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23 ELUL 5774 • SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 • VOLUME XXXVIII, NUMBER 18 • PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID, SYRACUSE, NY

Goldberg gift to Foundation

By Linda Alexander Near the end of the evening of the Jewish Community Foundation’s Annual Meeting on August 24, Neil and Robin Goldberg, the hosts for the evening, asked to speak to the group of more than 100 trustees, donors and community leaders.

The business meeting had just concluded and everyone was in a celebratory spirit after having learned that 2014 was already the most successful year yet since the Foundation’s creation 13 years ago.

This was the b’nai mitzvah celebration, but little did those present know what a celebration it was going to be.

Neil and Robin Goldberg stepped to the podium as the last speakers of the evening. They thanked everyone for com-

ing to their home. Neil then said, “Robin and I were fortunate to have both grown up in upstate New York with loving and caring Jewish families. We are thankful to then have had the opportunity to raise our family in Central New York. The Jewish community and all its affiliated agencies played an important role throughout the years. We are hopeful that this gift to the Jewish Community Foundation of Central New York will help to ensure that opportunity for other Jewish families for years to come.” Then he announced their commitment to a $1 million gift to the Foundation.

This generous gift is the largest donation received to date by the Jewish Community Foundation. Neil and Robin had not told

Robin and Neil Goldberg anyone about this gift before that moment, so everyone was thrilled beyond words.

The evening had started off with Foundation Chair Lynn Smith warmly welcoming everyone. After Rabbi Daniel Jezer gave a d’var Torah, Treasurer Shelly

Kruth reported on the $2.7 million gain this year to bring the Foundation to a new high of more than $9 million in assets. Mark Field spoke about the director’s Centennial Fund’s progress, already at $1.8 million, which is close to the goal. On behalf of Ed Green and the investment committee, Bill Pearlman presented the report on the 19.4 percent gain in invested assets, and he introduced Marc Penziner, who represented Alliance Bernstein Global Wealth Management, the organization that will manage $1 million of the Foundation’s assets this year. The assemblage even heard from Hadar Pepperstone, one of the Foundation’s B’nai Mitzvah Fund holders, who spoke about her enjoyment in being able to participate as a teen funder.

Marci Erlebacher to receive the 2014 Hannah Solomon Award

By Vicki Feldman The National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Syracuse Section AtLarge, will honor Marci Erlebacher as the recipient of the 2014 Hannah G. Solomon Award at a luncheon on Monday, October 20, at Justin’s Grill, 6400 Yorktown Circle,

East Syracuse. Registration will start at 11:30 am, with the luncheon and program beginning at noon sharp and ending by 1:30 pm. Reservations are required and there is a cost to attend.

A life member of National Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah, Erle-

May your new year be filled with peace, good health & happiness!

bacher is well-known as the executive director of the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse, a position she has occupied since 2001.

Before assuming that position, Erlebacher served on the JCC Board of Directors for 15 years, and was board president for six of those years.

She was vice president of Marci Erlebacher community relations for three years and

a director of the Jewish Federation of Central New York Board of Directors for nine years, and she has also served on the board of the Syracuse InterReligious Council. Erlebacher is a member of the advisory committee for Safe Haven in Oswego, and has been on the board of InterFaith Works for the past eight years See “Award” on page 5

Israel is Under Fire.

Please Donate to Help

Stop the Sirens is a community-wide campaign responding to urgent needs in Israel. The fundraising effort is coordinated by the Jewish Federation of CNY in cooperation with the Jewish Federations of North America.

We had originally hoped to raise $33,000, but thanks to the generosity of the community, we have received hundreds of gifts totaling over $50,000.

57 75

Our goal was $33,000

To make your pledge, please contact Marianne at 445-2040 ext. 102 or mbazydlo@jewishfederationCNY.org.

thank you!

As of 9/15/14

58,169

$

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

L’Shanah Tova Tikatevu

September 19...........6:49 pm..................................... Parasha-Nitzavim-Vayelech September 24...........6:40 pm............................................... Erev Rosh Hashanah September 25...........after 7:38 pm............................................... Rosh Hashanah September 26...........6:37 pm..........................Parasha-Haazinu-Shabbat Shuvah October 3.................6:24 pm................................................Parasha-Yom Kippur October 8.................6:16 pm............................................................... Erev Sukkot October 9.................after 7:14 pm...............................................................Sukkot October 10...............6:12 pm......................................................... Parasha-Sukkot

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Honoring aging parents

Film Festival

High Holidays

The Women’s Connection of CBS- The October 5-12 Syracuse Film High Holiday ser vices are CS and the JCC will host their ann- Festival will premiere “Is That You,” announced by local synagogues; which was filmed in Syracuse. ual symposium on October 29. a d’var on Rosh Hashanah.

Stories on page 5 Story on page 3 Stories on pages 10, 11 and 14

PLUS Health Greetings..................... 9 Personal Greetings............... 10 Community Institutions.......11 Calendar Highlights............. 14

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ septemBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774

a matter of opinion The danger of depending on Turkey

By Ben Cohen JNS.org Here’s the good news: the Obama administration has finally grasped that the onslaught of the Islamic State terror group through Iraq and Syria needs to be defeated and destroyed. Sixty-one percent of Americans, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, agree with the president. At a time when much of the world believes, not unreasonably, that America is in retreat, the administration’s willingness to pursue military options and its almost George W. Bush-esque rhetoric regarding the “evil” of Islamic State, as Secretary of State John Kerry put it, is most welcome.

Even so, the issue of which states to involve in the battle against Islamic State should leave us less sanguine about where this battle might lead. Yes, yes, I know: This is the Middle East, and we are therefore compelled to work with distasteful regimes, such as the Saudis, in accomplishing strategic goals like the expulsion of Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in 1991.

This time, however, we need to avoid an outcome that strengthens Iranian influence in the region, which means that we cannot indefinitely postpone the discussion over what to do about the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

By the same token, there’s another discussion that we cannot indefinitely postpone. That one concerns the role of Turkey

– a country described by a senior Obama administration official, in an interview with The New York Times that coincided with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s visit to Ankara, as “absolutely indispensable” to the struggle against Islamic State.

There is, of course, a great deal of merit behind that statement. Turkey is historically an ally of the U.S. and a member of NATO. The airbase which the Americans maintain at Incirlik has been operationally critical to our military engagements in the region over the last quarter of a century, including the present fight against the terrorists of Islamic State.

At the same time, there are three key reasons why we should question whether the Turks can continue to be a pillar of an American-led alliance. Firstly, the Turkish government’s pursuit of political outcomes that undermine American interests. Secondly, the murky relationship between the Turks and the various terrorist groups in the region. Thirdly, the growing intolerance that stains Turkish politics, and particularly the nakedly antisemitic rhetoric directed toward Israel by Turkey’s former prime minister and newly elected president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Let’s start with the first reason. The recent war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could have been ended much earlier had an Egyptian truce proposal, agreed to by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu,

letters to the editor Children of Gaza This letter is in response to the letter in the August 21 issue of the Jewish Observer.

To the Editor: I want to thank both Mark Field and Jody Swerdlow for their thoughtful letters to the editor in the August 21 edition of the Jewish Observer.

To Mark – who helps us remember that there are casualties and tragedies on both sides of the recent war. It is my hope that the proposal for sending funds for medical supplies for children is revisited and that a legitimate agency is found to direct these funds to those for whom it is intended.

To Jody – who reminds us of the importance of moderation, education and a host of other long-term efforts to contribute more stability to this area.

Children of Gaza Editor’s note: This letter was received before the current cease-fire. This letter is in response to the letter in the August 21 issue of the Jewish Observer.

To the Editor: In the midst of continuing rockets being fired and most recently killing a 4-year-old Israeli boy, I would like to respond to two letters to the editor that I found disturbing, particularly given Israel’s continuing fight against a relentless enemy.

In his letter to the editor, “Helping the Children of Israel and Gaza,” Mark Field believes that it would be a goodwill gesture to direct funding to the children of Gaza. As a mother, it is beyond words to see any children suffer. However, I will remind Mr. Field that Hamas has been “democratically” elected by the Palestinian population of Gaza. Moreover, for years, the vast majority of the Palestinian population overwhelmingly supports the goals of Hamas, namely, the destruction of Israel and murder of innocent Israelis. Given these facts, does Mr. Field truly believe that any funding whatsoever should be directed to Gaza, regardless of how deserving of help the recipients may be?

As for Jody Swerdlow’s letter to the

Both letters demonstrated people who are guided by basic Jewish values taking a public stance and walking the walk. Thanks to the JO for printing them. It is refreshing to read a broader, more systemic perspective.

I understand the complexity of the situation and that we as Jews, with a commitment to Israel’s survival, have a range of positions, often with overlaps. As one of the Shin Bet men who was interviewed in the movie “The Gatekeepers” suggested, the Israelis are winning the battles, but losing the war. It is important that we all begin to talk to and learn from one another.

Ona Cohn Bregman Ona Cohn Bregman is a member of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas.

editor regarding “Objectivity Needed,” I believe that it is well past the time that the Arab world and the Palestinians, in particular, are the ones that need to learn to be objective. I have spoken with friends and former colleagues who have been involved in Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) and other related pro-peace organizations who have simply given up after so many years of working to obtain peace with an enemy that continues to show it does not want peace.

There is nothing that we as the Jewish community can do, nor the Christian community for that matter, to show the Palestinians that we want peace. It is as simple as this: if the Palestinians do not want peace, we do not have a partner for peace. It will not matter how many meals we share or how much dialogue we have.

The reason why successive generations have grown up hating and vilifying Israel and the Jews is because it is so deeply ingrained in Palestinian society. Only until that fact changes will we unfortunately be left seeking peace without a partner.

Jodi Bloom Jodi Bloom is a member of Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse.

been implemented. But the Egyptian initiative was derailed by a rival proposal from Turkey and Qatar, the two main patrons of Hamas. The Turkish-Qatari proposal temporarily seduced the U.S. State Department and resulted in the continuation of hostilities for several more days.

The issue of Turkish trustworthiness is equally alive in the context of Iraq and Syria.

Turkey has expressed concern that weapons will fall into the hands of the Kurdistan Workers Party (or PKK), a left-wing nationalist organization designated by the Americans and the Europeans as a terrorist group.

What this overlooks is the fact that the PKK, along with its Syrian offshoot, the PYD, has already played an “indispensable role” in the fight against Islamic State when, moreover, the rest of the world was looking the other way. PKK and PYD fighters go into combat alongside Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq. They are also instrumental to the current offensive against Islamic State in the area around Shingal, where tens of thousands of Yazidis, an ancient religious minority regarded as “unbelievers” by the Islamists, have endured a savage genocide.

