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December 30, 2005 -January 12, 2006 local
Stories
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Three Arrests Made in Chabad Vandalism Case Ben
Harris Three juveniles, all 14, were arraigned in Lynn Juvenile Court last week in connection with the recent vandalism at the Chabad House in Swampscott, according to a press release from the Essex County District Attorney. The three were charged with various forms of property damage and breaking and entering, and were released on bail with instructions to have no contact with the Chabad House or its rabbi. Two were scheduled to reappear in court for a pre-trial hearing on Dec. 29. The third will have a hearing on Jan. 27, 2006. According to District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, all three entered pleas of non-delinquent, the juvenile court version of not guilty. “On behalf of our entire Jewish community, I would like to thank the Swampscott Police Department, Detective Ted Delano, and the other agencies who worked together to find those responsible for the terrible act of arson at Chabad of the North Shore,” said Chabad director Rabbi Yossi Lipsker via email from Israel. “The recent vandalism has been distressing and it is comforting to know that those responsible will be brought to justice.” Swampscott police declined to answer questions about the case, referring all inquiries to the D.A.’s office where officials were equally tight-lipped, citing their ethical obligations to protect the identity of minors. Officials specifically declined to confirm whether the charges pertained only to the torching of a van in the Chabad House parking lot sometime during the night of Oct. 21, or if they were also connected to an earlier act of vandalism inside the Chabad House on Oct 1. The D.A.’s press release issued what appeared to be contradictory information in this regard, using the singular term “incidence” when connecting the charges to the crime, but differentiating the charge of breaking and entering from the more specific charge of breaking and entering a motor vehicle, implying that two separate acts of intrusion were committed. Spokespeople for the D.A.’s office declined to clear up the ambiguity. Jewish Federation Director Merritt Mulman was saddened to learn that juveniles were believed responsible for the arson at Chabad and urged the District Attorney to disclose further information. “As a leader of the Jewish community, I expect the authorities to alert us as to whether these kids were part of a larger organized hate group operating in our community,” Mulman told the Journal. “As we know, kids are prime targets for these groups.” “Our community must remain vigilant in our awareness that hate and anti-Semitism exists and must be confronted whenever and wherever it occurs,” Mulman added. D.A. Blodgett told the Journal his office takes these crimes “extremely seriously,” but that any discussion of the particulars could jeopardize his successful prosecution of the case. “We are prohibited by the cannon of ethics from discussing any particulars while the investigation is ongoing,” said Blodgett. Blodgett said that once proceedings conclude, he would “positively, absolutely” make more details public. Officials did say that the arrests had been made by the Swampscott police, in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, and if convicted the offenders could face sentences as severe as incarceration until their 18th birthdays. The Chabad House was vandalized on two separate occasions in October. In the first incident, on the Shabbat morning of Oct. 1, graffiti was found scrawled across the wall of the synagogue’s social hall. Three weeks later, on Oct. 22, a van in the synagogue parking lot was set aflame. The fire, which was later determined to be deliberately set, occurred the same weekend as graffiti was painted on an outdoor message board at Congregation Ahabat Sholom in Lynn. At the time, Lynn police reported that three juveniles, aged 12 to 16 years of age, were spotted in the area on the evening of Oct. 21. Neither the local police departments nor the District Attorney would say whether they believed the three juveniles arraigned last week were believed responsible for the vandalism at Ahabat Sholom. All three juveniles were charged with causing property damage with intent to intimidate, and willful destruction of the property of a church or synagogue in excess of $5,000. Two of the three were additionally charged with breaking and entering a motor vehicle in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony and burning a motor vehicle. Negotiations Continue Over Former Temple Israel Site Susan
Jacobs SWAMPSCOTT — The town of Swampscott and the Board of Directors of Congregation Shirat Hayam are still working on a possible purchase of the former Temple Israel property. Talks between the two parties stalled during the Jewish high holidays, but have resumed and are expected to intensify after Swampscott Town Admin-istrator Andrew
Maylor returns from vacation Jan. 3. “We
are proceeding with At a special town meeting held Sept. 26, Swampscott citizens overwhelmingly approved buying the Temple Israel land and building for a price not to exceed $3.75 million. Should the sale go through, land use issues are still in question. Swampscott selectmen would like to build a new police station on the 3.5-acre site; however some neighbors near the Humphrey Street location are not enamored with that possibility. If a police station is built, it is likely that a portion of the nearly 45,000 square foot building and/or land will be sold off, since a station will not require that much space. Maylor recently told the Boston Jewish Advocate that although other ideas for the potential use of the property are under consideration, negotiations are continuing without conditions on the use of the property. Maylor said that if an agreement can be reached, the ultimate use of the structure will be decided by Town Meeting members. Several weeks back, there was talk of the town taking the property through eminent domain; however Cassidy said that is no longer under consideration. Discussions between the two parties have been cordial, and he is hopeful that a mutual agreement will be reached by the end of January. “I think our price is more than fair, from what I’ve heard from contractors, and our offer is well above what others are bidding for similar properties,” he says. Shirat
Hayam to Create New Education Center Ben
