March 28, 2013 Edition of The Reporter

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Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania MARCH 28, 2013

VOLUME XI, NUMBER 7

Volunteers for Israel event to be held on April 16 The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania will host Jean Blom, of Hallstead, and her son, Jacob, who share their experience volunteering in Israel, on Tuesday, April 16, at 7 pm, Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day. The program will be held at the JCC, 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, and will be free of charge. Light refreshments will be served.

The Bloms will speak about their time working with Volunteers for Israel, which began in summer 1982, during the Galilee War. Israeli reservists were being called up to defend the country just as the first crops of the season were ripening throughout the Jezreel Valley. The soldiers were needed to protect the country’s northern flank, but without their help in the fields the crop loss would be disastrous. To ease the problem, Israeli General Aharon Davidi sent emissaries to the United States to enlist volunteers to help with the harvest, but there were concerns about whether people would leave the safety of home to travel to a foreign land in the midst of conflict.

The response has been called “immediate and overwhelming.” More than 600 men and women signed on. By working the fields and ignoring the long days and living conditions,

Jean Blom

Jacob Blom

they helped save the harvest and freed up the reservists to fight. This became known as “The Miracle” by Sar-El, an organization

whose Hebrew acronym means “Service to Israel.” Volunteers have helped Israel shoulder its defense burden and boosted its

JCC Teen Trip participant to speak at Federation Yom Ha’atzmaut event

Brad Smertz, a participant of the Scranton JCC’s teen trip last December, will speak about his experiences and im-

Smertz, of Clarks Summit,. He pressions on Tuesday, April is a junior at Abington Heights 16, Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s High School and is employed Independence Day), at 7 pm, by the Glen Oak Country Club. at the JCC. Brad’s hobbies include B’nai When asked why he wanted Brith Youth Organization, to participate, Smertz exFuture Business Leaders of plained, “I wanted to go America, National Honors to Israel to gain first-hand Society and volunteering in experience and assimilate the community. He enjoys with the Jewish nucleus of high school, baseball, exerthe world. At the same time, cising, traveling abroad and I looked forward to enjoying spending time with friends and appreciating the beautiBrad Smertz and family. ful weather, geography and history of our homeland. Of course, I couldn’t wait to spend time with the 2013 UJA wonderful supervisors who were coming, as well as my good friends.” paign Update m a C Smertz added, “I got so much from Pay it forward & give to my trip to Israel. I feel that I acquired the 2013 Jewish Federation leadership and social skills. Dealing of Northeastern Pennsylvania with the physically handicapped and Annual Campaign! less fortunate citizens of Israel spurred an appreciation for what I have, as well as a definitive initiative in giving back to $792,450 the Jewish community. The extraordinary as of March 25, 2013 landscape and history was second to none.

For information or to The historical buildings and landmarks make a donation call sparked a curiosity and passion for my Goal: 570-961-2300 ext. 1 or $ send your gift to: Jewish origins. I hope that the trip was 880,500 Jewish Federation not a once in a life time opportunity, as I of Northeastern Pennsylvania would definitely love to take a trip back 601 Jefferson Ave., to Israel in the near future.”

Scranton, PA 18510 Smertz is the son of Alan and Michele (Please MEMO your

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.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Passover

economy. Since 1982, men and women from more than 30 countries have volunteered on programs administered in Israel by Sar-El. Volunteers for Israel is an outgrowth of “The Miracle.” Its mission is to strengthen American ties to Israel and its people through hands-on, civilian volunteer service, and to show Israel that it does not stand alone. VFI recruits, assists and processes volunteers for Sar-El, who will work at non-combat activities and live alongside Israelis on military bases. VFI also offers the International Youth Program each summer for young adults 17-25, an add-on to Taglit-Birthright tours and other volunteer opportunities. VFI is a nonprofit, nonsectarian, nonpolitical U.S. organization funded and administered independently of Sar-El.

The “Second Exodus”

New pope’s Jewish ties

pledge or gift 2013 UJA Campaign)

Candle lighting March 29..........................................7:07 pm March 31...........................................7:09 pm April 1.................................... after 8:10 pm April 5............................................... 7:14 pm April 12.............................................7:22 pm April 19.............................................7:30 pm

Egyptian imagery inspires a new A new book aims to preserve Pope Francis has a long history reading of the haggadah for one the memory of Egypt’s skattered of interfaith outreach and good PLUS writer; and holiday recipes.

Jewish community. relations with the Jews.

Opinion...........................................................2 Stories on pages 7-8 Story on page 9 Story on page 15 D’var Torah.................................................10

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

a matter of opinion America’s Middle East delusions

Reprinted with permission of Israel National News (Arutz Sheva) When Samuel Huntington wrote his 1996 book “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order,” many in the Western political arena considered it unnecessarily provocative – that is, until a beautiful Tuesday morning in New York City on September 11, 2001.

The tragedy of September 11 should have mandated a fundamental re-assessment of Western policies toward the Arab world.

Instead, we continue to base our policies on delusions of our own making, rather than on the dangerous evolving realities that confront us in that region. We have yet to confront what George Shultz once called “asymmetrical” warfare, where professional standards have been turned into self-imposed liabilities by enemies who reject civilized international conduct.

We in the West know what we desire, so we project that desire onto other nations, even those whose culture, mindset and

historical experiences are totally different from our own.

And to make matters worse, we have developed policies based on these erroneous paradigms. Our weakness is our belief that democracy always results in good which

from the desk of the executive director

Correction

In the March 14 issue of The Reporter, the parasha on page 10 was incorrectly attributed. The piece was written by Rabbi Steven Nathan, spiritual leader of Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms. The Reporter apologizes for the error and any confusion it may have caused.

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Mark silverberG is why U.S. and European leaders saw the “Arab Spring” as the modern-day equivalent of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. As a consequence, we have inadvertently facilitated the revitalization of pan-Islamic extremism and its goal of resurrecting its caliphate.

Remember the rationale used by this administration to justify using the U.S. military to help Libya’s “opposition”? In his March 28, 2011, speech, the president spoke of “our responsibilities to our fellow human beings,” adding that not assisting them “would have been a betrayal of who we are.”

Although it was common knowledge that Al-Qaida and other fiercely anti-American forces were involved in the Libyan jihad, this did not shake Obama’s “responsibilities” to his “fellow human beings.”

Predictably, the thanks the U.S. received was an Al-Qaida attack on the American consulate in Benghazi and the murders of four American officials, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Perhaps that’s why, this time around, the White House opposed Pentagon, CIA and State Department plans to arm the rebels in Syria, many of whom are linked to Al-Qaida.

We can’t understand the Arab Spring if we continue to look at it through Western eyes.

As products of the European Renaissance, we assumed that the vast majority of the Arab world wanted liberal democracy and the many freedoms that derive from it. The reality, however, is quite different.

The problem lies in the long-term dysfunctional politics of Middle Eastern Islamic nations. U.N. Arab Human Development Reports, written by Arab intellectuals, have continuously reached damning conclusions about the lack of freedom, education, women’s rights and other factors holding back the Arab world. As military historian and author James Corum wrote recently in The Telegraph, “True reform and democracy require a tolerance for peaceful protest, a free press, the rule of law, economic freedom, and respect for the fundamental rights of groups and individuals.

Successful democracy also requires constant adjustment and self-criticism by the political leadership. All these essential elements of democracy took the West centuries to evolve.

Unfortunately, not one Islamic nation in the Middle East has the cultural or legal traditions that might allow real democracy to evolve...

No Arab nation has succeeded in creating a political system that allows opposition parties to flourish, or allows for a regular and peaceful turnover of political power. Such things are anathema to the Egyptian tradition.”

Quite simply, you can’t build a true democracy without establishing a foundation. As a result, Western leaders should not have been surprised when the Arab Spring turned out to be an Islamic Winter.

Elections, for better or for worse, are determined by demographics and, in Egypt, the demographics and popular thinking were clear long before its parliamentary and presidential elections.

Gallup polls conducted in Egypt back in 2008 and again in 2010 had already determined that 95 percent of Egyptians wanted Islam to have greater influence in politics and 64 percent wanted Islamic sharia law to be the basis for legislation. A Pew Study conducted in 2010 found that 54 percent supported the separation of men and women in public places; 82 percent supported the stoning of adulterers; 84 percent endorsed

the death penalty for apostates who leave Islam; and 77 percent said thieves should be flogged or have their hands cut off. And according to a summer 2009 World Public Opinion poll, 75 percent favored investing a body of “senior religious scholars” with “the power to overturn laws when it believes they are contrary to the Quran.” These people are not even remotely interested in the rule of law, better education or gender equality.

They want Islamic law, Islamic education and gender apartheid.

It is attitudes such as these that have now delivered Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and quite possibly Syria as well into the arms of Islam, or, more specifically, into the arms of the Sunni jihadist Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists.

Today, millions of Arabs believe, as a matter of faith, that sharia law, empowered

by Arab petro-dollars, blessed by Allah, promoted by jihad, and encouraged by the perception of Western weakness given Western “retreats” from Afghanistan and Iraq will lead them back to global respect and prosperity, regional hegemony and their lost caliphate.

That is what they believe, and that is why 75 percent of Egyptians voted for the Muslim Brotherhood and their more extremist Salafist allies in the November 2011-January 2012 parliamentary election.

For Islamists like Mohammed Morsi, Islam is not just a religion; it is a comprehensive system that must govern all financial, judicial, social, familial, political, military, educational and even hygienic activity. It is not, as many Western leaders believe, just for prayer and worship. Morsi, however, is pragmatic and politically savvy enough not to overplay his hand at this time, due to Egypt’s need for a massive infusion of foreign currency.

But even this will not stop his religious zeal to impose sharia law on millions of Egyptians. Although the Muslim Brotherhood’s extremist and violent nature has been toned down, its claims and actions that, at this moment, appear to adhere to democratic principles are merely tactical and a way for them to achieve absolute power. As we have witnessed since the beginning of the Tahrir revolution, when it is convinced that it has the ability to seize more political and military power, it acts without hesitation and with complete disregard for its past promises.

In the early days of the revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood vowed that they had no interest in politics or power, and would not stand for election in the new government. It also promised not to front a presidential candidate. Twelve months later, the Brotherhood and its Islamist allies control the Egyptian parliament.

At around the same time, in December 2011, Nicholas Kristof interviewed some Muslim Brothers in Ismailia who stated unequivocally that the Copts and the ancient Coptic Church have no reason to fear the Brotherhood. “Conservative Muslims,” he wrote, “insisted that the Muslim Brotherhood is non-discriminatory, and the perfect home for pious Christians – and a terrific partner for the West.” Yet, during the presidential elections, Al Ahram reported that “the Muslim Brotherhood blockaded entire streets, prevented Copts at gunpoint from voting and threatened Christian families not to let their children go out and vote” for the secular candidate. They reported that the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in Egypt and throughout the region continues to deteriorate. A chameleon is still just a lizard that changes its color to avoid detection.

In Arabic, Islam means “submission,” and the Muslim Brotherhood fully intends to demand submission from its subjects, irrespective of Western delusions to the contrary. If Islam is to be identified with the state, criticism of the state will be prohibited and no laws will be above sharia laws. In the end, Islam will be a requirement for citizenship and for holding public office; non-Muslims, as second-class citizens, will be required to pay the jizya – a protection tax revived from the medieval period; legal and other social restrictions will be

imposed on the right of non-Muslims (most notably Coptic Christians who represent 10 percent of the Egyptian population) to worship; women will be consigned to a new Dark Ages; and a literal interpretation of mandatory, non-negotiable sharia law will govern all aspects of Arab society. As Charles Krauthammer writes, “(Morsi) has been harassing journalists, suppressing freedom of speech, infiltrating the military and trying to subjugate the courts. He’s already rammed through an Islamist constitution. He is now trying to tilt, even rig, parliamentary elections to the point that the opposition called for a boycott and an administrative court has just declared a suspension of the vote.”

Egyptian Salafists are calling on Morsi to ban Shi’ites and Baha’is from Egypt.

According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt’s Great Pyramids – or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi’i, those “symbols of paganism” that Egypt’s Salafi party has long planned to destroy just as the Taliban destroyed the sixth century Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan.

This, however, did not stop James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, from telling the House Select Committee on Intelligence on February 10, 2011, that the U.S. had little to fear from the Muslim Brotherhood as it was essentially “moderate and largely secular.”

His address was made the day before then Egyptian president and longtime U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign from office (with U.S. urging), thereby paving the way for the ascendency of the Muslim Brotherhood to power.

In his testimony, Clapper said, “The term ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ is an umbrella term for a variety of movements. In the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, that has eschewed violence and has decried Al-Qaida as a perversion of Islam.

They have pursued social ends, betterment of the political order in Egypt, etc.”

In short, we must partner with them as we would with any political party. After all, they are “moderate and secular.” Thus, so the reasoning goes, if we accommodate these Islamists politically (i.e., accede to their calls for incremental acceptance of sharia and open financial doors to them), they will work with us in good faith and dissuade their followers from becoming Islamic extremists. Under this utopian view, the Muslim Brotherhood is not a jihadist enemy to be feared, but a political organization to be negotiated with and accommodated.

Excuse me? Isn’t this the same Muslim Brotherhood whose leaders call for the violent annihilation of Israel and for jihad against the U.S.; the same Muslim Brotherhood that birthed many of the leaders of Al-Qaida, Hamas, Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Palestinian Islamic Jihad; whose motto has not changed in 84 years: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope”; whose founder Hassan al Banna said, “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not be dominated, to impose its law on all nations, and to extend its power to the entire planet”; and that has a long, violent history that includes bombings, assassinations and attempts to overthrow governments?

Truth be told, the West has invested heavily in the delusion that Islamic extremists like the Muslim Brotherhood can be moderated.

The Arab Spring, the Palestinian “Peace Process,” the illusory “two-state solution” and every similar Western bid to transform the region presumed that powerlessness was the cause of Arab violence and that, conversely, empowerment would be the solution – another myth.

