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Transcript of Jewish Standard, December 18, 2015, with supplements
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Our reporter treksthrough time and spacwith William Shatner
THEJEWISHSTANDARD.COM
201584NORTH JERSEY
HUNDREDS GATHER FOR INTERFAITH LIGHTING page 6
ROCKLAND AND JEWISH PROMOTES COMMUNITY page 16
THE GOLDEN BRIDE WEDS OLD AND NEW page 52
SON OF SAUL A FILM ABOUT HARD CHOICESpage 53
DECEMBER 18, 2015VOL. LXXXV NO. 15 $1.00
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Fruit-flavored cup makes water excitingIs water just too bland a
drink for you or your kids?
A new Israeli productpromises to make water
more palatable without
adding flavor, calories, or
sugar substitutes to your
drink.
Instead, it changes the
container.
The Right Cup is a
plastic drinking cup
infused with FDA-
approved aromatic fruit flavors to
trick your senses into thinking plain
water has a fruity taste.
Six years of research and patented
technology went into the BPA-free,
recyclable cup.
Isaac Lavy had good reasons
to drink only plain water: doctors
orders, following a diabetes diagnosis
when he was 30. But he hated the
taste, and thus began a long process
of research, trial, and error that led to
the first prototype of the Right Cup.
Lavy is co-founder and CEO of the
company.
Isaac has been lecturing about
scent marketing for a long time, so
naturally this is what entered his
mind after being told he had to drink
only water, co-founder and creative
director Erez Rubinstein said.
Over the years, he told many
people about his idea, and they all
said it was impossible.
As we all know, Israelis read
impossible as Im possible.
Skepticism only serves to strengthentheir resolve to turn their out-of-the-
box idea into reality.
The company has already raised
242 percent of its $50,000 goal
from about 2,000 backers on the
crowdfunding site Indiegogo, and the
campaign is not over yet.
Expected to hit the market next
April after starting production in
Israel, the Right Cup will cost about
$35 and will be available in orange,
mixed berry, lemon-lime, and appl
varieties to start. The three-part
cup releases aromas for at least si
months if it is hand-washed.
A blogger calling herself Aweso
Jelly reports that the company sen
her test straws made of the same
material as the cup, infused with
lemon scent and flavor.
When I took my first sip of wat
from the Right Cup straw I was blo
away, she said. The material is a
smooth, hard plastic type materia
that smelled exactly like lemon. I
honestly have no clue if the mater
tasted like lemon or if my brain
perceived it that way, but is most
certainly tasted like I was drinking
fresh glass of lemon water.
I then gave the test straw to my
8-year-old daughter and asked he
simply try the water. Her immediat
reaction was amazement and awe
She said that the lemon water tast
soooooo good! When I told her
that it was the straw that caused t
water to taste like lemon she wasquite amazed and immediately as
if I had other flavors.
Rubinstein affirms that other
flavors are planned. He says the Ri
Cup has no competition. Of course
you can buy flavored water, but
that always includes some type of
natural or artificial sweetener. Peo
perceive flavored water as much
healthier than it is, he said.ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN/ISRAEL21C
The shocking story of the modern latke
Now that Chanu-
kah is over, we can
reveal an uncomfort-
able truth about latkes
without the risk of
spoiling your holiday
appetite.
The latke is one of
those Jewish foods that
feels steeped in tradition,
as if its been made the
same way since the days
of the Maccabees.
But in a revelatory
article, Atlantic senior
editor Yoni Appelbaum
explains that the latke
as we know it grated
potatoes fried in olive oil
is a relatively new culinary
invention. Here, in brief, is the
Chanukah staples origin story.Latkes were originally an Italian
cheese dish: deep-fried ricotta cheese.
According to Appelbaum, they
were inspired by The Book of Judith,
set hundreds of years before the
Maccabean Revolt. The book, from
the Catholic Bible, tells the story of a
daring widow who seduced and killed
the Assyrian general Holofernes to save
Israel from invaders.
In an obscure Hebrew version of the
story, Judith distracted Holofernes in
part by feeding him pancakes salted
and mixed with cheese. Italian Jews
adopted the custom of deep-frying
cheese pancakes on Chanukah to
honor the story, which they apparently
conflated with that of the Maccabees.
Appelbaum notes that potatoes wereoriginally cultivated in South America
and werent introduced to Europe by
Spanish explorers until the second half
of the 16th century. Potatoes werent
widely grown and consumed in Eastern
Europe the Old World from which
many Jews emigrated to the United
States for a couple more centuries.
Until the early 19th century, Eastern
European Jews made pancakes from
grains, such as
buckwheat and rye,
according to foodhistorian Gil Marks.
Those were among the
few crops available to
them during the frosty
early winter, when
Chanukah is celebrated.In the 1800s, even
after potatoes took
root in Eastern Europe,
latkes were still not
fried in olive oil (as they
are today, providing a
convenient link to the oil-
rich story of Chanukah).
Olive trees were
uncommon in the region,
and people cooked with
schmaltz, fat rendered from
chickens, geese, or beef.In fact, schmaltz remained a
traditional latke ingredient well into
the 20th century. Appelbaum cites a
stipulation from a 1927 issue of The
American Mercury magazine (which he
says includes the first mention of the
word latke in English) that the potato
pancakes be fried in schmaltz.
The advent in 1911 of Crisco, the first
shortening made entirely of vegetable
oil, changed the way latkes (and many
other fried foods) were made. Kosher,
Crisco was once marketed as the
miracle for which the Hebrew race had
been waiting 4,000 years.
When Crisco fell from favor, as
Appelbaum writes, olive oil took its
place at the Chanukah table and the
modern latke was born.So whats a latke? asks Appelbaum.
Simple: Its a shredded Andean
tuber, fried like a buckwheat pancake,
which was substituted for Italian
cheeses, once eaten to honor a
mistaken reading of obscure variants of
an apocryphal text.
But its cool if you want to keep
making the oil connection.
GABE FRIEDMAN/JTA WIRE SERVICE
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JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18 2
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Would Trump supporters still support his presidential
race if he called for a national registry of Jews? In a
focus group of Trump supporters arranged by the
Daily Show, two out of seven said yes.28%
Maccabee
MakesGreatLatkes!
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Noshes
4 JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
Hope can triumph over despair. Light canprevail over darkness. at sounds like adescription of the new Star Wars movie President Barack Obama, summarizing the story of the Maccabees at the Whi
House Chanukah party
Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard
employee happened to
see a film that Abrams
made at a festival for
teen filmmakers. She
was impressed enough
to recommend him to
Spielberg. Talk about
mazel!)
Spielberg became
something of a mentor
to Abrams, and Abrams
is now most famous for
doing a good job re-
booting The Star Trek
and Mission Impossible
film series. However, he
is not viewed as a first-
rank writing or directing
talent by most critics. He
may vault into that rar-
efied air if Force really
blows away fans and crit-
ics. If the overall recep-
tion is just okay, I expect
Abrams will always be
viewed as just a compe-
tent reviver of iconic film
series and a workman-
like director.
Abrams, I should add,
may get a wow just
from the look of the film.
Abrams grew up before
the digital age and he
says he strove to give
Force a cool retro look
that distinguishes it from
the many CGI special-ef-
fects spectaculars at any
multiplex. The Forces
special effects are mostly
not CGI and the movie
wasnt shot digitally, but
on real film stock.
Sisters sounds
like a hoot: Tina
Fey and Amy
Poehler (who wed comic
NICKKROLL, 37, in 2013)co-star as sisters whose
parents are downsizing
and summon them to
Harrison Ford
GRAND OPENINGS:
Force is readyto rumble in
blockbuster reboot
Carrie Fisher
Lawrence Kasdan J.J. Abrams
Star Wars: The
Force Awakens
is easily the most
anticipated release of the
year. Script details have
been guarded closely,
but we know that the
action takes place 30
years after the events in
the Return of the Jedi
and that theres an
ongoing conflict be-
tween the good guys
(formerly the Rebels,
now called the Resis-
tance) and the bad guys(Formerly the Empire,
now the First Order).
