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VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 14
JULY 2, 2015
What will the ADL lose when Foxman leaves? By Uriel Heilman NEW YORK (JTA) – If there’s one thing that can be said of longtime AntiDefamation League leader Abraham Foxman, who is stepping down in June after nearly 30 years at the helm, it’s that he never holds back from speaking his mind. In an age of canned, anodyne statements from public figures reticent to say what they really think, Foxman offers an authentic, unabashed voice free of artifice, hesitation or restraint. Foxman also has something else when he speaks: listeners. Though the ADL doesn’t represent anyone but itself and Foxman is not an elected official, he is widely seen by journalists, the public and especially the White House as representing American Jewish opinion – to the consternation of many community activists to Foxman’s right and left. “Abe is one of the three or four people you have to speak to on any given issue,” said former White House official Jarrod Bernstein, who did Jewish outreach during President Barack Obama’s first term. “Abe was like an uncle to me. If you did something he thought you were on the wrong side of, he was going to let you know about it,” Bernstein told JTA. “On the flip side, if he thought you were being treated unfairly, or you did something right, he wouldn’t hesitate to say that either. That’s important and we need more of that in the American Jewish community.” Foxman, who has run the ADL as national director since 1987 and worked there since graduating from law school in 1965, will be succeeded in July by Jonathan Greenblatt, a White House aide and social entrepreneur. Under Foxman’s leadership, the ADL has become a $60 million-ayear juggernaut that runs anti-bias educational and training programs, monitors antisemitism in the United States and around the world, advocates for anti-discrimination legislation, and maintains regional offices around the country to discharge these functions. It has also served as a bully pulpit for
Foxman, who managed to become the world’s chief arbiter of what qualifies as antisemitism – and the granter of absolution when warranted. “He has an uncanny sense to know what to get involved with,” said Myrna Shinbaum, who worked at the ADL for 20 years and served as Foxman’s director of media relations and public information. The case of fashion designer John Galliano represents a classic case of Foxman’s capacity to censure and forgive. When Galliano was caught on video in February 2011 going on a drunken, antisemitic tirade, the ADL helped lead the charge that resulted in Galliano’s firing by Christian Dior. But once Galliano made amends, Foxman was just as vociferous in defending Galliano and vouching for his rehabilitation. In 2013, after Galliano had gone through counseling and was making his return to the design world, the New York Post accused Galliano of dressing in Chasidic garb and thereby mocking Jews. Foxman immediately jumped to Galliano’s defense, calling the story “a deliberate, malicious distortion” of Galliano’s outfit and intent. “For the past year and a half, Mr. Galliano has been on a pilgrimage to learn from and grow from his mistakes. Now people are trying to distort and destroy him,” Foxman said in a statement. “He has spent hours with me and with others in the European Jewish community, including rabbis and Holocaust scholars, in an effort to better understand himself and to learn from his past mistakes. He is trying very hard to atone.” Kenneth Jacobson, the ADL’s deputy national director, said this is one of Foxman’s signature moves: The ability to turn someone who had crossed the antisemitism line into a friend of the Jews. After a high-profile Christian evangelist, the Rev. Bailey Smith, said in 1980 that God does not hear the prayers of Jews, the ADL blasted him. But then Foxman, who at the time was ADL’s associate national director and director of international affairs, orchestrated a visit to Israel for Smith. By the end, ADL of-
ficials said, Smith was calling him Rabbi Foxman. “He’s able to take a very negative situation and turn it into a very positive one,” Jacobson said. Along the way, Foxman has also become a confidant of presidents, prime ministers and too many celebrities to count. But on the central question of ADL’s raison d’etre – fighting antisemitism – did Foxman make any difference? It’s not hard to find antisemitism around the world today. In Europe, it’s evident in deadly attacks, anti-Israel demonstrations and boycott efforts. In Venezuela, Turkey and elsewhere, it comes from the mouths of public officials. On the Internet, it takes the form of virulent expressions of hate. In the Arab world, Jews are caricatured as they used to be in Nazi newspapers. By the same token, antisemitism in the United States is at historic lows. The Jews in Israel live in relative safety. In Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, governments are protective of their Jewish populations. It’s hard to connect any of this to the ADL’s work, for better or for worse – though Foxman says the ADL is part of the reason America is one of the least antisemitic countries in the world. “I don’t take credit for it, but I’m part of the effort – not only of the American Jewish community, but of decent people in this country, to fight it,” Foxman said. “The most significant difference between the United States and the rest of the world is that in this country, there is a consequence to being a bigot and an antisemite. If you’re in commerce, if you’re in politics, if you’re in the arts – whatever it is – and you act out as an antisemite, you will pay a price.” Foxman’s personal story has lent moral authority to his work. Born in 1940 in Poland, Foxman’s Jewish parents left him in the care of his Polish-Catholic nanny during the war in a bid to save his life. Raised as a Catholic, Foxman didn’t discover he was Jewish until after the war, when his parents came to claim him. His nanny refused to give him up, resulting in a custody battle.
Abraham Foxman held a replica of his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star as he was honored by the ADL’s 2014 Annual Meeting at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA, on November 7, 2014. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) After Foxman’s parents eventually won, they took their son with them to America, and only gradually did he let go of his Catholic habits and embrace his parents’ religion. “I’m a product of the worst in humankind and the best in humankind,” Foxman told JTA. Foxman said he ended up at the ADL more by chance than design. He did some freelance translating for the organization – then known as the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith – while in high school at the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn, and followed reporting on the ADL in the Jewish press. Foxman planned to be an engineer, largely so he could help Israel or America in the age of Sputnik, he said, but he changed his mind after suffering through two years of chemical engineering at City College. He switched to political science, attended New York University law school and reached out to the ADL’s general counsel, Arnold Forster, when he was interviewing for jobs. Foxman was offered a position on the spot. “To what extent did my experiences in the Shoah, the D.P. camps, my Catholicism have to do with that, I don’t know,” Foxman said. “I have been very lucky. To get up every morning and to have an opportunity to try to make a difference in both fighting hate and building love – wow. I have been very privileged.”
JFS to host “Taking Charge: Cancer Screening Federation on Facebook Updates Every Woman Needs to Know” Jewish Family Service will host a webinar, with a light dinner provided beforehand and a discussion of the broadcast afterward, on Wednesday, July 8, from 7:30-9:30 pm, at Jewish Family Service, 615 Jefferson Ave., Scranton. Sharsheret Supports will present the national webinar “Taking Charge: Cancer Screening Updates Every
Woman Needs to Know” from 8-9 pm. As a Sharsheret Supports partner, Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania intends to provide education to women and families in the community. The webinar will feature Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, a gynecologic oncologist, and Dr. Lisa Weinstock, a diagnostic
radiologist, who will share information on breast density in young women; BRCA+ and high risk screening option; and monitoring for breast cancer and ovarian cancer survivors. The participation will be free, but registration will be required. For more information or to register, call Maggy Bushwick at 570-344-1186.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Study says...
A paper mâché lifeline Hebrew in the huddle
The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania now has a page on Facebook to let community members know about upcoming events and keep connected.
Candle lighting July 3............................................. 8:22 pm July 10............................................8:19 pm July 17............................................8:15 pm July 24............................................8:10 pm July 31........................................... 8:03 pm August 7....................................... 7:55 pm
Some wonder if Pew studies Lifeline for the Old in Jerusalem American football is gaining impact programming and services gives senior citizens jobs creating ground in Israel thanks to PLUS in the Jewish community. paper mâché artwork and more. American olim. Opinion........................................................2 Story on page 3 Story on page 7 Story on page 12 D’var Torah..............................................10
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THE REPORTER ■ JULY 2, 2015
JULY 2, 2015 ■
a matter of opinion UNHRC report ignores the implications of the Gaza war By Mark Silverberg Reprinted with permission of Israel National News – Arutz Sheva The grossly misnamed United Nations Human Rights Council, with its majority of non-democratic member-countries, has just released its so-called “factfinding report” on the war last summer in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. While the UNHRC acknowledged that Hamas’s indiscriminate firing of missiles at Israeli cities and towns were acts of terrorism, it concentrated most of its fire on Israel’s attempts to defend its territory and citizens. It considers the blockade of Gaza to be a violation of Palestinian human rights that should be investigated by the International Criminal Court, and blames Israel for most of the fatalities and injuries in Gaza that occurred during the conflict. It falsely accuses Israel of failing to take adequate precautions to avoid civilian casualties, deliberately targeting U.N. facilities that were being used to shelter civilians, and causing deaths and injuries to hundreds of Palestinian children resulting from “indiscriminate” air and ground attacks. In many incidents, it claims, Israel “may not have done everything feasible to avoid or limit civilian casual-
ties.” Although it placed blame on both parties, it focused more on Israel’s role and accepted the Palestinian death count, by which 1,462 out of a total of 2,251 Palestinians killed were civilians — a 65 percent ratio. Israel’s internal report found that 56 percent of the dead were
from the desk of the executive director
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Opinions The views expressed in editorials and opinion pieces are those of each author and not necessarily the views of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Letters The Reporter welcomes letters on subjects of interest to the Jewish community. All letters must be signed and include a phone number. The editor may withhold the name upon request. ADS The Reporter does not necessarily endorse any advertised products and services. In addition, the paper is not responsible for the kashruth of any advertiser’s product or establishment. Deadline Regular deadline is two weeks prior to the publication date. Federation website: www.jewishnepa.org How to SUBMIT ARTICLES: Mail: 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 E-mail: jfnepareporter@jewishnepa.org Fax: (570) 346-6147 Phone: (570) 961-2300 How to reach the advertising Representative: Phone: (800) 779-7896, ext. 244 E-mail: bonnie@thereportergroup.org Subscription Information: Phone: (570) 961-2300
Mark silverberG civilians, a figure that supports Israel’s stated emphasis on proportionality during war. The report’s false claims fly in the face of the conclusions reached by a High Level International Military Group on the Gaza Conflict consisting of 11 former chiefs of staff, generals, senior officers, political leaders and officials from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Holland, Spain, Italy, Australia and Colombia that visited Israel in May for a fact-finding mission of their own on the 2014 Israel-Gaza war. Contrary to the conclusions reached by the UNHRC Report, the group concluded that the measures Israel took to warn civilians of pending attacks in targeted areas in Gaza included phone calls, SMS messages, leaflet drops, radio broadcasts, communication via Gaza-based U.N. staff and the detonation of harmless warning explosive charges known as “knocks on the roof.” They observed that “none of us is aware of any army that takes such extensive measures as did the IDF last summer to protect the lives of the civilian population in such circumstances... The IDF declined to attack known military targets due to the presence of civilians, risking, and in some instances costing, Israeli lives.” The report also downplays – or fails to mention entirely – Hamas’ initiation of the conflict via the relentless firing of missiles deliberately aimed at Israeli civilian population centers (which it ascribes to “armed Palestinian groups” or the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, barely mentioning that these have any connection to Hamas); its refusal to accept numerous cease-fire agreements, which resulted in prolonging the conflict; its placement of missile launching units near schools, hospitals, food distribution centers and professional training centers; its placement of explosive devices in U.N.-funded medical clinics; its placement of snipers, command posts and weapons storage depots in or near civilian homes, churches, hotels, schools, mosques, hospitals and U.N. facilities; its directive that terrorist combatants were to be referred to as “civilians,” according to a Hamas Interior Ministry directive issued on July 11, 2014; and its construction of terror tunnels using materials diverted from humanitarian supplies, leading from civilian homes in Gaza into Israeli communities bordering Gaza for the purpose of killing or kidnapping Israelis. To the contrary, the report states “that the tunnels were only used to conduct attacks directed at IDF positions in Israel in the vicinity of the Green Line, which are legitimate military targets” – this, despite an October report in Vanity Fair, confirmed by the IDF, that Hamas had planned to carry out a massive assault by penetrating
