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| April 8 - April 22, 2005 | ||||||||||
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Local StoriesFed Drives New Planning Effort Mark
Arnold MARBLEHEAD — The North Shore Jewish community is taking a major step to re-evaluate the effectiveness of its programs and services with approval April 5 of a strategic planning initiative that could chart the course of organized Jewish life here for years to come. By
a vote of 27-5-3, the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of the
North Shore voted to undertake the initiative, called Project Solel, and
allocated $100,000 over this year and next to develop a new plan of action.
Project Solel — Hebrew for pathfinder — is backed by a blue-ribbon panel of community leaders headed by retired attorney Jerome Somers, a former partner at Goodwin & Procter. Ten members constitute the Project Solel Steering Committee, which is driving the change process. Each member will serve as liaison with a community agency. The project has been endorsed by the professional heads of six of the eight Federation-affiliated agencies, the heads of the Jewish Rehabilitation Center, Hadassah, and the North Shore Hebrew School, and spiritual leaders of nine of the Federation area’s 15 synagogues. In a letter to Federation President Debbie R. Ponn, this group, known as the North Shore Council of Jewish Executives and Rabbis, asked that the Federation take the lead role in coordinating the project as a “community-wide, participatory process.” The group asked that Merritt Mulman, Federation executive director, be assigned as point person on the project, which it described as “the most critical project taken on by this community for the next decade.” Solel’s goal is to find ways to revitalize Jewish life on the North Shore, based on the changing needs and lifestyles of Jewish households. As explained by Somers at the Federation board meeting: “We have had flat [Federation fund raising] campaigns for 10 years. Our agencies are operating in the red or struggling, and we’re offering the ‘same old, same old’ programs. We have no campaign chairman, no successor to our Federation president and we’re not grooming new leaders. We’re in serious trouble as a community. And if we don’t reach out and find ways to attract new people, and people in outlying areas, and learn what our institutions can do to meet the new needs, we won’t survive as a Jewish community.” Opposition to the project centered on several areas: That it was begun without proper authorization of the Federation board, since the consultant began his work in February — weeks before the Federation’s Executive Board or Board of Directors had seen a presentation or been asked to vote on the project; that money is tight and should be raised, preferably privately, before Solel gets underway; that the money allocated to the project will make it more difficult for Federation to meet its annual campaign goal; and that there is no mechanism for enforcing recommendations, however sensible they may prove to be. In addition, some opponents warned that the project will drive away some of its biggest donors, whose support Federation needs to survive. Chief among these — though his name was not mentioned at the meeting — is area philanthropist Robert I. Lappin, whose annual $500,000 gift to Federation averages almost 25 per cent of the total raised in the campaign. “Leading donors are not on board for this plan,” argued board member Peter Lappin, son of Robert Lappin, “and without them, you’ve got a big problem.” He added that the Steering Committee had “no right to hire someone and commit $100,000” for the project without board approval. Contacted at his winter home in Palm Beach, FL, Robert Lappin declined to comment on the record about the board decision or whether he will make his customary annual donation to Federation. Contacted in Chicago where he was consulting, Mr. Friedman told The Journal he had no signed contract and had begun working on the project in February “entirely at my own risk.” “It’s something I felt this community needed to do,” he said. “It’s been totally my exposure up to now.” Friedman was chosen for the job by the Steering Committee in competition with three other consultants. Said Carl Sloane, a Steering Committee member and founder/president of the former consulting firm Temple Barker Sloane: “I had 1,200 consultants who worked for me, and I’d rate Mark Friedman one of the three best I’ve ever seen. And we’re getting him at a bargain rate.” To gather information, Friedman and the Steering Committee plan to undertake a series of individual and group interviews to understand the needs and perceptions of people in all stages of life and Jewish involvement. Somers told the board these will include seniors, young couples – native to the area and new, teens, singles, intermarrieds, unaffiliated and marginally affiliated, major donors, and the disenchanted. All institutions are up for scrutiny, including the Federation itself. Cohen Hillel Academy Head of School Robert Tornberg and Jewish Community Center Executive Director Sandy Sheckman said this initiative is important enough that their agencies would take a smaller Federation allocation next year to free up monies for it, if necessary. Concluded Tornberg: “This community is stuck, with little fiefdoms competing with each other. We duplicate services and staffs in unnecessary ways. It is time to grapple with these issues. If we don’t, we won’t have a community to worry about.” In addition to the interviews, Friedman is gathering data on all agency operations and all services and programs offered by area Jewish agencies to identify trends, duplicate services, and gaps in programming. Out of the data gathering will come a series of options and recommendations to be considered by the Steering Committee. By year’s end, Friedman and Somers say they will have a plan of action for consideration by the Federation Board and other agencies that can be implemented beginning in 2006. One thing not included in the project is a demographic study, which had earlier been regarded as a centerpiece of the effort. “We concluded, after talking to experts, that the benefits wouldn’t justify the cost,” Somers told The Journal.
