T HURSDAY , D ECEMBER 30, 2010 23 T EVET , 5771 Could Hungarian anti- Semitism get out of control? Light Asian dining at Bangkok Terrace N ATIONAL C INCINNATI J EWISH L IFE D INING O UT By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life ™ Award honoring Mary Ellen & Tom Cody By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency Gabe Carimi:Star in shul and on the football field By LeeAnne Galioto Assistant Editor VOL. 157 • NO. 23 SINGLEISSUEPRICE : $2.00
NATIONAL Gabe Carimi: Star in shul and on the football field INTERNATIONAL Could Hungarian anti- Semitism get out of control? CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life ™ Award honoring Mary Ellen & Tom Cody DINING OUT Light Asian dining at Bangkok Terrace By LeeAnne Galioto Assistant Editor The board of Rockwern Academy and the parents of its current sixth graders are debating whether to have a sev- enth grade class for the 2011–2012 school year. Rockwern is Cincinnati’s only community/pluralistic Jewish day school for preschool through middle school. Parents send their children to Rockwern for a number of reasons. Chief among them is the large amount of statistical evidence on the value of a Jewish day school education. A number of studies, like those on the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education’s website (PEJE), have revealed that Jewish day school students score in the top percentiles on all the various national standardized exams, are still a part of American culture, and are more likely to be How to secure the future of Rockwern Academy Rabbi Dr. David I. Indich z”l, spiritual leader of the Golf Manor Synagogue for 37 years, whose active role in all aspects of the Cincinnati community endeared him to individuals of all walks of life, will be remembered on the occasion of his 20th yahrzeit on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011, at 6 p.m. Rabbi Indich came to the congregation as a young man from the famed Telshe Yeshiva and immediately revealed his unique ability to connect with people, no matter their background or social station, through his keen sense of humor, concern for the plight of every person, and Torah wisdom. Through Rabbi Indich’s dedicated rabbinic leadership, Golf Manor Synagogue became a leading Orthodox con- gregation in the Midwest. His influence upon the lives of countless individuals, many of whom he inspired to live an An evening to remember Rabbi Dr. David I. Indich Mercaz Conservative Hebrew High School will offer another “Experiencing Jewish Education through the Arts” course beginning in January. The class, “Paint Your Jewish World,” will be led by local artist Stewart Goldman. The class will teach acrylic painting techniques, and no previ- ous experience is required. Open to grades 8–12, the class meets Sundays from 6:30–8:30 p.m. Goldman has agreed to develop and teach the art portion of this class. He is a highly respected artist who has had much success as a painter including many solo exhibitions and a countless number of group exhibitions. Goldman taught at the Cincinnati Art Institute for over 30 years. The students’ work will be a part of an exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum, beginning some time in June and continuing for several months. “This is an amazing oppor- tunity for our students to be able to have work that they have Mercaz Hebrew High School offers painting class PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 11 PAGE 14 INDICH on page 19 MERCAZ on page 20 ROCKWERN on page 19 By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — The num- ber of Israelis living in the United States grew by about 30 percent over the past decade, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau figures. Some 140,323 people living in the United States today were born in Israel, up from 109,720 in 2000. Of the Israelis living here, 90,179 have U.S. citizenship and 50,144 do not. But Israeli expatriates and Israeli govern- ment sources say the true figure is actually much higher. An Israeli Foreign Ministry study in 2003 reported that 500,000 Israelis were living in the United States, according to the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot. “Estimates of Israeli emigrants in the U.S. are difficult to make and often subject to controversy,” said Professor Steven Gold of Michigan State University, author of the 2002 book “The Israeli Diaspora.” The numbers suggest that migration to America from Israel exceeds American immigration to Israel, or aliyah. From 2000 through 2009, 23,640 U.S. citizens made aliyah, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel. Israeli population in U.S. surges, but exact figures hard to determine By Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — A major publish- er of Jewish books is moving into the digital age while trying to strike a balance between technolo- gy and Jewish observance. ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, which calls itself the world’s largest Jewish publishing house, has begun digitizing the first batch of some of its 1,500 titles. But ArtScroll’s most popular books — its Shabbat and High Holidays prayerbooks — will not be coming out for e-readers like the iPad and Amazon’s Kindle. The reason? The Shabbat prohibition against using elec- tronic devices is a major barrier. Siddur going digital, but not for Shabbat DIGITAL on page 20 POPULATION on page 20 THURSDAY , DECEMBER 30, 2010 23 TEVET, 5771 CINCINNATI, OHIO LIGHT CANDLES AT 5:05 SHABBAT ENDS 6:04 VOL. 157 • NO. 23 SINGLE ISSUE PRICE: $2.00 Courtesy of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications ArtScroll is launching digital ver- sions of many of its popular Jewish books, but not the Sabbath or High Holidays prayer books.
Transcript
NATIONALGabe Carimi: Star in shuland on the football field
INTERNATIONALCould Hungarian anti-Semitism get out of control?
CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFEJewish National Fund’s Treeof Life™ Award honoringMary Ellen & Tom Cody
DINING OUTLight Asian dining atBangkok Terrace
By LeeAnne GaliotoAssistant Editor
The board of Rockwern Academy and the parents of itscurrent sixth graders are debating whether to have a sev-enth grade class for the 2011–2012 school year. Rockwernis Cincinnati’s only community/pluralistic Jewish dayschool for preschool through middle school.
Parents send their children to Rockwern for a number ofreasons. Chief among them is the large amount of statisticalevidence on the value of a Jewish day school education. Anumber of studies, like those on the Partnership forExcellence in Jewish Education’s website (PEJE), haverevealed that Jewish day school students score in the toppercentiles on all the various national standardized exams,are still a part of American culture, and are more likely to be
How to secure thefuture of RockwernAcademy
Rabbi Dr. David I. Indich z”l, spiritual leader of theGolf Manor Synagogue for 37 years, whose active role inall aspects of the Cincinnati community endeared him toindividuals of all walks of life, will be remembered on theoccasion of his 20th yahrzeit on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011, at6 p.m.
Rabbi Indich came to the congregation as a young manfrom the famed Telshe Yeshiva and immediately revealedhis unique ability to connect with people, no matter theirbackground or social station, through his keen sense ofhumor, concern for the plight of every person, and Torahwisdom.
Through Rabbi Indich’s dedicated rabbinic leadership,Golf Manor Synagogue became a leading Orthodox con-gregation in the Midwest. His influence upon the lives ofcountless individuals, many of whom he inspired to live an
An evening toremember RabbiDr. David I. Indich
Mercaz Conservative Hebrew High School will offeranother “Experiencing Jewish Education through the Arts”course beginning in January. The class, “Paint Your JewishWorld,” will be led by local artist Stewart Goldman. Theclass will teach acrylic painting techniques, and no previ-ous experience is required. Open to grades 8–12, the classmeets Sundays from 6:30–8:30 p.m.
Goldman has agreed to develop and teach the art portionof this class. He is a highly respected artist who has hadmuch success as a painter including many solo exhibitionsand a countless number of group exhibitions. Goldmantaught at the Cincinnati Art Institute for over 30 years.
The students’ work will be a part of an exhibit at theCincinnati Art Museum, beginning some time in June andcontinuing for several months. “This is an amazing oppor-tunity for our students to be able to have work that they have
Mercaz HebrewHigh School offerspainting class
PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 11 PAGE 14
INDICH on page 19 MERCAZ on page 20ROCKWERN on page 19
By Sue FishkoffJewish Telegraphic Agency
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — The num-ber of Israelis living in the United Statesgrew by about 30 percent over the pastdecade, according to newly released U.S.Census Bureau figures.
Some 140,323 people living in theUnited States today were born in Israel, upfrom 109,720 in 2000. Of the Israelis livinghere, 90,179 have U.S. citizenship and50,144 do not.
But Israeli expatriates and Israeli govern-ment sources say the true figure is actuallymuch higher. An Israeli Foreign Ministry
study in 2003 reported that 500,000 Israeliswere living in the United States, accordingto the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot.
“Estimates of Israeli emigrants in theU.S. are difficult to make and often subjectto controversy,” said Professor Steven Goldof Michigan State University, author of the2002 book “The Israeli Diaspora.”
The numbers suggest that migration toAmerica from Israel exceeds Americanimmigration to Israel, or aliyah. From 2000through 2009, 23,640 U.S. citizens madealiyah, according to the Jewish Agency forIsrael.
Israeli population in U.S.surges, but exact figureshard to determine By Sue Fishkoff
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — A major publish-er of Jewish books is moving into the digital agewhile trying to strike a balance between technolo-gy and Jewish observance.
ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, which callsitself the world’s largest Jewish publishing house,has begun digitizing the first batch of some of its1,500 titles.
But ArtScroll’s most popular books — itsShabbat and High Holidays prayerbooks — willnot be coming out for e-readers like the iPad andAmazon’s Kindle. The reason?
The Shabbat prohibition against using elec-tronic devices is a major barrier.
Siddur going digital,but not for Shabbat
DIGITAL on page 20POPULATION on page 20
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 201023 TEVET, 5771
CINCINNATI, OHIOLIGHT CANDLES AT 5:05
SHABBAT ENDS 6:04
VOL. 157 • NO. 23SINGLE ISSUE PRICE: $2.00
Courtesy of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications
ArtScroll is launching digital ver-sions of many of its popularJewish books, but not the Sabbathor High Holidays prayer books.
PARTY PLANNING
SUNDAY, MARCH 611-4 @ THE NEW JCC
SHOWCASE 11
From Caterers to DJs, the Party PlanningShowcase has everything you need tomake your event something to celebrate!Come join us for this FREE extravaganza and learn what’snew and what’s hot. Don’t miss out on the Booths, RafflePrizes and FREE Food plus everything you’ll need tothrow the best party ever, no matter the occasion.
Showcasing only the best Balloons, Cakes,Caterers, DJs, Flowers, Photographers & More!
Whether you are planning a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Wedding,Sweet 16, Prom or Graduation Party, the Party PlanningShowcase will be the only place to be. FREE ADMISSION.
Sponsored by The American Israelite & Artrageous Desserts
8485 RIDGE ROAD, CINCINNATI, OHIO 45236
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 NATIONAL 3
By Uriel Heilman Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK (JTA) — In thelong-running Palestinian-Israeliconflict, score some recent victoriesfor the Palestinians.
It’s not that Israel has given aninch in the territorial dispute overthe West Bank, or that thePalestinians in Gaza have achievednew military victories against theIsraelis, despite increased rocketand mortar fire from the coastalstrip in recent weeks.
Rather, the Palestinians havescored a series of diplomatic andpublic-relations successes against aJewish state weakened by frayingrelationships and a declining repu-tation internationally.
On the diplomatic front,Palestinian leaders announced thisweek that 10 European Unioncountries were upgrading their tieswith the PLO. Earlier this month,three Latin American countries —Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia —issued formal recognitions of thestate of Palestine.
On Sunday was the much-pub-licized lunch hosted byPalestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud Abbas for Israeli politi-cians and activists in Ramallah.Numerous Op-Eds followed inthe Israeli media and overseasnoting that there is a Palestinianpartner for peace even if thereisn’t an Israeli one.
Then there was the earlyDecember decision by the Obamaadministration to drop its effort topersuade Israel to agree to an addi-tional 90-day freeze of Jewish set-tlement construction in the WestBank. Commentators cited Israeliintransigence as the primary reason.
“Israel,” columnist ThomasFriedman wrote in a Dec. 11 Op-Ed in The New York Times,“when America, a country that haslavished billions on you over thelast 50 years and taken up yourdefense in countless internationalforums, asks you to halt settle-ments for three months to getpeace talks going, there is onlyone right answer, and it is not‘How much?’ It is: ‘Yes, whateveryou want, because you’re our onlytrue friend in the world.’”
Over the last few months,Israel’s declining international rep-utation has given the Palestiniansand their allies an opening theyhave exploited by effectively cast-ing Israel as the bully and theunyielding party in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
It is a message that is promotedrelentlessly by the Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions move-ment, which seeks to make Israel aninternational pariah, and it is rein-forced by negative assessments ofIsraeli actions such as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza two years ago,
the deadly Turkish flotilla incidentof May 31 and Israel’s daily treat-ment of West Bank Palestinians.
If the goal is to increase pres-sure on Israel to accede to the cre-ation of a Palestinian state, a strate-gy that focuses on diplomacy andPR appears to have a greater chanceof success right now than thePalestinians’ decades-long strategyof terrorism and war.
That strategy — call it the vio-lent one — was snuffed out inrecent years by Israeli militaryoperations, Israel’s erection of theWest Bank security fence and arecognition by leading Palestinianfigures that the violence was doingmore harm to the Palestiniannational cause than good.
“We tried the intifada, and itcaused us a lot of damage,” Abbastold an interviewer with theLondon-based Arabic daily AlHayat in September.
Abbas said the PalestinianAuthority would not revert to vio-lent uprising even if peace talkscollapsed.
With relative moderates likeAbbas in charge of the PalestinianAuthority in the West Bank — theprimary public face of thePalestinians — there is a greaterunderstanding that to achievestatehood the Palestinians mustwin the world to their side. That,after all, paved the way for thecreation of the State of Israel, afterthe United Nations voted inNovember 1947 to recognize aJewish state in Palestine.
Now the Palestinians are settingtheir sights on this same goal.
U.N. recognition would shiftthe conflict from one over “occu-pied Palestinian territories” to aconflict over an “occupied statewith defined borders,” Palestiniannegotiator Saeb Erekat said. “Weurge the international community to
salvage the two-state solution byrecognizing a Palestinian state onthe 1967 borders.”
While U.N. recognition ofPalestine might make a diplomaticend run around Israel, it hardlywould result in an immediatePalestinian state. The UnitedNations would have no way ofenforcing its decision, and Israelitroops and settlers would remain inthe West Bank.
What it would do, however, issignificantly ratchet up the pressureon Israel to deal with thePalestinians.
“Widespread internationalrecognition of Palestine’s legitima-cy and existence has very signifi-cant consequences,” Hussein Ibish,a senior fellow at the AmericanTask Force on Palestine, wrote onhis blog earlier this month.
That pressure isn’t just comingfrom outside Israel.
“The Palestinians will declarea state. Virtually the whole world
will recognize it. And we will beleft without security arrange-ments,” Israeli Trade and IndustryMinister Benjamin Ben Eliezerwarned in October.
There is pressure even frominside Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu’s own Likud Party.Likud veteran and Cabinet minis-ter Michael Eitan has proposedmoving settlers willing to acceptcompensation and relocation outof the West Bank and into Israelproper to signal to the world thatIsrael is serious about wantingpeace with the Palestinians.
This week, Haaretz columnistAkiva Eldar wrote that Israelneeds to be saved from itself.
“Almost no day goes by with-out some other country recogniz-ing a Palestinian state within the1967 borders,” Eldar wrote.“According to the WikiLeaks doc-uments, even the Germans,Israel’s steadfast supporters inEurope, have lost their faith in the
peaceful intentions of BenjaminNetanyahu’s government.”
Whatever criticism there isinside Israel about the Israeli gov-ernment’s approach toward thePalestinians, the criticism outsideIsrael is sharper.
The main holdout is the UnitedStates, where recent polls showthat the American people over-whelmingly favor Israel over thePalestinians, and Congress remainssteadfastly pro-Israel.
The Boycott, Divestment andSanctions movement is aiming tochange that. Using everythingfrom campus activism to boycottsof stores that sell Israeli foodproducts to bus ads promotingpro-Palestinian messages, themovement is hoping to sway pub-lic opinion.
Starting Dec. 27, the two-yearanniversary of the Gaza warbetween Israel and Hamas, a groupcalled the Seattle MidwestAwareness Campaign will be run-ning ads on the sides of Seattlebuses featuring photos of childrenlooking at a demolished buildingunder the heading “Israeli WarCrimes: Your tax dollars at work.”
