Jewish Action Spring 2015 by Orthodox Union

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VOLUME 75, NO. 3 • $5.50

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THE MAGAZINE OF THE ORTHODOX UNION

JEWISH ACTION

SPRING 5775/2015

FEATURES SCIENCE 16 Replying to Richard Dawkins Answering the World’s Most Famous Atheist By Nathan Aviezer SPECIAL SECTION: HEALTH 20 Running for Life What’s It Like to Run a Marathon? By Shira Isenberg 26 A Second Chance:

Overcoming Obesity By Tzippora Price

MEDICAL ETHICS

THE CHEF’S TABLE

62 Ebola: A New Disease

78 Memories of Passover

with an Ancient Tradition By Edward Reichman PASSOVER 74 From Homemade to Store-bought: the Evolving Passover Diet By Carol Ungar ISRAEL 70 On and Off the Beaten Track in . . . the Biblical Museum of Natural History By Peter Abelow

DEPARTMENTS

28 Why the World’s Healthiest

Western Diet Is Found in Israel By Arnold H. Slyper COVER STORY 33 Do Jews Have a Future in Europe? 47 Anti-Semitism:

2 LETTERS 8 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Four Decades at the OU By Martin Nachimson 10 FROM THE DESK OF THE OU

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT The “Three Percenters”: Our Mandate, Our Mission

The Longest Hatred A Theological Approach By Harvey Belovski

14 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

Gerald M. Schreck

50 Hate on Campus

By Ari Ziegler 54 Jews Don’t Feel Safe in France:

French Aliyah Soars By Zvi Volk

VOL. 75, NO. 3

JUST BETWEEN US 73 Israeli Civility By Irv cantor

with a Modern Twist By Norene Gilletz 82 INSIDE THE OU

BOOKS 90 The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table By Jeff and Jodie Morgan Reviewed by Barbara Bensoussan 92 Birkas Yitzchak: Chidushim

U-ve’urim al HaTorah By Rabbi Menachem Genack Reviewed by David Schreiber 95 The Rabbi & The Nuns: The Inside

Story of a Rabbi’s Therapeutic Work with the Sisters of St. Francis By Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. Reviewed by Steve Lipman 96 Patterns in Genesis and Beyond

By Rabbi David Sykes Reviewed by Hayyim Angel LEGAL-EASE 98 What’s the Truth about . . . the Sale of Chametz on Pesach? By Ari Z. Zivotofsky LASTING IMPRESSIONS 104 Living A Double Life By Ann D. Koffsky

56 A Conversation

with Natan Sharansky on the situation of the Jews in Europe By Elli Wohlgelernter

page 20

page 33

page 62

60 On Guard in Jerusalem

By David Olivestone

Jewish Action seeks to provide a forum for a diversity of legitimate opinions within the spectrum of Orthodox Judaism. Therefore, opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policy or opinion of the Orthodox Union. Jewish Action is published by the Orthodox Union • 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 212.563.4000. Printed Quarterly—Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, plus Special Passover issue. ISSN No. 0447-7049. Subscription: $16.00 per year; Canadian, $20.00; Overseas, $60.00. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Jewish Action, 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004.

Spring 5775/2015 JEWISH ACTION 1

Jewish Action

Letters

THE MAGAZINE OF THE ORTHODOX UNION www.ou.org/jewish_action

Editor Nechama Carmel carmeln@ou.org

Assistant Editor Rashel Zywica

Minding Your Own Business g

I would like to offer high praise of the phenomenal work being done by EPI, highlighted in the fall 2014 issue (“The New Entrepreneur” by Bayla Sheva Brenner). The article, however, omits to mention how EPI was created. At the Agudah convention in 2008, the Novominsker Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, called together a number of business leaders to respond to the global economic meltdown and crushing parnassah crisis engulfing the Jewish community at the time. Under the Rebbe’s direction and the leadership of Mr. Reuven Wolf and several Agudah activists, the group founded what is today known as EPI. Several candidates were interviewed for the executive director position. Rabbi Zisha Novoseller was head and shoulders above the other candidates and was hired. EPI opened its doors in January 2009. Shortly thereafter, EPI began offering start-up business loans and supplying each borrower with a business mentor. The initiative has proven extraordinarily successful, as the article indicated. I am proud to have been in the room the night EPI was dreamed up and to have played a small role in this wonderful success story.

LEON GOLDENBERG Brooklyn, New York g

Your article “The New Entrepreneur” focused on the classic definition of entrepreneurship as the process of starting a business or other organization. Israel as a startup nation has taken entrepreneurship to a whole

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new level with amazing entrepreneurial success stories that have attracted worldwide attention. While the Orthodox community is very well-represented in the world of high-tech, the biggest surprise is the entrance of the Chareidi sector into this arena. The challenges Chareidi entrepreneurs face are much greater than those facing others, as many of them have never studied English, math or science in any formal setting. There has been a groundswell of grassroot efforts to assist the Chareidi community to enter not only the workforce, but also the entrepreneurial world. At the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT), there are currently close to 2,000 Chareidi students, many of whom are studying high-tech and computer engineering. The students are from the leading yeshivot in Israel, and the number keeps growing. In light of the demand, JCT recently opened a high-tech accelerator program for Chareidim. Within two weeks of announcing it, we received seventy applications. Many of the largest multi-national companies, including IBM and Cisco, agreed to become strategic partners as they understand the untapped potential. Israel cannot succeed economically without the integration of Chareidim into the workplace. Chareidim need the tools and the venue to become an integral part of Israel’s high-tech revolution. We are hoping that our academic programs and our accelerator program will be able to provide these to an important segment of Israel’s population. STUART HERSHKOWITZ Vice president, Jerusalem College of Technology CEO, JCTechnologies Ltd Jerusalem, Israel

Literary Editor Emeritus Matis Greenblatt Book Editor Rabbi Gil Student Contributing Editors Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein • Dr. Judith Bleich Rabbi Emanuel Feldman • Rabbi Hillel Goldberg Rabbi Sol Roth • Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter Rabbi Berel Wein Editorial Committee Rabbi David Bashevkin • Rabbi Binyamin Ehrenkranz Mayer Fertig • David Olivestone • Gerald M. Schreck Rabbi Gil Student • Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Advertising Sales Joseph Jacobs Advertising • 212.787.9400 arosenfeld@josephjacobs.org Advertising Coordinator Eli Lebowicz Subscriptions 212.613.8146 Design KZ Creative

ORTHODOX UNION Executive Vice President/Chief Professional Officer Allen I. Fagin Executive Vice President, Emeritus Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Senior Managing Director Rabbi Steven Weil Chief Communications Officer Mayer Fertig Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer Shlomo Schwartz Chief Human Resources Officer Lenny Bessler Chief Information Officer Samuel Davidovics President Martin Nachimson Chairman of the Board Howard Tzvi Friedman Vice Chairman of the Board Mordecai D. Katz Chairman, Board of Governors Henry Rothman Vice Chairman, Board of Governors Gerald M. Schreck Jewish Action Committee Gerald M. Schreck, Chairman Joel M. Schreiber, Chairman Emeritus © Copyright 2015 by the Orthodox Union. Eleven Broadway, New York, NY, 10004. Telephone 212.563.4000 • www.ou.org.

Rabbinic Matters g

I read with interest Rabbi Yamin Levy’s article dealing with rabbis and synagogue administration (“The Rabbi and His Board,” winter 2014). His presentation is articulate, intelligent, true . . . and therefore, sad and frustrating. Rabbis and synagogues often suffer unnecessarily because there is no proper interaction between the rabbi and the board. Instead of seeing each other as being on the same team, they sometimes operate in a neutral or adversarial pattern. A rabbi serves a congregation—and each congregant has his or her idea of what the rabbi should or should not be doing. The rabbi’s responsibilities and rights are not always clearly defined— other than that everyone would like him to approximate the Mashiach as closely as possible. I have known talented rabbis who have left the pulpit rabbinate, largely because it was so unpleasant for them to work with a difficult board. I have known talented young men who would have made excellent rabbis, but who decided they would rather not enter a profession where their lives and livelihoods depend on a relatively small clique of “machers” who have the power to renew (or not) the rabbi’s contract every few years. Rabbis and boards need to spell out their mutual expectations. They need to meet regularly to discuss synagogue matters, programs and a vision for the future. When lines of communication and friendly interaction break down, the rabbi, the board and the entire congregation suffer the consequences. Rabbi Levy provides a framework for serious thought and action so that our synagogues and communities can be strengthened. Our rabbis, boards and congregations need to work together for the greater glory of the Almighty and for the wellbeing of the Jewish people. RABBI MARC D. ANGEL Founder and director, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals New York, New York

Remembering the Beilis Trial g

OU President Martin Nachimson recently wrote about blood libels (“The

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Blood Libels of the Twenty-First Century,” winter 2014) and referenced my grandfather’s trial 100 years ago. I thank him for doing so. JAY BEILIS Oradell, New Jersey

Ed. note: Robert J. Avrech’s article in the winter issue drew several angry responses from readers who have nontraditional families. We are reprinting two such responses, although there are statements in them with which many of us might well disagree. Nevertheless, we chose to publish them as they raise important issues which the Orthodox Jewish community needs to consider.

Offended by Avrech g

As a group of Orthodox parents of gay children who receive Jewish Action, we are offended by the tone of the recent article by Robert J. Avrech regarding Hollywood (“Warning! Hollywood’s Coming for Your Home and Children!,” winter 2014). To deny our children who were created by the Ribbono shel Olam as LGBTQ their dignity and place in our Orthodox community by equating them with murderers, cult members, rapists and plunderers is beyond offensive. We, who are trying to make sure that our beautiful, productive children remain as cherished and valued members of observant communities and do as many mitzvot as possible while always remembering they were created betzelem Elokim, have been deemed immoral and radical. The article does not in any way reflect the foundational Jewish values and teachings that inform how we address challenging issues in our lives as observant Jews. Further, while this is so offensive to every one of us, it is especially so for those in the medical, psychiatric and psychological fields, as it is well known that this is not a chosen behavior, but an innate aspect of the way our children were born and as Hashem made them. We object to the inappropriate equations suggested by Mr. Avrech and ask that members of the Orthodox world consider the pain and distress this article has caused to so many in our community. DR. ELANA AND DR. JERRY ALTZMAN, DIANE SANDOVAL, RENA FRUCHTER, DR. SUNNIE EPSTEIN AND ANONYMOUS OTHERS ESHEL Parents

As an eager consumer of Hollywood’s output, a fan of trenchant media criticism and the mother of two young children who is mindful of the kinds of images I allow them to view, I read Robert J. Avrech’s piece that discussed Hollywood’s “colonization of your mind” with great interest. I quickly grew discouraged, however. I am a newly divorced mother in the Jewish community, and I take great issue with Avrech’s underlying thesis, crystallized in this statement: “If everything is family, nothing is family.” His view is that Hollywood’s wanton exhibition of families, including gay parents, transgender individuals, childless political power couples and Mafia dads, has perverted the traditional family unit of husband, wife and children to the point where we have all “redefined deviance as something to be celebrated.” I don’t think anyone watches The Sopranos, House of Cards or any of The Real Housewives shows and thinks those dramatized portrayals depict ideal marriages and families. But does Avrech truly mean to say that if a family does not look exactly like it did in the days of televised yore it somehow dilutes the true concept of a family, or takes away from their right to call themselves a family? With that one statement, he instantly discredits any number of families in the Jewish community, including my own. I have Orthodox Jewish friends with children who have just come out of the closet or have no children, and I know single Jewish women who have decided to undergo fertility treatments to have children since they have not yet found husbands but do not want to give up on their dreams of motherhood. They are all wonderful people with wonderful families. How painful that they not only have to struggle with feeling different, but also have to face people who suggest that their families are somehow lesser because they’re veering from what’s always been accepted. Has Avrech considered that television is merely branching out to reflect a new reality, and not simply attempting to brainwash us? My children have two parents who love them, provide safe and happy homes for them and treat one another

with respect. While my ex-husband and I might not have the most traditional family, I assure you we have a great one. Reading Avrech’s article, with its underlying implication that anything other than married heterosexual parents and heterosexual children should be grouped into some deviant category, was not only extremely hurtful but frankly, surprising to see in your publication that reaches such a wide Jewish audience and, surely, a wide array of different kinds of genuine families. TOVA ROSS Englewood, New Jersey

Robert J. Avrech Responds g My article is a survey of liberal-progressive attitudes that are promoted by the Hollywood media. Thus, I cover a great deal of territory and many topics. There is no moral correlation between murderers and homosexuality. Any suggestion that my article promotes such a view is a gross misreading of my thesis. There are multiple references in the letter from ESHEL parents to the psychological, psychiatric and medical etiology of gender identity, with ultimate attribution to Hashem. Choice, or free will, is not invoked. And you as parents are enraged, since you seem to feel that my article accused your children of deliberately opting to deviate in their sexual orientation. In other words, your children were “born this way.” I did not address this issue of choice in my article. I did

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not demonize the child who feels since his earliest memory that he is not attracted to the opposite sex. In fact, given adequate space, I would accuse the media and the movers and shakers who spin the themes of TV and movies of the exact opposite: of setting forth the notion that same-sex attraction is a deliberate lifestyle choice rather than physiologically based. The liberal media believe that everyone should have a choice in their sexual preferences. They do not believe in God, and they reject any idea of a master plan. They believe in opting for “subversive lifestyles.” You, as caring parents, have joined together to support your children because of your understanding that they did not choose their behaviors, which are outside the mainstream. In fact, we both reject Hollywood’s message. If you accepted Hollywood’s attitude, you would be touting a different meme: “All choices are the same.” Further, no parent support organization would be needed, no medical, psychiatric or psychological experts would be consulted. To do so would be to admit pathology. I admire your commitment and love for your children. As to Tova Ross’s letter, the facts on the ground indicate change in the makeup of families in the Orthodox community. However, the point of my article was not to devalue these families but rather to underscore the power of the media’s value system. Hollywood chooses, very carefully, which cultural trends it highlights and romanticizes, and which it treats with contempt. Thus, leftists are almost always viewed as cool, attractive and virtuous, whereas Republicans are seen as narrowminded bigots. Atheists are depicted as intellectual giants, but pious people of faith are seen as superstitious dolts. The point being that Hollywood products not only reflect, but impose a super-commentary that is stealth propaganda for leftist ideology. Scores of special situations are absent because my article is a general survey of Hollywood’s efforts at propaganda for various lifestyles that are at odds with normative lifestyles. I never mentioned divorce in my article because divorce is an entirely separate situation. I never mentioned fertility treatments because, again, those are very special cases. I define non-normative as any lifestyle that, if practiced by a majority of people, would lead to a subversion of Judeo/Christian civilization. Homosexual marriage is front and center as Hollywood’s most urgent social movement. But government-endorsed homosexual marriage will inevitably lead to the legalization of Islamic polygamous marriages, which is a straight line to the sharia law—ironically, a mortal threat to homosexuals who are cruelly and systematically persecuted, tortured and murdered under Islamic law. Of course there are wonderful people and wonderful families who do not conform to the ideal. But is that any reason to teach our children that the ideal is no longer the ideal? My article is an attempt to educate viewers on how to recognize and interpret current Hollywood products, and avoid becoming an origami culture that magically folds when confronted with politically correct propaganda. g

President’sMessage

By Martin Nachimson

Four Decades at the OU

often reflect on the fact that I have been involved with the Orthodox Union for more than four decades. And during those past four decades, I have witnessed much change take place, not only at the OU, but in the American Orthodox community at large. So how did I get involved with the OU? Growing up in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn in the 1940s and 1950s, I was part of a demographic that is no longer prevalent: my family was “Orthodox not shomer Shabbos.” My parents, Yiddish-speaking immigrants from White Russia (now Belarus), attended an Orthodox shul, ate kosher (we checked labels in those days) and were Orthodox, in fact, in every respect, but they didn’t keep Shabbos. In those years, Orthodoxy in America was in its infancy, dwarfed by the bigger, wealthier and more powerful Reform and Conservative movements. The day school movement was just beginning, and most of us Jewish kids who were first-generation Americans went to public school. But then something remarkable happened: at the age of seventeen, I went to Cornell University. It was there, at a seemingly Jewishly isolated college campus in upstate New York, that I discovered authentic Orthodoxy. How did this come to be? At the end of my freshman year, my father passed away. Since I had to say Kaddish every day, I began spending a lot of time at Cornell’s Center for Jewish Living, then known as Young Israel of Cornell. It was actually a fraternity house with a kosher dining hall; more importantly, it was a social hub for Orthodox students. For me, it was eye-opening. I had never been exposed to so many frum kids, or to a genuine Shabbos table. By my junior year, I moved into “the house” and developed strong friendships with my frum peers. Ironically, it was in the halls of uber-secular academia that I learned what it meant 8

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to be a full-fledged Orthodox Jew. I graduated from Cornell University with a BA and went on to obtain an M.B.A. from Columbia University. During that time, I married my wife, Liz, and we settled in Brooklyn. Subsequently, we moved to our first house on Long Island. When we had our first child, we made the decision to embrace an Orthodox lifestyle and build a Torah-true home. In 1963, I began working for the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, a job I would have for more than forty-five years— my entire career. But as I slowly integrated into the Orthodox world, I began to feel a burning desire to serve the klal. I knew how fragile my own connection to Yiddishkeit had been. What if I hadn’t discovered Torah Jews in Ithaca? What if there had been no Center for Jewish Living? When, in 1974, I was transferred to Los Angeles and saw firsthand the work of the newly established West Coast NCSY, there was no doubt in my mind that this was going to be where I devote my energies—to help bring Jewish kids back to the fold, to give them a religious anchor, to provide for them what the Center for Jewish Living had provided for me. Over the years, I have taken much pride in the remarkable growth of West Coast NCSY, and the establishment and development of the OU West

Coast office. Back in the 80s, we realized that for the OU to be a truly national organization, it had to have a strong presence on the West Coast as well as on the East Coast. Together with the talented and capable Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, we were able to bring our dream of a West Coast office to fruition. Today OU West Coast, located in the heart of the Orthodox community in Los Angeles, is comprised of an impressive network of forty shuls from Vancouver to San Diego and as east as Denver, Colorado. American Orthodoxy today is entirely different than it was forty years ago. It is, baruch Hashem, thriving, strong and confident. To keep up with the demands of a growing, changing community, the OU has had to evolve as well. Today the OU is not only a leader in kashrut—certifying more than 700,000 products worldwide—it is an international, multi-faceted organization that is a leader in youth work, synagogue services, political advocacy, social and educational programming for Jews with disabilities, Jewish life on campus and so much more. Each of our programs, whether it is OU Advocacy or Our Way for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, could theoretically be a Jewish organization on its own. Not too long ago, our officers and board determined that a new kind of professional leadership was needed to keep up with the demands of our evergrowing, complex organization. With my background in corporate restructuring, I knew that instead of placing a rabbi at the helm, as the OU has been doing since it was founded, we needed a leader with significant corporate and management experience. In 2014, we chose Allen I. Fagin, former chairman of Proskauer Rose LLP, to serve as OU executive vice president. I am proud to say that he has truly been remarkable. It is my fervent hope that I merit to stay involved with the OU for at least another four decades. g

From the Desk of ALLEN I. FAGIN, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union

THE “THREE PERCENTERS”:

Our Mandate, Our Mission

t is nine months since I have taken on the position of executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, a position that has given me a window into the incredible breadth and scope of the activities of this extraordinary organization. The past few months have also given me a unique perspective on our community and on what I believe the current state of American Jewry compels us to accomplish. Our community is a small minority, but with an impact on, and hence an obligation to, all of Klal Yisrael that fundamentally and profoundly dwarfs our numerical size. According to the most recent survey data, there are approximately 6.7 million Jews in the United States. Ten percent of American Jewry identify as Orthodox. Three percent of American Jews today are considered Modern Orthodox—that’s about 200,000 people. But if our numbers are small, our influence is enormous. And both our numbers and our influence are growing exponentially. I write this not out of a sense of misplaced triumphalism. To the contrary, our growing size, status and influence impose on us an enormous responsibility to our brethren. And history will judge whether we rise to this challenge. In a few generations, Orthodoxy will, absent material changes in the landscape, be the dominant segment of the Jewish world. And we need to plan today for the opportunities this demographic inevitability will present, and for the challenges it will pose. This is the mission of the OU. The birthrate for Jews in the United States is 1.9 children per family—less than the national average of

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2.2 children in the general public and less than the replacement birthrate necessary to keep the population from declining. In contrast, at 4.1 children, the Orthodox birthrate is more than twice the overall Jewish average. Twenty-seven percent of all Jewish children under age seventeen reside in Orthodox households. Thirty-five percent of all Jewish children under age four reside in Orthodox households. In the New York area, 60 percent of Jewish children reside in Orthodox homes. In contrast, the non-Orthodox not only have far fewer children, but they marry at a much later age, or not at all. Fewer than a third of non-Orthodox Jewish males between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-nine are married—fewer than a third. At the same time that the Orthodox population is growing, the ravages of intermarriage and assimilation are decimating the ranks of the remainder of American Jewry. Almost 1 in 4 Jews now identify as Jews of no religion—their connection to

Judaism has nothing whatsoever to do with religion or practice, but is based exclusively on ancestry, ethnicity or culture. Two-thirds of these Jews of no religion report that they are not raising their children Jewishly in any way, shape or form. Intermarriage rates are skyrocketing, compared even to a decade ago. Six-in-ten Jews who have married since 2000 have a non-Jewish spouse. And the simple fact is that the large majority of intermarried families are loosely, ambivalently or not at all connected to Jewish life. This process of disintegration is as pernicious as it is relentless. To project into the future, only 8 percent of the grandchildren of the intermarried are likely to marry another Jew. Decades ago, the sociologist Milton Himmelfarb made the point succinctly when he was asked what the grandchild of an intermarried Jew should be called. “A Christian,” he answered. The math is inexorable. Orthodoxy is growing, and the rest of the Jewish world is shrinking. We are witnessing a churban of the non-Orthodox Jewish community on a scale unparalleled in American Jewish history. And in response, most of the American Jewish leadership desperately seeks to just be left alone; their solution is to ignore the problem in the hope that it will just go away. It will not. What’s worse, the Jewish organizational world continues to lavish endless funds on proposed solutions that are limited in their impact because they are not anchored in our text and tradition, in the Torah, which has kept our people alive and vibrant for the past four millennia.

And so the task falls to us—the “three percenters.” Why us? Because we have the means—the education, the openness, the self-confidence, the access and the credibility to reach out to our brethren in ways that few others can. Consider the following: We have the education. Sixty-five percent of Modern Orthodox Jews are college graduates compared to 29 percent in the US general public. We have the means. Thirty-seven percent of Modern Orthodox Jews have household incomes of $150,000 annually or more; in percentage terms, over 5 times the national average, and higher than any other Jewish denomination. Thank God, our community is blessed. It has never been stronger. It has never been more dynamic. There is no milestone that is not within our reach, not a profession or industry we

cannot comfortably enter and in which we cannot excel. There is no school that will not gladly accept our children. When I graduated high school, I was told that for a day school graduate to apply to Princeton would be a waste of the application fee. Today, our campus education program, the Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, at Princeton is filled with day school graduates learning Torah on a regular basis. We live in a society where a candidate for vice president of the United States writes a book about the importance of Shabbat and where the secretary of the Treasury is a regular shul-goer. Hashem oz l’amo yitein. And yet the affluence, education and world of limitless opportunity place a burden on us “three percenters” to carry the torch of Torah to those who are less privileged than we are.

The question is, how do we use these manifold blessings to turn the tide? And do we truly feel the obligation to do so? Our faith, our areivut, our communal obligation, compel this profound responsibility to our fellow Jews—not just to respond to the decimation around us, but to affirmatively and vigorously seek to prevent it, with all the means at our disposal. This obligation lies at the core of the OU’s mission. NCSY, the OU’s youth movement, touches the lives of more than 15,000 teens each year from day schools and public schools all across the country— all yearning for inspiration and for a deeper relationship with the Borei Olam. One of our most successful and impactful NCSY programs is The Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey (TJJ), which takes 500 public school teens to Israel each summer. TJJ literally transforms the lives of hundreds of young people every year.

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A recent independent study we commissioned proves that TJJ has spurred quantum leaps in the Jewish identification of an overwhelming number of trip participants. (See the article on page 88.) Over 60 percent of TJJ alumni report that they participate in Jewish learning at least weekly; 93 percent say it is important to date only Jews; 83 percent say it is very important to raise their children as Jews. Some weeks ago, I attended the annual NCSY Yarchei Kallah, a fiveday-long event where public school kids give up part of their winter break to spend time learning Torah. This year, in honor of NCSY’s 60th Anniversary, 300 students, many of whom have never opened a Jewish text until this year, participated in a siyum on kol haTorah kulah—all of Tanach, Mishnah and Shas. It was an extraordinary sight. Kiruv works. Chizuk works. If you ask me, “What is the OU’s vision?,” I would say it is to double the scope of NCSY and multiply its impact to change the face of American Jewry. Then there are our own kids, and their parents, who struggle daily under the weight of a crushing tuition burden. Cost cutting, private philanthropy and creative financing are all important. But the real solution to the tuition crisis lies in using our political power and advocacy efforts to increase state and local government funding for yeshivot and day schools. This too is fundamental to the OU’s mission. There are over 250,000 Jewish day school students in 861 day schools and yeshivot in the United States—more students than the entire public school populations of eleven different states. Over 87 percent of these students are Orthodox. And they all share a common denominator: their tuition bills are a burden on families and communities that have reached their breaking point. Small schools teeter on the brink, because tuition revenue cannot sustain the overhead. Thousands of parents have opted out of a yeshivah education for their children because the costs are simply unbearable. And yet we know that a yeshivah education

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is the single-most important foundation for Jewish survival. Advocacy for increased state and local government assistance to yeshivot and day schools is therefore at the top of the OU agenda. Over the past three years, we have substantially ramped up our advocacy efforts in this arena—in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. These five states account for 82 percent of our country’s yeshivah and day school population and we now have ten staff members working full time on this effort. Additional staff will be added in the coming months. We estimate that we have helped bring over $90 million of new government funding to yeshivot and day schools over the last two years in mandated services, special education, transportation, technology assistance, energy efficiency and school safety. It is only the beginning, and it is not nearly enough. We are about to embark upon the most ambitious advocacy program ever undertaken by the OU—a multi-year, multi-million-dollar campaign in New York, home to 40 percent of the yeshivah and day school students in the United States. We have already retained one of the leading political strategists in New York to guide us in this new effort. And I want to acknowledge the extraordinary support we have received from yeshivot across New York, from the Sephardi community, which has been a pioneer in this effort, and from our partners in other faith communities across New York. Our goal is to transform the tuition landscape—to generate sufficient government funding for yeshivot and day schools to lower tuition costs in a meaningful way. This is our goal; nothing less. There is one last subject I want to address, and that is the role of women within the OU—in our professional ranks and within the ranks of our lay leadership. Lots of ink has been spilled on this subject, but to me it’s really very simple: talent is at a premium within the communal world, and if we want to be true to our bold ambitions,

we need to fully include the female half of our communal talent pool at the highest levels. Gender diversity within the professional ranks of the OU—particularly at the senior levels—is one of my major priorities. We have taken some major steps forward this past year. We have started a women’s affinity group to assist us in these efforts, increased our professional development and mentoring activities and included a significant segment on gender diversity in our recent senior leadership retreat. And, at the lay level, we will now have five outstanding women serving as OU officers in the new administration. Our recent convention featured a panel discussion on how to bring Orthodox Jewish women to the leadership table. (See the article on pages 82-83.) This is about finding and using outstanding talent, rather than excluding it; about mirroring in our professional management and in our lay leadership the broad diversity of our community and the equally broad skills and backgrounds that it includes. This too is part of the OU’s mission. We are a remarkable community. We have been blessed by Hakadosh Baruch Hu with the bounty of His Providence—with the finest Torah institutions and extraordinary mechanchim, with abundant resources, with success and access and with remarkable passion. The challenge for Orthodoxy and for the OU as its communal voice is how we effectively use these blessings. It is time for all of us to recognize our community’s strength, to leverage its faith and dedication to Torah values, to learn from the successes of the past but also to boldly confront the challenges that lie ahead. It is time to plan better, to strategize more effectively, to speak out more loudly and forcefully on the issues we care deeply about and, above all, to dream bigger, to think more broadly and intensely about the impact that our three percent can and must have on the Jewish future. g

Chairman’sMessage

By Gerald M. Schreck

caveat: while reading the cover story in this issue about the frightening rise in anti-Semitism, it is easy to succumb to the notion that Jews are being targeted the world over, that we have no friends, that every nonJew—from our colleagues at work to the neighborhood “Shabbos goy”—is, beneath his or her courteous exterior, a rabid anti-Semite. This is, of course, patently absurd. While the escalating anti-Semitism in Europe cannot be ignored, we cannot allow our fear and anxiety to overshadow the true, genuine friends and allies the Jewish people and the State of Israel have around the world. We cannot allow the bigots and the haters to eclipse the compassionate, the just and the decent. Allow me to share a personal story. I began my media career working for a local radio station as a news writer. At one point, I was hired by a major national radio broadcast network as a news editor. I was ecstatic to land such a prestigious job so early in my career, especially because I was probably the only Orthodox news editor in the industry at the time. A few short weeks later, when my boss realized that I would have to leave early on winter Fridays, he promptly fired me. Suddenly, I understood why there were no Orthodox news editors. But the story does not end there. Subsequently, I got a job as the PR director in a material handling company. My boss was a wonderful Italian nonJew named Joe. One Friday, as I was about to leave for home, I realized my car had a flat. To make matters worse, the spare in my trunk was flat as well. Shabbos was in an hour and a half; my ride home would take about an hour and fifteen minutes. With little time to spare, I rushed back to the office to call a cab. I then went to tell Joe that I would be taking a cab home and would Gerald M. Schreck is the chairman of the Jewish Action Committee.

