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OpinionVolume 78, Number 9 • June 20, 2012 • 30 Sivan 5772

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The JewishPost&National Edition

Presenting a broad spectrum of Jewish News and Opinions since 1935.

Mi Sheberach

Cover Art by Irene Konig.See About the Cover, p.3.

Mi SheberachA Focus on Healing

another Jewish woman who lived anactive, full life.

Once big achievements have beenmade, it’s a lot easier to look back at thestruggle and pain and think they weren’tthat arduous, but it proves that one neverknows what strengths one will gain orwhat one can achieve from that strength.As in this example of the Glick’s, the possibilities are endless.

Jennie Cohen, June 20, 2012 AAAA

2 The Jewish Post & Opinion June 20, 2012

Recently I listened to a video posted onthe Facebook profile of Rabbi David Wolpe from Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.We have another post by him in the firstpage of our healing section so you can seefrom his biography how popular thisConservative Jewish rabbi is.

In the video about “using our pain to helpus grow,”Rabbi Wolpe mentions a speakingengagement long ago before a group atAlcoholics Anonymous.The first commenthe received from one of the attendees was that he had started drinking at aboutage 17. When he stopped in his late 30s,he realized that because he had beenanesthetizing himself, because for 20 yearshe had felt almost no pain, he had thematurity of a 17-year-old. He realized that pain is what helped him grow.

Rabbi Wolpe continues, “It’s an uncomfortable truth of life, but I thinkeveryone realizes that difficulty and challenges and pain are what grow oursouls. It’s not that we seek them out.It’s not that we welcome them, but we canuse them to make ourselves better, togrow closer to what is best in ourselves, toeach other and to God.”

This reminded me of a passage in one of Stephen Levine’s books. I think it was,Healing Into Life and Death. Levine hadworked in hospice, caring for people at the end of their lives. He told about theexperience of sitting next to a woman who was in a great deal of pain.

In cases like that he said he used to prayfor God to take the pain away. At somepoint he realized it was presumptuous ofhim to think he knows what is best forthese people. Maybe God’s plan and purpose for this person included the experience of pain. He decided to changehis prayer to,“I pray that the highest goodwill come from this woman’s pain.”

I have had trying times in my life whereI’ve thought about this subject daily. I alsodon’t welcome challenges especially whenI’m in the middle of one because rightthen it is hard to believe that any goodoutcome will eventually occur. Now that Ihave experienced growth from navigatingthrough tough times, when life seemsoverwhelming, at least I have hope thatnew growth will be forthcoming and ithelps me cope with the current difficulty.

Lately I have been thinking about thisbecause of two families from Indianapoliswho have contributed greatly and I wonderif that would be the case had they notexperienced major challenges in theirchildhoods and early adult lives. I wouldnever wish that on anyone but it had to bepart of what made them strong and why

Editorial Inside this IssueEditorial.....................................................2Rabbi Benzion Cohen

(Chassidic Rabbi).....................................3About the Cover ......................................3Rabbi Steven M. Leapman

(Addictions Counselor) ...........................4Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso ...........................4Seth Ben-Mordecai

(The Roads from Babel) ...........................5Rabbi Jon Adland

(Shabbat Shalom).....................................5Howard Karsh

(Jewish America) .....................................6Professor Arnold Ages

(Opinion) .................................................6Irene Backalenick

(Jewish Theater).......................................7Amy Hirshberg Lederman

(Jewish Educator).........................Focus 1Rabbi David Wolpe

(Why Faith Matters)....................Focus 1Rabbi Irwin Wiener

(Wiener’s Wisdom) ......................Focus 2Melinda Ribner

(Wellness & Healing) ..................Focus 2Batya Medad

(Musings from Shiloh).................Focus 3Most of Me excerpt ......................Focus 4Victor Center ............................................9Rabbi Elliot B. Gertel

(Media Watch).......................................10Morton Gold

(As I Heard It) .......................................11Rabbi Israel Zoberman

(Book Review)........................................12Batya Medad

(Book Review)........................................12Dr. Morton I. Teicher

(Book Reviews) ......................................13Sybil Kaplan

(My Kosher Kitchen) .............................14Sybil Kaplan

(Seen on the Israel Scene)......................16

1427 W. 86th St. #228Indianapolis, IN 46260email: [email protected] and fax: (317) 405-8084website: www.jewishpostopinion.com

OpinionPost&The Jewish

they were able to accomplish so much. Iwill write about one of them now andabout the other in a future issue.

In the book, Once Upon a Lifetime:Marilyn’s Story by Marilyn K. Glick(1922–2012), Marilyn’s mother died duringchildbirth and herhusband nevercame to claim hischild. Her adoptivemother did not tellher this until shewas an adult. Herparents could nothave children anddid not adopt othersso she was an onlychild. Her adoptivefather died whenshe was only eleven and her mother hadongoing mental health issues to the pointwhere gradually roles reversed and Marilynsupported her emotionally and financially.

Six years after her father died, she andher mother moved from Detroit toIndianapolis where her mother was bornand still had family. She was a senior inhigh school and had to leave all herfriends. It was challenging to live on themoney left by her father and she startedworking as soon as she finished all of herhigh school requirements.

By the end of 1945 she had started datingEugene B. Glick and he proposed one monthlater. He had recently been dischargedfrom the Army where he served in WorldWar II and his unit helped liberateDachau. They ended up going into realestate together even before they married.They started with practically nothing.

After their marriage in 1947, theyfounded what would become the Gene B.Glick Company, one of the largest privatelyheld real estate development firms in thecountry. They also successfully raised fourdaughters and had several grandchildrenand great-grandchildren at the time ofMarilyn’s death in March.

The Glick’s funded the Glick EyeInstitute at the Indiana University Schoolof Medicine, a $30 million gift, the Glick’slargest philanthropic grant to date. Otherfunding went to the Indianapolis CulturalTrail, the Indiana Authors Award, and awide array of charitable projects benefitingthe arts, education, public health, and aidorganizations throughout Central Indiana.

Jewish causes were a particular passionfor Marilyn. She served on the boards ofher Temple Sisterhood, the NationalCouncil of Jewish Women, and Hadassah.She and Gene funded several projects and fellowships through the HadassahMedical Center in Jerusalem.

Whenever I talked to Marilyn I alwaysfelt at ease because she acted as if she wasno better than anyone else, but simply

June 20, 2012 The Jewish Post & Opinion 3

Today I’ll tell you a story from the geriatric ward of our local hospital.

For the last 20 years I’ve been visitinghospitals regularly. However, I started togo to the geriatrics area only a year ago. Ofcourse it is a great Mitzvah to honor andlearn from the elders, but I was busy doingother Mitzvahs, and the geriatric ward isalso a bit off to the side. One day a fellowvolunteer told me about two men therewho wanted to put on tefillin. They havebeen religious all of there lives, and hadput on tefillin regularly for 60 or 70 years,since their bar mitzvah. Now they were inthe hospital after a stroke and couldn’t puttefillin on by themselves.

The next day I went and helped them toput on tefillin.They were very grateful, andsince then I visit geriatrics regularly.Gradually I got to know the staff and thepatients. Soon five of them were puttingon tefillin every day, then ten, then 15 and now I have 20 regular customersthere. I also help the staff and visitors toput on tefillin.

Visiting geriatrics has many advantages.In the other wards, the patients usuallystay only a few days. Geriatric patients canstay for years. You get to know them andtheir families.

About half a year ago, I met Chanoch.One day I was going from table to table,helping my geriatric friends to put ontefillin. He came up to me and asked me ifhe could also put on tefillin. I said,“Sure”.I was a little surprised, because Chanochlooked quite religious. He had a full beard and was wearing a hat. Maybe forsome reason he hadn’t been able to put ontefillin that day.

After he finished I asked him what happened, and he told me his story. Hepointed to his sister, one of the patients,and said that he had come to visit her. Fora long time he hasn’t put on tefillin. Now,while he watched the other men pray, hewas inspired to pray himself.

Now I was really curious. I asked himwhy he had stopped putting on tefillin. Hetold me that when he was young he hadbeen abused by an uncle, and as a resulthad never married. He really loves children, and it hurt him that he didn’thave any of his own. He stopped prayingbecause he was upset with Hashem.

What could I say? How could I helphim? I closed my eyes and silently askedHashem for inspiration. An idea came tome. I looked him in the eye and told him that it’s true that he has missed some important relationships. But what is the most important relationship? Our

connection with Hashem, our Father, ourCreator, our Merciful King, the Source ofeverything. That relationship he can andmust have. Everything else is secondary. Iencouraged him to start praying every day,and he promised to try.

Since then we have met many times,and Baruch Hashem, he is doing much better. For a few months whenever we methe would put on tefillin, and I wouldencourage him to start putting them onhimself. Then he started to put tefillin onevery day by himself. I then encouragedhim to try to help others on his kibbutz toput on tefillin. Recently we met and hewas happy to tell me about a small tefillinstand that he makes regularly, and peoplethat he helps to put on tefillin.

What can we learn from this story?Abuse can seriously affect a person’s lifeuntil he gets help. Unfortunately for manyreasons people don’t get help. They maytry to deny what happened, and so forth. Ifyou were abused, get help. It’s true thatyour life has been damaged, but you canbe healed. Try to get help. There are manypaths to healing. Find Hashem and bringHim into your life. He is the Source of allhealing, the Source of everything. If youknow someone who was abused, try tohelp them. When you help yourself, when

BY RABBI BENZION COHEN

Chassidic Rabbi“Tallit Healing”BY IRENE KONIG

This print was createdas part of a series to honormy father. I did this bybringing the image of hisold, worn tallit into my own artwork as abackground for all 14 of my tallit prints.Seven were done with calligraphy inEnglish, and seven in Spanish. All haveprayers, poetry, blessings or a song inthem.

My father was a very kind and quiet,and also a religious man. He would haveliked these. Unfortunately, I lost him whenI was only 22 years old, so he never sawmy artwork. In creating these pieces, myhope was not only to honor my father, butalso to bring love and healing to peoplewhen times were challenging for them. Ibelieve that this prayer is a strong one, andshould be part of a healing process.

When we are ill or misfortune seems tosit on our doorstep, it is often very hard tohave the vision of getting well again or ofat least maintaining, once again, a peace-ful place in our minds. We call upon aHigher Power to help us to repair our-selves, to strengthen us, to have our bod-ies successfully overcome whatever

About the Cover plagues us. Often, we don’t have the ener-gy or will to do this on our own and wetap into a Force greater than ourselves.

Although in the past two years I haveslowed down some on creating new artworks using my calligraphy and design, Ihave continued to create, tapping into thewisdom and other spiritual resources thatI felt would bring more meaning to peoplethrough the medium of my artwork. I amblessed that people see my artwork as ablessing in and of itself, and many want togive it as gifts to friends or for their ownhomes.

About the Artist: Konig has createdmany works with Jewish themes rangingfrom calligraphy and design prints forweddings to comforting works for those inmourning, inspirational quotes, excerptsfrom the Song of Songs, other Psalms,quotations from some of the greats inJewish history, home and personal bless-ings, and many more.

In addition to this large collection ofJewish inspired art, Konig has also createdmany other art pieces, which encompass awide range of feelings, thoughts, andexperiences – all heartfelt. All masterprints are made up by hand, and thenprints are made from this master print. Allin all, there are close to 300 prints, allavailable in modest prices, all made onrequest, and all matted for gifting, or forthe individual, and enclosed in a crystal-clear envelope. Categories on her websiteserve to help in the search for the perfectpiece. Konig will be glad to work with youto find what would be the best print, andgift certificates are available, if needed, incase you can’t decide.

Konig likes to use interesting materialsand incorporate them into the masterprint. She has used leaves and berries, rib-bons, fabric, flowers of all kinds, jewelry,masks and other assorted objects. Oftenshe puts into calligraphy her own words,expressing a sentiment that she could notfind elsewhere as a quotation. Her worksadorn many homes in the central Texasarea and in other parts of the country. Inaddition, she has donated some of her art-work to the Jewish Community Center inHavana, Cuba, and to a hospital in Israel,Shaare Zedek.

Konig holds a bachelor’s degree in finearts from the City College of New York, aswell as a master’s degree in psychologyfrom the New School for Social Researchin New York. Over half of her life has beenspent in Austin, Texas, where she current-ly resides. Her other years were spent inNew York. She is the mother of two youngadult daughters.

Konig may be contacted at by email:[email protected], by phone:512-835-2165. To see more of her artworkgo to: www.artoflife.us. AAAA

j i

(see Chassdic Rabbi, page 8)


A unique event took place recently inIndianapolis, as leadership from theLatino and Jewish communities, gatheredMay 3 for the first “Latinos and Jews inDialogue” at the Indiana HistoricalSociety. The event was sponsored by the Ellen Lorch Leadership DevelopmentFund of the Jewish Community RelationsCouncil. As one who is both a Jew and aLatino (born and raised in Panama), I wasdoubly pleased to be part of this dialogue.

Keynote presentations by Allert Brown-Gort of the Institute for LatinoStudies at Notre Dame University andSteven Windmueller, professor of JewishCommunal Service at the Hebrew UnionCollege, Jewish Institute of Religion in LosAngeles, set the tone for an evening ofinteraction, discovery and mutual interestin pursuing dialogue and cooperationbetween two distinct and yet, in manyways, similar communities.

Both groups see themselves as Diasporacommunities. Both have histories ofimmigration, discrimination and negativestereotyping. Both place high value onfamily, education and religio-cultural traditions. Both communities are diversewithin themselves, and both have histories that make them among the oldest and the newest population groupsin the United States.

