kill. [I] have never been so hungry that [I] willed hunger. [I] have never been

so angry as to want to control a gun over a pen. [N]ot really. [E]ven as a woman, as a Palestinian, as a broken human being. [N] ever this broken.” The poem also accuses the United States of “transgressions,” and that “if there are any people on earth who understand how new york [sic] is feeling right now, they are in the west bank [sic] and the gaza strip” [sic]. Per the course description, the class will also study the “burgeoning work of Palestinian filmmakers, such as Elia Suleiman, Mia Masri, Emad Burnat [and]

Michel Khleifi, to name but a few. ...By doing so students will address crucial questions relating to this embattled nation, the Israeli state which illegally occupies Palestine, and the broader global forces that impinge on Palestinians and Israelis,” the description states. “Themes covered include notions of nationalism and national identity, settler-colonialism, gender and sexuality, refugee politics, cultural hybridity, class politics, violence, and memory.”

See “Tufts” on page 15

A MATTER OF OPINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The true meaning of JMAC To the Editor: As a co-founder of our Syracuse Jewish Music and Cultural Festival, it was great reading the Jewish Observer’s story spotlighting Sarah Pinsky, wherein she said many positive things about our community. The one of the many things she said that truly touched me was the sentence that read, “It means so much for me to take my children to events like JMAC and to see Jewish and non-Jewish families together.” That line was great to read and tells me that the whole goal and approach we have always strived for with JMAC, hopefully, is being achieved. You walk around the festival and see friends meeting friends, shaking hands and hugging. You see young children happily excited, laughing at the puppet shows, chasing oversized balloons and their families with them, smiling and appreciating the joy it brings to their children. From the beginning, the whole idea for JMAC has been for us to come

together as a community, like a family reunion, at least once a year – to reach out to our relatives and share our food and traditions all with good Jewish theme music in the background. When we leave for home, we leave proud of our Jewish heritage and proud that we are Jewish. Again, thank you for the article spotlighting Sarah Pinsky. It will let those of us who volunteer with the JMAC festival know that we are achieving our objective – providing a great annual Jewish community “family” reunion which celebrates joy in our heritage. I appreciate the opportunity to write this letter to express the feelings of those who work with JMAC. Hopefully, for anyone coming to our “family” reunion with doubts about the joys and pleasures of their Jewish tradition, they will leave the festival knowing they are truly blessed to be Jewish. The very best to all, Sidney Lipton

About the cover

This year’s Rosh Hashanah cover was designed by Jenn DePersis, production coordinator of the Jewish Observer.

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AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

AROUND CENTRAL NEW YORK Music, food and perfect weather highlight 19th annual Jewish Music and Cultural Festival Perfect weather greeted the 19th annual Jewish Music and Cultural Festival on August 5 at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center in DeWitt. The crowd in attendance throughout the afternoon “soaked up” the Jewish music, home-cooked kosher food, shopping at the vendors’ tables and participating in the many activities. People of all ages appeared to be having fun. Some comments heard throughout the day were: “It was a great day to celebrate our community,” “we loved the intimate setup, the great music and food,” and “it was great to see so many families!” There was music throughout the afternoon by the bands Farah, Susan Hoffman Watts Jewish Music Ensemble and the Keyna Hora Klezmer Band. In a continuing effort to make JMAC “family friendly,” there were many games and children’s activities coordinated by the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center and, on the Price Chopper main stage, two-time Grammy nominees The Pop Ups performed for the children, as well as the adults.

L-r: Jewish Federation of Central New York President/CEO Michael Balanoff and New York State Senator John DeFrancisco. Federation gave DeFrancisco a tzedakah box in thanks for his past support of JMAC. (Photo courtesy of Herm Card, adjunct professor, S.I. Newhouse Sports Media Center, Syracuse University) At left: The Susan Hoffman Watts Jewish Music Ensemble was just one of the ensembles at the Jewish Music and Cultural Festival. L-r: Tuba-Jay Krush, accordion-Rob Curto, drums-Dan Blacksberg and trumpet-Susan Hoffman Watts.

Once again, the food was a draw for festival attendees. A full menu of Jewish, Va’ad-supervised kosher selections were available throughout the day under the festival’s outdoor food tent. Festival participants were able to sit under and outside the food tent, which ensured that festival goers didn’t miss the afternoon’s music. “I’m so pleased with the great variety of activities we had available at this year’s festival,” said Michael Balanoff, president/CEO of the Jewish Federation of Central New York. “The community organizations and vendors that participated were spectacular. It’s so great to see everyone come together and the sense of community created at this event.” See “Festival” on page 5

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Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center senior dining menu SEPTEMBER 3-7 Monday – Labor Day – closed Tuesday – beef chili Wednesday – tomato basil soup, grilled cheese Thursday – meatloaf and mashed potatoes Friday – Rosh Hashanah celebration – orange-glazed chicken SEPTEMBER 10-14 Monday – Rosh Hashanah – closed Tuesday – Rosh Hashanah – closed Wednesday – split pea soup and hamburger Thursday – baked ziti Friday – birthday celebration – salmon with dill The Bobbi Epstein Lewis JCC Senior Adult Dining Program at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center offers Va’ad Ha’ir-supervised kosher lunches served

Monday through Friday at noon. 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 further information or to make a reservation, contact Cindy Stein at 315-4452360, ext. 104, or cstein@jccsyr.org.

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Congregation Ahavath Achim will observe its annual Cemetery Memorial Service Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 11:30 a.m. rain or shine. Rabbi Evan Shore will officiate.

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CONGREGATIONAL NOTES Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas TASHLICH AT JAMESVILLE BEACH On the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, September 16, at 10 am, the Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas community will celebrate Tashlich. A range of approaches to Tashlich will be offered, including all-ages yoga and casting crumbs. This ritual is for children and adults alike; participants are welcome to bring their dogs. Everyone is encouraged to bring a picnic brunch to enjoy the late summer morning together. PIZZA IN THE HUT On Sunday, September 23, at 6:30 pm, there will be a make-your-own-pizza dinner in the CBS-CS sukkah with fam-

ily and friends. To make a reservation, contact Daryl Weiss at 315-446-9570 or manager@cbscs.org. SPIRITS IN THE SUKKAH On Tuesday, September 25, at 8 pm, there will be a night of “spirits and ruach” in the CBS-CS sukkah. There will be a tasting provided by the Last Shot Distillery of Skaneateles, with savory appetizers, jazz guitar and pub trivia. CBS-CS member Don Siegel will perform jazz guitar. This event is limited to people over 21 and there will be a cover charge. To make a reservation, contact Daryl Weiss at 315-446-9570 or manager@cbscs.org.

Temple Adath Yeshurun TIKKUN OLAM PROJECT AT TEMPLE ADATH YESHURUN BY SONALI MCINTYRE The Temple Adath Yeshurun Family and Education Programming Committee is looking to the community to help make a child’s life a little brighter in the new year. The committee has created a tikkun olam (repairing the world) project to provide backpacks with various items for children living in or entering foster care. On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the TAY junior congregation (the school age children) will assemble these bags. In preparation for the activity, TAY is collecting items that the children will be able to put in the bags. The hope is to provide for children in the target age range of 5-10 years old. Only new items will be accepted. Ideally, each bag will include

a backpack, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, hairbrush, tissues, water bottle, books, coloring book, crayons, stuffed animal, notebook, pencils, sharpener, small toy or activity and a card game (e.g. Go Fish, Phase 10). TAY Interim Director of Education Esa Jaffe said, “Now is the perfect time to purchase items to donate. With the back-to-school season in full swing, there should be great deals on the items we want to provide these children.” There will be a collection box at the main entrance of Temple Adath Yeshurun, as well as at the entrance for the Rothschild Early Childhood Center. Donations can be dropped off through Friday, September 7. For more information, contact the TAY at 315-445-0002 or info@adath.org.

At right: Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas members performed Tashlich at Jamesville Beach in September 2017. On August 9, TAY Sisterhood hosted a Sisterhood paint night with Ashley Lavine providing step-by-step guided instruction to the participants. L-r: Gillian Kanter, Jill Allen, Alison Bronstein, Norene Lavine, Denise Robinson, Joan Lowenstein and Maria Thorp held up the paintings they created.

Bishop Robert J. Cunningham and the People of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse Greet our Jewish Friends and Neighbors in Your Holy Season

May Our Friendship be a Blessing for All May We Give Our Common Voice to the Ancient Promise of Shalom

The TAY Chapter of Hazak held its annual installation dinner at the Jim and Arlene Gerber Bistro at Menorah Park on August 8. The officers for 2018-2019 are (l-r, seated): JoAnn Grower, president; Joanne Greenhouse, vice president, programming; Cindy Goldstein, membership chair; and Marcia Mizruchi, secretary. The board members are (l-r, standing): Sondra Schwartz, Dolores Bluman, Lynn Cohen, Elaine Meltzer, Steve Meltzer and Rita Shapiro. Not in photo: Ruth Borsky, Cecile Cohen and Susan Miller.

AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

American students get first-hand experience in Israel, MDA-style BY MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN (JNS) – Sophie Roth, 17, from Long Island, NY, had always watched as ambulances whirred by and wondered what it would be like to serve as an emergency responder, assisting someone in pain. This summer, Roth and 14 other teens are seeing first-hand how powerful it can be “to have that really personal connection with someone who is very sick,” she said, and how important a helping hand can be in a time of crisis. Roth is having this experience in a place she never would have expected: southern Israel. She is participating in Camp Ramah’s inaugural Asiyah summer internship program, through which she received 60 hours of emergency-responder training through Magen David Adom and is volunteering for three-a-half-weeks with MDA in Beersheva. She and fellow volunteers learned 300 words of Hebrew medical jargon; studied how to read a person’s blood pressure, sugar and pulse; and to accurately report this information to MDA paramedics and medics. The idea to launch the Asiyah program was based on several factors, according to program director Naama Levitz Applbaum. For starters, Camp Ramah was seeing that many campers had been to Israel before the age of 17 – the traditional age when campers take part in the Ramah Summer Seminar. They found that kids who have already been to Israel are less interested in a standard tourism program. Additionally, feedback from campers was that they were very college-focused and wanted a program that would not only be fun and meaningful, but also give them volunteer hours and/or training experience, Applbaum told JNS.org. The Asiyah program combines all these factors. The campers started their trip in late June in northern Israel with the Ramah seminar participants. Then they traveled to Jerusalem for their 10-day MDA training course. In mid-July, they headed south to volunteer in Beersheva, Yeruham, Dimona and Ofakim. The students volunteer from 7 am-3 pm each day.

Festival

“It was a great day and a great festival,” said JCC Executive Director Marci Erlebacher. “Congratulations to the JMAC committee and everyone involved for creating such a successful event.” The JMAC committee said it is very thankful to everyone who makes the festival happen: festival founders Sid and Donna Lipton and Mimi Weiner; festival coordinator Vicki Feldman; and committee members Steffi Bergman, Sis Zucker and Faith Van Voolen; the volunteers, sponsors, bands, vendors, the JCC of Syracuse, The Oaks Catering and the JCC’s maintenance operations staff for all of their hard work in keeping everything running so smoothly. This year’s event sponsors included the Jewish Federation of Central New York; the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse; CNY Arts; the Jewish Observer; Price Chopper; the Paul and Georgina Roth Foundation; the Reisman Foundation; Key Bank; the Pomeranz, Shankman and Martin Charitable Foundation; M&T Bank; a grant from New York State Senator John DeFrancisco; and the Syracuse New Times. The JMAC committee said a “huge thank you” for the support of Barry and Debbie Shulman and Anne Ruffer, together with the Mackenzie Hughes Law offices, for sponsorship of the Kids

American teens volunteered with Magen David Adom. At right is Sophie Roth, 17, of New York. (Photo courtesy of Asiyah) “We decided to go outside Jerusalem – outside the participants’ comfort zones – to Beersheva, which is also close to people that really need these volunteers,” Applbaum said, noting that Ofakim, Yeruham and Dimona are lower-income development towns. Hebrew immersion is likewise key to Asiyah. “I have already learned so much from being at the station, where everyone spoke to me in Hebrew, and being totally immersed has been very exciting,” said Jenna Levin, 17, from San Diego. TELEPHONE (315) 474-3326 17, from Applbaum also said the Jenna FLevin, AX (315) 476-8058 careerguide@verizon.net program hopes to close EMAIL: the San Diego. (Photo seemingly ever-widening gap courtesy of Asiyah) between young American Jews and Israel through “meaningful experiences and PLACEMENT SERVICE, INC. interactions with Israelis from all walks of life.” In the Agency south, she added, campers also “interact with Bedouin “the right person for the job” and Arab Israelis, and understand the coexistence that exists. With this meaningful encounter, we can create 120 E. WASHINGTON ST. theMlanguage to bridge that gap.” SUITE 201 ILDRED SIMINOFF SYRACUSE, 13202 Roth said she has benefited from going intoNY people’s homes, and seeing how they live and interact with one

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another and their environment. “That is an important part of Israel that not many tourists get to see – the people’s connection to this land and what they are going through to live here.” The teen had never been to Israel before. She admitted being a little scared before arriving in the Jewish state. Roth said when she would watch the news about events in Israel back in the United States, she would often wonder why people choose to live in Israel if they know they are in danger. But her position has changed. “This morning, we went over what to do if something serious is going on, and I don’t feel scared anymore,” she said. “Now I feel strong because I know I can help people if something happens – if there is a bomb or a mortar. Knowing that we have that power to help people and fight back made me feel stronger.” For Jacob Wise, 17, of Toronto, the experience is an opportunity to connect with his Jewish heritage and “do a huge mitzvah helping people save lives.” Wise mentioned: “I’ve never done anything like this, nothing even close.” Roth expressed similar sentiments. She said there is “nothing else more important you can do in your life as a Jewish teen than coming to Israel.” She said that for a Jew, “working in an ambulance in America could never be as impactful as in Israel, where you are serving your fellow people.” Applbaum noted that next year, Ramah will open a similar program in the high-tech arena – one of Israel’s most rapidly growing economic and business sectors.

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FAX (315) 476-8058 Happy Tent; festival sponsors Lynn and Corinne Smith and Mimi EMAIL: careerguide@verizon.net Weiner; and festival community sponsors Birnbaum FuPassover! neral Services, Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas, Sisskind Funeral Service, Temple Adath Yeshurun, Temple PLACEMENT SERVICE, INC. Concord and Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation. The JMAC committee also thanks everyone in the Agency community supported “the rightwho person for theJMAC job” with a donation, noting that sponsors and donors are the ones who can take the 120 E.Festival WASHINGTON ST. credit for the Jewish Music and Cultural each year. SUITE 201 ILDRED MNext SIMINOFF year’s festival will be held on September 15, SYRACUSE, NY 13202 2019. Photos of this year’s festival are on the JMAC website, syracusejewishfestival.org.

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Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas (USCJ affiliated), 18 Patsy Ln., off Jamesville Rd., DeWitt, 315-446-9570. Call Melissa Harkavy for youth programs at 315-701-2685. Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse (Orthodox, affiliated with the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America), 4313 E. Genesee St., DeWitt, 315-446-6194. Temple Adath Yeshurun (USCJ affiliated), 450 Kimber Rd., Syracuse, 315-445-0002. Temple Concord (Reform, affiliated with Union for Reform Judaism), 910 Madison St., Syracuse, 315-475-9952. Chabad House at SU. All services at Chabad House, 825 Ostrom Ave. For information, call 315-424-0363. Hillel – Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life at Syracuse University, 102 Walnut Pl., Syracuse 315-422-5082 or 315-443-4836. Services are at the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life or Hendricks Chapel. Student meal reservations can be made at syracusehillel.org/highholidays by September 2. All information, including a schedule and contact information, can be found at syracusehillel.org/highholidays.

Congregation Beth SholomChevra Shas

Services are open to the community. For more information, guests and visitors should contact the Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas office at 315-446-9570 or manager@cbscs.org. There is no fee for attending High Holiday services; nor are there tickets. Donations are welcome. There will be a space in the back of the social hall to meditate, read and study or do yoga, providing multiple paths to the work of the Holidays. In addition, there will be contemplative materials up on the walls.

High Holiday services – 2018

The haftarah for Rosh Hashanah day two will be chanted in English with the traditional trope, with the aim of helping worshippers to internalize its message by hearing it in their primary language. For youth programs, contact Program Director Melissa Harkavy at director@ cbscs.org or 315-701-2685 if your children will be participating. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Erev Rosh Hashanah Mincha, Ma’ariv 6 pm Candle lighting 7:06 pm MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Rosh Hashanah day one Shacharit 8:30 am Candle lighting after 9:12 pm Babysitting for kindergarten and younger 8:30 am-1:30 pm TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Rosh Hashanah day two Shacharit 8:30 am Babysitting for kindergarten and younger 8:30 am-1:30 pm FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 The Days of Repentance – Shabbat Shuvah Asefat Shabbat 5:45 pm; Ma’ariv and Kabbalat Shabbat 6 pm Candle lighting 6:57 pm SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Shabbat Shuvah 9:30 am Havdalah 8:03 pm SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Tashlich and congregational picnic at Jamesville Beach 10 am Cemetery Visitation (approximate times below) Beth Sholom 1 pm Upper Beth El 2 pm Lower Beth El 2:30 pm Chevra Shas 2:30 pm To visit a grave at the Beth Israel or Anshe Sfard cemeteries, contact the CBS-

CS office at 315-446-9570 or manager@ cbscs.org. It is customary to visit the graves of loved ones at this time of year. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 Erev Yom Kippur Mincha 6 pm Kol Nidre 6:15 pm Candle lighting 6:50 pm Babysitting for children 7-years-old and younger 5:30-9:30 pm WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Yom Kippur Shacharit 8:30 am Babysitting for kindergarten and younger 8:30 am-2:30 pm Study session and guided meditation 4:45 pm Mincha 5:30 pm; final shofar blowing 7:56 pm Ma’ariv and Havdalah immediately following shofar blowing HIGH HOLIDAY YOUTH PROGRAMS RSVP to Melissa Harkavy at director@ cbscs.org or 315-701-2685 if your child or out-of-town guests are participating. Babysitting (kindergarten and under): Rosh Hashanah (both days) 8:30 am1:30 pm Kol Nidre 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm (children 7 and under) Yom Kippur Day 8:30 am-2:30 pm Holiday programming 11 am For safety purposes, only those authorized will be permitted to pick up children. Information needed: child’s name, age, allergies and those authorized to pick them up. Call Harkavy with any questions. Children’s program (first-fourth grade) Rosh Hashanah day one and Yom Kippur 10 am-1:30 pm Rosh Hashanah day two 10 am-1 pm Ice breakers and learning the shofar calls followed by participation in main shofar service (RH), the procession to return the Torahs to the Ark (both) and to experience Yizkor (YK). Snacks, activities and age-appropriate services will follow. Pre-teen and teen High Holiday Programs: Middle schoolers (fifth-eighth-graders) All three days 10 am-1 pm High schoolers (ninth-12th-graders) Rosh Hashanah day one and Yom Kippur 10 am-1 pm Explore the themes of the High Holidays as they relate to your life; fifth-12thgraders are expected to be in the main sanctuary if they choose not to participate in these programs.

Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse

Services are open to the community. No tickets are necessary. For more information, contact rabbi@stocsyracuse.org. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Erev Rosh Hashanah Selichot 7:45 am Services 8:15 am Candle lighting 7:07 pm Mincha 7:10 pm MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Rosh Hashanah day one Babysitting will be available both days of Rosh Hashanah from 10 am-1 pm Services 8 am Shofar service approximately 10:45 am Junior congregation will take place immediately after the shofar service. Tashlich Mincha 7:10 pm Candle lighting 8:13 pm (from a pre-existing flame) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Rosh Hashanah day two Babysitting will be available both days of Rosh Hashanah from 10 am-1 pm Morning services 8 am Shofar service approximately 10:45 am Junior congregation will take place at approximately 11 am immediately after the shofar service. Mincha 7:10 pm Havdalah 8:12 pm (Hamavdil only) WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 Tzom Gedaliah Fast begins 5:11 am Selichot 6:15 am Services 6:45 am Mincha 6:55 pm Fast ends 7:50 pm TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 Erev Yom Kippur Morning services 6:45 am Mincha 3:15 pm Candle lighting 6:51 pm Kol Nidre 6:45 pm Fast begins 6:51 pm WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Yom Kippur Chumash class 8:15 am Morning services 8:45 am Yizkor 11:30 am Mincha 5:00 pm (approximately) Havdalah 7:57 pm

Temple Adath Yeshurun

Individuals and families new to the Syracuse area may join the TAY community for High Holiday services. To See “Services” on page 10

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AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

Pilot program offers free genetic testing for Ashkenazi Jews to detect cancer risk BY OREN PELEG (JNS) – Cancer touches everyone. But it’s no secret, at least in the medical community, that elevated genetic risk of several cancers disproportionately afflicts one community: Ashkenazi Jews. Jews of Eastern European ancestry, commonly known as Ashkenazi Jews, are 10 times more likely than their non-Ashkenazi counterparts in the general population to inherit mutations of BRCA genes linked to different cancers, including breast, prostate and ovarian cancers. Despite the high stakes and reliable genetic testing that has been around for two decades, the testing rate for Ashkenazi Jews is believed to be alarmingly low. According to published studies and the estimates of experts, as few as 20 percent of those who should get tested actually do. Now, a leading team of cancer researchers is trying to address the elephant in the exam room – why? “There are multiple barriers of entry,” Dr. Kenneth Offit, a cancer geneticist and oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York recently told JNS. “One is information, specifically making sure people know whether or not they should get tested, and that this test can be life-saving. But information isn’t enough. The other part of Dr. Kenneth Offit the problem is access.” (Photo courtesy of Offit, who actually helped discover the BRCA-2 gene Kenneth Offit) in 1996, said that even many colleagues – fellow physicians of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry – have neglected to get tested, which has “led to profound consequences. “Why would it be that physicians who certainly have knowledge on this subject not seek testing when they’re well-aware that the testing is available?” he said. “What does that mean for everyday people who don’t even know it’s available?”

To get the word out, Offit and a team of researchers and geneticists at cancer centers across the country have launched the pilot phase of an Internet study offering free BRCA genetic testing for men and women of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry aged 25 and older – a target group comprising nearly 2.5 million Americans. Dubbed the BRCA Founder Outreach study, the privately funded, independent research initiative currently has nearly 2,000 participants across four cities: New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. BFOR study organizers aim to increase total enrollment to 4,000 participants through communal outreach efforts. Participants sign up for genetic testing at no cost by logging on to the website (www.BFORStudy.com) and answering a series of questions to determine eligibility. Educational videos explain the specifics of the test, the purpose of genetic testing and its importance. In all, the registration process takes no more than an hour. The site also allows patients to schedule genetic-testing appointments at the offices of Quest Diagnostics, which has several locations in each of the four cities. They can opt to have results sent to a personal physician or a health-care provider on the BFOR study team, which includes the medical geneticists and genetic counselors at each of the study locations. “The unique feature of the study is that we’re really breaking down the barrier of entry to get the test, as it’s available through the Internet without needing a doctor to order it for you and without you having to pay for it,” said Offit. “It’s clearly borrowing from the commercial approach to testing, but where it’s different is you’ll get the result in a medical model from either your own health-care provider or one of the BFOR providers.” Dr. Susan Domchek, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center, who is heading up the BFOR study’s Philadelphia region, told JNS that getting results from a health-care professional is vital and shouldn’t be bypassed in favor of the commercial approach pioneered

by genetic testing behemoths like 23andMe. “With direct-to-consumer testing, your doctor doesn’t know you’re getting tested, and everything is up to you,” Domchek said. “In the future, you’re going to have more and more genetic information at your disposal. But it’s important that interpreting results is done in a medical context with professionals, so Dr. Susan Domchek that we can help determine what (Photo courtesy of those results mean.” Susan Domchek) Interpreting results with the help of a trained genetic counselor is another key component of the BFOR study. Each BFOR study region is offering up the services of genetic counselors both before and after the dispensing of genetic-test results. Genetic counselors help explain to patients what the process of genetic testing entails, what the results indicate, the potential medical management that lies ahead and how to deal with emotional stress-related to results. See “Genetic” on page 10

Bishops

Continued from page 1

friends and colleagues in Massachusetts, and rededicate ourselves to those partnerships, in which we are grateful to face complexities together.” Van Zile said he hopes the apology causes the denomination to reflect on its sources of information. “Reading between the lines, I think that Bishop Harris realizes that whoever told her these stories badly misinformed her,” said Van Zile. “On my trips to the West Bank, I see a fair number of well-meaning Christians believing everything they are told by Palestinian activists – lock, stock and barrel. Christians need to listen to what they are told with a very critical ear.”

P A C E

Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment Your gift to the Annual Campaign DOES A WORLD OF GOOD. Endowing your gift allows you to be there for the Jewish community of Central New York forever. A Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment (PACE) is a permanent fund that endows your Jewish community Annual Campaign gift as a lasting legacy. A PACE fund will continue to make an annual gift in perpetuity on your behalf.

Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment To determine the amount you need to endow your entire campaign gift, multiply your current annual gift by 20. You can fund your PACE by adding the Jewish Federation of CNY to your will, or by making the Federation a beneficiary of your IRA. All contributions to establish a PACE are tax deductible.

Let your name be remembered as a blessing. Endowments can be created through a variety of vehicles, some of which do not necessitate funding during your lifetime yet still provide your estate with considerable tax benefits. They also enable you to perpetuate your commitment to the Annual Campaign in a way that best achieves your own personal financial and estate planning goals. For more information, contact Michael Balanoff at mbalanoff@jewishfederationcny.org or call 315-445-2040 ext. 130.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778

New children’s books: A magical shoebox and animals from everywhere

BY PENNY SCHWARTZ BOSTON (JTA) – From an African warthog to swinging orangutans, animals from all corners of the planet are featured in two stories among a new crop of children’s books at the Jewish New Year that also includes a lyrical poem of the biblical story of Creation and a magical story about an ordinary shoebox. And a bonus: An illustrated picture book tells the story of Regina Jonas, the German Jewish girl who followed her dream to become the first woman ordained as a rabbi. Young ones can get a jump start on the new year by turning the pages on these entertaining and informative reads. Rosh Hashanah ushers in the High Holidays on Sunday evening, September 9. “Shani’s Shoebox” written and illustrated by Rinat Hoffman; translated (from Hebrew) by Noga Applebaum (Green Bean Books; ages 4-8) Prepare to be enchanted! “Shani’s Shoebox,” a gently rhyming poem-story for Rosh Hashanah by the award-winning Israeli illustrator and children’s author Rinat Hoffman, will kick off the Jewish New Year on the right foot. Shani’s “aba,” the Hebrew word for dad, surprises her with a pair “Shani’s Shoebox” (Photo of shiny new red shoes for courtesy of Green Bean Rosh Hashanah. Naturally, Books) she tosses aside the ordinary looking shoebox. “It was only a box after all, nothing more,” she says. But on Yom Kippur, Shani finds the box hidden behind stuffed animals and the next day crafts it into a sukkah. During Hanukkah, a cat discovers the discarded box and uses it to stay warm in the winter. Season to season, the box takes on a magical quality, turning up in new guises and with new uses throughout a year’s worth of Jewish holidays. The next Rosh Hashanah, when Shani’s father fills the box with a new pair of shoes – this time they are blue – Shani is reminded of the year’s adventures.

