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Bereishis • October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779 • Torah columns pages 22–23 • Luach page 22 • Vol 17, No 38

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BDS plagues George At UCI, anti-Israel Washington in Capitol disruptors will face DA

Ofir Dayan, daughter of Israel’s Consul General in New York Dani Dayan and an undergraduate sophomore at Columbia University, said she is being harassed and threatened by the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

“SJP is violent,” she told the New York Post.

“I’m worried about my personal safety.”

She told the newspaper that she has been called a “murderer” and “terrorist” by angry mobs of Palestinian supporters and that when her father spoke at the university in February she was handed a flier calling the consul general a “war criminal.”

A protest against rampant anti-Semitism on campus was scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 4, from 4 to 6 pm, outside the university’s main gates at 115th Street and Broadway.

By Jackson Richman, JNS Pro-Israel students at George Washington University have faced challenges from the BDS movement and anti-Israel groups in recent years. In 2017, the school successfully defeated a BDS resolution, but last April a new resolution passed. A recently released report by a watchdog group highlights the rampant anti-Semitic and anti-Israel tactics used by members of the Students for Justice in Palestine amid the vote.

According a recent report by Canary Mission, a blacklist of anti-Israel activists and academics, 40 individuals were instrumental in the resolution’s success: Thirteen belonged to the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter; there were eight SJP coordinating See GW on page 14

Ofir Dayan with her father, Israel’s Consul General Twitter in New York Dani Dayan.

Dayan, 24, who previously served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, said that members of Students Supporting Israel, or SSI, were threatened last year by members of SJP after leaving an on-campus event.

The pro-Israel group filed a complaint with the See Columbia on page 14

World may dislike our prez, but to Israelis he’s a gem While America’s global image has “plummeted” during Donald Trump’s presidency, Israelis give high marks to his administration and the country as a whole, according to the Pew Research Center.

Israelis were often three times more likely to give Trump a positive rating than those surveyed in other allied countries, including Mexico, Germany, Canada and France, according to a Pew poll.

Eight out of 10 Israelis express a favorable opinion of the United States and more than half believe that America is doing more to address global problems than a few years ago.

“Israel also tops the list in terms of the share of the public (79 percent) saying that relations with the U.S. have improved in the past year,” Pew reported, citing the longtime tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama.

Under Trump, the United States moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal that Netanyahu reviled and recently cut off nearly all aid to the Palestinians.

See Trump on page 14

By Edwin Black Campus police at University of California Irvine plan to refer anti-Israel event disruptors to Orange County prosecutors, as soon as campus police investigation concludes, according to a UCI spokesperson.

If so, UCI will be the second UC campus, after UCLA, to refer loud and raucous anti-Israel disruptors to prosecutors for violation of California’s statutes prohibiting disruption of public meetings, disturbing the peace, and conspiracy to do either.

After the police referral relating to a disruption on May 3, 2018, it will be up to District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to decide whether prosecution should ensue. Rackauckas previSee California on page 15

Tragic tale of Superman creators Jewish roots told in a graphic novel

By Gabe Friedman, JTA When Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel created the Superman character in the early 1930s, they were still living in their parents’ homes.

Of course, the character and his story — the arrival from another planet, his dual identities as mildmannered reporter and bulletproof crime fighter — would go on to change the comics industry in several ways and pave the way for the superhero-ization of popular culture.

But Siegel and Shuster originally just wanted to make a little income to support themselves and their families, which had both immigrated from Eastern Europe not long before. They had bonded and began collaborating in high school in Cleveland, and although they were ambitious, they could not have conceived of how influential and popular the character would become.

Sadly, they signed over the rights to the

Man of Steel early on, dooming themselves to careers full of frustration and misfortune.

The story of these two Jewish comic book legends — Shuster the quiet, reserved artist, and Siegel the earnest, competitive writer — is dramatic and heartbreaking in its own right, and it’s now chronicled in a graphic novel titled

“The Joe Shuster Story: The Artist Behind Superman,” written by Julian Voloj and exquisitely illustrated

by Thomas Campi. (Voloj, who is Jewish, is also the author of the graphic novel “Ghetto Brother: Warrior to Peacemaker,” about a Jewish and Puerto Rican gang leader in the Bronx.)

JTA spoke with Voloj about the project and Jewish comic book history just before New York Comic Con, which starts Thursday.

Jerry and Joe are both nerdy outsiders, and that’s how they met at school. But was their shared Jewish immigrant background also a big part of it?

They definitely shared a very similar identity, both born to Eastern European Jewish immigrants — Jerry in Cleveland, Joe in Toronto — but their identity was also the identity of Glenville, the neighborhood they grew up in.

In the 1920s and ’30s, the Cleveland neighborhood was like New York’s Bronx during that time. All their neighbors were Jewish, they were surrounded by dozens of synagogues, kosher grocerSee Superman on page 20

Nazi aerial pics help rescue Jewish cemeteries

By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA hen German air force pilots took aerial photographs of western Ukraine in 1941, they did it to help Nazi Germany defeat the Soviet Union in a war that saw the genocide of 6 million Jews.

But in a twist of fate, the German government has recently started funding an effort that uses the photographs to identify and preserve Jewish cemeteries.

The effort, in which the Luftwaffe archives are one of several ingenious tools, began in 2015 with the establishment of the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, or ESJF. The largest-ever international project of its kind, ESJF has since fenced more than 100 Jewish cemeteries in seven countries on a modest annual budget of approximately $1 million.

In Eastern Europe, fencing Jewish cemeteries is “not as straightforward as it may sound,” according to Philip Carmel, a British former journalist, the organization’s CEO since its creation.

Even determining the location of such graveyards can be challenging in towns with entire Jewish populations that were murdered and cemeteries plundered for construction material and then stolen for development.

That’s where the Luftwaffe aerial photographs enter the picture, Carmel said.

“Obviously they were taken to help the German war effort,” Carmel said of the prints and negatives that he pulled from German state archives. “But they were accurate enough to help us identify some Jewish cemeteries right before the destruction.” n the western Ukrainian town of Buchach — the birthplace of the Nobel Prize laureate Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal — Jews for generations buried their dead atop a mound that in 1941 stood on the town’s northern margins.

But after the murder of the area’s 10,000 Jews

W

I

A ceremony at a Jewish cemetery in Frampol, Poland.

during the Shoah, the forest adjacent to the cemetery swallowed it up, leaving exposed only a few dozen headstones. Fragments of others once lay in piles on the shoulders of the potholed asphalt road that snakes along Buchach’s Torgova Street.

The forest’s progression and the destruction caused to the headstones — locals throughout Eastern Europe steal them to use as sharpening stones or building material — complicated efforts to map the cemetery. The Luftwaffe aerials show its borders clearly, explained Carmel, who last year oversaw its demarcation. It is now set for fencing later this year, complete with retaining walls.

ESJF recently began using engineering drones that can map a Jewish cemetery in a fraction of the time and cost that a team of surveyors would require.

Fencing is crucial, Carmel said, because it prevents further damage. While it neither helps restore damage nor prevent people who are determined to get in from climbing the fence, “It

shows ownership, it indicates interest and it vastly reduces the chance of vandalism,” he said.

Jewish communities in Eastern Europe are struggling to maintain crumbling heritage sites from an era when the local Jewish population was many times greater than it is today, as are activists working to preserve cemeteries.

But ESJF is the best-funded and first international effort of its kind, active in an area with well over 10,000 Jewish cemeteries in various degrees of risk. And it is by far the most transparent, as per stringent reporting demands by the German treasury.

Whereas the bulk of the damage to Jewish cemeteries happened during World War II and under communism, they are still being degraded today at an alarming rate due to unregulated construction and vandalism.

Last month, the construction of a state-funded sports complex in Klimontow, Poland, was completed atop what activists say was a disused Jewish cemetery. Last year, a judge in Belarus cleared the way for the construction of apartments atop two former Jewish cemeteries in Gomel. And in Lithuania, the government is ignoring an international outcry over its plan to build a conference center on what used to be one Vilnius’ largest cemeteries, which the communists razed. bout a quarter of all Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe were destroyed during the Nazi and Soviet periods, according to Rabbi Isaac Schapira, the Israel-based founder and chairman of the ESJF board.

“Most of those that have remained lie neglected principally because their communities were wiped out in the Holocaust,” he said.

This is also why the German government decided to bankroll ESJF, according to Carmel.

As a rule, ESJF does not get involved in cemeteries featuring a legal or territorial dispute, like the ones in Klimontow, Gomel or Vilnius.

“Our objective is to fence as many Jewish

A

cemeteries as possible in as little time as possible for the lowest cost,” Carmel said.

Instead of duking it out with local authorities and developers, ESJF tries to find compromises.

On a recent project, ESJF even purchased a small and cheap plot of land in a small Ukrainian town so it could serve as a Christian cemetery. It was the simplest way of getting the local Orthodox church, which did not want to bury Seventh-day Adventists in its Christian cemetery, to stop burying them atop older graves at a disused Jewish cemetery, Carmel said.

When it comes to halacha, ESJF is strict in observing burial rules, Carmel said — but whenever possible, the organization tries to compromise, keeping with its view that local partnerships are the only guarantee of long-lasting impact.

“The cemeteries we fence, they are not being guarded,” Carmel said. “Ultimately the only way of making sure these places don’t get destroyed is to get the local population to think of their local Jewish cemetery as part of their own heritage.”

One success has been in Frampol, Poland, where dozens of schoolchildren joined ESJF’s fencing and cleanup of the local Jewish cemetery.

Another is the story of Katy Kryvko, a 17-yearold from the Ukraine village of Derazhne, located about 100 miles north of Buchach. Two years ago Kryvko, who is not Jewish, contacted ESJF about a Jewish cemetery behind her home that the local children used as a playground.

“I was shocked when I realized that kids are playing literally at the cemetery,” she told JTA. “I didn’t understand why it was neglected and nobody cared about it.”

Her interest in the cemetery led Kryvko to study the tragic history of the region’s Jewish population, and to ESJF, which cleaned it up and fenced it last year.

“It’s so important for me because I know that I’m the only one person who can save the cemetery,” she said. “I mean, who can take care of it.”

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Non-Jews are fighting Labour anti-Semitism

By Cnaan Lipshiz, JTA Steeped in anti-Semitism accusations, British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has made many Jewish enemies — including inside his own party.

But one of his most effective critics is not Jewish. He is a meteorology student at the University of Reading who describes himself as “just a kid with a laptop.”

Denny Taylor, 20, has used that laptop to keep a running tally of party members who have flouted Labour’s own guidelines against hate speech and report them to the party’s ethics review panel.

Horrified at the revelations about Corbyn’s ties to anti-Semites, Taylor set up Labour Against Anti-Semitism, or LAAS, in 2016, with a few dozen non-Jewish and Jewish volunteers. He was 18

and had voted for Corbyn the previous year.

The group has flagged 1,200 alleged members who it said breached the party’s guidelines against hate speech and has a backlog of about 2,000 additional cases of people engaging in what LAAS considers anti-Semitic rhetoric.

LAAS “punches far above its weight,” said Jonathan Hoffman, a British Jew who has been involved in protests against Labour’s anti-Semitism problem. The volunteers (Hoffman is not one of them) “[have] achieved great success in raising the profile of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, and [are] now the first port of call for media like the BBC, The Times and Sky News,” he told JTA. Corbyn, a far-left politician elected to lead Labour in 2015, has alternated between vowing to address Jewish concerns and dismissing

them. In August, he called many Jews’ existential fears about a Corbyn-led government “overheated rhetoric.”

He also refused to apologize for controversial actions, including his honoring in 2015 of dead Palestinian terrorists and saying in 2013 that local “Zionists” lack a sense of irony.

Corbyn’s worsening relationship with British Jewry sank to a new low in August when former chief rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks called him an anti-Semite. The Jewish Labour Movement has threatened to sue Corbyn and dismissed his promises to fight anti-Semitism as lip service.

Such criticism is harder to pin on LAAS. Beyond having non-Jewish members from across Labour’s political spectrum, “we primarily file complaints that are well-documented,” Taylor said. He traces his commitment to fight-

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ing anti-Semitism within Labour to a desire to “make up for the damage” that Corbyn and his supporters have caused the United Kingdom.

The ethics board of Labour is forced to act on the complaints on Corbyn’s behalf, making subsequent disciplinary actions more difficult for supporters to dismiss.

LAAS said it follows Labour’s definition of anti-Semitic hate speech, which as of last month is identical to that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The definition notes that anti-Israel and anti-Zionist rhetoric often take anti-Semitic forms.

Among LAAS’s recent successes is the April suspension of Pam Bromley, a local lawmaker from northern England. LAAS reported a 2017 Facebook post in which Bromley urged followers to remember that the “Rothschilds are a powerful family (like the Medicis) and represent capitalism and big business — even if the Nazis DID use the activities of the Rothschilds in their antiSemitic propaganda. We must not obscure the truth with the need to be tactful.”

Anne Kennedy was suspended in May for writing that Israeli Jews are “Hitler’s bastard sons.” Jane Dipple, a university lecturer, was suspended and possibly fired for inveighing against “a Zionist attempt at creating a pure race” in a post that linked to an article on the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer headlined “BBC to Replace Male Jew Political Editor with Female Jew.” This rhetoric is something that Emma Feltham, a London painter-decorator and longtime Labour voter, had never imagined existed.

“I’m a white English person; I had never seen anything like this. I remember crying the first time I did,” recalled Feltham, who joined LAAS following that experience.

The fact that she’s not Jewish makes it harder to dismiss her criticism, Feltham said. “They can’t say, ‘oh, it’s just because she’s a Zionist, what she says doesn’t matter because she’s Jewish’.”

When rank-and-file non-Jewish members of Labour fight in the trenches against anti-Semitism, she said, “it shows there are people out there who care, who find if unacceptable.”

Nevertheless, Labour’s highly public antiSemitism problem seems to have only marginally hurt its popularity. Corbyn’s approval rating in a YouGov poll from Sept. 27 was 10 points higher than in 2016. (He currently enjoys 51 percent approval versus 49 percent disapproval.)

With positive ratings and a Conservative government in shambles over internal disagreements, Corbyn seems nearer than ever to becoming prime minister.

Feltham said she understands British Jews who say they view a Labour government led by Corbyn as an existential threat — a statement that, unprecedentedly, all three major British Jewish newspapers put on their front pages in July, and which the Board of Deputies of British Jews has echoed.

“I don’t think it’s an overreaction,” she said.

She believes that a “party that can target one minority or group will target others when it becomes expedient. It’s a danger to society at large.”

Still, Feltham, Taylor and Philipps, the LAAS spokesman, said they are not sure whether they can win the fight for Labour’s identity.

“This question is beyond my control,” Feltham said. “All I know is I can’t stop fighting. I don’t want to have to say that I did nothing when all of this was happening.”

