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Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

VOLUME X, NUMBER 19

More than 100 attend opening event of 2013 Campaign season The Scranton JCC was the venue for the opening event of the UJA 2013 Campaign season. The Jewish Federation presented the documentary “Unmasked: Judeophobia,” produced and directed by Gloria Greenfield. After a dessert reception by Colfax Avenue Kosher Caterers, Dassy Ganz, representing the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, welcomed attendees to the event and explained the role the Jewish Federation fulfills on a lo-

cal, national and international level as “the parliament of our Jewish communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.” Ganz introduced the 2013 UJA Campaign chairmen, Don Douglass, Jeff Rubel (also Federation president) and Barbara Nivert (Women’s Campaign chairwoman), noting their “collective, unflagging commitment to our Federation and Jewish causes in general is well known.” Greenfield, president of DocEmet films, explained the need to produce the documen-

See photo collage of the 2013 opening event on page 7. tary due to growing global antisemitism, including the defamation and de-legitimization of Israel that “has become fashionable 70 years after the Holocaust.” “The film was a harsh clarion call to all to realize that much of the world is not friendly to Jews and Israel,” said a Campaign representative. “It is clear that we must be

vigilant in our support of the state of Israel and be proud of our Jewish identity wherever we live.” Greenfield fielded questions and comments at the film’s conclusion, and reminded the audience of the role Jewish Federations plays in fighting antisemitism and promoting Jewish identity. The program ended with Douglass and Rubel accepting the annual gift from Amos Lodge B’nai B’rith representatives Rick Bishop and Ed Monsky.

Cyber warfare’s new reality adds to Israel’s already complex battlefield By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA) – As the frequency of suicide bombings increased in the 1990s, Israelis began to realize that their conflicts had shifted from the conventional battlefield to their streets, buses and cafés. Now the country – along with the rest of the world – is adapting to a new battlefield, one that defense experts call the “fifth dimension”: computers. The impact cannot be underestimated, says Dror Mor, CEO of the Sdema Group, an Israeli company that specializes in homeland security protection. “A big part of the next war, wherever it is in the world, will be cyber warfare to silence infrastructure, electricity, communications, movement of planes and trains,” he says. Land, air, sea and even space have been battle fronts for decades or centuries, but cyber warfare has gained prominence in the past few years and will continue to advance. Although some industries have been computerized for more than 50 years, increasingly complex viruses have made computers more vulnerable than ever to cyber attacks. Several viruses already have figured prominently in the Middle East. In 2010, the Stuxnet virus hit computers in Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, and observers say it set back the Islamic Republic’s

alleged nuclear weapons program by as much as two years. Three months ago, Iran acknowledged that another virus, allegedly created by Israel and the U.S. and called Flame, had infected its computers. According to The Washington Post, the virus tapped into Iranian computer networks and accessed intelligence. And in early August, Gauss, a virus related to Stuxnet, hit personal computers in Lebanon and Israel, enabling the cyber attackers to access financial data and the social network profiles of tens of thousands of people. “The tech sector has become more open, which is good for business, but when that happens it’s bad for security,” says Avi Weissman, chairman of the Israeli Forum for Information Security. “States have learned to take advantage of this to create malicious code.” As Gauss showed, cyber warfare threatens private companies and governments. Transportation systems are especially vulnerable, Mors says. “Someone can go in the system, confuse the stoplights and create big economic problems,” he says. A crisis also would ensue, Mors adds, “if you get into the Israeli train system and put two trains on the same track that have no idea that they’re going toward each other.” As to private companies, vulnerability

Cyber security developers like those seen here from Elbit, an Israeli defense electronics company, will need to play an increasingly integral role in halting more complicated computer viruses. (Photo courtesy Elbit Systems) to cyber attacks means that the actions of ordinary office employees could lead to a breach in a system’s security. “It’s a cultural change as to how an organization deals with protection,” Mor says. “You’re in an organization, you have a laptop and a flash drive. The flash drive you use with your computer

JCC welcomes 27th president Lou Shapiro was installed as the 27th president of the JCC of Scranton at its annual meeting of the Board of Directors on June 7. Shapiro is a longtime JCC member and volunteer. He has served for many years on the board and has been involved on the JCC’s Finance, Building and Executive Committees. Professionally, Shapiro is the executive vice president and a partner with Burkavage Design Associates, a Clarks Summit-based architectural firm. He has been employed there since 1984 and has served as a princi-

Friend, theAmericanArbitrationAspal in charge for several regional sociation, Temple Hesed, Penn State hospital clients, including ComUniversity – Worthington Campus, munity Medical Center and Mercy American Red Cross-Scranton Hospital (now Regional Hospital Chapter, Economic Development of Scranton), as well as Geisinger Council of Northeastern Pennsyland Guthrie Health System. vania and the Greater Scranton Throughout the years, Shapiro Chamber of Commerce. has volunteered and served on Shapiro resides in Clark Sumthe boards of numerous civic and mit, with his wife, Margie. They charitable organizations, includhave two daughters, Sally, who ing the Lupus Foundation, United Lou Shapiro lives in Clarks Summit, and Jodi, Neighborhood Centers, Glen Oak Country Club, St. Francis Kitchen, Feed a who lives in Arlington, VA.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Holiday round-up

Campaign chai-lights

In brief...

and the computer in the office. How do we create a separation between the company network and the outside world?” Mor adds that the dangers stretch even beyond national defense and safeguarding civilian infrastructure. “If they stop the creation of cottage cheese, you think there will be a problem here?” he asks rhetorically, referring to a staple of the Israeli diet. “People can’t live without cottage cheese.” Defense threats, however, especially concern information security experts in Israel, a country where national security issues dominate conversation. In fact, last year Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the National Cyber Staff, which is charged with improving Israel’s defenses against cyber warfare. Israel has not fought a full-scale conventional war against another country in nearly four decades, principally fighting terror groups since the 1980s. Still, the biggest cyber threats come from countries, which have the necessary manpower to develop and execute a damaging attack, according to Isaac Ben-Israel, a professor of security and diplomacy at Tel Aviv University and former head of military See “Cyber” on page 4

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 September 28................................. 6:31 pm September 30.................................6:27 pm October 1...............................after 7:26 pm October 5.......................................... 6:19 pm October 7.......................................... 6:16 pm October 8............................... after 7:14 pm October 12........................................6:08 pm October 19........................................5:57 pm

TI announces a Simchat Torah A look at the many programs and A grenade attack on a kosher PLUS service honoring two congregants; agencies the Federation funds market in Paris; Iran admits lying Opinion...........................................................2 Sukkot recipes. locally and regionally. to the IAEA; and more. Jewish Community Center News............6 Stories on pages 3 and 9 Story on page 5 Stories on page 19 D’var Torah...................................................8

THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

a matter of opinion Deciphering the “Iranian Red Line” controversy Reprinted with permission of FamilySecurityMatters.org Of late, the mainstream media has been attacking Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s demand that President Obama set a specific “red line” which, if crossed, would trigger an immediate U.S. military response against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The common theme is that such a demand is an intrusion into U.S. presidential politics and contrary to American interests. But is it in America’s interests to risk the establishment of a nuclear-armed fanatical Islamic regime theologically committed to the destruction of Western civilization? Iran’s illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons represents the most profound security challenge of our time to the free world. If Hitler had been stopped before European leaders sacrificed the Sudetenland, the Rhineland and ultimately Czechoslovakia, World War II and the deaths of more than 50 million people could have been averted. Iran’s messianic apocalyptic regime is considered to be the largest exporter of terrorism in the world today, according to U.S. State Department reports, and allowing such a country to develop a nuclear shield under which it will export its Islamic revolution worldwide is madness. Both the August 30 International Atomic Energy Agency report and the National Intelligence Estimate have agreed that Iran has amassed a stockpile of low and medium-enriched uranium that, with further enrichment, could fuel as many as six

nuclear weapons. The president’s reasoning seems to be that only when Iran has actually decided to assemble a nuclear weapon will the final “red line” be crossed. In effect, setting a red line at the 12th hour creates a situation where a violation can neither be timely detected nor effectively reversed.

from the desk of the executive director

“ The Reporter” (USPS #482) is published bi-weekly by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510.

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Opinions The views expressed in editorials and opinion pieces are those of each author and not necessarily the views of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Letters The Reporter welcomes letters on subjects of interest to the Jewish community. All letters must be signed and include a phone number. The editor may withhold the name upon request. ADS The Reporter does not necessarily endorse any advertised products and services. In addition, the paper is not responsible for the kashruth of any advertiser’s product or establishment. Deadline Regular deadline is two weeks prior to the publication date. Federation website: www.jewishnepa.org How to SUBMIT ARTICLES: Mail: 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 E-mail: jfnepareporter@jewishnepa.org Fax: (570) 346-6147 Phone: (570) 961-2300 How to reach the advertising Representative: Phone: (800) 779-7896, ext. 244 E-mail: bonnie@thereportergroup.org Subscription Information: Phone: (570) 961-2300

Mark silverberG The problem with the U.S.’s last minute “red line” strategy is that the track record of America’s intelligence agencies throughout past decades leaves much to be desired – the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor; the outbreak of the Korean War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the 1973 Yom Kippur War; the 1979 Iranian Revolution; the failure to act on warnings from Egyptian authorities that could have prevented the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993; the failure to act on intelligence reports received prior to the 1998 Al-Qaida bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya; the failure to “connect the dots” and the low priority given to human intelligence prior to the 9/11 attacks; Saddam’s “weapons of mass destruction”; the intelligence failures relating to North Korea’s nuclear missile tests and its surprise October 2006 underground nuclear test; and the Russian atomic bomb are just a few examples. Further, while U.S. intelligence knew about India’s nuclear program, it was caught off-guard by its May 1998 underground nuclear weapons test, followed by another surprise Pakistani nuclear test emerging from a program U.S. intelligence agencies had been monitoring for years. It should also be remembered that Western intelligence discovered Iran’s Fordo underground nuclear facility in mid-2009 – a full 18 months after secret construction on the site had begun. Taking these intelligence failures into account, it is more than possible that Iran’s detonation of a nuclear bomb may well be the first indication that it has already crossed the nuclear threshold, in which case it will be too late. U.S. intelligence sources “estimate” that the Iranians (who have stated on numerous occasions their intention to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and to expand their Islamic Revolution globally) are several months away

from assembling a nuclear weapon. But what if they are wrong, as they were with the above intelligence failures and, of late, in their failure to anticipate the results of the so-called democratic “Arab Spring,” despite numerous polls taken during 2010 and 2011 by the Pew, Gallup and World Opinion organizations virtually confirming the Islamist nature of Arab societies, not to mention the recent disastrous September 11, 2012, attacks on U.S. consular and embassy buildings in Libya and Egypt? Can any rational person believe for a moment that a nuclear Iran propelled by a fanatical, messianic religious belief in its final victory over Western civilization can be “contained” after it has developed an atomic bomb and secured a nuclear shield? Israel has good reasons for concern. Given that no less than six “red lines” have been allowed to pass during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, the Iranians, no doubt, have concluded that there are no “red lines” that will elicit an American military response against them, which is why they have accelerated their enrichment activities and nuclear trigger experiments in their Natanz, Fordow and Parchin facilities. They know full well that once they have obtained an atomic bomb, any and all “red lines” will become irrelevant. They also know that the Western powers would never have invaded Libya had Khadafi retained his nuclear capability. What U.S. administration officials fail to realize is that Iran is not just an existential threat to Israel and a regional threat to the oilrich Arab sheikdoms of the Middle East, but a global threat that is aimed at Western civilization and led by the “Great Satan” (U.S.), to quote Iranian President Ahmedinejad. His fanatical comments and efforts to develop an atomic bomb are part and parcel of his concerted effort to destroy the West. His theology is directly related to our liberal Western values that he perceives as depraved and dangerous. Jihadists like Ahmedinejad dread U.S. civil liberties such as freedom of religion, association, expression, movement, economy and equality for women. In fact, all of the issues that Americans, Europeans and Israelis fight over – such as the best way to achieve the greatest amount of equality for men, women and religious and ethnic minorities – are precisely the issues that the Iranians believe the Koran is telling them to eradicate and replace with sharia law. To believe that the Iranians can be dissuaded from this mission or from their

