Former NY Times Metro Editor David Halbfinger to Take Role as Jerusalem Bureau Chief
New York Mets Visit Hillel Day Camp in Five Towns
Meng Secures Funds in Defense Appropriations Bill for U.S.-Israel Defense Cooperation Programs
VOL. 1, NO. 20 | JULY 26-AUG. 1, 2017 | NEWS THAT MATTERS TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THE NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN AREA | NYJLIFE.COM | FREE
ISRAEL’S MOST POWERFUL WOMAN
Maxine Dovere’s exclusive interview with Tzipi Livni as she lays out her broad vision for Israel’s future
…25,000 owners of 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the five boroughs… • The largest providers – the backbone – of quality, affordable housing in New York City. • In good times and bad, a vital economic engine for New York City – we pay hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes and water rates that help fund police, fire, sanitation, public education and other municipal services. • A vast majority of small owners have buildings with 20 apartments or less – many of them immigrants, and all of us committed to providing quality, affordable housing to our tenants. • We put the rent money back into our buildings for repairs, maintenance and upgrades – that’s the formula to maintaining and preserving affordable housing for New Yorkers.
Owners of Rent-Stabilized Apartments… Good for Neighborhoods, Good for Tenants, Good for Affordable Housing
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Publisher’s Note News that matters to Jewish communities in the New York City metropolitan area
The Time Is Always Now Peace and conflict are not opposites; they are each intimately connected preconditions for the other. Violence and negotiation are not distant cousins; they are jealous siblings who stay close no matter their disagreements. Every flare-up of tragedy and cruelty against Israel should not be seen as an impediment to increased dialogue and peacemaking, but rather an opportunity. Every Israeli, Palestinian and other lost life and act of delusional savagery should be a time for both mourning and reflection. Sadly, this is not the case. Recent attacks and killings in Israel are poignant reminders of how the delicate situation there has not gotten any better. A sustained failure of leadership has made productive discussions around security, self-determination and peace nearly impossible. Both the Israeli company-line of incitement and terror, and the Palestinian accusation of occupier and disenfranchisement, need a sunset. That there is even a body of influence called the “Quartet on the Middle East”—comprising peacemakers from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations—is itself laughable. The United States and Russia will unite to make peace in the Middle East? The EU will take time off from grappling with its own internal mess surrounding Britain’s possible exit to make external peace? The invariable need for a Jordanian, Egyptian or other third-party compromise, as status quo, isn’t a pathway forward. Change for the better—even the most incremental change—will only come when it happens directly between Israel, its own diverse population and
its immediate neighbors. Small change, without even addressing the fullness of peace, can only happen organically and authentically; it cannot be imposed. And regular surveys and polls show that this is ultimately what the Israeli people, and the Palestinians, want. Which isn’t to say that violence needs to stop first. Violence and pursuing peace can happen at the same time. It’s what happened in Northern Ireland. Violence, with lamentable loss of life in its aftermath, can drive peace. But internal politics—Israeli politics and Palestinian politics alike—have to provide the soil in which such seeds can grow, and we are not at that point. What even is that point? Exhaustion? Resignation? Changes in political leadership? Changes in domestic policy forcing electoral adjustments in governing coalition majorities? If politics is the art of the possible, what can possible look like here? Within the larger framework of ensuring Israeli security, what can be done? Is there the imagination to secure, still and now, a workable path forward? In this week’s issue of New York Jewish Life, our Maxine Dovere has an exclusive interview with MK and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who shares with us her thoughts on issues of the day. We also have coverage about how news in Israel is itself covered by The New York Times, with a new bureau chief appointed in Jerusalem. Both of these pieces are intertwined with recent events in Israel and how we learn about them. These media complexities include how we at NYJL strive to elevate the dialogue and discourse beyond the
BUSINESS predictable. Queens Congresswoman Grace Meng is also in the news, with a key role in securing funding for vital joint American-Israeli defense programs. Her steadfast commitment to constant dialogue is a refreshing counterpoint to the usual partisan rancor of Washington, D.C. We also take seriously recent remarks by communications guru and friend Stu Loeser, quoted in the popular daily email “Jewish Insider,” on the changing nature of news: “It’s just harder for most products and people to get a word in edgewise,” said Stu Loeser, Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s former press secretary, who now advises a range of businesses on media strategy. Loeser said the media context reminded him a bit of the months after the September 11th terror attacks. “Stories that might be fun in a different environment may come off as frivolous today.” With Stu’s words in mind, we also have some lighter news in this week’s edition. We’re big baseball fans at NYJL, so we were excited to hear about and see photos of stars from the Mets visiting at Camp Hillel in the Five Towns. Those pictures provide an appropriate, and needed, summer counterpoint to weightier concerns. Best wishes to you and yours as we slide into August.
Michael Tobman, Publisher
Michael Tobman PUBLISHER
Andrew Holt SENIOR PUBLICATION ADVISOR
Kim Rosenberg Amzallag ADVERTISING CONSULTANT
EDITORIAL Maxine Dovere NYC BUREAU CHIEF
Lucy Cohen Blatter Jenny Powers Tammy Mark CONTRIBUTORS
Marjorie Lipsky COPY EDITOR
LETTER7 DESIGN
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CANDLE LIGHTING
Friday, July 28 Candles: 7:57 p.m. Shabbat Ends: 9:01 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4 Candles: 7:50 p.m. Shabbat Ends: 8:52 p.m.
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BDSWatch
ACLU Urges Senators to Oppose Bill Targeting Israel Boycotts NEW YORK (JTA) — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on U.S. senators to oppose a measure targeting boycotts of Israel and its settlements. The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, introduced in March by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), would expand 1970s-era laws that make illegal compliance with boycotts of Israel sponsored by governments—laws inspired at the time by the Arab League boycott of Israel—to include boycotts backed by international organizations. Those adhering to boycotts would be subject to fines. While the measure is aimed at the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, it also targets efforts by the United Nations and the
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European Union to distinguish the First Amendment.” products manufactured in Israel The measure was drafted from those manufactured in with the assistance of the West Bank settlements. American Israel Public In a letter last Monday, the Affairs Committee and has ACLU urged senators not to the support of Christians co-sponsor the measure and to United for Israel. It has 42 cooppose its passage. sponsors from both parties. “We take no position for or A similar bill has gained 230 against the effort to boycott co-sponsors in the House of Israel or any foreign country, Representatives. for that matter,” wrote Faiz Liberal pro-Israel groups Shakir, ACLU’s national political have objected in recent years director. “However, we do Demonstrators protesting outside the Spanish to similar legislation, arguing assert that the government government delegation in Barcelona, Oct. 20, 2015 that boycotting settlements— cannot, consistent with the PHOTO BY ALBERT LLOP/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES an action that some liberal First Amendment, punish U.S. Zionists support—should persons based solely on their expressed punish businesses and individuals not be wrapped into broader boycotts political beliefs.” based solely on their point of view. of Israel, which most of the Jewish Shakir added that “the bill would Such a penalty is in direct violation of community rejects.
SCHUMER IN THE NEWS
Schumer and a Storybook Ending SEVERAL YEARS AGO, A PURPLE HEART WAS FOUND IN CENTRAL NYACK, ENGRAVED WITH LIMITED INFORMATION THAT SAID “FOR MILITARY MERIT” AND “B.J. MCNAMARA DEC. 9, 1943.” DESPITE THE HUDSON VALLEY FIND, THE MEDAL ACTUALLY BELONGS TO A NYC FAMILY. On the heels of a long, long search, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer presented a once-missing Purple Heart medal on Sunday to the family of the recipient, the late Bernard J. McNamara, a World War II hero and a Bronx native. The medal was found in the dirt several years ago alongside a roadway and contained no information other than that it belonged to someone by the name of B.J. McNamara on December 9, 1943. “It is a privilege and an honor to return this Purple Heart to the family of decorated World War II veteran Bernard J. McNamara,” said Schumer. “McNamara was a true American hero and put his life on the line to serve this country. It’s unfortunate that the medal has gone missing for so long but I am humbled to have the opportunity to present it to the McNamara family. This was a true case of Nancy Drew detective work by my office, and I am grateful that my office successfully tracked down the family of its rightful owner so that Bernard’s legacy and story of heroism can live on.” Schumer’s office explained that more than 1,000 McNamaras served in World War II, and dozens with the initials “B.J.” Schumer’s office worked hard to track down the medal’s owner and, after much research, found that it belonged to Bernard J. McNamara. Unfortunately, Bernard J. McNamara passed away in 1975, but Schumer’s office successfully tracked down his next of kin. Schumer presented the medal to
Bernard J. McNamara’s son, Brian; daughter, Catherine; grandson, Matthew; and granddaughter, Christine. Schumer was also joined by Col.Peter Sicoli, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hamilton as well as Anthony DelRegno, of C.R. and R.O. Blauvelt American Legion Post 310 in Nyack. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members who were wounded or killed at the hands of the enemy. It was first established in 1932 on the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth. Since that time, approximately 1.8 million Purple Hearts have been awarded. Several years ago, a Purple Heart— inscribed with the words “For Military Merit” and “B.J. McNamara Dec. 9, 1943”—was found on the ground along West Broadway in Rockland County. The medal was turned over to C.R. and R.O. Blauvelt American Legion Post 310 in Nyack. According to The Journal News, a local historian had been searching for its rightful owner. However, there is no comprehensive list of Purple Heart recipients available. Earlier this month, Schumer’s office began to search for the owner of the medal. After much research, Schumer’s office was able to track down a Bernard J. McNamara, born on Sept. 24, 1909. According to the U.S. Census of 1940, Bernard lived in the Bronx. In April 1942, Bernard enlisted at Fort Jay Governors Island in the Branch Immaterial—Warrant Officers—as the grade of private. His enlistment
was for the duration of World War II. Shortly after enlisting, on Dec. 2, 1942, Bernard married Ellen McNamara. On Dec. 9, 1943, Bernard was injured as result of German artillery fire during a defensive stand at Monte Sammurco, and was subsequently awarded a Purple Heart. On Jan. 22, 1944, Bernard was reported to the International Committee of the Red Cross as being at Stalag 3B near Fuerstenberg, Prussia, where more than 4,000 other American POWs were held. He was captured by Nazi Germany while serving in Italy, and was imprisoned for at least 472 days, according to the Red Cross. Upon returning to America, Bernard and Ellen lived in New York where they had two children. Bernard was a devoted employee of Con Edison, working there for over 45 years. After retiring, he and Ellen moved to Vermont. According to his death certificate, Bernard passed away on April 6, 1975, in Chittenden County, Vermont. According to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, Bernard J. McNamara received a Purple Heart. Schumer’s office was able to connect Bernard’s service number to the Purple Heart date of Dec. 9, 1943, with the military. Upon finding this information, Schumer’s office
contacted Bernard’s daughter, son and grandson. According to Bernard’s son, Brian, who lives in the Bronx, his father was shot while retreating from the battle in Italy in 1943 and received the Purple Heart before becoming a POW. Also, according to Brian, the medal was given to children in the family to play with after which it was lost. It may have ended up in Rockland because the family had relatives in Nanuet. Schumer also presented the family with two additional awards that have been reissued to Bernard J. McNamara: the Bronze Star Medal and the Infantryman Badge. Schumer said that, unfortunately, those two awards had also gone missing, and Schumer’s office asked that they be reissued for the family. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person with the Armed Forces of the United States who, after Dec. 6, 1941, distinguishes himself by heroic or meritorious achievement. The Infantryman Badge is a military award given to personnel in the grade of colonel or below with an infantry or special-forces military occupational specialty who have satisfactorily performed duty while assigned as members of an infantry/special forces unit or brigade when the unit was engaged in active ground combat during any period after Dec. 6, 1941.