Reflections on Pope John Paul II Gary
Band Mark Jaffe of Danvers was one of a handful of North Shore Jewish leaders who met Pope John Paul II during his 27-year papacy. “I don’t think there’s any question that [the pope] took huge strides in the advancement of good relations between the Jewish and Catholic communities,” said Jaffe who was on the 1999 Anti-Defamation League trip to the Vatican co-sponsored by the Boston Archdiocese. “He was a pioneer in this regard, and I think that’s something he’ll always be remembered for.” A past chair of the ADL’s North Shore Advisory Com-mittee and a current board member, Jaffe says that if you sit where the ADL sits, with a group of interfaith leaders all working in the same direction, “one of the reasons is that on the Catholic side, their leader said this is the direction we should go.” A former history major at the University of Virginia, Jaffe says that before John Paul’s papacy, he felt a greater disconnect between Jews and Catholics. “There was a time period when church officials condoned anti-Semitism. But thankfully there has been a move away from that, and that is partly attributable to the pope’s leadership. But although great strides have been made, the work is not done. We have to make sure the gains we’ve made are held on to, and that we continue to work for more dialogue and more education so people of different faiths realize there’s a lot of common ground between us.” Dr. Marvin Wilson of Gordon College has worked to build interfaith bridges on the North Shore for over 30 years. He said that one of the reasons the pope, a former philosophy professor, was so strong in his commitment to better interfaith relations was due to his growing up in Poland and knowing what Nazism did to the Polish people, including Jewish friends he lost from childhood. “The firsthand contact he had was still burning in him throughout his papacy,” Wilson said. “The lesson is that Christian-Jewish relations must not be something theoretical, but that we must find ways of coming together and building relationships personally.” Wilson, who has taught some 8,000 students in his years at Gordon, says he hopes the next pope continues the work John Paul began. “I’m not convinced that a pope who comes from Africa or South America would be able to that.” He said a good choice might be Cardinal Ratzinger from Germany, with whom Wilson once spoke at a conference and who he says has done a good amount of work in Christian-Jewish relations. “If a European were to be chosen, I think he would understand what needs to be done the most.” But Wilson said he’s concerned that ideologues, theologians and church bureaucrats can talk about improvements in relations, but the real issue is whether or not this talk filters down to the grassroots. “There are still peasants in Poland who believe in the blood libel,” he said. “Despite the statements of Vatican II, how many of those things have worked down to the person in the pew? At this time of year when churches are talking about Passion texts, what we teach about each other and how we read and teach these texts is very important.” Sonia
Weitz, who was born in Krakow, Poland, survived the Holocaust and returned
to Auschwitz in 1986 with Cardinal Bernard Law and the late Lenny Zakim,
said the pope did a great deal to improve interfaith relations. Rabbi Edgar Weinsberg of Temple Beth El in Swampscott said John Paul was an outstanding world leader. “He inspired many more people than the one billion Catholics he led,” he said. “He demonstrated a kinship with the Jewish people by his visit with the chief rabbi in Rome, the condemnation of worldwide anti-Semitism and his willingness to meet with Jewish delegations. And by reiterating what John the 23rd stated at Vatican II, ‘I am Joseph your brother,’ in that sense he was good for the Jews.” Jim Rudolph of Swampscott was also part of the ADL delegation to the Vatican in 1999, along with some 60 other “pilgrims.” Echoing the ADL statement, Rudolph said, “It is safe to say that more change for the better took place during the 27 years of his papacy than in the last 2000 years.“ He described meeting with the pope as an incredible experience. “Pope John Paul was truly an exceptional religious leader. The fact that he spoke about the evil of anti-Semitism, apologized for and shared reports on the Holocaust from the Vatican archives, was remarkable. I hope whoever the new pope is has the same approach to Catholic-Jewish relations.” Rabbi David Meyer of Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead said, “The relations between the Jewish people and those of the Catholic faith were greatly improved because of the vision and dedication of the pope. As news of his imminent passing came to us last Sabbath eve, his name was included in our prayers for those who have passed for peace and rest.” Rabbi Meyer never met the pope, but saw him pass by on a visit he made to San Francisco. “The fact that he acknowledged and called upon his people to make acts of repentance for acts committed against Jews provides a clear and genuine desire for reconciliation. It was not only an act of vision, but also of bravery. He was certainly a man of principles.” Monsignor Paul Garrity, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Lynn, believes John Paul II was a master of action. “He not only talked about reconciliation and healing, but lived it. By traveling to Israel and speaking out to many groups on the failings of Catholics in general, I think John Paul was an inspirational figure in life, and will become even more so in death as people begin to reflect on his legacy.” Padraic O’Hare is a professor of Religious and Theological Studies and the director of the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations at Merrimack College in Andover. “The utterly radical and historical reverence, the passion for forgiveness and reconciliation, and the desire to do things together as spiritual companions that Pope John Paul directed at Jews and upon the hearts of Christians, will arguably be what most historians will say was the most epochal achievement to come out of his papacy.” Holocaust Study Inspires Teen to Write Poetry Susan
Jacobs GEORGETOWN
— Last year, Alyssa Rosenthal was the only Jew in her seventh grade
class at Georgetown Middle/High School. Like the Tennessee teens portrayed
in the moving documentary Paper Clips, most of Alyssa’s classmates
knew next to nothing about the Holocaust. When her public school class began a unit on the Holocaust, she arranged to have the Hungarian native come and speak to her classmates. Many of the students’ parents also attended the assembly, which was held last year. “We had been reading books about the Holocaust, but it was really special for the other kids in my grade, and their parents, to hear a firsthand account of what really happened,” says Rosenthal. After the presentation, students were encouraged to write poetry about the Holocaust. The assignment was optional, but many students decided to participate. Alyssa lives in Georgetown with her mother and father, Debbie and Bill, and her younger sister Jessie, 11, and brother Jake, 9. Although she likes to write, she doesn’t think she will choose poetry as a career. The 13-year-old enjoys dancing and playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse. Pain “Please
don’t go,” the little boy cried Tikkun Olam in Appalachia Gary
Band Last summer, Steve August of Beverly was looking for a program where he and his son Ben, 13, could travel to another state and do some kind of community service project together. They ended up going on one sponsored by the First Baptist Church in Beverly where they traveled to Bacone College in Oklahoma, a largely Native American college, and worked fixing up some dorms and landscaping. Joking that they were the token Jewish family on the trip, when they returned to their community and told members of their temple, B’nai Abraham, about it, temple president Deb Willwerth asked if they could develop something similar for members who may want a similar experience. Finding no specifically inter-generational Jewish-based service trips, August did find one with an interfaith focus. The Interfaith Consortium is a non-profit organization that buys blighted properties and rehabilitates the homes for safe and affordable housing in the Appalachian Mountains, formed in 1969 by a priest, rabbi and three ministers. Liking what he read, August and his son signed up for a trip to Cumberland, Maryland, an eight-hour drive from the North Shore, from August 14-20, during which participants will work to refurbish houses along with professional carpenters. Cost
for the four-day project is $150, and will be hosted by a minister of
a local church, in whose basement the volunteers will sleep on Army cots.
