Jewish Journal Archives

Too 'Klose' for Comfort: Community Protests NPR Forum

BRETT M. RHYNE
Jewish Journal Staff

BOSTON — Chanting, “NPR distorts the news, covers up attacks on Jews,” 35 angry community members protested the appearance of National Public Radio (NPR) President and CEO Kevin Klose and WBUR General Manager Jane Christo at a media forum at Temple Israel in Boston on the evening of Jan. 13.

“For 15 years, the Jewish community has written tens of thousands of letters to NPR that they have the story wrong,” said Charles Jacobs, director of The David Project, an organizer of the protest. “Jewish leaders have met privately several times with Klose. Protest is something we haven’t done before. Jews in Boston need to know NPR is dangerous.”

“We want to make sure our voices are heard,” said Andy Warren of the Sharon-based South Area Israel Action Team, another protest organizer. “NPR is a platform for terrorists and their apologists.”

Several protesters faced traffic on the corner of Longwood Ave. and Nessel Way with signs, including, “No Pledge Radio” and “NPR ignores Muslim intolerance.” Rabbi Meir Sendor of Young Israel of Sharon led the group with a bullhorn by chanting and reading criticisms of NPR’s Middle East coverage.

“It’s important to raise people’s consciousness around the issue,” Sendor told The Journal. “NPR’s ideology empowers moral equivalency and gives voice to those who defend terror — the Arabs. The Palestinians chose violence — Israelis are just defending themselves.”

The atmosphere was no less heated inside, where a capacity crowd of 700 filled the modern, wood-paneled sanctuary to hear Klose, Christo and fellow speakers Bob Zelnick, chair of Boston University’s journalism department, and Jonathan Tobin, editor-in-chief of Philadelphia’s Jewish Exponent. The panel was moderated by former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Donald Stern.

Several times, audience members hissed at or tried to shout down Klose when he spoke in NPR’s defense, prompting Temple Israel’s Rabbi Ronne Friedman, in his closing remarks, to chide those intolerant of alternative viewpoints. Some audience members occasionally applauded after Klose spoke.

Many audience members greeted Tobin’s lengthy, vehemently pro-Israel comments with cheers or enthusiastic applause, prompting one audience member to brand him “a demagogue.”

In less than two hours, each of the four panelists made an opening statement, responded to statements from each other and answered questions from the audience. Given the constraints of the forum, panelists expressed predictably simplistic views:

• Klose argued that NPR presents more extensive Middle East coverage than other American news outlets, and makes more of an effort to collect feedback, as well.

• Christo defended WBUR’s programming by saying, “We are committed to doing our best work each and every day.”

• Zelnick criticized all American media when he noted, “In a number of significant areas, we have not been served by news coverage in the region.”

• Tobin barely touched on media coverage at all, instead emphasizing how the new Intifada changed the debate from left versus right to “a struggle for Israel’s survival and the rights of Israelis to live without terrorism.”

When asked why, with two local Jewish newspapers, Tobin was brought in from Philadelphia for the event, Temple Israel Executive Director Dan Sawyer replied, “Mr. Tobin was recommended to me as both an articulate and reasoned person who had written and expressed his views on NPR. He credibly filled the role we were looking for — someone to say that NPR is biased.”

Throughout the evening, much of the criticism was directed, not at National Public Radio, but at local public radio station WBUR. WBUR was criticized for its extensive broadcasts of BBC programming, which several people described — along with most European news coverage — as virulently anti-Israel. To great laughter, Zelnick said, “I could write a BBC Middle East report in my sleep: Israel’s overreaction, a Palestinian killed while out for a stroll with Molotov cocktails, the ramifications for Bush as he prepares to invade Iraq…”

Christo defended her station’s voluntary broadcasting of BBC news reports by noting “the BBC is an internationally respected news service. With 2,500 reporters worldwide, it’s also the largest. They cover stories we can’t find elsewhere.”

Both forum protesters and audience members raised the issue of a Jewish financial boycott of public radio. When asked if WBUR has been affected, Christo replied, “Yes. It’s hard to quantify the drop in individual support, but we’ve seen a drop in corporate support.”

“In the last fiscal year, we’ve lost upwards of $2 million in support,” WBUR spokesperson Mary Stone told The Journal. Stone said seven corporate underwriters have withdrawn their funding, including Wordsworth Books, Brandeis University and The Metro newspaper.

Half of WBUR’s $20 million annual budget comes from its 600,000 local listeners, while another 40 percent comes through corporate underwriting.

Christo pointed out that public radio is a unique resource because, “If you want to support it you can, but you can get it for free if you don’t want to support it.”

Many people expressed support for public radio, despite their reservations about its Middle East news coverage. “I certainly wouldn’t withdraw my support of NPR or my local public radio station because of their NPR coverage,” said Zelnick.

Audience member Deborah Helvarg agreed. “I think it’s very counterproductive for Jews to withdraw their support from liberal elements of society,” she said.

BRETT M. RHYNE
Jewish Journal Staff

CHESTNUT HILL — NPR President and CEO Kevin Klose spoke to a private, invitation-only meeting organized by the American Jewish Committee-Greater Boston Chapter and held at Congregation Mishkan Tefila on the evening of Jan. 7. In a Jewish Journal exclusive, here are some of Klose’s comments:

“Journalism is an imperfect craft. We make mistakes. We get things wrong. We’ve worked, especially in the past two years, to make sure that corrections catch up with errors. We will go back to the story again and again, and continue trying to get it right. In my professional judgment, the coverage is balanced and is not opposed to the State of Israel. I do not accept that NPR’s programming is in any way systematically adverse to the interests of people in Israel.

“We need to do more reporting on the opinions in the Islamic world that seem to have a very strange and unified reality to them, whether it be from Cairo or Amman. I think we have reported on incidents of anti-Semitism in Europe; it is a continuing topic of coverage for us. But we are not endlessly resourced. So in terms of the stories you blame us for not doing, we have a long list of stories we’d like to do, and we’ll get to them. But every time there’s an event, it puts off other things.

“We have put people on who call the suicide bombers “murderers,” “not martyrs, murderous attackers.” We use the word terrorist as it is brought to us by people whom we interview. It is not expunged from what we put on the air. I don’t think the issue of the use of the word ‘terrorist’ has been settled at NPR news.

“One of the great qualities of journalism is that it reports views that we not only object to, but that we find objectionable. We have done all kinds of reporting on this story and I get responses from listeners who say, “We didn’t understand it that way before we heard the polemic for what it is.” It has helped people in this country understand the nature of the divisions in this confrontation.”

MARK ARNOLD
Jewish Journal Staff

The prolonged recession is making it harder for many Jewish households North of Boston to make ends meet. But some are in such dire straits that they can not make it through the winter without outside assistance.

Therefore, community agencies are making available direct grants — for rent, mortgage payments, food, or other necessities — to individuals and families who need them. The Jewish Federation of the North Shore announced on Jan. 14 it is allocating $12,500 to establish a Jewish Community Emergency Fund. An additional $2,500 will come from the Jewish Community Trust Fund, according to Linda Scott, director of the Jewish Community Foundation, of which the trust fund is a part.

In addition, a concerned group of community members is calling on the public and area corporations to donate money to the new emergency fund. The Rabbinical Association of the North Shore, the Federation, and The Jewish Journal are co-sponsoring the initiative.

“This year we are seeing twice the normal volume of people needing emergency help to make it through the winter,” said Jon Firger, chief executive of Jewish Family Service, which will administer the program.

“This is a crisis affecting parts of the mainstream Jewish community. It is immediate and it is urgent. We need people to donate money, time, and jobs to see us through it.”

He added: “This is not to sustain (people) long term but to get them over the hump so they don’t lose their house or heating this winter.”

“We know that hunger stalks some Jewish homes on the North Shore,” added Herb Belkin of Marblehead, one of four volunteer coordinators. The others are Robert Finkel, Peter Rosenberg, and Neil Schauer, all members of the Federation Board of Directors and the Community Foundation.

So far, about 20 Jewish households and individuals have contacted area rabbis or agencies seeking assistance, and many more may face a financial crisis if they don’t get help.

“We know there are more people out there,” says Stephen Baker, Federation’s president. Among them, he says “are people who lost their jobs over a year ago and who are unable to find new jobs. They face mounting debts while they try to provide for their families.” He added: “These are our friends and neighbors. As Jews, we have an obligation to take care of one another.”

Rabbi Ilana Rosansky of Temple Shalom in Salem is one of the prime movers behind the emergency fund initiative. “I began hearing stories a couple of months ago about people in danger of losing their heat or their housing. I started rattling the cages to get help.”

