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THE JEWISH Parshas Yitro • Candlelighting 4:51 pm • Luach page 20

Jan. 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776

Vol 15, No. 5 • TheJewishStar.com

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Keeping it kosher: Lipa stars at half-time

By Ed Weintrob While not every observant Jew is a football fanatic, those who are will join one of America’s largest television audiences on Sunday, Feb. 7, to watch the Carolina Panthers face the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Even if the rough-and-tumble of the big game may be suitable viewing, much of the heavily-hyped and televised halftime show — this year featuring Coldplay and Beyonce — is not.

With that in mind, Nachum Segal, Jewish America’s leading broadcaster, three years ago began offering a kosher alternative during halftime.

For this year’s “Kosher Halftime Show,� Segal’s headliner will be Jewish musical superstar Lipa.

Segal conceded that while some would argue that watching football is not an entirely appropriate activity, “the majority is excited about sports and appreciates a good football game.�

“I don’t want to sacriďŹ ce our participating in what American society is doing because a small part of it — the halftime show — is inappropriate, [so] we are continuing our tradition of offering a kosher alternative to what NFL provides in their halftime show,â€? Segal said.

He doesn’t expect to draw a massive audience during halftime — his broadcast will be carried on the Nachum Segal app and at NachumSegal.com — but “we’re making a statement, people can enjoy it at any timeâ€? by ďŹ nding it in the Nachum Segal Network archives.

Segal’s halftime show will be taped the night before the game, starting at 9 pm motzei Shabbos, before a live audience at the Teaneck Dog House kosher sports restaurant.

After the Super Bowl, Segal said he and his team, including General Manager Miriam L. Wallach of Woodmere, will travel to Israel for a series of broadcasts “from places that have gotten attention for the wrong /LSD GXULQJ D DSSHDUDQFH reasons ‌ to show our solidarity and deliver the messLQ %D\VZDWHU DQG 1DFKXP 6HJDO sage that our brothers and sisters are not abandoned.â€?

In Iowa, there’s real Touro dean eyes women’s Jewish in the deli role in Kabbalistic Tzfat

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By Miriam Karp Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, keeping pace with the needs of his community, has found a winning recipe: delicious eats in a warm and inviting atmosphere, spiced just right with an infusion of Jewish wisdom. And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not in New York, not even close: One would not expect to see this city among those on a list of Top Ten Kosher Delis: Des Moines, Iowa. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are widely known as the best Continued on page 14

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This week on pages 12-13

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

The eyes of America are on Iowa as the state prepares to host the ďŹ rst-in-the-nation primary caucuses next Monday night.

While Iowa is off the radar of most frum Jews, the Chabad Lubavitch emissary in the state capital of Des Moines is feeding both spiritual and temporal needs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for 24 years at his shul and more than a decade at his Maccabbees Kosher Deli.

This report is reprinted with permission of the Lubavitch International newspaper and Lubavitch.com

By Celia Weintrob On Rosh Chodesh Shevat, women who attended the Ohel Sara Amen Group in Lawrence enjoyed a lecture by the witty and informative Dr. Henry Abramson about the contribution of women to the Kabbalistic fellowship in Tzfat.

Identifying himself as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;specialist in the history of ideas,â&#x20AC;? Abramson, dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences at Touro College in Flatbush, explained why Tzfat was important as a major incubator of ideas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tzfat, a sleepy little town in the 16th century, never mentioned in the Tanach, experienced an explosion of Jewish spirituality,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It went from zero to 100 miles per hour over the course of about 80 yearsâ&#x20AC;? before dying out. But it affected Judaism for the next 400 years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be like having 100 Nobel Prize winners living here in [Lawrence zip code] 11559. Imagine running into them at Seasons! Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what Tzfat was like.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most women in Tzfat were as literate as their husbands, except it may have been in Portuguese or Spanish rather than Hebrew,â&#x20AC;? but there are few documented records of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voices in the fellowship, mostly hazy glimpses, Abramson said.

However, much is known about Francesca Sarah Fioretta of Modena, who was thought to have had prophetic abilities and was a dream interpreter. After dreaming that all of Tzfat would be destroyed by earthquakes and plagues, the rabbis coordinated a three day community-wide fast, which was followed by another dream that

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Hashem had accepted their teshuvah.

In this regard, Fiorettaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;authority was equal to that of men,â&#x20AC;? Abramson pointed out. This versatile woman â&#x20AC;&#x153;was well versed in the Mishna, Zohar and Torah, and gave classes behind a mechitza to men. There were many possibilities for women at that time.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fellowship was quite concerned with the status of women,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even the smallContinued on page 22

South Nassau Communities Hospital Respite Room

A HAVEN FOR HOSPITAL PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

SOUTH NASSAU AND ACHIEZER RECOGNIZE THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF THE LOCAL ORTHODOX JEWISH POPULATION AND ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE YOUR STAY MORE COMFORTABLE AND ENJOYABLE. We’re working with doctors, nurses and our entire hospital staff to raise awareness of the sensitivities and sensibilities of Orthodox Jews; and we are working closely with our Rabbinical consultants to anticipate our patients’ needs before they arise.

To highlight these efforts, we are pleased to provide the Kosher Pantry/Respite Room co-sponsored by South Nassau and Achiezer. This room offers a quiet haven for patients to relax, rejuvenate and enjoy a variety of kosher amenities provided exclusively for their use. Thanks to Gourmet Glatt, the pantry is fully stocked throughout the week and has hot meals for Shabbos and Yom Tov. And during the winter months (November-March), there is even a daily Mincha Minyan at 1:05 p.m. (Monday-Thursday).

For more information about the Respite Room or our other services, call 877-SOUTH-NASSAU, visit southnassau.org or call Achiezer at 516-791-4444.

South Nassau also offers a convenient Shabbos elevator, and comfortable overnight accommodations are available year-round at our kosher Shabbat Hospitality House, which is complete with beds, linen, durable kosher food items and a refrigerator. Electric Sabbath candles are available. Access to the Shabbat Hospitality House is arranged through South Nassau’s Spiritual Care Program.

When you find yourself in our hospital, visit the new Respite Room located on the Ground Floor G Wing adjacent to the Volunteer Office, and see for yourself why more and more Jewish families throughout the area are choosing South Nassau.

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January 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

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the media and public conversation about Israel and the Middle East,â&#x20AC;? called Sandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stance on Iran â&#x20AC;&#x153;deeply concerning.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iran is the engine of all misery, suffering, and instability across the Middle East. The notion that we would normalize relations with them is divorced from reality. That someone would suggest that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible is deeply concerning,â&#x20AC;? Block said.

For its part, despite this monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s implementation of last summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 nations, the White House has maintained that it will not seek to normalize ties with Iran, with Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes conďŹ rming that position on Jan. 15.

Block, however, argued that Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current Iran policy is more troubling than the expressed views of Sanders. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bernie represents a very Pollyanna and wishful thinking of the world. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a self-proclaimed socialist, and I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what you get from people who are communists and socialists, ideas that are divorced from reality. And I would contrast that with the presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective, in which the president is asking to

empower [Iran] and in many ways normalize relations with Iran.

That is much more dangerous than Bernie Sanders getting up as a socialist and calling for normalization,â&#x20AC;? Block said.

Brian Hook, who served as assistant secretary state in George W. Bushâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presidential administration, said Sandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position on normalization â&#x20AC;&#x153;would double down on Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s failed strategy to accommodate Iran.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Senator Sanders should resist the illusion that more dialogue and deeper bilateral relations with Iran will make things better for America or its allies. Quite the opposite, in fact,â&#x20AC;? Hook said.

Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign, which has attempted to portray the candidate as a sober and seasoned expert on foreign policy, has sought to capitalize on Sandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Iran comments. A group of 10 former diplomats and national security ofďŹ cials, many of whom worked under the former secretary of state or her husband as president, said in a statement critical of Sandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remarks: â&#x20AC;&#x153;These are complex and challenging times, and we need a commander-in-chief who knows how to protect America and our allies, and advance our interests and values around the world. The stakes are high. And we are concerned that Senator Sanders has not thought through these crucial national security issues that can have profound consequences for our security.â&#x20AC;?

The ofďŹ cialsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including Wendy Sherman, former undersecretary of state for political affairs; Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff to both the CIA director and defense secretary; and Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary of state for political affairs; among othersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;also called its â&#x20AC;&#x153;troublingâ&#x20AC;? that Sanders has so far had a limited publicly expressed strategy for eliminating the Islamic State terror group.

Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign continued its targeting of Sandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign policy credentials by releasing a video starring Jake Sullivan, a former key Hillary Clinton aide at the State Department, who helped make Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial diplomatic breakthrough with Iran in 2012 and now serves as a policy adviser to her campaign.

Sandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach to Iran â&#x20AC;&#x153;breaks with the sober and responsible diplomatic approach thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been working for the United States,â&#x20AC;? Sullivan said.

He added that the proposal to normalize ties with Iran â&#x20AC;&#x153;would not succeed, but it would cause very real consternation among our allies and partners.â&#x20AC;?

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By Sean Savage, JNS.org Although they both support the Obama administration-brokered nuclear deal with Iran, American policy on the Islamic Republic has become a fresh point of disagreement for the top two candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

During the latest Democratic debate on Jan. 17, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called for normalization in relations with Iran, which would represent a radical shift in U.S. policy in the Middle East. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she considered such a move to be premature. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think what we have got to do is move as aggressively as we can to normalize relations with Iran, understanding that Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behavior in so many ways is something that we disagree with,â&#x20AC;?

Sanders said. Clinton countered, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had one good day over 36 years, and I think we need more good days before we move more rapidlyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;before more normalization.â&#x20AC;?

Sanders, who is Jewish and was raised in Brooklyn, also said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Can I tell you that we should open an embassy in Tehran tomorrow? No, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think we should. But I think the goal has got to be as we have done with Cuba to move in warm relations with a very powerful and important country in this world.â&#x20AC;?

Supporters of Clinton were quick to blast Sandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position as naĂŻve and potentially dangerous. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sadly, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not shocked at Bernieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newly stated position.

It follows his most-liberal-at-any-cost naĂŻvetĂŠ on some foreign policy matters,â&#x20AC;? said Steve Rabinowitz, a Jewish backer of Hillary Clinton who heads the Bluelight Strategies public relations ďŹ rm, has worked on the national staffs of nine presidential campaigns, and served as White House director of design and productions for President Bill Clinton. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m particularly disturbed that Bernie, who has not had so much to say about Israel this campaign, chose to call for the U.S. to normalize relations with Iran on the very same day President Obama put on new sanctions,â&#x20AC;? Rabinowitz said, referring to new U.S. sanctions on Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ballistic missile program that were unveiled Jan. 17.

Josh Block, a self-identiďŹ ed Democrat who has been involved in national politics and policy for more than 20 years and now serves as CEO and president of The Israel Project, a â&#x20AC;&#x153;non-partisan American educational organization dedicated to informing

THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776

Sanders position on Iran: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Divorced from realityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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The aggadah and teďŹ llah

Wanna Play?

ALAN JAY GERBER

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Highlighted Workshop Free with museum admission

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LICM receives support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

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or many of us when we read the word aggadah, we assume that the subject deals with legend. However, after you read the book under review this week, the very concept of aggadah will take on a new, more truthful and realistic meaning.

Rabbi Immanuel Bernstein, a Londonborn scholar who now resides in Jerusalem and is the son of the distinguished Rabbi Isaac Bernstein, ztâ&#x20AC;?l, late rabbi of the famed Jewish Center on Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Upper West Side, recently published a learned and informative book entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aggadah: Sages, Stories, and Secretsâ&#x20AC;? (Mosaica Press, 2015).

