November 19, 2015

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VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 23

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

France knows: this is war ANALYSIS

BY BOAZ BISMUTH Israel Hayom/JNS.org “This is an act of war,” French President François Hollande proclaimed after convening his security cabinet on November 14. Hollande said the Islamic State terror group was responsible for the November 13 series of terrorist attacks, in which at least 129 people lost their lives, and that the attacks were planned outside of France.

“France will be merciless toward the barbarians of the Islamic State group” and “will act with all the means necessary… on all fronts: interior and exterior, in coordination with our allies who themselves are targeted by this threat,” vowed Hollande, who at 4 am spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama over the phone.

France is at war. A countrywide state of emergency was declared along with three days of national mourning. In the upcoming days we will also see many more soldiers in the city of lights. The city’s main tourist attractions and public institutions remained closed on November 14. At least eight terrorists, among them seven suicide attackers, took part in the multi-pronged assault. A manhunt

is under way to find the planners and those who provided the attackers with logistical support. The overriding fear is that this isn’t over. There isn’t a dearth of terrorists in France. The jihadists returning from Syria are potential ticking time bombs. The problem is that this is no longer about potential. The terror is already here. France is at war, and not just any war. It’s a religious war: the most dangerous and fanatical kind.

“War in central Paris,” stated the top headline in French newspaper Le Figaro on November 14. “This time it’s war,” read the headline in Le Parisien. And they expressed what almost every French citizen is saying or thinking. The other headlines in the French press are no less horrific, with words like “massacre” and “slaughter” being used over and over to describe what transpired. Online social networks were especially busy, and on a new Facebook page named “Attacks in Paris,” people offered to shelter shell shocked fellow Parisians in their homes.

Taxi drivers drove survivors home with the meters turned off. Ever since that terrible war some 70 years ago, France hasn’t known such solidarity.

The entire world is stunned. This was the worst terrorist attack since Madrid in

The Bataclan concert hall in Paris, site of an Islamist terror attack in which 89 people were killed on November 13 among 129 deaths across six coordinated attacks. (Photo by Céline via Wikimedia Commons)

The Le Petit Cambodge restaurant – site of one of six coordinated Islamist terror attacks in Paris on November 13 – with a makeshift memorial of flowers and blood staining the ground on the day after the attacks. (Photo by Maya-Anaïs Yataghène via Wikimedia Commons) 2004. Then, al-Qaida was responsible. Now it’s Islamic State. From the Westerner’s perspective, it’s exactly the same ideology. The simultaneous attacks were no longer aimed at symbolic targets: a Jewish school; the offices of a satire magazine that mocked the Prophet Muhammad; a policeman or soldier in uniform representing the republic. This time the symbol is everyone.

The choice of targets explains precisely why France is so anxious: It is a drastic escalation in the degree of carnage, danger, madness, nihilism and hatred. These attacks were aimed at people. These attacks were blind. France understands today that in the eyes of Islamist jihad, all Frenchmen, all Westerners, are infidels – and no one is immune.

The people of France are struggling to understand how it all happened. They want to know why the attack at the Bataclan concert hall didn’t end with fewer casualties, mainly because it was so reminiscent of the terrorist attack in the Russian city of Beslan in North Ossetia in September 2004. “Ask the Israelis, they will tell you how hard it is to cope with suicide terrorists,” said the commander of the GIGN, France’s elite counterterrorism unit, Amaury de Hauteclocque, who

Scranton Hebrew Day School Chinese Auction to be held on Sunday, November 22 A gala evening has been planned for the Scranton Hebrew Day School’s Chinese Auction, “Illuminations,” to be held on Sunday, November 22, at 6 pm, in the Colonnade, 401 Jefferson Ave., Scranton.

The event will be sponsored by Dr. Shaya and Phyllis Barax in memory of William Kantrowitz, Phyllis’ father, and by Kantrowitz’ wife, Ruth Kantrowitz. The event will feature a buffet and dessert table.

A Chinese auction is a series of individual drawings with many chances for winners. Participants buy raffle coupons for the items of their choice.

Prizes include a hand-written megillah, a $500 gift card to Steamtown Mall; a fully stocked 15 cubic foot freezer; a six quart Kitchen Aid Mixer with three cookbooks; gift cards to Target, Amazon, Gerrity’s, Price Chopper and

Boscov’s; and many other items. A full color brochure is available at the school office.

Admission will cost $18 per person or $30 for a couple. Free admission per couple will be given with $100 or more in prize purchases. For more information, to make reservations or to place an order, call 570-346-1576. All proceeds will benefit the school’s scholarship fund.

Prep. for Chanukah

President Barack Obama and Recipes for breakfast latkes; a Prime Minis t er Benj amin look at five new Chanukah books Netanyahu meet. for children.

Story on page 3 Stories on pages 6 and 8

See “France” on page 13

Federation on Facebook

The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania now has a page on Facebook to let community members know about upcoming events and keep connected.

Candle lighting

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Meeting of the minds

stormed the Bataclan with his men. In the video footage from the scene, the sounds of explosions are clearly discernible. In this day and age everything is videotaped and recorded. From the terrorists’ vantage point, the victory is two-fold: They can kill and also become famous.

“I saw the dead on the floor, I saw body parts,” recounts Sebastien, who managed to escape from the Bataclan theater with his life. “I heard them shouting ‘Allahu akbar – we are avenging the deaths of our brothers in Syria,’” recalls Celine, another survivor. Not far from there a newspaper salesman and his customers gather, stunned. “That’s it, they’re here,” says one Frenchman who buys all the papers.

“I’m buying them for my kids, so they remember the day it all started.”

At Rue de Charonne, the site of the restaurant shooting that left 18 people dead, stands Luke, a young man who had met some friends for dinner the night before. “I can’t believe a terrorist attack happened right under my home.

A Kalashnikov [rifle] right here under my house. Does that make any sense?” he asks bewildered. The fear for French citizens is real and tangible. They saw the footage of the panicked escape from the Bataclan, captured on film by a Le Monde cameraman. The optimists are afraid it’s not over, the pessimists are afraid this is just the beginning, while the realists have

Food innovations

November 20................................4:21 pm November 27................................4:17 pm December 4..................................4:15 pm

Rutgers University and Israel’s Tel-Hai College announce a New PLUS Jersey-Israel Food Alliance.

Opinion........................................................2 Story on page 11 D’var Torah..............................................10

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THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

A MATTER OF OPINION I stand with...

through the neighborhood and

BY AVI GANZ in the other hand is a small bottle The human mind is pretty of pepper spray, something has amazing. We anticipate evil changed. When a so-called sucas something other than our cessful ending to yet another own experience. Sure, there terrorist event refers to a missed are shoplifters, tax evaders and attempt as well as a dead terthe Devil’s first-begotten son: rorist, something has changed. double parkers – but they are While evil must definitely be not evil. Evil refers to a special eradicated and these would-be brand of villain; the kind one Avi Ganz attackers deserve everything meets on a page or in a theater. that is coming to them, seeing We’ll never meet a real gangster – only gangsters meet gangsters. our holy and welcoming streets strewn Only murderous members of rivaling with the result of said eradication is still tribes meet in dark alleyways to commit extreme – too extreme for most of us.

We weren’t supposed to see that kind of the unthinkable.

And then evil visits our doorstep. carnage. But something has changed.

And so, as it goes, our friends ask us Something has changed. When school bus stops are not exclusively places symbolic how we deal with it... what are we doing... of limitless potential, because now they and how can they help. We are living. We also have permanent memorials to the are going to school and work and to the youths who were kidnapped from there store, though we may choose to support and subsequently murdered, things have the local family-owned small shop inside changed. When local volunteers drop their our gated and patrolled community. We books and head to the ambulance but, in are praying for the safety of our immediaddition to a seatbelt, they strap on bul- ate families and our extended one. We let-proof vests for protection, something are acknowledging that these weeks have has changed. When a 10-year-old tells been extraordinary and that, while we are her father that her teacher has a “certain firm in our resolve not to cave to terror, look that she gets when there is a ‘pigu’a’ we are also proactively enforcing that (attack) and she has been getting that look resolve and reinforcing our children, our neighbors and ourselves. We, in our coma lot,” something has changed.

When a grocery store hailed as the munity, have declared today a public fast paradigm of coexistence is virtually day (or half-day) and have included extra empty because coexistence is great, but prayers in today’s liturgy while encouragexistence at all is even greater and “I ing more Torah study and strengthening just don’t feel comfortable taking that of our interpersonal relationships. This is chance,” something has changed. When real. It is not a movie. The goal is not just the kindergarten teacher takes the hand of survival. The goal is living.

A friend, a pulpit rabbi, wrote to me one of her precious charges as they stroll

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last week after the umpteenth attack (too) close to our home. He was checking in, he said, but he also wanted my input as to what his Diaspora community could do. He acknowledged that it was unfair of him to expect me to provide the cure for his community’s desire to participate in “what’s going on in Israel,” but his query was definitely genuine. It gave me an insight into a slice of Diaspora Jewry. You care. You really do. There is no doubt that our Jewish brothers and sisters of all walks of life all around the world are genuinely concerned about us and about our homeland. And you don’t know what to do about it. Nor do I, but here’s a start: I think that most of us don’t want sympathy, but we are encouraged by your empathy. Every person experiences every change, every attack, differently. Take the time to ask your friends and family what this intifada means to them and to their children. Speak to the children, too.

There is strength in numbers. Thanks to social media, it has become something of a fad, lately, to “Stand with Israel.”

Don’t stand with Israel... unless Israel is the name of your cousin in Afula or your colleague in Beit Shemesh. Stand with children, parents, individuals, schools and communities. Israel is a concept, but we are people, each one living his or her own unique life.

