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THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLAND’S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

DEMS SWEEP SOUTH SHORE Rice beats Blakeman, Kaminsky tops Fertig By Ed Weintrob While Republicans cruised to control of both the U.S. Senate and the New York State Senate on Tuesday, Long Island’s South Shore was awash in blue, with Democrats handily winning the area’s two contested races. Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice, emphasizing a liberal agenda, overcame a late surge by her conservative Republican rival, former Presiding OfďŹ cer of the Nassau County Legislature Bruce Blakeman. The unofďŹ cial count on Wednesday morning was 85,294 to 76,515 (52.66 percent to 47.24 percent). In the race to succeed retiring Democratic Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, Democrat Todd Kaminsky topped Republican Avi Fertig by more than 10 percent — 16,411 to 13,810 (54.30 percent to 45.69 percent). State Senate leader Dean Skelos, a Republican, was handily reelected for a 15th term against

an inactive opponent, Patrick Gillespie Jr., 47,906 to 24,837 (65.83 percent to 34.13 percent). The Rice-Blakeman count ran late Tuesday night, with Blakeman initially in the lead, so it was after midnight when Rice ďŹ nally declared victory, telling supporters at the Garden City Hotel: “We proved that positivity and ideas beat fear-mongering and dirty campaigning.â€? Accompanied at the podium by retiring Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a beaming Rice promised to work “toward solutions and away from the gridlock that is holding our futures hostage.â€? She recounted her to-do list of domestic priorities, including an increase in the federal minimum wage (now $7.25 for most employees) and support for organized labor, small businesses, “heath care and health rights,â€? and Social Security. “The way we grow the econContinued on page 5

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‘Born in Jerusalem’ case divides Supreme Court By Mark Sherman, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Middle Eastern politics infused the Supreme Court’s arguments Monday over a disputed law that would allow Americans born in Jerusalem to list their birthplace as Israel on their U.S. passports. The justices appeared divided over whether the law should be struck down as unconstitutional, as the Obama administration wants, or put into effect as a result of a lawsuit ďŹ led by the parents of Jerusalemborn Menachem Zivotofsky. Twelve-year-old Menachem, a baby when the case began in 2003, and his parents sat through the hourlong argument that saw justices wrestle with questions of the president’s primacy in matters of foreign affairs and the effect the court’s eventual decision could have on simmering tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Justice Elena Kagan called Jerusalem a “tinderboxâ€? 0HQDFKHP =LYRWRIVN\ VWDQGV ZLWK KLV IDWKHU $UL =LYRWRIVN\ DQG DWWRUQH\ $O\]D /HZLQ and said the outcome of the case would be watched RXWVLGH WKH 6XSUHPH &RXUW LQ :DVKLQJWRQ RQ 0RQGD\ $3 SKRWR E\ &DURO\Q .DVWHU

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closely. “History suggests that everything is a big deal with respect to the status of Jerusalem,� Kagan said. On the other side, Justice Antonin Scalia said of the law, “If it is within Congress’ power, what difference does it make whether it antagonizes foreign countries?� The status of Jerusalem has for decades been among the most vexing issues in Israeli-Palestinian relations. Israel has controlled all of Jerusalem since the Six-Day War in 1967 and has proclaimed a united Jerusalem as its eternal capital. The Palestinians have declared that east Jerusalem will be the capital of their independent state. U.S. policy has long refrained from recognizing any nation’s sovereignty over Jerusalem and has held that the city’s status should be resolved through negotiations between the parties. Congress has for years tried to push administrations of both parties to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The U.S. has never enContinued on page 5

2 November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

Why the man behind Leon Klinghoffer’s murder went free

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LICM receives support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Long Island Children’s Museum 11 Davis Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 • 516-224-5800 www.licm.org • On Charles Lindbergh Blvd. (Museum Row) near the Nassau Coliseum

By Stephen M. Flatow, JNS.org Amid the ongoing controversy over the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of “The Death of Klinghoffer,” little has been said about the Palestinian leader who was the mastermind behind the 1985 attack in which Leon Klinghoffer was murdered. The decision to hijack the Achille Lauro cruise ship was made by Muhammad Zaidan, (aka Muhammad Abbas or Abu Abbas), leader of the Palestine Liberation Front (not to be confused with his comrade-in-arms Mahmoud Abbas, current president of the Palestinian Authority). Four of Abu Abbas’s agents seized the ship, terrorized the passengers, and murdered the wheelchair-bound, 69 year-old Klinghoffer. They also demanded the release of 50 Palestinian terrorists being held in Israeli prisons. When the Israelis refused to negotiate, Abbas’s gang forced the ship to sail to Egypt. The Egyptian government arranged for them to flee by plane, but the U.S. air force intercepted the plane and forced it to land in Italy. The Italians, however, refused to extradite the terrorists to America, and instead put them on trial. All four were convicted, but two were set free in just six years; the other two were released in 2008 and 2009. As for Abbas, the Palestinian leadership rallied around him. Arafat’s foreign minister, Farouk Kaddoumi, accused Mrs. Marilyn Klinghoffer of murdering her husband for insurance money. Abbas himself offered an alternative explanation, at a press conference in Algeria in 1988: “Maybe he was trying to swim for it.” With Arafat’s endorsement, Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Front continued carrying out terrorist attacks. In fact, it was Arafat’s refusal to condemn a Palestine Liberation Front attack in 1990 that prompted President George H.W. Bush to rescind his earlier recognition of the PLO. After the 1990 attack, Abbas disappeared from public view. The U.S. government issued a warrant for his arrest and offered a $250,000 reward for his capture. The hunt was on. But after Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, and the hunt was called off. The Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO became the centerpiece of the Clinton administration’s Mideast policy. Arafat, chairman of the new Palestinian Authority, was proclaimed to be “moderate” and the leaders of various PLO factions, such as Abbas, tagged along. In early 1996, Abbas surfaced in PA-controlled Gaza—yet the Clinton administration did not ask the PA to extradite him to stand trial for the murder of Klinghoffer. The U.S. Senate passed, 99-0, a resolution

asking President Clinton to request Abbas’s extradition. The administration declared that it was too late, that the statute of limitations on extraditing him had expired. But the Congressional Research Service examined the law and concluded that, in fact, the statute had been suspended because Abbas was a fugitive from justice. President Clinton dug in his heels, refused to take action against Abbas, and hoped nobody would notice. And he was right. Journalists stopped asking about Abbas. Jewish leaders moved on to other issues. The senators who voted for the resolution were not prepared to take stronger action, such as cutting off U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority. Abbas lived freely in Gaza, while traveling often to Baghdad, a longtime center of his terror activities. Then, in 2003, Abbas was captured by U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. The “moderate” PA was furious and demanded his release; PA spokesman Saeb Erakat said that the Oslo accords prohibited the prosecution of anyone involved in terrorism before 1993. (In fact, the U.S. is not a signatory on the Oslo accords and the accords say nothing about the U.S. prosecuting anybody.) But Abbas managed to cheat justice yet again—11 months after his capture, he died of natural causes while still in American custody in Iraq. So, one might ask, why didn’t President Clinton want to prosecute Abbas? For the same reason he never asked the PA to hand over the terrorists involved in the murder of my daughter Alisa in 1995, or any other Palestinian killers of American citizens—because it would anger the Palestinian leadership and upset the “peace process.” Clinton never seemed to realize that peace negotiations have no meaning if the Palestinian side still regards terrorists as heroes and is angry if they are prosecuted. The Palestinian leadership always regarded Klinghoffer’s killers—and Alisa’s killers—as heroes. They never sincerely renounced terrorism and they never viewed terrorists as bad guys. And that’s why the peace process—whether it be Bill Clinton’s peace process, George W. Bush’s peace process, or Barack Obama’s peace process—has never resulted in peace. On many occasions in recent years, Clinton has expressed regret that he refused to act against the genocide in Rwanda. One wonders how long it will take him to express some regret that he refused to act against Palestinian terrorists whose own genocidal campaign has claimed so many innocent victims. Stephen M. Flatow’s daughter Alisa was murdered in an April 1995 Palestinian terror attack at Kfar Darom.

The Shulamith School for Girls this week announced its purchase of a site in Inwood where it will open a new campus to house the entire school, nursery through grade 12. The new campus — on Prospect Street between Doughby Boulevard and Alvin Place — is being designed by the Patchogue-based BBS Architects & Engineers. It will includes a performing arts center that seats over 400, gymnasiums, library/media centers, lecture laboratories for the sciences, small group instruction rooms for academic support, and early childhood classrooms that surround a two-story indoor playground. The campus will be crafted in tandem with educational technology experts to enable cutting edge integration of technology in education, a Shulamith spokesperson said. The expanded hi-tech space will be coming online not a moment too soon. Shulamith is opening a high school next fall, completing the school’s nursery through 12th grade educational experience. Founded in Brooklyn in 1930, Shulamith is the oldest Orthodox girls school in North America. Shulamith’s Woodmere location, opened in 2000, became an independent entity four years ago. Today 546 students study in the Early Childhood, Lower and Middle Divisions at three different facilities in the Five Towns. Work on the new site is expected to begin next spring. For more information about Shulamith, contact Executive Director Rabbi Perry Tirschwell (rpt@shulamith.org). Rederings by BBS Architecture

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THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

FIRST LOOK: Shulamith’s new Inwood campus

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7KH 6HGXFWLYH $OOXUH RI 3HDFH LQ 2XU 7LPH Please join us for an educational screening of one of this year’s most talked about and provocative films, about the American Jewish Community and its relationship with Israel. Join the discussion. The J Street Challenge examines the rise of the wellfunded activist organization with a powerful marketing effort and a seemingly idealistic message that appeals to many frustrated by the Middle East Conflict. The film presents commentary and analyses from a wide political spectrum. Featuring:

