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Sh’lach • June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan, 5778 • Torah columns pages 20–21 • Luach page 21 • Vol 17, No 22

Showing their colors at the Celebrate Israel Parade: Marchers from Yeshiva of Central Queens, UJA Federation NY, and HALB.

The Newspaper of our Orthodox communities

The Jewish Star / Christina Daly

Flags fly as NY celebrates Israel The Jewish Star covers the big 70th anniversary parade on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue • 55 photos of marchers from Long Island’s Jewish schools •HAFTR •HALB •HANC •NSHA •Midreshet Shalhevet • Mesivta Rambam •Shulamith •YCQ •YHT •Central •Brandeis PLUS: ‘Concert with a Message’ in Central Park, the Times Square party, and more SKA student carried the red-white-and-blue at Sunday’s parade. The Jewish Star / Christina Daly

See pages 13 to 16

‘70 & Sababa’ Tens of thousands cheer Jewish state

As tens of thousands of New Yorkers joined representatives of governments and organizations from around the world in Sunday’s Celebrate Israel Parade up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, many carried banners paying homage to this year’s theme of “70 and Sababa!” Other signs focused on Israel’s unity, technology, entrepreneurial spirit, strength and freedom.

See Parade on page 15

Eastern Europe’s turning shuls into nightclubs

By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA TRNAVA, Slovakia — Growing up, Robert Sajtlava remembers playing near what used to be his native city’s Orthodox shul. A rectangular structure with a deceptively unimpressive facade, its ornate ceiling and interior walls suffered extensive damage from precipitation leaking through the roof and trespassers who came through the rickety fence.

“It was a ruin,” said Sajtlava, a 28-year-old catering professional, who is not Jewish.

Since 2016, however, Sajtlava comes to that building every day as the manager of Synagoga Cafe — a chic establishment that a local contractor opened that year inside the space of the former synagogue. The launch followed a complicated and costly renovation project that retained and preserved much of what remained of the 187-year-old structure.

In a recent and controversial development in Eastern Europe, former Jewish houses of worship left abandoned after the Shoah are being renovated for commercial ends by contractors who capitalize on their Jewish history and incorporate it into a brand.

Critics view the businesses as exploitative cultural appropriation in the wake of a tragedy. Advocates argue it reflects respect and nostalgia for Jews in addition to providing a vehicle for at least some preservation of heritage sites.

The trend is especially visible over the past decade with the commercialization of several former synagogues and houses of worship. In 2013, Krakow’s Chewra Thilim was turned into a nightclub and, in 2016, into the Hevre bar, whose interior design highlights its Jewish past.

In 2012, Warsaw saw the opening of Mykwa Bar, a drinking establishment with a translucent floor over what used to be a mikvah.

It occurs also in Western Europe: A 207-yearold synagogue in the city of Deventer, in the eastern Netherlands, is in the process of becoming a restaurant whose design will reference its previous function, according to the new owners.

At the Synagoga Cafe, yuppie patrons sip pricey cappuccino on tables that are aligned with a

Patrons at the Synagoga Cafe in Trnava, Slovakia, in 2017.

platform on which worshippers would climb to open the wooden Torah ark.

Flanked by marble columns that the renovators brought in to replace the ones that were plundered decades ago, the ark towers over the customers, with its reliefs of the tablets of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew and the word Jehovah.

Overhead, what used to be the women’s section is now a second bar, complementing the one near the main entrance and facade, with its Star of David locked within a round window. The renovators did away with the separate entrance that once led upstairs in keeping with Orthodox requirements for separation of the sexes. But they kept the original stone stairs, which now lead up from the main entrance of the cafe, which has a capacity for 80 patrons.

Even the collection box, displaying the Hebrew word for charity, has remained intact.

Europe had some 17,000 synagogues before World War II, according to groundbreaking re-

WikiCommons

search published this year by the London-based Foundation for Jewish Heritage. But the foundation has been able to locate throughout the continent only 3,318 structures that have been known to function as synagogues, and just 762 are used as such today.

Some of the structures mapped by the foundation, especially in former communist countries, have been turned into residential homes — one notable example is the Rusne shul in western Lithuania. Others, like the Krośniewice shul in central Poland, became funeral parlors. Poznan in the country’s west even has a swimming pool that used to be a shul. In many cases, Jewish communities sold the buildings or received compensation for them. In others, Jewish communities still own the former shuls and are renting them to third parties.

But these conversions differ from projects like the Synagoga Cafe and Mykwa Bar in that hardly any of them feature a conscious effort to commem-

orate the building’s Jewish past, much less capitalize on it. As with similar establishments in the region, the scene at Synagoga Cafe draws mixed reactions from Jews.

“It’s certainly a jarring experienced with mixed emotions,” reads a Facebook post by Meir Davidson, an Israeli tourist from the Tel Aviv area who chanced upon the cafe in February. “I mean, the local Jewish community didn’t just pack up and leave.”

Trnava, a city of 65,000 with so many churches that it is sometimes called “the Rome of Slovakia,” counted a Jewish community of 3,000 before the Shoah. Some 2,500 were deported to Auschwitz, leaving a congregation of only 100 by the 1960s.

Even the survivors gradually left, leaving the unused Orthodox shul and the neighboring Status Quo Synagogue, which was reopened in 2016 following renovations and now functions as an art gallery and concert hall with a memorial space.

But the congregants’ tragic fate is not mentioned anywhere at Synagoga Cafe.

Davidson’s Hebrew-language post on Facebook triggered a torrent of indignant reactions.

“Disgraceful,” wrote Shani Luvaton of Jerusalem. “They’d never do it to a church or mosque.”

Removing the Jewish motifs would have “actually been less confronting. This mix of espresso and cheese cake and the Torah Ark doesn’t work.”

“Shocking,” Sara Ben Michael of Haifa posted on Facebook. “The Jews didn’t leave this synagogue. They were sent to concentration camps and exterminated.”

The Holocaust’s shadow and the absence of complete and informed acknowledgment of the genocide lie at the heart of resistance to the phenomenon, said Richard Schofield, a British artist based in Lithuania. He will publish a book this year titled “Back to Shul” featuring photographs from nearly 100 former synagogues that he toured last August.

“The murder of the people who used to frequent the shul, the destruction of their centuriesold communities, it creates a different attitude and reality,” he said.

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We Have a Drinking Problem: What Are We Doing About It?

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Sinai and Snapchat: The Torah’s Message to Millennials

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Relationships and the Family Structure: How We Resemble Hashem

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When Leadership Fails: Talking to Our Children and Grandchildren About Scandals

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By Ben Sales, JTA But in other cases, the Chief Rabbinate has Jewish converts in America may have a rejected rabbis’ authority simply due to bureaumuch harder time being accepted in Israel be- cratic confusion. In 2015, one of its district courts cause of a new set of regulations proposed by rejected the authority of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, a widely respected Modern Orthodox rabbi on Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

If adopted, some activists in Israel say, the the Upper East Side, even though Israel’s chief new guidelines for religious courts could drive a deeper wedge between Israel and Diaspora Jewry.

The Chief Rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage, divorce, conversion and burial in the Jewish state, is largely run by haredi Orthodox leaders. For years it has clashed with rabbis in America — even Orthodox ones — who have more liberal interpretations of Jewish law.

The Chief Rabbinate does not consider non-Orthodox Judaism to be valid, so it does not accept the authority of Conservative and Reform rabbis.

And in recent years, it has had a series of public disputes with Modern Ortho- Chief Rabbinate of Israel headquarters in Jerusalem. Flash90 dox rabbis whose authority it rejects.

Last week, hoping to clarify exactly which rabbi vouched for him.

As of now, one midlevel bureaucrat, Rabbi ItOrthodox rabbis meet its standards, the Chief Rabbinate published a list of draft criteria for re- amar Tubul, decides which rabbis and marriages ligious courts in the Diaspora. If a religious court are accepted by the Chief Rabbinate. Last year, meets the criteria, the Jewish conversions it con- JTA obtained a so-called “blacklist” of Diaspora ducts will be recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. rabbis whose authority the Chief Rabbinate had If not, the Chief Rabbinate will not consider its rejected.

Critics are calling the criteria demeaning and converts Jewish.

The same goes for Jewish ritual divorces: The overly strict. Itim, an Israeli nonprofit that works Chief Rabbinate will accept them only if they are to navigate and challenge the Chief Rabbinate’s bureaucracy, called the list a “power grab.” performed by a qualified religious court.

“These ‘criteria’ show the Chief Rabbinate’s This matters for non-Israeli converts and divorcees if they ever want their religious or mari- disdain for world Jewry, blatant attempt at powtal status recognized in Israel. Those who con- er consolidation, and profoundly un-Jewish apvert in America under an unrecognized religious proach,” Rabbi Seth Farber, Itim’s founder and court, for example, would not be able to marry director, said in a statement. “Itim will fight this in Israel because the Chief Rabbinate controls using every legislative and legal tool available.

Jewish marriage there. Likewise, divorced individuals would not be able to remarry in Israel if their Jewish divorce is not recognized. Children from a female convert’s second marriage would Rabbi Avi Shafran, Agudath Israel of be forbidden to marry a Jew. The document’s language is in the past tense, America’s director of public affairs, explains which means it could apply retroactively — re- and defends the Chief Rabbinate’s policy.

“I think that thoughtful Jews would do jecting the status of Jewish converts who formerly were accepted in Israel. In other words, well to stand back and consider two germane a convert accepted by the Chief Rabbinate this facts here,” he wrote in Haaretz.

“First, that [the] characterization of [Open year could be rejected next year.

The criteria demand that the courts be perma- Orthodox] Yeshivat Chovevei Torah as reprenent and operate year-round. Their rabbis must sentative of ‘modern Orthodoxy’ does a grave demonstrate fealty to an Orthodox interpretation disservice to Jews and institutions that have of Jewish law and be endorsed by a major Ortho- proudly worn that latter label for decades. … The erstwhile ‘Open Orthodox’ movement dox organization.

This means non-Orthodox rabbis and rab- is, simply put, not Orthodox. That is to say binical courts will be rejected. So will graduates that it is theologically indistinguishable from of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a liberal Orthodox the early Conservative movement, and differs seminary in Riverdale, because they are not rec- from it only in the fact that the latter moveognized by the Rabbinical Council of America. ment’s founders were sufficiently honest to Ad hoc religious courts, often set up in small admit it was a new, divergent, endeavor.”

He pointed out the the RCA, the National communities for a specific person’s conversion, Council of Young Israel, Agudath Israel and also will not be approved.

If two courts are serving the same local popu- YU “have all rejected the appropriateness of lation of Jews, only one will receive approval. ‘Orthodox’ as a descriptive of YCT. “And second, that the word ‘blacklist’ is an Courts that want to apply for approval must submit their rabbis to an exam on Jewish law ad- unnecessarily pejorative word for what is, in the end, an insistence on standards.” ministered by the Chief Rabbinate.

The Chief Rabbinate says the criteria are an attempt to set transparent, objective standards.

At a Knesset meeting on the proposed criteria CEMETERY PLOT this week, Knesset member Uri Maklev of the FOR SALE haredi United Torah Judaism party said that “clarifying what is Judaism is an obligation in 4 grave sites in [rabbinical] courts and a fundamental principle upon becoming part of the Jewish people.”

Beth Moses/Wellwood Cemetery, In the past, the religious authority has repart of the Pinelawn Cemetery jected the qualifications of an Orthodox rabbi because it deemed him insufficiently observant complex on Long Island. of Jewish law. That’s what happened in 2014 when the Chief Rabbinate rejected a conversion Contact Stephen Andors affirmed by Rabbi Avi Weiss of Riverdale, the prominent liberal Orthodox rabbi and founder of 718-935-9080 or 917-509-6287 Chovevei Torah.

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Friedman to media: ‘shut up’ But what did the news media actually say?

Analysis by Ron Kampeas, JTA WASHINGTON — David Friedman, the Long Islander who is U.S. ambassador to Israel, waded into the debate over media coverage of Israel with a pointed request to journalists.

Reporters should “just keep your mouths shut until you figure it out,” he was quoted as saying at a conference launching a new Jerusalem bureau for MediaLine, a Middle East news service.

“Because otherwise, all you’re doing is creating impressions that have no basis in fact,” Friedman said. “They fit a narrative. They fit an opinion. They fit an agenda. But it’s not reporting because it’s not based on hard, factual analysis.”

Friedman was referring to reporting on Israel’s efforts to repel Palestinian protesters attempting to breach the fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops have killed more than 100 Palestinians in the rioting, which has been taking place weekly for two months.

Like many clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, the latest ones led to accusations by Israel and its supporters that the media had portrayed Israel as disproportionately aggressive and the Palestinians as innocent victims.

Friedman said he was addressing his remarks to “my friends in the United States and one Israeli newspaper I’ve been known to criticize here,” according to Haaretz, a newspaper he recently accused of lacking “decency.”

Friedman complained that journalists are not quoting experts about armed conflict.

“It would seem to me that in a journalistic environment where nine out of 10 articles that are written about the Gaza conflict are critical of Israel, you’d think that some journalists would take the time and go and meet with experts and try to understand what could have been done differently or better before they criticize,” the SILHOUETTE WINDOW SHADINGS AND ® WINDOW SHADINGS LUMINETTE PRIVACY SHEERS Times of SILHOUETTE Israel quoted the ambassador asAND say® SILHOUETTE WINDOW SHADINGS AND LUMINETTE ing.

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman speaks at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on May 14.

Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images

dia watchdog groups that claim the media bias against Israel.)

It quotes officials from Israel and Hamas, as well as Palestinians, to describe the events of the previous Friday. It also quotes experts in the laws of military engagement: B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, arguing against the use of live fire, and veterans of the Israeli army’s legal corps explaining why it may be necessary.

The writers of the story, David M. Halbfinger and Iyad Abuheweila, seem to do exactly what Friedman is asking: seek out experts on engagement. To be sure, B’Tselem is often highly critical of Israel and often is at odds with the settler movement, of which Friedman was an active supporter. But the question of “what could have been done differently or better” is discussed at length, with substantial quotes from experts who come to different conclusions.

Similarly, on May 14 and 15, the day of and the day after the deadliest violence — coinciding with the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem — the Times does not get deep into analysis, but it does quote a range of assessments of the violence, which resulted in the killing of some 60 Palestinians.

In the frequently updated story on May 14, the reporting team of the Times endeavors to bring the big picture into focus. A segment addresses the reporting that an infant girl was killed by tear gas, and notes important caveats from the Israeli and Palestinian side. It made clear that the Palestinian protests were not peaceful, describing Hamas officials who urged See Friedman on page 24

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June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

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By Ben Sales, JTA The Orthodox Union applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of a Colorado baker in his legal fight with a gay couple, calling it a victory for religious freedom. Liberal Jewish groups weighed in on the other side.

“Today, the United States Supreme Court sent a clear message: that the demonization of religious beliefs — especially in policymaking — is constitutionally unacceptable,” Nathan Diament, OU executive director for public policy, said in a statement.

In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the court ruled that a Colorado baker was allowed to refuse to bake a cake celebrating a same-sex marriage. The decision, published Monday, was relatively narrow: The baker was within his rights, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority, because a member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had made comments hostile to his faith while initially ruling on the incident. “[T]hese disputes must be resolved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs, and without subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market,” Kennedy wrote.

Conservative groups had hoped the ruling would be broader, allowing private businesses to refuse service to LGBT couples based on their religious beliefs. Liberal groups, likewise, hoped the court would ban such actions as illegal discrimination.

Liberal justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, who are Jewish, sided with the majority. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, with Ginsberg saying that the majority opinion did not take fully into account the baker’s unwillingness to serve customers because of who they are.

