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| September 26 -October 9, 2003 | |||||
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Local StoriesJewish
Federation of the North Shore Honors 13
Eunice Epstein of Marblehead was honored as a life member of the Women’s Division Board, surpassing the criteria of 15 years of service, a major impact on Federation and the Jewish community at large and a meaningful giving history. “Eunice, you are truly a leader and a role model,” said Debbie Ponn, new Federation president (see page 3) and outgoing Women’s Division president. Former
President Ed Bromberg was made a life member of the Federation Board. Stephanie Myers of Marblehead and Gail Mack of Swampscott received the Michael Steinberg Young Leadership Awards. Myers, chairwoman of Mitzvah Day for two years, has been a dedicated worker, attracting over 750 volunteers. She is also active in Hadassah and at Cohen Hillel Academy, where her two children attend school. Mack
has been chairwoman of Rekindle Shabbat for two years, showing tremendous
commitment to the program, as well as adding new and creative changes.
She also participates as a fund-raiser and donor on the community campaign
and is active at Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead. Sheryl Levy of Swampscott, incoming Women’s Division president, received the Edith Bloch Award for exemplary leadership, teamwork and initiative. “Sheryl, the only word not in your vocabulary is ‘no,’” said Ponn, who presented the award. Rebecca Gil of Swampscott received the Derek Sheckman Community Leadership Award, and Samantha Yanko of Lynn was the runner-up. Yanko, a junior at Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody, is involved in cheerleading, track team, peer leaders, student government and other activities. She founded a Jewish student group and is active in USY, where she participates in many social justice projects. Gil has visited Israel six times, twice in the past year, and plans another trip in February to the Alexander Muss High School. She also demonstrates her love for Israel through her involvement in Young Judea, where she is president of the New England region. A senior at Swampscott High School, Gil is president of the band, and a member of the Varsity Swim Team and many clubs. She has received several awards, including the Swampscott High School Award for Excellence, and was selected to participate in the National Leadership Forum for Youth in Medicine. She is an active volunteer at Salem Hospital and Temple Beth El. “We ask that you follow your dreams and also that you come back here one day and share them with us,” said Sandy Sheckman, who presented the award named in her son’s memory. The Jewish Community Foundation recognized newcomers to the list of those who have chosen to endow their gifts in perpetuity. They included Abrasha and Lena Wilcher, who endowed their gift, and Debbie Ponn, the newest Lion of Judah Endowment. Stan and Emilia Black received a special national honor, the United Jewish Communities Endowment Achievers Award for outstanding achievements in philanthropy. “Because of you and those who follow suit, we may never have the need to start the annual campaign at zero,” said Michael Strauss, governance chair of the Foundation. JFSNS’
Adoption Program Helps Build Beautiful Families SUSAN
JACOBS Two-year-old Mackenzie Trainor offers a star-shaped cookie to 18-month-old Noah Berg, while three-year-old Conor Caccivio quietly plays with a toy and 16-week-old Emily Bridgman naps peacefully in her car-seat. Their mothers, who are attending a monthly drop-in session for adoptive families, marvel over the beautiful babies. Proudly overseeing the happy group are Ann Woodfork and Ann White. The Anns, as they are known, run the adoption program at the Jewish Family Service of the North Shore (JFSNS). Two years ago, they took on the challenge of resurrecting the languishing program initiated 35 years ago by former JFS executive director David Colten. They have just celebrated their second successful year in operation. Since Sept. of 2001, they have finalized 30 domestic and international adoptions for North Shore families and are completing home studies and/or providing counselling services for several dozen more. “Our
first year was about survival,” admits Woodfork. “The agency
was facing financial challenges, and this adoption program not only had
to be self-sufficient, it also had to give money back to the agency. Although
we are non-sectarian, we didn’t have a lot of birth moms and didn’t
have a budget for advertising and marketing to reach them. Referrals came
mostly from local hospitals or word of mouth.” The Anns acknowledge that the shaky economy over the past few years has caused many prospective adoptive families to reconsider. Although each case is different, it costs approximately $20,-30,000 to finalize a domestic or international adoption. Although many qualified people might be open to adoption, they simply cannot afford it. Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of babies available for adoption, both domestically and internationally. Once all the paperwork is complete, the average wait is less than a year. For some families, the process takes only a few months. The waiting can be the most agonizing aspect. And while the Anns can’t take away or predict that part, they can certainly help ease the stress and assure anxious adoptive parents that the process does, and will, work. The compassionate, middle-aged Anns work together in beautiful harmony. Ann Woodfork, who lives in Swampscott, is a licensed social worker who has a 22-year-old adopted daughter. Administrator Ann White, who lives in Salem, relinquished a baby many years ago. Together they have a combined 50 years of experience in the field, and know each other intimately, having previously worked together at an adoption agency in Arlington, MA. “They complement each other perfectly,” says Shari McGuirk, who notes that they were “Guardian Angels” when she and her husband Steve, an attorney, adopted their daughter Lily, now 2. “As a team, they have devoted their lives to adoption. It’s more than a job to them,” says McGuirk, who lives in Marblehead and works at the Jewish Federation as Campaign Director. “They provide practical information in a loving, supportive way. They are professional, knowledgeable and truly care about every family they work with. I’ll be forever indebted to them for giving us this gift,” she adds. Since adoption can be complicated and laws vary by state, it helps prospective North Shore parents to have the expertise of women like the Anns. Because of their tenure, they know all the key local players involved in the process. Since they both have had personal experiences with adoption, they can provide the necessary emotional support many families require as they sort through frustrating paperwork, deal with international bureaucracies and anxiously await referrals. “We want clients to feel that they had a good experience because adoption is a lifelong process,” asserts Woodfork, who keeps in contact with former clients and is happy to provide information and offer advice even years after a placement. McGuirk says that the Anns’ advice was indispensable to her during her process. “When we first began to consider adoption, our (now) 10-year-old daughter Emma was a big part of our hesitation. Although she really wanted a brother or sister, we realized there would be an 8-year gap in their ages. We thought it would be preferable to adopt an older child, closer in age to Emma. The Anns advised against this, pointing out that Emma might feel displaced in the family. They really included Emma in the process, and helped us all realize that it would be better for our family to adopt an infant.” Approximately 60% of the adoptions handled by the JFSNS have been domestic, with most of the children coming from Massachusetts, Texas, California and Utah. According to White, the majority of these adoptions are semi-open in the sense that the families have met and agreed to have minimal, non-personal contact after relinquishment. The other 40% of cases handled by the JFSNS are international adoptions