Hoffman’s colorful, animated illustrations draw in readers with vibrant energy. In one scene, as the family prepares the house for Passover, Shani is on a stool cleaning a mirror and her dad is sweeping. It’s refreshing to have a children’s story that depicts a father in everyday roles more commonly associated with moms, like buying shoes for his kids and cleaning the house. “Where’s the Potty on This Ark?” by Kerry Olitzky; illustration by Abigail Tompkins (Kar-Ben; ages 1-4) Even on Noah’s Ark, the animals need to use the potty. Young kids will be delightfully surprised with this inventive spin on the biblical story of Noah, from the Book of Genesis. As Noah and his wife, Naamah, greet each of the animals onto the ark, Naamah makes sure they “Where’s the Potty on This are comfortable. “Be careful Ark?” (Photo courtesy of not to hit your head on the Kar-Ben) ceiling,” she warns. The ark comes well designed, with big potties for the elephants and little ones for smaller friends. When a baby raccoon needs to use the bathroom, Mother Hen patiently guides the young one to learn how. The animals offer an empathetic lesson in taking care of one’s body, complete with a prayer. And off they sail on the ark as the rains begin. Kerry Olitzky’s simple, lighthearted prose is paired well with Abigail Tompkins’ playful illustrations. The book makes a timely read during the High Holidays because the story of Noah is read in synagogues on the second Shabbat following Simchat Torah, when the cycle of reading the Torah begins anew. “Who’s Got the Etrog?” by Jane Kohuth; illustrations by Elissambura (Kar-Ben; ages 4-8) In this brightly illustrated story for Sukkot, Jane Kohuth weaves a playful folk-like tale told in simple poetic verse. In her rural village in Uganda, under a bright and full milk-bowl moon, Auntie Sanyu is preparing for the fall

Wishing everyone a Healthy & Happy New Year

Wishing tthe individuals, families, and agencies of our community

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Shanah Tovah Building community well-being since 1891

harvest holiday when Jews build a hut called a sukkah where they eat, welcome guests and sometimes even sleep. Kids follow Auntie Sanyu as she decorates her sukkah and places a lulav, the bunch of green palm branches, and a bright yellow etrog, the lemon-like “Who’s Got the Etrog?” fruit, on a tray to be used in (Photo courtesy of Kar-Ben) the holiday rituals byAuntie Sanyu’s animal guests. But Warthog loves the etrog so much, he doesn’t want to hand it over to the lion, parrots or giraffe. A young girl named Sara intervenes. The story comes to life in Elissambura’s boldly colored, striking collage-style illustrations. The back page explains the history of the Ugandan Jewish community called the Abayudaya, and a glossary explains about the sukkah and lulav and terms like “Oy,vey!” “Regina Persisted: An Untold Story” by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso; illustrated by Margeaux Lucas (Apples & Honey Press; ages 7-12) These days, when Jewish-American kids attend synagogue during the High Holidays, it’s not that unusual to have a female rabbi leading the congregation. Older kids may be fascinated to learn about Regina Jonas, the German Jew who in 1935, against many odds and strict gender roles, became the first woman ordained as a rabbi. In this illustrated bi“Regina Persisted: An ography, which garnered Untold Story” (Photo a starred review from courtesy of Apples and Kirkus, Sandy Eisenberg See “Books” on page 10 Honey Press)

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AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

“Out of the blue,” regal biblical color “tekhelet” returns to modern Israel BY ELIANA RUDEE (JNS) – A new exhibit exploring the mysterious color tekhelet, a vibrant blue dye mentioned 49 times in the Torah and later chosen as the central color of Israel’s national flag, opened recently at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. The source of the color tekhelet was a mystery for nearly 1,500 years until later identified by archaeological evidence from around the eastern Mediterranean coast. The tekhelet exhibit at the Bible Lands Museum was launched in honor of Israel’s 70th year of independence, as the power and significance of tekhelet emerged from Jewish memory in modern times as the inspiration for Israel’s vibrant national flag. The exhibit narrates the quest for the biblical blue color, “yearned for by mankind throughout generations.” “Its sacred meaning took root in Jewish history when the Israelites were commanded to cover the Ark of the Covenant and Tabernacle utensils with tekhelet dyed cloths, and to tie tekhelet threads to the corners of their garments as a reminder of God and his commandments,” curator Yehuda Kaplan told JNS. As the dye industry declined, the origin of the color baffled many for centuries, only to be recently identified by marine biologists and talmudic researchers who discovered the source – murex snails indigenous to the Mediterranean shores, near Haifa. The fade-resistant pigment from a glandular secretion of murex snails was likely used in ancient times by early peoples of the Near East, applied to textiles for the biblical blue. The color mirrors the stone lapis lazuli (called sapphire in the Bible), imported from Afghanistan to the ancient Near East, and prized for its heavenly color of God’s throne and footstool. Archaeological evidence for the tekhelet industry, dating back to 15th century B.C.E., includes remains of crushed murex shells and potsherds bearing remains of the dye, in addition to small pieces of dyed textiles discovered in Syria and documents from the same time period mentioning the color. Tekhelet textiles became prized commodities in the ancient world, as unique expressions of royalty and divinity. “The large number of snails required for their production and the complex manufacturing process, together with their beauty and resistance to fading, made textiles dyed in blue and purple into luxury items identified with royalty and divinity,” said Kaplan. It is described as the pure color that made up the high priest’s robe and the thread used in his headdress, as well as the color used on tzitzit (tassels of the Jewish tallit, or prayer shawl) to remind the Jewish people of God and his commandments. “The decline of the tekhelet dye industry [and along with it, the skill required to produce these dyes] after the Muslim conquest in the seventh century C.E. led to the disappearance of the blue thread from the tzitzit,” said Kaplan. Dr. Baruch Sterman, author of “The Rarest Blue: The Remarkable Story of an Ancient Color Lost to History and Rediscovered,” also noted at a Jerusalem press conference ahead of the exhibition opening, “During Roman imperial control of the region, using tekhelet was made a crime of treason punishable by execution, and the knowledge of how to make it was lost for 1,200 years.” As tallit reverted to a prayer shawl rather than a daily garment, the shawls were decorated with blue stripes as a memento to the tekhelet that was once part of the tzitzit. It is thus no surprise that when it came to choosing the colors of the Zionist flag in the 19th century, tekhelet was a strong contender. The leaders of the Zionist movement found that tekhelet blue stripes with a Star of David in its center perfectly expressed the identity and national aspirations of the Jewish people, and this is what was used. Mirroring old practices, “This is how the Jews decided to identify themselves and be identified,” said Sterman.

Threads dyed the color of tekhelet, with the murex snails used to make the dye. (Photo courtesy of JNS)

David Wolffsohn, who designed the flag for the First Zionist Congress held in Basel in 1897, wrote: “Indeed we have a flag, white and blue. This tallit in which we wrap ourselves in prayer – is tallit is our emblem.” Then, in 1948, the flag of the Zionist movement became the national flag of the newly established state of Israel. “Now not only an expression of Jewish personal devotion that survived millennia of historical transformations, but also imprinted as a modern symbol of national pride and determination on a global stage, tekhelet blue lives on,” stated Kaplan. Since its discovery, tekhelet is now seeing a revival. According to Rabbi Tuly Weisz, director of Israel365, “Today, for the first time in centuries, people are once again wearing tekhelet on their tzitzit. From even the smallest sea creature, we continue to see the wonders of the Bible come to life in the land of Israel.”

Norwich Jewish Center wishes the

community a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Shanah Tovah from the Temple Concord Family CNY's Reform Congregation www.TempleConcord.org

L’shanah

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The Jewish Federation of Central New York has instituted the Hebrew Interest-Free Loan program to help Jewish people get past a temporary financial need. To learn more about the program or to see if you qualify, visit the Federation’s website, www. jewishfederationcny.org.

Tovah Tikatevu

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778

Services

Continued from page 6

reserve tickets, contact the synagogue at 315-445-0002 or info@adath.org HIGH HOLIDAY CHILDREN’S SERVICES Temple Adath Yeshurun will offer a variety of young children’s programs this year for the High Holidays. Young children’s services are available for children from birth-seventh grade on both days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur. Beginning at 10:30 am, the junior congregation, for children in kindergarten through seventh grade, will meet in the Miron Family Chapel. The program will consist of a High Holiday service followed by snacks and activities designed to highlight the meaning of this special time of year. The activities and service will bring children of different ages together to experience teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah (repentance, prayer and charity) – all qualities of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. For children from birth-5 years, there will be an “upbeat” service with age-appropriate prayers, stories and songs. The program will run from 10:30-11:30 am and will be geared toward young children. Yom Kippur will end with the children participating in the Havdalah service with TAY’s traditional flashlight walk and the blowing of the shofar to conclude the holidays. Childcare will be available for children age 6 and younger for both days of Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Erev Rosh Hashanah Candle lighting 7:06 pm Mincha 6:15 pm MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Rosh Hashanah day one Morning services 8:15 am Shacharit, Torah service, Musaf, Blessing of the Newborns Tashlich 5:30 pm Evening services 6:30 pm TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Rosh Hashanah day two Morning services 8:15 am Shacharit, Torah service, Musaf

Books

Continued from page 8

Sasso traces how Jonas persisted until religious authorities finally allowed her to take the exam to become a rabbi. Margeaux Lucas’ illustrations capture the period, with drawings of Berlin life. Several scenes convey the young Regina as a kind of Disney-like Belle, greeting peddlers at the market and clutching a book, daydreaming, as she crosses the street. The afterword tells of the tragic ending of Jonas’ life in 1944, where she was killed in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. It would be nearly 40 years later until another woman, the American Sally Priesand, was ordained, in the Reform movement. Today, there are nearly 1,000 women rabbis around the world, among them the book’s author, who herself was a trailblazer as the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the Reconstructionist movement. Eisenberg Sasso also is the award-winning author of the best-selling children’s book “God’s Paintbrush.”

Wishing You a Happy, Healthy & Inspired New Year!

