Jewish Standard, December 9, 2016

IS PARKINSONS A JEWISH GENETIC DISEASE?
page 6
TEENS COMPUTER PROJECT EARNS INVITE TO MIT CONFAB page 7
HAVE YOURSELF A VERY YIDDISH NEW YEARS page 12
NEW FILM PUTS ISRAELI HOOPSTERS ON THE MAP page 49
DECEMBER 9, 2016
VOL. LXXXVI NO. 10 $1.00
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Page 3
Chanukah doughnut
fit for a (burger) king
Jelly doughnuts have long been an Israeli Chanukah staple.

In recent years, gourmet variations have invaded trendy Tel Aviv bakeries.
And now this: Burger King restaurants in Israel have introduced a doughnut
burger for the Chanukkah season.
The SufganiKing is a Whopper with savory doughnuts in place of buns. Its
name is a play on the Hebrew word for doughnuts, sufganiyot, which are ubiquitous on every Israeli street corner in the weeks leading up to Chanukah.
The burger proves that miracles still happen, Burger King Israel said in a
Facebook post.
The SufganiKing will be sold for about $4. It will be available through January 1,
JTA WIRE SERVICE
the last day of Chanukah, according to reports.
Preserving Brooklyn Bridge

with a shmear
Like many romantic gestures, the
practice of lovers leaving locks on
bridges has long-term structural
implications, if not deep historical
roots. Wikipedia explains that the
history of love padlocks dates back
at least 100 years to a melancholic
Serbian tale of World War I, but the
practice really took off after an Italian novel published in 2006 featured
it. The gesture is popular with lovers
and tourism officials, but engineers
complain that the weight of thousands of metal locks adds up and
can bring down bridges.
Indeed, padlocks left on the
Brooklyn Bridge are blamed for a
wire that snapped in September,
leading to hours of repairs and traffic
delays.
So New York Citys Department of
Transportation started a crackdown,
imposing fines and erecting a noton-this-bridge sign with a New York
twist. The sign reads: NO LOCKS
YES LOX.
The yes lox sign features a photo
of an everything bagel from Leos
Bagels in Manhattans financial district, near the DOTs offices.
If an official city sign with a bagel
on it seems unexpected to you,
you arent alone sign maker John
Jurgeleit told Mic.com that even he
was surprised that the DOT ate the
idea up.
We did regulatory signs and then
[city officials] wanted something a

little more whimsical, said Jurgeleit,
who reportedly makes between
85,000 and 100,000 signs for the
city each year. As a goof, I came up
with this and sent it over and our
[Transportation Department] commissioner, who has a great sense of
humor and a love of signs also, she
loved it she went with it to my
surprise.
But city officials should be careful
what they wish for theres probably enough lox in Brooklyn to weigh
down a bridge.
This isnt the first time that officials
showed a little chutzpah in picking
Brooklyn street signs. In 2000, Borough President Marty Markowitz had
the DOT install a sign on the outbound Williamsburg Bridge reading
Leaving Brooklyn. Oy Vey!
GABE FRIEDMAN/JTA WIRE SERVICE
& LARRY YUDELSON
Candlelighting: Friday, December 9, 4:10 p.m.

Shabbat ends: Saturday, December 10, 5:14 p.m.
For convenient home delivery,

call 201-837-8818 or bit.ly/jsubscribe
Golden statue of Bibi erected,

knocked off pedestal
A golden statue of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu appeared overnight in Tel Avivs Rabin Square, only
to be knocked down hours later.
Israeli sculptor Itay Zalait placed
the sculpture as a political statement
and called on the public to topple it.
He said it was the first in a series of
political-artistic acts he is planning.
Before the 5-foot-tall statue,
which had sat atop a white platform,
was pulled down, the municipality
placed a notice on it warning that
unless the artist removed it, it would
be taken down.
CONTENTS
NOSHES ...............................................................4
BRIEFLY LOCAL ............................................. 22
OPINION ........................................................... 36
COVER STORY ................................................ 42
GALLERY ..........................................................46
DVAR TORAH........................................... 47
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ................................48
ARTS & CULTURE ..........................................49
CALENDAR ......................................................50
OBITUARIES .................................................... 53
CLASSIFIEDS ..................................................54
CHANUKAH ..................................................... 56
REAL ESTATE.................................................. 57
The statue was the top story on

news reports and sparked lively
debate on Facebook. Some people
called it a golden calf, and many
stopped to take selfies with it.
Many people in Israel refer to
Benjamin Netanyahu as King Bibi,
so it was only natural to put the
king on the Square of the Kings,
the artist told the Associated Press.
(Rabin Squares original name was
the Square of Kings.) I just want to
ask the question, like, to see if its
going to make some change in the
JTA WIRE SERVICE
peoples mind.
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JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 9, 2016 3
Noshes
If a fried macaroni and cheese ball met a zeppoli

and then converted to Judaism, their baby
would be one of these fried kugel balls.
From a myjewishlearning.com recipe for you guess it fried kugel balls. Theyre said to be
sweet, gooey, crunchy, slightly salty, and all-around delicious. And really, whats not to like?
MELLOW FELLOW:
Kirk Douglas
turning 100
As I write this,
December 9
KIRK
DOUGLASs 100th
birthday is a week
away, and God willing,
hell celebrate it with
family and friends. Here
are some things about
Douglas unlikely to be in
most birthday celebration articles. Born Issur
Danielovitch, the son of a
ragman, Douglas had a
remarkable run of quality
hit movies from the late
1940s through the
mid-60s. Less well
known is that he was the
producer, as well as the
star, of two great movies:
Spartacus and Paths
of Glory. He hired a
virtually unknown
STANLEY KUBRICK to
direct those films. He
also hired blacklisted
writer Dalton Trumbo to
write Spartacus and
gave him screen credit
a mortal blow to the
blacklist.
Douglas starred in
the first Hollywood film
made in Israel (The Juggler, 1953). This story
of a Holocaust survivor
starts dour, but ultimately its a hopeful look at
the then-new country. A
near death experience
in 1991 started the intellectual process that led
Kirk to embrace rigor-
ous Jewish practice, and

he had his second bar
mitzvah, at 83, in 1999.
His wife of 62 years,
ANNE BUYDENS, now
86, converted to Judaism in 2004. It must be
gratifying for Kirk that
MICHAEL, 72, the most
famous of his four sons,
decided in the last few
years to identify firmly
as a Jew. Michael was
led to this largely by his
own son, DYLAN, now
15, who expressed a sincere wish to be Jewish
and to have a bar mitzvah (which happened in
Jerusalem).
Last year, on his 99th
birthday, Kirk gave $15
million to build a larger
center for Alzheimers
patients at the Motion
Picture & Television
Home. This is on top
of $25 million Douglas
already has given the
home. This is his most
famous charity, but there
are scores of others.
I suspect part of Kirks
fortune stems from his
foresight in 1962, when
he bought the rights
to One Flew over the
Cuckoos Nest. He
starred in the first dramatization of the novel,
in 1963. His Broadway
play co-star was GENE
WILDER. He couldnt get
a studio to make it into a
Kirk Douglas
Anne Buydens
Michael Douglas
Robert Clary
Natalie Portman
Max Casella
film and eventually lent

the film rights to Michael.
Cuckoo won the Oscar
for best picture in 1975,
and Michael, as producer,
got that Oscar. It cost
$3 million to make and
made $109 million (more
than $750 mil today).
By the way, you can
buy The Juggler for
less than $15, but finding
a rentable copy is hard.
But you can see the 1982
TV film, Remembrance
of Love, for free on YouTube. Kirk Douglas stars
as a Holocaust survivor
traveling to Israel with his
adult American children
to attend a survivors
convention. ROBERT
CLARY, now a mere 90
years old, plays himself.
Clary was liberated from
Buchenwald in 1945,
when he was 14. Hes
best known for playing
French prisoner LeBeau
on Hogans Heroes.
The feature film
Jackie, starring
NATALIE PORTMAN, 35, as Jackie
Kennedy, opened in
limited release last
Friday. It will open in
most cities sometime
this month. The film
centers on the most
Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard
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9, 2016
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dramatic period of
Jackies life the time
just before and after
JFKs assassination. The
reviews, which you may
already have read, have
been very good to great,
and its almost a sure bet
that Portman and others
connected with the film
will be Oscar nominated.
If you watch any trailer,
you can hear that
Portman has mastered
Jackies distinctive voice
a mixture of a New
York accent, finishing
school diction, and a
breathiness that reminds
you of Marilyn Monroe.
But Portlands performance is far more than

the voice. Top critic
DAVID EDELSTEIN, 57,
says Portman just nails
Jackies mix of slyness
and shyness.
MAX CASELLA, 49,
co-stars as Jack Valenti, the LBJ aide who
clashed with Jackie
when she insisted that
that she would walk in
the open streets with
JFKs casket as it was
taken to his funeral. The
screenplay, by NOAH
OPPENHEIM, 38, won
the best screenplay
award at the Venice Film
Festival. Oppenheim has
a foot in both screenwriting and politics, and
thats perfect for this
film. A Harvard grad,
where he sometimes
wrote on Jewish issues
for the Harvard Crimson,
he went on to produce
such political talk shows
as The Chris Matthews
Show and Scarborough County. Later,
he was a senior Today
Show producer.
Because this film will
be in the news through
the awards season (Golden Globes, Oscars, etc.)
Ill save some interesting
Jackie/Jewish connection stories and Jackie
film nuggets for a future
N.B.
column.
GLA, GLE, C, E-Class

11/4/16 1:10 PM
Melissa S., Closter, NJ, mother of two, entrepreneur, and breast cancer survivor
A mammogram saved her life.

When its time for your regular mammogram, well be waiting for you. But you wont be
waiting for us. Thats because our Leslie Simon Breast Care and Cytodiagnosis Center
now provides mammography results and many follow-up tests during the same visit.
That means less waiting, less wondering, less worrying. Our newly renovated center
offers a serene environment, the latest technology, and a dedicated,
compassionate team working to get you the care you need,
when you need it one more reason to make
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
your hospital for life.
englewoodhealth.org
EHMC_breastcenter_10x13_Newsprint.indd 1
12/2/16
12:13 PM5
JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER
9, 2016
Local
Is Parkinsons a Jewish genetic disease?
Englewood Hospital will host
panel discussion; Jewish Home
Family initiating new support group
MIRYAM Z. WAHRMAN, Ph.D.
y father and both of his

sisters were afflicted with
Parkinsons disease, a neurological disorder that
affects movement by hindering walking
and affecting motor control of the hands
and head. So the question Is Parkinsons
a Jewish genetic disorder? has personal
meaning to me.
On December 12, a program addressing that question and other topics related
to Parkinsons disease will take place at
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Lana Chahine, a neurologist and
Parkinsons researcher, will speak, and a
panel of experts will answer questions on
the topic.
Co-sponsored by the Jewish Home Family, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center,
the free program is open to physicians,
medical and elder care professionals, and
members of the community. Parkinsons
patients and their families are particularly
encouraged to attend.
(Michael J. Fox, the actor, was diagnosed
with Parkinsons when he was 29 years
old. In 2000, he created the Michael J. Fox
Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to clinical research on Parkinsons
disease.)
The December 12 program also marks
the launch of a new community resource,
the Center of Excellence in the Care of Parkinsons. The center has been developed
by the Jewish Home Family, a multifaceted
eldercare organization serving Bergen,
Hudson, and Rockland counties.
Theres a huge need in the community
to deal with this disease, said Dr. Harvey
Gross, a geriatrician who is the medical
director of the Jewish Home Family. We
know there are some [Parkinsons associated] genes connected with Jewish people,
and we felt this program was appropriate
to meet the needs of the community, as
well as doctors.
Lana Chahine is a movement disorder
specialist, Dr. Gross said. Dr. Chahine,
an assistant professor of neurology at the
Pennsylvania Hospital of the University of
Pennsylvania, has published extensively
on the motor functions, cognition, and
genetics of Parkinsons patients.
The information session is to inform
people about Parkinsons disease, Dr.
Gary Alweiss, Englewood Hospitals chief
of neurology, said. Theres a lot that can

be done about it. He noted that the new
center will address an important need in
the community, because there is higher
incidence of some genes associated with
Parkinsons in the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The genes alone do not cause the
disease, he said; instead, there is the twohit theory the combination of factors
needed to trigger Parkinsons, genetic
predisposition and environmental insult.
According to the Michael J. Fox Foundations website, www.michaeljfox.org,
Parkinsons has not been considered to
The December
12 program
also marks the
launch of a new
community
resource,
the Center of
Excellence in
the Care of
Parkinsons.
be a genetic disease, since only 10 percent of cases are linked to a mutated gene.
Other Parkinsons cases are considered
idiopathic, meaning that the cause is
unknown. However, a specific mutation
in the LRKK2 gene has been discovered
that may account for up to 20 percent of
Parkinsons cases in the Ashkenazi Jewish
Dr. Harvey Gross
Carol Silver Elliott
population. This compelling link has led to

considerable scientific and medical interest in following such cases in the Jewish
community.
Inheriting the LRKK2 mutation raises
the risk of Parkinsons to about 30 percent, Dr. Alweiss said. While that figure
is much higher than the risk the general
public faces, If you have the gene there is
still a good chance that you wont get the
disease, he said.
If someone has this gene, Dr. Alweiss
said, we do not know yet how to reduce
the risk, but with research there is hope
for future development of neural protective treatments. At this point, there is no
good evidence of any medication being a
good neural protective. But there are good
symptomatic treatments, including drugs
and surgery.
The Jewish Home Family is initiating
efforts to develop a variety of programs and
services for people with Parkinsons disease, Carol Silver Elliott, the Jewish Home
Familys president and CEO, said. We are
taking the lead on this. We have established
a partnership with the Michael J. Fox Foundation and Englewood Hospital.
Ms. Elliott said that a new support
group for Parkinsons patients and their
families will begin on Thursday, December 15, at the Jewish Home at Rockleigh.
The group, led by facilitator and Parkinsons patient Jerry Ratner, who leads
a similar group in Haworth, will focus
on the latest research on Parkinsons,
helpful exercise, nutrition, and other

relevant topics. Since there are many
studies going on in the field, it is particularly important to keep apprised of new
developments and how they will affect
treatment and care and ultimately lead
to cures.
Patients and family members will be
able to volunteer at the December 12 program as participants in research studies
sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. One such study is called Parkinsons
Progression Markers Initiative, or PPMI
for short. The Fox Foundations website
explains that the mission of PPMI is to
identify one or more biomarkers of Parkinsons disease progression. The discovery of a biomarker is a critical step in
the development of new and better treatments for PD. Biomarkers are disease
indicators that can help researchers
detect patterns, reveal causes, and indicate new approaches to treatment. The
$60 million PPMI study has signed up
almost 1,000 participants at 33 clinical
sites in 11 countries. Patients and family
members provide samples and data over
the course of up to five years.
We encourage patients to sign up for
Michael J. Fox Foundation genetic testing,
Ms. Elliott said. Any research that aids us
in knowing about Parkinsons disease is a
positive. We know that genetic markers
are linked, and are more prevalent in the
Jewish population, and such research will
help us come closer to a cure.
Dr. Miryam Z. Wahrman, the Jewish
Standards science correspondent, is
professor of biology at William Paterson
University. Her recent book, The Hand
Book: Surviving in a Germ-Filled World,
explores the historic, religious and
cultural roots of hand washing, explains
how hand washing keeps you healthy,
and provides handy tips to reduce the
risk of infectious disease. It is available on
Amazon and at www.upne.com.
The community is offered two ways to learn more about Parkinsons, and how to cope with it a lecture and panel
discussion, and an ongoing support group. Heres more information on both of them:
Who: Parkinsons researchers and experts Dr. Lana Chahine, Dr. Gary Alweiss, Dr. Harvey Gross, and the Fox Foundations Vanessa
Arnedo
What: Offer a lecture and panel discussion exploring whether Parkinsons is a Jewish genetic disease
When: On Monday, December 12, at 7:30 p.m., after a light kosher dessert reception at 7.
Where: At the main auditorium of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, 350 Engle St., Englewood
More: The evening is free; reservations are requested, not required. Parkinsons@JewishHomeFamily.org.
What: Parkinsons support group, open to people of all faiths and backgrounds
When: On the third Thursday of every month, beginning Thursday, December 15, at 10:30 a.m.
Where: At the Jewish Home at Rockleigh, 10 Link Drive, Rockleigh.
For more information: Go to www.jewishhomefamily.org. Learn more about both the program and the Jewish Home.
Local
How Avi Cooper spent his summer

Teens indoor GPS device earns them invitation to MIT conference
LARRY YUDELSON
vi Cooper doesnt want you to get

lost in the mall.
Sure, there are always the
maps assuming youre not lost
inside a department store with poor signage.
But Avi, 17, is a senior at the Torah Academy
of Bergen County in his hometown, Teaneck.
He is of the generation that has grown up taking GPS for granted. If your phone can help
you navigate the towns of New Jersey, why
cant it help inside the Garden State Plaza?
GPS doesnt work indoors for two reasons.
The satellite radio signals that GPS uses dont
penetrate well into buildings. And GPS is
not very precise, Avi says. At best it has five
meters accuracy. That enough to know what
street youre driving on, but not which hallway youre walking down.
Avi, though, brings us good news. He spent
the summer working on the problem of
indoor GPS in a Rutgers lab, along with Poojit
Hegde of Edison, a high-school junior at the
Middlesex County Academy for Science,
Mathematics, and Engineering Technologies.
The two found their way to Rutgers through

Partners in Science, a Liberty Science Center
program.
The approach they took for solving the
GPS in the mall problem is summarized by
the paper they wrote on the topic: An Indoor
Positioning System Facilitated by Computer
Vision.
The two teens recently presented their
paper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It came in second among the 35
papers accepted by a technology conference
sponsored by the MIT chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Thats not bad for two high school students
competing against college students.
Actually, Avi left the formal delivery of his
paper to Poojit, because the presentation was
scheduled for Shabbat. He did get special permission to present a poster about the project
on Sunday.
The solution to the GPS problem was to
have each room track people as they walk
through it. We set up stereoscopic cameras
to act like eyes, Avi said.
With two cameras in a room, Avi and Poojit
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then researched the different ways a computer can identify somebody and position
them, Avi said. By the end of the summer
we got our system working to the point where
it could recognize one of us with 95 percent
accuracy and to within a foot.
They used a free software library written
by Intel, which handled the basics of recognizing people.
We figured out where people are in the
room through background subtraction, he
said. If we remove the stationary pixels, we
can assume the only thing moving in a room
is a person.
From there, the computer figures out what
the person looks like. Thats important so it
can know which one is you, and track you.
The program Avi and Poojit wrote keeps
tracking a person, even as the image changes
directions and apparent size to the cameras.
Avi thinks that this technology could be
useful to shoppers and store owners.
If youre in a mall or an airport, you could
get walking directions on your phone to a
gate or a store, he said. The technology also
would give the owner of the mall or airport
more data about how people use the facility,

he said.
Avi also has worked on a program with
more potential immediate benefits for his
classmates: a social network/sports reporting app for the yeshiva high school sports
teams. Its a work in process.
Last year, it earned him a scholarship from
Apple to attend its developers conference in
San Francisco.
Avi has not studied computer science at
school. Everything I know is stuff I learned
from the internet, he said.
For college, Im probably looking to major
in computer science and do more research,
he said. I really enjoy not only learning stuff
in the classroom, but going out and doing
things and seeing what my capabilities are.
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Local
Redemption song
Religious Zionists of America launches Teaneck chapter with activist goals
LARRY YUDELSON
isten up Teaneck: Theres an oldnew organization coming to town.

The Religious Zionists of America is holding an event it hopes will
seed a local chapter.
On Tuesday, Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, a professor at Yeshiva University and a scholar at
its Center for the Jewish Future, will speak at
Teanecks Congregation Rinat Yisrael. (See
box for details.)
It was kind of quiet for the last several
years, Stephen Flatow, the organizations
vice president, said. Mr. Flatow is an attorney who lives in Long Branch; the death of
his daughter Aliza in an Israeli bus bombing
21 years ago galvanized him into activism.
Were trying to breathe new life into the
organization, he said
Not that Teaneck has been lacking religious
meaning, in this context, Orthodox Zionists. Nor, for that matter, has there been any
shortage of parents sending their children to
the organizations affiliated Camp Moshava
and Bnei Akiva youth group.
Indeed, several area rabbis appeared on
the Religious Zionist slate for the World Zionist Congress elections in 2015. The elections,
which help determine the leadership of the
World Zionist Organization and related Jewish organizations, were Mr. Flatows path to
the Religious Zionists of America.
Mizrachi fit my mindset, he said, using
the Hebrew name of the religious Zionist
movement, which means Eastern but also is
a contraction for the Hebrew words for spiritual center. The name is a pointed reminder
that the movement was founded in 1902 as
a religious counterweight to Theodor Herzls
secular Zionism.
Mr. Flatow nominated himself for the religious Zionist slate, and got the requisite
Who: Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter
What: Talk on the contemporary
significance of the State of Israel
When: Tuesday, December 13,
at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Congregation Rinat Yisrael,
389 W. Englewood Ave., Teaneck
Stephen Flatow
number of signatures to do that. I went to the

convention and decided to hang around.
Now he is a vice president of the organization. The goal is to create a chapter in the
Teaneck area, and start that as a launch point
for northern New Jersey, he said.
Mizrachi has active chapters in Chicago
and Los Angeles.
Over the years we kind of lost our market
share, he said. With encouragement from
Mizrachi in Jerusalem, were revitalizing the
organization.
But, given that the ideology of religious
Zionism is present, why is the organization
needed in Teaneck? Theres strength in
numbers, Mr. Flatow said. Were hoping the
RZA will become the address for these people
to organize.
When I speak about Israel, people tell
me youre speaking to the choir, he said. I
want to give you tools to speak to another
choir. Its not enough for us to read the
New York Times and cluck our tongues;
we need to do organizational work to get
the letters to the editor, to complain when
its appropriate.
He also envisions the religious Zionists getting involved in in Trenton and Washington.
Were going to be advocating here for
Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter
Over the years

we kind of lost
our market
share. With
encouragement
from Mizrachi in
Jerusalem, were
revitalizing the
organization.
things that benefit the Jewish community
as a whole, he said. We will be monitoring
whats happening in the state legislature and
at the federal level. We will be advocating for
vouchers, for state aid for private schools,
making sure our Jewish community is not cut
out of programs.
As Jews, we have to work against BDS,
we have to protect our kids on college campuses. We have to get our politicians to
responds to us.
Since August, Rabbi Gideon Shloush has
You dont have to go through it alone.

Bereavement Groups now forming
in Teaneck and Wayne
Support for widows, widowers, signicant others,
loss of parents or adult siblings.
For more information please call JFS at 201-837-9090
been the new national director of the RZA.

(He also leads Congregation Adereth El in
Manhattan.) He said that Mizrachi is developing major plans for the 50th anniversary
of Yom Yerushalayim, the commemoration
of the unification of Jerusalem in the Six Day
War, in late May 2017.
Theres a mega event taking place in
Jerusalem, Rabbi Shloush said. People
from around the world are coming. Its
going to be spectacular. Many people will
want to witness this once in a lifetime event.
Weve been in touch with rabbis across the
country finding out who is planning on
sending contingents.
The Six Day War raised messianic
expectations among many Orthodox
Zionists, particularly in Israel. In 1968,
the magazine Tradition published the
transcript of a discussion among modern
Orthodox rabbis about the implications
of the Israeli victory. The participants
were divided: The Americans, including
Rabbi Norman Lamm, later president of
Yeshiva University and still an honorary
president of the RZA, said the war was
miraculous but did not usher in the messianic era. The two Israeli rabbis, however, insisted it did.
Which brings us to Rabbi Schacters talk,
The contemporary significance of the State
of Israel: Reshit zemichat geulatenu? Reshit
zemichat geulatenu means the beginning
of the growth of our redemption, a phrase
from the prayer for the State of Israel published by the Israeli rabbinate.
Rabbi Schacter will first try to understand what the phrase means and where it
comes from, he said. Then he will explore
the notion of the centrality of some form of
messianism in the conceptualization of the
theological significance of the State of Israel
shortly after it was founded.
The second part of the talk will challenge the notion of a messianic association
with the state of Israel. On what basis do
we have certitude that indeed it is part of
the unfolding of the messianic dream? Ill
suggest an alternative, which recognizes
the divine involvement with the founding
of the State of Israel but is shorn of any
messianic overtones.
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Local
Petition draws support of local rabbis