The six Jewish groups opposing the decision, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Reform movement, were largely liberal. Their arguments all said the decision either effectively endorsed anti-LGBT discrimination or missed an opportunity to prohibit it.

“As Americans and as Jews, we affirm that discrimination is not ‘religious freedom,’ and pretending otherwise is an insult to those who have suffered religious persecution,” read a statement by Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc, a liberal Jewish activist group. “We are relieved this decision was not the sweeping negative ruling it could have been.”

But the OU, employing similar ideas, reached the opposite conclusion: That the ruling strikes a blow against discrimina-

ish practices like circumcision or ritual slaughter. In a case like that, the bill could be unconstitutional if its sponsors make comments disparaging Judaism or Islam.

“Those are things that are based in religion that some people view as politically incorrect and want to have restricted,” Diament said. “Religious liberty jurisprudence is what’s going to be essential to preserving those practices for the Jewish community in the United States.”

Diament also appreciated a passage in Kennedy’s opinion stating that “a member of the clergy who objects to gay marriage on moral and religious grounds could not be compelled to perform the ceremony without denial of his or her right to the free exercise of religion.” He said that sentence will protect Orthodox synagogues that decline to celebrate Jewish samesex marriages.

Orthodoxy is the only major Jewish denomination that opposes same-sex marriage. OU and other Orthodox groups criticized the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing such unions.

Agudath’s statement

Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, celebrates in his Colorado store after the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7-2 in his favor in a dispute with a gay couple.

Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images

tion. Codifying the notion that the government cannot disparage religious groups, Diament told JTA, will be helpful to Jewish groups in the future.

“It’s crucial for Jews and for other minority communities that religious freedoms be given the strongest and widest scope,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “The intent of the policymakers is going to be taken into consideration when they’re evaluating a policy.”

Diament said the ruling could aid Jewish groups, for example, if a government body tries to pass a bill outlawing Jew-

Agudath Israel of America said this: “It is unfortunate that the ruling does not reach or provide clarity on the substantive question of whether Mr. Phillips and other such proprietors faced with similar conflicts will find free exercise protection within the First Amendment.

“Nonetheless, the Court’s ruling is gratifying in that it emphasizes that religious freedom concerns must be given a full and deserving measure of consideration, even within the context of local and state anti-discrimination law. It affirms the principle that state agencies may not presume religious rights to be of lesser value or deserving of lesser protection, and they may in no way exhibit hostility toward sincerely held religious beliefs. We are also heartened by the fact that this posture was adopted by the Justices by a wide 7–2 margin. We are also pleased that the Court has explicitly affirmed the right of members of the clergy to be able to refuse to participate in ceremonies to which they object for religious reasons.

“We hope that the Court’s posture will, in future cases, be instructive to state and local governments and lead them to give due deference to the religious freedoms that are among our Constitution’s and nation’s highest values.”

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THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

OU and Agudath cheer Supreme’s cake decision

7

June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

8

Israel salutes America: 70 who counted in 70 On the occasion of the Jewish state’s 70th anniversary, the Israeli embassy in Washington, in partnership with the Jewish News Syndicate, celebrates 70 of the greatest American contributors to the U.S.-Israel relationship Many of the people and organizations chosen for this acknowledgement will be readily recognized by readers of The Jewish Star, others less so, but their powerful stories build a collective history that reflects the broad base of American love and support for the Jewish state.

This week, The Jewish Star pubishes the second part of a series that will cover all of the “70 who counted.”

find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.”

Writing that the return of a people to its land after 2,000 years of exile is “a unique event in human history,” Krauthammer has argued eloquently for what might be called “Israeli exceptionalism,” and explained compellingly why America and, indeed, all supporters of democracy owe Israel their support. The Jewish state has certainly been exceptionally blessed that the powerful pen of Charles Krauthammer has come to its defense decade after decade.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003) 11 of 70

Michael Bloomberg 15 of 70

After U.N. Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan gave his 1975 speech at the U.N., denouncing its “Zionism Equals Racism” resolution, the British ambassador, Ivor Richard, mocked him by saying that he was playing a cowboy in a Western. The PLO’s observer, Zehdi Terzi, threatened to kill him. Later, when Moynihan was running for election to the Senate, he received a $1,000 check from a woman who said she would have doubled it had he not made such a ruckus about the resolution.

Moynihan sent the check back.

Moynihan had never been to Israel but, as he noted, the resolution, “reeked of the totalitarian mind, stank of the totalitarian state.” His outrage reflected his sense of common decency.

It would take 15 years to remove the stain, but in 1991, the resolution was reversed. And while this was the noble work of many men, it might not have happened save for the one.

Of course, Moynihan had been involved in other important fights. With regard to Soviet Jewry, whenever possible he met directly with leaders to discuss the cause, not passing the work off to aides. He may also have played the greatest role in establishing the idea that the United States should recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts,” he famously stated. As the run of recent books, articles, speeches and tweets about Moynihan suggest, his consistent defense of Israel will continue to inspire leaders in the years ahead.

Robert F. Maguire Jr. (1911-2005)

12 of 70 There aren’t a lot of good reasons to risk your life day after day. But Robert F. Maguire Jr., the man who led Operation Magic Carpet, was inspired by one: the songs he heard sung

by Yemeni Jews fleeing for their lives.

Referred to as the “Irish Moses” by former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Maguire was the chief pilot and the organizer of the principal air transport company that brought 40,000 to 50,000 endangered Yemeni Jews to safety in Israel. “I was lucky, I was blessed that G-d had given me the opportunity,” he said.

The Episcopalian son of a judge who served in the Nuremberg trials, Maguire was a World War II combat pilot in the Pacific. In 1947, he was flying for Alaska Airlines. Under its direction, he brought Jews to Palestine from Shanghai.

Then pogroms against the Yemenite Jews started, and by December 1948, the airline was under contract to ferry them to Israel. The operation was secret, and the planes had to fly low to avoid Arab guns.

The missions began in Eritrea. Then they went to Aden, where they picked up huddled masses of Jews carrying Torah scrolls and their few belongings. From there they ran to Tel Aviv, then to Cyprus, and finally back to Eritrea. The round-trip flights ran for as much as 20 hours.

When Alaska Airlines was compelled to exit, Maguire put together his own firm, Near East Transport, with 28 pilots, to continue the flights. In more than 380 separate journeys, not one Jew or pilot was killed.

Later, Maguire led Operation Ali Baba, which rescued still more Jews from Iraq and Iran.

One of Maguire’s most dangerous missions

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) with the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Daniel Patrick Moynihan at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.

Yaacov Saar/GPO

Prime Minister Golda Meir with Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson during a reception at Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yitzhak Rabin’s residence in Washington. Above: Emma Lazarus.

required him to land a plane short on fuel in Egypt. He had been warned that if the passengers’ Jewish identity were to be revealed, all on board might be killed. Thinking quickly, he told the Egyptians that he needed fuel for a plane full of small-pox victims. The plane was refueled and not searched, and he landed it safely in Israel.

Henry M. ‘Scoop’ Jackson (1912-1983) 13 of 70

It is a mark of Scoop Jackson’s brilliant career that his very name still connotes a political orientation. If one identifies as a “Scoop Jackson” Democrat or Republican, one is in favor of a robust America that defends its ideas and interests in the world—principally, and above all, the cause of political liberty. As he saw it, the defense of Israel was part and parcel of the defense of liberty and of America.

Jackson, who accompanied American troops at the liberation of Buchenwald, was an ardent Zionist, advocating the creation of a Jewish homeland, then tirelessly defending it. He wrote the 1974 amendment named after him: Jackson-Vanik, which blocked trade benefits to countries that denied their people the right to emigrate. The amendment was intended to pressure the Soviet Union to allow Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel. As Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin wrote, “this could not have been possible but for your personal leadership.”

Less well-known was another Jackson amendment in 1970, authorizing President Nixon to sell Israel F-4 Phantom II fighter jets on terms that amounted to a grant. These aircraft were essential to Israel throughout the 1970s, when the Soviet Union was supplying advanced aircraft and missiles to its enemies.

When Arab armies attacked Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Jackson mobilized fellow Congressional leaders to demand the urgent resupply of weapons to Israel. From the Arab invasion to Israel’s victory, Jackson worked around the clock to ensure that Israeli forces would have the material, diplomatic and political support necessary for victory. When the Nixon administration balked at direct and visible material support, Jackson worked with Secretary of

Defense James Schlesinger, Director of the State Department’s Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs Seymour Weiss, and senior American military commanders, especially Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt, to secure the decision to airlift vital weapons and ammunition to a gravely imperiled IDF. Without Jackson’s intervention, the weapons, which enabled Israel to turn the tide, might well have arrived too late.

In 1976, a New York magazine article referred to the Presbyterian Senator as the “Jewish candidate” for President. The article quoted the Saudi ambassador in Washington: “Who is this Henry Jackson—from 6,000 miles away from Israel, more Jewish than the Jews, more Zionist than the Zionists?” For 30 years, Israel was blessed to have had this giant in the Senate so firmly on its side.

Charles Krauthammer 14 of 70

The Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, Charles Krauthammer, is one of the most influential writers in America. While the arc of his political sympathies has taken him from “writing speeches for Walter Mondale to Fox News,” his defense of Israel has been an unwavering constant.

Born into a Jewish-Francophone home in New York City, Krauthammer was raised in Montreal. While a student at McGill University, he was editor of the McGill Daily, upholding a sober liberal political position in opposition to the radicalism of the late 1960’s. Graduating from Harvard Medical School, he embarked on a career in psychiatry but turned to political writing because of his deep reading of Jewish and world history and a conviction that the good things in life ultimately depend on a decent political order.

The defense of Israel on moral and political grounds has been a dominant concern of Krauthammer’s career. As he told his friend and colleague William Kristol in an interview, support for Israel has been central to him since “the beginning of [his] consciousness.”

As he put it, “Israel is different. … It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same G-d that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you

Brilliant businessman, philanthropist and three-term mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg has been a staunch supporter of Israel throughout his public life—sometimes in its most difficult moments.

The first Israel Day Parade of Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure came in 2002, at the height of the Second Intifada. At the time, Israel was subject to vicious attacks for its alleged “disproportionate” response in defending its citizens from suicide bombings and other attacks. By proudly marching in the parade, Bloomberg made clear where he stood: “Given what’s gone on in the Middle East, it is terribly important that New Yorkers send a message to the world — we are behind Israel, and we are against terrorism, period,” he said.

Similarly, during the 2014 conflict with Hamas in Gaza, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration suspended all flights into BenGurion Airport due to the risk of rocket fire.

Bloomberg publicly flew to Israel and wrote an op-ed piece strongly disagreeing with the FAA’s policy, proclaiming that such a decision would embolden Hamas. Once again, Bloomberg led by example. He not only encouraged Americans to visit Israel, he did so himself.

Bloomberg’s support for Israel has also been felt through his considerable philanthropy, and he has played a major leadership role in the creation of projects that have proved to be a great boon to both America and Israel. He led an effort to create a technology campus on Roosevelt Island in New York as a joint effort between Cornell University and the TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology in Haifa, personally contributing $100 million to the project.

In 2014, Bloomberg was honored in Jerusalem as the first recipient of the Genesis Prize.

Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)

16 of 70 Today, Emma Lazarus is best known as the writer of the words engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. However, in her tragically short life (she died at the age of 38 in 1887), Lazarus accomplished so much more than penning “The New Colossus.” In addition to being a member of America’s literary elite and receiving praise from the top critics and authors of the day, she fought tirelessly for the welfare of Jewish immigrants and was one of the earliest American public advocates of Zionism.

Lazarus was born in New York City in 1849 to Moses and Esther Nathan. Her family traced their ancestry to the early Sephardic community in America and had become quite prosperous. While other branches of the family were proudly and openly involved in religious Jewish life (her grandfather and uncle both served as parnas of Congregation Shearith Israel, while another uncle was the chazzan), Moses wanted to assimilate into elite American.

Lazarus began to write from an early age, receiving accolades from famous authors of the day, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who became her friend and mentor.

Although she received virtually no Jewish education, early in her career she showed interest in the theme of Jewish national revival.

One clear example is her poem “In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport,” a reference to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Jewish Cemetery See 70 who counted on page 12

9 THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

EMPIRE BLUECROSS IS PUTTING PROFITS OVER PATIENTS BLUECROSS MADE BILLIONS IN PROFIT LAST YEAR BUT IS THREATENING TO LIMIT MEMBERS’ ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE AT SOUTH NASSAU HOSPITAL

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Empire BlueCross BlueShield

THE FACTS:

• BlueCross BlueShield is shortchanging South Nassau on reimbursement rates.

• The hospital has lost $11 million in revenue due to Medicare cuts in recent years.

• Tens of thousands of government employees and retirees may lose their right to access non-emergency care at South Nassau as of July 1.

• Other nearby hospitals receive as much as 40% more than South Nassau for the same procedure. South Nassau seeks parity with what BlueCross is paying other hospitals.

• Anthem/BlueCross’ 2017 profits: $3.4 billion. Under the Trump tax cut, Empire’s parent company will receive an additional $1 billion this year in tax savings.

Call Empire and your local elected official.

Tell them you want to keep using South Nassau hospital. Find out how at southnassau.org.

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Call 877-SOUTH-NASSAU or visit southnassau.org.

June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

10

The JEWISH STAR

Wine & Dine

Forget cake and pies, summer’s cookie time!

Kosher Kitchen

Joni SChoCKeTT Jewish Star columnist

I

t is officially the beginning of summer. The weather may not agree, but Memorial Day has come and gone and it’s time for easy summer livin’.

Now we can relax with cookouts and picnics, vacations and fun. Grilling outside keeps the house cool and light summer salads lend themselves to lots of creativity and fewer calories. Soon, home-grown veggies will grace our tables.

Dinner is done, but what about dessert?

After good mocha chip ice cream, one of my favorite summer desserts is cookies. Cookies are easy to make, quick to bake and you can make a few days’ worth in just about an hour.

Surprisingly, cookies and Jews have a long love affair. The definition of a cookie is a “small, sweet cake.” Therefore, by definition, Rugelach is a cookie and so is hamentaschen.

In Denmark there is a cookie called a “Jewish” Cookie that goes back to the 1700s when Jewish bakers made almond cookies topped with chopped almonds, cinnamon and sugar.

I don’t know how they travelled, but these are the same cookies my Russian grandmother made when I was a child.

Whenever we went to Kabbalat Shabbat services at my synagogue, we ate cookies at the Oneg Shabbat following the services. Plates of pretty, fancy pastries were placed on the table along with a plate of cookies for the younger set. I loved the black and white cookies and the round ones with jam in the middle.

And that brings us back to cookies and summer. Cookies are fun and light-hearted just like the summer months.Who can eat a cookie without smiling?

Cookies are so portable. Toss them into a zipper bag and you’re good to go to the beach, on a picnic, or even to the office for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. And they are perfect for a camp lunchbox treat.

It’s summer. Forget the fancy cakes and pies and make some cookies. Then relax and enjoy the lazy days of summer.

Chocolate, Cherry and Chip Cookies (Dairy or Pareve) 1-3/4 cups unbleached flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp, baking powder 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 stick plus 2 Tbsp. butter, softened 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 2 large eggs, room temperature 1 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks 1 cup dried cherries OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup chopped, toasted almonds Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa in a bowl and whisk to blend.

Set aside.

Place the butter, sugars and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to very low and spoon in the flour-cocoa mixture. Scrape the bowl often. When blended, remove the bowl from the stand and mix in the chocolate and cherries by hand.