conducted in partnership with other agencies. In these cases, White says, the adoptive families rarely meet the birth parents or have any contact with them afterwards. The JFSNS has helped facilitate international adoptions from China, Guatemala, Ukraine and Belarus. Helaine and Danny Berg of Salem used the JFSNS to facilitate the adoption of their son Noah, who was born in Guatemala. “We hit Guatemala at a good time and everything went really smoothly. We had a referral in a month and Noah was home in five months,” says Helaine, who brought an ensemble of 12 people to Logan Airport to greet Noah when he arrived. The Bergs, who were ecstatic about becoming parents in their late forties, are raising Noah Jewish. He observes Jewish dietary laws and attends synagogue with his parents. The Bergs brought him to a mikvah and officially converted him, and since he was uncircumcised at birth, they had their local rabbi preside over the rite like a bris. Rituals such as this are important to many adoptive Jewish parents. The McGuirks, who belong to Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead, had a meaningful baby naming ceremony for Lily at the temple, which, Shari adds, the Anns attended. Lily was given the Hebrew name Matanah, which means gift. “She was a gift from God, to us and the entire community,” concludes McGuirk, her eyes filling with tears. For more information about the JFSNS’s adoption program, call 978-741-7878 x11, or email to anns@jfsns.org. Arabs Freer in Israel, Says Sharansky MARK
ARNOLD Sharansky, 55, served nine of those years in prison before world opinion — mobilized by an international outcry orchestrated in part by his wife Avital — forced the Soviets to release him in 1986. He immediately emigrated to Israel and published an inspirational book about his ordeal, Fear No Evil, which described the cruelty of his captors and attributed his survival to his refusal to make any concessions to their demands. In Israel, he founded the Yisrael B’Aliya party representing Russian immigrants, served in the Knesset and several governments’ Cabinets, all the while enhancing his international status as a champion of human rights. This month he embarked on a whirlwind tour of U.S. campuses to combat the virulent anti-Israel sentiment that exists on many of them. At one stop, a Rutgers University student was arrested afer throwing a pie in his face. His talk, there as elsewhere, was billed as “A Jewish Perspective of the Road to Peace.” Locally,
he addressed students at Boston, Tufts and Harvard universities. A short,
stocky low-key man who seemed uneasy with the flowery introduction by
BU President John Silber, he appeared at BU under the auspices of the
school’s Hillel chapter. Sharansky began his BU address by saying
that Israel is described alternately as the only democracy in the Middle
East and a major violator of Arab human rights. “Where does the truth
lie?” he asked rhetorically. He
denounced the news media for propounding the doctrine of “moral equivalence,”
which holds that the cycle of Middle East violence is equally the fault
of Israel and the Palestinians. “It’s true that innocent civilians
are killed on both sides,” admitted Sharansky. The difference? “The
Palestinians measure success by the number of innocents killed whereas
with us that’s a measure of failure,” he said. This difference in motivations makes dictators untrustworthy partners, in his view. Accordingly, he concluded, Washington should tie its Palestinian aid to an insistence on liberalization. This was not done at Oslo, he said, but for there to be peace, it must happen now.
Ponn Sets Federation on Ambitious Course MARK
ARNOLD In her maiden address as president, Peabody’s Deborah M. Ponn laid out a bold strategy for the next two years and followed it up with a description of specific programs she intends to implement. She was elected at the group’s 65th annual meeting and election of officers, held Sept. 22 at Temple Beth El in Swampscott. Other major speakers were Merritt A. Mulman, Federation’s new executive director, and Swampscott High School senior Andy Locke, who brought tears to the eyes of some of the 200 audience members with his poignant description of his emotions upon visiting some of World War II death camps during last summer’s Federation-sponsored “Youth to Israel” trip to Eastern Europe. Federation is the central Jewish fund-raising agency for the North Shore and subsidizes most local community agencies, including Jewish Family Services, Jewish community centers in Marblehead and Peabody, the Holocaust Center, Jewish Historical Society and The Jewish Journal. It raises money for Israel and, with support from the Robert I. Lappin Foundations, it creates and operates — sometimes alone, usually with synagogues or agencies — more than two dozen programs, most of which are focused on turning Jewish children into proud and committed Jewish adults. Ponn, a native of Chicago who moved to the North Shore in the late eighties, thanked the Federation for enriching her life over the years. She announced she had endowed a gift to the Jewish Community Foundation of the North Shore “so people will know for generations to come how much you mean to me.” In her address to the group — composed of Federation officers, workers, agency heads and community leaders, Ponn said her success would be measured by Federation’s response to three crucial challenges: grooming people for new leadership positions, forging links between North Shore Jews and Israel, and keeping North Shore children Jewish. She said she would inaugurate family and leadership missions to areas of the country and parts of the world where Jews need the benefit of outside support, including Israel and Cuba. She also proposed holding quarterly meetings of Jewish organizational leaders. She pledged to conduct a long-talked-about demographic and attitudinal study of the community. This, she said, would enable “those who provide help to better focus it on those who need help.” And she said she would “work tirelessly” to raise enough money in the community campaign to provide agencies with adequate funds to serve their constituencies. Mulman, who began work here on July 1, said he will strive “to infuse a Jewish ethos into the very fabric of this community: from how we engage in tzedakah (charity) to instilling a love for Judaism in our children. Leading Jewishly, living Jewishly.” “Federation,” he observed, “is a service organization in support of every Jewish woman, man and child; every synagogue and agency; every square inch of the 23 communities that make up our Jewish North Shore.” As examples of challenges facing the community, he cited “stagnant fundraising campaigns and lack of coordination” among organizations. He noted that many community activists are committed to their own specific agency or synagogue. Many of our community agencies are operating at a deficit — “more do than don’t,” in his words. To help those who need help in the future, he said, “all of us must begin thinking communally in virtually everything we do.” A number of community leaders were singled out for special recognition at the event (See story page 1) These included Eunice Epstein of Marblehead, honored as a life member of the Women’s Division Board; former Federation President Ed Bromberg of Peabody, life membership on the Federation Board; Rachel Jacobson of Swampscott, the Grinspoon Steinhardt award for excellence in Jewish education; Stephanie Myers of Marblehead and Gail Mack of Swampscott, Michael Steinberg Young Leadership awards; and Sheryl Levy of Swampscott, incoming president of the Women’s Division, Edith Bloch Award for leadership, teamwork, and initiative. In addition, Stanley and Emilia Black of Swampscott received a United Jewish Communities Endowment Achievers Award for philanthropy; Abrasha and Lena Wilcher were recognized for endowing their gifts in perpetuity, and Swampscott High School student Rebecca Gil of Swampscott was awarded the Derek Sheckman Community Leadership Award by Sandy Sheckman, executive director of the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore and mother of the late high school youth after whom that prize is named..
