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| February 27 - March 11, 2004 | |||||||
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Local StoriesBeth
El, Israel Leaders May Seek Spring Vote
SWAMPSCOTT
— Leaders of Temples Beth El and Israel, who are seeking to combine
their synagogues into a new congregation, may call for up-or-down votes
on the subject as early as this spring. “That’s what we’re thinking about now,” said Beth El Board Member and B’resheit Acting Co-chair Larry Kahn. “We want to move the process along at a good pace, then go forward with a vote.”
“There
are several subcommittees studying specific issues related to important
areas for each temple,” Kahn said. “They will report back by
late spring.” At that time, B’resheit hopes to convene meetings
that would include all members of both congregations, and bring the matter
to a vote. “In my view as a leader, that’s a logical time frame,”
Kahn said. “We haven’t made any agreements yet, nothing like that,” she added. “We want to do this properly. We’re getting feedback from everyone to see what we all want.” “The B’resheit process is moving along very nicely at this time,” said Beth El President Helaine M. Hazlett. The group has met regularly since the fall. “I’m very excited now that it’s moving along at a more rapid pace,” she said. According to Temple Israel’s Mark Friedman, B’resheit’s other acting co-chair, merging the two congregations was “the right thing to do the last two times they tried. It was the right idea, but the wrong approach. Temple Israel approached Beth El this time,” Friedman said. “It was the decision of the Executive Board, and a letter was drafted by the temple leadership.” Friedman said the leadership consciously avoided previous merger sticking points. “We said, ‘Take building and clergy out of the picture, and then let’s have the discussion,’” he said. “There’s a lot of momentum from different age groups for this,” Kahn said. “There’s been a significant decline in volunteerism and attendance over the last ten years. The most adamant opponents are no longer with us or have softened their views in light of those two areas. “Younger
members are very much for this,” he added. “They see the strength
of having one congregation. And older members need to leave a strong Conservative
temple legacy — they see this as inevitable.” “There have been some milestones in our getting together,” Kahn said. “We combined nursery schools and minyans. We held a joint golf tournament fundraiser. “We want to have more combined religious services and events over the next year, working toward that fall 2005 goal.” “This is not just for financial reasons,” said Beth El’s Hazlett. “It’s because of people’s changing lifestyles, needs and time commitments that this is a necessary step.” According to Kahn, “changing demographics” is the driving force behind B’resheit. “There was a time when the temple was the center of Jewish life,” he said. “But now, attendance at services has diminished and volunteerism has declined.” “The two temples are the same size, hold similar values, are across the street from each other,” Kahn noted. “A lot of people are asking, ‘Are we better off together?’” When asked if he thought the two congregations could survive if they did not join together, Kahn replied, “It’s hard to tell. There’s no definitive answer yet.” In January, the two congregations hired Sandor Blum, Ph.D., as a consultant to the process. “He’s just really starting his work,” Kahn said. “So far, he’s led focus groups of members of the two temples. He’s also been preparing the chairs of the subcommittees for their leadership roles.” When asked how the temples’ rank-and-file members have responded to the current initiative, Israel’s Gay said, “We got some wonderful, positive feedback from the focus groups. The majority are very much in favor of this. There is a minority who are approaching it cautiously.” “The process has gotten a positive response,” agrees Beth El’s Kahn. “The
general feeling is, ‘We can do it.’” He added: “There’s
even a group of people who are wondering if we can get it done before
2005.” Gay stressed the importance of the Plaques, Memorials and Gifts Committee. “We want to be able to honor both temple’s histories and move forward,” she said. Other
participants in B’resheit are Beth El members Harriet Diamond, Arthur
Epstein, Arlene Leventhal, Eric Levy, David Pliner and David Rosenberg,
and Temple Israel members Ellen Alexander, Robert Biletech, Robert Cashman,
Gerald Perlow, Michael Rosenbaum and Carl Sloane. ADL to Present Anti-Semitism Talk The Jewish Journal, in conjunction with the Holocaust Center Boston North and SAJE, will co-sponsor a talk presented by the Anti-Defamation League entitled East Meets West: Under-standing the Connec-tion Between Euro-pean and Islamic Anti-Semitism. The free event, open to all, will take place Wed., March 17, at Temple Israel in Swampscott, from 7:30-9 p.m. This
is the second talk of “Anti-Semitism in a Time of Turmoil,”
ADL’s 2004 Speaker Series devoted to exploring the complex issues
driving the reemergence of global anti-Semitism in the 21st century. Dr. Wistrich has written 23 books; 11 as an author and 12 as an editor. He has also published over 250 articles in academic journals and other publications. Dr. Wistrich has received many awards and honors for his work on anti-Semitism, including being featured as a Who’s Who in the World, the Viznitzer Prize of Hebrew University for the Best Book on Jewish History, the Wingate Prize for Non-Fiction, and is one of six historians selected as outstanding scholars of the 20th century. He holds a B.A. Honours Degree in History and an M.A. in History from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies at University College in London. He is currently the Neuberger Chair of Modern European and Jewish History, as well as a Full Professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. ‘Advocate’ to Cast a Bigger Shadow MARK
ARNOLD In a move that caught the Jewish publishing world by surprise, Boston’s Jewish Advocate has been merged with a Jewish media company in London. The merged company, Totally, PLC, will have both the Advocate and the London Jewish News as subsidiaries. Totally, a publicly held company traded on the London Stock Exchange, is headed by Dr. Michael Sinclair, chairman, a British physician with extensive communication holdings. Sinclair and the other principal shareholders are Jewish. Grand Rabbi Y.A. Korff, Zvhil-Mezbuz Rebbe, chairman of the Jewish Advocate Publishing Company, announced the agreement January 29 in Boston, while Sinclair was announcing it in the U.K. The announcement said Sinclair would continue to direct the U.K. operation while the rebbe would “continue to serve as chairman of the U.S.-based operation.” Besides the two newspapers, Totally includes a Hebrew-English newspaper, Yediot Alondon, which targets London’s Israeli community, www.totally jewish.com, described as Europe’s leading Jewish web portal, totallyjewishtravel.com, as well as design and creative services to U.K Jewish communal organizations. The move potentially brings new visibility and financial leverage to the 102-year-old Advocate, which has lost advertising and readers in recent years. The newspaper, which has a staff of 20, incurred an after-tax loss of $10,0812 in 2002, on revenue of $1,296,778, according to the announcement. As of December 31, 2002, it had gross assets of $147,396. The rebbe received 20,500,000 shares in the enlarged company, 26 percent of total shares outstanding, making him the largest single shareholder. His shares were valued at $1.6 million on the open market at the time of the sale in late January. According to John Morton, president of Morton Research, Inc., a media consulting firm in Silver Spring, MD, at $1.6 million the Advocate sold “within the average range for weekly newspapers — one to one and a quarter times annual revenues.” In an interview with the Journal, Rabbi Korff said he didn’t sell the Advocate for the money — “I can’t drop 20 million shares on the market without the price going down” — but rather “for the control” it gives him over the larger enterprise. “This allows us to continue to improve and serve the community better, including outlying areas,” he said.
