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The Last Word on ‘The Passion’

Gary Band
Jewish Journal Staff

MARBLEHEAD — Before the six interfaith clergy members began what will likely be the last North Shore exegesis of The Passion of the Christ at the JCCNS March 31, Executive Director Sandy Sheckman asked how many of the 200 people in attendance had seen the movie. Maybe five hands went up.

The clergy members included Brandeis Chaplain Father David Michael, Gordon College Professor Marvin Wilson, Beth El’s Rabbi Edgar Weinsberg, Ner Tamid’s Rabbi David Klatzker, Reverend Dean Pedersen of The First Church in Swampscott and Father John McGinty, Pastor of The Church of the Sacred Heart in Lynn.

Father Michael, who began by rhetorically asking how should viewers interpret the film, said it was an “accurate distortion of the the Christian-Jewish self-understanding.” And because there are four separate Passion narratives — John, Paul, Matthew and Luke — each offering different details of the crucifixion, artistic interpreters make certain choices about what to include and how characters are portrayed.

Comparing Gibson’s production to The Titanic and its director’s portrayal of Captain Smith, Michael said Gibson’s treatment of Pontius Pilate was an example of a conscious choice. “One can either highlight or diminish who was responsible for Jesus’ death,” he said.

“Can the film be an interpretation that is historically accurate?” Michael asked. It could be, but in the end, he said The Passion “is a blend of historical material with Gibson’s imagination.”

Is the film anti-Semitic? Michael says that while he has a problem with how Jews were portrayed, that question is “at the heart of the disconnect between Jews and Christians.” He says that the anti-Semitic question, while relevant, is a bad way to ask about the movie because “that’s when Christian defenses go up” and “makes the movie only about that issue.”

Referencing an interview with Diane Sawyer, Michael quoted Gibson as saying, “People don’t have a problem with me, but with the New Testament.” Michael responded by saying, “The movie misses no opportunity to focus on brutality not found anywhere in the Gospels, but entirely in Mel Gibson’s mind.”

Dr. Wilson said there are “many inaccuracies” but he does not consider the film anti-Semitic, nor will it hinder Christian-Jewish relations. Rather, he is encouraged that the film has become a teaching tool and believes it has advanced interfaith relations.

“Finally, the question is, in religions where the Passion is the central event of the Christian faith, as Torah, Sinai and the Exodus are for the Jewish faith, can we learn from one another?”

Warning people not to “play into the polarity these kind of films create,” Wilson emphatically stated that while there are many terrible things in both the Old and New Testament, “what we teach about those texts makes all the difference in the world. What we teach about the Passion is absolutely critical,” he argued.

Of Gibson’s agreement with the views of his father Hutton — a Holocaust-denier who disagrees with the finding of the Second Vatican Council in 1965 — Wilson believes the younger Gibson has not distanced himself from his father’s statements. “Why not speak out against any hint of anti-Semitism charges made against him?” Wilson asked rhetorically.

Rabbi Weinsberg, who said seeing the movie with other clergy members “saved my sanity,” confessed that he walked out of the theater twice because of the graphic images.

As for the movie’s anti-Semitic content, Weinsberg says he saw it as “benign, not anti-Semitic,” but it did stress man’s inhumanity to man and was “the most brutal film ever made.” He said it is true that Judas turned Jesus into the High Priest, but that the way it was portrayed was a complete distortion. “The High Priests in control of the Roman government? Come on!”

Rabbi Klatzker said that many people were sobbing in the theater where he saw it, “taking Jesus’ suffering onto themselves.” He went on to say that as Jews, “We don‘t see our suffering as redemptive, do not consider it a saving.”

Reverend Pedersen, one of the clergy members with whom Rabbis Weinsberg and Loevinger saw the movie, said the idea to have the conversation at the JCCNS was good.

“I appreciated very much the comments everyone made. The questions that came up in my mind had to do with coming to grips with the presence of evil in humanity. It is not just some theoretical idea. I think the movie reminded us all of humanity’s responsibility in doing God’s will. Let’s be real clear about not engaging in stereotypical thinking, real clear about how we interact as human beings, and real clear about our decision-making process.”

Father McGinty said that Jews and Christians are seeing two different movies based on their religious and historical understanding. But, he said, “It is our duty to to strive to understand what our neighbor is seeing, and that the movie does not lead to further animosity.”

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Underutilized Local Mikvah Seeks New Members

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

LYNN — “Using the mikvah is one of just three mitzvot required of Jewish women. They are obligated to make challah, light Shabbos candles, and visit the mikvah. It’s such an important mitzvah, and I’m just baffled as to why it has been lost in today’s society,” says Wendy Levites, a volunteer who helps run the only mikvah on the North Shore, Mikvah B’not Yisroel in Lynn.

The tiny mikvah, located behind Congregation Ahabat Sholom, is underutilized. Although it is open to the entire community, only a dozen or so women use it on a regular basis. Levites wishes more women would come and experience it.

“On the North Shore we have plenty of women involved in Federation, Hadassah and ORT. Where are all these women?” asks Levites, who for the past six years has helped pay the bills, take care of the plumbing and heating, and served as one of the mikvah shomerets (guardians who watch people dunk and then say, “Amen”).

“I would like to say to these women, ‘If you’ve never experienced the mikvah, you should try it once, or at least come and look at it. Maybe it will ignite your soul. Maybe it will become a mitzvah for you. That’s what happened to me. You might decide that it is not for you, but at least learn about it and make an educated decision,’” says Levites.

“We always tell our children that they have to try at least one bite of the vegetables. They may not like it, but at least they should try it. This is a similar situation,” she adds.

Historically, a community of Jews is obligated to have, and maintain, a community mikvah. The rules governing its use are quite detailed. According to Jewish law, observant women are required to immerse themselves in the holy water of a ritual bath at sundown before their wedding, after bearing a child, and 12 days after each menstrual period if they are married. A benediction must be recited while in the water. Men are not required to use a mikvah but are permitted to use it during the daytime hours. Levites points out that rabbis from Chelsea and Everett sometimes come to use Mikvah B’not Yisroel. The only day one is not allowed in the mikvah is Yom Kippur.

The use of the mikvah dates back to antiquity, when our Jewish ancestors probably used it to observe laws of family purity. In our modern society, where nearly every home has running water and a bath, a mikvah may seem unnecessary. However people may have other reasons for wanting to immerse themselves in a ritual bath. For example, some women may want to symbolically cleanse themselves after being raped or assaulted, and sometimes divorced or single women, who are not required by Jewish law to enter a mikvah, may elect to do so. According to Levites, “Everyone is welcome. We wouldn’t turn anyone away.”