Drop by rounded spoonsful, 2-inches apart,

and bake for 8 to 12 minutes. Let cool before placing in an airtight container. Makes 24 to 36 cookies, depending on size.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies (Dairy) 2-1/4 cups unbleached flour.

1 tsp. baking soda.

1/4 tsp. salt.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened.

1/2 cup granulated sugar.

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar.

1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract.

2 large eggs 1 cup toffee bits 1 to 1-1/2 cups bittersweet or semi-sweet 54 percent to 72 percent cocoa chocolate chunks or chocolate chips.

OPTIONAL: Sea salt sprinkled on top Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to

blend. Set aside.

Place the butter, sugars and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on mediumhigh, until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition.

Turn the speed to the lowest setting and spoon in the flour mixture, scraping the bowl often.

Remove the bowl from the stand and mix in the toffee bits and chocolate chips by hand.

Place by rounded spoonsful on the prepared pans.

If desired, sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on each cookie. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes until golden. Let cool completely on the sheets.

Makes 24 to 36 cookies.

Ginger-y Snaps (Dairy or Pareve) 1 large piece (about 4 inches) fresh ginger, peeled 3 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 2 cups unbleached flour 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. (scant) ground cloves pinch nutmeg

pinch allspice pinch salt 1/3 cup butter or pareve margarine 1/3 cup vegetable shortening 1 cup light brown sugar 1 large egg 2 Tbsp. molasses 1 Tbsp. dark corn syrup or golden syrup 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/2 to 2/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one or more cookie sheet(s).

Grate the ginger and measure two heaping teaspoons. Set aside in a cup or small bowl.

Mix 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon together in a small shallow bowl. Set aside.

Put the flour, baking soda, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl. Mix well with a fork.

Cream the butter and shortening in the

electric mixer. Add the light brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, molasses, golden syrup, vanilla and grated ginger and beat until well blended.

Add the flour while mixing on slow speed. Add the crystallized ginger. Beat until a dough forms.

Take a rounded tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball, gently roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture, place on the cookie sheet and repeat, spacing the cookies two inches apart.

Flatten cookies slightly. Bake until lightly golden, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Gluten Free Almond Cookies (Dairy or Pareve) 1/2 cup butter or pareve margarine, softened 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 3 large eggs, 1 reserved 1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract 1 tsp. baking powder 1-3/4 cups almond flour 1 cup oat flour 1/2 cup whole almonds (for topping cookies) sugar for dusting Line 2 or 3 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add the extracts and the eggs and beat again, until light and fluffy.

Scrape the bowl as needed.

Reduce the speed to low and add the baking powders and flours and beat until completely blended.

Roll tablespoon size balls of dough, about 1-inch in diameter, lightly in your palms and place 1 to 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Gently flatten. Place a whole almond in the center of each cookie.

Break the last egg in a small bowl and beat well. Lightly brush once over each cookie.

Sprinkle very lightly with sugar.

Place in the oven and bake until golden, 11 to 15 minutes. Let cookies cool completely before moving them. Makes 36 to 48 cookies.

THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

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70 who counted…

Continued from page 8 at Newport.” While Longfellow declared that “dead nations never rise again,” Lazarus concluded “the sacred shrine is holy yet.”

With the explosion of European anti-Semitism leading to a massive influx of Jewish immigrants, Lazarus felt a call to action. She responded by personally assisting and organizing institutions geared toward helping Jewish immigrants.

At the same time, she began to explore her Jewish identity, turning again and again to Jewish figures and subjects in her writings. She also began to call for a return of the Jews to the land of Israel. In her “Epistle to the Hebrews” (1882), she Lazarus urged Eastern European Jews to emigrate to Palestine.

A powerful example of her proto-Zionism (the term was not even coined until 1891) is her poem “The New Ezekiel.” Recasting the prophet’s vision of the dry bones from a modern perspective, Lazarus proclaims that the bones, which have been dried by “twenty scorching centuries of wrong” would yet live, with G-d stating, “and I shall place you living in your own land.”

A visionary ahead of her time, Emma Lazarus is an incredible example of dedication to Jewish peoplehood and the ideal of Jewish national rebirth in the land of Israel.

Haim and Cheryl Saban 17 of 70

Haim Saban’s commitment to the Jewish state is that of an immigrant for whom it was a sanctuary.

Born in 1944 in Alexandria, Egypt, to a seamstress mother and a toy-salesman father, Saban fled with them to Israel in 1956. That led them to a windowless, one-room dwelling in Hatzor HaGlilit near the Golan Heights. Times were hard, and Saban helped support the family by rising at 6 am each day to work as a messenger boy. Barely finishing high school, he had the ambition to be a successful pop musician.

Marie Syrkin.

words, when he once said: “I’m a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel.”

Marie Syrkin (1899-1999) 18 of 70

Courtesy Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem

After a brief stint as a bass-guitar player while serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, he was drawn into a career as a music producer, and then to TV sales and production.

Saban immigrated to the United States in 1983 where he became a media magnate. The first source of his wealth came after founding Saban Entertainment, when he purchased the lucrative foreign rights to the Japanese children’s show “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.”

After amassing his large fortune in America, Saban never forgot his Jewish roots and throughout his life remained devoted to Israel.

Saban and his American-born wife, Cheryl, give generously to causes from health care and education to women’s empowerment. But perhaps one of the largest beneficiaries of their philanthropy has been Israeli soldiers and veterans and the cause of strengthening the U.S.Israel relationship.

Becoming involved with politics more than two decades ago, the Sabans have worked tirelessly to bolster support of Israel within the Democratic Party. A testament to that devotion is apparent in Haim Saban’s clear and concise

Marie Syrkin was raised in Zionism as a way of life and as a creed. Her reputation and importance comes from her dogged efforts on behalf of Zionism in America, later in Europe, and finally in Israel.

She wrote speeches for Chaim Weizmann and Golda Meir, whose biography she would later write. She recorded testimony from Holocaust survivors, and exposed the horrors of the Soviet Union. Her dispatches from Palestine before and during the War of Independence described the bravery and hardships of the Jewish resistance, and refuted false claims about the circumstances of the Arab flight during the 1948 war.

Among her outlets was the Jewish Frontier, for which she was a reporter and editor. In its pages, she called for increased Jewish emigration before the war, and in 1942 disclosed news of a cable, originally intended for Stephen Wise, that detailed the “systematic murder” of Jews by the Nazis.

She traveled between Europe and Palestine, publicizing the condition of Jewish displaced persons, agitating for their assistance, and helping many of them to receive Hillel scholarships.

She also authored a report, later adapted for the UN, on the militaristic intentions of Arab nationalists, disproving claims that Israel had deliberately damaged mosques. Accepting a professorship at Brandeis in 1950, Syrkin started the new field of literary study of the Holocaust.

A true woman of valor, Syrkin fought for the Jewish people and for Israel throughout her life.

Sheldon and Miriam Adelson

19 of 70 Many successful businesspeople struggle to think of causes to which they might devote their energies. This dilemma has never seemed to afflict Sheldon and Miriam Adelson.

Sheldon, an entrepreneur and casino magnate, and Miriam, a doctor of medical research, have known great success in their respective

fields. Determined to put the fruits of their success to work—both in the present and for the future—they have single-mindedly devoted themselves to projects and institutions that benefit the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

It would be impossible to mention all of the Zionist and Israeli causes the Adelsons have supported in their years of activism. Every year, the Adelsons give more than $200 million to causes that directly support Israel and the Jewish people. Major beneficiaries have included Birthright Israel, Yad Vashem and programs that directly benefit Israeli soldiers. Known for their interest in education, the Adelsons have also funded Jewish day schools in America and educational initiatives in Israel.

Medical research and care have been a particular emphasis of Dr. Miriam Adelson; as such, the Adelsons have offered extensive support to medical research and medical facilities in both America and in Israel. In June 2017, it was announced that a new medical school bearing the name of the Adelsons would open at Israel’s Ariel University, a fitting donation to a growing university that reflects the Adelsons’ emphasis on both education and medical science, as well as their Zionism.

In recent years, the Adelsons have also devoted themselves to combating movements and ideas that defame and delegitimize the state of Israel. Noting the regrettable rise of hostility to Israel on North American college campuses, the Adelsons have spearheaded efforts to combat this rancor and support educators who tell the truth about the Jewish state. They have also fought against the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which under the veneer of standing up for Palestinian rights singles out Israel for economic warfare.

Over the centuries, the Jewish people and the Jewish state have been blessed with great philanthropists, like the Rothschilds and Montefiores, who dedicated themselves to helping their people. Our generation has been blessed with the Adelsons, whose generosity and unflappability have earned them an honored place in the pantheon of Israel’s greatest friends.

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June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

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5/16/2018 2:41:07 PM

The Jewish Star covered it all!

Photos by Christina Daly

Photo courtesy HAFTR

Love of Israel was everywhere on Fifth Avenue on Sunday, from the HAFTR girls at left, to an SKA girl at right. Below, from left: superstar Lipa Schmeltzer, an honorary grand marshal; more HAFTR smiles, and cheerleaders from Yeshiva of Central Queens. At bottom, from left: it’s all about ‘70’; the Russian Jewish American Experience float; one of several marching bands, and … music!

THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

Sunday was picture perfect as Israel’s friends happily paraded up Fifth Ave

13

June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

14

Students and faculty from the North Shore Hebrew Academy, in Great Neck, turned out in great numbers on Sunday to Celebrate Israel and mark the parade’s theme, “70 and Sababa.”

Courtesy NSHA

Times Sq. parties for Israel

Courtesy MDS

Fifth Avenue topped its “happy” quotient on Sunday, with a flag-waver from Brandeis School in Lawrence, more girls from SKA, and a patriot from Mill Basin.

These ladies didn’t have to travel far — they’re from Manhattan Day School on the UWS. Dressed in Sababa purple: the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County.

The Shulamith School for Girls in Cedarhurst — both its elementary school and its new high school — were well represented in the parade.

Courtesy Shulamith

The parade along Fifth Avenue was just the beginning.

Thousands of revelers flooded Times Square on Sunday night to celebrate Israel’s 70th anniversary in a festive event organized by the Consulate General of Israel in New York and Israel’s Culture and Sport Ministry.

The area was cordoned off for several hours.

In between the parade and the Times Square street party, a “concert with a message” rocked Central Park (see page 16).

The Times Square event featured top Israeli performers and politicians from both the Jewish State and America, including Israeli Shiri Maimon, who was recently cast as the star of the Broadway musical Chicago.

The highlight of the evening was when the square’s giant screens began displaying videos about Israel, its famous sites and achievements and the special bond between Israel and the United States.

The screens also displayed video messages from American political leaders and celebrities, including Mayim Bialik, Liev Schreiber and Michael Douglas.

Despite concerns of potential clashes with pro-Palestinian groups, only a handful of protesters, belonging to the anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox group Neturei Karta, showed up.

Israeli Consul General Dani Dayan said that the event presented a significant security challenge. “We were at times concerned that it would be called off; I was worried that security officials would force us to cancel the entire thing,” he said.

Dayan said that Israelis should celebrate intensely to demonstrate that they are not deterred by recent Gaza fence provocations.

“We must celebrate precisely because we are going through a hard time,” he said.

“Times Square is never cordoned off, only once a year on New Year’s Eve,” said Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev, who was the Israeli government’s main representative at the event.

“This is the first time in history that such an event has the square sealed — and for whom? For the State of Israel.”

The event was attended by members of Congress, Mayor Bill de Blasio and other officials. “The authorities were taken aback by our request, they asked, ‘Why hold this here?’

But we insisted because this place is part of the message we want to convey,” she said.

Apart from Regev and Dayan, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon was present, as were Aliyah and Integration Minister See Times Sq on page 16

15

Courtesy HANC

THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

A huge contingent from the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway marched near the close of Sunday’s parade. Boys from the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County lower school unfurled a giant Israeli flag.

Parade…

Continued from page 1 When Israelis say something is sababa, they mean it’s awesome, fantastic or super — like Israel itself!

Among countless special guests during the five-hour procession were Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer, NYC Public Advocate Letitia James, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon, Israeli Consul General Dani Dayan, Israeli chef Eyal Shani, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

Rapper Kosher Dillz and singer Lipa Schmeltzer were among the event’s performers. Many of the groups that marched played popular Israeli songs, including the now everpresent “Toy,” the song performed by Israeli Netta Barzilai that won this year’s Eurovision.

Anti-Israel protesters were confined to a small area south of Central Park.

Marcher Menachem Jacob said he believes Israel’s greatest accomplishments in the last 70 years were bringing democracy to the Middle East and providing a safety net for those seeking refuge.

“My parents are Holocaust survivors,” he said. “So just to feel safe that my kids and their kids can grow up knowing that they have a country they can go to if they get in the same kind of trouble my parents got into … that’s my favorite part about Israel.”

Danon said he was “pleased to launch a new tradition of having a large number of ambassadors march with us in the biggest pro-Israel demonstration in the world.” He said that it was “heartwarming to see so much support overseas among Israel’s friends overseas in these difficult times.”

Although the parade ended at 4 pm, additional celebrations were held in Central Park, and festivities continued in the evening in Times Square.

Courtesy Rambam Mesivta

Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central) and Yeshiva University itself were represented at the parade.

Birthright Israel Foundation celebrated its 18th year, along with Israel’s 70th anniversary.

Come on, you know they’re having fun! Manhattan’s Shefra School and a lady on stilts. A Brooklyn Cyclones float promoted Jewish Heritage Night, June 19.

Courtesy Yeshiva Har Torah

Grace Colucci

Jewish-music rock star Avraham Fried had his audience singing and swaying on Sunday, during the “Concert with a Message” at Central Park’s Summer Stage that followed the Celebrate Israel Parade. The concert, introduced by organizer Dr. Joseph Frager, celebrated “our eternal bond with the undivided capital of Israel — Yerushalayim —and the heroic families and communities of Yehuda, Shomron, the Jordan Valley, and the Golan Heights.” Speakers included Temple Mount advocate Yehuda Glick, an America oleh who survived an assasination attempt in 2014.

Grace Colucci (Danon)

The Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob

Courtesy Midreshet Shalhevet

June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR Midreshet Shalhevet paraded its love of Israel. Among spectators waiting for marchers to pass, there were yellow Gourmet Glatt bags bearing treats.

The Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob

After the parade, ‘concert with message’ rocks CPark

16

Among Israel-affirming talkers at Sunday’s event (pictured in the middle, clockwise from top left): Dr. Joseph Frager, event organizer; actor Jon Voight; former Lawrence mayor and RZA leader Martin Oliner, and Amb. Danny Danon.

Aliyah has helped fuel Israel’s growth. Helping North Americans take that leap: Nefesh B’Nefesh.

Grace Colucci

90-year-old Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a crowd favorite.

Reality TV star Siggy Flicker, flanked by Cindy Grosz, one of the event’s organizers, delivered an electrifying pep-talk.

Hadassah The Women’s Zionism Organization of America was founded over a century ago, before there was a state and before women could vote. At right: Northeast Queens.

Members of the American Sephardic Federation paraded on Sunday with style and smiles.

Times Sq… Continued from page 15 Sofa Landver, Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis, MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Union) and MK Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid), MK Shuli MualemRafaeli (Habayit Hayehudi) and MK Nurit Koren (Likud).

Danon said it was a good end to a week in which Israel was once again attacked at the U.N. “On Friday we were at the Security Council until 6 pm; U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and I defended Israel — and now two days later we see the love and support for Israel,” he said.

“We always talk about how many enemies Israel has, and the efforts to boycott it, and how everyone is against us — but we have very good

friends, we must not be intimidated, and we must believe in our friends and go with our truth.”

