THE JEWISH
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THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLAND’S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES
Disabled advocate cheers growing Jewish inclusion 5 Towner recalls that G-d put Moshe to work despite his speech disability
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By Jeffrey F. Barken, JNS.org What if — because of his speech impediment — Moshe never accepted the task to lead the Jews out of Egypt? Award-winning author Chava Willig Levy of Woodmere, a polio survivor, uses the episode to illustrate what she calls a biblical precedent that people with disabilities have enormous potential to impact society. “When G-d said to Moshe, ‘I’m tapping you to lead my people out of Egypt,’ Moshe [countered], ‘No, you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m disabled myself’,� Levy said. But G-d gets angry at Moshe for doubting himself, and asks, “Whom do you think gave you that mouth?� Levy’s anecdote introduces a con-
cept that frames an ongoing Jewish communal discussion on the inclusion of people with disabilities. “There is Judaism, and then there are Jews,â€? she says, reecting on the dissonance between the religion’s principles of universal inclusion and what Jewish society actually looks like. Levy was among at the attendees of the Ruderman Family Foundation’s ďŹ rst conference for Jews with disabilities who are self-advocates. The event, in Manhattan, brought together distinguished lawyers, rabbis, writers, teachers and community activists whose successful careers, undaunted energy, and full lives counter longContinued on page 3
Will Cuba deal be bad for Israel? lief. But analysts say Gross’s humanitarian release and the subsequent U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap have little to do with the prisoners and everything to do with the Obama administration’s ďŹ nal two years — and the reverberations might be felt
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as far away as the Middle East. U.S.-Cuba relations, which are being thawed by a loosening of travel and trade restrictions, have been a stitch in America’s side ever since the U.S. put its ďŹ rst embargo on the Caribbean nation in 1960. Each year from its 46th to 60th sessions, the United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the American commercial, economic, and ďŹ nancial embargo, with only Israel voting against the condemnation. Now, with two years left in ofďŹ ce and a below-average approval rating (according to Gallup polling), President Barack Obama is “looking for a legacy,â€? said Washington-based lawyer Robert Muse, who has decades of experience in U.S. laws relating to Cuba. Muse explained that many presidents choose to seek their legacies in the realm of foreign affairs because such moves are met with signiďŹ cantly fewer challenges and constitutional hurdles than those relating to domestic affairs. In 1972, for example, Richard Nixon was the ďŹ rst president to visit the People’s Republic of China, which at the time the U.S. considered a foe. That visit ended 25 years of estrangement. Muse said that although Nixon was swept from ofďŹ ce shortly thereafter with the Watergate affair, he is always credited with China. Piero Gleijeses, professor at the Nitze Continued on page 4
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By Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org Jewish-American aid worker Alan Gross arrived home to celebrate Chanukah after ďŹ ve years in a Cuban prison, prompting the Jewish world to both celebrate and breathe a collective sigh of re-