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Connecting the Music of the Jewish Soul BY MAXINE DOVERE
When I think about Israel, the most important thing to do is to have the two worlds, Jewish and democratic, have a common denominator, an understanding of the meaning of “Jewish” and of “democratic”....For me, it is important that the young generation feel connected to Israel...to have in their hearts a positive music, the Jewish music. — Tziporah “Tzipi” Livni, MK Not since Golda Meir has there been a more powerful woman in Israeli politics than Tzipi Livni. She has served in the Cabinets of three prime ministers and held eight cabinet positions, including foreign minister, vice prime minister, justice minister, agriculture minister and housing minister. Livni led multiple rounds of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, and has earned a reputation as an honest politician who holds to her principles. Livni says her goal is to assure a Jewish and democratic state of Israel that ensures the country’s security and identity. Livni began her legislative career in 1999 as a member of the Likud. She has been blocked from holding the prime minister’s office twice, and served as leader of the Opposition from 2009 until 2012. She ran in the 2013 elections under the banner of her new party, Hatnuah, and in 2015 joined forces with the Labor Party to create the Zionist Union. In 2017 she was said to be the first Israeli considered for the post of under-secretary-general of the United Nations. Livni, a Tel Aviv Sabra born in 1958, is the daughter of Eitan and Sara Rosenberg Livni. The two former Irgun members were the first couple to marry in the new state of Israel. In 1984, her father supported the election of the first Druze candidate for Knesset. Livni was a member of the Betar youth movement. In the Israel Defense Forces—IDF—she was a lieutenant, and she later served in the Mossad. She has been married to Naftali Spitzer since 1983 and has two sons, Omri and Yuval. She finished her law studies at Bar-Ilan University. Livni has received numerous international awards, including the Abirat Ha-Shilton (“Quality of Governance”) award and Yale University Chubb Fellowship. She is the first Israeli woman to receive the International Hall of Fame Award from the International Women’s Forum. Livni represented Israel at the World Economic Forum and in multiple additional forums worldwide. Considered a pragmatic politician, she enjoys a high level of respect in American, European and even Arabic diplomatic circles.
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PHOTO BY MAXINE DOVERE
Following the Olmert resignation, Livni became prime minister designate, declaring, “The national responsibility [bestowed] by the public brings me to approach this job with great reverence.” However, the position was not to be hers. Shimon Peres asked Netanyahu and Likud (which received one fewer seat than Kadima in the elections) to form a government; Livni became leader of the Opposition. “Elections alone do not make true democracy,” uttered President Barack Obama in 2009 during the Arab Spring. Those words continue to ring true. Livni believes a successful peace process will be beneficial. “Israel is not involved as a favor to anyone... it is in the interest of all parties.” She acknowledged that it may not be possible to maintain Israel as a Jewish state and keep the entire land of Israel. Livni gained popularity among the Israeli peace camp after her 2003 speech at the Rabin Memorial. In 2007 she met with then-Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to discuss “improving the lives of the Palestinian people, without compromising Israel’s security.” “Peace,” she told New York Jewish Life, “is very good for Israel. I wish we would make the deal. I hope we will not be maneuvered by those for whom any deal is
a political deal. We should not be shy.” In November 2011 Livni resigned from the Knesset, emphasizing when she did that she was not retiring from public life. “Israel is too dear,” she said. In the 2013 elections, her new party, Hatnuah, won six Knesset seats. Per the coalition agreement between Hatnuah and Likud, Livni was appointed justice minister. But in December 2014 Netanyahu fired her, saying she (and Yair Lapid) constituted an “opposition within the coalition” which made it “impossible to govern.” Livni had controlled the ministerial committee on legislation and was chief negotiator with the Palestinian Authority. The party also held the Environmental Protection Ministry. Subsequently, Livni and Labor leader Isaac Herzog announced a joint slate between Labor and Hatnuah, which they called the Zionist Union. The partnership between Livni and Herzog created significant momentum and galvanized Israel’s center-left voters, who saw the partnership as having a realistic chance to form a government. Avi Gabbay, the recently elected head of the Labor Party, continues the alliance. Now a member of the Knesset, Livni serves on its Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. She initiated and chairs the Foreign Affairs and Defense Subcommittee on International Lawfare. “Lawfare,” she said, “is a warfront as any other.” The committee’s mandate is to “deal with lawfare not only to see how we can defend ourselves, but also to try to change international trends against Israel in a legal context.” New York Jewish Life met exclusively with MK Livni in her Knesset office in Jerusalem in mid-July. Livni is impressive: smart, savvy, dedicated to the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, and gracious. “What I think is the most important thing to do is to join the two worlds, Jewish and democratic state. It’s difficult. We need to have a common denominator and understanding of the meaning of a Jewish and democratic state.” The MK said there is no dichotomy between the two concepts. “Equal rights for all citizens are part of both the Jewish and democratic value system. A democratic state is a matter of values, not just elections.” Livni is concerned that “there are those trying to make Israel more Jewish and less democratic. Our role is to keep the balance....There is a major debate between those believing that Israel should be Jewish and those who want Israel to be both Jewish and democratic. The next decision is to make peace with the Palestinians. Every decision in policy is based on this choice.” Livni stands in opposition to the current Netanyahu government. The character of the ruling coalition, she said, is “more Jewish, less democratic. This attitude affects relations between Israel and world Jewry. When Israel is more Jewish, the monopoly goes to the ultra-Orthodox….There is a rift between them and the Reform and Conservative on the meaning of ‘Jewish state.’ We [in Israel] need to take into consideration the impact on the Jewish people here and elsewhere,
instead of making a decision that makes young people feel alienated.” Livni expressed concern that the young generation will “stand with Israel, fight for Israel.” She acknowledged that “on the campus, the old dialogue no longer works. It Is unacceptable. We should open a new dialogue together, to find what it means to have a nation state of the Jewish people.” “Democracy,” Livni continued, “is a matter of values of the Jewish system. It is about being a Jew. It is the meaning of being a Jew. Equal rights is not a favor; it is our Jewish values….I am worried about representing the balance. It is becoming more and more difficult. “The political solution requires a change of the government. The vast majority [in the government] support democracy; the minority control decision making. We need to stand together for what we believe. “Add the numbers. The majority in Israel and in the Diaspora do not favor minority control of decision making. When Likud decided on the ultra Orthodox and Jewish Home party [Bayit Yehudi] as coalition partners, we are all paying. “We need to understand that the Jewish community was enthusiastic about Israel when the state was established and when it was under attack. Now that support has become more problematic….It’s an issue of conscience, not just a problem of the Jewish community abroad.” The MK discussed some of the social problems besetting Israeli society. “We called for Jewish families to come to Israel, according to the Law of Return. We have hundreds of thousands that are not [halachically] Jewish. They cannot get married. When they want to convert, they have to follow very strict rules. It is problematic. “We said, ‘Come to Israel. Be a Jew.’ Now there are Russian women—part of the Russian Jewish community—who are not [halachically] Jewish. They feel disconnected from the Judaism the Rabbinate brings.” Livni acknowledged that rabbis have tried, but “cannot act against what they see as Halacha [Jewish law].” The Marriage Law—Hok ha goot “Couples Law”—involves replacement of Rabbinate marriage with an alternative marriage ceremony that maintains the same status. “There has been no success in passing the law since it was introduced in 2003,” Livni said. “The moment we have a coalition that recognizes the importance and that this is not against Judaism, just giving a different way, there will be change. A new approach is not against Judaism.” Livni is working to bring about this change. “This is so important,” she explained. “The question of ‘who is a Jew’ in marriage transcends generations. Our children will not marry your children. It is very complex.” Livni concluded by saying, “For me, it is most important that the young generation feel connected to Israel, to have in their hearts a positive music—the Jewish music. When the Jewish music is just the ultra-Orthodox music, they [the young generation] will not sing it. For me, this hurts because I want to have the feeling that the young generation will be connected to Judaism, connected to Israel.” New York Jewish Life photographs our interviewees, but rarely our interviewers. At the conclusion of the meeting with MK Livni, this interviewer asked for a photograph. When we stood together, Tzipi Livni, minister, member of Knesset, kicked off her heels to lessen the height difference between us. Nice. Hamish.