Mikvah B’not Yisroel differs from others in several ways. Most mikvahs are fully tiled and can be the size of a small pool. Mikvah B’not Yisroel, which was built more than 50 years ago, is made of concrete and measures approximately 25 square feet. And unlike most mikvahs, it is completely emptied after each use.

Levites, who was born and raised on the North Shore, was introduced to the mikvah experience while living in California. “I went for the first time in Los Angeles the night before my first marriage. (Levites has subsequently re-married.) At first, it was like walking into Mea Sharim in Israel. I felt like I was in a movie. But I fell in love with it. Today it’s the thing to do in LA.”

She wants local rabbis to discuss the importance of going to the mikvah with new brides. She is working with Rabbi David Meyer of Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead (who has volunteered to become a liaison to the Rabbinic Council) to promote an educational forum on the topic.
“Our grandmothers, and great-grandmothers before them, regularly visited the mikvah. In Russia, traditionally they went and dunked in cold water. This mikvah is yours. It is ours. So how come it is such a secret? Let’s take advantage of it. I’ll teach anybody about it, any night of the week,” says Levites.

Although some mikvahs are self-supporting, Mikvah B’not Yisroel is not. Federation supports it with an allocation of $1,800 per year, and the Robert I. Lappin Foundations generously underwrite the cost of many conversions. There is a nominal fee to use the facility. Suggested donations are $12 for women who use it on a monthly basis, $35 for a bride-to-be who uses it before her wedding, and $75 for a conversion. The donation process is anonymous, and no one is turned away due to lack of funds.

Levites would like to see the mikvah become self-supporting. She is asking North Shore Jews to become members of the mikvah. Membership dues are $36 per year, which includes three free immersions.

“I’m asking people in our community to help support the one component that makes our Jewish community kosher and relevant. This doesn’t compete with the JCC or Hillel. You need a mikvah in every Jewish community, even if only one person uses it. You can have 500 kosher meat markets, but if you don’t have a mikvah, you’re not a kosher community. We are lucky to have a mikvah right here in Lynn. Let’s support it,” says Levites.

Mikvah B’not Yisroel is located behind Congregation Ahabat Sholom, 151 Ocean St., Lynn. To schedule an appointment or to inquire about visiting the mikvah, call 978-594-5550, or 781-595-0080.

To make a donation or to become a member of the mikvah, send a check to Mikvah B’not Yisroel c/o Wendy Levites, 117 Weatherly Dr. #301, Salem, MA 01970.

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Interfaith Seder Draws 500

Mark Arnold
Jewish Journal Staff

It was the largest interfaith seder on the North Shore yet — a “jumbo seder” in the words of JCC Executive Director Sandy Sheckman. She was referring to the more than 500 Jews and Christians who attended the 12th Annual ADL Interfaith Passover Seder, held at the Marblehead JCC on March 25.
Rabbi David Meyer of Temple Emanu-El, Marblehead, guided the seder with humor and enthusiasm, skillfully leading seder songs with his guitar. One of the highlights of the evening was the recognition of two community interfaith leaders granted the Leonard P. Zakim Award, named for the late leader of the New England Region of the ADL.
Honored this year were Sheckman, who was introduced by her friend of 22 years, Ann Selby, and Professor Marvin Wilson of Gordon College, introduced by Rabbi Edgar Weinsberg of Temple Beth El, Swampscott, winner of last year’s award.
More than 30 students from Gordon College and North Shore Community College were in attendance. The Gordon College Choir and Chamber Singers performed.
The event was funded in part by a grant from the Federation and was co-sponsored by the JCC, Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment (SAJE), and the Federation.

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North Shore Rabbis Split on Same-Sex Marriage

Neil Zolot
Special to The Jewish Journal

Despite the efforts of Governor Mitt Romney, House Speaker Tom Finneran and numerous lawmakers on Beacon Hill to legislate a ban on gay marriage, in little more than a month, gay and lesbian couples will in fact be able to marry in Massachusetts.

Five North Shore rabbis are among the 94 statewide who are publicly supporting civil marriage for same sex couples, and lent their names to ads placed by Massachusetts Rabbis Support the Freedom to Marry supporting civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

“Every person in the Commonwealth deserves equal protection and rights under our laws,” read the ad. “We recognize that people of faith hold divergent views on the religious definition of marriage… Extending civil marriages to same-sex couples will not affect any religious tradition’s own view or practices. A constitutional amendment denying same-sex couples the right of civil marriage will impose the beliefs of some religions on all people of this state.”

“This is a matter of civil rights and legislation,” said Rabbi David Meyer of Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead, one of the local rabbis whose name appeares in the ad.

“The courts will never compel congregations or clergy to perform marriages that are contrary to their community norms or convictions. Personally, I do not believe that sanctioning same-gender unions foreshadows the breakdown of the family, as many people have direly predicted. Rather, it encourages long-term relationships between two devoted people, and that serves to strengthen, rather than diminish, the ideals of family life.”

“I’ve seen the love between same-sex partners and the pain they and their family members have experienced because they are not acknowledged in the same way as heterosexual couples,” added Edgar Weinsberg of Conservative Temple Beth El in Swampscott, whose name also appeared in the ad. “They are denied the right to have a sanctified life and relationship.”

“I’d like to see the state not mix with religion,” said Rabbi David Klatzker of Conservative Temple Ner Tamid in Peabody, whose name also appeared on the ad. “I don’t see why I should be an agent of the state. All marriages should be registered with the state and then up to clergy to perform.”

The names of Rabbis Howard Kosovske of Reform Temple Beth Shalom in Peabody and Neal Loevinger of Conservative Temple Israel in Swampscott also appeared in the ad.

Rabbi Steven Rubenstein of Conservative Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly did not sign the ad but agrees with its sentiments. “I believe the government should allow such licenses to be given,” he said.

Not all rabbis, however, feel the same way.

The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU), the largest rabbinic and synagogue Orthodox Jewish organizations in North America, released recently a statement opposing the practice of same-sex marriage.

Said Rabbi Kenneth Auman, president of the Rabbinical Council of America. “At Passover, this statement is especially relevant since the Exodus from Egypt was a liberation from not only slavery and infanticide, but a rejection of the sexual, including homosexual, depravity that was sanctioned by Egyptian society as well.”

“It’s not the marriage per se that runs contrary to Orthodox Jewish law, it’s the lifestyle,” said Rabbi Yossi Lipsker of Chabad Lubavitch of the North Shore in Swampscott. “It’s not a new issue.”

