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Vayakhel • March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 • Expanded Torah section pages 18–20 • Luach page 18 • Vol 18, No 8

ZOA and NCYI are OK with Bibi-Otzma deal; AIPAC and libs say no Combined Sources The National Council of Young Israel and the Zionist Organization of America are defending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to work with Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), a right-wing party led by disciples of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose Kach party was banned from the Knesset for its purported racist advocacy.

A wide range of centrist and liberal American Jewish groups slammed the merger. Most prominent among them was AIPAC, which rarely criticizes Israel on internal politics, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who called the deal that brought about the merger of Otzma Yehudit and Habayit Hayehudi “very disturbing.” “[Netanyahu] obviously has some political calculation that drove him to it, but politics can’t dictate everything,” Hoenlein told the Associated Press.

“You have to take into consideration all of the ramifications and all of the concerns.”

To form a government, Netanyahu would need the support of successful right-wing parties in addition to his own Likud. To win seats in the Knesset and create a governing coalition, each party must pass an electoral threshold,

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Otzma for good or evil: Two views on page 14

Rabbi Meir Kahane at a New York news conference in 1984.

currently set at 3.25 percent. Small parties that do not receive at least that many votes won’t win any Knesset seats and their votes will be lost, thus parties that fear falling short of 3.25 percent seek to consolidate with — and pool their votes with those of — another party.

With the prime minister’s intervention, the right-wing Jewish Home party agreed to include on its slate for the April 9 elections Otzma Yehudit members Michael Ben-Ari and Itamar Ben-Gvir, self-professed followers of Kahane.

“Netanyahu acted to get right-wing

parties to merge in order to meet the threshold necessary to secure a victory in the election,” NCYI President Farley Weiss told JTA. “He did it to have ministers of the national religious and national union parties in his coalition.”

NCYI likened Netanyahu’s action to the 1993 vote on the Oslo II accords, when a left-wing government relied on votes from Arab-Israeli political parties to secure passage of that agreement.

That argument echoes one made over the weekend by Netanyahu on Twitter — where he called negative reaction to the merger “the height of absurdity.”

“What hypocrisy and double standards by the left,” he wrote on Facebook. “They are condemning a rightwing majority bloc with right-wing parties, while the left acted to bring extreme Islamists into the Knesset to create a majority bloc.”

Netanyahu listed numerous instances in which Israeli left-wing leaders, including Ehud Barak, Shelly Yachimovich, and the Labor and Meretz parties, partnered with or supported anti-Israel Arab candidates and parties.

“I don’t recall @AIPAC and the @AJC expressing misgivings when leftist IsSee Otzma on page 14

‘Giveback Sunday’ in West Hemp Patients at Northwell Health’s North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset will have everything they need to make their own seders, thanks to the children of the Young Israel of West Hempstead. More than 75 of them, along with their moms and dads, participated in the YIWH’s annual #Giveback Sunday event.

Each patient who gets a #Giveback box will find a brightly decorated Kiddush cup; a seder plate made from the lid of the box; a washing cup with sharpied decorations; a cloth matzah cover decorated with bright fabric markers; a friendly looking frog origami bookmark, and, of course, a Haggadah.

Standing from left: Rabbi Josh Goller, assistant rabbi at YIWH; Rabbi Hillel Fox, Northshore University Hospital chaplain; and Orit Lax, Adina Frankel, Jen Toplan, Ayelet Mottahedeh, Judy Feldman, Shulamit Hurwitz and Anat Schick. Sitting: Kari Levine and Ann Koffsky.

Some moon talk as Adar 2 nears

By Alina D. Sharon As February turns to March on the Gregorian calendar, the Hebrew month of Adar Aleph becomes Adar Bet on March 3.

The second Adar, comes seven times every 19 years on the Hebrew calendar.

Traditional lore attributes the standardization of the Hebrew calendar — in which the months follow the course of moon, but are aligned with the seasons — to Hillel II, leader of the Sanhedrin in the 4th century. Experts believe the evolution of the calendar was much more gradual.

“The Bible contains some basic references to solar and lunar elements, but it does not lay out clear rules. Over time, these emerged, and by the rabbinic period the calendar looked very similar to the one we use today, although there were sectarian groups who did not accept it and had their own traditions of calendar rules,” Elisheva Carlebach, professor of Jewish history, culture and society at Columbia University, told JNS. Sasha Stern, head of the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London, told JNS that “a lot of people use the word ‘lunisolar’ to indicate that the calendar is

regulated by the moon (which defines the beginning of the month) as well as by the sun (which demands the addition of 13th lunar month every two or three years).”

But a core aspect of the original establishment of a Hebrew calendar was the need to determine the timing of religious holidays.

“In the Jewish calendar, the addition of a 13th month is required for keeping up with the seasons (e.g. spring for Passover), not with the sun,” he said. In meteorology, the schedule of the seasons does not quite correspond with the movement of the sun.

Stern believes the term “lunisolar” is a misnomer. The lunar year is 12 lunar months of an average of 29 and a half days each, with a total of approximately 354 days in a year, he explained.

“This falls short of the seasons by about 11 days,” and thus “an extra month needs to be added every two or three years in order to make up for this and keep up with the seasons,” he said.

The ancient Israelite calendar was therefore most likely lunar, with 12 months, each beginning with a new moon. Stern said all lunar calendars in the world “have always added a 13th (leap) See Adar on page 18

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March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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By Ben Sales, JTA This may be hard to remember, but three years ago it was a big deal when Bernie Sanders criticized Israel in public.

In a debate with Hillary Clinton, Sanders generated headlines when he said the United States should care about Palestinian rights.

Sometimes, he added, Netanyahu was wrong.

“In the long run, if we are ever going to bring peace to that region, we are going to have to treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity,” the longtime Vermont senator said at the April 14 Democratic presidential primary debate. “There comes a time when we pursue justice and peace that we will have to say Netanyahu is not right all the time.”

During the campaign, Sanders also described himself as “100 percent pro-Israel.” He spoke about living on an Israeli kibbutz when he was younger and defended Israel’s right to self-defense. But he also broke norms on Israel.

Sanders was the only major candidate not to speak at the annual convention of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby (he offered to appear on video).

For a hot second, his director of Jewish outreach was a co-founder of IfNotNow, a millennial Jewish group that is deeply critical of Israeli actions (and takes no “unified stance” on Zionism, BDS, or the “question of statehood”). He said Israel’s actions were “disproportionate” during the 2014 Gaza war and overstated the number of Palestinians who were killed.

Now, as Sanders announces another presidential run, he looks less like an outlier. Observers say he has helped make it kosher to criticize Israel within the party. And the new landscape has made him look like a centrist. Two freshman congresswomen have endorsed the movement to boycott Israel, which Sanders opposes. Netanyahu has a steadfast bromance with Trump, whom Democrats detest. Polls show weakening Democratic sympathies with Israel versus Palestinians.

Bernie Sanders helped make it kosher to criticize Israel within the Democratic Party.

Getty Images

“Before the last presidential campaign, it was an article of faith that no candidate of any serious stature would go near Israel-Palestine,” said Lara Friedman, director of the Foundation for Middle East Pace. Sanders showed, she said, that “you can engage politically on this issue in a way that differs from the orthodoxy that has defined where politicians can go. Not only does it not hurt you, it makes you stronger as a candidate.”

Since 2016, Sanders has been outspoken on Israel. As Israel clashed with protesters on the Gaza border last year, his team released videos on the coastal strip’s humanitarian crisis, partly blaming Israel. He spoke out against a bill that protects states’ rights to outlaw boycotts of Israel.

Sanders still says you can be pro-Israel while opposing Israel’s current right-wing government and supporting Palestinian rights.

“As someone who believes absolutely and unequivocally in Israel’s right to exist and to exist in

peace and security, as someone who as a young man lived in Israel for a number of months and is very proud of his Jewish heritage … we must say loudly and clearly that to oppose the reactionary policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu does not make us anti-Israel,” he said last year to a standing ovation at the annual conference of J Street, the liberal Israel policy group.

Daniel Shapiro, President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel, said Sanders’ policies were still mainstream. He said that like all of the major Democratic presidential candidates, Sanders supports Israel’s right to exist and favors a twostate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“He’s expressed support for the US-Israel relationship, for Israeli security and [Israel’s] right to defend itself, and strong support for the twostate solution, and often articulates that in the language of Palestinian rights,” Shapiro said. “In many ways they’re pretty widely held positions.”

In general, Sanders has drawn his colleagues leftward on other issues since 2016. Significant numbers of Democrats now support some of his signature positions, like universal health care and free college tuition. He may have had a similar effect on the Israel debate, says Debra Shushan, director of policy and government relations for Americans for Peace Now, a left-wing pro-Israel group.

“He’s not so much out there on the left flank as he was,” she said. “He is starting to pull some folks a little bit more in his direction.”

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, is a Sanders supporter.

“I think he’s been very clear in everything — for his continued support for justice for Palestinians, security for Israel, opposing restrictions on speech,” he said. “All those fit within the mainstream of where the opinions of Democrats are on this issue.”

Sanders’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment from JTA.

For Jews who identify strongly with traditional, largely uncritical support for Israel within the Democratic Party, Sanders represents a tilt that is bad for Israel and bad for the party.

“I want to keep Israel a bipartisan issue,” Alan Dershowitz, the attorney and pro-Israel activist, told i24 News in 2017. “I want to work within the Democratic Party to see the defeat of Keith Ellison, to see the defeat of the hard left, to see the defeat of Senator Sanders and to make sure that the Democrats remain centrist and pro-Israel as the Republicans remain centrist and pro Israel.”

Ellison, a Minnesota congressman and Israel critic who did not seek reelection in November, had been in the running to chair the Democratic National Committee that year.

Much of the Democratic debate on Israel centers on the boycott question and the two congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar — Ellison’s successor in her state’s 5th District — who support it. A question for many observers is whether the two first-year lawmakers, representing a younger, ever more diverse party, will put pressure on Sanders to join them on a left flank that is even more deeply critical of Israel.

Maybe not yet: Friedman pointed out that Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, met last month with Sanders and referred to him as “Amo (Uncle) Bernie.”

But critics of a perceived shift on Israel within the party pointed to this month’s Senate vote on a pro-Israel bill initiated by Republicans. Although the bill passed 77-33, six of the seven Democratic senators running for president voted no. The lawmakers explained that they objected to a measure in the bill that would make it easier for states to pass laws fighting the Boycott Israel, or BDS, movement, on the grounds that it would inhibit free speech.

Nevertheless, pro-Palestinian groups welcomed their votes, and conservative critics charged they were pandering to the pro-BDS left.

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THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

Bernie’s Israel view is increasingly mainstream

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So, just what IS an anti-Semitic trope?

March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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Beyond words and images, it’s in a speaker’s heart and a listener’s ear Andrew SilowCArroll Dear JTA, I am an elected official in a large democracy in the Western hemisphere. A lot of my colleagues have gotten into trouble recently for using anti-Semitic “tropes.” I know what anti-Semitism is, but am less sure how that differs from a “trope.” Any guidance so I don’t inadvertently say something offensive?

Distinguished Colleague ear D.C., I understand your confusion. This has been the era of the anti-Semitic “trope,” with the word popping up in hundreds of news stories since the 2016 campaign.

In short, tropes are phrases or images that evoke classic anti-Semitic ideas rather than state them explicitly. It’s a long list: the dual loyalty trope, the blood libel, the clannishness charge, the global conspiracy motif and the control-the-media mantras (to name a few).

When Donald Trump’s closing argument at the end of the 2016 campaign invoked “the global special interests” that “don’t have your good in mind” — and then featured images of a financier, a banker and the chair of the Federal Reserve, all Jews — he was accused of employing the “trope” of Jewish global control.

When Hungary’s government ran a campaign against philanthropist George Soros featuring his smiling face and the slogan “don’t let him get the last laugh,” some said it recalled the Nazi-era trope of the “laughing Jew.” And this month, when freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar complained that US policy toward Israel is “all about the Benjamins, baby,” politicians and observers insisted that the Minnesota Democrat had invoked stereotypes of Jewish power and control (“Benjamins,” as in Ben Franklin, the face on the $100 bill).

The Anti-Defamation League responded, “The notion that wealthy Jews are controlling the government is a longstanding anti-Semitic trope and one of the pillars of modern anti-Semitism.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the entire Democratic leadership issued a joint statement calling Omar’s “use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters” deeply offensive and insisted on an apology. nti-Semites usually make it pretty easy for us to identify them. They scrawl a swastika on Jewish gravestones. They describe Jewish conspiracies and quote Mein Kampf or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. They make it clear that “no Jews are allowed.”

But “tropes” are anti-Semitism once removed.

Intentional users employ a trope as code hoping to avoid the anti-Semitism charge while dogwhistling their audiences. (The Hebrew expression for such circumlocution is hamevin yavin — literally “those who understand will understand” or, as Eric Idle put it, “Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more.”)

As a result, tropes allow those charged with anti-Semitism a degree of deniability. The Trump campaign, you’ll recall, insisted that “globalist” is a catch-all term for someone who doesn’t put America first and that those who say otherwise are paranoid. When Rep. Rashida Tlaib said that backers of a series of pro-Israel bills “forgot what country they represent,” defenders said the targets of her tweets weren’t even Jewish.

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Similarly, Omar’s defenders insist she was merely pointing out a truth that is universally acknowledged: that lobbying groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee raise and spend a lot of money to influence the political debate. Why is it OK to point out the NRA’s spending to influence the gun debate but antiSemitic to note the way AIPAC helps shape Middle East policy?

The answers may lie in the user’s track record.

Omar previously tweeted that Israel has “hypnotized” the world, a trope as old as the Protocols: Jews mesmerizing governments into submission.

Local Jewish leaders say they tried to explain to Omar the ways one can criticize Israel without tripping on a trope, but are disappointed that she hasn’t been listening.

Similarly, the Trump campaign already was under scrutiny for trafficking in memes popular on the alt-right.

The “laughing Jew” motif may not be as obvious to a North American audience as others, but the far right in Europe is certainly aware that the “laughing Jew” was a frequent theme of Hitler’s speeches. As two historians pointed out in Haaretz, Hitler often accused Jews of laughing at good Aryans and declared that he would silence their laughter forever. f course, it is possible to partake of a trope without meaning to. And sometimes Jews hear anti-Semitic intent where none is intended.

And sometimes bigotry is in the ear of the listener. Trump is the ultimate test case in this regard. Since Trump rarely if ever says something explicitly racist, we’re all left to argue over whether the things he says are offensive by intent, by effect or not at all.

