Local Stories
International Stories
Features
Arts & Entertainment
Editorial
Local Columnists
Opinion
Letters/Commentary
Obits

Local Stories

North Shore Summer: A ‘Teenage Wasteland’?

Daniel Postilnik
Jewish Journal Staff

Editor’s Note: The author, a summer intern at the Journal, was asked to report on what organized activities exist for teens, ages 14-18, on the North Shore this summer. This is his report.

For most Jewish teens on the North Shore, summer is a teenage wasteland.

Many have gone off to camp, and a few others are spending the summer traveling in Europe, Israel, or other countries. This leaves most teens at home for the summer — wondering, in many cases, how to fill their time.

Interviews indicate that many are bored. Teenagers need to be able to get together, socialize, and stay active. In Europe, Israel, and Latin America, teens have special youth discotheques, cheap cafes, and social clubs. Getting around is cheap, efficient, reliable, and represents access to entertainment for young people.
For North Shore teens without wheels, a trip to Boston means a wait of up to an hour for a bus. True, there’s the commuter rail, but neither Danvers nor Peabody has nearby access to it, and the majority of Marblehead residents are a half hour or more by foot from the Swampscott station.

“[Public transportation] could be better,” says Charlee Bianchini, 16, of Gloucester. “The buses don’t run very frequently and they cost a lot of money for people like me who don’t make tons of money.”

Assuming that many Jewish teens have parents available to drive them places, one might expect that the North Shore is teeming with opportunities for teens to socialize. Sadly, this is not the case.

The Jewish Community Center of the North Shore in Marblehead offers several trips during the school year; but the only evidence of an effort to keep teens actively socializing during the summer is the Derek Sheckman teen center — open three days a week for three hours at a time. The North Suburban JCC in Peabody has no regular summer programming for teens.

Chabad of the North Shore has a teen club that meets when the members organize themselves. None of the local USY chapters (Peabody, Beverly, Swampscott/Marblehead) have any events planned for the summer. Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester has no teen programs for the summer. The Marblehead Department of Parks and Recreation offers one “teen challenge” program, which some teens may find expensive. Most community centers cite camp and summer jobs as the reason for the decline of teen programs in the summer. At the Marblehead JCC, many participants of school-year teen programs end up working there.

In short, places that teem with people during the school year are virtually empty during the summer. What are Jewish teens to do?

Many go to the beach, enjoy the outdoors, and just relax. Some have more active schedules. Ben Glickstein, 16, of Gloucester, takes theater classes three nights a week; two days a week he works as an intern at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center, taking care of tanks full of fish. While Ben doesn’t often feel bored, he believes he is atypical.

“My parents care about me and show me good opportunities, and I have a group of friends who are good influences; I don’t think I would need any more [organized activities]. But I’m lucky. I don’t think all the teens around me have that. I definitely think that Gloucester could benefit from more [activities].”

Rachel Newborn, 16, of Marblehead, feels that teens may be straying off in the wrong direction due to a lack of local activities.

“I definitely see the connection between not having a lot to do around town and the amount of kids who smoke and drink. I really do think that if there were more happenings around this area — like shows, concerts, a local movie theater, teen-oriented things — then kids might be filling up their time getting involved with those things instead of drugs and alcohol,” she says.

Two Marblehead teens who admittedly smoke marijuana regularly (let’s call them Joshua and Isaac), aged 17 and 18 respectively, turn to drugs to relieve their boredom. Smoking is as much a social activity as going to a concert or a party, and often fills the absence of organized local activities.

“Just about everyone I’ve met in town either smokes or drinks,” says Joshua. Both teens agree that peer groups, where teens can discuss their problems, would significantly decrease the number of teen pot smokers in the area. Isaac finds that existing programs are not varied enough, and unfortunately, “a lot of people who do go to these things are drinking and smoking before they go.” Joshua recalls traveling to Montreal with a friend. The two had a stash of marijuana with them but they were having so much fun in the city, he says, they never got around to smoking.

While some choose intoxication as their entertainment, many teens on the North Shore rely on self-invented entertainment. Most interviewees mentioned going to the movies with friends, congregating at people’s homes, playing cards, swimming, tanning at the beach, or simply hanging out. Some common places to socialize include: Fort Sewall, Crocker Park, the skate park at Gatchell’s Playground, Devereux Beach in Marblehead, Phillips Beach, Preston Beach, the Red Rock Café and the Cap & Net internet café in Swampscott. Interestingly, the Cap & Net offers extra privileges to honor-roll students.

Charlee Bianchini, who works at a small movie theater in Rockport, finds her nights full of “hanging out at the beach and playing guitar.” Glickstein suggests trampolines as “an easy, safe way to have fun.” Others enjoy solitude and nature. “Now that I have large chunks of time to do whatever I want, I’ve been walking around a lot lately,” says Newborn.

Suburban towns of the United States may never be the equals of cosmopolitan European cities, but there is room for improvement in the quality of life for teenagers, and with that improvement would come a generation of more mature, worldly, self-sufficient individuals.

The writer, who grew up in Marblehead, will enter his senior year at Deerfield Academy in September.

Back to top

Levin Named New Rabbi at Temple Shalom

Gary Band
Jewish Journal Staff

SALEM — The recently ordained Rabbi Lee Levin has taken a somewhat circuitous route to the rabbinate. But at age 40 — Levin and his wife Karen, a clinical psychologist, and their two young children, Jonah, 6, and Mayan, 3 — may be just what Temple Shalom needs.

Despite being slightly out of shape due to the rigors of rabbinic study, Levin is energetic, optimistic and wants more than anything to help create an egalitarian and participatory environment at his new spiritual home on Lafayette Street.

Born in Queens in 1964, Levin grew up on Long Island. Most of his adult life, however, has been spent in New England. He attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he graduated in 1986, and went on to do graduate work in economics at UMass Amherst.

It was not until moving to Somerville in 1993 for a position as an economics professor at Merrimack College that Levin began attending synagogue for the first time in his life.

“It was exactly 10 years ago today that I walked into Congregation B’nai Brith in Somerville,” Levin said during an interview at the Hawthorne Hotel July 9. “I was always curious about Judaism and felt there was something profound I was missing out on.”

Levin says that becoming part of the welcoming community at B’nai Brith inspired him to begin a religious journey of learning and discovery that he plans to pursue for the rest of his days. The synagogue is also where he became a bar mitzvah at the age of 31, and where he met and married his wife Karen.

After his bar mitzvah, people suggested that he might go into Jewish professional work. Not sure what area to focus on, he called the dean of the Jewish Theological Seminary and decided to spend the summer there studying Hebrew and Talmud.

“I loved being there,” Levin said. “It was transformative. And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if I could do this for the rest of my life?’”