Empower these Islamists, we are told, and they will be our friends. Give them weapons, control over a country, a ballot box, free and open elections and billions of dollars, and they’ll be less inclined to blow themselves See “Middle East” on page 12

MArch 28, 2013 ■

THE REPORTER

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community news Congregation B’nai Harim to dedicate sanctuary

By Lee Emerson The Congregation B’nai Harim sanctuary will be dedicated in memory of Saul Weinberger, father of Larry Weinberger, on Saturday, April 27, at services at 10:15 am.

Saul’s kindness and benevolence will be celebrated with

the Weinberger family and will be followed by an oneg Shabbat luncheon.

Saul was a philanthropist who supported Jewish causes. He had a special interest in seeing that no child be turned away from a Jewish education, nor any per-

son be denied membership at a synagogue because of financial concerns.

Congregation B’nai Harim is located off of Route 940 at Sullivan Trail and Pocono Crest Road in Pocono Pines.

For more information, visit www.bnaiharimpoconos.org.

Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute to hold lecture on April 11 The Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute has announced a lecture by Dr. Ted Merwin, of Dickinson College, will be held on Thursday, April 11, at 7:30 pm, in Brennan Auditorium.

The subject of the talk will be “You Don’t Have to Be Jewish: Non-Jews’ Growing Investment in Jewish Life.”

According to organizers of the event, nonJews are playing “an increasingly important role” in Jewish life, citing examples of pop stars embracing Kabbalah, Passover seders being held in thousands of contemporary churches

Dr. Ted Merwin

and non-Jewish women raising Jewish children.

The lecture will suggest that the future of Jewish life in America may “lie in non-Jewish hands” as much as in Jewish ones.

Merwin is a professor, writer, journalist and public speaker. He is the author of “In Their Own Image: New York Jews in Jazz Age Popular Culture” (Rutgers, 2006) and of a forthcoming book on the history of the Jewish delicatessen, “Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli,” which will be published by NYU Press in 2014.

Howard Gans to receive Yovel Jubilee Alumnus award from SHDS The Scranton Hebrew Day School has announced that Howard Gans, of Paramus, NJ, has been selected as this year’s Yovel Jubilee Alumnus Awardee. Gans is a graduate of the class of 1963 and though his education and career path took him out of Scranton, he has remained “an outstanding supporter of his alma mater,” according to the school. A salute to him will be held at the school’s 65th Anniversary Dinner on Sunday, May 12, at the JCC. To make reservations or to place an ad in an anniversary journal, call the school at 346-1576, ext. 2.

The son of Miriam Gans and the late Jimmy Gans, Howard retired from IBM after 30 years and has worked for the last nine years as a financial analyst at Bergen

Regional Medical Center in Paramus.

Howard has been active in his community in a variety of ways, including rebuilding and repairing the eruv; building the mikvah; and serving as treasurer of his synagogue, Congregation KAJ, of Paramus. He and his wife, Rochelle, have been consistently involved in all aspects of their city’s Jewish life. He and Rochelle have two sons, one of whom graduated from Yeshiva University and one who is now attending Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Manhattan, as well as three grandchildren.

The Scranton Hebrew Day School called Howard “the epitome of the outcome of a productive Jewish adult that the school has produced for the past 65 years.”

He has also published scholarly articles in Dance Chronicle, The Journal of American Ethnic History, Cultural and Social History, Sondheim Review and many other academic journals.

Merwin’s articles on Jewish culture have also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Haaretz, London Jewish Chronicle, Forward, Moment, Hadassah and many other newspapers and magazines.

For the last 12 years, Merwin has written a weekly theater column for the New York Jewish Week, the largestcirculation Jewish newspaper in the nation. He has more than 500 bylines to date.

Merwin serves as associate professor of religion and Judaic studies at Dickinson College in Carlisle, where for the last 10 years he has also directed the Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life. He lives in Harrisburg with his wife, author Andrea Lieber, and three daughters.

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JFS offering adult guardianship services Jewish Family Service has announced a new contract with the Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging to provide adult guardianship of person services. The contract will allow JFS to provide guardianship services for all Area Agency on Aging clients in need.

Comprehensive guardianship services are available to those individuals who have been determined by the court to be incapacitated and no longer able to make their own life decisions, as well as who have no family member or friends who are willing, able or suitable to assist with their needs. In addition to referrals from the Area Agency on Aging, referrals may also be made by individuals within the community, hospitals, long-term living facilities, physicians, attorneys, the court and other social service agencies. Whether referred by the Area Agency on Aging or a private referral, all guardianship services are reported to and approved by the court.

The JFS coordinator of Older Adult Services, a licensed clinical social worker in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is certified as a national certified guardian by the

ISSUE

Thursday, March 28............................. April 11 Thursday, April 11................................. April 25 Thursday, April 25................................... May 9 Thursday, May 9.................................... May 23

Center for Guardianship Certification. JFS is also accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services Inc., which monitors the program.

JFS’s duties as guardian of person include making daily decisions about the individual’s personal affairs and maximizing his or her right to self-determination. The duties also include developing, coordinating and monitoring professional services needed by the incapacitated individual, such as determining and monitoring residential care; consenting to and monitoring medical care and non-medical services, such as social and wellness opportunities, and counseling; and making end-of-life decisions.

Those who have concerns about a loved one or are questioning how to make a referral can contact Maggy Bushwick, L.C.S.W., coordinator of Older Adult Services, to discuss the appropriate services available. “JFS professional staff will ensure that the dignity, self-respect and independence of the individual are promoted and preserved to the fullest extent while protecting him or her from mistreatment and neglect,” said a JFS representative.

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

Symposium 25th anniversary event and honorees announced Co-chairwomen Ann Monsky and Barbara Nivert have announced that a cocktail buffet and dessert to mark the 25th anniversary of the Teen Symposium on the Holocaust will be held on Tuesday, May 21, at 6 pm, at the Jewish Community Center of Scranton.

The event will celebrate the achievement of a quarter century of Holocaust education, which has reached more than 25,000 young people and their teachers; and the partnership between the Jewish Federation and Marywood University. Several honorees have been chosen for recognition, including Seymour and Kathy Brotman; Marywood University; the university’s president, Sister Anne Munley; and Tova Weiss.

The symposium has provided thousands of young people and their teachers a day of focus on the Holocaust and the opportunity to meet with individuals who lived through it, as well as veteran GIs who fought in Europe and became part of the liberating armies. The program was established at a time when the Holocaust was just beginning to be taught in some schools, and teachers had few resources at their disposal. Few people had met and spoken with survivors and few liberators had ever shared their stories.

The Jewish Federation has been called “ahead of its time” for initiating the program, the likes of which did not exist even in most major cities in the United States in 1988. Its Community Relations Committee, under Seymour Brotman, executive director emeritus of the Federation, planned the program and approached Marywood College (now Marywood University) about co-sponsoring it. The administration of Marywood believed in the importance of the program and provided space and assistance with other arrangements to make possible what was then a one-day program.

The symposium began with 250 students from two schools. Since then, it has grown into a two-day event that allows

approximately 1,200 students and teachers from as many as 20 schools to participate each year.

The 25 years of symposium programs have been credited to “the strong collaboration of effort and support between Marywood University and the Jewish Federation, the dedicated coordination of the program by several individuals, chief among them Tova Weiss, and to the commitment of many volunteers and the Federation office personnel who help bring the program to fruition each year,” according to a Teen Symposium representative.

Additional details on the event will appear in the next issue of The Reporter.

Teen Symposium 25th anniversary honorees Seymour and Kathy Brotman Seymour and Kathy Brotman moved to Scranton in 1970 and served the Jewish and general communities in numerous leadership capacities throughout the course of 29 years.

Seymour served as the executive director of the Jewish Community Center from 1970-91, as well as the executive director of the Jewish Federation from 1978-99, for a total of 29 years of service. During that time, he initiated and oversaw the development of a Young Leadership Development Program, an annual Yom Hashoah event, the Teen Symposium on the Holocaust, the Holocaust Education Resource Center and other projects. He was involved in the campaign to save Soviet Jewry, as well as the relocation of Soviet Jews to Scranton, active support of Israel and the development of endowment funds to secure the future of the community. He was active in the interfaith community and sat on the boards of several community organizations, including St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen and the Diversity Coalition of Lackawanna County.

He was involved with the Jewish Home,

25th Annual Holocaust Symposium Sponsorship Packages

Sponsors will receive the following benefits based upon their sponsorship category.

Levels of sponsorship are:

PLATINUM - $3,000+

• Platinum sponsor recognition from the podium during the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program.

Those in attendance will be asked to stand.

• 6 free tickets to the sponsoring organization for the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program at the JCC • Publicity in the local print media • Honor Roll recognition (to be published, by sponsor category, as a Centerfold in the June issue of The Reporter our regional Jewish newspaper that is delivered to 1,800 Jewish households in Pike, Wayne, Monroe and Lackawanna counties) • Honor Roll poster (to be displayed prominently by category during the Holocaust Symposium and at the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program) • Platinum sponsors will receive 3 courtesy advertisements in The Reporter

Kathy and Seymour Brotman Jewish Family Services, the Judaic Chair of the University of Scranton, Lackawanna County CETA Planning Board and Interfaith Foundation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, among other organizations.

Kathy served as Campaign associate of the Scranton-Lackawanna Jewish Federation for 13 years following many years of service as a volunteer for the annual United Jewish Appeal Campaign. She served, at various times, as UJA Women’s Division chairwoman, Super Sunday chairwoman and as UJA Mission chairwoman. Kathy headed the Young Leadership Development program and was both an active volunteer and temporary coordinator of the Teen Symposium. In the general community, Kathy served as program director at the Day Nursery Association and instituted the Northeast Chapter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children while earning her master’s degree at Marywood College, where she later taught early education classes. She was also involved with the United Way Campaign, American Cancer Society and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Their 29 years of volunteer and professional involvement with major communal events and leadership is documented in a series of scrapbooks, including numerous photos, available for research at the University of Scranton Library Archives Department.

Marywood University Marywood University is a coeducational, comprehensive and residential Catholic university founded in 1915 by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Sisters of IHM describe their mission in part as “fidelity to truth” and they are “deeply committed” to social justice.

They take stands on issues such as racism, immigration reform, human trafficking and

the environment, and involve students in service to “better the world.”

Among the five values espoused in support of its mission, Marywood includes “respect,” which it defines in part as “Honoring the uniqueness and dignity of each human person; demonstrating ethical and just interactions; and caring for the earth and all creation.” Marywood’s mission statement includes “the belief that education empowers people,” making appropriate Marywood’s decision to cosponsor the Teen Symposium, which aims to teach young people historical truth; the consequences of prejudice, ethics ignored and justice made non-existent; and the importance of taking personal responsibility for one’s actions.

Marywood University Sister Anne Munley Accepting the award for Marywood will be Sister Anne Munley, IHM, Ph.D., Marywood University’s 11th president.

Prior to her presidency, Munley co-founded the African Sisters Education Collaborative, which provides leadership and financial training to Women Religious in sub-Saharan countries. She previously served Marywood Sister Anne Munley as its director of planning and institutional research, and as See “Symposium” on page 5

Jewish Federation of NEPA

GOLD - $1,500 - $2,999

• Gold sponsor recognition from the podium during the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program.

Those in attendance will be asked to stand.

• 4 free tickets to the sponsoring organization for the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program at the JCC • Publicity in the local print media • Honor Roll recognition (to be published, by sponsor category, as a Centerfold in the June issue of The Reporter our regional Jewish newspaper that is delivered to 1,800 Jewish households in Pike, Wayne, Monroe and Lackawanna counties) • Honor Roll poster (to be displayed prominently by category during the Holocaust Symposium and at the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program) • Gold sponsors will receive 2 courtesy advertisements in The Reporter

Facebook ® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc

SILVER - $1,000 - $1,499

• Silver sponsor recognition from the podium during the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program.

Those in attendance will be asked to stand.

• 2 free tickets to the sponsoring organization for the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program at the JCC • Publicity in the local print media • Honor Roll recognition (to be published, by sponsor category, as a Centerfold in the June issue of The Reporter our regional Jewish newspaper that is delivered to 1,800 Jewish households in Pike, Wayne, Monroe and Lackawanna counties) • Honor Roll poster (to be displayed prominently by category during the Holocaust Symposium and at the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program) • Silver sponsors will receive 1 courtesy advertisement in The Reporter

BRONZE - $500 - $999

• Bronze sponsor recognition from the podium during the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program.

Those in attendance will be asked to stand.

• 2 free tickets to the sponsoring organization for the evening program at the JCC • Publicity in the local print media • Honor Roll recognition (to be published, by sponsor category, as a Centerfold in the June issue of The Reporter our regional Jewish newspaper that is delivered to 1,800 Jewish households in Pike, Wayne, Monroe and Lackawanna counties) • Honor Roll poster (to be displayed prominently by category, during the Holocaust Symposium and at the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program)

GENERAL - $75 - $499

• 1 free ticket to the sponsoring organization for the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program at the JCC • Publicity in the local print media • Honor Roll recognition (to be published, by sponsor category, as a Centerfold in the June issue of The Reporter our regional Jewish newspaper that is delivered to 1,800 Jewish households in Pike, Wayne, Monroe and Lackawanna counties) • Honor Roll poster (to be displayed prominently by category, during the Holocaust Symposium and at the Cocktail Buffet/Dessert evening program)

SAVE the DATE Tuesday, May 21, 2013 6 PM at the Jewish Community Center

A Community Recognition of the SILVER ANNIVERSARY of the

TEEN SYMPOSIUM on the HOLOCAUST

MArch 28, 2013 ■

Wine Cellar wine tasting called “a big success”

Jewish Family Services plans year-end meeting Jewish Family Services has scheduled its annual year-end meeting for Tuesday, June 4, at 7:30 pm, at the JCC. Named as the outstanding honoree for the year is Seth Gross, a longtime, active participant in numerous charitable and civic activities within the greater Scranton community. Gross is currently the part-time

Symposium

executive director of Temple Israel, Scranton. He and his wife, Sheryl, reside in the Hill Section of Scranton.