My favorite Trump Rorschach test involved his comments to the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015. Last week, in a discussion of the Omar controversy, CNN’s Jake Tapper said sardonically that Trump also used the “Jews and money” trope in talking to the RJC (and then, Tapper complained, had the chutzpah to call on Omar to resign over the same offense). Here is what Trump told the RJC: “I’m a negotiator like you folks, we are negotiators. Is there anybody that doesn’t renegotiate deals in this room? This room negotiates them — perhaps more than any other room I’ve ever spoken in.”

Later he says, “You’re not gonna support me because I don’t want your money. You want to control your politicians, that’s fine.”

Pretty trope-y. But after Trump made his “joke,” the crowd roared with laughter.

Stereotypes are the basis of a lot of humor.

They only become tropes when you don’t trust the purveyor. The RJC’s laughter suggested its members were inclined to see Trump’s words as lighthearted. As for the “You want to control your politicians” line, Trump’s defense is that he was told this to donors on all his campaign stops under the pretense that he was going to self-fund his campaign and reject their money and influence.

Or not. Trump has a talent, or perhaps an unconscious tendency, for straddling the fine line between offensiveness and deniability, which makes him either the Yo-Yo Ma of the dog whistle or a 21st-century Chauncey Gardiner, whose audiences hear what they want to hear.

But back to the original question: How do you keep from inadvertently saying something offensive?

Ask yourself: What are the worst things said about any one ethnic group or minority? Not sure? Ask them. And do this: If they say something offends them, believe them.

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Elan Carr at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organization in Jerusalem on Feb. 21.

Sam Sokol

spectrum” and would go after anti-Semitism “regardless of the ideological clothing in which it dresses itself,” from ultranationalism on the right to left-wing anti-Zionism. Some Jewish groups have been concerned that a Department of Homeland Security program on countering violent extremism was shifted during the Trump administration to focus solely on Muslim extremism and not white nationalism.

Among the threats Carr cited were traditional forms of anti-Semitism such as “statements of government officials who call us internationalist outsiders who subvert society” and attacks by those who say that Jewish advocacy for immigrants is a threat to America. The gunman charged in the Pittsburgh shooting railed against Jewish support for immigrants’ rights.

“Anti-Semitism is a human sickness and rots to the core every society that embraces it,” Carr said.

Several high-profile American Jewish leaders

lauded the new envoy even as they expressed reservations regarding the president who appointed him. Given the sensitivity of the matter, none of them agreed to speak on the record.

“You have to give credit where credit is due,” one prominent figure told JTA. “This is a good appointment and the Jewish community has and will support it. It’s unfortunate it took two years.”

One well-known national Jewish official told JTA that the early days of the Trump administration were marked by chaos that saw few positions being filled. There are still countries to which the United States has not sent ambassadors. Moreover, he said, Pompeo made the issue a priority, as opposed to his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, Trump’s first secretary of state.

The official, intimating inside knowledge, also said that another candidate had strung along the State Department for months before backing out and forcing it to relaunch the process.

Another Jewish official said Carr had fans in the community, but there were reservations about the Trump administration’s approach.

“He’s a decorated veteran, a committed Jewish leader and a real mensch,” the official said.

“However, many of us are very concerned about Carr’s appointment being used as a diversion to excuse or distract from over two years of President Trump’s anti-Semitic dog whistles.”

Asked about the concerns regarding the hiatus between anti-Semitism envoys, Carr said he believed that there were “a number of reasons.”

“There were a number of candidates that were looked at and a number of internal adjustments at the State Department that Secretary Tillerson made, and then when Secretary Pompeo came aboard he’s made this a huge focus of his,” Carr told JTA. “I just couldn’t be more impressed with his determination and I’m thrilled that I was chosen to carry the banner of the United States while fighting for the safety of the Jewish people.”

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By Sam Sokol, JTA JERUSALEM — The State Department’s new envoy on anti-Semitism addressed American Jewish leaders gathered for a conference here, and praised President Donald Trump for his commitment to fighting that bias.

Elan Carr appeared to charm delegates of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who hosted him toward the end of their annual four-day trip here.

But a number of leaders remained skeptical of Trump and his commitment to battling antiSemitism, despite the applause Carr received when he spoke of the administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and declared that anti-Zionism is a form of contemporary antiSemitism. Trump remains divisive in the wider Jewish community.

Carr, 50, a Hebrew-speaking former Los Angeles prosecutor who served with the U.S. Army in Iraq, was named as the special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism earlier this month. The post, held by Ira Forman under President Barack Obama, sat empty for the first two years of the Trump presidency despite protests from lawmakers and Jewish groups.

“My office was created by law and designed to protect the Jewish people throughout the world. Think about that,” Carr said Thursday.

“The world’s greatest power is focused, by law and design, on protecting the Jews. It’s something not to be taken for granted.”

Carr said Trump “could not be more passionate about the issue” of fighting anti-Semitism.

Carr, who was in Israel to meet with officials, also praised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“Pompeo speaks about this at every opportunity and is passionate about it,” Carr said. “It’s the business of this administration and of the United States to fight anti-Semitism.”

Carr was adamant that the White House would “not ignore any part of the ideological

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5 THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

Envoy says Trump will protect Jews

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Relevant, responsive, ready: Birthright at 19

By Deborah Fineblum, JNS For Birthright Israel, 2018 was a year that organizers could only have dreamed of back in 1999, when a few philanthropists joined the government of Israel and North American Jewish federations to dispatch a busload of college students on the very first Birthright tour of Israel.

Nearly two decades later, a record 48,000plus young Jews from 67 countries (and 8,300 Israelis who travel with them) spent 10 days connecting with Israel, Israelis, their Jewish selves and each other, bringing the Birthright total to a whopping 650,000, representing roughly half of all young Jewish Americans.

And this all takes places despite mounting Israel-bashing on campuses across North America.

Contributing to Birthright’s success are new trip options, including one with an age limit of 32 (previously, eligibility started at 18 and was capped at 26). Now in its pilot phase, the trip invites young adults ages 27 to 32 on trips of just seven days, owing to their busy schedules.

“I hadn’t been in years,” says Tova Ross, a New Jersey mom. “The trip changed the way I felt about Israel by giving me a new perspective on the country. I got to appreciate the diversity of the Jewish people by meeting so many different types of young Jews. It gave me as a deeper appreciation of the vital role a Jewish education plays in fostering a strong love for Israel.”

“We’ve opened up lots of new spots, so we’ve been able to pretty much do away with the waitlist,” says Noa Bauer, Birthright Israel’s vice president of Global Marketing. And now they also have so many choices, she adds. “They can go with students from their school or on specialinterest trips with kids from all over.”

Specialty trips range from archaeology, the culinary arts, hiking, professional development, the LGBTQ community and artists, as well as those for young adults with disabilities. “We offer whatever it takes to make sure every young

Birthright participants hike up Masada, Israeli flag Birthright Israel in hand.

Jew can experience Israel,” adds Bauer. (To qualify, you need to have at least one Jewish parent.)

Six to eight young Israelis, including Israel Defense Forces soldiers, come along on every trip. It’s a rare opportunity for participants to relate to each other in an intimate setting that melts away differences, explains Bauer. “The visitors begin to understand what it’s like to defend both Israel and the Jewish people, and the soldiers get so much positive reinforcement from the Diaspora kids. Overnight, they build powerful bonds with each other.”

Tom Shaked was finishing her last month of IDF service in 2016 when she took 10 days off to accompany a Birthright trip.

“I was pretty skeptical and went into it expecting 10 days of shallow conversation,” she says.

“At first, I did get questions like, ‘Do you know how to shoot a gun?’” But sitting in a circle on Shabbat, “the Americans spoke so openly about what they hoped to get from their Birthright trip.

Yes, they wanted to see Israel and how Israelis

live, but inside they were hoping to learn what it means to be a Jew. Helping them explore their Jewish identity forced me to examine my own.”

Touring her new American friends around her base, “it made me prouder than ever to be a soldier for Israel, to feel this responsibility for something bigger than myself.”

Equally impactful was their trip to the military cemetery at Mount Hertzl. “They told us that Memorial Day in the U.S. is mostly for shopping, and we told them that on Memorial Day here we get up, dress in black and go to the cemetery because every Israeli family has lost someone.”

But this kind of aha moment doesn’t happen magically. It takes $150 million to send nearly 50,000 young Jews a year on a free trip to Israel. Two-thirds of the funding comes from philanthropists and donors with the Adelson Family Foundation, which picks up 23 percent of the Birthright tab. The government of Israel funds 28 percent, and the rest is made up of Jewish federations and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

The investment pays off, one Jew at a time.

“It brought me to a spiritual, emotional place, on our own journey to this place that’s very important to us all,” says recent traveler Yana Kozukhin, a sophomore at New York University. Sea changes can result from even this short exposure. After returning from Birthright, Kozukhin switched her course of study; she is now carrying a double major of education and Judaic studies.

There are anti-Israel forces on campus working to discourage students from these trips, and Birthright travelers often return to campuses where Israel is demonized.

Still, such influences do not appear to be slaking students’ enthusiasm. “Birthright doesn’t hide the fact that Israel is a politically complicated place,” says Len Saxe, a professor of contemporary Jewish studies at Brandeis University who has written extensively on Birthright. “The numbers are clear evidence that political issues

and controversies are not preventing people from going to see it for themselves.”

According to Jonah Kurman-Faber, who went on Birthright this winter, “the Israeli journalist who briefed the group on the situation laid it out in a fair and neutral way. I was really impressed how even the Israelis who discussed it with each other were having less an argument and more a sense of dialogue.”

In fact, adds Birthright’s Bauer, “we see the anti-Israel pressures as representing a loud but small extremist position.”

But one thing that’s not in question is the powerful impact of a Birthright experience, crucial in today’s often hostile campus environment.

“Birthright is a potent weapon against those who are pitted against Israel and the Jewish people,” says Tammi Rossman-Benjamin of AMCHA Initiative, a watchdog organization that monitors anti-Israel and anti-Semitic pressures on campus.

“Knowing the toxic campus environments many of these young Jews are returning to, organizers have to be even more strategic than in years past and aware that they’re fighting against forces demonizing Israel, the Birthright program and anyone who goes on it.”

Bauer acknowledges that mass aliyah is not the goal. “We also need a strong Diaspora Jewish community for the future, and for that the new generation needs to feel close to their people and their land. Now when they see Israel on the news or hear the country criticized,” she says, “they’ll know the real Israel as they experienced it.

“For thousands of young Jews, Birthright is a powerful transformative experience,” she adds.

“It’s one of the few things in life that’s a gift with absolutely no strings attached.”

Over two years after her trip, Shaked, 24, remains close with her American friends. Several have been back to Israel, and one lives there now.

“It’s pretty amazing,” she says. “In just 10 days, we went from strangers to family.”

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March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

8

The JEWISH STAR

School News

Send news and hi-res photos to Schools@TheJewishStar.com • Deadline Monday 10 am

ES HANCsters do chesed The students at HANC Elementary School in West Hempstead have been working hard to raise money for a great cause. During Chanukah, the Student Council ran a Chinese auction, raising over $3,000 for the Israeli organization Tzalash.

In order for the children to understand the impact of their donation, Rabbi Yaron Levy came to address the fifth and sixth graders. Tzalash organizes programs to enable the soldiers to deepen their knowledge of Torah, Gemara and Mishna. It sponsors a special program called “Simchat Yom Rishon” where soldiers from all over join together in large group Torah learning. After a shiur, which often includes 200 soldiers, each person is pre-

sented with treats to give them strength as they begin their difficult week.

In addition to large group lessons, Tzalash also provides soldiers with small books designed to fit in their uniform pockets so that they can continue their learning wherever they are positioned.

Over the past six years, 40,000 soldiers have benefitted from this program. Tzalash hopes to expand and reach other parts of the country in the future.

HANC is very proud of this tremendous contribution and hopes that it will enrich the religious lives of the soldiers who benefit from the Torah study.

SKA color war

HAFTR parties for our presidents

HAFTR’s Early Childhood celebrated Lincoln’s birthday in style with a fun party, including a beautifully decorated cake.

Values workshop at SHA Silverstein Hebrew Academy, in partnership with Chabad of Great Neck and Lake Success Chabad, sponsored a community workshop for local parents featuring Columbia University psychologist and mediator Kira Nurieli.

The interactive program focused on defining values and how parents can best convey them to their children.

“As Kira so clearly explained, it starts with our own self-reflection and defining what our own values are and understanding how our everyday actions either do or don’t convey those values to our children,” said Shireen Butmann, Head of School at SHA. “At Silverstein Hebrew Academy ... ensuring that we raise individuals who exemplify values is critical to us.”

Chanie Geinsky, SHA Associate Head of School, noted, “Teaching values is so very much a part of

what we are dedicated to at Silverstein. Teaching with an open mind and an open heart truly means teaching not only academics and our Judaic traditions, but the values we hold dear as parents and educators.”

Parents participated in an open discussion, while Kira offered helpful techniques to assist parents in defining and discussing values with their significant other and their children.

The workshop also focused on family dynamics.

Kira’s work centers around working with groups to create innovative solutions to corporate, community, family, and school challenges. Silverstein Hebrew Academy, Chabad of Great Neck and Lake Success Chabad acknowledge the graciousness and hospitality of Natalie and Uri Pinchasov for hosting the workshop in their home.

DRS Israel reunion

Every year, a number of DRS rebbeim travel to Israel to visit alumni studying in Israeli yeshivot for the year. Menahel Rabbi Yisroel Kaminetsky, Associate Principal Rabbi Elly Storch, Director of Israel Guidance Rabbi Avi Weber, and Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Aryeh Cohen visited the alumni learning in nearly 20 different yeshivot

Rosh Chodesh Adar Aleph breakfast at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls turned into a “Vanehefoch Hu” when Color War broke out.

The theme was Purim, and each grade received a color and name relating to the chag.

The Green Team freshmen were Orah V’Simcha, Team Red sophomores turned things around with Vanehefoch Hu, Purple Juniors were Kimu V’kablu Hayehudim, and Team Blue Seniors received L’eit Hazot Higat LeMalchus.

The next morning morning, the school was awash in color as each team’s hues vied for attention in the hallways and SKA bowling alley.

The teams split into squads to compete at Musical Chairs, Hula Hoops, Panoply, Crazy Races, Bingo, Project Runway and a Brachos Bee. After team practice and lunch, it was time for presentations. The SKA judges had difficult decisions to make as the four grades displayed their amazing talents.

Color War was finally won by the seniors. Although the other three grades did not win, they were all proud of what they had accomplished in the day and a half of competition.

SKA Color War ended with spirited dancing and incredible achdus between the grades.

Brandeis science Brandeis fourth-graders are learning about animal adaptation in Mrs. Weiss’s class. They used forceps and chopsticks to imitate thea ways animals pick up food in the while.

Students predicted that forceps were a better adaptation for survival. Each student had one minute to try using each tool.

After recording the information on a chart, their prediction proved correct.