If you are concerned about your own inability to act on behalf of our land or its lucky inhabitants, so are we. It is very crippling to realize that we cannot really anticipate any of these attacks and we just have to look over our shoulders wherever

we go. On the other hand, what we can do, and you can do just as well, is to reach out to one another. I suggested to my friend that his shul could have an evening during which they would have the opportunity to write letters or decorate cards for Israeli school children and our precious soldiers.

If you or someone you know is visiting Israel, bake some cookies and send them to a 19-year-old boy who has been standing in the rain for six hours looking out for suspicious individuals and hoping he doesn’t become a victim. We are real people and you are real people. Let’s schmooze! In addition to those simple ideas, when your shul, or PTA or Sisterhood gets together for the letter-writing or cookie baking, say a prayer on behalf of our Israel.

Few are statements so impotent as “stay safe.” Huh? Is that really what you wanted? Glad you mentioned... cause I was just about to go play in traffic! Suffice it to say, bad news being reported there is being experienced here. We’ll do our best to stay safe, but not because you asked us to. Instead, we’ll be doing our best to stay safe because that is (hands down) the most efficient way to continue living our respective lives.

I know that these events have caused so many different people in different places with different ideas to have different feelings. Many of those people have expressed those feelings right here in these blogs. I hope I’ve added something and I hope you’ll consider some of these ideas for your communities or with your loved ones.

And to you, Rabbi Jonny, thanks for asking!

How to teach kids to support Jewish causes

BY RABBI JEFFREY K. SALKIN HOLLYWOOD, FL (JTA) – “Hey, Rabbi,” the bat mitzvah candidate said, “can I tell you about my mitzvah project?

I’m raising money to help people join our synagogue if they can’t afford it.”

I was impressed. And moved. And shocked.

Many religious schools require that bar/bat mitzvah candidates do a mitzvah project. Once upon a time, those projects were all Jewish in nature. Families would plant trees in Israel in honor of their guests or display material from local Jewish organizations on the tables at the celebration. Kids would donate some of their gift money to local Jewish Federations. For a while, bar and bat mitzvah candidates would symbolically share their ceremonies with Soviet Jewish refuseniks who were forbidden from studying Judaism.

But such specifically Jewish projects have gone the way of the VHS tape and the pet rock – hopelessly passé. Throughout the last decade, bar/bat mitzvah projects have become decreasingly Jewish in their focus and intent. Mitzvah projects are far more likely to be focused on healing disease, or addressing environmental concerns, or raising money for disadvantaged kids. In fact, my young friend’s idea to help subsidize synagogue dues for the less fortunate was, in fact, the only specifically Jewish mitzvah project I had seen in years.

I am all in favor of kids wanting to give to the wider community. Most adults and teachers would probably agree with me: Any kind of altruism, anything that carries kids out of their iPhone, selfieaddled worlds is good. But the flight from specifically Jewish concerns has its own set of worrisome implications.

First, it accompanies a gradual diminishment in Jewish ethnic feeling and connection – a diminishment that is part of larger trends within the American Jewish community. When I have mentioned the importance of particularistic Jewish giving to parents, I get deer-inheadlights stares, as if parents find the very idea of giving to Jewish causes to be an embarrassment – too Jewish, too tribal. It is as if I am speaking a foreign language, which, in fact, I am: a language of Jewish peoplehood.

Second, I find myself reminding Jewish parents of the deeper ramifications of their kids’ choices. Here is what I say: I know that your kids are going to want to give to various universal, communal and non-Jewish charities. We want to be helpful and to make a difference. That is what being Jewish is all about. But here’s the deal. If your child doesn’t give to the United Way, someone else will step up to that worthy plate. The same is true with the local museum and symphony orchestra.

If we don’t teach our kids how to give Jewishly, they will never learn.

No one else will step up for them and those Jewish causes will go unsupported.

Eventually they will die. If only one generation of Jewish kids fails to learn how to support the Jewish community, the Jewish people and Israel, Jewish giving will be over. Because Jewish giving, like any kind of moral engagement, is a muscle. If you don’t develop the muscle, it atrophies.

So what can Jewish parents do to make sure they are keeping the chain of Jewish giving intact? First, teach your kids about local Jewish needs, causes and organizations. Talk to them about the work of Federations, commu-

nity centers, Jewish family and career services. Take them to see what those organizations are really doing. Talk to them about projects in Israel. Teach them about what Jewish organizations are doing all over the world. Make it real for them.

Second, link your child’s interests to Jewish causes. Your kid likes baseball?

There’s JChoice.org, a group that provides baseball equipment and supplies to kids in low-income areas. Dance?

Give to The Israel Ballet. Horses? Try the Israel National Therapeutic Riding Association, which uses horseback riding to help people coping with disability or injury. There are other opportunities like these, many of them contained in “The Mitzvah Project Book,” by Liz Suneby and Diane Heiman. (Full disclosure: I wrote the foreword.)

Third, if you cannot find anything Jewish that interests your child, convert your child’s interest to a Jewish value.

Give that value a Hebrew name. Your child wants to raise money for a specific disease? Fine. Welcome to the world of refuah (healing). Your child wants people to donate to help flood victims?

Great. It’s called tikkun olam (repairing the world). Your kid cares about animal welfare? Fantastic. Thanks for supporting tzaar baalei chayim (avoiding cruelty to animals).

Sure, tikkun olam is great. But tikkun ha’am – repairing the Jewish people – is just as important. We do that when we connect our values to our people and to our sense of what we believe.

Jeffrey K. Salkin is the rabbi of Temple Solel in Hollywood, FL, and the author of “Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah.”

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 ■ THE REPORTER

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COMMUNITY NEWS HERC presented award winning film “Nicky’s Family” to commemorate Kristallnacht At left: Community members attended a screening of “Nicky’s Family” on November 10. Front row (l-r): Phyllis and David Malinov, Jim and Susie Connors. Second row: Mark Silverberg, Laney Ufberg, Dale and Ken Miller. In the background: Rick Gelb and Al Tragis.

Disagreements behind them, Obama and Netanyahu get down to business

BY RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) – It took agreeing to set aside differences on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get down to business on other issues afflicting the region, including the threat of Islamist extremism and the rise of IsraeliPalestinian violence.

Appearing pleased and relaxed – if hoarse – after meeting with Obama for more than two hours on November 9, Netanyahu told reporters that the two had a pragmatic discussion that lacked the contentiousness of their previous encounters. “The conversation was substantive, practical,” Netanyahu told reporters after the meeting. “We have a common interest in keeping Iran from violating the agreement.”

Two major burrs that have irritated the U.S.-Israel relationship for months were removed in the lead-up to

the meeting, with each leader scoring a win. Netanyahu acknowledged that the nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers is on its way to implementation, despite his vehement objections. And Obama administration officials said the president no longer held out hope for a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before the end of his term in January 2017.

See “Obama” on page 14

Close to 50 people attended a showing of the film “Nicky’s Family” on November 10 at the Scranton JCC. The screening was held to commemorate the night, 77 years ago, when the Nazis began the Holocaust. The sounds of the shattering glass of Jewish synagogues and businesses gave the pogrom the name Kristallnacht, “the night of broken glass.”

The Holocaust Education Resource Center of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania presented the film, which is a tribute to Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved close to 700 Czech children, most of them Jewish. He chose not to tell anyone about his work, and it was only 50 years later that the story surfaced and many reunions occurred between Winton and those he helped rescue.

The movie is part of the Federation’s Jewish Film Library and is available now for loan. To borrow this or other movies in the collection, contact Dassy Ganz at 570-961-2300, ext. 2, or e-mail dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org.

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Thursday, November 19............. December 3 Thursday, December 31............... January 14 Thursday, January 14................... January 28 Thursday, January 28................. February 11

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama met at the White House on November 9. (Photo by Haim Zach/Israeli Government Press Office)

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THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

SCIENCE SNIPPETS Tumor-suppressor, fighting obesity and plant starches

BY WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE TUMOR-SUPPRESSOR AFFECTS MELANOMA SURVIVAL A newly discovered tumor-suppressor gene affects melanoma survival. Restoring the function of this gene in melanoma cells caused them to stop growing and die.

Of the hundreds of genes that can be mutated in a single case of melanoma, only a handful may be true “drivers” of cancer. In research that recently appeared in Nature Genetics, a Weizmann Institute of Science team has now revealed one of the drivers of a particularly deadly subset of melanomas that is seeing a rise in new cases. This gene is a newly identified member of a group of genes called tumor suppressor genes, and is mutated in some 5.4 percent of melanomas.

Furthermore, its expression was found to be lost in more than 30 percent of human melanomas; this loss, according to the research, was associated with reduced patient survival.

The discovery might open new doors to understanding how this cancer grows and spreads, and may lead in the future to new directions in treatment.

Prof. Yardena Samuels and her team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Molecular Cell Biology were specifically searching for tumor suppressor genes in their database, which consists of more than 500 melanoma genomes and exomes – protein-building sequences – making it the largest me lanoma dataset to date. As their name suggests, tumor

suppressor genes normally inhibit cell growth, including that of cancer cells.

However, when mutated, they act like defective brakes on cellular proliferation.

Thus, studying these genes is crucial in cancer biology. “The identification of targetable alterations in melanoma is an urgent need. An in-depth understanding of the functional effects of mutations in these genes is the first step toward revealing the underlying mechanism of melanoma growth,” says Dr. Nouar Qutob, a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Samuels’ lab who participated in this research.