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Netflix ‘Angel’ eyes Egypt spy who helped Israel

By Naomi Pfefferman, JTA In 1993, filmmaker Ariel Vromen was part of an Israeli air force rescue unit sent into Lebanon to evacuate Jewish and Arab soldiers wounded during a battle. Two of his closest friends died in front of his eyes. For several months afterward, he suffered debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Vromen, now 45, took solace knowing that he and his fellow troops were “under a certain oath to take care of soldiers from Lebanon or Syria as much as we would give attention to Jews and Israelis,” he said in a telephone interview.

Vromen also recalled the disconnect of fighting just beyond Israel’s northern border, when he would be “laughing and playing backgammon, and then in less than 30 minutes we’d find ourselves in a battle zone or a disaster area,” he recalled.

The contradictory nature of his military service is one reason Vromen (best known for directing the American thriller “The Iceman”) was drawn to direct the spy thriller “The Angel,” which premiers on Netflix Sept. 14. The film spotlights the enigmatic Egyptian Ashraf Marwan, a confidant of President Anwar Sadat who eventually turned into a spy for Israel. He famously warned the Mossad about the planned Arab surprise attack that started the Yom Kippur War in 1973, preventing greater Israeli casualties.

Ashraf Marwan (played in the film by Marwan Kenzari) was the son-in-law of Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser and later became close with Nasser’s successor, Sadat. Yet one day in the 1960s, he called the Israeli embassy from a telephone booth in London and offered his services. The Mossad enlisted him, and Marwan passed valuable information to the Israelis, putting his life in danger.

In 2007, several years after he was publicly outed as a spy, Marwan fell to his death from a balcony in London at the age of 63 — which may or may not have been suicide. Vromen, for his part, said he believes Marwan’s death was a murder, given that the suspicious deaths of various Egyptian diplomats, arms dealers and dissidents over the years have been chalked up as “death by balcony.”

The filmmaker — who was raised near Tel Aviv but now lives in Los Angeles — came to the project two years ago, when an Israeli producer gave him an early draft of the screenplay, based on Uri Bar-Joseph’s popular book, “The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel.” (Marwan’s code name was The Angel.) But after reading the book, Vromen was reluctant.

Marwan Kenzari, left, and Hannah Ware in “The Angel.” Kenzari plays Egyptian spy Ashraf Marwan. (Right) Ashraf Marwan supplied the Mossad with valuable information in the 70s.

Nick Briggs/Netflix

“I felt it was very one-sided … a very coherent story but told from the Israeli point of view,” he said. “So I started to use a lot of my relationships in the Arab world to get into the Egyptian side of the story.”

One of Marwan’s best friends eventually served as a valuable source of information for the film.

Vromen regards Marwan as a hero who had complex motivations beyond helping to create peace in the Middle East.

“His motivation early on was as a young man who was poor, lost and humiliated by his father-in-law,” the filmmaker said.

Nasser apparently viewed Marwan with disdain, due in part to his dearth of funds at the time and his family’s lack of status, Vromen said.

“I’m very confident that when he first approached the Mossad it was an avenging emotional path,” the filmmaker added.

It was also partly a mercenary decision.

“I don’t know of any spy who didn’t want to be paid,” Vromen said.

In fact, the filmmaker continued, Marwan used his Mossad fees to create the seeds of what would become a $3 billion business empire by the time of his death.

Marwan’s fortunes began to shift after Nasser died. He became

a close aide to Sadat, with access to state secrets. As he became more successful, his motivation to spy shifted towards creating “a path to make peace between the countries,” Vromen theorized.

“I really think he was also putting all his efforts to serve Sadat,” the director added. “He knew the only way for the president to sustain power would be if he could [persuade] the Israelis to give the Sinai back to the Egyptians.”

Even so, a number of Egyptians have criticized Vromen’s movie on social and other media platforms. Egyptians have long claimed that Marwan was a double agent who duped Israelis into funding expensive war mobilization efforts in two false alarms prior to the 1973 war.

Many Egyptians have dismissed the film as propaganda and denounced Vromen’s casting of an Israeli actor to portray Sadat.

Vromen counters that he at first approached a number of Egyptian actors who refused to participate.

“Egyptians have cold feet about the movie,” he said. “The assumption is that because I’m an Israeli, I am biased.”

But Vromen insists he attempted to show both countries’ side of the story.

“When I analyzed the character, money was a huge part of his persona,” he said. “But I don’t believe he could have risked what he risked, eventually, if he didn’t have a bigger cause.”

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or prejudice against Jews.” She also included a spirited defense of Jews: “Split hairs. Debate etymology. Gloss over the abuse of your fellow citizens by attacking the actions of another country’s government. Would your response to any other form of racism or bigotry be to squirm, deflect or justify?”

When a Jewish mother tweeted Rowling to say her son had faced anti-Semitic bullies in school, Rowling tweeted back “so sorry” and wrote “Know that you aren’t alone and that a lot of us stand with you xx.”

A few months later, on Aug. 26, after a fellow mystery writer, Simon Maginn, tweeted that British Jews’ outrage over Corbyn’s views were “synthetic,” Rowling defended the Jews. “What other minority would you speak to this way?” she posted, before quoting from Jean-Paul Sartre’s essay “Anti-Semite and Jew.” In 2015, Rowling declined to endorse open letters calling for a cultural and academic boycott of Israel and signed by over 1,000 British authors and opinion leaders. Instead, she joined 150 other writers and artists in penning an alternative letter opposing singling out Israel for opprobrium.

“Israelis will be right to ask why cultural boycotts are not also being proposed against ...

North Korea,” her Oct. 23, 2015 letter declared.

Instead of boycotts, the letter said, “Cultural engagement builds bridges, nurtures freedom and positive movement for change.”

Rowling has been critical of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but is adamant that Israel, its people and its supporters should not be subjected to a double standard by their opponents.

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THE JEWISH STAR October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779

By Yvette Alt Miller, JTA For months, author J.K. Rowling has been warning of the dangers of anti-Semitism in England, sparring on Twitter with critics who either downplay the phenomenon or say its proponents are confusing criticism of Israel with Jew hatred.

Now, in her newest book, she includes a character whose obsessive anti-Zionism morphs into anti-Semitism.

Lethal White, the fourth series in Rowling’s Cormoran Strike mystery series, written under the pen name Robert Galbraith, features a pair of hard-left political activists who believe “Zionists” are evil and have a stranglehold on Western governments.

Extortionist Jimmy Knight’s extreme hatred of Israel has led him to hate Jews.

“I wouldn’t trust him if it was anything to do with Jews,” Knight’s ex-wife tells a detective.

“He doesn’t like them. Israel’s the root of all evil, according to Jimmy. Zionism: I got sick of the bloody sound of the word. You’d think they’d suffered enough,” she says of Jews.

Rowling’s depiction of a far-left anti-Semite comes at a time of record high anti-Semitism in Britain, where she lives. Britain’s Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn have been accused of insensitivity to Jews and condoning anti-Jewish sentiments within the party’s ranks. Corbyn previously defended a grotesquely anti-Semitic London mural depicting Jewish bankers, and referred to his “friends” in terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, though he’s said he now regrets these positions.

A September 2018 poll found that nearly 40 percent of British Jews would seriously consider emigrating if Corbyn became prime minister — as polls show he might.

The latest novel isn’t the first time the author of the Harry Potter series has commented on the dangers of anti-Semitism.

“Most UK Jews in my timeline are currently having to field this kind of crap, so perhaps some of us non-Jews should start shouldering the burden,” she wrote in April, in response to a critic who said Judaism is a religion, not a race. “Antisemites thinks this is a clever argument, so tell us, do: were atheist Jews exempted from wearing the yellow star?”

Rowling, who is not Jewish, also shared with her 14.4 million Twitter followers examples of posts she’d received that denied anti-Semitism was a problem.

To a commenter who posted that Arabs cannot possibly be anti-Semitic because Arabs are Semites too, Rowling tweeted a photo of a dictionary definition of anti-Semitism: “hostility to

7

The JEWISH STAR

Health MInd & Body

Women’s health is a vital election issue EllEn HErsHkin

National President Hadassah

I

t’s thrilling to be part of a historical moment, when women are stepping into the political arena in record-breaking numbers.

They’re tossing their hats into the ring — from the left, right and center — in national, statewide and local races.

I still remember my first visits to the voting booth, brought by my parents to see American democracy in action. And I’m sentimental thinking about how not long after my own (now-grown) daughter could walk, she was “helping me” push the levers in the voting booth.

I didn’t have to fight for the right to vote; I’m indebted to those who did. Women bring unique perspectives and experiences when it comes to income inequality, race relations and education, and of course, gender equality.

Today, as we march forward for women’s equality, we must also include women’s health equity.

In the past few months, we’ve seen woman after woman speak out publicly to share deeply personal stories about health inequity. Some are women whose excruciating pain is dismissed

and told it’s just in their imaginations. Others are misdiagnosed because their symptoms didn’t meet the male model. There are women prescribed medications based on men’s bodies.

These stories are nothing new — but now they’re being heard and read, and their voices are resonating.

My hope is that we’ll see real change, in much the way that #MeToo brought women’s sexual harassment stories into the light, creating an unprecedented cultural shift.

This year’s candidates know that health care is a top issue for American voters. Our responsibility? To make sure they know we expect them to advance women’s health equity, that we want more than just a nod. We expect change. tatistically speaking, women live longer than men. But women also live “sicker.” Many serious conditions and chronic illnesses afflict more women than men. Autoimmune diseases, which are three times more common in women, take roughly five years to be correctly diagnosed, and femalespecific conditions like endometriosis often take a decade of doctor visits before they are accurately diagnosed.

We’ve seen how our government can play a powerful role in change. It’s been only 30 years since the FDA lifted its ban on women in clinical trials. According to a recent article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiol-

Women live longer than men, but women live ‘sicker.’

S

ogy, women average 46 percent of cardiology research subjects. Some studies show women’s participation as low as 22 percent. That’s a lot more than zero, but it’s far from enough when heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American women, taking the lives of more women each year than all cancers combined.

Did you know that women are nearly three times more likely to die following a serious heart attack than men, according to another recent study in the cardiology journal? Did you know that women and men respond differently to many drugs, including blood pressure medicine, anesthesia and aspirin, according to the National Institutes of Health?

Each of us must speak out to improve maternal health outcomes and preserve women’s

access to free and low-cost preventive services — like well-women visits, mammograms, diabetes screening and nutrition counseling. And we must work together to elect leaders who will invest in research, ensure accountability throughout our health care system and champion access to quality, affordable and equitable care.

I recently came across a small piece of women’s history that resonated deeply with me. Back in 1918, Hadassah urged President Woodrow Wilson to support suffrage — via telegram. After all, it said, Jewish women living in the Jewish mandate of Palestine already had the right.

Within a year, American women did, too.

Making our voices heard at the polls is essential, an honor and a hard-won right. Human decency demands we use our voices and votes to save lives, to push for national and local policies that will bring equity to research, prevention, treatment and access to quality care.

Health — including women’s health equity — is not a partisan issue. We must make it clear that candidates who want our vote must commit to protecting women’s health and working toward a high-quality, affordable and equitable health care system for all. And each of us must do whatever we can to help get out the vote.

If you’ve never been part of a voter registration drive, now’s the moment. Remember, you’re not just doing it for yourself but for your daughters, your granddaughters and future generations to come.

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October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

8

Deaf rabbi is making Jewish life accessible

THE JEWISH STAR October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779

Wertheimer says he’s proud of what the SouBy Howard Blas, JNS t Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff’s High Hol- dakoffs have accomplished so far. “For many iday services, you could hear a pin drop. deaf people, our shul is very accessible for them; Worshippers had all eyes focused on they can participate without any barrier.” the prayer leader for hours on end, enjoying Soudakoff would like to build a synagogue it so much that they wound up spending the and community center. “We have a lot of dreams. entire holiday sleeping in the shared apart- With a physical space, we can do more activities ment/synagogue space of the newly married and hold more services.”

Chabad rabbinical couple in Israel.

He already has an impressive record of deRabbi Yehoshua, 27, and his wife, Cheftziba, termination and success in the world of Jewish both deaf from birth, hosted Rosh Hashanah and learning, education, outreach and camping.

Yom Kippur services in their Rishon Letzion apartment for members of the deaf community. “Twenty came and slept in our home. We had services and meals together. It was really wonderful,” Soudakoff told JNS. When asked how it was advertised in Israel, Soudakoff quickly (and playfully), replies: “Word of hand!”

“The deaf community in Israel is very close and connected,” says the director of Chabad of the Deaf Community, based in Kfar Chabad.

“Israel is a small country.

Word spreads like wildfire.”

Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff, Executive Director,Jewish Deaf FoundaThe rabbi’s main goal is tion, working with a student. to create an accessible prayer Soudakoff was born deaf to two deaf parexperience where “people don’t feel deaf, where they feel like regular people.” He notes that in ents. His two brothers and his sister are also typical services, members of the deaf community deaf. He had a rich Jewish experience growing are constantly wondering, “What is going on? up in Los Angeles. “My mother started an organization in Los Angeles for the Jewish deaf.

What’s happening?” oudakoff’s services resemble a more con- It was in our living room. I always saw events ventional, cantor-led service in many ways. there. I grew up with that exposure.”

He then attended Yeshiva Nefesh Dovid, a But perhaps out of necessity, it’s also more Jewish deaf high school in Toronto. “There are interactive.

“We have a hard-of-hearing person who not many deaf people who have the same opdavens at the amud, and he signs parts of the portunities that I had growing up,” he acknowltefillah so that the rest of the group can follow edges. After three years of study, he graduated along,” describes Soudakoff. “Another person and returned to Los Angeles, thirsty to continue stands directly across and tells the congrega- pursuing Jewish learning and his involvement tion when to answer, and indicating the page in the Jewish community. oudakoff quickly learned that the Jewish number on the machzor, as well as signing part world offers few resources for the deaf, inof the davening. So it was more of an interaccluding access to the Jewish community and tive experience, with the chazzan, the gabbai and the congregation all davening together, functions. “I wanted to change that,” he says. He and knowing where everyone else is holding. began blogging and making online videos about Which is the whole point of the experience — Jewish holidays and ideas. “My sister would make so that a deaf person doesn’t feel like he or she videos of herself making latkes or matzah ball soup, and I would sign and later add captions.” is catching up or totally lost in prayer.”

Soudakoff then started summer camps for He further describes some of the inner workings of the service. “There is singing in the sense Jewish children who are deaf. The camp met that there is a sound, but also signing out the in the Poconos for one summer, in California words of the tefillah. For example, we would the next. This past summer, the two-week camp all read Avinu Malkeinu together, or Unetaneh took place in Italy; it was a travel camp with one week in Tuscany, and the second week visTokef.”