The event was peppered with surprisingscholarly statistics and colored with personalanecdotal narratives that highlighted thecommonalities and distinctiveness of eachcultural group.There was a deeply felt desireamong attendees to continue the dialogueand build upon the new partnership withconcrete agendas and purposeful tasks.

Brown-Gort defined Latinos as “U.S.residents – of any race – who trace theirroots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America,South America and the Caribbean. (Theyconstitute) a pan-ethnic identity thatencompasses a variety of national-origingroups.”

Interestingly, the first organized Jewishcommunity in North America consisted of Iberian (Spanish-Portuguese) Jewsescaping the Inquisition, who in 1654 settled in New Amsterdam (later, NewYork). The earliest Jews in the Americaswere Hispanic (Sephardim) and theirroots go back to the beginnings of theEuropean discovery of the new continent.

Jewish, Latinocommunitiesshare bond of diversityBY RABBI DENNIS C. SASSO

the person, and by extension, all creation,are affirmed. As a Reform Jew and Reformrabbi, I believe in a progressive view offaith and spirituality, one which constantlyunfolds to the betterment of individualglory despite vagaries of personality orpitfalls of history. Thus, as both a Jew andan American, I pay careful attention to theTorah portion, Naso, which contains aprofound blessing: May God bless you andkeep you, may God’s Divine Glory shineupon you and be gracious to you, May Godlift up Divine Countenance towards you,and grant you peace!

These words know countless settingsand situations, rendered in triumph andtravail, celebration and sorrow. They aremotivating and soothing, quieting yetquickening the heart, conscience, andcommunity of those who attend with theadmonition that a greater Presence is inplay, that a prevailing Spirit can and willmake sense of momentary struggle, of situational chaos. Yet they are importantnot only for who may hear them, but whomay pronounce them.

One might think these statements arefor rabbi and priest, chaplain or clergyalone! I argue otherwise, despite origins ina time where Aaronic priests set andsealed the form of faith, modern Judaismand democratic ideals underscore a newunderstanding, one where each personhas the power, indeed an obligation toconfer blessing. These Scriptural passages,recalled across numerous scenes, recitedin an array of environs, bespeak a lessonmodern life and democracy’s creed knowwell. The ability to bless is God given. Theduty to do so preserves free society.

After all the destruction from Hitler tohomicide bombers (stop saying “suicide“bombers!), from battles for equal rights for all Americans, gay or straight, bothgenders and all colors, we acclaim, uphold,and affirm the value and responsibilities of the individual. Democracy and freedomremind me what my ancestral, yet alwaysevolving faith underscores, each may be avehicle for transcendence. If we truly liveour values, not only when Glory is present,or when the odds favor, but even when it isunpopular or politically incorrect, we grantthe same abundance of blessing once consigned to clergy or royal custom. DivineCountenance shines through us and withinus, thus let us offer it freely to one another.These are rights and responsibilities!

Rabbi Steven M. Leapman, LMHC,LCAC is licensed as a clinical addictionsand mental health counselor in the State ofIndiana. He is a former US Navy / USMCchaplain who currently serves a staff therapist at Samaritan Counseling Center inSouth Bend, Ind. He is interested in pastoraland general counseling, bereavement and loss,interfaith relations, and creative writing. AAAA

As I write these words, Shavuot has justdeparted. Our civil year stretches towardsJuly’s Independence Day. This year ourcalendars (both, Jewish and American)merit mention. On civil time we duly honored those who lost their lives forfreedom and this great nation. As Jews wehave shared yizkor, one of four times in theyear where our families and their historyas Jews is recalled within the People ofIsrael. As Jews and as Americans, we areshown and hopefully learn, that to forsakememory is to surrender values and castasunder valor.

We do not abandon either grandcovenants, one of the soul, another of ournation. We do not sanction cowardicebefore the demands of liberty, the precious duties implied by free society.Both our Jewish religion and ourAmerican citizenship require us to livemeaningfully, sacrificing for a greaterwhole, contributing at times beyond theapparent call of duty. Being a Jew and anAmerican are complimentary, identitiesnot in conflict. Often, American Jews haveidentified with causes and goals to theleft-of-center-of-mainstream society andwhile this tendency is a right and privilegeof democratic society, it is only worthy oftrue lament when one feels awkward orashamed to celebrate flag, patriotism, andpride in what the U.S. represents.

There is no contrast between being aliberal or a conservative and a Jew and apatriot! None! If we are to continue tohave a relevant voice in the Americandream, it is important to put to hurriedrest a knee-jerk dismissal and derision of things and themes patriotic that shall mark us to sorry and despicable disadvantage. Too many Jewish patriotshave served or shed blood to disregard the significance of our flag and its inspirations. Too many Jewish Americans,who never wore the uniform havenonetheless contributed to our societyand civilization for any of us demean whatit means to be openly, outwardly, patriotic.

What then do Judaism and our patriotism share? Both our faith and ourcitizenship center on the dignity of theindividual. Shavout, the festival thatbegins this article, is a reminder that Godmade a bond with humanity, providing away of life, a teaching and instructionthrough which the worth and sanctity of

AddictionsCounselorBY RABBI STEVEN M. LEAPMAN

The power to bless

(see Sasso, page 9)


ShabbatShalomBY RABBI JON ADLAND

June 15, 2012, Sh’lach L’chahNum. 13:1–15:41, 25 Sivan 5772

Before I begin my message, let me just note that I appreciate all the kindwords people have expressed to me for my weekly messages. I wouldn’t keepdoing this if it weren’t bringing joy or contemplation into your lives. My greatest hopes are that these words mayencourage you to celebrate Shabbat insome meaningful way and to help makethe world a better place for all people.

As some of you know, the house Sandyand I bought when we moved to Cantonhas a small goldfish pond in the backyard.It was built by the previous owners. Thepond has a waterfall, lily pads that flower,maybe 16 fish (they are hard to count asthey don’t hold still), and a few frogs. Atnight, when we are able to leave the window open, we can hear the peaceful,calming sound of the waterfall. During theday, one can sit by the pond and look atthe gorgeous flowers or watch the littlefish swim around. Some people meditate,some people do yoga, and some peopleread or walk. The sound of a babblingbrook and the simplicity of fish bring thatsense of peace to me. It isn’t the only way,but it is sure one of the ways and it was ahuge bonus with this house.

Another of those spiritual and blessedmoments is Shabbat. As our childrenwere growing up, we would come dressedfor temple to our Shabbat table and our

rituals would begin. The sound of the shofar would say to us it is time forShabbat. The coins in the tzedakah boxwould remind us that “Happy are thosewho remember the poor.”We would sing asong, then the Shabbat candles would belit – two for Shabbat and one each for thechildren. Kiddush would be chanted witheach of us holding our own Kiddush cup.After blessings of our children and Sandyand I blessing each other, the moment weall waited for was here. The challah coverwas removed, the blessing sung, the breaddistributed, and smiles all around.

The children aren’t around so muchanymore, but the traditions remain. For a few moments, the world beyond thedining room is closed and the Shabbat rituals take center stage. It is Sandy andme, the candles, tzedakah box, Kiddushcup, and challah. As our ancestors did, sodo we. We acknowledge the blessing ofShabbat. It is an opportunity for rest andrenewal, study and prayer. I didn’t grow upwith the presence of Shabbat.Youth groupconclaves introduced me to Shabbat aswell as a few Shabbat dinners I went to attemple. My junior year in Israel withsome wonderful friends gave me the tasteof Shabbat that has stayed and grownwith me over the years. I remember myfirst Shabbat with Sandy and I thank Godfor each and every one since.

I know we live busy lives and takingtime to celebrate Shabbat doesn’t alwayswork into that hectic pace, but I can onlyencourage you to think about what addingShabbat, in some form, to your life wouldmean. Maybe taking just a moment tolight Shabbat candles and exchange wordsof blessing with family or a friend. Maybeit is a Shabbat meal. Maybe it is joiningwith community at Erev Shabbat servicesor Shabbat morning study and prayer.Maybe it is taking time to make this day different from the other days of theweek. Regardless of how you choose tocelebrate Shabbat, I know that it will make a difference in your life.

When you light your Shabbat candlesthis evening, light one for the opportunityGod has given us each week to rest andre-energize ourselves through the beautyand blessing of this holy day. Light theother candle and think about how thissimple tradition and its rituals have beenpassed down for generations and how wecan continue to keep the beauty of thisday alive.

Rabbi Adland has been a Reform rabbi formore than 25 years with pulpits inLexington, Ky., Indianapolis, Ind., and currently at Temple Israel in Canton, Ohio.He may be reached at [email protected] Temple Israel “Journey to Israel” trip is Feb 4-17, 2013. Contact him if you areinterested in going. AAAA

The Roads from BabelBY SETH BEN-MORDECAI

Origin of the TanachIn a recent email, an eminent British

scholar claimed that the text of theHebrew Bible (the Tanach) was “cobbledtogether” by Sephardic Jews in medievalSpain under Moslem rule and is uselessfor linguistic analysis, while the best textof the Tanach is the Greek translationknown as the Septuagint. The scholar’sstatements are foolish on their face. Theuniformity of the copies of the Tanach inJewish communities from Baghdad toBarcelona cannot be explained by a theoryof Sephardic cobblers.

Unlike the Church of England, whichburned dissidents and disagreeable books,Sephardic Jews could not impose uniformityand foist a “cobbled together” Tanach onall Jews. The simplest explanation for theuniformity is that the scribes who recopiedthe texts over generations began with a“mother text” that existed in Israel beforethe Romans expelled the Jews, nearly1,000 years before Moslems conqueredSpain. Wherever Jews went, they tookcopies of that text with them.

The standard text of the Tanach is calledthe Masoretic text.The scribes who collatedinformation about the text are calledMasoretes. The Masoretes began theirwork in Israel, Egypt and Iraq as early asthe 6th century – 200 years before theArabs occupied Spain. The Masoretic textconsists of Hebrew words, punctuation andvowel marks, and margin notes describingvariations the Masoretes encountered.

Many Masoretes were Karaites, adherentsof a variety of Judaism that arose in 8thcentury Mesopotamia and Egypt. Unlikenormative Jews, Karaites reject the OralLaw (the Talmud) and rabbinic authority,and would have rejected any attempt bySephardic Jews to foist a cobbled-Tanachonto them. Yet the Karaites also use theMasoretic text. Clearly, the Karaites didnot get the Tanach from Sephardic cobblers. Nor did the Samaritans, a mixture of Israelite natives and foreignerswhom the Assyrians settled in Israel afterconquering the Northern Kingdom.

From 560 BCE, Samaritans and Jews havemade rival claims to be the true People ofIsrael. Until the Arabs nearly wiped outthe Samaritans in Israel in the 1900s, bothsets of “Israelites” viewed each other withsuspicion. To this day, Samaritans rejectJewish religious rulings and texts, and usetheir own version of the Torah. (see Ben-Mordecai, page 11)

j i The main differences between the

Samaritan and Jewish texts are in spellingand the place to worship G-d. Written inan archaic Hebrew alphabet, theSamaritan Torah uses vowel-letters (yod,waw, and heh) far more often than thestandard Torah and identifies Mt. Gerizimas the Temple site. Otherwise, the twotexts are nearly identical, suggesting thatboth descend from a common source thatpre-existed the schism in 560 BCE.Further, some copies of the SamaritanTorah may be 20 centuries old, precedingthe Arab occupation of Spain by 1,200years. So if Sephardic Jews invented theTanach as the English scholar suggests,they must also have invented time travel.

Although the oldest existing copy of theHebrew Bible, the Aleppo Codex, whichwas transcribed in the Middle East (not

JewishAmericaBY HOWARD W. KARSH

Interest in new Israeli government absent

I’ve just returned from a family visit toIsrael; three weeks, a wedding, visitingchildren, grandchildren and great-grand-children. As you can imagine, we danced,ate, held babies and caught up face-to-face with our large and engaging family.In my spare time, I tried to find peoplewho were interested and wanted to talkabout the agenda for the newly merged,majority government in Israel.

It isn’t that they don’t know. Israelis arenews junkies. So why so little interest?They seem unwilling to take the Israeligovernment seriously. Regardless of thenew majority, they are aware that thecountry is evenly divided on almost everyissue, and simply because there is a theoretical majority, it does not mean – atleast to the people I spoke to – that theythink the votes for change will be there.

The issues are simply too dividing – universal military service for all Israeli citizens, and a realistic plan with thePalestinians to end the 64 year old stalemate. The issues are difficult anddivisive. In the former, no one seems toknow how to manage eliminating theentitlement of deferment for religiousmen and women, and in the latter, with nounited front in the Palestinian govern-ments, who would they be negotiatingwith, and what serious commitment canbe made that the settlement, when made,will have a chance?

Thankfully, Israel works without majordecision making, or at least it seems thatway. The “as is”seems to many to be moreattractive than the “what might come.”Left alone, the parties to all the issuesseem to find ways to make it work, andthey are also comfortable with allowing allthe political rhetoric without changes thatmost Israelis believe need to be made.

Further, while there is no major movement to unseat Prime MinisterNetanyahu, neither is there any real belief that he will be the man to solvethese major interests. Because the issuesare so endemic, one comes away thinkingthat if it is not completely broken, maybeit should be left alone.

I rode the new Jerusalem train. It wascrowded but it works, that is if you can

coax the ticket machines to issue you aticket. The stores are full. Tourists seemto be everywhere. There is a constructionphenomenon. Everywhere we went, theyare building, and the prices are going upas is the demand for housing.