Meals will be taken in a cafeteria at a nearby hospital, and the workday
will run from 9-12 and 1-3. Afterwards, everyone is free to explore wherever
they choose. So far, he has received some response and interest from other members of B’nai Abraham, but in expanding his outreach to Boston, a Reconstructionist rabbi from West Roxbury and her daughter have signed on. “We need 8-10 people to make it real, but there is room for 25,” August said. But
no matter how many Jewish mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, husbands
and wives or single people sign up, in the 30 years of the program’s
existence, this will be the first Jewish group participating. Although
the town of Cumberland, population 21,000, is somewhat depressed econ-om-ically,
it was once a thriving mill town that is trying to rebuild and attract
new business around the high tech and service industries. Cumberland’s first docu-mented mention of Jewish settlers occurred in 1816. By 1853, 12 families resided in the city, which then had a population of 6,150. A congregation was established in April of that year, and the Maryland legislature incorporated the B’er Chayim Congregation the following month. August says that the mitzvah of tikkun olam is a “call to action to help end injustice and make the world a better place.” “For people in my generation, it’s a spiritual way to express Judaism. And for this generation, it’s a way for our kids to experience hands-on the values they’re taught in Hebrew school. We should be particularly compelled to understand housing issues, especially at this time of year when we remember the Exodus. We’re at the point when we need to reach out to the non-Jewish community, not just by writing a check, but by being there for people who welcome us and could benefit from our help.” The first meeting to organize participants for the trip will be held on April 17 at August’s house in Beverly at 1:30. Call him at 978-697-7673.
Pope John Paul II and the Jews Ruth
Ellen Gruber ROME — During his papacy, Pope John Paul II repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism and met frequently with Jewish religious and lay leaders. He also took certain steps that Jews criticized. Here are a few of the milestones in his relations with Jews and Israel. 1920s-1930s — Karol Jozef Wojtyla is born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920. As he grows up, he has Jewish friends, neighbors and classmates. 1940s — He works in a Nazi slave labor camp, studies secretly for the priesthood in Nazi-occupied Poland and witnesses Nazi persecution of Jews. In January 1945, he aids a starving Jewish girl who had just been liberated from a Nazi forced labor camp. 1950s-1970s — He witnesses anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic policy by the Communist regime in Poland, including the forced exodus of some 20,000 Jews in 1968. Oct. 16, 1978 — He is elected the first non-Italian pope in more than 450 years. June 1979 — During his first return trip to Communist Poland, he prays at Auschwitz and pays homage to Holocaust victims. April 13, 1986 — John Paul crosses the Tiber River to visit the main synagogue in Rome. He embraces Rome’s chief rabbi, describes an “irrevocable covenant” between God and the Jews and declares that Jews are Christians’ older brothers. June 25, 1987 — The pope angers Jews by granting an audience to Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, sparking a crisis in Catholic-Jewish relations. Dec. 28, 1993 — The Vatican and Israel establish full diplomatic ties. Oct. 31, 1997 — In a major speech, the pope says Christians failed during the Holocaust. March 16, 1998 — The Vatican issues “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah,” a major document on the Holocaust. Its aim was to promote “an awareness of past injustices by Christians to the Jewish people” among “Catholics in those countries that were far removed by geography and history from the scene of the Shoah (Holocaust), and encourage their participation in the present efforts of the Holy See to promote throughout the Church a new spirit in Catholic-Jewish relations.” However, it disappointed many Jews by defending the wartime behavior of Pope Pius XII and for failing to “make the linkage between 1,000 years of the Christian teaching of contempt of Jews and Judaism with the anti-Jewish climate in Christian Europe, where the Shoah took place.” 1999 — A six-member team of Catholic and Jewish historians is appointed to review published Vatican documentation on the role of the Holy See and Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust. March 12, 2000 — On what he declares a “day of request for forgiveness” for Catholics, John Paul asks forgiveness for the past sins of the Church, including its treatment of Jews. March 20-26, 2000 — Marking the Christian millennium, the pope makes a pilgrimage to Israel. He visits holy sites in Israel and the Palestinian territories, visits Yad Vashem and prays at the Western Wall, where he slips a note into the cracks, reading: “We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the People of the Covenant.’’ Sept. 3, 2000 — The pope beatifies Pope Pius IX, the 19th-century pontiff who was the last pope to keep Jews in the ghetto and who was behind the 1858 kidnaping of a young Jewish boy who had been secretly baptized as a baby. On the same day, however, he beatified Pope John XXIII, the much-beloved pontiff who died in 1963 and whose five-year reign marked a turning point in church history and in Jewish-Catholic relations. February 2003 — The Vatican opens a number of documents relating to the Vatican’s relations with prewar Nazi Germany to the public. These include diplomatic documents from 1922 to 1939, held in the Vatican’s Secret Archives, when Eugenio Pacelli, who became Pope Pius XII, served as Vatican ambassador in Berlin and Vatican Secretary of State. Jan. 18, 2005 — John Paul holds an audience with more than 100 rabbis and cantors from the United States and other countries, who thank him for his efforts in bettering relations between Catholics and Jews. Break the Passover Breakfast Blues with Savta’s Pesach Granola Susan
