TEANECK’S JASON GREENBLATT DISCUSSES PEACE PATH page 6

BERGEN COUNTY STUDENTS DEMAND ACTION ON GUNS page 12

FEDS REOPEN RUTGERS ANTI-SEMITISM PROBE page 14
HERSHY FELDER’S IRVING BERLIN PARADE page 41

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Hunter’s gatherers
Local rabbis bring
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upstate synagogue
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Fast like a pirate
● The origins of Yom Kippur are lost to time.
Was it invented by God from whole cloth and dictated to
Moses? Did it evolve from a new year sanctuary purification
ritual?
Talk Like a Pirate Day, on the other hand, has a clearer
history.
It was invented by two guys talking on the racquetball
court in 1995, and then it was publicized by columnist Da-
vid Barry in 2002.
Since then, the holiday, which requires no acts of asceti-
cism but promises no redemption, has spread, particularly
in the sillier corners of the internet but even to the legis-
lature of the state of Michigan, which has recognized the
holiday repeatedly.
Decreed by its founders to be September 18 — the birth-
day of one of their ex-wives — this year presents the first
coincidence of Talk Like A Pirate Day and Yom Kippur. Less
Miss Liberty and
the bottle battle
● Tourists and locals wandering
around Flatiron Plaza in downtown
Manhattan were met with an
unusual sight: a 20-foot replica of
the Statue of Liberty standing in a
steel cage filled with empty plastic
bottles and metal cans.
On the other side of the eye-
catching setup, titled “Drowning
Liberty,” were booths with people
handing out glasses of seltzer.
The installation was organized by
SodaStream and the Oceanic So-
ciety. SodaStream is an Israeli company that sells at-home
carbonation kits.
The installation’s goal is to raise awareness of the nega-
tive consequences of single-use plastic (and to drum up
Page 3
Kids these
(high holy) days
● After nearly 2,000 years, goats have
returned to the Yom Kippur service.
Back when the Temple stood in
Jerusalem, the High Priest would
cast a lot to choose between two
goats. One would be slaughtered as
a sacrifice. The other would be sent
away to the wilderness — the original
scapegoat.
Since the destruction of the Temple,
the goats have appeared only on the
pages of the liturgy, where, as part of
the traditional Yom Kippur service,
the ritual is recalled and recited —
but not re-enacted.
Now, the Wall Street Journal re-
ports, Rabbi Lori Shapiro, founder of
the Open Temple in Venice Beach,
California, has brought goats back to
the High Holy Day observance. This
time, though, no animals are harmed
rare and ultimately less evocative of the American Jewish
experience than Thanksgivukkah, Yom Kippur-Like-A-Pirate-
Day already has led author Nat Gertler to design this logo.
And at my synagogue, at least, the rabbi has promised
to devote time on the afternoon of the double holiday to
read from that most pirate-friendly of biblical books, the
Book of Jonah. LARRY YUDELSON
business for the com-
pany while they’re at
it). Passersby were
encouraged to sign
SodaStream’s sus-
tainability pledge,
promising to eschew
one-use bottles for
reusable ones. The
company claims that
making soda at home
in reusable bottles
results in “less plastic
manufactured, less
plastic waste and less
transport of bottled
beverages.”
“We have no choice,” SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum
said in a statement. “We have to go reusable. Annual plastic
production is skyrocketing and the U.S. is one of the big-
gest polluters in the world.” JOSEFIN DORSTEN/JTA WIRE SERVICE
or misplaced in the making of the
atonement ritual.
Yep, it’s Yom Kippur goat yoga.
Goat yoga, which is described by
advocates as “the peanut butter and
jelly of dream life combinations,”
brings adorable ruminants to humans
assuming awkward poses prescribed
by traditional practice.
At the Open Temple, the posture
is that of prostration, a piece of the
Yom Kippur Temple ritual that carried
over to the synagogue observance of
the ancient fast day. Last year, 50 of
Rabbi Shapiro’s congregants filled a
yoga studio. As they fell on their faces
during the service, goats walked on
their backs.
“It’s about making Judaism relevant
again,” Rabbi Shapiro told the Wall
Street Journal. sLARRY YUDELSON
CONTENTS
NOSHES ...............................................................4
BRIEFLY LOCAL ..............................................16
COVER STORY ................................................. 18
JEWISH WORLD ............................................ 22
OPINION ........................................................... 32
D’VAR TORAH ................................................ 39
THE FRAZZLED HOUSEWIFE ...................40
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ................................40
ARTS & CULTURE ...........................................41
CALENDAR ...................................................... 42
OBITUARIES .................................................... 45
CLASSIFIEDS ..................................................46
REAL ESTATE..................................................49
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JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 3
Noshes
‘WHITE BOY RICK’:
An undercover teen,
a grown-up felon
“White Boy Rick”
will open wide on
September 14. It’s
based on the true story
of Richard Wershe, Jr.
who was recruited as
undercover informer
when he was 14 and
helped the feds bust
Detroit-area drug
dealers. One film trailer
has Wershe, now 49,
wearing a star of David,
even though he isn’t
Jewish. Perhaps why he’s
wearing the star is
explained somewhere
else in the film. (My
opinion: if you are a
non-Jewish Nobel Prize
winner, OK, wear a star
of David if you must.
Everybody else non-
Jewish — don’t wear it.)
JENNIFER JASON
LEIGH, 56, plays an FBI
agent who worked with
Wershe. Uber-veteran
actress PIPER LAURIE,
86, plays Wershe’s pa-
ternal grandmother. (His
paternal grandfather
is played by Laurie’s
contemporary, Bruce
Dern, 82). Matthew Mc-
Conaughey co-stars as
Wershe’s father.
Here’s an interesting
postscript to the film:
The FBI cut Wershe
loose after a couple of
years and he became a
genuine big-time coke
dealer. Local police ar-
rested him in 1987 and
he was sentenced to life
in prison without the
possibility of parole even
though he was just 17,
Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard
4 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
still a juvenile. But in 2012
the U.S. Supreme Court
found that sentences
for juveniles, without a
chance for parole, were
unconstitutional. Wer-
she was paroled in 2017,
but had to serve time in
Florida for helping his
sister (from a Michigan
jail) run a stolen-car ring
in Florida. On September
19, Florida will decide
whether to parole him
after 31 years (combined)
in jail.
A notable revival
“The Waverly
Gallery,” a 2000
play by
KENNETH LONERGAN,
55, will be revived this fall
on Broadway. Previews
begin on September 25
and the play opens on
Oct. 25. Lonergan, as I
have noted before, is the
son of a Jewish mother
and an Irish father. He
was raised by his mother
and his Jewish stepfa-
ther. His three most
famous plays (“Waverly”
is one) all focus on
mostly Jewish charac-
ters. “Waverly” was a
Pulitzer Prize finalist and
Lonergan won the best
original screenplay
(2016) Oscar for “Man-
chester by the Sea.”
Playbill magazine
provides a succinct play
summary: “‘The Waverly
Gallery’ is about the
final years of a gener-
ous, chatty, and feisty
grandmother’s final
“Honestly, Mr. Miller, you’ve set back the
Jewish contribution to making the world
spiritually whole through your arbitrary
division of these desperate people.”
— Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels of Beth Shir Shalom in Santa Monica, California, addressing
Stephen Miller, the key architect of the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration
policies, in his Rosh Hashanah sermon. Mr. Miller, who grew up in the synagogue, was not
there. Rabbi Comess-Daniels continued, “The actions that you now encourage President
Trump to take make it obvious to me that you didn’t get my, or our, Jewish message.”
(“Singin’ In the Rain”;
“Seven Brides for Sev-
en Brothers”).
More Roseanne
Late last month,
“Roseanne”
co-star John
Goodman spilled the
beans to the Sunday
Times that the Roseanne
character, played by
ROSEANNE BARR, 65,
Jennifer Jason Leigh Piper Laurie Kenneth Lonergan will be written out of the
series; her character will
die. As you recall, ABC
fired Barr in May follow-
ing what most viewed as
racist tweets. Goodman
also told the Times: “I
know for a fact that she’s
not racist.” Barr quickly
thanked Goodman for
his support.
Re-titled “The Con-
nors,” the latest iteration
of “Roseanne” will pre-
miere on Oct. 16. Mean-
Elaine May Stanley Donen Rosanne Barr while, as you might have
already read, Roseanne
battle against Alzheim- pearance as Gladys (who early ‘60s, with the late did a podcast with Rabbi
er’s disease. Gladys is is Jewish). Lucas Hedg- MIKE NICHOLS. The SHUMULEY BOTEACH,
an old-school lefty and es, 21, who won a best routines really stand 51, on September 1.
social activist and long- supporting actor Oscar up and they ratify what (Rabbi Boteach writes
time owner of a small for “Manchester,” plays several said in the CNN more about Roseanne
art gallery in Greenwich Daniel, Gladys’s Jewish History of Comedy series Barr on page 32.) A few
Village. The play explores grandson. Joan Allen — Nichols and May, who highlights: she intends
her fight to retain her plays Gladys’s daughter. wrote their material, re- to be in Israel when “The
independence and the Michael Cera plays an ally were one of the first Connors” premieres and
subsequent effect of her artist who visits the Wa- acts to break success- will stay there for a few
decline on her family, verly Gallery. fully from the vaudeville- months and study with
especially her grandson. I’m really happy that influenced comedy of her favorite teachers; she
More than a memory May is healthy enough the late ‘50s. They were a is not going to curse or
play, ‘The Waverly Gal- to take on a substantial herald of the present age bless the reboot, but will
lery’ captures the humor stage role. Recently, I of comedy, from SNL to be neutral about it; and
and strength of a family stumbled on many vid- the Daily Show. she’s sorry about what
in the face of crisis.” eos on YouTube of her May’s life partner is she tweeted, but she’s
ELAINE MAY, 86, doing comedy routines, director/choreographer also sorry she apolo-
makes a rare stage ap- in the late 1950s and STANLEY DONEN, 94 gized publicly. –N.B.
California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at
Middleoftheroad1@aol.com
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 5
Local
Jason Greenblatt of Teaneck talks about peace
J
JOSH HASTEN
ason Greenblatt of Teaneck, who
moved from the Trump Organiza-
tion’s top lawyer to one of President
Donald J. Trump’s top Middle East
envoys, has been given the job of trying to
negotiate a peace plan between the Israelis
and the Palestinians.
Along with Trump’s son-in-law and
senior adviser, Jared Kushner, Mr. Green-
blatt — whose official title is assistant to
the president and special representative
for international negotiations — has been
the face of the Trump administration’s
efforts to roll out a comprehensive plan for
Mideast peace. He has gone to the region
many times over the last 18 months, often
meeting with top officials from Israel and
the Arab world to gauge the situation.
The son of Hungarian Jewish refugees,
Mr. Greenblatt is a newcomer to the world
of diplomacy, especially when it comes to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Just before Rosh Hashanah, Mr. Green-
blatt gave the administration’s views of the
process in an interview with JNS reporter
Josh Hasten.
Q: How do you view the overall rela-
tionship at this point between the United
States and Israel under the current Trump
administration?
A: I think that the relationship between
the United States and Israel has never been
stronger, and I don’t think we’ve ever had
a president more supportive of the State
of Israel. And I think that it’s clear that
the support is returned by Israelis, who
have clearly expressed their appreciation
to President [Donald] Trump for his poli-
cies relating to Israel. He’s done something
no other president had the courage to do.
He recognized the reality that Jerusalem is
and always will be Israel’s capital. And he
finally moved the United States embassy to
Jerusalem, where it always belonged.
Probably the best way I can end this
answer to your question is by quoting a
friend of mine who everybody in Israel
knows well and does a terrific job here in
Washington, D.C., representing the State
of Israel, Ambassador Ron Dermer. [He]
recently said in a speech at a Christians
United for Israel [CUFI] event and I quote,
“There has never been a U.S. administra-
tion more supportive of Israel than the
Trump administration. Frankly, it’s not
even close,” he said.
Q: Without getting into specific details,
what makes this attempt at peace between
Israel and the Palestinians fundamentally
different than previous attempts?
A: Well, first of all, let me thank you for
not asking for specifics. You are unique
in starting your question that way. I usu-
ally have to start the interview by saying,
6 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
MATTY STERN/U.S. EMBASSY JERUSALEM
Senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner, third from left, and special representative for international negotiations Jason
Greenblatt, second from left, meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on June 22, 2018.
“I’m not going to give you any details,” so I
appreciate that very much.
I think our plan begins with reality. It
recognizes the history of the conflict of
course, but [other plans] were always rely-
ing on tired notions of what it should be.
Instead, it focuses on what it could be. Our
plan isn’t just a two-page term sheet; it’s an
extensive document that we’ve developed
that explains how we think the conflict can
be resolved. It lays out each issue and pro-
posed solutions very clearly so both sides
can understand beyond an aspirational
term sheet what the solutions really are
and whether they are going to be willing to
live with those proposed solutions. It’s the
result of extensive consultation with Israe-
lis, Palestinians from before the Jerusalem
announcement because at the moment
Palestinian leadership is not talking to us
— much to their detriment, I would add.
It’s also after extensive conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Jason Greenblatt in Ramallah
regional leaders and other stakeholders. on March 14, 2017.
All of their questions and concerns have
helped us forge a plan into a deal which we that serious people may be skeptical about Israel and the Jewish people as he is, he’s
think is realistic, fair, and equally impor- whether or not we can reach a peace agree- also dedicated to trying to help the Pales-
tant, implementable. ment — a comprehensive peace agreement tinian people, and the way we can marry
Q: Turning attention to Syria, with a — and I think that’s very understandable. those two ideas is by trying to reach a com-
much more serious conflict continuing to But I think there are very few people in prehensive peace agreement.
rage in that country, why is America focus- the world who would oppose an attempt Q: In the same vein — and we have seen
ing efforts on resolving a relatively calm at finding a solution, and while it’s true this in recent weeks — the Trump administra-
conflict in the West Bank, in which there that there are other conflicts in the region tion has announced a series of cuts to the Pal-
is security cooperation right now between — and as I’ve said many times, this is cer- estinian Authority and funding for UNRWA.
Israelis and Palestinians? tainly not the core conflict in the region, What is the goal by making those cuts, and
A: Jared [Kusher], David [Friedman] as others have said — we think that there do you think this will help urge the Palestin-
and I have been charged by the president are unique circumstances now that war- ians to come back to the negotiating table?
to try and achieve a comprehensive peace rant an attempt at trying to see whether A: I think there are a couple of things
deal between Israelis and Palestinians. or not we can do this. President Trump, I have to unpack in that question. The
That’s our mandate. And I understand as devoted and dedicated to the State of first is that earlier this year, the president
 Local

directed a review of U.S. assistance to the

Palestinian Authority, as well as to the
West Bank and Gaza, to ensure that the
funds were being spent in accordance with
U.S. national interests, and also providing
value to the U.S. taxpayer. Per that review
and at the direction of the president,
we’re going to be — as was announced a
few weeks ago — redirecting more than
$200 million of fiscal year 2017 economic
support funds that was originally planned
for programs in the West Bank and Gaza.
Instead, those are going to go to higher

MATTY STERN/US EMBASSY TEL AVIV

priority projects elsewhere. And I want to
make clear that that decision is separate
from, but also consistent with, Congress’
purpose in passing the Taylor Force Act,
which restricts assistance to the Pales-
tinian Authority unless the Palestinian
Authority ends the abhorrent practice of
MATTY STERN/U.S. EMBASSY JERUSALEM

payments to imprisoned terrorists and the

families of terrorists.
Let’s move over now to UNRWA [United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Pal-
estine Refugees in the Near East]. Because
as you are probably are aware last week,
we made an announcement regarding
UNRWA, and there are a few points I want
to make about UNRWA. First of all, it’s
been clear for years that UNRWA’s model
of operations is completely unsustainable.
Jason Greenblatt meets with Israeli and Palestinian basketball coaches in Jerusalem on July 11, 2017.
And we’ve said repeatedly that UNRWA situation demonstrates, not nearly enough behind, and they don’t match their rheto-
needs to seek out new voluntary fund- progress. ric with real-world action. Our $60 million
ing streams. They need to increase their We also made it clear back in January, contribution that we made back in Janu-
burden-sharing among donors, and when we made our $60 million contri- ary still makes the United States one of
they also have to find ways to reduce bution, that the U.S. is no longer willing UNRWA’s most generous donors for 2018.
their expenditures. A little bit of prog- to shoulder a disproportionate share of I’ll point out in praise that Jordan, Egypt
ress has been made, but as the current UNRWA’s costs while other donors lag SEE GREENBLATT PAGE 8

JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 7

Local
Greenblatt
FROM PAGE 7
and Sweden, and other stakeholders, have
encouraged better burden-sharing, and
others have stepped forward. But at the
end of the day, the international commu-
nity did not prove itself willing to fix this
problem. UNRWA is nearly out of funds,
and it’s time in our view to have everybody
acknowledge that their business operation
is a failing model. It’s tied to an endlessly
and exponentially expanding community
of beneficiaries; it’s unsustainable, it oper-
ates in permanent crisis mode, and we
have decided to no longer commit to fund-
ing this irremediably flawed operation.
We also believed that Palestinians
deserved better than this crisis-driven
model. Wherever they live, they deserve to
plan for their future and the future of their
children. We’re mindful of the impact on
innocent Palestinians, including school-
children. And we’re ready to engage with
other governments in the region and else-
where to see if we can transition UNRWA’s
services to other governments or interna-
tional organizations; we welcome partici-
pation in that conversation. But I want to
stress again that we view UNRWA’s model
as irredeemably flawed.
Q: In your Aug. 9 CNN op-ed, “Israelis
and Palestinians must unite against shared
threat,” you call Hamas “an Islamic funda-
mentalist terror organization” that seeks to
destroy Israel, while at the same time you
call on the Palestinians in Gaza to choose
peace. How is it possible to put the Pales-
tinians in Gaza on a path towards peace as
long as Hamas continues to rule over their
lives while neglecting their interests?
A: I was a little bit surprised when I
started on this file how little attention was
paid to Hamas in Gaza. Most people spend
a lot of time just talking about catchwords
and phrases and slogans that have been
used on this file for years without focusing
[on the fact] that at the end of the day, if
Jason Greenblatt sits between Tzachi Hanegbi, left, Israeli Minister of Regional
Cooperation, and Palestinian Authority Water head Mazen Ghuneim during
a press conference about the water agreement between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority.
8 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
we don’t resolve the situation in Gaza, it
will be an obstacle on the road to peace. So
separate from the humanitarian issue that
I feel terrible about — what the Palestinians
in Gaza are going through. Hamas itself is
an obstacle on the road to peace. It’s not
a secret that the Palestinians of Gaza are
hostage to Hamas, and they have suffered
terribly under Hamas’s iron-fist rule. It’s
also not a secret in my opinion that Hamas
bears the ultimate responsibility for that
suffering, much to the detriment of the
Palestinians in Gaza. Many countries will
not admit that out loud, although they
certainly tell me that in private meetings.
But the Palestinians of Gaza are not mono-
lithic. And there are Palestinians in Gaza
who would rather seek peace, instead of
watching violent protests and rockets and
burning kites with swastikas adorned on
them. And we’re just going to have to
work very hard to reach that population,
and I think we can and we have to. There
is no way around that. We must do that.
Q: While we’re on the topic of Hamas, is
there a major risk if Israel decides to give
up important tracts of land in a peace deal,
and afterwards, the P.A.—as was the case
in Gaza — becomes replaced by Hamas? Is
there a huge risk that they would then not
live up to their side of the bargain?
A: Without getting into the specific
details, I will tell you this very, very clearly:
This administration is absolutely commit-
ted to Israel’s security, and we very much
believe that the plan that we developed
clearly reflects that. Ultimately, both sides
are going to have to be comfortable with
the plan. When I say “be comfortable,”
among the things that they’ll have to be
comfortable with is [that] Israel is going
to have to be comfortable that what we
put forth in the plan does not put Israel
at risk. And we think we’ve devised a plan
that takes all of
Israel’s security issues — and they are
many, as you know — and we take that
YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90
Jason Greenblatt tours Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip on August 30, 2017.
into account. When we reveal the plan,
the security experts are going to digest it,
and they are either going to confirm that
we did the right job and took everything
into account, or if we didn’t, we’re going to
hear their comments and concerns, as we
will listen to all comments and concerns
about it. But we will not put forth a plan
or endorse a plan that doesn’t meet all of
Israel’s security issues because they are of
extreme importance to us.
Q: At a rally in Charleston, W.V., on Aug.
21, President Trump said that Israel would
pay a “higher price” in future talks with
the Palestinians as a result of the U.S. rec-
ognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and
moving the embassy. The president added
that the Palestinians “will get something
very good, because it’s their turn next . . . “
What is that “higher price,” and what is in
store for the Palestinians, especially at this
juncture as their leadership is threatening
to thwart any U.S.-led peace plan?
A: We think what we have developed is
the best opportunity for a fair deal for both
sides. There are parts of the plan Israel is
going to love, and there are parts that Israel
is not going to like. And the same is true for
the Palestinians. So what we want people
to ask themselves after reading the plan
is: Will we be better off with this plan or
continuing without it? We think both sides
are going to gain a lot more than they give.
But to answer your question specifically —
and I didn’t discuss the specific comment
with President Trump — but I believe that
he meant that if we’re lucky enough to
have both sides negotiating our plan in
good faith, we hope that Israel will take
into account President Trump’s good-faith
efforts in advancing the goal of peace. His
recognition of Jerusalem though, and the
moving of the embassy, was not intended
to exact a price out of Israel. There is no
particular demand on Israel in exchange
for those decisions.
Q: When 31-year-old Israeli Yotam Ova-
dia was murdered this summer just out-
side of Jerusalem by a Palestinian terrorist,
DAVID AZAGURY/U.S. EMBASSY TEL AVIV
you asked the following on Twitter: “When
will President Abbas and the Palestinian
leaders condemn the violence?” A few
days later, you defended Ambassador
Friedman for visiting Ovadia’s widow after
he was condemned by the P.A. for doing
so. You added that it was “not surprising”
that no condemnation over the attack itself
had been issued. What does that say to you
about America’s ability to work with the
current P.A. leadership?
A: I think David [Friedman] and my
tweets speak for themselves, and I think
that what happened was outrageous. How-
ever, I will point out that we are ready to
work with the current P.A. leadership if
the P.A. leadership is ready to lead. That
does mean condemning terror; it means
fully engaging with our peace plan in good
faith. I’ll remind everybody that no one
loses more than the Palestinian people
when their leadership condemns a plan
that they’ve never seen. No one loses more
than them when the leadership falsely
claims that they have killed a plan that
hasn’t even seen the light of day yet. And
no one loses more than them if their lead-
ership will refuse to engage on the peace
plan when it is revealed.
Q: That said, since Oslo — and here we
are, 25 years later — the P.A. has system-
atically incited its population through
state media, schools and textbooks, pub-
lic speeches, the glorification of “martyrs”
and the sponsorship of terrorism, includ-
ing the P.A.’s “pay to slay” policy that
Abbas says he will continue to implement,
despite bills passed both in the United
States and Israel to prevent it. What makes
you think that the Palestinian people are
prepared to enter into a peace accord?
A: We do believe that many Palestinians
want to live in peace, and they want to
see their lives improved. They wanted to
see their lives improved, by the way, even
before a peace accord would be reached,
but certainly after a peace accord. If we’re
wrong, then we are going to fail as others
SEE GREENBLATT PAGE 48
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JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 9

Local

FIRST PERSON

The
summer
of my
discontent
Looking backward
with nostalgia,
looking forward
with hope. In photos taken on Long Beach Island in the summer of 1955, Jonathan Lazarus stands
on the beach with his father, Stuart, left, and with his mother, Minnie, and sister, Janeen.
(The present? Not so much.)
JONATHAN E. LAZARUS were submitted at the beginning of a new and not-so-suppressed sighs of your peers. spot in need of willing hands. Summer is

R
emember those back-to -
school assignments you were
tasked with many summers
ago? Of course you do. The
generic essay on “How I Spent My Vaca-
tion,” or the more challenging book
reports assigned by the teacher or cho-
sen at your own peril. In either case, both
school year, on ruled paper from a fresh
faux-marble covered notebook contain-
ing words of wisdom scribed with a soon-
to-be lost Estabrook pen.
If the teacher really wanted to be a stick-
ler, she (let’s face it, most were in the early
1950s) would make you stand in front of
the class, read the masterpiece (empha-
sis on elocution), and endure the snickers
But that was then and this is now.
Today’s students, either day school or
public, are assigned much more demand-
ing summer exercises than we were, exer-
cises designed to enhance critical think-
ing, delve deeper into a STEM curriculum,
put a social action experiment into practi-
cal application, intern at no pay, travel to
Israel, or volunteer for the latest trouble
not to be wasted. Summer is serious.
I am writing this adult version of a
school report from the sandy haunts of
Long Beach Island during the waning days
SEE SUMMER PAGE 38
Jonathan E. Lazarus is a retired editor of
the Star-Ledger and a proofreader at the
Jewish Standard.

