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Countdown to Disengagement
Leaders, Rabbis, Israelis React to Withdrawal

Gary Band
Jewish Journal Staff

With just 32 days before the more than 1,600 families (approximately 9,000 residents) of the 21 settlements comprising the Gush Katif community in Gaza and four of the 120 in the West Bank are to be removed from their homes and relocated to less populated areas such as Ashkelon and Ashdod, a reported majority have accepted compensation packages from the Disengagement Authority and agreed to move peacefully.

A reported 300 settlers may resist relocation, and some 45,000 police and IDF soldiers will oversee the withdrawal scheduled to begin August 17.

Meanwhile, Israel has asked the US for $2.2 billion in aid to facilitate the arduous process, with a certain amount to be paid to each relocated family, and $50 million to be paid to the Palestinian Authority to demolish the homes residents have lived in for more than a generation.

Israeli officials have said that settlers who leave voluntarily will get a better financial package, including government grants and aid programs that can help them resettle. Before Aug. 17, Israeli troops will go from house to house and inform residents in settlements marked for evacuation that their presence is no longer legal and that they must leave.

While 71 percent of Americans believe the withdrawal is a bold step toward peace, according to a recent ADL poll, and the overwhelming majority of Israelis support the move, there is opposition being voiced within the Zionist Organization of America, and by some within the Orthodox and Chabad Lubavitch movements.

Rabbi Nechemia Schusterman of Peabody Chabad says that while Chabad does not get involved in political issues, to return this land has “halachic issues” and that “the Torah does not support what Ariel Sharon is doing.” He believes that for Jews to fight Jews is deplorable, and that while he cannot support the actions of settlers hurting soldiers who are following orders, “every time Israel has given a little, the Palestinians take and want more.”

According to Rabbi Myron Geller of Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester, “I think it should happen, but whether it’s going to happen remains to be seen.”

JCRC Executive Director Nancy Kaufman thinks disengagement is “critically important” and that everyone should give PM Sharon their full support “because he is taking a bold step toward peace” and the creation of a two-state solution.

Political consultant and Bloomberg Radio talk show host Michael Goldman of Marblehead said he thinks it’s courageous for Prime Minister Sharon to carry out the withdrawal, especially since he once so adamantly opposed such a move as little as two years ago.

“This is the last thing PM Sharon ever thought he’d have to do,” Goldman said. “It’s one thing if this was [former PM Ehud] Barak calling for it, but this is supposed to be the guy who said we’ll never give an inch. Though he has come around to the fact that there had to be land for peace, there should be no joy in this, but a sadness that in the end the people who had invested their lives to keep the frontier open are losing their homes.”

According to Rabbi David Klatzker of Temple Ner Tamid in Peabody, “Peace will never come unless both sides give up something substantial to which they feel they are entitled.” And while he feels that PM Sharon is “risking his own life to uproot the settlements in Gaza, he understands that thousands of young Israeli soldiers cannot continue to protect a handful of Gaza settlers who adamantly reject a two-state solution.”

Modi Tavel, 30, of Tel Aviv is a former pilot in the IDF now in graduate school at Tel Aviv University studying physics and economics.

Tavel believes the withdrawal will reduce the amount of friction between Israel and the Palestinians whom he feels are being oppressed by the Israelis’ presence. “I think this process is inevitable,” he said. “Anyone in his right mind would realize that whatever kind of agreement we might make with the Palestinians would involve removing these settlements.”

He allows that Israel may not be get anything in return for withdrawing, but “we must do what’s good for Israel. The longer we stay, the more lives are lost for no reason.”

Rabbi Edgar Weinsberg of Con-gre-gation Shirat Hayam in Swampscott has issues with the withdrawal and Sharon’s shift in policy.

“These are people, not wild and crazy settlers as the media has depicted them,” Weinsberg said. “These are families who have put their heart and soul and lives on line now being told to get out. They had been extremely productive and now are being asked to leave everything behind. Not only are they having to leave what they put their lives into, but are also facing many questions about their future. The human dimension is truly tragic.”

However, while Weinsberg also questions how PM Sharon can change his long-held policies about a greater Israel, he believes withdrawal is the only option to safeguard the majority of Israeli citizens.

“He now has to look at the bigger picture,” he said. “That is true of all politicians who enter office, and he’s no exception. From a religious perspective, except for maybe 50 years in Jewish history, Gaza was never part of Israel, despite arguments to the contrary.”

Moshe Elad is a former Colonel in the IDF. After working for the Jewish National Fund in the US, he has been back in Israel for three years volunteering for the Libi Fund, which helps raise funds for education and medical support for IDF soldiers.

He says that despite the media buzz, most Israelis are in favor of the disengagement, and believe it will bring many benefits to the State of Israel.

“The current situation is bad in terms of Israel’s economical, social and security point of view,” he said. “Israel could now more than ever before shift substantial resources to internal needs especially to the Negev and the Galilee.”

Elad also believes the withdrawal will stop the day-to-day friction with about one million Gazans, 600,000 of whom are refugees and 400,000 of whom live in eight over-populated refugee camps. Sixty percent of the population is living below the poverty line, and the main source of income for Gazans is labor inside Israel, which has been limited since the eruption of the Intifada in September 2000.

“I believe that 80 percent of the settlers understand that it is in Israel’s interest to withdraw and resettle them inside the country,” Elad said. “The remaining 20 percent will resist. Everybody sees these guys as our beloved brothers and sisters. However, every Israeli who will be called to service will do his job. If we’ll have to cry, we’ll cry and we’ll ask them to leave their houses. As painful as it will be, it will be like a surgery: we’ll have to undergo it but the feeling after the withdrawal will be much better, much healthier.”

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Federation and Community Building:
An Interview with Merritt Mulman

Gary Band
Jewish Journal Staff

During his two years as Executive Director of The Jewish Federation of the North Shore, Merritt Mulman has met and spoken with thousands of people, helped raise over $4.7M for the Community Campaign, created two missions to Israel with more to come, and overseen a number of initiatives intended to facilitate greater communication and service to the 23 communities the Federation serves. The Journal spoke with him by phone from his office on Front Street in Salem.

What are some challenges you inherited when you took over?
The primary challenge that exists in the community I inherited is the degree of disjointedness and lack of communication between the agencies and synagogues. The Federation should be the touchstone for the organized Jewish community, a resource for them, but I’m not sure it’s always functioned as such. Another challenge is that not enough people are involved. The Jewish community thrives on the participation of men and women at every level. We all have different roles for sure, either as volunteers, educators, donors, and so forth, but the responsibility for Jewish community is everyone’s. Right now, too few people are participating at all levels. For us at Federation it begs the question: what can we do to engage more?

How have you dealt with these challenges?
Well, my primary responsibility is to help build the resources the community needs to thrive. So, together with working aggressively to build a Campaign that facilitates meaningful giving, I’ve placed a great deal of emphasis on connecting people by creating different venues for the organized Jewish community to communicate.

Federation has put in place a series of vehicles, such as the Leadership Council — a place where the board and synagogue chairs, the rabbis, and agency directors all come together to discuss and concretely address issues which impact the whole community; we have put in place a vehicle for the CFOs to meet and collaborate — last year they combined their efforts on the purchase of auditing services, saving the community $25,000, a dollar saved is a dollar fundraised; the fundraising professionals are meeting to see how they can collaborate — this spring they co-produced a seminar on planned giving; we have a Marketing Council, comprised of the agency PR people and focused on education and training. We’ve also worked hard to bring together staff from the three day camps, to share ideas and programs. These are just some of the formal examples; what is truly important is the informal discourse and openness for collaboration. My understanding is that the positive tenor of the conversation existing now is almost unprecedented. I know we have made terrific strides forward.