During Sukkot, he will be driving a mobile iting the north and Rome.

Jeremy J. Fingerman, CEO of the Foundasukkah from Metula, in the northernmost town in Israel, all the way down to Eilat at Israel’s tion for Jewish Camp, says “We admire Rabbi southern tip, meeting with deaf people along the Soudakoff’s dedicated efforts. His inspired work reminds us of the importance of making way to shake the lulav and the etrog.

Moishy Wertheimer, a board member of the Jewish camp — and indeed, our entire Jewish Jewish Deaf Foundation (JDF) who met Souda- community — accessible for everyone.” koff many years ago when they were roommates Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman in yeshivah, served as cantor for the High Holi- Family Foundation, which works to promote days. “The crowd sings through signing, follow- inclusion worldwide, is similarly impressed. ing the chazzan, with assistance of Rabbi Souda- “How great that we are living in a time when koff,” he clarifies. “There is also shofar-blowing.” people are proud of who they are and teaching Those who have cochlear implants can hear us that people of all abilities have the right to it; others can feel the vibrations, and some put be equal members of our society,” he says. their hand right on the shofar.

Wertheimer, the prayer leader, is pleased Wertheimer shares some of the challenges with what the Soudakoffs and the deaf comof leading services for a community that doesn’t munity have accomplished so far.

“We are working together to bring accessing. “To be a chazzan leading a deaf crowd is a challenge because they cannot hear me, but sibility for the deaf community into the Jewish Rabbi Soudakoff interprets the prayers into Is- world,” he says, pointing out that a great deal raeli sign language,” he says, acknowledging of work still lies ahead. “They have a big responthat it was definitely different than usual. “Rabbi sibility for making sure that any deaf Jew has Soudakoff is a real shliach tzibbur. I learned no access to Jewish life. I think there has been a matter if they don’t need my voice to lead the lack of Judaism in the Jewish deaf communities prayer, they still they need to ‘feel’ the voice of because there’s no awareness and sensitivity for deaf people in Judaism’s world.” a chazzan.”

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Media Room sees anti-Israel talk as opportunity Jacob Kamaras

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Act.IL’s Boston Media Room

campaigns, providing professional training to the pro-Israel community, encouraging online activism such as reporting pages and signing petitions, and operating Media Rooms that empower and engage local communities to act for Israel on social media.

Act.IL’s first Media Room in the United States was launched in Boston as the result of a strong relationship between IAC Boston and CJP; CJP is also a significant funder of the Boston Media Room, and Aviva Klompas, its associate vice president of strategic Israel engagement, is a Media Room mentor.

Act.IL now has five additional Media Rooms in New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Florida and on the West Coast (headquartered in Los Angeles). What was once a short-term idea during wartime is now a national and global movement partnering with Jewish Federations across the country.

Understanding that anti-Semitism exists on a global scale, Act.IL has responded by mobilizing a global network comprised of thousands of volunteer activists dedicated to fighting antiSemitism, anti-Israel sentiments, and incitement to terrorism and violence. landmark victory for the Boston Jewish community came upon the stalling of the Cambridge BDS resolution. The Boston

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Media Room played a strong role in this positive outcome. By uploading a “send an email” mission to the Act.IL app, student ambassadors prompted 97 Bostonians to send out an email to Cambridge councilmembers that exposed the BDS movement’s involvement with the Hewlett-Packard resolution — something that was not previously apparent to several of the Council Members.

The email made a tangible impact. Multiple councilmembers who received the message responded that if the boycott resolution made it to the agenda, they would not allow it to pass.

Ultimately, Cambridge’s mayor personally informed Act.IL that the resolution would be taken off the agenda.

Shahar Hartman, 18, a gap year student at Mechinat Rabin and a Boston Media Room ambassador for two years, presented to and trained more than 750 people on the subject of online activism. “I use Israel-positive multimedia messaging in my presentations to show that there is more to Israel than the Middle East conflict,” says Hartman.

Lital Carmel, the IAC’s Boston Regional Director, notes that Act.IL employs a “show, don’t tell” approach to advocacy. Act.IL does not use any logos in its videos in order to give viewers the opportunity to fully experience Israel and to en-

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courage other organizations to share the content.

“There’s a good chance that you’ve seen an Act.IL video without knowing who produced it,” Carmel says, adding that “promoting Israel is one aspect of Zionism, but the next level of sophistication and impact is showing others that they can see Israel’s diversity for themselves.” people-driven, grassroots initiative, Act. IL embodies the spirit of self-motivated activism. Act.IL does not receive funding from Israel or any other government. Its professional staff works to support the movement’s thousands of volunteers, who are connected by their love and pride for Israel, the United States and the Jewish people.

Ahead of the fifth annual IAC National Conference, the IAC and IDC Herzliya have launched a new Media Room in Florida to engage members of this community—from teenagers to adults—to join tens of thousands of online activists from across the country.

At this year’s conference, the IAC will celebrate the establishment of the Florida Media Room and dedicate special sessions to Act.IL, where more than 100 high school and university students will gain an immersive Media Room experience. The session for high school students will take place on Nov. 30; the session for IAC Mishelanu university students takes place on Dec. 2.

Select speakers from the fields of public diplomacy, communications and social media who will be addressing the larger audience will also lead discussions with students during the Act.IL sessions. Students will also experience Situation Room workshops and interactive booths that will address how to proactively share Israel’s story online.

Act.IL has turned a threat into an opportunity, and today is a global movement of activists, young and old, who are sharing Israel’s multifaceted society with the world.

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n late spring, Israeli-American Council (IAC) Boston joined forces with major local Jewish organizations to work to overturn an antiIsrael resolution on the Cambridge City Council agenda. This community-wide effort, which ultimately resulted in a setback for the BDS movement, was a prime example of organizations with different missions coming together for the betterment of Israel and the Jewish community.

The “Mass Against HP” effort to convince Cambridge to pass a measure calling on the city to stop doing business with Hewlett-Packard over the computer giant’s operations in Israel was thwarted by a broad coalition that included student ambassadors from the Act.IL online community. These activists joined partner organizations in leading an effective battle against BDS from Act.IL’s Boston Media Room, located at the local IAC Community Center. The media room is a partnership between IAC Boston and Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Greater Boston’s Jewish Federation. ct.IL is a joint venture of the IAC, the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya and the Maccabee Task Force, based on IDC’s “Situation Room,” which developed during Israel’s “Operation Pillar of Defense” and “Operation Protective Edge” in 2012 and 2014, respectively. The success of this project led to the founding of Act.IL, an initiative that works to crowdsource pro-Israel activism on social media in order to share Israel’s story online, and counter hate speech and delegitimization.

The organization takes a four-pronged approach to its work: creating original content

989504

October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

10

Kosher supervisor slain in Chicago on yom tov

THE JEWISH STAR October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779

mashgiach, or kosher supervisor, at the Jewel supermarket in suburban Evanston. After his murder, a local Facebook page contained tributes from some of the many customers Moscowitz helped over the years. “Always a kind word and smile,” “Nicest person” and “Such a nice guy” were typical descriptions.

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By Yvette Alt Miller, JTA Eliyahu Moscowitz was killed in Chicago on Simchat Torah in what locals fear might be a spree. Moscowitz, 24, was shot once in the head and left for dead on a rainy Monday night in the East Rogers Park neighborhood, about a mile from where he grew up. Police say there did not appear to have been a motive.

His killing followed the murder 36 hours earlier of Douglass Watts, 73, also shot once in the head, as he walked his dogs in the same park. Chicago Police have determined that the same gun was used. They released an image of Watts’ killer, dressed all in black with a ski mask obscuring his face.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the two victims had no connection to each other and likely were chosen at random. He said it was too early to determine if the shootings were hate crimes. Moscowitz was an Orthodox Jew; Watts was gay. The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have joined the investigation.

Moscowitz’s body was found by Pastor John Elleson of Lakewood Chapel.

“If it was my son or my relative, I would just want someone to stand with them during this time,” Elleson said. He added: “I just find my heart breaking.”

Rabbi Zelig Moscowitz remembered his cousin. “He was a wonderful, very kind, gentle, caring person,” he said. “He was someone who uplifts others.”

After attending high school in Chicago, Eliyahu spent a year at the Mayanot Institute in Jerusalem before returning home to work as a

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To ‘Fauda’ writer, terrorists are ‘human beings’

By Curt Schleier, JTA Moshe Zonder, who wrote the entire first season of “Fauda,” is spending the fall semester teaching Screenwriting and Television at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. “Fauda,” which had its second season launch in May, is the Arabic word for chaos, and that’s what viewers experience. It is centered on an elite Israeli undercover military unit whose members pose as Arabs, cross into the West Bank, and use harsh and often deadly violence to root out terrorists.

It’s at once exciting and depressing, leaving the impression that there is no hope of a peaceful resolution to the contentious divide.

Zonder was involved in the show, an international Israeli hit that airs in the U.S. on Netflix, from the beginning, when creators Lior Raz (who also plays the show’s lead character, Doron Kavillio) and Avi Issacharoff (who also writes columns for the Times of Israel) first tried to sell it. The process took over four years, Zonder said.

The reluctance of Israeli networks to air the show is understandable. The trio had created a story arc that involves a morally compromised Israeli counterterrorism unit that lives by its own rules, indiscriminately shooting Palestinians, invading their homes and kidnapping them.

What’s most frightening is that “Fauda” seems to reflect the reality on the ground. It has been reported that Raz served in Duvdevan, an elite commando force known for posing as Arabs.

Zonder spent years as an investigative reporter covering the Mossad and the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service.

“Of course the world we describe is totally realistic, although the characters are from our imagination,” Zonder said.

“Fauda” also has been noted for putting a human face on Arabs living in the West Bank, including terrorists. Zonder was a big part of that daring move.

“I felt — how to say?” Zonder asked his wife

Laetitia Eïdo and Lior Raz in a scene from “Fauda.”

in Hebrew to translate a phrase. “I don’t know exactly how to say this in English. Members of Hamas didn’t exist as real human beings [for some Israelis], and I wanted them to have a wife and kids they loved that they cannot [visit and] see. It is a motive [for their behavior] that you can understand.

“This was something of a revolution. There were no such characters in TV before.” To humanize them, Zonder said, “was my intention.”

“The creators all went along with me,” he said. “We all felt this way.” In his view, the show has another distinguishing characteristic.

“There isn’t any hero in the sense of a good guy or a bad guy,” Zonder said. “Life is more complicated. There is a protagonist and an antagonist — Doron is the protagonist and Abu Ahmad (Hisham Suleiman) is the antagonist.

“It’s not that Doron is good and Abu Ahmad is bad. … It was important for me as an Israeli to show that members of the Hamas military wing have their families and their motives. They are not [totally] evil. This is the basis of the DNA of the first season of ‘Fauda’.”

The show has been praised for this refresh-

“Fauda” stars Lior Raz (right).

ing perspective and equally for its gripping plot.

Palestinian writer Yasmeen Serhan wrote in The Atlantic in June that despite her qualms with watching a show about the conflict from an Israeli perspective, it is “binge-worthy TV.” “Fauda” was a surprise hit in Israel and, subsequently, in much of the rest of the world.

“The settlers loved it. Even Hamas,” Zonder said. “Their spokesman posted online that ‘the Zionists could not kill us in the field, so they’re killing us on TV.’ Then they put a link to the first episode on their website.”

In March, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel insisted that Netflix drop the series, claiming it “promotes and legitimizes the war crimes committed by death squads.” It may, in fact, do the exact opposite, and give even the staunchest Israeli supporter pause about tactics used by the Israeli military.

Before “Fauda,” Zonder wrote the multiple award-winning docudrama “Sabena Hijacking: My Version,” about the 1997 hijacking of a Sabena Airlines flight and the rescue of its passengers. It was Israel’s entry in the 2015 Academy

Awards’ foreign film race.

Between classes, he’s at work writing another docudrama, about the Mossad’s Operation Wrath of God, the effort to kill the terrorists responsible for the Munich Olympics massacre (it was depicted onscreen in Steven Spielberg’s film “Munich”).

Zonder came to Rutgers at about the same time the federal government reopened its case charging that the school failed to respond to discrimination aimed at Jewish students. A suit by the Zionist Organization of America alleges that organizers of a pro-Palestinian event singled out Jewish students by charging them admission for the free event. Zonder’s course is part of the Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artists Program, which brings Israeli artists to American universities and other cultural institutions.

If BDS protesters were to show up when he speaks at Rutgers, Zonder said he wouldn’t argue with them.

“I must tell you I’m really not a hero, but I would like to meet with [them],” he said. “I’m prepared to hear what they have to say in case they are ready to listen, too. Otherwise not.”

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School News

Send news and hi-res photos to Schools@TheJewishStar.com • Deadline Monday Noon • Questions? Call Editor Ed at 718-908-5555

With the chagim behind us, everyone’s gone back to school While school was underway before the chagim, now it’s most definitely all hands on deck. As The Jewish Star gears up to resume its unparalleled coverage of our local day schools and yeshivot, here are a few back-to-school shots from before the holidays. Above: Freshmen at DRS HS bonded during a year-opening Shabbaton at Camp Kaylie

that included a wacky olympics, shuir-vs.-shuir competitions, a latenight barbecue and more. Below from left: HANC HS heralded the new school year with an opening ceremony in which the entire school came together at the midpoint of the day (when both lImudei kodesh and general studies staff are in school). Among those participating in

SKA’s 12th grade orientation were (from left) Leba Shleifer, Elisheva Ismach, limudei kodesh teacher Avi Shmulewitz, Daniella Furman, and Rebecca Hecht. And last, but certainly not least, the happy girls at Cedarhurst’s Shulamith middle school were back. Follow The Jewish Star school pages each week for more school news.

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Columbia...

Continued from page 1 appropriate student adjudication board and was later told by a university administrator that it was too complicated for the student-run board. The administrator dismissed the complaint in March.

“I thought the university would protect me, but they didn’t do anything when [protesters] called me a terrorist,” Dayan said.

“The school stands by as I’m harassed.”

Suzanne Goldberg, executive vice president for university life, said in a statement: “The safety and well-being of all of our students is fundamentally important. … We will always work with students who have concerns about their physical safety, allow debate on contentious questions where our students hold strong views, and provide essential personal and group support.”

Dayan said she met with Goldberg last week to request protection from SJP and to ask for disciplinary action to be taken against the group. She said Goldberg refused and recommended that she put the school’s publicsafety number on speed dial. “[She] said that unless SJP gets violent, they can’t do anything. We have to wait until we’re beaten to call you? [The school] can protect me, but they choose not to,” Dayan told the Post.

She said in a Facebook post on Monday that she has received “an overwhelming amount of messages supporting me.”

