New Jersey Jewish Standard - Dec. 27, 2013

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JSTANDARD.COM

201383

DECEMBER 27, 20VOL. LXXXIII NO. 16 $1.0

SCHECHTER OFFERS MENU OF MINYANS page 6

REMEMBERING EDGAR BRONFMAN page 10

FIGHTING WARILY FOR A FREE UKRAINE page 26

HEBREW DIALOGUE IS HIGHLIGHT OF HANDLE page 33

the yearin reviewpage 20

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Page 3

JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 27, 2013

PUBLISHERS STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747)

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and to comment editorially. Nothing may be reprinted in wholeor in part without written permission from the publisher. 2013

NOSHES ...................................................5OPINION ................................................16

COVER STORY ............ ............ ............ 20

TORAH COMMENTARY ....................31

CROSSWORD PUZZLE .................... 32

ARTS AND CULTURE........................33

CALENDAR ..........................................34

OBITUARIES ........................................ 37

CLASSIFIEDS ...................................... 38

GALLERY ..............................................40

REAL ESTATE .......................................41

For convenient home delivery,

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CONTENTS

F.Y.I.

Single-malt whiskeyfrom the Holy Land

The year is 2014, and

youre in search of a

traditional, fine single-malt

whiskey.

Pick the bottle with the

logo of a cow decked out

in honey-bee colors. Take

a look at the label youll

be delighted to find this

Highlands-inspired flavorful

whiskey comes from Israel

and is kosher.

The Milk & Honey

Distillery Israels first

single malt whiskey

distillery is not a fantasy.The Israeli spirit enthusiasts

behind it are so serious

about their traditional craft

distillery that theyve invested nearly

$1 million of their own funds and ran a

crowd-sourcing campaign for another

$65,000.

We are dedicated to using traditional

craft distilling techniques to make a

high-quality whiskey in the Holy Land.

Israeli whiskey that we can all be proud

of, according to the Milk & Honey

pact on the teams website.

Theyve got a seven-meter-tall copper

3,500 liter still now being handcrafted

in Germany and another handmade

9,000 liter wash still waiting to be used

in a warehouse near the port of Ashdod.

And while the Israeli team is made

up of whiskey enthusiasts, they madesure to hire a master distiller, the world

renowned James (Jim) Swan. Mr. Swan,

who hails from Glasgow, has detailed

knowledge about making the golden

beverage and is the leading expert on

whiskey production in warmer climates.

It will be a signature single-malt

whiskey not peaty, but rich flavorful

Speyside-style, Mr. Swan said. The

ingredients used in producing the

whiskey will be carefully selected and

mostly locally sourced.

Simon Fried, co-founder of Milk &

Honey Distillery, was out drinking with

five other whiskey devotees in 2012

when one of them threw out the idea

that Israel should have its own whiskey.

That proposal sparked grander plans,

and today the six-member team is

putting final touches on blueprints for

a distillery and visitors center near

Mikhmoret, about 30 minutes north of

Tel Aviv.

Mr. Fried said the traditional craft

whiskey distillery will make use of local

ingredients where possible, without

going too far off on a tangent.Were whiskey geeks; we want to

play it straight and narrow, he said.

We love whiskey so much and

we think its a great way to project

something different outwards from

Israel, he continued. Weve seen how

Israeli wine has done great things for

Israels reputation on the world stage,

and wed love our whiskey to achieve

the same.

The Milk & Honey team dedicates

part of its website to Mary the

Jewess (aka Maria Prophetissima,

Maria Prophetissa, Mary Prophetissa,

Miriam the Prophetess). While the first

fermentation and distillation traces

back to Hellenistic Egypt, it seems

that Mary estimated to have lived

between the first and third centuries

of the Common Era is considered

the first non-fictitious alchemist in theWestern world.

Her story appears in the works of

the Gnostic Christian writer Zosimos

of Panopolis. Zosimos credits Mary the

Jewess as the inventor of the tribikos,

the first distilling equipment.

VIVA SARAH PRESS / ISRAEL21C.ORG

Candlelighting: Friday, December 27, 4:16 p.m.

Shabbat ends: Saturday, December 28, 5:21 p.m.

Same-sex penguin couplenests together in Israeli zoolDashik and Yehuda, two male grif-

fon vultures, first made headlines

when they raised surrogate chicks to-

gether at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo

back in 1999. Now, Suki and Chup-

chikoni, two female Jackass penguins,

are waving a new rainbow flag at the

Zoological Center Ramat Gan (Safari)

just outside of Tel Aviv.

Safari keepers say it was pretty

obvious that Suki was a female

because of her size. As soon as she

and Chupchikoni coupled up and

started collecting nesting materials

together, the zoo staff wrongly

assumed that Sukis black-footedpenguin companion was a male.

Penguins pair for life, and there was

no mistaking Suki and Chupchikonis

attraction to each other.

There is no way of telling a male

penguin from a female just by looking

at them, says Safari spokeswoman

Sagit Horowitz. But usually the

keepers can guess the gender by size

and behavior.

It was an Israeli veterinary students

research on diagnosing avian malaria

that outed Suki and Chupchikoni.

Blood samples taken from the

South African penguins showed that

Chupchikoni also was a female.

We had no doubt about Suki, as

she is quite small, said Tamuz Setti,

head of the Safari Avian Departmen

The Safari supports the new coup

and even promoted their status with

press release and photos.

This is our first lesbian animal

couple at the Safari, Ms. Setti said.

And because there are a few young

available males in the colony, we are

certain that this is a choice they mad

to be together, and not a coupling b

default.

VIVA SARAH PRESS / ISRAEL21C.O

On a wing and a prayer brieflylTravelers on El Al last week were

surprised to hear the recitation of

Tefilat Haderech the travelers

prayer over the loudspeaker as

they entered the plane and once

again as the plane was taxiing to

its takeoff position, Yedioth Aha-

ronot reported.

An airline employee told Yedioth

that about two years ago, the

company placed a sign with the

text of the Travelers Prayer at

the entrance, and passengers

did not complain because they

barely noticed it. But now were

receiving complaints from the air

crews and the passengers, the El

Al employee said.

El Al responded to the

complaints by saying that playing

the prayer on a planes public

address system was initiated by

the company chaplain, Rabbi

Yochanan Chayut.

They also announced that the

prayer would be removed by the

end of the week. Rabbi Chayut was

ordered to attend a hearing before

the company brass on his decision.

YORI YANOVER

Simon Fried is buying equipment for the Milk &

Honey Distillery.

Suki and Chupchikoni, two female

Jackass penguins, are waving a new

rainbow flag at the Ramat Gan Zoo-

logical Center.


4/43

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Local


Other paths to GodSchechter students enjoy elective minyanim

LARRY YUDELSON

Can baseball be a path to God?

Some students at the Solo-

mon Schechter Day School of

Bergen County in New Milford

are exploring that possibility.

The school has begun supplement-

ing the schools traditional daily prayer

services by offering seventh and eighth

graders the chance to explore different

avenues of spirituality every Tuesday

and Wednesday morning.

The schools rabbi, Fred Elias, leads a

group talking about the re ligious values

that can be found in the great momentsof baseball. Students in Minyan in the

Gan pray in the schools garden when

the weather allows it, and they are devel-

oping an environmental siddur. In the

Five Senses minyan, students experi-

ence meditation, yoga, and Zumba, and

a music minyan has created a school wor-

ship band.

The idea is to ind different ways upon

which the students can connec t things

they love to do with teillah that is,

with prayer Rabbi Elias said.

Before the discussions, students pray

an abbreviated service, which includes

the most important prayers.

And on the other three days of the

week, the students join for the traditional

full morning prayer service.Behind the notion of offering untra-

ditional minyanim is the ancient con-

flict between structure and spiritual-

ity in prayer or in Hebrew, keva and

kavana. We use the alternative minya-

nim as a complement to the keva por-

tion, explained Ilan Marans, the schools

music and video specialist.