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have to leave my car in the parking lot over the weekend. “Absolutely not,” he said. “You are not taking a cab home,” he insisted. “I’m driving you.” He spent an hour or so driving me home and then an hour driving back to the office. That’s the kind of person Joe was, and still is. He went on to serve as my professional mentor, and I am proud to say that we are still friends today. After my encounter with intolerance in the workplace, it was Joe who restored my faith in humanity. Rabbi Dayan Berel Berkovits, zt”l, once recalled a beautiful story about his father. In the summer 2005 issue of Jewish Action, Rabbi Berkovits wrote: My father, alav hashalom, was an East European rav through and through, brought up living Torah and steeped in the yeshivah world of the tradition of the Chatam Sofer. He was a Holocaust survivor, who led a kehillah under three years of German occupation and lost his family in Auschwitz. Yet, he never lost his compassion for humanity . . . . We had a plumber who had leased a house from the Church Commissioners. Owing to a minor failure to comply with the terms of the lease, they evicted him from the house (taking with them, for good measure, the tools of his trade). Overnight, he became a wreck of a man. My father went to the Archbishop of Canterbury to ask him to use his influ-

ence to rectify a moral wrong and reinstate the man in his house. I well remember my father’s reaction when he came home in shock and disbelief. “Is this a man of the cloth?” he said, “the leader of a religion? The Archbishop said to me: ‘My dear rabbi, you are perfectly right; but the Church and the Church Commissioners have nothing to do with one another. The Church deals with matters spiritual; the Church Commissioners, with finance and investments.’” And so, my father, the rav, took into his house the Christian plumber, who had been abandoned by his church. For weeks on end he lived with us; my father sat with him for hours, listening to him and encouraging him; and every morning (to avoid kashrut problems), my father personally prepared his breakfast for him. Just as there are those who thrive on hate and prejudice, there are decent, good, caring and compassionate human beings as well. Wim Kortenoeven, a former member of the Dutch House of Representatives who is quoted in our cover story, is just one example of a non-Jew who has spent his life defending Israel and the Jewish people. There are many, many more such examples. In addition to the thoroughly researched article on European antiSemitism which covers country by country, the issue includes articles on the disturbing rise of hate on campus, the upsurge in French aliyah, as well as an interview with Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel Natan Sharansky. On a lighter note, food writer Carol Ungar analyzes how the Passover diet has evolved from kneidels and potato kugel to kosher for Passover muffins, granola and pizza. Finally, an expanded health section features articles on the benefits of marathon running and how the modern Israeli diet has the potential to be a model diet. Before signing off, I want to wish all of our readers a chag kasher v’sameach. g

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Science

By Nathan Aviezer

Replying to Richard Dawkins Answering the World's Most Famous Atheist

Richard Dawkins—who holds the dubious title of being the world’s most famous atheist— recently promoted a new theory explaining the origin of the universe as the “final nail in the coffin of religious belief.” Below is Professor Nathan Aviezer’s incisive response to Dawkins.

TEPHEN HAWKING AND L A W R E N C E K R A U S S , two

very prominent physicists, recently proposed a theory that explains how the universe could have appeared spontaneously from nothing. Both scientists have published books for the layman to explain their theory: The Grand Design by Hawking (New York, 2010) and A Universe from Nothing by Krauss (New York, 2012). Both books became best-sellers. This new theory combines famed physicist Richard Feynman’s novel approach to quantum theory with a recent formulation of string theory, but these technical details need not be discussed here. What is important for our discussion is that this theory provides

a scientific explanation for how the universe could have come into being spontaneously. The new theory is still at the level of speculation, but let us assume that the theory is eventually confirmed. The key question is: what are the theological implications? Richard Dawkins’ Reaction Richard Dawkins recently retired from his academic chair at the University of Oxford as professor in the public understanding of science. Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, also has the dubious distinction of being the

world’s best-known atheist. The world did not have long to wait for Dawkins’ reaction to this new theory: “Darwin kicked God out of biology, and now Hawking has administrated the coup de grace.”1 It is instructive to examine Dawkins’ statement in more detail. We begin by writing down the first part of his statement in a formal way. Fact: There are many different species of animals. Explanation: Darwin’s theory of evolution explains this fact. Conclusion: Therefore, God is not

Dr. Nathan Aviezer is a physics professor at Bar-Ilan University and a visiting professor at Cambridge and Leeds University. He has been elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society and a research professor of the Royal Society of London. He has published numerous books and articles and lectures to a wide range of audiences. 16

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the explanation of this fact. Or, in Dawkins’ eloquent language, “Darwin kicked God out of biology.” The error in the above argument is obvious. Dawkins’ conclusion is based on his erroneous assumption that there is only one explanation for the animal kingdom. If this were the case, then and only then it would follow from Darwin’s explanation that all other explanations must be wrong, indeed implying that “Darwin kicked God out of biology.” Before discussing Dawkins’ assumption, let us consider some other examples. For many years, no one could explain the ocean tides. Then, in 1687, Isaac Newton explained that the ocean tides are due to the gravitational attraction of the moon. For many years, no one could explain the rusting of iron or corrosion of metals. Then, in 1775, Antoine Lavoisier explained that rusting and corrosion are caused by oxidation, that is, by the chemical combination of the metal with oxygen. However, Dawkins did not loudly proclaim that “Newton and Lavoisier have kicked God out of oceanography and chemistry.” Why did the scientific explanations for processes in biology (evolution) and in cosmology (origin of universe) lead Dawkins to gloat that God was kicked out of those spheres whereas Dawkins said nothing in response to the scientific explanations for processes in chemistry (rusting) and in oceanography (ocean tides)? What is the difference between biology and chemistry? William Paley’s Watchmaker Argument The special feature of the origin of the animal kingdom and the origin of the universe is that many religious people have claimed that it is impossible to explain these phenomena without assuming Divine intervention. Most famously, British theologian William Paley wrote in 1802 that just as a watch proves the existence of a watchmaker, so does the animal kingdom prove the existence of its “Maker,” that is, God:2 If one were to find a rock, one could imagine that the rock had always been there and had not been made by anyone. However, if one were to find a watch, no one would suggest that the watch had always been there and had not been made by anyone. The precision with which the cogs, springs and gears of the watch have been fashioned, and the intricacy with which these parts have been assembled to serve a particular purpose, all demonstrate that the watch could not have been formed by natural processes. Rather, its complexity and specific design prove that the watch must have been made by a watchmaker. If one now considers the natural world, with its vast panorama of animals and plants, each consisting of many complex patterns of tissues and organs that function together in intricate ways to permit each animal to live and bear young, one sees far more complexity than is found in any watch. Therefore, if the complex design of a watch requires a watchmaker, how much more so must the com-

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Although it is impressive to make a beautiful pair of shoes, it is much more impressive to make a factory that automatically takes raw materials and from them produces “endless forms” of shoes “most beautiful and most wonderful.” plex design of the natural world require a “Maker,” who can only be God. In contrast to Paley’s assertion, Darwin later showed that it is possible to explain “the complex pattern of tissues and organs” found in every animal within the framework of science, without requiring Divine intervention. Therefore, Dawkins felt free to proclaim that “Darwin kicked God out of biology.” The fault lies within the religious community, which had unfortunately decided that the existence of the animal kingdom proved the existence of God because it could not think of any other explanation. Therefore, when Darwin proposed another explanation—the scientific explanation—Dawkins could gloat. Reaction of Other Religious People to Darwin’s Theory The reaction of religious people to Darwin’s theory of evolution was the subject of a comprehensive study by Professor Ronald Numbers, president of both the History of Science Society and the American Society of Church History.3 Unfortunately, there are religious scientists who, following Paley, continue to this day to claim that the animal kingdom cannot be explained without Divine intervention.4 However, there were religious leaders who saw matters in a very different light. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch was known for his uncompromising opposition to any idea that deviated even slightly from Orthodox Judaism. Shortly after Darwin’s theory was published, Rav Hirsch wrote the following:5 If the notion of evolution were to gain complete acceptance by the scientific world, Judaism would call upon its adherents to give even greater reverence to God, Who in His boundless creative wisdom, needed to bring into existence only one amorphous nucleus and one law of “adaptation and

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heredity” in order to bring forth the infinite variety of species that we know today. Rav Hirsch was preceded in his view by Charles Darwin himself, who ended his famous book, The Origin of Species, with the following stirring words: There is a grandeur in this view of life, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one, and from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved. God and Evolution Both Darwin and Rav Hirsch viewed evolution as the mechanism used by God to produce the animal kingdom. Particularly interesting is Rav Hirsch’s statement that the evolution of the animal kingdom is even more impressive than producing every species by a separate act of Divine creation. Although it is impressive to make a beautiful pair of shoes, it is much more impressive to make a factory that automatically takes raw materials and from them produces “endless forms” of shoes “most beautiful and most wonderful.” Rav Hirsch stresses that God works within the laws of nature (olam keminhago noheg).6 This important principle explains how God interacts with His world. It follows from this principle that no scientific discovery can cast doubt on the existence of God. Has God Been “Kicked Out”? We now return to Dawkins’ assumption that there is only one explanation for the animal kingdom and the origin of the universe. On the basis of this erroneous assumption, Dawkins concluded that a scientific explanation proves that the explanation of Divine intervention must be wrong,

leading him to gleefully declare that “God has been kicked out.” We have seen that both Rav Hirsch and Darwin reject Dawkins’ assumption. They write that the scientific explanation illustrates how God causes the phenomena of nature to occur. This provides an immediate reply to Dawkins’ assertion that “God has been kicked out” by scientific explanations. Science and belief march together. In fact, the opposite of Dawkins’ conclusion is true. We expect God to have created the universe through the laws of nature because He does everything through the laws of nature. Therefore, the recent discovery of Hawking and Krauss that the origin of the universe can be explained by combining quantum theory with string theory actually serves as a confirmation of how God operates. It is mind-boggling to compare Darwin’s statement (“There is a grandeur in this view of life . . . originally breathed by the Creator . . .”) with Dawkins’ statement (“Darwin kicked God out of biology”). From Darwin’s theory, Dawkins has concluded the exact opposite of what Darwin himself concluded. It is with considerable irony that we note that Dawkins’ professorship is in the “public understanding of science.” Charles Darwin concludes his book by expressing his awe at the grandeur of the Creator, which he sees in the development of the animal kingdom. By contrast, Richard Dawkins thinks that the development of the animal kingdom undermines our faith and justifies the rejection of God. Perhaps one can summarize this anomalous situation by saying that “Darwin has kicked Dawkins out of theology”! g Notes 1. Quoted in “Another Ungodly Squabble,” the Economist, September 5, 2010. Dawkins made similar remarks in his afterword to the book by Krauss, A Universe From Nothing (New York, 2012), 191. 2. William Paley, Natural Theology, vol. 5 of seven-volume Works (Philadelphia, 1802), 1-2. 3. Ronald L. Numbers, Darwinism Comes to America (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998). 4. See, for example, Lee M. Spetner, Not By Chance! The Fall of the Neo-Darwinian Theory (Jerusalem, 1996); John F. Ashton, Evolution Impossible (Green Forest, Arizona, 2012). 5. Samson Raphael Hirsch, Collected Writings [English], vol. 7 (New York, 1997), 264. 6. See, for example, Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 12:1. To listen to an interview with Professor Nathan Aviezer, visit http://www.ou.org/life/community/savitsky_aviezer/.

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Health

By Shira Isenberg

RUNNING FOR LIFE

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO RUN A MARATHON?

hen he hit his late twenties, Ben Kramer— a former high school hockey player from Long Island, New York—was living a pretty sedentary lifestyle and was carrying around more than a couple of extra pounds. But he supported his wife, Samantha, when she registered for a half marathon, flying down with her to Miami the weekend of the race. When his wife told him, “You’re here anyway—why not just run with me?” Kramer ran—or rather walked— those 13.1 miles, completely untrained. Yet, as he hobbled across that finish line, he realized he was hooked. Now, two years and ten races

later—and sixty-five pounds lighter— Kramer is a runner.

WHY RUN? One major reason people lace up their running shoes is to improve their health. A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that people who ran regularly over a period of fifteen years—even slow running for just a few minutes a day—had a 30 percent lower risk of dying and a 45 percent lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular-related cause over a fifteen-year period compared to nonrunners. This gives runners an edge over heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. Additionally, the calorie burning Shira Isenberg, RD, MPH, is a nutrition conand muscle building of continual runsultant and freelance writer in Memphis, Tennessee. Inspired by the Team Yachad running helps with weight control. “As ners, she ran her first race in November 2014. you get older, your metabolism slows down,” says four-time Team Yachad Team Yachad will be running in the runner Jacob Schlanger, from TeaJerusalem Marathon in March. For more neck, New Jersey. Team Yachad raises information, call (212) 613-8301 or e-mail teamyachad@ou.org. funds for Yachad/the National Jewish

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Council for Disabilities, an agency of the Orthodox Union that supports Jews with disabilities and promotes their inclusion within the broad Jewish community. “I began noticing my weight creeping up,” says Schlanger who is sixty-three. “I thought, let me be proactive. Running helps in that regard.” Running also provides an added bonus: time to think. You can’t talk on your cell phone while running, so you are left with your own thoughts. And then there’s the exhilaration of running in the Great Outdoors, which many prefer to the monotony of the treadmill. Exercise positively impacts mental health, releasing endorphins, “feel-good chemicals,” that may fight depression, boost self-esteem and reduce stress. “It’s just a general good feeling,” Schlanger relates. “You know you’re doing something good for yourself, for your body. I feel good that I can still do these things.”

RUNNING FOR A CAUSE For the past six years, Team Yachad has been turning its supporters from around the country into runners, encouraging them to compete in endurance races in the Miami, Toronto and Jerusalem marathons in order to help raise funds for the organization. “That first year, 2010, twenty-nine people ran in Miami for Yachad,” reports Eli Hagler, associate director of Yachad. “In our sixth year, this past January, we surpassed our goal of having 200 runners,” Hagler says. The Miami marathon is just one of five marathons that Yachad participates in annually. It also participates in marathons in New York, Cleveland, Jerusalem and Toronto. Since 2010, more than 1,400 Team Yachad runners have run over 15,000 miles. What is the draw of pushing your body for 13.1 miles or, for those a little more daring, the full 26.2? “Running a half or full marathon is something on everyone’s bucket list, but few people actually get to cross it off,” Hagler explains. “Running with Team Yachad gives people a venue in which they can run while doing something good for themselves and others—and have an incredible experience at the same time.” For Yachad, the goal is twofold: to raise money as well as to raise awareness of the organization. Team Yachad runners who run in the Miami Marathon commit to raising a minimum of $3,000 in pledges (the amount varies depending on the particular city) to compete on behalf of Yachad—a tall order for some, but Hagler’s team works with the runners-to-be to earn the funds. “We’ll give and share ideas about how to raise money, but ultimately each runner does what he wants to do and what works for him—knock on doors, e-mail family and friends, et cetera. In return, Yachad takes care of all logistical aspects of the race weekend, including flight, hotel, race registration, transportation, food and everything in between. You simply can’t put a dollar sign on the atmosphere of a Team Yachad weekend. “The experience stays with you and carries you through the whole year,” says Vicki Ross, a Chicago social worker who ran with Team Yachad.

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THAT FEELING WHEN YOU CROSS THE FINISH LINE IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER. THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT SETTING A GOAL FOR YOURSELF, PUTTING IN THE HARD WORK AND ACCOMPLISHING THAT GOAL THAT IS SURREAL. HAVING TEAM YACHAD WRITTEN ACROSS YOUR CHEST MAKES IT ALL THE MORE MEANINGFUL.

The weekend comes to a head Motzaei Shabbat before the race at the famed “pasta party,” where runners load up on carbs to fuel their endurance the next day. “The music is blasting, everyone is excited. It really gets the momentum going and adrenaline pumping,” says Hagler.

changes their lives for the better.” Many of the half marathoners choose to run with Team Yachad in order to give back to the organization, like Bassie Taubes, fifty-three, from Teaneck, New Jersey, a nurse-turnedhealth-coach. “My son has autism and he has been very involved in going to

When I turned sixty, I started running again—this time solely for Yachad.” GETTING IN SHAPE For runners, preparing for race day begins months in advance. (Ideally, three months of training is recommended, but many Team Yachad run-

FROM LEFT: JACOB SCHLANGER, SIXTY-THREE, IS A FOUR-TIME TEAM YACHAD RUNNER. TEAM YACHAD MIAMI RUNNERS. DR. NACHUM KATLOWITZ, WHO STARTED RUNNING IN HIS MIDFIFTIES, WITH DAUGHTER ADIRA. PHOTOS: SAM ULRICH

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET There are two types of Team Yachad runners, according to Hagler: those who are runners already or want to become runners, and those who are doing it to support Yachad and raise money for a charity close to their hearts. “Some from the latter group,” he says, “really follow through, and it

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Yachad Shabbatons and other events. I’m very indebted to Yachad—they are doing work no other one organization is doing.” Schlanger, whose daughter is a Yachad member, used to be a distance runner. “I ran the New York City Marathon in the 70s and 80s several times, then stopped for a few decades.

ners have done it in less time.) Coach Jasmine Graham, affectionately known as Coach Jaz, is a certified running coach with the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) and an American Council on Exercise (ACE) trainer, who has been training Team Yachad members for the half marathon in Miami since 2009.

“A half marathon and definitely a full marathon is no joke,” says the coach. “It’s a commitment, a sacrifice of your time. People who don’t do the work—you can tell. I highly recommend training, especially for the 26.2 miles. Sometimes the half marathoners who don’t train come back the next year and say, ‘This year, I’m doing it right and training.’” As soon as someone signs up with Team Yachad, he’ll begin receiving informative e-mails from Coach Jaz with a detailed training program tailored to his current fitness level, tips on proper running form, getting shoes and other gear, preventing injury—everything he needs to know. Kramer, who ran four times with Team Yachad, follows Coach’s e-mails to the letter. “Whatever it told me to do, I did. On that first day, I did 4.4 miles; it took me a little while. I just stuck to it, and I ran according to the schedule. Within two or three weeks, I was able to run three miles straight without having to walk.”

“I didn’t find it difficult to run the half marathon because I had trained,” says Taubes. “There were a lot of twenty-year-olds who were in much worse shape than I was after the marathon. When you’re twenty, you think you don’t have to train.” Coach Jaz brings a team of coaches down to Miami for the whole weekend to lead workshops, answer lastminute questions and keep everyone on their toes for the big event. They’ll also work with anyone who hasn’t trained enough to try to get them through the half marathon safely.

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VICKI ROSS, A CHICAGO SOCIAL WORKER WHO RAN WITH TEAM YACHAD.

TEAM YACHAD MEMBER BRANDON LURIE FROM LOS ANGELES CROSSING THE FINISH LINE AT THE 2015 MIAMI MARATHON.

TIPS FOR RUNNERS FROM THE RUNNERS

Thinking about registering for a race? Here are some tried-and-true tips from those who have been there: Bassie Taubes: Download upbeat music you can listen to while you run. I have music that I use; I call it my marathon music. It’s a good motivator. Jacob Schlanger: Set small goals and step up gradually. Don’t try to conquer the mountain on day one. It’s really a step process. Shoshana Stoll: Team up with another runner for motivation. For my first marathon, I trained with a friend. I knew I was meeting with her, so I had to go. Ben Kramer: Do the training. When I ran the marathon without training, I was in pain for about three weeks afterwards. The next year, with training, I felt a little sore after but I was walking around essentially pain-free. Vicki Ross: Talk to someone who has done it to find out what it is really like. Also, look around for helpful gadgets. I bought myself a watch that keeps track of my calories, my heart rate and my pace. Eli Hagler: Music is great for training, but during the actual race, run without it. You’ll have the chance to appreciate the beauty of the course and the surrounding area. Plus, without music distracting you, you can better soak up the experience of running together with hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of people. There’s nothing better!

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MAKING THE COMMITMENT Deciding to run a marathon or even a half marathon is a commitment. Training takes away time normally spent on other important things, and runners need to be prepared for that. Also, it’s important to remember that it’s never too late to start. “I started running in my mid-fifties,” says Team Yachad runner Dr. Nachum Katlowitz, from Brooklyn, who will be turning sixty this year. Fitting training into a frum lifestyle may require some maneuvering. “The hardest time is around yom tov, especially when it falls in the middle of the week,” says Shoshana Stoll, a runner from New York. “You lose a lot of days. Of course, you make it up afterwards.” Miami’s race day begins at 6 A.M., which skews davening times that morning. “The first thing many of our runners do when they finish the race is dry off and then head to a Team Yachad tent specifically designated for minyanim,” says Hagler. Then there’s the question of “What do I wear?”— which is of special concern to women. Taubes, who sports a hat and wears a skirt with leggings underneath when running, says, “I don’t feel uncomfortable in any way. I’m used to looking different.” “There are other people out there with you running in skirts,” Ross says. “At first I might have been a little self-conscious, but in the end, it didn’t really affect me at all.” GOING THE DISTANCE Running for a cause helps keep motivation high. Runners remember they are not just running for themselves, they are running to raise funds for an important charity. And you can’t underestimate the power of the crowds. “In the middle of the marathon, there was definitely a time that I questioned myself: What am I doing?, says Stoll. “But you see all the people on the sidelines cheering—whether for runners representing Yachad or other groups. That kept me going through the marathon.” “That feeling you have when you cross that finish line is unlike any other feeling,” says Hagler. “There is something about setting a goal for yourself, putting in the hard work and accomplishing that goal that is surreal. Having Team Yachad written across your chest makes it all the more meaningful.” g

Listen to Eli Hagler, associate director of Yachad, discuss the thrill of running the Yachad Marathon in Miami this past winter at www.ou.org/life/inspiration/savitsky_hagler.

By Tzippora Price

Overcoming Obesity ost doctors identify the period between thirty-five and forty as a time when one can no longer rely on youth and luck to keep oneself healthy. When I reached middle age, my doctors identified my risk level of developing diabetes and heart disease as extremely high due to my family history. As one particularly insensitive doctor I consulted said, according to my BMI alone, he was surprised I didn’t have a fatal heart attack on the spot during our consultation. I, of course, stubbornly refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing his morbid prediction fulfilled, because a religious Jew is not a statistic. Yet even while acknowledging that Hashem runs the show, I felt that the clock was ticking. I had lost my paternal grandfather to heart disease when I was ten and my paternal grandmother to ovarian cancer when I was Tzippora Price is a marital and family therapist and a mental health educator who works in private practice in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel. She is the author of Into the Whirlwind (Canada, 2010), Mother in Progress (Israel, 2010) and Mother in Action (Israel, 2013).

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sixteen. My father passed away due to diabetes complications when I was thirty-two. I sat shivah for my father at an age when most of my friends were just beginning to see their parents sit shivah for their parents. Several doctors, including a hematologist, an endocrinologist and my wonderful old-style GP, recommended surgery as the best, and most effective, way to lose weight. However, I wasn’t prepared to consider surgery until I had exhausted all options. So I exercised. I chose healthy foods. And I lost weight. A little. The weight I lost was not proportionate to the effort I exerted. When I consulted my doctor about this, he tested my thyroid and discovered I have a metabolic condition that makes weight loss more difficult. “You’re not going to be able to do it on your own,” he cautioned. “Genetically the odds are stacked against you.” What he said made sense, yet it was hard for me to accept. I wanted to do it on my own. I didn’t want to accept medical help. So I reasoned his words away, and decided that while the thyroid condition might make things more difficult and explain my snail-like progress, it didn’t make succeeding on my own impossible.

I intensified my efforts. I exercised more and ate less. Eventually something had to give. Eventually something did. I broke my ankle while hiking, and required two surgeries. I now had to deal with real limitations regarding how much I could exercise, and chronic pain. But was it a sign? “You’re not going to be able to do it on your own,” my doctor repeated. How do you decide when enough is enough, when you accept help you don’t really want? The journey took five years. Five years from the time I lost my father to the time I was ready to accept that I wouldn’t be able to do what needed to be done on my own. Five years of research, fear and indecision before I was finally prepared to follow the consensus of my doctors. On the day I met my surgeon, I told him I knew almost everything about the procedure I had chosen to undergo except how to perform it. That part was his job. I “got sleeved,” as it is called. One of the newest forms of bariatric surgery, the gastric sleeve is irreversible. It removes a portion of your stomach, providing an internal measure of portion control. It resets your internal metabolic set point and makes transformative weight loss possible. It works. It worked so well my body changed at a rate that felt impossible to keep up with. In just over one year, I exceeded predictions for expected weight loss and lost 126 pounds. I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the person I saw, this person whose body changed from week to week. She was both me and not me. Shopping was bewildering. Suddenly, I no longer needed to frequent only plus-size stores. I was shopping in the same stores where teenage girls were trying on skirts, the same skirts I could choose to try on myself if I was

so inclined. I made a lot of mistakes. I bought clothes I would never wear. I bought clothes that would be too big by the following week. As I write this, it has been two full years since the surgery. Those who have undergone the procedure refer to a “surgeriversary.” The year post-surgery takes you to a certain point, and from then on you are on your own. Despite the irreversible nature of the procedure, it is actually still possible to regain the weight one has lost. There are specific guidelines and rules to follow for the rest of your life if you wish to maintain your weight loss. Choose healthy foods. Eat small portions. Eat slowly. Don’t eat and drink at the same time. Don’t drink carbonated beverages. Exercise. Exercise. Exercise. Except for not drinking while eating and avoiding carbonated beverages, these are basically the same rules that anyone who wishes to embrace a healthy lifestyle or to lose weight and maintain their weight loss must follow. At this point, I am no different from anyone else watching his or her weight, except that I have experienced both the challenges of obesity and what dramatic weight loss feels like. It feels like a second chance—a chance to re-experience all the challenges I had before the surgery. Every opportunity to eat is also a new opportunity to overeat. Orthodox Jews celebrate life milestones through eating; for many people, attending a simchah is synonymous with overeating. Each week, there is Shabbat. Living as I do in a large frum community, there is always a kiddush, shalom zachor, bar mitzvah, wedding or sheva berachot to attend. Sometimes there are several on the same day, simchah piling upon simchah. I have had to learn how to sit at a table sipping a glass of water while my friends enjoy a luxurious meal, each “I really shouldn’t . . .” followed by another bite of cake. I sit with them and focus on catching up with old friends or making new ones. I smile and insist I am not hungry, even when I am. I smile and I don’t judge. Who am I to judge? For years I did the same thing, using semachot as a reason for indulgence. I learned what I did the hard way—by losing those I love. I learned that pursuing a goal means sticking with it, day in and day out, good days and bad days, Shabbat and yom tov. I look for ways to recognize small accomplishments. Not giving in to temptation is an accomplishment. Going walking when I don’t feel like it is an accomplishment. Eating carrots when I really want chocolate is an accomplishment. When did the culture of excess and indulgence become intertwined with the Orthodox way of life, and why have we allowed that to happen? As true ovdei Hashem, the critical and often-overlooked mitzvah of “venishmartem meod lenaf-

shoseichem” needs to be our priority, as those who live according to Hashem’s agenda rather than our own. Long-term change is hard. When I think about why I succeeded while others who had the same surgery did not, it comes down to two things. One, I gave myself permission to make mistakes. Not just in what I ate, but in how I lived. Losing weight for me meant letting go of the perfectionism that went along with it. Two, I gave myself permission to go as far as I could. I know people who have said “just because I had this surgery doesn’t mean I am going to deny myself a piece of cake when I feel like eating one.” Essentially, these people are saying that despite having undergone the surgery, they are unwilling to give up immediate gratification. I am willing to give up the immediate gratification of eating a piece of cake so that I can, be’ezrat Hashem, experience another kind of gratification: having grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the energy and vigor to enjoy them. g

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Why the World’s Healthiest Western Diet is Found in Israel BY A R N O L D H . S LY P E R

love the Machane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, or “the Shuk” as it is known. The storekeepers are so colorful and the crowds a snapshot of the diversity of the residents of Jerusalem. Unlike the US where fruits are often on sale year-round, Israel does not import its fruits and vegetables; thus, the availability of fruits is always changing. In the Shuk, a certain excitement can be felt when foods make their seasonal appearance. What I love most about the Shuk, however, is its display of Israel’s amazing agricultural productivity and the healthfulness of this bounty. One day, while walking through the Shuk, I had a thought: why can’t the Israeli diet become a model for the rest of the world? Israel is a world leader in so many areas—the high-tech industry, agriculture, missile technology, et cetera. Why can’t Israel also be a leader in good nutrition?

The Mediterranean Diet Since Israel is a Mediterranean country, the Israeli diet is a Mediterranean diet. That is, the type of diet eaten in countries in the Mediterranean region. These diets vary depending on the particular country. All of the Mediterranean diets, however, share

Dr. Arnold H. Slyper is a pediatric endocrinologist and former professor of pediatrics. His clinical and academic interests are in obesity and preventive nutrition. He made aliyah in 2013 and lives in Ma’ale Adumim. He currently works as a pediatric endocrinologist for Clalit Health Services. He is the author of the book Saving your Family from Obesity (2013).

