HIGH SCHOOL INVENTORS IN ROCKLEIGH page 6

YU'S TENNIS TEAM MAKES HISTORY page 12

LATE NIGHTS WITH SHAVUOT SCHOLARS pages 14-18
'RISE AND KILL FIRST' TELLS ASSASSINS' TALES page 53

MAY 18, 2018

VOL. LXXXVII NO. 35 $1.00 87 2018

NORTH JERSEY THEJEWISHSTANDARD.COM

‘Backstabbing
for Beginners’
Michael Soussan to talk
at Gerrard Berman
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
about global corruption
Teaneck, NJ 07666 page 24
1086 Teaneck Road
Jewish Standard
 www.jfnnj.org/israel70

Sunday, June 10
2:00 - 5:00 pm
50 Eisenhower Drive
Cul-de-sac
Join our community-wide celebration
of Israel’s 70th birthday!
No Entrance Fee
Performance by Register at jfnnj.org/israel70
a n d be
Maccabeats e r
Regist n a raffle!
ed i
3:00 PM enter rg/isr
ael70
jfnnj.o
www. Watch
Ice Cr
Craft
Apple
tream
eam SodaS
s ore

Table
and m

o eli
Fun for Phot Is r a
ing
Israeli h c
Food All Ages Boot Da n
Trucks

jfnnj.org/israel70 | 201.701.4958 | A Family Celebration

2 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


Netanyahu celebrates Israel’s
Eurovision win with chicken dance
● Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
celebrating Israel’s victory at the
Eurovision Song Competition, treated
journalists to a quick chicken dance as
he made his way to a cabinet meeting
This wide receiver has an in-house shul
● Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver
Antonio Brown owns an enormous
mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Inside, along with the dozen bed-
rooms and private movie theater, sits
an in-home synagogue.
Brown isn’t Jewish, but he showed
off the house (more accurately, one
of his many houses) and impressive
sneaker collection in an interview
with Complex magazine.
“I got a lot of Jewish friends, and
a synagogue is where you bless up,”
he said.
The house originally was built by
Yizhak and Liat Toledano. Brown
bought the property from Yizhak, an
Israeli-born real estate developer, in
2016.
The house also contains a station
for ritual hand washing, or netilat
yadaim, connected to a dining room,
and three kitchens, which according
to the Times of Israel were kept ko-
sher under the Toledanos’ ownership.
Brown, who has been one of the
league’s best receivers over the last
half decade, might not have been im-
on Sunday.
On Saturday night, Netta Barzilai
clucked and bucked her way through
“Toy,” a catchy ditty that had been the
bookmakers’ favorite to win for weeks
provising when he said he has many
Jewish friends. He has shown affinity
for Jews before, notably wishing the
world a happy Rosh Hashanah on
Twitter in 2012.
He was a contestant on “Dancing
With the Stars” in 2016, right after
he bought the house, and was asked
about the synagogue. His interviewer
said that he should dance the hora
with his partner on TV.
“That’d be dope!” he laughed. “I
like that, you got good vision!”
GABE FRIEDMAN / JTA WIRE SERVICE
before the international contest in
Portugal.
Affectionately known as the chicken
song, for the vocal sounds the singer
makes and her signature dance moves,
the song addresses women’s empower-
ment following the #MeToo movement.
Outside the cabinet meeting, Ne-
tanyahu was caught on camera briefly
flapping his arms and smiling, in a
comic celebration of Israel’s victory.
He then tweeted the video of his
chicken impersonation to his followers.
Netanyahu opened the cabinet
meeting with another tribute to Bar-
zilai. Instead of “boker tov” — “good
morning”— Netanyahu opened his on-
the-record remarks to ministers with
“boker toy.”
“These days, Jerusalem is blessed
with many gifts,” the prime minister
said. “We received another one yester-
day evening, with Netta’s suspenseful
and shining victory. The gift was that
For convenient home delivery,
call 201-837-8818 or bit.ly/jsubscribe
Candlelighting: Friday, May 18, 7:52 p.m.
Shabbat ends: Saturday, May 19, 8:58 p.m.
CONTENTS
NOSHES ...............................................................4
SHAVUOT ..........................................................14
BRIEFLY LOCAL .............................................20
COVER STORY ................................................ 24
JEWISH WORLD ............................................ 28
OPINION ........................................................... 36
HEALTHY LIVING &
ADULT LIFESTYLES.......................................41
D’VAR TORAH ................................................50
THE FRAZZLED HOUSEWIFE ................... 52
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ................................ 52
ARTS & CULTURE .......................................... 53
CALENDAR ......................................................54
OBITUARIES .................................................... 57
CLASSIFIEDS .................................................. 58
REAL ESTATE...................................................61
Page 3
Eurovision will be coming to Jerusalem
next year, and we are proud to be host-
ing it.”
Israel’s victory, its first since 1998,
means it won the right to host next
year’s finals, which, in the intervening
decades, have transformed into a mas-
sive extravaganza with two rounds, tens
of thousands of fans, and millions more
tuning in around the world.
Barzilai ended her acceptance
speech in Lisbon with the well-known
phrase, “Next year in Jerusalem.”
While the Eurovision final was taking
place, Netanyahu had tweeted, “Netta,
kapara alayich,” which was Barzilai’s
blessing to her fans at the end of each
performance. In colloquial Hebrew,
it is a pet name meaning “darling” or
“sweetie,” but the Bing translation tool
within Twitter misunderstood the word
“kapara” to be “para” — and translated
the phrase as “Netta, you’re a cow”
TIMES OF ISRAEL
PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747) is pub-
lished weekly on Fridays with an additional edition every October,
by the New Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road,
Teaneck, NJ 07666. Periodicals postage paid at Hackensack, NJ and
additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New
Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666.
Subscription price is $30.00 per year. Out-of-state subscriptions are
$45.00, Foreign countries subscriptions are $75.00.
The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard does
not constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of a paid
political advertisement does not constitute an endorsement of any
candidate political party or political position by the newspaper or
any employees.
The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return unsolic-
ited editorial or graphic materials. All rights in letters and unsolic-
ited editorial, and graphic material will be treated as uncondition-
ally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject
to JEWISH STANDARD’s unrestricted right to edit and to comment
editorially. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without
written permission from the publisher. © 2018
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 3
Noshes “Robert Jeffress says ‘you can’t be saved
by being a Jew,’ and ‘Mormonism is a
heresy from the pit of hell.’”
— Mitt Romney, a Mormon, tweeted his reaction to the selection of Mr. Jeffress, an
evangelical minister with a long history of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Mormon, and
even anti-Catholic views, as a speaker at the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
DATING OR DATED?

‘Book Club’ adds

familiar chapters
“Book Club,” a come-
dy, opens on Friday, May
18. Here’s the basic plot:
Diane (Diane Keaton, 72)
recently has been wid-
owed after 40 years of
marriage. Her daughter,
Jill, is played by ALICIA
SILVERSTONE, 41. (This
is Silverstone’s first major
studio film in 12 years. )
Diane’s best friends are
Sharon (Candice Bergen,
71), a judge who still is
upset about her de-
cades-ago divorce; Carol
(Mary Steenburgen, 65),
who is in a slump in her
marriage; and Vivian
(Jane Fonda, 80), who
enjoys no-strings rela-
tionships with men. The
action gets rolling when
the friends decide to
spice up their dull book
club by reading “Fifty
Shades of Grey.”
The book’s main theme
prompts Carol to try
to get her husband to
embrace some of the
tie-me-up kinky stuff
in the book. The best-
seller’s steamy content
convinces Sharon and
Diane to jump in the
dating pool. They start
seeing guys played by
RICHARD DREYFUSS,
70, and Andy Garcia,
62. Meanwhile, Viv-
ian starts seeing an old
high-school flame played
by Don Johnson, 68.
Don’s real-life daughter,
Dakota, co-starred in the
“Fifty Shades” films, and
I suspect there will be a
sly reference to that fact
in “Book Club.”
The acting talent in this
film is such that it almost
can’t be unwatchable.
But ensemble romantic
comedies featuring a lot
of big-name actors rarely
turn out to be comedy
classics. The “Book Club”
trailer was amusing, but
it isn’t clear whether this
film will have a lot of
truly funny lines and truly
insightful dialogue — or
whether it will have just
a few really funny lines, a
predictable plot, and a lot
of not-that-funny tee-hee
stuff about seniors and
sex. I give “Book Club”
one pass in advance: the
theater audience will riot
if the movie doesn’t end
happy for all the ladies.
So I expect a schmaltzy
ending.
Gottfried…
Who knew?
Reasonable people
can differ on whether
they like the usually dirty
stand-up humor of GIL-
BERT GOTTFRIED, 63.
Sometimes I like Gott-
fried’s humor, dirty or
not, and sometimes he
doesn’t amuse me at all.
But I was charmed
and touched by the
documentary film about
his life, “Gilbert,” which
was released in 2017
and now is streaming
on Hulu. Gottfried wed
Alicia Silverstone
Paige Davis
his girlfriend of 10 years,
DARA KRAVITZ, now 48,
in 2007, and now they
have two lovable young
children. Kravitz is a film
producer and a former
top record promotion
executive.
She is the perfect wife
for Gilbert — a miracle
really. She’s smart, funny,
nurturing, and tolerant
of his huge quirks and
neuroses. She laughs
at stuff that would turn
off many other women.
Gilbert’s wife and kids
Rocky and Bullwinkle,”
the classic ‘60s animated
series, now is stream-
ing on Hulu. The show
functioned on two levels:
It worked as a children’s
show, but frequently
made references and
jokes that were directed
at adults (often hip,
well-read adults). Two
Jewish actors voiced a
lot of the series’ iconic
Richard Dreyfuss Gilbert Gottfried characters. PAUL FREES
(1920-1966), born
Solomon Hersh Frees,
was the voice of bad-
die Boris Badanov and
Captain “Wrongway”
Peachfuzz. JUNE FORAY
(1917-2017), was the
voice of Rocky, baddie
Natasha Fatale (some-
times known as Natasha
Nogoodnik), and every
other female character
in the show (including
distinct cartoons within
Paul Frees June Foray the show, like “Dudley
Do-Right”.)
clearly adore him and was the perky host and Foray (born Forer)
just seem to accept his star of the TLC series was the daughter of a
quirks and his absences “Trading Spaces” for Lithuanian Jewish im-
due to frequent road most of its original run, migrant and a French
trips. The unexpected from 2000 to 2009. Ear- Canadian mother who
reveals continue as we ly in April, the show was converted to Judaism. I
see how kind Gilbert is to rebooted on TLC (new can’t provide the amaz-
his sisters (lots of home episodes Saturday at 8 ing list of voice roles she
movie stuff) and how p.m.). Again, Davis, 48, is created during a career
they, too, adore him. For- the host, and the prem- that lasted 70 years, but
get whether you like his ise is the same: couples look her up! Foray was
comedy — this is a great swap homes and have a the greatest female voice
and oddly heartwarming limited budget to redo actor of all time. Her
Jewish family story. each other’s homes with only competition for the
greatest, male or female,
Reboot and rerun the help of a designer.
is MEL BLANC (1908-
Remember PAIGE DA- The first season of
1989). Look him up, too.
VIS? This musical actress “The Adventures of
–N.B.

California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at

Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard Middleoftheroad1@aol.com

ELEV A T E Y O U R ST A N D A R D S

TWO LOCATI
ONSTO SERVEYOU BETTER -ENGLEWOOD,NJ& HARRI
MAN,NY -BENZELBUSCH.
COM

4 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

You look
after them.
Let us look
after you.
Holy Name makes it easy to search
for experienced doctors, manage
appointments and get personalized care.
All that and more in one place.

Schedule an appointment today with

one of our many renowned doctors at
holynamemedicalpartners.org

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 5

Local
‘Carp Tank’ capitalists
Ma’ayanot students bring entrepreneurial spirit to Jewish Home at Rockleigh
LARRY YUDELSON

A
s electric pianos go, it doesn’t look like much.
It’s small. It has only eight keys.
And as electric pianos go, it doesn’t even
sound like much.
But those weren’t the criteria by which it was judged
the winner of a contest at the Jewish Home in Rockleigh
last week.
Instead, the judges were looking at such things as inno-
vation and problem solving and its inventors’ presentation
skills.
And the “Piano PT” designed by four sophomores at
Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck defi-
nitely was an innovative solution to a real problem.
The contest was dubbed “Carp Tank” — a gefilte-fishy
Jewish variation on the ABC series “Shark Tank,” in which
entrepreneurs pitch their product to a panel of investors.
Members of all six competing teams were Ma’ayanot soph-
omores. And all their inventions were designed to solve
the real problems of individual
Rockleigh residents they had met
with several times over the course
of the year.
For the Ma’ayanot students,
this was an enhancement of their
required course in hands-on engi-
neering that all freshmen and soph-
omores take. The class trains them
in such cutting-edge technologies
as 3D printing and programmable Tiferet Mondrow, Efrat Putterman, and Gila Linzer
designed a brush with a joystick-controlled mirror.
microcomputers, as well as such
always-valuable skills as problem
solving, collaboration, and com- air monitors at all times, in such a future the monitors
munication. It also dovetails with presumably would be miniaturized. The team tried to
Ma’ayonot’s classes in public speak- turn this liability into a feature, making the visible wires
ing and its emphasis on self-assur- connected to the sensors even more gaudy, so that it
ance. For Rockleigh, this was one of might double as a fashion accessory.
a number of partnerships with area Ma’ayanot students and a faculty member pose with their “Piano But “Press Yes” didn’t suffer from being built in a
schools that bring young people in PT” invention: Aryeh Tiefenbrunn, Atara Weil, Tzivia Major, Daniella Teaneck high school laboratory rather than a Chinese
contact with its residents. Shlagbaum, and Hannah Samuel. Foxconn factory. It was meant to be big and visible and
Some 30 residents of the home heavy. It’s a communication board, where someone with
gathered to watch the “Carp Tank” competition. The walls children” — for an Alzheimer’s patient. It can also play difficulty speaking could press a button and a “Yes,” “No,”
had been festooned with cartoon sharks, but the presen- music in response to voice commands. or “Neutral” would light up.
tations, with their statistic-filled PowerPoint slides, were One team developed what it calls the “Clap 22,” a lamp It was “Piano PT,” however, that won the top award.
strictly serious. The problems of the residents the stu- that could be turned on or off by clapping, rather than The inspiration for the project was a resident with mul-
dents had gotten to know, the problems of growing old, getting up to turn the switch. The woman they met at the tiple sclerosis who wanted to strengthen one of her hands.
of course are not unique; they are shared by millions of Home “sometimes has trouble moving around on her She also loves music.
people. In the entrepreneurial language of Shark Tank own due to Parkinson’s,” Ora Hochberg, a team member, “She was telling us her favorite songs,” Daniella Schlag-
mirrored by “Carp Tank,” that means there’s a mass mar- explained. man, said. Daniella was one of the team that put together
ket for the products designed by these students. “Music Therapy” was designed to calm an agitated per- “Piano PT.” “She loves watching musicals with her
One team invented a hair brush with a joystick-con- son. It detects its wearer’s heartbeat. If the pulse is above grandchildren.”
trolled mirror that, when angled correctly, reflects the 125 beats per minute — if the person is agitated, in other “Piano PT” was designed “to make physical therapy a
back of your head as you brush your hair. With a micro- words — an MP3 player begins playing Frank Sinatra’s bit more fun,” Tzvia Major, another team member, said.
processor connecting the joystick to a motor, the proto- “Stardust.” Frank Sinatra, the designers had discovered, “Piano PT” helps with physical therapy by displaying how
type brush cost only $29 to make. The team estimated it is popular at the home. much force the player uses to press the keys.
could be made in mass quantities for $8, making $29 a “Chain Reaction” was an intriguing idea — a dust and For team member Daniella Shlagbaum, the best part
plausible retail price. They invented it to help one spe- CO2 monitor to alert people with breathing problems of creating the miniature “Piano PT” was that “it was
cific woman with Parkinson’s, but the market for people that they were in a potentially hazardous place. This directed toward one specific person. It meant a lot to her
lacking eyes on the backs of their heads is far larger. was a project that showed the limitations to students’ that we spent all this time designing something personal
Another team put together a voice-activated device, tinkering with off-the-shelf components as opposed to for her that she will enjoy.” The team has to “fix up a few
resembling Amazon’s voice-operated Echo gadget, that large-scale product design. While it’s sadly easy to envi- things,” team member Atara Weil said, and then they’ll
could answer specific questions — like “Where are my sion dystopian futures where we all will have to carry give the model to the resident.

6 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

 One Family
On Shavuos, we became one— one nation, one people, one family.
Family is more than brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and cousins.
It’s sharing in each other’s celebrations and being there to support
them when they need our help. The Seasons Family is proud to be
part of your family’s celebrations, providing the food that graces
your table and brings your family closer.

i sh i n g all of “our fam

W ily”
s
the mo t beautiful Y
om Tov.

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 7

Local

Israeli artist shares his vision manager for a well known company that
sold art supplies and paper. When he went
to visit his father’s office, when he was 9,
“they gave me a palette of watercolors and
Peleg sculpture finds a home along the Hudson in Edgewater a big pencil. I took that with me and said I
had to learn to use it.”
LOIS GOLDRICH His interest in art, he continued, was “def-

O
n May 16, the peace garden at
Veterans Field on River Road
in Edgewater became home
to a new sculpture, created
by Israeli artist and River Vale resident
Ephraim Peleg.
The piece, commissioned and donated
by the Edgewater Arts Council, now sits
along the Hudson River, evoking not only
thoughts of the sea but deeper reflections
as well.
Mr. Peleg and wife, Barbara Schaier-Peleg
— who helped translate and added some
recollections of her own — spoke about the
piece, personal history, and art.
Mr. Peleg was born Ferdynand Verderber
in Krakow, Poland, in 1936. Both his parents
died as a result of World War II. “My mother
died two weeks after liberation,” he said.
He knows that his father was alive in 1945 —
he survived Buchenwald — but that’s all he
knows for sure. There are stories about his
father returning to his business in Poland,
and then disappearing. The assumption is
that he was killed there.
“My father worked for a famous family
in Krakow, Alexandrovich,” Mr. Peleg said.
“Most of them emigrated to Israel before the
war.” The Alexandroviches were philanthro-
pists, Ms. Schaier Peleg said; they owned an
art supply company and sold high-quality
paper across the country before the war.
“They escaped Poland after buying a pri-
vate plane which they flew to Palestine,”
she added. “They actually came to the brit
milah of Ephraim’s brother, Zvi, and then
left the country.”
After the war, when his aunt Bertha” —
that was Bertha Ferderber Salz, his father’s
sister-in-law — “came back, she wrote to
the Alexandroviches in Israel asking if they
could help her.”
A cousin of Aunt Bertha’s married
Efraim’s father’s brother who was in the
British Jewish Brigade, a special section
of the British Army. He had family in Kra-
kow. “She asked him to look for Ephraim
and his younger brother,” Ms. Schaier-
Peleg said. “He found them living with
their nanny, who had hidden them during
Barbara Schaier-Peleg and Ephraim Peleg stand next to his sculpture, “Sails,” in
its new home in Edgewater, overlooking the Hudson River.
the war. The nanny, Kazia Chciuk, had no
home of her own, so she took them to dif-
ferent members of her family. Several of
them, including Kazia, have been recog-
nized by Yad Vashem. We’re close with their
grandchildren.”
Ms. Chciuk’s own story is both sad and
not atypical. She never married — she’d
been engaged, but her fiancé was killed
two weeks before their wedding date. She
worked hard, at great personal risk, to save
the boys. After the war, a representative
of the Alexandroviches found them and
brought them to Israel. “Kazia was devas-
tated when the boys were sent to Israel,” Ms.
Schaier-Peleg said. “She wanted to go with
them, and actually wrote a few letters that
were only received fairly recently asking to
be allowed to go to Israel to raise the boys.
She only wanted food and a place to sleep,
but the boys never knew about this.
“Kazia died in 1981 in Krakow.”
Once in Israel, the brothers lived on a kib-
butz; they grew up in Beth Hahita.
Mr. Peleg’s interest in art dates back to
his childhood. His father, he said, was a
initely encouraged” on the kibbutz and he
was fortunate to study at the Avni Institute
of Art in Tel Aviv and privately with well-
known artists such as Marcel Janko, Josef
Zaritzky, Chaim Kive, and Ernst Fuchs.
Later, while living in Jerusalem, Mr. Peleg
worked as an assistant instructor of sculp-
ture at the Bezalel Academy of Art, orga-
nized a citywide after school art program,
and taught art for UNESCO.
He began as a painter, and later began to
work as a sculptor as well.
“My original paintings were very dark,”
he said. “They were very abstract, dark, and
angry.” That changed when he got a stipend
from the government to study art in London
and throughout Europe. The light was dif-
ferent there, he said.
“In Israel, the sky is blue and the sea is
beautiful to watch and paint,” he said. “In
London, the weather was different,” and fog
is omnipresent. “It was time to use colors. I
also started working in three-dimensions,”
experimenting with different media, like
electric wires on canvas. “I had a show there
and sold many pieces. A famous doctor —
the doctor for the Beatles — liked my work.”
Mr. Peleg and his wife have been married
for 38 years. They had met several times
when they were younger. The first time was
at the Bezalel Art Institute, where a friend
of hers was studying, but “the time wasn’t
right.” Finally, in 1980, they connected. “We
recently found out that both our grand-
parents came from the same shtetl,” Ms.
Schaier-Peleg said. She is a retired photog-
rapher and education administrator; she’s
worked in South Africa and Puerto Rico.
Mr. Peleg said he is “much more inspired
in Israel” than he is here. “I feel in Israel
much more power to do art.” He came to
the United States in 1978 when he was com-
missioned to create a large-scale interactive
sculpture for Cedar Crest College in Allen-
town, Pennsylvania.
“A man named Philip Berman saw one of
Efraim’s kinetic pieces in a Jerusalem gallery
and thought it would be a nice piece to do
on a large scale,” Ms. Schaier-Peleg said. The
small sculpture consisted of three Cs, and
Berman intended to dedicate it to Cedar

Please join us for a special evening featuring:

Concert Pianist Carolyn Enger’s Mischlinge Exposé
A multimedia project shining a light on the lives and stories of the Mischlinge. Interleaving
the music, art, and thoughts of prominent converts exploring the complexities of German-
Jewish identity before, during, and after the Holocaust.