10 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

UPCOMING AT KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades
Heading Home,
The Tale of Team Israel PA

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team as it competes for the first time in the World
Baseball Classic. Its roster includes many Jewish-
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Community-wide Sukkot Game:

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Our community’s “Sukkah hoppers” will receive
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Arts Program. Find out more at jccotp.org/patrons.
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KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades TAUB CAMPUS | 411 E CLINTON AVE, TENAFLY, NJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 11
Local

‘We’ve
had
enough’
Student activist
works to end
gun violence
Lois Goldrich

O
n February 14, 2018, a gunman
opened fire at Marjory Stone-
man Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida, killing 17 stu-
dents and staff members and injuring 17 oth-
ers. The event had a galvanizing effect on
students throughout the nation, prodding
them to march, rally, and organize large-
scale events to raise awareness and demand
action on the issue of gun control.
One of those students is 15-year-old Lau- Laurence Fine addresses a March for Our Lives gun control rally in Hackensack on March, 24, 2018.
rence Fine of Ridgewood.
“We’re being slaughtered,” Laurence election, Laurence became more “politi- took place in Washington Square Park in throughout the country.
said. “Ninety-six Americans are killed by cally aware — but it was after Parkland that Manhattan. Laurence was part of a group “I started talking to people about this
guns every day. “We are in danger in our I became involved.” of students from Lyndhurst, Ridgewood, and got connected to people I needed
schools.” First came the school walkouts. Hillsdale “and across the county”; he also to speak with,” said Laurence, who orga-
So Laurence, who goes to Ridgewood The first one took place on March 14, a was a speaker there. nized a march in Hackensack. “Josh Got-
High School, is involved in the gun control month after the shooting. It was a national Next came the “March for Our Lives” theimer” — the freshman Democratic
movement “to make a difference, better initiative, and Laurence helped organize movement. The student-led demonstra- congressman representing New Jersey’s
our community and our learning environ- the event at his school, which ultimately tion in Washington, D.C., on March 24 in 5th District, which includes Ridgewood
ment, and keep Americans safe.” It’s been involved more than 1,000 Ridgewood support of tighter gun control measures — “and Steny Hoyer” — the Democrat
a gradual evolution for him. After the 2016 students. A second walkout, on April 20, generated hundreds of similar events who has represented part of Maryland in

Local institutions get security grants

Larry Yudelson
More than a dozen local Jewish institutions will be
upgrading their security with grants from the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security.
The awards, announced last month, totaled $50 mil-
lion and went to nonprofit institutions in 33 “designated
urban areas.” Local recipients were awarded the grants
as part of the region the agency calls Jersey City/New-
ark, which includes Highland Park, Morristown, and
New Brunswick.
The federal program targets nonprofit organizations
“that are at high risk of terrorist attack.” In practice,
this means Jewish institutions, which received nearly
90 percent of the 63 grants given in the Jersey City/
Newark area.
Local recipients included six schools: Ben Porat Yosef
and the Frisch School in Paramus, the Solomon Schech-
ter Day School of Bergen County in New Milford, the
Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey in River Edge, Yeshi-
vat He’Atid in Teaneck, and the Sinai Schools, which has
facilities in several different schools.
Rutgers Hillel also was awarded a grant.
Local synagogues that received grants include the
Community Synagogue of Tenafly and Englewood
and Congregation Ahavath Torah, both in Englewood;
Congregation B’nai Israel of Emerson; Congregation
Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck; the Fairlawn Jewish Cen-
ter; the Glen Rock Jewish Center; Congregation Keter
Torah in Teaneck; Shomrei Torah in Wayne; Temple
Emanu-El of Closter; and Temple Emanuel of Pascack
Valley in Woodcliff Lake.
The funding is the result of a grant application process.
Funds are designated for “target hardening and other
physical security enhancements and activities.” Area Jew-
ish institutions have used them for such projects as install-
ing video security systems and protective bollards.
“These awards are important news for nonprofits
across New Jersey,” Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-9th
Dist.) said, in a press release announcing the awards.
“Unfortunately, the rise in hate crimes has made these
grants necessary. Too many communities in North Jersey
remain a target for people who would seek to do harm
because of someone’s beliefs.
“I have pushed my colleagues for nearly a decade to
increase funds for this program. Thankfully, our calls
are finally getting heeded and New Jerseyans are taking
advantage.”
This year’s allocation for security grants was double
the amounts given previous years, reflecting in part
fears sparked by the wave of threatening phone calls
sent to Jewish institutions, among them the Kaplen JCC
on the Palisades in Tenafly, in early 2017. (An Israeli
Jew has been charged with making those calls. No
motive has been reported, nor has the alleged perpe-
trator’s name been released, since he was a minor at
the time the calls were made.)
“We are extremely grateful to Congressman Pascrell
for helping to secure this grant for our state,” Jacob
Toporek, the executive director of the N.J. State Asso-
ciation of Jewish Federations, said in a statement. “In
New Jersey, we remain vigilant and watchful for com-
munity safety. We are thankful for congress’ attention
to this very important matter.”
The Washington offices of two Jewish organizations
— the Orthodox Union and the Jewish Federations of
North America — have taken a lead role in pushing for
the grants and helping institutions apply for them.
See local institutions page 48

12 Jewish Standard SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

 Local THIS WEEKEND

Congress since 1981 — “came and spoke. proven to be effective.

There were thousands of people. It
was a powerful event.” The march was
advertised through social media and by
word of mouth, and “happened organi-
cally,” Laurence said; he delivered the
opening remarks there. He was “more
excited than surprised” by the turnout
at the march, “a really amazing event.”
To keep up the momentum and con-
tinue pushing for gun reform, Laurence,
who helped create the group Students
Demand Action Bergen County, orga-
nized a town hall meeting at the Unitar-
ian Society of Ridgewood. Senator Bob
Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Bill Pascrell
Jr., the Democrat who represents New
Jersey’s ninth district, which includes
parts of Bergen County, were the main
speakers at the meeting, which drew
some 150 people.
“We had a conversation about gun vio-
lence prevention and what’s going on in
Congress,” Laurence said. “They talked
about what they’re doing and what they
support. The focus was on Congress and
on policy.”
He is happy with the position of his
own elected officials, but “unfortu-
nately, that’s not enough,” Laurence
said. “We don’t have enough people
in Congress who want gun safety mea-
sures,” or who will endorse legislation
“New Jersey has good gun violence
prevention laws: stricter background
checks to make sure guns stay away
from criminals, terrorists, and other
people who shouldn’t be trusted with
guns, ending the gun show loophole,
where you can get one without screen-
ing, and [dealing with] 3-D guns,” he
continued. “If we don’t continue to
stay strong on this issue, people will be
able to print their own guns from blue-
prints from their home.” These guns
are untraceable and can be brought
into airports and seaports. “They can
get through security like a piece of plas-
tic — which they are.”
Most recently, Laurence has been
involved in the issue of voter regis-
tration. On September 15, Students
Demand Action Bergen County will
join other student activists from doz-
ens of high schools in Bergen County
to talk about voter registration “and get
out the vote,” he said. “We plan to initi-
PROUDLY PRESENTS
ate as many voter registration drives in
as many high schools as we can to reg-
ister as many voters as possible.”
The meeting will be held at the Puf-
fin Cultural Forum in Teaneck and fea-
ture New Jersey Senate Majority Leader
Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck as well as
See gun violence page 48

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Jewish Standard SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 13
Local

Education Department reopens probe

of anti-Semitism allegations at Rutgers
BEN SALES

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office

for Civil Rights is reopening an investiga-
tion into an allegedly anti-Semitic incident
at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
Kenneth Marcus, the department’s new
assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote
in a letter last week that a pro-Palestinian
event in the state university in January
2011 may have discriminated against Jew-
ish students by charging them admission
while allowing others in for free.
The new investigation, responding to a
complaint originally made by the Zionist
Organization of America in 2011, also will
look into whether students at the univer-
sity experience anti-Semitism now.
In reopening the Rutgers probe, Mr.
Marcus used the State Department’s defi-
nition of anti-Semitism, which includes
some types of anti-Israel activity, like hold-
ing Jews collectively responsible for Isra-
el’s actions. The definition was composed
by the International Holocaust Remem-
brance Alliance.
Susan Tuchman of Tenafly, director of
the ZOA’s Center for Law and Justice, sees
that as an important precedent.
“OCR for the first time is going to be
using the State Department’s definition
of anti-Semitism when it is accepting and
deciding Title VI cases,” Ms. Tuchman said.
“It’s important because that State Depart-
ment definition recognizes that some anti-
Israelism and anti-Zionism crosses the line
into anti-Semitism.”
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits
discrimination based on national origin.
The investigation stems from a ZOA
complaint filed in 2011 alleging that orga-
nizers’ actions at the pro-Palestinian event The Old Queens building at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

that year at Rutgers constituted anti-Semi-

tism, and that Jewish students’ civil rights
were violated because the school did not
address the anti-Semitism appropriately.
The complaint also alleged that Jewish stu-
dents were harassed and physically threat-
ened on other occasions.
In 2014, the Office for Civil Rights
dismissed the complaint, and did not
respond to an appeal filed shortly after-
ward by ZOA until last week. But on August
27, Mr. Marcus reopened the investigation
into the event.
The meeting in question was spon-
sored by Belief Awareness Knowledge and
Action, a pro-Palestinian group, and was
called “Never Again for Anyone.” It sought
to expand the Holocaust remembrance
slogan to include other offenses, includ-
ing Israeli abuses of the Palestinians. At a
certain point, organizers began charging a
$5 admission fee.
According to the ZOA, the meeting
was advertised as free and open to the
public, but organizers began charging Jew-
ish students $5 after a large group of them
showed up. ZOA pointed to an email sent
by a meeting organizer saying that “We
need to start charging because 150 Zion-
ists just showed up!” but that “if some-
one looks like a supporter, they can get in
for free.”
The Office for Civil Rights initially
did not consider the email as evidence
because it had been redacted, so it dis-
missed the complaint. In a 2014 letter, it
said there was no evidence that only Jews
were charged admission, or that others got
in for free unfairly.
“OCR did not find sufficient evidence
to substantiate that any individuals were
treated differently, based on national
origin, with respect to imposition of the
admission fee,” read a 2014 letter from the
office to ZOA.
But Mr. Marcus wrote that the email
should be considered, and that it may
point to discrimination against Jew-
ish students.
“In other words, the visual perception of
a group of ‘150 Zionists’ referenced in the
email could have been rooted in a percep-
tion of Jewish ancestry or ethnic charac-
teristics common to the group,” he wrote,
adding that it was unlikely that organiz-
ers polled each of the 150 entrants on
their views about Israel. “In cases such as
this, it is important to determine whether
terms such as ‘Zionist’ are actually code
for ‘Jewish.’”
The letter also noted that some students
who reported being charged wore kippot
and therefore looked overtly Jewish.
Mr. Marcus wrote that given these rea-
sons, the office was reopening the investi-
gation into whether the meeting was anti-
Semitic. The investigation will focus only
on evidence already collected, so former
students will not be interviewed again.
“With respect to reassessing the record,
that’s the record, and I don’t believe
we can add anything to that,” Ms. Tuch-
man said.
The renewed investigation comes some
three months after the Senate confirmed
Mr. Marcus in his position.
Before taking that job, Mr. Marcus was
at the forefront of efforts to combat Israel
boycotts on campus and anti-Semitic
harassment by demanding the enforce-
ment of civil rights powers. ZOA, Hillel
International, and other Jewish orga-
nizations supported his nomination,
though women’s rights groups, including
the National Council of Jewish Women,
opposed the choice because Mr. Marcus
supported rolling back Obama-era guide-
lines on how colleges should handle sex-
ual assault.
Pro-Palestinian groups, meanwhile,
warned that Mr. Marcus would wield
the law to silence criticism of Israel on
campus. JTA WIRE SERVICE

14 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Is your child’s
safety less
important
than the
safety of your
neighbor’s child?
Trenton seems to think so. In the FY 2019 budget, the New Jersey State
government allocated more than $200 per child for public school security,
while allocating only $75 per child in nonpublic schools.

Tell them you disagree

Contact your state legislator
and demand that they allocate
funding equally, for ALL of
New Jersey’s children
District 37
Alpine, Bogota, Cresskill, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee, Hackensack,
Leonia, Northvale, Palisades Park, Rockleigh, Teaneck, Tenafly
Assembly Member Valerie Vainieri Huttle
201-541-1118 | aswhuttle@njleg.org
Assembly Member Gordon Johnson
201-530-0469 | asmjohnson@njleg.org

For more information, please visit teachnjs.org or email us at info@teachnjs.org

JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 15
Briefly Local

Sandra Alpern
Rabbis Avram Kogen, left, Arthur Weiner, and Hillel Gold.

Courtesy Jerry Schranz

Rabbi Kogen lauded at reception
The Jewish Community Center of Paramus/
Congregation Beth Tikvah honored
Rabbi Avram Kogen at its annual com-
munity Selichot reception and service
this year. Rabbi Kogen has been the shul’s
Torah reader since 2010, and before that
he taught bar and bat mitzvah students
there. The shul’s clergy, Rabbi Arthur
Weiner and Cantor Samuel Weiss, and
High Holy Days guest Rabbi Hillel Gold,
who teaches adult education at the shul,
joined in the celebration.
Valley Chabad
Father and son celebrate at last year’s Tashlich at the Great Falls.
Great Falls will form backdrop
for Paterson Tashlich ceremony
Join residents of the Federation Apart-
ments and some of the “minyannaires”
who daven at the Paterson shul there,
for a Tashlich gathering on Sunday,
September 16, at noon at the Great
Falls of Paterson. The GPS address is 72
McBride Ave. Paterson. The Great Falls
are second only to Niagara in height for
waterfalls east of the Mississippi.
There is nearby street parking. Mill
Mile – Paterson Great Falls is a smart
phone app you can download for free
short tour of the Paterson Shul between
1:30 and 2:30 p.m.
All are welcome to a Kol Nidre min-
yan on September 18 at 7:30 p.m., and
Yom Kippur services all day on Septem-
ber 19.
The building that houses the shul
is owned and operated by the Jewish
Community Housing Corporation, a
non-profit organization.
For information, go to PatersonShul.
com or email JerrySchranz@gmail.com.

with a talking/walking tour. For information on the falls, go to

Following Tashlich, there will be a www.nps.gov/pagr/index.htm.

Holocaust Torah in Haskell

Kabbalah and the High Holy Days
A 110-year-old Torah that had been saved
Last week, Rabbi Dov Drizin taught “The offerings for the Pascack Valley and Saddle on Kristallnacht will be in North Passaic
Kabbalah of the High Holidays,” a pre- River communities. They are open to the County for Yom Kippur. That stop is part
High Holy Days class sponsored by the community; no membership or affiliation of a tour that will take the Torah to many
Valley Chabad Academy of Jewish Studies. is required. Jewish communities worldwide.
The class is one of many adult education Rabbi Mendy Gurkov of Chabad Jew-
ish Center of Upper Passaic County said
he hopes the Torah will inspire everyone
at the center’s Yom Kippur services, to
be held on Wednesday, September 19, at
Hackensack shul 11:30 a.m.
honors Mark Zettler “This Torah truly captures the essence
of our people,” he said. “Many have
Temple Beth El in Hackensack will honor Mark Zettler at its annual sought to destroy the Jewish people,
gala, set for Sunday, October 7, at 2 p.m. Mr. Zettler has been the but we’ve miraculously survived and we
shul’s president for 15 years and is continuing in the position. must continue our mission of repairing
The celebration will include music by the Bit O’ Rhythm this world and revealing the light within
marimba band, presentations, and a cocktail/dessert reception. it. The fact that this Torah will be with
For reservations, call (201) 342-2045. Mark Zettler us on Yom Kippur captures this message
of light, of hope and the promise of a
brighter tomorrow.”
The Torah’s story is dramatic. On
Seeking Kristallnacht survivors Kristallnacht, Isaac Schwartz, who lived
Temple Beth Tikvah in Wayne is looking for survivors of Kristallnacht from Austria and in Hamburg, had just celebrated his
Germany to tell their stories at a commemoration and service on November 9. For infor- bar mitzvah a month earlier, grabbed a
mation, call Alice at (201) 657-1647 or email her at Aosur@optimum.net. Torah scroll as flames raged in the city’s
main synagogue.
The family buried the Torah in their
backyard. They escaped to Venezuela;
when they returned to Hamburg, years
later, and unearthed it, they found that
it had sustained more damage. “Even
if one letter is smudged or faded, the
Torah is rendered useless,” Rabbi
Gurkov said.
The scroll stayed with the family until
three years ago, when Isaac Schwartz’s
son contacted Miami Beach businessman
Leonard Wien. Wien, whose mission was
to restore destroyed German Torah scrolls
as an homage to his family members and
those who died in the Holocaust, bought
the Torah from the family and had it
restored. He hired two scribes who spent
18 months rewriting the faded letters and
replacing the parts of the parchment
that were beyond repair. Burn marks still
are visible in the parchment. Then Wein
donated the Torah to the Jewish Learn-
ing Institute.
For more information, call (201) 696-
7609 or go to www.JewishHighlands.org.

16 Jewish Standard SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

 Briefly Local

Photos by Leora Verbit & Daniel Solomon

Chani Hermann, director of New
Courtesy Jerry Schranz

Jersey Yachad, left, with Monique

Chera, event host.

Above, Yachad members, Deal/Flatbush community

members, Yad B’Yad participants, and NJ Yachad staff.

Yachad celebrates end of summer

New Jersey Yachad celebrated the end of
summer on August 29 in Deal; the party
was hosted by Monique and Ricky Chera.
Yachad participants, high school
RJ2 performs. students, and staff were treated to an
elaborate barbecue overlooking the
beach, and enjoyed a variety of activities
including personalized snow globe mak-
ing and a concert with the musical group,
RJ2. The event supported New Jersey’s
Yachad programs.
New Jersey Yachad offers a variety of
inclusive programs for people with spe-
cial needs as well as emotional support
for all members of the family.

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP TO BUILD A STRONGER ISRAEL THROUGH ALIYAH

Jewish Standard SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 17

 Cover Story

The Hunter Synagogue, also known as Congregation Kol Yisroyal

Anshei Hunter, above and at right, is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. Here, Rabbi Benzion Scheinfeld,
left, and Rabbi John Krug prepare for Rosh Hashanah this year.