The New York Times Announces New Jerusalem Bureau Chief FORMER METRO DESK EDITOR WHO LED COVERAGE OF RAPFOGEL, SILVER, SKELOS AND THE MORELAND COMMISSION TO TAKE IMPORTANT ROLE AT THE TIMES
David Halbfinger was announced as The New York Times’ new Jerusalem bureau chief by the publication on Monday morning, July 24. It has been said by the paper that “there may be no more difficult or important job at The New York Times than that of Jerusalem bureau chief.” Perhaps this is why the role has been a fairly temporary one for the publication over the past year, following a four-year stint by Judi Rudoren. The venerable Peter Baker took on the role last year before he was recalled to cover the Trump presidency, and Ian Fisher took the helm in January. Ian is now leaving to return to Italy and his family. Like Fisher, Halbfinger has had a long career at The Times holding several prominent roles, including most recently deputy national politics editor under Carolyn Ryan. Fisher and Halbfinger also both spent time on The New York Times Metro Desk. During Halbfinger’s time helming the Metro desk, The New York Times led coverage on corruption and convictions involving Willie Rapfogel, former head of the long-established Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, and former legislative leaders Shelly Silver and Dean Skelos. He also led investigations into state political controversies involving the Moreland Commission—a gubernatorial-authorized investigative body that was alleged to have been formed and then disbanded for political purposes. With recent unrest in Jerusalem, Halbfinger will be entering his new role at a key moment. With news pouring out of the area several times daily after the killing of two Israeli Druze police officers, the decision by Israel to restrict access to the Al Aqsa mosque and other killings, the bureau’s coverage will continue to be high octane. The Jerusalem Bureau is also regionally significant as it is the center of The New York Times’ broader coverage of the Middle East. How The New York Times covers Israel and the Middle East is a regular point of contention between world Jewry and established media voices, with many saying the publication brings a biased stance to issues relating to Israel on both the news and editorial sides. Insiders and observers of both will be carefully watching Halbfinger’s early coverage for signs of ideological favor. With many speculating about how the paper of record’s new Jerusalem bureau chief will handle his new role, most indications lead to having a heavy political slant, given David’s background at The
Times. Halbfinger is also no stranger to covering scandal and corruption, which may have been part of the decision-making process considering recent news swirling around Netanyahu. The New York Times’ full memo on the naming of David Halbfinger as bureau chief is below. David Halbfinger, a 20-year veteran of The Times, will be The Times’s next Jerusalem Bureau Chief. Read more in this note from Michael Slackman and Greg Winter: There is a lot of change in the newsroom right now, and that can be unsettling. But as Dean and Joe have said, this is also an opportunity to find new talent to take on some of the biggest, most important jobs at The Times. Or in this case, a familiar talent: Our next Jerusalem Bureau Chief is David Halbfinger, a 20year veteran of The Times. David, our Deputy National Editor, has had quite a run at The Times: he was a copyboy; a reporter in Metro, National and Culture; and an editor in metro and politics before national. He has written hardhitting investigations of corrupt public officials and businessmen, murderous prison guards, law-breaking Hollywood moguls, roamed his native Long Island, the Bronx, and eight states in the South, left a big mark in New Jersey, covered John Kerry’s presidential run and helped lead the politics team in New York. Politics, violence, religion, culture, passion, relentless digging and compelling prose: all good preparation for one of the scrutinized (and most prestigious) jobs in journalism. Our assistant masthead editor and chief talent scout, Carolyn Ryan, who had David by her side during the campaign last year, said he “is a gifted editor, a treasured colleague and a journalist with a remarkable sense of story and a sophisticated political mind.” David and his family will be moving in August, and he will begin work after Labor Day. And after 28 years at The Times, Ian Fisher, our current bureau chief, and a dear friend, colleague and newsroom leader to many, decided he was ready for a change. He is planning to spend the next year with his family in Italy. We will miss Ian and wish him the very best. One other word on David—when he was named Deputy National Editor, Marc said that David was “great with copy, full of ideas,’’ and, perhaps most importantly, “a nice guy.” Please congratulate him. — Michael and Greg
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Volunteers from the ZAKA search and rescue organization remove blood from the scene of a Palestinian terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Halamish on July 21 that killed three members of one family as they sat at their Shabbat table. PHOTO COURTESY OF ZAKA
Terror Attack that Killed Three Incited by “Wild Hatred,” Netanyahu Says JERUSALEM (JTA) — The attack on the West Bank settlement of Halamish that killed three members of one family as they sat at their Shabbat table “was an act of terrorism committed by a reprehensible person incited by wild hatred,” Benjamin Netanyahu said. In a statement released shortly after the end of the Jewish Sabbath, Israel’s prime minister said that the country’s security forces would “take all necessary measures” to maintain security. The three victims of the Friday-night attack were named immediately after Shabbat as Yosef Salomon, 70; his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46; and son Elad Salomon, 36. Yosef Salomon’s wife, Tovah, 68, remains in serious condition following surgery after being stabbed several times during the attack. Her doctor told Ynet that she “remembers the entire incident well.” Elad Salomon’s wife reportedly took their five children into another room in the house as the attack unfolded, and called security for help. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said in a statement issued Saturday night, “At this difficult time our hearts go out to the bereaved family in Halamish, and to all the community there, after the incomprehensible loss they have endured last night. The difficult pictures, and the thoughts of the children who fled for shelter now dealing with the terrible news—it is truly heartbreaking.” Rivlin expressed his appreciation for Israel’s
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security forces, saying, “I know that we will show no tolerance for those who plot against us, and we will fight terrorism, mercilessly and without compromise. “This is the time for the whole free world to denounce terror and incitement, and join with the state of Israel in the war against terror and incitement. One who does not denounce terror is a partner to it, and has a hand in the deterioration of the whole region into a needless, bloody war, which no one wants.” Abed Al Jaleel al Abed, the father of Omar al Abed, 19, the terrorist in Friday night’s attack, blamed Israel for his son’s attack. “Our children are young and the occupation is responsible, not my son,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post. “The occupation caused this attack after pressing on Al-Aqsa mosque.” The attacker’s mother said in a videotaped statement, “Praise Allah. I am proud of my son. May Allah be pleased with him.” The teen said in a Facebook post prior to carrying out the attack, which he called his “last testament,” that the situation at the Temple Mount inspired his planned attack. On Saturday, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from the site of the killings to condemn the attack, a condemnation that was not forthcoming as of late on Saturday night.
Shuttered Bronx Synagogue Becomes a Dumping Ground NEW YORK (JTA) — Neighbors of a shuttered synagogue in the Bronx want its apparent owners to clean up the trash that is accumulating on its property. Congregation Hope of Israel on Walton Avenue in the lower Grand Concourse neighborhood—once the hub of a vibrant Jewish community in the New York City borough—closed in 2006. The local television station News 12 reported last week that garbage is piling up on the property and no one is taking responsibility. New York City’s Department of Sanitation told residents it cannot clean up the trash because the property does not belong to the city, News 12 reported. “It’s disrespectful for any community,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Riverdale, a Bronx neighborhood. “It shouldn’t be this way.” News 12 traced the ownership of the property to a post office box in Hartsdale, N.Y., in suburban Westchester County, but was unable to contact the man associated with the address. The man is said to be a board member of the synagogue. Hope of Israel, located just behind the Bronx County Courthouse, was the last functioning synagogue in the neighborhood when it closed. Its last rabbi died in 2003, when the Orthodox synagogue was barely able to make a 10-man minyan for prayers. For years the congregation board was led by Abraham D. Levy, a retired justice of the state Supreme Court who died in 2001.
Congregation Hope of Israel in the lower Grand Concourse neighborhood of the Bronx, N.Y., closed in 2006. PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR
Uganda’s Jews Are Down to One Meal a Day Because of East Africa’s Famine BY BEN SALES
The central synagogue of the Abayudaya Jewish community in rural Uganda PHOTO BY BEN SALES
(JTA) — Uganda’s 2,000 Jews have long maintained a modest existence. They live in the east of the country in a hilly, rural area that lacks paved roads, consistent electricity and freely running water. But this year, the situation for Uganda’s Jewish community, called the Abayudaya, has worsened. Twenty million people across Africa and the Middle East are now at risk of illness and death due to a famine that is centered in Somalia, Nigeria, Yemen and South Sudan. Caused by a mix of factors, including civil wars, underdeveloped infrastructure and a drought, the famine is “the largest Gershom Sizomu, religious leader of the Abayudaya, in 2003 humanitarian crisis since the creation PHOTO BY KEN HIVELY/LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGES of the U.N.,” Stephen O’Brien, the emergency-relief coordinator for the United Nations, So when 60 congregation members convened last month for the synagogue’s annual meeting, congregation said in March. “People look dehydrated and starving,” Gershom president Cliff Spungen passed around an envelope for Sizomu, the community’s rabbi, told the JTA last donations. It came back filled with $800. In the following weeks, Spungen sent email appeals Tuesday. “People got sick and weak, and there are people who died because of complications because to the synagogue’s members, as well as to Temple of the food shortage. People were already sick, so Emanuel, a nearby Reform synagogue. In total, the Pittsburgh campaign has raised $6,500—a hefty sum without food they become weaker and weaker.” Sizomu told the JTA that the Abayudaya, who rely in rural Uganda, where a family in Nabugoye, the on their own crops to survive, have been hit hard by Abayudaya’s main village, can live on as little as $5 a the drought. While conditions are easing now because day. “We hope it helps,” Spungen said. “It’s been really the harvest season has arrived for maize and beans, many families are subsisting on one meal a day, he eye-opening and meaningful that people have been generous.” said. When it comes to Jewish community fundraising Two community members who were already sick for famine relief in East Africa this year, Beth El’s have died of malnutrition. Fleeing the area is useless, Sizomu added—food campaign is a rare success story. Take the Jewish Coalition for East Africa Relief, 24 Jewish groups shortages are plaguing the cities, too. The community, whose members converted to convened by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Judaism under Conservative auspices about 15 years Committee. More than two months after the coalition ago, stays in regular touch with Jewish communities was created, it has raised just $10,000. The “trickle of dollars” is not enough to even in the United States and Israel. But only one American synagogue has provided famine relief to the begin planning for allocations, said Will Recant, the coalition’s chair. Instead, the coalition is now Abayudaya. Beth El, a Conservative congregation in Pittsburgh, investing in raising awareness of the crisis through had hosted Sizomu for a weekend of Torah study last education and advocacy, sending pamphlets and U.N. year, when he mentioned the risk of impending famine. fact sheets to congregations and Jewish communities.