Wednesday May 30th, 7pm • Temple Emeth 1666 Windsor Road Teaneck NJ
Free Admission. For more information or to RSVP contact Linda Poleyeff at lindap@jfcsnnj.org or 201-978-8492

8 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


Crest College, where his wife had studied.
Mr. Peleg “wasn’t planning on staying,”
Ms. Schaier-Peleg said — but the commis-
sions kept coming.
Mr. Peleg has created outdoor sculp-
tures for Lehigh University, Temple Uni-
versity, the University of Pennsylvania,
and B’nai B’rith House. He also has exhib-
ited large scale sculptures in major invita-
tional outdoor sculpture exhibits through-
out the United States, Israel, and Europe,
and his work has appeared in museums
and galleries.
This is Mr. Peleg’s second marriage. He
has two children in Israel and one in the
United States; he has five grandchildren in
Israel and two here. Another son, Avihu
Peleg, was killed in the war between Israel
and Lebanon in 1982. Because of that loss,
and the loss of his own childhood, Ms.
Schaier-Peleg said, her husband often
relies on powerful forms and vibrant pri-
mary colors “that appeal to children and
the creative spirit in all of us. This is espe-
cially true of his kinetic wall paintings and
sculptures, which allow viewers to inter-
act with his work by encouraging them to
move pieces and change compositions.”
He also finds a way to remember the
six million Jews killed in the Holocaust,
using six replications of the same form in
some of his pieces. Each of the six will dif-
fer somehow, whether in color or in some
other way. “While there were six million,”
he said, “each one was an individual.” The
Edgewater sculpture, “Sails,” is part of his
sextet series.
The sculpture was chosen for the site
by the Edgewater Arts Council, headed
now by Lynne Grasz Hall. (Neda Rose
led the council when the artwork was
selected.) Mr. Peleg was recommended
to the council by a painter friend, also a
COLD STORAGE
Our vault will protect your
furs & shearlings and keep
them supple and fresh!
Amazing offers on remodels
of your old furs over
the summer...!!
Closter Furs
& Fashions
570 Piermont Rd.
Closter Commons
(next to Annie Sez)
(Closter Commons next to Whole Foods mall)
201-767-0448
www.closterfursandfashions.com
Local
survivor. “They wanted something related
to water,” Ms. Schaier-Peleg said. “They
looked at some of his pieces and said this
one looked like sails.”
The project was funded by Tony Rinaldi
MOVING TO BERGEN COUNTY?
and Chuck Berk. On the council’s web-
site, we find the following announcement:
“Finally there is the unveiling of a new art
We’ve got the home for you!
piece, a sculpture by Ephraim Peleg, in the
peace garden at Veterans Field. It took a
while but we are ready!” According to Mr.
Peleg, the delay was occasioned by the dis-
covery of soil contamination and the need
to clean up the site. “It was quite a while
before the sculpture could be installed,” NECHAMA POLAK DEBBIE BOTWINICK
he said. “But it’s a beautiful park right now,
and the sculpture is beautifully situated.”
“Ephraim Peleg’s inspirational sculp-
ture … is the sixth sculpture given to the
Borough of Edgewater by the Edgewa-
ter Arts Council,” Ms. Grasz Hall said. “It
is placed in a special location overlook-
ing the majestic Hudson River with the
George Washington Bridge in the dis-
tance. Nearby is a serene waterfall and 1139 KORFITSEN ROAD, NEW MILFORD 615 RUTLAND AVENUE, TEANECK
memorial garden. Ephraim and his wife
$740,000 • 4 BEDS • 83 FT FRONTAGE $979,000 • 5 BEDS • 4.5 BATHS
Barbara helped select this unique loca-
tion over three years ago because we all
wanted a place where the river winds
ESTHER SCHLANGER ESTHER SHAYOWITZ
would blow in a natural way, billowing
the sails as if they were canvas. Ephraim
has perfectly captured the spirit of adven-
ture with ‘Sails,’ which complements the
history of Hudson River exploration and
travel through the centuries of American
expansion.”
Mr. Peleg said he is not doing much
sculpture these days. Instead, he is work-
ing on silver clay jewelry. “It’s an interest-
515 STANDISH ROAD, TEANECK 937 PHELPS ROAD, TEANECK
ing medium,” Ms. Schaier-Peleg said; it’s
like clay, but sterling. “All the chemicals $659,000 • STUNNING TUDOR •151 DEEP PROPERTY $999,000 • 5 BEDS, 4.5 BATHS
that make it malleable burn off and you
are left with an interesting piece.”
CLOSTER, NJ
ALON HAIM ALON HAIM
36 PINE STREET, CLOSTER 53 TAILLON TERRACE, CLOSTER
$1,100,000 • 5 BEDS • 4.5 BATHS $1,230,000 • 5 BEDS • 5 BATHS
V&N REALTY GROUP
Check out more listings
at vandnrealty.com
MORE listings. MORE experience. MORE sales.
1401 PALISADE AVE, TEANECK NJ • 201.692.3700
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 9
Local

Helping the hungry and harvesting self-confidence

Gerrard Berman students team with Leket Israel for food ‘rescue’
LOIS GOLDRICH

People learn best by doing — and what eighth

-graders from the Academies at Gerrard Ber-
man Day School in Oakland learned from pick-
ing radishes in Israel is likely to remain with
them for a long time.
As volunteers with Leket Israel: The National
Food Bank on their recent trip to Israel, the stu-
dents helped rescue food for people who live
below the poverty line. “It’s wonderful when
young people come and get their hands dirty
volunteering with Leket Israel,” said Joseph
Gitler, Leket’s founder and chairman. “Helping
pick vegetables in the field is a fantastic way for
people to connect with the cause and help pro-
vide food to Israel’s poor. People see they can
make a true difference, even with limited time.”
Leket, a nonprofit organization founded in
2003 and headquartered in Ra’anana, rescues
fresh perishable food from farms, hotels, mili-
tary bases, and catering halls. According to the
food bank, the students picked 400 kilograms
of radishes, which will feed 190 needy families.
Robert Smolen, longtime head of school at Freshly picked radishes will be donated to
Gerrard Berman, called the student trip — an poor Israelis as part of the Leket Israel project.
annual event for eighth-graders — “two weeks
touring Israel doing amazing things.” This year,
students traveled from April 10 to 24. In addi-
tion to helping out at Leket Israel, on a farm in
the north, the students visited an experimental I had never picked
farm “closer to the Negev and the kids got to see
‘carrots in the raw,’ yellow, purple, orange, and so many radishes
tomatoes of all kinds,” Mr. Smolen said. before and found it
What they experienced at Leket, he contin-
ued, “was harvesting for people in need. They to not to be a chore
were out in the field for several hours. The kids but something I
took to it. They enjoyed getting their hands into
the soil. They harvested large numbers of rad- could do for people
ishes with a collective purpose.” who are not as
Mr. Smolen said that much of what Israel
shows the world are its modern 21st-century fortunate as I am.
developments. Still, he said, “there are peo-
ple who are in need and who are not able to Students from the Gerrard Berman Day School converge over a bin families in Israel who don’t have the funds for food
take advantage of that.” The land the students of radishes harvested as volunteers with Leket Israel. to feed their families. It felt good to know that we
worked was donated to the organization to be could contribute to the effort to supply nutritious
farmed, he said. And thanks to Israel’s climate, “they’re trip component by component,” with categories ranging vegetables to families that need a healthy diet. It felt
able to grow all kinds of vegetables and fruits. from economics to politics to history. meaningful to be making a positive contribution during
“The kids were zealous about it,” he said. “They had “We give them a lot in two weeks,” he said. “It may be our visit to Israel.”
an appreciation and understanding of the issue. We talk a bit overwhelming to go from Masada to Herzliya to the Another student, Kaylee Maines of Wayne wrote, “I
about malnutrition in health class when we discuss the beach. It takes time to digest. We try to have downtime got to have fun with my friends when we harvested
components of a healthy diet. It gave them understand- and reflect each day so that students can absorb it at a radishes for Leket. I had never picked so many rad-
ing — that there is a need to take care of each other. It’s higher level. ishes before and found it to not to be a chore but
like tithing in a field. Although this is not leftovers, and it’s “They came back exhausted, and shared with the rest of something I could do for people who are not as for-
not a shmitta year, you need to make sure the community school what we did. Each student spoke about a different tunate as I am. I gained a sense of pride in myself, my
is taken care of. We continue to maintain this from bibli- part of the trip. There was a lot to share. We see ourselves school, and in Israel to help it become a little stronger.
cal times.” as shlichim, or emissaries.” It inspired me to help other people with something so
The trip was made together with the Solomon Schech- The Israel trip, he said, “becomes a maturational lever small as a root vegetable.
ter School of Queens. Altogether, Mr. Smolen said, it as students engage with Israel through the eyes of other “I guess a small vegetable can have a powerful impact.
included 31 eighth-graders, two madrichim (counselors) kids. It’s different from a family trip. Here, they get to A third student, Danielle Atiya, who lives in Fair Lawn,
and six other adults. It was arranged in cooperation with experience, compare, and contrast with their 13-year- wrote, “I hope we can get more time in the future to
Ramah Israel. old peers’ views. It’s uplifting for them. They don’t take gather food and continue to help families in need. I was
The students stay in kibbutzim and guest houses in every detail but they have a different perspective than proud of our group for harvesting about 800 pounds of
throughout the trip, getting more of an opportunity to see they had before. Parents say they see a palpable change.” radishes after an hour.
and participate in contemporary Israeli society, Mr. Smo- Student Yirshalem Pinkus, who lives in Chester, N.Y., “Students can make positive contributions to Leket and
len said. After the trip, “We review and break down the wrote after the trip that “I learned that there are many here at home.”

10 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

 Local

Light at the end of the tunnel?

State Senate leader Loretta Weinberg senses change in controlling gun violence
JOANNE PALMER are going to argue about who gets it first.

I
t was sort of like a game of tele-
phone, as L orett a Weinberg
described it, except there was no
resemblance whatsoever to a game.
Ms. Weinberg, who lives in Teaneck, is
the state Senate majority leader. She retold
a story that Governor Phil Murphy told last
week, at a press conference at the Hacken-
sack Performing Arts Center. He heard it
from Fred Guttenberg, who was by his side
onstage, along with Ms. Weinberg.
“Mr. Guttenberg said that every night
for 14 years, his older son, who is about 17,
and his daughter would argue about who
would get the bathroom first,” the story
went. “And then three or four nights after
this horrific incident, his son came down-
stairs in tears, because there was no one to
argue with about the bathroom.”
This, as Ms. Weinberg said, “is the kind
of story that any one of us with a family
have witnessed.” Even if your house has
more bathrooms than people, your kids
But Fred Guttenberg’s daughter, Jaime,
was among the 17 people — 14 of them
students, three teachers — slaughtered
at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High
School in Parkland, Florida, on Febru-
ary 14. She was 14; her brother, Jesse,
survived the rampage, and their father
has been tireless in his fight to stem gun
violence. (Stoneman Douglas is an eth-
nically diverse school; Jaime was among
the five Jews killed there that day.)
“This is my third time meeting with the
parent of a young person killed by gun
violence,” Ms. Weinberg said. “I met a
couple of times with Sandy Hook parents
when they were in Trenton. It is always
an unsettling experience.
“Fred Guttenberg has a strength about
him, a resolve, a discipline, that really
shines through. He looked at me at one
point before the press conference began, State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck addresses a confer-
and he said, ‘This time, we really are ence against gun violence at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center. With her
going to make a change.’ are, from left, State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan, New Jersey
SEE GUNS PAGE 50 Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, Governor Phil Murphy, and Fred Guttenberg.

Great CD and Savings Rates!

2 Year CD* Choose the 6 Month CD*

2 10 
% APY
APY**
account that’s
right for you. 1 80 
% APY

1 60 %
100% liquid
No monthly
Grand Yield for balances of
$2,500 and up**
APY
maintenance fee Savings® 

Visit our Monsey branch today! 75 Route 59, Monsey Town Square (Evergreen Kosher Market Center)
Anita Levine, VP, Branch Manager • 845-425-0189
Open Sunday from 9AM - 1PM
Annual Percentage Yields (APYs) disclosed are effective as of 3/21/2018 and may be changed by the Bank at any time. *CDs require a $1,000 minimum balance
to open and earn interest. Early withdrawal penalty may apply. CDs must be opened in person at an Apple Bank branch. ** For the Grand Yield Savings Account,
interest earned on daily balances of $2,500 or more at these tiers: $2,500-$9,999: 1.60% APY, $10,000-$24,999: 1.60% APY, $25,000-$49,999: 1.60% APY, $50,000
or more: 1.60% APY. There is no interest paid on balances between $1-$2,499. $100 minimum deposit required to open account. A combined $3,000,000 maxi- Established 1863 · Member FDIC
mum deposit per household applies to the Grand Yield Savings Account. A household is defined as a family residing at the same address. This account may be www.applebank.com
opened as a passbook or statement savings account. Offer may be withdrawn at any time without prior notice.

apple bk - JEWISH STANDARD - CD-GRAND YIELD SAVINGS - EFF DATE 3-21-18.indd 1 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2:16:08
3/20/2018 2018 PM11
Local
YU women’s tennis team makes history
Stern students qualifying for NCAA tournament include two from Teaneck
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
L
ast week, the Yeshiva University
Maccabees women’s tennis team
became the first YU women’s
sports team ever to compete in
an NCAA tournament. It faced off against
Skidmore College on Proctor Tennis Courts
in Middlebury, Vermont, on May 10.
Though the team lost to Skidmore,
the 12-member squad from YU’s Stern
College for Women nevertheless made
sports history.
“This team will always be the first wom-
en’s program to go to the NCAAs,” Yeshiva
University Director of Athletics Joe Bed-
narsh said. “They are now the giants upon
whose shoulders hundreds of young Jew-
ish women will stand each time we take
the national stage at what will be many
NCAA tournament appearances. I am
filled with pride to have been along for
the ride with such an incredible group
of women.”
Two of the women are from Teaneck:
Shana Adler, 20, and Rebecca Packer, 21.
Ms. Adler recalled the feeling of
euphoria upon winning the Skyline
Conference Championship last October,
topping off a 10-1 season and earning the
Macs its first-time NCAA berth.
“The entire team worked really hard
to get there, and it was incredible,” she
said. The women’s team hadn’t reached
the conference championship since
1999 and never won it before.
Such an accomplishment is all the
more impressive considering that YU
athletes, male and female, balance their
sports schedule with a dual course load
of academic and Judaic studies.
The tennis players are further disad-
vantaged by having to commute to prac-
tice courts. Under head coach Naomi
Kaszovitz and assistant coach Danielle
Carr, the women regularly make the
trek to Queens College and the USTA Bil-
lie Jean King National Tennis Center from
Stern’s midtown Manhattan campus.
Moreover, their practices and matches
must be squeezed into a shorter timeframe
than usual since the fall season overlaps
with YU’s High Holy Days break, and no
practices take place on the Sabbath or Jew-
ish holidays.
“We are in class a lot of the day,” Ms.
Adler acknowledged. “We’re students
before we’re athletes. But we make time
for tennis and we all practice as much as
we can on our own.”
Her private coach, Steve Jackson,
works with her in Johnson Park in Hack-
ensack. She also plays tennis with her
sister Shira, 15, a member of the tennis
team at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School
for Girls in Teaneck.
12 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
Shana Adler
This year’s tennis team from Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women YESHIVA UNIVERSITY
Ms. Adler took up tennis only after she
graduated from Ma’ayanot two years ago.
“I used to be a competitive gymnast and
I wanted to pick up another sport,” she
explained.
This was her first season playing for the I realized there’s a big difference with
Macs. After successfully trying out for the tennis because you don’t have to rely on
team at the start of the school year, “we
hit the ground running during orientation,
practicing every night until a few weeks
after Sukkot.”
Those workouts paid off as Ms. Adler
won singles matches against Lehman Col-
lege and Sarah Lawrence College in Sep-
tember and against the College of Staten
Island in October.
Ms. Packer, named Yeshiva University
Female Student-Athlete of the Month for
October 2017, said she began taking tennis
Rebecca Packer
lessons during the summers between her
middle-school years at the Moriah School
in Englewood and got serious about the
sport in high school at SAR in Riverdale.
“I played a lot of other sports also and
other people,” Ms. Packer said. “You’re
the one making the good plays and the
bad plays. It’s all on you and you need to
embrace that.”
She’s made the Skyline All-Conference
first team both of her years at Stern and
won all six of her Skyline doubles matches
during the 2017 regular season. Her 6-0
singles record is the best in the confer-
ence. She was named the Skyline Confer-
ence Rookie of the Week in September
2016 and was inducted into the Skyline
Conference Weekly Honor Roll that
October.
In the recent Skyline champi-
onships, Ms. Packer teamed with
senior Shani Hava to win every
game in the first doubles position
in the semifinal match against Pur-
chase. She earned wins in the first
doubles position and as third sin-
gles in the championship match
against Mount Saint Mary.
“Last year we made it to the semi-
finals and lost. We were not going to
let that happen this year,” she said.
“It was our year and we were going
to win.”
But before the NCAA tournament
against Skidmore, she said, she
knew that YU’s odds weren’t good,
“so we’re just going to play the best
we can and have fun.”
The same day that the women
faced Skidmore, the YU men’s ten-
nis team bested Ramapo College in
the NCAA Division III tournament;
it won its fifth consecutive Skyline Confer-
ence Championship last fall. The men lost
to Bowdoin in the second round the fol-
lowing day, May 11.
Ms. Kaszovitz, the women’s tennis head
coach and a Stern alumna, took stock of
the teams’ achievements.
“YU reminds us every day that we can
be committed religious Jews and yet fully
participate in the world around us, receiv-
ing a stellar Jewish and secular education
and far-reaching professional opportuni-
ties,” she said. “When we’re recruiting, I
love explaining to potential applicants the
unparalleled opportunity to play high-
level NCAA tennis, with accommodations
for our observances, while attending a
Jewish, academically challenging univer-
sity. It’s a win-win.”
 OUR WORLD RENOWNED CANCER

SPECIALISTS SPECIALIZE IN TREATING YOU

Around the world, patients are receiving cancer therapies pioneered by physicians at
John Theurer Cancer Center. These same cancer specialists are applying a collective
knowledge of the most effective treatments, technologies and research to care for you.
This dedicated approach is why we’ve earned a 99% satisfaction rating from our patients.
And as part of the #1 hospital in New Jersey, Hackensack University Medical Center, we’re
not just at the forefront of cancer, we’re pioneering the possible.