Evening service 7:15 pm Candle lighting 7:43 pm FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 Shabbat Shuvah Candle lighting 6:57 pm SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Morning services 9:15 am Mincha approximately 12:15 pm SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Cemetery memorial service 11 am TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 Erev Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre Mincha 6:15 pm Kol Nidre 6:30 pm Candle lighting 6:50 pm WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Yom Kippur Morning services 9:15 am Shacharit, Torah service, Yizkor, Musaf Study 4:20 pm Mincha and Neilah 4:50 pm Evening service, Havdalah, Sounding of the shofar approximately 7:35 pm

Temple Concord

Services are open to the community. Guests and visitors should contact the Temple Concord office at 315-475-9952 or office@templeconcord.org for guest passes and parking information. There is no fee for attending High Holiday services, although donations are welcome. CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING AND BABYSITTING Babysitting is available during all adult services in the first floor babysitting room. There will be programming for children in grades kindergarten-four during the first day of Rosh Hashanah services (Monday, September 10) and the Yom Kippur morning service (Wednesday, September 19). Participants may engage in creative, age-appropriate activities centering around the themes of the holiday, including a short service designed for them. Kindergarten-fourth grade children participating in the morning programming should be dropped off in a few upstairs classrooms. They should be dropped off and picked up in the school wing. They will be brought into the sanctuary and invited onto the bima for the shofar blowing. Babysitting: Children should be brought directly to the babysitting room on the first floor. Call the TC office at 315-475-9952 with children’s names and grades so children may be included in the appropriate age group programming. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Erev Rosh Hashanah Evening service 8 pm MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Rosh Hashanah day one (office closed) Morning service 10 am Children’s program 10 am Children’s service 11 am Tashlich at pond near Barry Park 4:30 pm TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Rosh Hashanah day two (office closed) Morning service 10 am

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Woodlawn Cemetery memorial service 12:30 pm TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 Office closes at noon Kol Nidre 8 pm WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Yom Kippur (office closed) Morning service 10 am Children’s program 10 am Children’s service 11 am Study session 1 pm Afternoon service 3 pm Havdalah and break fast 6:30 pm

Hillel at Syracuse University

Reservations are required for all meals. Visit suhillel. org to make a reservation before September 13. For more information, contact Rabbi Leah Fein at lfein@suhillel. org, 315-443-4836.

Genetic

Daniella Kamara, a BFOR study genetic counselor at the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Program in Los Angeles, is optimistic about what the study can accomplish. “This is truly a groundbreaking study,” she said. “Right now, we predict that we’re missing anywhere from 80 to 90 percent of people in the Ashkenazi community who have BRCA mutations. We’re catching those people once they’ve already been diagnosed, which in many cases is too late. These are preventable cancers. These are people with increased risk, which means we can often treat it early or prevent it before it develops.” Responses to tests that detect BRCA mutations may include recommendations for screenings for ongoing monitoring, such as mammograms or prostate exams, or risk-reducing surgeries. Test results can also reveal family members as carriers. “This isn’t testing patients for genetic susceptibility; it’s testing families,” said Domcheck. “If you’re a carrier, your children have a 50 percent chance of having a BRCA mutation.” Another role of genetic counselors in the BFOR study is working directly with a patient’s primary-care provider once the results have been issued. “I’ve seen a lot of mistakes made because physicians or other specialists are misinformed, such as a woman who was recommended to have risk-reducing surgery when she shouldn’t have been,” said Kamara. “People not understanding the intricacies of genetic testing and its results can lead us down a scary road. It’s important that specialists, primary-care providers and genetic counselors work together.” BFOR study organizers insist that their goals are short-term. They’re focused on seeing how effective the pilot study can be. Any scaling up to reach the rest of the estimated 2.5 million at-risk Ashkenazi Jews in the United States would take millions of dollars of additional fund-raising, according to Domcheck. Still, it’s hard to ignore the potential reach of the model. “Long term, if this study works in the pilot phase, it certainly could succeed scaled up in a larger Ashkenazi Jewish population and help provide even more families with valuable medical information,” she said. “And there’s no reason it can’t be applied to other populations, too.”

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AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

Why Jews dip apples in honey on Rosh Hashanah – and why vegans say the custom is a problem BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN NEW YORK (JTA) – The truth is, there is no commandment in Judaism to dip an apple in honey on Rosh Hashanah. But what would the Jewish New Year be without the custom? It’s a question that bedevils vegans, many of whom won’t eat honey because it’s an animal product. So what’s a mock chopped liver/seitan brisket/vegetarian stuffed cabbage kind of Jew to do? Jeffrey Cohan, the executive director of Jewish Veg, explains all the ways that honey production is problematic. In order to produce as much honey as possible, many honey producers manipulate the bees’ natural living patterns, including clipping the queen’s wings to prevent her from flying away, and replacing the honey produced with sugar water, which animal rights activists say is less nutritious. Some vegans regard the whole process as cruel and exploitative. “’Tza’ar ba’alei chayim’ is a core Torah mandate, so to start the new year right away by violating tza’ar ba’alei chayim does not get the year off to the best start,” Cohan said, using the Hebrew term for the prohibition against causing unnecessary harm to animals. One of the more common substitutes is honey made from dates, according to Cohan. Date honey is not only vegetarian, but has its roots in the Bible. Dates are one of the seven species of the land of Israel mentioned in the Bible. Scholars say that the description of “a land flowing with milk and honey” actually refers to date honey, not bee honey. “[B]ecause date syrup is actually in the Torah, it makes the most sense from a Jewish perspective,” Cohan said. Proponents of eating date honey also cite its health

benefits. Brian Finkel, the co-founder As for the apple, the custom was of a company selling organic date started among Ashkenazi Jews in honey, says the product has 25 percent medieval Europe, when the apple as less sugar and a lower glycemic index we know it had become more accesthan bee honey, and is considered a sible due to cultivation, said Jordan great source of antioxidants. Rosenblum, an associate professor at Finkel, who grew up outside Chithe University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies food and Judaism. cago but moved to Israel in 2013, Apples are in season and therefore first tasted date honey while studying at a yeshiva in the Jewish state after The Rosh Hashanah custom of plentiful in the fall, when the holiday finishing high school. Silan, as the dipping apples in honey had its start of Rosh Hashanah occurs. In 14th-cenproduct is known there, is considered among Ashkenazi Jews. (Photo by tury Germany, the Jewish sage known a popular ingredient in cooking and Liron Almog/Flash90) as the Maharil described the custom baking, and as a dip. The entrepreneur of dipping apples in honey as long had a self-described “eureka moment” when he thought established and rich with mystical meaning. to introduce it to American consumers. Dates did not grow in Europe, but honey made Last year, Finkel and his business partner, David by bees was available, so that became the topping of Czinn, launched D’Vash Organics. Since then, Finkel choice, said Leah Hochman, an associate professor at said, they have sold hundreds of thousands of bottles of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion date honey, in stores across the United States and through who researches religion and food. “You have all these the company’s website. The product is produced in a U.S. Diaspora communities that are adapting to their new factory that is not certified kosher, but Finkel said he is environments, and over time people used substitutes looking to produce a kosher version so that observant that had some sort of relationship to the seven species to Jews can have it around the holidays – and year-round. honor the ever-longed-for return to Zion,” Hochman said. “I think it goes great with apples, it goes great with The custom traveled with European Jews when many challah,” he said. “I definitely encourage people to use of them left for the United States in the 19th century. it on those things, around the holiday time, to make the Many settled in the Northeast, a region where apples new year that much sweeter.” grow well. “They have that tradition and they come to Making the new year sweeter is the whole point of the a place that’s great for apple growing, so that further custom. Some trace it to Nehemiah 8:10, where the Jews cements it,” Rosenblum said. of the Second Temple period celebrating what would Hochman said that as apples and honey became aseventually become Rosh Hashanah are told to “Go your sociated with Rosh Hashanah, the combination gained a See “Honey” on page 14 way, eat the fat and drink the sweet.”

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778

Rosh Hashanah fuss-free food for the modern host

BY ETHEL HOFMAN (JNS) – It started with a chance remark after a Shabbat dinner. “What a feast! You must have cooked for hours. How do you do it?” I didn’t answer immediately. Working in my home office, I haven’t the time or inclination to spend hours in the kitchen anymore. And neither do busy parents, young couples or working professionals. While everyone wants a traditional High Holiday meal, no one wants to spend a week shopping, chopping, boiling, baking and then freezing dish after dish. And these days, there’s really no need for it. Today, with literally thousands of kosher convenience-food items available in markets, it’s easy to create sensational meals with minimum effort. So while you really can’t avoid the shopping, you can skip the other lengthy processes with just a bit of pre-planning and a dollop of shortcuts. Also, the emphasis in contemporary kitchens is on healthier eating patterns. We include more fresh produce in our meals. We’re cooking fish and chicken, rather than red meat – the latter of which takes much longer to cook (think of braising a brisket for three to four hours). And consider this: The Jewish New Year falls early in the season – Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown on Sunday, September 9, and lasts through the evening of Tuesday, September 11. Meaning, the weather on both U.S. coasts will be warm. Instead of matzah-ball soup, serve a gazpacho, redolent with fresh shredded basil. Include wedges of Bosc or Asian pear along with apples to dip in honey. Gussie up already-roasted chicken with your own marinade and end the meal with an apple cobbler mixed, baked and served in one dish. To avoid taking out, setting up and washing china plates and crystal glassware, arrange attractive paper goods and plastic ware on a tray and eat picnic-style. (The kids will love it!) And while wine should be available (Jewish holidays require it), many guests prefer non-alcoholic beverages in what will actually still be late summer. Israelis use fresh herbs abundantly. Before filling a water pitcher, insert four to five stems of fresh mint. To top off the entire production, take a seedless watermelon, slice in wedges and arrange on a platter. Or heap clementine oranges in a bowl with mint or rosemary sprigs tucked in. It’s a fresh, sweet and a perfect finale to a simple, yet sensational festive meal. At that Shabbat dinner, I promised to share my “secrets” Passover Greetings to you and yours and recipes with my millennial guests. In return for it, I challenged them to get together and make a Rosh Hashanah dinner. The suggestion was met with downright alarm. Silence snuffed out all conversation. Thankfully – there’s one in every crowd – Cousin George’s face lit up. He turned to May, his wife, and said: “This could be fun.” And so

Secrets, substitions and tips for a fuss-free holiday dinner

No self-rising flour? Use 1 cup all-purpose flour, mixed with 1½ teaspoons baking powder and a pinch salt. Fresh herbs: Use any mixture in any quantity. Just trim the tough stems on parsley, mint, dill and basil. Use leaves and stems for best flavor. Depending on size, one bunch, loosely packed, is about 3 to 4 cups. Lemons should be at room temperature. When squeezed, these yield more juice than ones fresh from the fridge. There’s no substitute for the flavor of fresh lemon juice. Refrigerate in covered jar for use within three days. Or pour into ice-cube trays and freeze. Pop out a cube to use as needed. Cinnamon-sugar keeps well in a tightly covered container in a cool dry place. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar to 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and add a pinch of nutmeg (optional). Serve sprinkled on breakfast toast, over fresh fruit or on baked desserts. Some items, such as balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, canned tomatoes, canned chickpeas and pumpkin seeds, on the “what to buy” list are good additions to keep on hand.