In effect, the school is swapping

some of the words of the prayer book

for a chance to have students focus on

the underlying questions of God and

meaning.

It turns out that the emphasis on kava-

nah, spirituality, two days a week pays

dividends on the days when the worship

fully conforms to the keva, the tradi-

tional structure.The students show a certain higher

level appreciation for the time and space

that we are in our regular minyan with

the traditional davening, he said.

They feel stronger connections that

come out with greater participation, he

said. That connection can be seen in an

increased desire to take on leadership

roles in the regular minyan.

The students also have taken a lead-

ership role in thinking up new ideas for

minyanim that are scheduled to start in

the spring semester.

One new group, which will integrate

contemporary iction, will be called the

ShahaLit a play on Shaharit, the name

of the morning service, which the school

spells without the c and look at con-

temporary iction; the other, ShahaShir,

will bring in Israeli songs.

Mr. Marans leads the musical group,

which is learning to play tunes from the

litury so that in the end we can bring

our Shacharit Live Band to our main min-

yan as an accompaniment to the regular

service.

The group includes a drummer, twosaxophone players, a trumpet player,

and a student who doesnt really have

experience playing but plays a hand

drum during lessons, Mr. Marans said.

Theyve been working on a tune for

the lines at the conclusion of the Shmone

Esrei, practicing making that as perfect

as we can, he said.

Theyve also spent time improvising,

and talking about how music can com-

municate in a spiritual way.

Part of the purpose is to allow kids

to experiment with how they approach

their spirituality in different mediums,

Mr. Marans added.

Rabbi Elias prayer group, by contrast,

is by the book the book in this case

being Baseball as a Road to God: SeeingBeyond the Game, which looks at the

spiritual dimension of the game.

When he picked up the book in June,

he wondered whether he could start a

minyan around the concept, where

kids look at elements of sacred time and

sacred space as they appear in baseball.

While the book itself has allusions to

Christian faith and belief, it has a number

of reflections on Jewish faith and belief

as well. It has really engaged some of

our kids who are very enthusiastic about

sports, he said.

Last week, one of the authors of the

book , Peter J. Schwart z, came to the

school to talk about it.

The Schechter educators empha-

size that all this is a supplement, not areplacement, for traditional services,

so dont go replacing your synagogue

membership with season tickets to the

Yankees.

While gathering together at the base-

ball iel d may offer a spir itu al exper i-

ence, Rabbi Elias said, we also believe

in the sanctity of people gathered in the

purpose of spirituality. It takes place at a

different religious and elevated level in a

synagogue community, he said.

Abe Teicher plays guitar during Shaharit Live, one of five elective minyanim at

the Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County.

PHOTOS COURTESY SSDS OF BERGEN COUN

The schools rabbi, Fred Elias, shows students a video as part of the Baseball

as a Road to God minyan.

Students pray outdoors in Schechters organic teaching garden as part of the

Minyan in the Gan minyan.


6/43

Loca


Shaar CommunitiesChoose Your Gate. Open Your Soul. Find Your Community.

Upcoming Events:Rosh Chodesh Learning Series

Drink & Think, $25 per personTuesday, January 7, 2014, 8:0010:00 pm, $25 per person

At a private home in Englewood Cliffs, NJDiscussion of Sex Trafficking and Slavery in America today, with special guest Debra

Brown Steinberg, Attorney and founder of the w ebsiteVS: Confronting Modern Slavery in America, award-winning au thority on the issue

Parents of LGBTQ Teens

Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 7:30 pm

At a private home in TenaflyNew Jerseysfirst Jewish LGBTQ teen initiative, parents gather to discuss issues

relevant to their children and families, explore how to best engage and supporttheir teens as well to create nurturing a nd meaningful bonds as parents in a safe

and trusting setting.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE!January 24, 2014, 6:30pm, $35 per person

Call for location details.Enjoy music-filled, spiritual Shabbat services followed by a delicious dinner.

Commemorating the yartzeit of Debbie Friedman zl.

Mother/Daughter Spa ShabbatFriday, January 31 Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Lodge at Woodloch, Hawley, PARelax your body and refresh your soul in the height of l uxury and the depths of

feeling.

For more information contact our Director of

Communities at [email protected]

Or visit our website www.shaarcommunities.org

2014 Benefit DinnerPlease join us to support our

communitys school for Jewish children with special needs

HONORING

David & Marjorie BernsteinGUESTS OF HONORTemimei Lev Award

William & Gail HochmanNedivei Lev Award

Aryeh & Arielle SheinbeinRigshei Lev Award

Maadan CaterersStuart Kahan & Yossie Markovic

Tovei Lev Award

Cantor Joseph & Beatrice MalovanyYishrei Lev Award

Sunday Evening

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

Buffet Dinner at 5:15 PM

Program Promptly at 6:45 PM

MARRIOTT GLENPOINTE HOTELTeaneck, New Jersey

201-833-1134, ext. 105www.sinaidinner.org/support

Please remember us in your year-end charitable giving

School auction to benefithospitalized childMoriah students rallyto support a beloved family

LOIS GOLDRICH

For the last 11 years, Englewoods

Moriah School has held a student

council goods and services auc-

tion at the end of Chanukah to

raise funds for a worthy cause.

According to Rabbi Akiva Wolk, director

of student programming for the middle

school, while students always enjoy the

event and participate enthusiastically, this

year was especially meaningful. It beneits

a family the students know and, more

speciically, it helps one little girl.

Rabbi Chaim Poupko, assistant rabbi of

Ahavath Torah in Englewood a belovedrabbi to many of our students has a

daughter, Chana, diagnosed with cancer,

said Erik Kessler, Moriahs director of

admissions and communications.

The students wanted to do something

to help the family. This was a way to help

them.

One of our student council representa-

tives, whose family is close to the Poupko

family mentioned that Chana [is living]

on the pediatric oncoloy floor of Hacken-

sack Hospital, Rabbi Wolk said.

The unit recently got a Wunderwagon, a

colorful animal-shaped wagon that can be

used to pull children around the hospital.

Apparently, it was a big hit.

All the kids were very excited, Rabbi

Wolk said. Everyone wanted to play with

it.

The Moriah student council member

said she thought it would be a good idea

to focus on raising money for anotherWunderwagon to donate to the hospital so

that the children and especially Chana

could use it.

The idea was embraced immediately,

and students bid in record numbers to

achieve the goal. In the end, the auction,

with raffle tickets priced at $1 each, raised

$2,400 from the middle school in one day

the most successful weve been since its

inception, Rabbi Wolk said. Based o

the prices, we hope to purchase three

Moriahs two eighth-grade chesed coordinators, Julia Blinder, left, and Atarah

Kaner, helped Rabbi Wolk organize and execute the auction. MORIAH SCHO

SEE AUCTIONPAGE


7/43


8/43


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9/43

Local


Local memories of Edgar BronfmanArthur Hertzbergs daughter talks about her fathers friend

JOANNE PALMER

Edgar Bronfman, who died on Saturday

at 84, was a very rich man, insulated

from most of us by the huge fortune he

inherited, shepherded, and increased.

Susan Hertzberg of Haworth remem-

bers him not just as an icon, but also as

a person.

Ms. Hertzberg is the younger daugh-

ter of the late Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg.

She grew up in Englewood, where for

decades her father was rabbi of Temple

Emanu-el there. (It since has moved toCloster.) The two men, Mr. Bronfman

physically imposing, elegant, and pow-

erful, and Rabbi Hertzberg much smaller

but a towering intellect, both supremely

self-conident that their way of looking

at the world was the only correct way to

see it, worked together for many years.

Ms. Hertzberg saw much of that work

irst-hand.