National News Cam Kerry, Detroit in-Laws Talk About the Democratic Frontrunner SHARON
LUCKERMAN DETROIT — When Cameron Kerry fell in love with Oak Park, Mich., native Kathy Weinman, he chose to convert from Catholicism to Judaism. Little did he know that he already had a strong Jewish connection. His father’s parents were Jewish — a fact uncovered last year when the Boston Globe hired a genealogist to check into the family roots of his brother, John Kerry, the Democratic presidential frontrunner thought by many to be of Irish background. The Kerry family was traced back to a small town in the Austrian empire, now part of the Czech Republic. There, the paper discovered that before immigrating to America, the Kerrys changed their name from Kohn and converted from Judaism to Catholicism. “It
was mind-blowing,” says Cam Kerry about first learning his grandparents’
true history from the newspaper story. Also surprising to him was the
number of Jews in his synagogue who came up to him with similar stories.
“It’s an American story,” he says. “If my zayde could see this election,” says Anne Weinman, Cam’s Farmington Hills mother-in-law, who with her husband, Joe, originally emigrated from Eastern Europe. “Joe, and I are first-generation Americans and it was inconceivable back then that we could be connected to the president of the United States.” Cam’s wife, Kathy Weinman, adds, “We have to pinch ourselves once in a while. It’s amazing to have a ringside seat to history in the making.” She and their two daughters, ages 13 and 17, also have participated in this history. They were in New Hampshire during the primary. Her daughters campaigned for their uncle, knocking on doors, making calls and holding up signs. Their elder daughter worked in Iowa and volunteered for the Kerry campaign last summer. Cam, 53, has taken time off from his law firm, Mintz Levin in Boston, and from his position as an adjunct telecommunications law professor at Suffolk Law School there, to work on his brother’s presidential campaign. Last week, prior to the Michigan Democratic caucuses on Feb. 7, he was in Detroit stumping for the senator. He stayed with his in-laws in Farmington Hills, where, Anne says, she keeps a kosher kitchen, and Cam, who is knowledgeable of Jewish dietary laws, is one of the few people she trusts in it. Role
Of Judaism After graduating from the University of Michigan law school in 1979 — magna cum laude — Kathy got her first job at a law firm in Washington, D.C. At the same firm she met Cam, also a magna cum laude graduate (of Boston College Law School). The two were married in 1983. Though brought up Catholic, he decided to convert to Judaism before the marriage. “I was influenced by Kathy,” says Cam. “Judaism is deeply held and meaningful to her. Early on, we established we would raise any children we had as Jewish. So it flowed from that. To be a full participant in their religious education, I would convert.” Cam says what appealed to him about Judaism was the role of study in the religion, that it valued learning and intellectual pursuits, which were comfortable and a part of his upbringing. He adds that standing on the bimah for each of his daughters’ bat mitzvahs as a full participant made his religious commitments well worth it. “Judaism is central to us,” says Kathy, who is active in her suburban Boston synagogue, Temple Israel in Brookline. “Judaism is a core of my life and important to our family.” When asked how the Catholic and Jewish sides of the family relate, Kathy replies, “It’s a terrific relationship.” She says that candidate Kerry was supportive when his brother converted to Judaism. He and his family have attended both nieces’ baby namings and bat mitzvahs. Kathy says she is very close to John Kerry’s two daughters. And the Weinman and Kerry families have become mishpachah (family), says Anne Weinman. Cam’s late “blueblood” mother, Rosemary, whose heritage goes back to colonial times with family names like Winthrop and Forbes, and his late father, Richard, were wonderful people proud of all four of their children: Peggy, John, Diana and Cam. She adds that the Kerry family — including Cam’s parents and John — were present when Cam and Kathy’s daughters were named at the temple. “Religion has never been an issue between Cam and his [side of the] family,” Kathy says. “John’s always loved participating in our happy occasions. He’s always been there and part of our family.” The Weinmans say they are very active in the Kerry campaign. They support the candidate because of his stand on the environment and education, Anne says. “I have a greater appreciation for the early caucus and primaries and the role they play,” Kathy says. “Our country is so big and it’s impossible for everyone to know the candidates. But the Iowans and the people of New Hampshire get that opportunity. We saw them get to know my brother-in-law and his opponents. They made their judgment from the place of knowledge and understanding.” Of course, when asking Cam or the Weinmans why people should vote for Kerry, you won’t get a strengths-and-weaknesses kind of answer. However, the warmth and intimacy of the reply gives another insight into this political family of diverse backgrounds. “There’s nobody else I want by my side in a tough situation than my brother,” says the easy-going Cam, who has been at his brother’s side for all of John’s campaigns for office. “In times of war and great economic challenge, he’s the kind of leader we need.’’