In discussions with other Jewish leaders, it was decided to go to Federation for an emergency grant, and to use Jewish Family Service to evaluate the level of need. Says Firger: “Every penny will go to help the needy, there will be no overhead charges on our end.”

The cases include a single man, formerly in high tech, out of work for almost two years, who is working in a fast-food restaurant and living in its basement; and a single professional mother with two children, who lost her job a year ago and has had no success in finding another. She is two months behind in her mortgage payments and fears losing her home.

“The new emergency fund may take care of the community’s immediate need,” says Linda Scott, “but longer term we need to endow a fund like this so we will always be prepared for future emergencies.”

Where to Contribute
Contributions of any amount may be sent to the Jewish Community Emergency Fund, PO Box 8217, Salem, MA 01970-8217. Help seekers should contact Mary Beth Latorella, Jewish Family Service (978-741-7878 x10). Job leads can also be called into Jewish Family Service. Volunteers should contact Shari McGuirk at Jewish Federation of the North Shore (978-745-4222).

BRETT M. RHYNE
Jewish Journal Staff

LYNN — General Electric workers struck for the second time in three months Jan. 13-15, this time in defense of their health benefits.

“Although health care will come up during national contract negotiations in May,” said Carly Moscowitz of the North Shore Labor Council, a group that helped organize the strike, “GE decided — prematurely and unilaterally — to raise workers’ co-payment contributions.

“This action affects union and non-union workers,” she added, “as well as retirees. On top of this, they may also get another increase following the May contract negotiations.”

Up to 300 workers braved temperatures in the teens and twenties to picket the Lynn Riverworks plant throughout the two-day, round-the-clock strike. Nationwide, 14,000 workers struck GE operations.

This was the first nationwide strike of GE workers in 34 years.

General Electric has proposed increases in worker health insurance co-payments, including increases of $20 for emergency room visits, between $4 and $16 for prescriptions and $150 — up from a CO-payment of zero — for hospital stays.

“In response to rising health care costs, we announced over the summer our intention to increase workers’ CO-payments,” said Riverworks spokesperson Rich Gorham. “Unfortunately, the union decided to enact a strike.”

In an exclusive Jewish Journal interview, Mike Sidell, a 42-year veteran of Riverworks, described the struggle.
“This is fueled by pure greed on the part of GE,” he said. “Never before has GE done ‘takeaways’ this early as a bargaining tactic. And the company tells us, ‘This is just the beginning of it.’”

As an industrial engineer, or ‘planner,’ Sidell has served as president of Local 149 of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) for most of his tenure at Riverworks. Since retiring Jan. 1, he has served as the Local’s business agent.

“Because our union has a local agreement, we’re not allowed to picket,” he said. “But I can, because I’m retired. Of course, most of our guys don’t cross the picket lines.”

Sidell remembers the last nationwide GE strike, in the winter of 1969. “We were freezing on the picket lines,” he recalled. “We were out 101 days, and would’ve won, too — GE was about to give in. But then President Nixon threatened a ‘cooling off’ period and so we went back to work.”

Still, Sidell notes the significance of the strike. “It established our right to bargain collectively,” he said. “So now, all the unions who sit at the bargaining table get everything everybody else gets.”

Despite his union leadership, Sidell acknowledges being only one of “a handful” of Jews at Riverworks. “There was some difficulty in the old days,” he said. “I was the oddball in there. But most of the people that you meet are wonderful. I never experienced any harassment, any holding back promotions, because I was Jewish. There were disagreements over principles, but not race or religion. Our union has taken the lead in encouraging minorities at the plant, and management has been receptive.”

Sidell sees GE’s moving manufacturing facilities overseas as the gravest threat to union workers. “When I first started here, Riverworks employed 17,000 workers,” he said. “Now we’re down to about 4,000. GE just built a plant in China for aircraft engines.

“A lot of my drafting work now goes to India,” he continued. “American union workers just can’t compete with somebody making $6-8 a day.

“GE Aircraft Engines is a global business,” said GE’s Gorham. “A portion of the work may be done in another country, but a good percentage will be done here. We’re better off with a piece of the pie than none at all.”

Nikki Escalada, Olivia Van Buskirk and Jennifer Locke swoon over Michael Wittner in the JCCNS production of Bye Bye Birdie at the Tower School in Marblehead on Jan. 11 and 12. The play, directed by Aimee Oliver, sold out three performances. The cast of 20, ages 10–14, and scores of volunteers helped make this year’s production an overwhelming success.

BRETT M. RHYNE

NEWBURYPORT — It seems absurd that a swastika painted on the fence of a grade school does not constitute a hate crime, but it doesn’t, at least not according to Massachusetts law.

At Newburyport District Court on Jan. 13, Graham Hill-Whilton, 17, and Jeremy Thaxter, 18, were arraigned on 24 counts of property vandalism and two counts of defacing a church and school. (The case of a younger male, also arrested the morning of Dec. 15, is working its way through juvenile court.) The charges are serious: felonies all, each count carries a penalty of a state prison sentence of from three to five years.

But they’re not hate crimes. According to Lt. Robert Gagnon, Newburyport police interpreted the statute as requiring a victim, which was not present here. Some have argued that Brown School Principal Mike Jacobson was, in fact, targeted: the only Jewish principal in the city and self-described “Dreydl King of the North Shore,” Jacobson had appeared, just the week before the incidents, in the local paper, teaching kids about Chanukah. And among all the graffiti, a swastika appeared only at the Brown School.

As Jacobson himself notes, though, the bulk of the vandalism — at the school and across the city — seemed to be directed at Newburyport itself. “I do not believe this was an anti-Semitic act,” he says. “If they had defaced only this school, or if the graffiti had only been anti-Semitic, I might feel differently. But the graffiti said things like, ‘God sucks’ and ‘Blow up Newburyport.’

“This was just three misguided youths,” Jacobson adds. “They spray-painted everything — houses, cars, street signs. One girl in my school said her dog was spray-painted.”

The severity of the charges brought against the pair also belies concerns about law enforcement officials ‘soft-pedaling’ the counts because of political connections. Hill-Whilton, it turns out, is the son of a former Newburyport city solicitor.

Hill-Whilton the younger has expressed remorse. “He called to apologize,” Mike Jacobson says. “He regrets it. Calling me took some chutzpah.” For his part, Jacobson advocates city fathers asking, “What is there for kids to do in Newburyport? If there was more to occupy kids’ time, these kinds of things might not happen.”

True. But the question remains: How can a two-foot-square swastika, painted on a schoolyard fence, not be considered a hate crime?

“What this case may call into question,” opines the ADL’s Rob Leikind, a former prosecutor, “is the efficacy of the hate crime law itself — how the law should be structured. It may be that the hate crime law is poorly drafted and needs to be changed.”

Or, rather than reacting to cultural insensitivity with ever more restrictive statutes, we might explore the causes of such insensitivity and seek ways to address them. Where did Hill-Whilton and Thaxter learn to express themselves through hateful symbols? How can we teach our children differently?

JEWISH JOURNAL STAFF

Many members of the Jewish community contribute their time and energy to worthwhile causes without thought of recognition or remuneration. A few of them perform such outstanding service that Jewish Family Service of the North Shore (JFS) wants to spotlight their contributions and publicly thank them.

The agency intends to honors 10-15 individuals as community heroes at is Sixth Annual Community Service Award and Celebration, to be held at Temple Beth El in Swampscott on Tuesday night, May 13. Anyone can nominate a member of the community for the award. The nominees will be screened by a committee composed of Sheryl Seltser, chair, and members Carolyn Perlow, Joyce Herman, Roz Levy, Linda Klickstein, Helaine Hazlett, and Amy Powell.

To be accepted for the award, volunteers need to have “made a sustained effort over several years to lend their time and their heart to helping,” said JFS Executive Jon Firger, “whether within the Jewish community or outside it.”
For further information, or to make a nomination, contact Mary Beth Latorella at JFS, 978- 741-7878 ext. 10. The due date for nominations is Feb. 6.

YULIA ZHOROV
Jewish Journal Staff

If someone thinks that the North Shore lacks cultural events in the winter time, think again. The cultural, intellectual and artistic life here can satisfy even the most discriminating person. Two Russian-speaking North Shore artists have their works on exhibit in Marblehead this month.

Colorful, ornamental, and thought provoking original paintings by Alexander Gassel of Swampscott are on display through Jan. 30 at the Abbot Public Library in Marblehead.

