| The Jewish Journal Archive | |||||||||||||
| December 17 - December 30, 2004 | |||||||||||||
|
Local
Stories |
|||||||||||||
Local StoriesKosher Slaughter Charges Hit Home Mark
Arnold and A firestorm of controversy has engulfed the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the United States, raising questions about ritual practices in all large slaughtering plants. The controversy is creating ripple effects in Jewish communities from coast to coast, including the North Shore. An undercover videotape made by an animal-rights group at the AgriProcessors, Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa, appears to show animals acutely suffering after their tracheas are removed. The campaign to change the practices — led by the animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) — initially provoked cries of distortion and even anti-Semitism. Though critics have questioned the motives of PETA, the group that filmed the slaughtering, it is now certain that the practices in question are going to be changed. The plant, like some 70 U.S. kosher slaughtering plants, is supervised by both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Orthodox Union, the largest kosher supervisory organization in the world. Both have made clear their commitment to more humane treatment of cattle in this and other large slaughtering plants. The $8 billion kosher market in the United States has been growing at a rate of 15 percent a year, according to a recent article in the magazine Jerusalem Report. What does the scandal mean for the market north of Boston? First, responding to the controversy, the North Shore Rabbinical Association, which represents all Conservative and Reform rabbis on the North Shore, issued a statement December 7 saying: “We urge the Jewish community to refrain from purchasing meat that comes from any slaughterhouse whose methods have been questioned with regard to the ethical treatment of animals, until such time as the issue has been clarified.” Second, though the kosher meat from the Postville plant appears under the brands Rubashkin’s and Aaron’s Best, neither brand is sold on the North Shore, according to Todd Levine, owner of Levine’s Kosher Meat Market in Peabody. Levine’s is the area’s only kosher butcher shop. Third,
the brands continue to be carried by the leading kosher butchers in Brookline,
however. “We haven’t heard anything that says we shouldn’t
carry them, a meat cutter at the Butcherie in Brookline told the Journal
December 15. “They are beautiful cuts of meat.” “This isn’t the first time they’re after shechitah (ritual slaughter) laws,” says Rabbi Abraham Kelman of Congregation Ahabat Sholom in Lynn. “If they didn’t protest slaughter of human beings during the Holocaust, they have no right to claim Jews are being inhumane to animals.” He added: “As soon as you sever the trachea and the carotid arteries, the animal is finished. Anything that happens after [is involuntary]. The animal is not alive.” Rabbi David Klatzker of Temple Ner Tamid in Peabody says: “My sense is that this is not awidespread practice, that it’s isolated.” He noted that the Conservative rabbinate four years ago issued a statement condemning the common practice of shackling and hoisting an animal after slaughter, calling it a violation of Jewish law. That practice, as well as the ripping out of the trachea, are at the heart of the controversy at the Postville plant. Some
critics maintain the practices spotlighted are typical of large slaughtering
plants, not only AgriProcessors (see interview above). Beth
El Will House combined Congregation Mark
Arnold SWAMPSCOTT — The question of which building will house the combined congregations of Temples Beth El and Israel has been decided. It will be Beth El — but a Beth El building that might be radically altered to meet the needs of the joint congregation now taking shape. At a combined meeting of the neighboring Conservative congregations on December 19, following the 9 a.m. minyan, members will be informed that Beth El’s building has been chosen as the site for the combined congregation. “It is the better facility in terms of its expandability, accessibility and ease of making modifications,” said Mark H. Friedman, president of the B’reisheit Implementation Board, the transitional body made up of leaders of the two synagogues, which is spearheading plans to join forces. Each synagogue serves some 400 families. They flank the two sides of Atlantic Avenue. The original plan was to authorize an engineering study of the two buildings to determine which facility should house the new entity. The timetable called for that decision to be made in March 2005. After a recent walkthrough of both facilities with architects, however, leaders of both congregations concluded that Beth El, which opened in 1968, has greater potential to serve the expanded congregation than Temple Israel, whose building was dedicated in 1956. No vote by the congregants is needed since the congregations took formal votes last summer to join forces and authorized its representatives to work out the details. Nevertheless, Temple Israel’s Board of Directors voted Dec. 5 to recommend that Beth El become the surviving building, thus saving an estimated $40,000-$60,000 for the engineering study. The B’reisheit Committee endorsed the recommendation December 14. The money will be used instead to study needed alterations at Beth El. Leaders of both temples stressed that the decision does not represent a “victory” for Temple Beth El. “The [Beth El] building becomes our platform for growth,” Friedman told the Journal. “But it will likely not look like the same building when reconstruction is finished. Frankly we don’t yet know what changes there will be. We are serving a Hebrew school and a pre-school, in addition to the two congregations. There will be changes externally and internally. The details have to be worked out with care and sensitivity, relative to needs and economics. First we need to define a vision for the property in the near, medium and long term.” The two congregations, long regarded as competitors, took the first step toward combining forces in the mid-nineties when, for economic reasons, Beth El merged its Hebrew school into the Temple Israel-based North Shore Hebrew School, which also drew children from Temples Shalom in Salem, Sinai in Marblehead and Ahabat Sholom in Lynn. Two years ago, the two Swampscott synagogues joined daily minyans and have since conducted joint dances, golf outings and other activities. This year, with Temple Israel’s Rabbi Neal Loevinger on sabbatical, they have successfully combined Shabbat services. Next September, the new combined congregation — still nameless — should be in place, with a joint governing structure and a single High Holiday service. Friedman said it is not yet clear if those services will be at Beth El or at Israel. “It depends on when re-construction will begin at Beth El,” he said. Project Etgar Inspires North Shore Hebrew School Students Gary