Young married couples rent 480 sq. ft.apartments, and feel fortunate to find them.Everyone talks about how expensiveeverything is, and then becomes part ofthe active market.

I have been going to Israel for almost 40years, more than 30 trips to visit 2 marriedchildren with 20 grandchildren and morethan a dozen great-grandchildren. I havewritten about Israel for all these years, andstill feel like a beginner. No one has everbeen able to help me understand why itworks, but it does, and it is they who haveto live life on a tightrope.

Surrounded by change, DemocraticIsrael just chugs along like “The Little Train that Could.”

Howard W. Karsh lives and writes inMilwaukee, Wisc., and can be reached [email protected]. He has recently beennamed as a community columnist for theMilwaukee Journal-Sentinel. This columnwas submitted on June 13, 2012. AAAA

j i

(see Ages, page 11)


In the wake of the infamous flotillaassault against Israel two years ago theTurkish Prime Minister Erdogan broke upa televised press conference meeting inwhich President Shimon Peres wasinvolved, by shouting out the phrase“Thou shall not kill” in order to condemnIsrael’s response to knifewielding activist-thugs onthe boat, nine of whomwere killed.

That was a surprising bit of sermonizing fromthe leader of the countrythat, according to Turkishscholar (and professor at Clark University)Taner Akçam, initiated the first genocideof the 20th century in the slaughter ofmore than one million Armenians in 1915.

For his pains in excavating the remainingarchival sources relating to the massacreand in publishing the shocking revelations

Encyclopedia Judaicaobscures truth aboutArmenian genocide

Opinion

BY PROFESSOR ARNOLD AGES

in those documents, Akçam has, as heindicates in his lengthy preface to his newbook – The Young Turks’ Crime AgainstHumanity: The Armenian Genocide andEthnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire,Princeton University Press. (Princeton,N.J. 2012) – joined a hit list, as of 2009, ofthose targeted even today by elements ofan ultranationalist Turkish terror group.He is in good company; Orhan Panuk theNobel laureate is also on the list of“Traitors to National Security.”

That is not the only surprise encounteredin considering Akçam’s explosive inventoryof the ethnic cleansing, forced deportationsand wanton murder of Christians (andothers) systematically carried out byTurkey in the second decade of the lastcentury. The other surprise is that the venerable Encyclopedia Judaica, publishedin the early 1970s, which contains a massive entry on the Holocaust, does not,in its article on Turkey, have anything to say about the era’s first Holocaust andits Armenian and other victims. In fact the Judaica article on Turkey begins afterthe end of the First World War andexplores only cursorily the history of theJewish community there, its demographyand its institutions after that period.

How does one explain this omission?The editors of the Encyclopedia weredoubtless aware of the close political relationship between Israel and MuslimTurkey and didn’t want to rock the boat by discussing what official Turkish government policy had consistentlydenied about allegations of genocideagainst the Armenians.

In this case the dictum that discretion isthe better part of valour was sadly mistakenbecause even if all the facts whichAkçam’s reveals in his new book were notknown, accounts of the Armenian tragedyat the hands of the Turks were generallyknown from Armenian responses andother reactions. In 1915 Turkey was universally condemned for its genocidedespite the fact that its governmentdenied what had really occurred. (Thisreviewer has not had an opportunity toconsult the more recent edition of theJudaica to ascertain whether the entry onTurkey has been re-edited)

Professor Akçam is scrupulously honestin his voluminously documented inquiry –with a footnote apparatus that links everyassertion of Turkish complicity in genocideto official archival materials. His inquiryeven expatiates on the history of the relevant archives themselves; how, insome cases, they were destroyed, how inothers, they were doctored and how manyhave simply disappeared.

In his reconstruction of that terribleperiod Akçam makes several important

Taner Akçam


(see Backalenick, page 8)

What is Mame all about? Originally anovel by Patrick Dennis, it relates theexperience of a young orphaned boy whocomes to live with his flamboyant AuntieMame. She, with enough money toindulge her credo, is the very essence ofthe Jazz Age. “Life is a banquet,” sheintones, “…so live, live, live!” She offersPatrick freedom, a new awareness of theworld, and unlimited love. Who could askfor anything more?

This particular production offers a cartoonyversion of the classic. Given more subtletywould add depth and poignancy to thepiece. Instead, everyone works too hard,going over the top in all roles…..exceptperhaps Mame herself, portrayed byLouise Pitre. Although Pitre has a finehusky voice, perfect for a Broadway musical, she gives only a serviceable rendition of the role, haunted by suchpredecessors as Angela Lansbury andRosalind Russell. She just does not havethe larger-than-life persona of such earlierplayers. Yet her chemistry with her littlenephew Patrick is sweet, lovable, andbelievable. As for that nephew, young Eli Baker works the stage like a pro. Hesings, dances, interacts with others, andnever misses a beat. Even better (if that is possible) is Charles Hagerty as thegrown-up Patrick, who offers a mellowvoice and a fine open style. And one mustacknowledge Kirsten Wyatt who runsaway with the comic role of Agnes Gooch,injecting the show with moments of humor.

While this production gets a mixedreview, one must always give four stars tothe Goodspeed Theatre – and of course toJerry Herman himself.

Into the WoodsIn the above review of Mame we lauded

composer/lyricist Jerry Herman, placinghim among the greats of his Jewish-American colleagues – Rodgers andHammerstein, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlinand others.

But how could we have overlookedStephen Sondheim, whose contributionsto the modern musical are incalculable!Sondheim, in fact, has changed the toneand style of the genre, moving in a newdirection and sounding the right note forour time.

So now, fortunately, we have the opportunity to right that wrong, as wereview a current production of Sondheim’sInto the Woods. The show is enjoying anexcellent production at the WestportCountry Playhouse (in Westport, Conn., aNew York commuter town).

Since every Sondheim show is differentin material, locale, and mood, it is difficultto make an overall evaluation. But onething is certain: any Sondheim piece willhave a bittersweet quality, stressing a

JewishTheaterREVIEWED BY IRENE BACKALENICK

Three reviews for four playsJerry Herman’s Mame

Jerry Herman is right up there, highamong the firmament of Jewish-Americancomposers (and lyricists). He holds hisown with the Gershwins, Rodgers andHammerstein, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlinand others. Somewhere in the world thereis surely a production of Hello, Dolly! or LaCage aux Folles, or Mame – or his earlyshow Milk and Honey, which celebratedthe founding of Israel. To offer a cliché, thesun never sets on a Jerry Herman show.

At the moment Connecticut theatergoers(and travelers from New York City andelsewhere) are treated to a production ofMame – at Goodspeed Musicals.

Though a two-hour drive fromManhattan, one finds the trek to Goodspeedwell worth the effort. For starters, theshow is housed in a fairy-tale setting.The theatre (erected in the 19th century)looks like a three-tiered wedding cake,clinging to the hillside and overlookingthe Connecticut River. Whether sippingdrinks on the terrace or ensconced withinthe ornate theater with its pocket-sizestage, one moves to another world.

This time around, this Jerry Hermanmusical has its strengths and its weaknesses.On the plus side are the jazzy stage setsand costumes, which glorify the Art Decoera and later decades. And of course thereare the memorable Herman tunes –among them,“If He Walked into My Life,”“We Need a Little Christmas,”and the titlesong. While performers are a mixed bag,the Jerry Herman touch carries the day.

darker side to life and happiness. Andeven though Sondheim focuses onGrimm’s fairy tales in Into the Woods, youcan be sure that this piece will not endhappily ever after.

What is the show about? Sondheim andbook writer James Lapine have combinedseveral fairy tales, including Jack and theBeanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red RidingHood, Rapunzel. They have added a conniving Witch and a Baker and his wife,who give focus to the story. The Baker andhis wife long for a child, but have beencursed by the Witch. Only by entering the woods to gain four items demandedby the Witch can they lift the curse. Therein the woods they encounter the otherfairy tale characters, each of whom seeks adifferent goal.

The metaphor of the woods (wherepeople grow in self-awareness and maturity) has interested other writers,including Shakespeare (who uses it togood effect in Midsummer Night’s Dream).This time around Into the Woods also has ahappy ending – but only at the end of thefirst act. At the matinee we attended, sometheatergoers actually left, thinking theshow was over. Wrong! The second actmoves on, not only into the woods, butinto darker, dangerous – and clearlySondheim – territory. The Baker and hiswife are less than thrilled with the new baby(who takes over their lives), Red RidingHood has grown cynical, and Cinderella’smarriage is less than idyllic. Furthermore,every one is threatened by Jack’s giant,who comes to earth to wreak havoc.

But let’s not give away the denouement,except to say that this particular Into theWoods is in excellent hands. The fine cast brings the cut-out characters to life –particularly Dana Steingold as Little RedRidinghood. It is a tricky business to standout among excellent peers, but Steingoldis a memorable, distinctive Ridinghood.And Justin Scott Brown’s Jack stands out

Mame (center), portrayed by Louise Pitre,in Mame by Jerry Herman. Photo by Frank Vlastnik.

Lauren Kennedy as the Witch in Into theWoods. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.


and scatological) are organized into categories – doctors, sex, marriage,business, money, assimilation, religion.Vintage players are Marilyn Sokol, ToddSusman, Lenny Wolpe, with youngstersBill Army and Audrey Lynn Weston. It is a series of staccato, fast-paced scenes,with the stage quickly reset each time.

Audiences attending this show (probablymostly Jewish) responded with warm support– applauding enthusiastically at show’s end.Our only disappointment was that theshow offered no fresh ideas or unexpectedtwists. It’s all very predictable. But that’sthe idea. The show “is what it is,” as oneviewer commented on leaving the theater.

In contrast is A Modest Suggestion, (nowon Theatre Row at the Studio Theatre).This provocative satire (written by Israeliplaywright Ken Kaissar) offers startlinglyunexpected moves at every line. It posesthe outrageous question – should we killall the Jews? It is absurdist theater in theextreme (or perhaps not absurdist, whenone considers recent Jewish history).Nonetheless, it is hard to laugh at thissatire, which cuts too close to the bone.

Four men are seated around a boardroomtable. Ostensibly they are corporate executives, judging by their well-tailoreddark suits, neat shirts and ties. The agendais on the table.They have already voted onearlier items, such as global warming andairport security. Should security devicesreveal one’s “private parts”? Should theyban pizza in public school cafeterias?

Now they are prepared to decidewhether they should kill all the Jews. Thatthe four men are idiots does not preventthem from going through corporate procedures, complete with the right lingo.They ponder the question. What would wegain? What are the cost benefits? Will thisgenocide make them feel good? But howdo they find and identify Jews? What arethe traits of a Jew? If a man eats bacon, canhe be Jewish?

Finally they decide to do one test case –that is, kill one Jew (if he can be identified).They bring in a young man, bound andgagged, and proceed to question him.Does he eat bagel and lox? Does he celebrate Christmas? Since he proves tobe a non-practicing Jew, or perhaps a non-Jew, they are thrown into confusion.Ultimately, they kidnap an Orthodox Jew,with much clearer results.

Cast members – corporate execs JeffAuer, Bob Greenberg, Russell Jordan,Jonathan Marball – are right on target.And though Ethan Hova and Robert W.Smith turn in appealing performances ascaptive Jews, they are rather miscast.Smith – blue-eyed and fair-skinned –looks more like an Amish farmer than anOrthodox Jew, while the swarthy Hovaseems more a Middle-Easterner than an

all-American non-observant Jew.The denouement, not to be revealed

here, is unexpected and confusing,tumbling downward at the close. Onewould hope that Kaissar would rework the ending. Nonetheless, under WalterHoffman’s firm direction, the play captivates, forcing viewers to examine that endless question: what is a Jew?

Theater critic Irene Backalenick coverstheater for national and regional publications.She has a Ph.D. in theater criticism fromCity University Graduate Center. Her bookEast Side Story – Ten Years with the JewishRepertory Theatre won a first-place nationalbook award in history. She welcomes comments at [email protected] andinvites you to visit her website: nytheaterscene.com or at: jewish-theatre.com. AAAA

as both oafish and sweetly innocent. ButLauren Kennedy as the Witch andDanielle Ferland as the Baker’s Wife are alsoright on target.These and others of the 15-member cast create a beautiful ensembleunder Mark Lamos’ impeccable direction.

In short, it’s time to head for the woodsand meet all the fairy-tale characters ofour childhood!

Old Jews Telling Jokesand A Modest Suggestion

Two shows have just surfaced off-Broadway, offering striking contrasts in style,delivery, and mood. But the underlyingmessage is the same – namely, that weJews use humor to meet adversity.This has long been a survival tool inEurope. For 2,000 years, anti-Semitismwas part of the package. But Jewish humor – sometimes wry, sometimes bitter,sometimes resigned – yet always inreserve, lay ready to be tapped.

Old Jews Telling Jokes, a 90-minute revueat the Westside Theatre, pays tribute tothis history by skillfully interweaving afamiliar bundle of one-liners, culled fromthe days of Catskill comics. The legacy ofEuropean survival techniques had evolvedinto Borsht Belt humor. Henny Youngman,Buddy Hackett, Don Rickles come to mind.Typical, as we recall, is this one-liner.Threewomen get together in Miami, and theconversation follows: “Oy…Oy!... Oy,Gevalt!!...I thought we weren’t going totalk about the children.”