Born in Moscow, the artist graduated from the Moscow Stroganoff Art School, then for 10 years studied at the Grabar Restoration and Conservation Center where he learned traditional methods of icon painting, copying and restoring Russian icons from the 15th through 19th centuries. Influenced by his work at the Grabar Center, Gassel began creating his own original paintings inspired by Biblical subjects. To this day Gassel uses an ancient technique: egg yolk tempera over a carefully prepared wooden panel. Following ancient practice, Gassel continued to make his own pigments by grinding natural stones and minerals, such as malachite, cinnabar, and lapis into powder which he then mixes with egg yolk, producing a rich color. Often he enhances his work with the application of gold or silver leaf.

Gassel, who emigrated to the United States in 1980, has for the past 20 years continued to experiment with his passion for this media. He uses the ancient technique for contemporary paintings that employ a surrealistic combination of details from different civilizations. Old symbols are joined with contemporary subjects, reflecting more and more on his new life in America.

Noteworthy is the painting Holocaust — a dynamic composition of a chilling images with a weary line of people in constant movement, continuing on their way while holding on to the most sacred items: scrolls of Torah.

In his latest series of romantic paintings, Gassel explores and extends his technique to a new level of artistic expression. Gassel uses wooden plates that he can carve into any shape he desires, so it is not confined any more to the rectangular or square frames dictated by a canvas. His new three-dimensional gold, and silver frames are an important part of the paintings. These new elements of Gassel’s visionary works contain bright, bold colors and designs. He reopens for us the beauty of the medieval gothic tales of the Unicorn, Tristan and Iseult, Excalibur, and King Arthur.

On Jan. 19, across town at the Cloister Gallery at St. Andrew’s Church (135 Lafayette St.) there will be an opening exhibit of Graphics and Watercolors by Alex Neyman of Marblehead.

Also born in Moscow, the artist graduated the Moscow Institute of Architecture. But fine art was brewing in his soul. So, while working in an architectural firm he studied painting under the unorthodox artist, Vladimir Weisberg. For 10 years he studied with the master and developed his own unique style.

Three years ago Neyman came to America and settled in Marblehead. After moving from the urban environment of a big city to a small town Neyman concentrated on the common elements of two different worlds, which for him is nature. In his new watercolor landscapes and views of Marblehead, the artist tries to capture the essence of nature while dealing with images of old buildings. His landscapes convey uncertain, transitional modes with blurred outlines of buildings wrapped in a fine haze. He is particularly concerned with subtle gradations of light and color generated by the interaction of objects and the aerial medium.

The artist also works in pencil, with light, almost chaotic strokes capturing the play of facial expressions of his models, including his own family and friends.

Alex Neyman had numerous exhibits in Boston area and teaches at the Boston Architectural Center.
A reception with the artist will be held on Jan. 19 from 12 - 4 p.m.

National News
Sen. Joe Lieberman Declares Bid for Presidency

MATTHEW E. BERGER

STAMFORD, Conn. (JTA) — When he ran for class president of Stamford High School in 1960, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) says he faced no bigotry because he was Jewish.

Now, as a candidate for president of the United States, he’s hoping for the same treatment and the same victory — from a national audience.

Lieberman officially entered the race for the presidency Monday, announcing that he was filing papers to seek the Democratic nomination in 2004.

Lieberman enters a strong field that includes two fellow senators — with the possibility of a third entering soon — a former Democratic leader in the House, a liberal Northeast governor and a civil rights activist.

Lieberman is one of the first Jewish candidates in US history to seek the White House — and the only one who is considered to have a real shot.

Among American Jews, he has almost an angelic status, considered a ground breaker for others to follow.
But he has also been a controversial figure at times, taking stands that buck the views of the majority of American Jews and liberals, and consistently evoking faith in his campaigns.

While many in the Jewish community say Lieberman’s candidacy represents an important achievement for Jews in the United States, there is confusion over exactly how to view him.

Is he the Jewish candidate or just another political candidate who happens to be Jewish? And will Jews see it differently than the rest of the American population?

At his news conference on Monday, Lieberman held himself up as the man for all Americans.

“I’m running because of the ideas I have for our nation’s future and how to make it better,” he said at his high school alma mater.

“I’m not running on my faith,” Lieberman said. “But the fact is my faith is at the center of who I am and I’m not going to conceal that.”

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he does not think Lieberman will be seen as a Jewish candidate the way the Rev. Al Sharpton, who also intends to run, will be seen as an African American candidate.
“I think that outside the Jewish community, the only ones who will look at him as a Jewish candidate are the bigots and the anti-Semites, who are a minority,” Foxman said.

Foxman chastised Lieberman when he ran as the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000 for often referring to faith and God in his speeches and for advocating a greater role for faith in American life.

But on Monday, Lieberman indicated that his style of campaigning would continue through 2004.

Lieberman said he would not hesitate to invoke faith and God’s name, when it comes naturally, while on the campaign trail.

He cited the Declaration of Independence as the source that American political power comes from the creator.

“I think if the spirit moves me on occasion to say a word or two of faith, I think it’s a very American thing to do,” Lieberman said to a strong round of applause.

And Lieberman set that tone Monday in his announcement speech.

“Every day along the way I will feel blessed by God to live in a land where our dreams can come true,” Lieberman said, flanked by his family and classmates from the school.

“And everyday I will remember what President Kennedy told my generation, which is that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own.”

A senator from Connecticut since 1989, Lieberman became a household name just over two years ago when he was chosen as the Democratic vice presidential nominee to run with then-Vice President Al Gore.

Although the Democratic ticket lost the race to President Bush, Gore won the popular vote, a point that Lieberman highlighted on Monday.

Many Jews say Lieberman’s bid — coming from an observant Jew with strong ties to the American Jewish community — is a historic moment and a sign of the accomplishments Jews have been able to achieve in the 60 years since the Holocaust.

Lieberman and his wife, Hadassah, frequently mentioned this as they campaigned in 2000.

“I said to Joe that I was thinking about how my presence here was a victory, a victory over evil, over people who wanted us dead,” Hadassah wrote in a recently published book, An Amazing Adventure: Joe and Hadassah’s Personal Notes on the 2000 Campaign.

“Here I am, the daughter of survivors, married to a United States senator in a great, free country,” she wrote.
“And I said, ‘I’m thinking about how my fist is up in the air to Hitler,’” she wrote.

On Monday, she told JTA: “Obviously it’s historic. He’s breaking a glass ceiling. But it’s important to see him as a candidate who’s been a politician for quite a while now.”

Only two other Jews have sought a major party nomination for the presidency, according to the book Jews in American Politics.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) pursued the Republican nomination in 1996 but dropped out before the first primary, and the late Milton Shapp, former governor of Pennsylvania, ran briefly for the Democratic nomination in 1976.

International News

Features

Howard Rothblatt, Swampscott
“Yes. It’s good for Americans to see what we may be facing in the future from terrorism. I think the news is just reporting the facts — being very objective about what’s happening in Israel.”

Bruce Bornstein, Marblehead
“No. Coverage is slanted because of prejudice. I don’t believe there can be fair media coverage.”

Chuck Pearl, Swampscott
“No, and I’ll specifically refer to PBS and the Boston Globe. It’s biased. They downplay Israeli deaths; you always see headlines about Palestinians dying.”

Susan Dinkin, Beverly
“No. I think the media is quick to criticize Israel because it’s a very open society and other countries, Arab countries specifically, are not nearly as open with information.”

Rebecca Gil, Swampscott
“No, absolutely not. I think that a lot of it is biased and one-sided. The media makes Israel sound so much worse than it is. Retaliation [following a suicide bombing] is more eye-catching to the media.”

Text by Noah Pohl

Waldman — Gallo
Stephen and Barbara Waldman of Swampscott announce the marriage of their daughter, Melissa Anne Waldman, to Patrick Russell Gallo, son of Paul and Johanna Gallo of Marblehead, on August 31 in San Diego, CA.

The bride is a graduate of Swampscott High School and attended Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL. The groom is a graduate of Marblehead High School and currently serves in the United States Marine Corps.

The couple resides in San Diego.

Cutler Makes the List
Hayley Cutler of Marblehead, a junior at the Northfield Mount Hermon School, was named to the academic honor roll for the fall term.

Frisch Makes the List
Rebecca Frisch, a senior at Brandeis University, was named to the Dean’s List for the fall semester. She is the daughter of Phyllis Gotlib and Howard Frisch of Marblehead.

Birth Announcements
Larisa and Reed Brockman of Marblehead announce the birth of their daughter, Julia Dylan, on Dec. 25 at Salem Hospital. Grandparents are Mel and Hope Brockman of Canton and Mira and Peter Stolerman of Lynn. Siblings are Inna, 12, and Aaron, 1.