The prime biblical reference to homosexuality is in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter XVIII, verse 22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination.” For Lipsker, gay marriage doesn’t “dovetail” with the scripture. “You don’t have to be a rabbi to know it isn’t biblically sanctioned,” he said. “Civil marriage between a man and a woman married under Jewish law is okay. A marriage between two men, I can’t say that’s okay.”

“If you don’t mess with the words, the Torah is pretty clear,” added Rabbi Nechemia Schusterman, of Chabad’s Peabody branch. “What the Torah says is still true.” (Technically, Leviticus 18:22 would seem not to prohibit lesbian relations, but most orthodox scholars would probably infer it does. The omission is probably the result of sexism, but, the men who wrote it almost certainly had the same attitudes towards lesbianism men do today.)

“The Torah is quite clear” added Rabbi Mordechai Twersky of Orthodox Congregation Ahabat Sholom in Lynn. He called Leviticus 18:22 “a clear statement from the Bible that it’s prohibited. Homosexuality is not condoned.”

“Judaism is not biblical, but rabbinic, based on the bible,” countered Rabbi Weinsberg. “If you’re a literalist and reject the later oral rabbinic tradition, the lens through which we view the Bible, you’re a fundamentalist. Over the years the rabbis have interpreted (Leviticus) literally, but with further development throughout our history, our understanding of homosexuality and the human psyche is different from the original authors. These developments are necessary. Changes will come about whether we recognize them or not.”

He said at one time he also interpreted Leviticus literally, but his position has evolved. “I took it as a matter of rabbinic instruction based on Biblical law that gay marriage was prohibited,” he remembers. “I’ve had to rethink my position; Jewish law in every domain of life is evolving and continues to evolve.”

Rabbi Meyer said prohibitions on same-sex relationships were “part of a broad legislation to eradicate idolatry. Many modern scholars have suggested that the Levitical prohibitions against male homosexual acts refer to idolatrous cult prostitution, which was commonplace in the ancient Near East. The homosexual practice spoken about is a different concern than the type of long-term relationships contemplated by the present question of same-sex marriage. Recognition that same-sex relationships carry the same potential for holiness is part of the evolving understanding of Jewish spirituality.”

Rabbi Klatzker said the word “abomination” sounds harsh, but was used to refer to other transgressions as well, like eating non-kosher food. “The Torah is the first word of Judaism, but not the last,” he said. “We have the right and responsibility to interpret what the Torah says. It is an evolving process.”

Citing a 50 percent divorce rate, with gays and lesbians constituting 10 percent of the population at best, he asked, “Who are the real enemies of marriage? Traditional religionists are inappropriately obsessed with this issue,” he said. “Why do we mix this notion of a civil marriage with religion? If civil marriage is sacred, why should atheists be allowed to marry?”

“We have no idea what that word means based on the society in which it was written,” Rabbi Rubenstein added about the word abomination. “It’s up to God to decide if it’s wrong, not human beings, and I can’t speak for God.”

Rabbi Lipsker disagrees. “Nowhere in Jewish law is there a hint that certain times or circumstances affect that reality.” Still he recognizes that same-sex civil unions or marriages are not in legal conflict with Jewish law and even finds some common ground. “The state is not forcing me,” he said. “People are exercising their choice. Judaism is about choice.”

Rabbi Schusterman called the Torah “eternal. It has to evolve, but within parameters of Torah law. Laws regarding work changed, but only within the borders of Torah law.”

He said his personal feelings on the matter are irrelevant and don’t free him of his obligation as a spiritual leader to gay members of his congregation. “More important than the issue of gay unions is the obligation to love our fellow human beings,” he said. “Our goal is to show everyone the beauty of Torah and Judaism.”

Rabbis and their congregations mirror each other, although Lipsker said there’s a diversity of opinions in Chabad Lubavitch. Schusterman said the issue makes everyone uncomfortable and has “made people take positions they’d rather shy away from.”
Meyer said he’s heard only “messages of support for the position I’ve taken.” Klatzker said Ner Tamid’s members are mixed on the issue, but that feelings do not fall along traditional lines. He told his congregation he wouldn’t perform same-sex marriages without the permission of the temple.

Weinsberg said he’s heard more from the gay children of temple members more than the members themselves, but that members have expressed “a desire to have Jewish leaders accept their children.”

He said under Jewish law, he can only officiate at weddings “in accordance with the law of the land, which may change. We’re not there yet,” he said. “Acknowledgement of a relationship of commitment is something many people approve of. There’s a lot of sympathy in liberal Jewish movements.”

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Young Bucks Gather at ADL Event in Boston

Brett M. Rhyne

Jewish Journal Staff

Love is not the feeling often associated with the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish defense organization charged with fighting anti-Semitism and hate. But the fairest of emotions was very much in evidence on March 27 when 250 ADL members under the age of 40 gathered to honor two of their own at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art.

At this second annual Young Leadership Celebration, deftly dubbed YLC2, Digitas global marketing executive Liza Cohen and Perfect Curve housewares manufacturing trendsetter Gregg Myles Levin graciously accepted the ADL’s Krupp Leadership Award for their devotion to the New England regional board, the Steinberg Leadership Institute and the Voices of the Future, the young professionals committee of the ADL.
The angular, ultra-modern ICA was an ideal venue for this altogether atypical Jewish organizational event.

DJ Craig Sutton spun deep lounge music from a variety of places like India, France and the Middle East; he found this second time around with YLC challenging because, “the ICA said no dancing this year. I need to keep with the level of the crowd, yet create a vibe that’s not draining, dry or paralyzing.”

Jovial Melissa and Andy Caplan, who met at an ADL Young Leadership event a few years ago, represented the North Shore. Andy, 37, is an attorney with the in-town firm of Perkins Smith and Cohen; Melissa works as a full-time mom to their two-year-old daughter, Lila.
The Caplans, formerly of Cleveland Circle before returning to Andy’s hometown of Swampscott, stay active in Boston because, as Melissa said, “There’s not as much activity in the ‘burbs.” Andy, who sat on the YLC2 planning committee and has been involved with Voices for the Future for 10 years, chose to volunteer with the ADL because “you don’t have to donate big money up front to participate — we have more time than money to donate.”

YLC2 was co-chaired by three couples: Erin and David Appel, Marla and Robert Rosenbloom and fiancés Dr. Elyse Park and Mark Ettinger. Elyse, a psychologist doing research and health policy work at Massachusetts General Hospital, also serves on the executive committee of Voices for the Future.