Israeli communities via tunnels under the border from the Gaza Strip, and then killing or kidnapping as many civilians as possible. What is not addressed in the report, however, is the rationale behind Hamas’ use of human shields and civilian infrastructures as an integral part of its war tactics. Hamas made it clear to Gaza’s civilians that those fleeing the fighting would be considered collaborators – which, in Gaza, is the equivalent of a death sentence – if they didn’t stay put. As Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said in May, “The Arab nations came to understand that they will not be able to defeat Israel on the battlefield, and therefore decided to transfer the battlefield to the civilian population. The only change on the Palestinian side was an under-the-radar tactical change, but this change still adheres to their original agenda – the total rejection of the Jewish state. Instead of tank battles in distant deserts, the Palestinians transferred their battles to densely populated areas where the civilians serve as human shields.” This tactic is part of what several Middle-East scholars have termed the “dead baby” strategy. Quite simply, the strategy seeks to enrage the world against Israel and is based on the hope that Israel will attack and kill their people. Fathi Hamad, a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said as much: “For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry... This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly and the mujahideen.” Based on the UNHRC report and the anti-Israel coverage by the world media during the conflict, the strategy appears to be successful. Its approach is simple and brutal: force Israel to kill as many civilians as possible by deliberately moving legitimate military targets into civilian areas, or by moving civilians into military areas. As Alan Dershowitz wrote in the Gatestone Institute, “Democracies, such as the United States and Israel, which care about avoiding civilian casualties, are then put to the tragic choice of either foregoing a legitimate attack against military targets, or, by attacking them, being blamed for the civilian casualties that were willfully caused by their enemies’ illegal use of human shields.” Israel had little choice but to protect its citizens against missile attacks, but the world in general focused not on the moral and legal correctness of Israel’s decision, but on the gruesome photos of dead Palestinian babies – with hardly any mention made of the more than 4,500 missiles that rained down on Israeli cities (encompassing 70 percent of Israel’s civilian population, including more than a million Israeli children) during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war. In Gaza, despite the fact that Hamas deliberately fired missiles from schoolyards, hospitals, U.N. facilities, churches, mosques and densely populated civilian areas, the international community – like the UNHRC report – blamed Israel for trying to prevent these missile attacks against its civilian population by targeting the missile launching sites and occasionally killing civilians in close proximity to those sites. Tragically, this “dead baby” strategy
has become a “win-win” strategy for terrorists who don’t care about their own civilian populations, and a “lose-lose” strategy for Israel and, by implication, other Western democracies that do. It motivates the world to defend terrorists (as does the UNHRC report) and provokes the world into criminalizing the actions of democracies that seek to defend themselves. If Israel refrains from retaliating for fear of striking civilians, its enemies will continue to launch missiles into Israel’s civilian population centers. And if Israel does defend itself, it risks civilian casualties that provide these terrorists with the propaganda victory they seek. Hezbollah is no different. Israel recently disclosed previously classified maps and aerial photos showing that Hezbollah has intentionally placed legitimate military targets into 240 small towns and villages in southern Lebanon close to the Israeli border. According to the photos, these weapons depots, underground storage facilities, observation posts, control centers, military sites and bunker entrances have been placed in and near private homes, schools and hospitals in southern Lebanon with the intention of using these facilities as shields against any future Israeli retaliation for Hezbollah missile attacks on Israel’s civilian population centers. Hamas and Hezbollah have only one thing in mind – to gain global condemnation of Israel if and when it chooses to defend itself from missile attacks against its civilian population. Their primary target is the international media, whom they know will magnify their message to the world and force the EU, the U.N., human rights groups and other international organizations to bring unbearable diplomatic pressure on Israel for defending itself. They know that every baby killed by an Israeli missile will be paraded in front of television cameras being held by grieving mothers and fathers. It is these horrific pictures that are the goal of this strategy. Both terrorist organizations understand that these heartbreaking photos will mask the reality that these dead babies are not “collateral damage” caused by striking legitimate military targets, but rather deliberate targets selected by Hezbollah and Hamas in a cynical attempt to shift blame from them onto Israel, which is trying its best to avoid such casualties, even in the face of deliberate efforts by these terrorist organizations to multiply them. It is unfortunate that this strategy is being achieved with the cooperation of the international media and global “human rights” organizations like the UNHRC that are willing to be subverted by terrorist tactics that present terrorists as victims while portraying Israel – and, by definition, other Western democracies that seek to defend themselves – as murderers. So long as these barbaric tactics of terrorists are allowed to prevail over the established rules of war followed by Israel and other Western democracies – rules that are based upon the Geneva Conventions governing the Laws of Armed Conflict – no democracy on earth will ever have the right to defend its people from such attacks without exposing itself to universal condemnation.
THE REPORTER
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community news JFSNEPA celebrates 100th annual meeting Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania celebrated its 100th annual meeting on June 16. The meeting was held at The Colonnade in Scranton, and was attended by more than 125 people. The event featured light kosher food, as well as music from the Doug Smith Trio. More than $36,000 was raised from sponsorships to support JFSNEPA programs and services. Susan Blum Connors, outgoing
president of JFSNEPA, welcomed attendees with her address, and was followed by Ed Monsky for the election of officers and directors. Rabbi Mordechai Dov Fine proceeded with the installation of officers and directors, and incoming President Jay Landau focused on increased Sheila Nudelman Abdo attention to fund-raising and
Officers nominated to serve a one year term included (l-r) Seth Gross, treasurer; Jay Landau, president; Sheila Cutler, secretary; Natalie Gelb, third vice president; and Elliot Schoenberg, second vice president. Not pictured: Eric Weinberg, first vice president.
branding for JFSNEPA during his speech. Executive Director Sheila Nudelman Abdo spoke of JFS’s history and future during her closing remarks. Organizers of the program thanked the platinum sponsors, The Gelb Foundation, Nivert Metal Supply Inc. and The Colonnade.
Established in 1915, Jewish Family Service is a human service organization, which reflects the Jewish tradition of caring and compassion for all people in need. Through professional counseling, advocacy and educational programming, its services seek to “enhance and strengthen” the quality of individual, family and community life. This mission drives all services and activities of Jewish Family Service.
Directors nominated to serve new terms included (l-r) Dr. Dan Ginsberg, Leah Gans, Esther Adelman, Leah Laury, Margaret Sheldon, Dan Marcus, Susan Blum Connors, Michael Noto, Larissa Schwass, Maggie Nasser, Larry Grossinger, D.P.M. and Molly Rutta. Not pictured: Janet Townsend, M.D.
Back to school backpack project The Temple Hesed Social Action Committee is preparing for its annual back to school backpack project. Lackawanna County children in need, identified by local social service agencies, are provided with new clothing and a backpack filled with supplies for the first day of school. “Please consider supporting this very worthwhile
project,” said a Temple Hesed representative. Donors can be matched with a child, from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, to provide all or some of the needed items. Donors can also make a cash donation and project organizers will purchase the items. Monetary donations will be appreciated. A $100 donation will sponsor a child with a backpack, clothes and supplies. For $50, donors
Pew and the Jews: experts say leveraging poll data trumps numbers By Maayan Jaffe JNS.org Since the Pew Research Center released its U.S. Religious Landscape Study in May, most discussion of its findings has been quickly drowned out by other news. This is in stark contrast to the much-debated Pew survey on American Jewry that was released in October 2013. Why the discrepancy? It’s likely because little new was discovered in the latest poll. According to the study, 25 percent of individuals raised as Jews no longer consider themselves Jewish, 35 percent of Jews who are married or living with a partner are with a non-Jew and 39 percent of U.S. adults across religions are intermarried. The findings show that the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, that the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated has jumped more than six percentage points (from 16.1 to 22.8), and that the majority of unaffiliated individuals are relatively young and getting younger. The newest Pew study is just one of dozens of similar surveys published in the last decade – each with a
slightly different angle, but ultimately revealing the same aforementioned trends. All the reports beg the question: Are such studies having a practical impact on the programming and services that the Jewish community is funding and delivering? “These reports are very important,” says Israeli-born real estate investor and philanthropist Adam Milstein, head of the Los Angeles-based Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. “These studies continue to highlight the fact that the American public is becoming less and less religious and that so many young Jews do not feel connected to their Jewish faith or the state of Israel. This is very concerning and we cannot afford to ignore these facts.” Milstein has used Jewish demographic studies to support grant-making decisions for the dozens of Jewish and Israelrelated organizations that are funded by his foundation. “I am constantly changing what I do based on the facts on the ground. Philanthropists should adjust to what is happening every year – every day,” Milstein tells JNS.org.
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Illuminations Scranton Hebrew
Day School Prize Extravaganza at the Colonnade – Scranton Further details will follow.
can provide a backpack with school supplies. For $25, a backpack or school supplies can be provided. To sponsor a child, contact Temple Hesed at 570-3447201. Checks should be made out to Temple Hesed with “Back to School” designated in the memo line. For those wishing to purchase the needed supplies, the temple will provide a list of what is needed for each child. Donations of backpacks and school supplies can be dropped off at Temple Hesed, 1 Knox Rd., Scranton, or in the Jewish Community Center reception area, 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, during normal business hours through Friday, August 14. “Your contribution will help ensure that children start the school year with the confidence and tools they need to succeed,” said a temple representative. “Thank you in advance for your participation.”
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and Appell serving as the emcee and funnyman. As Sheng routines with TV a teen, he was picked appearances, stand-up for Newton North High performances, touring School’s elite improv on the college circuit and troupe. He was so good teaching a high school that one of his teachers improv class, Appell let him submit a rap has been able to cobble video on Otto Von Bistogether a living as a marck, the 19th-century comedian in China – not German leader, in place exactly a standard career of a term paper. path for an American “My name is OVB, Jewish boy. Jesse Appell, an American yeah, you know me / I’m There are some limita- comedian living in Beijing, the Iron Chancellor of tions to being a stand-up finds that Chinese audiences Germany,” Appell raps. comedian in China. For are eager to hear about his “Shoulda seen us kickin’ one thing, the Chinese Jewish background. (Photo ass up in Denmark / the term for stand-up is the only better warrior is Mr. same as the one for talk courtesy of Jesse Appell) Stark. / We got into this show, so many audience thang up in Holstein / but Prussia comes members coming to open-mic nights at out lookin’ super clean.” their college or local bar have no idea He continued doing comedy in college, whether to expect a Louis C.K. or an Elbut also began studying Chinese intenlen DeGeneres. You can’t really poke fun sively (about 10 percent of all Brandeis at the government, which intentionally leaves the boundary of acceptability vague freshmen come from China). Appell spent to get artists to censor themselves. The six months of his junior year studying in Chinese aren’t great at self-deprecation. China, where he discovered traditional Add to that the lack of alcohol and Chinese Xiang Sheng comedy. He still does plenty inhibitions against laughing too loudly and of Xiang Sheng, often with a 300-pound Iranian partner training with the same it can make for a tough crowd. “Until I got to China, I never realized Xiang Sheng master as Appell. “You have a skinny Jewish guy how big of an effect there is going into a and a fat Iranian guy doing Chinese set where the audience is a little liquored comedy,” Appell said, noting that the up,” Appell told JTA in an interview while on a visit to the United States for shows absurdity of the juxtaposition is lost in Atlanta and Tennessee. “The Chinese on Chinese audiences. American-style stand-up offers Appell tend to come in, sit down in neat rows, don’t talk and wait for the show to start. a way to get his own material onstage. But people still have a good time – if we Though Chinese people don’t know much about the Jews, Appell says they’re always can make them laugh.” Appell sometimes serves as an opening act for Joe Wong, one of China’s biggest stand-up comedians and the subject of a May New York Times Magazine profile. Appell also recently launched a new web At right: Jesse Appell series about living in China. He says he p e r f o r m e d X i a n g has performed in more than 20 Chinese Sheng, a Chinese provinces, and last fall he did a 13-city comedic art dating back tour in North America. to the Qing dynasty Funny business came early for Appell. that involves quick, He and his brother used to do bar mitz- witty banter between vahs, with his brother handling the music two performers. (Photo courtesy of Jesse Appell)
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excited to hear him talk about Judaism. A routine he recorded about being Jewish in China made it to the front page of China’s version of YouTube and quickly got 100,000 views. “I feel like Jewish culture and Chinese culture have a lot of commonalities,” Appell said in one of his stand-up routines. “Jews at the age of 13 have a coming-ofage ritual. It’s called a bar mitzvah. We need to read lots of books, we have to study a new language, but whether we speak it or not doesn’t matter. There’s a lot of praying involved, and finally we share all the boring stuff we’ve learned. After I got to China, I realized that Chinese people have a similar coming-of-age ritual at 13: It’s called the high school entrance exam.” Ironically, Appel, who grew up in the heavily Jewish Boston suburb of Newton, MA, and attended Brandeis, the Jewish-sponsored nonsectarian university, says he has actually become much more Jewishly involved since moving to China. “At Brandeis, the Jewish stuff was everywhere, so you could engage with it without stepping out of your way,” he said. “In China, if I don’t go to services, I’m not going to walk by services or see people lighting candles in their dorm room.” Appell says he finds himself at the egalitarian Jewish congregation Kehillat Beijing nearly every Friday night – that is, if he doesn’t have a show. This year he emceed the community’s Passover seder, which drew 200 people on the holiday’s first night. He says his mother often asks him if he’ll stay in China for good. “That’s in the figure-it-out-later column,” Appell said.