The Way
I See It MARK
ARNOLD The exhibit Family Ties has now ended its three-month stay at the gleaming new Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. Critics and the public alike acclaimed the exhibit. But not everyone was pleased. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), in particular, began a behind-the-scenes effort in July to excise from the exhibit one work that it believes perpetuates disparaging stereotypes of Jews. The work in question is part of a series of photographs by Carrie Mae Weems, a folklorist as well as a photographer. The daughter of Mississippi sharecroppers who moved to Oregon in the 1950s, Weems describes in words and photos the life of her family while she was growing up. One piece consists of two photos of her mother at a sewing machine in the factory where she worked. The caption that ADL found offensive said, in part: “Momma said: ‘Those folks were just funny kinda jews (sic)! Didn’t even speak to you. Boss’ son came by my machine every day for two years and never spoke. When he wanted me to do something, he’d point — like I was a dog or something. Some funny people. But you know what, that’s alright cause I made my $42 a day.’” (italics added) Acting on a complaint from a North Shore resident, Debra W. Finkel, North Shore Coordinator of ADL, wrote to museum director Dan L. Monroe on July 17. While noting that Family Ties is dedicated to reflecting the universal family experience as portrayed through a range of media, she said: “This gratuitous reference to the employer’s religion in no way advances the purpose of the exhibit; quite the contrary....” She suggested the reference to Jews be reworded to read: “Those folks were just funny kinda people.” Finkel also asked for a meeting with Monroe to discuss the matter. Rather than a meeting, Monroe wrote back on July 29 noting the artistic and human rights credentials of artist Weems and defending her choice of words. “Because of Mrs. Weems’ training as a folklorist,” wrote Monroe, “it is entirely understandable that she would precisely adhere to her mother’s language.” While noting that the museum “does not endorse the viewpoints of values of artists whose work is presented,” he said that to make the changes suggested by Finkel “would constitute defacement of a work of art and egregious censorship.” “The text you find objectionable,” said Monroe, “is not interpretive text, it is an integral part of the work of art.” He went on to argue that changing the wording to satisfy the demands of any group’s sensitivities would “violate the most basic commitments of a museum to freedom of expression, effectively destroy the work in question,” and subject the museum to “international criticism.” He did offer to meet with Finkel to discuss the matter further. Not satisfied with Monroe’s defense of the exhibit, the ADL responded on August 11 in a letter signed by Anne Selby, Chair of the Northshore ADL Advisory Committee, Ginny MacDowell, Chair of the ADL Regional Board, and Regional ADL Director Robert Leikind, as well as Finkel. Rather than address the issues, the group said, Monroe’s response had elevated their concern. There is no essential “artistic purpose” in injecting such “provocative language” into the exhibit, they said, noting that centuries of anti-Semitism have caused “massive carnage and mayhem and continues to be a potent force in America and around the world.” “We are not advocating censorship of ideas,” they insisted. “Instead we are asking that those who encourage the flow of ideas and information do so with a sense of the deep moral responsibility that attaches to these efforts.” They asked Monroe to reconsider his position and either drop the offensive exhibit or offer some contextual explanation. There was no reply for more than a month, until The Journal began inquiring into the situation at the behest of some local Jewish citizens. Says Anne Selby: “We know vicious stereotypes that go unchallenged cause harm. And here they are not even being recognized.” Adds attorney James Rudolph, a national ADL commissioner and past North Shore Advisory Committee Chair: “Monroe’s letter was insensitive. It read like a lawyer’s letter.” ADL regional director Rob Leikind weighed in on the subject too: “If the words under that photo were from a white person and they cast aspersions on people of color, you’d better believe there would have been a hue and cry — or the piece never would have been included in the first place. But if people can talk disparagingly about Jews and no one raises an eyebrow, then that says it’s okay to call Jews names. And we all know where that leads.” I saw the exhibit when the renovated museum, and Family Ties, opened on June 22. The quote made me uncomfortable. Then I reasoned: “She’s not saying ‘dirty Jew.’ Maybe she’s being descriptive rather than pejorative. We really don’t know for sure.” Maybe that’s the point, however: People shouldn’t be made to feel uncomfortable for their religious beliefs; Public displays shouldn’t depict them in crude stereotypes. Here, arguably, we were disparaged, and we only learned about it when it was too late to stop it. Let’s hope Monroe will have his meeting with ADL and become sensitized to the power of hurtful words and phrases, so that next time he won’t invoke the mantra of artistic expression to excuse displays that undermine the universality the museum seeks to promote with exhibits such as Family Ties. The Jewish Name Game SUSAN
JACOBS Levy. Schwartz. Goldberg. What all these last names have in common is that they have been passed down by family members from generation to generation. But where did these surnames come from originally? Did Jews always have surnames? In the Bible, Jews had a given name (e.g. Abraham or Moses), but were usually referred to in Hebrew as the son of their father (e.g. Avraham ben Moshe). Although some Sephardic Jews have surnames stretching back centuries, most Ashkenazim lacked them. Other than aristocrats and wealthy people, Eastern European Jews did not get surnames until the early 19th century. Jews from countries captured by Napoleon (including Russia, Poland and Germany) were ordered to get surnames for tax purposes. After Napoleon’s defeat, many Jews dropped these names and returned to “son of” names such as Mendelsohn, Jacobson, Levinson, etc. Most Jewish families have had last names for 175 years or less. In contrast, gentiles were quicker to adopt surnames. Surnames were commonly used 2000 years ago in areas occupied or influenced by the Romans. They came into regular use by the Middle Ages; first by the nobility, then by the gentry. Irish surnames are found as early as the 10th century, while in France and the Anglo-Saxon countries, surnames go back to the 16th century. Origins