“Fueled by the energy of our young leadership, we’ve proved for a second time it’s a great success,” she enthused. Mark, 39, vice president of sales and marketing for Locate Plus, a public records database, moved to the Fenway four years ago. He first volunteered with the ADL in his native Minnesota when it merged with that region’s Jewish Community Relations Council.

Sarah Haacke, the ADL development person attached to Voices of the Future, said ADL–New England expected YLC2 to raise $75,000 toward the annual $6 million campaign, through ticket sales ($75 apiece), a silent auction and donations.

While declining to say what, on average, a young leader gives financially to the ADL, Sarah did note this circle includes “some very big donors.”

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Carroll Warns of New American Crusade

Mark Arnold
Jewish Journal Staff

In a local speech that received virtually no media attention, columnist/historian James Carroll warned recently that the United States has embarked on a new “holy crusade” that is alienating the Third World, encouraging nuclear proliferation and threatening world order.
Giving the annual Bentley Memorial Lecture at the First Church in Salem, Unitarian, March 28, the author said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon aroused the sympathy of the world and united the nation. “We had a feeling of being one people, of pride, of solidarity,” said Carroll, whose talk was titled “Crusade: Reflections on the War on Terror.”

But the Bush Administration’s response to the attacks “undercut” the good will by embarking on a campaign against militant Islam that portrays the current conflict as a “holy war between good and evil,” said Carroll, author of 10 novels and the weighty historical study of Catholic anti-Semitism, Constantine’s Sword.

“We have been witness to the slow-motion wreck of American values these last three years,” he said, as the Bush Administration “used a crime to justify a war.” In an act of “outrageous ineptitude,” Carroll argued, the President portrayed the U.S. targeting of al-Qaeda as a “crusade.” While Bush may have been unaware of the negative connotations of the word in non-Christian countries, the concept of the crusade captures the president’s “black and white, with-us-or-against-us view of the world,” Carroll said.

In Carroll’s eyes, the United States under Bush has embarked upon an “apocalyptic clash” between “Christian values and Moslem jihad” reminiscent of the 11th Century Crusade that cost hundreds of thousands of lives as cross-carrying Christians left a path of death and destruction in their wake while they traveled to the Holy Land to convert the “unfaithful.”

“Infidels were demonized then, Moslems are being demonized now. They are being profiled and denied their basic civil rights” he said, citing the two post-9/11 Patriot Acts as evidence that U.S. civil liberties are being eroded.

An additional danger, argued Carroll — again comparing the current world conflict to the Crusade — is that the seach for “the enemy outside (can lead) to war against the enemy inside.” He said the upsurge in anti-Semitic acts in Europe and elsewhere are natural byproducts of this clash.

Carroll is a Chicago-born, former Catholic priest who picketed the Pentagon to protest the war in Vietnam in the 1960s while his father — a former FBI agent turned Defense Department official —worked inside the building selecting Vietcong bombing targets. Today, Carroll is a tireless advocate for the peaceful resolution of all conflicts. He lectures widely, writes books, and pens a weekly OpEd column for the Boston Globe.

In Israel, Carroll believes, negotiation has also taken a back seat to violence. Under Ariel Sharon, said Carroll, Israel is following a pattern of “self-defeating overreaction to Palestinian provocations.” He added, however, that world opinion “is measuring Israel by standards to which no one else is held.”

Carroll believes there has long been a quasi-religious quality to U.S. foreign policy. Eisenhower’s secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, used to rail against godless, atheistic Communism as if it were those qualities rather than its philosophy of world domination that made the old Soviet Union an adversary of the West, he noted.

Attempts to divide the world into good and evil is particularly dangerous today, said Carroll. It tars with the same brush “warring tribal leaders as well as dedicated terrorists,” making our enemies appear more widespread than they are, he said. And it makes outlaw nations of those the U.S. places in the evil camp. “Today’s Hitler needs no nation, no army” to cause mischief in the world, he said. “A pound of anthrax will do, even a cleverly manipulated computer virus.”

Curiously, while he was vehement in his denunications of current U.S. policy, Carroll offered no recommendations for change beyond working to defeat George Bush in the November election. His hour-long talk, followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer period, drew a standing ovation from the largely Christian audience of more than 200 that attended the lecture.

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Journal Wins Award for Cover Design

The striking cover of the Journal’s Chanukah Greetings section last December 19 has been recognized by the Association of Free Community Papers. The association, representing almost 3,000 publications reaching 40 million homes weekly, recently awarded a third-place award for black-and-white cover design to the Journal for the dramatic pencil drawing (see above) created by Marblehead artist George Eisenberg.

The drawing shows a young boy and girl lighting the traditional Chanukah candles, with Maccabi warriors in the background, one of whom is lighting the Chanukah light above a tablet of the Ten Commandments. The children are those of George and his wife Gabrielle Eisenberg as they looked in the early 1970s, when the veteran artist and illustrator created the picture.

Eisenberg says the drawing sat in a drawer in his studio for many years until he decided to call Journal Editor-Publisher Mark Arnold to offer it as an illustration for the 2003 Chanukah issue. “As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted it on the cover,” said Arnold.

The award is the Journal’s first in 2004. It follows six awards to the newspaper from national or regional journalistic groups in 2003.

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Donations Still Needed for Israeli Ambulance

Mark Arnold
Jewish Journal Staff

The campaign to raise money for a new ambulance for Israel is within $4,700 of its goal.

“We’ve collected $57,000 toward our goal of $61,700,” says Arthur Zolot of Marblehead, who began the drive last fall as a way of helping Israelis cope with Palestinian violence. “Buying an ambulance is a humanitarian act,” notes Zolot, who said he felt a need to “do something” as an act of solidarity with the Jewish state.

Zolot is concerned because after an initial few months of enthusiasm, the pace of contributions has slowed down. “It’s more difficult to get contributions now,” he told the Journal in early April. “People say, ‘He’s almost there,’ and they don’t bother to write that check. I want to encourage people to help wrap up” the campaign.

The goal, $61,700, is the price of a fully equipped ambulance built to Israeli specifications and shipped to Israel. Once the money has been raised, it will be sent to Magen David Adom, in Skokie, IL, which will place an order for the vehicle.

General Motors will produce the basic truck body, which will be customized by a company in Pennsylvania or Montreal to become an ambulance. “If we can reach the total by the end of April,” added Zolot, “we hope to have the actual ambulance here for a dedication in June. We’ll make it a community wide event.”