“I just wanted to make something clear,” she said. “It is easy for the press to focus on me but I am in no way the issue here. [T] he issue is thousands of pro-Israel students around the world who are afraid to support Israel publicly. They are the ones deserving of support and love.”

GW...

Continued from page 1 committee members, according to SJP activist Abby Brook, four SJP-aligned group leaders; the resolution’s four co-sponsors; and 11 student senators who voted in favor of the measure, which was held in a secret ballot.

Taking a cue from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” BDS supporter Liz Burkemper spread the blood libel that Israeli Jews poison Palestinian water, while resolution co-sponsor Eden Vitoff implied it is Israel’s policy to pollute Palestinian water, and murder “children and other civilians.”

Resolution co-sponsor Shaheera Jalil Albasit accused Israel of inflicting “forced labor” on Palestinians and capturing them “segregated into ghettos.”

SJP member Jessica Martinez co-sponsored the resolution, accusing the Jewish state of “mur-

der, segregation and occupation” while presenting her case in front of the SA. Similarly, Tyler Katz, a former SJP member who remarked that “the United States of America was a mostly bad idea,” accused Israel on Facebook of “genocide” and “aggression against Palestinians everywhere.”

“A struggle for Palestinian freedom is not antiSemitic,” Katz added. “It’s the struggle for people given a place of power to be held accountable for the genocide they commit and for there to be consequences for such human rights violations.”

He slammed an article by a student who wrote about not feeling “welcome in the progressive movement anymore” due to its vitriol against Israel. “At least try to understand your opposition before making such grandstanding claims,” said Katz. “Condoning genocide as a means through which you can celebrate Israel is not the progressive movement you should celebrate.”

Two resolution supporters made physical threats. Morgan Richmeier tweeted she would “physically fight” Zionists, while Henry Rosh posted on Instagram, using the hashtag #makezionistsafraid, following the resolution’s passage.

The SJP accomplishment was accompanied by another victory: The student association failed to reach the two-thirds majority required to censure graduate student Brady Forrest, a former member of SJP. Forrest has spewed anti-Semitic and antiIsrael vitriol such as calling for a boycott of GW Multicultural Student Services Center’s annual Winter Formal because of GW Hillel and the Jewish Student Association’s involvement. “Both organizations are complicit with and supportive of the state of Israel and programs and ideology that are exclusive and racist,” Forrest posted on Facebook.

In another post, he denounced the aforementioned Jewish groups for partaking in an event titled “Faith and the Environment.” “[The] JSA [the student arm of Hillel] supports ‘Israel,’ he posted in a comment on the event’s Facebook invitation page. “‘Israel’ is currently destroying the environment of Gaza, ‘Israel’ and the West Bank. I don’t know if irony or hypocrisy is more on the nose here.”

The students, in addition to alumni Rosh and Katz, did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite the pervasive anti-Israel atmosphere, GW’s pro-Israel advocacy group, GW for Israel (GWI), is unafraid this year.

“We are not very nervous and are doing a lot of positive Israel events this semester,” GWI director of communications Elan Fox told JNS. GW president Thomas LeBlanc adamantly denounced the BDS resolution, saying the university will not implement it.

“While I support the student senate’s right to express their views in the form of a resolution, I want to be clear to our University community that this does not represent the University’s views, and the University will not implement such a proposal,” he said in a statement.

Trump...

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Continued from page 1 In Israel, Trump’s “positive rating jumped to 69 percent, up from 56 percent in 2017” on the heels of his decision to move the U.S. Embassy, the report said.

By contrast, other allies have complained that Trump, who has promoted an “America First” agenda that disdains international institutions and free trade, “doesn’t take into account the interests of countries like theirs when making foreign policy decisions.” Favorable views of the U.S. have fallen by 34 points in Mexico, 27 points in Germany, 26 points in Canada and 25 points in France.

America’s global image has “plummeted … amid widespread opposition to his administration’s policies and a widely shared lack of confidence in his leadership,” according to Pew. While 93 percent of Spaniards said they had no confidence in Trump, followed by 91 percent of Mexicans and 90 percent of Frenchmen, only 31 percent of Israelis expressed this sentiment.

While Trump has yet to unveil his administration’s much-touted peace plan, he has said that Israel will have to pay a “high price” in peace negotiations with the Palestinians over the embassy move. —JTA

Commentary by Susan B. Tuchman and Morton Klein, Zionist Organization of America The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently reopened a student-backed civil-rights case brought by the ZOA against Rutgers University.

Importantly, in deciding to reassess whether Jewish students at Rutgers were harassed and discriminated against in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, OCR stated that it will be using the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism. This definition accurately recognizes the many ways in which anti-Semitism is expressed today, including Jew-hatred camouflaged as vicious criticism of Israel and denial of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.

In 2004, when Kenneth Marcus headed OCR, the agency finally afforded legal protection to

religious groups that face discrimination based on actual or perceived ancestry or ethnicity, benefited Sikhs and Muslims and well as Jews.

When Marcus left OCR, the agency retreated.

After a six-year battle led by the ZOA — backed by bipartisan congressional support — in 2010, OCR re-affirmed that Jewish students would be protected under the law. But the policy was never adequately enforced, particularly when complaints alleged anti-Semitism expressed as anti-Israelism.

The ZOA’s Title VI action against the University of California, Irvine — the first case of campus anti-Semitism that OCR ever agreed to investigate under Title VI — is a case in point. The evidence was horrifying: Jewish students were physically threatened and assaulted. A campus Holocaust memorial was vandalized. Posters

proclaimed “Zionism is Nazism” and equated the Star of David with the swastika. A huge sign on the university’s main walkway said, “Israelis Love to Kill Innocent Children.” Speakers at podiums in the center of the campus regularly vilified Jews and Israel, comparing Jews to Satan and referring to them as “the new Nazis.”

Students courageously came forward in OCR’s investigation and described feeling afraid to openly identify as Jews and Israel supporters. Some feared for their physical safety. Two told OCR that they left Irvine and transferred to other schools because they could no longer endure the hostility.

Students also described how they tried to get university officials to address the problems to no avail. When a student wrote to numerous officials See ZOA on page 21

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Continued from page 1 ously made news with the 2011 prosecution and conviction of the “Irvine 11,” who disrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren in 2010 when he spoke at UCI. About 40 minutes into a UCI College Republicans-hosted panel discussion with Israeli Reservists on Duty, a parade of anti-Israel agitators filed in to stage a well-orchestrated and unruly disruption, using a bullhorn and shouting derogatory chants. The disruption was documented in videos. After the disruptors were ushered out, the noise continued to disrupt from the corridor, according to the videos.

If the UCIPD refers the case for prosecution, it will be an enormous turnabout for a campus where many feel the university administration itself stage-manages such disruptions.

“To many of us in the room, it seemed very suspicious — as if the entire disruption was pre-arranged in advance with the administration and the UCIPD,” said Kimo Gandall, president of the College Republicans. “The disruptors were allowed in, protested loudly for about 10 minutes, and then all left on cue when given a hand signal by the UCIPD to leave.”

Debbie Glazer, a leading local attorney in StandWithUs’s pro bono legal network who attended the event, echoed a similar sentiment, stating it appeared the UCI police or administration “enabled” or “helped to facilitate” the disruptive incident.

In one of the videos, at minute 43:08, UCI Dean of Students Rameen Talesh can be seen casually whispering to one of the main disruptors. A little more than a minute later, the student puts his hat on and prepares to leave.

Twenty seconds later, the disruptors begin a room-wide coordinated exit en masse, with police simultaneously giving a hand sign pointing to the corridor. Protestors then continued their loud disruption in the corridor, overseen by uniformed UCI police.

A UCI spokesperson explained that Talesh said he had “asked the protesters to stop disrupting the speaker and the event, or else the situation would escalate to UCIPD action, given the amplified sound and disruption of the club event.”

A May 31, 2017 special UCI Senate report on campus police conduct describes an entrenched system designed to enable protest and even shield protestors from criminal referral.

A university spokesperson stressed that the UCI Senate probe is “just a report written for the academic UCI Senate. It does not reflect official police policy.”

Pro-Israel activist Barry Forman filmed his attempt to lodge an official complaint with a policeman during the May 3 disruption. He can be heard on the tape — over protestor tumult — quoting legal statutes. In addition, Forman’s efforts to get Talesh to instruct police to act were also rebuffed, as seen on one of Forman’s unpublished videos.

“In the middle of the event, they asked me what to do? I asked for police to take action,” Gandall recalled. “An officer responded, ‘If they had to detain somebody, they would have end our event.’ Later, I spoke to a different officer who asked me what happened? I told him in words what he could see in front of his own eyes.”

In 2010, when Ambassador Oren spoke at UCI, police immediately removed protestors without giving them time to cause a disruption.

Critics have suggested that police were willing to take action only at large and prominent events, such as the 2010 Oren speech that was sponsored by the Jewish Federation.

A UCI spokesperson insisted there was no advance collaboration between the disruptors and the UCI police or administration, adding, “The event management tried to de-escalate that day. But, now, we are actively taking steps.”

THE JEWISH STAR October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779

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Wine & Dine

The power of fiber Kosher Kitchen

JOni SChOCkett

Jewish Star columnist

T

he foods of the harvest that we ate in our sukkot this past week came from the earth, and are the foods many nutritionists urge us to eat more of. The benefits of plant-based foods are well known. Plant-based foods are low in calories, have little fat and are high in that magical substance called fiber. In fact, other than in legumes and some grains — also plant-based foods — no other foods contain enough fiber to count. There is not much fiber in a burger or steak, chicken breast or fish fillet. In fact, proteins contain relatively little fiber and refined carbs contain almost no fiber of any note.

Fiber is a major nutritional key to good health. Fiber helps maintain and even lower weight, makes us feel full, helps with digestion and helps rid our body of toxins. Yet, in our age of highly processed foods, we tend to get far less fiber than our ancestors did and far less than is healthy for us.

Everyone thought that the invention of machines to whisk away bran and fiber from wheat was the best thing ever. These machines pulled away the oils that made flours go rancid, producing soft white flour that could be stored longer and that made beautiful fluffy breads with little nutritional value. Women loved it. Little did they know that this food processing started us on the road to less-than-healthy eating.

Now we know better. We understand the vital role that fiber plays in keeping us healthy. We also have better control over what we eat. We can buy minimally processed foods and breads made from whole grains. Adding fiber to our diets is easy and delicious. The more we eat, the healthier we are.

Aim for 25 to 38 grams of fiber a day. It may look daunting, but if you fill your day with bagels, sandwiches, meat and potatoes, you are cheating yourself out of very important health benefits.

A day high in fiber might look like this: Breakfast: 1 cup of high fiber cereal, 1 banana Lunch: 1 cup of beans, 1-1/2 cups of broccoli, and an apple Dinner: A baked potato, salmon, 2 cups of spinach salad, strawberries and almonds Not bad and not hard. The result is a diet with less fat, less sugar, less protein (Americans eat too much protein), and more healthful foods that will keep you filled all day. In addition, adding fiber to your diet will help you curb those carb cravings.

Start slow. Blasting your system with a huge amount of fiber will have unpleasant results.

Build up each week until you attain the correct amount of fiber for your age and comfort level — then stick to it. Eating more fiber instead of more meat and poultry and fish helps the planet, helps your body and tastes delicious.

Since soup season it is fast approaching, I thought some simple, high-fiber soups and onedish meals might be in order. These are delicious, a bit different, and so simple to make that you can do it after work.

Chickpea and Spinach One Bowl Supper (GF, Pareve) I have seen many versions of this. I worked on this one and like it best with lots of garlic and raisins — even some snipped apricots. I have also added apples, butternut squash and more. Add what you like! It is a delicious comfort meal.

1 cup water 10 to 12 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves A splash of fresh lemon juice Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 to 4 large garlic cloves (I like more) finely minced or grated Salt and black pepper 2 cans (15 ounces each) chickpeas 1 large onion, minced 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, welldrained 1/3 to 1/2 cup golden or regular raisins Optional seasonings to taste: cumin, sweet paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper Place water and lemon juice in a large, deep skillet. Bring to a boil. Add the spinach, press down and turn with tongs to wilt completely.

Remove from the water to a bowl and let cool.

Drain the water and roughly cut spinach into pieces. Press out any more water. Set aside.

Place the garlic in a large bowl and add the olive oil, salt, pepper, and any other spices you want to use. I like a bit of cumin and lots of pepper, with some good smoky salt. Mix well to a paste. Add about 3 Tbsp. chickpea liquid, mix well and set aside.

Heat a skillet and add the 1/3 cup olive oil.

Add the onion and cook until lightly golden. Add the tomatoes and cook until thickened and some of the liquid has been absorbed. Add the spiced chickpea liquid, mix well and cook about 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and liquid and mix well.

Add the raisins and mix well. Cook until the raisins are plumped and softened. Add the spinach, mix well and heat through, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Season to taste. Serve alone with some crusty bread, or serve over some brown rice. Serves 4 to 6.

Chickpea and Bulgur Wheat Soup with Roasted Garlic and More (Pareve or Dairy) I love this soup. I caramelize a bunch of onions and garnish the soup with them, then add a dollop of sour cream. I sometimes leave out the cumin and coriander and add other herbs, spices and veggies like zucchini and green beans. Adapted from Plenty More by Yotem Ottolenghi.

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 onion, finely chopped 4 to 8 cloves garlic, crushed or grated 3 to 4 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped or thinly sliced 4 to 5 celery stalks, thinly sliced 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. ground coriander 2-1/2 to 3 cups cooked chickpeas (canned is fine), drained and rinsed 5 to 7 cups vegetable stock 3/4 cup bulgur wheat coarse cut Salt and black pepper to taste OPTIONAL: 1 to 2 Tbsp. harissa, to taste for heat Caramelized onions for garnish Sour cream for garnish Heat a large soup pot and add olive oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent and softened. Add garlic, carrots and celery and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often to mix and soften.

Add the cumin and coriander and mix well. If using harissa, add some of it now and mix well.

Stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chickpeas and mix gently. Add some salt and pepper at this time.

Add the vegetable stock and mix well. Heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often.

Rinse the bulgur, place in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from the heat. Drain, rinse drain and set aside.

Add bulgur to the soup about 10 minutes before serving. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until heated through. Add salt and pepper to

Some high-fiber foods

taste. Garnish with caramelized onions and garnish with some feta cheese, crème fraiche, yogurt or sour cream. Serves 4 to 6.

Raspberry Chia Seed Yogurt Granola Parfait (Dairy) This is my new go-to dessert. It is filling, sweet and delicious and I love the crunch of the granola.

I even add a drizzle of melted dark chocolate and more berries for a special, high-fiber treat.

2 cups plain Greek or plain yogurt 1/2 cup milk (I use whole, but you can use skim or 2%) 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 2 to 3 tsp. sweetener of your choice. I like pure maple syrup, Grade B, or agave.