Band SWAMPSCOTT — Sixth and seventh grade students at North Shore Hebrew School are getting it. Through Project Etgar (Challenge), concepts, rituals and material such as mitzvot, prayer and Jewish history are being taught and understood like never before. While NSHS Director Marian Gorman says she could not be more pleased with the effectiveness of the project, the proof is in the classroom — where students are reportedly loath to miss even a day of school. Whether questions are asked, comments sought, or projects assigned, every hand in the room goes up and the rush to the arts and crafts closet can barely be contained. Etgar, the result of a $1 million grant, was developed in July 2002 by educators at the Melton Research Center and the Education Department of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Introduced as a pilot program, more than 20 schools around the country have used it as a core curriculum in their sixth, seventh and eighth grade classes. “The units are intended to connect students’ lives to the wisdom of Jewish tradition through multi-sensory experience and study,” the program description reads. “The content of study is wide-ranging, including units on friendship, the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim (visiting the sick) and kashrut.” This is the second North Shore Hebrew School 6th-grade class (14 students taught by Jill Simmons) and the first 7th-grade class (18 students taught by Andrew Allen) to use the year-long curriculum. These already experienced teachers receive specific training at JTS and work off of an extensive curriculum guide. Simmons’ class recently completed the Bikur Cholim unit and began the next one on friendship. According to 6th grader Emily Marcus, the subject matter is well-explained and “made so kids our age can understand.” Encouraged to say only positive things, comparing this year’s class to last year’s without Project Etgar, Marcus said it is “much more open, more fun, we’re much more involved and allowed to express ourselves more freely.” In addition to reading source material such as stories and passages from the Tanach, speakers and excursions are part of the Etgar lesson plan. For Bikur Cholim, a doctor comes in to speak, and the class does site visits. “Now when we go to the JRC, we know what to do,” Ben Rosen said. “Last
year everything was out of a book,” says Rebecca Miller. “We’d
mention something, then move on. This year, we stay on topic and get information
from different places. By discussing and writing and doing projects, we
think and understand more.” Allen’s 7th graders, who did Etgar last year as well, are equally engaged with, if a bit more critical of, their subject matter and method of implementation. With more written work than in 6th grade, their topics include Piyyum Shayyim (freeing the captives), Israel and Tefilla (prayer.) Allen, who has also taught 5th grade at the Horace Mann School in Salem, says the topics they cover in Etgar are not covered anywhere else. And because this is still a pilot project, both discussion and dissent are encouraged. “Etgar allows the relationship between the teacher and student to grow,” Allen said. “It seems like we’re much closer with the teachers,” said Haley Patoski. “They treat us like adults.” Another program component is peer review, which allows the students to assess each other’s work. “I think it’s brought us together more as a class,” said Jenny Morris. “Before, teachers just threw out stuff. Now it’s taught in a way we can understand and talk about.” Many of these students have been at NSHS since kindergarten. “The difference between Hebrew school with Etgar and without is huge,” said John Blank. Though some, like Ashley Jacobson who began in 6th grade, are new to the school and the material. “The curriculum of Project Etgar helps us catch up,” she said. “We do projects that relate to the main topics, and it’s easier to understand than just reading books,” said Ethan Schair. “We feel comfortable saying what’s on our minds,” said Jeremy Rosen. “There’s a lot of time to do projects,” said Jonathan Gil. Parents are also reportedly thrilled with the enthusiasm and learning inspired by Etgar. And if the other 20 plus schools feel similarly, this pilot program will surely become a permanent part of curricula in Hebrew schools across the country. Miriam Rosen’s Ben is in the 6th grade class. As a typical 12-year-old, she says Hebrew school is not high on his list of things he wants to do. “But he loves it. There’s more hands-on material, more food for thought, more topics that are applicable to real life,” Rosen says. She cites the unit on kashrut as an example. “We keep a kosher-style house, and where before Ben wouldn’t think twice about it, now’s he’s examining labels and telling us if it’s really kosher.” Local
Animal Rights Advocate Decries Slaughtering Practices Susan
Jacobs MARBLEHEAD — Roberta Kalechofsky could be comfortably retired in Florida but instead, the spry 73-year-old activist spends her time publishing books and educating the public about two of her greatest passions — animal rights and vegetarianism. As president of Jews for Animals Rights, an organization she founded in 1985, Kalechofsky was appalled by PETA’s undercover video depicting the kosher slaughtering practices at AgriProcessors Inc. in Iowa. Instead of fussing over Chanukah latkes in her Marblehead kitchen, the grandmother of five has spent the better part of this holiday season firing off letters and emails about the problems with kosher meat. “Kosher slaughter and kosher meat have steadily become corrupted for decades,” she asserts, adding that for years Jews in the animal rights community have begged rabbis to examine the evidence and do something. “All Jews, and particularly rabbis, have to get involved in this issue,” she insists. “They have been trying to ignore it for years, but it won’t go away.” PETA’s disturbing video may change that. In the tape, which Kalechofsky urges all Jews to watch, 60 cows per hour are marched down an assembly line and secured in restraining harnesses. The unruly ones are zapped with stun guns. The cattles’ throats are cut, their tracheas are ripped out, and they are shackled, hoisted and sent along for processing. If shechitah (ritual slaughter) is performed correctly, the animals are supposed to die painlessly in less than one minute. Yet bleeding cows who are clearly still alive cry out, stumble, and try to get away. Although AgriProcessors is reportedly glatt kosher, it is not clear whether a rabbi or shochet (ritual slaughterer) is present. There are many flagrant violations of the rules governing shechitah (ritual slaughter). For example, Jewish law states that the animal must be conscious before it is killed, the blade must be very sharp, the animal must be dead and unable to feel pain before it is shackled and hoisted, and the shochet is supposed to say a prayer. None of this was evident at AgriProcessors, one of about 70 large kosher plants operating in the U.S. Kalechofsky believes this is because shechitah has been made obsolete at today’s large factory farms. “Modern kosher slaughterhouses today kill up to 2,000 steer a day. You cannot kill them that quickly on an assembly line without committing tremendous atrocities,” she states. She points out that small, family-owned farms (usually located in rural areas) tend to have more humane kosher slaughtering practices. Before she became a vegetarian 22 years ago, Kalechofsky consumed only kosher meat, believing it was healthier. Her switch to a plant-based diet occurred after receiving a manuscript (which she ultimately published) about Judaism and vegetarianism written by scholar/activist Richard Schwartz. What she read radically changed the lives of Roberta and her husband, Bob, 76. She has subsequently written extensively on the subject herself, publishing Judaism & Animal Rights in 1992, and Vegetarian Judaism in 1998. “Meat violates God’s mandate to guard your health and the earth. Vegetarianism is the best diet for Jews,” she asserts, maintaining that it is healthier, more spiritual, and “is the diet God gave us.” She
hopes that the current controversy causes the Jewish community to learn
more about how all animals (not just cows) are raised and treated today.