Given American reluctance to deploy ground troops, and the recognition that the fight against Islamic State will be measured in years rather than months, it is legitimate to ask whether Turkish worries about the PKK should be elevated above other considerations. It can even be argued that there is little justification for maintaining the PKK’s “terrorist” designation. As Gülistan Gürbey, a political scientist based in Berlin, told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the PKK is “deeply rooted in the Kurdish Diaspora” and is “fighting against an existential threat in the region” in the form of Islamic State.

This brings us to the second reason.

Turkey is hardly in a position to complain about Kurdish “terrorism” when it provides financial and political support to other terrorist groups in the Middle East, notably Hamas. In a recent article for The Tower magazine, foreign policy analyst Jonathan Schanzer observed that “it is decidedly awkward for a NATO ally

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to be so outwardly supportive of Hamas in light of the group’s grisly record of violence against civilian targets since its inception in 1987.” Just as awkward, Schanzer pointed out, is Turkey’s involvement in sanctions-busting operations with Iran, as well as Erdogan’s relations with dubious individuals like Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi businessman who was designated as a “terrorist financier” shortly after the AlQaida atrocities of September 11, 2001.

Which brings us to reason number three.

States that support terrorist organizations abroad frequently have woeful records of suppression and intolerance at home.

What was true of Saddam’s Iraq remains true of Assad’s Syria – and of Turkey, whose president is still to be confronted with the contradiction of membership in a democratic alliance like NATO and support for jihadist organizations like Hamas.

Obama has delicately raised the issue with Erdogan – “The president and President Erdogan discussed the importance of building tolerant and inclusive societies and combating the scourge of antisemitism,” said a White House statement after the two leaders met at the last NATO Summit – but this assumes that a “tolerant and inclusive society” is what Erdogan wants. When you have a store in downtown Istanbul refusing entry to “Jew Dogs” at the same time that Erdogan lambasts Israel as “worse” than Adolf Hitler, that’s a misguided and even dangerous assumption.

Ultimately, the war against Islamic State is a war against the philosophy of jihad. As with any war involving multiple parties fighting on the same side, an overarching political vision is nearly impossible to achieve. During World War II, the U.S. and Britain had few illusions about the Soviet Union, even as they allied with it. Similar cynicism is warranted now when it comes to Turkey.

Ben Cohen is the Shillman Analyst for JNS.org and a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Haaretz and other publications. His book, “Some Of My Best Friends: A Journey Through TwentyFirst Century Antisemitism” (Edition Critic, 2014), is now available.

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AROUND CENTRAL NEW YORK Honoring aging parents – the annual symposium “Squeezed and Squashed: Challenges of Honoring Our Aging Parents” will be presented at the fifth annual symposium sponsored by The Women’s Connection of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas and the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center on Wednesday, October 29, at 6:30 pm. The event will be held at the JCC. Sharon A. Brangman, M.D., and Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone will be the symposium’s participants. Brangman

is professor of medicine and division chief of geriatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical University. She focuses on providing comprehensive care for the various medical needs of elderly patients and she is also trained in internal medicine. Pepperstone is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas.

The symposium will address the concerns of people with aging parents and the aging of people in general.

It will cover subjects such as the options available as people age; how people cope with illness and how to juggle family obligations with parents and children at the same time.

There will be a charge to attend, which will include a full kosher dinner. There will be an option for reserving a full table of eight. To make a reservation, contact the CBS-CS office at 446-9570 or office@CBSCS.org.

Menorah Park open house Sunday, Sept. 21

By Stewart Koenig Long-term care facility Menorah Park of Central New York will hold an open house for the public on Sunday, September 21, from 3-5 pm. The community will have an opportunity to tour the facility, learn about numerous health-related issues and learn about the organization’s plans to remain “first-rate in the future.”

Menorah Park CEO Mary Ellen Bloodgood said, “Throughout the decades the Jewish Home, and now Menorah Park, has had a superior reputation for providing older adults dignified accommodations and services, from those needing minimal care to those requiring total care, and those in between. In the last 10 years, our facility and services have grown and improved, and they

Women Transcending Boundaries

The Women Transcending Boundaries Council has invited all women to a “getting-to-know-you program,” a kind of introduction for the new year of programs. The event will be held on Sunday, September 28, from 3-5 pm, at the Jowonio School, 3049 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

Attendees should drive around back of the building and enter through the back door.

Women Transcending Boundaries is “an egalitarian community” of women from many faith and cultural

traditions. Through programs, events and social interactions, participants seek to nurture “mutual respect and understanding” by sharing information about their various beliefs, customs and practices, and by working together to address their common concerns.

The group’s further intent is to share their personal and collective experiences with the wider community, to educate and to serve. For more information, visit www.wtb.org.

Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center senior dining menu September 22-26 Monday – Rosh Hashanah dinner – beef brisket Tuesday – cheesy baked ziti Wednesday – hot tongue sandwich Thursday – closed for Rosh Hashanah Friday – closed for Rosh Hashanah September 29-October 3 Monday – eggplant Parmesan Tuesday – Jewish Ethnic Day – stuffed cabbage Wednesday – TBA Thursday – TBA Friday – TBA The Bobbi Epstein Lewis JCC Senior Adult Dining Program, catered by Tiffany’s Catering Company at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center, offers

Va’ad Ha’ir-supervised kosher lunches served Monday through Friday at noon. Reservations are required by noon on the previous business day and 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 and United Way of Central New York. To attend, one need not be Jewish or a member of the JCC. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Leesa Paul or Larry Crinnin at 445-2360, ext.

104, or lpaul@jccsyr.org.

will continue to improve. It’s our pleasure to invite the community to see for themselves all we provide on our state-of-the-art campus and to learn about the future.”

Also offered at the event will be free blood pressure testing and a variety of workshops on various topics, such as anxiety, nutrition, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. The open house will focus on the Jewish Health and Rehabilitation Center, formerly the Jewish Home, which has served the community since 1912. Visitors can learn about The Inn (supportive care), The Oaks (independent living), medical day care, Syracuse Jewish Family Service, home health care and other services provided by Menorah Park.

Menorah Park of Central New York is located at 4101 E. Genesee St., Syracuse. For more information, visit www.MenorahParkCNY.com or call 446-9111.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ septemBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774

congregational notes Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas Cemetery Visitation Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas will hold its annual cemetery visitations on Sunday, September 28, at the Beth Sholom Cemetery at 9 am; the Upper Beth El Cemetery at 9:30 am; the Lower Beth El Cemetery at 10 am; and the Chevra Shas Cemetery at 10:30 am. To visit a grave at Beth Israel or Anshe Sfard cemeteries, contact the CBS-CS office at 446-9570 or

office@cbscs.org.

The Women’s Connection The Women’s Connection of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas will hold its annual potluck dinner at the Kimry Moor Clubhouse on Monday, September 29, at 6 pm. The event has been said to attract a diverse group of CBS-CS women. Reservations will be required. For more information, con-

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks at STOCS

By Richard D. Wilkins Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse held a “community” Shabbaton the weekend of August 29 and 30.The scholar-in-residence was Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former chief rabbi of the British Commonwealth, a worldrenowned scholar and spiritual leader.

Sacks spoke at the Kabalat Shabbat service, the dinner following, the Shabbat morning service and at seudat shlishit after Mincha. He engaged in informal discussion at the kiddush following the morning service as well.

At the Kabalat Shabbat service, Sacks noted that during the month of Elul, Jews recite twice daily Psalm 27, “God is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” He pointed out that “there is much that is troubling around the world today,” including a rise in overt antisemitism, as indicated by shouts of “Death to the Jews” heard in the streets of Paris and cries of “Jews to the gas” in Berlin. Yet, he assured those present that there is some cause for hope. The “stark brutality” of ISIS has awakened many in the West to the rising danger of radical Islam. He felt that, “Ultimately, faith,

tact Steffi Bergman at steffibergman@ gmail.com.

The dinner will provide an opportunity for participants to “make new friends and catch up with longstanding ones.” The upcoming calendar of programs will be presented and will include annual events such as the symposium, which is cosponsored by the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center and will focus this year on elder care issues. The calendar will also include the annual Women’s Connection Shabbat scheduled for January; a Torah Fund event to raise money for Conservative seminaries; semi-annual rummage sales to raise funds for camperships and baking hundreds of hamantashen for mishloach manot. Newer programs

include a session on estate planning; monthly brunches; semi-monthly walks around Green Lakes; movie and game nights; and a trip to Glimmerglass Opera in August.

Expanded from last year is a semimonthly study session with Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone. The first series of sessions is titled “(Ab) Normal Families in the Bible,” with “The Jewish Game of Thrones: Samuel, Saul and David,” “She Did What? Women of the Bible” and “Jewish Fiction: Selections from An Unknown Genre” to follow.

For more information about the CBS-CS Women’s Connection, contact Nancy Belkowitz, TWC president, at belkowitzn@yahoo.com.

Temple Adath Yeshurun

L - r : S h a a re i To r a h O r t h o d o x Congregation of Syracuse Rabbi Evan Shore posed with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks at a Shabbaton held the weekend of August 29 at the synagogue. (Photo courtesy of Klineberg Photography) rather than fear, should prevail.”

In his dinner remarks, Sacks alluded to the fact that, although the period encompassing Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is called the Ten Days of Penitence, there is but one oblique reference in the New Year machzor (prayer book) to repentance. Its focus is on the future, not the past. He

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Belwo, l-r: Maytal Downie and her mother, Michal, practiced the aleph bet with Iris Horowitz and her mother, Laurie, during the Temple Adath Yeshurun Religious School’s Hebrew review party. Returning, new and potential students reviewed Hebrew letters, vowels and words in a game format.

See “STOCS” on page 12

L-r: Hadassah Fendius and her daughter, Miriam Fendius Elman, and Carl Rosenzweig spoke to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks during the weekend of August 29. In the background were Joe David and Selma Radin.

Happy New Year!

At right, l-r: Sisters Avery and Ellie Clark played tetherball on their first day of preschool at Temple Adath Yeshurun’s Rothschild Early Childhood Center.

The girls started in the program as infants. The RECC accepts children from 6-weeks-old-kindergarten, and there is also a before- and after-school program.

Temple Concord Scholar Series The Temple Concord Scholars Series will begin the season with a conversation with Robert J. Spitzer, Ph.D., on Tuesday, October 14, at 7 pm, on “Is Gun Control Un-American – or At Least Unconstitutional?”

Spitzer is a distinguished service professor and chair of the political science department at SUNY Cortland. He is the author of 15 books, including five on

gun policy. His most recent book, “Guns Across America,” will be published early next year by Oxford University Press.