Donations in any amount can be sent to Magen David Adom USA, PO Box 215, Marblehead, MA 01945.

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Sharon Seeks Okay for Gaza Plan, Fears Indictment

Dan Baron
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime minister Ariel Sharon travels to Washington next week with a plan for disengagement from Gaza at a time when his credibility at home is being shaken by a long-running corruption scandal and by opponents of the plan within his own government. He is hoping that his talks with President Bush and other officials here will boost prospects for the plan. But the plan itself may not survive if he doesn’t.

Israel’s state attorney, Edna Arbel, has drafted an indictment against the prime minister and is waiting for Attorney General Meni Mazuz to decide whether or not to approve it. It could be months, however, before Mazuz decides on a course of action concerning the 76-year old former general.

In preparation for his trip to Washington, Sharon held a series of press interviews in which he described the extent to which he intends to pull Israeli troops and settlers out of both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He hopes to secure US endorsement for the plan.

Sharon said his initiative — which Palestinians fear will lead to Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank — could deal Palestinian statehood hopes a “a very heavy blow.”

But the prime minister is himself being buffeted — by right-wing cabinet members and the more hawkish members of his own ruling Likud Party, who oppose removing settlements.

“There are still details left to work out, but I believe our intention is to leave all of them,” Sharon told Army Radio, referring to the 21 Gaza Strip settlements. Previously he has said that “most” of the heavily fortified enclaves in Gaza would go.

Without committing to a schedule, Sharon said a West Bank pullback would be more limited. “We are talking about four settlements in Samaria,” referring to the northern West Bank, he told Army Radio.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei has welcomed the prospect of a Gaza pullback, but said any parallel move in the West Bank would have to be equally sweeping for the beleaguered U.S.-led road map peace plan to have a chance.

Sharon suggested that more than three years of unbridled Palestinian terrorism has largely dashed the road map proposal of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza by 2005.

“The Palestinians understand that this plan is, to a great extent, the end of their dreams, a very heavy blow to them, and it could be they will take steps,” he told Ha’aretz, the Israeli newspaper.

On April 14, Sharon is to meet Bush in Washington for a summit expected to seal the future course of the road map. But Sharon has no intention of playing the supplicant, and said that Israel reserves the right to act against U.S. preferences in at least one case — Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

Speaking to the daily Ma’ariv, Sharon said his past pledge to Washington not to harm Arafat physically had been overtaken by events.

“That was when he still went around on red carpets. Today even those people who feted Arafat know exactly what damage he has caused,” Sharon said, repeating a veiled threat against the Palestinian leader’s life. “I would not recommend he consider himself insured.”

The Bush administration, while shunning Arafat as an obstacle to peace, has opposed any Israeli plan to remove him.

“Israel has a right to protect itself, just like the United States,’’ Sharon told Israel Radio.

As for the corruption scandal, Sharon, while pledging to cooperate with the police investigation, has consistently denied wrongdoing in allegations that a property developer hired his son Gilad for a Greek island deal in the hope of obtaining government favors.

But some members of Sharon’s own Cabinet, perhaps worn down by the regular press reports about the affair, were quick to demand that Sharon step down if indicted.

“Under such circumstances, the prime minister should resign,” said Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky, whose Shinui Party has five of the government’s 23 portfolios. “I would expect him, even today, to pledge that he would go home and fight to prove his innocence from there,” Paritzky told Israel Radio on Sunday.

Other Knesset members echoed Paritzky’s calls.

A Sharon confidant dismissed the statements as an attempt to undermine the prime minister’s standing shortly before he flies to Washington for a key meeting with President Bush.

“This is opposition to the disengagement plan masquerading as a desire for moral probity in government,’’ the confidant said.

In what is being called the Greek Island Affair, property developer David Appel is suspected of paying Gilad Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars while his father was foreign minister. Investigators allege Ariel Sharon may have illicitly used his influence to help Appel’s business dealings.

Israeli law does not explicitly require the prime minister to resign if indicted on criminal charges. But opinion polls show that a case indicating moral turpitude on the part of Sharon would provoke widespread demands for him to step down.

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People in the News

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Lighthearted Tips For Dating a Jew

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

What to Do When You’re Dating a Jew: Everything You Need to Know from Matzah Balls to Marriage, by Vikki Weiss and Jennifer A. Block, Three Rivers Press, 2000, paperback $12.

Jennifer Block and Vikki Weiss bonded while working together in the marketing department at Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco. As Jennifer recalls, “Vikki came over and said, ‘You’re Jewish, aren’t you?’ I replied that I was, and then she said, ‘I bet your boyfriend isn’t.’ It was really psychic.”

The two became friends. Although Jennifer had grown up in Andover and Vikki was from Glencoe, IL, a suburb of Chicago, they had similar backgrounds. Both had been raised as Reform Jews. Both were bat mitzvahed. And both preferred dating non-Jewish boys.

Much to the chagrin of her Jewish mother, Vikki’s two sisters and one brother had married outside the faith and Vikki seemed headed down the same path. Although they had a Jewish wedding in 1998, Jennifer’s husband Dave Martin was a non-practicing Methodist. Many of Vikki and Jennifer’s friends were involved in interfaith relationships. The two women realized there was a need for a lighthearted yet practical guidebook to explain Jewish culture and religion to the non-Jews they loved.

In the preface of their book, they discuss how Megan Kelly (a non-Jew) met her future in-laws, the Greensteins, at a kosher deli. She ordered a ham and cheese sandwich. They realized that there were a lot of Megans out there who needed a book to prevent them from looking like a putz in front of their Jewish in-laws.

So Jennifer and Vikki decided to write the definitive guide. They did research and conducted interviews to determine what was real tradition, and what were simply stories their parents had told them. Chapters evolved, such as, From Bris to Brandeis: Growing Up Jewish, and Have a Little More Brisket, Darling: Food is Love.

Their goal was to help non-Jews feel more at-ease in social situations with Jews — at shul, at a shiva, or at the seder table. Although their target audience initially was non-Jews, many Jews who read the manuscript picked up some tidbits and enjoyed it as “a refresher course.”

“The book has a broad audience,” admits Jennifer, who is 34. “Jews buy it for themselves. Parents buy it for their kids as a hint. People give it as an engagement or wedding gift.”

In a light and breezy style, Jennifer and Vikki discuss all the major (and minor) Jewish holidays including foods generally consumed and the props that are used. Although the book doesn’t claim to be completely comprehensive, it seems to cover everything from knishes to kreplach, and Hanukkah gelt to ‘oy gevalt!’