Veteran returning rebels
include HARRISONFORD, 73, as Han Soloand CARRIEFISHER, 59,as General Leia Organa
(formerly Princess Leia).
Fisher, hands-down, has
been the most entertain-
ing of the cast members
making media promotion
appearances. She was a
combination of a Borscht
Belt comedienne and
Monty Python character
in a December 4 inter-
view on GMA that has
gone mega-viral and
really should be seen.
(Google Good Morning
America and Carrie
Fisher and youll find it.)
Fishers daughter and
only child, Billie Lourd,
23, has a role in the film
its unclear how big
it is but we do know
she doesnt play the
young Princess Leia in
a flashback. Fisher, the
daughter of the late
EDDIEFISHERand ac-tress Debbie Reynolds,
came to identify as Jew-
ish over the years, and
she has said she exposed
her daughter to Juda-
ism. I dont know how
Billie identifies. Her fa-
ther, agent Bryan Lourd,
isnt Jewish. Carrie and
Bryans marriage ended
when Bryan came out as
gay. After they separat-
ed, he told Fisher he had
been gay before they
married but he blamed
Fishers drug use for his
resumption of gay rela-
tions. Fisher writes in hermemoir, Wishful Drink-
ing: He told me I had
turned him gay by tak-
ing codeine again. And
I said, You know, I never
read that warning on the
label. I thought it said
heavy machinery, not
homosexuality turns
out I could have been
driving those tractors all
along!
Force was co-written
by LAWRENCEKASDAN,69, who also co-wrote
two much-loved sequels
to the original Star War
film (The Empire Strikes
Back and The Return of
the Jedi). J.J. ABRAMS,49, the director and co-
screenwriter of Force,
has a lot riding on how
this film is received. He
got a quick start in Hol-
lywood when he was
hired in 1981, at age 15, to
use the skills he picked
up making his own sci-fi
films at home to repair a
trove of recently discov-
ered but decaying home
movies that STEVENSPIELBERG, 68, madeas a teen. (A Spielberg
Goldbergs are finallyheld up to the lights
I found out too late to tell you in advance, but T
Goldbergs series on ABC had a milestone on Dece
16: a Chanukah episode. It was a milestone because
far as I know, its the irst time the Goldberg family been identiied explicitly as Jewish since the series
in the fall of 2013. It was a pretty good episode the
family matriarch tries to jazz up Chanukah by maki
a lot like Christmas. But her father (GEORGESEG
and other things, convince her of the error of her w
(Available online or via services like the ABC app on
Roku; also on Hulu.)
California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at
move out their stuff.
Their trip home becomes
an excuse for a big
blow-out party for their
old hometown friends.
Co-stars include IKEBARINHOLTZ, 37
(playing James, the
male character and
Poehlers love intere
and MAYARUDOLP43, as the sisters ol
friend.
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5/112JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2
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6JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
Passing the peaceLocal interfaith group meets at shul to fight hatredJOANNE PALMER
Glass half full or half empty?
Full-on war of civilizations
or a chance for unlikely allies
to come together?
Hope or no hope?
In response to the massacres in Paris
and even more in San Bernardino, a
group of religious leaders of the three
Abrahamic faiths came together in Tem-
ple Beth Or in Washington Township on
Sunday night. They were joined by an
estimated 350 to 400 others, Jews, Chris-
tians, and Muslims, who chose to gather,light Chanukah candles on the holidays
last, most light-illed night, and demystify
themselves to each other.
We brought together 18 different com-
munities of faith, Rabbi Noah Fabricant,
who heads Beth Or and who spearheaded
the meeting, said. The entire event was
put together in about a week. Hateful rhet-
oric toward Muslims was increasing
that was the week when Republican presi-
dential hopeful Donald Trump said that no
Muslims should be allowed into the coun-
try, although he was not clear on what he
would do with those here already and I
felt a need for a community response.
So my congregation began to reach outto other local congregations, and I reached
out to local clery through the Upper Pas-
cack Valley Clery Council.
Rabbi Fabricant, who is Reform, also
talked about the program with rabbis and
cantors from the Ridgewood area, and he
discussed it with members of the North
Jersey Board of Rabbis, the body that
represents Conservative, Reconstruction-
ist, and Reform rabbis. Some rabbis and
cantors came from eastern and southern
Bergen. His Christian and Muslim counter-
parts also talked up the program in their
own organizations, and drew some people
from outside the upper Pascack Valley.
It was an intergenerational crowd; lots
of teenagers as well as their parents andempty-nesters came out for the program.
The evening opened as the clery mem-
bers processed formally down the aisle,
continued with readings from the sacred
texts of all three religions, and culminated
with the menorah lighting. I created a
text, a kavannah an intention for
each of the candles, so that as we lit each
of them we could express a commitment
to our vision of unity and standing up
against bigotry, Rabbi Fabricant said.
But real human relationships rarely
grow out of formal structures. We wanted
an opportunity to socialize, so we had a
reception, with lots of food, and we stayed
and talked and met one another, and
made the face-to-face connections that are
so important to reducing fear.
It was wonderful, he said.
People said that it is one thing to readabout interfaith understanding, and even
to know something about it intellectu-
ally but to form a relationship, to see
people face to face, to hear the Muslim
call to prayer from the bimah of our syn-
agogue That impressed them with the
reality and the urgency of the situation in
a different way.
He had no idea what to expect, Rabbi
Fabricant said. All week I ping-ponged
between worr ying that no one would
come and that we wouldnt have enough
chairs. And as people started to arrive
I realized that what we had was the best
possible outcome.
He was moved by much of what he saw
that evening, but two incidents stood out.
Two Muslim women came up to me after
the service, and one of them said that in the
last few weeks, since San Bernardino, shedhad trouble sleeping. She felt really afraid.
Being at this event, seeing all those
people standing with her, really brought
her a sense of safety. A sense of physi-
cal safety and comfort. She said that she
thought shed sleep better that night. That
was really powerful for me.
And then there was the ceremony itself.
As the clery walked in, the congrega-
tion was invited to sing This Land is Your
Land. That, of course, is the haunting,
camp-evoking, quintessentially Ameri-
can Woody Guthrie song whose lyrics go
This land is your land/This land is my
land/From California to the New
island;/From the redwood forest
Gulf Stream waters/This land was
for you and me.
Quite a few people said to me
ward that after that song, you coul
stopped right there, Rabbi Fabrican
That, right there, was the message.
Imam Moutaz Charaf and 25 to
The clergy at Temple Beth Or last Sunday night represented 18 local congregations. ANTONY M
Rabbi Noah Fabricant, right, and Imam Moutaz
Charaf, left, with a member of Imam Charafs
mosque. ANTONY MORALES Muslim girls smile as they fill out name tags. ANTONY M
Rev. Marc Stutzel Rev. Mark Su
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Loc
JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2
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his congregants represented the Elzahra
Islamic Center in Midland Park, one of
the two mosques to send a delegation. His
mosque is a cross-section of Muslim Amer-
icans, he said; some are American-born
and others are immigrants. Their roots
are in India, Pakistan, and across the Arab
world; most now live in Midland Park andthe small towns that surround it.
The meeting was important, Imam
Charaf said. We are living in a dificult
time for all people of faith, and all Ameri-
cans, so we thought it was a good time for
people of faith and their leaders to give
a strong message of peace and unity and
diversity, and of respect for each other.
We all stand together very strongly
against all types of violence, aggression,
discrimination, and hatred, and we felt
that we need to send a strong message,
and to show that we are standing together.