nuclear quest through which they intend to further this mission is the height of folly. Imagine the havoc Iran could create in the United States by making small nuclear “dirty” bombs and using suicide bombers to bring them into Manhattan or Los Angeles ports. In effect, destroying the Iranian reactors is not only in Israel’s interest, it is necessary in the interests of Western civilization. It is becoming increasingly apparent that neither economic sanctions, nor military threats, nor assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, nor covert activities, nor cyber-viruses like Stuxnet that contaminated their centrifuges will stop Iran’s nuclear quest. Consequently, rather than attacking Netanyahu for demanding a specific U.S. “red line” for military action against the Iranian reactors, the U.S. would be better advised to work with the Israelis and Europeans to eliminate this global threat before it’s too late. Iran’s missiles can reach not only Israel, but Western European capitals and even Moscow, and America’s Arab allies have been just as adamant in private for the past few years as Israel, and they want America to use all means necessary to prevent a nuclear Iran. Netanyahu’s demand for a “red line” is not about elections in America. It’s about centrifuges in Iran and the global ramifications of a nuclear-armed fanatical Iranian regime that had no qualms in sending 100,000 Iranian children scurrying through Iraqi minefields in the 1980s with yellow plastic keys to Paradise wrapped around their necks. Nor would it have any qualms in transferring nuclear materials to its global terrorist proxies with the same regard that it exhibits in supplying thousands of missiles to Hezbollah. The U.S. is assuming that the Iranians will not move to build their bomb – something we won’t know until after they’ve conducted their first nuclear test (as was the case with Russia, India, North Korea and Pakistan) by which time, if past intelligence failures are any indication, it will be too late. Unfortunately, the idea that the most powerful weapon on Earth is in the hands of the most dangerous nation on the planet doesn’t seem to elicit the same degree of urgency on the part of the U.S. that it does with the rest of the Western world, so Netanyahu’s determination to pin down President Obama to take action against Iran makes perfect sense and is fully justified. Later will be too late, and there will be no second chance.

Jews should vote with religion in mind By N. Aaron Troodler (JTA) – Most people dislike politics. “Voter apathy” has become part of our vernacular, and far too many people fail to exercise one of the most extraordinary privileges afforded to us by the Constitution – the right to vote. As Americans, voting is a privilege we should cherish. However, as Jewish Americans, we have an even greater obligation to ensure that we do not ignore this sacred constitutional freedom. We are in the midst of a heavily contested presidential election. Mitt Romney and the Republicans sense an opportunity to reclaim the White House by faulting President Barack Obama for the ongoing fiscal challenges facing many Americans. Obama and the Democrats counter by touting the president’s foreign policy credentials and focusing on the inroads they contend he has made on the domestic front. Many political pundits insist this is one of the most important presidential elections of our lifetime. For us, as Jewish Americans, that assertion could not be truer. Presidential politics carries with it a healthy dose of religion. Injecting religion into politics is no longer taboo and candidates today speak freely about their faith

and incorporate religious ideology into their campaign rhetoric. Just as the candidates make religion a focal point of their campaign, we as Jewish Americans must make our faith a centerpiece of this critical presidential election. Jewish Americans traditionally play a pivotal role in presidential elections. In an effort to cultivate Jewish support, candidates typically address issues of significance to the Jewish community during their campaigns. They say what we want to hear, and we, ostensibly ecstatic that they have pledged their undying love to Israel and the Jewish community, carry that rhetoric with us into the voting booth on Election Day. The Jewish community must demand more. We live in trying times and can no longer simply take the candidates’ pro-Israel statements at face value. We must engage in a substantive dialogue with the candidates about the issues that are vital to our future as Jews. With the onset of the Arab Spring and the meteoric rise of Islamist fundamentalism, the U.S.-Israel relationship could not be more essential. In a period of uncertainty for Israel, the one certainty we need is an unbreakable bond between America and Israel. Hyperbole and empty promises from

the presidential candidates concerning the U.S.-Israel relationship are unacceptable. In light of the fluid situation involving Israel’s neighbors, we need a genuine pledge from the candidates that America will continue standing together with the Jewish state. The type of sincere assurance we need will not necessarily happen on its own. It is up to us, as Jewish Americans, to ensure it happens. As deadly Katyusha and Kassam rockets continue raining down on Israel, Jewish Americans need to make certain that our presidential candidates undertake to finally end the violence. When Hamas fires rockets from Gaza at southern Israel and Hezbollah launches rockets at northern Israel, the international community inexplicably shrugs its shoulders and essentially does nothing. The safety and security of our Israeli brethren is paramount and we have a responsibility to hold the candidates accountable when it comes to safeguarding the state of Israel. As Iran works toward nuclear proliferation, America and the European Union have decided that ongoing talks are the solution to our collective problem. The talks persist even though Gen. Hossein Salami, the acting commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, See “Vote” on page 4

THE REPORTER

community news TI to honor Pollack and Wolkenstein at Simchat Torah service on October 9 Temple Israel will honor two members of its congregation for “living out the ideals of Torah” and for their service to the temple on Tuesday, October 9, at the Simchat Torah morning service. Robert Pollack has been designated as hatan Torah and Cantor Marshall Wolkenstein as hatan Bereishit. “We hope you will make every effort that morning to be present Robert Pollack will and honor these two distinguished be honored as hatan members of our temple,” said a Torah. TI representative. Pollack was born and raised on Clay Avenue just blocks away from Temple Israel. He currently resides in Clarks

Bais Yaakov news

Jewish Home orientation Bais Yaakov students recently were trained in feeding and relating to the residents of the Jewish Home. The featured speakers were Rabbi Samuel Sandhaus, executive director; Mae Murawaski, director of nursing; and Caroline Levy, who trained the students. Participants were shown two videos, “See Me,” which provides the perspective of a resident and her feelings about how people connected to her; and “Peege,” the story of a family visiting their mother or grandmother in a nursing home and how each one related to her. Activities were then held to sensitize the participants to the feeling of the elderly. Bais Yaakov students now help with the feeding of the residents and perform various activities for the holidays and throughout the year. Bais Yaakov school year begins Bais Yaakov began its 47th school year on September 6 with orientation, featuring Rabbi Mordechai Dov Fine and Vera Epshteyn, both focusing on how to approach the new year. The kick-off program also included a game for participants to meet one another, and a trip for miniature golfing. The first day of actual classes began on September 7. Bais Yaakov welcomed back its staff: Dr. Neill Ackerman, Rabbi Yaakov Bilus, Gary Cangemi, Esther Elefant, Fine, Leah Gans, Rus Leiter, Chaya Jakubowicz, Rabbi Avrohom Turin, Miri Salkow, Chavi Schwarz and Tova Weiss. New this year are Malka Saks, Rabbi Nachum Brand, Rivka Penina Bilus, Racheli Rich and Zeve Ben Dov. Phyllis Barax also serves as special education consultant and teacher training program developer.

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Summit with his wife and business partner, Karen. Together they own and operate Community Bake Shop. The bakery was founded in 1947 by his parents, Morton and Adele. Pollack started working at the bakery when he was 10-yearsold and has never stopped, taking only a short hiatus to attend Penn State University. Together, the Pollacks are the Cantor Marshall parents of three children: CourtWolkenstein will be ney, who resides in Boston and honored as hatan is a doctorate student at Harvard Bereishit. University; Sean, who resides in Berwick and is newly engaged to be married; and Rachel, who is a junior in high school and vice president of the local BBYO chapter. Although a baker by profession, Pollack has said he is “just as comfortable on the roof of the temple or under the elevette as he is baking cakes.” Pollack has a long tenure as chairman of the House Committee. Al Kane passed the “keys to the temple” to Pollack 10 years ago. Wolkenstein is a native of Milwaukee, WI. He is a graduate of the Workmans Circle Yiddish School and the Milwaukee Talmud Torah system. His early Jewish music education led him to singing in the choirs of various Orthodox synagogues. He studied voice and music at the Wisconsin State Teachers College and with John David Anello, of the Florentine Opera Company of Milwaukee. He has served as cantor, teacher and music director of congregations in Great Neck, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Birmingham, AL, as well as at Temple Israel of the Poconos and Temple Israel of Scranton. He is now cantor emeritus at Temple Israel in Scranton. He is a life member of both the Cantors Assembly and the American Conference of Cantors. His various awards and achievements include honorary

doctorate of music – Hebrew Union College; honorary doctorate of music – Jewish Theological Seminary; Enrico Caruso Memorial Scholarship – Julliard School of Music; vice president of the Philadelphia Region of the Cantors Assembly; certificate of pastoral counseling from CMC in Scranton; and concerts and performances with opera companies, symphony orchestras and choral societies. Wolkenstein currently resides in Scranton with his wife, Shirley. They recently celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary. His family includes two sons, Louis and Michael, and a daughter, Bina.

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THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

Dalin to lecture at University of Scranton

The Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute of the University of Scranton has announced a public lecture by Dr. David Dalin on the topic “Pope John Paul II and the Jews.” The lecture will be held on Thursday, October 25, at 7:30 pm, in the Pearn Auditorium in Brennan Hall on campus. The lecture will be free and open to the public. Dalin is a widely-published scholar of American Jewish history and politics, as well as Jewish-Christian relations. He is currently a professor of history and politics at Ave Maria University in Florida. During the 2002-03 academic year, he was a visiting fellow at Princeton University’s James

tor of 10 books, including “The Madison Program in American Presidents of the United States Ideals and Institutions. He has and the Jews.” His book “Relibeen a visiting professor at the gion and State in the American Jewish Theological Seminary, Jewish Experience,” co-authored George Washington University with Professor Jonathan D. Sarna and Smith College. of Brandeis University and pubHe received his B.A. from lished by the University of Notre the University of California at Dame Press, was selected by Berkeley, where he was elected CHOICE as one of the Outstandto Phi Beta Kappa. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis Dr. David Dalin ing Academic Books of 1998. Additionally, Dalin has written University. He also received his rabbinical ordination and a second M.A. about Catholic-Jewish relations and the history of the relationship between the papacy from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Dalin is the author, co-author or edi- and the Jews. Dalin’s article on “Pius XII

Cyber

research and development for the Israeli Defense Forces and Defense Ministry. “Terror groups work with small groups of people, so the likelihood that they’ll attack our system is small,” Ben-Israel says. Israel also is the birthplace of internationally well-regarded information security companies such as the Sdema Group. But some experts say the country remains unprepared to meet potential cyber threats. “We’re OK relative to the world, but we are not OK relative to the threats in the region,” Ben-Israel says. Weissman of the Israeli Forum for Information Security points out that Israeli companies do not invest enough in cyber defenses because the dangers don’t seem as real as those of bombs. “This cyber threat seems far away, so why put money into

beforehand by researchers through “microtargeting,” a system that uses market research and other factors to narrow respondents to those likeliest to switch their vote. Volunteers also distributed leaflets to homes in suburbs with high Jewish concentrations. The effort attracted hundreds of RJC volunteers from across the country to the three target areas in states that both parties have identified as having enough undecided Jewish voters who could decide the election. Among the volunteers were dozens of students whose hotel stays over the Sabbath were paid for by the RJC. “This effort – both in terms of numbers of participants and scope of the effort – was Continued from page 1 it?” he asks. “Organizations don’t bring in enough people, they cut corners.” And, Weissman says, the government’s budget is too tight to invest the money it should to prevent cyber attacks. “Israel has a lot of problems: religious people and secular people, Arabs and Jews,” he says. “There aren’t any teeth to Israeli regulations because there isn’t money.” While Weissman calls for more money in technological education and cyber defense, he says it is no substitute for conventional hardware such as planes, bombs and soldiers. “It’s not going to take the place of conventional warfare just like chemical warfare isn’t replacing conventional warfare and planes don’t replace ground troops,” he says, adding that cyber warfare “will complete warfare.”