LEARN ABOUT PIONEERING THE POSSIBLE

Visit jtcancercenter.org or call to speak to a nurse at 551-996-5855

A member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering - Hackensack Meridian Health Partnership

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 13
Shavuot
The history of Jews and drugs has no more glorious chapter than that of
tikkun leil Shavuot, the all-night study vigil invented in the Land of Israel just
as coffee was spreading throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Here, we describe three erev Shavuot evening study sessions in three shuls —
one Orthodox, one Conservative, one Reform.
Chag sameach!
Being chosen
Heritage documentary to screen
on erev Shavuot at Temple Emeth
JOANNE PALMER
S
o really what does it mean to be
chosen?
Documentary filmmaker Joshua
Gippin wasn’t sure, but he knew
that the whole idea made him uncomfort-
able. He was able to shove it to the back of
his mind, though, until he had children.
Four years ago, when the older one was
5 and the baby only 2, he realized that “I
had to try how to figure out
how to teach them about
our Jewish heritage.”
So he went on Kick-
starter, raised enough
money to begin, and cre-
ated the film “The Chosen
People?”
On erev Shavuot — Sat-
urday night — it will screen
in Reform and Reconstruc-
tionist synagogues across
the country; here, Tem-
ple Emeth in Teaneck will
show it, and a discussion, Joshua Gippin
led by the Emeth’s Rabbi
Steven Sirbu, will follow. (See box.) (The
film also is available online, at chosenpeo-
plefilm.com.)
“I would say my motivation, like the
motivation for so many works of art, comes
from a place of pain,” Mr. Gippin said. “It
really bothered me. I was uncomfortable
with the idea that we are chosen among
all the nations, to the exclusion of other
nations. I was uncomfortable with the idea
that we are a holy people — because that
implies that everyone else is not.”
He’s pleased that the film will be shown
on Shavuot because it’s particularly rel-
evant then, he said. “It’s such an under-
rated holiday, but it is super important.
Who: Temple Emeth
What: Will screen “The Chosen Peo-
ple? A Film about Jewish Identity.” A
discussion with the synagogue’s Rabbi
Steven Sirbu will follow.
When: On erev Shavuot, Saturday, May
19, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: At Emeth, 1666 Windsor Road,
Teaneck
For more information: Call (201) 833-
1322 or go to www.emeth.org
14 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
It’s the big moment, when we receive the
Torah on Mount Sinai. We are chosen,
collectively, by God, biblically, on Sinai.
The connection of Shavuot to chosenness
is obvious, and the film goes to those bib-
lical roots.”
Mr. Gippin interviews many people from
across the Jewish spectrum in “The Chosen
People.” It’s a personal work. “I am clear
about my own personal biases,” he said.
“One of the biggest challenges was to move
beyond those biases and
try to make this a work
of journalism.” He inter-
views his wife, his chil-
dren, and other family
members, but “this is on
a much bigger scale,” he
said. “There are 3,000
years of history. The film
goes back to the shift to
monotheism, and the
central tension between
God being the God of
Israel and also the God
of everyone. I look at our
relationship with Chris-
tianity, and also with Islam; I interviewed
Christians, and also a local imam.” say that America is the greatest country “There is a quote at the very beginning
Local, by the way, is Akron, Ohio, on earth than, say, Chinese people are. from Dr. Avi Beker, the former secretary
where Mr. Gippin and his family belong They’d say China is.” general of the World Jewish Congress,” Mr.
to both their local Reform synagogue and Given all that, he was as transparent as Gippin said. “He refers to chosenness as
Kol HaLev, a Reconstructionist congre- he could be in making the film. He sent a the central historical, psychological, and
gation in nearby Cleveland. Reconstruc- rough cut to the rabbis he interviewed, theological problem at the heart of Jew-
tionism, with its out-front grappling with and asked if anything in it bothered them, ish/gentile relations. And when you speak
the idea of chosenness, “is where my and how they would change it. “There was to Christians today, it becomes apparent
heart is — but if you watch the film, you a lot of back and forth,” he said. that it is every bit as painful, that there are
will see plenty of Reform, Conservative, Did his own position change? “Abso- as many feelings of resentment and envy
and Orthodox voices, and there also is lutely it did, and it still is changing,” he and even disdain now, even 2,000 years
a Chabad rabbi who has a ton of screen said. “And it probably always will be. This later, than there were then. It is still so
time,” Mr. Gippin said. is such a complex topic. I had more of a much of an issue that it’s hard to describe.
Mr. Gippin studied cultural anthropol- chip on my shoulder at the beginning, and And when it gets into the issue of Israel, it
ogy as an undergraduate at the Univer- one rabbi even points that out. I feel much climaxes. When they talk about the rela-
sity of Michigan, and then he did field more comfortable in my own skin now. I tionship between the Chosen People and
research while he earned a graduate was worried about my Jewish identity, and the Promised Land, and the belief that
degree at SUNY Albany. “I take from it the I had to resolve it. Now I feel that I have a some evangelical Christians have around
idea of ethnocentrism,” he said. “It prob- place in the Jewish community. the end times, it is particularly troubling,
ably was at the back of my mind all along. “I had felt more judgmental toward especially in light of what is going on now.
It means that if I am Jewish, I am going Chabad and the Orthodox. Now I feel that “My primary audience is Reconstruc-
to believe that we are God’s chosen peo- we all have a place within the fabric of Jew- tionist and Reform Jews, and liberal Chris-
ple. If I am raised Christian, then I going ish society. Their place is to hold up tradi- tians and Muslims,” Mr. Gippin said. “The
to believe that Christians are. It’s putting tion, and mine is to innovate, and to try to interfaith community, and those who are
your own ethnic group at the center of make it relevant for our times. And there trying to forge bridges of unity. It’s for peo-
history and the universe. That comes out is a place for both.” ple who want to talk about the things that
in nationalism, too. We are more likely to So what’s in the film? were so divisive for so long.
 Shavuot

Leading like Moses

Tikkun at Teaneck Jewish Center will look at diverse leadership styles
LARRY YUDELSON
At the Jewish Center of Teaneck, the theme
of the tikkun leil Shavuot late-night study
session will be “Communal Leadership in
the 21st Century.” There will be three talks,
beginning at 11:15 p.m. and ending at 2 a.m.
Chaya Batya Neugroschl, head of school
at Yeshiva University High School for Girls
in Queens, will talk about female leader-
ship through the lens of the Book of Ruth.
Mechi Jenkelowitz will discuss lay leader-
ship. And Rabbi Daniel Fridman will speak
about rabbinic leadership.
In particular, he’ll look at the discus-
sion between Moses and his father-in-law,
Yitro, recounted in Exodus shortly before
the giving of the Torah.
“Yitro basically asks Moshe what it
means to be a rabbi,” Rabbi Fridman said.
“I’ll try to interpret that answer through
the lens of the Ramban and try to bring
it to the current day and age, how I think
rabbinic leadership is most effective in the
21st-century landscape. Because rabbinic
leadership today is not the same thing as it
was in 12th-century Egypt, where the Ram-
bam was, or 13th-century Spain, where the
Ramban was, or even in the early 20th-
century Europe where my great-great
grandfather was a rabbi in a small town.
“There’s a timeless aspect to leadership,
and different aspects that are highly con-
textual and relevant to the needs of the
community.”
Yechiel Fridman, Daniel Fridman’s
great-great grandfather, was the rabbi in
Dankera, a town of a few thousand, a third
of them Jewish, in Latvia. He died in 1933.
The younger Rabbi Fridman heard the sto-
ries from his grandfather. “He brought it to
life for me. He had a steel-trap memory.”
The eldest Rabbi Fridman had studied
in Volozhin, the Harvard of European
yeshivas. And then, when he moved to
Dankera, “he learned Torah all day,” Rabbi
Fridman said. “Whenever anybody had a
question, he and the small group around
him tended to what the issue was.
“Even though he was a member of the
Aguda” — a leading organization of Ortho-
dox rabbis — “he was very much a Zion-
ist. When people approached him, he
would direct them to go to Eretz Yisrael.
My grandfather would always tell me this
with a smile, since this was not the official
position of Aguda. He was highly support-
ive of general education, what you might
today call Torah u’Mada.
“In the early years of his rabbinate,
before the Soviet revolution of 1917, he was
very involved in helping Jews not get drafted
into the czar’s army, which was more or less
a death sentence. After the Soviet Union
fell, some letters were recovered in which
he interceded on behalf of his community.”
So how did the senior Rabbi Fridman’s
leadership compare to the leadership of
Moses?
“They were very similar,” the younger
Rabbi Fridman said.
“The Ramban explains that a rabbi has
three jobs that Moses was trying to fill. One
is to teach Torah. The second is serving as
a judge. The third is pastoral needs. The
Ramban says that Yitro told Moshe, ‘No
one can teach them Torah for you, no one
can handle the pastoral needs. In terms of
the judiciary, there you can get some help,
and if there’s something really difficult,
they can bring it to you.’
“My great-great grandfather taught Torah,
and he attended to all the personal and pas-
toral needs of his community. And very
much a propos of the Ramban, he accepted
his position on the condition that he
wouldn’t have to decide financial disputes.
He didn’t want to be involved in conflict.”

Yeshiva University Women’s Organization

Future Builders and Collegiate Young Leadership
President’s Society for Torah Chesed

90th Annual Spring Luncheon

22nd Ballet Benefit
Grand Tier • Metropolitan Opera House • Lincoln Center

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Honoring Arlene Fox
Michele Hering, Yosefa Knoll, Eden Schonfeld and Alyssa Wilk
Luncheon Co-Chairs

Romeo & Juliet American Ballet Theatre

11:30 a.m. Luncheon • 2 p.m. Ballet Performance

For more information, please call 212.960.0855
email yuwo@yu.edu or visit us at www.yu.edu/yuwoluncheon

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 15

Shavuot
How to think about King David
Speakers in Franklin Lakes will focus on the brilliant,
confusing, complicated ancient leader on erev Shavuot
JOANNE PALMER
A
ccording to tradition, King David’s
yarzheit is on erev Shavuot.
Rabbi Joseph Prouser’s shul, Tem-
ple Emanuel of North Jersey in Frank-
lin Lakes, will mark that date in a traditional way.
After Shabbat ends, people will light 150 candles,
remembering the 150 psalms that tradition attri-
butes to him (although scholars do not).
And then, the tikkun leil Shavuot at Emanuel
will be a look at David, as he is seen in the two
Books of Samuel that chronicle the legend of his
life. Four speakers will “each teach an aspect of
David,” Rabbi Prouser said.
In a sweet coincidence, this Shavuot also is the
30th anniversary of Rabbi Prouser’s ordination.
The tikkun also will be “a celebration of that per-
sonal milestone,” he said. “My interaction with
other clergy has been very important to me over
these 30 years, so I want guests who can partici-
pate in that aspect of the tradition.
David is an enormously complex character
in the brilliant written story of his life. “There
are two characters who are described as adomi
— red — in the Bible,” Rabbi Prouser said. “Esau
and David. Esau is described as red because he
is bloody. David is red because he is ruddy. It is a
spiritual Rorschach test, and an indication of the David raises the head of Goliath, as painted by Josephine Pollard
deep, sometimes irrational, sometimes amoral in 1899.
attachment the Jewish people have to the person-
age of King David.”
Not only is David fascinating and complicated, he is
also oddly timely. “I think that there is a specific appeal
right now to talking about a flawed national leader,” Rabbi
Prouser said.
Rabbi Prouser’s wife, Dr. Ora Horn Prouser, is the exec-
utive vice president and academic dean of the Academy
for Jewish Religion in Yonkers. She will look at David as
a husband. “I am just never sure about him,” Dr. Prouser
said. “Every act he does can be interpreted in more than
one way. I am never able to fully trust him. He is a great
mourner — but he seems to have been involved in the
deaths of the people he is mourning for. But I am unwilling
to say that there is no real pain there. I do think he loves
Jonathan; I do think he has a love for Saul. But at the same
time, he wants what he wants.
“And he also has been anointed by God, so how much
of his working to achieve power isn’t him just following
God’s will? It’s not to say that his actions are bringing
God’s will to bear, but that he actually knows that he was
Who: Rabbi Joseph Prouser
What: Presents a tikkun leil Shavuot, “Who Was David:
Soldier? Singer? Sovereign? Singer?”
When: On erev Shavuot, Saturday, May 19, at 7 p.m.
Where: At Temple Emanuel of North Jersey, 558 High
Mountain Road, Franklin Lakes
How much: Free
And also: Dairy dinner, all night long
For more information: Call (201) 560-0200 or go to
www.tenjfl.org.
16 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
WIKIPEDIA
anointed. It’s strategic — he wants power, but he knows
that God has chosen him.
“That doesn’t excuse his behavior, but it makes it richer
and more complicated.
“There is only one time when I fully trust his mourning.
That’s over Avshalom. That time his mourning is politi-
cally inappropriate, and his people have to say to him that
he is embarrassing the troops. That’s the one place where
we see David’s true feelings.
“He desperately did not want his son to die. He handled
the rebellion brilliantly, with great cleverness — he runs
away from Jerusalem, which is fascinating. He says that he
is running away, he says he is going to lose — and then he
looks over and says by the way, it’s pretend, and he puts
everything into place. He’s tactically brilliant — but when
Avshalom dies, it’s devastating.
“We are told in the text that everyone is in love with
David,” she said. “The text is in love with David,” and in
fact it is hard for readers to avoid that crush. She recalls a
very smart student who once told her, “I really don’t want
to like David — but I can’t help it.”
The scene where David is anointed is Cinderella-like, Dr.
Prouser said. “Samuel comes to anoint someone, and the
father takes his older sons to bring before Samuel, and
doesn’t even think to include David.” It is David, of course,
who is anointed, as it is David who brings down the Phi-
listine giant Goliath. “It is interesting to think of David as
the little boy in the family, who has no standing, who is
not treated well.
“He is starved for love, and that is fed in some way by
all the people who love him. It never says that he loves
anybody.”
Joel Wiest, who is Mormon, is his stake president;
a stake includes many churches, which each is
headed by a bishop. (He used to be one.) His stake,
unusually, is not only geographic but demographic
as well; it’s for young adults in the New York met-
ropolitan area.
Mr. Wiest also is a longtime friend of Rabbi Prous-
er’s through the world of Boy Scouting, in which
both men are deeply involved. He lives in Jersey City.
“I will talk about David as a builder, both of faith
and of the nation,” Mr. Wiest said. “Throughout his
life, David was a faithful man, meaning that he had
an unconditional reliance on God and complete
confidence that God would come through both for
him and for the Israelite nation. I will go through
David’s life and provide evidence of that fact from
the Scriptures.
“An example — take David slaying Goliath. David
had absolute confidence in God. When he heard that
Goliath was mocking the armies of Israel, he said,
‘Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that could defy
the armies of the living God?’ When he goes out to
do battle, he says, ‘thou comest to me with a sword
and a spear and a shield, but I come to thee in the
name of the Lord. This day, will the Lord deliver the
enemy into my hand.’
“He knew that he would win.
“And each and every incident is preceded with the
words, ‘David went and inquired of the Lord.’ That
demonstrated his confidence that God would speak
to him, and God would direct him.”
He also will talk about David’s legacy as a nation-
builder, Mr. Wiest said, and “that is an important part of
his legacy — but that legacy didn’t last very long. David’s
long-lasting legacy was his complete reliance on God.”
The Rev. Debbie Pierce is the associate pastor for Chris-
tian education at Ponds Reformed Church in Oakland.
She’ll talk about “how God chooses not to look at outward
appearances, as we do, but at a man’s heart. I am focusing
on his call from God to be a man after God’s own heart.
“If we read the Scripture, we are told that he didn’t
look like a king. Yes, he was handsome, but he was
not big or rugged. He was a smaller man, maybe even
pretty. He wasn’t described in ways you would associate
with kingship — but God is telling us to take a good look
at his character.”
What is his character? “He is a man who searches after
God’s desire and God’s will,” Rev. Pierce said. “Most of
the time he puts God’s desire above his own. And even in
those moments when he does not, God allows for forgive-
ness. God still says that this is a man after his own heart.
“Our humanness is not held against us.”
Rev. Pierce has fond feelings not only for King David,
but for Rabbi Prouser as well. “He is a wonderful man,”
she said. “He is great to talk to, and he has a real openness.
“It is good to know that even those we have different
opinions about our faith, we have a basis in faith that we
share. It is really good to work with him.”
The last speaker, Rabbi Caren Levine, will talk about
“David and the Arts.”
There will be a dairy buffet available throughout the
night — all that talking and listening can work up a mighty
appetite! — and Rabbi Prouser will finish the evening with
an original poem — an homage to both Shavuot and Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow.
 AJA
Launch
Cultivating ConneCtion through Community

June 5, 2018 | FactorY 220, Passaic, nJ

register by Registration: http://www.ajanj.org/event/launch
Friday, May 25 for
promotional pricing PANEL SESSioN oNE
$75 for AJA
members, $100 for AJA members, (1 CLE ETHiCS CREDiT)
Law, Religion & Ethics
$125 for $150 for non-members •Edward J. Dauber,
non-members.
Greenberg Dauber Epstein & Tucker
•Akiva Shapiro, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
•David Yolkut, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
4:00 pm: Welcome Reception PANEL SESSioN TWo (1 CLE CREDiT)
Choose one:
4:40 pm - 5:35 pm: Panel Session One What Got You Here Won’t Get You There:
The Truth About What It Takes to
Advance Your Legal Career
5:45 pm - 6:40 pm: Panel Session Two •Dror Futter, Rimon
•Debra T. Hirsch, Fox Rothschild LLP
•Elise Holtzman, The Lawyer’s Edge
•David H. Nachman, Visaserve, The Nachman
6:45 pm: Dinner Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C.

Guest Speaker: Law & Technology:

Tech Solutions for Lawyers
The Honorable Stuart Rabner, •Joshua Dubin, Verizon Connect
Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court •David M. Hirschberg, DeVore & DeMarco LLP

q
•Richard Plansky, Exiger

EvEnt chairs sponsors

Scott J. Rothenberg Platinum Sponsor Gold Sponsor
The Rothenberg Law Firm LLP
Edward J. Dauber
Greenberg Dauber Epstein & Tucker
Miriam W. Hermann
Ferro Labella & Zucker, L.L.C
Jan Meyer
Law Offices of Jan Meyer and Associates, PC Event Sponsors
Jacob Meth
Marks Paneth
Jeremy Stein
Hartmann Doherty Rosa Berman & Bulbulia LLC
Jeffrey Traurig
Archer & Greiner P.C.