Clergy pledge to defend civil liberties during Trump administration
LOIS GOLDRICH
The Truah rabbinic petition
with signatories pledging
to hold the Trump administration accountable for protecting the human rights
and civil liberties of all people has garnered some
650 signatures, said Rachel
Kahn-Troster of Teaneck, the
groups director of programs.
We want to send a strong
From left, rabbis Rachel Kahn-Troster, David-Seth Kirshner, Rebecca Sirbu, Paul Jacobson, and Lee Paskind
message early on that were
prepared, as a rabbinic community, to stand up for human rights
xenophobia, misogyny, and homophobia.
stand might put them in the bad graces of
as well as at flag-burners and a host of
for all Americans, said Rabbi Troster, a
The petition, which Rabbi Kahn-Troster
the new administration.
other things.
noted speaker and writer on Judaism and
called a rallying cry for the rabbinic comRabbi Paskind said he suspects that
Our responsibility is to hold his feet to the
munity, gets the message out there, she
human rights. And the document, which
because of the number of signatories,
fire to preserve the system of checks and balances, of government of, by, and for the peosaid. But after that, We dont know what
is posted on Truahs website, truah.org,
the petition will have some traction.
ple, as envisioned by the Founding Fathers,
to expect. I think it created a moment of
has elicited the support of rabbis from all
He believes that a lot of people are in
Rabbi Kirshner said. He cant go rogue or be
hope and a vehicle for change [at a time]
denominations.
jeopardy, or could be in jeopardy, based
above the law.
when people are feeling hopeless, and
Truah founded in 2002 as Rabbis
on much of the president-elects rhetoric
He added that the waters have gotten
showed rabbinic colleagues that they are
for Human Rights in North America and
during the campaign. Also troubling, he
muddier and more divisive in the Jewish
not alone in putting forth Jewish values.
renamed in 2013 hopes the petition will
said, was the way he comported himself,
world. While some Jews believe Trumps
It also, she said, serves as a beacon to the
resonate throughout the rabbinic and canand the way people who supported him
torial community, encouraging rabbis to
support for Israel is particularly strong,
Jewish community in general. We, as Jews,
treated potentially vulnerable groups. He
come together as colleagues, and put the
every person since Truman has been a good
will not let human rights be violated.
did not in all cases eschew that behavior
president for the State of Israel. The differor did so only after some kind of pressure
ence between Trump and Mitt Romney, John
was exerted. He mostly sidesteps stuff like
McCain, and George H.W. Bush is that none
the ad with the six-pointed star. He poohof them put support for Israel above human
poohed that repeatedly.
Its necessary to take a strong stand,
values and decency.
Rabbi Paskind continued. A lot of things
Some people say that a core element of
may be happening that are very scary
being a good Jew is unbridled support for the
and many of the appointments to his CabState of Israel, since enemies have driven us
inet and other positions bear out a lot of
out of other nations for centuries, Rabbi
my concern. While I would not suggest
Kirshner said. Other Jews disagree, holding
that he is not the legitimate presidentthat the key is to be a light unto other nations
elect, apparently by due process he has
precisely because of the way we have been
made it clear, and so has his vice presitreated. We know what it is to be the other.
dentelect, that he would like to undo
administration on notice that as a rabbinic
Rabbi David Seth Kirshner, religious
These two groups seem to be at odds
most of the positive changes weve seen
community, we will not let other peoples
leader of Temple Emanu-El in Closter, said
over the core element of being Jewish, Rabbi
not only in the last eight years but going
rights be violated, Rabbi Kahn-Troster
that when he read the petition, it was a
Kirshner said. The answer to the question is
back to FDR and the New Deal. I dont
said. Rabbis are the moral voice for the
no-brainer for me. This election was difyes both of those things. Its not either-or.
ferent from any one in my lifetime and
think hell do all of it, but the feeling of
Jewish community. We cant compromise
Why did he sign the Truah petition?
in modern history. Not different because
being endangered grows exponentially
our values in order to gain access to the
Number one: One day my kids will know
the country was divided or because it was
every week. People who feel that way have
administration.
what I stood for. Number two: My congregants will know the values I believe in.
Democrat vs. Republican, but different
a responsibility to take a stand about that.
Indeed, continues the pledge: For
I dont think theres one shred of eviNumber 3: Any candidate today, whether
because of the nature of the rhetoric and
some Jewish leaders, there will be a temptation to accommodate the new adminisdence to make people think he would be
for Congress, Senate, or dogcatcher, knows
dismissiveness of core decency and Jewish
tration in the hopes of protecting our own
better on Israel, Rabbi Paskind added. Hes
that congregational rabbis have an impact
values, by the victor in particular.
communitys interests. As Joseph learned
100 percent untried as a politician. He has
on great numbers of people. Thats why they
I tremble in fright, he added. Mr.
long ago, and as the Jewish community has
no clear position. The only good thing was
seek us out. We speak not as an individual
Trumps very first appointment was of
learned time and time again, proximity to
that he did know what Aleppo was. Hes
but as a representative of the many. Thats
someone with fast and loose ties to the altpower does not guarantee protection in
changed his position on so many issues over
why our names matter.
right movement, embracing groups that
the long run.
the course of the campaign. So on the issue
Rabbi Lee Paskind of Teaneck, a former
are anti-Jewish, anti-African American,
The document adds: Jewish history
of Israel, none of us know anything about
congregational rabbi, now acts as a consulanti-gay, and xenophobic. Neither Steve
tant on social justice issues for the Conservahas taught us that fascism arrives slowly,
what his position will be. Of course, he said,
Bannon nor the president-elect has stood
tive movements Rabbinical Assembly. The
through the steady erosion of liberties.
this wont sway people who think Israel is
up in front of the media or used Twitter to
rabbi, who has been instrumental in furtherAnd we have learned that those who attack
the only issue American Jews can vote on.
express views pushing back. On the other
ing social justice initiatives in his synagogue,
other minorities will eventually come to
On the issue of civil liberties, Rabbi Pashand, Rabbi Kirshner said, Mr. Trump
kind said that so many different groups of
said he does not sign everything put before
attack us. To our great dismay, we learned
has pushed back in disapproval at the
people are so much more vulnerable, or
him, but I did feel I wanted to sign this.
this truth again when, during this eleccast members of Hamilton when they
tion campaign, anti-Semitism rose to the
afraid theyre vulnerable, in this new era.
He acknowledged that some people have
addressed a statement to vice presidentfore, along with racism, Islamophobia,
He cited the level of misogyny Mr. Trump
expressed the concern that taking any public
elect and audience member Mike Pence,
To our great dismay, we learned

this truth again when, during this
election campaign, antiSemitism rose to the fore, along
with racism, Islamophobia,
xenophobia, misogyny,
and homophobia.
Local
has voiced, calling it unforgiveable, and said that the
president-elect has nominated some women who are to
the right of Attila the Hun.
This doesnt buy him out of the horrible things he has
said and allegedly done, or the homophobic and antiLGBTQ stance of Michael Pence. Were really dealing with
human rights and civil rights, he said, pointing to the
South Carolina decision threatening voting rights. And
theres no way to think that it will get better, with the
Supreme Court judges hes been threatening to appoint.
I never thought Roe v. Wade would be in jeopardy. They
want to send women back to alleyways and use coat
hangers for abortions. How could that have happened?
Thats why I signed the petition.
Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu of Teaneck, the director of
Rabbis Without Borders at Clal The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, speaks,
writes, and blogs on a variety of issues related to religion in America today. She said signed the document
because I am very concerned about some of the ideas
President-elect Trump proposed during his campaign,
specifically the ideas of having all Muslim immigrants
register, and the deportation of immigrants. In addition, I am concerned that Trumps rhetoric about Mexicans, Muslims, women, and other minority groups
will lead to legislation that will restrict the rights of
minority groups. Discrimination against one group
will lead to discrimination against other groups.
Therefore, protecting everyones human rights is crucially important.
Concern for others is equally important to Rabbi Paul
Jacobson of Temple Avodat Shalom in River Edge. I
signed the petition because as a congregational leader,
We have to continually
act upon and speak
about our beliefs and
encourage the
protection of
all human rights and
civil liberties.
as a Jew, as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a human
being who cares for and is concerned for other human
beings, I have an obligation to do anything and everything that I possibly can to identify and combat any form
of injustice that I encounter in the world whether that
is through my own spoken voice, written word, other
acts of advocacy, other congregational initiatives, or
by encouraging other people to act, he said. I think
that signing the petition is only a first step. We have to
continually act upon and speak about our beliefs and
encourage the protection of all human rights and civil
liberties. Signing the petition is simply a gesture of
reminding myself and others that I will not be silent.
Other local clergy members who have signed the petition so far include rabbis Lawrence Troster of Teaneck,
now serving a congregation in the Philadelphia area;
Debra Hachen of Beth El in Jersey City; Julia Andelman of
Teaneck, the director of community engagement at the
Jewish Theological Seminary; Jacob Lieberman of Reconstructionist Congregation Beth Israel in Ridgewood; Joel
Pitkowsky of Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck,
Meeka Simerly of Beth Tikvah in Wayne, and Cantor
Alan Sokoloff of Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley
in Woodcliff Lake.
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Join us after the performance

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Local
Second Avenue goes downtown

Folksbiene presents newly discovered Yiddish musical theater gems
JOANNE PALMER
MARK GUREVICH
Above, Rachel Policar in the Folksbienes Golden Bride; she will sing
in Light Up the Night. At right,
Zalmen Mlotek at KulturFestNYC in
Central Park this summer.
in Nazi Europe. It wasnt easy to find.
Our first step is to try to find the music,
Mr. Mlotek said. Its in libraries and archives
all over the world, mainly in almost unreadable chicken scratch, handwritten on the fly.
Only a small selection was published, in the
1920s and on. We started a project to look for
this material.
Although much of the music is American,
much of it is European, and a lot of those
orchestrations were saved and hidden during
the war by the Paper Brigade, he said. The
Nazis collected and saved some Jewish literature, including music, planning to display it
in its planned (but never executed) Museum
of Extinct Races. In a last-ditch attempt to
Who: The National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene presents

What: Light Up the Night, a theatrical concert of rediscovered and restored Yiddish
theater songs
When: On Sunday, January 1, at 2 p.m. and again at 6.
Where: At the Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place in Manhattan
How much: $30; $20 for members of either the museum or the Folksbiene
For tickets: Call (212) 213-2120, ext. 230, or go to www.nytf.org
VICTOR NECHAY
iddish musical theater was a vital

theatrical force not so long ago
less than 100 years ago and it
flowered not very far from here,
on Manhattans Second Avenue.
But to get heavy-handed and obvious for
a second, times change, tastes change, Yiddish went from the language almost everyone spoke to the language parents used to
keep secrets from their kids to the language
almost no one knew. And Yiddish operettas
just disappeared.
But last year the National Yiddish Theater
Folksbiene mounted a full production of
the recently unearthed, dusted off, and now
glittering Di Goldene Kale, known to English-speakers as The Golden Bride. It was a
huge success, so the Folksbiene has decided
to give audiences more.
On January 1, it will offer two performances
of Light Up the Night at its new permanent
home at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in
downtown Manhattan. (See the box for more
information.)
The incredible success of The Golden
Bride shows that there is an audience that
wants to hear this music, and see these
pieces performed in the way that they originally were done, Zalmen Mlotek of Teaneck
said. Mr. Mlotek, the heir to (and father of ) a
great tradition of Yiddish musicologists, is the
Folksbienes artistic director.
This is part of the wealth of music that
was Yiddish theater from the middle of the
19th century to the 1930s and 40s, he said.
Its both European and American, and it
reflects the journey of the Yiddish theater,
which originated in Romania and Russia.
The influences it has picked up are clear to
the listener, he added. For the pieces from
the teens, say, you could hear a little bit of
British music hall, with Jewish influences, the
harmonies and modes of that are reflective of
Jewish music, but juxtaposed with what was
going on in the outside world. The American
pieces from the 20s have echoes of America
musical theater, an art form with which the
Yiddish composers were intimately familiar.
There was a problem in finding the music,
though. When it went out of fashion, it was
not neatly, carefully, properly archived,
labeled, put in acid-free folders, recorded, or
otherwise kept safe. It was treated as ephemera here, and of course as far worse than that
save the material, some Jewish intellectuals smuggled it out, under the watch of the
Gestapo, and buried them in milk canisters.
Thousands of documents were retrieved after
the war.
In many cases the melodies had been
preserved, at least in listeners and singers
hearts, heads, and ears, but the orchestrations were lost. In some cases we are presenting for the first time music that hasnt
been heard as it was intended to be heard
since then, Mr. Mlotek said. The material
was retrieved in the 1950s, but it has been sitting in archives. We have found these pieces
and painstakingly recreated them and put
them in a form that can be used today.
It is a big musicological/archeological
project, but there is gold in there. Every time
we see something, its another impetus to
continue our work.
Once the orchestration is recovered, next is
the question of scripts to go with them. They
never were put together or catalogued, Mr.
Mlotek said. When you rent, say, Fiddler on
the Roof, you get everything, but a general
archive of this work never was put together.
But by using the resources of YIVO, the UCLA
Library, and the Milken Foundation, we are
starting to put this archive together.
Once the Folksbiene basically, thats Mr.
Mlotek and assistant artistic director and my
right hand, Motl Didner have done that
work, they had to cast the five singers they
need for the performances theyre planning
for New Years Day. We have a tremendous
pool of talent, performers from the Golden
Bride and people who auditioned, Mr.
Mlotek said. We are not teaching them this
new material. They are not Yiddish-speakers,
so they learn it phonetically, but its not all
rote. Theyre learning what it means.
Its so exciting to hear these songs from
the mouths of these new young singers, he
said. Next, theres the staging. This will not
be a full theatrical production, with a plot, a
script, costumes, and staging. Instead, it will
be songs from various productions, played by
SEE FOLKSBIENE PAGE 14
MARK GUREVICH
Artfully crafted and meticulously aged for optimal enjoyment.

Local
Folksbiene
FROM PAGE 12
MARK GUREVICH
a full orchestra, and we will introduce every

song, put it in context, Mr. Mlotek said.
Mr. Didner and Mr. Mlotek have been
working together for 13 years, Mr. Didner
said, but the younger man came to the Folksbiene from a very different path. Im from
Morristown; I had a Jewish education but it
included no Yiddish, he said. Im mainly a
theater director; I have my degree in theater
from the Tisch School at NYU, class of 1995.
From 1996 to 2002 I was the artistic director
of an experimental theater. I just sort of wandered into the Yiddish world.
How did that happen?
In 2003, just by luck, I happened to come
across a Yiddish class that was being offered
in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, and I really
enjoyed it, he said. I found out that there
was a Yiddish theater the Folksbiene and
I started as a volunteer. I had no background
in music other than in musical theater. And
then a staff position opened, and in 2004 I
became the associate artistic director.
It wasnt just a job for Mr. Didner, though.
It transformed my life, he said. He learned
Yiddish, to the point where he became a
translation fellow at the Yiddish Book Center
in Amherst, Mass.
Going from experimental theater to Yiddish theater was a huge leap, but I try to bring
some of my sensibilities that I developed in
the experimental theater with me. I try to
keep it very contemporary.
As he and Mr. Mlotek go through archives
together, he is astonished by what they find.
It turns out that the Library of Congress has
thousands of pieces of Yiddish sheet music,
and a lot are from operettas, he said. There
are usually about four or five biggest hits from
each show.
The sheet music comes from the time
before even the earliest record players, when
people would play piano to entertain themselves and each other. Vendors would sell
sheet music at intermission at musicals, Mr.
Didner said. People would fall in love with
some of the catchier tunes, and theyd buy
them to take them home and play them to
their friends.
So he and Mr. Mlotek work both with handwritten music and with mass-produced but
lost scores; they now are entering everything
using digital software that will keep it safe at
least until the technology changes again.
Not all of this music has been lost and
unknown, but its not been played as it had
been written to be played within living memory. Its not that it isnt lovely to hear it with
just a piano, and maybe three or four other
pieces, Mr. Didner said. It is fantastic. But
to hear it with the orchestra
To hear it for the first time is the way I
imagine an archeologist feels when a pyramid is opened, or when they first saw Tutankhamens treasure, he said. There is an
incredibly high level of singing talent available in New York, and its great to hear one
of those great voices singing it, with Zalmen
playing piano. But when you hear it with the
Above, Adam B. Shapiro and ensemble in The Golden Bride. At right,

the covers for sheet music discovered
in YIVOs archives.
orchestra, there is an added depth. It pushes
the singer to a new level, and it provides a texture. Its like the difference between a fashion designer looking at sketches and seeing
a model wearing the design. Its going from
concept to being fully realized.
Mr. Didner talked about one of his favorite old/new songs, where the singer longs
for his old home. That sentiment was
shared by much of the audience. The song
was evocative, Mr. Didner said, because
you were dealing with an immigrant
population that very rapidly was adjusting to life in America, but at the same time
had feelings of longing for what is missing.
They left the old country mainly under terrible circumstances. They were not longing for the poverty, or for the pogroms,
but for what American didnt provide.
Most European Jews at the time didnt
live in shtetls; they lived in cities or in
small towns, in houses. It might have
been the best circumstances, but it wasnt
the Lower East Side. It wasnt nearly as
dense. So that was one difference. Also,
families in Europe were together more;
they werent working such long days in
sweatshops. They didnt have boarders,
strangers living in their houses. A lot of
things got away from them. A lot of them
stopped going to shul. They gave up their
folkways. They longed for the warmth and
the slower pace of the life they once had.
The song evoked only the good things,
Mr. Didner said. It doesnt mention the
hardships. Its a very romanticized version

of life; the singer remembers Shabboses at
home, helping his father sing a niggun as
the fish was being served. He remembers his
days in the cheder in his case the rabbi who
taught there was a nice rabbi. He remembers
hearing the cantor sing, and he remembers
Simchas Toyrah. The reality, in other words,
almost definitely would not have been as
golden as the singer remembers it, but thats
the light most of the listeners preferred to
invent and then remember.
Also, Mr. Didner said, Second Avenue
theatrical music typically included the
sound of davening. They would put
pieces of liturgical music into shows,
he said. The Golden Bride has Kiddush.
Other shows have Kol Nidrei, or include a
bar mitzvah. Some have bits of chazzanut
sprinkled throughout it was written for
an actor who had cantorial training.

That explains why the music connected
to its original audiences, but it fulfills
another function now. I am not about
nostalgia, Mr. Didner said. None of the
background the songs evoke are his background. For me, it is about reconnecting
to something much, much deeper.
Thats why the Folksbiene will focus on
rediscovering, recovering, recording (in
written and digital form, in whatever new
technology presents itself ) and reclaiming this music. We feel that it is important for the next generation, Mr. Mlotek
said. Its not about nostalgia, its about
giving the next generations a usable way
of hearing it. Mozart and Beethoven were
transcribed, so people of every generation
could hear it. He wants nothing less for
the music of the Jewish people.
Put your own spin on
Hanukah
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Local
BCHSJS is going strong

Regional Jewish high school defies trend and enjoys increased enrollment
LOIS GOLDRICH
If Fred Nagler the head of the Bergen
County High School of Jewish Studies from
1982 to 2010, and the new principal
since this spring represents continuity
in the life of the school, his commitment
to continuity goes way beyond that.
Indeed, Mr. Nagler said, Jewish continuity is the schools ultimate goal.
Theres been far less continuity in the
schools location. Since it was founded in
1974, it has had four homes. We started at
Frisch until they moved, Mr. Nagler said.
Then we were at the Bergen Community
College-Hackensack campus, and then at
Maayanot. Were at Moriah in Englewood
now, though our offices are in the Temple
Israel basement in Ridgewood.
When members of the community
including former ADL head Abe Foxman,
Mr. Nagler said decided to get a school
together, Mr. Nagler was a teacher at
Temple Israel, tutoring a handful of postbar-mitzvah-age students. The regional
school bringing together teenagers from
local congregations started with 160
Students from Bergen County High School of
kids the first year, but by 1982 the popJewish Studies gather for Mitzvah Day, sponsored
ulation dwindled to less than 30, and it
by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.
contemplated closing, he said. By then,
Mr. Nagler was principal of Temple Israels school, but it was clear
that the synagogue no lonwent on to say that While
ger could afford to maintain
significant in and of itself,
that position.
it is particularly notable
So we made a shidduch,
in light of enrollment
he said. If BCHSJS opened,
declines in other post bar/
I would be principal. It did
bat mitzvah Jewish educational programs.
open, and he remained principal for 28 years. It was a
We are pleased and
good run, but eventually he
grateful for this increase
tired of it, handing the reins
in our student body, but
over to principal Bess Adler
it doesnt come as a surprise, Mr. Nagler said.
in 2010.
Fred Nagler
BCHSJS is designed to be
I left and taught at Bergen
relevant to Jewish young
Community College for five
people, and they have become some of
years, Mr. Nagler said. I was semi-retired
the best ambassadors to attract other stuwhen Bess left in February. They needed
dents. Students come from all over Bersomeone who knew the school to finish
gen County and, Mr. Nagler added, oththe year. I said I would do it until the summer. I wanted to go back to college, but
ers come from New Rochelle, Pearl River,
they couldnt find anyone.
Princeton, and New York City.
And Im still here.
Mr. Nagler attributes much of the
The school lucked out. According to a
schools success to fantastic teachers. All
recent statement, In contrast to national
have at one time, or still do, hold full-time
trends BCHSJS kicked off its new school
positions as teachers. Theyre all experts
year with a significant increase in student
in what theyre teaching and love to be
enrollment. Taking into account the numwith teens. Most schools, he said, look
ber of students who graduated in 2016, the
BCHSJS students do hands-on construction work at a Habitat for Humanity
for the best teachers and say, Heres the
home in New Orleans.
number of students retained and new stucurriculum. I sit down with each teacher
dents added this fall, BCHSJS experienced
and say, Whats your passion? Whats your
completely academic or are structured to
the year. We have four major collection
a 45.8 percent student increase.
expertise? They teach what they want,
mimic youth groups. Every Sunday morndrives school supplies for Mitzvah Day,
Citing a 2013 report in e-jewishphilanand the students can choose what they
thropy noting that the number of teens
ing, BCHSJS students attend three 50-mina Chanukah gift drive, a clothing drive for
want to study as an elective.
ute classes. In addition, community serin supplemental Jewish schools is at a danYad Leah, and Passover food for Tomchei
We combine everything, he said, addgerously low level, the BCHSJS statement
ing that most other programs are either
vice opportunities are offered throughout
SEE BCHSJS PAGE 18
This is the child
I have prayed for...

~ Samuel I 1:27~
ANNUAL BENEFIT DINNER

Sunday Evening, February 26, 2017
Marriott Glenpointe Hotel, Teaneck, NJ
HONORING
Adam & Ilana
CHILL
Rabbi Chaim & Malca
JACHTER
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Esther & Moshe
ZHARNEST
MUSCHEL
EXCELLENCE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION INDIVIDUALIZATION

INCLUSION BY DESIGN TRANSFORMING LIVES
With a 1:2 PROFESSIONAL-TO-STUDENT RATIO and the custom-tailored program
that each child requires, SINAIs costs per child are great
and our fundraising need is acute.
Join us for the premiere of our inspirational film,
JACOBS FOOTPRINTS
and for a magical moment at our dinner with

Jacob Adler and his loving, dedicated parents,
Hillel and Debby.
IT IS ONLY THROUGH YOUR COMPASSION
AND GENEROSITY THAT OUR VITAL WORK CAN CONTINUE.
PLEASE REMEMBER US IN YOUR YEAR-END CHARITABLE GIVING!

www.sinaidinner.org 201-833-1134 x105
Local
Students at Bergen
County High School
of Jewish Studies
knit together.
Students tackle a
problem-solving
exercise on a field
trip to an escape
room.
BCHSJS
FROM PAGE 16
Shabbos, Mr. Nagler said. Students volunteer in New Orleans with Habitat and at
the Daughters of Miriam. There are many
opportunities to learn and to do.
Those are the educational and community service components of the schools
Were a true
melting pot, a
model for the
community.
Most students
dont know each
others affiliation.
FRED NAGLER
program. The third part is purely social,

Mr. Nagler said. Students socialize with
other Jewish kids. The first day for eighth
graders, we take them bowling. The teachers come too, to meet their kids. This
October we went to an escape room,
where people work together to solve a
problem. Students also have gone to see
Fiddler on the Roof and visited Six Flags
Great Adventure. Twice a year, the school
arranges a Shabbaton.
The school also offers a young leadership
class, a program of the Jewish Federation of
Northern New Jersey. High school sophomores and juniors mostly from BCHSJS
but from other schools as well have the
opportunity to establish relationships with
Israeli students via Skype and participate
in educational discussions. In addition to
learning leadership skills, they also get to
host their Israeli counterparts when they
visit the United States, and they may participate in a trip to Israel.
The program has other benefits as well,
Mr. Nagler said. Juniors and seniors can take

advantage of Fairleigh Dickinson Universitys Middle College Program and earn up
to six college credits while taking classes at
BCHSJS. The school sends transcripts to colleges. Its impressive to a college, he said.
Its a co-curricular activity. They may have
done well in public school, but theyve also
come on Sunday mornings.
And why does this all work? Were pluralistic, Mr. Nagler said. Were open for everybody Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox, or non-affiliated. Were a
true melting pot, a model for the community.
Most students dont know each others affiliation. (As it happens, most of the schools students are Conservative, and a large number
of them come from Fair Lawn.)
Putting all of this together makes a community for Jewish teens and a safe place for
them to be, to feel comfortable, and to give
their own opinion, Mr. Nagler concluded.
Thats why they stay.
Eve Bolkin of Tenafly, whose 17-year-old
daughter Camryn, a senior at Tenafly High
School, has attended BCHSJS for four years,
said, I was lucky to find out about it. Our
own synagogue has a program, but not one
she found challenging enough. In fact, she
said, she would have sent her older daughter as well if she had known about it then.
BCHSJS offers many different things for
different students, Ms. Bolkin said. I love
that they offer classes that are really intellectually stimulating. She has found a number
of teachers especially one or two that
she loves, and she follows them.
One of her daughters favorites is a kind
of philosophy class. Its very engaging and
she learns something every time she goes.
She has a taste of what it must be like in college. Indeed, last year, Camryn chose to
take one class for college credit.
While her daughter has made a number
of friends at the school, what she really
loves are the classes, Ms. Bolkin said. They
learn a lot about the Jewish point of view
on a particular issue and how the secular
world views it as well. It always circles back
to how it impacts us as Jews.

Ms. Bolkin acknowledged that Camryns
attendance at the school was not posed as
a question: Do you want to go? Rather,
given her mothers belief in the importance
of post bnai mitzvah education, It was,
You are doing it. Which program do you
want to go to?
As a parent, Im committed to her learning more about Judaism, she said, adding
that she would warmly encourage other
parents to send their children to a post-bar/
bat mitzvah program. Some parents are far
too passive about this, she said. The whole
point of a bar mitzvah is that it begins education and learning. If you dont provide education after that, the kid doesnt know what
being Jewish is.
But in addition, she said, beyond
whether it helps a kid feel more connected,
Were looking at
medical ethics
and seeing
how Judaism
responds
to them.
JESSICA BAER
it makes the kid a more interesting child.

You are learning an awful lot about the
world, more than you do just in high school.
Youre becoming a more well-rounded,
interesting human being.
Sima and Stuart Alper of Fair Lawn also
are strong believers in continuing Jewish
education. One of their children, now in
college, attended BCHSJS, while their son,
Adam, a junior in high school, has been at
the Jewish regional school for four years.
There really was no other option, the Alpers said. As Conservative Jews, we wanted
to follow through on giving them a Jewish
education. Both of our children were losing

touch with their Hebrew school friends. We
wanted them to keep a Jewish connection
and get something out of the courses.
We feel that its very important, whether
they know it or not. They gain something
from it. They develop a common bond that
will probably be more meaningful when
theyre older. Theyll appreciate it more as
they mature.
Also, they said, when it came to college
applications, having both the leadership
training and the experience of attending an extra-curricular program showed
the colleges their commitment. It made
a difference.
Jessica Baer, a senior at Fair Lawn High
School, has attended BCHSJS since eighth
grade. Her older sister went there as well.
I love the opportunity to be there, Jessica said. Pre-bat mitzvah education gives
you a baseline, but doesnt allow you to
look at Judaism from different angles. At
BCHSJS you can take different classes based
on interests outside of Judaism and tie them
in. For example, she said, you can look at
the issue of medical ethics through the lens
of the Talmud. Were looking at medical
ethics and seeing how Judaism responds to
them, she said.
As a student interested in social action,
Jessica said, there are amazing opportunities outside of class, such as working with
Habitat in New Orleans, studying leadership
skills, and going to Israel. I do a lot of community service outside school, she said.
When I do it with the school, it gives a different perspective.
Ive encouraged all my cousins to go,
she said. I tell them that it gives you a different perspective, challenges your views,
and provides a lot of Jewish role models.
You pick your classes based on the teacher
you find your favorite teacher and end
up following them. Theyre not hiding in
the classroom; they want to interact. Its an
amazing environment.
For more information about the school,
go to www.bchsjs.org.
Stock market got you up this year?

Its not too late to open a
Donor Advised Fund with Jewish Federation
Heres how it works:
Establish
a special
charitable
fund in your
name with
Federations
Endowment
Foundation
Contribute
cash or
appreciated
securities
Federation
sells the
asset and
credits your
fund with
the sale
proceeds
Request
distributions
You receive
a tax receipt to qualified
for charitable charities
- at your
deduction
convenience
purposes
no capital
gains taxes
are payable*
Questions? Call us!

Were here to help!
*Consult with your tax advisor
Robin Rochlin | RobinR@jfnnj.org | 201.820.3970
Jewish Federation
OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY
TRANSFORM LIVES. INCLUDING YOURS.