International News Hague Hearing Fuels Demonstrations TOBY
AXELROD THE HAGUE — Holland turned into a staging ground for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this week, as demonstrators converged on The Hague to talk about Israel’s security barrier and Palestinian terrorism. As the International Court of Justice held hearings on the West Bank security fence, thousands of Israel supporters from across Europe, Israel and the United States gathered in the streets outside The Hague’s Peace Palace. On Monday, the same square used by about 3,000 pro-Israel demonstrators later became the site of a pro-Palestinian demonstration of slightly smaller size. For the most part, Dutch police managed to keep the two groups apart, but the police’s efforts did not temper demonstrators’ vehemence toward each other — and for their cause. “I came because of the suicide bombings,” said Derya Yalimcan, 30, a Turkish student who came with a delegation of students from Germany to support Israel’s cause. “You can’t do anything about it and you feel helpless. What else can we do besides come to this demonstration?” To make their argument more poignant, Israel demonstrators brought with them an Israeli bus mangled in a Jan. 29 Jerusalem suicide bombing, in which 11 people were killed. Demonstrators said a hush fell over the crowd when the flatbed truck bearing the shattered bus rolled in. In a disturbingly familiar image, 10 members of Zaka, the fervently Orthodox rescue and recovery service that collects victims’ body parts after terrorist attacks in Israel, stood around the bus in their yellow work suits. Iris Boker, director of Zaka in Europe, said the bus had such a strong effect that it would probably be sent to other demonstrations rather than be returned to Israel. She said there were several requests from U.S. groups to use the bus. Miri Avitan came to the demonstration at The Hague with a photo of her son Assaf, who was killed at his 15th birthday party in a suicide bombing in December 2001. “He was celebrating his birthday with his friends and all his friends died,” said Avitan, one of many Israelis who came to tell their stories of the trauma suffered by the death of a family member. Bridgit Kessler’s daughter, Gila, was killed in a suicide bombing on June 19, 2002. “That was the day I died,” said her mother, who has three other children. U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), a member of the House International Relations Committee who came to The Hague, said, “The people who ought to be on trial today are the people who are training children to aspire to be suicide bombers, not people who build fences to protect innocent lives.” Anna Digilova, 19, of Berlin, came to the demonstration along with 45 others on an overnight bus. “We have to show our commitment,” she said. Much of the funding and logistical support for the pro-Israel rallies came from the Jewish Agency for Israel, which helped organize delegations of students to come to The Hague from Israel, France, England, Germany, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Hundreds also came from the United States. “After the lessons of Durban and Johannesburg, one cannot leave the street to the Palestinian propaganda,” Michael Jankelowitz, a spokesman for the Jewish Agency, said, referring to the virulently anti-Israel demonstrations at the U.N. conference against racism in Durban, South Africa, in the summer of 2001. “And it worked,” Jankelowitz said. “There is balance only because of the power and feeling of the street that the Palestinians do not control the street anymore.” The bulk of the activity outside The Hague occurred Monday, with a series of marches and news conferences on both sides. On Tuesday, a pro-Israel Dutch lobbying group, the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, held “alternative hearings” at The Hague’s former City Hall to provide a counterpoint to the official court hearing on the fence. Flanked at the event by two E.U. Parliament members, about 20 victims and relatives of Israeli terrorism victims, including Druse and Arabs, spoke at a packed news conference about shattered bodies and shattered lives — and about peace. Zehava Vider, who lost members of four generations in her family — including her husband and daughter — at the Passover bombing of the Park Hotel in Netanya in March 2002, said, “I am not filled with hate.” Vider,
who was severely burned in the attack, said she donated her husband’s
organs to four people, including a Palestinian mother of five. Alham Matar, an Christian Arab from Haifa, spoke of her husband George, who died 12 days after a suicide bomber blew herself up at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa on Oct. 4, 2003. He had worked at the restaurant and served food to his killer. Attorney Richard Heideman of Washington, who helped organize the news conference, said of the court’s hearings on the barrier, “We are not there because we are not welcome there.” “What justice goes on these days at the ICJ? None,” he said. “It is putting Israel on trial. What Israel has done is what every nation in the world has the right to do.” Arnold Roth, 52, who with his wife created a foundation in memory of their daughter, Malka, who was killed in the suicide bombing at Jerusalem’s Sbarro restaurant in August 2001, said he was shocked to be asked by reporters whether the suffering of Palestinians is not the same as his suffering. A member of a group called Israeli Families for Peace, Roth said, “When my daughter was murdered, her cell phone was returned to us. On it she wrote the words, ‘It is wrong to speak ill of others.’ But that isn’t what they” — the parents of Palestinian terrorists — “are teaching their children.” At Palestinian counterdemonstrations at The Hague, protesters assembled bearing Palestinian flags, signs calling for the “end of occupation” and pictures of Palestinians killed during the current intifada. JTA correspondent Rachel Levy at The Hague contributed to this report. Jerusalem Bus Bombing Hits Close to Home MICHAEL