Students also studied mimicry and showed how an animal with similar coloring can be mistaken for a poisonous or more dangerous animal. The nonpoisonous scarlet king snake mimics the coral snake by displaying the same colors in a different pattern. Students created their own model snakes by reusing wallpaper from old sample booklets.

to reconnect and continue to strengthen the Rebbe-Talmud relationship that makes DRS famous. All four met with each DRS alumnus and documented their experiences in order to better serve future DRS students who will one day decide where they wish to go to yeshiva. DRS takes great pride in seeing its alumni growing through their experience in yeshiva abroad. 96% of DRS graduates decide to spend a year after high school learning in Israel.

9 THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

‘Names’ project at MDS Eighth grade students at Manhattan Day School interviewed Shoah survivors last week as part of the Names Not Numbers program.

Students at Upper West Side elementary school have been attending weekly, in-school, Shoah seminars and, in preparation for the filming (above), learned interviewing skills, filming techniques and film editing. Throughout the interview process, they were awed by the testimonies of Joe Feingold, Judith Kallman (pictured right), Leah Scharf (at left), George

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Lindenblatt, Dr. Moshe Avital and Mike Stolowitsky and inspired by the survivors’ resilience, emunah and hope. Through the testimonies, the students become witnesses themselves.

“When I first saw Leah Sharf, the survivor that I interviewed, I was overcome with emotion,” student Raphaela Levy said. “As the interview went on and I learned more about her story, I began to understand the Holocaust in a different way. Her story inspired me, and has already made an immense impact in my life.”

Towards the end of the week, Head of School Raizi Chechik spoke to the students about emunah during the darkest of times, weaving anecdotes from the survivor testimonies the students had heard with study of responsa literature from the ghettos, and primary source readings about holding on to faith and humanity in the abyss. Survivor Dr. Moshe Avital addressed this directly, explaining that it was emunah that gave him the will and strength to keep going.

During the next stage of this project, students will edit the interviews into a final documentary for a community screening on May 30.

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The JEWISH STAR

Wine & Dine

Eating for health as we age Kosher Kitchen

Joni SChoCKett

Jewish Star columnist

W

e are always learning new things about nutrition and ways food can help us stay healthy far longer than ever before. There is even a new school of thought that looks at food as if it actually is medicine.

Everyone is all excited about this idea, and there is a doctor who has written a book about food as medicine. Others are already on the market.

But is this actually a new idea? For decades, doctors have known that some foods are more beneficial than others. They have advised a low-fat diet for a very long time. Now they prescribe a healthy fat, low-sugar diet.

But the ideas of food as medicine, and as life-preserving and disease-preventing, goes back even further. Centuries ago, Moses Maimonides, a Spanish rabbi, philosopher, scholar, and, of course, physician, wrote extensively about health, exercise and nutrition. He taught and wrote about the kinds of foods needed for good health and the kinds of foods that should be left out of the diet. Maimonides believed that to be healthy, one should eat mostly plants and grains for most of the week, should not overeat, and must exercise often. Very modern advice, still given by people like Michael Pollan, and probably most doctors!

Maimonides said, “No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means.” There are a lot of diseases out there that can be treated, and in some cases prevented, by proper diet.

Type II diabetes comes to mind. It is one of the most preventable diseases, yet it is on the rise and is showing up in younger people, even children. In addition, other illnesses, such as some cancers, might be prevented by a healthier diet. Some foods, like processed meats with

chemical nitrites and nitrates in them, might actually cause some cancers.

As people get older, eating optimal foods for good health is even more important. As caloric needs decrease, the need to choose calories wisely becomes more important. Eating a filling diet of foods that are loaded with water, such as fruits and vegetables, is so important to keep us full and satiated while providing lots of healthful nutrients. Lean meats and lots of fish are also important for protein.

Live long, eat well and remember, everything in moderation. One piece of babka or an ice cream won’t hurt you. While food is for life, it is also for fun!

Chicken Breasts with Shallots and White Wine (Meat) 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 4 large shallots, thinly sliced 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth 1/4 cup dry white wine 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste Pound the chicken breasts so that they are equally thick throughout. Set aside.

Mix the chicken broth, wine and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk to blend.

Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil.

Add the shallots and cook, stirring often, until golden brown. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until the chicken is cooked about halfway up the thickness of the cutlet, 2 to 4 minutes.

Pour the liquid over the chicken and bring to a simmer. Cook until the chicken reaches 165 degrees in the middle (so don’t place the thermometer too far down).

Remove the chicken to a platter and raise the heat to medium high. Cook until the liquid is reduced and thickened a bit. Pour over the chicken. Serve with whole-grain side dish, such as brown rice, faro, or wheat berries.

Serves 4.

Salad Greens with Roasted Carrots, Yams, Avocado and More (Pareve) 6 cups salad greens (whatever you like) 1 lb. carrots, thin part cut off, about 3 to 4 inches and thick part cut in half lengthwise 2 yams, peeled and cut into spears about the same size as the carrots 4 to 5 garlic cloves OPTIONAL: 1/2 to 1 tsp. cumin 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 to 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 to 4 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice OPTIONAL: A drizzle of honey or agave nectar 2 avocados, chilled 2 oranges (I like Satsumo — no pits), peeled and broken into segments Good-quality salt, such as Maldon, and/or freshly cracked black pepper Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and set aside.

Smash the garlic and make a paste with the a few inches of salt. Place in a large bowl and add the olive oil, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Mix well and add a pinch of flaky salt and pepper to

taste. Whisk to mix well and set aside.

Peel the yams and cut them in long spears. Set aside. Wash and peel the carrots. Pat dry. Add the carrots and yams to the garlic oil mixture and toss to coat evenly.

Add 1/4 cup of water to the rimmed baking sheet and spread the carrots/yam mixture evenly over the pan.

Scrape out any extra oil mixture over the veggies. Cover with foil and place in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes.

Uncover, lower the temperature to 375 and roast for an additional 25 to 35 minutes, until golden and soft. If the veggies get too dark, remove the tray from the oven and take off the ones that are cooking faster. The veggies should be very soft, but not

burned. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Place washed greens evenly in 4 large, shallow bowls. Set aside. Peel the oranges and break into segments, place in a bowl and set aside. Place the orange juice, lemon juice, and the 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in the large bowl and whisk to blend.

Remove the avocado from the refrigerator.

Cut in half, remove the pit and peel the skin away. Cut the avocado in slices and add to the large bowl. Mix gently to coat. Push them to one side, add the carrots and yams to the bowl, and mix to coat in the dressing.

Distribute the veggies evenly over the greens and add the orange segments. Divide any remaining dressing over the greens. Serves 4.

Cauliflower Parmesan (Dairy) 1 large head cauliflower 1/4 to 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. oregano 1 tsp. parsley 2 tsp. garlic powder 2 tsp. onion powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 jar (28 to 32 ounces) marinara sauce or tomato sauce 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and drizzle generously with olive oil. Sprinkle half the oregano, parsley, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper evenly over the oil.

Cut the cauliflower into half-inch “steaks” by cutting down from the crown. Place the steaks over the oil and brush generously with the remainder of the olive oil. Sprinkle the remaining herbs and spices over the cauliflower.

Place in the oven and roast for 35 to 45 minutes until lightly golden and softened, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and let cool. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees.

Take a 2-qt. glass casserole dish and lightly coat with olive oil. Place 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan. Place the cauliflower over the sauce, fitting in as needed. Top with the remainder of the sauce and the cheese and place back in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes to heat through. Serves 3 to 4, depending on size of cauliflower.

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March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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The JEWISH STAR

Wine & Dine

Creative Hamantaschen from ‘Queen of Kosher’ W

e all recognize that poppy seed or jam taste when we bite into Hamantaschen on Purim. But given the right filling, or dough, the traditional pastry has a lot more to offer.

The following recipes were recommended by “Queen of Kosher” Jamie Geller. Edited by JNS, they appeared on JoyofKosher.com and in the cookbook “Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes.”

Cardamom Scented Hamantaschen with Pear & Goat Cheese Filling

By Pessy Haskelevich, writer for Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Magazine For a pareve version, simply replace the butter with canola oil and omit the goat cheese.

Prep Time: 40 minutes Servings: 2 dozen Ingredients: For the Pastry: 2 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 stick butter, or 1/4 cup canola oil Juice and zest of 1 lemon 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 2-1/2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 to 2 tsp. cardamom or hawayij Pinch of salt For the filling: 1/2 cup water 1/8 cup sugar Juice of 1 lemon 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, peeled and minced 1 lb. firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch diced pieces 3/4 cup apricot jam 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 8 oz. soft goat cheese (optional) Directions: Preparing the pastry: In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Divide the dough in half and chill in plastic wrap for half an hour.

Preparing the filling: Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and simmer over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon juice, ginger and pears and simmer for an additional 10 minutes, or until pears are tender. Set aside to cool.

To assemble and bake: On a generously floured surface, preferably on baking paper, roll out the dough to a quarter-inch thickness. Roll once, then pick up the flattened dough and turn it 90 degrees.

Sprinkle with more flour if necessary and roll it out again. Repeat until dough is of sufficient thickness (this helps prevent the dough from sticking).

Use a round cookie cutter or glass with a 2 to 3 inch diameter to cut out circles of dough.

Smear a very thin layer of apricot preserves in the center of each circle. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. walnuts and a small piece of crumbled goat chees.

Top with 1 tsp. of pear jam.

Lift up the edges of the circle to form a triangle. Pinch the corners securely so that they don’t open in the oven.

Line a cookie sheet with baking paper and place the assembled hamantaschen on the cookie sheet. Chill the hamantaschen in the freezer for about half an hour.

Repeat with second half of dough.

Bake at 375° F for 20 to 24 minutes, or until golden. Cool on rack.

Stuffed Hamantaschen Challah

By Shifra Klein, editor-in-chief, Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Magazine Based on the challah recipe from “Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes.”

Prep Time for challah: 1 hour Cook Time for challah: 45 to 55 minutes

Serving for challah: 4 challahs Ingredients for challah dough: 2 oz. active dry yeast + 3 Tbsp. sugar 6 cups warm water, divided 4 Tbsp. kosher salt 1 6-lb. bag high-gluten flour 2 cups sugar 4 egg yolks 1-1/4 cups canola oil, divided 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 cup sesame seeds 1/2 cup poppy seeds Directions to make challah dough: In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and 3 tablespoons of sugar in 2 cups of warm water, cover loosely with a towel and set aside.

Place salt in a huge plastic bowl. Add flour to bowl. Add sugar and egg yolks.

Yeast should now have bubbled/foamed and doubled in size. If yeast has not bubbled or does not seem active, repeat the process again.

Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and slowly pour yeast and sugar water mixture into the well. Then add the remaining 4 cups of warm water into the well. Make sure the water is not too hot. It should be no warmer than you would use for a baby’s bath.

Start kneading ingredients together and add a 1/2 cup of oil.

For the next 10 minutes, knead, adding another 1/2 cup of oil slowly during that time as needed to create a workable dough. Dough shouldn’t be too sticky and also should not be dry. It should become one cohesive mass.

Loosely cover dough with a large kitchen towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, lightly oil your hand and knead again for another 5 minutes adding a touch more oil to the dough if necessary. The dough should now be easier to work with and will become smooth and satiny.

Rub a little oil over the top and around the dough. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel. Place covered bowl in a medium plastic garbage bag and place open ends of the bag loosely underneath the bowl, trapping in air.

Place in a warm spot and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Punch dough down and knead (lightly oil your hands if necessary), flipping it and releasing any air bubbles. Cover again, using the towel and the bag, and let rise 1 more hour.

Lightly oil your hands, and punch down

again. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 4 equal parts.

Liberally spray four 9-inch round baking pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Bake for 10 minutes and then lower your oven temperature to 350° F and bake for an additional 35 to 45 minutes, until challah top is dark golden brown.

Directions for the Hamantaschen: Fillings of choice: pesto, sundried tomato dip, or olive dip.

Prep Time for the hamantaschen: 15 minutes Cook Time for the Hamantaschen: 15 minutes Roll out desired size of dough into a rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into a diamond shape. Cut out a small triangle from the center of one of the halves of the diamond.

Place filling directly opposite the triangle, on the other half of the dough. Fold over to form a triangle/hamantaschen shape, and seal edges.

Brush with egg wash. Bake until golden.

Gingerbread Hamantaschen with Spiced Apple Filling

By Tamar Genger, executive editor, JoyofKosher.com Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Servings: 36 Ingredients: For the cookie dough: 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for dusting 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/2 tsp. ground allspice 1/2 tsp. ground cloves 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. freshly milled black pepper 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted margarine, room temperature 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses 1 large egg For the filling:

6 Tbsp. margarine, cut in 1-inch pieces 1/2 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and scraped of seeds 3 large or 4 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed Directions: Gingerbread cookie dough: Sift the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper through a wire sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat the margarine and shortening on high until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg.

Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.)

Filling: In a large skillet over medium heat, add the margarine and vanilla bean and seeds, cook about 5 minutes. Add the apples and let them caramelize on one side, then turn and cook until it beings to caramelize. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the apples and cook turning occasionally while it softens about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and remove vanilla bean, then puree in food processor and cool until ready to use.

When ready to assemble and bake the cookies, position the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350° F. To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. (If the dough has been chilled for longer than 3 hours, it may need a few more minutes.)

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 3-inch circles and use a spatula to place circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Spoon a teaspoon of filling into the center of the circle of dough and fold together to form a triangle. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, remove to wire rack to cool, and enjoy.

From JNS

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Otzma...

Continued from page 1 raeli government’s existed by the grace of Arab parties who support Israel’s annihilation,” tweeted New Right party candidate Caroline Glick.

AJC, the American Jewish Committee, wrote on Twitter that “the views of Otzma Yehudit are reprehensible. They do not reflect the core values that are the very foundation of the State of Israel.”

AJC noted that it “normally [does not] comment on political parties and candidates during an election,” but that in this case it was “compelled to speak out.” AJC added that “historically, the views of extremist parties, reflecting the extreme left or the extreme right, have been firmly rejected by mainstream parties,” a loosely worded allusion to Netanyahu’s assistance in facilitating the merger.

In response to the AJC tweets, AIPAC tweeted, “We agree with AJC. AIPAC has a longstanding policy not to meet with members of this racist and reprehensible party.”

Just hours after AIPAC’s tweet, it confirmed that Netanyahu would address the group’s

annual policy conference in March, posting a tweet featuring a smiling Netanyahu and noting that the organization was “honored to announce” his participation.

Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz praised AIPAC’s comments, stating that the unusual foray into internal Israeli politics “proves that Benjamin Netanyahu has once again crossed ethical red lines just to keep his seat, while causing serious harm to Israel’s image, Jewish morality and our important relationship with American Jewry.”