Harris Congregation Shirat Hayam is preparing to open its own Hebrew School next fall, ending its long affiliation with the North Shore Hebrew School, a consortium of four area temples. With roughly 60 of the NSHS’s approximately 80 students, Shirat Hayam’s withdrawal is a serious blow to the school, but administrators and board members say that NSHS will continue to operate in the fall. Shirat Hayam made its intentions formally known in a letter to members of the NSHS board over the summer, but they say interest in having their own school was evident early in the process of creating the new congregation, a product of the merger between Temples Israel and Beth El in Swampscott. “What became crystal clear from the entire [education] committee … is that they really wanted to have a school that they could call their own,” says Desiree Gil, who chaired Shirat Hayam’s education committee and served on the board of NSHS for over eight years. What didn’t work, according to Shirat Hayam officials, was a program schedule that was cumbersome for families with multiple children, and a lack of integration between the school and synagogue life. Shirat Hayam says parents were leaving the temple out of frustration with the Hebrew school and it wanted to offer them an alternative. While Gil acknowledges the school has made “huge improvements” under the leadership of director Marian Gorman, she said the school suffers from lack of ownership. “Our [Hebrew school] parents want something that belongs to them,” said Gil. “We want a school that revitalizes Jewish education. We want to excel at Jewish education.” Despite being the largest congregation in the NSHS, with the largest representation on the school board, Shirat Hayam officials contend that reforming the school is unfeasible. “The North Shore Hebrew School, regardless of its goals, ends up making decisions at the lowest common agreed-upon point, not the highest common standard,” said Mark Friedman, Shirat Hayam’s president. “Our goal is to create an education program that operates at the highest standards, not the lowest common denominator of agreement and risk.” Though Shirat Hayam paints an unflattering portrait of a school that cannot reform itself, the dissatisfaction with NSHS is not shared by all parents. Several families — including members of Shirat Hayam — told the Journal they were quite content with the education their children were receiving, mentioning the quality of the teachers and the interest their children displayed in learning about Judaism and practicing Hebrew. Two Shirat Hayam families said they were unaware of their own congregation’s intentions before they were contacted by the Journal. “The school has come a long way since I took it over,” says Marian Gorman, the school’s director for the past four years. “It is a top school. We certainly have children who are happy, engaged, and learning.” She points with pride to the fact that NSHS is a Framework for Excellence school, a designation that, according to United Synagogue’s website, has three components: the statement of aims of the Conservative Synagogue School, benchmarks, and the choice of a model. Friedman dismisses the Framework for Excellence designation, saying it’s not a “quality rating,” but only a curriculum standard. (“That’s totally wrong,” says Wendy Light, national education consultant for the United Synagogue and director of the Framework for Excellence program. “The framework of excellence is curriculum, but it’s also evaluation, it’s also informal education integrated with formal education, it also includes the teachers, their qualifications to be teachers, and their ability to teach what it is that the curriculum says they need to teach.”) Other
parents said that the school’s schedule — under which students
of different ages meet on different weekday afternoons and alternating
Sundays — was too demanding and conflicted with after school activities. In September, Mark Friedman sent a letter to the presidents and boards of the partner congregations — Ahabat Sholom, Temple Sinai and Temple Shalom (Salem) — identifying two issues needing attention: the school’s content and delivery, and the economics and decision-making structure. Friedman expressed his belief that the issues could be worked out and apologized for not engaging in that process sooner. Efforts to maintain a community school with Shirat Hayam ensued but quickly foundered over the issue of governance. With three-quarters of the students, Shirat Hayam insisted on commensurate control of the board, a demand the other schools were unwilling to meet. “We’ve chosen to have equal representation based upon the temple’s membership on the board,” said Jim Hacker, president of Temple Shalom. “We didn’t believe that one temple or one group of people should be exclusively in charge of the Hebrew school.” Temple Sinai president Myranne Janoff said that a separate effort was made to find a way to share the financial burden more equitably among the temples. “It never got anywhere,” she said. According to Shirat Hayam, part of the problem in finding a working solution was their self-imposed time frame for finding an educational director for the new school, to be known as the Center for Jewish Education. The model that Shirat Hayam has chosen for the Center is known as Model IV. According to the United Synagogue description, Model IV “emphasizes built-in, required experiential programs and nurturing family/parents Jewish growth.” Its primary features include the integration of Shabbat into the curriculum and opportunities for several hours of family education a month. Shirat Hayam officials stress that the Center will be open to all, with equal tuition regardless of congregational affiliation. The religious school component will provide the same number of hours of instruction as NSHS in a two-day framework. Amongst NSHS board members, the principal reaction has been disappointment. “I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to work together to create a community school that included Shirat Hayam,” said Myranne Janoff. “But we are all committed to a community school. And there are some wonderful small community schools in this country.” Despite the outcome, board members expressed little animus towards Shirat Hayam and many wished them well in their efforts. “I would be the first to congratulate them if they can come up with a school for excellence in their own model,” said Norma Rooks, a NSHS board member from Temple Shalom. “We all wish them well.” Synagogue Accessibility in the North Shore: A Mixed Bag Nancy