The coalition’s goal is broader than the synagogue campaign. The synagogues were able to make an impact because their donations targeted one small community. The coalition hopes to make a significant contribution to the overall aid effort in East Africa. Fundraising has been difficult, Recant added, because the famine is a gradual crisis that hasn’t garnered much international attention. Following a high-profile event like the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, for example, a similar coalition of Jewish groups raised $600,000—most of it during the couple of months after the tragedy. After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) raised $2.5 million in aid contributions. “Money poured in because it was sudden and shocking,” said Sam Wolthuis, the group’s director of disaster response and international operations. The AJWS has garnered $200,000 since June for East Africa relief. “We’ve realized that with ongoing conflict and crises that take place over long periods of time, we’re not getting as much as we need to fill the needs on the ground,” Wolthuis said. Once the coalition raises enough money, Recant said it hopes to help the Abayudaya with longterm water-supply issues. Be’chol Lashon, a group that advocates for Jews of color, is also helping the Abayudaya with infrastructure planning. This part of East Africa last experienced a severe famine in 2011. That year, a coalition of Jewish groups under the same name raised nearly $150,000. Sizomu told the JTA that the Abayudaya shared the money they received from Pittsburgh with surrounding communities also suffering from shortages. And if the coming harvest improves conditions, Sizomu said he hopes to refocus the community’s attention on setting up water-storage and irrigation systems so farmers can weather the next drought. But he acknowledged that developing the necessary infrastructure will be costly. And in the meantime, people are still starving. “People are depressed, and you can see it on their faces,” Sizomu said. “Parents are depressed because they have many things to take care of. There’s a constant need for food.”
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Israel’s Government Opposes Adoption by SameSex Couples, so Gay Celebrities Are Speaking Out BY ANDREW TOBIN
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Israel may pride itself on being an oasis of LGBT tolerance in the otherwise hostile Middle East, but many gay citizens are less than wowed. Last Sunday, the government came out in favor of effectively preventing adoption by same-sex couples. Responding to a petition to the High Court of Justice challenging the current policy, it said that given the “reality of Israeli society,” same-sex parents put an “additional burden” on their adopted children. Led by some gay celebrities, Israel’s LGBT community and its allies have launched a campaign against the government’s declared position, earning widespread public support. The Israeli media have been filled with criticism of the country’s right-wing leadership alongside accounts of loving same-sex parenting. Many have accused politicians of touting Israel’s LGBT bona fides to the world while failing to stand up for gay rights at home. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in a U.N. speech in 2016 talked about gay rights, was singled out. But the top target of criticism has been Cabinet minister Ayelet Shaked, whose Justice Ministry, along with the Welfare Ministry, helped make the government’s case against same-sex adoption. Last Sunday, gay Israeli pop star Harel Skaat urged young LGBT Israelis to vote politicians like Shaked out of office. He further suggested that they protest the government’s position by refusing to contribute to the country, or even by leaving. “I call on you not to join the army! And you know what, not even to pay taxes on the money you will earn,” he wrote on Facebook. “Go and disperse all the great and varied good that you have to give in places that accept you and not those that don’t.” Singer Amir Frischer-Gutman declared on television that gay Israelis were done making the country look good without getting government support in return. Pro-Palestinian activists over the years have accused Israel of “pinkwashing” its conflict with the Palestinians by promoting its gayfriendly laws and culture. “We as people have for years felt they are not accepting us. We are good only for speeches at the United Nations and to be the fig leaf of this country,” Frischer-Gutman told Israel’s Channel 2 on Monday. “I will not have an answer for my child the day he asks me why I have to pay taxes to this country. And why should I go to the army for a country that does
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Ohad Hitman, left, and partner Ran Hurash with their twins Berry, left, and Eva PHOTO COURTESY OF HITMAN
not respect you and me?” Ohad Hitman, 40, a top Israeli singer and composer, told the JTA that gay artists like him are stepping up because they are “dreamers” who want to create a better world. He said he personally felt an obligation to “speak his truth.” Last Monday, Hitman, who is married to TV commercial producer Ran Hurash, 30, wrote a Facebook post addressed to Shaked from the perspective of their 2-year-old twins, Eva and Berry. The tongue-in-cheek message purported to agree that gays are bad parents, saying the children’s “emotional burden” includes limited TV watching privileges and early bedtime. The post concluded with a call for an “in-depth dialogue of love” and national unity. By Wednesday it had received 24,000 “likes” and hundreds of mostly supportive comments. Hitman described himself as mostly apolitical, but said representatives of several Israeli lawmakers have called to consult with him. Meanwhile, other
members of the gay community have publicly pushed the government to change its position on adoption. Although adoption by same-sex couples has been legal in Israel since 2008, in practice it has been nearly impossible. Because opposite-sex couples have been given priority, only three same-sex couples have adopted in Israel out of 550 applicants. More than 1,000 opposite-sex couples have adopted in the past nine years. In its petition to the High Court, the Association of Israeli Gay Fathers, together with the Israel Religious Action Center of the Reform movement, called these policies discriminatory. In its response, the government essentially agreed but called them justified. Meanwhile, surrogacy has grown increasingly popular. In 2013, Israelis had 227 births by surrogate mothers; 87 of them were gay couples. Hitman and Hurash paid a surrogate mother. In April 2015, they were among a group of gay male couples who made a high-profile flight to pick up
their children from Nepal following a massive earthquake there. Gay couples cannot marry in Israel, but the state recognizes unions performed abroad. Hitman and Hurash married in New York. Amid the public outcry over the government’s position against samesex adoption, the National Association of GLBT in Israel quickly organized a protest of the policy for last Thursday outside the Kirya government compound in Tel Aviv. “We will not be silent when our government call us ‘exceptions,’” the group said on Facebook. “We will not say thank you because here we are not thrown from the rooftops.” On Tuesday, Amir Ohana, the only openly gay lawmaker in the ruling Likud party and Hitman’s neighbor, said he would refuse to vote with coalition lawmakers until the government changed its stance on adoption. There are signs the pressure is having an effect. The High Court last Tuesday gave the state two months to reconsider its position on adoption. Welfare Minister Haim Katz had asked the court for time to do so, saying the state’s response was unfortunately worded. Spokeswoman Sharona Mann said the Welfare Ministry is recommending a “complete overhaul of the outdated law” on adoptions, though she said her suggestion is not immediately “connected to same-sex parents.” A poll commissioned last month by the Israeli religious pluralism group Hiddush found 76 percent of Israelis, an all-time high, support gay marriage, compared to 53 percent in 2009. Tom Canning, the associate director of the Jerusalem Open House—the LGBT group behind the Jerusalem Pride March—said such attitudes could ultimately make it difficult for the government to sustain its “regressive” positions. “We’re seeing overwhelming support in Israeli society for samesex marriage and acceptance of LGBT people in different walks of life, even outside Tel Aviv,” he said. “Even regarding the latest adoption decision, there has been a huge outcry not only from LGBT people but from all Israelis, who feel it does not reflect their beliefs. “I don’t know if it’s enough to change government policy, but I
think it’s going to be a concern for the government to manage public opinion.” Still, Hitman said he and his friends in the gay community are not optimistic about their future in Israel. He said they feel under siege by the country’s growing and increasingly powerful Orthodox Jewish population and by right-wing politicians they say are unwilling to stand up for democratic values. “People are worried and angry about the situation. They see Israel becoming like The Handmaid’s Tale,” he said, referring to the hit Hulu TV series about a right-wing religious cult that takes power in the United States. “Everyone knows that 20, 30, 40 years from now, the most religious people will be the majority. All of us are afraid for the first religious prime minister.” Eventually, Hitman said, he plans to live outside Israel—in New York or London, where he hopes to stage his musicals—and believes his children will have more opportunities there. He is worried the Israeli government will make them, and their parents, “second-class citizens.” Hitman noted another challenge faced by gay couples: All children of non-Jewish surrogate mothers must undergo an acceptable conversion if they are to be considered Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage and divorce. While this is little more than a formality for babies of opposite-sex couples, the Chief Rabbinate does not allow the conversion of those who will be brought up in gay households. “In Israel, they are not Jewish; they can’t even get married in a normal way,” Hitman said of his children. “Abroad, I believe they will be respected for who they are.” Despite his worries, Hitman said he has received dozens of positive messages about his Facebook post from religious Jews. Even several who oppose gay adoption told him they admired him and his family and wished them the best. He read the JTA a message from a well-known religious singer, who told him that his Facebook post had inspired him to move toward coming out as gay. Hitman said he planned to offer counsel to his fellow musician. “These aren’t bad people,” he said. “I just want my kids to grow up in a decent country.”
Thousands Rally in Israel for Same-Sex Couples Who Want to Adopt JERUSALEM (JTA) — Thousands rallied in Tel Aviv to show their support for same-sex couples who want to adopt children. The demonstrators held signs reading, “We are not second-class citizens” and “Bibi go home” at the rally last Wednesday evening. Television anchor Nadav Borenstein and singer Harel Skaat, who are both gay, hosted the rally near the Kiriya military headquarters. Clashes between protesters and police led to the arrests of five demonstrators, Ynet reported.
Several days earlier, the Israeli government said it remains opposed to allowing same-sex couples to adopt in the country in response to a Supreme Court petition. Same-sex couples can be approved for adoption, but they can only adopt children for whom a heterosexual couple cannot be found. Consequently the same-sex couples are generally offered special-needs or at-risk children, or older children who cannot be placed. Many samesex couples adopt babies from other countries.
Hundreds protesting in support of the right of LGBT couples to adopt children, outside the Ministry of Adoption in Tel Aviv, July 20, 2017 PHOTO BY TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90
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Participants at a Wednesday, July 19, event hosted by Meor Manhattan PHOTO BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN
Secular Young Jews Come Here for Drinks, Socializing—and Torah Learning BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN
NEW YORK (JTA) — The scene inside the brickwalled locale minutes from Union Square has the typical trappings of a New York hangout. On a recent Wednesday, 20-somethings in jeans and buttondowns crowd around tables, raising their voices to be heard over the loud pop music. The bar is stocked with bottles of Heineken and Blue Moon, wine and mixers for cocktails. It’s the second part of the evening that sets it apart: Downstairs, the group gathers in a book-filled room to hear rabbis lecture about topics such as the weekly Torah portion, the Jewish calendar, the Jewish perspective on human nature and anti-Semitism.