Only a few credits shy of a Ph.D in economics, Levin entered rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2000 and was ordained in May of 2004. While at JTS, he was a rabbinical student intern at Columbia/Barnard Hillel and led a study group and High Holiday services at synagogues in New York and New Jersey.

The son of liberal-minded but secular parents, Levin did not attend temple growing up in the Manhasset section of Long Island.

“Had we lived one town over, it may have been different,” Levin said, “but there wasn’t much Jewish life in Manhasset.”

Levin said that his father, who grew up in a very Jewish household in New York, discovered existentialism while in college, rebelled against religion and never came back to it. And his mother, who grew up in a culturally Jewish family in Philadelphia, had “some antipathy toward organized religion.”

At the same time, his grandmother would often speak Yiddish. And while Levin grew up in a household filled with love and good values, his parents divorced when he was 10 and he and his late brother were raised by their mother.

“My brother was the most incredible person I ever knew,” Levin said. “He was a phenomenal teacher in the Bronx. He saw a divine spark in everyone he met and felt each person had infinite worth.”

Levin shares these values, and feels the reason that synagogues and rabbis must be welcoming and participatory is to encourage people to ask questions and offer thoughts that others may not have considered.

As to why he chose to be a rabbi, Levin says there are many parts of him that need to be fulfilled.

“Some were met being a professor, but I thought being a rabbi would allow me to engage all the parts of myself. I hope very strongly that I can be empowering to congregants and help them live rich, spiritually engaged lives,” Levin says. “I hope to speak to people’s intellect as well as their spirit, be with them in their times of need and help make the world a better place.”

Levin says that some of the most significant times in his life are the moments he first saw his children, the first time he attended services at B’nai Brith, celebrating his bar mitzvah, and taking a cross country motorcycle trip in 1992, a trip that symbolizes his belief that life is a journey.

“It was an absolutely amazing quasi-religious experience,” he said. “The Torah portion this week is on the travels of the people of Israel and how they never really get to an ending point. I think we’re all on spiritual journeys of our own, people are spoken to by different things, and the learning never ends.”

Of his moving from New York and re-entering life in Massachusetts with a pulpit, Levin says it’s a little scary, but he’s very excited.

“I’ve always wanted to come back to New England and dreamed about living on the North Shore. I feel very fortunate that things worked out as they did. This is a great community and a warm and friendly temple. I think our kids will love the area, and it’s a pretty darn good match all around.”

Temple Shalom will hold an Installation Ceremony for Rabbi Levin on July 25 at 2 p.m. Call 978-741-4880 for more information.

Back to top

I.B. Singer Remembered on Centennial

Daniel Postilnik
Jewish Journal Staff

This month marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Nobel Prize Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, the only Yiddish writer to receive the prize. The citation for the prize reads: “for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life.”

The story of I.B. Singer’s life only begins to explain the enormous influence he has had on literature.
Singer was born Yitskhok Zynger in Radzymin, Poland, a village near Warsaw, in 1904. He spent his childhood surrounded by a bizarre range of people: thieves, prostitutes, criminals, as well as observant Jews. He was thus exposed to the folklore, superstitions, and mystical traditions these Jews carried on from generation to generation.

Both of Singer’s grandfathers were rabbis of the Chassidic order, as was his father. The tradition of mystical Judaism in Singer’s family would provide ample inspiration for stories and novels in the future. After spending a short time in rabbinical studies, Singer entered the world of journalism and literature in Warsaw between World War I and World War II. He translated works from English and German and published his own short stories in Yiddish. The serialization of Singer’s first novel, Der Sotn in Goray (Satan in Goray), began building his literary reputation in Poland.

Singer fled Poland in 1935 as Hitler’s influence spread. He joined his older brother, Israel, already an established author, in New York. He wrote for the renowned Yiddish newspaper, the Vorferts (the Jewish Daily Forward). But he wrote less in the years leading up to World War II, feeling that his mother tongue and culture was on the edge of annihilation at the hands of the Nazis.

World War II seemed to rejuvenate Singer. His short story Gimpel the Fool was translated into English by Saul Bellow and ran in the Partisan Review in 1953. The new American audience found that Singer’s parable spoke to the moral confusion that came with World War II. The publication of Singer’s first story brought him a following and the beginning of his career as a mainstream writer.

In reviewing a posthumously published work by Singer, Robert Fulton described the famed Yiddish writer as “the ambassador from a lost civilization, a culture the world never appreciated until it was dead, a culture he carried in his bones.” Indeed, Singer brought Jewish culture, tradition, and religious mysticism to the surface of world awareness in a way that no writer had ever done before or will likely ever do in the future.

Singer’s depiction of the universal within our daily lives found its place not only in the literary world, where Singer leaves a legacy of more than 12 books of short stories, 13 children books, three collections, and four books of memoirs (in English), but also in the performing arts: Barbra Streisand made one of his stories, Yentl, into a successful Broadway musical, and Paul Mazursky made his 1972 novel, Enemies: A Love Story, into a much-admired film.

“A historical moment has passed,” said Aaron Lansky, head of the National Yiddish Book Center, upon the death of Isaac Bashevis Singer on July 24, 1991.

To celebrate his centennial, a range of events will be taking place across the country. Locally, on Sunday, July 18, at 2:00 p.m., there will be a screening of Isaac in America, a documentary of I.B. Singer’s life from his early days in Warsaw to his acceptance of the Nobel Prize, at the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. Most other programs will take place in New York City or Florida, and includes book fairs, lectures, art exhibits, discussions of Singer’s work, theater performances, and staged readings. For details visit www.singer100.org.

Back to top

Countdown Begins on The Joining of Two Temples

Mark Arnold
Jewish Journal Staff

SWAMPSCOTT — Leaders of the two temples seeking to join forces moved a step closer to their goal on July 11 when members began voting on whether to combine their congregations. The members of Temple Israel cast bright pink ballots and of Temple Beth El blue ballots that asked members to check one of two boxes, indicating whether they “approve” or “disapprove” of a resolution to “consolidate into a new corporation.”

The members have until August 22 to achieve the hard-to-realize two-thirds majority of all members required by Massachusetts law to bring about the consolidation. Each congregation currently has 400 member households. But their bylaws differ on how to count members for voting purposes. At Israel, each family has one vote; at Beth El one or two depending on whether there is a Jewish couple or only a Jewish individual who heads the household. That makes the “magic number” 267 at Israel (two-thirds of 400 families) and a little over 400 at Beth El (two-thirds of 600-plus — the exact number is still uncertain — individuals entitled to vote).

Because the paths of least resistance are to vote “no” or not vote at all, many members of the two synagogues believe approval is an uphill battle. But the presidents of the two congregations are optimistic. Both synagogues have sent out ballots to members that didn’t show up to vote in person and are organizing phone trees urging members to vote before the deadline.

If they fail to achieve approval by August 22, they can vote to extend the deadline. The existing timetable envisions a year of negotiation on details of the merger — including important questions of which building will house the new congregation, ritual observance, and rights of interfaith family members — leading to establishment of the joint congregation in time for High Holiday services in September 2005.

