editorial
Yasher Koach, Judith
After five years as a member of the editorial
staff of The Jewish Journal, Judith Klein will publish her
last issue on May 24. For the staff of this newspaper, it will be
a difficult goodbye to a professional whose writing skills have been
recognized nationally and whose organizational skills have made the
Journal a better place in which to work. The staff wishes Judith yashear
koach in whatever her next endeavor will be.
When Judith arrived at The Journal in
1997, she "looked forward to a new challenge and a chance to
return to my first love of journalism." As she leaves the editorship
of The Journal, she leaves behind a legacy of professional
integrity, public discourse, and a climate conducive to the free and
open exchange of ideas and opinions from a diverse local and national
constituency. It is difficult to be the editor of an independent community
newspaper. A Jewish community publication has its own special influences.
Despite the crush of pressures, Judith always stood firm supporting
the mission of the paper as a forum within the community for the exchange
of information and ideas of Jewish concern.
The Jewish Journal, under Judith Klein's
editorship, has strongly supported the Jewish community of the North
Shore - and the State of Israel - by presenting a wide range of opinions
and viewpoints. Her dedication to high journalistic standards, which
requires that articles and press releases omit editorializing comments,
first person pronouns, incorrect grammar or untoward repetition of
any organization's tag line or mission, has sometimes been misinterpreted
as a lack of support by some. It is not! Rather, it has always been
a statement of her commitment to producing a quality newspaper for
the entire community rather than an organizational newsletter or house
organ.
The Journal will soon have new leadership
at the helm, leadership which hopefully will continue the legacy of
excellence Judith Klein has left. Before she leaves, we say to Judith,
thank you for raising the bar high, and helping us reach it.
Gerald Posner, Publisher
From the President
The Editorial in the April 26th issue of The
Jewish Journal ("To Be or Not to Be") implied that the
independence of this newspaper is threatened. Coming at a time when
both the current Publisher and Editor have resigned, it asked, "Should
the newspaper be entirely independent when it comes to determining
editing and contents? Should [it] continue to follow its mission to
provide disparate and varying points of view on everything from Israel
to intermarriage?"
Many readers have wondered what's going on.
Some have asked "Has The Journal lost its independence?
Will its pages no longer carry the lively exchange of viewpoints that
have made it an interesting Jewish community newspaper?"
The answer is an emphatic "No!" We
remain as committed as ever to the Mission that has guided this newspaper
for 26 years. And the evidence of this commitment appears in every
issue, particularly in the Opinion and Letters to the Editor sections.
But perhaps the real issue raised in the April
26 Editorial is "who determines the general direction and policies
of the newspaper - the publisher and the editor, or the Journal's
Board of Overseers?" Well, according to the By-Laws that
have governed the paper since it was founded, the community Board
of Overseers "shall have final authority and responsibility for
the direction, editorial content and management" of The Journal.
It's to be expected that the Board of Overseers,
from time to time, has had differences with the staff over editorials
and other matters. Indeed, the 22 community Board members often disagree
among themselves - which should be no surprise given that their views
and connections to Judaism are about as "disparate and varying"
as you could imagine. We thrash them out.
Yet, as varied as the backgrounds and views
of Overseers may be, we are all committed to the independence and
quality of this Jewish community newspaper. And we will demonstrate
our commitment in the weeks and months ahead.
Just so you know what we believe in, here is
our Mission Statement. We hope you will continue to read The Journal,
enjoy its contents, see your own views and news reflected in its pages,
and let us know how we can continue to make it a better Jewish community
newspaper. As always, we are ready to listen.
The Mission of The Jewish Journal
"The primary purpose of this corporation
is to establish and publish a newspaper addressing itself to the interests,
concerns and well-being of the Jewish communities north of Boston
.... These interests expressly include:
Reporting on subjects which create and maintain
links between the community, Israel and Jews in every part of the
world;
The enrichment of the educational cultural
and social life of the community; Promoting and defending the civic,
economic and religious rights of the Jewish people consistent with
the traditions and limitations of the press; and
Providing a source and forum within the community
for the exchange of Information and Ideas of Jewish concern."
(Journal By-Laws, Article II)
Rick Borten President, Board of Overseers
back to top
feature stories
'Freedom Brigade' Theme of Speakers Forum
ROBERT POWELL
Special to The Jewish Journal
Dr. Charles Jacobs, the co-founder and president
of the American Anti-Slavery Group, and Francis Bok, an escaped slave
from Sudan, will speak on Thursday, June 20, at 7 p.m. at Temple Israel
in Swampscott.
Jacobs, who is also director of the Sudan Campaign,
and Bok will appear as participants in the third annual Max and Betty
Walker Distinguished Speakers Forum. This year's Forum, entitled "The
Freedom Brigade," is also a Swampscott Community Event, as well
as a "No Place for Hate" community program.
Jacobs graduated from Rutgers University and
received his Doctorate from Harvard in 1989. As a teenager, Jacobs
was active in the civil rights movement, and attended Dr. Martin Luther
King's March on Washington in 1963.
In 1993, Jacobs learned about the continuing
existence of traditional slavery in North Africa and, with a group
of African human rights activists, formed the American Anti-Slavery
Group, which monitors and combats modern-day human bondage around
the globe.
In 1994, Jacobs' article in The New York
Times broke the story of chattel slavery in Sudan and Mauritania.
Since then, with help from volunteers across the United States, Jacobs
has built a "new abolitionist" movement - among religious
groups, on college campuses, and in high schools. His work has been
featured in publications including the Wall Street Journal, The
New Yorker, and The Boston Globe. He has also appeared
on ABC's World News Tonight, NPR's Talk of the Nation,
and CBS This Morning.
In 1996 and 1999, Jacobs testified before the
House of Representatives on slavery in Sudan and Mauritania. In September
of 1999, Jacobs met with Secretary of State Madeline Albright and
encouraged her to end the Clinton Administration's silence on the
genocide, ethnic cleansing, and slavery in Sudan.
In May 2000, Jacobs was appointed Director
of The Sudan Campaign, a coalition of activist and rights groups calling
for an end to slavery and slaughter in Africa's largest nation. In
September, he testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
alongside three survivors of slavery from around the world.
On September 18, 2000, the City of Boston and
Coretta Scott King presented Jacobs with the Boston Freedom Award,
recognizing his commitment to advancing Boston's legacy of fighting
for liberty. "Dr. Jacobs, I am personally inspired by your tireless
dedication to alleviate the oppression of chattel slavery," King
stated. "Your efforts have given a powerful voice and new hope
to the victims of this festering injustice."
In April of 2001, Dr. Jacobs joined a slave
redemption mission in Sudan that helped liberate over 2,900 enslaved
women and children.
Francis Bok is a 22-year-old native of Southern
Sudan. At the age of seven, he was captured and enslaved during an
Arab militia raid on the village of Nymlal (outside Aweil) on May
15, 1986. Bok saw adults and children brutalized and killed all around
him. He was strapped to a donkey and taken north to Kirio.
For ten years, he lived as the family slave
to Giema Abdullah, forced to sleep with cattle, endure daily beatings,
and eat terrible food. Always called "abeed" (black slave),
Bok was given an Arabic name - Dut Giema Abdullah - and forced to
perform Islamic prayers.
In December of 1996, Bok escaped to the nearby
town of Matari, where he was enslaved by local policemen for two months.
But an Arab truck driver helped Bok escape and eventually to reach
Khartoum, the capital. In Khartoum, Bok was arrested by the security
forces and jailed for seven months. After being released, Bok escaped
to Cairo. In 1999, the United Nations resettled him in North Dakota.
Bok is now an Associate at the American Anti-Slavery Group in Boston.
On May 23, 2000, Bok spoke out for the first
time at a Capitol Hill ceremony with Senators and Congressmen, sharing
his message: "We cannot rest until my people are free."
On September 18, 2000 Mr. Bok spoke alongside Coretta Scott King,
widow the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Boston Freedom Award
ceremony.
On September 28, 2000, Bok became the first
escaped slave to testify before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
in hearings on Sudan that were broadcast live on C-Span. Later that
day, Bok met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and urged
her to take action against slavery. On December 4, 2000, he headlined
a panel discussion on slavery at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Bok has been featured in the Boston Globe,
the Christian Science Monitor, and dozens of other newspapers, and
has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, including Black Entertainment
Television.
"While Swampscott celebrates 150 years
of freedom, we will pause on June 20 to reflect on those still trapped
in human bondage," said Alan Samiljan, president of Temple Israel.
According to Temple Israel Rabbi Neal Joseph
Loevinger: "Every day of the week, in every Jewish prayer service,
Jews remember that we were once held captive in the house of bondage.
We believe God continues to stand with all enslaved peoples, and that
freedom, dignity, and basic human rights are the inheritance of every
person on Earth. So it's especially important that Jews continue
to tell the story of slavery and freedom, because this evil still
exists."
The Speakers Forum, which began in 2000, has
featured Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including former Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Polish President
Lech Walesa, and Betty Williams.
Admission to the Speakers Forum is free.
A donation of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and students is suggested.
