REMEMBERING CANTOR ILAN MAMBER page 6

RUTGERS STUDENT FIGHTS ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS ON THE SYLLABUS page 8

HELP FOR REFUGEES FROM NORTHVALE AND NYACK page 12

AUGUST 10, 2018

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2 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018

 Page 3

Follow the instructions

● This week’s reminder that if you’re looking to at least ask your cousin’s neighbor who grew up
translate a sign into English — particularly a list in Australia. Because a bad translation will only
of rules for riders of a kiddie train ride at a Haifa confuse and scare away potential passengers.
mall — spend the money and hire a translator. Or LARRY YUDELSON

Former Yankees pitcher goes to Israel

● Former New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera
traveled to Israel with a delegation from his church as part
of an interfaith mission organized by the New York Board of
Rabbis and the Consulate General of Israel in New York.
Rivera retired in 2013 after 19 season, 13 of them as an
American League All-Star; he holds Major League Baseball’s
record for saves with 652.
He and his group toured the country, visiting Jewish and
Christian sites, and met with President Reuven Rivlin and the
U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.
It was Rivera’s second visit to the Jewish state; he went
on a family trip in 2015. This time, he accompanied his wife,
Pastor Clara Rivera, and members of their church, Refugio de
Esperanza — Refuge of Hope, in New Rochelle.
Rivera spoke highly of meeting with Israeli soldiers.
“I’m privileged and honored to be here, and learn about the
young men and women who are here in the IDF, being trained
to be a better person, a better citizen, and a better human be-
ing,“ he said, according to a statement from Friends of the IDF,
which organized the visit to the Michve Alon base. “For me, it
was something special that I will take with me through my life.”
In 2013, the New York Board of Rabbis elected Rivera Man
of the Year. The interdenominational group chose him be-
cause of his philanthropic work and the extensive relief work
he has done for Panama through his church. JTA WIRE SERVICE
CONTENTS
NOSHES ...............................................................4
BRIEFLY LOCAL ..............................................14
COVER STORY .................................................16
JEWISH WORLD ............................................ 22
OPINION ........................................................... 26
D’VAR TORAH ................................................ 32
THE FRAZZLED HOUSEWIFE ................... 33
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ................................ 33
CALENDAR ......................................................34
OBITUARIES .................................................... 37
CLASSIFIEDS .................................................. 38
REAL ESTATE...................................................41
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Female Israeli pilot makes Air Force history Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666.
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The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard does

● The Israeli Air Force has for the first
time appointed a female pilot to head
an Israel Air Force flight squadron,
operating surveillance aircraft.
Major G., whose full name was not
provided for security reasons, will
In January, the military named the not constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of a paid
first woman to head an IAF avia- political advertisement does not constitute an endorsement of any
tion squadron; it is responsible for candidate political party or political position by the newspaper or
any employees.
ground-based operations. Flight
The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return unsolic-
squadrons operate aircraft. ited editorial or graphic materials. All rights in letters and unsolic-
She entered the military in 2003 ited editorial, and graphic material will be treated as uncondition-

command the 122nd Squadron, also and first trained as a transport plane ally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject
to JEWISH STANDARD’s unrestricted right to edit and to comment
known as the Nachshon Squadron, pilot. From 2015 to 2017, she was the editorially. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without
which takes part in covert aerial oper- deputy commander of the squadron written permission from the publisher. © 2018

ations, sometimes thousands of miles
away from Israel. She will be promoted
to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
“I am happy about the appoint-
ment,” Major G. said, in a statement
issued by the IDF. “A great privilege
alongside a great responsibility. The
real work is still ahead. I am proud to
serve in the Air Force.”
Major G. is married, has children, and
will move her family from its home in
central Israel to the Air Force base in
Nevatim, southeast of Beersheba, Ynet
reported.
that she will command. She com-
pleted the required command course Candlelighting:
a month ago and will assume the
helm of the squadron in the “coming
Friday, August 10, 7:43 p.m.
months,” according to the IDF. Shabbat ends:
Her appointment comes as the IDF Saturday, August 11, 8:44 p.m.
announced that some 1,000 women
were inducted into the military to
serve in combat units this summer.
COVER: Ayal Prouser and Hannah
That’s a record.
Mozden perform at the Go! Emerg-
There are 150 more female combat
ing Artist Commissioning Program at
unit recruits than there were in 2017,
the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics
and nearly double the 547 female in 2012, the Times of Israel reported,
in Brooklyn on June 23.
combat soldiers who served in the IDF citing IDF figures. JTA WIRE SERVICE
PHOTO BY LIBBY MARTIN

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 3

Noshes
‘DOGS DAYS’:
Canines bark,
romance beckons
“Dogs Days” is a
romantic
comedy that
seems appropriately
titled. It’s a breezy little
movie that doesn’t tax
your mind during the
summer heat. By now
we are all familiar with
the ensemble anthology
film — a bunch of
strangers have some-
thing in common (a
holiday they all cele-
brate, for example) and
eventually their respec-
tive storylines join up.
The gimmick in “Days” is
that the main characters
all are Los Angeles dog
owners. Humans and
dogs run into each other,
lives intertwine, and
some things change. The
large cast includes
ADAM PALLY, 36 (“The
Mindy Project”), as one
of the main dog owners.
Pally recently told a
Canadian interviewer
that he was grateful to
appear in a movie that
his young children could
see with him. Pally and
his wife, DANIELA
LIBEN PALLY, 37 — they
were high school
sweethearts — have
three children (two boys,
6 and 1; and a 5-year-old
girl). Their younger son
is named DRAKE. I’d
love to know if the name
was inspired by the
Jewish rapper DRAKE,
36, whose latest double
album, “Scorpion,” is
breaking just about
every sales record.
Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard
4 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
Over in Berkeley
By coincidence,
several interre-
lated items
about past or present
residents of Berkeley,
California, came to the
fore this week. I’ll try, in
the next year, to repli-
cate this odd event in the
city or state you live in.
The series “Star Trek:
Discovery,” on the CBS
All-Access stream-
ing service, has turned
into a pretty big hit.
The second season of
“Discovery” begins next
January, and to keep
viewer interest fresh,
CBS commissioned four
15-minute mini-episodes
(called “Short Treks”)
that will premiere this
fall. The mini-episode
“Calypso” was written
by Pulitzer Prize-win-
ning novelist MICHAEL
CHABON, 55. “Calypso”
follows a man who finds
himself alone on a de-
serted space ship.
Chabon has lived in
Berkeley since 1997 and
he set his major 2012
novel “Telegraph Av-
enue,” there. He shares
his home with his wife,
writer and former lawyer
AYELET WALDMAN, 53,
and their four children.
Like Chabon, Waldman’s
novels frequently have
Jewish characters and
themes and they both
have written essays on
Jewish subjects.
Waldman was in the
news last week soon
“It’s to get attention so I can tell
people what’s going on and that someone
is hacking me”
— Jody Fish, explaining to Syracuse.com why he flies a Nazi flag outside
his upstate New York home. He said authorities were unresponsive when he
reported that a neighbor was hacking his wifi.
Adam Pally Michael Chabon
Andy Samberg Sarah Silverman
after Henry Louis Gates, too.” Waldman, a politi-
the host of the PBS ce- cal progressive like her
lebrity ancestry show, husband, responded
“Finding Your Roots,” to the “Roots” news a
disclosed on July 31 that few hours after Ryan.
House Speaker Paul In a tweet that was
Ryan, a practicing Cath- widely reported, Wald-
olic, has some remote man wrote: “I’m sorry
Ashkenazi Jewish an- but no, we don’t want
cestry (about 3 percent him.” Also weighing in
of his DNA). Gates let was Stephen Colbert, a
this drop during a news practicing Catholic like
conference promoting Ryan, and a progres-
the fifth season of his sive like Waldman. He
show, which premieres joked on-air: “Haven’t
in January. the Jewish people suf-
On August 1, Ryan fered enough?”
tweeted: “Guess I have The fifth “Roots” sea-
to start saying L’Chaim, son will have 25 guests.
Ayelet Waldman
Sheryl Sandberg
Three are Jewish:
Berkeley native ANDY
SAMBERG, 39; come-
dian SARAH SILVER-
MAN, 47; and Facebook
chief operating officer
SHERYL SANDBERG,
48. Another guest is
comedian Seth Meyers,
whose paternal grand-
father was Jewish, but
it’s unclear if his Jewish
ancestry will be a focus
of his episode.
Samberg is the sub-
ject of this intriguing
teaser in the official
“Roots” press release:
“Highlights include a
California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at
Middleoftheroad1@aol.com
search for Andy Sam-
berg’s biological grand-
parents…”. I gather from
this release that one of
Andy’s parents — both
of them Jewish — were
adopted. My educated
guess, based on a lot
of clues, is that it was
his mother who was
adopted and I won’t be
that surprised if she’s
biologically Jewish.
Finally, the Berkeley
saga ends with the late
Raymond Burr of “Perry
Mason” and “Ironside”
fame. I recently stumbled
on a Burr biography and
learned that: 1) While he
born in Canada, he was
a Berkeley High School
grad (2) While he was
not Jewish; he gave big
money to Jewish chari-
ties for decades. Why?
No one knew, exactly.
Perhaps being a life-
long closeted gay man
made him simpatico to
the Jewish people (?)
3) Even his biographer
didn’t understand why
“Ironside” became the
most popular TV show in
Israel in the early 1970s.
(Was his charity being
rewarded by some divine
hand?) Everybody in
Israel knew he was there
when he visited, for a
week, in 1976. He played
a wheelchair-bound
detective in “Ironside”
and he spent most of his
time in Israel visiting with
wounded soldiers and
the disabled.
–N.B.
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 5
Local
‘A force of nature’
Remembering Cantor Ilan Mamber of Beth Rishon
JOANNE PALMER

C
antor Ilan Mamber of Beth Ris-
hon in Wyckoff, who died sud-
denly at 70 on July 31, was so full
of life that this sentence seems
impossible. It does not compute
Ilan Mamber was a physically small man
who exuded so much energy and vitality
that he seemed almost like a human gen-
erator, humming with electricity.
And, of course, with music.
There are some people who are beloved
by their community, although probably
not as many who are as well loved during
their lives as they are in the retelling, safely
after their deaths. Cantor Mamber, though
— he was at the very heart and provided
the soul of Beth Rishon; partnered with
Rabbi Kenneth Emert, another beloved
man, who retired last year, he shaped the
community as it is today.
Ilan Mamber’s parents, Chana Stein-
bruch and Arthur Mamber, escaped from
Germany in the mid 1930s; their parents
saw what was coming. Chana and Arthur

met in Palestine — Arthur fought in the war
for independence, and was part of the con-
voy that ferried supplies to Jerusalem. Ilan
was born in the new state of Israel in 1947.
His musical talent was clear even when he
was a child; he sang in synagogue choirs
and sometimes as a soloist.
The family moved from Israel to the
Bronx, and then Brooklyn, when Ilan
was about 11. He continued to sing. A true
child of the 1960s, he bought a guitar and
quickly learned how to play it; in fact, as
his friends report, there almost always was
a guitar either in his hand, or, if that was
not possible, then by his side. He played
folk music and Israeli music and just about
everything else.
Cantor Mamber loved people as much
as he loved music, and he was drawn to
help them, so after college — Brooklyn
College, where he majored, perhaps sur-
prisingly, in math — he earned a master’s
degree from Wurzweiler, Yeshiva Universi-
ty’s social work school, and worked in Jew-
ish communal institutions. He also kept on
singing and performing, including stints
on a cruise ship.
In 1975, he met another social worker,
Carol Siegel; soon they married. They
were the parents of Noah, who lives in
Washington now, and of Aliza, who lives
in Arlington. It was a close-knit family; the
love among them was palpable.
Meanwhile, Cantor Mamber “worked as
a social worker and administrator at the
Hebrew Educational Society in Canarsie,”
in Brooklyn, Michael Goldberg of Franklin
Cantor Ilan Mamber combined social work skills with his love of music to help bring harmony and energy to the Beth
Rishon community.
Lakes, Beth Rishon’s president, said. “The
story is that a friend of his knew someone
who knew someone with a connection to
Yale, and he knew that Yale Hillel was look-
ing for a cantor to fill in on the High Holi-
days. He recommended Ilan.”
That did it. Ilan Mamber realized that
he loved cantorial work. He loved lead-
ing services. He loved the spirituality that
the music evoked in him and in the com-
munity. He loved leading the community.
And he loved the way his social work skills
combined with his musicality and musical
knowledge to make him a better cantor.
Cantor Mamber studied with his men-
tor, Cantor Noah Schall, who was Ortho-
dox, and who gave him private ordination.
In 1987, Ilan Mamber went to Beth
Rishon, where he flourished.
“The two of us worked together for 22
years,” said Rabbi Emert, Beth Rishon’s
rabbi emeritus. Rabbi Emert now lives in
California, but flew back to New Jersey as
soon as he heard about Cantor Mamber’s
death, and spoke at his funeral. “We knew
each other’s steps off and on the pulpit.
Our rhythm was in sync with each other.
We could appreciate each other’s unique
talents and laugh at one another’s pecu-
liarities and idiosyncrasies.
“When I first arrived at Beth Rishon, I
called him into my office, and in my stern
rabbinic voice, I said, ‘I want you to know
that there can be only one rabbinic voice
here, and that will be me.’
“Little did I know who I was talking to. He
really was in charge. He was short in physi-
cal stature, but you shouldn’t let that fool
you. He was as soft as a lion in the jungle.
“And he was beloved beyond belief.”
Rabbi Emert has 22 years’ worth of sto-
ries about Cantor Mamber. “He was always
there for people,” he said. “There was a
man who had just had bowel surgery, just
come out of the hospital. Ilan showed up
at the guy’s door at 8 the next morning,
and said ‘Get up. We’re going walking.’ The
guy said, ‘What are you? Meshugeh? I just
got out of the hospital.’” But Ilan Mamber
being Ilan Mamber, he won. And “he con-
tinued to do that, to show up at this man’s
door at 8 in the morning, every single day
for the next few weeks,” Rabbi Emert said.
This was not a unique story, and it was
only the start of an entirely average, very
long day for Cantor Mamber. “He would
play tennis or exercise, then run to the
office” — that’s as in literally run, not drive
— “and he would work with adult bat mitz-
vah students and bar and bat mitzvah
MARK NIEDERMAN
students and work with his interns and
then come and train the choir, they’d work
for two hours, and then he’d come to the
board meeting, and he’d work in the pre-
school and he’d go to shiva minyans and
baby namings and have meetings with
brides and grooms and then he’d go to the
temple book club, and he’d be the last per-
son out of the building. He’d be the one to
lock the door. And then he’d go home to
cook for his wife.
“Nothing was too much for this guy,”
Rabbi Emert said. “He had an indefati-
gable spirit. He was a living example of
resilience. He lived with passion and
enthusiasm.”
And then there was his motorcycle,
which Cantor Mamber would ride every-
where; in fact, he was part of a motorcy-
cle club called Hillel’s Angels. He rode it
not only for fun but also for transporta-
tion. “He would ride it to funerals and to
weddings,” Rabbi Emert said. “He would
ride it if he was going to do a wedding or a
funeral on Long Island, to beat the traffic
and get there faster.
“He would get off the motorcycle, take
off the helmet, and he’d be there with his
suit on and his book in his hand, ready
for the funeral.”

6 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018


At Cantor Mamber’s own funeral, Rabbi
Emert said, “Every exit on Routes 208 and
4 were closed. There were police every-
where. That is a tribute given only to a
dignitary. It was pouring pouring pouring
out. And then all of a sudden we get to the
grave, and the rain stops, and it is hot, and
we are standing there singing niggunim
and shoveling the grave. The love for this
man was so deep. People are grieving.”
Cantor Mamber was an enthusiastic
member of the Cantors Assembly, for Con-
servative movement cantors. Beth Rishon
is unaffiliated; Cantor Mamber, like Rabbi
Emert, lived enthusiastically in the space
between the Reform and Conservative
worlds, equally at home in both, connect-
ing with both, adhering blindly to neither.
Gale S. Bindelglass of Franklin Lakes, a
member of Beth Rishon, sang with Cantor
Mamber for 23 years, at times as part of the
Beth Rishon Trio, she said. She was partic-
ularly moved by the way he would take the
group across the state, down to Brick and
Lakewood, to sing for Holocaust survivors.
“No place was too far away for him, and
no rehearsals were too long for him,” she
said. “We sang a mixture of English and
Hebrew and Yiddish, and he understood
the souls of Holocaust survivors.”
In music, as in everything else, he
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demanded excellence, both of himself and
of others. That theme comes up frequently
as people remember him.
He also sang lighter music. “Our syna-
gogue had a rock ’n’ roll band for 26 years,
all temple members, called Jimmy and the
Templetones.” Why Jimmy? “Jimmy was a
drummer, and Ilan thought that Ilan and
the Templetones didn’t sound as good,”
Ms. Bindelglass said. “We were a cover
band; we did music from the 50s to the
present. We did everything from doo-wop
through Green Day and Adele. There was
barely a song we didn’t cover.
“He was so authentic. We had hours
and hours of rehearsals. The man just
never stopped. He took so much pleasure
in what we produced. He would look for
sparks of talent and cultivate them.” The
band would play for synagogue dances,
and “sometimes we would have 200 peo-
ple dancing, and we would just keep play-
ing and they would keep dancing.
“One time there was a blizzard, and peo-
ple still came,” she said.
Cantor Mamber never forgot that he
was Israeli, Ms Bindelglass said “He was
involved in Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Hazi-
karon. Everyone gets Yom Ha’atzmaut,”
Israeli independence day, “but no one
outside the Israeli community gets Yom
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Hazikaron,” which commemorates all the
soldiers who have died protecting Israel,
from its birth till now. “Every Israeli has
some heartbreak, everyone lost some-
one to war or terrorism, but it was Can-
tor Mamber who brought it to the larger
community. Now about 500 people show
up every year, and there is some catharsis
when other people stand side by side with
the Israeli community. Nobody did that
before Ilan Mamber.
“And he didn’t grandstand. He never
would stand there and put his arms out
and say ‘I brought this to the community.’
He was so humble about it.
“And the band was so much fun,” she
added. “And he never, ever missed tennis!”
Michael Goldberg of Franklin Lakes,
Beth Rishon’s president, was profoundly
shaken by Cantor Mamber’s death.
“He was a force of nature,” he said. “He
squeezed every second out of every day.
“He was always late,” he continued. “I
say this affectionately. It was because he
always tried to be in two places at once.”
Cantor Mamber seemed to have learned
how to put more hours in a day than the
standard 24, Mr. Goldberg suggested.
“As president, I knew how many hours
he put in at the synagogue, and with the
choir and the Cantors Assembly and the
Local
this and the that, and going to see his two
children, who live in or near Washington,
he would always manage to read the books
for the book club.
“I would say, ‘Ilan, when do you have
time to read a book?’ I still don’t know
how he did it. And it wasn’t as if he was
skimming them. He was really reading
those books.”
Mr. Goldberg ended with a story he
heard at Cantor Mamber’s funeral. He
and Carol had a friend, a woman with
whom he played tennis, and the two of
them decided to try Sukkot services in
Manhattan one year. “So he told her that
he’d pick her up. It was Sukkot, so she
had a lulav and an etrog. She was stand-
ing outside her house, holding them,
when he pulled up to pick her up.
“He was on his motorcycle.
“She said ‘What am I going to do with
the lulav and etrog?’ He said, ‘Just hold
onto them.’
“I love the image of them going over
the George Washington Bridge like that,
on the motorcycle, with the lulav and
etrog. It’s like a Jewish Easy Rider.
“He was such a unique person. It was
just so natural for him.
“He touched so many people,” Mr.
Goldberg said.
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 7
Local
One down, one to go
Student forces anti-Israel article off syllabus at Rutgers, but another remains
LARRY YUDELSON
T
his is a story about pro-Israel
campus activism.
But be warned: It doesn’t
have a satisfactory ending.
Emily Binstein of Metuchen was a
freshman at Rutgers last fall. She had
graduated from the Golda Och Academy
(West Orange’s Solomon Schechter day
school). She had been to Israel with the
school twice.
She is majoring in business, and
thought she might minor in women’s
studies. So she signed up for “Knowledge
and Power: Issues in Women’s Lead- Emily Binstein
ership.” It is a popular course — in part
because it is the “mission course” of Douglass Residential
College, making it a requirement for the 2,500 women
enrolled in the college-within-a-college.
All was well until October, when Ms. Binstein was
shocked by an article in her required reading for the
course.
In “Queering Islamophobia: Homonationalism of the Mus-
lim Ban,” first published online in Bitch magazine, where
author Aqdas Aftab was the 2017 global feminism writing
fellow, and whose preferred pronoun is “they,” wrote about
“the strategy of moving left on LGBTQ issues but remain-
ing fiercely right-wing on immigration and racial issues.”
The article continues, “Israel has strategically washed
itself clean of apartheid by promoting the country as a gay
haven, even though it continues to colonize trans and queer
Palestinians.”
So Ms. Binstein wrote to both the professor overseeing
the entire course and to the professor in charge of her sec-
tion to complain. “This portion is out of place and does not
provide context behind the extremely complicated issues
in the Middle East, invalidly calling Israel an apartheid state Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections
and moving along,” she wrote. “For students who might not
know a great deal about the conflict, it is this type of mis-
guided language and false agenda that spreads hate. Is it
possible for us to discuss this on Monday in class? I would
be happy to lead the discussion.”
The answer was yes, she could discuss it.
8 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
Ms. Binstein spoke to her class.
According to the notes she prepared —
she made those notes, as well as her
correspondence about the course,
available to the Jewish Standard — she
addressed the article’s accusation that
Israel has “strategically” made itself a
gay haven. “I find it odd to take the one
country in the Middle East with gay
rights and say that it’s only for a ‘strat-
egy,’” she said, according to the notes.
She also presented a video showing
that Israel is not an apartheid state.
A week later, Ms. Binstein wrote
to Dr. Jacqueline Litt, dean of Doug-
lass College, and to Tasia Milton, the
course’s coordinator. Yes, she had
rebutted the libel against Israel in her section, “but I am
unsettled knowing that other sections and future classes
may take the lie perpetuated by this article as fact,” she
wrote.
Ms. Milton responded with a phone conversation, dur-
ing which she asked Ms. Binstein to recommend an article
to replace Aftab’s piece on the syllabus. Ms. Milton then
alerted Ms. Binstein to an article on the syllabus for next
week’s syllabus. “The upcoming class ‘Women’s Rights are
Human Rights’ will be another opportunity to consider the
dangers of one narrative about the Middle East and the
Israel-Palestine conflict,” Ms. Milton wrote in an email. “The
article ‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving’ on p. 787
also mentions the conflict without providing more context.
I will replace one of the readings for that class with one of
your sources, pending a review by the Office of Academic
Programs.”
That second article was by Dr. Lila Abu-Lughod, the
Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science at
Columbia’s anthropology department. “Do Muslim
on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” appeared in Ameri-
can Anthropologist in 2002.
“I used to feel torn when I received the e-mail petitions
circulating for the last few years in defense of Afghan
women under the Taliban,” Dr. Abu-Lughod wrote, before
continuing: “I had never received a petition from such
women defending the right of Palestinian women to safety
from Israeli bombing or daily harassment at checkpoints,
asking the United States to reconsider its support for a
government that had dispossessed them, closed them out
from work and citizenship rights, refused them the most
basic freedoms.”
As Ms. Binstein set out to find articles that were not
unfair to Israel for the syllabus, Ms. Milton clarified her
position on Dr. Abu-Lughod’s article. “Just to be clear,
‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?’ is an important
text in transnational feminist studies and human rights
She does not cite her
source for this
information, she just
mentions Israel denying
freedoms and moves on.
This article, like the
‘Queering Islamophobia’
article, spreads lies and
perpetuates hate in an
academic environment.
studies and will not be replaced,” she wrote. “We are
happy to consider an additional reading for this unit or
to replace another reading to make room for discussing
this issue, that can offer a glimpse into the Israeli per-
spective on the conflict.”
Ms. Binstein countered with renewed criticism of Dr.
Abu-Lughod’s article: “She does not cite her source for
this information, she just mentions Israel denying free-
doms and moves on. This article, like the ‘Queering
Islamophobia’ article, spreads lies and perpetuates hate
in an academic environment. Additionally, the forms of
oppression that it speaks of would not be targeted against
women in particular, which makes me question its place
Dr. Abu–Lughod’s
book grew out
of her article
in American
Anthroplogy.
 Local