We have much in common. All religion
calls for peace and love, and we should not
accept any hate speech, or any discrimina-
tion against anybody.We are all people of God, and we were
all created by the same God. So it was won-
derful to read scripture together, to pray
together, to listen to each other, and to see
each other and break down some of the
walls that some of us have built between us.
It was good to see each other as human
beings, Imam Charaf said.
The Rev. Mark Suriano of the First Con-
gregational Church of Park Ridge went to
the meeting, he said, because, like Rabbi
Fabricant, I was increasingly alarmed at
how we used religion to separate ourselves
from one another, and particularly from
the Muslim community. So I was eager to
go to emphasize the things that we hold
in common. We are all religions of peace.
And we all three are religions of the Book,
and people who share at least some spiri-
tual ancestry.
The evening was likely to be a success,he said, and he realized that, prosaically
but tellingly, even before he went into the
shul building. I got there early, and I had
trouble parking. It was going to start at 7, I
got there at twenty to, and there were only
a few spaces left. There already were more
than 300 people there.
The camaraderie was amazing, he
continued. No matter what faith they
belonged to, people had a common con-
cern and a need for better understanding.
I saw people who were emotionally moved
by the experience of being there.
It was overwhelmingly beautiful.
One of the things that most struck the
Rev. Suriano was the sign of peace. Its
a Christian ritual, a moment in the ser-
vice where we are invited to turn to each
other and say Peace be with you, and the
response is Also with you.
At this service, we were invited to indpeople we didnt know and extend the
wish of peace to them. We were encour-
aged to ind people who didnt look like us.
There actually was a great sense of peo-
ple looking for people they didnt know,
and there was a great deal of excitement
around it. It was very powerful.
This is Advent, he continue
weeks leading up to Christmas when
tians anticipate the birth of their me
I preached about it a few Sundays
the Rev. Suriano continued. It is n
being sociable. It is a prayer and a
and a hope for peace. So to experieyesterday, in another context, with a
people for whom it is not a usual pr
there was a sense of earnestness ab
Watching how people were moving ar
everyone was up and moving, all 3
400 of us it was quite a powerful th
And then there were the Chan
lights. What Rabbi Fabricant wro
powerful, he said. It was a great w
summarize what we are about and
we have to do to bring peace. It wa
lenging and it was inviting.
The Rev. Mark Stutzel is the pas
Christ Lutheran Church in Woodclif
He usually teaches a conirmation c
seventh- and eighth-graders on Su
evenings; instead of holding the rclass, he suggested that his studen
their families join him at Beth Or
many did.
I had been at Temple Beth Or, bu
never worshipped there before, th
The camaraderie was amazing. Nomatter what faith they belonged to,people had a common concern and
a need for better understanding.
SEE INTERFAITHPA
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Local
8 JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, youre my only hope...
Princess Leia, Obi-Wan is not your only hope.
Jewish Family Service will always be here for you.
Contact our force at
201-837-9090 - www.jfsbergen.org
. . .
Helping kids glow againLocal student defers college to work with widows, orphans in Israel
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
Malka Schnaidman of Teaneck was supposed
to begin college at NYU this year.
Instead, she is in Israel as a National Ser-
vice (Sherut Leumi) volunteer. She is work-
ing in resource development for the IDF Widows and
Orphans Organization, which offers a range of services for
some 5,000 widows and 3,000 orphans of fallen soldiers.
Her last-minute decision to defer college for another
year she had just returned home from a gap year in
Israel when she realized how much she wanted to go back
means that instead of getting to know fellow freshmen in
New York she is meeting Israeli spouses and children who
are struggling to go on without their fathers, or in some
cases their mothers.
Today I was helping a girl write an English essay to get
into a program at Brandeis. This is something her father
would have done with her, so she called us instead, Ms.Schnaidman said. Were here for them every day.
Founded in 1991, IDFWO is the sole organization of
its kind recognized by the state of Israel, from which it
receives half its funding. The widows and orphans of sol -
diers always received government beneits, but the organi-
zation chaired by IDF widow Nava Shoham-Solan ills
many other needs.
Year round, it provides social, emotional, and inancial
support, including camps, retreats, trips, support groups,
an annual group bar/bat mitzvah ceremony, holiday par-
ties, scholarships, school supplies, wedding gifts, and
home visits.
This is the irst year that the organi-zation requested an English-speaking
National Service volunteer to help
raise funds and awareness abroad. Ms.
Schnaidman, who turns 20 in January,
found out about the position amid her
flurry of early-morning phone calls
from New Jersey to Israel last summer,
once she decided to return for another
year. That decision was made with the
full agreement of her parents, Rena
and Menachem Schnaidman.
It sounded very dynamic; not just
calling people and asking for money
all day, or stufing envelopes, Ms.
Schnaidman said.
Living with six other National Ser-
vice women in Petac h Tikvah, shecommutes to the IDFWO ofice near
Bar-Ilan University every day. Im
dealing with real money and real sit-
uations, she said. Were building a
website and setting up a new fund in
America, so Ive been dealing with law-
yers and speaking with donors. I go to
all the events and I answer phones
and help out with anything I can.
Were nine people in the ofice, and
its close-knit.
Ms. Schnaidman, who graduated
from the Moriah School in Englewood
and Maayanot Yeshiva High School for
Girls in Teaneck, is not fazed by her
all-Israeli environment, as her gap-year program at Migdal Oz integrated
the overseas students with Israelis. I
speak Hebrew all day in the ofice and
at home, she said.
Last week she went along on a
retreat for 600 widows. I looked around and realized that
for every person sitting here, one person had to die. But
you see them laughing, clapping, talking about how cute
their husbands were. They have something that connects
them and allows them to relax and have fun together.
An IDFWO Chanukah party in the Negev last week
included a webcam hookup that allowed 150 IDF orphans
to light candles and sing with Jewish teenagers from New
York and Munich, including an a cappella group from SAR
High School in Riverdale.
It was incredibly emotional to see Jewish youth from
two other continents join us live to celebrate Cha
together, IDFWOs youth director, Shlomi Nahu
said. It just goes to show that the people of Isra
one, no matter where they reside in the world. Th
orphans felt a warm embrace from abroad and a
demonstration that they are not alone.
We hope to make this an annual tradition, a
like to send out an open invitation to other schoo
youth groups worldwide to join us and empower
left behind.
As part of the awareness and fundraising effort l
Malka Schnaidman in the IDFWO office IDF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS ORGAN
The IDFs chief rabbi, Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz,
IDFWOs chair, Nava Shoham-Solan, and Col. Yaffa
Mor, head of the IDF casualty department, present
Sar Shalom with his new tefillin.
KOBI KOENKAS/IDF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS ORGANIZATION
-
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jewishstandard
Ms. Shoham-Solan addressed students on Decem-
ber 17 at Maayanot and at Torah Academy of Bergen
County, before a parlor meeting that evening at the
home of Susan and Mark Wiesen of Teaneck.
At the annual IDFWO bar/bat mitzvah celebration in
October, Ms. Shoham-Solan told the crowd how proud
she was as one who lost her own husband and raised
two young children alone, to see the IDF orphans
grow stronger by the day and grow into upstanding
citizens of the state of Israel.
She and IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Rai Peretz gave
each bar mitzvah boy his irst set of teillin, while
bat mitzvah girls received ornate Shabbat candle-
sticks and a set of Jewish books. Boys and girls from
the Druze and Bedouin communities received gifts
and celebrated their coming of age together with the
Jewish IDF orphans. These 45 children will have theopportunity to tour the United States next summer.
President Reuven Rivlin, Defense Minister Moshe
Yaalon, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, and the
heads of the Israeli police and prison service all came
to the ceremony at the Jerusalem Theater. President
Rivlin told the celebrants that he considers each and
every one of you as my own grandchild.