A portion of the money raised will be donated to the American Anti-Slavery
Group. For more information or reservations, call 781-595-6635.
back to top
New Tufts Prez Keeps It Kosher on Campus
JUDITH KLEIN
Jewish Journal Staff
Lawrence S. Bacow, recently installed as president
of Tufts University, likes to say that the naming of a Jewish college
president is hardly newsworthy anymore. After all, MIT named Jerry
Weisner in 1970, and since then Jewish presidents have reigned at
prestigious institutions from Dartmouth to Harvard, Penn to Princeton.
If that isn't evidence enough that times have changed and society
is willing to accept "people of all sorts" in positions
of power, Bacow points to the recent nomination of Joe Lieberman for
vice-president.
All that said, Bacow does admit he gets letters
from Tufts alumni who graduated in the 40s and 50s, saying they never
thought they would live to see the day. And, the new Tufts head boasts,
every door of the President's mansion on the Medford campus now hosts
a mezzuzah, while the kitchen has been koshered for his family's use.
Bacow's strong commitment to Judaism and the
Jewish community is clear from his positions as a director of the
Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly and a trustee of Hebrew College,
and his wife's role as a trustee of Temple Emmanuel in Newton. He
believes it is important for American Jews to "speak up on behalf
of Israel and to show their support visibly," yet he understands
the complexities of the situation. "I think it's a difficult
time right now. It's not only a difficult time for Israel but for
others in the Middle East. As American Jews, we need to recognize
that," he says.
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, a noted
graduate school at Tufts, enrolls students from some foreign countries
which are less than sympathetic to Israel. As a university head, Bacow
finds no moral or educational dilemma in the presence of the diverse
views of the Fletcher student body.
"Universities are about the free exchange
of ideas," he explains. "It's important that we embrace
ideas of all sorts, and that there not be an orthodoxy from either
the right or the left. It is the obligation of the administration
to ensure a civil and thoughtful discourse at all times." He
concedes there are heated discussions around this issue on campus,
but "there are heated discussions about a lot of things."
Formerly chancellor at MIT, Bacow sees the
biggest difference between MIT and Tufts as the focus of the two institutions.
Tufts is a "comprehensive university," while MIT is "heavily
focused on science, technology and management." Careful not to
sound critical of his alma mater and former employer, he sees Tufts
undergraduates as heterogeneous in their interests, "more diverse
intellectually, though that is not to say MIT students don't have
a broad range of interests."
What is similar, he notes, is that both universities
are "hamishe places" - not pretentious - and student-centered.
He is gratified, too, that the single most popular activity on campus
is the Leonard Carmichael Society, which coordinates volunteer opportunities.
"Tufts students are passionate in their commitment to social
service," Bacow says.
Looking to the future, Bacow foresees a more
interdisciplinary approach to studies. "The great intellectual
challenge lies not in the heart of disciplines, but at the intersections
of disciplines," he explains. There is already a "great
return to investments in scholarship which knit together different
schools and different disciplines," he notes. Bringing the eight
Tufts schools closer together will be one of the new president's priorities.
Though Tufts students have often felt in the
shadow of Harvard, Bacow believes there is much that distinguishes
Tufts. "We are among the most international of universities at
a time when that has never been more important," he says. "Forty
percent of our students study abroad. International relations is the
most popular undergraduate major; we lead the nation in the number
of Peace Corps volunteers from universities with 5,000 students or
less; and we do very well on Fulbrights and Marshalls," he adds
with noticeable pride.
There is even more to boast about, he says,
citing the university's latest accolade: According to the Institute
for Scientific Information, Tufts is the number one university in
the country in terms of the impact of their research in the fields
of public health and health care service based on papers published
between 1996 and 2000.
Bacow doesn't want to close the interview without
noting the importance of the Tufts Hillel chapter. "It's one
of the best in the country," he says. "Rabbi Jeff Summit
has been here for 20 years and is beloved by the entire community,
not just the Jewish students. Hillel is the center of a vibrant Jewish
campus community, a resource for the entire community, offering programming
for the entire community."
And what else would he like to say about that
entire community? "These are great times for Tufts. I think our
best times are ahead of us."
back to top
A Cake to Celebrate a 'Cheesy' Holiday
LINDA MOREL
NEW YORK (JTA) - My father never missed a chance
to eat cheesecake. He was a furniture salesman whose territory covered
the New York metropolitan area, and whenever he called on stores near
a bakery, he purchased a cheesecake. While my mother and brother avoided
cheese in any form, he knew he could count on me to join him at the
kitchen table after dinner to sample his latest discovery.
"I like the consistency of this one,"
I said one night, feasting on a slice of creamy cake from a Brooklyn
bakery. We felt the best cheesecakes came from places densely populated
by Jews and Italians. "But the crust is wimpy," my father
said. "A good crust should be crunchy and thick."
"The cake could be tarter," I said.
"It's a bit bland."
"Yet it's perfectly moist."
We had no use for dry cheesecakes. Full-blooded
Ashkenazi Jews, we were equal-opportunity cheesecake lovers. We adored
the zesty citrus flavor infused in the ricotta cheesecakes that my
father purchased in Italian neighborhoods.
"But Rueben's really makes the best cheesecake,"
my father always concluded after we consumed several slices. Since
his office was close to the famed Reuben's delicatessen, he frequently
brought home their decadent cakes. Four decades later, I'm still working
off the calories.
We didn't wait for the late-spring celebration
of Shavuot to partake in our favorite luxury. Reform Jews, we called
Shavuot "the cheesecake holiday,'' but knew little else about
it.
Shavuot is an important late-spring observance
that commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
It is often celebrated with all-night study and by eating dairy foods,
particularly cheese.
In Psalms 68:16-17, Mount Sinai is called by
several names. One of them, mountain of peaks, Bar Gavnunim in Hebrew,
shares the same root as gevinah, the word for cheese. Some historians
speculate that after receiving the Ten Commandments, the ancient Israelites
had been gone from their campsite for so many hours that their milk
had soured and was becoming cheese. It's possible that they fasted
while receiving the Ten Commandments and returning hungry, reached
for milk, a biblical version of fast food.
Accordingly, Shavuot arose as a dairy holiday.
For centuries people have indulged in creamy confections for dessert,
and cheesecake became the pastry of choice among Jews from Central
and Eastern Europe. In the Old Country, recipes called for curd cheeses,
such as pot or cottage cheese, which created disappointing results
by today's super-rich standards.
Cream cheese was the ingredient that turned
a dry cake into a touch of heaven. When farmers in upstate New York
invented cream cheese to duplicate French Neufchatel cheese, they
never expected enterprising Jewish delicatessen owners in Manhattan
to buy the product in bulk for baking.
Arnold Reuben Jr., a descendant of immigrants
from Germany, claimed that his family developed the first cream-cheese
cake recipe. At a time when other bakeries relied on cottage cheese,
Reuben's, then on Broadway and later on Madison Avenue and 58th Street,
began baking cheesecakes with Breakstone's cream cheese. In 1929,
Reuben's cheesecake won a Gold Metal at the World's Fair.
Unaware of his destiny, a young go-getter named
Leo Linderman left school at age 14 to apprentice in a Berlin delicatessen.
In 1921, eight years after arriving in America, he opened Lindy's,
a delicatessen that he promoted by creating super-sized sandwiches
with flamboyant names.
In the 1930s, this marketing genius developed
a cheesecake recipe inspired by Kraft's Philadelphia Supreme Cheesecake,
and began selling a confection that competed with Reuben's. For decades
rumors circulated that Leo Linderman had stolen the Reuben family
recipe after luring their German chef into his employ.
Whether the story is true or not, there were
differences between the two cakes. Those old enough to remember will
tell you that Reuben's cheesecake was simple and delicious, while
Lindy's cake, as showy as its inventor, was topped with strawberries
in a syrupy gel. In addition, Lindy's crust was doughy, and not to
my father's liking.
Unfortunately, my father passed away by the
time I married. But fate shined on me the day I met my husband and
fell in love with his mother's cheesecake. It is delicate and refined
with a smooth texture, deep vanilla flavor and crunchy graham cracker
crust.
For a change of pace, there's nothing like
a slice of airy ricotta cheesecake with its divine lemon essence.
I fashioned this recipe after a cheesecake I enjoyed in Trieste, Italy,
visiting my husband's aunt. Sadly, she passed away before I asked
for her recipe. For contrast, I added a gingersnap crust.
It's impossible to discuss recipes without
paying homage to the delicatessens that made New York as famous for
cheesecake as for the Statue of Liberty. Since Reuben's and the original
Lindy's restaurant have closed their doors, people who adored their
luscious cakes are still haunted by delicious memories. Let's face
it - it's been a loss for the Jews.
In the ensuing decades, I've tried to conjure
up the qualities of the quintessential New York cheesecake: a graham
cracker crust, creamy texture, distinct lemon flavor, and firm but
light density. It must be taller than the tines of a fork and slightly
sweet but with a little kick. The recipe below delivers on all counts.
Yet authentic as it is, nothing compares to those evenings when my
father indulged me with wondrous cheesecakes from the bakeries of
New York.
Classic New York Cheesecake
Crust:
Heavily coat 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray
1-1/2 cups commercial graham cracker crumbs
5 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup sugar
Mix ingredients together with hands until well
blended and crumbs appear moist. Pour into pan. With hands, spread
evenly across the bottom and pat down firmly.
