Jewish foundations funding antisemitism Page 4 Kosher bookworm: Purim 5772 Page 5 Kosher critic: Bravo’s pizza Page 7 Who’s in the kitchen: No bake lemon soufflé Page 8
THE JEWISH
STAR
VOL 11, NO 8 ■ FEBRUARY 24, 2012 / 1 ADAR 5772 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM
You’d be surprised to learn who profited from Jewish Death Boycotts are sensitive issues to Jews, and they are often discussed and carried out in incongruous ways. When we see the BDS (Boycott Divest Sanction) movement gaining steam on college campuses across the United States, we want to lash out, telling them how wrong they are about Israel. However, when we know that many Eastern European Jews and their descendants cringe at the idea of owning a Mercedes or Volkswagen, it’s an oddity that we accept and even deal with as we conveniently park the German car around the corner so the neighbors don’t see. BDS efforts were first introduced two years before Israel’s independence in 1948 when the Arab League established and has since maintained a blacklist of companies that trade with Israel. Names on that list are often blocked from the lucrative Arab markets. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League and others from the alphabet soup of Jewish organizations staged public, direct and indirect campaigns at boycott compliant companies. The BDS movement has moved beyond products and trade; to academia and education – to prevent the flow of knowledge from Israel’s thinkers to the world and to keep new ideas out of Israel as well. Juda Engelmayer Boycotts work, clearly, as it did in apartheid South Africa. It is the reason that so many who oppose Israel for everything from ideological and religious reasons to base anti-Semitism try to make the groundless and wounding comparison between Israel and the apartheid regime. The unique history of the Jewish experience has helped create an almost understood, unstated list of products and companies that were associated with Jewish suffering. Earlier, when companies such as PepsiCo and Toyota were alleged to be adhering to this boycott, Jews took notice. Most Japanese automakers boycotted Israel until the Gulf War of 1992 cracked holes in the trade walls. For years, Pepsi products were not allowed in our home, and my father and grandfather would mock any Jewish friend or relative with a German car. As a writer, however,
Photo by Shevi Katzman, kinus.com
3,000 women packed the grand ballroom at the New York Hilton Sunday night at Chabad’s annual Kinus
Chabad wonder women converge on New York By Karen C. Green Imagine a grand ballroom the size of a football field — alive with palpable, unparalleled energy. Candleadorned round tables are set to accommodate 3,000 women and behind
a massive stage, a backdrop displays a giant projection of portraits of the Rebbe Menachem Schneerson and Rebettzin Chaya Mushka along with Yiddish words that translate as, “There goes a chosid, there eats a chosid, there sleeps a chosid.”
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Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:21 p.m. Shabbat ends 6:21 p.m. 72 minute zman 6:51 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Terumah
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The words echoed the theme of a Sunday evening event that served as a crescendo for the five-day annual Chabad International Women’s convention from Feb. 15 to Feb. 19. Hosted by Merkos L’Inyonei ChiContinued on page 3