of Surnames Surnames were also commonly derived from the geographical location where one resided. More than half the English surnames used today originally come from geographic descriptions such as Churchill, Cambridge or London. A suffix indicating a topographical feature such as bank, field, house, lee (meadow), don (town) or thorp (village) might be added to the end of the name. Jews from Eastern Europe often took the names of places they lived in or the names of cities from which they emigrated such as Mannheim, Ginsberg or Lipschitz. Other popular choices were Berlin(er), Danziger and Breslau, and the more descriptive Berger (village dweller) or Wasserman (water dweller). Some simply used the general names of Deutsch (German) and Pollack (Polish). Occupations helped distinguish one person from another, and many individuals defined themselves by what they did for a living. Mr. Miller probably owned a mill, and Mr. Fischer was most likely a fisherman. Other vocational names include: Baker, Shepherd, Carpenter, Wright (writer), Geltschmidt (goldsmith), Cohen (rabbi), Levi (temple singer) and Schneider (tailor). Finally, sometimes nicknames became surnames. These types of surnames were often used to describe something about the physique of the ancestor. Some gentile examples include: Small, Longfellow and Blackbeard. Some Jewish examples include: Hoch (tall), Kurtz (short), Klein (small), Shein (good looking), Gross (large), Roth (red), Schwartz (dark or black) and Weiss (white). Wealthy
Jews created surnames by stringing together combinations of beautiful
words such as Goldstein (gold stone), Blumberg (flower mountain), Rosenberg
(rose mountain) and Silverstein (silver glass). Some chose names that
corresponded to royalty such as Koenig (king) or Diamond. Others chose
to highlight their positive attributes such as Lieber (lover) or Gluck
(luck). Since the poor could not afford to pay for their choice of names,
they sometimes had undesirable ones assigned to them such as Plotz (to
die) or Klutz (clumsy). Avotaynu, Inc. is the leading publisher of products and information of interest to persons researching Jewish genealogy and Jewish family trees. Check out their website at www.avotaynu.com. Name - Changing Jewish Performers Many
Jewish performers have changed their original birth names to something
more Anglicized. Here are some examples of famous Jews who chose stage
names that sounded less ethnic than their given names:
French Jews to Address Anti-Semitism MARK
ARNOLD A husband and wife team from Paris and a cantor who recently immigrated here because of French anti-Semitism will discuss their experiences and the outlook for French Jews at a free public lecture on Oct. 15. The session, co-sponsored by Anti-Defamation League’s North Shore Advisory Committee and The Jewish Journal, will be held at Temple Israel, Swampscott, at 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be provided by the temple. Title of the talks will be: The French Jewish Community in Danger. Dr. Nicole Cohn, an Algerian-born Jew who immigrated to France at age 14, and Dr. Howard Cohn, her American-born husband, have lived in France for many years. Their three children were born and educated there. Nicole Cohn is an anesthesiologist and director of a pain clinic at Argente Hospital in the Northern suburbs of Paris. She is also one of the founders of a liberal Jewish community in Paris, Kehilat Gesher, and has worked to have it recognized by French authorities. The community now boasts more than 150 families in two locations, and an active religious school. Dr. Howard Cohn is a practicing physician at the American Hospital in France. The couple is speaking on behalf of the Council of Jewish Communities, a new political watchdog group formed to combat anti-Semitic acts and aid the victims. Since September 2000, there have been more than 700 such acts in France. Ary Rothschild, the new cantor of Temple Israel, is a native Frenchman who now lives in Marblehead with his wife and four children. Anti-Semitism is one of the main reasons the family left France, he told The Journal. Interest
in their presentations is based on the rising tide of violence and unrest
affecting Jews and Jewish institutions in France. One survey found that
a quarter of French Jews say they are thinking about emigrating because
of religious problems there. As a child in Algeria, Nicole Cohn witnessed tensions between Jewish and Arab communities first hand. She recalls that her mother used to walk her to school carrying a grenade and a pistol in her handbag. The mother’s strategy was to use the pistol if attacked by one person, the grenade if attacked by a mob. Happily, the daughter recalls, she never had to use either. With independence of Algeria looming in 1960, Nicole immigrated to France, where she thought life would be “quiet and peaceful.” The Cohns met in Israel. As a medical student, Nicole was injured by a Molotov cocktail in Jerusalem. At Hadassah Hospital where she was treated, she asked what specialty they needed most in Israel. The answer was anesthesiology. She later did a residency training at Hadassah after the Yom Kippur War. Nicole is active in a French Judeo-Christian friendship society. National News Now That it’s Out, How to Use the NJPS Data? JOE BERKOFSKY
NEW YORK (JTA) — A year after being pulled amid controversy over its methodology, the National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01 hit the Jewish community on Sept. 9, generating national headlines and fueling a flurry of proclamations from Jewish organizations offering dueling spins on the results. Groups
alternately decried the loss of Jews and bemoaned the steady rise of intermarriage
while urging more outreach, or welcomed the popularity of Jewish education
and the wide embrace of some Jewish rituals as proof that promoting Jewish
identity works. Analysis of what NJPS means will endure, but now comes the real test facing the United Jewish Communities federation umbrella group, which sponsored the $6 million study. To what extent will the NJPS live up to its mission of giving the Jewish federation system and other Jewish organizations a planning tool unprecedented in depth and scope for years to come? Like so much in Jewish life, it depends on whom you ask. Rabbi Hayim Herring, who chaired the NJPS data utilization committee, which plans how to disseminate the study, said the study’s chief importance lies in its ability to unearth major Jewish trends. “Where it can be useful is in helping lay out an agenda for the American Jewish community,” he said. Many local federation leaders say they consider the NJPS useful largely for providing a benchmark against which they measure their own community studies. “For anyone who works in the vineyards, there’s a keen interest in having a bird’s eye view of the overall picture,” said Jacob Solomon, executive vice president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. However, Solomon added, local community studies are “much, much more applicable. We would always rather see data that’s applied directly to our demographic” territory than more general statistics. Miami
last conducted its own study in 1994, and it will begin its next survey