Laura and Jeffrey Litcofsky announce the birth of their son, Andrew James, on Nov. 21 at Beverly Hospital. Grandparents are Elaine and Gerald Litcofsky of Amesbury and Sandra Trueua of Amesbury. Great-grandmother is Estelle Trueua of Amesbury.

Kimberly and Andrew Perkins of Swampscott announce the birth of their son, Logan Jordan, on Nov. 4 at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. Grandparents are Gloria Gross of Swampscott and the late Richard Gross, Renee Perkins of Marblehead and the late Sanford Perkins. Sibling is a brother, Spencer.

Harry and Heidi Janock of Marblehead announce the birth of their son, Cameron Asher, on Dec. 18 at Beverly Hospital. Grandparents are Dr. and Mrs. Jacob Kriteman of Danvers and Mrs. Baila Janock of Chestnut Hill. Great-grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Danberg of Tewksbury. Sibling is Izaak Janock.

Stone's Bakery
“We’re just resting now,” says Pauline Stone, who with husband George closed Stone’s Bakery in Lynn after 35 years. The store, which provided home-made bagels, babkes, challahs, and pastries to a loyal following of Jews and non-Jews alike, was an institution — but not to the Stones. “There’s no story in what we did,” insists Pauline. “The art of doing everything by hand is gone so there’s nothing to write about. We met a lot of nice people over the years. Now we’re taking it easy and trying to be well.”

RAHEL MUSLEAH
Special to the Jewish Journal

Before her son Michael’s wedding, Elsa Wachs sent invitations to about 50 family members. They weren’t invitations to share the upcoming simcha–not just yet–but a request to contribute to the chuppah she was designing.

“You, our family, are very precious to us,” she wrote, “and having a ‘piece’ of you in our family wedding canopy will mean a great deal to us....I know you are wondering what you can send that will be significant; the answer is quite simple, almost anything! Your offerings are an integral part of our family history...”

Not a single person failed to respond. Michael contributed a red plastic elephant-shaped key that opened information boxes at the Philadelphia Zoo, a happy token of his childhood. Diane, his bride-to-be, decided on a necklace Michael had given her. Though Diane’s grandfather, a cantor, had died, Diane’s mother sent his white pompom-topped hat. Other relatives sent pieces of fur, gloves, even a tallit. Wachs herself contributed two scarves: one that her parents had given her when she was 16, and one that a cousin had brought back from his honeymoon. The cousin had introduced Wachs and her husband, and Wachs, in turn, introduced the cousin to his wife.

Wachs sewed pieces of the mementos onto the antique ivory velvet and lace of the chuppah, creating a family album of sorts. “I layered textures and symbols, just as people layer our lives with texture and content,” says Wachs. In the 14 years since she made it, the heirloom chuppah has graced the weddings of her three sons, her cousin’s two children, and other relatives. Constructed in sections, the chuppah will eventually be split among the three sons.

An artist who lives in Wallingford, PA, Wachs continues to create chuppot for couples of all denominations who want to beautify their wedding ceremonies. Her chuppah-collages have included keys from honeymoon suites, bits of Bermuda shorts, photographs and documents from birth certificates to ships’ manifests and postcards (computer scanned, then silk screened or transferred thermographically onto the fabric).

Wachs is not alone in her devotion to the growing art of the chuppah. The multi-purpose flower-festooned or blue velvet canopies that used to be provided automatically by synagogues or catering halls have given way to decorative chuppot exquisite in their design and distinctive in their meaning, commissioned both by families and synagogues. A recent exhibit of contemporary Judaica at Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion in New York featured seven chuppot, made of everything from weightless, luminescent copper wire and glass beads (by Nancy Koenigsberg) to translucent flax paper bordered with tea — the beverage of relationships — and eggshell, symbol of new life (Robbin Ami Silverberg).

“The chuppah creates a sacred space that envelops the family and the bridal couple in the private space of commitment,” explains Laura Kruger, curator of the HUC-JIR Museum, who also curated “Under the Chuppah,” a show at the Kansas City Jewish Museum of over 100 objects from 80 artists this past spring. Kruger distinguishes between chuppot made for public spaces, that “need a wide embrace to be witness to many different people’s tastes,” and those that incorporate individual motifs and experiences.

Except for the fact that the chuppah is to be open on all sides, no halachic stipulations regulating size, shape or color limit the artists’ imaginations. After the ceremony, these new chuppot serve as wall hangings in the home. Sometimes they are reused at baby namings.

Reeva Shaffer, a calligrapher and fiber artist in the Washington, DC area who has researched the chuppah, says it contains multiple meanings: “It is a sign of God’s presence at the wedding and in the home; a gateway to life together; an entrance into the holy covenant of marriage; a shelter representing a new home; a symbol of Abraham and Sarah’s welcoming tent.” She refers to a midrash describing how God created ten splendid chuppot for the marriage of Adam and Eve (Bereshit Rabbah).

Once, says Shaffer, it was common to conduct weddings in the open. “The stars would shine on the couple and it was hoped that the marriage would be blessed with offspring as numerous and bright as the stars [based on Genesis 15:5]. The chuppah served as a booth, separating the wedding circle from the hustle of the street and creating a sacred space.” In Talmudic times, it was customary to plant a cedar — representing majesty, strength, height and hardiness — at the birth of a boy, and a cypress, representing beauty and grace — at the birth of a girl. Both also represented longevity and life. Chuppah poles were often made from branches cut from the trees.

According to “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols,” at the end of the betrothal period in ancient Israel, “a new bride was escorted in a festive procession to the groom’s room or tent–the chuppah — where the marriage was consummated.” The chuppah also referred to the bridal canopy or the ceremony itself. In Sephardic tradition, the chuppah usually consists of a tallit draped over heads of bride and groom, based on Ruth’s words to Boaz: “Spread your robe over your handmaid, for you are a redeeming kinsman.” In ancient times this act constituted a formal betrothal. While it symbolizes the “emotional, physical and spiritual transition in the lives of the new couple,” the chuppah’s frailty mirrors the fragility of shalom bayit–peace within the household.

The chuppah served as an especially poignant sign of peace, transition and rebirth at the end of World War II, when thousands of Jewish refugees found sanctuary in DP camps across Europe, awaiting emigration to Palestine and other countries. In a rush to reaffirm life, many survivors married and started families as quickly as possible. Chuppot and wedding rings were in great demand. According to the records of the Joint Distribution Committee, which helped maintain religious life and supplied ritual necessities, 822 wedding rings appeared on a list of “amenities” in the American Zone in October 1946; 80 chuppot were distributed in 1948 among DP camps in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Greece.

The blue, white and gold fringed chuppot, manufactured in Palestine for the JDC, featured the Hebrew word “Zion” in the center of a large Magen David, surrounded by the words of the wedding blessing taken from Jeremiah: “kol sasson v’kol simhah, kol hatan v’kol kallah” (the sound of joy and gladness; the voice of bridegroom and bride).
The JDC chuppot integrate the idea of weddings as acts of courage, faith and hope, not just in war-torn Europe, but in all times and places. Ritual art can embody and extend that spiritual notion.

Today, the proliferation of contemporary Judaica artists has increased the popularity of hand-crafted ceremonial wedding art. According to Terry Heller, whose company, Artistic Judaic Promotions, showcases Judaica artists, the traditional and contemporary blend in artwork from illuminated ketubot — marriage contracts — to picture frames, kiddush cups and candlesticks that encase the shards of the broken ceremonial glass. Chuppot, she says, sometimes become, the first piece of art in a couple’s new home.

Rahel Musleah is a journalist and children’s author. She presents programs on the Jewish communities of India, where she was born. To learn more, visit www.rahelsjewishindia.com

Arts & Entertainment

GARY BAND
Jewish Journal Staff

LOWELL — Getting there from here is no picnic, but the production of “Old Wicked Songs” at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre thru Jan. 26 is well worth the trip.

Written by Jon Marnas, “Songs” was first performed in Philadelphia, then in New York, and later translated and produced in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Israel, to name just a few. And in addition to other awards, it was a finalist for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize. (When Marnas isn’t writing plays, he’s a script editor for Michael Douglas’ production company at Columbia Pictures.)

Set in the comfortable Vienna studio of a piano and voice teacher in 1986, “Old Wicked Songs” features a near flawless two-man cast of Mark Boyett as the student, Stephen Hoffman, and David Rogers as the teacher, Professor Josef Mashkan.