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Photos: Yehoshua Halevi

certain characteristics. A typical Mediterranean diet consists of plenty of vegetables, grains, nuts, legumes and fruits. Olive oil is the predominant fat. Wine often accompanies meals. Many Mediterranean diets, such as the Italian diet, are low in fat. The Spanish Mediterranean diet has a higher fat content because of its increased use of olive oil. The Israeli Mediterranean diet is somewhat atypical because it not only contains plenty of fruits, grains and vegetables, but it is also Western in its use of eggs, dairy and meat, a consequence of Israel’s early agricultural policies. A dizzying number of diets are promoted in America, each targeted for a specific issue, such as weight loss, cardiovascular disease prevention, improved diabetes control or other health concerns. However, only the Mediterranean diet favorably influences all of these conditions, in addition to other health problems. Studies indicate that the Mediterranean diet has a positive influence on certain forms of cancer and asthma, and helps prevent dementia and depression.1 No other diet can make such claims. No one knows for sure why the Mediterranean diet is so healthy, but many attribute it to its high antioxidant content. During the body’s normal functioning, supercharged oxygen and nitrogen molecules are produced, and these can be harmful unless neutralized by the body’s antioxidants. High blood glucose and cholesterol levels as well as smoking and eating trans fats increase the production of these supercharged molecules and lead to what is called “oxidative stress.” Oxidative stress promotes cardiovascular disease and may influence other conditions such as the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer’s disease and the development of cancer. Fortunately, many of the natural foods we eat are full of antioxidants that can supplement the body’s defense against supercharged oxygen molecules. Plants convert solar energy into chemical energy and need to protect themselves against the production of excessive energy, as well as other potentially damaging factors, which is why they contain so many antioxidants. There are literally thousands of antioxidant compounds in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Removing the bran from flour greatly reduces its antioxidant content—one reason why whole-wheat bread is more healthful than white bread. Health articles often discuss the benefits of including tomatoes, green tea (more healthful than dark tea) and dark chocolate in your diet, all of which have high antioxidant contents. The Seven Species The Israeli Mediterranean diet contains foods that are extremely healthful, including the sheva minim, or seven species listed in the Torah as being special products of the Land of Israel. The fruits of the sheva minim have been shown to be loaded with antioxidants.2 The seven species, which are blessed with certain holiness, are wheat, barley, olives, grapes, dates, figs and pomegranates. Depending on the time of year, the fruits of the shivat haminim are ubiquitous in the Shuk. The seven species are perfectly adapted to Israel’s climate. Wheat and barley are sown during the winter months when there is rainfall (the “early” rain mentioned in the

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second paragraph of Shema) and they ripen under the influence of the “late” rain in the spring. The early rain usually arrives like clockwork shortly after Sukkot. Grape vines and olive, fig and pomegranate trees are able to survive the dry Israeli summer months and the complete absence of rain. Olive oil is an important component of Mediterranean diets. Extra-virgin or virgin olive oil is rich in antioxidants, although this is not the case for “pure” or “light” olive oil. This is because the “impurities” removed contain the antioxidants. There is considerable evidence that olive oil protects against cardiovascular disease. Interestingly, studies indicate that monounsaturated fat (which is the main fat in olive oil) has no protective properties, while olive oil does— additional evidence for the importance of antioxidants.3 Moderate wine drinking (but not heavy alcohol consumption) has been shown to prolong longevity and prevent cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer. This is attributed to its high antioxidant content, although wine may also contain other substances that have beneficial cellular properties.4 Red rather than white wine has the highest antioxidant content. The Israeli Diet as a Model Diet The modern Israeli diet has the potential to be a model diet, since it combines the healthiest foods of the Mediterranean together with wholesome foods from the West. Olive oil rather than corn oil is the country’s favored oil. Wines are plentiful. Figs, dates, pomegranates and a multitude of other fruits are readily available (in season). Vegetables, especially tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, are easily obtainable and used extensively in salads. Nuts such as almonds and walnuts grow naturally in the country and are also high in antioxidants. Restaurant and take-out meals in Israel tend to contain far more vegetables than in the US. Hummus and tahini are popular dips, and are made from natural products. However, I can already hear the skeptics. Sure, the Israeli diet is Mediterranean-like. But how can a diet containing whole milk, eggs and meat be a model diet? The reality is that there is considerable turmoil nowadays in the world of nutrition, as it is becoming increasingly evident that many of the “truisms” that were the bedrock of American nutrition for over half a century lack scientific support. Eggs slightly raise cholesterol levels in a percentage of people (hyper-responders), but no scientific study has been able to show that this translates into increased risk of cardiovascular disease, except perhaps in diabetics. Blood cholesterol levels are indeed raised by saturated fat, but recent studies have concluded that saturated fat does not promote heart disease.5 Nor has research been able to show that low-fat milk prevents pediatric obesity.6 It was pointed out recently in an article in the reputed medical journal JAMA Pediatrics that “the recommendations to replace whole milk with reduced-fat milk (in children) lacks any evidence basis for weight management or cardiovascular disease prevention . . . .” Admittedly, it is possible to eat too much of a good thing. Many Americans eat more than enough red meat and would do well to substitute some of their meat consumption with

vegetable protein and fish, but high meat consumption is rarely the case in Israel. The consumption of dairy products has been shown to have many health benefits, including preventing obesity and providing the calcium needed for bone development and bone turnover. Eggs are filling and can be helpful with weight control. Nevertheless, just because a diet has the potential to be a model diet does not mean that it necessarily is. A bit of realism is in order. Israeli nutrition is far from perfect. Americans are not the only ones who drink soft drinks. Israelis do so too. Soft drinks have the distinction of being the only food proven in scientific studies to be associated with excessive weight gain. Israelis also love pareve desserts, some of which contain too much trans fat-rich margarine. However, the country recently introduced mandatory labeling for packaged goods, which may help to reduce trans fat consumption. Ingestion of even small amounts of trans fat can lead to oxidative stress and promote heart disease. Furthermore, schooling in Israel is not necessarily conducive to good nutrition. Many children do not eat breakfast at home and schools do not provide hot lunch for students. Students are therefore expected to bring sandwiches, snacks and drinks for breaks during the day, some of which are unhealthy. So what is the upshot of all this? The Israeli diet could potentially be a model diet for much of the world, but Israelis need to put in the effort to make it so. g Notes 1. My web site, eatforhealth.org, discusses the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Scientific references are included. 2. Elliot M. Berry et al., “The Middle Eastern and biblical origins of the Mediterranean diet,” Public Health Nutrition 14 (2011). This is an excellent summary of the antioxidant status of the sheva minim and other Biblical foods. 3. Lucas Schwingshackl and Georg Hoffmann, “Monounsaturated fatty acids, olive oil and health status: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies,” Lipids in Health and Disease 13 (2014): 154. 4. Alberto AA Bertelli et al., “Grapes, wines, resveratrol, and heart health,” Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology 54 (2009): 468-476. This is a summary of the health benefits of wine and its constituents. 5. Rajiv Chowdhury et al., “Association of dietary, circulating, and supplement fatty acids with coronary risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” Annals of Internal Medicine 160 (2014): 398-406. This very recent study has attracted considerable media attention with its demonstration that saturated fat is not associated with cardiovascular risk and that polyunsaturated fat is not associated with cardiovascular protection. 6. Arnold H. Slyper and Wei-Min Huang, “Milk, Dairy Fat and Body Weight in Pediatrics: Time for Reappraisal,” Infant, Child & Adolescent Nutrition (1) 2009: 148-159. This article summarizes current knowledge regarding consumption of dairy and dairy fat and body weight.

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Mediterranean Diet Makeover By Shira Isenberg

So how do you go about changing over to a more Mediterranean-style diet? In a word: gradually. Slow changes to your lifestyle are more likely to last, so don’t expect to upgrade your eating plan overnight. To get your eating habits closer to where you want them to be, start with these six steps: 1. Switch your oil. It’s the easiest change. Buy a good extra-virgin olive oil and start using it in the kitchen—to make salad dressings, to roast vegetables, for sautéing. Use a light hand though, since every tablespoon of oil—even healthy ones like olive oil—contains 120 calories. 2. Add one fish meal a week. With the prominence of gefilte fish in our diets, most of us probably aren’t hitting the American Heart Association’s recommended two servings of fatty fish per week. According to an article in the Atlantic, Americans ate just fifteen pounds of seafood per person in 2011, while we ate almost 200 pounds of other proteins (eggs, meat and poultry). The good news: canned tuna and salmon count. 3. Go meatless one night a week. You could technically fulfill this by eating macaroni and cheese, but challenge yourself to make it a dinner in which vegetables are the star. Try a vegetarian protein source like beans, tofu or seitan—they’re much less expensive than poultry and meat, so if nothing else, your wallet will thank you. Treat yourself to a vegetarian or vegan cookbook for new ideas, or simply browse recipes on the Internet. I especially like reading comments on recipes posted online— you can get great tips to help you prepare the dish or interesting modifications that might improve it.

4. Snack on nuts. Who doesn’t love nuts? Go with raw or dry-roasted—nothing coated with sugar or honey. The trick is to keep portions down, unless you are trying to gain weight; it’s very easy to overdo calories with nuts. (For example, an ounce of almonds contains about 165 calories.) Premeasured 1-ounce packages or 100-calorie packs are perfect. They’re nonperishable, so keep them on hand in your workbag or purse for a pick-me-up. 5. Make salads count. Limp lettuce greens as a base for your deli meat are better than no lettuce leaves, but they don’t offer much in the way of nutrients and those precious antioxidants. Bulk up your salads with at least three different kinds of vegetables; only then consider other add-ins. 6. Stop being afraid of fat. The “low-fat” craze thirty years ago didn’t remedy the obesity crisis; in fact, some blame it for contributing to weight gain. Fat is important for a food’s flavor and satiety value; when it’s taken out, many people end up eating more calories in order to feel full. Plus, fats offer other benefits, such as allowing you to absorb fat-soluble vitamins and comprising an integral part of every cell membrane in your body. You do need to practice moderation and selectivity, picking the “good” ones that promote health (e.g., avocados, olives, olive oil, nuts and seeds, fatty fish, et cetera). But there is certainly no need to feel guilty for eating fat!

Shira Isenberg is a registered dietitian and writer with a private nutrition practice in Nashville, Tennessee. She has a master’s degree in public health nutrition from Hunter College in New York.

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he idea of focusing a Jewish Action cover story on anti-Semitism was first suggested more than a year ago. Clearly, as a quarterly magazine, Jewish Action cannot attempt to report the news or even try to be au courant when events around us move so fast. But alarmed at the dramatic increase at that time in attacks on brit milah and shechitah in various countries in Europe, our editorial committee felt that history demanded that we sound the alarm and convey to our audience our apprehension concerning these ominous circumstances. In the course of the passing year, however, the story has changed with frightening rapidity. Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza somehow engendered anti-Semitic outbursts throughout Europe during the summer of 2014. In short order, our fear of an increase in attacks on Jewish religious practices turned into horror and dismay at a string of murders of Jews. As we go to press with appalling events in Denmark and Paris still very fresh in our minds, we hope and pray that no further terrorist attacks will have pre-empted our attempt here to review and evaluate what is happening around us. The Haggadah, which we will soon be reading, tells us that in every generation we must be prepared to face those who hate us and want to put an end to us. It is only through our faith in the Almighty that we have the confidence to know that we will endure whatever onslaughts are still to come.

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COVER STORY

By Jewish Action editorial staямА

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IN JANUARY 2006, ILAN HALIMI, A JEWISH CELL PHONE SALESMAN, WAITED ON AN ATTRACTIVE YOUNG WOMAN WHO SEEMED TO BE SHOWING MORE INTEREST IN HIM THAN IN THE MERCHANDISE. SHE ASKED FOR HIS PHONE NUMBER. HE GAVE IT—A FATAL MISTAKE. er ploy led Halimi into the hands of young French Muslim terrorists who held him prisoner. For twenty-four horrendous days they took turns torturing him and left him for dead. Halimi was found naked, handcuffed and bound to a tree, with burns over 80 percent of his body. To the French Jewish community’s dismay, French authorities initially did not view the murder as a hate crime. Subsequently, they changed their minds. When the gang leader was found guilty, he proclaimed, “I killed a Jew, and for that I will go to Paradise.” Shortly after the murder, Roger Cukierman, president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, noted in an article that appeared in Newsweek that Halimi was the first French Jew murdered after World War II simply because he was Jewish. Ongoing attacks, most notably the recent murder of four Jews in a kosher market in Paris, make one fact exceedingly clear: anti-Semitism has returned to the streets of Western Europe. And while in some ways the antiSemitism of the twenty-first century resembles the same old Jew-hatred that has persisted in Europe for centuries, in other ways, it is markedly different. THE JIHADI THREAT One of the major factors responsible for the “new antiSemitism” is the growing number of Islamic extremists who call Europe their home. European governments— France in particular—are finding themselves hardpressed to deal with the growing number of radical Muslims in their midst. “You have a thirty percent Muslim population in cities like Brussels, Manchester and Malmö; forty percent of the births in Germany are Muslim,” says Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “The governments are overwhelmed; they have not successfully found a way to control [the growing extremism].”

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Along with the changing demographics in certain European countries, the failure to integrate their Muslim populations leaves some of its followers open to extremist influences. As an example, Hoenlein looks at Germany, which attracted a lot of Muslim workers. “They are secular or moderate for the most part, but their children and grandchildren are radicalized.” Hoenlein sees the demographic factor as a serious concern. “I remember a Muslim leader telling me a decade ago, ‘You guys have it all wrong; we don’t need a nuclear weapon; our nuclear weapon is demographics.’” ANTI-ZIONISM=ANTI-SEMITISM A second factor contributing to the escalating anti-Semitism is anti-Zionism. In some European circles, being overtly anti-Semitic is still considered politically incorrect, but espousing anti-Zionism, on the other hand, is regarded as entirely legitimate. “Anti-Zionism has become the most dangerous and effective form of anti-Semitism in our time, through its systematic delegitimization, defamation and demonization of Israel,” wrote Robert Wistrich in an article entitled “Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism” (available at http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-wistrich-f04.htm). Professor Wistrich holds the Neuberger Chair of Modern European and Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “Israel has been the excuse,” says Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of interfaith affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) in Los Angeles and a contributing editor of Jewish Action. “The prevailing mood makes it possible for people to say things publicly that they used to get shot down for. “Talk show hosts who would have pushed the suppress button if people went on anti-Semitic tirades have become more tolerant. Look at the comment boxes on hundreds of web sites; anytime you see something about Israel, you’ll find people chiming in with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic comments. The way the media has treated Israel for decades, as well as the majority of those teach-

ing in Middle East departments on [college] campus[es] . . . is fiercely anti-Israel.” Professor Wistrich concurs. “The rise of jihad has created a climate of unprecedented violence and a great deal of the jihadi agitation is fundamentally linked to hatred of Jews and Israel. There is a complete failure in the West to address this in any kind of honest fashion, to take [the extremist] ideology seriously,” he says. “Many of my colleagues in academia don’t want to talk to me about it; they just turn away.” In today’s political arena, anti-Semitism emanates from both the right and left, depending on the country. “It is extremely important not to lump different [anti-Semitic] phenomena together,” says Rabbi Joshua Spinner, executive vice president and CEO of The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, based in Berlin. In most places in Europe, the far left stands firmly against Israel. “In Germany, the left is wildly pro-Israel,” says Rabbi Spinner. “There is a different ideological root in the far left here,” he explains. “Some [leftists] are Communist but are against any expression of German nationalism and fascism.” He has witnessed this firsthand. “I went with my wife to a [left-wing] demonstration against the Muslim extremists. They were dressed in black, had tattoos, [were] smoking cigarettes, drinking beer . . . [some were] wrapped in Israeli flags, chanting ‘free Gaza from Hamas.’ We went over to one of them and said, ‘We want to thank you for coming out.’ He responded, ‘No. Thank you. We’ve been here every year for the past fifteen years; it’s about time the Jewish community came.’ There were about 500 of them. Definitely unique.” Irrespective from which end of the political spectrum it springs, condemnation of Jews is on the rise. A 2012 opinion poll on attitudes toward Jews in European countries, conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), revealed that anti-Semitic beliefs continue to fester in nearly one-third of those surveyed. Helping to spread the “new anti-Semitism” is the fact that it’s been seventy years since the Holocaust. “For decades there was a sense of responsibility to speak out against anti-Semitism, to instate laws . . . that is waning,” says Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the SWC. “Holocaust shame” is no longer a reality in Europe. HATE GONE VIRAL Additionally, the Internet has given anti-Semites an unrestricted platform from which to spew hate. “The Internet is the main battlefield; it’s the ultimate marketing tool,” says Rabbi Cooper. “The huge number

Demonstration in tribute to kidnapped, tortured and murdered Ilan Halimi and to protest against racism and anti-Semitism on February 26, 2006, in Bordeaux, France. Photo: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty Images

of hits on an [anti-Semitic or anti-Israel] Facebook or Twitter posting has people thinking, ‘Wow, 32,000 people [like this]; this must have some truth to it.’ It has been an unprecedented instrument for extremists to fine-tune their message and draw a straight line to young people anywhere in the world.” “You could be a concerned, conscientious parent, but the Internet bypasses all of the traditional firewalls,” says Rabbi Cooper. He illustrates with a chilling case. He read a recent news report about three American-born Muslim teens from a Chicago suburb, raised on basketball, Batman and Walmart, who were arrested at O’Hare International Airport. They were on their way to join the fight with Islamic State militants in Syria. Their shocked parents said they had maintained close control over their children’s Internet usage. “That didn’t prevent them from accessing Twitter on their cell phones,” says Rabbi Cooper. “They were radicalized [via social media].” To counter the Internet hate blitz, the SWC launched the Digital Terrorism and Hate Project, which monitors how extremist groups are leveraging Internet technologies. “We actually grade the companies,” says Rabbi Cooper. “Facebook gets between an A- and a B+ and Twitter gets between D- and an F; it remains the technology of choice for terrorists around the world.” Fortunately, Jews are not the only ones concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe. The British, French and German governments have strongly spoken out against anti-Semitism. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Italy issued a joint statement in Brussels, the capital of the European Union, condemning anti-Semitic acts and protests, saying they “cannot be tolerated in our societies in Europe.”

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Police officers take position outside the kosher market where four hostages were killed in Paris this past January. Photo: Associated Press

In January, spurred by the attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris and escalating anti-Semitism around the world, the United Nations held its first-ever meeting on global anti-Semitism. Non-Jews such as Willem Kortenoeven, director of the pro-Israel lobby organization Netherlands-Israel Public Affairs Committee (NIPAC), a Dutch equivalent of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), are courageously voicing their opposition to the rising tide of anti-Semitism. “It’s like Damocles—right here in the skies over Europe,” says Kortenoeven. “[People] think, ‘as long as it is happening to the Jews, they might not come for us,’” says Kortenoeven. “People will never explicitly say it, but they think it deep in their hearts. That’s a terrible mistake.”

France has Western Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim populations (approximately 500,000 Jews and five million Muslim). Following the decline of the French Empire in the 1950s and 1960s and the Six-Day War, some 300,000 Sephardic Jews emigrated to France from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.

FRANCE Unlike their Jewish counterparts, many of the second-generation Muslim immigrants have not managed to successfully integrate into French life and society. A large percentage of these young Muslims represent a disaffected segment of French society, living on the fringes of urban areas, particularly Paris, where frequent rioting and clashes with police continue to shake up the country. With Muslims comprising 7.5 percent of the total

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French population, France has inadvertently provided a stage for Jew hatred. Aliyah from France reached nearly 7,000 in 2014; more immigrants arrived from France to Israel this past year than from any other country. The recent murders of four innocent Jews in a kosher supermarket in Paris will likely lead to an even greater exodus from France. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 TV, Yohan Cohen, one of the hostages who hid in the freezer during the hostagetaking, said he would now move his wife and four children to Israel. “On Monday I am going to make aliyah,” he said. “We are not going to wait around here to die.” David and Rivka Mallet, in their thirties, emigrated from France to Manhattan five years ago. “I grew up in a neighborhood, the 18th arrondissement in Paris, that was becoming more and more Muslim,” says Rivka. “I never felt very safe. I felt their anti-Semitism. I couldn’t see myself raising my children there. I wanted to live in a country where my kids could wear a kippa and tzitzit and not be bothered.” Her parents, both immigrants, had fled Morocco in the seventies, hoping that France would be a better place for Jews. A close friend couldn’t understand her decision to leave, asserting that “it’s not so bad here.” Later, the friend changed her tune. “She witnessed a huge crowd of [radical] Muslims ready to kill Jews outside the synagogue,” says Rivka. “She was shocked that on a Sunday afternoon in Paris, this could happen. She said, ‘You were right [to leave].’” David says he never walked the streets of Paris with a kippa. “I knew it was something I shouldn’t do. Insults and mockery happen on a daily basis in certain neighborhoods. Every Shabbat you walk out of your home with a kippa on your head and you don’t know what will happen, if you are going to be safe or not. If I go to work with a kippa, I look like an extremist. It’s not something that’s workplace appropriate. “People are slowly beginning to understand that there isn’t a future for us there. Rivka’s married brother and his

At the funeral of the four victims of the Paris kosher supermarket attack, mourners hold signs showing their solidarity with the victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris. Photo: Israel Sun

Ongoing attacks, most notably the recent murder of four Jews in a kosher market in Paris, make one fact exceedingly clear: anti-Semitism has returned to the streets of Western Europe. family are also considering getting out,” says David. “They’ve been mugged, spat on,” Rivka says. “There’s no way I’m going back to France.” Odaia, twenty-seven, living in Manhattan, left France two years ago. “I never had any big problem [with anti-Semitism] except at work,” she says. Her colleagues would make snide remarks about her leaving early on Fridays. “I took those hours off of my vacation time, but my colleagues just assumed I could leave early and get paid for the hours. They would say, ‘Okay, I’m going to be Jewish too, so I can leave early on Friday.’” Members of her family were victims of anti-Semitic attacks. “My mother’s cousin has two teenage sons who were beat up by [radical] Muslim men several times. One of my best friends was also attacked. Five guys circled him. People just watched while they beat him and didn’t care.” It’s not only the Jews in France who are feeling threatened. This is especially true after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. “There are dangerous Muslim [extremists] in every big town in France,” says Rabbi Arieh Marciano, a current resident of Yerushalayim who is from France. “There is [a district] near Paris called Seine-Saint-Denis where [even] the police are afraid to go,” says Rabbi Marciano, who serves as regional director of Olami, a worldwide network of Jewish outreach efforts aiming to inspire deeper Jewish commitment. “Muslims from this area call the police and fake a reason for them to come. When they arrive, the [radical] Muslims stone them. They are anti-establishment; the police are the ‘enemy,’” he says. “Yet, whenever there is a conflict between Israel and the Arabs, the French non-Jews as well as the government always side with the Arabs.” Shlomo, who prefers to use his first name only, grew up in France. At twenty-six, he is a management consultant who currently lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As a child, Shlomo had exposure to Jewish life outside of France; he attended summer camp in the US and yeshivah in Israel—and noticed the difference. “Sometimes when you’re in a room that smells bad, you don’t realize that it smells bad until you go somewhere else,” he says. “I saw Jews walking around with yarmulkes and no one saying anything.

[In France,] I would take off my yarmulke when taking an exam, a driving test or a final in school, [because I knew they would be thinking,] ‘Oh, he’s Jewish; let’s not let him succeed.’” His sisters, while playing in the schoolyard of a Jewish day school, were regularly taunted by passersby. “They’d call out ‘dirty Jew,’” says Shlomo. “There are Muslims, immigrants from North Africa and Senegal, who verbally attack Jews and throw bottles of Heineken, injuring people.” His father, a doctor by profession, bought property in Israel, as have many other French Jews in recent years. “[My father] tells me over and over that there’s no future The official Jewish establishment in for Jews in France. It’s Germany is comprised of 108 hard to leave, but every [Jew in France] I know congregations with about 119,000 members. The German capital is now talks about leaving and has high regard for those who home to one of the world’s have the courage to leave.”

fastest-growing Jewish communities. Berlin’s Jewish revival, as reported in these pages (winter 2012), is boosted by an influx of Russian Jews and a growing number of Israelis.

GERMANY “There is a clear political and social contract that makes threats to Jews and

A demonstrator holds a sign reading “We Love Our Jewish Fellow Citizens” in German during a rally against anti-Semitism on September 14, 2014, in Berlin, Germany. With the slogan “Stand Up! Never Again Hatred Towards Jews” (“Steh auf! Nie wieder Judenhass”), the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden) organized the demonstration after anti-Semitic incidents in the country occurred in the wake of the conflict in Gaza that summer. Photo: Adam Berry/Getty Images

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Jewish life unacceptable in a way that is not the case in the chief rabbi of the Netherlands had been targeted. In other Western European countries,” says Rabbi Spinner. 2010, a stone was hurled at his front window, missing him “The hot spots [of anti-Semitism] today are France and by a few inches. He avoids walking near schools in his Hungary, with the Nazi [supporters] and far right. Denmiddle-class neighborhood and elsewhere in Holland mark, Sweden and Belgium are in trouble; it’s all the [radbecause he doesn’t want to be cursed at by children. Yet, ical] Muslim problem. he has no plans to leave. “I’m not [intending to] paint a glowing picture of the In a March 2014 report, the Center for Information German people, but in terms of security, we and Documentation on Israel don’t share the kinds of anxieties that you hear “I remember a Muslim leader (CIDI) in Hague, a Dutch Jewish now from Jews living in France or even from watchdog group, reported a 23 telling me a decade ago, ‘You Jews living in the UK. I don’t feel more threat- guys have it all wrong; we don’t percent increase in the number of ened today than I did two or five years ago.” anti-Semitic incidents in the need a nuclear weapon; our nu- Netherlands in 2013 from 2012. German Chancellor Angela Dorothea clear weapon is demographics,’” Merkel was present, along with other world Amid the growing negativity leaders, at the unity rally in Paris, held in Janu- says Malcolm Hoenlein, toward Jews and Israel, Kortenoary. In September, a mass rally against antieven, a former member of the executive vice chairman of the Semitism took place at the Brandenburg Gate, Dutch House of Representatives Conference of Presidents of one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks. An esti- Major American for the Party for Freedom, repremated 5,000 people attended, many of them sents Holland’s voice of reason. Jewish Organizations. non-Jews. Prior to the rally, Chancellor Merkel, “I’ve been a pro-Israel activist all one of the speakers at the event, encouraged my life,” says Kortenoeven. people to attend. At the event, she pledged that Germany Kortenoeven and his family, who are gentiles, have will do all it can to fight anti-Semitism. actually been harassed by people who thought they “There’s a certain tension when things are going on in were Jews. They painted a swastika on the pavement in Israel,” says Rabbi David Rose, director of Morasha, a stufront of his home, and called his children “dirty Jews.” dent outreach organization based in Berlin and spon“The anti-Semites I’ve encountered were native Dutch sored by Ner LeElef. “You feel much more aware walking people, not Muslims,” he says. He tried to figure out the down the street as a Jew.” This past summer, it was actucause of this overt hatred. “It has to come from the disally quite frightening [in Berlin], he admits. “There was a course in their homes. This is brutal anti-Semitism; they pro-Palestinian demonstration about the situation in don’t even know one Jew and they curse Jews or those Gaza that turned very quickly into rabid anti-Semitic whom they perceive to be Jews. It’s from stupidity. This chanting; they were singing ‘Juden schwein [Jewish pigs].’ is one current.” This was very close to the main synagogue. You could see He sees “the other current” as a more sophisticated how anti-Semitism is hovering below the surface and just anti-Semitism expressed by politicians. “They think needs an opportunity to come out. I saw thousands of Jews are committing atrocities [in Israel] . . . and need to people screaming; the vast majority were Muslims. I saw be punished. The newspapers are telling them this every many Turkish flags as well. And this was not about Israel; day, using words like colonialism, settlers and illegal ocit became about the Jews. It was frightening.” cupation. “Jerusalem is JuThe biggest concern in Germany, says Rabbi Rose, daized,” they say. If you have comes more from the [radical] Muslim population, not this terrible misrepresentafrom the rest of the German population. “There are extion of facts, it creates people treme-right groups, but they’re very much on the fringe. like my neighbors who will The Jewish population in the “[For the most part,] it’s a manageable situation. Jews subscribe to an anti-Semitic Netherlands is approximately can walk with yarmulkes around our neighborhood. On program.” the subway I would hesitate to. A girl with a Magen Meanwhile, armed officers 30,000, about .2 percent of the Dovid around her neck was attacked during the summer. from the Royal Marechaussee general population. I walk around with a hat [in lieu of a kippa] outside my (military police) have been part of town. The most important thing is that Jews are standing guard outside the Cheider, Maimonides and safe and are able to go about their lives. That doesn’t necRosj Pina schools in the Buitenveldert District since the essarily mean that the locals like us. The Jewish institustart of the school year. In Amsterdam, a mobile police tions have policemen standing outside the doors 24/7; cabin equipped with CCTV cameras has been set up opevery school here has full-time security.” posite the Cheider to support the military police guard. These precautions were prompted by the vehement sumTHE NETHERLANDS mer protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. On the night of July 17, 2014, bricks were hurled through “Those demonstrations [against the war in Gaza] a window of Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs’ home in were really a game changer,” says Ruben Vis, spokesman Amersfoort, twenty-four miles from Amsterdam. It was for the Netherlands’ CJO, an umbrella of Jewish organithe fifth time in the past few years that the residence of zations. “You see thousands of people in demonstrations

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comparing Israel to Hitler . . . . So many Hershy Taffel, Klein’s grandson, people are so aggressively shouting filed a discrimination complaint with against Israel, comparing them to Nazis. the police. That hurts. Whether you identify as a re“It reminds me of what happened in ligious Jew or not, it affects you.” Europe seventy years ago,” Taffel told The terrorist attacks in Paris and BrusJoods Actueel, a Belgian Jewish newspasels have left Dutch Jews feeling uneasy. per. “I never thought those days would “The attacker in Brussels traveled there once again be repeated.” from France,” says Vis. “Because of the The incident came amid a stream of open borders between European counincidents that have occurred since the tries, he was able to travel to Brussels and war in Gaza. An Orthodox Jewish back to Marseilles with weapons. In sevwoman was refused service at a clotheral European countries, one could travel ing store in Antwerp and police re[the way Americans do] from New Jersey moved a sign in French and Turkish to New York or from Washington State to “The Internet is the main battlefield; it’s from a café that read: “Dogs allowed, California without having to pass through the ultimate marketing tool,” says but Zionists and Jews are not.” customs. Twenty years ago there were still Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean “Sometimes on the street I’m called of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. borders, but not today.” ‘dirty Jew,’” says Malka, nineteen, of Although Vis, who wears his kippa Antwerp. “When there is a war in Is“everywhere,” has been called “dirty Jew” rael, [the level of anti-Semitism] inwhile walking down the street, he’s also gotten thumbscreases, and you have to be more careful. It’s [radical] up gestures from non-Jews. Muslims, but not only [them].” When asked if observant Vis traveled to Paris a few days after the slaughter Jews can freely walk the streets, she says, “People can took place in a kosher supermarket. “In Paris, I witnessed walk around with yarmulkes [in Antwerp], but in Brussels soldiers with M16 rifles in the streets. You enter a kosher you can’t; there are a lot of Muslims there.” Nevertheless, supermarket . . . and the supermarket is guarded with she doesn’t want to leave Antwerp, even though she admilitary men [carrying] assault weapons. You have to pass mits that the Jewish school she attended has received them before you can buy a carton of milk.” threats and the students have had problems with other [non-Jewish] teens on the street. BELGIUM This past November, Yehoshua BRITAIN Malik, a Belzer Chassid, was By Vicki Belovski stabbed on his way to synagogue on Shabbat. Fortunately, Belgium’s Jewish population is At the peak of the war in Gaza, when pro-Palestinian about 30,000, about half of he survived. demonstrations in London and elsewhere in Britain were During the war in Gaza this whom live in the capital. attracting thousands of marchers, significant numbers of past summer, the Brussels comwhom were calling for the annihilation of Israel and some munity witnessed the murder of whom were shouting anti-Semitic slogans, the Jewish in broad daylight of four individuals at the Jewish MuChronicle, the UK’s most widely read Jewish newspaper, seum in the Belgian capital, the first anti-Semitic attack in conducted a straw poll (August 15, 2014). The paper asked Brussels since the Holocaust ended. If the man charged 150 people if, since the protests began, they had discussed for the murders, a French former jihadist volunteer in whether there is a future for Jews in the UK. Just over 63 Syria, is found guilty, this would be the first known case of percent said they had. a European volunteer militant fighter trained in Syria to The number of anti-Semitic attacks in the UK in 2014 have carried out an attack upon his return to Europe. is set to be the highest recorded in the past three decades, Hoenlein estimates Brussels is nearly 30 percent Musaccording to an article that appeared in December 2014 in lim and predicts it will have a Muslim majority in a the Telegraph, “British Anti-Semitism Set to Hit Record decade. “It is not just the presence of Muslims; [it’s] when High.” Incidents could mean viyou have the radicalization of populations, the breakolent assaults to attacks on sodown of law and order,” he says. “We know that Jews in cial media. Figures will not be Antwerp have difficulty on public transportation and in released before this issue goes public places. [There have been] assaults. The rise in antiThe British Jewish population to press, but the number is likely Semitic attacks is very significant for Belgium.” to exceed 1,000. numbers about 290,000. On the night of July 30, 2014, Bertha Klein, ninety, of Reports such as this made Antwerp, fractured her hip and asked her American son Jews in the UK anxious; Jewish men have begun wearing to call the medical hotline. “I’m not coming,” the doctor caps instead of kippot in the street. Many began to wonder reportedly told the son, and hung up. When the son called if they were like the European Jews before World War II again, the doctor said, “Send her to Gaza for a few hours, who said “it will never happen here,” and only discovered then she’ll get rid of the pain.” too late that it could indeed happen there.