Spitzer is a panelist on the local public affairs program “The Ivory Tower Half Hour,” broadcast Friday evenings on WCNY-TC. For more information on all the cultural events at Temple Concord, call the office at 475-9952 or visit www.

TempleConcord.org.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

Syracuse Film Festival to run Oct. 5-12 The 11 Syracuse International Film Festival will be held from October 5-12. The festival will be housed at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse.

The festival will open on Sunday, October 5, with Charles Lane, a filmmaker from the south who will receive the Bassel Shehade Social Justice Award during the showcase of films. The program will begin at 1:30 pm in the Performing Arts Center at Le Moyne College.

Talks will be given throughout the 2014-15 season at LeMoyne College and on the Syracuse University th

campus. The FilmTalks series is sponsored by the Le Moyne College Film Program and produced by the Syracuse International Film Festival/Film In Syracuse.

FilmTalks are informal presentations by film professionals in which they share a conversation about their life and work with the audience. For more information, visit www.filminsyracuse/filmtalks.com.

Among the films shown at the Palace Theater on James Street in Eastwood will be a 1914 Chaplin-made short film called “Mabel’s Strange Predicament,” which

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will be shown in honor of the 100th birthday of Chaplin’s silent film “The Little Tramp.” Israeli filmmaker Dani Menkin will show his newest film, “Is That You.” For more information and a complete schedule, visit www.filminsyracuse.com or call 254-5062 or 706-2147.

The Syracuse International Film Festival is a private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to “engage, entertain, inform and inspire” the community through media and film.

“Is That You” premiere at Syracuse Film Festival The American premiere of the film “Is That You” will be at the Syracuse International Film Festival on Thursday, October 9, at 7 pm, at the Palace Theater, James St., Eastwood. The doors will open at 6:15 pm and tickets will be available at the door.

The film “Is That You” was screened at the Montreal International Film Festival on August 28, 29 and 30 in the World Film category, which was not a competition, but an invited screening. Written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Dani Menkin, the film was shot in and around Syracuse. Menkin is also the director of “Dolphin Boy,” “Je T’aime Love You Terminal” and “39 Pounds of Love.”

He spent six months in Syracuse in 2012 as an artist-inresidence in the film program at the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University and finished his stay in Syracuse with a four-week film shoot, resulting in “Is That You.” The film was nominated for best film of the year at the Israeli academy awards, even though it is considered uncommon for an Israeli filmmaker to be nominated for a film made outside Israel.

Award

Continued from page 1 and served as treasurer. She has also served on the board of the Syracuse International Film Festival for the past six years, where she now is a vice president.

Erlebacher has been honored with many awards, including the JCC’s Kovod and Kovod Gadol awards, the J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award, the Esther and Joseph Roth Award for Outstanding Jewish Community Leadership, the CBS 5/WTVH Women in Leadership Award, the Temple Adath Yeshurun Citizen of the Year Award and the M&T Bank Not-for-Profit Executive of the Year Award. In 1998, she won the Girl Scouts Women of Distinction Award.

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

For more information, to make a reservation or send a tribute card honoring Erlebacher, contact Marlene Holstein at 446-7648 by Wednesday, October 15.

duction directors), David Gandino The feature film stars Alon (assistant locations manager), Clare Aboutboul (“The Dark Knight Wang and Tanya Schiller (art direcRises,” “Munich,” “Homeland,” tors), as well as producers Owen “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Burn Noand Christine Shapiro. Production tice”) as Ronnie. In the film, Ronassistants came from Shapiro’s nie visits his brother in Syracuse filmmaking classes at Syracuse and decides to go on a road trip University. The film’s producer, to find Rachel (Suzanne Sadler), Divi Crockett, Assistant Director the love of his life from college.

Shlom Ben Yar, Production DiAlong the way he encounters many rector Bruce Cole and Director’s characters played by local actors Assistant Daniel Jourdan have all Navroz Dabu, Amy Doherty, Celia worked with Menkin on other proMadeoy, Peter Moller, Christine ductions around the world.

Fawcett-Shapiro and others. NaMenkin is an award-winning runa De Macedo-Kaplan plays writer, director and producer. He Myla, a film student who keeps won an Ophir, the Israeli Academy Ronnie encouraged throughout Award, for “39 Pounds of Love,” the journey. De Macedo-Kaplan is an actress and film director from Filmmaker Dani Menkin appeared at the which was sold to HBO and was Israel. Rani Bleier, an Israeli actor, Bologna Film Festival in July. Menkin’s short-listed for the Oscars in 2006. plays Ronnie’s brother, Jacob, a film “Is That You” has been nominated for His film “Dolphin Boy” (2011, Syracuse car dealer. Madeoy is a Film of the Year at the Israeli Ophir Awards co-directed with Yonathan Nir) faculty member of the SU drama (the Israeli Academy Award) and will be won international awards and has department and Moller is on the shown at the Syracuse International Film been bought by Disney for a fiction adaptation. “Je T’aime I Love You faculty of the SU Newhouse School Festival on Thursday, October 9.

Terminal” (2011) was also shown of Communications.

The film’s production staff also features film pro- in many international festivals and won Best Feature fessionals from Syracuse, including Jim Mead (sound Film at the Houston International Film Festival. Menkin See “Film” on page 8 production), Alec Erlebacher and Q Park (assistant proPlease support our advertisers & tell them you saw their ad here in

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ septemBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774

Adena Rochelson: Soaping up – teenager helps provide families with everyday essentials

By Bette Siegel and Lindsey Steinseifer Fifteen-year-old Adena Rochelson, daughter of Eric and Liza Rochelson, of Fayetteville, is a teenager “with a mission.” She first volunteered in fourth grade in 2009 at a food pantry, where she saw an empty shelf intended for toiletries and household products. She learned that many families often had to go without these items since government assistance programs do not cover those costs. To address this gap, she launched “Operation Soap Dish” to provide low-income people with the everyday essentials “they need to feel good about themselves, affording them dignity and respect.”

Since 2009, Rochelson has cultivated a network for collecting items from across 15 states in the U.S., as well as Israel and Canada, distributing more than 20,000 toiletries and household products valued at more than $60,000 to families in her community and beyond. She campaigns to raise awareness of how these everyday items can improve the quality of life of people living at or below the poverty line. Most recently, she helped teach volunteering to local second grade students through an educational program that included a “soap box derby” to benefit her cause. More than 1,600 people benefit from Operation Soap Dish each month, and she plans to expand to more communities in the U.S. and developing nations.

She attended a celebratory luncheon on August 25 in San Francisco to honor the 15 recipients of the 2014 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, which are based on the Jewish concept of “repairing the world” and which recognize Jewish teenagers who have demonstrated “remarkable leadership” and are “actively engaged in projects that embody the value of tikkun olam.” The teenagers are nominated and selected annually, and 15 recipients were acknowledged at the luncheon. They were each awarded $36,000 to use to further their philanthropic work or their education.

The Helen Diller Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, provides the next generation of philanthropists from California and across the country with support and resources. Now in its eighth year, the program added five more national awards this year, expanding its reach to honor 15 young Jewish leaders from communities across the nation. With $540,000 granted this year, the 2014 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards mark the second consecutive year of growth and the largest funding bestowed to teenage activists in a single year during the foundation’s history.

Originally a simple idea for Bay Area philanthropist Helen Diller, the foundation has since grown to encompass a national network of socially engaged Jewish youth. Since 2007, the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards

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Adena Rochelson (center), of Fayettevile, with Adele Corvin (left), chair of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards Committee and Danny Grossman (right), 2014 national co-chair of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards Committee. Rochelson was one of 15 Jewish teenagers from across the country who received a $36,000 award, which she may use to further her philanthropic work or education. She received the award for her project, Operation Soap Dish, which collects toiletries and household products for food bank clients. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Shaw) have honored 55 Jewish teenagers, with grants totaling almost $2 million to further their philanthropic work and education. Diller believes that charitable giving is “a fundamental part of living a full and accountable life.”

Now in its 14th year, the Foundation has granted more than $220 million to support education, the arts, medical research and development, leadership training programs for teenagers and other charitable endeavors.

Each of the 2014 recipients is said to have made “an indelible impact” in their own communities, nationally or globally. Acknowledged for their “exceptional leadership and commitment to social good,” the teenagers have provided “unique solutions to pressing social issues” by

developing projects that support public health, equality, education, environmental sustainability and engagement opportunities for their peers.

The event provided recipients with the opportunity to meet socially conscious peers. The awardees’have created and led their own social action projects, from student-run clubs that raise funds for cancer research to initiatives that support and empower low-income families.

Beyond bolstering national recognition of the teenagers and their social action projects, the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards are said to foster “a growing community of recipients collaborating on youth leadership, innovation, and socially-minded volunteer service across the nation.” Past recipients are now leading their peers to follow pursue similar projects. The awards alumni have gone on to be recognized by institutions and leaders such as the United Nations Foundation, the White House and former President Bill Clinton.

The Jewish Federations of North America, through its network of 153 Jewish Federations throughout the country, continues to collaborate with the Helen Diller Family Foundation to inspire and encourage Jewish teen volunteer service nationwide.

The 2014 recipients were selected by committees of educators and community leaders from across the United States. Candidates completed a detailed application describing their projects, goals, inspirations and challenges, fund-raising tactics and ultimate accomplishments. Eligible applicants were United States residents, between 13-19-years-old at the time of nomination who self-identify as Jewish.

For more information on the Diller awards and the teenagers who received them, visit www.dillerteenawards.org.

In addition, Rochelson is one of 10 national winners of a $10,000 scholarship for outstanding community service from Kohl’s Department Stores, also for her work with Operation Soap Dish. Along with the scholarship, she also won $1,000 for the non-profit of her choice. She hopes to eventually collect enough items to help pantries throughout the U.S. and around the world. The Kohl’s Cares Scholarship Program is part of Kohl’s Cares, Kohl’s philanthropic program focused on improving the lives of children.

Germany planning to fund antisemitism education for Muslim youth

By JTA staff (JTA) – Germany is ready to allocate funds to tailor education about antisemitism for its Muslim students, the country’s Jewish outreach official said.

Felix Klein, Germany’s special representative for relations with Jewish organizations, was in Washington the week of September 10 to meet with Jewish groups and Obama administration officials over American concerns about a spike in antisemitism in Germany during the recent Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip. Many of the offenders were Muslims and many of those were members of Germany’s substantial Turkish minority.

“Sometimes, we hear it is difficult to teach the Holocaust” to Muslim students, Klein told JTA in an interview

on September 10 at the German Embassy in Washington.