in a Women and Gender Studies course in the first place.”
Ms. Milton responded with a defense of Dr. Abu-
Lughod’s article. “Regarding the academic rigor of the
article, ‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?,’ there are
very few credentials better than Lila Abu-Lughod’s,” she
wrote. “She is a professor at Columbia University and has
also taught at Princeton University and NYU. American
Anthropologist is a respected academic journal in the field
of anthropology. To appear in a journal of this caliber, the
article would have to be recommended for publication by
at least four experts on its topic from respected universi-
ties. The article eventually became a book published by
Harvard University Press, bringing its central arguments
to the attention and vetting of even more scholars. She is
also the author or editor of eight books published by repu-
table and highly respected university presses.
“That the article discusses the uses of representation of
Muslim women to justify U.S. intervention in the Middle
East makes it an ideal fit for Issues in Women’s Leadership:
Knowledge and Power, as the Women’s and Gender Studies
department’s twelve key concepts include feminism, social
justice and human rights, violence, conflict, and terrorism,”
Ms. Milton wrote.
Ms. Binstein and Ms. Milton met. Ms. Milton agreed that
the article “Queering Islamophobia” would be removed
from the curriculum, since Bitch is not a peer-reviewed jour-
nal. Ms. Binstein pointed out that Dr. Abu-Lughod had not
cited any sources for her sentence about Israel. Ms. Milton
agreed to ask all the course instructors to discuss an Anti-
Defamation League fact sheet from 2002 on the Second Inti-
fada that Ms. Binstein had found, to provide context to Dr.
Abu-Lughod’s article.
And so it was that in December, the hundreds of students
taking the course read the ADL fact sheet on the Second
Intifada. Students in Ms. Binstein’s section received her
handout with a detailed unpacking and rebuttal of Dr. Abu-
Lughod’s anti-Israel sentence.
But Ms. Binstein wasn’t content to rest on her laurels.
She wanted to change the course permanently.
As a result of Ms. Binstein’s work, “Queering Islamapho-
bia” was removed from the syllabus for the spring semester.
An article from an Israeli perspective was added. But Dr.
Abu-Lughod’s article remained.
Ms. Binstein continued the conversation with higher-ups.
In January, Associate Dean Ellen Lieberman told her
that the faculty had asked Dr. Yehudit Barsky, a fellow at
the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Pol-
icy, for recommendations for the syllabus.
In February, however, Assistant Dean Elizabeth Gunn
declared the conversation over.
“The syllabus is set for this semester, and I do not antici-
pate additional changes,” Dr. Gunn wrote to Ms. Binstein.
Ms. Binstein was not satisfied.
She contacted the chancellor’s office, which referred her
to the school’s office of employment equity. “I believe that
these issues fall within the rubric of academic freedom,” Lisa
Grosskreutz, the office’s director, wrote.
Late last month, Ms. Binstein took the issue to the top. She
wrote to Rutgers President Robert Barchi.
“Abu-Lughod is making a false and inflammatory state-
ment about Israel, and DRC” — that’s Douglass Residential
College — “has not condemned her claim, or at the very least
offered a counter statement, making it look like DRC con-
dones her opinion,” she wrote. “I know that we agree that
this is not a place in which DRC and the larger Rutgers Uni-
versity community should want to find itself.”
On Monday, Ms. Binstein received a response from the
president. He wrote, in part, “a requirement to read a text
does not necessarily reflect the University’s or a professor’s
promotion or endorsement of the ideas it contains.”
Ms. Binstein was not satisfied. “I am still waiting for a proper
counter article to the Abu-Lughod piece,” she wrote back.
“It is relatively rare for a university to remove a certain
reading from a syllabus due to its content, because of aca-
demic freedom,” Roz Rothstein said. Ms. Rothstein is co-
founder and CEO of StandWithUs, an Israel education orga-
nization to which Ms. Binstein had reached out. “When
there are anti-Israel materials taught in the classroom, we
usually encourage students to ask their professors to also
teach a different perspective on the issue to ensure balance.”
Rena Nasar, StandWithUs’s tri-state director, said that “it
was a shame here they didn’t give her what she was looking
for, because she went about it in a very professional way.”
StandWithUs was able to give Ms. Binstein one of its
Emerson fellowships, which trains 90 student leaders to
speak out for Israel. There have been Emerson fellows at
Rutgers before, but Ms. Binstein will be the first in several
years. Next week she will fly out to California for four days
of StandWithUs training.
Meanwhile, the contretemps has Ms. Binstein rethinking
her studies.
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Local

Bridging divides in Israel

Counterpoint camps allow American college students
to connect with and understand disadvantaged teens
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

Romeo and Juliet spoke a mix of Hebrew

and English in the production Israeli teen-
agers put on in the southern city of Arad
this summer. Perhaps Shakespeare would
be pleased to know — or perhaps he would
have been astounded to learn — that his
play served as a fun vehicle that a group
of American Jewish college students could
use to teach English to campers from dis-
advantaged backgrounds.
While the fictional young couple in the
romantic tragedy is doomed by the irrec-
oncilable differences between their fami-
lies, the real-life campers and counselors
in Yeshiva University’s Counterpoint Israel

PHOTOS COURTESY YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

Program have been bridging the social, lin-
guistic, and cultural divide successfully for
13 summers now.
The service-learning initiative aims
to help young Israelis boost their self-
esteem and Jewish values, along with
their English and computer skills, while
at the same time instilling a sense of civic
responsibility in the YU student volun-
teers. This summer, 29 YU undergradu-
ates ran Counterpoint camps in Arad,
Dimona, and Kiryat Malachi, working Counselors and campers participate in a fun activity at the Counterpoint camp in Dimona.
with about 200 Israeli campers from July
10 to July 26. Dead Sea and hosts a diverse population of place like we did, with better opportuni- “One very friendly boy, a ninth-grader
“This past year I had become sensitized secular and religious Ashkenazi and Sep- ties, they could go just as far, if not far- whose English was actually pretty good,
toward people in situations that are much hardi Jews from many lands. ther, than we have.” really opened up to me about a bullying
less advantageous than mine, and it was Mr. Orenshein wasn’t sure what to He and his fellow counselors paired up situation and I was able to give him a lot
important to me to do a program that expect. He found, to his surprise, that to teach English in the mornings, and led of support, empathy, and direction,” Mr.
helps people like that,” 20-year-old Zack the sixth- through ninth-grade boys and sports activities in the afternoons. The Orenshein said.
Orenshein of Teaneck said. girls attending the day camp “were really schedule also included art, computers, Counselors and their supervisors spent
He had never heard of Arad before he good-natured and capable, and that made fashion, music, dance, identity-building and hours at the end of each day discussing
got his assignment, he added. The small it so much fun. It was kind of scary to real- team-building exercises, and trips focused their campers’ personal situations and
blue-collar city lies 16 miles west of the ize that if these kids had grown up in a on Jewish history, heritage, and culture. how they could best meet their needs.

Dimona campers and counselors reflect the happy summer experience. Counterpoint campers at Arad have no problem mugging for the camera.

10 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018

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“It really opened my eyes to what’s going on behind
the scenes for people in general,” Mr. Orenshein said.
Counselor CJ Glicksman of Teaneck, who also is 20
years old, said that there was a girl in his Arad group
with disciplinary problems. It turned out that her
father recently began a four-year jail term.
“When we found out about her troubles at home, it
clicked that these are not bad kids; they just need care
and attention,” he said. “It’s disheartening, it’s sad to
see — but at the same time it was good to feel we made
an impact.”
Another girl in his group was inordinately quiet;
finally, during the last two days of camp, Mr. Glicks-
man drew her out. He learned that she bounces back
PHOTOS COURTESY YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

and forth between her mother in Arad and her father

in Ukraine. “She is a sweet, well-meaning kid who
volunteers in an animal shelter, and it was moving
to hear the kind of background she came from,” he
said. “We had the kids fill out a survey at the end,
and I was surprised to read that she wrote that she
made a connection with the counselors, had a fun
time, and intends to return next year. But there’s
only so much we can do in a short time, and I hope
to keep in touch with her and have as much of an
impact as I can.”
He added that the impact the campers had on him
was probably larger than the other way around. “I
didn’t necessarily expect that,” he said. “Before-
hand, I was a little scared to teach these tough Israeli
kids, and at some point I realized they’re just like
anyone else — they just want attention, to be loved
and cared for.”
Mr. Glicksman said the children look up to Ameri-
can college students. They know that English profi-
ciency can help them aspire to a successful future in
academics, business, or technolo�y. “Many of them
who want to step out of their world need to under-
stand American culture,” he said. N ORWOOD
“One of the most unique attributes our American
counselors have is an outsider’s perspective of Israel,”
Eliana Sohn, co-director of Counterpoint Israel, said.
“With that perspective, which is deeply positive and
supportive, comes an optimism and appreciation that
teens in southern Israeli towns may never have expe-
rienced before, and so, through their counselors, they
view their country through a new lens — one of oppor-
tunity, enthusiasm, and esteem.”
No less important, she added, “In times when ten-
sions hang over the region, Israeli teens see that Amer-
ican Jewish college students still decide that Israel is
the place they want to spend their free time. Having
the opportunity to connect and build relationships
with American Jewry is in and of itself what the teens
in our camps cherish the most, and tends to be the
greatest motivator in their learning English.”
In addition to Mr. Orenshein and Mr. Glicksman,
Bergen County participants in Counterpoint Israel
2018 were Alisa Neugroschl of Bergenfield and Ami
Malek of Teaneck, who staffed the camp in Dimona.
As of this year, all the college students received aca-
demic credit for their participation.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 11

Local
Harnessing network resources
Finding step-by-step ways for the Jewish community to help refugees
Lois Goldrich
Sometimes, it’s all about harnessing
your resources.
Tamara Duker Freuman of Nyack and
Becky Stiles of Northvale knew they
couldn’t solve the refugee problem them-
selves, but they also knew that if some-
how they could tap into the compassion
and generosity of their large social net-
work, they might just be able to make
a difference.
And they have made a difference — one
pair of shoes at a time.
“About the time of the presidential
election, I knew that we needed to reach
out and show support for refugees,” Ms.
Freuman, a nutritionist and author who
grew up in Teaneck, said.
“It started informally with Becky and
other congregants at CSI,” Nyack’s Con-
gregation Sons of Israel. Ms. Freuman is
a member there now, and Ms. Stiles who
belongs to Temple Emanuel of the Pascack
Valley used to be, when she lived nearby.
At first, the two women
held occasional programs at
the synagogue to sensitize
congregants to the plight of
refugees. “But as we started
to learn more, we knew
that wouldn’t cut it,” Ms.
Freuman said. “Sending cards
is not enough. The more we
learned, the more we knew
we had to find established
groups to hook into.
“We met for breakfast in
June to hash it out.” They also
took stock of what they had
to offer.
“We are really well con-
nected,” Ms. Freuman said,
noting the groups to which
the two women have access,
including shuls, camps, and
Hebrew schools. “We wanted
to use this vast, generous, and
sympathetic Jewish commu-
nity to harness the resources
of our network to provide
material support.”
Originally, they talked about sponsor-
ing a refugee family. “But CSI is a very
small shul, and we did not feel we had
the resources to take on a project that
required so much time and money,” she
said. Instead, they realized, “We are a
community with money and with people
who want to help.”
Creating the Tristate Jewish Network
for Refugee Support, which, thanks to
Ms. Stiles, now also has the active sup-
port of Temple Emanuel of the Pascack
Valley, as well as from other Jewish insti-
tutions across New Jersey, New York,
12 Jewish Standard AUGUST 10, 2018
and Connecticut, the women ultimately
decided to help by providing much-
needed material aid to 200 refugee fami-
lies who have resettled in in the mid-Hud-
son Valley within the last two years.
According to Ms. Stiles, “These families
include many war widows with young chil-
dren. They had husbands who were trans-
lators for the military, who were killed by
the Taliban. Most of these women never
were literate. This is a huge culture shock.”
Ms. Stiles, who moved to New Jersey last
year, said she and Ms. Freuman both work,
and both have young children. Ms. Stiles
Above, Susan Liebeskind,
chair of Community of
Caring, packs shoes for
children of newly arrived
refugee families.
Becky Stiles of Northvale, left,
and Tamara Duker Freuman of
Nyack organized the Jewish
Network for Refugee Support.
is director of research and devel-
opment for a chemical company,
and she and her husband, Paul,
have a 7-year-old son and a 3-year-
old daughter. Ms. Freuman lives in
Nyack with her husband, Alex, and
her 7 l/2-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
The two women defined their goals after
meeting people who knew people and
introduced them to other people.
Through an acquaintance, “I got
plugged into Vassar College Refugee Soli-
darity,” Ms. Freuman said. “I spoke with
the faculty adviser and she welcomed
us, telling us about families and needs.
She provided us with lists of goods they
needed.” Vassar, she said, was working
with the Mid-Hudson Refugee Solidar-
ity Alliance.
After their first project, securing
household goods and gift cards for the ref-
ugee families, Ms. Freuman and Ms. Stiles
hit on the idea of providing shoes for chil-
dren who would be going to school in the
fall. To accomplish this, they created an
online registry on Amazon.com (https://
amzn.to/2szwW7J), including a wish-
list of back-to-school shoes. For many of
these children, it will be their first pair of
new shoes.
To facilitate the project, “We asked for
the names of people in Albany who could
liaise directly with families for shoe sizes,”
said Ms. Freuman, who was subsequently
put in touch with Albany’s Islamic Cen-
ter. “We needed someone there to receive
shoe delivery and distribute them. They
put us in touch with two congregants from
the Center, Amira and Sara, a mother and
daughter from Sudan. They went door to
door and helped children get their feet
measured. It was essential to helping us
figure out what should be on the registry.”
Ms. Freuman and Ms. Stiles set a goal of
270 pairs of shoes. They met it. That’s why
“Becky and I moved up the timing of our
next planned campaign — backpacks and
socks — and added them to the registry,”
Ms. Freuman said. “We’ve been using the
gift cards people send to buy school sup-
plies for the kids. Winter coats and hats/
gloves will be our next campaign, once we
get these kids ready for the first month or
two of school.”
Temple Emanuel has endorsed the
project enthusiastically, Ms. Stiles said.
“I brought it to my synagogue and Rabbi
Monosov and Rabbi Kniaz were really sup-
portive,” she said; Shelley Kniaz is the syn-
agogue’s director of congregational educa-
tion. The synagogue sent out information
about the registry as part of its Caring
Community newsletter and email.
Susan Liebeskind, chair of the Commu-
nity of Caring, said, “This is our chance to
make a difference in the families’ lives, and
to live our Jewish values of welcoming the
stranger.” Her synagogue is active in a wide
range of social action issues, from gun con-
trol to immigration, she added.
“A lot of Americans and American Jews
feel the plight of refugees in a personal
way,” Ms. Freuman said. “We feel per-
sonally helpless, but we want to help.
So we found an opportunity to support
people already here. Shoes, coats, back-
packs — these are tangible things. We’re
giving people a channel and opportunity
to do something, taking their own chari-
table instincts and giving them a way to do
something tangible.”
“People are thanking us,” Ms. Stiles said.
“They’re watching the news and feeling
helpless. This is a concrete thing — a real
opportunity to make a difference for a
small amount of money.”
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JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 13
Briefly Local
Staff Sgt. Inbal, left, with Amy Sprung, Erica Donner, Dana Adler of Tenafly, and
Sgt. Maj. Alexandra.
Women’s day in the Hamptons
unites FIDF backers and soldiers
About 90 supporters of the Friends of the
Israel Defense Forces from Jewish com-
munities in the tristate area and active
duty Israel Defense Forces soldiers met
on Thursday, July 19, for a women’s day
in East Hampton. They also recognized
Judith Leiber, a Holocaust survivor from
Budapest, who became a world-renowned
handbag designer. The day included a lun-
cheon and a private tour of the Leiber
collection. Leiber died in April at 97, just
hours after the death of her husband, Ger-
son. The meeting supported educational
programs for Israel’s soldiers.
“The event was a complete success as
we recognized Judith Leiber, who was
known for her haute couture creations
that are equal parts whimsical and luxuri-
ous,” Felicia Solomon, FIDF’s Long Island
director, said. “The Leibers and the found-
ers of FIDF would be proud of Thursday’s
event, where we enjoyed the beauty and
Take them out to the ball game
Members of the Men’s Club at Temple Emanu-El of Closter enjoy a summer trip
to a Rockland Boulders game with Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner and his son, Elias,
joining them at Palisades Credit Union Park in Pomona, N.Y.
 Courtesy Emanu-El
14 Jewish Standard AUGUST 10, 2018
Courtesy FIDF
creativity of Judith Leiber handbags while
honoring and paying tribute to the IDF
soldiers.”
The decision to celebrate Ms. Leiber’s
life and career was an easy one for the
FIDF and its supporters, given the organi-
zation’s own history. FIDF was established
in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors
who believed that taking care of the IDF
and its soldiers would prevent another
Holocaust.
The “Day in East Hampton” was the pre-
cursor for the upcoming FIDF NY women’s
campaign, which will be launched with
“Fashion for Philanthropy” in Manhattan
on September 13. The day will be a collab-
oration between the FIDF NY and Maskit
and its head designer, luxury Israeli fash-
ion designer Sharon Tal. Ruth Schwalbe,
whose father was a Holocaust survivor
and a founder of FIDF, and Carol Levin
will co-chair.
Sarah Paley, left,
Representative
Josh Gottheimer,
and Miriam Pfeiffer
at bergenPAC
Photos courtesy
Norpac
Norpac welcomes lawmakers
to local pro-Israel meetings
Norpac event chairs Dr. Laurie Bau-
mel and Manuel Litchman welcomed
Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio)
to their Teaneck home on July 26. Mr.
Chabot is a co-sponsor of the Israel
Anti-Boycott Act and supported the pas-
sage of the United States-Israel Security
Assistance Authorization Act of 2018,
which insured a minimum $3.3 billion
in security aid to Israel for the coming
fiscal year. He won his May primary and
is running for re-election in November.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was
a guest at Debbie and Michael Blumen-
thal’s Englewood home on July 29. At Congressman Steve Chabot and Dr.
a press conference, Mr. Murphy reaf- Laurie Baumel
firmed that “Israel is our most important
ally in the Middle East,” and that “Jeru-
salem is and always will be the capital (D-5th Dist.) at the Performing Arts
of the state of Israel.” He is a co-sponsor School at bergenPAC in Englewood on
of the United States-Israel Security Assis- July 30. Retired Senator Joe Lieberman,
tance Authorization Act of 2018. He is (I-Conn.), praised Mr. Gottheimer for
finishing his first term in the Senate and his support of U.S.-Israel relations and
is seeking re-election in November. his involvement with the Problem Solv-
Arthur Sinensky, Bob Cook, and ers Caucus. Mr. Gottheimer won his pri-
Hal Messer co-hosted a Norpac meet- mary and is running for re-election in
ing for Congressman Josh Gottheimer November.
Michael
and Debbie
Blumenthal flank
Senator Chris
Murphy
Torah dedication honors congregant
Congregation Ahavat Achim invites the for more than 38 years and died on Sep-
community to a Torah dedication cer- tember 1, 2017. The shul is at 18-25 Saddle
emony in memory of Malka Schwitzer,
a”h, on Sunday, August 12 at 9:30 a.m.
River Road in Fair Lawn. For informa-
tion, call (201) 797-0502 or go to ahav-
Ms. Schwitzer belonged to Ahavat Achim atachim.org.
 Briefly Local