Alan Dershowitz & Ruth Wisse

Caroline Glick of The Jerusalem Post

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Rabbi Daniel Gordis of the Shalem College in Jerusalem

Bret Stephens Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Wall Street Journal

Saturday, November 8th, 2014 8:00 PM

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November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

4

Dems sweep South Shore‌

Continued from page 1 forced the passport law, on the books since 2002. Like Kagan, the other liberal justices appeared willing to accept the administration’s argument that changing the wording on passports would damage the American role as a broker of peace in the Middle East and undermine the president’s credibility. Justice Sonia Sotomayor used strong language in support of the administration’s position, saying that Congress and the Zivotofskys are “asking the government to lie.â€? When Alyza Lewin, the family’s lawyer, protested, Sotomayor said, “How could you tell me it’s not a lie? ‌ The United States, are being asked to put on the passport that you believe the place of birth of this individual is Israel, and ‌ the executive has said, no, we don’t think it was Israel, we think it was Jerusalem.â€? The conservative justices were more skeptical of the argument put forth by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. They seemed open to Lewin’s argument that the passport language would not change U.S. policy toward Jerusalem. No matter the issue’s sensitivity, Justice Samuel Alito said, “Our decision isn’t going to be based on any view that we may have about whether Jerusalem should be regarded as part of Israel or the capital of Israel.â€? As he often does on a closely divided court, Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to hold the controlling vote. Kennedy said at one point that the

Continued from page 1 omy is by helping those struggling to feed their three kids, not those struggling to buy their third home,â€? she said. “We grow our economy by helping small businesses ďŹ nd ways to expand their workforces, not by helping corporate America to ďŹ nd ways to send their jobs overseas.â€? Foreign affairs, including Israel and the Middle East, were not mentioned in her victory remarks. At Republican county headquarters in Westbury, Blakeman thanked his supporters “and especially a great patriot, a tremendous leader in Congress — my only real regret is that I’m not going to ďŹ ght the ďŹ ghts with him — Congressman Peter King,â€? whose district includes North Shore communities. While the state Senate has long been in Republican hands (with the Assembly ruled by Democrats), GOP control of the Senate recently depended on an alliance with dissident Democrats. “It’s a great day to win our majority backâ€? said Skelos. “We’re going to bring balance back to Albany, ďŹ scal responsibility to Albany, focus on private sector jobs, make New York affordable, and say no to Mayor Bill deBlasio.â€? Republican Fertig said his loss to Democrat Kaminsky was a learning experience. He told the Nassau Herald that he expects to try again in two years. Democratic incumbents who were reelected to the statewide ofďŹ ces on Tuesday’s ballot also won in Nassau County, although the attorney general’s Nassau count was tight. Here is the unofďŹ cial county tally, with all precincts reporting: GOVERNOR Andrew Cuomo 160,214 (52.52 percent), Rob Astorino 135,472 (44.41 percent). COMPTROLLER Thomas DiNapoli 165,834 (54.87 percent), Robert Antonacci 131,157 (43.40 percent).

administration seemed to have the stronger argument. But he also suggested that a disclaimer on passports that American policy about Jerusalem is unchanged could take care of the problem. Vrrilli doubted such a disclaimer would be effective. He called the status of Jerusalem among the most vexing issues in the region. The case is back before the court two years after the justices rejected lower court decisions that called the matter a political issue that should be resolved by Congress and the president without the help of the courts. The federal appeals court in Washington then struck down the law as an unconstitutional intrusion by Congress on the president’s authority over foreign affairs. Congress and the White House have argued for decades over support for Israel’s position on Jerusalem. In 1995, Congress essentially adopted the Israeli position, saying the U.S. should recognize a united Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In 2002, lawmakers passed new provisions urging the president to take steps to move the embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and allowing Americans born in Jerusalem to have their place of birth listed as Israel. President George W. Bush signed the 2002 provisions into law but noted that “U.S. policy regarding Jerusalem has not changed.� President Barack Obama has taken the same stance. A decision in Zivotofsky v. Kerry, 13-628, is expected by late June.

THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

Jerusalem in court‌

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ATTORNEY GENERAL Eric Schneiderman 149,434 (49.71 percent), John Cahill 146,252 (48.66 percent). Nassau voters elected six of nine candidates for Justice of the Supreme Court: Sandra L. Sgroi, Thomas F. Whelan, A. Gail Prudenti, Anna R. Anzalone, Angelo A. Delligatti, and Sharon M.J. Gianelli. Three of six candidates were elected County Court Judge: Terence P. Murphy, Fran Ricigliano, and William J. O’Brien. Two of four candidates were elected Family Court Judge: Danielle M. Peterson and Thomas Rademaker.

Lenny Koegel 516-594-6010

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November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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For Bibi and Obama, it’s been a chickensh*t week Last Tuesday, Jeffrey Goldberg posted an essay in the Atlantic called, “The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations Is OfďŹ cially Hereâ€? which added the word chickensh*t to the international political lexicon: “The other day I was talking to a senior Obama administration ofďŹ cial about the foreign leader who seems to frustrate the White House and the State Department the most. ‘The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickensh*t,’ this ofďŹ cial said, referring to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by his nickname. ‌ “The relationship between these two administrations— dual guarantors of the puta-

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tively ‘unbreakable’ bond between the U.S. and Israel—is now the worst it’s ever been, and it stands to get signiďŹ cantly worse after the November midterm elections. By next year, the Obama administration may actually withdraw diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations, but even before that, both sides are expecting a showdown over Iran, should an agreement be reached about the future of its nuclear program. “ Washington insiders understand this was no rogue senior Obama ofďŹ cial; it was a direct and intended message from the President to the Israeli government, it was leaked to Goldberg on purpose. That same ofďŹ cial went on to say that Netanyahu’s threats about possibly attacking Iran weren’t real because Bibi (who served in Israel’s special forces on the front lines in two wars) was a coward. Interestingly, while GOP chairman Reince Preibus issue a statement condemning the remarks as did such Congressional Republicans as Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Ted, and others slammed the chickensh*t remarks, only one Democrat — Rep. Elliot Engel — condemned the remarks publicly. Debbie Wasserman Shultz Chairman of the DNC, who traveled the country in 2012 proclaiming that Obama was a friend of Israel, never offered criticism. Neither did Sen. Chuck Schumer who never met a TV camera he didn’t love and who frequently expresses his love of Israel did not speak out. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who shows up to speak at every pro-Israel rally he can ďŹ nd, did not

show up when it counted. Even Long Island’s Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the DCCC and another supposed friend of the Jewish state who seems to be on TV every day bashing members of the Tea Party, didn’t use one of those appearances to voice displeasure for the chickensh*t remark. Despite the fact that many of them claim to support Israel, except for Engel none — not one of the 240+ Democratic Party members of the House or Senate — has had the guts to speak out. Make no mistake, the “walk backâ€? by the State Department and White House in the immediate aftermath were meant for the Israel-supporting American voters (Jews and Evangelicals) not for Netanyahu or Israelis. When asked about the chickensh*t hubbub, David Aaron Miller who has been involved in U.S.- Israel relations since the Carter Administration, told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, “This is by far the most dysfunctional relationshipâ€? of any U.S. President/Israeli Prime Minister ever. Miller should know; he was a key player in the Bush #41 Administration when the relationship got so bad that his boss, Secretary of State James Baker, declared he didn’t care about how Jewish voters would punish the President for his Middle East policy (his exact words were “F**k the Jews, they won’t vote for us anyway!â€?) As bad as the relationship was during the Bush #41 administration, Miller told Mitchell that this administration’s relationship is worse. The dysfunction goes beyond policy. Barack Obama does not like Benjamin Netanyahu and it’s personal. Obama doesn’t understand why Administration pressure isn’t working for him as it had with other Presidents. When Yitzhak Shamir fought with George H.W Bush his government fell and he was eventually voted out of ofďŹ ce. The same thing happened during Bibi’s ďŹ rst term as Premier; when he didn’t give Bill Clinton the concessions he wanted, Netanyahu’s coalition failed and he was booted from ofďŹ ce. Obama is angry that he couldn’t to the same with this Netanyahu government. But Obama doesn’t understand what happened to Israel since US Presidents helped to force those PMs out of ofďŹ ce. Those U.S. aided government changes brought the failed Oslo peace efforts, which led to second intifada, the withdrawal from Lebanon that brought the war with Hezbollah, and eventually under Sharon years later the withdrawal from Gaza, which brought three wars with Hamas. Obama misjudged Israelis from day one. What the President, Secretary of State Clinton and their advisers perceived as a minor concession, Israelis did not perceive a settlement freeze that way. This was a major error by the administration. As part of his early settlement demand, Obama informed the Israeli government that written assurances given to it by the Bush Administration in response to prior Israeli concessions were no longer in effect. One of those assurances was that Israel could expand existing settlements in Judea and Samaria and could build new ones in Jerusalem. The settlement demand was a lesson from Obama that assurances from American governments have a very short expiration date. Their insistence on a freeze and the constant public berating of the Jewish State has Continued on page 20