Jacobs SWAMPSCOTT — Passover breakfasts can be a challenge. No matter how much one might love matzah brei, it gets tiring after a week of daily consumption. Debra Offenhartz of Swampscott has a cure for the matzah brei blues. Using an old family recipe, Offenhartz has created a delicious kosher-for-Passover granola. The product, Savta’s Pesach Granola, is dedicated to the memory of Offenhartz’s late mother-in-law, Ruth Eulau, whose grandchildren and great-grandchildren affectionately called her Savta (grandmother in Hebrew). The pareve cereal is made from all kosher ingredients and includes matzah farfel from Israel, almonds, coconut, honey, margarine, cottonseed or olive oil and brown sugar. In addition to the traditional blend, this year Offenhartz has added a version with dried cranberries. Both retail for $9.95/pound. More than simply a breakfast food, Savta’s can be sprinkled on top of chicken or fish, baked into Passover-style muffins or cakes, or mixed in with yogurt or ice cream. The tasty snack can also be eaten out-of-hand and sent to school in lunchboxes. A big key to Savta’s popularity is the fact that it is fresh. “This is not meant as a put-down, but most of the packaged Passover products at Stop & Shop (like the mandel bread and kichels), were made last year after Sukkot. To assure a long shelf life, preservatives were added to the product. My granola is different in that it’s fresher and healthier,” says Offenhartz. “It is also something new.” Offenhartz believes that because kosher-for-Passover ingredients are expensive and it is difficult to get the proper kosher certification, few new items are introduced. “Yet people are literally and figuratively hungry for something new,” she says. When she started out three years ago, she made the granola herself in small batches in the kitchen of Congregation Ahabat Sholom in Lynn. The business grew so large, however, that she had to move the baking to a professional facility that could manufacture and package approximately 10,000 lbs. of granola. She currently contracts with Hirsch Brothers Bakery in Brooklyn, which still makes the granola in small batches under strict Orthodox supervision where it is OK certified kosher, as well as certified kosher-for-Passover. They package it in one-pound bags and shrink-wrapped boxes, and ship it out to stores across the country. Locally, Savta’s Pesach Granola will be available at Larry Levine’s in Peabody, Whole Foods Market in Swampscott, Shubie’s in Marblehead, Caffe Graziani in Salem, and The Butcherie in Brookline, among other locations. Offenhartz points out that tzedakah is an important component of her mission. “We proudly donate one percent of our proceeds to WorldManna.org to help feed the hungry. The money is earmarked for Meir Panim soup kitchens throughout Israel,” she says. In addition, Offenhartz sends free granola to US military personnel in Iraq, and donates packages to local food pantries and shelters. Offenhartz also sells Savta’s granola at a discount to local schools and organizations, which can then use it as a fundraiser. This year, her generosity will benefit Cohen Hillel Academy, Prozdor, the JCC in Marblehead, and the Jewish Journal (where she will sample and sell the product at Neshama Carlebach’s benefit concert April 17). Although her product is currently distributed in stores across the United States, she envisions opening or contracting with a bakery in Israel so she can also export Savta’s Pseach Granola to Europe next year. In addition, she would like to release a line of other food products for Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah and Purim. They would all be based upon recipes from the late Savta. “This business is a tribute to my mother-in-law, who was very family and community-oriented,” says Offenhartz. “She was also the best baker and cook that I ever knew.” Savta’s Pesach Granola can also be ordered online at www.savtas.com. Gotta Haggadah? A Round-Up of Interesting Passover Haggadot Susan
Jacobs Each
Passover, families drag out their tattered copies of the Maxwell House
Haggadah that their mother (or grandmother) got for free years ago at
the butcher or supermarket to retell the ancient tale of our exodus from
Egypt. “The Maxwell House Haggadah no longer encompasses the spirit of retelling the Passover story because it’s very formal, and there’s no flexibility in it. However if you grew up with it, it has tradition — and if it works for you, then use it,” he says. Filler is a haggadah maven who has more than two dozen in his ever-expanding collection. Rather than rely upon one book when leading his family in the Passover seder, he cherry-picks favorite sections from a variety of sources, photocopies the pages, and creates his own unique manifesto. Filler
is not alone, as many people are seeking ways to make the Passover seder
more interactive and relevant. Filler
describes how Ron Wolfson, author of The Art of Jewish Living: The Passover
Seder (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000), challenges people to set up a
tent, dress in robes and sandals, sit on rugs, and conduct a Bedouin-style
seder. “The haggadah is one of the oldest, codified books we have — it is even older than the Mishnah, Yet it has evolved over time. We should think of it as a lesson plan designed to engage every learner, at every level,” says Filler. “My very favorite haggadah, which covers everything from matzah balls to afikomen, is The Family Participation Haggadah: A Different Night by Noam Zion and David Dishon (Shalom Hartman Inst, 1997). It is full of ideas, essays and activities to make your seder unique and interactive; whether you are leading a one hour, bare bones event, or a five hour extravaganza,” says Filler. The non-sectarian book has a complimentary leader’s guide, and is also available in a compact edition. To
engage the children, Filler recommends making origami frogs, wearing masks
and even showing part of Dreamworks’ Prince of Egypt movie. He suggests
playing games, singing songs, or staging a puppet show. Go around the
table and discuss “What I Hated About Being a Slave.” Have
someone dress up as Elijah and ring the doorbell. By creating a fun and interactive seder, Filler believes you can hold off the dreaded Fifth Question, which is: When Do We Eat? Here are some other interesting haggadot to consider: Promised
Land Haggadah by Lynn Lebow Nadeau (Modern Memoirs Publishing,
1997) The
Jewish World Family Haggadah by Shoshana Silberman (ibooks,
$9.95) Sybil Kaplan contributed to this report. People in the News
Arts & EntertainmentMyla Goldberg: ‘I Am a Writer, Therefore I Write’ Lisa