Jewish Federation of NEPA

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unprecedented and historic,” the RJC’s executive director, Matthew Brooks, told JTA in an e-mail. Democrats, slightly slackjawed, said they could never match the effort, which is part of an overall push that Brooks has priced at $6.5 million. “We will be outspent,” acknowledged Robert Wexler, a former Florida congressman and one of the Obama campaign’s chief Jewish surrogates. Democrats have said previously that they hope to raise $1 million to $2 million for their Jewish outreach efforts. The RJC’s efforts in suburban Philadelphia were not without mishaps. Cellphones leased for the occasion did not work for hours on Sunday because the volunteers

Vote

recently boasted that Iran test-fired missiles that can strike Israel and U.S. military bases in the region. Nuclear Iran poses a grave threat to Israel, so Jewish Americans need to tell the presidential candidates that this dangerous situation needs to be addressed accordingly. While the candidates crisscross the country talking to voters, Jonathan Pollard continues to languish in prison after more than 26 years behind bars. Pollard, who received an unprecedented life sentence for passing classified information to Israel, an American ally, is extremely ill and has expressed remorse for his actions. Numerous American leaders have implored Obama and his predecessors to commute Pollard’s disproportionate sentence. As Jewish Americans, we have a duty to inform the presidential candidates that Jonathan Pollard’s release is a major priority. In 2008, Barack Obama garnered 78 percent of the Jewish vote, while John McCain received just 22 percent. Those electoral numbers were consistent with the Jewish vote in presidential elections for the past century, in which the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community gravitates toward the more liberal candidate. The days of Jewish Americans casting their votes based on party affiliation and partisan politics must end now. We cannot afford to tow the party line and vote for someone simply because there is a “D” or an “R” before the name. The time has

UJA Campaign Chai-lights

and the Jews” was published in The Weekly Standard and reprinted in Inside the Vatican, published in Rome. His book “The Myth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis,” has been translated into French, Spanish and Italian. He is also the co-editor of the book “John Paul II and the Jewish People: A Jewish-Christian Dialogue,” published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2008. Dalin has also lectured on American Jewish History and Jewish-Christian relations at colleges and universities, as well as Jewish communal institutions, throughout the United States.

In campaign for Jewish votes, GOP has the money, Dems have the history By Ron Kampeas KING OF PRUSSIA, PA (JTA) – In the battle for Jewish votes this November, both parties acknowledge the other’s advantage: Republicans have the money and Democrats have the history. The funding disparity was evident recently when the Republican Jewish Coalition rolled out major voter outreach bids in three major Jewish population centers: the suburbs of Cleveland and Philadelphia, and in Broward and Palm Beach counties in South Florida. The operations included expensive mechanisms unheard of in any Jewish outreach operation for years, if ever: Banks of volunteers phoning voters identified

THE REPORTER

were housed in a lower-level hotel room that did not have reception. And some door-todoor canvassers were dropped off in areas such as Blue Bell that appeared to have few Jews and where houses were adorned with Christian symbols. Striding along the broad paths leading to double doors in the wealthy neighborhood of Gladwyne, Carol Eberwein, a 70-yearold retiree sporting a white “RJC Victory Team” T-shirt, said she had not set foot in a synagogue for four years, infuriated with her fellow Jews for handing Obama a substantial majority. “If these damned Jews vote for Obama” this year, she said, “I’m not likely to go back.”

Your UJA dollars at work By Mark Silverberg The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania is the parliament of the Jewish communities of Northeastern Pennsylvania and includes Lackawanna, Pike, Monroe and Wayne Counties. The Federation has been called the “garden” and its funded agencies (local, regional, national, international, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) the “flowers.” The Federation raised almost $880,500 in UJA funds last year and allocated 100 percent of the funds to numerous organizations. Regionally, the Federation funds several major Jewish agencies in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Scranton JCC; Jewish Family Service; the Scranton Hebrew Day School; numerous part-time and full-time Hebrew educational schools, organizations and institutions; an internationally renowned yeshiva; and Federation projects and services. The programs and services include, but are not limited to: Endowment development – the Federation’s Investment Committee is responsible for the management of $7.17 million in Federation-endowed assets through its Endowment Fund. Funds offered include Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowments, Lion of Judah Endowments, Restricted

See “History” on page 12

Continued from page 2 come for Jewish Americans not to just vote responsibly but to vote religiously. Just as Sen. Joe Lieberman proudly embraced his Jewish identity as a vice presidential candidate in 2000 and a presidential candidate in 2004, we also need to be especially cognizant of our Jewish identity in the political context. As Jewish Americans, we must do our due diligence and make certain that the issues that are important to us also become important to the presidential candidates. Obviously, domestic concerns such as taxes, job creation and economic stability are essential. Certainly, foreign relations and America’s standing in the international community are significant. However, equally important, if not more important, are the issues that are close to our heart as Jewish Americans. Indeed, this is one of the most important presidential elections of our lives. The future of the state of Israel and the religious freedoms we enjoy as Jewish Americans depend heavily on who occupies the White House. The outcome of this election undoubtedly will impact our lives for many years to come. We need to ensure that there is a healthy dose of Judaism injected into this presidential election. It is the best medicine that we as Jewish Americans can have. N. Aaron Troodler is an attorney and a principal of Paul Revere Public Relations, a public relations and political consulting firm.

Parade marchers from Northeastern Pennsylvania communities attended the “Celebrate Israel Parade” in New York City on June 3.

Funds, Philanthropic Funds, Unrestricted Endowments and bequests in testamentary documents as part of estate planning. Grants – the Federation provides grants and subsidies for new, innovative and creative Jewish programs and projects, some of which have included: The development and design of the new Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania website, www.jewishnepa.org Per person subsidies The 2007 Israel Mission group posed in front of an ambulance funded by local for annual Federation Mis- donors. sions to Israel to determine the financial feasibility of constructing The underwriting and organization of Israel a new “Community Campus facility” in the Greater Emergency Campaigns (2004 and 2008-09) in the Scranton area event of war Capital repair grants to several educational and Subsidies for the annual Salute to Israel Parade religious institutions, including the Jewish Fellowship in New York City of Hemlock Farms and the Scranton mikvah Subsidies for annual Federation Missions to Har Grants to JFS for Russian Jewish resettlement risburg for discussions with state elected representa Underwriting travel expenses of Jewish Family tives on matters that affect the Jewish communities Service personnel to conduct programs and interviews of the region in and for the Pocono Jewish communities Sponsorship of the 2007 and 2009 Northeastern Underwriting the cost of a Management Study (the Pennsylvania Jewish Film Festivals Ryan Report) concerning the development of economies Development of the Northeastern Pennsylvania of scale between Federation agencies Jewish Film Loan Library, available at no change to Subsidizing the costs of retaining a community members of the community grants writer The development of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Subsidies for JCC Teen Leadership Missions to Jewish Federation Business and Trade Alliance (www. Israel, Purim carnivals, Chanukah events and several jewishnepabta.org) to promote Jewish business growth JCC holy day-related programs in the region Subsidies for the Federation’s annual Holocaust The establishment (with the Jewish Home of Symposia for the past 25 years that have averaged beEastern Pennsylvania) of the Jewish Resource Center tween 800 and 1,000 middle and high school students of the Poconos in Stroudsburg from throughout the region each May Partnering with the Scranton JCC and Jewish Numerous Holocaust-related programs, including See “UJA” on page 14 Family Services and Temple Israel and Temple Hesed

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

It will allow people from Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Wayne and Pike counties 24/7 access to: . Exchange Business Leads . Promote your Business . Develop Critical Business Skills and Solutions

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

Sign up for membership at http://JewishNepaBTA.org Planning on leaving town for a few months? Going on a long vacation? Moving any time soon? You can help save the Jewish Federation money by informing us of your plans and preventing the U.S. Postal Service from charging us for returned mail and address change notices. Before you go, call the Federation office or send us an email and let us know if you would like the mail sent temporarily to a different address, at no charge to you, or halted for a certain number of months. Give us a chance to get it right for you on the first mailing. Contact Dassy at (570)961-2300 or dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org

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

Take Center Stage! Sponsorship Opportunities Available. Capture the leading role and benefits as an Event Sponsor. For more information, please call Mark Silverberg at 570-961-2300 (ext. 1). NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance

NEPAJFedBTA

NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance in Groups

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

THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

THE REPORTER

jewish community center news Israeli Scouts entertained camp The Israeli Friendship Caravan, which consists of Tzofim (Israel Scouts) entering their senior year of high school, visited Camp Daleville on July 11 for a day of group activities with the campers, sharing their lives in Israel through song, dance and story. JCC Daleville campers welcomed the scouts and participated in various Israeli-themed activities. The day concluded with a song-and-dance performance. Additionally, the BBYO teens had an opportunity to have dinner and socialize with the Israeli teens, who are of the same age. Each teen in the Friendship Caravan, like all 100 delegates visiting North America, is a member of the 60,000-Scout strong Tzofim movement.

At right and below, left and right: Visiting Israeli Scouts entertained at Camp Daleville.

JCC awards banquet honors volunteers The JCC of Scranton held its 58th Awards Banquet on June 10 to honor is volunteers for their service. Approximately 140 people attended the event, which was held in the Koppelman Auditorium at the JCC. The banquet was chaired by Alma Shaffer, board member. Steven Seitchik, past JCC president (1995-98) served as master of ceremonies for the program. The awards were presented by previous recipients.

Among those honored were Donald Douglass, Community Service Man of the Year; Emily Trunzo, Community Service Woman of the Year; Rabbi Dovid Saks, Seymour Brotman Award; Linda Bush, Samuel Shair Award; Sasha Aronzon, Lillian Blume Memorial Award; Rachael Friedman, Ann and Monroe Brandewene Award; Roselyn Rutta, Senior Adult Club Award; Ed Monsky, George Joel Senior Service Award; and Douglas Fink, Ed

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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Basan Award for Special Service. David Kaplan accepted the Diana Stahler Lustig Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of his father, Saul. A representative of the JCC thanked all of the award recipients for their contributions to the JCC and the community. Also thanked were all of the committee members and volunteers who helped host the banquet.

JCC to hold disc golf

This fall, the JCC will hold disc golf, a new sports program. The JCC will provide all of the necessary equipment. Current plans are to hold the program on Wednesday evenings through October 31. Disc golf is a flying disc game in which individual players throw a flying disc at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, “The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc.” To register, contact Vince Kalinoski at 346-6595, ext. 115, or vkal3@scrantonjcc.org.