THIS WEEK PAST: STAR FLASHBACK —It’s open house season, “a rite of passage in October.â€? A classroom photo of students at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck illustrates The Jewish Star’s front page report, “Choosing the right High School.â€? — Columnist Rabbi Avi Shafran argues for a change in abortion debate terminology. When a choice must made between the mother’s life and that of her child, it “is a matter of weighing adult life against fetal life ‌ not a matter of ‘personal choice.’ And moving the discussion from the realm of ‘choice’ to that of lives’ — how to value them and what to do when two clash —is precisely what the pro-abortion movement seeks at all costs to avoid.â€? Rabbi Shafran was, and remains, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America. — “The pool of people who can afford tuition and taxes is getting smaller and smaller,â€? said Woodmere resident Harry Cedarbaum, as District 15 taxes rise another 12 to 13 percent. — Rabbi Shneur Z. Wolowik writes on the meaning of circumcision. — By Pesach, Ohel is preparing to open two homes for adults in the Five Towns. — Benjamin Brafman writes “A Kristallnacht lesson for our generationâ€?: “Jews in the free world who failed to protest against the persecution of Soviet Jewry, were also ‘Jews of Silence’.â€? — A “gentlemen’s clubâ€? billboard on Rockaway Turnpike prompts local upset. “She’s not wearing any clothing!â€? a 3-year-old exclaimed to his mother. The Star reports: “To parents who attempt to shield children from the seamier aspects of the secular world, it is a large understatement to call the billboard inappropriate.â€? — Columnist Micah D. Halpern writes: “The Palestinians have developed a unique style of diplomacy —a kvetch and complain style. They express displeasure and dissatisfaction with almost every plan put before them, almost ever concession made to them and almost every pledge made on their behalf.â€? — Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in this week’s election, but they failed to unseat 4th CD Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who beat Nassau County Legislator Francis Becker, 89,828 votes to 77.483. “Even the blessing of the Vishnitzer Rebbe chould not help Francis Becker,â€? the Star reports. — “For the ďŹ rst time in their history, the priceless parchments uncovered in caves overlooking the Dead Sea, have arrived in America.â€? — The Star covers relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. “Village of Cedarhurst deals with disaster,â€? was this week’s lead story. A second story reported that the home of Achiezer’s founder and president, Rabbi Boruch Bender, “is the transplanted nerve center of Achiezer,â€? with operations moved there after their ofďŹ ce on Central Avenue lost power. — Election night in Nassau County: Republic Ed Mangano accepts his victory and Democrat Tom Suozzi acknolwedges his defeat.

RABBI BINNY FREEDMAN THE HEART OF JERUSALEM

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s these words are being written. Yehuda Glick, a passionate advocate for the right of Jews to pray on the Temple mount in Jerusalem, lies fighting for his life after being shot four times by an Arab terrorist in a horrific assassination attempt in Jerusalem. The reason Yehuda, a gentle soul who advocates equally for the right of Muslims to continue worshipping in their El Aksa mosque on the mount, has to be such a vocal advocate for Jewish prayer-rights at Judaism’s holiest site, is because the police and security forces feel that Jewish prayer in such a sensitive spot will result in Arab violence. And despite an Israeli Supreme Court ruling that Jews should indeed be granted such equal rights, the police and Israeli government, taking into account world opinion and Arab sensitivities, feel they have chosen the safer, more prudent path. This of course raises many questions, including the danger of surrendering to violence (never a good idea). But additionally, it is worth considering how much we need to take into account the way the nations of the world see us. David Ben Gurion, one of the founders of the State of Israel and her first Prime Minister, is famous for having said: “I don’t care what the nations of the world say. I care only what the Jews will do.” Is there a principal at stake here worth considering? This week’s portion, Vayera, offers a fas-

cinating perspective regarding this question. At the end of last week’s portion, Lech Lecha, Avraham is commanded to circumcise himself at the ripe old age of 99. And in response to his selfless act of faith, no less than G-d Himself visits Avraham. “Vayera eliav Hashem be’Elonei Mamrei” (“And G-d appeared to him [Avraham] at the Oak trees of Mamrei”) (Bereishit 18:1) Rashi, noting the question as to why it is important for us to know where Avraham is sitting when G-d comes to him, quotes a fascinating midrash which suggests that Avraham asked Mamrei’s advice as to whether he (Avraham) should indeed fulfill G-d’s commandment to circumcise himself. And since Mamrei advised him to do so, G-d appeared to Avraham in Mamrei’s territory. This midrash is difficult to say the least. Why would Avraham, commanded by G-d to do something, need the advice of a non-Jewish neighbor? Since when is a Jew’s adherence to the mitzvoth dependent upon what anyone else says, much less someone representing the nations of the world? Furthermore, why is Mamrei rewarded for such advice, and why is the reward for Mamrei’s advice that G-d appears to Avraham in Mamrei’s territory? Couldn’t G-d think of a better reward than “Washington slept here”? A closer look at the actual midrash (not quoted by Rashi in its entirety) is even more puzzling. According to the midrash (Tanchuma Vayera 3): Avraham had three friends: Aner, Eshkol and Mamrei. When G-d commanded Avraham to circumcise himself, he went to ask their advice. Aner said the circumcision be be crippling, and his enemies (relatives of the kings he had killed in the battle of five kings) would be able to kill him. So he should not circumcise himself. Eshkol said 99 years old

is not the time to undertake such an operation; it could kill him so again, he should not circumcise himself. But when Avraham goes to Mamrei, Mamrei asks him why does he needs advice at all? The same G-d who protected Avraham from the wrath of King Nimrod, and saved him in a fiery furnace (also a midrash) not to mention delivering him from a war against the five mightiest kings on earth, would certainly not allow an injury to a small part of his body kill him. Mamrei tells Avraham he should heed G-d’s command and circumcise himself. Not only does Avraham need advice but he gets it from all three of his non- Jewish friends! And it seems that his decision to actually circumcise himself, and enter into the Jewish covenant, comes as a result of the advice of his non-Jewish neighbor! The beginning of Judaism then, is credited to Mamrei, who was essentially an idolater! And yet, the fact that Avraham continues to ask advice of each of his friends until he gets the right answer suggests he may have known the right thing to do, in which case one wonders why he sought their advice in the first place? The Vilna Gaon (in his Kol Eliyahu on Vayera) suggests that Avraham saw his mission in life as sharing the idea of monotheism with the world, and that he was afraid that when people heard about this new mitzvah of circumcision they would lose all interest in G-d and Judaism. So Avraham wanted to see whether his non- Jewish friends would understand the idea of circumcision because for Avraham it wasn’t just about doing what G-d says, it was about how to share that with the world so they would want to come close to G-d as well. Indeed, the gentiles of Avraham’s day may Continued on page 20

Vayera: He laughed, she laughed RABBI AVI BILLET PARSHA OF THE WEEK

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vraham and Sarah are both given the same information. A child will be born when you are 100 and 90, respectively. He laughs in 17:17 and is told, “It’s true! It is really going to happen.” In 18:12, when Sarah is given her version of the message; she too laughs, but is criticized. G-d asks, “Why is this that Sarah is laughing?” (18:13-14) If they both have the same response, why are the reactions to their responses so different? Avraham’s seems to be supported by G-d, while Sarah’s response is rejected, requiring her to defend her natural reaction. To strengthen the question, we can further wonder why Avraham seems to bear the brunt of the critique against Sarah? Rashi teaches us (21:12) that Sarah was greater in prophesy than Avraham. Why then did G-d’s criticism of her reaction come through Avraham’s prophesy? Rabbi Yehuda ben Eliezer, the 14th century Riva, writes that there’s a simple explanation for the difference. Quoting Rav Elyakim, he notes that Avraham received the information directly from G-d, and his laughter was therefore of the joyous type – completely accepting G-d’s promise, while overcome with emotions that uncontrollably cause laughter. Sarah, on the other hand, heard the promise indirectly, through an angel that

dressed up as a wanderer, which caused her to be skeptical. The Or HaChaim takes a different viewpoint, noting that Avraham laughed when he heard the news, while Sarah laughed not on the hearing of the news, but only after her body began to show signs that birthing was to be a real possibility. In other words, for Avraham, the message was convincing enough. For Sarah, the message was not convincing enough – it didn’t cause her to believe anything – only body changes could convince her that something was going to happen. Perhaps this is a knock on Sarah’s faith. But I still find it unconvincing, in light of the comments of the Riva with which we opened. It is not G-d who is speaking to her. It is a stranger that her husband randomly stopped from his journey on the road. Which is why the Chizkuni’s take on the matter is so significant. Chizkuni compares what happens here to a woman who wants to criticize her daughter-in-law, but instead criticizes her own daughter in front of the daughter-in-law, hoping the message will penetrate without the insult. G-d wanted to criticize Avraham for his laughter, but instead G-d confronted Avraham (G-d did not confront Sarah!) about Sarah’s laughter, hoping Avraham would understand his own laughter was inappropriate. That Sarah felt the need to defend herself may indicate Avraham confronted her about her laughter – which means he either “got” the message or he did not. If he did not “get it,” then his critique is ever so much more disturbing – how can you ask your wife about her laughter when you did the same thing? But I think there’s a more profound mes-

sage that we can take from this story. If the chronology of these parshas is such that Avraham had his bris in chapter 17, and chapter 18 is his healing period which followed that surgery, then he was certainly aware of the promise of a child by the time the men/angels came to his door. Why wasn’t Sarah? Her name is so prominently featured in the context of Avraham having this child (see 17:16,19,21) one would think Avraham would have told her of the joy which would come to their lives, of the promise that would clearly come true, as he had been told this directly by G-d! Especially since she will play such a significant role in its coming about. And yet he did not. She hadn’t a clue. She was completely unaware of any promise. Perhaps this is why when she overheard through the tent, and her husband didn’t react, she also laughed, perhaps thinking that Avraham is really in bad shape because he doesn’t see the humor in this traveling man’s strange “promise.” Avraham, on the other hand, did not react because he already knew. It seems this translates to a communication problem. We can view Sarah’s response however we want, but the bottom line is that the messenger was so unconvincing, that she gets a pass. Avraham, on the other hand, is criticized for her laughter, a side-swipe at himself for his own laughter, and also at him for not informing his wife of this important change that will soon take place in their lives. Spouses have to share the most important things that develop in their lives. Avraham didn’t and bore double responsibility – for his laughter, and for not communicating with his wife.

