The Reporter June, 7, 2012 Edition

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Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania JUNE 7, 2012

VOLUME X, NUMBER 12

Federation announces chairmen for the 2013 Annual UJA Campaign Margaret Sheldon, president of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, has announced that Jeff Rubel and Don Douglass have agreed to chair the Federation’s forthcoming 2013 UJA Campaign. The Campaign is scheduled to begin in September and continue through May 2013.

“Both Jeff and Don are established leaders of our community, and their communal involvement dates back decades,” Sheldon said. “Both have chaired many Jewish organizations and are actively involved in numerous charitable enterprises in the general community as well. We’re honored that both have agreed to chair our 2013 Annual UJA Campaign, which is the lifeblood of our Jewish community.”

“When one reads their histories of involvement in both the general and Jewish communities, it becomes clear immediately that they bring to this position the wisdom and experience that this Federation will require as we plan for the future of Northeast Pennsylvania Jewry,” said Mark Silverberg, Federation executive director.

Rubel holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Pennsylvania State University, with an emphasis on economics and accounting. He is a veteran leader of Greater Scranton’s Jewish community, and has spent decades in leadership positions in both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. In such capacities, he has served as president of the Scranton Jewish Community Center, Glen Oak Country Club and the Scranton Lions Club; board chairman of the Scranton Chapter of the American Red Cross; and president of the Lackawanna Branch of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind. He currently serves on the Northeast Pennsylvania Labor Management Committee and the Scranton School District Strategic Planning Committee.

In 1995, Rubel was nominated for the J. C. Penney “Volunteer of the Year” Award in Lackawanna County, and he is the first and current chairman of the board of the Howard Gardner School for Discovery in Scranton.

He is also a board member of the United Neighborhood Center.

His communal involvement has included service as chairman of WVIA-TV’s (public television) Annual Auction for the past 26 years, and he was honored as the first Jeff Rubel recipient of the Scranton Area Foundation’s “Outstanding Community Achievement Award” in 2002. For Rubel’s dedication to the betterment of the community and other reasons, he was named Penn State Worthington Scranton 2003 “Alumnus of the Year” in June 2003.

Rubel started his career at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce in December 1993, as program director for Skills in Scranton, a business-education partnership of the Chamber and Membership Services.

In that capacity, he was responsible for administering all programs conducted by Skills in Scranton. He developed a series of new programs and assumed additional responsibilities, including supervision of the director of membership.

In July 1994, he was promoted to vice president of Skills in Scranton, where he supported the existing program framework and instituted an expansion of the businesseducation partnership. In December 1995, he assumed additional responsibilities for the Scranton Chamber of Commerce that included the GovernmentAffairs Department and supervision of the Community Development and Communications Departments.

Prior to joining the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, he spent 17 years as national sales manager for Textiles Inc. After joining the Chamber, he became involved in a number of task forces established by then Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge and former Governor Robert Casey regarding welfare reform, and the effort to place Pennsylvanians back on the employ-

ment rolls. He served on Casey’s “Bridge to Work” task force and served as chairman of the Business Mobilization Committee of Ridge’s job creation task force.

Rubel is married to the former Carol Weiss and is the father of two Don Douglass daughters, Heather Ross and Chaya Fine, as well as stepfather to Robin Johnson and Doug Sealfon. The Rubels have eight grandchildren.

Douglass was born in Philadelphia to the late Reba and Art Douglass. He moved to Scranton at the age of 3 and was educated in the Scranton public school system. After high school, he pursued a bachelor’s degree in political science at Marietta College (Marietta, OH), graduating in 1965.

He then attended Cornell University Law School, receiving a doctor of jurisprudence degree in 1968. Graduating first in the class among all full-time students, he received a master of laws in taxation from the Boston University Graduate School of Law in 1974. Being admitted to practice before the various Pennsylvania and federal courts, he practiced law in Scranton from 1968-2007, specializing in taxation, with a focus on estate planning and administration.

A former president of the Estate Planning Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Douglass’ commitment to community service included his affiliation with United Cerebral Palsy of Lackawanna County (board member) and Hillel Academy, where he served as vice president. As a past president of Amos Lodge B’nai B’rith, Jewish Family Service of Lackawanna County and the Jewish Community Center Officers’ Association, Douglass has been involved in Jewish communal life for the past 35 years.

His involvement with the Federation and its Annual UJA Campaigns began in the early 1970s and has continued through the

“Friends of The Reporter” Campaign The Federation has asked the community to support its “Friends of The Reporter” Campaign, which seeks to raise $9,500 to help fund the paper.

The regional Jewish newspaper, The Reporter, is the primary communications tool of the Jewish communities of Lackawanna, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties.

Supplementing synagogue and temple newsletters and bulletins, The Reporter has increased its circulation from 1,200 families in 2000 to an expected 2,850 Jewish families by September. Throughout this period of time, costs in publishing the paper have increased dramatically, although the newspaper continues to be provided to the communities at no charge. The Federation assumes the financial responsibility for funding the newspaper at a cost of $26,000

per year, and asks only that its readers assist in raising $9,500 – as part of the “Friends of The Reporter” Campaign – to alleviate a share of those expenses.

“Without your generosity, our newspaper could not exist and this service could not be provided,” noted a Federation representative.

The newspaper is delivered twice a month (except for December and July, which are single-issue months) to every identifiable Jewish home in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

As the primary Jewish newspaper of the region, the publication offers readers a variety of material, from opinions and columns on controversial issues that affect both the local community and Israel; to publicity for events held by affiliated agencies and organizations; to life-cycle events, personality profiles, letters to the editor, holiday

recipes, the Jewish community calendar and other columns covering topics ranging from food to entertainment.

The Reporter can also be read online at the newly designed Federation website at www.jewishnepa.org.

The Federation has asked each member of the community to become a “Friend of The Reporter.” To do so, send a check to the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510, and mark it “Friends of The Reporter.” Donors can also use the response portion from the “Friends of The Reporter” ad on page 6.

“Your gift to our regional Jewish newspaper matters a great deal to us and we’d be grateful for your support,” added a Federation representative.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE South Sudan

Teen Symposium

In brief...

present. In 1979, he and Richard Bishop established and served as the first cochairmen of Operation Genesis, a telethon Campaign conducted by members of the Amos Lodge of B’nai B’rith that attempted to reach members of the Jewish community who had not contributed previously to Federation UJA Campaigns.

As a result of its initial success, the project was continued through 1982, with Douglass serving as co-chairman. Starting in 1983, the Federation began its Super Sunday Campaign event, into which Project Genesis was merged.

Currently, Douglass is a member of the board of Temple Israel of Scranton, the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family Service of Lackawanna County and the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, and serves on various committees with each organization. He is also a member of the Federation Board of Trustees and serves as chairman of its Personnel Committee.

Residing in Clarks Summit, he is married to the former Joyce Stein, and is the father of three adult children, Stephanie, Stephen and David Douglass.

Goal: $900,000

2012 UJA

fe! Campaign i L o T Update

$814,909 as of 6/5/12 For more information or to make a donation please call 570-961-2300 ext. 1 or send your gift to: Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania 601 Jefferson Avenue Scranton, PA 18510 (Please MEMO your pledge or gift 2012 UJA Campaign)

“For ourselves, for our children, for Israel, forever”

Federation on Facebook

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 June 8................................................ 8:17 pm June 15..............................................8:20 pm June 22.............................................8:22 pm

The fledgling nation of South Sudan More than 1,400 attended the two- A plan to move the Ulpana PLUS has developed a friendship with day Annual Teen Symposium on the neighborhood buildings; nuclear Opinion...........................................................2 Israel.

Holocaust. activity in Iran; and more.

Jewish Community Center News............6 Story on page 3 Story on page 4 Stories on page 15 D’var Torah.................................................10

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012

a matter of opinion Pluralism means finding your place in the Jewish story

By Edgar M. Bronfman (JTA) – For the past six years, the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, which is named in honor of my father and that I now run with my son Adam, has held a conference called “Why Be Jewish?” It is an intimate gathering that seeks to explore an expansive question.

This year, in conjunction with the Shalom Hartman Institute, we will focus on the idea of Jewish pluralism.

Jewish pluralism, to me, is about finding your place in the story of our people. All Jews share a narrative going back to the patriarchs and matriarchs who created us, and they are wonderful and complex stories to share, study and learn. Jewish texts root you in the world and allow you to understand yourself, your values and your culture, all

Corrections

In the May 24 issue of The Reporter, the top of page 1 story on Tova Weiss contained errors. The article was actually written by Carol Rubel. The article also said Weiss has three children, three step-children and seven grandchildren. It should have referred to her three children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren. The Reporter apologizes for the errors and any distress or confusion they caused.

Also on page 1 of the May 24 issue, the candlelighting times were incorrect. They should have read May 25, 8:07 pm; May 26, after 9:08 pm; May 27, after 9:09 pm; June 1, 8:12 pm; and June 8, 8:17 pm. The Reporter apologizes for the errors and any confusion they caused.

the while speaking to our modern lives with ancient wisdom.

Every Jew, regardless of belief and practice, should be able to see themselves in the narrative, values and rituals – in all their permutations – that bind us together as the Jewish people. We have an obligation as Jews to educate ourselves about our shared texts, common history and the traditions we have inherited.

At the heart of my Jewish beliefs is the tradition of questioning. Questioning is how we begin to learn. We Jews constantly discuss complex issues about how to live a moral and meaningful life, and seek guidance from sources ranging from our sacred texts to our most assimilated activists. We debate openly and are not shy, nor should we be.

All Jews, regardless of how they choose to practice – or not practice – their Judaism should be encouraged to engage in this dialogue. Questions are where education begins, and with education comes a sense of pride and ownership.

The challenge for those of us who care about seeing Judaism thrive now and in the future is not to tell people what they should think, but rather to encourage them to learn enough that they can arrive at their own conclusions.