At Princeton University inNew Jersey, DePaul University inChicago and on the streets ofPhiladelphia, pro-Palestinianactivists have campaigned to haveIsraeli brands of hummus removedfrom campus cafeterias or storeshelves. In New York, boycott sup-porters demonstrated outside astore belonging to the Israelichocolatier Max Brenner.
“The relics of the past boycotts— from Nuremberg to Damascus— are back,” Ethan Felson, vicepresident of the Jewish Council forPublic Affairs, wrote in a JTA Op-Ed. “Its proponents seek to bringthe Israeli-Palestinian conflict intoevery sphere of American life.”
In the zero-sum game that is theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict, that’sgood news for the Palestinians.
Palestinians gain ground in PR, diplomatic war
Courtesy of Issam Rimawi/FLASH90/JTA
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, center, hosting a luncheon for Israelis in the WestBank city of Ramallah, Dec. 19, 2010.
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMNATIONAL4
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE(USPS 019-320) is published weekly for$44 per year and $2.00 per single copy
in Cincinnati and $49 per year and $3.00per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by
The American Israelite Co. 18 West NinthStreet, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037.Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West NinthStreet, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037.
THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY
IN AMERICA FOUNDED JULY 15, 1854BY ISAAC M. WISE
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO.,PUBLISHERS
18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037
The views and opinions expressed byThe American Israelite columnists donot necessarily reflect the views and
opinions of the newspaper.
VOL. 157 • NO. 23THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010
23 TEVET 5771SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 5:05 PM
SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 6:04 PM
By Sue FishkoffJewish Telegraphic Agency
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (JTA)— Alexis Kashar was listeningintently to the speaker at a recentJewish federation event in thisNew York City suburb.
A closer look revealed that hereyes were trained not on the podi-um but on Naomi Brunnlehrman,who was seated in front of thespeaker translating the lecture intoAmerican Sign Language.
Kashar, 43, a longtime civilrights lawyer, has been deaf sincebirth. Five years ago she andBrunnlehrman, co-founder of theJewish Deaf Resource Center,asked the UJA-Federation of NewYork to subsidize ASL interpreters,so Kashar and other deaf Jews inthe New York area could take partin Jewish communal events.
In 2009, the federation begangranting $5,000 a year to the cen-ter.
“I was ready to quit the Jewishcommunity when I met Naomi,”said Kashar, who lip reads andspeaks but works with an inter-preter.
Kashar is involved with theJewish federation, she says, in aneffort to increase services for theJewish deaf and hard of hearing.
Kashar has three hearing chil-dren and was concerned about theirJewish future.
“I realized if I don’t haveaccess, my children won’t either,”she said. “Why would I take themto synagogue when I have to sitthere and have no idea what’sgoing on?”
An estimated 50,000 deaf Jewslive in the United States, accordingto advocacy groups for the Jewishdeaf. Insiders say most are notinvolved in Jewish life, mainlybecause it’s just too difficult. Thereare a handful of synagogues for thedeaf and half a dozen deaf rabbis,and several national and localsocial and cultural organizationsserve the Jewish deaf.
In the past decade, however,mainstream Jewish institutions andsynagogues have begun providingASL interpreters and/or assistivelistening devices, allowing deafand hard-of-hearing Jews to takepart in mainstream Jewish lifeinstead of being segregated. Thenumbers of such pioneering institu-tions, however, remain quite small,experts say.
“You can count them on onehand,” said Jeffrey Lichtman,director of Yachad, the NationalJewish Council for Disabilities,which operates under the auspicesof the Orthodox Union.
Traditionally, the Jewish deafwere not treated as full members of
the community. Their testimonywas not accepted in religiouscourts, and they were exempt fromcommandments that involve listen-ing, which means they were notcalled to the Torah or even taughtHebrew.
That is changing, experts say,but very slowly.
“We don’t expect all syna-gogues to have all their servicesinterpreted, but maybe once amonth or for the holidays,”Lichtman told JTA. “It’s no differ-ent from making accommodationsfor the physically challenged or theblind. If you don’t, you are effec-tively saying these people are notwelcome.”
Funding for inclusion isincreasing mainly because theJewish deaf community, like theAmerican deaf community in gen-eral, is in transition. There is agrowing divide between those whoare more comfortable in deaf-onlysettings — usually older peoplewho grew up signing and comprisethe bulk of membership in deafcongregations — and youngerdeaf Jews who are more at ease inhearing society.
The change is largely due totechnology, especially the preva-lence of cochlear implants thatpermit limited hearing, accordingto Lichtman.
“Ten years ago the deaf com-munity had a strong componentthat did not want inclusion. Theywanted their own separate commu-
nity,” he said. “Today, people whowere not interested in inclusion inthe past are now much more inter-ested, especially for their chil-dren.”
Avi Jacob, 21, wears hearingaids and does not sign.
“We wanted to get him tospeak, so he could be included inthe typical Jewish world,” said hismother, Batya Jacob, programdirector at Our Way, Yachad’sdepartment for the Jewish deaf.
Avi Jacob attended Jewish dayschool and is now a senior atYeshiva University, where a note-taker takes notes for him in secularclasses. In his Jewish courses,Batya says, public funding is not
available, so he borrows friends’notes.
“He does not consider himselfdisabled,” she said.
Congregation Bene Shalom inSkokie, Ill., is among a handful ofsynagogues founded to serve deafJews and their families. RabbiDouglas Goldhamer says that serv-ices, meetings and his counselingsessions are voiced and signed.
When the cantor sings inHebrew, a choir “translates” theprayers into ASL. Clergy don’tface the ark during prayers when itis customary to do so because deafcongregants would be unable to seewhat they are saying. Some liberalsynagogues flash lights on and offto signal certain parts of the serv-ice, but Bene Shalom does not useelectricity on Shabbat.
Goldhamer says that moreyoung deaf Jews attend hearingsynagogues than their parents did.If there is no interpreter, they maygo with hearing friends; youngdeaf people today tend to havemore hearing friends. Or theymight get together with a few otherdeaf Jews and hire their own inter-preter.
“They’re asserting their rightsmore,” Goldhamer said.
In Columbus, Ohio, the localJewish federation gives $3,000 ayear for deaf services, with inter-preted High Holidays servicesrotating to different synagogueseach year. The federations in NewYork, Boston and Washington alsogive money for interpreters.
At Temple Israel in Columbus,which has eight or nine deaf regu-lars, a deaf member in his 80s cel-ebrated his bar mitzvah seven yearsago. The ceremony was interpretedinto ASL.
“He told me that when he wasgrowing up, there wasn’t a placefor him in the Jewish world,” saidthe synagogue’s executive director,Elaine Tenenbuam. “There are deafpeople in every Jewish community,but they don’t participate. They’vestepped away from the communitybecause it doesn’t provide forthem.”
It’s not always a young vs. oldscenario. In many cases, older deafJews had parents who insisted onmainstreaming them.
Sharon Ann Dror, the founderand president of the Jewish DeafCommunity Center in Los Angeles,“grew up oral” with hearing par-ents who didn’t want her or herhard-of-hearing sister segregated.
But when she went to collegeand learned ASL, Dror suddenlyrealized how much she’d beenmissing, she told JTA via onlinechat.
“Instead of getting a few sen-tences in the hearing world frommy friends, I can have a real mean-ingful dialogue with my deaf com-munity,” she wrote.
Dror reads lips and speaks well,but her three deaf children don’tspeak at all, relying instead onsigning. Her oldest, 19-year-oldJoshua Soudakoff, is a Lubavitcherwho teaches Torah to other deafJews using ASL. Videos of hisweekly Torah lessons, conducted insign, are on the websiteJewishdeafmm.
Soudakoff writes that he feelsmore comfortable within the deafcommunity, and that hearing peo-ple often don’t understand whathe’s trying to say and just nodalong.
“They don’t understand thatdeafness is a physical condition,not a mental issue,” he said.
For deaf Jews, Jewish communityonly slowly opening up
Courtesy of Ava Kashar
ASL interpreter Naomi Brunnlehrman, left, and Alexis Kashar areco-founders of the Jewish Deaf Resource Center.
“Why would I take them to synagoguewhen I have to sit there and have no
idea what’s going on?”
Alexis Kashar
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 NATIONAL 5
ATTENTION ADVERTISERSNEWNEW RARATES FOR 201TES FOR 20111
NEW RATES BEGINJANUARY 1, 2011This includes Display Ads,
Classifieds, Professional Announcements,Editorial Photos and Subscriptions
If you have questions or concerns,call Ted Deutsch at (513) 621-3145
““LLeett TThheerree BBee LLiigghhtt..””
O N L I N E E D I T I O N
T H E O L D E S T E N G L I S H J E W I S H W E E K LT H E O L D E S T E N G L I S H J E W I S H W E E K L YYI N A M E R I C A I S N O W AI N A M E R I C A I S N O W A VV A I L A B L E O N L I N EA I L A B L E O N L I N E
w w w . a m e r i c a n i s r a e l i t e . c o m
By Edmon J. RodmanJewish Telegraphic Agency
LOS ANGELES (JTA) —Texas Christian University mayseem out of place at this season’sRose Bowl — but not as much as afew of its fans.
The notion of Jewish studentsat Texas Christian may seem like amismatch, but don’t tell that to theseveral dozen Jewish students atTCU who will be cheering as loud-ly as anyone when the team takesthe field in Pasadena, Calif., onNew Year’s Day. Who says theHorned Frog, TCU’s mascot, can’twear a kippah?
The team’s dominant, undefeat-ed season and top-flight perform-ances in recent years have provedthat it belongs among the NCAA’selite teams, playing on the moststoried stage in college football.
The school, located in FortWorth, has about 60 Jewish stu-dents, out of more than 8,000 at theuniversity, which is associated withthe Christian Church (Disciples ofChrist), a mainstream Protestantdenomination.
To serve them, TCU has athriving Hillel, reports the organi-zation’s adviser, Arnold Barkman,an associate professor of account-ing and transplanted New Yorkerwho has lived in Texas since 1974.Many students can be seen sportingthe purple, white and blue Star ofDavid Hillel T-shirts, and Jewishstudents, professors and staff canbe found hanging out and enjoyinga nosh at the bagel place across thestreet from the campus.
Barkman notes that the TCUHillel sponsors a lecture series thathas brought prominent Jewishwriters and thinkers to campus,including Nobel laureate Elie
Wiesel, author Rabbi HaroldKushner and scholar SusannahHeschel.
The Hillel program, which doesnot hold regular Shabbat services,arranges home Shabbat dinnerswith area families and providestickets for students interested inattending High Holiday services.
Not that the situation at TCUwill be confused with the Jewishlife of its Rose Bowl opponent, theUniversity of Wisconsin. On thatschool’s Madison campus, thereare an estimated 5,000 Jewishundergrads, a gleaming new multi-story Hillel building, kosher mealplans, and even an Orthodox stu-dent organization, JEM, that alsofills its dining hall on Fridays. Theschool’s football team even boastsa Jewish star lineman and NFLprospect, Gabe Carimi.
So how does that tiny Jewishsquad deep in the heart of Texaseven field a team? “We are scat-tered across the campus, but weshow everyone there is a Jewishpresence on campus,” says sopho-more Kyle Orth, a music major andnoted concert pianist who is serv-ing as the TCU Hillel president.
Hillel’s (almost) monthly meet-ings on campus attract from five to15 students to the new HillelConference Room in TCU’sStudent Union and feature screen-ings of Israeli films and the con-struction and presentation of ayearly on-campus Holocaustexhibit.
“Going to a Christian collegemakes you aware of who you are asa Jew,” Orth says. It also “makesme aware of what I can bring to theworld as a Jew.”
It is not a phenomenon limitedto TCU. A number of Jewish stu-dents attend other schools across
the country associated withChristian denominations, includingJewish “fighting Irish” at NotreDame University in Indiana andJews at the Jesuits’Boston College.
At Boston College, about 2 per-cent of the school’s 9,000 studentsare Jewish, according to the direc-tor of Jewish life there, ElissaKlein. Tzvi Novick, the JordanKapson Chair in Jewish Studies atNotre Dame, serves as adviser tothe Jewish Club there. Novicknotes that Notre Dame has noHillel and only a few Jewish stu-dents on campus.
Some of the students whoattend Jewish on-campus groups atthese Christian schools are simplycurious. For example, according toNovick, at Notre Dame, non-Jewish students are active in theJewish Club.
At TCU, Barkman says, stu-dents who are converting toJudaism attend Hillel meetings.
At Boston College, Klein haslearned that “the millennial stu-dents want cultural exchanges.”
“One of our most active mem-bers is not Jewish,” Klein says. “Weeven get non-Jewish students whomight miss their hometown Jewishneighborhoods and friends.”
The Texas Christians ofTexas Christian University:Jewish students
Courtesy of TCU Hillel
Each year, Texas Christian University Hillel students set up aHolocaust exhibit on campus.
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMNATIONAL6
By Ron KampeasJewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON (JTA) — InTexas, the Tea Party passed its firstJewish test even before its legisla-tors had been sworn in.
Deeply conservative forces inthe Lone Star State firmly repudiat-ed the effort by evangelicalChristians to unseat the powerfulJewish speaker of the Texas Houseof Representatives because he was-n’t a “true Christian conservative.”
Speaker Joe Straus still facesopposition from his right flankbecause of his relatively moderateviews, but his opponents havemade clear that Straus’ Judaism isnot a factor in the Jan. 11 race tobe speaker.
“There is absolutely no placefor religious bigotry in the race forTexas speaker, and I categoricallycondemn such action,” Rep. KenPaxton, one of Straus’ two chal-lengers in the race, said in a state-ment to the Houston-area JewishHerald Voice. “Furthermore, it isjust as shameful for anyone toimply that I would ever condonethis type of behavior.”
State Rep. Warren Chisum,Straus’ other challenger, wrotehim directly.
“I assure you that those sortsof attacks on a man’s religion haveabsolutely no place in the race forspeaker,” he said. “I absolutelyreject all such attacks or insinua-tions.”
The controversy in Texas wasimportant because Jews nationallyhad been watching it as a test caseto see whether the Tea Party’sdeeply conservative base wasreceptive to anti-Jewish ferment.The considerable Christian rhetoricin the Tea Party movement hasstoked some concern among Jews,particularly as candidates from themovement cited Scripture inexplaining their opposition to abor-tion, church-state separation andthe teaching of evolution.
As it turned out, the strongresponse against statements sin-gling out Straus for being Jewishwere a relief, said Fred Zeidman,the most prominent JewishRepublican in Texas after Straus.Straus had turned to Zeidman tomanage the crisis as soon as itemerged in e-mails from a smallcadre of grass-roots conservatives.Straus’ office did not respond tointerview requests for this story.
“The big fear was, what are theelected guys going to do knowingthis is their base,” Zeidman toldJTA. “But they didn’t take the bait— everybody either spoke up orstood down. Nobody followed thelead of this guy in Lumberton.”
“This guy in Lumberton,” asmall town in east Texas, was PeterMorrison, who in a newsletter thatreaches much of the state‘s GOPleadership noted that Chisum andPaxton “are Christians and trueconservatives.”
Morrison wasn’t the onlyStraus opponent calling attention tohis religion.
“Straus is going down in Jesus’name,” the Dallas Morning Newsquoted one Republican e-mailer assaying.
Ken Myers, the chairman ofthe Tea Party in Kaufman County,in sending a mass e-mail in sup-port of a prominent state Housecritic of Straus, Rep. BryanHughes, wrote that “We finallyfound a Christian conservativewho decided not to be pushedaround by the Joe Straus thugs.”