24 commerce street • suite 101 • newark, nJ • 201.992.3157 • info@ajanj.org • www.ajanj.org

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 17

Shavuot
‘Revere the Parshah Rite at Midnight’
A summary of the weekly Torah portions for tikkun leil Shavuot
RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Listen each Shabbos and you shall hear
Fifty-Four Parshas in the course of a year.
Parshat Bereishit is first of them all:
Adam and Eve, the snake, and the Fall,
And Creation of Earth and stratosphere.
Then God said to Noach, “I’m bringing a Flood;
The world is so violent, so corrupt,
Over-run by evil and shedding of blood.
It’s time for an end decisive, abrupt.”
Abram leaves home and the City of Ur,
Embracing a faith in God secure.
In Lech Lecha we read his decision,
His marriage to Sarah, their divine mission,
He, Ishmael, and Isaac undergo circumcision.
Vayera’s familiar from High Holy Days:
God’s cruel command, Abraham still obeys,
Isaac is bound hand and foot on the altar.
Spared in the end, Abraham does not falter,
So tenacious the faith our founder displays!
Chayei Sarah records the Matriarch’s death,
Her funeral rites, held in Chevron.
Her sepulcher, bought from the Children of Heth.
What an historic, august gravestone!
In Toldot the birthright is sold for soup
To Jacob by Esau, unfortunate dupe!
Jacob flees, stealing the blessing, too,
From blind Isaac, who nevertheless probably knew,
That spiritually Esau hadn’t a clue.
A ladder with angels is in Jacob’s dream,
He declares his camp holy in the extreme.
To marry fair Rachel is his fondest wish,
But he’s tricked and gets Leah: not such a dish!
Vayetze makes clear: things aren’t what they seem.
Jacob sends Esau a sizeable gift,
To smooth the way as they’re reunited.
He assumes in Vayishlach that Esau’s still miffed.
Jacob’s twin is, in fact, simply delighted.
His father loves Joseph more than his brothers.
Gives a nice coat to him, but not to the others.
Vayeshev details Joseph’s sale as a slave,
With Potiphar’s wife Joseph won’t misbehave.
Which lands him in jail, though he was Jacob’s fave.
Joseph interprets his bad dreams’ import
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
For Pharaoh, and then serves high in his court.
His brothers come begging for food and supplies,
In Miketz. Joseph sees them and harshly replies.
He threatens to jail them, but is just making sport.
Judah must plead for Benjamin’s life,
In Vayigash Big Brother touches a nerve.
Joseph forgives their fraternal strife.
His dysfunctional family so as to preserve.
Israel, dying, blesses his sons
Cursing a couple unfortunate ones.
Parshat Vayechi ends a long family drama.
Jacob’s death although timely was still quite a trauma.
Wrapping up Sefer Breishit is Joseph’s embalma.
In Parshat Shemot Joseph is long forgotten
By a new Pharaoh who treats Hebrews rotten.
He harshly enslaves them with back-breaking work,
Which he claims they are constantly trying to shirk.
But Moses stands up to this king misbegotten.
He tells Pharaoh: God says, “Let My People go;
Their purpose is now to venerate Me!”
Pharaoh’s response? An intransigent “No!’
The last thing he’ll do is set his labor force free.
In Va-era Moses unleashes the plagues,
Taking down Egypt’s king a couple of pegs.
Blood, Frogs, and Vermin are to no avail.
18 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
Flies, Pestilence, Boils also all fail
To change Pharaoh’s mind. Moses smites him with Hail.
In Parshat Bo is the first Pesach Seder.
Pharaoh relents, though he is such a hater
Of all Hebrew kids, women and men.
He gives in after plagues numbers eight, nine, and ten.
Jews celebrate yearly. Some cook and some cater.
Deus ex Machina! God splits the Red Sea,
Allowing the slaves to cross on dry land.
Parshat Beshallach shows triumphally,
The power of God’s providential right hand.
In Yitro, God gives us the Decalogue,
Known to every Church, Mosque and Synagogue.
We’re to honor our parents, the Sabbath and God.
Avoid bearing witness that’s false, lies, or fraud.
Don’t murder, steal, covet, or cheat like a bawd.
In considerable detail Mishpatim reports
On fifty-three laws: slavery and torts,
Festivals, finance, and animal rights,
Idolatrous cults, prophetic insights,
And capital cases in Israelite courts.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Terumah records a camp-wide collection:
Wealth to construct and outfit the Shrine.
In Tetzaveh the priests undergo ordination:
Sons and grandsons in the Aaronic line.
Israelites worshipped a golden calf
In Parshat Ki Tissa, misguided riffraff!
Moses replaces the Tablets he broke
In anger: the prophet was a volatile bloke.
No doubt ‘cause he led such a tough, stiff-necked folk.
Vayakhel comprises a second recension
Of our Tabernacle, it’s every dimension.
The ram skins, the seal skins, acacia wood,
The sacred precinct where the candle-stand stood.
Hooks, sockets, utensils, too many to mention.
Pekudei, well-named, is highly statistical,
The breastplate bore gems, in four rows of three;
The Ephod’s significance, patently mystical.
The incense was burned ceremoniously.
The Hebrews erected the whole Tabernacle
By hand, without benefit of block and tackle.
The shrine became filled with clouds of God’s Glory.
Thus ends for a while the Exodus story.
Leviticus now: sacrificial cult gory.
Vayikra lists all types of sacrifice
The focus of Isra’lite religious life.
Burnt offerings, meal offerings, offerings for sin.
Guilt offerings were brought, God’s favor to win.
Peace offerings for freedom from all cosmic strife.
The Altar with oil, says Tzav, was anointed.
Moses convokes all twelve of the tribes.
They watch as he installs the priests he appointed
To function as pastors and healers and scribes.
Aaron and sons undergo ordination,
A sticky and seven-day-long elevation:
Blood was symbolically daubed on ear lobes,
On big toes and thumbs, on their priestly robes,
To sanctify actions and paths and wardrobes.
Aaron’s two sons are consumed by a fire
Divine; their unspecified sin was so dire.
Aaron stays silent, the consummate Stoic,
Just continues his priesthood with fervor heroic.
A model of faith to which few can aspire.
Kosher Laws can be traced to Parshat Shemini:
Permitting consumption of beef, veal, and lamb.
All suitable entrees to eat with linguini.
No lobster or catfish or camel or ham.
Seafood requires both fins and scales;
Mackerel is kosher but not shrimp cocktails.
Impurity brought about through parturition,
Is addressed in Tazria with sacral precision.
Lepers treat priests as diagnosticians.
Metzora concerns a leprous eruption,
Understood homiletically as moral corruption,
And bodily discharge, as from gonorrhea.
Metzora is often paired up with Tazria
In a continuous reading without interruption.
Acharei Mot prescribes Yom Kippur rites:
Scapegoats, sincere confession, and fast.
Contritely we each must atone for our slights.
The mis-steps, offenses and sins of our past.
Chapter eighteen regulates sexuality,
Firmly prohibiting unchecked carnality.
Consanguineous unions are strictly taboo,
Egyptian morés forbidden the Jew.
Intimate life meets hallowed worldview.
Parshat Kedoshim says sanctification
Is the core mission of the Israelite nation.
Don’t curse the deaf; don’t trip up the blind.
Don’t sow a field with seeds of two kinds.
Don’t worship false gods through prayer or libation.
Designate produce for gleaners as charity,
In order to show your neighborly love.
And so as to counteract income disparity.
It’s a Commandment from God up above.
Conduct business deals with fair weights and just
measures.
This Holiness Code: it’s a Scriptural treasure!
Don’t delay paying a laborer’s wage,
Show deference to those of more advanced age,
Do not take revenge, a grudge to assuage.
Parshat Emor forbids cursing God’s Name,
Disqualifies priests hunch-backed, blinded or lame.
They must remain pure, not enter a graveyard.
Can’t marry divorcees; such unions remain barred.
They illumine God’s Shrine with the eternal flame.
A series of Holy Days is herein prescribed:
Yom Kippur, Sukkot, an un-named New Year.
The “Feast of the Spring,” as Passover’s described.
Observe Shavuot: eat cheesecake and shmear.
Behar insists we observe years Sabbatical.
Septennially, to be mathematical.
After seven Sabbaticals comes Jubilee,
Whence the inscription “Proclaim liberty
Throughout the Land.” Set captives free!
 Shavuot

Bechukotai teaches sin brings execration,
Covenantal compliance is cause for elation.
Of the Torah’s five books, Vayikra’s the third.
Placing ritual scruples at the heart of God’s Word.
Maintaining that Law is the way to Salvation.
As its name might suggest, Numbers starts with
the counting
Of the tribes, and their members: the process
was nifty!
The citizenry in Bemidbar surmounting
Six hundred three thousand, five hundred and fifty.
The tribes are all given their marching orders.
The Levites their tasks: some are priests, some
are porters.
Thus, the Torah turns back to a narrative plot,
We’re now in the Wilderness, ready or not!
With special instructions to the sons of Kohath.
Two sinners are killed by Pinchas, that zealot, Electrical
Without any trial, ecclesial or appellate.
For religious coercion, Pinchas is rewarded. Plumbing
The entire affair is inexpressibly sordid:
A “Covenant of Peace” is bestowed on this prelate. and
Parshat Pinchas lets women inherit.
Moses names Joshua, his aide, to succeed him, All Home
For loyalty, service, and personal merit.
In the conquest to come, the nation would
Repairs
need him.
A fixed sacrifice is to be offered each day, 347-470-3832
Thus did our most distant ancestors pray, References Upon Request
SEE REVERE PAGE 56

Tribal princes all bring identical gifts,

Preventing thereby any covetous rifts,
As they dedicate the Lord’s Holy Altar.
University:
The consistency’s like the Rock of Gibraltar:
Each day a new leader, in orderly shifts.
The priests are instructed on just how to bless:
Making an Impact
“God bless you and keep you” from all kinds
of harm.
There’s a trial by ordeal for the adulteress.
Side effects for the guilty are cause for alarm.
This Torah Reading is longer than any
Other, and as we’ve seen there are many.
This, too, is included in Parshat Naso:
The Nazirite’s vow requires he forego
Chianti, Champagne, Cabernet, and Merlot.

Behaalotecha requires a Menorah of gold

Be kindled each day by the Levitical fold.
Pillars of cloud show when to break camp,
And transport the aforesaid seven-branch lamp.
When to re-pitch their tents is in the same
way foretold.
When Moses marries an African beauty
His sister and brother object to the match
Obeying God’s prophet, though, is their sworn duty,
So Miriam’s stricken with a leprous patch.
The people complain they have nothing to eat,
No bread and no fish, neither veggies nor meat.
Miraculously God sends Manna and Quail:
A menu not varied, but hearty and hale,
The whole time they follow their wilderness trail.

In Shelach twelve spies are sent into the Land.

Ten of that dozen proved a scared, faithless band.
Only Caleb and Joshua’s faith remained stalwart.
God ordered the rest to die off in the desert.
An ironic sanction for their lack of sand.
Korach fomented anti-Moses rebellion
The Earth swallowed him, and the same for his crew. Meet Dr. Baruch Barzel, an Israeli physicist and applied
An ignoble fate for that disloyal hellion. mathematician at Bar-Ilan University. His main research area is
Ditto for Dathan and Aviram, too.
Now take a Red Heifer, that’s not borne a yoke. network science specifically, the uncovering of weaknesses in
Slaughter the cow, reduce its carcass to smoke. computer systems and finding ways to make them resilient
The ritual Chukat prescribes with such surety, to catastrophe.
Is quite paradoxical: deep, dark obscurity.
The ashes somehow restore our purity.
Dr. Barzel’s research focuses on such issues as the spread of
Xenophobic Balak was a Moabite King, disease, power grid calamities and ecosystem repair. Your
Who feared what misfortunes Israel might bring. generous contribution will help prevent such future disasters as
So, he hired a prophet to curse the twelve tribes.
He offered Balaam extensive gold bribes
mass blackouts and the spread of infectious viruses in Israel and
For his expertise in calumniating. around the world.
En route he was blocked by an angel of God,
Whom he could not see, though the donkey he rode
Stopped, so Balaam beat her with a rod.
The donkey spoke up: “Better treatment I’m owed!”
Three times Balaam struck her, and three times Tel: 212-906-3900
he tried 160 East 56th Street
To deliver his anti-Israel broadside. New York, NY 10022
But Providence caused him to utter a blessing: Robert.Katz@afbiu.org
“How goodly your tents!” — which Balak afbiu.org
found distressing.
In God’s will Balaam was, perforce, acquiescing.

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 19

Briefly Local
JHF golf/tennis/card outing June 4
The Jewish Home Foundation
holds its 24th annual Golf, Ten-
nis, and Card Outing on Mon-
day, June 4, at the Montammy
Golf Club in Alpine.
This year’s outing honors
Peter Martin for his many years
of dedication. Howard Chernin
and Warren Feldman are the
outing co-chairs; Howard Blatt
and Marc Blatt are the golf co- Peter Martin
chairs; and David Edelberg,
Howard Lippman, Susan Penn, and Barry
Wien are the tennis co-chairs.
The day will begin with brunch and reg-
istration at 9:45 a.m.; golf will begin with a
shotgun start at 11:45 a.m.; at 1 p.m., there
will be a tennis round-robin tournament.
Cards and other social games, including
mah jongg, and ACBL-sanctioned bridge,
Hospital plaque memorializes daughter
The Englewood Hospital
and Medical Center Foun-
dation recently welcomed
benefactor Rita Rosen
Merendino of Fort Lee,
formerly of Englewood, to
celebrate the unveiling of
a memorial plaque hon-
oring her daughter, Daryl
Ann Rosen, at the hospi-
tal. Ms. Merendino, a phi-
lanthropist, has made the
Englewood Fund at EHMC
one of her causes for 20
years.
“The team at Engle-
wood Hospital provides
incredible care to so many
patients and families,” Ms.
Merendino said. “I am
proud to support my local
hospital, knowing that my
daughter’s legacy of car-
ing can continue.” Her
donation benefitted the
Englewood Fund, which Rita Merendino and her daughter, Debra Rosen
is pivotal to the hospital’s
growth and continued success.
20 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
will begin at 12:45. Cocktails
follow at 5:30, dinner and the
auction at 6:15, and a 50/50
raffle drawing at 7. There also
is a boutique and silent auc-
tion with custom online and
mobile bidding.
The daylong fundraiser
will benefit the programs
and services the JHF pro-
vides to the elderly in the
community.
For more information, go to www.Jew-
ishHomeOuting.org.
Companies can sponsor the event or
send participants. For more informa-
tion, call Molly Shulman at (201) 784-1414,
ext. 5539, or email her at mshulman@
jewishhomefamily.org.
COURTESY EHMC
Lubavitch hears
rabbi and author
Rabbi David Eliezrie, author of “The
Secret of Chabad,” a National Jew-
ish Book award finalist, spoke to a
crowd last week at Lubavitch on the
Palisades. He discussed the six fun-
damentals that make Chabad so big
and successful. For information, go to
chabadlubavitch.org.
Norpac to host talk
by Josh Gottheimer
Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-5th Dist), will be
in Teaneck on Thursday, May 24, at 7:30 p.m., for a
COURTESY NORPAC
Norpac pro-Israel event. Sarah and Bob Goodman are
the hosts. For more information, email Avi@NORPAC.
net or call (201) 788-5133.
Congressman
Josh Gottheimer
Teaneck’s Meir Finkelstein
among YU valedictorians
Hundreds of students from Yeshiva University’s under-
graduate schools received their degrees at its 87th com-
mencement exercises at the Prudential Center in Newark
on May 16. Meir Finkelstein of Teaneck, was valedictorian
of the Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies;
he was among nine valedictorians honored for their out-
standing academic achievement.
Finkelstein was a participant in the YU Masmidim Honors
Program, which offers accelerated study and scholarship
Meir Finkelstein
support to a small group of exceptional students. Finkelstein hopes to pursue semicha at
YU-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
Congregants serve dinner for less fortunate
Members of the Glen Rock Jewish Center provided and served dinner for dozens of
people last week at Family Promise in Hackensack. Volunteers included, from left,
Martin Kenwood, Anne Gunar, Rabbi Jennifer Schlosberg, and Terri Caust.
 25
Jewish Federation celebrates 25 years of women’s

Lion Of Judah Endowment

COURTESY NORPAC

Dina Bassen Rosalie Berman Anita Blatt Myrna Block Suzette Diamond Bambi Epstein

Nancy Epstein Merle Fish Rani Garfinkle Margaret Kaplen Miriam Kassel Donna Kissler

Ruth Kornheiser Joan Krieger Lisa Mactas Rita Merendino Barbara Norden Paula Shaiman

Karen Sue Singer Michele Sweetwood Louise Tuchman Jackie Weiss Gail White Arlene Zweifler

Thank you for sustaining vibrant Jewish life for future generations.
Throughout the month of May, we pay special tribute to 88 women from
northern New Jersey who have ensured their Jewish legacy by endowing
their Lion level gift of $5,000 or more to Jewish Federation of Northern
New Jersey. Look for more of these special women in the coming weeks.
Jayne Petak
Endowment Foundation, Chair

Donna Kissler For more information, please contact

Joan Krieger Robin Rochlin at 201-820-3970 | robinr@jfnnj.org
LOJE Co-chairs
Len Fisher at 201-820-3971 | lenf@jfnnj.org
Star of David Society

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 21

 Briefly Local
Bunny Hain's Jewelry
SUPER SALE
All jewelry is
20% · 30% · 50% off
Tues., May 22 and Wed., May 23
10-2 pm and 5-9 pm
Sterling silver jewelry that never
tarnishes for children, teens
and adults, and 14K gold.
Gifts for grads, brides, and campers.
526 Rutland Ave., Teaneck
201-837-8437

First annual bike event A group of participants at one of the bike stations

benefits Belev Echad

On April 29, 10 wounded Israel Defense
Forces veterans led the first annual Bike 4
Belev Echad event. Belev Echac is a global
movement dedicated to ensuring that
wounded IDF servicemen and women
Hourizadeh from Englewood. Both Mr. Her-
shberg and Ms. Hourizadeh have local and
regional roles in Belev Echad. They got
involved in it by meeting other young profes-
sionals with the organization in New York.

MEIR PLISKIN PHOTOGRAPHY

receive the support they need to live pro-
ductive and well-adjusted lives. Programs
include legal and medical advocacy, educa-
tional scholarships, social and recreational
events, mentorships, and career placement.
Locals bike riders included Marc “Avi”
Hershberg of Englewood; his fiancée,
Chana Rosenzweig of Hillside, and Nathan
The ride raised more than $130,000 to
support wounded IDF soldiers. Partici-
pants rode up to 75 miles of challenging
and invigorating bike trails.
The event culminated with a fam-
ily barbecue in Central Park. Go to
www.belevechad.nyc for information on
the organization. Chana Rosenzweig and Marc “Avi” Hershberg Nathan Hourizadeh

Steven and Laura Paley; Sinai’s chief development officer, Esti

Herman; BearGivers’ president, Diane Lempert; founder and chairman Sinai students show their artwork to their families during the Unique
Joseph Sprung, and Sinai’s dean, Rabbi Yisrael Rothwachs. Inspiration show sponsored by BearGivers in Teaneck. PHOTOS COURTESY SINAI

BearGivers art show allows Sinai students the freedom of creativity

On May 1, Sinai students, friends, and fam-
ily gathered at the Avenue in Teaneck for
the sixth annual Unique Inspirations art
show. The show is sponsored by BearGiv-
ers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
creating an environment where children
who face challenges are empowered to
bring happiness to others through acts of
generosity and giving.
In 2012, Steven and Laura Paley estab-
lished the Paley-Mironov art therapy pro-
gram at Sinai Schools in honor of their late
parents, Selma and David Mironov and
Florence and Edward Paley.
Art therapy is a powerful tool that can
break through to Sinai students who
have emotional challenges and difficulty
expressing themselves. It allows the
students to communicate in unexpected
and meaningful ways. With the generous
support of the Paleys, art therapist Sarah
Tarzik helps Sinai students use the creative
process to address their physical, emo-
tional, cognitive, and social needs while
developing a love and appreciation for art.
Since its inception, the program has had
a significant impact on the lives of many
Sinai students.
The Unique Inspirations art show was
the culmination of the school’s yearlong
Paley-Mironov Art Therapy program.
Guests experienced the world through the
eyes of Sinai students and also purchased
the students’ artwork; 100 percent of the
proceeds benefited SINAI Schools’ Schol-
arship Fund.