Dad and Edgar got to know each

other through their work in major Jew-

ish organizations in the 1970s, she said.

Dad was involved in the American Jew-

ish Congress, and later in the World

Jewish Congress, and Edgar became its

chair.

The two men were drawn together

because each had reached the pinnacle

of his own world, and they recognized

each other from neighboring mountain-

tops. They found that they had a lot of

interests in common, she continued.

Edgar hadnt really had much of a Jew-

ish education, and he grew to rely on myfather for his classical Jewish knowledge.

They spent a lot of time together, dis-

cussing the issues of the day; as a prag-

matic businessman, Edgar had a lot of

interesting and novel ideals about how to

approach some longstanding problems

in American Jewish society, particularly

the disaffection of younger people with

organized synagogue-based religion as a

source of Jewish identity.

Given Mr. Bronfmans continuingfocus on how to engage young people,

Ms. Hertzberg said, it made sense that

he chose to create the Bronfman Youth

Fellowship in Israel, and later to become

involved actively in Hillel. That grew

out of Edgars desire to enlarge the Jew-

ish perspective of young people in Amer-

ica, who were born Jewish but didnt feel

Jewish.

Edgar observed a disengagement

in Judaism on the part of kids who had

gone to Hebrew school in the 1960s and

70s, until bar mitzvah, and then drifted

away, she continued.

So he looked for tools to bring these

young people back. One of his great

thoughts was to give young people the

experience of going to Israel as a way of

stimulating their interest in the Jewish

religion, Jewish culture, and support of

Israel.

The two men collaborated in forming

a minyan where both would celebrate

the High Holy Days. After my fatherretired as a pulpit rabbi, he wanted a

shul in which he would feel comfortable

praying, Ms. Hertzberg said. Edgar too

wanted to be able to feel comfortable.

So the two hatched a small, invitation-

only minyan for their family and some

friends.

The minyan met three times a year;

Mr. Bronfman always managed to ind

a public space that was appropriately

Edgar Bronfman, philanthropist andJewish communal leader, dies at 84

JTA STAFF

NEW YORK Edgar Bronfman, the billion-

aire former beverage magnate and leading

Jewish philanthropist , died on Saturday.

He was 84 years old.

As the longtime president of the World

Jewish Congress, Mr. Bronfman fought for

Jewish rights worldwide and led the suc-

cessful ight to secure more than a billion

dollars in restitution from Swiss banks

for Holocaust victims and their heirs. As

a philanthropist, Mr. Bronfman took the

lead in creating and funding many efforts

to strengthen Jewish identity among

young people.

According to a statement, he died peace-

fully at his home in New York, surrounded

by family.

Mr. Bronfman spent the 1950s and 1960sworking with his father, Samuel, at Sea-

gram Ltd., the familys beverage business.

He became chairman of the company in

1971, the year of his fathers death.

Just a year earlier, in 1970, Mr. Bronfman

took part in a delegation to Russia to lobby

the Kremlin for greater rights for Jews in

the Soviet Union. He would later credit the

trip with inspiring his increasing interest

in Judaism.

It was on those trips to Russia that my

curiosity was piqued, Mr. Bronfman said.

What is it about Judaism, I asked myself,

that has kept it alive through so much

adversity while so many other traditions

have disappeared. Curiosity soon turned

into something more, and that something

more has since turned into a lifelong

passion.

In 1981, Mr. Bronfman became the presi-

dent of the World Jewish Congress, step-

ping up the organizations activism on

behalf of Jewish communities around the

world. From his perch at the WJC, in addi-

tion to battling with the Swiss banks, he

continued the ight for Soviet Jewry, took

the lead in exposing Kurt Waldheims Nazi

past, and worked to improve Jewish rela-

tions with the Vatican. In 1991, he lobbied

President George H.W. Bush to push for

the rescission of the United Nations res

lution equating Zionism and racism.In terms of defending Jews, Im a Jew

Mr. Bronfman said in 2008. And I was

a position to do so, so I did so.

Mr. Bronfmans inal years as preside

of WJC were marred by allegations

inancial irregularities revolving aroun

his most influential adviser on Jewi

political affairs, the organizations secr

tary general, Rabbi Israel Singer. Mr. Bro

fman never was implicated in any of th

inancial allegations, but the controver

and feuding surrounding his top aide dom

inated the inal years of his decades-lo

stint as WJC president.

The ofice of then-New York Attorn

General Eliot Spitzer issued a report

2006 that found no criminal offense, b

criticized the WJCs inancial managemenand it ordered that Rabbi Singer be pr

hibited from making inancial decisio

in the organization. Mr. Bronfman initia

stood by Rabbi Singer before ultimately

ing him in 2007. Several months later M

Bronfman stepped down.

But he did not disappear from the pub

stage. A staunch supporter of the Israe

Palestinian peace process, he continu

to be a vocal and public backer of liber

politicians in the United States and Isra

And as president of the Samuel Bronfm

Foundation, he dedicated most of his in

years to his Jewish philanthropic causes

Arthur Hertzberg and Edgar Bronfman


10/43

Please join NCSY and 312 public

school students from across North

America at NCSYs Yarchei Kallah

Shabbat in New Jersey

DECEMBER 27-28, 2013

Bnai Yeshurun

Rabbi Micah GreenlandInternational Director, NCSY

Keter TorahRabbi Micah Greenland

International Director, NCSY

Ohr HaTorahRabbi Yaakov Glasser

Director of Education, NCSY

Rinat Yisrael

Rabbi Moshe BenovitzDirector, NCSY Kollel

Dean, NCSY Summer

Zichron MordechaiRabbi Ethan Katz

Regional Director, NJ NCSY

Shabbat Morning

Friday Night

Bergen County Scholarship Dinner

HONORINGRabbi Yaakov and Dr. Ruth Glasser

NCSY thanks Congregation Keter Torah and the Teaneck/Bergenfield

community for opening their synagogues and homes to the students

of NCSYs Yarchei Kallah.

www.ncsy.org

NCSY is the internationalyouth movement of the OU

YARCHEIKALLAHShabbat of Inspiration

Words of Inspiration

SAVE THE DATE!

February 17, 2014

Keter Torah600 Roemer AvenueTeaneck, NJ

Yarchei Kallah issponsored in part by

NCSYs Ben ZakaiHonor Society

Sponsored in part byTouros Lander Colleges

Local


sized and furnished to it the minyan comfortably

and stylishly. It was a combination of services

and learning, Ms. Hertzberg said. There always

also was a Talmud lesson, discussion of different

prayers, and relating the litury to things going on

in the world.

The joke was that it was the favorite synagogue

that either of them ever had been afiliated with,

because there was no board of directors.

The minyan lasted for more than 10 years; eventu-

ally Rabbi Hertzbergs failing health made it impos-

sible for him to continue it.

Edgar Bronfman and her father did not always

get along easily, Ms. Hertzberg said. They wouldoften disagree, but they sparked each others think-

ing. They were both very strong egos. Sparks flew

because the ferocity of their intellectual engage-

ment with each other was flint on flint.

Her father also was close to Mr. Bronfmans

widow, Jan, who is a an accomplished painter in

her own right, Ms. Hertzberg said.

Her overwhelming feeling about Edgar Bronfman

is that he was insightful and decisive, she said. He

was truly interested in people.

In 1987 Mr. Bronfman founded the Bronfman Youth Fel-

lowship, a young leadership program that brings togetherJewish high school students from Israel and North Amer-

ica. In the 1990s he worked to revive Hillel, serving as the

founding chair of the campus organizations board of gov-

ernors. In 2002, he provided the funding to launch MyJew-

ishLearning, a digital media entity that now also includes

the Jewish parenting site Kveller and boasts 1 million visi-

tors per month.