Alcalay Klug Much like a literary magpie, Myla Goldberg gathers eclectic observations into a multifaceted mosaic. Her latest work, Time’s Magpie: A Walk in Prague, is a collection of essays that expresses Goldberg’s thoughts on a city filled with medieval treasures, communist shadows and plenty of contemporary quirks. It’s an appropriate topic for Goldberg, not only because she spent a year living in Prague after graduating from Oberlin College in 1993, but also because this award-winning novelist is a somewhat offbeat character herself. Dressed in vintage-style, olive-colored felt pants, printed shirt and a green cardigan, Goldberg recently sat down for a chat on a snowy Brooklyn day in Park Slope’s Tea Lounge. Pitched forward, with fists to chin for much of the interview, Goldberg’s simple gamine haircut frames her pale face and easy smile. She positively glows at the prospect of what looks to be her banner year, and readily shares the story of her shift from a freelance reader for TV movies to an award-winning writer; from an unknown Prague expat to a successful author. Goldberg sprang onto the literary scene in 2001 with her bestselling first novel, Bee Season, which earned a handful of awards for fiction and accolades for its poignant story of a Jewish family in distress. Fox Searchlight is currently in post-production on a feature-length film version of the book, which features a brother and sister who explore spirituality as their parents’ marriage deteriorates. Her next book, Wickett’s Remedy, is set in Boston, mostly during the 1918 influenza epidemic. Five years in the making, it is due out from Doubleday in October 2005. Before starting her next writing project, Goldberg will teach writing at Columbia University, and is expecting the release of a children’s book she wrote in college called Catching the Moon (Arthur A. Levine Books). Thanks to her many recent achievements, Goldberg, 33, has become the primary breadwinner in her family. She is now a homeowner with her non-Jewish husband of four years, Jason Little, a cartoonist and author of a graphic novel, Shutterbug Follies (Doubleday). Little, Goldberg and their one-year-old daughter Zelie – named for a character in an Honore de Balzac novel – live in Kensington, a diverse section of Brooklyn. Although her Bee Season Jewish characters have rather common names, such as Eliza and Aaron, Goldberg wanted to carry on her parents’ tradition of providing an unusual moniker. Hers is pronounced Mai-LAH. “My parents just made it up with sounds they like,” she explained. “It was sort of a gauntlet.” When it comes to raising Zelie, Goldberg and Little share the parenting almost according to formula. Before motherhood, Goldberg treated her writing like a 9 to 5 (or sometimes 10 to 4) job. “That was the only way,” she says. Now she puts in a six-hour work day, five days a week, and she and Little alternate half-day childcare shifts. Born into a Reconstruc-tionist Jewish family from Laurel, Maryland, Goldberg usually celebrates a Pesach Seder with her family and attends synagogue on Yom Kippur. “I think of myself as a secular person, but I don’t exclude spirituality. I don’t think they are diametrically opposed,” she says. “My spirituality comes from an abiding humanism that is very much defined by my Judaism – that historical and philosophical outlook.” With the arrival of Zelie, Goldberg anticipates her relationship with Judaism to broaden somewhat. Although she isn’t a member of a synagogue, she expects to join in more communal activities. “Now that I have a daughter, I would love her to have a sense of Jewish community” — without necessarily expressing that through religious observance. “In New York,” Goldberg says, “there are a lot of people who think a lot like I do about Jewish identity.” As she explains, “Writing is as much a part of me as any other internal organ.” She wants to try every form of writing, including theater and short stories. But “outside of getting published (and the aforementioned winning of every award), I don’t really think about it in terms of it ‘taking’ me anywhere, any more than I’ve thought of my pancreas taking me anywhere. I’m a writer, therefore I write.” Jewish Novel to Hit Big Screen, with Richard Gere Lisa
Alcalay Klug When Doubleday published Myla Goldberg’s debut novel, Bee Season in 2001, the cover featured an iconic Webster’s Dictionary-like cover. The book flew off the shelves, becoming a best-seller and earning Goldberg, a former freelance reader of television scripts, a handful of awards. Four years later, Goldberg’s storytelling is now due to hit the silver screen, thanks to a screenplay by Naomi Fomer. On September 30, 2005, Fox Searchlight plans to release Bee Season the film. Actors Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche star as parents of a troubled brother and sister who explore spirituality as their family life deteriorates. There’s already buzz of an Oscar contention. The jump from print to the big screen is an admirable step for Goldberg, an aficionado of independent films, who once predicted her book would make a “good indie feature.” At the center of Bee Season is nine-year-old Eliza Neumann. Her bittersweet, coming-of-age story is woven into a modern-day twist on the Talmudic story of four rabbis who entered the “orchard” of mysticism. One dies. One goes insane. One becomes an apostate and only one returns with his faith intact. Portrayed by newcomer Flora Cross, Eliza is a mediocre student who unexpectedly sweeps her school’s spelling bee. In the original, her parents are Jewish and her father leads a congregation. In the upcoming film, directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel recast Eliza’s father as a Jewish college professor portrayed by Gere. The mental health of his Catholic wife, played by Binoche, grows increasingly unstable as the story unfolds. To avoid dealing with his family’s growing dysfunction, Gere’s character immerses himself in his daughter’s training for a national spelling bee, supplementing her studies with sophisticated, mystical meditation practices. Meanwhile, Eliza’s on-screen older brother Aaron, played by first-time actor Max Minghella, son of Cold Mountain director Anthony Minghella, begins to fall for the cult practices of his Hare Krishna girlfriend, played by Kate Bosworth. In preparation for convincing on-screen performances, Gere and his on-screen kids were tutored in proper Hebrew pronounciation on location in Berkeley, Calif. by local veteran educator Judy Massarano. Freelance writer Lisa Alcalay Klug is a former staff writer for the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times and a contributor to the New York Times and other national publications. She may be reached at LISAKLUG@aol.com.