Camp Simcha marks Alumni Day

with entertainment and dedication
Alumni Day visitors were
treated to a day at the cir-
cus, featuring alumni-led
entertainment by the Shnit-
zel Guys, Yitzy Haber, and
Donny Weinraub, as well
as the Braun family’s pro-
fessional unicycling show.
Visitors also enjoyed tours
of the campus and a camp- Thank you
wide barbecue dinner.
“C a m p S i m c h a h a s
for voting
touched the lives of thou- us #1
sands of children and
families over the years,” three years
said Miriam Tennenbaum
of Teaneck, Chai Lifeline
in a row.
director of alumni rela-
tions. “Alumni Day is an
opportunity for former
campers and staff to con-
nect the past with the
present and experience
the joy of Camp Simcha
once again. It is also a cel-
ebration of those who have The Steiner family of Monsey, N.Y., joined more
given so much to making than 500 former Camp Simcha campers, coun-
Camp Simcha the special selors, and staff and their families at Alumni Day COLE HAAN
place it is.” on July 29 at Camp Simcha’s campus in Glen
The day included the Spey, N.Y. Courtesy Chai Lifeline

dedication of a technology
room, created with funds raised by sev-
eral alumni through Team Lifeline, in
memory of former camper Jon Hecht.
In addition, alumni made a siyum, com-
pleting the entire Chumash and mish-
supervised camp experiences at Camp
Simcha, for children battling cancer and
other hematological illnesses, and Camp
Simcha Special, for children with debili-
tating chronic conditions. Camp Simcha Scarpa

nayos, in memory of Shachar Weiss-
berg, a longtime Camp Simcha camper
and counselor. Speakers included Mordy
Rothberg of Teaneck, a Chai Lifeline pre-
sidium member and Camp Simcha alum-
nus, who shared a few words of Torah.
Each summer, close to 500 seriously
ill children are treated to medically
and Camp Simcha Special are projects of
Chai Lifeline, the international children’s
health support network, which provides
emotional, social, and financial support
to children with life-threatening or life- DOLCEPUNTA
long illnesses and their families. Made in Italy LACOSTE
For more information, go to www.
TALLIA
chailifeline.org.
MICHAEL KORS

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Jewish Standard AUGUST 10, 2018 15

Cover Story

Hannah Mozden prepares to fly from Ayal

Prouser to Eric Eliacin at Go! Emerging Artist
Commissioning Program at the Streb Lab in
Brooklyn in June. PHOTO BY LIBBY MARTIN

16 JEWISH
JEWISH STANDARD
STANDARD AUGUST
AUGUST10,
10,2018
2018

Dancing
in air
Rabbinic, cantorial students learn circus
to embody the power of Jewish texts
C
JOANNE PALMER
ircus performers live in their bodies.
Rabbis live in their heads.
Circus performers and rabbis live in
relationship to other people.
These of course are gross overstate-
ments. Ridiculous overstatements. But it is true that cir-
cus is an overwhelmingly physical art form, the study of
rabbinics involves the extraordinarily in-depth analysis
of text, and neither can exist in a vacuum.
The rabbinic system, more or less as we know it
today, is about two thousand years old. The academic
field of circus studies is perhaps half a century old,
maybe, if you define it generously and trace its begin-
nings to France. (The circus as we know it today was
created in England in the late 18th century.) And it prob-
ably is safe to say that it wasn’t until a month or so ago
that a formal trimester-long course in circus perfor-
mance first was offered at a rabbinical school, open to
both rabbinic and cantorial students.
The school is the Academy for Jewish Religion, the
school in the old Otis Elevator building in Yonkers, on
the east bank of the Hudson River, the one where sun-
light glows through the glass and lights up the books,
and where students who can be of any age but tend to
be old enough to have traded in a first career for a sec-
ond one, who come from all streams of Jewish life and
are open to learning in ways that they would not have
been had they done this earlier, when they thought
Cover Story
they knew more but in fact knew far less.
And the class was prosaically called “Sacred Arts, Cir-
cus Arts,” the school’s executive vice president, Dr. Ora
Horn Prouser of Franklin Lakes, said; she wishes she’d
gone with the more dramatic title “Two Jews, Three
Rings.”
Okay. So what is this class?
“The idea started many years ago, because AJR has
had a real focus on sacred arts for many years,” Dr.
Prouser said. “The idea is that we use the arts to pro-
cess Jewish text. I want to be clear — the idea is not that
we use the text as a jumping-off point to the arts, but to
really use the art to process the text.
“We don’t care if it’s really great art, because the
point is the study.
“This became important to us because Judaism is
such a very text-based religion, and a lot of Jewish text
study happens with everyone sitting around a table,
studying together.
“I am not putting that down. Not at all. I love it. It is
my life. But for many people, that is not their way of
learning, and because of that they easily could feel that
Jewish study is closed to them. So we have focused on
whether there are alternative ways to approach text,
ways that maybe can open the door to more people.
And not only to artistic students — we believe that this
works for everybody and is valuable for everybody.”
The art involved does not have to be circus art, Dr.
Prouser continued. “It took a fair amount of time to get
there, to circus. We have done many retreats and work-
shops where we have brought in
the arts — through dance, music,
biblio-drama, and other arts. We
once had a very intense conver-
sation about patrilineal descent
and the question of how to deal
with it in a pluralistic commu-
nity like ours. So we brought in
a music therapist, who wrote
songs with our students to help
them process it.
Rabbinical student Robert
Green and cantorial student
Robyn Streitman hold
rabbinical student Lily Lucey
as Ayal Prouser stablizes
the pryamid from behind.
Rabbinical student Steven
Goldstein directs. They’re
embodying the Jacob and
Esau story. AJR
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 17
Cover Story
“The material was so valuable. It helped people feel
and think about things that were not in their head space,
but in their heart space.
“And then we thought it would be interesting to look at
the Talmud through the arts. Not the Bible” — that isn’t so
very unusual, given biblio-drama and the art of the metur-
guman, as resurfaced through the work by such people as
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie and his Storahtelling — “but the
Talmud. So when this started with the circus, we said we
don’t want to chose a gem of a narrative text in the Tal-
mud. Instead, we want to use a straightforward talmudic
argument. The question was how do you use the arts to
look at the structure of the argument?
“So the first time Ayal and I worked together, we had
people build human pyramids to express the structure.”
How did that work? “You have a statement, and then
another statement that is built on the other one; it might
be countering the first one or it might seem to be unre-
lated. So if you can imagine the argument in that way, you
can structure it with bodies.”
There is no one right way to build that structure, so
“People did it differently.” They worked in groups, and had
to decide how to work together. “Some groups made pyra-
mids; others didn’t want to get off the floor.” Their argu-
ments were expressed physically but horizontally. “Others
drew pictures.”
So, to back up, who is Ayal, and how does he know
about the circus?
Ayal is Ayal Prouser; his mother is Dr. Prouser and his
Robert Green and Ayal Prouser juggle; the text is father is Dr. Prouser’s husband, Rabbi Joseph Prouser of
the relationship between Moses and Aaron. AJR Temple Emanuel of North Jersey in Franklin Lakes. Mr.
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Prouser majored in film studies at Clark University in
Worcester, Mass., and he has just finished a master’s degree
in film and media studies at Columbia. He’s both a circus
performer, focusing on the trapeze, and a circus coach. He
worked closely with his mother and the five students in the
intimate, intense class that just is finishing up now.
The two Prousers, mother and son, started working
together when they began creating workshops using cir-
cus arts. “We would look at the biblical text through cir-
cus,” Dr. Prouser said. “We would take a rich narrative
text, like the story of Jacob and Esau, which has four very
rich characters” — both the two brothers and their par-
ents, Isaac and Rebecca — and we would ask people to use
partner acrobatics to express the relationships between
them. Ayal would teach them different moves, and they’d
think about questions like how are they looking at each
other? And who is supporting whom?
“We were looking at how these characters relate to each
other,” she continued. “This is not theater. We were not
aiming to act anything out, but to get a clear picture. It was
not about telling a story, but more like a freeze frame. What
were the emotions and underlying feelings going on here?
“We are certainly not ignoring the text. Everything we
do is based on really studying the text. So we are in no
way ignoring the story, but we also are not trying to act
out the story.”
That was at the beginning, when this fusion of text study
with circus happened at workshops and conferences, basi-
cally one-offs. “This, now, is the first time we’ve taught
a full-length 11-week trimester course,” Dr. Prouser said.
“That gave us the luxury of trying out a variety of things.
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 Cover Story

We have worked hard to get away from acting out charac-
ters and instead moving toward what are the larger emo-
s tions going on.”
e What does that mean?
e “For example, one week we brought a tight wire into
school, and then we studied the Akedah,” the story of Abra-
ham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, because he
- thought that God would approve of that sacrifice; it’s also
- the story of their trip up to the altar on the mountain, and
of how that trip ended with a dead ram and a severed father/
son relationship. “Then we said, ‘We want you to think
- about Abraham while you are walking on the tight wire.’”
Don’t worry. No one was expected to walk on a wire
n
d
without help. “One of Ayal’s gifts is that he can make peo-
ple feel that they are ready to join the circus,” Dr. Prouser
said. “He is really great at helping people. He holds their
how it affected them.
“I read the text out loud while people were walking,
and then someone said ‘No, no, no. I want to read it aloud
myself as I walk on the tight wire, so he got on the wire with
the Tanach. He literally looked like he was going to cry.
“And then he got off, and he said, ‘I have been jaded
about this text. It comes up so often, you read it so often,
that you stop thinking about it.’ But he was in tears,
“Then we said, ‘We
want you to think
about Abraham while
coaches,” she said. “We were clear that you need a profes-
sional to do this. It is not safe otherwise.” In other words,
kids, do not try this at home.
Ayal Prouser has been in love with circus since he was a
child. “We used to go when I was a kid,” he said. “We’d go
on Passover. Ringling Brothers usually would be in town
then.” He’s part of a close-knit family of siblings and cous-
ins — “there are seven of us who were born in seven years,
plus more who were born later” — so “when school would
be closed for Passover, all the cousins would go to the cir-
cus. We’d bring our big brown bags of food with us.
“And then my mom bought me a learn-to-juggle book,
and I learned. It came to me fairly naturally, and I loved
it. And then I went to circus camp, and I met a guy there
who became my mentor, and I started learning more and
more circus skills.”

h
hands”; before that, he held their waists.
The prerequisite for the class, open to all the school’s
t rabbinical and cantorial students, was just a willingness
s to take it. The students were not young — “the age range
t is probably from late 30s to 50s,” Dr. Prouser said — and
“there was a whole range of fitness levels. It was not in any
e way like a class of acrobats.
o “They all knew what they were getting into, and there
were some times when somebody said ‘I’m not comfort-
able with this,’ and of course that was fine.”
y When the students were on the tight wire, “Ayal asked
- them what it means to be physically unbalanced when you
t are thinking about the Akedah,” Dr. Prouser said. “What
does it means to be struggling with your own balance?
People were expressing all sorts of different ideas about
you are walking on
the tight wire.’”
because of how he was experiencing it bodily, not through
drama, but as embodying the feelings.
“That was what we are aiming for.
“How you embody these feelings has a huge impact
on how you absorb and think about the text. And when
you go back to it afterward, you realize connections and
thoughts that you hadn’t thought through before. Some-
how, once you embody it it is different.”
Although the class will allow newly ordained rabbis and
cantors to bring the understandings they’ve gained in it to
their communities, “it does not equip them to be circus
There are a great many life skills in circus skills, Mr.
Prouser continued. “In competitive sports, you are com-
peting with other people. In circus, you are competing
only with yourself. You can only be the best that you can
be. You can’t be better than someone else. And you are
working with other people, supporting each other, every-
body working together.”
The bonds that circus people develop with each other
extend way outside the ring, he added. “I am never ner-
vous about moving someplace new,” he said. “I know that
there always will be a circus community there.”
Dr. Prouser talks about the community the circus
brings, even though it is not at the center of her life, as
it is at her son’s. She’s seen it at workshops, at places like
university Hillels, where the group that comes together

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Cover Story

for a few hours stays together for longer. There is academic
and hands-on work that shows that “when you are doing
circus, you literally are holding other people up. That’s a
necessary part of circus, and that is how it can be used to
build community.”
She talked about a project her son did in Israel, in Kirkas
Galil, a circus in the Galilee. “They were bringing together
Israeli Jews and Arabs, who had to depend on each other
and build relationships.” Ayal did similar work in Uganda,
she added, “taking kids who live in underprivileged areas
and giving them skills and a trade, a way to feel proud of
themselves, in addition to getting a meal and a shower. Cir-
cus is used for social good in a variety of areas, and it works
partly because it builds community, based on the element
of having to rely on each other.”
Mr. Prouser is passionate about both the circus’s history
and its future. “It used to be considered a low art, rejected
by the academy,” he said. Recently, though, as it has been
studied as both sociology and art, it is being taken more
seriously. Still, it’s necessary to sort of back into it as an
academic study. “Everyone I know who does circus
studies really is in a different field,” he said. “I got my
masters in film and media studies. Some people do
sociology or performance studies or even science or
education.”
Gender also is an unavoidable part of circus study;
it’s impossible to watch circus without being struck
both by the exaggerated gender stereotyping and also
the way those stereotypes are thrown away with the
elaborate sparkly cover-up robes when the real work
— the real art — begins.
Contemporary circus — which flourishes mainly
in Europe, and in this continent in Montreal, he said
— is being seen more as art than as gaudy lowbrow
cotton-candy throw-away entertainment. He now
works mainly on the trapeze, both flying, where he’s
a catcher, and double, “which is two people on one
bar,” he said. “It’s more like a dance or choreography
than just one trick, and then another trick, and then
the next one.”
It’s not tricks, it’s dancing on air.
Mr. Prouser and the three people he works with
won a joint grant from the Jerome Foundation and the
Streb Lab for Action Mechanics. “Elizabeth Streb is a
MacArthur Genius Award winner and choreographer,”
he said. “So we get to work with her to re-explore

ULPAN
trapeze. It’s not just about doing a trick and getting

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Lily Lucey hangs from Robert Green’s arms; Ayal
Prouser spots them. They’re inspired by the story
of Ruth. AJR

20 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018

 Cover Story

ranging from children to clergy; they include Jewish

professionals and aspiring Jewish professionals as well
as adult ed programs. (For more information, email
him at acp2192@columbia.edu.)
Like his mother, Mr. Prouser was moved by the exer-
cise involving the Akedah, back at the Academy for
Jewish Religion, and by the student who “almost broke
down in tears on the tight wire.
“That gave me a new perspective,” he said. “A more
personal, much smaller one.”
“Circus is a very bodily art,” he concluded. “Every-
thing in circus is body. First body and feelings.
Thoughts are later. With circus, you try to convey
things through the body.” Even in the class, “you
emphasize the body, and let the body teach the mind,
which of course is another kind of education.”
So, is there anything particularly Jewish about the
circus?
Well, yes, in a way, there is, Ayal Prouser said. There
were many Jews in prewar European circuses, both
owners and performers; when the Nazis demanded
that the circuses give up their Jews, the circuses said
no. “The circus community had its own culture and
set of values, and they said ‘Not our Jews. You can’t
have our Jews.’”
That story illustrates another connection between
circus and Jews. A community, with its own culture and
set of values, including trust, and the absolute knowl-
edge that someone will be there to catch someone else
who is falling. A romantic vision of community, yes,
but isn’t romance another big element of circus?