Within this work can be found a fullblown deďŹ nition of the very essence of what constitutes aggadah, embodying such concepts as free will, basic belief, divine tests, evil speech, the art of gratitude, truth, Torah study, mitzvos and prayer. It is to this last subject, prayer, that I will devote the focus of my essay this week.

But, ďŹ rst a little background.

In my interview with the author, he informed me of the following: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was motivated to write this sefer for a number of reasons. Firstly, the subject of aggadah is one which is very close to my heart.

I have given shiurim on various aggadot over the course of a number of years and found that students really resonated with the method and ideas inherent in their content. â&#x20AC;&#x153;More speciďŹ cally, my goal was two-fold.

On one hand, I found the subject of Aggadah to be signiďŹ cantly under-appreciated by many among our people. It is frequently misunderstood, if not completely misrepresented. This is not a new phenomenon, it was discussed by the Rambam in his time and the Maharal in his era. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Secondly, the topics I chose to discuss through aggadah are key areas and ideas of Judaism, which themselves are often approached superďŹ cially or by rote, without insight or inspiration. There is always the hazard that Jewish living may, barring a conscious decision to the contrary, become performed by rote. Although the actual performance of mitzvos is critical and non-negotiable, added insight and innerness makes a world of difference.â&#x20AC;? abbi Bernstein elaborated on the purpose and theme of this work: â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a further goal â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that being that the discussion within the text accesses a broad range of classic works, many of which are now unfamiliar to most contemporary scholars. They are to be found within this work. To name but a few: Binah Leâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;itim, AďŹ kei Yehuda, and Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;aseh Hashem, the later a standard commentary on Chumash only a few generations ago. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had the privilege of being initiated into these works by my father, Rabbi Isaac Bernstein, ztâ&#x20AC;?l, who managed to impart his love and reverence for each and every classic Torah source, old and new. I take distinct pleasure in being able to share these gems with you.â&#x20AC;?

The author begins his work with the fol-

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Messy Afternoons

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January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

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lowing deďŹ nition of what is aggadah: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The term â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;aggadahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; deďŹ es a one-word English translation or deďŹ nition. Any suggestion such as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;stories,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;legendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or the like will invariably fall short of describing what aggadah really is, and will thereby serve only to detract from its [real] meaning.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The best deďŹ nition of aggadah is perhaps a negative one, i.e., all the teachings of the sages which are not halachic in nature. In other words, aggadah deals with the aspects of Judaism that go beyond the speciďŹ cs and parameters of the commandments, and instead focuses on areas such as Torah outlook, philosophy, values and ethical conduct.â&#x20AC;?

Do please remember this: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aggadah teaches how a Jew should view G-d, life, mitzvos, the world, people around him, and ultimately, himself.â&#x20AC;?

The author sums up his deďŹ nition by stating that aggadah is what we call Yiddishkeit, and teďŹ llah is real Yiddishkeit coming alive from your heart. I leave this to you, my dear reader to further explore.

The most fascinating section of

this work, to my estimation, is how the author relates aggadah to teďŹ llah. Please consider the following teaching entitled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Most Important Word in Prayerâ&#x20AC;?: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Although there is inďŹ nite depth to prayer and innumerable commentaries to the various individual prayers, these should not serve to take away from the simple profundity of the meeting that is taking place. Indeed, it has been said that without a doubt, the most important word we utter during our prayers is the word, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; This is the word which marks the fact that we are currently not talking about Hashem, as we may tend to do at other times during the day, but that we are talking to him.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Bernstein concludes with the following teaching: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A day that is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;prayer empoweredâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; should have a higher quality to it, which should ďŹ lter down to the daily things that we do, and raise them up to become building blocks of Torah growth.â&#x20AC;?

These excerpts of teachings themed to teďŹ llah are concepts that, when read completely in context, will give you a new perspective as to what you are really holding in your siddur. These brief segments are meant to give you but a taste of what to expect from Rabbi Bernsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teachings. I trust and hope that you will ďŹ nd it possible to share that with others, too.

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Sisters Karen Sheff thodox singles in their and Bonnie Sheff30s and 40s who live Meiselman have teamin the Five Towns and ed up with the Marion throughout the metro& Aaron Gural JCC of politan area. the Five Towns to hold Planned entertaina singles event motzei ment includes musician Mo Shapiro; Jen Shabbos, Feb. 6. the Caricaturist, and The Sheff sisters mentalist, and magihosted mixers for Jewcian Gary the Great. ish singles in their In addition to the enhome in years past, tertainment, the Sheff and after they outsisters say attendees grew that venue, their will have plenty of events moved to the time to meet and minJCC on Grove Avenue. %RQQLH 6KHII 0HLVHOPDQ DQG .DUHQ 6KHII gle.

An event held 13 years When not organizago was attended by ing singles events, Bonnie Sheff-Meiselman over 200 local singles in the Five Towns.

“Even after all these years, people still is a paralegal for a Manhattan law firm and come up to us and recall the singles parties Karen Sheff is the director of college huidwe had in the past,” Karen Sheff said. “While ance at a Long Island day school.

In conjunction with the JCC’s executive we are not professional matchmakers, we do our best to give singles a forum to meet in a director Joel Block and Cultural Arts and Education Director Rachayle Deutsch, this fun and non-pressured atmosphere.”

A few months ago, Bonnie Sheff-Meisel- foursome has been planning the event for man had a strong desire to revisit the idea months.

“The Marion and Aaron Gural JCC is very of running another event for singles. Because they had collaborated with the JCC in the excited to be expanding the reach of our past, Bonnie reached out and found that the services as we continue to grow in our Five JCC was excited about the prospect of part- Towns Community,” said Block.

Pre-registration for the singles event is renering with another singles event for memquired; admission is $20. bers of the community.

To reserve, call or text 917-902-8873 or The event, at Temple Israel, 140 Central Ave. in Lawrence, will be open to Modern Or- email itsyourdestinysingles@gmail.com.

THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776

‘Destiny’ singles event on Feb. 6 in Lawrence

A FREE PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS IN THE FIVE TOWNS

Make New Friends and Improve Your Skills In The Following Areas Public Speaking ) Team Building ) Philanthropy Advocacy ) Community Service

Program meets twice per month through June 2016.

Our next session is scheduled for February 4 @ 6 p.m.!

It’s not too late to join.

GIRLS LEAD IS A PROGRAM OF THE GURAL JCC, JCRC-LI AND THE HADASSAH FOUNDATION

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Contact Sharona Arbeit at the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC at 516-569-6733 x 218 or sharona.arbeit@guraljcc.org for more information

January 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

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From Israel, a tale of two heroes TEHILLA R. GOLDBERG VIEW FROM CENTRAL PARK

W

e are all still reeling from the news — a mother of six children who, despite heroically fighting back, was brutally butchered into submission amidst bloodcurdling screams and a pool of blood, all before the eyes of her children. And we wonder: How can any human do this to another human? Seriously, how?

As terrible as shooting another human is, it is usually done from afar, so you don’t have the kind of intimate contact and proximity that a stabbing entails; with a bullet the horrific process of taking another life is swift.

But to engineer the cold blooded murder of a mother, someone whom you knew as you were employed in her community, and to make her children the witnesses of this bloody brutality … how?

There are those whose impulse is to cite the Israeli occupation as the reason — in other words, as the justification — of coldblooded murder.

No doubt the political reality is a complex one. But when you think about how this happened, when you think about this teenager — yes, this savage was merely 16 years old — you think about the society that cultivated him.

Certainly there are good Palestinian families who educate their children toward kindness, responsibility, ethics and even altruism. But Palestinian TV — the stuff of Palestinian childhoods — reflects unbridled hatred, the lauding of cold-blooded murder and of beheadings, all wrapped in sweet catchy, childhood songs and fun. This is Palestinian entertainment.

This transcends politics.

So when, twistedly, over and over, your girsa deyankuta — your childhood imprint — is viewing the murder and knifings of Jews as routine, normal, cute and laudatory, your senses get dulled. Your humanity gets dulled.

Until one day you are capable of imitating the repeated televised behavior that you know will yield praise and renown. So taking a machete and slaughtering a fellow human … wait, but he’s a Jew, so he’s not really human, right?

Well, it becomes doable and matter-of-fact to

a depraved person, a hollow of humanity.

An entire society is complicit in these murders. Those who encourage this behavior, lionized in the Palestinian society of hate, are accessories. Parents. Educators. TV programmers. Politicians. They are all accessories. o I return to my original, unanswerable question: How? Thankfully we can’t understand it. Thankfully the gulf between us is so vast, we can’t comprehend. They hate, and we love; they kill and we live.

Can the contrast be a coincidence? Consider the Fogel family, whose young surviving daughter’s words of courage in the face of crushing pain jolted us all? Or the mothers of the three kidnapped boys who carried an entire nation by their sheer inspiration? And now, Natan Meir, Dafna’s widower’s concise eulogy, a lesson in faith and love.

Coincidences? I think not. These heartrending tragedies have given us a glimpse into these “settlers.” This is who they are. Random settlers have been targeted, but the response has largely been the same. Because this is what their society is cultivating.

I am not blind to the profoundly disturbing and frightening violence on the rise of the marginal “Hilltop Youth,” as they are called.

The mainstream settler community is professional, non-violent, humanitarian, altruistic.

S

Ideologically, they believe in the entirety of the Land of Israel. Personally, they reject violence, believe in human dignity for all and often forge connections with their Palestinian Arab neighbors. This is a community of salt-of-the-earth, idealistic Jews whom you respect tremendously.

Dafna was a woman of humanitarian sensibilities — a nurse who compassionately cared for her fellow Jews as well as those considered enemies of her people with equal compassion and professionalism. So devoted was she to this mission that she composed a prayer honoring this message, a prayer of her heart.

Here was a woman whose mission was saving lives; the mission of her murderer, cutting life. Here was a woman who, in addition to her own biological children, fostered two more. Here was a woman who returned grace and kindness to the world, and in contrast here was her murderer, who forever stained this world, and the worlds of children, with the mark of blood, agony, murder.

It’s tragically ironic that this young murderer of a mother is also being hailed as a hero. Already, he is being lionized. Perhaps a street will be named for him in his Palestinian neighborhood. Or maybe, it will be the next Palestinian children’s TV show.

Copyright 2015 by Intermountain Jewish News

Global war against anti-Semitism BEN COHEN VIEWPOINT

A

nother week, another litany of ugly incidents targeting Jews, along with expressions of concern about rising anti-Semitism around the globe, and even the odd solution offered up. But as we’ve been slowly learning since the turn of this century, not much really changes.

Let’s start with France, where in the last four years Islamist terrorists have executed two massacres at Jewish sites—first at a school in Toulouse in 2012, which resulted in the murders of a teacher and three children, and then at the Hyper Cacher market in Paris in January 2015, where four people lost their lives.

On Jan. 11, 2016, a Jewish studies teacher in Marseille was brutally attacked with a machete. What identified him as a Jew to his Muslim assailant was his yarmulke. Consequently, French Jewish leaders have been

passionately debating the wisdom of Jewish men covering their heads in public.

They have good reason to feel insecure; a poll conducted by the magazine Paris Match revealed that 71 percent of French citizens believe that anti-Semitism is rising. Perhaps encouragingly, 70 percent feel that Jews should not refrain from donning yarmulkes if they wish. But that does not allay the community’s fear that wearing a yarmulke has become an invitation to assault.