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Druze arrested in ambulance attack
Three more Druze Israelis have been arrested in two attacks on ambulances carrying wounded Syrians to Israeli hospitals, including one that left a Syrian dead. The arrests early on June 25 come a day after the arrests of five people from the village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, where a mob of Druze-Israeli protesters on the night of June 22 dragged two wounded Syrian fighters from the ambulance, beating one to death and seriously injuring the second, Four others believed to have been involved in an attack earlier on June 22 on an ambulance driving by the Druze village of Hurfish, where residents blocked the path of the ambulance and threw stones at it, were also arrested. Two Israeli soldiers were injured in the incidents. A gag order has been imposed by police on the investigation into the incidents. The Druze attackers believed the injured men were members of Syrian rebel groups, which have been targeting Druze-Syrians living near the border with Israel as part of the country’s four-year civil war. Israel treats wounded from the civil war in the field and at local hospitals regardless of what side they are fighting for. More than 1,600 wounded Syrians have been treated in Israeli hospitals during the civil war, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on June 24 with Druze community leaders, where he expressed appreciation for Druze contributions to the state and called for an end to violence against Israeli soldiers. “Your sons, all of our sons, serve and fight in the IDF and defend our state. We all uphold the law and we are all loyal citizens. And if there is someone who deviates from these rules and takes the law into his hands, it is our duty, of course, to condemn this and see to it that these offenders do not become the norm. This is something that we must prevent – the recurrence of such events,” Netanyahu said. “I think that it is also especially important to prevent attacks on IDF soldiers or hindering them as they carry out their missions. We have been successful in keeping Israel out of the anarchy that is happening around us. We did so because we always knew measure things and act prudently. This is, and will remain, our policy,” he said. Druze leaders have condemned the attack. Sheik Muafaq Tarif, spiritual leader of Druze in Israel, said in response: “Our faith, traditions and values are against attacking an ambulance or the injured. This is not our way. We did not educate for this. We strongly condemn what happened and of course we hope that you will continue to wisely and prudently lead on this issue. We are at your service.”
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An Israeli man who faked his own kidnapping was indicted in a Jerusalem court along with his accomplice. Niv Asraf, 22, of Beersheba was indicted on June 24 in Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for the stunt in April. His friend Eran Nagauker also was indicted. He is accused of giving false evidence, breach of public order and obstruction of a police officer’s performance of duty. Israeli security forces were alerted to Asraf’s disappearance on April 2 by Nagaukar. He said Asraf entered the Palestinian village of Beit Anun, near Hebron, to get help after they became stranded with a flat tire. Nagaukar originally said his friend staged the kidnapping to get the attention of a former girlfriend, but Asraf later said that he ran because he owed tens of thousands of shekels in gambling debts to “well-known criminals.” The search involved 3,000 Israeli soldiers. He was found a day later hiding near Kiryat Arba with a sleeping bag and canned food. “If I had seen all the chaos, believe me, I wouldn’t have done it,” Asraf said in April after he was apprehended by police. “I didn’t plan for this. If I had known it would be considered a kidnapping, I never would have done it. No one told me what was happening outside. I was isolated.”
Palestinians submit documents against Israel to ICC
The Palestinian Authority submitted its first documents against Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The documents presented on June 25 deal with continued construction in West Bank settlements, Gaza and Palestinians in Israeli jails, the Palestine Liberation Organization announced. The information in the documents is general, with no specific charges and no named individuals, according to reports. The actual documents were not made public. In January, ICC prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into possible war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank dating to the end of June 2014, just before the start of Israel’s military operation in Gaza. The prosecutors will determine whether preliminary findings merit a full investigation into alleged atrocities and possible charges against Israeli and/or Palestinian officials. The Palestinian Authority officially became a member of the court in April. P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas signed the requests to join the ICC and other international conventions at the end of December after the United Nations Security Council failed to pass a Palestinian statehood proposal. The filing of the documents comes days after the release of a United Nations report that found that both Israel and Hamas may have committed war crimes during last summer’s conflict. Both Israelis and Palestinians have become less supportive of a two-state solution to the conflict, with only 51 percent of each now favoring the idea, a new poll reports. A poll conducted jointly by Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, found that support has declined among both populations since last year, when a similar poll was conducted. Among Israelis, support for a two-state plan decreased to 51 percent, from 62 percent in 2014. Among Palestinians, the drop was less dramatic, declining to 51 percent from 2014’s 54 percent. As in last year’s poll, each side believes the other side is a “threat to its very existence,” the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey said in a news release. Fifty-six percent of Palestinians said that Israel is seeking to extend its borders to include the entire West Bank and Gaza, and to expel its Arab citizens, while 25 percent believe Israel’s goal is to annex the West Bank and deny political rights to Palestinians. Meanwhile, 43 percent of the Israelis said that the Palestinians long-term goal is to “conquer the state of Israel and destroy much of the Jewish population in Israel,” the news release said. The poll also found that 56 percent of Israelis are worried that they or their family may be harmed by Arabs, while 79 percent of Palestinians worry that they or a member of their family could be hurt by Israel or that their land might be confiscated or home demolished. Researchers interviewed 1,200 Palestinian adults in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and Gaza between June 3-6, and 802 Israeli adults interviewed in Hebrew, Arabic or Russian between June 2-14. Both polls reported a 3 percent margin of error.
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Israeli who faked own kidnapping indicted for incident
Israeli, Palestinian support for two-state solution down Facebook ® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc
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From JTA
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By Uriel Heilman (JTA) – How do you tell a joke in China about Jews when the only things most Chinese think they know about the Chosen People is that they’re smart and good with money? That was Jesse Appell’s quandary when he moved to China three years ago from Massachusetts with plans to become a comedian – and, like many stand-ups, to mine his own upbringing for material. “All the bad stereotypes about Jews in the West are considered good in China,” Appell told JTA. “Chinese say: ‘The Jews control the media and the banks – amazing!’ When people find out I’m Jewish, they say that’s why I speak Chinese so well, because Jews are super-smart. I’m like, that’s not how it works.” Appell, 24, is one of only a handful of stand-up comedians in China, a country of 1.35 billion people that until very recently didn’t have much of a stand-up circuit. The country’s first stand-up show premiered on Dragon TV in 2012, the same year that Appell graduated from Brandeis University and moved to Beijing. He came on a Fulbright scholarship to train in the traditional Chinese comedic art known as Xiang Sheng, in which two performers engage in witty banter in semiscripted routines – a bit like the Abbott and Costello classic “Who’s On First.” But Appell, who performs in Mandarin Chinese, soon found a following with humorous videos and stand-up routines. Much of Appell’s humor centers on his position as an insider/outsider, a foreigner in China who gets Chinese culture – except when he doesn’t. A Gagnam-style parody video Appell made about being a “Laowai,” Chinese slang for foreigner, has garnered more than two million views on Chinese websites. “I’m the type of Laowai who sucks at basketball,” Appell sings in Chinese in the music video. “The type of Laowai who buys stuff at Silk Street, but doesn’t get ripped off. The type of Laowai who doesn’t drive a BMW and instead drives a secondhand electric bike. A regular guy who’s a Laowai.” By combining some traditional Xiang
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Jewish comedian goes big in China – but the humor doesn’t always translate
JULY 2, 2015 ■
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Shana Penn, executive director of northern Californiabased Taube Philanthropies, feels similarly. She tells JNS. org that the Taube foundation has “always been focused on finding unique and innovative ways to welcome the previously unengaged to Jewish life.” Studies such as the recent Pew report help Taube to ensure it is “strategic in our grant-making.” Leading Jewish demographer Leonard Saxe, director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, says that a quality study has the ability to help bring about change. Saxe’s center has carried out a number of surveys over the years, mostly focused on how changing conditions affect short-term and long-term behaviors. “I look at the relationships between how a person thinks about something and then connect that to behaviors,” Saxe tells JNS.org. There are three types of surveys or studies, Saxe says: population (as it sounds), evaluation (measuring outcomes) and opinion (attitudes). He explains that each has a different value, noting that surveys in general are less about the numbers and more about the dialogue that ensues from seeing those numbers. When Baltimore’s Associated Jewish Community Federation carried out its 2010 Greater Baltimore Jewish Community Study, “there was nothing surprising” in the findings, says Michael Hoffman, the federation’s outgoing chief development officer. “The data gave us proof to anecdotal evidence,” he tells JNS.org. But that proof helped Hoffman, then as the federation’s chief planning and strategy officer, to harness a cadre of lay and professional leaders to address community trends. “The objective is to collect the data because you plan to use it to inform community change,” Hoffman says. For example, Baltimore Jewish communal leaders knew that the local population was getting older. But the community study found a much larger and increasing population of Jewish seniors over the age of 85 than expected. There were an estimated 3,900 seniors over 85 in 2010, compared with 1,500 in 1999, a 166-percent increase. More than one-third of this cohort was living in poor health and under poor economic conditions. “We used this as an important tool to create a spark among a collective and diverse group of lay and professional leadership inside and outside the Jewish community, to get them to become aspirational on what to do to ad-
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, (left) with Jewish philanthropist Adam Milstein (right) during the IsraeliAmerican Council national conference in Washington, DC, in November 2014. (Photo by Shahar Azran) dress the growing needs of seniors in our community,” Hoffman says. Pulling together with Jewish Community Services, the local Jewish Community Center, Comprehensive Housing and Assistance Inc. and area synagogues, in addition to partnering with neighborhood associations, the Northwest Neighbors Connect was launched in Baltimore to keep seniors supported in their own homes. “Once we coalesced on a problem statement, then we moved into strategy and tactics to address the problem statement. In 10 years, we think there will be a different data point,” says Hoffman. Baltimore also found that just 14 percent of young adults under 35 were interested in Jewish community, but that 55 percent said being Jewish was important to them. Pairing that data with another statistic – that 46 percent of Baltimore Jews found the community’s organizations “remote and not relevant” – the Jewish Federation led a team to reimagine young adult engagement programming. This gave birth to Moishe House, Charm City Tribe and other now-significant community initiatives. Cohen Center’s Saxe has spent the last 15 years studying the Taglit-Birthright Israel program to determine its impact on participants of the free 10-day trips to Israel for Jews ages 18-26. The best way to do this, the demographer says, “is to ask people.” Over time, Saxe has polled hundreds of thousands of people – Birthright par-
Friends of The Reporter Dear Friend of The Reporter, Each year at this time the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania calls upon members of our community to assist in defraying the expense of issuing our regional Jewish newspaper, The Reporter.