On the issue of participation, well, that one’s tougher. We, the Federation, and the other communal institutions are working hard together to figure out ways to increase participation and we are succeeding: everything from restructuring our Campaign to allow for more volunteers to participate to collaborating with the JCCs in the production of screenings of the Boston Jewish Film Festival here on the North Shore — new ways for people to participate.

What do you think about Project Solel so far?
I think the solidarity which the community has shown for the project is terrific. We have received so much support and willingness to help from the agency and synagogue leadership, from unaffiliated community members, I am just blown away. Eighty-five people turned out the week before last for an open meeting to learn what Project Solel is, what will take place, and to sign on. So much for my theory of lack of participation [laughing]. Eighty-five people turning out to learn about a community planning process – outstanding.

I am as anxious as anyone to see the results, which we should get the latter part of this year. Ultimately, however, the success of the project will be determined by our willingness and ability to implement the recommendations. I have great optimism, however, that the community will do right by itself, and Project Solel will serve as a tool to help map out a future as bright as our past.

What’s the best part of the job for you?
Seeing a kid get “it”, get being Jewish. The truth is all our work stands on their shoulders. You may think it’s the other way around, but not me. Continuity is about the perpetuation of Jewish peoplehood — our rituals, beliefs, our homeland Israel, and our future. It’s all about the kids. Everything we do must be about preparing them to accept the responsibility someday for this Jewish community or whatever Jewish community in which they live. So for me, a community development professional from way back, the best part is the kids and planting the seeds in them to maintain, build, and ultimately grow, community. That’s what this work is really about.

What’s the most challenging?
The culture of disengagement. While it’s certainly not unique to this community, it’s clearly existed here for a long time — a generation or more, perhaps. I’m still new, so I’m not sure. Whether it’s that people haven’t been asked or have overtly chosen not to be part of the community as contributors to the Campaign, synagogue members, volunteers, or whatever, is unclear, but the pool is too small.

I must also say, and some-what sadly, the level of Yiddishkeit in the community could be elevated. A former teacher of mine used a phrase which resonates with me and may be somewhat applicable to life on the North Shore: “Judaism is a leisure time activity.”

When you look at disengagement and weak Yiddishkeit taken together, our Federation and community certainly is working to address them. Great examples of successes include our Y2I trips and the work of the Lappin Foundation’s Continuity Committee, which up until earlier this year was part of our Federation. These programs and others are examples of what we do in which our community should be extremely proud.

But we need to understand them in the context of the larger workings of the community. They are wonderful and necessary, yes, but not sufficient. Our community needs opportunities for all ages, which mirror the dynamic nature of what our community provides to its kids. So who in our community is going to step up next to help with the kids’ parents? Now there’s a question.

What are the most important things for you to focus on now?
Well that is exactly what I am talking about. We need to bring resources to bear in a coordinated fashion and that is the role of a Federation Director.

For example, I would argue we have an enormous gap in Jewishly literate adults and have a tremendous need for excellent and compelling adult Jewish education opportunities. Now, I know adult ed occurs at most, if not all, synagogues. But we need to make a serious investment in the rabbis and educators and figure out what they need to infuse ruach and raise the level of Jewish literacy on the North Shore. What are best practices in the field? Can we bring the resources of Hebrew College, for example, into our community? I am talking about adult Jewish education on an entirely different level: Can we have an educated community? We need to raise the bar on ourselves in terms of what we know Jewishly and in terms of the services offered to address the needs.

To a large extent that’s what Bob Lappin has done with teen and family programming and his commitment to Jewish Continuity. He has raised the bar, locally and nationally. The problem is that we don’t have enough Bobs. It goes back to what I was saying earlier about too few participants and the recognition that the responsibility is everyone’s. We need philanthropists to step up. We need educators to step up. And we need the institutions to step up. Together we can accomplish what none of us can do alone.

Why did Dotty Tatelman and Peter Lappin resign as Campaign chairs?
I think it would be disrespectful and unfair to both Dotty and Peter for me to answer “why.” I wouldn’t want to put words in their mouths or misrepresent them. What I do know is they both worked very hard in the Campaign last year and for years before that. These are two people who have long demonstrated their love for and commitment to this community and our Federation. My hope is that we will be able to continue to count on their dedication in the future.

Does the split from the Lappin Foundation and its focus on programming change your focus?
Federations nationally have three basic service responsibilities: fundraising, community planning and leadership development. If you look at large Federations like Boston, Atlanta and Chicago, their resources are so vast and reach so far, they can do more. My hope is that in time we will be able to do more, too. But until then, we have the responsibility to provide what is expected of a Federation.

With our growth in Cam-paign of 20 percent over the past two years, with Project Solel now underway, and with our new Leadership Development Institute being implemented this fall, I think we are meeting our basic responsibilities. So, as far as new programming in the near future, who knows? But to this point, two years into my tenure, I’ve tried to bring this Federation into alignment and am proud of my work thus far.

How do you see transforming the message of JFNS, appealing to a larger number of people and realizing your goals?
Our message is simple and absolutely compelling: Live Generously. It covers the waterfront on how we, as Jews, should live.

That said, there’s no question that Federation is in a transitional period as we move away from being closely identified with the Lappin Foundation and Continuity programs. So we need to articulate our message and reintroduce ourselves to the community. It is incumbent upon everybody associated with this organization to understand the businesses we’re in and communicate them effectively.

What are your goals for the next year?
We need to treat each other a little more civilly. It may seem simple, but nothing we do will be more important. The communal discourse, publicly and privately, has fallen far short of what it should be. We need to realize that Jews are small in number and support one another, even when we disagree.

I’m also very interested in the findings of Project Solel and moving that process and, through it, the community forward. I hope our community’s newest synagogue, Congregation Shirat Hayam, thrives and I hope Cohen Hillel Academy gets more kids.

Nothing that this community is facing emerged in the blink of an eye. We are most certainly in a time of change. Change isn’t a bad thing, but inertia is. We’ll succeed as a community when we stop pointing fingers and start holding hands.

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Suzie and Tom Cheatham Celebrate B’nai Mitzvah

Nancy Fromson
Special to The Journal

On Saturday, June 11, before family and friends, Suzie and Tom Cheatham of Swampscott took a most important and unique step in their Jewish lives: they became, as a couple, b’nai mitzvah.

As married adults on the eve of their 35th wedding anniversary, Suzie and Tom, who had witnessed and participated years ago in the rituals of their three children, now felt the time had come for them to make their own commitment. And with the guidance of Rabbi Lee Levin of Temple Shalom in Salem, they spent six months preparing for this momentous occasion.

“If traditionally, bar/bat mitzvah is a celebration of a person’s coming of age as a Jew, being ready to participate as a full member of the community, then this is exactly the right time for us,” Suzie said.\

Rabbi Levin himself has been a role model for the Cheathams, as he celebrated his bar mitzvah as an adult, and subsequently came to his place in the rabbinate after years of teaching economics.

“Suzie and Tom’s b’nai mitzvah was an absolutely phenomenal event,” the rabbi said. “They are remarkable people, truly pillars of the community. It was gratifying and inspirational for me to have played a role in their achievement.”

The Cheathams enumerated some of the many life experiences that brought them to their decision, beginning with their meeting in Israel during a six-month stay in 1969. They had both enrolled in a joint U.S.-Canadian volunteer program called Shirut L’am (Service to the People) and lived and worked on Kibbutz Yiron, located in the Galilee near the Lebanese border. They made friends and had experiences that “fed both our belief in the State of Israel and the need to create a land of the living from the ashes of the Holocaust.”

Less than one year later, on June 14, 1970, they married and returned to Israel, this time making aliyah. After a 12-day boat trip in July, the newlyweds reached Haifa on July 28 and settled in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Aviv.