Then there is Germany. It was only a year ago that Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed genuine shock at the notion that Jews were, yet again, doubting their future in the land that served as the Holocaust’s cauldron. Her reassurance that she was “glad and grateful” to have a Jewish community was duly noted and appreciated, but the nerves have only increased with the mass influx of refugees from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries over the last few months. Recently, Jewish leaders in Hamburg and Wuppertal have underlined the insecurity prevailing in those two communities.

Across the English Channel, Jews in the

United Kingdom continue to grapple with anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism.

The latest manifestation of this phenomenon was on display at London University’s venerable King’s College, where a Jewish society meeting featuring Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service and presently a peace activist, was obstructed by rioting pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Windows were smashed and fire alarms were set off as a baying mob of overprivileged students rampaged through what their own university deems a “safe space.”

In America, too, there has been a graphic reminder of the overlap between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Julio Pino, a Kent State University academic known principally for screaming “Death to Israel” at a 2011 meeting featuring Ishmael Khaldi, an Israeli diplomat who is also a Muslim and a Bedouin, is reportedly under investigation by the FBI over possible links to the Islamic State terror group. If that sounds far-fetched, it shouldn’t. The hatred of Jews and Jewish empowerment that lies at the heart of IsContinued on page 18

7

RABBI BINNY FREEDMAN THE HEART OF JERUSALEM

I

n April of 1988 I was called up for my first reserve duty, a few months after the first intifada exploded. We were stationed for a month in a nasty little place called Jebalya, a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza strip. One day I was given an assignment to take six men and set up a lookout position on the roof of an Arab house above a main road where Jews often travelled. There had been a number of incidents that week, including riots, Molotov cocktails, burning tires laid across the road and rock-throwing at moving vehicles; our job was to help get things back under control.

One of the interesting aspects of this detail, was that each morning, the Arab owner of the house, an older man, would come up on the roof with a tray holding a samovar of tea and some glasses for me and my men. He would pour tea for himself first, take a drink (sensing our obvious hesitation) and then absolutely refuse to take no for an answer, pouring us each our own glass of tea. The interaction was fascinating and on a number of occasions we had some interesting conversations. One morning one of the men, hearing a noise behind him, wheeled around in a hurry and accidentally banged into this Arab fellow with his tray and tea glasses, knocking over the entire tray, tea glasses and all. He apologized profusely.

A few days later, upon returning from his weekend leave, this same soldier sought out the Arab man who had brought us tea the week before and gave him a brand new set of tea glasses. It was a beautiful moment, reminding me, with all the craziness we had been experiencing in the Gaza strip, of what it means to be part of a Jewish army.

These are not the stories that make it into the New York Times, nor do the members of Breaking the Silence share such stories, though I can share countless similar experiences in my 30 years in the Israeli army and reserves. But these are the stories that make us who we are as a Jewish people, and a Jewish army, in a Jewish State. his week’s parsha, Yitro, shares the incredible account of G-d’s revelation to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, and the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people and ultimately the world. However, the portion does not begin with G-d, Moshe or even the Jewish people, but with Yitro, Moshe’s non-Jewish father-in-law who was a Midianite priest and who will ultimately play a central role in creating Judaism’s first judicial system.

Our parsha, in which the Torah is given, arguably the most important portion in the entire Torah, is named after this non-Jewish priest.

Why would the portion, which contains the revelation of G-d Himself, begin with the advice of a Midianite?

There is an interesting turn of phrase Yitro employs when making his suggestion to Moshe: “Madua atah yoshev le’vadecha? … Lo tov hadavar…” (“Why do you sit alone? …

This is not good…” (Shemot 18:14-17) When we study Torah, Jewish tradition

teaches us not just to read, but also to listen carefully, for often we can hear the echoes of words from different places. One cannot help but be reminded here of the first (and only other) time in the Torah something is described as “not good.” Just before Hashem creates Eve, the first woman, no less than G-d Himself says: “Lo tov heyot ha’Adam levad” (“It is not good for man to be alone…”)

(Bereishit 2:18) Being alone, the Torah is telling us, is by definition not good. And this means the definition of that which is truly good is when we are one, together. Even someone as great as Moshe, whom Judaism sees as the greatest man that ever lived, is still doing something “not good” when he tries to do it alone.

We are called “Am levadad yishkon…” (“A Nation that dwells alone”) (Bamidbar 23:9 ), but this is not necessarily the ideal; one day we will be one, together, with the whole world. As we say at the conclusion of the Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur Musaf service: “Ki Beiti beit tefillah ykareh lechol ha’Amim” (“One day my House [the Temple] will be a house of desire for all the nations”). aimonides in his Hilchot Deot (laws of character traits) points out that our goal as individuals is to find the middle balanced path; the straight and narrow, which he also calls “derech hatovim” (“the good path”) (Deot 1:3).

In fact the root of all the character imbalances we struggle with is when we think it’s “all about us.” As an example, the first two character traits the Rambam lists as being “off balance,” are anger and arrogance. Anger is about expectations — a person thinks he deserves more and gets angry because it’s all about them. And arrogance is obviously also when a person sees himself as the center of the universe.

Indeed all the character flaws we experience as human beings — pursuing unhealthy desires, laziness, stinginess and so on —begin with a person putting their own pleasure or desire ahead of how it might adversely affect others. And the easiest path towards correcting such character flaws is to realize it’s not about us, that it’s bigger than us, and recognizing that every human being is created in the image of G-d, which means seeing G-d in every human being.

When a person views the world through such lenses he or she is never alone; they become one with a much larger picture.

Perhaps that is why the Torah names this portion after a Midianite — because as we are about to receive the most important revelation in human history, directly from G-d, and rise to being the chosen people, we are reminded that wisdom is all around us, and we can learn from every human being everywhere.

We are in the midst of an growing worldwide war against terrorism, against evil, and against fundamentalist Islam. And wars are not negotiated, they are either won or lost.

But in the midst of this conflict we must take special care to remain true to one of the principals of Judaism: that every human being is created by G-d, in the image of G-d, and worthy of respect mandated by G-d.

Which is why a tray of tea glasses, even in the midst of war in the Gaza strip, is still important.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776

Even in war of terror, tea glasses matter

Every human being is created by G-d, in the image of G-d, and worthy of respect mandated

by G-d.

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Low fat … with coffee JUDY JOSZEF WHO’S IN THE KITCHEN Here’s one more Judy rerun this week, as she wraps up her yeshiva-break vacation. et’s face it, how many of us would like to limit the amount of fat in our diet? How many of us actually do?

Most of us groan at the thought of giving up the foods we love most, but the scale tells another story. Comedian Stephen Phillips said it best, “In the Middle Ages, they had guillotines, stretch racks, whips and chains.

Nowadays, we have a much more effective torture device called the bathroom scale.”

As Julia Child said, “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” As well as “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.”

Ellen DeGeneres once quipped “Buns of Steel? The only buns I’m interested in are buns of cinnamon.”

Albert Einstein discovered that a tiny amount of mass is equal to a huge amount of energy. Humorist Dave Barry reminds us of this statement that Einstein himself so eloquently put it in a famous 1939 speech to the Physics Department at Princeton, “You have to exercise for a week to work off the thigh fat from a single Snickers.”

For years, when a client would ask me if my chocolate praline mousse cake or mile high lemon cloud “real whipped cream” cake could be made low fat my answer was simple, NO! Certain desserts just don’t work as well with reduced fat, but as I’ve learned through the years, there are many recipes that do very well with lower fat content.

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Approx. 130 calories and 4 grams of fat Ingredients: 1-1/4 cups flour 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 tsp baking powder 2 eggs 4 tbsp butter 3/4 cup skimmed milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp grated lemon rind 1 cup fresh blueberries Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees 2. Place paper muffin cups into 12 cup

muffin tin 3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the melted butter, milk, vanilla and lemon rind and stir to combine. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture.

With a large metal spoon, just stir until the flour is moistened, not smooth.

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6. Spoon the batter into the cups, leaving room for the muffins to rise. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. The muffin should be well risen and firm in the middle.

/RZ IDW GULHG FKHUU\ PXIÀQV Approx 195 calories and 6.5 grams of fat Ingredients: 1 cup plain yogurt 1 cup dried cherries 1/2 cup butter 1 cup superfine sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla

1-2/3 cups flour 2 tbsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp salt Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. Place paper cups into a 16 cup muffin tin (or two 8 muffin tins).

3. In mixing bowl combine the yogurt and cherries. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.

4. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.

6. Add the vanilla and the cherry mixture and stir to blend. Set aside. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder baking soda and salt. Fold in the cherry mixture.

Don’t over mix.

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Northwell: Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sticking with â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jewishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;LIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; metropolitan area. For those reasons, and because of the potential for future expansion, the health systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Board of Trustees decided to embrace a new name that did not conďŹ ne the organization by geographic modiďŹ ers.

Your readers should also know that while most of our hospitals will be retaining their names, there are two exceptions: Forest Hills Hospital and Franklin Hospital in Valley Stream will be more closely afďŹ liated with Long Island Jewish Medical Center. In the near future, they will be renamed Long Island Jewish Medical Center at Forest Hills and Long Island Jewish Medical Center at Valley Stream, further dispelling the suggestion in your story that our health system has â&#x20AC;&#x153;ended its identiďŹ cation with Jewish and Long Island.â&#x20AC;?

Northwell Health is proud of both its Long Island and Jewish heritage. About half of our institutions continue to be based on Long Island and many of our most-generous philanthropists and members of our Board of Trustees are of

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This letter is in response to a cover story in The Jewish Starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jan 8 edition.

I would like to clear up several inaccuracies regarding The Jewish Starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s front-page story, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jewish boy is ďŹ rst born as hospital drops Jewish name.â&#x20AC;?

Your headline mistakenly states that the â&#x20AC;&#x153;hospital has dropped its Jewish name.â&#x20AC;? Long Island Jewish Medical Center continues to be known as Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center.

As is explained later in the story, the health system to which LIJ belongs has changed its name from North Shore-LIJ Health System to Northwell Health. The corporate name change reďŹ&#x201A;ects the reality that the health system is much more than just two institutions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and now extends far beyond Long Island.

Rebranding as Northwell Health recognizes our evolution into a regional clinical, research and education enterprise that now includes 21 hospitals, 450 outpatient practices and other facilities located throughout the New York

THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776

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Duncan Hines Classic & Signature Cake Mixes All Flavors - 15.3 oz

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9 oz - 15 oz

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5

Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Brisk, Gefen Baby Corn, Bean Gefen Marinara & Pasta Sauces Schweppes, Mountain Sprouts or Bamboo Assorted Shoots Dew

Regular or Spicy 8 oz

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Quaker Chewy Granola Carolina Yellow Rice Bars or Rice Pilaf Mix

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Sabra Guacamole

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ABC, Animal, Chocolate Chip 12 oz

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January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

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13 THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776

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Cut C F French $949 lb. Boneless Breaded Roast R Fillet Chicken $ 49 ...................

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Family Pack or Fingers 5($'< 72 %DNH ...................

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January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

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JEWISH STAR TRAVEL Real taste of Judaism, in a kosher deli in Iowa Continued from page 1 deli in town. Hundreds come in each week, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve probably served 20,000 to 30,000 people by now. Our food is good, our place is sparkling clean, but what we really do is farbreng all day,â&#x20AC;? Rabbi Yossi offers.