S. ARNOLD JERUSALEM — Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya’alon was describing the Palestinian Authority’s strategy of terrorism when a small commotion erupted in the corner of the room. One of Ya’alon’s aides swiftly scribbled a note and passed it to the Israeli army chief of staff, who hardly skipped a beat in his Sunday-morning speech to a visiting delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. It was only several minutes later, after Ya’alon had finished his presentation, that he told the group a Palestinian suicide bomber had detonated himself aboard a bus barely 100 yards from the group’s hotel in downtown Jerusalem. At least eight people were killed in the explosion and more than 60 were wounded. The attack took place near the German Colony, an upscale neighborhood filled with trendy shops and beautiful homes. The Al-Aksa Brigade, the terrorist wing of P.A. President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack, citing Israel’s construction of its West Bank security barrier as the primary grievance. Discouraged from visiting the scene in such a large group, most members of the Conference of Presidents delegation proceeded with a planned tour of the fence. But the group’s leaders were whisked past Israeli security barricades to within feet of the bus. There they saw firsthand the carnage that until then they had known only on television screens. “When you see it on the news, you see it for a minute and you say, ‘Oh, that’s horrible,’” James Tisch, the conference’s chairman, told JTA. “When you see it up close, it hits home and registers much more powerfully. You understand that these were real people that were killed and injured.” As members of Israel’s emergency response teams loaded the wounded onto stretchers and collected dismembered body parts and bits of raw flesh, six body bags were lined up on the ground next to the bus, out of sight of cameras. A seventh victim died at a hospital, and an eighth was reported dead soon afterward. The executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, Malcolm Hoenlein, who has seen the aftermath of other suicide bombings, appeared visibly shaken. He said he had never been to the site of a bombing so soon after the attack. “It’s overwhelming. It’s too hard to comprehend,” Hoenlein said. “There were body parts right there by our feet. You can’t bring the war on terror any closer to home.” The explosion came one day before the International Court of Justice at The Hague began a hearing on the legality of the security barrier Israel is building to keep Palestinian terrorists from crossing into Israel. Israeli officials said the bombing lent new weight to Israel’s argument that the fence is needed to block terrorists. Israel, like the United States and several European countries, is boycotting the hearings at The Hague on the grounds that the international court has no jurisdiction in the case. The U.N. General Assembly voted in early December to send the issue of the fence to the international court. As if to emphasize the alliance between Israel and the United States, the Palestinian bomber chose to attack a bus right outside Jerusalem’s Liberty Bell Park, which was established in 1976 to honor the U.S. bicentennial and includes a replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. “This is Arafat’s response to The Hague,” Hoenlein said. “If anything underlines the obscenity of The Hague trial, this is it. It’s Israel’s obligation to bring an end to this kind of outrage by building the fence.” A statement from Arafat’s office said, “We will not stand idly by while Palestinian interests are harmed” — apparently a reference to the damage the bombing could cause the Palestinian case at The Hague hearings. The Palestinian Authority also condemned the bombing and vowed to catch those responsible. Similar pledges have gone unfulfilled in the past. The bombing also took place on the heels of a visit to the region by three high-level U.S. diplomats, who came to Israel to discuss Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plans for unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians. The
eight people killed in the bombing were identified as Ilan Avisidris,
41, of Jerusalem; Lior Azulai, 18, of Jerusalem; Yaffa Ben-Shimol, 57,
of Jerusalem; Rahamim Duga, 38, of Mevasseret Zion; Yehuda Haim, 48, of
Givat Ze’ev; Staff Sgt. Netanel Havshush, 20, of Jerusalem; Yuval
Ozana, 32, of Jerusalem; and Benayahu Yehonatan Zuckerman, 18, of Jerusalem.