Filling:
5 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar
1-1/2 cups sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp. orange liqueur
3/4 tsp. vanilla
2 egg yolks at room temperature
5 eggs at room temperature
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Place first
five ingredients in large mixing bowl and beat on high until they
are completely blended. 3. Add vanilla and 2 yolks, and beat again.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. 5. Pour into prepared pan.
Batter will fill pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Top will be golden. Lower
oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until
top browns, cake feels bouncy to the touch, and a toothpick tests
clean. Cool to room temperature. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.
Bring to room temperature before serving. Yield: 16-20 slices
Creamy Cheesecake Pie
(Prepare a day ahead)
Crust:
Cooking spray
1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar
3/8 cup melted butter
1. Coat a 9-inch deep dish Pyrex pie pan with
cooking spray. 2. With hands, mix remaining ingredients together well.
Pour into pie pan and firmly press into the bottom and sides.
Filling:
2 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2. In a mixing
bowl, beat ingredients until well blended. 3. Pour into prepared pie
pan. Bake for 17 minutes. Remove from oven and reserve. Raise temperature
to 475°.
Topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1. In a mixing bowl, beat ingredients well.
Spread gently on top of cream cheese mixture in pie pan. 2. Return
cake to oven for five minutes. 3. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate
for one day. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs before serving. Yield:
10-12 slices
Ricotta Cheesecake with Gingersnap
Crust
Crust:
Cooking spray
1 cup pulverized gingersnaps (about 24 cookies)
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. sweet butter
2 Tbsp. honey
1. Coat an 8-1/2-inch springform pan with cooking
spray. 2. Break gingersnaps into pieces and pulverize in a food processor
with a metal blade until fine. 3. Add remaining ingredients and process
until well blended. 4. Pour coated crumbs into springform and flatten
evenly using the palm of a hand until firm. Reserve.
Filling:
15-ounce container of ricotta cheese
8-ounce bar of cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 2. In a large
mixing bowl, beat three cheeses on high speed until fluffy and well
blended. 3. Add flour and both sugars. Beat well. 4. Add remaining
ingredients, beating well until incorporated 5. Pour batter into prepared
pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until cake is golden brown
and feels springy to the touch. Cool to room temperature. Serve or
refrigerate and return to room temperature before serving. Yield:
12 slices.
back to top
On the Road
Mitzvah Day Musings
GARY BAND
Jewish Journal Staff
On the first truly spring-like day of the season,
I participated in Jewish Federation's fourth annual Mitzvah Day, volunteering
at the Jewish Family Service Food Pantry at Temple Shalom in Salem,
and the American Red Cross in Peabody. In all, nearly 700 volunteers
assisted staff members at 25 organizations from Lynn to Gloucester.
For many, after surviving another week of challenges
and responsibilities, there isn't much that would compel us to give
up lingering over a leisurely Sunday breakfast. For my part, the day
was perhaps the first task that went smoothly, without hassle, miscommunication
or mishigas, all week. And at the risk of sounding hokey, it
was a truly meaningful and yes, spiritual experience.
What does meaningful and spiritual suggest?
Like the act of making a minyan, the meaning is both in the act and
in the words, or in this case, the work; and the spirituality is in
the connectedness of being with other people doing good work and being
of use.
In both environments did I meet friendly, energetic
and committed people who contributed their time and effort and made
a difference in the lives of others. And who, by the end of the day,
were themselves changed by the act of working together, if only for
a couple of hours, toward a common goal. During the hours I put in,
I spoke with people from age 5-65 about why they chose to participate.
While everyone had different stories to tell,
a few themes remained constant: to help, to make a contribution to
the community, to make a difference. There were over 30 people in
the morning shift at Temple Shalom and about the same number during
the afternoon shift at the Red Cross. Approximately 500 bags of food
were donated to the JFS Food Pantry to be distributed to 15 local
families; and the grounds, ambulance bays, and storage areas were
raked and cleaned at the Red Cross.
I'd like to thank some of the people I spoke
with and who helped coordinate the volunteer effort: Cathy Dougman,
Alyse Barbash, Harry Kornfeld, Yoel Drachman, Nicholas Drachman, Gillian
Sontz, Stephanie Conroy, Marlene Conroy, Max Sontz, Randy Katz, and
Leah Jacobson.
Upon completing my minor mitzvot, I stopped
by my friend's house in Lynn to help with her garden which last year
yielded the best organic tomatoes I've ever tasted. I asked what her
favorite part of planting the garden was and she responded that it
was the dirt: working with the land to create exactly what she wanted.
I agreed and said I like looking at a garden
as a metaphor for life. That for both to succeed takes initiative,
hard work and patience. That you get out what you put in. Tend to
your garden and watch it grow.
As the poet Marge Piercy wrote, "The work
of the world is as common as mud..." When there is work to be
done, on Mitzvah Day and the year round, it's good to know so many
community members are willing to come out to make sure it gets done.
back to top
In the Mother Tongue
Puppy Love
JUDITH KLEIN
Jewish Journal Staff
My friend is buying a puppy. We won't even
go into this decision as evidence of a mid-life crisis shared with
her husband as one daughter gets ready to leave for med school and
the other has a year left in college and a boyfriend on the West Coast.
For kindness sake, we'll just assume it is that time in their lives
for a small furry love object.
Buying a puppy doesn't sound like a complicated
venture for two well-educated adults. You go to the animal shelter
if you want a hybrid mutt, or to a breeder or private owner for a
pedigreed sort. You shell out the big bucks, if not for the little
darling, then for a gazillion shots, and go home to your stack of
saved newspapers which now have a new purpose in life. Before laying
the aging New York Times down, you kiss your wood floors and Oriental
rugs fondly, with the full understanding that they will never look
the same again.
Ah, that's all there is to it, you think. How
naïve. No, my friend informs me, before you even take possession
of a new canine, you are invited to Sunday puppy visits to view your
intended and begin the bonding process. Then you are asked to attend
a puppy luncheon with other hopeful adoptive parents. Many of the
women are adorned with puppy necklaces. You comfort yourself with
the knowledge that you'll never wear a golden Golden Retriever around
your neck. You do, however, learn from others the importance of picking
out the proper puppy layette - leashes, soap, blankets, and brushes.
Before long, the naming process begins. For
some, this is a simple matter - just name the puppy after your favorite
rock star. For others, the matter is more complicated. My friend admits
her husband has devised a democratic method, soliciting submissions
from friends and relatives which are then ranked by all four family
members. To date, 96 submissions have been whittled down to 20, the
five with the highest points becoming finalists.
Once Rover takes up residence at your home,
you hope to get off the waiting list for puppy kindergarten, so you
can spend hours in class learning obedience techniques, effective
discipline, and good feeding habits, filling time formerly occupied
by children's needs. As adoptive doggie parents, you will receive
far more training and guidance than you did before having children.
Then, a few weeks later, when you want to go
away for the weekend and you realize there will be double lodging
costs, one to your hotel, the other to the kennel, you ask each other
whose idea it was to get a dog anyway. You are reassured when you
learn some hotels now accept dogs, offer puppy sitting and walking
services, and even serve filet mignon doggie chow, if requested.
Later, when Pooch is teething, he brings you
your favorite slippers - the ones you can finally afford now that
the tuition payments are finished - except they are chewed beyond
recognition.
And before another month passes, you find yourself
sitting at a restaurant with friends, a nice restaurant with real
tablecloths, and you start showing photographs of Fido to your friends,
with no realization that they don't care. Spurred on by your total
lack of self-awareness, you regale the table with tales of Fido's
skills and intelligence, his sensitivity to your moods, his ability
to understand your needs. How cute he is when he jumps between the
two of you in bed, or licks your faces when you have bagel crumbs
on your cheeks, or looks over your shoulder while you do the Sunday
crossword puzzle on what he recognizes as his soon-to-be pooping papers.
Your social invitations start to dwindle, but
no mind. The three of you are enjoying a closeness others can't understand,
and you and your husband have something to talk about since daily
discussions about the kids have dried up.
I may just be jealous. If it weren't for allergies,
I'd probably be signing up for puppy school alongside my friend. Instead,
I'll console myself with a new bag of sunflower seed for the bird
feeder, and share a few anecdotes with my colleagues about the clever
mice scurrying around my kitchen at 3 a.m.
back to top
local news
Strategic Planning:
Local Institutions Look to the Future
MARK ARNOLD
Jewish Journal Staff
Cohen Hillel Academy is planning its future
with some of the people who know it best - parents, staff, and representatives
of the larger Jewish community. At an onsite retreat on a rainy Sunday
in late April, 40 people spent eight hours in intense discussion and
brainstorming - sharing experiences, evaluating strengths and weaknesses,
and compiling improvement wish lists.
The retreat is part of a participative process
aimed at producing a growth plan that will enable the school to better
serve students over the next five years and beyond.
Hillel is just one of a number of community
institutions taking steps to plot a future course using the disciplines
of strategic planning.
· The Jewish Rehabilitation Center in
Swampscott is in the midst of a planning effort begun by its board
of directors more than a year ago, with help from an outside health-care
consulting firm. "We need to decide how to position ourselves
for the next 20-30 years in the face of a rapidly changing health
care system, an impending age wave, and aging baby boomers who will
be needing care in appropriate settings," explains JRC Chief
Executive Officer Stephen R. Roizen.