You see people flooding in because everyone
wanted to be there for these kids, Ms. Schnaidman
said. You realize how much Israel wants to embrace
them. The kids were just glowing.
For more information, go to www.idfwo.org/
homePage.htm
Two girls at the OTZMA Chanukah camp last
week. IDF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS ORGANIZATION
It sounded very
dynamic; not justcalling people and
asking for money allday, or stuffing
envelopes.
-
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10JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
Birthright for MommiesLocal representatives join Jewish Womens Renaissance Project in Israel
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
Connection.
That word is mentioned over
and over by the Bergen County
women who recently returned
from a Jewish Womens Renaissance
Project trip to Israel, aka Birthright for
Mommies.
The subsidized eight-day Momen-
tum tour, which is illed with touring,
classes, socializing, and introspection, is
designed to empower women to change
the world through Jewish values that
transform ourselves, our families, and
our communities.
Participants say the experience leads
to a strong connection with one another,
with Judaism, and with Israel.Started in 2008 by author and educa-
tor Lori Palatnik along with seven other
Jewish women of different afili ations ,
JWRP has led 6,500 women from 19 coun-
tries on Momentum tours since 2009. (A
newer Momentum tour for Jewish fathers
has had 400 participants so far.)
Momentum works with more than 100
partner organizations around the world,
including JInspire, a national grassroots
Jewish learning initiative that has chap-
ters in New Jersey and New York.
The group of 20 from Bergen County
was part of a 400-woman Momentum
tour for Jewish mothers from the United
States, Canada, Russia, and Israel duringthe week of October 18. The local contin-
gent was led by JInspire educators Julie
Farkas of Bergenield and Dena Levie,
Esther Friedman, and Andrea Portal of
Teaneck, and past participant Ellen Fin-
kelstein of Teaneck.
Karen Sackstein of Fair Lawn signed
up as a birthday present to herself. She
turned 50 on the day of departure. Ive
wante d to go to Isra el for quite some
time, and it was just the right time, she
said; still, it was hard leaving her hus-
band and 12-year- old son. Im a mem-
ber of the sand wich gene ration, she
said. Ive been caring for other people
for a long time, and this was the irst time
I was doing something for me.
Everyone talks about how youre
going to feel so connected to Judaism dur-
ing this trip, and youre waiting for that
aha moment, she continued. Actually
there were many. But the one that sur-
prised me was the Shabbat we spent in
Jerusalem. Lighting candles, singing and
dancing with 400 women there wasnta dry eye in the place. All of a sudden
everything just made sense for me.
It was an overwhelming feeling of
connection to the women I had been
with only ive days at that point and who
became my best friends, but also to our
Jewish heri tage. Shabbat is something
weve been doing for thousands of years.
For me, it was no longer something only
the Orthodox do.
Ms. Sackstein also gained a new per-
spective on Israel. I was ignorant about
Israel before. You read things in the
news and its always something that is
happening over there. I didnt under-
stand why they were ighting over this
stupid piece of desert. Being there, talk-
ing to the Israelis on the trip, and to my
cousins who have a child in the army,
I realized that most of the people, Jew-
ish and Arab, really do want peace and
really do get along. Its no longer about
over there but about real mothers andreal children. It makes you want peace
so much.
She and Janet Freitag of Ramsey stayed
in Israel a few extra days after Momen-
tum ended. I went with Janet to Old Jaffa
one day, and there were crazy rains and
the shops were flooded, she said. A
Jewish shop owner told us that an Arab
construction worker helped her for three
hours to bail out.
Upon returning home, Ms. Sackstein
felt that the experience had pushed her
reset button. In Israel, everyone is grate-
ful, literally dancing in the streets, she
said. Weve all read about the i
tance of practicing gratitude and
fulness, but being in a place wher
live gratitude and mindfulness is veferent than reading about it in a bo
People can see that Ive change
letting go of stuff that doesnt matt
Rena Bernstein, 56, of Fair Law
Momentum a life-changing exper
very different than I anticipated. If
back now and went to the same s
wouldnt be the same.
You can go and see Israel, yo
hear people talk about it, but you
necessarily feel it. Thats what th
was. I felt the why. I felt a conn
and a transformation. We went
women from New Jersey 25 incl
our leaders and came back as a fa
Ms. Bernstein said that both shher husband were raised knowi
tle about Judaism. I always wan
learn and understand but never
the right opportunity, she said.
not religious but I feel very conn
to Judaism and I always wanted to
Israel for reasons I didnt understa
Two years ago, her son, now 22
on Birthright with a group from co
She told the rabbi leading her son
that she wished she could go along
he told her about Birthright for
mies in other words, JWRPs Mo
tum. She heard about it again from
Rapps, the director of the Jewish
Encounter Program that her 12-ye
daughter attends on Sunday morniTeaneck.
Ms. Bernstein inally had the cha
look into the trip a few months ag
discovered that there was one pla
for October. As I was illing out th
of the application where they as
to write about why you want to g
good friend Roz Wisotsky, also fro
Lawn, called and said, Listen, you
to do this right now. I just got an
that I was accepted on this trip to Is
Mommy Birthright. She had never
tioned it to me and I had never ment
SEE BIRTHRIGHTPA
From left, Dena Levie, Karen Sackstein, Janet Freitag, and Shamira Malekar all
were part of the Momentum trip.
We went as women fro
New Jersey25 including o
leaders acame back
a fami
Its no longerabout over
therebut aboutreal mothers andreal children.Itmakes you wantpeace so much.
-
7/21/2019 Jewish Standard, December 18, 2015, with supplements
11/112JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2
ANNUAL BENEFIT DINNERSunday Evening, February 28, 2016Marriott Glenpointe Hotel, Teaneck NJ
HONORING
Rena & JerryBARTA
Heshy & EveFELDMAN
Rabbi Steven & KarenFINKELSTEIN
Rosalyn & StephenFLATOW
Jerry & AnnetteKRANSON
CommunityPartnership
Award
It is only through your compassion and generosity that our vital work can continue.
EXCELLENCE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION INDIVIDUALIZATIONINCLUSION BY DESIGN TRANSFORMING LIVES
With a 1:2 STAFF-TO-STUDENT RATIOand the custom-tailored program that eachchild requires, SINAIs costs per child are great and our fundraising need is acute.
Reservations and Donations: www.sinaidinner.org/support 201-833-1134 x105
Dedicating The Bayrish Schreiber Music Therapy Program
PLEASE REMEMBER US IN YOUR
YEAR-END CHARITABLE GIVING
Our children are so fragile when they first walk through our doors...
With your help we will nurture them so that they can flourish and grow.
-
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12JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
it to her. And here I was about to hit the
submit button. So we wound up going to
Israel together, and spent an extra ive days
there together.
Ms. Bernstein recalls the groups visit
to the Western Wall, the sole remnant ofthe Second Temple complex destroyed
by the Romans around 70 CE. Before we
approached, we made a circle, she said.
Our leaders went around and asked us
each to talk about something personal we
would like to ask for, and that brought us
closer together. They gave us each a prayer
book with our name imprinted on it, and
inside they had highlighted the prayer
you say at the Wall. When we got there
and touched it, it brought all the pieces
together. It was just awesome a connec-
tion between me, my story, my history, my
friends, and my roots.
Though these women can get together in
Bergen County and they have done so, for
follow-up programming after the trip Ms.Bernstein said that being in Israel cemented
their relationship. A big part of it was that
in New Jersey we feel like were individuals
who, even when in shul, are surrounded by
a society that doesnt understand, accept,
or embrace us. In Israel I truly felt I was
home, even though I had never been there
before.
The decision to go during a time of unrest
was not easy, however.