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THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

d’var torah ABINGTON TORAH CENTER

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

BETH SHALOM CONGREGATION

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

BICHOR CHOLEM CONGREGATION/ CHABAD OF THE ABINGTONS Rabbi Benny Rapoport President: Richard I. Schwartz 749 Northern Blvd., Clarks Summit, PA 18411 570-587-3300 • Website: www.JewishNEPA.com Saturday morning Shabbat Service 9:30 am. Call or visit us online for our bi-weekly schedule

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

CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL

Affiliation: Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Allan L. Smith President: Henry M. Skier Contact Person: Ben Schnessel, Esq. (570) 222-3020 615 Court Street, Honesdale, PA 18431 570-253-2222 • fax: 570-226-1105

CONGREGATION B’NAI HARIM

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

JEWISH FELLOWSHIP OF HEMLOCK FARMS

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

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

OHEV ZEDEK CONGREGATION

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

TEMPLE HESED

Union of Reform Judaism Rabbi Daniel J. Swartz President: Eric Weinberg 1 Knox Street, Scranton, PA 18505, (off Lake Scranton Rd.) 570-344-7201 Friday evening Shabbat, 8 pm; Saturday morning Shabbat, 11:15 am

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF DUNMORE

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

Making time: abundance and the gift of beginning again by RABBI MARJORIE BERMAN, SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, RECONSTRUCTIONIST RABBINICAL COLLEGE IN PHILADELPHIA Haazinu, Deuteronomy 32:1-32:52 We have come to the end of one year and have begun the next. In our portion for this week, Haazinu, Moses approaches the end of his life, and the following week, on Simchat Torah, the Torah will end and begin again. And this week, we will celebrate Sukkot, the festival of our rejoicing, a time to celebrate the abundance of all we have harvested. All of these cycles bring our attention to the passage of time. Have you ever tried that trick of setting your watch ahead by 10 minutes? Have you ever wished that there were 30 hours in a day or eight days in the week? We are, it seems, always wanting to barter, bargain and steal time. Despite our ability to cook, clean and communicate more quickly, we are forever running out of that most precious and intangible commodity. It often seems that while our opportunities – to travel, to learn, to consume – are multiplying at a fantastic rate, our capacity to find enough time to appreciate such abundance is diminishing. In Judaism, there is a great emphasis on time. We divide it, we name it, we appropriate certain times for certain purposes and we abstain from particular actions during particular periods. For the most part, Judaism attempts to teach us to be engaged and aware in our lives by providing us with a great deal of structure concerning time. Unfortunately, structure is something that we are inclined to fight against these days. Somewhere in the modern age we became convinced that structure limits our freedom. In fact, structure brings us freedom. It creates a place from which we can stand in order to make choices. It makes our limits visible, so that we do not have to trip

over them unexpectedly, often bruising ourselves in the process. It allows us the joy of anticipation. Half the fun of Chanukah or Passover or a vacation is the time we spend looking forward to it. Structure makes sure we do take the time to create and enjoy those things in life that matter: family and life cycle events and holidays. In keeping the structure of Shabbat, whether by observing all the mitzvot or by adopting a practice of having dinner with friends, walking in the woods or playing family games, we create a structure in time (Abraham Joshua Heschel referred to Shabbat as a “Cathedral in Time”) that allows us to really be present in our lives – to notice them and to number our days. Structure also reminds us that the difficult parts of life will not last forever, and that we will adapt to them. We see this in the Jewish approach to death. Judaism teaches us to mourn in three stages after someone dies. During the first seven days – “sitting shiva” – we are not supposed to leave the house. In the first month we are to refrain from attending joyful occasions and from doing unnecessary tasks. Throughout the first year, we join a prayer community to say the Kaddish. The Jewish structure surrounding mourning is demanding, but it is designed so that at the end of that year, we move on. We do not forget the one we have lost, but we move back into a different kind of time – the rhythm of normal life. The structuring of time gives our lives a sense of order and balance, even in the midst of great loss. We read in Ecclesiastes during Sukkot that there is both “A time to laugh, a time to cry; a time to sow, a time to reap...” Like the rhythm of the year and of the week, like the cycle of reading the Torah, like the implacable truth that one life ends while others begin, our lives are made See “Time” on page 9

Try a Sukkot bash with a Thanksgiving flair By Jamie Geller (JTA) – I would rather host 50 people at my house for a Shabbat than travel overnight with my kids. So that means if I don’t want to miss the big family party, I’d better bring the party to me. On Sukkot, if you have lots of company, surprise them by raiding ye olde Thanksgiving recipe box. Believe me, the recipes will taste completely different in your sukkah and they are a creative change from standard holiday fare. Over the years, my husband and I have hosted countless kiddushes, major holiday get-togethers for family, Chanukah parties and other events – even a Shabbat for 50 when I had a 5-week-old newborn. No, I’m not superwoman and I don’t try to be! I delegate like crazy, and it works out fine. That’s one of my secrets. Here are more on cooking for a big crowd without going bonkers. Menu Choices: Plan your menu with the precision of an astronaut going to the moon. Delegate, delegate, delegate. This is why God created turkeys. The more people at your table, the simpler the menu should be. Stay on the beaten path. How to Make it Happen: Watch out when multiplying ingredient quantities for larger yields. Be realistic about your equipment and your space. Refrigerator space has a way of shrinking, too. Relax (yeah, right!). Two small platters are better than one big one. Below are some Sukkot menu choices. Southwestern Turkey Breast and Green Chile Stuffing Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 60 minutes Ready time: 1 hour, 15 minutes Servings: 8 For Turkey: ½ tsp. chili powder ½ tsp. mustard powder ½ tsp. kosher salt ½ tsp. dried oregano ½ tsp. ground coriander ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper 1 boneless skinless turkey breast (2 to 2½ lbs.) For Stuffing: 1 Tbsp. olive oil 2 medium onions, chopped 1 bag frozen corn, defrosted (10ounce) 2 cans chopped green chilies, drained (4.5-ounce) 1 Tbsp. ground cumin

Time

of cycles. In this new year, may we find ways to structure our time in ways that help us pay attention – to the joys and sorrows, the beauty and the challenges that come to us. May we notice our lives

8 cups cubed bread (day old or dried out overnight) 1½ cups chicken stock ½ tsp. kosher salt ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 400°. In a small bowl, combine all spices for turkey rub and mix well. Place turkey breast on a greased baking sheet or roasting pan and rub all over with spice mix to coat well. Bake for about 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 170°. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and cook 5 minutes or until softened. Add corn, green chilis and cumin, and saute 3 minutes or until fragrant. Transfer to a large bowl and add bread cubes, stock, salt and pepper; mix to combine. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Bake with turkey breast for 1 hour. Yield: 1 turkey breast and 8 cups stuffing Cider Glazed Vegetables This simple apple cider glaze works well with any fresh or frozen vegetable you have on hand for a quick side dish. The recipe uses green beans, but it’s great on sliced carrots, parsnips or other winter root vegetables. Also try it with other types of vinegar or nuts. Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Ready time: 15 minutes Servings: 8-10 2 lbs. green beans, washed and trimmed 4 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar 2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 tsp. honey ½ tsp. kosher salt ½ cup sliced almonds Preheat oven to 400°. Spread green beans on a large sheet pan in a single layer. Toss with vinegar, olive oil, honey and salt. Roast 8 to 10 minutes or until tender but still crisp. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with sliced almonds. See “Sukkot” on page 19

The simple apple cider glaze on green beans works well with any fresh or frozen vegetable. (Photo by Henry Kauftheil) Continued from page 8 and their passage, sowing awareness and appreciation, so that next Sukkot we will have an abundance of memories and gratitude to reap, and time enough to notice it all.

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF SCRANTON

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

To get Federation updates via email, register on our website www.jewishnepa.org

TODAY

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

THE REPORTER

THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

2013 UJA Campaign

Super Sunday

Make the call! Answer the call! Federation is committed to securing the future of the Jewish communities of Northeastern Pennsylvania and to rescuing the imperiled, caring for the vulnerable, supporting Israel and world Jewry, and insuring a strong Jewish presence here and around the world for our posterity. This is done through advocacy, education, scholarships, subsidies, grants, allocations, planning and special programs that assist Jews of all ages and affiliations engage in Jewish life. By your gift, you help children, teens, adults, and the elderly here in Northeastern Pennsylvania and throughout the world.

DO A MITZVAH! VOLUNTEER FOR SUPER SUNDAY! UJA Super Sunday Sunday, October 14, 2012 Nivert Metal Supply (Throop, PA) 8:30 am - 1:30 pm (Breakfast at 8:30 am sharp)

Answer the call

UJA Super Week Monday-Tuesday, October 15-16, 2012 Scranton JCC 6 pm - 9 pm

Please keep the trust. Answer the call on Super Sunday & Super Week. Your gift will save lives. Volunteers are asked to contact the Federation at 570-961-2300 (ext. 4) or e-mail Mark Silverberg at mark.silverberg@jewishnepa.org for further details.

Pocono UJA Campaign 2013 Pocono UJA Opening Event

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"Unmasked: Judeophobia And The Threat To Civilization"

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"The Jewish Experience in Coping with Tragedy"

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he Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania cordially invites you to attend our 10th annual Pocono UJA Campaign Opening Event with our special guest Stephen Flatow. Hors d'oeuvres: 5:30 pm She was a 2006 grant Program: 7 pmrecipient for her anthracite cabaret - ‘Black Diamonds for a Blues Lady’ performed in a workshop at MaryDessert Reception: 8 North pm East Theatre and The Anthracite wood University and The Cover charge: $10 per person Heritage Museum. Free parking available

rom the creators of "The Case for Israel: Democracy's Outpost" (2009) comes a meticulous examination of rising anti-Jewish ideology. The current political assault against the state of Israel is a war against the Jewish people and their right to self-determination. Jews are facing a threat much greater than a military threat in the battlefield or a traditional terror threat in urban centers. They are facing the possible uprooting of the very idea that there should be a nation state of the Jewish people. Filmmaker Gloria Greenfield travels from Israel to Europe to North America, covering this phenomenon from all angles, including Christian and Islamic polemics against Jews, the proliferation of anti-Israeli bias in academia and cultural institutions, misinformation campaigns and state-sanctioned denials of Israel's right to exist. The film examines this concerted antisemitic campaign that is catching on in many parts of the world – among academics and intellectuals and in major American and European publications. The growing international assault by mainstream and radical groups is also an assault against democratic values, making this a matter of serious concern for free countries everywhere. Wide-ranging interviews include such eloquent and respected voices as commentator Alan Dershowitz, Senator Joe Lieberman, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, human rights activist Natan Sharansky, British attorney Anthony Julius, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon, among many others. "Unmasked: Judeophobia And The Threat To Civilization" is a call to action and urgent reminder that antisemitism is a menace not only to Jews, but to the human condition itself.

Stephen Flatow

A gift to our 2013 UJA Campaign would be appreciated. RSVP to 570-961-2300 (ext. 4) by no later than Wednesday, September 19, 2012. All are welcome.