· The Jewish Community Center of the
North Shore in Marblehead will embark on its own planning effort beginning
this month. Its board of directors has just approved a plan outline
that will include focus groups of staff, members, and community representatives,
and an off-site all-member retreat, similar to that undertaken by
Cohen Hillel.
· The Jewish Federation, which provides
community programs and raises funds to benefit local agencies and
Jews around the world, has allocated $50,000 for a demographic study
of the community in what will be the first step of a comprehensive
planning effort. "There is an incredible need to plan for the
future of the community," says Executive Director Lois Giovacchini.
"Never before have we assessed the strengths and weaknesses,
the opportunities and threats that face us as we go forward. There
needs to be a comprehensive effort involving facilities, human resources,
programs - all the factors that we need to assess in order to prioritize
and allocate resources as a community."
To one extent or another, all Jewish institutions
today are facing the same problem: How to maintain and strengthen
the bonds of Jewish identity, community, and values at a time of increasing
secularization in society. Strategic planning seems to offer a solution.
Experts say it is a systematic way of looking at trends, capabilities,
resources, and competition, weighing alternative courses of actions,
and planning the course most likely to achieve an organization's objectives.
The Cohen Hillel initiative was planned by
Head of School Robert Tornberg and Board President Bruce Haskin with
assistance from Dr. William A. Weary, president of Washington, D.C.-based
Fieldstone Consulting, who also served as facilitator. Weary, a scholarly
looking former private school head with a Ph.D. in history from Yale,
began the day by describing the "old way" of developing
a future plan: "You call in the experts, they write the plan,
and you try to sell it."
The better way, he said, "is to gather
the various constituencies together - the people who have to live
with the results - and obtain their input, their perceptions, and
their commitment to a future course." Prior to the all-day session
April 28, he held two similar all-day perception-sharing and brainstorming
sessions - one with Cohen Hillel's board of directors, the other with
faculty and administration.
The 46-year old community day school, affiliated
with the Solomon Schechter movement nationally, benefited from several
years of increasing enrollment through the middle 90s. The school
currently serves 267 students, from all Jewish movements, in kindergarten
through eighth grade. Its curriculum includes both secular and religious
studies.
Despite its reputation for educational excellence,
the school has experienced smaller growth in recent years, stemming
from tuition increases driven by increased costs (tuition is now $10,600
per child) and competition with other reputable secular private schools
in the area. Cohen Hillel is housed in a modern two-floor building
opened in 1986 behind the JCC in Marblehead.
"Help us plan our future," encouraged
strategic planning committee co-chair Lowell Gray of Swampscott, in
welcoming the participants. "Help us decide how to make Cohen
Hillel Academy the key educational resource for Jews on the North
Shore."
With that as the charge, the 40 participants
were divided into groups of 7 or 8 people, each at separate tables,
given assignments, and set to work in breakout stations, forming semi-circles
around large sheets of flipchart paper taped to the walls of the academy's
multi-purpose room.
They shared their perceptions on such questions
as: "What are the values of Hillel?" "What one word
describes the school today?" "What (problems) do we put
up with, deny, or avoid dealing with?" "What are the characteristics
of an ideal Cohen Hillel in 2007?" As groups reported on their
discussions, there was clear consensus on many issues.
By 2007, for example, parents and staff said
they want the school to be inclusive, more accessible, student centered,
innovative, academically excellent, affordable, financially stable,
and "a magnet for students and faculty." The school also
should be devoted, participants said, to "creating educated,
committed and spirited Jews," "producing menschen,"
and becoming "a transforming agent in the creation of a stronger
Jewish community."
But all was not sweetness and light. Facilitator
Weary, an educational consultant, reported that comparative school
studies suggest that because the academy has largely separate faculties
for its religious and secular studies, its faculty is 50 per cent
larger than the average private school. To keep costs competitive,
he said, some day schools "let their facilities run down and
employ an all-female faculty with lawyer husbands." On the other
hand, he said, if over time "we could put general and Jewish
education in one person," it should be possible to reduce costs
while maintaining standards.
During an afternoon session devoted to identifying
priorities, members discussed new methods of fund raising, the role
of Hebrew literacy in the curriculum, how Jewish the school should
be, and ways of improving internal communication and external marketing.
The consultant will compile the information
from the series of meetings he has held with school constituencies,
and produce a draft plan to share with the board of directors in June.
The plan will include different pathways the school can follow to
strengthen its role in the community and compete more effectively.
Following several weeks of discussion and decisions, a final plan
should be ready to implement in the fall, based on the choices made
by Cohen Hillel's board.
But whatever the impact of the study on the
school, the process of participating had an immediate positive impact
on the commitment of those who attended the retreat.
"This day solidified my devotion to giving
everything I can to the school," said parent Debra Offenhartz
of Swampscott, whose husband Jeffrey Eulau was a member of the academy's
first graduating class in the 50s. "I have a heightened sense
of the possibilities now," asserted parent Robert Edelstein of
Beverly. "It has been very affirming to see a group of people
give not just a Sunday but their hearts to work on ideas to make the
school better," concluded Jane Goldstein of Swampscott.
back to top
Federation's Israel Trip Moves Destination
to Europe
JUDITH KLEIN
Jewish Journal Staff
When white supremacist literature created by
a group known as the National Alliance turned up on Chestnut Street
in Salem last month, local police were immediately talking to their
contacts to find the offenders. Although distributing information
of any kind is protected by the First Amendment, the Chestnut Street
incident may have crossed a legal line.
Only five or six houses were leafleted, explains
Det. Sgt. Conrad J. Prosniewski of the Salem Police Department, whose
job entails general detective work as well as hate crimes investigation
and serving as the force's information officer. He believes these
houses were targeted, since they included the home of the William
Korach family.
Weeks earlier, the Korach family was driving
through Hamilton when National Alliance members were demonstrating
after media attention had been focused on the town selectmen's refusal
to endorse the Anti-Defamation League's No Place for Hate program.
William Korach began questioning the National Alliance people, when
his son Reed allegedly became angry and got out of his car wielding
a baseball bat. Although no one was hurt, harsh words were reportedly
exchanged.
"It's legal to distribute this information,"
explains Prosniewski. "It's just like politicians leafletting.
The content of this literature, no matter how immoral, still falls
within freedom of speech."
However, he adds, two facts make this situation
different. "By being as selective as they were, the intent was
to taunt the Koraches after the incident in Hamilton," Prosniewski
believes. "By doing that, they entered the gray area of witness
intimidation which is something I've been speaking to the District
Attorney's office about."
Furthermore, the distributors of the National
Alliance literature attached information to the Korach front door.
Unlike throwing pamphlets or flyers on lawns, "tagging",
as it is called, is against the law. According to Prosniewski, sticking
flyers to property is akin to spray painting buildings and could be
prosecuted as a misdemeanor if the damage is under $250, or as a felony
should damage exceed that amount.
Prosniewski doesn't wait for a new incident
before pursuing all leads about potentially disruptive elements in
his city. "We want to know what's happening in this town. Even
if we can't file criminal charges, the groundwork is being laid for
the potential of something else happening down the road," he
explains.
Even before the Chestnut Street incident, a
leafleting in the Salem Common neighborhood a week later, and the
subsequent appearance of hate literature at Temple Shalom, the Salem
Police were aware through their intelligence operations that the National
Alliance was present in the area. "We are developing our own
little element here in Salem," Prosniewski notes. "We are
trying to find out exactly who is spreading the literature and who
is organizing the spreading. We are asking a lot of questions of people
who may have knowledge of criminal activity," he says. "We
are already pointed in several directions, trying to find out if our
leads are substantial."
However, the detective believes Salem is generally
inhospitable to any groups which encourage hate and intolerance. "Salem
is a kind of unique town," he explains. "There are not many
like it in the country. In 1692, Salem received a black eye for the
Witch Trials. The aftermath was to breed an atmosphere of tolerance
so it would never happen again here."
Prosniewski notes that Salem has "extra
level of tolerance" which keeps its statistics for hate crimes
way below what might be expected for a city its size. In fact, each
year, the State Police question the low numbers, the detective says
with some pride. "People around here are good about calling us
about any inkling that this kind of thing is happening. It gets snuffed
out quickly," says Prosniewski. He refers to the appearance of
some skinheads in the city a few years back who were waving Nazi flags.
They were shunned, he says, and soon left.
Prosniewski and his co-workers are part of
a Commonwealth-wide network investigating the existence of hate groups.
Each police department has a designated hate crimes officer and the
Attorney General's office maintains a hate crimes task force. With
these aids and a resource directory supplied by the Attorney General's
office, Prosniewski explains, police departments can follow individuals
and groups from city to city, communicating with other jurisdictions
both by computer and phone.
The Salem Police department and others also
contact the ADL whenever an incident occurs, says the detective. "They
get involved," he explains, "because they want to keep abreast
of what's going on and disseminate information. They are also a central
repository for information, so sometimes, because they see events
occurring in different communities, they can put two and two together."
The exchange of information is helpful to both
ADL and the police, Prosniewski believes. "Just this morning,"
he says, I was talking to the ADL about the incident in Salem and
they told me about a girl affiliated wth the National Alliance who
is living in the Salem area. So now I'll go to the officers, put out
a bulletin, and see if anyone knows her. The [police officers] will
be on their toes, asking their cronies, beating the bushes."