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Some 120 young Jewish professionals—largely not religious—come every week to the signature event by the Manhattan chapter of Meor, an Orthodox Jewish outreach and education group. This is significant at a time when reaching millennials remains a significant challenge for many Jewish organizations. Many young American Jews, like their non-Jewish counterparts, are not seeking religious engagement, said Steven M. Cohen, a research professor of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. “We’re starting off with a low-demand constituency who’s not looking for Jewish engagement, as opposed
to their predecessors,” Cohen told the JTA. The hardest age group to engage is the post-college set, he said. “They’re not already accessible and organized and socially networked. There’s a high rate of geographic and occupational mobility,” Cohen said. “People move around a lot, they’re hard to find, they’re looking for friends, romantic relationships, building their careers, so they have lots of other pressures, needs that Jewish involvement doesn’t quite address.” Meor Manhattan caters to a demographic that has already expressed interest in exploring its Judaism: alumni of campus programming by Meor or its partner organization and funder, Olami, a network of Orthodox groups seeking to counter assimilation by reaching out to unaffiliated students. Approximately 60 percent of the participants in the weekly Wednesday event are alumni of Meor or Olami campus programming, according to Meor Manhattan’s executive director, Rabbi Shmuel Lynn. “We’re not chasing anybody; it’s people who want to come,” Lynn said. “But again, if the crowd is not pitched the right way, they’re not going to want to come. If it’s a meat market, if it’s a singles’ scene, if it’s a place that can be exploited, people are not going to come from work or leave work if they don’t feel comfortable. That’s why the basis of our program is the [Meor Olami] alumni connection.” Me o r, which launched in 2005, is active on 21 colleges and universities across the country, offering paid classes on Judaism, trips to Israel and other Dave Glicklich became involved with Meor in college. programming. The remaining 40 PHOTO BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN percent are mostly friends of alumni. “It’s intelligent; it’s sophisticated,” Lynn said. “We’re not advertising to every Cohen and Goldberg on Facebook in New York. It’s a lot of word of mouth.” Dave Glicklich learned about Meor as a student at American University, attending a weekly seminar at nearby George Washington University for which he was paid to attend—a common practice among outreach groups. Participants who complete one eight-week Meor program can earn a $300 stipend or a heavily subsidized trip to Israel. “[I]t got me hooked” said Glicklich, a 23-yearold development associate at the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Meor was Glicklich’s first real experience with studying Jewish texts, and it opened up the possibility of adding more spirituality to his life, he said. “It was riveting, fascinating. I realized that I was living my life in a way that had maybe less meaning
than I wanted to. I felt like it gave more purpose,” he observant, though he was not sure when that would happen. said. “I need to know why I am doing something, and Glicklich now attends events about once or twice a week at Meor’s Manhattan location, which launched that’s an important part of Meor for me,” he said. He added, “It’s easy to live your life in a secular in 2015 and is the only one offering programming targeted to college graduates. In addition to the way—all my friends are, my family is—and that’s Wednesday event, it also offers smaller classes about how I live now. It’s about finding balance with what’s Jewish texts and Hebrew, subsidized trips and Shabbat meaningful for me and what’s realistic, but there’s always a connection that’s there. I feel very strongly programming. Meor only employs Orthodox instructors, and it about defining as such and raising a family in a Jewish way and continuing that.” counts Olami among its funders, Rivka Grossman has already made but Lynn said the community is the change. Growing up in San Diego, welcoming to those who relate to Grossman was deeply involved in Judaism in different ways. her family’s Reform synagogue. But “What we’re creating here is a after a trip to Israel during her junior community of Jews that if someone year of college, where she came in wants to be more religious—cool. If contact with observant Jews, she someone’s Judaism is Israel—cool. wanted to learn about Judaism If someone’s Judaism is, ‘I’m just from a traditional perspective. a Jew and trying to figure that out Upon returning to campus at and I like Jews and I like coming George Washington University in here’—cool,” he said. Washington, D.C., Grossman started That atmosphere appeals attending classes with Meor. to Skylar Green, a 24-year-old “At that time I didn’t know that financial-services professional who I was going to be religious, but attends Meor Manhattan events I wanted to know” more about twice a week. Skylar Green had minimal Jewish traditional Judaism, said Grossman, “It’s so inclusive, nobody is going education before studying with a 23-year-old credit representative at to say anything to you,” she said. Meor. B&H Photo. “They’d rather have you there than PHOTO BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN Through the classes as well as a not be anywhere. I really like that Meor summer program in Israel, she learned about about the mentality of the organization.” Green said attending classes at Meor has made her Orthodox Judaism and launched a yearlong process of becoming observant, including keeping Shabbat and want to live a more observant lifestyle. “I think definitely long term [I see myself becoming kosher, and wearing skirts that went past her knees more observant]—not this week, but maybe next and shirts that cover her elbows. In 2016, she married a man who also became religious through Meor. week,” she said with a laugh. Grossman said she may have ended up at the same Green grew up in a small Jewish community in Huntsville, Ala., and had little knowledge of Judaism level of observance without Meor, but that the group before taking a class with the Meor group at Emory “helped facilitate the process.” “It probably would have taken a lot more time, and University in Atlanta. There she learned “what Shabbat really entailed, it would have taken a lot more effort on my part to and knowing that ‘kosher’ was a lot more than not search out that information,” she said. Since moving to New York last summer, she has eating pork,” she said. Glicklich, too, expressed a desire to become more attended only a couple of events at Meor Manhattan.
Rabbi Shmuel Lynn, second from right, posing with Meor Manhattan staff PHOTO BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN
“I think it’s a really fantastic forum for people who are trying to learn more and trying to grow more and trying to understand their own identity, and I think Meor Manhattan does wonderful work. It’s just not the right place for me [anymore],” she said. Instead, Grossman prefers attending classes at her Orthodox synagogue in Washington Heights. “I don’t think their audience is already religious people,” she said of Meor. “I think their audience is specifically those people who are looking and trying to understand more and are trying to grapple with their Jewish identity.” Lynn said Meor educators provide attendees with information so they can make their own decisions about how to identify and practice Judaism. “It’s our job to provide them with very legitimate, sourced, trustworthy information and experiences to help them find the answers to the questions that they have, and sometimes help them even formulate the questions in life and help them pursue the conversations that are going to help them grow,” he said. Though the Meor educators come from a variety of backgrounds— some are from Israel, while others are from Rivka Grossman said Meor the U n i t e d provided her with opportunities States a n d that facilitated her journey to Australia; and Orthodox Judaism. some identify as PHOTO BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN Zionists while others don’t—they all are Orthodox. “Yes, the staff members we have are people who believe in the Torah, who live very connected, integrated Jewish lives; they are keeping Shabbat— not [ just keeping] Shabbat one week and not Shabbat another week. They’re role models,” Lynn said. “People are going to take from them what they want, and they’re going to be inspired to do whatever they are inspired, but these are educators who live what they’re talking about in a very clear way.” Being exposed to people living an observant lifestyle has had a major impact on Green. “I’m starting to think maybe it’s the right thing,” she said. Though Green used to think that doing without watching TV or attending ball games on Saturdays would be next to impossible, the path seems easier now, she said. “I always [used to] think, ‘Oh that’s so hard,’” she said, “and then I really think it through and actually it’s really easy, and it’s probably fairly easy to give up for something better.”
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very dangerous time for the state of Israel....Its neighborhood has gone from bad to worse….I see one threat after another.” Bolton believes that the United States is the ultimate target of Israel’s enemies: “It is our responsibility,” he said, “to come to Israel’s assistance when it is threatened. Not really assistance, really cooperation. Israel faces today’s reality of terror; the United States will face tomorrow’s.” The ambassador expressed concern about the actions of the Iranian regime, characterizing it as “extremely dangerous....Iranians are pursuing hegemony in Iraq, in Syria through Assad, and through Hezbollah in Lebanon.” He warned that “ISIS is regrouping, training, deploying, even defeating.” Bolton sees Iran as the funding source for terror, both in the United States and Israel. The regime’s actions “require a strong American response...because Iran is on the verge of getting deliverable nuclear weapons.” Erick Stakelbeck added a poetic image, calling the CUFI Summit “the tip of the spear of the pro-Israel movement, by G-d and for G-d for such a time as this.” He spoke about “the From right, political activist Gary Bauer, CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee, Lt. miraculous reunification Col. Allen West, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations Vice of Jerusalem and the Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein, Amb. John Bolton, broadcaster Erick Stakelbeck confirmation of Jewish presence through the merging of the archaeological we lose it. We must not abandon our holy sites.” Hoenlein also spoke of the need to constrain Iran, scientific evidence with the word of G-d. We are living saying, “We must enforce resolutions to prevent Iran in biblical times,” he said. West began the follow up Q&A. His comment, from becoming a power able to harm others.” He noted UNESCO’s attempts to erase the real preceded by a warning, was classic: “From the record of Christian and Jewish history, as conveyed in perspective of a military guy, there are some people the Bible and confirmed by science. “The impact will in the world that just need their asses kicked.” Even this conservative, extremely polite Christian audience be on future generations,” he said. Turning Biblical—or, in his case, Talmudic— responded with applause. “The deal,” said West, “will not take care of Iranian Hoenlein said, “G-d wants us to do our parts, and he will give miracles....G-d wants us to join together, nuclear threats,” but rather “has facilitated an arms race in the Middle East….A nuclear weapon is not an united with all of those who stand with Israel.” In closing, he spoke of the attacks against Christians existential threat—it is a real threat.” CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee commented in the Middle East: “Stand up for the Christians in the Middle East. Stand up for them! Say we will not on the importance of moving the American embasy sit quietly by when Christians are persecuted and to Jerusalem: “Moving will send a clear message to enemies of Israel that the United States is done executed. Take the threats seriously—they mean it.” John Bolton praised CUFI for developing a “real” playing games. A message to Palestinians that no part relationship between the people of the United States of Jerusalem belongs to them. It never has and never and the people of Israel. “It’s an amazing thing that will...a signal to the world that Israel is not alone.” Hoenlein, who accompanied President Donald you have undertaken,” he said. Ever the diplomat, Bolton began his remarks with Trump to the Western Wall, added, “Undoing a praise for French President Emmanuel Macron—in historical injustice is the right thing to do.” He pointed out that the president had declared the particular, for his statement recognizing anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism. “It would be beneficial to Israel and Wall a Jewish holy place—in fact confirming that the to the United States if we aren’t the only friend [of United States recognized it to be the holiest site of the Jewish people and part of the Judeo-Christian Israel] in the world.” Bolton continued his analysis, saying, “It is a heritage.
