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Luach page 19 • Vol 16, No 9 more than 130 musmakhim, many of whom have BAIS EPHRAIM strong connections to our YITZCHOK community, including: Rabbi Elchanan Adler

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Rabbi Avi Anderson Rabbi Jacob Berman The Challenges of Spirituality ByReadings Ed Weintrob The Two of the Rabbi Dan Cohen More than 1,500 potential olim attended New York’s annual aliyah “mega event” on KEHILLAS BAIS Megillah:Sunday.

Rabbi Meir Cohen The day-long Nefesh B’Nefesh fair, at John Rabbi Yoni Danzger How Do JayThey CollegeInterrelate? on Manhattan’s West Side, adYEHUDAH TZVI dressed the opportunities and challenges that Rabbi Daniel Elsant accompany a permanent move to the State of Rabbi Elchanan Adler Israel. More than four-dozen sessions, and a BAIS MIDRASH OFsuch issues as Rabbi Joshua Elsant like number of vendors, tackled where to live, employment opportunities, lanSeudah Shlishit guage challenges, integrating into Israeli sociRabbi Natan Farber WOODMERE ety, health care, shipping, insurance and more.

(Mincha 5:20 p.m.)

The day’s theme was “Imagine Greater Rabbi Aaron Fleksher Rabbi Yoni Danziger Possibilities.”

Reflections on Zayin Adar: In the 15 years that Nefesh B’Nefesh has Rabbi Yechiel Fuchs been facilitating the return to p.m.)

Israel of Jews Pre Mincha Shiur (4:40 from North America and the United KingRabbi Noach Goldstein The Legacy of Carmel Moshe A visitor to the vandalized Mount JewishRabbeinu Cemetery in Phildom, making aliyah has never been easier, adelphia views toppled tombstones on Sunday.

Rabbi Jason Grossman BAIS TEFILAH See Aliyah on page 8 Rabbi Scott Hoberman MEN’S ONEG SHABBAT WITH Rabbi Moshe Watson Rabbi Raphael Karlin Hosted by Rabbi Shay & Rina Schac Drasha (Shacharit 9 a.m.)

Rabbi Nuriel Klinger

By The Jewish Star 430 Forest Ave, Woodmere • Friday N The Simcha go-to community resources organization in the Five Towns Rabbi Zev Goldberg Rabbi Lauer and Far Rockaway emphasized its all-emcompassing scope on Sunday night, filling the formerLipman BestBuy space in the Bar Harbour Mall with WOMEN’S SHIURgraves WITH RAB Rabbi Bradley Pre Mincha Shiur (4:40 p.m.)

Vandals hit Philly 1,700 supporters under the banner, “Just One Call.”

Achiezer and President Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender said the Rabbi AriFounder Lipsky FINDING MEANING INComMUSA The weeks-long wave of bomb threats targeting Jewish greatness of the community centered on the fact that it is made up of The Mystery of Esther’s Identity munity Centers in several states reached Long Island on Monday, givers who “can’t relax when somebody else is in need.”

Rabbi Joshua Maslow Lawrence Cedarhu with aYoung threat beingIsrael phoned inof to the Mid-Island Y JCC- in Plain“Whether you are a rebbe in Far Rockaway, an electrician in Baysview.

As was the case with the other threats, including at least water, a lawyer in Woodmere, a plumber in Queens or a healthcare Rabbi Mordy Prus 21 on Monday alone, no meanacing objects were found at the professional from Lawrence, it makes no difference because what center, which was briefly evacuated. bands us together is the inherent need to do for each other,” he said.

Rabbi David Roth Rabbi Anchelle Perl of Chabad of Mineola said the threats See Achiezer on page 17 would not succeed in sowing fear, and in fact JCCs around the Rabbi Moshe Rube country reported thatof very few membersHershel were staying away. Sch In celebration Rav “We will redouble our efforts in friendship and appreciation Rabbi Ashie Schreier with all of our friends and neighbors of all walks of life, with all faith communities, to counter a world of darkness and evil with Yeshivaour University – Rabbi Isaac ‫תנו כבוד לתורה‬ Rabbi Elliot Schrier acts of goodness and kindness,” Rabbi Perl said.

In five waves of calls in less than two months, 89 bomb threats Rav Schachter will be receiving special award Rabbi Eli Wagner were received by 72 Jewish institutions in 30a states and one CanaSUNDAY, dian province, according to the JCC Association of North America.

Rabbi Moshe Watson in honor of the occasion. usSecure in Law The threatening calls seekPlease “to wear us join down,” said

By Jeffrey Bessen Community Network Director Paul Goldenberg. “But we are back MARCH 5 Gov.Michael Andrew Cuomo’s familiarity with the roads around Rabbi Weingarten in our schools, are back in our a JCCs.” Rav Schachter willwepresent shiur, followed by Southeast Queens and the Five Towns might have helped him Meanwhile, more than 100 gravesites were disturbed in a understand State Senator Todd Kaminsky kept bringRabbi Eli why Wiesenfeld Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, one week after over 150 headCommunity Service Award recipients Joel and Cheryl Baruch. Joel 9:30 a.m. ing up repairing the Nassau Expressway every time the Long stones were overturnedare and damaged in St. Louis. operates Gotta Getta Bagel in Woodmere, Cheryl Dedication is an adminisopportunities available at many levels.

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“This community is incredibly resilient,” Lynch said. “The outpouring of support we’ve had from the general community as well has been phenomenal. Birmingham is an incredibly generous and philanthropic and faithful community.”

Shirley, the Nashville health director, said she continues to be shocked by the threats.

In the meantime, she’s tried to use them to teach her 14-year-old twins about the experience of being a minority in the United States. “[I’m] trying to explain to them that even though we don’t really recognize it, our heritage, our family group, is one of privilege in a way,” she said. “We’re not part of any of those groups that’s the focus of hatred.”

SH

This week on pages 12 and 13

relatively small Jewish communities. But neither Sax nor Betzy Lynch, executive director of the Levite JCC in Birmingham, feels that they’ve been targeted due to their size.

“I’m going to make the assessment that it’s probably coincidental,” Lynch said. “I don’t know if there’s any rhyme or reason to why people are chosen or how they’re chosen. Maybe it’s just random and we got the short straw multiple times.”

Lynch said the community’s intimate feel has been an advantage in dealing with the threats. Birmingham’s Muslims, whose mosque recently received death threats, have also reached out, organizing a recent interfaith prayer rally together with the Jewish community.

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Rabbi Hershel Schachter

Rosh Kollel and Rosh Yeshiva, and Nathan and Vivian Fink Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud, RIETS

Rabbi Elchanan Adler

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Vice President of University and Community Life, Yeshiva University

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Rabbi Josh Joseph, EdD Senior Vice President, Yeshiva University

Rabbi Menachem Penner

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Magid Shiur, Irving I. Stone Beis Medrash Program

Rabbi Daniel Stein Rosh Yeshiva, RIETS

Rabbi Eli Baruch Shulman

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RIETS is proud to honor more than 130 musmakhim, many of whom have strong connections to our community, including: Rabbi Avi Anderson Rabbi Jacob Berman Rabbi Dan Cohen Rabbi Meir Cohen Rabbi Yoni Danzger Rabbi Daniel Elsant Rabbi Joshua Elsant Rabbi Natan Farber Rabbi Aaron Fleksher Rabbi Yechiel Fuchs Rabbi Noach Goldstein Rabbi Jason Grossman Rabbi Scott Hoberman Rabbi Raphael Karlin Rabbi Nuriel Klinger Rabbi Simcha Lauer Rabbi Bradley Lipman Rabbi Ari Lipsky Rabbi Joshua Maslow Rabbi Mordy Prus Rabbi David Roth Rabbi Moshe Rube Rabbi Ashie Schreier Rabbi Elliot Schrier Rabbi Eli Wagner Rabbi Moshe Watson Rabbi Michael Weingarten Rabbi Eli Wiesenfeld Rabbi Daniel Zuckerman

AISH KODESH Rabbi Hershel Schachter Drasha (Shacharit 8:30 a.m.)

ANSHEI CHESSED Rabbi Elchanan Adler

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Rabbi Ashie Schreier

Seudah Shlishit (Mincha 5:25 p.m.)

Back to the Future Connecting with Har Sinai

BAIS AVROHOM ZEV Rabbi Yechiel Fuchs Drasha (Shacharit 9 a.m.)

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Seudah Shlishit (Mincha 5:15) The Gift of Change: Our National Undoing Project

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Pirsumei Nisa and National Unity

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‫תנו כבוד לתורה‬ SUNDAY, MARCH 5 9:30 a.m.

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In celebration of Rav Hershel Schachter’s 50 years of teaching at Yeshiva University – Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

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but we also want to be secure.”

Even as the JCC has tried to maintain its routine, Sax has noticed people making adjustments to deal with the threat of an evacuation.

The JCC has stockpiled diapers and formula for preschoolers, as well as blankets for swimmers. Some swimmers now leave their car keys near the pool instead of in the locker room.

And to stay in contact with the media, Sax has learned to take her phone charger with her in case she needs to exit the building.

“To go for a fire drill, you know to leave the building and congregate,” Sax said. “But when you don’t know if you’re going to be able to go back in the building, you think about what exactly are we going to need to bring?”

All three of the most-targeted JCCs are in

TH

Ben Sales, JTA Growing up in a small town in Georgia, Harriet Shirley may have had more exposure to Jews and anti-Semitism than the rest of her fellow Christians. She had Jewish acquaintances, read Holocaust nonfiction as a teen and later visited concentration camps on a trip to Europe.

But she was still dumbfounded when the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where she worked as the health and wellness director, received three separate bomb threats since Jan. 9. Shirley had assumed anti-Semitic violence was a thing of the past — a notion her Jewish co-workers did not share.

“Honestly, it makes me angry,” she said. “It also makes me sad. I recognize that a lot of my co-workers have had to live with this stuff their whole lives. It just makes me sad.

“It’s so unfortunate and so stupid that this kind of hatred against any group still exists.

We really ought to be past this.”

Since the beginning of 2017, nearly 100 bomb threats have been made to more than 70 JCCs and Jewish day schools across the United States. For most, the threat is a one-time event. But the Nashville JCC and two others — in Birmingham, Alabama, and Wilmington, Delaware — each have endured three.

All three were hit on Jan. 18, when at least 30 JCCs across the country were victimized.

Nashville and Birmingham were part of the first wave on Jan. 9, and Birmingham and Wilmington were hit in the last one on Monday. All the calls in five waves of threats have been hoaxes.

The JCCs report that members are still entering the doors. But for staff, the repeated threats have been a shocking and exhausting experience that at times has made everyday work a challenge.

“It’s trying, it’s stressful, it’s everything the people behind these telephone threats want to happen,” said Seth Katzen, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Delaware, which shares a building with the Wilmington JCC. “But we stay vigilant, we stay on task, we follow protocol, we follow procedure. I’m sure it’s on the back of people’s minds, but we’re a resilient community. We will not let this get to us.”

In all three facilities, nearly all the members have stayed despite the bomb threats.

In Nashville, only one of 1,600 members has dropped their membership due to the threats.

In Birmingham, two of 200 preschoolers have left the school. Katzen said to the best of his knowledge, none of the more than 100 students had left the Wilmington JCC’s preschool.

Leslie Sax, executive director of the Nashville JCC, attributed its high retention rate to its security procedures, which were first formulated following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

The building is removed from a busy area, and a guard is always present near the preschool.

In addition, Sax has sent emails out to members following each of the five waves of JCC bomb threats, whether or not her facility was targeted.

“We always struggle: Are we too secure for friendliness?” Sax said. “It’s that balancing act we all have to do. We want to be welcoming,

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As JCC threats continue, centers show resilience

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By JTA Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, speaking with affection of his life in Israel decades ago, told a rapturous J Street conference that one could sharply criticize the Israeli government’s policies and be pro-Israel.

Sanders, speaking Monday in his first Middle East policy speech since ending his bid last June for the Democratic presidential nomination, also blasted President Trump for retreating from a commitment to a two-state solution and not speaking out forcefully against anti-Semitism and bigotry.

Sanders’ recollection of his time in Israel was rare — he barely addressed it during his presidential run, and indeed has not been as expansive about his life on a kibbutz since he first ran for Congress in 1990.

He laced his call to urge Israel to adopt more progressive policies with appeals to progressives to embrace Israel as a Jewish homeland.

“Now, as many of you know, I have a connection to the State of Israel going back many years,” Sanders said, addressing the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group’s annual conference.

“In 1963, I lived on a kibbutz near Haifa,” he said.

“It was there that I saw and experienced for myself many of the progressive values upon which the State of Israel was founded. I think it is very important for everyone, but particularly for progressives, to acknowledge the enormous achievement of establishing a democratic homeland for the Jewish people after centuries of displacement and persecution, and particularly after the horror of the Holocaust.”

Sanders said recognizing ensuing Palestinian suffering should not diminish support for Israel.

