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Cincinnati Chapter of Hadassah honors Dr. Yaron Armon and Dr. Marc Levitt
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The World Choir Games touches everyone at the JCC
The Olympics of choral music continued to rock the city of Cincinnati, specifically the Mayerson JCC, on Monday, July 9, as part of the 7 World Choir Game. It not only rocked but brought people to tears. The concert (one of the 58 Friendship Concerts planned for the Greater Cincinnati area) featured three choral ensembles: Poland’s Vox Juventutis Choir—an adult mixed choir from the State School of Higher Professional Education; the Prime Note Ensemble —an acappella choir composed of Filipino expatriates from Southern California; and Israel’s Ankor Choir—a group of 25 female students of The Jerusalem Academy High School of Music and Dance. In the highlight of the evening, all three choirs joined for an encore performance of “I can,” The World Choir theme song. There was a definite over flow of
people who came to hear these beautiful voices. An estimated 700 people came to hear these groups sing. As the first choir took the stage a silence fell over the audience. When the currents opened, their first note rang out and everyone was drawn in. “I felt like I was riding a roller coaster. The ups and downs of the music pulled at the very fiber of my being,” said one member of the audience. When the Israeli choir Ankor took the stage, Ha Tikfa the Israeli national anthem was finally sang. “It was unreal. I’ve heard the Ha Tikfa many times before, but nothing like this. I had to dig in my purse for tissues,” said a guest. She was not embellishing in the least. The Ha Tikfa itself is a haunting melody that echoes in you. This time was different. It didn’t only echo it lasted. You could feel everyone in the
audience was transfixed and emotionally connected to Ankor and the land of Israel in a whole new way. People were crying at the end of it. Some were cheering others were whistling. It didn’t matter what religion, race, or background you were. Something about the Ha Tikfa stole the crowd and made them feel as one. Needless to say people were dazzled and inspired spiritually that night. This was the largest non-competition performance of The Ankor Choir—best known for its partnership with Yad VaShem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Museum—one that Choir director Dafna BenYohana hopes will offer a “different taste of Israel” to Cincinnati. The Ankor Choir—seasoned from performing for dignitaries from around the world, including Pope John Paul II and President Bill Clinton, as well as from their steady
L AT E B R E A K I N G N E W S
The Dead Sea Scrolls are coming to Cincinnati in November STORY TO FOLLOW NEXT WEEK.
participation in the annual Yom HaShoa ceremony,— was more than prepared the to compete (along with 350 choirs from more than 48 countries)for the title of Champion in The World Choir Games. During their second week of their U.S. tour, The Ankor Choir will perform at Cedar Village retirement community, Heritage Baptist Church, and Wise Temple, along with other congregations. The choir will also lead an interactive song activity at the Mayerson JCC’s Camp at the J The Jewish Foundation, as part of its investment in the community in terms of culture and diversity brought and sponsored the Ankor Choir— in its quest for outreach, awareness and a greater diversity. The concert was Presented by the Wolf Center for Arts & Ideas at the JCC, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.
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Best of Cincinnati Jewish survey By Joshua Mizrachi Assistant Editor It’s time to find out what is buzzing on the minds of Cincinnati Jews. The best of Cincinnati Jewish survey is a general questionnaire of everything that is good and trending in Cincinnati, as well as what is on
your mind. Everything from your first car to your favorite place to shop, we want to know it all. At the American Israelite we care about our readers. We strive to give our readers the best experience possible. We are conducting a survey so we can better serve you, the readers. Please let us
know how you feel on all the survey subjects. The Survey will run for the next few weeks. All you have to do is fill it out and send it back to us. Remember one survey per person. In a few weeks we will tally up all the results and let you know what is the best in the minds of Cincinnati Jews.
Wise Temple celebrates another successful year As the Isaac M. Wise Temple Brotherhood heads into summer, its members find themselves thinking back on this past year with pride and satisfaction. “It was another year filled with religious, social, and service-oriented programs, and we are very proud of the diversity we offer to our members,” commented Immediate Past President Andy Markiewitz. “We recognize that the men of Reform Judaism have a wide array of interests and needs, and we are glad to have our calendar reflect that.” In addition to the monthly dinner meetings and Torah study, the
men of the Wise Temple Brotherhood kept busy with activities such as “Burgers and Beer” with various members of the Wise Temple staff, the annual Sukkot Cookout and Campout, the Lighthouse Youth Services Dinners, Men’s Health Night, hosting many Temple picnics, Cabaret Night, and the Chicken Soup Cook-Off. Along with these events, the Brothers showed up every Sunday morning to make and sell sandwiches to religious school families so that kids could eat a good lunch before rushing off to their next activity. The Brotherhood also ran
the snack bar for the Wise Temple students before Midweek Hebrew School each Wednesday. The men became so well known for their culinary skills that the Wise Temple youth groups often asked the Brothers to make food when they met for special programs. “We are glad to be able to help support our Wise Temple community in whatever way we can,” shared Brotherhood President David Snyder. “As we look back on the year that has passed, we can all smile at our accomplishments and be inspired to continue the excellent tradition of our Wise Temple Brotherhood.”
Planning Underway for the 13th Annual Cedar Village Golf Classic Plans are being made for the 13 Cedar Village Golf Classic which will take place Monday, August 20 at the Heritage Club. According to Carol Silver Elliott, Cedar Village CEO/President, “This year, we are celebrating our heritage at the Heritage Club. Not only is this the 13 Cedar Village Golf Classic, it is also the 15 Anniversary of Cedar Village.” The outing co-chairs are veteran committee members Bob Frohman and Dave Goodman. Since the inception of the Cedar Village Golf Classic in 2000, more than $1.2 million dollars has been raised to benefit the residents. This year, the proceeds will be used for capital improvements. Playing golf at the Heritage Club, a premier private club, is a world class experience. The day will be filled with great food – including our famous kosher brisket dinner, wonderful prizes and gifts, fantastic contests, special presentations and more. There will be both morning and afternoon golf sessions with a scramble shotgun start. Morning play will begin at 8 a.m. and afternoon play will begin at 1:15 p.m. There will be contests on every hole, including a $2,500 Putting
Outing Co-Chairs, and veteran committee members, David Goodman and Bob Frohm, plan ahead for the 13th Cedar Village Golf Classic.
Green Contest, a $10,000 Hole-inOne Contest, as well as a “Beat the Pro” contest and a Weekend Car Rental Contest. The driving range and putting green will be open throughout the day. Following the tournament there will be a buffet dinner, raffle prizes will be drawn, and contest and team prizes will be awarded.
You do not need to be present to win. There is an entry fee for the tournament and it includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Golfers can play with their own foursome or Cedar Village will set up teams. For more information, to request an invitation, or to register, call Angela Ratliff.
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Day. Year-round, J Members can enjoy the 12,000 ft. indoor waterpark, relax in the hot tub, or float around the “current channel.” They can also take advantage of the indoor lap pool. For cost and other information about Ladies Pool and Spa Day at the J on Tuesday, July 17, contact Lydia Mikenas at the JCC by phone.
NHS Sisterhood launches project to assist Ronald McDonald house The Sisterhood of Northern Hills Synagogue Congregation B’nai Avraham is excited about its new project to collect needed items for the Ronald McDonald House at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The first shipment, consisting of books, games, DVD’s, toys, art supplies, activity books, puzzle books, paper goods and toiletries, was delivered by Sisterhood volunteers in May. According to Roz Shapiro, who served as Sisterhood President, the Northern Hills’ Sisterhood saw the need to reach out to the community and perform a valuable mitzvah. “Many of our members have had a connection with Cincinnati Children’s but were unaware of the valuable services the House provides for out-of-the-area families of seriously ill children. I have a neighbor whose baby required a bone marrow transplant a few days after his birth. The baby had to remain hospitalized and then in isolation for over a year. She told
Hilary Green-Suddleson and Roz Shapiro deliver items to Ronald McDonald House.
me that she doesn't know what they would have done without the assistance and caring staff of the Ronald McDonald House, as they had no local family to help,” Shapiro noted. Hilary Green-Suddleson is
coordinating Northern Hills’ efforts to support the Ronald McDonald House. The Sisterhood plans to send four deliveries per year, with the next delivery taking place before the High Holidays. All donated items must be new and
wrapped, since many of the patients have compromised immune systems. Lisa Davis, Meals and Activities Coordinator for the Ronald McDonald House, noted, “I recently met with Roz when she and some other members of Northern Hills’ Sisterhood visited our House to deliver items they had collected as part of a Wish List Drive to benefit our families. We rely on the support of organizations like the Sisterhood to help us care for our families by donating cleaning supplies, household goods, food and more. We very much appreciated their generosity. Roz and the other ladies brought in a car load of gifts! All the items will help to ensure that the families with us while their kids are receiving treatment at nearby hospitals will be well-fed and taken care of. We are so appreciative!” For more information about this effort, please contact Northern Hills Synagogue
Cincinnati Chapter of Hadassah honors Dr. Yaron Armon and Dr. Marc Levitt
Nina Paul hosts Dr. Yaron Armon, Sharon Casper (Cincinnati Chapter Co-President) and Dr. Marc Levitt (L to R) at the Hadassah Brunch on June 24, 2012
visionaries behind The Israel Exchange Program. He has wellestablished friendships and collaborations with pediatric surgeons in Israel and is a honorary member of the Pediatric Surgical Association
of Israel. Levitt travels to Israel on an annual basis to participate in complex colorectal reconstructions performed in conjunction with Israeli surgeons, including Dr. Gross and their trainees, as
well as to other international locations for surgery. When asked if he brings his own instruments or staff, Dr. Levitt responded,“No.” He spoke very highly about the staff at Hadassah Hospital and the equipment available to him while performing surgery. Dr. Levitt was thanked for everything he has accomplished:bringing the partnership to Cincinnati, helping it grow, and for the year that he spent with Dr. Armon. It was announced at the brunch that CCHMC is establishing the Dr. Eitan Gross Fund in memory of Dr. Gross, which will support short-term training opportunities for pediatric surgeons, as well as other physicians from Hadassah Hospital, to spend two weeks each year in Cincinnati. The initial funding will provide one scholarship a year for three years in memory of HADASSAH on page 22
The American Israelite “LET THERE BE LIGHT” THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN AMERICA - EST. JULY 15, 1854
VOL. 158 • NO. 51 THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012 22 TAMMUZ 5772 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 8:46 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 9:47 PM THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO., PUBLISHERS 18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037 Phone: (513) 621-3145 Fax: (513) 621-3744 publisher@americanisraelite.com editor@americanisraelite.com production@americanisraelite.com RABBI ISSAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 PHYLLIS R. SINGER Editor & General Manager, 1985-1999 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher BARBARA L. MORGENSTERN Senior Writer YEHOSHUA MIZRACHI TAYLOR STRONG Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN ZELL SCHULMAN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists LEV LOKSHIN JANE KARLSBERG Staff Photographers JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager
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Hadassah Hospital pediatric surgeon Dr. Yaron Armon is currently concluding a one-year fellowship, training with Dr. Marc Levitt. He will return to Jerusalem next month to use the expertise gained in Cincinnati to increase the capability of performing complex colorectal surgery in Israel. Cincinnati Chapter of Hadassah held a brunch in honor of Dr. Armon and Dr. Levitt at on Sunday, June 24, 2012 at the home of Nina and Eddie Paul in Montgomery, OH. Dr. Armon will be returning to Hadassah Hospital Ein-Kerem to open the Colorectal Center of the Middle East. His presentation at the brunch included information that he has learned and how he will be able to take that knowledge back to Israel and the Middle East. He worked closely with the late Dr. Eitan Gross, “l saw him as a mentor. Dr. Marc Levitt is one of the
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the fun, relaxing environment at the JCC Ladies Pool and Spa Day last year,” said Suzy Zipkin, guest from last year’s event. “I am looking forward to attending again!” This event features the multifaceted aquatics center at the J. The heated outdoor pool, along with the surrounding deck and shaded tent are great for the Spa
Est. 1854
The Ladies Pool & Spa Day at the J is a time for women to take a break from kids or work and unwind at the JCC’s outdoor pool. This event is open to all women, ages 18 and older. Their is a cost and J Members get a discount. Enjoy time with friends while resting under the tent or getting some sun. “I loved the mini massages and
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Ladies will enjoy an afternoon of relaxation and pampering by the pool at this year’s Ladies Pool & Spa Day at the J on Tuesday, July 17, starting at noon. A mini facial and mini massage is included in the package. A fresh lunch complete with dessert and a wine spritzer will be served. Advance registration is requested.
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Ladies Pool & Spa Day, July 17 at the J
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $44 per year and $1.00 per single copy in Cincinnati and $49 per year and $3.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. The views and opinions expressed by the columnists of The American Israelite do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the newspaper.