Corned beef, pickled just right, on thick slices of rye, with pumpernickel seeds embedded in the chewy thick crust. A juicy, ďŹ rm garlicky pickle. The kosher deli stirs up warm memories, nostalgia for the old world.

I was with my dad when his cardiologist told him heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have to follow a low sodium diet. Dad was concerned. Could he cheat at least once a month and have a corned beef sandwich and cup of that amazing chicken soup at his favorite deli, thick golden broth with carrots and matzo ball ďŹ&#x201A;oating on top, he asked the doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with urgency. More than a good meal, he needed this ďŹ x to nurture something in his soul.

But dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deli of choice was â&#x20AC;&#x153;kosher-style,â&#x20AC;? as are so many these days. A true kosher deli is a rarity, especially outside of major Jewish nesting spots like New York, Los Angeles or Miami. At the height of the Great Depression there were more than 1,500 kosher delis in New York, according to Ted Merwin, author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli. They were a primary gathering place for the Jewish community, a

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place to schmooze and connect. They combined that ubiquitous American food, the sandwich, and pickled European meats, serving as a bridge between Jewish and American cultures.

Though the 21st century ďŹ nds a dwindling number of Jewish delis, Iowa has one that offers patrons a bridge in the other direction, back to their roots, their holidays, traditions and wisdom, once over easy, with a generous side of cole slaw.

Rabbi Jacobsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Maccabee Glatt Kosher

Deli, in the rolling plains of mid-America, stomping ground of presidential hopefuls, seems so out of place to most passersby, it has lured many an unusual customer through its front door.

Chani Jacobson laughed when asked for a unique story. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My husband brings home special stories every day.â&#x20AC;?

She recalls the one about the group of musicians who were passing through. They were headed to a cafĂŠ around the corner when they happened to see the sign for a glatt kosher

deli. They had to come in and check it out. Tattooed, sporting long hair and leather jackets, some on motorcycles, they parked themselves at a table and Yossi got a schmooze going.

Turns out two of them were Jewish. After their meal, they took Yossi up on his offer to wrap teďŹ llin. For one, it was a ďŹ rst, for the other, the second time since his bar mitzvah.

The menu lists appealing sandwiches like Whole Megillah, Roosevelt â&#x20AC;&#x201D; turkey and pastrami, Zaydeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Feast, Cole Slaw (Koslow) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; knish and steamed salami, Bubbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nosh egg roll and sliced turkey.

How did the Yossi and Chani get into the restaurant business, where long intensive days are the rule? â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we ďŹ rst came here, over 20 years ago, kosher was one of the observances that people were hanging onto. We started a kosher food co-op to help them, providing meat and grocery supplies. One thing led to another, and the deli slowly developed. We never realized how big it would become,â&#x20AC;? Chani recalls.

The Des Moines metro area has a small Jewish community of about 3,000 Jews in a general population of 500,000. But the deli is now a byword in Des Moines and the surrounding area. All kinds of people come from hours away to get brisket, geďŹ lte ďŹ sh, Passover supplies, and some warm inspiraContinued on next page

15

Continued from previous page tion. Someone might come in once every ďŹ ve years, because he just needs to have a kugel like Bubbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People come in hungry, and good kosher food brings everyone together. When theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re fed and feeling good, they often ask questions, sometimes questions they wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even ask their own rabbi. But all the town rabbis come in too. In this relaxed atmosphere, we can share a good word, a new idea. This is our way to strengthen our ties to each other and to Torah. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an oasis of yiddishkeit that brings everyone together. It feels like home. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jews and non-Jews enjoy our food and feel the warmth. Many public ofďŹ cials and well-known ďŹ gures come through, especially during election season. Being kosher doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hurt. It has become a place where people unite and show tolerance for each other. Rick Perry came here; his campaign called us. We met the news crew that accompanied him. Some were Jewish and had never put on teďŹ llin.â&#x20AC;?

All kinds of vehicles might grace the lot, including 15-wheelers. Joe, a trucker, frequents the place. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One day I was in the mood for a good

pastrami sandwich and I ďŹ gured I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go wrong visiting a kosher deli. When I walked in I was immediately greeted by Rabbi Jacobson with a hearty â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shalom!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Not being of Jewish background I responded back with a wave and a hello. Now weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re buddies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love the food and philosophizing. The rabbi really cares and takes a minute to make a personal connection. I stop in most every time Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m passing through the city.â&#x20AC;?

Yossi lives by the maxim that â&#x20AC;&#x153;words from the heart enter the heart.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We try to be there, with an open mind and heart, to sense what people need,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A young couple came in recently. They thought they came for a meal, but I could see they really came in to talk. I went over and said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Is everything ok? I see somethingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s troubling you, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a rabbi, in case you feel like talking.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Their pain and tension was almost tangible. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They bared their broken hearts and told me how they had lost a young child in a tragic accident only several months earlier.

The tragedy was magniďŹ ed because the father had buckled the child in her car seat

incorrectly. The wife blamed him, and just couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forgive him; could barely stand him. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What can I say when G-d sends us such a situation? I try to ďŹ nd an idea, a perspective from the Rebbe, to help the people reframe the situation in the midst of the terrible pain.

At one point in our intense discussion, the man cried out with deep regret and anguish.

It was a cry from the heart. â&#x20AC;&#x153;His wife had not heard him express this before. She needed to hear his soul bared. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When they walked out of the deli they were in a different space, united, accepting of each other and ready to start to move on, together. People leave with hope, more grounded in who they are. We do in-reachâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; we bring out the joy thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s within them. You never know what effect your words will have.

Sometimes someone will say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Oh, rabbi, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m still living with what you told me ďŹ ve years ago.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; We try to share the Rebbeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s message of love and tolerance for everyone.â&#x20AC;?

Stuart Oxer, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Des Moines, is a regular. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yossi and Chani and their deli are a blessing for our community,â&#x20AC;? Oxer said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For some the deli may be the only Jewish place

they will go, but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll always be welcomed and made to feel comfortable.â&#x20AC;?

One community member thinks the place, where so much discussion and conversation takes place, should be renamed Hillel vs.

Shammai Deli in honor of the great Talmudic debating partners.

What if someone just wants a sandwich, without all the interaction? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Well,â&#x20AC;? Stuart says smilingly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No one will bother you. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty hard to get out of there in 15 minutes. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not really just a meal. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an experience.â&#x20AC;?

Maccabbeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kosher Deli also houses a Judaica store and small grocery that includes some Cholov Yisroel products. It is open daily except Monday and Shabbos, at 1150 Polk Blvd., 515-277-1718. Order online for pickup (make it a ďŹ rst stop out of the airport or a pit stop on a cross-country road trip!).

The Chabad shul in Des Moines, at 943 Cummins Parkway, holds services on Shabbos and yom tovim; it is directly across the street from an OU-aďŹ liated Modern Orthodox congregation, Beth El Jacob Synagogue, at 954 Cummins Parkway (515-274-1551), which has daily minyanim.

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THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776

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January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

16

Hillary Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions on Israel: a timeline

By Jacob Kamaras, Alina Dain Sharon and Sean Savage Sen. Bernie Sanders is surging in the polls, but Hillary Clinton has long been the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race. If elected, how would U.S.-Israel relations fare under her watch? To gain insight into the prospect of a Clinton administration for the Jewish state, JNS.org looks backâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in reverse chronological orderâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;at her words, policies, and relationships as they relate to Israel over the course of the various stages of her political career.

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In the latest Democratic presidential debate, Clinton disagrees with an assertion by Sanders that â&#x20AC;&#x153;what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to do is move as aggressively as we can to normalize relations with Iran.â&#x20AC;? While Clinton expresses that she is â&#x20AC;&#x153;very proudâ&#x20AC;? of the newly implemented nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, she cautions, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had one good day over 36 years, and I think we need more good days before we move more rapidlyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; before more normalization.â&#x20AC;? Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have opposed the Iran deal over security concerns.

In November, Clinton appoints Earl F. Hilliard, a former House of Representatives member who blamed an election defeat on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jewish interestsâ&#x20AC;? and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jewish media,â&#x20AC;? to her presidential campaignâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Alabama leadership team. Hilliard was considered one of the most vocal opponents of Israel in Congress while he represented Alabama in the House from 1993-2003.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Clinton and her campaign team â&#x20AC;&#x153;have regularly reached out to opponents of the Iran deal in recent weeks, including American Jewish leaders.

The outreach to the Jewish community appears to be working. A number of Jewish leaders said they remained deeply concerned about the agreement, but said Mrs. Clinton wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t facing the same type of criticism as Mr. [Barack] Obama.â&#x20AC;?

In July, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren comes out with his much-discussed memoir, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide.â&#x20AC;? Oren recalls being consistently rebuffed in his attempts to meet with Clinton during her time as secretary of state on the grounds that she â&#x20AC;&#x153;did not receive ambassadors,â&#x20AC;? in contrast to former secretary of state Condoleezza Riceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s willingness to regularly meet with Sallai Meridor, the Israeli envoy at the time.

In an op-ed for the Forward, Clinton writes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am deeply committed to Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future as a secure and democratic Jewish state, and just as convinced that the only way to guarantee that outcome is through diplomacy. And while no solution can be imposed from outside, I believe the United States has a responsibility to help bring Israelis and Palestinians to the table and to encourage the difďŹ cult but necessary decisions that will lead to peace. As president I will never stop working to advance the goal of two states for two peoples living in peace, security, and dignity.â&#x20AC;?

In March, Clinton says in a phone conversation with Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, that â&#x20AC;&#x153;we need to all work together to return the special U.S.-Israel relationship to constructive footing.â&#x20AC;? The U.S. and Israel, she says, should â&#x20AC;&#x153;get back to basic shared concerns and interests, including a two-state solution pursued through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. â&#x20AC;Ś We must ensure that Israel never becomes a partisan issue.â&#x20AC;?

In her new memoir, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hard Choices,â&#x20AC;? Clinton characterizes Israel as an occupying force. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we left the city and visited Jericho, in the West Bank, I got my ďŹ rst glimpse of life under occupation for Palestinians, who were denied the dignity and self-determination that Americans take for granted,â&#x20AC;? she writes, recounting a 1981 trip with her husband.

Clinton also writes in the memoir, â&#x20AC;&#x153;In retrospect, our early, hard line on settlements didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work,â&#x20AC;? arguing that the Obama administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stance against Israeli settlement construction hardened Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position. But Noah Pollak, executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), writes for the Weekly Standard that Clinton was trying to rewrite her position on settlements. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is very difďŹ cult, looking at her record during this period, to conclude that the presentation of her role in her book is accurate,â&#x20AC;? writes Pollak. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a simple and likely explanation for this revisionist history: She knows that her prominent role in the past ďŹ ve years of acrimony between the Obama administration and Israel is unhelpful

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to her presidential ambitions, and so she is attempting to distance herself from the administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s record by downgrading her involvement in its Israel policy.â&#x20AC;?

A television advertisement from ECI questions Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s silence on Secretary of State John Kerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comment in April that Israel risks becoming an â&#x20AC;&#x153;apartheid stateâ&#x20AC;? if a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conďŹ&#x201A;ict is not reached soon.

The ad notes that American Jewish groups, Democratic Party organizations, and Democratic legislators spoke out against Kerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remark, but Clinton did not.

Speaking at the Saban Forum, Clinton says Israel lacks generosity and empathy in its approach to the Palestinian issue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So, look, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not making excuses for the missed opportunities of the Israelis, or the lack of generosity, the lack of empathy that I think goes hand-in-hand with the suspicion,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So, yes, there is more that the Israelis need to do to really demonstrate that they do understand the pain of an oppressed people in their minds, and they want to ďŹ gure out, within the bounds of security and a Jewish democratic state, what can be accomplished.â&#x20AC;?