Nuts and seeds may be placed in plastic bags and frozen. Hosting a crowd? No shame in using paper and plastic. Paper plates can be pretty and durable, and plastic knives and forks (especially the silver ones) look like the real thing. Flatware can be easily washed for later re-use. For a more formal look, set the dinner table one or two days beforehand and cover loosely with a cloth. Or try trays (you can purchase disposable ones at a party store) and eat picnic-style. Don’t hesitate: Pick up pre-cooked roast or rotisserie chickens, then make it “your own” with a pomegranate sauce (recipe below). It saves time and labor – and you’re assured of perfectly cooked chicken. Choose pre-cut veggies and fruit from the market, canned tomatoes and anything that will make life easier. Remember, pre-cut produce, especially if it’s organic, should be refrigerated and used within two days. Items you may have on hand: flour, sugar, baking powder, bread, honey, olive oil, pareve margarine and cinnamon.

it began... a wildly successful Rosh Hashanah dinner to continue for the years ahead hosted by a new generation. So don’t hold back. Check out these recipes. Make all for a complete Rosh Hashanah dinner or bring just one of them to the host of the meal that you’ll be attending. You can also add a round challah, the tradition shape used for the Jewish New Year. A shopping list for each dish is included. The recipes serve six to eight. Autumn Gazpacho (Pareve) A slice of multigrain bread gives this a gentle, nutty texture. If preferred, substitute challah. 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes 1½-2 cups bottled Bloody Mary mix* Juice of ½ lemon ½ cucumber, peeled and cut in chunks 1 medium tomato, cut into 6 chunks 1 slice multigrain bread, torn in chunks 2 tsp. honey Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste ¼ cup basil leaves packed Unpeeled cucumber slices for garnish (optional) In blender or food processor, place all ingredients except salt, pepper and basil. Whirl 15 to 20 seconds at high speed for a desired texture. Pour into a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Shred the basil with scissors and stir in. Refrigerate overnight.

To serve: Pour into small glasses. Float two thin slices of cucumber on top (optional). To buy: Bloody Mary mix or vegetable juice, lemon, tomato, cucumber, fresh basil *May substitute 1½ cups vegetable juice with ½ teaspoon each dried basil, dried oregano and fresh ground pepper stirred in. Marinated Tricolor Cherry Tomatoes (Pareve) *Double the dressing ingredients. Refrigerate extra to use later as salad dressing or to drizzle over cooked veggies. ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard 2 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced 2 pints tricolor cherry tomatoes, halved 1 rib celery with leaves, thinly sliced 1 cup basil leaves, finely shredded Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper ½ cup pumpkin seeds In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, shake oil, vinegar and mustard to combine. Set aside. Place the green onions, tomatoes, celery and basil in a large serving bowl. Pour mustard dressing over and toss lightly to mix. Season with salt and pepper. Scatter pumpkin seeds over top. Serve chilled. See “Food” on page 13

Cantor Francine & Barry Berg New Year Greetings to you and yours

Cantor Francine & Barry Berg

Wishing you a Chanukah Greetings to you and yours Cantor Francinehealthy, & Barryhappy Berg and peaceful New Year!

L’Shanah Tovah

Ona & Bernie Bregman

A dollop of honey and a dollop of sweetness for the upcoming year!

Mildred Siminoﬀ

May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for good health, peace and prosperity.

Cheryl & Irv Schotz

Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Wishing you and your family peace, health and happiness this Pesach

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and sweet New Year!

The Cominsky & Gatesy Families Bonnie Rozen, Wishing you Jewish Observer Advertising Executive May the lights and your family of Chanukah peace, health shine in your and happiness May thehearts new year this Pesach forever be the start

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AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778 ■

Food

JEWISH OBSERVER

Continued from page 12

May make a day ahead. To buy: balsamic vinegar, green onions, cherry tomatoes, celery, pumpkin seeds Israeli Blessing Salad (Pareve) 1 bunch parsley 1 bunch basil ½ bunch dill 1 (14½ ounce) can chickpeas, drained 1 cucumber, unpeeled and coarsely diced ¾ cup dried cranberries ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 1 tsp. cumin Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste Trim parsley stems. Pull leaves off basil and discard stems. Dill may be used without trimming. Rinse well in cold water. Spin dry all herbs in salad spinner. Place in food processor. Pulse to chop coarsely. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the chickpeas and remaining ingredients. Toss gently to mix. Serve at room temperature. Note: May be made the day beforehand; cover and refrigerate. To buy: can chickpeas, parsley, basil, dill, cucumber, dried cranberries, cumin Pomegranate chicken (meat) No one will guess this starts with roasted chicken from the kosher section of your market. ½ cup pomegranate juice or juice from 1 large pomegranate ½ cup apricot preserves 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 1 Tbsp. bottled grated ginger or 1 teaspoon powdered ½ tsp. salt ½ tsp. fresh ground pepper 2 roasted chickens, quartered Pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional) Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pomegranate juice, apricot preserves, lemon juice, ginger, salt and pepper in small microwave bowl. Heat on “high” for 18 seconds, or until preserves are melted. Check after 10 seconds. Stir to mix. Cool slightly. Arrange chicken in one layer in a baking dish. Pierce each piece two times with a fork. Pour the pomegranate mixture over top. Cover tightly with foil. Heat through in preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes. Chicken will steam and absorb flavors. Wishing you with andpomegranate your family Serve garnished seeds (optional). To buy: pomegranate juice or pomegranate, apricot peace, health preserves, lemon, 2 roasted chickens, pomegranate and(optional) happiness seeds Za’atar Salmon in a Pouch (Pareve) this Pesach 8 pieces aluminum foil, each 15x18 inches

16 thin asparagus spears, each cut in half 1 large sweet onion, cut in 8 slices 8 salmon fillets (6-8 ounces each) 1 Tbsp. za’atar spice* 8 Tbsp. peach-mango salsa** 8 sprigs dill 8 lemon wedges Spray aluminum foil with nonstick vegetable spray. On center of one sheet of foil, place 1 asparagus spear (2 pieces). Top with a slice of onion, then a salmon fillet. Sprinkle lightly with za’atar. Drizzle a tablespoon of salsa over and then top with a sprig of dill. Bring the long edges of foil up and over the salmon to meet at center. Fold over loosely to create a tight seal. Then fold edges at each side to seal. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ingredients. May be refrigerated 4-6 hours before cooking. Bake in a preheated 450°F oven for 18-20 minutes, depending on thickness of salmon fillet. A 1-inch fillet will need closer to 20 minutes. *A Middle Eastern spice blend of thyme, sesame and sumac. Also add to olive oil for dipping. It’s now available in many supermarkets, especially in the kosher section. **May substitute a tomato/vegetable salsa. To buy: 8 salmon fillets (6-8 ounces each), za’atar spice, large onion, 16 thin asparagus spears, peach mango salsa, dill Moroccan Couscous with Currants and Carrots (Pareve) Couscous is not a grain. It’s a pasta made from semolina flour, which is extremely high in gluten. 2 packages (approximately 5.7 ounce each) couscous ½ cup currants 16-ounce package baby carrots, peeled ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil ¼ cup fresh lemon juice ½ tsp. cumin or turmeric ½ tsp. salt ½ tsp. fresh ground pepper ½ cup finely snipped mint, divided Prepare couscous according to package direction. Stir in currants. Cover and set aside to keep warm. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, cumin or turmeric, salt and pepper. Stir in ¼ cup mint. Set aside. In a large saucepan, cover carrots with boiling water. Bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes, or until fork-tender. A Joyous Passover Drain well. Transfer to a serving bowl. To All Pour olive-oil mixture over and stir gently to mix. Spoon the carrots over the couscous. Sprinkle remaining mint over to garnish. Serve warm. *May be prepared a few hours ahead of time. Cover

loosely with plastic wrap. Reheat in microwave for 2-3 minutes, or until warm. Sprinkle mint over just before serving. To buy: 2 packages couscous, currants, peeled baby carrots, mint Oma’s Noodles and Blueberries (Pareve) From my late husband’s grandmother’s kitchen. She used fresh blueberries, but in September, I use frozen or little blue Italian plums, stones removed and quartered. 1 package (12 ounces) medium egg noodles cup sugar 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 3 cups blueberries 2 Tbsp. margarine 2 Tbsp. cinnamon-sugar In a large saucepan of boiling water, cook noodles until tender but still firm (5-7 minutes). Drain in a colander. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, lemon juice, blueberries and 3 tablespoons water. Stir over medium heat to dissolve sugar and bring to a boil, about 5 minutes. In a large serving bowl, toss the noodles with the margarine and cinnamon-sugar. Pour the blueberry mixture over top and serve hot. Note: Blueberry sauce may be made ahead of time and heated when needed. To buy: noodles, blueberries Apple-Walnut Cobbler (Pareve) Prepare, bake and serve in a single dish. No bowls to wash. 6 medium apples 1 stick (4 ounces) margarine, cut in 4 pieces 1 cup self-rising flour 1 cup sugar ½ cup nondairy creamer ½ cup cold water ¾ tsp. orange extract 10-12 walnut halves 1-2 Tbsp. honey to drizzle Preheat oven to 350°F. Core and quarter apples. Do not peel. Cut into wedges about one-quarter-inch thick. Set aside. In an ovenproof dish, 11x7 inches, place margarine. Set in microwave to melt, 30-40 seconds, depending on microwave wattage. To the melted margarine add flour, sugar, nondairy creamer, water and orange extract. Stir to blend. Scatter apple wedges and walnuts over top, making sure to cover the batter. Do not stir. Drizzle with honey. Bake in preheated oven 45-50 minutes, or until nicely browned and bubbly at edges. Serve warm or at room temperature. To buy: apples, nondairy creamer, walnut halves

Wishing the community a Happy Chanukah!