Taking a curious rather than pedantic approach to the question of why we are Jewish has led me to studying Jewish texts, history and culture. That knowledge has become, as I enter my 83rd year, a wellspring of joy and inspiration. It is not because studying taught me how to be a

Jew, but rather because it rewarded my curiosity and helped me become a better human being.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned through studying Judaism is the necessity of mutual respect, and this idea lies at the heart of pluralism. To debate well we must be civil. To answer questions we must listen. I am a firm subscriber to the notion that there is no valid question that is rude, only questions rudely asked.

The “Why Be Jewish?” conference this year also marks the 25th year of a program I founded called the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel. BYFI takes a small group of young, promising future Jewish leaders from across the spectrum of beliefs and traditions, and immerses them in intensive study both here and in Israel. It is of great importance to me that the teenagers in the BYFI program represent people from across the spectrum of Jewish experience so that they learn not only by engaging in Jewish study, but also through dialogue with each other. My hope is that the future of pluralism can be seen through the transformative conversations that occur between participants.

This type of Jewish dialogue shouldn’t just be limited to teenagers in intensive study programs, but is something we can all share with each other through learning with our families, friends, communities and, even upon occasion, those we might see as our enemies. Jews are, after all, a family of sorts.

Even when we disagree, we are mutually bound to care for each other.

That interconnectedness means respecting other streams of Judaism and discov-

ering what we can learn from each other.

Pluralism is an open Judaism where all denominations can be inspired and gain wisdom by listening to each other. Regardless of individual practice, we all share a rich heritage in which meaning can be found for every Jew, from the traditionally pious to the most skeptical of conventional religious practice.

Pluralism also means egalitarianism.

Women’s contributions as Jewish leaders and rabbis have only enhanced our community as a whole, as has the open inclusion of homosexuals. Their active participation in Jewish life should be encouraged across the entire spectrum of Jewish practice and ideologies. The more widely we open our tent, as our forefather Abraham did, the more Judaism is enriched. All should be welcome and able to express themselves within our community.

Like Abraham, who was known to keep his tent open to accommodate all who wished to be included, pluralism means all that who wish to come into our Jewish community must be welcome. Judaism is strong and rich enough to take on a plurality of practice. There is room for all in our story. My hope for all Jewish people is that they write a new story for themselves that will be told for generations to come.

Edgar M. Bronfman is the president of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation and is working on a book about Jewish peoplehood with journalist Ruth Andrew Ellenson. He is the former CEO of the Seagram Company Ltd.

Teach children to be their own Internet filter “ The Reporter” (USPS #482) is published bi-weekly by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510.

President: Margaret Sheldon Executive Director: Mark Silverberg Advisory Board Chair: Margaret Sheldon Executive Editor: Rabbi Rachel Esserman Layout Editor: Diana Sochor Assistant Editor: Michael Nassberg Production Coordinator: Jenn DePersis Graphic Artist: Danielle Esquivel Advertising Representative: Bonnie Rozen

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.

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By Eliezer Jones and David Pelcovitz (JTA) – Tens of thousands of Jews filled Citi Field in Queens recently and heard from haredi Orthodox leaders that the Internet should be avoided in the home at all costs and used sparingly at work, and then only with a filter blocking content that could be damaging spiritually.

Debate as you will what some may see as draconian edicts to protect the Jewish community from moral corruption. But at the heart of the matter is a question that should concern us all: How do we keep our children safe on the Internet?

We know that we cannot work around the Internet. Research from the Pew Foundation indicates that 54 percent of children say they go to Google first when they have a question, as opposed to 26 percent who say they go to a parent and 3 percent to a teacher.

Rather, we must figure out how parents and teachers can make this important tool work safely and effectively for our kids.

The difficulty is that even the simple solutions are incredibly complicated. Powerful filters can block illicit images and material, but those filters often block out the good with the bad and limit far too much useful information. This solution has been discussed and debated on our own campus concerning Internet access in dormitories.

Some yeshivot have considered avoiding technology altogether and sticking with books and blackboards. But that would leave students without the digital competence required to succeed academically in college and beyond, not to mention that it would rob teachers of increasingly exciting and effective educational tools.

The only real answer is that as parents and teachers, we must instill in our children a strong value system based on Jewish mor-

als and traditions that allows our children to become their own filters when exploring the Internet. That would be far more powerful than any protective software.

The onus is clearly on us because it seems that children will listen to our rules, at least when it comes to the Internet. Only three in 10 young people reported to a Kaiser Foundation survey that they are given clear rules about how much time they may spend using a computer, watching TV or playing video games. The average child with no rules spends more than three hours per day on such media. Those who are given rules spend considerably less time.

Yeshiva high school students said they would be receptive to rules. More than half of those surveyed by researcher Debbie Fox, director of the Aleinu Family Resource Center, a program of the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, said that they would welcome more guidance from parents regarding Internet use.

These same students, in fact, said that they would be far stricter with their own future adolescent children regarding responsible Internet use than their parents, and would monitor their children much more closely.

The dangers of the Internet are not limited to challenging content. A 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation study showed that about half of students in grades seven through 12 said they do their homework with media open that do not pertain to their task at hand. In other words, about 50 percent of middle and high school students are doing homework with divided attention. And while some kids may believe that they are being more efficient, multitasking has been proven in adults to cause higher levels of stress and lower levels of efficiency.

While some kids can multitask well, it’s

up to parents to actively determine if their children work more efficiently while doing so or while focusing on their work without interruption. Parents should collaborate with their children to test whether they are more efficient when not being interrupted or distracted, and then meter their background activity accordingly.

The greatest challenge of all, however, may be making sure that our kids completely separate from the Internet at times. According to the Pew Foundation, 75 percent of American teens prefer texting to in-person contact with friends. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that this generation’s empathy levels among adolescents are significantly lower than those of previous generations.

It may seem that adolescents in every generation feel isolated and tuned out at some point or another. But it turns out that their computer habits may be compounding the problem. Parents need to teach children that some of their relationships must include direct face-to-face interaction without the distraction of text messages and cell phone calls.

While some of what occurred at Citi Field recently might seem foreign, we must work to ensure that our students and our children can grow up as highly moral and successful Jewish digital citizens.

Dr. Eliezer Jones is the educational technology specialist at Yeshiva University’s Institute for University-School Partnership.

Dr. David Pelcovitz is the Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus chair in psychology and Jewish education at YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. For more information about safe Internet rules and guidelines, visit www.yuschoolpartnership.org/ parentguidedigitalage.

JUNE 7, 2012 ■

THE REPORTER

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community news Bais Yaakov Annual Tribute Dinner to honor Beth Shalom, Ben Dovs and Schwartzes

Bais Yaakov of Scranton will hold its annual Tribute Dinner on Sunday, June 17, at 5 pm. The administration of Congregation Beth Shalom; its president, Richard Schwartz; Patti Schwartz; and Nancy and Zeve Ben Dov will be honored for their work for Bais Yaakov and the community.

The congregation’s administration will be honored for its “many years of devotion” to Bais Yaakov. “For many years, Bais Yaakov has found a very comfortable home in Beth Shalom,” explained a Bais Yaakov representative. “The beautiful building, its comfortable classrooms and atmosphere, and wonderful Board of Directors continue to enhance the school by providing all the amenities necessary for student growth. The spacious accommodations, well-kept building grounds

and close proximity to students, staff and the Jewish Home make it the ideal location. Beth Shalom has been a beautiful addition to the Hill section of Scranton for more than 45years.” Presently under the leadership of Rabbi Yisroel Brotsky, Beth Shalom offers various classes and “plays a very active role in the community,” according to a Bais Yaakov representative. Accepting the honor for Beth Shalom will be Michael Cutler, an active board member and longtime member.

Bais Yaakov credits both Richard and Patti Schwartz as “always there to lend a hand, cook, repair, perform and advise.” They have held several musical performances, including Patti’s performing music for Bais Yaakov’s productions. Additionally, Nancy and Zeve Ben Dov are “very committed” to Bais Yaakov, according to the

school. Nancy helps at numerous functions and Zeve has taught both public speaking and Hebrew language at Bais Yaakov. Zeve has also coordinated programs in his new field. “Both couples are truly deserving of this honor for all their community service,” added a Bais Yaakov representative.

“The mission of Bais Yaakov of Scranton is to encourage and inspire young women to appreciate and develop a deep commitment to our tradition, become the next link in the chain of our mesora and assume roles as effective parents, educators and community leaders of the next generation,” said a Bais Yaakov representative. “With the dedicated involvement of the board and staff, generous benefactors and supportive parents, this vision is and will continue to be a reality.”

South Sudan develops unlikely friendship with Israel

By Armin Rosen JUBA, South Sudan (JTA) – This city in the world’s newest country is not your typical Arabic-speaking capital.

For one thing, most of the city’s inhabitants are Christian.

For another, the Israeli flag is ubiquitous here.

Miniature Israeli flags hang from car windshields and flutter at roadside stalls, and at the Juba souk in the city’s downtown, you can buy lapel pins with the Israeli flag alongside its black, red and green South Sudanese counterpart. “I love Israel,” said Joseph Lago, who sells pens, chewing gum and phone cards at a small wooden stall decorated with Israeli and South Sudanese flags. “They are people of God.” Many South Sudanese are not just pro-Israel but proudly and openly so. There’s a Juba neighborhood called Jerusalem. A hotel near the airport is called the Shalom. Perhaps most notable, South Sudan’s fondness for Israel extends to the diplomatic arena, where the two countries have been building strategic ties in a relationship that long preceded the founding of South Sudan last July.

“They see in us kind of a role model in how a small nation surrounded by enemies can survive and prosper, and they would like to imitate that,” Haim Koren, the incoming Israeli ambassador to South Sudan, told JTA. South Sudan was created last year when its residents voted to secede from Sudan, a country with a Muslim majority and without diplomatic ties to Israel. The government in Khartoum accepted the secession, but in recent weeks a long-simmering dispute over oil revenues and borders has brought the two Sudans to the brink of all-out war.