“But as you all know, there was another side to the story of Israel’s creation, a more painful side,” he said. “Like our own country, the founding of Israel involved the displacement of hundreds of

thousands of people already living there, the Palestinian people. Over 700,000 people were made refugees. To acknowledge this painful historical fact does not ‘delegitimize’ Israel, any more than acknowledging the Trail of Tears delegitimizes the United States of America.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made combating “delegitimization” of Israel a central plank of Israeli diplomacy, and Sanders said opposing Netanyahu did not amount to being anti-Israel.

“We can oppose the policies of President Trump without being anti-American,” he said.

“We can oppose the policies of Netanyahu without being anti-Israel. We can oppose the policies of Islamic extremism without being anti-Muslim.”

Explicitly citing a need to oppose Islamic extremism also sets Sanders apart from some other progressives, who fear singling out Muslim extremism fuels anti-Muslim bigotry.

Sanders began his speech by slamming Trump for what he said was his failure to address the spike in anti-Semitic and other bias incidents since his election.

“When we see violent and verbal racist attacks against minorities — whether they are AfricanAmericans, Jews, Muslims in this country, immigrants in this country, or the LGBT community — these attacks must be condemned,” he said.

“It was rather extraordinary that in the White House’s Holocaust Remembrance Day statement, the murder of 6 million Jews was not mentioned,” Sanders said. “I hope very much that President Trump and his political adviser Mr. [Stephen] Bannon understand that the world is watching.

It is imperative that their voices be loud and clear in condemning anti-Semitism, violent attacks against immigrants in this country, including the murder of two young men from India, and all forms of bigotry here and around the world.”

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12/5/2016 4:06:33 PM

By Ron Kampeas, JTA LAS VEGAS — Republican Jews have President Donald Trump to thank for their party’s renewed dominance of Washington politics. So what do they think of him?

Marlyn Appelbaum paused to contemplate the question at the opening of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s confab at the Venetian resort hotel here Friday evening. Then she avoided mentioning the president.

“My biggest thing is pro-Israel,” said Appelbaum, the head of a teacher training institute in Sugar Land, Texas. “I was real upset at the last eight years. I think things for Israel are going to turn around.”

Her answer captured the vibe at the RJC’s annual two-day leadership meeting. Amid the giddiness celebrating the end of the Obama years and the advent of a new Republican administration, RJC officials and members seemed to make an effort to get excited about Trump, with whom their group has a fraught history.

By contrast, Vice President Mike Pence, one of the pro-Israel community’s closest friends, was greeted effusively and addressed the crowd.

Michael Epstein, an RJC board member emceeing Friday’s dinner, delivered a dreams-come-true welcoming speech.

“For the first time in RJC history, we have a sitting Republican vice president sitting with us for our Shabbat dinner!”

Epstein announced after Pence’s speech. The crowd erupted in applause.

When Epstein added, “And a Republican president who is going to make our country great again!” only a couple of tables in the corner clapped.

Still, “Make America Great Again” kippahs dotted the Venetian’s byways, and Elliot Lauer, a board member perhaps best known as Jonathan Pollard’s lawyer, delivered a dvar Torah Friday evening in which he likened Trump’s victory to the triumph of the Jews in ancient Persia celebrated on Purim.

Asked about Trump, RJC members clad in bespoke suits and flowing gowns highlighted his political effectiveness.

“He did say things that were offensive,” said Dr. Robert Lewit, a retired psychiatrist from Florida who in the Republican primaries supported Marco Rubio, his state’s U.S. senator. But

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“he’s innately a brilliant politician, making immigration an issue, advocating for a U.S. economic revival.”

Though unimpressed by Trump’s star turn on “The Apprentice” reality show, Lewit’s wife, Jane, said, “No one saw what he saw: the forgotten man” — a reference to Trump’s appeal to working- and middle-class Americans. “In any case, it’s better than what was. I happen to have had a total antipathy for our last president and everything he stood for.”

It has been a rocky road for the RJC and Trump. At the group’s presidential candidates’ forum in December 2015, Trump mocked the wealthy Jewish donors by saying he, too, was rich and thus immune to their purchasing power. He also said he would be “neutral” on brokering Israeli-Palestinian peace and refused to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

When Trump appeared hesitant last spring to disavow his burgeoning support from the “alt-right,” a loose grouping of

anti-establishment conservatives that includes within its ranks unabashed anti-Semites, the RJC went dark.

The group issued few statements mentioning Trump. None of its events at the Republican National Convention in July were open to the media, in contrast to the group’s high profile in past years. Its drive to get out the vote barely mentioned Trump for the most part and focused on vulnerable GOP senators in states with large Jewish communities. And even the RJC’s inauguration party last month was closed to the media.

Now the group is trying hard to get behind the president.

Trump’s pivot from his “neutrality” on Israel in 2015 to an eager embrace earlier this month of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and his policies on the Palestinians and Iran — have helped the RJC belatedly come around.

“There was not a consensus [on the RJC board] — even when he our presumptive nominee,” said Elliott Broidy, a venture capitalist who was among about a dozen of the 50 or so board members who backed Trump prior to his nomination.

“Over time, people became more supportive. Now that he’s president, there’s deeper support on the board.”

Fred Zeidman, another board member who is close to former President George W. Bush and could never quite bring himself to endorse Trump during the presidential campaign, said it was incumbent on all Republicans to make sure government works now that the GOP is in control of all its levers.

“I have a vested interest in making this White House a success,” said Zeidman, a Houston-area businessman.

Asked by journalists Friday about Trump’s most recent Jewish controversies — including the White House’s omission of reference to the Jews in a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that was widely criticized by Jewish groups, including the RJC — the group’s executive director, Matt Brooks, talked about Israel.

“There’s a professional complaining class in the Jewish community that will criticize and attack Donald Trump no matter what he says,” Brooks said. “People who genuinely have an open mind, individuals and organizations, see he is following through on commitments he made on campaign, he is repositioning in a positive way the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

See GOP Jews on page 24

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THE JEWISH STAR March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777

In Vegas, GOP Jews celebrate Trump presidency

5

878 fix…

Continued from page 1 “Whenever I saw Todd, it was 878, 878, 878. He is like a broken record,” said Cuomo, whose line created laughter among the South Shore residents who attended the press conference at the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence on Sunday.

“878 has been a problem for a long, long time,” the governor said, “I’m from Hollis, Queens, and had a good friend from Inwood.

I know what it is to drive on Brookville Boulevard … dodge the potholes, think you were going into the marsh.” Cuomo also noted the roadway’s proximity to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The governor, along with state Department of Transportation Commissioner Matthew Driscoll and Kaminsky, rolled out a $130 million plan to overhaul the Nassau Expressway, also known as state road 878.

It includes a new multi-use pedestrian path, state-of-the-art drainage systems, traffic signals synced to ensure smoother vehicle movement, improved and added turning lanes, and a possible retaining wall. The project renovates a less-than-a-mile stretch of road—a portion that officials called a central business corridor—from the intersection at Rockaway Turnpike and Peninsula Boulevard in Lawrence south to Burnside Avenue in Inwood.

“We will be creating a community gateway and protecting it from extreme weather,” Driscoll said. “We will keep the disruptions to a minimum so you can get to where you need to go.”

The work is expected to begin six years ahead of an original state DOT capital plan that allocated $61 million to renovate the expressway starting in 2025. Nearly two years

ago, about $6 million of that money was used to repair a portion of the roadway after Hurricane Sandy. Driscoll said that all the work will be consolidated and it will be done “on time and on budget.” Initial planning will begin this month and construction is scheduled to start in 2019, officials said.

The expressway serves as the access road for motorists from Five Towns, Atlantic Beach, Far Rockaway and Long Beach, and is one of the South Shore’s major evacuation routes for roughly 400,000 residents in case of an emergency such as a hurricane. The immediate area where the work will be done includes a bevy of heavily used shops and restaurants, including the stores and eateries

in and around the Bay Harbour Mall.

“As the chief of a local first response agency whose apparatus frequently travels 878 the proposed improvements will provide a safer transport for patients and responders alike,” said Jonathan Kohan of the Atlantic Beach Rescue. “Bottom line, it is a win-win for our community.”

Kohan also said that creating a more accessible and user-friendly expressway is a “long-time coming” and he appreciates the persistence of local officials such as Kaminsky, County Legislator Howard Kopel (RLawrence) and former Democratic Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder.

“The governor obviously has not forgotten

his roots and it was heartening to see him come to our neighborhood on Sunday to announce this infrastructure investment,” Kohan said, adding that he believes that “the expedited timeline is encouraging and fully achievable.”

Kaminsky said that for many years the disrepair of the Nassau Expressway was a microcosm of what government couldn’t accomplish. He pointed to Cuomo’s commitment to the Five Towns and Long Beach after Sandy as examples that this project will get done.

“He has shown a fierce dedication to the South Shore and the middle class,” said Kaminsky.

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Continued from page 1 said NBN co-founder and executive director Rabbi Yehoshua Fass.

He said that technology “that we couldn’t possibly imagine in 2002” has helped to overcome an important challenge that olim face — maintaining connections with relatives and friends back in America.

“My wife’s entire family is in America, so we have that challenge of constantly finding ways to develop a quality relationship [between] our children and their grandparents and my wife’s siblings,” Rabbi Fass said. “It’s a concerted effort on both sides. There’s Facetime, there’s WhatsApp, there’s videos that we share with one another. Distance relationships can be more intense; it all depends on the efforts that are put into place.”

“We talk every day, at a set time — it’s kodesh k’doshim and it’s beautiful,” he said.

“It’s hard that we can’t physically embrace, but we feel that connection.

On the other hand, he suggested, “would we have such an intense counseling session if a child moved to the West Coast for a job offer? No we wouldn’t. We’d see each other a few times a year; it’s not really that different.”

Rabbi Fass’ session involved his “talking aliyah” with Rabbi Dov Lipman, who made aliyah in 2004 and later became the first English-speaker elected to the Knesset in 30 years (now, there are two more, Rabbi Lipman said).

Asked to recount an “ah-ha” moment he experienced after moving to Israel, Rabbi Lipman described a taxi ride with a driver “who not only didn’t have a kippah on his head, he had a bunch of earrings and tattoos.” The cabbie asked him how he was.

“I said ani ah-yehf — I said I’m tired,” Rabbi Lipman recalled, “and he says to me, never say ani ah-yehf.’ I said why not? He said because it says that word twice in the Torah — one

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time it was Eisav coming in to Yaakov and the other time was when the Jewish people said they were tired and Amalek attacked. It’s only negative.”

“Don’t say ani ah-yehf, say I have to go to sleep, it’s been a long day,” the cabbie continued.

“This was just a few months after aliyah when I realized — what a country!” Rabbi Lipman said, “where this guy is giving me a shiur on what language to use based on the Torah.”

Rabbi Fass said that he personally accompanied each of Nefesh B’Nefesh’s 55 olim-carrying charter flights and that every one of them had “emotional moments that rip your heart out.”

More charters are scheduled this summer, in addition to numerous olim-ferrying commercial flights throughout the year.

“Every flight is so gorgeous [with a] mixture of people,” he said. “Sadly, we lack that achdut, and when we find something that gives us a common experience, it’s precious and we have to treasure those moments.”

Rabbi Fass was asked, what makes a suc-

The Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob

cessful aliyah? That’s simple, he said — it “is when a person picks up and moves to Israel.”

“Look at the incredible opportunity we have today,” he concluded. “In the history of the Jewish people, it’s never been easier to make ailyah. Just come home. Embrace the miracle.”

Sunday’s fair, the ninth annual “Israel Mega Event,” drew the largest crowd ever, indicating a record-high interest in Israeli immigration from the United States, an NBN spokesman said. Israeli Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver attended the event to see firsthand olim preparing for their aliyah, he said.

Sunday’s event was organized in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and JNF-USA. Some of those attending were just beginning their consideration of making aliyah while for others it helped wrap up their aliyah planning.

Additional aliyah fairs are planned this year for Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles.

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March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777 THE JEWISH STAR

8

The hearT of jerusalem

S

ometimes inspiration comes in the simplest of moments, like a good cup of coffee. In the fall of 2000, my unit was called up on special emergency orders (known as a Tzav Shmoneh). I still recall the middle of the night phone call from my battalion commander telling me to get my gear together and report to our assembly point. In response to my query of when I needed to be there his response was, “I’ll see you in an hour,” and when I asked how long I could expect to be in for his answer was: “Ein li musag” (“I have no idea”), which was a shock coming from a battalion commander.

The challenge of having your entire life turned upside down in an instant, with no time to prepare for it, is hard to describe. And this reserve duty was even more difficult as a result of how close we were to home. Usually, the long trip to whatever hot zone we were in also gave us a chance to adjust and put home in the back pocket. But this time, we were defending and patrolling a line that was ten minutes from home. And while it resulted in a very high motivation level, as we were protecting our homes and families, it was incredibly depressing to be dodging bullets or even stuck on patrol, with your wife and kids just minutes away and yet out of reach.

About a week into it, I stopped at one of our guard posts overlooking the Arab village of Chirbet Aliah (near Bethlehem) to check on a few of my men. I was listening to yet

This week’s portion is the first in a series of five that deal almost exclusively with the process involved in building the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the tent of meeting that will serve as the focal point of the Jewish people and eventually will give way to the Beit HaMikdash, the holy temple in Jerusalem.