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Young Families get down on the farm for a Shalom Family—style shabbat dinner E-I-E-I-O! What do you get when you combine challah with some horses and a hayride? Shabbat Shalom, Hay of course! Young families in the Jewish community are invited to a Shalom Family-style Shabbat dinner fresh from the farm, featuring a mouth watering array of organic food, hayrides, farm animals to pet, pony rides, a song session with Marc the Marvelous Toy, as well as lots of other hands-on activities geared for children 10 and under on Friday, July 27 at 6pm at Grailville Farm in Loveland and it’s all free! The event will feature a sit-down Shabbat dinner with all the trimmings, vegetarian selections will also be available. Plus, there will be lots of other projects to keep even the youngest guests engaged. Children will have the chance to braid challah, make organic paper and bug boxes to take home and they’ll get to build Banana Boats, a tasty campfire treat sure to be a favorite of guests of every age. For the past seven years, Shalom Family, an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation, has been dedicated to helping young families
Families will get a chance to enjoy hay rides and many other engaging activities
in the Jewish community make connections with one another and with the Jewish community. “Typically our events take place on Sunday afternoons, but this time we thought it would be fun to have one on a Friday night to showcase some of the traditions of Shabbat in a nontraditional setting,” explains Pam Saeks, Director of Jewish Giving for
The Mayerson Foundation. “While many of our Shalom Family constituents light the candles and have Shabbat dinner, either once-in-awhile or on a regular basis, many others have never engaged in this ritual in their homes at all. This event will offer them the chance to experience Shabbat together as part of a broader community and allow them
to think about how they might incorporate it into their own family’s traditions,” she continues. “The second the invitation came in the mail my kids were so excited about this event,” says Sarah Bennett, mother of three children ages 4, 6 and 8. “Because of their age span, it’s nearly impossible to find things to do that all three of them can enjoy at the same time. But I have to hand it to Shalom Family, their events always offer something for everyone and this time dinner is even included!” Shabbat Shalom Hay is free with advance reservations and open to families with children 10 and younger in the Jewish community, in which at least one parent is Jewish. “We are purposely limiting the number of spaces for this event,” says Julie Robenson, Shalom Family Event Coordinator.“Usually our events attract upwards of 600-700 people, but an event of this kind seemed to call for something a bit more intimate which is why we have a strict cut off of 125 people,” she adds. “So far the response has been amazing but because space is limited, those interested in attending
should RSVP as soon as possible or risk being wait listed. Shalom Baby Starter Kits—a series of FREE gifts, sent three times throughout the year right to the recipients front door. They contain gifts and goodies for parents and babies too, such as a “Tushy Towelettes To Go” container, a Baby’s First Jewish Holiday board book, a fork and spoon set, a hard bound copy of the popular book Jewish Family & Life, a Schlep Bag, as well as ritual items and lots of other surprises. Sensory Sunday: Stories, Songs and Fun for You and Your Little One—private interactive playgroups, offered twice a month at the Gymboree in Mason! These playgroups are free and feature the popular Miss Meliss, who keeps babies and their parents engaged and entertained with her unique brand of fun. Events include a snack and take place from 2-3pm at Gymboree in Mason, Ohio. To learn more about Shalom Family and/or to RSVP for the Shabbat Shalom Hay event, please consult the Community Directory in this issue for contact information.
Cinti students bring ‘Counterpoint Magic’ to Israeli youth at risk While their friends are taking on more traditional summer gigs, Shoshana Balk and Joshua Zimmerman of Cincinnati are stepping outside their comfort zones to give Israeli youth at risk a summer they will never forget. Shoshana, the daughter of Rabbi Hanan and Barbara Balk, and Joshua, the son of Ira and Debbie Zimmerman, are counselors for Yeshiva University’s annual “Counterpoint Israel Program,” a month-long service-learning initiative that aims to empower the next generation of Israeli youth via an exciting, Jewish values-driven summer camp experience. Now in its seventh year, the program, run by YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), has tripled in size with the addition of three new camps in Beer Sheva, Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi. With the program returning to the communities of Arad and Dimona as well, Counterpoint Israel will serve 300 Israeli campers from varied socio-economic backgrounds in five student-run camps from July 3—Aug. 5. “We are proud of the Counterpoint initiative, which has proven to be one of the most effective and powerful tools in educating and empowering Jewish youth, impacting entire communities and preparing YU students for their roles as future Jewish leaders,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, the David Mitzner Dean of the CJF.
“Counterpoint continues to grow and succeed due to the truly unique atmosphere it creates. It fosters an environment in which young, underprivileged Israeli students feel loved, accomplished, and comfortable enough to open up to new people and experiences, and gives our counselors a chance for self-discovery and the opportunity to hone their skills while taking on the roles of Jewish change agents.” The program will be staffed by 70 outstanding undergraduate students from the U.S., Canada and South Africa, most of whom are studying towards or have recently completed degrees in Jewish education, social work or psychology.Balk and Zimmerman are no different. Balk, who attended RITSS High School, graduated from Stern College in May 2011, where she double majored in Jewish Studies and Psychology. Following her first semester on campus in 2008, she joined the Counterpoint Israel team as a counselor in the southern development town of Dimona. This year, she has returned as a head counselor in Beer Sheva. Zimmerman, a Columbus Torah Academy alumnus, recently graduated from Yeshiva College with a B.A. in Psychology. He has joined Counterpoint Israel for the first time this summer as a counselor in Beer Sheva. Immediately following the program, he will begin working in Yeshiva University's Office of the Registrar
as a participant in the Presidential Fellowship in University and Community Leadership. As in past years, Counterpoint’s Dimona program —run with additional funding by Repair the World and Sharon and Avram Blumenthal,
and its program in Arad, run with additional support from the Jewish Federations of Central New Jersey and Delaware and the Fisher Family Foundation,will include enrichment classes given in English and workshops in arts, fashion,
music, dance and sports, all with the goal of improving the students' English skills while promoting a positive self-image and traditional Jewish values. STUDENTS on page 22
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Popularized in America by Jews, pickles pack a punch By Josh Lipowsky Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEANECK, N.J. (JTA) — Walk into a kosher deli and a big bowl of pickles is typically waiting at the table. Ever wondered why? “Pickles are vital to the deli experience,” says Rabbi Gil Marks, author of “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.” Deli mavens know that the tastiest cuts of pastrami and corned beef are also the fattiest, but after a few mouthfuls the fat covers the palate and masks the flavor of the meat, Marks explains. Just as wine does with chicken or meat dishes, he says, a pickle cleanses the palate between bites, so the flavor of the hot pastrami on rye continues to shine, while also interacting with the sandwich, creating new flavors. July marks National Pickle Month, which “originated as a way for people to honor and appreciate all types of pickles,” says Brian Bursiek, executive vice president of Pickle Packers International, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that represents the worldwide pickled vegetable industry. And honor the pickle we have. Americans put away more than 2.5 billion pounds of pickles each
Josh Lipowsky
Alan Kaufman, owner of The Pickle Guys, the only pickle store in the once pickle-filled Lower East Side of Manhattan, June 2012.
year, and the North American pickle industry is valued at about $1.5 billion annually, according to Pickle Packers. Folks have been chomping on pickles, which take their name from the German “pokel” — meaning salt and brine — for some 4,000 years in one form or another. (Disclaimer: The writer is the 2011 Teaneck Pickle-Eating Champion.) Sours and half-sours are the most popular flavors in the New York area, but not so much with out-of-towners, says Stephen Leibowitz, chief pickle maven (the
title on his business card) of United Pickle in the Bronx, N.Y., the largest Jewish-owned pickle plant in the country and also one of the oldest. In the Southwest, for example, spicier pickles tend to tempt palates more, according to Pickle Packers, and Leibowitz says that hot and spicy pickle chips are gaining popularity nationwide. If there’'s a consensus choice, it's the dill pickle, followed by sweet pickles, according to Bursiek. Among the most popular dill pickles is the kosher dill. “It’s what you call a universal American pickle,” Leibowitz says.
Universal indeed: From France to Israel to Dubai, the most popular product shipped overseas by United Pickle is the kosher dill. In addition to its flavor, Leibowitz credits the kosher dill’s longer shelf life for its attractiveness abroad. Despite its name, the kosher dill has nothing to do with the pickle’s adherence to kosher laws. “The name ‘kosher’ was likely carried forward by generations who remember popular TV advertising during the ’70s,” Bursiek says, likely referring to the Vlasik commercials. “It brought a lot of attention to their brand, but also to the pickle category in general. “Typically it is a pickle made in the traditional manner of Jewish New York City pickle makers, with a generous addition of garlic to the brine.” Unlike the sours and halfsours, the dill pickles also get a dose of dill seasoning in the brine. As with many other types of food, Jews did not invent the pickle or the pickling process, but they did popularize it, which is why the Jewish style of preparation became a standard. Sours and half-sours — prepared in salted water brines — don’t include dill, but the common denominator among all three
Visit to Israel gives Romney chance to shore up foreign policy, evangelical cred By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA)—Mitt Romney’s announced trip to Israel, at the height of his campaign to wrest the presidency from Barack Obama, could be a twofer, drawing closer two critical constituencies: evangelicals and foreign policy hawks. A Romney campaign official confirmed to JTA a New York Times story this week that he would travel to Israel later this summer to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The official would not elaborate on the plans, but experts said such a trip could bridge perceived gaps between the former Massachusetts governor and two constituencies whose wariness have dogged his campaign. Geoff Skelley, a political analyst at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said recent polls show that evangelicals are still concerned about Romney’s Mormon faith and his moderate gubernatorial record in a liberal Northeastern state. “Evangelical Christians have a problem with Mormonism and that could create a shortfall,” he said. “And another way of looking at this is that it's an opportunity to show
himself in the role of a statesman— there have been articles written about his lack of foreign policy experience.” There has been a stream of articles questioning his foreign policy heft, such as one in Slate on June 29 headlined “Why Romney Is a Foreign Policy Lightweight.” But most devastatingly, the candidate’s own aides have twice leaked to major media outlets that they are at their wits' end attempting to extract from him coherent differences with Obama. On Monday, The Daily Beast quoted anonymous aides as saying they were reduced to “pushing paper” and participating in “lame” conference calls that were a “waste of time.” The article echoed complaints aired earlier this year by aides in The New York Times. Romney in recent days appeared eager to push back. At a retreat for Romney campaign fundraisers late last month, he made a point of dropping in on a session on U.S.-Israel relations and announced that he had just had an in-depth chat on Israel, Iran, Syria and Egypt with Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. Matthew Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish
Coalition, said to expect more of the same in the coming weeks. “I think clearly you will see a number of events over the coming weeks from the Romney people to demonstrate not only his capacity and ability to lead in the foreign policy arena but also the depth of his knowledge, Israel being one of those points,” Brooks said. Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Republican and Democratic administrations, said that Israel was a natural area for Romney to distinguish himself from Obama. Miller, however, said that the two candidates differed little on Iran, the pressing Middle East issue of the day, each emphasizing the urgency of keeping the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Obama’s aggressive antiterrorist policies make the traditional GOP ploy of depicting Democrats as weak on defense a nonstarter, he said. “There’s not much different substantively on war and peace between Romney and Obama, and Romney cannot find a way in,” Miller said. “The notion that Romney's predator drone is bigger than Obama's predator drone doesn’t fly.” But Miller said that Romney
had an advantage because of his years of closeness to the Jewish state, stretching back to a friendship forged in the mid-1970s with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when both men were investment advisers in the same office in Boston. “There is a divide on the issue of how Obama has reacted to Israel,” Miller said, referring to open tensions between Obama and Netanyahu over issues like negotiations with the Palestinians and settlement expansion. Obama “is cold and detached on many issues, deliberate and analytical, he doesn’t convey the depth of the emotional bond. I suspect Romney has detected that as an opportunity where he is instinctively more of a natural.” It is an opportunity that Republicans are already exploiting. “This upcoming visit to Israel illustrates once again the stark difference between Gov. Romney and President Obama, who has yet to visit Israel during his term in office, despite having visited a number of nearby nations not friendly to Israel, including Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia,” the Republican Jewish Coalition said in a statement. ROMNEY on page 22
types, and what separates the kosher dill from other dills, is garlic. Its addition, which is credited with why the kosher moniker stuck even after kosher dills became the pickle of choice for mass production, is purely Jewish. “We adapt foods to our taste," Marks says. "One of the things Jews, particularly Ashkenazic Jews, love is putting garlic in things.” Some 100,000 to 250,000 acres in more than 30 states are devoted to growing pickling cucumbers, according to Bursiek. Despite the geographic diversity of pickle production, when talking about the kosher dill, the focus always comes back to New York City, the gateway to the United States for the Eastern European Jewish immigrants who brought their pickling prowess with them in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “When [Jewish immigrants] came in 1910, they came here with no skills,” says Alan Kaufman, owner of The Pickle Guys, the last remaining pickle store on the Lower East Side’s famed Essex Street. “They did what they knew how to do: They made pickles. It’s an inexpensive item to make; it’s an inexpensive item to buy. And when people buy it, it tastes like home.”
National Briefs Chicago Chabad House avoids foreclosure CHICAGO (JTA) — A Chicago Chabad House avoided foreclosure by filing for bankruptcy.The brownstone housing the Lubavitch Chabad of the Loop, Gold Coast and Lincoln Park was to have gone on the auction block last week, but the bankruptcy filing gave Chabad additional time to repay a bank loan, the Chicago Tribune reported. The group has found a way to pay its debts but needed more time, Rabbi Meir Chai Benhiyoun said, according to the Tribune. Seven years ago, Chabad sought to build a new center at Chestnut and Clark streets, on Chicago's so-called “Gold Coast,” and used its building on North Dearborn as collateral to the bank on the $4.9 million loan. Following the economic downturn, donations for Chabad took a hit, the bank changed its rules and the organization was unable to finance its loan on the new property. The Chabad House has served as a residence, classroom and a place to stop for Jewish travelers on visits to Chicago.