1/2 cup chia seeds 2 cups fresh raspberries 1 to 2 cups homemade or store-bought, low fat granola 2 ounces very dark chocolate, 72-80%, melted

Avocado, 10 grams per cup Artichoke, 10.3 grams per cup Black beans, 8.3 grams per cup Chia seeds, 10.6 grams per ounce Chickpeas, 13 grams of fiber per cup Kidney beans, 11.3 grams per cup Lentils, 15.6 grams per cup Oats, 16.5 grams per cup Raspberries, 8 grams per cup Split peas, 16.3 grams per cup Place the yogurt, milk, vanilla, sweetener, and half the raspberries in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and stir in the chia seeds. Taste and adjust sweetener. Scrape into a large bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the yogurt mix. Refrigerate overnight.

When ready to serve, place some of the yogurt into a pretty bowl, add some granola, some more yogurt and then granola. Add some berries and drizzle with the chocolate. Makes 4 to 5 parfaits.

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The JEWISH STAR

Wine & Dine

As autumn plums arrive, there’s plenty to freeze View from Central Park

tehilla r. goldberg

Intermountain Jewish News

A

s the trees begin to change colors, a special fruit is just ripening: plums. One particular autumn plum, known by many descriptions — Italian Prune Plum, Damson Plum, Hungarian Plum, Mirabelle, etc. — is oval, with black-blue-purple skin; the fruit inside is an orange-y yellow, sometimes green-yellow. It’s often artistically depicted in still-life paintings or on table linens and in fruit bowls. My Hungarian Bubbie grew up with a grove of these plum trees on the grounds of her home. In Denver, I’ve picked baskets of them at Ekar Farm.

Among the classic Hungarian dishes prepared and associated with these fruits were plum jam (lekvar) and plum brandy (Slivovitz). For all of you who have sipped some Slivovitz, raising your glass for a l’chaim, that’s the purple plum I’m talking about.

Plum dumplings, the pitted ovals wrapped and boiled in dough, then rolled in buttered braisel (bread crumbs) and finished off with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, are as lovely and charming as they sound. Adding these special blue prune plums to apple compote is perfect as well, and by now an annual tradition. But for me, baking these plums into cakes is the classic.

The variety is endless. A yeasted plum cake, such

as Pflaumenkuchen? With streusel or without? A plum crisp or crumble? A fanned out plum pie or galette? Or, best of all, a plain cinnamon sugar dusted cake?

Each European language has a name for this plum and its accompanying pastry. In Alsace, it’s quetsch. In Switzerland, these plum pies are Zwetschgenwaehen. In Germany, Zwetschgenkuchen. Nothing like running through your mental holiday baking list, and arriving at your next task: Zwetschgenkuchen.

There are many versions. All are delicious. In the heat of the baking process, simple blackblue-purple ovals transform into streaks of scarlet and crimson, bursting with sweet-tart juicy intensity of magenta that soaks into the cake. Like dye, it clings to the cake and changes its color.

Everyone loves the German Zwetschgenkuchen, more of an open-faced tart.

For a crowd, you may as well double the recipe and bake it in a pizza pan. It’s that easy and that delicious. One summer, that’s exactly what I did. nlike the rosier-colored plums, it’s not easy to come by these Damsons. You have to know where to find them, which market stall or fruit boutique. As a little girl in Denver, to our great delight we had a Damson tree in our backyard. Mysteriously, we left for a year, and when we returned it was gone.

Time and again, I have thought of gifting my mother this tree and planting it in the backyard once again. If there is a cake that means “mother” to me, it’s this plum cake. The scent alone makes me nostalgic. Year after year, my mother would wait until they were in season. The first child to spy them at a shop would burst in with “Ima! Pete’s Fruits and Vegetables has the plums!”

Year after year, my mother baked these plums into tortes.

The heady scent of cinnamonsugar and lemon zest infused with melted plums was our nirvana. We’d sit around waiting for them to come out of the oven, and each get a slice of one warm cake. The rest — to the freezer!

From Rosh Hashanah through Sukkot, these Zwetschgenkuchen, Pflaumenkuchen or plain old plum cakes, whatever you’d like to call them, saw us through many a kiddush, dessert, holiday snack, Sukkot treat and occasionally even breakfast.

My mother prepared so many that there was always an abundant winter stash, taking us all the way through the Shabbat preceding Passover, when we would empty the freezer of any chametz. ollowing in my mother’s culinary footsteps, over the years I’ve pitted, halved and sliced many plums, making all versions of these

Each European language has a name for this plum and its pastry.

U

F

Pflaumenkuchens. This past Rosh Hashanah I baked a plain plum torte. For Sukkot, I baked Zwetschgenkuchen, following Joan Nathan’s recipe.

Crust: 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tbsp. sugar 1/8 tsp. salt 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, cut into pieces Blend in food processor until just combined and then add 1 egg yolk until incorporated.

Place in a 9 or 10-inch ungreased pan. Refrigerate for about a half hour. Bake at 450 F for ten minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake an additional five minutes. Cool.

Filling: 4 Tbsp. plum jam 1 Tbsp. brandy Mix and brush on piecrust.

1-1/2 pounds of Italian plums, sliced in half. (If using other plums, slice each into four wedges.)

Mix into plums 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. lemon zest.

Starting from the perimeter of the piecrust, fan out plum slices in concentric circles until you reach the center.

Bake at 350 F. As soon as pie is removed warm from the oven, sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over it.

There you have it: a beautiful, flower-petal magenta Zwetschgenkuchen. Enjoy!

Copyright Intermountain Jewish News

Russian meatballs are an ultimate comfort food

By Sonya Sanford, The Nosher via JTA For the first five years of my life, we lived in the apartment next door to my grandparents. I may have only been a toddler, but I still have vivid memories of that home, with its many house plants overflowing in their pots, tchotchkes and art from the former Soviet Union, menorahs and other Jewish objects on display, and a welcoming coziness and warmth.

What I remember most about being at my grandparents’ home was the food. Often there was a pot of something simmering on the stove.

On the best days, that pot was filled with tefteli, otherwise known as Russian meatballs. I can still see myself sitting at my grandmother’s table in front of a steaming bowl of tefteli, eagerly waiting for them to cool down so I could start eating.

What makes Russian meatballs different from other kinds?

While tefteli come in many types of variations and preparations depending on your family’s tradition, one defining feature is that they are typically made with rice. It’s likely that rice was incorporated into the dish as a means to stretch the meat, but it also adds a great texture and flavor.

Unlike the Italian variety, most Russian meatballs don’t use breadcrumbs, or much in the way of herbs or spice. Some folks make them with beef, some with chicken or turkey. The nonkosher versions are often made with pork, and are cooked in a creamy tomato sauce. Some cooks dust the meatballs in flour and then brown them before adding them to the sauce. Some bake them in the oven. Some make a sauce that ends up so thick it is nearly shakshuka-like. Shredded carrot is added typically to the base of the tomato sauce, adding sweetness.

Tefteli are also meant to be eaten on their own as a main course, and they are frequently served with creamy mashed potatoes, but I also love them with a side of polenta, or even with just a slice of good crusty bread.

Every time I make tefteli I try to replicate what my grandmother made for me. Yes, I’m biased, but her meatballs are the best I’ve ever tried. This

recipe is fairly simple in terms of its ingredients and steps, but the key to her tefteli’s success is one step that you can’t rush or skip: caramelizing the onions.

When onions get golden and jammy from cooking slowly in a little fat, they add sweetness and umami to any dish.

The rest of this recipe mainly involves adding things to a large pot. Leftover rice is great for the meatball mixture, but if you don’t have some on hand, I find the timing works out well if you cook the rice while you’re caramelizing the onions and making the sauce. I prefer to use dark meat ground chicken for this, but you can definitely make this with turkey or beef.

This is the kind of dish that rarely gets a written recipe. I’ve given you specifics, but deviating will only make it better. Taste and modify your tefteli and sauce to your own liking. For instance, my mom actually dislikes rice in her meatballs, so instead she adds breadcrumbs or matzah meal. I like to add chili flake for subtle heat, but that can be omitted. I find that these are perfect when they’re on the larger side, but if you like smaller meatballs, go for that. In any form, these are best made in a big batch so that they can be shared with loved ones, and so that they can fill your home with warmth and the smell of good simple food.

I suggest serving these meatballs with a generous ladle of sauce, topped with chopped fresh parsley alongside mashed potatoes, your favorite side or slices of good bread.

Note: Meatballs can be made several days in advance, and they freeze and reheat well.

Ingredients: For the sauce: 1 large yellow onion, diced small 3 Tbsp. oil (sunflower, avocado, or canola)

1 large carrot, peeled and shredded 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced fine 2 Tbsp. tomato paste 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes 2 (15-ounce) cans plain tomato sauce/pureed tomatoes 2 Tbsp. maple syrup or 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste 2 tsp. dried oregano or thyme Pinch of red pepper flake, or to taste 1 (28-ounce) can filled with water (about 3-1/2 cups) Salt and pepper, to taste For the meatballs: 2 lbs. dark meat ground chicken or turkey 2 cups cooked basmati or jasmine rice (about 3/4 cup uncooked) 1 large onion, minced very fine 1 large clove of garlic, finely grated or minced 1 large egg 2-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond brand) Ground pepper, to taste Chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish Directions: 1. To make the sauce: Add oil to a Dutch oven

or large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion to the pot. Allow the onion to soften and caramelize until golden, stirring occasionally, about 15 to 20 minutes (you can go for longer if you want the onion to caramelize more deeply).

2. Add grated carrot, minced garlic and a big pinch of salt to the pot. Stir and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the carrot has softened and the garlic is aromatic. Add the tomato paste and stir until everything is coated, about 1 minute. Add the crushed tomato, tomato sauce, maple syrup, herbs and chili flake to the pot. Fill the empty 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes with water and add that water to the pot. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Let the mixture come up to a simmer.

3. To make the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, cooked rice and onion. I like to use a microplane to grate my garlic straight into the bowl. Add the salt, pepper and egg.

4. Combine everything until well incorporated, but make sure not to overmix or the meat can become tough. Clean hands work best for this. Before I cook the meatballs, I like to take a spoonful of the mixture and cook it in a small pan to taste for seasoning. I add more salt or pepper accordingly.

5. Form the ground meat mixture into evensized balls. I prefer my tefteli slightly larger than a golf ball, but make them according to your own preferences. Drop the formed meatballs into the simmering sauce.

6. Make sure the sauce returns to a simmer, then lower the heat and partially cover the pot with a lid. Simmer the meatballs for 35 to 45 minutes or until cooked through. If you find the sauce is too thick, you can add more water. If you want the sauce less thick, you can simmer it for longer to reduce and thicken. Serves 4 to 6.

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Superman...

Continued from page 1 ies, etc. If you look at their high school yearbook, nearly every student seems to have a Jewish name. Even if they were from more assimilated backgrounds, they grew up in a very Jewish environment, so without a doubt, Superman has Jewish roots.

Jewish identity in America before and after World War II is a recurring theme in the story, but it also feels like 99 percent of the characters in the book are Jewish, from businessmen to other artists. How Jewish was the comic book industry in those early decades?

It’s a history with many parallels to the beginning of the American film industry. Jews were discriminated against on the job market. If you were a writer or illustrator, not many jobs were available if you could be identified as Jewish.

Some Jews changed their name and hid their identity in order to seek employment. Jewish artists such as Jakob Kurtzberg or Stanley Lieber became Jack Kirby and Stan Lee [respectively], even if they often claimed that their name change had nothing to do with them trying to hide their Jewish background.

When, thanks to Superman, comics became a lucrative industry, job recruitment in this new market happened by word-of-mouth. Friends and family were hired. That’s why, for instance, many comic book pioneers came from even the same high school, such as DeWitt Clinton in the Bronx, where pioneers such as Will Eisner, Stan Lee or Bill Finger, to name but a few, had been students.

Given that also the publishers were Jewish … I think Siegel and Shuster didn’t imagine that they would, as fellow Jews, screw them over. Here, by the way, is an interesting parallel to the garment industry, where factory owners exploited workers even though both came from the same shtetl backgrounds.

Was it an easy decision to tell the story from Joe’s perspective? Was it solely because he’s a more likable character than Jerry?

When starting my research, the plan was to write about both of them from a third-person perspective, but then Joe became the protagonist by chance. In 2014, I learned that Columbia University had just received a donation of letters and documents that were either written or once belonged to Joe Shuster. I contacted Karen Green, who oversees Columbia’s comic collection, and even before the documents were cataloged, I got access to these letters, legal papers, bills, etc.

It was fascinating to read about Joe’s problems in his own words. Most of the documents were from the late 1960s, during a time when [he was under] the threat of eviction, had doctor bills piling up, etc. — while at the same time preparations were made for a multimillion-dollar Superman movie.

It also became apparent how Jewish he was.

For instance, he wrote about the tzedakah he gave during the good years and how ashamed he felt that now he needed help from the Jewish community to pay his own bills.

Jerry had always been the dominant figure of the creative duo, with Joe being the silent partner following his lead.

Making him the narrator puts, for the first time, the spotlight on him, a late recognition of his role in creating the first superhero.

Were there other Jewish comic book artists and writers who dealt with similar losses of rights to their creations, or were Shuster and Siegel the worst case?

I’m not sure if it is really the worst case, but I would rather call it the original sin.

Many stated that Siegel and Shuster were naive to sign the first Superman contract, but as we show in the book, there was no precedent.

Comics were not big business and most work was work-for-hire, transferring rights to publishers.

And then Superman changed everything. No one expected this success — neither the creators nor the publishers — and for sure no one expected the success to last.

Like Superman becoming the blueprint for the

Continued from page 15 imploring them to protect her, only one administrator responded: he suggested that the student visit the counseling center, as if she were the problem.

The ZOA’s case against Rutgers is another example of how inadequately OCR responded to a Title VI complaint involving Israel. Jewish students were discriminated against at an antiIsrael and anti-Semitic campus event, which was advertised as “free and open to the public.” When the event organizers saw how many “Zionists” showed up, they selectively enforced an admission fee against students perceived to be Jewish.

Numerous witnesses attested to the discrimination. Yet the case languished at OCR for seven years until Kenneth Marcus assumed the helm at OCR. Marcus reopened the case with a commitment to assess the evidence by using an appropri-

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ZOA…

ate and widely used definition of anti-Semitism, adopted by 31 countries around the world.

Critics claim that using this definition will stifle free speech and make criticism of Israel illegal.

Nonsense. Hate groups like Students for Justice in Palestine will still be free to criticize Israel.