While Suzie worked at the Magen David Adom (Red Cross), Tom studied at the University of Tel Aviv. He also enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces. Later, when Tom decided to become a Jew by choice, he took “Boaz” for his Hebrew name, done out of the great respect he had for his commanding officer in the IDF.

With just one break, the Cheathams lived in Israel until 1983, and two of their children were born there. Ultimately, family issues brought them back to the Boston area.

The lives of their parents, grandparents and other relatives have also been great influences for Suzie and Tom, who say they have been moved to “search for stronger ties to our families and to the Jewish people. We have learned we must live life to the fullest, to bind ourselves in love to friends and family and to find faith in a force greater than ourselves.”

In more recent years, they were “in awe” at the b’nai mitzvah of their children, Baki, Andrea and Lauren, when each learned to read Torah and lead the adult congregation. All three children, and Baki’s wife Angie, were in attendance in June to celebrate with their parents. The children also participated in the service.

Suzie and Tom led the Friday evening Shabbat service preceding their simchah; and on Saturday, they shared in the reading of both the Torah and Haftorah portions. Both feel confident they will now be ready to lead services when called upon.

Asked what they had expected to gain from the experience, Tom focused on both attaining the mastery of chanting and becoming a fully educated member of the temple lay leadership. Suzie expressed the desire to master the challenge of becoming a bat mitzvah and to be a full participant in religious services. She ultimately found herself deeply moved by the emotional and spiritual experience, something she hadn’t anticipated.

In retrospect, the two are elated. They are grateful for the support and friendship of the temple family and of their own children, other family members and friends. Tom’s recommendation is “Try it. It’s fun to do and well worth doing.” Suzie says that temple life “completes our lives in ways we didn’t expect.”

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Local Conservative Rabbis Weigh In on
New Keshet-Rabbis Group

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

The website www.keshetrabbis.org was launched just about a month ago, and already more than 170 Conservative rabbis worldwide have agreed to participate. Locally, Rabbis David Klatzker of Temple Ner Tamid in Peabody, Jonas Goldberg of Temple Sinai in Marblehead, Neal Joseph Loevinger of the former Temple Israel (now Shirat Hayam) in Swampscott and Lee Levin of Temple Shalom in Salem have signed on.
Conservative rabbis who voluntarily post their names on the website agree to provide gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Jews with judgment-free support, advice and referrals, as well as answers to halachic questions relating to gays and religion.

Although signatories must be members of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA) in order to participate, Keshet-Rabbis is not endorsed by the RA.

According to organizers, the purpose for establishing Keshet-Rabbis was two-fold: to more effectively serve the Jewish GLBT community, and to link gay-friendly Conservative rabbis with each another.

Rabbi Menachem Creditor from Temple Israel in Sharon was instrumental in bringing the group together. Although the project began as a simple directory, Creditor hopes it will ultimately pressure leaders of the Conservative movement to revise its longstanding policies towards gays.

In 1992 the RA’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, the authority on Jewish law within the Conservative movement, issued a document welcoming gays to Conservative synagogues, but forbidding openly-gay rabbis from being ordained and preventing clergy from performing religious ceremonies such as marriages for same-sex couples. The Committee is currently revisiting the issue.

Rabbi Klatzker is chair of the North Shore Rabbinic Association. Although the Association (which includes Conservative, Reform and unaffiliated rabbis) has not taken an official stand on the issue, Klatzker has signed on with Keshet-Rabbis because he believes the Conservative movement can successfully combine tradition and change.

“If we as a Jewish community stretch ourselves to be more welcoming to homosexuals, I believe that there will be a payoff. We will learn about people who are both similar and different from us, and we will grow in our capacity to show empathy to people. We will be enriched by including gays in our midst, just as we were when we finally gave women full equality,” he says.

Rabbi Goldberg agrees. He signed on because he believes temples should be inclusive rather than exclusive. “For too long, religion has been used as a divisive force. I’d like to see it be used as an inclusive force,” he says. “And just as I fought for the inclusion of women in the rabbinate, I would support a movement to advocate for gays and lesbians in the rabbinate,” he adds.

Rabbi Levin, who has written several prize-winning essays on Judaism and homosexuality, signed on as soon as he learned about it. Rabbi Loevinger also embraced the Keshet-Rabbis program.

“I felt honored to be asked to join Keshet-Rabbis because I see the Torah’s ethic of dignity and justice as a far greater imperative than the meager verses which forbid particular sex acts. I have gay family members and friends, and I cannot believe that the Torah’s greatest ethic of human concern does not apply to them,” Loevinger says.

“I never heard a car complain about not being driven on Shabbat, nor have I ever heard a piece of bread cry bitter tears because it wasn’t on the table at Passover. I have, however, heard gay and lesbian Jews with beautiful and holy souls, yearning to be connected to synagogues and Jewish organizations, express enormous pain at feeling marginalized, rejected and condemned by the community they love. Surely the task of rabbis is to heal that pain,” remarked Loevinger.

Several Conservative rabbis in the North Shore, including Rabbi Myron Geller of Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester have elected not to align themselves with the Keshet group.

Geller, who is a member of the RA’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, felt he should abstain from taking a position. “I did not feel it was appropriate for me to sign on at this time. I don’t want to appear that I am part of a lobbying group for or against this issue,” he says.

Rabbi Edgar Weinsberg, the Conservative leader of Congregation Shirat Hayam in Swampscott, was unavailable for comment.

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Two Swampscott Girls Refuse to Take Diabetes Lying Down

David Pepose
Jewish Journal Staff

Move over, Dr. Paul Farmer — there’s a new kid in town. Or in this case, two.

As two Swampscott girls have discovered in lobbying their cases against diabetes, fighting disease is no longer the bailiwick of philanthropist doctors like Dr. Farmer, who crusades against AIDS and tuberculosis with medical degrees, research grants, books on Amazon, a professorship in Harvard and clinics in Haiti.

Instead, Natalie Ginsburg, 14, and Marlee Rosen, 16, have used different weapons than Dr. Farmer’s in their respective wars against juvenile diabetes: leg work, word of mouth and the kind of youthful energy that has enabled them to take the fight against diabetes not only to the local level, but to the U.S. Congress.

Natalie, an incoming 9th grader, first learned she had type 1 diabetes — more often known as “juvenile diabetes” — when she was 11.

“I was in the hospital for about a week,” she said. “I was kind of shocked [when] they were telling me how it had to be handled. I had to take a certain amount of shots every day. It was a huge change.”

Type 1 diabetes, despite popular belief, is not a disease determined by obesity or one’s eating habits. Instead, this rare condition which usually manifests during puberty, is caused when the body’s immune system begins to attack the cells in the pancreas, the organ responsible for creating the body’s supply of insulin. Once the pancreas’ supply of insulin is cut off, the body can no longer break down sugar from food into energy, which can lead to extreme fatigue, blindness, comas, or even death.

These potentially life-threatening symptoms are minimized by the relatively few number of young adults that suffer from them: only about 210,000 people in the United States under the age of 20 (.26% of the total age group) have one of the two forms of diabetes, and approximately only one in 400 to 500 children and adolescents have type 1. This relatively low number makes those who do act to champion the cause of juvenile diabetes all the more important.

“[Although] I was pretty cooperative in the hospital,” said Ginsburg, “it was still pretty scary.” The soon-to-be high-schooler has since begun her own quest to help find a cure. Leaving the hospital only 11 days after being diagnosed in September 2002, Ginsburg and her mother participated in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Annual Walk, raising $800.

The next year, Ginsburg formed her own team, “Natalie’s Awesome Walkers,” complete with three generations of Ginsburgs, as well as Natalie’s school nurse, “who I saw on a regular basis,” she chuckles, along with various friends and family, resulting in 15 participants who together raised $2,500 and $2,600 over two consecutive years. Ginsburg, over the last three years, has raised over $5,900 for diabetes research.

