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JCC Sells Land in Middleton

STAFF REPORT

The Jewish Community Center of the North Shore has sold 16 acres of land at its site in Middleton to a home developer. The sale price was $1.9 million. The buyer is the Richmond Company, headed by Philip Pastan of Marblehead. The company plans to start building private homes in the spring.

The land sale has been a JCCNS project for several years and represents the agency’s plan to “direct converted assets to new opportunities. “We are happy to announce that this sale will help the agency, located in Marblehead, to retire debt and reserve funds for needed capital improvements,” said JCC President Jessica Weinstein, in announcing that the long-awaited sale had finally gone through.
“We are very interested in making sure that our community understands what we did and why,” added Sandy Sheckman, center executive director. “And we want to assure our Camp families, present and future, that Camp Simchah, located in Middleton, will see benefit from this sale over time. Some of the funds are already earmarked for the Camp.”

Sheckman added that the sale “does not solve our need to generate revenue to meet our everyday mission. It would be a mistake to assume that the Center no longer needs its friends.”

The JCCNS will celebrate 93 years of service to the North Shore in June 2004. One of the largest local agencies offering programs for children, adults and families, the JCC serves both the Jewish and general community.

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Local Teens Contemplate Free Fed Trips to Israel and Eastern Europe

SUSAN JACOBS
Jewish Journal Staff

SWAMPSCOTT — North Shore teens are attending informational seminars to learn more about Y2I, a year-long education and community service program that culminates in fully subsidized trips to Israel and/or Eastern Europe in July 2004. This opportunity is made available to local high school sophomores and juniors thanks to a partnership of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore and the Robert I. Lappin Foundations.

The Federation has been sending teens to Israel since 1971. The trips, which used to be called Let’s Go Israel but are now referred to as Next Stop Israel, include all meals and accommodations, insurance, a private tour bus, professional tour guides and trained chaperones. On the month-long summer adventure, American and Israeli youths climb Masada, visit Yad Vashem, explore Jerusalem, hike and ride camels in the desert, camp at a Bedouin tent site, snorkel in the Red Sea, float in the Dead Sea, dig at an archeological site and spend a weekend with an Israeli family. The Israel trip includes four days in Poland.

Y2I also offers 2-week European Adventures where American and Israeli youth travel together to Eastern Europe and gain insight into how the Holocaust devastated the lives and communities of the Jews who dwelled there. They tour Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest and Prague, visit the Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camps and the Terezin internment camp, and join together to help spruce up a cemetery in the Czech Republic that dates back to the 1500s. They meet with Jews in each community to learn about how life is today for Jews in the region.

In addition to the above two trips, Y2I provides subsidies for teens interested in going on other approved Israel experiences through camps or youth movements. Applications for all trips or subsidy requests must be submitted to the Federation by Dec. 22.
Russian-born friends Zarina Stanik and Rita Tolshanskaya, who are both 15 and live in Swampscott, are looking forward to participating in the European Adventure trip. “I want to learn about different cultures and do something that’s productive over the summer,” says Stanik. Tolshanskaya, who says, “We’re too young to get jobs,” wants to see what Eastern Europe is like.

The girls’ parents are supportive of their plans. The Fed’s Israel Programs Director Lisa Janiak, who meets with all parents of students contemplating a Y2I experience, emphasizes that safety is the first priority. They use professional tour operators and travel on private buses with medics. Trained American counselors assure that the children are never left alone. Concerned parents can receive daily email updates and view itineraries and photos online, and are encouraged to communicate with their teens via phone, fax or email.

In order to participate, interested students must write an essay, attend several pre-trip meetings, participate in an overnight Shabbaton in Boston, and do at least 20 hours of community service, 10 within the Jewish community. When they return from their experience, they are required to participate in various post-trip activities.

Drugs and alcohol are strictly prohibited, and students who utilize them or breach any security violations are sent home immediately. Their parents are then required to pay for the cost of the trip, which is approximately $5,000.

Past participants agree that the Y2I program provides a unique opportunity for growth, allowing teens to connect with Jewish tradition and culture while developing meaningful international friendships.

Last year, Jared Bolotin went to Eastern Europe on a Y2I trip with 62 other North Shore teens and 37 young Israelis. “It sounds corny, but it really changes your life. It’s the best experience you could ever have” says the talkative 17-year-old from Swampscott, who admits that he slept “maybe 10 hours on the whole trip.”

Chantal Gil, 16, was initially hesitant about going to Israel last year, but in retrospect, she is really glad she made the commitment to go. “No offense to my parents, but it was so much better than travelling with them,” says Gil, who stayed mostly in Israeli hostels and says she ate a lot of schnitzel and couscous.

Some students (and their parents) are understandably reluctant about travel to Israel at this time. Shaina Volovick, 15, yearns to visit Israel, but her mother, Linda Paster, is worried about sending her to the Middle East. Shaina’s older sister Amy went to Eastern Europe on a Fed trip two years ago and had a wonderful experience (despite being involved in a car accident on the way to the airport). Shaina will follow in her sister’s footsteps on the European Adventure this summer.

Swampscott High School sophomore Adam Dexter, who plans to go to Israel this summer with the blessings of his parents Lesley and Ric, is not particularly afraid. “I think about it, but it’s a risk you have to take,” he says. At a recent pre-trip informational session, he listened carefully to what past participants had to say about the program. “It sounds like a good deal, and I’m really excited about it. Besides, my parents want to get rid of me for a few weeks,” he adds with a smile.

The Federation has scheduled two more informational sessions, on Dec. 9 & 11, for students and parents who want to learn more about the Y2I programs. For details, contact Lisa Janiak at 978-745-4222 x 229, or email to ljaniak@jfns.org.

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Wonder of Wonders: Youth Village Repairs Hearts, Worlds

GARY BAND
Jewish Journal Staff

HOF HaCARMEL, Israel — Imagine an orphanage where the kids are never adopted; where once they’re welcomed in, it becomes a home, a model and a safety net for the rest of their lives. An orphanage that defies conventional meanings and images, that not only embraces kids ages 4-19 from around the world as they are, but cares for and educates them, sees them through the army, national service and college, and encourages them to become leaders in Israel.

Such a place exists on 77 acres atop a medium sized hill just south of Haifa. Evolving every year since its creation in 1953, Yemin Orde Youth Village, a place that literally repairs the world, is changing lives, 500 teenagers at a time. The village is named in memory of the British General Orde Wingate, (aka “Lawrence of Judea”) a righteous gentile who sided with the Jews en route to Israeli statehood.

“You think raising one kid is hard, try 500,” says Chaim Peri, the Village’s director for the last 25 years.
Through various efforts, chutzpah, luck and providence, they come to Yemin Orde from 22 countries around the world — 30 percent from approximately 10 countries in the Former Soviet Union, another 30 percent from Ethiopia, and 40 percent from Eastern Europe — and have all experienced some kind of trauma.

Some are from dysfunctional families within Israel, others are from war torn areas, or from families who abandoned or could not afford them. Others may have been placed with adoptive families in Israel or elsewhere that did not work out, or have been in orphanages their whole lives. But they all have some Jewish lineage and all lack a suitable home environment in Israel.
“This is a community with a school,” Peri says. “It is the epitome of what Israel should be. Everybody is different but we all live in harmony. We never send a child away, and everyone that walks through our gates will succeed. Our graduates never really leave. After school they will go on to the army or national service, then to a job, career and families of their own. But they can always come back here if they need or want to.”

Peri himself had a difficult childhood. Born in Israel after the war, his mother’s parents were killed in the Holocaust and she found it hard to raise her newborn son. Peri’s father was a military man in the young State of Israel and was constantly on duty. Consequently, Peri says he was in and out of institutions. Though it was not easy, he made it. He attended Bar Ilan University in Israel, spent three years at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, and earned a doctorate from the University of London.