The founder of JWRP, Lori Palatnik, kept
monitoring the situation and all the partici-
pants had a conference call with her a week
before the trip, Janet Freitag said. She said
they wouldnt take us to places that are not
safe, and I had no doubts about going. Wehad armed former IDF soldiers accompany-
ing us on the trip, so we did feel very safe.
Ms. Freitag, 46, irst heard about Momen-
tum from a friend in Woodcliff Lake who
went in 2012. She kept talking about how
meaningful it was, she said. This year
my son had a bar mitzvah, so I was extra
exposed to my Judaism, and that prompted
me to look into the trip.
She also became more interested in Jew-
ish learning through her attendance at fam-
ily school with her 10-year-old daughter on
Sunday mornings at Beth Haverim Shir Sha-
lom in Mahwah.
My husband is not Jewish, but my syn-
agogue embraced him, and we agreed to
raise the kids Jewish, Ms. Freitag said. Hewas supportive of my going on the trip; he
knew I needed to go spiritually.
I always thought Israel was so far away
and didnt feel a connection to it. Going
there deepened my faith, and a lot of the
things I learned about had more meaning. I
feel I want to be more involved in my syna -
gogue and stay in touch with the women on
the trip. I want my children to go to Israel,
too.
One of her favorite moments was on top
of Masada, a mountain near the Dead Sea
where a group of 900 Jews held out against
the Roman Legion for three years. The
author Alice Hoffman based her novel The
Dovekeepers on this historic episode.
I read The Dovekeepers with my bookclub six months before the trip and it was
beautiful to see where this story took place,
Ms. Freitag said.
Before joining the other city groups
for the irst night in Tiberias, the Bergen
women traveled to the Jewish Federa-
tion of Northern New Jerseys sister city,
Nahariya, on Israels northwest coast.
They visited historic sites, met with
the residents of a federation-supported
group home for teenage girls, and toured
the underground attack-proof emergency
and surgery center at Nahariyas Western
Galilee Medical Center.
In addition to Jerusalem and Masada,
the Momentum itinerary included Safed,
the Dead Sea, Yad Vashem Holocaust
Memorial, camel rides at Eretz Beresheetin the Judean Desert, Shabbat meals with
local Jerusalem families, spa night at the
natural sulfur hot-spring pools at the
Akoya Spa in the south, and lectures on
topics ranging from marriage to Israel
advocacy to drawing meaning from light-
ing Shabbat candles.
It was so lovely how everyone in Jerusa-
lem says Shabbat shalom to each other; I
didnt realize before that it was such a big
deal, Ms. Freitag said. We completely
observed Shabbat; we shut down our elec-
tronics and just enjoyed.
By the end of the eight days, she said,
everyone was exhausted but renewed at
the same time. At the Bergen trip reunion
on November 30th, each participantshared the same sentiment we all felt a
deep connection with Israel and started to
bring some new Jewish traditions into our
family routines.
Julie Farkas, one of the trips leaders
and coordinators, said that she found out
about JWRP in 2011, at a time when she
was teaching Hebrew to students at the
Jewish Learning Experience and JYEP. I
wanted to ind a way to help them connect
more deeply, she says. JWRP has created
a diverse group of women Conservative,
Orthodox, Reform and weve become
one, a sisterhood. Its an international
organization, so no matter where
we have sisters there.
She noted that Israels diaspora M
has started providing half the fundiMomentum trips, allowing the organ
to increase the number of participant
1,000 women per year to 2,000 in th
two years. Registrants pay only air fa
The goal is to create communit
connect women to their Judaism a
have them come back and be leade
give to their communities, Ms. Farka
This trip shows you the soul of Israe
mix of classes and sightseeing thats
evant to the mission to connect every
When you come back its hard t
balize what it was like, so you have to
with others who went with you.
Each of the leaders offers option
low-up activities, including classes
monthly challah-bake. Ms. Farkasa Torah class on Sundays at the Te
General Store.
I know its dificult as a mother to
your family for eight days, Ms. F
said. It takes a lot of effort and
but thousands of mothers have d
through JWRP, and its a life-cha
experience that will enhance your
ism and strengthen your faith, so its
worth it for yourself and for your fa
JInspire already is recruiting for it
Momentum trip, set to leave on N
ber 13, 2016. For information, ema
Glauser at [email protected].
BirthrightFROM PAGE 10
The trip included a visit to Masada.
This trip showsyou the soulof Israel.Its amix of classes
and sightseeingthats all relevant
to the missionto connecteveryone.
-
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JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2
This event is generously sponsored by the Brodsky family in loving memory of
Bernice and Bernard Kramer, zl, grandparents of Molly Brodsky, Maayanot Class of 2013
Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls invites you to our
Day of Big IdeasFriday, December 25, 2015 9:30 AM12:30 PM
Keynote Speaker, former Rhodes Scholar
Dr. Jeremy DauberAtran Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture &
Director, Institute of Israel and Jewish Studies, Columbia University
Frightening Jews: What Makes a Jewish Horror Story?
With additional lectures by members of our distinguished faculty, including:
Mrs. Tamar Appel The Menorah Society: Illuminating American Jewish Identity
Mrs. Randy Bernstein The Statistics of Polling
Mrs. Enid Goldberg Sophocles' Antigone: Lessons for Our Time
Dr. Julie Goldstein Chrismahanukwanzakah: Hellenism Yesterday & Today
Mrs. Esther Slomnicki Boys will be Boys (and Girls will be Girls): Genes and Gender Determinatio
Mrs. Yael Weil Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel and.......the Jews?!
1650 Palisade Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey * 201-833-4307
Scholars-in-ResidenceRABBI ARYEH LEBOWITZ
Beis Haknesses ofNorth Woodmere, NY
DR. MARC SHAPIRONoted Educator, Author, Lecturer
FREE JET SKIING & SPA TREATMENTS
ALL DAY BEACH BBQS
GLATT KOSHERCHOLOV YISROEL
Scholar-in-Residence
RABBI ARI LAMMJewish Center
Upper West Side, NY
Orthodox rabbis: Christianity is part of Gods plan
Teanecks Dr. Eugene Korn helps draft statement
LARRY YUDELSON
Fifty years ago, at the Second Vatican
Council, the Catholic Church reversed its
attitude toward the Jewish people, reject-
ing the charge of deicide and acknowl-
edging that the Jewish covenant with God
remained valid.
Two weeks ago, a group of Orthodox
rabbis returned the favor.
In its statement, To Do the Will of Our
Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership
between Jews and Christians, the rabbis
who signed the statement seek to do the
will of our Father in Heaven by accepting
the hand offered to us by our Christian
brothers and sisters.
It is a groundbreaking statement,
Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn said. Its the onlystatement I know of by an international
Orthodox body that talks about the prac-
tical and theological relationship with
the Roman Catholic church after Nostra
Aetate.Rabbi Korn, who lives in Teaneck and
Jerusalem, was one of the drafters of the
statement, which was published by the Cen-
ter for Jewish-Christian Understanding and
Cooperation, an interfaith center in Israel
founded by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. Rabbi
Korn is the centers academic director.
The real importance of this Orthodox
statement is that it calls for fraternal part-
nership between Jewish and Christian reli-
gious leaders, while also acknowledging
the positive theological status of the Chris-
tian faith, Rabbi Riskin said in the press
release announcing the statement. Jews
and Christians must be in the forefront of
teaching basic moral values to the world.
This was made possible by the CatholicChurchs new respect for Judaism.
Now that the Catholic Church has
acknowledged the eternal Covenant
bet ween G-d and Israel, we Jews can
acknowledge the ongoing constructivevalidity of Christianity as our partner in
world redemption, without any fear that
this will be exploited for missionary pur-
poses, the statement said.
Jewish thinkers have previously crafted
statements like Dabru Emet in 2000 on
Jewish-Christian relations and theoloy,
but few Orthodox rabbis could go along
with those theological and practical claims
in light of their understanding of Jewish
tradition, Rabbi Korn said.