Experts Survey Middle East Politics: a Dispatch from CUFI in D.C. BY MAXINE DOVERE
The Christians United for Israel (CUFI) afternoon panel, moderated July 17 by Gary Bauer, featured Lt. Col. Allen West, Malcolm Hoenlein, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and Christian Broadcasting Network commentator Erick Stakelbeck. The one-hour forum covered a range of topics, from gun control to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Control of the Iranian threat was a major concern of each panelist. Israel, of course, took literal center stage. Former Congressman West, a 22-year military veteran, declared, “If we don’t stand up for the modern state of Israel—a beacon of freedom and democracy— so goes Israel, so goes the United States and so goes democracy.” He cautioned against the “effort to erase Christian and Jewish history in the Middle East.” To combat the reality of evil, he advised, “Sometimes we have to put on the physical and metaphysical armor of God.” To a rousing cheer, West said that the time is now to rebuild our military capacity: “We’re in a battlefield right now...ain’t nobody going to take away the Second Amendment. Let’s go! Onward Christian soldiers!” Malcolm Hoenlein is executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. “No matter which party has the White House or controls the Congress,” said Bauer in his introduction, “Malcolm can make the case for the American Jewish community.” Calling the CUFI Summit “a battery charger for me,” Hoenlein said the Israeli-American relationship “is stronger, more vibrant, more committed and more important than ever....G-d has blessed the United States and Israel this year.” He noted the “interconnectivity” of all war and terrorism, and called for the agreement with Iran to be redone. He expressed a hope that President Trump and Congress “will not tolerate Iranian dominance.” “Time for America not to be a grasshopper,” said Hoenlein. “Time to stand up for our rights and freedom.” Hoenlein condemned the UNESCO declaration effectively proclaiming the bible obsolete: “We know the history of the efforts to undermine the past to deny the future….They want to deny access to history and we will not allow it. If we don’t assert our claim,
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City Council Candidate Meng Secures Funds in Defense Appropriations “Cares About” Jews Bill for U.S.-Israel Defense everything he believed in April. That much was made clear to me in my bizarre 20-minute phone (JTA) — Thomas Lopez-Pierre conversation Tuesday with Lopezwants you to know he cares about Jews. Pierre. His sensitivity to anti-Semitism That’s why the New York City Council and Jewish concerns might extend to candidate removed the phrase “greedy his campaign slogans, but it doesn’t go Jewish landlords” from his campaign further. “Je w i s h landlords materials. target black and Latino But if you’re Jewish, he neighborhoods with money said, you do need to stand from Israel to exploit, for up to those landlords. greed, the displacement of Otherwise, you’re just like black and Latino tenants in Germans who allowed the New York City as a whole,” Holocaust to happen. he said. “Good Germans looked Later, he added, the other way as German “You can’t focus on the Jews were carted off by Thomas Lopez-Pierre individual. Too many the Nazis,” he said. “In on the show Meet the landlords of Jewish descent the same way, New York Faith in BET studios in own real estate in black Jews look the other way as New York City in 2006 and Latino communities, Jewish landlords engage in PHOTO BY JOHNNY and they are focused on racial economic cleansing NUNEZ/WIREIMAGE/ horrible, horrible racism GETTY IMAGES in New York City.” and ethnic cleansing.” Was he really equating He still uses a photo of two guys gentrification in Harlem to the Holocaust? Of course not, he said. wearing kippot and guilty expressions Comparing those things is far too as his Twitter wallpaper (the photo was taken at a 2016 court appearance tricky. “I’m not comparing the damage that by three New York landlords indicted was done to each particular group, on charges of reckless endangerment because we would be here for a lifetime and other offenses). And his Twitter trying to weigh which one is worse,” he bio hasn’t actually changed all that much. It used to say, “Jewish landlords said. Lopez-Pierre is running a primary OWN 80% of private rental buildings in campaign against Democratic City Upper Manhattan; GUILTY of GREED Council member Mark Levine, who for pushing Black/Hispanic tenants since 2014 has represented a district out.” Here’s what it says now: covering much of West Harlem in “(((Greedy landlords))) in Upper Upper Manhattan. Bashing “greedy Jewish landlords” used to be at the Manhattan; GUILTY of GREED for center of Lopez-Pierre’s campaign. He pushing Black/Hispanic tenants out.” In case you’ve been blissfully ignorant defended the term at length in April in the face of a media firestorm, accusing of Twitter for the past year, those triple Jewish landlords of committing “ethnic parentheses, called “echoes,” are used cleansing” of black and Latino residents by white supremacists to identify Jews online. Lopez-Pierre says he didn’t of Upper Manhattan. Recently, Lopez-Pierre said he’s had know that. But he also says that he a change of heart. He stopped using the did kind of know that, and used the “greedy Jewish landlords” term, because parentheses to get media coverage. “You’re saying you were OK using an Jews told him it was stereotyping and offensive. He even made a video about anti-Semitic dog whistle to get press the decision in front of Ramath Orah, attention?” I asked him. (pause) a modern Orthodox synagogue on “Yes.” Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Mission accomplished. But don’t worry! He still believes BY BEN SALES
Cooperation Programs
CONGRESSWOMAN ALSO MEETS ON CAPITOL HILL WITH HEAD OF ISRAEL MISSILE DEFENSE ORGANIZATION WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, announced on Friday that she has secured funding in the House Defense Appropriations Bill for U.S.-Israel defense cooperation programs. The funding comes after Meng, along with Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), sent a letter in April to the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense urging that they support robust funding for critical cooperative programs for fiscal year 2018. The funding in the bill—which was Meng and Roskam’s requests— includes the following: • $92 million for the procurement (co-production) of the Iron Dome Defense System • $101.5 million for David’s Sling Weapon System research and development • $120 million for the procurement
of the David’s Sling Weapon System • $82.3 million for Arrow System Improvement Program research and development • $85 million for Arrow-3 Weapon System research and development • $120 million for procurement of the Arrow-3 Weapon System • $105 million for the Arrow 3-Upper Tier Flight Test, which will take place in the United States by mid-2018 In addition to obtaining the funding, Meng met on Capitol Hill with Colonel (Ret.) Moshe Patel, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization. The meeting, which occurred outside the Appropriations Committee meeting room during an appropriations markup, took place to discuss Meng’s efforts and the importance of continued funding for U.S.-Israel defense cooperation programs. The Defense Appropriations Bill must now be approved by the full House and Senate.
Rep. Grace Meng and Colonel (Ret.) Moshe Patel (pictured on the left); on the right is Lt. Col. Pinhas Brosh, Israel Missile Defense Organization liaison officer. PHOTO COURTESY OF REP. GRACE MENG’S OFFICE
JULY 26 – AUG. 1, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 15
SHABBAT DINNER MEALS
Harissa Honey Roast Chicken Recipe ADD A LITTLE NORTH AFRICAN SPICE TO YOUR TRADITIONAL ROAST CHICKEN. BY SHANNON SARNA
(THE KNOSHER) — There’s a reason chicken is a bit of a Friday night staple: Before Jews came to America, red meat simply wasn’t abundantly available, and therefore was saved for special occasions. But also, chicken is a relatively easy dinner to prepare, especially when you roast a whole chicken. This honey harissa and lemon chicken is as easy as any other roast chicken recipe, with a slightly sweet, slightly spicy twist. But wait—you may be asking, What the heck is harissa? Harissa is a North
Upright roaster for roasting a whole chicken
African pepper and chili condiment, or paste, that was brought to Israel by the Jews of Tunisia and Morocco, and quickly became a popular flavoring. It can be found in dried form in the Israeli outdoor markets or as a paste in jars. Even many American supermarkets like Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, ShopRite and Trader Joe’s are carrying harissa (usually in the ethnic aisle with other Middle Eastern products). You can even try your hand at making your own. And there are so many ways to use it, from lemon potatoes with harissa mayo to a spring-greens frittata. But I recently got my hands on some New York Shuk harissa, and honestly, it is so much better than trying to make your own or than many of the other store-bought varieties I have tried. It’s smoky, deep and not too spicy. And I have made chicken with it several times, to the delight of my family and friends. I like roasting a whole chicken using an upright roaster. I highly recommend investing in one—it makes such a difference for a super-moist bird on the inside, while still achieving that coveted crispy skin. If you want to add a rinsed and drained can of chickpeas in the bottom of your pan for the last 15 minutes, they are delicious with this chicken, but that step is completely optional.
Ingredients: • 1 whole chicken • 2 Tbsp honey • 2 Tbsp prepared harissa (such as New York Shuk) • zest and juice of one lemon • 1 Tbsp olive oil • ¼ tsp salt • ¼ tsp black pepper
Directions: Mix together honey, harissa, lemon zest and lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place chicken in a sealable plastic bag and pour
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marinade in. Massage chicken until completely coated. Throw in lemon halves if desired. Place in fridge and allow to marinate for 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place chicken on an upright roaster or on a baking sheet. Cook for 55-60 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F (when stuck into the thickest part of the chicken without touching the bone). Allow to cool slightly. Cut into pieces and serve.
The Anati brothers, from left, Emmanuel, Andrea and Bubi PHOTO BY TAMAR TAL ANATI
Three Italian Brothers Try to Find the Cave They Lived in during the Holocaust BY GABE FRIEDMAN
(JTA) — Renting a house in the Italian countryside and eating loads of pasta is about as blissful a vacation as they come. For the three Anati brothers, however, such a trip is a reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust. Yet the brothers—Bubi, 77; Andrea, 85; and Emmanuel, 88—did just that in 2013, precisely with the aim of reconnecting with their past. The Anatis were raised in an upperclass family in Florence. In 1942, just before the deportations of Florentine Jews to Auschwitz began, the family escaped from the city. They fled from village to village and eventually settled in a forest near Villa a Sesta, a town some 50 miles from Florence. With the help of locals, their father dug a cave— and the family lived underground, literally, for several months during the winter of 1944 until the end of the war.