Bronfman and his irst wife, Ann Loeb, had ive chil-

dren: Sam, Edgar Jr., Matthew, Holly and Adam. He and

his second wife, Georgiana Webb, had two daughters, Sara

and Clare. In 1994, he married the artist Jan Aronson. He is

survived by Ms. Aronson, his seven children, 24 grandchil-

dren, and two great-grandchildren, as well as a brother,

Charles, and a sister, Phyllis Lambert.

Edgar Bronfmans Jewish philanthropies were wide

ranging and youth oriented.


11/43

Local


Sending formula to ChinaLocal student spearheads driveto help her younger sisters orphanageMEITAL FUKSBRUMER

Eve Zvulun feels she owes a debt to the

Chongren Orphanage in Jiangxi Prov-

ince, China.

After all, thats where the 16-year-old

got her sister.Her 8-year-old sister, Eliana Tilem, was

adopted from the orphanage when she

was a baby.

Now Eve, a junior at the Frisch School

in Paramus, is selling bracelets for $2 a

pop in order to raise money for baby for-

mula for the orphanage.

Eve found out about the orphanages

needs through Pegy Gurrad, who works

with various orphanage foundati ons.

The two corresponded by email over

the past few months, and she decided

to raise funds through selling the Arm-

strong-style bracelets.

When I heard that they needed baby

formula, I wanted to raise the money

they need to provide a better, healthier

life for these children, Eve said. It willcertainly increase their chances of sur-

viving under the harsh living conditions

they are in.

Eve knows irsthand how adopting a

child can change the life of a family for

the better. She and her parents, Ellen

and Peter Tilem, lived quietly until Eli-

ana came to live with them, she recalls.

Eve describes Eliana as lively, abso-

lutely adorable, extremely athletic. She

is a wonderful friend and she is kind,

caring, and brilliant.

She is beautiful and I love her ve

much. In fact, she said, she cant ima

ine life without her any more than sh

can imagine life without her other s

ter, Leila. Now, following Eves path, t

two younger sisters both are students Yeshivat Noam in Paramus.

The response to the bracelet sa

has been overwhelming, Eve said. H

friends are helping by hanging up flye

around the school, and they are buyi

and selling the bracelets too. Some ev

donated extra money to the cause.

I feel this is so important becau

when I thi nk about how Elian a h

impacted my life and my family, an

then I think of the other children w

are still in the orphanage I feel the ne

to impact their lives just like Eliana h

impacted mine, Eve said.

I want to make sure that these ch

dren are living happy, healthy liv

while they are waiting to be adopte

Thankfully Eliana was blessed, and wadopted from the orphanage as a happ

healthy baby. However, the other ch

dren in the orphanage who have n

been adopted yet are sti ll livi ng the

waiting for a family.

To think that they are there witho

being properly fed makes me want to

something. My sister was once no diff

ent from these children.

For more information, email Eve

[email protected].

OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY

Jewish Federation

www.jfnnj.org | 201-820-3900

On behalf of everyone we serve,

thank you

for your commitment

to the Jewish people in our

local community, Israel, and abroad.

Wishing you a healthy and happy

4Mickey Mouse posed for a photo with the three sisters; from left, Leila, Elian

and Eve. PETER TIL

www.jstandard.com


12/43

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Owned and Managed by the Jewish Community Housing Corporation of Metropolitan New Jersey

903-905 Route 10 East, Whippany, NJ

Low and moderate income units also available, as low as $1600 per month

www.jchcorp.org

Dont Just Live Life

Love It!


13/43

Local


Young leadership supporters at the Truth or Dare to Make a Difference gala

played casino games.

FIDF Young Leadership galaraises necessary fundsThe Friends of the Israel Defense Forces,

NY Young Leadership Division, raised morethan $500,000 at its 11th annual gala on

December 7 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in

Manhattan.

More 1,400 young professionals and FIDF

supporters from across the New York metro-

politan area were there. Funds will beneit

the groups recently adopted Israel Defense

Forces Brigade, Iron Trail, as part of the

FIDF Adopt a Brigade Program.Guests at the gala included FIFD national

chair Nily Falic; its national director and

CEO, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yitzhak (Jerry) Ger-

shon; young leadership president Howard

Schor; gala co-chairs Stefanie Cohen, Jake

Dardashtian, and Jane Oster, and national

young leadership director Dan Haskell.

Shabbat services and brisket

Neal Klausner, president of Temple

Sinai of Bergen County, and his wife,

Susan, sponsored a free congrega-

tional Shabbat dinner on December 13.

The evening included a brisket com-

petition that attracted seven competi-

tors. More than 90 congregants came

to the dinner, which was coordinat

and prepared by board vice preside

Anne-Marie Bennoun. A Rock Sha

bat musical service followed. Go

this weeks Cooking with Beth bl

at www.jstandard.com for the winni

brisket recipes.

From left are Yitz Stern, Mayor Davidi Perl, Shani Simkovitz, Ben Gutmann, Jill

Janowski, and Philip and Marlene Rhodes. GERRY BERNSTEIN

Teaneck JNF council dinneryields historic project funding

This years Teaneck Council of the Jewish

National Fund dinner drew more attend-ees than ever more. It raised more than

$200,000 for the Historic Sites Renovation

Project at Gush Etzion Visitors Center and

other JNF projects in Israel.

The Northern New Jersey JNF boards

incoming president, Jill Janowski, pre-

sented a Circle of Excellence award to

outgoing president Ben Gutmann, and

Bob Levine, JNFs national vice president,

presented the same award to Philip and

Marlene Rhodes. The Community Service

award was presented to Teaneck Council-

man Yitz Stern by Mark Levenson, chairof the New Jersey-Israel Commission, who

was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie.

Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameedud-

din was at the dinner, as were several

Teaneck Council members, who presented

citations to the honorees and to Tracy

Silna Zur, who represented the Bergen

County Freeholders. Speakers included

Gush Mayor Davidi Perl and Shani Simko-

vitz, head of the Gush Etzion Foundation.

Greenfield named NCSY directorThe Orthodox Union has

named Rabbi Micah Green-

land of Chicago as interna-

tional director of NCSY, theOUs youth movement. For

the last year he has acted as

interim director, succeeding

Rabbi Steven Burg, who held

the position for eight years

before joi nin g the Simon

Wiesenthal Center as east-

ern director.

For 12 years, Rabbi Greenland was

director of the Chicago-based NCSY

Midwest region. He assumed the

regional directors ro

immediately after receivi

smicha from Yeshiva Univ

sity, where he also earnhis undergraduate and ma

ters degrees. Througho

his six years at Yeshiva U

versity, he was a volunte

NCSY advisor; he irst join

NCSY when he was 9 in h

hometown of Rocheste

N.Y. As a high schooler at the Skok

Yeshiva in Skokie, Ill., he was nation

vice president of NCSY and region

vice president of education.

From left, Neil, Alexandra, Max, and Susan Klausner lit Shabbat candles.

Rabbi Micah

Greenfield

Second place brisket winner, Peggy Kabakow,

left, and Arnie Wechter, first-place winner, flank

Anne-Marie Bennoun. PHOTOS BY ILENE WECHTER


14/43


KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades411 EAST CLINTON AVENUE, TEN AFLY, NJ 07670| 201.569.7900| jccotp.org

TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO, VISIT

jccotp.orgOR CALL 201.569.7900.

UPCOMING AT

FOR

ALL

KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades

ADULTS

More Songs That SheLoved: A Tribute ConcertA joyous musical evening dedicated to

remembering Stephanie Prezant with live

music provided by her friends and family andsome of the most beloved musicians and

vocalists in the community. Funds raised from

this concert will help support the Stephanie

I. Prezant Maccabi Fund at the JCC. For

more info, contact Sharon Kestenbaum at

201.408.1406 or register online at jccotp.org.