“[The walk has] always been really successful, it’s great. It’s really good for people with diabetes,” she said. “Everybody knows who you are. They’re just really helpful. It’s a really good cause and it’s fun, too!”
Marlee Rosen, a diabetic since the age of five, has also taken a stand against the disease. Unlike Natalie, whose efforts have been largely local and grassroots, Marlee has gone the other route, taking her case to the United States Congress.

Rosen was one of five Massachusetts representatives in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Children’s Congress, a group of 150 children and adolescents who went to Capitol Hill to tell their stories of living with diabetes and to lobby for less stringent restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research.

The stem cells, in the case of diabetic research, would be used to replace the pancreatic cells, called inslet progenitor cells. These cells, which give out varying amounts of insulin depending on the amount of glucose present, are the very same cells the patient’s immune system has destroyed or severely weakened prior to the onset of the disease.

However, the complex procedure of replacing those progenitor cells — which could potentially require the cloning of an embryo of the patient and subsequently destroying that clone to harvest the stem cells — has led to controversy amongst the nation’s politicians, with some declaring the procedure tantamount to abortion.
Marlee has gone on record stating she believes in using stem cells only from embryos that would otherwise be discarded, a common staple in many fertility clinics. However, how, or even if, these embryos will help find a cure has yet to be seen.

While diabetes is an illness generally easy to diagnose, little else is known about the disease. There is still debate over genetic ties, dietary habits, and ways to treat it. Though only .26% of young adults are afflicted with diabetes, that number vastly increases as time progresses, with now over 18 million people affected by it nationwide — nearly one-third of whom are not even aware of it.

Doctors and scientists do their part to try and find a cure, but it is important to remember there are other people involved, and other ways to help, as well. Fighting disease is no longer just the struggle of those with many years’ worth of medical training or sabbaticals in the “hot zones” of Africa.

As Natalie and Marlee have shown, the means for combating diseases like diabetes are right in front of us, in our neighborhoods and towns, in the hearts and minds of those most affected: our children.

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Making of a Mikvah: New Board Appointed, Renovations Made

Amy Forman
Special to The Journal

LYNN — Historically, a definitive sign of the existence of a Jewish community has been the presence of a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath. Judging by the interest and dedication of its new executive board and volunteers, Mikvah B’not Yisrael, located on the premises of Congregation Ahabat Sholom, 155 Ocean Street, is a symbol of a vibrant Jewish community on the North Shore.

First established in the 1970s under the supervision of Rabbi Emeritus Samuel Zaitchik, B’not Yisrael has been in continuous use, primarily by the Orthodox community.

Immersion in a mikvah is a process of spiritual purification. Traditionally, Jewish law requires immersion in a mikvah for married women on a monthly basis after menstruation, for conversion and adoption, and for women on the eve before they are married.

While it is not required, some men utilize the mikvah at separate times, particularly for purification and repentance prior to Yom Kippur or even Shabbat. B’not Yisrael also has a separate area to immerse pots, dishes and eating utensils to make them kosher. There are many strict rules concerning a mikvah, including the use of “natural” water such as the rain water used by B’not Yisrael. A nominal fee is charged according to the type of use.

Over time, refurbishment of Mikvah B’not Yisrael became necessary, and an effort to renovate and revitalize the mikvah became the focus of immediate past president, Wendy Levites.

“When I first came to the community, I took a look and was horrified,” said Levites. “So, I started a mikvah fund, and we were able to raise $28,000 to $30,000.”
In 1999, Levites reached out to the community as well as the Jewish Federation, from which it began to receive an annual allocation.

As a result of reorganization into a non-profit organization and successful fundraising, new sensored lighting was installed at the entrance of the mikvah, which is located at the rear of Ahabat Sholom, at 47 Bassett Street. In addition, new water heaters were installed, the walls were freshly painted, art work was hung and new towels and robes were furnished.

The mikvah now boasts pleasant, cheerful and clean surroundings, and the move toward modernization is continuing to evolve with the preparation of a new, permanent office at Ahabat Sholom. The donation of a computer by Brotherhood Credit Union will also bring the record keeping of the mikvah up to date.

Eventually, Levites began to inspire other women to become involved. An initial meeting brought forth many interested women, especially from the Ahabat Sholom and Chabad communities, and a new executive committee was formed consisting of Bonnie Weiss, Deborah Hallett, Judy Kaplan, Nicole Levy, Ellen Goldman and Gayle Solomon.

Shomrot, loosely translated as “guardians,” who are necessary to ensure proper protocols are followed, include many of the executive board as well as Devorah Feinbloom Rosenberg, Debra Heerter, Layah Lipsker, Sarah Kranz, Bernice Thaler, Liora Kellman and Debra Finkel. Ella Bromberg is responsible for supplies.
With Levites moving to New Jersey, the timing of the women stepping forward to assist couldn’t be better. “Hopefully, they will take the mikvah to new heights,” said Levites.

The use of the mikvah is extremely private, but Levites estimates that it is used 15 to 20 times per month. B’not Yisrael is the only mikvah on the North Shore. While Chabad has established a mikvah in other Boston area communities such as Lexington, there are no plans to do so in this community, according to Chabad Rabbi Yossi Lipsker.

An open house is expected to be organized this fall to introduce the facility to women who may not know about the mikvah, and Education Chair Gayle Solomon plans to educate the community to increase its usage.
“This is a group effort,” said Bonnie Weiss. “Whether we use something or not, the fact of its existence is important. When you have a mikvah, you have a Jewish community.”

Added Deborah Hallett, “We have to keep it going for our children and grandchildren, and those who want to use it.”

Those interested in finding out more about the mikvah or making an appointment may call 781-595-0080.

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Temple Israel’s Rabbi Neal Moves On

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

SWAMPSCOTT — As Temple Israel finalizes its merger with Temple Beth El to become Congregation Shirat Hayam, Neal Loevinger, the Conservative rabbi that has faithfully served Temple Israel for the past four years, prepares to move on.

Last month, more than 200 congregants (and seven past presidents) honored him at a Shabbat service/luncheon. A gifted orator, he was praised for his insightful teachings of Torah and Judaism. But he will perhaps be best remembered for his role in helping to facilitate the merger of two Swampscott temples.

“He stood up and was a true champion for change. He helped the congregation understand that this wasn’t the end — it was actually a beginning,” said Mark H. Friedman, acting president of Shirat Hayam. “As the merger talks progressed, he was very conscious about not wanting to pit one clergy against another. It was very noble and selfless of him to step aside, especially at a time when he was just hitting his stride in the community.

“I will miss him on an institutional level, but I will also miss him on a personal level,”continued Friedman. “He’s a gifted individual who inspired me to be a better person and a better Jew. He brought Judaism to life for me; made it more than a series of values, but something that’s in my bloodstream. My family will miss him, as well. Whenever we drive by the Temple, my 3 1⁄2 -year-old daughter always wants to stop and play with him. I’ve always been impressed about how he engages with her on her level,” he added.

Beth Hoffman, executive director of Temple Israel, is also sorry to see Rabbi Neal leave. “I worked with him on a daily basis for four years, and I’m going to miss him terribly,” she said. “I have gained a better understanding of Torah because of his teachings, and I truly value his friendship.”

The Journal recently spoke with Rabbi Neal about his upcoming plans and impressions of his time spent on the North Shore.

JJ: When is your stint at Temple Israel technically over?
NL: I’m done with all my official duties, barring unforeseen emergencies. I’m officially “off the payroll” as of August 1.

JJ: Did you have a “goodbye party?”
NL: We had a lovely Shabbat service in early June where I had the opportunity to give honors and thanks to people who have helped and supported me throughout my tenure here. I gave aliyot or other honors within the service to congregants who have been especially generous and helpful, people to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. The congregation also presented me with gifts, including a 6-foot long, 8-inch wide paisley necktie, which I am told is an improvement over my regular choices and should help me in my next congregation.