Funerals for them were held Sunday and Monday. But in a predawn operation Monday, Israeli forces demolished the two-story home of the bus bomber, Muhammad Za’ul, 23, in Hussan village outside of Bethlehem. Israeli officials said the Palestinian attacker would not have been able to infiltrate Israel from his home near Bethlehem had the 450-mile barrier been complete. “I hope that The Hague’s 15 justices get the message,” Justice Minister Yosef “Tommy” Lapid told Israel Radio on Sunday. “If there had been a fence around Jerusalem, there would not have been a terrorist attack today.” At
The Hague on Feb. 23, some 2,500 pro-Israel demonstrators gathered to
protest the hearings on the fence. They waved Israeli flags, carried photos
of bombing victims and stood against a backdrop of a bombed-out bus from
Jerusalem that was destroyed in a Jan. 29 terrorist attack and brought
to The Hague for public-relations purposes. A Palestinian counterdemonstration of about 2,000 people took place later Monday afternoon. The police closed the Palestinian demonstration prematurely due to rioting among some of the protesters, according to Ronny Naftaniel, director of the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel. Before Sunday’s attack, Israel began dismantling a 5-mile stretch of the barrier outside Baka al-Sharqiya, one of the areas where the security fence cuts into the West Bank. Israel’s Defense Ministry denied that the dismantling of the fence section was linked to The Hague hearing. Lapid called the move “good spin,” but Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom voiced concern that the move could be misconstrued as an admission of guilt by Israel. In Jerusalem, as emergency workers combed through the shell of the bus and peeled away its windshield, a pack of journalists pressed against a hastily erected security barrier some 30 yards away, straining for a better view and forming small circles around Israeli public officials. Nir Barakat, a member of the Jerusalem City Council, was on his way to visit a local school when the bus exploded across the street from him. He told an aide to call an ambulance and ran to aid the wounded. “Life is more important than the quality of life,” Barakat said, referring to Palestinian arguments that the fence intended to thwart terrorists impedes Palestinian freedom of movement and makes it difficult for farmers to reach their fields. “I
want to protest,” he said. “The world has a double standard
and needs to get its priorities straight. The first thing is to stop the
killing.” “It’s a crazy world,” Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski said in an interview. “The Hague is asking if the government of Israel has a right to build the security fence. This is a question?” Police found that the Palestinian bomber may have boarded the No. 14 bus after its guard — common on Israeli buses these days — disembarked. Also Sunday, police closed Maxim’s restaurant in Haifa. Police cited inadequate security after a plainclothes female police officer managed to get by Maxim’s doorman with a decoy bomb hidden under her clothes over the weekend. Last October, a suicide bomber from Islamic Jihad killed 21 people at Maxim’s. JTA correspondent Dan Baron in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Features People in the News
JTA News Briefs Ganging
up at The Hague? Proof Positive Serenity
in the Middle East Now! Israel
Shortens Fence A Jesus
Whodunnit Rallies
at The Hague
It’s
Final: Le Pen Can’t Run Kerry Condemns
Jerusalem Bombing Reform
Opposes Appointment Leftist
Magazine Marks 50 Public
Support for Israel Wanes Forum Flap You Want
to Marry a Jewish Doctor? There’s
a New Chef in Town — and He Delivers GARY
BAND MARBLEHEAD — While strolling around five corners, you may have noticed a new sign next to The Hurricane (formerly Stonehenge). It’s one that heralds a new level of culinary sophistication on the North Shore. With numerous breakfast, lunch and dinner options for individuals, families or gatherings — Kenny Benet, chief cooking officer of KB Personal Chef Services, Inc. — is redefining the the concept of “delivery.” “I just like to cook and enjoy taking care of people,” Benet said over a cup of espresso and fresh cranberry almond biscotti. What Benet does is cook meals and deliver them to your door for home consumption. “He’s wonderful,” says Helyne Hamelburg of Marblehead, for whom Benet has cooked many meals. “It’s so convenient. I work full time, come home at six, heat it up for two minutes and I’m feeding my family. I’ve used other chefs before, but he’s by far the best.” Born and raised in Westchester, New York, where his father was president of the Westchester Jewish Center, after graduating from Brandeis with a degree in history in 1994, Benet worked for a while as a stockbroker in Boston. Always interested in cooking — his earliest memory is the smell of baking challah with his mom — Benet, 32, soon tired of the business world and relocated to California’s Napa Valley and paid his dues at a number of restaurants in pursuit of a culinary career. Among
the many eateries at which he learned the trade included a job as a line
cook at Brava Terrace and then as a pastry chef at Pinot Blanc, one of
the Valley’s finest restaurants. In 2000 he moved back east and worked
for nine months as a pastry chef at the lavish Greenbrier Resort in West
Virginia. It was about this time that Benet reconnected with a college friend from Marblehead who does a bit of sailing, as does Benet. Following sailing trips, the friend would have everyone back to his house and cook for them. This gave Benet an idea. But he needed to establish a rapport with the community and generate a client base. He began coming up from New York on weekends, staying with his friend and cooking meals for people in their homes. Buoyed by the increasing positive response, Benet moved to Marblehead in October 2002 and continued with the endeavor full-time. After a few months, he started cooking the meals at home and delivering them. And when that took off, he needed to expand further. As luck would have it, his sister Karen, 24, was teaching sailing and living with the Emhiser family, Bill and Marysue, in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Benet had visited many times and spoken with Marysue, who knew of his new business and the potential for it. After some discussion, the Emhisers agreed to invest, and the partnership was born. Marysue works closely with Benet and Bill is more of a silent partner. They contracted for the renovation of the old Stonehenge kitchen in July. And, after considerable work to create a professional kitchen — a sitting area with comfortable couches, a small office space, shelves, and a walk-in fridge stocked with only the best ingredients — KB Personal Chef opened for business on December 15, 2003. “Better
ingredients create a better product,” the chef says. “People
can tell and appreciate it. We do the things that a high quality restaurant
does without thinking. It’s familiar enough so that’s it’s
not intimidating, but eclectic enough that you won’t find it anywhere
else on the North Shore.” Last week’s offerings included chicken fajitas with guacamole, salsa fresca and mole sauce; miso ginger beef with baby bok choy, Japanese eggplant and jasmine rice; halibut with olives, lemons and capers; and roast chicken breast with egg noodles and broccoli in a roasted garlic jus. Plus two soups, curried cauliflower and black bean; and a children’s menu, breaded chicken tenders with oven fries and vegetables, spaghetti with meatballs, lasagna, and teriyaki grilled chicken with rice pilaf and steamed broccoli. Benet also bakes his own bread and desserts, takes special requests, and can cook for any holiday or occasion. Bea Strome of Salem hosted a gathering for 20 women at Temple Beth El and Benet came and cooked a vegetarian meal for them. “He was a pleasure to be with and talk to,” Strom said. “The women were very pleased, the food was excellent, and he cleaned up.” The Ins and Outs of Home Health Care MARY