"It's important for people to know things
don't fall upon deaf ears," the seasoned officer concludes. "Our
department aggressively pursues any intelligence related to hate incidents."
back to top
Hamilton Committee Plans New Direction
GARY BAND
Jewish Journal Staff
After more than 20 years of service to the
community, outgoing District Attorney Kevin Burke and First Assistant
D.A. Robert Weiner were honored at the Kernwood Country Club in Salem
on May 2 by the New England Anti-Defamation League for their commitment
to civil rights and ADL causes.
Robert Leikind, director of the ADL's New England
Region, said, "It is events like these that make us stop and
think about the things that shape our lives." Referring to the
cornerstones of a free, democratic society, Leikind said, "Law
and education are like air. We don't think much about it until something
goes wrong."
He said that while societies governed by legal
and educational traditions "overwhelmingly reject appeals to
bigotry and hatred, the new challenge is the outbreak of anti-Semitism
in the world like we have not seen in many decades." However,
he said, the most important defense against such language and action
is "the power of public opinion and the ability of great leaders
to project and convey" values consistent with a pluralistic society.
Refering to his days when he worked for Burke
as an assitant D.A., Leikind said "Kevin Burke is an example
and a role model for everything I aspired to be. He has elevated the
bar of public service, and Essex County has been blessed with this
kind of leadership."
Burke said the role of his office has always
been, and especially since September 11, to protect civil rights.
But the question is "How do we do it and do it well? The ADL
has taught us. I will never forget this association, and I accept
this honor on behalf of all the people I've worked with."
District Attorney Burke is best known for his
work on behalf of victims' rights, and his innovative programs to
confront crime, teen and domestic violence. He developed the flashpoint
curriculum, an educational program that teaches youth how to make
more informed choices, especially with regard to violence, substance
abuse and prejudice. Burke has also been a leader among prosecutors
in the effective application of the state's hate crime laws.
First Assistant D.A. Robert Weiner has worked
in the D.A.'s office for the last 24 years. Looking back 40 years,
Weiner said he remembers studying Torah with a rabbi at his alma mater,
Yeshiva University in New York, and coming across the passage Tzedek,
Tzedek, tir dov. Justice, Justice you shall pursue." As it has
been said that there are no extra words in the Torah, Weiner wondered
at the time why the word "justice" was repeated.
But today, he said the reason is clear: that
the pursuit of justice requires the highest integrity and the word
is aptly repeated in the Torah. Referring to the work he and Burke
have done over the years, he said if Burke only crafted a Victims'
Bill of Rights, "Dayenu," it would have been enough. "But
he went further. He brought the bar of justice very high."
In his keynote address, Charles Prouty, head
of the Boston FBI office, rhetorically asked if law enforcement officials
can fight terror and maintain civil rights and liberties. Assuaging
concerns that such officials engage in "profiling," Prouty
explained that with the anti-terrorism task forces operating throught
the country and especially in Massachusetts, "we should feel
assured that the Commonwealth and the rights of citizens are being
protected."
back to top
Israel Solidarity Efforts Focus on Emergency
Fund Raising
MARK ARNOLD
Jewish Journal Staff
Jews on the North Shore and in the Merrimack
Valley are reponding to the current crisis in the Middle East in ways
old and new. Raising funds for an Israel/Argentina Emergency Appeal
is the focal point of many of the efforts.
The North Shore Jewish Federation, coordinating
efforts in 22 communities north of Boston, has set a goal of $128,000
in the new campaign, which kicked off in late April and will continue
for several weeks. The Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation hopes to
raise $100,000 over the same period. The Valley's activities center
on a major community rally and prayer meeting involving all synagogues
in its area, to be held at Temple Emanuel in Andover on May 13 at
7:30 p.m.
Featured speaker at the rally will be Ira Karem,
of the United Jewish Communities' office in Jerusalem. He will bring
first-hand knowledge of the human suffering in Israel and discuss
its impact on Israeli society.
The two federations are also distributing information
to help synagogues and local groups conduct telethons and other Israel
solidarity activities.
The emergency campaign is part of a national
fundraising effort being conducted by 189 North American Jewish Federations
to meet humanitarian and social service needs created by the recent
wave of violence. All of the funds raised in both campaigns will go
directly the relief effort, with no diversion for administrative or
other expenses, officials say.
Part of the money will help settle Argentine
immigrants uprooted from their native land by economic hardship there.
The rest will go to help Israeli victims of terror and their families,
and for protection of civilians. The funds will be used for such purposes
as medical and counseling services, training of emergency medical
personnel, counseling, and to fortify school buses to withstand attack.
Specific recipients of the money will include the United Jewish Communities
in Israel, Magen David (Israel's Red Cross), and Jerusalem's Hadassah
Hospital.
Some community institutions are sponsoring
their own programs to show support for Israel as part of the Emergency
Appeal. In a bid to raise $1,000 toward the North Shore Federation
goal, Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead is asking students to contribute
$1 a week until June 30. In addition, Cohen Hillel last week hosted
an evening of student performances featuring dance, musical instruments,
and singers with admission fees going to the Emergency Appeal.
In other activities, synagogues are including
prayers for Israel's well-being at all services. And individual families
are staying in close touch with relatives and friends in Israel. Says
Rabbi Howard Kosovske of Temple Beth Shalom in Peabody, whose daughter
is a Rabbinical student in Jerusalem: "We touch bases every day,
by phone or email. And every time the phone rings, we hold our breath."
back to top
Refuser Speaks at Tufts
PENNY SCHWARTZ
Special to The Jewish Journal
At age 18, Guy Grossman eagerly volunteered
for the Israeli Defense Forces. He quickly rose in rank in the elite
paratrooper unit, and during his first three years of full-time service
spent 18 months in the occupied territories and three months in Lebanon.
Now, 11 years later, Grossman, a 29-year-old
second lieutenant in the Reserves, is refusing to serve in the occupied
territories. He is one of the first members of "Courage to Refuse
- Ometz Le'Sarev", a movement of Israeli military officers calling
for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Grossman brought the story of his personal
and political journey to an audience at the Granoff Hillel Center
at Tufts University in Medford, on April 26, where more than 60 faculty,
students, and others filled the sanctuary to hear Grossman's gripping
tale.
On Jan. 25, 2002, Grossman, along with 53 other
reservists, published an open letter in the Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz
explaining their stance against the occupation - calling it unjust
and immoral and a threat to Israel's security. Palestinian terrorist
attacks have not been deterred by the occupation, they contended and
declared that they will not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders.
It sparked a national debate. By late April,
the number of "refusers" grew to over 420.
Grossman, who grew up in Ra'anana, near Tel
Aviv, in a family with strong Zionist ideals, says he is deeply committed
to Zionism.
Grossman, who spoke for more than an hour,
was soft-spoken yet direct in delivering his message, with an excellent
command of English.
He described a turning point in his life. "Nothing
prepares you for the dilemmas of the occupation," Grossman said.
"In my third year of service, things started to crack. I was
21 years old and a commander of a refugee camp. I was able to go into
anyone's house, to stop any person I like."
Grossman recalled a dangerous night when he
and two soldiers, dressed in camouflage, were ordered to seize Palestinian
activists. "A very large rock was thrown from just 15 yards away
and we were surrounded." They were forced to shoot in order to
escape and five Palestinians were killed.
Grossman remembers a small article about the
incident in the paper the next day.
"I started asking questions. What struck
me was that everything was all legal," Grossman says, in stark
contrast to his vision of Israel as a strong democracy with a very
moral military.
Grossman acknowledged that the terrorist attacks
have understandably heightened the fear, hatred, and insecurity which
fuels the current fighting and depletes people of hope. But he maintains
hope that the warning light cast by the officers will help bring about
a lasting peace.
"To serve in an elite unit is part of
an Israeli's identity," Grossman explains. The officers who signed
the letter, also known as "refusers" are paying a high price
for the bold position they have taken because Israel is a very militaristic
society. They are no longer part of the camaraderie which is the glue
which holds together the Israeli Defense Forces.
Nearly 50 officers who signed the letter have
been jailed - usually for 30 days - and the prospect of being tried
for treason has been raised.
Several questions sought Grossman's views on
solutions. Courage to Refuse argues that a long-term, lasting peace
cannot be achieved without an end to the occupation, he explained.
The organization has not staked out any other position.
"If there are 420 refusers, we have 420
different opinions about solutions," Grossman replied with a
smile.
Grossman was also asked about the analogy sometimes
drawn between Israel's fighting terrorism and President Bush's "War
against Terrorism." Grossman quickly retorted that there is a
big difference. "Tora Bora (in Afghanistan) is like being behind
a dark mountain. [Americans] have no idea what's going on there. In
Israel, the war is only five minutes away. We know the faces."
Grossman is skeptical of what he calls forced
unity, in Israel and in the U.S. "Don't underestimate the support
among people living in Israel for the peace movement," he urged.
Grossman, a newlywed, holds a law degree and
works professionally at a university. He laments the loss of time
with his family as he spends time spreading the message of Courage
to Refuse. He is willing to pay this price, however, and face the
risks as he clears his own conscience, and thinks of the future of
Israel's children and the future security of Israel.
Grossman concluded his remarks by saying instead
that, "This is time to raise your voice."
In a separate interview, Rabbi Jeffrey Summit
explained Hillel's purpose in bringing Grossman to the Medford campus.