The annual meeting event will be open to the public and opportunities to become involved as a testimonial sponsor will be available. For more information, call JFS at 344-1186.

Continued from page 4

a member of the faculty. She is a prolific writer who has written and coauthored numerous books, articles and pamphlets. She has presented nationally and internationally on a range of topics, including cross-cultural understanding as an expression of mission, and is on the boards of several educational and collaborative organizations.

Her involvement with such organizations as the United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties, the Regional Innovation Collaborative and ASEC; her leadership roles in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; and her ex officio membership on the boards of St. Joseph’s Center in Scranton and Maxis Health System in Carbondale speak to her commitment to Marywood’s mission. Her support of the Teen Symposium continues the long tradition set by Sister Mary Reap before her.

Tova Weiss Tova Weiss has been involved with the Teen Symposium on the Holocaust since its inception, and has coordinated the program for 17 of her 18 years as director of the Holocaust Education Resource Center of the Jewish Federation.

As HERC director, Weiss created, imple-

THE REPORTER

mented and coordinated Holocaustrelated programs and exhibits for the Jewish, general, educational, arts, legal and social work communities, often in collaborative partnership with other agencies and organizations.

Tova Weiss She has conducted teacher-training workshops on teaching the Holocaust and presented at conferences.

Active in the Jewish community for 35 years, Weiss served as chairwoman of the Community Relations Committee of the Federation and on various agency boards, including the Jewish Home, Scranton Hebrew Day School, Mizrachi Women and Hadassah, organized the Yom Hashoah programs for many years and was involved in the Soviet Jewry movement. A member of the Holocaust Survivors Advisory Board of Jewish Family Service, she also volunteers with organizations that include the March of Dimes and the Heart Association.

The members of B’nai Harim and the surrounding community spent an evening learning about and sampling wines from throughout the world with wine educator Thomas J. Holton on February 9. Despite eight inches of snow falling the night before the event, not one registered attendee missed out.

The tasting began with a Loire Valley Sparkling White wine and included others, such as the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The tasting ended with a slightly sweet white dessert sample. A French appetizer table offered lighter foods to complement the first series of wines and was followed See “Wine” on page 7

Shelly Wismer (left) and Barbara Freman (right) were co-chairwomen of the wine tasting program held on February 9.

Sign up today!

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 . Promote your Business . Develop Critical Business Skills and Solutions

. Post Job Opportunities and Receive Resumes . Increase Search Engine Optimization . Socialize and Network with Other Successful Business people

Sign up for membership at http://JewishNepaBTA.org If you have not yet registered your business on our new Alliance web site, please contact Mark Silverberg at 570-961-2300 (ext. 1) or mark.silverberg@jewishnepa.org with your contact person, business name, business phone number, business e-mail address, and regular business postal address to ensure further Business and Trade Alliance communications and event invitations.

Take Center Stage!

Sponsorship Opportunities Available. Capture the leading role and benefits as an Event Sponsor.

For more information, please call Mark Silverberg at 570-961-2300 (ext. 1).

NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance

NEPAJFedBTA

5

NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance in Groups

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

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

Temple Israel of the Poconos celebrated Purim

By Dr. Sandra Alfonsi

Temple Israel of the Poconos members, children of the C.H.A.I. program and out-of-town visitors assembled on February 21, despite the inclement weather, at the temple to celebrate Purim.

Many attendees Rabbi Baruch Melman read w o r e c o s t u m e s , the megillah at the Purim heard the megillah celebration. reading and enjoyed the Purim Carnival and Costume Contest. Rabbi Baruch

Melman read the megillah, with each mention of Haman’s name resulting in the sounds of groggers, boos and stomping of feet.

There were a variety of booths at the carnival, with the most popular one being Stacy Horowitz Rodriguez’s Balloon Making Station. Horowitz Rodriguez is a regular at

every celebratory TIPOC event, where she demonstrates her skills in the art of balloon making and clowning.

The evening ended with a costume contest, followed by hamantashen.

“It was a beautiful evening enjoyed by all who participated,” said a TIPOC representative.

Mollie Smith wore her costume to the Temple Israel of the Poconos Purim Carnival. (Photos by Cindy L. Blake Photography)

Attendees of the Temple Israel of the Poconos Purim Carnival enjoyed dessert.

Tifarah Melman attended the Temple Israel of the Poconos Purim Carnival.

Yisraela Melman attended the Temple Israel of the Poconos Purim Carnival.

Cindy and Shawna Blake attended the Temple Israel of the Poconos Purim Carnival.

FITNESS AND WELLNESS

Get in shape for summer!

Spring Aqua Zumba April 11th - June 6th (no class on May 27th)

$36 for 16 classes or $5 drop-in fee REGISTER NOW AT THE FRONT DESK. PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY REGISTRATION. For more information, contact Cara at cara@scrantonjcc.org or 346-6595, x-117

FITNESS

yoga WELLNESS

Mental Clarity - Sunday, April 7 • 4pm Embrace your inner calm and leave refreshed and restored.

This class will consist of a series of postures that help the body learn how to use embodied tension and awareness of release to create ease. The class will end with a series of restorative postures and a meditation.

Rabbi Baruch Melman and Evan Baer participated in the Purim celebration.

Bais Yaakov shalach manot project delivers almost 400 packages Close to 400 Purim packages were assembled and distributed recently by Bais Yaakov High School of Scranton.

Packages were delivered to the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, Elan Gardens, Webster Towers, Amos Towers, Plaza 550 and to the Russian Jewish community and local hospitals.

The shalach manot project is sponsored annually by Harris and Janice Cutler, Saul Kaplan and the late Bernardine

Kaplan. Saul undertook financing the project when it became widespread. Additionally, the Cutlers have sponsored all of the fruit used for many years.

Bais Yaakov thanked both Saul and the Cutlers for their generosity and for making the program possible. Bais Yaakov also thanked the Laury family, Rabbi Dovid Saks, Izak and Vera Epshteyn and especially Neil Weinberg for time spent delivering the shalach manot.

Yom HaShoah Memorial Remembering the Victims of the Holocaust

SUNDAY, APRIL 7th, 11 A.M. SPECIAL REMARKS BY

COMMISSIONER COREY O’BRIEN

KOPPELMAN AUDITORIUM This program is free of charge and is appropriate for those ages ten and older

Yoga Nidra & Self-Healing Sunday, May 5 • 4pm ($5 drop-in fee) The Art of Conscious Deep Relaxation A gentle class which will slow the body down, followed by hip openers that will release deeply held tension, and finally restorative postures that will allow fresh prana to flow into the body. Yoga Nidra, or yogic sleep, is a guided relaxation that allows the practitioner to enjoy deep relaxation.

Register now at the front desk. Payment must accompany registration.

For information, contact Cara at cara@scrantonjcc.org or 346-6595, x117

After the service, will be the following program

Out of the Darkness: Perspectives on the Holocaust Lisa Kroop is the grand-daughter of local Holocaust survivors, Sam Rosen and the late Olga Rosen.

Throughout her childhood, Lisa was very aware of her grandparents' experiences as Holocaust survivors and the rippling impact it had both on the rest of their lives and the lives of her entire family. "As the grand-daughter of survivors, I have the advantage of having living reminders of the Holocaust in my life. I therefore have an obligation to help ensure that the Holocaust stays in the past by keeping it's memory very much alive in the present." During High School, Lisa was often invited to speak to student focus groups throughout her area about the Holocaust.

As an adult, Lisa has continued to share her perspectives by speaking about the Holocaust both with and on behalf of her Grandfather on many occasions. Locally, Lisa has spoken at the High School symposium at Marywood University, as well as during the ceremony to dedicate the Torah scroll rescued from the Holocaust in the Scranton Jewish Community Center.

MArch 28, 2013 ■

THE REPORTER

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From L.A., following the Egyptian signs to the Red Sea

By Edmon J. Rodman LOS ANGELES (JTA) – If the Passover haggadah seems like hieroglyphics to you, it could be a good thing. Though the Israelites left Egypt presumably to escape the ankhs and eyes of Horus of the ancient written language, recently I discovered that hieroglyphics – a system of pictorial characters – had a way of writing me into the haggadah.

Considering that on Passover we are commanded to re-enact an event of which we have no memory, perhaps adding some details from the Egyptian point of view might deepen our understanding, or at the very least acclimate us to the theme of leaving Egypt.

Besides, since the current Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi had been seen recently in a video telling Egyptians to teach their children hatred for Jews, I was looking for a way to ameliorate my own responsive charged feelings and not bring them to the seder table.

Carol Meyers, a professor of religion at Duke University in an interview on the PBS show “NOVA,” related, “There are other ways of understanding how people have recorded events of their past. There’s something called mnemohistory, or memory history,” she said. “It’s a kind of collective cultural memory.”

I wondered, would looking into the holiday with an Egyptian eye help me to recover some of that cultural memory and see past the present? After sitting through seders for so many years, where a trip through the Exodus often becomes an endurance race to the matzah ball soup, I knew that my cultural memory definitely could use some augmentation and elaboration.

To freshen my “mnemohistory” – this being Los Angeles, where movie magic memories are made – I made tracks

that the “The Ten Commandments” debuted there in 1923. According to the theater’s website, the prologue for the Cecil B. DeMille silent epic featured more than 100 costumed performers on stage, including “players seen in their identical roles in the flesh and blood.” Now doesn’t that beat Uncle Earl droning through the Four Sons?

Still thinking about those costumes, I left in haste for the theater. Upon arriving at its columned courtyard, I sat on a bench for a pre-holiday lunch of matzah and hard-boiled egg. Looking out at the surrounding cement walls that were cast to resemble stone blocks, I read a passage from a haggadah that I had brought along: “They put taskmasters over them to oppress them in their suffering; and they built the store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Ramses.” And movie theaters as well?

See “Signs” on page 8

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics painted on a Hollywood theater wall inspired a new reading of the Passover haggadah. (Photo by Brenda Rodman) for the historic Egyptian Theater in the heart of the Hollywood Boulevard tourist district. The theater, an ornate Egyptian Revival movie palace that had a large stage to accommodate the elaborate prologues before the films, recently was refurbished. Developed by Charles Toberman along with the Jewish impresario Sid Grauman of Grauman’s Chinese Theater fame, the theater had opened in 1922. As luck would have it, a few weeks later, King Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in Egypt, resulting in an Egyptian craze that swept the nation.

Further connecting the theater to the Exodus, I found

Wine

Continued from page 5 by a heartier meal. The program ended with dessert tarts prepared by Pastry Chef Don. The food was considered plentiful enough to constitute a full dinner.

Organizers of the program praised Barbara Feman and Shelly Wismer for planning “an elegant and financially successful evening.” They added, “We all look forward to what this energetic duo plans next.”

Save the Date Celebrate Israel Parade 5th Avenue, NYC June 2, 2013 This year’s theme “Picture Israel” For further information contact Dassy 570-961-2300 x2 Dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org

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

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

Save the self-pity, choices abound for Passover meals

By Helen Nash (JTA) – For the many who feel overwhelmed by Passover because of the demands of cooking without leaven, a word or two: That should not be an obstacle.

After all, on this most celebrated of Jewish holidays, we are allowed to eat fish, meat, poultry, eggs, nuts, fruits, most vegetables and fresh herbs.

All of the recipes featured here are nutritious, attractive, flavorful and easy to prepare. They emphasize fresh, seasonal ingredients, fewer complicated techniques and stylish, elegant dishes. What more would you want for Passover?

The seder meals, when we recount the Exodus story, are the most important events of the holiday. Most people, like myself, favor their own traditional menu. Each year, I repeat the seder menu as a way to hold on to cherished family traditions.

The recipes are from the new cookbook “Helen Nash’s New Kosher Cuisine” (Overlook Press).

Beet Soup With their magnificent color, delicious flavor and vitamin richness, beets are one of my favorite vegetables. In the summer I serve this soup at room temperature; in the winter I like it hot.

1¼ pounds (570 g) beets, plus 1 small beet for garnish 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 small red onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, sliced 1 McIntosh apple, peeled and sliced 4½ cups (1.08 liters) vegetable broth 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Peel and slice the beets (see note below).

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and apple, and saute for 5 minutes. Add the beets and broth. Bring to a boil

over high heat.

Lower the heat and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes, until the beets are tender.

Cool a little.

While the soup is cooking, wrap the reserved beet tightly in foil.

Bake in a toast- Beet Soup is pareve and er oven at 400° can be served at room Fahrenheit (205° temperature or hot.

Celsius) for 30 (Photo from “Helen minutes, or until Nash's New Kosher just tender when Cuisine,” courtesy of pierced with the Overlook Press) tip of a paring knife. Cool, slip off the skin, and grate.

Puree the soup in a blender until very smooth. Season to taste with the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.

To serve, garnish with the grated beet; makes 6 servings.

Note: I always wear thin plastic gloves when I work with beets, as this avoids staining my fingers with beet juice, which can be hard to remove.

Chicken Salad with Radicchio and Pine Nuts This is a colorful and delicious salad with an interesting mixture of textures and tastes. The currants and pine nuts add an unusual Mediterranean piquancy.

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces/170 g each) 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil for greasing the chicken Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 head radicchio, shredded 1 to 2 bunches arugula, leaves torn if they are large

JCC PreCamp 2013

It might still be Winter, but we’re already getting set for this

½ cup (20 g) loosely packed flat-leaf parsl e y, f i n e l y chopped Place the onion slices in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let stand for 30 Chicken Salad With minutes. Drain Radicchio and Pine Nuts and pat dry. is colorful and features Place in a large an interesting mixture of serving bowl.