NATIONAL • 7
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
More Reform rabbis agreeing to officiate at intermarriages By Penny Schwartz Jewish Telegraphic Agency BOSTON (JTA) — Danny Richter and his fiancee, Lauren Perkins, have never been to a Jewish wedding. That's about to change. This fall, the interfaith couple is planning to be married in a Jewish wedding ceremony. The wedding marks other significant firsts: It also will be the first time that Rabbi Jill Perlman, assistant rabbi at Temple Isaiah in Lexington, Mass., has ever officiated at an interfaith wedding. In fact, it will be the first time that any clergy from the Reform congreation — Richter’s family synagogue for three generations — will have done so. While the congregation has approved Perlman’s participation, it has yet to decide if intermarriages may take place within the synagogue itself. The changes under way at Temple Isaiah are part of the new norm in the Reform movement as it continues to explore how best to respond to such unions, shifting its approach on the sensitive issue of its rabbis officiating at intermarriages. The movement has “moved away from the debate of whether we should or should not officiate,” said Steven Fox, chief executive of the Central Conference of American
Courtesy, Jared and Laurie Berezin
Rabbi Lev Baesh, center, marrying Jared and Laurie Berezin, an interfaith couple from Boston, Aug.19, 2011.
Rabbis, the rabbinic arm of the Reform movement that represents 1.5 million Reform Jews in North America. “It’s part of the world we live in. The question is how do we engage these families into our synagogues,” he said. CCAR does not have statistics on how many of its 2,000 Reform rabbis in North America officiate at intermarriages, but when pressed, Rabbi Hara Person, director of CCAR Press, said it's about half. The organization "believes it is not an appropriate way to judge
someone as a rabbi," Person said of performing the ceremonies. While Isaiah’s senior rabbi, Howard Jaffe, describes the change since he was ordained in 1983 as seismic, Rabbi Daniel Freelander, the Union for Reform Judaism's vice president, says the change has been evolutionary. Everyone interviewed for this story agreed that it has become much more common in the past decade for Reform rabbis to officiate at intermarriages. In fact, next month CCAR will publish a Premarital Counseling
Guide for Clergy, the first such manual prepared for the organization, according to Person. The manual, written by Paula Brody, director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Outreach Training Institute, is intended for use with all couples, but it also includes a separate section for counseling of intermarried and conversionary couples. The goal is to give clergy more tools to help couples discuss the meaning of their faith background, Brody told JTA. Brody's exercises delve deeply into both partners’ childhood experiences from their faith backgrounds to enable a couple to be able to discuss the sensitive issue of how they will raise any future children. “It means a tremendous amount to the person from a different faith background to know they are being recognized,” she told JTA. In a highlighted section, Brody writes, “The Jewish community has been blessed to have had so many individuals from other faith backgrounds give the gift of raising Jewish children. Tremendous appreciation needs to be expressed by the partner, the partner’s family, and the Jewish community for giving this gift to Judaism.” The manual also includes suggestions for follow up, a key factor that is now lacking, according to
many observers. Last month, Brody held a series of training sessions for clergy and professional staff based on the manual. Rabbi Wendi Geffen of North Shore Congregation Israel, a Reform congregation in Glencoe, Ill., that recently announced its clergy would officiate at intermarriages, was among those who participated. She said she initially wondered why nonJewish partners should be encouraged to think deeply about their religious past. But she came to realize that by discussing these issues of faith, it becomes easier for a couple to eventually talk about how they would bring up their children as Jewish, she told JTA. Some rabbis set conditions – such as joining a synagogue or committing to raising future children as Jews — before they’ll officiate at an intermarriage. Knowing how much officiation means to couples is why Geffen will perform her first intermarriage in the fall. “I don’t want to shut the door if someone is coming in,” she told JTA. It’s also why Isaiah’s Perlman will do Richter’s wedding ceremony. INTERMARRIAGES on page 22
Shamir remembered for saying little, staying strong By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — When Yitzhak Shamir was Israel’s prime minister, he liked to point American visitors to a gift he received when he retired as director of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. It was a depiction of the famed three monkeys: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. “He didn’t say anything,” recalled Dov Zakheim, then a deputy undersecretary of defense in the Reagan administration. “He just smiled broadly.” Shamir, who died Saturday at 96, had the reputation of a man who said the most when he said nothing at all, his American interlocutors recalled. He used that reticence to resist pressure from the George H.W. Bush administration to enter into talks with the Palestinians and other Arab nations. “He was the most underrated politician of our time,” Zakheim said. “He sat on the fence on issues until the fence hurt.” Shamir’s willfulness was borne of the conviction that his Likud Party’s skepticism of a permanent peace with the Arabs represented the majority view in Israel, and that the world had to reconcile itself to this outlook, said Steve Rosen, who dealt with
Shamir as the foreign policy chief for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “He would argue that the world will never prefer us -- the Likud -over Labor, but when the world sees that we are the Israeli majority, they will have to deal with us,” Rosen said. “We will not succeed in being more popular than the others, but we are right.” There was inevitably a personal element to his clashes with the elder President George Bush, said Zakheim. “He had his difficulties with the United States in part because he came from such a different place than George H.W. Bush,” he said. “One was a product of oldtime Jewish Lithuania whose father was shot in the face by the neighbor when he was looking for protection from the Nazis, the other was an aristocrat. Since most relations at that level are personal, that always complicated matters.” His detractors, while praising Shamir's patriotism, also fretted that his steadfastness cost Israel during his terms as prime minister. Douglas Bloomfield, in 1988 the director of AIPAC’s legislative arm, recalled in his weekly column how Shamir, then the prime minister, was blindsided by President Ronald Reagan’s decision in his administration's closing days to recognize the reviled
Palestine Liberation Organization. “The premier’s chief of staff immediately phoned his contacts on Capitol Hill urging them to ‘start a firestorm of opposition’ to block the move,” Bloomfield wrote. “It was too late. Too many members of Congress shared the Reagan administration’s frustration with what they considered Shamir’s intransigence and did not seriously object when Reagan decided to recognize the PLO on his way out the door as a favor to his successor.” During his tenure, Shamir clashed with much of American Jewry when he flirted with changing the Law of Return to define Jews according to strictly Halachic terms to satisfy potential Orthodox coalition partners, and also because of his insistence on settlement expansion. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the immediate past president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said Shamir -unlike other contemporaries like Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Ariel Sharon — had little experience with or understanding of American Jews. “Shamir was a whole different story, these weren't issues he cared about at all," recalled Yoffie, who at the time Shamir was prime minister headed ARZA, the Reform movement's Zionist wing.”He had no experience with them, he had
far less contact with American Jewry, it wasn't part of his background, he didnt spend a lot of time here giving speeches." Shamir was a politician dedicated to advancing his principal goal, which was maintaining Israeli control of the lands won in the 1967 Six-Day War, Yoffie said; when reaching out to the Orthodox advanced that goal, he did so, and when backing away from changing the Law of Return made more sense in order to preserve the alliance with U.S. Jews, he did that too. "When he realized there would be this profound breach, he backed away," Yoffie said. "When you're a hardheaded realist and Greater Israel is your goal, you need allies." But the community rallied around Shamir in December 1991 when President George H.W. Bush sought to tie a $10 billion U.S. loan guarantee to help resettle Jews flooding into Israel from the former Soviet Union to money Israel spent on settlements. Bush cast himself as "one lonely guy" facing "some powerful political forces" -- a framing many Jews saw as borderline anti-Semitic. Shamir's successful absorption of hundreds of thousands of Jews from the collapsing Soviet Union, and his suprise secret transport of thousands of Ethiopian Jews in
Operation Solomon also restored respect and affection for him among American Jews. Shamir’s most lasting legacy might be his scuttling in 1987 of the London agreement after he assumed the prime ministership from Shimon Peres in a powersharing agreement following the deadlocked 1984 elections. The agreement, which Peres worked out — mostly in secrecy — with Jordan's King Hussein would have restored a degree of Jordanian authority to the West Bank and may have spared Israel the first intifada that broke out soon after. The intifada bore the failed Oslo peace process, which bore the much bloodier second intifada, culminating in today’s impasse. “His shooting down of Shimon Peres' 'London Agreement' with King Hussein of Jordan was arguably the most disastrous decision an Israeli leader ever took,” David Landau wrote in an appreciation in Haaretz on Monday. Yet Shamir was not incapable of pragmatism. He defied Israeli public opinion -- and young bucks in his own party, including then deputy foreign minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- and acceded to Bush’s request to keep out of the first Iraq War, even if Saddam Hussein provoked Israel, which Hussein did with a barrage of Scud missiles.
8 • NATIONAL
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM
Israeli nonprofit gives child sex offenders ‘another chance’
Major pay gap for Reform women rabbis
By Maxine Dovere JointMedia News Service
By Stewart Ain N.Y. Jewish Week
On June 23, federal judge Tanya Walton Pratt upheld an Indiana law banning registered sex offenders from accessing Facebook and other forms of social media used by children— who, statistically speaking, have largely been targeting each other. It is juvenile sex offenders who are responsible for 35.6 percent of all sex offenses against minors in the U.S, according to a recent TIME magazine report. In 2010, the federal government required all states to adopt a sex offender registry that includes juvenile offenders. Nicole Pittman of Human Rights Watch, as quoted by the Associated Press, says “most [U.S.] legislators do not believe children should be on the registry—yet it’s the kiss of death for most politicians to vote against any sex offender law.” Child and adolescent sex offenders tend to not have high recidivism rates. Statistics show that 85-95 percent of them do not re-offend. In Israel, rather than viewing child sex offenders simply as perpetrators, steps are being taken to provide services to these at-risk youths. ELEM-Youth in Distress in Israel supports five centers for prevention of sexual violence. Programs operate in Tel Aviv, Afula, Shfaram (Arab), Har Hevron (national religious) and B’nei Brak (ultra-Orthodox), providing diagnostic services and group, individual, and family therapy for young sex offenders and their families. The efforts are funded by private donations. At a recent series of dinners in homes across the New York metropolitan region, American friends of ELEM gathered to support the program that has been led by Talia Etgar for almost two decades. Etgar developed and has led a treatment program for child sex offenders since 1994. “It is the challenge for my life…No one in Israel was working with child sex offenders [before ELEM],” she told JNS.org. “Children have hands and organs,” she continued. “They touch other children.sometimes, they use toys or sticks or simply their bodies. With kids, abusive behavior can be as simple as making another child uncomfortable… Most victims and perpetrators know each other. Even 6 year olds can be manipulative… Some were victims, and do what was done to them. For others, it’s curiosity.” Even when identified, getting a child into therapy is not easy,
(N.Y. Jewish Week)—- Forty years after Sally Priesand became the Reform movement’s first woman rabbi, Reform women rabbis continue to dramatically trail their male counterparts in pay. A study conducted by the movement’s Central Conference of American Rabbis found that women earn as much as $43,000 less annually. The study also documented the relatively small number of women rabbis leading large Reform congregations. Rabbi Priesand, who retired in 2006 after serving 25 years as spiritual leader of the 375-member Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton, N.J., said she had long been aware of pay disparities but until now did not have the precise data. “We are fighting today for some of the same kind of issues I fought for 40 years ago — equal pay, [acceptance at] large congregations and maternity leave,” she said. Rabbi Steven Fox, chief executive of the CCAR, called the results “troubling but not surprising.” “We knew anecdotally that there was a difference, but we certainly didn’t know how much,” he added. “For me, personally, it is disappointing to see that this gap still exists,” he continued, noting that the CCAR as early as 1928 called upon society to provide “equal pay for equal work.” Rabbi Jonathan Stein, president of the CCAR, said the study was conducted as a service not only to rabbis but to all of the congregations and organizations they serve. Nearly 600 of the CCAR’s 2,000 members are women, which Rabbi Stein said is a “sufficient number of women” for the study to be meaningful. Rabbi Fox said he did not know why there were pay disparities between men and women rabbis, with men earning between $3,000 and $43,000 more than women, depending upon the size of the congregation. “It might be perhaps ingrained behavior from the society in which we live because we see pay differentials in other parts of society,” he said, noting that a survey released this month of 800 mid-career physicians found a pay disparity between men and women of $12,000 a year. More dramatically, a 2010 Jewish Communal Service Association survey found that women working in the Jewish community “significantly trail men in compensation,” with an average gap of $28,000 a year. Holding
Maxine Dovere
Guests raise an enthusiastic "thumbs up" for ELEM-Youth in Distress in Israel at a recent dinner event for the nonprofit hosted by Shula and Alon Harnoy (end couple, far right) at their New York residence. Mitchel Slepian, an ELEM volunteer and organizer, is at center in purple.