Indeed, the melanoma genome sequences contained mutations in known tumor suppressor genes, but there was also a new gene – RASA2 – that stood out during the team’s search. Their next step was to conduct a series of functional experiments to understand exactly what this gene does. They cloned both the normal protein and the most recurrent mutated versions to see their effects on melanoma cells, finding that RASA2 regulates a key protein in the cell, called RAS. RAS has been identified as a major oncogene that contributes to the unchecked growth of cells. When the team restored the production of the RAS protein in melanoma cells that harbored RASA2 mutations, the cells stopped growing and eventually died.

Patients with dysfunctional RAS pathways tend to have a worse prognosis than those with other types of melanomas, and until now, scientists have not managed to

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create drugs that can target this pathway.

“As the RAS pathway is highly dysregulated in cancer, the discovery of an alternative mechanism for its activation is likely to stimulate an avalanche of further research in this field, and is highly likely to have direct clinical relevance. We are now going to focus on RASA2, to find out what proteins it communicates wi th in healthy cells and melanoma, as well as in the cells’ response to targeted therapy,” says Samuels.

“Most targeted cancer therapies nowadays work by inhibiting the products of oncogenes that are overactive in melanoma cells. However, loss or mutation s in tumor suppressor genes like RASA2 also contribute to melanoma development; therefore, discovering and studying RASA2 targets and partners will be our next aim,” says Rand Arafeh, a Ph.D. student in Samuels’ lab and lead author of the paper.

IMMUNE CELLS THAT FIGHT OBESITY We tend to think of the immune system as guarding us against bacteria, viruses and other foreign invaders, but this system has other surprising roles. Weizmann Institute researchers have now identified a small subtype of immune cells that appears to prevent metabolic syndrome, a dangerous cluster of diseases: obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol.

Past studies have shown that the immune system plays a role in obesity, but those studies were performed on mice deliberately fed a high-fat diet. The new Weizmann study, published recently in Immunity, was performed on mice fed a regular diet. It showed that immunological mechanisms can play a role in obesity and the other components of metabolic syndrome without connection to dietary fat.

The study originally focused on dendritic cells, which serve as the immune system’s sentinels, alerting other immune

mechanisms to various dangers. The team’s emphasis was on a rare subtype of dendritic cells that possess a killing protein, called perforin, that enables them to eliminate other cells on demand. To reveal the function of these cells in the body, researchers – headed by Prof. Yair Reisner of the Department of Immunology – created mice that lacked perforin-rich dendritic cells. To the team’s surprise, the mice became overweight and then developed symptoms of metabolic syndrome.

Investigating these mice further, the researchers found that their fat tissue had abnormally high levels of inflammation-causing immune T cells. When these cells were removed from the fat tissue of the perforin-poor mice, the mice did not grow obese. These findings suggest that perforin-rich dendritic cells regulate the levels of certain T cells, and by keeping these T cells in check, they apparently prevent metabolic syndrome.

In addition to providing new insights into metabolic syndrome, the study may also shed new light on autoimmunity, as the mice lacking perforin-rich dendritic cells were more prone than usual to develop an autoimmune disease equivalent to multiple sclerosis in humans. It now remains to be investigated whether patients with autoimmune disease lack these regulatory cells.

PLANTS KEEP ONE FOOT ON THE BRAKES Pressing on the gas and the brakes at the same time hardly sounds like a good driving technique, but Weizmann Institute scientists have discovered that plants drive some of their key processes precisely in such a manner.

A research team headed by Prof. Avihai Danon of the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, along with post-doctoral fellow Dr. Erez Eliyahu and

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NOVEMBER 19, 2015 ■ THE REPORTER

The Small Business Spotlight is on... Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania Reprinted with permission of the Chamber of Commerce Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania, a member since 2014, was founded with one thing in mind: to serve the community. Open to all faiths and backgrounds, Jewish Family Service is a human service organization whose mission reflects the Jewish tradition of caring and compassion for all people in need. Through professional counseling, advocacy and educational programming, JFS seeks to enhance and strengthen the quality of individual, family and community life.

As Executive Director Sheila Nudelman Abdo explained, JFS recently celebrated its centennial and has plans to continue its growth and expansion by continuing with its mission of community service and charity.

Can you tell us a little about Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania? How long have you been in business?

In 1915, concerned community leaders organized to coordinate the relief activities of all service organizations in existence in the Jewish community at the time. They established an organization whose mission was of philanthropic and charitable purpose that was also devoted to improving the quality of life for individuals and families in the Jewish and general community.

This past June, Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania celebrated its 100th anniversary, each year serving hundreds of people who turn to JFS to achieve well-being, health and stability.

What are some of the services you offer

to clients? What types of clients do you accommodate?

The largest program at JFS is mental health services. The organization offers counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups by social workers licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Life can get complicated and we’re here to help people Sheila Nudelman through their challenges.

Abdo, executive The JFS comprehensive ap- director of Jewish proach works for clients of all Family Service ages. JFS social workers are by their clients’ sides as advocates working with teachers, employers, physicians and others. The social workers’ assistance extends well beyond the office doors. Our services seek to enhance and strengthen the quality of individual, family and community life. JFS is a human service organization that reflects the Jewish tradition of caring and compassion for all people in need, not just those who are Jewish.

In addition to mental health, other JFS services include older adult services and case management, adult guardianship, dental care services and family life education, among others.

How do you envision the Chamber helping to promote your business in the future?

Research shows that each year indirect costs of untreated mental health disorders can result in a more than $80 billion loss to businesses due to the decrease of productivity and absenteeism, and more than one million people miss work every day due to stress at work and home. JFS joined

the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce to make businesses aware of these alarming statistics and to let them know that we can help through mental health counseling or employee assistance programs. Being aware of a problem is the first step to solving a problem. We, as humans, often wait too long to seek help.

What is something unique about JFS of Northeastern Pennsylvania that you would like people to know?

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Our Holocaust Survivors Assistance Program stabilizes the mental and physical status of those affected by Nazi persecution in order for them to live their remaining years in dignity and as independently as possible. Last year alone, JFS helped regional Holocaust survivors receive more than $9,000 in financial assistance with funds received from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany Emergency Assistance Program. Since the program has been established in our area, more than a quarter million dollars has been distributed locally.

See “Family” on page 12

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THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

For Chanukah, breakfast latkes two ways

BY SHANNON SARNA (JTA) – I first tasted latkes for brunch at a trendy eatery on the Lower East Side about six years ago.

Since then, I’ve seen them across the country on brunch menus everywhere from diners to Michelin Star restaurants.

Latkes – or potato pancakes, as they’re known to non-Jews – are comfort food that provide the perfect base to any number of savory toppings, but especially a runny egg or salty, fatty smoked salmon. After all, a latke is very similar to hash browns, a quintessential breakfast food. It’s traditional to eat fried foods like latkes during Chanukah, celebrating the miracle

of the oil lasting for eight nights. And who doesn’t love a holiday that encourages enjoyment of a little extra oil?

These breakfast latkes take the best of a classic and add a fun, American twist that screams brunch party. Here I offer two options: one dairy and one meat. If you keep kosher, but want to serve both at a single meal, you could leave out the corned beef from the second latke and just top classic latkes with some fried or poached eggs. If you want to be really indulgent, you could whip up some buttery Hollandaise sauce – you’ll have your guests raving for months.

2015 - 2016 Series

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An informative clinic on how to insulate your living space to keep the cold out!!

Where: Home Depot, 800 Commerce Blvd., Dickson City, PA 18519 When: Wednesday, December 2 • 3-4 PM

Registration & Pre-Payment required Fee: JFS Members Free/Non members $10 Registration required - please call 570-344-1186, ext. 204 or e-mail mbushwick@jfsoflackawanna.org

For future programming, check out our website at www.jfsoflackawanna.org

Friends of The Reporter Dear Friend of The Reporter, Each year at this time the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania calls upon members of our community to assist in defraying the expense of issuing our regional Jewish newspaper, The Reporter.

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

columns that cover everything from food to entertainment.

The Federation assumes the financial responsibility for funding the enterprise at a cost of $26,400 per year and asks only that we undertake a small letter writing mail campaign to our recipients in the hope of raising $10,000 from our readership to alleviate a share of that responsibility.

We would be grateful if you would care enough to take the time to make a donation for our efforts in bringing The Reporter to your door.

As the primary Jewish newspaper of our region, we have tried to produce a quality publication for you that offers our readership something on everythingfrom opinions and columns on controversial issues that affect our people and our times, to publicity for the events of our affiliated agencies and organizations to life cycle events, teen columns, personality profiles, letters to the editor, the Jewish community calendar and other

As always, your comments, opinions and suggestions are always welcome.

With best wishes, Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Jewish Federation of NE Pennsylvania 601 Jefferson Avenue Scranton, PA 18510

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EVERYTHING BAGEL LATKES WITH DILL CREAM CHEESE AND SMOKED SALMON Yield: 12-15 latkes These latkes are both creamy and savory. Making latkes bite-size makes the experience a little more fun – guests can easily eat the latkes with their fingers, and also feel like they can indulge a little more since the portions are small.

For the latkes: 4 Idaho (Russet) potatoes 1 small-medium onion 3 large garlic cloves 2 eggs 2 to 3 Tbsp. flour 2 tsp. salt 2 ounces goat cheese, left at room temperature Corned beef hash latkes For the cream cheese: (Photo by Shannon 6 ounces cream cheese, Sarna) left at room temperature 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice Salt and pepper to taste For the everything bagel topping: 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds 1 Tbsp. dried minced garlic 1 Tbsp. dried onion 2 tsp. thick sea salt Thinly sliced smoked salmon Vegetable oil for frying Before getting started on the latkes, I advise making the everything bagel topping and the dill cream cheese.