“My dream was to create a place where children would feel at home. This place is a fulfillment of that dream. It is a utopia. But there is also a lot of drama. We really seek an educational revolution. It doesn’t take a doctorate in education to know that human beings who have gone through what many of these kids have, abandonment, going from one place to another, one country to another, need love, consistency and commitment.”

Peri says he and his staff never talk about the essential elements of trust or unconditional love or continuity, but they are built into everything they do.

“It’s all about commitment,” he says. “Out of every 10 graduates who believe that we will never leave them, only one turns to us for help. The others only have to know you’re available.”

A staff of 130 educators, counselors, therapists and social workers see to the needs of the 500 kids. Many, like Peri, live at Yemin Orde. “I live here, I raised my five boys here, just like the other kids. They felt their life here was better than anywhere.”

The daily schedule is fairly rigorous. They wake up at 5:45 a.m. The synagogue is open to anyone who wants to pray. Half the kids are not halachically Jewish, but the Village is shomer shabbat and many take advantage of the Judaic components of life at Yemin Orde. There is also a conversion center, mainly for those who had been from families who were forced to convert to Christianity.

After breakfast in the dining hall, school begins at 8:15, offering a mix of academic and vocational education. Nine languages are taught including Amharic, the language of Ethiopia, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish and English. All students have to complete Israeli matriculation, equivalent to the SATs, which includes studies in math, science, literature, history and Jewish studies. On the vocational side, instruction in electronics and other technical jobs is available.

The official school day is over at 4:30 and then the kids can then engage in extracurricular activities such as computer instruction, sports, weightlifting, music, photography, painting, and volunteer work in and out of the Village. Dinner is at 6 p.m. and afterwards is free time for going to the library, the arts center, emailing, watching TV or socializing. State-of-the-art computer equipment is donated by the Israeli high tech company RAD and each kid has his/her own web picture and email address.

There is also a weekly group which Peri calls Toraphy, during which a theme from the Torah is organized into a large text study session.

Additionally, hikes, trips and other off-Village activities are held frequently.

Yemin Orde’s guiding principals are to nurture self-esteem, build leadership skills, respect diversity and pluralism, and instill Jewish identity and values. Medical and dental care is provided and therapists and social workers are available for counseling.

The state of Israel pays 70 percent of the village’s operating expenses. But without donations, Peri says, Yemin Orde might resemble something out of a Dickens novel.

“We don’t just raise kids here, but pave the way for leadership and change in Israel,” Peri says. “Everything you need you’ll find. It’s like Father Flannigan’s Boys and Girls Town.”

Friends of Yemin Orde, located in Washington, Israel, and London, was founded by Robert and Barbara Goldman of Marblehead and helps raise over $2 million a year. Because it is difficult to fully appreciate the place without seeing it, visitors — including Boston Mayor Tom Menino and an annual Tibetan group sent by the Dalai Lama — come to Yemin Orde often.

Guy Naftali, 26, a graduate of Yemin Orde, came to Israel from Georgia in the Former Soviet Union. Now a student in electronics at Technion University in Haifa, he volunteers at Yemin Orde tutoring kids in math and physics. “Yemin Orde did many things to help me,” he says. I want to give back. It’s very important to me. I love this place and I want to give something. It’s little, but it’s from my heart.”
“We mend the world by raising kids who believe they can change the world,” Peri says. “We try to instill in their hearts that they are destined for leadership, for greatness. That what happened to me will not happen to you. That what happened to you will not happen to your kids. Many of them from Russia and Eastern Europe are the sparks left in the ashes of Eastern European Jewry. These are the grandchildren whose grandparents talked about the eternity of the Jewish people. They would have been lost. We picked them up. Saving human beings is mending the world.”

For more information, to make a donation or arrange a visit, call Friends of Yemin Orde at 202-237-0286.

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Williams Snags Top Journalism Award

MARK ARNOLD
Jewish Journal Staff

Selma Williams of Topsfield, editor-in-chief of the former North Shore Weeklies newspaper chain from 1983 to 1993, was honored recently by the New England Society of Newspaper Editors.

At the annual conference of the Society and the New England Newspaper Association on Nov. 9, Williams received the Judith Vance Weld Brown Spirit of Journalism Award. A veteran journalist who began her career as a correspondent for the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune in 1962, Williams was described as a pioneer and role model among women journalists in New England.

Williams was nominated for the award by Charles F. Goodrich, Vice President of Publishing for Community Newspaper Company, a subsidiary of the Boston Herald, which owns the papers that used to be North Shore Weeklies. William’s career, said Goodrich, “has been devoted to the unglamorous, under-appreciated realm of community newspapers. Her enduring legacies are the journalists she mentored and the high standards she set.” A decade after retiring, he said, “she continues to work tirelessly with young journalists, both locally and overseas to inspire and educate them about our profession.”

A lifelong resident of Massachusetts, Williams was raised in Worcester and attended Smith College in Northampton. She joined the North Shore Weeklies, then owned by William Wasserman of Ipswich, in 1970 as editor of the Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle, and later the Marblehead Reporter and managing editor o the Swampscott Reporter. After her promotion to editor-in-chief of the publications, when then had the largest circulation of any community newspaper in New England, the papers consistently won weekly journalism competitions sponsored by the New England Press Association and the New England Newspaper Association.

A member of the Journal’s Board of Overseers, Williams in recent years has played an active role in fostering the development of independent newspapers in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In the past year, she has worked in the Republic of Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.

Her late husband Plynn, a graphic designer, created the distinctive Jewish Journal lettering that serves as this newspaper’s logo. Williams has three children and three grandchildren.

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‘Ambulance Man’ Half Way to Achieving Goal

MARK ARNOLD
Jewish Journal Staff

Arthur Zolot of Marblehead, a retired avionics technician, set out on Yom Kippur to raise $61,700 within six months. That’s the amount of money it takes to provide Israel’s Magen David Adom with a new fully-equipped ambulance. That day he was called to the bimah at Temple Sinai in Marblehead and made his case for helping the people of Israel in this novel way.

He asked for 617 individuals to send him $100 a piece. In the weeks since, he has repeated the plea in newspaper stories and on radio. And by the end of November he had received almost $30,000 in contributions. “We’re halfway there,” says the man who is known increasingly as the ‘ambulance man’ for the project that now consumes his life.

“I’m doing this out of frustration,” says Zolot, 76, who served as the community’s first chairman of the Youth to Israel program in the seventies and has continued to find ways to help the Jewish homeland. “When I read about the recent bombings in Haifa in which two families were completely wiped out, I knew I had to do something to help. Buying an ambulance is a humanitarian act; it benefits anyone who needs the ambulance, Israeli Arabs too.”

In a letter to the Journal (Nov. 7) and in newspaper interviews he has stressed that sending him money for the ambulance assures the entire amount will go to Magen David Adom, a charitable organization based in Skokie, IL, that buys ambulances and otherwise provides support to Israel’s Army Medical Corps.

“I don’t charge any overhead,” says Zolot. “It’s just my time and this is what I choose to do with it.”

Up to Thanksgiving, Zolot had received $27,143 from 184 donors. Checks for $100 came from 142 people, with others giving amounts as small as $7 and as large as $6,000. “It’s really heartwarming to read the notes people send with their money,” says Zolot. “There’s been an unbelievable outpouring of emotion. People want to help Israel and this is a personal way to do it.”

Zolot insists if he fails to raise the total of $61,700, all the money will be refunded. It looks now, though, that he will succeed. Persons wanting to contribute should send checks to Magen David Adom USA, PO Box 215, Marblehead, MA 01945.

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Chanukah Gifts to Please Everyone on Your List

SUSAN JACOBS
Jewish Journal Staff

Finding the perfect Chanukah gifts for everyone on your list this year is easy. Here are some suggestions:

Swampscott’s Housewarming Gifts & Gallery has a large assortment of gifts to warm the heart and home. Shoppers will find lovely menorahs, porcelain “latkes” plates, mezuzahs and Chanukah cards. When browsing through the beautiful handmade menorahs, mezuzahs and dreidels at Lavender Home Table in Marblehead, you may be tempted to treat yourself to something, as well.