Etgar explained. Parental permission is required; in some communities, the cooperation of the rabbi or the village leaders is needed. “Each case,” said Etgar, “is different. More and more, therapy is instigated by parents. Most are aware, most know.” From Rock Island, Ill., Tammy White of the Robert Young Center told JNS.org that young offenders are more amenable to treatment. She agreed with much of Etgar’s observations.“Patterns are not yet ingrained,” said White. “The sooner a young offender is caught the better chance there is of successful treatment,” she said. Using “a confrontational, nonjudgmental” treatment style, White explained, gives young offenders an opportunity to “talk about their offense early on in treatment, learn to take responsibility, look at their behavior and to change that behavior.” The licensed clinical social worker said, “What works best for juveniles is that they get caught right away. The longer the behavior continues, the harder it is to change.What works best is the embarrassment, shame and guilt. Once the offense is found out, talking about it in group helps develop different behavior patterns.” Therapy, said White, “focuses heavily on empathy, teaches kids to manage destructive emotions, and promotes healthy relationships and sexual behavior.” During its recent dinner series, ELEM showed a video that featured a 12-year-old boy who admitted that he had sexually abused a girl. The boy says he is getting “treatment [from ELEM] that can help me not to sexually abuse again.We talk a lot—me and my parents—about things that we do not have the courage to talk
about at home.Kids deserve another chance to learn how they can change, just like I am doing here.” The boy’s mother, a past victim of sexual abuse herself, recalls in the video that discovering what her son did “hit me like thunder.” “I did not know what to do and how to cope. If you do not treat it, it does not stop, and if it does not stop, there are more victims,” she says. At ELEM, she says, “somebody listens to my child, and guides him and teaches him how to control himself and his behavior, and also how to express his feelings in a positive way that is not harmful for him and others.” One of ELEM’s five centers is in Israel’s juvenile jail, in Ofek. Since treatment began in the jail 10 years ago, the rate of recidivism has been negligible: 95 percent of the treated adolescents did not reoffend sexually; 92.7 did not come back to jail for any reason. JNS.org asked Etgar to estimate the number of tragedies ELEM’s treatment program may have prevented. “We have treated children who had performed 20, 30, even more offenses,” she said. “Some with full penetration or violence. We have saved lots of children.We can save the child.” Etgar said her dream “is to be unemployed.” “The reality is I know it will not happen soon,” she said. “No social or economic group is exempt. We find youthful sexual offenders everywhere—rich, poor, Jews, Arabs, immigrants and kibbutzim, Orthodox and secular.” Through early intervention, Etgar stressed, many former ELEM patients go on to live normal lives. “The longer one waits, the more victims there will be,” she said.
constant age, years in the field, level of responsibility, hours worked and degrees earned, the gap was $20,000. A 2004 study by the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly found a salary gap that ranged between $10,000 and $24,000. Part of the reason for the pay disparity is that far fewer women rabbis head large congregations. Women opting out of such positions in favor of jobs with a better work-family balance may contribute to this disparity. However, there may also be hiring discrimination. Rabbi Priesand said she had been at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan after her ordination but left after seven years “when it became clear that I would never be allowed to become the senior rabbi.” But she said things have changed. After she left Stephen Wise in 1979 and was unable to find a full-time pulpit position for two years, the Joint Placement Commission of the CCAR and the Union for Reform Judaism took note. They began requiring all congregations to sign a statement pledging not to discriminate in their hiring practices based on gender, age or sexual orientation. In addition, she said, the Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion had no women faculty when she studied there and there are now more than 40 “very respected women scholars — that’s a tremendous amount — and there has been at least one woman chairman of the board.” Although the CCAR has had women rabbis in senior staff positions and two women presidents, Rabbi Priesand said the Union for Reform Judaism “has lagged behind. “It has never had a woman as chair, and in order to change congregations you have to change the top,” she said. “I think the lesson from the Civil Rights Movement that if you do not see someone like you in a position of leadership, you believe it is not possible. … It is OK for rabbis to speak up, but it is the lay organization — the URJ — that has to step forward because it is the one dealing with congregations.” Rabbi Priesand said she believes that congregation leaders may have been unaware of the pay disparity because when it was disclosed at a URJ board meeting last week “people were shocked.” “I went away from that meeting feeling there were people there who were not going to forget about it,” she said.
INTERNATIONAL • 9
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
Europe's Jews still chasing an elusive collective identity By Ruth Ellen Grube Jewish Telegraphic Agency
U.S. Department of Agriculture
A helicopter dropping water on the U.S. Air Force Academy as firefighters battle the blaze in Colorado Springs, June 27, 2012.
Amid the ravages of wildfires, Colorado Jews band together By Debra Rubin Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) —The Sidmans are among the lucky ones: Their Colorado Springs home is still standing, nearly untouched by the flames that left many of their neighbors’ houses in ashes. “I was just sobbing uncontrollably, even though my house was perfect,” Renee Sidman told the Colorado Springs Gazette. For the past week Sidman and her family — among some 30,000 Colorado residents who were evacuated from their homes as wildfires spread —have found refuge with fellow congregants from Temple Shalom, which was not in the evacuation area. As of Tuesday, the fire in Waldo Canyon, which sits on the western edge of Colorado Springs, had destroyed at least 347 homes and claimed two lives, according to the Denver Post. Temple Shalom, which is affiliated with both the Reform and Conservative movements, had about 20 member families evacuated, according to the Sidmans’ host, Julie Richman. “It’s been kind of a blur,” Richman told JTA about having her family of four now sharing their home with the four Sidmans. Ironically, Richman’s younger son, Adam, 13, and the Sidmans’ son, Daniel, 12, had just spent two weeks together as bunk mates at summer camp. The temple’s Facebook page helped to ensure that everyone was accounted for, Richman said, noting that “Everybody in the congregation was kind of tracked down within about 24 hours.” She said the synagogue also served as a temporary home to the Alpine Autism Center for a few days. The communal sense was widespread, both in and out of the Jewish community, Richman
added.The Jewish-owned Poor Richard’s restaurant gave out free meals to evacuees, individuals picked up restaurant tabs for police and residents put up signs thanking firefighters for keeping them safe. “Everybody here has been struck by the extremely strong sense of community,” Richman said, reporting that the shelters set in place for evacuees never reached capacity because most people found home hospitality. Temple Shalom held a healing service Friday night. “When we Jews suffer pain and tragedy, we come together to strengthen one another. That is how we begin to heal,” said a notice sent to congregants by Rabbi Mel Glazer. Unlike Temple Shalom and the city’s other synagogue, Temple Beit Torah, Chabad-Lubavitch of Colorado Springs was in the evacuation area. Chabad’s Rabbi Moshe Liberow and his family evacuated ahead of the flames on June 26, finding refuge in Denver. He returned two days later with rabbinical student Zalman Popack to volunteer at one of the shelters. Police escorted them to his home and synagogue, so they could retrieve some items. The rabbi was relieved to see that there was no damage to his home or synagogue, or his community’s mikvah. At his home he picked up a cotton candy machine, which he and Popack took along with beverages and other snacks to one of the Red Cross-run shelters. “People so enjoyed it; adults and children were lining up for the cotton candy,” he said. Popack has established a relief fund, as has the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado, in conjunction with local synagogues, community organizations and national partners. WILDFIRES on page 22
BUDAPEST (JTA) — Is there such a thing as a European Jewish identity? Can such an identity be created? What clout can European Jewry wield in global Jewish affairs? Jewish policymakers have debated these questions ever since the fall of communism in the early 1990s erased east-west borders and opened the way to a new Jewish chapter in Europe. Back then, some strategists saw fostering a European Jewish identity as key to the political goal of making European Jewry a “third pillar”— or equal player — alongside Jews in Israel and North America. Today it is clear that the optimistic ideal of a pan-European Jewish identity remains elusive and the political goal of European Jewry as a strong third pillar has yet to materialize. Yet rejuvenated efforts are under way to tackle the challenge. But what happened to damper the initial enthusiasm for the idea? For one thing, “French Jews are very French; UK Jews are very British. It’s a simple fact,” said Rabbi Andrew Baker, director of international Jewish affairs for the American Jewish Committee. “Eastern European communities had many challenges during these last two decades in re-establishing Jewish life. But in the process we have also seen how they were pulled closer to their respective governments’ policies and views.” Or, as put by Barry Kosmin, who recently directed a survey of European Jewish leaders for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s International Center for Community Development, “We have aspirations versus reality.” The survey polled 328 “Jewish leaders and opinion formers” in 32 countries, and as far as Europe was concerned, it demonstrated a dramatic gap between theory and practice. Most respondents “strongly supported” Jewish solidarity and a European Jewish identity, but only 22 percent had “direct knowledge” of other Jewish communities in Europe and only 15 percent said they were familiar with “the goals and programs” of the main European Jewish organizations. Finally, more than 70 percent agreed that “European Jewry is not composed of integrated communities across the continent.” Kosmin presented the survey finding in June at a conference in Barcelona sponsored by the JDC and the European Council of Jewish Communities, an umbrella organization that recently revived operations in an attempt to kick-start clos-
Ruth Ellen Gruber
Left to right, Ionel Schlesinger, president of the Jewish community in Arad, Romania; Evan Lazar, president of the European Council of Jewish Communities; and Ivan Bloch, president of the Jewish community in Lugoj, Romania, at the "meeting of presidents" sponsored by the European Council of Jewish Communities and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Barcelona, Spain, June 2012.
er European cooperation. The data, said ECJC President Evan Lazar, prove the need for his group. “The fact that the survey shows that so few community leaders know what is happening with other European Jewish communities validates the purpose and reason for being of the ECJC,” Lazar, a Prague-based lawyer, told JTA. The survey findings in fact reflect how both prospects and conditions have changed since the heady post-communist days of the 1990s. “There was a lot of optimism at the time, and looking back now it is clear that it was not justified,” Baker said. “But understanding why is more difficult.” Baker, who helped organize a number of conferences and other initiatives promoting European Jewish identity and integration, said the lack of success was due to a combination of factors. Changed realities in the global arena, of course, played a major role: among them the collapse of the Middle East peace process, the second intifada, the rise of Islamic extremism and spikes in anti-Semitism largely linked to growing Arab and Muslim communities in Europe. “Most European Jewish communities today face significant security concerns that no one imagined at the time of our conferences in the 1990s,” he said. The official report on a 1995 meeting in Prague—the first major conference on pan-European Jewish identity issues — declared in fact that it had taken place at a time “when Israel is not under threat and the problems of anti-Semitism no longer pose an immediate danger.” But, Baker told JTA, internal Jewish failures also helped thwart
expectations. For one thing, the AJC official said, strategists had not realized how “nationally connected” European Jewish communities were and still are. Ironically, he added, “Today it is the need to confront common concerns and threats — antiSemitism and anti-Israel campaigns primarily — that serves as the basis for pan-European and pan-Diaspora cooperation.” Against this background, Jewish strategists and policymakers are attempting to chart new courses. “We are living in a time of multiple and shifting identities,” said Mario Izcovich, director of panEuropean programs at the JDC. “It is not a fixed picture; people don’t seem to want to belong to anything permanently.” Still, he told JTA, the concept of European Jewry as the third pillar of world Jewry remains a viable political model to aim for. “It simply cannot be that political issues regarding Jews can be discussed just by Israel and the U.S.,” Izcovich said. Hampering efforts, say some strategists and researchers, is a growing disconnect in some countries between mainstream Jewish institutions and the way Jewish lives are lived. Informal networks and alternative initiatives, they said, are increasingly important, particularly for younger Jews. “Real identity comes in an informal way,” said Mircea Cernov, who heads Haver, a Budapestbased NGO that teaches schoolchildren about Judaism and the Jewish people. “Real connections based on Jewish identity come outside Jewish institutions, just as real Jewish life is not according to the formalization of Jewish organizations and institutions.”
10 • ISRAEL
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Israel’s Olympians heading to London thinking medals, remembering slain countrymen By Ben Sales Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEL AVIV (JTA)— Israelis and their Summer Olympics athletes are eyeing the upcoming London Games with excitement and disappointment. The athletes are hoping that for the sixth straight summer Games, at least one of them will come home with a medal. Yet they are well aware that the International Olympics Committee has again spurned the campaign to have a moment of silence for their counterparts slain 40 years ago at the Munich Games. The London Games, which begin July 27, will have 38 Israeli Olympians participating in 18 events. Their top medal hopefuls are in judo, sailing and gymnastics.This year’s delegation features two bronze medalists —windsurfer Shahar Tzuberi, from Beijing in 2008, and judoka Ariel Ze’evi, from Athens in 2004. “I’m very calm, but there’s still time” before the Olympics, said
Ze’evi, who at 35 is the team’s oldest member. “We don’t prepare for failure.” The Israeli squad, which is scheduled to arrive at the Olympics complex on July 10, also is preparing for some somber moments in London. Team members will be participating in a public memorial ceremony on Aug. 6 for the 11 Israelis killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The IOC has resisted calls for a minute of silence for the victims despite an online petition with nearly 90,000 signatures and the urging of the U.S. Senate, as well as Australian, Canadian, British and German lawmakers. Israeli delegation head Efraim Zinger said the IOC is “obligated” to remember the Munich 11 as “athletes and Olympians.” Other than the day after the murders, the IOC has never held a formal moment of silence for the slain Israelis. IOC officials have participated in Jewish community events surrounding various Olympic Games since the tragedy. The London Games also mark
the 60th year since Israel’s first Olympic appearance, in Helsinki, Finland. It took another 40 years for an Israeli to win a medal, but since 1992 the delegation has taken home at least one medal, including three each in judo and windsurfing, and one in kayaking. This year, the team hopes to add a fourth sport to the list. Zinger also would like to see an Israeli woman stand on the podium for the first time since the country's first-ever medal in '92, when judoka Yael Arad took the silver. Nearly half of this year’s delegation is female. “Because of the work we did in the past few years, all of our athletes are better,” Zinger said, noting particularly the gymnastics team as a potential medal winner. He said he was hopeful for at least one more medal in judo or sailing. Leading the gymnastics efforts will be all-around gymnast Alex Shatilov, who finished eighth in the last Olympics in the floor exercise and won the silver at the 2011 world championships. Also last year, the six-member women’s
rhythmic gymnastics team took bronze in the world championships. All of the rhythmic team’s members are under 22. Another hope for Israel’s first female medalist in 20 years comes in what may be Israel’s best Olympic sport — judo. Alice Schlesinger, 24, did not medal in Beijing but has since won three bronzes — in the 2009 world championships, and in the 2009 and 2012 European championships. Schlesinger says she hopes to “go home in peace” from London. “Like everyone else I want a medal, but I want to enjoy it,” she said. Typically, the Israeli team has a strong international flavor. Several of the athletes were born in the Soviet Union, and two were born and raised in the United States — pole vaulter Jillian Schwartz and 400-meter sprinter Donald Sanford. Schwartz connected with Israel after competing here in 2009, while Sanford, who is not Jewish, married an Israeli and lives part of the year on her family’s kibbutz. Both are now Israeli citizens.