“We would give special tools that would interest young Muslims, that would incorporate the role of Turkey” during World War II. Klein said there was a “feeling of unease” among Germany’s 100,000 Jews after the spate of antisemitic incidents. He said the money for such an initiative would come from Germany’s Interior Ministry and its Ministry for Families, Youth and the Elderly, as well as from regional governments.

Klein met with State Department officials who deal with antisemitism and Holocaust issues, as well as with officials of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

JCC receives York Foundation grant

By William Wallak The Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse recently received a $500 grant from the York Children’s Foundation to benefit the JCC’s children’s and teen programs. The funding is a result of JCC Board President Steven Sisskind’s efforts to sponsor the JCC and its application for the grant.

Sisskind said, “We are delighted with the York Foundation’s continued support of the JCC’s quality programming for children. It is very satisfying to receive such recognition, and we are very appreciative of the foundation’s generosity to help us carry on our good work.”

The York grant will go toward purchasing an interactive audiovisual SMART board for the JCC’s Jerome and

Phyllis Charney Early Childhood Development Program pre-kindergarten classroom. The foundation awards grants to non-profit organizations whose purpose is to support children, and it has contributed more than $2.2 million to date to such charities.

JCC Executive Director Marci Erlebacher said, “I applaud Steven’s efforts and the relationship he has built with the York Foundation and other organizations that stand behind the JCC. The wonderful support of our donors helps strengthen our programs and services to members and the community.”

For more information about the JCC and supporting its programs, contact Nancy Kasow at 445-2040, ext.

112, or nkasow@jccsyr.org.

JCC’s preschool donates supplies to CNY SPCA

By William Wallak Central New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals handler Nancy Graham, with Nala, a 2-year-old pit bull-mix, spent time with the preschool students attending summer camp on August 14 at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse. Graham and Nala visited the campers in their classrooms at the Jerome and Phyllis Charney Early Childhood Development Program. Following the last classroom visit, Graham and Nala accepted a donation of pet Central New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’Nancy food, toys and other supplies to benefit Graham (seated in the chair) presented Nala, a 2-year-old pit bull-mix, the CNY SPCA. at their August 14 visit to the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center Pam Ranieri, assistant director of of Syracuse’s Early Childhood Development Program. On the floor to the JCC’s early childhood program, the right of Graham and Nala were some of the pet supplies that were said, “The supplies were donated by donated to the CNY SPCA that day. the parents of our students, as well as by program staff. It was part of our summer ‘good deeds parrots, parakeets, rats and turtles. and goodies’ program, where the kids got a chance to Ranieri said, “The kids really enjoyed Nala’s visit do a good deed and then enjoy some goodies. And the and did a great job trying to guess all of the different goody they thoroughly enjoyed was ice cream.” kinds of animals that the CNY SPCA has cared for.

Nala’s visit with the JCC preschool students was We appreciate the kids’ and their parents’ generosity in called “interactive, entertaining and informational.” helping to support the SPCA. The children had a lot of The children learned how to get close to Nala and fun and learned a lot in the process.” pet her without startling or agitating her. They also The CNY SPCA, located at 5878 E. Molloy Rd., learned about Nala’s life at the CNY SPCA and other Syracuse, provides various services for animals in the animals at the agency in need of good homes. The area, including adoption, education, spay and neuter CNY SPCA has hundreds of dogs and cats avail- programs and investigation into animal cruelty. able for adoption, and often cares for other animals The JCC’s ECDP is a licensed infant and toddler care needing homes, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, facility and preschool for children from 6-weeks-5-years.

For more information, call 445-2040, ext. 120.

Back to school kicks off at the JCC

Menorah Park receives matching grant

By Stewart Koenig Menorah Park of Central New York has announced it is the recipient of a $50,000 grant from LMCL Inc., a private foundation at the Legacy Heritage Fund in New York City. The matching grant is slated for two projects at Menorah Park: purchasing a passenger van so residents can participate in community-based programs and purchasing a new security system.

Menorah Park Foundation Vice President Victoria Kohl noted that to receive the grant, an equal amount must be raised through donations. She said, “Support is needed to make these purchases possible. We’re confident that the community will recognize the benefit and importance of both the passenger van and security system, and step up to make this a reality.”

For more information or to make a donation, contact Victoria Kohl at 446-9111, ext. 141, or vkohl@ menorhaparkcny.com.

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The Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse Executive Director Marci Erlebacher accepted a York Children’s Foundation grant check from Steven Sisskind, JCC board president, at the JCC’s outdoor pool. Sisskind has sponsored the JCC’s York grant application for the past several years.

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With summer camps coming to an end in late August, the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse began its back-to-school opening on September 3.

Between the JCC’s Jerome and Phyllis Charney Early Childhood Development Program and the before and after school programs, more than 275 children from 6weeks-old through sixth grade began the 2014-15 school year at the JCC’s Thompson Road facility.

Many new and familiar faces were present at the JCC, and the opening was said to have “gone smoothly and as planned” for the students.

For more information about the JCC’s infant and toddler care, the preschool and before and after school care programs, call 445-2360 or visit www.jccsyr.org.

L-r: Lillian Patterson and Kaden Clark arrived at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse on September 3 to attend the after school program.

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8

JEWISH OBSERVER ■ septemBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774

Can Hillel and “Open Hillel” smooth out their differences on Israel guidelines?

By Alina Dain Sharon JNS.org When Harvard Hillel refused to host a planned 2012 event titled “Jewish Voices Against the Israeli Occupation,” organized by the Harvard College Progressive Jewish Alliance and the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, frustrated students wrote an open letter to the Hillel community criticizing the decision.

That letter has since led to the founding of “Open Hillel,” a broader movement calling on Hillel International – the Jewish campus umbrella represented on more than 550 colleges and universities – to allow the expression of more diverse points of view, including those critical of Israel.

The notion that Hillel International is not inclusive is one that the organization’s president and CEO, Eric Fingerhut, wants to dispel. On September 9, Fingerhut met with Open Hillel student representatives in Boston “in order to listen to their concerns and to personally convey that Hillel welcomes all Jewish students no matter their politics or perspectives,” he told JNS. org after the meeting.

“We had a good and candid discussion and I appreciate [Open Hillel’s] viewpoints,” Fingerhut said. “I am pleased that they understand the value in being part of the global Hillel movement. Hillel works hard every day to provide a highquality experience for all Jewish students on campus.”

Film

has been a festival juror and a lecturer for workshops and classes around the world, most recently at the International Filmmaking Academy, founded in Bologna,

Fingerhut also stressed Hillel’s inclusivity in an interview before meeting, but said Hillel would not compromise on its pro-Israel mission. “We are a pro-Israel organization,” he said. “It is part of our mission to encourage students to build an enduring commitment to Israel as a Jewish and democratic homeland. That is what we are, [and] that leaves within it a broad range to debate Israel’s policies, and where Israel might be right or wrong on particular issues.”

Lex Rofes, a Brown University alumnus and a member of Open Hillel’s student committee who helped organize the meeting with Fingerhut, told JNS. org that at many campuses, students who sought “to create Jewish programming that was meaningful to them” have been told that they could not implement their plans, either because the programming itself included content or speakers overly critical of Israel, or because they wanted to co-sponsor the event with a group that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

Hillel’s official Israel guidelines state that it will not “partner with, house or host organizations, groups or speakers that delegitimize, demonize or apply a double standard to Israel.”

In December 2013, the Hillel student board at Swarthmore College voted to reject Hillel’s Israel guidelines and align itself with the Open Hillel movement. In response, Fingerhut wrote a public letter

Continued from page 5

Italy, by Gianvittorio Baldi, a writer, director and producer.

For more information, visit www. filminsyracuse.com.

Eric Fingerhut (at right), Hillel International’s president and CEO, spoke with former student board member JoHanna Rothseid. (Photo by Shahar Azran for Hillel) in which he stated that Hillel “expects all campus organizations that use the Hillel name to adhere to these guidelines. No organization that uses the Hillel name may choose to do otherwise.”

This past February, the Jewish Union at Vassar College in New York took a similar position, eliciting a statement

by Fingerhut that, “We agree that Hillel should and will always provide students with an open and pluralistic forum where they can explore issues and opinions related to their Jewish identity. We thank the Vassar students for their commitment to this value and accept their invitation for further conversation.” But Fingerhut reiterated that Hillel would not “give a platform to groups or individuals to attack the Jewish people, Jewish values or the Jewish state’s right to exist.

“Our expectation is that all Hillel affiliates will continue to uphold these standards for partners and co-sponsors,” he said.

In April, a group of current and former Jewish student leaders at Connecticutbased Wesleyan University announced that the Hillel-affiliated Wesleyan Jewish Community was also rejecting the umbrella group’s Israel guidelines. Rofes believes Fingerhut’s responses to Open Hillel’s concerns, particularly to the incidents at Swarthmore and Vassar, have been a “mixture.”

“I thought that the initial blog post [Fingerhut] posted [on Swarthmore] wasn’t necessarily the kind of tone I would have loved, but I understand their disagreement with Swarthmore’s decision and that’s their right,” he said.

Fingerhut’s wording on Vassar was more to Rofes’s liking, and he added that “in other regards [Hillel has] responded positively to us.”

Hillel’s responses to the Swarthmore and Vassar decisions were the same, Fingerhut said. “Hillel’s guidelines are what they are, and all Hillels are expected to

work within those guidelines,” he told JNS.org.

Hillel International also sent representatives to both campuses to address the concerns. “We try to work with students to accommodate as much as they want to do as possible within the guidelines,” Fingerhut said.

For the meeting, Open Hillel student representatives did not prepare to raise any specific concerns, but simply wanted to listen to Hillel International’s strategy on Israel for the coming year, including the potential establishment of a student cabinet, which Rofes sees as a sign of Hillel’s growing commitment to student empowerment.

“We got an e-mail that Hillel is interested in meeting, [and] we of course were happy to go and do that,” Rofes said. “[We were] just looking to sort of check in” and discuss ways to “find some common ground and work together,” he added.

Fingerhut’s goal is to assure students of how welcome they are at Hillel.

“There’s nothing involved in Hillel’s Israel guidelines that in any way excludes any student based on any opinion they might have,” Fingerhut said, differentiating between students’ ability to express a diversity of views on Israel within Hillel’s tent, but not to partner with anti-Israel organizations on a Hillel-sponsored activity.

Another voice speaking out on the issue is Safe Hillel, a campus movement created in response to Open Hillel with the goal – much like Hillel itself – to dispel misconceptions about Hillel’s lack of inclusiveness.

“Hillel is an open and welcoming organization with a mission statement, and they stand for their mission statement like any other organization should and does,” Daniel Mael, a junior at Brandeis University and one of Safe Hillel’s founders, told JNS.org.