Reason for the optimism on both sides stems from an earlier vote on July 11, in which each congregation voted by much more than the two-thirds majority required to amend their bylaws to make absentee ballots on the merger possible. Without those votes, a two-thirds majority of all members voting for the merger would have been impossible as a practical matter, leaders say. “It would have been unrealistic to expect two-thirds of the congregation to show up to vote,” said Beth El President Helaine R. Hazlett. “We have people in Florida and nursing homes, traveling, etc.”

Both Israel and Beth El have suffered from declining membership, revenues, and volunteers in recent years. Their projections show a go-it-alone option may be impractical without severe cutbacks in programming or a stiff rise in dues that will likely result in further declines in membership. “We don’t have a lot of options if we don’t join forces,” says Israel President Marla Gay.

Editor’s Note: The writer is a long-time member and former president of Temple Beth El.

Back to top

Ledgewood Owners Given Move Back Dates

Gary Band
Jewish Journal Staff

PEABODY — The 24 Ledgewood Condominium owners, seven of whom are Jewish, displaced by a fire last December will all be back in their homes by year’s end — if all goes as planned.

With the demolition and clearing of debris inside the building now complete, plans for reconstruction are being drawn up by the architectural firm of Noblin & Associates.
According to project manager Tim Little, speaking at the Ledgewood Condominium owner’s annual meeting held at Temple Ner Tamid June 23, the October move-in date for approximately half the residents is realistic. He says he would not say so if he didn’t believe it was possible, and will take personal responsibility for completing the project.

The Ledgewood Condominium Association was initially under fire from the residents for not, in their opinion, moving quickly enough or sharing information with them in a timely manner.

According to Bill Hudak, the attorney retained by 16 of the 24 owners, “I think the Association is doing everything it can possibly do under the circumstances. There are a lot of complex issues when dealing with construction on this scale. And as much as people are hurt and displaced and want things done immediately, a lot of work needs to be done and it just takes time to get everything completed.”

Kevin Goggin, one of the two Peabody Building Inspectors who signs off on and issues building permits on hundreds of projects a year, says the architect for the Ledgewood project was in to see him with a set of rough drawings last week. When the architects finalize the drawings and the engineers submit final documents on the mechanical structure and fire protection measures, he said, then the city can issue a permit and the work can begin.

With their insurance money for alternative living arrangements running out after seven months of paying for hotel expenses, the displaced owners are hopeful that the October and December completion estimates will be met. While condominium fees must still be paid every month, the owners were successful in their efforts to qualify for a tax abatement for 2004.

According to Assessor Susan Antonellis, the residents applied to the state for special legislation to be passed to allow for an abatement. The bill was recently signed by Governor Mitt Romney, and Antonellis’s office is waiting to see exactly what the language in the bill says to determine whether the tax money will automatically be refunded, or if the residents will have to submit a request to the city.

Back to top

International News

Israel Rejects World Court Ruling

Leslie Susser
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

JERUSALEM — The Jews were outraged, perhaps, but not surprised.

For months, Israel had been bracing for a negative ruling on its West Bank security barrier from the International Court of Justice at The Hague, and July 9 it came — with no criticism of the Palestinian terrorist onslaught that prompted Israel to build the fence.

Israeli officials rejected the ruling that the barrier is illegal and said they had no intention of dismantling it. Though it’s only partially complete, the fence already has saved thousands of lives, they say, pointing to statistics that show a dramatic decrease in Israeli casualties since construction of the fence began.
American Jewish officials were outraged by the ruling on the fence.

The struggle now moves from The Hague to the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council in New York.

Palestinian Authority officials, who hailed the ruling as “historic,” said they were determined to bring the matter to the United Nations, where they will seek sanctions against Israel. Any such move is almost certain to encounter an American veto in the Security Council.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with his Cabinet and top advisers to discuss Israel’s next moves.

The main focus for Israel now will be limiting damage in the General Assembly and preventing any operative steps by the Security Council. The challenge will be to get as many Western countries as possible to oppose a sharply worded anti-Israel resolution in the General Assembly, or action in the Security Council.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom discussed the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell during a recent visit to Washington, and Shalom reportedly was reassured.
In White House comments after the court ruling, spokesman Jim McLelland hinted that the United States did not consider the United Nations an appropriate forum for resolving the fence issue. It was, he said, a political problem that should be resolved in an Israeli-Palestinian political process that already exists.

In its non-binding advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice, a U.N. body, ruled that the barrier contravenes international law, that parts of it built on Palestinian land must be dismantled and that Palestinians whose land was confiscated must be compensated.

The court said that the barrier could impede the Palestinians’ right to self-rule.

“The Court considers that the construction of the wall and its associate regime creates a ‘fait accompli’ on the ground that it could well become permanent, in which case, and notwithstanding the formal characterization by Israel, it would be tantamount to de facto annexation,” the court said.

But Israel argues that the fence is a legitimate means of self-defense and that the court had no jurisdiction to rule on what is essentially a political conflict.
The court acknowledged that Israel has a right to self-defense, but ruled that it doesn’t include building parts of the fence beyond the Green Line — the armistice line that served as a boundary between Israel and the West Bank from the 1948 War of Independence to the 1967 Six-Day War — or causing the Palestinians humanitarian hardship.

On July 11, the Palestinian terrorist group Al-Aksa Brigade bombed a bus stop in Tel Aviv, killing a female Israeli soldier. Elsewhere, construction on the fence continued.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yonatan Peled said there was no need for outside interference on the issue of the fence since Israel’s own Supreme Court ruled recently that parts of the fence should be rerouted to better balance Palestinian humanitarian considerations with Israeli security needs.

Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for The Jerusalem Report.

Back to top

Jews in the Infield, Outfield, and On the Mound

Sande H. Zirlin
Special to The Journal

As a youngster growing up in the era of Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle, I remember my Dad telling me stories about a major league baseball player named Hank Greenberg — a Jewish ballplayer in the 1930s and 40s who refused to play an important game because it occurred on Yom Kippur. For me, the knowledge that there had once been a famous Jewish baseball player was a revelation unto itself. The fact that he observed the High Holy Days, just like I did, was beyond belief.

“Come Yom Kippur — holy fast day wide-world over to the Jew
And Hank Greenberg to his teaching and the old traditions true
Spent the day among his people and he didn’t come to play.
Said Murphy to Mulrooney,
“We shall lose the game today!”
We shall miss him in the infield and shall miss him at the bat.
But he’s true to his religion — and I honor him for that!”

Edgar Guest, 1934

In 1965, I came to understand the full extent of my Dad’s pride in the stand that Hank Greenberg took 31 years earlier. Once again, a major league ballplayer who happened to be Jewish refused to play a game on Yom Kippur. The game in question was the first game of the 1965 World Series, and the player was Brooklyn pitcher Sandy Koufax.