‘Feeling
the beauty
of the world’
In upstate New York, a community comes together
for three days a year, with the help of Bergen County rabbis

I
JOANNE PALMER
magine a small wooden syna-
gogue in a small town, sur-
rounded by woods, with a
mountain looming behind it.
Imagine a community com-
ing together for three days
every year for many years, for
decades, for a century.
This place isn’t magic; people age,
generations change, children grow up and
marry and have their own children. Many
of them — most of them? — return, year
after year, to the small wooden shul in the
small town surrounded by woods, with the
mountain looming behind it.
It sounds a bit like a children’s book —
and people who know tell us that it looks
a bit like Poland — but it’s real, and it’s
in Hunter, New York, in the shadow of
Hunter Mountain, the ski resort not too
far north of New York City.
It’s the 104-year-old Hunter Synagogue,
the shul built by the families that built
Hunter Mountain, the magnet that attracts
those family’s descendants and neighbors,
and that holds services led by Rabbi Dr.
John Krug of Teaneck and Rabbi Benzion
Scheinfeld of Bergenfield.
They’ve been doing it for more than 30
years, and so they’re deeply woven into
Hunter’s tradition.
According to a booklet the synagogue
put out in 2014, lovingly and appropri-
ately called “A Human History as told by
its Congregants in Personal Recollections
and Individual Impressions,” the commu-
nity that built the shul formed in the 1880s.
Then as now, many community members
had summer houses in the rural exurbs,
although various towns went in and out of
fashion as tastes and travel changed. It was
hard to get up to the Catskills then; in the

18 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018


1880s, according to the booklet, families
would take a boat up the Hudson and then
get into a horse-drawn wagon that would
get them to Hunter. Later, trains and then
highways made the ride increasingly easier
(if possibly less exciting.)
Since the 1950s, the shul, which the U.S.
Interior Department lists on the National
Register of Historic Places, was funded
in large part by Orville and Israel Slutzky,
brothers who also founded and until
recently whose families owned Hunter
Mountain, and who figure large in the
reminiscences of the people who go there,
year after year.
Since 1989, both Rabbi Krug and Rabbi
Scheinfeld have led services there, three
times a year, Rabbi Krug as senior and
Rabbi Scheinfeld as junior rabbi. Both
men taught at the Frisch School then
when they were approached by commu-
nity members, who asked them to drive up
to Hunter and try it.
They did, they loved it, and they’ve
done it every year since. They run the
entire service; not only do they lead
the davening, each acting as both rabbi
and cantor — they both sing — but they
also read the Torah and blow the shofar
themselves. “We’ve gone for so long that
when they built an annex, they named
it the Krug-Scheinfeld annex,” Rabbi
Scheinfeld said.
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 19
Cover Story
“It’s a unique community,” Rabbi
Scheinfeld said. It’s a mountain commu-
nity, a group of Jews who went there in
the early 1900s. They were primarily reli-
gious families, but as America became
less religious they also sort of evolved in
all sorts of different directions. And their
children and grandchildren come back to
Hunter for the High Holy Days, from Man-
hattan, from Roslyn on Long Island, from
Fair Lawn, from Monsey. A lot of them are
Cover Story
Conservadox.” Few of them are Orthodox, but they return
for Orthodox services, because that’s what the days always
have meant to them. Many of them are artists, he added.
The High Holy Days fall at a different time every year,
usually between early September and early October, but
“every time we drive up to Hunter, we are surrounded
by leaves that are changing color,” Rabbi Scheinfeld said;
those changes in the physical world mark the change in
feeling that he undergoes as he nears this place that means
so much to him. “And then you pass a waterfall on the way
up. The drive has a purifying effect as you get ready to
connect with your creator, and with the purity of life.
“We always look forward to the landscape of green turn-
ing to fiery red and to yellow, and to the chill in the air, the
pure smell. And this little old wooden shul. Even though
the people there aren’t so religiously devotional, this is
the center of their Jewish life. They will come from far and
wide just to be in this synagogue, where their parents and
grandparents prayed. And although they are not Ortho-
dox, they want an Orthodox experience.”
There have been some concessions to the changing
times, he added. “Until about 15 years ago, the men used
to be downstairs and the women used to be upstairs. But
then we put the mechitzah in the middle of the room
downstairs. Rabbi Krug decided that he could accom-
modate that request. So it’s an Orthodox service, with a
mechitzah, but we also helped people who wanted a more
egalitarian feel.”
Rabbi Scheinfeld stands with David Mack, a long- There’s also a mechitzah in the balcony, so that space is
time Hunter Synagogue member. available both to men and to women.
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There are a wide range of Jews who share the building.
“During the summer, ultra-Orthodox students from Lake-
wood and their rosh yeshiva go there,” Rabbi Scheinfeld
said. “And in the winter, there is a Reform service there
every fourth Friday night. So everyone uses it. There is
some tension, but on the whole it works out.”
The High Holy Day congregants are a mixed group reli-
giously, but the two rabbis bring friends and relatives with
them; Rabbi Krug’s wife, Phyllis, always joins them, and
at times their children do as well. When the children were
young, “the Krugs would bring them up every year,” Rabbi
Scheinfeld said.
“Phyllis Krug is a very important part of the Hunter
experience,” he added. The rabbis and their families and
guests rent a house; “Phyllis opens her home to serve
meals to everyone.” She also speaks movingly at Tashlich
every year. “Tashlich is held by the creek in the back of the
synagogue overlooking the mountain,” he said; that ser-
vice, which always is held outside but rarely in as naturally
beautiful a setting as Hunter provides, “is a very special
gathering for all of the congregants,” he said.
“Most of the older people who used to be here are gone
now, but I remember their Hebrew, and how much I loved
hearing it,” Rabbi Scheinfeld said. It was the rich, deeply
Ashkenazi Yiddish-inflected Hebrew that would take lis-
teners back to Eastern Europe, even if they’d never been
there. It went with the old wooden building, with its inti-
mations of Poland. “And those old Jews were mountain
men,” he added, with the creased, weathered faces of
people who lived outside.
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 Cover Story

observant during the rest of the year, they would necessar-

The break-fast concert is one of the most emotionally rich parts of the holidays, Rabbi Schienfeld said.
This magic community comes together three days
a year — for the two days of Rosh Hashanah, and then
again on Yom Kipppur. When it ends, the community
has a break-fast, and then the two men play guitars and
sing. Sometimes other musicians join them. (Remember
that this congregation is full of artists; most are visual
artists but some are musicians.) They sing Jewish songs,
often old ones that everyone knows. Emotion runs high;
the community has reached a peak of intensity together,
fueled by emotion and music and reflection instead of
by food and caffeine. Now it’s over, and the group will
be disbanded for another year. “Inevitably people cry,”
Rabbi Scheinfeld said. “The break-fast concert is a shot
in the arm of Judaism.”
Because almost everyone who goes to Hunter for
the holidays is a descendant of someone with history
there, “We started as outsiders,” Rabbi Scheinfeld said.
And because most of the congregation isn’t particularly
ily associate synagogue-going with spirituality. “But Rabbi
Krug and I create an intensity that rivals the intensity of
any shul in the world. You’re in an old wooden shul in the
middle of a mountain, and for three days everyone’s soul
is so alive and focused and touched.”
“There’s an odd, cold, wintry warmth to praying in this
old wooden shul. It’s an enveloping feeling of warmth.”
There’s also the Slutzky connection, which creates
another bond between the people and the place.
“A lot of the Jews who come to the services are or have
been skiers. The synagogue is figuratively and in some
ways even practically dwarfed by this gorgeous ski moun-
tain. The shul is there because the owners of the moun-
tain gave the congregation both the means and the emo-
tional connection, and at the heart of that connection is
this synagogue.
“If there were no Hunter mountain, there would be no
town of Hunter,” Rabbi Scheinfeld said. “And if no town,
then no synagogue.
“To me, skiing is spiritual. That’s because of the beauty.
When you see it, it’s like instead of looking at a painting,
you’re inside it. You feel the energy and the grandeur of
God’s creation. It’s a spiritual experience. And when you
ski you challenge yourself. You feel nature, and you chan-
nel it into your own body.
“It makes you feel like you are connecting with Hash-
em’s world in a way that uplifts the soul.
“I love davening Mincha after skiing because I feel alive.
It’s about feeling the beauty of the world.”

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22 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
RCBC
Lawrence Bacow, the 29th Harvard University president, walks through Harvard Yard in July, on his first
day in office.
JS
Harvard’s Jewish president wants
to restore faith in higher education
PENNY SCHWARTZ
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Harvard University Jewish stu-
dents take note: You may want to be on your best behav-
ior during High Holy Days services.
Page 1 Lawrence Bacow, who began his new position as the
president of Harvard on July 1, and his wife, Adele Fleet
Bacow, plan to spend some of the High Holy Days at reli-
gious services at the Ivy League school’s Hillel. The two,
who are Jewish, met on the campus more than 40 years
ago, when Bacow began Harvard Law School, he recalled.
He began the habit of going to students’ services in his
previous job, as president of Tufts University, a nearby
Boston-area school.
“We plan to follow a similar pattern and split our
time between our synagogue, where we have deep ties
and have belonged for a very long time,” Bacow said
in a recent conversation at his spacious new office in
Loeb House, a stately early 20th-century building within
the gates of Harvard Yard. “From time to time we’ll be
spending time with the students.”
Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, Harvard Hillel’s executive
director, wrote in an email: “Students in our commu-
nity are thrilled at seeing someone who cares so deeply
about Jewish identity and tradition assume the presi-
dency of Harvard. It will be a joy to have Larry and Adele
as part of our Jewish community.”
Bacow, 67, said he intends to draw on that identity
and tradition in restoring faith in higher education, a
field under scrutiny for its enormous price tag and the
perceptions of elitism and political bias that sometimes
cling to it. He is concerned about affordability, and that
the value of higher education is now questioned among
ROSE LINCOLN/HARVARD STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
parents and the broader public. “These are tough times
for higher education,” he said.
Bacow, a longtime advocate for public higher edu-
cation, intends to use his new high-profile leadership
position to impart the “enduring values of colleges as
enablers of the American dream,” citing himself as a
good example.
As the son of immigrants who had nothing when they
arrived in this country, he credited higher education
with allowing him to succeed. Bacow wants to ensure
that opportunity is available to future generations — and
now he has a national platform to address the subject.
“I really see this in many respects as a call to public
service” not just a chance to lead Harvard, he said.
Appointed in February as Harvard’s 29th president,
Bacow succeeds Drew Gilpin Faust, the college’s first
woman president, who stepped down in June after 11
years in the job. He is the school’s third Jewish presi-
dent, preceded by Neil Rudenstine (1991-2001) and Law-
rence Summers (2001-2006).
Bacow, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, also graduated from Harvard Law and
earned his doctorate from Harvard, in public policy. He’s
an economist and a specialist in environmental policy.
After 24 years at MIT, where he taught and served in
senior leadership positions, Bacow became president of
Tufts. In his decade there, he was credited with trans-
forming the liberal arts school into one with a competi-
tive global presence, and for expanding the school’s
accessibility for students from families with low or mod-
est incomes.
After his stint at Tufts, Bacow was a senior scholar
at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and at its

Kennedy School of Government.
Born and raised in Pontiac, Michigan, Bacow grew up in
a family deeply engaged in Jewish life. His father, Mitchell,
who died in 2007, was a refugee who fled pogroms in East-
ern Europe. His German-born mother, Ruth, who died in
1994, was a Holocaust survivor — the lone Jewish survivor
from her town. Bacow, a warm and engaging conversa-
tionalist, spoke openly about their poignant life stories
and the influence they continue to play in his personal
life and profession.
“I had a very unusual upbringing as a child of a survi-
vor,” he said. “I’ve seen the literature of children of survi-
vors, and that was not my experience. My mother was not
protective of me.” Defying some stereotypes about survi-
vor parents, “She actually encouraged me to take risks.”
His mother was beloved for her sunny disposition and
was a strong woman, he recalled.
Bacow said his parents instilled in him and his sister
a sense of gratitude and a responsibility to share their
good fortune.
In his relationships with students, he said, he has tried
to convey that “all of us ... fortunate to study and work at
a place like this bear a special responsibility to use this
education and this opportunity to make the world a better
place and to help those less fortunate.”
At one time his family belonged to both of Pontiac’s two
congregations, Bacow said with a chuckle. “Life revolved
around the synagogue,” he said, where he recalled spend-
ing four or five days each week in Hebrew school and reli-
gious services.
It’s a tradition he has carried throughout his life. The
Bacows are regular Saturday-morning minyan-goers at
Temple Emanuel, a Conservative congregation in New-
ton, the Boston suburb where they raised their now-
grown sons.
Bacow was on the Hebrew College board in Newton
Centre for some time, and in 2004 the school gave him an
honorary degree. In a speech at the commencement, he
challenged the notion that anti-Semitism was rampant on
American college campuses, calling it a “gross distortion,”
as described in a recent Harvard Magazine profile.
A critic of petitions on colleges to divest from Israel,
including one at Tufts, Bacow nonetheless cautioned
in his address that labeling boycott proponents as anti-
Semitic shuts down conversation. He recommended view-
ing such disputes as teachable moments.
Bacow describes himself as a passionate champion of
free speech and academic freedom. “Veritas,” or truth, is
the Harvard motto. “‘Emet’ in Hebrew,” Bacow said. “Uni-
versities are fundamentally about the search for truth.”
Debate is healthy, he believes. “We need to go out of our
way to make sure people don’t feel excluded or marginal-
ized,” he said. But “fundamentally, we have to stand for aca-
demic freedom. It’s a core value of the academic mission.”
Over the years, he has shared his expertise with sev-
eral Hebrew College presidents, including Rabbi Dan-
iel Lehmann, whose presidency did not overlap with
Bacow’s time on the board. With that school weighed
down by debt, Bacow was generous in offering guid-
ance on a range of issues, from attracting new sources of
Jewish World
revenue to expanding student enrollment, Lehmann said
in a phone conversation.
“He was comfortable about being explicit about his Jew-
ish commitments,” said Lehmann, now president of the
Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. “He
wants to see American Judaism flourish. For someone in
his position, that is quite remarkable.”
Bacow’s staunch belief in a richly diverse undergradu-
ate experience is being challenged in a high-profile federal
lawsuit Students for Fair Admissions brought against Har-
vard. The suit asserts that the school’s admissions policies
discriminate against Asian-American students. It’s a claim
that the school and Bacow deny. The case is expected to
be heard beginning in October.
Harvard attracts more than 40,000 applicants each
year and accepts only a small portion of them, Bacow said.
But he said the school embraces diversity in its admissions
— from academic and extracurricular interests to geogra-
phy — to enhance its students’ experience.
He is familiar with critics who compare the claims
about Asian-American admissions to the quotas used
against Jews applying to Harvard and other colleges in the
1930s and 1940s. “Sadly, in times past, at many universi-
ties, there were quotas against Jews,” Bacow said. “This
is totally different. There are no quotas here. We are not
discriminating.”
Bacow said the percentage of Asian-American stu-
dents enrolled at Harvard has increased more than 25
percent in the past eight years and “The data at trial will
show that.” JTA WIRE SERVICE
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 23
Jewish World
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24 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel, holding hands with his wife, Amy, an-
nounces that he will not seek a third term at a City Hall news conference on
September 4, 2018. STACEY WESCOTT/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS VIA GETTY IMAGES
Rahm Emanuel will
leave a city — and Jewish
community — divided
about his legacy as mayor
BEN SALES
As Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago
Life! prepares to exit City Hall after eight
years in office, his Jewish supporters
tout his commitment to helping people
and his record of economic develop-
ment in the city.
His Jewish detractors, meanwhile,
call out his closing of dozens of Chicago
public schools and the scandal in the
city’s police department in response to
a white cop killing an African-American
teen.
But they agree on one thing: The fact
that he was the city’s first Jewish mayor
was a non-issue either way. He hasn’t
faced significant anti-Semitism, and his
Jewish backers do not say that they sup-
port him because of his religion.
“We’re living in an era where a city
that has many different ethnic groups
and minorities, and people feel very
passionately about their group, can
elect a white Jewish mayor,” Rabbi
Asher Lopatin said. Rabbi Lopatin led
Emanuel’s Orthodox synagogue, Anshe
Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation, dur-
ing the first two years of Emanuel’s
term. “Deep down, we can put our dif-
ferences behind us.”
Not that Emanuel ever has tried to
downplay his Judaism. He was raised
in an involved Jewish family, his father
is Israeli, and he has remained active in
Jewish circles as an adult.
When he announced recently that he
wouldn’t seek a third term, Emanuel
paid homage to his Jewish background.
“I want to thank my grandfather,
who at the age of 13, took an enormous
chance a century ago by immigrating
here from Eastern Europe, fleeing the
pogroms, to meet a third cousin he did
not know in a city whose name he could
not pronounce,” Emanuel’s announce-
ment said. “In four congressional runs
on the North and Northwest sides —
and in two races for Mayor — you cast
aside old history and voted for a Jewish
kid with the middle name Israel.”
In deciding to leave after two terms,
Emanuel surprised a city that has a his-
tory of strongman mayors. Emanuel,
who stepped down as President Barack
Obama’s White House chief of staff to
run in 2011, won re-election in 2015,
though he was forced into a runoff. And
he’s had a contentious tenure.
Emanuel expanded the city’s pre-
kindergarten and lengthened its school
day, but he also led the largest bout of
school closings in Chicago history and
confronted a teachers’ strike. He ren-
ovated the city’s river walk, began an
expansion of the airport, and oversaw
a spike in construction downtown, but
gun violence has continued to plague
the city’s South Side.
And his announcement came in the
shadow of a murder trial of the police-
man who shot Laquan McDonald, an
African-American teen, in 2014. The
fallout from the shooting prompted
a federal investigation of the Chicago
police department, and it found a pat-
tern of discrimination there.
“With respect to the beautification of
the city, the day-to-day workings of the
city, the mayor has done an outstand-
ing job,” said Rabbi Capers Funnye of
the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian
Hebrew Congregation on the South
Side. Nevertheless, Funnye said that

he would grade Emanuel’s performance as a B- or C+.
“The issue that overrides everything in the African-
American community is the lack of trust between the
African-American community, by and large, in Chicago
and the police department,” said Funnye, who is Afri-
can-American. But “I don’t know that anyone else could
necessarily do a better job,” he added.
Emanuel, 58, was born in Chicago to Jewish parents;
his father served in the Irgun, a paramilitary Zionist mili-
tia in pre-state Israel. His first, middle, and last names
are all Hebrew. He attended Jewish day school as a child,
and he volunteered for a few weeks as a civilian on an
Israeli army base in 1991. His brothers — who also have
Hebrew names — are well known too; Ezekiel is a promi-
nent physician and bioethicist, and Ari is a top Holly-
wood agent.
After serving in the Clinton White House in the 1990s,
Rahm Emanuel was elected to Congress from Chicago’s
North Side in 2002. He earned a reputation for pugnac-
ity, and eventually rose to become chair of the House
Democratic Caucus. In 2009, he left Congress to serve
as Obama’s first chief of staff.
When he lived in Chicago, Emanuel would attend ser-
vices at Anshe Sholom, and he was an outspoken sup-
porter of Israel. Steve Nasatir, president of the Jewish
United Fund, Chicago’s Jewish federation, praised Eman-
uel as having done a good job in a difficult position.
“There’s no question that there was a sense of com-
munity pride in having a Jewish mayor elected in Chi-
cago, coming from a family that was connected to the
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Jewish community,” Nasatir said.
But Nasatir said that the federation’s relationship
with this mayor wasn’t much different from its rela-
tionships with Emanuel’s predecessors, including the
powerful Richard Daley, who served for more than two
decades, and Harold Washington, the city’s first Afri-
can-American mayor.
“Our relationship with the mayors over the last 40, 50
years, from my perspective, has been always outstand-
ing,” Nasatir said. “Our relationship with this mayor
was very, very good and if there’s a difference, it’s just
because you happen to talk to someone who’s a Jew.”
His Jewish allies said that Emanuel’s religion would
express itself in the priorities he advanced, like trying
to make the city more prosperous and improve its edu-
cation system.
“He’s a very good man, he’s a committed, passionate
man,” Lopatin said. “I know how deeply committed he is
to doing good in society and making a difference.”
But that feeling is far from universal among Chicago
Jews. Liberal activists say Emanuel didn’t help the
schools; instead, he gutted them. And they say his focus
on economic development didn’t extend to the African-
American communities of the South Side.
“Rahm was the furthest thing we’ve ever had from
a Jewish leader, from a Jewish mayor, in the city,” said
Tamar Manasseh, a Jewish activist who runs Moth-
ers Against Senseless Killing, an organization combat-
ing gun violence on the South Side. “Rahm espoused
no Jewish values whatsoever. He had a connection to a
JCC on the Palisades
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Jewish World
Jewish mother, but not to a Jewish God.”
Judy Levey, the executive director of the Jewish Coun-
cil on Urban Affairs, a Chicago social justice group, said
that at first she was excited to have a Jew in City Hall. But
she said that the mayor has not met the group’s expec-
tations when it comes to helping the city’s immigrants,
reforming its police department, and boosting its poor
neighborhoods.
“We looked forward to working with Mayor Emanuel
on issues that reflect our Jewish values, such as immi-
gration and police accountability,” Levey wrote in an
email. “While Mayor Emanuel worked successfully to
bring white collar jobs and investment to the city, he was
much less successful at addressing the deep economic
disparities and disinvestment that continue to plague
Chicago’s neighborhoods.”
Whatever his legacy in Chicago, a few people said that
they were surprised by Emanuel’s decision to forgo a
third term. But Jack Moline, a Conservative rabbi who
has been described as Emanuel’s rabbi, says that Eman-
uel saw himself serving only two terms when he started,
and that he wouldn’t be surprised if Emanuel returns to
politics after a short break.
“He has a lot of talent and he has the kind of energy
that is necessary to make a difference in the values that
he and I share,” said Moline, now the president of the
Interfaith Alliance, a liberal religious advocacy group.
“I expect that there is another place for him to express
that, although I have given up predicting what Rahm
Emanuel is going to do.” JTA WIRE SERVICE
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Jewish World
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This beehive at a honey farm in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip was set
ablaze by an incendiary kite.
Report: More than 8,000
acres destroyed by arson terror
The number of incendiary kites and
balloons the Palestinians have sent over
the Gaza border and that have caused
fires in Israel has fallen in recent weeks,
enabling the Israel Nature and Parks
Authority to begin assessing the eco-
logical and financial damage to Israeli
parks and nature reserves.
Authorities also are working on a
plan to minimize the damage if the
arson terrorism campaign resumes
next summer.
The four-month arson terrorism,
part of the campaign of border vio-
lence orchestrated by the Hamas ter-
rorist group that rules the Gaza Strip,
has resulted in appalling damage: Some
32,000 dunams (roughly 8,000 acres)
of Israeli fields, parks, and other lands
have been reduced to ash.
The report found that 12,086 dunams
(nearly 3,000 acres) of national parks
and nature reserves, 9,873 dunams
Boys (2,440 acres) of JNF-owned land, 4,237
dunams (more than 1,000 acres) of
agricultural fields and 6,085 dunams
(1,500 acres) of open land have been
burned. Since the arson terrorism
began, 14 percent of all nature reserves
in the region bordering the Gaza Strip
have been lost to fire.
The worst-hit areas are the Be’eri
Crater Nature Reserve, 78 percent of
which has been burned, and the Kurkar
Niram Nature Reserve, 77 percent of
which has been burned. Fifty percent
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ALON SIGRON
The fires have annihilated wildlife as
well as flora. The bee-eater birds indig-
enous to the Besor Reserve are gone and
their nests have been lost, and Be’eri’s
wild turtle population has suffered a
critical blow.
In addition to destroying animal habi-
tats, Hamas also used animals to set the
fires, releasing hawks into Israel to which
operatives had attached burning fuses.
According to the INPA, the fires have
caused some 15 million shekels ($4
million) in damage to nature reserves
alone and the amount of territory lost
will make it too difficult for the nature
reserves to rehabilitate themselves,
requiring human intervention.
“We are now seeing the scope of the
damage caused to the nature reserves,
and it’s immense,” said INPA Southern
District director Gilad Gabbai. “Most
of the Be’eri Reserve has been burned,
and it almost doesn’t have the resources
for renewal. It’s a really tough blow. We
need to take more aggressive action that
wasn’t needed in the past. We need to
intervene, as opposed to other places,
where we’re protecting the ecosystem
from outside and allowing it to recover
naturally.”
Chief INPA scientist Dr. Yehoshua
Shkedy said that the authority needs “a
substantial budget” to handle the inva-
sive species.
“This is very expensive work, in addi-
tion to the monitoring program, which
could cost a million shekels [$279,000]
a year. If I want a plan for five years, the
monitoring alone will cost NIS 5 million
[$1.4 million], and I’m not talking about
all the other things,” he said.
If there are fires next year, it will take
dozens of years for the reserves and
parks to recover. If there are 10 years
before the next fire, then maybe we can
fix the damage in a few years. It also
depends on how you define rehabili-
tation, because it will never return to
what it was.” JNS.ORG