Kaufman County, in suburbanDallas, coincidentally is named forDavid Kaufman, the first Jewishspeaker of the Texas House — inthe 1840s, when it was a republic.
On Nov. 30, The TexasObserver published an e-mailexchange among members of thestate’s Republican ExecutiveCommittee in which committeemember John Cook launched asalvo against Straus’ faith.
“We elected a House withChristian, conservative values," hewrote, referring to the supermajor-ity that Tea Party conservatives hadhelped win for Republicans in thestate House. “We now want a trueChristian conservative running it.”
But other executive committeemembers repudiated Cook, andStraus now claims the support of79 Republican members of the150-member House, as well as 49Democrats.
Some Tea Party members saidthe issue wasn’t that Straus wasJewish, but that the term Christianwas being misapplied or misun-derstood.
“I think people have been intel-lectually lazy in using ‘Christian’and ‘conservative’ interchange-ably,” Felicia Cravens, a HoustonTea Party founder, told Fox News.“And there’s a lot of that in Texas.”
Straus, whose wife and chil-dren are Christian but who is activein San Antonio’s Jewish communi-ty, seemed unfazed by the flare-up.
“Our country was founded onthe rock of religious freedom andthe Judeo-Christian values of thedignity and worth of every individ-ual,” he told the Jewish Herald-Voice. “At its core, Americabelieves in the freedom of everyindividual to worship as his or herconscience dictates, and it wouldbe most unfortunate for anyone tosuggest someone is more or lessqualified for public office based onhis or her faith.”
Straus faces a strong challengefrom his right flank preciselybecause he has proven able towork with Democrats. The Housewas almost evenly divided in 2009when he was elected speaker —the second most powerful positionin the state because of the power toshape the legislative agenda.Straus angered conservatives withhis successful challenge of long-time speaker Tom Craddick.
Straus’ moderation — and thechallenge he is brooking from hisright flank — reflects the otherchallenge facing the Jewish com-munity as Tea Party conservativesassert their strength both in stateLegislatures and in Congress.Straus has voted against restrict-ing late-term abortions or gayadoption rights.
The bottom line, said MarleneGorin, director of the Dallas-areaJewish Community RelationsCouncil, was that the outbursts ofanti-Semitism disappeared as sud-denly as they had appeared.
“It came out of the blue — wehave excellent relationships withall the legislators,” she said. “Evento bring it up was disgusting, but Ithink now it is behind us.”
Brouhaha in Texas House aJewish test case for Tea Party
Courtesy of Office of Rep. Joe Straus
Texas state Rep. Joe Strauslooks set to stay in the power-ful speaker’s role after a broadcoalition repudiated challengesbased on his Judaism.
Jewish filmmakers do well inGolden Globe nominations
LOS ANGELES (JTA) —Jewish actors, directors andscreenwriters have garneredprominent nominations for the2011 Golden Globe Awards — apromising augury for the upcom-ing Oscar picks.
Two top favorites for bestmotion picture honors, “TheKing’s Speech” and “The SocialNetwork,” announced earlier thismonth, led the field with sevenand six Golden Globe nods,respectively.
Named in the best actor/actresscategories were Jesse Eisenberg,who portrays Facebook founderMark Zuckerberg in “The SocialNetwork,” and Israeli nativeNatalie Portman as a ballet dancerin “Black Swan.”
Also picked were two actorswith Jewish mothers, JamesFranco as a trapped hiker in “127Hours,” and Jake Gyllenhaal in“Love & Other Drugs.”
Tapped for best supportingactors were Andrew Garfield asFacebook co-founder in “TheSocial Network” and Mila Kunisin “Black Swan.”
Jewish writers took three of fivenominations for best screenplay:David Seidler for “The King’sSpeech,” Aaron Sorkin for “TheSocial Network” and LisaCholodenko and Stuart Blumbergfor “The Kids Are All Right.”
Seidler, 73, like England’sGeorge VI in “The King’sSpeech,” grew up as a severe stut-terer. His paternal grandparentsperished in the Holocaust, and helived through the London Blitz as ababy. He started researching theBritish monarch’s life as far backas the 1970s.
The Hollywood Foreign PressAssociation, which sponsors theGolden Globe Awards, two yearsago picked Israel’s “Waltz withBashir” as the top foreign-lan-guage movie, but this time Israeldrew a blank.
Winners of the Golden GlobeAwards will be named on Jan. 16.The Academy of Motion PictureArts and Sciences will name itsnominees on Jan. 25 and hand outOscars to the winners on Feb. 27.
U.S. military aid to Israeldelayed
(JTA) — United States militaryaid to Israel for 2011 has beendelayed for three months.
The more than $3 billion in mil-itary aid, one of the largestamounts ever earmarked for Israel,includes grants to upgrade the Iron
Dome and Arrow anti-ballisticmissile systems.
The delay is a result of theObama administration’s difficultyin passing the 2011 U.S. budget,which forced the president to signa presidential order extending thecurrent budget through March.Until then, funding for the budgetwill be disbursed on a month-to-month basis.
Israel usually receives its aidin a lump sum, 30 days after theU.S. annual budget is signed bythe president. Because of thisyear’s delay, the Israeli businessdaily Globes reported, Israelstands to lose millions of dollarsin interest payments.
Israel received $2.4 billion inthe 2010 U.S. fiscal budget. The2011 budget is set to include,among other things, an additional$415 million to build and operateanti-missile systems, $25 millionfor immigrant absorption and $2million for the U.S. Departmentof Energy’s energy researchcooperation program, accordingto Globes.
The new Republican leader-ship in the House ofRepresentatives includes manyopponents of foreign aid.
Schindler’s List can be sold,judge rules
(JTA) — A Manhattan judgehas ruled that an original copy ofSchindler's List can be sold.
New York State Supreme CourtJustice Louis York ruled last weekthat dealer Gary Zimet may auc-tion off what is believed to be theonly privately held original copyof Oskar Schindler’s list of Jews,which saved more than 1,000 Jewsfrom the Nazis during theHolocaust.
Zimet, a historic documentsales specialist in upstate NewYork, announced in March that hewould sell the document onbehalf of an anonymous seller,offered on a “first-come, first-served” basis on his website,MomentsInTime.
Marta Rosenberg, an Argentinewoman who wrote a biography ofSchindler and his widow, Emilie,contends that the will ofSchindler’s widow gives her theexclusive rights to anything thatbelonged to the couple. She alsoalleged that the list held by Zimetis a fake.
The list, dated April 18, 1945,records 801 names on 13 pages. Itwas compiled by Schindler and hisaccountant, Itzak Stern, and madefamous decades later in the Oscar-winning film “Schindler’s List.”
Several copies of the list werewritten; the four surviving origi-nal lists are in the U.S. HolocaustMemorial Museum inWashington, in the German feder-al archives in Koblenz and at theYad Vashem Holocaust memorialin Jerusalem.
NationalBriefs
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 NATIONAL 7
By Deborah HirschJewish Telegraphic Agency
PHILADELPHIA (JTA) —Gabe Carimi already knows thatYom Kippur won’t fall on aSunday for at least the next 20years.
The star left tackle at theUniversity of Wisconsin looked upthe dates in anticipation of being apotential first-round pick in thisspring’s NFL draft. But first,Carimi will end his college careerby leading the Badgers against theTexas Christian University’sHorned Frogs in the 97th RoseBowl.
Carimi, co-captain of the BigTen championship team, wasrecently named the conferenceLineman of the Year and awardedthe Outland Trophy, a nationalhonor given to the best interiorlineman. The civil and environ-mental engineering major has alsobeen named Academic All-Big Tenfour years in a row.
For Carimi, at 6 feet, 7 inchesand 327 pounds, playing footballand practicing Judaism both comenaturally.
“It’s always just who I’vebeen,” he told JTA.
Speaking by phone before anintensive series of Rose Bowl prac-tices, Carimi recalled how hischildhood baseball coach had sizedhim up and suggested giving foot-ball a try.
Of course, Carimi said, hismom always worried about him,but there wasn’t much danger ofserious injury in peewee football.
And even though sports practicesdominated his schedule, he alwaysreserved time to attend TempleBeth El, a Reform synagogue inMadison.
“He grew up at temple,” saidLarry Kohn, the congregation’seducation director.
Kohn chuckled at the memoryof blessing Carimi during his barmitzvah service, which he led inthe rabbi’s absence. The teenagerwas already so tall, Kohn said, thathe had to put his hands on Carimi’sshoulders instead of his head –even with the future football starbending down.
After becoming a bar mitzvah,Carimi continued his religiousstudies, celebrating hisConfirmation and working as anassistant to a fifth-grade Sundayschool teacher. For Chanukah oneyear, he asked his parents for a sho-far and joined the men who sharethe honor of blowing the ram’shorn on the High Holidays.
While football has becomemore time consuming lately,Carimi still joins his parents andolder sister for Friday night servic-es whenever he can.
“Our lives have been busy andFriday evening was the time tostop, take a deep breath, inhale,exhale, just kind of get back intouch with what’s important,” hisdad, Sanford Carimi, said.
“It always felt like home there,”Gabe Carimi said. Plus, he added,after nine hours a day at CampRandall Stadium during footballseason, there wasn’t time to getinvolved with the campus Hillel.
To Kohn, the fact that Carimicontinues to prioritize Shabbat andtake on a leadership role at his syn-agogue, on top of commitments tofootball and academics, speaksvolumes about his “spiritualstrength and devotion.”
“A lot of kids, when they hitcollege, sort of take a break andreturn after they have kids,” Kohnsaid. “He’s a model of a long-termcommitment to a task and to avalue.”
Carimi has also made a point ofmaintaining some observance ofthe High Holidays, even whenfootball interferes. When YomKippur fell on a Saturday duringhis freshman year, he fasted untilan hour before the night game.
This past September, the holi-day coincided with an afternoonface-off against Arizona StateUniversity. Carimi wrestled withwhether he should play at all, evengoing to his rabbi for advice.
“I’ve always fasted, even whenI was young,” he explained. “It’s amoment of clarity to kind of takethe focus off the whole world andeverything you have to do — justfocus on trying to make yourself abetter person.”
Ultimately, he came up with hisown compromise: Instead of fast-ing from sundown to sundown, hestarted the fast early enough to givehimself a few hours to recoverbefore the game.
“Religion is a part of me and Idon’t want to just say I’m Jewish,”Carimi said. “I actually do makesacrifices that I know are hardchoices.”
Gabe Carimi: Star in shuland on the football field
By Edmon J. RodmanJewish Telegraphic Agency
LOS ANGELES (JTA) —Better polish up a trophy, Jewishfootball fans.
Across the country, there areenough Jewish high school foot-ball teams currently playing 11-man full-tackle football to hold aplayoff and a bowl game.
Back in September, JTA ran astory about one such team: theJewish Academy Lions at the SanDiego Jewish Academy HighSchool in California. Since then,JTA has learned of two additionalteams that play in an independentFlorida league: the Ben LipsonHillel Community High School ofNorth Miami Beach and the highschool of the David PosnackHebrew Day School in Plantation.
According to Hurricanes out-side linebacker Judah Makover,who is a senior at Ben Lipson Hillelthis year, his team has finished itsthird season of full-tackle play.“Our team also sings ‘Hatikvah’ athome games and does not play onFriday nights or Saturdays,”Makover reported in an e-mail.
“Before every game, the rab-binic dean at our school, RabbiChaim Albert, gives us a dvarTorah to pump us up,” Makoverwrote. “We play the Posnack Ramsonce a year. The winner receivesthe ‘Kiddush Cup,’ a trophy, whichhas resided within Hillel’s halls forthe past three years.”
Makover, perhaps pumpedfrom this year’s victory overPosnack, also suggested a post-season game pitting the bestJewish football team on the EastCoast against the best Jewish foot-ball team on the West Coast.
Yes, he did say that.A J-Bowl.Ilan Sredni, the father of a
Hurricanes player, also thought agame would be a good idea. “Itwould be wonderful to see themplay each other and form a bond,”he wrote in an e-mail to JTA.
“Maybe it could be like a roundrobin,” suggested Makover in aphone interview from his home in
Boca Raton. “There are alreadyJewish basketball tournaments.Why not football?” he asked.
The game already has a poten-tial media sponsor — JTA.
“We could get behind that,”said Ami Eden, JTA’s editor inchief, when told of the idea.
“We could certainly supply thecoverage, the trophy — and thename. It needs to be something bet-ter than J-Bowl or Nose Bowl.Maybe The JTA News Bowl,”Eden wrote in an e-mail. “Wewould need some person or organi-zation to come forward to help withthe travel expenses. Maybe it couldbe played on the opening Sunday ofthe General Assembly of the JewishFederations of North America –that way, it would rotate cities eachyear, like the Super Bowl.”
The athletic directors at the threehigh schools are open to the idea.
“Let’s pursue it,” said MikeQuigley, athletic director at the SanDiego Jewish Academy HighSchool, whose team this year playeda home game against a squad fromVancouver. “Perhaps we could alsoput together a Shabbaton. Can youput us in touch?”
Cindy Lyon, the athletic directorat the Ben Lipson Hillel CommunityHigh School, who supervises a pro-gram covering 25 different sports,was more tempered in her responseto the idea of a tournament. Thoughsupportive of the idea, she wanted to“see how we are going to pay for it.”
The athletic director at DavidPosnack Hebrew Day School, MitchEvron, who has a degree in sportsmedicine, likes the discipline andthe respect for teamwork that foot-ball brings to his players and relish-es the friendly rivalry his squadalready has with Ben Lipson Hillel.
And he also likes the idea of abicoastal Jewish bowl game. “Ifwe could work something out,maybe something like a jamboree,the networking especially wouldbe fun,” Evron said.
Makover agrees. “It would beawesome,” the Hurricanes line-backer said. “Football — it’s theAmerican game, and we’reexcelling at it.”
Jewish football teamswant a bowl of their own
Courtesy of Hillel Community High School
The Hillel Community High School Hurricanes, one of two Jewishfootball teams in the country, pose for a group photo.
Courtesy of Sanford Carimi
Gabe Carimi is a star football player for the University of Wisconsin football team, as well as anactive member at his local Reform temple in Madison.
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMINTERNATIONAL8
By Ruth Ellen GruberJewish Telegraphic Agency
BUDAPEST (JTA) — The riseof Hungary’s far-right Jobbik Partyhas ratcheted up debate about anti-Semitism in this country andfocused attention on the seemingparadoxes of Jewish life here.
On the one hand, a recent articlein Germany’s Der Spiegeldescribed Budapest as Europe’scapital of anti-Semitism, whereJews are “being openly intimidat-ed” and making plans to leave thecountry.
On the other, Hungary is hometo a flourishing and multifacetedJewish life that finds vigorous pub-lic expression in religious, culturaland even culinary ways, and alsoenjoys high-profile governmentrecognition.
I saw this myself at Chanukahwhen I munched on latkes at aFriday night oneg Shabbat, sam-pled doughnuts at a sit-down dinnerfor Holocaust survivors, joined 20-somethings at a riotousklezmer/hip-hop gig, and justmissed witnessing the foreign min-ister, Budapest’s mayor and otherVIPs help light a big menorah setup in the center of town.
While anti-Semitism remains aserious concern in this centralEuropean country, Budapest-basedJewish writer Adam LeBor wrotein the Economist, the Der Spiegelarticle was a one-sided screed thatportrayed the Jewish experience inHungary “solely through thewarped prism of anti-Semitismrather than its much more complex,and healthy, reality.”
A timely and important newbook puts contemporaryHungarian anti-Semitism into per-spective. Based on studies carriedout since the early 1990s, “TheStranger at Hand: AntisemiticPrejudices in Post-CommunistHungary” is the most comprehen-sive analysis to date of the scopeand impact of the phenomenon.It’s just too bad that its $131 pricetag will put it out of reach of manypotential readers.