this February before making any major policy shifts, he said. Ira Sheskin, a University of Miami sociologist who was among several consultants to NJPS and who generally lauded it, found variations in such hot-button issues as intermarriage. While the latest NJPS found a national intermarriage rate among all married couples involving a Jew at 31 percent, Sheskin said he found 39 communities showing rates lower than 26 percent. NJPS found that among marriages in the past five years, 47 percent were intermarriages. Federation leaders in the West, meanwhile, say they do not rely heavily on NJPS because it does not contain enough data about a region in flux. Heath Blumstein, a senior campaign associate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, called the NJPS “somewhat helpful” for its “universal” data. But Phoenix just finished its own survey, by another leading Jewish community social scientist, Jack Ukeles. That survey found dramatic Jewish growth in the Sun Belt city — up 138 percent in a decade. While the NJPS is aimed primarily at federations, others, including religious leaders, are also paying close attention to the data — at least for parochial purposes. “I don’t think there was that much shocking” in NJPS, said Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the movement’s congregational arm. But “it’s not enough to talk about the numbers of those who affiliate. What about growth in terms of spirituality, in terms of depth?” Epstein said. Nevertheless, a United Synagogue official in charge of long-range planning will more closely study NJPS for potentially useful information, Epstein said. For Reform officials, NJPS “feels like an affirmation of what we’ve been doing,” said Dru Greenwood, director of outreach and synagogue community for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the movement’s synagogue arm. The Reform movement has been perhaps the most aggressive at recruiting marginal and intermarried Jews. Greenwood said that NJPS findings such as 33 percent of interfaith couples raise their children as Jews provide a “a tremendous opportunity.” Ultimately, NJPS “will have an impact on the discourse” about American Jewry’s future overall, she said. UAHC will present the study to lay leaders trained in fields that interpret such data, she added, and examine the analyses for impact on policy. Also assembling a panel of experts to sift through NJPS will be the Orthodox Union, said O.U.’s executive vice president, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb. While the O.U. has its own concerns about the Jewish people, such as a low birth rate, Weinreb said that no single group can address all of the concerns NJPS raises. “This survey can serve as a shofar to wake us up,” he said. Jewish professionals in other areas say they are looking for very specific data that NJPS may not provide. Jonathan Woocher, president of the Jewish Education Service of North America, said the raw data NJPS offers “gives us a valuable baseline portrait.” But “the real issue,” he said, “is not how many we count in different areas, but how do we impact those we do reach?” For his part, Rabbi Rami Arian, executive director of the Foundation for Jewish Camping, said he would like to see a study “that looks in a serious way at the various kinds of Jewish education experiences” in camps “and tracks their impact” over time. NJPS was never designed to assess the quality of specific services, its backers say, but was aimed at offering a “statistical snapshot” of American Jewry. “This is a UJC report; therefore, what we highlighted were areas our constituents were looking for,” said Lorraine Blass, NJPS project director. Bruce Phillips, a sociologist at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, author of a study on intermarriage and an NJPS consultant, added that NJPS avoids examining the implications of the data and presents an overview instead. That said, he added, “you would be crazy to ignore it; it’s a very solid study.” Meanwhile,
Herring, who chairs the NJPS data utilization committee, said that the
next six months will prove crucial in getting the facts out. Now, given the past year’s controversy over the study’s methods, NJPS “will always be haunted with credibility issues,” he said, “and that fact is something any utilization plan should take into account.” Others, such as Miami’s Solomon, say that ultimately a survey is just a survey. “We can count Jews for a minyan, and that’s about it,” he said. “You can make predictions about what the Jewish future’s going to look like? Gimme a break!”
International News Labor
Gets Its Groove Back LESSLIE SUSSER JERUSALEM
(JTA) — After almost a year of bumbling incompetence, the Israeli
left seems to be getting its groove back. •
There’s a sharp new tone in the left’s criticism of the government’s
peace and economic policies. In addition, the fact that Sharon is under fire in his own Likud Party gives new hope and energy to his opponents on the left. The developments come in sharp contrast to the year of confused lethargy that beset Labor after it lost successive elections in 2001 and 2003 by landslides, and to the Palestinian intifada, which made a mockery of Labor’s peace ideology. Indeed, as part of a Likud-led national unity government for 20 months starting in March 2001, Labor seemed to forfeit what was left of its separate political identity. The Sharon government’s difficulty in coming to grips with the key issues on Israel’s agenda now are paving the way for Labor’s revival. After more than two-and-a-half years in office, Sharon has not been able to turn the economy around or bring the peace and security he promised in his election campaign. He also has yet to finish the long-awaited security fence. Analysts speak of a dark mood in the country because of the government’s inability to point to any significant light at the end of the tunnel. Without a peace agreement in sight and with emergency budget cuts threatening to impoverish more Israelis, the opposition is starting to make its presence felt. To give itself a more compassionate image, Labor is angling for a merger with Peretz’s worker-oriented One Nation. With the charismatic, socially-concerned Peretz back in the fold, Labor leaders hope to make a stronger case against the government’s economic policy — which they depict as enriching the rich and impoverishing the poor — and appeal to a wider electorate. In a large demonstration on the night of Sept. 20, Labor, Meretz and Peace Now leaders focused on the government’s failure to bring peace or security, drawing a direct link between the security situation and the beleaguered economy. Labor leaders contend that the jury is still out on Oslo, but they say the right-wing thesis of force against the Palestinians hasn’t proved itself either. Labor’s alternative — separation from the Palestinians with or without an agreement, as soon as possible — seems to be striking a more receptive public chord. Perhaps, more than anything else, the recent ceremonies for Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres’ 80th birthday underline the left’s newfound energy. The Sunday celebration of Peres’ achievements was skillfully used to promote Labor’s agenda and challenge what the party sees as Sharon’s intransigence and delaying tactics. At the gala evening in Tel Aviv’s Mann Auditorium, former President Clinton drew rapturous applause when he declared that the Oslo peace process had not failed and could still be brought to a successful conclusion. Indeed, the cheers for Clinton seemed to indicate the abiding strength of the left’s yearning for a revival of the peace process. The birthday party became a powerful celebration of what might have been had Oslo succeeded — and what many on the left think could still be, if only Labor is given another shot in power. Turning to Sharon, Peres said, “Peace is closer than you think, and closer than I believe.” At