Hillel is not stifling student opinions, but simply saying is that it “will not sponsor hate groups, and antisemitic and anti-Israel speakers,” said Mael.

Rofes, however, said Open Hillel just wants “a conversation where people can counter one another, and can grow from one another and understand each other’s perspectives.”

To that end, Open Hillel is holding a conference from October 11-13 at Harvard University that will include a variety of speakers – among them well-known BDS activist Judith Butler. “We would love Hillel International to send some folks to the conference and we actually invited them a while back,” Rofes said.

See “Hillel” on page 14

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774 ■

Chloe Valdary: Christian, black and a rising star of pro-Israel campus activism

By Anthony Weiss and Miriam Moster (JTA) – Growing up in New Orleans, Chloe Valdary kept kosher, studied the Jewish Bible and celebrated Jewish holidays with festive meals. In recent years, New Patients she has become an outspoken pro-Israel Welcome campus activist, contributing regularly to New Patients Board the Jewish press, and speaking and posting Welcome Certified widely about the merits of the Jewish state social media. ker on But the senior at the University of New illiam ucker Orleans is not Jewish. She is Christian –a eon Eye Physician and Surgeon member of the Intercontinental Church of Ages God, whose adherents revere the Hebrew Complete Exams - All Ages es Accepted Bible and follow the Jewish calendarFree – andParking • Mostfrom Insurances Accepted she is black.

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civil rights movement. In the piece, titled “To the Students for Justice in Palestine, a Letter From an Angry Black Woman,” Valdary addressed the campus group.

“You do not have the right to invoke my people’s struggle for your shoddy purposes, and you do not get to feign victimhood in our name,” she wrote.

Valdary also listed black civil rights-era Zionists, telling Israel’s college-age critics, “You do not get to pretend as though you and Rosa Parks would have been great buddies in the 1960s. Rosa Parks was a real Freedom Fighter. Rosa Parks was a Zionist.”

(Parks signed a 1975 letter by the Black Americans to Support Israel Committee, backing Israel’s right to exist.)

Her outspoken support for Israel in the name of civil rights not only cuts against the arguments of Students for Justice in Palestine and other critics of Israel, but also

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against the drift of much black civil rights rhetoric over the past few decades.

While a number of early civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., were supportive of Israel, subsequent black leaders – particularly starting with the black power movement in the late 1960s – often have been sharply critical of the Jewish state. Black power leader Stokely Carmichael described Israel as a “settler colony,” while more recently, professor and activist Cornel West endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal.”

Against that backdrop, Valdary’s stance and identity make her a “uniquely compelling” voice in the world of Israel advocacy.

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JEWISH OBSERVER

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ septemBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774

High Holiday services 2014

Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas (USCJ affiliated), 18 Patsy Ln., off Jamesville Rd., DeWitt, 446-9570. Call Julie Tornberg for youth programs at 701-2685.

Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse (Orthodox, affiliated with the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America), 4313 E. Genesee St., DeWitt, 446-6194.

Temple Adath Yeshurun (USCJ affiliated), 450 Kimber Rd., Syracuse, 445-0002.

Temple Concord (Reform, affiliated with Union for Reform Judaism), 910 Madison St., Syracuse, 475-9952.

Chabad House at SU. All services at Chabad House, 825 Ostrom Ave. For service times and information, call 424-0363.

Sephardic minyan at the Jewish Community Center, 5655 Thompson Rd., DeWitt. For information, call Moshe Habib at 449-1705.

Hillel – Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life at Syracuse University Campus, 102 Walnut Pl., Syracuse, 422-5082. All services are at Winnick Hillel unless indicated otherwise. Reservations are required for meals and may be made at www.suhillel.org.

Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas

Services are open to the community. For more information, guests and visitors should contact the Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas office at 446-9570 or office@ cbscs.org. There is no fee for attending High Holiday services, nor are there tickets. Donations are welcome.

Wednesday, September 24 Erev Rosh Hashanah Mincha, Maariv 6 pm Candle lighting 6:41 pm

Thursday, September 25 Rosh Hashanah day one Shacharit and Musaf 8:30 am-1:30 pm Babysitting for 3-year-olds and younger 9:30 am-1 pm Youth programs for pre-kindergarten-teenagers 10 am-noon Tashlich at Butternut Golf Course on Jamesville Rd. 5:30 pm Candle lighting 7:39 pm Friday, September 26 Rosh Hashanah day two Shacharit and Musaf 8:30 am-1:30 pm Babysitting for 3-year-olds and younger 9:30 am-1 pm Youth programs for pre-kindergarten-teenagers 10 am-noon Candle lighting 6:38 pm Saturday, September 27 Shabbat Shuvah 9:30 am Friday, October 3 Erev Yom Kippur Maariv followed by Kol Nidre 6-9 pm Candle lighting 6:25 pm Saturday, October 4 Yom Kippur Shacharit and Musaf 8:30 am-2 pm Babysitting for 3-year-olds and younger 9:30 am-1 pm Youth programs for pre-kindergarten-teenagers 10 am-noon In addition to the service, there will be areas for yoga and meditation within the main sanctuary.

L’Shanah May the sound of the Tovah Shofar bring the community joy and good health Wishing peace, health and py Chanukah! for you & your happiness family. to all this Passover

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Study session and meditation 4 pm Mincha 5 pm Shofar blowing 7:45 pm Maariv, Havdalah and break fast Youth services and information Babysitting for infants and children available both days of Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur.

For details and to make reservations, call CBS-CS Youth Director Julie Tornberg at 701-2685.

Youth programs will include age-appropriate tefillah, storytelling, games, other activities and attending the shofar service in the sanctuary.

Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first-seventh grades 10 am-12:30 pm all three days.

Eighth-12th grades – teen-centered experience exploring the themes of the High Holidays as they relate to their lives. Teenagers are expected to worship in the sanctuary, as well as participate in the teen program.

Rosh Hashanah – both days Yom Kippur 10 am-noon Sunday, September 28 – cemetery visitation approximate times Beth Sholom 9 am Upper Beth El 9:30 am Lower Beth El 10 am Chevra Shas 10:30 am To visit a grave at the Beth Israel or Anshe Sfard cemeteries, contact the CBS-CS office at 446-9570 or office@cbscs.org.

Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse

Services are open to the community. No tickets will be necessary. For more information, contact rabbi@ stocsyracuse.org.

Wednesday, September 24 Erev Rosh Hashanah Services 6:45 am Erev Tavshilin Candle lighting 6:40 pm Mincha 6:40 pm Thursday, September 25 Rosh Hashanah day one Morning services 8 am Shofar 10:30 am Tashlich Mincha 6:40 pm Candle lighting 7:46 pm Friday, September 26 Rosh Hashanah day two Morning services 8 am Shofar 10:30 am Mincha 6:40 pm Candle lighting 6:37 pm Sunday, September 28 Tzom Gedaliah Fast begins 5:19 am Selichot 7:45 am Morning services 8:15 am Mincha 6:25 pm Fast ends 7:20 pm Friday, October 3 Erev Yom Kippur Morning services 6:45 am Mincha 3:15 pm Candle lighting 6:24 pm Kol Nidre 6:15 pm Saturday, October 4 Yom Kippur Chumash class 8:15 am Morning services 9:00 am Yizkor 11:45 am Mincha 5 pm (approximately) Havdalah 7:30 pm

Temple Adath Yeshurun

Unaffiliated individuals and families may join the TAY community for High Holiday services. To reserve tickets, contact the synagogue at 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 service will be held in the Miron Family Chapel. It is a childcentered service created to “engage and inspire” children in second-seventh grade, with a focus on prayers and the music of the holidays. Junior congregation is followed by a High Holiday interactive program that will provide children with an opportunity to learn about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with a live board game and trivia.

Then the children will break up into smaller groups for See “Holidays” on page 11

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

Holiday

11

Continued from page 10

holiday activities and a light kiddush snack.

For children from birth-first grade, 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 the TAY traditional flashlight walk and the blowing of the shofar to conclude the holidays.

Babysitting will be available for children 6-years-old and younger for both days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur.

For more information about Temple Adath Yeshurun’s High Holiday services, visit www.adath.org, e-mail info@adath.org or call 445-0002.

Wednesday, September 24 Erev Rosh Hashanah Candle lighting 6:40 pm Mincha 6:15 pm Thursday, September 25 Rosh Hashanah day one Morning service 8:15 am Rabbinic message 10:30 am Blessing of the newborns 11:15 am Tashlich 5:30 pm Evening service 6:30 pm Candle lighting 7:39 pm Friday, September 26 Rosh Hashanah day two Morning services 8:15 am Rabbinic message 10:30 am Evening service 6:30 pm Candle lighting 6:37 pm Saturday, September 27 Shabbat Shuvah 9:15 am Alan Small Awards – evening service 6:45 pm Sunday, September 28 Cemetery memorial service 11 am Friday, October 3 Erev Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre Morning services 7:30 am Mincha noon Kol Nidre 6:15 pm Candle lighting 6:24 pm Saturday, October 4 Yom Kippur Morning services 9:15 am Yizkor 11:45 am Martyrology 4:45 pm Evening service, shofar, Havdalah 6:55 pm

Youth services and information Babysitting is available during all adult services in the first floor babysitting room. Children will be brought into the sanctuary for the shofar blowing, when they can come up on the bima. Babysitting reservations should be made by Monday, September 22, by e-mailing Daniella Kohan at daniella@templeconcord.org.

Wednesday, September 24 Erev Rosh Hashanah Evening service 8 pm Thursday, September 25 Rosh Hashanah day one Morning service (office closed) 10 am Family service 1 pm Tashlich at Barry Park 4:30 pm Friday, September 26 Rosh Hashanah day two Morning service (office closed) 10 am Shabbat service 6 pm Sunday, September 28 Woodlawn Cemetery memorial service 12:30 pm Friday, October 3 Kol Nidre 8 pm Saturday, October 4 Yom Kippur Morning service 10 am Study session 1 pm Family service 1 pm Afternoon and concluding services 3 pm Havdalah and break fast 6 pm

Temple Concord

Hillel at Syracuse University

Services are open to the community. Guests and visitors should contact the Temple Concord office at 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.

Sephardic Minyan at the Jewish Community Center Wednesday, September 24 Erev Rosh Hashanah service 6:45 pm Thursday, September 25 Rosh Hashanah day one Morning services 8 am No Mincha or Maariv Friday, September 26 Rosh Hashanah day two Morning services 8:30 am No Mincha or Maariv Friday, October 3 Kol Nidre service 6:30 pm Saturday, October 4 Yom Kippur services 8 am-all day Shofar blowing 7:15 pm approximately, with break fast immediately following Wednesday, September 24 Combined community services 6:30 pm, Hendricks Chapel, Reform and Conservative Dinner 7:45 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, reservations required by Sunday, September 21

Thursday, September 25 Rosh Hashanah day one Conservative services 9:30 am, Hendricks Chapel, Main Chapel Reform services 10:30 am, Winnick Hillel Center, Lender Auditorium Lunch 1 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, reservations required by Sunday, September 21 Tashlich 2:15 pm. Meet at Hillel and walk to the pond in Thornden Park. Hillel will supply the bread.