The Federation assumes the financial responsibility for funding the enterprise at a cost of $26,400 per year and asks only that we undertake a small letter writing mail campaign to our recipients in the hope of raising $10,000 from our readership to alleviate a share of that responsibility. We would be grateful if you would care enough to take the time to make a donation for our efforts in bringing The Reporter to your door. As always, your comments, opinions and suggestions are always welcome. With best wishes, Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Jewish Federation of NE Pennsylvania 601 Jefferson Avenue Scranton, PA 18510
Exhibit on Civil Rights struggle
The Center for Jewish History will hold the exhibit “Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights” from July 9-September in The David Berg Rare Book Room. The exhibit recounts the efforts made by American Jews and African Americans to oppose discrimination before and during the Civil Right era. It uses photos, letters, film and other archival materials from the collections of theAmerican Jewish Historical Society, Leo Baeck Institute and Yeshiva University Museum to offer a glimpse at the lives of those who worked in the struggle. For more information, visit www.cjh.org/ or contact the Center at 212-294-830.
By Deborah Fineblum Schabb JNS.org Have you ever heard of a lifeline made from paper mâché? Or from silk, clay, paper, wood, or metal? It’s through working with those materials that 300 of Jerusalem’s senior citizens have been, literally, pulled back to life. But many of the thousands who buy the resulting creations each year have absolutely no idea of the mitzvah they are performing with every purchase. Ask 78-year-old Avraham Rojstaczer what he does, and the Argentina native’s answer comes back fast. “Paper mâché,” he says with a grin, as he proudly demonstrates how he mixes it every day. Rojstaczer has been performing this key function for the Lifeline for the Old (Yad LaKashish in Hebrew) organization for more than six years – his batches of seemingly innocuous goo are destined to become earrings, tzedakah boxes, picture frames and much more in a workshop staffed with elderly artisans from around the world. Soon they are painted and ready, along with hundreds of other items, for sale either at the gift shop there at 14 Shivtei Israel St., a stone’s throw from Jerusalem’s Old City, or to be shipped off to synagogues and Judaica shops in Israel, North America and England, or directly to customers around the world. Paper mâché is a specialty here (you can see the whole Lifeline lineup at shop.lifeline.org.il), but so is silk painting along with hand-crafted toys, embroidered tallit bags, brass candlesticks and menorahs, sports-themed yarmulkes, beaded jewelry, baby sweaters and mobiles, ceramic mezuzah cases and book-binding. In fact, it was the humble art of book repairs that got Lifeline off the ground more than a half-century ago. Concerned about Jerusalem senior citizens she met who were both poor and isolated, Jerusalem teacher Myriam Mendilow was equally disturbed by her students’ view of the elderly as dependent, useless and basically irrelevant. And so, in 1963, when the state of Israel was only 14 years old and employment was scarce, Mendilow opened a tiny bookbinding workshop and staffed it with eight elderly men in need of both cash and something they could take pride in. Her initial idea: collecting tattered library books from local schools for the men to rebind for a modest fee. The shack where they once rebound books has grown to a small complex here on Shivtei Israel Street, with tiny flowers growing in front of the workshops.Another building has recently been purchased and the expansion is expected to invite even more seniors into Lifeline employment. These days, Lifeline connects to its market online and by giving tours. Each year, more than 9,000 locals and visitors to Israel alike get a chance to watch the artisans at work and to purchase their creations in the gift shop. Last summer, Judy Osman of Los Angeles became part of that statistic. A first-timer in Israel, she discovered Lifeline listed in her tour’s itinerary. “It was a real highlight of my trip to watch the camaraderie between the artisans and know that they are living the rest of their lives here with dignity, purpose and respect,” she says. Indeed, what impressed Osman most was how well the artisans meshed, “people from around the world, working side by side.” Seven months after her trip, she can still recall the sight of “a woman from Africa with her tribal tattoos working alongside, and friendly, with an immigrant from Eastern Europe.” Among the purchases Osman made that day was a simple tzedakah box. “It sits on my kitchen windowsill now and every time I use it, I am reminded, not only of its beauty, but of the mitzvah to give whatever and whenever I can,” she says. Still, despite enthusiastic customers like Osman, Lifeline earns only 20-25 percent of its $1.5 million budget from sales. The rest of the tab, except for the less than 2 percent funded by the Israeli government, is picked up by donors, most of them Americans. The money goes
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Name (s) (as you wish to appear on our list of “FRIENDS”) _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone:_________________________________________________________________________________________ __Check here if you prefer your name not to be published Please write and send tax deductible checks to Jewish Federation, 601 Jefferson Avenue, Scranton, PA 18510
h a l a l n a d H , Hone d e s y He Continuing a Rosh Hashana fundraising tradition started by Roseann Smith Alperin (O.B.M.), as we begin 5776. • Proceeds benefit Youth Religious Education •
Gift Bag $20 • Mums $22
• The Gift Bag — contains a challah, container of honey, yom tov candles, an apple and candies. ——$20 delivered • Flowering Plant — A beautiful Mum in a basket. Perfect for those who cannot accept gifts of foods. ——$22 delivered To order: Please make checks payable to “Temple Hesed Sisterhood”. Specify plain or raisin challah or the flowering mum. Mail to: Carol Leventhal, 125 Welsh Hill Road, Clarks Summit, PA 18411. For more information, call Carol at 570-587-2931 or email jeff@graphicsart.net.
We are delivering the gift bags and plants on Erev Rosh Hashanah: Wednesday, September 13. DELIVERIES WILL BE MADE TO ANY ADDRESS IN SCRANTON OR THE ABINGTONS All Orders Must Be In By September 5, 2015
Volunteers Needed! To assemble gift bags at 1 pm, Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Leventhal residence located at 125 Welsh Hill Road in Clarks Summit. To make deliveries on Wednesday morning, September 13 Call 570-587-2931 to volunteer.
Hesed, Hallah and Honey Order Form Order before Sept. 5 • Delivered September 13 Name___________________________________________ Address__________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Phone___________________________________________ Name___________________________________________ Address__________________________________________ ________________________________________________
Enclose check, made payable to: Temple Hesed Sisterhood Mail order to: Carol Leventhal 125 Welch Hill Road Clarks Summit PA 18411
¨ Challah______= $20/each ____ Plain _____Raisin ¨
Mums_______= $22/each
Phone___________________________________________
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Name___________________________________________ Address__________________________________________
¨ Challah______= $20/each ____ Plain _____Raisin
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Mums_______= $22/each
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The senior citizen artisans at Lifeline for the Old in Jerusalem, pictured alongside their workshop materials. (Photo by Bonnie Geller/Lifeline for the Old)
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the elderly, and even more so for for overhead, as well as stipends and those who, like our workers, live benefits for the 300 artisans on staff. thousands of miles from the culture In the nine years since Hana Kesthat they understand, often unable sler has been here, she has painted to communicate with those around thousands of greeting cards and book them, and physically or emotionally covers, her favorite motif being Israel’s distant from family.” pointy head-dressed national bird, the What Lifeline offers them besides a hoopoe (doukeefat in Hebrew).An artmonthly stipend, a bus pass and a hot ist since she was a youngster growing lunch, Ein-Mor says, is “community, up in Pittsburgh, PA, Kessler points stimulation and a sense of empowerwith pride at her displayed works. ment. Being part of Lifeline, they gain “I’m here every day and the mix of an image of themselves as someone languages in the workrooms is amazing to hear,” says Kessler, who had turned Hana Kessler, 79, painted at the Lifeline who functions in society, who comes 79 the day before. “They’re all my for the Old facility in Jerusalem. (Photo to the center of the city everyday and friends. Yesterday I got five birthday by Bonnie Geller/Lifeline for the Old) feels like part of the city,” she says. “It’s saved me, this place,” says hugs. Five!” It’s the hugs that matter as much as the financial sup- Kessler, while packing up at the end of a busy workday. port, says Nava Ein-Mor, Lifeline of the Old’s execu- “The best part of working here? Being at peace with tive director for the last 26 years. “The worst disease myself. I’m not a TV watcher, so I know I’d cry every of the 21st century is social isolation, especially among morning if I didn’t have this place to come to.”
GETTING G IFTS
As the primary Jewish newspaper of our region, we have tried to produce a quality publication for you that offers our readership something on everythingfrom opinions and columns on controversial issues that affect our people and our times, to publicity for the events of our affiliated agencies and organizations to life cycle events, teen columns, personality profiles, letters to the editor, the Jewish community calendar and other
The Jewish Community Festival in Bellevue, WA, in August 2007. At left is the booth of the Secular Jewish Circle of Puget Sound, which brings people together “to celebrate Jewish culture and heritage in a nonreligious setting.”(Photo by Joe Mabel via Wikimedia Commons)
In Jerusalem, a “lifeline” for senior citizens made of paper mâché
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ticipants and non-participants – to gauge opinions about Judaism, Israel and intermarriage, among other relevant topics. Since the program already knows a lot about its constituents, Saxe is able to cross-tabulate information to determine if there is greater engagement when young adults participate in more than one Jewish program, such as a Jewish summer camp and Birthright. Saxes says his work contributes to Birthright’s ability to secure major donations, as fund-raisers can use the survey data to help validate the quality of the program. But he warns that observers should be wary of biased studies – those that don’t truly have a random sample size or don’t ask the right questions, and those that are reported out of context. For example, says Saxe, the J Street lobby recently published a poll claiming that American Jewish support for a nuclear agreement with Iran exceeds support for the deal among the general U.S. population, with 59 percent of Jewish respondents saying they would support a deal. Yet the poll results also showed that the most favorably viewed political figure among American Jews today is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rather than U.S. President Barack Obama. “That [J Street] poll is being used to argue a particular political position. But if you look at the poll in full, there is contradictory evidence,” Saxes says, referencing the fact that J Street promoted the survey’s results on Iran, but not the results on Netanyahu. Saxe adds, “The Jewish community is paying more attention to data. There are a number of [charitable] foundations that pay close attention to surveys. That’s good and we’re getting better.”
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Address__________________________________________
¨ Challah______= $20/each ____ Plain _____Raisin
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Mums_______= $22/each
Phone___________________________________________
ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook
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THE REPORTER ■ JULY 2, 2015
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THE REPORTER
Northeast Pennsylvania is going to Israel this October! Here’s some of what we’ll see! JERUSALEM
Hurva Synagogue, Old City
CAESARIA
Stone remant from Holy Temple, spot where Shofar was blown “LeBais Hatikiya”!
TEL AVIV/JAFFA:
MASADA/DEAD SEA Mode of Travel: BMW By My White donkey!
The floor of a 2000 year-old steam bath!
Mineral-rich Dead Sea mud, soothes & restores dry skin.
Join us! We go October 18-28.
The land cost is $3,020, and land and air is $4,040. Please call Mark Silverberg at the Federation office for information, at 570-961-2300, Ext. 1.
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• Regular Schedule of Services • ABINGTON TORAH CENTER Rabbi Dovid Saks President: Richard Rutta Jewish Heritage Connection 108 North Abington Rd., Clarks Summit, PA 18411 570-346-1321 • Website: www.jewishheritageconnection.org Sunday morning services at 8:30 am Call for other scheduled services throughout the week.
BETH SHALOM CONGREGATION Rabbi Yisroel Brotsky 1025 Vine St., Scranton, PA 18510 (corner of Vine & Clay Ave.) 570-346-0502 • fax: 570-346-8800 Weekday – Shacharit: Sun 8 am; Mon, Thurs. & Rosh Chodesh, 6:30 am; Tue, Wed & Fri, 6:45 am; Sat & Holidays, 8:45 am. Mincha during the week is approx. 10 minutes before sunset, followed by Maariv.