Israelis want American Jewish help
in promoting religious pluralism, study finds
BEN SALES
For years, American Jewish groups have
agitated for more religious pluralism in
Israel. And year after year, the Israeli
government has acted as if the country’s
demographic and political realities make
any kind of substantial reform impossible.
The latest version of an annual survey
disputes that claim. It shows that Jewish
Israelis disapprove of how their govern-
ment handles religious issues. It shows
that they want more liberal religious poli-
cies. And it says they want American Jews
to intervene in the debate.
The one wrinkle is that when Jewish
Israelis talk about “religious freedom,”
they mostly are talking about a different
set of issues than their American counter-
parts. American Jewish institutions have
poured their energy into changes at the
Western Wall and blocking restrictions
on Jewish conversion. But Jewish Israelis
mostly care about quotidian issues like
public transit on Saturdays and govern-
ment funding of yeshivas.
Jewish World
Those are some of the takeaways from
an annual survey of attitudes among Jew-
ish Israelis on religion and state conducted
by Hiddush, an Israeli organization that
supports religious pluralism. The survey
questioned 800 Jewish Israelis in July and
has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
“The overwhelming majority views neg-
atively the government’s policy on religion
and state, opposes practically every aspect
of any decision or any issue, whether it’s
the [military] draft or marriage or public
transit on Shabbat,” said Rabbi Uri Regev,
ROBERT SWIFT/FLASH90
the founder and CEO of Hiddush. “The
public does want freedom, does oppose
government decisions and policies. The
public wants diaspora Jewish involvement
in promoting religious freedom.”
As it does every year, the survey found
that Jewish Israelis are far more liberal Conservative Jews pray at Robinson’s Arch in Jerusalem on July 30, 2014.
on religious issues than their govern-
ment is. The government’s religious and Orthodox kosher certification. Israel separation of religion and state, represent-
policies largely are administered by the bans nearly all public transit on Shabbat. ing an increase of 10 percentage points
charedi Orthodox chief rabbinate, which It does not recognize same-sex marriages since 2012. Seventy percent back govern-
recognizes only Orthodox rabbis, Ortho- performed in the country. ment recognition of all forms of marriage,
dox weddings, Orthodox conversion, But two-thirds of Jewish Israelis support SEE PLURALISM PAGE 30
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Jewish World
BRIEFS
Arab Knesset members meet with Arab League
to denounce law defining Israel as Jewish
The head of the Arab League hosted a del-
egation of Arab Knesset members from
the Joint List party on Tuesday, who railed
against a new Israeli nation-state law that
defines Israel as a Jewish state.
The delegation was met by foreign min-
isters of other Arab countries who gath-
ered to discuss funding for UNRWA, a
U.N.-funded organization established to
provide aid to refugees from Israel’s 1948
War of Independence, but has adopted a
mission to focus internationally funded
services and resources of all kinds on the
entire Arab population in Israel.
Amid talks, the group called the new
Israeli law “racist.” Knesset members
Ahmed Tibi and Jamal Zahalka reported
that Arab League Secretary-General
Ahmed Aboul Gheit called it an “apart-
heid law.”
“We came here to explain the implica-
tions of this law to the Arab public and
the national conflict, as part of our global
propaganda campaign,” Hadashot news
reported the MKs as saying. The news
source reported that the MKs said the law
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“destroys the possibility of two states.”
Tibi railed against the recent closing
of the PLO mission in Washington as “a
revenge campaign against the Palestinian
people and its leadership.”
He accused U.S. President Donald
Trump of being an “unskilled trader” who
“causes the U.S. to lose its standing as a
broker in the diplomatic process, and it
makes do with the messianic ceremonies
of Ambassador [David] Friedman and the
right-wing tweets of [Jason] Greenblatt.”
Just law week, Joint List chairman
Ayman Odeh met with European Council
foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini
to request that the European Union con-
demn and call for the nullification of the
nation-state law.
Opponents of the law say it provides
rights only to Jews and makes minori-
ties second-class citizens. Proponents
have argued that Israel was estab-
lished as and always identified as a
Jewish state, and that the law will not
withhold any rights to minorities that
they now have. JNS.ORG
 Jewish World

U.S. orders closure

of PLO mission in D.C.
While Jews around the world were celebrating the
Happy
Jewish New Year on Monday, the U.S. State Depart-
ment confirmed that it was ordering the closure of
New Year
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed
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White House National Security Chief John Bolton
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Jewish World
Pluralism
FROM PAGE 27
including civil marriage; that’s an increase
from 53 percent in 2009. Sixty-six per-
cent support the three major denomina-
tions of Judaism — Orthodox, Conserva-
tive, and Reform — enjoying equal status
in Israel. Nearly half support recognition
of all forms of Jewish conversion, while
an additional 28 percent support a liber-
alization of conversion regulations. More
than 70 percent want increased public
transit on Shabbat.
“There is a consistent and continual
decline in people’s preference for the Ortho-
dox option,” Regev, a Reform rabbi, said
about marriage. “The self-righteous claim
of the rabbinate to be the authentic, author-
itative, legitimate representative of halachic
Judaism is not borne out by the people.”
The survey does have some good news
for fans of Israel’s religious status quo.
On issue after issue — from conversion to
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marriage to kosher certification — younger
respondents favored more traditional-
ist policies than their elders. While more
than 80 percent of respondents over age
50 support separation of religion and state
in Israel, for example, only 42 percent of
those under 29 do.
Regev said part of this divide is a result
of high charedi birth rates. But he said it’s
also due to “an element of contrarianism
you find in young people.”
And while only 22 percent of Israelis
identify as religious or charedi — and 13
percent self-identify as Conservative or
Reform — a greater part of the popula-
tion has traditional religious tendencies.
Nearly half of Jewish Israelis observe Shab-
bat partially or fully. And given the choice
between different types of weddings, most
still would opt to be married in an Ortho-
dox ceremony — either under the chief
rabbinate’s auspices or outside of it.
But while 76 percent of Jewish Israe-
lis express dissatisfaction with the
Wishing the
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government’s religious policies, it may
not make a difference. Israelis historically
have not voted on religious issues, instead
prioritizing security and economic con-
cerns. Even so, the survey found that most
Jewish Israelis are more likely to vote for a
political party if it supports increasing reli-
gious freedom.
“If they waver between party A and party
B, and party A took a strong stand on this
issue, it’s going to win brownie points with
the voters,” Regev said, adding, however,
that “It will depend on what happens, to a
great degree, shortly before the elections,”
which are scheduled for next year.
Whether or not they vote on religious
issues, Jewish Israelis say they want dias-
pora Jewry’s help in advancing religious
pluralism. Two-thirds expressed sup-
port for diaspora groups “working to
strengthen religious freedom and plural-
ism in Israel.” That includes 65 percent of
those who voted for Prime Minister Benja-
min Netanyahu in the 2015 election. Last
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The Western Wall has been the top reli-
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doesn’t register with non-charedi Jewish
Israelis. They told Hiddush that their most
important religious issues were, in order:
reducing government funding of Orthodox
yeshivas, instituting civil marriage, and
allowing public transit on Shabbat. Ameri-
can Jewish groups also have pushed for
civil marriage, but they have not spoken
out significantly on the other two issues.
“It’s not about giving carte blanche to
American Jewry,” Regev said. “It’s saying
these are things we feel strongly about ...
and we welcome your help.
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wall. The wall, unlike marriage, is a sym-
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JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 31

Editorial
Choose life Roseanne’s year

I
live on the Upper West of repentance

Side of Manhattan.
T h i s ye a r, w h e n I
walked my dogs early in
the morning of the second day
of Rosh Hashanah, I saw cars
parked on the sidewalk on Riv-
erside Drive and fire trucks lin-
ing the street. I saw firefighters
in waterproof coats and police
officers in dress uniforms and
dignitaries in somber dress-up
dark suits.
I saw three wreaths stand-
ing on large easels in front of
the large marble fountain, with
its ram’s-horned human-faced
mouth spitting out a constant
stream of water into the basin,
with its bas-relief of horses
pulling fire wagons, flanked by
sculptures of grieving women
comforting dying firemen.
Under an atypically foggy,
drizzly sky, instead of the usual On September 12, 2001, someone taped this sign below flowers
jeweled deep flawless ironic that were left at the edge of the fountain where the September
blue, the city’s uniformed ser- 11 Firemen’s Memorial is held every year.
vices were getting ready to com-
memorate September 11 in front of the Firefighters’
Memorial at the end of my block.
Although September 11 usually falls near the holi-
days — in 2001, Rosh Hashanah was on September
17, nearly a week after the attack — this year they
were on the same day.
There’s a lot to think about there, about the uni-
versality of one of the themes of Rosh Hashanah —
that it’s the birthday of the world — and the expan-
siveness and openness of that celebration.
The attacks of September 11 were the result of
the opposite — of tribalism, of hatred, of religiosity
turned monstrous and weaponized.
The response to September 11, from the first
responders, from the would-be blood donors, from
all of us who gave whatever we could, was unifying.
It was an outpouring of sympathy and love.
Rosh Hashanah asks us to remember, to try to heal,
to try to be better, to open our hearts, to admit our
mistakes, to accept that we are not always in control.
The attacks of September 11 showed us what could
happen when we do not do that, and the response to
it showed what can happen when we do.
I live on the 13th floor of an apartment building, on a our better natures beckon us.
hill high above Riverside Drive. But still, even that high
ANDY SHERMAN
up, as I got ready for shul I could hear the skirls of bag-
pipes. It is a piercing, powerful, unmistakable sound.
A bagpipe is a primitive instrument, at least origi-
nally made of the skin of an animal, with at least
one pipe coming out of it. The sound it makes is not
sophisticated, but it clutches at your insides — your
heart and your stomach — and squeezes.
A shofar is even more primitive, just a ram’s horn
(like the ones in the fountain). Often they’re beauti-
ful; they grow in curls and they shine. They make you
understand that the animals that grew them were
huge and powerful in ways that people are not. They
trumpet life and death even before they are blown.
Both the shofar and the bagpipe make sounds that
bypass your head and go straight to your heart.
This year, they both are telling us to pay attention.
The Torah reading on the Shabbat before Rosh
Hashanah tells us that we can choose life or death,
and that we should choose life. Both the shofar and
the bagpipe tell us that too. We can choose to follow
the path of anger, of divisiveness, of hatred to which
some of our national leaders are shepherding us, or
we can follow the path of unity in diversity to which
Please, this year let’s choose life. —JP
O
ver the past two months I have been on a journey
where I have witnessed penance and forgiveness in
America up close.
My close friend of 20 years, Roseanne Barr, who
had for decades entertained America with a sitcom about a
working class family, tweeted something very hurtful and offen-
sive about Valerie Jarrett, an African-American woman and one
of President Obama’s senior advisers. That single tweet, which
Roseanne said was intended as a condemnation of the Iran
nuclear deal but was seen as racist by those who read it, led to
the immediate cancellation of the reboot of Roseanne’s legend-
ary television series that had, in its tenth season, achieved the
highest ratings of any sitcom in America.
Roseanne is known for her sharp wit, and she has never
been a stranger to controversy. But in the two decades I have
known and studied Torah with her, I have never heard a rac-
ist syllable emerge from her lips. Still, the words she tweeted
last June were a breach of the core Torah values of the equal-
ity of humankind and the infinite dignity of all God’s children,
to which Roseanne, as an active and proud practitioner of the
Torah, herself subscribes.
I reached out to her and told her
she had a responsibility to put it
right, to apologize and go through
Maimonides’ four stages of repen-
tance publicly, as the tweet was
public. Ignoring the advice of pro-
fessional PR people and advisors
who told her that an apology would
show weakness, Roseanne taped a
Rabbi podcast with me where she sobbed
Shmuley through an entire hour of emotional
Boteach anguish for the hurt she had caused.
I have interviewed many people in
my life. This was by far the most dif-
ficult. Hearing a woman spill her guts in raw, emotional naked-
ness, in order to correct an error and speak of how she was
prepared to pay the price for her actions, including “losing
everything,” was moving and unforgettable. I held the podcast
for three weeks, giving Roseanne the necessary time to reflect
on the highly personal nature of the apology, making sure
she was comfortable with its release. When it was finally pub-
lished it made immediate global headlines. People around the
world were amazed at the degree to which a celebrity would
go to make amends.
The opinions expressed here are those of the authors,
not necessarily those of the newspaper’s editors, publishers,
or other staffers. We welcome letters to the editor.
Send them to jstandardletters@gmail.com.

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The podcast, broken into the four stages
of Jewish penance, has Roseanne taking
responsibility for her actions, verbally
confessing error, asking the injured party
for forgiveness, and taking concrete action
to rectify the grievance, this time in the
form of monetary contributions to Afri-
can-American educational organizations.
Roseanne and I have since recorded
many weekly Torah podcasts and the
issue of the tweet still comes up. Last
week our podcast made world headlines
when Roseanne said that she would be
traveling to Israel during the airing of
“The Connors,” the renamed show where
her character is dissolved. Roseanne said
she has no desire to wish ill on anyone,
and rather than go dark in watching a
show she created go on without her, she
wanted to be in the Holy Land, studying
Torah and finding spiritual uplift.
Throughout all this, I have won-
dered why her network did not forgive
Roseanne and why certain segments of
America did not forgive her. If it’s true
that civility is dead in America, then its
corollary, forgiveness, seems to be dead
as well.
Martin Luther King was the greatest
American of the 20th century because he
restored America to its founding ideals
of all people being created equally in the
image of God. As a Jew I am particularly
grateful to him for having elevated the
Hebrew Bible into a liberation manifesto
and the very text of the civil rights move-
ment. Regarding forgiveness, he once
said, “We must develop and maintain
the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid
of the power to forgive is devoid of the
power to love. There is some good in the
worst of us and some evil in the best of
us. When we discover this, we are less
prone to hate our enemies.” He also said,
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is
a constant attitude.”
Valerie Jarret is, of course, the
aggrieved victim in this story and is an
impressive woman of erudition and
sophistication. But given that Roseanne
had publicly apologized to her many
times, it would be appropriate for Val-
erie to consider accepting. As Valerie
Jarret said of the tweet when the fire-
storm first broke out, we could make this
a teachable moment in America. All of
us learning to model forgiveness, even
when it’s very hard, is vital to the spiri-
tual health and unity of the nation.
We in the Jewish community have now
entered into the Ten Days of Repentance
between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,
the holiest day of the year. These days are
meant to be a time of deep and sweeping
introspection and a time to reflect on one
particular facet of God’s being — namely,
his infinite capacity to forgive.
Roseanne says she was impaired by
sleeping pills. But she has also said that
what she wrote was unforgivable and
has taken full responsibility for the pain
she caused. She has asked her fans not to
defend her, apologizing without artifice.
She said she tried to get Valerie Jarret’s
number to apologize to her directly, even
writing to her on her Twitter feed to ask
forgiveness.
However, she also related to me that
repentance isn’t entirely possible in
America today. Once we attach negativ-
ity to a particular personality, it becomes
difficult for us to unsee.
My response to her was that as a firm
adherent of the Torah, she must follow
its dictates regardless of consequence.
And here, the Torah is clear: if one
causes pain to someone or diminishes
their sense of worth or dignity in any way,
one must apologize and repent.
But even as I told her this, I knew she’d
made a valid point.
While the Torah gave the world justice,
its most descriptive and beautiful por-
tions are devoted to imparting how mer-
ciful and compassionate God actually is.
Throughout their time in the desert, we
see the Jews sin repeatedly. We even see
them punished. But every time, God opts
out of a grudge, choosing instead to for-
give them.
Perhaps the best example is the
Torah’s most intimate description of God
himself, as Moses cowered inside a crev-
ice of Mt. Sinai. Moses is told of “a God
of mercy and graciousness, endlessly
patient, abounding in steadfast kind-
ness and truth…forgiving of iniquity and
transgression and sin…”
These qualities, however, are not an
abrogation of God’s legal system but its
very guarantor. It is His capacity for for-
giveness that tempers the hand of Jus-
tice. And so, divine judgment is softened
by His recognition of our goodwill and
contrition. He knows that without the
warmth of absolution, justice becomes
not a system of guidance and incentive,
but one that makes our world only more
dark, harsh, and cold.
Thus, for God, to forgive is not to sub-
vert justice, but rather to preserve it.
In our society, it should be no different.
Across the modern world, justice is signi-
fied by the scale and not by the noose.
As we move toward Yom Kippur, let’s
dial down the enmity and disappoint-
ment we feel toward others. Not because
we don’t believe in justice, but precisely
because we do.
As Jesse Jackson once said, we must all
find a way to “love each other, redeem
each other, and move on.”
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has just published
his newest book, “Lust for Love,”
co-authored with Pamela Anderson. He is
the founder of the World Values Network.
Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.
Opinion
Mother of the bride
I
am standing in front of the
mirror in my bedroom.
This dress, a head-to-toe
confectionary of gold
sequins, makes me look fat, no
question about it. The draping
that is supposed to disguise my
child-bearing tummy acts more
like a contour map, emphasiz-
ing the ins and outs of my gener- Helen
ous curves. When I turn to view Maryles
myself from the side, I jingle. Shankman
I wear black. Just black. All
the time. Black shirts, black
capris, black shoes and dresses and skirts
and hats and sweaters and bathing suits
and nighties and tights. A habit I started
in art school, where I learned that if your
whole wardrobe is black, you will always
match without having to work too hard,
and, bonus points, you will look thinner.
But my bride wants me in gold.
I glare at my reflection in the mirror. To
be perfectly fair, the dress is not the prob-
lem. I am the problem. I’m fifty pounds
heavier than when I got married, before
this lumpy body produced four children.
Once upon a time, I lived in the city and
walked everywhere. But then I had chil-
dren, moved to the suburbs, and got a driv-
ers’ license. My walking days were over. The
places I needed to reach were not in walk-
ing distance, at least, not for a woman with a
baby in a stroller and several little ones trail-
ing behind. Now I had to drive. Drive to the
drugstore, the pediatrician, the supermar-
ket, to the kids’ schools in Paramus. Drive to
playdates, meetings with teachers, backyard
camps across town, soccer practice, birth-
day parties in other neighborhoods, endless
carpools. And in the process of driving to all
those places, I grew curvier. A lot curvier.
I slip off the mother-of-the-bride dress,
trying to keep the sequins from tangling
in my hair. I hang it back up and frown
at another sequined dress. Will this one
make me look pretty? I have my doubts.
At first, this wedding stuff was like a game, feet with a soft chiming sound. I fidget with
like playing with dolls. Going dress shop-
ping, spending hours on Pinterest, design-
ing the invitation. But as the big day draws
nearer, I find it’s getting a little too real.
Last Sunday, we arranged to meet the
caterer and have a “tasting.” While other
people enjoyed the last holiday weekend
of the summer, we drove into deepest Jer-
sey to drop in on a stranger’s bat mitzvah.
Twelve-year-old girls fluttered past us in
their formal dresses as a waiter seated us
around a display of fancy finger food. Teri-
yaki sea bass and a fig, paired in the bowl
of a porcelain spoon. Maple-glazed chicken
tucked inside a waffle cone. Seared tuna
and mango salsa, served in a martini glass.
We dined by the glowing violet light of the
ballroom as the girls danced to the beat of
a distant DJ. It was surreal. Because, in my
heart, my daughter is still twelve years old,
and I am still driving her to bat mitzvahs.
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 33
How can my little girl get
married? She just learned
to walk! She just learned to
ride a bike! She just started
kindergarten! She just went
to sleepaway camp for the
first time! She just had her
bat mitzvah! She just got
her license! She just gradu-
ated high school! She just
moved into her dorm! And
yet, here we are at this
strange moment in time
that feels like a dream, vis-
iting the dressmaker for her first wedding
gown fitting. She stands tall and elegant and
self-possessed and beautiful, surveying her-
self in the mirror as the tailor pins up her
hem and begins to bustle the train.
She tilts her head, critically studying the
gown. My daughter is funny, funky, articu-
late, and smart, a dedicated friend, a gifted
artist. She was the kid who always made
flashcards and schedules, inventing songs
and acronyms to help her remember facts.
In addition to being a highly-motivated
and hard-working high-school student, she
was also an enthusiastic member of TVAC,
Teaneck’s Volunteer Ambulance Corps,
bravely venturing out into blackouts and
hurricanes and traffic accidents to bring
aid to those in need.
My daughter is an amazing young woman.
Tonight, we are meeting at the wedding
hall to finalize details, like what time we
will arrive on the morning of the wedding,
which room will be used for the bedecken,
what kind of chair she will sit in, where
the chosson’s tish will be situated, who
will walk down the aisle and when, and at
exactly what time the bride and groom will
be standing under the chuppah.
Oh, yeah. This is all getting a little too real.
I reach for the second gold dress and slip
it off the hanger. The sequins whisper as I
pull the dress over my head, and the fabric
whooshes down around me, falling to my
the folds and drapes for an extra moment,
trying to summon up the courage to look
at myself in the mirror.
To my infinite surprise, the dress
skims over my most egregious bumps
and curves, draping them softly, flatter-
ing them, forgiving them. I realize that
gold looks pretty nice against my skin. It’s
pretty nice with the color of my hair, too.
I feel the beginnings of a smile.
I am not thin. I am not wearing black.
I am something entirely new, something I
have never been before.
I am the mother of the bride.
Helen Maryles Shankman of Teaneck is an
artist and writer. Her work appears in many
fine journals, including The Kenyon Review,
Gargoyle, Jewishfiction.net, and Cream City
Review. Scribner recently published her
second novel, “In The Land of Armadillos.”
Opinion
‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ — with apologies to Alan Paton
I
n 1948 two unconnected incidents
occurred. The modern State of
Israel was established and a small
novel, “Cry, The Beloved Country,”
was published.
The establishment of Israel was met with
support from a majority of nations around
the world and with armed
resistance by Egypt, Jordan,
Syria, and Lebanon, as well
as fighting forces from Saudi
Arabia and Iraq. Alan Paton’s
book was met with critical
acclaim; one critic claimed
that it was one of only three
novels published that year
worth reading. Israel, while
under fire from surround- Dr. Mark
ing armies, declared itself as Gold
the Jewish homeland, whose
foundations were rooted in
history and the Bible. With
the support of the United
Nations, it cemented its com-
mitment to democracy and
to justice and equality for
all its citizens irrespective
of religion, race, or gender.
Alan Paton’s book is a pro-
test against the structures of Hiam Simon
South African society. It is a
strike against apartheid and
the detrimental effects of fear of the other
on the character of an entire society, here
of South Africa. The novel shows the brutal-
ity of apartheid, but despite its unflinching
portrayal of darkness and despair in South
Africa, it was a cry for South Africa, which
we learn is beloved by its people in spite of the very “vision of the prophets” that was
everything. The novel is a cry for its people once the guiding light of the Jewish state.
and its land, and the tentative hope for its
freedom from hatred, poverty, and fear.
Apartheid infected South Africa, but
with the tireless effort of lovers of free-
dom and with the support of the family
of nations the system of apartheid was
replaced by a democracy that allowed for
a shared society. Time marched forward,
and so did democracy. Around the world
we watched as the fascist leaders of Spain
and Portugal were removed. The Cold War
thawed and the Berlin Wall crumbled. At
home, the civil rights movement ended
legal segregation. After the horrors brought
on by a generation of dictators — Hitler, Sta- Israel’s parliament and the heart and sym-
lin, Mussolini, Tojo, and lesser tyrants such bol of Israeli democracy. For example:
as Horthy, Pavelic, Nedic, and Tsankov — it
looked like the moral arc of the universe
finally was bending toward justice.
That was then and this is now.
Democracy around the world is threat-
ened anew. By this, we don’t mean sim-
ply voting rights or majority rule. We
mean the whole constellation of rights
and institutions: a free press, indepen-
dent courts, the right to petition and free
assembly, the array of social and religious
institutions. These rights give expression
to the diversity of views and interests and
34 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
allow individuals to be sovereign in a state
accountable to the public.
Political opportunists, taking advantage
of economic distress and social instability,
lever a new wave of religious, chauvinist,
and racist appeals and install themselves
in power. Newly enthroned leaders in
Poland and Hungary seek to
subvert free expression and
an independent judiciary. In
Turkey, Erdogan wages a long
and protracted war against
democratic principles.
Weakening the European
Union is a critical goal of
Vladimir Putin; he sees the
European democratic project
as a barrier to his own autoc-
racy and kleptocratic designs.
His strategy: weaken confi-
dence in government institu-
tions, free elections, and an
independent press.
But threats to democracy
do not reside only abroad.
Here at home, Donald
Trump consorts with white
supremacists, assaults the
justice system, and threat-
ens the press. He has done
this so often it has become
a norm. Taking a page from
Putin’s book, Trump seeks to erode con-
fidence in an independent press and an
independent judiciary.
The plague attacking democracy has
infected Israel as well. The sitting govern-
ment has chipped away, step by step, at
The recent waterfall of legislation in
Israel’s Knesset is the victory of a long and
vicious campaign to divide Israeli society —
to place blame, to criminalize dissent and
to infer treason of those whose views stray
from the ideology of the extreme right par-
ties in the governing coalition.
We have witnessed a disturbing trend
toward the erosion of democratic values
and the promotion of anti-democratic ini-
tiatives in Israel. It is particularly alarming
that democratic values are being under-
mined and the rules of the democratic
process are being broken in the Knesset —
Knesset commission
of inquiry to investigate
left-wing NGOs
According to media reports Prime Minis-
ter Netanyahu and coalition whip David
Bitan of Likud proposed that the Knesset
open a new parliamentary commission to
investigate the funding sources of left-wing
NGOs. The proposal was accepted unani-
mously at a regularly scheduled meeting
of the heads of the political parties that
comprise the governing coalition. It has
been described in the media as looking
into “foreign governments involvement in
funding political organizations and activi-
ties meant to hurt Israeli soldiers.” This
commission is set up as a tool for the cur-
rent government to turn public opinion
against Israeli human rights and anti-occu-
pation NGOs and their funders. Breaking
the Silence reportedly was named during
the discussion. This commission exists
to target Breaking the Silence, an orga-
nization of former IDF officers who have
given testimonies that expose unjust poli-
cies. It is interesting to note that the Knes-
set’s legal advisor has determined that
this investigative commission is illegal. “A
parliamentary investigation of civil soci-
ety organizations on ideological grounds
is a violation of basic principles of gover-
nance,” he wrote. This investigation, dis-
guised as a pursuit of transparency, is sim-
ply political persecution — since Breaking
the Silence and other human rights organi-
zations already are subject to strict trans-
parency requirements under Israeli law. It
is crucial to note that pro-settler and ultra-
right advocacy groups are exempt from
any transparency regulations.
New legislative proposal
to choke funding for
NGOs critical of Israeli
government policies
Prime Minister Netanyahu tasked Tourism
Minister Yariv Levin of Likud with putting
together new legislation to further restrict
progressive Israeli NGOs that receive for-
eign government funding. This bill is part
of the Netanyahu government’s escalating
campaign to eliminate opposition voices
and human rights defenders from Israeli
society. Levin’s proposed legislation would
outlaw any NGO that promotes a boycott
of any “area controlled by Israel” (coded
language to refer to boycotts of settle-
ments, which is part of an effort to erase
the Green Line), or that “seeks to harm
IDF soldiers.”
A major blow to Israeli
democracy: The Jews-only
“Nation-State” bill
Prime Minister Netanyahu personally has
led the charge for the new Basic Law, which
undermines Israel’s democratic character.
Basic Laws serve effectively as Israel’s con-
stitution and supersede other laws passed
by the Knesset. The bill would allow further
legislation to deny equal rights to non-Jew-
ish citizens of Israel. It already states explic-
itly that if secular law conflicts with Jewish
law, then Jewish law — as recognized by
the Orthodox rabbinical court — prevails.
It serves to undo Israeli court precedents
that barred discrimination along religious,
ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines.
Furthermore, it eliminates Arabic as the
second official language of Israel, changing
the 70-year status quo.
Likud attempts to shield
Netanyahu from a growing
litany of damning scandals
Likud MK David Amsalem has prepared a
bill to prohibit police from opening investi-
gations against a sitting prime minister on
fraud, bribery, or breach of trust crimes.
The bill would not shut down the many
corruption probes already underway,
but it would prevent police from opening
new investigations. Recent court filings
by Israeli police reveal that Netanyahu is
a suspect under police investigation for
bribery, breach of trust, and fraud. Sarah
Netanyahu, Israel’s first lady, already has
been indicted for misuse of funds.
Jewish Home bill would
gut judicial review with
a new proposed basic law
on legislation
Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the
Jewish Home Party has proposed legisla-
tion that would limit Israeli courts’ ability
to review certain legislation, thus estab-
lishing a mechanism for the Knesset to
override any decision by the High Court,
totally eliminating any separation of pow-
ers and independent judicial review.
The only democracy in the Middle East
is being attacked from within. The Jewish
state is no longer dedicated to balancing the
twin aims of being both the Jewish Home-
land while at the same time fostering the
development of the country for the benefit
of all its inhabitants. It has adopted a Basic
Law, which holds proximate constitutional
status, which turns its back on the promise
of complete equality as specifically outlined
in Israel’s declaration of establishment of
“social and political rights to all, irrespec-
tive of religion, race or gender.” The nation-
state law threatens freedom of religion,
conscience, language, education and cul-
ture. The new law goes on to declare that
“the right of national self-determination is
unique to the Jewish people.”
If the nation-state law does in fact
weaken the democratic character of Israel,
does it effectively strengthen its Jewish
character?
Is Israel today more of a safe haven for
Jews?
Are we more welcome?
It appears not. It seems that at Ben
Gurion airport today, all Jews are equal but
some Jews are more equal than others. In
its blatant need to protect the coalition,
the administration has decided just which
Jews will be welcomed at its gates.
This summer, a growing list of Jews
coming to or even leaving Israel, some of
them Americans on tourist visas and oth-
ers returning Israeli citizens, have been
detained at Ben Gurion and interrogated
by Israeli security forces. On May 31, Israeli
anti-occupation activist Tanya Rubinstein
was stopped and held by the Israeli secu-
rity services, the Shin Bet, at Ben-Gurion.