Local
Sinai Schools dedicates
wheelchair accessible van
On November 16, Sinai Schools
held a ceremony celebrating
Lawrence B. Benensons donation of a new wheelchair accessible van.
In September, Sinai opened
its sixth school, the Karasick
Shalem High School at Heichal
HaTorah in Teaneck. The new
school is for young men, 18 to
21 years old, who have intellectual and developmental
disabilities.
Because vocational training is a major component of
the new schools curriculum,
and because some of its students are mobility-challenged,
transportation was needed to
get them to their work training sites. Real estate developer
and philanthropist Lawrence
B. Benenson of Benenson Capital Partners donated $43,000
to allow the school to buy a
new wheelchair accessible van

before the beginning of this
school year.
Zakary Katzman represented Benenson Capital Partners at the ceremony on Mr.
Benensons behalf. A Sinai
student gave a dvar Torah,
and Esti Herman, Sinais chief
development officer, made a
presentation.
Among the communit y
members at the dedication
were Jason Shames, CEO and
executive vice president of the
Jewish Federation of Northern
New Jersey; Joe Sprung, the
chairman and founder of Bear
Givers, and Diane Lempert,
its president. Bear Givers is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering children
who face challenges, including
special needs or illness.
A dessert reception followed.
From left, Zakary Katzman of Benenson Capital Partners; Sam Fishman, Sinais managing director;
Diane Lempert of Bear Givers; Sinais dean, Rabbi Yisrael Rothwachs; dean emeritus Laurette Rothwachs; Sinais chief development officer, Esti Herman, and Joe Sprung of Bear Givers.
Laurette Rothwachs; Rabbi Rothwachs; Jordan Silvestri, the director of Sinai

Shalem High School at Heichal HaTorah in Teaneck, and Heichal HaTorahs
rosh yeshiva and dean, Rabbi Aryeh Stechler. PHOTOS COURTESY SINAI SCHOOLS
From left, Sam Fishman and Rabbi Rothwachs join Jason Shames, the
CEO and executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Northern
New Jersey.
upcoming at
Kaplen
JCC on the Palisades
Family Chanukah Concert with

The Pop Ups!
Get an early start to this Chanukah season with The
Pop Ups! Bring your whole family for a fun-filled
morning, complete with Chanukah songs, a puppet
show, and a build-your-own puppet workshop. These
Grammy nominated entertainers bring their imaginative
performance to life in an interactive show that you dont
want to miss!
Sun, Dec 18, 10 am-12 pm, $8/$10
Top Films You May Have Missed:

Footnote (Hearat Shulayim)
Join us for a film/discussion with Andrew Lazarus, Parsons
Film Studies expert, who will introduce the film with
pointers followed by an optional discussion. Two rival
Talmud scholars, a father and son, struggle with different
opinions about life. One of the smartest and most merciless
comedies in a long time, Roger Ebert. Best screenplay Cannes 2012. Coffee and light snacks included.
Mon, Dec 19, 7:30 pm, $7/$10
Upcoming: Jan 23-400 Blows
Winter
Concert
Music of Chanukah-and Much More!
SHIRAH Winter Concert

Music of Chanukah and More!
Enjoy highlights from the Jewish choral tradition with
music in Hebrew, English and more! Supported by
founders Bernie zl and Ruth zl Weinflash and their
SHIRAH Fund in Tribute to Matthew Lazar, the Ethel
and Irving Plutzer Fund for the SHIRAH Choir, and the
Rhoda Toonkel Fund for the SHIRAH Choir.
Sun, Dec 11, 2 pm, $16/$20
SHIRAH@
Jcc tHurnauer
School of Music
senior
arts
for all
Creative Arts at the JCC
SAC: Senior Activity Center
Winter Registration
Express your creative passion with one of our

excellent art classes for adults. Watercolor,
acrylic painting, sewing, pottery and knitting
classes start in January.
monday-friday
Member registration opens December 12th, and to the

public on December 19th. Classes begin January 22.
We have an exciting winter lined up including classes
in art, science, cooking, sports, dance, drama, music
and more.
Visit jccotp.org/adult-creative-arts or
call Judy 201.408.1457 for details.
A daily senior center providing light breakfast, exercise,

current events, entertainment, lectures, intergenerational
programming, holiday celebrations, musical programs,
sessions on health and wellness, nutritious hot kosher
lunches and door-to-door transportation.
Participation is FREE. Suggested daily donation for
lunch ($4) and transportation ($5)
Visit jccotp.org for a list of all programs and classes.
Contact Judi Nahary at 201.408.1450 or

visit jccotp.org/senior-services.
to register or for more info, visit
jccotp.org or call 201.569.7900.

Kaplen
JCC on the Palisades taub campus | 411 e clinton ave, tenafly, nJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org
Briefly Local
First class of athletes chosen
for YU Maccabees Hall of fame
Mordechai Ungar
Peter and Toby Glick
Rabbi Shalom Baum
JNF dinner selects local honorees

For more than 50 years, the Jewish
National Fund has been honoring local
residents with its prestigious Circle of
Excellence awards.
This years JNF dinner is set for Monday, December 12, at 7 p.m., at Congregation Beth Sholom, 354 Maitland Ave., in
Teaneck. It will focus on JNFs Special in
Uniform program, which helps integrate
young people with disabilities into the
Israel Defense Forces and to assist them in
preparing for their careers after they finish
their army service.
Lt. Col. (Res.) Ariel Almog, chair of Special in Uniform, the guest speaker, will talk
about Inclusiveness: The IDFs Approach
to Israels Forgotten. Rabbi Shalom Baum
of Congregation Keter Torah, who recently
joined other Bergen County rabbis to visit
JNF projects in Israel, also will speak.

This years Circle of Excellence award
honorees are Toby and Peter Glick, longtime members of Congregation Beth
Sholom, and Mordechai Ungar, an active
member of Congregation Beth Aaron, also
in Teaneck. The Glicks have visited Israel
many times and have been strong supporters of JNF projects. Mordechai Ungars
many shul volunteer activities include
chairing Beth Aarons Israel Action Committee for the past three years.
Maadan of Teaneck will cater the glatt
kosher buffet and dessert reception. Proceeds will benefit JNFs work with Special
in Uniform. For information, call Jocelyn
Inglis at (973) 593-0095, ext. 823, or email
her at jinglis@jnf.org.
JFNNJ trustee board hears

Hillel International president
Eric Fingerhut, second from right, the
president and CEO of Hillel International,
spoke at the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jerseys November board of trustees meeting. He talked about BDS and
anti-Semitic activity on college campuses,
and Hillels role in creating a safe and welcoming place for all Jewish students. With
him, from left, are federations CEO Jason
Shames, incoming president Stephanie
Goldman, and president Jayne Petak.
Legendary basketball coach

Bernard Red Sarachek,
fencing coach Arthur Tauber,
and wrestling coach Henry
Wittenberg, along with the
all-time leading womens
and mens basketball scorers, are among the inaugural inductees into the
Maccabees Hall of Fame. The
distinction honors Yeshiva University alumni and others who have distinguished themselves in National Collegiate Athletic Association competition
and who best exemplify YUs ideals and
mission. The inaugural class induction
ceremony will be held in May.
The establishment of the Hall of
Fame is a testament to the contributions Yeshiva athletes, coaches, and
others have made to the world of sports
over more than a century and the
reflection of Yeshivas long and illustrious athletic history, Joe Bednarsh,
YUs athletic director, said. We look
forward to adding to the inductee list
in years to come with individuals who
best exemplify the exceptional athletic
ability, personal integrity, high standards of character, and ideals and philosophy of Yeshiva University.
The honorees include:
Heidi Nathan Baker, who led the
womens tennis team to a Skyline Conference Championship in 1999. She
went undefeated in singles for all four
years that she played, from 1996 to
1999, and was named the conferences
top singles player in 1999. She also
coached the womens tennis team for
two years after she graduated.
Irwin Blumenreich played on the basketball team from 1954 to 1957 and was
its captain. He scored 513 points in one
season for decades this stood as the
most points scored in a season. He was
the first Yeshiva basketball player to be
elected to the All-Metropolitan team.
Daniela Epstein played on the Lady
Macs YU womens basketball team from
1999 to 2003. She is the all-time leading
scorer, with 1,134 career points, and is
the only woman in YU history to score
more than 1,000 points in her career.
Yossy Gev is the all-time YU mens
basketball points leader

with 1,871 points. He played
on the mens basketball
team from 1998 to 2002,
was captain for three out
of the four years, and was
assistant coach from 2002
to 2005.
Marvin Hershkowitz was
the first basketball player in
YU history to score 1,000 points.
Six decades later, Hershkowitz still is
ranked 23rd in team history in total
points scored.
Sheldon Rokach played on the YU
mens basketball team from 1962 to
1966. Accomplishments include third
all-time YU rebounder, with 1,020
rebounds; most points in one game (48),
and most rebounds in one game (33).
Bernard Red Sarachek, of the YU
mens basketball team, coached the
19541955 team, which broke every
individual and team scoring record,
including most wins (13), most points,
most field goals, and the highest average score per game than any previous
team. He is credited with putting YU
basketball on the map.
Herbert Schlussel was a member of
the YU basketball team from 1953 to
1957, and was its captain. Over his fouryear career, Yeshiva basketball posted
a 51-29 record.
Abe Sodden ranks 16th all-time in YU
basketball scoring history. He played
from 1952 to 1956, was captain, and
broke the record at the time for most
points in a season, with 384 points, by
averaging the highest individual average per game, with 20.21 points.
Arthur Tauber was a mens fencing
coach and athletic director. He spent
37 years at YU, where he was a professor of health and physical education
and director of health. He also coached
the baseball, soccer, tennis, and crosscountry teams.
Henry Wittenberg, a two time Olympic medalist, coached YU wrestling
from 1957 to 1967. His personal wrestling career consisted of over 400 wins
and four losses.
For more information, go to yu.edu/
HOF.
Ellen Ptalis named NCJW volunteer of the month

Ellen Ptalis was awarded the November Volunteer of the Month award
from the Bergen County section of the National Council of Jewish
Women. She has devoted herself to volunteering for the NCJW BCS and
for programs it sponsors. At Youth Consultation Services Holley Center,
a residential treatment facility for emotionally and physically abused
children, she co-chairs NCJWs afterschool arts and crafts program. At
Bergen Family Centers HIPPY program (Home Instruction for Parents

of Preschool Youngsters) she plays with preschoolers while their parents
learn to teach their children. She also volunteers at NCJWs thrift shop,
raising funds for the many programs sponsored by the organization,
and she is involved with helping the Center for Food Action. She also
helps with mailings and participates in a NCJW book group.
Ellen Ptalis
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Briefly Local
Bergen Brady chapter joins
push for gun violence awareness
To commemorate the fourth anniversary marking the murders of elementary
school children and their teachers at
Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and to remember victims
of gun violence, including those slaughtered at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando,
Fla., the Bergen County Brady Chapter
(formerly the Bergen County Coalition to
Prevent Gun Violence) is taking part in a
nationwide memorial.
On Wednesday, December 14, the
community is invited to the interfaith
memorial against gun violence at the
Central Unitarian Church in Paramus,
156 Forest Ave., at 7:30 p.m.
Speakers will include Representativeelect Josh Gottheimer (D-5th Dist.), New
Jersey state Senator Loretta Weinberg,
Anthony Cureton of the NAACP, and
Bergen Bradys Dwight Panozzo. Religious leaders, including the churchs
Rev. David Horst and Rabbi Jacob Lieberman of Temple Israel in Ridgewood, also
will share words of remembrance. The
church choir and soloist Frank Ortega
will provide music.
Four years have passed since citizens
came together in Teaneck to hold weekly
OPENING
D
N
A
GR
vigils in the aftermath of the shooting in

Newtown. The group that emerged has
been working to support evidence-based
gun legislation. With their coalition
partners, including the Bergen County
chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women, the Ethical Culture Society
of Bergen County, the Central Unitarian
Church, the social action committee of
Temple Emeth of Teaneck, and the Puffin Foundation, also in Teaneck, they
continue to work for changes to reduce
the number of mass murders and deaths
by gun.
According to Brady Chapter president
Ed Gross of Westwood, some good legislation has since passed into law, but
our Brady Chapter believes that much
remains to be done. It is our hope that
a large turnout to honor the victims in
Newtown will also help to highlight the
continuing need for legislation.
The Bergen County Brady Chapter,
with approximately 1,000 members, is
part of the Brady Campaign to Prevent
Gun Violence. It works in coalition with
both faith and advocacy groups to push
for the passage of bills to make communities safer.
On Saturday, December 17, Temple Israel

& JCC in Ridgewood holds its annual
National Gun Violence Prevention
Shabbat, in commemoration of the
Newtown murders. During 9 a.m. services, Sarah Nanus, founder of the Bergen County chapter of Moms Demand
Action for Gun Sense in America, will
talk about gun violence and the need for
public involvement. The synagogue is at
475 Grove St. in Ridgewood; more information is available at (201) 444-9320 or
www.synagogue.org.
Sarah Nanus
Norpac meeting to hear congressman

Drs. Laurie Baumel and Manny Litchman welcome Congressman Steve Chabot, Republican of Ohio, for a Teaneck
Norpac event, Monday, December 12, at 7 p.m. Joining
them as event chairs are Mort and Esther Fridman. The
Norpac mission to Washington will be on Wednesday, May
10. For information, email Avi@NORPAC.net or call (201)
788-5133.
Congressman Steve Chabot
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Jewish World
Saban: Keith Ellison would be disaster as DNC head
Haim Saban in Las Vegas earlier this year.
elected to Congress.
If you listen to Keith Ellison today,
and you see his statements, hes
more of a Zionist than Herzl, and
Ben-Gurion and Begin combined,
Saban said during the gala dinner for the

event, which is organized by the Brookings Institution. Its amazing. Its a beautiful thing. If you go back to his positions,
his statements, his speeches, the ways he
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
WASHINGTON Haim Saban, a major

Democratic Party funder, said that Rep.
Keith Ellisons election as chairman of the
Democratic National Committee would be
a disaster for the relationship between
Jews and the party, signaling a looming crisis between the partys progressives and
the centrist pro-Israel community.
The scathing broadside, delivered last
Friday by the Israeli-American entertainment mogul from the floor of the annual
Saban Forum, an event he funds that
brings together U.S. and Israeli leaders
and influencers, underscores the degree to
which the Minnesota congressmans campaign for DNC chief could erode relations
between establishment Jewish groups and
the party.
Additionally, the release of the full transcript of remarks that Ellison delivered in
2010, at a fundraiser organized by Muslim backers, in which he derides Israel as
seeing the United States as an ATM, was
likely to exacerbate establishment Jewish
concerns about Ellison, the first Muslim
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Ron Kampeas
Rep. Keith Ellison at a news conference at the National Press Club in

Washington, D.C., in May.
voted, hes clearly an anti-Semite and antiIsrael individual.

Saban seemed eager to get his thoughts
on Ellison off his chest. He was given the
courtesy of posing the first question to the
evenings speaker, Israeli Defense Minister
Avigdor Liberman, but instead delivered
his statement lambasting Ellison.
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Jewish World
Words matter. Actions matter more,
Saban said, a baffled Liberman looking
on. Keith Ellison would be a disaster for
the relationship between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party. Now
Ive said what Ive had to say.
Sabans broadside farther reaching,
in calling him an anti-Semite, than even
some of Ellisons conservative critics is
significant because of the moguls relationship to the DNC.
Saban is better known as a leading
backer of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic
presidential nominee defeated last month
by Donald Trump, but he also has been a
major donor to the party. In 2002, he paid
$7 million toward the building of the thennew DNC headquarters here.
Ellison has rallied progressive groups
to his defense, including within the Jewish community.
It is time to retire the playbook that
aims to silence any American official seeking high office who has dared to criticize
certain Israeli government policies, said
a statement Friday from J Street, which
noted it was not endorsing Ellison for the
DNC spot.
The liberal Jewish Middle East policy groups statement came out before
Sabans outcry.
Even before the results are known, the
DNC contest is fraying ties between the
Jewish organizational establishment and
the party, which already were stretched
taut by last years contentious battle
between the Israeli and American governments over the Iran deal and years of tensions under President Barack Obama over
Israels settlement policies. Ellison said
this weekend that he may leave Congress
if he wins, a key demand of some of the
grassroots officials who vote for the chairman, and a sign of how serious his bid is.
Ellison has come under fire in part
because of his youth, which was spent as
an activist with the Nation of Islam and
defending some black nationalists who
had hostile relationships with the Jewish
community.
Running for Congress in 2006, he wrote
a letter apologizing for those associations
to the Minneapolis Jewish community. He
since has enjoyed friendly relations with
his states Jews.
Ellison went further last Friday in an
op-ed for the Washington Post in berating
his younger self for those ties.
These men organize by sowing hatred
and division, including anti-Semitism,
homophobia and a chauvinistic model
of manhood, he said. I should have listened more and talked less.
Since his election to Congress, however, he also has become a sharp critic
of some Israeli actions that have earned
him both alliances among liberal Jewish
groups like J Street, and wariness from
mainstream pro-Israel groups. He spearheaded a 2009 letter urging the Obama
administration to press Israel to loosen
restrictions on the Gaza Strip, which the
terrorist group Hamas governs.

Ellison led an effort to have Congress
consider parts of the U.N. Goldstone
report, which said Israel may have committed war crimes in the 2009 Gaza War.
Much of Congress, as well as the centrist and right-wing pro-Israel community, said the report was biased beyond
redemption.
In 2014, he was one of just eight Congress members who refused to vote for
additional funding for Israels Iron Dome
anti-missile system during that summers
Gaza War, saying he preferred to agitate
for a cease-fire.
If you go back
to his positions,
his statements,
his speeches, the
ways he voted,
hes clearly an
anti-Semite
and anti-Israel
individual.
Haim Saban
Ellison also has led efforts to promote

recognition of Israel and rejection of
Holocaust denial among Muslims, and he
is eager to take all points of view on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict into account.
Except for his anti-Iran Dome vote in
2014, he has been reliable in his support
for defense assistance for Israel.
In 2009, Ellison traveled with a colleague to review postwar destruction in
Gaza. Unlike the colleague, Ellison made
the complicated travel arrangements necessary to review the destruction on Israels side as well. Last month, in a statement to JTA, he explicitly rejected the
boycott Israel movement.
Right-wing groups like the Zionist
Organization of America and the Republican Jewish Coalition have said since Ellison announced his candidacy that he is
unfit for the position. The RJC even has
fundraised off the matter: A Dec. 1 email
pitched with the subject line An antiSemite running the Democrat Party?
listed Ellisons youthful associations without noting his multiple disavowals of
them.
But his complex record has also meant
that centrist Jewish groups have agonized
over just how to treat his candidacy. The
Anti-Defamation League at first said his
past raised questions that needed answering. Then, in the past week, a snippet
from the 2010 fundraiser was released by
the Investigative Project on Terrorism in
which Ellison said, United States foreign
policy in the Middle East is governed by
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what is good or bad through a country of
seven million people. The ADL said that
disqualified him.
The National Jewish Democratic Council said in a statement on Friday, before
Sabans comments, that the accusations
that [Ellison] is somehow anti-Semitic are
false, reprehensible and shameful. It also
said his record on Israel was mixed,
notable for a group with a mission of lauding Democratic incumbents, and said it
strongly disagreed with his 2014 vote on
Iron Dome.
Ellison countered that his 2010 remark
had been taken out of context and noted
that the Investigative Projects founder is
Steven Emerson, who was featured in the
Southern Poverty Law Centers recently
released guide to anti-Muslim extremists.
In his talk to the fundraisers, Ellison displayed a degree of nuance in his views on
Israel and the Jewish community. He held
up Jewish lobbying for Israel as a model
that Muslims should emulate, and admonished his audience when it apparently
recoiled after Ellison said he had met with
activists at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference.
The lawmaker said he has a moral
and legal obligation to meet with all
his constituents.
I want to hear what everybody has
to say. Right? he told the group. And I
want you to know that the level of organization that they display is considerable. Ellison also said that this is not
to say that I dont want the U.S. to be
friends with Israel.
But he also indulged tropes about
Israel and Jews that would likely irk
many in the pro-Israel community and
has not raised in his meetings with Jews.
In the recorded remarks, he said
Israel treats the United States as a cash
machine, demanding funding without
being responsive to American needs.
Were Americans, right? We cant
allow another country to treat us like
were their ATM. Right? And so we ought
to stand up as Americans, Ellison said.
He also depicted Jews as uncritical,
saying that Israel has mobilized its diaspora in America to do its bidding. Ellison depicted himself as putting Israel
supporters who questioned Obamas
anti-settlement policies on the spot.
That is the policy of my president,
and I want to know if youre with the
JTA Wire Service
president, he said.
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Briefs
Netanyahu will tell Trump

about bad nuclear deal with Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he is looking forward to speaking with President-elect
Donald Trump about the bad nuclear
deal with Iran.
Israel is committed to preventing Iran
from acquiring nuclear weapons. That
has not changed and will not change,
Netanyahu said in a satellite address to
the 13th Annual Saban Forum, hosted by
the Brookings Institution.
Netanyahu said he opposes the
Iran nuclear deal because it doesnt
prevent Iran from getting nukes, it

paves the way for Iran to get nuclear
weapons.
The Israeli leader also said Iran is
developing a ballistic missile program
that could potentially threaten the U.S.
The Iranians are developing intercontinental ballistic missiles. And for
those who forget, Israel and Iran are in
the same continent, were in the same
neighborhood. Theyre not developing
these ICBMs for us, theyre developing
it for you, for America, he said. JNS.ORG
Israels new ambassador to Turkey

presents credentials to Erdogan
Israels new ambassador to Turkey,
Eitan Naeh, met with Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday. Naeh
presented his diplomatic credentials to
Erdogan, marking one of the final steps
in restoring relations between the former close regional allies.
The ceremony, held at Erdogans massive presidential palace, included an
honor guard of Turkish soldiers and a
rendition of Israels national anthem,
Hatikvah.
Erdogan welcomed Naeh, who was
previously stationed in Ankara in the
1990s, with a smile and handshake. He
was impressed when the Israeli ambassador greeted him in Turkish. The Turkish leader also shook hands with Naehs
wife and children as well as the Israeli

embassys diplomatic staff.
Following their meeting, Naeh said
on Twitter that he was very pleased
to present my credentials to President
Erdogan and to start a new phase
in the relations between the two
countries.
The last Israeli ambassador to Turkey, Gabby Levy, was expelled in 2011
following the May 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which nine Turkish
militants were killed after they had
attacked Israeli commandos aboard
a vessel that was trying to breach the
blockade on Gaza. Turkey and Israel
agreed to normalize relations last
JNS.ORG
summer.
Jewish World
Trumps defense choice

said Israel can be a pain.
But Republicans like
his hardline Iran views.
RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trumps nominee for defense secretary is on the record decrying the burdens that Israel places on the United
States and warning that the Jewish state
could be headed toward apartheid.
And with one notable exception,
the right-wing pro-Israel community is
enthusiastically on board.
In 2013, Gen. James Mattis, then
recently retired as the top American
commander in the Middle East, said
he paid a military security price every
day for U.S. support of Israel. Despite
waging a fierce battle four years ago
against an Obama defense pick said to be
too critical toward Israel, the Republican
Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Institute
for National Security Affairs, are now
defending Mattis.
The selection of General Mattis to
serve as Secretary of Defense is a smart
and important decision by Presidentelect Trump, the Republican Jewish
Coalitions executive director, Matt
Brooks, said in a statement. Throughout his career, General Mattis has made
the protection of the United States, our
assets, and our allies around the world
his top priority. General Mattis believes
in a strong U.S. military posture and
understands the threats we face, like a
newly aggressive Iran. He has the type
of worldview the leader of our Defense
Department needs.
Mattis made the comments that have
raised concerns in July 2013, just after
he retired as head of the U.S. Central
Command, or CentCom, the Pentagon
post that oversees most of the Middle
East (but not Israel) and western Asia.
In his remarks, Mattis praised Secretary
of State John Kerry for pushing hard to
revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks,
efforts that collapsed in mutual acrimony within a year.
If Im Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish
settlers out here to the east and theres
10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw
the border to include them, either it
ceases to be a Jewish state or you say
the Arabs dont get to vote apartheid,
Mattis said. That didnt work too well
the last time I saw that practiced in a
country. That country was South Africa.
So weve got to work on this with
a sense of urgency, and I paid a military security price every day as the
commander of CentCom because the
Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel and that moderates, all the
moderate Arabs who want to be with us,

because they cant come out publicly
in support of people who dont show
respect for the Arab Palestinians.
The Trump transition team declined
JTAs request for comment.
Both JINSA and the Republican Jewish Coalition have defended Mattis
record, though JINSA has not endorsed
his nomination formally. This leaves
the Zionist Organization of America
as the one right-wing group to oppose
him. In a statement last month, the
groups president, Morton Klein, said
Mattis remarks were hostile to Israel,
and revealed a lack of appreciation for
and understanding of the extraordinary
value to American security resulting
from a strong American-Israeli alliance
and a secure Israel.
Jewish Democrats, meanwhile, are
incredulous at the lack of concern
over Mattis remarks, after eight years
Jewish
Democrats,
meanwhile, are
incredulous at
the lack of
concern over
Mattis remarks.
of what they saw as hyper-scrutiny of
every Israel-related remark by President Barack Obama, his Cabinet, and
anyone remotely associated with him.
Four years ago, Chuck Hagels nomination as defense chief nearly was
derailed because of critical comments
about Israel, including his suggestion
that The Jewish lobby intimidates a
lot of people up here. A number of
Jewish groups, including the RJC and
JINSA, then launched a major push
to block the former Nebraska senators appointment.
Im not saying General Mattis is antiIsrael, but if he were under consideration to be secretary of defense for President Obama or a President-elect Hillary
Clinton, Republicans would be tripping
over themselves to condemn the Democrat as hostile to Israel, Aaron Keyak,
a strategist who is a consultant for Jewish and Democratic groups, told the
SEE DEFENSE CHIEF PAGE 28
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N E W
J E R S E Y
R O C K L A N D
President-elect Donald Trump and retired Gen. James Mattis met at Trump International Golf Club in
Bedminster Township.
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
Defense chief
FROM PAGE27
Jerusalem Post last month.

So why is Mattis not arousing the opposition of the
pro-Israel right wing?
In part, its due to Mattis well-known hostility toward
Iran. Speaking in April at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies here, Mattis described Iran as the
single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the
Middle East, according to LobeLog, a Middle East analysis website. He reportedly was forced out of CentCom in
2013 just as the Obama administration was pivoting to
engage Iran over its nuclear program because of his
persistent skepticism about Iran.
Isolating Iran is where the right-wing pro-Israel rubber hits the road, and Mattis hard line goes a long way
toward appeasing other concerns that pro-Israel groups
may have. Hagel, by contrast, was among a handful of
political figures who counseled engagement with Iran
long before Obamas pivot and also questioned the efficacy of sanctions.
Mattis described Iran

as the single most
enduring threat to
stability and peace in
the Middle East.
The most important issue for those of us who care
about a strong Israel and a secure Israel, and the more
relevant issue as secretary of defense, [is that] he is
known as very strong on the Iran issue, he was seen as
almost too strong for the Obama administration, said
JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky.
Still, the enthusiasm for Mattis may be short-lived.
At the April event in Washington, Mattis said he was
opposed to scrapping the deal, which the RJC and JINSA
detest and Trump has promised to reassess.
I want to make clear theres no going back, Mattis
said. Absent a clear and present violation [by Iran], I

dont think we can take advantage of some new president Republican or Democrat and say, Well, were
not going to live up to our word in this agreement.
On this point and others, the pro-Israel groups hope
Mattis will evolve. As the general in charge of CentCom, Mattis dealt little with Israel. His interlocutors
were top Arab officials inclined to convey their frustrations with the close U.S.-Israel alliance. David Petraeus,
another former CentCom commander under consideration for a Trump Cabinet position, similarly has said
that the relationship with Israel inhibits closer U.S.Arab cooperation.
The Hagel example also suggests that defense chiefs
still can win high marks from the pro-Israel community despite past criticism. After the controversy over
his nomination, Hagel went on to become perhaps the
Obama Cabinets best-liked figure among Israelis, by
ensuring that whatever else was roiling the relationship,
security cooperation intensified. The Anti-Defamation
League and Moshe Yaalon, Hagels Israeli counterpart,
both went out of their way to praise him when Obama
forced him out in 2014.
The same goes for other top defense officials. Gen.
James Jones, Obamas first national security adviser,
raised eyebrows when he began remarks to a Jewish
audience with a joke about a Jewish con man who
gets the better of a Taliban fighter. Today, Jones gets
high marks from the pro-Israel community for his
work in 2007 launching Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation.
Similarly, Gen. George Brown, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff under President Gerald Ford, said in 1974
that Jews own the banks and the newspapers, but still
played a key role in rushing defense assistance to Israel
during the Yom Kippur war the previous year.
Fred Brown, the spokesman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, said that Mattis had already changed his
positions with greater exposure to the Israeli point
of view.
Since those statements hes visited Israel and he
spoke highly of Israel, Brown said. Hes changed his
opinion.
JTA WIRE SERVICE

Jewish World
Aaron Klein plans to expand Breitbart Jerusalem.
SCREENSHOT FROM YOUTUBE
Breitbarts Jerusalem
chief explains sites
nationalist appeal
ANDREW TOBIN
TEL AVIV Stephen Bannon recently
called Breitbart News the most proIsrael site in the United States of
America.
That will not change as Bannon leaves
the far-right news website for the White
House, according to Breitbarts Jerusalem bureau chief.
Saying he shares a worldview with
Bannon, President-elect Donald Trumps
chief White House strategist, Aaron Klein
plans to expand the Israel operation,
which staunchly backs the Jewish states
political right wing. There is talk of moving into the Hebrew-language market.
Were here to counter the total bias
of the mainstream media in coverage of
Israel, Klein, 38, said in an interview at
his two-story apartment near this citys
beach. We write for the American audience, a Western audience obviously at this
point. I think a huge segment of Israelis
also has an appetite for an outlet that isnt
controlled by the leftist media mafia.
Founded in 2007 by the late conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart, who
was Jewish, the site grew in prominence
during the presidential campaign as
one of Trumps most reliable champions. When Bannon, who ran Breitbart
after its founders death in 2012, became
Trumps campaign manager and then
top White House aide, the sites reputation deserved or not as a gathering place for the white supremacist and
often anti-Semitic alt-right became fodder for national debate.
Bannons defenders say that Breitbarts fiercely pro-Israel stance refutes
the charges that he is an anti-Semite.
Bannon handpicked Klein to launch
Breitbart Jerusalem in November 2015.