JJ: Have you accepted another position?
NL: I had an offer from a large and wonderful Conservative congregation in northern New Jersey to be their rabbi, but I didn’t think it was the best match for me. My father is in declining health, and I may need time to visit him over the coming year. This would be difficult if I were starting a new position with a busy congregation. Therefore, after Labor Day I’m beginning a nine-month residency at the Chaplaincy Center in Providence, an interfaith center for chaplaincy and chaplaincy training. I will be working with a group of clergy from different faiths to provide spiritual support in various hospitals around Providence, and we will be coming together under a supervisor to discuss and learn from our experiences. This is under the auspices of a wider framework called Clinical Pastoral Education, which takes place in hospitals, nursing homes and other settings throughout the US and Canada.

JJ: How can locals keep in touch with you?
I’ll be moving to Newton, but I would be delighted to keep in touch. People can email me at rnjl@hotmail.com. Also, anybody who likes can subscribe to my free weekly Torah commentaries sent out via email. To subscribe, just send an email to: rabbineal-list-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, and I’ll put you on the list.

JJ: Did you enjoy your time on the North Shore?
NL: Well, like anything else in life, there are days that are easier, and days that are harder. I have been privileged to serve as the midwife, if you will, of a new congregation, but the process of getting here has not always been easy. There have been tensions over the roles and areas of authority of rabbis, cantors and lay leaders, but I do believe that these were conversations waiting to happen from long before I arrived. The new congregation will need to have serious, introspective and open-hearted discussions about how rabbis, educators, cantors, administrators and lay leaders must learn to put personal preference aside and work together for a common goal grounded in Torah and holy service. If I have played some small role in enabling that conversation to go forward, then my time here was very well spent.

JJ: What accomplishments are you most proud of during your tenure at Temple Israel?
NL: The things I am most proud of are things I unfortunately cannot discuss — private moments when I’ve been able to bring the light of Torah to a person who needed it. But publicly I would say that I’m most proud of creating times when at least a handful of people where able to learn deep Torah together, when in Shabbat morning Torah study or at adult education, our hearts were open to each other and to the text and to God. I am proud of that, and also of our great Purim themes!

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Door Closes on Jerry’s Army & Navy Store

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staf

SALEM — Jerry’s Army & Navy Store, which was opened by a Russian Jewish immigrant and run for three generations by members of his family, closed July 12 after 76 years in business. It has not been announced what store or business will move into the space.

Loyal North Shore customers who patronized the store lament that Jerry’s saga is yet another example of how difficult it is for small independents to survive in a market dominated by mega stores.

As a child, Cliff Goodman shopped at Jerry’s for Levi jeans and corduroy pants, which he remembers being available in every color. The now 40-year-old Goodman thought Jerry’s prices were competitive, and he appreciated the personalized customer service he received from Jerry’s friendly employees.

“I’m sorry to see Jerry’s go. It was an institution, and I feel bad that the big outlets put them out of business. Jerry’s has been a stalwart of hometown service amidst the jungle of superstores,” he says.

As owner of Odds & Ends, a Salem-based home improvement company, Gooodman says he bought nearly all of his work apparel at Jerry’s. “I’ve always bought my work boots, Carhartt and Dickies at Jerry’s. And the sandals I’m wearing right now I bought at Jerry’s,” he adds.

In addition to work wear, Jerry’s specialized in basic gear —thermal underwear, flannel shirts, and nylon backpacks. It sold name brand merchandise like Converse sneakers and Doc Maarten boots. Up until 10 years ago, it also sold outdoor equipment such as tents, sleeping bags and fishing poles out of the basement.
Jerry Rich, a Russian immigrant, first opened the department store on Washington Street in Salem in 1929. In 1954, the store moved to its present location, a distinctive red brick building on the corner of Essex and Summer Streets. Since 1996, the store has been run by Jerry Rich’s grandsons, brothers Stephen and Richard Saxe, both of Marblehead.

Despite a loyal customer base, the owners found it increasingly difficult to make money. They tried numerous strategies, including opening stores in Wilmington, Rowley and Nashua, NH, all of which have subsequently closed.

The Saxes chose not to make a public statement to The Journal, but others were happy to share their views.
“I’m not looking to besmirch Wal-Mart, but it is the 800-pound gorilla that is killing everyone,” says Barton Hyte of Marblehead, who is handling the liquidation of the store. Hyte is CEO of BKHCO Inc., the same company that recently liquidated Photographics.

“Big box stores, which have incredible buying power, make it harder for a sole proprietor or family business to survive,” he says.

Hyte acknowledges that even local chain stores such as Lechmere’s and Caldor were forced to close because of intense competition in the marketplace.

“It’s tough for small local and regional businesses to survive these days. The fixed costs of doing business keep going up disproportionately to the profits, and with real estate in this area so valuable, many discover that that the land their store is on is worth more than the business itself,” says Hyte.

National

Conservative Rabbis Seek Place for Gays

Debra Rubin
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Sympathetic to concerns of gay and lesbian Jews seeking a place in their movement, some Conservative rabbis are, in a way, coming out of the closet. Some 100 rabbis from the United States, Europe and Israel recently signed on with a new group called Keshet-Rabbis.

The organization seeks to provide members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community with resources to help them find a welcoming place in Conservative Judaism. Rabbis open to giving guidance to gays and lesbians are listed on their website, www.keshetrabbis.org.

While the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in 1992 declared that congregations should welcome gays and lesbians, it left it up to individual congregations to decide if gays may be hired as teachers or youth leaders. In addition, the movement’s rabbinical seminaries do not ordain openly gay rabbis, nor may Rabbinical Assembly members officiate at gay wedding ceremonies.

All of the Keshet-Rabbis members belong to the Rabbinical Assembly.

“Everyone who’s signed on agrees that our polices at the U.J. and the JTS need to change,” said Rabbi Menachem Creditor of Temple Israel in Sharon, MA., referring to the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary.

Creditor, who is among a small group of rabbis who founded Keshet-Rabbis, said he doesn’t want the organization to be seen as divisive.

“I don’t think pushing a progressive agenda is a slap in the face,” Creditor said. “If the Rabbinical Assembly is going to be responsive, it needs to have a voice from within.”

But Rabbi Peretz Rodman is concerned. Rodman, president of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Israel region, considered signing on with Keshet-Rabbis but decided against it.

“I am entirely sympathetic to the goal of Keshet-Rabbis, but I have hesitated to join because I don’t think that it’s healthy for us as colleagues to form separate organizations other than the Rabbinical Assembly itself,” he said.

Rabbi Janet Ozur Bass, a teacher at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD, did sign on.
“It’s important for people in the Conservative movement to understand there is a diversity of opinion on this issue,” she said.

“We in the field are coming in contact with gay Jews who are members of our congregations and are in turmoil because the misconception is that the Conservative movement is anti-gay  and we’re not,” said Rabbi Eitan Julius, rabbi of San Jose, CA’s Congregation Sinai. In the long run, he said, the goal is eventually to see lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered rabbinical-school students “who do not have to go into the closet in order to pursue rabbinic ordination in the Conservative movement.”

Rabbi Jack Moline of Alexandria, VA’s Agudas Achim Congregation has held classes at his synagogue dealing with inclusiveness and gay marriage.

“I am hoping that gay and lesbian people feel so welcome in this community that nobody reaches out,” Moline said.

The Washington Jewish Week’s Aaron Leibel and JTA staff writer Chanan Tigay in New York contributed to this report.

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Features

Minnie Singer
A Packed Agenda Keeps Active Senior Happy

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

LYNN — Minnie Singer, who turns 92 in August, has a busy schedule.