On June 10, Shin Bet detained another
left-wing activist, Yehudit Ilani. On July
2, American Code Pink activist Ariel Gold
was denied entry to Israel despite her
claim that she already had obtained a visa.
There was Moriel Rothm-Zecher, a citizen
of Israel and a published author, who was
stopped on his way back into Israel. He was
interrogated and given a “general warning”
by a member of the Shin Bet for meeting
with members of Breaking the Silence. Be
careful who your friends are, Moriel.
Meir Koplow, an American Jew, came to
Israel to visit his son Michael, who works
for a pro-Israel organization, and to par-
ticipate in a conference, spending the
second week of his visit in the West Bank
with other American Jewish leaders on an
Encounter Leadership Intensive aimed at
hearing the Palestinian narrative firsthand.
Meyer Koplow is a three-time synagogue
president, a former UJA board member,
and now the chair of Brandeis University.
He has contributed millions of dollars
to Israeli institutions, including Shaarei
Tzedek hospital, Hebrew University, and
AMIT. His two-week visit over, he left to
return to New York. He went through Ben
Gurion security without a hitch, but once
at the gate got paged over the loudspeaker
to go to the information desk.
When he got there, a security officer
said there was a problem with his luggage
and they wanted to ask him some ques-
tions about where he had been and what
he was doing. It seems that he had taken
a tourism pamphlet from a hotel lobby in
Bethlehem. It had the word Palestine on
it, and that triggered an aggressive inter-
rogation. Spending time in the West Bank
immediately raises unacceptable red
flags. The officer asked him to prove that
Encounter was a real organization and
demanded to know who else was on the
trip — a request he denied.
Finally, there was these questions — why
he would want to go to the West Bank?
What did he plan to do with what he saw
there? As if seeing the daily reality of life
in the West Bank firsthand, ipso facto, will
create a pressing threat to Israel’s security.
Maybe his interrogation wasn’t a mistake.
SEE GOLD/SIMON PAGE 37
Dr. Mark Gold of Teaneck holds a Ph.D. in
economics from NYU. He is on the executive
board of Partners for Progressive Israel,
a member organization of the American
Zionist Movement and an affiliate of the
World Union of Meretz.
Hiam Simon of Englewood is the past
chief operating officer of Ameinu, the
leading progressive Zionist membership
organization in the United States. He
lived in Israel for many years, where he
was the dean of students at what is now
the Alexander Muss High School, and he
served in the IDF as a noncommissioned
officer in the artillery.
Rosh Hashanah has nothing to do
with the attractions of tikkun olam
I
n the lead-up to this High Holt Days
season, amidst the sermon prepa-
rations of many rabbis, a popular
Jewish topic, tikkun olam (repair-
ing the world), has risen to the forefront
of Jewish media coverage. When asked
whether he would participate in a White
House High Holy Days con-
ference call or boycott it,
as the Reform and Conser-
vative movements did last
year, one rabbi responded
that he would call in, say-
ing that he believed that
it is important to raise the
issue of tikkun olam. This
follows on weeks of Jewish
media coverage of a young Rabbi
Jewish British author, Jon- Mitchell
athan Neumann, whose Rocklin
controversial book takes
a different perspective. Its
hard-hitting title is “To Heal the World?:
How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism
and Endangers Israel.”
This begs the question: does repairing
the world relate to Rosh Hashanah, the
day to which tradition ascribes the birth
of the world? What should we focus on at
this time of year?
Rosh Hashanah, with its emphasis on
the connectedness between God’s sov-
ereignty and human indispensability,
instills in us an empowering sense of our
own humanity. Throughout the prayers,
we ask God to be king over us — but to be
a king, He needs His people. So, we there-
fore also ask him to spare us. We note that
God remembers everything — but also
that He has promised to remember His
covenant with our forefathers, an agree-
ment that binds Him to ignore our fail-
ings if they would move Him to destroy
us. Finally, we sound the shofar and dis-
cuss its connection with God’s glory at
Sinai as well as to God’s mercy. We do
so by evoking its connection to the ram
that substituted for Abraham and Isaac’s
sacrifice at the Akedah, as well as to the
shofar that will herald our redemption.
The message is clear: God is so powerful
that He has established an unbreakably
strong loving relationship with us — He
has made Himself need us: as a compan-
ion in love and, as the Hebrew Bible and
Midrash pointed out, as the focal point of
creation itself.
Here is where the notion of tikkun
olam becomes so attractive. If we are
as important as we say we are in the
Rosh Hashanah prayers, it is easy to
understand how we might see our role
— whether as created in the image of
God or as co-creators with God — as
requiring us to repair or heal the world.
Judaism can easily be interpreted as a
religion of positive social change, one
that pushes man to be inspired by the
majesty of God to do good to others.
Indeed, charity is a major theme in
Judaism, and it occupies an important
place in the Yom Kippur service. It is
easy to interpret the charity preached
by the prophets of Israel as consonant
with a modern understand-
ing of social justice.
The problem, however, is
that social justice does not
seek human greatness, but
equality of outcomes. This
is a radically different mat-
ter from the imperatives
for charity and human dig-
nity found in the Bible and
rabbinic literature. There
is nothing great about all
humans living leveled lives
of equality or sameness.
The liberty prized by Jew-
ish sources, on the other hand, tends to
free up individuals’ potential for great-
ness, enabling them to produce great if
unequal outcomes.
A politics that emphasizes social jus-
tice as the basis of religion can quickly
lead us to forget who we are, both as
human beings with individual rights
and as Jews with religious identities.
Consider some recent developments
in Jewish politics involving divisions
over issues that ought to create consen-
sus. Most Jews oppose school choice,
which would allow parents the right to
educate their children as they see fit,
as well as boost the only growing Jew-
ish demographic in America: Orthodox
Jews, most of whom use private schools
to retain their Jewish identities. Then
consider that despite a history of perse-
cution, most Jewish organizations have
taken negative stances on religious lib-
erty in recent years. For the sake of
creating what they perceive to be uni-
versal comfort and acceptance, these
organizations would violate the rights
of objectors attempting to live out their
sincerely held religious beliefs. Finally,
just as many Jews have ignored our need
for schooling and religious liberty as
individuals, too many have been turning
away from our peoplehood by withhold-
ing their support for the State of Israel
because they do not believe its policies
comply with their vision of what a Jew-
ish state ought to look like.
In addition to becoming less con-
cerned with Jewish rights and people-
hood, American Jewry is becoming less
religious as well. A new Pew study of
organized religion in America found that
American Jews far outpace other Ameri-
can demographic groups in their disso-
ciation from organized religion. And the
much-heralded Pew study of 2013 found
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 35
Opinion
dramatic declines in belief in God and
connection to Jewish communities and
institutions, while recording a substan-
tial rise in intermarriage (except for the
Orthodox).
This trend away from our religion
should not be surprising. After all, if we
forget our individual rights and common
peoplehood, how can we possibly under-
stand God in any meaningful way? Why
should we be able to understand a God
who loves and needs us if we do not love
and need ourselves, but are instead so
focused on fixing the world that we forget
about our rights and peoplehood? If we
have forgotten what it means to be free
and unique in the name of ensuring equal
autonomy for all, can we know what it is
to look to God as the source of the free-
dom we each possess to maximize our
potential? Surely not.
Our goal on Rosh Hashanah, then, is to
feel human and Jewish while appreciat-
ing God. That is the focus of the liturgy
— not fixing the world, and not primarily
even charity (which, unlike social level-
ing, is certainly a vitally important obliga-
tion). One of the relatively few mentions
of financial charity on Rosh Hashanah
occurs in Unesaneh Tokef, and even
there, this reference is embedded within
a much larger prayer about God’s sov-
ereignty, man’s frailty, repentance and
prayer. These concepts are so inter-
twined that, ironically, many advocates
of social justice advocates, in wishing
to remove this somber and discomfort-
ing prayer, have advocated removing the
only famous reference to charity from the
High Holy Day liturgy. As for tikkun olam,
this is mentioned in the Aleinu prayer in
the context of God establishing Himself
in the world. And this prayer too has, in
some circles, seen recent modification to
make it less particularistic.
Only once we are comfortable with the
varying results of human achievement,
whether the result of individual rights,
religious particularities, or national dif-
ferences, can we then hope to cherish
our humanity and to live charitably. And
only then then can we understand what it
truly is to be Jewish — and to live in what
is truly and literally the most humane
manner possible. Our job is not to heal
the world, but to localize ourselves in a
meaningful relationship with the One
who asks us to improve ourselves and
the world.
Rabbi Mitchell Rocklin is a resident
research fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is
also a chaplain with the rank of captain in
the New Jersey Army National Guard and
a doctoral candidate in U.S. history at the
City University of New York. He lives in
Teaneck with his wife and two daughters.
Opinion

A balance sheet on Trump

A
lthough I am a Bernie Sanders — nay, a Utopian in Afghanistan and yet keep terrorist groups from form-
—socialist Democrat, with a realpolitik view
on foreign policy (after traveling the world
and being exposed to war zones) I am pre-
senting my honest evaluation of the Trump
administration.
I’ve compiled a list of positives and then of
negatives. See if you can read the whole thing
honestly, in an open, bipartisan manner.
Trump Republic an administration
positives:
Trump’s brave and decisive direct meet-
ing with North Korean leader; bringing some
calm to the danger of nuclear war; ending
active missile tests over Japan and toward
America’s west coast, even if slowly. Five Jay Bernstein
past presidents could not do this — even if it
is North Korea just stalling for time.
Successfully eradicating Isis in Iraq and Syria through
beefed-up military direct rules of engagement under
Trump, expanding and empowering and continuing
Obama’s belated war on Isis.
Opening direct talks with the Taliban to end the war
ing there, in a move to end America’s longest war, and
yet keeping the cudgel of unlimited U.S. troop placement
there as a pressure tactic on Taliban; a decisive under-
standing that only a political solution will
end this war (military defeat and occupa-
tion of Afghanistan historically never has
happened.)
Appointing Jim Mattis as defense secretary.
Increasing major sanctions on Russia,
even if it was only done because of the peo-
ple underneath Trump, against Trumps
bragging and incompetent leaning toward
Russian Czar Putin.
Getting the U.S. economy to a 3.8 percent
unemployment rate and loosening up some
unneeded regulation and red tape for Ameri-
can business.
Engaging honestly and openly supporting our ally,
Israel, and keeping a promise to move the embassy and
stop funding of terror linked Palestinians.
Achieving a rapprochement with the Egyptian dictator,
the strongman who is the leader of the Egyptian people,
and maintaining a traditional realpolitik view of the Mid-
east, instead of cold-shouldering Egypt and supporting the
radical Muslim Brotherhood, as we did under Obama.
Although I supported the Iranian nuclear deal, putting
new pressure on Iran and its economy may actually change
the country, freeing its people of enslavement to Islamo-
fascist religious rulers, and economically pressuring Iran to
stop proxy terrorism throughout the Middle East.
Considering plans about the Venezuelan and Syrian dic-
tatorships, and even considering the assassination of Assad,
a human rights monster who uses chemical weapons. Such
action possibly could save millions of lives. Removing dic-
tators can save the lives of thousands suffering underneath
them and prevent the greatest scourge to humanity — war.
Re-writing and renegotiating Nafta, which would lead
to higher level environmental protections and wages for
poor Mexicans, and more jobs for American workers.
‫‏‬Some argue it would be only slight improvement but yet
it is an improvement, a win for American workers in Mich-
igan and the Rust Belt.
On the negative side of the ledger:
Trump’s racist, discriminatory actions against Latino
immigrants, as I experienced directly in Newark with my

Soviet anti-Semitism in a British guise How do these accusations and denun-

ciations resemble Soviet anti-Semitism?

I
To take one example, in January 1977,
t’s back. political career using the word “Zionist” Soviet TV broadcast a “documentary”
The “it’s” I refer to is a phenome- as a pejorative, rather as the USSR’s offi- titled “Traders of Souls.” In that one-
non pretty much unknown to newer cial mouthpieces used to do. hour film, noted the American scholar
generations of Jews in terms of their Sadly, just as Nazi anti-Semitism didn’t William Korey, “the image of the Jew as
direct experience, but it will be remem- quite die out after the war, Soviet anti-Sem- money-changer ran throughout … he is

CHATHAM HOUSE, LONDON/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

bered clearly by those who lived through itism has survived the rubble of the Berlin
the Cold War — and particularly those Wall. So perhaps it is fitting that it should
Jews, in the United States and around the re-emerge in the pages of a newspaper that
world, who campaigned for bewailed the fall of that very
their brethren imprisoned in same wall, and the atten-
the Soviet Union. dant collapse of Communist
Soviet anti-Semitism — a Party tyranny, as a tragedy of
form of Jew-hatred whose world-historic proportions.
distinctive characteristics For much of its existence,
mark it out from other forms the Morning Star, Britain’s
of anti-Semitism — was state Communist newspaper, was
policy in the USSR, arguably a slave of the Soviet Union.
from the 1917 Bolshevik Rev- Old habits die hard, it seems
olution onward, but indu- Ben Cohen — an editorial in the paper
bitably so in the post-World this week that attacked the
War II period. “Jewish establishment” for
Some people find it hard to compute allegedly scheming to bring down Cor-
that the same USSR whose Red Army lib- byn was horribly reminiscent of the kind
erated Auschwitz in 1945 also practiced of screed about “Zionists” that was once
anti-Semitic policies using the official daily fodder in the Soviet press.
classification of Jews as a “constituent Here is a flavor of what was said, and
nationality” to then discriminate against how it was expressed. To start with, the
them in employment, education, and phrase “the Jewish community” was pub-
emigration rights, to harass them in their lished with quotation marks around it,
observance of the Jewish religion, and to intimating that in contrast to other com-
conduct a mass propaganda campaign munities in Britain, it is somehow artificial
against “Zionists.” or inorganic. This was done to underscore
By the same token, it’s hard for people that the British Jewish communal bodies
to understand how Britain’s Labour Party— subsequently listed in the piece — from
many of whose activists and leaders fought the Board of Deputies to Labour Friends
against British fascism in the 1930s—now of Israel — actually are unrepresentative,
itself has become immersed in anti-Semi- corrupt agencies that function as a “pro-
tism under a leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who Israel Lobby … more concerned with
has spent the greater proportion of his silencing critics of Israel than combating
the ‘trader of souls.’ “
Korey carried on describing the film
as follows: “Television footage of Israel
portrayed scenes of battlefields strewn
with hideously misshapen corpses and
bandaged Arab children.… Soviet Jewish
activists were shown embracing Israeli
athletes while the commentator asked:
‘How can it be that Zionist cadres were
allowed to form inside the USSR?’” The
broadcast was followed by a slew of news-
paper articles with headlines like “The
Espionage Octopus of Zionism,” replete
Jeremy Corbyn with wild claims that will probably be
familiar to many British Labour Party
anti-Semitism.” social-media activists — for example,
The article went on to charge Marga- that U.S. oil companies “are directly con-
ret Hodge, a Jewish Labour parliamen- trolled by pro-Zionist capital.”
tarian and staunch opponent of Corbyn, Most of all, there was the Soviet practice
with “belittling” her own father’s experi- of wheeling out “citizens of Jewish nation-
ences as a refugee from the Nazis; quoted ality” to denounce Zionism as a “racist”
a Jewish left-winger who ventured in all tool of “imperialism.” In March 1983, the
seriousness that Britain’s Jewish leaders Soviet news agency TASS even published
are committed to “censorship and out- a definition of Zionism drawn up by the
lawing views other than their own;” and state-run “Jewish Anti-Zionist Committee”
warned that even if Labour adopted the that read as follows:
IHRA definition of anti-Semitism without “In its essence, Zionism is a concentra-
qualification — the source of the present tion of extreme nationalism, chauvinism
row — the relentless campaign against and racial intolerance, justification of ter-
Corbyn would continue. ritorial seizure and annexation, armed
“Labour’s enemies, including its most adventurism, a cult of political arbitrariness
embittered fifth column, have tasted blood,” and impunity, demagogy and ideological
the article concluded, “and won’t end their sabotage, sordid maneuvers and perfidy.”
attacks until Corbyn is hung out to dry.” To my mind, the most obvious question