Klein said he has known Bannon for
years and worked very closely with
him until the boss stepped away in
August to join the Trump campaign.
After being named chief strategist this
month, Bannon said he would resign
from Breitbart.
For Klein, the job has not changed
much in Bannons absence. He started
with a more or less free rein, Klein said,
because he and Bannon share a common
understanding of the world and Israels
place in it.
Weve always been ideological brothers. He doesnt need to tell me what to
do. Were always on the same page,
Klein said.
Bannon has described himself as an
economic nationalist and has railed
against globalists who have gutted
the American working class. He has
warned of a brewing war between the
Judeo-Christian West and Islamic fascism. Under his leadership, Bannon
said, Breitbart had become the platform for the alt-right, as he put it, using
the term for a loose far-right populist
movement that mixes anti-Semitism,
racism, white nationalism, and disdain
for political correctness. Bannon also
has said he rejected the racism and antiSemitism heard among the alt-right, and
that it would wash out of the movement
over time.
Klein, a Yeshiva University graduate,
said Breitbart does not cater to the altright, and that he has no connection
with the movement.
I dont even know what the alt-right
is, he said. I mean there are so many
articles trying to define what it is. I
dont know, and Im Breitbarts senior
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reporter in addition to being the Jerusalem bureau chief. So you would think if
the alt-right were so significant, it would
be something that Id know more about.
The general readerships interest in
Israel coverage, Klein said, is proof that
the alt-right is a fringe element. In Kleins
view, Breitbart readers are nationalists,
who admire how Israel copes under difficult circumstances, especially under
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
There are themes here in Israel that
I believe really resonate with the nationalist audience in America. Like borders.
I mean thats something Israel excels at
defining. I think Bibi is a role model for
America, he said, using Netanyahus
nickname. Americans in general see
him as one of their heroes, one of the
most respected world leaders, somebody who has in the past and even now
stood up to enemies of Israel, stood up
in many ways to the Obama administration, sort of an anti-establishment figure
in a way.
Readers are right to see common
threats to the United States and Israel,
Klein said. The Jewish state, he said, is
under attack by Islamic extremists as
well as by American liberal elites, like the
mainstream news media, social justice
activists and the Obama administration.
Israel is the canary in the minefield
for kind of what happens when youre
surrounded by enemies, when your
enemies are emboldened, he said. So
now the threats are, you know, on Israels borders. Threats that Obama himself
helped to create. Hillary as well.
These supposedly shared threats,
more than events in Israel, are the focus
of Breitbart Jerusalems coverage, which
is mostly aggregated from other news
sources and written in a straight-ahead
style that contrasts with the rest of the
website. The message is largely in Kleins
editorial selection and framing.
Last week, the only posts on the landing page that did not name a Muslim or
liberal threat were about Israel buying
fighter jets from the United States and
the recently subdued wildfires that had
raged across Israel. (The page is branded
with an Israeli flag-styled Breitbart logo.)
The website previously had played up the
role of Arab arsonists in the fires, even
blaring the headline FIRE INTIFADA in
red capital letters at the top of the page.
Police said that it was still unclear what
role terrorism played in the fires.
Many of Breitbart Jerusalems posts
make explicit how both the United
States and Israel are threatened. The
top story that afternoon was about how
the car-ramming and stabbing attack at
Ohio State University two days earlier,
claimed by the Islamic State, resembled
Palestinian terrorism in Israel.
Klein travels between the United
States and Israel as part of his job. In
addition to heading Breitbart Jerusalem, he is the websites senior investigative reporter focusing on the United
States. Kleins most recent investigativestyle stories for Breitbart targeted Marc
Elias, the lawyer who is representing
Hillary Clintons presidential campaign
in a recount of votes in Wisconsin, and
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan
Greenblatt, who had just condemned
Bannons White House appointment.
The stories linked both men to projects
supported by financier and liberal megadonor George Soros, an association presumed to be damning in itself.
Both men are Jewish, as is Soros. Such
reporting, which elicits openly antiSemitic comments, has fed accusations
that Breitbart promotes anti-Semitism.
Andrew Breitbart despised racism.
Truly despised it, Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor-at-large, wrote this
month on the Daily Wire, a conservative website. With Bannon embracing
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Jewish World
Trump, all that changed. Now Breitbart
has become the alt-right go-to website,
with [technology editor Milo] Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a
legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning
into a cesspool for white supremacist
meme-makers.
Attorney Alan Dershowitz, an ardent
defender of Israel, wrote in the Israeli daily
Haaretz that he found no evidence Bannon
is anti-Semitic, but nevertheless said Bannon and Breitbart News have made bigoted statements about Muslims, women
and others.
Bigotry against any group should be
disqualifying for high office, Dershowitz
said.
Klein like many of Breitbarts staffers,
including the authors of the two articles
most frequently cited as evidence that Breitbart is anti-Semitic is Jewish. He grew
up attending modern Orthodox schools
and graduated from Yeshiva University
before moving to Israel in 2005.
Bannon, in an interview this month with
the Wall Street Journal, pointed to the Jews
on Breitbarts staff and to Breitbart Jerusalem to refute allegations that he is personally anti-Semitic.
Breitbart is the most pro-Israel site in
the United States of America, Bannon

said. I have Breitbart Jerusalem, which I
have Aaron Klein run with about 10 reporters there.
According to Klein, there are two fulltime reporters in Israel. A copy editor,
two researchers, and an editor based in
London are also on the team. There is no
office, and Klein works from home as well
as from a private office in Jerusalem.
With Breitbart becoming a major player
in American media President and CEO
Larry Solov said the website now gets 21
million unique users a month and talking about expanding around the world,
Klein said there are plans to hire more
staff, including reporters, in Israel. He
would like to do more reporting on Israeli
culture, business, and technology to show
that Israel is more than just the conflict.
Down the line, he sees an opportunity
to break into the Hebrew market the one
he described as dominated by a leftist
media mafia. There is one right-wing outlet, Yisrael Hayom, the free tabloid owned
by Jewish casino magnate and right-wing
mega-donor Sheldon Adelson that serves
as a de facto mouthpiece for Netanyahu.
But what about having two? he asked.
What about having three? Why is that so
JTA WIRE SERVICE
threatening?
BRIEF
In world first, Israeli biotech firm

successfully transplants lab-grown bone
An Israeli startup biotech company
announced that it has used lab-grown
bone tissue to repair bone loss. This is
the first time in the world such a success has been announced.
The startup, Bonus BioGroup, said
it injected the semi-liquid bone graph,
which was harvested from patients
own fat cells, into the jaws of 11
patients. It successfully hardened and
merged with existing bone to repair
damage during the early stage of clinical trials.
For the first time worldwide,
reconstruction of deficient or damaged bone tissue is achievable by
growing viable human bone graft in a
laboratory, and transplanting it back
to the patient in a minimally invasive
surgery via injection, Bonus Biogroup
CEO Shai Meretzki said in a statement
to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Meretzki told Israels i24 News that
traditional methods of repairing bone
damage involved obtaining bone samples from the pelvic crest, which is
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an invasive, painful, and expensive

procedure. Other methods included
using synthetic substances or obtaining cells from bone banks, which
risk the patients body rejecting the
transplant.
I was looking for a way to do it
cheaper and easier for the patient and
the medical system, Meretzki said.
We are growing bone through small
samples of fat tissue and isolating the
different kinds of cells that we need to
create the bone.
So far the Israeli biotech startup has
raised some $14 million and the company plans to dual list on the Nasdaq
stock exchange in the coming months.
Ora Burger, the companys vice
president of regulation affairs, told
Reuters that the transplant was 100
percent successful in all 11 patients
and that the company plans to conduct further clinical trials.
Now we are going to conduct a
clinical study in the extremities, long
JNS.ORG
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Jewish World
Were claims of Israels arson intifada overblown?

ANDREW TOBIN
TEL AVIV As wildfires threatened Israel last week, rhetoric linking arson to terrorism heated up.
For about a week, fires across the country burned huge
swaths of land, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses,
and forced tens of thousands of people to flee. Dozens were
injured, though few seriously.
As the blazes raged, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said several times that they were set by arsonists and amounted
to acts of terrorism. He and other ministers in his government
pledged to work to revoke the residency of those found guilty
a threat typically reserved for Arab Israelis.
Every fire caused by arson, or by incitement to arson, is terrorism, Netanyahu told reporters last month at a briefing in
Haifa, a northern city where tens of thousands were evacuated
from their homes. Anyone who tries to burn parts of the State
of Israel will be punished severely.
Netanyahu was not alone in apparently singling out Israels
Arab residents and citizens. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and
Culture Minister Miri Regev both threatened last month to
revoke the citizenship of arsonists. Education Minister Naftali
Bennett described the blazes as terrorism in every sense of
the word. And Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman called for
expanding West Bank settlements in response to the supposed
terror wave.
But now that the fires have been

rest Arab Israelis. But by Saturday, only 10
stamped out by the heroic efforts of Israeli
remained in custody for suspected arson,
and foreign firefighters and rain finally has
with the rest released unconditionally,
come, it appears that some of the claims
Channel 2 reported.
about terrorism may have been premature.
Only two suspects have been indicted,
Amid ongoing investigations, fire and secuand one claims he was just burning garrity officials investigating the blazes have
bage. And though no one doubts there
been much more cautious about drawing
was some arson involved, motives
conclusions than Netanyahu and his govremain unclear.
Its still too early to rule nationalistic
ernment partners.
motives, police officials told Channel 10
In most areas you wont find many things
on Tuesday. Yes, there were incidents
that say whether it was arson, Ran Shelef, the
of arson, but nationalistic motives are far
Fire and Rescue Authoritys chief investigator,
Prime Minister Benjamin
from being definitively concluded.
told the Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu, surrounded
In the absence of proof, some have critA day earlier, the authoritys Northern
by security and
icized the rush to judgment.
District investigator, Herzl Aharon said,
government officials,
The habit of inflaming the atmosphere
according to Israels Channel 2: We still
talks about the fires at
by politicians is playing into the hands of
dont know anything. I wish I had a direca briefing in Haifa on
the terrorists, Yoram Schweitzer, a fortion. I go to a place and get an insight and
November 24.
mer Israeli intelligence official and the
then I go to another place and everything
AMOS BEN GERSHOM/ISRAELI
head of terrorist research at the Institute
changes. This is what you call a illusion of
GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE
for National Security Studies think tank,
the topography, the bedlam of the mounsaid. A basic principle of fighting terrortainous region, and it is very difficult
ism is to differentiate between the community who is
to investigate.
allegedly or potentially supportive of such acts and the
At least 35 people were arrested on suspicion of committing
terrorists themselves.
arson or inciting others to do so, mostly Palestinians and the
This is the first principle that was breached,
he added.
On Monday, Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint List,
a coalition of Arab political parties, said he would seek
to have Netanyahu investigated for incitement for
seeming to accuse Arab Israelis of deliberately setting
fires. Odeh said he would formally request a probe by
the attorney general.
Everyone knows that there wasnt a wave of terrorism,
there wasnt a fire intifada, he said, using a term some
Israeli media outlets had put in their headlines.
Police officials have said they suspect arson in 29 of the
39 major fires, and in about one-third of the 90 total fires
they investigated. There are no suspects in the large fires
in Haifa and Zichron Yaakov, nor clear proof of arson.
One Arab Israeli who was arrested and held for three
days on suspicion of inciting arson was released after
police admitted they had mistranslated his sarcastic
tweet. It was meant to condemn those supporting arson
on social media and ended with the hashtag Sarcastic,
not serious.
Orit Perlov, who researches Arab social media at the
Institute for National Security Studies, said self-critical humor became the dominant tone on Arab social
media as the fires in Israel raged. Initially, she said,
there was widespread rejoicing and talk of divine punishment under the Arabic hashtag Israel is burning.
But especially after the Palestinian Authority sent
firefighting help and some Arabs publicly condemned
the arsonists, people began asking questions like, If
its coming from God, what did we do wrong to explain
whats happening in our states? she said.
Schweitzer, the terrorism researcher, said it was
noteworthy that the arson had flamed out on its
own, despite the incendiary comments by Israeli
politicians. Among other things, he said, that was
because Arab Israelis are part of the victims and
part of Israeli society.
Instead of calming the population, which is the
task of leaders, Israeli politicians did the reverse and
claimed an arson intifada, he said. Thats just not
wise, to put it very mildly.
JTA WIRE SERVICE
Jewish World
In Holland, Jewish journalist belatedly

honored for unmasking monster
Knoop was forced to quit the Telegraaf daily soon after
his investigation was published, because, he said, another
AMSTERDAM Forty years after his reporting exposed
reporter for the paper began spying on Knoop at Mentens behest. And while he toured the world giving lectures
one of the worst war criminals in Dutch history, Hans
about the Menten case, no other major publication in the
Knoop still is celebrated in his native Netherlands as a hero.
Netherlands would hire him. That was because I had a
On Nov. 23, more than a million television viewers
stamp on my forehead, he recalled.
watched a public broadcasters historical period drama on
The attention given to the Menten affair these days is part
how Knoop, a Dutch Jewish journalist, unmasked the art
of a wave of renewed interest in Holocaust-era complicity
collector Pieter Menten in 1976 as a monster who murdered
in the Netherlands, a country where the efforts of those
hundreds of Polish Jews and stole their property with help
who saved Jews Holland has 5,600 Righteous Among the
from German Nazis. It was the highest rating for such a production in the Netherlands.
Nations, the worlds second largest tally long have eclipsed
The host of the Netherlands most-watched talk show,
the widespread collaboration that led to the murder of 75
Jeroen Pauw, last week called Knoops
percent of Dutch Jews. That is the highest
discovery a brilliant, unmatched jourdeath rate in occupied Western Europe.
nalistic achievement. He recalled how
Last week, the NRC Handelsblad
the Knoop expos led to Mentens arrest
revealed that most notaries aided in
in a country that was profoundly shocked
the plunder of Dutch Jews property.
by his ability to escape justice and amass
The revelation followed a scandal in
a fortune built on pillage.
2014 that showed that throughout the
But alongside this recognition, Knoop,
1960s, the government levied fines
a father of two whose mild manners
on Jews who were late in paying their
and amiable expression conceal a steely
property taxes because they had been
determination, has paid a heavy personal
in concentration camps. Such discoveries have prompted repeated but
price for the discovery. Harassed by Mentens lawyers, supporters, and even other
Guy Clemens played Hans
unheeded demands that the governKnoop in the drama series
ment formally apologize for the counjournalists, Knoop said the scoop effecThe Menten Case in the
tively ended his career as a working jourtrys complicity in the Dutch Jews fate.
Netherlands in 2015.
nalist in a country that many believe still
Knoop encountered some bigotry

COURTESY OF MAX
has not fully owned up to its Holocaustover his exposure of the Menten affair
era history.
a colleague accused him of being overly
Things dont always go as they should go, Knoop,
emotional about the case because Knoop is Jewish but
73, said.
he attributes his ejection from journalism to the sectarianism of Dutch publications back when they were affiliated
Menten, whose belated conviction for war crimes
with adversarial parties and groups, including Protestants,
exposed deep flaws in Hollands ability to try collaborators, eventually served five years of a 10-year sentence
Catholics, and Socialists.
itself a concession to his advanced age before he died
If you were a Telegraaf journalist, you couldnt just
in 1988 at 81.
switch to another publication in the 70s, he said. Youd
Yes, it ended his career, Knoop acknowledged, and he
be branded. And I was.
considers that regrettable, but, he said, it was no surprise.
So Knoop set up a successful PR agency it was one of the
As I interviewed witnesses, it became clear that Mentens
first in the Netherlands which he ran alongside his activities, often pro bono, as a spokesman for Jewish organizamodus operandi was to use his influence and fortune to
tions and as a pro-Israel columnist, among other positions.
either buy or destroy anyone who accused him of wrongdoing, Knoop said. Thats part of the reason he was able
Still, Knoop is best known for his crucial role in bringing
to evade justice for so long.
Menten to justice.
Mentens unusual story began in the 1920s in Poland;
Knoop says he has no doubt Menten would have had
he moved there to conduct business, including with
him killed if he could have gotten away with it. And while
many Jewish associates. Menten lost all his vast propthe Menten affair exposed problems in the Dutch justice
erty in Poland when the Russians invaded the countrys
system, I knew that I was protected because if anything
east in 1939, but regained it when the Nazis took the
wouldve happened to me, all the arrows would point at
territory over in 1941. Menten befriended the Nazi occuMenten, Knoop said.
pation forces, tracked down his former associates, and
Mentens Jewish victims, regarded by the Nazis as subhumans earmarked for annihilation, had no such protection
murdered them, Knoop reported.
under the German occupation. Menten hounded former
Menten transported war booty to Holland. After
associates even after they fled their former homes. Wearing
World War II he was sentenced to several months in jail
SS uniforms provided to him by his friends he was offithere for the general charge of assisting the enemy,
cially neither a Nazi nor a soldier he executed his enemies
because of his chumminess with Nazi officers. The multimillionaire art dealer escaped more serious charges
by firing squad, sometime making their relatives watch as
by libeling his accusers, but ultimately he was exposed
he directed the murders from an armchair with a wave of
after trying to auction off stolen goods.
his hand. The special war crimes tribunal found him guilty
Knoop, then the editor-in-chief of a medium-circulation
in the mass murder of 20 to 30 people, mainly Jews in the
weekly owned by the Telegraaf daily, began researching
Polish village of Podhorodze, in July 1941.
testimonies collected in Israel by the late Haaretz journalist
The unusual nature of Mentens story he is perhaps the
Haviv Cnaan, whose family was among Mentens victims.
only civilian known to have committed mass murder on that
Knoop was warned off the story by people whose own
scale during World War II purely for financial gain and
careers were ruined by Menten when they threatened to
the testimonies against him at first sounded far-fetched to
expose him. He soon realized they were right.
Knoop, a skeptical and cool-headed journalist.
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
He was led to further doubt the stories veracity by Mentens proclaimed willingness to confront his accusers and
his feigned openness to Knoop in interviews.
I thought, this is not the behavior of a guilty man,
Knoop recalled.
But he reconsidered when Menten tried to bribe him
to bury the story, and after Cnaan, the Haaretz journalist,
offered eyewitness testimony of Mentens crimes.
From then on, Knoop didnt let Menten out of his sights
until he was in prison. Knoop even traced Menten in Switzerland, where Menten escaped the Netherlands to avoid
going to prison. Knoop was there when the Swiss police
arrested Menten before he was extradited.
I believe Menten was always a monster, Knoop said.
But he took off the mask only when the circumstances
JTA WIRE SERVICE
allowed it.
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Jewish World
How Israel courts tourists from India and China

DEBRA KAMIN
TEL AVIV When Bollywood star and Indian fashion icon
Sonam Kapoor appeared on the cover of the June-July issue of
Harpers Bazaar Bride, India, she wore a sheer pink confection
and a radiant smile.
The Old City of Jerusalem was sprawled behind her.
It wasnt happenstance. The Israeli government keen to tap
into a growing Asian middle class who are armed with passports
and eager to explore the globe has thrown its weight behind a
number of creative efforts to promote Israel as a destination for
tourists from India and China.
Kapoor, a fixture in Bollywood films and the daughter of
renowned Indian actor and producer Anil Kapoor, came to
Israel in May as a guest of the Israel Tourism Ministry. The hope
is that A-list celebrity endorsements, in the form of social media
posts, will translate to millions of shekels in tourist visits down
the road.
In the two years since the Gaza War, with tourism still sagging
and hotel stays 22 percent lower than in the months before the
war, the Israeli government has doubled down on its efforts to
woo Asian visitors. Call it the new frontier for Israeli tourism:
When it comes to courting visitors, there is no doubt that the
Holy Land is looking east.
India and China both have a huge economic potential, a huge
number of people, and have shown huge growth in the number
of people traveling overseas, said Pini Shani, the director of the
Overseas Department at the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
Celebrities, of course, are key to tapping into that potential.
Kapoor chronicled her trip with a flurry of Snapchat selfies,
which saw her visiting sites around the Old City and showing off
a series of big sunglasses in taxis on the way to Tel Aviv and the
Dead Sea with gushing captions like Meeting incredible people
through my travels is such a plus!
While Kapoor came to Israel for the Harpers layout the
photo shoot featured her frolicking in the streets and alleyways
of ancient Jerusalem, wearing a number of stunning gowns by
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both Indian and Israeli designers

she intended to take in a few quick
tours of Jerusalems holy sites. But
according to reports in the Indian
media, she and her mother, who
accompanied her on the visit, were
so smitten by the country that they
chose to stay longer.
In August, just after the magazine appeared on newsstands, the
Israeli Tourism Ministry kicked
off an approximately $1.5 million
campaign in India, unveiling a
symphony of television ads, print
media endorsements and shoutouts on social media, as well as a
dedicated website for Indian travelers to Israel.
Such a campaign is not unprecedented; the ministry drew upon its
The Israeli government is taking several initiatives to promote Israel
success two years earlier in courtas a destination for tourists from India and China.
ing Chinese visitors. The previous

ITAMAR GRINBERG, ISRAELI MINISTRY OF TOURISM
drive began with celebrity endorsements that garnered nearly double
the amount of Chinese visitors to the Jewish state, year
are doing their best to keep up. They are rushing to train
over year.
chefs in Chinese and Indian cooking flavors, and hosting
Back in 2014, just months before the start of the Gaza
special workshops on spices and cooking preparations in
War, a Chinese film crew crowded the stark bank of the
order to better please their guests palates.
Dead Sea filming a scene for Old Cinderella a Chinese
In November 2015 just after opening the Mumbai
blockbuster, starring Zhang Jingchu, about a May-Decemtourism office the Israeli government hosted four Indian
ber love triangle that played well in the worlds most
celebrity chefs, who gave a series of workshops to hotel
populous country when it opened a few months later.
chefs on how to prepare Indian dishes in exchange for
Among the elements that made Old Cinderella beloved
guided tours of the country. The same month, a quartet
by Chinese viewers an aging female protagonist, a dashof Chinese chefs came to Israel, and at workshops at the
ing young suitor, and a romantic ex-husband determined
Tadmor Hotel in Herzliya and the Dan Gourmet Cooking
to woo his former wife back there also was a surprisSchool in Tel Aviv, they led lessons for Israeli chefs on Chiing amount of stunning Israeli scenery to accompany the
nese spices, oils, and how to prepare such dishes as fried
soapy dialogue.
tofu.
Old Cinderella was filmed in Israel after filmmakers
Meanwhile, a new government course for Mandarinreceived an approximately $130,000 investment from the
speaking tour guides has opened in Israel. Nearly 30 Chinese immigrants to the country mostly native Mandarin
Israeli government, which offered its cash injection after
speakers who married Jewish Israelis and earned citizenbeing assured that the millions of Chinese viewers who
ship in the process now have passed the certification
would watch the film also would be treated to sweeping
process to be licensed tour guides.
images of Israeli scenery.
There is tremendous demand, said Noam Porat, a
The filmmakers wrote the country into the plot, with
tour guide coordinator who helps run the Chinese-lanthe female lead deciding amid a life crisis to restart her
guage course for would-be guides. My students are workcareer and become a tour guide. It is during a guided tour
ing around the clock. When you compare them to a norof the Holy Land, of course, that the bulk of the films
mal Israeli guide who speaks English and maybe one other
action occurs.
language, there isnt nearly as much business as there is
Zhang isnt the only Chinese movie star popping up at
for Chinese-speaking guides.
Israeli tourism sites. A month earlier, the Israeli Ministry
3493212-01
napoli
Yang Cheng, a 33-year-old tour guide originally from
of Tourism hosted actor Liu Ye and granted him an honor3493212-01
5/17/13
ary title tourism good will ambassador for playing his
Huwan, China, who now works on the Asian desk of the
napoli
subite
5/17/13
part to promote Israel in his home country.
tour company Vered, chalks up the demand to a shift in
canali/singer
subite
I was very impressed by the harmonious and secure
the way Israel is viewed.
canali/singer
local atmosphere, Liu whose wife is a French Jew was
The perception of Israel is changing in Asia, she said.
carrol/BB
quoted as saying.
Yang points out a fact that the Tourism Ministry also
carrol/BB
This ad is copyrighted by North
Jersey The
Media Group
and may not
governments
efforts
to
court
Chinese
travelers
paid
knows
Israel may not be the very first choice of travel for
be reproduced in any form, or
This ad is in
copyrighted
by North
replicated
a similar version,
off.approval
Visits
to
Israel this June rose a whopping 93 percent
Asian tourists, but in a population already mobile and logJersey Media
Group
and
may not
without
from
North
be reproduced
in any form, or
Jersey
Media Group.
ging air miles, its a destination that eventually will make
over
2015, bolstered by three new nonstop flights
replicated
in June
a similar version,
without approval from North
Jersey
Mediaweek
Group.
it to their lists.
each
from Beijing to Tel Aviv on Chinas Hainan Airlines. Two major achievements from the Tourism Ministry
The Chinese actually come here with lower expectations, she said. This is a good thing, because they cant
also helped the cancellation of group visa fees, which
be disappointed. They hear about Israel on the news, they
were about $9 a person, and the extension of multiplebecome curious about it, and when they come here its
entry tourist visas up to 10 years.
actually peaceful and beautiful. So they go home and tell
Visitors from India increased 13 percent in 2015 over the
their friends and relatives, and suddenly you have Chinese
previous year, and the Israeli government opened its first
tourists who are ambassadors for Israel.
tourism office in Mumbai last year.
JTA WIRE SERVICE