Written by Andras Kovacs, asociologist at Budapest’s CentralEuropean University who hasdevoted decades to tracking boththe development of anti-Semitismand the development of Jewishlife and identity here, the bookpresents a highly complex andsometimes contradictory picture.
A large part of Hungarian soci-ety, both Jewish and non-Jewish,is convinced that anti-Semitismhas increased in Hungary since thefall of communism, Kovacswrites.
“What is said on the street,written in newspapers, and heard
on the radio can and does give riseto concern,” he writes. “Are thefears legitimate?”
The answer, he told JTA in aninterview, is a mix of yes, no andmaybe.
Jobbik, with its anti-Semiticrhetoric and virulently anti-Roma,or Gypsy, political platform, wonnearly 17 percent of the vote inApril elections and enteredParliament as Hungary’s third-largest party. But recent evidenceshows that it has been losing sup-port amid divisive internal squab-bles, and newly imposed legalmeasures have clamped down hardon its once-feared paramilitarywing, the Hungarian Guard.
Still, Jobbik did not emergefrom thin air, and Kovacs’s booktraces the evolution of severalanti-Semitic trends against a shift-ing background of political andsocial change.
He identifies three main typesof anti-Semitism in Hungary. Thefirst is “classic” anti-Jewish preju-dice, based on social and religiousstereotypes that date back cen-turies and were kept alive, if sup-pressed, under communism. Thesecond occurs when anti-Semitismbecomes a sort of “language andculture” that fosters a general anti-
Semitic worldview. The third ispolitical anti-Semitism, “wherepolitical activists discover thatthey can mobilize certain socialgroups by using anti-Semitic slo-gans to achieve their own goals.”
Kovacs’ research shows therecent growth in anti-Semitism tobe qualitative rather than quantita-tive. Surveys show that 10 to 15percent of Hungarians are hard-core anti-Semites, while another 25percent nurtures anti-Jewish preju-dices to some degree.
Contrary to popular percep-tion, Kovacs said, these figures“have increased to some extentbut not dramatically over the past17 years.”
What is different and muchmore alarming, according toKovacs, is how the type andexpression of anti-Semitism ischanging within that proportion.For one thing, the percentage ofpolitical anti-Semites has grown.These political anti-Semites, hesaid, are “more urban, better edu-cated and relatively younger” thanthey tended to be in the past.
Jobbik’s key leaders, forexample, are youthful, clean cut,and media and Internet-savvy —factors that helped enhance theirappeal ahead of the April vote.
Could Hungarian anti-Semitism get out of control?
Courtesy of Ruth Ellen Gruber
The Jewish culture festival in Budapest, in 2009, shows the flour-ishing side of Jewish life in the Hungarian capital, but the city alsohas been called “Europe’s capital of anti-Semitism.”
By Jasmina KelemenJewish Telegraphic Agency
CARACAS, Venezuela (JTA)— On a balmy tropical evening inearly December, a few hundredfamilies, mostly of Moroccandescent, gathered to inaugurate thefirst phase of what eventually willbe a grand, two-story marble shullocated in a wealthy Caracasneighborhood.
Among them, ClaudioBenaim’s family beamed asBenaim stood with Rabbi IsaacCohen as he recited a prayer into amicrophone and affixed amezuzah on the synagogue’s door-post. Others admired the new flat-screen TVs listing daily prayertimes.
Outside, young men in khakisbearing walkie-talkies scrutinizedeveryone entering the new shul,called Tiferet Israel del Este. Afteranother synagogue was attacked inearly 2009, a police van was sta-tioned there around the clock,monitoring those entering thebuilding’s usable areas. But thepolice van was canceled monthsago – one tangible sign that thiscommunity is breathing easierafter a nadir for the VenezuelanJewish community followingIsrael’s war in Gaza two years ago.
“We feel OK as Jews,” saidBenaim, a father of three. “As canbe seen throughout the diasporas,the community remains andendures.”
Whether the VenezuelanJewish community will endure isstill an open question in a countrywhere the population is dwindlingrapidly due to aging and emigra-tion. But the main challenge to thecommunity in the last couple ofyears – a notably hostile tone fromthe government of President HugoChavez – appears to have sub-sided.
During and immediately afterthe Gaza war of two years ago,local Jews felt in the crosshairs asgovernment denunciations ofIsraeli military actions grew viru-lent. Chavez demanded that thecommunity rebuke Israel for itsconduct in Gaza, expelled Israelidiplomats from the country, andreached out to Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Against that backdrop, vandalsattacked the largest and oldest syn-agogue in Caracas, Tiferet IsraelMariperez, and defaced it with anti-Semitic graffiti. Jews here wereshocked by the attack, unusual for acountry not known for anti-Semitism. The sophistication of theattack, coupled with two policeraids on the community’s hub, ClubHebraica, ostensibly in search of aweapons cache, prompted manyJews here and elsewhere to pointtheir fingers at the government.
Observers also blamed Chavezfor unleashing a surge in anti-Semitic expression among his sup-porters on state-sponsored media.The president repeatedly calledIsrael a genocidal state, darklywarning in one speech that Israelwas supporting the Venezuelanopposition and sending Mossadagents to assassinate him.Government-sponsored mediaequated Zionism with Nazism andcalled on local Jews to publiclydenounce Israeli actions or riskboycotts.
Over the last few months, how-ever, Chavez has shifted his tone,recently saying that anti-Semitismhas no place in Venezuela.
“Revolutionaries cannot beanti-Semites,” Chavez said duringa rally for the United SocialistParty of Venezuela just prior tolegislative elections in lateSeptember.
Venezuelan Jews reportshift in tone fromChavez government
Courtesy of Jasmina Kelemen
Venezuelan Jews celebrate the opening of a new synagogue inCaracas, December 2010.
VENEZUELEAN on page 22
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 INTERNATIONAL 9
By Dina KraftJewish Telegraphic Agency
SOLOTVYN, Ukraine (JTA)— On a sloping green hill tuckedbetween small farmsteads, themottled graves of Jews buriedhere since the 1600s rise up like aforgotten forest.
Trudging through the mudbetween the tilted stones, theirchiseled Hebrew lettering and ren-derings of menorahs sometimesbarely visible, Vladimer Levin, ananimated young historian whospecializes in Jewish art, wants tosave the gravestones.
“When we talk about preserv-ing Jewish history, it’s not justabout the spiritual life, thoughtand books but the material cultureJews produced for themselves.And that is what remains in thisplace,” he said, looking at thetombstones. “They are the artisticremnants of this small Jewishcommunity.”
Levin, a 39-year-old immi-grant to Israel from St. Petersburg,Russia, is part of a team of Israelihistorians attempting to documentwhat remains of a once populousand vibrant Jewish life in theregions of Galicia and Bukovina,most of which is in the westernedge of present-day Ukraine.
As part of efforts to recover theworld that once was in thesetowns and shtetls, where some 1million Jews lived before theHolocaust, the researchers arepartnering with Ukrainian aca-demics. The idea is not only toboost the level of scholarship butto highlight to Ukrainian locals aJewish past that spanned centuriesbut is rarely remembered publiclyin the country.
“Jewish history is not part ofthe agenda” in Ukraine, saidYaroslav Hrystak, director ofgraduate studies at the UkrainianCatholic University, which haspartnered with the Israeliresearchers. “It’s like a wholesubject that disappeared.”
The project aims to collect oraltestimony and document cemeter-ies and synagogues left derelict orused for such purposes as canningfactories to storage space, andenlist young Ukrainian historiansto do Jewish-related scholarship.An online database has beenestablished on the project’s web-site to make the research widelyaccessible. The project also has setup a scholarship for Ukrainiangraduate students to spend a yearat Hebrew University to learnJewish history, Hebrew andYiddish.
“Records are being lost in frontof us, and so the goal is collectionand preservation,” said David
Wallach, a professor of molecularbiology at Israel’s WeizmannInstitute who is among the groupof families that helped establish afund called the Ludmer Project tohelp pay for the research.
Academics at the HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev areoverseeing the project with the hopeof including other universities.
Wallach, 64, became intriguedby the region’s history after hisfather’s death. He found amonghis father’s belongings a blacksuitcase crammed with photo-graphs and documents he hadtaken with him from Bukovinabefore immigrating to prestatePalestine in 1932.
“There is an urgent need forthis research,” said Wallach, a tallman with a graying beard.
His relatives came from vari-ous parts of Galicia, including aformer shtetl called Nardvirnawhere Gestapo units assisted bylocal Ukrainians rounded up mostof the town’s Jews on Sukkot of1941. With whips and dogs, the3,500 or so Jews were herded intoa nearby forest and shot, their bod-ies dropping into ditches.
Here the complete destructionof the country’s Jewish communi-ties is marked with little com-memoration or public knowledge.No haunting edifices of concentra-tion camps like Auschwitz, inneighboring Poland, stand as testi-mony.
The collection of oral testi-monies from Ukrainians who wereold enough to bear witness to thisperiod and prewar Jewish life ispart of the project’s mission.
Among the grimmer tales col-lected in Solotyvin was informa-tion on the approximate locationof a communal grave of Jewishdoctors and pharmacists and theirfamilies who were killed aftermost of the village’s Jews wererounded up. The grave was dugnear the cemetery’s entrance,locals recalled, although no onecould be sure if it was to the left orthe right of the path that divides
the hundreds of tombstones.They also told of a doctor’s
young son who was found hidingand brought to the cemetery to beshot and buried.
“My parents did not speak.These were not things you toldchildren about,” Wallach said,adding that his mother onlywarned him of her birthplace,“Don’t go there; the land is soakedin blood.”
In saving Jewish remnants in Galicia,an effort to enlist Ukrainians
Former Yukos CEOKhodorkovsky found guiltyof embezzlement
(JTA) — Former Russian oiltycoon Mikhail Khodorkovskyhas been found guilty of embez-zlement and theft.
The conviction against the for-mer head of the Yukos oil com-pany was handed down by ajudge in Moscow in a closedcourt room on Monday, the NewYork Times reported. He facesup to 14 years in prison, withcredit for time served on a previ-ous conviction.
Khodorkovsky’s businesspartner, Platon Lebedev, wasalso found guilty on the charges.The trial began in March 2009.The men were accused of steal-ing billions of dollars’ worth ofoil from Yukos production sub-sidiaries from 1998 to 2003.
Khodorkovsky, who is Jewish,was formerly the richest man inRussia.
He was sentenced in 2005 toeight years in prison on chargesof tax evasion and fraud. Thetrial stifled one of the mostprominent anti-Kremlin voicesat the time, and resulted in Yukosbeing dismantled and sold off instate auctions.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putinsaid earlier this month thatKhodorkovsky “should sit injail” — a comment that has beenseen by some as interference inthe trial. Putin was president dur-ing the first trial. Khodorkovsky,a major opponent of theKremlin, had plans to run for thepresidency himself, according toreports. Putin has expressed aninterest in running for presidentagain in 2012.
Charges ranging from taxfraud to murder are facing otherformer Yukos officials, includingLeonid Nevzlin, who fled toIsrael to avoid the charges.
In a statement releasedMonday, U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Rodham Clinton criti-cized the verdict, adding that theUnited States would monitor theappeals process.
“Today’s conviction in thesecond trial of MikhailKhodorkovsky and PlatonLebedev on charges of embez-zlement and money launderingraises serious questions aboutselective prosecution — andabout the rule of law being over-shadowed by political considera-tions,” said Clinton. “This andsimilar cases have a negativeimpact on Russia’s reputation forfulfilling its international humanrights obligations and improvingits investment climate.”
InternationalBriefs
Courtesy of Dina Kraft
The remains of a Jewish cemetery dating to the 16th century in the Ukranian village of Solotyvn.
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMISRAEL10
By Marcy OsterJewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hereare some recent stories out of Israelthat you may have missed.
Costly storm recoveryA winter storm that brought
much-needed rain to Israel will costthe Tel Aviv municipality more than$2 million.
The city’s finance committeelast week approved a budget of $2.3million to recover from the storm,which damaged many businessesalong the waterfront, destroyed life-guard stations, and damaged theboardwalk and other beach facili-ties. Port damages alone have risento at least $280,000.
Heavy rains and winds of up to75 miles per hour caused hugewaves to wash up on Tel Avivbeaches, breaking restaurant win-dows, tossing cafe furniture andscattering a thick layer of sandalong the Promenade in Tel Aviv.
The storm also damaged antiq-uities in Caesarea and along theMediterranean coast, and broughtsnow a month early to MountHermon in Israel’s North.
Immediately following thestorm, the municipality beganrepairing Tel Aviv’s famous board-walk, as well as fixing the sewersystem and rooftops.
Agam’s brush with greatnessA painting by Yaacov Agam set
a record for the highest sale price forany Israeli artist in history.
“Growth,” an oil painting onwood panels in 12 parts, was soldfor $698,000 during an auction lastweek in New York organized bySotheby’s.
Agam was in the auction hallduring the sale, Haaretz reported,where he received a round ofapplause. The sale was 179 percenthigher than estimates had predicted.
Works by Marc Chagall andReuven Rubin were sold during thesame auction.
The previous record for a workby an Israeli artist, living or dead,was set by Mordecai Ardon for“Timepecker,” which was sold dur-ing a Christie’s auction in Tel Avivfor $643,200.
Make mine marijuanaIsraeli police raided and shut
down a nonprofit organization thatgrows and distributes medical mari-juana.
The Tikun Olam organization,which provides medical marijuanato the majority of patients permittedby the Health Ministry to use thedrug, is accused of selling morethan the prescribed amount ofcannabis after a three-month sting
operation, according to reports.The Tel Aviv-based organization
is the official grower and supplier ofmedical marijuana in Israel.
As part of the sting, an under-cover agent posed as a patient witha valid prescription and repeatedlyasked for more than the prescribedamount, saying it was not helpingher. A saleswoman eventually gaveher extra cannibas.
“Only someone who knows theneed for the drug understands some-one else’s need,” a Tikun Olamemployee told the Israeli dailyHaaretz. “The people working hereare sick and only they know what itmeans to suffer. The policewomantook advantage of that.”
Thirty grams a month is themaximum allowed by law for theclinic to dispense. The clinic servesabout 2,000 patients annually.
“The association distributes fourtons of cannabis annually, and ifafter an undercover police investi-gation all the agent managed to stealwas 10 grams, then we must be theworld’s most secure drug compa-ny,” Tikun Olam attorney RonenSchein told Haaretz.
‘Glee’ sings praise of Israeliinnovation
An Israeli invention got its 15minutes of fame on the popularAmerican drama “Glee.”
A robotic exoskeleton that helpswheelchair users to experiencewalking and was created by Israel’sYokneam-based Argo MedicalTechnologies was featured on arecent episode titled “A very GleeChristmas.”
In the episode, paraplegic WestMcKinley High School studentArtie Abrams walks for the firsttime using the device, calledReWalk.
“It was invented by some guy inIsrael,” Artie explains of the anony-mous gift found under his girl-friend’s tree — but we all know itwas from the school’s football
coach, nicknamed “Beast.”The ReWalk device is expected
to go on sale in January and costabout $100,000, Israel 21c reported.
Dr. Amit Goffer, an Israeli elec-trical engineer who was left a quad-riplegic after an accident, inventedthe device. Goffer cannot use hisown device, however, because hedoes not have enough use of hishands to control it.
Let’s (not) do the Time Warpagain
“The Rocky Horror PictureShow” will end its 15-year weeklymidnight showing in Israel at theend of the year.
The 200-plus costumed movie-goers that the cult film used toattract has dwindled to a few dozen,which is not enough for the KochavCinema in Ramat HaSharon to con-tinue the screenings.
The film was released in 1975and soon became a cult favorite. Itdid not hit Israel until the 1990s,Haaretz reported.