Conservative services 6 pm, Hendricks Chapel Dinner 7:15 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, reservations required by Sunday, September 21 Friday, September 26 Rosh Hashanah day two Reform Services 10 am, Temple Concord, 910 Madison St. Lunch 1 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, reservations required by Sunday, September 21 Shabbat Shuvah services 6 pm, Winnick Hillel Center Regular, Shabbat services Shabbat dinner 7:15 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, reservations required by Wednesday, September 24 Friday, October 3 Pre-fast dinner from 4:45-6:30 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, reservations required by Tuesday, September 30 Come by at any point during the specified times and get a pre-fast dinner.

Kol Nidre services 6:15 pm, Hendricks Chapel, Reform and Conservative Saturday, October 4 Conservative services and Yizkor 9:30 am, Hendricks Chapel, Main Chapel Reform services and Yizkor 10:30 am, Winnick Hillel Center, Wohl Dining Center Combined Conservative and Reform Mincha 4:45 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, Lender Auditorium Combined Neilah and Maariv 6:15 pm, Winnick Hillel Center, Lender Auditorium Break fast 7:45 pm, Winnick Hillel Center – free, no reservations required

Reform congregations plan bone marrow drives

By JTA staff (JTA) – Seventy-five Reform congregations throughout the United States are holding bone marrow registration drives on Yom Kippur.

For the second straight year, the Reform movement is partnering with the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation in an effort to register potential donors. A cheek swab will be taken from potential donors with the goal of helping patients suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, See “Drives” on page 15

i hi the h individuals, families, and Wishing agencies i off oour community

Shanah Tovah

May you feel joy in your strength, happiness in your success, and promise in your dreams

315-446-9111 x234

Serving the community since 1939 • Dedicated to promoting, strengthening and preserving individual, community and family well-being

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Rosh Hashanah Greetings

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

from

12

JEWISH OBSERVER ■ septemBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774

How Jewish reporters in Muslim lands hide their identity encounter, keeping Sotloff’s Jewish identity under wraps

By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) – Don’t bring it up. If it comes made sense, said Janine Zacharia, who has reported in up, change the subject. If you can’t change the subject, the region for The Washington Post. “For me, the first question whenever I met anyone in the Arab world was consider an outright denial.

Those are some of the strategies used by Jewish ‘where are you from,’ and they weren’t asking whether reporters working in the Arab and Muslim Middle East it was the United States or Canada – it was ‘are you a Muslim or a Jew?’” said Zacharia, who was based in to conceal their religious heritage.

The dangers facing Jewish journalists in the region Jerusalem for the Post from 2009-2011 and who now became evident recently after the beheading of a dual lectures at Stanford University.

“I would say, ‘I’m from New York or DC,’ and if they American-Israeli citizen, Steven Sotloff, by the jihadist persisted, I would say ‘My grandfather is from Greece,’ group Islamic State, or ISIS. which is true.

I didn’t want to say what my religion It’s not known whether ISIS was aware that Sotloff was Jewish. Colleagues believe his kidnapping by was,” she said.

Another Jerusalem-based correspondent who asked not ISIS-affiliated terrorists in 2013 in Syria was one of opportunity and not a deliberate targeting. James Foley, to be named because she is still reporting throughout the another journalist kidnapped by ISIS and beheaded in region said she drew on the experiences of extended family who are Christian to pretend she was as well. “You hear August by the terror group, was Catholic.

However, Sotloff’s family in South Florida, his friends it in conversation. ‘You’re not a Jew, are you?’” said this and colleagues – indeed much of the journalistic com- correspondent, who knew Sotloff. She said it was especially munity – went to lengths to conceal his family’s deep pronounced in Libya during the overthrow of Muammar involvement in the Jewish community and his Israeli Gadhafi there in 2011. “There was so much indoctrination citizenship in order not to draw his captors’ attention to against Jews, but they didn’t know Jews.”

Suspicion of Jews is not straightforward, correspona factor that may have exacerbated his ordeal. JTA did Antiques, Jewelry, Pyrex dents said. Often it is wrapped into other issues – for not report on his captivity for the same reason. instance, being based at Jerusalem, which hundreds of The captors of Daniel Pearl, Cute a Walland StreetCurious Journal Gifts correspondent kidnapped and beheaded by terrorists in foreign journalists are. Many governments in the region Pakistan in 2002, made a point of his Jewishness. In the tend to ban entry to correspondents, regardless of religious video showing his execution, they included Pearl saying heritage, who are based in Israel. When they are allowed “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish. I am a Jew” in, Jerusalem correspondents traveling to Arab countries go to lengths to cover up any Israel ties: ripping tags out among his final words.

“We Snook send our deepest condolences to the family of of clothes, leaving Israeli cash with trusted friends in Joanne Samantha Snook Herron Steven Sotloff,” Pearl’s parents, Judea and Ruth, said transit cities, shutting down social media accounts.

It’s heckled_hen@msn.com not just an Israel address that can raise mistrust. inProprietors a statement e-mailed to JTA. “We know too well the Now open at our location! pain of such horrific loss.

Once again the new world has First impressions in the region often take into account Open - Friday, 10:30am - 5:30pm 10:30am - and 5pmpresumed loyalties. seen the Tuesday horror of terrorism in action. We continue• Saturday to one’s background Aaron Schachter, who was based in Lebanon and find strength in the belief that united, civilization will 107 Fairgrounds Drive, Village of Manlius, NY 13104 • 682-1602 Jerusalem for the BBC in the last decade, said that in triumph and humanity will prevail.”

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ing conversational gambit. But when the answer was “Jewish,” he said, there was a patina of suspicion that he called “creepy.”

“In Lebanon it was slightly threatening because everyone pays attention to what you are – Sunni, Shia – and it’s not unusual for someone to call attention to it, but at a point it’s vaguely threatening” for Jews, said Schachter, now an assignment editor for The World, a Public Radio International program.

“I know what you are,” he recalled an interlocutor affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based group that repeatedly waged war with Israel, as saying. The man drew the conclusion, correctly, that Schachter was Jewish from his first name.

“I know they’re going to try to figure out who you are, whether a Maronite Christian or Orthodox Christian,” Schachter said. “But when you have someone say ‘I know what you are,’ what is the purpose of that in the course of the conversation we’re having?”

One thing journalists quickly learn is that the Jewish “tells” in the West don’t mean much in the Middle East. Jewish names obvious in the West are not at all so in the region, and stereotypical “Jewish looks” among westerners are indistinguishable from the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern features that are common throughout the Middle East.

“My name might have been Miriam Leah Goldbergstein and I wouldn’t have worried,” said Lisa Goldman, who reported for various outlets in Lebanon and then in Cairo during the Arab Spring in 2011.

A non-Jewish Baghdad correspondent for a major U.S. outlet recalled that in 2009, she and another American staffer were alarmed when they learned that a U.S.-based See “Reporters” on page 15

STOCS

Continued from page 4

explained that only after that is deeply considered can one look backward at the mistakes and failings of the past year. Sacks has observed a common characteristic of Holocaust survivors: they were firmly focused on the future, not their traumatic past.

Sacks’Shabbat morning sermon on political philosophy noted that parasha Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9) represented “a major break” with all previous political arrangements. Elsewhere, all power – whether secular or sacred – was invested in the sovereign. In Israel, there was to be a strict separation of powers: king, priest and prophet. The king was not above the law, the priests could not wield temporal powers and prophets possessed only the moral force of their message. Separation of powers as a tyranny-checking governing principle was revived by 18th-century political philosophers, especially Montesquieu, and subsequently embraced by America’s Founding Fathers, as explicated in the Federalist Papers.

He noted that the dangers of the sacred seizing secular power have been demonstrated in all three monotheistic religions. The Maccabees are celebrated for their revolt against Syrian Greek oppression. Despite being of the priestly caste, they continued to retain political power, leading ultimately to “disastrous results.” Post-Reformation, Europe was torn apart by Catholic-Protestant strife, culminating in the Thirty Years’ War. At the end of the war, the Treaty of Westphalia established the secular state system in Europe. Sacks said that there is now a similar third great challenge in radical Islam’s will to power and speculated that it, too, would end badly. He believes the power of religion rests not on force, but on its ability to inspire and to persuade.

At seudat shlishit, Sacks answered a number of questions. Regarding the failure of Muslim clerics to speak out strongly against the depredations of ISIS, he observed there was much that was happening outside public purview and that there was even an emerging informal alliance between threatened Arab states and Israel. On the subject of the compatibility of science and religion, about which he has written extensively, he noted that Darwin’s “major, perhaps unrealized,” insight was that creation was also creative.

Cosmologists continue to struggle to explain those highly improbable “just right” conditions for the emergence of life on Earth. He feels that nature, however, is opaque as to its origins and “those who seek God in nature will find Him; those who don’t, won’t.”

In responding to the last question, Sacks said that he was meeting one mid-afternoon with Prime Minister David Cameron at No. 10 Downing Street. Learning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to arrive shortly, Sacks prepared to leave. The prime minister urged him to stay. Various British government policy advisors entered the room. When Netanyahu arrived, Cameron introduced those advisors to him, one by one, until he got to the last. “And this,” he said to Netanyahu, “is my rabbi.” While at the Shabbaton, if for but a brief moment, Sacks was Syracuse’s rabbi.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

13

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ septemBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774

d’var torah

Calendar Highlights

Rosh Hashanah

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.

Saturday, September 20 Selichot programs around the community Sunday, September 21 The Oaks presents Italian dinner at 5 pm Wednesday, September 24 Erev Rosh Hashanah Tuesday, September 29 Early deadline for the October 16 issue of the Jewish Observer Friday, October 3 Erev Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre Saturday, October 4 Yom Kippur Monday, October 6 Temple Adath Yeshurun Hazak lunch at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse at noon Tuesday, October 7 Temple Concord Regina Goldenberg Series Located presents opera with resident artists in Fayetteville Square behind Friendly’s Wednesday, October 8 511 East Genesee Street • Fayetteville ErevMen’s, Sukkot Women’s, Children’s Thursday, October 9 Hems & Repairs Done While You Wait Sukkot - Day 1 - JCC and Federation offices closed Zippers • Formals • Coats • Suits, Linings Friday, October 10 • Dresses, Skirts • Drapes • Repairs Take-Ins & Takeouts • Leather offices closed Sukkot - Day 2 - Dry JCCCleaning and Federation Drop Off OnOctober Way To Work,12 Sunday, Up OnHazak Way Home!