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Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania Sunday evening, September 9, 2012 Doors open 6:30 pm | Film begins promptly at 7 pm Scranton Jewish Community Center | 601 Jefferson Avenue, Scranton Post-screening discussion with Special Guest: Film Director Gloria Greenfield ggreenfield@docemetproductions.com There is no admission charge for the program

Sunday, September 23, 2012 | Temple Israel of the Poconos 711 Wallace St., Stroudsburg, PA

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Dear Friends: Once again, we are embarking on one of the noblest challenges in Jewish life – that of raising the necessary funds to continue actively building and strengthening our Jewish communities. Hundreds of dedicated volunteers and generous supporters across Northeastern PA will join us this year to make a difference. Your commitment to Jewish survival and your support during our 2013 UJA Campaign will help insure a quality Jewish life here, in Israel and for Jews in 57 countries throughout the world. We want to share with you some 2011-2012 Campaign statistics that were provided to us recently from our National Federation office. There are sixty (60) Federations our size in the U.S., and our Campaign is ranked eighth (8th) – no small achievement given our aging population and the state of our economy. In addition, our "Israel and Overseas allocation" (taken as a percentage of our gross annual Campaign) is one of the highest in the country – 32%. It's because of our historical generosity to Jewish causes – local, regional, national and international – that we are in a position to offer such a wide variety of social, cultural, educational and recreational programs and services to our communities that simply don't exist in any Federation our size in this country. The funds raised during our annual UJA Campaign have allowed us, for the first time in a decade, to increase our allocations to our educational, cultural, recreational and social service agencies that serve the Jewish communities of Northeastern PA. For your generosity, we are most grateful, and we hope you will continue to share your good fortune with our "family." If we've achieved more than other Federations our size, it's because we've always understood our responsibilities to our communities, to our People, and to Israel - none of which could have been done without our Annual UJA Campaign. Please be part of this noble enterprise and respond generously to our 2013 UJA Campaign solicitors when you are asked to do so this year. It's not how much you contribute that matters as much as your act of giving and your recognition that you are "part of our Jewish family." Your commitment will help write the next memorable chapter in Jewish history – a history that has always reflected the caring of one Jew for another. Thank you, Jeff Rubel, Co-Chairman Don Douglass, Esq., Co-Chairman 2013 UJA Campaign 2013 UJA Campaign

Northeastern Pennsylvania Premiere

A Message from our 2013 UJA Campaign Co-Chairmen

Campaign Opening Event

Don Douglass, Esq. 2013 UJA Campaign Co-Chairman

Jeff Rubel 2013 UJA Campaign Co-Chairman

No admission charge – Reservations requested Dessert reception to follow Please join us for our 2013 UJA Campaign Opening Event. For reservations, please call Rae Magliocchi at 570-961-2300 (ext. 4)

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UJA Major Gifts Grand Brunch

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Stephen Flatow

"The Jewish Experience in Coping with Tragedy"

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A father of five, his message is one of unity of the Jewish people, continuity and Jewish identity. Flatow has been involved in Jewish communal affairs for many years. He is a former member of the Boards of Trustees of the Nanuet Hebrew Center in Nanuet, New York; Congregation Ahawas Achim B'nai Jacob & David in West Orange, New Jersey; and the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in West Caldwell, New Jersey. He is a founder and immediate past president of Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange and a member of the Board of Trustees of Bat Torah Academy in Suffern, New York.

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Flatow and his wife were honored as "Parents of the Year" by the Parents Council of the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in 1994.

Renowned Harpist

RSVP by no later than Wednesday, September 19, 2012

tephen Flatow is an attorney whose 20-year-old daughter Alisa died as a result of injuries sustained during a terrorist attack in Israel in April of 1995. She was a student studying abroad. Acting under U.S. law, Flatow and his family sued the Islamic Republic of Iran as the sponsor of the terrorist attack which took Alisa's life. In March 1998, he obtained a damage award against the Government of Iran – an award based upon Iran's own budget allocation for funding "resistance" (terrorism) abroad.

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BARBARA DEXTER

We would be honored if you and your family would join us. Minimum Gift – $1,500 as an individual gift or as a gift from either spouse Under dietary supervision

renowned harpist, Barbara Dexter has been sharing her musical talents since the age of 7. She has entertained audiences at large social events and participated in numerous choral and musical productions. She has established an ensemble of harpists called Serenity that promotes the healing effects of music at nursing homes, schools and churches. Currently, she plays at St. Joseph's Center (Scranton) for the severely mentally and physically challenged, and has personally seen the benefits of the healing power of music on these precious souls. Prior to her work at St. Joseph's Center, she was part of Pastoral Services at Scranton's Community Medical Center (CMC) where she played her harp at bedsides in the ICU-CCU, Neonatal ICU, Hospice and the Behavior Unit. The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania is proud to have Barbara Dexter entertain our guests at our 2013 Women's UJA Campaign events, at which time she will share not only her harp music but some of her personal experiences on the healing power of its sound.

Admission: $5.00 per person

An RSVP to 570-961-2300 (ext. 4) would be appreciated

NOW, IT’S OUR TURN. Let’s make it count….. for ourselves, for our children, for Israel, forever.

2013 UJA Campaign Calendar

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Campaign Opening Event

"Unmasked Judeophobia: A Threat to Civilization" Sunday, September 9, 2012 Scranton Jewish Community Center 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA Film showing: 7 pm Open to the Jewish community at no charge Dessert Reception to follow

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Major Gifts Brunch

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($1,500 minimum gift from either spouse) Stephen Flatow "The Jewish Experience in Coping with Tragedy" Sunday, September 23, 2012 10:30 am Home of Michael & Kathleen Karnoff 145 Carbondale Rd., Waverly, PA 18471

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10th Annual Pocono UJA Campaign Opening Event Stephen Flatow "The Jewish Experience in Coping with Tragedy" Sunday, September 23, 2012 Temple Israel of the Poconos 711 Wallace St., Stroudsburg, PA Hors d'oeuvres: 5:30 pm Program: 7 pm Dessert Reception: 8 pm Cover charge: $10 per person A gift to our 2013 UJA Campaign would be appreciated RSVP to 570-961-2300 (ext. 4)

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Super Sunday

Sunday, October 14, 2012 8:30 am - 1:30 pm Nivert Metal Supply (Throop, PA)

Super Week

Monday, October 15 – Tuesday, October 16, 2012 6 pm - 9 pm Scranton JCC

2013 Women's UJA Campaign Event

Barbara Dexter – harpist Thursday, October 18, 2012 – Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania (Scranton, PA) 7 pm Sunday, October 21, 2012 – Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms (Lords Valley, PA) 2 pm Admission: $5.00

NoN-SolicitatioN dayS 2012 - 2013 JewiSh holy dayS

2013 Women’s Campaign Events

Sunday, September 23, 2012 | 10:30 am | Home of Michael & Kathleen Karnoff 145 Carbondale Rd., Waverly, PA 18471

THE REPORTER

(The Holy Days end one hour after sundown.) Rosh hashanah (Jewish New Year. Begins ten (10) days of penitence.) Sunday, September 16, 2012 – Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown Monday, September 17, 2012 – first day of Rosh Hashanah Tuesday, September 18, 2012 – second day of Rosh Hashanah yom Kippur (Day of Atonement. The most solemn of the Holy Days devoted to prayer and fasting.) Tuesday, September 25, 2012 – Yom Kippur starts at sundown Wednesday, September 26, 2012 – Yom Kippur Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles. Jews are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters as their ancestors the Israelites did in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.) Sunday, September 30, 2012 – Sukkot starts at sundown Monday, October 1, 2012 - first day of Sukkot Tuesday, October 2, 2012 – second day of Sukkot Shemini Atzeret (Conclusion of Sukkot) Sunday, October 7, 2012 – Shemini Atzeret starts at sundown Monday, October 8, 2012 – Shemini Atzeret Simchat Torah (Celebrates the conclusion of the year-long cycle of reading the Torah – the Five Books of Moses – and renewing the cycle) Monday, October 8, 2012 – Simchat Torah starts at sundown Tuesday, October 9, 2012 – Simchat Torah Passover (The Festival of Freedom, recounting the deliverance from slavery. This is an eight (8) day observance and includes special dietary rules. The first two and last two days are observed as Holy Days.) Monday, March 25, 2013 – Passover starts at sundown Tuesday, March 26, 2013 – first opening day of Passover Wednesday, March 27, 2013 - second opening day of Passover Monday, April 1, 2013 – first closing day of Passover Tuesday, April 2, 2013 – second closing day of Passover Shavuot (Commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai.) Tuesday, May 14, 2013 – Shavuot starts at sundown Wednesday, May 15, 2013 – first day of Shavuot Thursday, May 16, 2013 – second day of Shavuot

THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

History

THE REPORTER

Continued from page 4

The RJC’s outreach overall has won national attention. Its drive includes “My Buyer’s Remorse,” a TV ad campaign targeting swing states and featuring Jewish voters who supported Barack Obama in 2008, but are now voting against the president. The same theme appears on the leaflets that volunteers tucked into door jambs. “We had high hopes for Barack Obama,” they say. “Now, we have only buyer’s remorse.” Also featured in South Florida are billboards reading “Obama, Oy Vey!” and “Had enough?” Passers-by are directed to the “My Buyer’s Remorse” website. Democratic outreach is considerably more modest. The National Jewish Democratic Council is canvassing the same areas with volunteers handing out postcards calling the Obama-Biden ticket “the choice of American Jews.” The NJDC’s president, David Harris, said his group could not match the RJC outreach, but that it was not necessary to do so because of the Democrats’ traditional advantage among Jewish voters. “We start from an inbuilt advantage, that since the New Deal the vast majority of American Jews have voted Democratic,” he said. It’s a history that Republicans acknowledge, which is why the focus is on “microtargeting” the undecided Jews who, despite their relatively small percentage, could swing the vote in closely fought states. “Our goal is to get to those leaners,” Brooks said two weeks ago in Tampa, FL, at the Republican National Convention when he first rolled out plans for the outreach blitz. Ultimately, he predicted, “the undecideds will shift dramatically.” It’s an argument Democrats are taking seriously. Days after Brooks announced his plans, Ira Forman, the top Jewish

outreach official for the Obama campaign, gave a PowerPoint presentation at the convention center in Charlotte, NC, the site of the Democratic National Convention, in which he outlined what a 10 percent swing in the Jewish vote could cost Democrats. Obama is believed to have earned between 74 and 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008; Gallup tracking polls had him at 68 percent in July. Should Obama’s Jewish support fall to 65 percent on Election Day, in Florida he could conceivably lose 83,500 votes, according to Forman’s chart; in Pennsylvania, 41,500 votes; and in Ohio, 19,000 votes. In its outreach literature, the RJC stresses Israel and the threat of a nuclear Iran. The leaflet distributed to suburban homes this week is mostly about the Middle East, with the economy relegated to less than a third of the content. By contrast, the NJDC handout is split evenly between the Middle East and other issues: the economy, health care reform and social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. Republicans recount well-known instances when Obama has differed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly on what terms negotiations with the Palestinians should resume, and they note that Iran continues apace in its suspected attempt to build a nuclear weapon. Democrats note enhanced security cooperation with Israel, Iran’s increased isolation under Obama and the administration’s efforts to block anti-Israel efforts at the United Nations. The emphasis on the economy and social issues makes sense for the Democrats because the gaps between Jews and Republicans are wider on domestic issues – something that the phone canvassers at the Radisson Valley Forge

Hotel outside of Philadelphia discovered. David Edman, 57, a health care consultant from Wayne, PA, said the callers he reached tended to want to talk more about the economy. “It’s been about 50-50,” he said in terms of callers who were receptive to the RJC message. “I talked to two people who said health care was their most important issue. They seemed elderly and they were leaning” toward Obama, Edman said. “I ask people to keep an open mind.” Dara Fox, 46, a homemaker from Manassas, VA, who awoke at 4:30 am to ride a bus in for the day, said she got nothing but answering machines and hang-ups after an hour of calls. She said she also encountered the economic argument against voting for Romney among her liberal Jewish friends in northern Virginia – another swing state where a shift in the Jewish vote could conceivably make the difference. “I am at a complete loss as to how liberal Jews have taken Israel and put it in a separate bubble,” she said. Democrats, however, are not sanguine about the prospect of Jewish voters compartmentalizing any concerns they have about Israel and focusing instead on areas of domestic agreement with Obama. Echoing a common complaint among Obama’s closest Jewish backers, Wexler, speaking recently to the B’nai B’rith International policy conference, said the question he hears from Jewish audiences that vexes him most is the “kishkes” question: Does Obama “get” Israel in his gut? “I get done with the litany of 30 things the president has done for Israel, and then I get asked, ‘Yeah, Wexler, I know about all that, but in his kishkes does he really feel it?’” Wexler recounted, his voice rising in frustration. “Short of joining the IDF itself, I’m curious as to what President Obama could do to convince some in our community.”