BICHOR CHOLEM CONGREGATION/ CHABAD OF THE ABINGTONS Rabbi Benny Rapoport President: Richard I. Schwartz 216 Miller Road, Waverly, PA 18471 570-587-3300 • Website: www.JewishNEPA.com Saturday morning Shabbat Service 9:30 am. Call or visit us online for our bi-weekly schedule
CHABAD LUBAVITCH OF THE POCONOS Rabbi Mendel Bendet 570-420-8655 • Website: www.chabadpoconos.com Please contact us for schedules and locations.
CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL Affiliation: Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Elliott Kleinman President: Liza Roos Lucy Contact Person: Cheryl Badner, Congregation Administrator (570)253-2222 615 Court Street, Honesdale, PA 18431 570-253-2222 • fax: 570-226-1105
CONGREGATION B’NAI HARIM Affiliation: Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Peg Kershenbaum President: Irene Stolzenberg P.O. Box 757 Sullivan Rd., Pocono Pines, PA 18350 (located at RT 940 and Pocono Crest Rd at Sullivan Trail) 570-646-0100 • Website: www.bnaiharimpoconos.org Shabbat Morning Services, 10 am – noon; every other Saturday Potluck Shabbat Dinner with blessings and program of varying topics, one Friday every month – call for schedule.
JEWISH FELLOWSHIP OF HEMLOCK FARMS Rabbi Steve Nathan President: Steve Natt Forest Drive 1516 Hemlock Farms, Lords Valley, PA 18428 570-775-7497 • E-Mail: jfhf@enter.net Friday evening Shabbat service 7:30 pm, Saturday morning Shabbat Service 9:30 am.
MACHZIKEH HADAS SYNAGOGUE Rabbi Mordechai Fine President: Moshe Fink 600 Monroe Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 570-342-6271
OHEV ZEDEK CONGREGATION Rabbi Mordechai Fine 1432 Mulberry St, Scranton, PA 18510 Contact person: Michael Mellner - 570-343-3183
TEMPLE HESED Union of Reform Judaism Rabbi Daniel J. Swartz President: Barbara Parker-Bell 1 Knox Street, Scranton, PA 18505, (off Lake Scranton Rd.) 570-344-7201 Friday evening Shabbat, 8 pm; Saturday morning, when Shabbat Scool is in session, at 11 am
TEMPLE ISRAEL OF DUNMORE President: Isadore Steckel 515 East Drinker St., Dunmore, PA 18512 570-344-3011 Saturday morning Shabbat 7:30 am; also services for Yizkor
TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS Affiliation: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Rabbi Baruch Melman President: Dr. Sandra Alfonsi Contact person: Dr. Sandra Alfonsi 570-223-7062 711 Wallace St., Stroudsburg, PA, 18360 (one block off Rte. 191 (5th Street) at Avenue A) 570-421-8781 • Website: www.templeisraelofthepoconos.org E-Mail: tipoc@ptd.net Friday evening Shabbat, 7pm; Saturday morning Shabbat, 9 am
TEMPLE ISRAEL OF SCRANTON Affiliation: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Rabbi Moshe Saks 918 East Gibson St., Scranton, PA, 18510 (located at the corner of Gibson & Monroe Sts.) 570-342-0350 Fax: 570-342-7250 • E-Mail: tiscran@epix.net Sunday, 8 am; Mon & Thurs, 7:15 am; Tue, Wed & Fri, 7:25 am; Rosh Hodesh & Chagim weekdays, 7 am; Shabbat Morning Service, 8:45 am; evening services: Sun – Thurs, 5:45 pm; Friday Shabbat and Saturday Havdalah services, call for times.
JULY 2, 2015 ■
THE REPORTER
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Science Snippets
d’var torah
Listen or you will miss the boat By RABBI DANIEL J. SWARTZ, TEMPLE HESED, SCRANTON Balak, Numbers 22:2-25:9 The talking donkey in this week’s Torah portion, Balak, may be the most famous quadruped in the Torah, but it is far from the only one. In fact, it echoes a less conversational donkey that plays a similar role in one of the most central stories in the Jewish tradition, the binding of Isaac. Long ago, our sages recognized that one donkey, along with similar language at a number of key points, is meant to remind you of the other. Why? So we begin to compare Abraham with Balaam, and in the process learn something about the difference between a supposed “seer” and someone who actually sees what is important around them. Both Balaam and Abraham rise in the morning – though Abraham is said to “rise early” – and then travel on their respective donkeys to an important destination. But Abraham travels at the behest of God, while Balaam seeks to serve the mortal king, Balak. This story seeks to make us ask ourselves, what sort of journeys do you find yourself undertaking in your life? Do these journeys feel more like journeys toward God – or ones that serve a more practical, but less holy, purpose. Furthermore, on his journey, Balaam talks and talks, eventually calling out lengthy poems. Abraham, meanwhile, turns his very limited speaking almost immediately into action. There are no gaps between what he says and what he does. Is that so in your life? More importantly, both Abraham and Balaam hear the call of heavenly voices as they journey – but only Abraham actually listens. There is a steady escalation in the case of Balaam. First, the donkey turns aside. Balaam beats her till she turns back. Then she bumps
his foot against the wall – and he beats her some more. Finally she just stops, and Balaam threatens to kill her. He doesn’t think for a moment that perhaps the donkey, the same donkey that has served him faithfully for years, is trying to tell him something. Then something amazing occurs – the donkey speaks. But still Balaam refuses to listen. Not until an angel with a flaming sword – who the donkey has seen all along – appears to the supposedly visionary Balaam, does he finally understand that the donkey’s behavior was supposed to teach him something. And even then, he fails to truly heed the angel. Surely, you might be saying to yourself, if a donkey started speaking, I’d notice that something out of the ordinary was happening. And yet, there are so many times in our lives when events all around us are speaking, and yet we don’t listen, don’t change our actions. Sometimes, this happens on a personal level. Have you ever missed a plea for help, whether or not it was spoken aloud? Far too many people hurt or even kill themselves before those around them realize how much they have missed seeing. At least as often, whole societies miss the boat. Think of how long it took our country to end the evil of slavery, or of wars needlessly fought or prolonged. Today, the world is trying to speak about the perils of climate change – through glaciers shrinking, droughts and floods, and multiplying super-storms. But far too many aren’t listening – focusing instead on serving some mortal leader or political ideology, instead of trying to help our planet and vulnerable people on it already suffering from changes in our climate. It’s time for us to learn how not to be Balaam and instead, like Abraham, to say, hineni, here I am, ready to listen, to see and to act on behalf of others.
Fighting lung cancer and solving a lymphatic riddle by THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE Triple treatment keeps cancer from coming back Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, responsible for some 1.59 million deaths a year. That figure is due, in part, to the fact that lung cancer often returns after what seems at first to be successful treatment. However, the recurring cancer is often resistant to the chemotherapy and other drugs that originally drove it into remission. But now, according to new research by the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Prof. Yosef Yarden, a new strategy involving a three-pronged approach might keep an aggressive form of lung cancer from returning. The research, says Yarden, arose out of some puzzling results of clinical trials. One class of relatively common lung cancers, which carry a particular mutation in a receptor (epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGFR) on the cell membrane, can be treated with a sort of “wonder drug.” This drug keeps a growth signal from getting into the cell, thus preventing the deadly progression and spread of the cancer. But within a year, patients
with this mutation invariably experience new cancer growth, usually as a result of a second EGFR mutation. To prevent this from happening, researchers had tried to administer another drug, an antibody that is currently used to treat colorectal cancer. This drug also obstructs the passing of the growth signal by stopping EGFR, and should have been able to effectively block the EGFRs – the growth receptors – including those generated by the second mutation. However, clinical trials of the drug for lung cancer did not produce results. “This finding ran counter to everything we knew about the way tumors develop resistance,” says Yarden. How do the cancer cells manage to circumvent the blockade put up by an anti-EGFR antibody? In the new study, which appeared on June 3 in Science Signaling, Yarden and his student Maicol Mancini discovered what happens to cancer cells when they are exposed to the receptor-blocking antibody. “The blocked receptor has ‘siblings’ – other receptors that can step up to do the job,” says Yarden. Indeed, the team found that when the main receptor (EGFR) continued to be blocked, one of the cell’s communication
networks was rerouted, causing the siblings to appear on the cell membrane instead of the original receptor. The finely tuned antibody drug did not block these, and thus the cancer cells were once again “in business.” The researchers uncovered the chain of protein communication in the new network that ultimately leads to appearance of the sibling growth receptors. This new network may overcompensate for the lack of the original receptor, making it even worse than the original. In addition, the team found that the rewired network sometimes included the participation of another molecule (receptor tyrosine kinase MET) that specifically binds to one of the siblings – and is often found in metastatic cancers. Once the researchers discovered how the blockade was breached, they set out to erect a better line of defense. Yarden and his team created new monoclonal antibodies that could target the two main growth receptor siblings, named HER2 (the target of the breast cancer drug trastuzumab, or Herceptin®) and HER3. The idea was to give all three antibodies – HER2, HER3 and the original anti-EGFR antibody – at the same time in order to pre-empt resistance to the treatment. See “Science” on page 13
Bar mitzvah-themed storytelling events seek to prompt reflection on the ritual By Julie Wiener NEW YORK (JTA) – A. J. Jacobs is not one to forego a big project. The journalist and author spent 18 months reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, a year “living biblically” and another subjecting himself to every health regimen he could find. Most recently, Jacobs conducted a massive family history project. One conspicuous gap in his catalog of experiences: a bar mitzvah, the widely observed, celebrated (and at times reviled) rite of passage for Jewish 13-year-olds. As a result, Jacobs told a group of youngish (mostly under-40) Jews at a recent event in Brooklyn, he suffers from “bar mitzvah envy.” Jacobs was not the only un-bar mitzvahed person to take the stage earlier in June at New York’s debut “Rebar” event, a sort-of The Moth: True Stories Told Live gathering focused on bar/bat mitzvah memories. Several performers – among them a convert to Judaism, a Catholic writer-actor and a novelist raised by a secular Jewish mother and lapsed Catholic dad – had not had a bar or bat mitzvah. In fact, those who had – including Vanessa Hidary, aka the “Hebrew Mamita,” and “Daily Show” writer Jena Friedman – were in the minority. A project of Reboot, a Jewish nonprofit that, according to its website “engages and inspires young, Jewishlyunconnected cultural creatives, innovators and thoughtleaders,” Rebar is an effort to “grow the number of people who are mindful about” the bar/bat mitzvah experience and “get them to think about what it means to grow up and be part of a community,” Robin Kramer, Reboot’s executive director, told JTA. Kramer said she hopes that people who participate in Rebar will go on to plan more meaningful bar and bat mitzvahs for their own children.