With Sudan having often served as a safe haven for

Sudan wanted to sign a peace agreement. They wanted to finish the Anyana movement just shortly before they got training and advice.”

Over the years, there have been reports of the Israelis See “Friendship” on page 10

S E N I L D A E D The following are deadlines for all articles and photos for upcoming Reporter issues.

DEADLINE James Lago, a street merchant in Juba, South Sudan, with the Israeli flag. (Photo by Armin Rosen)

enemies of Israel and the West, the South Sudanese and Israel have had a common adversary. In the mid-1990s, Osama bin Laden found shelter in Sudan. In 1995, Sudanese intelligence agents participated in an attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, an ally of Israel and the West. Khartoum signed a military cooperation agreement with Iran in 2008, and in 2009, Israeli warplanes reportedly bombed a 23-truck weapons convoy in Sudan bound for the Gaza Strip.

The first contact between militants from southern Sudan and the Israeli government was in 1967, when a commander with the Anyana Sudanese rebel movement wrote to then-Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. The officer explained that his militants were fighting on Sudan’s southern flank, and that with some help, the Anyana could keep Israel’s enemies bogged down and distracted.

According to James Mulla, the director of Voices of Sudan, a coalition of U.S.-based Sudanese-interest organizations, Israel’s support proved pivotal to the Anyana’s success during the first Sudanese civil war, which ended in 1972.

“Israel was the only country that helped the rebels in South Sudan,” Mulla told JTA. “They provided advisers to the Anyana, which is one reason why the government of A crowded street in Juba, South Sudan. (Photo by Armin Rosen)

ISSUE

Thursday, June 7.................................... June 21 Thursday, June 21.....................................July 5 Thursday, July 19................................. August 2 Thursday, August 2............................ August 16

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012

Symposium 2012 wrap-up

By Tova Weiss More than 1,400 students, teachers and adult guests attended the 24th Annual Teen Symposium on the Holocaust on May 15-16, representing 22 schools in five counties, including one school from Sullivan County, NY. Among the students were several home-schooled children and their parents. They also represented both public and parochial schools.

Planners, initially concerned with recent cutbacks in school busing, were “extremely pleased” with the participation, according to organizers. Despite inclement weather on the first day of the program, as well as having to walk greater distances on campus, the event reportedly “ran smoothly.”

The Teen Symposium is a two-day program that has been held on the Marywood University campus since its inception in 1988. Different schools attend a 9 am-2 pm program each day that focuses on the Holocaust and its causes, development and consequences. Each day features personal meetings with survivors of the Holocaust, as well as a soldier who helped with the liberation, who share their experiences and answer questions. The program provides both students and educators with an opportunity to hear a “living history.”

The guest speakers’ stories frequently encompass memories of their close family and friends. Some remained sole survivors, while others were lucky to survive and reunite with one or more family members and friends. Students get to hear the testimony in

Sister John Michelle Southwick, of Marywood’s Ministry, made the opening remarks.

Tova Weiss welcomed the participants in the name of the Holocaust Education Resource Center. She also thanked Marywood University and the Jewish Federation for 24 years of commitment to the Teen Symposium on the Holocaust, as well as co-coordinator Mary Ann Answini and all of the volunteers. smaller, more intimate groups, rather than a large auditorium. Educators have regularly reported that the personal setting allows for “a closer connection” that the students appreciate. Each of the speakers, they note, also serves as “a positive role model for the young people.” The speakers have built new lives after living through severe hardships and have become contributing members of society whose messages provide hope to

others. The educators have commented on being impressed that, despite the pain and trauma, each speaker tried to emphasize the need to “shy away from prejudice, labeling and negative behavior toward their peers and other people.”

Each day of the event began in the Performing Arts Center with registration and distribution of a materials kit to each student and teacher. Teachers were also presented with a book, “Words that Burn Within Me – Faith, Values, Survival,” a memoir by Hilda Stern Cohen. The book was a gift made possible by Joanne Aronsohn Monahan.

The program itself began with a greeting from Tova Weiss, outgoing director of the Holocaust Education Resource Center.

Weiss presented Sister John Michelle Southwick, IHM, of Marywood University’s Ministry, who made introductory remarks.

Southwick has served as Marywood’s spokeswoman for many years, and organizers said that her remarks reflected “her passion for social justice; her deep respect for the survivors and liberators; and her

World War II veteran and liberator Alan Moskin gave the keynote address each day. appreciation of their ‘teaching us to remember.’” She taught the students through an exercise how people could become targets of hate for any reason, “even one as simple as wearing glasses.”

Throughout the program, each guest speaker was introduced and recognized.

Rabbi Steve Nathan framed the day for participants with a brief, comprehensive overview. An experienced educator, professional counselor and a father of teenagers, Nathan knows how to connect with the “electronic generation” and prepared a PowerPoint slide-show to accompany his presentation.

The film “Children Remember the Holocaust” was also screened. The film uses photographs and film footage from the Holocaust years with voice-over narration of children and teenagers’ taken from diaries and memoirs of the time. Narrated by Keanu Reeves, the film begins with life prior to the Holocaust and continues through the See “Symposium 1” on page 5

Participants on May 15 attended the event on Marywood’s campus despite inclement weather.

Rabbi Steve Nathan prepared a presentation with maps to elucidate the historical overview he provided to participants each day.

Area survivor Abe Zylberberg spoke in a small group session while facilitator Maggy Bushwick listened.

Sonia Goldstein (far right), a survivor from Vilna, shared her experiences from before the Holocaust, through liberation and beyond. Visible on the far left in the first row were Jane Quinn, principal of Our Lady of Peace, and Mary Tigue, assistant superintendent of Diocese schools.

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JUNE 7, 2012 ■

Symposium 1

THE REPORTER

Continued from page 4

post-liberation period. In the final part, the film explores survivor guilt syndrome, such as the difficulty of finding and reuniting with family members; the hospitalization and recuperation of the ill; and the vow made by many who survived to tell the story for those who did not.

Thereafter, the large group of participants was divided into smaller groups in order to meet with guest speakers in classrooms. There were 11 separate groups each day, with students from each of the participating schools represented in every room, which is pre-planned so that the students can share the various testimonies they heard upon returning to school.

The survivor testimony was followed by lunch and a return to the main theater for the closing event: the keynote address, also known as the Abe Plotkin Memorial Lecture on the Holocaust and Social Justice.

This year, the keynote address was given by Alan Moskin, a World War II combat veteran who served in the 66th Infantry, 71st Division of General Patton’s Third Army.

Beyond serving in heavy battles, Moskin became a liberator of the Gunskirchen concentration camp, a sub-camp of Mathausen. “Alan is particularly skilled in transporting his listeners back in time to feel and see what he is describing, whether telling stories of his war buddies or of the horrors the soldiers encountered when they entered the camp,” noted organizers of the symposium. What they witnessed, Moskin said, was “unmatched by anything previously encountered in the worst of combat.” He described the assistance these

Margaret Sheldon and Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn helped with the technological equipment in the Media Center for Frida Herslovits’ session.

unprepared young men were able to offer, the compassion and care with which they tried to treat people “who barely looked human” after their mistreatment, and credited medics with doing the greatest job. He also enumerated and stressed positive actions people can take to prevent such events from occurring. “His talk was extremely well received and was followed by many questions,” noted a symposium organizer.

The program’s conclusion included a reminder to complete evaluation forms, which provide feedback to planners.

Organizers thanked Marywood University and the Jewish

Federation for their commitment to the program. To date, approximately 15,000 young people in the area have participated in the symposium. Marywood Universary and the Jewish Federation have been cosponsors of the Teen See “Symposium 2” on page 7

Dr. Micha Tomkiewicz – a physics professor at Brooklyn College in New York and a child survivor on a train abandoned near Magdeburg, Germany – joined former medic Walter Gantz (not pictured) at the May 16 session, marking their first reunion since 1945.

Manya Perel answered a student’s question in a small group session while facilitator Laura Santoski listened.

Jack and Ruth Gruener spoke together in the same small group session.

The story of a train abandoned by the Nazis and discovered

by American soldiers was told by Scrantonian Walter Gantz, of Scranton – then a 19-year-old-medic – and survivor Elisabeth Seaman, who was a child on the train.

Gantz and Seaman were reunited for the first time in 67 years at the Teen Symposium.

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The Jewish Federation is proud to give a helping hand to the businesses, business professionals, and non-profit organizations of NEPA during these difficult economic times by creating the NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance.

It will allow people from Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Wayne and Pike counties 24/7 access to: . Exchange Business Leads

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NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance

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NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance in Groups

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012

jewish community center news Social Adult Club upcoming trips

By Emily Trunzo Members of the Social Adult Club and guests traveled by bus to New York City on May 2. Participants ate at Ben’s Kosher Deli for lunch, where some had an opportunity to meet up with friends from the city. After lunch, the group saw “Ghost: The Musical,” based on the movie “Ghost.” One participant commented, “The play has really spectacular special effects and reminded everyone of the movie, with ghosts going through doors and the subway wall.” SAC members thanked Carole Fishbein, trip coordinator, and Tim Lauffenburger.

Eileen Baine and the Trip Committee are planning more trips for 2012, including a trip to Shawnee Playhouse and visits to the Daleville campsite. More events for June include a musical performance by the Shady Grove Country Music Group on Thursday, June 7, at 12:30 pm. The closing meeting will be held on Monday, June 11, with the installation of officers and a musical performance by Frances Cervazi.

There will be a hike with Jane Frye at Lackawanna State Park on Tuesday, June 12. The bus will depart from the JCC at 9 am. A talk about the new Colt bus routes will be held on Wednesday, June 13. Those who bring ID will receive a free bus pass.

Yaakov Rosenthal will give a presentation about kosher food nutrition on Monday, June 18. There is a trip planned to Villa Roma on Tuesday, June 19. Seats for the trip may

still be available. For more information, contact Lauffenburger at 346-6595, ext. 135. Finally, the movie “Hugo” will be shown on Monday, June 25.