Add softened cream cheese to a bowl and combine with fresh dill, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Place back in the fridge until ready to serve.

To make the everything bagel topping, mix together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic, dried onion and thick sea salt. Set aside.

Peel and cut potatoes and onions in half. Peel garlic cloves. Place potatoes, onion and garlic in a food processor for a coarse grate (you can also grate coarsely by hand).

Place potato mixture in a large bowl. Add eggs, flour, salt, goat cheese and 2 tablespoons everything bagel topping mix.

Heat vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Form bite-sized mounds of latkes, taking care not to squeeze too much liquid out of the latkes. Fry until golden brown on each side, then place on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet to cool. Immediately sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

When ready to serve, spread thin layer of dill cream cheese on top of each latke. Add smoked salmon on each latke and top with a sprinkle of everything bagel topping. Serve while still warm.

CORNED BEEF HASH LATKES WITH FRIED EGGS Yield: 12-15 latkes These corned beef hash-inspired latkes work best with thinly shredded corned beef. If you can purchase a hunk of corned beef, as opposed to sliced, that would be ideal. If not, make sure to heat up the corned beef before shredding it or dicing into very, very tiny cubes. But don’t skimp on the salt in these latkes just because you think the meat will be salty – the potatoes still need salt to make these latkes most flavorful.

4 Idaho (Russet) potatoes 1 small-medium onion 2 eggs 2 to 3 Tbsp. flour 2 tsp. salt Shredded corned beef Additional salt Additional eggs Everything bagel latkes Fresh parsley Vegetable oil for frying (Photo by Shannon Peel and cut potatoes and Sarna) onions in half. Peel garlic cloves. Place potatoes, onion and garlic in a food processor for a coarse grate (you can also grate coarsely by hand).

Place potato mixture in a large bowl. Add eggs, flour, salt and shredded (or diced) corned beef.

Heat vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Form large, fist-sized mounds of latkes, taking care not to squeeze too much liquid out of the latkes. Fry until golden brown on each side, then place on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet to cool. Immediately sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Fry or poach eggs to your liking. When ready to serve, place latkes on platter and top with fried or poached eggs.

Top with chopped fresh parsley.

7

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 ■ THE REPORTER

To Brighten the Festival of Lights

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10-22 Lb.Avg.Wgt.•Frozen

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All varieties may not be available in all stores.We reserve the right to limit quantities and substitute items. Not responsible for typographical errors.

8

THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

The five best new Create a Legacy for our Jewish Future Chanukah books for children

in NEPA

TYPES OF GIFTS

Your charitable gifts to the Federation can result in immediate and/or future benefits for you and your family.

PERPETUAL ANNUAL CAMPAIGN ENDOWMENTS (P.A.C.E.) There are considerable tax advantages in establishing a P.A.C.E. gift to the Federation outright or as part of your estate planning.

In doing so, you can perpetuate your annual UJA Campaign gift in your name, the name of your family, in memory of a loved one or in celebration of a significant event in your life or the life of another. On average, the annual income normally calculates out to 5% of the amount of your P.A.C.E. endowment. The corpus of your Fund would not be affected, and only the income would be used for the annual UJA gift – in perpetuity. That is, a P.A.C.E. endowment of $100,000 would normally produce an annual gift of $5,000 to future UJA Campaigns.

IMMEDIATE GIFTS OF CASH Cash contributions are deductible as itemized deductions in the year you make the donation(s), up to 50% of your adjusted gross. Excess charitable deductions can be carried forward for up to five years.

BY PENNY SCHWARTZ (JTA) – Sharing blessings, friendship and welcoming guests are among the themes that illuminate a new crop of Chanukah books for children.

The eight-day Festival of Lights begins this year with the first candle lighting on Sunday evening, December 6.

Some acclaimed children’s writers and illustrators serve “Sammy Spider’s First up a sparkling array of lively “Hanukkah Cookies Taste of Hanukkah: and inspiring stories that will with Sprinkles” (Photo A Cookbook” (Photo take readers from the streets of courtesy of Behrman courtesy of Kar-Ben New York City to a moshav in House) Books) Israel and even into the kitchen to cook up some Chanukah fun. second entry in a series that launched with “Hanukkah is Coming!” by Tracy “Shabbat is Coming!” by Tracy Newman; Newman, illustrated by Vivian Garotwo new titles for Passover and Rosh foli; Kar-Ben ($5); ages 1-4 Hashanah are due out next year.

A delightful, rhyming story that follows “Oskar and the Eight Blessings” a family as it celebrates Chanukah: lightby Richard Simon and Tanya Simon, ing the menorah, frying up potato latkes, illustrated by Mark Siegel; Roaring trading bow-wrapped gifts and spinning Book Press ($17.99); ages 4-8 a dreidel. The colorfully illustrated board “Oskar and the Eight Blessings” transbook is a perfect read-aloud for young kids, ports readers back in time to the sights and each page ending with the easy-to-repeat sounds of New York City’s streets in 1938.

See “Books” on page 12 refrain, “Hanukkah is coming.” This is the

GIFTS OF SECURITIES The best stocks to donate are obviously those with increased value. However, depreciated securities are not necessarily unworthy of charitable contributions. In order to preserve the best tax advantages, with regard to appreciated and depreciated securities, please contact the Federation.

MATCHING GIFTS If you work for a company that participates in a Matching Gift Program (see details in this issue of The Reporter), then the company will match your gift to the Jewish Federation. Please check with your Human Resources Department for more information.

GIFTS OF MUTUAL FUNDS Contributing mutual fund shares can provide the same tax advantages as appreciated stocks. Due to the great complexities involved with the transfer of mutual fund shares, please begin the transfer process well before December 31st.

GIFTS OF REAL ESTATE A charitable contribution of property is most attractive when there is no mortgage balance and the property is increasing in value.

Based upon the fair market value, you may claim an income tax deduction, avoid all capital gains taxes, and remove that property from your taxable estate. You may transfer real estate to the Jewish Federation at any point, but please consult your tax professional or financial advisor prior to a real estate transaction.

DEFERRED/PLANNED GIFTS Deferred gifts are often called “planned gifts” because they are integrally connected to your financial and/or estate plans. They may range in size from very small bequests to multi-million dollar trusts. They are deferred gifts because, even though they are given today, the Jewish Federation will not realize their benefit until some time in the future. Please contact the Federation for more information regarding various planned giving options.

GENERAL ENDOWMENT FUNDS The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania expresses its gratitude to those who have made a commitment to our Endowment Fund. These very special contributions represent a commitment to maintain a high quality of Jewish life in our region for the decades that lie ahead.

“ F a r m e r K o b i ’s Hanukkah Match” (Photo courtesy of Behrman House)

“Oskar and the Eight Blessings” (Photo courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

“Hanukkah is Coming!”

(Photo courtesy of KarBen Books)

Once again this year, The Reporter is inviting its readers and local organizations to extend Chanukah greetings to the community by purchasing a Chanukah greeting ad, which will appear in our December 3 issue (Deadline: Nov. 24). Chanukah begins this year on the evening of Dec. 6.

You may choose from the designs, messages and sizes shown here - more are available. You may also choose your own message, as long as it fits into the space of the greeting you select. (Custom designs available upon request.) The price of the small greeting is $18 (styles B & E), the larger one is $36 (styles D & F ) and the largest one (G, actual size is 3.22” x 3.95” - not shown) is $72.

To ensure that your greeting is published, please contact Bonnie Rozen at 1-800-779-7896, ext. 244 or bonnie@thereportergroup.org. Checks can be made payable to The Reporter and sent to: The Reporter, 500 Clubhouse Rd., Vestal, NY 13850

Style F -$36 Actual Size: 3.22” x 1.975”

Style D -$36 Actual Size: 3.22” x 1.975”

2015 Name______________________________________________________ Address____________________________________________________ City_______________________________________________________ State____________ Zip______________ Phone____________________ Greeting Style_______________________________________________ Message____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ How you would like it signed___________________________________

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NOVEMBER 19, 2015 ■ THE REPORTER

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10

THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

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

BETH SHALOM CONGREGATION Rabbi Yisroel Brotsky 1025 Vine St., Scranton, PA 18510 (corner of Vine & Clay Ave.) 570-346-0502 • fax: 570-346-8800 Weekday – Shacharit: Sun 8 am; Mon, Thurs. & Rosh Chodesh, 6:30 am; Tue, Wed & Fri, 6:45 am; Sat & Holidays, 8:45 am. Mincha during the week is approx. 10 minutes before sunset, followed by Maariv.

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

Call or visit us online for our bi-weekly schedule

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

CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL Affiliation: Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Elliott Kleinman President: Liza Roos Lucy Contact Person: Cheryl Badner, Congregation Administrator (570)253-2222 615 Court Street, Honesdale, PA 18431 570-253-2222 • fax: 570-226-1105

CONGREGATION B’NAI HARIM Affiliation: Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Peg Kershenbaum President: Irene Stolzenberg P.O. Box 757 Sullivan Rd., Pocono Pines, PA 18350 (located at RT 940 and Pocono Crest Rd at Sullivan Trail) 570-646-0100 • Website: www.bnaiharimpoconos.org Shabbat Morning Services, 10 am – noon; every other Saturday Potluck Shabbat Dinner with blessings and program of varying topics, one Friday every month – call for schedule.

D’VAR TORAH

Forgetting our humanness

BY RABBI SCOTT L. GLASS, TEMPLE BETH-EL, ITHACA, NY Vayetze, Genesis 28:10-32:3 Maybe Election Day triggered the memory or perhaps it’s the extended presidential campaign (by the time we elect a candidate, it will be a two-year process) that made me think of it, but recently I was reminded of a conversation that I had with my late friend and colleague, Reverend John Taylor. He was reflecting sadly on the 2004 presidential contest. Jack said that while he watched the returns that evening, he was thinking about red states and blue states. I don’t know who came up with the idea; perhaps it was simply the easiest way to visually distinguish political differences on the television screen, but it seems with each presidential election, we are inundated with the red versus blue for about a month. By election night, we are ready to shout, “Enough already!”