As demand from Asian tourists increases, hotel chains
Jewish World
More than
391,000 likes.
Like us on
Facebook.
BRIEFS
Nearly 90 percent of Israels

waste water recycled
At a time when many countries are facing drought
and critical water shortages, Israel now recycles
nearly 90 percent of its waste water. That is about
four times higher than any other country in the
world, according to Israels Minister of Strategic
Affairs and Public Diplomacy Gilad Erdan.
Today, nearly 90 percent of our waste water
is recycled, Erdan said in an address at the first
Israeli Corporate Social Responsibility conference
in Tel Aviv, hosted by Maala, the Jewish states CSR
standards organization. Thats around four times
higher than any other country in the world. It is
a remarkable achievement and this benefits not
only Israel. Israeli companies are helping save
water around the world, from Africa to California
to India.
The conference, which was held last week,
brought together leaders from Israels business
community as well as international experts in sustainability and the CSR community to address Israels social and environmental innovation. Speakers
and experts from companies such as Teva, Intel, 3M
and the Strauss Group headlined the conference.
Israel is innovative, creative and dynamic and
has more high-tech startups per capita than anywhere else in the world, Erdan said. And these
startups in large part are not only focused on creating high profits, but also finding ways to solve the
worlds most pressing problems.
The Israeli companies leading the way in sustainability innovation featured at the conference,
included Hadera Paper, the worlds most recycled
and environment-friendly paper company, Netafim,
drip and micro-irrigation pioneers and Mekorot, the
Israels top agency for water management.
JNS.ORG
Israeli airport authorities

deny entry to BDS activist
for first time
Israel refused entry to an activist with the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions movement Monday, the
first such case since the Israeli government introduced a bill to that effect in November.
Isabel Phiri, a Malawian member of the World
Council of Churches and a known BDS activist, was
stopped by Ben Gurion International Airport authorities while trying to enter Israel on a tourist visa.
According to reports, Phiris passport was
flagged and Population and Immigration Authority
officials at the airport contacted the Interior Ministry for instructions. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri
and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan jointly
head Israels public diplomacy efforts against the
BDS movement.
Deri instructed airport authorities to deny Phiris entry, effectively setting a precedent for barring entry to individuals who promote economic,
cultural, and academic boycotts against Israel.
JNS.ORG
www.thejewishstandard.com
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Editorial
Theres a new
agency in town
t can be really hard to ask

for help.
Thats not always true,
of course. If what you
need is easy someone to pick
up the other end of a bag youre
carrying or a sheet youre folding,
if you need directions or something off a high shelf or advice
on cooking, say its not so bad.
You just ask.
But if you need something
harder, and you are in a position of vulnerability, everything
changes. To have to ask for grief
counseling, or maybe for help
overcoming substance abuse,
means admitting to yourself that
you cant do it on your own. To
have to ask for food could seem
like a huge admission of failure.
Of course, none of these needs
are the result of weakness or failure. They just can feel as if they
are. Thats because when you
lack the basics, or when you feel
that you dont have what everyone else has, you feel vulnerable.
Wounded. Needy.
Jewish Family Service organizations exist to help people with
those and other needs, in fact a
whole range of other needs. They
provide both individual counseling and support groups that
work with all sorts of issues, and
they dont charge people who
cant pay. They offer services to
Holocaust survivors, victims of
domestic abuse, overstressed
caregivers, and job seekers, as
well as for the emotionally fragile.
And you dont have to be Jewish to get help from the Jewish
Family Service. All you have to
do is ask for it.
Until now, though, local Jewish Family Service agencies seem
to have been organized according to the New Jersey municipality model. Each town is its
own principality, with a moat
Jewish
Standard
1086 Teaneck Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666
(201) 837-8818
Fax 201-833-4959
Publisher
James L. Janoff
Associate Publisher Emerita
Marcia Garfinkle
TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES
Fearless at 50 in 10 steps
separating it from the next one

over. Nothing can be shared.
Fort Lee, Teaneck, Woodcliff
Lake, Wayne each is its own
entirely independent entity. JFS
has done the same thing.
But that really doesnt make
sense. The Jewish Family Service of North Jersey and the
Jewish Family Service of Bergen
and North Hudson have similar
but not at all identical lists of
resources and programs; what
people need isnt necessarily
what the JFS into the catchment
area they fall does best. There
is a historical reason for the
two agencies separate development; they each used to
be a beneficiary of a different
Jewish federation. But now, 13
years after the federation headquartered in Wayne and the one
from Paramus came together to
form a new entity, the Jewish
Federation of Northern New Jersey, its time for the JFSs to do
the same thing.
We welcome the creation of
the new Jewish Family and Childrens Services of Northern New
Jersey. We know that it will be
fueled by the collective brains,
resources, and passion of lay
and professional leaders from
all over the region. We know
that the same level of funding
a level to which the federation
has committed itself to maintain
for at least five years will allow
the new JFCS to expand and offer
ever-more-excellent services. We
know that the entire area will be
better for it.
We also know that those people who need JFCSs services
and remember, that could be
any of us, at any time, because
life plays tricks on each one of us
will be well served. They will be
able to leave JFCS enriched, glad
JP
to have asked for help.
Editor
Joanne Palmer
Associate Editor
Larry Yudelson
Community Editor
Beth Janoff Chananie
About Our Children Editor
Heidi Mae Bratt
thejewishstandard.com
he famous American author of Fear of Fly- than done but so amazingly rewarding. God gave
ing, Erica Jong, who is an acquaintance
each of us an infinite supply of dignity that we can
of mine, wrote a noted book called Fear
sprinkle on others, like confetti thrown on a bride
of Fifty. It details how we Americans fret
and groom at their wedding. By simply being attenabout aging. We live in the ultimate ageist society, tive to people, by valuing their opinions, by expresswhere youth is glorified and age is treated as a mis- ing gratitude, we make others feel like they matter.
erable disease.
There is nothing they wish for more. Most of what
Perhaps we should consider the alternative.
we do in life is an attempt to make us feel like we
To age is to live. Not to age is to be purged of that
matter. So if you crave it so much, grant that same
greatest blessing: life itself.
gift to others as well. Part of this is giving compliments. Ive always been confused by compliments.
Moreover, to age is to gain wisdom.
Theyre free. Theyre so easy to offer. So why are we
And what have I learned in my half century on this
so stingy with them? Watch as you give someone a
earth, which has gone by in such a flicker in the week
compliment. They come to life in an
of my 50th birthday? Im not just pontificating here. The Talmud says that at
instant. Make it sincere. Everyone has
50 a person has reached the age to give
something to praise. Find it and offer it.
counsel. So allow me to offer my own
4. Never fear. That doesnt mean we
sage advice:
should live carelessly. But there is a difference between living in fear and liv1. Sins of omission are much greater
ing out of a sense of caution. While fear
than sins of commission.
is a hysterical response to an imagined
There can be no doubt that I regret
threat, caution is a calculated reaction
the bad things Ive done. I wish I had
to a real danger.
never committed them. But far worse
Rabbi
5. Learn to forgive. This lesson arguare the good things that I have not done.
Shmuley
ably is the hardest of all. We all feel
Relationships, for example, sometimes
Boteach
wronged by others and forgiving is
are undone by a sin in the relationship.
the most unnatural act. Why overlook
But much more often relationships die
the harm done to us by others, espethe sin of neglect. I have seen many
cially if they havent yet taken responsibility for what
men and women bounce back from mistakes. But
I have seen far more people slowly lose their vital- theyve done? Because nursing grudges makes us old
ity and passion for life because they lack purpose
before our time, even if were far younger than 50.
and have not found a great cause to which to commit
6. Your job as a parent is to make your children
themselves.
always feel valued. Its not to get them into Harvard.
2. A man or woman is defined not by the quan- Its not to inspire them to launch an internet startup.
tity in their bank accounts but by the quality of their
Stop thinking that your objective as a parent is to
relationships. Sounds simple, I know. But its a tru- make your child a success. I have seen so many
ism we trample on every single day. Our society
children, successful on paper, who still are empty on
uses money as a commodity to use to purchase self- the inside because they were never made to feel like
esteem. The net result is that men and women spend
they were valuable intrinsically. The job of a parent
their lives in acts of accumulation, as if in millennia
is to validate their children not through their doing
of human history we have not advanced from being
but through their being. I love you because you are.
hunter-gatherers. But the greatest problem in the
There is nothing you can do that will ever make me
world today, and the one first identified in the Bible
love you more, and there is nothing you can do that
as the mother of all human challenges, is loneliness. will ever make me love you less.
All the money and status in the world will not make
7. Live for the Jewish people. OK, this lesson
you feel appreciated unconditionally for something
sounds like its for Jews, but its not. The message
you feel is intrinsic to your being. So cultivate and
is live for your nation, live for your country, live for
never neglect core relationships.
your people. Live for a cause larger than yourself.
3. Confer dignity on all whom you meet. By this I
Only when we connect with something eternal is our
mean, try to make others feel important. Easier said
being lent a sense of eternity. I mention the Jewish
Shmuley Boteach has just published The Israel Warrior: Standing Up for the Jewish State from Campus to Street
Corner. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.
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Founder
Morris J. Janoff (19111987)
Editor Emeritus
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Max Milians (1908-2005)
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Opinion
Gratitude in the age

of instant gratification
people not only because Im Jewish but because my
people have been imperiled throughout our existence.
Israels very survival is threatened till today by genocidal enemies that surround it. By fighting to defend
Israel we connect with millennia of our compatriots
who have preceded us and who have made the Jewish
people one of the most influential in history. The same
is true of fighting for America and all that it represents:
freedom, liberty, human rights, and a commitment to
the infinite and equal value of every person.
8. Read history and know what has preceded you.
Sounds unexpected. But I can tell you that my love of
history has placed my existence, my daily trials, my
Honor your parents.

Cherish your spouse.
Another really
difficult one. The
people who give us
the most love in life
are often the ones
who can give us the
most pain.
constant challenges in perspective and has given me a
sense of what human beings ultimately can contribute.
9. Honor your parents. Cherish your spouse.
Another really difficult one. The people who give us
the most love in life are often the ones who can give
us the most pain. Its almost inevitable in the parentchild relationship and the husband-wife partnership
that love and pain will exist concurrently. But nothing
tests our ability to appreciate and lend gratitude more
than truly loving and respecting our parents and the
partner with whom we share our lives. And nothing
guarantees Gods blessing more than and cherishing
and showing living gratitude to our soulmate.
10. Love God and serve him. This may come to you
in different ways, through either formal religion or
something more elastic. But bring God into your life.
Know that every day is a miracle. Stop sweating the
small stuff and know that everything is part of a larger
plan. Find your place in that plan. And never lose your
sense of awe, majesty, and wonder.
The opinions expressed in this section are those of

the authors, not necessarily those
of the newspapers editors, publishers, or other
staffers. We welcome letters to the editor.
Send them to jstandardletters@gmail.com.
his time of year, from Thanksgiving through

it could clothe a small country. Instant gratification at
Chanukah, is a grand display of contradiction.
its finest.
First, we have Thanksgiving. We have this
But is it so fine? My head starts to spin as the roller
great feast, one that may arguably rival that
coaster of instant gratification circles back around to gratitude when, the following day, hash-tagged all over the
of any Jewish holiday. Often, family and friends gather
internet, is #GivingTuesday.
together before the meal. They chat in the kitchen and
What is this day, Giving Tuesday? As I understand it,
pick at roasted Brussels sprouts and green bean souffl,
the day was created as a response to the commercialized
while the person in charge of making the turkey waits
nature of the past Friday and Monday. Its kind of like havhours for it to roast in the oven, basting and checking its
ing one drink too many on Thanksgiving night and going
temperature as it slowly cooks to perfection.
on a weekend bender, only to crash and then to rememMeanwhile, others, between picking at small pieces of
ber once again why Thanksgiving was so important and
stuffing or pumpkin pie crust or mashed potatoes (who
special in the first place. (Not that I would know of this
would notice?), set the table as they catch up, laugh, or
personally, of course.)
bicker with other guests.
The cooking, the preparation, the conversing, the
Back and forth, back and forth. Gratitude. Instant gratification. Gratitude. Instant gratification.
escaping to the den for some peace and
What are we doing here?
quiet to watch a little football or Flip or
And then Chanukah approaches!
Flop, or, if you are really into slow torture, post-election news this whole proCoordinating which family party is when
cess happens slowly, methodically, for
according to who is available on what date
many of us year after year. There is no
at which time.
rushing the day. No microwaved meals
Shopping for presents and worrying about
(at least not until tomorrow). No, Sorry,
giving comparable gifts to whoever is giving
gotta grab this turkey leg and run. Nope.
to you and your family while also trying not
On Thanksgiving Day we are all in it for
to empty the bank account.
Dena Croog
the long haul.
Agonizing over what to buy the nieces
Thanksgiving is notable as an expresand nephews iPads, iPods, Xbox games,
sion of gratitude. We give thanks for all
Knicks tickets when theyve gotten too old
the important people and things in life. We also give of
for aisles 5 and 6 at Amazing Savings.
ourselves, volunteering, donating money, or giving away
How do we best serve our collective need for instant
physical possessions, like clothing and food. Thanksgivgratification while simultaneously celebrating a holiday of
ing is about continuing tradition. Its about appreciating
gratitude and praise for the miracles that occurred? The
our past and sharing it with the future. It is about passfirst main miracle how a small group of Maccabees were
ing our gratitude down to the children.
victorious in their revolt against the Seleucid Empire. The
Until, that is, we call the kids to the table. Then, simother, of course, how one small vessel of oil kept the Temply put, its a pure display of instant gratification, a
ples menorah alight for eight straight days.
Lets eat! as the children dig right into all the comfort
Chanukah, here, is yet another holiday of gratitude, of
food and sweet desserts.
thanksgiving, of savoring not just the taste but the symbolism of the potato latkes and jelly donuts and chocoAfter all the gratitude is said and done, after the
late gelt, while at the same time trying to justify having
feast has been devoured and the guests have left with
more and more and more of these delicacies. We light the
overstuffed bellies, the contradiction of this holiday
menorah as a symbol of gratitude, only to be followed by
continues.
the youngsters jumping up and down chanting, Presents!
We are so grateful for all the wonderful people and
Presents! Where are my presents?
great fortune in our lives swiftly morphs into, So, what
Okay, perhaps my descriptions have gone a little overtime should we wake up tomorrow to beat the rush at
board. And, to be clear, lest a person might take these preTarget?
vious paragraphs as musser, I certainly am not immune
Ah, Black Friday:
to this phenomenon. If I were to tell my kids that there will
What a bargain!
be no Chanukah presents this year, Im fairly certain my
Its a steal!
oldest daughter would offer a fake laugh and say, Uh-huh.
Better pick up three of them! No, make that four!
Good one, Mommy. (Eye roll.)
Do I really need this? I dont knowumdo I? Oh,
All I am saying is, lets be more cognizant of the situabut its so cheap!
tion. Let us recognize reality as it is, that sometimes gratiAnd the kids. Lets not forget the kids as they, much
tude is at odds with instant gratification, regardless of
in the same way but in simpler terms, loudly announce
whether or not we would like to change it. And Im sure
during this mad rush: Gimme gimme gimme gimme
there are multitudes who have figured out how to modify
gimme!
the equation and give more weight to the gratitude side
If ever there was a display of instant gratification,
of things. If any of those people would like to share some
Black Friday is it.
ideas, Im sure I am not the only one who would listen
Well, no let me correct myself. I am wrong, actually.
with an open mind.
Because after we all rest up over the weekend, bragging
about new flat-screen TVs and second guessing other
Dena Croog is a writer and editor in Teaneck and the founder
purchases, we turn the corner and get caught in the web
of Refaenu, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mood
of the biggest impulse-buy day of the year.
disorder awareness and support. More information about the
On Cyber Monday, the dangers of ordering online
organization and its support groups can be found at www.
are amplified. With but a tap of the finger, a click of the
refaenu.org. You can also email dena@refaenu.org with any
mouse or many taps, or many clicks, as the case may
questions or comments.
be we may find ourselves buying a wardrobe so large
Opinion
Beyond the election
cannot remember a
time when there was as
much anxiety following
a presidential election
as we have been experiencing
this past month.
We have seen protests and
read about recriminations.
We heard that the Canadian
Rabbi Dr.
immigration website crashed
David J. Fine
after the election results were
tallied. None of us are prophets and can say with certainty
what the future will or will not bring. But I do believe
that a certain optimism in the future is the stalwart position of the person of faith. I also believe, deeply believe,
in the stability and goodness of our country.
As a congregational rabbi I am cognizant, and have
been very conscious throughout the election season, of
what my role is not. That is, while I can and do speak for
issues and values, it has not been nor is it now my role
to endorse individual politicians.
But there is a distinct line between politics and civics.

There is a role for the religious community to support
the state and its elected officials, to serve as an engine of
civic loyalty in a society committed to laws and good government. For that reason, the American flag is proudly
displayed in the sanctuary of my synagogue, as it is in
most synagogue sanctuaries throughout the country. We
do not do that only to allow us to display the Israeli flag
(which we do as well, with a special pride). We display
the American flag because we see ourselves as a partner
to the state, loyal to its virtues even as the wall of separation exists between us, maintaining our freedom.
And so I would extend congratulations to the president-elect no matter who he or she was. In the Prayer
for Our Country that we recite every Shabbat morning,
when we ask for Gods blessings for our leaders, I have
been adding and our leaders-elect. I will do so until
Inauguration Day, as I would have done no matter who
the president-elect would have been.
But this year, following this election, I feel all the
more compelled to do so. Because I continue to hear
and read comparisons between the United States today
This was a difficult

election, which
unleashed very
dangerous fears and
hatreds within the
fabric of the American
people. I look to
President-Elect Trump
to lead the nation
beyond the election.
with Germany of 1933, mixed with real fear and angst, I
find it necessary to offer a more centrist (if less passionate) perspective.
Theyre all gone

Why it matters that we remember the Olympic massacre in Munich
ot too long from

now, it will be a
half century since a
small band of Black
September terrorists committed
the Munich Massacre during the
1972 Olympic Games.
As time passes, to what extent
does what happened in Munich
Dr. Lee Igel
still matter?
More than 7,000 athletes from
121 nations competed in 195
events during the two weeks of festival that were the 1972
Olympic Games in Munich. The Games were the first hosted
on German soil since Berlin in 1936, when flags bearing the
Nazi swastika were raised alongside those emblazoned with
the Olympic rings. Wanting to show the world a new and different Germany, organizers in Munich conceived that their
Games would look to the future. Where, for example, the
venues for the 1936 Games recalled the ancient Greek style,
the venues for the 1972 Games made for more of a Tomorrowland than Disney ever conjured.
Among the features aimed at moving past reminders
of Nazi storm troopers with guns, organizers in Munich
dressed security guards in blue jumpsuits and gave them
only walkie-talkies. The decision, along with rather loose
training and planning for the security forces, was perceived
as a reasonable tradeoff.
Anyway, after all, who would attack the Olympic Games?
Early on the morning in the middle of the Games, the
Black September terrorists answered that question. The
terrorists slipped their way into the Olympic Village and
laid siege on apartments in 31 Connollystrasse. There, they
killed two members of the Israeli delegation and took nine
others hostage. The terrorists demanded the release of 230
sympathizers who were being held in Israeli and German
jails. Israeli officials refused to negotiate with the terrorists;
German officials attempted a rescue mission.

Hours later, ABC Sports broadcaster Jim McKay, who had
anchored live coverage of the events, informed the hostages
families and the world that Our worst fears have been realized tonight. Theyre all gone.
Far from being a matter of history, the Munich Massacre
is an extraordinary case of interrelated elements that have
meaning for the present and future. The 1972 Games refract
economic, political, and social events that have a great deal
to say about the status and function of the Olympic movement, about global terrorism, and about mass media in
todays world. They also have something important to suggest about our education system.
What happened in Munich and how it happened still is

worth our time and attention today. But do enough people really know about what happened at the 1972 Olympic
Games in Munich? Do they know how it happened? Do they
know why it happened?
In todays world, where algorithms increasingly drive
each of us into silos of information, there is more of a need
for learning that shows the way to connections between the
people, ideas, and decisions.
Those questions formed the basis of a recent discussion
between eight panelists that was moderated by Bob Costas,
the United States pre-eminent sportscaster. The discussion,
hosted at Columbia Universitys law school, was organized
A Black September terrorist looks out from a terrace; the doomed Israelis athletes are held hostage in the
apartment behind him.
t
h
y
d
e
o
p
n
.
Opinion
Yes, it is undeniable that if there is one lesson to be

learned from the Holocaust, it is that we never should
take our security for granted. We must never assume
that what happened there and then could not happen
here and now. That being said, however, we are not, in
my opinion, living in 1933 Germany. Here are but a few
points that are salient in my mind:
While Trump and Hitler both are charismatic politicians and came to power from an anti-establishment
platform, Trump was elected through the normal
process of our Electoral College system. Hitler was
appointed by the ruling elite, against whom he moved
as soon as he could. The very elite who appointed Hitler were themselves already disavowing the legitimacy
of German democracy.
The 15-year-old German Weimar republic already
was on unsteady ground; the few years before Hitlers seizure of power were marked by presidentially
appointed governments that did not command parliamentary consensus.
Our American government has persisted under our
Constitution longer than any other in the world. We
are the most stable of nations. Our long-serving constitution is marked by a separation of powers that could
not be more different than the parliamentary system
that Hitler inherited in Germany. Our Congress stands
as a branch of government independent from the executive. While we are well familiar with the liabilities of
this system through the long history of logjam between
Congress and the White House, we need to recognize
that it serves as a hurricane wall to protect us against
an unchecked executive. Indeed, our Constitution was
crafted by the Founders with that specifically in mind.
Hitler was an avowed anti-Semite. President-Elect
Trumps most trusted advisors are his Jewish daughter
and son-in-law.
One out of four American Jews voted for Trump.
The proportions were more or less consistent with
Jewish votes in every election, give or take a few percentage points. Three quarters of Jews vote Democrat
and one quarter Republican. (We are traditional that
way.)
While I do not want to get involved in the political analysis of the statements and positions of the
president-elect, I do urge us to keep historical perspective. This was a difficult election, which unleashed
very dangerous fears and hatreds within the fabric of
the American people. I look to President-Elect Trump
to lead the nation beyond the election. As President
George H. W. Bush wrote in the letter he left in the Oval
Office for President Bill Clinton: You will be our president. Your success now is our countrys success. I am
rooting hard for you.
The only formal oath I have taken in my life was for
my first job after graduating high school. I signed up to
be a census worker, and as any federal employee must
do, I raised my right hand and swore to defend the
Constitution of the United States. Donald Trump will
take that oath on January 20th. We are linked through
that bond.
David J. Fine is the rabbi of Temple Israel and Jewish
Community Center of Ridgewood, holds a doctorate in
modern European history, and is an adjunct professor of
Jewish law at the Abraham Geiger and Zacharias Frankel
colleges at the University of Potsdam in Germany.
But do enough people

really know about what
happened at the 1972
Olympic Games in Munich?
Do they know how it
happened? Do they know
why it happened?
to generate support for the Academies at
Gerrard Berman. It was a world-renowned
venue hosting the work and performance of
a small but committed team. After the discussion, Costas, who has memorialized the
Munich 11 at every Olympics he has covered
for NBC Sports, and the panelists fielded
questions and commentary from audience
members.
The last of them was a suggestion that
everyone in the room stand for one minute
of silence.
Thinking through and discussing a challenge, and following it up with right action,
is always the responsible thing to do. And
it goes to show that what happened in
Munich matters today and going forward
because it is a reminder of that call to
action to never forget.
To this day, the International Olympic
Committee has rejected requests that a minute of silence for the Munich 11 be held
during the opening ceremony at the Games.
The refrain from IOC officials is that doing
so would make the Games into a political
tool, which would chip away at the purpose
of acting as a catalyst for collaboration
between all parties of the Olympic family.
While that tack is understandable, it
falls flat.
First, the modern Games were founded

by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1896 as a
response to war after war in Europe. His
inspiration was a throwback to the Games
in ancient Greece, when warring nations
would pause to compete against each other
in athletic events. Second, what happened
in Munich was the murder of Olympic athletes at an Olympic Games, done by outside
actors. So not to grant a minute of silence at
an upcoming Games is to take a direct shot
at the spirit and values of Olympism.
Remembrance is warranted. So, too, is
vigilance. In fact, they are necessary. To get
that done the right way, including to guard
against misdirection, there must be an
underpinning of consistent effort and continuous education. Otherwise, like the IOC
officials who have yet to grant the minute
of silence, people will not know and understand what is expected of them.
Dr. Lee Igel of Haworth is a clinical associate
professor at NYUs Tisch Institute and the
co-director of NYUs sports and society
program.
Hostage Andre Spitzer talks to the

crisis team before being pulled
back and hit.
Letters
Concert for Sharsheret
On behalf of Temple Emeth, I invite the entire community to

a free concert to benefit Sharsheret, an organization based in
Teaneck that offers support to Jewish women with breast cancer
and their families.
This concert will feature our own Cantor Ellen Tilem along
with Rebecca beccs Gastfriend, a talented jazz and soul singer.
The program will include traditional chazzanut, Yiddish and
Hebrew songs, and some original compositions. Two of our
choirs also will participate.
The concert will be on Saturday, December 10, at 8 p.m. at
Temple Emeth, 1666 Windsor Road in Teaneck. There is ample
parking. Please bring your checkbook or credit card so that
you will be able to make a donation to Sharsheret after hearing
about some of the life-changing work it does.
What a wonderful way to gather as a community, prepare
for Chanukah, and embrace the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh
(saving a life)!
Rabbi Steven Sirbu, Temple Emeth, Teaneck
Approach to intermarriage
unrealistic also wrong
Three objections to your article, In or out doesnt work any

more (December 2).
First of all, I object to calling these two rabbis Conservative.
While both were ordained by JTS, both have either resigned
from the Rabbinical Assembly or indicated that they are about
to resign.
Secondly, Rabbi Lewittes desire to perform intermarriages
when both spouses accept Jewish life is unrealistic. It totally
ignores the pull Christianity would have on the non-Jewish
spouse. Conversion, such in the case of Trump-Kushner, at least
guarantees there will be some attempt to convey Jewish life to
the next generation. There is no such guarantee in the case of
Clinton-Mezvinsky. Indeed, Rabbi Lewittes proposal is much
more unrealistic than requiring conversion as a prerequisite for
the rabbi performing the ceremony. One has to wonder what
Rabbi Lewittes Jewish life is, i.e. eating bagels, lox and cream
cheese on Sunday.
Youre Invited
The Jewish Home Family, the Michael J. Fox Foundation,
and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center will host
Is Parkinsons a
Jewish Genetic Disease?
with
Lana Chahine, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Pennsylvania Hospital
University of Pennsylvania
This event is open to physicians, medical professionals, elder-care

professionals and members of the community.
December 12, 2016

7 p.m. Light kosher dessert fare
7:30 - 8:30 p.m. Presentation and Panel Q&A
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, 350 Engle Street, Englewood, New Jersey
RSVP requested:
201-784-1414, Ext. 5538
or
parkinsons@jewishhomefamily.org
Thirdly, while it is not the same threat as intermarriage, rabbinically sanctioned same-sex marriages are
wrong. To sanction said marriage is to sanction samesex intimacy. To sanction same sex intimacy is comparable to abolishing the dietary laws or the Sabbath. The
only halachic justifiable lifestyle for the gay or lesbian is
to abstain from intimate relations. The two rabbis have
opted for political correctness over Jewish law. While
gays and lesbians should not be excluded from the Jewish life in the same way non-observant are not excluded,
nobody should be allowed to rewrite thousands of years
of Jewish law.
Alan Mark Levin
Fair Lawn
Clarity, please
Its pretty clear from your November 25 two-page article

on Stephen Bannon (Bannon rejects, and ammunition
to, those who label him anti-Semitic) that Mr. Kampeas
doesnt like him. But the article contains no specifics or
examples of what he finds offensive. Instead it is riddled
with smears and allegations of guilt by association.
We get charges that the Breitbart site has echoes of antiSemitic theory, that it advances conspiracy theory and
contains elements of classic anti-Semitic propaganda.
Further, in those few places where Bannon defends himself saying he is an economic nationalist you follow with
a link to the old anti-Semitic World War II era America First
movement, or where Bannon distinguishes his views from
white supremacism the article follows immediately into
unexplained theories of globalists maintaining control
over the working class.
Unsaid in the article is that most Jews support left-wing
and liberal politics while Bannon and Breitbart are conservative. This should not be considered as anti-Jewish. In
fact conservatives generally align better with Israels politics, while the left wing comes down hard against those
who support Israel and its settlements.
In these days where words are recklessly bandied
about, you would do your readers a service by providing
clear examples of your allegations.
David M. Weiss
Ridgewood
Stop picking on Jared!
We, the authors of this letter, have been friends for