Fun facts, humorous snippets and recipes are woven into the text so that readers can glean knowledge (and a chuckle) on nearly every page. It is peppered with quotes from famous Jews, including, for example, Lenny Bruce’s comments on what is Jewish and what is goyish (New York City is Jewish; Butte, Montana, is goyish. Chocolate is Jewish; Kool-Aid is goyish.)

Jennifer, who no longer works for Wells Fargo, is a full-time freelance writer who pens magazine articles, creates marketing copy, and has edited several other books including How to Plan and Organize Just About Everything, due out in October. Vikki, 35, still works in marketing at the bank. Much to her mother’s delight and Jennifer’s surprise, she recently got engaged to a nice (gasp) Jewish fellow.

The women have contemplated writing another Jewish-themed book but are not actively collaborating on anything. “We made the mistake of putting everything into this book,” sighs Jennifer.

Jennifer’s parents were initially concerned that the book might perpetuate negative Jewish stereotypes. And critics complain that the book’s irreverent style makes light of a heavy subject. A dissatisfied reader from Studio City, CA, wrote, “The whole point of this book is to help you figure out how to ‘pass’ in Jewish culture and society. It is peppered with cutesy bits of advice and little stories about how someone charmed the Jew-of-their-dreams into forgetting that—hey—they aren’t actually Jewish. Interfaith dating and marriage is a serious issue and deserves thoughtful consideration, not charming anecdotes.”
But Jennifer defends her book, insisting that it helps those in interfaith relationships. “Christianity is so dominant in our culture. This book offers a way to keep Judaism in the house and keep the Jewish flame alive. It also helps Jews learn more about their own religion,” she states.

The book is available at most national book stores and many independent bookstores. It can also be ordered online

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Young Jewish Entrepreneurs

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

Editor’s Note: This is a part of an ongoing series of profiles about young Jewish entrepreneurs on the North Shore.

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Straight Talk from the South Beach Diet Doctor

Soriya Daniels
Special to The Jewish Journal

Carbohydrate-filled days are over. Everyone is on the Atkins or Zone Diet, or so it seems. That is, if they haven’t deserted it for the South Beach Diet. The South Beach Diet proposes eating the “right carbs” and the “right fats” along with protein, giving dieters the best of both worlds.

This popular diet doesn’t count calories or severely restrict the kinds of foods you can eat. And although its name brings to mind buff, bikini-clad bodies parading Miami’s hip beach, it was developed by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston, a pioneer in non-invasive coronary artery imaging, who wanted to offer a palatable, safe diet for his chronically overweight heart patients.

“My concern was not with my patients’ appearance,” he says. “I wanted to find a diet that would help prevent or reverse the myriad of heart and vascular problems that stem from obesity.”

He never found such a diet, so he developed one himself and in doing so, he also created an overnight sensation among South Beach’s body-conscious beach-goers.

Why? Agatston’s plan claims to help you shed pounds fast — right from the waistline and belly. His scientifically-based program promises immediate results, helping dieters shed 10, 20, or 30 pounds, while radically changing their blood chemistry, reversing pre-diabetes, lowering cholesterol, and averting a range of chronic illnesses and conditions.

“Our thesis is really that the processing of food in America has caused the epidemic of obesity and diabetes,” Agatston explained. “And unfortunately, Jewish Ashkenazic genes are very well represented in that epidemic.”

The South Beach Diet is based on eating three balanced meals a day. To keep dieters from feeling deprived, it also suggests several snacks and dessert after dinner.

The doctor’s message is clear: You can count calories or omit an entire food group for a while, but you can’t turn it into a lifestyle.

Surprisingly, Agatston’s diet does not require exercise. It does require a long-term commitment, however. And with the long haul in mind, there are no absolute restrictions on the diet except during the first phase, which spans only a couple of weeks.

The South Beach Diet is said to prevent cancer by incorporating ample vegetables and fruits into the regimen. For example, the lycopene in tomatoes is known to thwart prostate cancer.

“There are so many phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables, and we thought we could isolate them into a few vitamins and give supplements, but that hasn’t worked,” he says. “You need the natural stuff.”

That is the diet in its essence: returning to natural, whole foods — the kinds our primitive ancestors would have eaten.

Besides trading white flour for its whole grain counterpart, looking to the sea for sustenance is another place to start. Agatston calls Omega-3 oils, largely found in seafood, “the missing ingredient in the Western diet.” Another problem of our Western diet, he says, is that farm-fed animals, including fish, do not have as much Omega-3’s as the free-range variety.

“Omega-3 oils, which we emphasize, have been shown to be helpful for depression, arthritis and colitis. I think Omega-3’s are helpful for a lot of conditions,” he explained, adding, “When I talk about Omega-3’s, I feel like a fish oil salesman!”

Another tenet of the South Beach Diet: It’s not just what you eat; it’s how you eat it. “The faster the sugars and starches you eat are processed and absorbed into your bloodstream, the fatter you get,” Agatston said. “Therefore, anything that speeds the process by which your body digests carbohydrates is bad for your diet, and anything that slows it down is good.” In short, the more food is processed, the more fattening it will be.

According to the doctor, a baked potato will be less fattening topped with a dollop of low-fat cheese or sour cream than it would be if eaten plain. The calorie count will be slightly higher, but the fat contained in the cheese or sour cream will slow down the digestive process, thereby lessening the amount of insulin that potato prompts your body to make.

Surprisingly, he points out that even French fries are better than baked potatoes, because the fat in which they are cooked slows down the digestive process.
Don’t be misled: None of these are good choices for someone on the South Beach Diet.

To help dieters learn the tricks of the trade, namely glycemic indexes and discerning the good carbs and fats from the bad, Rodale Books (the South Beach Diet publisher) recently published a companion reference book, Good Fats, Good Carbs Guide. As a complement to his #1 New York Times bestseller, Dr. Agatston offers more than 200 recipes in The South Beach Diet Cookbook.

While pleased with the success of his books, they are not Dr. Agatston’s foremost accomplishment.

“My most rewarding experience was watching the expansion of the heart scan, which I believed in and developed in 1988,” he says. Several years later, at an international meeting of physicians, everyone started referring to it as “The Agatston Score.” Embarrassed at the time, today the cardiologist is proud of the acceptance of his methodology and its ability to detect early heart disease before the first heart attack.

When not practicing medicine or counseling on nutritional matters (and writing books) Agatston enjoys sports with his wife, Sari, and their two teenage sons. The Agatston family supports an array of Jewish causes and the doctor speaks at a variety of Jewish events.