Hoffman, a successful young American concert pianist, has lost the will to continue his career. He comes to Vienna hoping to study his way through his artistic block. While waiting for the return of the renowned Professor Schiller, Hoffman is assigned to work with an elderly voice teacher (Mashkan) and learn the humbling art of piano accompaniment. Mashkan puts his student to work studying Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” through which the mysteries of both men are eventually revealed.

Boyett, who also appeared in the New York production, is a graduate of the American Repertory Theatre’s Institute for Advance Theatre Training at Harvard University; and Rogers, whose television credits include Law and Order, has published over 40 plays and musicals, and five novels.

From the moment the two walk on stage the chemistry is clear. Boyett plays a convincingly nebeshy character seemingly unwilling to learn anything from this crusty old German teacher. Witty and well-delivered banter accentuate their initially adversarial relationship.

The real magic of the performance (in two acts, four scenes each) is the evolution of their relationship. Over the course of one month together, their relationship develops into one of true appreciation and understanding. In simple yet incredibly poignant and powerful language, Hoffman and Mashkan gradually begin to share their true thoughts and feelings about music, love, loss, the Holocaust, and forgiveness.

Both the spoken and unspoken dichotomy of sadness and joy are at play throughout the performance. From the backdrop of a country whose Jewish population dropped from 300,000 to 10,000 in under 40 years to the playing, to the teaching and performing of beautiful music, the dialogue, story and character development allow for an examination of how one reconciles his future with the past.

“I bear no grudge, though my heart may break” — a line from Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” sung and spoken on a number of occasions during the play — accentuates two of the play’s central themes: forgiveness and understanding. “When one emotion is felt, the other is heightened.” “Find depth and meaning in your playing.” “The words must come through,” Mashkan instructs his student.

Ultimately, “Songs” asks and answers the question of how one comes to understand his identity and feel comfortable with himself in the face of confusion, artistic crisis, pain and loss, and anger.

“I just want to scream,” says Hoffman to Mashkan upon returning from a tour of Dachau. “It’s only 20 minutes from Munich. How could people live so close and do nothing?”

“Another angry Jew, just what the world needs,” Mashkan replies.

Like the good teacher later says, “Beauty lurks where you least expect to find it,” “Old Wicked Songs” does the near impossible task of dealing with the Holocaust in a remarkably fresh and insightful way. Truth and beauty, laughter and tears and originality appear where you may least expect to find them.

Performances run thru Jan. 26. Call 978-454-3926 for tickets and show times.

BRETT M. RHYNE
Jewish Journal Staff

Comedian Jeff Garlin has worked in film and television for a decade, but he’s best known for his current role as Larry David’s agent, Jeff Greene, on the award-winning HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. He’ll appear at Boston’s Comedy Connection Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17 & 18. He spoke with us by phone from his home in Los Angeles.

The Jewish Journal: Hi, Jeff, it’s The Jewish Journal. How are you?
Jeff: I’m Jewish.

JJ: Most people know you from TV and film. Tell us about your standup act.
Jeff: I just talk and I’m funny. I just talk about things that are happening in my life and in the world. I’m not political. If I think about political things, I get angry, and then I’m not funny. So I talk about social things instead. You know, my family and so on. At least half my act is improvised.

JJ: Larry David made his name as the creative force behind Seinfeld. How is he to work with?
Jeff: Larry’s a great guy, fun to work with. He’s brilliantly funny. I’ve learned a lot. He’s the best writer and producer around, and now, I think he’s a great actor, too. I think Seinfeld was the funniest show ever.

JJ: How do you like the creative control of co-producing Curb Your Enthusiam?
Jeff: I like it a lot, but it’s still Larry’s show. Curb Your Enthusiasm is improvised from Larry’s outline. He gives us the most direction. But if you’re watching and you see a scene that I’m not in… then, I’m watching Larry work on camera, giving him notes.

JJ: The work process on Curb Your Enthusiasm sounds interesting. How does it go?
Jeff: Larry writes a five to six page outline, and then the actors improvise. It’s kind of an adventure, and the most brilliant environment I’ve ever worked in. I just did my second guest spot on Everybody Loves Raymond — which is also very funny and fun to do — but there, you have to stick very closely to the script. As an actor, doing Curb Your Enthusiasm, where you write your own dialogue, is incredibly creative. Because I come from Second City [a Chicago-based improvisational comedy group], that affects my acting style. I tend to react off what other people give me. I react to Larry. I’m trying to make him look good.

JJ: What can we expect from Jeff Greene in season four?
Jeff: More of the same but different. You know what Spencer Tracy said about acting? “Know your lines and don’t bump into the furniture.” I don’t like to overthink things. I just do what Larry writes.

JJ: Who do you think is funny?
Jeff: The Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Albert Brooks, Woody Allen, Shelley Berman. Lenny Bruce, I find more fascinating than funny.

JJ: Are you a practicing Jew?
Jeff: I guess so. My kids are in a Jewish day school and preschool. I go to temple on holidays. I’m pro-temple.

JJ: Does your being Jewish influence your comedy?
Jeff: A hundred percent. It’s who I am. It’s like eating Chinese food on Sunday night.

JJ: How are Jewish audiences different from non-Jewish audiences?
Jeff: Jewish audiences don’t laugh unless you’re Alan King. What I mean by that is, Jewish audiences laugh if you’re somebody, if you’re a name. I have a gig coming up at the Jewish Federation of Fort Lauderdale. I’m looking forward to a roomful of Jews finding me funny.

Singles

Dear Yenta,
I am a nice Jewish girl, raised in a nice Jewish home, who has fallen in love with a nice Catholic boy. I don’t know what to do. He says he is not particularly religious, but I am concerned about how we might create a life together coming from such different backgrounds. My parents would die if they knew how much I really care for him. They are worried about future grandchildren, and I must admit that I have some hesitations about this as well. Should I end the relationship now before we get any more involved, or do you think we have any hope for a future together?
Signed, Troubled

Mamelah,
Where there is love, there is always hope. Many people come to the Yenta with this concern: Is it possible to love someone of another faith and still be Jewish? And what about der grandkinder — oy!

Let me say this: Lots of mein friends here at the Center would feel like a knife had been plunged into their hearts if their kinder came home with a goyish boy or a shiksa. “Kill me now!” I can hear them crying already.

What does the Yenta think? It’s possible for people of different backgrounds to make a happy life together. But it’s not easy. And let me tell you, it doesn’t get any easier the older you get, because the religion of your kinderhood pulls you back. So better you should talk about these things with your boychick, including how to raise der kinder, before anything else. Share mit him the beautiful traditions and values, the history and holidays, and don’t forget about the food. Who knows? Maybe he’ll want to learn about Judaism, or even better, we can only hope, become Jewish himself. A blintz or a knish can go a long way, believe me.

As for what should happen if, God willing, there should be grandkinder, let me say this: You shouldn’t worry so much about your mamer and tater. They would be filled with such nachas, I can’t even tell you, should you give them a grandkinder. We can only hope they should welcome the tater of their grandkinder into our community with open arms. Judaism is a wonderful, beautiful culture, God’s gift to the world — so shouldn’t we want to share it with everybody?
Remember, mamelah, the Yenta wants only that you, and everybody, should be happy.

Need advice on any subject? The Yenta has an answer for everything. Write to her. Your mother would want you to: editor@jewishjournal.org, attn.: Yenta

Editorial

Our First Jewish President?

Writing a headline like this one about Joe Lieberman — the low-key Jewish senator from Connecticut who declared for President on January 13 — evokes two reactions in many Jews: The first is pride — an almost overwhelming, giddy, day-dreaming, ear-to-ear smiling pride. It gives rise to conversations, around office water coolers and dinner tables, laced with phrases like these: Can you believe it?... Who would have ever thought?.... What a milestone....Wouldn’t it be wonderful— for Jews and for America?

That’s when the other reaction sets in: disbelief. Because for many, if not most, American Jews, it’s hard to believe a Jew could be elected President of the United States next year. The questions nag at us: Would great numbers of non-Jews push the Lieberman lever?... Is there any way he could win — first the Democratic nomination, then the Presidency?... If he did, could he — or any non-Christian for that matter — lead this predominantly, and historically, Christian nation? Wouldn’t he have to lean over backward to prove he isn’t in Israel’s pocket?

Then there’s the other possibility: What if he ran and lost? What if he lost big-time? How would that affect the Jewish community? Either way, how will his candidacy affect public support for that panoply of social action, human rights, and Israel-assistance issues that comprise the Jewish agenda?