Danon said that the U.S.-Israel stance at the U.N. shows that Israel’s standing is getting better.

“We are changing the rules of the game,” he said.

“First, there was the delegation of 40 ambassadors that arrived in Israel with me on Independence Day, and then there is Haley’s stance at the U.N. All this shows that we are not only on the defense but also taking a proactive posture, and this is all the more apparent today on the streets, with dozens of ambassadors from around the world marching down Fifth Avenue and arriving at Times Square.”

With Israel Hayom and JNS

stephen M. Flatow

T

o the editor of the Washington Post: Do you want to know why most American Jews don’t believe what you publish about Israel? An article in The Washington Post this week explains it all.

It had to do with a Palestinian Arab rockthrower murdering an Israeli man.

The facts of what happened are beyond dispute. On May 24, Israeli soldiers entered al-Amari, a neighborhood near the Palestinian Authority capital city of Ramallah, in pursuit of terrorists. Residents took to their rooftops and began hurling objects at the soldiers.

A chunk of concrete thrown by a Palestinian from the third floor of a building struck 20-year-old Ronen Lubarsky, shattering his helmet and inflicting severe injuries. Three days later, he died of his wounds.

This episode is especially newsworthy because it runs so counter to the narrative that is typically presented by the American news media. Mobs of Palestinian Arabs throwing rocks at Israelis are portrayed as peaceful protesters.

Rocks are not considered potentially lethal weapons, even though 16 Israelis have been murdered by rock-throwers.

So here we have an important man-bitesdog story. Maybe that explains why The Washington Post buried it—because it contradicts so much of what the Post tells its readers about the Palestinians.

The news about the murder-by-rock of Lubarsky was confined to the Post’s “news briefs” section. And it was near the end of the briefs— below much longer ones about Ebola vaccinations in the Congo and plans for a right-wing

march in Germany.

Not only was the story buried, it was miniscule. The murder of a young man by terrorist merited just a single paragraph. A grand total of 60 words.

And, incredibly, the word “Palestinian” never appeared in the article. Not once.

The headline read: “Israeli Soldier Wounded in Action Dies.” They could have written “Palestinian Kills Israeli Soldier.” But, no. He just “dies,” in the passive tense. A reader might think he suffered his injuries in a traffic mishap, or a friendly-fire accident.

The article began: “The Israeli military says” (note the word “says,” as if there is a doubt), “a soldier who was seriously wounded in action last week has died.” He was “wounded in action.” By whom? The Post wouldn’t say.

The article continued: “The soldier was mortally wounded Thursday when, during an arrest near Ramallah” — a city name which most readers would not recognize as Palestinian — “a large marble block was dropped on his head from the top of a building.” Thrown by whom? Why? Have they done these sorts of things before? The Post wouldn’t say.

Acknowledging that rocks can kill reminds readers that many Palestinian “protesters” are would-be murderers. Acknowledging that Palestinians have murdered 16 Israelis in rockthrowing incidents reminds readers of the dangers Israelis face. Giving such a story prominence would only create sympathy for Israel.

All of which impedes the campaign to create a Palestinian state in Israel’s backyard.

And it’s clear that is why the Post handled the story the way it did. The motives of the editors are transparently obvious. This isn’t journalism. It’s blatant political advocacy.

The Washington Post is not the only newspaper that does this. Almost every major American daily newspaper, wire service and televi-

sion news program incorporates a similar bias when it comes to Israel. That’s why I’m addressing this letter to all of you. Because you’ve all given American Jewry a mountain of reasons to distrust what you publish about the Jewish state and its citizens.

Sincerely, Stephen M. Flatow Stephen M. Flatow, a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, is an attorney in New Jersey and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995.

Mooch stars at biz expo The Jewish Star The season’s biggest Jewish business-to-business expo drew entrepreneurs to the Bell Works “metroburb” in Holmdel, NJ, on Tuesday.

The event was co-hosted by Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital and the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce. Scaramucci delivered the keynote address and also met oneon-one with attendees.

Other speakers covered a full plate of business topics, including real estate, e-commerce, digital marketing, branding, Amazon, human resource management, women in the workplace, and more.

Scaramucci (nicknamed the “Mooch”), who was an adviser to President Trump, spoke about his appreciation of Israel and Keynoter Anthony Judaism, declaring that Scaramucci. “we in the West owe our freedom of expression and values we cherish to the Torah.”

He described growing up on Long Island, the son of a sandmine laborer father with an old-world work ethic, and the start of his business.

“The year I started my SkyBridge Capital, Lehman Brothers, which helped me get started, was one of the largest global finance firms,” he said.

“If a fortuneteller would have predicted a few years later that Lehman would be gone and SkyBridge one of the fastest growing firms, I never would have believed it.”

SkyBridge now has assets of over $12 Jewish Star Publisher Ed billion.

Weintrob represented the S c a r a m u c c i paper at the Jewish biz cited ethical busi- expo in Holmdel, NJ. ness practices and treating employees like teammates as key reasons why SkyBridge soared.

In answering questions from the audience, he spoke about his 11 days (“or as I say, 950,400 seconds”) as White House communications director, and told stories of bumpy and successful times in his career.

THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

Dear Washington Post: On rocks, you got it wrong

17

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June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

18

Sender talks terror at Rambam The Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence welcomed Sander Gerber, who stopped American taxpayers from rewarding Palestinian terrorists.

Rambam students, parents, and community members heard Sender expose the history and efforts to get the Taylor Force Act signed into law.

Taylor Force was an American servicemen who did a tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then returned to the United States to pursue a Master’s degree. As part of that program at Vanderbilt University, he traveled to Israel with his schoolmates.

While there he was brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist during a stabbing attack.

Shockingly, the terrorist responsible for this atrocity, Bashar Massalha, was buried with a hero’s funeral. His family now receives monetary payments for his murderous activities. While some people in America and in Israel were aware of Palestinian terrorists being incentivized to attack and murder Jews through local payment programs, few if any were aware of the institutionalized nature and the magnitude of this heinous policy.

Gerber, CEO of Hudson Bay Capital, began to research the issue and was shocked to find that Palestinian LAW mandates that terrorists be rewarded for killing, maiming, and attacking Jews.

Gerber outlined for the Rambam family the extent of those payments and the operational structure supporting them. He demonstrated that in 2017 the Palestinian Authority, which is funded in part by US tax dollars, paid out 350 million dollars to terrorists.

Not only is this outrage codified in Palestinian Law, it shows up in their official annual budget books, representing approximately 8% of their budget. Money paid to terrorists outstrips the money the Palestinian Authority pays to those needing ordinary social welfare and government aid.

Gerber showed a number of video clips of Mahmoud Abbas decrying violence and speaking of peaceful coexistence with Israel, while at the very same time urging Palestinians to take up weapons

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School News Send news and hi-res photos to Schools@TheJewishStar.com Deadline Mondays at Noon

and use them as needed.

Gerber also spoke about the failure of American elected officials and many in the Israeli government to know about this problem of rewarding terrorists.

However, when Taylor Force was murdered, Gerber felt he had no choice but to dedicate his resources, time, money, and efforts to stop this policy, which eventually became known as “Pay to Slay.”

Lobbying members of Congress from both parties, providing them with information including visuals, documents, and spreadsheets from the Palestinian Authority, Gerber was effective in winning over the votes to get the legislation passed as part of the Omnibus Spending Bill on March 23.

Rosh Mesivta, Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, who introduced Gerber, spoke glowingly about his efforts, highlighting how much one single individual can achieve. Presenting him with a plaque of appreciation at the end, Rabbi Friedman said, “Imagine how much nachas we will have in 10 or 20 years from now when one of our boys sitting in the audience will end up taking the lead, standing up and doing something of tremendous importance for the Jewish community.”

Despite the bell signaling the end of the day, students sat in rapt attention during the presentation, and many even stayed afterwards, surrounding Gerber and asking questions, hoping to learn more about how he accomplished what he did, and how they can get involved.

Lawrence woman wins a tech scholarship at Stern Stern College for Women junior Sarah Gulkowitz of Lawrence has been awarded the Women in Technology Scholarship by Visionary Integration Professionals.

“The sponsor of this scholarship was searching for women who show promise not only in technology, but who also have a commitment to community service,” said Alan Broder, clinical professor and chair of the computer science department at Stern College. “In both respects, Sarah Gulkowitz is very worthy of this recognition, and we are quite proud of her achievement.”

The scholarship was established in 2007 to inspire and unlock the potential of young women pursuing careers in computer science, information technology and other related fields. Out of more than 250 applicants, Gulkowitz was one of just 12 winners selected. Applications were evaluated based

on academic performance, community service and extracurricular activity involvement, as well as an essay that each student submitted.

“I was always interested in computers and the challenge that came with them,” said Gulkowitz. While computer science has been one of her passions, she hadn’t decided to major in it until she attended Stern: “Taking a course with Professor Broder solidified my decision,” she said. “In computer science, every project and problem brings something new and challenging to the table which allows me to utilize my analytical and problem solving skills.”

Broder suggested Gulkowitz apply for the scholarship because of her enthusiasm and accomplishments in the classroom. “In addition, Sarah is strongly committed to ‘giving back’ by the giving of her

time as a teaching intern and advocate for computer science education at a Long Island high school,” Broder said.

Gulkowitz hopes to pursue a career in computer science in the finance industry.

Local schools participate in CIJE science competition

Darchei Torah: Dan Yaakov Honig and Yisroel Rosenberg, two Mesivta Chaim Shlomo students who won a prize at the CIJE competition, are flanked by Rabbi Menachem Gold, principal (left), and Dr. HAFTR Three HAFTR High School students were awarded first prize at the CIJE Innovation Day, held recently at the Hilton Midtown. The award in innovation was given to sophomores David Lederer, Jordan Appel and Aidan Schechter, who worked on an early warning leak detection system. The fully working prototype was viewed as a sterling example of next-generation thinking.

“David, Jordan and Aidan created a system that would send a text message to a homeowner if there was a leak or a flood detected in their home. They used concepts that were taught in their engineering class to create this device,” said Science Department Chair Rita Sinensky. The students developed their project in the Scientific Technology course taught by Tom Liguori under the guidance of Director of STEM Innovation Mr. Benjamin Gross.

“We are very proud of all our students’ accomplishments in the STEM program, and we extend warmest congratulations to David, Jordan and Aidan on their innovative, award-winning project,” said Principal Naomi Lippman. “It is an honor and a joy to partner with CIJE in offering this unique learning

Don Engelberg, physics instructor. Shulamith: Basya Vishnepolsky claims her first prize win; Chaya Warren, Sarah Antonelli, Gabriella Grossman, Ms. Tamar Herskowitz, Noam Maman, and Basya Vish-

nepolsky. HAFTR: CIJE President Jason Curry, Vice President Judy Lebovits, HAFTR HS Science Chair Rita Sinensky, first prize winner David Lederer, and science technology teacher Tom Liguori.

SKA science champs. experience to our students. We look forward with great anticipation to our students’ expanded opportunities for STEM innovation in our new state-of-theart STEM lab next fall.”

The conference, created by CIJE President Ja-

son Curry, welcomed over 3,000 students, parents and judges from more than 100 day schools to the Hilton on Sunday, May 6. HAFTR was represented by 70 students, who presented a total of 25 creative, exciting projects. CIJE has been leading the charge

in STEM education in the Jewish day school community, with hundreds of schools now participating in their program across the country.

“I was so impressed by the students’ problemsolving, innovation and entrepreneurial skills,” said CIJE Vice President Judy Lebovits. “IThe Leak Detection Project epitomizes what we as an organization are trying to accomplish — creating a new generation of students who will dynamically think in problem solving methodologies in order to help better our world.”

DARCHEI TORAH Congratulations to the team of Mesivta Chaim Shlomo of Yeshiva Darchei Torah on its performance at the CIJE science competition. The Mesivta’s ninth and tenth graders took second prize in the Consumer Products category.

The competition, which included 39 schools and over 1,200 students, took place at the New York Hilton. Only 12 schools took home awards, including Mesivta Chaim Shlomo.

The winning duo of Dan Yaakov Honig and Yisroel Rosenberg were recognized for their invention

See CIJE on next page

Valedictorian Aviv Amar lives in Woodmere with her parents and four siblings. In the four years that Aviv has been a student at Shulamith, she has received a great deal of support and encouragement from her teachers, principals, and peers, which she will always be thankful for. She enjoys art, music, reading, spending time with her friends, and participating in as many Chessed opportunities as possible.

Aviv has a passion for all of her academic subjects, particularly Navi, social studies, and science. Her dream is to become an engineer. This year, she won the Shulamith Award for her science fair project, participated in Math Olympiad, was a head of PI Day, and worked as a Layout Editor for the yearbook.

B’ezrat Hashem, Aviv will attend Yeshiva University HS for Girls (Central) in Distinguished Scholar program. She will always cherish the friendships she has made in Shulamith.

Valedictorian Aviv Amar

Salutatorian Gabriella Herman loves to participate in school activities! This year, she invested countless hours of creative effort as a co-editor-in-chief of the yearbook. In both seventh and eighth grades, Gabriella was on the To-

CIJE… Continued from previous page

Salutatorian Garbriella Herman

of a tablet designed primarily for students in underdeveloped countries. It has an especially userfriendly interface and its casing is made of a material, manufactured by Dan Yaakov on a 3D printer, which is extremely protective of the product, yet cheap enough to produce and remain affordable for the target population.

Special thanks to Dr. Don Engelberg, program coordinator and physics instructor at Mesivta Chaim Shlomo, for his leadership and guidance.

SHULAMITH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS Shulamith High School ninth grader Basya Vishnepolsky won first prize in the national STEM trivia competition at the CIJE Innovation Conference, held at the New York Hilton Hotel.

The Shulamith delegation also included STEM students Noam Maman, Gabriella Grossman, Chaya Warren, and Sarah Antonelli. Under the leadership of their teacher, Ms. Tamar Herskowitz, the students presented three innovative solutions to everyday problems that they had spent months designing, engineering, and producing: a forward-thinking crib they named “The Nelly”, which is a must-have for all moms; an “EZ DRY” dish rack, designed to accelerate the drying process for dishes; and an Eco-Friendly Crusher (“EFC”), which crushes plastic bottles and aluminum cans for recycling purposes.

In addition to demonstrating their prototypes, the students also prepared tri-fold posters to explain the human needs they identified that their creations address, the methods they used to generate the idea for their product, the experimentation they undertook to develop and refine it, and the features of their solution that make it not only desirable, but also technologically feasible and economically viable.

The students also had the chance to meet fellow budding engineers. They broadened their engineering knowledge by interacting with students from other schools and seeing what inventive ideas they had come up with. As they walked around the fair, each had the opportunity to peer-review a student’s project from another school.

The students also used their marketing skills to share with the judges the stories behind their projects in the form of inspirational business plans. The girls had an amazing experience and are already talking about what creative ideas they can come up with next.

SKA SCHOOL FOR GIRLS Ninth and tenth grade engineering students at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls were victorious at this year’s CIJE engineering fair. With two new instructors and a brand new lab, SKA took thirrd place out of schools with 15 or fewer projects.

More than 1300 students shared their original CIJE-Tech Stem capstone projects. The two year CIJE-Tech High School program provides a unique set of lessons and experiences culminating with projects designed and built by students.

With the guidance of engineering instructor Dorit Tannenbaum and engineering liaison Andres Pabon, the SKA pre-engineering program is sure to continue in their success as SKA helps mold the next generation of innovative and creative thinkers.