Sat, Feb 8, 8 pm, $30 per person,

$15 students to age 18

Tax SeminarJust in time for tax season! Join us for a lecture with a

tax specialist from Gideon Adler & Co., CPA to become

more familiar with all the laws and regulations pertaining

to filing your personal income tax. Brought to you by the

Israeli Center. For more info please call Aya at 201.408.1427.

Sun, Jan 5, 4 pm, free

Support GroupsWITH JUDY BRAUNER, LCSW THERAPIST

WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS: YOU ARE NOT ALONE

This bereavement group for those recently widowed

provides an opportunity to share your feelings w ith

others that understand.

6 Mondays, Feb 24Mar 31, 6-7:30 pm, $100/$125

UNCOUPLING: COPING WITH DIVORCE AND SEPARATION

The group will help you process your feelings about the

end of an important relationship and the experience of

being on your own.

6 Mondays, Feb 24Mar 31, 7:45-9:15 pm, $100/$125

For more info contact Esther at 201.408.1456 or

[email protected]

EGL FOUNDATION COMPUTER CENTER

FOR ADULTS 40+

Open House & OrientationLearn how to sharpen your computer skills,

meet our instructors and coaches, attend a

FREE class on Most Interesting Websites,and get a chance to win a free computer

course of choice. Register for classes by

January 13 and get 20% off all classes

(excludes workshops). For more info please

call Rachel Pasher Eijkenaar at 201.569.7900,

ext. 309.

Tue, Jan 7, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, Free

The Affordable Care Act:Whats It All About?DISCUSSION WITH JEFFREY LEV ITT, CFP, MBA

Join us for an information session to better understand

and address misconceptions surrounding ACA and how

to get the most out of your healthcare dollars. Q&A

to follow. Sponsored by the Berit and Martin Bernstein

Open Forum Endowment Fund and the Edwin S.

Soforenko Foundation.

Wed, Jan 15, 4 pm, Free and Open to the Community

Dont miss out on the great winter we have lined

up for kids of all ages. Classes begin the week of

Jan 26. Sign up early to make sure you get the classes

you want! Music, cooking, art, drama, dance, tae kwon

do, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, soccer, tennis &

more. Visit jccotp.org or consult the program brochure

for a full list of early childhood, school age and teen

programs.

ITS REGISTRATION

TIME

REGISTRATION FOR THE WINTER/SPRING

SEMESTER OPENS JAN 2 FOR MEMBERS

ADULTS


15/43

Editorial

1086 Teaneck RoadTeaneck, NJ 07666(201) 837-8818Fax 201-833-4959

PublisherJames L. Janoff

Associate Publisher EmeritaMarcia Garfinkle

EditorJoanne Palmer

Associate EditorLarry Yudelson

Guide/Gallery EditorBeth Janoff Chananie

Contributing EditorPhil Jacobs

CorrespondentsWarren BorosonLois GoldrichAbigail K. LeichmanMiriam RinnDr. Miryam Z. Wahrman

About Our Children EditorHeidi Mae Bratt

Advertising DirectorNatalie D. Jay

Classified DirectorJanice Rosen

Advertising CoordinatorJane Carr

Account ExecutivesPeggy EliasGeorge KrollKaren NathansonBrenda Sutcliffe

International Media PlacementP.O. Box 7195 Jerusalem 91077Tel: 02-6252933, 02-6247919Fax: 02-6249240Israeli Representative

Production ManagerJerry Szubin

Graphic ArtistsDeborah HermanBob O'Brien

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Credit ManagerMarion Raindorf

ReceptionistRuth Hirsch

JewishStandard

jstandard.com

FounderMorris J. Janoff (19111987)

Editor EmeritusMeyer Pesin (19011989)

City EditorMort Cornin (19151984)

Editorial ConsultantMax Milians (1908-2005)

SecretaryCeil Wolf (1914-2008)

Editor EmeritaRebecca Kaplan Boroson

TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES

Truth to powerDemocratic senators bravelyoppose Obama on Iran

Even since Hassan Rouhani became preside

of Iran on August 3, he has tried, in the wor

of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah

to be a sheep in wolfs clothing.

He has failed.

Not because of any personal missteps, mind you. Ro

hani has been a model of the smiling, Western-incline

ruler, who tweets humorously on Twitter and wish

Jews a happy new year. But he has been undermine

not only by the continued brutality of his regime but b

the wolf-in-wolfs clothing, his boss and the real pow

in Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, whose hatred for Isra

and Jews not to mention the West is so strong th

his cup spilleth over.Just last month, the man who oversees the world

foremost terror regime said once again that Israel is d

tined for annihilation. Just to make sure we all got th

message about his attitude toward Jews, he added th

Zionists are rabid dogs.

Nice. Especially comi

from a pious man of re

gion. Youd think that Kh

meini could have controll

his mouth, at least until Ir

pulled its scam deal on th

West to keep its centrifug

spinning while getting $

billi on in sancti ons reli

But sometimes hatred is

strong is just vomits for

sewage-like, without a

restraint.Then, of course, the

was the public dialogue between philanthropist an

casino-owner Sheldon Adelson, Pulitzer Prize winn

Bret Stephens, and YU President Richard Joel, whe

Sheldon said that a nuclear demonstration in an emp

Iranian desert, that he said would harm no one, shou

be employed to show the Iranians that America mea

business. Yet again Khameini, the gentle man of fai

could not quell his acid tongue and told a huge crow

that Adelsons head should be crushed. I found

interesting that a terrorist mastermind with sleep

cells all over the world felt threatened by an elder

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of Englewood is the author of

29 books. His most recent, Kosher Lust: Love is Not

the Answer, is due out soon. Follow him on Twitter @

RabbiShmuley.


RabbiShmuley

Boteach

Bronfman Youth

Fellowships in Israel

When he created, reined,

and funded the Bron-

fman Youth Fellow-

ships in Israel, Edgar

Bronfman gave the teenagers lucky

enough to be selected for it an entre

into the Jewish world that will beneit

them for the rest of their lives.

The Bronfman brothers clearly

believed in the importance of a trip to

Israel in cementing a young persons

Jewish identity, and at least to some

extent affecting his or her connection

to Israel. Charles Bronfmans baby,

Birthright Israel, has taken more than

360,000 Jews between the ages of 18and 26 to Israel, where they are given

a whirlwind 10 days of exposure to the

beauties and delights and, at times,

the ironies of the land. It is free. It is

a marvelous program, and has had

a profound effect on some travel-

ers lives, and a more-than-negligible

effect on many others.

Edgar Bronfman, meanwhile,

funded a program that was in many

ways very sim ila r and in others

entirely different. The Bronfman

Youth Fellowship, begun 26 years

ago, selects 26 people 13 girls and

13 boys, all Jewish, all in their junior

year of high school as they submit

their applications and sends them

for a ive-week, all-expenses-paid,

extraordinarily in-depth trip both

to Israel and around the chasms

and potential cataclysms of the

Jewish people. In other words, the

26 students who are chosen all arefrighteningly bright and most are

extraordinarily driven, but they

come from every possible corner of

North American Jewish life.

When they get to Israel, those

young people are thrown together

and expected to work things out.

Not in a global way, of course, but

they are expected to come to some

sort of modus vivendi. Most of them

learn both that such rapprochement

is dificult and that it is possible.

This is a huge gift.

Once they are back in North

America, the gift continues to give.

Bronfman Fellows form a tight

group, and the organizatio n nour-

ishes them. The BYFI is a leadership

program, and Edgar Bronfmans

organization knows that while some

leaders are entirely self-propelled,

most proit from direction, and all

can proit from mentoring.Mr. Bronfman has died, but his cre-

ation is flourishing. The deadline for

applications for the summer of 2014

is January 6; all applicants must be 16

by July 2014. For more information,

go to www.bronfman.org.