22 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

UPCOMING AT KAPLEN
Hazon CSA at the JCC -
Community Supported Agriculture
Register now and enjoy fresh, organic produce for
22 weeks beginning on June 12th! Once you're a
member, you can enjoy optional shares of fruit, free-
range eggs, European-style butter and maple syrup.
Deadline: May 23.
Visit jccotp.org/jewish-community-events
Early Fall Registration
FALL 2018 REGISTRATION OPENS MAY 14 FOR JCC MEMBERS
Why should you register now? Great question!
Registering now:
• Guarantees you a spot in the class your kid loves
and that works best for your schedule
• Will make back-to-school season way less hectic
• Allows you to take advantage of our full-year
registration discounts!
Visit jccotp.org/children for complete schedule
ENROLL IN ANY JCC CAMP AND GET READY
FOR A SUMMER OF FUN WITH A CAMP
$250
FAMILY MEMBERSHIP FOR AS LITTLE AS
* @ it’s best summer
CAMP FUN, THE AREA’S BEST FITNESS &
WELLNESS FACILITIES, AND A SUMMER POOL
CLUB CAN ALL BE YOURS. SIGN UP TODAY!
ADULTS
WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS
Support Group
WITH JUDY BRAUNER, LCSW THERAPIST
This bereavement group for those recently
widowed provides an opportunity to share your
feelings with others that understand and will
help you process the changes in your life.
Registration required; Call Esther
at 201.408.1456.
7 Mondays, Jun 4-Jul 16, 6:15-7:45 pm,
$115/$145
KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades TAUB CAMPUS | 411 E CLINTON AVE, TENAFLY, NJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org
JCC on the Palisades
Have You Planned Your
@ Best Summer? Register Today!
DAY CAMPS: AGES 3-GRADE 2
• New! Lower rate for day camps
SPECIALTY CAMPS: GRADES 3+
Science, Fine Arts, Big Idea Hi Tech, Sports,
Dance & Drama options
• Full day, 9 am-4 pm
• Lunch, snack, swim & towel service included
• Transportation, extended care & Hebrew
immersion options available
• Amazing facilities & fantastic staff
Special Camp Family Membership: Only $750
FOR YOUR CAMPER Visit jccotp.org/camps
AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY
SENIORS FILM
New! The Club: Social Group Asbury Shorts
for Seniors with Mild Cognitive AN EVENING OF THE WORLD’S BEST SHORT FILMS
Impairment Join us for our annual presentation of Asbury Shorts,
a nationally-acclaimed short film exhibition, featuring
Maintain brain vitality and cognitive skills through
award–winning comedy, drama, and animated films
meaningful self-selected programs and activities.
curated from the top global film festivals. Last year’s
Program provides additional cognitive attention,
show sold out quickly so get your tickets now!
support and supervision and features special
interest clubs, intergenerational programs and Sponsored in part by Brad–Core, Humanism in Building
more. Intake interview required for program Tue, Jun 26, 7:30 pm, $13/$16
placement.
Mon–Fri, 9 am–2 pm
TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO
Free trial is available, visit jccotp.org/seniorservices VISIT jccotp.org
or contact Judi Nahary at 201.408.1450 or
STAY IN THE KNOW! LIKE US ON
jnahary@jccotp.org
facebook.com/KaplenJCCOTP
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 23
Cover Story
Fighting
I
Joanne Palmer
t doesn’t matter how beauti-
ful something looks, how tall,
global
how straight-backed, how
gleaming.
If it’s rotten from the inside
— if it’s corrupt — eventually
that corruption will eat away at it,
corruption
whatever it might be. Eventually the
beauty and power will crumble.
Sounds melodramatic, doesn’t it?
But it’s true.
When Michael Soussan was 24, “I
was recruited to work for what would
become the largest and ultimately the
most corrupt humanitarian program
in the history of the United Nations,”
Michael Soussan, he said. That was the Oil for Food pro-
gram; Mr. Soussan’s experiences with
it — which he wrote about in “Back-
veteran of Oil for Food stabbing for Beginners: My Crash
Course in International Diplomacy” (a
kickback debacle, book, and now also a movie) and will
discuss at the “Torch Talk” series for
talks about what he’s the Academies at Gerrard Berman Day
School on May 23 (see box) — have led
learned and how to fix it him to an even broader understanding
of corruption’s corrosive force, and of
how to fight it.
Mr. Soussan was born in Denmark;
his father is a Sephardi Jew, born in
Casablanca. “My grandfather was a
24 Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018
Michael Soussan stands in
the no-man’s land between
Saddam’s Iraq and Iraqi
Kurdistan before the war.
merchant shipper who spoke eight
languages,” he said. He lost every-
thing during World War II — his ships
were confiscated — so “he emigrated
to Israel, where he met my mom, who
had gone in the 60s and worked on a
kibbutz. I was born in Denmark, and I
can have a double identity.”
His name, clearly Jewish to many
Jews, does not signify Jewishness to
many non-Jews; he tells the story of
someone, a Yugoslavian woman, who
was paging through the Yellow Pages
and asked his help in finding a dentist
in New York. When he said that surely
there is no shortage of New York den-
tists, the woman told him that while
that is true, they all seem to be Jews,
and that was not what she wanted. No
Jewish hands in her mouth! So being
a Soussan gave him a certain free-
dom not available to Cohens, say, or
Levines, or Silvermans.
Mr. Soussan graduated from Brown
University in 1996; he’d thought he’d
become a lawyer, but the work at a
Washington law firm he’d taken to help
his chances of acceptance put him off
the whole idea. “I got a little disgusted
with the practices on Capitol Hill,”
he said. “Of course it didn’t help that
one of the clients of the group where
I was working was Jack Abramoff,” the
notoriously corrupt lobbyist who landed
in prison. “I started looking for a job more
humanitarian in nature,” he added.
“And then a friend of mine who had
been to Brown with me called and said
he’d just turned down at the job at the U.N.
for one in the Clinton administration. He
said it would involve going to Iraq.
“I didn’t quite know what to think about
it — but I would pretty much do anything to
be a do-gooder. At Brown, they teach you
to be idealistic — but they don’t teach you
how the world works. I had to find that out.
“So I went to New York, and I inter-
viewed, and I got the job,” Mr. Soussan
said. “I mostly got it because they couldn’t
send U.S. or U.K. citizens, but my citizen-
ship allowed me to go.”
So hello Iraq!
Iraq was under severe sanctions at the
time. The conditions there were “drastic,
Keeping your
mouth shut was a
rule. You train
yourself to keep
your mouth shut.”
because we had bombed it so much,” Mr.
Soussan said. “All the water and sanita-
tion systems were down, and the electric-
ity grid was destroyed. There was no cold
chain” — a temperature-controlled supply
chain that allows for the safe delivery of
medication — “in the country, so childhood
and waterborne diseases spread quickly. It
was a humanitarian catastrophe.
“We said that the war was against Sad-
dam Hussein, but the civilian population
paid the greatest price,” he added.
“So I thought the mission was worthy,”
and remember, Mr. Soussan was only 24
years old. “I had a mid-level position — it
was a lucky break, I thought at the time.
The boss of my boss was the undersecre-
tary general, Benon Sevan — who is referred
to mostly as Pasha, because that’s the way
he behaved. He lived to divide and rule.”
Above, Michael Soussan went to Iraq to help administer the Oil for Food program. Below, Soussan with U.N. officials in
prewar Iraq; he’s in the middle, with Benon Sevan.
Mr. Sevan needed an assistant — some-
one who could “speak English and take
notes and not challenge him,” Mr. Soussan
said. “He wanted the greenest apple in the
shop. That was me. So I got to go to Iraq
and meet with Saddam Hussein’s hench-
men, right up to the top, the minister of
almost everything.”
The Oil for Food program sold more
than $74 billion dollars of oil — a huge
amount of money now, and an even huger
amount two decades ago. “It was our job
to see that the money was used to actu-
ally help suffering civilians. Our job — for
which we ended up being paid a billion
dollars — was to see that the money was
used correctly, that the sale of oil was done
without any corruption.”
Yeah, right.
“What really ended up happening
was that the system was gamed, and in a
way that was quite common not only for dealt, was corrupt to its core. civilians but for fattening already stout
humanitarian organizations, but for any But what he saw gnawed at him. “At leaders, but “the quality of the food and
business done with dictators,” Mr. Sous- first, it seemed to me that the program was medicines that the Iraqis did get were
san said. “There was up to 20 percent working,” Mr. Soussan said. Yes, there was poor. They got expired medicines, they
kickbacks; it went to Saddam and was split corruption, but it was worth it to get food got soap that gave them rashes, they got
with the middlemen who made it happen. to starving children. Later, he realized the food that made them sick. We didn’t quite
“I saw violations of the sanctions — and corruption was vast, that Saddam knew explain in our reports that the quality was
of course they would try to violate the exactly who he was bribing, and that the so poor because the middleman was tak-
sanctions, we expected that — but I real- list was extraordinarily long, and included ing all the money.”
ized that we weren’t reporting it. I saw a such companies as Haliburton and Tex- “Keeping your mouth shut was a rule,”
problem with that, but it took me a while aco. “Texas and Tikrit somehow were in he said. “You train yourself to keep your
to understand what was going on.” To cahoots,” he said. mouth shut.”
understand, that is, that the program, like Moreover, he said, not only did much He couldn’t. He resigned in 2001.
the tyrants and enforcers with whom they of the money go not for feeding starving But now, Mr. Soussan says, he
Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018 25

SHAVUOT 2018
OU Women's Initiative Sponsored Speakers
& Host Synagogues
Mrs Tal Attia Ms Daniella
CONGREGATION SHAARE TEFILLA Robicsek Botnick
DALLAS, TX
YOUNG ISRAEL OF OAK PARK, OAK PARK, MI
Mrs Leah Herzog Ms Pesha
CONGREGATION OHAV SHOLOM CONGREGATION MACHZIKEI HADAS
MERRICK, NY OTTAWA, ON
Dr Rona Novick Prof Deena Rabinovich
B'NAI ISRAEL OHEV ZEDEK YOUNG ISRAEL OF OCEANSIDE
PHILADELPHIA, PA OCEANSIDE, NY
The OU would like to thank the 65+
Synagogues
featuring
women
speakers
•Beth Joseph Congregation, Phoenix, AZ
•Beth Jacob of Irvine, Irvine, CA
•Bnai David - Judea Congregation, Los Angeles, CA
•LINK Kollel and Shul, Los Angeles, CA
•Young Israel of Century City, Los Angeles, CA
•Congregation Agudath Sholom, Stamford, CT
•DAT Minyan, Denver, CO
•EDOS, Denver, CO
•Boca Raton Synagogue, Boca Raton, FL
•Anshei Chesed Congregation, Boynton Beach, FL
•Young Israel of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
•Kehillas Ahavas Shalom, North Miami Beach, FL
•Young Israel of Tampa, Tampa, FL
•Beth Jacob Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
•Young Israel of Toco Hills, Atlanta, GA
•Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation, Chicago, IL
•Congregation K.I.N.S. of West Rogers Park, Skokie, IL
•Congregation Israel of Springfield, Springfield, IL
•Beth Israel Avraham Voliner, Overland Park, KS
•OU-JLIC at Boston University, Boston, MA
•Congregation Kadimah-Toras Moshe, Brighton, MA
•Congregation Beth El Atereth Israel, Newton, MA
•Orthodox Minyan at Harvard Hillel, Cambridge, MA
•Beth Sholom Congregation, Potomac, MD
•OU-JLIC at Maryland, College Park, MD
•Young Israel of Oak Park, Oak Park, MI
•Young Israel of Southfield, Southfield, MI
•Bais Abraham Congregation, St. Louis, MO
•Young Israel of Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill, NJ
•Congregation Adath Israel of the JEC, Elizabeth, NJ
•Jewish Educational Center,
Elmora Avenue Shul, Elizabeth, NJ
•Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, NJ
26 Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018
AUGU
! Cover Story
IN
RA
L
VENT
E
Mrs Alexandra Fleksher
•ANSHEI SHALOM
•CONG. EITZ CHAYIM OF DOGWOOD PARK
•YOUNG ISRAEL OF WEST HEMPSTEAD
WEST HEMPSTEAD, NY
Kletenik Ms Elisheva Levi
CONGREGATION BETH EL
ATERETH ISRAEL, NEWTON, MA
Mrs Rena Schochet
JEWISH EDUCATIONAL CENTER
ELMORA AVENUE SHUL
ELIZABETH, NJ
synagogues who partnered with us!
•Anshe Chesed, Linden, NJ
•Congregation Suburban Torah, Livingston, NJ
•Young Israel of Passaic Clifton, Passaic, NJ
•Congregation Israel of Springfield, Springfield, NJ
•Congregation Beth Aaron, Teaneck, NJ
•Congregation Keter Torah, Teaneck, NJ
•Zichron Mordechai, Teaneck, NJ
•Kol Beramah, Santa Fe, NM
•Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Bronx, NY
•Kehillat Ohr Tzion, Buffalo, NY
•Riverdale Jewish Center, Bronx, NY
•Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation
of Syracuse, DeWitt, NY
•Young Israel of Great Neck, Great Neck, NY
•OU-JLIC at Cornell, Ithaca, NY
•Congregation Ohav Sholom, Merrick, NY
•The Jewish Center, New York, NY
•Young Israel of Oceanside, Oceanside, NY
•Anshei Shalom, West Hempstead, NY
•Congregation Eitz Chayim
of Dogwood Park, West Hempstead, NY
•Young Israel of West Hempstead,
West Hempstead, NY
•The Hampton Synagogue, Westhampton Beach, NY
•Young Israel of Woodmere, Woodmere, NY
•Charlotte Torah Center, Charlotte, NC
•Green Road Synagogue, Beachwood, OH
•Congregation Torat Emet, Bexley, OH
•Congregation Machzikei Hadas, Ottawa, ON
•Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, Toronto, ON
•Congregation Kesser Israel, Portland, OR
•B'nai Israel Ohev Zedek, Philadelphia, PA
•Lower Merion Synagogue, Bala Cynwyd, PA
•Congregation Tifereth Beth
David Jerusalem, Montreal, QC
•Brith Shalom Beth Israel, Charleston, SC
•Congregation Shaare Tefillah, Dallas, TX
•United Orthodox Synagogues, Houston, TX
MIchael Soussan is at the far right, and Benon Sevan is next to him.
understands that corruption underlies
and corrodes many of the relationships
between the West and the developing
world. “They see us as being complicit
with their dictators,” he said.
“When we look at situations like the
Arab spring, which began as a struggle
against corruption — those are very legit-
imate complaints,” he said. The people
who tried to overthrow their govern-
ments in the winter of 2010 “just wanted
justice and a better life.
“By making ourselves complicit with
the corruption they struggled against,
we very easily become the enemy in
the eyes of the young people who are
recruited very easily.” That’s how Isis
can flourish, he said.
“Another consequence of corruption
is instability,” Mr. Soussan continued.
“We are seeing more refugees sitting in
camps than even after World War II. And
every time there is a civil war that starts
with anticorruption efforts, it is always
minorities who pay the steepest price.
“We are also facing huge waves of
immigration, particularly in Europe,
which are very challenging to deal with,”
he said. “It is very hard to identify who
you are dealing with. Of course, most
of these people have lost their homes,
and they are just looking for a place to
live, but given the ease of recruitment”
— because they are unsettled, unhappy,
homeless, rudderless, drifting, disori-
ented, lonely, in the middle of crowds of
other people but often still alone — “that
creates a problem.” In other words, the
masses of immigrants, forced from their
homes by the corruption that ate away
at their society, provide groups like Isis
with a target-rich environment.
“We are dealing with an entire genera-
tion of people at risk in the Arab world
— and it will be a problem in Africa too.
“It is all about corruption, and it is the
fault of the West.”
After he left the Oil for Food program,
“I called for an investigation,” Mr. Sous-
san said. He wasn’t the only one; even-
tually, Paul Volcker, the retired chair of
the Federal Reserve, who already had
looked into a scandal at the Vatican,
investigated. The U.N. could afford it.
“There was money left over in escrow
from the program that could pay for
30 investigations,” Mr. Soussan said; it
cost $30 million. “Volcker found every-
thing, down to the details about how the
cash would transition from Baghdad to
Riyadh through a diplomatic pouch,” he
said. “Putin would use the program to
pay everyone in the Duma.”
But now, Mr. Soussan sees the Oil for
Food program, as monumental a heist as
it was, as just one of many, if perhaps big-
ger than most. “I see the bigger picture,”
he said. “The World Bank functions the
same way. They have inflated contracts,
they funnel the money out, and then the
dictators stay in power as long as they
can. They have massive amounts of cash
abroad. The people understand this cor-
ruption very well.
“We have been playing the fool for
too long” — ostrich-like, the countries of
the moral West have been shoving their
heads resolutely into the sand — “and
now we are paying the price. The ter-
rorism, mass migration, civil wars won’t
stop. They are fed by the movements
that feed on this corruption to create an
ideological anti-Western vision.
“These ideologies existed before this
corruption,” Mr. Soussan conceded — in
fact, “they have some of their roots in
the Islamic Brotherhood of the 1930s” —
but now they feed on corruption and the
West’s determination to look away.
“It is terrifying,” he said. “But I think
the place to start the rollback, which
inevitably the next generation is going to
have to try to do, is to look at campaign
financing, which has become a massive
problem. So much of the country has
become so disenfranchised.” That leads
 Cover Story

to corruption, he said. “Corruption isn’t just a question of money. It starts

“If we don’t look at corruption, we don’t advance
the cause of freedom and stability and democracy,”
with our values, our ideas, and the lies we are prepared
to tell not only each other but ourselves. It’s the lies we fleischman
Mr. Soussan said. “We will find ourselves facing greater
challenges than we can imagine at home. But as long
as we start to understand these relationships, then we
tell ourselves that get us in trouble, both individually
and as a society. What we are seeing now is the rollback
of democracy. It certainly has failed in Russia, and we
furs OUR
70th
will have some control over our government. And I think are now looking at Hungary and Turkey — and maybe …for only the finest YEAR!
that we will have to do something about it starting at the even the United States — right now.”
local level.” He is not an alarmist, Mr. Soussan said. It’s just that FUR STORAGE
And that is possible, Mr. Soussan said. Change is he has seen things that he hopes not ever to have to see in our secure, modern
possible. again, and to ward that off he is willing to talk about climate and humidity
“It sounds idealistic, but I have seen what it looks like those things with passion, even fury. controlled vaults. Protect
to try the cynical route, and I have seen the result. I’ve your valuable furs
seen it in Iraq. I’ve seen it in the Congo and Afghanistan. and shearlings during
The alternative to idealism is even more dangerous. Who: Michael Soussan, author of “Backstabbing warm weather from heat,
“I don’t see myself as an optimist, but as a pragmatist. for Beginners” humidity, moths and
If we don’t seed our values, in terms of civil rights, wom- What: Will talk about global corruption at other crawling insects.
en’s rights, human rights, we pay a steep price. So I am “Torch Talk” for the Academies at Gerrard Berman
trying to illustrate the relationship between corruption Day School in Oakland
and terrorism, and to create awareness of it.” When: On Wednesday, May 23, at 6:30 p.m. Free Pick Up
He is looking forward to discussing his ideas with stu-
dents. “I am interested in hearing how kids think about
Where: At Ramapo College’s Sharp Theater, 505
Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah. & Delivery
it,” he said. “They are fighting their own fight for gun Why: To benefit the Academies
control. They have to be able to protect themselves in
their own schools.
How much: Tickets start at $75 Call Now
“It’s really quite simple,” Mr. Soussan concluded. “At For information and reservations: Call Erica Kronick
at (201) 337-1111 or email her at Ekronick@ssnj.org. 201-568-2242
the end of the day, if we simply ignore corruption, there
is a price to pay. We might just think that there are ran- And also: Not only is the book available online, so is
dom people who hate us for no good reason, but those the movie; you can watch it on demand on Optimum
Cable, DirecTV, or Amazon.
people’s ideologies feed off our faults.