The family then moved to Israel, where the brothers have lived ever since. Shalom Italia, an hourlong documentary directed by Tamar Tal Anati (Bubi’s daughter-in-law) that
aired Monday night on the PBS series Point of View, follows the brothers’ return to Italy in an attempt to find the cave and seek some closure about those dark years. The affable trio trek through the forest, meet with members of a family who helped them survive and, since this is Italy, eat plenty of pasta along the way. The true joy of this sweet film, however, is the authentic camaraderie of the brothers and their cultivated passion for Italian culture. Bubi, who worked for years at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, is the youngest and most earnest. He’s the guiding force behind the trip because locating the cave was something he had wanted to do for years. Andrea, an oceanic physics researcher, is a whimsical goof. He frequently whistles, hums and introduces himself to strangers—and is in great physical shape for an octogenarian. Emmanuel—whose brothers affectionately call him “Meme” (pronounced “may-may”) and sometimes “Meme mio” (“my Meme”)—is an internationally renowned archaeologist. He is the most serious of the three and has no desire to relive his Holocaust memories, having long pushed them out of his mind. But Meme agreed to the trip to satisfy Bubi. On screen, the brothers’ personalities don’t exactly clash—they do, however, lightly bump up against one another. They bicker over in which room to eat dinner, when to leave the rented house in the morning and which path to take to find the cave in the forest. But the banter is more endearing than whiny. One particularly humorous debate occurs over whether the brothers brought toy bows and arrows with them when they fled from Florence— Andrea insists they did; Meme calls him
The brothers used local Italian food as fuel on their quest. PHOTO BY TAMAR TAL ANATI
ridiculous. In spite of its charm, Shalom Italia does not glaze over the serious history underpinning the story. The film’s lighthearted tone goes hand in hand with the brothers’ ghosts from the war. They have interesting conversations about the nature of memory over mouthwatering meals, which include salami, mozzarella, tomatoes, prosciutto and pasta with pesto. In one memorable scene, Andrea says he remembers their years on the run fondly—for him it was an adventurous time that brought together the entire family. “We lived in the woods, played Robin Hood and collected mushrooms,” he says. “I had fun during the Holocaust.” Meme ruffles at the remark, saying that while Andrea enjoyed his youth, he was forced to grow up quickly. At another point, Bubi says he cannot eat or even get close to sardines. He realizes that he feels this way because the family ate sardines during the war. Ultimately the film is a testament to how memories are filtered through our attitudes and experiences, and even the desires of those around us. “It was very interesting to see that when you confront someone else, your memory starts to change,” Tamar Tal Anati told the JTA from her home in Tel Aviv. “[And] to see how memory reconstructs itself.” Tal Anati had been married to Bubi’s son for years, but was not aware that her father-in-law and his brothers were Holocaust survivors. When Bubi told her about the planned trip to the Italian countryside—and she learned of the cave and the reason for the journey— she felt compelled to film it. “I was fascinated by the fact that each one of them has a completely different memory of the same event,” she said. “And I was curious to see how they would deal with the physical and mental challenge of this journey.” Tal Anati noted that for decades, the brothers did not even think of themselves as true Shoah survivors. But since the filming of Shalom Italia, which helped them reckon with the memories of that long-ago winter, they do. “Our character and the way we see life is the result of the memories we hold,” she said. “And once these memories change, we change.” Shalom Italia, which aired at 10 p.m. EST July 24 on PBS, will also stream online at pov.org from July 24 through Aug. 26.
JULY 26 – AUG. 1, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 17
Want to Reduce Racial Segregation? Elect a Democrat to School Board, Study Says BY MATT BARNUM
(CHALKBEAT) — When Republicans won control of the Wake County, N.C., school board in 2009, they promised to eliminate the district’s racial integration program in favor of “community schools” closer to students’ homes—and they did. By 2012, Democrats had retaken control and were trying to change course. The shifts caught the attention of Duke professor Hugh Macartney, who wondered whether party labels predict how school boards will address—or fail to address—school segregation. Now, a new study released by Macartney and John Singleton of the University of Rochester suggests that Wake County was not unique. Electing Democratic school board members, they found, leads to lesssegregated schools. The results are substantial: Electing at least one Democrat leads to students’ being “reassigned in such a way that the school board is now 18 percent closer to achieving the district [average racial breakdown] for each school,” said Macartney. The first-of-its-kind paper, which is set to be released through the National Bureau of Economic Research, examines hundreds of school board elections in North Carolina between 2008 and 2012. The researchers compared districts that narrowly elected Democrats to those that narrowly elected non-Democrats—largely Republicans, but including Independents. (Like most school board races, the North Carolina elections were technically nonpartisan; the researchers later matched school board candidates to the party with which they were registered) Racial segregation was likely reduced, Macartney and Singleton show, by changes to school attendance zones. Non-Democrats made fewer changes, “potentially allowing residential sorting to increase segregation without substantial intervention,” the paper says. “The reductions in segregation with the change of the school board are really interesting and line up with, anecdotally, what we’ve seen in some school
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districts that have made strong moves on this front,” said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank that backs school integration. Democratic efforts to reduce segregation may have caused one unintended—albeit unsurprising— consequence: “white flight,” the migration of white families out of a district in order to avoid integration efforts. The study shows that electing a Democrat leads to a reduction in the share of white students attending the public school district, though the research can’t definitively identify the cause. This effect does not eliminate the integration gains, however. Potter notes that some of the departing families may have left heavily white districts, which would not hamper integration efforts. She also points out that the effect may have been caused by families of color entering
PHOTO BY MATT DETRICH
the district as opposed to white families leaving. The paper has not been formally peer reviewed. But David Deming, a Harvard economist who has examined segregation in North Carolina and briefly reviewed the study, said the authors used a wellestablished research approach. The study highlights the importance of school board elections, given the ability of one policymaker to ameliorate segregation—as well as the diverging education agendas of different parties. “Policymaking is all about tradeoffs, and we should expect Republicans to prioritize different things than Democrats do—like achievement and choice, for example,” said Mike Petrilli of the Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank. But a number of studies have shown that more integrated schools improve the achievement of lowincome and black students. Deming’s research found that the end of busing-based integration efforts in Charlotte led to higher crime rates and lower achievement among students of color. Macartney’s study doesn’t look at the effect of a board’s partisan makeup on student outcomes. He also found no link between changes in economic— as opposed to racial—segregation in schools and a board’s political leanings. In addition to the changes in enrollment zones, one possible explanation for the results is Republican support for school-choice policies. Other research has found that North Carolina’s charter schools have increased segregation. However, Potter says one way to make integration more politically tenable is to include some parental choice in assignment systems designed to prioritize diversity. Wake County, she said, is one example of the power of school board elections to derail such integration plans. The study, Potter said, “reveals some precariousness that we want to think about—how to set up enrollment plans and priorities that can’t be unwound with one election.”
Students at Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School PHOTO BY JESSICA GLAZER
English Learners Are Underrepresented in New York City’s Career and Technical-Ed Programs, Report Finds BY DANIELA BRIGHENTI
(CHALKBEAT NY) — Career and technical education (CTE) has been shown to help students make it to graduation. But New York City’s Englishlanguage learners—who consistently lag behind their peers when it comes to on-time graduation—are both under-enrolled in the city’s CTE programs and less likely to complete them, according to a new report. Released Monday by the nonprofit Advocates for Children (AFC) of New York, the report shows that while English learners made up 10.8 percent of the city’s high school students in the 2015–’16 school year, they comprised only 5.3 percent of students in CTE programs. Though the number of CTE schools in New York City has increased dramatically over the past decade, the report raises the question of whether all groups of students are benefiting equally from these programs. “The low number of ELLs [English-language learners] in the city’s CTE schools and programs is a problem that needs attention,” said AFC’s executive director Kim Sweet in a press release. “High-quality CTE programs provide an invaluable bridge to future learning and employment paths.”
The four-year graduation rate for English learners in 2016 was roughly 27 percent— significantly lower than the citywide average of 73 percent. According to the report, English learners could benefit from joining CTE programs, as the graduation rate for ELLs who completed most or all of a CTE program last year was a significantly higher 57 percent. Additionally, the report says, CTE programs can help English learners graduate through a pathway that allows students to take a technical exam in lieu of one of the required social studies Regents exams. This “4+1” option could be particularly helpful for English learners, according to the report, because their pass rates on Regents exams are often lower than those of non-English learners. Those English learners who do end up in CTE programs face disadvantages, the report says, with many not making it to completion. Though the 2016 graduating class had 23,000 students who completed at least two-thirds of a CTE course sequence, only 2 percent were English learners. “While ELLs who successfully complete a CTE program graduate at rates substantially higher than
the citywide ELL graduation rate, ELLs at CTE high schools as a group appear to actually graduate at lower rates than ELLs at other schools,” the report explains. English learners were also less likely to attend a“CTE designated” school than a school that offered CTE programs. In the 2015–’16 school year, English learners made up about 8.7 percent of students at schools that offer CTE programs, but only 5.6 percent at CTE-designated schools. The report cited multiple ways the city could increase access to CTE programs for English learners and improve the students’ experience, such as offering extra training for CTE instructors on serving English learners, and providing bilingual CTE classes and translation services for those students. The report also called for the city to form an advisory group made up of educators, parents, students and professionals with ELL and CTE expertise to further explore the problem. Officials in the city’s education department said they were reviewing the recommendations in the report. There are often challenges scheduling English learners for CTE, the officials noted, since the students also need time set aside for language-related supports. But, the officials said, nearly all students who list a CTE school as the first choice on their high school applications ultimately enroll in a CTE high school. And the city’s plan to boost support for English learners in the high-school–admissions process could ease their access to CTE, they said. (The state has also vowed to make it easier for schools to start career and technical-education programs.) “We are committed to increasing opportunities for English-language learners and career and technicaleducation students, and building on improvements like providing all admissions information in 10 languages,” Education Department spokesman Will Mantell said. “While ELLs enroll in CTE high schools at about the same rate as they apply, we know there’s more work to do in attracting and serving ELL students in CTE programs.”
JULY 26 – AUG. 1, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 19
OPINION
A protester being removed by campus police at the University of California, Irvine, after he disrupted a speech by Michael Oren, who was then Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Feb. 8, 2010 PHOTO COURTESY JTA
Forget BDS—It’s AntiNormalization You Should Be Talking About BY SARA WEISSMAN
(JTA) — Dear Jewish community, So you wanna understand Israel-Palestine debates on campus? The first thing you have to do is stop talking about BDS. Shocking, right? We try. But really, the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment campaign against Israel isn’t what Israel conversations on campus are all about these days. Campaigns to pass BDS measures on major campuses are actually in decline, yet somehow they still make up the bulk of Jewish news about students. The truth is, divestment proposals happen perennially, people freak out for two to three weeks, and then students on all sides return to lives of calculus, life pondering, activism and 3 a.m. pizza. So if we shouldn’t be talking about BDS, what should we be talking about? Anti-normalization. Because it creates a fascinatingly complex new landscape for Jewish students, who are both on its receiving end and active participants.