Pat the textures and tastes. (Photo from “Helen Nash's New chicken dry Kosher Cuisine,” courtesy w i t h p a p e r towels and of Overlook Press) grease with oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Place each chicken breast in the center of a piece of cling wrap and wrap it so that it is completely covered. Place the packages in a steamer, cover and steam over high heat for about 9 minutes. (The inside of the chicken should still be pale pink.) Turn off the heat and let stand for 1 minute.

Remove the chicken and cool, still wrapped. When cool, unwrap the chicken

and cut it on the diagonal into thin strips.

Place in the bowl with the onions; makes 6 servings.

Sweet and Sour Dressing 1 /3 cup (80 ml) extra virgin olive oil ½ cup (70 g) pine nuts ½ cup (115 g) raisins or currants 2 Tbsp. Marsala wine 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the pine nuts and raisins and saute over low heat until the pine nuts are lightly golden.

Remove from the heat and add the Marsala and vinegar.

Add the radicchio, arugula and parsley to the chicken and onions; toss with the dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chicken with Potatoes and Olives I am always pleased to come up with a dish that is a meal in itself – one that combines either chicken or meat with vegetables. This is one of my favorites and, because it is so easy to make, I often serve it at Passover. I bake it in an attractive casserole, so it can go directly from the oven to the table.

5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 9 garlic cloves See “Passover” on page 16

Signs

Continued from page 7

As I poured myself a little juice, I tried to decipher the hieroglyphics – scarabs, ankhs, jackals, birds and snakes – that were painted on a nearby wall. For me, Egyptian imagery conjures up a creepy feeling of deja vu. Was it a cultural memory from the generations spent in Egypt? More likely just the result of too many haggadahs illustrated with pyramids, crooks and flails.

Even if the Exodus story has no basis in historical evidence, it is such a keystone story, so imbedded in Jewish outlook and religious practice, that when you see the signs of Egypt, even in kitschy indecipherable fashion, they speak to you.

On the hieroglyphics wall, there were no cute wind-up frogs or Ten Plagues puppets like the kids have at the seder. But looking up at them, I wondered whether after the hail, lice, boils and cattle death if some Egyptians might have wanted to inscribe “Hebrews go now” on a wall.

Below the hieroglyphics I noticed a

couple of cartouches. Originally worn by the pharaohs, the oval-shaped inscriptions could be worn as an amulet or be placed on a tomb. Thinking about the 10th plague – the death of the Egyptian firstborn – I imagined the resulting stacks of amulets.

It put new meaning in the seder custom of taking a drop of wine from our cups, demonstrating that we are not rejoicing over our enemy’s loss.

Curious how my own name would look on a cartouche – as apparently are others – I used my smartphone to go a hieroglyphics website that provides the Egyptian symbols to spell your name. Mine was represented by two reeds, a hand, an owl, a hawk and water – images that made me feel like I was connected to a body of water, making me think of the shore of the Red Sea. To get to Passover, it was time to cross.

Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who writes on Jewish life from Los Angeles.

Contact him at edmojace@gmail.com.

e Jewish Federation’s n th em o u a

year’s PreCamp! The best way to

o il l ey ist r A ?

We send updated announcements and special

start Summer!

event details weekly to those who wish to receive them.

June 10-21, 2-13 Prices TBA For members and non-members For children in grades K-7 CITs are welcome Days go from 8:30am-5pm Extra-care from 8-8:30am 5-5:30pm available Refer a friend and sibling discount offers

What is PreCamp?

PreCamp is held for two weeks before the start of JCC Camp Daleville.

While it is held at the JCC, we also go on field trips all over Scranton.

Some of these have included water parks, local parks, museums, and community service opportunities. It is a fun, safe way for children to reconnect with their camp friends, make new ones, and start their summer right.

For more information contact Aaron at 346-6595 ex:116 or aaron@scrantonjcc.org

Send Dassy Ganz an email if you would like to join the list.

Dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org

Planning on leaving town for a few months?

Going on a long vacation? Moving any time soon?

You can help save the Jewish Federation money by informing us of your plans and preventing the U.S. Postal Service from charging us for returned mail and address change notices.

Before you go, call the Federation office or send us an email and let us know if you would like the mail sent temporarily to a different address, at no charge to you, or halted for a certain number of months. Give us a chance to get it right for you on the first mailing.

Contact Dassy at (570)961-2300 or dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org

Egyptian political turmoil spurs Jewish refugees to chronicle “second Exodus” ers who were due to travel

By Cnaan Liphshiz to Alexandria to lead High (JTA) – Frolicking with Holidays services at the city’s her fiancé in the cool waters Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue. of the Suez Canal, Lilian Services apparently will not Abada would never have be held there during the Passimagined she was about over holiday this year. to experience the first of a Jewish sources also say a string of events that would nascent restoration project ultimately lead her to flee of some of Cairo’s crumher native Egypt for Israel bling synagogues has been with only one suitcase. When suspended, despite the 2010 Abada and her future husannouncement by Egypt’s band, Nisso, emerged from then-culture minister that the the water that day in 1956, government would shoulder a security agent was waiting for them. The two teenagers Avi Casuto sitting on his the cost of the project.

In January, a Muslim were arrested for spying for father's lap in Cairo before Israel and interrogated for their departure to Israel in Brotherhood politician redays. They were released and 1956. (From “The Golden signed as a presidential then rearrested, along with Age of the Jews From Egypt,” adviser after he drew international attention by calling hundreds of Jews. Finally, courtesy of Ada Aharoni) on Egyptian Jews to return. they fled to Israel.

“We realized the Egyptians wanted us More recently, authorities censored a film on Egyptian Jews that was to be screened in out,” Abada said.

Abada’s account of her family’s flight is Egyptian cinemas, though the director, Amir set to appear in “The Golden Age of the Jews Ramses, tweeted recently that the film will be From Egypt,” a forthcoming book that aims screened in March or April after producers to preserve the memory of this North African “won the war against security forces.”

“It appears that under President MoJewish community against what many Egyphamed Morsi, Egyptian authorities are tian Jews see as an attempt by the country’s trying to tear out the pages about the Jewish Islamist leaders to blot out their history.

The rise to power of the Muslim Brother- minority from the book of Egyptian history,” hood last year has generated much angst in said Ada Aharoni, the editor of “The Golden the Egyptian Jewish Diaspora, descendants Age of the Jews From Egypt,” which serves of a 2,000-year-old community all but as a kind of Egyptian Jewish haggadah.

A Cairo-born retired sociologist, writer destroyed in a mass emigration in the two decades following Israel’s establishment in and researcher at Haifa’s Technion, Aharoni 1948 – a period that community members initiated the book project, which is being prepared for print just as Jews around refer to as the “Second Exodus.”

In the wake of the election of Mohamed the world prepare to remember their own Morsi to the presidency last year, there were ancestors’ flight from Egypt on Passover. reports that Egypt had denied entry visas But the holiday was not Aharoni’s main See “Turmoil” on page 13 to Rabbi Avraham Dayan and several oth-

Do you want to be a life guard?

The JCC willll be holding a new American Red Cross Lifeguard Certification class d during April and May. Anyone 15 years and older is welcome to take this class, howeve however, space is limited to 15 participants. You must register by Monday, March 25th. Register by calling Paula at 585-1338.

Cost: $200 (includes Red Cross fees, instruction books, and CPR mask) Dates: Sundays April 7, April 14, April 21, April 28, May 5, and May 12 Time: 12pm to 3pm in the JCC pool and the multipurpose room Requisites: • Swim 300 yards (15 lengths of JCC pool) • 5 lengths freestyle • 5 lengths breast stroke • 5 lengths student’s choice • Tread water without using hands 2 minutes • Retrieve 10lb brick and return swim 1 minute 30 seconds

JCC Members Please be aware that the pool will be in use every Sunday 12-3pm in April and May 5 and 12th. We will try to accommodate lap swimmers, but depending on class size, this may be impossible.

Class Schedule April 7 — Pool instruction April 14 — Pool practice April 21 — CPR/First Aid (multi-purpose room) April 28 — Pool instruction May 5 — Instruction testing (multi-purpose room & pool) May 12 — Testing (multi-purpose room & pool)

MArch 28, 2013 ■

THE REPORTER

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

d’var torah ABINGTON TORAH CENTER

Rabbi Dovid Saks President: Richard Rutta Jewish Heritage Connection 108 North Abington Rd., Clarks Summit, PA 18411 570-346-1321 • Website: www.jewishheritageconnection.org Sunday morning services at 8:30 am Call for other scheduled services throughout the week.

BETH SHALOM CONGREGATION

Rabbi Yisroel Brotsky 1025 Vine St., Scranton, PA 18510, (corner of Vine & Clay Ave.) 570-346-0502 • fax: 570-346-8800 Weekday – Shacharit: Sun 8 am; Mon, Thurs. & Rosh Chodesh, 6:30 am; Tue, Wed & Fri, 6:45 am; Sat & Holidays, 8:45 am.

Mincha during the week is approx. 10 minutes before sunset, followed by Maariv.

BICHOR CHOLEM CONGREGATION/ CHABAD OF THE ABINGTONS Rabbi Benny Rapoport President: Richard I. Schwartz 216 Miller Road, Waverly, PA 18471 570-587-3300 • Website: www.JewishNEPA.com Saturday morning Shabbat Service 9:30 am.

Call or visit us online for our bi-weekly schedule

CHABAD LUBAVITCH OF THE POCONOS Rabbi Mendel Bendet 570-420-8655 • Website: www.chabadpoconos.com Please contact us for schedules and locations.

CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL

Affiliation: Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Allan L. Smith President: Henry M. Skier Contact Person: Ben Schnessel, Esq. (570) 222-3020 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

Rabbi Steve Nathan President: Steve Natt Forest Drive 1516 Hemlock Farms, Lords Valley, PA 18428 570-775-7497 • E-Mail: jfhf@enter.net Friday evening Shabbat service 7:30 pm, Saturday morning Shabbat Service 9:30 am.

MACHZIKEH HADAS SYNAGOGUE Rabbi Mordechai Fine President: 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 President: 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 ISRAEL OF DUNMORE

President: Isadore Steckel 515 East Drinker St., Dunmore, PA 18512 Saturday morning Shabbat 7:30 am; also services for Yizkor

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS

Affiliation: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Rabbi Baruch Melman President: Suzanne Tremper Contact person: Art Glantz 570-424-7876 711 Wallace St., Stroudsburg, PA, 18360 (one block off Rte. 191 (5th Street) at Avenue A) 570-421-8781 • Website: www.templeisraelofthepoconos.org E-Mail: tipoc@ptd.net Friday evening Shabbat, 8pm; Saturday morning Shabbat, 9 am

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF SCRANTON

Affiliation: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Rabbi Moshe Saks 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.

Children of the yeast; a Passover reflection

by RABBI BARUCH BINYAMIN HAKOHEN MELMAN, TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS Passover (Shabbat Chol Hamoed), Exodus 33:1234:26 B’nai Yisrael, the children of Israel, are called an am segula. This is often translated as “treasured nation.”

Sometimes even as “chosen nation.” To be a treasured nation is admittedly very nice, as is also the status of being a chosen nation, although that carries some heavy baggage when it is interpreted by some as evidence of haughtiness and superiority.

But what about Israel’s relationship to humanity? As Hillel said, “If I am only for myself, what am I?” Using these terms on some level does violence to the sense of Israel being a nation that interfaces between the particular and the general, between the national and the universal.

We are also said to be a mamlechet kohanim, or a nation of priests. Indeed, just as the Kohenin, the Temple traditionally served as the intermediary between Israel and God, so, too, as a mamlechet kohanim, or a “nation of priests,” does the nation of Israel then serve as the intermediary between God and the other nations of the world.

This status does not inhere automatically to Israel. Rather, it applies only insofar as Israel is cognizant of its role via its consciousness of fealty to the idea of mitzvah, that God’s blessings pour down over an Israel that is consciously connected to its relationship with the Divine, and that we have the kavannah, or intention, that the performance of a mitzvah reverberates with positive energy not only for ourselves but for the benefit of humanity-at-large.

Note that in Deuteronomy 26:19, the verse reads, “uletitcha elyon al kawl hagoyim...” – “to give you height over all the other nations.”

This is not the height of arrogance. Rather, this is the height of service. As Israel is a mamlechet kohanim, a nation of priests, Israel is a Kohen, or holy servant, to the other nations on Earth. This does not mean supremacy!

Rather, the Torah is teaching us that in order for Hashem’s blessings for Israel to also reach and bring blessing to all the other nations of the world, Israel must position herself high through her allegiance to Torah. Through her becoming spiritually elevated and raised up through living by the ways of the Torah, subsequently the”spillage” from this pouring

down of the heavenly blessings will affect everyone.

Israel’s mission is to bring blessing upon all the earth through her lofty role of service to the One God. The point of Torah is in our sharing of our blessings with the world.

The nation of Israel should be a source of blessing for the world, precisely because of our fealty to Torah.

Why is the Dead Sea dead? Because it only receives.

It never gives out life sustaining waters. Thus the salts accumulate to toxic levels. Sea salt gives life, but only in very small quantities.

The Golan, by contrast, is bursting with life and vibrancy year round. Its fresh, living waters sustain and replenish Yam Kineret, the Sea of Galilee, whose waters sustain all Israel. And the Torah emanating from Yerushalayim and Tzfat, and indeed from all the heights of Torah, water and give spiritual nourishment to all Israel and to the world-at-large.

Rabbeinu (Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, also known as the Rashban or Reb Shlomo) always taught that “the world so much needs the Jews to be good Yidden.” In other words, there is no dichotomy between being a good Jew and being a good human being. Just the opposite! We are better human beings, doing our part for all humanity, by becoming the best Jews possible! So now the folk and the cosmologic senses of the word “segula” align themselves in a neat symmetry.

Israel has the opportunity of being a catalyst for blessing for all the nations of the world. Indeed, this is a fulfillment of the Abrahamic blessing that “all the nations will be blessed through you.” Israel, in a sense, now becomes the yeast for the whole world. As yeast is the catalyst in baking, so too is Israel that transforming agent of change that has the awesome capability of uplifting all of humanity.