Created by Peter Gethers and DanielOkrent and under the able direction ofMarc Bruni, “Old Jews is a slick easy-to-take show.”The jokes are time-worn – atleast most of them. But that is just thepoint. It’s a chance to honor our earlierdays in this country, corny though it is.Five able performers move smoothly on andoff stage, offering songs and commentariesmixing with the jokes. (A singing highlightis “I’m spending Hanukah in SantaMonica.”) The jokes (often coarse, ribald,

BACKALENICK(continued from 7)

you help someone else, you are helpingthe entire world. Each of us is a small, butreally important, part of our world. Whenwe heal ourselves, when we heal others,we are actually healing all of the world.

When even one part of the body is sick,then to different degrees the entire body issick. Every part of the body is significant. Ifthat part is healed, the entire body benefits.And not just the human race is affected bythe state of every individual, but all of theanimals, plants, and even angels areaffected. Even the Shechinah, the DivinePresence, is suffering in exile. It’s up to usto help and heal ourselves, and others, tolearn more Torah and do more Mitzvahs,and to help others to do Mitzvahs to bringhealing and redemption to the world.

The Torah tells us that in the end of dayswe will return to Hashem, and then Hewill redeem us. This is what is happeningnow. It’s up to each of us to do our part.We want Moshiach now!

Rabbi Cohen lives in K’far Chabad, Israel. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Rabbi Cohen'syoungest child is getting married so he did not have time to write a new column.This is reprinted from Jan. 13, 2010 andfrom our last Indiana edition.AAAA

CHASSIDIC RABBI(continued from 3)

(L-R) Audrey Lynn Weston, Marilyn Sokol,Lenny Wolpe, Todd Susman, and Bill Armyin Old Jews Telling Jokes. Photo credit: ©Joan Marcus, 2012.

(L-R) Jeff Auer, Jonathan Marballi, Robert W.Smith, Russell Jordan, and Bob Greenberg inA Modest Suggestion. Photo by Allison Taylor.

June 20, 2012 Focus on Healing 1

behind her eyelids – each time realizingthat this is what death looks like. I didn’trealize then what I know now – that I was lucky to be able to view her death as anatural process. Like waves in an outgoingtide, her life force was drawn away from usas her body relinquished resistance andher soul found its way home.

Towards the end, I would get annoyedwhen visitors came and acted like theyknew what to do. “Turn up the music,” afriend would counsel. “Try to make hereat,” another would coach. Each personmeant well, but only those of us who surrounded her daily could see that she no longer wanted to be drawn into thechaos of life. She had transitioned into aplace of existence that no longer beckonedto us. What was hardest on me was therealization that inevitably, we would all beleft without her.

My thoughts during those final dayswere sharper and more focused than Iwould have expected. All of the errandsthat I had left undone and the work that was piling up on my desk seemedirrelevant now. What mattered most wasbeing close, not just to Gen but to those ofus who loved and cared for her. Being, notdoing, was the only thing that seemed tomake sense in that time and space. And inthose long hours of being, I experiencedan intimacy with family, within myself andwith God that I had never known before.

There is clarity of purpose that emergeswhen someone we love is dying. It helpsus focus on what is truly important in ourlife and let go of things that no longerserve us. It makes us aware of the impermanence of our days and that thereis no time better than the present to saythe things we need to say to those welove. It forces us to recognize that we,too, will die and inspires us to make everyday count.

Soon after Gen died, I felt an urgency toset things right with a family memberwhom I had not been able to talk to in awhile. Something had happened betweenus and we just couldn’t break through ourdiscomfort. Gen’s death not only gave mepermission, it acted as a mandate to speakwhat was in my heart. The conversationwe had not only cleared things upbetween us but helped me see another giftthat Gen had given me. That it is notdeath, our own or others, that we shouldfear, but a life not lived fully and honestlywhich is the greater loss.

Lederman is an award winning author,Jewish educator, public speaker and attorneywho lives in Tucson. Visit her website atamyhirshberglederman.com. AAAA

JewishEducatorBY AMY HIRSHBERG LEDERMAN

Witnessing death:A lesson in living

The act of caring

I sat beside her bed, watching herbreathe. She looked so tiny, wrapped inmounds of bedcovers, her head softly resting on an oversized pillow. She nolonger recognized me, or so I was told byher caregivers, but that didn’t stop mefrom speaking continuously to her as Istroked her hairless head. It made mesmile to think that just a few months earlier she had been vain enough to insistthat we color her hair, so that no onewould see her graying roots.

I placed a tape deck next to her bed and played all of her old favorites, trying to keep her connected to this world.Everyone who was part of the hospiceteam confirmed what I intuitively knew:that even in her unconscious state, shecould hear the sounds around her and feelus as we stroked her arm or caressed herface. Sound and touch, two amazing senses, were what kept us tethered to each other now.

I loved my Aunt Gen, who was my‘sometimes mother’, but more often myfriend and confidante. It was hard tobelieve that in days, perhaps hours, Iwould no longer be able to pick up thephone and call her for a quick chat, a bit of advice, or a family recipe my kids hadcome to love.

I had never witnessed death up closebefore and to be honest, I was terriblyafraid. There were so many unknowns that I didn’t want to even think about, letalone witness. How does death look?How does it sound? What if she is in pain?How can I help her be at peace after all ofthe months she fought so valiantly as awarrior against cancer?

Slowly, hour by hour, something beganto happen to me. The more time I spentwith Gen, quietly watching the changes inher body as her life ebbed away, the moreI grew comfortable with my fears. Andwith the process of dying itself. I watchedher like a new mother watches a sleepinginfant- with wonder, amazement andawe. I studied her every change – a slightloss of color in her right hand, a pause or hiccup in her breathing, a fluttering

Why FaithMattersBY RABBI DAVID WOLPE

My father’s father died when my fatherwas 11. His mother was a widow at 34,and he – an only child – bore much of hisgrief alone. In accordance with traditionalpractice of saying Kaddish for one year, hebegan to walk very early to synagogueeach morning to say prayers in hisfather’s memory.

At the end of his firstweek, he noticed that the ritual director of thesynagogue, Mr. Einstein,walked past his home just as he left to walk tosynagogue. Mr. Einstein,already advanced in years explained,“Your homeis on the way to the synagogue. I thoughtit might be fun to have some company.That way, I don’t have to walk alone.”

For a year my father and Mr. Einsteinwalked through the New England seasons, the humidity of summer and the snow of winter. They talked about life and loss and, for a while, my fatherwas not so alone.

After my parents married and my oldestbrother was born, my father called Mr.Einstein – now well into his 90s – andasked him if he would meet his new wifeand son. Mr. Einstein agreed, but said thatin view of his age my father would have tocome to him.

My father writes: “The journey was longand complicated. His home, by car, wasfully 20 minutes away. I drove in tears as Irealized what he had done. He hadwalked for an hour to my home so that Iwould not have to be alone each morning.…By the simplest of gestures, the act ofcaring, he took a frightened child and heled him with confidence and with faithback into life.”

Voted #1 rabbi in America by Newsweek(2012) and named one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by TheJerusalem Post (2012), Rabbi David Wolpeis the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and author of several booksincluding Why Faith Matters. This story wasposted on his Facebook profile on June 14,2012: www.facebook.com/RabbiWolpe.

A F O C U S O N H E A L I N GA Supplement to The National Jewish Post & Opinion

Rabbi GeraldI. Wolpe

(see Wolpe, page Focus 2)

2 Focus on Healing June 20, 2012

someone who is going through the ordeal.It is even harder to comprehend the beliefthat God affords us the opportunity toreceive comfort even while He cannotprevent the drama from unfolding.

The Prophet Isaiah reminds us that Godwill comfort us giving us the ability to cope.We tend to forget the goodness and kindnessthat we encountered as we movedthrough the journey of life. We become soengrossed in our distress that we cannotrecall the beauty of the steps we took aswe moved from episode to contentment.

No words can suffice to bring solace tothe prospect of death and no actions takenby others will give us the ability to forgetthe anger and frustration. It is up to us toreturn to the center of life through relianceon ourselves, our family, our friends, andour appreciation of God who is there totake our hand as we are guided on the pathof release – the release of all our burdens.

I look at the sick and infirmed and Irealize that my function is to hold a hand,or kiss a brow, or listen to their cries forhelp. I cannot cure the aching body but I can deepen their understanding ofreaching out to receive an extended handin friendship and understanding.

Where is God? God is everywhere wewant Him to be and even places where wewould least expect. In the Book of Kings,we read that God is not in the wind, not inthe earthquake, not in fire, but in a stillsmall voice.That voice is ours reaching outto walk with God in our hour of needbecause He will hear and He does see andHe does comfort.

Spinoza, the father of Reform Judaismtaught that eternity is the very core of God.There is no end. There is continuation oflife. There is immortality. There is life after death. There is grace and there is forgiveness. God made all things bothgood and not so good and it is up to us to glean the good from among all thatthere is so that we can enjoy life andexpect connection at death.

Watching people go through the pangs of torment can be unnerving but I remember the final words of the Psalm 23,“AND I WILL DWELL IN THEHOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER.”

Rabbi Irwin Wiener is spiritual leader of theSun Lakes Jewish Congregation. Comments [email protected]. His new book, Living withFaith, will be published in January, 2013.AAAA

Wiener’sWisdomBY RABBI IRWIN WIENER, D.D.

“For you are with me…

…Your staff is there to support me.”These words written by King David duringa very trying time in his life indicates hisfaith and devotion to the salvation offeredby God in times of distress. He was fleeingfor his life from the threats of King Saul.Feeling nothing but despair, he turns to Godand eloquently describes his understandingof the blessings associated with the gift of life.

David finds the courage to turn hisunfortunate despondency into a vision ofcollective redemption. He inspires himselfand in turn all Israel with the remembranceof the goodness and mercy of God as theIsraelites wandered in the desert for 40years. How can such a God abandon him?After all, he too is wandering aimlessly inthe wilderness of hopelessness.

These thoughts come to mind wheneverI read the 23rd Psalm whether duringtimes of grief or times of sorrowful news.Unfortunately, life is filled with tragediesthat often overshadow the wonderfulmoments of happiness. Memories somehowtravel to unfortunate incidents and shadethe glory of marvelous experiences. Futher,we seem to dwell on the bad and relegatethe good to the shadows of anguish.

People live and people die, but whathappens in between can be daunting.Hearing news that illness has taken holdand has us trapped in a cycle of pain. Thenews is not so good and the outcome so predictable. Once there was vibrancy,gaiety, now pain, and misery as we waitfor the final curtain to come down on ourlives and our hopes and dreams.

Where is God? Why is this happening?Where are the days filled with laughterand celebration? We search for answersand realize that there are none. There isillness and sometimes recovery. Such isnot the case now. The news is all bad – nohope – just the realization of finality.

People will constantly ask me these veryquestions and I search for answers thatwill comfort and console. I cannot showfrustration nor can I give up. I see pain onthe faces of those afflicted and thosestanding close with no ability to heal orrespond to the anticipated emptiness.

God is there to provide a certain balancein life. On the one hand, He extends His handto lift the spirit, as the other hand understandsthe affliction. It is hard to describe this to

1. Do not worry. Worry does not helpthe person who is sick, rather it makes aperson contract, and not be available forhealing. Cultivate faith in G-d’s ability toheal you and others. There is some hiddengood in everything that is happening. Findthe good.

2. Choose to live in the present. Do notwaste energy thinking too much about whatwas or what will be. We have only thepresent moment. When we are aware andpresent in the moment, we are open to theDivine Presence. Celebrate the gift of lifein each moment as fully as you can. Takedeep calming breaths throughout the day.

3. Do something each day to promotehealing for yourself and others. Be good toyourself. Be good to others.

4. Count your blessings each day. Beinggrateful opens the heart so one can receivehealing. Today was a day when I__________. Write in your journal whatyou received and learned each day.

5. Eliminate feelings of guilt andshame. Guilt is the feeling that you didsomething wrong. Shame is the feelingthat you are inadequate. Healing isblocked by feelings of shame and guilt.You are a beautiful being, created in theimage of the divine. Affirm that aboutyourself. If you feel regret or guilt oversomething you have done, forgive yourselfand forgive others. Punishing yourself isnot helpful. Affirm to do better in thefuture. Ask for forgiveness and makeamends if you hurt someone.

6. Meditate and repeat affirmations forfive minutes or more each day; “Blessed isGod the true Healer”,“God is healing meright now”. Visualize yourself surroundedby God’s light and love each day. Speaklovingly to the body part that is hurting.Give that body part special love and attention.

7. Pray for healing each day. You needGod’s help to heal. You may even havegotten ill just so you would reach the pointof calling out to God in a sincere way.Pray for the healing of others as well. Makea prayer list of people who need healing,need livelihood, a soul mate, and so forth.When you stand in prayer with a list ofneeds of others, it is more powerful than

Wellness& HealingBY MELINDA RIBNER

10 suggestions topromote wellnessand healing

(see Ribner, page Focus 3)

A Supplement to The National Jewish Post & Opinion

David’s father, Rabbi Gerald I. Wolpe(1927-2009), was known for his compassionateleadership of Philadelphia's Har Zion Templefrom 1969 – ’99, and for his many contributionsto bioethics, caregiving, and medical education. AAAA

WOLPE(continued from Focus 1)

j i

June 20, 2012 Focus on Healing 3A Supplement to The National Jewish Post & Opinion

Musingsfrom ShilohBY BATYA MEDAD

Too many people use the “it’s too hard”or “too much work” excuse to makehealthy food. I got 15 kilo (30 lbs) off overthree years ago by switching to eating lotsof cooked vegetables and almost no carbohydrates. The weight has stayed off.And a year and a half ago my husbandwas told to lose weight, too. He lost evenmore than I did and has kept it off. I don’tcall it a diet; I call what we did a “changein how we eat.”