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Jewish World
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to straighten mixed messages on Iran
Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he’s
ready to meet Iran’s leadership without precondi-
tions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seems to have
preconditions.
The disconnect of recent weeks was sharpened
on Monday, when the White House announced the
reimposition of sanctions on Iran, the first to be rein-
troduced since Trump announced in May that he
was pulling out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Pompeo, speaking with the media on Sunday and
heralding the new sanctions, insisted everything was
as clear as day.
“So the president and I, too, have been very clear,”
Pompeo said. “We’re very hopeful that we can find a
way to move forward, but it’s going to require enor-
mous change on the part of the Iranian regime.”
“Enormous change” was a reference to 12 con- President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appear to
ditions that Pompeo laid out in May after Trump have differences on Iran.
quit the plan, which relieved sanctions on Iran in
exchange for the rollback of its nuclear program.
The conditions included an end to Iran’s enrichment of
uranium (the 2015 deal allowed limited low enrichment),
“unqualified access” for nuclear inspectors (under the
deal, some inspections required a head’s up of several
weeks), a cessation of Iran’s adventurism in the region as
well as its ballistic missile program, and the release of all
imprisoned Americans.
So those are preconditions for a new deal and not neces-
sarily a meeting, right?
Trump and Pompeo don’t seem to agree.
“No preconditions, no, they want to meet I’ll meet, any-
time they want,” Trump said on July 30.
Two hours later, on CNBC, Pompeo said, “We’ve said
this before. He wants to meet with folks to solve prob-
lems. If the Iranians demonstrate a commitment to make
fundamental changes in how they treat their own people,
reduce their malign behavior, can agree that it’s worth-
while to enter into a nuclear agreement that actually pre-
vents proliferation, then the president said he’s prepared
to sit down and have the conversation with them.”
So what gives? We canvassed Iran experts.
The learning curve theory.
Jason Brodsky, the policy director for United Against
Nuclear Iran, a group that opposed the Joint Comprehen-
sive Plan for Action, or JCPOA, the name of the Iran deal,
said Trump was a businessman learning how to be a politi-
cian and a diplomat.
“I think the president believes he has the ability by vir-
tue of his personality and negotiating experience to be the
great negotiator and to close deals he thinks are strong for
the United States,” Brodsky said.
Since July 30, Trump appears to have retreated from the
“no preconditions” posture.
“Iran, and its economy, is going very bad, and fast!” he
posted on Twitter over the weekend. “I will meet, or not
meet, it doesn’t matter — it is up to them!”
TALLESIM CLEANED • SPECIAL SHABBOS RUSH SERVICE
22 Jewish Standard AUGUST 10, 2018
Illustration by Charles Dunst/JTA; photos from Maxpixel, Wikimedia Commons
“I think after reflection this tweet is an effort to clean
up or clarify it’s up to Iran and the ball is in their court,”
Brodsky said.
The bluff theory
National Security Adviser John Bolton spoke Monday
morning on the Fox News Channel as the announcement
came that new sanctions would roll out at midnight. He
suggested that Trump’s offer to meet was a means of call-
ing the Iranian bluff.
“They flatly turned him down and I think that’s an indi-
cation they’re not serious about stopping their malign
behavior,” Bolton said.
Bolton apparently was referring to a televised address
on Monday, in which Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
said that any meeting would be contingent on the United
States rejoining the JCPOA.
“If you stab someone with a knife and then you say you
want talks, then the first thing you have to do is remove
the knife,” Rouhani said, according to Reuters.
Mark Dubowitz, the director of the Foundation for the
Defense of Democracies, said that Trump’s gambit paid
off. “He saw it as a way of throwing the Islamic Republic
off balance,” Dubowitz said. “They rejected it and did not
know how to respond.”
Except maybe it’s the Iranians who are on a learning
curve. Later Monday, Rouhani told Iranian television that
in fact he was ready to meet without preconditions. “I
don’t have preconditions,” he said, according to CNN. “If
the U.S. government is willing, let’s start right now.”
It was Bolton, told of Rouhani’s 180, who seemed to be
off balance. “Let’s see what comes of it and see if it’s just
propaganda,” Bolton said Monday afternoon on CNN. “If
the Iranians are really willing to come and talk about all of
their malign behavior in the region and around the world,
I think the president is willing to do it.”
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The chaos theory
Jarrett Blanc, the former State Depart-
ment coordinator for Iran nuclear deal
implementation, said that Trump’s actions
made sense only when seen through the
lens of personality rather than policy.
“The only way to understand how the
Trump administration has handled the
JCPOA is that President Trump hated
the deal because it was concluded by his
hated predecessor” Barack Obama, said
Blanc, who now works with Diplomacy
Works, which backs the JCPOA.
That, Blanc said, led the president’s
aides to scramble to explain the policy:
Hawks like Bolton and Pompeo seized on
the pullout to advance a regime-change
agenda. Others — apologists for Trump’s
erratic behavior — cast it as Trump’s style,
depicting him as the guy who is always
ready to make a deal.
“This administration has been forced
into ex-post facto rationalization,” Blanc said.
Dubowitz disagreed, saying Trump’s toughness on Iran
was of a piece with his advisers. “Iran policy is one of the
few areas in the administration where there is consistency
and coherence, and there is no daylight between the presi-
dent and his principals on objectives and tactics,” he said.
What happens next
The sanctions to be reimposed immediately target Iran’s
currency, its trade in gold and other minerals and mineral
byproducts, and Iran’s automotive sector.
On November 5, much tougher sanctions come into
play, targeting Iran’s ports, its oil, and its financial system.
New tensions between the Trump administration and
Europe, already exacerbated by Trump’s imposition of
tariffs, are on the horizon. The reimposed sanctions tar-
get third-party entities that trade with Iran. (Under U.S.
law, U.S. trade with Iran is practically nil.) Europe stands
by the JCPOA, and on Monday announced measures to
protect European companies that deal with Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu com-
mended Trump for the reimposition of sanctions and
called on European nations to follow his lead. “This is an
important moment for Israel, the U.S., the region and the
entire world,” Netanyahu, who vigorously opposed the
JCPOA, said in a statement. “It represents the determina-
tion to curb Iran’s aggression in the region and its ongoing
intention to arm itself with nuclear weapons. I call upon
the countries of Europe, which talk about stopping Iran,
to join this measure.”
There is one major event bringing the United States and
Iran into the same building between now and November
5: the U.N. General Assembly in September. Last year,
Trump reportedly sought a meeting with Rouhani at last
year’s G.A. Will it happen this year?
Judging from the about-faces that have taken place in the
space of a week, it’s too soon to predict. JTA Wire Service
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David Reinert holds up a large “Q” sign repre-

senting QAnon, a conspiracy group, while wait-
ing in line to see President Donald Trump at a
rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on August 2, 2018. Provide new backpacks filled with supplies for hundreds
RICK LOOMIS/GETTY IMAGES
of disadvantaged kids returning to school this fall in northern New Jersey.

QAnon is the outlier

conspiracy theory that’s Y
BU
only slightly anti-Semitic SET UP PACK BACKPACKS
CHARLES DUNST

“We are Q.”

People wearing shirts and holding signs bearing
the idiom and similar Q-related expressions appeared
prominently at President Donald Trump’s rally in
Tampa last week, where he was campaigning for a
Republican congressman, Ron Desantis. The slogan
drew confused and concerned reactions from across
the political spectrum.

What is Q, exactly?
“Q,” it turns out, refers to QAnon, a conspiracy the-
ory growing in popularity among some on the far
right. The conspiracy centers around a mysterious
and anonymous online figure, Q, who, according to
Fill up the backpacks on
The Daily Beast, claims to have a top-level security Unpack and set up supplies $
18 buys one
clearance.
Wednesday, filled backpack
QAnon followers believe that there is worldwide Monday,
criminal conspiracy controlled by top Democrats, August 22 | 10 am
and that Trump, always in control, has planned and August 20 Your $18 single registration
$
72 buys four
manipulated the Mueller investigation to trap the “real 10 am buys one backpack
criminals” — Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and other Your $36 family registration
$
180 buys ten
leading Democrats. buys two backpacks
Posts by Q — called “breadcrumbs” by QAnon loyal-
ists — claim that even Arizona Senator John McCain,
a Republican, is a target of Mueller’s supposed
investigation.
Jewish Federation | 50 Eisenhower Drive, Paramus
The conspiracy has one overarching and optimis-
Sponsors
tic message for its supporters: Trump is in absolute
charge of everything, and his enemies, largely Demo- Genesis Foundation Seasoned
crats and liberals, soon will fall. G.B. Allen Associates, Inc. Moments Get involved
Artistic Tile | Myron
After the Tampa rally, a reporter asked White
House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders if Co-Chairs
jfnnj.org/supplies
Trump “encouraged the support” of the partici- Kati Frisch Grossman | Michal Levison
pants in Q-related shirts. “The president condemns
and denounces any group that would incite violence
against another individual and certainly doesn’t sup-
port groups that would promote that type of behav-
ior,” she responded.
More QAnon supporters appeared at the president’s
rally, later that week, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Beth Figman • bethf@jfnnj.org • 201-820-3947
SEE QANON PAGE 25

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 23

Jewish World
Israel suspected again of killing enemy rocket scientist.
Do these assassinations pay off?
RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON — Aziz Asbar was a leading
Syrian rocket scientist, working with Hez-
bollah and Iran to develop systems that
could reach deep inside Israel.
Now he’s dead. He was blown up in a car.
The natural inclination in the Middle
East and even farther afield is to blame
the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency,
for such killings. Indeed, Mossad quickly
was named as the perpetrator in a New
York Times story.
The Times cited “a senior official from
a Middle Eastern intelligence agency” in
reporting Asbar’s death in Maysaf, which is
near a major Syrian weapons development
facility. It also reported that it was at least
the fourth assassination attempt by Israel
in three years against an enemy weapons
engineer on foreign soil.
The Mossad hardly ever confirms its
operations, which the prime minister
must approve. An exception came in
April, when Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu extolled an operation in which
Israeli agents stole a literal ton of docu-
ments from Iran related to its nuclear pro-
gram. But that operation, as far as anyone
knows, did not involve a killing. Another,
in Kuala Lumpur the same month, did:
Two motorcyclists shot dead a Hamas
associated engineer, Fadi al-Batsh.
These assassinations once were the stuff
of major headlines and books — like Oper-
ation Damocles, which targeted German
scientists who were developing missiles
for Egypt in the early 1960s. Now such kill-
ings merit an article, if that, and a cursory
mention on a Wikipedia page. “Every day
in the Middle East there are hundreds of
explosions and settling of scores,” Defense
Minister Avigdor Liberman told Israel’s
Channel 2 after Asbar’s killing. “Every time
they try to place the blame on us. So we
won’t take this too seriously.”
This is likely, in part, because the vol-
ume has increased.
Ronen Bergman, the Israeli reporter
who wrote an exhaustive history of Isra-
el’s assassinations called “Rise and Kill
First” last year, and who co-wrote the
Times’ scoop on Asbar, has reported that
before 2000, Israel had carried out 500
such operations since its founding. Since
then, there have been more than 1,800.
Israel, Bergman wrote in his book, “has
assassinated more people than any other
country in the Western world” in the post-
war period.
Scott Lasensky, a former senior adviser
on Israel to the Obama administration,
said the acceleration after 2000 was due
in part to the intensity and bloodiness of
attacks on Israeli civilians of the Second
Intifada, launched in 2000, as well as the
George W. Bush administration’s pivot to
24 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, President Reuven Rivlin, and the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, at an awards
ceremony in Jerusalem to recognize 13 employees of Israel’s intelligence agency on December 13, 2017.
 KOBI GIDEON/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
targeted assassinations after the 9/11 ter-
rorist attacks in 2001.
Whereas before “there had been some
public discussion about whether they
could backfire, across the national security
community and in the broader public, the
debate ended,” said Lasensky, now a visit-
ing scholar at Israel’s Institute for National
Security Studies. “Because it coincided
with America’s post-9/11 campaign, it gave
Israelis even less reason to question.”
Which raises the question: Do the
assassinations work? That, in turn, raises
another question: What is the purpose of
the assassination?
The ticking bomb
Bergman’s book comes from an injunc-
tion in the Talmud that he repeatedly
heard cited by the former officials he
interviewed: “If someone comes to kill
you, rise up and kill him first.” If the death
of a figure would keep others alive, it is a
no-brainer, according to this rationale: He
must die.
Asbar could be in that category. Accord-
ing to the Times’ report, he was a criti-
cal actor in developing precision-guided
missiles that could reach deep into Israel
and also he was a leader in developing a
stabilizing rocket fuel. With Syria’s Assad
regime and its allies — Iran and its Leba-
nese militia, Hezbollah — emerging trium-
phant in that country’s civil war, Israel
suspected that it would be the only logical
target for such firepower.
A famous ticking bomb assassination
was Imad Mughniyeh in Syria in 2008,
believed to be a CIA-Mossad effort. The
Bush administration blamed Mughniyeh,
the Hezbollah chief of operations, for
attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Another was
Yahya Ayyash, “The Engineer,” the Hamas
designer of a rash of bombs that devas-
tated Israel in the mid-1990s. His head was
blown off when he answered a cellphone
call in Gaza City.
Be nervous. Be very nervous
Strategic killings keep the enemy off-
balance — likely the key factor informing
those of four Iranian nuclear scientists
in the early part of this decade. Jonathan
Schanzer, the vice president of the Foun-
dation for Defense of Democracies, said
the killings not only deprived Iran of its
knowledge base, it made the Iranian secu-
rity establishment expend resources on
protecting its scientists.
“It forced the Iranians to engage in
greater operational security, holding scien-
tists in underground undisclosed facilities
because of the fear they would lose their
brain trust,” he said.
The same likely is now true of Syria’s
rocket makers. “They will be more para-
noid,” Schanzer said. “That’s what coun-
terterrorism is, encumbering the enemy,
not necessarily defeating the enemy.”
Revenge
Some of the alleged Israeli killings have
seemed gratuitous.
Bergman chronicles the late Israeli
defense minister and prime minister Ariel
Sharon’s obsession with killing Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat, at times contemplat-
ing operations that would have killed large
numbers of civilians and qualified as war
crimes. (Younger officers thwarted the
plans.) Arafat managed to escape many
bombings — often by minutes — and even a
bizarre “Manchurian Candidate”-style bid
to hypnotize a Palestinian into killing him.
(The Palestinian pretended to be under
hypnosis, then promptly turned himself
in to Arafat’s people.)
Bergman, who hints in a New York
Times Magazine excerpt of his book that
Sharon ultimately may have succeeded in
poisoning Arafat in 2004, said Sharon was
simply furious that a man behind the kill-
ing of Israeli civilians should keep breath-
ing. “He took to heart every casualty of
every terror attack,” Bergman quoted the
late Mossad chief Meir Dagan as saying of
Sharon. “There were some things that he
simply could not let pass.”
Revenge likely also was a factor in the
case of Ahmed Yassin, the Hamas founder
and cleric killed in an airstrike in March
2004. Yassin was Hamas’ spiritual leader,
given to vile justifications of the murder
of Israelis, but he was not involved in
its operations.
Does the plan work?
Sometimes it backfires. The attempts on
Arafat fed his legend and lent him stature
among Palestinians. In 1988 Israeli com-
mandos killed Khalil al-Wazir, also known
as Abu Jihad, in Tunis. Abu Jihad, Arafat’s
second-in-command, also was among the
Palestinian leaders seeking accommoda-
tion with Israel. The killing did nothing
to stop the First Intifada. Israeli leaders
believed that Abu Jihad was directing its
violence, but it was a homegrown affair.
Other times, when a critical actor is
killed, it appears to have results. The 1996
assassination of Ayyash, “The Engineer,”
was followed by a rash of bus bombings
believed to have been planned before his
death — and then several years of rela-
tive quiet.
Schanzer said the policy may work in
conjunction with an overall strategy. The
campaign against Iran’s nuclear scientists,
he said, was coupled with cyber warfare
that for a time crippled Iran’s uranium
enrichment and tough sanctions that
slowed its nuclear program. “Israelis have
always used targeted assassination as not
the only means but as one element of a
broader strategy,” he said.
 JTA WIRE SERVICE
 Jewish World

QAnon
FROM PAGE 23
The conspiracy does not explain what the presi-
dent’s enemies are being “investigated” for. Some peo-
ple accuse Clinton and Obama of colluding in some
way with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while
others suggest that these Democrats, along with Hol-
lywood figures and world leaders, are participating
in a global pedophilia ring. According to the theory,
every American president before Trump was engaged
flexibility, enabling them to supplement the conspiratorial
canon with extra theories, some of them anti-Semitic. The
QAnon narrative is “flexible enough to fold in just anything
that makes the news,” the Daily Beast’s Will Sommer wrote.
For example, when NBC’s Ben Collins recently attempted
to explain QAnon, one supporter alleged that his script
had been “written by Jacob Rothschild,” a reference to the
Jewish banking family that has been at the center of anti-
Semitic conspiracies for centuries. Others have expressed
support for the Seth Rich conspiracy, which involves the
2016 unsolved murder of a Jewish staffer at the Democratic
National Committee.
“The vast majority of QAnon-inspired conspiracy theories
have nothing to with anti-Semitism,” according to the Anti-
Defamation League’s 2017 “Anti-Semitism Globally” report.
However, the report said that QAnon followers, likely due to
the conspiracy’s flexible nature, often refer “to Israel, Jews,
Zionists, or George Soros” as boogeymen aligned with sup-
posedly criminal Democrats in opposition of Trump.
 JTA WIRE SERVICE

in criminal conspiracy with pedophile rings, the “deep

state,” and pharmaceutical companies, working to
enslave the American people.

The internet has always

attracted conspiracy theorists. For newcomers in northern New Jersey
Is this any different?
who have lived here two years or less

FREE
While some people have criticized recent media cov-
erage of QAnon as being responsible for elevating the
movement, the fact that hundreds of conspiracy theo-
rists are showing up to real-life rallies for the president
of the United States — whom they see as a potentially
authoritarian savior of the country — strikes many oth-
ers as an ominous sign of an emerging lunatic fringe.
Ted Mann, writing in Tablet, notes that Q posts are
“framed as dispatches from the shadow war between

EZ Key High Holiday

the establishment and Trump, the intended audi-
ence for which was the weird, huge pro-Trump digital
community.”