“When even our good friends feel the need to condemn, then it should be clear that a red line has been crossed,” wrote Yair Lapid, who has brought his Yesh Atid Party into a technical alliance with Gantz to form the Blue and White list and challenge Netanyahu.

In Israel, Modern Orthodox leader Benny Lau condemned the merger, calling it “a vote for the racism of Kahane,” the Jerusalem Post reported. Also, 80 rabbis signed a statement by Torat Chayim, an international association of Modern Orthodox Zionist Rabbis, saying that bringing Otzma Yehudit into the government is “truly a lamentable failure” by Netanyahu.

JTA reached out to the Orthodox Union and Rabbinical Council of America for comment on the issue. RCA responded that it doesn’t comment on Israeli politics.

Michael Ben Ari, leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, on Feb. 21.

Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Yossi Klein Halevi, an American-Israeli author who was a follower of Kahane in his youth and now stridently opposes the ideology, told i24 News, “I never thought I would see this day.”

“Every society has its fringe fanatics. But what Prime Minister Netanyahu has done, because he’s desperate, because he’s in an increasingly tight political race, is open the door to evil,” he said.

The ZOA called negative reaction to the move “strange, troubling and hypocritical.”

Otzma Yehudit said that groups like AIPAC “want to see the rise of the Israeli left to power and will be happy with a government that hands over territories and gives weapons to the enemy.” The right-wing party also suggested that members of AIPAC should move to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship “before they involve themselves in elections.”

“In any case, AIPAC’s hypocrisy rings loud and clear: We have never heard AIPAC condemn so strongly Joint Arab List MK’s Hanin Zoabi and Ahmad Tibi running for the Knesset,” they said in a statement. “They also never came out against certain Israeli leftists, such as Ofer Cassif, who called to cancel the Jewish state.”

Policy positions laid out on Otzma Yehudit’s website include support for aliyah, full Israeli control over the Temple Mount, preservation of national lands, eviction of Arabs affiliated with anti-Israel movements, assistance in emigration for Arabs who have expressed an interest in leaving Israel, an effort to reduce abortion, and encouragement of businesses in periphery areas.

The party’s foremost candidates are students of the late Rabbi Kahane, who advocated the expulsion of the Palestinians from territories controlled by Israel and something approaching a theocratic state of the Jews.

I banned Otzma leader Otzma is a legitimate from visiting the US political voice in Israel noah siegel

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he next Israeli government may include terrorists who are barred from entering the United States.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crossed every moral line for political gain last week when he brokered a merger of the religious nationalist Jewish Home party with Otzma Yehudit, the racist successor to the Kach and Kahane Chai parties, which advocated for the “transfer” of Arabs from Israel and the occupied territories.

This completes the near total rehabilitation of Kahanists into mainstream Israeli politics, despite the fact that Otzma’s leader, Michael Ben Ari, has been banned from entering the United States for nearly a decade because of his links to terrorism.

I know this because I made the case for his ban. n 2009, I was a US Foreign Service officer in Tel Aviv fulfilling a tour in consular services.

One of my duties was serving on the “Visas Viper” committee, an interagency working group at the embassy that evaluated individual cases in the country for potential threats to US citizens. It was my role to draw up the lists and supporting evidence for each case. The Viper committee would then discuss and adjudicate a ban based on the evidence provided. It was incumbent on the committee to make a strong case, as approval from DC was not automatic.

Our meetings focused largely on lists of Palestinians affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad drawn either from the public record or documentation provided by our Israeli counterparts. It was important to me that if the Viper committee was able to judge the minor indiscretions of a Palestinian teenager, we could certainly consider the case of a prominent Jewish public figure who was publicly advocating racist Kahanist policies.

The case was pretty straightforward and supported by everyone on the committee, which I would generally describe as strongly pro-Israel.

Ben Ari joined the Kach movement in 1979. Kach and Kahane Chai were both designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government in 1997, the same year as Hamas and Hezbollah. Ben Ari

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has never disavowed Kach and openly considers himself a disciple and devotee of Kahane.

Based on this evidence alone, the embassy’s request for a visa ban was granted. We also explored a separate request for Baruch Marzel, another Kach enthusiast running in the election, but a ban was not possible because he was born an American citizen.

Ben Ari himself may be known for his bookish demeanor, but his fellow travelers in the Jewish underground planned a series of assassinations against Palestinian mayors and a school in eastern Jerusalem. They were behind an attempt to blow up the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City.

Most notoriously, in 1994, Kach enthusiast Baruch Goldstein killed 29 worshippers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The entire movement was outlawed in Israel after it expressed support for the terrorist attack.

During his time in the Knesset, Ben Ari was detained by police for defending radical settlers; he incited race riots against African immigrants in South Tel Aviv; and he called for massacres of Palestinians during Israeli military operations in Gaza. t is disheartening that as Netanyahu embraces the likes of Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Rodrigo Duterte of the Phillipines, Israeli leaders increasingly adopt their authoritarian and ethno-nationalist approaches. Ben Ari is right when he says that he does not need to represent Kahane in the Knesset anymore; his anti-Arab views now have many followers in mainstream political parties.

In recent days, leading Israeli politicians and generals, led by Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, have come together to form the Blue and White party with the intention of defeating Netanyahu’s far-right coalition. Netanyahu has characterized this effort as “a new left-wing government, weak, led by Lapid and Gantz, with a blocking majority of Arab parties.”

With their hawkish credentials under attack, mainstream political leaders have again avoided direct repudiation of Ben Ari and other Kahanists.

American institutions, including AIPAC and the American Jewish Commitee, have spoken out against Otzma Yehudit, but have said nothing of Netanyahu’s courtship of their support.

In a close vote, Rivlin, who defended Ben Ari against my visa ban, will be in a position to decide which party is allowed to form a government and whether that coalition will include Jewish terrorists.

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yishai fleisher

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ike it or not, extreme right-wing and populist parties are a phenomenon in the world. Netherlands’ Party for Freedom, France’s National Rally, Hungary’s Jobbik and Austria’s Freedom Party all have seats at the parliamentary table, with various degrees of success. But none have been outlawed.

The European Populist and far-right parties were formed because a segment of society perceived Islamic migration and the erosion of national identity as an existential threat. Israel’s Otzma is no different. Given the prevalent jihadist mentality that surrounds (and permeates) the Jewish state, its emergence is even more understandable.

Indeed, in the last elections, Otzma was only a few thousand votes short of passing the electoral threshold and entering the Knesset with four seats. he Israeli left’s apoplectic reaction to the inclusion of Otzma into a technical bloc is mysterious. The left calls for a twostate solution through which Arabs living in the West Bank will be sealed behind a wall, never to be seen again in the Jewish state — an idea that sounds kind of racist. Moreover, two-state solutionists seek to kick out Jews from their homes, as they have done before, in favor of a newly minted Palestine — a concept that sounds a lot like ethnic cleansing.

Now, the very same people look down from their high horse of moral superiority at a right-wing party that calls to expel terrorists so that Jews can be safe from jihad in their ancestral heartland.

The Palestinian Authority often calls for a “Day of Rage” in response to events like Jewish visits to the Temple Mount. But the Jewish left thinks that there is no place for Jewish rage at all. When Kim Vinograd was tied up and shot in the head in the Barkan industrial zone, there is no rage. When Ori Ansbacher was raped and murdered while meditating in a Jerusalem forest, there is no rage. When rabbis were butchered in a Har Nof synagogue, there is no rage.

But when a small ultra-nationalist party wants to be democratically voted in, then sud-

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denly those who feel politically threatened express their misplaced rage.

I actually hink that the right wing holds the key to reconciliation and harmony. ust this week, members of the Hebron Jewish Community took part in an amazing event called the Israeli-Palestinian Economic Forum, run by the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The event was attended by Palestinian business leaders, Muslim religious clerics and settlers, who all live together in the Israeli heartland. On hand were innovators from around the world hoping to create joint projects in the fields of tourism, energy and production.

US Ambassador David Friedman was there, as well as Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Not surprisingly, two-state proponents including Peace Now and the Palestinian Authority were not in attendance.

Otzma’s past rhetoric — and the rage they expressed — has not reflected a precise distinction between jihadist Arab and tolerant Arab.

And while I share Otzma’s strong feelings of Jewish defense, and am deeply committed to fighting land giveaway, I still see a future in which Arabs and Jewish communities can exist harmoniously. And I would like my political representation to reflect this. I am hopeful that Otzma will gain political experience and maturity and broadcast a more nuanced message.

However, even with some boorishness, Otzma, an ultra-nationalist Jewish party, certainly has the right to run for representation in the parliament of the Jewish state. Let the people decide who should sit in the Knesset.

Moreover, it would be refreshing if the Jewish left would reveal as much rancor as they have shown this week for Otzma, for some members of Israeli Arab Knesset parties who in any other country would be tried for sedition. If Ahmad Tibi, the former assistant to the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat, has a right to be in the Israeli Knesset, then so does Otzma.

The Israeli parliament is all about debate in the great Jewish tradition. Even if you don’t like them, Otzma, like similar European ultranational parties, represents a legitimate voice and has a right to a seat at the table. Maybe Israel would benefit from debating their ideology from the floor of the democratically elected Parliament.

Yishai Fleisher is the International Spokesperson for the Jewish community of Biblical Hebron.

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15 THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

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‫כוכב של שבת‬

SHAbbAT STAR

March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

16

At Vayakhel, working to build our community From Heart of Jerusalem

Rabbi biNNY FReeDMaN

Jewish Star columnist

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n the fall of 2012, Israel was again preparing for war in response to the thousands of missiles being fired indiscriminately from the Gaza Strip into the population centers of southern Israel. As Eva Zrihen was posing for wedding photos in Tel Aviv, not 50 miles south her younger brothers, Sergeant Eliahu Zrihen and Captain Emmanuel Zrihen, were donning flak vests and ammo pouches for the challenge of entering Gaza in what was expected to be one of the most intensive and costly ground operations in modern warfare.

The Zrihen family was torn between tears of joy at Eva’s wedding and pangs of worry at her two brothers’ engagement in Operation Pillar of Defense.

Eliahu and Emmanuel sent Eva a message telling her how sad they were to be missing her wedding, but that they expected there to be only tears of joy. They were all at a mitzvah party, they wrote, just celebrating two different mitzvot.

As the family headed to the wedding hall, sirens wailed and rockets began falling. Everyone had to take cover in the bomb shelters. The wedding celebrations would have to wait.

Meanwhile, at around 9 pm, just outside Gaza, it was decided that Eliahu and Emmanuel’s unit would not be going in before dawn.

Their base commander found Eliahu Zrihen with a message: “You have 15 minutes to find your brother. Take my car keys and go dance at your sister’s wedding.”

Their cell phones had been taken away in preparation for entering Gaza, and there was no time to find them, so no one knew they were coming. Normally, the dancing would have long been over by the time they got there, but a few missiles had delayed everything.

At 11 pm, Eli and Emmanuel walked into the wedding hall. They had not had time to change out of their combat gear or even wipe the camouflage paint off their faces.

But when the two exhausted, dusty soldiers with grins as wide as the sea walked into the hall, everything … stopped. The band stopped playing, the people stopped dancing and parted, and for a moment no one moved, until the bride turned around and let out a shout of joy, and then the entire hall erupted.

And one family, symbolizing an entire people, separated by 50 miles and seemingly in two entirely different worlds that night, became one. his week’s portion begins as Moshe gathers the entire people together. It’s from this moment that the portion takes its name, Vayakhel, which means “to gather.”

The commentators ask why this special gathering was necessary. Why didn’t Moshe

inform the Jewish people as he normally would? Rashi points out that this actually occurred on the day following Yom Kippur, which seems to be his response to this question. But why does the day after Yom Kippur engender a gathering?

Some historical context is helpful here. The Jewish people received the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai on the seventh day of Sivan. Forty days later, on the 17th day of Tammuz, Moshe came down from the mountain to find the people frolicking with the Golden Calf, and he hurled the tablets of the law (luchot) to the ground.

Three days later, on the 20th day of Tammuz, after the principal perpetrators were been dealt with, Moshe ascended the mountain a second time to gain forgiveness for the Jewish people. Forty days later he descended on the first of the month of Elul to announce that the people had been forgiven. Then he ascended a third time for another 40 days to receive the second luchot. Finally, Moshe descended from Mount Sinai for the third and final time, on Yom Kippur, the tenth of Tishrei.

Thus, it was on Yom Kippur that the Jewish people realized they were really forgiven and had been given a second chance, with a second set of luchot. What Rashi points out is not the connection between gathering and Yom Kippur, but rather between this gathering, the day after this particular Yom Kippur.

No one is making it personal. It’s about the team.

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What’s the point of a drasha?

Parsha of the Week

Rabbi avi biLLet Jewish Star columnist

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he Yalkut Shimoni’s opening comment in his Midrashic exposition on Parshas Vayakhel is translated as follows: “Vayakhel Moshe, and Moshe gathered: Our Rabbis, the master Aggadists, said that from the beginning of the Torah until the end there is no other parsha that begins with a gathering.

“The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said, “Make for yourselves great gatherings and make drashas, sermonize before them in public regarding the laws of Shabbos, so that future generations will learn from you, to gather every Shabbos.

And they should enter the study halls to teach and to show the Israelites the words of the Torah, the forbidden and the permitted, so that My Great Name will be spread amongst my children.

“From this, the rabbis claimed that Moshe established for Israel to study the laws of Pesach on Pesach time, the laws of Atzeres [Shavuos] at Atzeres time, and the laws of Chag [Sukkos] at Chag time.

“Moshe said to the Israelites, ‘If you do this in this manner, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, will count it as if you have crowned Him king in His world, as it says in Isaiah (43:12), ‘You are My witnesses, the word of G-d, and I am G-d.’” think there are two important lessons we can take from this Midrashic account.

The first lesson is that clearly the concept of a drasha, certainly around Yom Tov time, but even week-to-week, is a good thing.

On Shabbos, we create that experience of a community gathering together, to pray together,

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to hear the Torah together, to learn together, and hopefully, to be inspired together. We should not feel that the rabbi speaks too long (unless he is unprepared and does not make a point worthy of everyone’s time). We need to remind ourselves why we come to synagogue!

Some people do not have the opportunity to learn Torah during the week, but if we are a kehillah, a community, a little patience will go a long way. The Torah thoughts shared during the sermon are the starting point of a larger conversation about Torah and our lives as Jews, under G-d. Our patience and positive support of sermons is a way to strengthen the community, and facilitate others’ learning when the response to a sermon is insightful, thoughtful and focused on its content. And if that conversation extends to the Shabbos table, we are all blessed for it.