Just as yeast is among the least of the ingredients, so too is Israel the least populous of the nations. Just as yeast is less than tasty when eaten as a meal in itself, so too does Israel shine less when consumed solely in a self-absorbed disinterest with the fate of humanity.

Now we understand on the deepest level why we totally eradicate any presence of chametz on Passover, the holiday marking our new status finally as a nation among the other nations of the world. The special zero-tolerance status See “Children” on page 18

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THE REPORTER

Diane von Furstenberg, fashion icon and Holocaust museum supporter

By Chavie Lieber NEW YORK (JTA) – Diane von Furstenberg takes a seat at her long, farm table-inspired desk inside her office on the fifth floor in this city’s Meatpacking District. The studio is so vividly colored, so overly patterned and so decked out in exotic tchotchkes, von Furstenberg is one of the few people who could possibly occupy it.

Seated across from her is Sara Bloomfield, the executive director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the outfits of the two women could not be more different. Bloomfield is sporting a conservative blazer and pencil skirt, her hair combed into a neat bob, while von Furstenberg is draped in a green fur vest and moves her right arm carefully under the weight of an enormous gold bangle.

Her hair is endearingly wild.

The two giggle at each other like old friends, the 66-year-old Jewish fashion designer complimenting Bloomfield on how “cute” she looks before rising to grab her camera and snap some photos. Bloomfield nervously sets her glass of Prosecco on the desk as von Furstenberg stifles a dirty look and rushes to grab a coaster.

They seem like an odd pair: Bloomfield, a pioneer of genocide awareness and adviser to numerous museums around the world, and von Furstenberg, one of the most successful women in fashion who rose to fame in 1974 with the debut of her iconic wrap dress and since has created a robust empire in women’s clothing and housewares.

But the two women have a bond some 20 years in the making – a bond that has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with von Furstenberg’s Jewish heritage.

Von Furstenberg, host of an event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, has invited a select 70 people to her studio – including “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker and television host Andy Cohen – so she can explain her unlikely friendship with Bloomfield and her longtime commitment to preserving the memory of the Holocaust.

“I’m involved with the Holocaust museum because I firmly believe in its importance, and there’s no one else doing work like this,” she tells JTA. “Last month, they did something amazing for me. Without telling me, they mailed me this giant box of all the details of my mother and father during the Holocaust that the Germans and Swiss kept. They had photos and documentation of everything, and it was so special to me.”

Her Jewish heritage might be important, but it’s something von Furstenberg has taken an interest in only later in life.

Born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin, von Furstenberg is the child of a Holocaust survivor, Lily Nahmias. A blond Greek Jew, Lily was involved in resistance efforts against the Nazis, helping deliver counterfeit papers to other Jews. She was caught in 1944 and sent to Auschwitz. By the time the war ended, she weighed just 49 pounds.

But Lily survived and went on to marry a Romanian Jew, Leon Halfin, who hid in Switzerland during the war. A doctor warned her not to get pregnant, as her body would not be able to handle the trauma. But Diane was born in late 1946, and believes she is a testament to the Jewish will to live.

See “Museum” on page 17

11

L - r : D i a n e Vo n F u r s t e n b e rg w i t h Sara Bloomfield, the executive director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, at an event in New York to celebrate the Washington museum's 20 th anniversary on February 26. (Photo by Neilson Barnard)

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

Middle East

up while seeking 72 virgins on the road to paradise.

But dropping this Western delusion appears to be out of the question. So we continue to write bigger checks, send them sophisticated fighter jets that will one day be used against Israel, open International Monetary Fund doors for them, send them advanced weapons and continue to pursue our delusions.

Unfortunately, the equation that “Radical Islamists plus power plus money plus weapons equals peace” has proven to be a global disaster. And yet, it’s easier to let denial carry us forward until, five years from now, as Islamic terrorism analyst Daniel Greenfield writes, “We’ll find our State Department explaining why Al-Qaida ruling Libya is actually a good thing for everyone.”

Why has the administration gotten it wrong everywhere?

Perhaps because “Hope for change” is not a policy, and certainly not a policy that ought to be pursued by the world’s last remaining superpower. There is no logical or historical precedent for empowering and funding Islamic extremists based on the hope of achieving moderation, peace and freedom.

The short of it is this – those who predicted that the Arab uprisings would bring on a new, friendly, multicultural, democratic Islam and an age of secularism, freedom and an end to the violence between Islam and the West were just plain wrong.

When this administration and the European Union supported “democracy” in the Arab world, what they were really supporting, was the transition from one tyranny to another – from secular autocracies to Islamic theocracies, neither of which will enact the liberal democratic reforms the West naively thought would result from the Arab Spring.

Sharia law, as the Egyptians are now discovering, is incapable of resolving the vast economic problems that plague their society.

For instance, 45 percent of Egyptians are illiterate and voted as they were told to vote by the leaders of their mosques. Today, millions of Egyptians are forced to live in cardboard boxes, trash bins and cemeteries in rundown cities and slums. Most of these impoverished millions voted for Morsi and the more extreme Salafists in the expectation that sharia law would solve their enormous economic, social and political problems.

However, Egypt’s foreign reserves are almost exhausted.

It desperately needs International Monetary Fund loans (yet

Friday prayers at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, on February 4, 2011. refuses to comply with IMF conditions to get them), the tourism industry that produced billions of dollars in annual revenue, employed 12 percent of the Egyptian population and provided hundreds of thousands of jobs is gone, as are its foreign investors; and even flour, which provides sustenance to 90 million Egyptians, is being imported from the West.

With a $36 billion annual trade deficit, soaring food prices (Egypt imports half its food), and just $7 billion in liquid foreign exchange reserves, Egypt is on the brink of economic disaster.As David Goldman (Spengler) writes in the Asia Times, “Egypt will pursue a provocative course of Islamist expansion that cuts off its sources of financial support at a moment of economic desperation... (It) lacks all of the elements for successful economic development. Its university graduates are almost without exception incompetent; it has insufficient water from the Nile to expand agriculture; its existing agriculture is inefficient and leaves the country dependent on imports for half its food; (and) its population is for the most part pre-modern, with a 30 percent rate of consanguineous marriage and a 90 percent rate of female genital mutilation.”

So, when you take into account rampant illiteracy, ancient tribal hatreds and rivalries, a lack of truly democratic institutions or processes, a controlled media, the absence of political and religious freedoms, poverty on a scale Westerners can’t imagine, an educational system that instills the idea in its children that their lives are meaningless other than to be used in the cause of killing and dying for Allah,

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Continued from page 2 and all-encompassing sharia law, and add to this a history of humiliation and defeats, and a culture of victimhood that blames the West, Israel, Zionists and Jews (who, for all intents and purposes, are treated as a single entity) as the sole source of their misfortune – the prognosis for peace or the evolution of truly democratic institutions in the Arab world are highly unlikely for the foreseeable future. These are not problems that sharia law is capable of resolving.

And when these millions of impoverished Arab supporters of the Brotherhood come to realize that they have been betrayed again, it will be the treachery of the West, and especially the Jews, the Zionists and Israel, not their own incompetence and dysfunctional societies that will be blamed because Arab society has yet to liberate itself from the fears, conspiracy theories and prejudices that have plagued it for centuries. Antisemitism remains the opiate of the Egyptian masses, as well as its educated elite. It is, as George Jonas writes in the National Post, “...The organizing principle of the Middle East... the all-purpose enemy.” In fact, anything less is considered unpatriotic.

Truth is, Islamists prospered in opposition because they could blame others, especially the Jews; but they are now suffering in power because others are blaming them. If they dilute their domestic and foreign agendas, they will well lose their rank-and-file; if they pursue their agendas, they will alienate non-Islamists and the West. If they postpone their struggle against Israel, their rhetoric will appear disconnected from their policy; and if they wage their agenda, their policy will appear dangerous to their allies in the West.

Past U.S. administrations failed to understand that the reason their overtures to the Arab/Persian world failed so miserably was simply because you can’t moderate regimes such as these. More than 30 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini mocked the Carter administration by noting that “the Americans think that our Islamic Revolution is because of the high price of melons.” These Islamists have lost any respect they may have had for the West and no longer fear any consequences for pursuing their jihad against us (as Iran continues to do in its quest to become a nuclear power), especially since we are currently pursuing a policy that pretends they are really our friends, should be accommodated (read: bribed) and can be moderated once in power, as Thomas Friedman suggested in his January 7, 2012, article, “Watching Elephants Fly.” There is no historical precedent in the Arab world for this belief. If anything, the opposite is the case. The Ba’athist regime in Syria remains autocratic and barbaric after a halfcentury in power and has slaughtered more than 70,000 of its own citizens in the past two years; Iran with its Revolutionary Guards Corps and its Hezbollah proxy has become the world’s largest exporter of global terrorism; Hamas, the Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, remains a terrorist organization ensconced in Gaza; and although the PLO and Fatah signed the Oslo Accords after one-third of a century of terrorism, they have failed to fulfill any of their commitments in those Accords. While the Brotherhood’s tactics have changed, its basic doctrine and long-term strategy have not – the destruction of Israel and the subjugation its population to sharia. And as for education, Islamist movements in power tend to educate their children on the virtues of being “martyrs for Allah,” the dishonor inherent in any compromise and the glories of jihad or holy war.

So much for “moderation.”

President Obama delivered his apologetic Cairo Address on June 4, 2009. He claimed that America’s “outstretched hand approach” to Hamas, Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood would win us new friends in the Middle East, but the polls and the Arab Spring suggest otherwise. According to a July 2011 Zogby International Poll that surveyed Arab opinion on U.S. foreign policy the Middle East in Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Washington is now less popular in major Arab countries than it was when George W. Bush was in the White House.

And why is that? Because in the Arab/Persian world, U.S. efforts to seek accommodations and compromises enhance the perception of U.S. weakness, undermine U.S. effectiveness as a global power, emphasize the retrenchment See “East” on page 14

MArch 28, 2013 ■

Turmoil

consideration in terms of timing.

Living witnesses to the uprooting of Egyptian Jewry are dying out, she said. And the recent censorship of the documentary film created an additional sense of urgency.

“This film claimed Jews had it good in Egypt and left only to America and France, not Israel – and still it was banned,” she said. “The Morsi regime is determined to delete our history in Egypt and our heritage. In a way, Morsi’s regime wants to return to periods even darker than the one that caused the Second Exodus.”

The 400-page book contains 68 testimonies and will be published in Israel in the coming weeks and sold in bookshops. Though most of it is written in Hebrew, some accounts appear only in French, a tribute to the sizable community of Egyptian Jews that settled in France.

According to Aharoni, only half of the 75,000 to 100,000 Jews who left Egypt settled in Israel. Many went to France, but also to the United States, the United Kingdom and even Brazil.

One of the non-Israelis featured in the book is Aharoni’s younger brother, Edwin Diday, who lives in Paris. In the days leading up to the family’s flight, Diday felt “the same fear that we felt during World War II, as the Nazi forces of Erwin Rommel neared Egypt,” he wrote in the book.

Diday says antisemitic caricatures were “everywhere, one showing an arm tattooed with a Star of David holding a bloody red knife.”

On an outing to the Rio cinema, a local told Diday’s parents that a gang of hooligans was coming to lynch them.

“Mom and dad took us in their arms and ran with us home, which was fortunately not far,” Diday recalls.

But Diday has other memories of roaming alone as a boy in the Museum of Cairo. And Aharoni recalls her best friend Kadreya, who was not Jewish, at Alvernia, an elite English-language school for girls situated in a well-to-do neighborhood of the Egyptian capital. “People don’t realize it, they think of all North African Jews as one bloc,” Aharoni said. “But Egyptian Jewry lived in a European enclave in the heart of Cairo.”

According to Aharoni, part of the reason Jews were able to live in such an enclave was that 95 percent were not Egyptian citizens, despite having lived there for generations. The discrimination deprived them of equal rights, but also freed them from the duty of sending their children to Arab state schools, serve in the army or align themselves politically with any one party, Aharoni says.

Ada Aharoni, sitting on the right, and the volunteers who wrote the book “The Golden Age of the Jews From Egypt.” (From “The Golden Age of the Jews From Egypt,” courtesy of Ada Aharoni) To help bring the lost enclave back to life, the book features dozens of rare photographs of Egyptian Jewish life. One taken shortly before Aharoni left with her family in 1949 shows nine smiling teenagers from Maccabi Cairo, the local branch of the international Zionist sports organization. Its activities were banned a few months later, Aharoni says.

The book also contains a copy of Nissim Rabia’s 1948 Maccabi membership card with text in Arabic, Hebrew and

THE REPORTER

13

Continued from page 9 French. Another reproduction shows the travel document Egyptian authorities gave Jewish families they expelled.

Stamped on them were the words “One way – no right to return.”

Many pages in the book are dedicated to the property that Egypt’s well-to-do Jewish residents were forced to leave behind. Diday’s father, Nessim, mistakenly believed his life savings were secure at the Cairo branch of a Swiss bank; the government requisitioned the funds. Benny Roditti recalls how, just before leaving in 1956, he tried to withdraw his family’s savings from a different Cairo bank but was told the account had been “suspended indefinitely.”

Thousands had similar experiences, according to Aharoni.

In recent decades Azi Nagar, the founder of the Association for the Promotion of Compensation for Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands, tried to start restitution talks with the regime of Hosni Mubarak, whose 30 years in power ended in 2011 in a revolution that led to Morsi’s election.

Nagar, an Israeli born in Cairo, also was keen to see Egypt honor its announcement that it would cover the costs of renovating the country’s synagogues. Nowadays, Nagar says, Egypt’s tiny Jewish community cannot even get the government to approve renovations at the community’s expense. In January, Nagar broached the issue of financial restitution in letters to Morsi, who has not replied.