This proclamations breakthrough is
that influential Orthodox rabbis across all
centers of Jewish life have inally acknowl-
edged that Christianity and Judaism are
no longer engaged in a theological duel to
the death, and that Christianity and Juda-ism have much in common, spiritually and
practically. Given our toxic history, this is
unprecedented in Orthodoxy.
In what Rabbi Korn called a con
extension of the halachic and rabbindition, the statement cited past ra
thinkers, from Maimonides to Rabb
son Raphael Hirsch through Rabbi
Shear Yashuv Cohen, a recent chief
of Haifa, who afirmed that Christia
part of Gods plan for humanity.
We acknowledge that Christ
is neither an accident nor an erro
the willed divine outcome and gift
nations, the statement reads. In se
ing Judaism and Christianity, G-d w
separation between partners with s
cant theological differences, not a s
tion between enemies.
It continues: We Jews and Chr
have more in common than what d
us: the ethical monotheism of Abrthe relationship with the One Crea
Heaven and Earth, Who loves and
SEE CHRISTIANITYPA
-
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Local
14JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
Deadline nearing for JTS grants
Jewish Theological Seminary alumni have
until December 31 to apply for a 2016 grantfrom the JTS Seeds of Innovation Project,
which provides support for initiatives that
cultivate Jewish engagement through the
principles and ideals of Conservative Juda-
ism. In three years, JTS Seeds of Innova-
tion has distributed more than $100,000.
A selection committee that includes JTS
alumni and is chaired by the seminarys
executive vice chancellor allocates fund-ing from the JTS Seeds of Innovation Proj-
ect. Eligible programs can be synagogue or
organization based or independent, and
they must have clear-cut leadership goals
intended to affect the Jewish community.
For an application and instructions go to
jtsa.edu/seedsoinnovation.
Englewood shul participatingin Israel solidarity missionCongregation Ahavath Torah in Engle-
wood is part neri ng with Emunah of
America for an emergency solidarity mis-
sion to Israel led by Rabbi Shmuel Goldin.
The mission, in response to the continu-ing terror attacks in Israel, is building on
a record of many trips during dificult
times.
Participants will leave on the night of
Saturday, January 2, and may chose to
return either Friday morning, January 8,
or Sunday morning, January 10. The mis-
sion includes solidarity meetings with
soldiers and residents in critical areas;
visits with victims of terror and their fam-
ilies; hospital visits; high-level brieings
by representatives of the IDF and major
political and community leaders, and
opportunities to patronize businesses
affected by the situation.
Ahavath Torahs most recent missionbrought two busloads of participants to
Israel during the Gaza War in the sum-
mer of 2014. Earlier missions include
trips during the two intifadas and the
irst congregational trip to Israel during
the so-called Scud War.
The January mission is open to all. The
sponsors welcome other synagogues to
join as mission co-sponsors. For informa-
tion, call the synagogue at (201) 5681315
or Emunah at (212) 9475454, ext. 321.
Jewish Standard story helps SinaiHoly Name Medical Center prograHoly Name Medical Center in Teaneck
received a $10,000 donation from the
Just Enery Foundation, to be used prin-
cipally for programs run by the Sinai
Schools.
Teaneck-based Sinai works with chil-
dren with physical and developmental
challenges, tailoring education specii-
cally for each child and housing those
programs in Jewish day schools. HNMC
is the only hospital to provide vocational
training for Sinai students, and it pro-vides them with generous scholarship
aid as well.
Were very excited to see that the
positive impact of Holy Names partner-
ship with the Sinai Schools has inspired
support from our community, Michael
Maron, Holy Names CEO, said. The hos-
pital is also helping to simplify access to
healthcare for adult Sinai graduates who
are living in supportive housing. In 2015,
Holy Name Medical Center expanded its
partnership with Sinai by establishing
a scholarship program for tuition assis-
tance so more families in need can afford
to send their children to Sinai School.
Miriam Stiefel of Englewood, the
director of Just Enerys national afin-ity program, read the story that this
newspaper wrote about the partnership
between Sinai and Holy Name (Reining
a partnership, November 6, 2015).
I read the article, Ms. Stiefel
said. It was an amazing story, really
well-wri tten, and I read it, and
moved, and I saved it, and then I
to our foundation to see if we coul
port the program.
She also was moved by the peop
saw in the storys photos. I recog
Sammy Sam Fishman, she sai
Fishman is Sinais managing dir
he was also one of my older bro
friends, when I was little and we li
Brooklyn. Once I saw his name, I
exactly who he was.I know that Sinai is a wond
cause, she continued. I have f
who use Sinai, so I know how goo
and how important.
When she met Mr. Maron, Holy N
president and CEO, she was impr
by him. He exudes warmth an
ing, she said. And I was touch
how Mike wants to give back. He
to make a difference and he doe
We are absolutely delighted to
this donation to Holy Name Medica
ter Deb Merril, Just Enerys co
executive oficer, added. Its coll
tion with Sinai Schools, in particu
helping to secure necessary medic
community resources for special students, ills a critical gap. This st
reflects a guiding principle of th
Enery Foundation to help ensu
one is turned away from the car
support they need and deserve d
inancial hardship. JOANNE
Miriam Stiefel, the director of Just Energys national affinity program, an
Shon Prejean, center, Just Energys national affinity sales director, prese
the $10,000 donation to Michael Maron, president and CEO of Holy Nam
Medical Center.
Chanukah packages for hospital residents
The Community Affairs committee at the
JCC of Paramus/Congregation Beth Tik-
vah made and delivered Chanukah gift
packages for Jewish residents at Bergen
Regional Medical Center in Paramus for
its annual Chanukah party. For informa-
tion on synagogue programs, go to www.
jccparamus.org.
1245 Teaneck R
Teaneck
837-870TALLESIM CLEANED SPECIAL SHABBOS RUSH SERVICEWe want your business and we go the extramile to make you a regular customer
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AND ALTERATIONS
J-ADD celebrates ChanukahThe Jewish Association for DevelopmentalDisabilities held its annual Chanukah party
with food, music, and a menorah lighting
at the JCC of Paramus/Congregation Beth
Tikvah. JADD is a private nonproit orga-
nization that serves people with devel-
opmental disabilities and their families in
Northern New Jersey.
Dr. John Winer, J-ADD
executive director, left, and
Marcia Greenwald, a mother
of a J-ADD resident, light
the Chanukah candles.
At J-ADDs Chanukah party.PHOTOS COURTESY J-ADD.
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JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2
In U.S. Israel Bond Sales
For the Third Consecutive Year
$1 BILLION
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Cruz courts pro-Israel dollarsduring Englewood eventDisastrous Iran deal is focusas candidate raises $110,000
ROBERT WIENER
Republican presidential candi-
date Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas)raised an estimated $110,000
December 9 at a breakfast
fund-raiser in Englewood sponsored by
Norpac, the nonpartisan pro-Israel politi-
cal action committee.
On November 3, Norpac members raised
$100,000 for rival presidential contender
Sen. Marco Rubio (RFla.).
Cruz spoke very well, said Norpacs
president, Ben Chouake, a few hours after
the meeting. It was the usual partisan
stuff. His presentation and Rubios were
similar. The two discussions were mostly
related to U.S.-Israel relations. Both are
very interested in strong relat ions with
Israel and United States security, and bothrecognize the relationship is not only in the
economic and security interests of Amer-
ica, but support of Israel is also a moral
obligation of the United States.
Dr. Chouake said that much of the talk
focused on the multinational nuclear agree-
ment intended to keep Iran from develop-
ing nuclear weapons.