And she hopes that more people will conclude, like she did, that vegetarianism
is the ideal solution. For more information, or to join her organization, Jews for Animal Rights, visit Kalechofsky’s website at www.micahbooks.com. Pearl Challenges U.S. Muslim Leaders to Speak Out Mark
Arnold SWAMPSCOTT — It would be easy to forgive a father for being bitter, spiteful and unforgiving toward those who, in the name of another religion, murdered his child. Dr. Judea Pearl, the Israeli-American father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, consciously chose to respond differently. In an emotional 35-minute lecture to almost 200 people at Temple Beth El, he made no secret of his rage for the still-unknown killers of his 41-year-old son, who was kidnapped in Pakistan while researching a story on the “shoe bomber,” held six days and then brutally murdered. But he also explained how his son’s last utterance — “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, and I’m Jewish” — set off a personal search for him and his wife for the deeper meaning of those words. “It made us stop and ponder: What does it mean to be Jewish? What does it mean to us? To our children?” he said. The upshot of the couple’s inquiry is a newly published book, I Am Jewish, whose proceeds benefit the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which promotes multi-cultural dialogue, particularly among Jews and Muslims. The book includes statements by 150 prominent Jews about what being Jewish means to them. The foundation, among other ventures, brings a few select Muslim journalists to the United States to work for several months with the Wall Street Journal, the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and other publications, in hopes that they will return home committed to combatting hate with hope. A graduate of Israel’s famed Technion Institute, Dr. Pearl is a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles where he is director of the cognitive systems laboratory, dealing in such fields as decision analysis, the philosophy of science, and artificial intelligence. The fact that he was brought up in Israel — and indeed that the family was Jewish — was kept secret by the nation’s press in the days before the journalist was murdered. Facing a photo of his son, projected on a big screen on the bimah of the temple sanctuary, Dr. Pearl said this promising young man “lived an extraordinary life and died and extraordinary death....He found music in what we took for noise. He died with his head up high.” A musician as well as a reporter, he said Daniel sought to change the world “with only a pen and a violin.” Though his message was largely positive, Dr. Pearl condemned Muslim clerics, including those in the United States, who fail to speak out against violence and terror committed in the name of Allah. And he said the biggest threat to world peace today isn’t al Qaeda but Al Jazerra, the Arab television station. The station and others like it, he said, are feeding a steady diet of anti-West and anti-Israel propaganda to Arab youths, transforming them into future terrorists. Malden Temple Reconstructs 350 Years of Jewish History Susan
Jacobs MALDEN — To celebrate 350 years of American Jewish history, Temple Tifereth Israel in Malden recently transformed its synagogue into a quasi museum where guests enjoyed a free, three-floor walking tour that told the history of Jews in America through a variety of creative, interactive installations. Arriving visitors entered through a colorfully-painted cardboard replica of Ellis Island, the principal port of entry into the U.S. for most Jews. After being examined by a “doctor” and declared physically fit, they were issued a passport and given two pennies. They were then free to explore four other stations spread out in the Reform temple; Jewish Life in Colonial America (1654-1800), Jews on the Frontier (1800-1880), Jews in the City (1880-1930), and Jews in Modern America (1930-Present). The highly-organized exhibit was designed to educate both children and adults. Participants tasted Jewish foods, watched short skits and movies, listened to pre-recorded music by contemporary Jewish performers, and used their pennies to purchase candy at a turn-of-the-century Jewish storefront. Organizers, who spent months planning the event, estimate that between 200-300 people attended. The exhibit was only open for two hours on Sunday, Dec. 5, however the event was so popular that the creators may resurrect it again in the spring. Rabbi Tom Alpert was inspired to do the exhibit after attending a convention with other rabbis last spring. Yet he credits Aviva Gershman, Director of the Religious School, for successfully implementing the idea. “After attending the conference, I felt it was important for us to do a program celebrating the 350th anniversary of Jews in America. Aviva took the idea and went with it. She and dozens of volunteers spent months working on it, and we are thrilled to share it with our members and the community at large,” said Alpert. Workmen’s Circle Shule, Unions Protest Wal-Mart’s Labor Policies Gary
Band LYNN — More than 200 people, many of them Jewish, protested against the labor practices of the Wal-Mart corporation outside the store in Lynn on December 5. Organized by the Workmen’s Circle Shule (School) in Brookline, the protest was co-sponsored by Mass. AFL-CIO, New England Jewish Labor Committee, North Shore Labor Council, Neighbor 2 Neighbor Lynn, Dorshei Tsedek Jewish Labor Committee, and the IUE-CWA 201, among others. While the Shule organizes an annual protest against various sweatshop manufacturers, because Wal-Mart has recently been in the news for their rate of expansion, the choice to protest them now is especially relevant. With annual sales approaching $150 billion, Wal-Mart “produces more goods in sweatshops than any company in the world,” the Workmen’s Circle says. And according to the National Labor Committee, “In country after country, factories that produce for Wal-Mart are the worst.” Norm Hirschfeld of Waltham is a machinist and member of the IUE/CWA Local 201 at GE in Lynn who came out to support the kids from the Workmen’s Circle Shule. “It’s important they know about and deal with Wal-Mart’s practices here and abroad,” said Hirschfeld. He believes it’s going take a concerted national effort to put pressure on Wal-Mart to change the way it does business and convince people that it’s “not a good deal to go shopping there.” David Dolev is the director of the Jewish Labor Committee in Boston. “Wal-Mart is an enormous company that we have to deal with,” he said. “They have no unions there and the workers have no right to organize. If we work to change the policies there, hopefully that will effect changes in the labor market nationally.”
International Sharon, Peres Talking Coalition Dan
Baron JERUSALEM — With an eye toward withdrawing Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres, lifelong friends and career rivals, are back at their old game of government building. Negotiators for Prime Minister Sharon and opposition leader Peres met early this week for what looked to be a very short round of talks on forging a unity coalition after their respective parties approved the union last week. Sharon hopes to unveil Israel’s new government next week. Labor, the main opposition party, already is on board, though it remains unclear how many Cabinet portfolios it will get. Political sources said Monday that talks between Sharon’s Likud Party and the influential Orthodox party Shas were close to fruition and that a new, broad coalition would be in place within a week. But media reports on Monday also indicated that Shas — whose spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has ruled against pulling out of Gaza — was demanding as a condition for joining the coalition that party members be allowed to vote their conscience when the actual withdrawal comes to a vote. According
to the reports, though, party insiders said it was unlikely the issue
would keep Shas out of Sharon’s government. Another
religious party, United Torah Judaism, also may join the government in
a bid by Sharon to offset Labor’s bargaining power. Meanwhile, Peres’s Labor Party did not even make specific demands for Cabinet posts in throwing a political lifeline to Sharon, who recently lost his parliamentary majority. “Let’s be clear on this: There will be a government,” Labor’s Haim Ramon told Army Radio. “The question is whether we join this government with significant Cabinet portfolios, or without.” Under Peres, Labor has set a high premium on helping Sharon push through his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank next year. While media reports suggest Peres could be rewarded with a tailor-made post of “disengagement minister” in the next government, the Labor leader has made no mention of any such payback. “We expect to see a deal within days,” he told reporters Saturday. But Sharon also needs help passing the battered 2005 budget, which Shinui blocked in the Knesset on Dec. 1 to protest funding for religious causes. Sharon fired Shinui for not voting in line with him. In parallel, Israel has been tacitly encouraging the campaign to find a successor to the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat in Jan. 9 elections. The frontrunner, PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas, looked almost certain to get a boost after his main rival for the presidency, jailed West Bank militia leader Marwan Barghouti, said through confidants that he would withdraw from the race. Significantly, however, Abbas agreed Sunday to Barghouti’s demand that he include support for “armed resistance” on his platform as the candidate of Fatah, the main PLO faction. On Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet approved in principle the release of as many as 200 Palestinian security prisoners on condition that they’re not serving sentences for terrorist attacks that killed or seriously hurt Israelis. Israeli officials described the measure as part of a reciprocal arrangement with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who last week granted accused Israeli spy Azzam Azzam an early release from prison last week. But the officials also acknowledged that the releases could boost Abbas’s prestige among Palestinians. “It never hurts for the Palestinian moderates to be perceived as making gains from Israel. But as far as we are concerned, the real test is in whether they can stop the terrorism,’’ one Israeli official said. A resurgence of violence made that appear most unlikely. Hamas militants detonated a tunnel packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives beneath an Israeli army post in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing five soldiers. There
also has been bloodshed in central Gaza. After mortar crews in the central
Palestinian town of Khan Younis shelled a nearby Jewish settlement last
Friday, wounding four Israelis, a retaliatory sweep was launched. Palestinians
said a Khan Younis girl was killed by Israeli gunfire.