If you want to avoid the commercialized toys found at retailers like Toys R Us, head to Sally’s Girls in Marblehead where you’ll find special Chanukah bead kits, unique, customized books and non-violent, educational toys for children.

Shoppers can really “clean up” at Soak, the Newburyport Soap Bar. There are hundreds of soaps to choose from including slices of all-natural glycerin “L’Chaim” soap with Jewish stars embedded within. While in Newburyport, visit Annie’s, which has magnificent hand-crafted Judaica including menorahs, candlesticks, dripless and smokeless candles, little keepsake boxes, sculpted art dreidels, sterling silver and 14-carat gold jewelry and unique clay polymer pins.

Jewelry is always appropriate for the fashion-conscious ladies on your list. Check out Infinity in Vinnin Square in Swampscott, which has pretty, sterling silver Jewish star necklaces, enamel menorah pins with matching earrings, fun Star of David socks and assorted Judaica key chains.

Design your own jewelry or purchase a limited edition piece from Whirly Girls, who created the hip, eclectic bracelets that were included in the 2003 Grammy Award goodie bags. All the pieces are made from sterling silver, Swarovski crystals and semi-precious stones and include Mother’s Bracelets with the names of your children, Family Birthstone Bracelets, Cause Related Jewelry and Spiritual Jewelry. Carlene Benelli of Swampscott is the regional rep for the line. She usually shows the line via private parties or appointments, but is having an open house on Sat., Dec. 6 at La Belle Femme (Day Spa), 8 Spring St., Marblehead from 12-4 p.m. For more information, call her at 781-595-6610 or email carlene@whirlygirls.com.

For those who like to make their own gifts, The Stamp Lady in Danvers sells everything you need to create personalized invitations and cards including handmade paper, sealing wax and artistic rubber stamps. Pet lovers will appreciate the signature pet stamps featuring the name and a paw print of their favorite animal. If you are unsure of what to get, purchase a gift certificate for a class, where the recipient can learn how to make his or her own rubber stamps and/or holiday cards.

Online Ideas
If you prefer to stay at home and shop via computer, visit www.jewish.com to find a wonderful assortment of gift ideas for the entertainers on your list. In addition to interesting challah knives and dreidel-shaped cookie jars, you’ll find a hand-painted Star of David candy dish and a unique Star of David oil & vinegar cruet (fill the star with vinegar and the base with oil.)

Another interesting website for Chanukah gifts is the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance online store at www.wiesenthal.com. Most of the items are made in Israel by local artisans. Some of the many highlights include a dark blue velvet Chanukah Gelt Pillow, a Beanie dog called Kvetch, and a Build the Temple (or Build the Synagogue) kit that includes real bricks and mortar.

For the readers on your list, check out www.feldheim.com. You’ll find books on every aspect of Judaism; from cooking to philosophy and Jewish law. Children will appreciate their unique Jewish puzzles and wide assortment of board games including Mitzvah Millionaire, where players use money to give tzedakah and perform mitzvot.

Art Exhibits
If you prefer to browse for art at an exhibit, check out the following upcoming events: Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester will hold its first ever holiday art exhibit by New England artists and artisans. Shoppers will find photography, painting, prints, pottery, decoupage, lamps, scarves, tallitot, jewelry, sculpture and more. The exhibit is open Fri. Dec. 5 & 12 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., Sat. Dec. 6 & 13 from 6-7 p.m., and Sun. Dec. 7 & 14 from 12-5 p.m.

From Dec. 5-23, LynnArts, Inc. in Lynn is sponsoring the “Under A Hundred” show and sale. The gallery will be filled with paintings, photographs, pottery, sculpture, cards and more, with all pieces selling for under $100. Special opening weekend receptions with music and refreshments take place on Sat., Dec. 6 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sun., Dec. 7 from 4-6 p.m. Regular gallery hours are Tues. thru Fri. from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., and Sat. from 1-4 p.m.

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Veterans at S-RADC Display the Flag Proudly

Shapiro-Rudolph Adult Day Center participant Charles Reynolds (standing third from left) helped organize the Center’s annual Veterans’ Day ceremonies. Other S-RADC veterans include (seated l-r) Kostas Kalambalikis, Wilfred Stevens, Bobby Shelan, Arthur Talbot and Arthur Quint; and in the back row, Melvin Zeitlan, Charles Cook, Reynolds, John Kursonis and Meyer Tarlow. Swampscott Boy Scout Troop #53 attended the ceremonies, as did day center participants of Russian decent who displayed their medals and told of their participation in the war.

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Putting the ‘Judaism’ into the Reform Movement

JOE BERKOFSKY

MINNEAPOLIS (JTA) — The prospect of a new, catchier name did not seem to excite many Reform Jews — until it actually happened.
Thousands gathered at the 67th biennial of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in Minneapolis earlier this month, yet few seemed to have much passion for the impending vote to change the venerable synagogue association’s name to the Union for Reform Judaism.

The sentiments of Stephen Lynn, president of one of the oldest and most prestigious Reform congregations in North America, the Stephen S. Wise Free Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, were typical: The name-change “is silly,” Lynn said. “I don’t care. I’ll still come to the conventions.”

But that was before the Nov. 7 vote.

The president of the body representing more than 900 Reform congregations, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, urged the name change in a speech that touched on the spiritual.

Names “are not unimportant” in Jewish tradition, Yoffie said.

Referring to the weekly Torah portion that coincided with the conference and the vote, Yoffie said,

“Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah, signifying that they are no longer leaders of a clan or a tribe, but of a people — and not only a people, but a religious people covenanted to God.”

In Judaism, he added, “a change of name takes place when a person or a group undergoes a change in essence.”

That transformation is taking place in the Reform movement, Yoffie said.

Since its founding 130 years ago, Reform Judaism has gone from a German Jewish movement advocating enlightenment and emancipation from ritual to one seeking more tradition and more active participation in Jewish life.

Reform has grown into “the largest and most dynamic religious movement in American Jewish life,” Yoffie said, with 1.5 million members and 920 congregations.

Studies bear that out.

Of the 46 percent of 4.3 million Jews who claim affiliation with a synagogue, 39 percent identified as Reform, compared to 33 percent Conservative; 21 percent Orthodox; 3 percent Reconstructionist and 4 percent other, according to the National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01.

In the past decade, Reform Judaism grew 4 percent, while the Conservative movement fell 8 percent in terms of affiliation.

Reform attributes some of its success to its outreach to unaffiliated Jews, and its embrace of non-Jewish spouses of Jews.
Yet the congregational umbrella has found it difficult to win acceptance in wider circles, Yoffie said, in part because of an “awkward” moniker.

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Soros Blames Jews for Anti-Semitism, Provokes Tough Criticism

URIEL HEILMAN

NEW YORK (JTA) — Billionaire financier and philantrhopist George Soros caused a stir at the Jewish Funders Network conference Nov. 5 when he declared European anti-Semitism is the result of the policies of Israel and the United States.

“There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that,” Soros said. “It’s not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well. I’m critical of those policies.”

“If we change that direction, then anti-Semitism also will diminish,” he said. “I can’t see how one could confront it directly.”

The billionaire financier said he, too, bears some responsibility for the new anti-Semitism, citing last month’s speech by Malaysia’s outgoing prime minister, Mahathir Mohammad, who said, “Jews rule the world by proxy.”

“I’m also very concerned about my own role because the new anti-Semitism holds that the Jews rule the world,” said Soros, whose projects and funding have influenced governments and promoted various political causes around the world.

“As an unintended consequence of my actions,” he said, “I also contribute to that image.”

In the past, Mahathir has singled out Soros and other “Jewish financiers” for financial pressure that Mahathir said has harmed Malaysia’s economy. After the conference, some Jewish leaders who heard about the speech reacted angrily to Soros’ remarks.