NO GIFT TOUCHES MORE LIVES

Be A Mensch!

BE A SUPER SUNDAY/SUPER WEEK VOLUNTEER SUPER WEEK OCTOBER 15-16, 2012

SUPER SUNDAY OCTOBER 14, 2012 Nivert Metal Supply, Inc. Marshwood Road Keystone Industrial Park Throop, PA, 8:30AM - 1:00 PM (breakfast) (Shuttle service available from JCC at 8am)

Jewish Community Center 601 Jefferson Avenue Scranton, PA 5:30 PM- 9:00 PM (dinner)

We need your help!

Many volunteers are needed to assist with SUPER SUNDAY and SUPER WEEK. With your help, we can strengthen and preserve Jewish life in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Israel, and more than 59 countries around the world. Chair, Jim Ellenbogen Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania 601 Jefferson Avenue Scranton, PA 18510 570/961-2300 • FAX: 570/346-6147 • WEB: www.jewishnepa.org • E-MAIL: rae.magliocchi@jewishnepa.org Ready to be a Mensch? Tear off and return the attached registration card today.

You can count on me to be a SUPER VOLUNTEER! Name _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ City ________________________________________________________________________________ State ________ Zip________ Home Phone ______________________________________________________________________ Work Phone ________________ I am available during the daytime hours: day______ time________ All shifts include an orientation, training session, and refreshments. I would appreciate child care__ I would appreciate transportation__ MAIL TO: Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, 601 Jefferson Avenue, Scranto, PA 18510 or call 961-2300 To be a part of the SUPER TEAM, please respond before Wednesday, October 10, 2012. Questions: Call the Federation at (570) 961-2300

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Make your reservation today! Please contact Dassy at 570-961-2300 x2 or Dassy.Ganz@jewishnepa.org

The best time for me is (prioritize order) SUPER SUNDAY OCT. 14, 2012 ___ 8:30AM - 1:00PM (breakfast) SUPER WEEK, 5:30 - 9:00 PM each night (includes dinner, dietary laws observed) ___Monday, October 15, 2012 ___Tuesday, October 16, 2012

THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

UJA

Kristallnacht, under the auspices of the Holocaust Education and Resource Center The Northeastern Pennsylvania Artists Street Fair in Stroudsburg Breast cancer awareness programs at Elan Gardens in Clarks Summit Subsidies for Jewish demographic surveys of Pike, Wayne, Monroe and Lackawanna counties Special reports on successful current Northeastern Pennsylvania Jewish businessmen Grants also funded other local and regional Jewish holiday programs designed to attract the unaffiliated and enhance the quality of Jewish life in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Grant research for new Federation projects – the successful completion of a three-year, $375,000 Harry and Jeanette Weinberg grant that allowed the Federation to recover part of its expenses relating to its annual Missions to Israel, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Jewish Film Festivals of 2007 and 2009, regional Holocaust education symposia, the expansion of Federation services to the Jewish communities of the Poconos and reimbursement to the Federation Endowment Fund for expenses relating to the introduction of many new innovative programs. Hebrew school education – funding full- and part-time Hebrew schools and yeshivas (locally and regionally), the Scranton JCC and Jewish Family Service. The Reporter – The Federation funds The Reporter, the regional Jewish newspaper, at a cost of $26,000 per year but at no cost to our community other than voluntary contributions made to its annual “Friends of the Reporter” Campaign. Israel Missions – Federation-subsidized annual missions to Israel from Northeastern Pennsylvania. This year’s mission to Budapest and Israel has been scheduled from October 23-November 7. More than 175 members of the communities have participated in the missions

Business Alliance participants attended the Inaugural Breakfast. throughout the past decade. Holocaust educational programs – For the past 25 years, the Federation has sponsored Holocaust symposia at Marywood University in Scranton, at which thousands of middle and high school students from throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania learn of the Holocaust through films and discussions with survivors and liberators. The Holocaust Education and Resource Center also sponsors teacher training seminars throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, and has hosted exhibits on Holocaust-related subjects throughout the region. Capital expenses – relating to the expansion of regional Hebrew schools, as was the case several years ago at the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms. Israel Emergency Campaigns – including Operation Defensive Shield (in response to the second intifada), Operation Cast Lead (Gaza) and the Second Lebanon War. This included developing and coordinating Letters to the Editor of regional public newspapers, hosting community rallies, participating in Northeastern Pennsylvania radio talk shows on the subject, contacting senators and congressmen, showing films, maintaining media contacts, Buy

Join the Golon Hadassah of Northeast PA for a day at the National Museum of American Jewish History Sunday, October 21, 2012

Museum at Dusk 2, Todd Mason/Halkin Photography,National Museum of American Jewish History

The National Museum of American Jewish History, located in the heart of historic Philadelphia, is the only museum in the nation dedicated solely to telling the story of Jews in America. Bus departs from *Temple Israel of the Poconos in East Stroudsburg. Please get to the synagogue around 9 am for a prompt, 9:30am departure. *Pick up in Scranton if there are 10 or more people. The bus will leave Philadelphia between 4:00pm and 5:00pm. Cost: $55 (includes round trip charter bus, Museum admission & guided tour, and Kosher boxed lunch) Seating is limited; Payment is requested no later than October 10, 2012

Please respond to Dr. Sandra Alfonsi ASAP to confirm attendance and submit your lunch order by email (sanalfonsi@aol.com) or phone (570-233-7062) Kosher, boxed lunch selections - please choose one: Each lunch comes with a drink, potato chips, chocolate chip cookie, whole fresh fruit, and vegetable slaw. • Bagel with Nova Lox, Cream Cheese & Tomato • White Meat Tuna Salad with Lettuce & Tomato on Twist Roll Cost: $55 • Grilled Salmon on Black Bread with Cucumber Dill Sauce (includes round trip charter bus, • Grilled Vegetable Hoagie with Red Pepper Mayo Museum admission & guided tour, • Oven Roasted Turkey on Challah and Kosher boxed lunch) Seating is limited; Payment is requested • Corned Beef on Rye Lunch beverage selections - please choose one: Pepsi-Regular Pepsi-Diet Sweetened Iced Tea

no later than October 10, 2012

Bottled Water

Continued from page 5 Israel Goods day each March 30 and generally fostering support for Israel in times of crisis. Humanitarian relief efforts – the Israel Wildfire Relief Fund for the Carmel fire, the hurricane disaster relief efforts in Haiti, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the South Asian tsunami disaster and efforts to relocate communities away from the site of the Japanese nuclear disaster. Jewish Resource Center of the Poconos – providing designated operating expenses for the Jewish Resource Center of the Poconos since its founding in late 2006. CRC activities – Community relations activities, including supporting Israel through editorials in local and regional newspapers, the mainstream media and with elected representative at all levels of state and federal government. The CRC also provides High Holy Day information to the school superintendents and principals of the public schools of Northeastern Pennsylvania. These mailings include a schedule of the important Jewish holy days with explanations and requests to avoid school programming conflicts where possible, and to recognize student absences as excusable. It has also provided security materials and advice on the process for obtaining Department of Homeland Security grants for high-risk, nonprofit Jewish summer camps, institutions and synagogues in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Regional planning and development – including research on local and regional Jewish demographics and the recent Consultant’s Report on creating greater economies of scale and staff efficiencies in the operations of the community’s larger agencies – the Scranton JCC, Jewish Family Service and the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Israel The Federation allocates almost $280,000 or 32 percent of funds raised during its annual UJA Campaign, for Israel and the needs of world Jewry (through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), including worldwide Jewish leadership programs like Birthright Israel. Funds are transferred to the Jewish Agency for Israel in Jerusalem and to the JDC in New York for allocation to 59 countries around the world. In Israel, a significant portion of these funds allow Israel to upgrade its bomb shelters for emergencies and provide relief to the thousands of Israelis, young and old, who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by living in constant fear of missile attacks and bombings. Equally important is the matter of assisting those who wish to make aliyah to Israel, more often than not because of rising antisemitism in their countries of origin. As a result, there is a large European aliyah currently under way, and these new immigrants are being housed in Israeli absorption centers (as were those from Argentina and the former Soviet Union in recent years), given Hebrew-language instruction (ulpanim), financial aid, job placement, counseling and mortgage assistance in absorption centers throughout Israel – all funded exclusively by UJA dollars. In fact, Israel Mission participants visited an absorption center in November 2007 and met with those who have chosen to make Israel their new home. Internationally Internationally, JDC funds care for the Jewish vulnerable and the imperiled in 59 countries around the world – from Singapore to Santiago, Budapest and the far reaches of what is now the former Soviet Union. With dollars raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the JDC funds relief and rescue services through Hesed centers (providing free medicines and health care), community centers (for social and recreational programs) and financial assistance to isolated Jewish communities struggling to maintain a semblance of Jewish life for themselves and their families. “That’s why any gift you make to our 2013 Annual UJA Campaign affects the lives of millions of our people around the world,” said a Federation representative. Send donations to the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 – Memo: 2013 UJA Campaign.

THE REPORTER

NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance

Economic Outlook Dinner Wednesday, October 24 • 6 to 8 pm

Radisson Hotel, 700 Lackawanna Ave., Scranton Our Speaker, Robert H. Graham of Riggs Asset Management Company, Inc. will discuss today’s economy & provide insight into its future. Attend this dinner and ﬁnd out how the economy will aﬀect business today and in the future! Robert H. Graham is President and Chief Investment Officer of Riggs Asset Management Company, Inc., an independent boutique investment advisory firm serving affluent families and institutions throughout the United States and abroad. Mr. Graham advises clients on Growth and Income Investment Strategies; Wealth Preservation and Succession Planning for Entrepreneurs. Mr. Graham began his investment management career in 1989 and joined Riggs Asset Management Company in 1999 as a Senior Investment Officer and Principal. He is Chair of the Board of Directors for the North Branch Land Trust, serves as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of Diamond City Partnership, member of the Board of Directors of Leadership Wilkes-Barre and the Family Business Forum. He is also a member of the Director’s Leadership Group for the William G. McGowan School of Business at King’s College. Mr. Graham is frequently featured in publications such as The Times-Tribune, The Citizen’s Voice, The Northeastern Pennsylvania Business Journal, The Times Leader and The Standard Speaker where he provides insight into economics, investing and wealth management.

Cost: $20 per member • $30 per non-member Dinner Buﬀet Included* Please RSVP by Monday, October 22nd, 2012 by calling or e-mailing either Rae Magliocchi at 570-961-2300 x4 • rae.magliocchi@jewishnepa.org or Becky Schastey at 570-540-5250 • becky@blswebstrategies.com

Notice to our Pocono Readers 911 Emergency Management Services has been updating mailing addresses in Monroe County and Lehman Townships in Pike County. Please don't forget to notify the Federation so you will continue to receive The Reporter. Thanks, Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania

To become a member, please register at http://JewishNepaBTA.org *under strict kosher supervision

THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment

Your gift to the Annual Campaign DOES A WORLD OF GOOD. Endowing your gift allows you to be there for the Jewish community of NEPA forever. A Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment (PACE) is a permanent fund that endows your Jewish community Annual Campaign gift as a lasting legacy. A PACE fund will continue to make an annual gift in perpetuity on your behalf. To determine the amount you need to endow your entire campaign gift, multiply your current annual gift by 20. You can fund your PACE by adding the JEWISH FEDERATION OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA to your will, or by making the Federation a beneficiary of your IRA. All contributions to establish a PACE are tax deductible.