Critics minimize the problem of campus antiSemitism. But numerous studies document its prevalence, including a 2015 study by Brandeis University. In a 2016 follow-up report, Brandeis identified “hot spots” — campuses where antiSemitism and anti-Israel sentiment are particularly acute. Rutgers and many University of California campuses were among them.

With an accurate and widely used definition of anti-Semitism, OCR should finally live up to its mandate to protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination. Universities will get the message that they can no longer tolerate antiSemitism, and must respond to it with the vigorousness they show when other groups are targeted. And Jewish students will finally be afforded the learning environment every student deserves.

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Superman’s Jewish identity is a recurrent theme. I once read that his origin story is an allegory to the Kindertransport, but this is, of course, a post-Holocaust analysis.

Both [Siegel’s and Shuster’s] parents escaped poverty and pogroms in Eastern Europe, so this could have influenced the story, which some see as a kind of modernized Moses tale.

I’m neutral when it comes to these interpretations. Superman’s origin story, which we see developing throughout the graphic novel, had many roots for sure, as did the plot. The double identity came from Zorro.

What made Superman a success was that Siegel and Shuster understood the zeitgeist, took elements from contemporary pop culture and created something totally new, something that even today, 80 years after its debut, remains a global success.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.

THE JEWISH STAR October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779

genre, Siegel and Shuster’s contract became the blueprint for other contracts.

Many pioneers experienced similar fates.

Batman co-creator Bill Finger [who was Jewish], subject of a future graphic novel project I’m currently working on with the Israeli artist Erez Zadok, is another tragic story that only recently had a posthumous happy ending thanks to the efforts of comic historian Marc Tyler Nobleman.

And unfortunately, these stories are not necessarily stories of the past. Earlier this year I read about Bill Messner-Loebs who once worked for DC Comics and was even credited in the “Wonder Woman” movie, but now was homeless in Detroit.

People have called Superman, who is sent away from his home planet before it is destroyed, the ultimate immigrant character. Was this part of Siegel’s thought process? Can Superman be compared to a Jewish refugee fleeing a burning Europe?

‫כוכב של שבת‬

SHAbbAT STAR

October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

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Three ingredients to a successful Jewish life Parsha of the Week

Rabbi avi billet Jewish Star columnist

J

ewish people who have traversed the Orthodox experience may have followed any number of paths. The most common are those who were born into Orthodoxy and never left, those who converted or became inspired to commit to an Orthodox lifestyle and have only strengthened their commitment over time, those who left Orthodoxy (whether Hasidic, which garners the most media attention, or anywhere else along the spectrum), or those whose spiritual awakening waned over time.

There is a wonderful example in the parsha of downturn in commitment, and how, with proper preparation, people can stay committed and even grow.

One rule was given to the original human occupants of the Garden of Eden: “G-d commanded the human saying, ‘You will eat of all the trees of the garden. And you will not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will become mortal.’” (I translate “will become mortal” because after eating from the tree, Adam lives close to 1,000 years.)

In summary, the whole garden is accessible, except for one specific, named tree.

And yet, when the serpent approaches Chava after goading her about the forbidden tree, she responds, “We may eat of the fruits of the garden. However, of the fruit tree in the garden, G-d ‘don’t eat from it and don’t touch it, lest you die.’”

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his is clearly not an accurate reflection of what Adam had been told; Chava changes a few important details.

One: She implies that they may only eat from some of the trees.

Two: When she mentions that G-d “said” not to eat, she opened the door to the idea that eating from the tree isn’t a big deal, as merely “saying” something isn’t binding (G-d had actually commanded).

Three: In not mentioning the reason for the prohibition (loss of innocence, and the depth of good versus evil), she seemed to suggest that the tree was dangerous or poisonous, and therefore forbidden to touch.

Defining reasons for commandments is risky. Once the reason becomes irrelevant, you’re one step away from declaring a commandment irrelevant. The only reason for every mitzvah is that G-d has commanded it. But the real take-home lesson comes from Chava, who became a super-frummy about the tree rules in her very short lifespan before eating from it.

Had Chava said to the snake, “I can eat from every tree. I can’t eat from one tree. Big deal, I don’t need it anyway. I don’t care for what you say I’m missing,” the history of the world might look very, very different.

Instead, she started making yeshiva-style analogies. I can’t eat this one, but maybe G-d didn’t just mean this one … He meant the trees around it. So if I can’t eat, I won’t even touch

it! How quickly did she go from seeing that she could touch it to eating it? About five seconds, thanks to the serpent.

From taking on too much, to losing everything. How do we get off the roller coaster? I think there are three components to the solution. he first is KNOWLEDGE. People drawn to a life of Judaism, frumkeit, people who are sold on the idea that a Torah life is the only authentic life, cannot stop there. Going through motions without knowledge — or when that inspirational figure is no longer nearby — can get stale quickly. And not having the knowledge to back up the life choices makes for too many challenges when questions come along.

I know a man who is heavily involved in learning — he studies, he gives classes, some of his kids went through the Aish system and are involved in kiruv. He became inspired in his twenties and defines himself as a baal teshuvah. Once, I gave a talk in which I presented this question to the crowd: “How long are you going to rely on your baal teshuvah-ness to justify where you are in your Jewish life?” He said to me afterwards, “You know, I haven’t thought about it. But I’ve been calling myself a baal teshuvah for 40 years. I have to stop making excuses.”

The second ingredient is MODERATION. It is never a good idea to jump into a new way of life without proper preparation. Some people quit smoking cold turkey, and that is amazing.

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Our lives are imperfect.

That is the human experience.

Bereshit: Is Ignorance Bliss?

Rabbi DR. tzvi heRsh WeinReb Orthodox Union

I

gnorance is bliss.” There was a time not too long ago when these three words would engender a long and interesting discussion, perhaps even debate. There would have been speculation about the origin of the statement.

Nowadays, however, someone is sure to Google and find out that the author was the 18th-century poet Thomas Gray, who, in his poem “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” wrote: “Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.”

An alternative topic for discussion, one which cannot easily be resolved by Google, is the question of whether such a statement is consistent with the philosophy of Judaism.

Surely, one would think, Judaism values knowledge and looks down upon those who are ignorant, and certainly those who are deliberately so. Yet it is not so simple.

This week’s Torah portion, the very first of the New Year and the beginning of the entire Bible, is Bereshit (Genesis 1:1-6:8). A multitude of topics are dealt with, ranging from the origins of the natural world to the sinful temptation.

There is also material to help us reflect upon the nature of wisdom: “The Lord G-d planted a garden in Eden … and placed there the man whom He had formed … [He] caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad” (Genesis 2:8-9).

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ertainly the trees with nutritious and delicious fruit were planted by the Almighty for the benefit of mankind. But what about the tree of life? What about the tree of knowledge?

Until we read further, we have every reason to believe that they too were placed in the garden for mankind to enjoy. After all, mankind needs life, and one would assume that it needs knowledge as well.

A few verses later, however, we learn otherwise: “And the Lord G-d commanded the man, saying, ‘of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it, for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die’” (Genesis 2:16-17).

Why would the Lord prohibit the consumption of the fruit that would grant man knowledge of good and bad? Would it not be to mankind’s advantage to know all that he possibly could about right and wrong? Was the Almighty somehow convinced that “ignorance is bliss”?

To sharpen these questions further, we must revert to a biblical text which we read in the synagogue just last Shabbat. I am not referring to the Torah portion of Sukkot, but to the astonishing Book of Kohelet, otherwise referred to as Ecclesiastes. The author of Kohelet, no less a wise man than King Solomon himself, urges us to contemplate the disadvantages of wisdom.

“I set my mind to appraise wisdom … and I learned that this too was pursuit of wind: for as wisdom grows, vexation grows; to increase learning is to increase heartache” (Kohelet 1: 16-18).

These words seem consistent with the philosophy of “ignorance is bliss.” If increased learning leads inevitably to increased heartache, we can understand why the Almighty would strongly advise man to refrain from eating the fruits of the tree of knowledge. Few of us would choose

to emulate the legendary Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk, who famously declared: “Wisdom leads to heartache, but so what? It is worthwhile to experience heartache if it leads to a bit more wisdom!”

To drive home his point about the futility of pursuing of wisdom, King Solomon writes: “I came to the conclusion that that (pursuit of wisdom) too was futile, because the wise man, just like the fool, is not remembered forever…both are forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies, just like the fool” (Kohelet 2:15-16).

With such verses echoing in our ears, it is not surprising that G-d forbids the first man from indulging in the tree of knowledge. ut as we study this week’s Torah portion more deeply, and sample some of the commentaries of our great rabbis, we realize that it was not every type of knowledge that was associated with the Tree, but just a certain type, as Nachmanides explains.

Nachmanides insists that the knowledge in our text is best translated not as “knowledge of good or bad” but as “knowledge that one can choose between good and bad.” It is the ability to will something other than the will of the Almighty. Nachmanides asserts that when man was originally created, his will was entirely consistent with that of his Creator. The very notion of contravening the divine will was alien to him. Consumption of the fruit exposed him to the knowledge that defiance was an option, that evil was also a choice that he could make.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch refines Nachmanides’s point: “If you eat the fruit of this tree of knowledge, you will come to decide for yourselves what is good and what is bad. Until now the Lord defined ‘good’ and ‘bad’ for you.

This fruit will cause you to rely upon your own ‘taste.’ A morality based upon human senses

B

But most people who go through significant lifestyle changes know that baby steps of adjustment are much easier to maintain.

While there are many Jews who came to observance through the baal teshuvah movement or through conversion whose dedication and commitment are the envy of us all, there are also some who became baalei teshuvah or converted, who years later are not where they were when that transition took place.

This is why the third ingredient to maintaining religiosity is CONSISTENCY. Go to shul daily. Have an unbreakable prep-for-Shabbos routine. Learn some Torah every day. nowledge is empowering. It allows for moderation and the ability to be consistent to be in your own hands, at your own pace. It is also best when not demanded or monitored by a community or authority figure.

Our lives are imperfect. That is the human experience. But with knowledge, moderation, and consistency, we can set ourselves on a trajectory of constant growth.

Chava failed. She didn’t have the knowledge she needed, because she was just told something and didn’t seek to understand better. She had one mitzvah, and she made it much bigger than it was. No moderation. And there was no consistent behavior that could have helped her avoid the serpent’s snare.

Now that we have celebrated Simchas Torah, and have begun a new cycle with Bereishis, it is a wonderful opportunity commit to increasing knowledge, leading to moderation in practice, and the consistency that helps us grow in slow but manageable steps, so we never remain stagnant in our Jewish journey of life.

K

and not upon divine judgment will lead to moral ‘death.’”

Knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence are all positively valued by Jewish tradition. However, all of these wonderful traits can lead man to the worst of sins: hubris and arrogance. Man must realize that his knowledge is deficient, his intelligence incomplete, and his wisdom faulty.

Kohelet forces a wise man to confront his imperfection. The tree of knowledge must be avoided, lest we begin to think that we mortals can determine what is good and what is bad without input from our Creator.

This week, we begin the yearly cycle of Torah study. As we advance week by week, we will learn more about our Creator and much more about what He expects of us.

luach Fri Oct 5 • 26 Tishrei Bereishis Candlelighting: 6:12 pm Havdalah: 7:20 pm

Fri Oct 12 • 3 Cheshvan Noach Candlelighting: 6:01 pm Havdalah: 7:09 pm

Fri Oct 19 • 10 Cheshvan Lech Lecha Candlelighting: 5:51 pm Havdalah: 6:58 pm

Five Towns times from White Shul

Kosher bookworm

AlAn JAy geRbeR

Jewish Star columnist

O

ne of our nation’s oldest Jewish publishers, Urim Publishing, recently brought to the Jewish reading public a fascinating literary work, “Six Days of Cosmology and Evolution: A Scientific Commentary on the Genesis Text With Rabbinic Sources” by Daniel Langer.

With the upcoming Torah readings from the book of Genesis, this timely work should serve as a unique literary experience tailored to both our religious and intellectual needs.

The method employed by the author utilizes a verse-by-verse analysis of the Genesis narra-

tive of the story of the world’s creation through the use of both scientific and rabbinic “lenses.”

In his introduction, the author details for us his goals in what in previous generations has proven to be a daunting literary experience: “The aim of this book is to demonstrate that the Torah’s account of Creation is not in conflict with the sciences of cosmology, geology, or evolution. This requires an understanding of the nature of time, the overlapping character of the six days, and the use of homonyms in the Bible.”

Further on, the author details the following very candid sentiments: “This approach will be criticized from the left and from the right. Fundamentalists who hold a literal reading of Scripture may object to the suggestion that words in the Torah can mean different things to different generations, or that passages can be reinterpreted in ways

that conform to empirical data and scientific theory. Scholars on the left hold that the Torah is not a science text: treating it as such distorts its message.”

The author concludes his introductory thesis with the following teaching from the great scholar Rabbi Elie Munk, zt”l, in his classical commentary, “The Call of the Torah” where he teaches us the following: “The Torah does not stipulate as an absolute

Becoming Hashem’s partners in creation Torah

RAbbi dAvid eTengoff

Jewish Star columnist

O

ur parasha, Bereishit, has always fascinated me. In my view, it contains some of the most thought-provoking and intellectually challenging pasukim in the Torah.

One of the most notable examples is the description of man’s creation: “And the L-rd G-d formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life (nishmat chayim), and man became a living soul (l’nefesh chaya)” (Bereishit 2:7). Like the very first verse, “In the beginning of G-d’s creation of the heavens and the earth,” our pasuk conceals far more than it reveals. Little wonder, then, that it has captured the attention of our greatest meforshim.

Rashi, building upon the translation of Onkelos, focuses part of his interpretative efforts on the phrase “l’nefesh chaya,” and suggests the following analysis: “Cattle and beasts were also called living souls, but this one of man is the most alive of them all, because he was additionally given intelligence and speech.”

Somewhat surprisingly, the Kli Yakar completely rejects Rashi’s gloss. In his view, nishmat

chayim, rather than l’nefesh chaya, is the crucial phrase to understand man’s authentic nature: “Nishmat chayim must be understood as the eternal rational soul. Come and learn — [after all,] who was the One who breathed [into Adam the soul of life]? We, therefore, find that this [the nishmat chayim] refers to a portion of G-dliness from above.”

The Kli Yakar shifts the emphasis of the pasuk from l’nefesh chaya to nishmat chayim, defines the latter term in an unprecedented manner, and declares it to be a heavenly portion of G-dliness. This is simultaneously an intellectual and theological tour de force.

He continues his exposition of our verse and notes that Hashem’s overwhelming kindness in providing every person with a nishmat chayim is necessary but insufficient for the achievement of the highest level of humanity.

Instead, we must respond in kind, and tirelessly work to reach the heights of that which makes us truly human.