The second lesson is to help us focus on why we gather in the first place. Of course we come to the synagogue to pray, and to learn a little. Some people attend a class before or after the services as well, while some get their fill from the sermon. But all of us attend for the focus of which the Yalkut Shimoni spoke, “so that My Great Name will be spread amongst my children,” and so that “G-d will view it as if we have crowned Him King in His World.” any shuls have a statement on or above the aron kodesh. In the interest of space I won’t share the many I’ve seen, but here is a summary of their presumed objectives. Some are meant to put the fear of G-d in those who are present. Some are meant to emphasize G-d’s presence in our midst. Some are meant to bring

the joy of having G-d in our lives to people’s conscience. The joy of Torah might be a focus as well.

More than anything, I think our goal in synagogue attendance is to bring G-d in the shul space and into our lives. Rabbi Shimshon Pincus said that sometimes we can accuse ourselves of being guilty of having “cultivated a Judaism from which we have left Hashem out of the equation.” Sometimes we are so busy serving G-d that we forget about G-d. Too often, even while we are praying, we don’t pay attention to Whom we are praying! We focus too much on “did you say that part yet?” as opposed to “Did you communicate with your Creator?”

Even our Shabbos observance may run the risk of hitting all the check marks — cholent and kugel, extra sleep, family time, even beautiful davening — and forgetting that all of these are only means to a much higher and important end: G-d Himself, Who is truly the beginning and the end!

Shabbos is such an integral part of our Jewish experience because it is through Shabbos that we testify to G-d’s existence, and that we note how He created the world in six days and stopped His creative work on the seventh, choosing to sanctify it and make it holy.

Many of the sermons of the great Chassidic masters focus on the special nature of Shabbos. I sometimes wonder why the rebbes felt the need to always talk about Shabbos. Whether we identify as chassidim or not, it is hard to imagine sincere chassidim violating the Shabbos.

See Drasha on page 19

Sometimes we are so busy serving G-d that we forget about G-d.

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ou see, six months after the great Exodus from Egypt, the people, like the first set of luchot, were broken. On the seventh of Sivan, G-d Himself had spoken to them from Mount Sinai. Moshe brought the luchot to the Jewish people encamped at the mountain’s foot — “as one, with one heart,” writes Rashi. But with the Levites meting out justice to idolaters, the dream of Sinai seemed far away and … broken.

So Moshe gathered everyone together and, at the behest of G-d, gave them a special mitzvah: to build a Mishkan together.

Because for any community to accomplish its goals, it must work together as a team.

This word, vayakhel, to gather, appears in almost exactly the same form at the beginning of the story of the Golden Calf: When the people saw that Moshe was returning, “vayakhel ha’am al Aharon,” “the nation gathered around Aharon” (32:1).

So, before the Golden Calf they gather as an am, a nation. But on the day after Yom Kippur, they are gathered by Moshe as an eidah, a congregation. Perhaps, when coming to Aharon after Moshe did not returned, the people gathered for a mission — what unites a nation is its purpose, its mission.

Here, however, the purpose is actually to gather. How do you rebuild a broken people?

Your bring them together. Perhaps the Torah is alluding to the fact that they are not gathering just to build a Mishkan, they are building together in order to rediscover the beauty of being “gathered.”

See Vayakhel on page 19

Luach Fri Feb 22 / 17 Adar 1 Ki Tisa Candlelighting: 5:20 pm Havdalah: 6:30 pm

Fri March 1 / 24 Adar 1 Vayakhel Candlelighting: 5:28 pm Havdalah: 6:38 pm

Fri March 8 / 1 Adar 2 Pekudei Candlelighting: 5:35 pm Havdalah: 6:46 pm

Fri March 15 / 8 Adar 2 Vayikra Candlelighting: 6:43 pm Havdalah: 7:53 pm

Thurs Mar 21 / 14 Adar 2 Purim

Fri March 22 / 15 Adar 2 Shushan Purim Tzav Candlelighting: 6:51 pm Havdalah: 8:01 pm

Fri March 29 / 22 Adar 2 Shemini Candlelighting: 6:58 pm Havdalah: 8:08 pm

Five Towns times from the White Shul

RAbbi SiR jonAthAn SAckS

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n Ki Tisa and in Vayakhel, we encounter the figure of Bezalel, a rare type in the Hebrew Bible — the artist, the craftsman, the shaper of beauty in the service of G-d, the man who, together with Oholiav, fashioned the articles associated with the Tabernacle.

Judaism — in sharp contrast to ancient Greece — did not cherish the visual arts. The reason is clear. The biblical prohibition against graven images associates them with idolatry.

Historically, images, icons and statues were linked with pagan religious practices. The idea that one might worship “the work of men’s hands” was anathema to biblical faith.

More generally, Judaism is a culture of the ear, not the eye. As a religion of the invisible G-d, it attaches sanctity to words heard, rather than objects seen. Hence, there is a generally negative attitude within Judaism towards representational art.

There are some famous illustrated manuscripts (such as the Bird’s Head Haggadah, circa 1300) in which human figures are given bird’s heads to avoid representing the full human form.

Art is not forbidden as such; there is a difference between three-dimensional and twodimensional representation.

As Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg made clear in a responsum, “There is no trespass [in illustrated books] against the biblical prohibition … [illustrations] are merely flat patches of color lacking sufficient materiality [to constitute a graven image].”

Indeed, several ancient synagogues in Israel had elaborate mosaics. In general, however, art was less emphasized in Judaism than in Christian cultures in which Hellenistic influence was strong.

Positive references to art in the rabbinic literature are rare. One exception is Maimonides, who says, “If one is afflicted with melancholy, he should cure it by listening to songs and various kinds of melodies, by walking in gardens and fine buildings, by sitting before beautiful

forms, and by things like this which delight the soul and make the disturbance of melancholy disappear from it. In all this he should aim at making his body healthy, the goal of his body’s health being that he attain knowledge.”

The very terms in which Maimonides describes the aesthetic experience make it clear, however, that he sees art in strictly instrumental terms, as a way of relieving depression.

There is no suggestion that it has value in its own right. he strongest positive statement on art of which I am aware was made by Rabbi Avraham Hacohen Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, describing his time in London during the First World War. “When I lived in London, I would visit the National Gallery, and the paintings that I loved the most were those of Rembrandt. In my opinion Rembrandt was a saint. When I first saw Rembrandt’s paintings, they reminded me of the rabbinic statement about the creation of light. When G-d created the light [on the first day], it was so strong and luminous that it was

Religious art is never ‘art for art’s sake.’

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Why did G-d choose Bezalel? torah

RAbbi dAvid etengoff

Jewish Star columnist

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ayakel and Pekudei are narrative Torah portions that describe the creation of the Mishkan and the bigdei kehuna. The word “vayaas” — “and he made” — is used 40 times in these passages, 39 of them anonymously. Consequently, the names of the artisans who created a particular vessel remain unknown.

The one exception to this rule is the aron luchot habrit, the Ark of the Covenant: “Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high” (Shemot 37:1).

We may well ask, “Why was Bezalel’s name explicitly mentioned only in regards to the aron luchot habrit, when he was the designer and architect of every aspect of the Mishkan?”

This is particularly timely, since the Torah informs us, “I [Hashem] have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehuda, and I have imbued him with the spirit of G-d, with wisdom, with insight, with knowledge, and with [talent for] all manner of craftsmanship to do master weaving, to work with gold,

with silver, and with copper, with the craft of stones for setting and with the craft of wood, to do every [manner of] work” (Shemot 31:2-5). n his commentary on the Torah, Rashi suggests that “since he [Bezalel] devoted himself to the work more than the other wise men, it [the aron luchot habrit] was called by his name [i.e. the work was attributed to him alone].”

A generation later, the Ibn Ezra notes in his commentary that although Bezalel joined others in creating all of the Mishkan’s holy vessels, his name was associated in particular with the aron luchot habrit because of its singular holiness.

While both Rashi and the Ibn Ezra help answer our question, I believe the most holistic response is offered by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk in his Torah commentary Meshech Chachma.

Rav Meir Simcha begins his analysis by noting that “other people participated in the construction of the various vessels at the time of the first and second Beit HaMikdash, and will do so in the future” (commentary on Shemot 37:1).

This, however, he asserts, is not the case regarding the aron luchot habrit, whose purpose was to house the Tablets of the Law (luchot habrit), since “from the time it was hidden away [shortly before the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash], no other one could be built, for another set of luchot could never be constructed.”

Rav Meir Simcha continues by explaining

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that the aron luchot habrit is therefore called the aron Bezalel, for it will “exist throughout all the generations — and there will never be another.”

“This is perhaps the reason for our verse’s specificity [when it states, “and Bezalel made,”] to teach us that throughout the generations another aron habrit, and set of Cherubim, may never be produced — but, rather, only those that Bezalel fashioned.”

Rav Meir Simcha’s first answer to our question is technical in nature: The underlying rationale for Bezalel’s association with the aron luchot habrit is because there can never be another one, since there will never be another set of luchot. As a result, the aron luchot habrit is forever known as aron Bezalel — the one and only aron luchot habrit that was created by Bezalel.

Rav Meir Simcha’s second answer to our query is more conceptually-based and answers another question as well: “Why was Bezalel chosen to build the aron luchot habrit?” n order to understand his response, we need to focus upon the order of historical events surrounding the Mishkan and the sin of the Golden Calf, something that is hotly debated among the early and later Torah commentators.

In Rav Meir Simcha’s view, Hashem initially designated Bezalel as the architect of the Mishkan. Shortly following his appointment, however, the Jewish people participated in the heinous

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Smaller and greater than before Angel for Shabbat

RAbbi mARc d. Angel

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uring the early 1960s, Dr. Robert Coles spent time in the American south studying the moral life of children. This was a time when schools were being racially integrated and when racial hatred came to a head. Black children who attended public schools were cursed, spat upon, and threatened with violence.

And yet, in spite of the hatred spewed out against them, they persisted in attending school.

White children who befriended black children were ostracized by their white classmates … and often by their own parents. But they persisted in their friendships with black students.

Dr. Coles wanted to know what gave these children the moral strength to stand up to their

detractors. After all, many other children did not demonstrate the moral character to resist the status quo.

In his interviews with black students, he found that many of them drew moral strength from their churches. The ministers preached about righteousness, about the importance of standing up against evil, about G-d’s love of those who were strong in their faith and commitment to justice. A black student who attended a high school in Atlanta told Dr. Coles about how important the church was: “I’m not as small after church as I am before church” (“The Moral Life of Children, p. 153). first read Dr. Coles’ book about 30 years ago, and that black student’s statement made a lasting impression on me. In fact, it encapsulated my own feelings about the role of a religious leader and of a religious institution.

I transposed the statement into a Jewish context: one who attends synagogue services should feel as though he/she has grown in the

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process, that he/she is stronger, better, more inspired, more courageous. “I’m not as small after synagogue as I am before synagogue.” The rabbi should be a source of spiritual strength and inspiration. The prayers should offer comfort, confidence, and a profound sense of G-d’s love.

Here is a question of the highest importance: when you leave synagogue services, do you feel that you’ve come closer to G-d, that you’ve become spiritually more alive, more courageous?

Can you honestly say: “I’m not as small after synagogue as I was before synagogue?”

Did your rabbi engage your mind, heart and soul … or did he tell jokes, tell you how sinful you are, lament anti-Semitism, offer his views on the latest news stories? Did those who led the synagogue services bring you closer to G-d and to your own soul … or did they seek to show off their voices, or rush through the services by rote, or chant the prayers without seeming to understand that they were in the presence of G-d?

For some (many?) congregants, the best

possible to see from one end of the world to the other. And G-d feared that the wicked would make use of it. What did He do? He secreted it for the righteous in the world to come. But from time to time there are great men whom G-d blesses with a vision of that hidden light. I believe that Rembrandt was one of them, and the light in his paintings is that light which G-d created on Genesis day.”

Rembrandt is known to have had a special affection for Jews. He visited them in his hometown of Amsterdam, and painted them, as well as many scenes from the Hebrew Bible.

I suspect that what Rabbi Kook saw in his paintings, though, was Rembrandt’s ability to convey the beauty of ordinary people. He makes no attempt (most notably in his selfportraits) to beautify or idealize his subjects.

The light that shines from them is, simply, their humanity.

It was Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch who distinguished ancient Greece from ancient Israel in terms of the contrast between aesthetics and ethics. In his comment on the verse “May G-d enlarge Yefet and let him dwell in the tents of Shem” (Genesis 9:27), he observes: See Beauty on page 22 incident of the Golden Calf. At that point, Bezalel was specifically charged with the construction of the aron luchot habrit: “The Holy One blessed be He was concerned, following the sin of the Golden Calf, that perhaps when someone would build the aron habrit, they would have forbidden thoughts during its construction that would be infused with idol worship. Therefore, Bezalel was chosen to build the aron habrit, since his grandfather [Chur] was murdered as a result of his refusal to participate in the creation of the Golden Calf.”

Our writer concludes his analysis with a solid explanation as to why Bezalel’s name was explicitly mentioned with the aron luchot habrit: “Therefore, based upon his training and his natural orientation toward hating anything and everything associated with those who follow after the foolishness, forms and images of all manner [of idol worship,] he would never have embraced any of these foreign thoughts. Therefore, the Torah writes, “And Bezalel made,’ since he, and he alone, constructed the aron haluchot without any [potentially questionable] help whatsoever.”

According to Rav Meir Simcha, Bezalel emerges as a true hero of spirit who was blessed

by Hashem with the unique talents and abilities not only to design and build the Mishkan in general, but to also construct the aron luchot habrit in particular, in purity and sanctity.

With Hashem’s help, may we merit to follow in his footsteps and dedicate ourselves to attaining such holiness of purpose in our lives. part of Shabbat morning services is the Kiddush where they can socialize, eat and drink. his week’s Torah portion of Vayakhel includes the description of how the Israelites built the Sanctuary in the wilderness. The Torah states that G-d called upon those who were “wise of heart” to do the work. This refers to a special kind of wisdom, not merely a high IQ. G-d appointed those who had an aesthetic sense, who were receptive and imaginative, whose hearts were in tune with the history and destiny of their people. It refers to spiritual wisdom … the humility and profundity of feeling G-d’s presence.

The Talmud (Berakhot 55a) states that G-d only gives wisdom to one who has wisdom.

Shouldn’t G-d be giving wisdom to those who lack it, rather than to those who already have it? We may understand this Talmudic passage in light of this week’s Torah reading.

G-d gave wisdom — and gives wisdom — to those who are receptive to receiving wisdom in this special way. Those who lack “wise hearts” are simply not receptive to this wisdom.

This quality of having a “wise heart” is vital See Smaller on page 22

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THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

The beauty of holiness, the holiness of beauty

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March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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Culture, counter-culture, creativity Rabbi DR. tzvi heRsh weinReb Orthodox Union

Q

uite a few years ago, I spent almost every Sunday afternoon in one of the great museums of the city where we then lived. I no longer remember what first stimulated my interest in art, and specifically in Impressionism, but I I relished those Sunday afternoons, as did my youngest daughter, then no more than six or seven.