“I am very much keeping my day job,” says Agatston with a warm smile.

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Arts & Entertainment

Smulowitz Productions Presents ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’

Gary Band
Jewish Journal Staff

Two months before Anne Frank would have turned 75 (June 12), Anna Smulowitz will direct a play based on the famous diary honoring the unrealized potential of Frank’s life. The play, The Diary of Anne Frank by F. Goodrich, A. Hackett and newly adapted by W. Kesselman, will be performed at The Tannery in Newburyport beginning April 16.

Another reason for the play’s showing now is its proximity to Yom Hashoah, (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and the recent release of the unabridged version of the diary. It was initially published — though not in its entirety — by her father, Otto Frank, who wanted to protect Anne’s legacy by not printing some of the more personal passages about her sexual identity, her feelings for Peter von Don, and the relationship with her mother. But upon Otto’s recent death, Wendy Kesselman, editor of the Definitive Edition of the Diary of Anne Frank, included the previously omitted material.

Smulowitz, who directed a version of the play for her senior project as a drama major at the University of Kentucky in 1969, has been producing and directing original and popular musical productions in the Merrimack Valley for 25 years. Her play Terezin, which in the last 10 years was performed at 25 schools a year, ran off and on in the US, Poland and Germany since 1982.

“I have a past relationship with the Anne Frank play, but now it’s a very different production,” Smulowitz says. “I really like the inclusion. Making her a real kid is valuable for us to identify with her as a very normal girl. I think some people worried that it doesn’t make her a perfect girl, but we didn’t get to know this Anne Frank for 50 years.”

Smulowitz herself has an intimate knowledge of the Holocaust. The daughter of Auschwitz survivors, she was born in a displaced persons camp near Dachau in 1945.

“When I first read the Diary in 1959, I didn’t realize that she would have been a young 30-year old had she survived,” Smulowitz recalls. “She is my contemporary. She was born in pre- and I in post-war Germany. Both Anne’s father and mine survived Auschwitz. We both wanted to be writers. Anne was concerned with the fate of humanity in a time of war. This production is timely because many people these days are deeply concerned about our present war and how children from both sides will be affected.”

The play, in two acts, stars two Annes, Gray Wilking, who’s Jewish, and Ivy Smith, who is not.

“It’s such a wonderful part,” Smulowitz says. “Everyone wants the opportunity to play Anne. Gray and Ivy are the top students at my theatre school. I’ve been working with them since they were little. Even at age 6, I could tell they were destined for greatness.”

The two 15-year old girls perform on alternate nights. Their voices, recorded at a local radio station, are heard reading from the diary in between scenes; and, overhead projections of the actual Anne and her family, along with video footage of the bookcase hiding the secret annex, are also shown at different points throughout the production.

This play was originally performed on Broadway with Israeli-born Natalie Portman in the role of Anne.

Gray Wilking, a freshman at Ipswich High School, rehearses three times a week and says she is undaunted by the demanding role.

“Anna has been my acting teacher for a while. She’s a great director. She gives us a lot of background information and helps us get into character.”
Wilking read the Diary during her role in a production of Terezin, and is also familiar with other books and poems dealing with the Holocaust. Of this performance, she says the small theater “works really well to give the feeling of being in the annex. There are many sad parts, but a lot of comic relief.”
In terms of her character’s hopefulness, Wilking said that even though she knows how it ends, when speaking some of Anne’s lines, she felt and believed that they would emerge from the annex alive.

As for the message of the play, Wilking says, “It’s important to raise awareness of anti-Semitism and accept other people. It was a huge tragedy to see that hatred killed so many people. It’s good to look at the past to change the future.”

Joel Grossman of West Newbury, a retired psychotherapist and a volunteer chaplain who worked with Smulowitz 24 years ago on a production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, plays Mr. von Don for half the productions.

“I was drawn to this play because I come from a Jewish world that doesn’t talk about the Holocaust, and Anna is from the other side. It’s important for the Jewish community to not only remember what happened then, but that there’s always the dark side of humanity going on around the world, and to recognize the impact on people.”

As for his role, Grossman says one of the main things his character exhibits is the way Mr. von Don deals with fear and tension. “Each character had another way of showing the difficulty of dealing with the situation. Mine tended towards uptightness, complaining and generally antagonistic behavior.

“The remarkable thing is that Anne is the one person who has hope and that draws upon spiritual viewpoints that she came to on her own. Her spirit kept everyone going.”

The Diary of Anne Frank will be performed April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 and May 1 and 2. For tickets and showtimes, call 978-463-3348.

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Telling Fables in Glass’ ‘The Fabulist’

Ilya Ablavsky
Special to The Jewish Journal

The Fabulist, by Stephen Glass, published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003, 339 pages, $24.00.

Before being fired from his position as a writer for The New Republic for fabricating much of his work, Stephen Glass took another audacious step.

In publishing The Fabulist, a work barely disguised as fiction, Glass portrays the pressures that a journalist in his position faces and seeks to explain why he acted as he did. It also becomes clear why the system in which he operated could not defend against an assault upon its integrity.

Glass’s decision to publish this novel raises an ethical question. Clearly, Glass profits from the original unethical conduct. Yet his is a story where motivations are crucial and his observations on the journalistic community are indeed unique. Also, his book addresses the basic question of whether a reputation (especially as it pertains to honesty in journalism) can ever be repaired after it is destroyed.

The personal dimensions of these events — the author’s sharp turn from fame to infamy — were great as well. The author, whose story is now well known as a result of the recent movie, Shattered Glass, curiously uses his own name in the novel. He draws the reader into an intriguing conflict between cynicism and the belief in personal change and growth.

The substance of the hypothetical article that catches the eye of Glass’s editor as possibly false does not merely border on the absurd; it is absurd. He writes about a “growing group of lottery winners who are planning to sue state governments that sponsor gambling,” blaming the lottery for their spending habits and financial ruin that follows.

Aside from the story being false, there is Glass’s pathetic defense of it with a futile (although creative) idea to spin outright lies as sloppiness. That attempt is particularly ironic, as it would seem far more natural for a journalist to avoid the image of sloppiness as opposed to using it as an excuse. The lengths to which Glass goes to protect his fabrications are indeed amazing: setting up voicemails so his editor can verify non-existent sources, creating phony newsletters and web pages, and letting his brother (a student at Dartmouth) play the role of his source. Finally, when the editor attempts to verify his story, he takes him for a drive to look for its nonexistent settings.