Our annoyance reaching its peak, we feel as if the commentators are doing all that they can to perpetuate our divisiveness, rather than tout the country’s unity.

For Jack, however, the red and blue symbolized something else. As he pointed out, if we mix red and blue, what do we get? Purple. What does purple represent? Brushing away my first reaction, “unity?,” Jack responded that purple, which we usually see as a royal color, reminded him of pomp and ceremony and the garnering of tribute, swagger and enormous military power, and the “higher insights” gathered from privileged communication.

His target at the time was the executive branch, but I believe the analogy can be extended to our countryat-large. I believe we are all a little guilty of a “purple” mindset. What do I mean? I believe that recent elections have fostered a kind of intellectual snobbery on both sides of the political spectrum.

I see that same “purple” attitude in recent years in the arena of international diplomacy. Our country is notorious

for playing “fix-it” all around the globe. We have not given enough thought to how best to help solve the problems in the various trouble spots around the world; instead, we seem to rush in like a bull in a china shop, throw our weight around and often do more damage than good.

We seem to have taken seriously our role as heirs to the colonialism of the last two centuries. We pride ourselves as knowing better than the poor, uneducated, inarticulate indigenous populations. We’ll do things our way and in five decades or so they’ll truly appreciate it.

The political parties don’t have a corner on this market. There are plenty of examples of how we look down on others while seeing ourselves as superior. I’m reminded of a very personal incident that happened a few months ago. My mother was shopping for a nice suit for a granddaughter’s bat mitzvah. She happened to be in her everyday knock-around clothes rather than having dressed for a shopping spree. She entered a boutique that had a few nice things in its window, spent some time at the racks checking out what was there and wondering why no salesperson approached her. Finally, my mother caught the eye of the woman behind the counter who came toward her shaking her head and saying, “I don’t think you’ll find anything here. It’s probably all too expensive for you.” On a more general level, think about how American tourists expect everyone else to speak English and are indignant when they’re not understood by someone in another country. Consider how convinced we are that the way we do things – cultural practices, social conventions, even how we drive our cars – is the right way and everyone else is wrong. Many of us are very “purple.”

So, along comes this week’s very rich Torah portion, which includes an exchange between Mother Rachel and Father Jacob. At times in his life, we should remember, See “Forgetting” on page 11

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

MACHZIKEH HADAS SYNAGOGUE Rabbi Mordechai Fine President: Moshe Fink 600 Monroe Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 570-342-6271

Fun for adults, children & families!

OHEV ZEDEK CONGREGATION Rabbi Mordechai Fine 1432 Mulberry St, Scranton, PA 18510 Contact person: Michael Mellner - 570-343-3183

TEMPLE HESED Union of Reform Judaism Rabbi Daniel J. Swartz President: Barbara Parker-Bell 1 Knox Street, Scranton, PA 18505, (off Lake Scranton Rd.) 570-344-7201 Friday evening Shabbat, 8 pm; Saturday morning, when Shabbat Scool is in session, at 11 am

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF DUNMORE President: Isadore Steckel Contact person: Jay Schectman 570-954-9354 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: Dr. Sandra Alfonsi Contact person: Dr. Sandra Alfonsi 570-223-7062 711 Wallace St., Stroudsburg, PA, 18360 (one block off Rte. 191 (5th Street) at Avenue A) 570-421-8781 • Website: www.templeisraelofthepoconos.org E-Mail: tipoc@ptd.net Friday evening Shabbat, 7pm; Saturday morning Shabbat, 9 am

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF SCRANTON Affiliation: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Rabbi Moshe Saks 918 East Gibson St., Scranton, PA, 18510 (located at the corner of Gibson & Monroe Sts.) 570-342-0350 Fax: 570-342-7250 • E-Mail: tiscran@epix.net Sunday, 8 am; Mon & Thurs, 7:15 am; Tue, Wed & Fri, 7:25 am; Rosh Hodesh & Chagim weekdays, 7 am; Shabbat Morning Service, 8:45 am; evening services: Sun – Thurs, 5:45 pm; Friday Shabbat and Saturday Havdalah services, call for times.

C

x t E r a h v a a k g u a n n a za h Tuesday, Dec. 8 Event 5:30pm • Showtime 6:30pm

Dreidel -aThon Face Painting by

Photo Booth

featuring

Comedy Dog Thrill Show

Glatt Kosher Chinese Food

ah Chanuk Bingo Spin Art

Glatt Kosher Jewish Community Center of Scranton 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton

Adults: $6.00 • Children 12 & under: $3.00 Tickets can be purchased at the JCC For more information, please call 570-346-6595 Thanks to our sponsors: Foundation for the Jewish Elderly of Eastern PA and Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Co.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 ■ THE REPORTER

11

Garden State and Jewish state share a table on food innovation

BY MICHELE ALPERIN JNS.org Rutgers University’s Food Innovation Center and TelHai College in Israel’s northern Galilee region recently announced the New Jersey-Israel Healthy, Functional and Medical Food Alliance, a venture that will create synergies between start-ups and more established food businesses in America’s so-called “Garden State” and the Jewish state.

The key players are Member of Knesset Erel Margalit (Labor), founder of the Jerusalem Venture Partners venture capital firm, and Lou Cooperhouse, director of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center and president of the New Jersey Business Incubation Network.

When the two men sat next to each other at a food technology conference this past June at Tel-Hai College, they realized how much their professional interests overlapped. Margalit had developed two technology incubators – Cyber Labs in Be’er Sheva and the Media Quarter near the old train station in Jerusalem – and he now chairs the Knesset Task Force for Economic Development in the North and South.

In his quest to transform Israel’s Galilee into a business and innovation hub, Margalit says he has worked to “put together plan that gives a new dimension to Israeli high-tech combined with Israeli agriculture, food development, life sciences, and research, and putting it in a technology start-up environment.” Similarly, in New Jersey, Cooperhouse’s Food Innovation Center is a business incubation and economic development accelerator program whose clients include 100 start-ups.

For students and faculty, a memo of understanding signed by Rutgers and Tel-Hai on September 18 supports research collaboration, entrepreneurship education, exchange programs, and experiential learning. Israeli businesses will get access to incubation opportunities at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center and assistance in finding partners for joint ventures.

Cooperhouse is impressed with Israel’s robust start-up incubator network, attributing it in part to government investment. “The Office of the Chief Scientist of the State of Israel is arguably why Israel has developed so much technology and is called the ‘start-up nation,’” something that neither U.S. state governments nor the American federal government do to the same degree, Cooperhouse tells JNS.org.

Both Margalit’s Galilee initiative and Cooperhouse’s Food Innovation Center got the ball rolling on the partnership by bringing together stakeholders in the food

Forgetting

At Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, Member of Knesset Erel Margalit (front, third from left) and incoming Tel-Hai College President Yossi Mekori (front, second from left) signed a memo of understanding to establish the New Jersey-Israel Healthy, Functional and Medical Foods Alliance between Rutgers and Tel-Hai. (Photo by Ron Sachs) industry. To jumpstart technological development in Israel’s north, Margalit invited leaders of area cities, towns and kibbutzim to participate in the revitalization effort he is spearheading in that region.

“On their own, [the individual Israeli municipalities] were too small to matter for the country in a big way,” Margalit tells JNS.org. But by working together, he believes, they can become a creative force to transform the Galilee, a region that today has more poverty and a lower life expectancy than anywhere else in Israel.

Cooperhouse says the Food Innovation Center’s success derives from an economic cluster model, in which the center united diverse groups in the food industry from academic research organizations, to trade associations, to state and federal agencies. “Our success [comes] because we have aggregated these resources, have an advisory board of all the major stakeholders in the food industry, and service the entire state,” he says. “We looked at all the resources around the food industry… and got us all working toward a common goal.”

The alliance between Rutgers and Tel-Hai will jointly support this cluster model in New Jersey and Israel around the subcategories of healthy, functional and medical foods. Healthy foods provide basic nutrients that promote general health and wellness; these may be foods like milk substitutes from plants or coconut milk ice cream, which are alternatives to animal-based products that are unsustainable over the long term or to foods that have too much sugar. Functional foods provide a benefit toward a particular goal, like caffeinated beverages that can increase alertness, probiotics in yogurt that can help with digestion, or gluten-free foods for those with celiac disease. Medical foods are those clinically proven to prevent, alleviate, or mitigate a medical condition, such as Pedialyte, which is used for rehydration in kids. Medical foods are regulated by America’s Food and Drug Administration.

The new alliance will also explore personalizing food based on individuals’ metabolic makeup and will examine public policy regarding food. “These areas are at the intersection between food and pharma, between the amazing life sciences industry and the food industry,” Cooperhouse says. “The goal is hopefully [that] someday we will all be taking fewer pills, eating better and maybe eating foods that have some clinical efficacy that can mitigate disease or be proactive for health and wellness.”

Since costs for developing a medical food fall in the $30-$40 million range, far less than the billion-dollar price tag for creating a new drug, these products can work well in a start-up environment. Some medical food products that are currently being researched in Israel include a potent antioxidant pill from a seaweed extract and pomegranate extracts for kidney problems. Products may also be derived from ancient plants used by Arabs and Druze for medical and therapeutic purposes, for example, a plant said to grow on the slopes of Mount Hermon that improves sexual potency more than Viagra.