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IN SOME EUROPEAN CIRCLES, BEING OVERTLY ANTI-SEMITIC IS STILL CONSIDERED POLITICALLY INCORRECT, BUT ESPOUSING ANTI-ZIONISM, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS REGARDED AS ENTIRELY LEGITIMATE. Oxfam protest calling for the UK government to act to help end the Gaza blockade on August 14, 2014, in London. More than 150 men, women and children squeezed into tiny wooden boxes to put pressure on the government to lift the blockade on Gaza. Photo: Associated Press

However, it is important to note that in the UK, there is a strong intolerance for anti-Semitism that comes from the top. The Queen and the Royal Family have an excellent relationship with the Jewish community and with Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth Ephraim Mirvis. In the first few days of the new session of Parliament, Prime Minister David Cameron was asked about anti-Semitism and responded firmly, saying that he did not support boycotts or the delegitimization of Israel. He said that it is important to maintain the distinction between disagreement with Israeli policy and antiSemitism and described the rise in anti-Semitism as “completely unacceptable.” British Jews believe that while there has been a rise in anti-Semitism, the country is generally a tolerant, multicultural society. And for those who live in Orthodox enclaves in or near London, such as Golders Green, Hendon and Stamford Hill, the anti-Semitic threat feels distant. “It’s not so apparent [here],” says Tammy, nineteen, who lives in Golders Green. “There definitely has been a rise in anti-Semitism, but I wouldn’t call it over the top. Once in a while there are riots and slashed tires, graffiti, that type of thing.” She noticed a swastika painted on someone’s house in her neighborhood and admits that when the sun sets, people are more hesitant to venture out. “We do get comments, hurtful barbs like ‘Jews, go home.’ There are incidents on the public bus sometimes; groups of other youngsters would make fun of us and say things about Jews. There’s more of it now. But we don’t talk about it so much really.” Vicki Belovski, wife of Rabbi Harvey Belovski, is the rebbetzin of Golders Green Synagogue, the community news editor of Hamodia UK and a freelance writer.

SWEDEN Today, Muslim violence against Jews in Sweden, especially in Malmö, the country’s third-largest city, continues to prompt grave concern in the local Jewish community. Since the bombing of Malmö’s Jewish Community Center in 2012, dozens of anti-Semitic crimes have been reported in the city, including the recent beating of a man for dis-

playing an Israeli flag in his window. Jewish hate is on the rise in Sweden, emboldening prominent politicians to voice their own biases against Jews. Björn Söder, a deputy speaker in the Swedish Parliament, upset the country’s Jews with his call this past December for Jews to abandon their religious identities in “It is extremely important not to lump order to become different [anti-Semitic] phenomena “proper Swedes.” together. In Germany, the left is wildly “The [former] pro-Israel,” says Rabbi Joshua Spinmayor of Malmö said ner, executive vice president and CEO repeatedly [during the of The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. war in Gaza] that the Jews themselves are to be blamed for antiSemitism, [essentially] giving the Muslims carte blanche to attack Jews,” says Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, chief rabbi of Moscow and president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER). Rabbi Isak Nachman, a mathematics teacher in Stockholm, sees an increase in anti-Semitism. He has been taunted with anti-Semitic slurs in Arabic while walking in the street. During one incident, he had to jump into a taxi cab when a young man chased him down. He asserts it’s not just the Muslims; he’s received malicious hate mail “in perfect Swedish.” Much of Sweden’s anti-Semitism centers around Malmö, where, Rabbi Nachman says, Jews are not comfortable admitting they are Jewish. Rabbi Nachman knows of many young couples fleeing Malmö for Stockholm. Some are leaving the country. “I never thought I would see this hatred again in my lifetime,” Judith Popinski, a Holocaust survivor

Some 18,000 Jews live in Sweden.

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IS YOUR SYNAGOGUE SAFE? BY MICHAEL ORBACH fter the Har Nof synagogue massacre in Israel this past November that left four synagogue members and one Israeli police officer dead, followed by the massacre in the kosher supermarket in Paris, security experts in America are urging caution and vigilance. “In the last eighteen months, we’ve seen a paradigm change,” explains Paul Goldenberg, head of Secure Community Network (SCN). Created by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, United Jewish Communities and the American Jewish Committee in 2004, SCN is dedicated to protecting and securing Jewish communities across the United States. “We have seen people who are angry and want to attack Israel look at shuls as an extension of Israel’s assets. What happened in Israel can happen anywhere,” says Goldenberg. Currently, SCN serves as a central address for information about security threats to the Jewish community. “SCN was formed to become a partner and communications network,” says Goldenberg. “If the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security has a situation that threatens the Jewish community, we can use our communication network to share information instantaneously. We can reach hundreds, if not thousands, of Jewish institutions. “Thirty-eight to forty percent of terrorist attacks planned or thwarted since 9/11 had Jewish targets in their sights,” he continues. “It’s not paranoia.” SCN has gradually evolved to provide online training and workshops to shul administrators across the United States and the world. Goldenberg stresses that the most important factor in dealing with any terrorist incident is advance preparation. Goldenberg shares the following advice for shuls and Jewish institutions: Develop strong relationships with law enforcement. Bring law enforcement officials to your

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schools and shuls and share your blueprints with them. Have them provide security assessments of your buildings. Devise a security plan. Every institution in the Jewish community—small or large— needs to have a plan on how to survive a shooting, what to do if there’s a bombing and how to handle any catastrophic event. Perform “tabletop exercises” where you act out your security plan. Put together four to five people who are responsible for the infrastructure of the institution—from the most senior leadership official to the maintenance people—and act out various scenarios and how to respond to them. Conduct Training. Law enforcement and Homeland Security leaders recommend that organizations train their staff and constituencies in security awareness, especially the signs of suspicious behavior. If you see something, say something. Goldenberg was a speaker at the most recent conference for synagogue executives organized by the Orthodox Union’s Karasick Department of Synagogue Services in November. More than forty synagogues from across North America participated in the event. “With the global threats of Hamas and ISIS and anti-Semitism on the rise, many shuls and communities throughout the country are deeply concerned and troubled,” explains Yehuda Friedman, associate director of Synagogue Services. Goldenberg points out a rare silver lining regarding the threats to the American Jewish community. “Abroad, there are still policing agencies that look at their Jewish communities as foreign entities,” he says. “In the US, that’s not the case. US law enforcement agencies see synagogues as their own, and many law executives take it personally [when their Jewish communities are attacked].” Michael Orbach is a staff writer at the OU.

“Europe is going through a tremendous identity crisis; the Jewish community is right in the middle of it. We’ve got to fight for the right for Jews to live anywhere; we haven’t given up on France,” says Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, chief rabbi of Moscow and president of the Conference of European Rabbis.

who settled in Sweden after the war, told the Sunday Telegraph (“Jews Leave Swedish City After Sharp Rise in Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes,” February 2010). During Operation Cast Lead in 2009, [pro-Israel] demonstrators were attacked by angry, violent Muslims and Swedish leftists, who threw bottles and firecrackers. “I haven’t seen hatred like that for decades,” Popinski was quoted as saying. “It reminded me of what I saw in my youth. Jews feel vulnerable here now.” Despite the bleak picture, European Jews are not willing to give up on Europe so easily. “We’re in stormy waters,” says Rabbi Goldschmidt. “Europe is going through a tremendous identity crisis; the Jewish community is right in the middle of it. More and more Muslim lawmakers are in the European Union, as well as in the legislatures. We’ve got to fight for the right for Jews to live anywhere; we haven’t given up on France.” True to his word, the CER plans to hold its next convention in Toulouse, the city where, in March of 2012, a Muslim terrorist opened fire at a Jewish school, killing a young rabbi and his two young sons and chased down a seven-year-old girl, killing her at point-blank range. “We are going to do everything possible to make sure Jews can live in Europe safely and practice Judaism freely.” g

Listen to an interview with Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, at www.ou.org/life/israel/savitsky_hoenlein/.

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On July 17, 2014, around 1,000 pro-Palestinian people came together in Berlin to protest a pro-Israel rally. Photo: Wikimedia commons/Boris Niehaus

1. IDENTIFY THE ISLAMIC THREAT A great deal of the jihadi agitation is fundamentally linked to hatred of Jews and Israel; the West needs to be honest, acknowledge the threat and take it seriously. “I don’t know if we can stem the tide,” says Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC). “But we could do certain things, beginning with calling it what it is.” 2. PROTECT STUDENTS ON CAMPUS Campus professors are actually teaching that Israel is a “colonial mistake.” Students have to take an active role in defending themselves, utilizing all the tools available. The SWC introduced a new (free) app called “Combat Hate.” Via the app, students can instantly report hate incidents, such as swastikas recently painted on Jewish students’ cars at Ohio University. “We hope to have this tool in the hands of Jewish students around the United States and Canada,” says Rabbi Cooper. “This will give them the opportunity to let us know what is going on in real time and help us get them help.” (See the article “Hate on Campus” in this issue on page 50.) 3. FORGE ALLIES We need allies among our non-Jewish neighbors and friends around the globe to effectively fight anti-Semitism. Nowadays, we can use social networking platforms to educate other cultures about Judaism and Jewish ethos, and thereby establish warm relationships. People want to know who we are: are we a people? A religion? What are our values? And why do Jews in America even care about this small piece of land in the Middle East? Make an effort to educate others about Judaism and the Jewish people.

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4. BUILD BRIDGES WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND NGOS Jewish organizations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the SWC, regularly interact with leaders on both sides of the Atlantic in an attempt to engage in positive dialogue and, when necessary, to protest developments that impact negatively on our fellow Jews. 5. EDUCATE OURSELVES Media bias also impacts Jews’ perception of Judaism and Israel. We need to continue educating ourselves and our children about Torah principles, as well as about the 3,500-year history of our people in Israel and the Diaspora. Any hope of influencing others demands a knowledgeable Jewish person and a united Jewish community that can articulate why we are proud of our heritage, our Land and our values. 6. COUNTER PROPAGANDA “Take New York Times journalists to task for false reporting. Admonish professors who boycott Israel. Check their publications for plagiarism and if their footnotes are false, publicize this to the heads of universities and colleagues. They’ll think twice before they boycott Israel,” says Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, former chairman of the Steering Committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and founder and director of the center’s post-Holocaust and anti-Semitism program. 7. SECURE OUR INSTITUTIONS Determine the security needs of your community and make sure the government and law enforcement agencies are committed to protecting Jewish institutions, schools and synagogues. (See our sidebar “Is Your Synagogue Safe?” on page 44.) Know which resources are being used to ensure the safety of your community—before, and not, God forbid, after the fact.

nderstanding anti-Semitism— dubbed by historian Robert Wistrich “the longest hatred”1—is far from simple. Entire libraries explore and agonize over an animus that appears as illogical as it is ineradicable. It is tempting to consign it to the realm of the inscrutable and treat it as a subcategory of the suffering of the righteous, a subject explored in Tanach in the Book of Job. Its sequence of theodicies reach their denouement when God challenges Job from a whirlwind: “Who is this that darkens counsel in words without knowledge? . . . Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell, if you have such understanding.”2 Job acknowledges that attempting to understand his suffering is futile: “I have spoken without understanding things too complex for me, which I Rabbi Dr. Harvey Belovski is rabbi of Golders Green Synagogue in London. He learned in Gateshead Yeshiva and was educated at Oxford University. He is principal of Rimon Jewish Primary School, head of modern rabbinic thought and rosh midrasha at the London School of Jewish Studies and rabbinic consultant to University Jewish Chaplaincy. Rabbi Belovski is the author of three books and regularly broadcasts live on BBC Radio 2.

did not know.”3 Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik explains: “If you do not know the alphabet of creation, why be so impudent as to ask questions about the workings of the world?”4 Rabbi Soloveitchik assumes that one should try not to comprehend the suffering but to develop in response to it. “The Holy One said: ‘Job! True, you will never understand the inner essence of the why, the reason for suffering and its purpose . . . . If by your suffering you are able to elevate yourself to the spiritual level that you have not heretofore attained, you will then know that your travail was intended as a device for your perfection in both spirit and soul.’”5 ANTI-SEMITISM OR JEW-HATRED?

Yet while this may offer a cogent, sensitive approach to the inexplicable individual suffering of Job, many will find it inadequate to explain the Jew-specific ubiquity that is antiSemitism. In truth, even the term “anti-Semitism” is sanitized; we should call it what it is—Jew-hatred. The term “anti-Semitism” was actually coined in the 1870s by a German Jew hater, Wilhelm Marr, when “the old term ‘Jew-hatred’ had become obsolete . . . and did not suit the modern pseudo-scientific, nationalistic, anti-Christian ideology which arose.”6 As Wistrich points out, “There was clearly a need to establish a new paradigm for anti-Jewishness which sounded more neutral, objective, ‘scientific’ and in keeping with the liberal, enlightened Zeitgeist.”7 “Anti-

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Semitism” is the hatred for, or the effort to discriminate against, Jews, because they are Jews. In analyzing this phenomenon, some Jewish thinkers turn to a pessimistic statement cited by Rashi: “Said Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai: ‘halachah hi b’yadua she’Eisav sonei leYa’akov, according to the law, it is well-known that Esau hates Jacob.’”8 This appears to extrapolate from a specific narrative—that of Esau and Jacob—the shocking axiom that non-Jews permanently and eternally hate Jews. There are those who have understood this statement maximally and assume it to innately regulate all interactions between nonJews and Jews. Yet the uncountable positive and even lifesaving encounters between non-Jews and Jews throughout history negate this approach, and while there clearly remain individuals and even nations who still harbor primitive hatreds toward us, we have many friends and admirers. Additionally, research shows that the phrase “halachah hi, according to the law” (the part that transforms Rabbi Shimon’s statement from an observation about Esau to an existential reality) is absent from all known editions of the Sifrei from which Rashi draws and is probably a scribal error. As Rabbi Benjamin Lau wrote on this topic, “this ‘halakhic principle’ will be applicable only to those who declare themselves enemies of the Jews.”9 CONTEXTUALIZING ANTI-SEMITISM

Some thinkers attempt to contextualize anti-Semitism by locating it within a specific social, religious or economic milieu. A common example examines the undeniable role of Christianity in much of European Jew-hatred. In analyzing possible origins of the Holocaust, Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Berkovits observes: “The Nazis had a comparatively easy time of it. There was great understanding evinced for their anti-Semitism the world over. After all, hatred and suspicion of the Jew were deeply rooted in the Christian civilization of the West. The venom had been spread for many centuries.”10 And the political scientist Hannah Arendt cites the German Zionist thinker Moritz Goldstein as saying: “For eight hundred years . . . the Jews have been persecuted, beaten, mocked and branded as heretics. And why? Because they were so obstinate to remain Jews though there was Christianity in this world.”11 Arendt herself suggests that modern anti-Semitism may have been a response to the economic power and social integration achieved by certain Jews.12 Yet these (and other) circumstantial explanations for anti-Semitism ignore the reality: Jews have been hated in all times and all contexts. While Rabbi Dr. Berkovits is surely correct about the influence of centuries of Christian anti-Jewish hatred on the Holocaust, it cannot explain other manifestations of anti-Semitism. Jew-hatred is as old as ancient Egypt, was rife in the atheist USSR and is virulent in many Muslim countries today. Indeed, Wistrich wrote: “The Enlightenment and the French Revolution demonstrated that anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism did not require a specifically Christian source of inspiration and could even be animated by anti-Christian sentiments.”13 And the fact that at various times—and sometimes the same—Jews have been hated because we were rich/poor;

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Communist/Capitalist; controlling/parasitic; reactionary/ revolutionary, belies an economic explanation. Indeed, any crisis can and has been used to stir up anti-Semitism. “It has always been relatively easy for a ruler, a general, a charismatic preacher, a rabble-rouser, or a disgruntled neighbor to get a crowd going. All that is needed is a crisis, and suddenly the cry is heard: ‘The Jews are to blame!’”14 As Dennis Prager and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin observe, “Each era has its own ‘justification’ for Jew-hatred: medieval Christian anti-Semites found the Jews’ religious beliefs intolerable, and today’s anti-Zionists loathe the Jews’ national commitment.”15 THE JEWISHNESS OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Critically, contextual explanations are flawed because they deny the specific Jewishness of anti-Semitism. By way of illustration, Arendt was willing to see the Holocaust as no more than a convenient proxy for Hitler’s megalomania, with the Jews as the scapegoat.16 Rejecting the notion of an eternal anti-Semitism, she claims: “The foundations of anti-Semitism are found in developments that have very little to do with Jews,”17 suggesting that the Jews were just unlucky and the same murderous hostility might easily have been directed toward another group to the same effect. But denuding anti-Semitism of its visceral anti-Jewishness denies the very essence of the evil. Professor David Nirenberg argues that anti-Semitism is more correctly called anti-Judaism, by which he means that Western society is actually founded on the rejection of Jewish values and ideas, on negating the ethical principles on which Judaism is based. In effect, its very identity is predicated on denying the moral conscience of Judaism. As Professor Nirenberg writes: “Anti-Judaism should not be understood as some archaic or irrational closet in the vast edifices of Western thought. It was rather one of the basic tools with which that edifice was constructed.”18 Furthermore, Professor Nirenberg points out that an anti-Jewish stance is a core part of the West’s self-definition. “Anti-Judaism . . . is precisely this: a powerful theoretical framework for making sense of the world.”19 This startling claim is supported by statements attributed to Hitler and his henchmen in explaining their motivation for his “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem.” Hitler himself is alleged to have said that “conscience is a Jewish invention like circumcision; my task is to free men from the dirty and degrading ideas of conscience and morality.”20 And Hitler’s anti-Semitic ideologue Alfred Rosenberg felt that “the Old Testament as a book of religious instruction must be abolished once and for all. With it will end the unsuccessful attempts of the last one-and-ahalf millennia to make us all spiritual Jews.”21 These citations indicate that the underlying motivation of Nazi anti-Semitism was to rid the world of Judaism by eliminating its proponents—the Jews. For its champions, antiSemitism is an existential battle for the very soul of the world. In the words of the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: “[Anti-Semitism] explains the course of the world by the struggle of the principle of Good with the principle

of Evil. Between these two principles, no reconciliation is conceivable; one of them must triumph and the other be annihilated.”22 A JEWISH BASIS FOR ANTI-SEMITISM

As obnoxious as they may seem, these ideas have a strong Jewish basis. The so-called “suffering servant” passage in Isaiah23 describes an individual who will endure horrible torture and mistreatment. The majority of classical Jewish commentators, including Rashi,24 identify the servant with the Jewish people. The travails of the “servant,” then, represent the relentless persecution of the Jews throughout history as they attempt to fulfill their mission of promoting ethical monotheism and Divine teachings to the whole of humanity. Elsewhere, Isaiah makes this role quite explicit: “You are My witnesses, says the Lord; and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you shall know and believe in Me and understand that I am He . . . .”25 To explain this idea, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan offers a curious parable. You are given an island inhabited by several belligerent and exploitative tribes where there is much suffering caused by war, poverty and prejudice. Your assignment is to “play God” and improve the society, teaching its members to live together in harmony, thereby reducing or eliminating suffering. You will achieve this by deploying a group of undercover infiltrators to achieve the Divine goal without reducing the islanders to a hopeless state of dependence or exacerbating their hostilities—i.e., without revealing your identity.26 Rabbi Kaplan notes that “these infiltrators would always be in a position of great peril. Operating on a different value system, they would always be considered outsiders. The more their message diverged from that of the majority, the more they would be resented. Scattered throughout the island to spread their message, they would very likely become a persecuted minority.”27 Applying his parable to the fate of the Jewish people,

Notes 1. Robert S. Wistrich, Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred (London, 1991). 2. Job 38:2, 4. 3. Ibid., 42:3. 4. Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, Kol Dodi Dofek: Listen, My Beloved Knocks, ed. Jeffrey R. Woolf, trans. David Z. Gordon (Hoboken, New Jersey, 2006), 13. 5. Soloveitchik, 14. 6. Jerome Chanes, A Dark Side of History: Anti-Semitism Through the Ages (New York: Anti-Defamation League, 2001), 9. 7. Wistrich, xv. 8. Rashi, commentary to Genesis 33:4. 9. Benjamin Lau, “Portion of the Week/ When dots make all the difference,” December 7, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/portion-of-theweek-when-dots-make-all-the-difference1.206497, accessed September 2014.

Rabbi Kaplan reminds us that “it is our task to bear witness to God’s plan for humanity . . . . We are thus taught that Israel is like the heart of humanity, constantly beating and infusing all mankind with faith in God and His teachings.”28 I believe that this concept lies at the heart of the Jew-hatred we call anti-Semitism. FEARS AND THE FUTURE

Yet while anti-Semitism has been the norm for so much of European history, its every emergence sounds a death knell for the society within which it appears. Referring to the Holocaust, Rabbi Dr. Berkovits notes that, “What the world did not realize was that one cannot revive old slumbering hatreds and prejudices and render them respectable without debauching the moral foundations of an entire civilization.”29 In a similar vein, Sartre believes that anti-Semitism threatens the entire world order. “What must be done is to point out . . . that the fate of the Jews is his fate. Not one Frenchman will be free so long as the Jews do not enjoy the fullness of their rights. Not one Frenchman will be secure so long as a single Jew—in France or in the world at large— can fear for his life.”30 An ironic final word goes to Prager and Rabbi Telushkin. They point out that the appropriate religious response is for us to become even more effective at our mission as the “servant” of God, role-modeling and promoting ethical monotheism, equity and social justice: . . . if the goal is to put an end to anti-Semitism, then Jews must also attempt to influence the moral values of nonJews so that no aspect of Judaism any longer threatens the non-Jews’ values . . . Jews must therefore resume their original task of spreading ethical monotheism. The Jewish role is to bring humankind not to Judaism but to universal, Godbased morality. It is the exquisite irony of Jewish history that this task, which has been the ultimate cause of anti-Semitism, must be fulfilled to end anti-Semitism.31 g

10. Eliezer Berkovits, Faith after the Holocaust (Hoboken, New Jersey, 1973), 12. 11. Hannah Arendt, “Antisemitism,” in The Jewish Writings, ed. Jerome Kohn and Ron H. Feldman (New York, 2007), 54. 12. Ibid., 71. 13. Wistrich, xxi. 14. Phyllis Goldstein, A Convenient Hatred: The History of AntiSemitism (Brookline, Massachusetts, 2011). 15. Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin, Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism, Rev. ed. (New York, 2003), 22. 16. Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2nd ed. (New York, 1958), 6–7. 17. Arendt, The Jewish Writings, 75. 18. David Nirenberg, Anti-Judaism: The History of a Way of Thinking, 1st ed. (London, 2013), 6. 19. Ibid., 464. 20. Robert G. L. Waite, The Psychopathic

God: Adolph Hitler (Boston, 1993), 16. This quote is understood to have originated with Hermann Rauschning, a confidante of Hitler who later left the Nazi party and became an outspoken critic of Hitler. As such, its accuracy may be questioned. 21. Nirenberg, 578. 22. Jean-Paul Sartre, Anti-Semite and Jew: An Exploration of the Etiology of Hate (New York, 1995), 28–9. 23. Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12. 24. Rashi, commentary to Isaiah 52:13. 25. Isaiah 43:10. 26. Aryeh Kaplan, If You Were God (New York, 2004), 173–93. 27. Ibid., 188. 28. Ibid., 189–90. 29. Berkovits, 12. 30. Sartre, 110. 31. Prager and Telushkin, 190.

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BY ARI ZIEGLER

n February of 2013, when I was a graduate student at Brooklyn College, my campus hosted Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. It was a contentious event that ultimately divided groups on campus. One issue was that the Political Science Department was cosponsoring the event, which signaled to students that the ideas presented had the administration’s seal of approval. The Department denied that it was condoning one view over another, despite its nominal backing of the event that provided only one extreme viewpoint of the complex modern Israeli-Arab situation. Fresh off a trip to Israel and eager to get involved with Israel advocacy on campus in whatever small way I could, I attended the event. When the event’s organizers, a student organization called Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), realized that my friends and I intended to question the speaker during the Q&A period (they discerned this from the fact sheets we had brought along with us), they had us removed by campus security on the later-disproven grounds that we were being vocally disruptive. After a lengthy interrogation process, representation from two separate law offices and a year of back and forth, we managed to wrangle an apology from the administration. Since I had grown up in a relatively insular New York Jewish community, this was the first time in my life that I experienced true discrimination based solely on the fact that I was Jewish and supported Israel. When I return to the Student Center at Brooklyn College and walk down the same six flights of stairs where two years earlier campus security hauled me away, I feel a stark difference. There is a foreboding feel to the place. I did not sense this as an undergraduate student when I came to cam-

Ari Ziegler is a program associate at the OU’s NextGen Division and a group leader for OU Israel Free Spirit. He is also a novelist working on publishing his first two books. 50

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pus simply to take classes and go home, without getting involved in politics, student clubs or advocacy of any kind. But now I was targeted—not only by those students who decided to silence me, but by the administration itself. Unfortunately, my experience is not unique; many Jewish pro-Israel students face hate and bigotry on campus. Jess Lieberman knew that Jewish life on campus would be fairly limited when she applied to Kenyon College, a small liberal arts school in Ohio, to study English. “I figured I’d create the Jewish life on campus that I needed if it wasn’t there already,” says Lieberman. “I didn’t realize how much antiIsrael sentiment there was. In my second week of school, I already heard students calling Israel an apartheid state in classes, and my jaw just dropped.” From there things didn’t get much easier. “Kenyon is a place where people pride themselves on being open and talking about each other’s perspectives, but the discussion about Israel was just the opposite.” On trips to the campus dining hall, Lieberman would encounter “apartheid walls” and receive pamphlets entitled “Everything You Need to Know About the Israel-Palestinian Conflict” containing what she calls “the most biased information on the situation.” “No mention of Israelis that were killed, no historical context. I was the only one talking against them and there were fifteen of them yelling at me,” she says. “Even a professor joined in. A professor was yelling at a nineteen-year-old student. Kenyon isn’t even known as a very political campus, but this topic was so fetishized. I was a young student, feeling isolated. It was a horrible place.” This is something that students face right off the bat in their college years in smaller colleges like Kenyon to larger better-known universities like UCLA, NYU and Harvard. “They make students feel like they’re under attack, as if there’s a problem with being who they are,” says Rabbi Akiva Weiss, an educator for the Heshe & Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) at Binghamton University. JLIC is the Orthodox Union’s program, in partnership with Hillel, that helps Orthodox students navigate the college environment. “Students shouldn’t have to prepare themselves for a fight when they go into a class. Frankly, students feel bullied.” Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, a JLIC educator at UCLA, where a student-led BDS resolution was passed during the fall 2014 semester, sees similar patterns. “Students come to me and ask ‘Why is it that we feel alone?’ It’s not all the time, but I started seeing it more recently.” Jacob Binstein, a recent graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey, was already drawn into the fight during his first month as a student. “There was a table set up by a group called Belief, Action, Knowledge, and Awareness (BAKA). When I approached the table to talk to them, they

“I didn’t realize how much anti-Israel sentiment there was. In my second week of school, I heard students calling Israel an apartheid state in classes, and my jaw just dropped.” immediately started yelling at me. They asked me how many Palestinian babies I killed. You can really be intimidated by the volume.” Later that year, the same students who yelled at Binstein for killing babies organized an event comparing events in Gaza to the Holocaust. “We organized a counter protest and we had about 300 people wearing t-shirts that said ‘Don’t Politicize the Holocaust’ on them,” says Binstein. “When they saw the crowd in the lobby, they started only letting members of their own group in. If you looked Jewish they pretty much turned you away.” After that, BAKA was forced to stop its activity at Rutgers because of the discriminatory incident. Only a year later SJP came in to take its place as the anti-Israel voice on campus. Chaim Grafstein faced the same vitriolic intimidation during his first weeks at the University of Toronto. “The moment you go over [to talk to them], they start screaming. There’s no dialogue.”

Physical threats are common as well. “There was a pro-Israel student who wrote for the school paper. He suffered verbal attacks all over campus and was threatened physically,” says Rabbi Weiss. “He reported the threats, but nothing was done.” Another Brooklyn College student, Melanie Goldberg, was told by SJP members that she should “watch her back” on campus. “When your case is weak, shout louder,” goes the old lawyer’s adage, and groups like SJP and their anti-Israel cohorts have been using that strategy for years. “Anti-Israel groups scream ‘From the river to the sea,’ and that’s that,” says Binstein. “They don’t want to hear about history or international law or borders and so we have a choice: we can slink back and retreat, yell back at them or try to provide a voice of reason.” Hillel Burstein, a student at Brooklyn College, once attempted a dialogue with the college’s SJP chapter and was denied flat-out. “I sent an invitation to the president of SJP

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as the vice president of Students United for Israel to an event featuring Ishmael Khaldi, a Bedouin-Israeli diplomat. She rejected the invitation on the grounds that she doesn’t maintain relations with Zionist groups. I wasn’t asking her to sponsor him. She was unwilling to just come and hear his perspective.” The atmosphere that allows for this intimidation to go on, for the perpetrators to continue uninhibited and unabashed, is something that we, as members of the larger Jewish community, must work to change. But how do you deal with hatred? How do you open dialogue with people who want only one side of the story to be heard and who will attack, verbally and physically, anyone who brings evidence contrary to their point of view? Some students on campus have had success fighting back and the key, it seems, is to respond quickly from a strong, unified and vocal Jewish campus community. “We have to deal with our share of rallies, protests and events,” says Tracy Frydberg, a student at the University of Texas at Austin and president of the student group Texans for Israel. “Occasionally we hear of certain isolated incidents escalating, such as ‘Apartheid Week,’ the push for BDS. But Jewish students on my campus are a very strong community. Responding to BDS and anti-Israel sentiments comes from one united front.” Rabbi Kaplan says that strategy has been effective at UCLA as well. “I wish I had a magic answer, but the Hillel and the JLIC and Chabad on campus work together to create a good environment for Jewish students. Bruins for Israel is another group that promotes Israel very strongly on campus.” Students on campus who have problems with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments preached openly and violently can’t back down. Rabbi Weiss agrees. “Do not back down. Don’t be afraid. It’s a horrible reality because students don’t like confrontation, but when you back down, you allow them to advance.” It’s easy for students and even administrators to not get involved out of fear of threats and intimidation. Many undergraduate students, including me at one time, don’t want to throw themselves into a situation in which they’ll be verbally accosted and threatened. “More than one student has told me that they wanted to stand up but they were afraid of getting yelled at,” says Binstein. “They’d rather keep their heads down.” Therein lies an important part of this equation. I was the type of student who kept his head down almost to the point of apathy as an undergraduate. It took being forcefully removed from a building because of my support for the Jewish State to realize that keeping your head down doesn’t work. Going to campus just to get good grades and your degree isn’t enough. “Change the conversation,” says Grafstein. “Speak with any student you can, share your ideas and most important, don’t back down. Don’t be apathetic. Be proactive.” The future leaders of the world will come from these campuses, and we cannot allow the loudest voices on campus to be the only ones heard. But it will take educated and informed students who will campaign for Israel with passion and fervor despite the intimidation. g 52

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Jews Don’t Feel Safe in France:

French Aliyah Soars By Zvi Volk

In the spring of 2014, Dan Béchar and his wife decided to make aliyah from France with their three kids. By September, they were settled into their new home in Jerusalem. “A few years ago we didn’t give any thought to making aliyah,” says thirty-fiveyear-old Béchar. “But once we decided to move, we realized we should do so as soon as possible.” The Béchars have two daughters, ages seven and five, and a two-year-old son. Béchar is among the nearly 7,000 French Jews who made aliyah this past year. French aliyah organizations are predicting 10,000 to 15,000 French olim in 2015. The Béchars, who are religious Jews, made the decision to leave for one reason only: escalating anti-Semitism. “The question wasn’t whether we were going to move to Israel, it was a question of when,” Béchar says. Béchar, who was a headhunter in France and is currently enrolled in an ulpan, admits that the situation in France has changed radically over the past few years. “Five years ago, it wasn’t like this. But now everyone wants to leave,” he says. “I went to public school, so I grew up with blacks and Arabs—as well as Jews. But it’s not the same now.” People don’t mix so much anymore, he says. “Jews don’t go to public schools.” Even Jewish families that aren’t religious send their children to Jewish schools Zvi Volk is a staff writer in the OU Communications and Marketing Department. He has lived in Jerusalem since the mid-1970s.