Thank you again, Mr. Bronfman. -JP

Praising the pedagogues of prayerOne who ixes his prayer, Rabbi

Eliezer is quoted as saying in the

Mishnah, his prayer is not asupplication.

In the Jerusalem Talmud, Rabbi

Abuhu explains: One should not

recite ones prayers as if he were

reading a letter. Rabbi Aha takes it

to mean that one must add some-

thing new each day.

The Babylonian Talmud inter-

prets Rabbi Eliezer as requiring a

lower standard of spontaneity, with

Rabbi Jacob ben Idi saying that

Rabbi Eliezer is referrering to any-

one whose prayer is like a heavy

burden on him.

Nowadays, most people who

dont like to pray dont have to go

to synagogue.

But students in day schools have

less choice, with worship as man-datory as mathematics or social

studies.

The challenge is to go beyond

crowd control of keeping kids

quiet during services to making

prayer not feel burdensome but

actually inspiring.

Its a bigger challenge than teach-

ing fractions.

We admire all those who play a

part in educating the next genera-

tion about our ancient tradition of

prayer.

That includes all those who teach

the aleph bet, the words, the mean-

ings, and the courage to stand up

and lead services for their peers.

And we hold particular admira-

tion for those who go the extra mileto make the service extra mean-

ingful to students not naturally

inclined to prayer, those who are

writ ing new curr icul a and try ing

new approaches to make old words

resonate with a new generation.

We write about one such effort

this week on page 6. The Solo-

mon Schechter Day School of Ber-

gen Cou nty in New Mil ford has

begun offe ring prayer elec tive s

chances to explore other modali-

ties of spirituality following a bare-

bones abbreviated service.

Rabbi Eliezer would be proud. We

are too. -LY


16/43

Op-Ed

businessman armed with slot machines.

Which brings us to Elie Wiesel.

In October I asked Wiesel, my hero and friend of 25

years, if he would produce an ad telling the truth about

Iran and warning the world against its retention of

nuclear facilities. You are the foremost moral voice in

the world, I told him. Youre the only one with theauthority to be taken seriously. Neither the President,

nor the Senate, can afford to ignore your call.

In the end the ad, sponsored by my organization and

our board member and Birthright co-founder Michael

Steinhardt, appeared on the day that our very own Sena-

tor Robert Menendez courageously introduced legislation

to increase economic sanctions against Iran. Menendez

was looking for co-sponsors and the voice of Elie Wiesel,

in full page ads in the New York Times and the Wall Street

Journal, gave many Democratic senators the moral cover

they needed to go against Barack Obama. One of the

heroes who signed the ad, and who once again demon-

strated his unmitigated love for Israel and Jewry, is our

junior senator, Cory Booker.

Wiesels ad was extremely moving:

If there is one lesson I hope the world has learned

from the past it is that regimes rooted in brutality must

never be trusted Should we who believe in humanrights, trust a regime which stones women and hangs

homosexuals? Should we who believe in freedom trust a

regime which murdered its own citizens when the peo-

ple protested a stolen election in the Green Revolution

of Summer, 2009? Should we who believe in the United

States trust a regime whose parliament last month

erupted yet again in Death to America chants?.. Amer-

ica adopted me and gave me a home after my people

were exterminated in the camps of Europe. And from

the time of the founding fathers America has always

stood up to tyrants. Our nation is morally compromised

when it contemplates allowing a country calling for the

destruction of the State of Israel to remain within reach

of nuclear weapons.

I appeal to President Obama and Congress to demand,

as a condition of continued talks, the total dismantling

of Irans nuclear infrastructure and the regimes public

and complete repudiation of all genocidal intent againstIsrael. And I appeal to the leaders of the United States

Senate to go forward with their vote to strengthen sanc-

tions against Iran until these conditions have been met.

I once wrote that history has taught us to trust the

threats of our enemies more than the promises of our

friends. Our enemies are making serious threats. It is

time for our friends to keep their promises.

How sad that President Obamas reaction was to

threaten his irst ever veto of economic sanctions, just

as the bill was introduced. But how courageous of 16

Democratic senators to speak truth to power.


I appeal to PresidentObama and Congress

to demand, as acondition of

continued talks, the

total dismantling ofIrans nuclear

infrastructure.ELIE WIESEL

The answer to BDS is Jewish power

On a virtual stroll through the website of the U.S.

Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boy-cott of Israel a deeply unpleasant experi-

ence, I should add I came across an article

that drew an analoy I hadnt encountered before. Intellec-

tually ludicrous and morally ugly, the writer compared the

situation of Aida, a Palestinian refugee camp near Bethle-

hem, with the bombing by the

German Luftwaffe of the Basque

city of Guernica in 1937, during

the Spanish Civil War.

The Aida camp is not the most

luxurious place on earth, yet it

is far from being the worst. Its

residents dont live in tents, but

in proper housing that clusters

tightly around dilapidated-look-

ing streets, a common enough

sight across the developing

world, and in certainly far better conditions than prevail inlarge parts of Africa or Asia. By contrast, the bombing of

Guernica the subject of a famous Picasso painting was

one of the true horrors of the 20th century. The destruc-

tion wrought by German bombers, wrote George Steer, a

British journalist who witnessed it irsthand, was unparal-

leled in military history. Steer described the human cost of

the raid in plain terms: In a street leading downhill from

the Casa de Juntas I saw a place where 50 people, nearly all

women and children, are said to have been trapped in an

air raid refuge under a mass of burning wreckage... When

I entered Guernica after midnight houses were crashing on

either side, and it was utterly impossible even for iremen

to enter the centre of the town.

Here, in a nutshell, is why Jews are so rightly infuriated

by the movement to boycott Israel. In its quest to portray

the Palestinians as the most oppressed, downtrodden peo-

ple on the face of this earth, there are few comparisons

to which Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions proponentswont stoop, no matter how outlandish whether thats

the parallel with Guernica, or the Holocaust, or apartheid

South Africa, or the slander that what Israel has done to

the Palestinians approximates a genocide.

The moral vacuum at the core of the BDS movement has

again come to the fore since the American Studies Asso-

ciation, an academic body with 5,000 members, revealed

that it was signing up to the academic boycott of Israel.

That was the second such announcement in 2013, fol-

lowing the same decision by the Asian American Studies

Association in April. A third academic group, the Native

American and Indigenous Studies Association, now al

has joined the Israel boycott. What has stood out, unfortnately, in the media coverage of ASAs shameful decision

not the fact that less than 1,000 ASA members supporte

the boycott, in a vote that attracted only one quarter

the entire membership, or the rank hypocrisy of boyc

ting Israel, given the slaughter that has consumed Syr

next door. Instead, we are left with the sense that the bo

cott is a bold new initiative that will, as a New York Time

headline put it, be regarded as a symbolic sting to Isra

There is, however, another way of looking at this. An

that requires us to remember that the academic boyco

wasnt launched this month, but 10 years ago. And wh

its activities have roiled universities in the United Kin

dom, Europe, South Africa, and Australia, it has signal

failed to become a mass movement. We should be hea

ened by the knowledge that Israels robust economy an

its universities irst-class academic reputation have e

ily withstood this propaganda onslaught. Moreover, th

American Association of University Professors, the closething in this country to a representative body of acade

ics, has roundly rejected the boycott as an assault on a

demic freedom.

I dont point to those facts to make the case that w

shouldnt be worried. We should be. There is no roo

for complacency in the face of a movement whose wor

view is rooted in the struggle against Jewish sovereign

in much the same way that the Nazis saw the Jews, or th

communists saw the bourgeoisie, as the ultimate enem

But in ighting the academic boycott and BDS more gen

ally, we should not lose awareness of the power we 21

century Jews have, nor our ability to wield it.