Why were the Jewish people asked to do all of this giving for a building for G-d? Why does G-d need a building?

Rashi (quoting the Jerusalem Talmud in Shekalim1:1) points out that there were actually three different collections of offerings here, as denoted by the fact that the word Terumah (offering) is used three times in the verse above: 1.

“Ve’yikchu’ Li Terumah” (take for me an offering) refers to the collection of a shekel per person which was specifically designated for the sockets or Adanim (that held the boards that made up the wall of the courtyard of the Mishkan, as mentioned in Shemot 38:26).

2. “Tikchu et Terumati” (take my offering) refers to the shekel per person collected for the public sacrifices (as mentioned in Shemot 30:15).

3. “Ha’Terumah” (the offering) which is what our portion here is referring to, was a general collection of various materials such as gold, silver, copper and a list of 13 items mentioned at the beginning of this week’s portion, appropriately named Terumah.

But why is there a necessity for three sep-

This week’s parsha reminds us of the difference between the process and the goal itself.

W

arate collections? Why couldn’t Moshe have collected all of them at one time? And why mention three different offerings and yet only delineate what one of them was in the verse? av Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the late Lubavitcher Rebbe of blessed memory) suggests that the idea that building the Mishkan is an allegory for how we are meant to build the world, and as such, these three different offerings represent the three different areas in which we interact with and contribute to the world.

The first offering represents Torah, which is the basis for everything. It would be hard to imagine that G-d created us for no reason, so G-d has to, at some point, clarify what that reason, or purpose, really is. This revelation, where G-d reveals the purpose of everything, in Judaism is called Torah. The Torah is essentially the blueprint for life and living.

Which is why it is an offering specifically designated for the Adanim, or sockets, on which the entire wall’s foundation rests.

This offering then, represents all those aspects of life that we are meant purely to receive, but not necessarily to change.

And then there is the second offering, which represents service to Hashem, or prayer. Essentially, where the Torah is about what G-d wants us to so, prayer is about what we want to do, in an attempt to give back to G-d. This does not mean to say that G-d needs what we have to give, but rather, we need to be in the process of giving to G-d.

Often, people presume that prayer is about asking G-d for the things I want, but in truth, Jewish prayer is much more about understanding the things I could want, and See Giving on page 19

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Rabbi binny FReedman

another soldier trying to understand what was going on when the lights of a civilian car came over the top of the hill. As it was nearly three in the morning, we approached the vehicle with caution, until we smelled the incredible aroma of freshly brewed coffee coming from the open car.

Josh, a good friend who had made aliyah late enough to have missed being called up to the army, could not stand the thought of his friends alone on patrol and decided to single-handedly bring coffee and cake to all the guard positions, a feat he repeated nearly every night for almost two months!

It is hard to describe what an impact it makes on your morale to know someone cares that much, and I can honestly say his was a tremendous contribution to the war effort. hat is the nature of giving? This week’s portion, Terumah, begins with the notion of giving, and contributing: G-d says to Moshe: “Speak to the people of Israel and let them take for me an offering (Terumah), from every man whose heart motivates him, take my offering (Terumati). And this is the offering (Terumah) you shall take from them: gold, silver, and copper.” (Shemot 25:2-3) What is the nature of this Terumah, this offering G-d is asking us for? How do you give anything, let alone a specific offering to G-d?

THE JEWISH STAR March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777

What do we mean when we talk of ‘giving’?

9

Skilled braking

Some papers may be bigger, but no Jewish newspaper on Long Island is better.

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ho wants to be sick at a simcha? Carsickness and seasickness can certainly dampen oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enthusiasm for doing anything and being anywhere. Children driven longer distances can arrive in an irritable state even though they were so excited an hour earlier. As snow comes to these parts we know to drive slower and recall such snow-driving skills as steering into a skid.

But you can practice an approach to driving that leads to better control in any weather and that lessens carsickness.

I try teaching it to anyone whose vehicle I find myself in. As with photography, some donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t care to develop skill. If you are prone to carsickness you feel better in the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seat where you are one with your driving decisions as your balance systems coincide with what eyes and mind anticipate. If others are prone to carsickness please try my braking technique and they will feel better after a long ride.

You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drive by lurching forward, braking, then lurching again. But when braking, most people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think twice about slowing down rapidly so that at every single stop, heads which are moving forward suddenly experience a discomforting direction change at the very last second. My braking technique is all in the ankle. I can stop rapidly, but before coming to a standstill, I let it roll and then slow until the roll is nearly indistinguishable from a stop. No, you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hit

anyone or anything this way. You will feel and be more in control of your vehicle. Because as you break, you make sure that your vehicle never rocks back to the point that the brain changes directions and confuses your balance systems.

Better-engineered vehicles make this easier because their brakes donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seize at solo revolutions, but I can do this in anything, even an old truck.

Always make sure to completely stop at stop signs and red lights. But use your ankle to deftly control break pressure so your speed never goes to dead zero suddenly. Before zero it should be going inches per hour, before that, feet per hour, before that yards per hour, before that â&#x20AC;Ś you get the idea. It is all about stopping fast but never letting the head change directions in the last second of motion.

Going downhill is easy. The vehicle will continue to roll, just let it do so by increasing pedal pressure gradually rather than suddenly. Your goal is never to stop, just keep halving your speed until you find yourself no longer moving! Going uphill is far trickier and is the mark of a truly skilled braking expert. You must reduce brake pedal pressure to allow vehicle to roll uphill. Apply gentle gas to keep rolling but next time do better.

Skilled braking is more challenging, but also more satisfying and a calmative during traffic snarls. Treats others in your vehicle with the respect they deserve and soon it will be automatic for you and appreciated by them. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t force it. Pace it out.

Gary Rabenko is artistic and technical director of Rabenko Photography and Video Arts at 1053 Broadway, Woodmere. gary@rabenko.com, 888-722-3656.

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Unheard of women’s sport is taking Israel by storm

By Andrew Tobin, JTA TEL AVIV — Every week, thousands of women across Israel gather to play a sport almost no one outside the country has heard of.

For that matter, few Israelis knew about catchball — or cadur-reshet in Hebrew— a decade ago.

But in recent years it has become the most popular sport among adult women in the country, with nearly all the players over 30 years old.

“It’s like a disease among middle-aged women here,” said Naor Galili, the director-general of the Maccabi sports association in Israel. “We like it. We love it. We fully support it.”

It is also clear the sport is growing rapidly, and even reaching into Israel’s most traditional communities. Many Orthodox Jewish women play catchball in headscarves and skirts. And there is a mostly Druze team in Daliyan al-Carmel in northern Israel.

Now the Israel Catchball Association is trying to spread Catchball fever to women around the world. A major step will be catchball’s appearance for the first time at the Maccabiah Games in Israel this summer. The hope is that the thousands of Jews who attend the multisport games from around the world will be in-

spired to ask: What is catchball?

Catchball is like volleyball, but easier because catching and throwing replaces bumping, setting and spiking. Israelis adapted the sport from Newcomb ball, which was named for the Louisiana women’s college where it was invented over a century ago. Today, Americans rarely play Newcomb ball outside of gym class.

Meanwhile, catchball leagues in Israel boast more than 12,000 female members. That is twice as many adult women as belong to basketball, soccer, volleyball and tennis leagues combined, according to data from Israel’s Culture and Sport Ministry.

“Catchball is a present women give themselves,” said Hila Yeshayahu, 41, who plays for the Herzliya-based squad Good Heart. “It’s a chance to do something healthy with other women and come back home with more strength and more passion. When I step out the door in my uniform, my kids aren’t on my shoulder; my husband isn’t on my shoulder. I’m 18 years old again. I’m Hila, and I can do anything.”

Yeshayahu’s twin sister also competes for a team in the association, and their 11-year-old daughters play together in a new girls’ league.

Buttery Fan Dinner Rolls [Dairy]

Ingredients: 3/4 cup warm milk (110 degrees) 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg (Room temperature) 1 large egg yolk (Room temperature) 1 tablespoon instant or rapid rise yeast 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted In the bowl of an electric mixer, add milk, sugar, egg, egg yolk, and yeast, and mix a little with a fork until combined a bit, then let it sit until it gets foamy, about 3 minutes.

Add flour and salt, and mix with a dough hook, on medium-low speed, until dough is combined, about 2 minutes.

With mixer running, add in softened butter pieces, 1 at a time, until incorporated.

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esterday on our way to sheva brachot, for Jerry’s cousin in Queens, I, as usual, was elected to enter the address into the GPS. As most of you know by now, Jerry is not very tech savvy.

I’ve tried to show him that all he has to do is hit location, then where it says “street address” enter the address number, then the street name, and so on. He’s always nervous he’s not going do it correctly. I did show him how to return home. One simple step: Just hit “home.”

About a month after I showed him how to get home, I was catering a party in Roslyn.

I had set the entire party up the Thursday and Friday before the motzei Shabbos event.

After Shabbos I left the house to layout all the food. To my horror, as soon as I reached the party venue, I realized I forgot one of the cakes; it was a two-tier piece of art that was to be the centerpiece of the pastry table.

I froze for a second and then figured I would call Jerry, and ask him to hand it to an Uber driver who would deliver it to me.

He was planning on visiting his daughter and grandson in New Jersey, but I was hoping I would catch him before he left. He answered on the first ring. Thankfully, he said he had just left and was on Rockaway Turnpike. Being he had just left, I didn’t feel badly asking him to drive home and leave the large box outside our front door, for the Uber driver.

Being the good sport, that he is, he said yes right away. I called Uber and set up a pick up for 12 minutes later. I explained that he would pick up a box and bring it to Roslyn.

He said it wouldn’t be a problem.

Fifteen minutes later he called me and said there was no box. I called Jerry and asked if he was in the house having trouble finding the cake. The conversation went something like this: “Actually, I’m not home yet,” Jerry said calmly.” “How could that be?” I shouted, “you said you just left house, and was on

Continue to kneed, until the dough is smooth.

Transfer dough, to a large, greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature, for 1-1/2 hours, until dough has doubled in size.

Spray a 12 cup muffin tin, with a non-stick spray.

Set aside.

Press down on dough to deflate, and transfer to a lightly floured surface.

Divide dough into two equal balls, and roll one ball into a rectangle shape of 15×12, with long side parallel to counter’s edge.

Using a pizza wheel, cut dough vertically into 6 strips, that measure about 2-1/2 inches wide by 12 inches long.

Brush tops of strips with butter, and stack strips of dough, onto each other, buttered to un-buttered side.

Using a sharp knife, cut stacked dough strips, into 6 equal stacks, and place stacks cut side up into each of 6 prepared muffin cups. Repeat with remaining dough ball, and 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Cover muffin tin loosely with plastic wrap, and let dough rise until doubled at room temperature for 1-1/2 hours.

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.

Brush rolls with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Let cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes, and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

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Rockaway Turnpike.” He went on to say, “I’m actually lost in the airport.” I really tried to keep my cool. “How in he world did you end up lost in the airport?” He said that he had to make a U turn, but it wasn’t allowed so he kept driving, and ended up in the airport. It turns out that he wasn’t at all close to home when I called. At that point I told him to just go straight to New Jersey.

I called the Uber driver back and asked if he could wait a few more minutes. He said he called all my neighbors, but no one answered. I called a friend two blocks away and asked if she would run over and go through my garage to get the cake box. I told her I would text her he code.

Of course Siri misheard my voice text and printed the wrong number. At this point the Uber driver was at my house for 25 minutes.

I had the idea that I had given my friend the wrong code, but as she was texting me, Jerry entered the house through the front door and opened the garage from the inside.

The cake arrived before the party started.

When I questioned Jerry later, as to why he didn’t just press “home” when he was lost, he said he just didn’t think of it. “Weren’t you frustrated?” I asked. He replied “I was ok driving around, but the thought of your reaction to my getting lost and driving around, is another story.

That incident happened about two years ago, but not much has changed. When we got into he car for the trip home, from the sheva brachot, Jerry asked me to program the GPS. I said you see the thing that says “Home? — Press it!” And he did, all by himself.

Best part of the ride home, was that we had the treat of giving a lift back to Woodmere, to one of my favorite fans, Mrs. Feit. No matter, when or where I see her, she away has this wonderful huge smile and cheerful greeting.

And no matter what I wrote about in that week’s article, she always compliments me.

I’m always honored when she does, as she’s a very intelligent, worldly, well read and very interesting woman. Thanks Mrs. Feit, for all your kind words, it means a lot to me!

Taking about fans, this is a great recipe I found online at Savvy in the Kitchen that’s really delicious.

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THE JEWISH STAR March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777

Misplaced cake, misplaced Jerry, all worked out

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March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777 THE JEWISH STAR

14

JEWISH

STAR SCHOOLS

March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777 • Every week in print and online at TheJewishStar.com • Send news and photos to: Schools@TheJewishStar.com • Weekly deadline: Monday 5 pm

Jewish Star joins literacy week at Shulamith Literacy week at the Shulamith School for Girls in Cedarhurst drew a range of word-centric speakers last week, including The Jewish Star’s Celia Weintrob, children’s authors Malky Weinstock and Miriam Agular, Mishpacha’s Family First Managing Editor Bassi Gruen, Five Towns Jewish Towns Publisher Larry Gordon, and a Shulamith parent employed by Judaica Press.