TICKETS
Although once limited to marginal internet mes-
sage boards like 4chan and 8chan, over the last year
! has amassed a host of new believers and follow-
ers. A  video explaining (and advertising) the the-
ory has gotten nearly 200,000 views, while a mobile
phone application to QAnon (named QDrops, it
sends alerts related to the theory) climbed near the
Visit
jfnnj.org/holidaytickets
top of the Apple app store rankings earlier this year.
QAnon counts many celebrities as fans —  including
Roseanne Barr and former Boston Red Sox pitcher
Curt Schilling — and its followers have demonstrated
an increased propensity to affect the tangible as well or contact
as the cyber world.
In June, a man driving an armored vehicle and car- Elisa J. Hirsch at elisah@jfnnj.org or 201-820-3918
rying two firearms forced the shutdown of a highway
near the Hoover Dam, holding a sign referring to one Offer ends Wednesday, September 5
of QAnon’s pet theories about Democratic criminal
activity. Q also has targeted Michael Avenatti, Stormy
Daniels’ lawyer, posting photos both of Avenat-
ti’s office and of a man standing outside it. Q later ROSH HASHANAH
posted that Avenatti had been sent a “message.”
“The frightening thing about QAnon isn’t that a Sunday, September 9 - 11
bunch of Americans believe in a looney conspiracy
theory (what else is new),” Slate writer Jordan Weiss- (Starting at sundown)
mann tweeted. “It’s that they’re waiting for Donald
Trump to arrest his entire political opposition.
“These people are ready for military rule.”
YOM KIPPUR
So, is QAnon anti-Semitic?
Tuesday, September 18 - 19
Although it is not specifically anti-Semitic, some of (Starting at sundown)
QAnon’s archetypical elements — including secret
elites and kidnapped children, among others — reflect
historical and ongoing anti-Semitic conspiracy theo-
ries. “In all Western culture, you can argue that all con-
spiracy theories, no matter how diverse, come from
the idea of the Jews abducting children,” Chip Berlet,
the co-author of “Right-Wing Populism in America:
Too Close for Comfort,” told the New York Times in
April. “Stories about globalists stealing children for sex
aren’t that far removed from stories about Jews steal-
ing children to use their blood making matzah.” EZ Key, a project of the Synagogue Leadership Initiative,
is sponsored by Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey
In addition to these central elements, QAnon, as an and the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation.
open-source conspiracy theory begun from Q’s rela-
tively vague posts, gifts its followers with ideological
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 25
Editorial
Thank you
for courage
C I
ourage does not come easily to most of
us. It’s easier to look away, to walk away,
to say it doesn’t matter, you don’t care,
no one else cares, let’s just move on and
forget it.
It’s easy to tell our kids to be brave, but it’s not so
easy to model it.
In this week’s paper, Larry Yudelson tells the
story of Emily Binstein of Metuchen, a Jewish col-
lege student who refused to accept anti-Israel bias,
even when it was hidden in the overwrought lan-
guage of political holier-than-thou-ness that is co-
opting such important, true and proud causes as
feminism and resistance to homophobia by dividing
it from Zionism and even Judaism and instead yok-
ing it to knee-jerk Israel bashing.
In December, he told the story of Talia Schabes
of Englewood, another Jewish college student who
went public with the anti-Semitic ravings of three of
her professors, again at Rutgers. One of them pub-
lished accusations not only that the Holocaust was a
hoax, but that Jews were responsible for the Arme-
nian genocide.
A few weeks ago, he told the story of another
Jewish college student, Benny Koval of Fair Lawn,
who was disturbed by the anti-Semitic, thoroughly
deranged rantings of a sociology professor at her
school, William Paterson University.
Last year, I told the story of Ariela Rivkin of
Teaneck, who took on the student council at the
University of Wisconsin at Madison, displaying huge
personal courage over the course of an entire year.
All four of these young women fought back, and
all met with at least some success.
It’s really hard to do that.
It’s hard to take on teachers, with their built-in
authority, or a student council, with its size and
spending power. You can become a social pariah,
seen as someone who fights unbecomingly hard for
not-chic causes. You can become obsessed, giving
up sleep, other activities, friends, the whole rest of
your life. You can be worn down by the vitriol inevi-
tably thrown at you, or it can make you bitter.
Or you can be invigorated by the knowledge that
you are doing the right thing, that you are modeling
courage for everyone else, and that the world will
be a better place when you’ve finished than it had
been before.
These young women, and others like them, are
brave and admirable and deserve our gratitude.
They certainly have mine. —JP
Jewish Editor
Joanne Palmer
Standard Associate Editor
Larry Yudelson
1086 Teaneck Road
Community Editor
Teaneck, NJ 07666
Beth Janoff Chananie
(201) 837-8818
Fax 201-833-4959 About Our Children Editor
Heidi Mae Bratt
Publisher
James L. Janoff
Associate Publisher Emerita
Marcia Garfinkle
thejewishstandard.com
26 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
KEEPING THE FAITH
Why Facebook’s faults
are on our communal heads
n several substantive ways, the month of Elul, which being responsible for performing all the mitzvot — espe-
begins this Sunday, marks the start of the High Holy cially including the social, ethical, and moral ones Akiva
Days season. In other words, this Sunday begins what and Ben Azzai and many others of our sages recognize as
I call Jewish Values Restoration Month. (This is not essential.
connected in any way to any organization using some or Too often, that failure comes back to haunt us when our
all of those words.) children have grown into adulthood and set out into the
If we truly want to observe the High Holy Days as they world.
are intended to be observed, meaning if we truly want to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg comes quickly to
analyze and improve our behavior as individuals and as a mind.
community, Sunday is when we must begin the rigorous As my readers know, there is an entire category of sin
work involved. known as ona’at d’varim, verbal wrongs. About five percent
The most difficult task, of course, is on the communal of the Torah’s 613 commandments involve a form of ona’at
front, because no vehicle exists for evaluating d’varim. Better than nearly one out of every
communal behavior, and besides, we are too four sins in the Great Confessional recited
fractured a community. Yet there should be on Yom Kippur involves this category. (For
such a vehicle. We are taught, after all, that an illuminating discussion of what is meant
“all Israel are the guarantors for one another” by “verbal wrongs,” see BT Bava Metzia 58b-
— kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh. If some of us 59a.) Under this heading there are subcat-
fail to live up to the Torah’s standards of ethi- egories, including lashon hara (“bad speech,”
cal and moral behavior, all of us are respon- which involves the spreading of information
sible, because we “had the ability to protest about someone for derogatory purposes
and did not.” (See the Babylonian Talmud even though that information is true), and
tractate Shevuot 39a.) To relieve this respon- Shammai motzi shem ra (loosely translated, defama-
sibility requires us to examine what within Engelmayer tion of character, meaning the spreading of
our Jewish world led anyone to believe such false information about someone in order to
behavior is Jewishly acceptable, regardless of belittle him or her).
whether it is acceptable in the general world. That is where Facebook founder Zuckerberg comes in.
Sadly, there is a great lack of understanding of what the He obviously knows little or nothing about ona’at d’varim —
Torah’s standards of ethical and moral behavior are, or and the fault for that is on our collective communal heads,
what their significance is to the practice of Judaism. This not just his.
almost certainly is due to the decades-old failure of our According to the Talmud, both “the one who spoke [and]
communities, especially our clergy, to properly teach “the the one who listened” are equally guilty, because the per-
Jewish way” to our youth. We concentrate on the wrong son who listens to bad speech facilitates it and, worse, often
things, while ignoring what is most important. What is most helps to spread it. (See the Babylonian Talmud tractate
important is summed up in a debate between Rabbi Akiva Arachin 15b.)
and a scholar named Shimon Ben Azzai regarding what is On Monday, buckling under months of pressure and
the great principle in the Torah. While each man chose a outrage, Facebook removed several controversial pages,
different verse, they both agreed the Torah’s “prime direc- because, it said, the content violated its hate speech and
tive” is to establish a moral and ethical society based on bullying policies. The pages had been on Facebook for
equality, justice, compassion, and a proactive concern for years, and included some truly disgusting claims. Perhaps
the welfare of everyone and everything. (See the Jerusalem the worst was that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax;
Talmud tractate Nedarim 30b and Genesis Rabbah 24:7.) the twenty 6- and 7-year-olds and the six adults who sup-
Neither man focused on ritual observance as the great posedly were shot dead actually are in hiding.
principle. On the other hand, we focus on ritual practice, as About a month ago, Zuckerberg acknowledged in an
each stream defines that practice, but little else. We teach interview on Recode that these pages probably should
b’nai mitzvah, how to chant a few biblical verses and per- come down. Before saying so, however, he defended allow-
haps how to lead some prayers, but we do not spend much ing such disgusting content on Facebook in the first place.
time explaining that being a bar or a bat mitzvah means Said he to reporter Kara Swisher, “it gets down to this
Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades, now in Fort Lee.
Correspondents
Warren Boroson
Advertising Coordinator
Jane Carr
Production Manager
Jerry Szubin
Founder
Morris J. Janoff (1911–1987)
Lois Goldrich
Banji Ganchrow Account Executives
Peggy Elias
Graphic Artists
Deborah Herman
Editor Emeritus
Meyer Pesin (1901–1989)
Abigail K. Leichman Bob O'Brien
Miriam Rinn Robin Frizzell City Editor
Brenda Sutcliffe
Dr. Miryam Z. Wahrman Mort Cornin (1915–1984)
Advertising Director Administrative Assistant Editorial Consultant
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International Media Placement Secretary
P.O. Box 7195 Jerusalem 91077 Ceil Wolf (1914-2008)
Tel: 02-6252933, 02-6247919 Editor Emerita
Fax: 02-6249240 Rebecca Kaplan Boroson
Israeli Representative

- principle of giving people a voice.” Besides, he said,
a “there’s broad debate” about whether such content
should be removed.
Saying “there’s broad debate” caused Swisher to cut
r in. “‘Sandy Hook didn’t happen’ is not a debate,” she
said. “It is false. You can’t just take that down?” That
was when Zuckerberg acknowledged that the content
did not belong on Facebook, although it took another
month to remove it.
Holocaust denials, however, are another story.
t “I’m Jewish,” he told Swisher, adding that he finds
t Holocaust denial to be “deeply offensive.” Neverthe-
y less, “I don’t believe that our platform should take that
down because I think there are things that different
r people get wrong.”
t He followed that with an amazing rationalization he
- later admitted even he did not believe. “I don’t think
- that they’re intentionally getting it wrong…,” he said.
” After all, “I get things wrong when I speak publicly. I’m
sure you do…. I just don’t think that it is the right thing
to say, ‘We’re going to take someone off the platform if
they get things wrong, even multiple times.’”
- Shortly after the interview, Zuckerberg said he
f “absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people
who deny” the Shoah.
From an ona’at d’varim perspective, there should
. be no debate about pernicious content on Facebook.
— From Day One, it never should have been allowed.
, A story is told of a man who came to his rebbe one
day and confessed to having verbally wronged another,
] thereby damaging the victim’s reputation. He asked
- what he could do to make things right. “Take a piece
of paper and tear it into very tiny little bits,” said the
rebbe, “then go to the nearby bridge and throw those
little bits of paper over the side. Then come back to
me.”
, The man did as the rebbe asked. When he returned,
the rebbe said, “Now go back to the bridge and gather
r all the bits of paper, and put the whole page back
together.”
; That is not possible, the man protested.
- “Exactly,” said the rebbe. “Your words are like those
pieces of paper. Once you toss them into the air, they
n can’t be brought back ever again.”
Zuckerberg is only one public example of this com-
- munal failure. We all are guilty of ona’at d’varim, if for
. no other reason than we “had the ability to protest
and did not.” That is a communal sin for which we all
need to atone. (And, yes, this week’s column probably
does fall under the category of ona’at d’varim, as well.)
The opinions expressed here
are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the
newspaper’s editors, publishers, or other staffers.
We welcome letters to the editor. Send them to
jstandardletters@gmail.com.
Opinion
Welcomed in Israel, despised in the U.S.
B
“ ring us your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses yearning to be free” — the iconic
quote on the base of the Statue of Liberty
— is an inspiring motto that masks the hos-
tility that immigrants face now and in the past. Yet immi-
grants unmistakably contribute to the communities they
enter and our national mythology praises the immigrants
that built this country. It is hard to believe that the United
States of America is “full”. There are shortages of workers
in so many fields that it would seem logical that those who
want to throw in their lot with us should be embraced,
not reviled.
I too once was an immigrant, and my experience could
not have been more different.
In 1992, my wife and I, with our two children — 4 years
and 18 months old — in tow, decided to follow a lifelong
dream and leave our comfortable lives in New York City
to emigrate to Israel. This decision followed two previ-
ous visits of increasing lengths, where Israeli
friends and relatives encouraged us to make
a longer-term commitment. The urgings
were informal, frequent, and ultimately very
convincing. The country was growing, and
people like us — educated, enthusiastic, and
with young children — were needed. When
we arrived and enrolled in Hebrew-language
classes, I found that I was among people
from all over the world, representing a wide
range of ages, education, and economic Charles
backgrounds. Rubin
To be sure, immigration to Israel is encour-
aged, and Jews are heavily favored in the
process. Israel’s Law of Return guarantees citizenship to
anyone who can prove at least one Jewish grandparent.
This policy was established after World War II, to rescue
Holocaust-devastated European Jewish populations and
encourage Jews from other countries to build a homeland
that could resist persistent anti-Semitism. That policy has
provided a way to efficiently absorb refuges from Europe,
Jews from Arab nations who were expelled after Israel’s
independence, and communities seeking a better life that
they found in North Africa, the Americas, and the former
Soviet Union.
There also is a path for non-Jews, but it is heavily influ-
enced by politics and the tolerance of the party in power.
About 4.6 percent of Israel’s population consists of non-
Arab Christians or other ethnic groups. The ongoing con-
flict with the Palestinians and unrest on the Lebanese and
Syrian borders make any kind of immigration path for
Arabs a sensitive topic.
Israel can provide a template for how immigrants
should be treated, in terms of planning and preparation.
When we still were in New York, we were interviewed by
a quasi-government agency called the Jewish Agency for
Israel, an organization that predated the State of Israel
and served as a provisional government during the British
Mandatory period in Palestine. It assisted us in preparing
our application to emigrate and put us in contact with a
group of families that were considering or in the process
of making aliyah. It was a ready-made support group, and
we are still in touch with many of the people we met back
then. Our counselor provided us with a detailed packet of
instructions telling what to do and when to do it.
Each new immigrant is given a so-called basket of ben-
efits before leaving his or her home country and then an
additional set of rights on arrival in Israel. Those rights
include housing assistance, language instruction, health
insurance, employment counseling, a free lift to bring our
household goods to Israel, and a one-way direct flight to
Tel Aviv. These internal costs are paid by various govern-
ment ministries in Israel; the costs outside Israel are paid
by the Jewish Agency.
Despite all this help, it is not an easy process to give up
everything you know to become a stranger in a new place.
It was wrenching for us to leave family and friends behind,
even with official assistance. I can’t imagine what it must
be like for immigrants to the United States who do not
have that support system.
When we got to Israel we were met by representatives
from Israel’s Ministry of Absorption. We were taken to a
private lounge, away from the hurly-burly of the airport
arrivals hall; offered food; given a place for the kids to
stretch and play, and met with multilingual bureaucrats
who could help us through our paperwork. We were even
asked, given we were starting a new life in a new home,
whether we wanted to change our names. We were sup-
plied with official documents attesting to our new citi-
zenship and we were escorted to a prepaid
taxi to our new home. Despite dealing with
overworked staff who probably had handled
hundreds of new immigrants before us on
that day, we felt welcomed.
It was that easy.
We spent several years in Israel but our
responsibility for our aging parents brought
us back to New Jersey. Our plan is to return
to Israel. Already our older daughter lives
in Haifa and we have made several scouting
trips to pick a community to live in. The Inte-
rior Ministry even has a name for people like
us — toshav chozer — with their own set of
rights and privileges to ease the transition.
I contrast our experiences to the images from our bor-
der today. Frightened families waiting in long lines and
forced into detention, children separated from parents,
and relentless rhetoric seeking to demean and marginalize
them. It is no comfort that this is not a new phenomenon.
My grandparents told me stories about the physical exami-
nations to which new immigrants were subjected at Ellis
Island and other points of entry, and stories about people
turned back because they were deemed sick and there-
fore unfit, or had a criminal record, or were judged to be
unable to work in America, or a myriad of other reasons.
American history, though, teaches us of the immigrants’
contributions to every aspect of our country’s develop-
ment, from laying the tracks for our transcontinental rail-
roads to building the atomic bomb. It was immigrants, ref-
ugees, and asylum seekers who drove the effort. In spite of
this rich legacy of immigrants arriving, striving, retaining
their culture, and absorbing and reshaping American cul-
ture, still successive waves of immigrants are greeted with
fresh levels of xenophobia.
I never felt this way in Israel. We never lost our Amer-
ican-ness, just like the Russians, Ethiopians, and Argen-
tines whom we met along the way never lost their accents,
the hankering for the foods they loved, or the music that
they continued to listen to. We were all Israeli from Day
One, working, studying Hebrew, voting in an election
shortly after we arrived. I advanced my career as a net-
work engineer and my wife expanded her teaching skills
to English as a foreign language.
I pity the poor immigrant to the United States, whose
legacy is worshipped but whose present is full of pain,
hostility, and confusion.
Charles Rubin is a computer systems engineer with a major
media company. He lives in Hoboken.
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 27
Opinion
Truth and Za’atar: Don’t look for it in the labeling
Stoddard: You’re not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?
Scott: This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact,
print the legend.
—“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” 1962
T
he other day, I came across the spice called
za’atar in a most interesting package.
At the top it was labeled “Za’atar, Ecologi-
cal and Fair.” On the bottom, the label told us
where t came from — Canaan, Palestine. Considering that
the land of Canaan disappeared thousands of years ago,
well before Christ, and that there is yet to be a country
named Palestine, what does this packaging mean?
Inspecting the reverse side, I saw that the explanation
continues there. It calls za’atar “a traditional Palestinian
spice” and tells us that Canaan Fair Trade is “an integrated
part of our local community and we guarantee that each
of our farmers is fairly paid.” The reader is invited to read
about its “extensive ecological and social commitment on
canaanpalestine.com.
The website is a piece of masterful marketing aimed at
the socially conscious and college educated, exactly the
type of people who shop at the market where I noticed
the product. The headings on the site include “Canaan
Ecology,” “Sustainability Stance,” “Our Farmers,” and
“Awards.” It also has seven social initiatives, including
the “Clean Palestine Campaign,” “Women Empower-
ment,” and scholarships. You can can donate to all of
them directly.
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to
One tweet cannot diminish our friend, Cory Booker
H
uman beings are inherently imperfect, and
people inevitably make mistakes. As we typ-
ically tend to be error-prone, it is important
not to let the people’s gaffes come to define
them and alter the way in which we perceive them.
Last week, Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) was featured
in a tweet from the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights,
a pro-Palestinian organization that supports the BDS
movement and advocates for ending U.S. support of
Israel. The tweet included a picture of the senator hold-
ing a sign bearing anti-Israel verbiage.
I, like many others, was deeply disturbed by the
photo. Social media was abuzz with people criticizing
Senator Booker and decrying him for holding the anti-
Israel sign. However, as I thought about the Senator’s
history relative to Israel and issues pertaining to the Jew-
ish community, I was perplexed as to how this could
have happened. Rather than rush to judgment, I con-
tacted Senator Booker’s office and inquired about the
photo, which appeared to be an aberration.
Within minutes, I received an explanation. After Sena-
tor Booker delivered a speech (at the progressive Net-
roots Conference in New Orleans), the crowd swarmed
around him, clamoring to take photos with him. During
the chaos, someone handed him a sign, and he did not
realize that it was about Israel. Hence the photo, which
appeared on Twitter. His office added that the senator
“hopes for a day when there will be no need for security
barriers in the State of Israel, but while active terrorist
organizations threaten the safety of the people living in
28 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
help young people go to school, empower
women, or keep Palestine clean? (Again,
there is no country of Palestine.) However,
when you delve a bit deeper and research
the founder of Canaan Fair Trade and its
various partners, another picture begins to
emerge.
Nasser Abufarha, the founder, was born in
a town outside of Jenin in 1964. He came to
the United States for college and has a Ph.D. Martha
in cultural anthropology and international Cohen
development from the University of Wis-
consin. According to noted historian Martin
Kramer, Abufarha made the following speech at an April
2002 rally in Madison:
“In 1948 the State of Israel stole Palestine of its people,
its land. In 1967, the Israelis occupied the remainder of
Palestine after stealing the nation as a whole…. They came
to Palestine and forced us, the Palestinians, to pay the
price for their troubled history — and we are still paying
with our blood and tears…. I salute my people in Jenin for
defending our city in the face of the most brutal, murder-
ous army, supported by the most lethal American weap-
ons…. Our message to Powell and Bush: Join the world
community that has called to impose sanctions on the
apartheid state of Israel.”
The “defenders” Abufarha was saluting in Jenin were
those who succeeded in 23 of 28 attempted suicide attacks
against Israelis from the end of 2000 up until opera-
tion Defensive Shield in April 2002, following the brutal
Israel, security barriers are unfortunate but
necessary to protect human lives.”
While I cannot condone what happened,
I comprehend how it could have occurred.
I have been in situations where people con-
verge on an elected official and desperately
seek a photo. It is absolute bedlam, and I
certainly can understand how mistakes
could be made in the midst of the mayhem.
Personally, I found the explanation plausi- N. Aaron
ble, the acknowledgement of the blunder Troodler
refreshing, and the reiteration of the sena-
tor’s support for Israel heartening. It is not
my opinion that matters, however. It is the attitude of
the greater Jewish community toward someone who his-
torically has been in our corner that is paramount.
Senator Booker has stood with Israel throughout his
tenure in the Senate. He co-sponsored the U.S.-Israel
Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018 and force-
fully urged his colleagues to reject efforts to eliminate He studied every aspect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan
security assistance to Israel. He recently participated in of Action and carefully considered the agreement’s pros
briefings in Lebanon focused on efforts to ensure Israel’s and cons. Recognizing the great need to prevent Iran
security on its border and discussed the ongoing threat
to Israel posed by Hezbollah. He co-authored a biparti-
san resolution celebrating the 70th anniversary of the
establishment of the State of Israel and co-sponsored
the Combating European Anti-Semitism Act. Senator
Booker also co-wrote a bipartisan resolution condemn-
ing anti-Israel efforts at the United Nations and con-
demned “one-sided resolutions in the U.N. Security
massacre of 29 men, women, and children
celebrating Passover in Netanya. According
to a document retrieved during the opera-
tion, Jenin was called “the martyrs’ capital”
by the Palestinians themselves.
Though the Israeli command knew that
Jenin was a command center for terror-
ist operations of the Palestinian Authority/
Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, the densely
populated area compelled them to send the
army door to door, even though it knew that
there were booby traps laid for the troops.
They did this in order to avoid massive Pal-
estinian casualties, and they lost many soldiers because
of this decision. A massive propaganda campaign by the
PA and Hamas, accusing Israel of a massacre, followed. A
United Nations investigation later rejected that claim.
In 2004, at a Palestine solidarity movement confer-
ence at Duke University, it was reported that Abufarha
applauded Hamas and the Popular Front for the Libera-
tion of Palestine. At the 2005 Middle East Studies Asso-
ciation meeting, as a grad student, he presented a paper
called “The Making of a Human Bomb: State Expansion
and Modes of Resistance in Palestine.” According to a
review in the Middle East Forum, he referred to Israelis as
“Zionist targets” or “immigrants” and to Israel as a “colo-
nial” and “expansionist” state and he portrayed Palestin-
ian fellaheen as fighting against “colonialist Israel.” Thus,
everything is justified when it comes to fighting the so-
called Israeli occupier.
Council that isolate Israel in the interna-
tional community.”
The senator received some criticism after
he sought changes to the Taylor Force Act;
his intent, however, was to augment the
legislation by securing improvements that
better ensured Israel’s security. Noting that
the “Palestinian Authority’s prisoner pay-
ment system, which encourages horrific,
unspeakable violence against the Israeli
people is an inexcusable policy that must
be changed,” Senator Booker took a prin-
cipled stand in order to procure an amend-
ment that he believed was necessary to prevent young
Palestinians from becoming radicalized and endanger-
ing Israel further.
Senator Booker took a great deal of heat for his sup-
port of the Iran nuclear deal, but I know he grappled
with an array of issues before arriving at his decision.
from amassing nuclear weapons, he concluded that the
benefits of the deal outweighed the risks, and he ulti-
mately voted in favor of it. While I disagree with his vote,
I respect him for the meticulous approach he took, and
I appreciate that bolstering Israel’s qualitative military
edge and being mindful of Israel’s safety were an impor-
tant part of his deliberations.
With most elected officials, examining their voting