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Dan Béchar, who made aliyah from France this past September with his wife and three children, never thought he would be living in Israel a few years ago. But with the escalating anti-Semitism in his home country, he believes “it’s over for the Jews in France.” today. “When I was growing up, you only went to a Jewish school if your parents were very religious. Things changed very quickly.” “Jewish people love France,” Béchar says. “We wanted to stay. The worst thing for us is that [it feels as if many] non-Jews don’t like us anymore. It’s as if you love someone but she doesn’t love you back.” Probably the biggest change is that “Jews don’t feel safe in France anymore,” Béchar says. “In Israel, we are safe. If something happens, people will try to help protect you here. In France, they don’t.” French Jews, says Béchar, simply do not trust that the French government will protect them. “There have been too many anti-Semitic incidents. They can’t just say they’re sorry. They can’t just look the other way . . . . There’s no more trust . . . . I think it’s over for the Jews in France.” Most of Béchar’s extended family already left France. His older sister lives in Miami, and his younger brother is in Jerusalem. His parents moved to Tel Aviv four years

ago. Béchar and his wife were the last to leave. Before they left, his mother-in-law called and suggested that perhaps they “should wait a few months.” But their minds were made up. “We knew it would be hard for us, but we hope it will be easier for our children. We don’t want to have to move again. I hope this is the final stop, ”says Béchar. MK Yoni Chetboun, who chairs the Knesset Caucus of Olim from France and whose family hails from France, explains A French immigrant kisses that there are three groups of Jews curhis son as he prays at the rently living in France. There is the tradiWestern Wall in Jerusalem tional and religious population, after arriving in Israel. numbering about 150,000. “They’re the first to leave,” he says. The next group is not necessarily religious, “but they see he says. Moreover, he says, coming with young children is themselves as Jews.” This group accounts for another “better than coming with teenagers who might end up 150,000. “That leaves another 200,000 who are headed not being French and not being Israeli.” for assimilation,” Chetboun says. In general, middle-aged olim tend to have the hardest Like all olim, French Jews who move to Israel face time adjusting; students and retirees adjust more easily, certain hurdles. “These families face a variety of chalsays Zana. lenges including learning Hebrew, finding work, dealing Nat Partouche, twenty-five, is a case in point. In 2012, with a different school system and earning a living,” says while enrolled in a master’s degree program in computer Avi Zana, director general of AMI, a French acronym for science in Paris, Partouche decided to take a year off and “better aliyah and klitah.” Founded ten years ago, AMI go to Israel on Masa Israel Journey. Sponsored by the does for French Jewry what Nefesh B’Nefesh does for Jewish Agency for Israel, Masa arranges internships and North American Jews. “The bottom line is that they have volunteer positions for young adults around the world in to find their way in a new society,” Zana says. the eighteen to thirty age range. Partouche worked for an Difficult as it may be to uproot oneself and one’s famIsraeli startup and found that he “liked life in Israel.” He ily, Béchar concedes that making aliyah as a younger perlearned Hebrew and made good friends. son presents fewer obstacles. “It’s easier for me to start After the year, he returned to France, and a short time over at my age than if I were fifty or fifty-five years old,” later he received a phone call. It was a job offer—in Israel. Partouche made aliyah in December 2014. For middle-aged French olim, finding satisfying work Two French olim proudly showing their new Israeli ID cards. can be a significant challenge. Some French olim claim Photos courtesy of the Jewish Agency for Israel that they weren’t sufficiently prepared for making aliyah. If they were going to have to retrain in their fields, they feel they should have been able to start the process in France. They also wonder why they weren’t able to start an ulpan in France as soon as they decided to make aliyah. Arik Cohen, fifty-three, was a licensed driving instructor in Paris. He’s currently in the lowest-level Hebrew class in his ulpan. He reads a bit of Hebrew, “but speaking is difficult for me,” he says. As a father of five, he keeps wondering how long it will be before he’ll be able to make a real living. His wife, Diane, is a few years younger. “We knew it would be difficult to come,” she says. “I believe that Hashem will make things ok. But the decision to move to Israel is still very difficult.” Nevertheless, she feels they made the right choice, and offers the following message to her fellow Jews still in France: “Come now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.” g

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A Conversation with

Natan Sharansky on the situation of the Jews in Europe By Elli Wohlgelernter

Natan Sharansky is worried about the reality facing not only the Jews of Europe, but Europe itself.

A former refusenik who previously served in the Knesset and as a minister in the Israeli government, Sharansky has been chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel since 2009.

conversation with Natan Sharansky on the situation for Jews living in Europe is nothing less than a wide-ranging tutorial on politics, democracy, philosophy, government and history. And because he’s a student of history and societies, Sharansky is very worried about the reality facing not only the Jews of Europe, but Europe itself. It is a continent, he says, that is rushing to embrace the philosophy of John Lennon: Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Sharansky says it straight out: If Europeans have nothing to die for, nothing worth fighting for, then they are doomed. He is not worried about

the survival of the Jews of Europe, he says, because they will be the first to leave. And it’s already happening. For the first time since 1948, more Jews came to Israel in 2014 from open societies than from distressed countries, a historic turning point in the annals of aliyah. The immigration was led by France, with 7,000 arriving in 2014, more than double the number in 2013. Ironically, Jewish Action spoke with Sharansky three days before the terrorist attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, and five days before the attack on the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris. Sharansky’s prediction for 10,000 olim from France in 2015 can thus be considered a conservative estimate.

Veteran journalist Elli Wohlgelernter is the diplomatic and political correspondent for IBA-TV in Jerusalem, where he has lived since making aliyah in 1991.

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Elli Wohlgelernter: What is your overall assessment of the situation for Jews living in Europe? Natan Sharansky: Today, in the center of Europe, for the Jewish community to feel that they are almost besieged, that outside of the synagogue they should not show that they are Jewish, that is a very unusual feeling—to be a proud European and, at the same time, to be scared. That is something new. EW: Is the increased aliyah from France because of the shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse in March 2012? NS: No, no. Twelve years ago, during the Second Intifada, the chief rabbi of Paris and the heads of the [Jewish day] schools told the youths, “Don’t wear your kippahs in public.” It was never taken back. So a whole generation has already grown up with the feeling that in the streets of your hometown, you have to hide. EW: How did Europe get to this point? NS: The traditional classical European ideal is the national democratic state. The idea was born with the French Revolution and, to some extent,

This idea that everything is relative, and you should not fight for anything, means that Europe will not be ready, and is not ready, to fight for its own values. the American Revolution. And it was very closely connected to the idea of liberalism. Why? Because in order to guarantee the rights of every individual, human rights, the rule of majority, you must have this majority which is linked by some very deep mutual background. There must be some glue that is keeping this together and this glue is their identity, whether it is based on religion, nationalism, history or the value of their culture. It went together. The situation changed radically after the Second World War. We had centuries of religious wars, and then we had two awful nationalistic wars, and tens of millions were killed for nothing. Then the understanding was that identity [and religion] is a bad thing, nationalism an awful thing. That’s why I mention John Lennon: Let’s imagine a world where there is no religion, no nation, no God, and where there is nothing to die for. This idea of creating a universe without identities, life without meaning, is very decadent, very dangerous. It takes away the meaning of life. I wrote about it many times in my books. Every person has two deep, basic desires: to be free and to belong. And the real full, meaningful life is when these two things come together. But postnational, postmodern and multicultural Europe says two things: [First,] postmodernism says that we should understand that our nationalism is not important; in fact, it is a negative thing. [Second,] postmodernism and multiculturalism say that all cultures are relative; there is no absolute value. So the culture that is not based on human rights has absolutely the same value as a culture that is based on human rights. So they say, “These people to whom you give citizenship, who are we to demand

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that they give away their principles for the sake of ours?” So suddenly they are permitting a large number of people to become citizens, without insisting that they accept all the principles of liberal society. This idea that everything is relative, and you should not fight for anything, means that Europe will not be ready, and is not ready, to fight for its own values. EW: How does all that impact the Jews of Europe? NS: Those Jews who don’t want Judaism will assimilate, and be washed out of Jewish history. But for those who want to be part of Jewish history, Israel is very important. But the world of liberal Europe—which we Jews helped build—hates Israel. You go to work and your colleague says, “You’re a great guy, but you can’t feel solidarity with this awful state.” So it’s very uncomfortable, and it’s not simply anti-Semitism. There is also a world of classical, conservative religious Europe, like Le Pen Europe, let’s say, that at this moment doesn’t look anti-Semitic, but historically Jews know they always looked at us as “the other.” They accepted us, but not as part of their European culture. So either you live in a society that hates Jews, or you live in a society that hates Israel. And you don’t want to be there. But that’s a problem that’s much bigger than a problem for Jews. Like many times in history, Jews are the harbinger of what’s really happening. EW: The Chareidi Jews of Europe, and all those who are visibly Jewish—is their predicament even worse?

NS: Look, what does it mean it’s worse? I believe there are two anchors that keep people Jewish: faith and Zionism, meaning Judaism and Israel. If you have both of them, great. If you have at least one of them, there is a great chance that you will remain a Jew. If you don’t have either of them, you will assimilate fairly quickly. So from this point of view, the Antwerp community, the Chareidi community, will survive. There is almost no assimilation in that community. So in terms of Jewish continuity, I think they’re in less danger. In terms of physical survival, they are in danger. EW: There has been a backlash in Europe, rallies taking place in cities like Dresden. Can the surrender of Europe be stopped? NS: I think if it will be stopped, it will not be because of sympathy to Jews. I hope it will be stopped because Europe starts recognizing that nonresistance to this invasion of anti-liberal values threatens the whole society of Europe. Either Europe will continue to pretend that there is nothing to fight for, and therefore will not fight, and then it is doomed; there is no future for European civilization. (Of course, then there will be no future for the Jews in Europe, and the Jews will be the first to leave.) Or at some point, Europe will realize that there is something to fight for. If this happens, then there is a chance. EW: Do you believe it will happen? NS: I don’t know. My personal responsibility is to make sure that any Jew who feels uncomfortable in Europe will feel comfortable in Israel. Time is running out. g

The author in front of his shul, Bet Knesset Emek Refaim. Photo: Ceil Olivestone

ON GUARD IN JERUSALEM BY DAVID OLIVESTONE

f, like me, you are a man of a certain age who never served in vietnam or the israeli army, you have probably also never seen a gun fired in anger. This was certainly the case for the ten or so of us—all greying American and British olim—who came together on a recent evening to be trained as shomrim, guards, for our shul. It’s a little surreal here in Jerusalem. Despite all the dire predictions of another intifada, life continues pretty much as normal for those of us who, baruch Hashem, remain physically untouched by any pigu’ah, terrorist attack, or local “nationalistic” violence. That is not to say, of course, that we remain emotionally unaffected. The attack this past November in the shul in Har Nof and other incidents have made us all too conscious of the uncertainty of life and safety in our city. We move about with a heightened awareness of our surroundings. After the Har Nof attack, the va’ad of our small shul in the Baka neighborhood decided that all those willing to do so—olim as well as native Israelis—should form a rotation to patrol outside the shul at least during Kabbalat Shabbat and the Shabbat morning davening. The unenviable role of setting up the rote, with all its many variables, was taken on by a recent oleh from Teaneck, New Jersey, Kal Feinberg. Our ninety-minute training session was led by shul member Yonatan (last name not for publication), who has an extensive background in security matters. Yonatan first went through the basics: • HOW TO ACT: Take off your tallit before going out for your stint. Don’t even think about continuing to daven while you’re out there; you must be constantly on the alert.

David Olivestone, a member of Jewish Action’s editorial committee, has lived in Jerusalem with his wife, Ceil, since 2013. 60

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• WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Scan your surroundings for anyone or

anything (including parked cars) that looks the slightest bit out of place. Take a good look at anyone walking in the direction of the shul; make sure they seem like they fit in. • WHERE TO STAND: Our shul has a courtyard in front with two gateways, and there are three possible directions in the neighboring streets from which an attacker might approach. Therefore, take a position between the two gates but two meters out in the street so that your glance can take in the maximum range. • HOW TO CHALLENGE A SUSPICIOUS PERSON: Be very firm and very direct—“Who are you? Why are you here?” Then we were introduced to our equipment: a whistle to sound the alarm, a very real-looking plastic gun that actually fires a tear gas capsule, and a reflective vest. We learned how to position the gun holster on our belts or sticking out from a coat pocket, and how to draw the gun. “Don’t try to be cowboys,” we were told, “and don’t try any fancy tricks you may have seen on TV.” Simply grab the gun out of the holster very firmly, flip off the safety catch with your thumb and point it directly at the attacker’s face when firing. Backed by a pesak from the rav of the shul, we were instructed to bring our own cell phones to shul when on duty. “Dial 100 for the police just before Shabbat,” we were told, “and hang up immediately. That way, should you need it, you can reach the police by pressing just one button.” Yonatan emphasized that the primary objective of the guard on duty is to prevent an attacker from reaching the doors of the shul itself. The fact that the guard might be injured or even killed in attempting to fulfill this responsibility was unspoken but self-evident. But the underlying purpose of our shemirah, it became clear, is to serve as a deterrent. Seeing an alert and armed person on duty outside the shul might just persuade a terrorist to try to find an easier target elsewhere (not that such an outcome would fill me with any satisfaction). And so, on the next Shabbat morning, just before we reached Shema, I removed my tallit, put on my coat and went outside the shul to take my turn as the protector of my fellow congregants. My predecessor handed over the whistle and the tear gas gun and I took my stance, trying to look as formidable as a seventy-year-old weakling could. Left on my own, I certainly felt anxious about the possibility of having to confront someone or, even worse, to put into practice any of the steps I had learned to fend off an attacker. But I must admit that I was equally apprehensive about making a mistake and sounding the alarm about someone who was perfectly innocent, making an idiot of myself in the process. Thankfully the half hour passed peacefully, with only a few “Shabbat shalom” greetings exchanged between me and some latecomers. For those of us who have never previously been threatened face-to-face by an enemy (not counting the missiles they tried to kill us with during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge), it takes some adjustment to summon the necessary courage to defend ourselves. But that’s just the way it is here; the bottom line is literally “kol Yisrael areivim zeh la’zeh,” that each of us must take responsibility for the safety of all the others, bringing into stark actuality words that were previously only a nice maxim. g

By Edward Reichman One routine day while on call in the Emergency Department, an Ebola patient presents with nausea and vomiting. Consistent with the disease, there is extensive hemorrhaging from his eyes and mouth. Suddenly his heart stops. A code red is called. I hesitate to tell you what I do next. I hesitate because I honestly do not know what happens next.

Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD, is professor of emergency medicine and professor of education and bioethics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Dr. Reichman received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University and writes and lectures widely in the field of Jewish medical ethics.

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The scenario above is not a real case, but, as a practitioner of emergency medicine, it is one that I play out in my mind, and that I genuinely fear. Do I initiate CPR and expose myself to significant risk of contracting a fatal disease? Or, do I stand idly by as the blood of my patient spills, knowing that the patient will surely die?1 What would halachah say in this case? When I first read the e-mail from the editors of Jewish Action inviting me to write an article on Ebola, I was literally on the way to my mandatory hospital Ebola preparedness training seminar. Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where I work, is one of New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s designated Ebola receiving hospitals. As such, the opportunity to place this â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ebola scareâ&#x20AC;? into a Jewish historical and halachic context is one that I welcome. To research Ebola from a halachic standpoint, I would ask the same questions as for any medical halachic issue. Is Ebola mentioned in Tanach or the Talmud? Does Rambam or the Shulchan Aruch mention Ebola? If the answers to the above questions are in the negative, perhaps later responsa deal with the halachic ramifications of this virulent disease? As the reader will doubtless realize, the answer to all of these questions is no. The Ebola virus was only identified in 1976. Is there precedent for halachic analysis of previously unknown diseases? Yes, AIDS is a relatively new disease and has generated a fair amount of halachic literature.2 But in truth, the particular identity of the disease is not of consequence; rather, it is the issues of contagion,3 infectious disease4 and risk. Is there precedent for these issues in rabbinic

A training session at the San Antonio Military Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, preparing students in the event of an Ebola crisis in the U.S. Photos courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Public Health Image Library

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literature? The answer is a resounding yes. But why has Ebola specifically received so much attention? We have had recent outbreaks of other infectious diseases, such as mumps, measles, polio and the flu, some of these with an interesting predilection for the Jewish population.5 So why the exponentially greater response and concern for Ebola? Firstly, there is no approved therapy. Secondly, the mortality is very high, not to mention that there is no vaccine to prevent the disease. Some years ago, in the pages of this magazine, we discussed the issue of vaccination.6 In the opening lines we noted the following: Perhaps it is because we live in twenty-first century America, a country largely immune from true epidemics, that we take vaccination for granted and some parents even consider not vaccinating their children. A Jew living in the eighteenth century would have longed for respite from the relentless onslaught of diseases, and could only have dreamed of having a way to prevent them. This Ebola scare gives us a tiny glimpse into what life was like prior to vaccinations. Incurable, fatal diseases were rampant; death was ever-present for young and old alike; health care practitioners often risked their lives in the care of patients. Given this reality, the halachic literature already from the pre-modern era is replete with discussions relating to both the treatment of and communal response to contagious, fatal diseases. Special prayers and fasts were instituted in times of plagues or epidemics.7 The Shulchan Aruch codifies exactly what percentage of the population needs to be affected in

order to constitute a “halachic” epidemic, a passage with which modern-day epidemiologists would have a field day.8 Rabbi Moshe Isserles, the Rema (1520-1572), discusses whether one is permitted to flee the city in times of plague,9 something he himself did in 1555 when he fled from his home in Cracow due to an epidemic.10 Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (1810-1883) is reported to have made Kiddush in synagogue on Yom Kippur in order to illustrate the importance of not fasting during a cholera epidemic.11 Rabbi Yaakov Reischer (1661-1733) addressed the issue of alternative burial and the use of quicklime to hasten decomposition of the body after death from the plague to prevent contagion.12 The bikur cholim societies of previous generations, branches of the chevra kadisha, often provided medical care and assistance at the patient’s home, the primary location of care in those days. Detailed manuals were written which included protocols and guidelines for the members of the society.13 These often included a discussion regarding the visitation of patients with contagious diseases due to the inherent danger to the visitor.14 While the specific causes and mechanism of transmission of infectious disease were not clarified until modern times, there has always been an appreciation of the concept of contagion. In the 1750 manual for the Berlin Bikur Cholim Society, for example, it says, “We have accepted upon ourselves to visit all those afflicted with illness, except . . . .”15 It then proceeds to list a number of conditions thought to be contagious and life-threatening, including smallpox and measles. Our bikur cholim societies of today, updated and adapted to the modern age, are modeled after the bikur cholim organizations of the Middle Ages. What are the halachic issues of today? Let us entertain a few fictitious scenarios and questions regarding Ebola.16 We of course pray that all this remain in the realm of fiction.

Flying

Praying in Synagogue A physician just returned from West Africa after treating Ebola patients and shows up in synagogue the next morning for Shacharit, where he promptly sits down right next to you. You immediately approach the rabbi and ask, “Should this man be allowed to daven in shul?” Rabbi Chaim Palaggi (1788-1869) was asked by members of a synagogue whether they could prevent a physician treating patients with the plague from praying in the synagogue out of fear that they might contract the disease. While Rabbi Palaggi said they indeed could, for the question under discussion, one should first consult with an infectious disease expert to clarify both the time frame and mechanism of contagion.

Tefillin The local Chabad rabbi is making rounds in the hospital with tefillin in hand, looking for those who have not had an opportunity to perform the mitzvah. There happens to be a Jewish Ebola patient who is thankfully improving. The nurse informs the rabbi that everything that comes in contact with an Ebola patient has to be incinerated. May the rabbi give the patient tefillin knowing that while he will perform a mitzvah, the tefillin will be incinerated after use? Rabbi Moshe Feinstein addressed this exact question and maintained that it would be prohibited to provide the tefillin when it would lead to the destruction of the sacred Name of God.19

Financial Transactions A man learning in the Dallas kollel supplements his income by renting out apartments. After completing a rental agreement with a tenant, he reads in the paper that this person’s sister is a nurse at the local hospital and was diagnosed with Ebola. May he renege on the contract out of fear of financial consequences? A similar question was posed to the Rema in the sixteenth century when a landlord discovered that a renter’s wife developed a contagious disease20 and wanted to rescind the contract.21 The Rema, based on an analysis of contract law, ruled that he could not, and ends with a remarkable discussion of his theory of contagious diseases.22

A man visited Mali on business and is concerned he may have contracted Ebola. He wants to fly to America where he will receive better treatment. May he board a plane without informing anyone of his possible illness, The author in his protective gear. Circumcision knowing that he may possibly in17 A pregnant Jewish woman is seen in the fect other passengers? Rabbi Photo courtesy of Dr. Edward Reichman emergency department for abdominal Yitzchok Zilberstein was asked a pains. Shortly thereafter, she is contacted similar question during the swine by the Department of Health and informed flu epidemic as to whether one who does not that she was exposed to a patient with Ebola. As yet exhibit clinical symptoms of disease could fly a result, she is quarantined.23 A few days later, to another city.18 In that specific case he permitwhile still in quarantine, she gives birth to a ted the flight, but regarding Ebola, one should male child. She calls her family mohel to perconsult both a physician and a rabbi before form the brit. Should the mohel perform the boarding.

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The plague doctor costume, designed in the 1600s, was worn by plague doctors to protect themselves from contagious diseases. It consisted of a long coat and a bird-like beak mask filled with strongsmelling substances. Courtesy of Dr. Edward Reichman brit?24 What about performing oral metzitzah, which is his custom? This issue was addressed by posekim during the onset of the AIDS epidemic,25 and while there are similarities, this case would require a separate medical and halachic analysis.

Refusal to Treat A physician receives word that his hospital is now an Ebola center. He promptly calls his rabbi and asks if he can refuse to treat such patients, or is he halachically obligated to treat them? How much risk must one accept in order to save the life of another? In halachic literature this is addressed in the analysis of the Biblical phrase, “Do not stand idly by as the blood of your brother is being shed.” Is a health care provider halachically required to endure a higher level of risk than the general population? Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg answers in the affirmative and provides a number of reasons why, including both halachic and societal.26 He adds that when one treats patients with highly contagious diseases, one should say a special prayer in addition to the prayers a physician would generally recite that he or she should be the proper messenger of God to provide the patient’s cure. We have briefly touched on some halachic issues related to the treatment of patients with contagious diseases. We have seen that this is not a new problem, though application of the halachah to our present case of Ebola requires a fresh medical analysis and halachic update. As to whether I would perform CPR on an end-stage Ebola patient? Let us hope that both an effective therapy and vaccine27 are developed, and that I will never need to know the answer to this question. Meanwhile, let us use this “exposure” to Ebola as an opportunity to appreciate how God has graced us with the advances in medicine that protect us from the ravages of infectious disease. g Notes 1. For a discussion of this issue from a secular perspective, see L. Altman, “Ethicist Calls CPR Too Risky in Ebola,” the New York Times, October 20, 2014. 2. On AIDS in Jewish law, see, for example, A. Steinberg, “AIDS: A Jewish Perspective,” Medicine and Jewish Law 2

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(New Jersey, 1993), 89-102; J. D. Bleich, “AIDS: Jewish Concerns,” Bioethical Dilemmas (New Jersey, 1998), 131-185; Gad Freudenthal, ed., AIDS in Jewish Thought and Law (New Jersey, 1998). 3. Notions of contagion are discussed by Biblical commentaries on the stories of Lot and Korach. See Ramban on Bereishit 19:17 and Rabbeinu Bachya on Bamidbar 16:21. 4. Some have suggested that naturally occurring infectious diseases account for a number of the Ten Plagues. For a most imaginative example, see H. M. Duncan Hoyte, “The Plagues of Egypt: What Killed the Animals and the First Born?,” Medical Journal of Australia 59 (May 1993): 706-708, who writes, “In summary, the series of disasters was: a bloom of red dinoflagellates killed the fish in the Nile, dehydration then killed the frogs, the people were attacked first by swarms of culicine mosquitoes, then by swarms of stable flies, these flies initiated an epidemic of surra in the farm animals and their bites caused an epidemic of ecthyma in the people, then there was a hail storm, a swarm of locusts and a sand storm and, the last plague of all, an epidemic of typhoid fever that killed, among many others, the Pharoh’s eldest child.” The modern Hebrew term for anthrax is “shechin,” based on the Biblical plague, though this identification is not universally agreed upon. See L. Ben-Noun, “Characteristics of Anthrax: Its Description and Biblical Name—Shehin,” Herefuah 141:4-6 (May 2002): 124 and Z. Amar, “Shechin in the language of Chazal—What is it?” (Hebrew) Assia (January 2005): 65-69. Also, the generic term for plague or epidemic is “dever,” derived from the Biblical plague. 5. See Albert E. Barskey et al., “Mumps Outbreak in Orthodox Jewish Communities in the United States,” New England Journal of Medicine 367: 18 (November 2012): 17041713. The authors attribute the rapid spread of the disease among the young Jewish population to the close contact during “chavruta” study. See Michael Orbach, “How Failure to Immunize Makes Mumps a Hazard in the Beit Midrash,” www.ou.org/life/community/mumps-hazard-beitmidrash/. See also, “Notes from the Field: Measles Outbreak Amongst Members of a Religious Community—Brooklyn, New York, March-June 2013,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 62:36 (September 13, 2013): 752-753. 6. Edward Reichman, “Halachic Issues of Vaccination,” Jewish Action (winter 2008). 7. On saying special prayers for the community during a cholera epidemic, see Chatam Sofer, Likutim b’Kobetz Teshuvot 1. Chatam Sofer in OC 1:102 also discusses the recitation of the Sanctification of the New Moon during a cholera epidemic, including the issue of psychological impact on the disease. One example of a special prayer composed for recital during an epidemic is presently on display in Jerusalem at a special exhibit at the Tower of David entitled Jerusalem: A Medical Diagnosis. 8. OC 576:2. 9. YD 116:5. 10. See the introduction to his Mechir Yayin on Megillat

Esther, which he composed in exile for his father in lieu of mishloach manot, as he had insufficient funds and rations for a celebratory meal or the requisite mitzvah of mishloach manot. 11. On the variations and historical background of this oft-repeated story, see Alexander Lvov, “Rabbi Isroel Salanter, the Haskalah and the ‘Theory of Secularization’: An Analysis from a Folkloristic Point of View,” accessed December 20, 2014, lvov.judaica.spb.ru/salanter-en.shtml; Nathan Kamenetsky, Making of a Godol, vol. 1 (Jerusalem, 2004), 1104ff; Ira Taub, “The Rabbi Who Ate on Yom Kippur: Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Cholera Epidemic of 1848,” Verapo Yerapei 1 (2009): 295-313. For a recent halachic analysis of Rabbi Salanter’s actions, see Rabbi A. Weiss, “Regarding the Decision of Rav Yisrael Salanter During the Time of Plague,” (Hebrew) at http://tvunah.org/ 2013/09/10/, accessed December 21, 2014. 12. Shvut Yaakov 2:97. See also Chatam Sofer, vol. 2, YD 334. On the topic of burial on Shabbat during an epidemic, see Iggerot Moshe, YD 4:55. 13. See, for example, Sylvie-Ann Goldberg, Crossing the Jabbok: Illness and Death in Ashkenazi Judaism in Sixteenth- through Nineteenth-Century Prague (Berkeley, California, 1996); From this World to the Next: Jewish Approaches to Illness, Death and the Afterlife, (Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 1999), which accompanied a library exhibit. 14. Rabbi David Leiter discusses whether attending to a patient with a contagious disease might constitute a violation of self-endangerment and might even be akin to suicide. See his Beit David 22:1. 15. Aaron ben Moses Rofeh, Takanot shel Benei haHavurah deBikur Cholim (Berlin, 1750). 16. Each issue merits its own full halachic treatment, which is beyond the scope of this article. 17. See Jonathan Lapook and Scott Pelley, “2nd nurse with Ebola called CDC before boarding flight,” CBS News, October 15, 2014. 18. Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein, “Is a Patient with a Severe Contagious Disease Allowed to Board an Aircraft Where He May Infect Others,” in Medical Halachic Responsa, trans. and ed. Fred Rosner (Haifa, 2013), 205-207. 19. Iggerot Moshe, OC 1:4. Not only do objects that come into contact with the body require incineration, but even the bodies of patients who succumb to Ebola are cremated to prevent contagion. In Ebola, as opposed to other conditions, the body remains highly contagious after death. Cremation would be halachically problematic as it is prohibited in Jewish law. See above references to burial issues in times of epidemic. 20. The German term for the disease mentioned by Rabbi Isserles is gelbsucht, or jaundice, which refers to hepatitis. 21. Rema, She’eilot U’Teshuvot 20. 22. See the annotated edition of the Rema’s responsa by Dr. Asher Ziv (Jerusalem, 1970) for references and discussion of the Rema’s notion of contagion, as well as references

to other responsa on the financial impact of contagious diseases. See also Sh”ut Maharam MiPadua 86, regarding whether a tutor can claim payment from a student who fled during the plague. 23. For a discussion about halachic issues related to quarantine, see F. Rosner, “Involuntary confinement for tuberculosis control: The Jewish view,” Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine 63:1 (January, 1996): 44-48. Rabbi Josh Flug provides references about the issue of quarantine in his “Ethical Dilemmas Relating to the Swine Flu Epidemic,” an unpublished source sheet from a shiur delivered in 2009 (available upon request). 24. If the baby was infected, God forbid, and symptomatic with Ebola, a brit would be too risky for the baby, let alone the mohel. 25. See Alfred S. Cohen, “Brit Milah and the Specter of AIDS,” Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 17 (spring 1989): 93-115; N. Daniel Korobkin, “Metzitzah B’peh Controversy: Rabbinic Polemics and Applying the Lessons of History,” Jewish Action (winter 2006). For an account of the position of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, heard orally from him some two weeks before his passing, see Rabbi Avraham Cohen, Brit Avraham haCohen (1993), section Migdal Oz 8:6. 26. Tzitz Eliezer 9:17, Kuntres Refuah b’Shabbat, chapter 5. 27. Rupa Kanapathipillai, et al., “Ebola Vaccine—An Urgent International Priority,” New England Journal of Medicine 371 (December 2014): 2,249-2,251.