Over the years I often wondered if there had been other Jewish ballplayers in the big leagues. But I learned very quickly that a Jewish-sounding name didn’t necessarily mean the player was a Jew. In the fall of 2003, the American Jewish Historical Society announced the issuing of “... the first complete set of cards for Jewish Major League Baseball Players.” The cards were produced by Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc. and Fleer/Sky Box International for the Historical Society (www.ajhs. org). Naturally, my check was in the mail that very day.

Much to my surprise and with an acknowledged burst of ethnic pride, I learned that in the 134 years since baseball as we know it made the transition from a child’s game and a “country club” sport to a salary-paying profession, there have been at least 142 Jewish baseball players in the Major Leagues.

Our first professional player seems to have been Philadelphian Nathan Berkenstock, an outfielder with the Philadelphia Athletics of the National Association in 1871. Our first superstar was New Yorker Lipman Emanuel Pike, a power-hitting outfielder with the same team.

There have been Jewish ballplayers wearing major league uniforms since baseball became a professional sport. There were some who proudly played under their “given” names, like Jacob Goodman, who played for Milwaukee in 1878, and Morris Berg, who played for Brooklyn in 1923. Then there were others who chose to change their ethnic-sounding names for reasons of their own — players like Phil “Cohen” Cooney, who played for the New York Highlanders in 1904, and Jesse “Michael Myron Silverman” Baker, who played for the Washington Senators in 1919.

They came from cities across the United States, Canada and Europe. They were the sons of newly-arrived immigrants, doctors and lawyers, shopkeepers and rabbis, who became players, coaches, general managers, club owners, and even the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Some of our players had careers that lasted less than an inning, while others went on to help win World Series, were named MVP of the Year, won Gold Glove awards, played in All Star Games, received Cy Young awards, won batting titles, pitched no-hitters, and made it into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Five of the players were born in the Greater Boston area, and 13 others spent part of their careers with the Boston Braves, the Boston Red Sox and/or the Red Sox farm team in Pawtucket.

Statistically, the overall number of Jewish ballplayers may be far below the numbers we should have based on population percentages, but these young men, with names like Abrams, Levine, Epstein, Ginsberg and Rosen, instilled ethnic pride in generations of Jewish American baseball fans.

We don’t know if we will ever have another Hank Greenberg or Sandy Koufax in the “stats” department, but our presence on the baseball fields of America is assured by the likes of Los Angeles Dodger All Star Shawn David Green, Philadelphia Phillies Gold Glove-winning catcher Mike Lieberthal, and Boston Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler.

Sande H. Zirlin, a Red Sox fan who was born and raised in Chelsea, is president of the Congregation Sons of Israel Synagogue in Amsterdam, NY. She can be reached at zirl2712@hotmail.com.

Back to top

Jewish Sports Heroes Spotlighted in Book for Young Readers

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

Jewish Sports Stars: Athletic Heroes Past and Present, David J. Goldman, Kar-Ben Publishing, $8.95.

Young Jewish sports fans will be fascinated by this book detailing the achievements of Jewish men and women who have excelled in the world of popular sports. From “Hammerin’ Hank” Greenberg, a Hall of Fame baseball player who hit towering homeruns, to Mark Spitz, who won an unprecedented seven gold medals in the 1972 Summer Olympics, the 96-page paperback addresses athletes in all categories of professional sports.

The book, designed for readers age 11 and up, contains facts, statistics, historical anecdotes and photos of Jewish heroes in baseball, basketball, boxing, football, hockey, soccer, tennis and Olympic sports. Youngsters will probably be more interested in reading about contemporary heroes such as Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler, Los Angeles Dodger Shawn Green, NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler, and contemporary wrestling phenomenon Goldberg (all profiled in the book) rather than Benny Leonard, who boxed in the 1920s, or Dick Savitt, who was a tennis star in the 1950s. However the profiles of players of the past lends a historical context and shows how these Jewish stars of the past helped pave the way for the stars of today.

The book will be an inspiration for young sports fans who will personally identify with many of the Jewish athletes. Girls, as well as boys, will enjoy the book, which also features female Jewish athletes such as Stanford basketball player Jamila Wideman, Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug, and figure skater Sasha Cohen.

Jewish Sports Stars: Athletic Heroes Past and Present is available at bookstores or can be ordered by phone at 800-4KARBEN or online at www.karben.com.

Back to top

.

Catcher’s Mask Changed the Face of Baseball

Robert Keaney
Special to The Journal

LYNN — Jewish catchers from Major League baseball history such as Moe Berg of the Red Sox, Norm Sherry of the Dodgers and Harry Danning of the Giants, can thank a Harvard baseball player for inventing the contraption that protected their fragile facial features.

It’s the catcher’s mask, of course. But did you know that the first time it was used was right here on the North Shore? Yes, the “face” of baseball changed dramatically on an April day in 1877 when the Lynn Live Oaks hosted the Harvard baseball team. Harvard catcher Jim Tyng showed up at Ocean’s Park, near Lynn Beach, wearing a strange contraption on his head.

It looked like fencing face-gear, a circle of steel with cross-bars, and everyone was calling it a “mask”. Poor catchers. For years they positioned themselves several strides behind the batter with only a glove to protect themselves, and often took a pitch or foul ball off the noggin, shin, groin, mouth or nose. (Yogi Berra wore a mask; he just looks like he never did.)

But Tyng had suffered enough pain, so he donned the new fangled mask, which was, most historians agree, invented by Fred Thayer, another Harvard player. Thayer did actually use a fencing mask with strong support from cross-bars. Eventually it was refined, and today is used by every catcher in baseball.

Robert Keaney is a North Shore Spirit Sports Historian who lives in Lynn. He can be reached at sportsbobk@hotmail.com.

Back to top

Single Mother’s Refrain: An Ocean of Troubles, a Sea of Surprises

Editor’s Note: The Journal is initiating a new feature in which readers describe lifestyles or experiences that illustrate the diversity of our community. Reader submissions are welcome.

Rhonda A. Rohtstein

My marriage was a Caribbean cruise gone bad. I had chartered a boat bound for the Caribbean but my captain had our ship pointed north. I knew we would encounter a storm or two, but he was headed for icebergs and tundra. Left with little choice, I lowered the life boat over the side of our vessel into the icy waters, took each of our very young children under an arm, and with two small oars and a ration of food, we headed for shore.

I was the captain now, I had plunged into single motherhood. The work of my arms as I rowed us to shore was just the beginning of the work to follow. Soon my arms were tired, very tired.