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If you know what I’m talking about, skip this paragraph, wise one. If you don’t, anti-normalization is an idea, popular on the left, that some beliefs are so untenable you cannot allow them to be left unprotested and accepted as normal. That means calling attention to their proponents at the very least and having a zero-tolerance policy at most. The things-not-to-normalize list includes nobrainers like racism, sexism, homophobia and Islamophobia. It also often includes Zionism. That means pro-Palestinian activism on campus looks different these days—because all activism looks different. Instead of boycotts, a more frequent form of campus organizing is protesting at and disrupting Israel-related events. A brief history: One of the earliest instances of interrupting Zionist speakers on campus happened at the University of California, Irvine, in 2010, when students disrupted a speech by former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren. In 2015, the same thing happened to former Israeli Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak at the
same school and Israeli philosophy professor Moshe Halbertal at the University of Minnesota. In 2016, it was Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat at San Francisco State University. What recently happened at the Chicago Dyke March is also a prime example. Women marching with what march organizers saw as Zionist flags could not be allowed to stay because that would be letting Zionism go unchallenged. What does this mean? For what it’s worth, speaker shutdowns and event protests don’t make us special. If you follow campus news, you know these are happening everywhere to all kinds of speakers, from controversial scholar Charles Murray at Middlebury College in Vermont to conservative commentator Ann Coulter and “altright” provocateur (read: troll) Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, Berkeley. But anti-normalization does mean Jewish students, particularly Zionists, are tackling a whole new host of questions on campus: Do left-leaning Zionists have a place on the campus left? And if only non-Zionist Jewish students find acceptance on the left, is the campus left tokenizing Jewish students, deciding who’s a “good Jew” or a “bad Jew” from outside our community? What does it mean to Jewish students that Zionist speakers are considered indefensible alongside alt-right speakers? Are Zionist students and proPalestinian activists defining Zionism the same way? Pro-Israel activists, meanwhile, are arguably already engaging in their own form of anti-normalization rhetoric, and have been for a long time. One could even argue that Jews were anti-normalization pioneers. When anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist remarks on campus are labeled “hate speech,” that’s our community declaring ideas too unconscionable to be expressed without protest. Jewish outcry over Linda Sarsour’s speaking at CUNY is only one recent example. Rightwing Jewish organizations, like the AMCHA Initiative or Canary Mission, marked speakers, professors and student leaders as too reprehensible for campus before it was cool. Whatever term you want to use, this isn’t just a leftist movement, and Jewish students across the political spectrum are experiencing it and are a part of it. We can argue endlessly about whether antinormalization is good or bad—and we are. Questions about this concept are at the core of today’s most-fraught campus debates. Does declaring ideas unredeemable limit free speech? Or does it marginalize systemic societal ills? Who decides the parameters, and when are they too broad? I cannot answer any of these questions. (That’s a different, much longer article.) But I can call on our community to recognize them. It’s time we see the anti-normalization forest through the BDS trees. Because until we do, we’re missing out on the juicy stuff—the larger debates happening on campus and the real questions Jewish students are asking themselves. Sara Weissman, editor@newvoices.org, is the editor in chief of New Voices, where a version of this article originally appeared.
OPINION
Lessons from Quitting My Job BY JENNY MAENPAA
As of a few years ago, I almost burned out. I had been in direct social services for over a decade, working exclusively in low-income communities with individuals and families who were facing challenges I had never encountered in my life. I loved helping people get from where they were to where they wanted to be by showing them how to unleash the best versions of themselves. But I was being beat down by the systemic structures that were in place which made it exceptionally hard for me to do good work. I had lost sight of what I was good at and why I was doing it. I felt defeated and rudderless. I knew in my gut I needed to quit, but I had no idea what I would do next. Here are the three biggest lessons I learned from taking the leap of faith and quitting a job that was dimming my light. 1. You must put the oxygen mask on yourself first. I was sitting in a professional mentor’s office, unloading on him about all of the challenges I was facing at my job. I was visibly exhausted and haggard-looking, and he finally stopped me and said something I’ll never forget: “You put everyone else’s needs above your own. At what point will what you need be as important or more important than what everyone else needs?” I had literally never thought about my own needs in a job. In the past, I had actually accepted jobs without knowing the salary because I was so excited about the mission and vision! Being a social worker is a profession with an inherent savior complex. No matter how aware of it I was, I could not escape prioritizing the population served, level of need and potential impact over my own salary, benefits and satisfaction. For the very first time, a decade into my professional life, I was being asked to figure out what I wanted from my work. And I didn’t have a clue.
2. You have to know what your values are and how they show up for you. Since I had no idea what I needed, I had some homework to do. I went home, got out my laptop and just started writing. I listed all of my “must haves” and “nice to haves” in excruciating detail. I completed an exercise designed to unearth my own values and see which ones were in conflict. I realized that my personal values were in one category, yet I was working for an organization and under people whose personal values were in direct conflict with mine. By trying to serve theirs I was neglecting my own, which led to internal turmoil for me daily. My mentor concluded our meeting with the following food for thought. He said, “You say you’re afraid of abandoning the mission. But if you stay in this job, you will burn out from the helping profession completely. Forget their mission. What is yours?” Again, I had no idea. I didn’t even know what he meant. I had always aligned my mission with my organization’s, thinking that my job was to throw myself 100 percent into realizing their vision. I never thought I could have my own vision, separate from my organization’s. 3. You need a personal mission statement. a. Before I did anything with my newfound revelations, I had to sit down and figure out why I work. It was no longer enough to say “because I have to pay rent” or even “because I like helping people.” I needed a personal mission statement to serve as my guiding light when I started to falter again, found my enthusiasm waning or heaven forbid, got fired. I needed to know what I wanted to do, why I wanted to do it and how I wanted to do it. Then, and ONLY then, could I go off in search of a profession that would fulfill my needs. For me, that turned out not to be another organization, but to wake up in the middle of the night and write an insanely long Jerry Maguire-style manifesto to start my own therapy
Letter to the Editor July 17, 2017/23 Tammuz, 5777 To The Editor: and coaching business. I had never felt more energized, and the words spilled out of me. That’s how I knew I was on the right path. I was scared and had never done anything like it before, but everything about it felt right in my gut. I have never looked back. b. Too often we approach our career search like unqualified grifters, hoping to trick an employer or a client into giving us money in exchange for work. Forget that. That is a mindset that has been fed to you by employers because it serves them best. You have education, experience (no matter how young you are) and energy. An employer or a client who wants you knows that you bring skills, motivation and ability to learn, which they need. They have the money, benefits and structure within which you can realize your vision. An interview is like dating—when you’re inexperienced, you think, “I hope they like me.” When you become more experienced, you realize it’s about hoping you are a good fit for each other. You owe it to yourself to realize sooner rather than later that assessing that fit up front will save you a lifetime of heartbreak. c. Once you know your own true north, you can set out to find that organizational fit. Instead of focusing on tangibles (hours, location, benefits), start with their mission. A great fit will describe values that already show up in your life. For example, take Whole Foods. On their core-values page, they state, “Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer satisfaction, team member happiness and excellence, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of the environment and local and larger community support.” If you look at your own life and you already see behaviors that show you care about making others happy, recycle and volunteer in your community, you’re probably a great fit for Whole Foods. Once you look objectively at which habits already exist in your life, you’ll see clearly what you value.
While the North American Board of Rabbis is a national organization whose membership comes from the diverse streams of Jewish life, we raise a united voice to express our deep concern about the so-called blacklist of rabbis recently circulated through the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. We join with all persons of goodwill in the deep conviction that “for Zion’s sake, we must not be silent.” In the shadow of the 50th anniversary of Israel’s remarkable victory in the Six-Day War, the blacklist may well be a self-inflicted wound causing a profound rupture between Diaspora Jewry and the people and state of Israel. Furthermore, it compromises the security of world Jewry by weakening the resolve of Jews everywhere who understand themselves as excluded by this list. At a time when we face external threats such as BDS, extremism, Holocaust denial, etc., this action by the Chief Rabbinate must not stand. We are a people of one faith and with one fate, and while some may say it will take a “miracle” to bring us together, we are a people who don’t simply believe in such events; we are a people who make miracles happen. With that in mind, the North American Board of Rabbis is committed to make every effort to heal this rift. No gulf, however wide, will deter us from working on behalf of the people of Israel, the state of Israel and world Jewry. While we reject this most recent action by the Office of the Chief Rabbinate, we pledge to make every effort to heal the widening gap between Diaspora and Israeli Jewry. We call on people of goodwill to join with us in that effort. For additional information, contact Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, president of the North American Board of Rabbis (917-687-9640 or email RabbiJayRosenbaum@yahoo.com) or Rabbi Michael Zedek, a vice president (312-363-8008 or email rabbizedek@ emanuelcong.org). Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, Temple Israel of Lawrence 140 Central Avenue Lawrence, NY 11559 rabbijayrosenbaum@yahoo.com
JULY 26 – AUG. 1, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 21
Mets Visit Hillel Day Camp in the Five Towns
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On Friday, July 21, New York Mets players Wilmer Flores—who hit a walk-off home run against the visiting Oakland Athletics on Saturday—and T.J. Rivera (#54), along with Mr. Met himself, paid a visit to our very own Hillel Day Camp. The children were thrilled to have the opportunity to partake in a baseball clinic with these Major League players practicing their pitching and batting skills, after which the players signed various memorabilia including the campers’ shirts, hats and gloves. Mr. Met joined in some photo opportunities with both campers and staff members. What a star-studded day it was at Camp Hillel.
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ABE BUYS ANTIQUES Silver, Paintings, Rugs, All Furniture till 1960. Estates & all contents from homes! Looking for antiques & Modern Designer Names also, Lucite & Chrome, Iron Garden furniture.
718-332-9709
JULY 26 – AUG. 1, 2017 | NYJLIFE.COM | 23
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Must get code #__________________ upon reserving. Valid for NYC trips only. One coupon per trip. Expires 12/31/17. 12