Fromson In October of 2005, Anne and Joe Gold celebrated the bar mitzvah of their son Max at Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead. The Swampscott family was thrilled that Max’s paternal grandmother, who is confined to a wheelchair, was able to join the family on the bimah because the Temple has barrier-free access for those in wheelchairs. “My mother-in-law was a full participant in her grandson’s bar mitzvah because of this access,” Anne said. “In other situations, she has felt left out or different because of her disability. In this instance, there was no isolation. She was able to fulfill her special dream to participate in her grandson’s bar mitzvah.” The Gold family was fortunate. Not all those with disabilities who wish to worship have access to barrier-free facilities. On the North Shore, efforts to make synagogues more accessible for disabled congregants have produced mixed results. “It is imperative,” says Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman, director of the National Jewish Council for Disabilities, “that the Jewish community create an environment in which all Jews are encouraged to participate in every aspect of Jewish life — social, educational and religious. We want the Jewish community to be more accepting and appreciative of people with disabilities, and more open in dealing with them.” A survey by The Journal found that congregations with little or no accessibility are aware of the challenges posed by an aging population. These synagogues are generally small, with limited resources. Although some claim they are unconcerned and will deal with congregants’ needs as they arise, others are beginning to raise money for elevators, ramps or new sound systems to assist those with disabilities. Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly is 50 years old and has never undergone a renovation. Through a back door, disabled persons can access the synagogue's first floor, but there are no barrier-free restrooms or access to the second floor. “We continue to struggle with this problem, and a committee is dealing with options in renovating our existing space,” said Rabbi Steven Rubenstein. “So far, no definitive plans, including a capital campaign, have been set.” Rubenstein stressed that no one is denied access to the building because of physical limitations. “Where we can, utilizing a temporary ramp on the bimah, all can participate,” he said. “When necessary, we can also bring the activity on the bimah down to the congregation’s level.” Rabbi Rubenstein recalls a young man who celebrated his bar mitzvah one year ago. Because his grandmother had difficulty ascending the bimah, he announced that some of his bar mitzvah gifts would be allocated to making the bimah handicap accessible. Nothing permanent has yet been constructed. Temple Shalom in Salem began to deal with its increasing elderly population four years ago by building a ramp to the first floor sanctuary, chapel and office. Since the temple also serves as a polling place, the city of Salem had installed a wooden ramp for those who had difficulty climbing the stairs. Temple officials say that the sanctuary and the first floor are accessible, but getting people to the social hall is difficult and may prevent people from coming to temple. “We have established an elevator fund to make the entire building more accessible,” said board member Gerald Posner. “We have raised half of the $100,000 needed to construct an elevator to connect the first floor to the lower level.” Temple Emmanuel in Wakefield is housed in a 100-year-old, two-story building, providing very limited access at this time. However, Ben Weiner, Chair of the Ways & Means Committee, says the awareness is there and the issues will be addressed. “Funds have already been raised to install a chair lift to the second floor, a major project for us beginning in 2006,” Weiner continues. “Although an elevator would be ideal, the structure of the building and the cost makes that kind of renovation unfeasible. The difference in cost — approximately $20,000 for the lift and at least $150,000 for an elevator — is not something we could afford even if the building would support it. Other improvement projects, including better first floor access, are planned as well.” Temple Tifereth Israel in Malden, which is housed in a building more than 50 years old, has made renovations to its two levels to make the structure more handicap accessible. Temple Administrator Libby Hack says its second renovation was completed a few months ago connecting the main floor to the school rooms downstairs via a ramp. Jerry Boyd, a member of Tifereth Israel, is wheelchair bound but glad to be able to attend services, which he does frequently. He describes his synagogue as wheelchair “friendly” rather than “accessible.” By calling ahead, the temple staff sets up the wheelchair ramp that allows Boyd to enter the sanctuary. “The attitude at the temple is very welcoming,” Boyd says. “Despite the age of the building, our members want to make it continually more barrier-free.” There have been instances when Boyd was able to accept an aliyah and ascend the bimah with the use of a walker. “It was a great feeling, a great honor and a very powerful experience for me.” In addition to mobility limitations, other physical impediments can limit full participation in synagogue life. These include vision and hearing, which are becoming increasingly common within our aging population. Many congregants are challenged by small type in prayer books. In response, some synagogues including Congregation Beth Israel in Andover and Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly, offer large-print prayer books. Temple Emanu-El of Marblehead recently made a bin of reading glasses available to the congregation during the High Holidays. Other people have auditory problems that make it difficult fto hear the services. Congregation Shirat Hayam and Temple Shalom have portable hearing devices for congregants who need them. Temples Sinai and Emanu-El in Marblehead have installed state-of-the-art sound systems to accommodate the hearing impaired. “By providing these services to congregants, synagogues are practicing a policy of inclusion, an attitude that says all people are deserving and worthy to practice their religion in an atmosphere of dignity and respect,” says the NSJCC's Litchtman. Temples
Beth El and Israel recently combined to form Congregation Shirat Hayam
in Swampscott. In making the decision to use the former Temple Beth El
site rather than that of the former Temple Israel, accessibility and expandability
were two main considerations, according to Beth Hoffman, Shirat Hayam's
executive direc-tor. Polly School of Swampscott, a member of Shirat Hayam, is grateful for the access both buildings have provided. Accessing the Temple Israel building for the High Holidays with her walker made going to services easy. “Getting in and out of the car and maneuvering my walker is demanding and can be difficult. Without a ramp, it would be impossible to get inside the building.” Temple Emanu-El of Marblehead has gone to great lengths to make itself barrier-free. When the Temple began planning a renovation project a number of years ago, the board made total accessibility the centerpiece of its transformation. According to Rabbi David Meyer, “The decision was made for Temple Emanu-El to become the model for full barrier-free access.” Today the building has complete wheelchair access with a ramp and an elevator. Even the stage in the social hall has a lift. In the sanctuary, a lift built behind the bimah enables physically challenged congregants to fully participate in services. Judith Emanuel, the temple's executive director, is proud that grandparents and others who previously could not share in the service of a loved one can now do so. “We were pleased to fulfill Anne and Joe Gold’s desire to have grandparents on the bimah with the entire famiy. Over time, we expect more congregants to take advantage of this opportunity,” she says.