The museum we frequented possessed the most extensive collection in the world of the paintings of the French artist Henri Matisse. My daughter became so familiar with the works of Matisse, particularly his colorful paper-cut collages, that when we once ventured into a new museum, she saw some Matisse works at a distance and shouted excitedly, “Matisse, Matisse!”

I glowed with pride as the others in the crowded gallery exclaimed, “What a precocious child!”

It was on that occasion that I first encountered a fascinating gentleman. I’ll call him Ernesto. He was a tall hulk of a man, who had been a brilliant Talmud student before the war, but had given up all religious observance and almost all connection with the Jewish people. He had totally lost his faith as a result of his experiences during the Holocaust.

With my black yarmulke, I was readily iden-

tifiable as an Orthodox Jew, so I was easy prey.

“Jews know nothing about art,” Ernesto bellowed. “Matisse! How can you glorify Matisse?

His art is only decorative. All Jewish art is nothing but decoration.”

I had no clue what he was talking about. e soon sat down together and he began to share his story. Over the subsequent years, I came to know him better and discovered that he had many bones to pick with Judaism and was in a perpetual rage against G-d. But that morning he confined his remarks to his disappointment with what he saw as the absence of fine art in Jewish culture.

Frankly, I had never given much thought to the subject. The best I could do was to refer to Bezalel, mentioned in this week’s Torah portion, Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20).

I quoted the verses to him: “…See, the Lord has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri son of Chur … He has endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft and has inspired him to make designs for work in gold, silver and copper.”

“Surely,” I argued, “the figure of Bezalel, so prominent at the very beginning of our history, is evidence that art has a central place in our tradition.”

Not only was he unimpressed, but he responded with a rant that seemed to go on forever. “Bezalel was no more than a Matisse,” he insisted. To him, Matisse was the epitome of a bankrupt artist, one who could produce colorful designs but had no message for the culture at

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large. He contrasted Matisse with Picasso, who had lot to say, in his art, about the political world in which he lived.

He concluded his tirade by shouting: “Besides pretty decorations for the Tabernacle, what did Bezalel have to teach us? What did he have to say to the human race?!” or the many years since that first encounter with Ernesto, who passed away 60 years to the day after his release from Auschwitz in 1945, I have struggled with that challenging question: “What can we learn from Bezalel?”

I have since concluded that Bezalel had a lot to teach us, especially about the creative process. He was able to do what so many others who are blessed with creative talents have not been able to do.

Most creative geniuses throughout history, and I say this fully expecting objections to the contrary, have either been misfits or have rebelled against society.

Creativity often sees itself as in opposition to conformity. The place of the artist is rarely in the contemporary culture; rather it is in the counter-culture. The creative artist, whatever his medium, typically sees himself as the creator of a new culture, one which will replace the current culture and render it obsolete.

Bezalel’s genius lay in his ability to channel his artistic gifts to the cause of the culture being constructed around him. He was not rebellious and not withdrawn. He participated in a national project as part of the nation. He combined creativity with conformity.

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Joyous Purim also a serious holiday Kosher bookworm

alan Jay GeRbeR

Jewish Star columnist

P

urim is indeed a serious holiday. Joyous, yes, but serious too. With that in mind, I bring to your attention the gifted author and lecturer, Rabbi Evan Hoffman, and his wonderful and learned essay, “Purim and the Struggle Between Nationalists and Moderates.”

In an interview with Rabbi Hoffman, I inquired as to his intellectual interests.

“Over the past few years my focus has been on the late Second Temple period and the early rabbinic period (200 BCE to 250 CE). I really enjoy examining and researching rabbinic literature as prime source material in the study of Jewish history. It is a very sensitive subject inasmuch as not all passages can be taken at face value or even presumed to be accurate depictions of the past.

The key is to understand why the sages, or an individual sage, said what they did in the proper historical and chronological context.”

Adar...

Continued from page 1 month,” with the exception of the Islamic calendar.

According to Rabbi Menachem Posner, an Ask the Rabbi respondent on Chabad.org, the 13th month was once added by the Great Court in Jerusalem on a case-by-case basis.

“In the modern Jewish calendar, this has been placed on autopilot following a predetermined 19-year cycle,” he said. “This means that the extra Adar is added every two or three years.”

After the destruction of the first Temple, Jews adopted the Babylonian calendar, from which the names of modern Hebrew months originate.

“The Babylonian calendar was very influential, as the Jews adopted it almost whole piece in the 6th century BCE,” Stern said. “In the Babylonian calendar, the addition of a 13th month was required for keeping up with certain stars.”

One lesson that he taught all subsequent artists is that they need not limit their role to critical observation. Quite the contrary, they can cooperatively partner with society and bring their skills to the service of what is going on around them.

This is the deeper meaning of the passage in the Talmud which reads: “Bezalel knew how to combine the mystical primeval letters from which heaven and earth were created” (Berakhot 55a).

Bezalel’s art was an art that “combined” letters, joining them together harmoniously. His was not the art that tears asunder the constituent elements of the world around him. His was the art that blends those elements into a beautiful whole.

Bezalel’s lesson is not just a lesson for artists.

It is a lesson for all gifted and talented human beings. Somehow, the best and the brightest among us are the ones who are most cynical and critical of the societies in which we live.

We see this today in the harsh criticism directed at Israel from the world of the academe, and sadly, from the Jewish intelligentsia. There is something pernicious about great intelligence that makes one unduly and unfairly critical of the world.

Bezalel, on the other hand, was able to demonstrate that one can be highly gifted, indeed sublimely gifted, and use those gifts in a constructive fashion, cooperating with others who are far less gifted, and participating in a joint venture with the rest of society.

This is a lesson in leadership which all who are blessed with special talents must learn. Special talents do not entitle one to separate oneself from the common cause. Quite the contrary: They equip one to participate in the common cause, and in the process elevate and inspire the rest of society.

e discussed the nature and content of Rabbi Hoffman’s writings and his weekly divrei Torah.

“I began writing a weekly essay five years ago titled, ‘Thoughts on the Parashah,’ as a means of staying connected with my friends who share the same intellectual interest in Torah learning. Over time, my email distribution list has expanded to over 1,500 people both here and in Israel. These essays are not your typical divrei Torah.

“Most weeks, the essay will address a serious intellectual issue in the study of serious Jewish theology or Jewish history with a tangential connection to the relevant parsha or Jewish holiday.

My research takes me beyond the traditional sources, utilizing the writings and biographies of such personages as Josephus, Philo, the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, and other relevant sources.

Each week is a new adventure shared with my readers.

“I begin researching on Monday, and aim to publish by Thursday night.”

I then inquired as to the nature of his Purim essay. What was the nature of that struggle and how does it affect the way we observe Purim today?

“Purim postdates the Torah. Considering the commandment not to add or to subtract from the Torah, it was a serious question in antiquity whether or not a new holiday could be added to the Jewish calendar. Furthermore, some of the characters in the Purim story do not conduct themselves as religious Jews should. The heroine is involved in intermarriage. The story is very secular, with the total absence of the name of G-d in the Book of Esther, the Megillah. There are those who questioned the historicity of the whole story.

“All of these ‘obstacles’ had to be overcome before the holiday could be firmly established as a religious feast on the Jewish calendar with the Book of Esther included in its rightful place in the canon of the Bible.”

Rabbi Hoffman continues with more telling observations: “However, the most serious obstacle facing Purim was the fact that it glorifies anti-gentile violence and advocates a robust military response

by Jews to the threat of anti-Semitism. Some of the politically moderate rabbis of the Mishnaic era were a bit squeamish about promoting such lessons. The nationalistic rabbis doubled down

on their support of Purim and increased the number of observances associated with the holiday. Ultimately, the nationalists won.

“Purim as we know it incorporates the erasure of Haman and the cursing of enemies. Throughout our history there have been moments when Purim revelry got out of hand and brought danger to the Jewish community. In certain times and places the gentile authorities set limits on the kind of celebrations we could conduct. This episode, too, deserves closer study in the years ahead.”

Rabbi Hoffman is spiritual leader of Congregation Anshe Sholom in New Rochelle. A graduate of Yeshiva College, summa cum laude, he received his semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, earned his MA in Modern Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School, and did advanced graduate research in American Jewish history.

He has taught very popular adult education classes in the metropolitan area including, for the past five years, at the Young Israel of Woodmere, on subjects including the history of anti-Zionism, the Second Temple era, and Jewish holidays in the historical perspective.

If your schedule permits, Rabbi Hoffman’s Tuesday night Jewish History class at the Young Israel of Woodmere at 8:15 pm is a serious and challenging experience.

Experts believe that after the rise of Christianity, the Christian and Hebrew calendars influenced each other. Easter originally took place around Passover, but eventually came to be calculated separately. This also influenced the evolution of the Hebrew calendar from one based on moon sightings to one based on calculation.

Additionally, for centuries since the Middle Ages, “calculating the date of Easter and trying to separate that calculation from direct dependence on the Passover of the Jewish calendar occupied the energies of great Christian theologians,” Columbia’s Carlebach said.

A fixed Hebrew calendar was finalized in the 10th century. Some diversity persisted well into the medieval period, but the fixed calendar became largely universal over time.

Carlebach writes that following the 15th century in Europe, Jews began to treat calendars not only as conceptual measurements of time, but as material things. Manuscripts of the Hebrew calendar began to circulate. The printing revolution allowed for the reprinting of the calendar, not

only by Jews but also by Christians.

In addition to the calendars themselves, other materials circulated such as “Ibburim,” which explained how to compute the equinox and solstice.

The first printed Ibbur was edited by a Catholic calendar expert, Sebastian Münster. His partially translated edition included a standard Catholic calendar with both Saints Days and the names of the Jewish months in Hebrew in the margins.

The Jews took note of Christian holy days in their calendars, both to avoid potential persecution, which tended to occur more often on holy days, but also for trading purposes. Christian market fairs often took place on holy days.

Besides the well-known incidence of Purim Katan, Hebrew leap years can present interesting scenarios. For example, Posner asked, if a boy was born in a regular year but his bar mitzvah falls on a leap month, “When does he reach the age of majority?”

“In practice we do not count him for a minyan or call him up for an aliyah to the Torah until after his Adar II birthday. However, because of the possi-

bility that the boy reached adulthood in Adar I, he should begin laying tefillin in Adar I,” said Posner.

On yahrtzeits, “some people mark them only on Adar I and others mark them just on Adar II,” Posner noted.

“Since this is a contested issue, many observe yahrtzeit twice [during a leap year],” he said.

While the age-old intricacies of the Hebrew calendar aren’t novel, the calendar is gaining newfound relevance in Israel today through a Knesset bill that was approved in a preliminary reading Feb. 26. The bill stipulates that official identification issued to Jewish citizens should use Hebrew calendar dates, instead of the Gregorian dates commonly used worldwide.

Member of Knesset Elazar Stern (Hatnua) said regarding the bill that the Hebrew calendar “is an integral part of the history of the Jewish people,” Israel National News reported.

“This bill, which would increase the use of the Hebrew date, is another step in strengthening Jewish democratic character of the state of Israel,” Stern said.

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With great reverence & pride we look forward to the Honor of humbly welcoming

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok Kahana shlita The Spinka Rebbe Of Yerushalayim Son of the world renowned

Rabbi Mordechay David Zt”L As he spends Shabbos in our community

Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vaykheil - Shkolim • We will have the zchus to join the Rebbe Shlita at his

SEUDAS SHABBOS TISH — 8:00 PM — Hosted in the home of

Mr. and Mrs. Avi & Sherry Ackerman 517 Harbor Drive - Cedarhurst, NY 11516 ALL ARE WELCOM E

Private appointments with the Rebbe Shlita Thursday-Friday 2/28 - 3/1 Call for appointment - (516)216-0605 We look forward to greeting you, friends & followers

of BAIS SPINKA – YERUSHALAYIM

Drasha...

Continued from page 16 But I think the rebbes were trying to ensure that with all the trappings of chassidus — the dress code, the rebbe’s tisch, etc. — that we not forget what Shabbos is really all about. It is not about whether you got shirayim from the rebbe, but whether you remembered to bring G-d into your life. t’s hard to remember to maintain the special focus. It’s hard to make the Shabbos table conversation one of Torah and holiness at the forefront instead of as an afterthought at desert time.

The Yalkut Shimoni reminds us that we can follow even the simplest ingredients.

We must take the most we can out of the sermon, no matter where we find ourselves for Shabbos. Remember and recall not just whatever story or good line the rabbi told, but take the Torah content and message to heart.

We must make the most we can out of Shabbos. Seek to crown G-d as King in His world, and bear witness to His role in our lives. We who are so good at going through motions must strive to take all that we do to the next level — to feel as if we are His subjects at all times, with the responsibility, or better yet privilege, we have to fulfill His will.

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‫סידורו של שבת‬ ‫שחרית ש”ק בבוקר‬

‫מנחה וקבלת שבת‬

‫בביהמ”ד ד׳סידרהורסט‬

‫בביהמ”ד קהלת בית יהודא צבי‬

504 W BROADWAY 9:00 A.M.

395 OAKLAND AVE 5:38 P.M.

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‫מלוה מלכה‬

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‫הבדלה‬

‫בביהמ״ד אישי ישראל‬ 846 WEST BROADWAY 8:30 P.M.

‫בבית האכסניא‬

at the Ackerman Home

517 HARBOR DRIVE 7:30 P.M.

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352 WEST BROADWAY 5:40 P.M.

1023221

Continued from page 16 recently read a wonderful book on the value of team building by Patrick Lencioni, in which he describes the five dysfunctions of a team.

The first dysfunction, he suggests, is trust — not trust in the conventional sense, which is about assumptions of a person’s future behavior based on their past behavior; but trust as in the confidence among team members that all their intentions are good and are pursued for the good of the team or a higher purpose than themselves. This includes the willingness of team members to be vulnerable and share their mistakes, confident in the knowledge that they will not be judged, because all the team members simply want to help each other and become better in the interest of the team, or of a higher purpose. It includes the ability to engage in healthy conflict and even point out other team members’ mistakes and flaws, secure in the knowledge that no one is making it personal, but that it’s always about the team.

As an example, if a basketball player is more concerned with his own scoring than whether the team wins, then something is dysfunctional in the way that team works. On the other hand, the coach has to be able to tell a team member where he messed up without his taking it personally, because it’s not about him, it’s about something much bigger.

This is true of every team setting and every healthy relationship. Your spouse or parent has to be able to tell you where you need to improve without you taking it personally, secure in the knowledge that they love you and have no axe to grind; they simply want to help you become even better.

And so, 3,200 years ago, with the first tablets shattered at the foot of the mountain, and the dream of a better world at risk, Moshe gathers together the entire Jewish people and tells them to build a Mishkan, a special place, together.