Hence, lets by all means ridicule the pretensions of th

BDS movement to be a latter-day incarnation of the mov

ment against apartheid in South Africa. Lets not hesita

in pointing out its failures. At the same time, lets not p

mit it to mushroom because we dont think its a thre

Both Brandeis University and Penn State Harrisbuhave pulled out of ASA since the boycott was announce

and we should push for a similar outcome in the case

similar initiatives. Much as some Jews are uncomfortab

with acknowledging this reality, we have the power

harass, frustrate and crush the BDS movement wherev

it appears. Let us do so without mercy. JNS.O

Ben Cohen, JNS.orgs Shillman analyst, writes on Jewish

affairs and Middle Eastern politics. His work has been

published in Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz,

Jewish Ideas Daily, and many other publications.

Ben Cohen

The entrance to the Aida Palestinian refugee camp. A writer on the website of the U.S. Campaign for the

Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel compares the situation in Aida with German Luftwaffe bombing o

Guernica in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. MRBREFAST VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMO


17/43

Op-Ed


Boycotting the boycotters can only backfire

D

oes an organiza-

tion have a right

to tax-exempt sta-

tus from the coun-try it advocates boycotting?

This is the question facing

Israels Knesset, which

is being asked to pass

go ve r nme nt - s po ns o re d

legislation taxing foreign

donations to any organization

which calls on others to

boycot t or sanc tion eith er

Israel or Israeli institutions.

A parallel challenge faces many Jewish

organizations in North America with regard

to whether to allow within their institutions

a platform for individuals and organizations

which do the same or for one-statists who

do not support the right of Israel to be an

independent Jewish state.

As is so often the case, complex issuesgive b irth to i mmediate, opposing knee-

jerk responses, which instead of furthering

discussion and understanding actually

close it down. Each side portrays the matter

as a pivotal value issue which is self-evident

despite the fact that the debate proves that

it is anything but.

On the one side stand the advocates who

conflate free speech with tax-exempt status

and/or the right to speak from any platform.

Free speech must be given precisely to

those who aggravate us the most, they say,

and it is only a society and community

which fosters unlimited dissent that will be

able to contain its diversity and give birth

to the ever-new thinking necessary for its

growth.

Those arguments fail to convince theproponents of such limits, for they too see

themselves as advocates of free speech. For

them, the issue is not freedom of speech

but whether a society or an organization

has to support as distinct from allowing

speech which actively calls for its harm.

It is not dissenting opinions that they

seek to curtail, but the support of those

dissenting opinions when they advocate for

boycotts, divestment, and sanctions or the

dissolution of Israel as a Jewish state.

Conversely, the supporters of such

legislation, and those calling for the

boycotting of the boycotters, defend their

positions with the value of self-defense. A

country and a peoples irst responsibility

is to enable and support its own existence.

Looking after ones own self-interestis neither immoral nor amoral but a

foundational moral responsibility. L ove

your neighbor as yourself. What is hateful

unto you do not do unto others. Love of

self and the protection of ones own needs

and interests have moral priority. As Chief

Justice Aharon Barak famously argued, a

citizens inalienable rights exist only within

the context of a society and cannot be

defended when the exercise of those rights

threatens the very society within which

they are born.

This argument too falls on

deaf ears, for the advocates

of unencumbered speechview such speech as essential

to Israel and the Jewish

peoples survival and well-

be ing . The y too sup por t

the moral obligation of self-

preservation. But unlike Chief

Jus tic e Bar ak s arg ume nt ,

which permits the torture

of terrorists in the case of a

ticking bomb, BDS speech,

not to speak of the one-statists, they argue,

poses no such immediate and severe a

danger. Israel is strong, and the goal of

the one-statists and some within the BDS

community is not to destroy Israel but to

redeine it or create the economic and

political pressure necessary to help steer it

back to its proper course and true self.The debate is thus set up as between

free speech and security, between

allowing for dissent and the undermining

of our peoples right to exist. It is a debate

which has nowhere to go, for ostensibly

both side s can shar e the same valu es,

and instead of debating their application

they portray the other as disloyal to a self-

evident value, which the other side does

not feel they are even debating. In Hebrew

we call this, du siach shel chirshim, a

dialogue of the hearing-impaired. We

are having ever-increasing types of such

dialogue, and more than any legislation

or policy under debate, this poses a real

threat to Israeli and Jewish collective life.

Leaving aside the boundaries and limits

of the right to dissent, and to voice onesdissent, a community that has lost the art

of how to dissent, how to disagree and

to talk with each other, is a community

under severe distress.

BDS is repulsive to me and alien to

my Jewish consciousness. My love and

loyalty to my people and my country

obligate me to ight my country wherever

I believe it to be flawed. I ight it , however,

through speech and advocacy, and at the

bal lot box. The coercive and puniti ve

dimensions of BDS I ind both arrogant

and inappropriate to a debate amongst

brother s and si sters. The right of I srael

to be a Jewish state is also self-evident

to me, and I am always amazed at the

duplicity of the one-statists for whom the

only nation-state which is morally flawedand illegitimate is the Jewish state. I see

nothing inherently wrong or morally

flawed when a country, while allowing

such positions to be advocated, does not

feel that it needs to privilege them. Nor

do I feel that Jewish institutions which are

inherently pluralistic sin to their mission

when they want to set boundaries to that

pluralism, when the debate about Israels

future moves to whether it should have

a future.

I believe that boycotting the boycotters

or one-staters, whether in Israel or

particularly on college campuses, is a

serious strategic error. Starting withIsrael, while the Middle East remains

an extremely dangerous place, and

our survival never ensured, we are

nevertheless a powerful country. Power

is not merely a gift which enables one to

withstand the attacks of outsiders, it is a

gift which enabl es one to take chanc es

for the sake of ones values and ideas.

Powerlessness is a reality and at times a

crutch which both inhibits and allows one

to lower ones expectations from oneself,

hiding behind the proverbial, in the

future we will be able to.

Israels success has enabled us to touch

this future and obligates us to spend its

dividends. The unresolved conflict with

the Palestinians, coupled with the sense

of insulating power, has not served Israelsdemocratic values well. The reality of

occupation and the ability of Israels

military to sustain it at an acceptable

cost to Israelis, coupled with the Israeli

perception that the Palestinians and their

leadership have yet to make the strategic

decision toward peace and coexistence,

has begun to callous many Israelis

democratic sensibilities. Whether it leads

to a de facto devaluing of peace, to calls

for the annexing of Judea and Samaria

despite demographic consequences, to

the perpetuating of inequalities toward

Israeli Arabs, the fact is that Israels future

is far more secure than its democracy.

It is time for us to give priority not merely to

the defense of our borders and our economy

but to our values as a Jewish-democratic state.Our challenge now is less with the limits of

free speech than with those who want to limit

it. While every society allows for emergency

measures which can suspend for a time

democratic principles and rights, right now

we need emergency measures which will

suspend legitimate legislation for the sake

of ensuring our democratic principles and

rights.

In North America, Jewish institutions

face a different struggle. It is perfectly

legitimate for institutions with a particular

ideoloy to foster that ideoloy and not

offer a platform to those positions in which

it sees no value, not to speak of harm. That

said, it is important to recognize that those

institutions which are attempting to reach

the more marginally or non-afiliated facetoday a particular and daunting challenge.