PickTAY presentation of film “Orchestra of Mon-Fri 7:30am-6pm, Sat 8am-12noon 637-5505 Exiles” at 2 pm Tuesday, October 14 TC presents Scholar Series with Dr. Robert Spitzer

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By Rabbi Daniel Fellman Rosh Hashanah’s celebration always includes reading the Akedah, the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac. The story is one we all know. God calls Abraham to take his son to mount Moriah and build an altar. Abraham dutifully follows directions, and as the knife is about to come down, with Isaac questioning his father, an angel appears and stops the horrendous actions at the last moment.

Each year we struggle with Abraham’s actions, with God’s instructions, with the violence of the whole sordid event. How could a father turn on his son? How could a son allow such actions? And what kind of god demands such loyalty?

The sad reality of our world is that we still have not learned these very same lessons. Too easily, seeming to have loyalty, we turn on each other. Too easily, we blindly follow paths of destruction, rather than asking tough questions or demanding explanations. Too easily, we believe that our cause is so just that we are willing to sacrifice another to prove our own obedience.

Imagine how our own community might look if we could learn these lessons. Believing in our own causes, we regularly fail to see the greater picture.

We fail to see that destroying another causes no good.

We fail to recognize that the angel won’t always show up in the nick of time, that we need to step up and change our own ways to help move toward a world of shalom.

And if the problem is acute here, it is raging out of control throughout our nation and world. We live in times of personal and national destruction, when the

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mazel tov Ben Elman

Ben Elman, son of Miriam and Colin Elman, of Fayetteville, had his artwork selected for Unique, an annual art exhibit at the Everson Museum of Art, which features the works of people with disabilities.

The show, which was scheduled to run from August 17-September 21, was sponsored by Arise, a community organization that provides opportunities for people with disabilities so they can live “freely and independently in the community.” This is not the first time that Elman’s artwork has been exhibited in the annual show.

More than 100 pieces of artwork from the Central New York area were submitted, but fewer than 60 were chosen to be displayed. The exhibit features the work of artists with a range of physical or mental disabilities, including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, bipolar disorder and Tourette syndrome. Elman has autism. His painting, “Waves,” was featured on the cover of the Arise/Unique magazine, on the cover of the organization’s annual calendar and on its note cards.

Elman is 17 years old and is a student at FayettevilleManlius High School.

Liam Kaplan

Liam Kaplan, son of Susan and Joel Kaplan, of DeWitt, became bar mitzvah at Temple Concord on August 30. He is the grandson of Isadore and Rose Kaplan (both deceased), of Chicago, IL, and Elizabeth and Irving Miller (both deceased), of Geneva, IL. He is a student at the JamesvilleDeWitt Middle School and attends the TC Religious School.

He enjoys swimming and being Liam Kaplan with friends. For his mitzvah project, he collected supplies for Helping Hounds in DeWitt.

Aaron David Thomson

Aaron Thomson, son of Meredith and David Thomson, of Cazenovia, became bar mitzvah at Temple Concord on September 6. He is the grandson of Joel and Roberta Dauber, of Birmingham, AL, and Chet and Jo Thomson, of Cazenovia.

He is a student at the Cazenovia Middle School and attends the Temple Concord Religious School.

He enjoys playing baseball and basketball, and practices karate.

Hillel Located in Fayetteville Square behind Friendly’s

way to get ahead is to destroy another. This year, our times demand better. Let us learn the lessons of Abraham and Isaac, and let us learn to respond to destruction or the prospect of destruction with the mercy of the angel, stopping discord before it ever starts.

Rabbi Daniel J. Fellman is the rabbi at Temple Concord, and Hillel campus rabbi and the Jewish chaplain of Syracuse University.

Ben Elman posed with “Waves,” his award-winning painting, which was among 58 pieces selected for display at the Unique Art Exhibit at the Everson Museum of Art.

Goldberg-Cantor engagement

Aaron David Thomson

Continued from page 8 According to Mael, Fingerhut’s willingness to meet with Open Hillel students and proactively hear their concerns is in line with Hillel’s overall philosophy and “disproves the entire thesis of Open Hillel as a farce.

“Many of the Open Hillel people have a problem with the existence of the Jewish state of Israel, and they harbor intense hatred toward the Jewish state,” and therefore Hillel International “is doing what it can to maintain the pro-Israel integrity of its organization,” Mael said.

Ultimately, the issue of whether or not students feel welcome at Hillel is different than a notion of needing to agree on every issue, Fingerhut said. “We’re never going to agree on everything,” he said. “That’s not possible when you represent all Jewish students on campus.”

For those who want to be involved with programs and groups that are not sanctioned by Hillel’s guidelines, “there are many [other] outlets on a campus” for that, Fingerhut added.

“Campuses are the most open places in society,” he said.

Steven and Sondra Goldberg, of Fayetteville, have announced the engagement of their daughter, Rebecca Goldberg, to Maxwell Cantor, son of Paul Rebecca Goldberg and and Helene Maxwell Cantor Cantor, of Needham, MA. Rebecca is the granddaughter of Norma Goldberg, of Fayetteville, and the late Bernard Goldberg, as well as the late Francis and Beverly Rochelson. Maxwell is the grandson of Natalie Cantor, of Del Ray Beach, FL, and Marcia Siegel, of Columbus, OH, and the late Bernard Cantor and the late Daniel Siegel.

Rebecca is completing her master’s degree in physician assistant at George Washington University. She received a bachelor’s of science, cum laude, in 2011 from George Washington University. Maxwell is working as a physical therapist at the National Rehab Hospital Orthopedic Center in Washington, DC, after completing his doctorate degree in physical therapy in 2012 at Ithaca College. He has also completed an orthopedic residency, becoming an orthopedic certified specialist and certified strength and conditioning specialist.

The couple met in the summer of 2006 while working as counselors at Camp Young Judaea in Amherst, NH. They became engaged on May 23 in Washington, DC, with their families present to share in the celebration.

An August 2015 wedding has been planned at Temple Adath Yeshurun.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014/23 ELUL 5774 ■

obituaries Brian A. Castle

Rosalyn Warshow Meltzer

Rosalyn Warshow Meltzer, 83, died on September 7 in Jacksonville, FL. Born in the Bronx, NY, she lived in New York City when she and her husband met. The couple lived in Syracuse and DeWitt before moving to Florida in 1993. An avid sports enthusiast, she excelled on the sports field.

She is survived by her husband of more than 63 years, Morton Meltzer; their children, David (Marianne) Meltzer, of Brooklyn, NY, Eric (Brooke) Meltzer, of Newton, MA, and Howard (Brenda), of Jacksonville, FL; and five grandchildren.

Services and burial were in Jacksonville, FL. Sisskind Funeral Service had local arrangements.

Contributions may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation, Gift Processing Center, P.O. Box 5018, Hagerstown, MD 21741, or at www.parkinson.org. 

Drives

Continued from page 11 and other blood cancers and genetic disorders.

“We are proud that so many of our congregations recognize the importance of performing good deeds during the High Holidays,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism.

Jay Feinberg, the founder and executive director of the Gift of Life, said the Reform congregations will be conducting “the greatest mitzvah of all – pikuach nefesh, saving a life – during this special time of year.”

From JTA

Autopsy shows teen was killed by sponge bullet, Palestinian doctors say

The autopsy on a Palestinian teenager whose death inflamed rioting in eastern Jerusalem showed that he was killed by a sponge bullet to the head, Palestinian doctors said. The autopsy results on Muhammad Abd Al-Majid Sunuqrut were made public on Sept. 14 by Palestinian doctors. Israeli doctors reportedly are waiting for further tests to determine what killed the 16-year-old. Sunuqrut, who died in Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital on Sept. 7 nearly a week after being shot by Israeli Border Police at a demonstration in eastern Jerusalem, would be the first person to be killed by a sponge-tipped bullet, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. The sponge-tipped bullets have been used for several years, since rubber-coated bullets were banned from Jerusalem because they proved to be lethal. Sunuqrut’s father, Abd, told the Palestinian Maan news agency that his son was shot in the head at close range with a sponge-tipped bullet at the rally in the Wadi Joz neighborhood. He claimed that his son was talking on the phone and not taking part in the demonstration. Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the Associated Press that the teen was hit in the leg with a sponge-tipped bullet while throwing stones during the demonstration.

He then fell and injured his head, Israeli police claim.

Protests in eastern Jerusalem grew the day after Sunuqrut died; the area has been the scene of demonstrations and violence since the beginning of July.

Israeli army stops Palestinian’s infiltration attempt near kibbutz

A Palestinian man was caught trying to infiltrate Israel from Gaza. An Israeli army patrol spotted the man over the Sept. 14 weekend from a post overlooking the border as he tried to enter Israel near Kibbutz Kissufim, which is near central Gaza, according to Israeli media reports.

He was carrying a knife. The man was detained and taken for questioning. It was not known if he entered via an undiscovered tunnel from Gaza to Israel.

As Europe celebrates Jewish culture day, Brussels museum reopens

Some 30 countries celebrated the 15th European Day of Jewish Culture, which was marked in Brussels with the reopening of the Jewish Museum of Belgium several months after a deadly shooting there. This year’s events are focused on women in Judaism. In Italy, performances, exhibits, lectures, concerts, guided tours and other activities were organized on Sept. 14 in more than 70 towns and cities, including large Jewish culture festivals in Rome and Milan. “We believe that culture is the principal means to combat prejudice [and] help society grow and progress,” said Renzo Gattegna, the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities.

“We also want to demonstrate our solidarity with all the women who are victim of discrimination and harassment and to denounce the inacceptable conditions in which women in many parts of the world live still today.” More than 25 Spanish cities presented programs. A Jewish network of 26 cities where authorities have undertaken conservation and restoration of Jewish heritage sites will focus its activities during the week of Sept. 14 on the role of women in Jewish culture. In Barcelona, the city is organizing a scientific conference led by the writer and translator Moriah Ferrus on the subject – part of a five-day program on Judaism that started on Sept. 13.

Opting for a less intellectual approach, the city of Cuenta assembled a food fair to celebrate the gastronomical inventions of the Sephardic housewife. Many of the cities are offering concerts of Ladino music, with an emphasis on music written and performed by women.

In Brussels, a plaque commemorating the four victims of the museum shooting in May was unveiled on Sept.

9 at the museum entrance. The previous day, the city of Brussels increased the museum’s annual budget for security from $6,500 to $38,000. Belgian and French prosecutors said the murder was perpetrated by Mehdi Nemmoche, a French Muslim who is believed to have fought with jihadists in Syria. He is standing trial in Belgium.