As Israel is such a small country – in fact, its size is often likened to that of New Jersey – creating global connections is critical for its economy. Cooperhouse notes that in many See “Food” on page 15

Continued from page 10

Jacob could be pretty “purple” himself. Poor Rachel, consumed with envy and jealousy, cries to her husband who is supposed to love and understand her, saying, “Give me children or I shall die.” Perhaps out of annoyance and anger, perhaps out of sorrow, the patriarch replies, “Am I in the place of God who has denied you a child?’

Jacob’s reply is instructive. “Am I in the place of God?” There are so many times that we forget our humanness and give in to the temptation to play God. We sit in judgment of others, even when we have only the most cursory understanding of who they are and what they think and feel. We offer our advice and suggestions even when it’s not warranted or desired. We decide, and worse, declare, that we know better how things should be done, how challenges should be met, how problems can be solved. Neither as individuals, nor as a nation, should we presume to take on the role of the Almighty.

Even as we’ve come to learn that political questions and social issues aren’t black and white, we have to realize that they aren’t purely red or blue either, and that our attitude should be anything but purple. As the late Rabbi Sidney Greenberg wrote, quoting Oliver Wendell Holmes, “The great act of faith is when a man decides he is not God.”

ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook

12

THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

Books

The fictional tale takes place on the seventh night of Chanukah, which is also Christmas Eve. Oskar, a young Jewish refugee, arrives on his own by ship, sent on the journey from Germany by his parents following the frightening events of Kristallnacht. Oskar has only the photograph and address of his Aunt Esther, who lives uptown. As he makes his way up the length of the island, Oskar is mesmerized by the city’s wintry glow. He crosses paths with strangers who share blessings – a piece of bread, a Superman comic book, a whistle from Count Basie and a kind encounter with Eleanor Roosevelt.

The book’s simple prose is brilliantly matched with Mark Siegel’s captivating illustrations, which bathe the realistic cityscape with a dreamlike haze. An author’s note reveals that the tale is based on family stories that Richard Simon’s grandfather told him as a child. The historical references here are based on actual events from 1938 New York.

“Hanukkah Cookies with Sprinkles” by David Adler, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler; Apples and Honey Press ($17.95); ages 4-7 “A bit of a feminist tale” is how author David Adler – best known for his popular Cam Jansen series – describes this book, which features Sara, an inquisitive, fun-loving girl with a heart of gold. Looking out the window of her city apartment, she notices a man juggling and eating a bruised apple set aside by the owner of Sol’s Market.

As she comes to understand that the man is hungry, Sara prepares small bits of food to leave for him at Sol’s.

Family Our Dental Care Center has been part of JFS since 1920. This unique dental service is one of two such programs affiliated with a JFS in the United States, the other being JFS Atlanta. The Dental Care Center is a collaboration with the Scranton Dental Society and Fortis Institute and it has provided more than $26,000 of free dental care for eligible Lackawanna County residents who are uninsured and unable to afford dental treatment.

How can the community-at-large get involved with JFS of Northeastern Pennsylvania?

JFS continues to move forward growing through strategic partnerships with other community organiza-

Sara later spots the man at her synagogue, and the rabbi introduces her family to Mr. Berger, a former circus performer. Sara’s family invites him to a Chanukah dinner, leading to a budding friendship.

Sara also represents the multitudes of nontraditional families within the Jewish community; she lives with her mom and grandmother, with no father. “It was an intentional choice,” said Adler.

“Farmer Kobi’s Hanukkah Match” by Karen Rostoker-Gruber and Rabbi Ron Isaacs, illustrated by CB Decker; Apples and Honey Press ($17.95); ages 4-8 Farmer Kobi has a house full of barnyard friends, but they wish he had a human friend, too. This lighthearted, hilarious story opens on the second night of Chanukah at a moshav, an Israeli collective farm. Farmer Kobi has invited his new friend Polly for a Chanukah feast, but Polly is surprised when she’s greeted by a slew of animals who sing Chanukah songs and play dreidel while Farmer Kobi checks on dinner.

This isn’t Polly’s idea of fun. After she leaves, an unexpected visitor knocks on the door looking for help with a flat tire. The new guest, Ruthie, feels right at home – turns out she has her own family of farmyard friends waiting in her truck.

The offbeat, lively story is filled with playful language: “You look flap-ulous,” a goose honks. There are fun nods to Israeli and Jewish traditions, all explained in a glossary at the end. CB Decker’s cartoon-like illustrations bring the story to life with plenty of merry mayhem. The laughs come courtesy Continued from page 5

tions and building our services and programs within the community. A large portion of our growth is through the generous support of the community itself. JFS relies on the community for donations, funding, volunteers and, most importantly, spreading the word.

Why did you join the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce?

The goal at JFS is to continue to grow within the community, and building relationships and networking with community organizations and local businesses is a large part of that. Joining the Chamber is a great way to become part of that community through the Chamber’s programs, events and initiatives.

Continued from page 8 of co-authors Karen Rostoker-Gruber – a writer, humorist and ventriloquist – and Rabbi Ron Isaacs, the guitar-strumming rabbi emeritus of Temple Sholom in Bridgewater, NJ, and a best-selling author of more than 100 books.

“Sammy Spider’s First Taste of Hanukkah, a Cookbook” by Sylvia A. Rouss and Genene Levy Turndorf; illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn; Kar-Ben ($17.99 hardcover; $7.99 paperback; $6.99 eBook); ages 5-9 Welcome back, Sammy Spider. In this 15th book of the wildly popular series, the friendly arthropod joins Josh and the Shapiro family in the kitchen just in time for Chanukah. In introduction, Sammy Spider takes a page from the most famous and beloved of all spiders, E.B. White’s Charlotte of “Charlotte’s Web.” “I’m going to show Josh which recipes are Meat, Dairy, or Parve by spinning M, D or P in our web!” Sammy tells his mom. The colorfully illustrated book includes 18 easy-to-follow recipes for Chanukah meals and treats including “Maccabee Munch” – a sweet, Chex-mix type treat – applesauce and “Chocolate Fun-due.” A fourth chapter features Chanukah craft projects.

First #Readukkah challenge

The Association of Jewish Libraries will hold its first reading challenge with #Readukkah. All ages are invited to participate. Readers have to read one Jewish book and review it online (include hashtag #Readukkah) during Chanukah, December 6-14. The book can be any reading level; fiction and nonfiction are acceptable. The review can appear anywhere online: a blog, Goodreads, Facebook, YouTube, an online book seller or the AJL’s listserve.

All participants will be entered into a contest to win a free copy of “Firebrand” by Aaron Barnhart (Quindaro, 2015), a young adult historical fiction about August Bondi, a Jewish freedom fighter in the Civil War. To enter the contact, visit the AJL website at http://jewishlibraries.org/index.php.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 ■ THE REPORTER

France

13

Continued from page 1

become more and more pessimistic.

“It’s hard to believe all this happened in Paris, that suicide terrorists detonated explosive belts, just like in Beirut a few days ago, just like in the Middle East,” says veteran French anchorman David Pujadas of France 2. Pujadas, who anchored the broadcast following the September 11 attacks in New York, couldn’t believe that 14 years later he would anchor a similar broadcast in Paris.

Personal note by the author: I was in France during the terror wave in the 1990s. I was also in Toulouse when 23-year-old Mohamed Merah carried out his attack at the Jewish day school; I was there in January after the attacks the Hyper Cacher Jewish supermarket and Charlie Hebdo offices. It seems France always searched for a reason for those attacks, essentially to avoid confronting the truth. One time it was the war in Algeria; another time it was a disagreement with Iran; or a Jewish target; or because Muhammad was ridiculed.

France never wanted to truly cope with the truth: The home of Voltaire, Moliere, Balzac, Maupassant and

Science

graduate students Ido Rog and Inbal Dangoor, studied the mechanisms controlling the plant production of starch, the most common carbohydrate in the human diet. The plant starts making starch as soon as the morning light turns on photosynthesis, and stops when photosynthesis subsides at night.

About 50 years ago, scientists discovered the “on” switch for starch production: a launch enzyme that is activated, via a series of regulatory proteins, by the flow of electrons generated in photosynthesis. Now, as reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Weizmann Institute scientists have discovered the “off” switch for starch production. Working with a mustardlike plant called Arabidopsis, they figured out the chain of biochemical events leading to its shutdown at night.

The decrease in light causes a small signaling protein called ACTH4 to lose electrons and become oxidized, which, in turn, quickly prompts it to transmit the “take a break” message to the starch production enzyme.

universal values is in the crosshairs of global jihad.

Enough is enough; no more looking for excuses.

Just a reminder: Prior to the January terror attacks were several attacks where the perpetrators yelled “Allahu akbar.” These were discounted as the actions of crazy people. And then January came along and, with it, the terrorist atrocities. We have also recently seen attacks and attempted attacks in Villejuif, south of Paris; on Thalys, the high-speed train operator; and near the city of Lyon. They tried so hard to diminish the severity and implications of these events. France is in a Catch22: On the one hand, it is waging a struggle against the radical ideologies propagated by states (Saudi Arabia and Iran), but the moment these states display a modicum of economic liberalism, France treats them as kosher.

Additionally, waging a war against jihad means running the risk of finding yourself in a war against all Muslims, and this is the catch that Islamic State, like al-Qaida in the past, seeks to exploit today.

Much like in the eighth century, secular France is again facing a religious war, but ladies and gentlemen,

we are in 2015. We can’t say the writing wasn’t on the wall. We can, of course, use France’s participation in the bombing campaign against Islamic State in Syria as an excuse, but France was already in the crosshairs long ago. France can no longer bury its head in the sand: Islamist jihad has declared war on it and its intention is to kill, deter, terrify and also conquer if it can. Again, it intends to kill, kill and kill some more; and to die in the process if necessary. We can only wish the French the best of luck, although it won’t be easy: The jihadist invader is already on French soil and many of his comrades even have French passports. What’s worse, he learned his profession (terrorism) in Syria and Iraq.