Aharoni believes speaking about the loss and trauma suffered by Egyptian Jews is important but views restitution talks as a side issue. “Yes, a staggering amount was left behind in Egypt,” she said. “But going after it is like asking a beggar for a handout.”

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

East

of American power and the decline of its authority abroad, and draw contempt and derision from those whom the U.S. seeks to accommodate.

Conclusions The Arab world is convulsing in the midst of an Islamic awakening.

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Continued from page 12 In Tunisia, the Islamist al-Nahda party has already taken the reins of power. Yemen was well on its way to failed statehood and economic collapse before the Arab Spring, and virtually all indicators remain alarmingly negative. In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood is working to undermine King Abdullah with the ultimate goal of turning the kingdom into an Islamist emirate.

The UAE worries that the Brotherhood’s growing power will inspire local activists, encouraging them to demand further reforms or even to act against the regime, thus bringing the Arab Spring to the UAE. As a result, in the past year, UAE authorities have cracked down on Islamist activists from the local branch of the MB – the Da’wat Al-Islah (“Reform Campaign”) movement – which is demanding political reforms in the country. Thirteen of the movement’s members have been arrested.

Even Saudi Arabia, the wealthiest of all the Arab countries, is in danger of an Islamist coup despite its vast wealth. Its aging monarchs are dying with no clear successor in line for the throne. Unemployment is 40 percent among 20-24-year-olds – a very dangerous age group to have wandering your streets in search of work. Additionally, 40 percent of Saudis live in poverty and 70 percent can’t afford to own their own home.

The kingdom’s one-dimensional economy earns 78 percent of its revenues from oil and oil alone, and 90 percent of all workers in the Saudi private sector are foreigners – a dismal comment on the state of the Saudi higher education system.

In Egypt, in the wake of the terrorist raid of August 5 last year in which 16 Egyptian troops were murdered by Al-Qaidalinked Army of Islam terrorists at their Mansoura base in northern Sinai, pro-Western military leaders – including the chief of intelligence, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and defense minister, the chief of staff, the head of the Military Police, and the head of the Republican Guard – were purged by Morsi, who then ordered the retirement of the commanders of the navy, air defense and air force and canceled the military-declared constitutional amendments that gave top generals wide powers – an act done in direct defiance of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court.

As was the case in Iran under Khomeini and Turkey under Erdogan, Morsi now holds dictatorial powers surpassing by far those of President Hosni Mubarak. The leadership of the Egyptian armed forces has now been replaced by Muslim Brotherhood loyalists who are less-inclined to work with Israel on security matters or respect the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

As things currently stand, the Western powers are clueless on how to deal with the Middle East, even as successive Arab regimes crumble and the region cries out for direction.

After the Muslim Brotherhood’s victory in the parliamentary elections, the Obama administration waived congressional conditions tying U.S. military aid to democratic progress and transferred $1.5 billion dollars in military aid to the Brotherhood, even as the regime persisted with the trial of Egyptians working for human rights and democracy organizations.

In the process, it squandered any leverage the U.S. might have had. As Robin Wright notes in The New York Times, “Washington still embraces authoritarian Gulf monarchies like Saudi Arabia. Foreign policy should be nuanced, whether because of oil needs or to counter threats from Iran. But there is something dreadfully wrong with tying America’s future position in the region to the birthplace and bastion of Salafism and its warped vision of a new order.”

A better policy would be for the Western powers to invest in transparent and accountable political institutions and secular public educational institutions in the region, and condition the billions of dollars in foreign aid they are providing on explicit measurable liberal democratic benchmarks and tangible, verifiable reforms to the educational and political systems of these countries – meaningful reforms that dovetail with our long-term liberal democratic objectives for the region.

In effect, U.S. foreign aid should be conditioned on the Egyptian government’s respect for the rights of minorities and women; its acceptance of political pluralism and open political competition; and respect for its international obligations, including Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. All this would be consistent with the position advocated in the U.N.’s Arab Human Development Reports (2002-05 and 2009) of reinforcing democratic political practices and free market economic changes in these countries that lead to prosperity.

The results of the Arab Spring are going to be widespread, long-lasting and difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. The U.S. and the Europeans were warned many times that what they were unleashing was not going to go the way of their delusional scenarios, but nevertheless they continued to push for regime changes that have only caused more bloodshed and suffering, and not the quick implementation of reforms and the appearance of liberal democratic governments.

Given the rising tide of resurgent Islamic extremism across the Arab world, the Western powers had best put aside their delusions and recognize what should have been recognized years ago: The more we accommodate these Islamists, the more we appease them without tying our financial aid to specific secular democratic reform benchmarks, the more powerful and dangerous they will become.

Mark Silverberg’s articles have been archived with the Ariel Center for Policy Research, Israel (www.acpr.org.il).

MArch 28, 2013 ■

THE REPORTER

Jews find early signs from Pope Francis encouraging

By Ruth Ellen Gruber ROME (JTA) – When the white smoke rose at the Vatican, signaling to the world that the College of Cardinals had chosen a new pope, Catholics weren’t the only ones waiting with bated breath. Jews, too, were eager to see whether the new pontiff would be someone familiar with their concerns.

Would he be a non-European unfamiliar with the Jewish people and the weighty legacy of the Holocaust? Would he carry on the legacy of his immediate predecessors and work to further Jewish-Catholic relations?

After the new pope appeared before the masses in St. Peter’s Square, it didn’t take long for him to signal that he would maintain the church’s outreach to Jews. Nor did it take long for the Jews to sing his praises. As it turns out, Pope Francis, 76 – nee Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina – was from outside Europe and had a long history of interfaith outreach and good relations with the Jews. He’s the first pope from the Americas, as well as the first in more than a millennium from outside Europe.

The new pontiff “is no stranger to us,” World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who met with Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 2008, said in a statement. “He always had an open ear for our concerns. By choosing such an experienced man, someone who is known for his openmindedness, the cardinals have sent an important signal to the world. I am sure that Pope Francis will continue to be a man of dialogue, a man who is able to build bridges with other faiths.”

Like Benedict before him, Francis in one of his first official acts wrote to Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni.

He invited Di Segni to the papal inaugural Mass and said he hoped “to be able to contribute to the progress that relations between Jews and Catholics have experienced” since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

The election of Francis, Di Segni wrote back, “gives us the hope that the path of friendship, respect and productive collaboration will continue.”

On March 15, the pope went out of his way to acknowledge non-Catholics in a blessing offered to news media. “Given that many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church and others are not believers, I give this blessing from my heart, in silence, to each one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you, but knowing that each one of you is a child of God,” Francis said

Pope Francis, then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, spoke at a B'nai B'rith Argentina event commemorating Kristallnacht on November 12. (Photo courtesy B'nai B'rith Argentina) in his address, according to The New York Times. “May God bless you.”

Pope John Paul II had made outreach to Jews one of the pillars of his papacy. His successor, Benedict XVI, continued dialogue with the Jews, but also made several policy decisions that angered Jews, including lifting the excommunication of a renegade bishop who turned out to be a Holocaust denier.

Francis projects a “man of the people” style in sharp contrast to Benedict, who was seen as removed and cold.

Francis is known for living simply, taking the subway and answering his own phone. He spent virtually his entire career in Argentina, away from the intrigues of the Vatican’s Roman Curia – the central governing body of the Catholic Church – and other scandals that dogged the papacy of his predecessor.

However, within days of the new pope’s election, the Vatican faced questions about what Francis did – and did not do – to oppose the military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976-1983. Critics have said the church did not do enough to oppose the military dictatorship’s Dirty War, including the kidnapping of two Jesuit priests in 1976. Francis has said he worked behind the scenes to free the priests and sheltered others by hiding them at a Jesuit school.

15

The questions about Francis’ past carry echoes of the Holocaust-era controversy surrounding Pope Pius XII. Many Jews charge that Pius did not do enough to oppose the Nazis, but the Vatican and Pius’ proponents say he worked behind the scenes to save Jews.

While a staunch conservative on social issues such as gay marriage, female priests and abortion, Francis spent years working among the poor and made interfaith outreach one of his priorities.

“The Latin American Jewish Congress has had a close relationship with Monsignor Jorge Bergoglio for many years,” said Claudio Epelman, executive director of the congress. “We know his virtues and have no doubt whatsoever that he will do an excellent job for the church.”

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, his relationship with Argentinian Jews was personal as well as institutional.

His only book, “Regarding Heaven and Earth,” is the transcript of wide-ranging conversations between himself and Rabbi Abraham Skorka, the rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary. Francis and the rabbi also shared billing on an Argentinian TV talk show on religious issues. Francis has referred to Skorka as his “brother and friend.” The then-cardinal attended services at Skorka’s synagogue and also arranged for Skorka to receive an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Argentina.

Francis also wrote the foreword to a book by another Buenos Aires rabbi and civic activist, Sergio Bergman.

“Bergoglio is a master,” Bergman wrote in the Argentinian media after Francis’ election. “True to my Jewish roots and rabbinical vocation, inside my home community and the entire Argentine society, I found in Francis a teacher who heard me, guided me and advised me on how to deploy my vocation to serve both the Creator and his creatures in defiance of common good.”

Last December, Bergoglio joined Bergman and other Jewish leaders and representatives of other faiths in lighting the Chanukah candles.

Francis is cited with particular warmth by Argentinian Jews for showing solidarity with the Jewish community following the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that left 85 dead. The attack, Francis told the Argentinian media, was “another link in the chain See “Pope” on page 16

WONDERING WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP? DONATE NOW!

The tragedy of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath has devastated the lives of millions of people in NY, NJ and CT. Hundreds of thousands are without food, water, medical supplies, shelter and the basic necessities of life.

HELP US HELP THEM!

AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA:

SUPERSTORM RELIEF FUND

The tragedy of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath has devastated the lives of millions of people in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Hundreds of thousands are without food, water, medical supplies, shelter and the basic necessities of life. Their lives hang in the balance. As Jews, we must do our part in relieving their suffering as we have always done when faced with national catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina. The lives of millions of Americans hang in the balance.

We must be there for them.

Please donate…

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

16

THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

Passover

Kosher salt ¼ cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice Leaves from 10 thyme sprigs Freshly ground black pepper 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces/170 g each) 5 plum tomatoes 1 lb. (450 g) Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, quartered ½ cup (67 g) pitted black olives, quartered Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). With 1 tablespoon of the oil, grease a glass, ceramic or enamel-lined baking pan that can hold all the vegetables in a single layer.

Coarsely chop 4 of the garlic cloves on a cutting board. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and, using a knife, crush them into a paste. Place the paste in a small bowl and combine it with the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the oil, half of the thyme leaves and pepper to taste.

Pat dry the chicken breasts with paper towels and season lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken with the mixture and set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water; bring the water back to a boil and drain. Core the tomatoes and slip off the skin. Cut the tomatoes in half widthwise and squeeze gently to remove the seeds. (Some seeds will remain.)

Cut the tomatoes in quarters.

Thickly slice the remaining 5 garlic cloves and spread them in the prepared baking pan along with the tomatoes, potatoes, olives, the rest of the thyme leaves and the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables,

uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until almost tender.

Place the chicken breasts on top of the vegetables and bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Turn them over, spoon on some pan juices and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the chicken is slightly pink on the inside. Cover with foil for 1 minute; makes 4 servings.

Marinated Salmon This is a variation on the traditional pickled salmon sold in every Jewish delicatessen. The difference: The salmon is more delicate and less vinegary, and has a richer color. It makes a perfect Sabbath luncheon dish.

6 skinless center-cut salmon fillets (about 6 ounces/170 g each) 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil for greasing the pan Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C). Grease a glass or enamel-lined baking pan that can hold the fillets in a single layer.

Pat the fillets dry with paper towels and season them lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Place them in the dish and bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked to your taste.

Remove the baking pan from the oven, cover with foil and let cool completely.

(The fish will continue cooking outside of the oven.)

Marinade 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 4 Tbsp. rice vinegar (for Passover, replace with white wine vinegar) 1½ tsp. salt Freshly ground black pepper

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced (see note below) 15 dill sprigs, snipped finely with scissors, plus 2 sprigs, snipped, for garnish In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and salt. Add pepper to taste. Pour the marinade over the salmon, add the onion and sprinkle with the 15 snipped sprigs of dill.

Cover the dish with wax paper, then foil and refrigerate for two to three days without turning.

To serve: Bring the salmon to room temperature. Place on individual plates along with some of the marinade and onions.

Garnish with the fresh snipped dill; makes 6 servings.

Note: I use a mandoline to slice the onion, as it makes the cutting easier.

Stir-fried Spinach This is a delicious recipe that captures the very essence of spinach. Now that prewashed spinach is available in almost every supermarket, you can prepare this dish in minutes.

20 ounces (570 g) prewashed spinach 1½ Tbsp. pine nuts 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Break the stems off the spinach leaves and discard.

Roast the pine nuts in a toaster oven on the lowest setting for 1 or 2 minutes, until they are golden. (Watch them carefully, as they burn quickly.)

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add the oil. Add the spinach and stir quickly until it is just wilted, no more than a minute.

Season with salt and pepper. With a slotted spoon, transfer the spinach to a serving dish. Sprinkle the pine nuts on top; makes 6 servings.

Chocolate Meringue Squares These meringue squares are like cookies, but they are light, chocolaty and surprisingly low in calories. I often serve them at Passover.

1 Tbsp. (15 g) unsalted margarine for greasing the pan ½ lb. (225 g) blanched almonds 6 ounces (170 g) good-quality imported semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces 8 large egg whites (see notes) 1 cup (200 g) sugar Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9-by-13-by-2-inch (23-by-33-by-5 cm) baking pan with wax paper and grease the

Continued from page 8 paper with the margarine.

Chop the almonds in a food processor, in two batches, until medium-fine. Transfer to a bowl. Chop the chocolate in the processor until fine, and combine with the almonds.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Using the balloon whisk attachment, beat at high speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff.