Unfortunately, upon review-
ing his other website, Canaan Fair
Trade, it seems to me that Abufar-
ha’s opinions have not changed.
Many of the group’s interfaith and
affiliate partners support BDS and
campaigns against anti-BDS legis-
lation and use their platforms to
spread deadly lies about Israeli tor-
ture of Palestinian children. They
activate their followers to engage in
campaigns such as #Stolen Homes
to stop AirBNB from listing vaca-
tion homes in Judea and Samaria. A
quick review of some of the leaders
in its “Affiliate Partners — Shared
Values” category shows that it
includes such notorious anti-Israel
advocates as Rashid Khalidi, Cornel
West, and Diana Buttu. Aside from Slick marketing tries to hide
being a former PLO spokeswoman, Za’atar’s specious claims.
Buttu infamously said in a 2012
Harvard speech that “not one Israeli was murdered by a
suicide bombing in Israel from the years 1997 to 2000.”
Perhaps a visit to all the graves of those killed and families in self-empowerment and tikkun olam marketing so pow-
that will never be whole will remind her.
What does this package of za’atar have to do with the
classic film “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence”? The
movie is about the killing of a sadistic outlaw named Lib-
erty Valence (Lee Marvin), who terrorized a prestate fron-
tier town. It’s now 1910 in the film, and the former gover-
nor, now senator, Ransom Stoddard and his wife ( James
Stewart and Vera Miles) are returning from Washington to
Senator Cory Booker holds an anti-Israel sign after delivering a speech and being asked for a photo by
pro-Palestinian activists.
record is the only barometer by which you can mea-
sure their support for Israel — or their lack of support.
With Senator Booker, his legislative history is only the
tip of the iceberg. It is his personal history and pro-
found connection to the Jewish community that makes
give their old friend Tom Doniphon
( John Wayne) a proper burial. It is
a somber scene; no one other than
Doniphon’s sideman, Pompei, joins
them there. Senator Ransom agrees
to talk with the press and reveals
that he was not the man who killed
Valence, though at first he thought
he was. In fact, it was Doniphon
whol killed Valance; it was Doni-
phon who saved the town. Doni-
phon eschewed the attention, but
it is this incident that catapulted
Ransom to political fame. When he
finishes speaking, the newspaper
editor tears up the notes because
legend far outweighs facts.
And this is the goal of Canaan,
Palestine’s za’atar bottle. — bring-
ing propaganda into the market-
place as fact while strategically
incorporating the lexicon millenni-
als demand. And it is the ignorance of history, especially
in our own community, that makes falsehoods wrapped
erful. It is the blood libel all over again, wrapped in 21st-
century social justice language. Here, the Jew is the evil,
racist occupier, abusing the indigenous Palestinian Arab
population with torture and humiliation. There is only
one conclusion to such inhuman actions — not only do its
perpetrators not deserve a homeland, they do not even
deserve the right to exist.
And we are seeing this play out on the world stage.
Cory Booker perhaps the most Jewish non-Jew in the
U.S. Senate.
This is a man who once told me that he tries to study
the weekly Torah portion, explained to me why Abra-
ham and Moses are the two Bible heroes he admires
Opinion
Venezuela, Great Britain, and Germany are just a few
countries where Jews are in trouble, but who would
have imagined that the Jewish community in France, the
world’s third largest, is at risk of disappearing altogether?
France was the only European country that had more Jews
in 1995 than it did before World War II. Still, less than 25
years from the community’s peak, we are seeing families
leave the country they love because of hatred instilled by
lies like those left unchallenged on a box of za’atar. They
are leaving as the result of the methodical pernicious influ-
ence of those spreading these lies in front of ignorant,
well-meaning people.
If we want to reverse this trend, education through-
out the entire lifecycle is key. Let’s begin with the newest
canard, implicit in the za’atar fabrication, that the Pales-
tinian Arabs are the direct descendants of the Canaanites.
That is their attempt to predate any Jewish claim to the
land of Israel. According to a 2017 scientific finding by
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, it is the Lebanese who
are most directly descended from the Canaanites.
Early in “Liberty Valance,” Doniphon says to Ransom,
“I know those law books mean a lot to you, but not out
here. Out here a man settles his own problems.” It is up to
each one of us to demand that our leaders, both religious
and secular, teach historical fact. It is up to us to raise our
voices in unison, in perpetuity if necessary, when others
try to extinguish our rightful place in history, in our Jewish
homeland, our right to live in peace throughout the world.
It is up to us to demand justice from those who desire to
obliterate our very existence.
Martha Cohen is an award-winning producer and creative
executive. She lives in Fort Lee with her husband and son.
most, and shared insights from the Torah with me. Sena-
tor Booker, the one-time president of the L’Chaim Soci-
ety at Oxford University, also spoke with me about how
the Jewish ideal of tikkun olam plays an essential role in
his life, told me fondly how he views Judaism as “a reli-
gion that’s seeking to be a light unto nations of godliness
and goodliness,” and described for me how his love of
Israel comes not through his politics, but from knowing
about the Jewish people, learning about the Torah, and
visiting Israel. This is a man who was deeply affected by
the horrific ordeal in the summer of 2014 that resulted
in the tragic deaths of the three Israeli teens, and who
grieved together with the Jewish community.
Is Cory Booker perfect? Of course not. None of us are.
Are we going to agree with him on everything? No, cer-
tainly not. For us to allow an inadvertent error mani-
fested in one troubling tweet to negate his robust track
record on issues relating to Israel and the Jewish commu-
nity, however, would be malpractice on our part. Sena-
tor Booker displays a passion and genuineness when dis-
cussing Israel and Jewish life that is palpable. We cannot
be so fickle as to forsake a good friend who has been
there for us the overwhelming majority of the time.
To err is human, to forgive divine.
N. Aaron Troodler is the principal of Red Apple Strategies,
LLC, a public relations and strategic communications firm.
He and his wife live in Philadelphia, but until recently they
lived in Teaneck, which was their home for 20 years. Follow
him on Twitter: @troodler
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 29
Opinion
I’VE BEEN THINKING
Acts of kindness come in all sizes
A
while ago I wrote
a column from the
perspective of a
beneficiary of small
acts of kindness; I discussed
their importance and explained
how they strongly effect recipi-
ents (“Small things matter big
time,” January 13, 2017). More
recently, I wrote about true Joseph C.
heroes — people like Natan Kaplan
Sharansky, John McCain, James
Shaw Jr. of Waffle House fame,
and the recipients of Medals of Honor, and I explored what
their outer actions tell us about their inner character (“An
illogical impulse,” May 25).
I’d like to focus here on what might be the third leg form-
ing a complete triangle; what small acts of kindness tell us
about the character of those who perform such acts.
I can do this best, I think, with a story. I knew and had a
warm relationship with Rabbi Herschel Schacter, an illus-
trious rabbi of international fame who led institutions and
organizations large and small, local and global, and whose
acts of devotion to the Jewish people merited him not only
a wall in Yad Vashem but a front-page New York Times
obituary. And while his worldwide fame and glory are well
deserved, when I think of him the first memory that comes
to mind is not one of the many wonderful deeds filling the
obituary. Rather I think of a regular Friday afternoon com-
mute, which I was desperate to complete before the sun
dipped below the horizon.
Although neither of us knew at the time that the other
also was a passenger, we were, coincidentally, on the same
express bus. But the bus was anything but express. Rather,
it was one of those Friday afternoons that bedevil shomer
Shabbat commuters every couple of years; no matter the
route, everything is excruciatingly slow. There’s construc-
tion, an accident, or a stalled car; too many cars or too few
lanes, or some reason unknown to man that slows traffic to
a standstill.
Our bus driver, who clearly was experienced, tried
every shortcut possible, but all to no avail. And as we
crept and crawled and the seconds and minutes ticked by,
LETTERS
Presidents need experience
I wish to commiserate with so many readers, who, like myself,
take pride in the achievements of Jewish people.
Commiserate is an odd word. Why on earth do I use it in
describing pride in the accomplishments of Jewish Americans?
It is because the Noshes column highlights Howard Schultz
and four other megabillionaires (three Jews, along with Jamie
Dimon, the Greek goyishe head of JPMorgan Chase, and not
Citibank as the column suggests). [Ooops! He’s right. ED] All
are said to be considering presidential election runs. Ostensi-
bly all are smarter than the real estate charlatan who currently
occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
However, only one on the list has real political experi-
ence. And that’s the rub. America is lionizing those with
great wealth, fame, and power. That is how Donald Trump
ascended to the presidency, devoid of any relevant experience
and qualification. So, even though Howard Schultz smells
like a rose (or a Starbucks Café Latte), that does not mean he
would make a decent president.
America needs to return to its roots. Political experience in
30 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
the passengers began to get edgy; their need to get home,
whether to begin Shabbat on time or just to start a weekend
after a tough week, was palpable. And so whispered mum-
bles became louder grumbles, and glares of annoyance and
then anger were directed at the innocent driver.
Finally, after an hour and a half of travel rather than the
scheduled 30 minutes, we reached the first stop. Many pas-
sengers stomped off there and at later stops, making a show
of their displeasure. But at one of the stops toward the end
(I was getting off at the very last stop, so I had the dubious
honor of experiencing every minute of this adventure), one
passenger stopped and said, in a voice that carried through-
out the bus — a voice I recognized from having heard it many
times in the past: “Driver, I know that we’re later than usual
through no fault of yours and that this trip was very difficult
not only for us but perhaps especially for you. I also know
that you used all your skills, knowledge, and expertise and
tried your hardest to get us home as fast as possible.
“So on behalf of all the passengers, I’d like to thank you
for all your efforts and wish you a very good weekend.” And
with that he departed the bus.
I’d heard a number of speeches by R. Schacter and I’d had
many discussions with him. But none moved me as much as
this simple thank you to someone he didn’t know and likely
would never interact with again. It focused with laser sharp
accuracy on a character of empathy, of thoughtfulness, of
understanding, of care for the other, of loving kindness,
of appreciation to someone who at that moment clearly
needed just a bit of appreciation. It wasn’t meant as a moral
lesson to congregants or a policy statement to communities.
It simply was one human being sensing that another needed
comfort, and providing it gently and lovingly.
It’s through such moments — moments of small kind-
nesses — that we can get a glimpse into the true character of
a person; when he or she acts privately, not for show or for
what others may think, but to do what their heart and soul
tells them to do.
And one more story. When my two oldest daughters were
in first grade and kindergarten and my wife had to spend
10 days in the hospital, I wasn’t completely overwhelmed.
I knew where their clothing was and how to match tops
and bottoms (and if I made a mistake one of them was sure
to correct me); meals provided by friends overfilled our
the legislative branch was a prerequisite for presidential aspi-
rations. It is no coincidence that the president of the Senate
is the vice president of the United States. Unfortunately, our
political system has been corrupted by money, so that only
the super-rich (or super-successful fund raisers) can afford to
run for office. This must change, if America is to survive.
Oh, by the way, who was the one person on the Nosher list
with political experience? Michael Bloomberg, former mayor
of the Big Apple. Somehow he has managed to be successful
and be in politics. A very tough balancing act and, so, a wor-
thy candidate.
Eric Weis, Wayne
A trip to the mill house
Thank you for your interesting article on Luis Moses Gomez
and his Mill House in Marlboro, N.Y. ( July 27).
My friends and I, after reading your write-up, decided to
visit the museum. The trip takes about an hour and a half from
the Fort Lee area. The Gomez Mill House is located a short
refrigerator and freezer (and, in any event, I knew my way
around the kitchen at least for basic fare); we had so many
Shabbat invitations I had difficulty in deciding which ones
to accept; and friends and family picked the kids up from
school and watched them until I finished work and was able
to bring them home.
One of the few things for which I was solely responsible
was our morning routine: get the kids up and dressed, do
their hair, feed them breakfast, and wait with them for the
school bus.
And so I did.
About 20 years later, after I moved to Teaneck, I was at a
local l’chaim, and I bumped into my daughters’ first-grade
teacher there. I remembered with great fondness because
she was an absolutely first-rate educator, who loved her
students and respected their parents. We chatted a bit,
and then she said, “Pretty funny about the hair, right?”
When she saw my puzzled look, she asked, “You still don’t
know?” When I assured her that I didn’t she explained with
a chuckle that as soon as my daughters arrived at school dur-
ing that 10-day period, she’d take both of them (though one
was not yet her student) to the teachers room and redo their
hair properly, so they wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of
their friends. (And I thought I was doing so well. Hah!)
I was deeply moved by her insight into and generos-
ity of spirit about her students’ non-educational needs. It
was but one moment in two years of teaching my children,
one private moment that again speaks to an inner charac-
ter devoted to consideration of and love for others. (I also
was impressed and quite pleased by my daughters’ desire
to protect my feelings by continuing to keep this a secret for
so many years.)
While the beneficiaries of and bystanders to such acts
often notice them, my guess is that those who perform them
would, if asked, be hard pressed to come up with examples
of such an act of theirs. It’s simply part of what the lawyer in
me would call their modus operandi, or the columnist in me
calls their character. And character, as Thomas Paine wrote,
“is what God and angels know of us.” Sometimes, though,
small acts of kindness let the rest of us in on that secret.
Joseph C. Kaplan, a regular columnist, is a longtime
resident of Teaneck. His work also has appeared in various
publications including Sh’ma magazine, the New York Jewish
Week, the Baltimore Jewish Times, and, as letters to the editor,
the New York Times.
distance off 9W and near Newburgh, N.Y. The scenery along
the way is beautiful.
The people who run the musuem are welcoming and infor-
mative. They had many stories to tell about Luis Moses Gomez
and his family.
Gomez was a Sephardi Jew, a trader, and a merchant. The
Gomez Mill House is over 300 years old and is considered
the oldest Jewish residence in North America. The museum
contains interesting historical papers and books as well as
artifacts.
Upon leaving, we all were given a wonderful video, which
we were shown, giving us an introduction to the Gomez Hill
House.
Congregation Shearith Israel, built under the direction of
Luis Moses Gomez in 1728, often called the Spanish and Por-
tuguese Synagogue, is the oldest Jewish congregation. It is
located at Central Park West and 70th Street in NYC.
Luis Moses Gomz and His Mill House are worth visiting and
great for picture-taking.
Grace Jacobs, Cliffside Park
 Jewish World

Randi Weingarten keeps criticizing Israel

and hopes her teachers’ union will follow suit
BEN SALES

T
he statement, issued the day
Israel passed a controversial bill
defining itself as a Jewish nation-
state, could have come from any
number of liberal American Jewish groups.
“We condemn this despicable law, as
well as the anti-gay surrogacy law the
Knesset recently enacted, and the detain-
ment of Rabbi Dov Haiyun for conduct-
ing a non-Orthodox marriage,” the July 19
statement said. “These anti-democratic
and nativist actions make it more impera-
tive to support the progressive voices in
Israel who are fighting to reclaim Israel’s
place as a functional, thriving democracy
in the Middle East.”
The author is Randi Weingarten, the
president of the American Federation
of Teachers.
Weingarten is Jewish. Her union, which
counts 1.7 million members in 3,000 chap-
ters, is not. It’s typically more concerned
with issues like raising teachers’ pay and
strengthening public schools than with,
say, the actions of a local police depart-
ment in a country on the other side of
the globe. Randi Weingarten addresses marchers in a New York City rally on June 27, 2018.  COURTESY PROFESSIONAL STAFF CONGRESS

But in an era when a growing number

of unions back the movement to boycott
Israel, Weingarten says supporting a pro-
gressive vision of the Jewish state is part
of her union’s mission. And in recent
years, the AFT’s position on Israel sounds
like that of a liberal Zionist group: Rather
than boycott Israel or disengage from it,
the teachers’ union is embracing left-wing
Israeli activists — and criticizing the coun-
try from a place of love.
“I think that Bibi and his followers are
moving in the wrong direction just like I
believe that Trump is moving in the wrong
direction,” Weingarten said, referring,
respectively, to Israeli Prime Minister Ben-
jamin Netanyahu and President Donald
Trump. “What we need to do is work with
progressive voices and activists in Israel, of
which there are many, to help bring Israel
to its better angels.”
The AFT is not the only union to have
a history of supporting Israel. American
labor unions had heavy Jewish represen-
tation at the time of Israel’s birth, and the
country’s socialist roots and still-powerful
national union appeal to American labor
leaders. Labor officials say that notwith-
standing its right-wing government, there’s
a lot they admire in Israel, from universal
health care to robust workers’ rights.
In 2007, a long list of major labor lead-
ers signed a statement opposing BDS,
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
movement against Israel. Labor unions
have also given millions of dollars to the
Yitzhak Rabin Center, a museum and edu-
cational center honoring the assassinated
Israeli Labor Party leader and prime min-
ister who signed an Israeli-Palestinian
peace accord.
The Jewish Labor Committee, which
acts as the Jewish community’s represen-
tative in the American labor movement
and organized the 2007 anti-BDS state-
ment, released its own condemnation of
the nation-state law as “ill-conceived and
ill-timed.” The group’s president, Stuart
Appelbaum, said he is worried about Israel
losing the support of U.S. progressives, but
that major unions still support Israel.
“Labor remains committed to a strong
and secure Israel,” Appelbaum said. “I
think there is a shared commitment to
democracy and workers’ rights.” He said
support of Israel has not lessened, “but
there are serious concerns about the cur-
rent government.”
Weingarten in particular has leaned into
the AFT supporting Israel’s progressive
camp. In 2016, Stav Shaffir, a young liberal
Israeli lawmaker from the Labor Party,
spoke at the union’s convention.
That year, the union also passed a reso-
lution to partner with Hand-in-Hand, an
Israeli network of bilingual Hebrew-Ara-
bic schools with a mixed Jewish and Arab
student body. Weingarten said she visits
with both Israeli and Palestinian unions
on her trips to the region. She has spoken
at many conferences of the liberal Israel
policy organization J Street.
Weingarten said the union’s work in
Israel is of a piece with its international
work as a whole. She points to AFT’s
support for labor movements worldwide,
from supporting the Solidarity movement
in communist Poland and progressive
causes in Latin America to opposing apart-
heid in South Africa.
“We were part of the democracy move-
ment, of helping, first, that fledgling
democracy, and then ultimately being a
supporter of the democracy in Israel,” she
said. “There’s been a longstanding rela-
tionship between our unions and Israel
because of the fight for democracy, and
that relationship has continued during my
tenure as president of the AFT. It is part
of our long-term worldview of the impor-
tance of democracy.”
Supporting Israel is also a personal
cause for Weingarten. She grew up in an
involved Jewish home and attended Camp
Ramah in New England. She is a member
of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in
New York City and is newly married to its
senior rabbi, Sharon Kleinbaum. And she
is the latest Jewish AFT president, follow-
ing predecessors like Sandra Feldman and
Albert Shanker.
“I am a Ramahnik,” she said. “I grew up
as a progressive Zionist. I grew up believ-
ing that Israel was an inclusive, demo-
cratic Jewish state that you needed to fight
for, but inclusive and democratic was as
important as Jewish. And just like the work
that we do in America can make things
more inclusive, more focused on justice,
more focused on opportunity, that’s the
work that I try to do in terms of Israel.”
Some local unions, like other progressive
organizations, support BDS in express-
ing their values on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. A handful of unions in the United
States have joined major unions abroad
in endorsing BDS. In the past school
year, a local branch of AFT, the Graduate
Employees’ Organization of the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, backed a
divestment campaign on campus.
“We are saddened and disappointed
in the hostility that AFT leaders such as
Randi Weingarten have expressed to the
internationally-respected and nonviolent
tactic of BDS,” a June statement by the
local union read. “Such leaders are out of
touch and out of step with the rank and file
of our union.”
Weingarten said she is worried about
calls for BDS from American progressives.
But she does not believe broad progres-
sive support for Israel has become unten-
able. She feels that just as American pro-
gressives oppose the agenda of the Trump
administration, they need to oppose the
policies of Israel’s government while still
engaging with the country.
“The occupation and the influence of
the settlers and lack of recognition for
steps toward the two-state solution has
corroded a lot of faith that a lot of pro-
gressives have around the world in the
democracy of Israel,” she said. “We need
to actually support the progressives in
Israel. I think Bibi Netanyahu wins if
people support the extremes and if peo-
ple despair.”
 JTA WIRE SERVICE