On Mondays, she participates in a Yiddish Club at the Marblehead JCC. On Tuesdays, she is a key member of The Golden Age Club, where she has served as president and program chairman for many years. On Wednesdays, she attends the Senior Friendship Club, and sings with the North Shore Songsters, which she has done for two decades. On Fridays, she is part of a knitting group that makes blankets for Russian orphans and hats for kids with cancer. And every Saturday, she attends services at Congregation Ahabat Sholom, where she has worshipped since 1998.

In addition, Minnie takes fitness classes, and works out twice a week at the JCC gym. When the weather is nice, she takes long walks. She does all her own cooking and is renowned for her sponge cake, brownies and homemade gefilte fish. To relax, she plays classical music on a panio in her living room, and is an avid reader who enjoys biographies about famous women such as Golda Meir and Hillary Clinton.

Physically fit and mentally sharp, the independent nonagenarian still drives and maintains the tidy house she has lived in for the past 51 years.

Born and raised in the Brickyard section of Lynn, Minnie was the oldest of four children born to Russian Jewish immigrants. “We had a wonderful childhood,” she reminisces. “We lived in a big, six-family house, and all the neighborhood children played together. In the winter, we ice skated on the Commons, and in the summer, we went to the beach every day.”

A tomboy, Minnie remembers playing baseball with the boys, and was proud to be the first girl in the neighborhood to attend Hebrew school.

“We were members of (the now defunct) Congregation Anshai Sfard in Lynn. My parents wanted us all to have a Hebrew education. When I became old enough, my father went to the rebbe who said, ‘She’s a girl – it’s not necessary to send her.’ He disagreed, and sent me to Hebrew school at Ahabat Sholom, which at that time was located on Church St. I was the only girl in the class.”

She met her future husband Harry at a YMHA dance, and they married in 1937. He died in 2001 at age 92. They shared a happy life together that centered around family and religious life. Minnie was active in Anshai Sfard, serving as president of the sisterhood. Harry, who worked as a bookkeeper in Peabody, often filled in as cantor and rabbi of the temple. They loved to travel, and visited Israel every summer for 15 years.

The Singers had three children: Deborah (who lives in Lynn), Aida (who made aliyah to Israel 36 years ago but returns to the North Shore every summer) and Arthur, who lives in Lexington. Minnie is a grandmother of seven, and a great-grandmother of eight.

A devoted homemaker while her children were young, she decided to become a Hebrew school teacher after they were grown. She “retired” at age 72.

“I may have retired from work, but I did not retire from life,” she says with a sparkle in her bright blue eyes. “I can’t sit still for very long.”

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Defender of the Jews

Chaim Chertok
Special to The Journal

End Of An Exile: Israel, The Jews And The Gentile World by James Parkes, Edited and Introduced by Eugene B. Korn and Roberta Kalechofksy. Appendix Essays by Reinhold Niebuhr, A. Roy Eckhardt and Eight Others. Marblehead MA: Micah, 2004, 341 pp.

James Parkes, 1896–1981, was the British historian and Anglican theologian whose more than 20 books and many score essays broke essential ground in developing a new and positive Christian approach toward the Jewish people.

As early as The Conflict Between the Church and the Synagogue (1934), decades ahead of the present tide of Christian revisionism, Parkes not only located the evil of anti-Semitism in the maw of the Gospels and the Church Fathers, but denounced it both as error and sin that had to be uprooted.

Indeed, even earlier Parkes was warning a complacent world about Hitler and, until he himself was almost assassinated, was active in spiriting Jewish refugees across the Continent. Years ahead of the curve and acting mostly alone, this maverick clergyman confronted the powerful missionary bloc with the Anglican establishment, arguing imperturbably that God did not desire the conversion of the Jews, that Judaism had never been superseded, that the age-old charge of deicide was a calumny which had no basis whatsoever, and that the teaching of contempt for God’s people was a sin against God.

A new edition End Of An Exile is cause for celebration. Written more than 50 years ago, its argument for the justice and necessity for the return of the Jews to their homeland is as germane today as ever. It serves as a powerful corrective from within the Christian camp to so-called “liberation theology” espoused by Protestant theologians who refuse to acknowledge that anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism, and argue that the very existence of the Jewish State is the root of evil in the Middle East that needs to be effaced.

In justifying the Jewish re-entry to a land that contained an Arab majority, for example, he demonstrates that Arab claims based upon historical continuity are spurious. As for Jews, however, if over the millennia their numbers have “constantly varied, it has been because of circumstances outside Jewish control, and not because Jews had themselves lost interest in living in their ‘promised land.’

On the whole it may be said that it was always as large as possible in view of conditions existing at any one time.” Thus End Of An Exile, is an elegant justification of classical Zionism.

While strongly advocating a Jewish return to Zion, however, Parkes did not neglect simultaneously to caution Israel about her obligations: “One day she will recognize that it is wrong to evolve far-fetched arguments to deny any Arab rights in the land they had inhabited so long or to rest their case on the legality of the Balfour Declaration. She was allowed to override normal rights because she had unique claims. But the mission involved a deep debt of honour to those who lost by her gain.”

Parkes’ comprehensive store of Jewish history enables him again and again to draw original, opposite comparisons. He points out, for example, how the 19th century resembles the Roman period. In both eras Jews “could move freely in a civilization which exercised a powerful attraction for them.”

If the former situation gave birth to a new religion, in the 19th century it was not ethical monotheism but the passion for social justice which provided the spark. “Consequently, the result was not a new religion, but the new political creed of socialism.” Similar stimulating, lively analyses may be found on almost every page.

The editors Korn and Kalechofsky have not only re-released Parkes’ writing, but have garnished the text with a rich array of essays. With two biographies soon to be released and this highly welcome re-issue of this relevant Parkes text, 2005 gives every indication of being the year of Parkes.

The writer is a Professor of English at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva and author of the forthcoming book, He Also Spoke As A Jew: The Life Of James Parkes, to be published by Vallentine Mitchell Publishers.

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Lest We Forget
The Book That Kills Jews

Herbert Belkin
Special to The Journal

An early version of the book begins with 12 elderly Jews meeting in a graveyard at midnight to plot how Jews could rule the world. Unbelievable? Of course, but that was the basic plot for a book that has fueled anti-Semitism for a 100 years.

In 1905 the Okhrana, the Russian secret police, drew on a number of previous sources to turn out an outrageous, hate-filled book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In the ensuing 100 years, this manual for anti-Semites was the cause, directly or indirectly, for the murder of thousands of Jews. In 24 chapters or protocols, Jews are blamed for attempts at world domination, wars, economic chaos and capitalism and communism (truth and logic are noticeably missing from The Protocols).

The extent of the blood libel against Jews is exposed in this quote from Protocol No. 6: “In place of the rulers of today we shall set up a bogey which will be called the Super-Government Administration. Its hands will reach out in all directions like nippers and its organization will be of such colossal dimensions that it cannot fail to subdue all the nations of the world.” The tragic irony about the slander The Protocols spewed, that Jews want to rule the world by controlling international finance, is that for centuries the homeless Jews were the most persecuted, most victimized, most vilified among the peoples of Europe.

The appearance of The Protocols through the years often coincided with the need of the ruling powers to find a scapegoat for their problems. The publication of The Protocols in 1905 coincided with the defeat Russia suffered during the Russo-Japanese War. During the Russian Revolution in 1917, the White Army loyal to the Czar invoked The Protocols and blamed the Jews as instigators of the revolution. The slaughter of thousands of Jews followed. Need a scapegoat? Read The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and blame the Jews.