almost 50 years. We have often taken diametrically
opposed positions on many political and social matters. However, we find ourselves in total agreement
when we expressed our disappointment regarding
the article purportedly providing insight into the Jews
who are in Trumps inner circle of advisers (Meet the
Jews in Donald Trumps inner circle, November 18).
The article we reference took a precipitous slide when
assessing Jared Kushner.
Far from assessing Jared Kushners strengths or
weaknesses as an adviser to a President-elect Trump,
this article marched unceremoniously into the tawdry
irrelevancies of his familys past criminal conduct.
Either your background inquiry into Jared Kushners
attitudes and potential influence in a Trump administration were woefully thin, or worse, your decision to
sacrifice essence for overt salacious appeal was painfully thick.
With this article you have not only trivialized the
subject matter that you presumably sought to address
but also diminished yourselves as a source for fair and
unbiased reporting of the news.
Charles Moche
Englewood
Jack Nelson
Cliffside Park
Opinion
Assads crimes cant be ignored
t was one of the most

dramatic moments
so far in the five-year
civil war that has torn
Syria apart.
In August 2014, a man
disguised with dark glasses
and a hood, and known as
Caesar, testified before the
Ben Cohen
U.S. House Foreign Affairs
Committee. A former sergeant in the armed forces of
the ruling regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Caesar
had worked as a photographer; his principal job was
to document the gruesome torture and murder of the
thousands of ordinary Syrians taken into custody. As he
explained matter-of-factly to the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I had the job of taking pictures
of the dead before and after the revolution. Our work
increased greatly after the revolution.
The spectacle of cruelty and brutality to which Caesar
was exposed over the course of two years quite probably would have driven most human beings insane. Not
just dead bodies, but maimed bodies, bodies with their
eyes gouged out, bodies emaciated from the effects of
enforced hunger, bodies of men, women, and children
alike. The sorts of atrocities that come naturally to a dictator like Assad, just as they did to his father, the late
tyrant Hafez al-Assad.
In 2013, Caesar escaped from Syria, faking his own
death and even having relatives and friends stage a
funeral. He took with him 55,000 of the images hed
photographed, stored on memory sticks that he hid
inside his shoes. As he told the Foreign Affairs Committee, the images were gruesome proof that Assads drive
to retain power would lead him to kill his own brother
if necessary. I endangered my life by coming to the
U.S., testifying before Congress in hopes for justice and
appealing to the moral conscience of free Americans,
Caesar said. I now believe that with this bill, Congress
has taken the first step toward justice and accountability
in my wounded nation.
The bill Caesar was referring to, designed to bring the
perpetrators of these atrocities to justice, began making its
way through the U.S. legislature two years ago, with both
strong bipartisan support and backing from Syrian-American groups working to highlight the profound human
cost of Assads war. H.R. 5732, also known as the Caesar
Civilian Protection Act of 2016, in recognition of the critical role played by the provider of the evidence, passed
through the House this week in a voice vote. The bill
includes tough sanctions against individuals and entities
associated with the Assad regime, in such vital sectors as
banking, airlines, and energy. In addition, it would mandate the president to report to Congress on the prospects
for a no-fly zone in Syria, as well as requiring the president
to make available to Congress the names of Syrian regime
war criminals, with an eye on future prosecutions for war
crimes and crimes against humanity.
Now the bill has to pass through the Senate and the
president has to sign it into law. There is no shortage of
reasons for the importance of this legislation. Foremost
is the assault by the Assad regime backed by Russia and
Iran on Aleppo, where 250,000 civilians have been told
they will be annihilated if they do not leave. In case
there was any doubt abut Assads intentions, its worth
pointing out that medical facilities and hospitals have
been targeted at least 30 times during the regimes all-out
assault on Aleppo. Human rights groups working on Syria
therefore are calling on U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to push through the bill via an expedited process called hotlining, which bypasses committee
review and allows the legislation to be introduced directly on
the floor before Congress goes home for the year.
Predictably, progressive and far-left opponents of firm
action on Syria now are marshaling their arguments. Some of
what is being said for example, the smear that Caesar is a
confidence trickster peddling fraudulent evidence is only to
be expected from the folks who just more than a decade ago
were defending Saddam Husseins Baathist regime in neighboring Iraq from Western pressure.
A more conventional set of objections is that the legislation
would drive resources away from the fight against Islamic State,
risk conflict with Russia, and threaten the survival of the nuclear
deal with Iran. Its certainly true that under President Barack
Obamas very own nose, the Russians have made enormous
strides in Syria, to the point where the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier is now deploying S-300 and S-400 missile batteries
in defense of Assad and Russian defense officials have made
clear that they will use them.
The argument about Islamic State is specious, because Assad
and his Russian, Iranian, and Hezbollah allies have spent much
time fighting other rebel groups while enabling, indirectly and
sometimes even directly, the Islamic State advance. The net
result of this has been to make the war even more complex and
enduring, as outside powers like Turkey and Iran have used the
ostensible fight against Islamic State to pursue their own agendas in Tehrans case, building a Shiite crescent through the
region, in Ankaras case, waging brutal war against the Kurdish
minority in both Syria and Turkey.
Yet the Assad regime remains the core of this sectarian cauldron. Its war crimes drive ISIL (Islamic State) recruitment and
hamper the rebel forces fighting ISIL, Evan Barrett of the Washington, D.C.-based Syria Emergency Task Force told me.
Even so, the question about whether Obama would sign the
bill into law before he leaves office is an open and vexed one.
After all, Obama backed down on taking military action against
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets

with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
UN PHOTO/ESKINDER DEBEBE
Assad out of his desire to please the Iranians. There is little to

suggest that he would make a different calculation this time
around. As for President-elect Donald Trump, the shape of his
foreign policy remains indistinct, and we have no idea whether
his desire for an alliance with Russia against Islamic State terrorists will be the final guarantee of Assads long-term survival.
The Senate should be urged to pass the Caesar Act as resoundingly as the House did. As Evan Barrett says, It will demonstrate
to the president-elect that both parties in both chambers of Congress seek greater accountability for war crimes in Syria. It also
will send a message to those who believe that Assad is now safe
from international justice that many past dictators, from Benito
Mussolini to Saddam Hussein, thought that they too would go
JNS.ORG
on forever. And they were wrong.
Ben Cohen, senior editor of TheTower.org and the Tower
magazine, writes a weekly column for JNS.org 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.
Eight oclock in the evening

Congregation Ahavath Torah, Englewood, New Jersey
Michal and Rabbi Ari Zahtz
Tova and Shai Gerson

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Divsha and Martin Tollinsky
Kellita and Daniel Weber
Adina and Arthur Weinstein
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Cover Story
1+1= 3
Two local JFS agencies to merge

into the Jewish Family and Childrens
Services of Northern New Jersey
JOANNE PALMER
ts been a long time since its made
sense to have two Jewish Family Services operating in the densely populated but geographically fairly small
area thats home to the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.
The federation itself is the result of
a merger the 2003 move that brought together
two smaller groups, one centered around Fair
Lawn and Wayne, the other to its east, in Bergen
County, with its headquarters in Paramus. That
merger was both necessary and important for the
communitys future; at times it was somewhat
bumpy, as such a melding of fiercely independent organizations with shared goals but separate
histories inevitably are. But now, more
than a decade later, all the agencies that
both federations funded are under the
federations aegis. The last two to come
together the Jewish Family Service of
North Jersey (thats the one in Fair Lawn
From top, four survivors at Caf Europa; campers at Ramah Nyack

pack supplies; the Stiefel family of Teaneck, riding together in the
2016 Wheels-for-Meals ride in 2016, and more volunteers at that ride.
All the activities are sponsored by Jewish Family Service.
and Wayne) and the Jewish Family Service of Bergen and North Hudson (the Teaneck one) have
agreed to join under a slightly new name.
Starting on January 1, the community will be
able to get the services it needs from the Jewish
Family and Childrens Services of Northern New
Jersey. It will retain all three offices and all the services both precursor agencies offered.
In some cases, both agencies offered strikingly
similar services.
Take, for example, Caf Europa.
Its a program for Holocaust survivors, all of
whom are fairly old by now, and some of whom
are very old. They suffered unimaginably when
they were young; for decades many of them got
by in this country without ever talking about what
happened to them, except perhaps if screaming
nightmares count.
Some of them were financially successful, and
others were not. Some built very full lives. All
were haunted by the past.
Now, through funding contributed in part
through the Conference on Material Claims
Against Germany and the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, both the Jewish Family Service of Bergen and North
Hudson and the Jewish Family Service of
North Jersey welcome those survivors to
Caf Europa. There, they can talk to each
other with the sort of understanding that
no one else can share; they can also meet
their friends, eat lunch, relax, listen to
music, and even sing along.
So when we went to the other JFS Caf
Europa last month, we saw that we both
were doing the exact same program, Allyn
Michaelson of Fair Lawn, the president of
the North Jersey JFS, said. Theyre eating
the same food from the same caterer, its
almost exactly the same entertainment,
and theyre even singing the same songs.
And about between a third and a half of
the people were the same people who had
been at ours.
But now, she said, on December 20,
we will do a joint Chanukah party, and we
expect about 150 survivors. For them, its
Riders of all ages at the starting line of the Wheels-for-Meals Ride to Fight Hunger.
all about interacting with one another, and

seeing their friends. This way, they also
can meet people they hadnt known. New
people. Thats exciting. And eventually, we
hope, we can expand.
But according to just about everyone,
the two nearly identical Caf Europas
are an exception. In general, the two JFSs
developed specialties in different programs. Bringing them together will allow
everyone in both catchment areas as
Susan Greenbaum looks on as JFS presidents Shira Feuerstein, center, and Allyn
Michaelson sign the agreement to join their two agencies to create the Jewish
Family and Childrens Services of Northern New Jersey.
well as the people in the towns that were

covered by neither JFS access to all the
services both offer.
The point is not to save money, but
to spend the same amount of money on
expanded services. Its also to complete the
last piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was put
together when the two federations merged.
We have made a commitment to keep
allocations the same for at least the next
five years, the federations CEO, Jason
Shames, said. Its
always been about
the JFSs clients.
Both of the JFSs
are independent
organizations, he
explained. They
both get alloc ations from the federation, they both
David Goodman
raise money, and
both get government funding. This year, we allocated a little over $1 million; together, they get about
$4.5 million.
Their five main sources of funding are
the federation, the government, insurance
reimbursement, fees, and donations, he
added. Government money is federal, funneled through state and county programs;
some clients, who are able to pay for the
The point is not

to save money,
but to spend the
same amount of
money on
expanded
services.
services they receive, do so. The federation, therefore, is an important source of
funding for both JFSs, although it is far
from the agencies sole source.
They also get claims conference
money, which is significant, Lisa Harris
Glass, the federations chief planning officer, said. So all in all, the federation could
influence the JFSs decision to merge, but
it could not force the move. And it did not.
The two JFSs have the same mission,
and there was a lot of confusion, she continued. People didnt know which JFS
was theirs. It wasnt intuitive. Fair Lawn is
in Bergen County, but not in the Bergen
County JFS.
One of the main problems the two JFSs
faced was that often people had no clue
Cover Story
From left, Leon and Goldita Veiser and Marta Felberbaum and Olga Jaeger meet for lunch, entertainment, and understanding at Caf Europa, a program that both JFS agencies offer.
agencies developed differently, with different strengths and weaknesses. To have

the community split as it was well, she
said, she didnt use the word schizophrenic
COURTESY JEWISH HOME FAMILY
about which JFS to call when they needed

counseling, or meals on wheels, or support groups, or referrals, or any of the
many other support, mental health, and
other services JFS provides.
They both offered excellent services,
but not the same services, and there has
to be equal access to equally excellent services, Ms. Glass said. It was complicated
for synagogues and schools when they
made referrals. We want it to be clear.
When people need JFS, they really need it.
I feel that we all have just fixed a
13-year-long communal challenge.
We also believe that the idea is to use
as much of the communal dollars toward
the mission as possible, Mr. Shames said.
When the two federations merged, we
were able to eliminate redundancies, and
then we had more money to use toward
the mission. We didnt need two accounting departments, for example. This JFS
merger is not at all about saving money,
but we do believe that efficiencies will give
us more for the mission.
This is not the first time that there has
been an effort to merge the JFSs. It is,
in fact, the fourth time. The first was in
2003, as part of the federation merger.
That went nowhere; two subsequent
efforts also stalled.
Now, enough time has gone by, Ms.
Glass said. And the board determined that
Jason had a mandate to do it. It was a high
priority.
We were trying to further unify the community, and the outcome is going to exceed
everyones expectations, she concluded.
We are not putting the two JFSs
together, Mr. Shames said. We are making a new one.
Mr. Shames and Ms. Glass did a great
deal of research as they hunted for a consultant who could work with them on
shaping the new organization. We wanted
someone who had both business and organizational development background,
Mr. Shames said. They found their ideal
in Debra Brosan, a Pennsylvania-based
management consultant who specialized
not only in organizational and leadership
development but did a great deal of work
in the Jewish and nonprofit sectors.
In the end, all the planning and the waiting and the strategizing worked. The new
JFS will have a board of 30 people, 15 from
each of the two predecessor agencies. The
new president will be Shira Feuerstein, of
Alpine, who is halfway through her term
at JFS of Hudson and North Bergen; JFS of
North Jerseys president, Allyn Michaelson, is coming to the end of her two-year
tenure. Both of the boards voted on the
merger, Ms. Glass said. One vote was
unanimous, and the other was unanimous
except for one abstention.
All the members of the new board
are from one of the two old boards, Mr.
Shames said. We need continuity and
institutional memory. Thats the challenge
of creating something new.
You want to start with a clean slate, but
Moshe Strakhman has developed a strong bond with Dennis Gralla, who brings
him and his wife food through Kosher Meals on Wheels.
you dont want to erase everything that

has come before.
It was hard for some of the people who
had been on the boards of the predecessor
agencies to accept that they would have to
give up their active status for a position
on an honorary board, but you always
have to keep your eyes on the prize, Mr.
Shames said.
The leadership volunteer their time
because they care so much, Ms. Glass
said. Sometimes that got lost in the process, but it came through in the end.
I have met some of the most extraordinary laypeople, she continued. I am
amazed by their altruism, their philanthropy, their willingness to do hard work.
Transcending work. It took a lot of angst
and time and energy to get to where we
are now, and I say kol hakavod to them.
Convincing everyone of the need for the
merger was hard work for all, including the
federations top professionals, and at times
it seemed that the goal was unreachable.
When it finally happened, I felt like Rocky
Balboa at the end of Rocky II, Mr. Shames
said. Bloody but unbowed. And happy.
Susan Greenbaum is the executive
director of the JFS of Bergen and North

Hudson, and Leah Kaufman holds that
position at the JFS of North Jersey. Ms.
Greenbaum will become the director of
the new JFCS of Northern New Jersey.
Its been an amazing process, and I
have gained an enormous appreciation
for the leadership of our community, she
said. The fact that were arrived at this
spot is really remarkable. Not because it
was rocket science to see that we should
do this objectively, from a financial and
social service standpoint, it makes perfect
sense but we were working with boards
of directors and trustees that have evolved
over decades in different ways. Both the
agencies are really quite different from
each other, so their coming together is a
task that everyone involved should take
enormous credit for. It really required
commitment and dedication.
The system was confusing and seemed
unfair, she said, echoing Mr. Shames and
Ms. Glass. Its schizophrenic. People
would call and say, I live in Fair Lawn and
its not fair that I cant get what my friend
in Teaneck gets.
It wasnt all one way, either. The
In fact, the
agencies work
for anyone
who calls them;
they specialize
in the Jewish
community but
are in no way
confined there.
lightly. For a community mental health
service to behave this way she said.
The North Jersey JFS had a grant that
allowed them to put social workers in synagogues and schools; now both JFSs can
use that grant, she said. And we have a
program we call school-based services.
Basically we do afterschool care in four
public schools lower schools and middle schools in Fort Lee, Cliffside Park, Fairview, and Palisades Park for children
whose parents are working.
This work helps support our agency
its done using government grants
and it generates a lot of mental health
service work, she said. We are doing a
lot of psychotherapy for these kids and
their parents.
These arent Jewish kids, Ms. Greenbaum said. In fact, the agencies work for
anyone who calls them; they specialize in
the Jewish community but are in no way
confined there. We serve everybody, and
we receive county funding for a lot of our
senior services, she said. Our philosophy
is that by serving everybody, we are able to
Cover Story
it will be able to direct it.
She remembers beginning her volunteer
work delivering meals on wheels. I had
one woman who always had me sit with
her for 10 minutes or so, because I was her
only contact to the outside world that day,
she said. She would talk to her family on
the phone, but no one lived nearby. I went
about once a week; other people went
other days, and I assume she did that with
all of them.
Sit down for a few minutes, rest your
feet, shed tell me. I know youve been
running around.
I knew that she was looking forward to
people walking through the door with a
meal and a smile.
JFS adapts to whats needed in the community, she said. Every month the food
pantry seems to be serving more people.
You think that there isnt a need for it in
Bergen County but there is.
And the breadth of our service grows
constantly. We have Re-Launch, to help
people get back in the work force, helping
them with resumes and interview skills. I
personally have had friends who used that
service and found it really valuable.
We offer mental health counseling, family counseling, bereavement
offer a total safety net for the Jewish community. We can be robust in what we do.
Allyn Michaelson is excited about the
merger, and glad that she could oversee it
from her agencys side. Everyone in the
federation catchment area should have
equal access to our services, she said.
Our hope is that the new agency will
make one plus one equal three.
Its wrong to think that there are no real
needs in the Jewish community of Bergen,
Passaic, and Hudson counties, she said.
Unemployment, illness, or emotional setback can strike anywhere. Anyone of any
age could wake up and need our services,
she said. Thats why both agencies have
used the tag line Were here when you
need us.
Our expectation is that the new
agency will exceed the excellence both
agencies have provided for over 70 years
and continue to be the safety net for our
community.
Shira Feuerstein is looking forward to
working with the combined board and
helping to support this new, larger social
service agency, she said.
The guesswork about who to call will
end, she said. We plan to have one central number, and the person who answers
e
k
counseling; a group for people who have

suffered miscarriages, a group for people
who have lost children. When people call
us, we say, How can we help? We dont
say, We dont do that. Our professionals
try to identify how they best can help.
David Goodman is a former president of
the JFS of North Jersey and of the merged
federation.
Mr. Goodman lives in Paramus, and so
logically should have been affiliated with
the other JFS, but because he grew up in
Fair Lawn and because his parents, Roz
and Larry, both were active in the federation and JFS there, his heart was there.
(Although the main reason for the merger
was not to clear the emotional confusion
that people like Mr. Goodman feel about
where they really belong, its a very useful
side effect.)
Mr. Goodman knows how merging two
organizations to create a third new one
feels because he was an integral part of the
merger that formed the Jewish Federation
of Northern New Jersey.
I was part of that process, and the idea
was that once the federations merged,
to be able to serve the entire community
better, the next step would be to bring
together those organizations that provided
similar services so the entire community

could benefit, he said.
That took time. There were issues
with the federation merger that had to be
worked out, and there were leadership
changes in both the professional and the
lay sides, he said. But eventually federation said okay, now its time. The two
agencies have to put aside whatever cultural differences might have existed for the
good of the community.
North Jersey specialized in counseling and social services, particularly for
divorced families and children. Bergen
focused more on social programming,
abuse victims, afterschool programs, and
the food pantry. There was some overlap,
but there were a lot of things on each side
that could have been offered in the other
agency, and now it will be, now that its
one agency.
Also, he added, there was part of the
community that was not getting access
to services at all. Its the part of Bergen
County he called between the lakes, as
in Woodcliff and Franklin. Now everyplace
in the federations catchment area will be
in the JFS catchment area as well.
Its a very good thing, Mr. Goodman
said.
HILARIOUS & MOVING.
;
e
h
t
y
.
Monica lands line after funny line.
Jewish Week
Tradition is a funny thing...
A New Comedy
Written by & Starring
Monica Piper
Photo by Carol Rosegg
Directed by
Wednesday, December 14 7:30PM
Mark
Waldrop
GO SEE THIS SHOW.
Get Tickets Now
Rosie ODonnell
TELECHARGE.COM
212.239.6200
NEW WORLD STAGES 340 W. 50th St.
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For Tickets Visit www.bergenpac.org or Call (201) 227-1030
Gallery
1
n 1 A large contingent of hockey fans joined Areyvut at a
recent Devils game at the Prudential Center in Newark.
COURTESY DEVILS PHOTOGRAPHER
n 2 At a recent Jewish Federation of Northern New Jerseys

Jewish Community Relations Committee program, Jeff
Mendelsohn, left, CEO of Israel Seminar USA and executive
director of the Foundation Stone Institute, was the guest
speaker. He discussed the demographic trends that led to
the recent presidential election results and the impact of
the election on anti-Semitism and the U.S.-Israel
relationship. The program chair, Arlene Weiss, and JCRC
chair Ron Rosensweig are with him. COURTESY JFNNJ
n 3 Miriam Goldfarb, right, a Jewish Home Assisted Living
resident, is pictured with Avi Kawalsky and Suzanne Anziska
(Ms. Goldfarbs granddaughter), and their son, (Ms.
Goldfarbs great-grandson), Natie Kawalsky. JHAL residents,
families, and children enjoyed a day of crafts, and
intergenerational activities last month at a Sunday Funday
program. COURTESY JEWISH HOME FAMILY
n 4 Children surround author Leah Escott after she read her

new book, Rosey Raises Roses, at the Bergenfield Public
Library. The illustrated book includes topics about career
choices, destiny, and tradition. Leah, her husband, Reuven,
and four children are longtime members of Congregation
Beth Abraham in Bergenfield and active members of the
Bergenfield/Teaneck Jewish community. PHOTO PROVIDED
n 5 Temple Beth Sholom of Fair Lawns Mens Club held its
annual veterans recognition program. Harry Feinberg of
Elmwood Park, center, a World War II veteran who served in
4
General Pattons 4th Armored Division, which fought in the
Battle of the Bulge and liberated Ohrdruf and Buchenwald,
spoke. With Mr. Feinberg and his wife, Edie, are Allyn Michaelson, who led the interview with
Mr. Feinberg; mens club co-president Andrew Sorger; Fair Lawn council member Lisa Swain;
Mayor John Cosgrove; mens club co-president Steven Bernstein, and council member Kurt
Peluso. Congregants and community veterans, including members of Fair Lawn Jewish War
Veterans Post #651, also attended. COURTESY TBS
n 6 The heBREWS a group of Temple Emanu-El of Closter members who live in Manhattan
and surrounding areas meet monthly to enjoy a beer with the shuls clergy. Recently they
joined Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner at a kickoff event at Atwood NY in Manhattan. COURTESY EMANUEL
n 7 BCHSJS students traveled to Broadway to see a production of Fiddler on the Roof.

COURTESY BCHSJS
n 8 Rabbi David Fine of Temple Israel & JCC in Ridgewood, center, is shown with his family;
from left, his father, Rabbi Robert, his wife, Alla, their sons, Laurence and Ariel, and his mother,
Helene. They were at a celebration to mark the publication of Rabbi Fines latest book,
Passionate Centrism: One Rabbis Judaism with a launch party at the synagogue last month.
He will lead a series of free lectures on the book starting January 22. COURTESY TIJCC
7
Dvar Torah
Vayeitzei: Messengers and places
am a congregational rabbi and I run.

Not for my health or for exercise. I
run from hospital bedside to training a bat mitzvah student to sermon writing to Torah study to moments
of prayer to life-cycle celebrations. Most of
what I do I consider sacred work that I am
privileged to undertake, but sometimes I
am so busy running I cannot stop to see
the holiness of the place I am in.
At the start of this weeks Torah portion, Vayeitzei, our ancestor Jacob is running. He is running away from the father
he deceived and the brother he undermined. He is running away from the person that he was. He is running toward his
future, to his wives-and-children-to-be,
to the person he will yet become. He is
so busy running that he hardly cares or
notices where he stops for the night. To
him, its just some place, a makom. He
pulls up a rock, puts down his head, and
goes to sleep.
And, boom, then it happens. A dream,
a ladder of ascending and descending
messengers of God, angels even, and a
promise from God of land and descendants and protection and return. Jacob
awakens and proclaims, Wow! God is
in this place and I didnt even know it!
volunteers bring around

How awesome this place
extra bananas and cookies
is. And he names it Beit El,
and coffee, guests can get
the house of God. This happens at this random spot
legal assistance from NYU
he stopped for the night.
law students and clothes
And so from this we learn
from the collection closet,
that any place, any makom,
and everyone is treated with
can be a place where we
kavod, dignity and respect.
can experience Gods PresOur seventh graders, along
Rabbi David
ence. The rabbis and myswith the other volunteers,
S. Widzer
tics extend that idea into
were magnificent that night.
Temple Beth El of
the notion that Makom can
Under the caring guidance of
Northern Valley,
even be a name for God, the
the HUC JIR students who
Closter, Reform
Omnipresent One, the One
run the soup kitchen, we
Who Is In Every Place.
served nearly 120 people that
My rabbinic running last week took me
night. Our Jewish values were manifest in
to the soup kitchen housed in the baseeach plate of hot food, each warm smile,
ment conference level of Hebrew Union
each kind conversation.
College Jewish Institute of Religion in
Near the end of the meal service, one
Manhattan. When I was a student at HUC
of the guests approached me, asking for
JIR, we would explain to visiting groups
an extra carton of milk. He was taller
that the seminary building had classrooms
than I am, with a knit cap over his graying
for learning Judaism, a chapel for prayhair, well-worn jeans, and a T-shirt, flaning Judaism, and a soup kitchen for livnel shirt, hoodie, and jacket keeping him
ing Judaism. My congregation takes our
warm. A large white cross dangled from a
seventh- grade class to this soup kitchen
chain about his neck.
so they can bring to life Isaiahs teachI went looking for an extra carton, runing to share our bread with the hungry.
ning back to the kitchen and storeroom,
Its a soup kitchen that is more like a resbut we had given away all the milk we had
taurant, where guests are served at their
that night. I ran back to the dining room
and found him near the exit, about to head

back up from the basement to the outside
world. I told him I was sorry, we had no
more milk that night.
He smiled. Thats all right. I found a
carton on another table. And besides, I
got a new pair of jeans from the clothing
closet. Im gonna be OK. He shook my
hand and said, God bless you, brother!
With those words hanging in the air, he
left, ascending back up the staircase he
had descended half an hour before.
And, boom, I stopped running. It didnt
take a rock for a pillow or a dream in the
night. That messenger of the Most High,
in the guise of a hungry man in need of a
hot meal, had blessed us. I was so focused
on helping him and the other guests that
I almost missed it. He had offered a blessing for me, for all of us, as surely as God
offered a blessing for Jacob.
I know that the work of a soup kitchen
is holy work. I know that the basement of
my seminary is a sacred place. But I was
reminded that night, as I was reminded
in studying the words of Vayeitzei this
week, that anywhere can be a makom
where Gods Presence can be felt. We
just have to stop running long enough
to notice.
Mazel tov to our friend
Coming soon.
Very soon!
Steve Morey
GreenberG
on being honored by
bnos Menachem
The Jewish Standard
Jewish World
Crossword
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN BY YONI GLATT
At Jerusalem Jewish media summit,

focus is on Israeli-diaspora divide
ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL
JERUSALEM I was in Israel for 36 hours
before I saw daylight. Which can only
mean one of three things:
1. The weather was lousy.
2. I am speaking metaphorically.
3. I am at a conference in the sub-basement of a Jerusalem hotel.
Heres a hint: The weather is fine, and
while apparently theres plenty of sunshine, theres not much clarity when it
comes to the big issues afflicting this small
place.
The Jerusalem Jewish Media Summit is
a four-day affair run by Israels ministries
for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs
and the Government Press Office. Despite
a name that should give the alt-right
conniption fits, the Jewish media in this
sense refers not to the global conspiracy
but to folks like me, working for Jewish newspapers, websites, news services
and radio stations. Among the 50 people
attending are editors and reporters from
Canada, Romania, Germany, Uruguay,
Turkey, Belgium, and France.
Although the diaspora is represented in
all its far-flung glory, the concerns of the
American media and their Jewish readers
dominated the early days of the conference. There was a panel discussion on the
stalled agreement promising a new egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall,
another on the impact of the Trump election, and a third on whether the Chicago
Cubs World Series victory represented a
harbinger of the coming of the Messiah. I
am lying about the third thing, although I
did have a serious discussion with a colleague about whether the Cubs championship represented such a tear in the timespace continuum that we slipped into an
alternative universe in which a TV reality
show host became president and picked a
neurosurgeon as HUD secretary.
The summit is designed to build, or
maybe repair, a connection between the
diaspora and Israel, a connection that
many here feel has frayed in recent years.
More than one speaker pointed out the
gap between the largely liberal American
Jewish polity, which gave 70 percent of its
vote to the Democratic candidate in the
recent election, and the Israeli electorate,
which seems content with a right-wing
government that is expected to remain
in power until Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahus baby grandson starts collecting Social Security.
The Western Wall agreement is both
symbol and cause of this breach: As Rabbi
Naama Kelman, dean of the Reform movements Hebrew Union College here, put it,
It is amazing how much American Jews
have continued to love and respect Israel
considering the terrible things that have
been said about them by politicians and
the chief rabbi.