Responding to an email containing a quote in which Netanyahu tells the Jerusalem Post, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have two main enemies â&#x20AC;Ś the New York Times and Haaretz,â&#x20AC;? Clinton sarcastically replies, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Further Bibi lore.â&#x20AC;?

In an article published two months after the Obama administration brokers a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, Jay Solomon and Laura Meckler write for the Wall Street Journal that three years earlier, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hillary Clinton, in her last months as secretary of state, helped open the door toâ&#x20AC;Śan acceptance that Tehran would maintain at least some capacity to produce nuclear fuel.â&#x20AC;? In July 2012, according to the report, Hillaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign policy aide Jake Sullivan â&#x20AC;&#x153;met in secret with Iranian diplomats in Oman, but made no progress in ending the dispute over Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nuclear program. In a string of high-level meetings here over the next six months, the secretary of state and White House concluded that they might have to let Iran continue to enrich uranium at small levels, if the diplomacy had any hope of succeeding.â&#x20AC;?

In an email dated Dec. 18, 2011, former U.S. ambassador to Israel Thomas Pickering, an adviser to Clinton, suggests that the U.S. covertly generate Palestinian unrest in an effort to push the Israeli government to jump-start stalled peace talks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What will change the situation is a major effort to use nonviolent protests and demonstrations to put peace back in the center of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aspirations as well as their thoughts, and use that to inďŹ&#x201A;uence the political leadership,â&#x20AC;? Pickering writes, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu â&#x20AC;&#x153;cannot deliver anything the Palestinians can accept without our help.â&#x20AC;? It is unclear how Clinton reacts to Pickeringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea.

Clinton expresses concern about the state of Israeli democracy, describing reports of gender segregation on buses operating in Jerusalem as â&#x20AC;&#x153;reminiscent of Rosa Parks,â&#x20AC;? the black civil rights icon who in 1955 refused to give up her

seat on an Alabama bus to white passengers. Israeli ďŹ nance minister Yuval Steinitz calls Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remark â&#x20AC;&#x153;completely exaggerated.â&#x20AC;?

In March, Clinton devotes a 45-minute phone conversation with Netanyahu to rebuking the prime minister for Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to move ahead with 1,600 new housing units in eastern Jerusalem.

Clinton conďŹ dante Sidney Blumenthal, in a memo to the secretary of state, offers what JNS.org columnist Rafael Medoff later calls an â&#x20AC;&#x153;armchair psychiatric analysisâ&#x20AC;? of Netanyahu. Blumenthal writes in an email to Hillary that Netanyahu is haunted by the fear that he â&#x20AC;&#x153;can never equal his dead brother,â&#x20AC;? Entebbe rescue hero Yoni Netanyahu. The prime minister is obsessed with a feeling that he â&#x20AC;&#x153;has never measured upâ&#x20AC;? to his brother in their fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes, writes Blumenthal.

In a September email to Sidney Blumenthal, Clinton praises â&#x20AC;&#x153;Republican Gomorrah,â&#x20AC;? a book written by Sidneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son, anti-Israel activist and Hamas supporter Max Blumenthal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just ďŹ nished the book and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great. Congrats to all!â&#x20AC;? Clinton tells Sidney.

In May, Clinton tells Al Jazeera, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want to see a stop to [Israeli] settlement construction, additions, natural growthâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; any kind of settlement activity. That is what the president has called for.â&#x20AC;? Later that month, at a press conference with Egyptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign minister, Clinton says Obama â&#x20AC;&#x153;wants to see a stop to settlementsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions.â&#x20AC;?

Michael Oren writes in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Allyâ&#x20AC;? that the 2009 demand by the Obama administration for a complete Israeli settlement freeze marked the â&#x20AC;&#x153;ďŹ rst time in the history of the U.S.-Israel allianceâ&#x20AC;? that the White House â&#x20AC;&#x153;denied the validity of a previous presidential commitment.â&#x20AC;? Oren was referring to the George W. Bush administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reported commitment to Israel that the Jewish state could build inside the construction lines of established settlements. But according to an email made public by the State Department, Clinton in July 2009 writes to two aides that Bush-era secretary of state Condoleezza Rice â&#x20AC;&#x153;called to tell me I was on strong ground, saying what I did about there being no agreement [on settlements] between the Bush admin[istration] and Israel.â&#x20AC;?

6HQDWRU DQG 3UHVLGHQWLDO &DQGLGDWH In an interview with the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia, Clinton supports â&#x20AC;&#x153;limited talksâ&#x20AC;? with the Hamas terrorist group if Israel deems such outreach to be in its best interests.

She refuses to address the â&#x20AC;&#x153;hypothetical questionâ&#x20AC;? of what she would do if Iran gains nuclear capability.

In a statement, Clinton says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I deplore and condemn the Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel. â&#x20AC;Ś Israel has the right to defend its citizens. â&#x20AC;Ś I call on Hamas to stop this irContinued on next page

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During her U.S. Senate campaign, a newly published bookâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;&#x153;State of a Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clintonâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;accuses Hillary Clinton of calling Bill Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former campaign manager, Paul

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During Hillaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit to Ramallah in 1999, Suha Arafatâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;wife of Yasserâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;openly accuses Israel of poisoning the West Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water supply and land. Following those remarks, Hillary is photographed embracing Suha and kissing her on the cheek, a move Hillary describes as following diplomatic protocol.

Hillary generates controversy by laying out her own vision for the Middle East, declaring support for an independent Palestinian state before president Bill Clinton expresses a viewpoint on the issue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be in the long-term interests of peace in the Middle East for there to be a state of Palestine, a functioning modern state that is on the same footing as other states,â&#x20AC;? she says in a satellite address to Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian teens from the Seeds of Peace group.

During a visit to Israel and the disputed Palestinian territories, the New York Times describes Hillary as being â&#x20AC;&#x153;hailed here as a champion of Palestinian statehood.â&#x20AC;? She was greeted with thunderous applause at a gathering of the Palestinian National Council.

During the same visit, Hillary praises â&#x20AC;&#x153;the leadership of Chairman Arafatâ&#x20AC;? in the peace process and â&#x20AC;&#x153;hope for the future.â&#x20AC;?

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While Bill Clinton is the governor of Arkansas, Hillary brings the Israeli literacy program Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) to her state after inviting the programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder, Hebrew University Professor Avima Lombard, to Arkansas as part of a major school reform push. The program has been a resounding success and now serves 15,000 families in 21 U.S. states.

In his 2004 book â&#x20AC;&#x153;American Evita,â&#x20AC;? author Christopher Anderson writes that Hillary told friends she was â&#x20AC;&#x153;sympatheticâ&#x20AC;? to the PLO and its leader, Yasser Arafat, during the early 1970s. Furthermore, when Arafat made his infamous â&#x20AC;&#x153;gun and olive branchâ&#x20AC;? speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 1974, Bill Clinton was â&#x20AC;&#x153;outraged like everybody else,â&#x20AC;? but Hillary tried to convince Bill that Arafat was a â&#x20AC;&#x153;freedom ďŹ ghterâ&#x20AC;? trying to free his people from their Israeli â&#x20AC;&#x153;oppressors,â&#x20AC;? writes Anderson.

Also in â&#x20AC;&#x153;American Evita,â&#x20AC;? Andersonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;citing a friend and another eyewitnessâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;describes a 1973 incident in Arkansas in which Bill and Hillary Clinton were visiting with a friend who was half-Jewish. According to Andersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sources, the friend had a Hanukkah menorah posted outside his door, and when Hillary saw the menorah she refused to get out of the car. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bill walked up to me and said that she was hot and tired, but later he explained the real reason. [He said], â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sorry, but Hillaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really tight with the people in the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) in New York. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re friends of hers, and she just doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel right about the menorah,â&#x20AC;? Anderson quotes a source as saying . â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Distributed by JNS.org

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Fray, a â&#x20AC;&#x153;[expletive] Jew bastard.â&#x20AC;?

Hillary accepts a campaign donation from the Muslim Brotherhood-linked American Muslim Allianceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Massachusetts Chapter and tries to hide it by recording the donation on federal ďŹ ling forms as being from the â&#x20AC;&#x153;American Museum Alliance.â&#x20AC;? Eventually, she returns the funds four months after receiving them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I learned that an organization claimed credit for sponsoring a fundraiser I attended; an organization whose members have made statements that I ďŹ nd offensive and have condemned. And as soon as I found out the facts, I returned all of the money that was raised because I did not want anyone to have a false impression about my strong support for Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s safety and security,â&#x20AC;? Hillary says.

Hillary says it is incumbent on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to â&#x20AC;&#x153;do everything in his power to stop the violence and to maintain the cease-ďŹ re that was reached yesterday,â&#x20AC;? and to â&#x20AC;&#x153;make it clear that violence is not an acceptable political statement.â&#x20AC;?

In a letter to the Orthodox Union, Hillary writes that she considers Jerusalem the â&#x20AC;&#x153;eternal and indivisible capital of Israel,â&#x20AC;? and that if elected senator, she would advocate moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

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Continued from previous page responsible aggression immediately, which would enable Israeli and Palestinian civilians to return to normal life.â&#x20AC;? She adds that the Bush administration â&#x20AC;&#x153;should have been taking a much more active role in bringing international pressure on Hamas to stop its attacks.â&#x20AC;?

On ABCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Good Morning Americaâ&#x20AC;? program, Clinton asserts that if she were president, the U.S. could â&#x20AC;&#x153;totally obliterateâ&#x20AC;? Iran in retaliation for a nuclear strike against Israel.

At a press conference with Palestinian Media Watch, Clinton says regarding incitement to violence in Palestinian school textbooks, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We must stop the propaganda to which Palestinian children are being exposed. That must be a priority for all people who care about children, who care about the kind of peace, stability, safety, and security that Israel deserves to be guaranteed. And it should be a priority for everyone who cares about the future of the Palestinian people.â&#x20AC;?

Clinton sponsors S.Res. 92 (110th): â&#x20AC;&#x153;A resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of soldiers of Israel held captive by Hamas and Hezbollah.â&#x20AC;?

Clinton votes to label Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group.

Hamasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s governance of Gaza should not be ofďŹ cially recognized until the terror group â&#x20AC;&#x153;renounces violence and terror and recognizes Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right to exist,â&#x20AC;? Clinton tells the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Palestinian lobbyist Hani Masri, a close associate of Yasser Arafat, raises more than $100,000 for Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presidential campaign.

Clinton sponsors S.Con.Res. 113 (109th): â&#x20AC;&#x153;A concurrent resolution congratulating the Magen David Adom Society in Israel for achieving full membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and for other purposes.â&#x20AC;?

At a rally near United Nations headquarters in New York City, Clinton supports taking â&#x20AC;&#x153;whatever steps are necessaryâ&#x20AC;? to defend Israel against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria. She adds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want us here in New York to imagine, if extremist terrorists were launching rocket attacks across the Mexican or Canadian border, would we stand by or would we defend America against these attacks from extremists?â&#x20AC;?

THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776

Hillary Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Israel actionsâ&#x20AC;Ś

There’s no strategy against global anti-Semitism…

Continued from page 6 lamic State’s ideology is also what animates the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, of which Pino, a convert to Islam, is a part.