Mr. Cruz spelled out his stand in Sep-
tember, writing in the National Review that
the lifting of $100 billion is sanctions will
give (Irans) Supreme Leader the tools and
resources to greatly accelerate the nuclear
program.
Dr. Chouake said most of the Republi-
can candidates Ive met with feel that the
deal is disastrous, and say they will do whatthey can to dismantle it.
Another hot topic, Donald Trump, was
barely touched on during Norpacs session
with Mr. Cruz. We didnt talk about Trump
in terms of anything more than Cruz pre-
dicted people are going to lose interest in
him, Dr. Chouake said.
One day earlier, Mr. Cruz had said that
I do not agree with Mr. Trumps pro-
posal for banning Muslims from entering
the United States, but he did commend
his rival for standing up and focusing
Americas attention on the need to secure
our borders.
Mr. Cruz is now ranked as second behind
Trump in several polls of likely Republican
voters, and he is rising in many polls.
The topic of banning Muslims from thecountry or even immigration policy did not
come up at all, Dr. Chouake added.
Dr. Chouake, a registered Republican,
offered his own analysis of Mr. Trumps
popularity.
Trump has said stuff that sometimes
is offensive to certain people but the
stuff he has been saying connects with
other people in a big way, and whether
you agree with it or not, he is polling on
top of everyone e lse, Dr. Chouake said.
That is because he is saying what
people are feeling, whether it is good or
it is bad. He is basically saying, We are
at war, and we need to be more careful.
That is why he is doing well in the polls.I dont think Trump is anti-Semitic, Dr.
Chouake added. I dont know him, but
the people I know who know him are con-
vinced that he would be a tremendous sup-
porter of the relationship with Israel.
Mr. Trump solicits donations for his
campaign on his website, but he has said
that he is not seeking funds from politi-
cal action committees like Norpac.
Although Norpac has no plans now
to host other presidential aspirants, Dr.
Chouake said he believes New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie is as supported
as Cruz among its members.
Norpacs members evince little inter-
est in the candidacy of Dr. Ben Carson, a
brain surgeon and politica l novice whohas slipped to third place in public opin-
ion polls, Dr. Chouake added.
I dont think Carson is going to get it,
he said. I think his problem is he says,
I am brilliant. I am a brilliant neurosur-
geon. But he doesnt know anything,
and if you want to run for president,
youve got to do your homework. You
cant say, Ill learn it on the job.
Youve got to be prepared, and the per-
ception is that he is not.
Reprinted from MetroWests New Jersey
Jewish News
Norpacs president, Dr. Ben Chouake, left, stands next to Republican presi-
dential hopeful Ted Cruz. Ben and Batya Klein, right, hosted the fund-raiser in
their Englewood home. AVI SCHRANZ/NORPAC
-
7/21/2019 Jewish Standard, December 18, 2015, with supplements
16/112
RocklandLove-bombing
the communityRocklAND Jewish campaignshores up a diverse mainstreamwith pride and positivity
JOANNE PALMER
Lets look at the question of per-
ception and reality.
Philosophers, neuroscientists,
theologians, and college fresh-
man have debated that abstract issue for
at least as long as there have been philoso-phers, neuroscientists, theologians, or col-
lege freshman. But sometimes the abstract
has to give way to the pragmatic.
Sometimes perception matters tremen-
dously, sometimes the perception isnt
reality, and sometimes the two have to be
brought into consonance.
Ergo, to go from the abstract to the very
speciic, Rockland and Jewish.
Rockland County has a population of
about 324,000 people, and almost a third
of them 31.4 percent as of last year, to
be exact are Jewish. That makes it the
county with the highest number of Jews
per capita in the country.
But there also is a problem. Although theliberal Jewish community is old and well
established, for some time now the public
face of Jewish Rockland County has been
its rapidly growing chasidic community.
New Square and Monsey provide images
of a certain kind of Jewish life that often
appeal to less traditional Jews but evoke
nostalgia rather than a sense of belonging.
And, of course, the ongoing problems
in the East Ramapo school district, which
faces massive inancial dificulties and alle-
gations that the school board composed
mainly of chasidic Jews whose children do
not use the public schools whose funds
they control has diverted funding inways that profoundly damage the districts
public school students. The situation has
become so dire that a group of liberal rab-
bis, who until recently decided that it was
more moral to sit on the sidelines than to
be seen as attacking fellow Jews, has taken
a public stance against the school board.
The situation in East Ramapo is fluid. On
Monday, a team of monitors, headed by
former New York City Schools Chancellor
Dennis Walcott, said that the state should
send a special monitor with veto power
to the district, that a monitor should
oversee the school board elections, and
that at least some of the board members
should have a child in the system. It alsoendorsed a report, iled by another state
monitor, Harvey Greenberg, last year, that
witheringly eviscerated what is sees as the
boards fecklessness.
What all this means is that there is a
huge divide in Jewish life in Rockland
County, with the liberal streams on one
side and the various thriving and vigor-
ously differentiated chasidic groups on the
other. (The position of the modern Ortho-
dox community is a story for another day.)
Thats where Rockland and Jewish
comes in.
Rockland and Jewish (or RocklAND Jew-ish), at the most basic level, is a Facebook
page. Its a campaign, created and funded
by the Jewish Federation of Rockland
County and the Rockland County Board
of Rabbis, to bring the real face of Jewish
Rockland to public view.
It shows the world that Jewish Rockland
is not black and white but made up o
ous color. (To ind the page, go to Fac
and type in Rockland and Jewish
Rockland and Jewish is the resu
very generous grant to the Board o
bis of Rockland County, Rabbi Paul
Drill of the Orangetown Jewish CenConservative synagogue in Orang
said.
It shows people and has little sho
ries about their lives, Rabbi Drill sa
says that we look like all kinds of p
and that like everyone else we are p
the fabric of the county.
Elissa Nyez, left, and Aviva Banayan and Sophie Goldberg, right, all are featured on the new Rockland and Jewish Facebook page.
On Rockland and Jewish, Monica Bergman, shown here with her husband a
child, tells her story.
16JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
-
7/21/2019 Jewish Standard, December 18, 2015, with supplements
17/112
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It also shows all the great reasons
to be Jewish in Rockland. People talk
about the kosher restaurants here,
and about hiking here, and about
Nyack being a really funky cool place.
There are some lively stories of Jewish
life. If people to the right of us would
open their eyes and look at it, theywould see something.
This is what mainstream Judaism
looks like, and here we are, living it,
in Rockland County.
The Facebook page Rockland and
Jewish has been up only for about
three months, but its been about two
and a half years in the making.
Rockland and Jewish is a dream
that really started percolating with
Craig Scheff, my co-rabbi at Oran-
getown, Rabbi Dr ill said. He is the
president of the Board of Rabbis, and
Rockland and Jewish is his brainchild.
He was talking about the quandary
of negative press here, about Jewish
people inding ourselves somehow inthe middle, between not wanting neg-
ative press for any Jewish people and
also not wanting to be identiied with
the behavior of people in this county
who are not us. So we came up with
the idea of showing that this is the way
we live, and this is also Jewish.
This was right around the time
that the Rockland Board of Rab-
bis became involved with Rockland
Clery for Social Justice. Here at my
synagogue, many congregants were
asking the rabbis what we were doing
about the negative press.
For both non-Jews in the countyand Jews outside the county, it started
being very negative, Rabbi Drill con-
tinued. Say Im part of a young Jew-
ish family in Riverdale or the Upper
West Side, and were looking to move
to the suburbs. Why would I look to
move to Rockland? All I hear is how
horrible it is there, and I dont identify
with any of those people.
For people who already live in the
county, its an ego lift. Were not awful
people. Were showing people in the
county that we live just like you. Ourkids play little league like yours do.
We serve the homeless like you do.
We live in your neighborhoods.
We want people outside the
county, young people, young fami-
lies, to consider Rockland County as
a good place to live, a place with a via-
ble liberal Jewish community.