Let your name be remembered as a blessing. Endowments can be created through a variety of vehicles, some of which do not necessitate funding during your lifetime yet still provide your estate with considerable tax benefits. They also enable you to perpetuate your commitment to the Annual Campaign in a way that best achieves your own personal financial and estate planning goals. Examples Of Ways To Fund Your Pace Gift Are:

* outright contribution of cash, appreciated securities or other long-term * capital gain property such as real estate * charitable remainder trust * gift of life insurance * charitable lead trust * gift of IRA or pension plan assets * grant from your foundation * reserved life estate in your residence * bequest Using appreciated property, such as securities or real estate, affords you the opportunity to eliminate the income tax on the long-term capital gain, will in some instances generate a full income tax charitable deduction and will remove those assets from your estate for estate tax purposes. For more information contact Mark Silverberg at Mark.Silverberg@jewishnepa.org or call 570-961-2300.

THE REPORTER

PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A PURSUING JUSTICE A REPAIRING THE WORLD A TAKING RESPONSIBILITY ONE FOR THE OTHER A

Times have changed. Our responsibilities haven’t.

Federation and its agencies work together to rescue Jews and to transform lives. Federation is your connection to Jews in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Israel and around the world. It’s the safety net for our local and global Jewish community. No gift touches more lives.

Campaign 2013 FEDERATION/UJC COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN

It’s never been more important to support the Federation/UJC Community Campaign.

If you haven’t yet pledged, do it today. Please give generously to the 2013 Campaign. Call Mark Silverberg at 961-2300 Donations can be made online at www.jewishnepa.org

601 Jefferson Avenue, Scranton, PA 18510

THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

New Season of

From JTA

Madoff investors gain back $2.48 billion

JNF annual conference in Oct.

• Non-Feature Films •

A Film Unfinished, a harrowing look at the devious art of a propaganda film made by the Third Reich, is a rich and well-researched investigation into the filmic history of the Warsaw Ghetto. As A Film Unfinished aims to set the record straight, it furthers a political resistance that Jews undertook during the war. In other words, this documentary is a tribute, a correction of history to honor those who died, witnessed, or survived atrocities prior to their move to Treblinka, Warsaw’s affiliate death camp. Blessed is the Match - In 1944, 22- year Hannah Senesh parachuted into Nazi- occupied Europe with a small group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine. Theirs was the only military rescue mission for Jews that occurred in World War II. Budapest to Gettyburg - The past and present collide as a world-renowned historian confronts a history he has refused to studyhis own. Gabor Boritt is an expert on Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War. But it took his son’s urging to get him to return to his native Hungary and learn about the Jewish experience there from the time of his childhood until, together with his family, he escaped to the United States. Constantine’s Sword, is a 2007 historical documentary film on the relationship between the Catholic Church and Jews. Directed and produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Oren Jacoby, the film is inspired by former priest James P. Carroll’s 2001 book Constantine’s Sword. Inside Hana’s Suitcase - A real-life Japanese schoolteacher, who appears throughout the film, sparked this entire story by gathering artifacts for a Holocaust educational center she was developing along with a group of girls and boys called The Small Wings. After applying to receive Holocaust artifacts, a large box arrives with a handful of artifacts, including a battered brown suitcase labeled with Hana Brady’s name. The teacher and her students begin searching for the story behind the suitcase. What they discover will surprise you. They wind up unlocking--and showing us in the film--a whole series of deeply moving memories and other related artifacts and photos. Finally, Hana’s surviving brother George travels to Japan to meet the Japanese students. I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal - Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who lost 89 family members, helped track down over 1,100 Nazi war criminals and spent six decades fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people. Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story - This excellent documentary, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, portrays the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning that baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story was shown at the Opening Event for the 2012 UJA Campaign. The Case for Israel: Democracy’s Outpost - Famed attorney, Alan Dershowitz, presents a vigorous case for Israel- for its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism and to defend its borders from hostile enemies. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg - As baseball’s first Jewish star, Hammering Hank Greenberg’s career contains all the makings of a true American success story.

• Feature Films • A Matter of Size - Winner of numerous international awards, this Israeli comedy is a hilarious and heart-warming tale about four overweight guys who learn to love themselves through the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. (not rated) A Woman Called Golda - Ingrid Bergman plays Golda Meir, the Russian born, Wisconsin raised woman who became Israel’s prime minister in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Crossing Delancey - This is a warm comedy taking place in New York City. Isabella Grossman desires to rise above her family’s Lower East Side community but her grandmother has other matchmaking plans. Footnote - The story of a great rivalry between a father and son, both eccentric professors who have both dedicated their lives to work in Talmudic Studies departments of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Though the father shuns overt praise for his work and the son is desperate for it, how will each react when the father is to be awarded the most sought after prize, the Israel prize? This Oscar nominated film will entrance from the start. Frisco Kid - It’s 1850 and new rabbi Avram Belinski sets out from Philadelphia toward San Francisco. Cowpoke bandit Tom Lillard hasn’t seen a rabbi before but he knows when one needs a heap of help. Getting this tenderfoot to Frisco in one piece will cause a heap of trouble- with the law, Native Americans and a bunch of killers. Good - In an attempt to establish its credibility, the new Nazi government is seeking out experts to endorse its policies and they come across Johnnie Halder’s novel of a husband who aids his terminally ill wife in an assisted suicide. Because of this the Nazis flatter Johnnie arranging for high paying and prestigious positions. Never evil, Johnnie Halder is an Everyman who goes along, accepts what he is told without question until he is an unwitting accomplice to the Nazi killing machine. Hidden In Silence - Przemysl, Poland, WWII. Germany emerges victorious over the Russians, and the city comes under Nazi control. The Jewish are sent to the ghettos. While some stand silent, Catholic teenager Stefania Podgorska chooses the role of a savior and sneaks 13 Jews into her attic. Every day, she risks detection--and immediate execution--by smuggling food and water to the silent group living above her. And when two German nurses are assigned to her living quarters, the chances of discovery become dangerously high. This is the true story of a young woman’s selfless commitment and unwavering resolve in the face of war. Noodle (PAL version- can only be played on computer NOT regular DVD players) - At thirty-seven, Miri is a twice-widowed, El Al flight attendant. Her well regulated existence is suddenly turned upside down by an abandoned Chinese boy whose migrant-worker mother has been deported from Israel. The film is a touching comic-drama in which two human beings- as different from each other as Tel Aviv is from Beijing- accompany each other on a remarkable journey, one that takes them both back to a meaningful life. Nora’s Will - When his ex-wife Nora dies right before Passover, Jose is forced to stay with her body until she can be properly put to rest. He soon realizes that he is part of Nora’s plan to bring her family back together for one last Passover feast, leading Jose to reexamine their relationship. (not rated) Operation Thunderbolt - The true story of the Entebbe hijacking and rescue. “Operation Thunderbolt,” was filmed in Israel with the full cooperation of the Israeli government, and is an exciting re-creation of the events of those tense days. We see the full scope of the story, from the original hijacking to the passengers’ captivity in Uganda to the agonized debates at the highest levels of the Israeli government over a diplomatic vs. a military solution. “Operation Thunderbolt” is the thrilling and true story of how one small country refused to let their people be killed by terrorists and took action to prevent it. People who claim that Israel is a “terrorist state” should see the film and be reminded who the real terrorists are. Playing for Time - An outstanding cast brings life to this Fania Fenelon autobiography about a Jewish cabaret singer and other Jewish prisoners whose lives were spared at Auschwitz in exchange for performing for their captors. Rashevski’s Tango - Just about every dilemma of modern Jewish identity gets an airing in this packed tale of a clan of more or less secularized Belgian Jews thrown into spiritual crisis by the death of the matriarch who has held all doubts and family warfare in check. (not rated) Sarah’s Key - Julia Jarmond, an American journalist is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. The Angel Levine - Things couldn’t get worse for Jewish tailor Morris Mishkin (Zero Mostel). His shop has gone up in flames, his daughter has married outside the faith and, worse yet, his wife is slowly dying. But just when he decides to give up on God, a mysterious man (Harry Belafonte) appears, claiming to be his Jewish guardian angel! Doubtful that the stranger is Jewish, never mind an angel, Mishkin must overcome his skepticism if he wants one last chance at redemption. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Set during World War II, this is the story of Bruno, an innocent and naïve eight-year old boy who meets a boy while romping in the woods. A surprising friendship develops. The Couple - Based on the true story of a Jewish Hungarian’s desperate attempts to save his family from the Nazi death camps. Mr. Krauzenberg (Martin Landau) is forced to hand over his vast wealth to the Nazis for the safe passage of his family out of occupied Europe, only to find his two remaining servants are left trapped in a web of deceit and danger. Their only hope for survival relies on the courage of Krauzenberg. The Debt - Academy Award winner Helen Mirren and two-time Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson star in The Debt. In 1966, three Mossad agents were assigned to track down a feared Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin, a mission accomplished at great risk and personal cost… or was it? Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story - Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story is an incredibly riveting, Emmy award-winning, fact-based story about a hero who helped over 100,000 Hungarian Jews escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Ushpizin - A fable set in the Orthodox Jewish world in Jerusalem, Ushpizin tells the story of a poor childless couple, Moshe and Malli, whose belief in the goodness of the Almighty follows a roller coaster of situations and emotions but leads to the ultimate happiness, the birth of their son.

NEWS IN bRIEF

Films!

September 2012

THE REPORTER

The Jewish National Fund will hold its annual conference in Orlando, FL, from October 21-22. The conference will be held at the Hilton Orlando and will feature sessions involving Israel’s environmental leadership. Presenters will include Israel’s Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan, The Jerusalem Post’s Editor-in-Chief Steve Linde, Be’er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich, Central Arava Mayor Ezra Ravins, and Professor Eilon Adar, director of the Zuckerberg Institute of Water Research, Ben Gurion University, among others. The conference will also include programming for high school and college students. Negev Nights will be the theme for the annual Sunday evening gala. Attendees can expect to spend the evening with Broadway and Hollywood actors Ilana Levine and Dominic Fumusa, of the hit Showtime series “Nurse Jackie,” who will emcee the event, with entertainment by author and comedian Joel Chasnoff. JNF’s Major Donors will be honored at a dessert reception on Saturday night at 8 pm, hosted by the Isleworth Country Club. Guest speaker Ambassador Ido Aharoni, consul general of Israel in New York, will address the audience on “Israel: Broadening the Conversation. Registration for the 2012 National Conference is available online at JNF.ORG/NC. For more information, contact Hindy Komen at hkomen@jnf.org or 212-9359305, ext. 295.

Maye Beiser performance

Cellist Maya Beiser will hold the New York premiere of her new production, “Elsewhere,” a “celloopera,” during four performances from October 17-20, at 7:30 pm, during the 2012 BAM Next Wave Festival in the Fishman Space at the Richard B. Fischer Building, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn. “Elsewhere” is a psychological retelling of the biblical story of Lot’s wife, and features performances by Maya Beiser and vocalist Helga Davis. In addition to a triptych of compositions by Eve Beglarian, Michael Gordon and Missy Mazzoli, it incorporates sung and spoken text by Henri Michaux and Erin Cressida Wilson with amplified, distorted and acoustic cello, film by Peter Nigrini, and choreography by Brook Notary. For more information, www.bam.org/programs/2012/ next-wave-festival.

Upper West Side Walking tour

The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy will hold a “Jewish Upper West Side Walking Tour” on Sunday, October 21, beginning at 10:45 am. The tour will take approximately three hours. The visit to the 2.5 square mile neighborhood will feature looks at 19th century row houses. Bordered by Central Park on one side, and Riverside Park on the other, it contains a variety of architectural styles: Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Marty Shore, urban historian, will talk about the synagogues, Jewish style restaurants and educational institutions in the area. Visits will include Congregations Ohab Zedek, Shaare Zedek, Rodeph Shalom, Young Israel (formerly Temple Israel) and Shearith Israel. The tour will start at the northeast corner of Broadway and 96th in front of Citibank in New York City. The cost is $18 for adults and $16 for students. There is an additional $2 cost the day of the tour. For more information, visit www.nycjewishtours.org/calendar. htm#042212 or contact the LESJC at 212-374-4100 or info@nycjewishtours.org.