Continued from page 12

staffer for the outlet was on his way in for a reporting stint. From his looks and name, she said, they immediately surmised he was Jewish. Stoking their alarm was the fact that local Iraqi hires were unabashed in their anti-Jewish hostility, at least in conversation with the non-Jewish American staffers, said this correspondent who asked not to be named to speak freely.

So she and the other American devised a plan: The incoming reporter would be met in Amman, Jordan, by the local Iraqi hires and taken out for dinner before traveling to Baghdad. Neither the incoming reporter nor the Iraqis knew the true agenda of the dinner, and the Iraqis were not told that the reporter was Jewish. Afterward, she recalled, she casually asked the local hires for their impressions of the newcomer – would he fit in? Their reactions were universally positive; no one had guessed he was Jewish.

“It’s an issue,” said this correspondent, who knew Sotloff and after his kidnapping tracked on the Internet whether his Jewishness was exposed. “There’s so much conspiracy indulgence,” she said. “There’s so much suspicion about spies, Israeli spies.”

Jamie Tarabay, a senior staff writer for Al Jazeera who is not Jewish, said the anti-Jewish hostility alarmed her during her reporting in Baghdad for a number of major U.S. outlets. “All I know is that people who might have been Jewish in Baghdad, you kept it quiet, you did not talk about it,” she said.

Goldman said that the educated professionals she encountered in Lebanon and Egypt were at pains to distinguish between Jews and Zionists. “People’s minds are very muddled, they talk about the people of the book, the tolerance that the Prophet had for the Jews, but they are aware most Jews support Israel as an identity issue,” said Goldman, now the director of the Israel-Palestine initiative at the New America Foundation, a think tank.

Goldman recalled a casual conversation she had in her pidgin Arabic with a cab driver in Cairo in 2011, during the uprising. The mood was festive and it began well, she said. “‘Where are you from?’ ‘Canada.’ ‘Walla! Are you a Christian?’ ‘No, I’m Jewish,’” Goldman recounted. “He must have changed color five times and went silent.”

She asked an Egyptian friend later about the encounter and was told that years of anti-Jewish government propaganda had left its mark. “‘He was probably wondering where your horns were,’” her friend told her.

Ê

15

NEWS IN bRIEF

Brian A. Castle, 58, died on September 8 after a prolonged illness.

Born in Syracuse, he was a life resident of Syracuse.

He was a graduate of Nottingham High School, an avid fisherman and loved boating on Lake Ontario. He was the chair and founder of Jet Cleaners Restoration.

He was predeceased by his mother, Virginia, in 1974.

He is survived by his father, Lawrence; and his brother, Gilbert.

Burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery. Sisskind Funeral Service had arrangements. 

Reporters

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Valdary

“Because so many prominent black leaders are hostile to Israel, it makes it even more powerful to have someone who’s black supporting Israel,” said Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, an Israel advocacy group.

Indeed, a number of pro-Israel organizations, including AIPAC and Christians United for Israel, have made concerted efforts in recent years to develop ties with African-American supporters.

According to recent public opinion surveys by Pew Research Center focused on the conflict in Gaza, black Americans have tended to be somewhat less sympathetic toward Israel (64 percent expressing “a lot” or “some” sympathy for Israel, versus 70 percent for whites), and somewhat more critical of its response to Hamas, with 36 percent saying Israel’s response had gone too far, compared to 22 percent of white Americans.

Valdary, who grew up attending grade school with a number of Jewish friends, said that despite their common religious practices, she didn’t feel a particular sense of personal connection to Jews.

That changed in her freshman year of high school, when Valdary saw the 2007 film “Freedom Writers,” in which a high school teacher uses the Holocaust to teach her minority students about facing discrimination in their own lives.

Inspired by the movie, Valdary said she began to read voraciously about the Holocaust and Jewish history, as well as novels such as “Exodus” by Leon Uris and “The Town Beyond the Wall” by Elie Wiesel. The themes raised in her reading, combined with hearing news about antisemitic incidents around the world, sparked Valdary’s passion for Zionism. “Exodus,” a fictional and sympathetic account of the founding of the state of Israel, was particularly influential, she said.

Continued from page 9

“The importance of Jewish pride as a theme throughout the book really inspired me to take action and do something about the rising antisemitism,” Valdary told JTA. Once she arrived at the University of New Orleans, Valdary threw herself into campus activity, both at her school and nearby Tulane University, which unlike UNO has a substantial Jewish population. Her work caught the attention of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, or CAMERA, which has funded Valdary’s own campus organization, Allies of Israel, at UNO. One of her pro-Israel rallies at UNO also was noted by a coordinator for theAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee, which then sponsored her to come to an AIPAC policy conference and subsequently paid for her to take a 10-day trip to Israel – a trip Valdary described as “life changing.”

Since then, Valdary has worked with and spoken to a number of pro-Israel groups. She spent this summer in Boston employed as a paid consultant for CAMERA, which is still funding Allies for Israel, and will resume working for the group later in September.

Her mentor, Dumisani Washington, is a black minister who serves as the Diversity outreach coordinator for Christians United for Israel, an evangelical pro-Israel group led by Pastor John Hagee. Valdary also was a featured speaker at the ZOA’s national convention in March, and she has recorded videos for Americans for Peace and Tolerance, which was founded by conservative pro-Israel advocate Charles Jacobs.

But Valdary also has found a receptive audience beyond the more hard-line groups. In August, she spoke at an event organized by The Alumni Community, a New York-area alumni group for Birthright Israel, which is less ideologically oriented. And not all of her fans consider

themselves conservative.

“She’s a champion on campus of a Zionism that doesn’t apologize and also comes from a deep place of humanism,” said Rabbi Menachem Creditor of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, CA, who describes himself as a “progressive Zionist.” “Her rejection of the demonization of Israel is not based on being a talking head on the right or the left. It’s based on being a very articulate and thoughtful leader on campus.”

Although her views on Israel tend to be aligned with more right-leaning proIsrael groups, Valdary maintains that her opinions are based on liberal ideals.

She argues that Israel’s sovereignty over Arab citizens “speaks to the concept of indigenous people” – the Jewish people, according to Valdary – thus is a liberal value. This places her at odds with a number of Israel critics, as well as black leaders such as Carmichael and Angela Davis, who have argued that the Palestinians are indigenous while Jewish-Israelis are colonizing interlopers.

Valdary says that “Israeli society, like any other society, has issues with discrimination, but in terms of systematic discrimination, like apartheid in Africa or Jim Crow, that does not exist in Israeli society.” She says that she opposes a twostate solution, favoring a “Jewish one-state solution” in which all citizens in Israel and its territories can vote, but “the culture, the personality” of Israel is Jewish.

Valdary’s political views, and her invocation of civil rights history and rhetoric in the cause of Zionism, has made her a controversial figure and a lightning rod for criticism. Some of the criticism has been racially derogatory, as when blogger Richard Silverstein posted an article

of Valdary’s on Facebook with the note, “They finally did it: found a Negro Zionist: Uncle Tom is dancin’ for joy!”

Other criticism has focused more on her aggressive attacks on critics of Israel.

In a speech at Brandeis University, writer and filmmaker Max Blumenthal, a critic of Israel, after describing a pair of Valdary critiques of Israel critics Judith Butler and Maya Wind, said, “This is a perfect example of where the Israel lobby is heading, of where Zionism itself is heading, is that a right-wing evangelical has been recruited to attack Jewish intellectuals and to tell them that they are bad Jews.”

(Valdary does not consider herself an evangelical or right wing.) Blumenethal added, “I find it peculiar that someone with no credentials is so outspoken, so heavily promoted on this issue.”

In a response to Blumenthal, Valdary herself invoked race, when she and coauthor Daniel Mael accused Blumenthal of classifying critics like Valdary as “black people who obviously have no capability to think for themselves.” Blumenthal did not mention Valdary’s race in his comments at Brandeis.

After she graduates from the University of New Orleans, Valdary hopes to intern at The Wall Street Journal, on the opinion side, and to study at the Tikvah Advanced Institutes, a right-leaning series of political and economic seminars. She also wants to spend a year in Israel. Upon her return, Valdary hopes to start a “Zionist movement,” though her plans on that front are still hazy.

Whatever it turns out to be, though, Valdary will have fans awaiting her moves.

“Her heart is beautiful, her mind is beautiful, her words are powerful,” the ZOA’s Klein said. “She’s really the whole package.”

NEWS IN bRIEF From JTA

U.S., Israel differ on emphases in strategic dialogue

Israel and the United States issued sharply different statements describing their strategic dialogue, with Israel saying Iran poses the longer-term threat in the Middle East. The teams, led by the U.S. deputy secretary of state, William Burns, and Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, met for two days the week of Sept. 14 and discussed the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS; the nuclear talks with Iran; and humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. Unusually, statements from the sides differed substantially. In the past, the sides have issued joint statements. The U.S. statement issued on Sept. 11 did not mention Iran, although Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state in charge of Iran talks, was present. Instead, it focused on the aftermath of the recent Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. In contrast, the Israeli statement said that Steinitz called Iran a graver threat than ISIS. Steinitz welcomed the decision

by President Barack Obama to build a coalition to destroy ISIS, the Israeli statement said, “but emphasized that the more important mission remained stopping the Iranian nuclear project.” The United States is leading a team of major powers in talks with Iran aimed at instituting guarantees that Iran does not advance toward a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief. Israel fears that the talks, which have a Nov. 24 deadline, will allow Iran limited uranium enrichment capabilities. Along with its focus on Israel’s operation this summer in Gaza, the U.S. statement reiterated U.S. complaints to Israel about a decision earlier this month to appropriate West Bank land for settlement expansion. “The parties discussed the recent conflict in Gaza, and the importance of reaching a durable peace and an end to the cycle of conflict,” the State Department statement said. “The two delegations also agreed on the urgent need for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance to support the people of Gaza, and underscored the importance of strengthening the Palestinian Authority. The United States reiterated its concern about continued settlement activity in the West Bank.”

Rifle-toting man making threats arrested outside French Jewish school

Police in Marseille, France, arrested a man brandishing a hunting rifle in front of a Jewish school who threatened to commit murder. The man, who was not named, approached the Gan Ami school on the afternoon of Sept. 10 and shouted “I will kill all of you,” an unnamed police source told the Le Figaro daily. The man, 48, was drunk and was arrested soon after making the threats, according to the report. He lived next to the school and was annoyed that a truck parked outside the school was blocking traffic and prompting drivers to sound their horns, the police source said. Parents were arriving to pick up students at the time.