BECAUSE EVERYONE
B E LO N G S
Chag
Shavuot
Sameach!
w Jersey Yachad
From Ne

Yachad, the National Jewish Council for Disabilities, is dedicated to enhancing the life opportunities of individuals with
disabilities, ensuring their participation in the full spectrum of Jewish life. Yachad is a program of the Orthodox Union

Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018 27

Jewish World

More than At U.S. embassy

Sandi M. Malkin, LL C 411,000 likes. dedication, a day for
Interior Designer Like us on marking history and
(former interior designer of model
Facebook. praising Trump
rooms for NY’s #1 Dept. Store)
SAM SOKOL

For a totally new look using Israeli leaders and citizens responded with euphoria
as the Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy
your furniture or starting anew. to Jerusalem on Monday, designating a pre-existing
consular building as the official U.S. diplomatic mis-
Staging also available facebook.com/ sion to the Jewish State.
973-535-9192 jewishstandard Hundreds of revelers, many wearing Trump’s signa-
ture red baseball caps commemorating the move, sat
on bleachers outside the new embassy in Jerusalem’s
Arnona neighborhood on Monday afternoon, as an
honor guard of U.S. Marines paraded the national col-

S U M M E R ors and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and First

Daughter Ivanka Trump unveiled the building’s seal,
carved into an outer wall.
The crowd, which included both chief rabbis, the
IDF chief of staff, the mayor of Jerusalem, and the
head of the Jewish Agency, stood and applauded for
at least half a minute after the American ambassador
to Israel, David Friedman, welcomed them, in a boom-
ing voice, “to the dedication and opening of the United
States Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel.”

At the ceremony,
meanwhile, local
politicians vied with
each other to see who
could offer the most
expansive plaudits
as their constituents
posted memes on
social media
describing the
president in almost
Now, the finest Italian suits, sport jackets, pants, shirts, polos, messianic terms.
ties, accessories & shoes can be purchased at tremendous savings! Inevitably, perhaps, the images of pageantry vied
with darker news out of Gaza, where at least 60 Pal-
Visit the estinians died during violent clashes with the Israeli
military along the border.
Boy’s Store The West Bank and East Jerusalem mostly were
at Emporio quiet on Monday; outside the new embassy, dozens
of demonstrators, including several Arab members
of Knesset, held up signs calling Jerusalem the capi-
tal of Palestine. Fourteen protesters were arrested
after skirmishes with police.
At the ceremony, meanwhile, local politicians
vied with each other to see who could offer the
most expansive plaudits as their constituents posted
memes on social media describing the president in

EMPORIO almost messianic terms.

Addressing the dedication ceremony via video,
President Donald Trump asserted that “for many
BORO PARK: 5020 13TH AVENUE, 718.972.4665 | FLATBUSH: 1505 CONEY ISLAND AVE. 718.676.7706 | LONG ISLAND: 467 CENTRAL AVENUE, 516.295.5006 years we failed to acknowledge the obvious, the plain
LAKEWOOD: 1700 MADISON AVENUE, 732.987.9480 | TEANECK: 215 W. ENGLEWOOD AVENUE, 201.530.7300 reality that Israel’s capital is Jerusalem.” He bragged

28 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


Jared Kushner speaks as U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman looks on
at the opening ceremony of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018.
 YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90
that “on my direction, the United States
finally and officially recognized Jerusa-
lem as the true capital of Israel.”
Likely responding to Palestinian
assertions that such recognition ham-
pers efforts at a negotiated settlement
to the conflict, Trump asserted that the
United States was “committed to facili-
tating a lasting peace agreement” and
to the maintenance of the status quo on
the Temple Mount.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu thanked his American coun-
terpart effusively, saying that Israel had
“no better friends in the world” and
that “by recognizing history” Trump
had “made history.”
“Thank you, President Trump for
having the courage to keep your prom-
ises,” he continued. “Thank you for
making the alliance between Israel and
America stronger than ever.”
Despite the violence accompa-
nying the embassy move, a Trump
adviser, his son-in-law Jared Kushner,
said at the ceremony that “previously
unimaginable alliances are emerging”
and that the United States would sup-
port a peace agreement in which “both
sides can get more than they give.”
Last week, Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates, and Bahrain welcomed
Trump’s decision to pull the United
States out of the Iran nuclear deal and
reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Kushner also laid the blame for the
fighting in Gaza squarely on the Pales-
tinians, saying that “those provoking
violence are part of the problem and
not part of the solution.”
Likewise, Netanyahu, who juxta-
posed Trump’s embassy decision with
the Balfour Declaration promising Brit-
ish support for a Jewish homeland,
called Monday a “great day for peace.”
“The truth and peace are intercon-
nected,” he said. “A peace built on
lies will crash on the rocks of Middle
Jewish World
Eastern realities and the truth is that
Jerusalem will always be the capi-
tal of the Jewish state. May the truth
advance a lasting peace between us
and our neighbors.”
Both administration figures and
Israeli politicians heaped praise on the
president in response to the embassy
move. At a reception organized by the
Orthodox Union at Jerusalem’s Wal-
dorf Astoria hotel on Monday morn-
ing, former Senator Joseph Lieberman
(I-Conn.), one of the architects of the
1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, said that
it had been “very frustrating and dis-
appointing every time a president of
the United States suspended the imple-
mentation of that act” and that he was
“thrilled” by Trump’s decision. The
Jerusalem Embassy Act recognized
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and
called for the relocation of the embassy
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but Trump’s
predecessors declined to implement it,
citing foreign policy concerns.
Asked if he believed that Trump’s
involvement would turn Israel into a
partisan issue, Lieberman replied that
his bill had been bipartisan and “sup-
port for Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel is broadly supported by members
of both parties.”
Others present were fulsome in their
praise. David Friedman extolled the
president’s “courage, vision, strength
and moral clarity.” The Orthodox
Union’s Mark Bane called Trump
“God’s messenger on this important
day.” Citing his decision to pull out of
the Iran nuclear deal, Justice Minis-
ter Ayelet Shaked called Trump “the
Churchill of the 21st century.”
This rhetoric was off-putting to some
attendees, who decried what they saw as
excessive. While there was no question
that the embassy move was significant,
“the focus needs to be on the essence
SEE EMBASSY PAGE 30
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 29
Jewish World

Embassy
FROM PAGE 29
and not about Trump,” opposition MK Pnina Tamano-
Shata of Yesh Atid said.
“To compare him to Churchill or to Balfour is a little
exaggerated,” she said. “The state of Israel and the
people of Israel know that our capital is Jerusalem and
the transfer of the embassy is [correct] but let’s take

YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90
things in proportion. I am for our nation celebrating
but we also need to be careful that we don’t exces-
sively praise in an exaggerated sense of euphoria …
and not to raise up a man in an exaggerated way.”
Asked about how Israeli leaders were address-
ing Trump, Dan Shapiro, who was U.S. ambassador
to Israel under President Barack Obama, said that
Guests watch Donald Trump on a massive screen at the opening ceremony of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. it was understandable that they were engaging in
“hyperbole” because “it’s become accepted in inter-
national circles that the way to gain favor with Presi-
dent Trump is to engage in excessive flattery.”

A Home Equity
Shapiro said he supported the embassy move
but harbored reservations about how it was imple-
mented. He explained that Israel was doing “every-

Credit Line
thing possible to have the best possible relation with
the president of the United States” and that this was
“completely legitimate.”

with all the Extras

However, he cautioned, “it would be advisable to
bear in mind the significant number of Americans
who are deeply alienated from this president on
other issues” and to work on “maintaining the his-
toric bipartisan nature of this relationship.”
MK Ayman Odeh, an Arab Israeli who heads the
Knesset’s Joint List, linked the killing of Gaza protest-
ers — who are engaged in a six-week series of dem-
onstrations to coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary
celebrations — to the embassy dedication.
“The opening of the American embassy in Jerusa-
lem and its grand ceremony is part of the same pol-
icy that has claimed the lives of dozens of Gazans,”
Odeh said in a statement. “Today, there is nothing to
celebrate. The opening of the embassy is yet another
provocative step that signals the destruction of the
notion of peace. The Netanyahu-Trump alliance con-
15 Year Revolving tinues to deepen the conflict.”
Meanwhile, in East Jerusalem, the mood was sub-
Credit Line dued. Near the Damascus Gate, tourists and Arab

4.250 %
shoppers mingled, watched by dozens of police
officers clad in body armor and carrying automatic
weapons. Local residents, while unhappy with the
American decision, seemed apathetic in the face of
APR a reality they couldn’t change.

plus
Inside the Old City’s Arab market, a man who iden-
tified himself only as Yassir sat in his dress shop,
watching news footage from Gaza. “Trump is play-
ing with fire,” he said. “There could be war all over.
The people of Gaza don’t care if they die.” Asked why
• Access Funds Whenever there wasn’t any significant unrest in East Jerusalem,
You Want For Any Purpose Yassir replied resignedly that it was “very difficult
living directly with the Israelis” and that any young
• Fast Approval Process man who went out in the street would end up with a
• Experienced, Local Decision Makers police record that would follow him for life.
• No Upfront Costs “It’s different in Gaza, the authorities support the
protests,” he said.
Contact us for all the details In a nearby restaurant, a man named Tawfik
expressed a similarly fatalistic attitude, asserting
that the Israelis had Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
states in their pockets. Trump, he said, was “more
Jewish than the Jews.” The Palestinians “have to be
smart,” he continued, claiming that if Jerusalem resi-
1-800-273-3406 • kearnybank.com dents took to the streets “the Jews will kill us and say
we are against peace.
APR effective as of 4/23/2018. Loan amount: $5,000. Min $500,000. Max., 75% LTV Max. , 1-4 Family Owner Occupied.
Appraisal fee of $300 is required for loans in excess of $250,000. Homeowner’s property insurance is required and flood “I’m not ready for my son to go out and die,” he
insurance may be required if applicable. The rate is variable and subject to change. Maximum rate is 18% (ceiling rate). said. JTA WIRE SERVICE

30 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


Yehezkel Balas, a building contractor who lives in Arnona, said the embassy
will bring more traffic, higher rents, and more business to the neighborhood.
He’s standing in his son’s bakery. 
Neighbors of the new
embassy worry — about
traffic and rising rents
BEN SALES
JERUSALEM — As he strolled on his
narrow, leafy street, overlooking what is
now the United States Embassy in Israel,
Ben Katz stepped back to dodge the
side-view mirror of an oncoming truck,
which had jutted onto the sidewalk.
A few hundred feet past Katz’s garden
apartment, four security guards lounged
under a tent. Below them, next to a walk-
ing path leading to a small park, was the
U.S. diplomatic compound that became
the embassy on Monday.
“For practical purposes, it’s a question
of just how the entire neighborhood is
going to adjust to more people pass-
ing through and that much more going
on,” said Katz, 29, an American immi-
grant who has lived in Jerusalem since
2012 and moved to the neighborhood
last year. “It’s much less of an issue of
politics or anything like that, and just
an issue of congestion. The things we’re
concerned about are more traffic and
the rent going up.”
The embassy’s move from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem, which took place in a
ceremony with hundreds of U.S. and
Israeli officials, has caused an interna-
tional controversy. The United Nations
General Assembly voted 128–9, with 35
abstentions, to condemn President Don-
ald Trump’s decision to recognize Jeru-
salem as the capital of Israel. On Monday
morning, dozens of Palestinians storm-
ing the Gaza border, partly in protest of
the move, were killed by Israeli troops.
Israel and its supporters have celebrated
the decision as a recognition of its capital
and of Jewish history in the city, while
Palestinian officials and their allies have
Jewish World
PHOTOS BY BEN SALES
decried it as violating their claims to
Jerusalem.
But in Arnona, the neighborhood
surrounding the embassy, residents
sounded unconcerned by the embassy’s
historical significance, and unruffled
about its potential to spark riots. Most
of them supported the move, as do
the majority of Israelis. But they talked
more about how an influx of American
diplomats and public figures would dis-
turb their quiet surroundings — bringing
more cars and higher rents — but also
bringing in more customers to shops and
restaurants.
“It will affect the roads — that’s what
we’re worried about, the residents,” said
Yehezkel Balas, 67, a building contrac-
tor who lives in Arnona and whose son
owns a bakery here. “There will be more
traffic on the road. And for business it
will only do good. There will be more
people, naturally, and more demand for
apartments for rent. Big picture, it won’t
do damage.”
Arnona is in southern Jerusalem, on
the seam line between the city’s Jewish
and Arab western and eastern sides. It is
a residential area removed from the city
center, accessible only by a few bus lines.
Founded about a century ago, it’s home
to about 12,000 people, mostly families,
kids, and senior citizens, both religious
and secular Jews. The embassy build-
ing opened here as a consulate in 2010,
supplementing the older U.S. consulate
in central Jerusalem.
On the hilltops next to Arnona, and
farther from the embassy, are the Arab
neighborhoods of Sur Baher and Jabel
Mukaber. Residents say one-on-one
SEE NEIGHBORS PAGE 32
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 31
Jewish World
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem sits on a traffic circle recently named for President Donald Trump.
Natalie Rae New York
Sand and Water Creations in Glass, LLC
support handmade.
hundreds of juried artists & makers.
handcrafted specialty foods.
Sand and Water Creations in Glass, LLC
QUAILHOLLOW.COM
regional wine & craft beer.
for details & tickets
Jason McLeod Jewelry
children's activities.
live music.
QUAILHOLLOW.COM
$1 OFF WITH THIS AD
32 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
Neighbors
FROM PAGE 31
Jason McLeod Jewelry
relations between Arabs and Jews are
good — and unlikely to be damaged by
the embassy’s move. Despite the head-
lines, they feel that Arabs and Jews in
Jerusalem are interacting more and
more.
“Eighty percent of my customers
are Palestinians,” said Naomi Elook,
64, who owns a health clinic overlook-
ing the embassy. She learned Arabic to
communicate better with her clientele.
“I get along with them great. They love
Tellefsen Atelier
37th Anniversary
A newly posted sign points to the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
coming here. My customers, everyone is
in the university. At my bank, half of the
employees are from that sector.
“I don’t believe there will be an
attack,” she added. “There will be some
noise in the beginning, but then it will be
taken as a given.”
Residents say they moved to Arnona
for the neighborhood’s tranquility and
space — Katz’s apartment, for example,
has a small front yard. A strip mall with
a bakery and a hair salon is around the
corner.
Getting to the embassy, which is at the
top of a valley, means descending down
a walking path and around a traffic cir-
cle now named for Trump. A few days
before the embassy’s opening, streets
were empty as workers hung Israeli flags
from lampposts and cleared the side-
walks of dirt.
“The residents of Arnona didn’t bring
the embassy here, they didn’t ask for it,
and the residents of Sur Baher under-
stand that,” said Alon, 62, a journalist
who has lived in the neighborhood for 26
years and declined to give his last name.
“Life has more permanence than poli-
tics, so the politicians won’t succeed in
disturbing us and messing up our lives.”
The move will disturb the lives of at
least some Arnona locals. Several hun-
dred elderly immigrants from the for-
mer Soviet Union live in public housing
in the Diplomat Hotel, a property next
to the embassy that the U.S. govern-
ment bought in 2014. As the embassy
expands, the immigrants will have to
move out. But even so, at least one of
them sounded as nonchalant about the
move as the rest of her neighbors.
“That everyone hates our state is a
problem, but this is OK,” Nadia Freidlin,
81, said about the embassy. “I’m happy
that it will be here.”
 JTA WIRE SERVICE

Netta Barzilai, the winner of this year’s Eurovision contest, performs at Rabin
Square in Tel Aviv on May 14, 2018.
How Israel overcame
politics in winning the
Eurovision song contest
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
H
ours before the Eurovision
song contest’s kickoff, Rafi
Kishon posted on Facebook.
He put up a sobering mes-
sage — and a picture of himself wearing
a head of lettuce for a hat.
Israel’s entrant, he said, didn’t stand a
chance of winning in anti-Semitic, anti-
Israel Europe.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” the
Israeli veterinarian wrote in Hebrew on
Saturday. Netta Barzilai’s “excellent”
song could not win Eurovision “because
Europe is imbued with bicolored anti-
Semitism: The classic Christian anti-
Semitism of Holocaust’s perpetrators
and Muslim anti-Semitism that’s striking
root” there, he wrote, vowing to eat his
own hat — that’s the lettuce — if he were
to be proven wrong.
Kishon, a political hawk and the son of
the late humorist Ephraim Kishon, failed
to predict the future. Barzilai’s uncon-
ventional song “Toy” in fact did win the
contest, earning the fourth-highest score
in the pan-European song competition’s
63-year history. But his prediction none-
theless illustrated how many Israelis
apparently overestimate the politiciza-
tion of Eurovision, the prevalence of
anti-Israel sentiment in European soci-
eties — or both.
Like the “American Idol”-style song
competitions that it resembles, this
annual pageant of novelty pop songs,
outlandish costumes, and sugar-coated
nationalism is judged by in-house juries
Jewish World
TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90
from each participating country and by
viewers watching at home.
At this year’s contest, Israel would
have come in third if it were only up
to the official juries of the 43 countries
that participated. But the juries, which
gave Israel 212 points, determine only 50
percent of the scores. Callers gave Israel
another 317 points to bring their total to
529 — nearly 100 points more than the
next closest contestant, Cyprus.
A breakdown of voting for Israel both
by juries and viewers belies any assump-
tion of politicization or anti-Semitic bias.
For example, Israel was the top vote-
getter from juries both in France — which
many consider emblematic of Europe’s
anti-Semitism problem — and the Czech
Republic, which is a historic and con-
temporary bastion of support for Israel
and Jews in Europe.
And the countries where callers gave
the highest number of perfect scores to
Israel included France, Azerbaijan — a
Shiite Muslim nation — and Spain, where
Catholic anti-Semitism has been rife for
centuries. Spain also has more munici-
palities boycotting Israel than any other
country in Europe does.
(It might not have hurt that during the
contest’s final, “Wonder Woman” star
Gal Gadot encouraged her nearly 20 mil-
lion Instagram followers to vote for her
fellow Israeli.)
Even though Israel won this year’s
contest, the organizers still were accused
of politicizing the event after its Portu-
guese hosts did not mention Jerusalem
when asking the Israeli jury to announce
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 33
 Jewish World

their score. Instead of the typical greeting
— “good evening,” followed by the jury’s
capital city — the Jerusalem-based Israeli
jury received only “Shalom Israel.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-
yahu alluded to this perceived slight by
saying triumphantly after Barzilai’s win:
“Those who did not want Jerusalem in
the Eurovision got the Eurovision in Jeru-
salem.” (The winning country gets to host
the event the following year.)
But the organizers denied any inten-
tional snub of Jerusalem, which Israel
and the United States consider its capital
despite the refusal of most of the world’s
countries to agree. The hosts also failed
to mention Prague, greeting the Czech
Republic’s jury with a simple “hi.” They
also greeted the Dutch jury with “good
evening, Hilversum” — the name of the
small city where the Dutch Eurovision stu-
dio is located.
Barzilai’s victory was the fourth for
Israel, suggesting that catchy pop trumps
politics in the four decades Israel has taken
part. Barzilai’s eccentric feminist anthem
“Toy” — which combines clucking chicken
noises over looped vocals and English lyr-
ics — seemed to win out over any qualms
about Zionism.
Callers gave Israel another 317 points
to bring their total to 529 — nearly
100 points more than the next
closest contestant, Cyprus.
Nevertheless, the contest, which 200
million people watch every year, can’t
always avoid politics.
Russia was kicked out of the 2017 com-
petition because its contestant, Yulia Sam-
oylova, had been barred from entering
Ukraine for political reasons.
And there’s the chronic issue of bloc vot-
ing, in which neighboring, culturally simi-
lar or politically sympathetic countries
consistently give each other high scores.
Greece and Cyprus are notorious for this
— each country gives the other top scores
most years.
Terry Wogan, a British juror, threatened
to resign from the Eurovision in 2008, say-
ing it was “no longer a musical contest.”
But these arguably have been minor
issues in light of the potential for prob-
lems in a contest involving countries with
open or dormant disputes, such as Arme-
nia and Azerbaijan, Russia and the Baltic
countries, and Croatia and Serbia.
Despite tensions, the Eurovision contest
remains a talent show where the unex-
pected, the spectacular, and the original
stand a chance of winning despite politics.
Barzilai, a plus-sized 24-year-old, said
“Toy” was a celebration of diversity and
a protest against the objectification of
women and body shaming.
Whether that upbeat, defiant message
can keep politics out of next year’s contest
in Jerusalem is another story. Two Irish
lawmakers in the European Union have
already called for a boycott of the contest
in Israel, as has Dublin’s mayor, who is a
longtime anti-Israel activist.
In Israel, too, some saw a political mes-
sage in the victory by Barzilai.
“When Israel sends to the world a
symbol for being different, tolerance
and liberal values, suddenly the world
is not against us and we win!” wrote
Yariv Oppenheimer, a former leader of
the Peace Now left-wing group in Israel.
“That’s how it went with Dana,” he noted,
citing the 1998 victory in the Eurovision
contest by an Israeli transgender woman,
Dana International.
“So it went with Netta and that’s the
Israel the world wants to love — as we do,
too!” he said.
But to some Eurovision veterans, Barzi-
lai’s victory had little to do with her mes-
sage and everything to do with the gim-
mickry and showmanship of a woman
clucking like a chicken.
“Israel is the worthy winner if you look
at it as a circus, or just craziness,” said Way-
lon, Holland’s contestant (and perhaps a
sore loser: He finished a distant 18th).
This year “a woman who imitated a
chicken won,” Waylon told the NOS broad-
caster. “A couple of years ago a bearded
woman won,” he said referencing the Aus-
trian drag queen Conchita Wurst, who
won the 2014 contest. “It’s a rarity show
and that’s a shame in a song festival.”
JTA WIRE SERVICE