I cook and we eat lots of vegetables. Ieven take them to work. And I found thatmost restaurants will gladly substitute salads and vegetables for the rice or potatoes on their set menus.They want ourbusiness ($) and if they must make someaccommodations, they’re happy to do it.

You can do so much with all sorts ofvegetables when baking them. Thesebaked vegetables are very impressivewhen entertaining or bringing as “housegifts” when you’re invited out. My friendsexpect vegetables from me. When I bringtrays of baked vegetables I know that I’llhave something to eat.

The trick is to experiment to see whatcooks the easiest and what you like. Ialways dribble a bit of oil on top. You canadd whatever seasonings you like. I don’tadd salt. Baked vegetables don’t lose theirflavor. I bake them in a conventional oven.They aren’t waterlogged.

Batya Medad is a veteran American olah,immigrant in Israel. She and her husbandmade aliyah in 1970 and have been in Shilohsince 1981. She has two active blogs, http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com and http://me-ander.blogspot.com, besides havingestablished the Kosher Cooking Carnival;details on me-ander. You can contact her at [email protected]. AAAA

Who said it’s hardto eat healthy?

when you make requests just for yourself.You receive more spiritually. Even if youyourself are sick, pray for others.

8. Do meditations with God’s name –Yud, Hay, and Vav and Hay. Place thedivine name in your body. (See book NewAge Judaism or my CD, Arousal from Belowfor meditation guidance. If you do notknow the letters of the Divine Name, andeven if you do, visualize yourself in aJewish star filled with divine light.

9. Nourish yourself physically by eatingnatural food, drinking pure water,exercising, and spending time in the suneach day. Eliminate negative eating,drinking or other destructive behaviors tothe body. Seek alternative approaches likeacupuncture, spiritual energy healing tosupport healing.Your body wants to heal.

RIBNER(continued from Focus 2)

10. Make an effort to reach out to othersto uplift them. Say kind words to others.Do not speak loshen hara, speak badlyabout others. Hug as many people as youcan each day. We all need more hugging.Give charity. It opens the gates for healing. Even if you are poor, it will behelpful to give charity.

May we each heal on a personal level.May the whole world heal and be broughtto a greater wellbeing and wholeness.

Melinda (Mindy) Ribner, L.C.S.W. is aspiritual psychotherapist and healer in private practice (www.kabbalahoftheheart.com). She is a teacher of Jewish meditation and Kabbalah for over 25 years. Author ofKabbalah Month by Month, New AgeJudaism, and Everyday Kabbalah, she isalso the founder and director of Beit Miriam(www.Beitmiriam.org). She can be reachedby email at [email protected] [email protected]. AAAA

somewhere, sometime.I’m secretly hoping someday he’ll

emerge from his workshop with “TheLazarus”– a custom-built contraption thatresurrects dead dopamine brain cells andcures Parkinson’s. Of course, I’ll bravelyvolunteer to be the first guinea pig to testit out. And I’ll try not to flinch, even if he attaches a modified Ham radio withguitar-pick electrodes to my head. I realizethere’s bound to be some kinks to workout in the beginning, so I’ll brace myselffor possible side effects – nausea, chills,headache, double vision, multiple orgasms– I can handle almost anything if it leadsto a fix.

Meanwhile, I’m collecting facts –searching the web, borrowing librarybooks, learning the lingo. Apparently, so is Naomi. When I go to tuck her into bed tonight, I have to choke back my tears. Probably every kid in the world isreading the latest Harry Potter book,but not my daughter. She is flippingthrough the pages of an illustrated neurology textbook.

“Are you sure you want to read that stuffbefore bed?”I ask.

“Yeah. Look at these brains. This one ishealthy. This other one has Parkinson’s.And did you know that smoking maysomehow protect the brain from gettingParkinson’s disease?”

“I wish I’d known that years ago – I’dhave started smoking.”

Naomi asks,“Do you want to cuddle?”“Of course I do. Move over,” I say,

squeezing in beside her. I wrap my armsaround my girl while she leans her headon my shoulder. We hear Nellie jinglingher way into the room and jumping up onto the bed. I’m in her spot,she whimpers. My head is on her pillow,she woofs.

“Don’t go,”Naomi whispers.“Stay.”So I stay, forcing Nellie to cancel her

pillow reservations and curl up at Naomi’s feet. The three of us close oureyes, but only the dog falls fast asleep.Together, Naomi and I luxuriate in thisshared end-of-day stillness. Neither of uscan remember the last time we cuddledlike this, but our bodies remember.Tentatively, our legs entwine and our armsoverlap – reviving the affection I thoughtwe’d lost, collateral damage from the Bad Old Days. Naomi yawns, pulls thecovers close, and rests her head on myshoulder. We are tired, but we continuetalking about brains and dogs, while invisible threads of trust begin mendingour tattered love.

Excerpted from Most of Me: SurvivingMy Medical Meltdown. By Robyn MicheleLevy. Greystone Books, an imprint of D&MPublishers. 2011. Reprinted with permissionof the publisher. AAAA

brain disease – or that I have a brain to degenerate. In her eyes, I’m just thisomnipresent creature she adores, who fillsher food bowl, takes her for walks, picksup her poop, scratches her belly, andreluctantly removes sticks protruding fromher bum – the very sticks I am alwaystelling her not to eat. And while she isn’tthe brightest dog in town, her ignoranceoften brings me bliss – rare momentswhen I forget that I have Parkinson’s andthat people worry about me.

Warning: Habits may be habit forming.Habits may also be hilarious. Sometimesthey can be both. Such as the habit I have of marching around inside my house, like a soldier in basic training.Every day. Rain or shine. Hup, two, three,four. Back and forth between the kitchenand the living room – with gusto.According to my physiotherapist, thismarching drill should help my rigid left arm swing back and forth and mylimping left leg lift up and down, insmooth rhythmic motions that wouldmake a sergeant major proud. That’s whatit should do. But I march to the beat of adisabled drummer. And no matter howhard I try, I lurch to the right like a spasticsoldier – perky but jerky. I’d make a sergeant major cry.

The first time Naomi saw me marching,she laughed and then squealed,“I arrivedjust in time for the show!”I was flattered –teenagers are notoriously hard to impress.

“Welcome to Cirque d’Oy Vey,” I said,putting more schlep into my step.

Luckily for her, I was at the beginning ofmy workout routine, cobbled togetherfrom physio, Pilates, and yoga exercises I’d learned over the years. There was plenty still to come. Leg kicks and figure eights. Arm flexing. Knee tapping.Stretches and lunges. Postural poses.And the showstopper: tripping over Nellie while walking backwards.

Naomi was entertained. She even gotinto the act by coaxing my left arm intopositions it can no longer find on its own.She still occasionally does this, withouthesitation or awkwardness and withoutthe slightest indication that I embarrassher – even in front of her friends. I findthis remarkable because I consider mybody an embarrassment of glitches, whichI’d do anything to fix.

Unfortunately, fixing things isn’t myforte; I’m better at breaking things.Casualties include the garburator, theclothes dryer, the dishwasher, and, ofcourse, the computer. I’m lucky thatBergen can fix almost anything – he’s ahandyman with a workshop full of toolsand spare parts and an eclectic collectionof you-never-know-when-this-might-come-in-handy junk. Which somehowalways comes in handy for something,

BookExcerptBY ROBYN MICHELE LEVY

Ladies in WaningThese days, everyone is worried

about me, even strangers – particularlyimpatient strangers at the grocery store,waiting in line behind me at the expresscheckout counter. Sometimes they are soworried that their eyeballs roll right out oftheir sockets as I slowly fumble throughmy purse to pay the clerk.

I’m worried too. Unsettling thoughts ofdrooling, diapers,and wheelchairsloom large. And so does death(hopefully beforediapers). But thesefears seem ratherfutile to fret aboutnow, consideringI’m just in the early stage ofParkinson’s. Thismeans I can focusmy anxiety on concerns I face every day.For starters, there is my deteriorating walk,which I am very self-conscious about –particularly at the dog park. Let off leash,

Nellie runs like the wind, as far awayfrom me as possible. Then she conducts“canine crop circle” research, eventuallymarking the perfect celestial spot with adown-to-earth turd. Which I must findand dispose of, in front of everyone. I lumber awkwardly across the grass,dodging dogs chasing tennis balls andsqueaky toys, my left leg dragging behind,my crooked left arm frozen at my side,torso tilting too far forward, right armswinging back and forth, back and forth,like a doggie poop divining rod, searching…. until I strike gold.

My many other concerns are not aspublic. I’m having difficulty flossing myteeth, folding the laundry, chopping vegetables, vacuuming the floors, puttingon my shoes, doing up zippers, typing on the keyboard. Little things only Bergen and Naomi notice when we’re athome. And while they don’t say it outloud, I know they both worry about me a lot. Most of the time, I appreciate all this concern from everybody.But sometimes I find it difficult being thecenter of apprehension and long to escapethe scrutiny.

That’s where Nellie comes in handy.As far as I can tell, my dog hasn’t the foggiest idea that I have a degenerative

4 Focus on Healing June 20, 2012 A Supplement to The National Jewish Post & Opinion


The Victor Center –screening and prevention of Jewishgenetic diseases Simple blood test can identify carriersof 19 preventable disorders

In the not-too-distant past, prospectiveparents had no way of knowing whetherthey were carriers of a genetic disease that could threaten the health and life oftheir children – until it was too late and achild became sick. For Jewish individualsof Central and Eastern European descentfrom countries such as Poland, Russia,Germany, Austria, and Lithuania, thepotential danger is particularly great,since it is now known that one in fiveAshkenazi Jews is a carrier for at least oneof 19 different genetic diseases, many ofwhich strike in childhood and can lead toan early death. Furthermore, with 50% of interfaith marriages in the US and the Irish, French Canadian and Cajunpopulations being at high risk for Tay-Sachs disease, there is a greater need for screening in the non-Jewish populations as well.

Today, with advances in the field ofgenetics, scientists have identified the genemutations that cause these inherited diseases,enabling individuals who are screenedbefore each pregnancy to know whethertheir children will be at risk. Makingscreening widely available to potentialcarriers is the mission of The Victor Centerfor the Prevention of Jewish GeneticDiseases, an organization dedicated topreventing Jewish genetic diseasesthrough high-quality and accessible education, screening, and counseling.

The Victor Center was founded by Lois Victor, who herself lost two childrento a Jewish genetic disease and was determined to help spare other familiesthe same heartbreak. Just as a grass-rootscommunity campaign for Tay-Sachs disease has been successful in reducingthe incidence of that disease by 90 percentin the Ashkenazi Jewish populationthrough public education and screening,Ms. Victor’s goal was to advocate screening for all the Jewish genetic diseases, raising public awareness that a simple blood test could prevent a family tragedy.

Ms. Victor established the first center in2002 at Einstein Medical Center inPhiladelphia. To expand the reach of the program, a second location was established in 2005 at Tufts New EnglandMedical Center Floating Hospital forChildren in Boston, and a third Victor Center was launched in 2007 in (see Victor Center, page 14)

partnership with the University of MiamiMiller School of Medicine. An AtlantaJewish Gene Screen community-widepartnership offering genetic counseling,education and screening was created inAtlanta with funding from The MarcusFoundation in partnership with EmoryUniversity School of Medicine. For thosein other cities, the Victor Center’s Web site provides information, resources andreferrals of doctors, genetic counselorsand labs offering this screening through-out the country and help couples assesstheir risk.

“I started the Victor Center because Iwas looking for a way to spare others what we went through with our twodaughters, one of whom died at the age of 8 and the other at 35, both from Familial Dysautonomia – a Jewish geneticdisease that is preventable but that has no cure,” Ms. Victor states. “There was no genetic screening when I had mydaughters; today, there is no reason thatany child should be born with thesegenetic diseases. My vision, through the Victor Center, is that all Jews of childbearing age will be tested as a matterof course, that rabbis will counsel youngcouples on testing before marriage, andthat physicians, family members, andcommunity leaders will promote testing.With one simple blood test, you can takeresponsibility for your life. I didn’t havethat choice.”

Individuals of every ethnic group arepotential carriers for genetic diseases, withno way of knowing since their own healthis not affected. Ashkenazi Jews, however,have a significantly higher risk for certaindiseases, primarily because the Jewishcommunities in Europe were small andisolated, and members tended to marrywithin their communities, enabling thegene mutations to become more prevalentin future generations. These diseasesrange from the more familiar Tay-Sachsdisease to lesser-known diseases such asWalker-Warburg Syndrome and NemalineMyopathy. These diseases have no cureswith often only limited treatment, andmany result in a severely limited lifespan.

Before the Victor Center began its program, few physicians were informed of the range of diseases for which theirAshkenazi Jewish patients should bescreened; and many did not fully understand the importance of screeningboth partners in a couple for the same diseases, or of screening before everypregnancy so that newly identifiable

genetic mutations could be detected.Through the Victor Center and its workaround the country, all at-risk individualsare now able to be screened for 19 specific diseases – and with advances intesting, that list is constantly beingexpanded based on factors including thecarrier frequency of a disease, its severity,and the sensitivity of the testing.

What all these genetic diseases have incommon is that the carriers themselvesare healthy and have no prior family history of the disease. That is because the diseases are inherited in an autosomalrecessive manner, meaning a child canonly be born with the disease if both parents are carriers for the same disease

Even as the Latino community is ethnically and culturally heterogeneous,the Jewish community in the UnitedStates grew to include Jews from centraland eastern Europe (Ashkenazim) as wellas from North Africa and the Middle East.