“Let’s understand things clearly: Anti-Semitism is not caused by Jews; it’s caused by anti-Semites,” said Elan Steinberg, senior adviser at the World Jewish Congress. “One can certainly be critical of Bush policy or Sharon policy, but any deviation from the understanding of the real cause of anti-Semitism is not merely a disservice, but a historic lie.”

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Soros’ comments “absolutely obscene.”

The one-day meeting on funding in Israel, which took place at the Harvard Club in New York, was limited mostly to representatives of Jewish philanthropic foundations.

After Soros’ speech, Michael Steinhardt, the real-estate magnate and Jewish philanthropist who arranged for Soros to address the group, said in an interview that Soros’ views do not reflect those of most Jewish millionaires or philanthropists.

Steinhardt approached the lectern and interrupted Soros immediately after his remarks on anti-Semitism.

“George Soros does not think Jews should be hated any more than they deserve to be,” Steinhardt said by way of clarification, eliciting chuckles from the audience.

Steinhardt then gave the lectern back to Soros, who said he had something to add to his remarks on the issue of anti-Semitism. Soros then paused to ask if there were any journalists in the room.

When he learned that there were, Soros withheld further comment.

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Will ‘Geneva Accord’ Break the Dam?

LESLIE SUSSER

JERUSALEM (JTA) — After its gala launch in Switzerland this week, the unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal known as the “Geneva accord” is rapidly picking up international support.

Indeed, Monday’s festive launch was designed to generate international and grass-roots pressure on leaders on both sides to take bold peace steps.

But can the Geneva accord, reached by people who hold no office, become the basis for a real peace deal and break the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock? Or alternatively, will leaders not ready to go the Geneva route but unwilling to be seen as obstructionist, be pressured into making different peace moves of their own?

Popular support for the Geneva proposal seems to be growing in Israel, but the government remains adamantly opposed. On the Palestinian side, the agreement’s main advocates have run into strong and sometimes violent opposition.

And while major peace brokers like the United States and European countries are showing growing interest, none has yet adopted the Geneva draft as an official program or as a basis for negotiation.

The long, detailed document, which can be found at www.heskem.org.il/heskem_en.asp, deals with such controversial issues as borders, Jerusalem and refugees. It has sparked fiery debates in Israel and among the Palestinians on the nature of a final peace deal.

It also has led to a flurry of parallel diplomatic action. Last Thursday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dispatched his son Omri, along with other Knesset members and government officials, for talks with Palestinians near London.

Other Likud Party legislators took part in a weekend seminar with Palestinians in Madrid, and U.S. Middle East envoy William Burns returned to the region in an effort to restart the official peace process based on the “road map” peace plan.

Most significantly, Sharon himself made new overtures to the Palestinians.

The longer that other plans like the road map remain stalled, the more the Geneva alternative will beckon. That could generate a new dynamic leading to increased international pressure on both sides to cut a deal along the lines of the Geneva accord.

In Israel, sentiment on the Geneva proposal are mixed. A poll published Monday in Ha’aretz showed 31 percent of Israelis support it and 37 percent oppose it. Despite the opposition of the Likud-led government, 13 percent of Likud voters surveyed supported the agreement.
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report. JTA Staff Writer Matthew E. Berger in Washington contributed to this story.

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JTA News Briefs

‘Geneva Accord’ Launched
GENEVA (JTA) — Proponents of the “Geneva accord” gathered in Switzerland to launch the unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal. Speaking at the Dec. 1 launch, hosted by actor Richard Dreyfuss, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said the Geneva accord is the best chance for peace.

Israel Raids Hamas
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Four Palestinians were killed during an Israeli raid against Hamas in the West Bank.
The raid began early Monday and targeted Hamas infrastructure in Ramallah. Three of those killed were armed, and one was a 9-year-old boy. Dozens of Palestinians were arrested in the sweep, which officials said had been planned for months. Military officials told Ha’aretz they were seeking militants who have been planning or carrying out anti-Israel attacks.

Annan: Israel Hurts, Too
NEW YORK (JTA) — Kofi Annan noted Israeli suffering in a speech on the United Nations’ day of solidarity with the Palestinians. “In expressing solidarity with them, I do not ignore the suffering of the people of Israel. They remain insecure and terrorized,” the U.N. secretary-general told the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on Monday.
Annan said Israeli policy has “enhanced misery and feelings of helplessness among Palestinians,” while Palestinian suicide bombing has “no justification,” and “pushed back the day when Palestinians will live in peace and security.”

Palestinian Terrorists Sentenced
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Palestinians were sentenced to 36 consecutive life terms for their involvement in several suicide bombings.
On Nov. 30, an Israeli military court sentenced Muhammad Arman and Walid Anjaf for their roles in a bombing in Rishon le-Zion, which killed 15, the Cafe Moment attack in Jerusalem, which killed 11, and the Hebrew University bombing in Jerusalem that killed nine people.

Omri Sharon Meets Palestinians
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials recently held closed-door meetings outside of London.
The discussions held for two days late last week included key confidants of the leaders on both sides, such as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s son Omri and Yasser Arafat’s security adviser, Jibril Rajoub.
Omri Sharon has served as his father’s envoy in the past. The meeting came as preparations continued to lay the groundwork for discussions between Ariel Sahron and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.

Sharon May Annex in West Bank
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Ariel Sharon may unilaterally annex some West Bank Jewish settlements, an Israeli newspaper reported. Ma’ariv reported last Friday that the Israeli prime minister also might dismantle Gaza settlements. Settlements under consideration for annexation included Ma’aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and the Etzion bloc, south of Jerusalem.

Annan Blasts Fence
NEW YORK (JTA) — Kofi Annan says Israel’s security barrier could damage prospects for peace. The U.N. Secretary General was reporting on Israel’s compliance with a General Assembly resolution that demanded the barrier be dismantled. Routing the wall through parts of the West Bank, instead of alongside it, “could damage the longer-term prospects for peace,” Annan said in the report released last Friday.

New Allocations for Survivors
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Claims Conference is allocating another $74 million to help Holocaust survivors around the world.
In its meeting Dec. 1 in New York, the allocations committee approved grants to welfare programs and institutions benefitting Holocaust survivors around the world. The allocations still need to be approved by the Claims Conference’s board of directors.
The largest allocation went to the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, which is to receive $21 million for home-care needs in Israel. Jewish welfare organizations in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova are to receive grants totaling $22 million, and about 60 groups in New America are to receive $12 million, according to the Claims Conference’s executive vice president, Gideon Taylor.

Arrest Made in Turkey Shul Bombings
NEW YORK (JTA) — Turkey arrested a man believed to have given the orders in one of the Turkish synagogue bombings.
The suspect, whose name was not released, is believed to be behind the attack on the Beth Israel synagogue, one of two deadly attacks on Nov. 15. He was charged Saturday with treason, which is punishable by life in prison.

Camp Guard Trial Delayed
COLUMBUS, Ohio (JTA) — The trial of a man accused by the U.S. government of lying about his activities during World War II was delayed.
Ildefonsas Bucmys, a Lithuanian native now living in Ohio, is accused of failing to disclose that he served at the Majdanek death camp when he applied for American citizenship in 1992.
The trial of the 82-year-old Bucmys, which could lead to his deportation to Lithuania, is now set to begin on March 29.

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People in the News

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Don't Cash That Check
Avoid Mistakes When Rolling Over a 401k

MARK SINGER
Special to the Jewish Journal

It seems pretty simple: You retire and wish to rollover your 401k plan into your own self directed IRA. You place a call to the human resources department and ask for the paperwork. Once you receive the paperwork, it hits you: It’s not as easy as it first seemed. Here are tips to help you avoid the three most common mistakes people make when rolling over their 401ks.