“Munich” A Recycled Morality Tale About the Middle East Ben
Harris There’s no such thing as bad publicity. That, at any rate, is what Steven Spielberg is probably telling himself these days. Jewish pundits have skewered the celebrated director of “Jaws” and “E.T.” over his new film “Munich,” which tells the story of Israeli efforts to assassinate the Palestinian terrorists responsible for massacring 11 Jewish athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games. Well before the film’s release, and even, in some cases, without seeing it, critics blasted Spielberg — for failing to consult the families of the victims; for relying on biased source material; and for hiring the avowedly anti-Israel Tony Kushner to write the screenplay. Little was learned, it seems, from the Jewish establishment’s earlier run-in with another high-profile filmmaker who, like Spielberg, made a film of questionable historical authenticity with a contemporary message unacceptable to mainstream Jewish opinion. Audiences flocked to the “Passion of the Christ,” in part because of the histrionics of certain Jewish leaders. And so while Spielberg probably expected much of the present outcry (he reportedly retained the services of a well-known Hollywood PR agency in advance of the film’s Dec. 23 release), he can’t be crying much himself. The critics, however, have played every Jewish guilt card imaginable to try and reverse that. Writing in the Jerusalem Post in early December, Calev Ben-David admitted that he hadn’t actually seen the film. Then, he proceeded to criticize Spielberg for historical inaccuracy, suggesting that the filmmaker was really out to make a movie about the United States after 9/11 but, afraid of the potential backlash, he migrated to the politically safer territory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Munich” is the story of Avner Kauffman (Eric Bana), a Mossad agent with a pregnant wife and an Israeli war hero father who is charged with leading a team of assassins on a global manhunt for the killers. For 160 minutes, we follow the Israelis through the dignified streets of Europe where, one by one, they pick off the Palestinians their bosses have marked for elimination. But gradually Avner becomes less certain of the justice of his mission. A turning point occurs when he meets his counterpart, a young Palestinian also trolling Europe committing various misdeeds in the service of the Palestinian cause. The two meet in the darkened stairwell of an Athens hotel, where Avner is told he cannot understand the Palestinian’s hunger because he has a home to return to. Gradually, Avner comes unraveled, and by film’s end, he has become consumed by anger and paranoia, resentful of the country that has dispatched him on a mission whose moral underpinnings, he has come to realize, are very much in doubt. In the final scene on the Brooklyn waterfront, Avner confronts his Mossad handler (ruthlessly played by Geoffrey Rush), refusing his urging to return home to Israel. And as the camera pans over the East River, the film practically begs us to question not only whether there is any moral distinction between Palestinian murderers and the intelligence agents who hunt them, but whether there is any ethical basis for the State of Israel at all. As Spielberg would be the first to admit, “Munich” does not aspire to historical veracity. (For that, interested parties should consult Kevin Macdonald’s documentary “One Day In September,” a thrilling account of the events of Munich, complete with the family interviews Ben-David regrets were eliminated from “Munich.”) In these highly politicized times, that might be a crime, but it’s a forgivable one. After all, "Munich" is not history but art, and we permit our filmmakers to take as much liberty with historical fact as Monet took with visuals. Or at least we should. Spielberg has made a film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and — if we are correctly interpreting the final misty shot of the Twin Towers hovering over Manhattan — about global terrorism writ large. And if he bends history to suit his narrative, so be it. That is what artists do. As a spokesman for Spielberg rather unnecessarily pointed out to the trade magazine Daily Variety, “We never set out to make a documentary. There was literary and dramatic license.” The problem with “Munich” is not that it is art, but that it is bad art. As is his right, Spielberg has made a movie that reflects his view of the Middle East, one where killings beget killings, where moral ambiguity exists on both sides, and where if both parties insist on seeking justice — or vengeance — for every perceived slight, the conflict will continue for eternity. And if Spielberg’s take on the conflict isn’t clear enough from the movie, the filmmaker spelled it out even more explicitly in a cover story in Time magazine, telling his interviewer, “I’m always in favor of Israel responding strongly when it’s threatened. At the same time, a response to a response doesn’t really solve anything. It just creates a perpetual-motion machine.” This is a legitimate view to hold, but it is also a tired one. And in expressing it cinematically, Spielberg falls back on equally tired cliches. There is the fraught encounter between Avner and the Palestinian. There are the well-rehearsed arguments over whether violence only breeds more violence. There are Israelis with guns and Palestinians with guns. There are killers who sound morally righteous tones and murderers who evoke sympathy as men with wives and children. In short, there is nothing here that a halfway thoughtful person with even a passing interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict hasn’t encountered before. Spielberg is, of course, a brilliant filmmaker. The growing burden on Avner’s conscience is at times wrenching to watch, and glimmers of Spielberg’s genius flicker across the screen as we see Avner make violent love to his wife in the penultimate scene while images of the murdered athletes ripple through his mind. But while Avner’s struggles make for gripping theater, as a morality tale, “Munich” falls flat. Not because its moral sensibility is untenable, but because it’s so entirely unoriginal. The questions “Munich” raises about counterterrorism, of the Israeli or American variety, have been hashed out ad nauseam, both before 9/11 and after, and the film does little to advance our understanding or to take us to unexplored intellectual terrain. The makers of “Munich” can carp all they wish about the legitimacy of playing fast and loose with the facts. But their protestations would carry more weight if they had given us something genuinely new to think about. Happy Chanukah Outside the Journal’s windows, the lights are flickering along Washington Street. At the darkest time of the year, the twin festivals of light provide a ray of hope, a reminder that despite the chill in the air, the rebirth we experience each spring is right around the corner. Despite this year’s conjunction of Christmas and Chanukah — two