Numerically, the Latino community inthe United States is significantly largerthan the Jewish. Latinos constitute 16 percent of the U.S. population. Jews areabout 2 percent of the nation’s population.

The Latino participants expressed interestin the Jewish community’s successful systemof communal organization and activeengagement in the civic and political life.The Jewish participants learned of thediversity of the Latino populations in ourstate and their interest in issues that are atthe core of the Jewish public agenda.

At a time when our nation is increasinglyfragmented, when stereotyping and circling the wagons are easier optionsthan dialogue and cooperation, it isimportant for diverse constituencies toknow one another, to help each other succeed and to advance a common goodthat transcends partisan and ethnic identity politics. The Latino-Jewish dialogue is born from a concern for anAmerica that is hospitable and welcomingof diversity, an America grounded in corevalues and traditions and yet open toinnovation and change. As minorities,both communities uphold an Americawhere the particular and the universalcoexist, where there is respect and under-standing and where the vision of ournational motto,“E pluribus unum”(“Fromthe many, One”), will yet be realized.

Sasso and his wife Rabbi Sandy EisenbergSasso have been senior rabbis at CongregationBeth-El Zedeck in Indianapolis for 34 years.Reprinted with permission from TheIndianapolis Star, May 29, 2012. AAAA

SASSO(continued from 4)

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up the plot with every possible quirk andcomplication of all the kinds of Jews thatmight become involved in such a trial. Inaddition to the judge, there is a professornamed Noah Fineman (Larry Bryggman),who uses his political science courses to label Israel as a “criminal regime”and employs the witness stand to promotehis book, Zionist Occupation. Clearly,Fineman represents Jews who hate Israeland who blame Israel at every opportunityfor the hatred of the West by Muslimfanatics. Yet he is all too willing to claimJimal as a disciple and thus to implicatehim as an advocate of Israel-bashing and,by implication, of Jew-bashing, literally.The problem is that Fineman has only lectured to the class twice, leaving mostsessions in the hands of teaching assistants, and did not know that one ofJimal’s roommates signed him in and wasthe one who showed interest. So it is leftopen whether Fineman will do anythingto claim a disciple out of ego or because he wants to believe that his lectures areeffective enough to inflame Muslims(megalomania) to act upon a hatred andbigotry that he may think they cannotresist (racism).

And then there is Eli Gold, the persistentJewish character in this series. Gold wasfirst introduced as a practicing Jew,although it has not always been clearexactly what he practices. There was somesuggestion that he is religiously observant,but mostly he plays out certain Jewishstereotypes in order to amuse the audience and to reveal the hang-ups ofJewish and non-Jewish characters alike.(Here, too, the writers seem to borrow apage from David E. Kelley’s depiction ofJews, particularly in the roles that he wrote for Feivush Finkel.)

In the context of this particular episode,the episodes involving the Gold characterare discombobulated vignettes throughwhich the writers poke at what they

roommates, both Muslim, had use of the car. So in order to avert one false conviction, Jimal unwittingly tumbles into another.

Alicia’s firm blames her for getting Jimalinto that situation, and reminds her that ifJimal is convicted, the firm will lose alucrative Muslim client. All the while, shemust contend with Peter’s efforts to makeher look bad in court. The latter resentsher independence and her refusal to support him after she discovered that his infidelities extended to a tryst with her dear friend.

The executor of the Muslim anti-defamation charity is appalled by revelations in court that Jimal played avideo game in which he donned a bombvest and blew up a Jewish school filledwith children, and that he got into anonline fight with the slain Greenberg,perhaps over that video.

While the trial is being played out,writers Robert King and Michelle Kingand Meredith Merrill (story) introduce, inraid succession, and, seemingly, just forthe fun of it, a few unflattering vignettes ofJewish men.

First, there is Judge Alan Karpman,played by Fred Melamed, now foreverassociated with the Coen brothers film, ASerious Man. When first told about the fistfight, Karpman seems impressed thatthere was a fight and nostalgic aboutfighting, in a nerdy way, of course. (In thistheme, the writers borrowed a page ofDavid E. Kelley’s shows.) Later, the judgetries to rush the proceedings because he is“late for the gym.” He also admires the“cool guns” in the video game – also in anerdy sort of way.

As a ploy to get another judge, Aliciadecides to challenge the impartiality of the Jewish judge.“My Jewish backgroundis completely irrelevant in this case,” hesays, indignantly. But Alicia points out that the judge has donated money to anorganization that supports settlements inIsrael. (At least the writers acknowledgedthat the settlements are in Israel, untilnegotiations with the Palestinians decideotherwise.) Alicia’s ploy does not work,anyway. The judge remains on the case,and the prosecutors accuse her of purposelystalling the case through Rosh Hashanah,the next day, when Jewish judges (withstrong commitment to Judaism and to theJewish People) would not be present fornew assignments. That Alicia knew aboutRosh Hashanah is not so clear, as is whythis Jewish holiday is mentioned at all,though it could be that the prosecution istrying to prejudice the judge againstAlicia, and stoops so low as to make suchuse of a Jewish religious holiday.

Such buffoonization of the judge seemsto emerge from the writers’ desire to soup

MediaWatchBY RABBI ELLIOT B. GERTEL

The Good WifeCBS’s popular The Good Wife exploited

Muslim-Jewish tensions on campus forthe first episode of the 2011–2012 season.A student at a Chicago polytech college,Simon Greenberg, is found murdered inhis dorm room, stabbed numerous times,with a swastika written in blood,backwards. This occurred at the same timeas a campus brawl involving a dozenJewish and Muslim students during a rallyby Jewish students against the Palestinianterrorist group, Hamas.

A Muslim leader with access to a $10million charitable account, a commoditiestrader by profession, engages the law firm at which Alicia Florrick (JuliannaMargulies), betrayed wife of prosecutorPeter Florrick (Chris North), is vying for apartnership. A Muslim student has beenarrested for punching a Jewish student,and faces conviction for a hate crime, witha mandatory seven year sentence. TheMuslim student, Jimal (Naifeh SatyaBhabha), is likable and sympathetic. Heinsists that he was not at the rally, but atthe library. He says that he is ashamedeven to have been arrested and does not want his parents to be called. Theimplication is that his parents are goodand law-abiding people, and would beappalled by his arrest.

Alicia confronts the young prosecutor, aformer rival in her law firm and now apuppet of her estranged husband. (Itseems that everything in this series is personal.) She protests that Jimal’s arrestwas a desperate act of authorities unableto find who stabbed a Jewish student todeath and therefore go after the nearestMuslim student for brawling. She impliesthat prosecutor husband Peter is seekingto firm up his campaign contributionswith money from grateful Jews. Peter,seeking a bigger political office afterfalling from grace by cheating on Aliciawith prostitutes, and anxious to win therespect of the public, instructs his staff toaccept no plea bargains.

A video camera recorded Jimal’s car faraway from the site of the brawl. Hearingthis and hoping to be freed, Jimal decidesthat he might as well say that he was driving his car, though he had all alonginsisted otherwise.Then he is told that thecar was photographed near the murderscene, enabling the prosecutors to chargeJimal with killing Greenberg. Yet his two

x

Cast of A Good Wife: (L-R) Archie Panjabi(Kalinda), Matt Czuchry (Cary), ChristineBaranski (Diane), Julianna Margulies(Alicia), Josh Charles (Will), Chris Noth(Peter), and Alan Cumming (Eli). © CBSInteractive.

(see Gertel, page 15)


As I Heard ItREVIEWED BY MORTON GOLD

Bencher (GraceAfter Meals)

This month I received a publicationreleased by United Synagogue Youth(USY) with the title B’kol Echad: In One Voice. The handsome volume is edited by CantorJeffrey Shiovitzwith this revisededition edited byAmy Dorsch. Thisrevised edition was published in2010, and theLibrary of Congresscatalogue numberis: 85-62598.

The contentsinclude the following: Shabbat and FestivalBlessings, Z’mirot for Shabbat, and Songs of Israel. The Hebrew text has bothtranslations as well as transliterations ofthe text. All of the preceding is admirableand laudatory. (My readers should sensethat unlike Dayenu, this is not enough!)

What is troubling to me is that with theZ’mirot as well as the Songs of Israel,there is not one note of music. One has toassume that there is but one setting ofeach text. No composer of any of theZ’mirot is identified, let alone the authorof the text used. On page 82 there is theYiddish song “Az Ich vel Singen (ChiriBim)”. If one didn’t know Hebrew, onewouldn’t know that the text was not inHebrew or that it was a Yiddish song.Does the song “Dodi Li” (p. 84) have acomposer, and if so who? Ditto for “Lo YisaGoy” (p. 95). As for “Tov L’hodot” (p. 101) I am certain that they do not mean thesetting by Schubert commissioned bySolomon Sulzer!

The editor is meticulous in citing thesource of every text but nary is one composer cited in the Z’mirot section.One should add however that in the section of songs by Israeli composers eachcomposer as well as lyricist is identified.Is it too much to hope for that the musicfor the melody for the Chanukah blessingsor Maoz Tsur be printed? By the way,the composer for Hatikvah was NaftuliHersh Imber. Unlike the melody for The Star Spangled Banner which was takenfrom a German drinking song, (Key merely wrote the words), Hatikvah doeshave a composer.

One realizes that the origin of the firstpart was taken from a Czech folk song andused in an orchestral tone poem (Ma Vlast)by Smetana. However, the first phrasenotwithstanding, he did write the rest of itand should receive credit for doing so.What I am getting at (at last!) is that whatinterests the editor are the words. (But toooften the children are ignorant of themelody. And should they be familiar withthe melody, the rendition of the sameoften leaves a lot to be desired!)

The words (texts of the various prayers)are what is important to those who fashioned this book. Everyone ought to be familiar with the music and who cares who wrote the music, especiallywhen it comes to the service or even tosongs to prayers sung after eating. TheChasidim solved this problem long ago by

encouraging the creation of wordlessmelodies thus putting the horse before thecart. Words will only be remembered orreinforced if supported by a meaningfulmelody. These melodic inventions did notspring up out of thin air; someone had tocreate them. Thus we find melodies byRabbi so-and-so, and so on.

While I have nothing but praise for thelayout of the book, the inclusion of trans-lations, transliterations as well as sourcesfor the texts, a major fault is the omissionof the printed music that underlies eachtext and that makes each meaningful aswell as memorable. Yes, I will admit thefact that I am a composer lies at the root ofthese remarks! I try to tell it “Like”it is.

Dr. Gold is a composer/conductor as wellas arts reviewer and can be reached at:[email protected]. AAAA

observations. The first is that Turkey,reeling from the fear that its empire wasbeing dismantled by both internal andexternal forces, was fanatically determinedto preserve the integrity of its state andempire and believed that its Christiancomponents were intent upon acceleratingthe decomposition of Turkey. The second is that while the Armenian Christiansbecame the prime target for Turkey’sgenocidal fury, others, including Muslimssuch as the Kurds also felt the wrath ofTurkey’s attempt to homogenize its population to represent only ethnicTurkish Muslims.

After detailing with an intimidatingthoroughness the stages pursued by the various Turkish military units in eradicating and/or expelling the Armenianpopulation, Akçam assiduously examinesthe justifications offered by some Turkishrepresentatives to defend what happened– without acquiescing to the charge ofgenocide. According to this rationale“under certain conditions (state security) agovernment or state can resort to actionssuch as ‘forcible deportation’ even if theyresult in the deaths of its own citizens, andthere are no moral or legal grounds uponwhich such actions can be faulted.”

For obvious reasons Akçam cannotaccept this rationalization and asserts that“the Turkish government’s refusal to face itsrecent past, and the difficulties in coming toterms with its own history, are very thoughtprovoking and very troubling. The reactionof state and society suggest that they mightagain resort to similar actions, and this is atruly frightening prospect.” (italics mine)

Arnold Ages is “Distinguished EmeritusProfessor,” University of Waterloo, OntarioCanada. AAAA

AGES(continued from 6)

Spain) dates only to about 940 CE, its relative youthfulness is not surprising.Parchment deteriorates. Ancient textswere recopied regularly to preserve them.And when Jews fled en masse from a cityand had to choose between saving a brittle ancient copy of the Tanach or a new copy on strong parchment, refugeeswould choose the new one.

German scholars in the early 1800snaively claimed the ability to assign different authors or editors to phrases andeven individual words in the Tanach. TheGermans’“documentary theory,”while notdead, has lost currency in recent decadesin part because it is not well supported by linguistic analysis. Although we do notyet have good external evidence as towhen each book of the Tanach was firstput on parchment or who first did so, wedo know that the Tanach is very ancient,not a mishmash cobbled together in themiddle ages.

Our oldest copies are 1100 years old, butearlier copies must have existed andcrumbled to dust. Although our copies ofthe Iliad are similarly newish, honestscholars don’t spout bubbe meises aboutthe origins of the Iliad. The evidence suggests that the text of the standardTanach is of great antiquity and integrity –which may be more than can be said forEnglish scholarship.

An attorney and Semitic linguist withdegrees from Brandeis, Stanford and Univ.of Calif., Seth Watkins (pen name, Ben-Mordecai) merges linguistic analysis withlegal sleuthing to uncover lost meanings ofancient texts. His Exodus Haggadahuniquely includes the full story of theExodus in an accessible format. Email:[email protected]. AAAA

BEN-MORDECAI(continued from 5)

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homeland of the physical and spiritualmenacing presence of the Roman legionswhose ruthlessness meant to impose tightcontrol. Pontius Pilate’s outlandish bruteconduct prompted his extraordinary recallsummons by Emperor Tiberius in 36 C.E.“He cared little about due process or justice. He was a tyrant who representedthe deadly authoritarianism from whichthe Jews sought relief. The truth is thatPilate was nothing less than the Hitler ofhis time…”(p. 82).