First, don’t cash that check. It could cost you tens of thousands of dollars if you do. Your employer will have the administrator of the 401k plan send a check to you, probably made out to your new IRA plan. Recently, one of my clients received his rollover in the amount of $263,000. The check was made out to the new IRA, yet he mistakenly endorsed the check and deposited it into his personal checking account. If we did not catch this mistake it could have cost him over $50,000. The check must go directly to the new IRA plan and must be deposited within 60 days. Cashing the check and going to the island of your dreams could be the most costly mistake you ever make.

Second, designate a beneficiary. A designated beneficiary is the person who would be the recipient of the IRA upon the passing of the current IRA owner. Many times an estate is listed as the beneficiary — a big mistake. IRS rules indicate that a living entity can utilize the proceeds of an IRA over his or her lifetime. An estate is not a living entity and therefore would have to distribute the assets immediately, which could cost the heirs hundreds of thousands of dollars. When an IRA has the proper beneficiaries designated, both primary and secondary, it is possible to “stretch” the value of the IRA over more than just one generation. It is not unusual for an IRA worth $250,000, if planned properly, to generate up to $2 million of value for the surviving spouse and children. Make sure you designate beneficiaries properly to avoid this costly mistake.

Finally, don’t fall in love with your company stock. Many employees/retirees of Enron and Worldcom had their entire life savings wiped away as a result of investing all, or a majority, of their money in company stock.

Diversification is the way to properly manage your retirement nest egg. Many years ago, I had a client who worked for Wang and was within six months of retirement. I begged him to divest himself of the company stock, but he chose not to. Upon retirement, the stock had plummeted 75%. He lost over $400,000 of his retirement nest egg and was unable to retire in the manner he had intended.

GE is a current example of a great company with a tremendous track record. Over the past three years, many who retired with the only asset being the company stock have lost almost 50 percent of their assets. Those who heeded the advice to diversify saved themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those who did not may never recoup. The lesson? Diversify, diversify, diversify.

A successful retirement is a financial goal for most people. If you can avoid these costly mistakes, you may be able to enjoy the retirement of your dreams.

Mark Singer CFP is President of Safe Harbor Retirement Planning and offers securities through Commonwealth Financial Network, member NASD\SIPC. Mark can be reached at 781-599 2660.

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Arts & Entertainment

Meshuggah-Nuns! Delights the Faithful

BRETT M. RHYNE
Jewish Journal Staff

Jews and Catholics alike will find something to smile at in Meshuggah-Nuns!, the fifth installation in the popular Nunsense series currently playing at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston,

In this upbeat, ecumenical adventure, the Sisters are on a “Faith of All Nations” cruise. A huge storm sickens every cast member of the ship’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, except the actor playing Tevye. Because the nuns have some show biz experience, the ship’s captain asks them and Tevye to join together to create an original revue. The resulting variety show includes lyrical songs, slapstick jokes, impressions (of Sophie Tucker and Mae West) and even a magic show.

This entertaining farce was written by Dan Goggin and directed by Carolyn Droscoski. Particularly noteworthy in this Boston production is the creative choreography by Teri Gibson and the musical direction of live piano, clarinet and flute by Nunsense newcomer Michael Kreutz.

The spirited and talented cast includes Maureen Keiller, Sarah Corey, Frank Gayton, Maryann Zschau and Delina Christie. Clever wording and strong singing enliven original songs such as Say It in Yiddish, Contrition, If I Were a Catholic, Three Shayna Maidels, The Potchky Polka and Matzoh Man.

Spiro Veloudos, Producing Artist Director at the Lyric, admits that “people will either love or hate the show, depending on their history with nuns.” He points out that the light-hearted Nunsense shows, which are not meant to be deep, always fill the theater. This allows the Company to stage more serious dramas (that he ironically notes are less well-attended) later in the season.

“Critics notoriously hate the Nun shows but people love them,” agrees Maryann Zschau, a Nunsense veteran who plays Sister Robert Anne in this particular production. “It is meant to be the type of show that takes you away from the rough edges of the ‘real world’ and just lets you laugh for two hours.”

At this time of year, theatrical choices are usually limited to traditional holiday favorites such as A Christmas Carol. This leaves many Jews out in the cold. Meshuggah-Nuns!, which offers rollicking fun for those of all religious affiliations, tries to bridge the gap. Don’t miss the boat on this show!

Performances Wed. through Sun., through Dec. 27, at the Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., Boston. $22-$43. For tickets, call 617-437-7172 or visit www.lyricstage.com.

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The Jewish Soul of ‘Will & Grace’

KEIRA BOLONIK
Special to the Jewish Journal

Without baring flesh, exchanging fluids or even shedding blood, Will & Grace has become the craftiest, if not the most radical, show in the history of network television — though not merely for its unabashed depiction of gay existence, or the risqué, multi-entendre-filled dialogue its writers slyly sneak under the censors’ radar.

Will & Grace is revolutionary for something so utterly conventional it would warm the hearts of bubbes and zeydes across America’s urban landscapes: sliding a portrait of a 21st century Jewish American’s life into a sitcom about a gay man and his best gal pal. Who in America would want to watch a show explicitly about a Jewish woman living in New York? Sounds like Rhoda Redux. But pair a single woman with a gay man, and suddenly you’ve got a winning formula.

Actually, it’s downright brilliant. There hasn’t been a program this overtly Jewish since The Goldbergs, a popular show from 1949 to 1955 that depicted the travails of a hard-working Jewish family of Bronx tenement-dwellers. For starters, the show’s name is taken from the “I-Thou” treatise by 20th century Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, which described the ongoing dialogue between man and God. And Will & Grace is the first prime-time sitcom ever to feature a wedding between a Jewish woman and a Jewish man.

When American viewers watched the nuptials between interior decorator Grace Adler (Debra Messing) and Southern Jewish doctor Marvin “Leo” Markus (Harry Connick Jr.) last year, they were bearing witness to more than just a sweeps ploy. Those “I do’s” doubled as “I don’ts” to decades’ worth of assimilationist portrayals of Jews. Two simple words in that context spoke volumes: More than upholding an age-old tradition that would make parents kvell, they communicated to Middle America that a Jewish main character does not need a gentile foil to validate his or her presence on television.

It would have been so easy for the redheaded Manhattan transplant from Schenectady to live out her boob-tube destiny in sexless wedded bliss with her goyishe gay best friend, Will Truman (Eric McCormack). They’re symbiotic, they love and respect each other, they share man problems and they even considered having a baby together. But co-creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan decided to thumb their collective nose at television’s love affair with interfaith marriage — which, by the way, is so 1990s — and delivered Grace a Hebraic knight on a white horse in Central Park just as she was en route to the obstetrician’s office to be inseminated with Will’s sperm. A few short months later, there stood bride and groom under a chuppah amid a sea of white kippot for the entire nation to behold.

Until Leo galloped into Grace’s life that fateful afternoon, couch potatoes had been barraged for more than 10 years with neurotic Levites and their sane-to-a-fault, bemused Protestant spouses. There was nice Jewish boy Paul Buchman and his wispy WASP wife, Jamie Stemple on Mad About You; nasal nanny Fran Fine, the Barbra Streisand-loving borough girl and her haughty English boss, Maxwell Sheffield, on The Nanny; and hippie-dippy Dharma Finkelstein and her buttoned-up blue-blooded hubby, Greg Montgomery, in Dharma & Greg. On Friends, Ross and Monica Geller are the children of a couple who married outside the faith, and both brother and sister follow suit (Ross does so again and again.) Jerry never married on Seinfeld, but neither did he date Jewish women in a city that boasts a surplus of eligible madelach. And to think, back in 1972, Jews and Catholics protested the Meredith Baxter and David Birney comic vehicle Bridget Loves Bernie for its depiction of a marriage between an Irish Catholic woman and a Jewish man (it was subsequently canceled.) This is what you call progress?