Keter Shem Tov Award recipient Shayna Wasser

rah Bowl and Math Olympiad teams, and this year she was also on the Shulamith Basketball team. For the past two years, Gabriella represented Shulamith in the annual school- wide Middle School Science Fair. She also enjoyed participat-

ing in all of the chesed activities Shulamith offered.

Outside of school, Gabriella loves to rollerblade, swim, bike ride, read and spend time with her family and friends.

Gabriella has been fortunate to be taught by excellent teachers, who have fostered her love of learning in all subjects, especially ivrit and math. Gabriella will miss her amazing friends and supportive principals and teachers who have been with her for the past ten years in Shulamith.

Next year, Gabriella will attend SKA. Keter Shem Tov Award recipient Shayna Wasser of Cedarhurst and has been at Shulamith since Pre-1A. She has worked hard to achieve her goals and has excelled academically in her studies. Shayna is a positive person who loves learning new things.

Shayna feels fortunate to have been given many opportunities at Shulamith.

She served as vice president of G.O in seventh grade and planned many great

programs and activities. She was a member of the Torah Bowl team in seventh grade and served as co-captain in eighth grade, leading her team to victory in the divisional championships.

She also served as coordinator of Yom Ha’atzmaut festivities and is participating in the school play.

Shayna enjoys singing, acting, art, and baking. She loves spending time with her friends, both in and out of school. She has a solid focus on her family and enjoys spending time with them as well. Shayna brings a strong sense of enthusiasm, loyalty, and sincerity to everything she does.

Shayna has much hakarat hatov to her teachers and principals for providing her with a superb education and for instilling within her the right values. She cherishes the wonderful friendships that she has built with her classmates. Shayna is proud to be part of the graduating Class of 2018.

725 celebrate 44th graduation at the Lander colleges of Touro At Touro’s Lander Colleges 44th commencement, 614 students received with bachelor’s degrees and 111 earned associate degrees, at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.

Graduating students accepted their diplomas from Touro College and University System President Dr. Alan Kadish, Chairman of the Board Dr. Mark Hasten, and the Lander College deans — Dr. Robert Goldschmidt of Lander College of Arts & Sciences in Flatbush, Dr. Moshe Sokol of Lander College for Men in Queens, and Dr. Marian StoltzLoike of Lander College for Women the Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School in Manhattan.

“We, the Jewish people, have a job to do in this world. We must project our greatest and most humane values outward into society, leading the culture in being reflective and constructively critical of our way of life, Kadish said in his address.

“Historically, it has been mightily challenging for the Jewish people in every society and every generation,” he said. “But our story has always been, and always will be, one of progress and ascent.”

Learning and living Pirkei at Yeshiva of South Shore Over 20,000 mishnayos were learned in memory of Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, by more than 150 fifth through eighth grade boys at Yeshiva of South Shore. They were not scattered mishnayos, rather the mishnayos in Pirkei Avos, reinforcing the middos tovos and fine character traits that Rav Binyamin wove into the fabric of YOSS. Each grade saw volunteers excitedly jump at the opportunity to learn and complete the Pirkei Avos cycle by Shavuos.

Armed with a beautiful embroidered Pirkei

Avos, given to them by the yeshiva, the boys spent their Shabbos afternoons, evenings and free time to lift the holy neshama of Rav Binyamin while learning how to live as a G-d fearing Jew. Participants were treated to a gala breakfast held in Yeshiva, celebrating their accomplishments and the life of Rav Binyamin. Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky shared stories of Rav Binyamin’s unwavering dedication to Torah and his beautiful middos that made him beloved by all.

“What will your place be in this story?” he continued. “How will your generation contribute to our upward trajectory and harness Jewish optimism and faith to make our story, as well as the broader world’s, a more beautiful and humane one?”

Touro’s valedictorians took the message to heart and responded in kind.

Joshua Goldmeier, valedictorian of Lander College for Men, flew in from Israel to attend the program. After finishing classes in January, he moved to Israel, where he is enrolled in an elite, ten-month machine learning program, to pursue a career in artificial intelligence.

“Lander cultivates an environment rich with an understanding of why we educate,” Goldmeier said.

“The rabbeim and faculty taught us that education isn’t only about memorizing information or a number on a college transcript. It’s about how that information translates into becoming a better person and a better oved Hashem, something GPA can never measure.”

Helene (Chanie) Weinreb, valedictorian of the School for Women at Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, said that “when one speaks of ‘changing the world,’ one tends to think of the great names in history: Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, and others who remind us of the momentous transformations one man or woman can effect. Contemplating one’s own abilities in comparison could well leave one with a sense of hopelessness. But, remember this — changing the world always begins with changing one’s own immediate circumstances.” Weinreb will start a doctoral program in physical therapy at Touro’s School of Health Sciences this fall.

Betzalel Krasnow, the first second generation student valedictorian of the School for Men at Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, reminded his peers that achieving their dreams requires determination and grit. “We have all heard of Thomas Edison, the brilliant inventor of the light bulb.

What many do not know is the number of times it took a young Thomas Edison to perfect the light bulb,” Krasnow said. After a particularly trying day at Menlo Park, Edison said, ‘I have not failed., I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ Edison would not allow his failures to interfere with his dream of success.” This fall Krasnow, a father of two, will start dental school.

Ayelet Schwerd, valedictorian of Lander College for Women the Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School, aspires to synthesize psychological tools and Torah principles and mores to elevate behavioral standards in the frum community. Next year, she plans to begin a PsyD program at Rutgers University, one of the top-ranked programs in the nation. Her ultimate goal is to specialize in child and adolescent psychology. “Touro College programs insulate students while providing them with the tools and the strength to go into the world and thrive—the gumption and confidence to be a member of society but on our terms,” Schwerd explained.

THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

At Shulamith, Val, Sal and Keter Shem Tov awards

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June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

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‫כוכב של שבת‬

SHAbbAT STAR

Sh’lach: Bringing the desert into everyday life From Heart of Jerusalem

Rabbi biNNY FReeDMaN

Jewish Star columnist

T

his week’s parsha, Sh’lach, contains one of the most challenging stories in the entire Torah: the story of the spies.

It’s an incredible moment in Jewish history — with the fleshpots and pyramids of Egypt behind them, the Jewish people are ready to achieve their mission. G-d has told them they are now ready to enter the land. So one wonders: if G-d is already promising to give them the land, why is there any need at all to send out spies? The truth is, sending scouts ahead to spy out territory prior to conquest is not necessarily a bad thing.

In fact, Moshe himself, before conquering Ya’azer, sends out spies (Bamidbar 21:3), and so does Yehoshua (Joshua) (Joshua 21:32), relying heavily on the information his two spies bring back before beginning the conquest of the land.

The real question, it would seem, is how the same people who actually witnessed the ten plagues and the splitting of the sea could doubt G-d’s ability to bring them into the land of Israel? This is especially challenging considering that the spies were the princes of the tribes, men of great stature, chosen as the leaders of the people.

How could such men could suddenly, in the midst of an experience where G-d was everywhere, and where miracles were a daily event, doubt G-d? Obviously, there is something else at the root of this painful episode.

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he Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, suggests a fascinating possibility. The question is not why the people — and the princes — did not believe in G-d, it’s whether they believed in G-d too much. The people understood that as they entered the Land, G-d would necessarily withdraw. In the desert, G-d was everywhere, providing manna from heaven, and even protection from the elements by way of the clouds of glory. Yet that is not the goal in Judaism, because when G-d is everywhere then where are we? He wants us to be partners with Him in perfecting an imperfect world.

The challenge was, how do you leave a world where G-d is everywhere, to one where He is hidden? The spies weren’t afraid of a physical defeat, they were afraid of a spiritual defeat.

It is no big deal to have a deep spiritual relationship with G-d in the Yeshiva that was the desert; but can you maintain that level in the office, or on the tractor? Indeed, this is one of the issues in modern Israeli society which threatens to rip apart the social fabric of the country.

There are many in the “religious” camp (whatever that means) who believe that those capable of sitting and learning Torah should not go into the army. After all, for 2,000 years of exile we did not have a Land, it was only our connection to our Jewish heritage and the study of our Torah which allowed us to maintain our identity and survive as a people. And make no mistake about it: I watched a lot of guys go into

the army with a kippah on their heads and a pair of tefillin in their bags and gradually lose their connection to Jewish ritual and Jewish tradition, hard as it is for some to imagine that one could lose their Jewish identity in the only Jewish army in the world. o I understand the position of those who are opposed to yeshiva students doing the army. This week’s story, however, is the Torah’s response to their opposition. This was precisely the mistake of the spies in the desert 3,000 years ago.

“How can we leave the perfect spiritual environment of the desert for life in the trenches and the fields? How will we be able to maintain our level of Torah when we need to harvest the crops, and man the guard posts?”

“We are not ready,” the princes of the tribes must have felt; the people need more time in yeshiva, as it were.

But the spies were wrong, because the purpose of a life lived in Torah is not elevation of the soul; that is only a vehicle to sanctify the world.

The real goal is to find G-d in the world, not to see Him by leaving the world behind.

The miracles of the desert were simply preparation for entering the world. Instead of being lowered to where the real world drags us down, Judaism believes we can raise the entire world to where we all should be.

The perspective of the yeshiva student afraid to enter the challenges of the army in defense of the Jewish people, itself a mitzvah, limits G-d to the domain of the spiritual environment. But Ju-

S

How do you go from a world where G-d is everywhere, to one where He is hidden?

daism suggests that Hashem is everywhere, and we can find G-d and a relationship with Him, even in the most physical of experiences.

One wonders (though it is certainly not for us to judge), whether this was the tragic mistake of the leaders of our generation, indeed the princes of Torah and great leaders of the yeshiva world 60 years ago, who almost en masse resisted the opportunity to leave the spiritual desert (even paradise) of the yeshivot in Europe, for fear of the spiritual corruption life in the barren desert of the land of Israel would have entailed.

Imagine what a different Jewish world we would live in today, if the State of Israel had been built by the yeshiva students of the Mir and Belz, Volozhin and Radin.

This is not a question for the yeshiva student alone; every Jew knows the seclusion of the desert, along with the challenge of “conquering the land,” and the spiritual tension that exists between them.

We begin our day with a brief retreat into the spiritual desert, a chance to pray and/ or take some time to study Torah, before the pressures of daily living engulf us. Early in the morning, when the kids are still asleep and the phone is quiet, one has a little time to reexperience the desert; to explore once again a closer relationship with life and living, and the source of it all. But then we emerge into the “land” with all the stirrings of doubt that, of necessity, come with the world of business, labor, and even the practical mitzvoth of building a better world.

Our challenge is to see Hashem everywhere, and to bring that desert with us into the land every day, and everywhere we go.

Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem.

This column originally appeared in 2012.

Changing names, changing the paths of our lives Parsha of the Week

Rabbi avi biLLet Jewish Star columnist

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fter listing the names of the leaders set to spy the Land, the Torah informs us that Moshe changed Hoshea bin Nun’s name to Yehoshua. The fact that his name is mentioned prior to this as Yehoshua is the Torah’s way of referring to something or someone “al shem sofo” (based on how it will turn out). The Torah has the benefit of hindsight to be able to do that.

Why was Yehoshua’s name changed? Rashi explains that Moshe prayed “Kah yoshiakha me’atzat meraglim,” that G-d should save you from the scheme of the spies. If indeed Moshe uttered such a prayer, it’s fair to assume that he knew the spies mission would end horribly.

If so, why did he go ahead with it?

The Torah Temimah explains that Moshe did not actually read the future insofar as human behavior is concerned. He was concerned for Yehoshua, his student, his protégé, who was a descendant of Yosef. It is certainly not farfetched to expect that some of the spies would come back with negative reports. Perhaps there would be an equal balance of positivity and negativity so that they could debate about strategy!

But could anticipate that it would be 10 to 2, an overwhelming majority, and that the path they’d pick would get overwhelming support from the people to reject the Promised Land?

Y

ehoshua was a descendant of Yosef, the same Yosef who spoke ill (dibbah) about his brothers. The same Yosef who accused his brothers of being meraglim (spies) when they came to Egypt looking for food. There is a history in Yehoshua which needs attention (though why Gadi ben Susi of Menashe is ignored is a reasonable question) and Moshe is doing what he can. (See Kli Yakar!)

In his Otzar HaChaim, Rabbi Chaim Zuckerman suggests that what Moshe actually prayed was “Kah Yoshiakha” (the play on words that leads to the name Yehoshua) and that he left out the words “me’atzat meraglim,” a phrase added by the Rabbis at a later period, in hindsight to what actually happened.

Of course Yosef’s name had also been changed when he became viceroy in Egypt. Perhaps a name change is an indicator of good fortune to come. It is also possible that what worked for the ancestor might work for the descendant.

There are a few takeaway messages from this story.

First, with all the positivity that accompanies every undertaking, we must always be prepared for the contingency of failure. Case in point — Yehoshua emerges from this story unscathed, while all other spies (with the exception of Kalev) are destroyed.

Second, having a relationship with a leader is to one’s greater benefit than not having such a relationship. Surely everyone viewed Moshe as their master and teacher. But Ye-

hoshua, with rare exception, did not leave Moshe’s tent. He was constantly at Moshe’s side, looking out for his teacher’s best interests, and doing whatever possible to promote his teacher’s honor. And so, knowing Yehoshua much better than he knew the others, Moshe was looking out for him specifically. hile truly honest leaders love all of their constituents, it is hard not to care slightly more for those with whom there is a relationship.

Which begs the question: upon whom is the onus of making that relationship stronger, to the point of flourishing? Some think it is the leader’s job to reach out, make phone calls, visit, open one’s home.

Others see it as the job of the constituent to reach out, to bask in the feet of the leader (as per Avot’s teaching), in order to strengthen and maintain that relationship.

Having seen and experienced both sides of this, I would suggest either approach is largely a reflection of the personalities of both parties.

We don’t know a lot about the relationship between Moshe and Yehoshua. We know who was the master and who was the student. We know the Yehoshua defended Moshe’s honor (think Eldad and Meidad), and we know that Moshe looked out for Yehoshua’s safety (spies story) and that Moshe ultimately was given the greatest gift, that the person closest to him in the last stage of his life became his successor.

May our relationships be blessed to be as close as that of Moshe and Yehoshua.

We must always be prepared for the contingency of failure.

W

Luach

Fri June 8 • 25 Sivan Sh’lach Candlelighting: 8:06 pm Havdalah: 9:15 pm

Wed-Thurs June 13-14 Rosh Chodesh Tammuz

Fri June 15 • 2 Tammuz Korach Candlelighting: 8:09 pm Havdalah: 9:18 pm

Fri June 22 • 9 Tammuz Chukas Candlelighting: 8:11 pm Havdalah: 9:20 pm

Fri June 29 • 16 Tammuz Balak Candlelighting: 8:11 pm Havdalah: 9:20 pm

Sun July 1 • 18 Tammuz Fast of Tammuz

Fri July 6 • 23 Tammuz Pinchas Candlelighting: 8:10 pm Havdalah: 9:19 pm

Five Towns times from White Shul

Kosher Bookworm

AlAN JAy GERBER

Jewish Star columnist

T

his week I bring to your attention a newly published volume by the Torah Web Foundation, “Chinuch: Contemporary & Timeless,” which deals with, as its title tell us, education for our times.

This work, written by leading rabbis and educators, provides parents and teachers with an analysis of issues involving Jewish education (chinuch).

Torah Web was founded in 1999 at the initiative of leading members of the Modern Orthodox community to disseminate both Torah and hashkafa themed to contemporary concerns.