Thus, concludes Boteach, the soleresponsibility for Jesus’trial and death fallson the Romans and Pilate who regardedJesus as a dangerous rebel. Execution byexcruciatingly painful crucifixion wasreserved to political prisoners and Jesuswas deemed to be one. If fellow rabbiswanted to hurt Jesus, they could havedone it earlier by turning him over to KingHerod.The charge of deicide (the killing ofGod), leveled against the Jews by the

Kosher Jesus. By Rabbi ShmuleyBoteach. Gefen Publishing House. 2012.263 Pages. $26.00.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, dubbed byNewsweek magazine as “the most famousrabbi”in America, has already distinguishedhimself throughhis 26 books thatwere translatedinto 18 languages,as well as hisnational visibilitywith his mediaprograms. AnOrthodox rabbi,Boteach, to hiscredit, does not shyfrom tackling sen-sitive and controversial subjects. With hisprevious book, Kosher Sex, he receivedwide acclaim. This unorthodox Orthodoxrabbi seeks to apply traditional Judaism toour changing contemporary world in anengaging and relevant way.

In his latest book, Kosher Jesus, theauthor pursues the laudable goal of getting Christians and Jews closer to eachother following a historical gap ofestrangement and enmity, in face of thegiant strides in recent decades toward rapprochement and healing. Boteachoffers a well-written scholarly volume that is far from dry and is accessible to all,one that both honors and is critical of the two sides. It is bound to further thesacred cause of interfaith dialogue, leadingtoward mutual respect and growth without compromising one’s uniqueness.This book is a resource suited for study by members of the respective faith groupsand hopefully also in mixed settings.

It is no wonder that the author choosesto focus on Jesus, the central and divinesymbol of Christianity, who for two millennia was an enigmatic figure for theJews, representing a Church bent on converting them by force if necessary.Relying upon Jewish and Christiansources, Boteach relays that Jesus’Jewishness as a rabbi and devoted son ofhis people Israel is beyond doubt. He wasa courageous patriot who, like his Jewishcontemporaries, sought to rid his occupied

Mutual respect without compromisingone’s uniqueness

BookReviewREVIEWED BY RABBI ISRAEL ZOBERMAN

In real life, I’m the type who can’t “saygoodbye”to a dying friend. At least so farI’ve failed to do it. A couple of years ago,when a friend was dying, word went outthat she wanted visitors. I did visit, but Icould barely speak. Words failed me. Welooked in each other’s eyes and it seemedthat we were communicating. Yes, shespoke to others, but our communicationavoided voicing the crucial issue... that itwas most possibly the last time we’d meetin Olam HaZeh, This World.

Deborah Masel writes with such honesty, she blew my usual phobiasaway, at least when it came to facing cancer on the written page.

Today, with all the modern testing, allsorts of cancers are discovered on peoplewhich in the past must have hadremained hidden. Statistically, it seemsthere’s hardly anyone who will escape atleast some sort of cancer. Breast canceralone is now diagnosed in 12% of women.Of course, most women survive it, but thatstill means that more than one in tenwomen will have some sort of surgeryand/or treatment for breast cancer. That’san amazingly high number, and that isn’tthe only cancer any of us can get.

Rivka was very upfront and honestabout her treatments, symptoms and worries. Masel is the same in her book.It seemed like once women discussedvaricose veins, wrinkles and graying hair.Now they discuss chemo, radiation andbreast prosthesis. Some women I knowhave also chosen not to wear them,explaining that the discomfort outweighsthe aesthetic advantage. I’ve seen this also with friends who have been treatedfor cancer.

Deborah Masel was a teacher, a teacherof Jewish subjects. She had many followers which doesn’t surprise me. Shefound great comfort in her Judaism andJewish studies. She had a loving family,many friends and followers. May G-d givegood health, strength and a multitude ofblessings to Masel’s family and lovedones. HaMakom yenachem, may G-d comfort them. Soul to Soul is an amazingbook. I definitely recommend it.

Batya Medad is a veteran American olah,immigrant in Israel. She and her husbandmade aliyah in 1970 and have been in Shilohsince 1981. She’s a wife, mother, grandmother,EFL Teacher, writer and photographer.Besides her articles and photographs we’vebeen featuring in this publication for a number of years, Batya is very involved inthe international cyber community as aJewish blogger. She has two active blogs,http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com andhttp://me-ander.blogspot.com, besides havingestablished the Kosher Cooking Carnival;details on me-ander. You can contact her [email protected]. AAAA

BookReviewREVIEWED BY BATYA MEDAD

I was amazed at how quickly I read Soulto Soul by Deborah Masel. Actually, I’meven more amazed that I had managed toread it to the end. There are certain typesof books I just don’t have the kishkes to getthrough. Okay. Call me weak, chicken,whatever you think appropriate. A fewyears ago, I boughta book a friend hadwritten about herson who had beenkilled in battle. Ijust couldn’t getthrough it. It was well-written,but the problemwas within me. Icouldn’t deal withthe subject of amother writing about her dead son. I can handle those conversations in person,but not that story in a book.

Soul to Soul was written while theauthor knew that she had incurable cancer. She chronicles her story. Masel’swritten words are so strong, so compellingthat I have no doubt that she was anamazingly charismatic person.Yes, as I hadmentioned earlier, on me-ander, she verymuch reminds me of Coffee and Chemo’sRivka, who also died of cancer.

Cancer Chronicle

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(see Zoberman, page 14)

June 20, 2012 The Jewish Post & Opinion 13Romanian Iron Guard. When he was ten,after being saved and raised by a non-Jewish maid, he rescued Mila Heller, afive-year old girl whose parents died aftertrying unsuccessfully to board the Kastnertrain. It was named for Rudolf Kastnerwho struck a bargain with AdolfEichmann to free a number of Jews inexchange for cash, gold, and diamonds.More than 1,600 Hungarian Jews,including the Satmar rebbe and his entirecourt, were on the train that eventuallytook them to Switzerland. After the war,Kastner settled in Israel where his actionto save some Jews, while keeping silentabout the transport of most HungarianJews to Auschwitz, was severely condemned, leading to his assassination.

With Josef’s help, Mila is placed in thehome of Zalman Stern, a brilliant studentof the Satmar rebbe, where she becomes a“sister”to Atara Stern who is the same ageas Mila. When the war ends, Zalmanarranges for Josef to go to the new Satmarcommunity in America. The Stern family,including Mila, settles in Paris and,eventually, Zalman sends Mila to Americato marry Josef in Williamsburg. By thistime, the close relationship between Milaand her “sister,”Atara, has deteriorated asMila became intensely observant whileAtara began to abandon her religiosity.The story now takes a melodramatic turn as Mila is unable to become pregnantafter ten years of marriage to Josef.Her solution to the problem creates manymore difficulties as she struggles toremain an ultra-religious Jew. The contrastwith Atara is highlighted, providing asharp differentiation between modernityand fundamentalism.

Author Anouk Markovits writes out ofpersonal experience. She was born inIsrael but raised in France in a SatmarHasidic family, one of two such families inher town. At the age of 19, she left homein order to avoid an arranged marriage.She came to the United States where sheearned a bachelor’s degree at Columbia, amaster’s in architecture from Harvard, anda doctorate in Romance studies at Cornell.Her first novel was written in French andhas not yet been translated. I AmForbidden is her second novel and the firstin English. She is clearly a skilled authorwith a fine style and we look forward toseeing her future work.

Dr. Morton I. Teicher is the FoundingDean, Wurzweiler School of Social Work,Yeshiva University and Dean Emeritus,School of Social Work, University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill. AAAA

with gangsters, including Jews,circumventing the ban on alcohol.Advocates of prohibition intensified their anti-Semitic attitudes as they attributed to Jews responsibility for themanufacture and sale of alcohol. Davisinfers that the politics of prohibition went far beyond issues related to the consumption of alcohol.

The book includes an interesting discussion of the attitudes of Jewish leaders to prohibition. Louis Marshall ofthe American Jewish Committee, alongwith jurists Felix Frankfurter and LouisBrandeis, was unenthusiastic about theEighteenth Amendment, but argued for itsenforcement and for everyone to follow it.Rabbi Stephen Wise was a vigorous supporter of prohibition but his friend,Lillian Ward of the Lower East Side’sHenry Street Settlement, had what Daviscalls an “inconsistent”attitude. The Jewishgovernors of Idaho and Utah supportedprohibition. Davis speculates that thesepro-prohibition attitudes may have beendesigned to combat the hatred towardsimmigrants who were largely opposed toprohibition and who were visibly engagedin the alcohol trade. The demise of prohibition in 1933 brought relief to theJewish leaders.

Davis concludes that the variable attitudes of American Jews to prohibitioncontributed to “the challenges Jews facedin the process of becoming American.”Also, she has demonstrated that the politics of prohibition went beyond theuse of alcohol. While focusing on oneaspect of American Jewish history, Davishas succeeded in depicting the trials andtribulations of many Jewish immigrants asthey adapted to life in the United States.

Story of Satmar HasidsI Am Forbidden. By Anouk Markoits.

New York: Hogarth, Crown PublishingGroup, 2012, 306 Pages. $25.

This remarkable novel tells the story ofsome members of the isolated SatmarHasidic group, beginning in Transylvaniain 1939, continuingin Paris, and moving to present-day Williamsburgin Brooklyn. Itincludes actualpeople such as the Satmar rebbe,Joel Teitelbaum,and it makes refer-ence to a factualcontroversial issue,the Kastner train.

Josef was only five years old when hisfamily was viciously killed by the

Prohibition and tribulationof Jewish immigrants

Jews and Booze. By Marni Davis. NewYork: New York University Press, 2012. 261Pages. $32.

New Yorker Marni Davis moved toAtlanta, Ga., to work for her doctorate inAmerican Jewishhistory at EmoryUniversity. Herdissertation is thebasis for this book.She is now on thefaculty of GeorgiaState University.

The amusingtitle of Davis’sbook does notreflect its seriousand scholarlyapproach. Nor does the similarity of thetitle to Alcohol and the Jews by Charles R.Snyder, based on a 1950s study in NewHaven, indicate any connection betweenthe two books. Surprisingly, Davis makesno mention of Snyder’s finding that therate of alcoholism among Jews increases steadily along the continuum fromOrthodox to Conservative to Reform toSecular. Although Davis is interested inhistory and Snyder was interested in psychology, she might have mentioned his pioneering work as a differentapproach to a similar topic.

Davis begins with a focus on Jewishimmigrants to the United States in the late19th century and their strife over alcoholwith well-established, native ProtestantAmericans. At a time when the movementto ban the manufacture and sale of liquorwas gaining momentum in the UnitedStates, a number of Jews were involvedin manufacturing and selling alcohol. Theconflict between Jews and advocates ofprohibition was inflamed by anti-Semitism and reflected in the name of a leading organization working for prohibition – the Women’s ChristianTemperance Union. Another powerfulsupporter of the ban on alcohol wasHenry Ford who was then a notoriousanti-Semite. Opponents of immigrationalso lined up against Jews and joined withthe advocates of prohibition.

From 1920 to 1933, when the 18thAmendment to the Constitution was inforce, some Jews evaded the prohibitionon alcohol and worked for its repeal,finally achieved in 1933. The 13 years ofprohibition were trying times in America

Book ReviewsREVIEWED BY MORTON I. TEICHER

and each passes down the gene mutationto the child.

According to Adele Schneider, MD,Medical Director of the Victor Center,“Every hereditary trait in a child – fromeye color to height – is influenced by thegenes that are passed from parent to child.The altered genes that cause Jewishgenetic diseases are recessive, meaningthat if a child receives the gene mutationfrom just one parent, he or she will be acarrier, just like the parent – but receivingthe mutated gene for the same diseasefrom both parents means the child will beborn with the disease,” explains Dr.Schneider. “If both parents are carriers,there is a 25 percent chance with eachpregnancy for this to occur.”

Anyone with one Jewish grandparent,should be screened. These Jewish genesare being passed along to non-Jewishpopulations as well including the Irish,Cajun and French Canadian populations.A simple blood test is all that is necessaryfor screening for the entire Jewish geneticdisease panel. Ideally, individuals shouldbe screened prior to pregnancy, in order to determine whether both parents arecarriers of a mutation in same gene. If that is the case, Victor Center’s geneticcounselors are able to discuss the reproductive options that are available tothe couple to maximize the chance of having a child without that Jewish geneticdisease. Interfaith couples also need to be tested with the Jewish partner beingtested first.

The Victor Center is working with insurance companies and laboratories to make the cost of screening more affordable.

Additional information on the VictorCenter and its services is available at:www.victorcenters.org, or by calling: 877-401-1093 or emailing: [email protected] further information on Jewish geneticdiseases and how they can be prevented,individuals can also visit: www.jewishgeneticanswers.org. AAAA

VICTOR CENTER(continued from page 9)

After the wedding date is set – in IsraelWhen we attended our first Israeli

wedding, we understood that many traditional ideas and customs about weddings are very different in Israel than what we were used to. The same istrue for brides.