Weinstock, author of the “Yael” series, visited first and second grade classrooms where she spoke of Yael’s motto related to hachanasat orchim — “When you have a guest, act your best!”

Agular, lower division secretary and author of Adventures of Mr. Smith in Yahoopitzville, spoke to Lower and Middle Division students about what is involved in writing a book and getting it published. Through a creative hands-on activity, she encouraged the girls to explore their creativity and hone their Bassi Gruen at Shulamith. teamwork skills.

Chaim Schneider, parent of seventh grader, Lani, returned to Shulamlith for the fourth year with his fifth grade workshop, “From Concept to Consumer.”

Schneider works for Judaica Press and offered an insiders look at how a publication moves from a writer’s idea to a book awaiting its readers on the shelves of a store or library. The girls had a chance to create their own cover illustrations and compare them to the actual covers of Judaica Press books.

Weintrob of The Jewish Star spoke to sixth graders about the news. She pointed out that what makes something news is that it’s new, and she provided a history of newspapers and reporting. Weintrob told the girls that we seem to have come full circle from the 1800s, when penny papers published sensational stories that were pure fabrications, to the 1900s when the Ochs family established guidelines to ensure the veracity of the news printed in papers, to today’s world where the internet and social media have contributed to the phenomenon of “Fake News.”

Gordon of the Times spoke with seventh and eighth graders about various aspects of publishing a newspaper. He encouraged the girls to read.

Finally, Gruen of Mishpacha joined the event from Israel, leading them through “The Making of a Magazine.” She related how stories are selected and prepared for publication. In her interactive workshop, students were able to offer their own ideas for feature stories and how they might be presented in the magazine.

Literacy week at Shulamith (from left): Dr. Evelyn Gross, associate principal of Shulamith Middle Division; Celia Weintrob from The Jewish Star, and Rookie Billet, principal of the Middle Division. At right: Childrens author Malky Weinstock with second graders holding a book in her “Yael” series.

MDS salutes Rabbi Besser’s tenure Manhattan Day School will honor its principal, Kew Gardens Hills resident Rabbi Mordechai Besser, as he prepares to leave his position after 18 years.

The event will take place on April 2 at the Upper West Side school.

For over 40 years, Rabbi Besser’s mission has been chinuch, Jewish learning and study.

He’s worked to develop students’ Torah learning, enhance their middot, help them internalize mitzvoth, encourage good deeds between people, and instill a desire and love for intellectual stimulation and growth.

Rabbi Besser taught Judaic and General Studies at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County Junior and Senior High School, and was principal of the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway for 21 years.

He was program director of Camp Morasha for 26 years and served as chairman of the Yeshiva Elementary Principals’ Council.

He is married to Edna, a MDS graduate, and derive nachas from their four children and grandchildren.

Rabbi Mordechai Besser with MDS Chess Tournament winners in 2016.

Former colleagues, fellow educators, past students, families, friends and anyone who has been privileged event’s website —mdsdinner.adjournal.com.

MDS also welcomes contributions made in his honor which to have worked with or experienced life with Rabbi Besser are invited to send their wishes for his continued success to the will go to future endeavors at MDS.

Happy 39th, HAFTR! Over 400 guests joined HAFTR last weekend in celebrating the school’s 39th year.

The school honored parents Annette and Rob (’88) Satran, residents of Lawrence and parents of Jamie (‘15), Lauren (‘18) and Dani (’20) and presented Director of College Guidance Joan Parmet with its Distinguished Educational Leadership Award.

HAFTR commemorated 30 years of the Annual Scott Satran Memorial Basketball

Tournament which has continued to keep Scott’s memory alive. Next spring, HAFTR High School’s Glaubach Family Student Center & Scott Satran Arena will open its doors.

Pictured from left: HAFTR Executive Director Reuben Maron; Guests of Honor Rob and Annette Satran; Distinguished Educational Leadersihp Awardee Joan Parmet and her husband, Bob Parmet, and HAFTR President Jason Bokor.

Rambam wins trial

15

3 Yeshiva U alumni win $36K Kohelet Prizes Three alumni of Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration — Rabbi Yoni Fein ’14A, Shira Greenspan ’14A, and Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky ’15A — have been awarded 2017 Kohelet Prizes celebrating progression in Jewish education. The annual prize bestows $36,000 to each of six educators or teams of educators who demonstrate extraordinary accomplishment in six categories such as interdisciplinary integration, differentiated instruction, developing critical thinking skills and taking risks.

“It’s extremely validating to know that our programs inspire the work of our graduates and have direct impact on the lives of so many Jewish students,” said Azrieli Dean Rona Novick.

Rabbi Fein, of the Moriah School of Englewood, NJ, won the differentiated instruction cat-

egory for the school’s recalibrated approach to teaching Talmud, which uses a data-driven model to create personalized learning pathways that students progress through based on proficiency and mastery in eight specific domains that provide a comprehensive understanding of Talmud — including content, vocabulary, functional structures, and real-life application.

“The model of Talmud instruction in Jewish Day schools has remained mostly intact for decades,” said Rabbi Fein in a statement for the Prize’s consideration. “I designed a new innovative approach to middle-school Talmud instruction that we believe to be a game-changer. With a team of rabbeim that includes both experienced and first-year teachers with limited technological skills, I’ve worked to establish a successful growth

mindset and collaborative culture around the transition to personalized learning in Talmud.”

Greenspan, whose project was conducted at Yeshivat Noam of Paramus, NJ, won the risktaking category for “In Every Generation,” the school’s independent anchor activity for accelerated Tanach students which encourages meaningful inter-textual exploration of the Bible. The project called for students to identify underlying themes of Pesach by analyzing 18 events in Tanach that took place during the holiday and create their own seder symbols to be used at family sedarim.

Rabbi Sinensky, of Kohelet Yeshiva in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, received the award for the interdisciplinary integration category for the school’s philosophical ethics unit in its junior year’s Integrated American Literature, Jewish

and Western Philosophy course, known as Tikvah. Each unit includes books from the corpus of American literature, read and discussed alongside selected pieces from philosophical and legal texts from both Jewish and other sources. The course culminated with an event titled “Meeting of the Minds,” modeled off of Steve Allen’s PBS program of the same name in the 1970s, in which a student moderator would introduce and interview historical personalities played by other students, who would then discuss and debate major philosophical questions as figures such as Plato, Maimonides, or Kant, among others.

In addition to the three winners, three YU alumni received honorable mentions. Rabbi Yehuda Chanales ’07A, Adina Blaustein ’08S ’12R, and Rabbi Natan Kapustin ’04A.

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THE JEWISH STAR March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777

No Objection Your Honor! The Rambam Mesivta Mock Trial Team agrees to advance to the Intermediate Round of the New York State Mock Trial Competition. Sponsored by the Nassau County Bar Association, Rambam participated in the first two rounds, met with success, and now advances to the Intermediary Round.

Out of over 60 teams, approximately only half will advance. Rambam’s next competition was scheduled to be against rival Syosset at the Nassau County Supreme Courthouse this Wednesday, March 1.

Exposé discounts tales of checkpoint horror

By Rafael Medoff, JNS.org The controversy over Israel’s security checkpoints is heating up in the wake of a new investigative report showing that the perceived hardships endured by many Palestinian travelers are much less severe than critics of Israel have charged.

Human Rights Watch asserted in its most recent annual report that waiting times at the checkpoints are “onerous,” and Amnesty International has claimed that the waiting times constitute “collective punishment.” But filmmaker and investigative journalist Ami Horowitz, in a video report titled “Palestinian Road Trip,” found something very different.

Horowitz presents interviews he conducted with Palestinian travelers at the Kalandia checkpoint, which is the major access point to Jerusalem from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. There are a total of 26 checkpoints at entry points to Israel from those territories.

All of the Palestinians with whom Horowitz spoke said that it took them 10 minutes or less to get through the checkpoint. “That included waiting time and the time it took for the Israeli soldiers to check their identity papers,” Horowitz told JNS.org. Horowitz found a similar situation at the Bethlehem checkpoint.

The filmmaker also hired a Palestinian

driver and traveled “over 300 miles” throughout the disputed territories in an automobile bearing Arab license plates. “We were not stopped even once,” Horowitz said. “The notion that Palestinians’ freedom of movement is restricted was not borne out by my experiences.”

Horowitz’s investigation of the checkpoints is one part of a full-length film about Israel and the Palestinians that will be released later this year. He decided to unveil the checkpoints segment now, in response to the claims made by Secretary of State John Kerry in his speech about Israel last December.

Kerry had said that Palestinians “are re-

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March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777 THE JEWISH STAR

16

stricted in their daily movements by a web of checkpoints” that “can make even the most routine daily trips to work or school an ordeal.” He claimed the checkpoints prohibit Palestinian businessmen from making a living, and impede Palestinians from receiving medical care.

Sari Bashi, the “Israel and Palestine Advocacy Director” for Human Rights Watch, told JNS.org that regardless of the waiting times, she objects to the very existence of the Kalandia checkpoint on the grounds that it leads into eastern Jerusalem, arguing that “east Jerusalem is part of the occupied West Bank,” which “should, under international law, be open and accessible to Palestinian residents of the West Bank.”

Bashi was asked by JNS.org to view Horowitz’s five-and-a-half-minute video and comment upon it, but she declined. Horowitz, in response, said, “Her refusal to even watch a short video that would possibly add some depth and context to Human Rights Watch’s reflexive anti-Israel position says it all.”

Prof. Gerald Steinberg, director of the Jerusalem-based research institute NGO Monitor, said the position of Human Rights Watch fails to recognize the role of the checkpoints in pre-empting suicide bombers and other terrorists. “Bashi’s fundamental objection to checkpoints reflects the way in which Israeli human rights are routinely ignored by Human Rights Watch and other NGOs,” Steinberg said. “Israel has an obligation to its citizens, as well as to Palestinians, to provide security and maintain order. Checkpoints have been effective in preventing terror and violence.”

Dr. Alex Safian, associate director and research director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), noted that waiting times on security lines at U.S. airports can be much longer than those that Horowitz found at Kalandia. According to the Transportation Security Administration, passengers at Terminal 4 in John F. Kennedy International Airport at 5:30 pm earlier this week waited 11 to 20 minutes, and those at Terminal 5 at 8 a.m. were held up for 21 to 30 minutes.

On one recent afternoon, passengers at the airport’s Terminal 8 at 3 pm waited 61 to 90 minutes. Safian found that the average wait on peak days at that airport “is more than 40 minutes.”

Spokespeople for Amnesty International as well as the Israeli NGOs B’Tselem and Machsom Watch were invited by JNS.org to comment on Horowitz’s film and the checkpoints controversy, but did not respond.

The checkpoints issue features prominently in the arguments made by proponents of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Pro-BDS groups are promoting a boycott of Motorola because the company has manufactured communications systems that are used by Israeli soldiers manning the checkpoints.

In 2014, the Presbyterian Church USA voted to divest from Motorola on the grounds that the company was assisting “checkpoints that dehumanize Palestinians,” and the United Church of Christ cited the checkpoints in adopting its own pro-BDS resolution in 2015. The Evangelical Lutheran Church has embraced a manifesto known as the “Kairos Document,” which accuses Israel of perpetrating “daily humiliation” of Palestinians at checkpoints. As a result, a number of Lutheran synods around the country have called for boycotting Motorola.

Continued from page 1 “This dinner, this organization and this amazing community stands for the fact that we are all givers, and mild differences, such as the color of our shirts, the fabric of our yalmulkas or the shuls in which we daven have not, cannot and should not ever make a difference.”

Rabbi Bender spoke about the fact that Achiezer offers one phone number that community members can use 24/7 to seek help in a myriad of areas. “Just One Call” works effectively because of the efforts of more than 300 dedicated volunteers who stand behind it, he said.

“Achiezer is real help from real people who are there anytime,” said Guest of Honor Avi Goldstein in the evening’s concluding remarks.

“What you hear about is only a fraction of what they do,” he said. “The unappreciated beauty of the organization is that the vast majority of their work they can’t even promote or publicize, yet Achiezer is recognized as the premier one-stop shopping chesed organization in our community.”

“We belong to a community that puts chesed on a pedestal,” Goldstein said. “May we continue to have the zechus to give tzedakah and to do chesed and to live every day embodying the spirit and philosophy of Achiezer.”

These outstanding individuals were honored with awards at Sunday’s Achiezer gala: •Avi and Pessi Goldstein, Guests of Honor •Shabsi Schreier, Man of the Year •Norman Y. Otsuka, Physician Appreciation Award •Rabbi and Mrs. Elysha Sandler, Rabbinic Leadership Award •Joel and Cheryl Baruch, Community Service Award

At Sunday night’s Achiezer gala, from left: Guests of Honor Pessi and Avi Goldstein, Achiezer Founder and President Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender, Achiezer Chairman Shulie Wollman and Dinner Chairman Dovid Bloom.

The Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob

From left: Man of the Year Shabsi Shreier, Rabbi Yaakov Bender of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender reading the inscription on the Rabbinic Leadership Award presented to Rabbi and Mrs. Elysha Sandler, and master of ceremonies Nachum Segal.

The Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob

James Vilardi was recognized for his help in facilitating the meeting of requiremenets for converting the former BestBuy space into Sunday night’s gala venue. He’s flanked by former Far Rockaway Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (left) and Achiezer Founder Achiezer and President Rabbi Boruch B. Bender.

Dr Norman Y. Otsuka, recipient of Achiezer’s Physician Apprecia- Left: Achiezer board member Adam Okum. Right: Avi and Pessi Goldstein with Avi’s parAchiezer The Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob ents, Tuli and Mattie Goldstein, and niece Ariella Goldstein. tion Award, with two of his associates.

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March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777 THE JEWISH STAR

18

The Kiddush cup for the Purim kup AlAn JAy Gerber Kosher BooKworm

T

he Young Israel of Woodmere will host “Antique Jewish Ritual Objects From 1700 to Modern Times,” featuring the noted antiques specialist Jonathan Greenstein, author of “A Lost Art: Handmade Silver Kiddush Cups of Eastern Europe,” on March 8 at 8 pm.

With the celebrations of Purim and Pesach just over the horizon, and given the important ritual role played by the Kiddush cup, I chose to devote this week’s essay to Greenstein’s written response to my request for his personal take on this subject.

Over the years Greenstein developed a focus on his Kiddush cup collection both as part of his personal collection and his business service to the public. Sit back now and read the words of a true Judaica expert and specialist as he explains his take on this special Jewish art.

“I have been a collector of Judaica since

before my bar mitzvah, developing a focus upon the collection of Kiddush cups.

“Why the Kiddush cup?

Well, it seems that the wine cup is symbolically and spiritually rich for the Jews. In the Jewish religious ritual one raises a cup filled with wine to honor G-d.

His day of rest is proclaimed, the division between the Sabbath and the rest of the week is recognized, a biblical holiday is ushered in, a Bris Milah is performed, and so by a wedding ritual, the cup of wine is ritually at the center.

“The Kiddush cup is the most basic home ritual object.

Even among many non-observant Jews ownership of a Kiddush cup is commonplace, whether for use at a Sabbath meal or most common in such venues, the Passover Seder table where it is the central religious object together with the matzah.

“On Saturday nights we bid farewell to the Sabbath with the Havdalah ceremony in which, as with the Kiddush, we recite a bless-

ing over wine from a special cup.

“In Judaism there is the concept called, “Hiddur Mitzvah,” which literally means ‘’beatification’’ of the ritual. This concept encouraged the use of art to enhance the ritual objects that are used in these ceremonies.

“The most common term for a Jewish religious object is termed, ‘Judaica.’ Judaica can be any object that is used in a Jewish ritual, or can

sometimes be a secular item that is decorated with Jewish motifs. Aside from Kiddush cups, the most common objects in Judaica collections are: spice boxes, Chanukah menorahs, candle holders, candelabra, Purim scrolls, and silver used to decorate Torah scrolls, with include crowns and ritual pointers.”

In most every observant Jewish home in our community there can be found many of the ritual objects enumerated above. Their appreciation varies in the interest that each individual invests in terms of their interest See Purim on page 19

Understanding the contents of the Mishkan rAbbi Avi billet Parsha of the weeK

A

s we undertake the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), we find many instructions that have been made more understandable to us through the numerous books of illustrations and charts the describe the holy vessels in great detail.

As much as we know, we can argue with hindsight that we understand the instructions better than most of those who lived at that time.

[For comparison, Google “Tabernacle images” and you’ll find many Christian sources and illustrations; Christians certainly know the story of the Exodus and the Tabernacle, but they clearly have a different perception of what the Torah’s instructions translate to in practical terms.]

The truth is that even Moshe had difficulty with some of the instructions, so much so that G-d needed to show him the equivalent of a holographic image in order for him to be able to transmit the instructions to the builders in a fashion they would understand.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan translates 25:40 as fol-

lows: “Carefully observe the pattern that you will be shown on the mountain and make [the menorah] in that manner.” Note the brackets.

This is a clear reflection of Rashi’s commentary, that Moshe did not understand what the Menorah was to look like. And, since this verse comes at the conclusion of the depiction of the Menorah, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the Menorah was the sole item which Moshe could not picture in his mind based on its description.

However, the verse says “You will see and do, in their forms, as you will be shown on the mountain.”

The word “forms” is attached to the plural, indicating that in truth, it wasn’t just the Menorah.

It was, at the very least, all the vessels which preceded this one.

Could it really be that Moshe couldn’t understand what all the vessels were to look like?

More pointedly, owing to the actual plural language of the verse, why does Rashi pinpoint the Menorah alone, ignoring that Moshe may have had a problem with all the vessels?

On a simple level, it is understandable if Moshe

does not understand the details of construction; many great scholars of Torah could not read a blueprint or understand architectural drawings.

The Maharal of Prague (Gur Aryeh) addresses the problem in Rashi’s insight, noting that the Talmud (Menachot 29a) says, “G-d showed Moshe a Menorah of fire, a table of fire, and an ark of fire.”

He notes that Moshe actually had difficulty with the menorah alone, but once G-d was showing him the Menorah, G-d showed him everything, because the entire Mishkan is interconnected in a deeper way than their just being the vessels of the same edifice. (see verse 25:9 as support) The Hebrew word of what you should see and do is b’tavnitam. Rabbenu Bachaye notes that the word should really be k’tavnitam. The former means “in its form” while the latter means “as its form.” If you are imitating what you’ve seen, you should do “as it is” and not “in its form.”

He explains that there is no way to do “as” it was because Moshe was shown a fiery version of each vessel. The prefix of the letter

Can it be that Moshe couldn’t understand what all the vessels were to look like?

The purpose of the Mishkan rAbbi dAvid etenGoff

O

ur parasha, Terumah, contains the commandment to construct a holy place for the Master of the Universe, in this instance, the Mishkan (portable desert sanctuary): “And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst.” (Shemot 25:8). The Rambam (Maimonides) formulated this mitzvah as follows: “The 20th mitzvah that we are commanded is to build a House of Avodah (the Temple Service). In it we offer sacrifices, burn the eternal

flame, offer our prayers, and congregate for the festivals each year. … The source of this mitzvah is G-d’s statement (exalted be He), ‘Make a Sanctuary for Me’.” (Sefer HaMitzvot) Maimonides followed this approach, as well, in his Mishneh Torah: “It is a positive commandment to construct a House for G-d, prepared for sacrifices to be offered within … as the text states: ‘And you shall make Me a sanctuary’.” (Hilchot Beit Habechirah I:1) In light of these two sources, it is evident that Maimonides viewed this mitzvah in practical and utilitarian terms; namely, to provide a designated location wherein the Avodah could properly take place.

In an introduction to our parasha in his Commentary on the Torah, the Ramban (Nachmanides) took a decidedly different tact and presented us with a spiritual rationale

for constructing the Mishkan. In his view, the Revelation at Mount Sinai transformed us into a holy nation that was uniquely dedicated to Hashem’s service, and therefore, “it was fitting and proper that there should be a sanctuary among them [the Jewish people] wherein Hashem’s Divine Presence could dwell.”

Little wonder, then, that according to the Ramban’s understanding of the Torah’s chronology, the first post-Sinai commandment was the construction of the Mishkan. Its objective was to engender the continuation of the dialogical encounter between Hashem and Moshe that took place at Sinai. Hence, the Ramban explicitly stated, “The secret understanding (sod) of the Mishkan was to enable the Glory [of G-d] that had dwelt upon Mount Sinai to dwell therein in a hidden manner.” Moreover,

“bet” indicates to Moshe that there is an internal understanding and an internal influence which will manifest itself in the instruction and in the final construction of each vessel.

It is a very simple lesson. We do not live our Jewish lives simply mimicking that which we see in others. We don’t do what we do as copycats. We do what we do because we internalize the strength and value in the ways we interpret and live our Jewish lives.

This takes strength and fortitude. And it also takes personal education, and personal motivation to grow in our connection to G-d, and in our understanding of what it takes to raise the bar on our own experiences.

For Moshe, he knew what he knew and understood what was clear. But even in what he did not understand, he recognized that the Mishkan was an entire package. Some things came easily, some were more difficult. But when you look at the totality, you see where Gd’s influence is needed — not just in the parts you don’t understand, but even in the parts that seem to be clear as day.

Let us be blessed to see G-d’s place in not only the difficult (I do this because G-d said so, even though I don’t understand), but also in the aspects of our Jewish experiences that are easy, and as a result, sometimes rote. “within the Mishkan, that would forever be with the Jewish people, would be found the Glory [of G-d] that had appeared to them on Har Sinai.” Thus, for the Ramban, we are met with the following formula: Mishkan = Mount Sinai = Continuous Presence of Hashem. he Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel), like the Ramban, adopted a far more spiritual approach than that of the Rambam. As we have noted, the Ramban viewed the Mishkan as a transportable Mount Sinai wherein Hashem’s presence continued to ever be manifest. For the Malbim, however, continuous mystical encounter was the essence of the Mishkan, and the Beit Hamikdash that would follow thereafter: “And this was the intention [the rationale] inherent in the construction of the Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdash that was built afterwards in Jerusalem — in the city where it was joined in permanent union. For there, all See Mishkan on page 19

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Purim...

Continued from page 18 in the particulars of these objects. There is a lot of past history in this field of Jewish ritual practice and it behooves us, if we have not done so before, to take a closer look at our own home based ‘’treasure chest’’ of ritual objects and to learn more about them. And that is why Jonathan Greenstein’s craft and expertize is of special value especially at this time of year.

FOR YOUR FURTHER STUDY

The Kehot Publication Society recently released a new and comprehensive English commentary, “Tehillim: Book of Psalms,” featuring, in exquisite English, a commentary based upon sources from the Talmud, Midrash, Kabbalah, as well as from the classic Jewish commentators and Chassidic masters.

Also, for your learning pleasure, please check out “Gedolei Yisroel on the Parashah”

by Rabbi Moshe Krieger, a senior rav and magid shiur at Jerusalem’s distinguished Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah, located on Rechov Ohr Hachayim in the Old City.

And lastly, Artscroll recently released an interesting biography of one of the greatest, yet least known, of the gedolim of our time, the beloved Rav Yisrael Zev Gustman, zt”l.

All of these seforim will, iy”H, be the subject of review in the near future. However, do not wait for my take. Buy them all if you wish.

They will surely be worth your time.

Mishkan...

Continued from page 18 of the members of the Jewish people united together as if they were one being that contained within its [collective] soul all of the enlightening splendor and spirituality found within the G-dly illuminations that bring light to the entire world in His glory.”

At this juncture, the Malbim describes the longing of our people to reunite with Hashem in His holy precincts: “And unto this place, [the entire nation] would turn and flock from all of the dispersed places of the world, and all of their prayers and actions would be infused with holiness as they turned their faces toward [this holy place]. As our Sages taught us in the Talmud, “If one finds himself standing in the East [and he wishes to

pray], he must turn toward the West [that will then be the direction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple]. If one finds himself standing in the West [and he wishes to pray,] he must turn toward the East [that will then be the direction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple]…we thereby find that the entire Jewish people will focus their hearts and minds upon one [manifestly sacred] place.” (Talmud Bavli, Berachot 30a) In sum, for the Malbim, the Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdash offered the ultimate venue for the Jewish people to encounter Hashem in mystical union. Therefore, even the makom haMikdash (the location of the Beit Hamikdash) remains the place unto this day “[where] the entire Jewish people focus their hearts and minds.” loser to our own time, my rebbi and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal, offered a different rationale for the mitzvah of the Mishkan than those presented by the Rambam, the Ramban and the Malbim.

The Rav explained that the Holy One blessed be He “created the world to reside in it, rather than to reside in transcendence.” If this is the case, why, then, did He alter His mode of interacting with the world and mankind? In other words, why did He become the Transcendent One and abandon His persona of the Immanent One? The Rav opined that this change occurred when Adam withdrew from communicating with Hashem after failing to keep his one and only commandment: “But in the wake of the original sin by Adam and Eve, He [G-d] retreated. “And they heard the voice of the L-rd G-d going in the garden to the direction of the sun, and the man and his wife hid from before the L-rd God in the midst of the trees of the garden.” (Bereishit 3:8) These “footsteps” were those of G-d leaving the garden and departing into infinity.

Had they not sinned, G-d would always have been close. As a result of Adam’s hiding and fear of communicating with G-d in the wake of his sin, G-d removed His Divine Presence.

(Quoted in Chumash Mesoras HaRav, Sefer Shemos, with Commentary Based Upon the Teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Dr. Arnold Lustiger, editor) Given the Rav’s analysis, we are now in a much better position to understand exactly why Hashem commanded us, “And they shall make Me a sanctuary.” In a word, G-d wanted to reestablish the pattern of closeness that He had shared with mankind prior to the sin of Adam and Eve when they ate of the pri eitz hada’at (Tree of Knowledge). As the Rav stated: “The purpose of the tabernacle was to restore the relationship between man and G-d. [As the Torah

writes:] ‘And I will dwell in their midst’.”