COONEY-GLAZER, RN, MS It comes suddenly. You realize that you need some help to take care of yourself or someone that you care about. There may have been a hospitalization, or a gradual inability to do everything needed to live with a good quality of life. Hiring someone to be responsible for the safety and comfort of yourself or a loved one is an enormous responsibility. Few people expect to do it. Most of us are not sure of what’s available, how much it costs, which agency is good, or even what we really need. How do you find someone who provides competent and reliable care and can work with you to come up with a service plan that meets your needs? And who pays for the care? The two major categories of home care are short-term medically necessary, and long-term supportive or custodial. The latter is rarely covered by anything except long-term care insurance. Medicare covers only home care that is considered necessary according to the Medicare program rules. Only agencies that are certified as Medicare providers may deliver services under the program. If you disagree with the coverage decision, appeals are permitted at different levels. Exceptions apply, but assistance with daily bathing and grooming, walking, cooking, cleaning, or general supervision for somebody who is forgetful or confused is not usually defined as a medical necessity by insurers. Neither is giving oral medicines or eye drops under most conditions, says Elizabeth Osbahr, RN, program manager for Intercity Home Care in Salem. “If somebody has been hospitalized for an acute medical problem or surgery and needs follow-up by a licensed professional nurse or therapist under a plan of care approved by a physician, then Medicare normally covers the care. Some limited time is often allowed for a home health aide to assist with personal care while professional services are required However, Medicare coverage is usually for a relatively short time. and does not pay for long-term custodial or supportive care.” The hospital will usually help to arrange that type of care. Local hospitals often use Visiting Nurse Associations and Medicare-certified home health agencies as their provider of choice. However, you do have the option to choose any Medicare-certified agency. Some insurance companies have specific preferred providers and if they give the care, there is less out-of-pocket cost. Long-term
care insurance policies pay for care at different levels and for a longer
time. Policies often have specific reimbursement requirements concerning
qualifications of caregivers and agency operations. It is important to
check with the insurer before making a hiring decision. Most people who have more than short-term and limited support at home pay privately. There
is no licensure or specific regulation governing home care agencies in
Massachusetts unless they are Medicare/Medicaid certified. There are national
credentialing organizations but they are voluntary and expensive. Agencies
providing care for the Aging Service Access Points (formerly called Home
Cares) go through a thorough examination of clinical and operating policies
and procedure. They must also file comprehensive fiscal information with
the Commonwealth. Expect an immediate and professional response when you call an agency. If there is no urgency, ask for brochures and determine the procedure for getting service. People who answer the telephone will ask for a general description of your situation. They will also ask you for a contact telephone number. It would not be unusual to have a nurse call you back to get some medical background. If it is offered, take advantage of a complimentary consultation in your home by a nurse to discuss what could be helpful. During the initial telephone call the agency should be able to quote a general range of rates. You need to consider cost and quality. Other important things to think about are scheduling, supervision arrangements, availability of references, and ability to respond to special circumstances such as language spoken, cultural issues, dietary requirements, and other needs. The cost of home care depends upon what you need. Service from people who run errands, do housecleaning, and light meal preparation ranges from $15-18 per hour. Help with giving some hands-on care usually costs $18.per hour and up. The average on the North Shore is $21-24 per hour. Rate for holidays, weekends and evenings or night hours can be higher. Any care that requires touching someone, including assistance to get out of a chair, is considered hands-on by many agencies. Before accepting a client, many agencies require a professional nursing assessment to determine if the situation is one that they can safely accommodate. When hands-on care is needed, nursing visits to supervise the staff member in the home should be part of the care package. Some companies charge for the nursing visit as an extra, and also charge for supervision of the worker by a nurse as well. Other agencies do not charge, because they consider it a part of the comprehensive service package. Hiring an individual without agency affiliation involves responsibility for checking individual references, reviewing training and providing supervision, coordinating scheduling, withholding mandatory taxes, assuming risk for injury, and addressing other issues. Before hiring anybody to provide home care, you should find out if there is liability insurance, and workers’ compensation coverage. Both are very important because they protect you as the consumer. Inquire about required training and supervision for all staff members who go into a home. Training programs approved by recognized organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Massachusetts Council for Home Care Aides include material on care of the older adult, an overview of the effects of illness, confidentiality, nutrition, emergency response, body mechanics, and the need for observation and reporting to supervisors. Mary Cooney-Glazer, RN, MS, is director of program development for Intercity Home Care, Salem. She may be reached at 978-745-7842 or at mcg@intercityinc.com.
Arts & EntertainmentSex
and the City JOANNA
BRODER
In the early years (when most of my friends were also single) I would host Sex in the City parties where we would sip Chardonnay and simultaneously gasp as Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) had her sexual exploits — hooking up with her Federal Express man, fantasizing about a Friar or even trying out a stint of lesbianism. We’d laugh hysterically with recognition as the characters encountered the same types of wacky dating escapades that we all knew so well. Sex
and the City appeals to Jewish 20-and 30-somethings. It’s hard
to identify exactly why, but there is an indefinable Jewish quality and
tone to the show. None of the characters is definably Jewish except for
Charlotte (Kristen Davis) — who converts to Judaism — and her
husband Harry (Evan Handler). However, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) has
a Jewish look and feel, as does much of the show’s sense of humor
and irony. Like the time when Charlotte takes on a “Jewish mother”
stereotype during her conversion to Judaism. She visits a kosher meat
shop and tells the butcher “I said lean.” Or, the episode when,
long before meeting Harry, an Episcopalian Charlotte has a one-night stand
with a Hassidic painter. He was her “the one you never tell anyone
about.” Sex and the City is a fantasy show in a number of ways. For one thing, as a writer Carrie Bradshaw does impossibly well financially. No writer I know would wake up to rows and rows of Manolo Blahnik shoes in her closet, not to mention her designer wardrobe. And then there’s Samantha. Anyone with that many sexual partners would not have time to sleep, let alone work as a successful public relations executive. I’ve
certainly been at that point. Once after a series of bad dates, I had
a JDate with a business student at a martini bar. We flirted all night.