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 31

D’var Torah
Reah: Awake and see
O
ur Torah portion this week
marks the beginning of Moses’
farewell sermon to people
Israel and begins with the
words: “Reah Anochi notayn lifnaychem
hayom bracha uklalah. (Deut. 11:26)” —
“Behold I have set before all of you,” — you
in the plural — “blessing and curse.”
Four weeks from now, the sermon will
conclude in Parshat Nitzavim with the
words: “Reah natati lifanecha hayom et
hachayim v’et hatov v’et hamavet v’et
hara” (Deut. 30:15) — “Behold I have set
before you” — the singular you — “today,
life and prosperity, death and adversity.”
The key difference between these two
revelations is that this week the command
“Reah,” “Behold!”, is directed to the com-
munity as a whole and at the end of this
sermon in Deuteronomy 30 it is addressed
to each individual.
The message of this nuanced use of the
verb reah in these two passages 20 chap-
ters apart has, I believe, a very important
message for 21st century Jews. In both this
week’s Torah reading and in the portion
we will read on the last Shabbat of the year
the Torah continually pleads with each of
us, and all of us, to choose life, by choos-
ing obedience to God, in every aspect of
our lives. The commandments that follow
in our Torah portion Reah this week gov-
ern both our ritual responsibilities to God
and our social and ethical responsibilities
to our fellow human beings. As Jews, even
though we acknowledge the existence of
holy time and holy space we do not see the
service of God as limited to any one time
or one place.
The countdown to Rosh Hashanah
is on. The name of the month of Elul,
which begins on this Shabbat, has been
interpreted by Rabbinic Judaism as an
acrostic for the statement from Song of
BRIEFS
2,200 year-old earring found in Jerusalem
sheds light on Hellenistic period in Judea
The rare artifact uncovered in Jerusalem
shows the finely crafted head of a horned
animal and displays delicate filigree work.
It is believed to date back to the second or
third century B.C.E, a period when the
Temple was the center of Jewish life but
the region was controlled by the Greeks,
and a significant percentage of the Jewish
populace was influenced by Greek culture
and beliefs.
During the time the earring is believed
to have been created, Judea was a semi-
autonomous Hellenistic vassal state. first
under the rule of Ptolemaic Egypt from
32 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
Songs, “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li,”
“I am my beloved’s and my
beloved is mine.” Our rabbis
interpret the verse, and there-
fore also the name of this final
month of the year, as teaching
us that we are God’s beloved
and that God is our beloved.
Since “love relationships”
are always complex and are Rabbi Neal
expressed in multi-dimen- Borovitz
sional emotions, I deduce Rabbi emeritus,
Temple Avodat
from this teaching that Juda- Shalom, River
ism recognizes that our love Edge, Reform
relationship with God, and
with our fellow Jews, is also
not simple.
According to rabbinic tradition, the
first of Elul is the day Moses ascended
Sinai for the second time. It is not only
the time each year when we are com-
manded to begin our annual process of
introspective preparation for the Days
of Awe of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kip-
pur, but a reminder that as long as we live
each of us and We The People are given
the chance to change. As I looked again at
these two verses with which Moses begins
and ends his farewell sermon to People
Israel, and see the month of Elul as our
rabbis did as a mnemonic for the phrase
“Ani l’dodi v’dodi li,” I see that introspec-
tive self reflection on both a personal and
communal level is the first step I must take
in order to express my love of God and to
experience God’s love for me and all my
fellow human beings.
The coinciding of Shabbat Reah and Rosh
Chodesh Elul this Shabbat calls out to me
with the message that each of us has forty
days until Yom Kippur to prepare ourselves
for the Day of Accountability, when we have
to present our most personal “returns”
to The Comptroller On High. Unlike our
301 to 198 B.C.E., and then, after Antio-
chus III conquered Jerusalem, under the
Seleucid Empire. Shortly afterward, Jews
who were not Hellenized took part in the
Maccabean Revolt of 167 B.C.E, which is
commemorated in the Chanukah story.
According to Professor Yuval Gadot of
Tel Aviv University, co-director of the Givati
Parking Lot excavation, the find is the first
earring discovered in Jerusalem from the
Hellenistic period, found in an early-Helle-
nistic period building deep inside the dig.
The City of David center will display the
earring beginning in September.  JNS.ORG
income tax forms to the
government, there are no
extensions given; and each
of us is called upon, in the
next forty days to both take
a personal accounting,
and to “Reah!”, see, where
we stand in our accounts
both with each other and
with God.
A second challenge
which both this parsha and
Rosh Chodesh Elul is the
call I both hear and see to
climb up from my lethar-
gic apathy and echo the
response of Israel at Mount Sinai, “Naaseh
v’nishma!” — “We will take action and we
will pay attention!” Taking this command
to heart requires us to vow to be both
God’s voice and hands in the world. The
spectrum of commandments found in this
week’s parsha reminds me that the choices
each of us makes has an impact on the des-
tiny of all of us; and that the choices we
make as a community affects the options
available to each of us. Every one of us can
be a source of blessing or curse to others.
Each of us, every day, is faced with mul-
tiple opportunities to choose the ethical
over the expedient in everything we do.
In my “View from the Pew” column
published in The Jewish Standard last
month, I spoke of the need to continue to
both have hope for a better future and to
work to make the future for our children
and grandchildren better. 5778 has been
a challenging year in the world. Politi-
cal leaders in America and Israel, in both
the governing parties and the opposition,
have too often failed to guide us in the best
directions. The divisiveness within the
Jewish community, again both in America
and in Israel and between American Jewry
Israeli firm delivers takeout by drone
in Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik
An Israeli technology firm is providing
takeout-food delivery services to Ice-
landers in the nation’s capital, Reykja-
vík, expanding its supply routes from
one test route to 13.
Almost half of Reykjavík will be able to
receive delicacies delivered by drone right
to their backyards, thanks to Flytrex, a Tel
Aviv-based startup. It’s working in part-
nership with Aha.is, Iceland’s largest sup-
plier of restaurant delivery food.
Reykjavík is a city divided by a large
bay. Flytrex now will enable many resi-
dents to receive food deliveries, which
and Israel, has grown wider and deeper.
David Ben Gurion, whom I consider to
have been the greatest Jew of the 20th cen-
tury, once said: “Time works both for us
and against us depending upon how we
use it.”
This quote, which has hung above my
desk for 45 years, defines for me the task
which confronts each of us and all of us
over the next month.
The custom to begin to sound the sho-
far daily on Rosh Chodesh Elul is a ritual
wake-up call that the days of accountabil-
ity are imminent. May each of us reah —
see — on this Shabbat Reah that we can
make the time of this next month work for
us, if we seek to reconcile our difference,
and recognize the image of the Divine that
is the essence of each of us. May we also
see that we cannot afford to passively sit
on the sidelines of life, but rather we must
use the 40 days until Yom Kippur as time
that works for us and not against us, by
choosing life over death, love over hate,
and peace over passivity.
May we all in the spirit of the words of
Robert Kennedy who, just before he died
fifty years ago, challenged himself and all
human beings with what I believe is the
ultimate Elul challenge: “There are those
that look at things the way they are and
ask: Why? I dream of things that never
were and ask: Why not?”
May the next forty days be a time that
each of us and all of us ask ourselves
and each other: Why not? Why not work
together with our fellow Americans and
our fellow Jews everywhere to spread a
Sukkah of Peace over the world? Why not
see that every one of us is created b’tzelem
Elohim, in the image of God, and there-
fore see that every other is my brother
or sister?
Shabbat Shalom and shana tova
will be sent on unmanned aerial vehicles
capable of diverting up to 700 meters
off flight paths to make deliveries in
approved neighborhoods, cutting deliv-
ery times down to mere minutes.
A young Chabad Lubavitch couple,
Rabbi Avi and Mushky Feldman, just
opened Chabad of Iceland in Reykjavík.
It serves the needs of local Jewish resi-
dents and tourists, including offering
kosher food. Feldman is the first perma-
nent rabbi in Iceland’s history; the cen-
ter is the country’s first institutional Jew-
ish presence.  JNS.ORG
 The Frazzled Housewife
Ode to an air conditioner
T
he things we take for granted.
What did folks do in olden
times, before the invention of end when we had his shalom zachor. I,
modern-day amenities? And
I am not referring to things like heated
floors in your bathroom, or pot fillers
by your stove. I am speaking of things
like lights and refrigerators, dishwash-
ers and washing machines,
and in the summer, when it
is so hot outside that your
glasses keep fogging up
(hey, let’s add glasses to the
list and throw in the inven-
tion of penicillin for good
measure), when it is so hot
outside that you literally
could cook an egg on your
driveway — what did any- Banji
one do before the invention Ganchrow
of the air conditioner?
I grew up in a house
with central air. Husband #1 grew up in a
house with central air. And yet these two
geniuses (I am referring to myself and
husband #1) bought a house that did not
have central air. Apparently, we were only Monsey to help us out. A real mensch.
concerned with a bathroom in the master
bedroom and the fact that the house was
so clean when we bought it we could eat
off of the floor — and I am not even exag- ing on. Or cooling anything down. In
gerating. I was nine months pregnant with
son #2, weighing in at, well, we won’t go
into it, and I just wanted a clean house.
Didn’t even think twice about the rickety
wall units that emitted clouds of smoke
when you first turned them on. “Oh, that
always happens, just needs some time to
warm up,” we were told. I was so tired and #1, we might keep it as a sauna and just
pregnant, you could have told me that lit- put the house on the market, but, alas,
tle elves came in at night and cleaned the I think we might have to bite the bullet
windows. I didn’t really care.
The house we had seen before this one
smelled like someone died in the base-
ment. I had to waddle out of that one
pretty quickly, for fear of puking all over also funny, mother-in-law to talk about,
the really ugly basement carpeting. But
everything happens for a reason, and we
were very excited about our new home.
And about making it ours.
We moved in with baby #1 and baby
#2 and my days were spent entertaining
these adorable little creatures. The heat
didn’t faze us, nothing fazed us, because
we were in a bubble of nursing, sleep-
ing, playing, nursing, napping, scream-
ing, playing, nursing, sleeping, and so
on and so forth and what have you. And
then baby #3 decided to come along to
make things even more interesting.
I was so tired and pregnant,
you could have told me
that little elves came in at
night and cleaned the windows.
Kosher Crossword
“ON THE BOARD” BY YONI GLATT
KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MANAGEABLE
Now this cutie was born on Friday,
September 1, and it was a very hot week-
of course, was not there, because I was
still in the hospital, all alone, but that is
another column altogether. Anyway, so
the shalom zachor is literally steaming
— like there is actual steam rising in the
room, filled with all of the
lovely friends who decided
to come and share in our
simcha. But the sweat was
dripping and I heard it was
mildly stifling. So when
the shalom zachor was
over, my father-in-law said,
“That’s it. I am getting you
guys central air.”
God bless Grandpa Gan-
chrow. So for 18 years we
have continued to sing
grandpa’s praises, and for
the most part, the AC has been great.
And if we ever had a problem, all I had to
do was call Don the Sta-Cool guy, and he
would come to Teaneck all the way from
And now let us fast forward 18 years.
Across Down
The upstairs unit is not being very coop-
1. Deep in thought 1. Draconian
erative. Let’s just say it doesn’t like stay-
5. Goal 2. Prefix with phobia
8. Least amount 3. Some reach it, others waste it
fact, as I am putting together this little 14. Radcliffe’s role in “Victor Frankenstein” 4. Jeff Bridges sci-fi film
work of prose, the new amenity in my 15. X-ray cousin, briefly 5. Physicians’ org.
house is the 83 degree sauna that used 16. Home of the Tempio Maggiore 6. Like Joyce and Wilde
17. Make like Madoff? 7. Part of a forbidden mixture in Judaism
to be my master bedroom. Come on
19. Belonging to Sharansky 8. Locator
over and take a shvitz! It is quite relax- 20. Adler of “Sherlock Holmes” stories 9. Flight info.
ing, and so very good for your pores! 21. Word with mark or row 10. Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the Yeruham
Now if it were up to my dear husband 23. Coup d’___ (overthrow) Dam?
24. Writer Brown 11. Make jubilant
25. “That feels nice” 12. ___ Chinam (baseless hatred)
27. Make like a gland 13. It’s a sense
29. Wee 18. Legendary sitcom actress Stapleton
and get it fixed. 31. Pig’s building material 22. “___ the best you can do?”
After all, when my future daughters-in- 32. Google co-founder Sergey 26. Choir selection
law come over, God willing, at the right 34. Sonic-speed unit 28. One may be close or cold
36. Ran at an easy pace 30. St. for the character that’s appeared
time, they will already have a crazy, but
40. Transportation for Torah lainers? in the most Spielberg’s films?
43. Favor, in slang 31. “Get lost!”
so at least I want the temperature to be 44. Food for American Pharoah 32. Places to sleep, in ads
comfortable. Because I’m going to be 45. Pearl or Mapex sets 33. “Can’t Fight This Feeling” ( ___
that kind of mother-in-law. Please keep 46. Smartphone feature Speedwagon)
48. More, some say 35. Israeli coins
your snickering to a minimum.
50. Role for McKellen or Fassbender 37. Like some spiders
I hope your AC, along with all of 53. i item 38. Partake in a siyum
your other amenities, is working prop- 54. Pick 39. Driller’s deg.?
erly and making this time of year even 57. On the ocean 41. Eric who wrote some Jewish jokes into
more enjoyable! 58. Bus driver on “The Simpsons” “Spamalot”
60. Observe the Fifth Commandment 42. Wife of Sacha (Baron Cohen)
62. Actor Reagan 47. Conflicting
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck might actually 64. What the Israelites had on water dur- 49. Sound in a cave
make it to the beach next weekend. That ing the first plague...or the board for 50. Jacobs and Cohn
will be a fun adventure if she doesn’t get this puzzle’s theme? 51. “I won’t tell ___”
harpooned. But if she does, it will definitely 66. Like some grading 52. Mystery or romance, e.g.
67. Reisman of Olympic fame 53. Dough
make a great column!
68. Web-footed diving birds 55. Dot option
69. Creates slippery conditions, perhaps 56. Illicit get-together
70. Be a noodge 59. IRS worker
71. Exam with a max. score of 180 61. Fire ___ (gem)
63. Start of Moses’ most famous line
65. Saquon Barkley’s team, on the score-
The solution to last week’s puzzle is board
on page 39.
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 33
Calendar Rabbi Lamm earned a barbecue, 6 p.m.,
Friday his masters’ degrees
as a Fulbright Scholar
Tuesday followed by services
at 7:15. 1449 Anderson
AUGUST 10 at University College, AUGUST 14 Ave. BBQ reservations,
London, and Princeton (201) 947-1735.
Shabbat in Wayne: University, semikhah
Shomrei Torah has a from the Rabbi Isaac Shabbat on the
pre-Shabbat picnic Elchanan Theological Palisades: Temple
barbecue, 5:30 p.m.; Seminary, and is pursuing Temple Sinai of Bergen
outdoor services begin at his Ph.D. in ancient County in Tenafly and
6:30. Bring a blanket or Judaism and Christianity Beth El of Northern
chair. 30 Hinchman Ave. at Princeton University. Valley in Closter invite
Barbecue reservations, 389 West Englewood the community to the
(973) 696-2500 or Ave. (201) 837-2795. informal “Prayers on
office@shomreitorahwcc. the Palisades” service,
org. led by clergy of both
Sunday Eitan Kastner
congregations, at the
Shabbat in Emerson: AUGUST 12 Judaism and the State Line Lookout off
The sisterhood of diaspora: Visiting the Palisades Parkway,
Congregation B’nai scholar Eitan Kastner at 6:30 p.m. The exit is
Shul open house in
Israel conducts its discusses “The Jewish northbound on the PIP,
Leonia: Congregation
annual “Shabbat Under Recipe for Success: How two miles north of Exit
Adas Emuno welcomes
the Stars” service, Judaism Survived the 2. Bring a lawn chair and
prospective members
7 p.m. Dessert follows. diaspora” for the JCC of bug spray. Participants
and school families
53 Palisade Ave. Fort Lee/Congregation can go on the hiking
to a gathering in the
Moves inside if it rains. Gesher Shalom’s CSI trails before the service.
temple garden with
(201) 265-2272 or www. Scholar Fund program, If the weather is
wine, cheese, and child-
bisrael.com. 1 p.m. Refreshments at inclement, services will
friendly refreshments,
4-6 p.m. Meet Rabbi 12:30. 1449 Anderson be held at the shul, 221
Saturday Barry Schwartz and Ave. (201) 947-1735. Schraalenburgh Road,
Closter. (201) 768-5112 or
AUGUST 11 members to learn about
the congregation and Wednesday www.tbenv.org.
Shabbat in Paterson:
religious school. 254
AUGUST 15 AUG. The Tzofim Friendship
The Paterson Shul at
Broad Ave. (201) 592-1712
Caravan from Israel Saturday
15
or www.adasemuno.org.
Federation Apartments Lunch and cards: Tri will perform at the AUGUST 18
has Shabbat services, Boro Hadassah meets
9 a.m., followed by Monday at the JCC of Paramus/
Wayne YMCA’s Rosen Women’s song circle
kiddush in honor of AUGUST 13 CBT for its annual Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. in Teaneck: Join a
Ruth Ginsberg’s 97th
birthday. Groups in Fair
Lunch and Cards Party, The free show is sponsored by the z’mirot song circle,
12:30 p.m. East 304 for women only,
Lawn meet at the Morlot Midland Ave., Paramus. Jewish Federation of Northern at Young Israel of
and Broadway bridges Checks are payable to: New Jersey. The group of nine Teaneck, 5:30 p.m.
at 8:30. 510 E. 27th St.
(corner of 12th Avenue).
Tri Boro Hadassah, Attn: energetic Israeli teenagers are 868 Perry Lane. Email
Babette, 188 New York WomensZmirot+owner@
www.PatersonShul.com Ave., Bergenfield, NJ leaders in their Scout chapters groups.io.
or email JerrySchranz@ 07621. No reservations in Israel. Together with their
gmail.com. accepted at the door. two advisers, they travel across Monday
North America using song, dance, AUGUST 20
Thursday and personal stories to share
COURTESY MORIAH
AUGUST 16 friendship and love for Israel and Supplies for success:
Jewish Federation of
Golf/tennis/cycling/
to spread a message of peace. The Northern New Jersey
fitness: The Moriah Metro YMCAs of the Oranges is a holds a set-up day for its
School sponsors its 15th partner of the YM-YWHA of North “Supplies for Success”
annual summer outing at program. Help unpack
Edgewood Country Club
Jersey. 1 Pike Drive. (973) 595- and set up supplies. Pack
Rabbi Ari Lamm in River Vale. Activities 0100 or www.metroymcas.org/ backpacks on August
begin at 12:30 p.m., rosenpac. PHOTO COURTESY YMCA
22 at 10. Donations
Shabbat in Teaneck: cocktails, dinner, and welcome. 50 Eisenhower
Rabbi Ari Lamm, special special entertainment at Drive, Paramus. Beth,
adviser to the Yeshiva 6. (201) 567-0208, ext. (201) 820-3947, BethF@
Soiree,” 7 p.m. Series JFNNJ.org, or www.
University president,
discusses “The Historical
393, or moriahschool.org.
Entertainment in runs through August Friday JFNNJ.org/Supplies.
Origins and Implications Wayne: The summer 30. The Metro YMCAs
of the Oranges is a AUGUST 17 O
of a Multi-Generational
Machloket” at an adult
concert series at the
Wayne YMCA continues partner of the YM-YWHA Tuesday
of North Jersey. 1 Pike Shabbat in Fort T
education committee with Mark Nadler Lee: The JCC of Fort AUGUST 21
event at Congregation performing “Let’s Drive. (973) 595-0100 or C
www.metroymcas.org/ Lee/Congregation
Rinat Yisrael, 6:10 p.m. Misbehave: A Cole Porter Gesher Shalom hosts Yogi Berra: Dumont s
rosenpac.
c
A
i
a
o
a

34 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018


historian Dick Burnon
discusses “The Wit and
Wisdom of Baseball
Legend Yogi Berra,”
at a meeting of REAP
(Retired Executives
and Professionals)
at the Kaplen JCC
on the Palisades in
In New
7:30 p.m., as part of its
“Movies That Matter”
series. Refreshments.
1666 Windsor Road.
(201) 833-1322 or
emeth.org.
Calendar
& Village Synagogue
in Manhattan holds
an ASL-interpreted
Shabbat service, with
full readings from the
Torah and haftorah,
10 a.m. Kiddush will
follow. 334 East 14th
St., between First

COURTESY BERGENPAC
Tenafly, 10:45 a.m. and Second avenues.
411 East Clinton Ave. Underwritten by
(201) 569-7900 or
www.jccotp.org.
York UJA-Federation of
New York’s Jewish
Film in Teaneck: Saturday Community Deaf
Interpreter Fund.
Temple Emeth’s adult AUGUST 25 (212) 677-0368V, www.
education group tandv.org, or email
screens a Jewish-
themed movie,
ASL-interpreted
Shabbat service: Town
Bram at bramweiser@
usa.net.
Midtown Men headed to Englewood
The Bergen Performing Arts Center in 2010, has been widely praised for its sig-
Englewood has tickets on sale for upcom- nature renditions of the greatest rock and
ing performances, including the Midtown roll songs of the 1960s. Featuring stories
Men, stars from Broadway’s original “Jer- and songs, its acclaimed concert includes
sey Boys,” on Saturday, February 2, at 8 classic tunes from the Four Seasons, the
p.m. Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Temptations,
The Midtown Men reunites stars from and more.
the smash Broadway hit musical “Jersey For tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.
Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli and The com or call bergenPAC’s box office at (201)
Four Seasons.” The vocal group, formed in 227-1030.