The agreement to create an alternative space where non-Orthodox men and
women could pray at the wall according
to their own customs was reached nearly
a year ago but has not been implemented.
The Orthodox Chief Rabbinate and the
charedi Orthodox parties that are crucial
to Netanyahus coalition oppose the deal.
Asked during a luncheon appearance
whether the failure to implement the deal
represented a lack of political courage,
Naftali Bennett, the minister of education and of diaspora affairs, said bluntly,
Thats correct.
Bennett himself represents all the conflicts and contradictions of the diaspora
by which I mean American Jewish relationship with Israel. The son of parents
who made aliyah from the liberal redoubt
of Berkeley, California, Bennett leads Jewish Home, perhaps Israels most hawkish
nationalist party. Bennett said he would
place the diaspora-Israel divide among
his top three priorities, after national
security and educating Israels peripheral
populations.
The average Israeli doesnt think much
about diaspora affairs, he said. Bennett
said hed like to change that to ensure a
viable future for both Israelis and Jews
in the diaspora.
At the same time, Bennett remains perhaps the biggest skeptic, to put it mildly, of
the two-state solution, which is consistently
supported by a majority of American Jews,
the kinds of politicians they keep voting
for and the organizations they give money
to. Instead of a Palestinian state, Bennett
believes in applying Israeli law to that
is, essentially annexing the settlements
in Area C of the West Bank. As for the Palestinians, he proposes giving them autonomy on steroids, in which they would run
most of their own affairs, while Israel would
extend a sort of Marshall Plan in helping
build their economy and tourism.
Bennett said he knows that kind of plan
is unpopular among liberal and centrist
Jews abroad and alienates them, but said
he learned as a high-tech executive that a
customer can accept bad news if it is the
truth. At least I am not fudging.
His ideological opposite spoke earlier
in the day, and made the kind of case for
a two-state solution that would go over
ecstatically well in most non-Orthodox
American synagogues. Stav Shaffir of
the ailing Labor Party was the youngest
women ever elected to the Knesset, and at
32 she still looks like the president of your
average college Hillel.
Israel will be so much more secure
when Israel has a clear border, Shaffir
said, excoriating Netanyahus government
in an on-stage interview. They know it,
but they are afraid of telling the truth.
SEE SUMMIT PAGE 55
KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MANAGEABLE
Across
1. Fred Wilpon (MLB)
5. Joseph has a (long) one with
his brothers
9. Fragrant wood used in the Temple
14. New Israeli
15. Paulas American Idol cojudge DioGuardi
16. Holy Land bank
17. Mark Cuban (NBA)
19. Undercover (like a Mossad agent),
for short
20. Apple pie option that would also
work on hot babka
21. Meas. when making challah
23. ___ and Ktiv
24. What Trump might end for
Syrian rebels
25. Julia Louis-Dreyfus HBO show
26. Like 59-Down
27. Ramallah grp.
30. Lovato who claims to have
Jewish ancestry
32. Conference foe of 70-Across &
57-Down
34. Broadcasts (The Goldbergs)
36. ___ il tas (Ladino Chanukah song)
37. Radio psychologist Westheimer
41. What an Israeli heat wave will eventually do
43. Currency abbr. in Israel
45. Coppola who directed Scarlett
Johansson in Lost in Translation
46. Shabbat prayer
48. ___ Yisrael (Moshav)
50. Sefer read on Yom Kippur
51. Had some kreplach
52. Jewish actress Jennifer
54. Allenby and Yefet in Tel Aviv: Abbr.
55. Quick punch from Tyson or Baer
58. Regrets, like Antiochus IV for
oppressing the Jews
60. Old French coin, worth a few agorot
62. Simian opponent of 55-Down
63. A mean Amin
64. Like G-d
68. Lenny Solomon shlocked his Rock
Me Amadeus
70. Dan & Gary Gilbert (NBA)
72. Coastal town south of Haifa
73. 4-Down in English
74. Sneaker brand or Israeli storage company
75. Observes Shabbat
76. The Gershwins It ____
Necessarily So
77. Micky Arison (NBA)
Down
1. N.Y.C. locale where Chagalls
hung around
2. Plane that might have a sky-high
minyan
3. Israeli footwear brand
4. Bedtime prayer
5. Spun out (unlikely Arad road occurrence)
6. Tempo (of Torah reading)
7. Tablet holder
8. Sample sufganiyot
9. Steve Balmer (NBA)
10. Dark time for Keats or Lazarus
11. Henry Samueli (NHL)
12. Early rabbi
13. Like one who very strictly keeps halacha
18. Rage that might have been displayed
by Barry Bonds or Ryan Braun
22. Sondheims ___ in the Clowns
25. Zygi & Mark Wilf (NFL)
27. Lulav provider
28. In ___ of (wine, use grape juice)
29. Shabbat leftovers?
31. Adam, e.g.
33. 2004 Brad Pitt- Orlando Bloom film
35. Shushan
38. Ships in several Spielberg films:
Abbr.
39. Krusty the Klowns green hair, e.g.
40. Shira of Shtisel
42. Robert Kraft (NFL)
44. Former title for Rabbi Sacks
47. Clash between Judah and Israel, e.g.
49. Boot up the Dell again
53. Singer Sharabi
55. Foe of Scott Weingers Aladdin
56. Taper off, like the end of a simcha
57. Jerry Reinsdorf (NBA)
59. See 26-Across
61. Ill-fated husband of Bathsheba
64. Singers ___ and Jaron
65. Wolfs Party of Five costar Campbell
66. Any solo from Salome
67. Exam before Cardozo, for short
69. Future staff at Ramah: Abbr.
71. OU preceders?
The solution to last weeks puzzle

is on page 55.
Arts & Culture

Caption
Jubilant Israeli basketball players celebrate after their stunning 1977 upset of the Soviet Union team.
On the Map
ERIC A. GOLDMAN
ani Menkins film On the

Map opens tonight in
New York.
It is not only a film about
one of the great underdog
dramas in sports, it also is
the story of Israels quest for recognition as
a nation among the nations.
Sixty-nine years ago last month, Jews
around the world were anxiously waiting
to hear the results of the vote on Resolution 181 at the United Nations in New York.
It was a vote about partition of mandatory
Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states. In the weeks before the vote,
it appeared that there simply were not
enough votes from the then 56 members
in favor of partition. Lots of backroom
maneuvering and arm twisting would
ensue, but when the vote took place on
November 29, the world body voted in
favor of partition. When the British were
about to leave the following May, there was
sharp debate within the Jewish leadership
about whether to declare a Jewish sovereign state, because support around the
world seemed tepid.
In spite of this, David Ben-Gurion, who
would become the new

countrys first prime minister, proclaimed the existence of the State of Israel
on May 14. He knew full
well that many countries
around the world were
not prepared to accept the
new nation into the world
community.
Ben-Gurion defied outside efforts to delay declaration of the new state. He
understood that there were
many forces working against the recognition of Israel, just as there had been in
the fall of 1947. The Soviet Union made
clear that it would recognize Israel, but
the United States appeared not inclined to
do so. The CIA and the State Department
boldly advised against creating a state,
claiming that it was ill advised and making
it fairly clear that creation of a state would
be rebuffed here. Zionist leaders understood that getting American approval,
and with that Americas friendship, was
most important. They also knew that the
task was a daunting one. We now know
that at one point President Harry Truman
was under such pressure from American
Jewish and World Zionist

leaders to extend United
States recognition to the
new state that he simply
stopped seeing Jewish representatives. Finally, with
some coercion from the
presidents former business
partner, Eddie Jacobson,
Truman agreed to sit with
Chaim Weizmann.
The result of that meeting
would be a diplomatic coup,
recognition of the State of
Israel by the United States. Recognition
from Israels neighbors and from countries
around the world was and still remains a
key issue for Israel.
So from the very beginning, Israelis
understood that many nations around
the world had no interest in recognizing
a Jewish state. What did Israel try to do
to change attitudes? They sent shlichim
(emissaries) to Asia and Africa. Israeli doctors volunteered in far-off places. Israelis
shared technology with third world countries. The idea was If you get to know us,
you will like us!
And then there was sports!
Just five years after the Olympic tragedy
in Munich, Israel fielded a basketball team

that had every hope of making it to the
finals at the 1977 European Cup, a competition typically dominated at the time
by Spain and the U.S.S.R. But as the athletic event moved forward, the question
about recognition arose again. The Russians, now 29 years after their enthusiastic endorsement of the new state, had
broken relations with Israel, and so the
Soviet team refused to play the Israelis.
How could negotiations bring the teams
together? If it succeeded, how would the
Israelis fare against a much more seasoned
Russian team?
It defied all logic that an Israeli team
spearheaded by New Jersey-born Israeli
new immigrant Tal Brody, joined by a
broad mix of players of all religions and colors, could be so good that they could challenge the best in European basketball. But
at that magic moment, Israel seemed ready.
Though the final Euro Cup would be
played and won against Spain, it was Israels game against the U.S.S.R. that was the
most historic. Refusing to allow the Israelis to play in Russia, the Soviets finally
agreed to play on neutral ground in Belgium. Before the game, coach Ralph Klein,
a Holocaust survivor, told his players, We
are fighting for our country as well as for
the thousands of Jews who cannot immigrate to Israel because of Soviet policy.
Lets beat the Soviet bear.
A lot seemed to be on the line that
day, as David went into the arena to play
against Goliath. Once again, David would
win. On the court after the victory, an
excited Tal Brody announced Israel is ON
THE MAP, not just in sport, but in everything. Its noteworthy that his words were
not we are the best, but rather a statement that time was ripe for Israels recognition in all spheres.
This is but one of the fascinating stories that filmmaker Dani Menkin brings to
the screen in his superb On the Map. It
is a delightful feel-good film that includes
interviews with Brody, several of the other
players, NBA great Bill Walton, Ambassador Michael Oren and Natan Sharansky.
What is exceptional about Menkins
film is that this is not just about Maccabi
Tel Avivs quest for the win. It is about a
deflated post-Yom Kippur War Israel that
despite the heroic Entebbe rescue a year
earlier was feeling pushed away by a world
trying to ostracize it. On that basketball
court, Brody, Aulcie Perry, Miki Berkovich,
and their teammates were vying for recognition and acceptance.
The victory against the U.S.S.R. and later
against Spains team, as Brody noted, succeeded in putting Israel on the map.
Eric Goldman teaches and lectures on
cinema. He is adjunct professor of cinema
at Yeshiva University and the founder of
Ergo Media.
Calendar
deli dinner follows the
movie. East 304 Midland
Ave. Dinner reservations,
(201) 262-7691.
Elon Altman
Chanukah fun in
Closter: Temple Emanu-
Family Chanukah
program in New
Milford: Solomon
Eli Lebowicz
Estihana Asian Restaurant & Sushi in

Teaneck welcomes patrons to two shows
featuring comedians Elon Altman and Eli
Lebowicz on Saturday, December 10; the
first is at 7 p.m. and the second at 9. It costs $50 a
person and includes Estihanas buffet dinner. Tax and
gratuity are extra. 515 Cedar Lane. For reservations, call
(201) 530-5665 or go to www.estihana.com.
DEC.
10
inaugurates its capital

campaign event with
a dessert reception at
Congregation Keter
Torah in Teaneck, 8 p.m.
600 Roemer Ave. Steve@
foxmarketing.com.
Friday
DECEMBER 9
Nursery school open
house in Tenafly:
The Leonard and Syril
Rubin Nursery School
at the Kaplen JCC on
the Palisades has an
open house, 9:30 a.m.;
the next one is set for
January 13. 411 E. Clinton
Ave. (201) 408-1436 or
eyurowitz@jccotp.org.
Saturday
DECEMBER 10
Sunday
DECEMBER 11
Academies at Gerrard
Berman Day School hold
a havdalah drum circle
with a performance by
Musical IQ. Crafts, and
snacks, 6:15 p.m. 45
Spruce St. (201) 337-1111,
ext. 208, or Wblom@ssnj.
org.
Rock Jewish Center for

a holiday gift boutique,
10 a.m.-3 p.m., with
clothing jewelry, Judaica,
and gifts for all ages
and occasions. 682
Harristown Road. (201)
652-6624 or office@grjc.
org.
Rabbi Alex Israel
Rabbi Dr. Meir Sendor

Shabbat in Teaneck:
Cantor Ellen Tilem
and beccs Gastfriend
Chanukah benefit
concert in Teaneck:
Cantor Ellen Tilem sings
Hebrew, Yiddish, and
cantorial music with
special guest Becca
beccs Gastfriend, a
jazz and soul singer, to
benefit Sharsheret at
Temple Emeth, 8 p.m.
1666 Windsor Road.
(201) 833-1322.
Fundraiser for
Holocaust education:
The Northern New Jersey
Holocaust Memorial and
Education Committee
Rabbi Alex Israel of

Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi
discusses Jewish
Violence: Empowerment
or Endangerment: A
Massacre or a Justified
Retribution? at
Congregation Rinat
Yisrael in Teaneck,
8:50 a.m. 389 West
Englewood Ave.
(201) 837-2795.
Holiday boutique in
Tenafly: The Early
Childhood Parent
Association at Temple
Sinai of Bergen County
holds a boutique,
9:30 a.m.2:30 p.m.,
to benefit the early
childhood center here.
Items include jewelry,
accessories, womens and
childrens apparel, books,
skincare, and gifts. 1
Engle St . (201) 568-6867.
Breaking down
stereotypes: Allison
Josephs, founder/
director of Jew in the
City, which works to
break down stereotypes
about religious Jews,
talks about Project
Makom at Congregation
Beth Aaron in
Teaneck, 8:15 p.m. 950
Queen Anne Road.
(201) 836-6210.
Monday
DECEMBER 12
Book review: The

sisterhood of the Fair
Lawn Jewish Center/
CBI meets to discuss
War Brides by Helen
Bryan, 10 a.m. Breakfast.
10-10 Norma Ave.
(201) 796-5040.
Poetry reading in
Teaneck: Awardwinning poet Yehoshua
November celebrates
the publication of his
new book of poems,
Two Worlds Exist, in
a conversation with
Sandee Brawarsky
at Congregation
Beth Sholom, 11 a.m.
Refreshments. 354
Maitland Ave.
(201) 833-2620.
Film in Paramus:
The JCC of Paramus/
Congregation Beth
Tikvah shows The
Butler, with Forest
Whitaker and Oprah
Winfrey, 3 p.m. Optional
Wednesday
DECEMBER 14
Dealing with the
holidays: Temple
Emanuel of the Pascack
Valley in Woodcliff Lake
continues its Keruv
series with a discussion,
The Holidays in All
Our Families: How We
Deal!, led by Rabbi
Leanna Moritt, at the
shul, 7:30 p.m. The
program was developed
by the Federation of
Jewish Mens Clubs to
help couples, parents,
extended families, and
synagogues deal with
interfaith relationships
and marriage. 87
Overlook Drive.
(201) 391-0801 or keruv@
tepv.org.
Ceramics for Chanukah:
Gift boutique in Glen

Rock: Come to the Glen
Shabbat in Oakland: The
Judaism and violence:
Rabbi Dr. Meir Sendor

talks about Shabbat of
the Holy Quantum Field
for an adult education
program at Congregation
Rinat Yisrael, after
mincha, 4:15 p.m. Rabbi
Sendor is director/
facilitator of Tal Orot, a
Jewish contemplative
society dedicated to the
refinement of spiritual
and ethical awareness
through authentic Jewish
meditation practices and
study. He is the rabbi
emeritus of Young Israel
of Sharon, Mass. 389
West Englewood Ave.
(201) 837-2795.
Schechter Day School

of Bergen County
continues Sundays at
Schechter, a communitywide Jewish family
series, with Dreamcoat
Experience, 10 a.m.
The troupe engages
children through song,
movement, storytelling,
circus games, dance,
puppetry, and yoga.
Booktique, with live
storytelling, Legobuilding, face-painting,
and refreshments will
follow. 275 McKinley
Ave. (201) 262-9898, or
www.ssdsbergen.org/
schechter-rocks.
El hosts the Chanukah

Bubble Show and
offers dinner catered
by Northern Valley
Affairs, and crafts, 5 p.m.
180 Piermont Road.
(201) 750-9997 or www.
TempleEmanu-El.com.
Parkinsons and their

families on December 15.
Englewood Hospital and
Medical Center is at 350
Engle St. Reservations,
(201) 784-1414, ext. 5538.
Chabad Womens Circle

of Teaneck invites you
to a pre-Chanukah
event, 8 p.m. Ceramic
art project with artist
Ksenija Pecaric, trivia,
wine and cheese, and
crepe bar. 513 Kenwood
Place. (201) 907-0686 or
rivkygoldin@gmail.com.
Debbie Slevin
Thursday
Author in Wayne:
DECEMBER 15
Debbie Slevin discusses

her book, UnPregnant
Pause: Where Are the
Babies? at the Wayne
YMCA during Lunch and
Learn, noon. The Wayne
Y is a branch of the
Metropolitan YMCA of
the Oranges, which is a
partner of the YM-YWHA
of North Jersey. 1 Pike
Drive. www.wayneymca.
org.
Jews and genetics/

Parkinsons Disease:
The Jewish Home
Family, the Michael J.
Fox Foundation, and
Englewood Hospital and
Medical Center present a
lecture, Is Parkinsons a
Jewish genetic disease?
at the hospital. Dessert
is before the program
at 7 p.m. Lecture by
Dr. Lana Chahine,
instructor of neurology,
Parkinsons disease, and
movement disorders
at the University of
Pennsylvania. A questionand-answer session will
follow. The Jewish Home
Family is developing a
Center of Excellence in
the care of Parkinsons,
and will begin a support
group for people with
Parkinsons support:
The Jewish Home
Family launches a
support group for
people with a diagnosis
of Parkinsons Disease,
their families, and
caregivers, at the Jewish
Home at Rockleigh,
10:30 a.m. Jerry Ratner,
who heads a successful
Parkinsons support
group in Haworth, will
lead; it will meet the
third Thursday of every
month. A representative
of the Michael J.
Fox Foundation for
Parkinsons Research will
be at the kickoff session.
(201) 784-1414, ext.
5538, or parkinsons@
jewishhomefamily.org.
Facts on American
presidents: The Bergen
County YJCC Senior
Lunch program meets
to learn interesting facts
about our presidents with
Dr. James Kane at Temple
Beth Or in Washington
Township, 10:30 a.m.
Kosher lunch at noon
followed by mah jongg,
canasta, and dominoes.
56 Ridgewood Road.
(201) 666-6610, ext. 2.
Calendar
Torah on Tap: The Glen
Rock Jewish Center
continues its Torah
on Tap series with a
meeting at the Greek
Taverna, 8 p.m. 175
Rock Road, Glen Rock.
(201) 652-6624, or
office@grjc.org.
Friday
DECEMBER 16
Chanukah discussion:
The Bergen County YJCC
Senior Lunch program
meets to learn about
Chanukah with Rabbi
Bob Mark of the Clifton
Jewish Center at Temple
Beth Or in Washington
Township, noon. Kosher
lunch. 56 Ridgewood
Road. (201) 666-6610.
Shabbat in Wayne:
Temple Beth Tikvah has
Chanukah dinner and
services, 6 p.m. Childrens
crafts. 950 Preakness
Ave. Reservations,
(973) 595-6565.
Shabbat in Woodcliff
Lake: Temple Emanuel of
the Pascack Valley has a
Chanukah family service,
7 p.m., with Rabbi Loren
Monosov, Cantor Alan
Sokoloff, Cantor emeritus
Mark Biddelman, the
TEPV Swingin Singers,
and the fourth-grade
class. 87 Overlook Drive.
(201) 391-0801 or www.
tepv.org.
Rabbi Dr. Michael

Berger
Shabbat in Teaneck:
Rabbi Dr. Michael Berger
of Emory University is
scholar-in-residence
at Congregation Rinat
Yisrael. After Kaballat
Shabbat, he will give a
dvar halacha. During
the 8 p.m. oneg, he
will address Charedi
in the Coal Mine: What
the Ultra-Orthodox
Teach Us About Being
Religious in America.
At the 9 a.m. Shabbat
service he will give the
sermon and after Mincha
on Shabbat afternoon
he will talk about Mai
Chanukah? Rav Yitzchak
Hutner on the Revolution
of Chanukah. 389
West Englewood Ave.
(201) 837-2795.
Shabbat in Emerson:
The Mens Club of
Congregation Bnai
Israel hosts its annual
Chanukah dinner,
6:30 p.m. Services

follow. 53 Palisade
Ave. Reservations,
(201) 265-2272 or www.
bisrael.com.
Saturday
DECEMBER 17
Shabbat in Closter:
Temple Emanu-El of
Closter welcomes
scholar-in-residence, Maj.
Gen. (Res.) Meir KlifiAmir, national director/
CEO of Friends of Israel
Defense Forces, who will
discuss Challenges and
Opportunities for Israel
Today, 9 a.m. Dessert
reception follows.
180 Piermont Road.
(201) 750-9997.
Shabbat in Ridgewood:
Temple Israel & JCC
in Ridgewood holds
its annual National
Gun Violence
Prevention Shabbat, in
commemoration of the
fourth anniversary of
the Newtown shooting.
During 9 a.m. services,
Sarah Nanus, founder
of the Bergen County
chapter of Moms
Demand Action for Gun
Sense in America, will
talk about gun violence
and the need for public
involvement. Kiddush
lunch follows. 475 Grove
St. (201) 444-9320 or
www.synagogue.org.
Jewish inclusiveness:
Temple Emeth of
Teanecks Viewpoints
Committee screens
Nicole Oppers film Off
and Running, the story
of an African-American
girl adopted by a
Jewish lesbian family,
2:30 p.m. Viewpoints, a
shul committee that was
formed to celebrate the
diversity of the Jewish
community, includes
programs that highlight
the interfaith, interracial,
and LGBT communities.
1666 Windsor Road.
(201) 833-1322.
Chanukah in Hoboken:
Ammi/My People
Jews By Choice holds
a pre-Chanukah dinner
and Havdalah at the
United Synagogue of
Hoboken, 5 p.m. The
group is for people
who have completed
an introduction to
Judaism course and
are looking for the next
step. Discussions by
USH rabbinic intern
Lindsey Healey-Pollack
and Rabbi Robert
Scheinberg. 115 Park Ave.
(201) 659-4000 or office@
hobokensynagogue.org.
Comedy in Paramus:
The JCC of Paramus/
Congregation Beth
Tikvah hosts a comedy
night starring Robin
Fox and Doug Adler,

8 p.m. Dessert served.
BYO kosher. 304 East
Midland Ave., Paramus.
(201) 262-7691 or www.
jccparamus.org.
Sunday
DECEMBER 18
Chanukah in Woodcliff
Lake: Join members
of Temple Emanuel
of the Pascack Valley
for a pre-Chanukah
celebration featuring
the Bossy Frog Band,
10 a.m. 87 Overlook Ave.
(201) 391-0801 or email
Margie@tepv.org
Chanukah at Home
Depot: Chabad of
Upper Passaic County
partners with Home
Depot in Riverdale for
a Chanukah menorah
workshop, 10-11:30 a.m.
Build a wooden menorah,
get a workers apron
and Chanukah treats.
The Home Depot, 106
Route 23, Riverdale.
(201) 696-7609 or
JewishHighlands.org.
and Temple Emanu-El

of Bayonne. Cooking
demos by the shuls best
latke makers, followed
by a tasting. Take home
recipes. 176 West Side
Ave. bnaijacobjc.com.
Monday
DECEMBER 19
Making our lives
more meaningful:
Rabbi Lazer Gurkow
discusses Planting
Seeds of Happiness
in the Fertile Soil of
Life How Can We
Make Our Lives Deeper
and More Meaningful?
at a farbrengen at
Lubavitch on the
Palisades, 7:30 p.m.
Traditional dinner. 11
Harold St., Tenafly.
www.chabadlubavitch.
org/19kislev or
(201) 871-1152.
Feature film: The Kaplen

JCC on the Palisades
in Tenafly screens
Footnote (Hearat
Shulayim), 7:30 p.m.
Commentary by Andrew
Lazarus, coffee, and
snacks. 411 E. Clinton Ave.
(201) 408-1493 or www.
jccotp.org.
Singles
Thursday
DECEMBER 15
Widows and widowers
meet in Glen Rock:
Movin On, a monthly
luncheon group for
widows and widowers,
meets at the Glen Rock
Jewish Center, 12:30 p.m.
682 Harristown Road.
$5 for lunch. Next
date, January 15.
(201) 652-6624 or email
Binny, arbgr@aol.com.
Sunday
DECEMBER 18
Seniors meet in
Blauvelt: Singles 65+
of the JCC Rockland
meet for lunch at the
Blauvelt Coach Diner,
noon. 587 Route 303.
Individual checks. Gene,
(845) 356-5525.
Announce
your events
We welcome announcements of upcoming events.
Announcements are free.
Accompanying photos must
be high resolution, jpg files.
Send announcements 2 to 3
weeks in advance. Not every
release will be published.
Include a daytime telephone
number and send to:

pr@jewishmediagroup.com
(201) 837-8818, ext. 110
Chanukah in Wyckoff:
Temple Beth Rishon
offers Chanukah Fun
Day with food, drinks,
and activities, including
magic, laser tag, game
truck, and arts and crafts,
11 a.m.1:30 p.m. 585
Russell Ave. Refreshments.
(201) 891-4466 or
bethrishon.org.
Chanukah in Paramus
at ShopRite: Christina
Kamilaris, the registered
dietitian at ShopRite of
Paramus, offers Healthy
Chanukah Appetizers,
11 a.m.-2 p.m., in the
kosher department. The
event is under OU kosher
supervision and with the
stores mashgiach. 224
Route 4 East and Forest
Avenue. (201) 638-8514.
Chanukah at Home
Depot: Chabad of
Hoboken & Jersey
City holds a Chanukah
workshop at Home
Depot in Jersey City,
11:15 a.m. Build a holiday
toolbox and fill it with
your own Chanukah
candles and dreidel,
meet Bob the Builder, eat
Chanukah treats. Parents
need to accompany
children. A project of
The Home Depot with
Chabad of Hoboken &
Jersey City. The Home
Depot, 180 12th St.,
Jersey City. Reservations,
chabadhoboken.com.
clhosting.org.
Chanukah in Jersey
City: Congregation Bnai
Jacob hosts LatkeFest
2016, 4 p.m. Its all about
cooking and eating
latkes with CBJ, Temple
Beth-El of Jersey City,
The Beach Boys
Upcoming shows at bergenPAC