"We are committed to a vision of Israel as a strong, vibrant
democracy and we want people to see that this kind of debate is possible
in Israel, the one democracy in the Middle East.
"We sponsor Israeli speakers across the
political spectrum, including Yitzhak Levanon, the Israeli Consul
General of N.E. and most recently, Mark Regev, the spokesman of the
Israel Embassy in Washington DC."
Grossman's talk at Tufts, which was co-sponsored
by the Institute for Global Leadership, was his third of five presentations
in the Greater Boston area, the last on April 28 at Temple Israel
in Boston, before a crowd of 1,000. He has received widespread publicity,
including a Boston Globe editorial endorsement.
back to top
national stories
North Shore Residents Join D.C. Rally
INA HOFFMAN
Special to The Jewish Journal
By bus, car, plane, subway and train they arrived
- from Los Angeles to Maine and everywhere between. Among the more
than 100,000 people, North Shore community members arrived on April
15 to participate in the largest public gathering in support of Israel.
With less than one week to prepare, organizers called for a national
mobilization of American supporters including day schools and synagogues,
federations and Hillels. And they responded - on the West Front of
the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
"I found the trip and the rally to be
both exhilarating and comforting all at the same time," explained
Cynthia Ittelman of Swampscott, who traveled on one of the two chartered
planes leaving from Logan Airport. "To think that so many of
us, nationwide, share such a deep love and concern for Israel. There
were handmade posters galore at the rally but my favorite was, 'Wherever
we stand, we stand with Israel'. I hope our government, the people
of Israel and the world got our message loud and clear."
Speakers highlighting the day included former
Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Elie Wiesel, Israeli Minister of Housing Natan
Sharansky, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other
speakers included House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, Senator
Barbara Mikulski, House Majority Leader Richard Armey, Deputy U.S.
Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and NY Governor George Pataki.
Ralph Kaplan, long-time Israel supporter and
community leader, was invigorated by the day. "The rally was
quite exciting," he said. "I appreciated the speakers, especially
the congressmen and politicians who came out to support Israel. A
friend of mine told me his daughter, a student at the New Jewish High
School, traveled a total of two days by bus just to be part of the
rally and support Israel. It was amazing to see so many young people
and how enthusiastic they were singing, cheering and excited to be
with over 100,000 people in support of Yisrael Chai!"
North Shore participants traveling to Washington,
D.C. included Marian Bromberg, Esther and Felice Cohen, Mark Farber,
Robert Finkel, Desiree Gil, Jake Goldstein, Ina and Alan Hoffman,
Cynthia Ittelman, Rachel Jacobson, Ralph Kaplan, Rabbi Yossi Lipsker,
Rabbi Neal Loevinger, Adrienne, Eliashiv, Rina, Talya and Yael Mazor,
Cantor Sam, Mona, and Alyssa Pessaroff Justin Remis, Rabbi Ilana Rosansky,
Linda Scott, and Rita Swartz.
"Witnessing the love and commitment to
Israel resonated our Federation's mission of keeping our children
Jewish as I saw thousands of young people with their families,
day schools, synagogues and college Hillels stand together at the
rally, explained Federation's Singles coordinator Felice Cohen. "I
had the opportunity to share this day with my daughter, and it is
something I will always remember," Federation's Singles Coordinator
Felice Cohen explained. "As our North Shore community raises
funds through the Israel/Argentina Emergency Appeal, let us remember
that we can all make a difference."
back to top
Pro-Palestinians Mimic Pro-Israel Playbook
MICHAEL J. JORDAN
NEW YORK (JTA) - There's the diplomatic front,
the P.R. war and the actual battlefield. Now the Middle East conflict
is also playing out in the American street.
For months, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian
groups have demonstrated with some regularity in New York and other
cities nationwide.
The street activism reached a crescendo in
the past two weeks.
On April 15, more than 100,000 pro-Israel supporters
poured into Washington for a rally that was said to be the largest-ever
on behalf of the 54-year-old Jewish state.
Then on Saturday, tens of thousands of "anti-war,
anti-racism" protesters converged on the nation's capital - the
media said it was between 35,000 and 50,000 - in defense of the Palestinians,
against the campaign in Afghanistan and against the assault reportedly
in the works for Iraq.
Another rally that day in San Francisco reportedly
drew between 30,000 and 50,000, and several others took place across
the country.
And on Monday, outside the annual conference
of the influential pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, several hundred Palestinians, Socialists and environmental
activists chanted slogans such as "Long Live the Intifada"
and demanded that the United States staunch the flow of military aid
to Israel.
The real prize at stake: American public opinion,
and ultimately, U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Even with much of the Third World, the United
Nations and Western Europe solidly behind the Palestinians, it's clear
that the position of the United States is the only position that truly
matters.
Pro-Israel advocates say the United States
is proving itself to be Israel's "indispensable ally" now
more than ever.
Which is worrying the other side.
The United States has become the main player
on the international stage, Edward Said, a Columbia University professor
and a member of the Palestine National Council, wrote recently in
the London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat.
"However, we have never realized the importance
of methodical organization of political work on a popular level, in
an effort to bring about a situation in which the ordinary American
does not immediately think of 'terrorism' whenever he hears the word
'Palestinian.' This kind of work provides real protection for the
gains achieved on the ground through our resistance to Israeli occupation."
While pro-Palestinian advocates like Said bemoan
the inadequate level of pro-Palestinian organization here in the United
States, Jewish observers note with admiration and worry the huge strides
made toward leveling the playing field.
There was a time when the American Jewish activism
reigned supreme.
Yet, as the Arab- and Muslim-American population
has grown in this country, these groups have observed how certain
pressure groups got their points across.
"Many in the Arab- and Palestinian-American
community have been wise to learn from the history of activism in
this country, whether for good causes or bad, if it was against Vietnam
or South Africa's apartheid, or for Zionism," said Mazin Qumsiyeh,
a co-founder and spokesman for Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return
Coalition, which has been involved in organizing numerous pro-Palestinian
demonstrations.
With that wisdom has come greater savviness
in public advocacy, say some Jewish observers.
For example, pro-Palestinian demonstrators
are trying to appeal to a wider swath of society by portraying the
conflict as one that transcends politics and land, and is more about
fighting racism and defending human rights.
In many ways, pro-Palestinian activists now
match the Jewish community move for move: a flurry of large newspaper
ads published by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee over
the past week in The New York Times, Washington Post and International
Herald Tribune seemed to be a page taken from the Jewish playbook.
Sometimes, they also succeed in putting the
Jewish community on the defensive: Jewish students are now struggling
to counter Arab and Muslim activists who recently launched on several
university campuses a campaign to divest from Israel, similar to that
taken during the 1980s against South Africa.
What prevents their message from penetrating
a wider audience, pro-Palestinian activists routinely say, is "Zionist
influence" over the media and lawmakers.
Jewish leaders, not surprisingly, disagree.
"They are trying to emulate the example
set by American Jews, whether in the streets or other means, but there's
a fundamental misunderstanding on their part," said Malcolm Hoenlein,
executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations, which was a co-organizer of the April 15 rally.
"The American people support us because
they agree with us. And the congressional leadership comes to our
rallies, not theirs, because at ours, everyone supports the administration."
In contrast, he said, they criticize the administration,
and what they say is not in sync with the view of the lawmakers and
"what is seen as America's interest."
More effective than the activists on the ground,
Hoenlein said, are the Arab spokespeople who appear frequently on
CNN and speak directly to viewers.
Hoenlein conceded, though, that pro-Palestinian
supporters in America have gained the upper hand on college, and even
high school, campuses.
He also said the Jewish community has grown
too complacent.
back to top
international
news
Sharon: Don't Trust Arafat, Saudis
MATTHEW E. BERGER
WASHINGTON, (JTA) - Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon came to the United States this week with a mission -
to paint a different picture for the Bush administration and the American
public about Israel's once and, perhaps, future peace partners.
In fact, Sharon didn't have to do much: A Palestinian
bomber blew up a pool hall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon le-Zion,
killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 60, just as Sharon
and Bush were preparing to meet. The two leaders were informed of
the attack during their meeting.
The bombing was the first major terror attack
against Israel in nearly a month, and the first since the Israel Defense
Force withdrew from Palestinian cities it invaded in late March after
a prior wave of terror.
It also was the first attack since Palestinian
Authority President Yasser Arafat was released from virtual house
arrest in Ramallah and immediately began inciting against Israel.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Arafat strongly condemned the bombing, but said Palestinian security
forces are too weak to crack down on terrorism.
After the bombing, Sharon cut short his U.S.
visit and returned to Israel - but not before warning that "all
those who believe that they can make gains through the use of terror
will cease to exist."
Mindful of pressure from the Arab world, the
Bush administration has been pressuring Israel to resume its dealings
with Arafat.
Sharon was seeking to convince the Americans
that Arafat has reneged on past agreements, has chosen violence over
peace and cannot be trusted - and thus can't be a player in future
political negotiations.
With a tentative diplomatic opening emerging
in recent weeks after 19 months of violence, Sharon's strategy is
important because it could influence the contours of any future peace
talks.
Even after his meeting with President Bush,
however, it's too early to tell whether Sharon succeeded.
Emerging from the meeting, Bush was asked whether
Sharon should negotiate with Arafat.
"I'm never going to tell my friend the
prime minister what to do," he said.