Features People in the News
Arts & EntertainmentJoy Comes From Faith Rabbi
Edgar Weinsberg Joy Comes in the Morning by Jonathan Rosen (Strauss and Giroux, NY, 2004, 388 pp.) Set in New York City in the year 2000, Joy Comes in the Morning is the story of a beautiful, soulful and single 30-year old female Reform Rabbi named Deborah Green. Her father’s death 15 years earlier compels Deborah to attend a seminary and become a rabbi. We meet Rabbi Green living in an apartment and completing her third year as an assistant rabbi of a large Reform congregation. She is beloved by her congregants for her inspiring sermons, uplifting singing voice, and pastoral approach when visiting the sick. Much of the book describes Deborah’s intense, heartfelt, almost mystical connection to God, to whom she prays daily, while wearing her grandfather’s oversized tallis. Praying with her prayer shawl over her head and body enables her to tune out the world and tune in to both God and to the presence of her long-deceased grandfather. Apart from conveying her quest for spirituality, wearing the tallit also allows Deborah to express her Jewish feminism. As such, the large prayer shawl represents her growing independence from a male chauvinist traditionalist approach to Judaism, which excludes women from various ritual practices such as wearing this religious garment itself. Wearing a tallit is a source of contention for her former live-in boyfriend, a self-righteous neo-Orthodox man named Reuben, who recognizes Deborah’s right to lead a spiritual life but wishes she would not wear what he deems is a man’s garment. Deborah’s affair with Reuben stands in contrast to her new-found, more wholesome intimate relationship with Lev Freedman, culminating months later in their marriage. As he falls in love with her, Lev begins to emulate Deborah’s religious aspirations. Initially reluctant, he evolves into a wholehearted spiritual seeker. This is somewhat in contrast to his vocation as a newspaper science reporter, whose major preoccupation is “birding,” that is, spotting rare birds with his binoculars in Central Park. Lev and his brother Jacob are the sons of a failed aging businessman and Holocaust survivor, Henry Freedman, and his wife, Helen, a professional photographer. Because Henry suffered a stroke three years earlier and was at a point of despair, he tries to kill himself, but changes his mind at the last minute. He is then rushed to the hospital, where Deborah meets him and then Lev during her usual pastoral rounds. Henry’s attempted suicide is contrasted with the actual suicide of Lev’s childhood and college friend, Neal, a paranoid schizophrenic. In the course of the novel, Rosen retells the mystical tale of four rabbis who enter the “Pardes” or the Paradise/garden of Kabbalah. It appears that each of the novel’s main characters can be compared to these four talmudic rabbis, including one who lost his mind, another who died, a third who became an apostate, and a fourth (Rabbi Akiba), who entered the “garden” whole, and reemerged back into the community whole. The skeptic-believer tension reflects the status of Deborah and Lev, although their faith emerges triumphant. Still, the simplistic notion that faith and hope conquer all is offset when a strong gust of wind begins to rip apart the chuppah at the garden wedding of Lev and Deborah. The chuppah consists of two prayer shawls that were sewn together, including one which once belonged to Lev’s grandfather, representing the despair of the Holocaust, and the other, that of Deborah’s grandfather, representing faith. In the end, Joy Comes in the Morning, (a phrase borrowed from a biblical verse recited before the daily Mourner’s Kaddish and derived from the Book of Psalms, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”) is a story about the resolution of doubt and the reaffirmation of faith. Well-researched, humorous, insightful and uplifting, Joy reminds us that even though we may be vulnerable, we are also durable — so long as we are willing to be touched by each other and by the presence of God. However tenuous our beliefs, faith in God and in each other is an essential ingredient for those who seek a greater sense of renewal and engagement in life.
EditorialHow Humane are Kosher Slaughtering Practices? The laws of kashrut, spelled out in the Torah and elaborated in rabbinic commentary, decree which animals may be eaten and which can not, and how animals are to be slaughtered. The method of slaughter is a religious rite, known as shechitah, long believed to cause the least suffering to an animal possible. It has traditionally been performed by a shochet, a learned and pious person, thoroughly trained in the ancient technique of ritual slaughter and carried out under careful religious supervision. The animal’s throat is cut with a razor-sharp blade, intended to cause instant and painless death. Jewish law forbids stunning the animals first. Today, the ritual is performed increasingly at large slaughterhouses under production-line conditions. There are about 70 such abattoirs in the nation today, and animal rights groups have repeatedly accused them of inhumane practices. One such group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), caused a furor in Jewish circles a year ago when it compared the meat industry to the Holocaust because of the way it sent its victims to slaughter. In May 2003, the group wrote to AgriProcessors, Inc. of Postville, Iowa, demanding an investigation of animal cruelty there. AgriProcessors is the world’s largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse and produces meats under the labels Rubashkin’s and Aaron’s Best Meats, neither brand is sold on the North Shore. According to PETA’s website, plant attorneys rejected the charges, saying: “Kosher slaughter is being conducted in accordance with the letter and spirit of Jewish law.” PETA
then placed an undercover worker inside the huge AgriProcessor plant and
videotaped the slaughter of 278 animals, of which, it said, 25 percent
remained conscious “for a significant period of time” after
their throats were cut. “They’re ripping the tracheas and esophagi
out of fully conscious animals, dumping them out of pens into pools of
their own blood,” PETA said in going public with the videotape and
charges. “The animals stand and bellow and attempt to escape for
up to three and even four minutes in some cases.” Nevertheless, after studying the video, the OU sent two top officials to Postville to review procedures at the plant. They found that plant procedures “meet all OU standards to the highest degree.” But reacting to the public outcry, the OU stipulated two changes in procedures: the trachea will no longer be removed following slaughter and any animals surviving the initial cut “will be promptly stunned or shot so as not to prolong its suffering” — and no longer be sold as kosher. If
the OU had been doing its job, PETA’s exposé would not have
been necessary. And it’s worth asking: What is going on in the other
large slaughterhouses — in the United States and abroad? Postville
may be only the tip of the iceberg. — Mark R. Arnold
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
DOV
BURT LEVY Dov Burt Levy is a Salem, MA based columnist. He can be reached at dblevy@columnist. com.. |
What is a proper subject for a column in a Jewish-American newspaper? And how does it differ from writing for the Israeli press?
Following last issue’s column about the 2004 presidential election campaign, several readers said: “Dov, we can read about elections in the regular press. In many of your columns, words like Jewish or Israel or anti-Semitism or Yiddishkeit do not even appear. Not good, Dov.”
I appreciate that view. They don’t want me to be like that Jewish immigrant writer a hundred years ago who, after visiting the Bronx zoo, submitted an article titled “The Elephant and the Jewish Question.” I agree that my columns should have a Jewish connection; we just disagree about what constitutes such a connection.
My first op-ed column, “The Bureaucracy Needs Managing,” appeared in the Jerusalem Post in April 1987. I castigated the Israeli Ministry of Health because of their lack of elementary common sense planning for the public reaction to Israel’s first major television programming about AIDS and the tens of thousands of resulting deaths around the world.