He even invited me to join him on his side of the booth. I thought the
date was going really well; so I was shocked at the end when he thanked
me for my time and told me he had met someone the night before and was
going to pursue her. The three hours together felt like some kind of twisted
job interview, which I had failed. Despite endless dating mishaps and even a failed marriage, Charlotte York has stayed robustly optimistic about love and relationships. What Sex and the City also did was place a square focus on female friendships, which are often underestimated in our culture. The female tribe of friendship can be just as sustaining — at times, even more sustaining — than a romantic relationship. When Carrie and Big break up, a heartbroken Carrie makes a late-night phone call asking the person on the other end to please meet her at their “special” place. It’s somewhat surprising, but not totally unexpected, when Miranda shows up to meet Carrie rather than Mr. Big. In addition to the Jewish authenticity, the realness about being single is there in the writing. Ron Livingston, who played Carrie’s one-time writer boyfriend Jack Berger (notorious for breaking up with her on a Post-it) was recently interviewed on television. He joked that even the writers are waiting to see what happens on their dates before writing the next episode. I believe it. Sex and the City made it hip to be single. The show gave single women suffering through the dating world a weekly outlet for their trials and tribulations. The characters may be role models but not in the typical sense. We can identify with their flaws because we all have them. It’s nice to see single women pictured as independent enough to own their ambivalence about relationships and to make mistakes. How can you still like Carrie after she cheated on Aiden (John Corbett), my boyfriend at the time questioned (and not non-judgmentally)? My answer is I don’t know exactly. Is it because she’s flawed like me? Is it that she acted on her impulses and lived to regret it? I don’t respect her actions, but I can relate to the humanness of her mistake. In
recent months I’ve watched Sex and the City with my new boyfriend
of six months. After a year of dating, I finally met someone at an event
for young adults at my local Jewish Federation. Funny how my life seems
to parallel the characters on the show. In these last few episodes, the
themes have taken a more serious turn, exploring whether to stay with
a man who doesn’t want children and the tensions relationships can
place on friendships. Dreyfuss is a Sly Fox at the Shubert MARK
ARNOLD Described as an outrageous tale of greed and guile, Sly Fox, at the Shubert Theater through March 7, is the story of a clever con man who sets out to enrich himself by swindling from everyone he can during the early days of the California gold rush in the late 1800s. Academy Award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, who began his movie career playing a hustler (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz) stars as Foxwell J. Sly in this revival of a play that debuted on Broadway more than 25 years ago. The story, by Larry Gelbart (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, City of Angels, M*A*S*H*) is adapted from the classic British comedy Volpone by Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare. In Jonson’s hands, the play was about an unscrupulous British capitalist who pretended to be a nobleman; Gelbart Americanized the plot when he rewrote the play a generation ago and thereby produced a smash hit on Broadway in 1976. Like that version, the new production is directed by the legendary Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde, Little Big Man, The Miracle Worker). Notables in the 17-member cast include Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction, Mask), Bob Dishy, Rene Auberjonois, Bronson Pinchot, Rachel York, Elizabeth Berkley, Professor Irwin Corey, Nick Wyman, and Peter Scolari. Following its run here, Sly Fox will open at New York’s Barrymore Theater, April 1. Tickets, from $21 to $88, are available at Telecharge (800-447-7400), telecharge.com, or at the Shubert box office, 265 Tremont St., Boston. Gibson’s Passion Depicts Jews As ‘Evil Incarnate’ MICHAAEL
FOX An
unrelentingly bloody and brutal slog through the last 12 hours of Jesus’
life is tinged with neither spiritual enlightenment nor religious inspiration. And that is the most worrisome aspect for Jews. Director,
producer and co-writer Mel Gibson knows perfectly well that every horror
movie or thriller requires a villain who threatens the hero, and here
the primary bad guys are the Jews. This telling of the Christ story does
not abound with shades of gray, and its depiction of the Jews is simplistic,
visceral and unflattering. The power of movies sometimes lies in a single memorable image, and sometimes it derives from the gradual and subtle accretion of impressions. The Passion skillfully makes use of both. For starters, all of the Jews (or Pharisees, to use the press kit’s euphemism) are dark, bearded and not to be trusted. The stout High Priests are wealthy and cunning, while ordinary Jews are scraggly and mean-spirited. Except for two scenes between the High Priests and Judas — where the disciple reveals Jesus’ location for a fee and, later, desperately recants his actions and returns the money — the Jews are always shown as a frothing mob eager for Jesus’ blood. Indeed, at one point the Roman governor Pilate refers to them as a “filthy rabble.” In a stab at historical accuracy, Gibson has the Jews speak Aramaic and the Romans use colloquial Latin. (The Passion is subtitled.) Although Latin isn’t heard much on the street these days, Aramaic bears more than a passing resemblance to Hebrew. The effect is to greatly reduce the distance — if not completely erase the centuries — between the Jews who clamored for Jesus’ life and contemporary Jews. Whether that will register with the average non-Jewish moviegoer on a subliminal or subconscious level is a matter of conjecture. As long as I’m cataloguing Gibson’s offenses, it’s worth noting that he chooses to give screen time only to the two weakest (Jewish) disciples: Judas the betrayer and Peter, who lacks the courage to stand with Jesus after the latter’s arrest. The most worrisome “artistic flourish,” however, is the recurring appearance of Satan — creepy and silent — in the crowd of Jews. These are the uncomfortable moments I alluded to earlier. Satan