Apparently, it was a step up. Before the 1990s, the Jew was relegated to a secondary character, at best: Juan Epstein (Welcome Back, Kotter), Natalie Green (The Facts of Life), Abner and Gladys Kravitz (Bewitched), Alex Rieger (Taxi.) They were the nosy neighbors, the class clowns, the voice of reason and the best friends, and were frequently asexual or spectacular failures in the love department. Rhoda Morgenstern was a rare case, her popularity as a sidekick allowed her to spin off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1974 to have her very own sitcom, Rhoda.

Still, a Jew cast as a sitcom lead was usually stuck playing the quirky partner of a straitlaced gentile, the fact of a character’s Judaism almost always serving as shorthand for “neurotic,” “funny” or “eccentric.” (Perhaps the sole and remarkable exception is the case of Seinfeld, where the show’s namesake was both the Jew and the straight man, while his “non-Jewish” friends were the oddballs.) Yet even as Jews vacated the minor-character role, another group was waiting to be typecast. Gays and lesbians (and the occasional transgendered person) turned up all over the tube: Roseanne’s gay boss Leon in Roseanne; bed-and-breakfast owners Ron and Erick in Northern Exposure; Paul’s lesbian sister Debbie in Mad About You; Ross’s lesbian ex-wife Carol on Friends, to name just a few.

Will & Grace is the antidote to this long legacy of marginalizing and stereotyping of Jews and gays. Grace Adler and Will Truman are both nutty — the two are as competitive as they are insecure and self-deprecating — and enjoy their vanity as much as they do their geeky qualities (Will has a penchant for puns, Grace loves to sing badly.)

It would be so simple for Mutchnick and Kohan to posit the “straight” pair against the wacky duo. But there is one crucial difference between Will and Grace — one steeped in cultural mores — that threatens to propel one forward in life and leave the other behind. Will cleaves to his WASP reserve out of fear, preferring denial and decorum to confrontation, which can prove paralytic for him. He is out to his parents, for example, but can’t bring himself to acknowledge his father’s infidelities, even as he meets the mistress.
Grace is the product of a theatrical Jewish mother who knows no bounds (or boundaries), and if it isn’t confidence that allows it, she at least has the chutzpah to take leaps of faith.

Last year’s season finale of Will & Grace intimated that the honeymoon between the newlywed Markuses might have been drawing to a close, though the new season shows the couple negotiating their new life together. But the survival of Grace’s marriage hardly even matters. The fact that she did it at all demonstrated to her gang that she was ready to reconfigure her friendship with Will so that she could pursue sexual and emotional fulfillment through a marriage built on romance.

Reprinted with permission from the Nation. Kera Bolonik’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salon.com, Slate, the Forward and Bookforum, among others. She lives in Brooklyn.

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‘Angels’ Treads, but Fears to Leap

MICHAEL FOX

Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s blisteringly intelligent tragicomedy set in the mid-1980s — which airs Dec. 7 and 14 on HBO — begins with the Manhattan funeral of an aged Jewish matriarch.

A pioneer who left the shtetl for a new beginning in the New World, she was, as the rabbi wryly eulogizes, “the last of the Mohicans.”
Her grandson, Louis Ironson (played by Ben Shenkman), certainly didn’t inherit her grit. After the funeral, when his longtime boyfriend Prior (Justin Kirk) breaks the news that he has AIDS, Louis freaks out — and soon after, moves out.

Death and reinvention are the forces driving Kushner’s end-of-the-millennium fairy tale, notably the Reagan-ignored deaths of thousands of gay men from AIDS and the related disappearance of such hallmarks of civilized society as compassion, community and conscience.

Produced first in San Francisco in 1991, the acclaimed play has now been adapted by Kushner and director Mike Nichols into a two-part, six-hour HBO movie. The first half, Millennium Approaches, airs Dec. 7 followed by Perestroika on Dec. 14.
Unfortunately, the famous magic realism of the stage production hasn’t survived the transition to the small screen without being rendered absurd. That’s unavoidable to a degree, as a TV program can’t possibly replicate the unique mood and spell that a play casts over a live audience.

But Nichols’ generic, uninspired direction robs Angels of its audacity and ambition and, at its worst, turns a courageous sociopolitical screed into a cutesy, multicultural melodrama.

Kushner, whose writing has lost none of its pizzazz but a little of its sting in the decade since Angels debuted, views 20th century history through a particular American Jewish prism.

He recognizes that the wave of immigration at the beginning of the last century held the great promise of a new Jewish homeland in the U.S. Then came the Holocaust when, he suggests, both God and American Jewry abandoned the six million. (By walking out on Prior, Louis is following in that tradition.)

Kushner goes on to salute the contributions of Jews to the Civil Rights Movement, while simultaneously acknowledging the subsequent self-congratulation that so many African Americans found irritating.

The apparent villain of the piece is Roy Cohn (Al Pacino), the McCarthy lawyer (and closeted homosexual) who was so intent on executing Ethel and Julius Rosenberg that he illegally interceded with the (Jewish) judge to ensure the sentence.

To Kushner, Cohn is the quintessential brilliant, well-educated Jew who betrayed Jewish values by dedicating his talents to reactionary causes. A silver-tongued viper and irredeemable bigot, Cohn also has AIDS — an irony in which Kushner takes no vengeful pleasure.
He does, however, mine Cohn’s disintegration to rail against the FDA’s slowness in approving AZT and other AIDS treatments, to expose the ability of those with clout to obtain the drug (even when they proclaim they have liver cancer, as Cohn does) and to summon Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep, in one of several roles) as the manifestation of Cohn’s AIDS-related dementia.

Kushner is actually harder on the weak Louis, an intellectual who’s always expounding on his deeply-felt positions yet stands for nothing. Secular, assimilated, spiritually dislocated and (in his own mind) persecuted, Louis is the poster child of American Jewry.
It is only when he is called on to say kaddish for Cohn, in one of the many unexpected (but not contrived) intersections of characters that comprise Angels, that Louis’ voice gains a measure of authority.

Funny and caustic, self-lacerating and unexpectedly generous, Angels in America is a work of great heart and imagination. Even if the HBO production is far from transcendent, Kushner’s hard-earned optimism still shines through.

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Shir Hadash
(New Songs)

MATTHEW S. ROBINSON

Zamir Chorale of Boston - “The Song Lives On: The Centenary Tour”

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Zamir movement and their own 30th anniversary, Zamir Chorale of Boston traveled to Europe to record this international set which includes a Haydn oratorio excerpt, a few clap-along Israeli numbers and some American imports including Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” A rich call to Elijah (“Eliyahu Ha-Navi”) is followed by a song of praise from every generation (“L’Dor VaDor”) and a service-ready request for peace (“Sim Shalom”). And what would a collection of Jewish songs be without “Hava Nagila?” From “The Song of Songs” to a song created from a WWII poem, the Chorale deals with material of varying familiarity which fills the echoey halls with well-arranged tunes and well-deserved applause.

© 2002, M.S. Robinson, ARR

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Editorial

A Jewish Renaissance for Our Youth

Michael H. Steinhardt is a legendary Wall Street hedge fund manager who stunned the financial world in 1995 by retiring to devote himself to Jewish philanthropy. He founded the Jewish Life Network to renew Jewish American life and has poured millions of dollars into innovative projects in the years since. His best known project: birthright israel, an all-expense-paid trip to Israel for any Jew 18-26 years of age. He and Seagram’s Edgar Bronfman are co-founders of the program, which has thus far provided a 10-day immersion in Jewish identity to almost 50,000 young people.

Now Steinhardt is electrifying the organized American Jewish community with another visionary idea. He wants to create — in partnership with other philanthropists and local Jewish federations — a Fund for Our Jewish Future devoted to elevating “the most important outlets of Jewish identity formation,” from early childhood to day schools, camps and college programs.