That night, and in the following days, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of worried people telephoned the nation’s seven new, now nationally known, AIDS testing centers. Guess what? No special effort had been made to organize staff trained to answer the phone questions that would inevitably follow such a scary broadcast.
“Arrogant Egged,” my last Jerusalem Post column in May 1999, berated both the Egged Bus Company and the Ministry of Road Safety for not acting to make public busses in Israel the epitome of good driving rather than allowing its drivers to continue as the rough-riding, tail-gating and, too often, accident-causing cowboys of the Israeli road system.
Everything in Israel is fodder for an opinion writer’s column because Israel is that “normal” (for better or worse) state so fervently envisioned by the pre-state philosophers and activists of Zionism. Columnists should castigate and scold so as to reveal the omnipresent problems in government and private sectors.
Here in the United States I probably wouldn’t, for example, write a column about the Boston Big Dig troubles, where unplanned waterfalls have emerged in a key tunnel in what is America’s most costly public works project. Every issue of public mismanagement is not a Jewish issue; although my grandmother, 50 years ago, might have worriedly asked: “Is Bechtel (the lead contractor) a Jewish name?”
But the last American presidential election process, including the candidates‚ political messages, the debates, the dumbing down of the discourse, the stereotyping, character assassination, promotion of hatred and repositioning opponents as enemies, is bad for the entire body politic and terrible for minorities. And we are, though it is easy to forget, still a minority.
Jews do not fare well in countries where the masses can be swayed by big lies, where the term “enemy” is in common use, where patriotism is defined by party. As I see it, our presidential elections are on a downhill trajectory in each of these areas.
Take the notion of enemy, a term that so many fans and even players in sports (more so in British and European soccer but we are catching up fast in basketball and other sports) seem to have adopted. People respect opponents; they beat the hell out of their enemies, both on and off the field, within or outside the rules and norms. In politics, people respect opponents but they beat up enemies and tear down their political posters.
Recently, I mentioned a bumper sticker seen around Salem: “The Enemy is the ACLU”. Is it being too pessimistic or unrealistic to think that the next sticker might be: “Immigrants are the Enemy” or even “Jews are the Enemy”?
The American election process is a pivotal sign along American-Democracy road. We Jews need to check those changing directions very carefully.
Christmas Offers Jews an Opportunity
|
|
ELLEN GOLUB Ellen Golub teaches journalism at Salem State College.She can be reached at elkele@attbi.com |
Why do the Jews need a land of their own? Not many people know that Sholem Aleichem, the primogenitor of Fiddler on the Roof, wrote a whole book by this title in answer to that withering question. For hundreds of years, that was the Jewish question that permeated Europe — and the birth of the State of Israel in 1948 put it to rest for the last half century.
But in America, I continue to hear another Jewish question. Quietly, with some anxiety, perhaps trepidation. “How are you doing?” people ask me in soto voce, “Do you have any plans?”
The Jewish translation of these seemingly innocuous English phrases is: “How are you managing during the Christmas season? Are you depressed about feeling left out of American culture? And do you have any plans for that one day when all of gentile America closes down and goes home to celebrate a lovefest under its tree, opening gifts, eating ham, mesmerized by caroling carolers?
America, it’s not your fault. You have been so kind, so solicitous. The TV and the radio, AOL and Marshalls are all full of Happy Chanukah flotsam and jetsam. Adam Sandler has declared our celebration eight crazy nights. And still, we feel disquiet.
Calling Christmas “just another American holiday,” many Jews have succumbed to the intoxicating sense of inclusion that the holiday offers. But those of us who don’t recognize the miracle of Christmas are impaled on its mythology. First, we can feel guilty that we failed to give the pregnant Mary a room at the hotel. It’s some Jewish landlord’s fault that the Christian savior was born in a barn. And then, of course, we had to pronounce our humbug: “Sorry, that’s not our messiah.”
As if insult was not enough, we’ve continued to ignore the ghosts of Christmas Past and Future. Even Scrooge broke down and saw the death of Tiny Tim as a tragedy he could try to avert. Even his humanity was stirred, as he grasped the Christmas spirit, renouncing selfishness and crankiness for love and laughter. Who could possibly reject the gift of Christmas, Dickens asks?
Yo. That would be us. The two percent of naysayers who are filling our faces with those greasy latkes and licking our fingers from those sugary sufganiot. We shuffle pennies back and forth in heated games of dreidel, but over our shoulder we can’t help but notice that they’re having a party at which we just don’t belong. Christmas is High Noon for Jews in America — and at the end of the day we are not Gary Cooper.
So, nu, Yisroel, do we have any plans?
After years of therapeutic chatter, some of us have decided that it’s OK for us to just be ourselves. You remember? The Light Among the Nations. The People of the Book. The people whose essential identity lies in Torah.
Remember how tough it’s been to set aside time for Torah study? Ever try to coordinate the schedules of a bunch of Jews so that they can get together and learn? Perhaps instead of wondering how to pass the long, dismal day, we should see Christmas as our Chanukah present — a moment when the world shuts down and asks nothing from us, a time when we can recapture the spark of who we are, as Jews.
“Asey l’cha rav, uk’neh l’cha haver,” advises Yehoshua Ben Perachya in Pirke Avot. “Find yourself a teacher. Get yourself a study partner and learn.”
So Many Moments of Truth … So Little Time
|
|
STACEY MARCUS Stacey Marcus runs Grapevine Communications and is also a freelance writer who resides in Marblehead. She invites readers to contact her at grapecom@aol.com.
|
There are two types of liars: those who lie to other people, and those who deceive themselves. Some really talented people can do both.
I
was raised in a home where we did neither. We ascribed to the old Jewish
proverb that says, “Truth is the safest lie.” Through the lens
of my utopia, I viewed the world as a good place where people didn’t
lie and cheat and everyone was good. I must have been so cute.
In first grade, my teacher asked if I was wearing a new dress and I said
yes because I forgot that I had worn it once before. I spent a restless
weekend rehearsing my confession to my teddy bear while telling him of
my doomed destiny. Although I knew he loved me unconditionally, I told
him I would understand if he needed to move to a home where little girls
didn’t lie.
Thank goodness Teddy Junior decided to stick around, or I may have chosen a different path. While some people have a little Jiminy Cricket residing in their head, I have Judge Judy and nine unforgiving jurors rattling around 24/7. It’s a tough crowd that doesn’t take coffee breaks and keeps me pointed in the right direction.
It’s a full-time job trying to do the right thing. Give money to the man jiggling the tin cup or buy a double latte? Hold the door for the stream of snails filing out of the building or be on time to a client meeting? Go to an important community event in the pelting rain or light the first candle of Chanukah with your family? Sometimes doing the right thing is obvious and easy; other times it’s murky and difficult.
Perhaps the hardest part of trying to do the right thing is that sometimes it doesn’t yield the expected result. Like when I told the cashier she had given me too much change and her boss scolded her. Or the time I let a car go in front of me and the guy behind me honked and shook his middle finger at me.