Bush also announced that he was sending CIA
Director George Tenet to the Middle East to help with the construction
of "a unified security force" for the Palestinians.
Arafat currently maintains numerous and often
competing security forces - whose jurisdictions and lines of authority
are not clear - as well as informal militias tied to his Fatah political
movement.
Israel says the multiplicity of forces contributes
to the general lawlessness and lack of accountability in Palestinian
areas.
Both leaders agreed on the need for major reforms
in Palestinian government.
Bush said he hoped Arab states would work on
reforming the Palestinian leadership "as soon as possible."
Sharon said it was premature to discuss a Palestinian
state until the Palestinian Authority undertook real reforms.
If support cannot be mustered to depose Arafat,
Sharon reportedly is proposing that Arafat become a figurehead president,
while a new prime minister would wield real power in the Palestinian
Authority.
Sharon's efforts came just weeks after Israeli
officials and pro-Israel activists were basking in their bond with
theadministration, as it seemed that Israeli and American positions
on the Middle East were closely aligned. Following pressure on the
White House from Arab states, however, the tide seemed suddenly to
have turned.
Some argue that Bush is not working from a
clear playbook, but rather is following the advice of the last person
he speaks to. A productive meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah
late last month in Crawford, Texas, changed the American focus to
the leadership role that relatively moderate Arab states could play
in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - and led to several weeks
of tough White House talk toward Israel.
One goal of the Israeli delegation that visited
Washington was to paint Saudi Arabia as an accomplice to terrorism
- based on evidence of its funding to groups like Hamas and payments
to the families of suicide bombers - rather than the leader in a push
for peace.
Yet Bush seems to have a new interest in using
a Saudi peace initiative as the backbone of future negotiations. The
initiative calls on Arab states to normalize relations with Israel
in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from all land won in the 1967
Six-Day War.
Bush also reprised his earlier tough comments
demanding an immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West
Bank.
In addition, the United States and Europe brought
increasing pressure on Israel to allow Arafat to leave his Ramallah
headquarters.
Israel also was severely criticized for refusing
to allow a U.N. fact-finding team to investigate Israel's attack on
terrorists in the Jenin refugee camp.
Even while Congress was passing bills last
week in solidarity with Israel, the Bush administration was emphasizing
a more international approach.
Russia, the European Union and the United Nations
joined U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in announcing an international
peace conference for early this summer.
Taken together, the developments led Israeli
officials and many American Jewish leaders to conclude that the peace
process was being pushed at the clip that Arab states demanded. Many
pro-Israel forces in the Jewish community and Congress worry that
the new momentum could lead to undue pressures on Israel.
As the timetable toward political negotiations
appeared to be cut, the White House was calling for negotiations to
begin alongside security talks, rather than after a cease-fire.
The Anti-Defamation League's national director,
Abraham Foxman, charged that the Bush administration was changing
the rules of the game to please the Arab world.
"We set forth the parameters and the Saudis
say no, and Arafat says no, and Egypt says no, and we keep changing
the parameters," Foxman said.
"I no longer hear the Tenet and Mitchell
formula in sequence," he said, referring to the U.S. proposals
for a cease-fire leading to political negotiations that had been framing
U.S. policy.
Few believe the Arab states will persuade the
United States to push Israel all the way back to the pre-1967 borders,
but a real understanding of the Bush administration's "line in
the sand" has yet to emerge.
Clearly, the Bush administration also is coming
under pressure from Congress.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly supported bills last
week expressing solidarity with Israel, and have been expressing concerns
about Arafat and Saudi Arabia that mirror the Israeli arguments. Sharon
met briefly with congressional leaders Tuesday night before leaving
for Israel.
back to top
Clinton Peace Proposal Rises from the Dead
LESLIE SUSSER
JERUSALEM (JTA) Barely 10 weeks after they
were presented in late December 2000, President Clinton's bold Israeli-Palestinian
peace proposals appeared to be dead and buried.
Palestinians had launched a new wave of terror
attacks, Israel had a new, more hawkish prime minister, and a new
American president, who vowed to follow a different route, had taken
in power in Washington.
Even Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak, when each left office early in 2001, announced that the generous
offer that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat had spurned
was no longer "on the table."
Yet just more than a year later, the "Clinton
parameters" are enjoying a revival. Israel's Operation Protective
Wall temporarily crippled the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure,
but it also underlined just how explosive the situation is and how
easily it could ignite a wider regional conflict.
In the international community, there now is
a general consensus on the need for a credible political process to
preempt new eruptions of violence.
Moderate Arab leaders from Saudi Arabia, Egyptian
and Jordan have been suggesting a return to the Clinton formula, and
the Americans and Europeans have been listening.
The attraction is that the parameters offer
a giant leap to the endgame. The downside is that the government of
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won't touch them.
Recent peace initiatives - including the Saudi
plan and President Bush's "vision" for Mideast peace - all
see the solution as two states, Israel and Palestine, coexisting side
by side.
But none of the plans offers a clear road map
on how to get there.
"We need Israel now to move directly to
final status" negotiations, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan
Muasher said. "We need a roadmap. We need a calendar."
Many believe the Clinton parameters are the
missing guide.
"We don't want to have to start from square
one," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said, underlining
the Arab demand that the peace talks resume from the point they broke
off at Taba, Egypt, in January 2001, with the Israelis and Palestinians
negotiating on the basis of the Clinton parameters and, by all accounts,
making considerable headway.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell last week
announced that an international conference on the Israeli- Palestinian
conflict will be held this summer. For it to be of any value, Arab
states say, it must be convened on the basis of the Saudi plan - which
calls for an Israeli withdrawal from all territory won in the 1967
Six-Day War in exchange for peace with the Arab world - and the Clinton
parameters.
The Clinton parameters dealt with the three
core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian impasse - territory, Jerusalem
and refugees. On territory, Clinton proposed a Palestinian state in
Gaza and 94 percent to 96 percent of the West Bank, with compensation
for the remaining land from Israel proper. On Jerusalem, he proposed
a division of sovereignty from neighborhood to neighborhood, based
on demographics, and suggested various options for shared sovereignty
on the Temple Mount.
On refugees, Clinton proposed that most go
to the envisioned state of Palestine, some to Israel and others to
a list of countries willing to absorb a set number.
The implication was that if the sides could
tie up the loose ends on these key issues, they could reach a historical
peace deal formally ending the conflict between them.
But Sharon is not ready to go down that road.
Nearly 20 months of violence have shown that the Palestinians cannot
be trusted to keep the peace, and that Israel should not be asked
to make irreversible concessions that weaken its defenses, Sharon
argues.
Sharon also is against dividing Jerusalem or
allowing any refugees back into Israel proper.
Moreover, he has a major strategic problem
with the territorial provisions of the Clinton parameters: He believes
Israel must retain the Jordan Valley as a buffer to prevent Iraq,
Syria and even Jordan from joining forces to attack Israel from the
east.
Sharon envisages Israel having two defensive
columns, one for defense against the Palestinians along the pre-1967
border with the West Bank, and one in the Jordan Valley for defense
from the east.
Both zones would bite into West Bank territory,
leaving any future Palestinian state with 85 percent or less of the
West Bank.
Rather than a leap to final status, therefore,
Sharon is proposing a more measured approach in three phases over
an indefinite period.
First, he says, there must be a process of
democratization in the Palestinian Authority, with all armed forces
placed under one central authority and financial transparency instituted
to prevent development funds donated by Europe from being used again
to finance terrorist attacks against Israel, as Israel says they have
been used in the past.
Second, for a trial period, there would be
a Palestinian state on part of the territory only. Third, negotiations
on final borders, Jerusalem and refugees would take place only after
the trial period proves successful.
Sharon is convinced that there is no chance
of achieving real peace as long as Yasser Arafat is the Palestinian
leader. For his key tete-a-tete with President Bush this week, Sharon
brought documents to Washington detailing Arafat's involvement in
financing terrorism against Israel.
But no one in the Palestinian camp talks about
deposing Arafat.
back to top
Report Details Arab Anti-Semitism
SHARON SAMBER
WASHINGTON (JTA) - "Bone-chilling"
and "hair-raising" usually are terms reserved for horror
movies, not research reports.
But those words are being used to describe
a new report on Muslim anti-Semitism published by the American Jewish
Committee.
AJCommittee officials hope the hate literature
rampant in the Arab world no will longer be glossed over, but will
become an issue that is acknowledged and confronted.
"We must not let such warnings go unheeded,"
said David Harris, the AJCommittee's executive director.
For much of the past year, American Jewish
groups have been warning of the virulent strain of Muslim anti-Semitism,
particularly since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which many in the
Arab and Muslim world have tried to blame on Israel.
Many observers say the spike in anti-Semitism
around the world, which includes a rise in attacks against Jews and
Jewish institutions in Europe, is the worst in decades.
But the AJCommittee report says special attention
must be paid to Muslim anti-Semitism, because of its ferocity and
its capacity to complicate already difficult peace efforts in the
Middle East.
In "Muslim Anti-Semitism: A Clear and
Present Danger," Professor Robert Wistrich of the Hebrew University
writes that the anti-Semitism in the Arab world's press and governments
"has taken root in the body politic of Islam to an unprecedented
degree."Already present for a number of years, Arab anti-Semitism
has become more widespread, intensive and radicalized, Wistrich said
at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.