With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the chocolate-almond mixture into the egg whites, making a motion like a figure 8 with the spatula. Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out almost dry.

Cool on a wire rack. Invert onto a cutting board and peel off the paper. Cut into 1½-inch (4 cm) squares; makes 3½ dozen squares.

Notes: It is easier to separate the eggs straight from the refrigerator, when they are cold. Make sure the whites have come to room temperature before beating.

To freeze the squares, place them side by side in an air-tight plastic container, with wax paper between the layers.

Pope

Cont. from page 15

of pain and persecution that God’s chosen people has suffered throughout history.”

In 2005, he signed a petition for justice in the AMIA bombing case and a document called “85 victims, 85 signatures.” In June 2010, he visited the rebuilt AMIA building to talk with Jewish leaders.

“The closeness between Francis and the Jewish community is special and precious,” Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, vice president of the World Union of Progressive Judaism, told JTA. Bretton-Granatoor, who is based in New York but has met Francis a couple of times, called the new pope “a mensch” who “gets the importance of a relationship with the Jewish community, who understands the meaning of the Shoah and has a heart in the right place on a number of issues that concern us as well.” Obviously, he added, “we will vigorously disagree with him on many fundamental issues as well – but that is part of the game, isn’t it?”

Family Fun Day and Basket Raffle Sunday, April 21st The Scranton Hebrew Day School’s 65th Anniversary Dinner Sunday, May 12, 2013 at the JCC A special milestone deserves a special commemoration!

Stayed tuned for further details.

To get Federation updates via email, rregister on our website

www.jewishnepa.org

Please donate a basket to our Family Fun Day. All proceeds benefit the Early Childhood Dept.

Suggestions: Children’s books, toys, games • Baby items Bath & body • Holiday • Cooking/baking themes Sports themes • Gift Certificates Gardening • Coffee Lover Candy & Sweets • Snacks ...or come up with your own idea!

Be Creative!

Complete and return to the JCC or Chair Maria Cuck 570-466-3878 Name _________________________________________________________ Are you doing a basket alone? ___ If no, partner(s)’ name(s)______________ ______________________________________________________________ Theme of basket _________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

Pledge or Donate online at

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General contents of basket ________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Note: Basket contents should total at least $25.00.

Please attach a decorative card with basket name and contents.

Baskets must be turned in by Friday, April 5th

MArch 28, 2013 ■

Museum

THE REPORTER

17

Continued from page 11

“I was born on New Year’s, and every year my mother would say, ‘God saved me so that I could give you life. You are my flag of freedom,’” von Furstenberg recalls, making eye contact with the few Holocaust survivors in the room invited by Bloomfield. “This is the heritage I carry and this is very strong to me.”

Early on, Von Furstenberg felt no particular connection to her Jewishness. Her mother neither avoided nor elaborated on her experiences during the war, although von Furstenberg recalls the two tattoos she had on her arms. Lily would mention things here and there, like how she longed for freedom and a plate of spaghetti during those dark days, but never burdened her daughter with all the details. Lily showed no apparent disdain when von Furstenberg married a German prince, Egon von Furstenberg, in 1969.

But von Furstenberg found her way back to her Jewish roots after she was honored by the Anti-Defamation League with its Women of Achievement Award in 1981.

“I don’t really think they knew anything about me,

they probably just gave me the award because they knew I would bring a large group,” she tells the crowd sitting around her desk. “But when I got up that day to speak, I heard the words of my mother being a Holocaust survivor come out of my mouth, and these were words that I never said and that I never actually thought, and I started to shake. It was a major revelation because I realized that it was my heritage and I hadn’t realized how deeply connected I really felt.”

Von Furstenberg was one of the first people approached

by Bloomfield when plans to build the Holocaust museum in Washington were first discussed. Von Furstenberg, who insists she is horrible at raising money and would “rather give you a check and just leave me alone,” agreed to help fund-raise for the museum. She says she believes it is her duty to talk about the Holocaust and spread awareness because few expect these kinds of sentiments from her.

The fund-raisers in the 1990s for the fashion industry on behalf of the Holocaust museum were incredibly

emotional and sometimes uncomfortable, von Furstenberg says, but she forced herself into the events at the Carlyle Hotel on New York City’s Upper East Side.

“Celebrating freedom through the museum is the most important thing in the world,” she says. “It is not just to remember the Holocaust but to talk about tolerance, and of course never to forget the six million Jews who were killed, as the last survivors are around.”

She recalled the museum’s inauguration in April 1993, where she stood next to then-President Bill Clinton and was showered in hail, despite the predicted warm weather. “God wanted everyone out there to know and to feel how cold [Holocaust survivors] were,” she said.

Von Furstenberg says she is “incredibly proud” of her involvement with the museum from the beginning.

“I know I’ve honored my mother through it and I will continue to honor her,” she says. “Everything I have is because of her.”

Bais Yaakov Play The Bais Yaakov’s performance of Chayalee and the Chocolate Factory was a huge success; approximately 150 ladies and children attended the Bais Yaakov performance on March 2ND and 3RD. This year’s performance was dedicated in loving memory of Mrs. Becky Charlop, of blessed memory.

This production is dedicated L’Ilui Nishmas Rivka Chana bas Mordechai Dov, O.B.M

To know Becky was to love Becky. Her exuberance, her love of life and her capacity to give knew no bounds. For someone needing a helping hand, whether after having a baby or an illness, to someone making a simcha, Becky was always there. She was blessed with extraordinary creative talents which she used to the fullest, many times while enduring quietly her extreme pain, yet always hiding it behind her huge, warm smile. Only those really close to her knew how much she suffered, but through it all she was there for you. The Bais Yaakov was very fortunate to have had Becky. She was a role model for all the girls, both younger and older, in her burning desire to do and to give with her boundless positive energy. She was fun and full of life, a part of so many peoples’ lives; never missing a beat. Becky was a born star, a multi-talented singer, actress and director of school productions. There are no adequate words to express the loss to the Fine family, to the Bais Yaakov and to all those whose lives she was so involved in. It is only befitting that at this time this production, which instills such ruach in the Bais Yaakov girls and supports Chinuch Habonos- the ideals, which she exemplified in her life, should be dedicated in her memory.

Y’hi Zichra Boruch We would like to thank our many sponsors who sponsored in Becky Charlop’s memory whose generous support helps us continue the very special work of the Bais Yaakov.

Sponsors

Dedicated L’Ilui Nishmas, in memory of Mrs. Becky Charlop, O.B.M by Michael and Sheila Cutter and family

Platinum

Michael and Sheila Cutter also in memory of Mr. Frank Nutis O,B.M and in honor of Mrs. Boots Nutis Drs. Josh and Gila Jedwab

Diamond

Elkie Weiss Arkady and Aviva Epshteyn Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Berkowitz Deborah and Shlomo Fink Avigail Fink Sarah Eisner Ilya and Leah Epshteyn Mrs. Janice Cuttler

Ruby

Mark Silverberg and the Jewish Federation of NEPA Dina Sandhaus Dr. and Mrs. David and Molly Rutta Rabbi Moshe David Tendler Laura Silverstein Rabbi and Mrs. S. Sandhaus Rabbi and Mrs. Harkavy in memory of Mr. Barry Koslow, O.B.M Mrs. Hindy Pressman Sora Avigail Pomper Frimi Stahler Dr. and Mrs. Shaya Barax (for a refuah shelaima for Rabbi Yeshua Rabenstein)

Pearl

Gilda Franseze Mrs. and Mrs. Moshe Fink Mrs. Chanie Leftkowitz Mrs.Esther Buchbinder Mr. and Mrs. Sam and Mildred Harris

Dr. and Mrs. Neill Ackermann Judge and Roberta Lovenwirth Dr. and Mrs. Kurtzer Gary Davis Mr. and Mrs. Seth Gross Leiter Family Alex and Miryam Froimovich Dr. and Mrs. Yosef Fink Alex and Leah Gans Michael and Sue Diamond Eli and Mami Polatoff Shmuel Binyomin and Baila Malka Elefant Bassie Halton Nomi Halton Raphael and Leah Fink Meshulum and Rivky Epstein

Gold

Mrs. Maggie Bushwick Mrs. Devorah Gruber Mrs. Phyllis Weinberg Mrs. Devorah Turin Mrs. Chaya Chaifetz Mr. and Mrs. T Morreale Mrs. Dassy Ganz Mrs. Chavie Schwartz Rabbi and Mrs. Luchins Bob and Eta Richman Mr. and Mrs. A. Adrezin Nosson and Devora Wahl Rabbi and Mrs. Eli Hoberman Mrs. Tova Weiss Mrs. Malky Saks David and Stacey Rubin Rabbi and Mrs. N. Stein Mr. Neil and Arlene Weinberg Rabbi Johnny and Rebecca Kersh Mrs. Miriam Brand Rabbi and Mrs. Bilus Rabbi and Mrs. Salkow Mrs. Chana Shkedi Mrs. Rivkie Kurlander

Mr. and Mrs. Heshy Plotkin Mrs. Nancy Korngold Rabbi Zev and Esti Katz Mrs. Rose Shana Feder Mrs. Beverly Klein Mrs. Sara Hendy Adams Mrs. Syvia Eisenberg Mrs. Deena Leah Pfeffer Rabbi and Mrs. Natan Fink Mrs. Lee Pachter Dr. Doniel and Deborah Fink Mrs. Yehudis Feigenbaum Mrs. Chanie Segal Mrs. Esti Karp Mrs. Yehudis Levits Mrs. Tehila Chesir Rabbi Dov and Rivka Elefant Mrs. Shoshana Strum Rabbi Yitzchak and Tova Elefant Dovid Aryeh and Chana Hindy Elefant Mrs. Chaya Brocha Dworkin Rachelle Werbin Mrs. Yocheved Lapidus Mrs. Miriam Harris Gavriel and Basya Yarmush Leah Ackerman Mrs. Rena Schoenfeld This production is an annual fundraiser for the Bais Yaakov.

It gives the girls an opportunity to shine in ways other than academically. The production was directed by Mrs. Leah Laury, who did more then just direct. Her positive energy and enthusiasm and devotion to the Bais Yaakov are truly exceptional. Mrs. Laury is gifted with many talents, first and foremost leadership. Mrs. Laury has two daughters in the Bais Yaakov and also has Bais Yaakov student Devorah Krycer from Dallas, Texas (formerly from Scranton) as a border in her home. We are grateful for all of Mrs. Laury’s hard work. The play wll be shown once again at the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania on Monday, April 8th at 2:30 P.M.

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

18

THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

New Season of

Films!

March 2013 • Non-Feature Films • A Film Unfinished, a harrowing look at the devious art of a propaganda film made by the Third Reich, is a rich and well-researched investigation into the filmic history of the Warsaw Ghetto. As A Film Unfinished aims to set the record straight, it furthers a political resistance that Jews undertook during the war. In other words, this documentary is a tribute, a correction of history to honor those who died, witnessed, or survived atrocities prior to their move to Treblinka, Warsaw’s affiliate death camp.

Blessed is the Match - In 1944, 22-year 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. Budapest to Gettyburg - 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, is a 2007 historical documentary film on the relationship between the Catholic Church and Jews. Directed and produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Oren Jacoby, the film is inspired by former priest James P. Carroll’s 2001 book Constantine’s Sword.

Inside Hana’s Suitcase - A real-life Japanese schoolteacher, who appears throughout the film, sparked this entire story by gathering artifacts for a Holocaust educational center she was developing along with a group of girls and boys called The Small Wings. After applying to receive Holocaust artifacts, a large box arrives with a handful of artifacts, including a battered brown suitcase labeled with Hana Brady’s name. The teacher and her students begin searching for the story behind the suitcase. What they discover will surprise you. They wind up unlocking--and showing us in the film--a whole series of deeply moving memories and other related artifacts and photos. Finally, Hana’s surviving brother George travels to Japan to meet the Japanese students.

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 1,100 Nazi war criminals and spent six decades fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people.

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 Opening Event for the 2012 UJA Campaign.

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.

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.

• Feature Films • 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) A Woman Called Golda - Ingrid Bergman plays Golda Meir, the Russian born, Wisconsin raised woman who became Israel’s prime minister in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.

Crossing Delancey - This is a warm comedy taking place in New York City. Isabella Grossman desires to rise above her family’s Lower East Side community but her grandmother has other matchmaking plans.

Footnote - The story of a great rivalry between a father and son, both eccentric professors who have both dedicated their lives to work in Talmudic Studies departments of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Though the father shuns overt praise for his work and the son is desperate for it, how will each react when the father is to be awarded the most sought after prize, the Israel prize? This Oscar nominated film will entrance from the start.

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. Getting this tenderfoot to Frisco in one piece will cause a heap of trouble- with the law, Native Americans and a bunch of killers.

Good - In an attempt to establish its credibility, the new Nazi government is seeking out experts to endorse its policies and they come across Johnnie Halder’s novel of a husband who aids his terminally ill wife in an assisted suicide. Because of this the Nazis flatter Johnnie arranging for high paying and prestigious positions. Never evil, Johnnie Halder is an Everyman who goes along, accepts what he is told without question until he is an unwitting accomplice to the Nazi killing machine.

Hidden In Silence - Przemysl, Poland, WWII. Germany emerges victorious over the Russians, and the city comes under Nazi control. The Jewish are sent to the ghettos. While some stand silent, Catholic teenager Stefania Podgorska chooses the role of a savior and sneaks 13 Jews into her attic. Every day, she risks detection--and immediate execution--by smuggling food and water to the silent group living above her. And when two German nurses are assigned to her living quarters, the chances of discovery become dangerously high. This is the true story of a young woman’s selfless commitment and unwavering resolve in the face of war.

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.