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Israel

By Peter Abelow

on and oﬀ the beaten track in . . .

the biblical museum of natural history

Rabbi Natan Slifkin recently opened a museum featuring live and inanimate exhibits, including taxidermy mounts and other biological artifacts. Photos courtesy of Rabbi Slifkin

ho doesn’t love animals? Which child doesn’t look forward to visiting the zoo? A new museum in Beit Shemesh brings visitors up close to many of the animals mentioned in Tanach and the Talmud. Many of the taxidermy exhibits at the Biblical Museum of Natural History are not behind glass. They are in the open, viewable from all angles and even touchable under supervision. In fact, it is the tactile experience that makes this museum unique and especially memorable. Founded by Rabbi Natan Slifkin, the British-born “Zoo Rabbi,” the Beit Shemesh-based museum, which opened this past Sukkot, features live and inanimate exhibits, including taxidermy mounts and other fascinating biological artifacts. Described on the museum web site (www.Biblicalnaturalhistory.org) as “part natural history museum, part zoo,” the museum aims to “enhance appreciation and understanding of Scripture, Talmud and Jewish tradition via the natural world, and to thereby also enhance appreciPeter Abelow is a licensed tour guide and the associate director of Keshet: The Center for Educational Tourism in Israel. Keshet specializes in creating and running inspiring family and group tours that make Israel come alive “Jewishly.” He can be reached at 011.972.2.671.3518 or at peter@keshetisrael.co.il.

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ation and understanding of the natural world itself.” As such, it offers many wonderful attractions including taxidermy mounts of a lion, cheetah, hyena, wolf, caracal and mongoose and a collection of exotic shofars, including (an item the museum describes as) the horn of the legendary unicorn. The dynamic and erudite Rabbi Slifkin, who turned his childhood love of animals and nature into a career, serves as a museum guide. On the day I visited the museum, I followed the rabbi as he led a group of Israeli high school students, mesmerizing them in Hebrew with his stories and insights. The tour began with a short talk about Biblical natural history and a ten-minute video on the lion in the Torah, featuring Rabbi Slifkin himself and a lion in Africa. Rabbi Slifkin then delivered a riveting analysis of how lions stalk and attack their prey and related that to concepts in the Torah. He quoted Pirkei Avot (5:20): “Yehudah Ben Teima says: ‘Be strong like the leopard, light like the eagle, quick like the gazelle and mighty like the lion to perform the will of your Father in Heaven.”’ He then posited that the lion’s real might and strength is its ability to exercise “restraint and self-control.” When Rabbi Slifkin concluded, a curtain opened revealing the main exhibit area with its many mammals, birds, fish and insects prominently on display. The first animal to catch my eye was a full-size tzvi, which is where Rabbi Slifkin began his tour. He explained

Rabbi Slifkin, who speaks English and Hebrew fluently, serves as a museum guide, weaving a compelling narrative of Torah verses and midrashim about the various specimens on display.

that the tzvi of the Bible is a gazelle, although it is often mistakenly identified, primarily by Europeans and North Americans, as a deer. The animals of the Land of Israel, he continued, are generally different from those in the Diaspora. Although both deer and gazelle exist in Israel (ayal and tzvi, respectively), the gazelle was unknown in Europe, so the tzvi became associated with deer, with which Europeans were familiar. In a similar vein, he explained, many English versions of Tanach mistakenly identify the shualim in the story of Samson (Judges 15:4) as foxes. Pointing to a full-size jackal, he explained why the shual must be a jackal, not a fox. An exhibit of animal hooves led to a lively discussion of the distinguishing characteristics of kosher animals; a similar exhibit of animal jaws sheds light on how animals chew their cud. Various displays of birds assist visitors in understanding which birds are kosher. For forty minutes, Rabbi Slifkin led the group around the exhibit area, weaving a compelling narrative of Torah verses and midrashim about

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the various specimens on display. A favorite moment for many of the visitors was the opportunity to wrap a live python around their necks. This is just one of numerous live exotic animals on display in the museum. Other live animals include hyraxes, a chameleon, a boa constrictor, a hedgehog and more. Despite the fact that the museum, currently housed in a renovated warehouse in the industrial district of Beit Shemesh, is obviously not finished, and its location and outward appearance might be a deterrent to some, it has much to offer visitors of all ages. The museum is indoors and air conditioned. In nice weather you can sit in the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s small outdoor picnic area and visit the petting area. A visit to this museum is ot only fun and enjoyable, it will give you and your family a whole new appreciation for both Torah and the natural world. g Listen to Rabbi Natan Slifkin discuss understanding Tanach via the natural world at www.ou.org/life/israel/savitsky_slifkin/.

JustBetweenUs

By Irv Cantor

israeli civility Inconsiderate behavior, illogical rules and regulations, bureaucracy. How often do you hear American olim complaining about these aspects of Israeli society?

ruthfully, however, American olim would adjust much more easily to Israeli society if they would accept the cultural differences. It is also important to realize that cultural norms evolve; even if it takes time, there is no question that Israeli society is undergoing change— change that Americans would consider “for the better.” What are some of the cultural differences that American olim have difficulty with? Let’s look first at the salespersoncustomer relationship. In America, you hear the refrain “the customer is always right,” and generally businesses adhere to this principle. In Israel, however, the seller is the expert, the one who lets you know what you want. On the up side, the Israeli seller is often looking out for you, protecting you from purchasing an inferior product, and offering you the best deal for your money. Consider this real-life example. I decided to end my cable TV service and use an antenna to get the various channels. Friends showed me their antennas, which cost about 150 shekels. I went to an electronics store and asked what was available in that price range. The salesman asked, “Where in Jerusalem do you live?” Surprised by his question, I gave him my address. He took out a sheet of paper, drew a rough map of my neighborhood and asked me to indicate the exact location of my building. I complied. He then told me that all I needed was a small thin wire antenna for 30 shekels. Doubtful, I asked if he was sure. He reached for a box with an image of a large plastic bird-shaped antenna. He said, “This is 150 shekels. It’s ugly! If the wire antenna does not work, come back and I will sell this one to you.” I bought the wire antenna. It worked beautifully. American olim complain about the seeming rudeness they encounter, but perhaps the best word to help a new oleh understand the supposed insensitivity found among some Israelis is “family.” Think about arguments that erupt in the typical family: voices shouting, hands flying about for emphasis, faces turning away from each other and then toward each other again . . . and then a pause and silence. Sometimes there may be a resolution, other times not. Either way, the family goes on as a family, and those who so passionately disagreed a few minutes earlier are helping and supporting Dr. Irv Cantor happily retired to Jerusalem from New Jersey in 2012, after a dual career in psychology and pharmaceutical research.

each other minutes later. So it is in Israel. Directness and honesty are valued. Grudges are not held for long. A friend of mine who made aliyah recently from the States stood in line in a supermarket. A man cut the line directly in front of him. My friend didn’t say anything, but thought “only in Israel.” When the woman in front of the line cutter had to pay for her groceries, she realized she was five shekels short. As she tried to decide which item to leave out, a hand appeared in front of her with a five-shekel coin. It was the line cutter.

nd yet, despite their reputation, Israelis are changing. Israelis are becoming more customer-service oriented, more considerate and more thoughtful. Most likely, this change is the result of several factors. The Israeli government has created new training programs for government workers focusing on attitude and customer service. Additionally, Israelis travel much more extensively nowadays and are exposed to different cultures. Recently, I sat in a Jerusalem municipal office, waiting to pay my city taxes. To note my turn, as in most offices, I had to take a petek, ticket, with a number on it. My ticket was labeled 187. A digital sign on the wall indicated the number of the person currently being served. It displayed number 165. I waited. When my number was called, I approached the clerk. She said, “I’m sorry, but the other side of the room is for paying taxes. Wait there. Keep your petek.” Frustrated, I walked around to the other large waiting room, sat down and glanced at the digital sign on the wall. It displayed number 15. Grumbling in disbelief, I thought, here goes my whole day. I watched the numbers go from 15 to 16, to 17 and then—to the consternation of everyone around me—to 187. As I thankfully took my turn, the sign reverted back to 18. Americans value civility and the suppression of true feelings. Israelis prize truth and directness. To an Israeli, civility is often perceived as dishonesty or deception. Politeness can sometimes conceal or misrepresent true feelings. Israelis also place great value on being an am echad. Israeli drivers are known to lean on their horns much of the time. But you will also see an Israeli driver lean out of his window, yell at the incompetence of other drivers and then suddenly pull over to the shoulder to help a driver with a mechanical problem. Somehow, the small traces of insensitivity observed sometimes are overshadowed by the much larger and deeper demonstrations of caring and concern. In Israel, we are all each other’s mother, father, brother or sister. Israeli civility is not superficial courtesy. Israeli civility means we are part of a special people who care about each and every individual. g

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Passover

From Homemade TO STORE-BOUGHT: the Evolving Passover Diet By Carol Ungar

Carol Ungar is a full-time mother and freelance writer living in Israel. Her work has appeared in the New York Jewish Week, Tablet, the Jerusalem Post and other publications and web sites. 74

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With supermarket shelves bulging with Passover muffins, Passover granola and even Passover breadsticks, it’s hard to grasp that for much of history, this holiday’s fare was limited to the simple and home-made. In the shtetl, Passover preparations began at Chanukah when housewives rendered chicken and goosefat into schmaltz, the cooking fat of choice before people started counting calories and cholesterol.1 Another important job was making rosl, a now-almost-unknown pungent crimson-colored beet broth that was considered the height of gourmet cuisine in Eastern Europe. On Purim, the pickling process began as shtetl Jews kashered barrels and then filled them with cut-up beets which would ferment and eventually find their way into holiday soups (rosl borscht), horseradish, meat dishes and even a beetbased jam called eingemachts.2 Wines were homemade too, fashioned from fermented raisins—the brownish-yellowish drink preferred because it looked less similar to blood than grape wine and would hopefully deflect blood libel accusations, which were rife during the springtime. Levantine Jews also fermented grapes, brewing a potent liquor called raki which they enjoyed on Passover. In The Book of Jewish Food,3 author Claudia Roden points out that in Morocco and North Africa, where Muslims don’t drink wine or spirits, Jews distilled grapes and raisins to make wine for sacramental and other purposes. In the Middle East, Passover preparations included the manufacture of silan, a sweet date honey that was used in charoset and as a jam.4 For kitniyot-eating Sephardim, rice checking was another critical job, with the holiday rice spread on a white cloth and inspected three times to ensure that it wasn’t mixed with wheat kernels.5 The roots of our modern store-bought Passover matzah date back to 1838 when an Alsatian Jew named Isaac Singer invented the first machine that rolled the matzah dough, popularizing “machine-baked matzah.” While his invention caught on in Central and Western Europe, many Eastern European rabbis denounced machine-made matzah, some saying it was no better than chametz. In the States, where Jewish observance was somewhat more lenient, machine matzah became the matzah of choice. In the 1880s, a Lithuanian immigrant named Dov Behr Manischewitz opened the first matzah factory in Cincinnati, Ohio, where matzahs were baked “under the most sanitary conditions guaranteed to be strictly kosher,” at least according to the label.6 With the newspapers full of stories about contagious diseases, late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Americans, including Jewish immigrants, were highly germ phobic. Most American Jews at the time preferred Manischewitz’s “hygienic” factory-made matzahs to the old-fashioned, irregularly shaped matzahs baked in cold cellars.

Heinz ad on the back cover of Jewish Life, spring 1965. Jewish Life was the predecessor to Jewish Action.

Manischewitz also pulverized matzah into a meal that was soft enough to bake; the new product was revolutionary. Shtetl matzah meal made with a hammer-like implement couldn’t be baked into fluffy cakes. “Manischewitz did for matzah what Henry Ford did for cars,” explains OU Rav Hamachshir at Manischewitz Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz. Suddenly, matzah was being produced on a mass scale. Nowadays, says Rabbi Horowitz, were it not for machine-matzah, many Jews would not have access to this Passover staple. From the 1920s onward, the company also sponsored a very popular Yiddish-English cookbook called Batamte Yidishe Maykholim (Tempting Kosher Dishes) to combat “matzah monotony” and teach housewives how to use its products. Along with the traditional matzah kneidlach and matzah brei, the cookbook featured recipes for Passover

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For much of history, Jews subsisted on matzah and potatoes on Passover; nowadays, there’s kosher for Passover pretzels, granola and even pizza!

Elefant, COO of OU Kosher who has been with the organization since 1987. According to statistics compiled by Lubicom Marketing Consulting, LLC, the kosher food industry marketing consulting group, around 200 new Passover products hit supermarket shelves each year, many of them falling into the category of “nosh.” “I remember when potato chips first became kosher for Passover,” says Rabbi Elefant wistfully. “Now you can find almost every variety of candy, gum, even pretzels.” Fueling this change are the Chassidim, who comprise a large percentage of the kosher-food-buying public. “In the past, Chassidim bought relatively few products for Passover. Today they buy many products,” says Rabbi Elefant. In other words, the Chassidim have made the switch that other American Jews made decades before—they’ve turned Passover into a store-bought holiday too, and the market has shifted to accommodate their needs. Unlike Sephardic and some Ashkenazic Jews, Chassidic Jews traditionally refrain from eating “gebrokts,” or matzah that has been mixed with liquid. “In the last five years, manufacturers that once made their products with matzah meal now make them with po-

Certificate testifying that Manischewitz matzahs are kosher for Passover, New York City, 1930. From the Archives/Library of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

Boston cream pie and Passover Napoleons. Still, the focus was on the home cook. It wasn’t until after World War II that Passover food became mass produced and factory made. Among the first of the new products was the Passover cookie, which Streit’s Chief Operating Officer Alan Adler says dates to the early 1950s. Today, Passover is the most-observed holiday on the Jewish calendar, and it seems like almost every food around has become kosher for Passover. “Every year there are new products,” says Rabbi Moshe

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Ads for Streit’s matzahs and wine in Jewish Life, April 1949.

tato starch and other non-gebrokts ingredients,” says Rabbi Elefant. He cites two major bakeries, Schick’s and Osem, both of which have removed matzah meal from their Passover baked goods. “Osem even printed the blessing Shehakol instead of Mezonot on the packaging to let people know [to recite the correct blessing over the product].” Interestingly, the trend away from gebrokts also dovetails with another major food trend: the preference for glutenfree products. Gluten is a protein compound that gives dough elasticity, but for people with celiac disease and other stomach problems, it is hard to digest. Non-gebrokts products are wheat free and gluten free, and as the number of people refraining from gluten grows, so does the market for foods that are non-gebrokts. At this year’s Kosherfest, the kosher food industry’s annual trade fair, manufacturers displayed muffins, cakes, flatbreads, crackers and even granola bars made gluten free with potato starch and tapioca blends replacing matzah meal. The other major change is in the increased range of wines. Forget old-fashioned raisin wine and sweet Seder wine “so thick you could cut it with a knife,” in the words of an old advertisement for a now-defunct sweet wine. “Today we have connoisseurs. There are people who are prepared to spend hundreds of dollars on a bottle of wine,” says Rabbi Elefant.

Kosher wine now exists in all varieties: Merlot, Syrah, Semillions, Rose, Chardonnay, Riesling and more. “Wherever wines are manufactured, you can find kosher wine,” says Rabbi Elefant. “In Israel there are 150 wineries and their number is increasing.” Of course there are still purists who make their Passover foods at home as their grandmothers did. And there are others who eschew the ever-growing Passover supermarket aisle for the delights of yet another twenty-first-century luxury—the Passover hotel. g Notes 1. Gil Marks, Encyclopedia of Jewish Food (New York, 2010), 532. 2. Ibid, 508. 3. New York, 1996. 4. John Cooper, Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food (New Jersey, 1993), 194. 5. Herbert C. Dobrinsky, A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs: The Ritual Practices of Syrian, Moroccan, Judeo-Spanish, and Spanish and Portuguese Jews of North America (New Jersey and New York, 1986). 6. http://halachicadventures.com/the-4452-year-oldfood-by-Jenna; Jenna Weissman Joselit, The Wonders of America, Reinventing Jewish Culture 1180-1950 (New York, 1994), 219.

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TheChef’sTable

By Norene Gilletz

MEMORIES of PASSOVER WITH A

MODERN TWIST

Matzah balls evoke special memories for most people. In our family, everyone’s favorite part of the chicken soup is that wonderful white matzah ball floating in the center of the bowl. In addition to soup and matzah balls, there’s always brisket, kugel and potatoes in some form on my family’s Passover menu. I hope you enjoy this scrumptious selection of Passover recipes, updated for today’s modern palate. Happy Passover!

KNEIDLACH FOR A CROWD (MATZAH BALLS) Yields about 2 1/2 dozen The kneidlach controversy continues each Passover—some like them hard, some like them soft, some like them somewhere in between. It all depends on what is traditional in your family. These matzah balls (kneidlach) are light and tender and are a favorite in my family and with my readers. If you prefer them firmer, just add a little extra matzah meal to the mixture. 3 1/4 cups matzah meal 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Norene Gilletz is the author of nine cookbooks and divides her time between work as a food writer, culinary consultant, spokesperson, cooking instructor, lecturer and editor. Norene lives in Toronto, Canada. For more information, visit her web site at www.gourmania.com or e-mail her at goodfood@gourmania.com.

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9 or 10 large eggs (measure 2 cups eggs) 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup water (or 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup club soda or seltzer) In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine matzah meal, salt and pepper. Add eggs and process for 10 to 15 seconds. Pour oil and water through the feed tube while the machine is running. Process the mixture for 20 to 30 seconds longer, until fairly smooth. The mixture will be loose. Transfer mixture to large bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Mixture will thicken. Fill 2 large soup pots halfway with water. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pot. Bring to a boil. Wet your hands and shape mixture into 2-inch balls. Drop into boiling liquid. Cover partially and simmer for 45 to 55 minutes, until light, puffed and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and arrange in a single layer in an oblong casserole. (May be prepared in advance, covered and refrigerated until shortly before serving time.) Serve in hot chicken soup. Note: These freeze well.

MATZAH BALLS LYONNAISE

GLUTEN-FREE POTATO KNEIDLACH

Slice leftover matzah balls 1/2-inch thick. Sauté 1 or 2 sliced onions in a little oil until golden. Add matzah balls, sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Brown matzah ball slices on both sides until golden. (Also delicious if you sauté mushrooms along with the onions.)

Yields about 1 1/2 dozen

Chef’s Secrets • Cooked matzah balls can be added to chicken soup and frozen in freezer-safe containers, leaving 2 inches at the top for expansion. • Matzah balls can be prepared in advance. Prepare the mixture, then refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Wet your hands, shape the mixture into balls and arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Freeze until firm. Transfer to freezer bags, seal tightly and store in the freezer. When needed, cook frozen matzah balls in boiling salted water as directed above, adding an extra 5 minutes to the cooking time.

My gluten-free kneidlach are made with mashed potatoes and potato starch—not a drop of matzah meal in sight! As an added bonus, they are nut-free and vegetarian, unlike most glutenfree kneidlach which are made with either ground almonds or minced chicken. 2 russet (Idaho) potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks (you need 2 cups mashed) 2 eggs 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons additional potato starch 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried) Place potatoes in a saucepan, cover with lightly salted water

Saucy Brisket Photos: Doug Gilletz

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and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well. Return drained potatoes to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute to evaporate any excess moisture. Mash potatoes until smooth and lump-free. Measure 2 cups and transfer them to a mixing bowl. Cool slightly. Add eggs, oil, salt, pepper, potato starch and dill. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Gently form chilled mixture into walnut-sized balls, wetting your hands often for easier handling. Add kneidlach to rapidly boiling water. They will float to the top in about 2 minutes. Continue cooking for 6 to 8 minutes until cooked all the way through. Remove with a slotted spoon and store in a single layer in an oblong casserole. (May be prepared in advance, covered and refrigerated until serving time.) Serve in hot chicken soup or vegetable soup. Note: Do not freeze.

SAUCY BRISKET Yields 12 servings This scrumptious, saucy brisket is ideal when you’re having a large crowd and can be prepared in advance, making it perfect for Passover. The sauce mixture is also excellent for veal brisket or stewing beef. This tender, tasty dish is sure to become a family favorite—be sure to check out the variations below. 2 large onions, sliced 1 beef brisket (about 5 pounds/2.3 kg), well-trimmed 3 cloves garlic (about 1 tablespoon minced) or 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

Spaghetti Squash "Noodle" Pudding

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1 teaspoon dried basil Salt, freshly ground black pepper and paprika 1 cup duck sauce (try Szechuan spicy duck sauce) 3/4 cup tomato sauce 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or orange juice 3/4 cup water Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray. Spread onions in bottom of pan and place brisket on top. Sprinkle both sides of brisket with garlic, basil, salt, pepper and paprika. In a medium bowl, combine duck sauce, tomato sauce and balsamic vinegar; mix well. Spread sauce evenly on top of brisket. Pour water around and underneath brisket and cover pan tightly with foil. (If you have time, marinate brisket for an hour at room temperature or up to 48 hours in the refrigerator.) Preheat oven to 325° F. Cook brisket, covered, for about 4 hours (calculate 45 minutes per pound), until tender. During the last hour of cooking, slightly loosen foil and baste meat occasionally. When done, remove pan from oven and cool completely. Cover pan and refrigerate overnight. Remove congealed fat from the surface. Slice brisket thinly across the grain, trimming away any fat. Place slices and gravy in a covered casserole dish and reheat in a 350° F oven for 25 to 30 minutes before serving. Note: Keeps for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator; reheats and/or freezes well. Variations • Substitute jellied cranberry sauce for duck sauce. • Use ketchup or barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce. • Instead of water, use red wine. • For a sweet-and-sour flavor, add 2 tablespoons honey.

SLOW COOKER BRISKET Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray. Reduce water to 1/3 cup—you need less water in the slow cooker, as there is little evaporation. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the meat to hold in the steam. Cook on high for 1 hour, then on low until tender, about 8 to 10 hours. Some briskets may take up to 12 hours to cook. You can make any brisket recipe, stew or pot roast in the slow cooker using this method. Chef’s Secrets • Flat or Point? Beef brisket is divided into two sections. The flat cut has less fat and is usually more expensive than the point, which is much fattier and also more flavorful. A double brisket has a thick layer of fat between the two sections. • Reduce the Fat: Ask your butcher to trim away excess fat. Cook brisket a day in advance and refrigerate overnight. Remove congealed fat before slicing and reheating. • Double-Size Brisket? Don’t double the time! If your brisket is very large (8 to 10 pounds/3.6 to 4.5 kg), cut it crosswise into two smaller briskets (4 to 5 pounds/1.8 to 2.3 kg each). Cook them together in a large roaster for 3 to 4 hours, until tender. • Overnight Method: Cook brisket, tightly covered, in a 225°F oven for 7 to 8 hours. (Put the pan with the brisket into the oven just before going to bed and remove it first thing in the morning.) Use this method if you don’t have a slow cooker.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH “NOODLE” PUDDING (KUGEL) Yields 10 to 12 servings Spaghetti squash pulls into strands like spaghetti noodles, yet it has its own unique flavor. This recipe will have your guests guessing as to what the mysterious ingredient is! 3 pounds (1.2 kg) spaghetti squash (approximately) 2 onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium zucchini, finely grated 2 medium carrots, finely grated 4 eggs 1/2 cup matzah meal 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried) Salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 350° F. Cut squash in half. Place cut-side down on a sprayed foil-lined pan. Bake about 45 minutes, until tender. (Alternatively, do not cut squash in half. Pierce it in several places with a fork. Microwave on high until tender, 15 to 18 minutes, turning it over at half-time. Let stand 15 minutes. Cut in half and let cool.) Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray a 2-quart rectangular or oval casserole dish with nonstick spray.

In a nonstick skillet, sauté onions and garlic in oil for 5 minutes. Add zucchini and carrots and cook over medium heat until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes longer, stirring often. If necessary, add a little water to prevent burning or sticking. Cool slightly. Discard pulp and squash seeds. Use a fork to pull out strands of squash. In a large mixing bowl, combine squash with remaining ingredients; season to taste. Transfer mixture to prepared casserole dish. Bake at 375° F for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden. Note: Reheats and/or freezes well. Chef’s Secrets • This is delicious as a dairy dish served with Greek yogurt or sour cream. • Cooked spaghetti squash is excellent served as an alternative to pasta during Passover. Top the strands of spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese, if desired. • For short noodle-like strands, cut spaghetti squash lengthwise before baking. For long spaghetti-like strands, cut squash crosswise into 3/4-inch rings and arrange in a single layer in prepared pan. Bake as directed above. Cool slightly. Scoop out and discard pulp and squash seeds. Use a fork to pull out long strands from each squash ring. g

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InsideTheOU

Highlights of the 2014 OU Convention

Inside the OU OU Associate Vice President Dr. Marian Stoltz-Loike moderates a panel on women’s leadership in the Orthodox community.

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President of Yeshiva University Richard Joel delivering the keynote address at the Installation Dinner of the new OU leadership.

Photos: David Miller/millerfolio.com

he Orthodox Union’s biennial convention focused on the quest for global Jewish unity in the face of surging antiSemitism. Bringing Orthodox Jewish women to the leadership table, day school affordability and other key communal issues were also addressed. Four hundred and fifty people attended the weekend and Sunday sessions in Tarrytown, New York, last December. A new slate of officers and board members was installed on Friday afternoon. President Martin Nachimson was elected to a second term, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth Ephraim Mirvis Howard Zvi Friedman was elected speaking about issues facing the global Jewish community to convention participants. chairman of the board and, for the first time in the history of the Orthodox Union, five women—Isof Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; abelle Novak, Barbara Lehmann Siegel, Esther Williams, Richard Stone, past chairman of the Conference, and forLorraine Hoffman and Dr. Marian Stoltz-Loike—were mer US Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen among those designated officers of the organization. A com- were featured. OU Director-at-large Moishe Bane chaired plete list is on page 103. the session. Issues facing Israel and the global Jewish community Yeshiva University President Richard Joel delivered the were discussed at a plenary following Shabbat dinner. Malkeynote address at the Installation Dinner of the new OU colm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference leadership on Motzaei Shabbat.

The convention displayed the full scope of OU efforts, including, perhaps most notably, the work of OU Advocacy to secure the full measure of constitutionally permissible government funding for secular aspects of yeshivah and day school education. A panel entitled “Bringing Orthodox Women to the Leadership Table” discussed the need for a stronger voice for women in the Orthodox community. Panelists included Chani Neuberger, chief risk officer of the National Security Agency (NSA); Rabbanit Chana Henkin, founder and dean of Nishmat, the Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women in Jerusalem, and Dr. Rona Novick, dean of Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. OU Associate Vice President Dr. Marian Stoltz-Loike chaired the panel. The lengthy list of distinguished presenters included many well-known OU personalities as well as Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (Great Britain); Rabbi Daniel Oppenheimer,

Director of State Political Affairs, OU Advocacy, Maury Litwack discusses Jewish day school affordability.

chief Ashkenazic rabbi of Buenos Aires; Rabbi Elie Abadie, M.D., who leads the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in Manhattan; Rachel Friedman, dean of the Lamdeinu Center for Jewish Learning in Teaneck, New Jersey; Dr. Alan Kadish, president and CEO of the Touro College and University System; Rabbi Leonard Matanky, president of the Rabbinical Council of America; Rabbi Ya’akov Trump, assistant rabbi of Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst and Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann, director of the Beth Din of America. OU National Vice President Dr. Shimmy Tennenbaum of Teaneck served as convention chairman. g

Inside the OU

From left: OU President Martin Nachimson; OU Executive Vice President Allen I. Fagin and OU National Vice President and Convention Chairman Dr. Shimmy Tennenbaum.

Yaakov and Emma Farkas from Edison, New Jersey, enjoying the convention.

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West Coast Torah Convention A Huge Success

lose to 3,000 OU supporters and congregants of OU-member synagogues participated in the 2014 OU West Coast Convention, held in shuls throughout the greater Los Angeles area this past December. The OU West Coast annual convention is community-based and aims to involve local OU member synagogues and its congregants in meaningful shiurim and lectures impacting the community-at-large. Scholars-in-residence are hosted within the community, pairing appropriate orators with individual shuls. Speakers at the event included Allen I. Fagin, OU executive vice president; Rabbi Steven Weil, senior managing director of the OU; Rabbi Hershel Schachter, posek of OU Kosher and rosh yeshivah at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS); Rabbi Moshe Weinberger, mashpia (spiritual mentor) at RIETS; Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, rosh yeshivah at RIETS; Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg, director of rabbinic placement at Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future; Rabbi Dr. Moshe Goldfeder, member of the Atlanta Dayanut Institute and adjunct professor of law at Emory University; Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, Bible scholar and Israel-based educator and Rabbi Dr. Hillel Goldberg, executive editor of Denver’s Intermountain Jewish News and contributing editor of Jewish Action. g

Rabbi Moshe Weinberger, mashpia at RIETS, delivering the convention’s keynote address at the Young Israel of North Beverly Hills.

Inside the OU

OU Executive Vice President Allen I. Fagin moderating a panel discussion on social Orthodoxy between OU Senior Managing Director Rabbi Steven Weil and Director of Rabbinic Placement at Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg.

From right: Allen I. Fagin, OU President Marty Nachimson and his wife, Liz, listening to Rabbi Weinberger. Photos: Lewis Groner

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Rebbetzin Yael Weil delivering a shiur at a women’s beit midrash during the Sunday morning convention sessions.

NCSY Siyum Marks Completion of “Kol HaTorah Kulah”

In honor of NCSY’s 60th anniversary and in honor of the memory of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel, a siyum celebrating the completion of learning the entire Torah took place at this year’s Yarchei Kallah.

Inside the OU

almud Torah, the study of Torah, has always been the foundation of all NCSY programming. This year, in honor of NCSY’s 60th anniversary and in honor of the memory of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel, the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped and brutally murdered by Arab terrorists this past summer, hundreds of NCSYers and NCSY staff members across the world dedicated countless hours to complete learning the entire Torah—every mishnah, every page of Talmud and every line of Tanach. During NCSY’s national Yarchei Kallah—a five-day-long program for public school students who spend part of their winter break learning Torah—a joyous siyum celebrating the completion took place. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, director of education for NCSY, explained that having the siyum during Yarchei Kallah provided an important message for the teens. “At Yarchei Kallah we emphasized that it’s not just about finishing a particular project, it’s about the process of learning and how it changes you,” Rabbi Bashevkin said. “At every siyum, you turn the page and start the next masechta, parashah or whatever you are learning. The siyum reminded the teens that it’s not just about finishing, since a true journey through the Torah never ends.” g

Captivated participants at NCSY’s national Yarchei Kallah—a five-day-long program for public school students who spend part of their winter break learning Torah.