Lower East Side walking tour

The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy will hold a “Colonial New Amsterdam Walking Tour” on Sunday, November 18, starting at 10:45 am. The tour, which will take approximately three-and-a-half hours, will trace the origins of Jewish settlement in New Amsterdam. Visits will feature the former locations of Jewish sites in Lower Manhattan with discussions of their historical significance. Sites will include early Spanish and Portuguese rented synagogues and Mill Street Synagogue, the first synagogue built in North America. A tour of Congregation Shearith Israel’s cemetery at Chatham Square (now Chinatown) will also be included. This is the oldest known Jewish cemetery in New York City. From 1654-1825, all Jews in New York City belonged to this one congregation. The Jewish cemetery dates from 1683. The tour will start at the corner of Pearl Street and Broad Street across from Fraunces Tavern in New York City. The cost is $16 for adults and $14 for seniors and students. There is an additional $2 cost the day of the tour. For more information, visit www.nycjewishtours. org/calendar.htm#102112 or contact the LESJC at 212374-4100 or info@nycjewishtours.org.

More than $2.48 billion in additional funds recovered from the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme have been sent to individuals and organizations bilked out of their investments. Checks ranging from $1,784 to $526 million were mailed on Sept. 19 to 1,230 former customers of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, according to the Madoff Recovery Initiative. The average payment will be about $2 million. The new sum adds to the $1.15 billion already recovered. “While this progress is extremely gratifying, we will not cease our work to continue recovering assets for the Customer Fund, and we will make additional distributions as soon as practicable,” Irving Picard, SIPA trustee for the liquidation of Madoff Investment Securities, said in a statement. Picard has recovered $9.15 billion, or 53 percent of the $17.3 billion he believes was lost in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, according to Reuters. In 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felonies for fabricating nearly $65 billion in profits to attract investors. He is serving a 150-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina. His Ponzi scheme hit numerous Jewish philanthropies and investors particularly hard. Among those who suffered were Hadassah, the Elie Wiesel Foundation and the American Jewish Congress. No list of recipients of the new funds was available. A spokesman for the Madoff Recovery Initiative did not return a call to JTA. Hadassah was one of numerous groups subject to a “clawback lawsuit,” in which organizations had to repay the Madoff Recovery Initiative some of the profits from their investments handled by Madoff’s firm. Picard has reached clawback settlements with hundreds of groups, including Hadassah for $45 million and the Boston-area Jewish philanthropist Carl Shapiro for $625 million. In July 2010, the American Jewish Congress suspended most of its activities after running out of funds, including as much 90 percent of its $24 million endowment invested with Madoff, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Senate committee passes Jewish compensation resolution

A resolution urging the return or compensation of property seized from Jews during the Nazi and communist eras was passed by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The resolution passed on Sept. 19 calls on European countries such as Poland, Romania, Latvia, Slovenia and Croatia to establish a “simple, transparent and timely process” for the return or compensation of seized property, and the secretary of state to issue an updated report evaluating whether these governments have “met the basic standards and best practices of the international community.” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) sponsored the resolution, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Calling it one of his “top priorities,” Cardin said, “We have had some successes in this area, but not nearly enough, and now time is running out for Holocaust survivors who are elderly and who often have pressing financial needs.” According to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, the value of seized Jewish assets as of 2005 was between $143 billion and $215 billion. In 1930s dollars, the seized items were valued at $10 billion to $15 billion.

Cheryl Saban named to represent U.S. at U.N. General Assembly

Cheryl Saban, the wife of billionaire Haim Saban, was nominated as U.S. representative to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Cheryl Saban, an author, philanthropist and advocate for women and children, was nominated by President Barack Obama on Sept. 19. The California resident founded the nonprofit organization Women’s Self-Worth Foundation. Haim Saban, an Egyptian-born Israeli, is an entertainment mogul and major Democratic Party donor. He is ranked by Forbes magazine as the 104th richest person in America. As representative to the General Assembly, Saban is expected to present U.S. views in small forums, including at committee meetings and at ancillary U.N. bodies. Saban’s name was expected to be approved by voice in the U.S. Senate as early as Sept. 20. The General Assembly officially opened on Sept. 18.

Report: Iran says it provided U.N. nuclear watchdog with false info

The head of Iran’s nuclear agency said that he provided false information to United Nations nuclear inspectors. Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, who also serves as vice president of Iran, reportedly told the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat that he lied to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to protect his country’s nuclear program. “Sometimes we provided false information since there was no other choice but to mislead other intelligence agencies; sometimes we made ourselves appear weak and at other times we reported issues that made us appear stronger than we really were,” he said. Abbasi-Davani said his subterfuge was “exposed” when inspectors asked him direct questions about the issues. He also said that the intelligence agencies of Western countries, specifically naming the British Secret Service, are spying on Iran’s nuclear program. Iran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the West believes it is on the cusp of developing nuclear weapons. International sanctions have been levied against Iran in order to force the Islamic Republic to limit its nuclear program. Iran has had an ongoing series of meetings with the Western powers about its nuclear program. On Sept. 18, Abbasi-Davani met with IAEA head Yukiya Amano, who called on Iran to open all its nuclear sites for inspection.

Soreq is under IAEA inspection. The nuclear reactor at Dimona, which is rumored to produce nuclear weapons, is closed to the outside. Israel neither confirms nor denies that it possesses nuclear weapons. Chorev said that Israel opposes the plan to hold a conference later this year on Middle East nuclear disarmament, calling it “futile,” according to Ynet. The conference is favored by the Obama administration, according to reports.

Grenade thrown into suburban Paris kosher market injures shopper

An explosion at a kosher grocery shop near Paris, reportedly caused by a grenade, damaged the store and injured a shopper, French police said. Police have not linked the Sept. 19 afternoon attack to the release of caricatures hours earlier by a Paris weekly depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, including one featuring a haredi Orthodox Jew and a religious Muslim. The store in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles reportedly was full of shoppers after the Rosh Hashanah holiday beginning their preparations for the pre-Yom Kippur meal, Moshe Cohen-Sabban, president of the Jewish communities of Val d’Oise, told the French online edition of the newspaper Metro. According to Metro, the injured shopper sustained contusions in both arms. The newspaper quoted Marc Djeballi, a member of the Sarcelles Jewish community, as saying the device was “a grenade, not a firecracker.”

French Jewish communities condemn Muhammad cartoons

The president of the representative body of France’s Jewish communities condemned the new publication of caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The publication on Sept. 19 of the caricatures in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo “in the current context” is “irresponsible,” Dr. Richard Prasquier, the president of the Jewish umbrella body CRIF, said in a statement. The weekly published the caricatures in a defiant move that it said was meant to celebrate freedom of speech after deadly riots that broke out in Muslim countries over the recent release of an antiMuslim film titled “Innocence of Muslims.” The front-page cartoon of Charlie Hebdo showed a haredi Orthodox Jew and a Muslim saying “No mocking.” It was titled “Untouchables 2,” a reference to a French film. “Considering the fatalities [in riots connected with the film], we disapprove of the initiative of Charlie Hebdo,” Prasquier said. “The critics of religion must themselves heed criticism – not of their principles but of the timing of their actions.”

Sukkot

Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Whipped Cream To save time, use a store-bought prepared graham cracker pie shell instead of making your own. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 50 minutes Ready time: 1 hour, 5 minutes Servings: 8 For Pie: 1½ cups crushed chocolate graham crackers 4 Tbsp. margarine, melted 1 cup pumpkin puree (15-ounce) 1 cup soy milk 2 large eggs ½ cup brown sugar 2 Tbsp. maple syrup 2 tsp. ground cinnamon ½ tsp. ground nutmeg For Caramel Whipped Cream: 4 Tbsp. caramel sauce 2 cups pareve whipped cream Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, combine crushed graham crackers and

Continued from page 9 margarine and stir. Press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate in an even layer, across the bottom and up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes and remove. Increase oven temperature to 400°. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, soy milk, eggs, sugar, maple syrup and spices; whisk. Gently pour into pie shell and bake 40 minutes or until set. Let cool completely or refrigerate overnight for best results. Gently fold 4 tablespoons caramel into whipped cream. Spread over chilled pie just before serving and slicing. Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie Jamie Geller was “The Bride Who Knew Nothing” – until she found her niche as the kosher cook next door. She is the author of the best-selling “Quick and Kosher” cookbook series, creator of the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller magazine and host of the popular “Quick and Kosher” cooking show online at youtube.com/joyofkosher and onair on JLTV. Her recipes can also be found on joyofkosher.com.

Israel’s nuke head invites IAEA inspection

The head of Israel’s nuclear agency invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its Soreq nuclear research center. Dr. Shaul Chorev, head of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, during a speech on Sept. 19 to the IAEA’s General Conference in Vienna said that Israel has formally asked the IAEA to conduct a safety assessment at Soreq, Ynet reported. Chorev said an inspection “will benefit all concerned in Israel, including the general public. It will also manifest the operation of Israel’s nuclear centers according to high safety standards which are compatible with IAEA standards,” according to Ynet.

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THE REPORTER ■ SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 ■

THE REPORTER

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“Cool facts about Israel” philanthropic ins & outs

New to the community?

Are you new to the community? The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania would love to learn more about you and your family! We’d like to arrange an interview that would be featured in an upcoming issue of The Reporter. For more information, call Mark Silverberg at 961-2300, ext. 1. “Welcome to Northeastern PA.”

New to the community?

The Jewish Federation of NEPA extends its condolences to the family of

Jewish Community Center of Scranton 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 Phone: (570) 346-6595 Fax: (570) 346-6147

PROFESSIONAL STAFF: Executive Director: Ed Basan Membership Registrar: Gary Beckhorn Business Manager: Alice Berger Bookkeeper: Carol Gallitz Senior Luncheon Manager: Leah Gans Aquatics Director: Julia Goretsky Program Director: Vince Kalinoski Recreation Specialist: Scott Moskovitz Early Childhood Director: Rika Schaffer Senior Adult Director: Ilona Thurston Development Director: Marie McTiernan

AGENCY MISSION STATEMENT: The purpose of the Jewish Community Center is to develop and conduct a comprehensive program of activities, including education and recreation aimed at assisting individuals to meet their personal, social, recreational, educational, physical health and cultural needs/interests in order to achieve an affirmative identification with Jewish life and a deep appreciation of their reponsibilities as citizens of the community, the state and the nation.

BOARD OFFICERS: President: Eli Arenberg 1st Vice President: Ed Monsky 2nd Vice President: Doug Fink Treasurer: Michael Roth Secretary/Executive Director: Edward M. Basan Assistant Secretary: Filmore Rosenstein PROFESSIONAL STAFF: Executive Director: Ed Basan Membership Registrar: Gary Beckhorn Business Manager: Alice Berger Bookkeeper: Carol Gallitz Senior Luncheon Manager: Leah Gans Aquatics Director: Julia Goretsky Program Director: Vince Kalinoski Recreation Specialist: Scott Moskovitz Early Childhood Director: Rika Schaffer Senior Adult Director: Ilona Thurston Development Director: Marie McTiernan AGENCY MISSION STATEMENT: The purpose of the Jewish Community Center is to develop and conduct a comprehensive program of activities, including education and recreation aimed at assisting individuals to meet their personal, social, recreational, educational, physical health and cultural needs/interests in order to achieve an affirmative identification with Jewish life and a deep appreciation of their reponsibilities as citizens of the community, the state and

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