Wishing peace, he happiness to all thi

Michael & Euni Balanoff Elihu & Iris Cohen

y Ros h Has hanah! p p a H

Best wishes for a sweet New Year!

L’Shanah Tovah

Sydney Tenenbaum & Deidre Zehner

Michael & Euni Balanoff

Elihu & Iris Cohen

Sydney Tenenbaum & D

Ruth & Joel Stein

L’Shanah Tovah Mayyou you and Wishes for aChanukah Wishing a Happy Healthy and New Year! • Happy peace • love yourlight family

May the new year be the start of only the sweetest things!

have a joyous Pesach

Michael & Euni Balanoff

Neil and Robin Goldberg Seth, Leah, Abe, Harry Georgina, Paul, Joshua, Aaron, Shira, Jared, Danya, Eliana, Aviva Gabriel andAdam, Laima Roth Amira Miriam and Jeremy

Let the New Year be the start of only the sweetest things! Georgina, Paul, Joshua, Aaron, Gabriel and Laima Roth

Sydney Tenenbaum & Deidre Zehner

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778

D’VAR TORAH

When you enter the land BY JEFF STANTON “When you enter the land, take the first fruits to the altar and recite the following: ‘My father was a fugitive Aramean...’” Ki tavo is Hebrew for “when you enter,” the second and third words of this week’s Torah portion. The 122 verses of Ki Tavo, which also contain many elements of the Passover haggadah, begin with the guidelines for distributing the first fruits of the harvest, continue with instructions for building an altar on Mt. Ebal, and conclude with lists of blessings and curses to which the Israelites will be subject, depending on their future behavior. After the recitation excerpted above was offered by farmers in the newborn Eretz Yisrael, the first fruits of the harvest were then to be distributed to the Levites, the fatherless, the widows and strangers. Ki Tavo’s opening verses offer a linguistic ambiguity of great interest. The conventional translation, appearing in the “Etz Chaim Chumash” and many other contemporary sources, is this, “A fugitive Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty and populous... And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders.” The fugitive or wandering Aramean referred to in the passage probably refers to Jacob, who worked for many years in Padan Aram, which is presently the site of Aleppo, Syria. Casting Jacob as the wandering or fugitive Aramean evokes many other elements of the Torah, as we know that Jacob left Padan Aram under pursuit, taking the first step on his journey toward Egypt and his remarkable encounter there with the Pharaoh. In this mainstream interpretation of the text, the word oved is translated as wandering or fugitive. In many Passover haggadot, however, that same word is read as ibed, meaning destroyed. The phrase then becomes, “An Aramean destroyed my father,” or, “An Aramean tried to destroy my father.” In this reading, the Aramean becomes Laban, the uncle for whom Jacob worked while

residing in Aram. Some haggadot say, “Come and learn what Laban tried to do to our father Jacob. While Pharaoh decreed only against the males, Laban desired to uproot all. For so it is written: ‘An Aramean tried to destroy my father; and he went down to Egypt and dwelled there’...” The grammar in the latter sentence seems somewhat awkward, as the “he” in the second clause must refer to Jacob rather than Laban, but the implication is that Laban was the disruptive force that drove Jacob toward Egypt. In the modern day, the two interpretations can make sense together when we think of refugees and those seeking asylum from various unsettled and dangerous locales across the globe. There is always a disruptive force, such as Laban, working to uproot the refugee from his or her home. Too many of those who cannot flee are truly destroyed as a result of violence, famine or disease. Those “wandering Arameans” who do successfully uproot themselves, like the Israelites in Egypt, then face an uncertain future with many possible hardships and sorrows. The plight of the refugee depends in part upon the beneficence of the receiving country. Will the country welcome, accept and support asylum seekers, or will it “afflict them and lay upon them hard bondage,” as the recitation in Ki Tavo declaims? The first fruits ceremony reminds us that we were all once refugees, and it is incumbent upon us now to share the bounty of our land with those uprooted from their homelands. Jeff Stanton is a congregant at Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas and a professor of information studies at Syracuse University.

Honey

Calendar Highlights

Continued from page 11

symbolic meaning. “Over the course of time, the tradition became crucially important for understanding our wishes for a new year, that they’re sweet,” she said. It also helped that bee honey is kosher, even thought the bee itself is not. Rabbis explain that unlike milk from a nonkosher animal, which may not be consumed, bee honey is derived from the nectar of a flower and not from something that’s part of the bee’s body.

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.

Wednesday, August 29 Deadline for September 13 Jewish Observer Friday, September 7 EARLY Deadline for September 27 Jewish Observer Monday, September 3 Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas Back to Shul bbq 4 - 6 pm Tuesday, September 4 TC High Holy Day class with Rabbi Daniel Fellman at 12:30 pm Rabbi Jacob Epstein School for Jewish Studies opening night at 6:30 pm at Temple Adath Yeshurun Sunday, September 9 Erev Rosh Hashanah Monday, September 10 Rosh Hashanah, Day 1 JCC and Federation offices closed Tuesday, September 11 Rosh Hashanah, Day 2 JCC and Federation offices closed Wednesday, September 12 CBS-CS Board of Trustees at 7:30 pm Thursday, September 13 Federation board meeting at 6 pm Sunday, September 16 CBS-CS Tashlich at Jamesville Beach 10 – noon Temple Concord - first day Religious School at 9 am TC Brotherhood and Sisterhood welcome back brunch at 9:30 am TC GAN: Rosh Hashanah /Yom Kippur at 10:30 am Various cemetery visitations (see High Holiday schedule) Tuesday, September 18 Erev Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre Wednesday, September 19 Yom Kippur JCC and Federation offices closed

NEWS IN BRIEF From JTA

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A Palestinian man who fired at Israeli troops patrolling the border with Gaza before they shot him dead was an employee of the Doctors Without Borders nonprofit. Hani Majdalawi, whose body is being held by Israel, worked as a nurse for the international medical group, which employs about 200 people in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Broadcasting Corp. reported on Aug. 23, based on interviews with Doctors without Borders and Majdalawi’s brother, Osama. On Aug. 20, Hani Majdalawi arrived armed near a section of the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip and opened fire on an Israeli patrol from an automatic weapon he purchased with his own money, according to the brother. The troops returned fire, killed Hani Majdalawi and recovered his body. No one except him was hurt in the incident. He was financially well-off, mentally stable and expecting his first child with his wife, whom he had recently married, Osama Majdalawi said of his brother. Hani Majdalawi was not a member of any Palestinian terrorist group, his brother also said. Doctors without Borders declined to comment on the incident. Brig. Gen Kamil Abu-Rukun, the Israeli government’s coordinator of activities in the territories, wrote in a statement that Majdalawi’s association with Doctors Without Borders raises several questions. “We are left to wonder how can a man trained to save lives buys with his salary a weapon in order to kill? Thos who are engaged in rescuing lives should help with humanitarian activities in the Gaza Strip instead of terrorism,” he wrote.

FIFA suspends, fines Palestinian soccer boss for threats against Lionel Messi

The FIFA soccer federation suspended the head of the Palestinian soccer body for threats against Argentinian star Lionel Messi. Jibril Rajoub, who has long lobbied for action by FIFA against Israel, was suspended for a year on Aug. 24 by the body’s ethics committee in Switzerland, Ynet reported. In June, he urged supporters to burn photos and player jerseys if Messi or his Argentinian national team were to show up for a scheduled friendly match against the Israeli national team in Jerusalem. Messi subsequently pulled out of the game and his team stayed away in what was widely

seen as a major victory for the effort to boycott of Israel. FIFA, which last year rejected indefinitely Rajoub’s repeated requests to discuss sanctions against Israel, opened an ethics hearing into his conduct, which the organization deemed an incitement to violence. Rajoub was also fined to the tune of $20,000.

Kosher beer label launched in Portuguese town with a few dozen Jews

Brewers in Portugal have announced the country’s first kosher artisanal beer, which will debut at the country’s kosher market in October. The first brew in July yielded about 500 bottles, or 50 gallons, of the Cabralinha label, the RTP public broadcaster reported. Its name means “little goat” in Portuguese. The brewery is located in Belmonte, one of the three municipalities in Portugal with their own rabbis and synagogues, and is under the supervision of Elisha Salas, the local rabbi. A municipality spokesperson said on Aug. 23 that the beer would be part of the kosher market of Belmonte, an annual event that began in 2010. This year, the market will open on Oct. 14 in the central Portuguese city. The beer is produced with honey from Israel and local ingredients from the Serra da Estrela mountain range on which Belmonte is situated, Ana Bogalheiro, who works for the brewery, told RTP. The area has only a few dozen practicing Jews, but thousands of others trace their lineage to ancestors who were forced to abandon Judaism during the 16th century under the Inquisition campaign of persecution. Salas is an emissary of the Shavei Israel organization, which works to bring communities who were lost to the Jewish people into the fold of Judaism.