There are exercises, Mah Jongg and bridge held every week. Lunch is served every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, with kosher food prepared at the Jewish Home.

L-r: Lindsay Leventhal and Tim Lauffenburger ordered lunch.

L-r: Alana Arnovitz and Shirley Nudelman ate at Ben’s Kosher Deli in New York City.

L-r: Mike Soulee and Lorraine Mursch participated in the trip to New York.

L-r: Sisters Nancy Penberg, Emily Trunzo and Mindy Fisher enjoyed lunch.

L-r: Sara Morris and Carole Fishbein enjoyed the trip to New York City.

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 newspaper is delivered twice of month (except for December and July which are single issue months) to each and every identifiable Jewish home in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

columns that cover everything from food to entertainment.

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.

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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

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L-r: Marlene Leiber and Eileen Baine socialized on the trip.

Symposium 2

Symposium for 24 years.

This year, Marywood’s Communication Department worked with the HERC on two pieces. For the first, several speakers were filmed in the classroom by Marywood’s Department of Broadcasting, as was Moskin in the theater by Chanel 19, in order to preserve their testimony for the future. Secondly, a panel discussion was filmed in Marywood’s TV studio, moderated by Carol Rubel. Participating survivors included Elly Gross, Michael Herskovitz, Sol Lurie and Judith Sherman. Rather than each panelist retelling his or her entire story, guiding questions led to discussions of the personal aspects of their experiences. The resulting DVDs will be placed in the resource collection of both Marywood University and the HERC. Among the guest speakers were: Ronnie Breslow, an adolescent survivor of the journey of the S.S. ST. Louis, described as having “a warm, welcoming manner and a positive attitude,” presented photos and documents of the weeks at sea, including her memories of the voyage and being sent back to Europe to a detention camp. Her goal was “to sensitize young people to prevent the repetition of history.”

Michael Herskovitz, originally from Czechoslovakia, spoke to students in the Comerford Theater.

JUNE 7, 2012 ■

THE REPORTER

7

Continued from page 5 Sonia Goldstein, originally from Vilna, lived in a ghetto, labored in the Stuthoff concentration camp and was liberated while on a “death march.” She expressed a positive message for the participants, despite the challenges in her life.

Elly Gross, a teen in Romania who survived several concentration camps, lost her entire family, married, fell under the Communist regime and eventually came to America. She is a painter, poet and the author of four books, andstressed the need for justice and “dealing properly with one’s fellow human being.” Gross served as the main plaintiff in 1988 in the initial lawsuit for reparations for all former slave laborers, Gentiles and Jews alike.

Jack Gruener is a survivor of 10 concentration camps – including Auschwitz, where his arm was tattooed with a number – as well several escapes and roundups. He asked listeners to act “with consideration toward other human beings.”

Ruth Gruener was a hidden child in Po-

Ronnie Breslow addressed the students with the story of her journey to Cuba on the SS ST. Louis. She and her mother were accepted by Holland when the ship was forced to return to Europe. She was caught fairly briefly in the Nazi net when Holland fell.

land, concealed in a home in which several of the family would have given her to the Nazis had they known she was hidden in a trunk by the family’s mother and grandmother. Although she conveyed the fear she faced daily as a 7-year-old, including a day of nearly being turned in, her focus was on hope and on kindness to one another.

Ruth Hartz was a young child in France, initially hidden by nuns before being hidden with an “ordinary French farm family,” a Christian family, that risked their lives to protect her. “In the days of the French Vichy government and the Gestapo, it was anything BUT ordinary to rescue a Jewish child, so hers is a story of courage, goodness and gratitude,” said organizers of the symposium. Hartz and her family made sure the rescuers were honored by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and she has directed and produced a DVD about them called “A Legacy of Goodness.”

Frida Herskovits, originally from Czechoslovakia, survived three concentra-

Elly Gross, originally from Romania, shared her story with students and teachers in a small group session.

tion camps. After liberation, she attempted to get to Palestine, but her boat was sent to Cyprus by the British. She espouses a message of “friendship, kindness and love.”

Michael Herskovitz, also originally from Czechoslovakia, was sent to the ghetto with his parents before being sent to Auschwitz.

Separated from his family, he went to other camps to labor as a 15-year-old, and after liberation went to Palestine and fought in what became the Israeli Army. He provided a positive message, stressing that “hate corrodes a person from within.”

Manya Perel, originally from Poland, survived hard labor and cruel treatment as a young teen in eight different concentration camps. She remembers everything, but is “a very positive person,” according to organizers. She ended her presentation with a message of “love and hope.” Organizers noted that Perel always has students who See “Symposium 3” on page 12

Ruth Hartz shared her story of being a hidden child in France, at first by nuns and then with a Christian family before ultimately being reunited with her parents.

Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn (far left) served as facilitator in her room on May 16.

2012 Annual Meeting “Celebrating our Partner Agencies” Scranton Jewish Community Center Koppelman Auditorium Thursday, June 14th, 2012 7:00 PM Program Welcome & Introductions Seth/Sheryl Gross, Chairpersons Anthems Dr. Charles Osborne Invocation Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Temple Hesed Perspectives/Memoriam Margaret Sheldon, President Presidential Award Presentation Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Presentation - UJA Campaign Chairman Award Margaret Sheldon, President Presentation - UJA Women’s Campaign Award Margaret Sheldon, President Recognition - UJA Campaign Leadership Douglas Fink, General Campaign Presentation of Holocaust Education Award Bill & Carol Burke Presentation of Award to Mary Lil Walsh Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Nominating Committee Report Michael Greenstein, Chair Installation of Officers and Trustees Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Temple Hesed

Concluding Remarks Jeff Rubel, Incoming President

Refreshments

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012

Israel under the radar

Science on tap and record-breaking mezuzah

by MARCY OSTER JERUSALEM (JTA) – Here are some recent stories out of Israel that you may have missed: Extreme dental hygiene Doctors kept giving Bat-El Panker the brush-off as she tried to convince them that she had swallowed her 9½-inch toothbrush.

Panker, 24, of Kiryat Yam, visited two hospitals in northern Israel before she was able to convince a doctor that she had accidentally swallowed her green, white and orange toothbrush while brushing her teeth before bed. It slipped down her throat as she bent over the faucet to drink some water with the brush in her mouth. The plastic toothbrush did not show up on X-rays, leading doctors at the first hospital to send her home. “I begged for another exam – I knew I’d swallowed a big toothbrush – but no one believed me,” she told Ynet. “They thought I was crazy.”

Doctors at Carmel Hospital believed her story, but also did not see the object on an X-ray or ultrasound. They finally located it in her stomach using a sophisticated CT scan. The doctors were able to remove the toothbrush without resorting to surgery by coaxing it up the esophagus with a diagnostic endoscope. It is not known whether Panker will keep the toothbrush as a memento of her extreme dental hygiene.

Legislating a long weekend Israel for the first time could have a long weekend once a year. A proposal approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legisla-

Staff from the new Belgian park studied how to care for lions with staff from the Safari. Park officials had decided to move Danny from the Safari due to problems with another male lion, but are hopeful that he will sire offspring.

Hanging up its paddles Israel’s Table Tennis Association is hanging up its paddles. Instead of training Israeli athletes for future Olympic competition, the association has ceased operation due to budget cuts. The cuts stem from a decision to treat table tennis as an individual and not a team sport, which slashed its government funding in half. The closure of the association means that Israel will not participate in next month’s European Youth Championships in Austria, according to Ha’aretz. And Israel was fielding a contender – Nicole Trosman, 15, a candidate for the 2016 Olympics. Trosman is currently training in China.

Beer – and science – here Science was on tap in Tel Aviv bars.

Scientists and research students visited 55 bars and coffee houses in Tel Aviv recently to teach on topics ranging from astrophysics to quantum mechanics over a cold one. The Weizmann Institute’s annual Science on Tap program is popular with bar patrons, and the scientists would probably do it even without the free beer as it enables them to ply their trade up close and personal. The institute hopes through the program to spark interest about science in young people and maybe

Israelis picnicking and barbecuing in Jerusalem's Gan Sacker Park on the country's Independence Day. (Photo by Sophie Gordon/Flash 90) tion moves the Independence Day national holiday to the Thursday of the week in which the 5th of Iyar, the Hebrew anniversary of the day that Israel became a state, falls. The committee’s backing means the measure is likely to be adopted. Friday is the start of the weekend in Israel. Independence Day, or Yom Ha’atzmaut, is the only national holiday in Israel that is not also a religious Jewish holiday. It is marked by barbecues, day trips and community celebrations, often including fireworks. Memorial Day would be moved to the Wednesday of the week in which Independence Day is celebrated. If the 5th of Iyar now falls on a Friday or Saturday, it is moved to the Thursday before in order to prevent the desecration of Shabbat. If it falls on a Monday, it is moved to Tuesday to prevent preparations for Memorial Day

eve ceremonies on Shabbat. Lawmaker Zevulun Orlev of the Jewish Home Party said he would have to consult with religious Zionist rabbis due to the halachic implications of changing the day of Yom Ha’atzmaut for convenience and a long weekend, since the mourning of the omer period is suspended for the day, which also has religious significance for the Orthodox Zionist community.

The lion sleeps tonight – or maybe not Danny the Israeli lion is moving in with two lioness babes from the Netherlands.

Safari Israel, the Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan Zoological Center, sent Danny, a 5-year-old male lion, to his new home at the Belgian Zoological Park, where he will be joined by two female lions from the Netherlands.

See “Radar” on page 14

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Use this planned giving quick reference guide to help determine the best strategy for achieving your philanthropic and financial goals.

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Jewish bookstores writing new chapters

By Ben Sales NEW YORK (JTA) – The books are in the back at J. Levine Books and Judaica.

Before finding the volumes of Jewish titles at the midtown Manhattan store, customers encounter a rotating display of mezuzahs on the left, followed by shelves of Kiddush cups and a rack featuring a Hebrew-language version of the wordplay game Bananagrams.