To the editor: The aritcle published in the most recent Jewish Star about the new museum in Poland was riveting [“New museum unveils rich story of Jewish life in Poland, Oct. 31]. The importance of such an institution cannot be emphasized enough. At the same time, some of the comments that I read were disturbing and need to be critiqued. Shmuel Afek’s rejection of the “standard narrative’ of Poland being a center, if not THE center of European antisemitism in the period between the World Wars, is a piece of revisionism that will probably continue to grow with the demise of the last survivors over the next few years. ANYONE who lived there in that era will tell you that the Poles were overtly Jew hating, with anti Shechita laws being instituted there by the Polish government well before Hitler did. The masses of Polish citizens had no love or sympathy for the Jews and the choice of Poland for the Death Camps WAS clearly related to the tacit approval of the locals to render Poland Judenrhein. A real appreciation of Pope John Paul II needs some clarification, too. The 1998 Shoah document, issued by the Vatican during his papacy, is a whitewash of the Church’s responsibility during the Holocaust. To claim that Jewish hatred defies the teachings of the Catholic Church, and that those in history who persecuted the Jews in the name of the Church were erring individuals who misunderstood the Scriptures is nothing less than utter nonsense. A well meaning but deceitful statement. To claim that Nazi ideology is neopaganism with no connection to this historical hatred that the Church fanned against the Jews is a “washing of the hands” that cannot be taken seriously by anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of modern antisemitism. The canonization of Edith Stein (Theresa Benedicta of the Cross) in 2000 by John Paul, as a martyr of the Church with her death in Auschwitz is an attempt to paint the Church as also a victim of the Germans.If you are the victim, you cannot possibly also be the persecutor. Edith Stein died because she was born Jewish, and despite her apostasy, “Vos is geborn a Jud, bleibt a Jud.” When the Carmelite nuns ,Stein’s order, built a convent in Auschwitz adjacent to the death camp as a memorial to her, replete with large crosses, it further was meant to extend the canard of the Catholic Churches innocense in all that transpired there. John Paul began the process of canonizing Pope Pius XII who could have saved hundreds if not hundreds of thousands had he simply used his papal diplomatic channels to tell the Church hierarchy in Catholic Poland” thwart Hitlers efforts” BUT HE DID NOT DO SO, despite all protestations of his efforts on behalf of doomed European Jewry by that very Shoa document Revisionism of the painful truths of that horrible era may serve to create a feel good environment of some repproachment of Jewry and Polish society, but in the long run the truth will set us freer than platitudes. Rabbi David Friedman, Oceanside DRS Yeshiva HS for Boys

7 THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

Knowing the answer, yet seeking advice

Truth about Poland tougher than fiction

‘Our Frozen Tears’: A book written from the heart ALAN JAY GERBER KOSHER BOOKWORM

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nce again the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom of 76 years ago serves as an opportunity for our community to reprise the horror of those days. This year’s review will be devoted to a book recently published by Dr. Sheldon Hersh of Lawrence, entitled, “Our Frozen Tears,” which will be the focus and literary subject of the annual commemorative here in the Five Towns. Consisting of over 50 brief narratives of Holocaust experiences, Dr. Hersh relates the passion of those survivors who came to accept as their responsibility to relate their experiences to the next generations. “Holocaust survivors differ in their capacity to cope with the past and by the manner in which they are able to share their stories with others,” writes Dr. Hersh. “A decent number were fortunately capable of speaking of the horrors and could do so with few, if any, constraints. Interviews were granted, articles and books published and lectures presented to those who were receptive and wanted to hear and learn.” “There were, however, a group of survivors who could converse only in tears. Unable or perhaps unwilling to attach words and phrases to memories so shocking and unthinkable that any attempt at verbal communication seemed utterly ineffectual if not outright frivolous. Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira Hy”d [The Aish Kodesh] noted [that] ‘when the Jew is so broken and crushed that

he has nothing to say, then he does not feel, he has not even a head or a heart with which to perceive or feel. … The only thing we feel is that our selfhood is trampled; the world has turned dark for us; there is no day, no night, just turmoil and confusion’.” Dr. Hersh adds: “Perhaps most thought provoking is the silence accompanied by an occasional isolated tear.” These are the tears reflected in Dr. Hersh’s compilation. What motivated his passion were the experiences of his parents and others. This can be seem in the following that to my opinion will serve as the motive for all that will be found in this work. “As survivors of the Holocaust quietly slip away, their stories and reflections may be all that remain of personal histories that must live on. Current and future generations will unlikely ever be afforded the opportunity to spend time with a survivor. There will no longer be an occasion to observe their mournful faces and look into their tearful eyes. These recollections not only memorialize the victims but serve to educate those of us who share no identification with or exposure to events relating to the Holocaust.” )25 )857+(5 678'<

In a recently published work entitled, “The Holocaust through the prism of Tanach” (Torah Umesorah, 2013), Rabbi Gershon Weiss relates to us the following: “One of the problems Jewish educators face today is how to teach our children about the Holocaust. Not long ago, we went through a period in our history perhaps unparalleled by any other. We had suffered many Holocausts before: the cruel servitude of Egypt, where millions died; the destruc-

tion of the first Temple and the Babylonian exile, where probably millions more were killed; the Greek occupation with its terrible decrees; the destruction of the second Temple, and the consequent long Roman exile. … Our history of exiles was foretold at the ‘Pacts between the halves’, the covenant that G-d forged with Avraham. … “Though we posses knowledge of all our previous exiles, the one that we naturally feel most sharply is the present … the one that

hurts the most intensely, the destruction in Europe from 1939 to 1945, in which six million Jews lost their lives. … It clings to our consciousness and will not fade away, despite the efforts of some non-Jews who would like to deny that it ever happened.” Thus we come to witness Rabbi Weiss, through this work, speak out and attempt to come to terms with the historic reality of the Holocaust and to link up that reality with a theological reality, a reality that to my readings on this subject continues deeply with the reality of the State of Israel and the resettlement in our holy land, today, of the largest Jewish community in the world. That should be the central theme of his book, and hopefully, this will serve to inspire the further the growth of Holocaust education in our yeshivas, a venue long oblivious to this sad chapter of our history and in a follow up, a deeper appreciation of those forces among our people that generated the new yishuv in the Eretz Hakedoshah, Medinat Yisrael and its seven million Jews. Given the sad developments in the wold today, a study by Andrew Bostom, entitled, “The Legacy of Islamic Antisemetism” (Prometheus Books, 2008), deserves your timely attention. Subtitled, “from Sacred Texts to Solemn History,” this work contains all you really need to witness through its vast array of documentary sources, the religious and ideological base to the hate filled bigotry we see in the world today. For more information on this work and of its author please visit andrewbostom.org After you begin to familiarize yourself with this work you will never again see world events in the same light.

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THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

Bike for Friendship raises cash, delivers fun

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November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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nities throughout the year. The program currently consists of 130 alumni in the US and Canada and 130 Israeli Peers alums. Featured speakers include: Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Consul General in New York; avid S. Blitzer, Senior Managing Directo & Head of the Tactical Opportunities Group, Blackstone; Laurie Blitzer, Vice Chair, Birthright Israel Foundation Board of Directors; Charles Bronfman, Business Leader and Philanthropist; Lawrence Burian, EVP & General Counsel, Madison Sqaure Garden; Issac “Yitz” Applbaum, Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Jerusalem for Public Private Partnerships and Founding General Partner, Opus Capital; Zohar Zisapel, Chairman RAD Group; Mo Koyfman, General Partner, SPARK Capital; Felicia Herman, Executive Director, NATAN; Matthew Britton, Founder & CEO, MRY; Ron Harnevo, President Video, AOL; Yoram Tietz, Managing Partner at EY Israel and Chairman of Birthright Israel Excel; Rabbi Joy Levitt, Executive Director, The JCC in Manhattan. “What sets the Excel program apart is that we are developing future Jewish leaders who are committed to preserving Jewish identity, heritage, and culture, while collaborating on innovative business opportunities and strengthening the future of global corporate policy toward the State of Israel,” said Gidi Mark, Taglit-Birthright Israel CEO. The Excel program is part of Taglit-Birthright Israel that sends Jewish adults between the ages of 18 and 26 to Israel to strengthen each participant’s Jewish identity.

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THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

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November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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13 THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 тАв 14 Cheshvan 5775

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The Young Israel of Woodmere will expand its adult education program next summer, adding a Beis Medrash Initiative led by Rabbi Shay Schachter, the shul announced this week. The “structured program� will be open to greater community as well as YIW members, the shul’s president, said Yehuda Poupko, said. YIW Chairman Shlomo Zuller called it a “revolutionary endeavor.� “The addition of Rabbi Schachter to our rabbinic staff will emphasize the importance of limud to our community and enhance our dedication to Torah study,� said YIW Rabbi Hershel Billet. The new program will include a morning kollel and an evening Beis Medrash with chavrusah learning. Rabbi Schachter, as the central scholar in residence, will work to inmprove the caliber and frequency of limud Torah, adding new shiurim and classes. He will also assist YIW’s rabbinic staff during Shabbos and Yom Tov minyanim.

The YIW’s existing adult education program will continue to provide additional opportunities and services, such as lecture series, programming for the chaggim, and classes on various topics. YIW Chairman Shlomo Zuller referred to the Beis Medrash Initiative as a “revolutionary endeavorâ€? and the appointment of Rabbi Schachter as “a crucial step toward enabling our kehillah to reach even greater heights.â€? “I am humbled by the prospect of developing the Beis Medrash program and I am very much looking forward to enhancing and increasing the opportunities for greater Talmud Torah in the Woodmere community,â€? said Rabbi Schachter. Rabbi Schachter is currently the assistant rabbi at the White Shul (Congregation Knesset Israel) in Far Rockaway and is a member of the Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel Elyon at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University (RIETS). He has spent the past few years studying under his father, HaGaon HaRav Hershel Schachter, a prominent Rosh Yeshiva and posek, and received his semichas from both RIETS and from his Rebbe, HaGaon HaRav Asher Weiss. He also holds an MA in Jewish Education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration of Yeshiva University. “YIW is the agship shul of the Five Towns, as well as the greater Jewish communithy,â€? said chairman Zuller. “It is viewed as a center of limud Torah, teďŹ lah and chesed. “We are fortunate that Rabbi Schachter has agreed to be a part of this revolutionary endeavor and his appointment is a crucial step toward enabling our kehillah to reach even greater heights.â€? Rabbi Shalom Axelrod, YIW associate rabbi, said, “I am extremely pleased and excited to work with Rabbi Schachter [who] embodies the characteristics and traits crucial to build such a dynamic program.â€?