A recent Rebar event in Brooklyn. (Photo by Emmanuel Abreu) The coming-of-age ceremony, in which the celebrant generally reads from the Torah on Shabbat, is often, to the chagrin of synagogue leaders, viewed by parents as the sole reason for enrolling their child in Hebrew school. For many children it’s seen as a sort of Jewish graduation – and a good excuse to make a viral video invitation. With the motto “Rewind to 13. Fast Forward to Today,” the Rebar project encourages adults to reflect on their bar/bat mitzvah experiences, think about what they might do differently today, and consider what it means to come of age and enter adulthood. Consisting of storytelling events like the recent one held in a hip, intimate (read: too small for most bar mitzvah parties) event space in Brooklyn’s gentrified Prospect Heights neighborhood, the initiative also includes an online, crowdsourced collection of bar/bat mitzvah photos and reflections as well as a “DIY kit” to guide would-be See “Ritual” on page 12
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THE REPORTER ■ JULY 2, 2015
Hebrew in the huddle: American-style football gains ground in Israel
By Ben Sales JERUSALEM (JTA) – The scent of hamburgers and beer wafted over the field. The fans were bathed in barbecue smoke. The bleachers were cut out of Jerusalem stone, the field was made of artificial turf. The spectators who had come to greet a tour of Pro Football Hall of Famers sat in plastic armchairs that blocked off the red zones and end zones, with nothing separating them from the game being played at midfield. The players – diminutive by National Football League standards – wore shorts and no padding. Rather than tackle, they grabbed at flags tied around each others’ waists. It wasn’t your typical American-style football game, but at least it smelled about right. The sport that’s become a religion in the United States – bringing in hundreds of millions of viewers and billions of dollars annually – remains a curiosity in Israel, where “football” means soccer. It was brought here in 1989 by American expats who missed the feeling of getting in formation and throwing a spiral. Twenty-six years after Israel’s flag football league played its first season, it boasts teams in 46 cities across the country. There’s now a 15-team women’s league, too. A men’s tackle league founded in 2007 will field a dozen teams next season. And the Israel High School Football League has seven teams – from the Kfar Saba Hawks to the Haifa Rams. Its players, Israel Football League Commissioner Steve Liebowitz said, see the game as training for their mandatory army service. “It used to be that they were American immigrants or kids of American immigrants,” Liebowitz told JTA. “Now it’s mostly Hebrew in the huddle. Not many people can make the soccer team in their town. They can come to football,” which fields larger rosters. Among games called “football,” the American version still ranks a distant second in Israel to the sport that captivates the rest of the country and the world. The Americans who stayed up all night to watch the Super Bowl were no match for the crowds that pack bars every week to watch soccer. But on June 21, the laces briefly took center stage. A largely American crowd had gathered to greet 19 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who were in Israel on a tour organized by Robert Kraft, the owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and the sport’s benefactor in Israel. Kraft paid for the Jerusalem stadium that bears his name, and sponsors both the adult and high school tackle leagues. He’s also given widely to Jewish causes stateside, from sponsoring Columbia University’s Jewish student center to endowing chairs in Jewish studies at Boston College and Holy Cross College. “I lead my life according to the four F’s – at least phonetically,” Kraft told the crowd. “Family, faith,
JULY 2, 2015 ■
From JTA
Flotilla to break Gaza blockade leaves last port
Science
ist, author and social critic; Robert Lovelace, a Canadian scholar and activist; andAna Maria Miranda Paza, a Spanish member of the European Parliament.Arab-Israeli lawmaker Basel Ghattas of the Joint Arab List also boarded the boat in Greece. The Freedom Flotilla’s first attempt to break the blockade ended in the deaths of nine Turkish activists in May 2010. Israeli Navy commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, which claimed to be carrying humanitarian aid, after warning the ship not to sail into waters near the Gaza Strip in circumvention of Israel’s naval blockade of the coastal strip. A second attempt was turned back in October 2012. The Ship to Gaza organization is calling for an immediate end to the naval blockade of Gaza; opening of the Gaza Port; and secure passage for Palestinians between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Continued from page 11 Greek lawmaker under fire for Indeed, in isolated cancer cells, applying the triple treatment trivializing Holocaust
Alex Swieca, a former quarterback at the University of Michigan, threw a pass in a scrimmage at Jerusalem’s Kraft Stadium on June 21. (Photo by Ben Sales) football and philanthropy. This trip has connected all those dots for me.” The event began with a men’s and women’s flag team scrimmage, which because of the truncated field turned into a parade of touchdowns. On the sidelines, boys in yarmulkes, ritual fringes and football jerseys mingled. Among them towered a broad man wearing a newsboy cap and a purple jersey that read “Big Mike.” The former college football player has been playing and coaching the sport in Israel for about a decade. But the cheers rose when the Hall of Famers emerged one by one through a gate accompanied by Kraft and Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States and a former quarterback in Israel’s flag league. The delegation – all wearing the Hall of Fame’s trademark gold jackets – ranged from veterans of the 1960s league to recent retirees like Curtis Martin, a running back for the Patriots and the New York Jets. “To go to the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, being baptized was a highlight,” said Floyd Little, the retired Denver Broncos halfback who underwent the rite in the Jordan River while on the trip. “I can’t express the emotion that brought.” After a few speeches and introductions, the veterans lined up around the field’s perimeter, braving small mobs of fans, signing autographs and taking pictures. It almost felt like America. Until, that is, a rabbi approached Ron Mix, a Jewish offensive tackle who played mostly for the San Diego Chargers, laid tefillin on his arm and had him repeat the Shema prayer out loud, word after word. “I was surprised,” Mix said after the rabbi left. “I think it meant more to him than it did to me.”
Nineteen Pro Football Hall of Famers on June 21 were on a tour of Israel organized by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at the Jerusalem stadium that bears his name. (Photo by Ben Sales)
Ritual
Continued from page 10 participants and organizers. Reboot – whose other projects include National Day of Unplugging, a modern spin on Shabbat – is hardly the first Jewish group to turn its attention to the bar/bat mitzvah. Since 2012, the Reform movement has overseen a pilot project called B’nai Mitzvah Revolution for congregations experimenting with the standard services-and-a-party model. In 2013, the New York-based Jewish Education Project devoted its “Jewish Futures” conference to the topic, with a recurring theme being that the entry-into-Jewish-adulthood ritual is plagued by widespread ambivalence about just what Jewish adulthood should be. New York’s Jewish Journey Project (full disclosure: this writer’s two children are enrolled), an alternative Hebrew school program in which kids get to choose the classes they take, offers an alternative called Brit Atid (Covenant of the Future) in which kids study their Torah portions but then, rather than chanting them and delivering a typical d’var Torah, choose a creative way of presenting it in a group ceremony. The Brooklyn Rebar event (ones have also been held in San Francisco and Los Angeles) seemed to do more rewinding than fast-forwarding. There were lots of humorous anecdotes and awkward photos – particularly of the over-the-top b’nai mitzvah parties attended and themes witnessed – and less emphasis on what the storyteller/participant might do differently today. Friedman, the comedy writer, confessed to having a “super racist” Chinese New Year-themed bat mitzvah, while Libby Lenkinski, U.S. director of strategic initiatives for the New Israel Fund, recalled attending multiple bar/bat mitzvah parties each weekend of seventh grade with themes ranging from Wall Street (replete with a wind tunnel blowing dollar bills) to rainforest to Monte Carlo night. (A self-described socialist, Lenkinski said her own bat mitzvah skipped the gifts, instead inviting guests to plant trees in Israel.) Hidary contrasted the lavish parties on Long Island – hosted by friends from Jewish summer camp who had “QuickBat” crash courses beforehand – with her own three-days-a-week-of-Hebrew-school servitude and the low-budget party in her family’s Manhattan apartment. Kate Scelsa, a young-adult novelist, said she did not have a bat mitzvah and had never “stepped foot in a temple” until seventh grade, when her classmates from private school invited her to their bar and bat mitzvahs, and “I was in temple at least once a month.” Her overthe-top experiences? A party in which the host rented out South Street Seaport and hired vendors to make guests an array of personalized souvenirs, including fake vanity license plates. Instead of talking about his bar mitzvah, Chris Farber, a photographer and co-founder of the Rebar project, told about his conversion to Judaism (after which his friends threw a “Farb Mitzvah” party for him). The son of a secular Jew and non-practicing Christian, Farber explained that until he converted – a process that culminated in a mikvah immersion and symbolic circumcision – “because my mom wasn’t Jewish, Jews didn’t consider me a Jew, and because my dad was [Jewish], everyone else did.” Sadly, he never addressed the question this writer was dying to know: What is it like to be Jewish and named Chris? As for the bar mitzvah-envying Jacobs, one of his regrets at not having had the lifecycle event is his lack of Hebrew literacy and missed “executive training.” Plus, he said, “Having a bar mitzvah forces you in some small way to think about others, and I was a selfish little bastard.”
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news in brief from europe A flotilla of boats planning to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip left a Greek port. The five Freedom Flotilla III boats, which left Crete on June 25, are scheduled to arrive near the Gaza coast in three days. The boats are carrying solar panels and medical equipment, according to Ship to Gaza Sweden. The lead boat, the Marianne of Gothenburg, is carrying passengers, including Israeli-born Swedish citizen Dror Feiler, a musician and spokesman of Ship to Gaza; Kajsa Ekis Ekman, a Swedish journal-
A rabbi placed tefillin on Ron Mix, a Jewish Hall of Fame offensive tackle mostly for the San Diego Chargers, on June 21. (Photo by Ben Sales)
THE REPORTER
prevented them from completing the rewiring necessary for continuing to receive growth signals. Next, the team tried the three-pronged approach on mouse models of lung cancer that had the secondary resistance mutation. In these mice, the tumor growth was almost completely arrested. More importantly, further research showed that the triple treatment reined in the growth of the tumor while leaving healthy cells alone. Although much more research is required before the triple-treatment approach makes it to the clinic, Yarden is hopeful that it will change not only the treatment protocol for lung cancer, but our understanding of the mechanisms of drug resistance. “Treatment by blocking a single target can cause a feedback loop that ultimately leads to a resurgence of the cancer,” he says. “If we can predict how the cancer cell will react when we block the growth signals it needs to continue proliferating, we can take pre-emptive steps to prevent this from happening.” Resolving a lymphatic riddle For more than a century, scientists have debated the origins of the lymphatic system – a parallel system to blood vessels, and which serves as a conduit for everything from immune cells to fat molecules to cancer cells. This issue has now been resolved by Dr. Karina Yaniv of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Biological Regulation. In a study reported in Nature, she and her team revealed how the lymphatic system develops in the embryo and – in a world’s first – managed to grow lymphatic cells in the lab. Some scientists had claimed that the lymphatic system was derived from specialized stem cells called angioblasts, whereas others had argued that it originated by the differentiation of pre-existing embryonic veins. The latter model had ultimately become the accepted view. But as the research in Yaniv’s lab progressed, it became clear that scientists on both sides of the argument had been correct: Lymphatic cells do indeed grow from veins, but they originate from a niche within the vein that harbors angioblasts. In the initial stages of the research project, Yaniv’s team members Julian Nicenboim and Dr. Guy Malkinson obtained images of developing zebrafish embryos, whose transparent bodies make it possible to document embryonic development in real time over several days. The scientists then played the movies backward, to identify the point at which the lymphatic system began to form. To their surprise, they discovered that the cells that give rise to lymphatic vessels always originated in the same part of the embryo’s major vein. In that spot, the scientists found a niche of angioblasts, those same cells that a hundred years earlier were thought to be the source of lymph vessels, but then were neglected. An in-depth genetic analysis, performed with the participation of graduate students Tal Lupo and Lihee Asaf, pointed to a gene called WNT5B, which was revealed to be the factor prompting stem cells to differentiate into lymphatic cells. When postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yogev Sela added WNT5B to human embryonic stem cells, the cells indeed differentiated into lymphatic cells – the first time such cells had ever been grown in the lab. “We started out by imaging zebrafish and ended up finding a factor that makes it possible to create lymphatic cells,” says Yaniv. “That’s the beauty of research in developmental biology: The embryo holds the answers, and all we have to do is watch and learn.” Aside from the feat of answering the longstanding question of how the lymph system arises, understanding how it forms and develops can provide important insights into disease, from the metastasis of cancer to the abnormal accumulation of lymph fluids, particularly in the wake of surgery to remove cancerous tumors. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is considered one of the world’s top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. The Institute’s 3,800-strong scientific community engages in research addressing problems in medicine and health, energy, technology, agriculture and the environment.