Sitting on the colorful shelves to the right are kippot, tallitot and assorted Jewish toys.

Finally, one reaches the tractates of Talmud, prayer books, commentaries and modern Jewish novels. Due to the space taken by the other items, some of the titles that once adorned the shelves are now stored in the back room.

Like many traditional bookstores, J. Levine is wrestling with an adapt-or-die reality as it competes with online megabooksellers such as Amazon. The brickand-mortar shops have developed a variety of strategies to stay profitable and deal with declining book sales.

Some, such as J. Levine, have had some success in turning around losses. A number are beginning to rely more on Judaica than the once primary staple of books as they seek to maintain a steady stream of loyal, local customers.

“At the beginning it was a disaster,” said Daniel Levine, the fourth-generation owner of J. Levine. “Now the Internet is only helping us. All of our new business comes just from Google. It has helped us remain a player in the book world.”

Levine said his business dropped 18 percent from 2000 to 2005 as customers moved to Amazon. But since then the store’s sales have risen 20 percent, as Levine acclimated to the new environment of online commerce.

As more people began using Google to find bookstores, the mid-Manhattan location helped increase the traffic to J. Levine.

Aside from the increased traffic to the store’s website, Levine attributes the rise in business to a growing emphasis on selling Judaica. He says that ketubahs, tallitot, Kiddush cups and the like sell at a higher profit margin than Bibles or the latest book on Israel.

At right: Daniel Levine, fourthgeneration owner of Manhattan's J. Levine Books and Judaica, says that while online booksellers such as Amazon hurt his business a decade ago, now he's been able to use the Web to boost his sales.

(Photo by Alexandra Halpern)

Not everyone is as fortunate. For Rosenblum’s World of Judaica in Skokie, IL, a suburb of Chicago, focusing on Judaica has not offset deep cuts necessitated by the recent economic downturn. In 2005, the store had nine employees; today it has five. Likewise, Rosenblum’s has cut much of its advertising budget in recent years, said owner Avi Fox. “We can’t buy books for the prices Amazon is selling them,” he said.

But he is more concerned about competition from Jewish book publishers such as the Orthodox ArtScroll Mesorah Publications.

ArtScroll sells books wholesale to Jewish bookstores as well as directly from its website, offering discounts up to 30 percent and free shipping.

ArtScroll’s management says that by showcasing its offerings in catalogues and online, the company is actually supporting retail stores in Jewish population centers.

Its co-founder, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, says ArtScroll offers steep discounts to its retailers and that “bookstores can always give a better price than we do.”

Another strategy is employed by the Boston area’s Israel Book Shop, which is offsetting a drop in sales through an affiliation with its own Jewish publisher, Israel Book Shop Publications in Lakewood, NJ. The two businesses are separate, but the store promotes the publisher on its website and the publisher offers discounts to the store.

Israel Book Shop’s owner, Chaim Dovek, calls having the brick-and-mortar store a “huge advantage” because it allows him to store inventory for the website and serves as a spot for customers to “socialize and browse.” In fact, he says the majority of the shop’s sales come from the store and not from its website.

These owners also compete with Amazon through their own websites, but some of those efforts fall short. West Side Judaica, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, caters to a cross-section of the Jewish community. It aims to stay afloat the old-fashioned way – by relying on local customers and endorsements See “Bookstores” on page 10

JUNE 7, 2012 ■

THE REPORTER

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012

Regular Scheduleof

Services

ABINGTON TOR AH 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 749 Northern Blvd., Clarks Summit, PA 18411 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 ISR AEL____________________ Affiliation: Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Allan L. Smith President: Henry M. Skier Contact Person: Len London (570) 698-9651 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: Phyllis Miller 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__________ Cantor Charles Osborne President: Steve Natt Forest Drive 1516 Hemlock Farms, Lords Valley, PA 18428 570-775-7497 • E-Mail: jf hf@enter.net Friday evening Shabbat service 7:30 pm, Saturday morning Shabbat Service 9:30 am.

MACHZIKEH HADAS SYNAGOGUE__________________ Rabbi Mordechai Fine President: Dr. Shaya Barax 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 Presidents: Eric Weinberg 1 Knox Street, Scranton, PA 18505, (off Lake Scranton Rd.) 570-344-7201 Friday evening Shabbat, 8 pm; Saturday morning Shabbat, 11:15 am TEMPLE ISR AEL 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 ISR AEL OF THE POCONOS_________________ Affiliation: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Rabbi Baruch Melman President: Chuck Feinstein Contact person: Art Glantz 570-424-7876 660 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, 8pm; Saturday morning Shabbat, 9 am TEMPLE ISR AEL OF SCR ANTON____________________ Affiliation: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Rabbi Joseph Mendelsohn President: Michael Mardo 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.

d’var torah

Lighting up our surroundings

by RABBI MENDEL BENDET, DIRECTOR, CHABAD LUBAVITCH OF THE POCONOS BeHa’alotcha, Numbers 8:1-12:16 In this week’s Torah portion, BeHa’alotcha, Aaron, the kohen gadol (high priest), is commanded to light the menorah, “Speak to Aaron...When you light the lamps.”

According to Jewish law, any Jew, even someone who is not a kohen, is permitted to light the menorah and the kindling will be valid. Furthermore, the trimming of the menorah’s wicks need not necessarily be done by the high priest; any kohen is allowed to perform the task. Why, then, is the commandment to light the menorah directed specifically at Aaron?

To explain: The fact that the Torah addresses Aaron indicates that although others are permitted to kindle the lamps, Aaron, the high priest, is the one who should do so.

For lighting the menorah is an activity best done only by someone with the spiritual standing of a kohen gadol.

The commandment to kindle the menorah is symbolic of every Jew’s obligation to involve himself with others and exert a positive influence on everyone with whom he comes in contact. All of us are commanded to ignite the Divine spark in our fellow Jews and light up our surroundings.

How are we to exert this influence? By emulating the

Friendship continuing to aid South Sudanese rebels during Sudan’s second civil war, which lasted from 1983-2005 and resulted in an estimated 1.5 million to 2.5 million deaths.

Angelos Agok, a U.S.-based activist and a 13-year veteran in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, recalls that the SPLM’s ties to Israel were kept discrete. The Israeli government declined to comment on the subject.

Koren says the relationship with South Sudan is consistent with Israel’s strategic interests in East Africa, where state failure and political extremism have provided terrorist groups with potential bases of operation.

Agriculture is another reason for the alliance. South Sudan’s economic future likely depends on large-scale farming. There was little commercial development in the region during the war years, and the country still imports much of its food from Uganda, despite sitting on some of Africa’s richest potential farmland. It’s an area in which Israel has deep expertise and it shares that expertise in ongoing cooperative projects with numerous developing countries.

Israel already has a small presence in the country in the form of IsraAid, an Israeli NGO coalition. In March, an IsraAid delegation helped South Sudan set up its Ministry of Social Development, which will provide social workrelated services for a population traumatized by decades of war.

The relationship does face a potential pitfall: the future of the estimated 3,000 South Sudanese living in Israel who

Bookstores

from local synagogues. The store shut down its website because it wasn’t sufficiently profitable. Owner Yakov Salczer says the store’s sales have declined 30 percent during the past five years. But he has not lost hope in spite of the tough climate.

“Hashem has a plan,” Salczer said. “Customers come to me because they want to support me. The only reason I’m still in business is because I have local customers supporting me [and] support from the local synagogue.”

But according to the director of the Jewish Book Council, Carolyn Hessel, today’s bookstores will survive in the future only by investing in online commerce. “They have to turn toward the online presence,” Hessel said. “I don’t think the brick-and-mortar store is as important.

As the generation that grew up with the brick-and-mortar store dies out, you’re going to see less and less brickand-mortar stores.”

During the past few decades, Manhattan has seen a

example of Aaron, the high priest, the embodiment of the highest level of holiness. We, too, must not content ourselves with presenting a watered-down version of Torah and mitzvot to our fellow Jews; only the highest levels of sanctity and holiness will suffice!

What was so special about the kohen gadol? One day each year, on Yom Kippur, the high priest entered the holy of holies, the most sanctified place on earth. The chamber itself was bare except for the tablets of the law, the Ten Commandments. Indeed, this is the essence of the high priest: the Torah in its purest form.

The Ten Commandments were engraved in stone, their letters part and parcel of the tablets themselves, inseparable from the substance in which they were etched. Again, this expresses the nature of the high priest: someone to whom the Torah is his very essence.

The commandment to light the menorah is both the duty and the merit of every single Jew. All of us are required to kindle our own “lamp,” our Godly soul, and ignite the spark of God that dwells in others. And while any Jew can and must light the “menorah,” his own Godly soul and his environment, it must be done in a manner consistent with the high priest, whose whole being was synonymous with the highest levels of sanctity.

Continued from page 3

fled to Israel via Egypt during the long civil war. Israel has struggled with how to handle the migrants and differentiating between those who came seeking refuge from violence and those who came in search of economic opportunity.

Israel “takes its obligations as a signatory to the Refugee Convention very seriously, given the history of the Jewish people and the history of many people who ended up coming to Israel,” said Mark Hetfield, an official at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society who in two weeks will become its interim president and CEO. “But at the same time, they need to send a signal to people coming for economic reasons that they can’t sneak into the country under the guise of being asylum seekers.”

In February, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced plans to begin deporting South Sudanese who would not accept government financial incentives to leave the country voluntarily.

Hetfield, who is now senior vice president at HIAS for policy and programs, helped oversee a program in Israel that taught job skills to South Sudanese who planned on returning home, but the program was suspended when the threat of deportation loomed. Hetfield says the group would like the Israeli government to grant South Sudanese a “temporary protected status” that would prevent them from being deported to their unstable homeland.

Advocates for the Africans are appealing to Israel’s Supreme Court in an attempt to stall or halt the deportations.

Continued from page 9

sharp decline in the number of Jewish bookstores. Levine noted that at least four local Judaica stores have closed since the 1990s. Before World War II, he said, there were dozens of such stores in Jewish neighborhoods like the Lower East Side. Now only two remain: his and West Side Judaica.