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November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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Orthodox Union “Train a child according to his way� (Proverbs 22:6) is a Biblical aphorism summing up the feeling of many parents and educators. Inspired by this teaching from King Solomon, the Orthodox Union’s Yachad/National Jewish Council for Disabilities and the International Jewish Resource Center for Inclusion and Special Education will present a special education conference on Veterans Day, at the Manhattan Day School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The event, “Maybe We Should Teach the Way They Learn,� will draw yeshiva and day school educators from across North America. “Our major goal throughout the year is to give all children the ability to access Jewish education,� said Batya Jacob, director of educational support services at Yachad. Yachad provides unique social, educational and recreational programs for individuals with learning, developmental and physical disabilities with the goal of their Inclusion in the total life of the Jewish community. The demographic of the special education conference reaches schools and educators across the country, including participants from New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Florida, among others. To date, over 100 educators have registered. For more information or to register, visit yachad.org/specialedconference or contact Batya Jacob at 212-613-8127 or batyaj@ ou.org.

15 THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

JNF raises another $81M

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By Celia Weintrob The Jewish National Fund is moving closer to its $1-billion 10-year goal, raising $81 million in its 2014 campaign, the organization announced at its annual breakfast, Oct. 29 at the Sheraton New York Times Square. During last summer’s Gaza war, 24,000 contributions brought in $6 $W -1) EUHDNIDVW IURP OHIW -RDQ 0XVV 6KHU\O %XFKKROW] VSHDNHU *LO million. With that money, +RIIPDQ /DXUHLQH *UHHQEDXP -RQDWKDQ *HUWPDQ JNF photo JNF provided ďŹ ve Saar ďŹ re and rescue trucks, 209 mobile bomb shelters, a chance to play outside. temporary housing, and immediate wartime “Daily missiles are lobbed in the area. assistance through its numerous partners on Sderot is not even a settlement, this territory the ground in Israel. is not disputed at all. Thanks to JNF, small JNF’s Friends of Israel FireďŹ ghters division apartment dwellers have the next best thing augments government spending to provide to a back yard,â€? he said. Eight-hundred peothe growing and urgent need for ďŹ re and res- ple a day enjoy this safe haven. cue equipment. In addition to new trucks and Hoffman discussed current issues in the equipment, FIF helps refurbish ďŹ re stations Middle East. and open new dispatch centers so that ďŹ res ISIS already controls “land that is 20 times following rocket strikes can be extinguished larger than Israel,â€? he said. “And think about immediately. this: If not for Israel destroying Syrian nucleJNF donors can have their name placed on ar reactors, ISIS would have a nuclear bomb a ďŹ re truck by giving $125,000 towards the right now.â€? purchase of a new truck, which typically cost On the plus side for Israel, he said, “frushalf a million dollars. trated young Muslims could have joined the The breakfast’s keynote speaker, Gil Hoff- Gaza war. Instead, they choose to kill their man, of the Jerusalem Post, pointed out the Muslim brothers in ISIS. And we are grateful great need fulďŹ lled by the Sderot indoor rec- that America destroyed the Syrian chemical reation center, built by JNF in 2009. weapons, which were not intended for their “My son just celebrated his sixth birthday own civilians, but for Israelis.â€? there.â€? Hoffman said. â€?If you’ve been there, JNF remains unique among Jewish chariyou may recall the signs on equipment saying ties in its long-term vision to expand commuyou must be six years old to use it.â€? nities in the desert, water research, energy The party was a joyful rite of passage for production, increasing population in Israel, the six-year-olds, and Hoffman pointed out making parks and playgrounds accessible to that children near the Gaza border never get all Israelis — and, of course, planting trees.

November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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Israel raises the dead with skyward cemetery By Aron Heller, Associated Press PETAH TIKVA, Israel — At first glance, the multi-tiered jungle of concrete off a major central Israeli highway does not appear unusual in this city of bland high-rises. But the burgeoning towers are groundbreaking when you consider its future tenants: They will be homes not for the living but rather the dead. With real estate at a premium, Israel is at the forefront of a global movement building vertical cemeteries in densely populated countries. From Brazil — where there is a 32-story high structure in Santos — to Japan, elevated cemeteries will be the final resting place for thousands. They are now the default option for the recently departed in the Holy Land. After some initial hesitations, and rabbinical rulings that authorized the practice, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox burial societies have embraced the concept as the most effective Jewish practice in an era when most of the cemeteries in major population centers are packed full. “The source of all this is that there is simply no room,” said Tuvia Sagiv, an architect who specializes in dense burial design. “It’s unreasonable that we will live one on top of the other in tall apartment buildings and then die in villas. If we have already agreed to live one on top of the other, then we can die one on top of the other.” The Yarkon Cemetery on the outskirts of Tel Aviv has been

his flagship project. As the primary cemetery for the greater Tel Aviv area, its traditional burial grounds are at near capacity with 110,000 graves stretched across 150 acres. But thanks to an array of 30 planned vertical structures, Sagiv said the cemetery will be able to provide 250,000 more graves without gobbling up any more land, providing the region with 25 years of breathing room. “It takes some getting used to,” he admitted, as he stood on the roof of the first completed 70-foot-high building, “but it just makes the most sense.” For now, the interior of the gray buildings looks mainly like a construction site. They feature circular ramps, and a terrace-like facade with vegetation. Each floor has openings on the sides for fresh air to get in. Cemetery overcrowding presents a challenge the world over, particularly in cramped cities and among religions, including Judaism, that forbid or discourage cremation. The reality of relying on finite land resources to cope with the endless stream of the dying has brought about creative solutions. But only in Israel does the phenomenon appear to be part of a government-backed master plan. Aside from those who have already purchased their future plots, individual outdoor graves are no longer offered to the families of the more than 35,000 Israelis who die each year. The first space-saving option is to put graves on top of

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each other — separated by a concrete divider — and have a shared headstone. This is common among couples and even whole families, and every new pit dug in Israel has room for at least two graves in it. The second option is stacking the dead above ground into niches built into walls, a bit like in a morgue, but adorned with headstones. The third, and most revolutionary option, is to be buried in a building where each floor resembles a traditional cemetery, without the sky above. For this upheaval to take off in Israel, though, the blessing of the rabbis was needed. Israel’s rabbinical authorities oversee all burials of Jewish Israelis. The Jewish burial ritual is based on the passage in Genesis in which G-d banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden: “For dust you are — and to dust you shall return.” Jewish law stipulates that all bodies be buried separately on a layer of dust and earth. Yaakov Ruza, the rabbi of the Tel Aviv burial society, a semiofficial organization that oversees Jewish burials, said the new forms of burial have been endorsed by leading Jewish ultra-Orthodox figures. The towers, for instance, have pipes filled with dirt inside their columns so that each layer is still connected to the ground. In many ways, Ruza said the new types of burial represent a return to the Holy Land’s ancient origins of burying inside caves and catacombs. “This is an artificial cave,” he said. “Once they used to build a cave into a mountain. Now we are taking these artificial caves and turning them into a mountain.” Jerusalem’s burial society even has plans to dig an actual underground cave to find more room for the dead. Proponents say the new system is more sustainable, environmentally friendly and user friendly — providing a more comfortable visiting experience. But resistance has emerged from a public wary of change. In one famous case, a bereaved family threatened a cemetery official that if their loved one was put in a wall they’d put the official in a wall too. Shmuel Slavin, former director-general of Israel’s Finance Ministry who put together a report on the burial crisis, believes there is enough space in outlying areas, such as the vast Negev Desert in southern Israel, to build new cemeteries. He said technological advances could allow more burials in existing cemeteries, and that the new “dead cities” will be expensive to build and maintain. But the bottom line, he said, was that people just don’t want to be buried that way. “People don’t want to hear about it,” he said. “There is a matter of tradition here. People want to be buried like their parents.” Officials say those who insist on traditional burial will still have that option; they’ll just have to drive a little further and pay for it. Cemeteries, they say, are not designed for the dead but rather for the living who want to visit them. The hope is that by attending funerals, people will be exposed to the new system and learn to appreciate its upside. Either way, burial officials say a growing number of people understand that change is inevitable. “We are all in favor of burying in the open field so long as it does not infringe on our lives. So if there is no more room to build homes in Jerusalem, I prefer burying in layers,” said Chananya Shahor, manager of the Jerusalem burial society. “G-d gave us land for living, not for dying.”