36 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018


legal staff and clients. It is anathema to basic American
values and repulses me.
Based on my sensitivity to outlier and minority popula-
tion groups, the almost fascist-like ICE crackdown on non-
criminal, family centered, allegedly undocumented aliens,
and the concomitant blatantly unconstitutional separation
of children and families is anathema to American values
and basic legal norms and human rights. I witnessed staff
in my office crying for their sisters and mothers in nearby
towns in New Jersey, where they were hiding, under direct
threat of round up from police and ICE agents. That hap-
pened even at our local courthouses in Elizabeth, New-
ark, Jersey City. It almost harkens back to Nazi tactics
against Jews in the 1930s. I experienced this in real time
through clients and staff in my Newark law practice, and I
witnessed it with clients who worked at the Elizabeth ICE
detention center. It is a scar on America for all time.
The greatest danger to the world is climate change, and
Trump is abandoning any semblance of hope by pulling out
of the international climate agreement. That is a danger to
all of our lives and the future of my children and the world,
on a scale that negates anything this administration could
do on the positive side. The great threat to my child, who
here to Jeremy Corbyn, the Morning Star, and those of a similar
pedigree, is this: Is there anything in this Soviet definition of
Zionism that you disagree with? Make no mistake, the answer
is critically important, because it is exactly this characteriza-
tion of Zionism that grounded both the USSR’s domestic perse-
cution of its Jewish community, and its international alignment
with Arab regimes and terrorist groups.
If the answer is to disagree with this formulation — highly
unlikely, given that Corbyn himself was present at dozens of
left-wing political gatherings during the 1970s and ‘80s where
Soviet and Arab anti-Semitic literature was distributed — then
it is a disingenuous one. Because when Corbyn and those in
his camp speak and write about the triangle of Jews, Zionism
and Israel, these are the terms in which they think, and have
always thought.
That is why Corbyn’s house journal uses terms like “embit-
tered fifth column” to describe their leader’s Jewish oppo-
nents. It’s a term also used in 1978 by Valery Emelyanov, an
official Soviet ideologue, to describe the “internal danger”
posed by Soviet Jews. It’s why they have no qualms about
saying that Jewish leaders opposed to Corbyn have “tasted
blood,” despite the associations with the anti-Semitic blood
libel that such a metaphor unleashes; then again, Vladimir
Begun, a particularly toxic Soviet anti-Semite, wrote with
great enthusiasm of the “bloodthirstiness” that was inherent
in “Zionist gangsterism.”
Given the number of occasions when Corbyn publicly
defended the Soviet regime — “The Soviet Union makes far
greater nursery provision than this country” (1984), “I do
not believe that [the USSR] has ever intended to invade west-
ern Europe” (1990) — he clearly was well aware of Moscow’s
stance on all the key international matters of the time, as well
as its propaganda practices. That doesn’t make him a spy, but
it does make him an ideological fellow-traveler. And as the
Morning Star has demonstrated by defending Corbyn with
an ugly rhetorical assault on British Jews, that Soviet-inspired
journey rolls on. JNS.ORG
Ben Cohen writes a weekly column for JNS on Jewish affairs
and Middle Eastern politics. His work has been published in
Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz, the Wall Street
Journal, and many other publications.
has asthma, caused by removing pollution controls; gutting
the EPA, and re-firing coal-burning plants in the Midwest.
That will cause untold pulmonary deaths and cancers here
in New Jersey, directly affecting my child’s health.
The attack and attempted rollback of Obamacare and
the basic healthcare rights of all Americans. This would
destroy the lives of many of my clients.
The destruction of the New Jersey tourist economy by
allowing oil drilling off of our coast. One small spill will
destroy our economy and way of life here.
The end of the property tax deferment, which has
increased the tax burden in New Jersey and New York.
The hostility to women and LGQT citizens that is a
direct attack on my family and friends.
The tilt in the federal courts and supreme court by
packing with right wing originalist constitutional quacks,
destroying rights for workers, labor, unions and women.
Trump’s amoral invective and language and simple bul-
lying is setting a very poor example, destroying proper
reasoned political debate, dividing our nation, and weak-
ening America. Trump’s pandering, quisling-like respect
for the Russian dictator and dictators around the world,
opening America up to Russian election tampering on a
Gold/Simon
FROM PAGE 35
Perhaps they knew exactly what to be afraid of.
Simone Zimmerman, an American Jewish activist,
was held by the Shin Bet security service at the bor-
der between Israel and Egypt. Shin Bet agents asked
Zimmerman where she had gone in the West Bank.
Zimmerman is a founding member of IfNotNow, one
of the fastest-growing Jewish movements in the United
States, whose aim is to end the tacit support of Israeli
occupation within the mainstream American Jewish
community. She and fellow activist Abby Kirschbaum
were questioned only about their political views and
activities related to Palestinians. According to Zimmer-
man, among the first things she was asked were: “Why
did you come here to work with Palestinians? Why not
with Jews?”
Kirschbaum was asked about which protests against
Israeli policy she had attended and with which orga-
nizations, Zimmerman said. She was also asked what
she thought of Netanyahu.
In 2017, Zimmerman, who lives in Israel and has a
work visa, published a video criticizing an Israeli law
barring entry to foreigners who support boycotting
Israel or its West Bank settlements.
Most recently, Peter Beinart, who was going to cel-
ebrate a family bar mitzvah in Israel, was stopped
and held at the airport. Beinart, a CNN political com-
mentator, a Forward columnist, and a contribut-
ing editor at the Atlantic, has been one of the lead-
ing proponents of liberal Zionism, which criticizes
Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, among other
right-wing policies, because those policies threaten
the state’s Jewish and democratic character. Beinart
opposes the movement to boycott Israel but has pro-
moted a boycott of products produced in Israeli set-
tlements on the other side of the Green Line. When
he was stopped, Beinart contacted the renowned
Israeli human rights lawyer Gaby Lasky. A few min-
utes later, he was released. The whole experience
took just over an hour. When Beinart’s detention
Opinion
scale tantamount to a state of war, and posing a near fatal
challenge to our republic.
My mother, an FDR, Hubert Humphrey Democrat, hates
Trump and all he stands for. She is the most emotionally
intelligent and prescient human being I ever encountered
in the world.
My father, a lifelong Kissinger Nixonian Republican, cast
an intelligent vote against Trump.
Bottom line:
President Trump must be impeached and removed, in
any way possible, before he does permanent damage to
America and to the world.
The Republican realpolitik foreign policy strategy by his
cabinet members is in line with past Republican admin-
istrations’ mainstream foreign policy, and John McCain
would view it positively.
Jay Bernstein of Glen Rock is a workers rights attorney in
Newark, a pro bono constitutional appellate attorney, a
former N.J. public defender office, legal clerk JAG Corps,
US Army; legal clerk for the Israeli Ministry of Justice; a
volunteer in the Israel-Gulf War in 1991; and a U.S. Congress
intern in the 1980s.
made the news (not a difficult thing for a well-known
and connected journalist to make happen) Netan-
yahu said in a statement that he had spoken with
Israel’s security forces about Beinart’s detainment
and called it an “administrative mistake…. Israel is an
open society which welcomes all — critics and sup-
porters alike,” Netanyahu’s statement said. “Israel is
the only country in the Middle East where people
voice their opinions freely and robustly.”
That was certainly the case once, but as the pre-
vious examples make clear that’s all changing. Left-
leaning activists in Israel and abroad have noticed
and decried the Israeli government’s recent tendency
to hold or deny entry to American and Israeli Jews
due to their activist work or progressive ideologies, a
phenomenon that began in February 2017, when the
American vice-president of the New Israel Fund was
held at Ben-Gurion International Airport and, in her
words, “interrogated” three times.
Daniel Sokatch, the CEO of the New Israel Fund, is
on record as saying, “It is now beyond doubt that the
Netanyahu government has turned its border cross-
ings into interrogation chambers”… The government
is demonstrating once again that the test for enter-
ing the country is a political one — either you agree
with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-
right wing coalition or you’re subject to questioning,
intimidation, or refusal. This may now be legal due to
recent legislation, but it’s morally unacceptable and
anti-democratic”.
At this time of reflection and atonement, may the
sounds of the shofar inspire the leaders of Israel to
look closely at their most recent actions and find a
way back to elevating the state of Israel to the light
unto the nations we wish it to be. May the cries of the
shofar be a time of warning and a time of awakening.
Democracy is in danger. It will only be preserved by
the diligent demands of an insistent public. May the
shofar not just cry for our beloved country but may it
shout out a warning, may it lead us as a battle cry to
defend free expression as the bedrock of democracy.
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 37
Local

Summer
FROM PAGE 10
of haze and humidity. LBI is an overde-
veloped spit of land off the Jersey coast
where Delmarva and Philly accents run
up against the coarser consonants of
northern New Jersey visitors. It serves as
common geographical ground for Eagles
fans and Giants diehards (more annoying
than usual this year because of the Birds’
Super Bowl win), the sub sandwich versus
the hoagy, pickups competing with SUVs,
hunting and fishing discussed as passion-
ately as arts and theater, and a deep blue
sky more than offset by the beet-red politi-
cal atmosphere.
What a far cry from the sparsely popu-
lated resort my parents introduced me
and my sister to in the mid-1950s. Our
family stood as outliers. We ventured far-
ther south from Newark than the estab-
lished Jewish resorts of Deal and Bradley
Beach on the newly opened Garden State
Parkway. To a land where the bagel was a
novelty and the name Shapiro (a big devel-
oper) was pronounced Sha-PYRE-o. Dad
and mom usually rented a neat little cape
cod paneled in knotty pine from a carpen-
ter and his family who moved in with the
wife’s parents for the summer. The rent for
eight weeks was about $900. Those capes
are virtually gone now, victims of storms
or teardowns, replaced by huge rebuilds
erected without much sense of style or
proportion. So are the bayberry bushes,
the scrub pines, and the hardy vegetation
that draped the island. So are many of the
local characters who rarely ventured forth Jonathan Lazarus, holding the Torah, at right, with members of his 1958 confirmation class at Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Newark.
into the larger world across the causeway.
But the memories of those summers from Rabbi Pilchik and Cantor Summers Fast forward to the present. My wife and felt the cumulative effect and full brunt
will never dim, and I don’t want them and labored over the obligatory thank-you- I pay 10 times what my parents paid for our of almost two years of Trumpompos-
to. Back then l developed my own gar- all speech. There was no local Jewish cen- three-week rental in paradise. (I refuse to ity, month after month of witnessing the
dening business, during which I inadver- ter to lend support or provide a safe haven; buy down here. One Jersey property tax most powerful and consequential office in
tently buzzed some of Mr. Torgerson’s that would be built some years later, and is enough.) Our duplex, four houses from the world being debased, disgraced, and
prized gladiolas with the power mower. eventually rebuilt again. But there was the beach, survived Superstorm Sandy only desensitized; of up becoming down, black
His Scandinavian-laced tongue-lashing is becoming white, facts becoming fungible,
still ringing in my ears. I also worked as and truth becoming an elusive quality in a
Nick DiNardo’s helper on his vegetable parallel universe where there are “many
and produce truck as he charmed his way good people” on both sides of a bad issue.
through a Philadelphia Mainline clientele, Do I protest too much? Absolutely! Even summer reading, an exercise
then watched spellbound at lunchtime as
he cracked a raw egg and gulped it down
But that’s because this particular designed to distract and detach me briefly
from a world that is too much with us,
before gathering some produce and fruit summer seems so different from didn’t have its usual mollifying effect,
and bartering it for our meal at a restau-
rant. But Nick usually would give back
all other Julys and Augusts, the despite devouring brilliant short-story
anthologies by the manic and ebullient
his earnings on the same afternoon at the summer of my discontent if you will. Kurt Vonnegut and the darker, brooding
Atlantic City racetrack. I also cycled nearly Raymond Carver, he of ambiguous, enig-
the entire length of the island in less than a the Baldwin Hotel, the last-standing of to have a pipe rupture afterward, forcing matic endings. Add in two compact but
day, about 30 miles, on my trusty Raleigh the massive, turreted seaside resorts con- the owner to gut and redesign the 1950s- sturdy biographies of merchant princes
racer, after I had taken it apart and reas- structed on the island during the 19th cen- era structure. The job, which took two and philanthropists Louis Bamberger
sembled it with a few washers to spare. But tury for Philadelphia’s sweltering swells. years to complete because of competing and Julius Rosenwald (of Sears Roebuck
best of all were the older guys who let me Now in shabby decline, it had been used Sandy rebuilding, still lacks enough insula- renown) and you have the sum and sub-
play basketball with them because of my to billet servicemen during World War II tion to muffle the footfalls of the 5-year-old stance of my diversion.
height and hang out with them because of and Shabbat services were held every Sat- twins in the family below us. The weather However, I must confess to feeling
my emerging coolness (not to mention my urday in one of its meeting rooms. As my has been uneven, the traffic is thicker, and slightly encouraged by events of the past
hero worship of their every action). bar mitzvah neared I felt duty-bound to prices for everything from meals to suntan few weeks. My spirits lifted somewhat
These and other rites of passage attend. Fedoras outnumbered kippot as lotion march onward and upward. when I was able to at least envision the
occurred on LBI across several summers, some very old men, or so it seemed at the Do I protest too much? Absolutely! But dominoes finally beginning to topple. But
including 1955, when I was preparing time, pounced when I entered and told me that’s because this particular summer is it a true tipping point? I’ve ransacked my
for my bar mitzvah in September during I made the minyan. They didn’t even card seems so different from all other Julys memory over how revelations unfolded
Sukkot. Tribe members were few and far me, though I was two months shy of offi- and Augusts, the summer of my discon- during Watergate those many decades ago,
between down here as I studied lessons cially attaining religious manhood. tent if you will. I think it’s because I finally SEE SUMMER PAGE 47

38 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018


Shabbat Shuva: The scapegoat ritual of Yom Kippur
‘Tis the season of Yom Kippur and every-
one is talking about kapparah — atonement.
What does kapparah mean? Is it about
throwing our sins into a body of water in the
tashlich ceremony? Is it about swinging kap-
parot — chickens or money — around our
heads and declaring that our kapparot are
a substitute for our sins? Is it about praying,
asking God and our fellow human beings for
forgiveness and giving extra charity?
As a practical matter, it is all of the above.
But as students of the Bible and language,
we need to understand the semantic mean-
ing of kapparah in Hebrew, and the reason
that Yom haKippurim is the title of the holi-
est day of the Jewish calendar.
The meaning of kapparah is captured
in a strange ritual that was the climax of
the afternoon Temple service on Yom Kip-
pur in ancient times. Leviticus 16, which
is also read in synagogues on Yom Kippur,
describes this complex ceremony. In a nut-
shell, two male goats are selected by the
high priest. One is sacrificed to God and the
other is sent to the wilderness bearing the
sins of the people of Israel.
What is the significance of the scape-
goat ritual? Why are the sins of the people
of Israel dramatically transferred to a goat,
which is driven into the wilderness, never
to return?
Historically, two different kinds of
answers have been offered to this question.
The first is that the scapegoat ritual is a rite
of riddance. That is, it is a metaphysical pro-
cess by which sins and impurity are actually
removed from Israel and its Temple.
A second approach sees the rite of the
scapegoat as symbolic rather than meta-
physical. In and of itself, the rite did not
eliminate evil from Israel and its Temple.
Instead, it was practiced for its dramatic
effect. It was intended to impress upon the
individuals who performed it, witnessed it
and knew of it, the need to purge sinfulness
BRIEF
Eric Trump slams Bob Woodward’s book as a way ‘to make three extra shekels’
Eric Trump called journalist Bob Wood-
ward’s new book about the White House
“sensational nonsense” that Woodward
wrote in order “to make three extra
shekels.”
President Donald Trump’s second son
made the remarks, which references Isra-
el’s currency, in a Wednesday interview
on “Fox & Friends.”
Woodward’s book, “Fear: Trump in
the White House,” describes how admin-
istration officials work at length to thwart
President Trump’s worst impulses,
including by removing papers from the
president’s desk behind his back. The
book quotes anonymous sources.
D’var Torah
from the midst of the people.
Only in this way could the
nation retain the holy character
of its Sanctuary and maintain its
special relationship with God.
Viewing the scapegoat rit-
ual as a metaphysical process
through which sin was actually
removed from within Israel is
intriguing but it did not resonate Dean Rachel
with many scholars, traditional Friedman
and modern alike. Lamdeinu: The
Center for Jewish
In the late twelfth century, Learning in
Maimonides rejected the meta- Teaneck, Orthodox
physical approach to the rite of
the scapegoat in “The Guide
for the Perplexed” and explained what he
saw as its symbolic significance: “No one
has any doubt that sins are not bodies that
may be transported from the back of one
individual to that of another. But all these
actions are parables serving to bring forth
a form in the soul so that a passion toward
repentance should result: We have freed
ourselves from all our previous actions,
cast them behind our backs, and removed
them to an extreme distance.”
To Maimonides, the rite of the scapegoat
was not intended to affect the physical loca-
tion of sins but rather the emotions of the
people. It was intended to arouse us, to
catch our attention, to motivate us to repent
and put our sins behind us so that on Yom
Kippur each of us can make a fresh start.
Building on the approach of Maimonides
in the Guide, I would like to share my own
thoughts on the meaning of the scapegoat
ceremony. I believe that the scapegoat rite
is the key to understanding the deeper
meaning of kapparah and the essence of
Yom haKippurim.
The Hebrew root kpr, the root of kappa-
rah and kippurim, is repeated numerous
times in Leviticus 16’s description of the
Yom Kippur Temple service. In the Torah,
“But don’t you think people look
through the fact that you can write some
sensational nonsense book? CNN will defi-
nitely have you on there because they love
to trash the president,” Eric Trump said.
“It will mean you sell three extra books,
you make three extra shekels, at the behest
of the American people, at the behest of
our country and a president that’s doing
a phenomenal job by every quantifiable
metric,” he continued.
The modern Israeli currency is named
after currency referenced in the Bible.
Shekels is also American and Irish slang
for money, showing up in old potboil-
ers like Mickey Spillane’s “I, The Jury”:
the root kpr has two lev-
els of meaning. On the one
hand, it denotes the “price
of life” as reflected in the
term kofer — a ransom. For
example, in the process
of counting the Israelites,
God commands that each
male above age 20 pay one
half shekel to the Sanctu-
ary. This payment is called
kesef hakippurim —ran-
som money in place of
each individual.
A second meaning of kpr
is “to wipe off or to cleanse”.
It is in this sense that the root is used repeat-
edly in the Torah’s description of the Yom
Kippur Temple service:
“For on this day He shall atone (yekhaper)
for you to cleanse you of all of your sins; you
shall be clean before the Lord.” Lev. 16:30
I would suggest that the timeless mes-
sage of the scapegoat ritual is that to truly
achieve kapparah (atonement), there must
be both aspects — the payment of a price
and a cleansing of our sins. That is why
there are two goats in the scapegoat ritual —
one that is sacrificed to God as a sin-offering
and one that is sent to the wilderness bear-
ing the sins of the people.
The first goat is sacrificed as a sin-offering
to convey that, in principle, we must pay a
price for our sins. Sacrifice, however, served
as a kopher — a ransom or substitute — in the
real, human world.
The second goat in the scapegoat ritual is
sent to the wilderness bearing the sins of the
people, to remind us that we must remove
our sins from our repertoire and personal
space. The high priest placed both of his
hands on the head of the live goat and con-
fessed over it all of the sins of Israel. He thus
symbolically placed the sins on the head of
the goat and sent it off to the wilderness,
“Generally a runner made plenty for him-
self, taking a chance that the dough he
clipped wasn’t on the number that pulled
in the shekels.”
But on some anti-Semitic corners of the
web, like the anti-Semitic site the Daily
Stormer, it is often used sarcastically to
refer to Jewish greed or influence.
Some Twitter users were quick to criti-
cize Trump for using the term.
“Outrageous. If you want to see how
the neo-Nazis use the term ‘shekels’ take
a quick glance at The Daily Stormer. Eric
Trump’s ‘three extra shekels’ attack on
Bob Woodward is not some accident any
more than Hillary Clinton’s image over
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 39
never to return. This is the ultimate image
of catharsis — a complete confession and
removal of our sins so that they are no lon-
ger part of our being or our space. This sec-
ond aspect of kapparah — a cleansing of our
very selves — can be achieved only through
reflection, confession and a resolve to cast
away our sins.
The idea that to truly atone for our trans-
gressions we must both pay a price and con-
fess is intuitive. As a psychological matter,
a human being who knows he or she has
done something wrong, will not feel a sense
of personal resolution and closure unless he
has confessed and owned up to the misdeed
on the one hand and made amends or paid
up to the extent possible on the other.
Appropriately, the requirements of both
payment and confession are the conceptual
prerequisites for atonement in Jewish law.
As Maimonides notes in the Laws of Repen-
tance, even capital punishment will not
achieve kapparah without the prerequisites
of confession and repentance. By the same
logic, it is not enough to apologize to our fel-
low human beings for wrongs that we may
have done towards them. Rather, it is up to
each of us to “make things right” to the best
of our abilities.
In this season of repentance and atone-
ment, may each of us recognize the time-
less message of the scapegoat ritual. May
all of us confess our sins and make amends
for our sins so that we may achieve spiritual
closure and communal peace. Gemar Chati-
mah Tovah!
Dean Rachel Friedman will deliver a lecture
on “Shedding Sin: The Scapegoat Ritual of
Yom Kippur” on Monday, September 17, at
10:15 a.m. at Lamdeinu in Teaneck. It will
feature a more extensive discussion of the
scapegoat ritual and the meanings of Azazel
and Yom Kippur. Check out the full roster of
classes at lamdeinu.org.
a Star of David,” tweeted Jonathan Weis-
man, the deputy Washington editor of the
New York Times and the author of a recent
book on anti-Semitism.
The Trump presidential campaign was
criticized in 2016 for sharing a meme
superimposing Hillary Clinton over a pile
of money and a Jewish star. Woodward is
not Jewish.
“Eric Trump said this morning that Bob
Woodward made ‘three extra shekels at
the behest of the American people’ with
his book. Is Eric too stupid to know he’s
being anti-Semitic?” tweeted Bill Kristol,
editor at large at the Weekly Standard.
 JTA WIRE SERVICE
Kosher Crossword
“YOM KIPPUR CINEMA” BY YONI GLATT
KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MANAGEABLE
Across
1. It started on a Sat. this year
5. Prefix with phone or bytes
9. Venture
14. Not according to plan, in a bad way
15. Uncles, in Acapulco
16. Absurd
17. Ben Stiller movie about those observ-
ing Yom Kippur?
20. Old-fashioned contraction
21. Hooting hunter
22. Old French coin
23. With 52-Across, Vin Diesel movie
about Yom Kippur and angry people
observing it?
26. See to
27. “___ serious?”
28. Law that might not go over well in
Israel
30. Joseph’s li’l bro, in the Bible
31. ___ Verde National Park
35. Jyn and Galen in “Rogue One”
36. Keira Knightley movie about a goal of
Yom Kippur?
39. “Macbeth” title
42. Rock’s Clapton
43. Kind of pupil
46. Belonging to a particularly wicked
Persian
48. Bashed into
51. Periods
52. See 23-Across
56. Put two and two together
57. Poet Shemer
58. “Down on the Corner” band, to fans
59. Edward Norton movie about the end
of Yom Kippur?
64. Baseball Hall of Famer Edd
65. Parasitic leaping insect
66. Not manual
67. Follow as a result
68. AAA part: Abbr.
69. 180 is its max. score
The solution to last week’s puzzle is
on page 46.
40 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
The Frazzled Housewife
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
M
y grandmother always
used to say, “If we could
only see ourselves as oth-
ers see us…” Like the
woman who walks into shul, tossing
her hair like she is in a shampoo com-
mercial, but has a huge hole in her tights
that she is totally unaware of (and totally is clogged blah blah blah blah we take
unaware of its precarious location). This
is the perfect time of year for self-reflec- of dollars. At that point, I didn’t care
tion — for taking an inventory of what
about ourselves we need to let go of, to
change, to walk away from, to improve.
But what happens if we think that we
are perfect? What happens if we think
the problem is everyone else? I think
that is a problem. But if we cannot see
our own flaws, who is supposed to tell
us? I know I have issues. Many, many
issues, so many issues that
I don’t even know where
to start… So I will start
with “What I learned from
Pedro the plumber.” Allow
me to explain.
A few weeks ago, son
#3 had some friends over
for his birthday weekend.
We love all of his friends.
Down
Sometimes things happen, Banji
1. Hefty Cinch___ bags
2. Flock member
and one of these friends, Ganchrow
3. 12-year-old, but not for long whose identity has yet to
4. Epitomize be revealed, had an “inci-
5. Kilimanjaro, for one: Abbr. dent” that involved clogging the boys’
6. Passover days, in America toilet and subsequently husband #1 and
7. Prankster’s cry
my toilet. A neat trick, I know, but appar- all of your negative energy. It isn’t what I
8. Pale with fright
9. Scandal ridden sports org. ently it is possible. So when son #3 had
10. Out ___ limb about 60 kids over, we had one work-
11. Poker-pot increasers ing toilet. Needless to say, we used our
12. Title character in “The Merchant of neighbors’ bathroom…
Venice”
Yes, we tried to use a plunger (and so
13. Avner and Amichai
18. World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki did two of our friends) but it was not a
19. Completes pretty situation. And not a situation we
23. One might be opened in a bar could resolve without spending money.
24. Realm that issued a “Charter of The sun set, Shabbos ended, and I
Protection” to Jews in 825: Abbr.
searched for plumbers who were open
25. Kind of wrestling
26. Like a citron 24/7. You would be surprised at how
29. Ex-egg, perhaps many say they are open, but then don’t
32. Jaffa to Tiberias dir. answer the phone. When I called Drain
33. Rabbi’s speech: Abbr. Doctor, I was surprised to hear a voice on
34. Comrade, in Quebec
the other end of the phone. “How may
36. Santa ___ (hot winds)
37. Minyan amount I help you?” the man said innocently.
38. Hosiery shade “Well, someone clogged the toilet and
39. London’s Globe, for one then, because sometimes boys aren’t the
40. Like a victory in triple overtime, prob- brightest, a few others went to the bath-
ably
room, even though the toilet was clearly
41. Wolfgang ___ Mozart
43. Like Pepé Le Pew clogged, and then our toilet started bub-
44. Few, to Pepé Le Pew bling and then that toilet didn’t flush
45. 6s, in the NFL and could you please come right now
47. Remain
49. St. Louis landmark
Ma’am, I am not going to be
50. King David’s first wife
53. Former Teamsters president Jimmy
54. Artist Nolde and actor Jannings
55. Marching band flutes able to work with all of your
57. “Boyz ___ Hood”
60. Sch. in eastern Virginia
negative energy. It isn’t what I
61. Summer shade?
62. Tony-winning Hagen
need right now. I think maybe
63. Make a stink? you should leave the house…
and will it cost a million dollars?” That is
pretty much an exact quote.
The nice man told me that it would be
X number of dollars for the first toilet
and then Y number of dollars for the sec-
ond toilet and an additional fee for com-
ing after 9:30 at night, but if the stack
off the toilet blah blah blah….Z number
because when you gotta go, you gotta go,
and you can’t go if you don’t have a toilet
that works.
The house was still full of boys — actu-
ally, some girls might have come over at
that point — and there still was only one
working toilet. I sat by the door waiting
for the Drain Doctor. An hour later, the
van pulled up, and I was excited as a kid
on Christmas morning. “Hi,
I am Pedro,” he said. “Oh
Pedro, it has been quite the
day. Why, when you clog
someone’s toilet, can’t you
just tell them? Why did kids
keep using it when it was
clearly clogged? How come
my toilet isn’t working
when we didn’t clog it? Is
the sewer going to back up?
Are you going to be able to
fix it? Blah blah blah” and
this is when it happened…
Pedro looked at me and said, “Ma’am,
I am not going to be able to work with
need right now. I think maybe you should
leave the house until I am finished.”
I had two choices. I could punch Pedro
in the face, or I could leave husband #1 in
charge, go visit my parents, and let Pedro
do his thing. Honestly, if it wasn’t almost
11 at night and I didn’t have two broken
toilets, I might have chosen option A. But
I chose B, and I heard what Pedro said.
I can be negative. That is something
that I have to change. There are families
that live with only one bathroom. What
do they do when that toilet is broken?
Look how good I have it…
So thank you, Pedro. Thank you for
pointing out something that I should
work on changing in the new year.
If any of you need a good doctor, I can
give you Pedro’s number.
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck will try
very hard to be more positive, but being
negative is so much more fun.