My favorite is when I smile or wave to someone and they pretend they don’t know me. That’s when I have to swallow a big lump of hurt and know the right thing to do is pity them instead of mentioning them by name in my article.
Yesterday my daughter came home to say that the teacher had added up her score wrong and she thought it may be too high. She said she was having a “moral dilemma” and didn’t know what to do. Of course, I knew what she was going to do, but I needed to let her weigh the pros and cons. A higher GPA or a clear conscience?
Silly as it may seem to some, she chose the high road and went to the teacher who rewarded her candor with the extra points. It really didn’t make that much of a difference in her grade, she just wanted to set the record straight. Poor thing, she may be on the slow road to a decent life.
It
may sometimes appear that thieves and liars are in the fast lane to a
charmed life. Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel halfway around
the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Home can be an
awfully cozy place with warm socks and a clear conscience.
Beware of the Trend Toward ‘Chrismukkah’
|
|
JONATHAN S. TOBIN Jonathan S.Tobin is executive director of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia. He can be reached via e-mail at jtobin@jewishexponent.com |
Though many American Jews still spend the last month of the calendar year hyperventilating about the fact that Christmas is an integral and inescapable element of American culture, acceptance of the minor Jewish festival of Chanukah has never been greater.
From a postage stamp to the huge menorahs erected throughout the country by Chabad (often to the embarrassment of other Jews, who want all religious observances out of the public square), Chanukah is definitely mainstream these days. In an effort to avoid the Christmas envy that afflicted previous generations of American Jews, baby-boomers have also helped elevate the Festival of Lights into a very big deal.
That assuaged our December depression, but it has laid the foundations for other problems. Along with mass-market merchandising,
Chanukah hasn’t gotten just time. In some quarters, it has simply merged with Christmas to create a new end-of-year, quasi-ecumenical, yet non-religious holiday, called, by some, “Chrismukkah.”
Of course, there’s no such thing, but the term — popularized recently by its mention on “The O.C.,” a popular Fox nighttime television series — represents a sea change in American culture.
One of the by-products of the acceptance of Jews in virtually every sector of American society is the fact that barriers to intermarriage are also nonexistent. And with a huge population of mixed Jewish and Christian families, many of which prefer not to make a firm choice between religions, the merging of the two December observances into some inchoate blend of menorahs and trees was inevitable.
The drift toward a Chrismukkah winter wonderland for us to frolic in is merely a reflection of the low priority many people place on religious faith, notwithstanding answers to exit polls culled from the last election.
So why would we expect pop culture to do anything other than combine the December holidays into one meaningless excuse for a party? In truth, melding disparate holiday celebrations at other times of the year is far from uncommon. The recommendation a few years ago by the Dovetail Institute, a group that provides resources for interfaith couples and their children, that families stuff their Easter ham with Passover charoset is one example that’s rather hard to forget.
Decrying any of this may be as futile as spitting into the wind, but it still behooves us to remember that, the calendar notwithstanding, Chanukah really doesn’t fit into the mold that the ignorant would like to stuff it into. The mixed message that Chrismukkah brings us does the children of intermarriage no favors. Those who seek to give the next generation a piece of their Jewish heritage by combining it with the traditions of another faith are actually asserting that neither has validity.
Religion may have been drained out of Christmas for many of our neighbors, but it is particularly inappropriate for us to follow suit. That’s because Chanukah is far from being a blue-tinsel version of Christmas, or a fuzzy Jewish feast of goodwill toward men. Commemorating the struggle of the Jewish people for religious and political freedom in second-century BCE, the holiday provides a particularly apt message for contemporary American Jewry.
The observance of Chanukah embodies the will of the Jewish people to stay faithful to the traditions once assailed by foreign tyrants, and which are now cast aside by our own impulse to fit into an increasingly secular world. Its essence is that standing up and being counted among those who will not bow down to the false idols of the popular culture of the day is the duty of every Jew.
For the same reason, that’s why we should probably worry less about getting equal time for Chanukah this December, and more about whether we are living up to the challenge that the memory of the Maccabees’ great struggle set for us.
No matter where you are on the Jewish religious spectrum — or whether or not you live in an interfaith family — the eight days of Chanukah ought to speak of the need to reinforce our ties with fellow Jews and to rekindle the spark of Jewish identity within ourselves. Anything less is a terrible waste of candle power.
Harvard Anti-Semitism Wasn’t Unique
The column, Harvard and the Nazis (Journal, Dec. 3-16, page 12), reminds me of my days as a Harvard undergraduate. In those days, 1932-1936, the school’s standard operating procedure included hiring very few, if any, Jewish professors, admitting Jewish students subject to a quota, but treating enrolled Jewish students on a non-discriminatory basis.
I encountered only one Jewish professor, Harry A. Wolfson. He held a chair, endowed by Jews, and taught Jewish history and philosophy. I studied American history with Prof. Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., who would not have been on the faculty had his father not converted to Christianity. By a count of names, I estimate that about 10 percent of my classmates were Jewish, maybe fewer than if there had been a level playing field. As for discrimination, I encountered none, nor did I hear any anti-Semitic slurs by the faculty in class, or in tutorial or in office visits. As part of the same pattern, there were no faculty members or students of color in the undergraduate program.
Sadly, Harvard was in the mainstream of academic prejudice. It was part and parcel of the anti-Semitism that prevailed in the larger society. Law firms, unless Jewish, didn’t hire Jewish lawyers, hospitals didn’t have Jewish doctors as senior staff, engineering firms made it clear that Jewish engineers need not apply, accounting firms, unless Jewish didn’t hire Jewish CEOs, and restrictive covenants forbade selling or leasing residential property to Jews.
The voice of Catholicism, heard weekly on nationwide radio, was that of the anti-Semitic Father Coughlin. In my neighborhood, Inman Square, Cambridge, youthful groups stood on street corners and taunted bearded Jews passing by. The epithet “Christ killers” was all too common on playgrounds.
No, Harvard was not a leading force for equality. It was just another morally tainted institution.
Hyman
Goldin
Member, Journal Board
of Overseers
Salem
On Cattle Mistreatment
Reporters and readers alike are debating whether or not the method of slaughter employed in Postville is halachically correct. These worries miss a vital point.
By focusing on the last few seconds of life, otherwise educated and loving Jews ignore the question of animal treatment during the preceding 99% of their lives. Most cattle are raised on coarse feed that creates painful gastric problems; they do not graze on grass for most of their lives. They are kept in fields not shielded from sun. They are denied exercise, lest they burn calories.
They are castrated, branded and dehorned without anesthesia or follow up veterinary care. They are transported long distances in overcrowded trucks, often without food and water. Kosher animals may “enjoy” a less painful death than non-kosher animals, but virtually all animals raised for consumption (kosher or non-kosher) live lives of pain, crowding and abusive treatment.
Were it a dog or cat being treated this way, the handlers would be arrested and jailed.
Judaism teaches kindness and compassion toward animals. It is intellectually dishonest to ignore 99% of an animal’s life, in favor of the last 1%.
M.