And here is some food for thought for the Shabbat table: Seventy years ago, with the Jewish people and the Torah communities of Europe in tatters, Hashem tells us to build a State of Israel … together. And here we are, living the dream; we just have a bit of a ways to go to build it … together.

Perhaps this Shabbat of Vayakhel, we might all consider thinking how to get a little better at the “together” part.

Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem.

A version of this column was published in 2016.

‫ל‬ ‫כה‬ ‫נ‬ ‫כ‬ ‫ו‬ ‫י‬ ‫שבת לכו‬ ‫ה‬ ‫ו‬ ‫א‬ ‫מ‬ ‫ק‬ ‫ו‬ ‫ר‬ ‫את‬ ‫ה‬ ‫ר‬ ‫ב‬ ‫לק‬ ‫ר‬ ‫כ‬ ‫ה‬

THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

Vayakhel...

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‫בעזהשי"ת‬

tehilla r. goldberg

Their golden miscalculation — and ours

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n last week’s parsha, Ki Tisa, we learned of the scandal of the Golden Calf. Infamously, the Jewish people sinned with idol worship. Following that breach, the concept of forgiveness for a people was born.

How did the Jewish people come to commit this sin? After experiencing G-d in such open miracles as the exodus from Egypt, how could they so quickly turn their backs? Human nature is to be fickle — but so swift a change is sobering. What happened?

At Moshe’s ascent of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah, the people calculated the duration of his absence. The problem was, they miscalculated. The Jewish people waited with great anticipation for Moshe’s return, but after weeks without their beloved leader, he was gone. The day of his expected arrival came and went. They planned and waited, but instead of greeting Moshe and feeling the reassurance of his return, the people were let down and empty, perhaps feeling abandoned.

So they made a golden calf.

How do you fill the space of emptiness? Of absence? Of delay? Of abandonment? How do you fill a vacuum where your dreams and hopes are taken away, gone? e all have the golden calves of our lives. Sometimes they are material.

We fill painfully empty spaces of longing for something that has not yet come with golden gadgets.

Be it the absence of love, of family, a livelihood, of health, of children, of community, of friendship. The absence of peace.

Waiting can be so hard. But the challenge we face is how to go forward from a place of absence, of abandonment, of delay. What will that new space now be filled with?

With golden calves, ersatz gods? They can numb the pain for a while, or convince us of our righteousness, but then what?

Or can we find it within ourselves to recalculate? Can we tap into deep inner resources?

If we pause, with thought, calmness and wisdom, we can recalculate, so to speak, and wait a little while longer.

For each of us, and for each scenario, how long that “one day’s difference” will be is something different each time. One day might be one day, or it might be 10 days, 10 months or 10 years. Or a lifetime.

How do we cope with new and unexpected empty space? The golden calves, the false gods, are not always tangibles like golden gadgets. Golden calves are not necessarily limited to shopping, sports worship, relocating or turning perfectly fine hobbies into the centerpieces of our lives.

Sometimes a golden calf can be an obsession or misdirection. It can be a false idea. It can be an ideology.

Only true awareness and honesty can mirror our motives in discerning that an authentic idea actually comes from a false god. Even otherwise noble concepts and movements, such as feminism or peace, can at times become a false god, depending on the context.

Waiting and waiting, only to be met by an emptiness, can test anyone’s mettle. The Jewish people had reached a breaking point.

We all reach different breaking points.

And at such moments, we must recalculate our lives. But not with golden calves or false gods. It is our task to discern the difference between the ersatz and the real.

Copyright Intermountain Jewish News

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Iran prepares for a big nuclear leap Politics to go

Jeff duNetz

Jewish Star columnist

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he head of MI6, Great Britain’s intelligence service, met in Israel last week with his Israeli counterpart over concerns that Iran may be gearing up to develop a nuclear weapon, i24 news and Israel’s Channel 13 reported.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party voted to demand that the US reenter the flawed JCPOA. Although Israel has been warning the world that Tehran would find ways to cheat on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the UK and other EU countries have continued to support the JCPOA agreement and have opposed the American re-imposition of sanctions in August and November 2018.

Britain, France, and Germany established a barter-type system known as INSTEX that is designed to allow their businesses to skirt direct financial transactions with Iran and thereby make an end around the US sanctions.

Per i24, Iran is doing everything it can within the framework of the agreement: “According to the report, Israeli intelligence assesses Tehran is making preparations and getting ready for nuclear capabilities within the bounds of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA or Iran nuclear deal), but has purposefully avoided an official decision on furthering the process toward producing an actual bomb.

“Iran is gearing up for the renewal of uranium enrichment within the provisions of the deal, as indicated by its resumption of centrifuge production, according to the report’s citing of Western intelligence sources.

“The report further claimed that Tehran is preparing the infrastructure for nuclear activity in an accelerated fashion.” ome of the information about Iran’s status may have come from a nuclear scientist whose escape from the regime was aided by the Mossad, MI6 and the CIA. According to Britain’s Daily Mail, the scientist was smuggled to France and reached the UK on an inflatable boat at the beginning of this year, camouflaged by a group of fellow Iranian migrants traveling to the southern British town of Lydd. He couldn’t simply fly in because Britain is still part of the JCPOA, and Iran would get upset.

MI6 interviewed the nuclear technician on Iran’s nuclear plans before he was flown to America.

Additional information on the status of Iran’s nuclear program came from a half-ton cache of files that the Mossad retrieved from a secret storage building in Tehran. The grab, announced by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in April, proved that after the deal was made, “Iran continued to preserve and expand its nuclear know-how for use at a later date.”

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The JCPOA states, “Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.” To be compliant, they should have gotten rid of the files. But the data was kept for future use.

According to a paper published by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) four months ago, “the documents recovered by Israeli intelligence from Iran’s hidden nuclear archive and revealed by premier Netanyahu show Iran conducted significantly more high explosive tests at the Parchin nuclear site than previously understood.”

ISIS believes Iran has already overcome some obstacles to building a bomb that experts thought it had not yet mastered, that Iran was a lot closer to a nuclear weapon than we thought, and that work at Parchin may still be going on.

The Obama administration had promised lawmakers that the IAEA would be able to inspect Parchin and resolve all possible military dimension issues before inking a final deal.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, US negotiators allowed Iran to sign a secret side deal permitting them to self-inspect the facility rather than grant IAEA inspectors access.

The IAEA continues to issue reports stating Iran has not violated the nuclear deal. But how would they know? Parchin is self-inspected, and despite the JCPOA, Iranian authorities claim military sites are off-limits to the IAEA. The IAEA refuses to push the point because they don’t want Iran to seem non-compliant, despite the fact that they are. The refusal to allow military access renders Section T of the JCPOA meaningless. (“Section T,” which contains the meat of the agreement, outlines “activities which could contribute to the design and development of a nuclear explosive device.”)

According to Netanyahu, the IAEA ignored

intelligence Israel shared with them, including the evidence of a second warehouse of documents. he IAEA is a joke, as is the JCPOA. The lack of inspections, even with the new information in Iran’s own files, may lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths, not just in Israel but throughout the Sunni Muslim world — and here in the United States, the country that Iran calls “the great Satan.”

The JCPOA also allows Iran to develop a nuclear delivery system, lifting the ban on its ballistic missile program. Before the deal, UN Security Council Resolution 1929 used mandatory language about ballistic missiles: “Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”

But the P5+1 resolution later passed by the UNSC changed the language. On page 119, it does not prohibit Iran from carrying out ballistic missile work, but simply asks them not to. It merely says, “Iran is called upon not to undertake such activity.” Some reports say that John Kerry begged Iran not to talk about the changes.

Despite this evidence, including recent satellite pictures showing that Iran was expanding their Fordo nuclear facilities, the Democratic Party passed a resolution two weeks ago demanding that the US reenter the flawed deal.

“The United States should return to its obligations under the JCPOA and utilize multilateral and bilateral diplomacy to achieve political solutions to remaining challenges regarding Iran,” the document says.

This is the same party that has embraced anti-Semitism in recent years, and refused to allow a barrier built to secure our border with Mexico.

Democrats’ desire to return to the JCPOA is an indication that the rank-and-file don’t care about the security of Israel, or the United States.

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March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

20 View from Central Park

BEN COHEN

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o hyphenate or not to hyphenate?

One of the more enduring debates among scholars of anti-Semitism is whether to include the hyphen in the spelling of the word. A growing number of commentators are these days choosing to spell it without the hyphen (“antisemitism”) for two main reasons.

First, they say, “anti-Semitism” with the hyphen is not our word. It’s a word the anti-Semites themselves came up with in the late 19th century to give their hatred of Jews a “scientific” gloss, and thereby distinguish it from the Christian tradition of anti-Judaism.

Second, anti-Semites are not people who are opposed to “Semitism,” a non-existent word, and nor are they opposed to a race of “Semites,” since there isn’t such a race in the first place, just a language group. If you include the hyphen, the argument goes, then you are boosting anti-Semitism’s self-image as a revelatory, liberating and compelling explanation of why the world is such a rotten place. Leave the hyphen out and you see “antisemitism” for what it really is: a malicious conspiracy theory about Jews that carries genocidal intentions towards them. he reason I mention this debate is because, to my mind, similar considerations apply these days to anti-Zionism. It may be the case that the hyphen in that word is playing a similarly obfuscatory role in our understanding of how dangerous this phenomenon really is.

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For most Jews, Zionism is understood appreciatively as the movement that built the Jewish state in the land of Israel. In the first half of the 20th century, the goal of building a sovereign Jewish state was opposed by a variety of Jews for a variety of reasons; some of these objections were religious, some were socialist, some were liberal-assimilationist. The point is that these Jewish objections were “antiZionist” in the strict sense of the term: those who advanced them disagreed with the aims of the World Zionist Organization.

These days, however, being an “anti-Zionist” is a radically different proposition. To begin with, the Jewish state that the Zionist movement strived for has been in existence for more than 70 years.

The “anti-Zionist,” then, is no longer opposing a political tendency within the Jewish community, but a constituted nation that is also an international legal reality. Can opposition to the existence of the Jewish state be described as “anti-Zionist,” as if such a position was merely the outgrowth of the older political tradition? et’s say that you believe that out of nearly 200 states in the international system, only Israel should be eliminated from that framework. You are asked why. “Because Israel is built on land stolen from the indigenous Palestinians,” you answer straight away.

But why, you are asked, is the dissolution of a sovereign state — a goal that history shows can only be achieved through violence and war — a just solution nearly a century later? “Because Zionism is a colonial movement that has created

an apartheid state, privileging the Jews on the backs of the Palestinians,” you answer. “Therefore, Zionism is responsible for the conflict, and the problem can’t be part of the solution.”

You are then asked what will happen to the Jews if the state created by the Zionists is dismantled. You answer that they will have a choice: to remain in a unified Palestine as loyal citizens or to join their relatives living in America or Europe.

But in truth, this is not an aspect of the conflict you spend a lot of time thinking about because it’s the Palestinians who are living under occupation, not the Jews. Indeed, you reflect, the very fact that these abstract, moralizing “what if?” questions get asked shows the power that the Zionist discourse has over our media and on public opinion: The Palestinians are being persecuted and dispossessed, and here we are, still talking about the rights of the Jews.

Rather than “anti-Zionism” — opposing the Zionist movement’s state-building enterprise on the grounds that it doesn’t serve Jewish interests — I would suggest that what we are dealing with here is “antizionism.” Much like its parent “antisemitism,” it is a grand conspiracy theory with pretensions to be revelatory, liberating and compelling explanation for why the world is in a rotten state.

“Antizionism” does not oppose Zionism as the national movement of the Jewish people: what is caricatures as “Zionism” is in fact a deadly, unaccountable, globally influential power that has trampled on the national rights

Here we are, still talking about the rights of Jews.

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Attacks on Jews are real, not hoaxes mElaNiE pHillips

British journalist

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n the West, we are being subjected to a manipulation of reality that could have been scripted by Franz Kafka.

Last month, gay black actor Jussie Smollett claimed that he was set upon in Chicago one pulverizingly cold night by attackers who yelled racial and homophobic slurs, shouted “This is MAGA country,” poured an unknown chemical over him and placed a noose around his neck.

This bizarre account was then said to have been a hoax. Smollett reportedly paid two men to orchestrate the assault on him. He denied this, but has been charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.

A lot of people now find themselves under an uncomfortable spotlight.

From the start, it was clear that Smollett’s story was far-fetched and inconsistent. Yet it was instantly leapt upon as unchallengeably true.

Democrat presidential hopeful Cory Booker tweeted that it was “an attempted modern-day lynching.” The Washington Post’s “Eugene Scott wrote that Smollett’s “experience” was “far too common for black gay men, particularly those who speak out against racism and sexism.” Actress Ellen Page urged people to “connect the dots,” accusing Trump and Vice President Mike Pence of hating gay people. Anyone who questioned Smollett’s story was denounced as a hatemonger. here have been many claims of hate crimes that have been seized upon despite inadequate evidence.

In September, Christine Blasey Ford could recall few of the circumstances surrounding the sexual assault she said she endured as a teenager at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh, then a Supreme Court nominee. The Senate Judiciary Committee found not enough evidence for her claim. De-

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spite this, anyone who questioned her story was accused of endorsing male violence.

Last month, as a result of edited video footage, boys from a Catholic high school demonstrating against abortion were accused of racially abusing an elderly Native American. The boys were subjected to hate campaigns; the school had to close for a day following the incident.

When the full video was revealed, however, the boys were found to have been themselves the victims of abuse and intimidation by another group.

And let’s not overlook the attempts to prove that Trump colluded with Russia to “steal” a presidential election. Not only was no such evidence discovered, but it steadily emerged that elements of the FBI and Justice Department used Clinton campaign research to mount a spying operation on Trump in order to abort his presidency. Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who was fired last year, now says he plotted with others in the FBI to remove the president by any means necessary. These astounding claims have been largely ignored. As with many left-wing causes, factual evidence is dismissed as irrelevant. Whichever issue underpins the uproar of the day constitutes an incontrovertible fact.

So Blasey Ford had to be believed because of the incontrovertible “fact” that Kavanaugh was anti-abortion and had to be stopped at all costs.

The Covington boys had to be abusers because of the incontrovertible “fact” that Trump supporters in MAGA caps go out looking for minorities to beat up.

Even now, McCabe is still claiming that it’s possible that Trump is a Russian asset.

Asked about the claims that the Smollett story was a hoax, Booker doubled down. “Bigoted and biased attacks” were seriously on the rise, he said, and most terrorist attacks since 9/11 had been “right-wing,” a majority of them “white supremacist attacks.” So he avoided the issue of truth and swerved back instead to his overriding agenda: bashing the right. eanwhile, real attacks are being ignored.