The last screening will featurethe best local audience participantsof all time, as well as Israeli actorDudu Zar, the host of the classicIsraeli children’s television program“Parpar Nechmad,” or “NiceButterly.”
Leo Tene, founding president ofthe local Rocky Horror fan club,told Haaretz that a new generationof “Rocky Horror” fans would lastabout 18 months before a new onecame along. The current batch ofsupporters has been around longerand no one appears poised to taketheir place.
“I’m not giving up on Rocky,”Tene told Haaretz. “I hope he’ll beback soon.”
It takes green to go greenIsrael has discovered that it isn’t
easy — and in fact is quite expen-sive — being green.
Israel under the radar: Long green,grass, and a ‘Glee’ showcase
By Daniella AshkenazyJewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM (JTA) — TheTurkish flotilla to Gaza?Disagreement over a settlementfreeze? Severe drought? Wildfireon the Carmel?
Those aren’t all the stories thatpreoccupied Israelis in 2010.
The following is a roundup ofsome of the best odd news storiesfrom Chelm-on-the-Med Online,an Israeli Internet news outlet inEnglish that features snippets ofdaily life gleaned from the Hebrewpress, revealing the lighter side ofIsraeli life.
Take Israeli innovation. Blue-and-white advances ran the gamutfrom a gadget jury-rigged by armyengineers that enables a religiouslyobservant amputee to put on tefill-in, single-handed, to naturallydehydrated tomatoes for spreadingon bread like avocado that plantgeneticists designed to end the baneof packing sandwiches garnishedwith lip-smacking tomatoes forlunch-soggy bread.
One of this year’s most promis-ing gizmos may finally convince70,000 pelicans to stop feeding atkibbutz fish ponds when migratingbetween Europe and Africa: a life-like motorized plastic Nile croco-dile, a predator with a predilectionfor pelican meat. It works on theprinciple that even pelicans proba-bly know it’s better to miss lunchthan to become lunch.
At the other end of the foodchain, an Israeli in New York hasdebuted hummus in a plasticsqueeze-it condiment bottle for thelocal market after his American-born wife told him “wiping up”hummus with a pita was disgusting.
The Chelm Prize for weirdestbehavior by an Israeli politiciangoes to two Russian-born parlia-mentarians.
Think you have trouble jug-gling work and domestic duties?Floored maintenance personnelfound Knesset member AnastassiaMichaeli of the Yisrael BeiteinuParty (Israel Our Home), who has abrood of eight children ranging inage from 12 years to 18 months,fast asleep in her PJs under ahomey comforter before hours,having crashed on the floor of heroffice suite. Michaeli said it was theone place where she could get somepeace and quiet.
Knesset member MarinaSlodkin of the middle-of-the-roadKadima Party authored one of thestrangest private bills in 2010: afailed bid to make it a crime “to
publish a national daily and give itaway for free for more than oneyear.” Slodkin argued that freepapers were unfair competition thatwould undermine a free press.
The Chelm Prize for out-of-the-box pedagogy is a tie between theTechnion and the University ofHard Knocks.
Technion alumnus Moshe Yanaicharged that his alma mater’suncompromising drive for excel-lence had turned Israel’s MIT into agauntlet lined by exceptionallysmart but exceedingly inhospitablefaculty that took the fun out oflearning, leaving a trail of sufferingstudents in their wake.
So Yanai, now a senior vicepresident at IBM, is donating a totalof $10.5 million in grants over 20years to the faculty’s 15 most out-standing lecturers, with the annual$26,000 award to each recipientbased not only on knowledge anddidactic skills. Yanai expects therecipients, who are chosen by thestudent body, first of all to be empa-thetic and supportive — in short, amensch. Maybe they should callthe program “HonorableMenschen.”
Equally praiseworthy is theShaarei Mishpat Law College inRamat Hasharon, which decided toprovide students with some hands-on experience in the real world byinviting Ali Jo’arish to speak tothem as part of a lecture series toenrich students’ skills in mediationand conflict management. Jo’arish,a 45-year-old Ramle Arab, is one ofthe underworld’s most outstandingarbitrators and mediators (and pur-ported to be the head of one of themost illustrious organized crimefamilies in Israel).
Israeli students are notoriouslydisrespectful of any sage on thestage, but in the case of this dude,not one dared disrupt the judge’slecture by walking about, talking ortoying with their cell phones.
Only-in-Israel stories? Theyabounded.
In the adult division, the ChelmPrize did not go to Ikea, whose newbranch in Rishon Lezion heraldsfalafel, not just hot dogs andSwedish meatballs.
It does go to a 34-year-oldunmasked assailant who held up agas station in Ashkelon at knife-point and was captured on a securi-ty cameras duly kissing themezuzah on the door (perhaps outof habit) before demanding themeager contents of the cash regis-ter. The robber then fled on foot —perhaps because it was Fridaynight.
Chelm Awardsreveal the quirkierside of Israel
ISRAEL on page 22
Courtesy of Deborah Sinai/Flash90/JTA
Stormy weather causes major damage to the beaches of Tel Aviv,Dec. 12, 2010.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 SOCIAL LIFE 11
Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life™ Awardhonoring Mary Ellen and Tom Cody (PT. 2)
Stanley M. Chesley (JNF National President& previous Shalom Peace Award recipient)and John Barrett (Previous Tree of Life™
Award recipient)
Suzette and Michael Fisher presenting the Tree of Life™ award toTom and Mary Ellen Cody.
Back: Randy Miller (Dinner Co-Chair, JNF Executive Board Member);Middle: Margie Adler (Dinner Co-Chair) and Diane Weber (Dinner Co-Chair);
Front: Patti Schneider (Dinner Co-Chair, JNF Executive Board Member),and Mary Ellen and Tom Cody (2010-2011 Tree of Life™ Honorees)
Marty & Sally Hiudt
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMCINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE12
Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life™ Awardhonoring Mary Ellen & Tom Cody (PT. 2)
Louis and Beth Guttman
Sam Knobler and Hirsch Wise Iris Bellos and Marcie BachrachMorry and Michele Wiener
Sharon & Jeff (1st Annual Board Memberof the Year recipient) CasperThelma and Harvey Bergman
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE 13
Al and Janie Miller and Randy and Barb Miller
Eddie Paul (Special Events Co-Chair; JNF National Board Member), Mary Ellen and Tom Cody, andNina Paul (Special Events Co-Chair; JNF National Board Member)
Louise Roselle (Southern Ohio Regional President), Patti Schneider (2010-2011 BoardMember of the Year Award recipient), and Eddie Paul
Margot Heubi, Jim Miller, and Shannon Carter
Rabbi Irv Wise, Cindy and Harold Guttman
Michele Wiener, John Barrett (Previous Tree of Life™ Award recipient) and Pam Barnett
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMDINING OUT14
By Marilyn GaleDining Editor
Little bistroIn the townCute and lovely,You won’t frown.Ginger, garlic,Lots of spiceEverything is very nice.
Light, friendlySushi, too,A healthy lunchFor me and you
Dinner time,Bring the kidsTeach themThrough this fresh cuisineHow to stay fitAnd very lean.
I am beginning to think thatThai food is perfect—a combina-tion of nutritious spice and food, alargely vegetarian base servedwith rice. Ginger is a star in thiscuisine and has multiple healthproperties to aid in digestion andcirculation. That being said, thearrival of Bangkok Terrace, inexistence for two years, is a gift tothe Blue Ash area.
Jennifer Boonyakanist—ownerand chef—makes everything fromscratch and hand picks all of theingredients from local producestores. Growing up in Thailand, shelearned cooking from her aunt.Being one of the older siblings, itwas expected that she had to helpwith meals. Often that meant goingout in her family’s backyard andpicking home-grown produce suchas basil, another prominent ingredi-ent in Thai cooking. Prior to arriv-ing in Cincinnati, Boonyakanistworked in Boston and California.
The sauces at Bangkok Terraceare homemade, no monosodiumglutamate is allowed near the culi-nary premises. Boonyakanist shopsat Jungle Jim’s, grills the meat thatgoes into the dishes and works inher restaurant seven days a week.
I spoke with Nikkia King atBoonyakanist’s request. King is aserver at Bangkok Terrace and alsohas a business degree. With a tighteconomy, King took the jobbecause she wanted to understandhow a small business operates.King is quick to say she admiresBoonyakanist and her partner’s,Tom Khlongnarong, persistence.King credits the owners with infus-ing the restaurant with serving acustomer in a mindful, respectfulmanner.
Dining patrons can bring theirown wine and beer into the restaurantwithout being charged a corking fee.King added, “There are always realflowers on the tables.” These gentletouches make eating a delightfulexperience at Bangkok Terrace.
For customers dining at
Bangkok Terrace for the first time,King suggests trying a rice or noo-dle dish. Noodles can be in a soupor stir fry. Rice can be curried orfrom a wok. There are lots ofhealthy options here, whether it ischoice of meat, veggies or rice onthe side. If counting calories, saucecan be ordered on the side and onecan request “light oil.” Brown riceis also available. Seaweed saladmarinated in sesame dressing offersgood nutritional value. Bean threadnoodle, which is the main ingredi-ent in sukiyaki, is low in fat and lowin carbohydrates. Potstickers,known as gyoza, can be steamed orfried. Edamame, lightly saltedsteamed soy beans. is a satisfyingfirst course to whet your appetitewithout crashing the calorie bank.
For children, appetizers are kidfriendly and the young ones will be
happy with spring rolls or chickensatay, delicious savory finger foodsto be dipped into specially sea-soned, tangy soy sauce.
Spicy Thai salads are on themenu. Som Tum, green papayasalad, consists of freshly shreddedpapaya and carrots with tomatoes,Thai chili, green bean, roastedpeanuts in a spicy lime sauce,priced at $6. Yum Nua, spicy beefsalad, has charbroiled top sirloinwith tomatoes, cucumber, onions,scallions tossed in a seasoned limesauce for $11. Nam Tok also hastop sirloin and is mixed with redand green onions, cilantro, crushedroasted jasmine rice and lime saucealso for $11.
Sushi is pretty and plentiful atBangkok Terrace. Khlongnarong isthe sushi chef and recommends theRainbow Roll which is topped with
tuna, salmon, white fish and avoca-do. Order two of these gifts fromthe sea and you have a full meal. Ifyou go the vegetarian route, youcan choose from asparagus, cucum-ber, avocado or the Thai roll whichis cucumber, bean sprouts, basilleaves, lime and chili sauce. Eachvegetarian roll has six pieces andprices start at $4. Or if you are dar-ing, try “screaming roll 1,” yellowtail fish, cucumber, scallions andchili sauce or “screaming roll 2,”the same combination with tuna.
The lunch menu will changestarting the first of the new year,and a mango curry will be added.Bento boxes, a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal commonin Japanese cuisine are available.A traditional bento consists of rice,fish or meat, and one or more pick-led or cooked vegetables, usually
in a box-shaped container. AtBangkok Terrace, the bento boxesare served with miso soup, housesalad and steamed rice for $11.95.There are also sushi lunch specialswhere diners select their favoritecombinations of this popular food.
Our national eating habits areevolving. Tri-state residents havemore options to eat ethnic foodpacked with nutrients that in thepast could only be obtained throughhealth food vitamins. Treat yourselfand your family and dine in thislovely bistro. It is never too soon tobegin to educate the children in theABCs of healthy eating.
(Clockwise) Jennifer Boonyakanist and Tom Khlongnarong are your gracious hosts; Dine in peaceful surroundings; Always fresh sushimakes a heart healthy meal at Bangkok Terrace.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 DINING OUT 15
CALL FOR RESERVATIONS(513) 281-9791
L I M I T E D S E AT I N G
New Year’s Eve Party9pm–Late $25/person
MIDNIGHT CHAMPAGNE TOAST,BELLY DANCERS, DJ & DANCING
It used to be that Americansfocused their religious livesaround brick-and-mortar struc-tures — churches, synagogues,mosques and temples — for wor-ship, study and assembly.
Members of various faith com-munities considered those build-ings the center of their spirituallives as they gathered for religiousrites of passage including bap-tisms, baby namings, bar/bat mitz-vah ceremonies, confirmations,weddings and funerals.
Inside those sacred spaces withtheir steeples or domes or stained-glass windows, Americans fol-lowed the men — it was nearlyalways men — who donned color-ful vestments as a visual validationof their religious authority.
Not any more.There are enormous changes
afoot, and failure to respond willmean clergy and their once domi-nant institutions will be pushed tothe sidelines of American life. Thefancy sociological term for suchirrelevancy is “marginalization.”
The religious model that dom-inated American life is weaken-ing, and even disappearing, in theface of irreversible spiritual andtechnological changes. America’sreligious institutions can getahead of this wave, or be swal-lowed under by it.
Not too long ago, it was diffi-cult for laypeople to acquire andthen study a sacred text on theirown beyond the omnipresent fam-ily Bible. The writings of ancientchurch fathers, medieval theolo-gians, or even contemporary reli-gious leaders were generally con-fined to dusty shelves inside largepublic libraries or seminaries.
Within Judaism, for example,those who wanted to venture intothe literature of post-biblicalJudaism — especially the 5,894pages of the Talmud — werestymied unless a nearby syna-gogue or rabbinical school offeredsuch study.
The Internet has changed allthat. Want to know how theChristian theologian ThomasAquinas was influenced by theJewish philosopher MosesMaimonides? It’s just a Googlesearch away. Want to read differ-ent English translations of the
same scripture verses? There’s anapp for that.
Men and women no longerhave to meet together in a desig-nated building to share spiritualbeliefs or study. Skype, Facebook,Twitter and YouTube have shat-tered geographical borders andpsychological barriers. Now youcan pray in real time with some-one half a world away.
Don’t like your local syna-gogue? You can log in to one onthe other side of the country.Don’t trust what your pastor saidin church on Sunday? Log on toyour favorite blog or website tofind out for yourself.
In short, the neighborhoodsynagogue or church is being sup-planted by the rapid globalizationof all things religious.
Religious commitment hasalways been held in tensionbetween public “externals” (cler-gy, buildings, institutions) and pri-vate “internals” (personal prayer,meditation or study). Increasingly,the line between the two is soblurred as to be invisible.
Recent surveys indicate thatAmericans, perhaps the world’sgreatest consumers, are shoppingaround to find the “best and lat-est” elements to suit their reli-gious needs. Call it “spiritual con-sumerism.”
It can mean many things tomany people: joining a Protestantmegachurch with custom-tailoredniche ministries, or opting for asmall living-room fellowship thatoffers intimate study and prayer,or a do-it-yourself private spiritu-ality that has little to no connec-tion to any group, large or small.
That’s not all. There’s theimpact of feminism on religionsthat have been male-dominated;liberation theology that challengesa society’s religious and politicalorder; and interfaith encounters —increasingly, within people’s ownfamilies — that do not require theapproval or guidance of religiousauthorities.
Lay people are staking outmoral and ethical positions onissues that were once the exclu-sive domain of an educated hierar-chy. Clergy can either fight andtrivialize this irreversible move-ment and be marginalized, orembrace it and find ways to meetthe needs of wandering flockswhile still preserving their eternalmessages.
Rabbi Rudin is the AmericanJewish Committee’s senior inter-religious adviser.
Point of ViewBy Rabbi James A. Rudin LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Do you have something to say? E-mail your letter to [email protected]
Dear Editor,
AJC welcomes the U.S.Treasury Department’s announce-ment that it is imposing fresh sanc-tions against the Iranian regime. Itis targeting companies linked tothe Revolutionary Guard, includ-ing the Ansar and Mehr banks andthe Moallem insurance company.
The U.S. government issending Iran a clear message:comply with legally-binding UNresolutions concerning yournuclear activities, or face theconsequences.