Happy Father's Day

Enter to Win a
$50 Gift Certificate
to

Play Fore! the Kids

215 W. Englewood Avenue Golf, Tennis & Games
Teaneck, NJ MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2018

201-530-7300
MONTAMMY GOLF CLUB, ALPINE, NJ

Presenting Sponsors
One winner will be chosen in a random drawing THE HECHLER FAMILY
from all entries received by June 4, 2018. THE KURTZ & SPADACCINI FAMILIES
NAME __________________________________________________________________
Come play with us to support the JCC’s programming,
STREET __________________________________________________________________ services and camps for children with special needs.

CITY/STATE/ZIP ___________________________________________________________ Register today for Golf, Tennis, Mah Jongg,

Bridge, or Canasta.
PHONE __________________________________________________________________
EXCITING LIVE AND ONLINE AUCTIONS!
EMAIL __________________________________________________________________
MAIL TO: JEWISH STANDARD, 1086 TEANECK ROAD, SUITE 2F, TEANECK, NJ 07666 Visit jccotp.org/playforethekids or call 201.408.1412
OR FAX TO: 201-833-4959 BY J UNE 21, 2018.

*BY ENTERING THIS CONTEST YOU AGREE TO HAVE YOUR NAME ADDED TO THE JEWISH STANDARD KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades
E - MAIL NEWSLETTER LIST. TAUB CAMPUS | 411 E CLINTON AVE, TENAFLY, NJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org

3 34 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


People run from tear gas at the border fence with Israel in Gaza City on
May 15, 2018.
‘Because I was there’
A reservist’s view of what happened in Gaza
MOSHE (KINLY) TOR-PAZ
I
’m writing this post for my good
friends — my moral, humane
friends, and for all those who
are concerned and angry over
today’s deaths and injuries on the bor-
der with Gaza.
Regarding Israel’s exodus from Egypt,
when the Egyptian army drowned in the
Red Sea just before overtaking the Israel-
ites — our sages say that God scolded the
angels and prevented them from singing
and rejoicing, saying “my creations are
drowning in the sea and you are singing?!”
I write these words with great caution,
and from a sense of mission. I can under-
stand and identify with all of those good
and moral Zionists who fear that the many
Palestinian victims may be our fault, the
result of mistakes made by our side.
I’m writing because I am one of the
few who was there — in uniform, in the
reserves, but I was there. Yes, right there
on the fence where the demonstrations
are happening. It was last Friday — but I
saw it with my own eyes; I was on our side
but I could see and hear and understand
everything. I want to testify from my first-
hand knowledge, not a theoretical point
of view. Because I was there.
I want to testify that what I saw and
heard was a tremendous, supreme effort
from our side, to prevent in every possible
way Palestinian deaths and injuries.
Of course, the primary mission was to
prevent hundreds of thousands of Gazans
from infiltrating into our territory. That
kind of invasion would be perilous, mor-
tally dangerous to the nearby communi-
ties, would permit terrorists disguised
as civilians to enter our kibbutzim and
moshavim, and would leave us with no
choice but to target every single infiltrator.
That’s why our soldiers were directed
to prevent infiltration — in a variety of
Jewish World
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
ways, only using live ammunition as a
last resort. The IDF employs many cre-
ative means of reducing friction with
Gazans and uses numerous methods,
most of which are not made public, to
prevent them from reaching the fence.
In addition, over the last few weeks
there have been serious efforts to save
the lives of children and civilians who
have been pushed to the front lines by
the Hamas — who are trying to hide
behind them in order to infiltrate and
attack Israel.
When there is no alternative and live
ammunition must be used to stop those
I write these
words with
great caution,
and from
a sense of
mission.
who storm the fence — the soldiers
make heroic and sometimes danger-
ous efforts not to kill and only to injure
those on the other side.
The IDF is stationing senior com-
manders at every confrontation point
to ensure that every shot is approved
and backed up by a responsible figure
with proper authority. Every staging
area has an especially large number
of troops in order to make sure that
soldiers are not put into life-threaten-
ing situations where they will have no
choice but to fire indiscriminately.
A situation where thousands of
people rush you is frightening, even
SEE GAZA PAGE 51
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 35
Editorial
Competing truths
M Prepping for Shavuot
y go o d f r i e n d a n d
teacher, the brilliant
and irascible and
entirely irreplaceable
Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, used to say
that there were two entirely irrecon-
cilable narratives. One belonged to the
Jewish people and Israel, and the other
to the Palestinians.
He was a Jew, he would add, so his
people’s version of the story was his
version, but holding onto it did not —
could not — stop him from believing
that the other side’s story had its own
truth as well. In fact, he knew that if he
had been born a Palestinian, he would
have held onto that truth as firmly as
he held and defended and researched
and wrote about and loved and hon-
ored his own.
There are some things that are just
plain facts, objectively true, and those
truths are true for both sides (although
of course it is possible to lie about them,
and certainly we know that lying has
come to play an important if shame-
ful part in American public discourse).
Some things are not facts, although
people believe them to be. Some beliefs
have the emotional weight of facts. And
sometimes even facts themselves can
clash with each other.
So this week, President Donald J.
Trump ordered the U.S. embassy in
Israel to be moved from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem, which is Israel’s capital.
American law has recognized Jeru-
salem as the capital, and American
presidents have vowed to move the
embassy, but it has taken 70 years,
from the founding of the state until
now, to make that move.
Israelis are almost united behind
the wisdom of that move. Americans
are not, and American Jews are not. In
general, the Orthodox community is
fairly certain that it was the only mor-
ally correct position to take, and most
of the liberal Jewish world is fairly cer-
tain that although in the abstract the
move is correct — it is an unassailable
fact that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital —
the moral and political capital that was
Jewish Editor
Joanne Palmer
Standard Associate Editor
Larry Yudelson
1086 Teaneck Road
Community Editor
Teaneck, NJ 07666
Beth Janoff Chananie
(201) 837-8818
Fax 201-833-4959 About Our Children Editor
Heidi Mae Bratt
Publisher
James L. Janoff
Associate Publisher Emerita
Marcia Garfinkle
thejewishstandard.com
36 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
expended on that move just now was
unwise and unlikely to end well.
And then there is what happened
in Gaza, 60 miles away, where Pal-
estinians offered themselves up as
tire-burning, rock-throwing sacrifices,
and Israeli soldiers, watching them
try to breach the wall that separates
them, shot them. So far, about 60 are
reported to have died, and hundreds
more are injured.
The roots of this nightmare go way
back, to the British, to the Ottomans,
to the Nazis, to the age-old inexplica-
ble evil of anti-Semitism, to Hamas, to
the camps, to the plans that Ariel Sha-
ron had for Gaza that never material-
ized because he was stricken with a
stroke, to the hatreds that go back gen-
erations, to the hatred that has been
able to fester for generations.
But it’s happening now. And Jews
are hopelessly divided on it.
Just as the rest of the country is
locked into tribes, with loyalties that
preclude much reaching out (and par-
tial disclosure, I feel it too), so too is
the Jewish world becoming split. Some
of us think that the embassy move is
a good thing, others of us think it’s
unwise. Some of us think that the
Gazans brought everything that’s hap-
pening to them now on themselves,
and others of us think that the Israe-
lis allowed themselves to fall into their
trap. Some of us think that the world
hates us for no reason, and others
of us think that we are giving them
reason.
There is terrifying division in the
air. We cannot allow ourselves to be
split into warring camps. There aren’t
enough of us for that luxury. We can-
not allow disagreement — which is
of course natural and healthy — to
harden into dislike. We just can’t.
We shouldn’t be swayed by lies, we
should hold on to our version of the
elusive truth but be open to the other
side’s as well, and we should hold onto
hope.
That’s what Rabbi Hertzberg would
have done. —JP
Correspondents
Warren Boroson
Lois Goldrich
Banji Ganchrow
Abigail K. Leichman
Miriam Rinn
Dr. Miryam Z. Wahrman
Advertising Director
Natalie D. Jay
Classified Director
Janice Rosen
KEEPING THE FAITH
Another ‘Four Questions’:
H
ere are four questions to help for you.”
prepare you for this weekend: Is your head spinning yet? We still have
On what date does it say Pass- two questions to go.
over falls? Question No. 3: The Torah does not give
On what date does it say Rosh Hashanah a date for when to begin counting the Omer.
falls? The Sages of Blessed Memory ruled that the
On what date does it say we should begin day is the 16th of Nisan, meaning the second
counting the Omer? day of Pesach, but this was a matter of great
On what date does it say Shavuot falls, controversy in late Second Temple times.
and what does it say about why we observe A sect allied with the Temple priesthood
Shavuot? insisted the counting had to begin on the first
Now, let us consider the answers. Sunday after Pesach.
Question No. 1: If you said Passover begins Who was correct? Here is what the text
on the 15th day of the first month (Nisan), says, in part: “…[Y]ou shall bring the first
you would be wrong (and sheaf of your harvest to the
any “Jewish calendar” you priest.…[O]n the day after the
can reference as saying that sabbath…, [o]n the day that
would be wrong too). The fes- you elevate the sheaf, you
tival that begins on that day is shall offer as a burnt offering
Chag Hamatzot, the Festival to the Lord a lamb of the first
of Unleavened Bread. Pass- year without blemish….Until
over (Pesach) begins very late that very day, until you have
on the 14th of the first month brought the offering of your
(Nisan). (See Leviticus 23:5-6. God, you shall eat no bread…; it
Also see Numbers 28:16-17.) As Shammai is a law for all time throughout
for when the Torah says Pesach Engelmayer the ages in all your settlements.”
ends, it implies that it disap- (See Leviticus 23:10ff.)
pears around midnight, just a One way to read this is that
few hours after it began. Chag Hamatzot, on they were both wrong. The offering had
the other hand, lasts until the end of the 21st to be brought when the first sheaf of grain
day of the first month. (See Leviticus 23:6-8. emerged from the ground, whenever that
We add an extra day in the diaspora, but that was. (Deuteronomy 16:9 puts it this way:
is not under discussion here. I will refer to “start to count the seven weeks when the
the Chag Hamatzot as Pesach because that is sickle is first put to the standing grain.”) The
now the accepted name.) Sages said that had to be the second day
Question No. 2: Regarding Rosh Hasha- of Pesach. If that is correct, however, then
nah, to say the first of Tishrei is also wrong. the text makes no sense, because the Torah
The Torah does designate the day as a sacred clearly states, “Until that very day, until you
occasion. Never, however, does it refer to it have brought the offering of your God, you
as “Rosh Hashanah,” which literally means shall eat no bread.” The logical inference is
“head of (or beginning of ) the year.” To the that you may eat bread from that day for-
Torah, this day is “the first day of the seventh ward, but not until then. Yet matzah, which
month,” not the first month — a designation it is bread of the unleavened kind, must be
reserves for the month we call Nisan. As the eaten on the first night of Pesach at the very
Torah says in Exodus 12:2: “This month shall least, and bread of the leavened kind may
mark for you the beginning of the months; not be eaten for six more days after the Omer
it shall be the first of the months of the year offering.
Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of Temple Israel Community Center | Congregation Heichal Yisrael in
Cliffside Park and Temple Beth El of North Bergen.
Advertising Coordinator
Jane Carr
Production Manager
Jerry Szubin
Founder
Morris J. Janoff (1911–1987)
Account Executives
Peggy Elias
Graphic Artists
Deborah Herman
Editor Emeritus
Meyer Pesin (1901–1989)
Bob O'Brien
Brenda Sutcliffe City Editor
Administrative Assistant Mort Cornin (1915–1984)
Jenna Sutcliffe Editorial Consultant
Max Milians (1908-2005)
International Media Placement
P.O. Box 7195 Jerusalem 91077 Secretary
Tel: 02-6252933, 02-6247919 Ceil Wolf (1914-2008)
Fax: 02-6249240 Editor Emerita
Israeli Representative Rebecca Kaplan Boroson

On the other hand, there is no warrant for
considering “the day after the sabbath” to
mean the Sunday after Pesach, because the
Torah itself refers to the festivals as sabbaths
(see Leviticus 23:24, 32, and 39), making the
second day of Pesach a “day after the sab-
bath.” Since there is no way to predict from
year to year when the first sheaf of grain will
appear, the second day of Pesach makes the
most sense.
That bring us to Question No. 4, the first
part of which depends entirely on Question
No. 3. If the second day of Pesach is when
. we begin to count “seven complete weeks,”
with Shavuot occurring on the 50th day, then
Shavuot must fall out on the sixth day of the
t third month (Sivan), which it does. If that
. was your answer to Question No. 4, however,
you were wrong again. As with the Omer, so
t with Shavuot: The Torah supplies no date.
(See, for example, Numbers 28:26.)
t This in itself is curious, because the Torah
t supplies dates for Pesach, Chag Hamatzot,
the festival of the first day of the seventh
month (which we call Rosh Hashanah), Yom
t Kippur, Sukkot, and Sh’mini Atzeret.
Just as curious is its description of the
g reason for Shavuot: It is the Festival of First
t Fruits, period. It was the Sages who desig-
nated Shavuot as Z’man Matan Torateinu,
the time of the Giving of the Torah. (Even
r more curious, perhaps, is its lack of any
t description of why we observe the festival
t we call Rosh Hashanah. It is the only day on
” the sacred calendar for which no reason is
given at all. All it says is that it is a day on
t which a shofar either is sounded [see Num-
bers 29:1], or its sounding is recalled [see
Leviticus 23:23-25].)
t If you got one or more answers wrong, and
: even if you got all four wrong, welcome to
the club. Until I began to study Torah seri-
ously, I probably would have done as poorly.
y We know what the calendars tell us, and what
our teachers told us. We had no reason to
doubt either the calendar or our teachers.
What we do not know, though, is what the
Torah actually says about the calendar and
so many other things. We just take the word
- of others. For too many people, this has led
to them thinking the Torah is a collection of
archaic laws and unbelievable narratives.
y The Sages were not wrong in ascribing the
y giving of the Torah to Shavuot. The chro-
r nology given in the Torah for the trek from
Egypt to Sinai leaves no doubt. Shavuot thus
becomes the perfect time for us to set aside
our notions of what the Torah says — and to
begin studying it seriously.
The opinions expressed in this section
are those of the authors, not necessarily those
of the newspaper’s editors, publishers, or other
staffers.
We welcome letters to the editor. Send them to
jstandardletters@gmail.com.
Opinion
Demonstrating Jewish unity
and resolve at Rutgers University
A
very important statement was made
this month at Rutgers University, a
campus that has witnessed anti-Sem-
itism from a tenured professor and
troubling anti-Israel incidents during the past year.
Rutgers is a state-funded public universty, mean-
ing that the voice of state legislators who manage
the state budget uniquely reign louder than even
the prospective donations withheld by infuriated
Jewish alumni, as they would at private colleges. Michael
Fundamentally understanding that basic prem- Cohen
ise in a world without term limits dramatically
increases the importance of our local elected offi-
cials as they voice their intolerance of intolerance and the pub-
licized, visible relationships that they have within a Jewish com-
munal structure that always is in need of such powerful alliances.
In early May, the Simon Wiesenthal Center held a ribbon-cut-
ting ceremony on the Rutgers University Campus Hillel House
for our renowned exhibition, “People, Book, Land — the 3,500
Year Relationship between the Jewish People and the Holy
Land.” The exhibit, which already has been displayed on four
continents, from Tokyo to Buenos Aires, from the Vatican to the
Knesset, from the House of Commons in London to Capitol Hill
in Washington, traces the 3,500-year love of a people for its land.
The exhibit is co-sponsored by Israel, the United States,
Canada, and UNESCO. And yes, that’s the same United Nations
agency whose member states pass resolutions denying Jewish
links to the holy land and against the state of Israel.
The exhibit itself was not the only headline we can get from
its opening day at Rutgers. What stood out as well is that on a
state-funded campus that has experienced much in the way of
anti-Semitic and anti-Israel issues over the past several months,
was the presence of the state Senate majority leader, the deputy
speaker of the state General Assembly, and a host of representa-
tives from each of those legislative bodies.
Those dignitaries, standing purposefully in front of cameras
and the university’s president, helped to cut the symbolic ribbon
and make their positions reverberate in a fashion that only those
filled with vitriol against us possibly could ignore.
Such a demonstration of continuing support and solidarity
against anti-Jewish hate speaks volumes. Such an event did not
How to pull a Shavuot all-nighter
O
n Saturday night, Jews around the
world will stay up all night study-
ing Torah.
Some will be excited, some will be
bedraggled, but all will resist sleep for this time-
honored tradition on Shavuot night.
There is no biblical or talmudic command-
ment to spend the night of Matan Torah — the
giving of the Torah — studying, so when and why
was it initiated? The midrash tells us that the Dr. Alan
Jews at Sinai overslept instead of waiting eagerly Kadish
to receive the Torah. To show that we are enthu-
siastic and ready to accept all the command-
ments, we stay up all night and study Torah. The custom is
called tikkun leil Shavuot. The Kabbalists practiced it in the
16th century, and generations since have followed suit.
A more offbeat explanation can be found by reading the cof-
fee grinds. History suggests that after coffee was popularized
in Europe in about 1580, people were able to remain focused
all night and the custom truly took root.
occur in the midst of a crisis, but after campus offi-
cials had dealt with the anti-Jewish incidents. The
importance here is a robust message of Jewish self-
pride and a teaching moment for the entire univer-
sity community.
I was truly impressed as Rabbi Abraham Cooper,
the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Cen-
ter, provided a guided tour of the exhibit to Rut-
gers President Robert Barchi, and no one rushed
through it. Barchi stayed, asked questions, and
made comments for well over 20 minutes. I am
certain that the extension of his stay was based on
one thing and one thing alone — the presence of
the legislative and thereby financial power upon which the uni-
versity survives. Nevertheless, Barchi deserves praise for recog-
nizing the significance of the moment and not shirking from it.
Equally significant was the presence at the ribbon cutting of
Rutgers University students such as Miriam Waghalter and oth-
ers, who took upon their young shoulders the responsibility of
taking action in the face of anti-Semitic actions on campus and
in their midst.
This group of proud Jewish students created a petition circu-
lated among the student body and beyond, garnering more than
4,000 signatures in a matter of days and thereby compelling the
administration to deal immediately, substantively, and seriously
with the dramatically offensive behavior undertaken by mem-
bers of its faculty.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center and its partners at the event
ensured the projection of two simple yet definitive messages — we
will never be silent when anti-Semitism rears its ugly head, and the
students who are brave enough to fight back never will be alone.
The exhibit is just one of the many tools that the Simon Wie-
senthal Center regularly employs to help create positive events,
such as an opening or ribbon cutting, both to educate and at
same time to productively empower Jewish communities facing
adversity both on hotspot campuses and beyond them.
Michael Cohen of Englewood is the eastern regional director of
the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He represents the Second Ward
on Englewood’s City Council, and he belongs to Congregation
Ahavath Torah there.
But although the Kabbalists started it and cof-
fee continued to make it possible — and we also
have our cheesecake sugar buzz to keep us alert
— still that doesn’t fully explain why the tradi-
tion has had such staying power. Jews always
have had a particular intellectual tradition that
values lifelong learning and scholarly creativity,
and that, in my view, is why we welcomed the
practice of spending the night in study.
In the Middle Ages, textual study distin-
guished us from others. But following the
Renaissance, and surely in Western society
today, education and literacy hardly are exclu-
sive to Jewish people. Still, it is important for us to rec-
ognize that our faith and beliefs integrate with a visceral
thirst for learning. Dedicating one night to Jewish study
rather than sleep is both a symbolic manifestation and a
practical actualization of our commitment to learning and
acquiring wisdom.
SEE KADISH PAGE 40
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 37
Opinion