Rabbi Scheff agreed that the point
of the campaign is to counterbal-
ance negative images with positive
ones. The way to do that is to craft
an image without creating a we/they
situation, instead throwing it open to
everyone who wants to be part of it
by promoting the good things we are
doing.We consciously made the effort
not to paint anyone as other. I per-
sonally feel strongly that if we are to
call out our neighbors in any way it
would be done more privately and
Cantor Barry Kanarek of the Nanuet Jewish C
also is the director of the federations Rockla
Jewish Initiative.
This is whatmainstream
Judaism lookslike, andherewe are, living
it, in RocklandCounty.
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7/21/2019 Jewish Standard, December 18, 2015, with supplements
18/112
Rockland
18JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 18, 2015
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more sensitively. This is our way of going
positive.
There are issues that we as individual
community members use our own ways to
ight injustice in this world, but as a board of
rabbis this is something that we all could buy
into comfortably and believe it. It expresses
what we all feel.Because the group decided to use social
media for its campaign, Rabbi Scheff asks
people to support it by sharing it. Some-
times people forget that it is their job to
carry forward this mission, he said. As
institutions we can come up with an idea,
and it can look good, but it loses steam if
individuals do not take upon themselves the
responsibility for making it happen.
In this case, it is not hard work. Dont just
like it, Rabbi Scheff urges. Share it. Press
that button.
He calls the Facebook pages relentlessly
optimistic outlook, its refusal to be negative,
love bombing.We love-bomb our community, Rabbi
Scheff said. Look at how wonderful every-
thing could be.
Barry Kanarek is the cantor of the Nanuet
Jewish Center, a Conservative shul, and he
is also the director of the federations Rock-
land Jewish Initiative. He enthusiastically
supports the Rockland and Jewish cam-
paign from both positions.
Cantor Kanarek thinks that there is far
more cooperation between the Ortho-
dox and non-Orthodox communities
than public perception will grant, and
that perception in this case is not reality.
We have had a number of celebrationswith Jews from the Orthodox commu-
nity, he said. We all celebrated Sukkot
together, and some of us go and learn
with them on an ongoing basis. They are
doing kiruv, outreach, he said. But its
not unequal, no matter what the word
kiruv might imply. If you have two Jews
studying together, thats equal, he said.
They also make music together. Our
synagogue has a group called the Tem-
ple Dudes, and they have a group called
the Traveling Chasidim, and we play
together.
I dont think that Rockland and Jew-
ish exists because we have separate com-
munities, he said. It exists to show
another side of Rockland, but not neces-sarily to draw us apart. It is just to high-
light this other part.
Rockland is a thriving Jewish com-
munity, and a wonderful place to live,
Rabbi Daniel Pernick of Beth Am Temple
in Pearl River said. I say this as someone
who never wanted to live in New York. I
am from Southield, a suburb of Detroit,
and my wife is from Boston. Neither of
us wanted to live in New York,
But we have lived here for a little over
30 years, and it has been a wonderful
place to live.
He is entirely comfortable with Ortho-
doxy, Rabbi Pernick said. He keeps
kosher, and beneits greatly from thebutc her shops and rest aurants that
thrive in the county. He has fou
dren; one of his sons is about to gra
from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the
Orthodox seminary in Riverdale, a
son-in-law was ordained there.
The campaign is to show
although the news stories about
land are correct, and those issues
the community, and it would be s
claim that they arent they aren
of most peoples daily life.
He is saddened by the chasmseems to increase between dif
Rabbi Paula Mack Drill of the Orangetown Jewish Center is a strong Roc
land and Jewish supporter.
On Sukkot, David Toplitsky tries
a streimel as the Traveling Chas
and the Temple Dudes play tog
at the Nanuet Jewish Center.
-
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19/112
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groups of Jews, he said. It wasnt always
like that. About 20, 25 years ago, we all
came together, he said. There was an
anti-Israel defacement of Temple Beth
El in Spring Valley, a Reform congrega-
tion that recently merged with Temple
Beth Torah to form the Reform Temple
of Rockland but was flourishing then.The attack wasnt as much anti-Semitic
as it was anti-Zionist and anti-Israel, and
it clearly came from someone within the
charedi world.
Ramapos town supervisor, Herb Reis-
man, held an unprecedented meeting,
and called everyone in Reform, Conser-
vative, Orthodox, chasidic. Everyone. He
said, You guys have to talk. This is unac-
ceptable. And a lot of contact came from
that. It petered out eventually, but a lot of
relationships continued.
We have our own identity, Rabbi Per-
nick said. There is a thriving Jewish com-
munity, and it is fascinating. Not everyone
is exactly the same.
The problem is that people feel thatthey are not being seen or heard or under-
stood, because someone else is always
getting the attention. Frankly, when some-
body dresses different or looks different,
thats who gets the attention. So if you
look on TV you see only chasidic Jews, as
opposed to people who looked like me or
like you, because we look just like every-
one else.
We are not newsworthy. We are just liv-ing our lives.
Beth Singer of Beth Singer Design cre-
ated the Facebook page. The campaigns
objectives are to improve and restore the
self-esteem of the Jewish community in
Rockland, and to increase the publics
understanding of the diverse Jewish pop-
ulation there, and to differentiate them
from ultra-Orthodox Jews, Ms. Singer
said. Our campaign messages are that
the Rockland Jewish community is diverse,
vibrant, engaged, and tolerant, and that it
has a positive effect on the community,
and that Jews in the county are main-
stream and responsible; that they are very
different from the Jews who have domi-
nated the news.The Rockland Board of Rabbis was very
concerned about non-ultra-Orthodox Jews
moving out the county. They were afraid
that the population would shrink, and that
it would become very dificult to attract
more Conservative, Reform, and unaf-
iliated Jews. The public perception of
the Jewish community was becoming too
negative.
Ms. Singer, whose design and communi-cations irm has worked with many Jewish
clients, brought a team to Rockland, and
the group four crews, two making videos
and the other two taking still photos did
80 interviews over the course of two days,
she said. We put together a diverse list,
so we could focus on all different aspects
of the community. Rabbis also were asked
to talk to their congregants, hunting for
volunteers.
Which stories have been the most pow-
erful? Rabbi Scheffs son, Jared, said that
he had been shomer Shabbat for his whole
life, and when he invited his friends for
Shabbat at irst they would turn up their
noses. They said they didnt want to dis-
connect. And then they would come any-way, and theyd be delighted. Theyd feel
so taken care of, so wonderfully enveloped
by the Scheff family. Jared was so
that he could show his friends the
being shomer Shabbat.
The most interesting thing ab
though, was that in the comments a
man said I was one of those peopl
I credit who I am as a man to the sh
Shabbat experiences at the Scheff hIt was just so beautiful.
And there was Paul Galan, a Hol
survivor, who said that he wasnt
and that we should all look forwar
not be bitter. The video crew told m
cried when they ilmed it.
There are many other stories o
page already; from a widow who sta
support group for young widows an
owers from a woman who conver
Judaism and for the last 15 years ha
teaching about prayer in her synag
from a young modern Orthodox w
who talks about how much she lov
Rockland Jewish community.
The goal is to be positive, Ms.
said. We have a very clear directivebe negative. Our goal is to restore p
the Jewish community.
Super Sunday volunteersVolunteers are needed Super Sunday, a day of com-
munity building and fundraising for the Jewish Fed-
eration of Rockland Countys annual campaign. Adult
and teen volunteers are needed as well as donations
and sponsorships from community businesses. For
information, email Beth Weiss-Dunn at bweiss-dunn@
jewishrockland.org or call (845) 3624200, ext. 121.
Bingo in Pearl Riverat Beth Am TempleBeth Am Temple in Pearl River holds bingo games on