No matter which rationale for the construction of the Mishkan speaks to you, let us continue to hope and pray that, with the Almighty’s help and bountiful mercy, the moment will come soon and in our days when the Mashiach will arrive and “urge all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance … build the Temple in its place, and gather the dispersed of Israel. (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 11:4) V’chane yihi ratzon.

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19

Luach

Fri. March 3 • 5 Adar Parsha Terumah

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Continued from page 9 if what we want is a function of who we are, then this process becomes all about discovering what I have to give back to G-d.

Hence, the particular Terumah (offering) referred to here is the offering for the sacrifices, upon which our prayers are based (see Talmud Berachot 26a). Ultimately the sacrifice represents what I have to offer (or give back) in this world. Indeed, it is precisely the ability to recognize even the animal side of myself and how it too can be harnessed to bring peace and ethics into the world that is the root of both the sacrifices, as well as tefillah itself.

And the last Terumah which represents loving-kindness or chesed, are the things that become the vehicles for having such an impact in this world: the gold, and silver and tangible items with which we impact the world around us. This is the offering of all the physical actions and mitzvoth with which we impact the world.

The first two offerings, representing Torah and Avodah (Torah study and prayer or service to G-d), are basically opportunities for us to develop ourselves and our relationship

a life immersed in the study of Torah and the experience of prayer. Such a person can develop a deep and powerful relationship with G-d, and amass incredible volumes of knowledge and understanding into the way G-d runs the world. But until these achievements impact the world beyond one’s own self, they fall far short of what Judaism is all about.

At the end of the day, the Torah here alludes to all three of these offerings, to make clear that without any one of these, there is something missing in who we are and how we could make a difference in the world. At the same time, it is only the third offering, representing the actions that I actually do, which impact the world around me, that is spelled out here, perhaps because we need to remember that this is actually the goal. The goal in building a tabernacle is not to leave the world, for a monastic life up high, but to make it better from the ground up.

The purpose of building a Temple was never about leaving the world behind, it was always about a partnership with G-d to create a better world. And while it is only through a synthesis of these three areas that we can truly achieve this, this week’s portion comes to remind us of the importance of recognizing the difference between the process and the goal itself.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

THE JEWISH STAR March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777

Giving...

with G-d. It is only with the third offering that we actually impact the physical world both in terms of objects (represented by the gold and silver) as well as the people around us.

Which brings us full circle to this week’s portion: If indeed, these three separate Terumot represent the essence of Judaism and three pillars of how we achieve our purpose in the world, then why are the first two (Torah and service, or prayer) alluded to, while it is only the third, representing action and mitzvoth that is delineated?

Torah is the recipe given us by G-d to figure out what we are doing here. And prayer challenges me to become a different, and even a better person. he study of Torah can teach me the objective value of peace, and give me the objective definition of when it is a time for peace, and when it is a time for war; the Torah can even teach us what type of peace inevitably leads to war, and what type of war creates the space for peace, and how I could achieve it. But it is the experience of prayer that measures whether I really want it.

Just because I have discovered what ethical behavior is, does not necessarily mean I yearn for it. And the first stage of changing the world is developing the desire to change the world.

But this is not enough. A person can live

Ellison’s 2nd best at DMC worries Jewish Dems

By Rafael Medoff, JNS.org WASHINGTON—The appointment of Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) as deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has left some Jewish Democrats worried about their party’s future positions on Israel.

Former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez defeated Ellison for the party chairmanship Saturday in a 235 to 200 vote. In his first act as chairman, Perez named Ellison to the post of deputy chairman.

There has never previously been a deputy chair of the DNC; the position was created specially for Ellison. The DNC has not yet explained what his duties will be, although it seems he will have greater authority than the

five elected vice chairs of the party.

During the months leading up to the vote, Ellison faced criticism for organizing congressional letters urging pressure on Israel and accusing the Jewish state of controlling U.S. foreign policy, as well as for his past involvement with Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam movement.

“I’m just happy that Perez defeated Ellison, but concerned that it was close,” Rabbi Menachem Genack, a prominent Jewish supporter of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, told JNS.org.

“The future of the pro-Israel Jewish community does not rest well with Democrats,” longtime Democratic Party consultant Dr. Hank Sheinkopf said after the vote.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC), however, focused on the DNC race’s winner rather than on the close vote, calling Perez “a longtime friend of the state of Israel” and noting that he “has spoken out forcefully against the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement that seeks to delegitimize the Jewish state.”

AJC CEO David Harris said in a statement that “American democracy is strongest when both political parties stand for civil rights, human rights and religious pluralism, and maintain the nation’s historic bonds with the democratic state of Israel. The choice of Tom Perez to head the DNC is surely a gratifying step toward that goal.”

Sheinkopf, meanwhile, rejected claims by

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20

Ellison’s backers that criticism of their candidate was motivated by bias against Ellison’s Muslim faith.

“Ellison’s religion is not the issue—his recorded words and his friends tell anyone with a brain whom he really is,” he told JNS. org.

Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind said he is “very troubled” that Ellison “could be treated as a legitimate candidate, and could do so well in the voting, despite his extremist positions and attitudes.” In an interview with JNS.org, Hikind said he finds it “scary” how polls show that “a large segment of the Democratic Party is more sympathetic to the Palestinian Arabs than to Israel.” Ellison’s role as the party’s second second-in-command could accelerate that trend, the assemblyman fears.

Dr. Harold Brackman, a scholar of blackJewish relations and expert on the Nation of Islam, said that Ellison’s “near-miss” should be “disconcerting, not only to friends of Israel, but to those concerned about indications of a rising tide of anti-Semitic incidents in this country as well as worldwide.”

Jewish Republicans view the latest developments similarly. Fred Brown, communications director for the Republican Jewish Coalition, called the choice of Ellison as deputy chairman “a horrifying development for our country, the Democratic Party and Jews everywhere.”

Noting Ellison’s “longtime hostility to Israel” and the fact that he “renounced the Nation of Islam only when the political pressure became too great,” Brown said that the elevation of Ellison in the party’s hierarchy “has cemented the Democrat Party’s lurch into the extreme.”

Some Jewish political observers, however, are less alarmed. Former DNC spokeswoman and pro-Israel activist Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi pointed out that “the two main candidates in the DNC race each reached out significantly to the Jewish community, and each had some key Jewish supporters.”

Mizrahi, who now heads the disabilities awareness group “RespectAbility,” told JNS. org that the DNC vote “came the same weekend that the Republican Jewish Coalition chose [former U.S. Sen.] Norm Coleman to be its new chairman—so we can expect a big contest between both political parties for the hearts and minds of American Jews going forward.” Coleman, like Ellison, is from Minnesota.

Dr. Ben Chouake, president of NORPAC, a Jewish political action committee in northern New Jersey, believes that most of the party activists who took part in the DNC leadership vote “were likely either unaware of [Ellison’s] pro-Palestinian positions or had other issues they voted on.”

Chouake told JNS.org that Ellison’s recent statements insisting he is pro-Israel show Ellison recognizes that most Democrats “wish for their leadership to remain in the proIsrael camp…The Democratic Party has a tremendous legacy of support for Israel and American Jews.”

During much of the race for chairmanship of the DNC, Ellison was widely regarded as the front-runner. He began losing ground in December, when the party’s largest donor, Israeli-born Hollywood mogul Haim Saban, publicly said that Ellison is “clearly an antiSemite and anti-Israel individual.”

Ellison’s candidacy also came under fire when the Investigative Project on Terrorism released an audio recording of the lawmaker telling a private fundraising event in 2010 that Israel dictates America’s Mideast policy.

“A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million,” Ellison complained to the audience.

“We can’t allow another country to treat us like we’re their ATM.”

Security control Choose Israeli Hunter Douglas priority after ‘2 states’

21 THE JEWISH STAR March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777

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By Alex Traiman, JNS.org tion is no longer practical. And as a result, For the second time in a month, Israeli they start looking for alternatives. But none Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in- of these alternatives seem to garner as much formed the leader of a major Western power support as there still is for a two-state soluthat Israel will retain full security control tion.” over all of the disputed territories in any fuZOA’s Klein argued that it is easy for Palture arrangement with Palestinians. estinians to support a two-state solution beJANUARY 14—APRIL 10, 2017 Netanyahu told Australian Foreign Min- cause “Israel is already a state. So when they ister Julie Bishop in a closed-door meet- say they support a two-state solution, what ing Sunday that Israel would never give up that means is that they support a PalestinKeep your home warmer its military presence in Judea and Samaria ian state.” He contended that the inability of (commonly known as the West Bank), Is- in Palestinians recognize Israeli winter toand cooler insovereignty, rael Radio reported. The statement matches and their unwillingness for any Jews to live with select, comments Netanyahu made in mid-February summer in a future Palestinian state, underscore the during his press conference with President insulating dangers of making concessions on Israel’s Hunter Douglas Donald Trump. borders. the smart Jews in They’re Judea While laying out his prerequisites for any shades.

Klein asserted that Palestinians “say they peace deal, Netanyahu said at the White and beautiful way to help House that Israel “must retain the overrid- support a Palestinian state, but ask them bills. state. Ask whether your supportenergy Israel as a Jewish ing security control over the entire area west lower of the Jordan River…because otherwise we’ll them whether they support not allowing any get another radical Islamic terrorist state in so-called Palestinian refugees moving into Isthe Palestinian areas exploding the peace, rael. Ask them if they support 800,000 Jews living within the confines of a Palestinian exploding the Middle East.”

Dr. Khalil Shikaki, director of the Ramal- state, and you’ll get different answers.”

Shikaki noted that one past proposal lah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), believes Netanyahu’s which Israeli and Palestinian negotiators approach would make full Palestinian sover- have floated for resolving the issue of Israeli settlements is “to ask [Jews in the disputed eignty impossible.

“I can’t possibly see that the same per- territories] to live under Palestinian soverson would think this is a two-state solution. eignty if they wish to stay.” He said, however, Where is the second state? There is only one that the Israeli public has never favored such state. There is a state and a protectorate, but a plan.

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Anti-Semitism today and always: Questions and contested answers Ben Cohen Viewpoint

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n his magnum opus “A Lethal Obsession,” the late Robert Wistrich, one of Israel’s finest scholars of the murderous pathways of Jew-hatred, elegantly summarized the character of anti-Semitism at the turn of this century.

“The old-new anti-Semitism can itself be as inventive as it is repetitive,” Wistrich wrote. “It often appears to imply that Jews are never victims but always victimizers, which may sound original to some but is clearly false. It generally avoids positions that smack of deliberate political or economic exclusion of Jews qua Jews from the national community or that echo the discourse of a discredited biological racism. On the other hand, depicting Zionism and the Jewish lobby as a world power is not considered racist or defamatory. There is no law against suggesting that Zionists deliberately provoke wars and revolutions, even though this is a classic anti-Semitic fabrication that has been widely propagated by Nazis, Communists and Islamists.”

From this short paragraph, we can deduce some general observations. Anti-Semitism adjusts itself to the sensibilities of the surrounding society. It develops themes that invariably portray Jews as a collectivity in the worst possible moral light. It is fixated with the distinct character of Jewish power—“this small people,” in the words of the Greek composer Mikos Theodorakis, a communist, in 2004, or “the root of evil.” And it is politically and theologically promiscuous, penetrating the salons of the nationalist right and the progressive left, creeping into Presbyterian churches, leading the thundering discourse of political Islam.

We can boil all that down even more simply, into two maxims. First, anti-Semitism isn’t the exclusive property of any one political faction or religious formation. Second, because anti-Semitism is something of a shape-shifter that frequently denies that it is what it is, we have trouble identifying

it even when we’ve encountered it a thousand times before.

With that in mind, on then to the widely discussed “surge” of anti-Semitism in the U.S. identified over the last few weeks and months, manifested in small-scale but ugly incidents, among them cemetery desecrations in St. Louis and Philadelphia, more than 50 hoax bomb threats phoned into Jewish community centers, several physical assaults, and swastikas and other anti-Semitic invective sprayed on university campuses and other buildings. The AMCHA Initiative, an organization that promotes the civil rights of Jewish students, maintains an online “swastika tracker” which monitors the appearance of Neo-Nazi graffiti and flyers on university campuses. hat stands out are the frequency of these incidents— at least every day—and the sometimes viciously personal nature of the Jew-baiting, as experienced by the University of Minnesota student who walked into his dorm to see the words “Nazi’s (sic) Rule,” a swastika and a drawing of a concentration camp scrawled on the whiteboard. Racial epithets alongside slogans like “Heil Trump”—more on that in a moment—all abound in these reports of anti-Semitism and racism at their most delinquent.