The Brooklyn-born Steinhardt unveiled the idea in Jerusalem Nov. 19 before 4,000 representatives of North American Jewish federations, who had gathered for the General Assembly. The unprecedented acceptance of Jews into mainstream society here, he noted, has caused families to lose their Jewish identity. Except for the Orthodox, who maintain Jewish customs in overwhelming numbers, he said, America is becoming a nation of Jewish illiterates.

“We feel it the highest honor when our children graduate from Harvard,” complained Steinhardt, who was educated at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “But we feel no shame when, Harvard diplomas in hand, they do not know a single word of Hebrew.”

Accordingly, he said, Jewish survival in America depends more than ever on the next generation’s becoming Jewishly educated. His idea is to leverage the most important formative experiences of youth to assure positive, enriching Jewish identity for our children and grandchildren.

The effort would start by vastly increasing funds for Jewish pre-schools. Why pre-schools? Because, says Steinhardt, “a child who makes Shabbat in pre-school, with challah, candles and grape juice, may inspire his parents, even teach his parents, to do the same.”
Steinhardt is prepared to start the fund with a $10 million gift — but only if $90 million is raised elsewhere. Steinhardt is challenging Jewish agencies, philanthropies and their donors to make an unprecedented investment in the education of Jewish youth. The ultimate goal: to bring about a “Jewish renaissance for our young people.”

Part of his vision is to create a “newborn gift.” Upon the birth or adoption of a child, Jewish parents would receive a voucher redeemable for early childhood education and also for a birthright trip to Israel.

Thanks largely to the work of the Robert I. Lappin Foundations, we believe that our community is making a more sustained and productive investment in Jewish youth than almost any other community in the United States. But there is much more to be done.

There can be no greater gift to our young than the passing of the Jewish torch. Michael Steinhardt is helping to light that torch. May his vision, and his gifts, prepare well the hands that need to receive it.

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Local Columnists

My Vote on the Geneva Accords

When the Geneva Accord between Israel and Palestinians moderates and left wingers was announced two months ago, I said: “It won’t fly.”

Now I feel like those who scoffed at the Wright brothers. It may not become Israel’s peace vehicle of choice but it is flying. In fact, better every week.

The Haaretz newspaper poll last week found 31 percent of Israelis support the agreement, 38 percent oppose it and 20 percent are undecided. Even 13 percent of Likud voters are supportive, though Ariel Sharon is bitterly opposed because it was negotiated without governmental consent and relinquishes land he argues is crucial to Israel’s security.

The main players are Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Cabinet Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo. Arafat has not supported the accord. You might believe this is another Arafat sham. I don’t. He has done too many dumb things to plan this complex scenario.

On the Israeli side, a credible campaign has been launched to inform the public of the details of the proposed accord — lots of media attention, and perhaps even orchestrating events like the criticism of current Sharon policy by four former heads of Israeli security agencies.

Now comes a Geneva meeting that has the positive interest of key foreign governments. Secretary Colin Powell announced he would meet with the principals very soon. Egypt is a formal part of the process, as well as representatives of many countries.

So, I, like every other Israeli, must make some choices or at least express some opinions.
First, as an Israeli citizen, as a father and grandfather of Israeli citizens, as a grandfather of two soon-to-be soldiers, I yearn for peace, security and justice for the territory of Israel and the states bordering on it.

We have had enough killing and maiming in the past 55 years, enough tragedy and tears to last for a thousand years. Enough is enough.

The only question for me is will it work, can it succeed, will it be in place 30 years from now, time to change the educational systems to promote peace, or will it be a prelude for another intifada, the next one closer to Tel Aviv?
The first problem for many Israelis is Yossi Beilin himself; lots of people hate him for his role in the Oslo accords and his general left wing stance. For me, I wouldn’t care who negotiated the accord, if it is done well enough to work.

The second problem is Palestinians, both in the street and the Arafat gang. Today, as I write, Arafat can’t make up his mind whether to sanction the Geneva trip by the Palestinian negotiators.

And in the street, I have great trouble getting past images of Palestinian killers. I’m talking of how the crowd took two Israeli reserve soldiers, threw them out the window of a Ramallah police station, and tore them limb from limb. Not unlike the crowd in Iraq, who did about the same thing to already dead American soldiers. Similar to what happened to journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, as well as nameless victims of Moslem “freedom fighters” and homicide bombers in many parts of the world.

Can the details about territorial exchanges, borders, refugees, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall be worked out? Yes, if both sides wish it.

The bottom line: Do I support the Geneva Accords? I give it a wary “yes,” while waiting for a majority of Israelis and Palestinians, and many of our leaders, to also get on board. How can I support the Accord, when I just listed many reasons against it?

Because Sharon and Arafat are moving their nations down a path of “mutual destruction,” if not physically, then spiritually and ethically.
All attempts to detour that trip are welcome.

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To Tree or Not to Tree

ELLEN GOLUB

Ellen Golub teaches journalism at Salme State College

The temperature drops. The flowers die. And the days are so short, you find yourself grateful for flashlights, halogen, and the invention of fire. I feel closer, in winter, to my Neanderthal relatives; like them, grateful for the security of the cave and the company of the clan. The pharmacist is also my friend. She suggests another 20 milligrams of Seratonin, so that the receptors in my brain suffer a little less the exile of the sun.

This is not a great moment for bad news. I walk outside and bear witness to the death rattle of leaves under my feet, a symphony of extinction just outside my door. Must I also find out today that the Jewish people is as frail as the fallen leaves, dropping multi-culturally off the family tree as colorful little footnotes in the American experience.

In my e-mail, there is a message from my Jewish Federation. The subject line: “To Tree or Not to Tree.” What? It’s Tu B’shevat already? Don’t we need Chanukah first? – Or is there a scandal, again, at the JNF? Maybe we are being told to stop buying trees in Israel. A very confusing subject line. What’s the deal with Jews and trees?

The deal, it seems, is that America is awash in interfaith families and that for many of them there is a real question of whether or not to have a Christmas tree. Federation is stepping in to help heal the wounds of the “December Dilemma.” It is good that our Federation is sensitive to this spiraling demographic trend of Jews marrying Christians. People who want to retain their own traditions while respecting the different religious needs of their partners have a lot to cope with at this time of year.

And yet, so do I. So much of contemporary Jewish life is about the problem of remaining Jewish, that it’s almost impossible to live one’s own life without hearing the sirens blaring and seeing our Jewish professionals doing triage in the streets. Each of us worries in our hearts: will our grandchildren be Jewish? Will there be a critical mass of American Jews to keep us on the map? What happens when we shrink from 3% to 2% to a fraction of 1%? North American Jewish communal workers have become veritable E.R. docs, working feverishly to save the expiring Jewish people.

Some might say that all of Jewish history is an Emergency Room drama, that we are a people afflicted with so much trauma that we shouldn’t have lived even this long. Amalek, Babylonia, Rome, Germany—vast empires have arisen to destroy us, and we remained alive despite the odds. Yet ironically, in the kindest, most accepting, even loving Diaspora our people has ever known, we are dropping like flies.
It is a startling fact of life: more American Jews display Christmas trees than light Shabbat candles.

There is so much to know about in the Jewish world, so much to learn and discuss, so many delicious, head-spinningly deep Jewish ideas, such a rich life laid out for us to live. What a shame we must be so preoccupied with own survival! Yet the sirens wail. The death rattle creaks. And triage is our first priority.

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Slice of Life
Chanukah is Around the Corner

PHYLLIS DINERMAN
Jewish Journal North of Boston

@Phyllis Dinerman 2003. Phyllis Dinerman is a resident of Marblehead and Boynton Beach, FL.

Is it time to shop for Chanukah already? For some family members I will take the traditional way out and give Chanukah gelt. It’s easier. Besides, nothing I buy is ever the right size, color, or something he or she wanted. My mother-in-law, G-d rest her soul, only gave money for Chanukah. She always said, “Green goes with everything.”