Torah Web’s board consists of Rabbis Hershel Schachter, Michael Rosensweig, Mayer Twersky, and Mordechai Willig. With their carefully de-

signed guidance, the issues covered in this work deal with many difficult and sensitive topics such as egocentrism, substance abuse, and divorce, as well as: •How does materialism influence our youth?

•How concerned should we be about our youth’s sense of entitlement?

•What can be done with the child who is not interested in going to shul?

•What role should discipline play in today’s families?

•How can we effectively select the best school for our children?

•Is the post-high school year in Israel causing a spiritual generation gap?

With questions such as these, Torah Web seeks to generate both discussion as well as methodologies geared toward solutions. This is reflected in both the goals as well as the solutions that are the themes inherent in this book.

Aside from the names listed above, the other authors whose work appears in this problem solving anthology are:

Rabbi Abraham Twerski, Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky, Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger, Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, Rabbi Yaakov Haber and Rabbi Yonason Sacks. Their essays and teaching when taken together provide for us the intellectual groundwork that will ultimately lead to a resolution to many, if not all of the questions posed above.

Given both the prominence as well as the experience of the participating authors I am certain that their brave attention to these challenging issues as well as their willingness to face issues heretofore long ignored will lead to realistic solutions that will serve as intellectual and religious models in the many years to come.

OTHER READINGS TO CONSIDER The Spring 2018 issue of “Hakirah, The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought” pro-

vides interesting thoughts, including these articles: •Rav Hildesheimer’s response to ultra-Orthodoxy, by Gil Student •Teaching mussar at the FBI,

by Cary Friedman •Historical revisionism by the families of Rav Kook’s disciples, by Eitam Henkin •Rav Soloveitchik’s new world view, by David P. Goldman •A tour of the Osler Library of the history of medicine through Jewish eyes, by Edward Reichman and Anna Dysert •Why no kosher meat or poultry is certified humane, by Heshy Zelcer and Malky Zelcer Please enjoy some of these fine examples of Jewish scholarship.

Untill next week and part three of this series, shalom.

Power of prayer, with the added umph of ‘yud’ Torah

RABBI DAvID ETENGOff

Jewish Star columnist

I

believe a potentially life-changing message emerges from Rav Eliyahu Mizrahi’s profound analysis of Rashi’s comment, namely, the nearly unlimited power of tefilah. Moses’ prayer consisted of but one letter added to Hoshea’s name, yet, in this instance, it changed Jewish history for evermore, for now Joshua would become the one to lead the Jewish people to their life and destiny in Eretz Yisrael. If the letter yud, alone had this awesome ability, imagine what we can do, as individuals and as a nation, if we encounter the Almighty in heartfelt and considered prayer.

Our parasha, Sh’lach, contains a pasuk with a puzzling phrase: “These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout the Land, and Moses called (vayikra Moshe) Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua (Yehoshua).” (Bamidbar 13:16) At first glance, the concluding part of this verse seems to indicate that something new has taken place; namely, Moses has now renamed Hoshea, “Joshua (Yehoshua).” Yet, this name is hardly new, as it’s already appeared eight times in both sefer Shemot and sefer Bamidbar. Moreover, the name Hoshea is not supplanted by the appellation Joshua, since it appears, once again, in Devarim 32:44

— “And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song into the ears of the people, he and Hoshea the son of Nun.” What, then, is the Torah teaching us when it states in our parasha, “and Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua (Yehoshua)?”

The classic answer is found both in Talmud Bavli, Sotah 34b and Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah. According to these sources, Moses was afraid the meraglim (scouts) could have a negative influence on Hoshea, and therefore sought to protect him by renaming him Yehoshua: “May the L-rd save you from the counsel of the Scouts.” This is the case, since the Hebrew etymology of this name is a contraction of “Y-ah” (represented by the letter yud) and “Hoshea,” and denotes the idea that “Hashem should save you.” My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal, the Rav, expanded upon the underlying meaning of the addition of the yud to Hoshea’s name in the following midrashically-infused analysis: “Prior to sending the spies to scout the land, Moses changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua, signifying that G-d should save him from the evil designs of the other spies (Rashi). The midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 47:1) indicates that Moses effected this change by transferring the letter yud from Sarah’s former name (Sarai) to Joshua’s.”

A

t this point, the Rav examines the meaning of the letter yud and explains that it represents privacy and separation. Thus, when Sarah was initially Sarai (her name ended in a yud), she was “the matriarch of her family alone.” Building upon this concept, the Rav notes that Hoshea needed to be keenly aware that he was completely different from the negatively predisposed scouts, so that he could remain steadfast in his commitment to the Promised Land: “Moses added the letter yud so Joshua would attain the sense of separation and withdrawal that was taken from Sarah [when she became “the matriarch of a family of nations”]…

Moses changed Joshua’s name so that he would have the strength to separate himself from…[the] collective entity [of the spies], enabling him to take a principled stand against the prevailing sentiment.”

Based on our new understanding of the yud added to Hoshea’s name, we are in a better position to understand Rashi’s explication of the name Yehoshua, and how this differs from the abovecited Talmudic statement. Crucially, Rashi’s commentary adds the word, “prayed:” — “He [Moses] prayed (hitpalel) concerning him [Joshua] that Hashem should protect him from the counsel of the scouts.” In other words, vayikra Moshe

A lifechanging message in the power of tefilah.

(and Moses called) connotes much more than the idea of renaming, instead, it actually means, “and Moses prayed.” This notion is expanded upon in the thought of Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrahi, author of one of the most celebrated supercommentaries on Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah: “The explanation of the term vayikra in our pasuk is that of tefilah, as we find in the verse, ‘and Abram called there in the name of the L-rd.’

(Bereishit 13:4) Therefore, the explanation of the name, Yehoshua, is: ‘Hashem should save you’ … as if it actually said, ‘And he [Moses] prayed regarding Hoshea that Hashem should save you, that Hashem, may He be blessed, should save you from the advice of the spies.’ Moreover, it is essential to explain ‘vayikra Moshe’ in this fashion, rather than in the normative sense [of “he called”], since there is no [other] reason for literally changing Hoshea’s name at this juncture.”

(Mizrahi, Bamidbar 13:16) I believe a potentially life-changing message emerges from Rav Eliyahu Mizrahi’s profound analysis of Rashi’s comment, namely, the nearly unlimited power of tefilah. Moses’ prayer consisted of but one letter added to Hoshea’s name, yet, in this instance, it changed Jewish history for evermore, for now Joshua would become the one to lead the Jewish people to their life and destiny in Eretz Yisrael. If the letter yud, alone had this awesome ability, imagine what we can do, as individuals and as a nation, if we encounter the Almighty in heartfelt and considered prayer.

As Sh’lach teaches, majorities are often wrong Angel for Shabbat

RABBI mARC D. ANGEl JewishIdeas.org

M

y late friend and mentor, Professor Mair Jose Benardete, once told me: “You don’t determine truth by counting bonnets!”

When seeking truth, one must not be swayed by majorities. The multitudes are often wrong and lonely dissenting individuals frequently are the great spiritual and cultural heroes of humanity.

In matters of halakha, the Great Court of ancient Israel made rulings based on majority rule. People needed to know the law, and there had to be a definitive decision. But in matters of philosophic or scientific truth, majority votes are irrelevant.

Maimonides taught: “When something has been demonstrated, the correctness of the matter is not increased and certainty regarding it is not strengthened by the consensus of all men of

knowledge with regard to it. Nor could its correctness be diminished and certainty regarding it be weakened even if all the people on earth disagreed with it” (Guide of the Perplexed, 2:13). ust as majorities are irrelevant in determining philosophic or scientific truth, so they may be misguided in the area of policy making.

This week’s parsha, Sh’lach, tells of the 12 Israelite leaders who entered Canaan to spy out the land. Famously, ten of these spies came back with a report that indicated the overwhelming power of the inhabitants of the land. They thought the Israelites would be crushed by their enemies.

Although Caleb and Joshua tried to reassure the people, the majority report caused panic and loss of heart among the masses of Israelites. This horrible advice of the majority

J

of spies led to the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.

Why did the majority of spies come back with such a negative report? As the top leaders of the Israelite tribes, this elite group should have done a better job. Why were only two of them strong enough to resist the majority’s erroneous report?

The Torah may be alluding to the fact that people—even top leaders—come to incorrect conclusions because their judgment is perverted by their emotions. Confronting giants among the Canaanites, the spies concluded, “we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Bemidbar 13:33). Because of their fear and trembling, they were unable to think calmly and reasonably. All factors pointing to the possible success of the Israelites were quashed.

In matters of philosophic or scientific truth, majority votes are irrelevant.

The Torah is not only teaching that majorities can be wrong, it is also teaching that unique individuals are able to stand up against erring majorities.

Psalm 147 states that G-d’s wisdom is infinite (litvunato ein mispar). Literally, the Hebrew words mean: To His wisdom there is no number.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik interpreted this phrase to mean: G-d is not impressed by numbers! His wisdom is absolute Truth. The Truth is not subject to numerical votes. One person who approaches the Truth is more cherished by the Almighty than millions or billions of people who are remote from the Truth.

Our goals should be to strive for genuine truth and to make the best decisions. We are more apt to achieve these goals if we think calmly and carefully, if we try to factor in all relevant information, and if we do not allow ourselves to be swept up by the fears, anxieties and judgments of others — even if they are the majority.

The playwright Diane Grant has aptly remarked: “It’s better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction.”

THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

More suggestions for summer reading pleasure

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March’s Mallory: Israel is a human rights crime Politics to Go

JEff DuNEtz

Jewish Star columnist

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f the name sounds familiar, it may be because New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand praised anti-Semite Tamika Mallory and her fellow Jew-hater Linda Sarsour in the 2017 Time Magazine “Time 100” issue. Mallory is also one of the founders of the Women’s March and a friend of Louis Farrakhan.

Last month, on a trip sponsored by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Mallory traveled through Israel — including Judea and Samaria — seemingly with the purpose of learning new ways to be anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. She did not disappoint.

After she returned to the United States, Mallory spoke via video at an event hosted by the center, opining that the very creation of Israel was a human rights crime.

“When you go to someone’s home, and you need a place to stay, you ask ‘Can I come

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hen the modern state of into your home and can I stay Israel was born in 1948, here, and can we peacefully coexJews weren’t injected into ist?’ You don’t walk into someone the land by outsiders. Jews who else’s home, needing a place. It’s lived in the diaspora joined their clear you needed a place to go — brethren who never left when the cool, we got that. I hear that. But Romans changed the name of their you don’t show up to somebody’s country from Judea to Syria-Palaeshome, needing a place to stay, and tina in 135 C.E. as punishment for decide that you’re going to throw the Bar Kokhba revolt. them out and hurt the people who After Israel’s independence are on that land. And to kill, steal, was declared in 1948, Palestinian and do whatever it is you’re gonna Arabs weren’t thrown out as Maldo to take that land. That to me is lory contended, but told by the unfair. It’s a human rights crime.”

Arab League states to leave so they Along with being anti-Semitic, could massacre the Jews without Mallory’s words show she doesn’t know much about history. Jews Tamika Mallory speak- the Palestinian Arabs getting in have owned land in what is now ing in New York in 2017. the way. (Note: They were called called Israel since Abraham bought Robin Marchant/Getty for Hulu Palestinian Arabs because the U.N. recognized the other group living a burial cave for his beloved wife Sarah in Hebron almost 4,000 years ago. And there as Palestinian Jews.)

During her travels in Israel, Mallory, rethere have been Jews (they were called Israelites back then) living in the holy land since ceived a briefing and tour from Grassroots about 40 years after the exodus from Egypt Jerusalem. She wrote on Twitter that she when Joshua Ben Nun led the Jews across the “learned a lot” from the Grassroots tour, tweeting, “Powerful briefing … Anyone visiting JeruJordan River about 3,200 years ago.

salem should connect with @GrassrootsJlem. I learned a lot.”

As explained by NGO Monitor, Grassroots Jerusalem is a supporter of the anti-Semitic BDS movement. It also promotes the Palestinian narrative of a “right of return” which, if implemented, would allow the original Palestinian refugees, their children, in-laws, first-cousins twice removed, etc., to move into Israel, thus increasing the initial estimate of 720,000 refugees to over five million. Only 30,000 to 50,000 of the original refugees are still alive. Israelhaters push for the “right of return” because it would effectually mean the elimination of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

The New York Post calls Mallory one of the new faces of anti-Semitism.

When Starbucks planned its afternoon of anti-bigotry training, it included the Anti-Defamation League as a contributor. But Tamika called for a boycott of Starbucks for including the very liberal ADL. She wanted Starbucks to include organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which was named by the ADL as one of the ten most anti-Israel organizations in the country.

See Mallory on page 24

Milestones of P’stian ‘original sin’: Nakba, Naksa Viewpoint

BEN COHEN

Jewish News Syndicate

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hen it comes to the Palestinian “original sin” theory of Israel’s creation, there are two key milestones: the flight of approximately 750,000 Arab refugees during the 1948 War of Independence and the 1967 conquest of eastern Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War. The events of 1948 are known in Arabic as the nakba (“catastrophe”) and the events of 1967 are called the naksa (“setback”).

This week, with the 51st anniversary of the Six-Day War upon us, Palestinians will mark “Naksa Day” on June 5 with protests and demonstrations—and it will be interesting to see whether any new wave of protests fizzles out in much the same way as those on Israel-Gaza border in recent weeks that were presented as a commemoration of the events of 1948. It will also be interesting to see whether Hamas, Islamic Jihad and allied Islamist groups will use the occasion to fire another barrage of missiles at Israel.

It’s increasingly clear to everyone that neither of these strategies is working for the Palestinians. Compare the international reaction to Gaza in 2018 to that of summer 2014, when Israel took military action to end the daily missile launches from Gaza, and which the Palestinians similarly depicted as a total war designed to deliberately kill and maim civilians. Four years on, especially among European governments, there is much greater recognition that Hamas uses Gazans as human shields and far less lecturing of Israeli leaders about the moral perils of a “disproportionate response.” As for the expected convulsion of international protests, there really hasn’t been one so far.

Instead, the Palestinians are confronted with a region that no longer places them front and center, as well as an impatient international community, less willing to indulge Palestinian tales of Israel’s inherent brutality. In her speech to the U.N. Security Council emergency meeting on the Palestinian missile attacks on Israel— called by the United States—U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley openly declared that the time had come for the Palestinians to consider alternative leadership that can deliver a peace strategy. Haley, significantly to my mind, made no distinction between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and

cluding Mahmoud Abbas, the Hamas rulers of Gaza, set about “Palestinianizing” puncturing yet another prethe struggle against Israel, vailing myth that the forwinning the hearts of the mer is dramatically more international left and esmoderate than the latter. his is where the questablishing themselves as altion of the naksa and lies of the Soviet bloc. its associated nakba But just as the Arab comes into sharp focus.

League never recognized Both concepts are built Israel’s legitimacy, nor did around the logic that Israel the PLO, which was transis the eternal enemy. That formed into an independent organization after the is why Israel’s creation was war. The “setback,” then, a “catastrophe.” But what was principally that Israel precisely was the “setback”? continued existing, even According to the Instiflourishing, after the Arab tute of Palestine Studies, attempt in 1967 to elimiit was “a misfortune that nate it. pointed up the need for a So perhaps the time has new strategy for confront- A few years ago on June 5, 50 Palestining Israel and redeeming ians met in Beit Ommar to mark Al Naksa come to go even further than Ambassador Haley Palestine.” The immediate Day. PSP Photos and suggest to the Palsource of this misfortune was identified the Arab states, which had sub- estinians that, for the sake of the generation merged the Palestinian plight into the snake-oil that will mark the centenary of Israel’s birth in diplomacy of the Arab League and its front orga- 2048, they abandon the discourse of the nakba nization, the original version of the PLO. Sure and naksa altogether. This does not mean, of enough, after Israel’s overwhelming victory in course, that the Palestinians have to become See Nakba on page 24 1967, Yasser Arafat and his Fatah comrades, in-

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edwin blaCk For The Jewish Star

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hen International Farhud Day was proclaimed at a conference convened at the United Nations on June 1, 2015, its proponents wanted to achieve more than merely establish a commemoration of the ghastly 1941 Arab-Nazi pogrom in Baghdad that killed and injured hundreds of Iraqi Jews. Farhud means violent dispossession; it was the first bloody step along the tormented path to the ultimate expulsion of some 850,000 Jews from across the Arab world.