To be sure, all this looks and sounds very much like the anti-Semitism we know from movies and the history books, where the perpetrators are white racist fanatics with limited education and violent temperaments. And that perhaps explains why so many left-leaning media outlets, from The New York Times to the BBC, are reporting this current wave of anti-Semitism with far less cynicism than they did with other, similar episodes in recent years—like the Holocaust denial conferences repeatedly hosted by the Islamist regime in Iran, or the pervasive anti-Semitism in the British Labour Party. Whereas those examples

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are complicated by the presence of Israel in the frame, as well as the involvement of Muslims in promoting anti-Semitic discourse, when it comes to President Donald Trump’s America, it’s all beautifully simple and snow white in color.

The sad truth is that the understanding of anti-Semitism has become hopelessly politicized, meaning that our judgments are compromised by non-related but more expedient imperatives. In addition, all too often the response to anti-Semitism fixates upon individual actions and statements, obscuring the more fundamental issues. Kenneth Marcus of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law explained this well in a recent interview: “It often does more harm than good to simply ask the question, ‘Who is and isn’t an anti-Semite.’ If you’re just asking whether individuals are anti-Semites or not, you may never get an answer, you’ll get people defensive and it’ll lead to a coarsening of the discourse.”

In the same interview, Marcus continued, “we need to ask what forms of speech, what kinds of activity are anti-Semitic, so that we can identify it.”

This is absolutely correct, and those who charge that Trump is an anti-Semite should examine whether there is a consistent pattern of evidence to support that claim. Citing his Jewish grandchildren and his Jewish advisers as evidence to the contrary—as the president has done, and as he has instructed his subordinates to do—may be irritating, and may suggest that the past seven decades of trying to educate the public about the nature of anti-Semitism and the centrality of the Holocaust has largely been in vain. But it manifestly does not demonstrate that the current White House is in the grip of an anti-Semitic fever. n these times, it is dangerous to suggest thought experiments, but I will throw caution to the wind. I wonder if

It is easy to be emathetic and kind to dead Jews and their memories … and far harder to deal with the ones who are still alive.

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those who agree with Steven Goldstein of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, when he said that Trump’s Feb. 21 condemnation of anti-Semitism was a “band-aid on the cancer of anti-Semitism that has infected his own administration,” would have similar qualms about Linda Sarsour, the Palestinian-American activist in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign who is rapidly achieving iconic status in the protest movement that has coalesced around Trump’s election.

Sarsour and her Muslim activist colleagues raised more than $100,000 for the repair of the desecrated Chesed Shel Emet cemetery in St. Louis, earning plaudits from nearly every mainstream media outlet and winning the endorsement of Harry Potter author JK Rowling. In publicity terms, it was an unbelievably smart move; by the time news of Sarsour’s initiative broke, her critics were immediately placed in the uncomfortable position of questioning her motives at just the time that she reached out to the Jewish community.

But if Kenneth Marcus is right that patterns of speech and action determine what constitutes anti-Semitism, then Sarsour’s past denunciations of Zionism, and her support for a solution to the Palestinian issue based on the elimination of Jewish sovereignty, at least warrant a critical examination of the politics behind her cemetery gesture. t is easy, after all, to be empathetic and kind to dead Jews and their memories, whether in Poland or Missouri—and far harder to deal with the ones who are still alive, and who regard Sarsour’s “one state of Palestine” fantasies as sinister code for a solution that would need to be imposed, in all likelihood through violent conquest, on the Jews of Israel.

Can the enemies of Israel be, at the same time, the friends of Jewish communities outside the Jewish state? Conversely, do friends of Israel get a pass when they play down or outright deny the presence of antiSemites among their political allies? Why should Sarsour be acceptable to the Jewish community, but not Richard Spencer, the pudgy racist at the helm of the so-called National Policy Institute? Are we that easily taken in? I fear the answer is yes.

Ben Cohen is senior editor of TheTower.org

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tehilla r. goldberg view from central park

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am usually not one to dip into politics. Certainly this past election, more contentious than any other in my life, I would want to stay away from even more strongly. But since the heated topic that has recently risen in the news affects me — I refer to anti-Semitism — I can’t ignore it.

I should also add that I did not vote for Trump. I didn’t vote for Clinton, either. Even though it wouldn’t have made a difference, my plan was to vote for Johnson. But as fate would have it, I ended up not voting at all, the mailin ballot I arranged for having been lost in the mail. (And that, I might add, was a first. Even when I lived in Israel, with the help of my family I jumped through hoops to ensure that I voted).

Stories correlating President Trump’s election with a rise in anti-Semitism are worrisome, dangerous and, quite honestly, a cheap shot. There is a lot to be vigilant about with Trump. Why make this one up?

In recent years, to my great shock, antiSemitism has been on the rise in both the right and the left camps. In my naivete of growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, I was fooled into thinking anti-Semitism was a thing of the past. To me, stories of horror from my broken-English and Hungarian-accented immigrant grandmother’s world were testaments of “never again.”

This was America, after all. This was a time in which Jews had Israel.

Thankfully, we are still blessed to live in an age and a benevolent land of mostly no anti-Semitism. But due to our recent traumatic past, our antennae are heightened at even a little display of anti-Semitism here or there.

Over the years, most incidents — and there were incidents — went unreported aside from some local coverage. The recent rise in antiSemitism did not start on Nov. 8, 2016. Artificially correlating the story to Trump’s election is simply not reality. o me it comes across as what JD Salinger’s Holden Caulfield called “phony.”

While journalists are normally meant to be neutral reporters who find and investigate facts, instead it seems they are approaching this with a negative thesis about Trump and then finding stories to support their thesis.

Anti-Semitism. These two words are serious words. They should not be bandied about lightly. I feel like the mainstream press’ recent, transparent obsession with it since Nov. 8 and the press’ correlating it with Trump is what is giving a wink to anti-Semites to feel free to act because, to their satisfaction, they know they have the hysterical, undivided attention and, on some twisted level, the desire of the press.

A tide of hate is rising in this country. It is both on the extreme right and the extreme left. That is what ought to be addressed. That is real, not imagined.

The desecration in the St. Louis and Philadelphia cemeteries is horrible. The threats to JCCs are terrible (I remember one afternoon in my college years randomly being evacuated from our local Denver JCC when a JCC in another country had been attacked). My question

is, when parallel incidents like that happened over the years, why was it a non-news story, yet now it is the crux of the news?

I don’t like Trump’s anti-press comments about the press being the people’s enemy. Such comments are dangerous to our democracy. A critical press with some healthy tensions between a free press and the government is the bedrock of a free democracy. A free press is the acid test of a free society.

At the same time, after the mainstream press failed to capture the essence of this past election story because of how it was so blinded by its own agenda, and seemed to be abusing its power somewhat, I can understand the cynicism toward the mainstream press. This anti-

Semitism spin only adds to it. It is upsetting to me on many levels, as I think of newspaper reporting as a noble, honorable, truth-seeking and analytical profession, which I like to think it still mostly is.

Especially ironic, though, as the story of Trump refusing to condemn anti-Semitism keeps being pushed, out comes the incredibly encouraging video press conference of newly appointed US Ambassador Nikki Haley at the UN. She could not have been more direct in her criticism of dictatorships of hate as well as her unwavering support of Israel as a democratic ally of the U.S. We must ensure the vulnerable of our society are protected, respected and taken care of.

We must ensure the discourse of negativity, of hate, of “the Other” (as Levinas summed up, echoing the Talmudic appellation of “Acher,” one who deviated from tradition), is stopped.

We must ensure that the cherished values of human dignity are the values of all Americans, regardless of party or political viewpoint. they are not an ethos one party has a monopoly on.

So yes, the discourse of hate and negativity must be stemmed. But hysteria and dishonesty in reporting are things to be vigilant about as well.

Thankfully, we have the press to watch the government. But the point is not to relinquish all power to the press. We must be critical of it, too.

Copyright Intermountain Jewish News

Jeff dunetz politics to go

Will return next week

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THE JEWISH STAR March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777

Trump, anti-Semitism and mainstream press

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March 3, 2017 • 5 Adar 5777 THE JEWISH STAR

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Gurwin residents: #WeRemember

Seven residents of the Gurwin Jewish Fay J. Lindner Residence in Commack participated in the recent #WeRemember global social media campaign on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Gurwin residents, including survivors of the Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz camps, posed with “#WeRemember” and “I Remember” signs, some fulfilling promises to family members who perished in the Shoah, to “live to tell the story”; others were eager to participate in a remembrance project with an international reach. “My father told me to do everything I could to survive, to get out and tell the world what was happening,” said Sally Birnbaum, an Auschwitz survivor,

Jewish cemeteries are easy targets for vandals

By Ben Sales, JTA Sometime between the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 17, and the following Monday morning, vandals damaged 170 gravestones at the Chesed Shel Emeth Jewish cemetery outside St. Louis.

Beyond that, cemetery staffers aren’t sure when the attack happened. Groundskeepers leave at 4 p.m. Fridays, and the cemetery is open to the public, unstaffed, all day Sunday.

An employee discovered the damaged headstones Monday morning.

Even less is known about Saturday night’s attack on the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia, which saw at least 100 gravestones toppled. Unlike the St. Louis-area cemetery, which is surrounded by a fence and employs groundskeepers, Mount Carmel is run by volunteers, with only a sidewalk separating it from the street.

“There was nothing,” said Steve Rosenberg, chief marketing officer for Philadelphia’s Jewish federation. “It’s wide open. Anyone can walk right in. They can’t find anything that’s closed off to anyone.”

The two attacks, coming one week apart, combined with a series of bomb threats called in to Jewish community centers, have stoked fears of rising anti-Semitism in the United

States and have Jewish leaders fearing that more will follow. Cemeteries, security experts say, are particularly vulnerable because they are big, sparsely staffed and easy to penetrate.

Chesed Shel Emet, with two locations in suburban St. Louis, has more than 20,000 grave plots and a staff of seven, including four groundskeepers. Mount Carmel in Philadelphia is even smaller: It has about 5,000 graves and no paid staff.

Cemeteries “are of relatively large size, and if there is a cemetery staff, recent budget cuts tend to make that staff smaller and smaller,” said Michael Trinkley, director of the Chicora Foundation, a South Carolina group that conserves cemeteries and other historic sites.

“There’s hardly any night security at cemeteries anymore.”

“You can do a great deal of mischief in a relatively small amount of time, and the odds of getting caught are slim.”

Paul Goldenberg, director of the Secure Community Network, which advises Jewish groups and institutions on security, fears that cemetery attacks could become a trend like the wave of JCC bomb threats, the latest of which came Monday.

Serving in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office two decades ago, Goldenberg inves-

tigated a wave of attacks on some 100 Jewish cemeteries over a period of seven years — including his father’s resting place. That spate, he said, was inspired by the neo-Nazi music scene.

“There’s a feeling that the cemeteries may become a place where vandals may become more proactive,” Goldenberg said. “Right now we’re concerned about copycats.”

Trinkley and Goldenberg said the most effective way to prevent cemetery vandalism is through volunteer patrols that keep the cemetery manned at night, as well as surveillance.

Chesed Shel Emeth has security cameras, while Mount Carmel does not.

Goldenberg added that community members need to contact law enforcement when they see a threat, and should let police examine damaged stones before repairing a vandalized cemetery.

“People want to do the right thing and clean up and put stones up,” Goldenberg said.

“They need to reconsider that until the police show up for investigation.”

While Goldenberg floated the prospect of paid security, Trinkley said many cemetery budgets probably cannot support that. Even repairing damaged stones can get pricey. Trinkley estimated that setting a toppled headstone aright could cost $500, while buying a

new one can run to $4,000.

Financial help has streamed in to assist Chesed Shel Emeth, including more than $100,000 raised by Muslim activists. Online fundraising drives for Mount Carmel are ongoing as well. Volunteers including Vice President Mike Pence pitched in to clean up the damage in Missouri, and a similar effort is being organized in Philadelphia.

Trinkley likewise advised against forbidding fences and gates. A fence is ineffective, he said, unless it’s 8 feet tall and topped by protective wire — features that can intimidate grieving families.

“At some point, if you start making a cemetery look like a fortress, you’ve defeated most religious goals of making a cemetery a place of commemoration, visitation,” Trinkley said.

“You want to be welcoming so people can go to seek solace and comfort.”

At Chesed Shel Emeth, director Anita Feigenbaum has begun a security assessment on how to make the site less vulnerable to attacks.

But though the vandalism happened during a weekend, she said closing the cemetery gates on Sundays in the name of safety might be a step too far.

“A lot of people can’t make it during the week,” she said.

In Las Vegas, GOP Jews celebrate Trump presidency…

Continued from page 5 Brooks also pointed to the vice president.

“He’s a terrific partner to President Trump, you have a terrific team with the both of them,” the RJC leader said.

In his speech, Pence also vouched for Trump’s pro-Israel bona fides.

“If the world knows nothing else, it will know this: America stands with Israel,” he said. “We told the ayatollahs of Iran they should check the calendar, there’s a new president in the Oval Office. President Trump will never allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, this is my solemn promise to you.”

Pence also described his recent visit to the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where a Holocaust survivor gave him a tour.

The crowd was clearly moved.

In one ballroom of the Venetian, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who has defended the Trump White House from allegations it is covering up Russian interference in the elections, pleaded with RJC members to have the president’s back, according to people who were present.