And one more word to the West: With all due respect for words and desires for peace, when will you understand that terror is eradicated, not explained and not understood? One of these days, some leaders will have to explain to us how they allowed this monster named Islamic State to grow to such proportions.

Boaz Bismuth is a columnist and correspondent for Israel Hayom.

The scientists further realized that this mechanism remains active at a low level throughout the day. It’s as if the plant drives its starch production by pressing on the gas pedal and the brakes simultaneously: turning the production on while at the same time keeping it in check. When the scientist s genetically engineered the plants to eliminate the “brakes,” starch production shot up by nearly 20 percent. This suggests that, in general, production efficiency stands at only about 80 percent because this brake pedal is on all the time. In the future, this research may make it possible to increase starch production in agricultural crops.

Why do plants naturally produce starch in such an inefficient manner?

Since light intensity, and with it the rate of photosynthesis, often fluctuates rapidly throughout the day, the plant needs to adjust its metabolism on an ongoing basis. Starch synthesis in particular needs to be closely attuned to photosynthesis so that the compounds created

Continued from page 4 in photosynthetic reactions are promptly taken up – otherwise reactive oxygen molecules called free radicals, generated as a byproduct of photosynthesis, can build up in excess and harm the plant.

Pressing the “gas” and the “brake” pedals simultaneously enables plants to control their starch production rapidly and effectively via adjusting the relative strengths of the two. Keeping the brake pedal slightly pressed most of the time leaves room for a potential increase, should sunlight suddenly become extremely intense. Keeping one foot on the brakes is therefore part of the sophisticated set of control mechanisms that has helped plants survive over hundreds of millions of years.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is considered one of the world’s top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. The institute’s 3,800 -strong scientific community engages in research addressing crucial problems in medicine and health, energy, technology, agriculture and the environment.

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THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

Yiddish Farm programs

November 2015

• Non-Feature Films • *Deli Man - In Houston, Texas, third-generation deli man Ziggy Gruber has built arguably the finest delicatessen restaurant in the U.S. His story augmented by the stories of iconic delis such as Katz s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate n Al, Carnegie, and the Stage embodies a tradition indelibly linked to its savory, nostalgic foods.

Everything is a Present - The Wonder and Grace of Alice Sommer Hertz– This is the uplifting true story of the gifted pianist Alice Sommer Hertz who survived the Theresienstat concentration camp by playing classical piano concerts for Nazi dignitaries. Alice Sommer Hertz lived to the age of 106. Her story is an inspiration.

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story - Yoni Netanyahu was a complex, passionate individual thrust into defending his country in a time of war and violence. The older brother of Benjamin Natanyahu, the current Israel Prime Minister, Yoni led the miraculous raid on Entebbe in 1976. Although almost all of the Entebbe hostages were saved, Yoni was the lone military fatality. Featuring three Israeli Prime Ministers and recently released audio from the Entebbe raid itself.

Hava Nagila (The Movie) - A documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard.

Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy and more, the film follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the kibbutzim of Palestine to the cul-de-sacs of America.

Inside Hana’s Suitcase - The delivery of a battered suitcase to Fumiko Ishioka at the Tokyo Holocaust Museum begins the true-life mystery that became the subject of Karen Levine’s best-selling book Hana’s Suitcase. The film follows Fumiko’s search to discover the details of Hana’s life, which leads to the discovery of her brother George in Toronto.

Israel: The Royal Tour - Travel editor Peter Greenberg (CBS News) takes us on magnificent tour of the Jewish homeland, Israel. The tour guide is none other than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The viewer gets a chance to visit the land of Israel from his own home!

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story (narrated by Dustin Hoffman) - This documentary portrays the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning that baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. More than a film about sports, this is a story of immigration, assimilation, bigotry, heroism, the passing on of traditions, the shattering of stereotypes and, most of all, the greatest American pastime. *Nicky’s Family - An enthralling documentary that artfully tells the story of how Sir Nicholas Winton, now 104, a British stockbroker, gave up a 1938 skiing holiday to answer a friend’s request for help in Prague and didn’t stop helping until the war’s beginning stopped him. He had saved the lives of 669 children in his own personal Kindertransport.

Shanghai Ghetto - One of the most amazing and captivating survival tales of WWII, this documentary recalls the strange-but-true story of thousands of European Jews who were shut out of country after country while trying to escape Nazi persecution. Left without options or entrance visa, a beacon of hope materialized for them on the other side of the world, and in the unlikeliest of places, Japanese-controlled Shanghai.

The Case for Israel-Democracy’s Outpost - This documentary presents a vigorous case for Israel- for its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism, and to defend its borders from hostile enemies.

The Jewish Cardinal - This is the amazing true story of Jean-Marie Lustiger, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, who maintained his cultural identity as a Jew even after converting to Catholicism at a young age, and later joining the priesthood.

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg - As baseball’s first Jewish star, Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg’s career contains all the makings of a true American success story.

Unmasked: Judaophobia - The Threat to Civilization – This documentary exposes the current political assault against the State of Israel fundamentally as a war against the Jewish people and their right to self-determination.

• Feature Films • *Amen - From the acclaimed director of Z and CAPITAL, Costa-Gavras presents a powerful and riveting account of the implementation of the Final Solution and the culpability of the Vatican in the extermination of millions in Nazi Death Camps.

Fill the Void - This is the story of an eighteen-year-old, Shira, who is the youngest daughter of her family. Her dreams are about to come true as she is set to be married. Unexpectedly, her sister dies while giving birth to her first child. The drama of the story reaches its peak when the girls’ mother proposes a match between Shira and the young widower.

Shira will have to choose between her heart’s wish and her family duty.

Footnote - The winner of the Cannes Film Festival (Best Screenplay) is the tale of a great rivalry between a father and son, two eccentric professors, who have both dedicated their lives to work in Talmudic Studies. Each has a need for recognition in his chosen field and the day comes when father and son must look deeply inside themselves for the truth- advancement of his own career or of the others.

Hidden in Silence - Przemysl, Poland, WWII. Germany emerges victorious over the Russians and the city comes under Nazi control. The Jews are sent to the ghettos. While some stand silent, Catholic teenager, Stefania Podgorska, choose the role of a savior and sneaks 13 Jews into her attic. *Ida: Poland 1962 - On the eve of her vows, 18-year old Anna meets her estranged aunt Wanda, a cynical Communist judge who shocks the naive Anna with a stunning revelation: Anna is Jewish and her real name is Ida. Tasked with this new identity, Ida and Wanda embark on a revelatory journey to their old family house to discover the fate of Ida’s birth parents and unearth dark secrets dating back to the Nazi occupation. *Music Box - In this intense courtroom thriller, Chicago attorney Ann Talbot (Jessica Lange) agrees to defend her Hungarian immigrant father Mike Laszlo (Armin Mueller-Stahl) against accusations of heinous war crimes committed 50 years earlier. As the trial unfolds, Ann probes for evidence that will not only establish his innocence, but also lay to rest her own agonizing doubts about his past. When a hospitalized witness is suddenly located in Budapest, the trial moves to her father’s homeland. Here crucial testimony plus Ann’s personal investigation lead to astonishing results.

Noodle (compatible only on PAL/DVD players - Hebrew with English subtitles) - This film was a beloved entry in the Jewish Federation of NEPA’s Jewish Film Festival. It tells the heartwarming story of an Israeli stewardess, Miri, whose personal life as a war widow leaves her without much joy. Everything changes for Miri when her Oriental housemaid disappears one day leaving her with her young Oriental child!

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Based on the best- selling novel, this movie is unforgettable. Set during WWII, the movie introduces us to Bruno, an innocent eight-year-old, ignores his mother and sets of on an adventure in the woods.

Soon he meets a young boy and a surprising friendship develops.

The Concert - Andrei Filipov was prodigy- at 20 he was the celebrated conductior for Russia’s renowned Bolshoi Orchestra.

Thirty years later, still at the Bolshoi, he works as a janitor. Ousted during the communist era when he refused to fire the Jewish members of the orchestra, a broken Andrei now cleans the auditorium where he once performed in front of thousands.

The Debt - In 1966, three Mossad agents were assigned to track down a feared Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin, a mission accomplished at great risk and personal cost- or was it?

The Other Son - As he is preparing to join the Israeli army for his national service, Joseph discovers he is not his parents’ biological son and that he was inadvertently switched at birth with Yacine, the son of a Palestinian family from the West Bank. This revelation turns the lives of these two families upside-down, forcing them to reassess their respective identities, their values and beliefs. *Woman in Gold - Maria Altman sought to regain a world famous painting of her aunt plundered by the Nazis during World War II. She did so not just to regain what was rightfully hers, but also to obtain some measure of justice for the death, destruction, and massive art theft perpetrated by the Nazis.

*connotes new films To borrow any of these films for home or synagogue use, please contact Dassy at 961-2300 x2 or dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org.

The Yiddish Farm in New Hampton, NY, seeks to empower Jews to reclaim Yiddish as a source of Jewish culture, identity and learning. Some programs are for people who already speak Yiddish, and others are open to all. Program attract people from a wide range of observances, but the farm is shomer Shabbat and shomer kashrut. Upcoming programs include :Nitl Nacht Chess Tournament/Shabbos” from December 24-27; “Beginners Winter Program” from December 28-January 5; “Intermediate/Advanced Winter Program” from January 7-15; “Spring Break Program” from March 14-18; “On One Foot” from May 23-27; “Speak Read Write” from May 30-June 9; “Yiddish Farm Summer Program” from June 20-July 15; “Great Women Yiddish Writers” from July 18-August 5; and “Chavrusa Program” from August 8-26.