Single motherhood is beached-whale tired. Every morning the alarm goes off and there is no one to nudge to do the morning routine with me or for me. I turn off the alarm and fall back to sleep waking with a start thirty minutes later in a panic and stricken with exhaustion. Every day I wake up and think, “How am I going to do this again today?” But I do it. I quickly rouse my kids. I turn on the kitchen lights and put on water to boil. I mix pancake batter and slice the fruit for the lunch boxes. I sip from my extra large, extra potent cup of coffee, hoping my kids will actually eat the hard-earned healthy food that goes into the boxes. It could be traded for everything from a baseball card to a Snickers bar. Every day I hope for the best. Blurry-eyed and fed, we head off to school.

Single motherhood is a constant battle of the budget, a river of bills and a trickle of money. Singlehandedly I have to figure out how to earn the money and stay afloat. Today it costs $25 to fill the gas tank of my car and $400 a month to heat the house in the dead of winter. Every month I try to give everyone a little money so they know my intentions are good. Single motherhood is finally getting the gas company paid by mid-August for last winter’s heat. Single motherhood is hearing the mechanic on the phone calling to tell me my car needs another $600 in repairs. Single motherhood is thinking all the bills are paid as I seal the last envelope, only to hear the mailman at the door with yet another bill.

Single motherhood is drowning in responsibility, always attempting to avoid the next capsize. Single motherhood is full-time house cleaner, driver, food purchaser, meal preparer, check writer, wage earner, listener, solo homework helper, doctor and dentist apointment maker, landscaper, and handyman. Single motherhood is finally mowing the lawn when the slate that marks the front walkway is no longer visible through the greens. It is washing the kitchen floor at eight o’clock on a Friday night. It is going to the grocery store before doing anything else so there is always money for food. It is taking out the trash, dropping the storm windows, raking the leaves, and shoveling snow. Single motherhood is keeping the cell phone on at all times because there is no one else to reach in an emergency.

Single motherhood is a sea of laundry. Not even a chance to tread water without losing serious ground. The laundry basket comes up the stairs and before the clean clothes are folded and sorted, the basket is full again.

If we are not swimming in laundry and bills, single motherhood is drought. I just got back from the grocery store and the refrigerator is empty. The checking account is empty again, the gas tank is empty again, the sneakers are outgrown again, the tires are bald again.

Single motherhood is swimming upstream and making it. It is getting my two girls to school rested and fed. Single motherhood is watching them make honor roll and excel at their sports. They possess self-esteem and confidence. It is friends and family and birthday parties. Single motherhood is sailing the boat with little wind in the sails and winning the race.

Single motherhood is Sunday morning. Sunday morning my daughters come into my room and ask if they can crawl into bed with me and snuggle. Single motherhood is having one of them under each arm and feeling the love and respect we all have for each other. Single motherhood is holding it all together and doing a great job. Single motherhood is lying there knowing I have done the right thing. My girls know they can rise up and away from disappointment and succeed. Single motherhood is watching my girls paddle their surfboards out into the waves everyday and admiring them as they ride gracefully and spirited to shore.

Rhonda Rohtstein is an account manager at the Jewish Journal and a freelance writer. She lives in Marblehead.

Back to top

Young Jewish Entrepreneurs
From Advertising to Handbags; One Woman’s Story

Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

Editor’s Note: This is a part of an ongoing series of profiles about young Jewish entrepreneurs on the North Shore.

Karen Gopen
à la main
121 Loring Ave., Suite 750
Salem, MA
978-740-8633

How old are you?
I’m 37.

Please describe your business.
We manufacture, wholesale and retail made-to-order fabric handbags, luggage and accessories such as eyeglass cases, cell phone holders, checkbook covers, cosmetic bags and even mahjong bags, which are popular with our Jewish clientele.

How long has the business been in existence?
12 years.

What motivated you to choose this particular career?

I was working in advertising in New York, and the economy was faltering. I noticed that people in their own businesses seemed happy and successful. I initially chose this as a learning experience, figuring I would do it for a few years and ultimately return to the corporate world when the economy improved. However I was so happy that I kept it going.

I didn’t get into this business because I had a handbag fetish. I wanted to manufacture and sell a product with a large potential market. Since half the population uses handbags, and they don’t have to be sized, I figured it would be a good idea. I focussed on fabric rather than leather because leather would have been more of an investment.

What was your training/ education?
I graduated from BU’s College of Communication in 1989 with a BS in Mass Communications with concentrations in advertising, English literature and Russian studies. I never worked for a handbag manufacturer, and in retrospect, I probably would have benefited from doing that for a few years. I had taken a sewing class in high school and made my own comforter covers, but I was not a trained seamstress. I hired contract home stitchers to sew the soft-sided cloth bags; I handled the sales, marketing, and administrative end of the company.

What hesitations or concerns did you have when starting your business?
I wanted to be careful financially. I didn’t want to lay out a lot of money — I’m kind of conservative. I went to a local fabric store, bought some remnants and created some pieces. I handpicked stores that I thought would do well with the line, and brought in my samples. Out of the first 10 stores I approached, only one was not interested. I walked out of the others with a check in hand. I honestly didn’t have a lot of hesitations when starting out. I have more concerns now.

What were some of the hurdles you faced when you first started out?
The business was growing so quickly that it was running me rather than me running the business. I had to put systems in place so I had more control. For example, in the beginning, we used hand-written purchase orders. We had to build a database so all our purchase orders could become computerized. I had to learn to perfect my ordering so that I didn’t tie up cash flow by ordering too early, but didn’t wait until we’d run out of something. Also, I had to learn how to balance my schedule. Having worked previously in advertising, I was accustomed to working until 11 p.m. But when I had my son (who is now eight), I realized that I had to run my business more efficiently.

What are some of the obstacles or challenges that you face now in your business?
My overhead costs have gone up greatly in the last year-and-a-half. My electric bill has risen 40 percent, and my business insurance has tripled since Sept. 11. Although my expenses have increased drastically, there is a ceiling as to how much I can charge for my bags and still remain competitive.

Has being Jewish had any influence on your business?
When I was young, my grandmother used to take me shopping and we would check out the tapestry handbags. I just thought she had an interest in them, but I’ve come to learn that my family used to make leather luggage. In fact, all my grandparents had small businesses; one was a kosher butcher, one was a wholesale florist, etc. They were all Jewish immigrants who started their own businesses, and I think this strongly influenced me to start my own small business. If everyone in my family was a lawyer or a professor, I suppose I would have been influenced that way.

What are your plans for the future?
I am pondering a lot of possibilities, which I find very motivating. Several years ago, we purchased a computer-automated cutting machine, which not many people have. We have been doing some contract cutting for other companies, and I want to expand upon this. The medical, military and aerospace industries offer potential in contract cutting. I’m also looking into exporting to the Canadian market. Some other possibilities for the future include branching into baby blankets and quilts.

Anything else?
When I worked in advertising, I had to be at the office early, and wouldn’t return home until late at night. One of the best benefits of owning your own business is flexibility. This flexibility has been invaluable to me as the mother of a young child.