In 1921, Lucien Wolf in England and Herman Bernstein in the United States exposed The Protocols as a forgery and thoroughly documented the hoax. Unfortunately, Henry Ford did not read or did not want to read these exposures. During the 1920s Ford’s newspaper, “The Dearborn Independent,” ran a series titled “The International Jew: the World’s Foremost Problem.” This anti-Semitic series and a book based on them reached hundreds of thousands of Americans. The anti-Semitism that Ford help to spread in this country was picked up by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. In 1927, however, Ford was forced to retract his anti-Semitic attack because of a boycott against Ford cars by American Jews.

Another reader of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, with disastrous affects, was Adolph Hitler. Hitler referred to The Protocols in his diatribe of hatred, Mein Kampf, and used it as part of the philosophical foundation of the Nazi party. In 1933, a boycott against Jewish businesses was called a defense against “The Plan of Basel,” — another name for The Protocols. The Nazi party, under the direction of Joseph Goebbels, had the work translated into many languages and distributed throughout the world. As Geobbels once said, the bigger the lie, the more people believed it. The Protocols were part of the big lie that Hitler and the Nazis used to justify their evil.

Perhaps the most bizarre and unexplainable occurrence of anti-Semitism is in Japan. This country with hardly any Jews and only minimal contact with Judaism has a history of anti-Semitism that goes back to the 1920s. During this time, The Protocols were introduced to Japan, and anti-Semitic writings have been prevalent in this island nation ever since. Japanese anti-Semitism is instructive because it shows the illogical need for scapegoats and hatred of Jews can flourish even if there are no Jews in the country.

The Protocol of the Elders of Zion is still a handbook for scapegoatism and a manual for anti-Semites. Tragically, 100 years after it first appeared, The Protocols can still be found on bookshelves in this country and throughout Europe. In Muslim countries it is widespread and is used as the basis for television programs and other popular expressions of Jew hatred. As long as this scurrilous attack against Jews is published, there will be a breach in the behavior of civilized societies. When public conscience and outcry stop the publication of The Protocols, the world will have achieved a measure of social justice.

Herb Belkin is a writer and speaker on the Holocaust, dedicated to preserving its lessons so that this tragedy never happens again. He can be reached at beachbluff@comcast.net.

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Zagats for Men: A Rating Guide for Women

Chava Hudson
Special to The Journal

As I bushwhack my way through the dating jungle, I often wish that men would come with ratings, kind of like restaurants, or that they be required to wear warning labels like prescription drugs.

These labels would be color-coded for quick identification of today’s single man: green for a commit-phobe, red for problems with anger, yellow for too much drinking.

You get the idea. But unfortunately, like today’s herbal remedies, they are totally unregulated, so a single woman must do her best to assess men for herself. Like restaurant reviews that can help us find the best places to dine, I would like to share my rating system to help women in their quest to find a man.

Let’s start at the top. In my opinion, a four-star man has arrived at middle age and no longer whines about his divorce. Through prior training, he knows that if I cook, he cleans up. He knows when to arrive with flowers and even better, how to make reservations. More importantly, he has a generous and open heart, and the only thing he would ever hit is a golf ball, or maybe the jackpot in Las Vegas.

The typical three-star man is similar to the four-star, but he is subject to lapses of belching and gas. The two-star man has not found himself yet, and is probably 50 years old, never been married, and looking for the lucky young woman to bear his children. It’s easy to spot the one-star man. He’s about 45, lives with his mother, and can’t afford to take you out for coffee. I have laid it out ladies, and the choice is yours.

So how are you supposed to tell what a man’s rating is when you meet him? Unfortunately, many men will try to appear like they have a higher rating. For instance, the dapper 52-year-old guy who picks you up in his shiny BMW might appear like a four-star, but you then learn that he has never been married, is leaving soon to find a 25-year-old wife in Colombia, and is about to go bankrupt. (If we had the mandatory labels, his would be green and there would be no problem.) Or someone who you think is a solid three-star may get demerits for spending your entire dinner telling you about his villainous ex-wife.

As you can see, this is all very ambiguous. What’s a woman to do? As far as restaurants go, even though I do read reviews, I am always seeking those yet-to-be discovered little places with good food, good service, and reasonable prices that have modeled themselves on four-star restaurants.

When it comes to men, it’s not all that different. The best ones may not come in a BMW or have all the answers, but if the guy is like those restaurants, maybe an undiscovered place with “good food” and “good service” and if the emotional “price” is reasonable, then bon appetit!

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People in the News

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Arts & Entertainment

Unless You’re “Four-giving,” Fantastic is “Four-gettable”

David Pepose
Jewish Journal Staff

What’s the heart and soul of a superhero film?

In Spider-Man 2, it was fighting up and down the walls of a clock tower, holding on for dear life only by spider-powers and steel tentacles. In Hulk, it was the green behemoth’s rampage through the desert, shredding anything the U.S. Army could throw at him. In this summer’s Batman Begins, it was training in the Himalayas, battling an army of shadowy ninjas, continuing on with a wild, violent romp through the greasy underbelly of Gotham City.

In Fantastic Four, however, the best scene in the movie is the Thing, a 6-foot, 500-pound slab of walking, breathing orange rock, struggling to pick up his wife’s discarded wedding ring, his thick fingers unable to hold onto the tiny gold band. His struggles are Herculean in their poignancy, as you hear rock scrape against asphalt as he tries again and again — until, finally, the super-elastic Mr. Fantastic picks the ring up, and places it in the distraught Thing’s hand.

This doesn’t sound like a typical, action-packed superhero flick because the Fantastic Four were never a typical superhero team. While the X-Men and the Avengers always had very business-oriented relationships, the Fantastic Four were always, first and foremost, a family.

Created in 1961 by Jewish comic book creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Fantastic Four wedded vastly different themes: elitism, stardom, the dysfunctional family, and a departure from the rigid socio-cultural standards that came with America’s infatuation with President Kennedy’s “Camelot.”

Mr. Fantastic was always bogged down with important business, and, with the Invisible Girl, he embodied charisma, a clear reflection of John and Jackie Kennedy. The Human Torch was the boisterous teenager the all-too-human reader could relate to. The Thing, whom artist Jack Kirby created as his alter-ego, had not only a unique sense of irascible humor, but pathos and perseverance that reflected Kirby’s Jewish roots.

These four adventurers — not just “superheroes,” but also scientists, celebrities, and the common man — made up the Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics’ longest-running superhero team.

This premise makes Fantastic Four different than the superhero films of yesteryear. The action in director Tim Story’s piece is more limited than in Spider-Man 2 or Batman Begins.

For better or for worse, Story does remain true to his source material: indeed, many issues of the comic involve the team fighting amongst themselves at home, with the villain breaking it up. The strength of the FF is how the characters play off each other, and in that regard, Fantastic Four scores: siblings bicker, exes are frigid, and best friends quibble and fight, but everyone is loyal to the bitter end.

The movie begins with destitute prodigy Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), along with his best friend and pilot Ben Grimm (well-cast Michael Chiklis), trying to scrounge a deep-space observation of cosmic rays from industrialist Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon). It’s never revealed why Doom tries to humiliate Reed so much, as Doom reveals he’s been dating Reed’s ex-girlfriend, Susan Storm (lukewarm Jessica Alba).

The transparently evil Doom agrees to Reed’s request, with certain stipulations: Doom, Sue, and her pilot brother Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) will accompany them. In this way, FF strays from the usual formula of superhero films: while movies like Batman took an hour to acquaint us with the hero, Story instead has his principals come to the table all knowing each other, and with histories of their own.

As the story continues, the quintet arrives on Doom’s space station, and awaits the cosmic storm’s approach. The dreaded storm, however, comes early, and none of the ill-fated astronauts can reach the shields and avoid its radioactivity.

Immediately hospitalized, they each begin to display fantastic abilities: Reed, or Mr. Fantastic, can limitlessly stretch his body; Sue, the Invisible Girl, can become invisible and project force fields; Johnny, the Human Torch, can burst into flame and fly; Ben becomes the Thing, a super-strong bruiser made of orange rock.