The Treasury Department hasworked tirelessly to penalize Iranfor its nuclear-weapons ambitions.The new measures begin just as
Iran announced it was cutting sub-sidies for fuel and vital food sup-plies. Police and security forceswere stationed in Tehran and othercities in anticipation of popularunrest, showing that the Iranianregime fears its own people.
Barbara GlueckDirector, AJC Cincinnati
1. What was the third plague?a.) Liceb.) Wild animalsc.) Plague of pestilence
2. What was the extent of the plagueof frogs?a.) Only Pharaoh and his palaceb.) All of of Egyptc.) Even past its borders where Egyptians lived
3. Which member of the Children ofIsrael became a wicked person?a.) Dathan and Aviram
b.) Korachc.) Sons of Levi
4. Does the Torah give the name ofAaron's wife along with their children?a.) Yesb.) No
5. What did Moshe and his nephewElazar have in common?a.) They both went to Pharaoh to letChildren of Israel gob.) Both had difficulty speakingc.) Married women from the same family
ANSWERS1. A 8:13 The sorcerers of Egypt could not duplicatethe lice because they could not manipulate somethingsmaller than a bean. Rashi. Also, from this plague onthey are not referred to as the Ågwise men of EgyptÅh,
because of their inability to stop the plague. R B'chaya2. B 8:28,293. B 6:244. A 6:23 When a man marries he check the brotherof his wife. Elisheva's brother was Nachson a future
prince and righteous man Rashi5. C 6:25 Putiel was Yitro. Actually, she might havebeen descended from Yitro but not a daughter. Theirson Pinchas is mentioned because he merited the kehu-na through his deeds.
Efrat, Israel - This is what theLord says: By this you will knowthat I am the Lord: With the staffthat is in my hand I will strike thewater of the Nile, and it will bechanged into blood. (Exodus 7:17)
What was the purpose of theplagues? If God’s intention was toredeem the Jews from slavery,wasn’t there a more efficient way?In Genesis, we saw that when peo-ple behave badly, God gives themtime to repent, but once punish-ment begins, it is swift and effec-tive, leaving no further opportuni-ties to repent.
Why should Egypt be differ-ent? When God decided to sus-pend the laws of nature, theEgyptians could have been elimi-nated in an explosion of fire andbrimstone, liberating the Israelitesinstantly. Why do we need these10 steps, turning the screw tighterand tighter until even the mostresistant Egyptian could not main-tain his stubbornness? To answerthis, we need to determine the pur-pose of the plagues — were theyjust sent to free the Israelites, orwas there more involved?
The liberation from Egypt rep-resented the inauguration of a peo-ple brought together not by geog-raphy but by ideology — a holykingdom. The most powerfulnation on earth would be chal-lenged by a group of slaves who,despite their long years ofbondage, were chosen by God tostand at the center of history. Theywere to become the living expres-sion of a way of life which standsin direct opposition to that of thepharaohs.
Ancient Egypt was the proto-type of civilizations built onslaves. At the apex of the pyramid,we find the man-god Pharaoh,while at its base were the facelessslaves. Sandwiched in betweenwere the priests, who held tremen-dous power and whose status wasexceeded only by Pharaoh him-self.
The Ten Plagues not onlyserved to free our nation from thedespotic Egyptians, but alsodemonstrated that the time hadcome when “Egypt shall knowthat I am God, when I stretch outmy hand over Egypt and bring outthe children from among them”
(Exodus 7:5). Throughout theduration of the plagues, this ideais constantly repeated as Godbreaks the chains of bondage andestablishes fundamental truths forall time.
The first principle of Judaismis the existence of one God, whotakes a specific interest in His cre-ation and has the ability to estab-lish and destroy civilizations.
The second principle is that theworld is not an arbitrary place,where those on top are entitled totreat their slaves however theywish while living off the fruit oftheir labors. There is a Divine sys-tem of reward and punishment,and people who act cruelly andcause pain to others will be heldresponsible.
The third principle is that thereis a plan to history. Judaism prom-ises a final Redemption with thearrival of the Messiah, the returnto Zion and the rebuilding of theTemple. There is light at the endof the tunnel.
From a theological perspec-tive, the Ten Plagues hammeredaway at the idolatrous beliefs ofthe Egyptians, demonstrating thatthey were based on foolish super-stition. The Egyptians worshipedthe Nile, attributing Egypt’s posi-tion at the helm of civilization tothe divine powers of this mightyriver. When its waters were turnedto blood and then infested withfrogs, the absurdity of this ideawas exposed, forcing theEgyptians to rethink their ideas asthey saw their fertility god trans-formed into a source of death anddestruction.
Apart from the Nile, theEgyptians worshiped animals,birds and insects, but as theplagues progressed, these deitiesappeared to devastate the localagriculture and were then them-selves destroyed. As the Egyptianswitnessed the decimation of theirlivelihoods and the ruin of theircountry, the country’s idolatrous
infrastructure began to buckle,and the people realized that it wasnot a man-god in charge, but theCreator of the Universe.
So the plagues offered a pro-found lesson in theology, includ-ing an important message aboutsocial justice. Slavery is one of thegreat sins of the ancient world,and the perpetrators had to sufferin a manner so graphic that itwould illustrate for all time therelationship between the crimeand the punishment.
The Egyptian reign of terroragainst the Israelites began with thedecree that all Hebrew male chil-dren be cast into the Nile. Pharaoh’suse of the river as a means to perse-cute Jewish families led God toappropriate it for the punishment ofEgypt. With the plagues of bloodand frogs, the source of Jewish suf-fering becomes the focus ofEgyptian suffering. Then the plagueof boils mimics the boils and blis-ters inflicted on the Israelite slaveswhen they were beaten by theirtaskmasters. Plagues on the animalsshow that it is forbidden to dehu-manize a person. In this way, theplagues offer a measure-for-meas-ure punishment for the persecutionof an innocent slave population.
Through each plague, Godteaches Pharaoh and his peoplebasic lessons in theology, andinforms him of the Divine concernfor every human being.
Most importantly, the plaguesform the backdrop for the libera-tion of the Israelites so that theycan sacrifice the Paschal Lamb,showing that it’s not enough toend slavery; one must begin serv-ing God in freedom. In this way,the plagues exchanged theEgyptian obsession with death toa life-enhancing focus on the Godof freedom, redemption and hope.
Shabbat Shalom Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi — Efrat Israel
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT VA’EIRA • EXODUS 6:2–9:35
Sedra of the WeekBy Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
JEWISH LIFE 17
When God decided to suspend thelaws of nature, the Egyptians could
have been eliminated in an explosionof fire and brimstone, liberating the
Israelites instantly.
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM
By Nate BloomContributing Columnist
NEW YEAR’S EVEON THE TUBE
It’s almost worth subscribingto HBO just to see BETTEMIDLER’s New Year’s Eve spe-cial (starts 9PM). Entitled, “TheShowgirl Must Go On,” it featuresher wonderful mix of comedy andmusic. Backing Midler are hershowgirls, called the Harlettes,and a 13-piece-band. Most of thematerial comes from Midler’s LasVegas nightclub show, which sherecently decided to end after avery successful two-year run.(Most subscribers now get “HBOEast” and “HBO West”—so if youmiss the first showing at 9PM on“East;” you can watch it on“West.” Also, many repeat show-ings in Jan.)
If you get Showtime, you canwatch comedian TOM ARNOLD(“Roseanne,” “True Lies”) onNew Year’s Eve (9PM, EST). It’shis first one-hour stand-up specialand the show’s publicity describesit thus: “Tom exposes himself, hisfour marriages, and his lifelongfriendships developed whileworking on 72 films.”
Arnold, 50, grew-up in a large,working-class Iowa Methodistfamily. In 1983, he met already-famous comedian ROSEANNEBARR. In 1988, she hired him towrite for the new TV show(“Roseanne”) which quicklybecame a monster hit. They fell inlove, wed in 1989, and re-marriedin a Jewish ceremony a couple ofyears later. Tom is an alcoholic, butquit drinking around 1990 and he’sremained sober. He and Roseannebitterly split-up in 1994 and anoth-er failed marriage followed. In2008, he met his current wife,designer ASHLEY GROUSS-MAN, at a Passover seder.
Arnold converted to Judaism in1990, after a year of study. Hisconversion was spurred by his dis-covery, in a family history library,of his maternal grandfather’sJewish ancestors. He had a barmitzvah in 1995 and he’s been aregular synagogue-goer. Arnold’sgreat friend and spiritual counseloris Rabbi MARK BORVITZ, theleader of a Los Angeles shul that isboth a full service congregationand a residential substance abusetreatment center.
JEWISH BADGERVERSUS CHRISTIANHORNED FROGS
The Rose Bowl, like everyyear, takes place on New Year’sDay (televised on ESPN; 5PMEST). The “Big Ten” champs, theUniv. of Wisconsin Badgers, will
play the Texas Christian Univ.Horned Frogs. Badgers’ offensivetackle GABE CARIMI emergedthis season as a superstar—he’s aconsensus first team All-American;the Big Ten Offensive Lineman ofthe Year; and he was the winner ofthe Outland Trophy—one of thetop awards in college football, it ispresented to the best interior line-man in the country. A civil engi-neering major, Carimi was alsonamed to the Academic All-BigTen team. He will graduate thisspring and he’s almost certain to bepicked early in the pro draft.
Carimi grew-up in CottageGrove, Wis. I don’t believe hisfather, a doctor, is Jewish. Hismother is Jewish and Gabe wasraised Jewish and had a bar mitz-vah. The local Wisconsin mediahas been particularly intrigued bythe fact that he always fasts onYom Kippur. This year, he had toplay right after the holiday wasover, so he had fluids injectedintravenously to counteract theeffect of not drinking/eating for aday. (This may be a first!)
THE SHERMAN BROTHERSIf you haven’t heard of the
Sherman brothers, you are notalone. But “everybody” has heardtheir songs. ROBERT B. SHER-MAN, now 85, and his brother,RICHARD (“Dick”) M. SHER-MAN, now 82, were the first andonly songwriters to be on staff toDisney studios. They wrote thewords and music for such classicsas “Mary Poppins,” “Chitty ChittyBang Bang,” “The Jungle Book,”“The Aristocats,” “Winnie thePooh,” and “Charlotte’s Web.”They won two Oscars and werenominated for seven more. Theirmost famous songs include “It’s aSmall World After All” and “ChimChim Cher-ee.”
The brothers are the subject ofthe 2009 documentary, “The Boys:the Sherman Brothers Story.” It isjust out on DVD. Also, if you getStarz cable, you can see it ondemand until Jan. 14 and check thestation’s schedule for a few regularshowings in January. Directed andproduced by JEFFREY SHER-MAN (Dick’s son and the husbandof comedian WENDY LIEB-MAN) and GREGORY SHER-MAN (Robert’s son)—the docu-mentary is surprising and fascinat-ing and full of big names like JulieAndrews. The brothers have anextraordinary love/hate relation-ship with each other that seems tohave spurred their creativity. Also,I was quite moved when RobertSherman re-counted how, as a 19-year-old American soldier, he wasamong those who liberated Dachauconcentration camp.
Jewz in the Newz FROM THE PAGES
Cincinnati relatives were called toNew York because of the death ofCharles J. Heinsheimer. Mr.Heinsheimer was formerly ofCincinnati, though he lived in NewYork. He was a member of the firm ofP.J. Godhart & Co., from which heretired on May 1 1910. He is survivedby his mother, Mrs. Lewis. L.Heinsheimer, and two sisters, Mrs. J.Walter Freiberg and Miss Daisy H.Heinsheimer, and two brothers,Edward L. and Walter H. Heinsheimer.Mr. Heinsheimer was unmarried.
The undertaking and livery estab-lishment of F.B. Maertz, on Plum Street,is to undergo a change the first of theyear, when the third generation entersinto identification with the firm. Theestablishment was started by B. Maertzin 1854. In 1870 it became B. Maertz &Son, the son soon introducing the under-taking branch of the business as well. In1882 the firm name became F. B.Maertz, and with the opening of the newyear it will be F. B. Maertz & Son.Three generations of the Maertz familywill then have been in concern since its
inception, a very unusual record in thiscentury. Mr. F.B. Maertz also says thatfor 20 years beginning with 1871 he wasthe only Jewish undertaker in the UnitedStates. This alteration of the firm hasbeen observed externally by adding anauto livery department to the livery sta-ble already in use. At the same time, theentire building was remolded and fire-proofed. The new structure contains amortuary chapel and show-room forcaskets, so that all the essentials of afuneral may be observed within theestablishment. — December 29, 1910
100 Years Ago
Mr. and Mrs. Justin Rollman willleave for the South after the holidayseason.
Mrs. Mark G. Feder has beenenjoying a visit in New York City withher sister, Miss Karline Brown. Mr.Louis Feder is spending the holidays inPittsburgh with relatives and friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Klein(Marjorie Levine) of Louisville, Ky.,have been the guests of their parents,Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Levine, over
the holidays.Epsilon of Sigma Delta Tau is
entertaining with its annual winter for-mal at the Hotel Gibson Saturday, Jan.4th, in honor of the pledge group, com-posed of the Misses Marjorie Levine,Henriette Liepold, Adele Dalman,Charlotte Stern, Gladys Nabe, LillianBurgin, Ruth Hirshfeld, May FrancisShprintz and Betty Eichel.
Miss Margery Hirschfeld is incharge.
Mrs. Edith Wolf Marx, 61, of 550Rose Hill Avenue, St. Bernard, passedaway Saturday, Dec. 28th, after a longillness. Services were held Sunday.
Mrs. Marx is survived by threesons, Joe J. Marx, president of thePerfect Manufacturing Co., and DavidS. Marx, naturalist, both of Cincinnati;and Robert L. Marx, manufacturer,New York City.
Her husband, Herman Marx, diedabout 15 years ago. — January 2, 1935
75 Years Ago
Vice Mayor Walton H. Bachrachwill be elected mayor of Cincinnati ata meeting of City Council Thursday,Jan. 5, it was announced this week.
A graduate of Washington & Leeand of the University of CincinnatiLaw School, Mr. Bachrach is a mem-ber of Rockdale Temple, LosantivilleCountry Club and Zeta Beta Tau. Heis a former president of theCincinnati Convention Bureau and issecretary of the Republican Club.
Mr. and Mrs. Bachrach (the formerMiss Ida May Henley) have two
daughters, Mrs. Milton Pockros andMrs. Robert Harris, and four grand-children, all of Cincinnati. Mr.Bachrach is the son of Mrs. FisherBachrach and the late Mr. Bachrach.
Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of theHebrew Union College-JewishInstitute of Religion, will give thebenediction Friday, Jan. 20, at the cere-monies marking the inauguration ofJohn. F. Kennedy as president of theUnited States, it was learned this week.
Richard Cardinal Cushing ofBoston will deliver the invocation.
Archbishop Iakovos, of the GreekOrthodox Archdiocese of North andSouth America, and the Rev. Dr.John Barclay, of the CentralChristian Church, of Austin, Tex.,will give prayers.
Mrs. Ruth Joseph Lustberg, 187Wedgewood Avenue, passed awayWednesday, Dec. 21. Survivorsinclude her husband, Dr. AlfredLustberg; a son, Thomas JosephLustberg; a sister, Mrs. RosalindRashleigh, and a brother, SylvanJoseph. — December 29, 1960
50 Years Ago
The Family-Teen Project of JewishFamily Service is sponsoring a series ofseven workshops for parents of teensbeginning next week.
The first workshop will take placeWednesday, Jan. 8, at 8 p.m. at theJewish Community Center. The speakerwill be Dr. Cynthia Dember on “TheTasks of Adolescence: Coming of Age inCincinnati.”