New agricultural pioneers transforming the Negev By Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org In southern Israel, the next generation of Jewish pioneers is making the desert bloom. A group of young, Zionist, idealistic adults are cultivating a previously uninhabited area in the northwest Negev on Israel’s borders with Egypt and Gaza—growing tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, pomegranates, olives, and more. Nava Uner said she’s in the Negev “because I can make a difference.” Uner lives in Bnei Netzarim, one of three Halutza (pioneer) communities, as part of the new Young Farmers Incubation Project The Jewish National Fund (JNF) established the project shortly after the 2005 unilateral disengagement from Gaza, one of the most polarizing events in Israel’s history. The Halutza planned communities are part of JNF’s Blueprint Negev campaign, which is aimed at developing southern Israel through infrastructure and jobs. The Negev

comprises about 60 percent of Israel’s land, but only eight percent of Israeli citizens live there. But in recent years, the Negev has rapidly evolved into a hub of activity, with a new cyber-security park, an expanded Israel Defense Forces presence, and the growth of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Young Farmers Incubator Project— co-sponsored by the Ness Foundation, Karen Ferber, and Ellen Aschendorf—is part of the area’s innovative spirit, aiming to encourage young entrepreneurs who are looking to make a future working the land to stay and invest in their own farms in the Negev. The area, however, is desert. In fact, the Negev is so dry that in 2001, when former prime minister Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat the area as part of a land-for-peace deal, Arafat turned it down over his concern that it is “a place of death. … Nothing could grow there.” But today, these young farmers, with

the support of veteran farmer mentors, are changing sand into the blossoms of a new beginning. They use hydroponics and scientific techniques developed in the former Gazabased Jewish communities of Gush Katif to grow bug-free produce. Yedidya Harush, JNF’s liaison for the Halutza communities, explained that only 30 families initially took part in the plan. Yet the initiative grew steadily until four-and-a-half years later, there are now close to 400 families living in the three communities, with plans to grow to 15,000 families. Uner, a South African immigrant, is one of those younger adults. She converted to Judaism after volunteering in a Negev kibbutz, where she met her husband. She spent the last several years studying in Jerusalem, but she and her husband wanted to return to the south. When they heard about the Young Farmers Project, they latched on. “We became religious and we were look-

ing for a place where we could keep growing spiritually,” Uner said. “This is pioneering.” Harush compared the 21st-century Israel pioneer to those of the past. He said they both face challenges and opportunities. When the first pioneers came to Israel after the Holocaust, they were tired and disenfranchised, with no government support and no infrastructure from which to draw. But they had world Jewry’s support and belief in building a Jewish state. “The challenges we face today are that people think Israel is built and strong already, meaning we don’t need Zionism, which is very wrong,” Harush said. “The second challenge is that we have to attract people to come because most people have the comfort of living in the center of Israel or even Be’er Sheva. Getting people is harder than it seems.” But it is not impossible. Read more online at TheJewishStar.com

THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

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November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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Jerusalem Post Puzzle By David Benkof

The Jewish Star

Calendar • Send events to Calendar@TheJewishStar.com • Deadline Sundays 10 am • Specify price of admission (or free) • Include contact phone or email

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/81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. $12 lunch. Alan Stern 516-398-3094.

)5(( 0(',&$5( /(*$/ $66,67$1&( at JCCRP. Free, provided by NY Legal Assistance Group’s Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program. The paralegal can meet individually with people enrolled in Medicare and review their coverage to ensure their medications will continue to be covered in the next year ande make changes as necessary. For appointment, call Elisheva, 718-327-7755 x6112, or email etrachtenberg&jccrp.org. Jewish Community Council for the Rockaway Peninsula, 1525 Central Ave., Far Rockaway.

6$785'$< 129 <,: $,3$& 6+$%%$721 with Ambassador Dore Gold. Drasha following Mussaf in the main shul. A conversation with Rabbi Billet and Dore Gold at 4:45 pm. Motzei Shabbos at 7 pm, an insider brieďŹ ng on “Iron Dome: How the Election Impacts Critical Aid to Israel.â€? Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd., Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

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- 675((7 &+$//(1*( 7KH 0RYLH Join an educaitsonal screening of one of the year’s most talked about and provocative ďŹ lms, about the American Jewish Community and its relationship with Israel. The ďŹ lm presents commenetary and analyses from a wide political spectrum. Discussion following the ďŹ lm with producer, co-writer and co-director Ilya Feoktistov and ZOA Long Island’s Liz Berney Esq. Co-sponsored by Camera and ZOA. Free admission, $10 suggested donation. 8 pm. Young Island of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, 8 Spruce St., Cedarhurst. )$7+(5 621 0(/$9(+ 0$/.$ at Five Towns Chabad. Program geared to boys in grades K-3. Pizza dinner. Mad science show: Fire & Ice. $12, $36 max per family. 7:15 pm. 74 Maple Ave., Cedarhurst. RSVP Rabbi Meir, 516295-2478 x19.

681'$< 129 :(67 +(0367($' -&& Kristallnacht Commemoration Program will feature Manny Bekier, son of Holocaust survivors, born in a displaced persons camp in Munich. Bekier has been a lifelong Jewish activist, a “Nazi hunterâ€? in the United States; he conducted video interviews with Holocaust survivors for the Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation. Sponsored by the Elmont Jewish Center, Franklin Square Jewish Center, Malverne Jewish Center, the Jewish Community Center of West Helpstead, Valley Stream Jewish Center, and Congregation Beth Israel. Light collation will follow program. Free. 2 pm. JCC, 711 Dogwood Ave. 516-000-0000. &21&(57 3,$1,67 Elena Klionsky will present a recital featuring classic and contemporary compositions. Light refreshments served. Free (sponsored by Lorraine and Harold Domnitch, chairman of the congregation, in memory of Lorraine’s sister, Rosalind Mordkofsky). 3 pm. Great Neck Synagogue,. 516-679-4809. <$' /($+ &/27+,1* '5,9( to beneďŹ t needy families in Israel. Accepting men’s, women’s, maternity, children’s and boaby clothing, as well as linens, towels, tableclothes, men’s black hats, handbags, and women’s hats in good condition. No shoes accepted. Sponsor shipping a box to a family for $18. 10 am to 2 pm, Young Israel of West Hempstead, 630 Hempstead Ave. Chaya, 516-481-4210.

78(6'$< 129 :21(1¡6 /(&785( 6(5,(6 What Constitutes a Well-Lived Life, with Mrs. Esther Wein. (Continues Nov. 18 and 25.) 8:15 pm. Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd., Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

)5,(1'6+,3 &,5&/( 7 <$' Social program for Teens and young adults with special needs, ages 14 and up. Place is to be announced. $10 suggested donation. 6-7 pm. 516-295-2478.

7+856'$< 129 /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. $12 lunch. Alan Stern 516-398-3094.

6$785'$< 129 &/,1721 &21),'$17 ,1 3/$,19,(: Rabbi Menachem Genack, scholar-in-residence at Young Israel of Plainview, will discuss his 15 year long dialogue with President Clinton that led to his book, “Letters to President Clinton: Biblical Lessons on Faith and Leadership.� Motzei Shabbat, 8:30 pm. Pizza and refreshments served. YI Plainview, 132 Southern Parkway, Plainview. 516-433-4811.

78(6'$< 129 ,16,*+76 ,172 0251,1* 35$<(56 Continuing series. Today: Understanding the Morning Prayers, Part II. $15. 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. JCC of the Greater Five Towns, 207 Grove St., Cedarhurst. Call Rachayle Deutsch at 516569-6733 x222.

7+856'$< 129 /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. $12 lunch. Alan Stern 516-398-3094.

6$785'$< 129 %$&. 72 7+( Âś V Separate parties for adults and children at Ohav Sholom. Adult party features live concert with “Jon Bon Joviâ€? and Northern Lights with Mark Strauss. Children’s movie party features ET on the big screen. Teen will view Ghosbusters. $36 per family, $18 for singles. 7 pm. RSVP to 80s@ ohav.org.

21*2,1* +2/2&$867 0(025,$/ & TOLERENCE CENTER of resents an exhibit, “Objects of Witness: Testimony of Holocaust Artifacts,� through April 2015. 100 Crescent Beach Road, Glen Cove. 516-571-8040 ext 119.

6$9( 7+( '$7( &RQJUHJDWLRQ %HWK 6KDORP 6LVWHUKRRG progressive dinner. Motzei Shabbos, Dec. 6.

19

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THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

A Better Kind of Cancer Care

Chickensh*t week… Continued from page 6 turned the Israeli population against Obama at the beginning of his administration, especially the Israeli “left” who a U.S. President would look to for support. Then came the Obama Cairo speech in 2009. There Obama spoke of the Holocaust as a reason for the Jewish State, echoing the anti-Israel narrative that Jews had no historic right to the land, but were only given a state because of European guilt. He repeated that claim when he visited Buchenwald on his way back home from Cairo, “The aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted,” he said, “in a tragic history” that culminated in the Holocaust.” It also didn’t go unnoticed that Obama went from Cairo to Germany and purposely avoided Israel. There were other early actions that alienated the Israeli public, during his first week of office he sat down with Al-Arabiya Arab TV, Ignored Palestinian terror and indicated that the Israeli government had no desire for peace. During the second month of his first term his Secretary of State Hilary Clinton demanded that Israel open border crossings to terrorists. Each one of the above early actions generated more support for Netanyahu and mistrust for Obama from the Israeli public. Each one of those early actions convinced the Israeli public that their country should stand up to the American President and each time Israel stood up to Obama, the POTUS got angrier that his will wasn’t being obeyed and angrier Israeli voters weren’t abandoning their Prime Minister. This cycle, Obama throwing Israel and Netanyahu under the bus generated more Israeli support for Bibi instead of damaging his coalition continues through today — just look at Israel’s objections Obama’s negotiations with Iran, and his criticism of Operation Protective Edge where Israel and Egypt blocked the U.S. from leading the ceasefire negotiations. What was the message Obama was trying

to send? It is contained in this paragraph in Goldberg’s Atlantic article: “I ran this notion by another senior official who deals with the Israel file regularly. This official agreed that Netanyahu is a “chickensh*t” on matters related to the comatose peace process, but added that he’s also a “coward” on the issue of Iran’s nuclear threat. The official said the Obama administration no longer believes that Netanyahu would launch a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to keep the regime in Tehran from building an atomic arsenal. “It’s too late for him to do anything. Two, three years ago, this was a possibility. But ultimately he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. It was a combination of our pressure and his own unwillingness to do anything dramatic. Now it’s too late.” Obama was telling Netanyahu the U.S. was about to reach a deal with Iran he was not going to like and it there was nothing the Israeli PM could do about it. It was a warning to the Israeli to toe the line when the deal goes down. On the third day of his administration, Obama met with congressional leaders to discuss the proposed stimulus plan. When Eric Cantor raised objections to some of the items the President said, “I won. So I think on that one, I trump you.” It was a warning to the GOP that he did not want to negotiate he expected to be obeyed. And because they didn’t obey, ever since he’s been blasting them to the American people and the world The same thing happened with Israel. At the beginning of his administration Obama actions were a signal that he must be obeyed. But the Prime Minister wouldn’t kneel down to his demands and the Israeli people wouldn’t oust the Premier. Our thin-skinned President does not react well to being disobeyed. That more than anything caused the anger driving Obama senior adviser speaking for his boss to “call” Netanyahu “chickensh*t.”