The night Smollett claimed he was attacked, a Jewish man in New York was

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beaten up by three thugs. Last October, The New York Times reported four times as many crimes against Jews as against black people. AntiJewish hate crimes outnumbered those against transgender people by a factor of 20.

But anti-Semitism is prevalent on the left and among the groups it favors. It gets in the way of the narrative that reframes reality to accord with left-wing shibboleths. So falsifications are justified on the grounds that they illustrate a “broader truth.” They are deployed to demonstrate tmoral superiority. Many on the left create right-wing monsters to prove their own virtue.

Washington Post editorial board assistant Nana Efua Mumford said she was brokenhearted to discover the Smollett story was almost certainly a hoax.

“The incident,” she wrote, “would be touted as proof that there is a leftist conspiracy to cast Trump supporters as violent, murderous racists.

It would be the very embodiment of ‘fake news.’

And that reason, more than any other, is why I

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need this story to be true…”

It’s why American Jews who vote Democrat are silent about the anti-Semitism of people like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Having told themselves that Trump is a threat to Jews, black people and Muslims, they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that the most dangerous enemies of the Jewish people are on their own side.

Hoaxes are a false flag operation to cast as villains the victims, a hallmark of Soviet communism’s strategy of psychological warfare.

Israel is a prime example. The Palestinian narrative — cooked up originally by Yasser Arafat in cahoots with the former Soviet Union — is a hoax that blames its Israeli victim of appalling crimes of which it is innocent but of which the Palestinian perpetrator is itself guilty.

Hoax politics are an example of cultural totalitarianism that fries the brain and creates a climate of political, intellectual and moral chaos.

It’s why so many of us feel that the world has spun off its axis of reason altogether. And it’s why the anti-Israel and anti-Jew pathology that has erupted in the West is part of a broader and devastating cultural nervous breakdown.

Melanie Phillips is a British journalist.

The The Chosen JEWISH STAR Paper Long Island’s #1 Jewish newspaper.

Some are bigger. None are better.

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21 THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

‘Anti-Zionism’ without the hyphen

of the Palestinian people in the course of establishing itself as a key component of an unjust, racist international system. Hence, if Jews outside Israel wish to identify with the Jewish supremacist monster, then they will reap what they sow. he French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre argued that anti-Semitism is not an opinion, in the sense that one has opinions about trade policy or healthcare, but a “passion”: an all-consuming, all-explaining hatred of the Jewish presence in society. I would suggest that what we still call anti-Zionism, which might better be described as “antizionism,” can be classified in the same way and is focused on exactly the same target: the Jews.

It is in France where, this past week, President Emmanuel Macron announced that he had officially reached the same conclusion.

Speaking to the annual dinner of French Jewish communal body Crif, which represents a community that is less than 1 percent of the total French population, but the object of more than 50 percent of the hate crimes committed in that country, Macron said plainly that he would call out anti-Zionism for what it is: a modern form of anti-Semitism.

Macron was speaking with memories still fresh of the anti-Semitic outrages of recent weeks, among them the barracking of the French Jewish intellectual Alain Finkielkraut as a “Zionist s---” by a group of protestors associated with the populist “yellow-vests” movement.

As far as Macron is concerned, that is not so much salty political critique as it is hate speech. Whether the French judiciary and lawenforcement bodies will share the president’s understanding, as he hopes they will, remains to be seen. Because as long as “anti-Zionism” is perceived as merely an opinion, rather than, in Sartre’s word, a “passion,” the mask will not fall.

Beauty...

Continued from page 17 “The stem of Japheth reached its fullest blossoming in the Greeks; that of Shem in the Hebrews, Israel, who bore and bear the name (Shem) of G-d through the world of nations …

Japheth has ennobled the world aesthetically.

Shem has enlightened it spiritually and morally.” et as we see from the case of Bezalel, Judaism is not indifferent to aesthetics. The concept of hiddur mitzvah, “beautifying the commandment,” meant, for the Sages, that we should strive to fulfill the commands in the most aesthetically pleasing way. The priestly garments were meant to be “for honor and adornment” (Exodus 28:2).

The very terms applied to Bezalel — wisdom, understanding and knowledge — are applied by the book of Proverbs to G-d Himself as creator of the universe: “The law and the Lord founded the earth by wisdom; He established the heavens by understanding. By His knowledge the depths burst apart, and the skies distilled dew” (Proverbs: 3:19-20).

The key to Bezalel lies in his name. It means “in the shadow of G-d.”

Bezalel’s gift lay in his ability to communicate, through his work, that art is the shadow cast by G-d. Religious art is never “art for art’s sake.” Unlike secular art, it points to something beyond itself. The Tabernacle itself was a kind of microcosm of the universe, with one overriding particularity: that in it you felt the presence of something beyond — what the Torah calls “the glory of G-d” which “filled the Tabernacle” (Exodus 40:35).

The Greeks, and many in the Western world who inherited their tradition, believed in the holiness of beauty (Keats’ “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”).

Jews believed in the opposite: hadrat

Y

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Continued from page 17 to the wellbeing of every society, and certainly of every sacred endeavor. It is a repudiation of egotism and an affirmation of loyalty to the greater glory of G-d. It is a sensitivity to the historical context of the people. It is a rejection of the quick-fix attitude that cares more for selfgratification than for the greater good of society.

The Sanctuary was to be a place in which people could sense G-d’s love and G-d’s concern.

It was a place for each person to develop a wise heart. ur contemporary synagogues need to draw on the lessons of the ancient Mishkan. We, too, need to have wise hearts. We, too, need to increase our sensitivity to the holy and to the transcendent.

The rabbi, chazzan and congregation come together to elevate each other, to help all of us strengthen our character, and to gain spiritual and moral uplift from communal prayer and study.

After services, ask yourself: “Am I better after synagogue than I was before synagogue? Am I greater, if only a bit, after services and sermon than I was before services and sermon?”

If the answer is yes, you are truly fortunate.

If the answer is no, either find another synagogue, or actively seek to effect positive change in the synagogue you attend. If we are not made greater by synagogue, we become smaller. “…and every wise hearted person in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom…”

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kodesh, the beauty of holiness: “Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalms 29:2).

Art in Judaism always has a spiritual purpose: to make us aware of the universe as a work of art, testifying to the supreme Artist, G-d Himself.

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CAlendar of Events

Send your events to Calendar@TheJewishStar.com • Deadline noon Friday • Compiled by Rachel Langer

Kids’ expo this Sunday at O’side JCC

Thursday Feb. 28

Talking Anti-Semitism: Michael D. Cohen, Eastern Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, addresses the rise of anti-Semitic hate crimes. Includes Q&A session. 7 pm. 140 Central Ave, Lawrence. 516-239-1140.

Tzaddik Ba La’Ir: We have the honor of welcoming the Spinka Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok Kahana shlit”a, who will spend Shabbos in our community. For more information or to schedule a private audience, call 516-216-0605.

The Friedberg JCC in Oceanside will be the scene of four hours of kid fun this Sunday, March 3. KidzZone Expo, staged by Herald newspa-pers, will feature Slime Bar by Mad Science (pictured), face painting, arts and crafts and more. For accompanying adults who stop by vendor booths, there’ll be a chance to learn about summer camps and discover useful family-centric services offered by local businesses. 11 am to 3 pm.

15 Neil Ct, Oceanside. Pre-register at LIHerald.com/kidzzone. Free admission.

Saturday March 2

Sunday March 3

Kidz Zone Expo: RichnerLive hosts the Kidz Zone Expo at the Friedberg JCC, featuring a slime bar by Mad Science, live DJ, free giveaways, arts and crafts, balloon art, face painting, and goodie bags. 11 am to 3 pm. 15 Neil Ct, Oceanside. LIHerald.com/kidzzone. Free admission. See photo.

YOSS Dinner: Yeshiva of South Shore hosts its 62nd annual banquet, dedicating the Rabbi Chanina Herzberg Educational Wing of its new building. Honorees are Moshe & Malkie Hirsch, Rabbi Aryeh Cohen, and Mr. Kevin O’Connor.

5:30 pm. 1395 Beech St, Atlantic Beach. Banquet@YOSS.org.

Thursday March 7

Making Sense of Sensory: A course for parents and professionals addressing sensory integration issues that affect children with anxiety, learning and social-emotional difficulties. In-

cludes techniques and practical ideas. CE credits available. 8:30 am to 4 pm. 8 Spruce St, Cedarhurst. HandsOnApproaches.org. $315.

Saturday March 9

HALB Dinner: HALB, SKA, and DRS host their 64th annual dinner, honoring Shani & Gavri Butler as Parents of the Year; Jessica & Jay Lampert as Guests of Honor; and Elana & Rabbi Ashie Schreier as Alumni of the Year. 523 Church Ave, Woodmere. Dinner.HALB.org.

Concert of the Year: Featuring Gad Elbaz and Alex Clare, hosted by comedian Modi at Master Theater. Special guest appearances by Chaim Shlomo Mayesz, Shea Rubenstein, and Dovid Pearlman. Shows at 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm. 1029 Brighton Beach Ave, Brooklyn. 718-208-4599.

Sunday March 10

Annual Breakfast: To benefit local families through Tomchei Shabbos of Far Rockaway and the Five Towns, hosted by Rachel & Ephraim Rudman. Guest speaker is Rabbi Kenneth Hain. 9:30 am. 576 Atlantic Ave, Lawrence.

Touro Talk: Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties: Israel and America. A Five Towns roundtable with Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, and Benjamin Brafman, Esq. 10 am. 390 Broadway, Lawrence. 631-761-7066.

Nefesh B’Nefesh: Mega event, informative sessions and vendor fair. Meet aliyah-minded people, learn about aliyah resources, explore opportunities in Israel. See ad on page 3.

Aish Kodesh Dinner: Congregation Aish

Reporter Wanted

Regular assignments include covering community events, school news, business news, local personalities, Jewish institutions, and such Jewish issues as Israel, theology, entertainment, anti-Semitism, politics and more. We strive to bring an uncommon level of professionalism to the delivery of stories that matter to Long Island’s Jewish communities.

What’s required: Reporting and writing experience (professional or scholastic), the ability to work under deadline pressure, and familiarity with web conventions and posting to social media.

Tuesday March 12

Tikkun Hamiddos: Michal Horowitz’s series “Tikkun Hamiddos: The Measure of a Man,” continues with a class on empathy. 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. 207 Grove Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-569-6733

Chabad Retreat: Chabad of Long Island invites you to a Weekend of Wisdom at Sag Harbor Inn, featuring scholars in residence Rabbi Manis Friedman and Mrs. Chaya Teldon. ChabadLI.org/ retreatinfo.

Singles Shabbaton: Hosted by Sharon Ganz & friends at Young Israel of Avenue J. For singles mid-20s, 30s, and 40s. Includes home hospitality, three catered meals, oneg, mixers, group discussions, exciting speakers, and more. 1721 Ave J, Brooklyn. 646-529-8748. $159.

Saturday March 16

Denim & Diamonds: Join Kulanu for a casual, fun event to support programs and services benefiting children and adults with special needs.

Lavish all-night buffet, top-shelf tasting, grand prize raffle, surprise entertainment. Wear your favorite 70s denim and best bling! 9 pm. 140 Central Ave, Lawrence. 516-569-3083 ext. 106.

Sunday March 17

Purim Carnival: Join Park East Day School for the 2019 Purim Extravaganza. Bounce house, horse rides, carnival games, circus performance, picklemaking, face painting, car racing, video games, art project! Costumes with weaponry not permitted. 11 am to 2 pm. 164 East 68th St, Manhattan. ParkEastDaySchool.org. $25 in advance; $30 at the door.

PURIM CARDS! CAHAL is offering beautifully designed and colorful cards!

Send Purim greetings to family and friends while supporting this vital program educating children in our local yeshivas in the Five Towns, Far Rockaway, West Hempstead and Greater Nassau County

Pick up your cards today at CAHAL: 516-295-3666 540-A Willow Avenue sheldon@cahal.org Cedarhurst NY 11516

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This is a career-propelling opportunity to grow your talents in a professional and collegial environment. Our former reporters have moved into major media positions in New York City and throughout the country.

Pack of 10 cards - $18

It is a salaried position that includes a full benefits package including medical, dental, and 401(k).

3 packs (30 cards) - $50

The Jewish Star is affiliated with Richner Communications, one of the NY area’s largest local news media companies (publisher of 20 Herald newspapers on LI, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Riverdale Press, and more), with 150 employees.

Send a brief cover letter, resume, and clips (or links) to Jobs@TheJewishStar.com.

Put REPORTER in the subject line.

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The Jewish Star, Long Island’s #1 Jewish newspaper, has an immediate opening for a full-time staff reporter.

Kodesh hosts its 2019 dinner at the Sands, honoring Rav & Rebbetzin Moshe Weinberger and Mr. & Mrs. Chaim Balter. 5 pm. 1395 Beech St, Atlantic Beach.

CAHAL Concert: Save the date! Featuring Mordechai Shapiro, Pumpidisa, Shloime Dachs & the Shloime Dachs Orchestra at Lawrence High School. 8 pm. 2 Reilly Rd, Cedarhurst.

TAG Shpiel: A comedy for women, to benefit Zichron Ruchoma. 8 pm. 444 Beach 6th St, Far Rockaway. TheShpiel.eventbrite.com.

Friday March 15

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YCQ Dinner: Yeshiva of Central Queens holds its 78th Annual Scholarship Dinner. Guests of Honor Dr. Eve & Rabbi Todd Sullivan and Drs. Rachel & Joshua Sisser. Educator Award Rabbi Moshe Hamel; Alumni Award Randi Beeber Luxenberg ’73. Special guest singer Avi Perets. 21 Old Westbury Rd, Old Westbury. YCQdinner.com; 718-793-8500 ext. 300.

Kids and Tech: Join us for “Screenagers,” a documentary about engaging our children and technology. Accompanied by a panel discussion featuring Dr. Rona Novick, Dr. Shana Frydman, Dr. Binyamin Tepfer, and Dr. Ronny Wachtel. 8 pm. 8 Spruce St, Cedarhurst.

Let’s Talk Ladies: Five Towns women’s-only event sponsored by Sharsheret together with Bikur Cholim of Far Rockaway & Five Towns. BRCA expert Dr. Jonathan Herman will speak about the BRCA gene and hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in our community. Light buffet dinner.

8 pm. 140 Central Ave, Lawrence. 866-474-2774.

ext. 222. $15 per class, $65 for full series.

TAG Dinner: Our Parents, Our Partners: Celebrating an incredible chinuch partnership.

Honoring Mr. & Mrs. Ephram Ostreicher, Rabbi & Mrs. Mordechai Stern, and Mrs. Anita Davis. 1395 Beech St, Atlantic Beach. 718-471-8444.

THE JEWISH STAR March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779

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March 1, 2019 • 24 Adar 1, 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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