Dr. Dember is a clinical psychologistwho has worked extensively with chil-dren, adolescents, and their families. Anadjunct professor of psychology at UC,
she is past president of the CincinnatiSociety of Child Clinical Psychologistsand of the Cincinnati Academy ofProfessional Psychology.
Jerome Russel Bremen of 7430Elbrook Avenue passed away Dec. 23.
He is survived by his wife, Selma;and a daughter, Diane.
Mr. Bremen was the father of the lateMarlene Bremen and the son of the lateMorris and Hattie Bremen.
Mrs. Minnie Marcus of Glen ManorHome for the Aged passed away Dec. 25.
She is survived by her husband,
Maurice; a daughter, Mrs. Sam (Ruth)Chalfie; three sisters, Ida Klein ofFresno, Calif., Rose Pushkin ofHollywood, Fla., and Helen Wayne ofHollywood, Fla., two grandchildren andtheir spouses, Emily and RobertBowman of Palm Beach, Fla., Jamesand Eileen Chalfie of Cincinnati; and sixgreat-grandchildren, Barbara Tobias,Susan and Nancy Bowman, John, Craig,and Michael Chalfie, all of Cincinnati.
Mrs. Marcus was a volunteer for theJewish Hospital Auxiliary for more than30 years. — January 2, 1985
25 Years Ago
The wedding of Nina Perlove andCharles Croog took place September3, 2000, at Temple Beth Emeth in AnnArbor, Mich. Rabbi Robert Levi offici-ated. A reception followed at theWashtenaw Country Club. The bride isthe daughter of Shelley and WarrenPerlove of Ann Arbor. The groom isthe son of Mary and George Croog ofCincinnati. Nina is the granddaughterof Jerry and Evelyn Millman andLouis Perlove and the late GertrudePerlove. Charlie is the grandson of thelate Dr. Charles and Elizabeth Siegel
and the late John and Rose Croog.Dr. Arnold Peck, 68, passed away
December 16, 2000. Dr. Peck was bornin Dayton, Ohio, the son of Dr. Aaron andRose (Shaw) Peck. He moved toCincinnati with his family at age 4. Dr.Peck is survived by his wife, Sandy Peck,of Amberley Village, Ohio and his chil-dren: Drs. Fred and Lauren Peck of BlueAsh; and Laurie and Dr. Bruce Berwaldof St. Louis, Mo. Dr. Peck is also sur-vived by six grandchildren: Brandon,Joshua, Gabrielle, and Amanda Peck, andRachel and Sara Berwald.
Barry Joffe will be installed as thenew president of Congregation OhavShalom at an installation dinnerSunday, Jan. 14, at the synagogue.Joffe is currently the senior vice presi-dent of the congregation.
His family was among the firstwave of young families who helpedspark the rejuvenation of the congre-gation in the mid-1990s. Since thattime, the congregation has built a newhome on Cornell Road and increasedits membership by more than 50 per-cent. — December 30, 2000
10 Years Ago
JEWZ IN THE NEWZ18
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 CLASSIFIEDS 19
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc.(513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.orgBeth Tevilah Mikveh Society(513) 821-6679Camp Ashreinu(513) 702-1513Camp at the J(513) 722-7226 • mayersonjcc.orgCamp Livingston(513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.comCedar Village(513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.orgChevra Kadisha(513) 396-6426Halom House(513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.comHillel Jewish Student Center(513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.orgJewish Community Center(513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.orgJewish Community Relations Council(513) 985-1501Jewish Family Service(513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.orgJewish Federation of Cincinnati(513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.orgJewish Foundation(513) 792-2715Jewish Information Network(513) 985-1514Jewish Vocational Service(513) 985-0515 • jvscinti.orgKesher(513) 766-3348Plum Street Temple HistoricPreservation Fund(513) 793-2556The Center for Holocaust& Humanity Education(513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.orgVaad Hoier(513) 731-4671Workum Fund(513) 899-1836 • workum.org
Cincinnati Hebrew Day School(513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.netChabad Blue Ash(513) 793-5200 • chabadba.comHUC-JIR(513) 221-1875 • huc.eduJCC Early Childhood School(513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.orgMercaz High School(513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.orgReform Jewish High School(513) 469-6406 • crjhs.orgRegional Institute Torah & Secular Studies(513) 631-0083Rockwern Academy(513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org
ORGANIZATIONS
American Jewish Committee(513) 621-4020 • ajc.orgAmerican Friends of Magen David Adom(513) 521-1197 • afmda.orgB’nai B’rith(513) 984-1999Hadassah(513) 821-6157 • cincinnati-hadassah.orgJewish National Fund(513) 794-1300 • jnf.orgJewish War Veterans(513) 204-5594 • jwv.orgNA’AMAT(513) 984-3805 • naamat.orgNational Council of Jewish Women(513) 891-9583 • ncjw.orgState of Israel Bonds(513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.comWomen’s American ORT(513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org.org
HOMEIMPROVEMENT SENIOR SERVICES
• Up to 24 hour care• Meal Preparation• Errands/Shopping• Hygiene Assistance• Light Housekeeping
Jewishly active and less likely tointermarry than Hebrew schoolgraduates.
The challenging, integrated cur-riculum and small class sizes atRockwern allow for individualattention from creative, knowl-edgeable teachers.
Students at Rockwern havemore time for extra-curricularactivities like sports and music,because their religious education isintegrated into their schooling,rather than having to attend reli-gious classes after school.
Furthermore, the religious edu-cation at a day school seems to“stick” more than after-school andweekend education. According to areport from the United JewishCommunities by Steven M. Cohenand Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz,“In general, attendance at a dayschool seven years or more exertsthe most powerful positive impacton Jewish identity.” This meansthat graduates from a Jewish dayschool are more likely to celebrateJewish holidays, join Hillel in col-lege, donate time and money toJewish organizations as adults, visitIsrael, and more likely to marryanother Jew.
How do we get the parents tomake a commitment to their chil-dren to continue a Jewish educationthrough eighth grade?
In 2008, Rockwern received a$4 million dollar endowment fundfrom the Rockwern CharitableFoundation, established by the lateDr. Samuel S. Rockwern, to securethe school’s future. The JewishFederation of Cincinnati managesthe fund on the school’s behalf.
After a unanimous vote by theschool’s trustees, the school’s namewas changed to RockwernAcademy in 2008.
In addition to the fund,Rockwern will receive $329,000from the federation for tuitionscholarships in 2011.
Is the answer to Rockwern’sdilemma more fundraising or is itan unwavering commitment tooffer all grades, preK–8, no matterhow many students are enrolled?
A survey of Jewish communityparents is currently being conduct-ed with the support and coopera-tion of the federation, MayersonJewish Community Center,Rockwern and the CincinnatiHebrew Day School. The purposeof the survey is to gain a betterunderstanding of the attitudes offamilies with young children aboutkindergarten and primary schooleducation. Hopefully, this surveywill reveal current attitudes heldabout Jewish day school educa-tion, but is it enough to spur peo-ple to action?
How do we increase enroll-ment? How do we convince parentsfaced with a plethora of good edu-cation options that a Jewish dayschool education is in the best sec-ular and religious interest of theirchildren? How do we motivate theschool’s board of directors and theJewish Foundation and the federa-tion to do more?
With all of the benefits of aJewish day school in terms of aca-demic excellence and Jewish iden-tity, shouldn’t Rockwern be agreater priority for the wholeJewish community?
This topic will be more thor-oughly addressed in future editions.
ROCKWERN from page 1
observant Torah lifestyle, contin-ues to be felt by many until thisday.
The evening will begin with aninformal buffet dinner and get-together, providing an opportunityfor attendees to greet RebbetzinRisa Indich Kaufman, who nowresides in Montreal, Dr. NachumIndich, their eldest son, along withother family members. At 7 p.m.,the formal program will begin,featuring stories and memoriesfrom community members, avideo presentation, and guestspeaker Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh
Weinreb, formerly the executivedirector of the Union of OrthodoxCongregations of America andwell-know Torah personality.Family members will conduct asiyum (completion of Torah learn-ing) in Rabbi Indich’s memory toconclude the program. A dessertreception will follow.
The dinner, program andreception are free and open to theentire community (adults onlyplease), but reservations arerequested. Contact the GolfManor office for reservations or toshare memories or pictures ofRabbi Indich to be presented atthe program.
INDICH from page 1
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMFASHION20
It’s cold, it gets dark early, andthere are no more work holidaysfor several months. Winter dreari-ness can lead even a normallystylish person to a dull routine ofsweatpants. Snap out of the stylerut this season with some low-fussand easy to pull off key trends.
It is not often that “turtlenecks”and “fashionable” are used togeth-er in the same sentence. However,the turtleneck is officially stylish
this winter, especially in luxefibers such as cashmere. This is alook that works for everyone, atevery age. It’s also an extremelyversatile piece that can be worn tothe office, out to dinner, or just alow-key night in. Quite a fewdesigners have turtlenecks in theircollections, from Juicy Couture’schunky fringed turtleneck sweater,to Ralph Lauren’s refined silk andcashmere blend turtleneck.
The cape is another easy trendthat will make you forget about yourboring sweats. While capes are usu-ally worn between seasons, they areideal for a dramatic look, or whenyou are sporting bulky knits thatdon’t fit under a traditional coat.Capes can range from lightweight,such as Alexander McQueen’s silkchiffon open-front cape, to heavy,such as Ann Demeulemeester’swool-linen cape coat. To work thistrend into the office or for a morecasual daytime look, try a capelet.
Capelets are generally shorter inlength and smaller in proportion.Stella McCartney’s sequined capecardigan offers the scaled-downsilhouette of a cape but with thewearability of a cardigan sweater,and Mackage’s chic tailored woolcape coat would work well inplace of a blazer.
The 1960s silhouette trend isstill going strong, and a ladylikestructured sheath dress can easilygive your wardrobe a quick boost.The key to making this look workwithout it looking like a costume isto throw in some modern twists.Try an edgy but tailored leatherjacket over the dress or an eye-catching pair of dress boots. Thisretro silhouette, such as the Maxand Cleo sheath with its architec-tural details or the belted tweedDavid Meister dress, is a no-fussone-piece outfit, can effortlesslygo from day to evening, and looksgreat with a variety of accessories.
This is truly a piece that should bein every woman’s closet.
Men can also add a style updatewith minimal effort. Chunky-knitsweaters have been a very popularlook this winter, which is an easyway to add some texture to an out-fit. An angora-blend shawl-collarcardigan by 7 For All Mankindlooks great buttoned-up or open,over a t-shirt, or a collared shirt.Another trendy sweater option isthe Fair Isle sweater, which is acolorful patterned wool sweater.The Fair Isle is very versatile;because it is known as a more tra-ditional look, it can be worn withkhakis or trousers, but it can alsoeasily be worn with jeans for amore casual look. Ralph Laurenoffers a rugged zip-front Fair Islecardigan, and Rag and Bone has adressier shawl-collar Fair Islepullover in their collection. Any ofthese options will have you look-ing on-trend.
Easy winter wardrobe updates
By Stephanie Davis-NovakFashion Editor
Fashionably Late
Sheath dress by Max and Cleo
created shown at the Museum!” saidDara Wood, director of Mercaz.
“I am so thrilled at the directionMercaz is going with these hands-on courses that have real end proj-ects. They are teaching our stu-dents skills they may not get
exposed to and giving them thechance to do so through a Jewishlens,” said Wood. “The first class,‘Documentary Film Making,’taught the students how to filmand edit and they were able to pro-duce a documentary about Jewishidentity. I also love the mix ofpairing teachers together. It isn’t
easy to find someone who has theJudaic knowledge and is a profes-sional in the field, and this granthas allowed us to do this – to bringsomething new and innovative toMercaz Hebrew High School.”
Sarah Wasniewski, a Mercazstudent signed up for the art classsaid, “I have always loved art, and
combining painting and Judaismwill be a lot of fun. I am very excit-ed that I can take an art class atMercaz! It would be so meaningfulto have a finished piece of my workdisplayed at the Cincinnati ArtMuseum so others have the oppor-tunity to look at what we’ve beenworking on.”
Another student, Shira Shturmansaid “I wanted to join the classbecause art is something I enjoy alot and it helps me express myself. Ihope to learn more techniques andthink it would be a dream come trueto have my artwork in a museum!”
See the Mercaz website for moreinformation and to register.
MERCAZ from page 1
The U.S. data on the Israeli pop-ulation comes from the 2009American Community Survey, anannual report produced by the U.S.Census Bureau that was releasedearlier this year and updated inrecent weeks. The decennial censusstopped collecting detailed informa-tion such as country of origin after2000; that information is now col-lected and included in the bureau’sannual community surveys.
The survey also reported that27 percent of Israelis in the UnitedStates arrived since 2000. Three-quarters are between the ages of 25and 65. Forty-five percent of theadults have at least an undergradu-ate degree, and more than 80 per-
cent hold white-collar jobs. Andjust to dispel a popular stereotype,only 4.6 percent work in the “pro-duction, transportation and materi-al moving occupations.”
The Israeli Leadership Councilin Los Angeles, an organizationthat promotes communal identityamong local Israeli Jews, says thatabout 250,000 Israelis live in thegreater L.A. region. The council’sfigures are based on informationfrom the Israeli Consulate in LosAngeles, said a spokesperson forthe group. The consulate would notconfirm the figures to JTA.
A UJA-Federation of New Yorkstudy published in February 2009reported about 80,000 people liv-ing in households with at least oneIsraeli adult in New York City and
three suburban counties. DaveMatkowsky, director of theresource center for Jewish diversityat the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan,says his department uses that figure“with caveats,” suggesting that thereal number may be higher.
Aside from New York and LosAngeles, the metropolitan areas ofBoston, San Francisco and Miamialso have significant Israeli popu-lations.
So which numbers are moreaccurate, the census figures or theJewish estimates?
Leonard Saxe, director of theCohen Center for Modern JewishStudies at Brandeis University,notes that many Israelis in theUnited States are here temporarilyand might not be counted as “resi-
dents.”He also says that many people
holding Israeli passports may nothave been born in Israel but in theformer Soviet Union or even theUnited States. They would notshow up in the Census Bureau sta-tistics but would be counted asIsraeli citizens by most other esti-mates, including those of theIsraeli government.
Another discrepancy could bein how Israelis are counted. Israelconsiders as Israelis children bornto Israelis, even if they’ve neverbeen to Israel, Gold noted. Thosechildren would not show up asIsraelis in the U.S. Census figures.
Then there are political sensi-tivities.
“Official estimates of Israelis
abroad, especially those releasedby the Jewish Agency or Ministryof Absorption (versus the moreconservative Central Bureau ofStatistics) are regarded as oftenexaggerated and inconsistent withdata collected via systematicmethods, perhaps because of aneffort to draw attention to the issueof Israeli emigration,” Gold said.
Columbia University sociolo-gist Yinon Cohen has come up withwhat Gold calls “the most carefulestimates,” drawing upon the U.S.Census, the Israeli Central Bureauof Statistics and American Jewishpopulation surveys.
Cohen estimates that between150,000 and 175,000 JewishIsraeli expats were living in theUnited States as of 2000.
POPULATION from page 1
“The vision of people comingto shul on Shabbat with their e-sid-dur just doesn’t cut it,” Rabbi MeirZlotowitz, president of theOrthodox-run publishing house,told JTA.
There are other reasons, too —notably a lag in technology.Amazon’s Kindle is not yetequipped to present Hebrew andEnglish texts on facing pages,which the prayerbooks require, andthe iPad’s capability to do so is“quite limited,” according toZlotowitz.
None of the e-readers can doHebrew-English hyperlinking,whereby a reader of the Hebrewtext could touch a word or phraseand be taken to an English expla-nation. Nor can they cross-refer-ence between the two languages.