Search for advice… Continued from page 7 well have been attracted to monotheism and the seven Noachide laws because their own system of idolatry involved child sacrifice and great cruelty. So Avraham may have been worried that circumcision would also seem cruel and might prevent the world from coming close to G-d. Incredibly, the Vilna Gaon suggests that Avraham was willing to give up his own reward for adherence to the word of G-d, in order to fulfill his mission to make the world better by bringing it close to the world of monotheism, and lovingkindness. In other words, the goal was the world and the world was more important to Avraham than Avraham! Perhaps, one might even suggest, that the entire birth of the Jewish people was simply a vehicle to perfect the world. The goal of the Jewish people was never and is not the Jewish people. The goal is really the world. Some have misunderstood this to mean that we could do away with the uniqueness of the Jewish people and get to the end goal of perfecting the world. But Judaism believes, for whatever the reasons, that we cannot perfect the world until the Jewish people becomes all that they are meant to be. Nonetheless, it is important to realize that we are not the goal; the whole point of Judaism is to be a light to the nations, in order to make the world a better place, and to bring the rest of the world closer to G-d. Indeed, in this aspect Judaism differs fundamentally from Islam which sees its goal as the conversion of the entire world to Islam, something the West would do well to remember. Perhaps the message of this midrash, and the Torah’s focus on Mamrei, is not whether Avraham sought his neighbor’s advice, but why. Avraham was not fulfilling G-d’s word because it made sense. Avraham had a love affair with G-d which precluded any possibility of his doing anything but that which he felt G-d wanted of him. In this instance Avraham is concerned as well with how others would perceive that willingness to do G-d’s will. Now, clearly, concern with what others think of us is a double-edged sword. We should do what

is right regardless of what others think, and peerpressure often causes people to make tragic mistakes they regret for a lifetime. But that is only true if I am concerned with other people’s perceptions of me because of how it affects me. If, however, I am concerned with what others think of me because I care about them, then that is an outgrowth of the very philosophy of loving-kindness and perfecting the world that Judaism is all about. Avraham cares so much for his fellow human beings, and so wants for them to discover as well the beauty he had discovered in his life, that he takes the time to struggle with how they will perceive what he is about to do. Indeed that may be why the reward for Mamrei is simply that G-d speaks to Avraham in his territory. Because that is the entire point: how can we make this world a world of G-d, a place where Hashem is seen and experienced by all. Our ability to change and impact the world has to begin with the knowledge of what we do and why it is right; it has to begin with who we are and not what others want us to be. And yet, there is great value in considering how the nations of the world see us, if only because the goal is that the Jewish people become a model of what the world could be for all the nations of the world. The challenge is making sure that our concern with how the nations of the world see us begins with our own secure knowledge of who we are and what we need to do. It does not necessarily mean we should change what we do (such as living freely and building in the land of Israel). But it definitely means it should be important to us how the world sees what we do. Perhaps one day soon, when the Jewish people understand as a whole the beauty of the Jewish recipe that we have to share with the world, we will be ready to in fact share that beautiful dream with the entire world. For now, though, we still have a lot of work to do amongst ourselves, before we arrive at the level of Avraham. May Hashem bless Rav Yehuda Glick, Yehuda ben Rivka, with a full, safe and speedy recovery soon.

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in two, with separate entrances, schedules, cafeterias, gymnasiums, main offices and principals. There is enough space to create 23 new classrooms, and there are plans for a music and art suite as well. The district held a public meeting on Oct. 29 to hear residents’ comments. Audrey Scott, a parent of a Number Five School student, spoke for many when she said, “With third- and fourth-graders in [the middle school] building, you’re losing control from them being in a smaller building. They’ll be exposed to older kids.� Middle School PTA Co-president John Loughlin admitted that when the plan was first explained to him and his fellow copresident, Gregory Wright, they had concerns of their own. “We still believe a lot more can be done, but there is enough communication between the elementary schools and middle school so the students are prepared when they get here, and this restructuring will be one of the solutions,� Loughlin said, that will help the district improve student performance. A longer report appears in this week’s Nassau Herald.

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Goldie Steinberg, a long-term resident of the Grandell Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Long Beach, celebrated her 114th birthday on Oct. 30. Grandell hosted a celebration and welcomed family, friends and well-wishers. An exuberant and welcoming individual, she is officially the 13th oldest person in the world, the second-oldest in New York State and the oldest on Long Island, according to the Gerontology Research Group. Goldie was born on Oct. 30, 1900, in Kishinev, Romania. She immigrated to the United States at age 23 after her uncle offered her and her sister the opportunity. Then residing in Brooklyn, Goldie worked as a seamstress, sewing draperies and dresses. She met her husband, the late Phillip Steinberg, while a member of a society of Eastern Europeans. The couple moved to an apartment in Brooklyn and had two children. Ms. Steinberg is still active, watching the Yankees, knitting and helping fellow residents. She has voted in every election since 1924, 23 times. When asked about her secret to a long and healthy life, Goldie said, “My children keep me alive.� “Goldie is such an immense pleasure to have here at Grandell,� said Baruch Giberstien, administrator at Grandell Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. “We are blessed to be in the presence of someone as wise and as wonderful as she is. From the bottom of our hearts, we all wish her many more years of continued joy and nothing but love.�

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By Jeffrey Bessen, Nassau Herald After publicxt September, Lawrence School District officials found themselves responding to parents’ questions and trying to find an entity to lease the Number Five School. The district’s plan is to close the school, at 305 Cedarhurst Ave. in Cedarhurst, and rent it to an organization that caters to special-needs children, while the district retains ownership. The school’s top floor would accommodate the 105 specialneeds students who now attend schools outside the district. Officials said that an estimated $350,000 could be generated from leasing the building. The restructuring is based on the Princeton Plan, which aligns school districts based on grade levels rather than where people live in the community. “The realignment, as presented, represents a sea change to the paradigm in this district,� said Murray Forman, president of Lawrence’s Board of Education. Forman added that the plan would proceed unless a “fatal flaw� is discovered, but he said he doesn’t foresee that occurring. District officials plan on dividing the middle school building

THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

Clash over Lawrence school plan Partying in Long Beach like she’s 114

November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

22

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By Noah Hurowitz, The Brooklyn Paper Photos by Stefano Giovannini A who’s-who of Brooklyn politicos gathered at Downtown Brooklyn’s Junior’s Restaurant last Friday morning to glad-hand over breakfast, just days before the midterm election. Organized by longtime Democratic operative Steve Cohn (vice chairman of the state party) the annual event brought together some of the biggest names in borough politics, including Borough President Eric Adams, District Attorney Ken Thompson, Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, and others. along with candidates in Tuesday’s election.

Iranians jeer US on anniversary By Nasser Karimi, Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran — Thousands of Iranians chanted “Down with Americaâ€? at a major anti-U.S. rally on Tuesday marking the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, just days ahead of a key meeting between the two nations’ top diplomats over Iran’s controversial nuclear program. The gathering outside the former embassy compound in Tehran, which has become the annual venue for rallies commemorating the embassy attack and other American-bashing protests, was smaller compared to last year’s event, which drew tens of thousands — a sign of improved Iran-U.S. relations since moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took ofďŹ ce last year. But the rally, organized by hard-liners, still puts pressure on Rouhani, whose policy of outreach to Washington has faced harsh criticism from opponents at home. Many in the crowd chanted “Death to Israelâ€? and “Death to Britain,â€? neither of which has an embassy here. Several protesters burned the American, Israeli and the British ag. Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran 35 years ago, militant Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in 1979, claiming it was a center of plots against the Persian nation, and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Ties between the two countries were severed after the siege and formal relations have not been restored since. The anti-U.S. gathering this year also had a religious character as most Shiites world over on Tuesday observed the Ashoura, a remembrance of the 7th-century death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad revered by Shiites. One of the rally speakers, cleric and university professor Ali Reza Panahian compared the U.S. to enemies Hussein faced in his ďŹ nal

battle in Karbala in present-day Iraq. “Today, the evil arrogant powers have learned that they should not attempt to thwart us in the same way that enemies of Hussein encircled him,â€? Panahian said. He also denounced talks with world powers over Iran’s nuclear program, claiming the negotiations cannot change the Iranians’ anti-U.S. stance. State TV said similar anti-U.S. rallies took place in other Iranian cities and towns Tuesday. But despite anti-American sentiments on the streets, Rouhani’s government has pushed for a ďŹ nal nuclear deal that would end crippling Western sanctions imposed on Iran in exchange for ensuring that Tehran cannot produce a nuclear weapon. The two sides have a Nov. 24 deadline to seal the ďŹ nal deal. The West suspects Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it’s for peaceful purposes only. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ďŹ nal say on all Iranian state matters, has repeatedly backed the talks even though he has expressed doubts about the intentions of the six-member group — the ďŹ ve permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany — in the negotiations. In Oman’s capital of Muscat next week, Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif are to hold trilateral talks, which will also include European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Zarif’s adviser Ali Khorram said Iran-U.S. relations have now changed from being openly hostile to friendly but that “it’s a friendly relation not based on trust, not yet.â€? Khorram said the two have “common ďŹ elds of cooperation in Iraq and Syriaâ€? against Islamic State extremists.