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Finding Funds for Jewish Day Schools By Roslyn Singer

Inside the OU

hen OU Advocacy and Luria Academy in Brooklyn initially met in the fall of 2013 to discuss the work that OU Advocacy-Teach NYS does on behalf of New York Jewish day schools, they planted the seeds that would bear fruit for both organizations. Luria quickly joined OU Advocacy-Teach NYS’ efforts to educate state legislators about the challenge of tuition affordability. Luria hosted one of the first meetings for OU Advocacy-Teach NYS’ Schools in Session initiative, which pairs state legislators with Jewish day schools in their districts. The “win-win” relationship blossomed for Luria when the school started working with OU Advocacy staff to help maximize its government funding. “So many Jewish day schools and yeshivahs are unaware of the state funding for which they’re eligible or they simply don’t know how to apply for the various funding sources available. In many circumstances, schools may receive grants, but don’t realize that they are eligible for much more money than they’re getting,” says Michelle Twersky, OU Advocacy’s associate regional director. “When I met with Luria Academy, I realized there were many funding opportunities the school was simply not taking advantage of—particularly New York’s Mandated Services Reimbursement program, which can make a real difference to a school’s bottom line,” Twersky adds. Through the Mandated Services Reimbursement (MSR) program, New York State compensates nonpublic schools for conducting state-required activities, such as taking attendance and administering state exams. As part of OU Advocacy’s Government Maximization Services, Twersky introduced Luria Academy to the MSR program and walked the school through every step of the filing process, providing step-by-step instructions, templates, phone and e-mail support and in-person consultation. As a result of OU Advocacy’s support, Luria Academy successfully filed for MSR funding for both the 2012-13 and the 2013-14 school years. “We are indebted to OU Advocacy for essentially teaching us ‘how to fish,’” says Luria Academy Head of School Amanda Pogany. “OU Advocacy identified this funding availability and, through their consulting services and guidance, helped us feel confident that we can file for MSR on our own.” Maury Litwack, OU Advocacy’s director of state political affairs, noted that the Government Maximization Services are meant to help schools learn how to file for MSR and feel comfortable with the process. “Like everything that is new, the first time you do anything is the most challenging and each subsequent time it gets progressively easier. We give schools the tools to succeed so that they can eventually

Roslyn Singer is the director of communications, OU Advocacy.

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‘graduate’ from our services and file on their own.” Since September, OU Advocacy’s Government Maximization Services team has worked with seven Jewish day schools in New York including Manhattan Day School, Solomon Schechter School of Nassau County, Bnos Bais Yaakov of Far Rockaway and Yeshiva University High School for Girls in Queens. It has helped each school identify, on average, an additional $10,000 in government funding that it was leaving on the table. OU Advocacy also helps Jewish day schools and yeshivahs receive funding under the federal Title Services program. Part of the No Child Left Behind Act, Title Services provide schools that have at-risk or failing students with help in reading, math and English as a Second Language (ESL) and professional development for teachers, among other services.

osef Kanofsky, OU Advocacy’s director of government services, has successfully helped 150 Jewish day schools in New York City navigate the process to receive Title I instructional services as well as various professional development services. Because the steps to identify eligible students are complicated, schools often forego the entire process, leaving millions of dollars in services on the table. Over the past five years, Kanofsky helped these schools generate and utilize more than $10 million in Title Services. “When I first start working with a school, I’ll help that school understand and navigate the entire Title Services landscape,” says Kanofsky. “I also help the school create a testing plan to identify its Title-eligible students so that the school can receive the services it deserves,” Kanofsky adds. Kanofsky also co-coordinated a teacher-training program for yeshivah and Jewish day school educators to help struggling readers. Now in its second year, the program has trained more than sixty teachers from Jewish day schools and yeshivahs throughout the city. And since the program provides professional development for teachers, it was funded entirely by federal Title II A funds from the New York City Department of Education’s Division of NonPublic Schools-21st Century Partners in Learning—a value of more than $2,100 per participant. “Because the training program requires the participants to provide sixty to ninety hours of tutoring, it was a great value for schools, teachers and students,” says Kanofsky. “This program is just one of many ways OU Advocacy-Teach NYS can harness federal and state funds to help yeshivahs and day schools achieve their educational mission. Our goal is to help our schools continue to take advantage of these opportunities,” he adds. To learn more about OU Advocacy’s Government Maximization Services and how we can help your school, please contact info@OUAdvocacy.org. g

Standing Up for Israel By Steven Weil

Rabbi Steven Weil is senior managing director at the OU.

are now in university, facing anti-Israel aggression on a whole new level—from their professors, pro-Palestinian groups and BDS organizers. All they know is how wonderful and generous the people of Israel are, but they have no idea how to respond to the virulent attacks against Israel. As these students reached out to their JSU advisors for guidance, our feelings of success quickly faded, and we had to rethink how we could teach soon-to-be college students the facts and the history in a way that they would be open to hearing it. Richard Bass, former professor at Purdue University, created a pilot program used by NCSY in Toronto that has

Sadly, today's teens have a different perception of Israel. been very successful. Drawing upon videos, social media and other tools that speak to teens, he presents both the Palestinian and Israeli narratives on any given issue. Whether it is the Temple Mount, the security fence or checkpoints, he relays information that reflects both sides of the story. Then he brings in third-party sources, neither Palestinian nor Israeli, unbiased, who detail the facts on the ground relating to the issue at hand. The students then draw their own conclusions about who is in the right and who is in the wrong. This works because no one is telling the students a subjective story; no one is telling them what to believe; no one is lecturing, preaching or arguing with them. They get both sides, sort through the complexities of the issues and are left to draw their own conclusions. So far, the conclusions have been predominantly pro-Israel. JSU attracts more than 20,000 students in close to thirty states and provinces. The goal of JSU is to expose unaffiliated teens to the beauty of Jewish tradition and history. While Israel was always a part of that mission, it was not our intention to focus on Israel advocacy. However, given the reality on the ground and the pleas for help from our graduates, we feel we have a responsibility to make sure these young men and women can stand up for Israel. We have incorporated these types of sessions into our curriculum and are training our club advisors in this method so that our students will be open-minded, thoughtful and decisive about their opinions and commitment to Israel. g

Inside the OU

tanding up for Israel is nothing new. Before and after 1948, anyone who loved and believed in our homeland was prepared to defend her to the rest of the world. Do you remember when we were teenagers? Israel was a source of pride and joy, a country that rose from the ashes; David emerging victorious against the Goliaths of the world, a land and a nation reunited after thousands of years. We knew the facts and responded to the myths and the lies. The validity of our arguments was always what tipped the scales in our favor. Sadly, today’s teens have a different perception of Israel. Try to win them over with the factual narrative and they will tune you out. To them, Israel isn’t some fledgling underdog whom they love to root for. She is an established country with intellectual capital and military might. Today’s teens aren’t interested in facts—who did what to whom. They see an age-old battle between the Hatfields and McCoys. Who cares how it started? Why does it matter who is at fault? Grow up and stop fighting. Naturally to them, Israel gets the lion’s share of the blame for perpetuating the feud. Being the older, wiser, stronger, more capable opponent in this battle, the onus is on Israel to make peace. When the Israeli-Palestinian conflict started coming up in our Jewish Student Union (JSU) clubs in public schools across the country, we quickly discovered that teaching the history and the facts was a turn-off to these kids. They weren’t interested in hearing “excuses” for why there was no peace. We had to find a different approach to help them understand and love Israel. The angle that worked was inspiring them with stories about Israel’s humanity, showing them how Israel is a light unto the nations, especially in her corner of the world. In Israel, an Arab woman can become a supreme court justice. Israel is the first country to set up the most efficient field hospitals anywhere disaster strikes—Haiti, Japan, the Philippines, et cetera. Israel opens its doors to Africans escaping Muslim persecution in their own countries. Israel shares its knowledge and technology with disadvantaged nations, helping them make their deserts bloom and teaching them how to work their land and feed and sustain their populations. We were satisfied to see the students begin to respect and admire the State of Israel. Fast forward a few years. These high school students

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New Survey Demonstrates Effectiveness of NCSY Flagship Summer Program

ant to encourage Jews to marry fellow Jews? Send Jewish teens on NCSY’s The Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey (TJJ). That’s one of the findings of “Journey to Engagement, TJJ’s Impact on the Jewish Lives of Teens from Non-observant Homes,” a survey conducted by esteemed sociologists Dr. Steven M. Cohen and Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz of Research Success Technologies Ltd. Commissioned by the Orthodox Union to conduct an independent study to measure TJJ’s long-term impact, Drs. Cohen and Kopelowitz conducted Internet surveys as well as in-depth interviews with past participants of NCSY’s flagship summer program. TJJ takes public school students to Israel for an intense four-week summer experience where teens gain a firsthand appreciation of the land and their heritage. As of 2014, more than 1,784 public school teenagers have participated in the program. The results of the survey were startling. In light of the grim findings of the 2013 “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” prepared by the Pew Research Center—which reported that 71 percent of non-Orthodox Jews intermarry—93 percent of TJJ participants indicated that marrying Jewish was important to them; 83 percent indicated it was very important to raise their children Jewishly. “The statistics demonstrate that the program is highly impactful,” reports Dr. Cohen. Approximately 61 percent of TJJ alumni surveyed indicated that they participate in some form of formal Jewish learning at least once a week, and 22 percent indicated that they do so daily. However, the report also indicated higher rates of reli-

TJJ takes public school kids to Israel where they gain a firsthand appreciation of the land and their heritage.

Inside the OU

gious growth based on whether the student returns to Israel on a longer-term trip and on the degree of follow-up with an NCSY advisor. “That report not only shows the impact of the trip, but also the ability of the entire trip’s structure to empower our alumni to grab their Jewish identity and grow it on their own,” says Rabbi Micah Greenland, international director of NCSY. “The entire experience has given them the power to grow as knowledgeable Jews.” “Undoubtedly, TJJ and its follow-up year-round programming . . . produce significant change in religious observance and other forms of Jewish engagement among some participants who were not raised very observant,” states Dr. Cohen. g

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NEW BOOKS FROM Chumash Mesoras HaRav: Sefer Shemos, The Neuwirth Edition With commentary based upon the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Compiled and edited by Dr. Arnold Lustiger OU Press

the possibility of redemption. The Chumash Mesoras HaRav: Sefer Shemos, The Neuwirth Edition, will no doubt become a classic companion to the book of exile and redemption. Seder Talk: The Conversational Haggada By Dr. Erica Brown OU Press and Maggid Books

he Haggadah is certainly not a text lacking in commentaries, but Dr. Erica Brown nevertheless finds a fresh and original take. Her approach engages readers not only intellectually but emotionally, so readers will personally feel the experience of redemption. Toward this goal, Dr. Brown combines traditional commentary with analysis of art—the Haggadah includes numerous illustrations from renowned artists and from ancient Haggadot—as well as of poetry and literature. Instead of technical halachic explanations, she examines the experiential impact of the Seder. For example, Dr. Brown sees karpas, the dipping of the vegetable, as embodying the slave experience: “Hardly sated by our small potato, with our bellies asking for more food, we sit as slaves about to tell our story.” In discussing the meaning of hospitality, she quotes sources from the Torah down to Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service. And to understand the significance of the Four Questions, she cites the poet Rainer Maria Rilke: “Live the questions now. Perhaps then someday far into the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” This Haggadah, which includes questions to promote conversation, and eight essays for each of the days of Passover, may well help us achieve living our way to the answers. g

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Inside the OU

or those seeking the unique form of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment that Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the Rav, represents, entry into the world of his teachings may seem to be a forbidding challenge. The existence of so many works containing the Rav’s teachings attests to the great esteem in which he is held; however, this abundance can also be daunting. Chumash Mesoras HaRav: Sefer Shemos, The Neuwirth Edition, the second volume in this groundbreaking series compiled and edited by Dr. Arnold Lustiger, continues the project of making the Rav’s Torah readily accessible. This Chumash is an anthology of the Rav’s teachings drawn from dozens of published sources in Hebrew, English and Yiddish, as well as from many previously unpublished lectures, presented in elegant and concise English as a running commentary alongside the Chumash text. Significantly, the Chumash Mesoras HaRav presents the gamut of the Rav’s teachings, including not only philosophical insights, but also homiletic interpretations and Talmudic analysis. The Rav’s multi-dimensional character emerges from these pages. Collecting the Rav’s teachings from their diverse array of sources makes them not only more accessible but transforms them into a timeless commentary. Take, for example, the following excerpt from a column the Rav wrote in 1954 for the Yiddish daily Tog Morgen about the interaction between

Orthodox and non-Orthodox rabbis. In this Chumash, the Rav’s words explain the verse “And I will take you to Me as a people, and I will be a God to you” (Exodus 6:7): The political-historical unity as a nation is based upon the conclusion of the covenant in Egypt, which occurred even prior to the giving of the Torah at Sinai. This covenant forced upon us all one uniform historical fate. The Hebrew word am, nation, is identical to the Hebrew word im, with. Our fate of unity manifests itself through a historical indispensable union . . . . The State of Israel did not ignore this unique fate; quite the contrary, it has given expression to it in a more concrete fashion. No Jew can renounce his part of the unity, which is based upon a fate of loneliness of the Jewish people as a nation. Religious Jews or irreligious Jews, all are included in one nation, which stands lonesome and in misery in a large and often antagonistic world. The sixty years that have passed since these words were written have done nothing to diminish the acuity of the Rav’s perception. Yet if this example remains too depressingly true, let us also recall the Rav’s comments on the verse “For they were driven out of Egypt, and they could not tarry” (Exodus 12:39): Genuine geulah, genuine redemption, always comes suddenly, unexpectedly, at a time when people are ready to give up hope. Sometimes historical situations keep deteriorating; people pray and cry, begging for mercy—but there is no answer to their prayer, only silence. At that moment, when the crisis reaches its maximum and threatens the very existence of the community, when people begin to give up, the geulah suddenly comes and takes them out of the land of affliction. It comes in the middle of the night and knocks on the door when no one expects it, when everybody is skeptical about it, when everybody laughs off

Books

The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table By Jeff and Jodie Morgan Schocken Books/OU Press New York, 2015 272 pages Reviewed by Barbara Bensoussan

pening The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table feels like an invitation into the sun-drenched, casually elegant world of authors Jeff and Jodie Morgan, a world in which their freshly picked garden produce, drizzled with extravirgin olive oil and accompanied by a thoughtfully chosen bottle of wine, takes pride of place on the rustic dining room table. Jeff and Jodie themselves are warm, welcoming people with the joie de vivre of those who have found their bliss. In their case, that means the production of Covenant Wines, some of the finest kosher wines on the market. As a young man, Jeff left a budding musical career in France to work in the vineyards, later moving to vineyard work on Long Island, New York, where he began contributing wine articles to the New York Times. This led to an in-

A longtime Jewish Action contributor, Barbara Bensoussan authored a column on Sephardic food for the Hamodia and writes a food column for Mishpacha. Her latest book is a food memoir entitled The WellSpiced Life, describing her discovery of Sephardic food and faith.

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vitation to do a feature on kosher for Pesach wines for Wine Spectator, which segued into two decades of work as a wine writer, editor and cookbook author. But about eight years into it, Jeff hankered to get back into the actual winemaking process. An encounter with Eli Ben Zaken and his high-end Israeli Castel wines inspired him to try his hand at making “the best kosher wine in 5,000 years” using California vintages. His first attempt, a 2003 cabernet, received rave reviews, and since then Covenant has expanded and thrived. The kosher wine business also introduced Jeff and Jodie to Orthodox Judaism. Through their friendship with the Herzog family, whom Jeff had met through wine journalism, and a local Chabad shaliach, the two set up a kosher kitchen and began taking small steps toward observance (Jeff made himself the bar mitzvah he never had, discovering that his bar mitzvah parashah was . . . Noach, the Torah portion in which the first vineyard was planted). It was only natural that their next cookbook would be a kosher one. While there are scads of kosher cookbooks on the market, to date there hasn’t been one like The Covenant Kitchen, which expertly pairs sophisticated recipes with sophisticated wines.

The book (full disclosure: it’s copublished by OU Press, the publishing arm of the Orthodox Union) begins with an introduction to wine and kosher winemaking, a sort of noncondescending Kosher Wine for Dummies. The Morgans explain the rationale for such enological protocols as aerating the wine, swirling it in the glass and pairing the right glass to the wine for maximum flavor. They also discuss identifying unlikely flavor notes such as leather, tobacco and chocolate, and the challenges of producing a premium kosher wine. The tone is conversational and unpretentious. The authors acknowledge that the price of wine, like real estate, is often based as much on perception as on inherent value, and concede that one’s personal preference is more important than what “connoisseurs” deem to be good. The wine section is followed by about 100 recipes organized by category (appetizers, soups, meats, et cetera), with sidebars discussing various aspects of kashrut or cooking. Each recipe includes a suggested wine pairing and friendly, sensible cooking tips. Jeff and Jodie may be food and wine sophisticates, but they’re also practical. When canned beans will serve as well

as soaked and boiled beans, they’ll say as much; they suggest not using your best wines for cooking. The Morgans lived in Provence, Italy, for extended periods of time, and as a result, ingredients like olives, lemons, garbanzos, lavender, rosemary and thyme appear repeatedly in this book. In general, their approach draws most heavily from the Mediterranean and California Chez Panisse philosophy of cooking: use fresh seasonal ingredients, bringing out their flavors with the judicious addition of herbs, olive oil, citrus, et cetera. The result is unfussy, yet naturally opulent food. The recipes are also informed by the Morgans’ extensive travel and food experiences. The resulting cultural cross-fertilization is evident in recipes like Israeli shakshuka, which edges toward huevos rancheros with the addition of avocado, beans and cheese. Many tempting Asian and Italian

dishes are included. And while a kosher cookbook simply can’t leave out Jewish standards like gefilte fish, latkes and cholent, in the Morgans’ urbane hands they are tweaked into fish quenelles with braised leeks, latkes with fish roe and a cassoulet-style “cowboy cholent” that calls for lamb sausage and red wine (I somehow doubt the cowboys cook it that way!). While most ingredients are easily obtainable, readers may find some of them unfamiliar and hard to source, even for those living in kosher hubs like Brooklyn. Grains like freekeh, Wehani rice and black rice are a refreshing change from Uncle Ben’s, but I could only find the last one on a scouting trip to Pomegranate, a gourmet supermarket in Brooklyn. I also hunted unsuccessfully for fresh sardines, Hawaiian opah, masago (a fish roe) and kosher lamb sausage. The Morgans have anticipated this, however, and

offer substitutions such as brown rice for freekeh, salmon roe for masago and tuna, salmon or halibut for opah. The lamb sausage is optional. The authors also have the advantage of their own garden for produce, whereas I’d have to go to a farmers’ market to find fresh butter beans and squash flowers (which they intriguingly stuff with ricotta and fry). The food styling and photography make this volume a gourmet feast for the eyes as well as the palate, depicting not only food but the Morgans’ lush vineyards, garden and home. The effect is to leave you with the yen to drop in on Jeff and Jodie to bask in the California sunshine and share their food, wine and easy camaraderie. But barring a trip to California, readers can buy the book and try to reproduce the experience at home, bringing some of that sunshine and vibrant flavor into their own dining rooms. g

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Birkas Yitzchak: Chidushim U-ve’urim al HaTorah By Rabbi Menachem Genack OU Press New York, 2013 Reviewed by B. David Schreiber

abbi Menachem Genack’s newest work, Birkas Yitzchak: Chidushim U-ve’urim al HaTorah, reflects the sweeping range of multi-disciplinary scholarship of its renowned and prolific author. Rabbi Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, already highly acclaimed for his five works on the Talmud, applies his mastery of Talmudic analysis, complemented with his keen sense of homiletics and sensitivity to the human condition, to deduce numerous resonating moral lessons, insights and missives from otherwise overlooked pesukim in the Torah. Throughout the sefer, Rabbi Genack culls insights not only from his revered rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l, but from his own extensive circle of accomplished personalities, such as Senator Joseph Lieberman and businessmen and Torah scholars David Lichtenstein and Tzvi Riesman, as well as many others. The result is a sefer with a very contemporary feel, whose messages and lessons appeal to a wide range of audiences. I will present a sampling of some of the diverse topics discussed in the sefer, both to reflect the breadth of subject matters covered in this work and to whet the reader’s appetite to further plunge its depths. In Parashat Chaya Sara (p. 26), Rabbi Genack introduces a recurring theme of this sefer, namely, that of hashra’at haShechinah, and the requirement that Jews inculcate their homes and lives with the awareness of the Divine presence. Rabbi Genack equates the three hallmarks of Sarah’s household—a continuously burning flame, a special endowment in her food and the ever-present Divinelike cloud—with the three miracles that prevailed in the Beit Hamikdash: the ner hama’aravi, which remained lit throughout the week; the lechem hapanim, which retained its freshness for an entire week and the perpetual Divinelike cloud. Our contemporary homes are likewise marked with the triad of the three mitzvot closely identified with women: lighting candles on Shabbat, setting aside the tithes of challah and observing family purity (see Shabbat 32a). Rabbi Genack goes on to suggest that the message of Chanukah, and its requirement that each Jewish home be B. David Schreiber is the author of the sixteen-volume Noraos Harav series, a transcription of shiurim of Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt"l. He is a musmach of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Beth Medrash Govoha. He received his JD degree from Columbia University School of Law and practices real estate law.

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adorned with a ner Chanukah, further reflects that theme. Not only was the hashra’at haShechinah dominant in the quasi Beit Hamikdash first inaugurated by our mother Sarah, but that paradigm of Divine presence should be perpetuated daily in our own homes. God’s spirit takes residence in every Jewish home that perpetuates the model originated by Sarah. An important halachic discussion cited in the sefer centers on the halachic status of Eisav. Is Eisav treated as a Jewish apostate, or is he classified as a non-Jew? In Parashat Toldot (p. 34), Rabbi Genack writes that, although Eisav himself is treated as a Jewish apostate, his children are not classified as Jews. Rabbi Genack explains this phenomenon based upon an innovative insight that he heard from the Rav, in the name of Rav Chaim, regarding the Ten Lost Tribes. The gemara (Yevamot 17a) notes that the Ten Lost Tribes were not only physically lost, but they also forfeited their identity as Jews. They were declassified and reconstituted by Chazal as non-Jews. Rav Chaim theorized that children of apostates are likewise regarded as non-Jews. One of the many halachic consequences of this ruling is that the marriage between the son of an apostate and a Jewish girl has no halachic significance. The wife would not require a “get” to terminate the marriage. Rabbi Genack adds that the berachah imparted by Yitzchak to Yaakov (28:4)—“Veyiten lecha et Birkat Avraham”—established and confirmed Yaakov and his lineage as the exclusive successors of Yitzchak, thereby investing them with kedushat Yisrael. Yaakov and his children thus formed the nucleus of Knesset Yisrael. While Eisav had the option of being included as an ancillary member of Knesset Yisrael, he rejected that path and instead chose an idolatrous lifestyle. Thus, Eisav is considered a Jewish apostate; however, his progeny are not endowed with kedushat Yisrael and are forever excluded from Birkat Avraham. In contrast, Yishmael was never presented with the similar opportunity of joining Knesset Yisrael, and as a result, Yishmael himself is regarded as a non-Jew. Another theme that weaves its way through the sefer relates to kedushat Eretz Yisrael. In Parashat Vayeitzei (p. 35), Rabbi Genack discusses the difference between the first kedushah invested in Eretz Yisrael by Yehoshua, a kedushah which ceased with the destruction of the First Temple, as opposed to the second kedushah, invested in the land by Ezra, an immutable kedushah which survives eter-

nally. Rambam (Beit Habechirah 6:16), however, rules that although the kedushah invested in the Land of Eretz Yisrael by Yehoshua dissipated after the destruction of the First Beit Hamikdash, the kedushah of the city of Yerushalayim and that of the Beit Hamikdash proper is eternal and remains extant despite the destruction of both Temples. Rambam maintains that the kedushah of the Beit Hamikdash is predicated upon hashra’at haShechinah. Thus, just as the Shechinah is eternal, so too, the kedushah of the Beit Hamikdash is everlasting. It is that Divine presence which continually infuses both Yerushalayim and the Beit Hamikdash with kedushah. Rabbi Genack quotes the Rav who theorized that the second kedushah of the Land of Eretz Yisrael could not dissipate inasmuch as its kedushah was an extension of the kedushah of the Beit Hamikdash. The Rav explained that Ezra performed the rituals normally associated with the inauguration of the Beit Hamikdash (even though the Beit Hamikdash had been previously endowed with kedushah) as a means of demonstrating that the surviving kedushat Beit Hamikdash would be extended to all of Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Genack cites the gemara (Chullin 91b) that states that as Yaakov slept on Har HaMoriah, God, so to speak, took all of Eretz Yisrael and folded it beneath Yaakov’s head. Rabbi Genack explains that the imagery of God’s placing all of Eretz Yisrael on the physical earth of the Beit Hamikdash symbolizes the method by which Eretz Yisrael was endowed with the second kedushah. Eretz Yisrael would unconditionally be invested with a permanent kedushah only if it is fused (both physically and metaphysically) with the eternal kedushah of the Beit Hamikdash. In Parashat Vayeitzei (p. 35), the Torah tells us of the encounter between the angels who accompanied Yaakov during his sojourn outside of Eretz Yisrael and the angels who were to accompany Yaakov as he entered Eretz Yisrael. Likewise, Jews are accompanied by one set of angels during the week and a different set of angels on Shabbat. This changing of the guards is reflected in the piyyut of “Shalom Aleichem” recited on Friday night. This piyyut is seemingly problematic. Why does it conclude with the verse “tzeitchem leshalom”? Why do we ask the angels to depart as soon as they have arrived? Rabbi Genack, quoting Rabbi Eliyahu Henkin, zt”l, notes that the first verse of “Shalom Aleichem” relates to the special angels of Shabbat who accompany the Jew as Shabbat arrives. We therefore greet them first. On the other hand, the verse “tzeitchem leshalom” does not refer to these Shabbat angels. Rather, it refers to the angels of the weekday, who depart from the Jewish home at the conclusion of the week, as soon as the Shabbat angels arrive. In Parashat Toldot (p. 34), Rabbi Genack reflects upon the moral character of Eisav and compares Eisav’s con-

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God’s spirit takes residence in every Jewish home that perpetuates the model originated by Sarah. duct with that of Yosef’s brothers. Although Eisav plotted to kill Yaakov, Eisav refused to implement his plot until after his father Yitzchak passed away. In marked contrast, Yosef’s brothers had no moral compunctions about executing their brother despite the extensive grief that their father Yaakov would inevitably suffer. Rabbi Genack suggests that this contrast is implicit in the piyyut of “Eileh Ezkerah” recited on Yom Kippur. The Roman viceroy (a scion of Eisav) castigates the Ten Martyrs (scions of Yosef’s brothers). The Roman emphasizes his progenitor Eisav’s sensitivity to his father Yitzchak, and contrasts it with the callousness that the ten brothers of Yosef exhibited toward their father Yaakov. Rabbi Genack further develops this thought in Parashat Vayigash (p. 65) by analyzing the exchange between Yosef and his brothers after he reveals his true identity to them. Yosef cautions his brothers, “Al tei’atzvu ve’al yichar bieineichem, Do not be aggravated nor angry [that you have sold me down to Mitzrayim]” (45:5). Yosef’s selection of the words “al tei’atzvu, do not be aggravated” and the phrase “ve’al yichar bieineichem, do not be angry,” is puzzling. Anger and aggravation are not the responses of one who has a guilty conscience. Why didn’t Yosef simply tell his brothers not to feel guilty about the horrible crime of selling him into slavery? Moreover, during their initial encounter with Yosef, the brothers used the words “aval asheimim anachnu” (42:21) to express their remorse on having sold Yosef into slavery. Why then didn’t Yosef use the same word asheim? Why didn’t he seek to assuage their guilty conscience rather than caution them to temper their anger? Rabbi Genack notes that the phrase “al tei’atzvu ve’al yichar bieineichem” are the same words that the Torah uses to describe the reaction of the sons of Yaakov when they heard of Dina’s abduction. The Torah writes “vayitatzvu ha’anashim vayichar lahem, they became aggravated and angry” (34:7). Yosef was subtly chastising his brothers. His brothers were willing to wage a near-suicidal battle to rescue their sister. They exhibited such anger and vengeance when their sister was kidnapped. Yet these same brothers were unable to muster any similar sentiment of anger and vengeance when Yosef was sold into slavery. Implicit in Yosef’s choice of words are the questions, “Why did you not care? Why did you discriminate against me? Why did you not undertake my defense with the same alacrity and fortitude you displayed on behalf of your sister?”