Jerusalem-born Orli Zedek grew upwith her mother having a beauty salonand being a dressmaker.“From the age of

KAPLAN/ISRAEL(continued from page 16)

Church, held them collectively responsiblefor all time for Jesus’ death and causedthem much suffering for so long. It took aHolocaust for the Church to reconsider,along with the enlightened leadership ofPope John XXIII during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s to remove thedeadly deicide charge. The Polish PopeJohn Paul II, who fought the Nazis, tookfurther historical steps of reaching in loveand appreciation to the Jewish people. Hewas the first Pope to visit a synagogue,recognizing the State of Israel in 1994.

My own synagogue of Beth Chaverimwas the only one to meet from 1985–1995in a Catholic facility, the most graciousChurch of the Ascension in Virginia Beach.

It is the author’s assessment that theGospels do not reflect the political Jesusbut the spiritual one in order not to upsetthe Roman authorities. In the process,the Church began distancing itself from its very Jewish roots toward Romanacceptance of the nascent Church.Colorfully stated, “In the formative yearsof Christianity the Church fathers went togreat lengths to rip fetal Christianity awayfrom the Jewish womb in which it hadbeen nourished. After they had done so, they transplanted it into a Roman surrogate.”(p.126)

Boteach, admiring Jesus the rabbi andpolitical activist, urges his fellow Jews toreclaim Jesus (Making him Kosher, “fit”) as a great son though not divine, whileimploring Christians to reclaim Jesus inhis Jewish humaneness. The author most ably builds a common bridge of harmonious new beginnings. Let us walkit together.

Dr. Israel Zoberman is the founding rabbiof Congregation Beth Chaverim in VirginiaBeach. He grew up in Haifa, Israel. AAAA

ZOBERMAN(continued from page 12)


1 Tbsp. vanilla1/2 cup flour2–3 cups cut-up fruit

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a bakingdish. Place non-dairy creamer, sugar orsugar substitute, eggs, vanilla and flour ina blender and blend until smooth.

Place fruit in baking dish. Pour batter ontop. Bake in pre-heated oven 30–40 minutes.

Clafouti has a tendency to come out ofthe oven puffed up and to sink whenremoved from oven but it still tastes great.Serve warm at room temperature. Addwhipped cream on top.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, food and featurewriter, and author of nine kosher cookbooks.She leads “Shuk Walks” in Jerusalem produce market, Machaneh Yehudah. AAAA

My KosherKitchenBY SYBIL KAPLAN

All from summer fruitWhether I am in Indiana or Kansas or

Jerusalem, summer fruit is really cominginto the markets at full force. I won’t makemy readers jealous when I tell you howinexpensive the fruits are in the MachanehYehudah produce market where I lead myweekly walks. Cherries (regular andRainier), apricots, and peaches are beautifuland of course our local loquats are plentiful– including the packed full tree outside myoffice window whose fruit I cannot reach!Here are some recipes to try this summer.

Fruit Sorbet (4 cups)

6 cups berries or cut-up fruit2/3 to 1-2/3 cups syrup2 Tbsp. lemon juiceSyrup:1-1/2 cups sugar or sugar substitute1 cup water

Place sugar or sugar substitute andwater in a saucepan. Boil 30 seconds.Transfer to bowl, cool then chill. Pureefruit, distributing 2/3 cup syrup withbatches as you puree. Place in a bowl.Add lemon juice and additional syrup totaste. Transfer to freezer container andfreeze.

Spiced Fruit

6 peaches, nectarines, pears,or combination of fruits

1/2 cup red wine2 Tbsp. sugar or sugar substitutedash cloves1/8 tsp. cinnamondash cardamom3/4 tsp. grated orange peel

Combine spices, wine and sugar orsugar substitute in a large saucepan. Addfruit and cook 15–20 minutes. Pour into abowl and chill.

My Favorite Year-round Clafouti(6–8 servings)I make this dessert all winter with winter

fruits like apples, bananas and pears and all summer with strawberries, cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums.

1 cup non-dairy creamer1/3 cup sugar or sugar substitute4 large eggs

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four, I slept under wedding gowns, and Iwasn’t allowed to touch them!” exclaimsthe 37-year-old mother of four, sitting inher own bridal shop in Jerusalem.

The fantasy remained and after shecompleted the army and was ready to getmarried, she made her own weddinggown. When she was 28, her father died and she realized, “I was alreadygrown up. I decided to take my professionand start a career.”

First she started to do hairdressing as amain profession. Then brides came andasked her to do their hair and makeup for their weddings, although they werebuying their wedding dresses elsewhere.

Eight years ago, Orli started to designwedding dresses on order from her house.“Suddenly I realized I enjoyed thisvery much. My husband bought me asewing machine, and I enrolled atShenkar College of Engineering Designand Art where fashion design is taught.”

After a semester, she realized she hadmore experience than the other students,and she left. Living in a Jewish communityin Judea/Samaria, brides found it hard toget to Orli, so two years ago May, sheopened her own shop. Brides come to Orlibecause she sees the whole concept andshe has different taste and different styles.The real competition is from Tel Avivbecause brides often don’t know as manyas 30 such bridal shops exist in Jerusalem.

Approximately 40% of Orli’s clients aresecular; 30% are religious; and 30% are Arab.

A “package” includes gown, hair, nailsand makeup and ranges from 6000-12,000NIS ($1,595-$3,191); prices differ whetherit is a used, readymade or new gown;whether it is a simple or complicateddesign; and the type of material used.

For the entire package, a client usuallycomes to Orli three months before thewedding where she tries to determinewhat style gown the bride wants and shetakes her measurements. If the bridewants an original design, Orli starts tomake sketches.

From start to finish, the bride may comebetween two and six times; in betweenOrli does potential styling of her hair andmakeup. On the wedding day, the bride iswelcomed with music and some food.First her nails are done, then she is served

breakfast. Hair styling is next and can takeone to three hours. This is followed bymakeup.

When the bride gets dressed, a photographer comes, then the groomcomes. They then go by car to whereverthey want more photos taken beforereturning to the shop for makeup and hairtouch up. They then drive to the placewhere the wedding will be held.

Orli has designed six collections since2005; she gets her ideas – “from emotions.Every collection has a different influencefrom a different source,”she says.

Her first collection was the “childhood”collection and the gowns were based onfairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White.Another collection was based on sexywomen of the 30s and 40s from cinema.

Walking into a dressing room where arack holds a large collection of ready-made gowns, Orli says,“Every gown is mypride for the moment. Every time I make adress, I fall in love with it!”

Orli Zedek is located at 51 DerechHebron in Jerusalem, 02 650 6512 and hasa web site – agass.mitchatnim.co.il.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist who writes featureson a wide variety of subjects in Israel. AAAA

consider overstated concerns of theAmerican Jewish community.

The Muslim leader wants Eli Gold, thequintessential Jewish political strategist,for “crisis management.” Eli predictablyasks,“Are you hiring me because I’m goodor because I’m Jewish.”Just as predictably,the commodities trader responds withanother question,“Can’t it be both?”

Even more predictably, Michael (PeterJacobson), a Jewish friend of Eli’s (if theconniving and contentious and acerbicJews on this show can have friends), thehead of some Jewish organization who isalso a novelist, barges into Eli’s law firm officeto accuse him of running a “Pro-Palestiniancampaign.” Michael points out that theAmerican media never give Israelis creditfor the good things that they do.

Eli responds only by taking Michael to task for bringing the somewhat more lucrative “Jewish campaign” to hiscompetitor. Michael sighs,“Four thousandyears and we are always our own worstenemies.” Is this true of the writers of this episode? Are they analyzing whatthey regard as Jewish obsessions, orembodying them here? What is the goal of their characterizations?

In the end, Eli pulls the plug on theMuslim campaign. He has been trying toget the Jews to worry enough about thepossible success of the Muslim campaign

GERTEL(continued from page 10)

to offer him the Jewish one. It seems thatEli has been cynical all along about comparing the “Arab Spring” to theAmerican Revolution. (“Arab Spring,” Elisays.“It’s like Irish Spring, but with Arabs.)Yet Eli gets the “Jewish League” to bringtheir money his way, and insists, to boot,that they assume the costs he spent on theArab campaign. “Now I’m your son of abitch,”he boasts.

The impression left is that Eli is mostmoved by money and by playing thepower broker. He is patently two faced,even in his “mediations”between the goodwife and her estranged husband, who hasbeen one of Eli’s main clients. The Muslimcommunity leader comes across as genuinely concerned about the killing inthe Middle East. Eli does not.

The writers do take enough rest fromtheir obsession with Eli to resolve themurder and thus bring closure to the requisite trial sequences. Which of Jimal’s roommates is the killer? Is it themore religious roommate who prays fivetimes a day and rails against Zionism? Or is it the more secular roommate ofMiddle East origin?

The writers choose the latter. Theydecide that a Jewish college student wasnot the victim of anti-Semitic hatred butof the passionate anger of a homosexuallover. In order to disguise a crime of passion as a hate crime, the Muslim loverdrew a swastika, but – the writers tell us –a backwards one, because the killer didnot really know how to be anti-Semitic.Do they really want to say that Muslimstudents are so uneducated in theHolocaust and so ignorant of history? Ordo they envision a world in which anti-Semitism would be unnecessary?

I dare say that, embedded in the writers’expose of the secular roommate, there is asecular vision – namely, that the worldwould be more rational or manageable ifpeople killed one another over matters ofhomosexual or heterosexual love. Thewriters imply that once religious stricturesare removed, the possibilities of couplingwould be unlimited, though passionsunbridled might occasionally prove violent. But, in good New Age fashion,they suggest that people might be able tocontrol their passions better, in the longrun, without the violence that comes fromreligion and ethnicity. It is a messianicvision that only an Epicurean could love.

Rabbi Gertel has been spiritual leader ofConservative Congregation Rodfei Zedek inChicago since 1988. He is the author of twobooks, What Jews Know About Salvationand Over the Top Judaism: Precedents andTrends in the Depiction of Jewish Beliefsand Observances in Film and Television.He has been media critic for The NationalJewish Post & Opinion since 1979. AAAA

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Orli Zedek with favorite gown.


1427 W. 86th St. #228Indianapolis, IN 46260

OpinionPost&The Jewish

education programs, infrastructure,security, transportation and housing.

This pilot project employment center,with a staff of six, is the first of its kind inIsrael. It opened a few months ago andalready has 130 participants listed. Thecenter is able to offer courses in Hebrew,computer basics, empowerment, andbuilding CVs; they are also checking businesses to see whether they can make business plans or create positionsfor the participants.

Kfar QassemKfar Qassem is next to the Jewish city of

Rosh Haayin and is a city (so declared in2008) with a population of 21,000 (ofwhich 5,000 are immigrants, mostBedouin).The city spokesman gave a shortbus tour of the city before stopping at thethree-and-a-half-year old communitycenter for a talk by Mayor Nadir Sarsur.

Later, Yosef Marcom, advisor to KfarQassem, explained the progress of KfarQassem’s industrial area, opened twoyears ago, on a north-south and east-westhighway hub. There are approximately 400employees (half Jewish, half Arab) offices,and 15–20 commercial businesses in sevenbuildings. Among the Nationally knownbusinesses are Fed Ex, SuperPharm, Orian(a Fed Ex competitor), and Rami Levi (adiscount super market chain). The groundfloors of the buildings are retail stores oroutlets (a number of these Arab owned);the second floors are offices; and the backparts are the logistic areas.

Next year double the amount of buildings will be built with businesseswhich give employment priority to peopleof Kfar Qassem; a large mall is alsoplanned nearby. Financing is primarilygovernment with some private funding.

*Druze split from a sect of Islam in the11th century and have a monotheisticsecretive religion.

**Circassians are Sunni Muslims withtheir own language and culture who cameto Israel from the Balkans in 1880.

Both Druze and Circassian men serve inthe Israel defense Forces.

Kfar Qassem Industrial Area, Arab-ownedstores. Photos by Barry A. Kaplan/Jerusalem.

In 2007, Israel established the Authorityfor the Economic Development of theArab, Druze* and Circassian** sectors,within the Prime Minister’s Office, tomaximize the economic potential of these populations, increase economicdevelopment and improve and strengtheneconomic engines, accelerate innovationand business communities, and integratethe minority populations into the nationaleconomic expansion.

Today, 20.6% of the Israeli population isArabs. In an effort to inform the pressabout the work of the Authority, theGovernment Press Office organized a tourto two of the Arab towns on which theeconomic plan is focused.

TiraTira is in the center of Israel, north of

the Jewish city of Kfar Saba, both of whichare on the Israel side of the “Green line,”the area between Israel and the areas liberated during the Six-Day War. Tira is acommunity of 22,000 Sunni Muslim Arabcitizens of Israel. At the brand-new CareerGuidance Center, proudly displayed is aplaque attributing the building to the JointDistribution Center Israel and the JewishFederations of North America SocialVenture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equalityand Shared Society.

Ibrahim Habib, Director of the Authorityof Regional Development, provides back-ground information; Tira Mayor MamounAbd Alhaim esq. adds comments; andNibras Taha, Career guidance CenterDirector conducts a tour of the center.

Thirteen minority cities are being funded 778 million shekels ($203 million) for employment and continuing

Seen on theIsrael SceneBY SYBIL KAPLAN

Israel develops the Arab sector

(see Kaplan/Israel, page 14)

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

US POSTAGEPAID

INDIANAPOLIS, INPERMIT NO. 1321

Tira Career Guidance Center plaque.

May 30, 2012 – Rabbi Israel Zoberman(JPO columnist) with Leslie Meyers of theElie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity atthe White House reception in honor ofJewish American Heritage Month. WhenRabbi Zoberman shook hands withPresident Obama, he told him, “Pleasesave innocent lives in Syria, Mr. President.”

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