Back to top

Reverse Mortgages Provide Extra Cash to Those Who Qualify

John F. Bevilacqua
ChFC

Stock dividends, though back in favor, are not what they used to be. Interest rates on bonds, CDs, and savings accounts are low enough to make you wonder why they even bother, while health care costs are steadily increasing. Where can retirees find additional cash to live a little more comfortably?

One idea would be to sell the homestead, find a less expensive place to live, and reinvest the proceeds for more income. But this is a tough decision. It may involve moving away from family and friends, especially when the smaller living spaces in the area, like townhouses or condos, are incredibly expensive. There is an emotional factor, too: how many people can easily part with the house both they and their children were raised in? If their vision has been for their home to stay in the family when they are gone, it becomes nearly impossible to sell it.

Fortunately, there is a way for seniors to keep their homes and use them to supplement their retirement income. With a reverse mortgage, homeowners can convert the equity in their homes into cash that they can use for any purpose they choose.

How does a reverse mortgage work?

Reverse mortgage borrowers make no payments during the life of the loan, but the total amount borrowed becomes repayable with interest when the last living borrower dies, sells the home, or moves out of the home permanently. All reverse mortgages are non-recourse loans. This means that the borrowers (or their heirs) can never owe more than the value of the home, regardless of loan balance.

Cash can be taken in a single lump sum, on a line of credit basis, in regular monthly payments, or in any combination of these options. Each withdrawal or payment received by the borrower increases the mortgage balance, which is the reverse of a conventional mortgage in which the borrower makes payments that reduce the mortgage balance. To be eligible for a reverse mortgage, all owners of the home must apply and be at least 62 years old and using the home as their primary residence.

State and local governments usually offer the least expensive loans. But most stipulate that the proceeds must be used for specific purposes, such as paying for home repairs or property taxes. Some private institutions, such as banks, mortgage companies, and savings associations, offer reverse mortgages that can be used for any purpose — but these involve higher administrative costs.

How much money can I borrow?

The amount of cash you can get from a reverse mortgage generally depends on your age, your home’s value and location, and the cost of the loan. The greatest cash amounts typically go to the oldest borrowers living in the most expensive homes.

To get an idea of how much a reverse mortgage might provide you, use the reverse Mortgage Calculator on the Financial Freedom Web site, www.financialfreedom.com.

The process of applying for a reverse mortgage differs somewhat from a conventional mortgage. To ensure that the prospective borrowers understands the process, they must meet with the HUD-approved counseling agency. This counseling is mandatory, regardless of which reverse mortgage product a borrower chooses.

Meetings are usually face-to-face. The counselor provides supplemental information of reverse mortgages and determines whether the borrowers are eligible. The process then resembles a conventional mortgage application with obligatory appraisal, title work, lien payoffs, and so on.

While reverse mortgages are not for everyone, they certainly are worth consideration if you need additional cash, have little or no mortgage on your home, and do not want to sell. A wealth of information is available from AARP (800-424-3410), the National reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (202-939-1760), and FannieMae (800-732-6643).

John Bevilacqua is co-founder of Capital Management Partners in Peabody. He offers securities as a registered representative of Commonwealth Financial Network — a member firm of the NASD/ SIPC. He can be reached at 978-535-8989 or atjack@capitalmanpartners.com.

Back to top

People in the News

Back to top

Arts & Entertainment

NSMT’s ‘Beauty & The Beast’: Sets Spirits Soaring in Kids and Adults

Mark Arnold
Jewish Journal Staff

Beauty and the Beast, at NSMT. Performances Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. Matinees Tuesday through Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets $26.25 - $68. Call 978-232-7200 or visit www.nsmt.org.

BEVERLY — When have you gone to theater and been part of a standing ovation — during the first act?

That’s what happens, spontaneously, at the North Shore Music Theater’s lush and luminous production of the musical Beauty and the Beast, playing through August 1. Featuring wonderfully imaginative costumes, dazzling special effects, and a memorable score by Alan Menken, Tim Rice and the late Howard Ashman, this production of Disney’s version of the classic tale is played to near perfection.

Beauty and the Beast was nominated for nine Tony Awards when it debuted on Broadway in 1994, including Best Musical. No wonder: It is as heart-warming a musical as you’ll ever see, a show that sets spirits soaring in children and adults alike. It is based on the Academy Award-winning animated Disney feature film, enhanced for the Broadway stage a decade ago and now transformed with ingenuity and imagination for NSMT’s theater-in-the-round in Beverly.

The local production stars Nikki Renee Daniels as Belle and Brad Little as the Beast, both veteran Broadway actors, who head a cast of 31. Both possess formidable acting talents and gorgeous voices, as do virtually all the cast members. The transformation of the beast into a handsome prince is accomplished with technical mastery worthy of that other Beverly wizard, Le Grand David.

The show features such crowd-pleasing tunes as “Be Our Guest,” “If I Can’t Love Her,” and, of course, “Beauty and the Beast.” The creative costumes include a walking-talking spoon, clock, candelabra, teapot, napkin holder— and a cart-wheeling tablecloth who might be comfortable performing for Cirque de Soleil.

This spectacular show is directed by Glenn Casale, with an artistic team that includes John MacInnis, choreographer; Bill Stanley, music director; Dex Edwards, scenic design; Miguel Angel Huidor, costumes; Martin E. Vreeland, lighting; and John A. Stone, sound design.
This is local theater at its best; actually this is theater that has earned the right not to be called local at all.

Back to top

Lewis Black Will Speak for You

Michael Sidman
Jewish Journal Staff

If you’re not familiar with Lewis Black, you’ll most likely hear of him soon. In advance of his upcoming appearance at the Comedy Connection during the Democratic National Convention, the Journal recently spoke with him from his home in New York.

Black, has a segment on The Daily Show with John Stewart called “Back in Black,” and his show “Black on Broadway” was recently featured on HBO. Known for his semi-angry tirades, Black’s comic frustration has become a symbol of the times during the recent years of political controversy and upheaval.
Some would go so far as to call him the Michael Moore of stand-up, but Lewis Black insists that his main goal is still to make people laugh.

Although he began as a playwright and actor, Black soon noticed that his side hobby of stand-up was taking off. His role models include legendary comedians George Carlin and Lenny Bruce (and Mother Teresa for good measure).

Black’s stand-up routine mixes cultural commentary with the ever-so-carefully placed expletive. Some have criticized him for his use of foul language, but for Black, the freedom to say what he means is more important.

“What other language do you use to express anger?” he asks. Black’s argument cannot be ignored, as thousands of people look to him to express what they cannot. He says that his best reward is to know that his audience had a good time, but it always means a great deal to hear someone tell him, “You say what I’m feeling but cannot say.”

Black says that his Jewish culture has added to his comedy. “It allows for another point of view,” he says, “You know what it’s like to be an outsider.”