Levine, however, hopes the reputation afforded by his 120-year-old shop’s history will help keep it alive for generations to come. Although he sees the value of buying Judaica on the Internet, he still thinks customers will continue to appreciate the advantages of a traditional Jewish bookstore.

“Can you see the ketubah you’re buying online?” he said. “How can you figure out what the real color is, what the feel is? How can you feel a tallis made out of silk? Are these the types of things that people are going to give up forever? I don’t think people will really do that.”

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012

Symposium 3

stay to speak with her.

Sol Lurie, of New Jersey, lived in the Kovno Ghetto at age 11, and survived Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald as a young teen. According to Lurie, he initially agreed to speak at a grandchild’s school because he loved his nuclear family “so dearly” and lost them all. Now he travels throughout the United States teaching “respect and love for parents, and respect for other people.”

His motto is “Love, don’t hate.”

Judith Sherman, now from New Jersey, was a hidden child betrayed to the Nazis.

She was imprisoned but later released.

She hid in the forest but was captured and sent to Auschwitz, and then to Ravensbruck, the only camp set up strictly for women. She spoke of “the miracles that saved her along the way,” and focused her message on personal responsibility

Continued from page 7

and fair treatment of other people.

Zilberberg, an area survivor who was separated from his family as a child.

He was shipped to and survived several concentration and death camps, and ultimately remained a sole survivor. He relates his story, yet seeks to inspire his audience “to act humanely and find the strength to persevere against all odds.” Zilberberg shared his session with Soni Sandhaus, who recounted her parents’ stories and described the experience of growing up as a child of survivors.

This year, one classroom had the distinction of presenting shared speakers who, “in a sense, were being reunited as survivor and liberator,” noted program organizers.

Scrantonian Walter Gantz, who was a medic with the 95th Medical Battalion, traveling with the 30th Infantry Division, shared a Abe

Several facilitators and volunteers, some who served double duty, posed for a group photo (l-r): Bill Burke, Phyllis Malinov, Phyllis Chazan, David Malinov, Carol Burke, Jim Kane and Georgie Conrad.

room each day with a child survivor of an abandoned train that had been discovered by his division. The cattle cars train, filled with survivors of Bergen-Belsen, was found on April 14, 1945, approximately a month before the end of the war. Elisabeth Seaman, who spoke on May 15, and Micha Tomkiewicz, who spoke on May 16, were

young children present on the train with their mothers. They had been traveling for most of a week with almost no food or water, unaware that they were headed toward Theresienstadt. When the Germans heard that the Americans were approaching, they abandoned the train and left.

See “Symposium 4” on page 13

A panel discussion was filmed in the TV studios of Marywood University’s Communications Department on May 15, the first day of the symposium. L-r: Moderator Carol Rubel, Michael Herskovitz, Sol Lurie, Judith Sherman and Elly Gross. The finished DVD will be part of the resource collection at Marywood and at the HERC.

Liberator Alan Moskin posed with several students.

Congratulations to all!

High School

University

Allison Hollander Aryeh Rosenberg Michael Tischler Leo Aronzon Michal Fink Scott Monsky Steve Herman

Temple University Fairleigh Dickenson University Syracuse University Fairleigh Dickenson University Stern College for Women Cornell University Syracuse University

Degrees of Distinction Josh Herlands

Graduates in our Federation Family 2012

Yonasan Aichenbaum Alexandra (Sasha) Aronzon Tzvi Ben-Dov Brittany Benson Ayelet Elefant Racheli Epstein Yitzchak Flam Chana Freeman Mayer Freeman Rachael Friedman Shimon Goldberg Tamara Green Avigayil Guttman Nechama Herber Menachem Mendel Itkin Yocheved Kofman Taylor Kreinces Shmuel Kurtzer Eli Laury Moshe Luchins Chaim Saks Esther Schnaidman Goldie Seiff Shaul Shkedi Michelle Wadika Chanoch Weg Gershon Weinreb

Harvard Law School

If you would like to have your name published on our list of graduates please notify Dassy Ganz at 961-2300, ext. 2.

Symposium 4

The American soldiers who discovered the train and opened its doors saw “horrors they had not encountered before,” such as “people packed in like sardines,” and immediately called for medics to set up a field hospital and tend to the sick and dying. Gantz was among the medics who treated the survivors for seven weeks – first at the train site, then in a building in a nearby town that was converted into a hospital – before being shipped on to the Pacific. Both Seaman and Tomkiewicz have been in touch with Gantz in the last year, but had never met him. Each made the effort of traveling to meet him and to speak together with him to a group at the symposium. Students in this room heard the story from two different angles, and also heard more from each survivor of their family’s personal story.

Seaman, who lives on the West Coast, was visiting the East Coast and agreed to travel from Philadelphia to be at the symposium, despite having to return to California the following day. Tomkiewicz, who teaches physics at Brooklyn College, drove in the early morning on the second day of the program.

Additionally at the symposium, on May 16, Hartz spoke to the entire student body of North Pocono High School at an assembly arranged in connection with her presence in Scranton for the symposium. Approximately 1,000 students heard her story of life in France under the Nazis, including her rescue by a Christian family.

Organizers of the event thanked Tomm Evans, North Pocono High School English Department chairman; and John Marichak, high school principal, for arranging the program. Also thanked were: Coordinators – Mary Ann Answini and Tova Weiss.

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Continued from page 12 Dedicated staff – Rae Magliocchi.

Planning Committee – Bill Burke, Carol Burke, Maggy

Bushwick, Jerry Chazan, Phyllis Chazan, Jim Connors, Susie Connors, Dassy Ganz, Seth Gross, Jim Kane, Leah Laury, Dr. David Malinov, Phyllis Malinov, Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn, Carol Rubel and Laura Santoski.

Materials packing – Mary Ann Answini, Carol Burke, Phyllis Chazan, Jim Connors, Susie Connors, Jim Kane, Leah Laury, Rae Magliocchi, Dr. David Malinov, Phyllis Malinov and Tova Weiss.

Marywood University – Liaison Anne H. O’Neill, Office of Conferences and Special Events; Sister John Michelle Southwick, IHM; President Sister Anne Munley; Vince Gatto, Information Technology Department; and IT students Mary Kay Hart and Harry O’Neill. Additionally thanked were security personnel, the dining services workers and Pat Toolan and his staff at the theater, including Jim Langan and Phil Gomez.

Filming at Marywood University – Dr. Michael Mirabito, professor, Communications Department; Ernie Mengoni, coordinator of broadcast operations; and Al Monelli, staff of broadcast operations.

Filming coordinator – Laura Santoski.

Guest speakers – Ronnie Breslow, Sonia Goldstein, Elly Gross, Jack Gruener, Ruth Gruener, Ruth Hartz, Frida Herskovits, Michael Herskovitz, Sol Lurie, Manya Perel, Elisabeth Seaman, Judith Sherman, Micha Tomkiewicz and Abe Zilberberg – all survivors of the Holocaust; Sonia Sandhaus, child of survivors; Walter Gantz, World War II veteran and medic; and liberator Alan Moskin.

Facilitators – Bill Burke, Carol Burke, Maggy Bushwick, Phyllis Chazan, Sue Colombo-Diamond, David

At left: Some of the survivors and facilitators posed for a group photo on May 16. First row (l-r): Frida Herskovits, Judith Sherman, Ronnie Breslow, Manya Perel, Sonia Goldstein and Ruth and Jack Gruener.

Second row: John Farkas, Tova Weiss, David Fallk and Sol Lurie.

L-r: Micha Tomkiewicz, Walter Gantz and Alan Moskin posed together.

Fallk, John Farkas, Seth Gross, Santina Lonergan, Dr. David Malinov, Phyllis Malinov, Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn and Laura Santoski.

Facilitator training workshop leader and panel discussion moderator – Carol Rubel.

General overview presenter – Rabbi Steve Nathan.

Volunteers – Jerry Chazan, Phyllis Chazan, Jim Connors, Susie Connors, Georgie Conrad, John Farkas, Antonine Kane, Jim Kane, Leah Laury and Carol Rubel.

Driving volunteers – Nancy Ben Dov, Jerry Chazan, Phyllis Chazan, Dassy Ganz, Leah Laury, Ruth Luchins, Dr. David Malinov and Jay Weiss.

Support – The Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Council, for funding the Abe Plotkin Memorial Lecture on the Holocaust and Social Justice; Sam Rosen and the Rosen Family Holocaust Education Fund, which helped cover lunch expenses, driving expenses and more; Joanne Aronsohn Monahan, for the purchase of books for teachers and libraries; Jim and Susie Connors; and Jerry and Phyllis Chazan.

Also thanked were the school principals and educators who committed to the program, as well as to Marywood University and the Jewish Federation.

“We sincerely hope that we’ve given thanks to the many people who made this event possible. If a name was inadvertently left out, please accept our apologies and our gratitude,” noted a symposium representative.

ÊVisit the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania on the web at www.jewishnepa.org or on Facebook

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012

Jewish Federation of NEPA

Jewish Film Library

The Jewish Film Library Update - Check out new titles in both feature & non-feature films.

Contact Dassy Ganz dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org for information.

Feature Films Currently Available- SEptember 2011 A Stranger Among Us - A New York policewoman enters the Hasidic community to investigate a diamond robbery/murder.

Cast a Giant Shadow - U.S. Colonel David “Mickey” Marcus goes to 1940’s Israel to help re organize its army.

Defiance - The extraordinary true story of the Bielski brothers who turned a group of war refugees into powerful freedom fighters against the Nazi regime Frisco Kid - It’s 1850 and new rabbi Avram Belinski sets out from Philadelphia toward San Francisco. Cowpoke bandit Tom Lillard hasn’t seen a rabbi before. But he knows when one needs a heap of help. And getting this tenderfoot to Frisco in one piece will cause a heap of trouble - with the law, Native Americans and a bunch of killers.