At all times Glass has a conscience and much of the book is an internal morality dialogue. He wants to stop lying and this desire drives the plot beautifully. However, in some ways the novel is narcissistic, as he is the only character thoroughly described. Along the way, Glass is frightened at his belief that he is somehow constitutionally unable to tell the truth.

The book has a comical element, as Glass is from a Jewish family from Chicago in which his parents debate openly whether his girlfriend’s mother is a yenta and therefore should not be confided in.

There is also the amusing question of whether a friendship can be taken back retroactively, as one of Glass’s colleagues wants to do. The Fabulist is unusual and worth reading perhaps because it mirrors true events that are more dramatic than most fiction.

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Editorial

The Passover Story and the Struggle for Freedom

Passover is the Jewish festival of freedom. It celebrates God’s liberation of our forefathers from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of his servant Moses. At our Passover seder, we retell the centuries-old Passover story, emphasizing to our children that each generation should “look upon ourselves as if we came forth from Egypt.”

In preparation, we clean our homes of unleavened foods, remembering that the ancient Israelites left Egypt so quickly that the bread they were making did not have time to rise. And we eat unleavened bread for the eight days of the holiday as a reminder of the time when we were not free.

It’s a beautiful holiday, with meaningful rituals. But beyond the rituals is the essential message of Passover: It’s an ode to universal freedom, and it helps us remember that even in the 21st Century, not everyone is as free as we are.

Relatively few people in the world live in actual slavery today, the kind we read about in our Passover Haggadah. But millions of people remain enslaved — by tyranny, poverty, hunger, and disease. Millions more suffer from racial, religious, or sex discrimination. In many Moslem countries, schoolchildren are taught to hate those deemed non-believers, including Jews and Christians.

Egypt, scene of the Jewish liberation, is today one of Israel’s least hostile neighbors. But hate finds its way into all Egyptian schools, regular and religious nonetheless. A new study of Egyptian textbooks by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, part of the American Jewish Committee, concludes: “In the context of the Middle East conflict, the ongoing violence in the Holy Land is termed jihad, (and) Jerusalem is destined to be liberated by jihad.”

As we break the matzah to celebrate the deliverance of the Jewish people from bondage to the Land of Israel, we should remember the broken souls still enslaved around the world. And we should say a prayer that one day soon they will be able to rejoice in their own freedom.

Google’s Anti-Semitic Website Listing

As its very first listing under the keyword “Jew,” Google, the world’s leading internet search engine, carrries an overtly anti-Semitic website: Jew Watch. When you click on that website, you find yourself on jewwatch.com, which offers 27 categories of information. Among them: “Jewish-Zionist-Soviet Anti-American Spies”, “Jewish Communist Rulers and Killers,” “Jewish Terrorists,” “Jewish Controlled Press,” “Jewish Genocides Today and Yesterday,” and “Jewish World Conspiracies.”

Jew Watch describes itself as “a not-for-profit library for private study, scholarship, or research.” Some study. Some scholarship. Opponents of the site are mounting an online petition asking Google to remove the site from its index. You can add your protest to Google by clicking on removejewwatch.com.

— Mark R. Arnold

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Local Columnists

Outsourcing America (and Israel)

Question: Why would a Jewish Journal columnist want to hug and say “thanks” to the man or woman who was the first to sit at a phone console in India and answer: “Hello, this is Dell technical services, may I help you?”

Answer: For the past 20 years, I have argued that private corporations who downsized, moved manufacturing facilities across the country, outsourced major parts of the production, and had no respect for rank-and-file employees, would destroy the well-known American work ethic. Loyalty to job and company, belief in the value of hard work — these would become “the way it used to be,” I feared. And we have been hurting real people in the process.

Similarly, I have been telling anyone who would listen about how our government’s contracting out of jobs and responsibilities, and privatizing whole segments of government work, would be the downfall of public management and the ruination of government as a decent and important employer.

Few people cared to listen. Yet, within days of outsourcing technical jobs to India, many Americans were saying: “Hey, I paid American dollars for this computer and service, and I am talking to someone in India? Not right.” Then somebody woke up and said: “Unemployment is rising in the states and these big companies are shipping out jobs to people on the other side of the world. Not good.”

While the earlier trend was to move to the U.S. South, beginning with manufacturing jobs more than a generation ago, now the direction is toward China. WalMart has moved from selling U.S.-made products to selling China-made. Levi Strauss recently closed its last two American manufacturing plants, and the American Flyer Red Wagon, made in Chicago for 85 years, is moving manufacturing to China.
When a government agency does it, it’s called “contracting out.” And when a government gives an entire function to a private corporation, it is “privatization.” Contracting out to private companies began with jobs like office cleaning staff.

Now some government agencies pay outsiders to prepare programs, budgets, computer operations, and virtually everything else. Instead of doing the work, government employees are becoming contract administrators. But in some agencies, outside contractors are hired to supervise other outside contractors.

Politicians can blame themselves. Since the 1970s, every election was filled with promises to reduce the size of government. Too many employees. But work needed doing, so the practice became contracting out. Contractors did not show up in the government employment statistics. And the government promised that it would cost less.
Does it really cost less? Are private corporations more efficient or effective? Given the corporate scandals of the last three years, I wouldn’t trust a CEO earning $100 million dollars a year to babysit with my poodle — if I had a poodle. One thing you can bet on is that the lower-level employees working for the corporation are paid less than government employees and receive minimal social benefits like health insurance and retirement.

Is that the kind of America we want?

In the United States, over 100 prisons are privatized: run lock, stock and punishment, by private businesses. The Corrections Corporation of America is the oldest and largest, with about 65,000 beds in 64 facilities. Opponents of privatizing prisons call it the “prison-industrial complex.”

Last week, a Knesset committee in Israel gave approval to privatize its first prison. The successful bidder will build, staff, maintain and incarcerate anyone the Israeli prison authorities send to it.

Too bad a host of ethical, practical, political and economic issues have not been adequately dealt with by the public, let alone the politicians or specialists, either in the United States or in Israel.

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Schlemiel’s Open House: A Lesson in Yiddish

ELLEN GOLUB

Ellen Golub teaches journalism at Salem State College.She can be reached at elkele@attbi.com

.My father has been telling me for years: “Lock your doors.” I used to, but we lose keys the way some people eat potato chips. We buy whole bags of them, and in two minutes they’re gone. So the door stayed open, for years.

“Aren’t you afraid someone will come in while you’re not home?” my dad would ask, suggesting we’re a little loose with our valuables.
“What do we have here that someone could steal?” I would repeat. “The piano? A couch? If someone needs it, let them take whatever they want.”