Jewish groups have criticized a Greek lawmaker who posted a picture of the gates of Auschwitz with a pro-Europe slogan, accusing him of trivializing the Holocaust. Member of Parliament Dimitris Kammenos of the Independent Greeks Party on June 24 posted a picture on Facebook of the death camp gates with pro-Europe slogan “We stay in Europe” replacing the sign on the gate, “Arbeit macht frei,” a German phrase used during the Holocaust which translates to “work makes you free.” The post came as Greece is locked in crisis talks with the European Union amid fears it will default on its debt and be forced to leave the E.U. The Central Board of Jewish Communities called the post “shameful.” We must not stay indifferent to such phenomena because if our society allows the distortion of the historical truth and memory of the Holocaust, it would have been as if we reopened the gate of Auschwitz to new crimes against humanity,” the board said in a statement. The Anti-Defamation League said that Kammenos had a history of antisemitic posts and called on Greek leaders to take a stronger stand. “Greek leaders should not let such despicable social media posts by a member of parliament go without comment,” said ADL National Director Abraham
Foxman. Kammenos’ party, which is the junior party in the governing coalition, distanced itself from his actions. Party spokeswoman Marina Chrissoveloni said that the lawmakers’ post was an “utterly personal action,” the Kathemirini newspaper reported. Kammenos later apologized, calling the picture a “misunderstanding.” “Maybe the comparison was unfortunate but my country is experiencing an economic holocaust,” he wrote on Facebook. Kammenos is not related to party leader and Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, who also caused an outcry recently when, during the election campaign, he said Jews don’t pay taxes. A recent ADL poll found that antisemitic stereotypes are widespread in Greece and that the country had the highest percentage of antisemitic views in Europe.
French National Assembly OKs $60 million Holocaust reparations fund
The French National Assembly voted to approve the creation of a $60 million fund to compensate Holocaust victims transported to Nazi camps by the state railroad SNCF. The fund, to be administered by the United States, would compensate foreign nationals and also protect France against lawsuits filed in the United States. The lower house of the French Parliament approved the fund on June 24. The French conservative opposition abstained from the vote, according to Reuters. The fund redresses longstanding claims by survivors who were otherwise unable to obtain reparations limited to French nationals through the French pension system. Compensation will be available to nonFrench nationals who are citizens of the United States and any other country that does not have a bilateral reparations agreement with France. Belgium, Poland, Britain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have such agreements. Surviving spouses and the estates of survivors will also be eligible. The fund could ultimately pay out to several thousand people or estates. The plan could affect bills under consideration in a number of U.S. state legislatures that would ban any dealings with SNCF, a major exporter of rail cars, until it agreed to address lawsuits. The French Senate will vote on the bill on July 9.
Quick Reference Guide to Planned Giving
Use this planned giving quick reference guide to help determine the best strategy for achieving your philanthropic and financial goals. For more information or to discuss these planned giving options, please contact: Mark Silverberg, Executive Director, Jewish Federation of NEPA, 570-961-2300 (x1) or at mark.silverberg@jewishnepa.org.
If Your Goal is to:
Then You Can:
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Make a quick & easy gift
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Receive guaranteed fixed income that is partially tax-free
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Current & future savings on income taxes, plus fixed, stable payments
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Donate the real estate or sell it to a charity at a bargain price
An income tax reduction plus reduction or elimination of capital gains tax
Avoid the two-fold taxation on IRA or other employee benefit plans
Name a charity as the beneficiary of the remainder of the retirement assets after your lifetime
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Give your personal residence or farm, but retain life use
Create a charitable gift of future interest, called a retained life estate
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Make a large gift with little cost to you
Contribute a life insurance policy you no longer need or purchase a new one & designate a charity as the owner
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Purchase a charitable gift annuity or create a charitable remainder annuity trust
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Give income from an asset for a period of years but retain the asset for yourself or your heirs
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Federal estate tax savings on asset & income tax deductions for donated income
Create a hedge against inflation over the long term
Create a charitable remainder unitrust
Variable payments for life plus tax advantages
Make a revocable gift during your lifetime
Name a charity as the beneficiary of assets in a living trust
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THE REPORTER ■ JULY 2, 2015
JULY 2, 2015 ■
NEWS IN bRIEF
NEWS IN bRIEF
From JNS.org
From JTA
Amsterdam drops plan to be Tel Aviv’s twin city after pro-Palestinian pressure
July 2015
• Non-Feature Films • *NEW* American Masters: Mel Brooks: Make A Noise - After more than 60 years in show business, Mel Brooks has earned more major awards than any other living entertainer. A comedy force of nature, Brooks is very private and has never authorized a biography, making his participation in this film a genuine first. Showcasing the Brooklyn native’s brilliant, skewed originality, American Masters: Mel Brooks: Make A Noise features never-before-heard stories and new interviews with Brooks, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman, Carl Reiner, Joan Rivers, Tracey Ullman and others. This career-spanning documentary of the man behind Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Spaceballs and of course the 2000 Year Old Man journeys through Brooks’ professional and personal ups and downs, providing a rare look at a living legend, beloved by millions. *NEW* Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy - Engaging, humorous, and provocative... examining the unique role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the modern American musical. The film showcases the work of legends such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim. Interviews with songwriters and luminaries including Sheldon Harnick, Stephen Schwartz, Harold Prince, Arthur Laurents, Charles Strouse, and Mel Brooks provide insight, alongside standout performances and archival footage. Everything is a Present: The Wonder and Grace of Alice Sommer Hertz - This is the uplifting true story of the gifted pianist Alice Sommer Hertz who survived the Theresienstat concentration camp by playing classical piano concerts for Nazi dignitaries. Alice Sommer Hertz lived to the age of 106. Her story is an inspiration. Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story - Yoni Netanyahu was a complex, passionate individual thrust into defending his country in a time of war and violence. The older brother of Benjamin Natanyahu, the current Israel Prime Minister, Yoni led the miraculous raid on Entebbe in 1976. Although almost all of the Entebbe hostages were saved, Yoni was the lone military fatality. Featuring three Israeli Prime Ministers and recently released audio from the Entebbe raid itself. Hava Nagila (The Movie) - A documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard. Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy and more, the film follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the kibbutzim of Palestine to the cul-de-sacs of America. Inside Hana’s Suitcase - The delivery of a battered suitcase to Fumiko Ishioka at the Tokyo Holocaust Museum begins the true-life mystery that became the subject of Karen Levine’s best-selling book Hana’s Suitcase. The film follows Fumiko’s search to discover the details of Hana’s life, which leads to the discovery of her brother George in Toronto. Israel: The Royal Tour - Travel editor Peter Greenberg (CBS News) takes us on magnificent tour of the Jewish homeland, Israel. The tour guide is none other than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The viewer gets a chance to visit the land of Israel from his own home! Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story (narrated by Dustin Hoffman) - This documentary portrays the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning that baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. More than a film about sports, this is a story of immigration, assimilation, bigotry, heroism, the passing on of traditions, the shattering of stereotypes and, most of all, the greatest American pastime. Nicky’s Family - An enthralling documentary that artfully tells the story of how Sir Nicholas Winton, now 104, a British stockbroker, gave up a 1938 skiing holiday to answer a friend’s request for help in Prague and didn’t stop helping until the war’s beginning stopped him. He had saved the lives of 669 children in his own personal Kindertransport. Shanghai Ghetto - One of the most amazing and captivating survival tales of WWII, this documentary recalls the strange-but-true story of thousands of European Jews who were shut out of country after country while trying to escape Nazi persecution. Left without options or entrance visa, a beacon of hope materialized for them on the other side of the world, and in the unlikeliest of places, Japanese-controlled Shanghai. The Case for Israel - Democracy’s Outpost - This documentary presents a vigorous case for Israel- for its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism, and to defend its borders from hostile enemies. The Jewish Cardinal - This is the amazing true story of Jean-Marie Lustiger, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, who maintained his cultural identity as a Jew even after converting to Catholicism at a young age, & later joining the priesthood. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg - As baseball’s first Jewish star, Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg’s career contains all the makings of a true American success story. Unmasked: Judaophobia - The Threat to Civilization – This documentary exposes the current political assault against the State of Israel fundamentally as a war against the Jewish people and their right to self-determination. *NEW* When Jews Were Funny is insightful and often hilarious, surveying the history of Jewish comedy from the early days of Borsht Belt to the present.
• Feature Films • Fill the Void - This is the story of an eighteen-year-old, Shira, who is the youngest daughter of her family. Her dreams are about to come true as she is set to be married. Unexpectedly, her sister dies while giving birth to her first child. The drama of the story reaches its peak when the girls’ mother proposes a match between Shira and the young widower. Shira will have to choose between her heart’s wish and her family duty. Footnote - The winner of the Cannes Film Festival (Best Screenplay) is the tale of a great rivalry between a father and son, two eccentric professors, who have both dedicated their lives to work in Talmudic Studies. Each has a need for recognition in his chosen field and the day comes when father and son must look deeply inside themselves for the truth- advancement of his own career or of the others. Hidden in Silence - Przemysl, Poland, WWII. Germany emerges victorious over the Russians and the city comes under Nazi control. The Jews are sent to the ghettos. While some stand silent, Catholic teenager, Stefania Podgorska, chose the role of a savior and sneaks 13 Jews into her attic. Noodle (compatible only on PAL – DVD players - Hebrew with English subtitles) This film was a beloved entry in the Jewish Federation of NEPA’s Jewish Film Festival. It tells the heartwarming story of an Israeli stewardess, Miri, whose personal life as a war widow leaves her without much joy. Everything changes for Miri when her Oriental housemaid disappears one day leaving her with her young Oriental child! The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Based on the best- selling novel, this movie is unforgettable. Set during WWII, the movie introduces us to Bruno, an innocent eight-year-old, ignores his mother and sets of on an adventure in the woods. Soon he meets a young boy and a surprising friendship develops. The Concert - Andrei Filipov was prodigy- at 20 he was the celebrated conductior for Russia’s renowned Bolshoi Orchestra. Thirty years later, still at the Bolshoi, he works as a janitor. Ousted during the communist era when he refused to fire the Jewish members of the orchestra, a broken Andrei now cleans the auditorium where he once performed in front of thousands. The Debt - In 1966, three Mossad agents were assigned to track down a feared Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin, a mission accomplished at great risk and personal cost- or was it? The Other Son - As he is preparing to join the Israeli army for his national service, Joseph discovers he is not his parents’ biological son and that he was inadvertently switched at birth with Yacine, the son of a Palestinian family from the West Bank. This revelation turns the lives of these two families upside-down, forcing them to reassess their respective identities, their values and beliefs.
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive JNS.org) – A plan to link Amsterdam and Tel Aviv as twin cities was dropped on June 25 after the Dutch capital’s mayor, Eberhard Van der Laan, came under fire from pro-Palestinian activists. Van der Laan has been an outspoken admirer of Tel Aviv, often noting its impressive start-up scene and its gay-friendly atmosphere. He attended the annual Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade earlier in June. But after announcing the twin cities plan, Van der Laan faced an “extreme backlash” from the pro-Palestinian community as well as the Dutch political left. Dutch News reported that the left-wing GroenLinks party’s leader, Rutger Groot Wassink, said there would be no twin cities deal “as long as Israel occupies Palestine, structurally infringes human rights and continues its settlement policy.” He was echoed by members of the Labor and Socialist parties, who said they were also not prepared to support the twin cities arrangement. In an effort to reach a compromise, Van der Lan suggested that Amsterdam could also become sister cities with the de facto Palestinian Authority capital of Ramallah, but his critics refused to accept the idea and the twin cities initiative was scrapped. Van der Laan said he still plans to advance cooperation between Amsterdam and Tel Aviv, though the specifics of that cooperation have not yet been announced.
Morocco to rehabilitate ancient Jewish quarter of Marrakech
Morocco plans to rehabilitate the ancient Jewish quarter of Marrakech in an effort to boost tourism to the city. Morocco World News, citing the Moroccan French-language newspaper L’Economiste, reported that the conservation plan is part of a jointly financed project by the country’s Housing Ministry and city of Marrakech. The project will cost around $20 million as part of larger $32 million rehabilitation of Marrakech’s old city. The project in the ancient Jewish quarter – which is known as the “Mellah” and was built in the 16th century by Jews escaping the Spanish Inquisition – will include plans to safeguard houses that are threatened with collapse, the rehabilitation of homes, and some demolition of properties. Morocco was once home to more than 250,000 Jews, many of whom immigrated to Israel in the mid-20th century. The former Jewish quarter in Marrakech is now occupied by Muslims. Recent efforts have been made by Morocco to protect its Jewish history and to encourage Jewish tourism. In 2013, the Moroccan government finished a two-year restoration project for the Slat al-Fassiyine (Prayer of the Fesians) synagogue in the historic city of Fez.