Holidays can be stressful for some people. To avoid “postal insanity” (waiting in line for hours at the post office), I buy toys on-line for the grandchildren. First, I go to a toy store and check out the toys from top to bottom. Then I return home, sit down at my computer and order it on the appropriate web site. The gift is shipped and even wrapped if I want to spring for the extra $5.

Buying a present for my husband is impossible at this time in our lives. We’ve been married 40 years. There is nothing he wants that he doesn’t have; so what can I buy him? Gornisht (nothing). We’ve decided Chanukah is for the kinder, and we don’t make ourselves crazy shopping for something neither one of us wants or needs.

He has shirts he hasn’t even worn; underwear is not considered a gift; it’s a necessity. Jewelry? Are you kidding? That’s something he could buy for me. I never tire of jewelry. I’m even willing to grow an extra appendage to accommodate any gold or diamond bracelet he’d like to see on my wrist.

Gelt is a good gift for the postman, newspaper delivery person, hairdresser, manicurist, anyone who “services” or does something special for us. I get so many new bills at the bank that it begins to feel like monopoly money when I start giving it out as presents. The bank even knows me on a personal level. “Here she comes again asking for new tens.” I always have extra “new money” around because I always remember someone at the last minute to whom I haven’t given a present.

Gift giving was not always an 8-day tradition. In Eastern Europe, it was only celebrated on the fifth night and only Chanukah gelt was given out. However when Jews and Christians associated more with one another, we adopted the tradition of giving gifts as well as gelt. I’m sure the retailers were delighted we went that route.

Well, I have to go on-line now to decide which Barbie doll to send to my granddaughter Abby.

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Op-Ed

Israel’s Fence of Peace

MEIR SHLOMO

Meir Shlomo is the Consul General of Israel to New England. This piece first appeared in the Boston Globe on Nov. 24

It takes about 10 minutes to walk from Coolidge Corner in Brookline to Kenmore Square in Boston. Why is this important? Because it takes the same amount of time for a Palestinian terrorist to walk from Kalkilya in the West Bank to Kfar Saba in Israel. Nothing can stop one from walking from Brookline to Boston; so too, nothing can stop a Palestinian terrorist from walking from the West Bank to Israel. Unfortunately, it’s as easy as it sounds.

There has been a lot of talk lately about Israel’s security fence. For Israelis, this debate has come as a complete surprise; most Israelis, both left- and right-wing, consider the fence to be an absolute necessity — it’s the last resort in protecting themselves and their children. And yet, outside of Israel, there is still debate.

One reason for this gap is the huge difference between aloof theoretical debate and the reality on the ground. While many pay lip service and condemn terrorism, Israelis are the ones who suffer the deadly consequences.

The security fence is a defensive and nonlethal measure. It has only one goal: to prevent terrorism. The end of terrorism would render the security fence unnecessary. Fences can be built and torn down, but human lives are irreplaceable.

Some say that the fence is a barrier to peace. In fact, it is just the opposite. The lack of a fence between Israel and the West Bank has made it possible for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to hold the peace process hostage. Each time political progress was made, it was derailed by deadly attacks carried out by these terrorists. The visit of General Anthony Zinni and the coinciding deadly attack on the Sbarro Pizzeria, which killed 15 Israelis in Jerusalem, is a case in point. Building a fence will cause a sharp decline in the number of such attacks and give leaders more latitude to continue peace negotiations. It will hinder the ability of terrorists to derail the peace process, thus making the peace process more resilient.

Another argument against the fence claims that it will be ineffective, but in fact the fence’s effectiveness has been tested and proven. Over the past three years, only one out of the 124 suicide attacks came from Gaza, despite the fact that Gaza is the major stronghold of Palestinian terrorism. The reason why is painfully obvious: In Gaza there is a security fence, while in the West Bank there is none.

Photos in the media and elsewhere depict the fence as a tall concrete wall. However, 94 percent is actually just a chain-link fence, most of it within the Green Line. The portions made up of a concrete wall are adjacent to Israel’s main highway, where any minor threat could bring the country to a halt.

Some claim that the fence is an Israeli attempt to annex part of the West Bank. This is a bizarre accusation. It has been Israel’s policy in the past 36 years not to annex the territories. Suggesting that Israel is now attempting to change that policy through such partial measures is absurd.

The final argument against the fence states that it will create inconveniences for some Palestinian farmers who will be separated from their fields. A limited number of inconveniences do exist, and they are addressed by the Israeli government on a case-by-case basis. However, they are relatively minor when compared to the benefit of saving hundreds of lives.

The security fence may not be the ideal solution, but it is definitely the most practical way to protect innocent Israelis from the unprecedented wave of Palestinian terrorism. The Palestinian leadership, and all others who want to see a peaceful resolution to the conflict, would be well advised to fight terrorism instead of fighting the fence. While fences are reversible, the loss of human life is not.

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Believe What You Want, But Be Courteous About It

LEONARD FEIN

Leonard Fein is a veteran political observer and editor. He writes from Boston

There’s a wee storm-cloud coming mainly from the South and headed to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Almost unnoticed by most Americans, President Bush, at a news conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair during his visit to England, was asked a sort of theological question. A reporter, noting the President’s penchant for invoking the Almighty, asked whether he believed that “Muslims worship the same Almighty he does.”

Mr. Bush’s reply: “I do say that freedom is the Almighty’s gift to every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America’s gift to the world. It’s much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same god.”

The president could hardly have answered “No comment,” nor could he have in any way implied that Islam is less valid than Christianity. Indeed, nothing in his background suggests that he regards the worshippers of Allah as infidels, pagans, or any such. Not so, however, some of the president’s normally enthusiastic supporters.

Thus the Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, opined (to borrow a term from Donald Rumsfeld, may his term be limited) that “The Christian God encourages freedom, love, forgiveness, prosperity and health. The Muslim god appears to value the opposite.

The personalities of each god are evident in the cultures, civilizations and dispositions of the peoples that serve them. Muhammad’s central message was submission; Jesus’ central message was love. They seem to be very different personalities.”

How to think about this? On the one hand, anything that bodes ill for President Bush lightens my heart. On the other, the president was merely expressing that mushy theological view that most Americans share and that has in fact been a major source of America’s civic strength. He was expressing what Robert Bellah, more than 30 years ago, famously described as a central aspect of America’s “civil religion.” (Have we not just celebrated the principal holiday, Thanksgiving, of that civil religion, a holiday virtually made to order for Jews — family. Food, thanksgiving, turkey rather than, say, wild boar, and two songs that mention God but leave Christ out of it.)

In that respect, the Evangelicals who resist the mush and insist on Christian exclusivity are — well, un-American. But of course, they are not, precisely because America defines the permissible so very broadly. The Evangelical problem is not that they believe what they believe, but that they are willing (and sometimes even eager) to trumpet their beliefs in the public square — and it is precisely at that point that their beliefs grate, and hard, against the civil religion. That we all worship the same god is less the core American belief than it is the fulcrum of American behavior. Believe, America says, whatever you like and however fervently you like — but in the public arena, be courteous.

You are certain that yours it the one true faith? Not a problem — but in public, if you please, pretend that you just might be mistaken. Act as if others may be right. In private, for the sake of heaven, absolutism if that is your choice; in public, for the sake of peace, relativism, society’s mandate. After all, turn it upside down and inside out, interpret it this way and that, many of us (the Jews, that is) in fact weekly recite that we have been chosen from amongst all the peoples. And some of us believe that quite literally. Shhh.

It is comforting to imagine that come election time, some Evangelicals will stay at home. It is still more comforting that this president, true believer though he is, knows that although he is merely commander-in-chief and not theologian-in-chief, he does de facto preside over America’s civic religion. For those purposes, we all believe in the same god.

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The Time Is Ripe

JONATHAN FRIENDLY

Jonathan Friendly is the national editor of Jewish Renaissance Media

If Ariel Sharon is serious when he talks about unilaterally dismantling some of the out