is introduced in the film’s opening scene as a menacing, seductive
presence who senses the vulnerable Jesus‚ impending doom and crisis
of faith. Jesus rejects Satan’s overtures, but the hooded figure
reappears from time to time in the course of Jesus’ pain-wracked
journey to crucifixion. This
creepy image — this association of Jews with evil incarnate —
is what I fear will stick with some viewers more than any other image
or line of dialogue. Indeed, the Roman soldiers are shown as far more sadistic than the Jews. They take great pleasure in Jesus’ pain (not only during the whipping scene, but during his long trek with the cross). The Jews, on the other hand, seem scared or threatened by Jesus, and seemingly find more relief than delight in gaining the upper hand. But
when all is said and done, I can’t shake the unsettling feeling aroused
— deliberately — by Gibson’s placement of Satan among the
Jews. It would be presumptuous of me to imagine the effect that Gibson’s opus will have on non-Jewish audiences, or on Christian-Jewish relations. To the degree that Christian moviegoers identify with Jesus’ tortured journey — and strive for a more profound connection to what he supposedly went through for them — their thoughts about both Jews and Romans will be secondary. But those who relate to The Passion only as a movie about a good guy and his venal enemies may be ruled by their baser emotions, and take the low road of despising those portrayed as persecuting the hero. Given the blood-spattered way in which Christ’s last hours are depicted, the over-amped soundtrack that pushes the movie past melodramatic to hysterical, and the lack of philosophical, metaphysical or intellectual discussion, viewers are encouraged to a large degree to do just that. So
it is incumbent on ministers and priests to use The Passion as
a starting point for deeper and more complex discussions of faith. Michael Fox is a freelance writer from San Francisco Puppets Bring New Life to ‘The Dybbuk’ MATTHEW
E. ROBINSON Love
is surely one of the strongest forces known. It has started and ended
wars, bridged feuding families, and even brought people back from death. The Dybbuk is the story of a poor student of Kabbalah named Chonnon who falls in love with Leah, a rich man’s daughter. Though he is not allowed to marry her while alive, he returns after death as a dybbuk (Yiddish for “spirit”) to take his beloved to the other realm. Not even an exorcism is enough to scare away this devoted lover, and the story culminates in a trial that includes witnesses from both worlds. “When
I decided to adapt and produce The Dybbuk,” says Levenson,
a board member of both the American Jewish Committee and the Jim Henson
Foundation, “it wasn’t because it was a Jewish play or even
a ‘religious’ play. It was because it was, to my mind, one of
the greatest love stories of all time.” “It was in the aftermath of a failed romance of my own that I came to The Dybbuk and Chonnon’s pain was mine,” he says. “While I had no desire for life to imitate art, I was drawn to the play’s merging of souls, which seemed the essence of romantic love.” In many ways, Levenson says, The Dybbuk is a dramatic Rorschach test. “What you see in it depends on what you bring to it,” he suggests. “There is a place in puppetry for everyone.” Between Two Worlds/The Dybbuk, at The Jewish Theatre of New England, Leventhal-Sidman JCC in Newton, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 29 at 2 p..m. For tickets, call 617-965-5226 or www.theatermania.com.
EditorialTemples Israel and Beth El Seek to Join Forces Two Jews, three opinions: We are a contentious people, it is said. Witness the proliferation of synagogues in some of our communities. In Swampscott, there are two Conservative temples, directly across the street from one another. Temple Israel broke away from Temple Beth El in a 1946 dispute over something no one alive can remember anymore. More than 50 years of competition has served neither congregation well. Now, in an act of courage, leaders of both temples are seeking to “combine forces” — they want to avoid using the word merger because of its negative connotations— and become one stronger new congregation. It won’t be easy. For despite the fact that both temples are members of the same movement within Judaism — that there are family and friendship ties among their members, and that the structure of their services are similar — it is hard to overcome emotional allegiances, years of distrust, and some legitimate concerns on both sides. The
two already cooperate in a Hebrew School consortium. They have combined
their pre-schools. They ran a joint golf tournament last year and have
successfully crafted a joint daily minyan. Yet despite the progress, there
are all manner of questions to be resolved. Which building should house the new congregation? Both congregations boast attractive, modern facilities that pull on their members’ emotional heartstrings. To help resolve this and other issues, the leaders have brought in a seasoned consultant/facilitator. Our research suggests there is no precedent for two similarly sized Jewish congregations combining forces in one of their two buildings. Most congregational mergers involve one growing and one declining congregation and so are in fact acquisitions. This one is unique — like having two Conservative congregations across the street from each other. Our Jewish community has an interest in helping to promote a stronger combined synagogue for the members of temples Beth El and Israel, and putting an end to more than 50 years of needless rivalry. We wish the temples well in their joint pursuit.. The Passion About ‘The Passion’ Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has finally hit U.S. theaters and we now know what all the fuss is about: The film depicts the killing of Jesus in such excruciating detail that it has been called an icon of religious violence. Worse, it gives new ammunition to the world’s anti-Semites by promoting the ancient and unfair stereotype of Jews as “Christ killers”. We
think religious leaders, nationally and in our own community, have a responsibility
to condemn Gibson’s portrayal of Jews and to preach a gospel of love,
not the hate that the movie perpetuates. — Mark R. Arnold | |||||||