Editorial Plunging Into An Uncertain Future The North Shore Jewish Community has just embarked, with some trepidation, on a journey into the future. It’s an uncertain future, and by taking the plunge in the way that it has (see story on page one), it has alienated, hopefully not permanently, some of the people it most depends on to finance its programs and services. The Jewish Federation of the North Shore will coordinate the strategic planning initiative known as Project Solel (pathfinder) with the assistance of veteran consultant Mark H. Friedman of Swampscott and a volunteer Steering Group of lay leaders, headed by retired attorney Jerome Somers. The initiative aims to identify how the needs of Jews on the North Shore are changing and recommend how our institutions need to change and reorganize to meet those needs. We believe this effort is essential and overdue. For about a decade, this community has been losing ground. The numbers of affiliated Jews here is in decline. Many of our institutions — synagogues, community centers, Jewish day school, newspaper, social-service agency, and many others — are struggling to keep their doors open. The Federation, which supports the agencies, lacks leadership successors for several of its key posts and finds it increasingly difficult to raise adequate funds. However flawed the process of decision-making may have been, we as a community desperately need to reach out to discover: What are we doing that works? What is not working? Why? Whom should we be serving that we’re not serving? How can our institutions cooperate more and compete less? How can we get people involved in organized Jewish life rather than see increasing numbers of Jews remain on the sidelines, unaffiliated and unidentified? Right now we have questions. Through the work of Solel, we hope by year’s end to begin finding answers. The future of this Jewish community depends on those answers. In Memory of Pope John Paul II A humble man, a man of peace, a great humanitarian. There’s little we can add to the encomiums that have been offered in tribute to the long-time leader of the Roman Catholic Church, who died April 2. Except to say that the world has lost a towering figure and that we as Jews are better off for his having reached out to us. — Mark R. Arnold
I was Bushwhacked at a Hadassah Function
First, don’t get upset! I love Hadassah and its hospitals in Jerusalem. (Two of my grandchildren were born there.) A Hadassah event was the place, not the cause, of my bushwhacking. [Bushwack: to attack suddenly from a place of concealment; ambush.] Second, every word below is true; no Purim spoof here. Three weeks ago, I happily attended the Hadassah evening commemorating the history of Revere Beach, my hometown. The conversation at our seven-person table was friendly, with lots of laughs and childhood memories of Revere Beach. I had a pleasant exchange with a guy my age sitting across from me who grew up in Chelsea. I even asked him if he knew what had happened to the Chelsea girl I had taken to my Revere High School prom but hadn’t seen for more than 40 years. All was fun until I stood up to leave and one woman mentioned that I write a column for the Jewish Journal. The Chelsea guy jumped up like a horse charging out the gate at Suffolk Downs, declaring: “The Jewish Journal is written by a bunch of left-wing, commie, pinkos.” Wow! I didn’t expect that. The hour was late. My defenses were down. Still, those were insulting fighting words and in Revere, in my day, we did not take insults from Chelsea guys. Yet, I didn’t revert to the old days; jump on him and beat him up. I responded: “What are you talking about? Who are you talking about?” (“Whom,” correct English, somehow didn’t roll off my tongue.) He didn’t have a name to give me. I searched my own brain to find the most left-wing writer from our pages, but nobody comes close to his allegation and name-calling. The Chelsea guy showed skill as a verbal fighter. He swerved right over to President Bush. “Jews ought to be grateful to Bush, the only president never to meet with Arafat, the most pro-Israel president we have ever had. Instead, the left wing, commie pinkos voted for Kerry.” At that point, I realized that he might be talking about me and my pre-election column on why I thought Bush would (should) lose to Kerry. Most important, my experience shows that kind of vitriol can never be countered successfully in an argument. I had about as much chance of convincing President Bush to resign the presidency, convert to Judaism and make aliyah. This Chelsea guy is not one of a kind. There are others, though I hope the numbers are small, who believe the same, and they can influence opinion. That’s why I want to give him a public message. Dear Angry Chelsea Guy: Calling something or somebody “left-wing, commie, pinko” is about as useful as bringing a bagel to a Passover Seder. It doesn’t work and won’t chew. Shall I call you a “right-wing, fascist, storm trooper”? Wouldn’t that be a great contribution to any discussion? Senator Joe McCarthy and his minions spread the pinko mantra in the 1950s. Bad stuff. Today, hate groups and crazed bloggers use the term, and half the time they add the final word “Jew” to “left-wing, commie, pinko.” Do you really want to belong in that company? Grateful to a politician? Most Jewish-Americans hope the U.S. and Israel’s interests and values will coincide, but we are not — at least most of us are not — one-issue voters. Our Russian ancestors had to appear grateful to the Tsar when he stopped pogroms for a month or two. Today, in America, grateful is what politicians need to feel towards their voters and supporters, not vice versa. We need to talk. Ghosts and the Miracle of Israel
If you can’t see the ghosts, you miss the most meaningful parts of the Israel experience, I think. On our trip there last week, I saw besotted Zionists who wept and knelt to kiss the holy ground. “I’ve never seen anyone kiss the ground when they get out of the plane,” says my son Alex. “Now that they have a jet way and a real airport, there’s nothing to kiss.” I explained. “But in the old days, Alex, people kissed the ground.” “And they didn’t sing Hevenu Shalom Aleichem on the plane, either.” “They didn’t?” I asked rhetorically. When you see ghosts, you can also hear the music. Alex walked through the airport with a determination to collect his luggage, convert dollars to shekels, and catch a sherut to Jerusalem. I was walking at a slower pace, admiring the beautiful new international terminal built in the midst of the Intifada. Seen from the point of view of the ghosts, Israel is a magical place that converts Jewish tears into sunshine. Every few feet, there is a young soldier with an M16 slung over his/her shoulder; I pass through metal detectors and am searched at every store, every restaurant and movie, yet never do I feel as free and as alive as I do in my Jewish state. While taciturn and quiet in the states, I am a chatterbox in Israel. I start conversations with total strangers, just for the kick of sharing a Jewish language with them. Alex loves another Israel, as entrenched as the Beatles and as commonplace as television. In Alex’s Israel, the Holocaust is a museum visit and Ben Yehuda Street is a cool place to be in Jerusalem. And it is not haunted with refugees, vulnerability, or trauma. Alex’s Israel is a given, something to be assumed, a fait accompli. We are in Netanya, having a Purim seudah at a Chinese Restaurant, part of a sprawling hamula (Arabic for tribe) that fills the room and keeps three waitresses hopping. I point out our elderly cousins, the first of four generations represented here. “Ali, after the war, when Sam and Nehama were engaged, Sam couldn’t find the energy to get married. He lost so much family; he had experienced so much of the Holocaust that he had very little desire to live.” Alex glanced at our host, a cherry-cheeked great grandfather kitzeling one of his great-grandchildren. It was difficult to picture him as the gaunt survivor of Hitler’s genocide. “Sam didn’t know what to do,” I told him, “so he went to a rabbi and asked how he could possibly pick up the pieces of his life. The rabbi told him to read Parshas Noach, which he did. And in Noach, Sam found a kindred spirit, someone who had survived a great cataclysm and had little will to go forward.” I explained to Alex what Sam had once explained to me, how Noach didn’t want to leave the ark, and how difficult it was for him to resume a life when the world he had known no longer existed. Noach felt the pain of surviving his contemporaries, which was great. But then he began to experience an enormous sense of responsibility to the future. Who else was left to rebuild the earth that God had destroyed?” That Sam and Nehama chose to repopulate their world and join their fortunes with those of the Jewish people despite and because of the Holocaust is the miracle that placed this thriving hamula around the table. Out of a curse, they had forged a blessing. From pain, they had carved exquisite joy. And perhaps, in this little visit to a Chinese restaurant in Netanya, my son had glimpsed one of the ghosts that make Israel such a compelling and meaningful experience. Jewish Mother Faces Cell Phone Crisis