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In Parashat Beha’alotcha (p. 212), Rabbi Genack cites the Rav who notes that the pesukim “vayihi binsoa ha’aron” and the next pasuk “uvnuchoh yomar shuvah Hashem rivevot alfei Yisrael” (10: 35-36) are bracketed by two upside-down nuns. The gemara (Shabbat 116a) states that they constitute a sefer bifnei atzmo, a self-contained book. Rabbi Genack quotes the Rav who explains that this connotes what is reflected in the gemara (Nedarim 22a) that had the Jews not sinned at the episode of the meraglim, the entire Tanach would have consisted solely of the five books of the Chumash plus a sixth book, which would have contained a chronological account of the capture and distribution of the Land of Eretz Yisrael. The Rav theorized that the sixth book would have discussed the mechanism by which the land was invested with kedushah and would have detailed how the land was distributed among all of Knesset Yisrael. This sixth book would have commenced with the pasuk “vayihi binsoa ha’aron,” to depict that their entry into Israel would have been preceded by the aron, whose mere presence would have scattered all of the Canaanites. The book would have gone on to describe the allocation of the land. It would have detailed the construction of a beautiful Beit Hamikdash and the installation of the aron in the Holy of Holies. That book would have concluded with the pasuk “uvnuchoh yomar shuvah Hashem rivevot alfei Yisrael.” Once the aron would have been installed, the Divine presence would immediately have enveloped the Beit Hamikdash and would have thus endowed it with an eternal kedushah. The entire Knesset Yisrael would have resided in proximity to the aron and would have experienced an eternal communion with God. The Torah tells the people that this is what you lost because of your sin of the meraglim. You lost the sixth sefer that would have been. You lost the opportunity to be installed in an eternal land. You forfeited the opportunity of having hashra’at haShechinah on a daily basis. It is these and similar themes, parallels and insights that weave themselves intricately and eloquently throughout this work. They not only provide new understandings of the written word, but, in so doing, advance very clear and important messages that relate to our everyday existence. Despite a wide range of disparate elements and varied sources, the work is remarkably tight and unified by consistent and recurring motifs and refrains. The reader will be well rewarded by gleaning from the efforts, erudition and insights of Rabbi Genack as reflected in this sefer. My humble berachah to him is that he continue to shower us with his depth, range of knowledge and inspiring messages. We are all richer for his efforts on our behalf. g

The Rabbi & The Nuns: The Inside Story of a Rabbi’s Therapeutic Work with the Sisters of St. Francis Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski Mekor Press Brooklyn, 2013 190 pages Reviewed by Steve Lipman

psychiatrist and Chassidic rabbi, Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski has established himself as a master of crossing boundaries— writer of inspirational stories and of profound scholarship; friend of prominent Jewish leaders and of non-Jews of note (such as the late Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz); Orthodox insider and bridge to the wider Jewish community. In his latest book (he’s authored more than five dozen), Rabbi Twerski writes about a little-known working relationship, as a therapist and sometimes-religious-mentor, he conducted for two decades with a group of nuns (and some priests) in Pittsburgh, where he established the Gateway Rehabilitation Center, over which he now serves as medical director emeritus. “A long-term relationship between an Orthodox rabbi and nuns is a bit unusual,” he writes in the book’s introduction in a classic example of understatement. “When I walked down the street in the company of the sisters, many heads turned in disbelief.” A reader gets the feeling that the rabbi, an iconoclast in the frum community, enjoyed making heads turn. He tells his unusual tale with stories from his family and from the wise men of Chelm that color many of his earlier books. The nuns were from Pittsburgh’s St. Francis General Hospital. The rabbi was in a psychiatric training program at the University of Pittsburgh, develop-

Steve Lipman, a staff writer for the New York Jewish Week, is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.

ing what grew into his internationally recognized expertise in dealing with alcoholism and similar addictions. It was the early 1960s. Part of Rabbi Twerski’s training included two months at the psychiatric unit of St. Francis, run by the Sisters of St. Francis, “the only [psychiatric] emergency service in the tri-state area.” The head of the university’s Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Henry Brosin, asked Rabbi Twerski to take over the vacant directorship of St. Francis’ Psychiatric Department. “You think I’m meshugah,” Dr. Brosin said. “You said it. I didn’t,” Rabbi Twerski replied. The rabbi agreed to meet with Sister Adele, the hospital administrator. “I had no intention of taking the position at St. Francis,” Rabbi Twerski writes. He used the Orthodox-Jew card: he’d be unreachable “twenty-six hours” every week, on Shabbat. “Dr. Twerski,” the sister said, “we would never think of calling you on your Sabbath.” Next, the away-in-Israel ploy—the Twerskis were going there for two months. “We’ve waited this long [for a qualified director], we can wait a few more months,” the sister said. “Let me think it over,” Rabbi Twerski said as he left Sister Adele’s office. “Dr. Twerski,” she said, “I know you are going to be our director of psychiatry. Our Savior sent you to us.” “I decided to give it a try for one year,” Rabbi Twerski writes. “That ended up being twenty years.” During that time, he worked with patients admitted under the hospital’s turn-nobody-in-need-away policy, with nuns who were having a difficult time adjusting to the Vatican’s liberalized policy that offered a wider choice of careers in the Church beyond the stan-

dard teaching positions or hospital work, and with priests and nuns who had various problems that required psychiatric intervention. During that time, Rabbi Twerski picked up a working knowledge of Catholic procedures. He also established solid friendships in Catholic circles. To treat his wide range of patients, Rabbi Twerski employed a combination of medical training, rabbinical insights, street smarts and common sense. He became the go-to psychiatrist in Pittsburgh’s Catholic community. The cases of the men and women he saw, and usually helped, constitute the bulk of his book. Eventually, he left St. Francis Hospital to concentrate on his own rehabilitation center. “I was fortunate in being exposed to people and things I could learn from,” he writes. His encounters with Catholic clergy gave him respect for a faith group with which most Orthodox Jews have little relationship, he writes. “World history is replete with tragedies wrought by religious differences. I believe that attributing disagreements, wars and the inability to coexist peacefully to religious differences is nothing but rationalization, an invoking of religion to explain away hostility and selfishness that stems from totally different sources. Religious differences serve as a convenient scapegoat, and one tries to justify one’s aggression or violation of the rights of others by ascribing one’s motivation to defense of one’s religion.” Neither Rabbi Twerski nor the priests and nuns with whom he came in contact glossed over the “thorny . . . relationship of the church to Jews throughout history. However, we were working on being of service to humanity, and our feelings about the past were not going to deter us from our determination to work together. “The unique experience of ‘the rabbi and the nuns’ set an important example of what can be if you want it to be,” Rabbi Twerski writes. “This was a very rewarding experience for all of us. Hopefully, the nuns benefited from our treatment. I know that we benefited immensely from the relationship.” g

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Patterns in Genesis and Beyond By Rabbi David Sykes Patterns Publications 2014 589 pages Reviewed by Hayyim Angel

he field of literary analysis of Tanach has been substantially refined over the past four decades. New scholarly insights continue to illuminate the text and its messages. One person’s peshat is another person’s derash, and we can and always will debate the boundaries of what the text does or does not intend to say. The dimensions of peshat, derash, remez and sod come together in Rabbi David Sykes’ stimulating new work on Tanach. As he states in his prefatory remarks, this book took him over forty years to complete. Much of this work refines and expands upon his doctoral dissertation completed at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University in 1985, Patterns in Genesis, after which he taught Bible and other Judaic subjects at Yeshiva University. Back in the 1970s when Rabbi Sykes embarked on this pursuit, the literary revolution was just taking off in the academic world. Several prominent scholars began to consider the Biblical text as a final product to be analyzed for meaning, rather than dissecting the text or speculating as to its origins. This mode of inquiry often dovetailed substantially (but not entirely) with what midrash and classical commentators had been doing for millennia. Consequently, there was more room for productive dialogue between the yeshivah and the academic world than there had been for generations. Orthodox scholars transformed and channeled this method of analysis into a specifically religious framework.1 Rabbi Sykes writes from a traditional perspective. His insights are surrounded by midrashim and our Rabbi Hayyim Angel is the national scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals ( jewishideas.org). He teaches advanced Tanach courses to undergraduates and rabbinical students at Yeshiva University, and lectures widely.

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classical commentators, and he conveys a deep sense of reverence for the God-given Biblical text as well as for our great Biblical heroes. Because he does not distinguish between the different layers of interpretation, one might question the validity of many of Rabbi Sykes’ points, since it is often unclear that they are compelling from a peshat standpoint, even if many are plausible.2 Alternatively, one may view his book as an invitation to think about the dazzling spectrum of potential meaning latent in the Torah. This approach requires greater flexibility in drawing lines between peshat and other layers of interpretation. In this review, I will adopt the latter approach and briefly present several aspects of this work, with the hope of offering a small taste of the range of interpretation in Rabbi Sykes’ style and methodology. Word Patterns Rabbi Sykes is at his best when the patterns include compelling linguistic support, thereby demonstrating that two or more passages are in dialogue. For example, he traces the usage of tov and ra in Parashat Bereishit. After God’s creations are all tov, the Tree of Knowledge contains both tov and ra. This is the first occurrence of ra in the Torah, suggesting that evil is latent in creation. It is up to people to make the right choices. Chava was tempted to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, wrongly perceiving its goodness to be like that of God’s creation. The Torah uses the same expression as when God beheld creation: “Vateire haishah ki tov haetz lma’achal” (3:6). Through this sin, Adam and Chava gained sexual awareness, realizing that sexuality could be used for negative purposes as well as for positive. By the end of the parashah, the Bnei Elokim see the Bnot Ha’adam as good and take them, just as Chava had done when she beheld the forbidden fruit: “Vayiru Bnei HaElokim et Bnot Ha’adam ki tovat heinah vayikchu lahem nashim mikol asher bacharu” (6:2). Chava became sexually aware through eating the fruit, and now the

Bnei Elokim acted sinfully on that impulse, multiplying evil in the world. Disobedience to God brings curses instead of blessings (1-14). Rabbi Sykes routinely perceives meaning in the names of people and places. For example, the ark landed on Mount Ararat after the Flood, signifying the undoing of the arur, curses, from the sins of Adam and Cain (33). Similarly, Rabbi Sykes identifies wordplays on Noach’s name throughout the Flood narrative. Following the Flood, the ark rested, vatanach hateivah (8:4); the dove initially found nowhere to land, v’lo matzah hayonah manoach (8:9); and God smelled Noach’s offering, vayarach Hashem et reiach hanichoach (8:21) (36). Across Tanach Rabbi Sykes frequently traces patterns in Genesis through later Biblical narratives. For example, he suggests that the narratives about Binyamin foreshadow the reign of King Shaul. Yaakov names his son Bin-Yamin, son of my right hand, symbolizing strength and intimating that his tribe will rise to greatness. However, Rachel names him Ben-Oni, son of my grief and strength, suggesting that this kingship will be tragic and short-lived. Binyamin also was born en route to Bethlehem, implying that Shaul’s kingship will be a stop on the way to Bethlehem, that is, David’s birthplace (254-256). In an extended study, Rabbi Sykes explores the narratives of Lot and his descendants (145-176). Rabbi Sykes identifies a considerable number of contrasts between Avraham and Lot in the Torah. He also detects a series of parallels between Lot’s rescue from Sodom and the Israelites’ redemption from Egypt during the Exodus. He then explores parallels to the Ruth narrative, suggesting that Elimelech resembles Lot who was overly self-concerned, whereas Boaz reflects Avraham and his exemplary quality of chesed. This study is a fine example of how extensive the patterns might be within the Torah and beyond. Character Development Rabbi Sykes also exploits possible parallels to demonstrate how righteous and penitent characters can break out of negative patterns and transform

them into blessings. For example, there is a negative dimension in Yaakov’s deceptive behavior toward Yitzchak.3 After Yaakov returned to his homeland and confronted Eisav and wrestled with an angel, he was renamed Yisrael, suggesting straightness (yashar). Rabbi Sykes maintains that there are allusions to Yaakov’s positive transformation in his purchase of land in Shechem. Yaakov bought a parcel of land, chelkat hasadeh (33:19), for 100 kesitah. Rabbi Sykes links this purchase to Yaakov’s deception of Yitzchak, where Yaakov expressed concern that he was smooth-skinned, ish chalak (27:11). The unusual form of currency, kesitah, might be a wordplay on the Aramaic kushtah, truth. Now that Yaakov has resolved the negativity of the deception, he is again “smooth” and is associated with truth (234). In a different analysis, Rabbi Sykes adopts the reading of Ramban on Genesis 16 and criticizes Avraham and Sarah for their harsh treatment of Hagar (177-193). Ishmael would become a pere adam, a wild ass of a man, understood by Ramban as a barbaric individual whose descendants would persecute the descendants of Avraham and Sarah as punishment for their mistreatment of Hagar. 4 Rabbi Sykes suggests that Yosef’s being brought to Egypt as a slave specifically by Ishmaelites is an aspect of this punishment. Moreover, the angel ordered Hagar to return to her oppression under Sarah, v’hitani (16:9), and Yosef referred to his suffering in the land of his oppression as “b’eretz onyi” (41:52). To summarize, patterns in the Torah sometimes can be perceived as foreshadowing later events in the Torah and the rest of Tanach. However, patterns throughout Tanach also teach that repentance and righteous behavior can break and transform earlier negative patterns into blessings. This message, demonstrated through Rabbi Sykes’ careful attention to the tiniest details, is an inspiring theme that runs throughout his work. We have explored but a tiny sample of the wealth of ideas suggested by Rabbi Sykes. His book contains much material to inspire, excite and challenge. Readers can decide what is or is not compelling to them, but all will experience the multifaceted and eternally relevant glory of the Torah by reading this book. g Notes 1. See especially Rabbi Shalom Carmy, “A Room with a View, but a Room of Our Own,” in Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations, ed. Shalom Carmy (Northvale, New Jersey, 1996), 1-38; Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, “Criticism and Kitvei ha-Kodesh,” in Rav Shalom Banayikh: Essays Presented to Rabbi Shalom Carmy by Friends and Students in Celebration of Forty Years of Teaching, ed. Hayyim Angel and Yitzchak Blau (Jersey City, New Jersey, 2012), 15-32; Yael Ziegler, “Methodology and Concluding Remarks,” at http://vbmtorah.org/archive/ruth/38ruth.htm. 2. Already concerned with defining scholarly standards of literary analysis in the 1980s, Moshe Garsiel prefaced his study on the Book of Samuel with a substantial chapter on methodology. See Garsiel, The First Book of Samuel: A Literary Study of Comparative Structures, Analogies and Parallels (Ramat Gan, Israel, 1985), 11-57. 3. See, for example, Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit (Genesis), trans. Aryeh Newman (Jerusalem, 2010), 264-274. 4. For further discussion of the evaluation of the behavior of Sarah and Avraham in that episode, see Hayyim Angel, “Sarah’s Treatment of Hagar (Genesis 16): Morals, Messages, and Mesopotamia,” Jewish Bible Quarterly 41 (2013): 211-218, reprinted in Angel, Peshat Isn’t So Simple: Essays on Developing a Religious Methodology to Bible Study (New York, 2014), 213-222.

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Legal-Ease

By Ari Z. Zivotofsky

WHAT’S THE TRUTH ABOUT . . .

the Sale of Chametz on Pesach? Misconception: Along with chametz food that one sells to his rabbi, one also sells chametzdik dishes for the duration of Pesach. Fact: The rabbi does not buy the chametz but merely acts as an agent in the sale to a non-Jew. Dishes are usually not included in the sale. Background: There are several prohibitions surrounding chametz (“leaven”) on Pesach. In addition to the prohibitions of eating and benefitting from chametz during Pesach, there are two Biblical prohibitions which one violates merely by possessing chametz over Passover: bal yira’eh and bal yimatzei—chametz shall not be seen nor found in one’s possession during Pesach (based on Shemot 12:19 and 13:7). There is also a positive commandment to dispose of one’s chametz on Passover eve (based on Shemot 12:15). Finally, post-Pesach there is a rabbinic prohibition against benefitting from chametz that was owned by a Jew during Pesach. In order to comply with these injunctions, two methods of disposing of chametz are traditionally employed. The method used throughout much of history (when most people did not have pantries laden with food) was simply to destroy all of one’s chametz, preferably by burning. Out of the conRabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky is on the faculty of the Brain Science Program at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

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cern that one may not be aware of all extant chametz, Chazal instituted a search (bedikah) before destroying (biur) any found remnants of chametz. A second method used is bitul, a technical nullification of the chametz by which one declares his chametz to be ownerless and like the dust of the earth. In theory, either of these methods—biur or bitul—would suffice to avoid the Biblical prohibitions; in practice, both are used (Magen Avraham 431:2). Whatever method(s) is used, it must be carried out before the fifth halachic hour on Passover eve (Pesachim 21a; Shulchan Aruch, OC 434:2).1 It would seem that an equally valid solution is to give or sell the chametz to a non-Jew. 2 That is exactly what Rebbi advised Yochanan of Chakukaah to do with someone else’s chametz for which he was responsible (Pesachim 13a). That Talmudic story involves a standard, irrevocable sale in which a nonJew pays full market value for the chametz, takes it home and uses it. A typical mechirat chametz today differs in that the non-Jewish buyer gives only a small down payment, leaves the chametz in the Jewish individual’s house and after Pesach ownership is transferred back to the original owner.3 The earliest source for such a transaction is the Tosefta (Pesachim 2:6), which records that a Jew on a boat may sell or give his chametz to a non-Jewish shipmate and buy it back after Pesach.4 This is codified by Rambam (Hilchot Chametz U’Matzah 4:6)

and the Shulchan Aruch (OC 448:3). The Beit Yosef (OC 448:4) notes that selling chametz before Pesach and buying it back afterward constitutes ha’arama (subterfuge) but is nonetheless permitted as long as there was no ab initio condition that the non-Jew is obligated to sell it back. The procedure used today for mechirat chametz developed in various stages.5 Originally, the sale of chametz was like any other sale, as described above. Later, it became common to include an unwritten agreement that the non-Jewish buyer would sell the chametz back after Pesach. Over time, as more Jews found themselves with considerable quantities of chametz on erev Pesach, it became impractical to physically transfer the chametz,6 and non-Jewish buyers became reluctant to lay out such large sums of money. One reason for this development was that Jews in medieval Europe were not permitted to own land. Thus, some got involved in selling beer. Had they been required to destroy their entire stock before Pesach, their businesses would have been ruined. At this point, rabbis began arranging sales for individual merchants. The sales were formal, but the chametz would remain in the Jewish-owned warehouses and the nonJewish buyers would pay a fraction of the authentic value, leaving the remainder as a loan; after Pesach, the Jewish business owners would buy their merchandise back. This method presented a new

problem: how to deal with chametz that remained in the Jewish owner’s home or property. In the original method, the buyer removed the chametz from the Jewish individual’s house (Terumat Hadeshen 120) so that it should not appear that he has responsibility for it (MA, OC 448:4). Moreover, this way he would not come to accidentally eat it (Shu”t Radbaz 1:240). The Bach (OC 448:2) approved selling one’s stock of beer in conjunction with an innovation—together with the beer, the storeroom had to be sold or leased to the nonJewish buyer.7 This phase lasted from about the early seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century when the final innovation was introduced. The final stage in the development of mechirat chametz is more or less what exists today: a rabbi arranges a general sale of the chametz for the members of his community. In this sale, the non-Jew does not take possession, does not pay the full value of the chametz and he sells it back after Pesach. This mass sale is only about 200 years old and was originally opposed by many authorities who viewed it as blatant ha’arama. It has since been widely accepted and is normative practice today.8 Rabbinic authorities continue to modify various aspects, ensuring that the transaction is a legal and fully binding sale, and not a mere formality.9 It has become so accepted that the Mishnah Berurah (433:23) even suggests selling certain areas in one’s home that may be too difficult to check for chametz. Now that we explored the background of mechirat chametz, we must ask,10 what must be sold? Clearly, there is no need to sell kitniyot (legumes), whose consumption is only forbidden by Ashkenazic custom.11 Some authorities prefer not to sell pure chametz (e.g., bread, pasta; see Haggadat Minchat Asher, Sha’arei Teshuvah:1). Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Nefesh HaRav [Jerusalem, 1994], 177) advised his students and the congregants of the Moriah Shul in the Upper West Side of Manhattan not to sell pure chametz but only mixtures containing chametz. The Gra did not sell chametz unless it was a permanent sale

(Ma’aseh Rav, no. 180) and advised not buying items after Pesach that had been sold (Ma’aseh Rav, no. 181). Rabbi Moshe Feinstein advised his grandson not to sell pure chametz (Masoret Moshe [5773], 147). Through his shul rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Halichot Shlomo 135-138 and Shalmei Moed 321) performed the custom of mechirat chametz, but stated that ideally one should consume all of the actual chametz in one’s house before Pesach. He maintained that selling chametz is completely valid and that one could buy chametz after Pesach even from stores owned by irreligious Jews. He had a personal chumrah of not eating sold chametz but insisted others should not follow that practice. The Tzitz Eliezer (20:51[2]) views the sale of actual chametz as halachically acceptable. Others note that it is preferable not to buy chametz before Pesach in order to then sell it so that they will have chametz available immediately after Pesach (Shevet Halevi 4:49). Regarding chametzdik utensils,12 there are three categories of concern: “adhered chametz” (that is, chametz that tends to harden and to adhere to a surface such as the insides of pans, pots and cooking utensils), absorbed chametz and the utensil itself. The Shulchan Aruch and Rema (OC 442:11) discuss kneading bowls and flour bins which are difficult to clean and, due to the quantity of chametz that invariably remains even after a thorough cleaning, recommend giving these utensils away as a gift to a nonJew before Pesach, with the understanding that they will be returned after Pesach. The current practice is to sell “adhered chametz” since it is actual chametz.13 Generally, authorities do not find it necessary to sell absorbed chametz, and one would not violate the prohibitions of bal yira’eh and bal yimatzei with absorbed chametz. However, some halachic authorities, such as the Steipler, explicitly included absorbed chametz in the sale contract.14 The utensils themselves present more of a challenge. The question of what to do with chametzdik, nonkasherable dishes is discussed in the gemara (Pesachim 30a). Rav rules that

all chametzdik utensils must be destroyed and may not be used after Pesach.15 Shmuel disagrees and maintains that they may be used after Passover. The halachah follows Shmuel, and the Shulchan Aruch states (OC 451:1) that there is no need to sell or otherwise dispose of one’s chametzdik utensils. They simply need to be scrubbed clean of any visible chametz and locked away. After Pesach they may be used. The common practice is thus not to sell dishes. Such dishes, however, may not be used for food preparation on Pesach—not even for cold food (Rema, OC 451:1). They may be used for non-food purposes (Rema, OC 450:7) and sold to a non-Jew on Pesach (Shoneh Halachot 450:12). The discussion above pertains to chametzdik dishes; vessels that do not contain any absorbed chametz but are merely being used to store chametz are often sold in the contract used for mechirat chametz, similar to the way warehouses that store chametz are sold.16 Lest one desire to be overly stringent, selling dishes may result in an additional obligation—one would have to immerse the dishes in a mikvah upon

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repossessing them, as all metal and glass utensils acquired from a non-Jew17 require immersion. A significant dissenting opinion is the Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe). In his contract,18 he explicitly included the sale of those utensils that have actual chametz on them. The Lubavitch custom is thus to sell the utensils, but because the chametzdik utensils are never actually transferred to the non-Jewish buyer’s domain, they do not require immersion once they are returned to the original owner.19 The Ben Ish Chai (Tzav: 9) also states that the utensils should be sold. This is not the standard practice. The story is told20 that on Motzaei Pesach 1933 the Chazon Ish had a dream in which he was told to immerse all of his pots. The next morning he found out that the rav through whom he had sold his chametz had erroneously sold the pots.21 The sale of chametz must be fully binding under Jewish law, and some authorities require that it meet local legal standards as well. It is a complex and technical transaction involving intricacies of Jewish commercial law in which an error can lead to the violation of two Biblical prohibitions. Thus, the custom has developed to have a communal sale administered by a competent and experienced rabbi. The way it is performed today, the rabbi serves as an agent22 to sell the chametz, but at no point does the rabbi own any of the chametz that he is selling on behalf of others.23 g Notes 1. If a person travels and is in a different location than his chametz, this must be taken into account. The burning should take place before the bitul so one can perform the mitzvah with his own chametz (Rema, OC 434:2). Regarding the timing of the sale with respect to bitul, see Minchat Yitzchak 8:41. 2. According to Beit Shammai, this would not work, because all chametz owned by a Jew must be consumed or destroyed before Pesach (see Pesachim 21a). The mishnah (Pesachim 2:1) implies that the halachah is not like Beit Shammai. 3. On this modern sale, see: Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Stern, Mechirat Chametz K’hilchato (Hebrew) (Bnei Brak, 5749); Rabbi Steven Gottlieb, “Mechirat Chametz,” Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society XXXI (5756): 94-116; Rabbi Shimon D. Eider, A

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Summary of Halachos of Pesach (Lakewood, 1980), 30-35 and Rabbi Baruch Simon, Imrei Baruch (New York, 5775), 273-283. Note that this complex topic is addressed by many posekim, and this is obviously not a comprehensive study. 4. The Tosefta includes the stipulations that it be a complete transfer and that it not be subterfuge. See Tosefta k’Peshuta, vol. 4, 494-6, for some of the opinions regarding these crucial stipulations. 5. For an excellent summary of the historical development and halachic issues of mechirat chametz, see Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin, HaMoadim B’Halacha (Jerusalem, 1980), 294-304. 6. A related modern issue involves whether one must sell stocks one owns in companies that involve chametz. On this issue, see: Melamed L’ho’il l, OC: 91; Shu”t Haelef Lecha Shlomo 238; Minchat Yitzchak 3:1 and 7:26 and Moadim u’Zemanim 3:269 (which deals with improvements to make in the sale contract), n. 1. 7. This solved another halachic problem— the method of kinyan used to transfer ownership (MB 448:12, 17). To prevent one from accidentally eating from the chametz on Pesach, a token partition is erected around the sold chametz (SA, OC 440:2). 8. Rav Schachter (Be’Ikvei HaTzon [Jerusalem, 1997], 75) points out that mechirat chametz avoids the prohibitions but does not accomplish the positive commandment of destroying chametz. It is via the small amount that is left over and burnt that one fulfills the mitzvah of tashbitu (destroying one’s chametz). 9. Rav Shalom Mordechai HaKohen Schwadron of Brezhan, “Dinei Mechirat Chametz,” in Tcheilet Mordechai (5746), vol. 3, 362, writes that the main thing is that the sale should not be conducted in a frivolous manner, because it is only with great difficulty that this sale was permitted by the rabbis (par. 91). The sale should be handled by a competent authority (par. 91-2) and the dishes should not be sold or they will require tevilah upon returning to the Jewish owner (par. 105). The Chatam Sofer (Shu”t 1:OC:113 and 2:YD:310) supported the sale, and asserted that whoever questions it should be scolded. He maintained its validity even if the nonJew had no intention of it being an actual sale, as long as it was done legally. Rav Moshe Feinstein confirmed the validity of the sale, even if the chametz belonged to a store owner who actually did business with the sold chametz on Pesach (Iggerot Moshe, OC 1:149). 10. Historically the Jews of Yemen did not avail themselves of this option. They fulfilled the Biblical edict of tashbitu without any creative solutions and simply removed all chametz from their possession before Pesach.

If, by accident, someone was left with a large quantity of chametz, he would sell it outright to a non-Jew with no intent of repurchasing it after Pesach. Rabbi Yosef Kapach recommends that Yemenites continue to act in their traditional manner. (Rav Kapach to Rambam, Hilchot Chametz U’Matzah 2:3 and Halichot Teiman, 18). Regarding the Jews of Aden, a seaport city in Yemen, Aggadata d’Pischa claims they sold their chametz and even their dishes. However, according to Otzar Minhagei Aden (5773), 87-88, only businesses sold chametz but not chametzdik dishes or the dishes that were used to store chametz. 11. Some have suggested selling kitniyot, lest there be chametz mixed in (see Stern 4:5, p. 28). 12. See Stern, 4:6-8, pp. 28-29. 13. The contract used in Yerushalayim includes adhered chametz, absorbed chametz and nonglass and metal utensils. The Chatam Sofer’s contract included adhered chametz but not absorbed chametz or utensils. 14. Kraina d’Igrata, 371-2. For an exchange of letters on this topic between the Steipler and Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, see Rav Avraham Dov Levin, Seder Mechirat Chametz u’Mechirat b’Hamah ha’Mavkirah l’Goy k’Minhag Rabbanei Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh (5766), 43-48. 15. This was the practice among the Beta Yisrael Jews of Ethiopia, where most of the utensils were made of pottery. 16. See Stern, 7:16, p. 54. 17. For the many divergent opinions on this topic, see Darkei Teshuvah, Yoreh Deah 120:90; the long footnote in Rabbi Zvi Cohen’s Tevilat Keilim 3:3; Yabia Omer 6, YD:11 and Yechave Da’at 3:24 (where Rav Ovadia Yosef asserts one should not sell utensils and rules that they require immersion if sold). The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 114:2 also says not to sell utensils. Utensils made of material that do not require tevilah may be sold. 18. “Hilchot Mechirat Chametz,” found at the end of Hilchot Pesach (p. 234 in the 5773 ed.). 19. See the sichah from 1976 printed in HaMaor 54:2 (380): (March-April 2001): 3-5. 20. See Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, The Chazon Ish: The Life and Ideals of Rabbi Avraham Yeshayah Karelitz (New York, 1989), 57. 21. On the Chazon Ish’s opinion that there is no need to sell chametzdik utensils and that sold utensils require tevilah, see Emunah U’Bitachon 3:8 and Chazon Ish, OC 117:15. 22. If someone authorized more than one rabbi to sell the chametz, it does not invalidate the sale (Shu”t Minchat Yitzchak 6:38). 23. This is relevant in a case where one dies between authorizing the rabbi to sell his chametz and the rabbi performing the sale (see Rav Yaakov Ariel, B’Ohalah shel Torah 2:59).

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Spring 5775/2015 JEWISH ACTION 103

LastingImpressions

By Ann D. Koffsky

LIVING A

bout a year ago, my life changed. Shockingly, my kids weren’t babies anymore, and I went back to work. Well, that’s not quite accurate. I worked when I was home too—but it was freelance. I was an author/illustrator combined with stay-at-home mom. So my life was something like this: carpool, write, paint, make dinner, write, paint, grocery shop. Repeat. Needless to say, my sink was often full of dirty dishes. Now I work full-time. This new reality comes with many adjustments, from changing my wardrobe (no more sneakers and smocks) to grocery shopping only on Sundays. My lifestyle has definitely shifted. But more than the wardrobe and the shopping is the mental shift: a line has been drawn. In my first life, I raised little kids, and painted on the side. Now, in my second life, I am an editor, and if I am very fortunate, my teenagers generously speak with me and tell me what’s going on in school. There is still plenty of carpooling. But it feels like two very distinct chapters. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say I’ve been blessed with a second life. Just 150 years ago, people generally lived until age fortyfive, with many women dying even younger in childbirth. So that meant one would get married, have kids. . . and that was that. That was life. Today, lifespans typically reach well beyond forty-five. Men and women both now commonly have true arichat yamim and can reasonably expect to have twenty to thirty years of healthy living past retirement age. That means, in another twenty to thirty years, I (hopefully!) will have another transition to absorb, and will have to decide what to do with a third life. Ann D. Koffsky is the author/illustrator of more than thirty books for kids, and an editor at Behrman House publishers. Her newest book, Kayla & Kugel, is about a girl and her dog preparing for Shabbat. It’s due out this fall.

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DO UBLE LIFE

In the Torah, Miriam also had multiple chapters in her life. She spent the first phase of her life in Egypt, the second as a freed woman who had witnessed redemption. Rabbi Eliyahu Yedid, author of Sheva Haneviot, points out a fascinating detail about her. Miriam is presented with nearly the exact same challenge in both chapters of her life: she has a close relative who separates from his wife. In the first in-

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say I’ve been blessed with a second life. stance, it’s her father, and Rashi tells us that Miriam’s response was to speak up and strongly advise her father to remarry her mother. Result: Moshe is born, and the Jewish people are ultimately freed. In life two, Miriam is presented with a nearly identical situation. This time, it’s her baby brother who is separating from his wife. Her response? She speak ups. The result? Tzara’at. What happened? Why did Miriam’s response work the first time and not the second? Perhaps I can extend Rabbi Yedid’s insight, and suggest that Miriam made the mistake of thinking that both her lives were the same, and both situations were identical. But by definition they were not. One’s tafkid is different in each life, and even though we are the same person and situations can appear to be the same, they are in fact unique, and require different responses and actions. It was right for me personally to be home in my first life. It is right for me to be working in my second life. For someone else, it might be an entirely different choice. That’s the whole point: we are all different, we all have unique roles and those roles shift over time. The trick, of course, is to be the best “you” in all the lives Hashem gives you. g