For more information about the farm and its programs, visit https://yiddishfarm.org/ or contact the farm at info@ yiddishfarm.org or 845-360-5023.

Obama

Continued from page 3 “Not that we are agreed on the agreement,” Netanyahu said, referring to the Iran deal. “But we must look forward at what needs to be done.”

In remarks before their meeting in the Oval Office, each man signaled an understanding of what the other wanted. Netanyahu, free from the pressure of having to reach a final-status agreement with the Palestinians in the short term, recommitted to a two-state solution in the long run. Obama was furious when Netanyahu declared, on the eve of his re-election in March, that a Palestinian state would not rise on his watch.

“I want to make it clear that we have not given up our hope for peace,” Netanyahu said, looking Obama in the eyes – itself a change from previous tension-wracked meetings, when the leaders barely looked at each other.

“We’ll never give up the hope for peace. And I remain committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state.”

For his part, Obama said the two would discuss “how we can blunt the activities of ISIL, Hezbollah and other organizations in the region that carry out terrorist attacks.”

And he reiterated his defense of Israel’s right to defend itself against Palestinian terrorism. “I want to be very clear that we condemn in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent Israeli citizens,” Obama said. “And I want to repeat once again, it is my strong belief that Israel has not just the right, but the obligation, to protect itself.”

Following the meeting, Netanyahu described an encounter more conversational than contentious. “I did not sense any broad tension,” Netanyahu told Israeli reporters at a briefing after the meeting. “It was not a symposium for debate, it was not a debating society – and there have been such meetings. But this, for sure, was not.” Instead, Netanyahu and his team, including national security adviser Yossi Cohen, outlined the technological challenges facing Israel in dealing with the rise of the Islamic State and an Iran emboldened by the nuclear deal.

In addition to Obama, American officials in the meeting included Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Vice President Joe Biden.

One focus of the discussion was renewing the 10year defense assistance memorandum of understanding between Israel and the United States. Under its current terms, due to expire in 2018, Israel receives an average of $3 billion a year.

Netanyahu would not address the particulars of the Israeli request, but Israeli officials have said that Israel wants a comprehensive package that would amount to as much as $50 billion over 10 years, or $5 billion a year.

It would include missile defense cooperation, which is now considered separately from the $3 billion in annual defense assistance and amounts to about an additional $700 million in U.S. contributions.

He said Israel was eager to avoid inflaming the recent violence, which has focused on the Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif, the Jerusalem site holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Netanyahu said he raised with Obama proposals that his Cabinet had unanimously endorsed. The Israeli leader did not describe the proposals except to say that they included easing movement and the transfer of goods to Palestinians.

Another key issue was Syria. Netanyahu said it was critical that whatever the outcome of the civil war in that country, Iran should not be able to open a front against Israel on the Syrian border. Iran is actively assisting the Assad regime.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 ■ THE REPORTER

15

NEWS IN BRIEF From JTA

Holocaust museum urges U.S. action to stop Islamic State genocide of Yazidi

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum urged the Obama administration to stop what it called the Islamic State’s genocide of the Yazidi, citing inaction during the Holocaust as a predicate for action now. “As part of its deliberate campaign of terror, I.S. singled out Yazidi populations for genocide and continues to perpetrate genocide against Yazidi trapped under I.S. control,” the Washington, DC, museum said in a statement on Nov. 12, unveiling its report on minorities targeted by the Sunni Islamic extremist terrorist group. “The self-proclaimed Islamic State is carrying out a widespread, systematic and deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against religious minorities in Iraq solely because of their religious beliefs,” museum Chairman Tom Bernstein said in the statement. “We have a moral responsibility not just to bear witness to these crimes but to act to prevent them.”

A U.S.-led coalition, using airstrikes, is backing Kurdish and Yazidi fighters on the ground attempting to push back Islamic State forces. Officials at a news conference on Nov. 12 said early signs of the genocide were missed. The report, based on research and oral testimony culled from survivors, says virtually no members of Yazidi and other targeted minorities remain in the Iraqi province of Ninewa after Islamic State sweeps in the summer of 2014.

“In a deliberate campaign, the Islamic State kidnapped thousands of women and children and killed hundreds, likely thousands, of ethnic and religious minorities,” the statement said.

During the news conference, Holocaust survivor and museum volunteer Margit Meissner invoked inaction during the Holocaust to call for intervention now. “When we witness crimes against humanity ethnic cleansing and genocide, we must speak out,” she said. “In doing so we are doing what was not done on behalf of the Jews during the Holocaust.”

Israel protests EU labeling policy by quitting some talks

Israel’s Foreign Ministry suspended dialogue with the European Union to protest the EU’s decision to label products from West Bank settlements separately from goods made within Israel’s pre-1967 borders. The ministry froze the dialogue on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict on Nov. 11, saying in a statement that it was pulling out of several EU forums, the Times of Israel reported. “We have suspended the subcommittee on diplomacy, the subcommittee on human rights and international organizations,” the statement said. “The remaining dialogues [with the EU] are continuing as planned.

Clearly, we won’t damage Israeli interests.” The ministry’s political director, Alon Ushpiz, told EU Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Anderson that it was regrettable the EU’s move coincides with a wave of Palestinian terror attacks. Faaborg-Andersen

Food

cases, Israeli businesses “feel like they are on an island because they can’t export to their neighbors, so they need international partners to really grow their businesses.”

With the help of the new alliance, Margalit will be working to deepen Israel’s food-related business community in the Galilee. One such effort involves helping Israeli food companies establish U.S. operations. Margalit says he sees the Rutgers Food Innovation Center as “a very natural partner if Israel is going to partner with the

U.S. in a big way.” Particularly important will be the center’s “soft landings” program, which educates international companies in market research, government regulation, distribution systems, product development, and engineering issues.

Also important to Margalit is attracting international companies to set up operations in Israel. “What we want is for major food companies from around the world… to set up a research center here for either developing new food products which are

said the new guidelines concerning separate labeling were “a small technical addition to something that has existed for a very long time: the trade facilitation between products coming from Israel proper, within its 1967 lines, and products coming from beyond the Green Line.” He added that “this is not a boycott.” The separate labeling will be applied not just to products from Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but also to goods produced in eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The move is “hypocritical and applies double standards, targeting Israel when there are over 200 other conflicts around the world,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “The Israeli economy is strong and will withstand this; those who will be hurt will be those Palestinians who work in Israeli factories. The EU should be ashamed.” Some leftist politicians in Israel, notably opposition leader Isaac Herzog, joined right-wingers in denouncing the plan.

Netanyahu’s office to match Jewish Agency funding to Reform, Conservative movements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office will match funding given by the Jewish Agency for Israel to the country’s Conservative and Reform movements, according to an agency spokesman. The Jewish Agency provides some $1.09 million each in annual funding to Israel’s Reform and Conservative movements, in addition to $546,000 in funding to Israeli Orthodox congregations. According to Jewish Agency spokesman Avi Mayer, the Prime Minister’s Office plans to match that funding. On Nov. 10, Netanyahu said in a speech to the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly that the government “is joining with the Jewish Agency to invest in strengthening Reform and Conservative communities within Israel. ...As prime minister of Israel, I will always ensure that all Jews can feel at home in Israel – Reform Jews, Conservative Jews, Orthodox Jews – all Jews,” he said. Netanyahu also mentioned in the speech a roundtable of representatives from Jewish religious movements and government ministries formed to address the movements’ concerns.

The roundtable was first announced in July, though JTA has learned that it has yet to formally convene. There has, however, been regular communication between the government, the Jewish Agency and non-Orthodox streams on their concerns. Reform and Conservative leaders praised Netanyahu’s remarks as an indication of the government’s commitment to strengthening Jewish pluralism in Israel. “I hope and am optimistic regarding the commitment of the prime minister, and his ability to fulfill what he promised,” said Yizhar Hess, CEO of the Israeli Conservative movement.

“If Israel is the state of the Jewish people, all members of the Jewish people need to feel they’re a part of it.”

healthier or getting into the therapeutic dimension as well,” Margalit says.

What drives Margalit is more than economics. He sees the cluster concept as the basis of a social process that can create dynamic communities in Israel’s north that attract young Israelis to settle and raise families there. He explains, “My daughter just graduated from Tel-Hai College; she’s in love with her boyfriend, and they are dying to stay in the north, but they will only stay if they find high-quality jobs.”

Continued from page 11 As much as they love the north, this educated and talented generation will stay in the Galilee only “if there are knowledgebased jobs that they are intrigued by, or at least a path to one,” Margalit says. To draw young adults to places other than the Tel Aviv area, he suggests, northern Israel will also need more culture and live music – at present, there is no movie theater north of Haifa. “The creative class needs to rise in the Galilee,” Margalit says. “We can’t keep calling the north the periphery.”

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THE REPORTER ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2015

THE WORLD IS OUR BACKYARD You could say that we encompass the entire global Jewish village. Federation is there supporting Jewish cultural festivals in Bulgaria. Children’s services in Cuba.

And aiding our elderly in the former Soviet Union. Wherever there’s a need to rebuild or a longing to reconnect you’ll find Federation.

In Israel, where we gathered three million Jews from all corners of the Earth, today we’re ensuring that everyone can achieve the Israeli dream. From a head start for disadvantaged preschoolers to scholarships for gifted teens and job-skill programs for their parents.

Federation is caring for our community at home and in more than 70 countries around the world.

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