Jews had thrived in Iraq for 2,700 years, a thousand years before Mohammad. But all that came to end when the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, led the broad Arab-Nazi alliance in the Holocaust that produced a military, economic, political, and ideological common cause with Hitler. Although Husseini spearheaded an international pro-Nazi, anti-Jewish Islamic movement from India to Central Europe to the Middle East, it was in Baghdad that he launched his robust coordination with the Third Reich.

In 1941, Iraq still hosted Britain’s Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which controlled the region’s oil. Hitler wanted that oil to propel his invasion

of Russia. The Arabs, led by Husseini, wanted the Jews out of Palestine and Europe’s persecuted Jews kept away from the Middle East. Indeed, Husseini persuasively argued to Hitler that Jews should not be expelled to Palestine but rather to “Poland,” where “they will be under active control.” Translation: send Jews to the concentration camps.

Husseini had visited concentration camps.

He had been hosted by architect of the genocide Heinrich Himmler, and the Mufti considered Shoah engineer Adolf Eichmann not only a great friend, but a “diamond” among men. azi lust for oil and Arab hatred of Jews combined synergistically June 1-2, 1941, burning the Farhud into history. Arab soldiers, police, and hooligans, swearing allegiance to the Mufti and Hitler, bolstered by fascist coup plotters known as the Golden Square, ran wild in the streets, raping, shooting, burning, dismembering, and decapitating. Jewish blood flowed through those streets and their screams created echoes that have never faded.

The 1941 Farhud massacre, launched in tandem with an attempted takeover of the British oil fields and London’s airbase at Habbaniya, set the stage for the Mufti-Hitler summit and the establishment of three Islamic and Arab Waffen SS divisions in central Europe under Himmler’s direct sponsorship.

After the State of Israel was established in 1948, Mufti adherents and devotees throughout the Arab world, working through the Arab

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League, openly and systematically expelled 850,000 Jews from Morocco to Lebanon. Penniless and stateless, many of those refugees were airlifted to Israel where they were absorbed and became almost half the families of Israel.

Remembering the tragic facts of the Farhud process will make it harder for the newly invented history to take root. After the Arabs rebranded themselves as “Palestinians” in May 1964 with the backing of the Soviet KGB, a new narrative began to come together. In part, it pretends that the Arabs of Ottoman and then British Palestine did not arrive in the Seventh Century during the Arab-Islamic Conquest, as history records.

Their narrative now asserts that are actually descendants of the Canaanites and the Philistines.

Palestine is named for the Philistines. After the Jews were expelled by the Romans in about 135136 CE, the name of their nation was changed from Judea to Syria Palaestina. But in truth, the Israelites gave rise to the only true surviving Canaanites. The Philistines were Greek Island sea invaders defeated by Ramses III in about 1150 BCE and sequestered into the Gaza Pentapolis, not Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula who conquered in the seventh century CE. nvented Palestinian history also asserts that present-day Israelis are almost entirely transplants from such alien regions as the Ukraine, Poland, Brooklyn, and Germany—or descendants thereof. Remembering the Farhud helps us understand that almost half the early Jewish families in newly declared Israel were not from

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Let’s abolish Jewish celebrities Jonathan S. tobin

Jewish News Syndicate

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ike any embattled minority that needed positive role models, early- and mid20th-century Jews living in the United States embraced celebrities with any sort of tie to the tribe. Though most were not Jewish heroes in the sense that they used their celebrity to stand up for their people or to promote Jewish values or faith, they were still lauded for somehow succeeding in a world where the odds seem stacked against them.

Happily, over the decades, the circumstances of American Jewry have changed for the better and we don’t need Jewish baseball legends to prove that we aren’t weak any more than we need songwriters or comedians to

prove that we fit in, or Supreme Court justices and senators to establish the importance of our many contributions to society.

So why are many Jews still obsessed with Jewish celebrities and willing to treat their utterances as important when we ought to know better?

That’s the lesson some of us should have learned from the self-destruction of Roseanne Barr. The point here is not to add to the chorus of condemnations of her disgusting and racist comment about Valerie Jarrett, a key advisor to President Obama — there’s no excuse for that kind of verbal ugliness, which was neither funny nor cogent, about a person’s background or heritage even if, in this case, she was a public figure whose work is fair game for criticism. hat is worthy of discussion is the way the Jewish world, especially in the proIsrael community, was willing to treat Barr as not merely noteworthy, but somehow possessing some insight into the world of poli-

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tics or even the Middle East. As anyone who followed her Twitter account before the slur at Jarrett was published, the nicest word one would apply to Barr could be “eccentric.” (Most of the time, “unhinged” was more apt.)

The odd thing about Barr was that while she was once known as an ardent liberal with little interest in Jewish issues, in recent years she had become an open and vocal supporter of Israel and a critic of anti-Semitism. That was praiseworthy, but along with it came scads of tweets that were either unintelligible or the product of conspiracy theories. While it was nice to see a famous Jew support Israel at a time when so many Jewish celebrities are at pains to distance themselves from the Jewish state, you didn’t have to scroll down very far in her Twitter feed to realize that she was not exactly a reliable source of commentary.

Yet that didn’t stop her from being booked at the annual Jerusalem Post conference in New York and treated not merely as a star, but as someone whose voice should be heard. I don’t

across the sea, but rather from across the river, across the bridge, down the road, and plucked from the same culture.

What’s more, the fabricated Palestinian history laments that Palestine became just a consolation prize for the Holocaust—a tragedy that either never occurred or was a purely European misdeed for which Arabs are not responsible and in which they were not involved. Remembering the 1941 Farhud and the Arab-Nazi alliance that sparked it, locks in Arab involvement in the Holocaust as one of full partnership with the Third Reich.

The established and incontrovertible facts chronicling the Arab world’s deep and enthusiastic anti-Jewish alliance with the Third Reich during the Holocaust, which exploded into the Farhud, plus the subsequent population shift that Arab governments engineered to expel 850,000 of their own Jewish citizens, make it impossible to weave a fabric of invented history.

Recognizing, remembering, and reminding the world of those facts on International Farhud Day, June 1, will help all participants and observers of the Arab-Israeli conflict confront the true legacy that has helped create today’s stalemate.

Recognition is the first step along the painful path toward reconciliation.

Edwin Black is the New York Times bestselling author of IBM and the Holocaust, and the prizewinning book The Farhud—Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust. In 2015, Black organized and founded International Farhud Day. so much blame the Post for trying to exploit her celebrity as I do a Jewish community that still labors under the delusion that what Jewish celebrities say about politics or policy matters.

The object lesson to be learned is not just that we are obligated to condemn hatred wherever we encounter it, especially when it comes out of the mouths of those who identify as Jewish. It’s that in a free society where Jews need no heroes in the way we once did, we should stop obsessing over Jewish celebrities—whether it means making lists of Jewish actors or tallying up how many of those suiting up for Major League Baseball can count as Jews (halachically or not).

Difficult as it may be to do in a culture that glorifies notoriety for its own sake, it’s especially important for Jews who care about the furtherance of Jewish values to eschew the cult of celebrity.

It may be a lot these days to ask to expect American Jews to find our heroes among the ranks of our great scholars and thinkers. But when you realize what comes from godding up the likes of Roseanne Barr, perhaps it won’t be so difficult.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.

At last, the joy of summer is really upon us View from Central Park

tehilla r. goldberg

Intermountain Jewish News

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he essence of Memorial Day is to remember and honor the brave men and women who served in the U.S. military, without whom we wouldn’t have the beautiful free and protected country we are blessed to call home. My zadie, after immigrating from Hungary to America in the 1930s, served in the U.S. Army. His service has always been a source of pride in our family.

Memorial Day is also a reminder that summer is around the corner and with it a sense of freedom. Perhaps this is because as children summer meant freedom from school and more time for fun.

Or perhaps it’s the literal feeling of more light, with longer days melting into late nights and giving the season of summer an aura of endless time.

Summer’s invitation is simple: spend as much

time outdoors as possible!

In New York City, I love roaming in Central Park’s conservatory gardens, just a few blocks from my apartment. Standing at the top of the staircase on Fifth Avenue at the entrance to the secluded gardens, the grand wrought iron Vanderbilt gate in black and gold transports me to an elegant floral oasis.

The perfectly pruned and manicured concentric circles of gardens, the fountain jet whose spray brings a sense of life to it all, the graceful rose arbor gates, and the little literary flourish of dedicating a Secret Garden water lily pool to author Frances Hodgson Burnett, are simply charming.

On more casual outings, crossing the street to Central Park’s duck pond is perfect. This summer I plan to get a portable hammock and find a perfect shady spot between two trees to tie it to and, if possible, loll away a Sunday afternoon reading a good book.

Another New York City summer tradition I have developed over the years is a nighttime movie under the stars at Bryant Park.

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t started before I moved to Israel, and even while I lived in Israel, if I was visiting in New York I tried to squeeze in one of the classic movies. It is through this summer movie festival, which glows on the big screen after nightfall on the lawn of this park, so evocative of Parisian charm, vintage carousel and all, that I have developed an affection for some of those old Hollywood classics from my mother’s and even my grandmother’s generation.

I usually try and go with a friend once every season. Sitting there on a blanket in the grass in steamy New York heat, the big screen showing old vintage black and white cinematography, framed by Midtown’s skyscrapers, and knowing that footsteps away is the New York Public Library, is a perfect New York summer night.

This year, when it comes to actual sporty or nature-oriented outdoor summer goals, nothing can quite compare to last summer’s quietly dramatic experience of being in the path of totality and witnessing the sun’s total eclipse.

Compared to that, this summer’s goals seem

quite modest, if not outright dull.

That said, I will be back in Colorado and do hope I can hike during July’s colorful mountain flower season from Aspen to Crested Butte, a trail I have wanted to climb for years. Eclipse or no eclipse, it’s beautiful! I haven’t been on Lake Dillon for about five years, a standard summer past time ingrained in me since family trips in formative years, so I hope to get back on track with that, too.

But let’s face it, each season usually grants only a fraction of our goals set forth at the outset, the best part of the season is making wonderful memories with loved ones in the backdrop of this beautiful sunshine filled and colorful world.

Summer feels like a season of life and living.

The world is in bloom. The fresh air is life affirming. Life is hopefully growing all around, symbolized by even something as simple as geraniums blooming in a terra cotta flower pot. These summer gifts, even a snow addict like me cherishes.

Memorial Day weekend couldn’t have come fast enough!

Copyright Intermountain Jewish News

THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

Farhud Day stymies invented P’stinian history

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Friedman...

Continued from page 6 martyrdom — the purpose of the demonstrations was to “draw the map of return in blood,” says one — and falsely told protesters that the fence had been breached so they might press forward.

The reporting makes clear that the Gaza protests were about claiming land in Israel as much as they were about the embassy opening, and quotes an anonymous but “well-informed Middle Eastern government official” as saying that Hamas had hoped to kidnap an Israeli.

The Times on those two days quoted assessments by B’Tselem and Doctors Without Borders that the Israeli use of live fire was unjustified. It also quoted the Israeli army as saying that at least 24 of the dead were “documented” terrorists and that there were at least three instances in which armed terrorists had attempted to infiltrate under cover of the protests.

The Times also published close-ups on both sides: of a young Palestinian protester driven to the fence in part because he despaired of his future in the poverty-stricken strip, and of Israeli communities living under a regimen of fear, with a focus on a kindergarten shelled before preschoolers had arrived.

Still, Friedman is not alone — certainly among advocates for Israel — in the belief that the coverage of the Gaza clashes was skewed.

Camera, the pro-Israel media watchdog, has objected to the use of the term “protesters” by The New York Times, The Washington Post and others to describe the Palestinians at the border, suggesting “terrorists” would be more appropriate.

Camera also criticizes mainstream media for “uncritically” quoting casualty claims made by the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry, although it doesn’t say where the casualty numbers are in dispute. And in the same breath

rs 35 Yeagrity e Of Int

that it criticizes the media for underreporting the prevalence of Palestinians armed with explosives, firearms, knives and Molotov cocktails, it notes that NPR interviewed a 19-year-old Gazan who said “We want to burn Jews.”

Two stories in particular suggest why the media and a government official like Friedman might view their roles much differently.

The Times and other newspapers extensively covered the killings of Yasser Murtaja, a photographer, and Razan al-Najjar, a medic. The Palestinian side said both clearly identified themselves as observers, not participants, in the border protests. The Israeli side, as the media reported, insisted Murtaja was a high-ranking official of Hamas and that the case of al-Najjar, who was killed Friday, is under investigation.

Reporters covering their deaths noted that Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, have not presented any evidence that Murtaja was a participant or a Hamas official. They noted that he had been vetted by the State Department to receive funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In both instances, and in reporting on the question of the use of live fire, journalists saw it as their role to query and quote officials on both sides, but to take nothing on faith. By contrast, Haaretz quoted Friedman as saying that from “speaking to people in the military in the State of Israel, the United States and other countries whose confidentiality I’ll maintain,” he concluded that less lethal means were not available to Israel during the protests.

With whom did Friedman speak? He doesn’t say. Reporters may have spoken to the very same experts, but the journalistic reflex would be to be skeptical. Israeli reporters, for example, still remember assurances by Golda Meir’s government that Syrian and Egyptian troops did not pose an immediate threat; that was days before the 1973 Yom Kippur War. And just 15 years ago, a credulous American journalistic community heeded batteries of “experts” and government officials who misled the public about Iraq or got it utterly wrong.

Haaretz may irk Friedman for its left-wing slant, but if Israel’s claim that it is the only democracy in the Middle East means anything, it is that it allows a free press to challenge the government and question its military’s tactics. Such freedom might even lead to opposite conclusions.

An analysis by Haaretz’s Ilene Prusher (who is, full disclosure, a friend) wondered why Israel did not deploy “a myriad of other methods of riot containment that are used worldwide and generally don’t result in scores of deaths.”

The same newspaper’s Amos Harel, meanwhile, laid the blame for the killing squarely at the feet of Hamas. If Harel blamed the Israeli government, it was for not anticipating that it would

in 2017. Odeh spent a decade in an Israeli jail for her involvement in two terrorist bombings as a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). One of those attacks, a 1969 bombing of a Jerusalem Super Sol Market, killed two Hebrew University Students Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner while they were shopping for groceries.

In other words, while many believe the Women’s March group was founded to garner more rights for women, it was founded by terrorists and anti-Semites. Think about their leadership before you participate in their next event.

Mallory… Nakba…

Continued from page 22 “Starbucks was on a decent track until they enlisted the Anti-Defamation League to build their anti-bias training,” Mallory tweeted.

“The ADL is CONSTANTLY attacking black and brown people. This is a sign that they are tone deaf and not committed to addressing the concerns of black folks. Be clear about what’s happening here.” allory directed her venom at the ADL because it began as a Jewish organization. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of the ADL knows it doesn’t now, and never has, attacked “brown and black people.”