There are no answers to these questions yet. Inevitably, Lieberman —who burst on the public scene as Al Gore’s surprise choice for running mate in 2000—faces a steep uphill battle. Aside from the religious factor, there’s his demeanor: It is said that he’s too laid back, too unaggressive, too nice a guy to survive the sturm und drang of presidential campaigning. Then there are his principles: This is not a forked-tongued politician who cuts his cloth to fit the latest fashion, but a plain-talking man who calls them the way he sees them. Not without reason has he been dubbed “the Democratic John McCain.”

Lieberman, 60, an Orthodox Jew who touts his faith as proudly as his political philosophy, enters a Democratic field populated by the likes of Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, ex-Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont, and civil rights militant Rev. Al Sharpton of New York. Others will soon join their ranks. Rising above the crowd will be his first challenge.

Two decades ago the humorist Jules Farber quipped: “The time is at hand when the wearing of a prayer shawl and skullcap will not bar a man from the White House — unless of course the man is Jewish.” It’s a great laugh line. Wouldn’t it be something if Joe Lieberman had the last laugh?

Local Columnists

The Personal Effects of Terrorist Violence

How are Israelis affected by the conflict and violence, terrorist bombings, shootings and killings? I have something for you to think about.

I arrived back in Israel on January 2.

Four days later, I wrote to some family and friends in the United States. I was going to use this general theme for today’s article. “Since Thursday I have been in the warm climate of Jerusalem. After three days of needed rain, today the sky is blue without clouds, the temperature is 70 degrees, and I have completed three hours of work in my garden after being welcomed by the 18 very fit women in my 8 a.m. aerobic class. Who says life in Israel is not without benefits?”

Three hours later came news of a double suicide-homicide bombing at the site of the old Tel Aviv bus station. It was all carried by the three Israeli and many foreign television channels that make up our cable television system.
When the tragic facts were in, 22 persons were dead, scores injured, some very seriously, and Israel began another three-day period of burials, pictures of the victims, human interest stories and politicians visiting the wounded. I fell into a deep funk.

So, I questioned lots of people, one of the privileges and joys (maybe even therapies) of a columnist. Here is one view worth thinking about. It comes from a 40-year old professional woman, born in the U.S. but living here 20 years, with two teenage children ready to enter military service:

“The past two years of warfare and killings have caused changes, in myself and perhaps the country, that worry me. My heart has been hardened. In earlier years, the whole country was our reference point. It was one big family. Maybe sometimes a bit dysfunctional but still a family.

“Now, when a bus explodes or a shooting happens, our first thought is for our immediate family, then extended family, then friends, then co-workers, and after seeing the television reports and funerals, we close down.

“At one time, we were devastated when five people were injured. What was devastating before seems less so today, so that when only one or two people die, we are relieved. It is no less value for human life but the measure of our sadness has become relative.

“Second, I fear that I am losing my lifelong belief that all people share the same basic humanistic values. I mean the common people, the ordinary people, the working people from every nook and cranny of the world. While I never trusted tyrants, kings, or parliamentary despots, I did feel that the average person had a lot more love and kindness in their hearts and that a person’s largest hope was to make a better world for their children.

“I hate to say it; I hate to think it. But I see how fundamental Moslem indoctrination has made ordinary parents welcome their children becoming martyrs in the service of killing anyone who is not Moslem. I see them cheer at the sight of the destruction of the World Trade Center; I see them laugh at the thought of killing millions with gas, poison chemicals or disease causing weapons.

“I have seen them decapitate a decent man, Daniel Pearl, with whom they had spent a week, and had looked in his eyes and must have seen his humanity.

“So, while my faith in some people has been severely undermined, I don’t feel any more at risk in Israel than I would in any other place. This looks like an upcoming world war and I don’t think any other country in the world is much safer. I mourn that part of my heart and spirit has already been damaged or lost and I worry about the future for everybody.

“In spite of those threats, we have learned here in Israel how to appreciate, perhaps even more, a simple, quiet day, a visit to the museum or park, and time spent with family and friends.”

Food for American thought. Particularly since the scope and scale of death and destruction on 9/11 at the World Trade Center, I am thinking of the question of what effects, subtly, consciously or unconsciously, have occurred among the American people?

What do you think?

Everyone has his own ways for keeping his grandchildren Jewish. For my atheist father, having already exhausted all the religious possibilities, you’d think it would be a fair challenge.

“The Jews,” he tells my children, “understood the dangers in certain foods. That’s why they didn’t eat pig or shellfish. And they washed their hands often, thus avoiding a lot of the diseases the gentiles got.”

That our ancestors had superior medical intuition and were presciently hygienic is not a big draw for the grandkids.

“We also invented the law,” my attorney father is proud to tell them. “Jewish law is the basis for all legal proceedings in the United States. If it weren’t for the Jews. . .”

“If it weren’t for the Jews,” I say, “I could buy boneless chicken breasts for $1.77 a pound-instead of $8. Instead of paying day school tuition, I could quit my job and buy a summer house.” Who am I complaining to? “The cost of staying Jewish could make anyone an anti-Semite.”

My father and I could take this act on the road. “No one tells you to keep kosher. Day school is your choice,” he bellows. “Being religious is your choice.”

“I’m not religious! I’m just trying to live a Jewish life, and show my children Jewish ideas. I want to have Jewish grandchildren, too, y’know!” I am careful not to shout, though I hear my voice rising. My father and I both agree on Zionism-the greatest invention since sliced bread-and Israel — the proudest little New Jersey sized country in the world — but we could come to blows over the oral law. Were it not for the commandment to honor one’s father and mother, I would have combusted long ago.

“But there’s another reason I like being Jewish,” my dad tells the grandkids. This has got to be pretty low on the food chain, I think. We’ve already done Hygienic Judaism and the US Constitution.

“We have more holidays,” the Zayda proudly asserts. “They have only Christmas and Easter.”

“What about New Years?” Yoni reminds him.

“Nah, that’s just Jesus’ bris.” He waves it away with his hand. Exploding with Jewish pride, he announces, “We have so many more times to celebrate.” He lists the holidays: “Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, Pesach, Shavuot.”

“Don’t forget Tisha B’Av,” I joke, wondering if, in my heart, I have just punctured the outer skin of the fifth commandment.

“And don’t forget Tu B’Shevat,” says Fran. Maybe all those trees I bought were worth it.

“It’s a holiday that works for both of you guys. For Zayda, you can think about how they planted trees to make the land of Israel strong, how the pennies you collected as a kid bought trees to convert the land from a swamp into a beautiful, green state. And Tu B’Shevat is the New Year for trees, yet another holiday for us to celebrate.

“And Mom,” she says, evenhandedly, “You can look at Tu B’Shevat as a spiritual event. Man or woman is like an upside down tree, rooted in the heavens. Your arms and legs are the branches of the tree and with them you create good deeds, which are your fruits.”

“What a good Yiddishe kop,” my father bursts with both personal and nationalistic pride. “I love you sweetheart.”

“That’s my vacation house!” I announce with delight, confident that every dollar I have put into Jewish education will buy me a portion in the world to come.

There were 12 tribes of Israel. Two tribes, we know, settled in the south of Canaan, and 10 tribes settled in the north. In 722 BCE, Israel lost track of 10 of its tribes. No written word in history books could ever explain the disappearance of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

Each leader of the 12 tribes was a son of Jacob. Can you imagine 12 brothers getting along? It just didn’t work. They had to separate and move away from one another. The wives of the brothers were at each others’ throats all the time and driving them crazy.

You can imagine the women saying, “Nu, so look at your brother’s wife. She has a bigger tent than I do and has more jewels on her fingers. I should have married your brother.”

The brothers decided they couldn’t stand the tumult and the kvetching any longer so they would move away from one another but they would try to keep in touch.

Ten brothers went north; two went south. The trials and tribulations of the two tribes that went south remain in our history books. The other 10 tribes’ saga is a mystery.

I have a theory.

The 10 tribes from the north had a meeting and decided it was too cold to stay up north, so they trekked down to the south and established a new homeland. They called it Florida.

It was a state of golden sunshine, a land of milk and honey.

It was warm there. Everyone was Jewish. They ate three meals a day. They ate dinner early in the evening so they could get a good night’s sleep and not have to drive at night.

There were orange groves nearby. They could send grapefruit and oranges to their relatives in other tribes.

There were other natives living there from distant lands, who would clean their tents for a minimum of wages. And the weather was always beautiful…maybe, a little hot at times, but not so terrible.

They had hairdressers and manicurists and clubhouses with activities so they could all play together. It was the Promised Land.

So what do you think happened?

Word got out. Lantzmen (fellow countrymen) from all over the country heard about this new Jewish Homeland. They started arriving in droves — in big Lincolns and Lexuses, and they all spoke with different accents.