This challenge is neither to protect our

impressionable youth from harmful ideas,

nor to equip them with the tools to defend

Israel. Those who believe so are on a boat

that left the port over a decade ago. The

front line is whether our youth will care at

all, be it about Israel or Judaism. When we

attempt to generate criteria for loyalty or

litmus tests for Israel supporters, we cause

the unafiliated or not strongly afiliated

to question the grounds for their loyal

When we silence certain voices within o

institutions, they question the very value

these institutions.We live in an open marketplace of ide

and uninhibited access to these ideas. Th

fantasy of limiting debate and conversatio

is precisely that, a fantasy and an ineffecti

and short-sighted policy. In a world whe

individuals choose their identities an

afiliations, when Judaism and Isra

project fear and weakness, we becom

unattractive. When that fear inspires

image of closed-mindedness, we becom

repellent. Israel will ind a place on th

radar screen of our next generation wh

it is a place which can be debated an

engaged with without restriction. The ca

for Israel can be made without projecti

that it needs the protection of censorshGood fences make good neighbors. Goo

fences and boundaries are necessary

protect an identity. When that identity is

yet unformed, boundaries of conversatio

will keep more people out than keep the

from leaving.

We have worked hard as a peop

whether in Israel or in North America,

achieve the success and prosperity th

we have attained. It behooves us to mo

beyond preserving our past successes an

instead to use them as a catalyst to mov

further. To reinforce where necessa

values that are being weakened and

reach out to those that we are in dang

of losing. While we need not be so ope

minded as to allow for our dissolution, w

also need to recognize that we are not weak that we cannot take chances for o

ideals. We have reached the moment th

our security need not force us to tolera

mediocrity but rather is a force that enabl

us to be conident and reach higher.

THIS OP ED FIRST APPEARED IN THE TIMES OF ISRA

COPYRIGHT TIMES OF ISRAEL.

Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman is president of

the Shalom Hartman Institute and director

of its iEngage program. He spent many yea

living and teaching in northern New Jersey

RabbiDr. DonnielHartman

I believe thaboycotting the

boycotters oone-staters

whether in Israeor particularly

on collegecampuses,is

a seriousstrategic error


18/43

Letters


will be starting a

e Caregiver Support group will be held at

CareOne At Teaneck544 Teaneck RoadDevorah Sinensky, geriatric specialist,

will be the facilitator, and it is freeand open to the community. for more

information or to RSVP, please contactOHEL at 201 692 3972

C SG

Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at1:30pmtogether with the

NEW BEGINNINGS GROUP (senior adult group)

of the Teaneck Jewish Center.

www.jstandard.com

Good not to goIn your December 13 editorial, Mis-

placed frugality, you criticized Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

for declining to attend Nelson Man-

delas funeral in South Africa. In fact,

todays South Africa has one of theworlds highest murder rates, and vio-

lence is endemic in that society. In read-

ing between the lines, I would guess

that security would have to have been a

major concern, if not the major concern.

For Mr. Netanyahu to insist on bring-

ing his own sizable security contingent

would, no doubt, have been rejected

by the government of South Africa as

insulting, for implying that they were

unable to provide adequate security.

Therefore, I cant blame Mr. Netan-

yahu for not going. If I were in his shoes,

I would have done the same.

Harry Eisenberg

Glen Rock

New years resolutionMuch as Yom Kippur provides a time for

reflection and consideration of the com-

ing year along with typical intentions or

resolutions, I believe that the current

new year provides another opportunity

for forward thinking and action steps.

Quite simply, Judaism and Israel are

under dramatic global siege. From the

growing BDS movement, consistent anti-

Israel U.N. resolutions, Irans continued

threat to annihilate Israel, the growth

of global anti-Semitism, and rising rates

of intermarriage, we face incredible

challenges. In addition, Hezbollah and

Hamas have rearmed, and the Palestin-

ian Authority arrests Palestinians who

befriend or do business with Jews invok-

ing a 2010 Palestinian anti-settlementproducts law intended to create anti-

normalization, the staunch refusal

to create normal inter-community

relationships.

Ive also recently learned that Hamas

has ordered a revisionist history book

that denies Israels existence and will be

mandatory curriculum for 55,000 Pal-

estinian eighth- to tenth-graders. There

has been special programming for years

speciically during Ramadan that viliies

Jews and Israel and is broadcast across

the greater Muslim/Arab world.

The barbarous lies about Israel open-

ing floodgates during the recent storms

to intentionally flood Gaza while in

reality Israel delivered four generators

to help those impoverished. The lieabout occupied territories, when in real-

ity these lands were under full Arab con-

trol for 19 years, from 1948 to 1967, and

never a word about Palestinian state-

hood. The PLO was actually formed in

May 1964, a full three years before these

territories were lost in the Six Day War.

Their intention was, and is, to liberate

the entire Middle East of Jews. Its never

been about territory, its about recogniz-

ing Israels right to exist.

While we may have our differences,

we all have a common bond. We were

born into this global tribe that we have

a responsibility to support. And yes

J Street, sometimes blindly. Things are

spiraling downward and we need to

speak up and be proud of who we areand our accomplishments. Israel puts

every single Arab and Muslim country

to shame regarding human rights, basic

freedoms, and treatment of its citizens.

Its time that each of us sends a clear

message to the world and discusses it

with our children and families. It is time

to stand up and be heard and be proud!

Rich Hausler

Manalapan

Rebooting isnt JewishIn my opinion, Jews who accept the con-

cept that God created the world and gave

the Torah to the newborn Jewish nation

at Mount Sinai through our teacher

Moses, and who pursue its moral pre-

cepts as eternal commandments, arepracticing Judaism.

Jews who do not accept this simple

concept either are agnostics or are pur-

suing their spiritual needs in religions

other than Judaism.

Rebooting will not be effective

(Reform Judaism tries for reboot,

December 20).

I strongly believe that only Torah true

Judaism will persist and endure for end-

less generations of Jews.

Jerrold Terdiman M.D.

Woodcliff Lake

When a Jew isntI would like to respond to the letter that

says that belief in Jesus does not disqual-

ify someone as a Jew (Messianic Jews areJews, December 20).

I believe the letter-writer, Harry Eisen-

berg, takes several quotes out of context.

First of all, the talmudic saying that no

matter how much he sins a Jew is still Jew-

ish is never meant to include a convert to

another faith. It simply means that some-

one does not need a speciic ceremony to

return to the Jewish faith. Had Mr. Eisen-

berg asked an Orthodox rabbi, he would

have answered that a believer in Jesus of

Jewish origin would be excluded from all

participation in any sort of Jewish ritual.

The exclusion of converts to Christian-

ity is not limited to Orthodoxy. The Zion-

ist movement at its beginning included

atheists but excluded converts to another

faith. The Israeli Supreme Court in theBrother Daniel case excluded a Carmelite

monk from claiming citizen under the law

of return.

As I indicated in my earlier letter, a con-

vert to another faith repudiates Jewish his-

tory in a way that an atheist or agnostic

does not. To expand Jewish identity the

way that Mr. Eisenberg wishes to do ren-

ders Jewishness meaningless.

Alan Levin

Fair Lawn


19/43

Cover Story


ALINA DAIN SHARON

As 2013 draws to a close, we take a look at

its biggest news stories from Israel and the

Jewish world that have shaped the outgo-

ing year.

Israeli-Palestinian ConflictSecretary of State John Kerry has vis-

ited Israel and the Palestinian territories

nine times since February in an effort toencourage Israeli-Palestinian inal status

negotiations, which were renewed in July.

As part of the negotiations, Israel agreed

to release 104 Palestinian terrorist prison-

ers, a move that was highly criticized by

Israeli politicians, families of terror vic-

tims, and other members of the public. To

date, 52 of the 104 prisoners have been

released.

In March, President Obama went to

Israel. It was his irst trip to the country

as president.

IranIn June, Hassan Rouhani was elected

Irans new president, replacing Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad. In September, Obama

called Rouhani. This was the irst direct

conversation between heads of the two

governments since 1979.

In November, the U.S. and other P5+1

powers reached a six-month interim deal

New Jersey Jewish Standard - Dec. 27, 2013

Documents

Transcript of New Jersey Jewish Standard - Dec. 27, 2013