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AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778 ■

Tufts

Continued from page 2

The class will be taught by Thomas Abowd, who is listed on Canary Mission, a blacklist of anti-Israel activists, academics and organizations. Abowd has a history of engaging in anti-Israel and antisemitic causes. In 2015, he spoke at Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine’s Israeli Apartheid Week and declared, “We have apartheid right here on this campus, and we have apartheid right here in this city,” propelling the narrative that Israel is an “apartheid state.” In 2016, he claimed that Israel “privileges [Jews] to the exclusion of others, so you get this deep sort of biblical historical notion of an unchanging Jewish essence and connections to the Holy Land,” and that Israel views Jerusalem as an “eternal place, an unchanging immutable part of Jewish history.” He received a Fulbright award to conduct research and teach at Birzeit University near Ramallah, a stronghold for anti-Israel incitement, from December 2011 to October 2012. “As an institution of higher education, Tufts is committed to the free exchange of ideas. The university’s courses represent a broad spectrum of ideas and topics that enable students to become familiar with a variety of perspectives on important and complex issues facing our global society,” Tufts spokesperson Patrick Collins told JNS. “University-facilitated discussion of these issues does not imply endorsement of a particular view, and we anticipate and welcome the Tufts’ community’s vigorous discussion of varying viewpoints and beliefs.” “UNDERMINING THE UNIVERSITY’S ACADEMIC INTEGRITY” Rachel Rubinstein, 23, a Tufts alumna who works at a biotechnology company, explained that as a liberal Jew who does not support Israel building neighborhoods in the West Bank, the course seems intriguing, yet is still troublesome. “I think a large group of Tufts students do not support Israel’s existence, and probably think this class is necessary and important,” said Rubenstein. “I support open dialogue on the conflict, but, of course, do not support antisemitism, which is why I would be interested in seeing if that is how the class is taught before trying to shut it down,” she added. “I don’t generally understand classes like these; coming from a science background, they tend to touch on [being] too emotional and blaming both sides, but that could be for lack of a political-science background.” Groups including the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, which is near Tufts, as well as StandWithUs, the AMCHA Initiative and the Endowment for Middle East Truth condemned Tufts for offering the class. “In addition to the title of the course itself suggesting a distorted account of the Palestinian-Israel conflict, the course professor, Thomas Abowd, is an outspoken activist against Israel,” said Aviva Rosenschein, CAMERA’s international campus director. “He is on the advisory board for the Boston branch of Jewish Voice for Peace – an extremist pro-BDS organization that has hosted and honored the terrorist Rasmea Odeah.” Rosenschein continued, “When students choose to attend Tufts University, they expect to be receiving high-level education – not to be inundated with biased material stemming from activists who support the end of Israel and demise of all its people, Jews and nonJews alike.” “Studying the impact of British and Ottoman colonialism on Arabs and Jews in the region is entirely legitimate,” said StandWithUs New England campus director Zach Shartiag. “However, if this course frames Jews as colonizers in their ancestral homeland, it will be erasing history, doing a disservice to Tufts students and undermining the university’s academic integrity.” AMCHA Director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin noted that “it’s important to point out that academic freedom protects Professor Abowd’s right to teach this course as he sees fit. However, the fact that Abowd is an ardent supporter of an academic boycott of Israeli universities and scholars, as is the director of the Tufts Colonialism Studies program that is offering this course, certainly raises concerns about whether the course will be used for education or political indoctrination. ...But even more troubling than the possibility of Abowd indoctrinating his students with one-sided, anti-Zionist propaganda,” she continued, “is the possible impact this course could have on Jewish and pro-Israel students at Tufts.” EMET founder and President Sarah Stern said “this class is a paramount example of what has been occurring in the field of Middle East studies over the last quarter of a century, where the truth – and a good solid education – is being sacrificed on the altar of mere political propaganda.” She added that “the word ‘Jew’ derives from Judea, which was the place of our origin. It is beyond tragic that today’s youth are being fed an education that is built on a narrative of falsehoods and lies.”

JEWISH OBSERVER

NEWS IN BRIEF From JNS.org

Bolton: U.S. to cut its funding of U.N. Human Rights Council

IDF launches plan to improve quality of life for combat soldiers

A new program to improve the quality of life of combat soldiers, initiated by soon-to-be-former Israel U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, Aug. 23 y that the United States plans to cut its funding of will include increased budgets for upgrades to service the United Nations Human Rights Council, which the U.S. conditions. According to the plan, battalion commandwithdrew from in June due to the body’s anti-Israel bias. “We ers will be given the right to allocate special funds up to are going to de-fund the Human Rights Council,” Bolton, NIS 150,000 (about $40,000) for purchases they see fit a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the to make for their battalions. The effort aims to improve Associated Press. As the UNHRC’s largest donor, the U.S. contributes 22 percent of the council’s budget. However, conditions for soldiers, as well as to reduce reliance on it does not contribute directly; instead, the funds are taken outside donations. Each battalion will also receive a 30from the overall U.S. payment to the United Nations. “We’ll day car rental to be used by soldiers with the authorization calculate 22 percent of the Human Rights Council and the of the battalion commander. Some bases will be outfitted High Commissioner’s budget, and our remittances to the with entertainment rooms, including televisions and game U.N. for this budget year will be less 22 percent of those consoles, as well as mobile fitness areas featuring weights costs, and we’ll say specifically that’s what we’re doing,” and other workout equipment. The program also seeks to said Bolton. “We expect that impact to occur on the Human make army doctors more efficient by reducing the amount Rights Council.” The UNHRC was founded in 2006 to advo- of time spent on unrelated tasks and assignments on base. cate for human rights globally. However, its constant double An app is also in development that will enable soldiers standard and demonization of Israel has frustrated American to learn more about their rights during service. During leadership, among other moves like allowing countries, such his four years as chief of staff, Eizenkot doubled salaries as Venezuela, which violate human rights, to be members of for combat soldiers, gave bonuses of NIS 2,000 ($550) the U.N. body. Last May, it passed five resolutions against to troops reaching their third year of service and invested in improvements in army bases, particularly in the north. Thank trust and loyalty since 1934. Israel, which is not a member of the council. you for your He also introduced a grant for discharged combat soldiers Grandson of 1972 Munich Olympics’ When that timeofarises, to godifficult toward three years post-army higher education.

terrorist poised to win congressional EU pledges in Iran youseat can rely upon $21 ourmillion expertise. With the indictment of U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, assistance to keep nuclear deal alive

Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar – a grandson of a Black The European Union announced on Aug. 23 financial September terrorist who killed 11 members of the Israeli support to stimulate the declining Iranian economy. The athletic team at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics – is assistance exemplifies the bloc’s pledge to maintain the likely to go from being a long-shot candidate to upsetting the 2015 Iran nuclear accord despite U.S. President Donald California Republican this November in what is considered Trump’s decision in May to withdraw the U.S. from the East Fayette St., Syracuse, NY 13210 • 315.472.5291 • 1.800.472.5182 a heavy conservative congressional1909 district. Campa-Najjar, deal and reimpose economic sanctions on Iran, which Martin J. Birnbaum* 28, a practicing Christian born to a Palestinian father and took effect earlier in August. The $21 million is the first Elaine R. Birnbaum email: birnbaumfs@cnymail.com a Mexican mother, has distanced himself from his grand- part of an overall $58 million Joel M. Friedman package for Iran. www.birnbaumfuneralserviceinc.com * Also Licensed in Florida father, Muhammad Yousef al-Najjar, who was involved in the planning of the Munich massacre and was assassinated Ethiopian Bible contest participant’s by Israeli commandos in Beirut in 1973. “As an American family given permission to make aliyah citizen living in the 21st century, I will never be able to The family of Sintayehu Shafrao, a young Ethiopian who understand or condone the actions and motivations of my competed in Israel’s 2018 International Bible Contest, has grandfather,” he told Haaretz in February before telling been given the go-ahead to make aliyah. Shafrao was allowed Thank you for your trust and loyalty since 1934. local outlets that these remarks would not be utilized for to take part in the annual contest in Jerusalem in April on When that rely money upon with ourimmigration expertise.and political gain. “Like many American families, difficult my heritagetime thearises, conditionyou that can he deposit bears a heartbreaking history,” he added. “To achieve peace, border-control officials as a guarantee that he would return to Palestinians and Israelis will have to make the same person- Ethiopia following the event. Though his father and some of al choice I’ve had to make: leave the dark past behind so his siblings immigrated to Israel in the early 2000s, Shafrao that the future shines brighter in the eyes of our children.” and his mother and other siblings were never issued permission Campa-Najjar is running as a progressive in California’s to move to Israel. After the Israeli public expressed outrage Fayette St., Syracuse, 13210 • 315.472.5291 1.800.472.5182 over theNYgovernment’s ultimatum to•Shafrao, he was granted 50th district, which the nonpartisan1909 CookEast Political Report Martin J. Birnbaum* shifted from “Solid Republican” to “Lean Republican.” Israeli citizenship. Shafrao is a member of the Falash Mura Elaine R. Birnbaum email:who birnbaumfs@cnymail.com were forced to convert Along with his wife, Hunter pleaded not guilty to illegally community, descendants of Jews Joel M. Friedman www.birnbaumfuneralserviceinc.com * Also Licensed in Florida to Christianity in the 1800s and who are not eligible to make using $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use and filing false reports with the Federal Election Commission. aliyah under the Law of Return.

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JEWISH OBSERVER â&#x2013; AUGUST 30, 2018/19 ELUL 5778