Gentleman’s Agreement - A magazine writer (played by Gregory Peck) posed as a Jew to expose anti-Semitism in 1940’s America.

Good - Featured at the 2009 Jewish Film Festival of NEPA In an attempt to establish its credibility, the new Nazi government is seeking out experts to endorse its policies, and they trip across Johnnie Halder’s (Viggo Mortensen) sensitively written 1920s novel of a husband who aids his terminally ill wife in an assisted suicide. Although Johnnie despises Naziism he is flattered by the attention paid to his novel, and accepts (with misgivings) an honorary commission in the SS. This opens the door to promotions at the University. He becomes Dean of Literature after the former Dean, Herr Mandelbaum “leaves in such a hurry.” He is tapped to inspect facilities for the care of the mentally ill, based on his “humanitarian” writings. Throughout “Good”, Johnnie is “good,” but he becomes increasingly blind to what is happening around him as he travels down the slippery slope that eventually takes him to Auschwitz on an inspecton tour. Never evil, Johnnie Halder is an Everyman who goes along, accepts what he told without question, and is increasingly co-opted by flattery and comfort. In the end, he comes to realize that he is stumbling through a waking nightmare of which he in part created. Not judgmental of its protagonist, GOOD invites us to question just what a “good” man is and does and where the bounds of responsibility lie.

Kazablan*- Israel’s all-time Great Musical, nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. This 1970’s mega-hit is Israel’s answer to the musical West Side Story, with its story of star-crossed lovers, street gangs and cultural differences. With its exhilarating music and choreography, Kazablan is sure to entertain.

Lies My Father Told Me - The heart-warming story of the Jewish immigrant community of 1920’s Montreal. David, the grandson, lives with his parents, his grandfather Zaida and Zaida’s aging horse Ferdeleh.

Noodle - (PAL version- can only be played on computer NOT regular DVD players)At thirty-seven, Miri is a twice-widowed, El Al flight attendant. Her well-regulated existence is suddenly turned upside down by an abandoned Chinese boy whose migrant-worker mother has been deported from Israel. The film is a touching comic-drama in which two human beings -- as different from each other as Tel Aviv is from Beijing -- accompany each other on a remarkable journey, one that takes them both back to a meaningful life.

Schindler’s List*-The Academy Award winning film by Steven Spielberg tells the true story of Oskar Schindler, the man responsible for saving the lives of hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust.

School Ties - A young man from the wrong side of the tracks gets a football scholarship to a private school, which will lead to his entrance to Harvard. He is well accepted at the blue blood school until it is revealed that he is Jewish.

The Angel Levine - Things couldn’t get worse for Jewish tailor Morris Mishkin (Zero Mostel). His shop has gone up in flames, his daughter has married outside the faith and, worse yet, his wife is slowly dying. But just when he decides to give up on God, a mysterious man (Harry Belafonte) appears, claiming to be his Jewish guardian angel! Doubtful that the stranger is Jewish, never mind an angel. Mishkin must overcome his skepticism if he want ones last chance at redemption.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz -*A Jewish teenager is determined to “make it” no matter what it takes. On his path to success he faces anti-Semitism, betrays family and friends, and faces the responsibilities of being an adult.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas -* Set during World War II, this is the story of Bruno, an innocent, and naïve eight-year –old boy who meets a boy while romping in the woods. A surprising friendship develops.

The Impossible Spy*- Elie Cohen was a family man leading a quiet, normal life, when at the age of 35, he was recruited by Israel’s secret service (Mossad) and assigned a mission that would forever change his life, and the history of Israel. Today he is regarded as a legend and a national hero.

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob -*In this French comedy, Louis de Funes stars as Victor Pivert, a hopelessly bigoted man. Victor loves people, as long as they’re Caucasian, French, and Catholic. But when it comes to foreigners, Victor draws the line. His ultimate nightmare becomes a reality the day of his daughter’s wedding, when he stumbles across a group of Arab revolutionaries and is forced into hiding as a rabbi. Gerard Oury’s film features an onslaught of hilarious chase sequences.

Ushpizin- A fable set in the orthodox Jewish world in Jerusalem, Ushpizin tells the story of a poor childless couple, Moshe and Malli (played to perfection by award winning actor Shuli Rand and his real-life wife, Michal Bat-Sheva Rand) whose belief in the goodness of the Almighty follows a roller coaster of situations and emotions but leads to the ultimate happiness, the birth of their son.

Non-Feature Films Blessed is the Match*- In 1944, 22-year old Hannah Senesh parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe with a small group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine. Theirs was the only military rescue mission for Jews that occurred in World War II. Told through Hannah’s letters, diaries and poems, her mother’s memoirs and the recollections of those who knew and loved her, the film traces her life from her childhood in Budapest to her time in British-controlled Palestine, to her daring mission to rescue Jews in her native Hungary.

Budapest to Gettysburg*- The past and present collide as a world-renowned historian confronts a history he has refused to study- his own. Gabor Boritt is an expert on Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War. But it took his son’s urging to get him to return to his native Hungary and learn about the Jewish experience there from the time of his childhood until, together with his family, he escaped to the United States.

Constantine’s Sword - Constantine’s Sword is an astonishing exploration of the dark side of Christianity, following acclaimed author and former priest James Carrol on a journey of remembrance and reckoning. Warning of what happens when military power and religious fervor are joined, this new film from Oscar-nominated director Oren Jacoby asks: Is the fanaticism that threatens the world today fueled by our own deeply held beliefs?

I Have Never Forgotten You - The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal*- Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who lost 89 family members, helped track down over 1,00 Nazi war criminals and spent six decades fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people.

Into the Arms of Strangers - A superb documentary that chronicles the Kindertransport, an extraordinary rescue operation to save the youngest victims of Nazi terror.

Making Trouble - A just released documentary telling the story of six of the greatest female Jewish comics entertainers of the last century- Molly Picon, Fanny Brice Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner and Wendy Wasserstein.

Night and Fog - One of first cinematic reflections on the horrors of the Holocaust, Night and Fog, filmmaker Alain Renais investigates the cyclical nature of man’s violence toward man and presents the unsettling suggestion that such horror could come again.

Steal a Pencil for Me*- 1943: Holland is under Total Nazi occupation. After deportation Jack his wife and his new love find themselves living in the same barracks in a concentration camp. This documentary chronicles the secret love letters written by Jack and Ina which gives them the strength to survive the war.

The Case for Israel - Democracy’s Outpost Famed attorney, Alan Dershowitz, 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. Featured commentators include: Ehud Barak, Caroline Glick, Dore Gold, Tzipi Livni and Natan Sharansky.

The Jewish Americans - A Series by David Grubin*- This series traces 350 years of Jewish American history from the arrival of the first Jews in 1654 up to the present day.

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg - As baseball’s first Jewish star, Hammering’ Hank Greenberg’s career contains all the makings of a true American success story. An extraordinary ball player notorious for his hours of daily practice, Greenberg’s career was an inspiration to all and captured the headlines and the admiration of sportswriters and fans alike. This is the story of how he became an American hero.

With All Your Heart- (Hebrew with English subtitles)The poignant true story of the life of Leut. Roi Klein, who gave up his life to save his battalion during the Lebanon War of 2002.

*Films marked with an * are newly acquired by the Film Library.

Weegee photography exhibit

The International Center of Photography, located at 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd St., New York City, will hold the exhibit “Weegee: Murder Is My Business” through September 2.

“Infamous” photographer Weegee (1899-1968), a Jewish immigrant from what is now Ukraine, has been called one of the most relentlessly inventive figures in American photography.

His graphically dramatic and often lurid photographs of New York crimes and news events set the standard for what has become known as tabloid journalism. His rising career as a news photographer in the 1930s coincided with the heyday of Murder Inc., the Jewish gang from Brownsville who served as paid hitmen for The Syndicate, a confederation of mostly Italian crime bosses in New York.

Shalom TV on the web

Shalom TV Live – a new live channel – is on the Internet at www.shalomtv.com. The channel features daily news from Israel, children’s programming in the morning and afternoon, live interviews and public affairs and cultural programming. Scheduling information is included on the site. Viewers can also sign up for a weekly e-mail about programming.

Urban men exhibit at Jewish Museum

Fourteen paintings and a selection of textiles and papercuts by Kehinde Wiley will be on exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York City until July 29. The exhibit includes large-scale paintings of young urban men, rendered in poses typical of classical European portrait painting. In choosing the men in this series – who are Ethiopian and native-born Jews and Arab Israelis – the artist seeks to express a modern sensibility that supersedes religious and ethnic affiliations by placing them against ornate backgrounds inspired by Jewish papercuts, an intricate form of folk and ceremonial art.

For more information, visit www.thejewishmuseum. org or contact the museum at 212-423-3200 or info@ thejm.org.

Radar

Continued from page 8 attract some new students. Bar patrons reportedly signed up weeks in advance to participate in the program, which grew from 40 bars last year. Maybe they find science more palatable when they are a little tipsy?

Rest in peace?

The medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides is said to be rolling over in his grave over plans to turn his tomb in Tiberias into a major pilgrimage site. Maimonides, also known as the Rambam, spoke out against pilgrimages to rabbis’ tombs when he was living, and he would not be happy with the announced $10 million renovation to his place of eternal rest. The reno- A Jewish woman read and prayed at vation, funded the burial place of the Rambam in mostly by for- Tiberias. (Photo by Chen Leopold/ eign donors, will Flash90/JTA) include a glass enclosure of the tomb housing a 3-D eternal flame and a laser beam rising from the tomb several miles into the air. Maimonides did not believe in mysticism and wrote in his seminal work the Mishneh Torah that headstones should not be erected on graves and that people should not visit graves. Maimonides was born in Spain in 1135 and died in Egypt in 1204.