Howard Golden, borough president from 1977 to 2001 and longtime Brooklyn Democratic boss, was also in the house, as was Rep. Edolphous Towns, Cohn spent 27 years as district leader for Williamsburg and Greenpoint, an unpaid but politically inuential post representing the district in the state Democratic Party. District leaders select the party’s county chairman and have inuence over the picking of judicial candidates. Cohn stepped down in 2010, but he remains a power player — a long line of movers and shakers at the breakfast lined up to shake his hand.

Muslim activist’s trial draws Detroit protest By Ed White, Associated Press DETROIT — Dozens of people traveled 300 miles from Chicago on Tuesday to support an Arab activist who is on trial for failing to tell U.S. immigration ofďŹ cials that she was convicted of two bombings in Israel decades ago. There is no dispute that Rasmieh Odeh, associate director at the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, answered “noâ€? on immigration forms in 2004 when asked if she had ever been convicted of a crime or spent time in prison. She subsequently became a naturalized U.S. citizen. But Odeh was in prison in Israel for 10 years for two bombings, including one that killed two people in 1969 when it was placed at a Jerusalem market. Defense attorney Michael Deutsch said Odeh may have been confused, thinking the questions referred to crimes in the U.S. Odeh, 66, was in the U.S. for nearly a decade before becoming a citizen. “They never said anything about foreign arrests,â€? Deutsch said outside court where many of Odeh’s supporters held signs and marched. U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain has barred Odeh from using post-traumatic stress disorder as a defense, although he said he believes her claim that she was tortured by the Israeli military. The case has angered pro-Palestinian activists who accuse the U.S. government of trying to silence critics of Israel. “She has been an effective member of the Palestinian community in Chicago,â€? said Dale Lehman, 68, of Chicago. Odeh is also known in Chicago as Rasmea Yousef.

Airline bomber wanted to be deported to W. Bank By Eric Tucker, Associated Press WASHINGTON — A Jordanian-born Palestinian responsible for a deadly 1982 airline bombing sought to be deported to the West Bank upon completing his prison sentence last year but the Israeli government denied the request, citing problems with his identity documents, according to records obtained by The Associated Press that shed light on why he remains in custody. Since then there have been “conďŹ dential diplomatic dealingsâ€? aimed at moving Mohammed Rashed out of the U.S. and fulďŹ lling an earlier commitment to deport him, court ďŹ lings show. Rashed was released from federal prison in March 2013 for the bombing of Pan Am 830, which killed a Japanese teenager and injured more than a dozen passengers aboard the Hawaii-bound plane. A onetime top lieutenant of a Palestinian bomb maker still featured on the FBI’s list of most-wanted terrorists, Rashed remains at a federal immigration detention facility in upstate New York that

houses those awaiting deportation. He was sentenced to prison in 2006 under a plea deal that allowed for his release last year and required his cooperation about other terrorist plots he knew about. The U.S. government said as part of the agreement that it would work to deport Rashed to a country of his choice after he served his time on murder and conspiracy charges. Authorities say he moved around the world with fraudulent identity documents, including those used to board the Pan Am ight before the bombing. Several years later he was caught with a fake passport in Greece, where he was prosecuted for the attack. He has been in U.S. or Greek custody for the better part of 25 years. U.S. ofďŹ cials have long seen him as a crucial link to Abu Ibrahim, a Palestinian bomb maker who formed 15 May, a terrorist faction named after the date of Israel’s founding, and was known for making sophisticated plastic explosives that could be smuggled in bags

and suitcases. Abu Ibrahim, also known as Husayn Muhammad AlUmari, remains on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists and was indicted in 1987 in the U.S. along with Rashed. The Aug. 11, 1982, bombing was set in motion when Rashed, his wife and their young son traveled from Baghdad to Tokyo. He tucked a bomb beneath his seat cushion, engaged the timer and disembarked with his family when the ight landed in Japan. The device exploded as the plane continued onto Honolulu, killing a 16-year-old boy who occupied the same seat on the plane’s next leg. Rashed was arrested in Greece in 1988 for traveling with a false passport and implicated in the bomb attack. Rather than extraditing him for the bombing, Greek authorities prosecuted him and won a conviction. He was released in 1996, but then arrested by U.S. authorities in another country in 1998 and taken to Washington for prosecution. He pleaded guilty in 2002.

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vacy, almost the secrecy surrounding mikveh use, combined with the fact that it’s men who tend to be in power positions, can be a bad combination, which can make women vulnerable,â€? she says. Bornstein offers a prescription for change that includes greater female “ownershipâ€? of the mikveh process as well as the training of volunteers “to have a heightened awareness and paying attention not just to the stray hair on a woman’s back, but to keep their eyes wide open, to be a real support also in difďŹ cult times when necessary.â€? The goal is “to make the mikveh a comfortable, welcoming, and safe place,â€? adds Bornstein. Rachel Klein of Baltimore, who has studied with Freundel over the years, says, “I do

think and have always thought that women should be in charge of everything to do with running the mikveh.â€? “As a rabbi [Freundel] did very good work for the community,â€? says Klein. “As a man who did not know how to heal himself, he did terrible damage.â€? Into this perceived vacuum of leadership steps the “yoetzet halacha.â€? A relatively new profession, a yoetzet is a Torah-knowledgeable woman certiďŹ ed to serve as an advisor for other women regarding family purity and other areas of Jewish law and practice affecting couples, families, sexual relations, and women’s medical issues. As director of the Miriam Glaubach Center’s U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program, Atara Eis manages and trains these women. “I grieve as a yoetzet halacha, whose job it is to educate women to love this mitzvah, to love halacha (Jewish law), and to carve out a woman’s place in Jewish learning and leadership speciďŹ cally through the ancient mikveh waters,â€? said Eis in a Times of Israel blog. A yoetzet halacha, Eis adds, is a woman well-versed in Jewish law who is trained to answer the toughest of questions and keep an eye on the safety and careful oversight of a mikveh—to make sure that an incident similar to the Freundel episode does not resurface for a mikveh-going woman ever again. “People are taking cheap shots at the whole idea of mikveh but we need not throw the baby out with the mikveh bathwater,â€? says Eis. “Instead, we need to re-embrace and restore the trust and conďŹ dence women feel in mikveh.â€? Privacy, which Eis deďŹ nes as wholly different from secrecy, needs to “remain an important part of this intimate experience of immersing in sacred waters,â€? she says. But at a time when some are calling for increasingly stringent safeguards, from locks

and ID requirements to random sweeps by outside agencies on the lookout for embedded spying equipment, there are plenty of observant women who do not see the recent scandal as a trend, or even as a cautionary tale or an indication that the system needs ďŹ xing. “This is an isolated crime,â€? remarks Judy Brodt of Jerusalem, who speaks for many in the observant world. A kallah (bride) teacher who has taught countless women over the years the ancient Jewish laws of family purity and has sent them to the mikveh on the eve of their wedding, she adds, “We can no more blame the mikvehs for his scheming than any other criminal. It says nothing about our mikvehs and everything about him.â€? Toby Pomerantz, a “balanitâ€? (mikveh dunker) for 21 years in Ma’ale Adumim, says, “We need ways to protect the women and the system.â€? In Pomerantz’s mikveh, there is a head balanit who is in charge of the others and another woman in charge of the entire mikveh. “And at no time is a man allowed on the premises after sundown, when the women start to arrive,â€? she explains. “[The Freundel incident] needs to teach us to be more careful, to be able to use this sad mess to make us even more careful,â€? she says. Bornstein, the Boston-area mikveh director, warns against demonizing men in positions of authority. “Yes, having women in leadership positions is necessary, but I don’t think that driving a further wedge between men and women is the answer,â€? she says. “[Men and women] need to work together to ensure the safety of the women and the sanctity of the mikveh.â€? Eis agrees. “We need to be able to look back and see that we were not going to let one man have the power to destroy this beautiful part of our tradition.â€?

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By Deborah Fineblum Schabb, JNS.org Among the things that Jewish women value most about the mikveh experience is the feeling of seclusion, sanctity, and safety. “But the need to feel respected and comfortable is the most important,â€? says Chaya Sett, who since making aliyah from Brooklyn has been a self-described “regularâ€? in the mikvehs of Jerusalem’s Old City. “It has to be a very safe place in your life because it’s also when you are at your most vulnerable.â€? Sett speaks for many mikveh-going women in the wake of the Oct. 14 arrest of Rabbi Barry Freundel, a nationally recognized Jewish leader, on charges of voyeurism at his Washington, DC synagogue’s mikveh. Freundel pleaded not guilty to the charges. It is precisely because of the vulnerability issue that many women are calling for increased security measures and, from some quarters, a major shift in oversight of mikveh practices. For Rivkah Lambert Adler, who made aliyah from Baltimore in 2010 and lives in Ma’ale Adumim, the Freundel case has beamed a spotlight on gender-related leadership issues. “The leadership of every women’s mikveh should be in the hands of women,â€? she said. “If they need to consult with a male professional sometimes, that’s ďŹ ne, as long as women are holding the reins of leadership. In the meantime, I pray that this incident in DC will open some eyes to the bigger picture so that we, as a community, can make some midcourse corrections, even before the arrival of Moshiach.â€? Carrie Bornstein, director of Maayim Haayim, a Boston-area community mikveh and education center, says she has heard reactions from women that are “across the boardâ€? since the Freundel story broke. “Part of what we’re hearing is that the pri-

THE JEWISH STAR November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775

Women try to make sense of mikveh maelstrom

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November 7, 2014 • 14 Cheshvan 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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