a seminar at Tel Aviv University on Monday, Peres again used a high-profile occasion to juxtapose the left’s panacea of separation against what it sees as the right’s ineffectual delaying tactics. Playing for time, Peres said, could prove catastrophic. Instead, he suggested that the government pull out of Gaza unconditionally, as soon as possible. The test “will be whether you are capable of making a quick decision,” Peres said in remarks addressed to Sharon, who was sitting in the audience. “If you do, we will support you, the nation will support you. We don’t have to be in the government for that.” At one point, Sharon had seemed to suggest casually the possibility of a new national unity government. “Perhaps we can still work together for peace and security,” he told Peres. But Labor’s Avraham Shochat and Binyamin Ben Eliezer quickly shot down the idea. Only if Sharon takes the peace process with the Palestinians forward will Labor be interested, they said; the party will not allow itself to be used again as a fig leaf for what they characterize as Sharon’s do-nothing policy. In making the perceived offer, Sharon was signaling to his present coalition partners — who are threatening to rock the boat over the budget — that he has other options. Sharon’s real problem, though, is in his own Likud Party, where his position has eroded somewhat in the wake of financial scandals that implicated him and his sons. Already, possible successors — Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert — are starting to circle, and their sniping as they jockey for position is not helping the government. All this is starting to hurt Sharon: For the first time in months, there are signs that his popularity is waning. A mid-September poll in the Ma’ariv newspaper shows satisfaction with Sharon’s performance at 43 percent, down from well over 60 percent a few months ago. Fully 49 percent said they were dissatisfied with Sharon’s performance. Such results are energizing the opposition, which for the first time in years sees cracks in the right’s previously impregnable position. Many in Labor believe the scandals may soon force Sharon’s resignation and that any successor will fail, lacking Sharon’s political dexterity in pursuing an ideology that Labor feels is out of sync with reality. Then, they say, Labor’s leader after Peres — whoever that may be — will have a real chance of becoming prime minister. If
there’s no light yet at the end of Israel’s tunnel, there may
at least be for the Labor Party. Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report. Features JTA News Briefs Bush: Arafat
Betrayed Palestinians Arafat:
Shrewd Businessman? Lawmakers
Want Embassy Moved Israel
to Ignore U.N. Resolution Israelis
March Against “Occupation” Arafat
Uses Kids, Women as Shields Israel,
India Cooperate in Space Palestinians:
We Will Offer Truce Christians
Aid Jews France
Gets Tough on Islamic Radicals Warhol’s
‘Jews’ to be Auctioned NPR: We’re
Not Biased People in the News
Arts & EntertainmentBassist Avishai Cohen Bridges Musical GapsMATTHEW
S. ROBINSON
In a career that has included work with the legendary likes of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Pop diva-in-training Alicia Keys, The Boston Pops and the Israeli Philharmonic, Jerusalem-born musician Avishai Cohen — who will perform at Scullers Jazz Club in Cambridge Sept. 30 — has come to be regarded as one of the best bassists of his generation. DownBeat Magazine has called Cohen a “jazz visionary of global proportions” and Bass Magazine has declared him one of the most influential bass players of the 20th century. Apparently unsatisfied with such high praise, Cohen has continued to stretch himself in new musical directions. On his latest CD, Lyla, Cohen not only plays electric and acoustic bass, he also handles keyboard duties and sings. “It is a new stage for my career,” says Cohen of the debut album from his own label, RazDaz Records (www.AvishaiMusic.com). “It has been a serious journey and a big decision-making time, but it is now the next level. It is where I want to see myself.” Specifically, Cohen says, he wants to be more involved in the production and distribution of his music. “I don’t particularly agree with what many labels give their artists and how the label system works,” he says. “Especially as I am a more eclectic artist, I felt it would be better to form my own team of people who really believe in my music.” With the help of some close friends and advisors, Cohen prepared himself to go out on his own. So far, he seems to be doing just fine. “The album is being very well received,” Cohen says of Lyla. “It has not even been out two weeks and already over 100 radio stations are playing it!” Asked where he came up with the title of the new album, Cohen explains that “Lyla” is a symbolic bridge between the cultures of his homeland. “’Lyla’ means ‘night’ in Hebrew and it’s also a beautiful Arabic name for a woman,” he says. “The name has a nice ring to it. And it fits the album as a whole, especially with the more intimate tunes that reveal more of the softer side of who I am as an artist.” “I’ve always been interested in several genres of music including jazz, rock, pop, latin and funk,” he says. “And I’m always packed with ideas. I decided to start my own label because I’m involved in so many different projects.” In addition to work with his talented support team, The International Vamp Band, Cohen is also working on a new rock project called Gadu. “It is all very exciting,” he says. “I now have an outlet to put out whatever I want to, whether it has me in it or not.” As he has had the privilege of working with so many talented musicians, Cohen is especially looking forward to having the opportunity to produce and distribute their music as well. “In addition to having more freedom with my own music,” he says, “I can now help other artists, and that is the best part.” Speaking
again of names, Cohen explains that “RazDaz” is a nickname his
sister has been using for him since they were children in Israel. Among the “good sounds” on Lyla are a trio of impressive cover tunes that span the musical gamut. In addition to Chick Corea’s “Eternal Child” (featuring Corea himself on piano), Cohen also offers his own interpretations of The Beatles’ “Come Together” and Dr. Dre’s “The Watcher.” “I do not do many covers as a composer, I have so much respect for the composition of a song and do not want to fool with it or change it,” Cohen says. “So for me to pick someone else’s song and cover it is a big deal.” As Cohen and Corea have been working together for six years, it may be easy to see why Cohen chose his long-time hero and friend’s compositions to be on his new album. “My friendship and partnership with Chick has been and is very important to me, and that piece has been a favorite of mine for some time,” Cohen explains. “So to play it with him on my debut album on my new label was an amazing experience.” As for how he came to reinterpret the works of Dre, McCartney and Lennon, Cohen has explanations that are as different as the songs themselves. “I have been listening to hip-hop for a few years,” Cohen says, “and the thing that really makes it for me is Dre’s work. The groove on ‘The Watcher’ is just impeccable, so I took that bass and drum groove