Mezuzah on a world record roll Visitors to the emergency room of the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot may be kissing the world’s largest mezuzah on their way in. The 4-foot, 7-inch tall bronze mezuzah recently donated to the center may soon take its place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The parchment inside the mezuzah is nearly 2 feet long when rolled out. It was donated by Israeli-French businessman Shmuel Flatto-Sharon, who has made an official request with Guinness to record it as the largest mezuzah in the

JUNE 7, 2012 ■

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NEWS IN bRIEF From JTA

Satellite images show crews hiding evidence at Iran nuclear site

New satellite images show possible recent nuclear activity at the Parchin facility in Iran as well as attempts to hide evidence of past activity. A May 25 image of the facility east of Tehran revealed “ground-scraping activity” and the presence of bulldozers, according to diplomats quoted by international news services who attended a closed-door briefing

by United Nations nuclear agency officials on May 30. On May 31, the Institute for Science and International Security posted a similar image on its website. Its image showed that two buildings that previously had been located on the site were razed, according to reports. Last March, according to the International Atomic Energy Association, the nuclear watchdog of the U.N., satellite images showed crews and vehicles cleaning up radioactive evidence of a test nuclear explosion. The United States, China, France, Russia, Germany and Great Britain jointly called on Iran to grant inspectors access to the site. An IAEA report last year said that construction developments at Parchin are “strong indicators of possible weapon development.” Iran has dismissed the charges against Parchin as “childish” and “ridiculous,” Reuters reported. This most recent image is believed to be further evidence that Iran is “sanitizing” the site of any incriminating evidence before possibly allowing IAEA inspectors into the complex. At the May 30 briefing, IAEA deputy director Gen. Herman Nackaerts presented the satellite images indicating that at least two small buildings had been removed. Nackaerts did not elaborate on what he believed was happening at the site, apart from reiterating that the agency needed to go there to clarify the issue, diplomats told reporters.

Contested Ulpana buildings to be moved under Netanyahu plan

Five apartment buildings in the Ulpana neighborhood on the outskirts of the Beit El settlement in the West Bank will be relocated under a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The five apartment buildings, home to about 30 families, would be moved several hundred yards to land that is not privately owned by Palestinians, under the plan Netanyahu presented to his Cabinet on June 3. The plan to relocate the actual buildings, instead of razing them and rebuilding new ones, also would save the government money. The plan requires the approval of Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last September that the neighborhood should be razed, siding with a lawsuit filed by Palestinians who said they owned the land. As part of the plan, Netanyahu said that 10 housing units would be built in the settlement for every one moved. The change requires the attorney general’s approval. Another part of the plan would require the state to fight aggressively any future legal petitions on the issue. Netanyahu reportedly presented the plan in an effort to avoid legislation on the issue, which he said would not help the settlements and other West Bank neighborhoods facing similar evacuation or destruction. “Our policy is to bolster the settlements while adhering to the law,” Netanyahu said. “We could always go for a legislative solution, but that has its prices, including in the international arena.” A bill set to be voted on by the Knesset on June 6 would override a Supreme Court decision to remove the buildings by retroactively legalizing buildings built on contested land if the owner does not challenge the construction within four years. Netanyahu has forbidden his government ministers from voting for the legislation.

Israeli food aid groups talk of striking without gov’t funding

Nonprofit groups that feed the needy say they may decide to go on strike for a day or two if they don’t get up to $64 million in the upcoming budget. The groups told Israel’s welfare and social services minister, Moshe Kahlon, at a meeting the week of May 31 that they could either close down or refuse to provide food for the hundreds they serve on a daily basis, according to Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket Israel, one of the country’s largest food aid organizations based in Ra’anana,. Kahlon promised to get back to the groups on May 31, Kroch told JTA – but the Leket Israel chief was not expecting a call. While the some 200 food aid organizations throughout Israel believe they need the $64 million government contribution to serve the 17 percent of Israelis who live below the poverty line, Kahlon said he would work to make sure less than half of that, or nearly $26 million, would be the baseline in the 2013 budget. The groups also want a say in how the money is used. The government, through local welfare offices, sends needy Israelis to the groups for special food packages and other assistance. “No one knows better than us about food insecurity in day-to-day life in Israel,” Kroch told JTA on May 31. Kroch said he has been receiving more private calls for assistance from middle-class Israelis who have never needed help before and also do not know how to “work the system.” He added that last summer’s social equality demonstrations, and those expected this year, are also on behalf of the middle class and do not benefit those in real poverty. “For the poor, we have already lost the fight,” he said.

European gov’ts must protect Jewish cemeteries, resolution affirms

Jewish cemeteries face special risks and European governments need to act to ensure their protection, the Council of Europe affirmed in a resolution. “There are numerous Jewish cemeteries in Europe, and they need to be protected and preserved,” read the resolution passed recently by the standing committee of the council, an international NGO promoting pan-European cooperation. Jewish cemeteries “are part of the European cultural heritage” and are “probably more at risk than those of other confessions,” it said.

The Europe office of World Agudas Yisroel, a political movement representing haredi Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews, has identified 10,529 Jewish cemeteries and 1,859 mass graves across Europe. Agudas Yisroel called the resolution, for which it had campaigned, a “milestone.” The council’s standing committee adopted the resolution on May 25 at a meeting in Albania. Dr. Haim Fireberg, senior researcher for Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the study of European Jewry, told JTA that his institute records dozens of attacks against Jewish cemeteries in Europe yearly, mostly in Eastern Europe. Desecration of graves accounted for 13 percent of antisemitic attacks worldwide recorded by the Kantor Center in 2011. “Cemeteries are a popular target because it’s practically a risk-free attack,” Firebirg said.

Yad Vashem, European group sign pact to enhance Holocaust education

Yad Vashem and the Council of Europe have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote Holocaust education throughout the council’s 47 member states. The agreement was signed on May 30 at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem by Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem, and Thorbjorn Jagland, the council’s secretary general. It formalizes an ad-hoc relationship over the last 15 years and encourages new programs to enhance

cooperation. Among the items included are exploring the organization of a Holocaust education policy forum at Yad Vashem for educational policymakers, and fostering and developing cooperative relationships between member states and Yad Vashem. “This agreement denotes willingness to deepen and enhance Holocaust education in Europe, and to encourage teacher training and to reconstitute historical awareness,” Avner said. The International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem conducts some 70 seminars annually for educators from abroad and produces material in 20 languages. The council is an international organization promoting cooperation among European countries in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and culture.

Colorado Indians, Jews share genetic marker

Israeli geneticists have linked a Native American population in Colorado to Jews expelled from Spain during the Inquisition. Geneticists at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv discovered the genetic mutation marker BRCA1 in a group of Mexican Indians who had emigrated from Mexico to the United States over the past 200 years and settled in Colorado, Ha’aretz reported on May 30. BRCA1 is found in Jews of Ashkenazi origin and leads to a higher incidence of breast and ovarian cancer. Researchers say the mutation found in the Colorado Indians is identical to that of Ashkenazim, according to Ha’aretz, and dates to a period more than 600 years ago. Jews were expelled from Spain in the 15th century. Researchers say this offers genetic proof that some of the Jews expelled from Spain who reached South America intermarried with the indigenous population, whose descendants later migrated to Mexico and then the United States, Ha’aretz reported.

Colorado’s Mexican Indians do not have any traditions that link them to Jews, according to Eitan Friedman, who headed the Sheba team.

Jewish Federation Acquires New Film Festival Picks Dassy Ganz, assistant to executive director of the Jewish Federation, announces that thanks to the generosity of the Glassman family of Scranton, the Federation film library has acquired a number of newly released films recently shown at film festivals around the country.

Film Library Continues to Grow Thanks to Your Donations Thanks to the generosity of Ms. Lindsay Leventhal, the film library now owns 5 new films of Jewish interest: A Film Unfinished- Using footage completely unparalleled, A Film Unfinished provides new insight into the Nazi propaganda machine further exposing an agenda already known to be deceitful beyond our greatest beliefs. (non-feature) A Matter of Size- Winner of numerous international awards, this Israeli comedy is a hilarious and heart-warming tale about four overweight guys who learn to love themselves through the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. (not rated) Blessed is the Match- The life and death of Hannah Senesh (non-feature) Inglorious Basterds- This popular WWII revenge fantasy film follows a Nazi-scalping squad of American soldiers is on a daring mission to take down the leaders of the Third Reich (rated R) Komediant-(non-feature) The glory days of the Yiddish stage are brought to life in this funny saga of a legendary theatrical family, the Bursteins. Smoothly incorporating rare archival footage and interviews with Yiddish stage veterans, this tightly edited and briskly paced documentary is as richly bittersweet and the Yiddish theater itself.

Nora’s Will- When his ex-wife Nora dies right before Passover, Jose is forced to stay with her body until she can be properly put to rest. He soon realizes that he is part of Nora’s plan to bring her family back together for one last Passover feast, leading Jose to reexamine their relationship. (not rated) Rashevski’s Tango- Just about every dilemma of modern Jewish identity gets an airing in this packed tale of a clan of more or less secularized Belgian Jews thrown into spiritual crisis by the death of the matriarch who has held all doubts and family warfare in check. (not rated) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- Based on the best-selling novel, this movie is set during WWII and tells the inspiring story of two boys and the power of the human spirit. (rated PG-13) The Hidden Child- A gripping tale of survival, The Hidden Child tells the story of a six-year-old girl and her sister, separated from their parents, dodging bullets, lying for survival, and relying on the compassion of strangers To Take a Wife- A powerful drama about a woman’s struggle for independence and emotional freedom in the face of family tradition. (not rated) The following are also now available for private and synagogue viewing: Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story. This excellent documentary, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, portrays the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning that baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story was shown at the 2012 UJA Kick-Off in Scranton this past September.

The Debt- Academy Award® winner Helen Mirren and two-time Academy Award® nominee Tom Wilkinson star in 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?

Sarah’s Key- Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. Julia learns that the apartment she and her husband Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand’s family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and 4-year-old Michel.

Please contact Dassy Ganz at the Federation to borrow these or other films in our library.

ÊVisit the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania on the web at www.jewishnepa.org or on Facebook

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THE REPORTER ■ JUNE 7, 2012