holidays bathed in light, joy, and goodwill — it can be hard for many to get into the holiday spirit. For one, there’s the relentless commercialization of the December holidays. Many Americans have long ago conceded that their most profound experience of the holiday season will be had at the cash register. Then there’s the annual holiday wars, the contrived debate over the rightful place of religious expression in our supposedly secular republic, exacerbated this year by the hysterics of the news media and this month’s court ruling on the teaching of evolution in public schools. And finally, there’s the reality of the world around us. Filled with war and suffering, it’s understandable to feel that the slender lights of the Chanukah menorah aren’t sturdy enough to push back the darkness that surrounds. But hope is December’s stock-in-trade. And it’s no coincidence that Chanukah arrives just when everything seems most bleak. In the Jewish tradition, holidays are not merely occasions for celebration but for respite, not only from work but from adversity. Jewish holy days are momentary islands of peace in a world that is increasingly adversarial and competitive. On many holidays, tradition dictates that we refrain from productive labor and create moments of tranquility within our homes and communities. With the natural world hunkering down against the New England winter, and the population in retreat from the cold, it seems not too naive to hope that our differences might temporarily hibernate as well. The battles will be there to undertake again after the New Year. But the chance for a moment of peace exists now. The Journal wishes all its readers a happy, safe, and joyful Chanukah and a Happy New Year. Beware of the War Against Our Potato Latkes
December was not the best month for me this year. Every day I kept hearing about the people engaged in destroying Christmas. All I heard was that “they” were doing it and I was becoming certain that “they” meant me, a Jew, along with all the other Jews. On Nov. 28, my birthday no less, FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly, the reigning king of self-righteous hyperbole, ranted about Christian philosophy being diminished by “secular progressives” operating under “a very secret plan.” Two weeks before that, Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) said, “Christmas had been declared politically incorrect,” and proposed a resolution to protect the symbols and traditions of Christmas. To which Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) asked: “Did somebody mug Santa Claus?” And Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) composed a poem stating, “we [Congresspeople] need a distraction, something divisive and wily, a fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly. We will pretend Christmas is under attack, hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back.” The measure passed overwhelmingly. Crazy? Yes. But, those TV and radio personalities gain fame and income, as in the sales receipts for this season’s popular book, “The War on Christmas,” by John Gibson, another FOX News showpiece. Yet, funny but sad, a few Jews have joined the Christian zealots (I am not making this up) in an apologia for other Jews. They call themselves the Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation (JAACD) and Don Feder, former Boston Herald columnist, is its president. Other wilted luminaries include ZOA President Morton Klein and comic Jackie Mason. Shame on them for trying to kasher a war against opponents of Christmas where no war really exists. I have an idea. We Jews need a conspiracy theory so we can have our own December diversion and maybe a new job for me. So here goes. Issue: They have a secret plan to remove potato latkes from our American Chanukah holiday. That’s right, the plan replaces our sacred potato latkes, the religious gourmet delicacy of our foremothers, recipes carried on parchment on slow boats from Eastern Europe. The replacement: Israeli sufganiot (jelly doughnuts). Don’t
believe me? Go to Israel during Hanukah and you will find a mountain of
sufganiot and just a tiny hill of latkes. The few Israeli latkes that surface from clandestine frying pans are often so tasteless that the gourmet Israeli palette rejects them. The pro-sufganiot zealots are now heading for America, with the help of local Jews. Check out the advertisements from Larry Levine and the Butcherie in the Jewish Journal’s Dec. 16 edition. Both are marvelous stores. Neither advertisement mentions sufganiot but both promise (and deliver) great latkes. But, check out the Butcherie advertisement in the Boston Jewish Advocate the same week and find under latkes, a line (OK, half the size) selling sufganiot. Why sufganiot in one paper and not the other? Because, when Brookline and Newton — cities known for Jewish success and accomplishment — embrace jelly doughnuts, the communities north of Boston will follow. The worry: Within five years, all New England Jews will walk around with powdered sugar on their lips. Our sensuous onion-potato smell will have disappeared. The sufganiot takeover will be complete. To counteract this, the major goal of my newly-formed organization (please send me your contribution) will be to convince Dunkin’ Donuts to market a whole range of flavorful latkes next year and to make no mention of sufganiot. Bless O’Reilly and his cohorts, who have inspired the making of something out of nothing, regargless of how much negative tension it produces. Happy Chanukah. Jewish Mother Needs License to Chill, and a Nap
Have you ever seen toddlers try to communicate? A little pudgy finger points to something across the room and makes tiny mouse-like noises. If you cannot figure out what the little cherub wants within twenty seconds, the tiny noises turn into little sobs. Soon the sobs grow louder and the pointing finger becomes more emphatic, like a conductor on acid directing his orchestra. It is just a matter of time before both you and the little tyke are on the floor wailing. Like all patient mothers, I thoroughly enjoyed decoding baby talk and playing marathon games of peek-a-boo and feed the toddler orange squash. OK, if I am totally honest, I could not wait for my children to talk. I figured once my kids could communicate with words, I could relax with a nice iced tea, read a steamy romance novel, and organize mountains of photos into neatly labeled scrapbooks. I’d wear a cozy and chic cotton outfit and play classical music. After they mastered talking, I realized that I was delusional if I thought I could kick up my heels until they went off to kindergarten. The mountains of pictures grew and soon we built a room for them where I thought I might take a catnap but someone needed a ride to Hebrew School. You know how the story goes. The Jewish mother never gets a nap, but isn’t really tired anymore, sort of the sensation you get when you pull an all-nighter and feel surreally alert even when you walk into an oak tree on the way home from the exam. Heck, who needs to unwind anyway? I figure once my kids get their licenses I can watch Seinfeld reruns and crochet a scarf. Guess who just got her license? For those folks who missed the media blitz, our daughter Rachel got her license today. No more driving to driver’s ed classes, drilling for permit tests or answering questions about three point turns. I no longer am mandated to drive in the car and alert Rachel to impending dangers, like joggers in black running on dark roads and speeding skateboarders who dart out of nowhere. I can actually go home, sit down on my favorite checkered chair, and longingly look at pictures of her playing peek-a-boo. Next I can move to the window and count cars until she pulls into the driveway. Forget about the nap, I’m happy to exhale. Chanukah in the Holy Land: A Mother’s Letter Home