In fact, the only people the ADL hates are people who do not agree with its progressivepolitics first, policies.

Mallory’s latest anti-Semitic speech should be a reminder to anyone who supports the Women’s March organization that Jew haters lead it. While Linda Sarsour’s hatred has received more attention, Mallory’s anti-Semitism, disguised as anti-Israelism, is just as dangerous. One of the original Women’s March leaders, Rasmea Yousef Odeh, was deported

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Continued from page 22 Zionists, or that they should overlook those disputes with Israel where they can maximize material or territorial gains for themselves—as opposed to chipping away at Israel’s status as a member of international society.

It’s tempting, particularly as we watch Abbas emerge from yet another extended stay in hospital, to dismiss Haley’s plea for new Palestinian leadership as hopelessly unrealistic. Some might contend that a Palestinian civil war after Abbas departs the scene is more likely than the emergence of a secular-minded, pro-Western peace party. Much also depends on the regional environment—whether Iran is rolled back in Syria; whether Saudi Arabia leads the Arab states in establishing diplomatic relations with Israel; whether Arab states assume full operational responsibility for stability in the region in concert with the United States and Russia.

At the moment, the most likely scenario is more of the same, even if everything else in the region shifts: namely, the collective insistence of the Palestinian leadership that Israel must be brought to its knees to atone for the events of 1948 and then 1967.

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June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan THE JEWISH STAR

24

Jay-Z’s early inspiration: Jewish 6th grade teacher

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said. “It’s the only thing I had seen. I saw a whole different world that day, and my imagination grew from there. I wanted that. I aspired to have that.

The small things. She had an ice thing on her refrigerator. You know, you push it and the ice and the water comes down. I was really amazed by that. I was like, I want one of those.”

Despite this early positive connection to a Jewish individual, a lyric in his song “The Story of O.J.,” which appears in his most recent album “4:44,” prompted accusations of anti-Semitism.

“We do not believe it was Jay-Z’s intent to promote anti-Semitism,” an Anti-Defamation League representative said at the time. “On the contrary, we know that Jay-Z is someone who has used his celebrity in the past to speak out responsibly and forcefully against the evils of racism and anti-Semitism.”

Despite his intentions, the organization considered the particular lyric problematic.

“The lyric does seem to play into deep-seated anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews and money. ,” the ADL said. Carter responded by calling the lyric a deliberate “exaggeration.”

“It’s hard for me to take that serious because I’ve exaggerated every black image in the world,” he said on a rap podcast. “Of course I know Jewish people don’t own all the property in America. I mean, I own things! So I know that they don’t own all of the property in America.”

Rosenblum-Lowden remained unaware of Carter’s profession until 1999, the year he released his fourth rap album. Ironically, she began teaching about instances of prejudice in rap music, and students had been citing his songs as examples of sexism.

But Rosenblum-Lowden read the Teen People article and subsequently reached out to the magazine asking to get in contact with the superstar.

“Five minutes later, he called,” she said. “He was 12 years old again, calling me Ms. Lowden.”

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Arthur James Balfour

t was a minor news story when it broke in the summer of 2016. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced he was suing Great Britain over the Balfour Declaration, issued on Nov. 2, 1917. But as we observe the centennial of the document this week, it’s important to understand that although his lawsuit was a stunt, Abbas was serious. More than that, the symbolism of his See Tobin on page 22

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or the Palestinians, the year zero is not 1948, when the state of Israel came into being, but 1917, when Great Britain issued, on Nov. 2, the Balfour Declaration—expressing support for the establishment of a “Jewish national home” in Palestine.

So central is the Balfour Declaration to Palestinian political identity that the “Zionist invasion” is officially deemed to have begun in 1917—not in 1882, when the first trickle of Jewish pioneers from Russia began arriving, nor in 1897, when the Zionist movement held its first congress in Basel, nor in the late 1920s, when thousands of German Jews fleeing the rise of Nazism chose to go to Palestine.

The year 1917 is the critical date because that is when, as an anti-Zionist might say, the Zionist hand slipped effortlessly into the British imperial glove. It is a neat, simple historical proposition upon which the entire Palestinian version of events rests: an empire came to our land and gave it to foreigners, we were dispossessed, and for five generations now, we have continued to resist. Moreover, it is given official sanction in the Palestine National Covenant of 1968, in which article 6 defines Jews who “were living permanently in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion” as “Palestinians”—an invasion that is dated as 1917 in the covenants’ notes.

As the Balfour Declaration’s centenary approached, this theme is much in evidence.

There is now a dedicated Balfour Apology See Cohen on page 22

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to an — we believe investiture speech Delivering his Wilf Campus in at YU’sThe Newspaper of our Orthodox communities Berman, with many assembly of 2,000 ty, Rabbi Dr. Ari values that personify YeWashington Heights, in by livestream, that of the “five more listening spoke of the Rabbi Berman the five central “Five Torot, or institution.” teachings, of our believe in Tor“We do not just Chayyim — Torat at Emet but also and values must that our truths he said. live in the world,” teachings, YU’s other central Adam,” “Torat he said, are “Torat Tziyyon, the Chesed,” and “Torat Torah of Redemption.” formal cereFollowing the community parmonies, the YU street fair at an “InvestFest” Am- tied street fair on Amsterdam Avenue.

11 was a along at the “InvestFest” See YU on page Star

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To British, Palestine just another colony

Corbyn boycotts B’four event

Britain Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn— who in 2009 called Hezbollah and Hamas his “friends” — said he would not attend a dinner commemorating the centennial of the Balfour Declaration. Prime Minister Theresa May she would attend “with pride” and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would be her guest.

“We are proud of the role we played in the creation of the State of Israel and we will certainly mark the centenary with pride,” May said. “I am also pleased that good trade relations and other relations that we have with Israel we are building on and enhancing.”

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IsraAID brings relief to U.S. disasters

By Ron Kampeas, JTA Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and WASHINGTON — For 17 years, the then the wildfires in northern California.

Israeli NGO IsraAID has been performPolizer recalls that he was wrapping ing search and rescue, purifying water, up a visit to IsraAID’s new American providing emergency medical assistance headquarters in Palo Alto on Oct. 8 and and walking victims of trauma back to was on his way to a flight to Mexico to psychological health in dozens of disas- oversee operations after a devastating ter-hit countries.

No 25 earthquake there when he got word of • Vol 16, But no season has been busier than the wildfires. “I literally had Luach page 19 9:15 • to do a Uthis past summer and fall, its co-CEO Yo- turn,” he said Havdalah this week in an interview 8:07 pm, tam Polizer said in an interview — and ting Candleligh at the Israeli embassy in Washington.

Polizer spoke with the exhilaration of an executive whose team has come through a daunting challenge. “We’re the people who stay past the ‘aid festival’,” he said, grinning, describing the See IsraAID on page 5

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Reuven Taragin, Yeshivat Hakotel founder and director of Eytan Community Education Feiner of The Conferences, White Shul, “When Yitzchak met “Torah tips on Rivkah: Torah’s Star tion and maintain to build Jewish first menThe how a strong By marriage”; of martial the Hebrew joined love”; Michal Towns “Ahavas in Horowitz, The FiveRabbi Sunday Yisrael: In theory or Long Beach on at its in pracnew Academy of

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betzin Shani Taragin, 7:53 • Torah columns Tanach coordinator and mashgicha 6:46 pm, Havdalah nika, and Morah”; ruchanit at Midreshet Towns candles Rabbi • Five rah V’avodah, Ephraim 5777 Congregation Polakoff, don’t”; “Miriam: Meyaledet, To• 24 Elul Bais 15, 2017 Rabbi Jesse Horn Tefilah, “Teens Meiech • Sept. technology: What and kotel, of Yeshivat HaNitzavim-Vayeil you know and ognize your bashert”; what you and “Helping children balance ideology Rabbi Kenneth pleasure”; Esther of Congregation Hain Wein, “How to Beth Shalom, rec- A-OK to “When it’s say yes.”

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THE JEWISH STAR June 8, 2018 • 25 Sivan

By Charles Dunst, JTA Shawn Carter, better known today as the rapper and business mogul Jay-Z, came of age in Brooklyn’s underprivileged Marcy Projects housing complex. And yet, within the walls of neighborhood public school I.S. 318, Carter flourished, finding refuge in words.

He has talked throughout the years about his connection with a beloved sixth-grade teacher who inspired him, in interviews with Teen People, Forbes and most recently in an appearance on David Letterman’s Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.”

That teacher is Jewish.

On the episode of Letterman’s show, Carter detailed the critical role Renee Rosenblum-Lowden played in his formative years.

“I had a sixth-grade teacher. Her name was Ms. Lowden, and I just loved the class so much,” Carter told the former “Late Show” host. “Like reading the dictionary, and my love of words — I just connected with her.”

In 1980, Rosenblum-Lowden — who is now 77 and lives in Maryland — taught sixth grade at I.S. 318. In a recent interview with The Washington Post, she remembered “Shawn,” as he continues to call him, as smart and linguistically capable beyond his years.

“The thing I remember about Shawn is he took the reading test and he scored 12th grade in the sixth grade,” Rosenblum-Lowden said.

In an interview with Teen People in 1999, Carter fondly recalled a time when she took his class to her house in Brooklyn, as a kind of “field trip.”

“You know many teachers who’d take a bunch of black kids to their house?” he said.

He told Forbes in 2010 that the trip opened his eyes to a different world he could aspire to.

“My neighborhood had been my world,” he

25

The JEWISH STAR

CAlendar of Events

Send your events to Calendar@TheJewishStar.com • Deadline noon Friday • Compiled by Zachary Schechter Thursday June 7

Parsha Shiur: [Weekly] Join Michal Horowitz at the YI of Woodmere for a special shiur on the parsha. 9:30 am. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere.

516-295-0950.

Iyun Tefilah: [Weekly] Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum at the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst. 9:45 am. 8 Spruce St, Cedarhurst.

Advanced Yiddish Lessons: [Weekly] YI of Woodmere will be offering advanced Yiddish reading lessons. 10:30-11:30 am. 516-295-4212.

859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere.

Learn Maseches Brachos: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Eliyahu Wolf at the YI of Woodmere for a shiur on Maseches Brachos. 5:15 pm. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

Halacha Shiur: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Yoni Levin at Aish Kodesh for a halacha shiur. 9:30 pm.

894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere.

Friday June 8

Erev Shabbos Kollel: [Weekly] Eruv Shabbos Kollel starting with 6 am Chassidus shiur with Rav Moshe Weinberger and concluding with 9 am Chevrusah Learning session with Rabbi Yoni Levin. 894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere. 390 Broadway, Lawrence. 516-569-3600.

Saturday June 9

Youth Shabbat: Congregation Beth Shalom will be holding a youth Shabbos in their Joel H Shiff Beit Midrash minyan.

Sunday June 10

Kulanu Fair: Andrew J. Parise Park. 12:30-5 pm. 257 Cedarhurst Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-3693083. See ad on page 27.

Timely Torah: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Ya’akov Trump, assistant rabbi of the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, for a shiur on relevant Halachic and philosophical topics related to Parsha Moadim and contemporary issues. Coffee and pastries.

8 am. 8 Spruce St, Cedarhurst.

Learning Program: [Weekly] At Aish Kodesh led by Rav Moshe Weinberger following 8:15 Shacharis including 9 am breakfast and shiurim on subjects such as halacha, gemara and divrei chizuk. 894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere.

Gemara Shiur: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Moshe Sokoloff at the YI of Woodmere for a gemara shiu.r 9:15 am. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere.

516-295-0950.

Torah 4 Teens: [Weekly] Yeshiva program for high-school age boys & young adults with Rabbi Matis Friedman. 9:15 am-12:30 pm. 410 Hungry Harbor Rd, Valley Stream. Torah4teens5T@ gmail.com.

Inaugural Breakfast: An inaugural breakfast on behalf of the new Children Development Center in the City of Emanuel will take place in the home Alex H. Edelman the mayor of Lawrence.

9:30 am. 49 Lawrence Ave, Lawrence.

Children’s Jewish Cultural Carnival: Councilman Rory Lancman in conjunction with CHAZQ and QJCC present a community wide children’s Jewish cultural carnival. 12-3 pm. 7531 150th St, Flushing. 718-285-9132.

White Shul End of Year Party: The White Shul Youth Department invites members to an end of the year party in the White Shul parking lot. 4-6 pm. 728 Empire Ave, Far Rockaway. 718327-0500.

Holy Holidays: CHAZAQ and Shaare Emunah present Rabbi Mordechai Becher with “Holy Holidays! Torah Perspectives on Vacations.” 8:15 pm.

539 Oakland Ave, Cedarhurst. 718-285-9132.

Monday June 11

Women’s Shiur: [Weekly] Dr. Anette Labovitz’s women shiur will continue at Aish Kodesh.

10 am. 894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere.

Seeing Things Clearly: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Shalom Yona Weis at Aish Kodesh for a shiur for women and high school girls titled “Seeing Things Clearly- Learning to View Our World and Our Lives Through Positive Lenses. 8:45 pm. 894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere.

The White Shul Dinner: The White Shul will be holding its 96th Annual Dinner at the Sands Atlantic Beach. 1395 Beech St, Atlantic Beach.

718-327-0500.

NY Yachad Gala Dinner: Yachad will host its annual New York regional gala dinner held in tribute to Rabbi Abraham Wahrhaftig z”l and Caryn Pollak and honoring Adira Katlowitz will take place at Congregation Beth Shalom. 6 pm.

390 Broadway, Lawrence.

Tuesday June 12

Breakfast Connect: [Weekly] Breakfast Connect is a business and networking group that meets for breakfast at Riesterer’s Bakery and to discuss business and networking opportunities.

7:30-8:30 am. 282 Hempstead Ave, West Hempstead. 516-662-7712.

Women’s Shiur: [Weekly] Rebbetzin Weinberger of Aish Kodesh will give a shiur on the “Midah of Seder in our Avodas Hashem.” 11 am.

894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere.

Priority-1 Dinner: Priority-1 will be having its 31st Annual Dinner at their yeshiva campus. Couvert: $500/couple. 7 pm. 1213 Bay 25th St, Far Rockaway. 516-295-5700.

Yiddish Classes: [Weekly] YI of Woodmere will be offering basic Yiddish lessons for seven weeks. Must know how to read Hebrew. Covers basic Yiddish and conversation. 8-9 pm. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. 516-621-7880.

Jewish History: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Evan Hoffman at the YI of Woodmere for a talk on Jewish History. 8:15 pm. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

Halacha Shiur: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Moshe Sokoloff at the YI of Woodmere for a halacha shiur. 8:40 pm. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere.

516-295-0950.

Gemara Shiur: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt at the YI of Woodmere for a gemara shiu.

9:15 pm. 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. 516295-0950.

Wednesday June 13

Timely Tanach: [Weekly] Join Rabbi Ya’akov Trump of the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst for a shiur on Sefer Shoftim. 8 pm. 8 Spruce St, Cedarhurst.

Chumash and Halacha Shiur: [Weekly] Shiur with Rabbi Yosef Richtman at Aish Kodesh.

8 pm. 894 Woodmere Pl, Woodmere.

Shiur and Tehillim Group: [Weekly] Join the women of YI of Woodmere at the home of Devorah Schochet. 9:15 pm. 559 Saddle Ridge Rd.

Thursday June 14

Outreach 24th Annual Long Island Luncheon: Outreach, a nonprofit provider of drug and alcohol treatment will be holding its annual luncheon at the Stonebridge Country Club. $250 per person. 12 pm. 2000 Raynors Way, Smithtown. 718-847-9233.

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