As I’ve written before, anti-Semitism expresses itself these days less as a sudden cataclysm and more as an accumulation of offenses that slowly chip away at the confidence of Jewish communities. A beating here, a stabbing there, and an occasional gun attack or bombing is what accompanies the drumbeat

LEGAL NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICE OF COUNTY TREASURER’S SALE OF TAX LIENS ON REAL ESTATE Notice is hereby given that I shall on the 16th day of February, 2016 through the 19th day of February, 2016, beginning at 10:00 o’clock in the morning each day, in the Legislative Chambers, First Floor, Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building, 1550 Franklin Avenue, Mineola, New York, sell at public auction the tax liens on certain real estate, unless the owner, mortgagee, occupant of or any other party in interest in such real estate shall have paid to the County Treasurer by February 11th, 2016 the total amount of such unpaid taxes or assessments with the interest, penalties and other expenses and charges against the property.

Such tax liens will be sold at the lowest rate of interest, not exceeding 10 percent per six month period, for which any person or persons shall offer to take the total amount of such unpaid taxes as defined in Section 5-37.0 of the Nassau County Administrative Code.

Effective with the February, 2016 lien sale Ordinance No. 175-2015 requires a $125.00 per day registration fee for each person who intends to bid at the tax lien sale. Ordinance No. 1752015 also requires that upon the issuance of the Lien Certificate there is due from the lien buyer a Tax Certificate Issue Fee of $20.00 per lien purchased.

A list of all real estate in Nassau County on which tax liens are to be sold is available at the website of the Nassau County Treasurer at http://www.nassaucountyny. gov/DocumentCenter/ View/14447 A list of local properties upon which tax liens are to be sold will be advertised in this publication on or before February 12th, 2016.

Nassau County does not discriminate on the basis of disability in admission to or access to, or treatment or employment in, its services, programs, or activities.

Upon request, accommodations such as those required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to participate in all services, pro-

grams, activities and public hearings and events conducted by the Treasurer’s Office.

Upon request, information can be made available in Braille, large print, audiotape or other alternative formats. For additional information, please call (516) 571-2090 Ext. 13715.

Dated: January 2016 T H E N A S S AU C O U N T Y TREASURER Mineola, New York TERMS OF SALE Such tax liens shall be sold subject to any and all superior tax liens of sovereignties and other municipalities and to all claims of record which the County may have thereon and subject to the provisions of the Federal and State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Acts.

However, such tax liens shall have priority over the County’s Differential Interest Lien, representing the excess, if any, of the interest and penalty borne at the maximum rate over the interest and penalty borne at the rate at which the lien is purchased.

The Purchaser acknowledges that the tax lien(s) sold pursuant to these Terms of Sale may be subject to pending bankruptcy proceedings and/or may become subject to such proceedings which may be commenced during the period in which a tax lien is held by a successful bidder or the assignee of same, which may modify a Purchaser’s rights with respect to the lien(s) and the property securing same. Such bankruptcy proceedings shall not affect the validity of the tax lien. In addition to being subject to pending bankruptcy proceedings and/or the Federal and State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Acts, said purchaser’s right of foreclosure may be affected by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act(FIRREA),12 U.S.C. ss 1811 et.seq., with regard to real property under Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation(FDIC) receivership.

Th e C o u n t y Tr e a s u r e r reserves the right, without further notice and at any time, to withdraw from sale any of the parcels of land or premises herein listed. The Nassau County Treasurer reserves the right to inter-

of anti-Zionist agitation on social media and in the corridors of academia. Each community, moreover, has its own strategy of dealing with the problem, and its own set of relationships with national authorities. What is very much a global challenge lacks a global strategy.

When renewed anti-Semitism became a public concern after the 9/11 atrocities, Western politicians organized conferences, appointed envoys, and confirmed at every opportunity that there was no place in the new century for this oldest of hatreds. But

vene in any bankruptcy case/litigation where the property affected by the tax liens sold by the Treasurer is part of the bankruptcy estate. However, it is the sole responsibility of all tax lien purchasers to protect their legal interests in any bankruptcy case affecting their purchased tax lien, including but not limited to the filing of a proof of claim on their behalf, covering their investment in said tax lien. The Nassau County Treasurer and Nassau County and its agencies, assumes no responsibility for any legal representation of any tax lien purchaser in any legal proceeding including but not limited to a bankruptcy case where the purchased tax lien is at risk.

The rate of interest and penalty at which any person purchases the tax lien shall be established by his bid.

Each purchaser, immediately after the sale thereof, shall pay to the County Treasurer ten per cent of the amount for which the tax liens have been sold and the remaining ninety per cent within thirty days after such sale. If the purchaser at the tax sale shall fail to pay the remaining ninety per cent within ten days after he has been notified by the County Treasurer that the certificates of sale are ready for delivery, then all amounts deposited with the County Treasurer including but not limited to the ten per cent theretofore paid by him shall, without further notice or demand, be irrevocably forfeited by the purchaser and shall be retained by the County Treasurer as liquidated damages and the agreement to purchase shall be of no further effect.

Time is of the essence in this sale. This sale is held pursuant to the Nassau County Administrative Code and interested parties are referred to such Code for additional information as to terms of the sale, rights of purchasers, maximum rates of interest and other legal incidents of the sale.

Dated: January 2016 T H E N A S S AU C O U N T Y TREASURER Mineola, New York 819969 LEGAL NOTICE Learn about resiliency and represent your community!

The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) is currently accepting applications for a Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC), related to the Rebuild by Design (RBD) Living with the Bay Project.

Consisting of representatives from localities along the Mill River, the CAC will work with the State to implement the project, which aims to increase community resilience and mitigate local risk from tidal and storm water flooding.

Interested individuals will have until February 14, 2016 to apply at http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/content/citizens-advisory-committeeapplication, or by paper application at the following locations: • Hempstead Public Library at 115 Nichols Ct. Hempstead, NY 11550 • West Hempstead Public Library at 500 Hempstead Ave. West Hempstead, NY 11552 • Lakeview Public Library at 1120 Woodfield Rd. Rockville Centre, NY 11570 • Malverne Public Library at 61 St. Thomas Pl. Malverne, NY 11565 • Rockville Centre Public Library at 221 N. Village Ave. Rockville Centre, NY 11570 • Oceanside Public Library at 30 Davison Ave. Oceanside, NY 11572 • East Rockaway Public Library at 447 Atlantic Ave. East Rockaway, NY 11518 • Lynbrook Public Library at 56 Eldert St. Lynbrook, NY 11563 • Island Park Public Library at 176 Long Beach Rd. Island Park, NY 11558 • The Town of Hempstead Housing Authority at 760 Jerusalem Avenue Uniondale, NY 11553 • The Village of Hempstead Housing Authority at 260 Clinton St. #100 Hempstead, NY 11550 • North Hempstead Housing Authority at 899 Broadway Westbury, NY 11590 • The Village of Rockville Centre Housing Authority at 160 N Centre Ave Rockville Centre, NY 11570 • The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery at 25 Beaver St., 5th Floor reception, New York, NY 10004 Apply today and join the State’s efforts to build a better, stronger New York!

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as the years have passed, anti-Semitism has become, to a worrying degree, a presence that is expected. The slow yet reliable repetition of anti-Semitic incidents, along with a discernible uptick in European Jewish immigration to Israel, suggests that anti-Semitism will percolate at this same pace for some time to come, thereby dampening any sense of urgency on the part of governments. Indeed, the idea that there is something normal about anti-Semitism may explain why U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry didn’t bother to mention the Hyper Cacher massacre in his message commemorating the first anniversary of the January 2015 week of Islamist terror in Paris.

It may also explain why Russian dictator President Vladimir Putin, ever the opportunist, issued a bizarre invitation to Jews to escape anti-Semitism by moving to Russia.

According to Russian media reports, Putin made the offer at a meeting with European Jewish Congress (EJC) leaders in Moscow, for good measure wiggling his forefinger in a “come hither” gesture. As reported by Tablet magazine’s Vladislav Davidzon, EJC head Moshe Kantor “showed signs of experiencing visible difficulties in containing his laughter...All six fellow Jewish delegates sitting around Kantor likewise giggled.”

That was certainly a brave thing to do in Putin’s presence, but the fact remains that the Russian president’s invite sounds like the opening gambit of a Jewish joke. (If anyone can think of a punchline, drop me an email.)

So why not just enjoy the humor and then

forget about it?

Here’s why. The debate should not be about which countries Jews can safely emigrate to. It should be about what is causing anti-Semitism in the societies where they live now—and that means explicitly identifying Islamism, Islamists and their fellow travelers on the left and right as the root of the problem. In Europe, ironically, they are more willing to do that than in America, where the Obama administration is still selling the nonsense that using the word “Islamist” is an insult to all Muslims, but there is still a lack of coherence about why anti-Semitism persists and what to do about it.

In my view, the two most robust answers to anti-Semitism are sovereignty and democracy. Sovereignty takes the form of the State of Israel, which has always been and will continue to be a haven for Jews experiencing harassment and persecution. As for democracy, the argument here is a little more complicated, but it boils down to this: a polity like Russia can never be a true haven for Jews as long as it remains an authoritarian state that cracks down on dissent. Fighting anti-Semitism effectively requires a broader commitment to democratic rights, and an explicit acknowledgement that a culture of liberty is a necessary condition for a flourishing Jewish community.

Vladimir Putin will never understand that. The current crop of Western leaders don’t seem too bothered by it. That’s why, like I said, nothing really changes.

Ben Cohen, senior editor of TheTower.org

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January 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

18

JEFF DUNETZ POLITICS TO GO

W

ith great interest last week, I followed the saga of the African-American boycotts of the Oscars. They aren’t totally wrong — after all, Will Smith, one of the biggest names in the boycott movement, was only nominated for best actor twice. And the fact that he lost twice (to other African-Americans) had to be a display of racism. Everyone knows that the reason he wasn’t nominated this year had nothing to do with the fact his performance wasn’t considered as good as the other nominees, but because the Academy didn’t want the minority who would beat him out (again) to win an Oscar.

But that is not my concern. This year for the first time in my life, I will be boycotting the Academy Awards, on Feb. 28. It’s a move I feel I have to make because for the second year in a row the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presentation is fleecing the Jews.

Just look at the names of the nominees, there’s not a Schwartz, Rosenberg, Bloomberg, or Cohen among them. But it’s much more than that, the not only have left out “members of the tribe,” but they made a conscious effort to insult us Jews Just look at the Best Actor list — Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”), Matt Damon (“The Martian”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Revenant”), Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”), Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl”).

Steve Jobs? Come on, his father was a Muslim for Pete’s sake. The Revenant? We Jews already did our 40 years in the wilderness with Moses — besides what Jewish mother would allow her son go hunt in the wilderness, and get raped by a bear yet? Trumbo? An obvious

reference to the untrue stereotype that Jews are communist. The Martian? PULEEESE. No Jewish mother would let her son go to another planet without preparing a care package with a year’s supply of her brisket (and some kugel).

Why didn’t they nominate a Jew for Best Actor? Someone like Rep. Jerrold Nadler whose Benedict Arnold-type performance in voting for the Iran deal just because the president gave him a ride on Air Force One was a classic. Or Rep. Steve Israel, for claiming to be proIsrael while not speaking out about Presidemt Obama’s anti-Israel policy. All the Jewish possibilities were ignored.

The Best Actress nominees are just as bad.