“
STUNNING!
A wonderfully unique experience.”
Jewish Week

Koshertroops seeks volunteers

to gift and write U.S. soldiers
Koshertroops is looking for volunteers to
host a packing and letter writing meet-
ing for our U.S. service members. You
can hold it at your home any day before
August 26. The goal is raise money for
care packages as well as to write holiday
greetings and pack between 100 and 500
small gift bags. Koshertroops will sup-
ply the bags and their contents, which
will include honey sticks, apple snacks,
candy, and granola. These bags will be
included in a larger care package. For
more information go to KosherTroops.
com.

Outing to benefit Daughters of Miriam “

The 38th annual Daughters of Miriam
Center/The Gallen Institute’s Golf Clas-
sic, benefiting Alzheimer’s/dementia
care, is set for Monday, August 18, at
Arcola Country Club in Paramus. Reg-
istration and the range both open at 10
a.m., followed by brunch, shotgun tee-
off at noon, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
at 5, the Gutenstein Family Foundation
Go see Vitaly, he will BLOW YOUR MIND!
shootout, and then the awards dinner
at 6.
Bring the whole family and be entertained!”
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JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 35

Jewish World
Charedi dropouts battle Orthodox extremists
in an Israeli city divided over modesty
SAM SOKOL
BEIT SHEMESH, ISRAEL — Built in the
1990s in part to ease crowding in charedi
Orthodox neighborhoods elsewhere in
Israel, Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet is both an
Orthodox boom town and a site of ongo-
ing tensions between different streams of
religious Jews.
For a long time, national-religious Jews
have complained of harassment by mem-
bers of the charedi community, who style
themselves as enforcers of strict codes for
dress and conduct. Now there is another
front in the simmering battle — several
dozen charedi dropouts, young men and
women who shed their Orthodox identity
in their teenage years and are rejected by
many in their former communities.
Long-simmering tensions between
charedim and teenage dropouts recently
erupted in violence, necessitating police
intervention in a city known throughout
Israel as a microcosm of the religious kul-
turkampf being waged across the country.
Most of the teens hang out in a shopping
center on Rival Street, a few minutes walk
from the more religiously moderate and
Americanized Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph.
On July 16, a charedi mob attacked
a teenage girl. In a video of the incident
posted online and shared widely on
social media, the girl could be seen run-
ning down Nahar Hayarden, the neigh-
borhood’s main thoroughfare, chased by
what appears to be dozens of men in black
hats and black coats who could be heard
screaming about her allegedly immod-
est attire.
Less than a week later, shortly after the
Chasidim walk past a modesty sign in a tension-filled neighborhood.
36 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018
end of the Tisha B’Av fast, a second inci-
dent led to clashes between residents and
several dozen teenagers who had gathered
in the neighborhood. The police were
called, and several teens were arrested.
“I saw the girls come to the square and
the extremists were here, and suddenly I
heard yelling and saw the charedim chas-
ing the girls,” recalled Rudi, a 17-year-old
dropout who hangs out on the corner of
Rival Street. “The cops didn’t do anything.
They call the cops every time we sit.”
Others had a different perspective on
that evening. “It was like a pogrom,” said
Avner Steinhalt, one of the small number
of non-charedi residents left in Ramat Beit
Shemesh Bet. “It was one of the worst
nights in this neighborhood.” He recalled
how tensions rose higher and higher dur-
ing the days leading up to Tisha B’Av. Sev-
eral days before the fast, a fight erupted
between charedim and the teenagers,
leading to the hospitalization of one of the
teens. Finally, on the evening after the fast,
some 60 young people gathered “to have
revenge on the charedim.”
They found a small synagogue on Rival
Street and “destroyed everything,” Stein-
halt said. “Then they went out and started
to hit some people in the road, even
though they did nothing.”
Videos of that evening posted online
show a thin line of police separating howl-
ing mobs of teens and charedim. It wasn’t
the first time. According to Steinhalt, a
month and a half before the big Tisha
B’Av brawl, the local “modesty patrol”
attacked a group of teens hanging out out-
side a local falafel shop. “The trigger that
started it? They [the teens] had a dog — a
Residents spray-paint smiley faces on top of graffiti painted by extremists in Ra-
mat Beit Shemesh Bet. 
small dog that barks — and they said some-
thing wrong to one of the ladies in the
neighborhood and the husband came”
and challenged them “and it escalated,”
Steinhalt said.
While he not afraid for himself, Steinhalt
said that his wife and daughters no lon-
ger walk alone at night because “they are
afraid that something could happen to us.”
The teens can be aggressive, too. “They
[usually] sit on the bench there near the
falafel place,” he said. “The main problem
is shouting at night. They speak loudly and
speak to girls, harassing the charedi girls
passing by.”
The city, 19 miles west of Jerusalem, has
long been known as a flashpoint. It rose
to national prominence in 2011 when local
extremists began harassing and spitting on
young national-religious girls attending a
school on territory they claimed belonged
to the charedi community.
The differences between the camps
may not be apparent to outsiders: Both
are Orthodox, but charedi Orthodox tend
to be more insular, non-Zionist, and less
forgiving of even slight deviations from
their strict interpretation of Jewish law,
including street attire. Charedi men, who
are often but not exclusively members of
various chasidic movements, wear dis-
tinct black clothing and hats. The women
wear skirts, long-sleeved tops, and head
coverings. They leave neither their hair
nor much more than their hands and
faces uncovered.
Deput y Education Minister Meir
Porush’s car was mobbed in Ramat Beit
Shemesh Bet in April. Several months
earlier a soldier driving through the city
crashed into a lamppost after his car was
pelted with stones and trash. Last month,
PHOTOS BY SAM SOKOL
a local extremist was arrested for breaking
a woman’s iPhone.
Charedi residents complain that the
teens have caused problems, harassing
local residents and making noise late into
the night. “Some families in the area don’t
take care of their kids. They’re problem-
atic,” said Alexander, a local chasid who
claimed that the teens have broken win-
dows, scared children with dogs and “sit
around and yell in public squares until 3
in the morning.
“They cause both spiritual and material
problems,” he said. “They don’t act cha-
redi. People pay a lot to live in a charedi
neighborhood and they don’t behave well
or act charedi in the street.”
Moshe, a short chasid with a bushy
blond beard, agreed, saying that residents
have worked hard to create an environ-
ment free of smartphones and the inter-
net. The teens, he said, sit around watch-
ing movies and showing what he believed
to be inappropriate content to religious
children. “We are fighting for our neigh-
borhood,” he said.
According to Shlomit Kapach, founder
of U’Vneh, a group dedicated to family
rehabilitation, the local municipality has
hampered efforts to reach out to the city’s
street kids. She accused the head of the
local welfare department of refusing to
refer young men to Meitar, a Welfare Min-
istry program run through her group that
is aimed at providing them with activities
and treatments. Eventually, Kapach said,
she gave up on the city’s cooperation.
One of the primary teenage rioters in
Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet was a former par-
ticipant in her program, she said, describ-
ing him as “very broken” by the lack of
SEE CHAREDI PAGE 39

Susan Gordon
Susan L. Gordon, née Dolce, 71, of Palisades Park, for-
merly of Manhattan, died July 29.
She was a fashion industry sales rep.
Predeceased by her husband, Lewis, she is survived
by children, Justin DeCrescente (Kim) and Lisa DeCres-
cente; a brother, Donald Dolce, and grandchildren,
Jordan and Sofia.
Arrangements were by Eden Memorial Chapels,
Fort Lee.
Dr. Paul Sokoloff
Dr. Paul B. Sokoloff, 75, of of Sanford, Fla., formerly of
Jersey City, died July 27.
He is survived by his wife, Mary, née Tesh, and a son,
Matthew of Virginia.
Arrangements were by Eden Memorial Chapels,
Fort Lee.
Obituaries are prepared with information provided by funeral homes.
Correcting errors is the responsibility of the funeral home.
Obituaries
Arthus P. Velardi
Arthur P. Velardi of Bayonne, 85, died August 7 in
Hackensack.
He was a retired truck driver.
He is survived by his wife, Lois, née Flickstein.
Arrangement were by Eden Memorial Chapels,
Fort Lee.
Janet Werner
Janet Nancy Werner, 69, of Sun City, Ariz., formerly of
Fair Lawn, died July 31.
Before retiring, she worked in the pharmaceutical
industry.
Predeceased by a sister, Lisa Dankner Mackawgy, she
is survived by siblings, Joanne Feiler (William), Nelson
Werner, Helene Dankner, and Rina Forbush (Richard),
and a nephew, Edward Feiler (Courtney).
Donations can be sent to the American Humane
Society. Arrangements were by Louis Suburban Chapel,
Fair Lawn.
Hazzan Ilan Mamber
The Cantors Assembly mourns the loss of a
distinguished member of long standing, Hazzan Ilan
Mamber. Hazzan Mamber served as the cantor at Temple
Beth Rishon in Wyckoff, NJ for 32 years. He had been a
member of the Cantors Assembly since 1992.
Ilan was an active member of the Assembly, especially
in the New Jersey region. He performed regularly at the
Assembly’s annual national conventions and typically
made insightful comments and suggestions at meetings.
Truly, Ilan was the kind of member who has helped
make the Cantors Assembly the special organization that
it is.
Hazzan Mamber will be fondly remembered by his
colleagues and by the members of Temple Beth Rishon.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Carol,
and his children, Noah and Aliza. May his memory be
an enduring inspiration in the lives of all who knew and
loved him. T’hey Nishmato Tsrurah Bitsror Hachayim.
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38 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018

Solution to last week’s puzzle. This week’s puzzle is
on page 33.
Charedi
FROM PAGE 36
continuing help. “The continued decline to
the street was an inevitable step,” she said.
Down the block from Alexander and
Moshe, Nachman, a young man wearing
skinny jeans, a T-shirt, and chasidic side-
locks, sat on a bench outside the falafel
store playing with his smartphone. He
was skeptical of the chasidic men’s claims.
“The extremists are looking for problems,”
he said. “They are angry that there is a
family with a dog. There are some teens
who make problems that come here, but
most are quiet.”
While the charedim claim that the
teens are the biggest problem, some par-
ents contend that the main issue is cha-
redi extremists.
Sivan Ruschinek is a member of the
Chabad chasidic movement who fled
Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet two years ago,
after years of harassment by extremists.
chasidim from other movements would
follow her daughters down the street,
screaming about modesty, because the
girls were wearing skirts they consid-
ered not long enough and declined to tie
their hair in ponytails. “This went on for
three years that they were harassing us,”
she said. “And each time it got worse and
worse to the point that they put glue in our
lock so we couldn’t close or open our door.
They wrote on our entrance next to our
door ‘get out of our neighborhood.’”
She recalled one incident in which an
extremist behaved so aggressively that her
8-year-old daughter fainted in the street.
“We left to save our family and the sanity
of the kids,” Ruschinek said.
Her 19-year-old daughter Shaina told
a similar story, describing her time in
Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet as torturous. “It
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was like going out of the house and feel-
ing like I’m in Gaza,” Shaina said. “I don’t
have words to tell you how bad it felt liv-
ing there. There was always fear. The fear
came out as soon as I went out the door.
Will he scream at me or spit or hit or run
after me? All the time.”
“ Being hungry affects your
appearance, how you act.
Since last month’s upheaval things When I’m hungry, I’m not in the
“
mostly have calmed down, although the
underlying tensions still are bubbling mood for anything.
under the surface. Rudi, the 17-year-old
dropout, believes it can be attributed in
part to the vandalism of the synagogue.
While he denied taking part in the inci-
dent, Rudi did voice a certain level of
approval, saying that the charedim “now
understand they can’t do what they want”
with impunity.
According to Steinhalt, the non-charedi
living in Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet, the local
charedi-dominated municipality has “done
nothing” for the teens, failing to engage
them in programs that would get them off
the street. A city spokesman, Mati Rozens-
weig, contests the claim. In a statement, he
asserted that “the residents of Beit Shem-
esh live with great security and quality of
life,” and that the municipality was working
“on a number of levels” to fix the problem, Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON is a national advocacy
although he declined to offer any details. organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and
Steinhalt believes that the very nature
backgrounds in the United States and Israel.
of the charedi community’s separatist life-
style virtually ensures continued conflict.
“The problem isn’t charedim or Zion- Help us end hunger. Please donate today.
ists,” he said. “It’s a problem between two
ways of living, one in which we don’t want
someone who isn’t like us and one where
we welcome everyone even if he [doesn’t
follow] in our ways.
“Most of the secular kids aren’t doing
anything that bad, but even sitting on the 10850 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 400, Los Angeles CA 90024
street is bad” to the charedim,” he said. (800) 813-0557 | mazon.org
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JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 10, 2018 39
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Wish your family, friends,
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for a
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filled with Health, H
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 THINKING FLORIDA?
 Real Estate & Business

like the “Russian River Valley,” “Suisun Valley,” and “Red

Lake County: Hills Lake County.” In order for a wine to be labeled with
the name of an AVA, a minimum of 85 percent of the grapes
Now selling

The good earth must be from that region. Some AVAs have sub-regions,
which develop reputations of their own for consistently pro- Houses, condos, and rentals in active adult,
Valencia Bay

ducing high quality wines. One such sub-region in north- country club, and beachside communities
Ari Lockspeiser ern California is called “Lake County”. To get a sense of the Advantage Plus

H
ow do you choose a wine? You might walk
in to the store looking for a red or a white,
perhaps for a medium dry or a sweet
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vineyards were planted in the 1870s and by 1900 the region

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wine with a fruity finish. A good wine is a had produced a number of internationally recognized
complex experience and we’re blessed to have many wines. As in many regions, Prohibition stopped wine grape
producers of high quality kosher wines. But what do production in the 1920s. It didn’t re–emerge until the 1960s, SUNDAY, AUGUST 12
you do when you’re standing at the wine display and when families who had grown crops like pears and walnuts
cannot recall which wines you enjoyed last week, or began to plant vineyards. In 1965 there were fewer than t TEANECK t
there don’t seem to be any more bottles of that wine? 100 acres of vineyards, but today that has grown to nearly
After all, part of the experience of wine is the ebb and 10,000 acres. The quality comes from the elevation, micro-
flow of vintages as one season passes and the next sea- climates, soil types, and nearby Clear Lake, which is the
son’s crop comes along. See Lake County page 42
You could start reading the descriptions on the back
of the bottle, but trying to compare a number of wines
by these descriptions may not help much. You could
choose your wines by brand and the varietal (such as
SUN AUG 12, 12-2PM OPEN HOUSE
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of Origin.” It’s well known that the same grapes, when and Houses of Worship. Ultra Granite Peninsula Kit/Dbl Appl. 3 Season Rear Porch/Cent Air,
grown in a different region, will produce a very different $1.249 million. Deep 136 ft. Prop. 3 ample BRs (2 en suite), 3.5 Designer Baths
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Jewish Standard AUGUST 10, 2018 41

Real Estate & Business

SELLING YOUR HOME?

Lake County
from page 41
largest inland body of water in the state
of California. The Mayacamas Mountain
Range, sometimes referred to as the “Axis
of Cab” runs through Lake County, and
Lake County vintners have moved beyond
Cabernet Sauvignon and begun growing
numerous other varietals.
With the majority of the vineyards
planted above 1,500 feet and some of the
best air quality in the state, the higher and
drier growing environment reduces the
threat of mildew and pest pressure, result-
ing in lower pesticide use. Lake County is
fast becoming a leader in high-altitude
wine grape production and has hosted
international symposia on the topic. Lake
County wines have been winning awards
and receiving critical acclaim.
In 2017, Herzog Wine Cellars whose
operations are based in Oxnard, Califor-
nia, purchased a vineyard in Lake County.
Many great wines are expected to be
Call Susan Laskin Today
released within the coming years from the
To Make Your Next Move A Successful One!
grapes that are being grown there.
BergenCountyRealEstateSource.com Cell: 201-615-5353 There are already three excellent
©2018 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. wines that truly showcase the capabili-
An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT LLC.
ties of this region and which happen to
be kosher, as well.
NVE-3538 Revise Spring Mortgage Ad 5x6.5_NVE-3518 7/11/18 2:12 PM Page 1 We mentioned the rich history of Cab-
ernet grapes in Lake County, and the Her-
zog Special Reserve Lake County Caber-
net Sauvignon 2014 was the first Herzog
Cabernet Sauvignon harvested from the
Mortgage rates and options are blooming at NVE Bank. Lake County region. Herzog Wine Cellars
are already up to the 2016 vintage now. It
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Musqué clone is a rare type of Sauvignon
Blanc which has gained its prestige in
the great white wines of Bordeaux. The
appellation of Pessac-Léognan there is
well-known for producing great, age-
worthy white wines from the Musqué
clone, wines that are even more expen-
sive than their red counterparts! The
Herzog Lineage Sauvignon Blanc is wine
that offers notes of lime, honeydew and
freshly cut grass with vibrant acidity and
a refreshing finish.
On the other end of the spectrum is the
Hagafen Lake County Riesling. Riesling
grapes are known for their high acidity and
flowery aromas and tend to thrive in cooler
wine growing regions. This varietal origi-
nated in Germany, and new-world plant-
ings now rank in complexity with their
old-world wine region ancestors. Because
the Riesling grape is known to express the
terroir of where it’s grown, the region’s cool
climate is perfect for the long ripening nec-
essary to produce the tropical bouquet and
feel this wine displays.
The Hagafen Lake County White Ries-
ling is light yellow in color, but clear and
clean. The aroma has tropical scents like
pineapple, citrus, lime and apple peel.
The wine has a very new-world smell with
good fruit aromas, is light bodied with a
fair amount of sweetness, but the sweet-
ness is not overpowering, and it allows the
acidity to come on soft in the mid-palate
and stays soft the whole time through to
the finish. The finish is light with more
pineapple and citrus flavors.
Now that you are familiar with the con-
cept of regions and AVAs, the next time
you enjoy a great bottle of wine, you can
note the Appellation of Origin and keep an
eye out for the next year’s harvest.
And the next time you are faced with
what may seem like too many choices of
wine at a store display or online, you can

3.611% subtle notes of leather over a lasting fin-
APR*
APR* 4.430% APR* ish. This is a wine that can comfortably
age for the next 8-10 years. But it’s not just
the reds that flourish in this very special
wine county.
Herzog just released this summer its Lin-
eage Sauvignon Blanc Musqué Clone. The
Make your arrangements today!
Finding the right mortgage to fit your needs should be quick, easy and
look for wines produced in your favor-
ite regions as you continue to develop
your knowledge of the amazing and ever-
changing world of wine. L’chaim!
Ari Lockspeiser is a wine consultant for
Kosherwine.com and Jwines.com.

Jimmy J
J
painless — exactly what you’ll find when you work with our Mortgage
Specialist at NVE. Plus, our decision makers are local — providing a 88
1

7 2018
smooth and hassle-free process from start to finish.

Call today at 201-816-2800, ext. 1233,

or apply online at www.nve.bank
the Junk Man
NMLS #733094
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL
*APR = Annual Percentage Rate. APR is accurate as of 5/15/18 and may vary based on loan amounts. Loans
WE CLEAN OUT:
are for 1-4 family New Jersey owner-occupied properties only. Rates and terms are subject to change without Basements •Baseme
Attics • Garages • Fire Damage
notice. The 7-year loan at the stated APR would have 84 monthly payments of $13.44 per thousand borrowed
based on a 20% down payment or equity for loan amounts up to $750,000. The 15-year loan at the stated
Construction Debris • Hoarding Specialists
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APR would have 180 monthly payments of $7.33 per thousand borrowed based on a 20% down payment or
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equity for loan amounts up to $750,000. The 25-year loan at the stated APR would have 300 monthly
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$500,000. Payments do not include amounts for taxes and insurance premiums, if applicable. The actual CALL TODAY FOR A FREE ESTIMATE
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payment obligation will be greater. Property insurance is required. Other rates and terms are available.
Subject to credit approval.

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42 Jewish Standard AUGUST 10, 2018

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Jewish Standard AUGUST 10, 2018 43