The NBA’s next Israeli player? By Jacob Kamaras Jointmedia News Service National Basketball Association teams, fans and analysts seem to be in a constant search for the “next Michael Jordan,” looking for a player to duplicate the feats of the sixtime champion and five-time Most Valuable Player many consider the best ever in his sport. Lior Eliyahu won’t enter that conversation, but the “next Omri Casspi” seems more realistic. The Orlando Magic chose Eliyahu in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft (44th overall) and subsequently dealt his rights to the Houston Rockets, who wouldn’t grant him a roster spot but wouldn’t waive him, either. While the 6-foot10, 232-pound forward remained in limbo, he saw the Sacramento Kings choose Casspi in the first round of the 2009 draft and beat him to becoming the first Israeli-born NBA player (Casspi now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers). Casspi’s NBA leap was aided by the fact that first-round picks receive guaranteed NBA contracts, while second-round picks like Eliyahu do not. But now, a change of scenery might help Eliyahu’s NBA chances. On June 26, the Rockets traded his NBA rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Joseph Gayer—Eliyahu’s agent in Israel—told JNS that although it’s “too early to say what affect this [trade] would have on Lior’s chances to make the NBA,” the development was “good for Lior.”
Reuven Frizi
Israeli basketball players Lior Eliyahu (left) and Moshe Mizrahi at a November 2011 game. Eliyahu, whose NBA rights were traded June 26 from Houston to Minnesota, still hopes to make the American league.
“I think since Lior was drafted at 2006 we always thought once a good situation comes, he would get his chance,” Gayer wrote in an email to JNS. “Unfortunately this hasn’t come yet. Hopefully with his rights traded to Minnesota, we hope it can change things in a positive way.” Minnesota acquired Eliyahu and forward Chase Budinger for the 18th pick in the June 28 draft. Eliyahu averaged 14.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game during the 200809 Euroleague season, won a Spanish League championship in June 2010, and in September 2010 signed a five-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he averaged 11.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game this past season.
If a $500,000 buyout clause in his Maccabi contract is settled, the 26year-old Eliyahu can officially leave the Israeli team this summer. NBA teams, according to league rules, can pay up to $500,000 of foreign players’ buyouts, meaning Eliyahu might not have to pay anything out of pocket if offered a contract. However, the ball remains in Minnesota’s court. “On paper if Minnesota wants to sign Lior and pay the buyout, they should have no problem doing it, but of course it is for them to decide,” Gayer wrote. “I can’t say who would be responsible for the buyout. First we have to wait and see whether Minnesota would make an offer to sign him.” Gayer explained that while
American second-round picks can immediately play in both the NBA’s summer league and veterans camp to try to make a team and secure a minimum-salary contract, overseas second-round picks like Eliyahu have duties with their national teams that prevent them from going to summer leagues. Additionally, these players often have guaranteed contract offers overseas that are several times the size of minimum NBA contracts, Gayer noted. “I think that for any secondround player to realistically make the NBA the team needs to want him enough to offer a guaranteed contract without going to [veterans] camp,” Gayer wrote. “Players can go to summer leagues, but if they are not offered a guaranteed contract after and teams all around Europe are running after them with [better and guaranteed offers], you can understand why it’s difficult [for the players] to reject it. Many players I know would be willing to make less money to play in the NBA maybe, get that chance, but won’t be willing to give up a guaranteed contract for just a veterans camp invitation or a partially guaranteed contract.” The day Eliyahu was traded to Minnesota, NBA expert Jonathan Givony of the DraftExpress website reported on Twitter that Eliyahu “will join the Timberwolves for [the] Summer League in Las Vegas,” adding that it sounds like he “has a real chance to make their team.” The Timberwolves, however, have not yet confirmed that Eliyahu will play for them in the summer league.
Israel Briefs Team appointed to write new military draft law in Israel JERUSALEM (JTA) — Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz will be part of the threemember team to write an Israeli law on equality in military and national service. Mofaz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on the team, which was announced Sunday. The team will formulate the law on haredi Orthodox military service based on recommendations of the Plesner committee, which Netanyahu dissolved less than a week ago citing the number of members who quit. The committee issued its preliminary findings despite the dissolution. The committee's report calls for universal service for all Israeli citizens, including mandating the draft of haredi Orthodox men and upgrading the National Service program for the Arab sector. It also calls for formulating an effective enforcement system and incentives for serving. The report calls for individual financial sanctions against draft evaders, as well as sanctions against yeshivas that prevent their students from entering the draft. Along with Mofaz, the team includes Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon and Kadima Party lawmaker Yohanan Plesner. “Neither the army, the economy nor society can continue on the current path,” Netanyahu said Sunday at the beginning of the regular weekly Cabinet meeting. “Therefore, I completely understand the demand of those who serve and their families.” The prime minister said that he believes that “the decisive majority of Israelis, including many in the ultra-Orthodox sector, understand that change must come.” We are citizens of one state and we must all participate in bearing the burden of service to the state. We intend to give positive incentives to those who serve, negative incentives to those who evade and to enact genuine enforcement measures in order to ensure that a genuine change indeed takes place,” he said. The announcement of the vote and the team came a day after some 20,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv calling for a universal draft, including of the haredim and Arab Israelis. Several Israeli politicians and Israeli reserve officers attended the Tel Aviv rally, which demonstrated under the slogan "One people, one draft."
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
Rockwern first graders celebrate Yom Hassidur
Rockwern Academy First Graders Hold Yom Hassidur Celebration
On Friday, May 25, after a year of learning prayers from their Siddur (prayer book), Rockwern's First Grade class, taught by Miri
Sadeh, Judaic Studies Teacher, was proud to display its knowledge in front of family and friends. This beautiful event was
Happy Birthday! ALICE ZIPKIN
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held in the Samuel & Rachel Boymel Synagogue. Each student received a new Siddur decorated by their parents.
These beautiful Siddurim were generously donated by Saba Weisser, one of Rockwern's Dor L'Dor volunteers.
The ceremony included Shacharit prayers honoring Saba Weisser and dancing in honor of the celebration of Shavout.
12 • CINCINNATI SOCIAL LIFE
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Access presents Cirque du Soiree Young professionals got to run away with the circus for the night and experience life under the Big Top when Access presented Cirque du Soiree on Saturday, April 21st. First, guests got to see professional circus performers demonstrate their skills and then got the chance to learn some tricks of their own, such as plate spinning, juggling, balancing on a giant ball, tight rope walking, trapeze and much more! Participants were treated to traditional circus fare such as cotton candy, popcorn, and a “candy bar”. They also saw a fire breathing presentation and had a chance to lay on a bed of 6” nails. The party was followed by a performance in which the guests got to be th stars and show off their newfound talents. Access is an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation for Jewish young professionals, 21-35. For more information, please check the community directory.
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE • 13
14 • DINING OUT
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Cafe Mediterranean – a delicious blend By Michael Sawan Restaurant Reviewer Upon entering Cafe Mediterranean, one is struck by its unique mix of colors and styles. The design reminded me of my last trip to Israel: lots of tans and browns, with splashes of color from plants, plates, and table cloths. Arched windows leading to the kitchen added a definite mediterranean touch, and the decorative carpet hanging on the left wall really hammered home what to expect from this restaurant. And yet, the place has a polish to it that was more like the U.S. Everything is very orderly and clean cut, the A/C was there but not too much, and, of course, this restaurant is in a Blue Ash strip mall. The owner of the restaurant, Fahri Ozdil, greeted me with a glass of water and Turkish coffee. The smell of the coffee was full and crisp, a calming blend of exotic flavors that I couldn’t place. Once the coffee had set properly I was pleased with its smooth, full taste to match its soothing smell. As I drank I talked to Fahri about his restaurant, and I was surprised by the level of quality he strives to maintain. The food, in the end, spoke for itself: it consistently offered a noticeable, pleasing freshness. This is because, as Fahri explained to me, all of his fish, meat, poultry and vegetables are domestic to the United States. Fahri even invests in special trips occurring once a month to procure herbs and spices stored in New York City. He explained to me how all of his meat is purchased from kosher and halal distributors, to the best of his knowledge. And this was only the food! He explained some of the decorations around the restaurant, particularly a set of plates on the kitchen wall, telling me that the decorative pattern was inspired from a 15th century Turkish design. Further, much of the china appeared to be from his home country, with elegant spirals of brass for the tea tray, delicately decorated coffee cups, and a foreign brand of sweetener, which I assume was Turkish. The food Fahri presented me with represented his restaurant's most popular pieces, lighter foods that compliment the heat of the summer. All of Fahri’s recipes are based off of traditional methods of cooking from his home town on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. I began with a plate of cold appetizer: humus, tabouli, babaganoush, and ezme, with a side of yogurt and cucumber sauce called cacik. Plus, the plate was decorated with grape leaves, carrots, tomatoes, olives, and cucumbers. Further still! I was provided with a basket of hot and fresh pita bread, and I only now realize that this was my first time ever having had it fresh. The mix of flavors was amazing. I began with the ezme, having never
(Clockwise) The cold appetizer, featuring humus, babaganoush, tabouli, and ezme with a cucumber yogurt sauce and accouterments; Decorative plates calling on 15th century Turkey, along the kitchen wall; The left wall of Cafe Mediterranean, featuring the distinct arched windows and carpet; The owner of Cafe Mediterranean, Fahri Ozdil; The Turkish coffee set. It speaks for itself; The delicious, delicious baklava, featuring crushed pistachios and lots of honey; The zucchini pancakes with feta, scallions, and cucumber yogurt sauce; The stuffed baby eggplant, with too many ingredients to list.
tried the dish before. “Ezme” translates to “chopped,” which sums the dish up well. The main thing in there must have been tomatoes, onions, and nuts, but I’d be hard pressed to name the rest. It was a totally new combination of ingredients to me, at once spicy and soothing, sweet and sharp, crunchy and smooth. On top of the pita bread, with a little bit of cacik, and oh wow; I would go back to Cafe Mediterranean for just this one dish. The taste continues to linger with me. Then followed the babaganoush, tabouli, and humus. All were well crafted standards: the babganoush was creamy and just a little tangy, the tabouli was rich in that crisp green taste, plus a strong cinnamon/nutmeg flavor. I’m a little embarrassed, in all of the flavor I couldn’t quite tell which one it was. And, of course, the humus was
a welcome, familiar addition, a staple for those who want something mild besides all of the madness presented by the other appetizer. My greatest pleasure came from treating the tray like an alchemy set: the ezme mixed well with the tabouli, the tabouli with the babaganoush, and on and on, all yielding a pleasing, new mixture that I could never find again without my mixing set. And then the grape leaves! I had never had any like it, they were sweet as well as zesty, a nice compliment to that zinger, ezme. Fahri had also presented me with two entrées: a stuffed baby eggplant and two large zucchini pancakes. The stuffed eggplant was good: it represented the blend of Cafe Mediterranean well, incorporating a dizzying array of ingredients, too many to list here with
my dwindling word count. Suffice it to say, the eggplant was stuffed with vegetables and spices, creating a unique taste that I can’t imagine I will ever find an exact replica of. Unfortunately, this dish did happen to have a hefty amount of olive oil, but not so much that it wasn’t still delicious. The zucchini pancakes returned the restaurant to full stride, with their crisp, omelet like texture. In fact, if someone were to make a latka out of zucchini this would be the result. The evenness, the fluffiness, the soft bite of the scallions, the creaminess of the feta, and the sweetness of the carrots made it work beyond a shadow of a doubt. And instead of apple sauce, Fahri supplied me with more of the yogurt and cucumber sauce, which gave this almost familiar dish yet another spin.