Ben, hit hardest of all, escapes, and inadvertently causes a horrific car accident. Reed, Sue, and Johnny make it on the scene, and the quartet saves the civilians; as a result, the Fantastic Four become instant celebrities, which only the narcissistic Johnny truly enjoys.

Meanwhile, Reed works tirelessly to find a cure — at least, until Sue comes back, pining for him — Ben broods, Johnny embraces his newfound stardom, and Doom plots against the FF, in payback for weakening his crumbling empire and a strangely metallic scar that is creeping across his face.

Obviously, Fantastic Four has its flaws. They say a hero is only as strong as his villain, and this film’s villain is pitiful, especially when compared to his roots. Victor Von Doom, in the comic, horribly scarred himself in a lab accident and blamed Reed Richards for it. He then built for himself a high-tech suit of battle armor, and, with his army of robotic “Doombots” now rules over the country of Latveria. Rumored to be partial inspiration for Star Wars’ Darth Vader, Doom’s genius, menace, and Shakespearean dignity made him one of Marvel’s most interesting villains.

Julian McMahon, however, is far from interesting. McMahon’s almost feline-sounding voice oozes “effeminate, pampered businessman” instead of “powerful arch-foe” sounding like he would be more placated by a makeover and pedicure than by the complete and total destruction of his sworn enemies.

This doesn’t change in or out of armor. Doom’s character becomes more laughable during battle, where Doom never really seems to be all that difficult for the FF to beat, as opposed to the cliffhangers of Spider-Man 2.

Story’s overall hackery as a director is another glaring weakness. For example, Story makes every scene of Johnny with a simple, grating formula: “insert extreme sport, insert punk rock song, insert fire, repeat.” Story, complete with the other two Stooges, screenwriters Michael France and Mark Frost, never seem to get their rhythm with these scenes, instead pandering to whatever they think the “cool” pre-teen lads will like best.

The special effects in the film would be considered superb if this movie was from 1992. But after films like Spider-Man or Hulk, the effects are sub-par, something this precarious film cannot afford.

For example, when the Human Torch tosses fire at the Thing, all we see is a tiny firecracker popping by the Thing’s head. When the Torch flies, he doesn’t like he’s aflame, but instead like he’s been cheaply Photoshopped.

However, the movie truly shines when it comes to the secret of the Fantastic Four’s success: characterization and the family dynamic. Sue and Johnny bicker over how to deal with their mutations: Sue wants them to remain at Reed’s, while Johnny just wants to play with his new abilities. The Thing struggles with bitterness at Reed while he lashes out at the Torch’s jeering.

Chris Evans is a scene-stealer, proving his acting chops by not just excelling as the bombastic Johnny Storm, but by acting as foil to his co-stars, helping share in a burden that may have been too heavy for even Superman to carry.
In short, this film does remain true to the heart and soul of “the world’s greatest comics,” the Fantastic Four. They are less a superhero team and more a superhero family, and in that light the movie excels.

That said, this premise does make Fantastic Four a movie not quite on par with the typical superhero movie fare, let alone this summer’s blockbuster hit Batman Begins. If you’re interested or a fan, leave your expectations at home and you’ll be entertained; if not, you might just have to “four-get” Fantastic Four.

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Editorial

Fighting Islamic Extremism

It has now been determined that the perpetrators of the four July 7 bombings in London that killed over 50 and wounded some 700 innocent victims were four British-born men of Pakistani descent.

Just after noon on July 7, BBC News reported that a website known to be operated by associates of Al-Qaeda had been located with a 200-word statement claiming responsibility for the attacks. The announcement claims the attacks are a response to the British involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

“We know that these people act in the name of Islam, but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims here and abroad are decent, law-abiding people,” Tony Blair said from London after leaving the G8 summit in Scotland. “It’s particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long-term problems with the environment.”

According to a July 8 article posted on CNN.com, Jihad al-Khazen, an op-ed columnist for the London-based pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper, wrote that he was saddened “that there are people in our Arab world that continue to sympathize with terrorism… This is our sick reality and it doesn’t help anyone to pretend this mentality doesn’t exist. One can’t ignore the fact that Arab governments didn’t act early on to crush the extreme movements growing in our midst.”

While there were to be found numerous words of condemnation and sympathy from Muslim citizens and the media — along with a host of other thoughts — a search for Arab governments’ responses to the London bombings yielded similar sentiments only from Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and United Arab Emirates’ Deputy Prime Minister Sheik Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

In a region where everyday Arab citizens danced in the streets after September 11, and following the July 12 suicide bombing in Netanya, the first in five months — despite Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ condemnation in English — Israelis, Britons and citizens of the world are left to wonder how further atrocities may be stopped.

It is wrong of course to scapegoat innocent Muslims — many of whom in Western countries live in fear of violence from those who would paint all people of Arab descent with the same brush — as well as the multitudes around the world with peaceful aspirations.

But perhaps the more Arab governments condemn the extremists in their midst, the less the world will have to fear from those whose twisted thoughts and actions take innocent lives and perpetuate violence and hatred around the world.

— Gary Band

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Local Columnists

After the London Bombing

Last week, we saw the carnage in London, and people walking dazed and bloody from the explosion. We heard of the valor of less seriously injured fellow passengers and emergency personnel. I could only weep for the wounded and curse the perpetrators.

While living in Israel, I saw the sites and aftermath of hundreds of killings on Israeli buses, supermarkets, outdoor markets and cafes, in villages, on streets, at border crossing points. Too often, terrorists brazenly barged into private homes killing women and children.

I have asked, as you have, when will it end? But more personally, how can I help? What can citizens do to both protect themselves and reduce the incidents and their severity?

We average citizens, with no decision-making power, no authority, and no standing in policymaking (except to write or call our president or representatives) can only try to help within our family, neighborhoods and workplaces.

Not a good feeling to be so ineffectual. We’ve been advised, and most of us comply, to keep our eyes open. MBTA signs tell us: “See Something? Say Something!” I see somebody on a train, subway, and airline terminal or on the street looking suspicious, wearing a heavy coat, a little strange, maybe with a Middle Eastern appearance. But what to do? Trust intuition or instincts? Whom do I tell? What do I say?

And if we don’t know exactly how to handle a situation, how do we advise and train, our youngsters to stay out of harm’s way?

We need a lot more help on this problem than we are receiving from the authorities.

Another question. What do the perpetrators accomplish? Prime Minister Tony Blair’s first television address following the bombings declared that the nation and its people would hold fast and not allow terror to impede their values, laws and way of life. Mr. Blair knows Great Britain will stand fast as it has through 30 years of IRA bombings and the blitzes of World War II.

In fact, terrorist bombings have never destroyed a nation state, nor really achieved the perpetrators’ goals. The main results have been that innocents are killed or maimed, and the lives of those connected to the victims were filled with pain and suffering.

This is an important distinction because the next question becomes obvious. If the terrorists cannot change or overthrow the state or its policies with bombs, why do they continue killing innocent civilians?

My theory is that bombing civilians is the cheapest and easiest way for these groups to gain worldwide publicity, encourage supporters, and recruit new adherents. It is a way of life, for some a game of excitement, danger. It’s a job with a salary. It’s the politics of blood.

Whatever ideology the terrorist leaders have relied on to legitimize atrocities is just like a page from the book of spin and propaganda, a lie in front of the truth.

Some leaders of countries hit by bombings unwittingly assist the terrorists’ big lie by saying that the root causes of the attacks are poverty, lack of education and other social ills. Tony Blair said just that in his second speech to the nation last week.

These almost innocent-sounding generalizations, in my view, are both incorrect and counter-productive. Incorrect, because poverty does not describe the actual condition of terrorist leaders or most perpetrators; counter-productive, because some degree of sympathy or justification may be generated for the terrorists.

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