They were from the Land of the Northeast: New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. No one was from Wyoming or Idaho. The 10 tribes began to adopt the customs of these newcomers.

For instance, the New Yorkers introduced the others to delicatessen: big corned beef sandwiches, and to cheese cake: big thick creamy slices, and to bagels. Bagels were made from round pieces of dough with holes in them. The people from Philadelphia introduced the others to cream cheese; and nu, there was a match: New York bagels and Philadelphia cream cheese.

Bostonians tried to teach the other lantzmen the King’s English and proper diction, but the others could never learn how to say “cahr” correctly or to speak without an accent. They did learn to like Boston baked beans, however.

People from New Jersey taught the others how to build long roads. They said they had a very long road in New Jersey that allowed transportation to flow smoothly. The idea was adopted and called a turnpike. Some of these turnpikes today are called parking lots.

Tribesmen from Connecticut tried to convince the other tribal members to open a gambling casino. They believed they could make a great deal of money. However, the Jews frowned upon gambling and advised letting another tribe come along someday and make a go of that idea. Oy, did the Jews miss an opportunity then. Another tribe did just that, and they are making lots of wampum today in Connecticut.

This is how Florida was begat.

Floridians are descendants of the 10 tribes of Israel. We are not lost anymore. We are farmished (confused) at times, but we are not lost. We all live happily ever after.

Op-Ed

Arab Legislators and Loyalty to Israel

Banning two Arab Israeli members of the Knesset from seeking reelection is a threat to Israel’s cherished democracy without a doubt. The only worse threat would be to let them run.

Israel’s Basic Law is pretty clear on the point: “A list of candidates will not take part in the elections to the Knesset nor shall an individual person be a candidate for the Knesset if the goals or deeds of the list or the deeds of the person explicitly or implicitly, are one of the following: (1) reject the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; (2) incite to racism; (3) support the armed struggle of an enemy state or terrorist organization against the State of Israel.”

The disqualified candidates, Ahmad Tibi and Azmi Bishara, argue that they don’t want to destroy Israel. Instead they would take away its essential Jewish core. They would like the three million Palestinians now in the West Bank and Gaza to have an unlimited right of return to what they claim as ancestral homes within Israel. Once there, of course, they would soon outnumber the non-Arab Israelis and, using their democratic rights as Israeli citizens, would promptly vote to replace the Jewish state with an Arab one.

In the meantime, Bishara and Tibi say they don’t approve of violence against Israelis inside the Green Line, like the Jan. 5 suicide bombing that massacred 22 people in Tel Aviv, but the murderous assaults on settlers and soldiers are, in their view, acts of “liberation.”

It makes you wonder why they want to live in Israel at all, much less serve in the nation’s parliament. Can you imagine what Americans would do to a member of Congress who said Al Qaeda’s 9/11 attack was wrong but that its blowing up American embassies in Africa and a warship in Yemen were justified acts?

Israel doesn’t have a written constitution, but you would think that the people who wanted to be its citizens and its public servants would be willing to swear they would uphold and defend the state. Instead, these Arab Knesset members want the state replaced. Until he was elected to the Knesset, Tibi served as a formal counselor to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat; now his status has been reduced to “informal adviser” to the corrupt, murderous terrorist.

If the Israeli Supreme Court upholds the Central Elections Committee vote to bar Tibi and Bishara, the nation’s one million Arab citizens are going to become even more polarized in their resentment of the Jewish majority. Many are likely to boycott the January 28 elections entirely, paradoxically thereby reducing the vote for Labor, the only party that appears willing to pursue any parts of the pre-Intifada peace process.

That’s a terrible outcome. But it would be even worse to allow the election of legislators whose goal is to undermine the nation they should be trying to serve. Israel needs to make sure that its Arab minority has full and equal rights in the democracy, but it has no obligation to elevate those who, given a chance, would tear it down.

Back to top

LEONARD FEIN

Leonard Fein, who normally writes from Boston, is on an extended fact-finding trip to Israel.

For a brief moment, in the wake of the revelations regarding vote-buying in the Likud, Ariel Sharon’s party looked headed for free-fall. Almost overnight, it lost six or seven seats from its high a week earlier. But of course the loss was only in the polls; the elections are still a month away, scheduled for the day after the UN inspectors are due to report their findings on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to the Security Council, more or less on the eve of war against Iraq that everyone here in Israel believes is virtually certain to happen. The reluctance to change the nation’s leadership in the face of imminent war is one of the several reasons that Labor, the major opposition party, has experienced only the slightest benefit from the Likud defections, which for now in any case seem to have stabilized.

In the course of a day traveling with Amram Miztna, Labor’s leader, from campaign stop to campaign stop, with opportunity not only to observe his public presence but also to chat with him as we traveled, under heavy military escort, between stops, and to listen to his end of a series of urgent phone calls from party activists, some of the other reasons became clear. The Labor party itself is plainly in massive disarray, with Binyamin Ben Eliezer still hoping to reclaim the party after Mitzna’s anticipated loss. Just last week, the party secretary general announced that if Sylvan Shalom, the incumbent Minister of Finance, remains in that position after a Sharon victory, Labor will refuse to enter a National Unity Government — thereby implying that if Shalom is ousted, Labor will enter. But that is precisely what Mitzna has said will not happen, Sylvan Shalom or not.

And then there’s Prime Minister Sharon, looking increasingly grandfatherly, tired but utterly familiar. No matter that his policies regarding security and the economy have failed miserably these last two years, he has deftly moved centerward, deftly (so far) separated himself from the scandals that afflict his party, he has somehow engineered a remarkably symbiotic relationship with the American president, he has become, improbably, the last of the founding fathers.

Mitzna, for his part, remains largely unknown. He is the rational candidate, the one who promises to tell it like it is, and largely delivers on that promise: “One hungry child in Israel is a greater threat than one Iraqi scud.” “The Iraqi war is not our war, we will watch it on television.” “What are we doing in Gaza? Why do we have to send our army there to protect Thai workers in Jewish settlements placed among a sea of Palestinians?” “There will be no advance in education until we stop investing in the settlements, in the territories. Without investing in education, we run the risk of becoming a banana republic.”

All this against a basic platform that is meant to register a very sharp distinction from Sharon: Immediate withdrawal from the Gaza District, immediate negotiations with the Palestinians, and, if the negotiations fail, then unilateral Israeli withdrawal in the West Bank, save for the large settlement blocs and the retention of security control in the Jordan Valley. A security fence from Bet Sha’an to Arad separating Palestine and Israel. Arafat? There are others with whom to negotiate.

There is little eloquence and almost no poetry in his presentation, although there is, contrary to reports, considerable passion. His most eloquent moment at the Emek Yizrael College, where he addressed an audience of some 400 students and faculty (no notes, a 45 minute speech and another 45 minutes or so for questions and answers), was on Israel’s own Arab citizens. “Most Israeli Arabs are loyal to the State. There are Jewish traitors as well as Arab traitors; you can’t and you shouldn’t indict a whole population.” “We need an affirmative action program for Arabs. We cannot continue to treat them as we do. Who are we? Were we not a minority? How then can we treat our minority as we do? Nor can we ask Israeli Arabs to drop their feeling of solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

But the woman sitting behind me is mumbling angrily: “If they identify with the Palestinians, let them leave; they don’t belong here. This makes my blood boil.”

In the last election, Mitzna observes, the Likud slogan was “Let Tzahal [the Israeli army] win!” But, he emphasizes, there is no way to defeat 3.5 million Palestinians. It is simply not possible — and in the meantime, the reservists who guard the outpost settlements are targets.

It all makes imminent sense, but there is a near total absence of electricity. The buzz comes not from Mitzna’s thoughtful words or his sensible proposals, but from the realization of how very real everything is here, life without cushion, without insulation. The now elegant Carmel Forest Spa was once a rest home for Holocaust survivors, make the wrong turn off the main highway to Zichron and you’re in Jenin in four minutes, speed as fast as you dare if you’re passing a bus, you never know, and take note of the border guards who have arrived in advance of the Mitzna party, who don’t even turn as we arrive, keeping their gaze fixed outward from the observation point, their high-powered rifles with the telescopic sights very much in evidence. They can see far, but there is no end in sight.

CARL ALPERT

Carl Alpert is an American born journalist who has been living in Israel for more that 40 years.

HAIFA — Israelis, like people everywhere, have their eyes fixed on that yet unknown date when the US will attack Iraq. The mood in Israel today? Not panic, not fear, not confusion, but a great many questions, some related to the Iraq crisis, and many more growing out of the country’s other unique problems. In general, folks don’t often discuss these matters, except in family circles, but probe the mind of an average Israeli these days and one is apt to find the following questions, seeking answers.