“We need to send your cell phone out to be fixed and you can have it back it one month,” the customer friendly representative informs me. “And you can get a loaner phone in a week,” she smiles. I guess she has no clue she is dealing with an edgy Jewish mother whose very existence depends on being available to her children 24/7. Doesn’t she know that at any given moment I could snap? I stand up very tall and try to look menacing wearing my daughter’s bubblegum pink fleece sweatshirt. “I am very disappointed,” I snarl before reciting a brief description of the volume of business my family bestows upon the company, along with the merits of good customer service. “Blah, blah, blah,” was all she hears. She gives me a blank stare and I dramatically exit the store expecting her to run after me with a brand new phone, car charger and chocolate. Funny, she never budges. I want to call my own mother and tattle on the mean lady, but alas, I have no phone. Seems like the Jewish mother voodoo is not 100% effective in the secular world. Several months ago I visited the same store, where I witnessed a more senior member of the tribe screeching at the customer service representative about her bill. She pointed a well-manicured finger and talked in a tone reminiscent of the shofar heralding the Yom Kippur fast. “My son is a lawyah in New Jersey and he will be calling your supervisah,” she bellowed. Her husband trembled in the corner and my dog hid under a chair. I was ready to hand her over my cell phone, credit card and a half-eaten bran muffin, but this salesperson was steadfast in his rejection. There is no wiggle room for exceptions. Jewish mother guilt just doesn’t carry the same clout these days. I am thinking a branding campaign may be in order to elevate our status in the family and the community-at-large. Perhaps we need to jettison the negative guilt formula and come up with a more positive and engaging way to think of Jewish mothers — more like fortunetellers, mind readers, planners and organizers. Powerful movers and shakers that can make things happen with a stare or a shrug. Then maybe I could get a new cell phone in a hip color. I leave the store thinking of possible choices for the image campaign, but soon panic sets in as I feel that my children are trying to call my phone. I flash forward and imagine Rachel telling her own daughter, “And I remember the day I was standing in front of the high school trying to call your grandmother when a rabid Rottweiler bit my leg. I called and called but she never picked up.” And Aunt Emily would pipe in, “That very same day I left a voice mail for Bubbe that I needed to be at tryouts early but she showed up late and I missed my chance for the lead in the play. You know the other Emily in my class, the one that’s starring in Hollywood, her mother picked up her cell phone and she got the lead.” I accelerate and speed towards the school as my anxiety level reaches new heights. The real irony is that I’m early and have to sit in my car and watch the raindrops splatter on the windshield. I see Emily sprint to the car and smile. I smile back knowing that even without the darn phone, we’re hopelessly connected.
John Paul II: ‘Not Just Historic, but Heroic’ MARK
H. MULGAY Mark
Mulgay is a member of the Board of Overseers ofThe Jewish Journal and
Jewish Family Service.
For a Jew, the institution of the papacy is a foreign concept. So one is tempted to ask: Why should the death of a pope be significant to us? Despite the lack of an institutional bond with the papacy, many of us still feel a sense of loss for John Paul II. We had disagreements with the man, to be sure, but we need to look at the bigger picture, and in this case, that picture was of a man who could teach lessons to all of humanity, regardless of creed. Karol Wojtyla was a product of his times in the best sense of the word. Born in southern Poland, he grew up in an environment where Jews and Catholics were intermingled and interacted in each others’ lives. As a child, he had many Jewish friends. An Israeli daily published a letter written by a Jewish childhood friend of the young Karol testifying not only to the closeness between the future pope and the Jews of his community, but also to the reunion of these old friends when John Paul made his pilgrimage to Israel in 2000. They maintained a personal correspondence ever since. As a young man, he was profoundly influenced by the destruction of the Jews of Poland and Europe. A more cynical witness might have ascribed the decimation of European Jewry to historical errors of the Jews and found theological rationale for it. But he preferred throughout his life to drive theology towards building bridges and mending the ways of the past that led to such wholesale destruction. A Polish professor from Krakow’s ancient Jagiellonian University told me nearly 20 years ago of his personal experience as a seminary student of Wojtyla’s, about the future pope’s real love for Jews, his respect for Judaism, and his pain over the Shoah. John Paul II may not have been a trailblazer when it came to building relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Jews. That honor must rest with John XXIII, who in the early 1960s convened the Second Vatican Council that promulgated numerous reforms, among them Nostra Aetate, a document that removed the basis for anti-Semitism from the theology and teachings of the Church. But if not a trailblazer, John Paul II was the enforcer in ways that few could imagine. He not only talked about relations with Jews, he set personal examples. In 1986, he visited Rome’s major synagogue and embraced its rabbi. In his travels, he sought out leaders of Jewish communities. He established diplomatic ties with the State of Israel, an act that in fact defied the old theology of supercessionism, which believed that the Jews were exiled from their homeland for rejecting Jesus. And in a poignant moment, a humble pope stood alone, dwarfed by the stones of the Kotel, and prayed for forgiveness — and even stuck a note between its cracks. Several papal pronouncements declared anti-Semitism “a sin against God and man” and raised questions about the practice of proselytizing. And in our own greater Boston community, let us not forget how he honored Leonard Zakim, himself a builder of bridges, shortly before Zakim’s untimely death. To recount the ways in which he made efforts to heal the scars left by two millennia of hatred and bloodletting was not just historic, it was heroic. That heroism was already evident as a young priest who returned a Jewish child in the foster care of Christians during the Shoah to his Jewish family. The pontificate of John Paul II did not stop at the work towards reconciliation between Catholics and Jews. This pope possessed a deep love for humanity and a profound drive towards social justice. It was not above this man, cloaked in the regalia of his high office, to sit in prayer with prisoners or to reach out to the downtrodden in society. He used his office to speak out against repressive regimes in ways that few religious leaders have done. Certainly, there were moments of conflict between this pope and the Jewish community. But no one could ever accuse him of anti-Semitic animus. The following comment, made before a Jewish group, perhaps captures the spirit of his reign and his work towards reconciliation: “I am convinced, and I am happy to state it on this occasion, that the relationships between Jews and Christians have radically improved in these years. Where there was ignorance and therefore prejudice and stereotypes, there is now growing mutual knowledge, appreciation and respect. There is, above all, love between us; that kind of love, I mean, which is for both of us a fundamental injunction of our religious traditions….Love involves understanding. It also involves frankness and the freedom to disagree in a brotherly way where there are reasons for it.” There is a tension in some traditional religious communities, Jews among them, to isolate the community from “outsiders” to protect it from influences of the outside world. There is also a fundamental flaw in such a mindset. While one always runs a risk through exposure to outside ideas, perhaps one runs a greater risk by fostering ignorance, which fosters hatred, which fosters bloodshed. From the openness of Karol Wojtyla and the Jews of his native Wadowice, the world would learn lessons of hope for humanity, the dignity of difference and the respect for that which was created in the Divine image. May his successors to the throne of St. Peter have the strength and courage to carry on in that spirit. Yehi zichro baruch. May his memory be a blessing.