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) Operation Thunderbolt - The true story of the Entebbe hijacking and rescue. “Operation Thunderbolt,” was filmed in Israel with the full cooperation of the Israeli government, and is an exciting re-creation of the events of those tense days. We see the full scope of the story, from the original hijacking to the passengers’ captivity in Uganda to the agonized debates at the highest levels of the Israeli government over a diplomatic vs. a military solution. “Operation Thunderbolt” is the thrilling and true story of how one small country refused to let their people be killed by terrorists and took action to prevent it. People who claim that Israel is a “terrorist state” should see the film and be reminded who the real terrorists are.

Orthodox Stance (documentary-2007) - Dimitriy Salita, a Russian immigrant, is making history as a top professional boxer and rigorously observant Jew. While providing an intimate, 3-year long look at the trials and tribulations faced by an up and coming professional boxer, ORTHODOX STANCE is a portrait of seemingly incompatible cultures and characters working together to support Dmitriy’s rare and remarkable devotion to both Orthodox Judaism and the pursuit of a professional boxing title.

Playing for Time - An outstanding cast brings life to this Fania Fenelon autobiography about a Jewish cabaret singer and other Jewish prisoners whose lives were spared at Auschwitz in exchange for performing for their captors.

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) Sarah’s Key - Julia Jarmond, an American journalist 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.

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 wants one last chance at redemption.

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 Couple - Based on the true story of a Jewish Hungarian’s desperate attempts to save his family from the Nazi death camps. Mr. Krauzenberg (Martin Landau) is forced to hand over his vast wealth to the Nazis for the safe passage of his family out of occupied Europe, only to find his two remaining servants are left trapped in a web of deceit and danger. Their only hope for survival relies on the courage of Krauzenberg.

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?

Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story - Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story is an incredibly riveting, Emmy award-winning, fact-based story about a hero who helped over 100,000 Hungarian Jews escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Ushpizin - A fable set in the Orthodox Jewish world in Jerusalem, Ushpizin tells the story of a poor childless couple, Moshe and Malli, 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.

Children

Continued from page 10

for yeast on Passover now makes sense. The very energy expended in our total obsession with its eradication is only meant to underline and call attention to the “yeast” status of the Jewish people vis a vis its relationship to humanity. By calling attention to yeast/leavening so explicitly, the Torah wants us to understand on our national birthday (Passover) our special “yeast role” in the universe.

In all other areas of kashrut, a minuscule amount of a forbidden substance is “tolerated” if it exists in a certain minuscule percentage in relation to the permitted ingredients (usually a 1/60 ratio). Not so with yeast on Passover.

It has the status of “assur bemashehoo,” i.e., it is forbidden “in any amount” (Shulchan Aruch: Siman taf mem zayin, se’eef dalet).

Israel, in its status as exemplar of liberation from Egyptian oppression, bondage and servitude, becomes on a symbolic level at least, the inspiration for all humanity to aspire to freedom from every type of oppression. Our Exodus is the model for all future exodi. Our salvation is the model for all future salvations, as is likewise our redemption in the land of Israel a precursor and model for ultimate world redemption – if only we and our leaders believe it ourselves and if only the world were to lift its veil of hatred and open its eyes.

By the special status and attention which the Torah pays to actual, real, live yeast in the Exodus narrative, and to its accompanying rites of memory and re-enactment, so, too, should we therefore be cognizant of the people of Israel’s symbolic and yet very real status as yeast or catalyst in the rising pungent ferment that is humanity. The more we consciously incorporate Judaism into our lives, the sooner we help elevate all humanity, including ourselves, to achieve the end stage of glorious redemption and peace, and thereby fulfill our true destiny as an am segula, as a Catalyst Nation, the Religion/Nation of the Yeast.

Ignorance of the true meaning of the term segula has resulted in tragedy in both directions: misplaced haughtiness and arrogance on the part of some Jews, who in righteous tribal anger circle the proverbial wagons to shut out the outside modern world, and has tragically provided ammunition to antisemites who claim that our so-called claim to a chosen status implies a claim of superiority that somehow justifies a negative response.

When we want something good for someone we often say, “Do this as a segula.” Or sometimes it is said, “Say this prayer at the Kotel for 40 days to find your soul mate as a segula,” or “recite this psalm on behalf of sick person as a segula,” or “wear this amulet as a segula.” So clearly, at least in the folk mind, a segula has the sense of being a catalyst, of bringing about positive change on some level.

As role models for tzedakah, culture, agriculture, education, science, the arts and humanities, with leadership roles in progressive movements for social justice, equality and better working conditions for all, Israel’s light shines brightly. We are a segula indeed. We are not perfect. If we had to be perfect we would have given up long ago. We make mistakes. We miss the mark at times. But we are trying our best.

Pesach is the celebration and reenaction of the birthing of the Jewish people. Mitzrayim, Egypt, means narrow straits. We passed through the narrow straits, the birth canal, into freedom. We were born in order to receive the Torah, to bring its message and its teaching to the world.

There is One God who is our Heavenly Father, our Avinu Shebashamayim, who created us and who loves us, and who wants us to love each other as we love ourselves. (Exodus 19:18) As Hillel responded, when asked what is the central message of the Torah: “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto others. All the rest is commentary.”

Chag sameach!

These words of Torah are written in the merit of my beloved father, Israel J. Melman; Yisrael Yehoshua ben Harav Ya’aqov Hakohen Melman; and in memory of my beloved mother, Esther Melman, Esther bat Baruch.

Rabbi Baruch Binyamin ben Yisrael Yehoshua HaKohen Melman is spiritual leader of Temple Israel of the Poconos.

Notice to our Pocono Readers 911 Emergency Management Services has been updating mailing addresses in Monroe County and Lehman Townships in Pike County. Please don't forget to notify the Federation so you will continue to receive The Reporter.

Thanks, Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania

MArch 28, 2013 ■

THE REPORTER

19

NEWS IN bRIEF From JTA

Israeli retaliatory missile slams Syrian military post

An Israeli missile destroyed a Syrian military post in response to fire on Israeli troops in the Golan Heights. The missile fired on March 24 by the Israel Defense Forces reportedly injured two Syrian soldiers. On the night of March 23, Syrian gunfire damaged an Israeli army jeep. Israeli soldiers also came under fire on the morning of March 24. No Israeli soldiers were injured in the attacks. It was unclear whether the bullets fired into Israeli territory had gone astray as part of Syria’s civil war, or if they were fired intentionally at Israeli troops. “We take the firing of bullets at IDF forces in Israeli territory very seriously,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement. “In response the IDF returned fire in line with the government policy: Any violation of Israeli sovereignty and fire from the Syrian side will be answered with the silencing of the source of fire. The Syrian regime is responsible for every breach of sovereignty. We will not allow the Syrian army or any other groups to violate Israel’s sovereignty in any way.” It is not the first time that gunfire from Syria has struck Israeli targets in recent months. In some cases, Israel has retaliated.

Israel also has cared for injured Syrian rebels in at least two instances in recent weeks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the night of March 23 in a Facebook post that some of his motivation in apologizing to Turkey on March 22 for the Mavi Marmara incident in May 2010 was because of the threat from Syria as its civil war continues to escalate. “It’s important that Turkey and Israel, which both share a border with Syria, are able to communicate with each other, and this is also relevant to other regional challenges.

In addition, the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Kerry created an opportunity to end the crisis,” Netanyahu wrote. “Syria is crumbling and its massive stockpiles of advanced weapons are starting to fall into the hands of various elements. What we fear most is that terrorist groups will get their hands on chemical weapons.”

In Ramallah, Obama implies settlement freeze not needed

President Barack Obama implied in Ramallah that a settlement freeze should not be a precondition for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He made the statement on March 21 at a news conference following a long meeting in the West Bank city with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “If the only way to begin the conversation is that we get everything right at the outset, then we’re never going to get to the broader issue, which is how do we structure a state of Palestine and how do you provide Israel confidence about its security,” Obama said. “That’s not to say settlements are not important.” Early in his first term, in 2009, Obama called on Israel to freeze settlement building in the West Bank; Israel partially acquiesced after initially resisting. Since that 10-month freeze expired, during which little diplomatic activity took place, Abbas has demanded another freeze in order to resume talks. At the March 21 news conference, on the second day of Obama’s visit to Israel and the West Bank, Abbas did not explicitly call for a settlement freeze as a precondition for negotiations, though he didn’t drop the call, either. “We are asking nothing outside the framework of international agreements,” Abbas said. “It is the duty of Israel to at least halt the activity. Each side will know its territory” after peace talks are concluded. Obama and Abbas both called for a two-state solution. Obama stressed that an agreement must come out of direct negotiations rather than other forums, an implicit criticism of Abbas’ request last year that the United Nations recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state. “We seek an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian state as the homeland of the Palestinian people,” Obama said.

“The only way to achieve that goal is through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians themselves.” Obama also harshly criticized Hamas, the terrorist organization that governs the Gaza Strip. In the hours before Obama traveled to Ramallah, several rockets fired from Gaza landed near the Israeli city of Sderot. “We condemn this violation of the important cease-fire,” the president said. Hamas, he said, is “more interested in tearing Israel down than in building Palestine up.” Earlier on March 21, Obama visited the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and viewed the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as some recent Israeli high-tech innovations. Later in the afternoon in Jerusalem, he was to address a crowd of Israelis, including many students. After leaving Israel on March 22, Obama was scheduled to visit Jordan.

Jews, told the Hungarian news website Index.hu on March 20 that he will comply with a request by Hungarian Human Resources Minister Zoltan Balog to return the Tancsics Award for journalists he was presented by the minister a week earlier. Balog had asked Szaniszlo, who has referred to Roma as “apes” and suggested that he regarded Jews as “garbage,” to return the honor a day earlier following an outcry in Hungary and beyond, including from Israel’s ambassador to Hungary, Ilan Mor. “The minister handed out [the award] with a friendly smile and then a few hours later he took it back,” the website quoted Szaniszlo as saying. Szaniszlo denied he was a racist and said he was “a victim of machinations by Israel and the United States, which are for some reason so afraid.” He added, “I stand up for Palestine, just like Obama” and “I exposed the truth about Sept.

11, about the Kennedy murder, about Diana’s murder, and that pains them.”

Canadian Jewish TV host apologizes for anti-Roma rant

A Jewish television host in Canada apologized for a rant against the Roma people during a segment titled “The Jews versus the gypsies.” Ezra Levant of the Sun TV network referred on March 18 to the segment last September as “a pretty good rant” but added, “To those I hurt, I’m sorry. ... It’s just wrong to slur a group of people. I made the moral mistake of judging people collectively.” He had sparked widespread outrage when he referred to Roma as “gypsies” and “a culture synonymous with swindlers ... one of the central characteristics of that culture is that their chief economy is theft and begging.”

He also said, “The phrase ‘gypsy’ and ‘cheater’ have been so interchangeable historically that the word has been entered into the English language as a verb: he gypped me. Well, the gypsies have gypped us. Too many have come here as false refugees,” Levant said on the segment. The attack came amid news reports about a crime ring of Romanian immigrants working in the Toronto area. Canada’s Roma community asked Toronto police last fall to investigate Levant for hate crimes. Levant, who is known for his blustery talk and fervent belief in free speech, said on March 18, “I don’t apologize simply for the sake of being consistent in my views. I regret having made these statements and I’m hopeful that those remarks will serve as an example of what not to do when commenting on social issues.” Sun News apologized for the segment last fall and pulled the offending video from its website. Writing in the National Post newspaper in the wake of the broadcast, three prominent Jewish community leaders said, “If the Sun News Network had aired an attack on Jews, the whole country would be outraged.” Some have said that Levant’s apology is suspiciously timed, as the Sun network is in the midst of asking Canadian broadcasting regulators for inclusion on digital basic cable for five years.

Rabbi appointed to work with Bnei Anousim in Italy

Rabbi Pinchas Punturello will begin work in southern Italy and Sicily to reach out to the Bnei Anousim, the descendants of Jews forced to convert to Catholicism centuries ago. Punturello’s posting is a joint project of Shavei Israel, an Israel-based nonprofit that helps strengthen and recover Jewish identity, and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. It marks the first time that a rabbi has been appointed to work specifically with the Bnei Anousim of southern Italy and Sicily. Punturello, 36, a Naples native, served as the rabbi of its Jewish community from 2004 to 2010, and was the small congregations activities coordinator for the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities, or UCEI, the official umbrella organization of Italian Jewry. In the role, Punturello will collaborate with Rabbi Scialom Bahbout, the chief rabbi of Naples and southern Italy, who has initiated a number of programs aimed at Jews in the south seeking to recover their identity. Punturello, who lives in Jerusalem, is expected to spend about half of each month in Italy.

Obama gift tree to Peres won’t be uprooted

The magnolia tree gifted from President Barack Obama to Israeli President Shimon Peres will not have to be uprooted for approval by Israel’s Agriculture Ministry. The ministry said on March 21 that it would conduct the necessary tests in the garden of the president’s residence in Jerusalem rather than removing the tree from where it was planted a day earlier by Obama and Peres, according to a statement from Peres’ office.

Following the planting, reports surfaced that the ministry would require the tree to be dug up and brought in for quarantine and inspection, which is the protocol for bringing plants into the country in order to prevent the spread of new bugs and diseases. Obama said he brought the tree with him on Air Force One.

Lapid orders $13 million transferred to Shoah survivors fund

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid ordered the transfer of more than $13 million to a foundation to assist Holocaust survivors. Lapid in his first official order in his new position had the funds transferred to the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims.

The money will go to meet quality-of-life needs for aging survivors, including at-home nursing care. The allocation reportedly was part of the government coalition deal that Lapid’s Yesh Atid party struck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The agreement reportedly raises the amount of money allocated to survivors over the next four years. Earlier in March, the fund said it had cut three hours of nursing services a week for survivors due to a large budget shortfall.

Hungarian journalist to return state honor, denies antisemitism

A Hungarian journalist who made antisemitic statements has agreed to return a state honor. Ferenc Szaniszlo, who on Echo TV has offered conspiracy theories on Israel and

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THE REPORTER ■ MArch 28, 2013

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