and painted it in a new way so that it’s got that hip-hop thing but also other sounds as well.” As for “Come Together,” Cohen says that it was as close to a natural as he has ever encountered. “I wanted to play a song on the upright bass because that is what people know me best for.” “And that song fit perfectly on the bass, especially because, by using the bow, I got that distorted guitar sound. It just fit in so many ways.” Another stand-out track on Lyla is another rarity for Cohen — a political song about his embattled homeland called “How Long.” “I am not a political person,” Cohen says, “but, as an Israeli, I can not forget or ignore that part of me.” When one of his bandmate’s friends was killed by a sniper, Cohen knew he had to express his grief through music. Klein Soursourian to Perform in Gloucester Jesse Klein Soursourian of Beverly will perform his original adaptation of of Nicolai Gogol’s “The Diary of a Madman” at the West End Theatre, 2 Main St., Gloucester, on Fri., Oct. 3 and Sat., Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. Yuriy Kordonskiy will direct. Soursourian, a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut with honors in theater, has performed professionally for the past 10 years, appearing at North Shore Music Theatre, The Players Ring, Gloucester Stage Company, The Lyric Stage of Boston, The Boston Publick Theatre, Mt. Holyoke Summer Theatre and The Firehouse Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10. Call 978-283-2525. Handicapped accessible. ‘Paradise Park’ – A New Novel by Allegra Goodman EDNA
CHANSKY Sharon Spiegelman, a young American Jewish woman, is trying to find herself. She is looking for religious identity, a meaningful career goal and a marriage partner. This is the theme of Ms. Goodman’s book. Her first book, Kaaterskill Falls, set in New York, has won her acclaim. This subsequent novel is set in a Boston milieu. The protagonist is a rebellious teenager who is expelled from Boston University because she does not study. She leaves her dysfunctional home to try to “find herself.” Her dad is a dean at Boston University and remarried. Her quest takes her from Boston to Hawaii where she volunteers at Paradise Park, a bird sanctuary. She goes on to Israel and then finds the bluebird of happiness back in Boston. At
the outset, Sharon and a much older Jewish boyfriend, Gary, set out together
in an old jalopy. He and she are folk dancers specializing in both the
hula and the hora. They dance to the tune of Sharon’s
guitar. Sharon takes one object of value with her, a treasured silver
wristwatch, a legacy from her grandfather. The couple makes their way
as far as Hawaii, which Sharon likes but to which Gary cannot seem to
adapt. He goes off to Israel and moves to Mea Shearim, leaving Sharon
behind. The novel has many elements of mysticism. While in Hawaii, Sharon goes on a whale watch and contemplates the marine creatures to which she attributes souls. She also feels that her cat had a previous human life. The choice of Hawaii as a destination for Jews should not come as a surprise. It was not yet part of the United States when Franklin Roosevelt denied entrance to a ship full of Holocaust escapees, returning them to sure death. Hawaii, the Philippines and Shanghai admitted émigrés without visas. Of course, once admitted, these people were usually ghettoized. Of special note today is the election of the new Hawaiian governor, a Jewish woman. In a recent newspaper photo she is shown with a bearded rabbi and his grandson, both of whom were guests at her Seder. One supposes the meal to have been kosher or vegan. This would speak to a pretty strong Jewish presence in our 50th state. Sharon soon loses interest in teaching the hora to senior citizens. She has put on weight due to the hospitality of the rabbi and his wife. Hawaii begins to pall on her and she packs up her meager gear (minus grandpa’s watch) to return to Boston. Her dad, now with wife number three, is happy to see her but offers no support either emotionally or financially, so she has to find work. Sharon’s skills on the guitar stand her in good stead and she teams up with a young Russian, Mikhail, who plays the keyboard. They form a klezmer band and play gigs at Jewish weddings. Also, they fall in love. By this time Sharon is 34 years old and ready for motherhood. There is a question of Mikhail’s religious identity. Only one of his parents is Jewish. His Russian aunt raised him. It’s tricky to follow what ensues but Sharon and Mikhail do marry. They produce a healthy baby boy who has ritual circumcision eight days after his birth and the boy is named Zohar, bright light. If you enjoyed Kaaterskill Falls or if you are intrigued by Ms. Goodman’s interest in the impact of Judaism on women’s lives, you will take the time to follow the complex plot. Such words as bashert and Kabbalah surface here and there. Sharon does find contentment back in Boston after her worldwide search. She also realizes that she wants Judaism. The sisterhood book club might enjoy discussing what Judaism means to them, orthodoxy, conservatism or reform. Sharon opts for Mikhail, a refusnik, and together they will commit to Judaism.
EditorialLet’s Hope 5764 is a Better Jewish Year
Things are no better for the world, or the Jews, as we begin our new year than they were 12 months ago. In
our own country, the long-awaited, just-released National Jewish Population
Survey reports there are 5.2 million Jews in the United States: More than
4.1 million adults, 1 million children, and 100,000 in institutional settings
such as nursing homes. As a whole, it says, Jews are better educated and
have more “presitigious jobs” and higher incomes than the total
U.S. population. That’s good. Among those who do — 4.3 million — there are contrary trends at work. The results show there is “strength and stability in many areas including religious life, adult education, congregational and JCC affiliations, and Jewish cultural participation. Simultaneously, they point to weakening ties among Jews on several levels, including close friendships, contributions to Jewish philanthropy, some organizational connnections and attachment to the Jewish collective as represented by Israel and other symbols.” In
terms of support for Israel, the study — the first comprehensive
survey of Jewish attitudes and numbers since 1990 — reports almost
two-thirds of Jews say they are emotionally attached to Israel and nearly
three-quarters say the U.S. and Israel share a common destiny. Locally, our Jewish community may or may not be a microcosm of these findings. What’s different here on the “plus side” are several factors: We have well-established local Jewish institutions. We have creative programming that is demonstrably helping to create Jewish pride and commitment in our youth and strengthen involvement and observance among our families. And we have new leadership in our Jewish Federation that has set forth a promising agenda for community improvement. As
we gather on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Jews — locally and globally
— will reflect on our own lives and give thanks for the blessings
we enjoy. We wish our readers and their families a year of health and
happiness, and we pray that 5764 will be a better year for the Jewish
people.