Dear Frannie, Abe, Alex & Yoni: I know your mother is not supposed to say this, but I’m sorry I haven’t called — we’ve been enjoying ourselves a little too much. Also, the time, as they say, is hafooch — you are sleeping when I wake up; when you are awake, we are eating shakshuka (yum!) at a restaurant or catching up with old friends. How are things at home in Galut? Is anyone taking out the trash or watering the plants? Have you had enough Christmas? It’s such a pleasure to be Christmas free. Here you can totally forget you are a shrinking portion of an evaporating people. Strangers talk to you in the street like you’re family. I am so glad I paid attention in Hebrew school! Hebrew is the key that joins me to everyone here. I tried to make this a no-shopping trip, but the impulse is too great. Also it is Chanukah, and craftspeople have set up booths in malls — and you know how much I’m committed to supporting the Israeli economy! We went to a gallery daddy has been flirting with on the Internet. We saw a show of Meir Appelfeld, son of Aharon Applefeld (Anyone remember that he won the Nobel Prize in literature?) Dad fell in love with a charcoal drawing, which will look great over the piano. Also they invited us back to the gallery for an opening later in the week. Dad will shmooze with Israeli artists — and I will hide his checkbook. When we first came to Israel 25 years ago, you couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee and the food, though fresh, lacked appeal. Fast forward to what we’ve been eating this week, and you’d think we’re in Paris. There are charming little coffee shops on every corner with fresh pastries and the food in restaurants is gourmet quality. And the prices are cheap, compared to American standards. When we visited the Finkels in Raanana, Zoe found her dream come true. The kids get out of school at 1:30 and hang out in a candy store called “Beit Hapistuk.” With a few shekels in their pockets they buy lunch and wander about the neighborhood exploring little shops and tchatchkes. Zoe thinks that Israel is a giant candy store. We just returned to Rehovot after a Shabbat in Yakir. Remember the first time we were here, when Daddy refused to cross the Green Line into the Settlements? Well, we had lunch on Friday in Elkanah and by Shabbat morning, we were davening at an outpost in the newest part of Yakir — right where the new caravans are. We had to walk 20 minutes off road, through a little barbed wire and mud — but the view of the valleys of the Shomron from the hillside was really special. We saw Shammai & Nehama in their new place — they’re feeling better this week, but as they say, old age is not for sissies. Shammai was in a great mood and was telling stories of Skalat (his shtetl) and the Kapitzniter rebbe. You come from a long line of Chasidim — lucky Zayda didn’t know when I married Daddy. On my side we are misnagdim. So I guess you guys are from a mixed marriage. We are busy wrapping gifts for the cousins. There will be almost 30 of us at Matti & Bat Sheva’s for the family Chanukah party in Har Homa. Israeli houses and apartments are so tiny — but never do I feel so loved, so appreciated, or so at home as when I am here. Which brings up the question so many Israelis ask when I begin talking to them in Ivrit — “Nu? So why aren’t you living here?” It’s a question I ask myself every day. Don’t get nervous. We’re coming home on Friday. Love you guys! Tehyu bari (Be well) and try to remember that no matter how good a time I’ve had, I will completely derail if the house is a wreck when I get back. Love from your family and your true home, at the center of the universe. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo,
Chanukah
5766
King Philip of Macedonia hired the great Greek philosopher Aristotle to tutor his young son and future heir, Alexander. Aristotle filled his precocious student’s head with ideas of the perfect Greek city-state that would later justify Alexander’s marauding other ethnic and religious groups. Aristotle’s pride in the Greek city-state and the civilization it embodied was characteristic of his own teacher Plato. His ideal states were the Republic, in which philosopher kings ruled by manipulating marital lots, economic activities and social classes, and Magnesia, in which the mystical number 5080, divisible by every number from one to ten without a remainder, determined its size and biological laws, forcing emigration, abortion and infanticide. Plato and Aristotle valued the form of Greek city-states over their functions. Their ideal was at odds with Jewish teaching that valued the functions of Israel over the forms that its government took. The ancient myth of the Tower of Babel contained in the Book of Genesis, was an original Hebrew polemic against the idea that society could be integrated by building a tower to represent its desires and authority. The Chanukah holiday we are now observing celebrates a Jewish revolt against the heritage of Alexander the Great and Greek civilization. It sets a precedent for revolutions against tyrannical political and religious authorities through the ages and in our own time, too. Ironically, despite the Maccabean revolution against the absolutism of Antiochus IV and the Syrian-Greeks, the later Maccabean kings reestablished tyranny. King John Hyrcanus forced the Idumeans, who he defeated in war, to convert to Judaism; his son imposed the same fate on those he conquered. These forced conversions caused reactions that ended in the tyrannical rule of Herod the Great, an Idumean who took to Jewish teachings about society and governance with profound hatred. His rule on behalf of the Roman Empire over the occupied Jewish kingdom led to its destruction in the Jewish wars with Rome between 66 and 74 CE. The moral of the story is that forcing our form of government on another nation to achieve political goals is wrong and useless. It provokes reactions — like those of Jewish revolutionaries two thousand years ago, or of the American colonies, or the French at the end of the 18th century. It is strange that our contemporary celebrations of Chanukah have adapted to religious, economic and social traditions that are far removed from the high-minded goals of independence, freedom and legitimacy that the holiday originally represented. The lesson of Chanukah is vital to our self-interest both as Jews and as Americans, and we alter or forget its true meaning and purpose at our own peril. The Year That Was: Some Bits and Pieces You Might Have Missed