Arts & Culture
‘Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin’
celebrates great Jewish songwriter
T
Miriam Rinn
he first thing that draws your
eye in the handsome set of a
posh New York apartment at
the 59E59 theater is the empty
wheelchair.
A slim, straight-backed Hershey Felder
addresses an invisible “curmudgeon” in
the chair, urging him to welcome the
carolers who appear at his door every
Christmas. He urges him to tell them the
stories behind the songs he has written.
Imagining the audience as the carolers,
Felder introduces himself as the younger
Irving Berlin, perhaps the most American
of American composers and songwriters,
and promises to share the backstory of his
familiar and beloved songs.
By the end of the show he will be in that
wheelchair, stooped and frail, having trans-
formed himself into the 100-year-old Berlin.
It’s a clever conceit, and Felder uses
it successfully to tell the astonishing life
story of the renowned songwriter. It was a
life filled with hardship and terrible loss as
well as unimaginable success and world-
wide fame. Throughout his long career,
Berlin wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, the
scores for 20 original Broadway shows and
15 original Hollywood films. Many of his
songs, such as “White Christmas,” “Eas-
ter Parade,” “Happy Holidays,” and espe-
cially “God Bless America,” are more than
songs; they are an integral part of Ameri-
can culture. As composer Jerome Kern
said, “Irving Berlin has no part in Ameri-
can music, he is American music.” Berlin
was a shrewd businessman too, buying up
the rights to all his early songs as soon as
he became a success.
Born in czarist Russia, Berlin arrived in
the United States when he was 5 years old.
He came with his mother, father, and sib-
lings. They were very poor, like so many
other immigrants at the time, and all the
children went out to work, bringing their
earnings home to contribute to the house-
hold. A cantor in Russia, Berlin’s father
became a mashgiach in America, and his
mother found work as a midwife. Irving,
or Israel or Izzy, as he was called then,
may have inherited some of his father’s
musical talent. He had no formal training
and never learned musical notation. All
his composing was done in his head; as
he sang his songs, assistants would write
down the notes.
When Izzy was 13 his father died, and
the boy soon left home to make it on his
own. At first, he sang on street corners
while selling newspapers, and eventually
he graduated to becoming a singing waiter.
Many of the popular songs at the turn of
the century used ethnic terms we now con-
sider slurs, but the immigrants themselves
loved them. Berlin’s first published song
was “Marie from Sunny Italy,” from which
he earned 13 cents in royalties. In 1911, he
wrote his first stupendous hit, “Alexan-
der’s Ragtime Band.” He was 23 years old.
An accomplished pianist and respect-
able singer, Felder incorporates Berlin’s
songs seamlessly into his script so they
feel organic to the show. Encouraging the
audience to sing along with the most pop-
ular songs, he underlines how deeply Ber-
lin’s music is embedded in our culture. His
comic timing is excellent as well, and he
captures Berlin’s faintly Yiddishized New
York accent.
Berlin’s first heartbreak came six
months after he married Dorothy Goetz,
when his young bride died of typhoid fever
she caught on their honeymoon in Havana.
That loss was followed by several others,
the most painful of which must have been
the death of his infant son, a child born to
his second wife, the heiress Ellin Mackay.
Fifteen years younger than Berlin, Mackay
Jewish Standard SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 41
Hershey Felder portrays
Irving Berlin from a
young composer to a
frail centenarian.
had ignored her family’s strenuous objec-
tions to marry the Jewish songwriter, and
they were together for 62 years.
Felder has made a career of solo pro-
ductions focusing on musical greats. His
shows include “George Gershwin Alone”;
“Monsieur Chopin”; “Maestro,” about
Leonard Bernstein, and other shows about
Franz Liszt, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky.
Berlin was a great patriot and loved
America with an immigrant’s passion.
Felder accentuates Berlin’s immigrant past
and the struggles that many immigrants
face adapting to a new country. That’s
surely not a coincidence at a time when
many Americans are turning away from
any celebration of the country’s immigrant
history. Of course, they weren’t so welcom-
ing when the millions of Jews and Italians
and Irish arrived at the turn of the cen-
tury, either. Now the descendants of those
people feel they are the real Americans,
somehow different from the Mexicans and
Indians and Koreans arriving now. Berlin’s
direct and sincere faith in the ideals of the
country he embraced as his own poured
out in many of his songs, and it is affecting
and inspiring to hear them now.
“Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin” is at
59E59 Theatres through October 28.
Calendar
Friday  Jewish Historical Society
SEPTEMBER 14
Talking about U.S.-
Africa relations in
Ramapo: Dr. Helen C.
Epstein, visiting professor
of human rights and
public health at Bard
College, Annandale-
on-Hudson, N.Y., will
explore “Another Fine
Mess: The U.S. Role in
Africa’s Wars” at Ramapo
College of New Jersey,
1:45 p.m. Robert A. Scott
Student Center (alumni
lounges, SC 158), under
the auspices of the Gross
Center for Holocaust
and Genocide Studies
and Hillel of Ramapo.
(201) 684-7409 or
holgen@ramapo.edu.
Sunday 
SEPTEMBER 16
Holiday boutique in
Teaneck: Nerot holds a
pre-Yom Tov boutique
with hats, socks,
tablecloths, children’s
gifts, clothing, and more,
at Congregation Rinat
Yisrael, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. 389
West Englewood Ave.
Krav Maga in Fair Lawn:
Religious school opens
at the Fair Lawn Jewish
Center/CBI at 9 a.m.;
an interactive session
of Krav Maga — Israeli
self-defense — for
parents and children
and a barbecue with a
bouncy house follow at
noon. 10-10 Norma Ave.
(201) 796-5040.
Religious school in
Paramus: Religious
school opens at the
JCC of Paramus/
Congregation Beth
Tikvah, 9 a.m. East
304 Midand Ave.
(201) 262-7733 or
JCCParamus.org.
42 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
Red Apple Rest: The
of North Jersey hosts a
nostalgic program on the
Red Apple Rest, 11 a.m.
Author Elaine Freed
Lindenblatt, the youngest
child of Red Apple
Rest’s founder, Reuben
Freed, discusses her
book, “Stop at the Red
Apple.” The restaurant
was on old Route 17 on
the way to the Catskills.
17-10 River Road, Fair
Lawn. (201) 300-6590 or
JHSNNJ@gmail.com.
Film in Franklin Lakes:
Temple Emanuel of North
Jersey screens “The
SEPT. The Kaplen JCC on the Palisades holds a community open Gates of Jerusalem,”
1:30 p.m. Popcorn
house from 1 to 4 p.m. JCC staff will provide guided facility
16
and ice cream. 558
tours; members and guests can enjoy JCC gyms, chair High Mountain Road.
massages, outside pools, and the water park, try classes, and (201) 560-0200 or www.
tenjfl.org.
use the adult and youth fitness centers. Experts from the Graf Center
for Integrative Medicine at Englewood Health will offer consultations on
acupuncture and nutrition. There also will be activities for children, including Wednesday 
SEPTEMBER 19
a moon bounce, tumble room, the Thurnauer Music school’s instrumental
petting zoo, giveaways, and special membership promotions. 411 E. Clinton Yom Kippur in Teaneck:
Ave. (201) 408-1448, email join@jccotp.org, or www.jccotp.org/community. Temple Emeth holds
community, family,
and tot services,
2:30 p.m., afternoon
in Gan Eden.” Faculty (201) 357-0613 or www. to make sukkah
giving shiurim include shaaretefillah.org. decorations, taught service at 3:45, Yizkor
at 5:30, and Ne’ilah at
Gabrielle Berger, Dr. by origami artist and
Oshra Cohen, Rabbis Charity walk in congregant Yaacov 6. 1666 Windsor Road.
(201) 833-1322.
Jeremy Donath and Avi Teaneck: The Friendship Metzger, 10 a.m. All
Herzog, Rabbi Dr. Jay Circle holds its annual materials supplied. 950
friendship walk at Votee Yom Kippur in Glen
Goldmintz, Avi Mandel, Queen Anne Road.
Park. Registration, Rock: The Glen Rock
and Yael Weil. Sponsored (201) 836-6210 or www.
10 a.m.; walk at 10:30; Jewish Center has
by the Staiman family bethaaron.org.
fair at 11. Rides, face community Yizkor
to commemorate the
painting, foam machine, Groundbreaking in prayers, 1:30 p.m.,
Rivka Kahan yahrzeit of Sholom Tzvi
BMX bike show by Rockleigh: The Jewish and Ne’ilah at 6:15.
Staiman. 1650 Palisade
FreeCycle Action sports Home Family breaks 682 Harristown Road.
Study program in Ave. (201) 833-4307, ext.
team, and kosher ice ground for phase (201) 652-6624 or grjc.
Teaneck: Ma’ayanot 265, or Rabbi Zev Prince,
cream truck; all to one of the Center for org.
Yeshiva High School princez@maayanot.org.
support families with Rehabilitation Excellence
for Girls holds its Yizkor in Fort Lee:
annual community Blood drive in Teaneck: special needs children. on the grounds of
Congregation Gesher
yom iyun (study day) Shaare Tefillah, in (201) 262-7172 or www. the Jewish Home
Shalom/JCC Fort Lee
for women and men, conjunction with the NJFriendshipWalk.com. at Rockleigh, 11 a.m.
holds a community
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. American Red Cross, Refreshments. 10 Link
Origami workshop in Yizkor service, 3 p.m.
Keynote speaker Rivka holds a blood drive, Drive. Peter Powers,
Teaneck: Congregation Pre-registration required.
Kahan, Ma’ayanot 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Gift (201) 784-1414, ext.
Beth Aaron hosts an 1449 Anderson Ave.
principal, will discuss certificate incentives. 5524 or Sbuchwald@
origami workshop (201) 947-1735 or
“Sin and Redemption 510 Cumberland Ave. JewishHomeFamily.org.
geshershalom.org.

Yom Kippur in Closter:
Temple Beth El has a
community family service
for young children,
2 p.m., and afternoon/
Yizkor/Neilah at 3:45. 221
Schraalenburgh Road.
(201) 768-5112 or www.
tbenv.org.
Yom Kippur in
Hoboken: The United
Synagogue of Hoboken
hosts a community
Yizkor service, 4:15 p.m.
(201) 659-4000 or
hobokensynagogue.org.
Yom Kippur in
Paramus: The JCC of
Paramus/Congregation
Beth Tikvah invites
a monthly support group
for people diagnosed
with Parkinson’s Disease,
their families, and
caregivers, with Delay
the Disease exercises
at the Jewish Home
at Rockleigh, 10 a.m.
At 10:30, Peta Cohen,
a clinical nutritionist/
metabolic specialist, and
founder of the Total Life
Center, an Integrative
Wellness Center, will
discuss “Minding the
body, Mending the Mind.”
Refreshments. 10 Link
Drive. (201) 750-4246
or email parkinsons@
jewishhomefamily.org.
Sunday 
Calendar
Concert in Park Ridge:
The free Bergen County
Summer Music Concert
series at the Wortendyke
Barn Museum, a county
historic site in Park
Ridge, supported by
Bergen County Executive
Jim Tedesco and the
Board of Chosen
Freeholders, continues
with the Reggie Pittman/
Loren Daniels Quartet
(rhythm & blues/jazz),
4 p.m. Limited seating
is available; people
are welcome to bring
chairs/blankets; a food
vendor will be there and
the museum is open
to visitors at noon and

the community to a
community Yizkor
service, 4:30 p.m. A
photo ID is required.
East 304 Midand Ave.
(201) 262-7691 or
JCCParamus.org.
Thursday  Road. (201) 750-9997
SEPTEMBER 20
Peta Cohen
Parkinson’s support in
Rockleigh: The Jewish
Home Family continues
SEPTEMBER 23
Religious school in
Closter: Temple Emanu-
El opens its K-5 religious
school and has a “Meet
the Teachers” breakfast,
9 a.m. 180 Piermont
Spa time in the
sukkah: Temple Emanu-
El of Closter offers
“Pampering Day In The
Sukkah” at the shul,
3 p.m. Participants
should bring women’s
clothing in good
condition to be donated
to the Center for Hope
& Safety. 180 Piermont
Road. (201) 750-9997 or
templeemanu-el.com/
sisterhood.
COURTESY BCHSJS
during intermission.
The free outdoor music
series continues October
28, at 1, with the 8th
annual Bluegrass & Cider
festival. (201) 336-7292
or email glucente@
co.bergen.nj.us. Students attend last year’s BCHSJS open house.
Erev Sukkot in Closter:
Temple Beth El has BCHSJS open house on Sunday
a family fun night
with dinner, led by The Bergen County High School of Jew- drama, Bible, Jew-ish philosophy, Israel,
Rabbis David Widzer ish Studies will hold orientation and reg- and Torah. A snack break between classes
and Cantor Elizabeth
istration for the school year on Sunday, gives students time to socialize. The school
Goldmann, 6 p.m.
September 16, at 9:30 a.m., at the Moriah publishes a newsletter and provides social
221 Schraalenburgh
Road. Reservations, School in Englewood. BCHSJS is a regional activities including trips to New York City,
(201) 768-5112. Hebrew high school serving students in rock climbing, escape rooms, and more.
eighth through 12th grades. Shabbatonim or weekend retreats and sev-
Students, who come from all across eral community involvement programs
Bergen and Passaic counties, select their also highlight the school year.
classes from a wide range of courses For more information go to www.bchsjs.
including ethics, current events, art and org or call the school at (201) 488-0834.

A barbecue for potential scouts Learn to read Hebrew

Cub Scout Pack 613 and Boy Scout Troop 226 of Teaneck and Bergenfield — both
shomer Shabbat — invite all boys, kindergarteners through 12th graders, and their
families to their annual free barbecue and open house on Sunday, September 16, from
4 to 7 p.m. Meet at Votee Park’s barbecue area on the Queen Anne side. For more
information, call (201) 286-3323 or email uri.gutfreund@gmail.com.
The Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey has opened registration for upcoming ulpan
classes, which will begin on the week of October 8. Students can learn to speak Hebrew
or strengthen their Hebrew language skills. Tuition will increase after October 1. For more
information, call Joyce Greenberg at (201) 820-3907 or email her at joyceg@jfnnj.org.

Chef offers secrets this week Andrea Klein shares this recipe with our readers. She adds “Do not be fooled by the
length of this recipe. While the steps are short, making sure you don’t skimp on any
for whipping up kids’ lunches one of them is key. First, you must know, I only teach and share recipes that I prom-
ise that you will make over and over again. This is the way to make the juiciest, most
Chef Andrea Klein of Tenafly gives two presentations on
flavorful chicken in the shortest amount of time.”
how to make quick and easy lunches that your kids will love
for Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey’s Women’s
Philanthropy group. She’ll offer options for kosher, nut- Best chicken ever! it. Then, liberally spread the paste
under chicken skin.
free, and dairy meals.
Ingredients: Sear skin side down on stove on
On Thursday, September 20, Ms. Klein will speak at Andrea Klein medium high using a dutch oven, or
4-6 pound butterflied or spatchcock chicken
Temple Sinai of Bergen County in Tenafly, and on Friday, 1/3 cup olive oil large rimmed pan until brown and
September 21, she’ll be at Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley. Both talks 2 cloves garlic pour remaining paste on the inside,
begin at 10:30 a.m. 2 tablespoons kosher salt which should be facing up. Flip the
Chef Klein was trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York, has 1 tablespoon ground pepper chicken over carefully and place
taught at Manhattan cooking schools, is a private culinary trainer, and is an 10 sprigs parsley lemon quarters underneath. Bake
1 lemon (juiced then quartered) for 40 minutes or until chicken
active member of Temple Sinai of Bergen County. This is the first session of
registers 165 degrees. Remove from
a “What’s For” series of woking classes she developed for JFNNJ for moms.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a hand or oven to rest. Make pan sauce from
Klein and Michelle Nadel are JFNNJ Young Women co-vice presidents, and standing blender combine olive oil, garlic, salt, drippings by heating fat, adding
Karen Farber and Joan Krieger are Women’s Philanthropy co-presidents. pepper, juice of one lemon (save lemon) and a sprinkling of flour, cooking for
Light refreshments, healthy snacks, and a bento box are included. parsley to form a paste. With your hands, gently one minute, then adding 1 cup of
Email Meli Rozenbaum at melinar@jfnnj.org or call (201) 820-3906. release the skin from the meat without ripping chicken stock if desired.

JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 43

 Jewish World
Phone book
from page 31
the family name to obtain a complete over-
view of all the assets they may claim under
a new restitution drive in Warsaw.
It’s a high-tech tool made possible only
thanks to the recent discovery of an unpub-
lished phone book from 1939.
The World Jewish Restitution Organi-
zation, or WJRO, set up the database in
Liora and Yoram Sztykgold sit in a Warsaw park near where he grew up.
Sunday, September 16
location: Votee Park, Teaneck
10:00AM Registration 10:30AM Walk 11:00AM fair
www.NJFriendshipWalk.com
1 44 Jewish Standard SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
December 2016. It allowed one of Sztyk-
gold’s relatives to get the first definitive list
of the assets the family had in Warsaw before
the war, when it headed a real-estate empire.
The database allows users to check
whether their family owned any of the 2,613
properties that the City of Warsaw said that it
would reopen for restitution claims.
Especially in Sztykgold’s case, the data-
base had “a huge role,” he said, because the
B"H
Sponsored by
only adult from his family who survived
the genocide was his mother, who “had
only partial knowledge of what her fam-
ily owned. Bits and pieces, really,” Sztyk-
gold he said.
During the visit, Sztykgold also got a
rare chance to examine the key that led
to the groundbreaking database: a yel-
lowing proofing copy of a phone book
of sorts from 1939. It was never pub-
lished, because the directory was being
prepared when the Germans invaded
Poland. Crucially, the phone book, or
registry, contained information that
allowed genealogist Logan Kleinwaks
of Washington, D.C., to find the names
of the owners of thousands of assets,
including approximately half of those
2,613 properties that Warsaw said it
would reopen to claims.
About 3.3 million Jews lived in Poland
before the Holocaust. It is the only major
European country that has not passed
national legislation for the restitution
of property unjustly seized from private
owners by the Nazis or nationalized by
the communist regime, according to the
WJRO. Instead of passing legislation, Pol-
ish authorities and courts handle restitu-
tion claims on a per-case basis. Dozens of
such cases have been resolved in recent
years, but several Polish property attor-
neys said that there is no way of knowing
how many of the claims are by Jews.
As it carries out its controversial new
restitution drive announced in 2016,
Warsaw periodically releases a few
dozen addresses of properties from its
list that had been claimed during com-
munism but whose status has never
been resolved. The city does not release
owners’ names, although presumably it
has at least some of them from stalled
restitution claims filed for each of the
2,613 assets. Critics of this practice say it
deprives claimants of crucial information
necessary to gain compensation. Advo-
cates say it is designed to minimize fraud.
Krystyna Danko’s son, Wojciech, sit on her bed as she rests in their Warsaw
apartment.
Once a property is reopened for res-
titution, claimants have six months to
file a second claim. It is an unreason-
ably short period of time, according to
WJRO. But for people like Sztykgold,
who don’t even know which addresses
their families used to own, the entire
2016 process is irrelevant.
Or at least it used to be — until Klein-
waks “matched addresses announced in
2016 with the names of the owners” who
are indicated in the 1939 registry, Sztyk-
gold said.
Today, the copy is kept in the vaults
of the Central Military Library, which
bought it from a book collector at an auc-
tion in 2014 for about $3,000. The library
then scanned the book and published the
scans online. Kleinwaks, who had heard
about the auction and was eagerly await-
ing access to the book’s content, then
used software he developed to build an
owners’ database from the phone book,
matching it with the 2,613 addresses.
So far, the City of Warsaw has
reopened only about 300 of the resti-
tution claims from the list of 2,613, and
not one of the claimants has received
compensation. Kleinwaks said he does
not know how many people are using
his database to make claims. He has
reached out personally to more than a
dozen families whose names he found,
he said, and some of them subsequently
have initiated restitution claims.
None of the Sztykgold family’s assets
— there are more than a dozen of them —
have been reopened for restitution. But
the Sztykgold family is already doing the
footwork — locating birth certificates,
building a family tree, proving they are
the only heirs, and many other bureau-
cratic chores — so that when their assets
are reopened, they would have a hope of
making the six-month deadline.
Gideon Taylor, WJRO’s chair of oper-
ations, said that it was “a very positive
See phone book page 47

Sharon Bolog
Sharon Lee Bolog, née Lubell, 75, of Palm Beach Gar-
dens, Fla., formerly of New City, N.Y., and Fort Lee, died
September 5.
Born in New York City, she was a homemaker and
women’s clothing retailer.
She is survived by her husband, Kenneth, children,
Erik, Richard, and Nicole Jacobson, and seven grandchil-
dren. Arrangements were by Eden Memorial Chapels,
Fort Lee.
Carol Isaacs
Carol Isaacs, 82, of Whitehouse Station, formerly of Hill-
side, died September 12.
She graduated City College of New York, earned a
master’s, taught elementary school, and worked in
marketing.
Obituaries
Predeceased by her husband of 50 years, Howard, five
weeks ago, she is survived by children, Susan (Steve),
and Larry (Solange), and granddaughters Rachel,
Amanda, and Melissa.
Donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital or Stein Hospice of New Jersey Wilf Campus.
Arrangements were by Robert Schoem’s Menorah Cha-
pel, Paramus.
Tami Richman
Tami Richman, née Barrow, 65, of River Vale died Sep-
tember 8.
She is survived by her husband, Steven, daughter,
Leah Cortese (Michael); siblings, Nancy Barrow (Michael
Moroch) and Neal Barrow; grandsons Jordan and Julian,
and nephews, Seth and Scott.
Donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association
or the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
Arrangements were by Robert Schoem’s Menorah
Chapel, Paramus.
Bernard Schwartz
Bernard “Bernie” Irwin Schwartz, 83, of Colorado and
Nevada died September 10.
He served as an Army officer stationed in the DMZ
between North and South Korea and was a buyer for JC
Penney. He was active in the Chabad of Vail, volunteered
for the Vilar Performing Arts Center of Beaver Creek, and
supported many charities.
He is survived by wife, Stephanie, children, Dawn,
Brian, and David, and grandchildren, Jordan, Leah, Jar-
rad, and Alexa.
Arrangements were by Louis Suburban Chapel,
Fair Lawn.

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Summer
FROM PAGE 38
when I was an editor with the Star-Led-
ger of Newark. Manafort, Cohen, Pecker,
Stormy Daniels, Flynn, et al certainly seem
to sink to the slime of Dean, Ehrlichman,
Haldeman, Colson, and company. While
there were no cell phones, internet, or
24/7 news cycles back then, the characters
were just as sleazy and probably more cun-
ning than the present dramatis personae.
And now there is a host of young, earnest
reporters at “fake news” publications like
the New York Times, the Washington Post,
and the Wall Street Journal (excluding its
editorial pages),and at select websites and
cable stations, digging and reporting wher-
ever it may take them.
Labor Day was a significantly more
important inflection point than usual this
year. I’m already geared up for the mid-
term elections, hoping for as much of a
reset as possible in the House and the Sen-
ate. This is where the fate of the Trumpoc-
racy may be decided, since the current
crop of feckless Republican incumbents
simply isn’t up to the challenge of objective
examination. The recent primary upsets
by liberal Democratic insurgents portends
well for a change election, as does Presi-
dent Obama rejoining the fray with a lac-
erating critique of his successor’s often
obscene behavior.
While I am not a legal or constitutional
scholar, my newsman’s instincts tell me
— by way of invoking Churchill — that this
Phone book
FROM PAGE 44
step” by Polish authorities to buy the
1939 registry and make it available online.
“But Poland has to now follow through
and make that information actionable for
heirs, instead of introducing procedures
that make it more difficult to reclaim prop-
erties,” he said.
Unlike her husband, Liora Sztykgold, 77,
can’t even use the WJRO database to find
out whether her parents had any assets
that are being reopened for restitution.
An orphan who was left in the care of a
Catholic convent, she knows neither her
birth name nor the date of her birth. “It’s
not about money,” said Liora, who has two
children with Yoram. “Of course, we’d like
to leave more to the grandchildren. It’s
about achieving a measure of justice.”
Poland has returned communally
owned properties worth many millions
of dollars to Jewish and Christian organi-
zations, among others. But it has resisted
calls to pass legislation on privately
owned properties.
In Warsaw, attempts to achieve justice
on restitution are complicated, messy,
and feature many non-Jewish claimants.
About half of the 2,613 assets on the list
being reopened probably were owned by
non-Jewish Poles, according to Kleinwaks.
But “there is a general unwillingness to
touch the issue,” according to Konstanty
Classified
may not be the beginning of the end, but
it is certainly the end of the beginning.
The next few months loom as critical, dra-
MAZON IS ending hunger ·
matic, and possibly history-making, espe-
cially as special prosecutor Robert Muel- making a difference · tikkun olam ·
ler’s team bores deeper into the tangled
web of Trump’s Russia dealings. keeping kids healthy · nutrition for seniors ·
Tragically, John McCain won’t be with
us when the time comes to pass judg-
tzedakah · fostering responsibility ·
ment on the man who once derided him raising awareness · soup kitchens · food
as a loser for being captured and spending
more than five years in captivity. The hero banks · food pantries · social justice ·
passes with nobility as a nation mourns
him in a bipartisan outpouring while the
partnering for change · advocating for
mendacious draft dodger grows ever more people in need · encouraging public
strident in his outbursts and tweets.
During the High Holy Days, I also try to policy reform · a legacy of giving ·
put special focus on Israel, and this year
my thoughts are bound up in the not-so- making an impact · optimism· pursuing
subtle negative effects of the new nation- justice · nutrition and health education
state law. Prime Minister Netanyahu, fac-
ing a host of legal troubles of his own, has initiatives · meeting basic human needs ·
virtually moved in lockstep with Trump
as he’s nudged the nation rightward. The working to end food insecurity · a strong
chasm between diaspora Jews and those in
safety net · providing assistance and
the homeland only grows. Perhaps by next
July, the political climate in both Washing- support · concern for others · enhancing
ton and Jerusalem will have significantly
improved and clarified. Hopefully, there quality of life · jewish values in action ·
will be an urgency for corrective change
on both fronts.
And that, dear classmates, is how I spent THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
my summer. May autumn hold out hope WORKING TOGETHER
for renewal, or at least a return to normal
norms. Don’t make America grim again. TO END HUNGER
Gebert, a Jewish journalist for the Gazeta
Wyborcza daily. This is largely because of
corruption scandals plaguing it, he said,
but also, “Many Poles feel the entire nation
suffered under Nazism and communism,
and that it’s wrong for only a few to get
restitution.”
Then there are cases like that of
Krystyna Danko, a non-Jewish woman
who risked her life to save Jews during
the Holocaust. She was forced out of her
Inspired by Jewish value
organization working to
backgrounds
Help us end hu
home in 2016, when she was 100, after the
building where she had lived for decades 10850 Wilshire Blv
(800
was returned to restitution claimants from
Paris. (The claimant, Emilia Radziun, who
owns a supermarket in the French capital,
has told the Polish media that she is not
Jewish. She did not reply to attempts to
reach her.)
Now Danko, whose apartment used
to be on the ground floor, lives on the
sixth floor of a public housing building,
where her wheelchair barely fits the rick-
ety elevator. Her son, Wojciech, says that
his mother, who is nearly 102, went blind
during the weeks of the move from the
stress involved.
“What happened to my mother wasn’t
just, but I understand the Jewish perspec-
tive of seeking justice through restitution,”
he said. “I think we need legislation and a
compromise because the way this is going Tel 310.442.0020 | 800.813.0557 | mazon.org
isn’t good for too many people.” P.O. Box 894765, Los Angeles, CA 90189-4765
JTA WIRE SERVICE
JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 47
Local
Greenblatt
FROM PAGE 8
have failed before us. But I would say that
we owe it to Israelis and Palestinians to try
our utmost to see if we can finally achieve
a peace deal. And I firmly believe under
today’s circumstances that we find our-
selves in, for so many reasons, that history
will judge us if we don’t try.
Q: Can Mahmoud Abbas one day
become a partner for peace?
A: I certainly hope that President Abbas
chooses to engage with the peace plan,
and I hope he decides to lead his people to
a better and brighter future, which is what
this plan could bring the people. I think
that working with the Trump administra-
tion is President Abbas’s best opportunity
to possibly achieve many of the goals that
he has set out for himself and his people.
And without engaging on the peace plan,
there is not only not going to be any such
opportunities, but the Palestinian people
will fall further and further behind. More-
over, the continued condemnation of the
Gun violence
FROM PAGE 13
Bergen County Clerk John Hogan. “The
initiative is completely nonpartisan,” Lau-
rence said. “We want to empower youth,
not tell people how to vote.” He noted that
more than four million Americans will
turn 18 this year. “Some people in high
school will become eligible to vote for the
first time. We’re grasping this opportunity
to get students involved, energized, and
register them to vote.
“Change always starts when people rise
up together,” he said. “Perhaps an individ-
ual isn’t as powerful by himself, but when
we join forces, we can accomplish so much
more. That’s what we’ve been doing in all
these towns. We know that when we work
together, we can accomplish so many things.
Change is in our hands. We need to unite.”
Laurence, a son of Rabbi David and Alla
Fine and the older brother of Ariel, grew up
in Ridgewood, where his father is the rabbi
of Temple Israel and Jewish Community
Local institutions
FROM PAGE 12
William Daroff, the Jewish Federations’
senior vice president for public policy,
issued a statement: “Since September 11,
nonprofits generally, and Jewish commu-
nal institutions specifically, have been the
victim of an alarming number of threats
and attacks. The NSGP is helpful to deal
with those threats through resources for
target hardening and the integration of
nonprofit preparedness activities with
broader state and local preparedness
efforts.”
Nathan Diament, executive director
of the OU Advocacy Center, said in a
48 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
peace plan is going to yield no solution
whatsoever to the Palestinian people. So
our hope is that, yes, he will realize when
he sees the plan that he should become a
partner for peace.
Q: Taking the Middle East into account
when talking about a future peace plan,
how does Israel’s new status as a regional
economic, technological and military
superpower change Israel’s bargaining
position in any peace negotiations?
A: I wouldn’t describe it as bargaining
positions. What I see relevant is Israel’s suc-
cess over the last 70 years, which has been
nothing short of amazing. And I think it
should stand as an example to Palestinians
and the region of what they could achieve if
their leaders engage on the peace plan and
let us help them help themselves. And we
have spent a great deal of time not just on
the political aspects of the peace plan, but
also on the economic portions of the peace
plan. It’s important for us to point out that
the peace agreement itself is not the end of
the road; it’s the days after and the years
Center. His passions include track and field.
Inevitably — after all, his father is a rabbi —
he is more exposed to Jewish teachings than
most kids his age.
“My Jewish background and set of Jewish
values push me to get involved to help other
people, to make a difference, do good things
for society, and make our country a better
place,” he said. Because of his father, “I get to
see Jewish values from a different perspective.
“I’ve always been involved in the stuff my
father is doing,” he said. “We live in the
same house.” For example, he has become
involved with Ridgewood’s Community
Peace and Justice Forum. His outlook, he
said, transcends the interests of any one
group. “Gun violence affects people of all
races and religions. It’s a universal issue
that affects every community in this coun-
try. It’s an American issue, and it should
be nonpartisan.
“It’s a threat to our country and we’ve had
enough. That’s why we’re organizing meet-
ings, rallies, protests, and everything we
can do to make a difference.”
statement: “We are deeply appreciative
that DHS has awarded this year’s Non-
profit Security Grant Program awards.
The $60 million funding level is the high-
est for this program since its inception.
We are thankful for the leadership and
support of those in Congress who have
championed this program on a bipartisan
basis including: Sens. Shelby, Schumer,
Boozman, Hoeven, Portman, Peters,
Nelson, Blunt and Van Hollen and Reps.
Frelinghuysen, Lowey, McCaul, Yoder,
Pascrell, Meng, Donovan and Thompson.
While we wish this program were not
necessary, we are grateful for the work of
DHS and the support of key legislators to
provide the needed security resources.”
after. We have spent a great deal of time fig-
uring out what happens post-peace agree-
ment. And obviously, a big component of
that is the economy, and I think that the
Palestinians can see what Israel has accom-
plished, and I hope that they want that for
themselves as well. That’s not to say that
we are pushing an “economic peace”;
we’re certainly not, and we understand the
Palestinians will not accept an “economic
peace.” So I wanted to be clear that our
plan is not an economic peace; it’s a com-
prehensive peace, but of course, it focuses
on the economy because that’s so impor-
tant to a successful peace agreement.
Q: Will any peace deal need approval
from regional partners, including Saudi
Arabia, Egypt and Jordan? Is that some-
thing that is needed to achieve the com-
prehensive plan you are describing?
A: Approval is a strong word. I think
that the only real path forward to a peace
deal is direct negotiations between Israe-
lis and Palestinians. I do think that the
regional partners are key players in our
Summer
FROM PAGE 38
when I was an editor with the Star-Led-
ger of Newark. Manafort, Cohen, Pecker,
Stormy Daniels, Flynn, et al certainly
seem to sink to the slime of Dean, Ehrli-
chman, Haldeman, Colson, and com-
pany. While there were no cell phones,
internet, or 24/7 news cycles back then,
the characters were just as sleazy and
probably more cunning than the pres-
ent dramatis personae. And now there
is a host of young, earnest reporters at
“fake news” publications like the New
York Times, the Washington Post, and
the Wall Street Journal (excluding its edi-
torial pages),and at select websites and
cable stations, digging and reporting
wherever it may take them.
Labor Day was a significantly more
important inflection point than usual this
year. I’m already geared up for the mid-
term elections, hoping for as much of a
reset as possible in the House and the Sen-
ate. This is where the fate of the Trumpoc-
racy may be decided, since the current
crop of feckless Republican incumbents
simply isn’t up to the challenge of objec-
tive examination. The recent primary
upsets by liberal Democratic insurgents
portends well for a change election, as
does President Obama rejoining the fray
with a lacerating critique of his succes-
sor’s often obscene behavior.
While I am not a legal or constitutional
scholar, my newsman’s instincts tell me
— by way of invoking Churchill — that this
may not be the beginning of the end, but it
is certainly the end of the beginning. The
next few months loom as critical, dra-
matic, and possibly history-making, espe-
cially as special prosecutor Robert Muel-
ler’s team bores deeper into the tangled
web of Trump’s Russia dealings.
Tragically, John McCain won’t be with
efforts, and we have done extensive con-
sultations throughout the region and
throughout our process. We’re also hope-
ful that we can count on their support,
and I use the word “support” rather than
“approval,” so they can help the Palestin-
ians achieve a better future. I think they
are essential; I think they will be helpful. I
hope they will be helpful, but I would not
use the word “approval.”
I just want to add one more point —
the advice that I would give everybody,
w, Palestinians, everybody else who is
interested in the file — is wait until the
plan is released, and when it’s released,
please read it cover to cover to judge the
plan on its merits — not on rumors, not
on speculation, not on news reports, but
on what’s in it. Really read it. We hope
that once Israelis and Palestinians in the
region and everybody else who wants to
help will read it, that Israelis and Pales-
tinians are going to have the courage to
engage in the plan and lead their people
to a better future. JNS.ORG
us when the time comes to pass judgment
on the man who once derided him as a
loser for being captured and spending
more than five years in captivity. The hero
passes with nobility as a nation mourns
him in a bipartisan outpouring while
the mendacious draft dodger grows ever
more strident in his outbursts and tweets.
During the High Holy Days, I also try to
put special focus on Israel, and this year
my thoughts are bound up in the not-so-
I’m already
geared up for
the midterm
elections, hoping
for as much of a
reset as possible
in the House
and the Senate.
subtle negative effects of the new nation-
state law. Prime Minister Netanyahu, fac-
ing a host of legal troubles of his own, has
virtually moved in lockstep with Trump
as he’s nudged the nation rightward. The
chasm between diaspora Jews and those
in the homeland only grows. Perhaps
by next July, the political climate in both
Washington and Jerusalem will have sig-
nificantly improved and clarified. Hope-
fully, there will be an urgency for correc-
tive change on both fronts.
And that, dear classmates, is how I
spent my summer. May autumn hold
out hope for renewal, or at least a
return to normal norms. Don’t make
America grim again.
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JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 49
Real Estate & Business

L’chaim! in the spirit of Yom Tov

GAMLIEL KRONEMER
L’chaim—to life—is the traditional toast one
gives, particularly when toasting with dis-
tilled spirits. Spirits were historically viewed
to be life imbuing (hence the term ‘spirits’)
and indeed many names for common types
of liquor—whiskey, eau de vie, aquavit,-
merely mean “water of life.” While mod-
ern medical science may no longer believe
that distilled spirits are a panacea for all of
life’s ills, a nice dram can still warm one’s
innards, and enliven one’s mood. So as you
get ready to celebrate Succos in the spirit of
Toras Chaim, why not enliven the occasion
by toasting “l’chaim” with one of the grow-
ing number of kosher spirits now available.
Cognacs
Cognac, the famous brandy of southwest-
ern France, is generally considered to be
the best brandy, and one of the best dis-
tilled spirits, in the world. Cognac is made
from primarily Ugni Blanc grapes which are
crushed and fermented, before being dis-
tilled twice in copper pot stills, and aged
for no less than two years in French-oak
barrels. What makes Cognac such a great
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brandy, is its unique ability to truly capture
the essences of the original fruit and terroir.
Louis Royer’s Kosher XO Cognac has
long been one of the best kosher Cognacs
on the market. Rich and heavy, this supple
and sweet 12-year-old, dark-walnut colored
brandy has flavors and aromas of cara-
mel, figs, baked apples, roasted hazelnuts,
allspice, and star anise. It is a treat on any
occasion. Louis Royer’s more affordable, but
still delightful, VSOP Cognac is a smooth,
medium-bodied blend of 4-to-6-year old
brandies, which has flavors and aromas of
caramel, mocha, figs, cinnamon, cardamom
and allspice.
A more recent but very welcome addi-
tion to the kosher cognac market is Godet’s
kosher Fine de Cognac. The Godet fam-
ily has been making kosher cognac on and
off for almost a century, and this new bot-
tling is their first kosher release that they’ve
had in over a decade. This tawny-caramel
colored, brandy has a nose of apples (both
stewed and raw), apricots, cloves, sultanas,
and white pepper. The flavor is dry and her-
baceous at the front of the palate, moving
towards apples and raisins mid-palate, and
a touch of caramel on the finish.
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Whiskies
Whisk(e)y is one of the most popular
spirits in the world. In the most basic
of terms whiskey is distilled beer, and
is it made in a variety of different styles
throughout the world (and it has a vari-
ety of spellings—in America and Ireland
it is spelled with an ‘e’, and in Canada,
India, Japan and Scotland it’s spelled
without.) In the highlands of Scotland
whiskey is most often double distilled (as
with Cognac) in pot stills, while in Ten-
nessee and Kentucky it is far more com-
monly distilled in column stills. Here are
two kosher whiskies to try.
Boondock’s American Whiskey is one
of a small handful craft-distillery whis-
kies which are now produced under
kosher supervision. Distilled by Dave
Scheurich (formerly Master Distiller at
Woodford Reserve), Boondock’s is a
creamy-smooth, sweet, 11-year-old tawny
colored whiskey. The bouquet is redolent
of honey, fennel, and rye spice, while the
taste is dominated by corn sweetness,
with a touch of rye spice, and a toffee
note on the finish.
Tomintoul Tlàth is one of the most
recent kosher bottlings to come out of
Scotland. Tlàth means gentle in Gaelic,
and this is certainly a very gentle, easy to
drink, single-malt Speyside whisky. This
dark-copper colored whisky has flavors
and aromas of malt, herbs, fresh churned
butter, toffee, leather, citrus and lavender,
with a lighter than typical touch of peat.
Eau de Vies
Eau de vies—un-aged fruit brandies—are
made by fermenting crushed fresh fruit,
and double distilling the resulting fruit
wine in a copper pot still. In the kosher
world, unfortunately, there are only a
handful of eau de vies on the market, and
one of the very best is Bokobsa’s Boukha
Cuvee Prestige. Made from figs, this clear
eau de vie has a rich, oily, mouthfeel,
with a light flavor and aroma of dried
figs, a touch of earthiness, and an intrigu-
ing hint of butterscotch.
Liqueurs
Liqueurs are sweet spirits made by infus-
ing a spirit base—usually a neutral spirit,
but sometimes a brandy, rum or whisky—
with fruits and or herbs, and then sweet-
ening with sugar. A growing number of
liqueurs now have kosher supervision.
Here are two worth trying.
Montell Orange Liqueur reminds me
a bit of the Sabra Liqueur, that onetime
ubiquitous Israeli spirit, which was first
distilled 56 years ago, and which remains
both a duty-free staple at Ben Gurion Air-
port, as well as a fine after dinner dram.
The Montell is however accentuating the
flavor of the delightful Israeli oranges
even more. This bronze colored liqueur
is rich, smooth, and just as billed—red-
olent with flavors and aromas of dark
chocolate and candied orange peels.
While sweet, the liqueur is well struc-
tured with the bitterness of the orange
balancing the sugar.
Zachlawi’s 10th Anniversary Limited
Edition Fig Arak is both unique and
charming. Made in New Jersey, this bar-
rel aged, copper colored liqueur has a
unique profile more reminiscent of a
French pastis than an Israeli Arak. Look
for aromas of anise, licorice root and
allspice with a whiff of earthiness. The
flavor has elements of stewed figs, black
licorice, star anise and mocha, with hints
of mint, oak and vanilla.
I wish you all chag sameyach!

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50 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 51
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