Cate Blanchett (“Carol”), Brie Larson (“Room”) Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy”), Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years”), Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”). Look at Joy, a movie about a woman who invents a new mop. No Jewish woman would go near a mop, she would have a cleaning lady who comes to the house twice a week. 45 Years? A movie about a couple about to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. I have never met a Jewish woman willing to admit she was 45 years old; married for 45 years would be totally blasphemous. Then there’s Brooklyn, a movie about an Irish woman in the 1950s who falls in love with an Italian man. Nonsense! How can you have a movie about Brooklyn in the 1950s without Jews?

And just like the Actor category there were plenty of Jewish women who should have earned an award.

Wasn’t Debbie Wasserman Shultz nominated for best actress? Look at all the times she said that Barack Obama liked Israel, that was a masterful acting performance. Or what

about Senator Barbara Boxer? Do you really think that she is really that nasty? Remember when she scolded the General for calling her Ma’am even though that’s what military protocol demands? No one is that nasty; she was acting.

Last year they nominated a movie called Selma, about the Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The movie totally omitted one of King’s good friends and partner in his efforts, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. The rabbi was a famous theologian recognized as a holy man by all faiths, who marched to Selma at the front of the line right next to King. The fact that Selma got nominated last year was another academy slight to the Jews.

See what I mean? Forget the nonsense about the Jews owning Hollywood. If that was true, Jews wouldn’t be victimized in the Academy Awards.

I understand that some African-Americans are talking boycott because no blacks were nominated … but that’s different. They are complaining because of the lack of diversity in this

year’s Academy Awards nominations, all of the actors nominated in the four major categories are white. But the lack of diversity wasn’t based on the color of the potential nominee’s skin. It was an accident based on who ALL the members of the Academy nominated (all races).

To get nominated, “voters are asked to list up to five names, ranked in order of preference.”

There is no place on the nomination form to list the race of one’s choices. The nominators are all the member of a specific branch of the academy, actors only nominate in the actor categories, directors in the director, etc. And an individual can belong to only one branch. Ben Affleck, for example, can only be an Academy member as an actor and not as a director; Brad Pitt can only belong to the Academy as an actor and not a producer.

So the lack of African-American acting nominees was the result of the votes of ALL the actors in the academy. Do people like Al Sharpton or Jada Pinkett Smith really believe that the all the voting actors got together to say, “let’s piss off the black people this year!” As for Spike Lee, well what does he know about a good performance? When was the last time he created a movie that didn’t stink up the joint?

Now, in the case of the Jews, as I proved in this column, the snub here was obviously intentional and that’s why for the first time in my life I will be boycotting the Academy Awards presentation. While it is the first time I will be boycotting, to tell the truth, in past years I haven’t attended the Oscars because, well.

I didn’t have a ticket. And to be totally honest, if by some chance I was invited to this year’s presentation and received tickets I might just change my mind. But until that happens I will be staying home.

key to Orthodox LI ur yo is r ta S h is w The Je

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THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776

Why I will be boycotting the Academy Awards

19

Yitro rejoiced! There’s reason for us to as well RABBI AVI BILLET PARSHA OF THE WEEK

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hile the debate over what Moshe’s fatherin-law “heard” opens up the discussions on the first verse of the parsha, several verses later the Torah tells us “vayichad Yitro” over all the good that G-d had dealt towards Israel.

The word vayichad has many possible definitions, though the most common suggestion is that “he rejoiced.” As such, many commentaries note that Yitro celebrated the good done to Israel, but not the bad meted out to Egypt.

He had ties to Egypt and identified with the suffering of its people — even if deserved — because his humanitarian outlook considered the plight of individuals more than the punishment given to the nation that had enslaved the Israelites. (Seforno, SR Hirsch, Malbim, etc.)

Along this line, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 94a – wide lines) notes that the word vayichad comes from the word chidudin (goosebumps), as his skin reacted negatively to the news of the trauma Egypt had suffered, even as he was happy for the Israelites. (Rashi) Another viewpoint, also mentioned in the Talmud in the name of Rav, is that the word vayichad comes from chada (sharp), suggesting Yitro used a sharp blade to circumcise himself in a conversion to Judaism. (See also Medrash

Tanchuma, Baal Haturim, Hadar Zekenim.)

Of course, on the most simple level, Yitro could have been rejoicing over the good that G-d had done for the people — beyond the Exodus, the splitting of the sea, and the war with Amalek, all of which brought mortal salvation.

Saving a life is wonderful, but it isn’t inherently “beneficial” if people will die anyway. So what is the “goodness” over which Yitro rejoiced? Rashi mentions the providing of the manna, the well (water), and the gift of the Torah.

Midrash Sechel Tov notes that the gift of manna was that it could have any flavor (think about how soy can be cooked to taste like anything), while the gift of the well was that its water could taste like old wine, new wine, milk, honey, and all kinds of delicious things.

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One wonders if Roald Dahl was reading this midrash when he put together Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. (I doubt it.)

While the midrash doesn’t continue to describe the benefits of the Torah, perhaps there are two reasons why.

First, there is a debate whether Yitro came before the giving of the Torah or after; there are several arguments for each direction, which we will not be going into now. Second, while there are certainly those who think that they can fit the Torah into any box that they want to, unlike the manna and the well’s water, the Torah can’t taste like anything.

Surely there is much flexibility within the Torah lifestyle and halakhic system to live a life under the service of G-d, while conforming to halakhic dictates. There will always be debates as to which is the “best” way to do things. But just as there are debates in the Talmud about everything, there will be debates from now until the Messiah comes as to what is considered best practice. And that is OK. But there are some things which do not fit into the realm of the Torah’s ways. Whether one follows the “49 ways and 49 ways” (Sofrim 16), 48 ways (Eruvin 13b) or “70 faces” (Bamidbar Raba Naso 13), there is a limit to the number of ways of understanding the Torah which are “correct” or “acceptable.” he challenge facing us is to know what fits in the realm of “yay” and what fits in the realm of “nay.”

If Yitro rejoiced over the gift of the Torah, perhaps he rejoiced because it was good for the Jews and gave them a sense of purpose. And if, indeed, he became a Jew, he rejoiced over the role it could play in his life. However, it is unclear how Yitro came to grips with a Torah reality, as he soon departed from being with the Jewish people, to return home. Of course, some suggest he went home to convert others to Judaism. But that story is unclear.

Maybe Yitro suffered from the syndrome that some who join the Jewish people for motivations that are not completely sincere also suffer from. That when the going gets tough, commitment falls apart.

I know and cherish many Jews who converted from other faiths, who are dedicated and righteous, and take their Judaism more seriously than many Jews-from-birth. Whether it is converts, or people who find themselves at odds with their upbringing — whether Chassidic, Lubavitch, Modern Orthodox, liberal – I hope everyone can find a place within the larger tent of Judaism that reflects of the 48, 49 or 70 faces, without abandoning it altogether.

After all, whether it was or was not for him, even Yitro knew that the Torah was considered one of the three great gifts that G-d gave to the Jewish people.

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I hope everyone can find a place within the larger tent of Judaism, without abandoning it altogether.

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By what star should we set our moral compass so that we avoid the deep pitfalls of negative and embarrassing behavior?

ot are Rabbinic in nature, they are in the category of “and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (“v’ahavta l’reiecha kamocha”).

(Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Aveilut 14:1) V’ahavta l’reiecha kamocha thereby emerges, in Judaism in general and for the Rambam in particular, as the key to positive, sensitive and caring treatment of all mankind. Indeed, if we dedicate our lives to the pursuit of this mitzvah, we will be well along the path forged by Dovid Hamelech (King David) so long ago: “Distance yourself from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”

(Sefer Tehillim 34:15, with my emendations) With Hashem’s blessing and our fervent desire, may this be so. V’chane yihi ratzon.

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he final verses of our parasha focus upon the mitzvah of building a stone altar for the purpose of bringing korbanot (offerings) in the service of Hashem: “And when you make for Me an altar of stones, you shall not build them of hewn stones, lest you wield your sword upon it and desecrate it. And you shall not ascend with steps upon My altar, so that your nakedness shall not be exposed upon it. (Shemot 20:22-23) The first pasuk contains the prohibition of using metal-hewed stones to build the mizbeach (altar), since metal symbolically represents war and destruction – the polar opposites of the altar’s purpose. The second verse forbids the use of steps leading to the mizbeach, so that the Kohanim’s “nakedness shall not be exposed upon it” when they ascend to perform the avodah (service). Rashi, based upon the Mechilta, clarifies the halachically acceptable mode of the mizbeach’s construction: “And you shall not ascend with steps: When you build a ramp for the altar, do not make it with steps, eschalons in Old French, but it must be smooth and slanting.”

There is a logical problem with the phrase, “so that your nakedness shall not be exposed upon it,” however, that must be addressed.

In fact, based upon Shemot 28:42, this issue could never arise: “And make for them linen pants to cover the flesh of [their] nakedness; they shall reach from the waist down to the thighs.”

In other words, all the Kohanim wore linen undergarments beneath their mandated priestly clothes in order to guarantee that they would remain covered at all times while serving in the Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdash. If that is the case, why does the Torah stipulate, “And you shall not ascend with steps upon My altar, so that your nakedness shall not be exposed upon it?”

Rashi, once again based upon the Mechilta, formulates this issue in the following fashion: “So that your nakedness shall not be exposed: Because due to the steps, you must widen your stride, although it would not be an actual exposure of nakedness, for it is written: “And make them linen pants.”

Nevertheless, widening the strides is close to exposing the nakedness [of the one ascending the steps], and you behave toward them [the stones] in a humiliating manner.

On a certain level, Rashi’s observation is nothing less than amazing, and forces us to ask, “How sensitive must we be, as a nation and as individuals, to the world and everything therein?” Sensitive enough, it appears, that we are forbidden from “embarrassing” even the stones that are associated with the mizbeach!

Upon due reflection, we instinctively feel that Rashi’s gloss contains a crucial life lesson that is waiting to be revealed. As always, the most renowned of all Torah commentators does not disappoint:

thought of the Rambam (Maimonides, 11351204): It is a positive rabbinic commandment to visit the sick, to comfort the mourners, to “bring out” (l’hotzi) the deceased, to provide for the needs of the bride, and to escort guests. [In addition, one] must involve himself in all aspects of the burial and carry the deceased on his shoulder, walk before him, eulogize him, dig his grave, and bury him.

So, too, [one is obligated] to rejoice with the bride and groom, and to provide for all their needs [at the festive meal]. All of the aforementioned are in the category of physically demonstrated acts of kindness (gemilut chasadim she’b’gufo) and, as such, have no upward limit. Even though all of these mitzv-

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RABBI DAVID ETENGOFF

“Now these matters are a kal vachomer (a fortiori) form of reasoning. This means that if in regard to the stones that have no intelligence to object to their humiliation, the Torah nonetheless stated … that you shall not behave toward them in a humiliating manner, all the more so in the case of your friend, who is [created] in the likeness of your Creator and who does object to being humiliated, [is it forbidden to behave toward him in a humiliating and deprecatory manner].”

By what star, then, should we set our moral compass so that we avoid the deep pitfalls of negative and embarrassing behavior toward our fellow man?

I believe an answer to this “questions of questions” was formulated long ago in the

THE JEWISH STAR

THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 • 19 Shevat 5776

Keeping our steps headed in the right direction

21

Women of Kabbalistic Tzfatâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 1 est details of conversations between a couple was thought to have deep kabbalistic meaning. The Kabbalah, as a whole, is a deeply gendered system of thought.â&#x20AC;?

In the 15th century, 20 years before Tzfat took off, the Iberian peninsula was plagued by the Spanish Inquisition. Many Jews left Spain for Portugal, where they had only a brief respite before moved on to Tzfat.