Tickets for upcoming new shows are on
sale at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood. The Beach Boys will
perform on Wednesday, March 29, at
7:30 p.m. In addition to founding Beach
Boy Mike Love (lead vocals) and Beach
Boy veteran Bruce Johnston (vocals/keyboards), the group will include Jeffrey Foskett (guitar/vocals), Brian Eichenburger
(bass/vocals), Tim Bonhomme (keyboards/
vocals), John Cowsill of the Cowsills (percussion /vocals) and Scott Totten (guitar/
vocals).
The Happy Together Tour 2017, on Tuesday, June 20, at 8 p.m., will be highlighted
by Flo and Eddie of the Turtles; they
will be joined by others including Chuck
Negron, formerly of Three Dog Night,
the Cowsills, and Bill Cunningham and
Gary Talley of the Box Tops. Go to www.
The Turtles
ticketmaster.com or call bergenPACs box

office at (201) 227-1030.
Jewish World
Ticks in the margins

How a Baptist pastor unearthed his fathers Holocaust heroism
JEFFREY BARKEN
aster Sgt. Roddie Edmonds

never talked about his
experiences as a prisoner
of war during World War II.
Roddie was captured during the Battle
of the Bulge, survived an arduous march
through frozen terrain, and was interned
for nearly 100 days at Stalag IXA, a POW
camp near Ziegenhain, Germany.
Son, there are some things Id rather
not talk about, Roddie would tell his
boys, Kim and Chris Edmonds, when
they were young. We were humiliated.
When Roddie died in 1985, Chris, now
a Baptist pastor, inherited his fathers
war diaries. The books are a chronological record of POW camp life. Among
other anecdotes, it detailed plans for a
restaurant that Roddie and three of his
compatriots had hoped to open after
the war.
My fathers story
teaches that life
is about all of
us, not one of us.
We need to
esteem others
much more
than ourselves.
CHRIS EDMONDS
Now that his fathers wartime stories are known, Chris said his life has
been turned upside down. The Jewish
Foundation for the Righteous, an organization that identifies non-Jewish rescuers of Holocaust survivors and pays
tribute to their courage, honored Roddies memory on November 28 with the
Yehi Ohr Award during the foundations
annual dinner at the New York City Public Library.
Roddie already had been recognized by
Yad Vashemthe state of Israels official
Holocaust memorial and research instituteas Righteous Among the Nations,
the Israeli name for non-Jewish saviors of
Jews during the Holocaust.
For Chris, there initially was an element of mystery to his fathers writings. He could only guess what the faded
ticks in the margins of the diary entries
referred to. Jewish friends moved out,
Dogs, Before the Commander, Scottish Chaplain, read several of the startling, undated notes.
Those must have been reminder

markers, Chris said. Something happened in the camp that he didnt want to
talk about.
Answers to Chriss questions about his
fathers war record finally began trickling in when he discovered a New York
Times article published in late 2008, in
which Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds is
mentioned. The article rehashed the difficulty that disgraced former President
Richard Nixon experienced in the 1970s,
when he sought a place to live in New
York and found that most prospective
neighbors despised him. Oddly enough,
a lifelong Democrat named Lester Tanner, although fundamentally opposed
to the former Republican presidents
policies, found space in his heart to
forgive Nixon, and offered to sell him
his house. In the 2008 article, Tanner
reflects on how his experiences as a Jewish prisoner of war during World War
II, and specifically the bravery of Roddie Edmonds, saved his life and inspired
his worldview.
Several years passed before Chris
Edmonds managed to track Tanner down.
Not a day goes by that I dont thank
Roddie, Tanner told Chris during their
2013 meeting. The portrait of Roddie that
has emerged from their subsequent conversations, as well as from meetings with
other associated veterans, has unlocked
the stories behind the mysterious notes
in the margins of Roddies diary. Before
the Commander, it turns out, refers to
a display of extraordinary bravery that
saved the lives of nearly 200 AmericanJewish POWs.
In January 1945, Tanner told Chris,
all the Jewish POWs in Stalag IXA
were ordered to report to the parade
ground. Since Roddie was the highestranking non-commissioned officer at
the camp, he had assumed command
of the prisoners. Unwilling to sell out
his fellow soldiers, Roddie ordered his
men, both Jews and non-Jews, to report
in solidarity. The American POWs dutifully followed his order.
The sight of all the camps inmates
standing at attention in front of the barracks stunned and infuriated the German officer, Maj. Siegmann, who had
issued the order. They cannot all be
Jews! he barked.
We are all Jews, Roddie replied.
Blinded by rage, Siegmann pointed his
pistol at Roddies head.
Your father didnt waiver, Tanner
recalled when speaking to Chris. Roddie
told the German commander, according to the Geneva Convention, we only
have to give our name, rank and serial
Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds
number. If you shoot me, youll have to

shoot us all, and when we win the war
you will be tried for war crimes. At this
point, Tanner remembered that the German commander turned white as a
ghost. Then he began to tremble. Eventually, Siegmann lowered his weapon
and retreated from the scene. In the final
days of the war, the POWs self-liberated
the camp and rejoined the approaching
American army.
Over the years, we have worked with
and honored many Holocaust survivors
and their rescuers, but the story of Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds saving 200 Jewish-American soldiers truly distinguishes
the man and leader he was, said Harvey
Schulweis, chairman of the JFR foundation, in a statement on the posthumous
honor for Roddie.
Chris recounted the unexpected call he
received from Stanlee Stahl, JFRs executive vice president.
Is this the real Chris Edmonds? she
asked. Once Chris confirmed his identity, he embarked on an adventure he
had previously only dreamed about. JFR
made it possible for Chris to travel to Germany and retrace his fathers wartime
COURTESY OF CHRIS EDMONDS
path. The more I learn, the more alive

[Roddies] diaries become, Chris said.
Yehi Or, the name of the honor Roddie
received, means let there be light. In
line with the awards name, Chris said he
is pleased that JFR share[d] dads story
with students around the world through
their educational programs.
Chris also has observed a change in his
mission as a Baptist pastor.
Im an ambassador of the Christian
faith to the Jewish world and Im also
an ambassador from the Jewish world to
the Christian world, he said, reflecting
on the close relationships he has forged
with the three 90-year-old Jewish veterans who helped him piece together Roddies story.
While Chris regrets that his father
never told him about his heroic deeds
and couldnt be honored during his lifetime, he knows that a powerful set of
morals resonate in the diaries Roddie
left behind.
My fathers story teaches that life is
about all of us, not one of us, Chris said.
We need to esteem others much more
than ourselves.
JNS.ORG

Obituaries
Rebecca Caston
Rebecca Caston, ne Flam, nearly

106, of Teaneck, formerly of Fort Lee,
died December 6.
Predeceased by her husband,
Harry, and a son, Lawrence; she is
survived by a daughter, Joy Gropper
(George); three children; and seven
great-children.
Donations can be made to the
American Cancer Society. Arrangements were by Louis Suburban Chapel, Fair Lawn.
Sidney Gutterman
Sidney B. Gutterman of Mahwah,

formerly of Hackensack and Colonia,
died November 27.
A U.S. Army World War II veteran,
he was CFO of M. Rothman & Co., Inc.,
for more than 30 years before retiring.
Predeceased by his wives, Miriam
and Estelle Catherine, siblings, Sylvia
Ginsberg and Stanley Gutterman,
and a stepson, John Ducharme; he
is survived by a daughter, Barbara
Roxane Sennett
Gutterman, and a stepdaughter,

Christina Ducharme.
Arrangements were by Gutterman
& Musicant Jewish Funeral Directors,
Hackensack.
Harris Levy
Harris Shor Levy of Oakland died on

November 30, a day before his 95th
birthday.
He served in the U.S. Army Air
Force while stationed in India
during World War II. An actuary,
he served as president of the
Temple Emanu-el congregation in
Westwood.
Predeceased by his first wife, Ruchel
Shaindel Rose, ne Fishbein, and a
son, Paul, he is survived by his second
wife, Linda Gay Katz Slater-Levy; a
son, Philip; two grandchildren; two
great-grandchildren; a daughter-inlaw, Shelley Levy, and three stepsons,
Farrel, Keary, and Merrick Slater.
Arrangements were by Robert
Schoems Menorah Chapel, Paramus.
BRIEFS
Anti-BDS legislation
introduced in Nevada
Nevada Lieutenant Governor Mark Hutchinson and pro-Israel
activists introduced a new resolution seeking to counter the
anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The proposed Senate Bill 26 will seek to counter the discriminatory environment fostered by the BDS movement,
according to the Israeli-American Coalition for Action, which
is promoting the measure. Nevadas anti-BDS resolution will
be similar to others passed by more than a dozen U.S. states
in recent years.
We have a unique opportunity in the coming legislative
session to send a powerful message that the hateful and discriminatory environment fostered by BDS has no place in
Nevada, said IAC for Action Chairman Shawn Evenhaim.
The IAC for Action is grateful to Lieutenant Governor Mark
Hutchison and the state legislators of Nevada for their courageous leadership on this issue.
JNS.ORG
Phoenix Jewish News joins

consortium running 4 other
Jewish newspapers
The Phoenix areas Jewish community newspaper has joined
a consortium that publishes and manages four other Jewish
newspapers.
Mid-Atlantic Media announced Friday that it has reached
an agreement with the Jewish News, whose coverage area
includes Phoenix and northern Arizona, to manage the newspapers day-to-day operations. Based in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Mid-Atlantic Media publishes the Washington
Jewish Week and Baltimore Jewish Times, in addition to managing operations for the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh and
the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia.
The Jewish News will remain under the ownership of the
Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, while
Mid-Atlantic Media said it will be responsible for subscription management, advertising sales, design/production, promotion, digital and editorial management. The consortium
added that Phoenix-based reporters and freelancers will
still provide local news content; advertising services remain
JNS.ORG
locally managed in Phoenix as well.
Roxane Sennett, 84, of Fort Lee

died December 3. Predeceased by
her husband, Ted, she is survived
by children, Bob ( John Malafonte),
David Sennett (Donna), and Karen;
sister, Roslyn Nitzberg (Dave); sisterin-law, Judy Sennett (the late Dan);
grandchildren, Katie and Ben, and one
great-grandchild.
Arrangements were by Gutterman
& Musicant Jewish Funeral Directors,
Hackensack.
Hymen Wagner
Hymen V. Wagner, 94, of

Hackensack, formerly of Paterson
and Fair Lawn, died December 2.
A U.S. Army World War II veteran
who took part in the invasion at
Normandy, he was the subject of
a Jewish Standard article in June
2014 marking the 70th anniversary
of D-Day. A New York University
graduate and president of Media
Distribution Services in New York
The Christopher Family

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children, Jeffrey, Dr. Melinda Wagner (Seth Rosen), and
Beth Wagner Capanna; and four grandchildren.
Donations can be sent to the American Heart
Association, Jewish Family Service, or Hackensack
University Medical Center. Arrangements were by
Louis Suburban Chapel, Fair Lawn.
Obituaries are prepared with

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Summit
FrOM PaGe 48
If the right is so opposed to the Oslo Accords, she

asked, why dont they move into Ramallah and Jenin and
stop the security cooperation that keeps the Palestinian
Authority in charge there? If leaving Gaza was such a
mistake, why dont they re-occupy it?
They are not acting in the name of Israeli security,
but in the interest of personal political interests, Shaffir
said.
Both sides pointed to polls showing they had Israeli
public opinion on their side, although no one with the
possible exception of Yair Lapid, a serious rival to Netanyahu as head of the centrist Yesh Atid party seemed
confident in predicting when or how the left would rise
again.
Lapid also spoke of repairing the Israeli-diaspora
breach. Discussing the Western Wall restrictions on egalitarian and womens prayer, he described Israel as the
only country in which there is no freedom of religion for
Jews. He recalled how American Jews lobbied against
the Iran deal on Israels behalf, but how Israeli rabbis
and politicians then turn around and insult the religious
practices of Reform and Conservative Jews, whose ranks
include the very politicians who stood up to their Democratic president.
Yair Sheleg, a researcher at the Israel Democracy
Institute, suggested how the two issues national security and the Orthodox rabbinates power to define religious status in Israel come together.
The real issue is the definition of the state of Israel. If
we are a nation state of the Jewish people, then Israel has
to give an equal status to all trends within the religion,
he said. But if we are a religious state and not a nation
of the Jewish people, we will strengthen the claims of the
anti-Zionists that Judaism is a religion and not a nation.
If religion is the most important pillar in our identity, we
are endangering our sovereignty itself.
The organizers of the Jewish Media Summit were
happy to present these arguments about security and
religion and state, but also urged participants to tell a
fuller story of Israel how its civil society is dealing with
education and womens rights, how its tech sector is
thriving, the strengthening of its relations with the Sunni
Arab world, Asia and Africa. Which I think most of us
do consistently, although sometimes it can feel like the
punchline to the old joke, Except for that, Mrs. Lincoln,
how was the show?
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict isnt the only story in
Israel, although its one that shapes, and distorts, every
other one. The Western Wall dispute may not be a matter of national security, but in terms of creating a sense
of common cause between many American Jews and the
Jewish state, its symbolism cannot be exaggerated.
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Jewish standard deCeMBer 9, 2016 55
Chanukah
Grateful for great wine
GABRIEL GELLER
Not long ago, hundreds of millions of American citizens
celebrated the national holiday of Thanksgiving. On that
very day, those who celebrate it express their gratitude
for all the good they have in life. The believers thank God,
others thank their family or their friends.
Personally, I consider that every day is Thanksgiving,
as we thank God many times a day for all the good in our
lives, in which every single detail matters. Judaism offers
us a way of life that is not a routine; on the contrary it is
a constant renewal of our commitment to God through
mitzvot and blessings which are the concrete expression
of our gratefulness for Gods goodness towards us.
The Kiddush is made on wine, and while I do enjoy a
glass of good wine almost every night with my dinner, the
wines that I choose for Shabbat are usually extra special.
As well, I often think about the fact that until only a few
years ago, the selection of quality kosher wines was rather
restrained, and that is an understatement. When I pour
myself a glass of wine, I try to remember how blessed our
generation is for being able to enjoy such a wonderful and
diverse collection of wines!
There is a wine that I was truly thrilled to drink recently,
the Carmel Kayoumi Riesling from Israel. I am a huge fan
of white wines in general, and of the Riesling variety in
particular. The Kayoumi vineyard is situated in the upper
Galilee, and it has produced the grapes for some of the

countrys best wines for over a decade, including some
of the most refined Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz out
there. This Riesling is such a treat, as it is dry yet full of
fruit flavors such as green apple, grapefruit, and peaches,
and its refreshing acidity makes it the perfect companion with a hearty fall dish of smoked turkey, mushrooms,
and quinoa.
Netofa is a winery that is located at the foot of Mount
Tabor, in the lower Galilee. The wines made by Pierre
Miodownick are unusual in Israel. If you taste them without looking at the label, you might well believe that theyre
French, and not Israeli. It is not so much of a surprise once
we know that for many years, Pierre made most of the
kosher runs of the finest French wines such as Chteaux
Giscours, Montviel, and Malartic-Lagravire. The Latour
Netofa however calls to mind the wines of the southern
Rhne valley rather than those of Bordeaux. It is a blend
of Syrah and Mourvdre that features aromas of roasted
meat, leather and ripe raspberries. Full-bodied and velvety, it is even better when sipped while enjoying a plate
of lamb shoulder roast or a beef bourguignon.
Netofa winery happens to have another boutique winery as a neighbor, the Or Haganuz winery. Or Haganuz
grows its vines on the slopes of the mountains surrounding
Mount Meron. The grapes yielded by those vines are very
much concentrated in their juices, and the wines are big
and bold, very ripe with lots of oaky flavors. Their Marom
Cabernet Franc from the Evyatar vineyard is no exception,
and it is an interesting wine which I recommend to try as
Cabernet Franc is a grape variety that shows fascinating
SEE GREAT WINE PAGE 58
Chanukah is better with butter

Breakstones butter is touting butters benefits this Chanukah
Butter is making a comeback! This
season Breakstones is reminding
consumers that butter is the best
choice for Chanukah cooking and
holiday baking. Focusing on the Jewish consumer, Breakstones butter has
launched a print, digital, and social
media marketing campaign: Chanukah is better with Butter to communicate with families.
From a culinary perspective, butter is a preferred shortening for
chefs because of how it boosts flavors blending. In his Food Network
show Good Eats, celebrity chef/
food scientist/humorist Alton Brown
creates a mock court trial to
defend the churned wonder. Calling
butter: this wholesome and versatile food, this friend to cooks everywhere, Brown says butter, in general, has gotten a bad rap by the
dark agents of industry and media.
While the general market consumer
has always known that dairy butter
is a must when it comes to cookies,
pie crusts, and decadent deserts,
the kosher consumer often relies
on pareve alternatives so the foods
can be consumed freely after a meat
meal (conforming to the kosher laws
requiring consuming dairy and meat
in separate meals).
We understand that kosher cooks
tend to use oils and shortenings, but
were here to remind them that butter is a natural, trans-fat free ingredient that imparts the best flavor and
texture for succulent dairy meals,
says Mihira Patel, Breakstone butters senior brand manager. Even
teen celebrity chef Eitan Bernath of
Teaneck is a fan. Butter just makes
a better pie crust, notes the 14-yearold blogger who appeared on another
Food Network series, Chopped,
when he was just 11. Bernath has created the recipe: Chanukah Sugar
Cookies with Buttercream using
Breakstones butter, which will be
featured on social media and other
platforms as well.
Beyond baking, butter is the spread
of choice for bagels and sandwiches
for many. A breakfast of coffee and
a bagel buttered with Breakstones
has been the way to start your day
for decades. As many Jewish families
are gearing up for the holiday, Breakstones will be singing butters praises
for the Festival of Lights. From
dreidel cookies to salmon in lemon
butter sauce, says Patel, margarine
cant hold a candle to butter.
Chanukah Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

FOR THE SUGAR COOKIES:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of Breakstones
unsalted butter, at room
temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
2 sticks of Breakstones
unsalted butter, at room
temperature
4 cups confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons milk
Blue and white sprinkles for assembly later.
FOR THE SUGAR COOKIES:
In a large bowl, mix together the flour,
baking powder, and salt. In another large
bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar
with electric beaters. Add the egg, milk,
and vanilla extract into the butter mixture
and mix until fully incorporated. Using your
hands, press the crumbly dough together
until it becomes one ball of dough. Divide
the dough in half, wrap each half in plastic
wrap, and refrigerate the halves for 1-2
hours. Preheat oven to 350

degrees. Once the dough
is chilled, take one out and
roll to 1/8 inch thick. Using
Chanukah-themed cookie
cutters, cut the dough into
cookies. Repeat with the
second piece of dough.
Bake the cookies on a
parchment lined baking
sheet for 8-9 minutes. Once
done, place the cookies
on a cooking rack to cool
completely.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
Cream together the butter and sugar in a
large bowl with electric beaters. Add the
vanilla, increase the speed to mediumhigh and mix until smooth. Adjust the
consistency with milk as desired. Use
immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight
container up to 3 days. Allow to come to
room temperature and mix until smooth.
ASSEMBLE:
Using a knife or small offset spatula
spread the buttercream onto the cookies.
Top with the sprinkles and serve. If not
serving immediately, refrigerate then
bring the cookies to room temperature
before eating.
Real Estate & Business

Israeli gadgets for under $100 to give this holiday
Great gifts for Chanukah for the technophobe and techie alike
VIVA SARAH PRESS
From disposable smartphone chargers to a cup that
changes the taste of water to tiny computers, these
Israeli-designed gadgets will surely win you best-present-giver status for this holiday season.
We have sifted through the best of Israeli design
to keep your bank account balanced while shopping
for the ultimate gift. Heres our list of best gadgets for
under $100 this holiday, starting with the least expensive item.
dreamed up by Monkey Business, an Israeli product design

studio that has been adding the extra to the ordinary
since 1994, providing fresh perspectives on the little things
that make up your day, whether at home, at the office or
outdoors.
MySticko, $9.90
MySticko is a simple-to-use gadget, just two inches long, that

sticks almost anything to a range of surfaces. It boasts more
than 50 uses, from smartphone holder in the car to dishtowel hanger to a soda-can holder on a lawn chair. It was
designed by eNovi, an Israeli company focused on offering
solutions to many little everyday problems.
TM
Aimer Case for

Pokmon GO, $9.99
Innotops Aimer Case for Pokmon

GO is an add-on gadget for the popular digital game that helps gamers
catch the often elusive virtual creatures. The case guides players in
how to slide their finger in order to
hit and then catch the Pokmon
without wasting Pokballs. Think
bowling with bumpers. The blueand-white company registered
SEE GADGETS PAGE 58
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Power for your smartphone in a pinch.
Mobeego, $8
Mobeegos disposable charger will save you when you

cant find an outlet or if you left your charger at home.
The initial outlay is about $8 for a disposable charging
unit and a miniature adapter for both Android and iOS
phones, which fits on a key ring or in your wallet. Simply stock up on the one-time use power shots (about
$2.50). The Israeli team of entrepreneurs says each
unopened charger lasts about 10 years.
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Sports Huevos Egg Shaper, $8-$18
The Sports Huevos Egg Shaper turns hardboiled eggs

into football, tennis ball and golf ball shapes. Its one
of the many innovative, creative, and fun gadgets
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An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT LLC.
Great Wine
FROM PAGE 56
characteristics in Israel.
Italy is an old world country that
makes me dreamy. The beautiful vineyards of Tuscany are home to Terra di
Seta, the first fully kosher winery in the
country. I am truly grateful for having
now the possibility of enjoying a very
special wine, the new Terra di Seta Gran
Selezione Assai Chianti Classico. I am
well aware that many wineries often use
words such as Reserve or Superieur
mainly for marketing purposes. Having
said this, in this case the Gran Selezione moniker is one that cannot be used
without being truly deserved. The Gran
Selezione denomination designates the
wines that have been recognized of the
highest quality in the Chianti Classico
appellation by an official committee of
wine experts. These wines must be aged
for a minimum of 30 months, including at least three months of bottle aging
prior to release. Only the very best Sangiovese grapes of the region can be used
to produce a wine that will be a candidate for the prized and coveted Gran
Gadgets
NVE-3253 Warmth Mortgage Ad 5x6.5_NVE-3253 Warmth Mortgage Ad 5x6.5 10/3/16 3:52 PM Page 1
FROM PAGE 57
Finally, low mortgage rates

you can really warm up to.
in August with bootstrapped funds and

a virtual office says it is the first in the
world to manufacture mass quantities of
an aimer accessory.
Sink Skin, $13.90
Sink Skins colorful and decorative disposable drain strainers will make cleaning the sink, tub, or shower a little more
chic. Its Israeli designers say that hotels
using Sink Skin have seen a decrease in
drainage repairs. The disposable covers
meant to be changed weekly also
make sure theres a high level of hygiene
in your sink.
MORTGAGE
Rates as low as
Relax. NVE has great rates,

great service, and lots of options.
%
%
2.500
2.576
Rate
APR*
Rates valid on Loan Amounts
Up To $1,000,000
When it comes to purchasing a new home or refinancing your

current mortgage, NVE offers a full range of flexible mortgage
products. Plus, our Mortgage Specialist will work closely with
you, every step of the way, to ensure a smooth process and
speedy closing.
Call today at 201-816-2800, ext. 1230, or apply online at nvebank.com
NMLS #733094
*APR = Annual Percentage Rate. APR is accurate as of 10/7/16 and may vary based on loan amounts. Loans are
for 1-4 family New Jersey owner-occupied properties only. Rates and terms are subject to change without
notice. As an example, the 7-year loan at the stated APR would have 84 monthly payments of $12.99 per
thousand borrowed based on a 20% down payment or equity for loan amounts up to $500,000. Payments
do not include amounts for taxes and insurance premiums, if applicable. The actual payment obligation will
be greater. Property insurance is required. Other rates and terms are available. Subject to credit approval.
Bergenfield I Closter I Cresskill I Englewood I Hillsdale I Leonia I New Milford I Teaneck I Tenafly
OffBits is all about recycling spare

bits and pieces and making them
into fun, original toys.
The Offbits, $18
LEGO fans beware! Your newest obsession could very well be The Offbits,
open-source robot toys that encourage
you to tinker. Offbits kits come with nuts,
screws, connectors, and springs. Follow
instructions and create a robot character as imagined by the Tel Aviv team of
designers, creators, illustrators, and
storytellers behind this venture, or add
your own off-the-shelf bits to assemble a
unique robot; after all, the OffBits robots
were designed to be redesigned. These
Selezione. This wine truly is a pleasure

to drink now when properly aerated
beforehand, but it will likely improve
and develop further complexity and flavors for years to come.
Celler de Capanes in Spain have
released this year La Flor del Flor Samso.
Samso is Catalan for Carignan. This is a
wine that has the potential to reward
those who are patient with an extraordinary wine once it will have reached its
peak, and I am looking forward to enjoy
and watch its evolution over many years
to come. Made from old vines, some
over 100 years old, this powerhouse of a
wine explodes with aromas of blackberries, olives, earth, and espresso. Once
again, I am thankful for having the possibility to enjoy such a unique and amazing wine.
The blessings that I say before and
after drinking wines such as the aforementioned ones to thank God make
them even more special, even though
I say them practically every day. I wish
you all to make Kiddush with great wines
at least every Shabbat, and to be thankful to God for all the good he grants us
every instant of our lives. Lchaim!
screwy cute characters are aimed at kids
and adults alike.
The Right Cup, $29
The Right Cup is a BPA-free recyclable

plastic drinking cup that tricks your
senses into thinking plain water has
a fruity taste lemon, berry, orange,
or apple using FDA food-grade aromas. After a successful crowdfunding
campaign, the cup started shipping to
customers around the globe in April. It
releases aromas for approximately six
months, which can save users hundreds
of dollars in sugary beverages.
Boutonnire lapel pin, $35
Boutonnire lapel pin vase for flowers will save your corsage from wilting.
Designer Omer Polak sells his $35 invention through an online shop to customers across the world. The lapel pin is
handmade, retains water, and keeps
flowers fresh all day long.
Peleg Wine Bottle Holder,

$38
The Peleg design house is known for

quirky, humorous lifestyle gadgets.
Perhaps the most recognizable design
is the Wine Bottle Holder (in rope or
chrome-plated iron chain). Balance is
the key for this floating illusion that will
have you and your guests take a double
and triple look at how your wine bottle
isnt crashing to the ground. From the
Yolkfish egg separator to the Zipmark
zipper bookmark to the Oiladdin bottle
pourer, Pelegs gadgets are sold worldwide and are found in museum stores
internationally.
The Art of Real Estate

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IS PARKINSONS A JEWISH GENETIC DISEASE?

Meet the new

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Book your vacation now!

Jelly doughnuts have long been an Israeli Chanukah staple.

Preserving Brooklyn Bridge

[city officials] wanted something a

Candlelighting: Friday, December 9, 4:10 p.m.

For convenient home delivery,

Golden statue of Bibi erected,

The statue was the top story on

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JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 9, 2016 3

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But Portlands performance is far more than

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A mammogram saved her life.

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isten up Teaneck: Theres an oldnew organization coming to town.

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COME AND HEAR SOME OF THE TORAH WORLDS GREATEST SPEAKERS

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To our great dismay, we learned

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Artfully crafted and meticulously aged for optimal enjoyment.

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a full orchestra, and we will introduce every

Above, Adam B. Shapiro and ensemble in The Golden Bride. At right,

hardships. Its a very romanticized version

an actor who had cantorial training.

Put your own spin on

(Frozen) 10.6-oz. pkg.,