1. When will the US strike? Immediately after our elections at the end of January? In mid-February? It’s important for us to know.

2. How will the Iraqis react? Last time they rained 39 Scud missiles on Israel and it was a miracle that only one fatality resulted. But this time there is talk of deadly biological or chemical weapons of mass destruction.

3. In case of a major bombing of Israel will we react by counter blows against Iraq? And if so, how will the Muslim/Arab world react?

4. We are told to be ready. Shall we prepare sealed rooms in our homes and check our gas masks? The boxes containing the masks carry a note to the effect that they should not be opened until there is need. How can we practice?

5. What should we stock up on? Bottled water, we are advised, in case of a break in the drinking water supply. How much nonperishable food? How long will the crisis last?

6. To leave the country and take what we hope will be a short vacation overseas, or remain stoically at home, or seek some domestic resort here, like Eilat or the Negev, far from thickly populated areas, which will be prime targets? Jerusalem is considered safe because the Muslims will not wish to endanger their own holy spots.

7. Shall we pessimistically check our wills? After all, it has been announced that certain large public parks have already been earmarked as emergency cemeteries in case of large numbers of casualties.

8. Will those few naive, humanity-loving Jews in Israel and abroad, who are today loudly making common cause with the Arabs, finally awaken to the fact that they are acting as unwitting collaborators with a people who have made it clear that their goal is the ultimate destruction of Israel?

DANIEL PIPES

Daniel Pipes (www.DanielPipes.org) is director of the Middle East Forum and author of Militant Islam Reaches America (W.W. Norton).

The Palestinian campaign of terrorism continues. And every day, on average, without counting minor incidents involving rocks and firebombs, Palestinians launch over ten attacks on Israelis.

Which makes this a particularly apt moment to review my assessment of a year ago, that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s tough response is the right one and that it will cause the Palestinians to give up on violence.

To begin with, while the violence continues, it diminished during 2002; the year’s first quarter saw 50 percent more attacks than the fourth quarter and well over twice as many fatalities.

More significant, however, are the many signs pointing to a realization among Palestinians that adopting violence has been a monstrous mistake. What the Associated Press calls a “slowly swelling chorus of Palestinian leaders and opinion-makers” is expressing disillusion with the poverty, anarchy, detention, injury and death brought by 27 months of violence.

Mahmoud Abbas, the number-two Palestinian leader after Yasir Arafat, concedes “it was a mistake to use arms ... and to carry out attacks inside Israel.” Abdel Razzak al-Yahya, the so-called interior minister, denounces suicide bombings against Israel as “murders for no reason,” demands an end to “all forms of Palestinian violence” and wants it replaced with civil resistance. Bethlehem mayor Hanna Nasser finds that the use of arms did no good and insists that the Palestinian struggle “has to be a peaceful one.”

Other developments confirm this sense of dismay and a willingness to rethink:

• A sense of despair: “It’s over,” a man in Ramallah says of the violence. “We didn’t achieve anything.” A Gazan is so numbed by the downward spiral, he utters the unmentionable: “To be honest, I think reoccupation [by Israel] would be better” than the current situation.

• Regretting missed diplomatic opportunities: “Didn’t we dance for joy at the failure of Camp David?” asks Nabil Amer, formerly one of Arafat’s chief aides. “After two years of bloodshed, we are now calling for what we rejected.”

• Less support for terrorism: Asked by a Palestinian pollster if the Palestinian Authority (PA) should, once it reaches an agreement with Israel, arrest those setting off to engage in violence within Israel, 86 percent of Palestinians polled in December 2001 said no, 76 percent in May 2002 said no, and 40 percent in November 2002. That’s still very high but the trend is clear.

• Fear of retribution: On occasion, suicide bombers have turned themselves in, or were turned in by their parents, out of fear that the family home would be destroyed in retaliation.

• Blaming Arafat: When the violence began, Palestinians held Israel responsible for their many woes. But as time went by, says the well-known pollster Khalil Shikaki, they turned “very strongly” against Arafat and the PA. One conspiracy theory holds that Arafat initiated the violence less to defeat Israel than to deflect growing discontent over the PA’s failures.

• Emigration: Fed up with their self-inflicted misery, some 10,000 Palestinians a month left the West Bank and Gaza during 2002, while many more tried to flee. At one point, over 40,000 would-be emigrants were camped out near Jericho, hoping to enter Jordan.

Perhaps the most affecting sign of a change came last month, when a self-described “heartbroken” Palestinian father took the occasion of the death of his son, a leading terrorist, to launch an unprecedented appeal to Israelis “to open a new page with the Palestinian people and to achieve peace based on mutual respect and justice.”

Israelis are beginning to note the change on the Palestinian side. Ephraim Halevy, former head of the Mossad, has commented on “the buds of Palestinian recognition” of the mistake in turning to violence. The chief of Israel’s Ground Forces Command, Yiftah Ron-Tal, went further and in November predicted within months “a decisive victory” for Israel.

The Bush administration should take two steps to speed this process along: permit Israel to respond as it deems best and stop bestowing undeserved gifts on the Palestinians (the latest: promises of a state in 2003). The sooner Palestinians realize how counterproductive their violence is, the sooner they will end it.

Letters/Commentary

‘Cleansing Label’ is Unfair
Mr. Hy Goldin’s letter (Dec. 20), in response to my article (Dec. 6), makes an accusation based on a clear case of mistaken identity. Characterizing the relocating to nearby Arab countries of Palestinian Arabs involved in terror, and “fifth-column” Israeli Arabs disloyal to the State of Israel, as “ethnic cleansing,” turns the definition of this phrase on its head.

Ethnic cleansing is the relocation of people from their ancestral homes because of their ethnic background or their religious beliefs. Relocation of Arabs because they participate in, or aid and abet, violence against Jews, or because they advocate the overthrow of the Israeli government by force, is not ethnic cleansing.

Although Mr. Goldin has ample support for this widely accepted mischaracterization, from the liberal establishment and the anti-Semites of the world — of which Mr. Goldin is not one, I hasten to add — the truth is that the clarion call from these people to relocate Israeli Jews from Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, with the all too familiar phony pretense that they are an obstacle to peace, fits the definition of ethnic cleansing four-square, inasmuch as the sole reason for the call for their removal is that they are Jews. This is consistent with the fact that Jews can not live in any Arab lands, although almost 20 percent of Israel’s population is Arab.

The incontrovertible, ultimate example of ethnic cleansing is the Arab objective of exterminating Jews, and destroying Israel as a Jewish state. How odd and how sad that Mr. Goldin endorses a phony example of ethnic cleansing and fails to recognize the real thing when it stares him in the face.

Robert I. Lappin
Swampscott MA

Separating Church and State
On Dec. 15 I was privileged to hear Michael Bohnen, National Chairman of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, speak at Temple Sinai. In discussing the issues surrounding Israel and global anti-Semitism, he talked about the pact the Jewish leadership is making with the evangelical and Christian right around their support of Israel. While these groups are giving their support to Israel, they are, at the same time, working to weaken the wall that separates church and state in this country. This is the same wall that made this country so safe and welcoming to my father and the many others who escaped the horrors of religious persecution in Europe.

In the Dec. 20 issue of The Journal, Jonathan Friendly wrote fully of the inherent danger of the president’s faith-based initiative. But never talked about is the issue of hospitals that are run by religious organizations, and what this means to reproductive health services in these institutions. In these hospitals, medical decisions are based on religious doctrine and not on the medical needs of these patients. And our tax dollars go to these hospitals.

The importance of consolidating support for lsrael is not to be underestimated — but that can be done without jeopardizing the freedoms all Americans value. I urge our Jewish leaders to work just as hard protecting our domestic safety as they do protecting lsrael’s safety, and to heed President James Madison, who said, “Religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”

Carol Collins
Marblehead

Local Stories

National News
Sen. Joe Lieberman Declares Bid for Presidency

International News

Features

Text by Noah Pohl

Arts & Entertainment

Singles

Editorial

Our First Jewish President?

Local Columnists

The Personal Effects of Terrorist Violence

Op-Ed

Arab Legislators and Loyalty to Israel

Letters/Commentary

Local Stories

National News Sen. Joe Lieberman Declares Bid for Presidency

International News

Features

Text by Noah Pohl

Arts & Entertainment

Singles

Editorial

Our First Jewish President?

Local Columnists

The Personal Effects of Terrorist Violence

Op-Ed

Arab Legislators and Loyalty to Israel

Letters/Commentary

National News
Sen. Joe Lieberman Declares Bid for Presidency