Finally, for desert I was presented with baklava. Fahri’s variant on the dish went with a soft, moist texture, as opposed to crispy. It was accompanied by fresh whipped cream and crumbled pistachios, it oozed honey, and if it were appropriate I would have licked the plate clean. Cafe Mediterranean is fresh, unique, and well dressed. The experience was pleasant all around, from the environment to the food to getting my fortune told from the dregs of my tiny Turkish coffee cup. Their hours are Monday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. Cafe Mediterranean 9525 Kenwood Road Blue Ash, OH 45242 513-745-9386
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
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16 • OPINION
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NEW YORK (RNS)— A new survey brings both good and bad news for America's largest Jewish community: New York City, Long Island, N.Y., and Westchester County, N.Y. During the past 10 years, the region's Jewish population, which had been in decline, increased to 10 percent to 1.54 million people, according to United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York. The study also revealed that nearly a quarter million Russianspeaking Jews currently live in the New York area. That is a tangible sign of the successful “Let My People Go!” campaign that was aimed at rulers who for decades blocked an exodus from the former Soviet Union. One reason for the population growth is that people are living longer. The number of New York City-area Jews age 75 and older grew from 153,000 to 198,000 -- a nearly 30 percent upsurge among the elderly. But the main source of the demographic increase is the rise in the number of Orthodox Jews. They now constitute nearly 40 percent of all Jews surveyed. Six of every 10 Jewish children in the region today are being raised in Orthodox homes, and the birthrate of the community is accelerating. The overwhelming majority of Orthodox youngsters attend Jewish day schools or yeshivot, religiously sponsored academies. In fact, almost half of New York's Jews between 18-34 have attended such schools, while only 16 percent of folks between 55-69 had similar educations. Former Soviet Union Jews and the Orthodox community combined now represent 56 percent of the area's total Jewish population. The two groups' voting patterns run counter to the traditional belief that all Jews are politically liberal. This "new" voting model is especially evident in Brooklyn, whose population is now nearly one-quarter Jewish. Orthodox Jews, generally conservative in their politics, oppose same-sex marriage and seek public financial aid for their
Rabbi A. James Rudin is senior interreligious adviser of the American Jewish Committee.
Dear Editor, AJC commends the Presbyterian Church (USA) decision to reject divestment from three companies doing business with Israel. The divestment resolution was narrowly defeated by two votes (333-331) in a divisive debate at the PCUSA’s biennial General Assembly in Pittsburgh. A healthy majority accepted an amended resolution which called for “positive investment” and urged interfaith collaboration supporting development that could lead to a future Palestinian state. The PCUSA rebuff of divestment is a recognition that punitive measures aimed at Israel do not advance the cause of peace. The only true path to peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis is a return without preconditions to direct negotiations for a two-state solution. We hope Presbyterians and Jews can move beyond this debate and work together for positive approaches that will bring about the peace we all desire for Palestinians and Israelis. AJC is disappointed that PCUSA approved a separate resolution endorsing a blanket boy-
cott of Israeli products produced in the West Bank, calling that resolution “problematic.” Fortunately, a resolution labeling Israel an apartheid state was rejected overwhelmingly. Sincerely, Barbara Glueck Cincinnati, OH Dear Editor, Six months ago I felt the need to write to you, when I was sickened by your misguided choice for the cover story which appeared on the front page of the October 27, 2011 issue, “ADL guidelines help Miami cope with controversial picketing”. Little did I know that I would feel a need once again to write, as I was again sickened by your misguided choice to glorify drinking, when you chose to make your cover story and the accompanying photo for the July 5, 2012 issue of about “pre-gaming.” The sponsor of the programs for Young Professionals ages 21-35, was hardly mentioned—except to offer the first free drink (with an advanced RSVP) and offer a second free drink (if the participants remembered to bring their invitation).
Although your title states “Pregaming takes on a whole new definition for fun for YPs”, it appears to me that the Jewish Community simply is underwriting the same old definition of pre-gaming, which is to have a few drinks before the main event gets started. Don’t get me wrong – I am thrilled that the Young Professionals group enjoys their time together and will hopefully become the responsible leaders of our Cincinnati Jewish Community by the year 2020 (referencing Vision 2020, touted by Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, the Jewish Foundation, the Mayerson Foundation, etc.) I also understand that The American Israelite wants to appeal to younger audiences, with their automobile advertising and articles as well as their dining guides and subsequent advertising dollars. I must be a real stick-in-the-mud, because I do not glorify alcohol consumption with each and every activity that takes place, be it a fundraiser, a community action program, or a mixer. Sincerely, Mindy Nemoff Cincinnnati, OH
C O R R E C T I O N: In the July 5th, 2012 issue, Dining Out column,(“Going Home To Gabby’s,” page 14) incorrectly listed owner Dino DiStasi’s last name as “Destasi” in the fourth paragraph and as “Distasti” in the final paragraph; the correct spelling is DiStasi. We apologize for this error.
T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: PINCHAS (BAMIDBAR 25:10—30:1) 1. What was Pinchas' reward for killing Zimri? a.) He was not put on trial for murder b.) He did have to run to a city of refuge c.) He received a covenant of peace from Hashem 2. Who was Pinchas' grandfather? a.) Not mentioned b.) Aaron the High Priest c.) Korach 3. Who commanded the war against Midian? a.) Hashem b.) Moshe tion because the daughters of Tzelopheh ad (27:3) said their father had no complaints against Moshe. Which might appear as a small bribe. R B'chai. 5. A 27:18 Hashem commanded Moshe to appoint Joshua as his successor, but speak to him in an encouraging way
by Rabbi A. James Rudin
parochial schools. The survey also brought less welcome news. One of five Jewish households in New York City, Long Island and Westchester live below the government's poverty level, and more than 11 percent of Jewish families require food stamps. Since 2008, users of a community kosher pantry have nearly doubled to 15,000. These shocking statistics shatter the myth that all American Jews are members of the middle and upper-middle classes. New York's non-Orthodox Jewish community is shrinking in both size and influence. Since 2002, the percentage of people who identify with Conservative Judaism has dropped from 23 to 18 percent, and the news is no better for the Reform movement. During the same period its adherents fell from 24 to 20 percent of the total Jewish population. Not surprisingly, many survey respondents labeled themselves simply "Jewish." This is similar to many other Americans, including Christians,who do not identify with any specific religious movement or denomination. The survey makes clear what many have long sensed or experienced. Paraphrasing Dickens, New York's 1.54 million Jews constitute a “Tale of Two Communities.” Many Orthodox Jews shun or are unaware of the long-established institutions that have provided religious, cultural, social, educational and counseling facilities for more than a century. There is also limited contact between the two communities: They worship in different synagogues, dress differently, work in in different professions, go to different schools and vote for different candidates. Jews have long prided themselves on communal unity, inclusiveness or "peoplehood," and a traditional set of shared values. But the survey's findings "significantly complicate efforts to build an overall sense of Jewish community— particularly (since) the largest groups —Orthodox and Russianspeaking Jewish households -function both as part of and separate from the larger Jewish community." However, John S. Ruskay, the UJA-Federation executive vice president, remains optimistic the various components of the Jewish community can “share both history and destiny — and we will chart Jewish life and contribute to it — enriched by the diversity.”
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c.) Aaron 4. Whom did Moshe bring the issue of the inheritance of a daughter to? a.) Hashem b.) Sanhedrin/Elders c.) Tried to arbitrate with the other relatives 5. Who decided the question of Moshe's successor? a.) Hashem b.) Moshe c.) Sanhedrin/Elders d.) The 12 princes of the tribes
2. B 25:11 Pinchas was a grandson of Aaron and a descendant of Yitro a Midianite convert. Therefore, he took barbs for killing a prince of the Children of Israel. 3. A 25:16,17 4. A 27:5 Moshe did not want to adjudicate the ques-
Point of View
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
ANSWERS 1. C 25:10-13 Pinchas was rewarded with a “covenant of Peace”, which meant that Pinchas was made into a priest/kohen. Pinchas was born before Aaron and his family were anointed priests, but he was not anointed at that time. Rashi
New survey brings good and bad news for Jewish community
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
Sedra of the Week
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Effrat, Israel -—”Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 'Let the Lord God of all the spirits of mortal flesh appoint a person of stature over the witness congregation” (Numbers 27:15) Moses was the master of all prophets and the individual who came closer to God than any other mortal in history. Now, after a chorus of rebellions against him, God tells him that he is about to be taken from this world without realizing his goal of entering the Promised Land. His response to God demonstrates his deep and abiding commitment to his nation. He does not seek a reprieve for himself, but rather a fitting successor for his people. In so doing, he identifies the area in which he himself failed and the qualities which his heir must have in order to succeed thus defining the condicione sine qua non of leadership for future generations, and so leaving a crucial legacy to Knesset Yisrael. The Biblical words are stunning in their simplicity: “And the Lord said to Moses, 'Climb to the top of this Avarim Mountain (just in front of Mt. Nebo) and gaze upon the land which I am giving to the Israelites. After you see it, you will be gathered to your nation, you in the same manner as was Aaron your brother. This is because you rebelled against My word at the Tzin desert, just as the witness-congregation were engaged in dispute and you neglected to sanctify Me before their eyes with the water”(Numbers 27:12-14) God is now exacting the punishment He had meted out to Moses in last week's Biblical reading when the prophet was instructed to take the staff and speak to the rock"; but instead, "struck the rock with the staff twice". Although at the time much water gushed forth, God proclaimed that as a result of this transgression, Moses and Aaron would not be permitted to lead the nation into the Promised Land (ibid 20:7-12). Why does God now command Moses to take the staff, but only to
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT PINCHAS NUMBERS 25:10 - 30:1
A slave people, drilled into submission by a powerful despot will only be moved by a greater and mightier power. Slaves lack the emotional energy and the rigorous reserve to respond to logical thought or inspirational visions. They require a God with plagues more powerful than the Egyptian Nile, and a leader with a staff more efficacious than that of Pharaoh’s magicians. speak to the rock, whereas almost forty years before, after the splitting of the Reed Sea, when the Israelites also bitterly disputed with God over the lack of water, He instructed Moses to take the rod and strike the rock with it?! Why was striking the rock a commandment then and a transgression now? Apparently, Moses himself had pondered this question, and in this week's Biblical portion, he arrives at the reason. There are two types of leadership: leadership with a staff, and leadership with words, leadership by means of power and leadership by means of persuasion. A slave people, drilled into submission by a powerful despot will only be moved by a greater and mightier power. Slaves lack the emotional energy and the rigorous reserve to respond to logical thought or inspirational visions. They require a God with plagues more powerful than the Egyptian Nile, and a leader with a staff more efficacious than that of Pharaoh’s magicians. But almost forty years have passed since then, years of wanderings in an alien desert and years of protection by a loving Deity, years of commitment to God's laws and years of study of God's words. And now, when history is repeating itself, when the witnesscongregation is again panicked by the lack of water, God adjures Moses: take your staff of leadership, but instead of striking with your hand, speak with your mouth; instead of commanding with the fiery law of a written Torah from
God on High, try convincing with a song of an Oral Torah whose chorus is composed and sung by the souls of all of Israel; the Written Torah is a strict law (dina detakfa), eternal, absolute and unchanging emanating from the Lord, Creator of the Universe, while the Oral Torah is a soft law (dina derafiah), born of dialogue with Israel and informed by the compassion and loving-kindness of the God of history. And so Moses understands that the next leader of Israel must be less a prophet of God and more a man of the people, less a conveyor of God's eternal law and more of a mediator between God's words and the people's needs. Moses is at peace with his realization that if the staff was crucial to bring Israel out Egypt and form a nation committed to God and His law, the next leader must use the word — speech and dialogue — to convince, inspire and extract new insights and interpretations of Torah from God's partners in history, the nation of Israel. “Moses spoke to the Lord saying, Let the Lord God of all the spirits of mortal flesh appoint a person of stature over the witnesscongregation. Let him go out in front of them and let him come in before them, let him take them out and let him bring the in, so that the witness-congregation of the Lord shall not be as sheep without a shepherd.” (Numbers 27:15-17)
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By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist ON NORA EPHRON It’s hard for me to add much to the many tribute articles about NORA EPHRON, the famous essayist, novelist, film director and screenwriter who died on June 26, age 71. For those looking for the best “Jewish angle” journalism on Ephron, I direct you to the Forward newspaper articles about Ephron, written by author ABIGAIL POGREBIN, 47. Pogrebin knew Ephron for decades, and interviewed her several times. Pogrebin’s June 26th piece for the Forward, “Warm and ‘Utterly Jewish’ Ephron Left Us Much Too Soon,” summarizes these interviews and there are links on the same web page to prior Pogrebin pieces about Ephron (log-on to Forward.com and put “Ephron” in the search engine to find the June 26th piece and others). Ephron was known for frank speaking and she was very candid when she talked to Pogrebin about her Jewish background. Pogrebin writes:” I spent my first extended time with Nora one-on-one in 2003 when I interviewed her for my first book, ‘Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish,’ for which I interviewed 62 prominent American Jews about their Jewish identity, or lack of it. Nora mainly had a lack of it. She said she thought of herself ‘as a Jew, but not Jewish.’ She wasn’t in denial about her Jewish identity, just indifferent to it. ‘At this point [Ephron said] it doesn’t make the Top 5 of what I would say about myself. And it probably never did.’ She bristled at being pegged as a Jewish director, just as she cringed at being described as a woman director: ‘It seems like a narrow way of looking at what I do.’” Over time, I came to admire Ephron’s honesty. I’m sure that many other Jewish celebrities have the same “indifferent” view, but put on a different face when they talk to a Jewish media outlet. Also, Pogrebin notes that Ephron’s “persona” contrasted with her statements about being Jewish. Pogrebin writes: “For all her Jewish disconnection, she felt utterly Jewish to me.” In other words, Ephron’s “Jewishness” was “existential” and is apparent in the “Jewish sensibility” she brought to so much of her work. One case in point, that Pogrebin doesn’t mention, but other writers have. WOODY
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ALLEN (via “Annie Hall,” 1977) and NORA EPHRON (via “When Harry Met Sally,” 1989), can be co-credited as the creators of the “Jewish romantic comedy.” Yes, there were hundreds of American romantic comedy films, many written by Jews, before these films. But the dominant plot line of these prior films was “external,” rather than “internal.” The couple came together, and then outside forces—family, events, etc.—drove them apart. Almost always they overcame these “forces” and re-united. In “Annie Hall” and “Harry” the couples were driven apart by their own internal personality issues or flaws. In “Harry,” the couple found a way to work through their “own mishegoss” and re-unite. In “Annie Hall,” they didn’t reunite, but still managed to work through their feelings, remain friends, and look back fondly on their romance. This “inward looking” style of romantic comedy seemed, to many writers, to be “very Jewish” and it certainly was a fresh and realistic re-invention of the whole romantic comedy genre. Its no accident that these two films remain the most remembered and best loved romantic comedies of all-time. SHORT TAKES The PBS series, “History Detectives,” begins its 10th season on Tuesday, July 17, at 10PM. If you haven’t seen this entertaining show—you really should—it’s a much smarter version of the dumbed-down semiimitators on cable (like “Pawn Stars”). Antique experts and academics track-down the true stories behind objects that viewers are “unsure” about. One of the segments on the July 17 episode concerns a guitar that may have belonged to BOB DYLAN. The Los Angeles Times gathered a bunch of famous actors to do a joint video interview about their first film role. JULIANNA MARGULIES, 46, (“The Good Wife”) said that she told a fib to get her first screen role (“Out for Justice,”1991). The film’s star, Steven Seagal, asked her if she was Puerto Rican at the audition, and she said “yes.” When filming began, he asked her to do her first lines in Spanish. Margulies, with a broad smile on her face, told the “Times”: “I am a Jew and Spanish is not my first language. But I’m a quick study and got through it. Anyway, it got me my SAG [union] card.”
FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO Dissecting,analyzing and dissolving reason led by the pacifying influence of faith,,where the limits of the former are evident,makes man both wise and happy. Faith controlled by reason in its proper sphere makes man, happy and wise. Reason without faith makes wise and miserable, and faith without reason makes fools and fanatics. We hold this to be self evident. The best exponents of the first class known to us are Isaac Newton, Leibnitz, and Alexander Von Humboldt.— July 18, 1862
125 Y EARS A GO The International Truth Crowning Company system of putting in teeth without plates has created a furor in dental circles throughout the East, and the originator of the system, Dr. C. L Hill, of the Albany Dental Association, has opened a branch office in this city,at No. 154 West Fourth Street, where he has one of the handsomest suits of dental rooms in the State. He will make a specialty of gold fillings, and promises patients no pain from extracting or filling. Gentlemen who desire a stylish, comfortable, well-made shoe, unequalled for wear, should get the W.L. Douglas $3 Seamless Shoe.. Bodily health and vigor may be maintained as easily in the heat of summer as in the winter months, if the blood is purified and and vitalized with Ayer’s Sarsaparilla Every person who has used this remedy has been greatly benefitted. Take it this month.— July 15, 1887
100 Y EARS A GO We are making the same mistake in our day of which former generations have been guilty: we fail to observe and to record those fundamental factors of our daily life which we take for granted, which we deem prosy, common place and of no prominent interest and which yet, far beyond our conception, not only make up the warp and woof of our existence but mark our stage in historical development. How many popular movements, how many spiritual currents would become clearer to us if we had fuller records of the everyday life of their generation, of the prices of necessaries, of prevailing domestic and social
habits, of popular amusement, of wide-spread superstitions, of the conditions of work and the proportions of wage, pf the idiosyncrasies of imminent individuals, of customs and etiquette, of saws and proverbs!— July 11, 1912
75 Y EARS A GO The opening of the Cincinnati Opera Season, Sunday, June 27, with a stirring performance of “Aida” was a record-shattering event in the sixteen-year history of the summer opera in the Queen City Not only were the two thousand seats sold, but the eager crowds, which began to assemble two hours before the rise of the curtain,filled all the extra chairs which could be placed in the aisles. Hundreds were turned away. The Chicago Cubs will make their annual night appearance at Crosley Field, Monday, July 12th. Al Schacht, “clown prince of baseball,” who has entertained the crowds at world’s series for years and who is touring the country with his comic act, has promised Cincinnati fans a real show. Dr. Samuel S. Rockwern, Chief medical resident at Jewish Hospital, has been appointed resident in diabetes and fellow in the department of internal medicine at Cincinnati General Hospital.— July 8, 1937
50 Y EARS A GO Comment Of The Week: While packing for our vacation, do remember to pack a bundle for the thrift shop. With this, The American Israelite completes its 108th year of publication. This continuity is a tribute far more to the fidelity of our subscribers and advertisers than to those who staff this newspaper.The publication of a newspaper in a democracy is a privilege frequently not appreciated and unhappily all too often abused. In a very real sense, every newspaper is the product of not only those who write its news and sell the advertisements but also of those who support it. During the past few months this publication has enjoyed a marked quickening of advertising support. This holds high promise for realization of this kind of publication—in equality and size— to which we have long looked as our goal. We thank the friends of The American Israelite and bespeak your contin-
uing and increasing support. — July 12, 1962
25 Y EARS A GO Nettie Tort was honored by the Cincinnati chapter of Amit Women at a luncheon at the home of Joyce Wise. She was honored as an “eshes chyl,” a woman of valor , who has given physically and materially for the cause of Amit women.s A weekday “mini-yeshia”, evening lectures and discussions, special classes for women, and activities for children—all these are part of the three-week SEED (Summer Educational Enrichment Days) program to be held Sunday, July 19th, through Sunday, August 9th. You can take Kenyon College away from the graduate but you can’t take the graduate away from Kenyon. Robert Stix graduated in 1950, but he still promotes its beauty and academic reputation wherever he is and to whomever he is speaking. Stix recently received the coveted Gregg Award, awarded annually to the alumnus who has made the greatest contribution to the college during the preceding 12 months..— July 16, 1987
10 Y EARS A GO The American Jewish community has been shocked and dismayed by the ease with which antiSemitism’s ugly head has surfaced in France and across the European continent. Elements of our community and Jewish communities around the world have begun to talk openly about boycotting French and other European countries’ goods in retaliation for the perceived lack of response to anti-Semitic incidences in those countries. Florence Guttman,70,passed away June 12. She was born in Cincinnati, OH and was a daughter of the late Isadore and Toby Hiudt. It’s unmistakenly BMW,yet definitely different from any that have come before. The new 2003 7 series is longer, wider and taller than its predecessor, with a dynamic, coupe-like silhouette. Genzyme Genetics, a business unit of Genzyme General, announced June 26 that it has expanded its menu of test for childhood genetic diseases found disproportionately among people of the Askenazi Jewish Descent.— July 11, 2002
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
FOOD / CLASSIFIEDS • 19
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS Access (513) 373-0300 • jypaccess.org Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc. (513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 • cincinnatimikveh.org Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 Jewish Vocational Service (513) 985-0515 • jvscinti.org Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org
CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tikvah (513) 759-5356 • bnai-tikvah.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • bnaitzedek.us Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org
Congregation Ohr Chadash (513) 252-7267 • ohrchadashcincinnati.com Congregation Sha’arei Torah shaareitorahcincy.org Congregation Zichron Eliezer 513-631-4900 • czecincinnati.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com
EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) 513-262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com
ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (513) 204-5594 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org.org
Make ‘Zell’s lite bites’ Zell’s Bites
by Zell Schulman This summer’s heat has taken its toll on our appetites. Not only are our appetites affected, but no cook wants to heat up their kitchens. It’s even been too hot to take the family out for dinner. I suggest something new and different. Instead of serving a full meal, make “Lite Bites.” Accompany these with a cold summer drink. Top a slice of pound cake you’ve purchased from the store, and top it off with you’re favorite ice cream. Enjoy this quick and easy summer supper. If you really like this suggestion, you may wish to invite some friends or neighbors to join you by bringing additional “Lite Bites” and create a last minute party. In any case, these recipes are some of my summer favorites. SMOKED SALMON AND CUCUMBER SANDWHICHES 2 to 4 servings This is nice served with champagne or vodka. The butter, dill and mustard mixture can be prepared a day ahead, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before spreading on bread rounds. Ingredients: 1/2 package (17-1/4oz) frozen puff pastry 1 egg beaten 1 tablespoon water 1/4 cup parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 1 teaspoon chopped, fresh oregano Method: 1. Remove the pastry sheets from the freezer, and thaw them at
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room temp for 15 to 20 minutes. Preheat oven at 400F. In a two cup measure, mix the egg and water then set aside. In a medium bowl, mix the cheese, basil and oregano then set aside. 2. Unfold the pastry on lightly floured surface. Sprinkle lightly with water. Roll into 14’x10’ rectangle. Cut in half length wise. Brush both halves with egg/water mixture. Spread the cheese mixture on top half of the rectangles (egg side down). Roll with a rolling pin to seal the rectangles together. Brush with the egg wash. 3. Cut crosswise into 1/2inch strips. Twist each strip and place 2inches apart on a greased baking sheet, or one covered with parchment paper. Press the ends of each strip flat. Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Zell's Tips: You may substitute sharp cheddar or gruyere cheese to replace the parmesan. Parsley and curry powder may replace the basil and oregano. SWISS CHEESE SQUARES 4 to 6 servings These are so simple, you wouldn’t think people loved them so much. They’re popular, so you may wish to double the recipe for a large crowd. If making for 4 to 6 people, remove no more than 3 to 4 slices of Swiss cheese from the package. Use high quality Swiss or Gruyere cheese rather than processed cheese. There are a variety of mustards available today and you may wish to try something new besides Dijon mustard. Ingredients: One 8-ounce package of Swiss cheese slices. 1/2 cup Dijon mustard. Method: 1. Cut the Swiss cheese slices into 1inch squares. Spread Dijon mustard between two squares. Press them together. Insert a toothpick in the center for easy pick-up. Garnish a platter with escarole large bib lettuce leaves, place the squares on top of the lettuce and serve.
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Dubrovnik: A Croatian Ovation Wandering Jew
by Janet Steinberg If you want to see heaven on Earth, come to Dubrovnik" George Bernard Shaw Henceforth, when I hear the word ‘Dalmatian’, I won’t think of that regal white dog with black spots. Instead, I will think of that exquisite Dalmatian Coast which I recently had the pleasure of sailing along on two different Crystal Serenity cruises. The jewel in the crown of this impressive Croatian coast, with its 1185 islands, islets and reefs, is Dubrovnik, affectionately dubbed “The Pearl of the Adriatic”. Dubrovnik is a city where every stone is steeped in history Yet, it is a pulsating city that is alive in the present. In this ancient walled city, perfumed by sea air, there is a confluence of the past and the present. Dubrovnik is a unique blend of European flavors, a city of fascinating diversity, rich in history and culture. It is a museum in and of itself. One of the most romantic cities in the world, Dubrovnik is what Europe used to be. The city’s fortified Old City is framed by its ancient walls, soaring limestone cliffs, and a dazzling Adriatic Sea. The thick, medieval, stone walls and the system of turrets and towers that encircle the city once protected the vulnerable city from would-be conquerors. Moats ran around the outside section of the city walls.The medieval town center, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is known locally as Stari Grad. Within those walls the streets are paved in marble and lined with historic palaces, fountains, museums, churches and a synagogue that is the world’s oldest Sephardic synagogue still in use today and the second oldest synagogue in Europe. The Baroque-style Old Synagogue of Dubrovnik is located on the tiny Ulica Zudioska (“Jewish Street”). Established in the 14h century,this treasure managed to survive a devastating earthquake, two World Wars, a Communist regime, and the 1991 Homeland War with Yugoslavia. Although the synagogue is still used by Dubrovnik’s small Jewish community (less than 50 people) on the Holy Days, the Synagogue now functions mainly as a museum showcasing ancient artifacts and
Jewish ritual items. Among those artifacts are Torah scrolls that date back to the 13th or 14th century and are thought to have been brought to Dubrovnik by Sephardic exiles expelled from Spain around 1492. The Franciscan monastery, one of the many finely built monasteries in the Old City, is situated at the very beginning of Placa, to the left of the Pile (pronounced Pealay) Gate entrance to the Old City. Its Cloister is one of the most valuable late Romanesque creations on the Croatian shores of the Adriatic. The third oldest, continuously functioning pharmacy in the world still operates within the Franciscan Monastery. However, the pharmacy’s original fixtures are now protected in the museum within the Monastery. The museum also spotlights a missile (Udar Granate) shot into the concrete wall on December 6, 1991, during the Homeland War. The Franciscan monastery's library possesses 30,000 volumes. Orlando’s Column, located in the center of town, is the symbol of the freedom of Dubrovnik. It is also the psychological center of the city. Orlando’s Column is named in honor of the knight Roland (“Orlando” is the Italian name for the French name “Roland”) It was erected to celebrate the city’s defeat of the Venetians in 972. It was here that public notices were posted, pubic rallies were held, and public punishments were performed. The Morning Market in the Old City is a great place to get a glimpse of the real people who live in what has become a major tourist destination. The warm smiles and the cheery broken English welcomes of the vendors are sincere. The marketplace is the place to buy souvenirs, lavender products, the work of local artisans, and what the fruit vendors tout as “the best figs in Croatia”. If you are into fine jewelry, make a stop at Clara Stones Jewelery Store, located at Naljeskoviceva 8. Clara Stones creative team comes up with eclectic combinations of corals, pearls, and gemstones. The unique handcrafted designs range in price from $35 to $20,000. Directly across from Clara Stones is Dolce Vita, the place that my guide recommended for the best ice cream in Dubrovnik. It doesn’t have the fancy display of the ice cream shops on the main street, but it reputed to be better and less expensive. The Onofrio fountains were named after the Neapolitan engineer Onofrio who designed the fountains and the aqueduct that supplied Dubrovnik with its water in 1444. The two Fountains of Onofrio decorate the beginning and the end of the pedestrian main street known as the Stradun. The 16-sided Big Onofrio fountain ejects water out of the
(Clockwise) Old Sephardic Synagogue within the Walled City; A section of the ancient wall surrounding the Old City of Dubrovnik; Dubrovnik’s Old City is framed by its ancient walls.