The current situation with the Bush administration and the war in Iraq has given him a lot of material.

His anger reflects a large portion of the American people who feel used by the government, and his language is accepted.

“They made us feel like we were idiots and like we were ineffectual,” says Black, “We were hit with a tidal wave of cr-p.” Still Black says his political agenda is not so important.

“I just hope they feel better,” he comments, “It’s all worthwhile when someone tells you, that if it weren’t for you they wouldn’t have gotten through this time period.”

Black will bring his comedy to Boston during the height of the Democratic National Convention. When asked what this means to him, Black simply responded, “I just hope I can get from place to place! Do you know, is the train running?”

Lewis Black will appear at the Comedy Connection in Faneuil Hall on Tuesday, July 27, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $44. For reservations, call 617-248-9700.

Back to top

Israeli Film, Set in a Sephardi Home, Tells Charming Coming-of-Age Story

Tom Tugend
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

LOS ANGELES — Israeli filmmaker Shemi Zarhin is a gourmet cook who specializes in diet-busting cakes.

“I cook Sephardi style, Ashkenazi and Japanese,” Zarhin said in a phone call from Tel Aviv. “Next time you’re in Israel, come by and I’ll show you.”

The 16-year-old title character of Zarhin’s film, Bonjour, Monsieur Shlomi, also cooks up a storm.

Besides the family meals, he also does the laundry, cleans up, is the peacemaker in his quarrelsome Moroccan family, and bathes his French-speaking grandfather, who greets him every morning with the film’s title.

Despite his pains, the wide-eyed Shlomi is considered stupid by his family and in school, where he is flunking out — and, unfortunately, he accepts the outside world’s assessment of him.

At home, his obsessive mother has kicked out her hypochondriac husband for a one-time affair with her best friend.

Shlomi’s older brother, their mother’s favorite, regales the boy with details of his real and fancied sexual conquests.

But when Shlomi suggests to his girlfriend that they “upgrade” their relationship — Hebrew slang for having sex — she turns him down.

Shlomi’s older sister has twin babies but regularly returns to her mother’s home to detail her fights with her husband, who shamefully surfs the net for pornography.

It all looks like another story of another dysfunctional family, a recurring theme in Israeli movies, when Shlomi’s life slowly turns around.

A perceptive teacher and school principal gradually peel away Shlomi’s layers of self-doubt and discover an exceptional mind and a poetic sensibility.

A neighboring girl recognizes Shlomi’s real inner worth, and in a beautiful scene they shyly offer each other their finest gifts — she the herbs she grows in her garden and he the decorative cakes he bakes in the kitchen.

Monsieur Shlomi is a charming film, a word rarely applied to Israeli movies. Oshri Cohen portrays Shlomi with veracity and his relationship with his grandfather (Arie Elias) is deeply affecting without sinking into sentimentality.

The film is considerably more cheerful and wide-ranging than most dissections of adolescent angst. It offers a dash of humor and some non-graphic sex, though the language, even in subtitles, is often profane.

As a bonus, Ashkenazi viewers will get a much needed insight into the lifestyle of Israel’s Sephardi Jews, a subject close to Zarhin’s heart.

“I was born in Tiberias, which could be a very beautiful town, but the reality was hard, there were lots of unemployed,” he recalled. “My family arrived in Palestine from Morocco and Tangier 200 to 300 years ago. The Ashkenazim were here only 100 years, but they were the upper class and we were the underclass.”

Zarhin, now 42, did not describe his own childhood, but, he said with some emotion, “I was miserable. Childhood is a waste of time.”

Perhaps as an escape, “making films was my dream from the beginning,” he said. “But it was not easy to get the money and leave for a big city like Tel Aviv.”

He went on to graduate from film school at Tel Aviv University, started out making TV commercials, and then two feature films. He is now on the faculty of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television College in Jerusalem.

“I think the theme of Bonjour is the contrast between a person’s outer image and his inner truth, and that is something that has always interested me,” he said. “It takes two outsiders to open Shlomi’s eyes to who he really is.”

The U.S. theatrical release of Bonjour, Monsieur Shlomi is on July 2 in New York and July 16 in Los Angeles. The film will open in other major cities August through October.

For updates, check www.strandreleasing.com.

Back to top

Editorial

Of Fences, Neighbors, and Fellow Jews
Good fences make good neighbors, according to Robert Frost. But Frost didn’t sit on the U.N.’s International Court of Justice. That court, acting on a complaint from the Palestinian Authority, said July 9 that Israel’s erection of a security barrier in the West Bank is illegal and should be dismantled.

The ruling, opposed only by the U.S. representative on the court, is non-binding but will now be taken to the General Assembly as a recommendation. It has been roundly rejected by the Israeli government, which expressed outrage that the court took up the question of the barrier while refusing to consider the campaign of Palestinian terror against Israeli civilians that caused the Sharon government to decide to build it in the first place.

The injustice of it all is mind boggling. Consider: If your neighbor was causing destruction to your property and refused to stop, would you not put up a fence? That’s what Israel is doing. It is constructing a 400-mile collection of walls, barbed-wire fences, and trenches in the West Bank to keep suicide bombers and other terrorists from reaching targets in Israel. And it’s working. As a writer in our Letters column this issue notes, “The fence saves lives.”

Yes, it also creates hardships for innocent Palestinians, who in some cases are cut off from schools and jobs. Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to move portions of the fence — planned or in place — to minimize these hardships. The U.N. Court ruling is binding only if approved by the Security Council, where the United States will likely exercise its right of veto, if the issue gets that far. We hope it doesn’t. There has been only one terrorist bombing since March; it happened July 11. The reason has a lot to do with Israel’s fencing out its bad neighbors. We think Mr. Frost would understand.

Closer to home, there are some local Jews who want to build another kind of fence, an invisible fence that would cause other local Jews to go away. A letter in the last issue of the Journal said as much, expressing the view that the Chabad Lubavitch movement is “making inroads in our existing Jewish community” by offering free services that compete with established synagogues, undermining their viability. “Long may (Chabad) live — far away from us,” said the writer. It’s not an uncommon view in our community, though no one has put it in writing to a newspaper before.

Some people faulted us for publishing the letter; others criticized us for giving Chabad Rabbi Yossi and Mrs. Layah Lipsker of Chabad of the North Shore a right to reply in the same issue. For the record, we publish letters that reflect the diversity of viewpoints in our Jewish community; that’s part of our mission. And because we publish only every two weeks, when an institution is criticized, we extend to them an opportunity to reply in the same issue — as do most periodicals.

As to the merits of the argument, you can read the responses from readers on this and the next page. If Chabad uses a different business model to finance its activities, that is its right. For ourselves, we welcome any movement that builds pride in Jewish identity, that brings Jewish education, spiritual enrichment, commitment, and joy to people who are hungry for them.