As this year runs quite unlamentably out, it is well to fill in some of its blanks, bits and pieces you may have missed. 1. Once every 10 years (or so) something called a White House Conference on Aging takes place. The fifth such event was held Dec. 11-14 of this year. It is, however, somewhat difficult to understand just why this one was called a “White House Conference,” since it did not take place at the White House nor did President Bush attend any of its sessions, making him the first president to absent himself. Perhaps he knew in advance that the delegates to the conference would pass a (non-binding) resolution calling for revoking the new Medicare prescription drug “benefit.” So instead of showing up for this once-in-a-decade national meeting, on Dec. 13 the president joined the residents of Greenspring Village Retirement Com-munity in Springfield, Virginia, for a “roundtable discussion” — more like a pep talk — on the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. As it happens, I can speak with some authority on the issue of that benefit, confirming all the worst things you have surely read about it by now. I recently tried, with help from a full-page How-to article in the New York Times and advice from my brother — a professor emeritus at Harvard whose field is the economics of medicine — to understand the details of the drug benefit. I should have stayed in bed; the program is fundamentally incomprehensible. They
say that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Well, this law makes
a camel look like a beauty queen; it is difficult to avoid the conclusion
that it was designed precisely in order to prove that any government “intrusion”
into the health care field was going to make health care more, rather
than less, complex; less, rather than more, readily available As Robert Hudson, a professor at Boston University and a participant in the Conference, reports, “The administration has [suggested] that making adult children help their parents figure out the confusing array of opinions is an opportunity for ‘intergenerational bonding.’ Delegates did not seem persuaded that discussing co-payments for Norvasc and Lisonopril over Thanksgiving turkey was an especially heartwarming family moment.” 2. In reporting the results of the American Jewish Committee’s periodic poll of the views and opinions of America’s Jews, Ha’aretz chose the headline “Most U.S. Jews Have Never Visited Israel.” True, but when you learn that 40 percent of America’s Jews have visited Israel, you scratch your head. Have 40 percent (or more) of America’s Jews visited some other country? I find the figure quite encouraging, confirmation that Israel continues to occupy an important place in our mental landscape. The AJC survey is interesting on other counts as well. For example, it turns out that 70 percent of us oppose the war in Iraq (suggesting that the Reform Jewish movement got it quite right when, in its recent resolution calling for troop withdrawal, it referred to widespread Jewish opposition to the war). And a whoppingly small percentage of us — 16 percent, to be precise — call ourselves Republicans, while 59 percent are Democrats and 29 percent Independents. 3. You may have missed the news about Abu Bakkar Qassim and A’Del Abdu al-Hakim, two Uighurs from western China. Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority in China. These two were captured in Pakistan in 2001 and have been held in Guantanamo since then. Nine months ago, the government determined that they were not enemy combatants. On that basis, they quite reasonably asked to be released. U.S. District Judge James Robertson, agreeing that “indefinite imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay is unlawful,” went on to opine that they must nonetheless be held since no country is willing to take them in and since releasing them into the United States itself would “have national security and diplomatic implications beyond the competence or the authority of this court.” Men, then, quite literally without a country. Perhaps we need a Mistakenly Identified Enemy Combatant Protection Program? 4. In 1977, in the course of a discussion of the Huston Plan — which advocated the systematic use of wiretappings, burglaries, or so-called black bag jobs, mail openings and infiltration against antiwar groups and others — David Frost asked President Richard Nixon how he could justify them. “Well,” said Nixon, “when the president does it that means it is not illegal.” Frost: “By definition?” Nixon: “Exactly. Exactly.” At a press conference on Dec. 20 of this year, the president was asked how he could justify “the permanent expansion of the unchecked power of the executive.” President Bush: “There is the check of people being sworn to uphold the law . . . There is oversight. We’re talking to Congress all the time . . . and we’ll continue to work with Congress as well as people within our own administration.” Whether the president’s actions are impeachable I cannot say; that they are a mockery of what the Founding Fathers intended by “checks and balances.” Next week, I will be filing from Israel, where the forecast is for snow in Jerusalem the day I arrive. The world has, indeed, gone mad. Propaganda War Won’t Be Won With Cold War-Era Tactics
It
comes as a relief to learn that Karen Hughes, who runs the public diplomacy
shop at the U.S. State Department, has suspended the pathetic effort to
reach out to Arab and other foreign audiences via a taxpayer-funded magazine
named Hi International (best remembered for a notorious June 2005 article,
“Sharp-dressed Men,” that told how “real men moisturize”). But even had Hi been better conceived and executed, it — and to a lesser degree, such U.S. government efforts as Radio Sawa and Al-Hurra Television — is misconceived. Like generals fighting the last war, diplomats recall the successes of Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe in providing precious information to Soviet bloc peoples and thereby helping to bring about the demise of the Soviet Union and its satellites. Doing what they know worked once, they largely adopted the same informational model for Hi, Sawa, and Al-Hurra. But
Muslims generally and Islamists specifically do not lack for reliable
information; much less do they (as did Soviet-bloc populations) prefer
Western sources of information to their own. To the contrary, many indications
suggest that Muslims favor tuning in to or reading media prepared by their
coreligionists, trusting these more than what comes from non-Muslims. One
sign of this pattern is the intense effort by such television stations
as Al-Jazeera (in Canada) or Al-Manar (in France) to reach Muslim audiences;
or Al-Jazeera’s plan to begin broadcasting in English in early 2006.