mouths of its stone masks. Little Onofrio Fountain is part of the same water project as its larger cousin to the west but was built to supply water to the market place on Luza Square. Dubrovnik was one of few European cities that had safe spring water Exiting the walled city, just outside the Pile Gate entrance to Dubrovnik, there is a little-known Jewish site – a modest water fountain known as the “Jewish Fountain”. Before Napoleon's arrival to fortified Dubrovnik, Jews were not allowed to drink water from the two Onofrio fountains in the Old City. They were only allowed to drink from the "Jewish Fountain," as it is still called today. After Napoleon granted equal rights to the Jews, they were then allowed to drink from all fountains. The Jewish Fountain was then removed from within the Old City's
walls and kept in Pile as a permanent monument. For an overall view of the terracotta red roofed Old City of Dubrovnik, and for a nominal price, you can walk around the top of the city’s ancient walls. While climbing the narrow steps to the top of the wall, you will continuously discover new views. Adjacent to the Pile Gate is the Dubravka Restaurant, a huge reasonably priced restaurant with magnificent terrace views of fortresses and the Adriatic Sea. Located on the Brsalje Square at the Pile Gate entrance to the Old City, it offers a great selection of fresh seafood and Croatian specialties. Restaurant Mimoza, just a short walk from the Old Town, (across from the Hilton Imperial Hotel) was established in 1953. It is said to be one of the best restaurants in the Dubrovnik. The restaurant
serves indigenous traditional Mediterranean delicacies including fish, lamb, and veal. Start with their fresh seafood sampler. The newest attraction in Dubrovnik is the Cave Bar at the Hotel More, situated on the Bay of Lapad. The cave was discovered deep below the hotel during its construction. It was converted into a “cave bar” which offers an unusual experience. If you visit the cave, which can be reached by the hotel’s elevator, you can also dip in the sea as a tunnel from the cave opens out onto the hotel’s beach. As Liza Minnelli’s sang in the song “Ring Them Bells,” “You must try Dubrovnik before you go home.” Janet Steinberg is an award-winning Travel Writer and a Travel Consultant with The Travel Authority.
FOOD / AUTOS • 21
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
Audi A7—Reborn This completely new vehicle was born from a blank sheet of paper. The result is the stunning, all-new Audi A7. Athletic, elegant and dramatic, the A7 is a five-door coupe with the graceful look of a bench-mark luxury sedan. The interior of the A7 overflows with the impeccable attention to detail of hands-on craftsmanship and unmatched comfort and style, while its wraparound sky-liner dashboard is a testament to Audi fit and finish. The A7 is more than a design icon, it sets a high standard for performance and handling as well.
Central to this is the 3.0-liter supercharged V6. With 310 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque eagerly awaiting your whim, the A7 more than lives up to its dynamic looks. Thoughtful touches like the leather seating surfaces, which are anatomically contoured, remind you that when it comes to luxury you are literally sitting in the lap of it. Further supporting this notion is the eight-way power adjustable seating with four-way lumbar support for the driver. The available heated seats for all passengers (Heated front seats are standard, rear seats are optional)
Lexus ES—Performance is never an issue A 3.5-liter V6 engine propels the ES from zero to 60 mph in 7.0 seconds. You'd think with such a power engine you would not get great fuel economy, you'd be wrong. The ES is a certified UltraLow Emission Vehicle (ULEV II), reducing harmful emissions. The ECO Indicators help you by monitoring your acceleration habits, this system can inform you when you are driving in the most fuelefficient way possible. Encasing the engine is a stylized body that catches the eye. A dramatic expression of our L-finesse design philosophy, the ES features sleek lines and a more streamlined look. With available Dual-swivel Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS) allows both headlamps to turn, providing better illumination around curves. An available full glass roof allows both front and rear passengers to enjoy a panoramic view of the sky. Inside the ES is packed. It has Bluetooth technology allowing you to streaming music straight from your phone to your car wire-
lessly. Voice command system features state-of-the-art voice-recognition technology, making commonly used features more accessible than ever. Add to that the Satellite (GPS)linked voice-activated HDD Navigation System that can guide you to almost any destination in the contiguous United States it basically drives itself. Sit in comfort with 10-Way Power Adjustable Seats. Driver's and front passenger's seats both come equipped with 10-way adjustability, electronic lumbar support and available heat and ventilation. The driver's seat also includes an power-activated seat cushion that extends with the touch of a button. There's safety. Then there's Lexus safety. That's why the ES has features to help protect you before, during or after an accident. This is the luxury of confidence. The standard of Performance. This is the pursuit of 360 Degrees of Safety in the ES. All this starts at MSRP of $36,725. Not to shabby!
and three-stage seat ventilation for front passengers drives the luxury theme home. Yet, what is really driving it, is you. All of the essentials, your fingertips. Luxury isn’t only what you see, but also what you hear. The optional state-of-the-art Bang & Olufsen® Advanced Sound System has 1,300 watts of power for clear, concert-quality sound delivered through 15 speakers. All of the materials throughout the A7 are meticulously chosen, designed and honed to work in concert. With this attention to detail, the A7 more than delivers
on its promise. Like luxury, comfort and performance, Audi sets the bar higher than others in regards to saftey. Their ingenius Quattro technology is complemented by the advanced technology of Electronic Stability Control (ESC), which includes Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) and Anti-Slip Regulation (ASR). Together, they add an element of safety. An array of available driver assistance technologies provides the driver with a number of conveniences that help keep you alert to danger. Audi side assist helps
monitor your blind spot areas while helping make you aware of unseen vehicles. Once the turn signal is activated and a vehicle is detected by the system, flashing LED lights in the side view mirror housing illuminate to help warn you of possible obstructions. Named “The 2011 Esquire car of the Year,” for good reason, this completely new Audi leaves nothing to be desired. It is everything you’ve dreamed about in a car and with an MSRP of $59,250 it’s at a price you can afford and that other car companies will find hard to compete with the bang you get for your buck.
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22 • NEWS
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM
HADASSAH from page 4
STUDENTS from page 5
ROMNEY from page 6
Dr. Gross, and there will be opportunities for people to add more funding to extend the scholarships beyond three years. To officially establish the fund, they have invited two physicians who exemplify the strong partnership between CCHMC and Hadassah Medical Organization to talk about the life of Dr. Gross and his work with both institutions. The day concluded with Cincinnati Chapter Co-President Sharon Casper thanking everyone in attendance and presenting the speakers and hostess Nina Paul with Hadassah certificates. The next Fellow from Hadassah Hospital will arrive next month with a concentration in Adolescent Medicine.
Because they serve a different segment of the population, the new programs in Beer Sheva, Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi will focus on providing structure and continued education opportunities to local youth at risk who need to improve their academic standing and stay out of harm’s way during the summer months Working in conjunction with the respective municipalities and the Ministry of Education, Counterpoint has arranged special educational incentives for all campers participating in the program. “Counterpoint Israel has become an integral part of the lives and Jewish identities of the teens in Dimona and Arad and an educational lifeline for the cities’ municipalities. The CJF realized that it needed to do something to make sure that this trend not only continued but reached as many students as possible,” said Shuki Taylor, the Director of YU’s CJF Department of Experiential Jewish Education. “Though this new element— working with youth at risk, largely from Ethiopian and Russian communities—brings many challenges with it, we are confident that the 'Counterpoint Magic' will prevail and the rewards will be great for Beer Sheva, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and the global Jewish community.” Additional support for this year’s Counterpoint Israel Program is being provided by Keren L’Yedidut (IFCJ) and the Jewish Agency.
Few presidents have visited Israel in their first term, Democrats point out, and the fact of such a visit does not necessarily portend friendliness—Jimmy Carter visited Israel in his first and only term. David Harris, the president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said that Obama’s increase in defense assistance for Israel and what Israelis acknowledge as unprecedented closeness in defense cooperation, speaks for itself. Harris noted the upcoming October joint U.S.-Israel anti-missile exercise, the biggest ever. “I'm confident that while in Israel, Gov. Romney will see first hand the unprecedented security cooperation that Barack Obama has brought to the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he said. He also noted that Obama visited Israel as a candidate in 2008. (Romney also visited Israel during that previous election cycle, participating in the 2007 Herzliya Conference.) J Street’s communications director, Jessica Rosenblum, said that Romney should use the visit to reassert his commitment to the two-state solution—a goal that, INTERMARRIAGES from page 7 As a rabbinical student, Perlman said, she was not comfortable with the idea. But she has shifted her views since her 2010 ordination. “It’s a blessing in my opinion to be there in that moment,” she said. Isaiah’s Jaffe, remains deeply committed to the view that Jewish marriage can only take place between two Jews, and that the rabbi's role is to facilitate this marriage. But, after a year of a year of study and discussion of the subject with Perlman and Cantor Lisa Doob, he says he is comfortable under certain circumstances with his associate rabbi officiating at intermarriages. He also told JTA he is no longer so certain that his personal opposition outweighs the potential loss of a couple from Jewish life. As more congregants, like Richter, approach him as their family rabbi, he said he recognizes his view of Jewish marriage is seen as a rejection. “I am aware of the impact WILDFIRES from page 9 Jewish federations throughout the United States have been directing donors to the Colorado Fire Relief Fund Suite 300 The donations to the Colorado Fire Relief Fund will go to directly combat the fire and help victims. There will be no administrative fees taken out, said Melissa Gelfand, the federation’s market-
she noted, has been disparaged by a major Romney backer, Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate. “This visit to Israel will provide Governor Romney with an important opportunity to see the challenges facing Israel and the region firsthand,” she said. “He’ll have the opportunity as well to flesh out how he intends to advance American interests in the region and the long-term strategic relationship between the United States and Israel.” Israelis seemed eager to welcome Romney. The New York Times quoted Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Netanyahu, as saying that Romney is a “strong friend of Israel and we'll be happy to meet with him.” Romney's visit could prove important in his efforts to appeal to Jews and pro-Israel evangelicals, said William Daroff, the Washington director for the Jewish Federations of North America and a former GOP operative. “There is a definite perception that the Jewish vote and the proIsrael vote are in play this election cycle,” Daroff said in an email. The RJC is organizing a voter drive among what it says are 150,000 voting Americans living in Israel.
Polls have suggested, however, that to the degree Jews have grown disenchanted with Obama—his Jewish approval ratings are now in the low 60s as opposed to the low 80s at the outset of his presidency—it is because of the economy. It is among evangelicals where Romney’s visit might resonate, said David Brog, the executive director of Christians United for Israel. “Its no mistake when conservative candidates want to appeal to the Christian base, Israel is the top issue to speak on,” Brog said. Michael Hines, the media director for the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, a Nashville-based group that conducts pro-Israel outreach among evangelicals, said a visit to Israel could help cement Romney’s relationship with the community. “In the primaries campaign there was a certain reticence in the evangelical community,” Hines said. “Now that everyone has coalesced, or at least Republican evangelicals have coalesced, they see him as a contrast to Obama and there is a widespread view” among evangelicals “that Obama has not been the best friend of Israel.”
of my saying, 'I love you, I want to welcome you into the Jewish community, but I am not able to officiate.' I know that in most cases, the words, 'I am not able,' are heard as 'I am rejecting you,' even though that is not the message I am intending,” Jaffe said. Jewish population studies have found that as many as 50 percent of Jewish households include a non-Jewish partner. Observers suggest that the number is even higher when one looks at the dating population. Orthodox and Conservative rabbis do not officiate at interfaith marriages. The Conservative movement does, however, engage in outreach work with interfaith couples at all stages of their lives, according to Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly. In 2008, JTA reported on a series of scholarly studies that challenged the prevailing view that intermarriage itself was causing disengagement in Jewish life. One study, by Brandeis University
researchers Leonard Saxe and Fern Chertok of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, noted that homes filled with Jewish rituals and learning had more influence on Jewish continuity than whether the family was intermarried. The researchers urged the Reform movement in particular to encourage Jewish engagement among all families and worry less about intermarriage. Chertoff told JTA there is no research one way or the other on whether rabbinic officiation has a positive impact on later Jewish involvement. Historically, CCAR has opposed its members officiating at intermarriages. In 1973, it reaffirmed that opposition, but also recognized that its members hold divergent interpretations, with each making his or her own decision. A resolution proposed at CCAR’s 2008 annual convention called for dropping the official opposition. To avoid a polarizing debate on the hot button issue, the resolution was tabled.
ing and public relations director. “We’re working locally with the local VOAD [National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster] to help victims, firefighters and any other first responders,” she said. As of Monday, she was not certain how much money the federation fund had raised nationally, but said $30,000 had been raised locally.
The Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center is serving as a Red Cross drop-off location for supplies. Chabad-Lubavitch of Colorado Springs is also is collecting relief funds. “Our heart goes out to those affected,” Liberow said. “We want those people to feel uplifted. Hopefully their lives will be on the mend.”
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