Boris Epshteyn, a top White House aide who is emblematic of an emerging vocal minority among Republican Jews who have adopted the alt-right’s confrontational style, made a similar pitch in another ballroom.

Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who owns the Venetian and contributed tens of millions to the effort to elect Trump, had a private meeting with Pence prior to his speech. At Trump’s inauguration, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, were accorded a rare honor to political donors — ap-

pearing on the Capitol’s dais for the swearing-in.

Despite his access, Sheldon Adelson’s hoped-for administration officials have been waylaid: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Elliott Abrams, a mandarin in the Reagan and the George W. Bush administrations, are all on the outside looking in.

Seen as responsible for freezing them out is chief White House strategist Steve Bannon, a hero of the alt-right and the bane of neoconservatism, an interventionist outlook that many Republican Jews still support.

But RJC members were able to hold up their Jewish representatives in government, however few. Rep. David Kustoff, the freshman from Tennessee, joked in an easy drawl

that “Jewish Republicans in the House grew by 100 percent,” with him joining Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. Eric Greitens, the steel-jawed Missouri governor, described how he rallied a diverse community this week to help clean up a vandalized St. Louis-area Jewish graveyard, an effort joined at the last minute by Pence. The vice president called out inspiration over a bullhorn. Pence also stood on the back of a pickup truck and also wielded a rake.

Greitens, having depicted a sweaty, intense Pence getting down and dirty for the Jews, finally got around to Trump.

“The president had called me earlier that day,” Greitens said. “He said tell the people of Missouri that we stand with them in the fight against anti-Semitism.”

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Justice Ginsburg’s ridiculously hard workout

By Gabe Friedman, JTA Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn’t getting any younger. As the Jewish Supreme Court justice comes up on her 84th birthday in March, many of her fans are praying that she lives through the Trump presidency.

It isn’t hard to tell how Ginsburg herself feels about the current political situation. In an interview with the BBC last week, she avoided mentioning President Trump by name — as she had done last July, when she was harshly criticized for lambasting the former real estate magnate before the election — but said that the U.S. is not “experiencing the best of times” right now. She also said she is worried about the freedom of the press, argued that the current Congress is “not working” and praised the recent Women’s March on Washington.

But she has already been a darling for a long time among liberals — who have recently started

begging her to eat more kale and keep track of her bone density so that she might have a better chance of staying on the court for at least the next four years.

There is one thing that should calm these nervous RBG supporters: Twice a week, she completes a grueling, all-body workout devised by a former army reserves sergeant.

On Monday, Politico’s Ben Schreckinger published a firsthand account of what Ginsburg’s workout feels like. He met with Ginsburg’s personal trainer, Bryant Johnson — who also trains the court’s other Jewish justices, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan — and completed the Ginsburg workout in an excruciating 90-minute session.

“I’m no athlete, but I’m young and reasonably fit. I thought the workout would be pattycake, but it was much harder than I expected,” Schreckinger wrote.

Below is an outline of all the exercises Schreckinger mentions in his article. It may not make you wise enough to decipher a federal court case, but it will likely make you stronger. (Although, if you complete it while watching “PBS NewsHour,” like Johnson says Ginsburg does, you may have a pretty good grasp of current events.)

(All exercises include three sets of 10-13 repetitions) •5 minutes on the elliptical •Stretches •Machine bench press (Ginsburg, who is 5’1”

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200 at levya of stranger who survived Shoah

By JTA More than 200 Israelis attended the funeral of a complete stranger — a Holocaust survivor from the Canary Islands who was buried in a Tel Aviv cemetery.

Hilde Nathan’s final wish was to be laid to rest in Israel alongside her mother, the United With Israel organization said on its website.

Nathan, who did not have a husband or children, died alone last week in the Canary Islands at 90. Knowing of her wishes, the Canary Island Jewish community, which numbers about 20, raised the money to fly her body to Israel for burial.

The community put out a call through the Israeli media for mourners at her funeral, which was held Monday morning.

“Nathan always lived alone, but today it seems that the entire People of Israel has come to say goodbye. She lived alone but did not leave alone,” an Israeli Holocaust survivor, the only person at the funeral who was acquainted with her when she was alive, told the United With Israel website.

Nathan, a native of Germany, was one of the few released from the Theresienstadt concentration camp by the Soviet army on May 8, 1945. Her father died shortly after the war and was buried in Germany, and she and her mother moved to the Canary Islands. Her mother died several years ago and was buried in Israel.

Students disrupt Women of Wall An estimated 1,000 to 2,000 religious Zionist female seminary students filled the women’s section to disrupted last weekend’s Rosh Chodesh morning service by about 150 Women of the Wall affilates.

Rabbis from the haredi and religious Zionist communities had called on yeshiva and seminary students to come to the Western Wall to protest the women’s service. Some of the Women of the Wall carried Torah scrolls. One girl, identified by the Women of the Wall as Noa Brenner, 12, of Hod Hasharon in central Israel, celebrated her bat mitzvah during the service. Students on the men’s side of the plaza attempted to drown out the women’s service.

The group has held its monthly Rosh Chodesh prayer for the new month in the women’s section for more than 25 years. Last month, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of women being allowed to read from the Torah in the women’s section at the Western Wall, and put a halt to security searches of the women for items such as Torah scrolls, tallitot and tefillin.

Yad Vashem scolds Amazon The Yad Vashem Holocaust museum has called on the online retailer Amazon to remove books that deny the Holocaust from its websites.

Robert Rozett, director of the Yad Vashem Libraries, sent an email last week to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, requesting that he immediately remove the books from the sites.

“It has been clear for many years now that Holocaust denial literature is freely available for purchase over Amazon.

Many of the items appear with glowing readers’ reviews and recommendations for further reading in the same vein,” Rozett wrote. “Once again, given the presence of anti-Semitism around the globe, which has become more prevalent in recent years, we strongly urge you to remove books that deny, distort and trivialize the Holocaust from your store.”

Amazon has removed books that deny the Holocaust from online stores in countries where Holocaust denial is illegal, but they remain available in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Brooklyn Y mugger flees to Turkey A New York man convicted of assaulting the head of the Brooklyn’s Kings Bay Y at a basketball game in 2014 has fled the country for Turkey.

Shawn Schraeder, 27, of Queens, failed to show up Thursday for his first appointment with probation officials. A spokeswoman for the Department of Probation told the Daily News that the department had been informed by federal authorities that Schraeder had left the country and is believed to be living in Turkey.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest for violating his sentence — two years of probation, 80 hours of community service and anger management classes.

Schrader was convicted in September of assault, menacing and endangering the welfare of a child for punching Leonard Petlakh, executive director of the Y, in the face following an exhibition game in October 2014 at the Barclays Center between the Brooklyn Nets and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv after pro-Palestinian protesters began shouting anti-Israel slogans.

Petlakh was there with his two sons, ages 10 and 14.

briefs Chabad rabbi banned in Lithuania In an escalation of the internal feud dividing Lithuanian Jews, the Chabad movement’s senior emissary to the country was banned from the capital city’s main synagogue.

Rabbi Sholem Ber Krinsky, who has lived in Vilnius for 22 years, was informed in an email Monday from the chairman of the Vilnius Jewish Religious Community that he could not set foot inside the Vilnius Choral Synagogue until he commits in writing to follow the synagogue’s “rules and order.”

The email did not specify how Krinsky is accused of breaking the establishment’s rules.

Chabad critics oppose what they see as the movement’s fundamentalism or believe the work of Chabad rabbis in their communities is needlessly dividing congregations that are barely large enough to function. However, in recent years public expressions of this sentiment have subsided, leading to greater cooperation and better relations among congregations.

Montana advances anti-boycott bill The Montana House of Representatives advanced a bill that would prohibit the state from doing business with companies that boycott Israel.

The bill passed a second reading in the House on Saturday by a vote of 59 to 41. It must pass a third reading before it leaves the House.

If the bill also passes the Senate, Montana would become to 15th state to pass such a bill. Other states that have passed anti-boycott bills include Ohio, Michigan and California.

Sobibor closes to protect graves The memorial site on the grounds of the former Sobibor Nazi death camp will be closed to visitors during planned construction of a museum and work to protect the mass graves of camp victims.

Work on the first stage of the international project to create a memorial was set to begin Wednesday.

According to the architectural design, the area of the mass graves in the former camp containing the ashes of victims will be covered with a layer of permeable fabric known as geotextile. The area then will be covered with crushed white marble.

Poland’s rabbinical commission for Jewish cemeteries will supervise the work. The camp was built in the occupied Polish village of the same name.

The museum building, which will have usable area of more than 900 square yards, will consist of an exhibition hall with a permanent historical exhibition documenting the history of the extermination camp, as well as a lecture hall, a room for collections, a reception area and a service point for visitors, Agnieszka Kowalczyk-Nowak, a spokeswoman for the Museum at Majdanek, told JTA. The mass grave exhibit and the shell of the museum are set to be completed by the end of 2017.

Pence walks back Jerusalem vow Vice President Mike Pence pledged to Jewish Republicans that the Trump administration would “never allow” Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, but walked back President Donald Trump’s promise to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

He said the administration was “assessing whether the embassy should be moved,” to tepid applause.

Trump himself has walked back his embassy pledge since he assumed office last month, but sending Pence, who for years has been intimately close to the pro-Israel community, to deliver the message to a fiercely pro-Israel audience seemed to put an end to hopes that any move would happen soon, if at all.

Pence also once again reassured the group to “rest assured” that the Trump administration would combat antiSemitism. Jewish groups — including some, like the RJC, that have supported Trump — have been alarmed at the perceived insensitivity in the administration to sensibilities about attacks on Jews, particularly in the wake of a spike in bomb threats called into Jewish community centers.

GOP Jews taps Coleman as chair Norm Coleman, a former senator from Minnesota, is the new head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, replacing its longtime chairman, David Flaum.

Statements by Coleman and Flaum in the RJC release noted Republican successes during the 10 years that Flaum, a real estate developer in upstate New York, had the post, including last year’s sweep of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

The RJC campaigned heavily last year in large Jewish communities in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, helping to keep in place incumbent senators who had been perceived as vulnerable to ouster.

Israel backtracks on barring staffer

Israel said an American employee of Human Rights Watch may enter the country on a tourist visa and should reapply for a work visa days after barring his entry for alleged antiIsrael bias.

“This is to clarify that the HRW representative may enter Israel with a tourist visa,” Itai Bar-Dov, the spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, told JTA. “With regard to the working visa, this may be reconsidered if the organization appeals the Ministry of Interior decision.”

Earlier Friday, the Guardian had reported that Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised against granting a visa to Omar Shakir, the new Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch, a leading nongovernmental organization in its field. Shakir is a U.S. citizen.

In a Jan. 20 letter rejecting Shakir’s visa application that the human rights watchdog shared with JTA, Israel accused the New York-based NGO of “public activities and reports [and being] engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of ‘human rights.’’’

Earlier this month, Israeli authorities apologized for detaining for questioning at the airport the New Israel Fund vice president, Jennifer Gorovitz.

Graham pushes anti-martyrs bill

Senate Lindsey Graham said he is reintroducing a bill that would cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority for paying rewards to terrorists and their family members.

Graham, R-S.C, made the announcement Tuesday about the Taylor Force Act, whose introduction he had sponsored in September. He will reintroduce the bill with nine co-sponsors, all Republicans.

The bill, which is named for an American stabbed to death in Israel last year by a Palestinian terrorist, would condition aid to the Palestinian Authority on the government body condemning and taking steps to prevent acts of violence against U.S. and Israeli citizens, and ceasing payments to terrorists and their families.

The Orthodox Union announced its support for the bill in a statement released Tuesday.

“It is outrageous that the Palestinian Authority uses U.S. financial assistance to reward Palestinian terrorists and their families for murdering Israelis, and the United States must stop being an unwitting party to this practice,” said Nathan Diament, the executive director of the Orthodox umbrella group. “We commend Sen. Graham and the bill’s co-sponsors for taking a stand against violence and terrorism and supporting Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East.”

The practice of paying “martyrs” and their families dates back decades and survived the Oslo peace process launched in 1993.

Israel honors Amar’e Stoudemire

Former NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire was honored with the Martin Luther King Jr. Award in Israel for his philanthropy and leadership in building bridges among communities. The award was presented Sunday to Stoudemire, who now plays professionally for Hapoel Jerusalem.

The honor from the State of Israel, Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York is presented annually in celebration of Black History Month to individuals who embody the spirit and ideals of King through their efforts to promote diversity and tolerance.

In Israel, Stoudemire recently held a basketball peace camp that brought together children from Israel’s Jewish, Arab and Ethiopian communities, and hosted his annual “In the Paint” series, which allows young people to explore their creative talents through art and basketball.

Stoudemire’s foundation, which he runs with his wife, Alexis, actively supports at-risk youth around the world, aiming to eliminate poverty through education.

“I am truly honored to be receiving this amazing award,” Stoudemire said in a statement. “It is very gratifying to know that all the work that the Alexis and Amar’e foundation has done over the years is not overlooked. I am blessed to be able to give back to the community, that’s what it’s all about.”

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