— Mark R. Arnold

Back to top

Local Columnists

My Jewish Perspective on Saudi Arabia

DOV BURT LEVY Jewish Journal North of Boston Dov Burt Levy is a Salem, MA based columnist. He can be reached at dblevy@columnist. com..

Saudi Arabia’s ruling family of some 3,000 very rich souls — who control the oil, the government, the money, and all the apparatus that has financed extremist religion and education on at least three generations of Saudis — brings out the worst in me. Truth is that I deplore them.

I carry around hateful thoughts about them.

I didn’t take it well when President Bush met Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at his Texas ranch at the end of April and said at a joint press conference: “I appreciate [the Crown Prince’s] vision for a peaceful and integrated Middle East, and his leadership in helping rally the Arab world toward that vision[and] the Crown Prince’s assurance that Saudi Arabia condemns terror.”

The State Department press release said the meeting established a “strong personal bond” between the two men. That strikes me as bizarre and offensive to Americans in general and to Jews in particular.

Here’s my personal Saudi Arabia Jewish litany. In the summer of 1953, I completed Air Force technical training in Wyoming and the word was our entire class would be assigned to either Greenland or Saudi Arabia.

Charged up, I went to see my captain.

“Sir,” I said, “I hear that our whole class will go to Greenland or Saudi Arabia. I know that as a Jew they will not allow me to go to Saudi Arabia; therefore, as a protest, I am requesting that I not be sent to Greenland.”

You guessed it: My next 12 months in Greenland were very cold. (Truthfully, not bad because I had time to read lots of books, something I missed during my Revere High School days.)

Today, American Jews and women do serve in Saudi Arabia, finessed by Congressional resolutions threatening consequences lest the Saudis continue practices scorned by the American people. I know, you are saying and I agree: It’s not a big mitziah (bargain) to serve in Saudi Arabia. But there is a principle at stake here.

Two incidents occurred this year that you probably missed because they weren’t deemed important by most of the media, and official Washington had no comment.

Following the horrific televised decapitation June 18 of Paul Johnson, the American working in Saudi Arabia, the Saudis’ American spokesman pontificated in most of the American news media that the perpetrators would be caught because Saudi Arabia shared America’s democratic values.

Yet, in Arabic on Saudi TV, Crown Prince Abdullah was blaming Israel, not some soon-to-be-caught Saudis: “Zionism is behind it. It has become clear now. It has become clear to us. I don’t say, I mean... It is not 100 percent, but 95 percent that the Zionist hands are behind what happened.” This incredible utterance was translated and shown once on NBC Nightly News and briefly on CNN, but ignored by official Washington.

I am 95 percent certain (make that 100 percent) that the Saudis have spawned a generation of jihadists and continue to talk out of both sides of their mouths. They deserve, at a minimum, Vice-President Cheney’s highly publicized Senate expletive, but they won’t be on the receiving end of one because Cheney also has a long-term warm business and personal relationship with the Saudi Royal Family.

Try this: In February of this year, Saudi tourist authorities outlined visa requirements on its website: Those excluded would be Israelis plus “those who don’t abide by the Saudi traditions concerning appearance and behaviours”; “those under the influence of alcohol”; or “Jewish people”.

When the visa information hit the fan, Congressman Anthony Weiner said Washington must reconsider whether “a country that has these policies should be considered our ally.”

Quickly, the entire paragraph was erased from the website, with notice that further information is available at embassies and consulates.
Washington has always turned a blind eye toward the Saudi oil spigot, particularly offensive to Jews and not good in the long run for all Americans, as the Saudi 9-11 highjackers taught us.

Back to top

Happy 10th Birthday, Zoe

ELLEN GOLUB Ellen Golub teaches journalism at Salem State College.She can be reached at elkele@attbi.com

As a teenager, Barbra Streisand intentionally grew her fingernails long so she would never have to take a job as a typist.

With that logic, I should never have gotten my driver’s license, since most of my days are now punctuated, perforated, and exasperated by having to drive my kids somewhere every 10 minutes. If you compute the mileage, I’ll bet I’ve driven to Pluto and back just chauffeuring them around town.

The other day, I again ripped myself away from some compelling task to pick my daughter Zoe up at Shakespeare camp.

She pops into the car and begins chattering. “Shakespeare invented so many English words. If it weren’t for Shakespeare lots of words in the English language wouldn’t exist; words like ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs.’”

“Lucky for us we have Shakespeare, or we’d never be able to find anyone in our house,” I say.

Zoe purses her lips to convey the seriousness of her enterprise. “Really, Mom, Shakespeare used more words than most of us even know today.”

I know she is referring to the shabby mastery we have of our English language. The average college student uses — maybe — 5,000 words, while Shakespeare had a vocabulary that approached 30,000. I probe further, delighted with the product of her day at Shakespeare camp.

“So, Zoe, what does it matter how many words people use, so long as we can understand each other?”

She looks at me curiously. “Are you serious, Mom?” I pretend I am serious when in fact I am elated that she is thinking about this.

My nascent humanist explains patiently. “At school we are always asking why the Torah uses this word and not that one.”

“Huh?” I feign ignorance.

“The Torah. It’s really important what word the Torah uses. And it’s important to think about why it uses a certain word at a certain time and why it repeats certain words. You know, Rashi’s always explaining that.”

Is my little nine-almost-10-year-old really explaining nuance, the difference between connotative and denotative meaning? Does she have in her hands the Ur brick, the basis of all rabbinic hermeneutics?

Though I am at the literal steering wheel, Zoe is taking me on a short spin through the foundations of Torah. She peppers her explanations with a few stories from the Humash and Shakespeare. I am beside my daughter in the front seat of the minivan but it feels like we are in the fabled DeLorean, cruising back to the future.

Getting to the ostensible place and doing the obvious deed is much overrated. As I “strut and fret my hour upon the stage,” I only think I’m driving. Without the multiple interruptions in my day, I actually might get a little work done.

But how could I even dream of missing this gorgeous sunrise as I watch my daughter blossom into the Jewish humanist we have been cultivating? Yes, a Global Positioning System would have saved the 40 years we spent going in circles through the desert. But during those 40 years, we had time to think, to grow, perchance to dream, and become the people who so deeply appreciate the Promised Land.

Back to top

Our Independence Day

A couple of months ago on the 5th day of Iyar, Israelis and Jews throughout the world celebrated Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. Spirited renditions of “Hatikvah” were sung, prayers were recited and Jews rejoiced in their beloved Israel.

Last week millions of Americans donned red, white and blue, proudly sang “The Star Spangled Banner” and reveled in fireworks displays and backyard barbecues. For most Americans, the meaning of freedom is clearer post-9/11 and we cherish it even more.

On June 30 my family celebrated its own brand of independence when our daughters Rachel and Emily were dropped off at a Jewish sleep-away camp for three and a half weeks. Bags were packed with hair conditioner and t