February 7, 2014

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Lawrence School Board agrees to sell No. 6 school to HALB 3 Bookworm 5 Kitchen like it’s the 1970s 9

THE JEWISH STAR Jewish roots of Beatlemania VOL 13, NO 6 Q FEBRUARY 7, 2014 / 7 ADAR I 5774

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50 years after mop tops landed, Yids whose marketing unleashed a revolution are remembered By Lonnie Ostrow ifty years ago this week, on Feb. 7, 1964 four charismatic, long-haired young men from Liverpool landed at the newly renamed JFK airport. They were met at the Pan Am arrival terminal by 5,000 screaming fans (mostly young women). Two nights later, they made their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. More than 73 million people tuned in to experience what would be the start of a cultural revolution …and a musical love affair that has now lasted half a century. John, Paul, George and Ringo. The Beatles. Perhaps the most hyped entertainers in the history of popular culture. And remarkably, a group of four extraordinarily talented musicians who managed to exceed overwhelming expectations from the publicity buildup. The numbers are truly staggering. Twenty Beatles songs have topped the U.S. singles chart. Nineteen of their albums have hit the #1 position. They are the bestselling recording artists of all time by a wide margin, with more than 600 million albums sold worldwide. No, the Beatles were not Jewish. We can lay claim to Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan and Sandy Koufax. But the Fab Four? Ringo Starr had a Jewish step-father (Harry Graves). His mother, Elsie Gleave Starkey was once rumored to be of Jewish ancestry, though Continued on page 15

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Legendary WABC radio DJ Cousin Brucie (Bruce Morrow/Meyerowitz) interviewing the Beatles in 1965. At left, their first manager impresario, Sid Bernstein, and the cover of Brian Epstein’s book. Kruter Photography, Kruter.com

W’dmere turns out for agunot

2 art winners at HAFTR The artwork of two students in HAFTR High School’s Art Institute program will be displayed in the 24th Annual Legislative Student Art Exhibition in Albany later this month. Tamara Heller’s marker drawing titled “My Cousins” and Alexandra Feder’s ink drawing titled “Isolation” were selected for the event, which is sponsored by the

Woodmere sisterhood meeting last Sunday night. “There are no two sides to every story in abuse,” he said. “Get refusal is never justified. It’s never justified to not give a wife a get when the marriage is over.” ORA assists agunot in obtaining a get by helping them navigate the Jewish and civil court systems, providing emotional comfort, rallying public support, and mustering social, communal, financial and legal pressure to resolve each case with the issuance of a get. Stern said the group, founded in 2002 by college students working out of a dorm room, gets as many as 200 calls and deals with about 50 cases a

New York State Art Teachers Association. The exhibit can be viewed from Feb. 24 until March 6 in the Legislative Office Building in Albany. Both students and their families have been invited to an opening reception and to meet with their state legislators. The HAFTR program is directed by Mrs. Dale Malekoff.

Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:02 p.m. Shabbat ends: 6:04 p.m. 72 minute zman: 6:34 p.m. Torah Reading: Tetzaveh

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By Malka Eisenberg Tears coursed down her face as she detailed a history of deception and physical and emotional abuse and her fears of her ex-husband. With determination and the help of ORA (the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot), she was able to break the chain that bound her and escape with her two children with a get, a Jewish divorce. A husband’s withholding of a get is “a form of domestic abuse,” ORA Executive Director Rabbi Jeremy Stern told more than 40 women who attended a Young Israel of

year. He said it has assisted in the resolution of 212 cases to date. ORA’s first step is to attempt to “resolve the conflict amicably,” he said. In one type of case, the woman turns to a beit din (Jewish court), the husband refuses to appear before the court, and the beit din issues a seruv (finding) that he has “refused to comply with halacha. That is all the beit din can do.” A second type of case is more complicated, when the beit din process fails or stalls. Stern said any Jewish man can call himself rabbi and a recalcitrant husband can assemble a “beit din” of three friends. Further, no one can be forced to go to any beit din. Another option in setting up a Jewish court is a zeblah, an acContinued on page 15


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