Gross
Boston
Vegetarians Decry Conditions
As president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), I can affirm that JVNA has consistently opposed efforts to single out ritual slaughter for criticism, and that we have been critical of some PETA tactics. However, we believe, respectfully, that the horrific conditions revealed at the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse should awaken us to consider the many Jewish mandates that are violated by animal-based diets and agriculture.
Even if ritual slaughter is carried out perfectly, can we ignore how conditions on modern intensive factory farms violate Jewish teachings on treating animals with compassion? Since Judaism stresses that we should diligently guard our health, can we ignore the many studies that link the consumption of animal products to many diseases? Since we are to be partners with G-d in protecting the environment, can we ignore the significant contributions that animal-based agriculture makes to global climate change, rapid species extinction, destruction of forests, water shortages, and many more threats.
For the sake of our health and that of our imperiled planet, for farmed animals, and for properly carrying out mitzvot, it is time to seriously consider a switch toward plant-based diets.
Richard
H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island
Staten Island, NY
Trip Takes Students Back
The 5th and 6th grade Hebrew School classes at Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead took a field trip on December 5. We went to the Lynn Heritage State Park Museum, where there was an exhibit on Jewish History in the City of Lynn.
When we arrived, our school was escorted into a room where a short film presentation was shown on the ways the Jewish people in those times lived. Next, we were split into three groups and went to different stations. My first station was with my teacher, Ms. Mack, where we read a Letter to the Editor that was published in the 1920s-1930.
The letter was written by a young Jewish boy who came to America for a better life. He had promised his father, who was blind and poor and who had to stay behind in Russia, that he would send home his first paycheck in America. But once here, he found that it was hard to earn money and he needed it for his own rent and food. He wrote to the Editor, asking for advice. We all had to give our thoughts and discuss what our response to the letter would be if we were in the Editor’s position.
My next station was a discussion with Jack Stahl, who told us all about his life growing up in Lynn and what he would do to have fun. We learned how important the JCC in Lynn was to all of the people in the Jewish community. We all laughed at some of the amusing stories Jack told us.
My next station with Mrs. Bornstein was a scavenger hunt held in a room where there were many pictures with captions under them showing different Jewish families in Lynn in the early 1900s right up through 1960. We had a list of questions to answer such as: How many synagogues were there in the city of Lynn and what were their names? How many kosher butchers were there on Summer Street?
I had a great time on this trip and found all the information fascinating. But the highlight of the trip was that in the picture room I saw a couple of pictures of my great-grandfather, Charles Goldman, whom I learned was an important part of the Jewish community at that point in time. This was an exciting and educational journey back in time to when the Jewish people were first settling in the North Shore, creating a vibrant community that still exists today.
Danielle Goldman, Swampscott
Charity Begins at Home
The 5th and 6th grade Hebrew School classes at Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead took a field trip on December 5. We went to the Lynn Heritage State Park Museum, where there was an exhibit on Jewish History in the City of Lynn.
When we arrived, our school was escorted into a room where a short film presentation was shown on the ways the Jewish people in those times lived. Next, we were split into three groups and went to different stations. My first station was with my teacher, Ms. Mack, where we read a Letter to the Editor that was published in the 1920s-1930.
The letter was written by a young Jewish boy who came to America for a better life. He had promised his father, who was blind and poor and who had to stay behind in Russia, that he would send home his first paycheck in America. But once here, he found that it was hard to earn money and he needed it for his own rent and food. He wrote to the Editor, asking for advice. We all had to give our thoughts and discuss what our response to the letter would be if we were in the Editor’s position.
My next station was a discussion with Jack Stahl, who told us all about his life growing up in Lynn and what he would do to have fun. We learned how important the JCC in Lynn was to all of the people in the Jewish community. We all laughed at some of the amusing stories Jack told us.
My next station with Mrs. Bornstein was a scavenger hunt held in a room where there were many pictures with captions under them showing different Jewish families in Lynn in the early 1900s right up through 1960. We had a list of questions to answer such as: How many synagogues were there in the city of Lynn and what were their names? How many kosher butchers were there on Summer Street?
I had a great time on this trip and found all the information fascinating. But the highlight of the trip was that in the picture room I saw a couple of pictures of my great-grandfather, Charles Goldman, whom I learned was an important part of the Jewish community at that point in time. This was an exciting and educational journey back in time to when the Jewish people were first settling in the North Shore, creating a vibrant community that still exists today.
Danielle Goldman, Swampscott
Beverly Bootstraps Aids North Shore Residents
A recent issue of your newspaper reported that Mazon: A Jewish Response To Hunger announced its fall grants, allocating $54,000 to Massachusetts agencies. What you failed to recognize is that one of the grantees was an agency that has been serving the residents, both Jewish and non-Jewish, on the North Shore for many years — Beverly Bootstraps. As a member of the Board of Directors I am proud of the work that they have done to help individuals not only with groceries, but in so many other ways to raise themselves out of poverty in a dignified manner.
In addition to the food pantry, Beverly Bootstraps runs a self-sufficient thrift shop. When school begins each year they hand out book bags filled with school supplies to those who cannot afford the expense of beginning school prepared for the year. During the summer months, volunteers make lunches which are distributed to children on the playgrounds, whose parents cannot afford to send them to camp. Each year, volunteers are available to help individuals with their tax returns. These are just some of the many activities that keep everyone, from staff to volunteers, scurrying from one project to another throughout the year.
This is the second grant that they have received from Mazon. The funds that they have received, while welcome, need to be supplemented with vigilance if we are to eradicate hunger and poverty in our own cities and towns on the North Shore and beyond. The fact that Mazon is capable and willing to support our local communities is due in part to the support of the Jewish community and our individual efforts. So I encourage my congregants, along with others in our community, whenever celebrating a simcha or a holiday, to remember those who go hungry involuntarily. Even though there are major campaigns on Yom Kippur and Pesach to remember Mazon, these are not the only times that we can share our abundance.
On behalf of Beverly Bootstraps and all those who help to eradicate poverty in the world, I am deeply appreciative of your responce, allowing Mazon to continue give grants to our community.
Rabbi
Steven J. Rubenstein
Temple B’nai Abraham
Beverly
About ‘Alternative Judaism’
I
read with interest that the Foxes are available to give “resources,
guidance and encouragement” to Jews seeking alternatives (“Alternative
Judaism?,” Dec. 3-16). I enjoyed working with Joan and Ron when I
was President of Temple Shalom the year they were members. For me, however,
the essence of the article was tucked in way at the end: “What is
a Jewish life? Is it enough to go to temple three times a year...?”
From my perspective if the three time-a-year Jews were willing to commit
themselves to attending minyan perhaps once a week, attending Shabbat
services regularly, and committing some time, energy, and resources to
a synagogue, they would not only find klal yisrael but could find or develop
all the social action, study opportunities, social and spiritual experiences
they were seeking without needing alternatives. As with many other of
life’s activities, one gets out what one puts in.