An even more compelling piece of evidence comes from Islamist terrorists
living in the West, who practically block out non-Muslim sources of information. Although the Israeli government unstintingly condemned Goldstein’s act, the Arabic press “almost without exception” portrayed the massacre as a responsibility of the Israeli people and government. It broadcast the Palestinian representative telling the United Nations that “The government of Israel is accountable for what has taken place . . . and one can say it even participated in the act.” Islamist sources declared that “anybody or anything remotely linked with Israel” was a legitimate target for revenge. Baz lived and breathed this interpretation: American media was irrelevant to him. Although living in the world press capital, he inhabited a mental environment shaped by near and distant Arabic-language editors. With an anger “fueled by reports from Arabic sources that painted the killer Goldstein as an agent of Israeli will, rather than as a deranged gunman acting alone,” he equipped himself with a small arsenal of weapons, searched out a target related to Israel, found it in a van full of Hasidic boys, and embarked on his murderous rampage. Unlike the Soviet bloc, the Muslim world lacks not access to reliable information but interest in it. The reasons are many but perhaps the most salient of them are a disposition to believe in conspiracy theories and an attraction to totalitarian solutions. Rather than try to purvey information to Muslims, State (and its counterparts elsewhere) should instead assert the case for liberal, secular, and humane values. More than facts, the Muslim world needs to understand the basics of what makes the West thrive — and thereby be inspired to emulate it. Jewish School Should Be Free To
the Editor:
Cohen Hillel Isn’t Broken To
the Editor: Thankful for Religious Freedom To
the Editor: I didn’t know my day of birth. Mother told me that I was born on Chanukah, but Chanukah is eight days. When I needed to have my birth certificate, Chanukah was November 18 on that year. This date was written on my birth certificate. But when receiving the passport, the date was written November 15, 1925. This date, a mistake, is now on all my documents. I can’t keep my day of birth at Chanukah, because Chanukah is a different day every year. I
attend now The Chabad Lubavitch House in Andover and celebrate all holidays
here. I am very thankful to Rabbi Asher Bronstein and all my friends from
the synagogue for teaching me the Jewish traditions and how to celebrate
holidays.
Lappin Foundation Addressing Concerns Over Continuity To
the Editor: Specifically, Dov Burt Levy’s call for a fix to the “High Cost of Being Jewish,” is one we agree with. We have removed cost as a barrier to all our programs. We provide a range of free Jewish living and learning programs designed to enhance Jewish pride. In response to Rabbi Yoffie’s speech and the “Demographic Disaster” editorial, the Lappin Foundation’s Interfaith Outreach programs are working and we are actively striving to share our models with other institutions. For example, our free Introduction to Judaism class, now in its fourth year and running in three locations on the North Shore, has attracted more than 115 people, 30 of whom have converted to Judaism; several more are expected to convert in 2006. For those not ready to take such a large step, we offer Mothers Matter, a class about Jewish holidays for mothers of other faiths who are raising children Jewish, and Parent Connection, a basic Judaism course covering Jewish holidays, the Holocaust, Israel and more. All of the courses are free and they are succeeding at helping parents of interfaith families in raising their children Jewish. Our Youth to Israel program, which offers fully subsidized teen trips to Israel, along with pre and post trip programming, has the reputation of being the most successful in the country, attracting nearly 60 percent of the eligible pool of participants, as compared to less than 10 percent nationally. In the coming year, the fully subsidized teen Israel experience is being replicated in five communities across the United States with our assistance. This year, we conducted a marriage survey of past Y2I participants, and our research shows that, for those who responded, 85 percent married someone Jewish, and for those who intermarried and have children, 45 percent are raising their children Jewish. Meaningful, free Jewish programs, outreach to the interfaith community, and fully subsidized teen trips to Israel all work together to help keep our children Jewish by enhancing their Jewish pride and instilling in them a feeling of belonging to a unique and caring family — the Jewish people. In providing these kinds of programs to our children today, we are building our Jewish leaders of tomorrow, leaders who are passionate about their Judaism, generous with their financial resources, and committed to raising Jewish children of their own. We welcome anyone in the community to partake, replicate or learn more about our programs. Robert
I. Lappin,
For the Record In our last issue, the Journal reported that only one representative from the North Shore had attended the Conservative Biennial in Boston as a registered member (Dec. 16, “Where’s the North Shore?”). Ruth Budelmann, president of Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester, was a registered participant at the convention and Rabbi Myron Geller, also of Ahavat Achim, participated in the deliberations of the Committee on Jewish Laws and Standards. In the same issue, Pamela Finer was said to have served as director of an organization providing food for the homeless in Worcester (Dec. 16, “Shirat Hayam Hires Russell Finer as Executive Director”). In fact, Finer served for 13 years as director of Rachel’s Table in Springfield. The Journal deeply regrets both errors. BORNSTEIN,
Carl — late of Saugus, formerly of Swampscott and Lynn. Died Dec.
15. Husband of the late Beatrice (Jacobs) Bornstein. Father of Sandra
and Scott Poole of Middleton, the late Allen Schultz, and Marcia and Martin
Griesdorf of Marblehead. Grandfather of Carrie and Lee Dichter, Gary and
Stacey Schultz, Wendy and Joel Kornbliet, and Jody and David Nichols.
Great-grandfather of six. Uncle of Kenneth Bornstein of Lynn, and other
nieces and nephews. Brother of the late Abraham Bornstein, Augusta Rabinowitz,
Florence Pugatch, Oscar, Ruth, William and Clara Bornstein, and Dena Krichmar.
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