Senator Robert Byrd’s Record In response to Linda Freedman’s letter (March 25-April 7) defending West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd’s speech about the “nuclear option” which, if passed, would end the Democrats’ option to filibuster President Bush’s judicial nominations, it seems necessary to add some information to properly evaluate Mr. Byrd. Ms. Freedman was responding to a prior column in The Jewish Journal (March 11–March 25) by Dr. Rafael Medoff, who feels that it is important to criticize Senator Byrd, after comparing the Republican tactics to those of the Nazis, since to do so only trivializes the horrors of the Holocaust. The gist of Ms. Freedman’s letter is that Senator Byrd gave “a very eloquent speech about protecting minority rights and the Constitution.” A quick Google search gives us some useful information about Senator Byrd. He was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1940s since it “offered excitement,” but claims that he lost interest by 1943. However, from Bipartisan Bigotry, author Robert W. Lee refers to a letter from Byrd to Imperial Wizard Samuel Green of Atlanta in 1946 where he reveals that he was a kleagle in the KKK and … “is interested in rebuilding the Klan in the Realm of West Virginia and in every state of the Union.” According to Freerepublic.com, Byrd has claimed that he joined the Klan not as a racist but as an anti-Communist. But a WWII veteran points out (courtesy of NewsMax.com), “When Byrd said he joined the Klan, it couldn’t have been famous for being anti-Communist, since in 1943 the Soviet Union was our crucial ally in WWII…Franklin Roosevelt was still calling Stalin ‘Uncle Joe.’” Again from NewsMax.com, in 1948 Byrd opposed Truman’s integration of the Armed Forces saying in a letter to Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo that he would “never submit to fight beneath that banner with a Negro at my side…degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.” In 1964 he voted against the Civil Rights Act and voted against both black Supreme Court nominees, Thurgood Marshall in 1967 and Clarence Thomas in 1991 From answers.com, Senator Byrd had this to say in 1968, “Martin Luther King has fled the scene…I hope that well-meaning Negro leaders will now take a new look at this man who gets other people into trouble and then takes off like a scared rabbit.” And from the Wall Street Journal Opinion Page on March 7, 2005, “Changing Senate precedents by majority vote would be nothing new to Mr. Byrd, who used the tactic to change Senate precedents on filibusters and other delaying tactics when he was Majority Leader in 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1987.” Chuck
Goldman Resources for Divorced People I read your article about divorced people looking for outlets for socialization and discussion (“Divorce: A Jewish Perspective,” March 25-April 7). We are not a dating service, but a group of people walking the bumpy road of separation/divorce. We offer to let you vent and meet other people in like circumstances. I have been a participant and facilitator in a support group for the past three years. It is located at the United Church of Christ/Lynnfield Community Church, 735 Salem Street (side entrance) in Lynnfield. We meet Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. This group is nondenominational. Parking is in the rear of the church. I might also recommend another group called Parents Without Partners. This is a group that meets with other families of younger children doing social activities geared to children. There are other outlets out there. Unfortunately, they are not listed widely and you must try to locate them. Please feel free to come and visit us. Irma
Widomski High School Student Raised $45,000 for Needy Last November, the Jewish Federation of the North Shore introduced me to Brooke Patkin, a sophomore at Swampscott High, who wanted to help Jewish families on the North Shore. She and I talked about the number of families that approach Jewish Family Service each year looking for assistance with their rent, mortgage, utilities and other basic needs. I explained to her that with $50,000 the community had created the Jewish Community Emergency Fund in March of 2003, but almost all of those funds had been distributed to families in need. As an eighth grader, Brooke had played a role in establishing the Emergency Fund and felt an urgency to raise the $45,000 needed to replenish the fund. Her idea was to sell the blue “Live Generously” bracelets to raise the money. I was impressed with Brooke’s focus and her poise. But, to be honest, I was skeptical. Thirty families had approached JFS for financial assistance in the previous two months. How could a 15-year-old high school student make such a difference? I left the meeting with the thought “every little bit helps.” When I watched Brooke present her project to the JFS Board of Directors, I realized that I was witnessing something very special. She repeated her passionate presentation to nearly every board in our Jewish community. Others were as impressed as I was. Just last week, three short months after she set her plan in motion, Brooke reached her goal of $45,000 for the Jewish Community Emergency Fund. She has shown us that the next generation will be there for the Jewish community and will help sustain our Jewish institutions and our Jewish life. The whole community should be grateful for her dedication. Jon
R. Firger, Chief Executive
COHEN,
Frances G. (Gilbert) — late of Boston, formerly of NY and Portland,
ME. Died March 21. Wife of the late Atty I. Edward Cohen. Mother of the
late Rabbi Herschel Cohen, the late Judah Sampson Cohen, and the late
Sidney Cohen. Mother-in-law of Shulamith Cohen of NY and Phyllis Cohen
of NY. Sister of Sarah Pallin of Winthrop, Charles Gilbert of Brookline,
and the late John Gilbert and Minnie Gilbert. Grandmother of Yehuda, Devorah
and Yitzhak. Great-grandmother of three. Aunt of many nieces and nephews.
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