“Although Hashem breathed the eternal rational soul into Adam, nonetheless, man, at the outset of his being, is indistinguishable from any

other living soul (nefesh chaya) and is just like the other animals. [As the text states:] ‘For man is born as a wild donkey’ (Iyov 11:12). [Moreover,] the essence of man’s perfection is contingent upon the diligence of his labors and the degree of good inherent in his choices — as he opens his intellectually maturing eyes while growing in age.”

He then clarifies the thrust of his presentation: “Regarding the beginning of a person’s life – although Hashem has already breathed into an individual the soul of the breath of life — this soul will never be actualized and will remain solely in potential, unless he will put in efforts to fight the war of Hashem. If he fails to do so, he will remain in his original animalistic state (i.e. ruled by the yetzer hara) … The text reveals this matter to us [through the use of the phrase nishmat chayim] to teach us the lesson that man should never beguile himself into thinking that he can achieve perfection without tremendous effort … everything depends upon his own actions.” his explication is reminiscent of Rabbi Akiva’s famous response to the evil Roman governor, Turnus Rufus, when asked:

This is an intellectual and theological tour de force.

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“If G-d wants man to have a brit milah, why is the baby not born in this state?” Rabbi Akiva’s response informs our understanding of the mitzvot: “Because G-d did not give the mitzvot to the Jewish people except to [spiritually] purify them through their performance” (Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Tazria).

Rabbi Akiva teaches us a fundamental lesson about our relationship with G-d: A newborn male baby is born in a state of physical imperfection; the mitzvah of brit milah removes this deficiency and sets him on a lifelong path toward spiritual perfection. Through the fulfillment of this commandment, we become a partner in Creation.

I believe that the Kli Yakar is teaching us a parallel lesson on the moral–ethical plane of human existence: Just as we perfect the physical body through the mitzvah of brit milah, and thereby serve as partners with G-d in the ma’aseh Bereishit, so, too, must we consistently actualize the nishmat chayim that He has given us, in order to be His partners in Creation and ultimately become all that we can be.

As the Ibn Ezra taught us so long ago in his celebrated piyut, “My soul thirsts for G-d, for the living G-d, my heart and my body run to the living G-d.”

With Hashem’s help and our fervent desire, may we ever seek to become His partners in Creation.

Parashat Bereishit: Seeking ‘wholeness’ Angel for Shabbat

RAbbi mARc d. Angel

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he Talmud (Chagiga 12b) records an enigmatic statement by Rabbi Yosi: “Woe unto people who see but do not know what they see; who stand, but do not know on what they stand.”

Rabbi Yosef Hayyim, the great rabbinic sage of 19th-century Baghdad, interpreted this statement to reflect the need to know about the world in which we live. There are those who wish to devote themselves to heavenly spiritual matters…but who are ignorant about the workings of this world. They do not study the sciences, mathematics, or geography. “One who does not know what occurs on the earth below will not succeed in understanding what occurs in the heavens above. A lack in the wisdoms of the world is a bar to knowledge of the Torah”(Imrei Binah, 1:2).

Knowledge of the sciences and humanities enables us to see … and know what we see. It deepens our relationship with the Almighty by

allowing us to better understand His creations. It enlarges the scope of our thinking; it prods us to reach a greater “wholeness” and balance in our religious worldview.

The Torah’s opening verses give poetic expression to G-d’s creation of the universe. This is an invitation to come closer to G-d by taking notice of His works. If we seek G-d without seeking to understand the world, our religious vision is deficient. If we seek to understand the world without recognizing G-d, our scientific vision is deficient.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in The Lonely Man of Faith, identifies two “Adams,” two dimensions within each human being.

One part of us — Adam the first — is scientific, desiring mastery over the universe. The other — Adam the second — is spiritual, seeking communion with G-d. Adam the first strives for majesty; Adam the second yearns for redemption.

The “whole” human being encompasses a practical, social, creative and scientific dimension, as well as a spiritual, intensely personal and

lonely dimension. To eliminate either is to deny one’s full humanity.

Rabbi Soloveitchik notes that contemporary Westerners tend to focus on Adam the first — the scientific, sociable, technologically-directed personality. The spiritual, G-d-seeking Adam the second is downplayed or denied. He writes: “Contemporary Adam the first, extremely successful in his cosmic-majestic enterprise, refuses to pay earnest heed to the duality in man and tries to deny the undeniable, that another Adam exists beside or, rather, in him.

By rejecting Adam the second, contemporary man, eo ipso, dismisses the covenantal faith community as something superfluous and obsolete.” striking example of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s concern is the current best-selling book Sapiens by Israeli academic Yuval Noah Harari. This book is well-written, full of fascinating information, and has won praise from many critics and the public. Dr. Harari is concerned with Adam the first. He dismisses G-d, the soul, and spirituality as things not scientifically prov-

Our challenge is to develop the fullness of our humanity.

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able and therefore not real. When reading Sapiens — with all its erudition and literary style — one does not come into meaningful contact with Adam the second. Dr. Harari, a highly regarded Israeli scholar, essentially negates the central teaching of the historic People of Israel. He is a successful Adam the first; but his lack of awareness of the reality of Adam the second leaves a serious void in his understanding.

Rabbi Soloveitchik points out. “An atheist cosmonaut circling the earth, advising his superiors who placed him in orbit that he did not encounter any angels, might lay claim to dignity because he courageously mastered space; he is, however, very far from experiencing a redeemed existence.”

Our challenge as thinking human beings is to develop the fullness of our humanity — the majestic and the redemptive. By studying the universe with keen vision, we learn to understand what we see and upon what we stand; we learn to value the relationship between our material and spiritual natures; we learn to live with the “wholeness” of internalizing both Adam the first and Adam the second.

Rabbi Yosi warned: “Woe unto people, who see but do not know what they see; who stand, but do not know on what they stand.”

23 THE JEWISH STAR October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779

Genesis through a new lens

act of faith that G-d exists.

Indeed, the existence of G-d is presupposed throughout, but it is not the object of a proof, nor even of a doubt.

But the word order in the initial verse of the Torah [The word “G-d” appears after “created”] discreetly suggests that we seek out G-d in Creation, and so progressively acquire with our intelligence that which faith puts forward to us at the beginning of our human experience. For faith is crowned by knowledge.”

The timely publication of this work beginning with the reading of Sefer Bereishis makes for a very fortunate religious literary decision.

Do read and enjoy this new literary contribution.

October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779 THE JEWISH STAR

24

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Mideast realities: Abbas and Netanyahu at UN Viewpoint

BEN COHEN

Jewish News Service

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here was one corner of New York City last Thursday where the Senate hearings on accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh went unnoticed: the United Nations building on the East River, where the 73rd General Assembly was in full swing.

But while the proceedings in Washington were electrifying, the spectacle at the United Nations was routine. There were the usual lengthy speeches laden with protocol and platitudes, delivered by world leaders of varying rank whose visits to Manhattan are of dubious value to the taxpayers who underwrite them.

And then Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu came along on Thursday morning. In different ways, both their speeches ventured into territory similar to that under the spotlight in Washington, with its themes of unanswered-for injustice, punctuated by reputational smears and factual distortions. Both speeches pointed even uninformed listeners to the conclusion that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, at least as conceived over the last 30 years, is dead.

Abbas, in particular, sounded like a throwback to the 1970s, when the Palestine Libera-

tion Organization was committed to a unified ”secular democratic” state stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan. Those were also the days when the PLO, with Soviet assistance, began pushing the libel that Israel is an “apartheid” state. In his U.N. speech, Abbas asserted that point with relish, arguing that the recently passed law designating Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people was the final seal on its inherently discriminatory character. his was the launching pad for more hyperbole.

According to Abbas, the Palestinians are the only nation on earth denied self-determination — apparently, the Kurdish, Sahrawi and Tibetan people don’t exist. Towards the end of the speech, he even questioned whether the international community, which has lavished billions of dollars on the Palestinian Authority over the last two decades, regarded the Palestinians as human beings.

Moreover, Abbas continued, the Palestinians are wise to the use of humanitarian aid as a political trick and will never accept anything less than a full state with eastern Jerusalem as its capital. Getting to that point will require a definitive break with the U.S.-led peace process, he argued, since the United States is now unambiguously in Israel’s corner. It will also re-

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quire more “sacrifices” from the steadfast Palestinian people (this from a man whose mandate to govern those same Palestinians ran out 10 years ago).

Ultimately, Abbas’s speech was a plea to retain the Palestinian question as the central challenge in the Middle East. While that argument was once taken for granted, especially by the Europeans, the wars in Iraq and Syria, the rise of Sunni Islamism and the looming Iranian threat all suggest a very different reality.

Facing what he insists is Israeli and American duplicity, Abbas has to contend with a loss of status. And all this while Hamas in Gaza refuses to accept the P.A.’s authority — perhaps the most revealing of all of Abbas’s complaints, but one that was easily lost amid his verbal assaults on Israel and America. hen Netanyahu came to the podium about an hour later, his speech was the perfect illustration of why Abbas sounds so desperate. I didn’t time it exactly, but we were probably 30 minutes into the speech before he even said the word “Palestinian.”

The Middle East, as presented by the Israeli prime minister, has evolved dramatically as a result of the empowerment of Iran enabled by the 2015 nuclear deal — so much so that the old divide between Israel and the Arab states

The peace process is dead.

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over the Palestinians has been overtaken by an unprecedented spirit of unity in the face of Iran’s military interventions across the region.

Preventing Iran from weaponizing its nuclear program is a goal shared by states across the Middle East, and as Netanyahu sees it, it is one whose urgency far surpasses the unresolved Palestinian question.

To expect Abbas, one of the few surviving members of the PLO’s founding generation, to adjust to this reality is a fantasy. Although the Palestinian leader has continually confounded predictions of his imminent demise, it will probably have occurred to Abbas that Thursday may well be the last time he addresses the U.N. In which case, he will have deliberately left a legacy of conflict, rather than the transformative strategic thinking the Palestinians desperately require if they are to achieve the two-state solution that President Trump says he “likes.”

In the final analysis, Abbas’s speech to the U.N. confirmed that the P.A. and the PLO are returning to their old game of undermining Israel’s legitimacy at every turn. Netanyahu’s speech demonstrated that while Israel is aware of the Palestinian retreat into maximalism, there are bigger problems that his country is facing. Ironically, it is the prospect of renewed warfare between Fatah and Hamas, strongly hinted at by Abbas, that is more likely than anything else to drag Israel’s attention away from Tehran.

I believe this Palestinian teenager S stEpHEN M. FlatOw

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hed Tamimi, the Palestinian teenager jailed for assaulting an Israeli soldier, says she supports violence against Jews and seeks the destruction of Israel.

I believe her.

And I believe that groups such as J Street, which have defended Tamimi and claimed that she is nonviolently resisting “the Israeli occupation of the West Bank,” owe the Jewish community an apology for refusing to believe her.

When Tamimi was arrested last December for assaulting an Israeli soldier, the Jewish left leaped to her defense. J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami wrote an op-ed arguing that Israel has been “illegally taking over” the land of her village, and her assault of the soldier “results quite naturally … from the human impulse to resist injustice against one’s community and family.”

The J Street web site posted an essay by a Washington D.C. clergywoman named Hannah Goldstein, declaring that that she “can understand why” Tamimi’s father sent her and her siblings to throw rocks at Jews since “under occupation, their opportunities are limited” and “putting children [or allowing them to put themselves] in harm’s way for the sake of greater change seems worth the risk.”

But as soon as Tamimi finished her jail sentence, she began issuing statements making it clear that for her, the issue is not the village’s land, but the existence of Israel. And far from being a Palestinian Gandhi, she supports terrorism. n an interview with Lebanese television on Aug. 22, Tamimi praised Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. That’s right, Hezbollah — bombers of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, murderers of hundreds of Americans, hijackers of TWA Flight 847. Nas-

rallah, the Holocaust denier and virulent antiSemite. Tamimi thanked Nasrallah profusely for boosting “not just my morale, but the morale of many people,” and wished him a happy Eid al-Fitr.

In an interview with the French television station France24 on Sept. 17, Tamimi was asked if she had any regrets about publicly praising Hezbollah. “No, absolutely not,” she declared, pointing out that Nasrallah “stands against the United States and Israel, so I agree with him on this particular point.”

The France24 interview was revealing in other ways. In one exchange, the interview stated, “You are calling for a peaceful resistance.”

Tamimi said, “I call for a people’s resistance, of any kind. To me, it’s important for the people to be able to choose how they would like to resist against this occupation.

To me, there are different manners to fight this occupation ... Some may choose poetry; others slapping a soldier; others might choose

Far from being a Palestinian Gandhi, she supports terrorism.

I

throwing stones or drawing. I respect every type of resistance.” he refused to say that she supports “peaceful” actions. She specified that she supports assaulting Israeli soldiers and throwing stones. She also specifically said that she “respects every type of resistance” — obviously including the other kinds of “resistance” in which Palestinians engage: knives, guns, bombs.

Tamimi has never condemned stabbing, shooting or bombing Jews. And she never will.

Because she believes in it. Her words: “Every type of resistance.” I believe she means it.

And what is the “occupation” to which Tamimi refers? She made it clear to the France24 interviewer. He asked how she can justify slapping a soldier. She replied: “These soldiers are occupying my country—Jaffa, Haifa, Akko.”

Those cities are not in the West Bank. They are nowhere near her village of Nabi Saleh.

They are within pre-1967 Israel. Tamimi could not have been clearer. She was saying that she considers all of Israel to be “occupied territory.”

It takes a certain kind of hubris to say that Palestinian girls should not be believed — to pretend that they don’t mean what they say.

I call on Ahed Tamimi’s Jewish defenders to believe her, and to apologize to the Jewish community for deceiving us about her intentions.

ron SoLomon

Bar-Ilan University

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t was just a moment. One among many thousands of contact points in the life of an inspirational figure. One that passed too quickly, but its impression still reverberates.

I don’t know how tall Ari Fuld was. It didn’t matter. He was a strapping man whose personality was much larger than his appearance. And when you met him, only one thought came to mind: a giant.

Ari was in Los Angeles to raise funds for his buddies, his proud comrades-in-arms in the Israel Defense Forces. They were with him on the front lines to do a job protecting his beloved

state. But you didn’t need to be in his unit for Ari to love you. He loved you simply for putting on the uniform. There are hundreds of stories and more still coming in that confirm this.

Ari Fuld saw a need when he served — for more than 20 years, in an elite paratrooper unit.

He saw soldiers on the front in the middle of nowhere who could be helped psychologically by small gestures — the little extras that even the most advanced military divisions don’t normally provide, some pizza or waffles or even blankets.

And he made it his business to deliver them. He got his hands on a truck that could package and cook food and supplies, and in many cases, he delivered the goods to troops on the fronts, in the north and south. He created an organization with no bureaucracy, no red tape and no committees.