MARK
ARNOLD Local ColumnistsThe Democratic Candidates and their Jewish ConnectionDOV
BURT LEVY Dov Burt Levy is a Salem, MA based columnist. He can be reached at dblevy@columnist. com
A recent example: On Sept. 17, the day Wesley Clark announced his presidential ambition, both he and Madeline Albright were interviewed separately on the CNN Morning Show. Bill Hemmer, co-host, told Albright: “You’re Jewish. You grew up thinking you were Catholic. You found this out about five or six years ago. Can you say that knowing what you know now about your past and your family’s past has not shaded or perhaps influenced your view of the Middle East conflict today?” I saw, perhaps I misinterpret, a startled look in Albright’s eyes and her brain saying: “Shmuck, I grew up Christian. My daughter is Christian. I didn’t go to cheder, speak mamaloshen, or eat potato latkes. Why would you even ask me that question?” Instead, she replied: “I can honestly say that it hasn’t, because I grew up believing fully that the State of Israel was a very special place, that we had a very special and important relationship with it, and that it was also essential that there be peace in the Middle East.” What gets me is the first short exclamation, “You’re Jewish!” Ambassador Albright is not Jewish! Does this news show host or the staff member who wrote the question really believe that nationalism or religion is a genetic trait like perfect musical pitch or hair color? On the same show, same morning, General Wesley Clark was interviewed about his pending presidential announcement. Had Bill Hemmer interviewed him, he might have asked Clark: “How do you expect to be fair in your Middle East policies when you are half-Jewish?” In my dream, General Clark would answer: “Don’t you know that from age 4 I had a Christian father and mother? I was raised and married as a Christian, my children as well. The issue is not being evenhanded; it is doing the right thing for the right reasons. Are you meshugah even asking me this question?” Instead, co-host Soledad O’Brien interviewed General Clark and she did not ask a Jewish question. I am just giving you a heads-up, dear readers, to what are likely to be some of the Jewish aspects of the next presidential election. Not to worry. There are dozens of more important questions. Politics is just a lousy forum for discussing who is a Jew, how much of a Jew, how far back must you go to be Jewish, and how being Jewish might influence one’s behavior. Given the ignorance and lack of historical context among many people working the mass media, insensitive downright stupid questions are bound to be asked. Just so you know the Jewish connections to date, here are the basics: General Wesley Clark’s birth father was Jewish; he says he is descended from a long line of rabbis (some enterprising reporter is certainly tracking down that claim as I write this); Dr. Howard Dean’s wife and children are Jewish; Senator John Kerry’s paternal grandparents were Jewish; Senator Joe Lieberman’s parents, grandparents, wife and children are Jewish. Senator Bob Graham won lots of elections in Florida, a state with a large number of Jewish voters; Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who is unmarried, eats a kosher vegan diet and attends occasional temple services with his long time Jewish woman “best friend.” Congressman
Dick Gephardt and Senator John Edwards have visited Israel; former Senator
Carol Moseley Braun has a link to Hadassah Women’s Organization on
her election web-site; Rev. Al Sharpton was eating lots of Jewish food,
at least he was until he began dieting.
Party Horns or Shofar: The Ambivalence of an American Jew ELLEN
GOLUB Ellen Golub teaches journalism at Salem State College. She may be reached at elkele@attbi.com
As a child, I was always confused about having two new years. There was the one when people put on party hats and stayed up all night, watching out for drunk drivers. And there was the Jewish one, a solemn few days when challahs became round and people who might not have seen the inside of a synagogue all year would now stand there all day and beat their breasts, going out during breaks to listen to the World Series on transistor radios. With a foot in each world, my parents would tell me how fortunate I was to be an American and a Jew. Lucky me! I had two different new year holidays to celebrate. But they seemed so different, calling on two completely different aspects of my personality. Happy girl or penitent? Party horns or shofar? I certainly would have chosen fun, like anyone else. Happy new year beats teshuva (repentance) cold. Who wants to worry about being inscribed in the Book of Life when we can watch the ball drop and people partying in Times Square? But an American Jew is like the child in a divorce. It would be wrong to go off with the happy hour parent and leave the sober sad sack to its morose ways. So feeling guilty — perfectly in tune with the regretful holiday spirit — I would return to the synagogue each fall, secretly looking to the other new year three months down the road, when we could reflect on our successes, the best books and movies of the year, while sitting cozily by the fire making silly resolutions about our behavior after January 1st. As a child, I tolerated the split identity, and my heart was truly with America. You didn’t miss school or need a note from your parents to excuse you for celebrating the American new year. Instead, you dawdled in a cheery winter wonderland where everyone was on vacation. Bright lights, chatty neighbors, the remnants of Christmas cheer. But as an adult, I felt ever more like I was the child in the American Jewish divorce. “What do you mean ‘New Year’s is just a celebration of Jesus’ bris?’” I asked my father. “Sure, he told me. “That’s why it’s exactly eight days after Christmas.” Couldn’t be, I thought. We don’t do Christmas. But when friends of mine confirmed they were going to church at midnight on Christmas eve to celebrate the Mass of the Circumcision, I felt co-opted, misled by a dominant culture and enticed into Christmas’ back door. “Big deal!” said my friend Annie, when I told her how conflicted I felt. “Why even bother choosing? You can enjoy both. You are both a Jew and an American. Why must you experience your identity as a divorce?” I paraphrased Woody Allen for her, “Yeah, like I should have two mothers when most people barely survive one!” Like everyone else with a foot in two worlds, I worry about the survival of the Jewish people. I worry about assimilat |