Barbara
Ingber
Marblehead
ELFMAN, David I. — late of Wilmington. Died Nov. 25. Husband of Ida B. (Goldstein) Elfman. Father of Harvey M. and Sheila Elfman of Wilmington. Grandfather of Amy and Douglas. Uncle of nieces and nephews. (T)
GOLD, Harvey L. — late of Winthrop. Died Dec. 11. Son of the late Max T. and Miriam N. (King) Gold. Brother of Harriet and Edward Friedman of Marblehead. Uncle of Debra Friedman and her husband David Gustavson, and Joel Friedman and his wife Sharon Burtman. Grand-uncle of three. (T)
GOODMAN, Edward J. Jr. — late of Danvers, formerly of Chelsea. Died Dec. 4. Husband of Lea (Caplitz) Goodman. Father of Jane and Sheldon Golder of Framingham, and Jill and Frank Sirignano of Beverly. Brother of Warren Goodman of Brookline, and Doris Gumner of CA. Grandfather of Matthew Golder. (T)
HARK, Freda A. (Katz) — late of Swampscott. Died Nov. 29. Wife of Samuel Hark. Daughter of the late Samuel and Sarah (Koffman) Katz. Mother of Dorothy Hark Phillips of Boynton Beach, FL, Myrna Patterson of Watertown, David and Laurre Hark of Marblehead, and the late George Alfred Hark and Joan Feiven. Mother-in-law of Leonard Feiven of Salem. Sister of the late Dora Shaffer. Grandmother of 13. Great-grandmother of 11. (S)
IMBER, Kenneth A. — late of Atlanta, GA, formerly of Marblehead and Houston. Died Nov. 24. Son of Gertrude (Leibovitz) Imber and her long-time friend, Victor Frangolini of Lake Worth, FL, and the late Milton Imber. Brother of Judith and Philip Rosenfield of Wayland, and Neal and Karen Imber of Marblehead. Uncle of Josh, Matthew, Leslie, Michelle and Mark. Nephew of Mary Kline of FL. Cousin of Nathan and Mary Waldman of Houston, TX. Special friend of Loretta Gasper of Atlanta, GA. (S)
RICHMAN, Betty (Green) — late of Chelsea, formerly of Plymouth. Died Dec. 9. Wife of the late Herman Richman. Sister of Shirley Glickman of FL, and the late Morris Green and Louis Green. Sister-in-law of Elfriede Green of Danvers. Aunt of many nieces and nephews. (T)
SAVAGE, Leo — late of Revere and Delray Beach, FL, formerly of Lexington. Died Nov. 20. Husband of Helaine (Lewis) Savage. Father of Pamela and Murry Awrach, Stephen Savage, and Bob and Faith Savage. Brother of the late Hyman Savage, Harry Savage, Rose Cohen, and Sophie Boyer. Grandfather of Brendan Awrach, Harrison Awrach, Janna Savage, and Lisa Savage. (G)
SCHNEIDER, Isadore “Bob” — late of Middleton, formerly of Andover. Died Nov. 24. Husband of the late Marlene (Kenner) Schneider. Father of Neil Schneider, Karyn Schneider, Brian and Celeste Schneider, and Garry and Michele Schneider. Grandfather of 5. Great-grandfather of one. (G)
SHERIDEN, Michael — late of Gloucester and FL. Died Dec. 8. Husband of the late Lee (Levy) Sheriden. Father of Ira and Dana Sheriden of Indianapolis, IN, and Meryl Sheriden of Gloucester. Grandfather of David Sheriden, Jesse Doherty, Danielle Sheriden, and Lindsey and Jarrett Doherty. Brother and brother-in-law of Arthur and Barbara Levy of Basking Ridge, NJ, and Renee Levy of Delray Beach, FL. (S)
SHNIDMAN, Abraham — late of Delray Beach, FL, formerly of Brookline. Died Nov. 27. Husband of the late Rose (Cohen) Shnidman. Father of Melvin Shnidman of Los Angeles, CA, David Shnidman of Lexington, Alan Taylor of Delray Beach, FL, and Susan Bardett of Hillsboro, CA. Brother of Samuel Snidman of Deerfield Beach, FL, and Jeanette Nadler of Swampscott. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of three. (S)
STEIN, Elliott — late of Danvers, formerly of Lynnfield. Died Nov. 25. Husband of Marilyn (Gray-Brenner) Stein and the late Anne (Lapidus) Stein. Father of Andrew and Sarom Stein, Robert Stein, and Claudia Finn. Stepfather of Michael and Joelle Brenner, and Robert and Sue Brenner. Brother of Rosalin Borodkin and Shirley Morovitz. Grandfather of Issac, Jesse, Hannah, Julianne, Cameron, Allyssa, Lielle, Talia, and Aviya. (G)
SWERLING, Rita (Berenson) — late of Lynn, formerly of Chelsea. Died Dec. 3. Wife of Robert Swerling. Mother of Paul Swerling of Framingham, Gary and Gloria Swerling of Newburyport, and Stuart and Nora Swerling of West Peabody. Sister of Shirley Baker of FL. Grandmother of Bradley, Amy, Lisa, Wendy, David and Johnathan. (T)
TATELMAN, Herbert A. — late of Boynton Beach, FL, and Swampscott. Died Dec. 8. Husband of Betty (Sharaf) Tatelman. Father of Richard and Dorothy Tatelman of Swampscott, Jackie Tatelman and her lifetime partner Nancy Pope of Mountain, NC, Jack and Deborah Tatelman of Marblehead, and Michele Garnet of Wakefield. Brother of Lila Phillips of North Miami Beach, FL, and the late Bertha Sigilman. Grandfather of Aria, Lea, Mark, Jonathan and Jennifer Tatelman, and Samantha and Alison Chertok. (S)
WOLFGANG, Naomi (Davidson) — late of Revere. Died Nov. 29. Wife of Stanley Wolfgang of Revere. Mother of Mark and Seth Wolfgang, both of Revere. Daughter of the late David and Rose Davidson. Sister of Ann Baytarian of Boston, and Marilyn Davidson of Medford. (T)
IN MEMORIAM
Freda A. Hark, Bookkeeper and Homemaker
Freda
A. (Katz) Hark, age 94, of Swampscott, passed away on November 29, 2004
at North Shore Medical Center in Salem following a brief illness. She
was the wife of Samuel Hark.
Born and educated in Cambridge, she was the daughter of the late Samuel and Sarah (Koffman) Katz. She was a graduate of Cambridge Latin School Class of 1928. In her earlier life, she worked as a bookkeeper at her parents’ real estate and property management company, but was happier in her true vocation as a homemaker. Her greatest pleasure in life involved her family, to which she was very devoted. She had resided in Swampscott for over 50 years.
Mrs. Hark and her husband were original members of Temple Israel in Swampscott. She was also a member of Hadassah, the True Sisters, the Jewish Community Center in Marblehead, and a life member of the Jewish Rehabilitation Center in Swampscott.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Hark is survived by her children: Dorothy Hark Phillips of Boynton Beach, FL, Myrna Patterson of Watertown, David and Laurre Hark of Marblehead, and her son-in-law Leonard Feiven of Salem. She was the mother of the late George Alfred Hark and Joan Feiven. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Interment took place at Chevra Shaas Cemetery in West Roxbury. Expressions of sympathy in her memory may be donated to Temple Israel or to the charity of your choice.