But why Tzfat?

Citing the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Abramson rule of history,â&#x20AC;? the dean said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;money was certainly a big part of it.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know the reason why something happened, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s probably due to money,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In this case, taxes were dramatically lowered by the Ottomans to encourage international trade. It was like the Las Vegas of its time.â&#x20AC;?

Asked why Jerusalem was not the preferred destination, he said there was no tax incentive in the Holy City, where 300 years earlier there was barely minyan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know this because in 1269, when Ramban was there, they had to bring in Jewish farmers from the countryside to make a minyan,â&#x20AC;? he said.

For 80 years, Tzfat attracted the ďŹ nest Jewish minds.

Shlomo Alkabetz, known for writing Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;chah Dodi, was one of the ďŹ rst to arrive, around the year 1500. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alkabetz was known for wandering around the countryside, leaving himself open to spiritual vibrations, and he located many graves of tzaddikim that way,â&#x20AC;? said Abramson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe not a scientiďŹ cally or archeologically sound methodology, but this creative element built up Tzfatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s notability, as well as the new industry of spiritual tourism.â&#x20AC;?

The elder statesman of Tzfat was Yosef Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch, whose halachic insights seemed to derive from kabbalistic inspiration as much as conventional book-learning, Abramson said. Moshe Cordovero, Alkabetzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son-in-law, who authored Pardes Rimonim and Tomer Devorah in the early days of printing, is famous for creating

a systematic guide to Kabbalah with chapters and titles, in what we now think of as Western style. Students ďŹ&#x201A;ocked to Cordovero.

Then the Arizal, Issac Luria, arrived in Tzfat from Egypt, and he studied with Cordovero until Cordovero died about a year later. Luria himself died shortly afterward. This group was very big on ascetic living and ritual self mortiďŹ cation, but they worked together as a chavurah (fellowship), gathering each night to discuss what they had done wrong during the day and how to ďŹ x it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Are you aware of the smicha controversy?â&#x20AC;?

Abramson asked his audience. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This too started in Tzfat.â&#x20AC;? Smicha (rabbinic ordination â&#x20AC;&#x201D; literally, laying on of hands) came about at this place and time. In Jewish tradition, Moshe transferred leadership and authority by laying hands on Yehoshua, who did the same with the neviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;im, and so on. In the second Temple period, this was lost as an institution. Yaakov Beirav came up with the idea to reconstitute smicha for the ďŹ rst time in 1,500 years, seeking to endow the title rabbi with a new level of authority and respect. â&#x20AC;&#x153;His justiďŹ cation was that we are the greatest Jewish minds of the day, and as such are well-suited to determine who should hold rabbinic authority,â&#x20AC;?

Abramson said.

As for parnassah, Abramson cited plentiful and well-preserved Ottoman tax records that indicated the Tzfat rabbis were supported by the community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, the Arizal was an international pepper merchant. The very last thing he said was, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Please pay all my creditorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.â&#x20AC;?

The Ohel Sara Amen Group, in memory of Sarit Marton, aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;h, meets each Rosh Chodesh at 8:15 am in Lawrence, with a lecture at 9:30 following morning brochas, Shacharit and Hallel. The group is open to all women, and provides shiurim, classes, and other programming throughout the month. There is no charge to attend. For further information, call 718-327-7040 or email OhelSaraAmen@gmail.com.

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Their highly skilled and experienced morah, Ms. Zachariash, has been using research-based programs to teach them, inspiring her students by sharing with them how special it is to learn to read, so that they will be able to read the milim to daven to Hashem.

The girls have learned all their letters and vowels, and they are working on reading and writing multi-syllable words while developing a solid Hebrew sight word vocabulary. In preparation for receiving their siddurim, the girls have been practicing reading words from different teďŹ los.

Jan. 19 was the date set for their Chumash play with Morah Levyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s class. With huge excitement, the students practiced together with their friends, rehearsing their individual speaking parts as well as all the heartfelt songs. Finally, the big day arrived. Before an audience ďŹ lled with parents and siblings, Morah Zachariash and Morah Levyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students joined together and performed with conďŹ dence.

Afterwards, each girl was awarded her very own siddur, given to her

by Rabbi Nosson Neuman, Dean of Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam. Rabbi Neuman and Mrs. Leah Zytman, principal, have established a close relationship with every student at Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam, and CAHAL is so grateful for the warm welcome and inclusive atmosphere that permeates the building. Along with their second grade CAHAL classmates, the girls are looking forward to participating in other exciting mainstream events and projects that are scheduled for the rest of the school year.

CAHAL, the local yeshiva-based and sponsored community program for children with learning challenges, now in its 24th year, provides smaller, individualized classes, with the students attending mainstream activities daily, including lunch, recess, specials, assemblies, trips and more.

When ready, children attend academic classes as well.

For more information, visit cahal@cahal.org or call 516-295-3666.

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January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

22

By Roz Rothstein and Yitzhak Santis Malicious campaigns to intimidate Jewish and other pro-Israel students and faculty into silence are occurring on far too many North American college campuses. Driven by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and its many off-campus enablers, the campaigns are loud and they do not care about appearing extreme. They create chaos and feed off the ensuing controversy to gain attention for their anti-Israel accusations. The goal: to create an atmosphere of political conformity based on an assumption of ill-will against Israel and its supporters. Yet the campaigns will not succeed.

Examples of this radicalism and bullying is rife. â&#x20AC;˘At University of California (UC) San Diego in October, the keynote speaker at SJPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national conference was convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh, who was directly involved in a bombing that killed two Israeli college students. â&#x20AC;˘In January, the DePaul University SJP chapter actually held a fundraiser for her. At UC Santa Cruz, a Jewish student senator received an email warning him to â&#x20AC;&#x153;abstainâ&#x20AC;?from a vote on a BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement) resolution because, as a leader of the Jewish Student Union, he had a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jewish agenda.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;˘At UCLA, a student was questioned about her Jewish identity and its supposed impact on her objectivity if appointed to a student government committee. Initially told she could not serve, she was later admitted after the issue became very public. â&#x20AC;˘At the University of Michigan, anti-Israel activists demanded that a Jewish student senator who expressed disagreement with an anti-Israel protest be subjected to an â&#x20AC;&#x153;ethics investigationâ&#x20AC;? and removed from his senate position. He was exonerated. â&#x20AC;˘Anti-Semitism was evident when the City University of New York (CUNY) SJP chapter announced its participation in a national student tuition hike protest, which SJP tried to hijack, a common tactic of anti-Israel activists. The chapterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Facebook page blamed CUNYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zionist administrationâ&#x20AC;? for raising student fees and â&#x20AC;&#x153;reproduce[ing] settler-colonial ideology throughout CUNY through Zionist content of education.â&#x20AC;? At one CUNY demonstration, SJP students chanted, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Long live the intifada,â&#x20AC;? justifying the horriďŹ c violence in the

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wave of stabbings and shootings of Jews. This chant was also shouted at UC Berkeley, and NYC SJP declared, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We must support those fueling the intifada.â&#x20AC;?

A Louis D. Brandeis Center poll from last year shows that 54 percent of Jewish students â&#x20AC;&#x153;reported having been subject to or witnessing anti-Semitism on their campus.â&#x20AC;?

For most Jews, the Star of David on Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ&#x201A;ag speaks to their Jewish identities. The attempt to create campus political uniformity is often accompanied by overt anti-Semitism posing as â&#x20AC;&#x153;criticism of Israel.â&#x20AC;? Jewish students experience this as an assault on their identities and civil rights.

SJPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more than 100 campus chapters are propelling this hate speech. They sponsor â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israeli Apartheid Week,â&#x20AC;? bring to campus virulently anti-Israel speakers, promote resolutions in student governments calling for anti-Israel divestment, and set up â&#x20AC;&#x153;die-ins,â&#x20AC;? mock checkpoints, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;apartheid wallâ&#x20AC;? displays.

This obsessive hostility toward Israel and its supporters often morphs into explicit anti-Jewish hatred.

While SJP would like us to believe that they are a grassroots movement and that their campaigns spring up from campus activism, the truth is that they are supported by off-campus organizations including the fringe Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP),

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). JVP and AFSC jointly run a BDS â&#x20AC;&#x153;summer camp,â&#x20AC;? and AMP gives campus activism workshops.

AMP and Palestine Legal publish guidebooks offering strategy promoting BDS, and AFSC staff drafts ready-made student government divestment resolutions enabling SJP to lobby student governments. All these groups endorse the global BDS campaign against Israel, which opposes its right to exist.

Another anti-free speech tactic is SJPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disruptions of proIsrael campus programming.

SJP at State University of New York at Binghamton has a policy calling for â&#x20AC;&#x153;engaging in non-violent disruptionâ&#x20AC;? of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zionistâ&#x20AC;? events. Further, this policy proscribes contact with Jews by declaring off limits all interaction with every campus Jewish group SJP deems to be pro-Israel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from Hillel to Chabad to J Street U. Disruptions of pro-Israel events have become a regular feature around the country, from the University of Texas to Goucher College to the University of Pittsburgh and others.

Palestine Legal advises activists on how to avoid prosecution when disrupting.

This extremist strategy is to make Israel appear so radioactive on campus so as to intimidate Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supporters into silence. By declaring its goal to â&#x20AC;&#x153;end the Zionist inďŹ&#x201A;uence on our university campuses,â&#x20AC;? SJP makes this clear.

Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campus detractors, however, will fail. The answer to this long-evident attempt to intimidate and muzzle pro-Israel campus voices is to increase already ďŹ&#x201A;ourishing pro-Israel programming. The response to hateful disruptions will be more pro-Israel events. University administrators will come to realize that they must provide more oversight to ensure that events are not disrupted.

If SJP and its allies refuse to engage civilly with the wide range of pro-Israel campus voices, we are conďŹ dent most students will gladly do so regardless or in spite of SJPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hate campaign. This is exactly what SJP is afraid of and why the group attempts to intimidate and silence pro-Israel campus voices.

SJP doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know it yet, but it will fail.

Roz Rothstein is CEO, and Yitzhak Santis is senior writer and analyst, for the pro-Israel education and advocacy group StandWithUs. Distributed by JNS.org

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THE JEWISH STAR January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776

Those seeking to push Israel off campus will fail

23

Plaza PAL Auto Leasing

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CALL 718-975-9000 1RVWUDQG $YH &RUQHU RI $YH 1 %URRNO\Q 1<

WE SELL, LEASE & FINANCE

ALL MAKES AND MODELS www.PlazaAutoLeasing.com

CONGRATS TO ALL RECENT AND UPCOMING GRADS! YOU DESERVE A PALS EXCLUSIVE GRADUATE SALE! 1,66$1 6(175$ 6

12: PR Bluetooth, AM/FM/CD

+<81'$, (/$175$ 6(

12: PR

Bluetooth, AM/FM/CD, Power Windows

+21'$ &,9,& /;

W ALL NE !

N DESIG

12: PR

Bluetooth, Backup Camera, LED Running Lights

1,66$1 $/7,0$ V

12: PR

Bluetooth, Power Seat, Push Button Start

+21'$ $&&25' /;

12: PR

Bluetooth, Backup Camera, LED Lights

1,66$1 52*8( 6

12: PR

ARE YOU A PAL YET?

AWD, Bluetooth, Backup Camera

0867 7$.( '(/,9(5< %< 12 (;&(37,216 /,0,7(' 48$17,7(6

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January 29, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Shevat 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

24

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