Meanwhile, ArtScroll is movingahead with plans to publish digi-tized versions of its weekday prayerbook, as well as the SchottensteinTalmud, as soon as e-readers areable to handle the technology.
“We’re doing all the prepara-tion now, so we’ll be ready as soonas they have the platforms,”Zlotowitz said.
The first of ArtScroll’s e-booksare available now for downloadingto iPads and iPhones throughApple’s iBookstore. They includeself-help titles, novels and books byOrthodox writers such as RabbiAbraham Twerski and EstherJungreis. The first books ofArtScroll’s 14-volume “Daily Doseof Torah” series, which offer dailyJewish lessons taking 18 minutes,also have come out in e-format.
But for now, Zlotowitz says, noShabbat or holiday siddurs.
ArtScroll’s decision puts itsquarely in the middle of the con-versation about Jewish observance
in the digital age, particularly whenit comes to e-readers.
With some experts predictingthe demise of printed books, whatwill observant Jews read onShabbat, when they are forbiddento operate electronic devices, UriFriedman asked in a recent articlein The Atlantic.
“Some are thinking of ways toaccommodate emerging technolo-gy within the structure of tradition-al Sabbath observance while otherswrestle with the implications of theshifting media landscape forJewish law and observance,” hewrote.
One blogger proposed a“Sabbath e-reader” that would turnpages automatically, much like aSabbath elevator stops at each floorin a building so observant Jewsaren’t technically operating it,Friedman said.
Then there is the larger ques-tion, which goes beyond the lawsof Shabbat to the spirit of the day.
“A number stress that, regard-less of legal considerations, theSabbath’s rules and spirit havenever been more important thanthey are today, when technologysaturates our lives,” Friedmanwrote.
DIGITAL from page 1
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010 AUTOS 21
Where else can you get information on the Local, Nationaland International Jewish community without bias?
NAME
ADDRESS
STATE ZIPCITY
CHECK TYPE OFSUBSCRIPTION 1 YEAR, IN-TOWN 1 YEAR, OUT-OF-TOWN LIFETIME
CHECK TYPE OFPAYMENT CHECK VISA MASTERCARD DISCOVER
1 Year, In-town Subscription - $44
1 Year, Out-of-town Subscription - $49
Lifetime Subscription - $500
Fill out the form and mail to:
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE18 W. 9TH ST, STE 2 • CINTI, OH 45202-2037
U.S.MAILU.S.MAIL
The 2011 Porsche Panameracombines the functionality andcomfort of a four-door hatchbacksedan with Porsche performanceand power. Thus the Panameradelivers the best of both worldswith a sports car that is also asedan.
Characteristic of the newPanamera are the black doubleslats on the side air intakes in thefront apron and a rear apron dif-fuser with black-grained finish.The new Panamera is also identi-fiable by the titanium-coloreddouble slats and a rear apron dif-fuser with fins.
Fitted as standard in thePanamera is the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, a.k.a.Porsche-Doppelkupplungsg-etriebe (PDK). PDK has both amanual gearshift and an automaticmode and enables smooth gearchanges with no interruption inthe flow of power.
With PDK, the rear-wheel-drive Panamera can acceleratefrom 0 to 60 mph in only 6.0 sec-onds and has a top track speed of160 mph.
In addition to PDK, the activeall-wheel drive of PorscheTraction Management (PTM) ofthe Panamera 4 has a top trackspeed of 159 mph.
The V6 engine, which is basedon the V8 engine, additionallyfeatures a balance shaft to mini-mize vibrations and ensuresmooth running. The light-alloyengines have cast aluminum pis-tons or forged pistons, making theengine lightweight for reducedfuel consumption and giving thecar a longer service life.
Also available is an automaticstart/stop feature, something nor-mally associated only with hybridvehicles. The function reducesfuel consumption by shutting offthe engine whenever the carcomes to a stop and then restartingit when the light turns green.
The EPA estimates thePanamera’s fuel consumption at18 miles per gallon city, 27 mpghighway and 21 mpg combinedfor the base Panamera, while thePanamera 4 makes 18 mpg city
and 26 highway. The Panamera Sand 4S are both rated at 16 mpgcity, 24 mpg highway, and thePanamera Turbo achieves 15 mpgcity, 23 mpg on the highway.
Drivers can also select differingdriving modes. In Normal mode,the Panamera feels as soft andleisurely as any European sedan.Engaging full Sport mode sharpensnearly every aspect of the drivingdynamics—throttle response, sus-pension firmness and ride height.
Steering is precise, and han-dling is comparable to muchsmaller sports cars. Power can beserved up with muscle-car wallopsor in measured increments. ThePDK transmission fires off gearchanges with urgency when pedal-ing the accelerator hard or withfluid transitions when cruisingleisurely down the highway.
Every 2011 Porsche Panameracomes standard with antilockbrakes (with brake assist), stabilityand traction control, front and rearside airbags, side curtain airbagsand front knee airbags. Ceramic-composite brakes and a rearviewcamera are optional. With the stan-dard brakes, both the Panamera 4Sand Turbo models stopped from 60mph in incredibly short distances:109 feet and 111 feet, respectively.
The Panamera’s interior offersall the luxury one would expectfrom the Porsche brand name,from leather bucket seats to a state-of-the-art audio system with avail-able XM Satellite Radio andBluetooth hands-free interface.The optional PorscheCommunication Management sys-tem is available on the Panameraand Panamera 4 models, and fea-tures a high-resolution touchscreento allow control of multiple inputsincluding a USB interface foriPods and other MP3 players.
The trunk offers 15.7 cubicfeet of storage space, and foldablerear seats offer additional roomfor up to 44.6 cubic feet of totalcargo. An integrated roof rail sys-tem enables you to fit the optionalroof transport system, which canhold up to 165 lbs.
The 2011 Porsche Panamerastarts at $74,400.
2011 Porsche Panamera— a show on the road
2011 Porsche Panamera
WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COMOBITUARIES22
WEILAND, Ruth, age 103, diedon December 25, 2010; 18 Tevet5771.
MUNICK, Wendy Beth, age 44,died on December 27, 2010; 20Tevet, 5771.
GREENLAND, Dorothy Korros
Dorothy Korros Greenland,beloved wife, mother, grandmoth-er and great-grandmother, passedaway November 8, 2010 in
Chicago, Illinois at the age of 95.Born in Middletown, Ohio to
Tillie and Harry Korros, she attend-ed the University of Cincinnati,receiving a scholarship to attendcollege in 1931. She graduatedwith a degree in child developmentfrom the University of Cincinnatiand went on to teach nurseryschool and work as a nurseryschool administrator at the JewishCommunity Center for many years.
She is survived by her hus-band of 69 years, MaxGreenland; her children, Arnold(Shoshana), Philip (Aviva), andHarriet Greenland; her grandchil-dren, Dina, Elana, Shane andBrent, Micah, Shira, Talia andEliza, Gabriel and Jacob; and her
seven great-grandchildren, Meira,Shimon, Mordechai, Noam,Daniel, Aaron, and Moshe.
Mrs. Greenland was a won-derful homemaker, wife, mother,grandmother and great-grand-mother. A true matriarch of herfamily, her life was blessed withnumerous accomplishments andhappy experiences. She was anaccomplished seamstress, knitter,crocheter and needlepointer. Shewas a wonderful cook and bakerand assisted her husband, Max, asan accountant for many years atthe end of his career. She is laidto rest in Shalom Memorial Parkin Arlington, Ill. Donations canbe made to Hadassah or to theNCSY in Chicago, Illinois.
SCHULZINGER, Edward
Edward Schulzinger, age 93,died December 18, 2010. He wasthe beloved husband of the lateCarolyn Schulzinger; devotedfather of Lynn (Jim) Furness ofVersailles, Ky., Leon (LindaPennell) Schulzinger of LosAngeles, Calif., and Rhoda(Rochelle Granat) Schulzingerof Silver Spring, Md.; lovinggrandfather of Geri, Scott,Elizabeth and Anne and great-grandfather of Sam, Layah andJay.
Mr. Schulzinger graduatedfrom Hughes High School andwas active in the alumni club forthe Class of 1935. He attended the
University of Cincinnati, receivinghis BA as a Phi Beta Kappa andalso a JD degree. He practiced lawin Cincinnati for many years. Alongtime member of Adath IsraelSynagogue, Mr. Schulzinger waspresident of B’nai B’rith LodgeNo. 4 from 1953-1954. DuringWorld War II, he served for 45months as a medical corpsman inthe South Pacific and received aBronze Star for service under fire.
The family would appreciatememorial contributions to TheLexington Chapter of Hadassah,c/o Erin Gold, 4201 EvergreenDrive, Lexington, Ky., 40513 orthe Berg Family Fund at CedarVillage, 5467 Cedar VillageDrive, Mason, Ohio, 45040.
DEATH NOTICES
OBITUARIES
Community members ascribethe change to an interview that FidelCastro, the one-time leader of Cubaand one of Chavez’s Communistheroes, gave to an Americanreporter in September in which hemade statements rejecting anti-Semitism. Afew days after the inter-view was published, Chavezrequested a meeting with the mainJewish community organization inthe country, the VenezuelanConfederation of IsraeliteAssociations. Until then,Venezuela’s foreign minister hadacted as a liaison with the Jewishcommunity — stoking concernsthat Jews were viewed as foreignersrather than as Venezuelan citizens.
At the meeting, held Sept. 16,the Jewish confederation presentedthe president with a detailed list of
anti-Semitic statements made onstate-sponsored TV channels in2010 and requested that he makeclear that his remarks criticizingIsrael should not be interpreted as anattack against Jews. They also askedfor a restoration of ties betweenVenezuela and Israel.
“For us, not having relationswith Israel is a major problem, not aminor problem,” said SalomonCohen, president of the Jewish con-federation. “Israel is our spiritualcenter.”
Chavez said he would considerthe requests, according to thosepresent at the meeting, but he hasyet to offer a formal response.However, anti-Semitic expressionsin state-sponsored media have sub-sided.
“Chavez himself publicly reject-ed anti-Semitic manifestations, andfrom this moment, the situation has
‘improved,’ with anti-Semitismremaining at a relatively lowerlevel; in the written press and web-sites, we see a decrease in regards tothe quantity,” said a recently pub-lished Jewish confederation reportthat tracked anti-Semitism inVenezuela from January to October2010.
“I hope that this calm that we areexperiencing now lasts,” Cohensaid.
However, there remain concernsthat events in the Middle East easilycould cause anti-Semitism to resur-face, the report said.
Aside from the political rum-blings, daily Jewish life persistswithout discrimination. The com-munity’s religious and social institu-tions operate freely and security isprovided by the state when request-ed. Club Hebraica, the community’smost visible symbol of Jewish life,
runs a wide variety of educational,cultural, religious and social activi-ties, offering K-12 education, athlet-ics clubs for all ages and culturalevents for the wider community.
But while Venezuelan Jews maynot feel threatened by anti-Semitism,they are threatened by general vio-lence in the country. The number ofviolent civilian deaths in Venezuelain 2009 was almost four times high-er than in Iraq, according to theVenezuela Observatory of Violence.
That’s one of the main reasonsthat Venezuela — a country thatonce offered shelter to Jewishrefugees fleeing Hitler and beck-oned others as a land of opportunity— has seen its Jewish communitydecline by half, to approximately10,000, over the past 10 years. Thattime also coincides with Chavez’spresidency, when rising crime, adeteriorating economy and the
growing pitch of anti-Semitic state-ments in government-sponsoredmedia convinced many it was timeto leave.
Now, Jewish community leaderssay that emigration and aging areproving to be this community’s realchallenges.
“Our numbers are getting small-er, and we’re getting older,” Cohensaid.
Violence is often cited as the pri-mary reason for emigration.
“Anti-Semitism, as such, is notthe community’s main problem,”said Max Sihman, a Jewish businessowner who held economic posts inprevious administrations. “Themain reason for families in the com-munity emigrating is insecurity.Kidnappings are becoming moreintense with each day. Many fami-lies have already sent their childrenabroad.”
VENEZUELEAN from page 8
The government will invest$610 million in reducing green-house gas emissions followingrecent Cabinet approval. Theinvestment, to take place over thenext decade, will put Israel morein line with its commitment at theCopenhagen Climate Summit in
December 2009, in which Israelpledged to adhere to a 20 percentemissions reduction target begin-ning in 2020, according to theMinistry of EnvironmentalProtection.
Under the plan, nearly $333million will be allocated to dis-pose of environmentally unfriend-ly air conditioners and refrigera-
tors. Another nearly $175 millionallocated by the ministry will sup-port investments targeted at thereduction of greenhouse gas emis-sions in the industrial, commercialand public sectors. Some $11 mil-lion will be set aside to promotepioneer projects for new and exist-ing green buildings.
Millions of dollars also will beset aside for education and infor-mation projects to increase aware-ness and promote electricity sav-ings and reductions in greenhousegas emissions by the public, and tointegrate Israeli technologiesaimed at reducing greenhouse gasemissions in the coming twoyears.
Also under the plan, the minis-ter of finance will introduce taxesto promote the reduction of green-house gas emissions, especiallyfor motor vehicles.
“For the first time, Israel’s gov-ernment is promoting a multibil-lion-shekel plan based on concretesteps aimed at advancing Israel’scontribution to greenhouse gasmitigation,” said EnvironmentalProtection Minister Gilad Erdan.“This is a practical plan whichrelates to the life of every citizenand to steps which will support
industry, technological innovationand a response to the universalproblem of global warming.”
Information, in Arabic, pleaseTel Aviv has invested more
than $1.4 million in recent years toupgrade its website and launchedits new Tel Aviv-Jaffa Hebrewwebsite last week.
The new site is “to make CityHall more accessible and toexpand Internet services such asdynamic maps, online payments,and some 30 [other] online servic-es,” according to the city’s 2010budget.
An updated Arabic site isexpected to launch at the end ofthe month, a municipal officialtold Haaretz. The Arabic-languagesite has been neglected for years.
Arab speakers make up about17,000, or 4.3 percent, of thecity’s population. Some $5,000was allocated in 2010 to translateand upgrade the Arabic site,according to Haaretz.
Meanwhile, Arab businesses ineastern Jerusalem may be requiredto add Hebrew signs, if the munic-ipality’s Signage Committeedecides to enforce a 5-year-oldlaw that requires all of the city’s
stores to have signs in Hebrew,The Jerusalem Post reported.
The law also could apply towestern Jerusalem, where manysigns in the downtown area, espe-cially near the Ben Yehuda pedes-trian mall, have signs only inEnglish, to appeal to tourists.
Cell phone cold turkeyWhat is being called the worst
crash in the history of the Israelicellular industry drove the calltraffic on land lines up by 20 per-cent.
The crash of the Cellcom net-work earlier this month affectedsome 3.3 million cell phone users.
Customers had difficulty send-ing and receiving calls. Textingwas not affected by the malfunc-tion, but because many customersturned to texting as an alternativeto phone conversations, the sys-tem overloaded, frequently dis-rupting the messages.
Israelis who had trouble goingcold turkey on their cell phonesflooded Cellcom call centers,which could not provide muchinformation beyond the obvious.
The company has announced itwill refund customers one week’sworth of calls and messages.
ISRAEL from page 10
Since 1864
DODDSMONUMENTSSERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF SOUTHWEST OHIO FOR GENERATIONS
Cincinnati Showroom832 State Route 28Milford, OH 45150
(513) 248-2124www.doddsmonuments.com
HISTORIC HOME OFFICE AND ENGRAVING PLANT, DOWNTOWN XENIA
2011 SPECIAL SECTION.
REACH THE JEWISH SENIOR COMMUNITYWITH YOUR ADVERTISING MESSAGE
Deadline for ad submission is Thursday, January 20Publishes on Thursday, January 27
To Advertise or For More Information,Contact Ted Deutsch at 621-3145 or