In his view, Arab anti-Semitism is the "single
biggest impediment to peace in the Middle East," and attempts
to ignore it will boomerang, Wistrich warned.
It is a mistake to consider the current wave
of anti-Semitism a by-product of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
Wistrich said.
Components of classical European anti-Semitism
- slogans, images, stereotypes and conspiracy theories against Jews
- now have been incorporated into Arab anti-Semitism.
The contents of the Muslim anti-Semitism often
defy logic. Even as many Arab governments or media deny the Holocaust,
they compare Israel to Nazi Germany because of its treatment of Palestinians,
trying to "Nazify" Zionism, Wistrich said.
Wistrich is not the only scholar to sound the
alarm. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based
think tank, says Muslim anti-Semitism is part of a larger picture.
"It is a mistake to look at terrorism
in isolation and it is a mistake to look at anti-Semitism in isolation,"
he said. "They are part of a totalitarian ideology of militant
Islam."
back to top
Court Accepts Liberal Conversions in Israel;
Orthodox Vow to Fight On
JESSICA STEINBERG
JERUSALEM (JTA) - Non-Orthodox Jews both inside
and outside Israel are celebrating a historic court ruling recognizing
Reform and Conservative conversions as valid and binding upon the
Jewish state.
Given the complexity of Israeli society, however,
Wednesday's ruling by Israel's High Court of Justice is not binding
on the Israeli rabbinate.
The result is that the Interior Ministry must
now register Israelis who had Reform or Conservative conversions as
Jews on their national identification cards - but the rabbinate will
not consider them Jews for "personal status" issues such
as marriage or burial.
Orthodox leaders have condemned the ruling,
and it is not clear if the Interior Ministry, which is run by the
fervently Orthodox Shas Party, will abide by it.
In addition, efforts are already under way
in the Knesset to undermine the ruling through legislation.
Still, leaders of the non-Orthodox streams
rejoiced after Wednesday's ruling, which decided some 50 cases that
had wended their way through the court system for years.
"The ruling has historical consequence
because it strengthens Jewish pluralism in Israel," said Rabbi
Uri Regev, head of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, the umbrella
agency for Reform and other liberal organizations in 40 countries.
"It effectively repels the Orthodox establishment
that holds that Reform and Conservative converts aren't worthy of
being recognized because of the liberal identities of the rabbis that
convert them," he said.
The conversion issue has sparked vicious fights
over the question of "Who is a Jew" and strained relations
between Israel - where the Orthodox largely control religious life
- and the Diaspora, where the liberal streams are stronger.
It has also threatened the stability of previous
Israeli governments, when Orthodox parties vowed to leave the governing
coalition if changes to the so-called religious status quo were enacted.
At one point, Israel's non-Orthodox groups
had agreed to freeze the court cases while compromise solutions were
sought, but ultimately renewed the cases when the standoff continued.
Outlining the court's reasoning in its 9-2
decision, Chief Justice Aharon Barak wrote: "Israel is not a
state of a Jewish community, Israel is the state of the Jewish people."
The ruling also said, "Our basic concepts
grant each individual the liberty to decide his or her affiliation
to one stream or another."
"It's obviously a complete and total victory,"
said Rabbi Andrew Sacks, executive head of Israel's Masorti Movement,
as the Conservative movement is known in Israel.
The court's language emphasizes the importance
of not enshrining one stream of Judaism above others, Sacks said.
"All those people who converted with us
and are listed as Ukranian or Peruvian or whatever, now they can have
Jewish listed on their identity cards."
The ruling pertains to conversions performed
in Israel; those converted by non-Orthodox rabbis outside of Israel
already are being registered as Jews.
The laminated, light green ID cards, carried
in blue plastic billfolds, are a staple in every Israeli's wallet.
An Israeli ID number is used for paying bills, receiving insurance
benefits, even buying a cellular phone.
Nevertheless, the decision carries no weight
with Israel's powerful Orthodox establishment.
The court's decision recognizes the concept
of religious pluralism in Israel, but Reform and Conservative conversions
still are not recognized by the Israeli rabbinate, which maintains
its monopoly on issues such as marriage.
"So what if they have an identity card
that says they're Jewish," said Avraham Ravitz, leader of the
fervently religious United Torah Judaism bloc.
"It doesn't mean they're recognized by
Jewish law as being Jewish. It's just bureaucratic."
That raised the prospect of Israelis receiving
some of the privileges of being Jewish in the Jewish state, but not
others.
"The decision will very much confuse these
'converts' whose conversions, in my view, do not hold," Israel's
chief Ashkenazic rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, told Army Radio.
"Their identity cards will be worthless.
Tomorrow if they want to register to get married, the day after if
they go to the Immigration Ministry to ask for their basket of benefits
or citizenship, they'll be told, 'No, you're only thought of as a
Jew on the population rolls, while as far as everything else goes,
you remain in your goyishness.'"
Indeed, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, head
of the fervently Orthodox Shas Party, said that he could not bring
himself "to register a non-Jew as a Jew."
One solution, he said, was to note on the converts'
ID cards that they are Reform Jews or Conservative Jews.
back to top
arts & entertainment
'Swimming' Author Writes from Her 'Subconscious'
GARY BAND
Jewish Journal Staff
"When I wrote the book, it never occurred
to me that Jewish women would be my audience," said Carole Glickfeld,
author of Swimming Toward the Ocean (Knopf, February 2001).
"But I've been surprised to hear that men think it's sexy and
that women like the relationships."
The former New Yorker and director of the Mayor's
Office for Senior Affairs, who for the last 10 years has taught creative
writing at the University of Washington in Seattle, will speak at
a Mother's Day Shabbat service at Temple Beth El in Swampscott on
May 10.
Glickfeld's first book, Useful Gifts,
a collection of short stories, won the Flannery O'Connor Award for
Short Fiction in 1989. She has also written a one-act play called
The Challenge that has been performed by hundreds of senior
citizens groups throughout the US and Canada. A graduate of the City
College of New York, Glickfeld received a Literary Fellowship from
the National Endowment for the Arts, and was a Fellow at the Bread
Loaf Writer's Conference in Vermont and the McDowell Colony in Peterborough,
NH.
Set in New York City in the 1950s, Swimming
Toward the Ocean - with "swimming" as a metaphor for
risk - follows 40 years in the life of Jewish Russian immigrant Chenia
Arnow through the eyes of her unwanted - and at first unborn - daughter,
Devorah. Opening the book with the words "I imagine..."
the first-person omniscient narrative voice tells and often imagines
the story of her mother, unhappily married to a German Jewish man
named Ruben who has a knack for extra-marital affairs and filing frivolous
lawsuits.
Chenia, a Betty Grable look-alike with a sharp
tongue, has two other children, a boy and a girl. She holds firm to
old-world superstitions, such as fear of the Evil Eye and the need
to say kenahora three times and throw salt over her shoulder to expel
any evil forces from her midst. While her husband conducts his affair,
Chenia engages in a romance of her own, though not without hesitation.
"The mother knows her affair could wreck the marriage, but she
feels so alive in doing it that she must seek it out," says Glickfeld.
However, as Charlene Kahn writes in the Seattle
Jewish Transcript, "Glickfeld draws her characters humanely
and without judgment."
Although the book is entirely the product of
the author's imagination, "I write purely out of the subconscious,"
some of Glickfeld's life, such as her growing up in Brighton Beach
(whose boardwalk figures heavily as a place of escape in the book),
plays into the text. She consulted five Yiddish dictionaries and worked
with a Yiddish teacher to include the many Yiddish words and phrases
that enhance the already rich, witty cultural dialogue throughout
the book.
What inspired her to write it? "A writer
hears voices and sees images," she said. For this book, the author
said she was sitting in one of the original Starbucks coffee shops
near her home where she traditionally edits all her writing from the
night before.
"I wanted to write longer works than I
had before, but nothing was coming to me. I was getting sort of depressed
when I saw a vision of a pregnant woman walking up to the roof of
her building and jumping rope to dislodge the fetus." She continued
to write, getting more depressed and thinking this could never be
published. She soon forgot these thoughts and got engrossed in story."
I let my characters take on a life of their
own, and try to fight the censor in my brain. I make sure that every
word has a reason for being there. I sweated every one of the 100,000
words in the book." A self-confessed night owl, she writes at
night and edits during the day. She had to set her alarm to be up
when I called her at 12:30 p.m. Seattle time.
As the daughter of deaf parents, Glickfeld
says she credits her mother with whom she spent much of her time growing
up with helping her "create backgrounds for people" and
"making sense of the world."
"In sign language, we dealt only with
nouns and verbs, no excess. Writing is very visual. I don't try to
do anything in particular other than to tell a story."
While Glickfeld was at the McDowell Colony
in New Hampshire reading a story from her first book, the writer Oscar
Hijuelos approached her and said he had the same experience with immigrant
parents as she had with deaf parents. "We're both constantly
interpreting the world back to them," he said.
The author says the book focuses on memory
and has a strong mother-daughter theme. "The need to tell the
story about her mother is what makes the book happen," Glickfeld
said, "but the relationship is what makes it complicated."
Reactions to her book have been extremely positive.
Glickfeld says if the book touches readers that is the greatest compliment.
"My hope is that it will speak to people's experience. The fact
a |