U.S. Congress passes trade bill with antiBDS amendment
The Trans-Pacific Partnership bill passed by the U.S. Congress on June 24 includes an amendment requiring American negotiators to stipulate the rejection of boycotting Israeli products as a core principle in any trade talks with the European Union. The trade bill – whose amendment takes a stand against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement – initially passed with a majority in the House of Representatives the week of June 19, followed by the June 24 affirmative 60-38 vote in the Senate. The goal of the anti-BDS amendment is to enshrine “a principal negotiating objective that reinforces our opposition to official actions that boycott, penalize, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the state of Israel,” U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI.) said when introducing the amendment, The Jerusalem Post reported. By passing the bill with the amendment, Congress “has completed a major step to defend Israel from pernicious economic efforts by foreign governments to unfairly target our democratic ally, and to protect American businesses operating in Israel,” the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said.
Hebrew U., Boston hospital create algorithm that scans genes for diseases
The Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has collaborated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to create an algorithm that could scan as many as millions of genetic sequences from a variety of organisms for links that potentially indicate diseases. This process could allow doctors, researchers and patients to analyze a gene’s evolutionary profile and would “change the face of biomedical research by creating the ability to identify unique disease-related genes and predict their biological functions,” said the Israeli-American research team, headed by Dr. Yuval Tabach, a molecular biologist and researcher from Hebrew University’s Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Jerusalem Post reported. Additionally, the development “opens the door to drug repositioning, which holds the promise of new treatments for genetic diseases or cancer,” the researchers said. Tabach’s research paper on the subject has been published in the Nucleic Acids Research journal.
Eritreans rally in Israel for refugee status
Hundreds of Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel demonstrated, calling for the Jewish state to recognize them as refugees. Rallying outside the European Union delegation’s Israeli headquarters near Tel Aviv on June 25, demonstrators praised the recently released United Nations report on human rights abuses in the African country and called on both European states and Israel to give Eritreans refugee status, Agence France Press reported. Demonstrators waved Israeli and Eritrean flags. “Eritreans don’t flee their home and their country because they want a better job, or a car, or a plasma TV. We flee our homes because we... are born to be free and live in dignity and safety,” a statement from the organizers said. The U.N. report is the culmination of a year of investigation about Eritrea and said violations there were on a “scope and scale seldom witnessed elsewhere.” Some 42,000 Eritrean and Sudanese citizens are living in Israel, with 2,000 confined to a detention facility in Holot. The residents there are required to check in twice a day. Many of the migrants have made their home in south Tel Aviv. Israel has granted official refugee status to just four of more than 5,500 official asylum seekers. More than 9,000 African migrants have left Israel in the past two years in voluntary departures, according to Haaretz. The Israeli government provided them with airplane tickets and grants.
Bipartisan panel, including onetime Iran deal defenders, urges improvements
A bipartisan panel of former government officials including some of the most steadfast defenders of the Iran-nuclear talks led by the Obama administration say the emerging deal falls short of a satisfactory plan. “We know much about the emerging agreement,” said the statement, organized by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank. “Most of us would have preferred a stronger agreement.” The signatories urge Obama’s negotiators to extend the June 30 deadline to get a better deal. “Stay at the negotiating table until a ‘good’ agreement that includes these features is reached,” the statement said, listing a number of bottom lines the major powers negotiating with Iran should preserve. Among the bipartisan slate of 18 former officials are a number who have worked for the Obama administration and among these are several who until recently have vigorously defended its Iran strategy: former U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), who as chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in 2010 delayed a sanctions bill until the Obama administration had lined up backing for sanctions from other countries; Robert Einhorn, a top negotiator in Obama’s first term who has in recent years been a point man defending the Iran strategy in appearances before Jewish and Middle East policy groups; Dennis Ross, Obama’s top Iran adviser for much of his first term, who also has had a post-administration role in explaining Obama’s Iran policies; and Gary Samore, the coordinator for arms control in Obama’s first term, who, like Ross, has been a go-to interviewee to explain Obama’s Iran strategy. Also signing was Norm Eisen, the ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2011-2014 and a top fund-raiser for Obama’s first election campaign; David Makovsky, a member of Obama’s Israeli-Palestinian peace talks team last year, and David Petraeus, the director of the CIA in Obama’s first term. Also included are former George W. Bush administration officials, including his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley. But the inclusion of figures who helped shaped and who have defended the current strategy could sway congressional Democrats when approval of the deal is considered by Congress. While saying they “know much” about the emerging deal, the signatories do not directly address its perceived inadequacies. Instead, they list bottom lines that a deal should include, suggesting that these may be absent: Nuclear inspectors “must have timely and effective access to any sites in Iran they need to visit in order to verify Iran’s compliance with the agreement,” including military sites and sites controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps; the ability to review Iran’s past weaponization activity; strict limits on research and development into advanced uraniumenriching centrifuges; sanctions relief based on Iran’s performance, apparently a reference to reports that Iran will get some sanctions relief simply for signing the deal; and “serious consequences” should Iran violate terms of the deal. “Most importantly, it is vital for the United States to affirm that it is U.S. policy to prevent Iran from producing sufficient fissile material for a nuclear weapon – or otherwise acquiring or building one – both during the agreement and after it expires,” the statement says. Obama administration officials have insisted that a number of key aspects of the agreement will be enforceable long after other provisions expire. The statement also says there is “much to the argument” that a nuclear agreement would free Iran to expand its “bad behavior” in the region and counsels “doing more” to inhibit Iranian ambitions, including expanding U.S. military influence in the area.
Nazi-looted painting from Gurlitt collection sold at auction
A Nazi-looted painting that was returned to its owners in May from the collection of the late art collector Cornelius Gurlitt was sold at auction. Max Liebermann’s “Two Riders on the Beach” was among the most valuable of the more than 1,400 artworks discovered in Gurlitt’s home in Munich and later in a second home in Salzburg, Austria. The painting was stolen from David Friedmann, a German-Jewish collector who died in the early 1940s. It sold at Sotheby’s in London on June 24 for $2.92 million, more than three times the pre-sale estimates, the French news agency AFP reported. It is the first piece of artwork from the Gurlitt collection to be sold, and only one of the first two to be returned to the heirs of its previous owners. Gurlitt’s father, Hildebrand, was an art dealer on assignment to the Nazis. When Hildebrand Gurlitt died in 1956, his son inherited the collection, which includes works by Picasso, Durer, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Beckmann and Matisse. The Gurlitt collection, discovered in the course of an investigation for tax evasion, is worth an estimated $1.26 billion. Last year, Gurlitt signed an agreement with the state of Bavaria and the German federal government in which the provenance of all works would be researched, paving the way for the return of the paintings to the heirs of the rightful owners. The work of the task force searching for possible rightful owners continued after Gurlitt died last May. Gurlitt left his entire collection to the Kunstmuseum Bern in Switzerland. The museum accepted the collection and promised to participate in the process by which German authorities would attempt to return any looted works to their rightful owners.
THE REPORTER
on June 25 castigates major U.S. museums for “refusing to resolve claims on their facts and merits and by asserting technical defenses, such as statutes of limitations.” The report accuses U.S. museums of failing to “live up to the spirit of” the Washington Conference Principles and Terezin Declaration, international statements regarding Holocaust-era art restitution, along with the Guidelines of the American Alliance of Museums. It also criticizes the AAM for having “failed to uphold and enforce” its own standards and calls on the group to withhold accreditation for museums that do not comply with its Holocaust-restitution guidelines. In addition, the report recommends legislation to “extend” statutes of limitation on Holocaust-era restitution claims. The report contrasts American museums’ “hostile approach” to the manner in which several European countries are resolving Nazi-looted art claims. “Museums are central to a civilized society,” said Gideon Taylor, WJRO chair of operations in a news release issued by the organization. “The American museum community, while understandably an advocate for artwork to remain in public hands, must follow through on its prior commitments not to taint collections with art stolen during the Holocaust.”
Jewish Agency to create conversion courts
The Jewish Agency for Israel plans to establish special overseas courts for people wishing to convert to Judaism. The group’s board of governors overwhelmingly voted in favor of the plan at a meeting in Tel Aviv on June 24. Under the plan, the agency will send rabbis to work with the courts and help local rabbis ensure that their conversions will be recognized in Israel. In recent years, Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has been increasingly unwilling to recognize many Orthodox conversions performed overseas and has increased requirements for prospective converts. In a news release describing the plan, the Jewish Agency said it was taking the move “to help ensure the unity of the Jewish people and in recognition of the existence of many interfaith families in various Jewish communities.” The agency, according to the news release “wishes to facilitate these families’ full integration into the Jewish people via conversion, as well as through the possibility of aliyah,” or immigration to Israel. The resolution pledged to “accompany the converts through their process of preparing for aliyah.” Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder and executive director of ITIM, a nonprofit that helps people navigate Israel’s religious bureaucracy called the Jewish Agency’s move “an important step in saying that the Chief Rabbinate does not have a monopoly in determining who is a Jew,” Haaretz reported. Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky told Haaretz that the agency has received many requests from Jewish communities in Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Colombia to help facilitate conversions. The Chief Rabbinate has not yet responded to the announcement. It is not clear whether Jews by choice who convert through the Jewish Agency court will be recognized as Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate or eligible for the Law of Return, which permits all Jews to become Israeli citizens. The Chief Rabbinate’s increasingly strict conversion requirements have spurred several Orthodox rabbis in the Diaspora to stop performing conversions or to themselves impose stringent requirements, discouraging many prospective converts, Farber said, according to Haaretz.
Israel cancels Gazans’ entry permits for Ramadan following rocket attack
Israel canceled the permits allowing some 500 Gaza Palestinians to enter Israel and pray on the Temple Mount for Ramadan following a rocket attack from the coastal strip. The coordinator of government activity in the territories, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, told the Palestinian Maan news agency on June 24 that the visits were canceled because “the security conditions around the crossing aren’t stable,” since the rocket landed close to the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza. The rocket fired on June 23 landed in an open area near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, located near the Gaza border. The launch set off the Code Red rocket alert, causing the residents of southern Israeli towns near the Gaza border to run for bomb shelters and secure areas. No injuries or damage were reported. The attack follows several similar ones from Gaza in the past month that are believed to have been fired by Islamic rivals of Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group that governs Gaza. Israel has said it holds Hamas responsible for all attacks originating in Gaza. “Hamas is responsible for depriving worshipers of prayer in Al-Aksa mosque during Ramadan,” Mordechai told Maan. “I am not saying that Hamas fired the missile, but Hamas is responsible because it controls the Gaza Strip.” Also in response to the rocket attack, the Israeli military said an Israeli airstrike early June 24 hit the rocket launcher in northern Gaza that fired the rocket at Israel.
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Report slams U.S. museums’ handling of Holocaust-era restitution claims
United States art museums are using “procedural defenses” and a “hostile approach” to renege on their responsibility to return Nazi-looted art to its owners and heirs, a new report says. Singling out several prominent museums for criticism, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the report, issued by the World Jewish Restitution Organization
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THE REPORTER ■ JULY 2, 2015
Sunday, August 9 • 3-5pm The Theater at Stroudsburg High School, 1100 West Main Street Stroudsburg, PA 18360 UNDER THE AUSPICES OF: The Jewish Federation of NEPA, Temple Israel of the Poconos, Hadassah and the Jewish Agency for Israel. Tickets: $25, $35 and $45 Student seats: 14 and over :$18 • Student seats: under 14: $10 The Hester Street Troupe Masters of Klezmer Music
Contact Dr. Sandra Alfonsi at 570-223-7062 for information and tickets
Yoel Sharabi and his Orchestra Master of Modern Israeli, Classic Yemenite and Popular Chassidic Music