Just friends “Standing Together” (the organization’s name) and assisting.

Ari Fuld admitted to me that he never knew

anything about raising money. He simply stood up and asked his fellow Jews all over the world to help him. hat gets us back to the riveting moment. It took place at a private home a year ago in Valley Village, Calif. Maybe it was the way he asked for help. I remember thinking to myself that, if I could have a sliver of the genuine inspiration clearly evident in Ari’s eyes, how much better I could be as a fundraiser. Or maybe it was the fact that Ari’s father works for BarIlan University, the institution I have represented for 33 years. Or maybe it was the fact that he handed me a piece of heavy, sharp shrapnel that had been taken out of his back when he served in Lebanon in 2006. Or it could have been the fact that he lived in Efrat, where my daughter lives.

Whatever it was, that moment with Ari Fuld stayed with me. And now it haunts me. Could I have done more to help him with his cause?

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The world laughed at Trump, but Iran shouldn’t Jonathan S. tobin

Jewish News Syndicate

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he international community has made no secret of its contempt for President Donald Trump when he spoke to the U.N. General Assembly last week. So it was little surprise that when the president uttered a typical Trumpian braggadocio — “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country” — the response was laughter from the normally restrained audience of officials in the chamber.

For most of the media, it was a telling moment, not just because it momentarily flummoxed the president but because it also conformed to the way his opponents think of him. Trump’s critics see him in general as unworthy of the presidency, but his lack of knowledge about foreign affairs and respect for the post-World War II order has caused him to be regarded by the policy establishment as a hopeless ignoramus and a danger to the world.

But while that disdain resonated in media coverage, those doing the chortling shouldn’t be too confident that they will have the last laugh.

Trump’s willingness to challenge conventional wisdom and to rail at “globalists” may seem comical at the United Nations and on CNN. But those who think that the international community will be able to thwart his efforts to overturn the Iran

nuclear deal are the ones who are playing the fool.

That Trump would think to brag about his Middle East policies at the U.N. arena was inconceivable to his audience. They regard his willingness to drop the international community’s fiction about Jerusalem’s status shocking. They feel just as strongly about Trump’s plans to hold Palestinians accountable for their rejection of peace and support for terror. But on Jerusalem, as well as seeking the end of UNRWA — the U.N. agency devoted to perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem — Trump is showing common sense.

Though bereft of policy experience, he understands that the “experts” have spent the last few decades being consistently wrong about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Yet even some who favor Israel worry that his support is meaningless since they view Trump as destroying American influence in the world.

It is in that context that his stance on Iran actually proves the opposite point. hough the United Nations and America’s European allies think Trump is isolating the United States and diminishing its influence, it is they who are being unrealistic. Like it or not, Trump is getting his way on Iran, and nothing his opponents plan to do is likely to stop him.

The Europeans are adamant that the Iran deal is the best way to control Iran’s nuclear program.

But it is figures like French President Emmanuel

Macron, who denounced American policies at the United Nations, who are the fabulists in this debate — not Trump.

The Iran deal was an act of appeasement on the part of President Barack Obama that threw away the West’s leverage when Iran was at its weakest. The pact empowered a rogue regime to the point where it is a greater threat to regional security than ever, and knows it only has to wait patiently for the deal to expire within a decade before resuming its march to a nuclear bomb with the West unwilling to do anything about it.

The assumption by the Europeans and Obama supporters was that it was irreversible because America’s allies would never consent to a return to sanctions on Iran. That argument was flawed.

It was always within the power of the United States to enact new sanctions and to deny the right to American business to any entity that continued to operate in Iran. Such sanctions would offend U.S. allies, as well as nations like Russia and China.

In other words, it was the kind of thing that only Trump would do.

But far from being ineffective, the reaction from the European Union and others shows that they know Trump is succeeding. The re-imposition of sanctions on Iran’s oil exports is already having a major impact on their shaky economy. When new, more far-reaching sanctions are imposed in

‘Experts’ have spent decades being wrong.

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November, along with regulations that will give the Europeans an economic choice between the United States or Iran, their problems will multiply. Brave talk from people like E.U. head Federica Mogherini that they will create a bank to shield European companies from U.S. sanctions is as absurd as it is unworkable. Trump may not be respected, but the idea that the Europeans can afford to exist outside in isolation from the U.S. economy or that American sanctions can’t bring Iran to its knees is the real joke. oo many Trump critics are still looking at his foreign policy through the lens of past conflict. The “America First” slogan he has embraced has frightening historical baggage, and his skepticism about NATO remains troubling. But Trump’s push against the “globalists” is not anti-Semitic — and not just because it is part of a clear tilt towards Israel.

As long as key U.S. allies are more concerned about their right to profit from commerce with Iran than in bringing to heel the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, or in holding Palestinians accountable for terrorism, America will need a leader who is willing to run roughshod over friends who act as Iran’s enablers. From that perspective, Trump looks a lot smarter than his European counterparts, who have tied themselves to destructive policies that must be discarded to ensure the security of the West. They may think they can wait him out until he is replaced in 2021. But a U.S. campaign to stop Iran is likely to succeed before then.

If so, it will be Trump who will be the one smiling.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS.

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Ignore boycotters, experience Israel for yourself Liran aviSar ben-horin Masa Israel Journey

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ast week, news broke that John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the University of Michigan’s American Culture department, refused to write a letter of recommendation for a student who is seeking to study abroad at Tel Aviv University, citing his support for the Palestinian-led academic boycott of Israel. He went as far as analogizing, “If a student had wanted to do a study abroad at an institution in Apartheid South Africa, I would have declined to write a letter for her as well.”

The professor’s actions are not only discriminatory, an abuse of power and a clear violation of his school’s policies. They reflect a basic fear among those who seek to demonize and delegitimize Israel—fear of the truth about the only democracy in the Middle East.

As the leader of the largest organization bring-

ing Jewish young adults to Israel for immersive experiences (mainly from four to 10 months), I have a message for anyone who might listen to Cheney-Lippold and those like him: Ignore the boycotters. See Israel for yourself.

Ask any one of the 140,000 students who have come to Israel through Masa Israel Journey.

They intern in the Knesset, in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with members of Israel’s Supreme Court, including Arab Judge Salim Joubran, the court’s former deputy chief justice. In Israel’s thriving democracy, members of minorities like the Arab community (representing about 20 percent of the nation’s population) are represented in the country’s most senior positions in the judiciary, politics, business and arts; the same cannot be said for any other state in the region.

They work in Israel’s booming culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, which leads the world in start-ups per capita, including for MobileODT, whose technology systems use mobile phones to aid in early detection of cancer and other diseases, and for Playbuzz, a Disneybacked platform whose real-time analytics tools create interactive stories for hundreds of millions

of users. These start-ups do more than innovate.

Their cutting-edge technologies make the world a better place.

They teach English to immigrants from Ethiopia, Bedouins in the Negev and work with Islam seekers in south Tel Aviv and underserved communities all over the country. hey study at world-renowned universities that serve as key engines that drive the country’s innovative identity, such as the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, whose professors and researchers pursue seemingly impossible goals like finding a cure for cancer and ending global drought. Those who want to boycott Israeli universities are, in effect, boycotting solutions to some of the world’s most serious problems.

They contribute their energy and passion to Israeli nonprofits that provide social welfare to vulnerable individuals throughout Israel’s entire society (not just its Jewish population) and worldwide. This includes Save a Child’s Heart— an international NGO that improves the quality of pediatric cardiac care for children in developing countries, and across the Middle East, and creates centers of health-care competence in those

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countries—Innovation Africa and many others.

Our participants hear a range of multifaceted, complex, diverse perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—unlike the simple, one-sided and defamatory accusations leveled by boycott activists like Professor Cheney-Lippold—that allows them to make up their own minds about the situation facing Israelis and Palestinians.

Masa participants return to America and other countries around the world with a better sense of who they are and what they want to be, how they aspire to contribute to their societies and economies, a deeper comprehension of the world around them and nuanced perspectives on what the State of Israel is, and what the complex reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict looks like. Our alums are building bridges between peoples, not narrow-minded boycott proponents like Cheney-Lippold who drive people apart.

We encourage all students and young adults to disregard the boycotters on campuses and in other spaces, and to spend time in Israel. Come see the full picture for yourselves.

Liran Avisar Ben-Horin is the CEO of Masa Israel Journey.

25 THE JEWISH STAR October 5, 2018 • 26 Tishrei 5779

My moment with a giant, Ari Fuld

He was known as a man who would “take the shirt off his back” for anyone in need. Am I really ready to do that? Can I ever have the effect on people that Ari had on me in that moment?

After being stabbed in the back, Ari chased down his 17-year-old murderer and shot him before he collapsed. This may have cost Ari his life.

One last act of supreme heroism in a life replete with courage.

But life will never be the same for Ari’s wife and four kids. And the murderer will probably be glorified, and a children’s camp will probably be named for him for perpetrating this despicable act of cowardice. Ari was called by God to a different post just three days before Yom Kippur.

And he left us with the ultimate act of courage.

He saved people.

“Like a stone in the hand of the cutter— He grasps it at will and smashes it at will— So are we in Your hand, O source of life and death … ” (From a Kol Nidre night prayer) Ron Solomon is executive vice president of the American Friends of Bar-Ilan University.

Confronting the blood libel of Linda Sarsour Steven emerSon

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Investigative Project on Terrorism

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hen police officers in America shoot unarmed black people, Jewish hands lurk in the background.

So says Linda Sarsour, a co-chair of the national Women’s March and a campaign surrogate for Democratic politicians, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Congressional candidate from the Bronx and Queens.

A program sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League that takes American police officials to Israel for a week-long seminar is fueling police brutality, Sarsour said last month at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)’s annual convention.

The ADL, she said in response to a question, “has been a purveyor of Islamophobia against our community,” but still enjoys a positive reputation.

ADL officials “positioned themselves as somehow being part of the progressive movement,” she said. “But … if you are part of a criminal-justice reform movement, if you believe in the idea of ending police brutality and the misconduct of law-enforcement officers across the country, then you do not support an organization that takes police officers from America, funds their trips, takes them to Israel so they can be trained by the Israeli police and military, and then they come back here and do what? Stop and frisk, killing unarmed black people across the country.”

“She’s lying to a bunch of gullible, hurt people,” said Nisi Jacobs, a co-founder of the Women’s March for All, a group that broke away from the national Women’s March because of concerns about Sarsour and national co-chair Tamika Mallory. Among its activities, Women’s March for All has a petition calling on Sarsour and Mallory to be replaced.

Sarsour has drawn accusations of anti-Semitism for her refusal to condemn Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s Jew-hating sermons.

“Nothing is creepier than Zionism,” she famously wrote on Twitter. Zionists who failed to meet her threshold for sufficient support for Palestinians could not be feminists, she said.

“I am an unapologetic pro-BDS, one-state solution supporting resistance supporter here in the U.S.,” she told her Islamic Society audience. ssistant Police Chief Chris McIlvain in Austin, Texas, said his experience on the 2015 ADL-sponsored seminar was “not even remotely” close to what Sarsour described. There was no tactical training, and no discussion of coercive techniques, McIlvain said. Police departments must maintain “a state of readiness” for all kinds of threats — from mass shootings to terrorist attacks. Israel has experience that can be helpful.

“The ADL is a good partner of law enforcement combating hate crimes of all types,” McIlvain said. “The idea is not to divert hate from one group to another, it’s to eliminate it.”

To garner support, Palestinian advocates have turned to “intersectional” politics, an alliance of aggrieved interest groups. Palestinian supporters have courted African-Americans by arguing that police injustices against AfricanAmericans are akin to Palestinians fighting Israel. Liberation for black people and Palestinians is “bound up,” Sarsour said during the 2015 Million Man March organized by Louis Farrakhan.

Attacking the ADL is one way activists like Sarsour build intersectional alliances by linking Israel to “militarizing” American police — holding the ADL and Israel responsible for police abuses in the United States. Sarsour took it a step

further: If not for Israeli training, police wouldn’t be shooting unarmed black people.

It’s a talking point pushed in 2016 by two officials at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Dawud Walid, head of CAIR’s Michigan chapter, brought it up at an American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) convention outside Chicago: “The same tear gas that is used in Al Quds [Jerusalem] to tear gas Palestinians is the same tear gas and the same tear gas company that tear gassed African-Americans in Ferguson. The exact same company. The same militarized police forces that shoot unarmed black people and do this crowd control like what happened in Ferguson — where do the police chiefs, these people, get trained at? In Israel. We, brothers and sisters in Islam, be we black … or lighter skinned … we have a common concern, we have a common struggle.”

Four months earlier, Laila Abdelaziz, then CAIR-Florida government affairs director, told a Students for Justice in Palestine audience that police in Ferguson, Mo., where the death of Michael Brown sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, were “trained directly by Israeli Defense Forces.”

Ferguson’s then-Police Chief Tim Fitch did attend the ADL program three years before Brown’s death, but no investigation has connected his experience to the Brown shooting.

A year later after the investigation, Abdelaziz and Walid still cast Israel as complicit.

“When you say Black Lives Matter in the United States, you are also saying that Palestinian lives matter,” Abdelaziz said, echoing Sarsour. “You are saying that the same forces that are oppressing Palestinians unjustly in Israel-Palestine are the same forces and the same evils that are extra-judicially murdering black men in the United States.”

No police officer involved in a questionable shooting has been tied to the ADL’s Israel seminar, which began in 2003. More than 200 police officials have participated.. he ADL declined to comment for this story.

But in 2015, Deputy National Director Kenneth Jacobson dismissed the argument as “[t]he latest strategy being used by those who make a career of assaulting the good name of the state of Israel,” adding that there is “no rational connection between the challenge of racism in America and the situation facing the Palestinians.” Palestinians, he noted, have repeatedly rejected peace offers to create a state — one that agrees to exist peacefully alongside Israel.

The baseless claims against the ADL program and similar Israeli training are echoed by the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace. It set up a website, Deadly Exchange, devoted to smearing American police training involving Israelis, including the ADL’s counter-terrorism seminar.

“In these programs,” Deadly Exchange’s home page says, “ ‘worst practices’ are shared to promote and extend discriminatory and repressive policing practices that already exist in both countries, including extrajudicial executions, shoot-to-kill policies, police murders, racial profiling, massive spying and surveillance, deportation and detention, and attacks on human-rights defenders.”

Again, that’s “not even remotely” close to what McIlvain said he experienced. While Deadly Exchange cites alleged policies and tactics it finds objectionable, it offers no example of an American being harmed as a result.

The JVP campaign has enjoyed at least one success despite that lack of evidence, with the city council of Durham, N.C., voting in April to prohibit any city police official from participating in any Israeli training program. No Durham official had, and officials said they had no plans to do so.

She’s lying to a bunch of gullible, hurt people.

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