Being there and looking for the there there

Experiencing a joyful but ‘lonely’ embassy dedication in a Jerusalem suburb

W
hen I left for Israel to cel-
ebrate the dedication of
the United States Embassy
in Jerusalem, my kids
asked me why I was going so far away for
such a short time. Without thinking much,
I replied, “I was not alive in 1948 or in 1967.
But being alive in 2018 for this miracle, I am
not going to miss it.”
This moment for Israel indeed is another
notch in our list of miracles; this time, it’s
one that someone of my age can appreciate.
One day we will look back on this event as
another watershed moment in the history
of our great nation of Israel.
I will admit, however, that being a proud
Democrat and a Conservative rabbi as well
as a song leader in a band of people unapol-
ogetically calling out President Trump
for many behaviors and statements, has
made me feel like a fish out of water in this
environment.
I am sad that no elected Democrats are
here in Jerusalem with me. It was, after all,
Bill Clinton, a Democrat, who signed a bill
in 1995 — which passed the Senate by a land-
slide vote of 95 to 3 — resolving to move the
embassy to Jerusalem. Being here could be
seen as endorsement of Bill Clinton. In 2016,
Hillary Clinton pushed for a party platform
that said “Jerusalem shall remain the capital
of Israel.” Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
affirmed the 1995 legislation passed in Senate
just months ago, declaring that the embassy
should be moved to Jerusalem and to “abide
by [the 1995 law] provisions.” I watched the
likes of George Mitchell and Chuck Schumer
and Steny Hoyer celebrate this move and say
that it was a long time in the making.
Ambassador David Freidman and his
immediate predecessor, Ambassador Dan
Shapiro, stood shoulder to shoulder at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reveling in this
moment. They were appointed by Trump
and Obama, respectively. Both have been
outspoken in favor of this decision. Shapiro,
an Obama appointee, has written pieces for
the Washington Post, the New York Times,
and the Wall Street Journal, and for many
Israeli papers, explaining why this embassy
move is good and right. It is beyond parti-
sanship. It transcends politics. It is about
what is right and good and normative.
If all that is true, why are current elected
Democrats not here with me? I miss them
by my side. I need them here by my side.
In Israel, the embassy’s move to Jeru-
salem is celebrated by all parties. night
Buji Herzog, the head of the Zionist Union
— part of the opposition — sat in the front
row, applauding this historic Last night, I was fortunate
moment with members of the to have my picture taken next
Likud, the Jewish Home Party, to the very pen that President
Yesh Atid, and more in what is Harry Truman used to sign a
seen as an obvious and unani- letter recognizing Israel as a
mous view to formalize the state, shortly after David Ben-
capital of Israel in Jerusalem. Gurion made his declaration
There is no daylight between of independence. The United
political factions in Israel on States led the way for other
this long-awaited move. Some Rabbi David- countries to recognize what
left-leaning leaders even ask, Seth Kirshner the United Nations deemed
“Why did we have to wait 70 six months earlier to be our
years?” course to follow: that Israel
I did not see a mass of Conservative ( Jew- is a Jewish state and the Jewish homeland.
ish) colleagues at this momentous event, The United States did what is does best — it
and that makes me feel lonely too. Our Con- leads, and others follow our example. That
servative movement did endorse President is what makes us a land and a people of
Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as courage who pursue justice and good.
Israel’s capital and asked that the embassy Since Truman’s leadership, other coun-
move happen swiftly. It also called for using tries followed the United States, and now
this moment as a catalyst to help press for- other countries again are following us. Gua-
ward the negotiations toward two states for temala and Paraguay each are opening their
two peoples. So why are so few from my own embassies in Jerusalem later this week.
religious denomination present? More will follow our lead.
If most Democrats agree with the Repub- When Ben-Gurion declared our state on
licans, and our movement is on board too, May 14, 1948, Israel made its capital in Jeru-
and all sides of Israelis seemingly agree, why salem. The Knesset met on King George
is this event being made into a partisan pie? Street at the Frumin House, in what now
Should not we all be able to enjoy its sweet- is the center of town, before it moved to its
ness and delight? current location in 1966. The High Courts of

Are we a good people? on. And I remember reading

this and thinking that some
vodka. (Admittedly, Rubash-
kin’s prison sentence was inap-

T
he rapper and performer Azealia
Banks is a fairly difficult person.
I say this with firsthand knowl-
edge, after having spent a full
day in her company while interviewing her
for a music magazine cover story. Banks can
be caustic and confrontational on occasion,
and also completely unaware of it. And in
retrospect, of all the hundreds of interviews
I’ve conducted with musicians over the
years, I would qualify my session with her
as my most combative.
That being said, Banks has just this
week returned from Israel, and in a Yelp-
like Tweetstorm takedown, she detailed
instances of racism, rudeness, and harass-
ment in the Holy Land that made her cry
more than once. Now, again, having spent
some time with her coupled with the knowl-
edge of just about every beef she’s been
involved in, I’m certain that we should fac-
tor at least a grain or two of salt here.
But let’s say hypothetically that the story
about a rabbi sitting next to Banks on her
El-Al flight propositioning her for sex, or
the charedi woman demeaning her, or the
Israeli shopkeepers who did not welcome
her patronage — that one or two instances
of her experience is true. Then that alone
is problematic. An unparalleled chillul
Hashem has been broadcast across the
world through the megaphone of the flame-
fanning Twittersphere.
Since hearing of Banks’ shameful allega-
tions, I keep wondering where this behav-
ior could stem from. How are Jewish people
capable of such conduct? And this bewilder-
ment coincides with the deceivingly simple
yet profoundly weighty question I’ve been
grappling with specifically throughout the
last two years: Are we, the Jewish people,
a good people?
And when I ask this question, I’m not fac-
toring in the amount of charity doled out
to those in need. Nor am I considering the
number of times in a day when one prays
with a minyan. And I’m not even pointedly
considering Banks’ story. Well, at least not
in a vacuum. I am speaking of the unquanti-
fiable. I am speaking of midot.
I guess this introspective journey all started
in true measure only a couple months back,
when friends began circulating a meme in
which the words of “Dayenu” were unironi-
cally replaced with all the alleged accomplish-
ments of Donald J. Trump. Instead of listing
Sinai, the Red Sea, or the deliverance of the
Torah, the originator of the revised Hag-
gadic song appropriated and praised Trump
for the release of Sholom Rubashkin, the
relocation of the Israeli embassy, Trump’s
disdain for the Iran deal, and so on and so
of these things were and are
“good for the Jews,” whether
they’re short term beneficial
or whether the motivations are
disingenuous, but the notion
of praising Trump and hold-
ing him on a pedestal, appre-
ciating him as a president in a Arye
way for which there is no prec- Dworken
edent — it made me uncom- Shafer
fortable. Not as a liberal. Not as
an American. Not as a human
being. But as a Jew.
The concept of our current president’s dis-
regard for morality is nothing new to anyone.
And I need not list the transgressions ranging
from his dalliance with a veteran porn star to
his overall braggadocious and misogynistic
demeanor; the way in which Donald Trump
acts, speaks, and conducts himself, both pri-
vately or publicly, is the way that I had always ations of the story, the response has always
assumed was antithetical to everything I was
taught at home and in yeshiva.
When the president accomplishes things
that we are objectively able to assess as a
win, these purported triumphs should be cel-
ebrated modestly. Not the way Evergreen, a
kosher supermarket in Lakewood, celebrated
the early release of an unequivocal criminal
at Trump’s behest, with free rugelach. Not the
way Chabad’s headquarters in Crown Heights
commemorated it, with cases upon cases of
propriately harsh and so it was
correct to cut it short, but that
should not be seen as cause for
momentous celebration).
In a few days’ time, we
will celebrate Shavuot and
the acceptance of the Torah.
To many, this is the birth of
our contemporary obser-
vance, and a time in which we
embraced a life of tenets and
rules. And in anticipation of
the holiday, I can’t help but think about the
children’s book I just read to my daughter.
It’s based on the famous story of Rabbi Hil-
lel that we’ve heard so many time it perhaps
has perhaps lost meaning and potency. Hil-
lel is asked to explain all of the Torah while
his inquisitor stands on one foot.
Over the years and through the many iter-
remained “That which is hateful unto you
do not do to your neighbor.” That is a simple
enough sentiment to understand — but it’s
uttered in the negative, which is an unnec-
essarily convoluted way of conveying a core
principle. Why say “do not do to your neigh-
bor” when it is more evocative simply to say,
as Leviticus does, “love your neighbor as
you love yourself?”
Before I answer that question, I’d like to
publicly reveal something personal. For

38 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


the country always have been in Jerusalem.
It is where Eichmann was tried and found
guilty in 1961. Jerusalem has been where
heads of state meet, dine, and stay while vis-
iting this country. It is and will always serve
as our nation’s capital.
The new embassy is in Jerusalem’s Arnona
district, squarely outside of the infamous
Green Line. That means that in any and
every solution of two states for two people
that will be negotiated, this part of Jerusalem
must remain part of the Jewish sovereign
state. Further to that point, this part of Jeru-
salem has been in Jewish hands since 1948.
Those fighting this embassy decision are
not advocating for 1967 lines for two states
for two people, they are asking for 1947
lines — which have no delineation, place, or
space for the Jewish state or its people. The
absence and silence of those who chose not
to attend this historic day give fuel to that
absurd and bigoted stance.
I am proudly part of a group that looks for-
ward to the day that a Palestinian embassy
is inaugurated in East Jerusalem, serving
as the capital of a future Palestinian state. I
hope that moment will be the dawn of a new
reality and a renewed sense of hope for a
much-deserved homeland for the Palestinian
people. I pray that these two states and two
peoples will live side by side in peace and
aspire toward harmony. This United States
embassy and its location in no way precludes
that possibility. In fact, I think it advances it.
Today I am donning my suit and tie and
me, being nice, considerate and empathetic
is a process. It’s work. It’s not something that
comes to me easily and innately. This is a
quality I know about myself, and embrace
and wrestle with. After decades of “Chosen
people” programming, it’s not an instant
conclusion for me to think of those who are
not like me in an intentional and consider-
ate way, through the determining gaze of
equality. It’s not that easy for me to realize
that they, with their different cultures and
languages and lifestyles and traditions, all
deserve equal dignity. And so I make the con-
scious decision to be accepting.
But on a broader scale, and perhaps also
cynically, I feel that we — humanity, as a whole
— are inherently isolationist and self-preser-
vationist. We protect our own, which conse-
quently means we cannot protect theirs at the
same time. But when Hillel reminds us to “not
do to your neighbor,” he is acknowledging our
prejudicial inclinations when it comes to gaug-
ing whether to accept or not to accept, as an
instinct of determination that has to be prac-
ticed and developed over time.
It’s not easy loving your neighbor in abso-
lute terms, so Hillel suggested seeing the
world almost narcissistically, to consider
those things that are hateful to you, and
through that assessment to make a personal
commitment to your empathetic willingness.
(Intentionally or not, the lawn sign reads
“Hate has no home here” because as visceral
creatures, it’s all too easy for us to hate. Hate
putting on a new kippah. I have packed tissues
for that magical moment when the “Star-Span-
gled Banner” will be followed by the “Hatikva”
and the unveiling of that eagle on our emblem
that will adorn the walls of our United States
Embassy in Jerusalem. These anthems, those
symbols, and that moment, representing both
my homes and my peoples, will be a culmina-
tion of 70 years of seeking a recognition and
realizing its arrival.
I am sure that the struggles for this small
and holy strip of land in the middle of the
world will continue to face serious internal
and external threats, some existential in their
nature, after this day. Our journey for recog-
nition and acceptance is far from over. I am
afraid that my kids will have the same inheri-
tance I was given from my parents: an amaz-
ing and indescribable homeland that needs
me to advocate for its continued survival. But
this one day is about pausing and appreciat-
ing this moment, relishing it with delight, and
then moving forward.
I am here, with a front row seat for history.
Regardless of my political affiliation or my
religious denomination, I will be cheering and
rejoicing in this historic day at this historic
place. I am blessed to be alive for this day. I
am blessed to be in Jerusalem to celebrate it.
I just wish I did not feel so alone in doing so!
David-Seth Kirshner is senior rabbi of Temple
Emanu-El of Closter, immediate past president
of the New York Board of Rabbis, and the
president of the North Jersey Board of Rabbis.
is the thing we have to choose to renounce.)
We can argue over Azealia Banks’ stability,
which I will be first on the witness stand to
testify against, and we can acknowledge, as
many of my Trump-supporting friends do,
that politicians never have been examples of
morality. In my mind, these sorts of responses
excuse our propensity for coyly exchanging
temporary political conveniences for the
fraught position on a moral high ground. And
by celebrating Donald Trump and his tem-
poral accomplishments, we inadvertently
celebrate Donald Trump. Just as those Ultra
Orthodox wedding revelers did in a viral You-
Tube video all dressed in T-shirts that pro-
claimed “I Love Trump,” all dancing fever-
ishly and non-ironically in a circle, yet also
inadvertently gifting the thousands of view-
ers at home with a takeaway of the perceived
partnership between the Jews and Trump.
All these moments, these cringeworthy
and ill-advised moments, have brought me
into an existential fog in which I wonder if,
despite all the good transactional things we
do for one another, does anything more tran-
scendental matter to us as a community?
Or shall we keep feasting on the ignorance
that comes along with marginalizing moral-
ity, which incidentally tastes a whole lot like
free rugelach?
Arye Dworken of Teaneck is a creative director
at a New York City ad agency, an essayist, and
a freelance culture journalist.
Why I took the day off
to go on Norpac’s
mission to Washington
Y
es. I took April 25 off from
work to go on the mission. I
had intended to go with my
son, but it didn’t work out
because of school exams.
I took the day off to show my kids
how important it was, and to do my
small part. I took the day off to lobby
on behalf of Israel and the Jewish
people, for continued U.S. support
for Israel, and for the support of our
leaders in the fight against the Boycott,
Divest, and Sanction movement to
help our kids on campus.
Make no mistake about
it. BDS is the next step in
the attempt to destroy
Israel. First the surround-
ing Arab nations went to
war. Then there was ter-
rorism and the intifada.
Now we have BDS. BDS is
no different than the Nazi
boycott of Jewish goods Howard
in the 1930s and the ille- Shafer
gal Arab boycotts in the
1950s and 60s.
To quote well known BDS propo-
nent Cornel West, “All of us should
seek respectfully to engage with peo-
ple who challenge our views. And we
should oppose efforts to silence those
with whom we disagree — especially
on college and university campuses.”
Mr. West has been called a “major
hypocrite” for “believing in free
speech for me and not for thee” by
Harvard Law School Professor Emeri-
tus Alan Dershowitz.
Groups like Students for Justice in
Palestine use radical anti-Israel tactics
to shut down pro-Israel speakers on
campus, which is the ultimate denial
of free speech. The BDS movement is
inherently predicated on the suppres-
sion of speech and the free exchange
of ideas. Supporting boycotts of Israeli
academics, diplomats, and perform-
ers simply is not consistent with free
speech values.
I went on the Norpac mission to
lobby for support for the United States-
Israel Security Assistance Authoriza-
tion Act of 2018 (H.R. 5141 and S. 2497).
I went to lobby for the Iranian Revolu-
tionary Guard Corps Economic Exclu-
sion Act (H.R. 5132). I went to seek
support for the Combating BDS Act of
2017 (House: H.R. 2856; Senate: S. 170)
and the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (House:
H.R.1697, Senate: S.720).
The United States-Israel Security
Assistance Authorization Act of 2018
(a) authorizes $3.3 billion in mili-
tary assistance and $500 million in
Opinion
anti-missile funding for Fiscal Year
2019, as provided for in the 2016 MOU
(Memorandum of Understanding), a
10-year agreement between the U.S.
and Israel that ensures Israel’s quali-
tative military edge and (b) contains
other provisions to ensure that Israel
has the means necessary to defend
itself, by itself, against a range of grow-
ing and emerging threats.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps Economic Exclusion Act tight-
ens sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revo-
lutionary Guard Corps,
Iran’s primary tool for
terrorism and regional
aggression. The presi-
dent has considerable
authority under earlier
legislation to impose
sanctions on Iran for its
terrorist activities. How-
ever, the administration
(and prior administra-
tions) have not used
much of that authority; a
letter signed by 64 sena-
tors urges the president to do so.
The Combating BDS Act of 2017
makes it clear that state and local gov-
ernments have a right to disassociate
their pensions and contracts from
entities that boycott, divest from, or
sanction Israel. In so doing, it also
protects these governments from
lawsuits. The Israel Anti-Boycott Act
would combat the efforts by the U.N.
Human Rights Council to encourage
a boycott of companies doing busi-
ness in Israel over the 1949 Armistice
line by expanding U.S. law to prohibit
compliance with such boycotts. The
bipartisan bill’s authors support an
updated version of their bill, which
includes language clarifying the
rights of individual U.S. citizens to
engage in personal boycott activity,
and it affirms that nothing in the act
should be construed to diminish or
infringe on any right protected under
the First Amendment.
I went so that when someone asks
me what I am doing to help the Jewish
people, our kids on campus, and the
Jewish State I can tell them that I am
doing my small part by taking the day
off from work and going to Washington
with Norpac.
Next year I plan to go again with my
son — and I hope that you will too.
Howard S. Shafer of Englewood is
an attorney and a candidate for the
Englewood Democratic Municipal
Committee in Ward 1, District 1.
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 39
Letters
Advice found wanting
Rabbis Zahavy’s May 4 response to the query in his talmu-
dic advice column regarding “showrooming,” while cor-
rect, was quite narrow and ignored the chance to teach a
broader lesson that, yes, merely looking at products in a
store and ordering them online is not unethical, but utiliz-
ing the time of a salesperson at a brick and mortar estab-
lishment and then ordering the product elsewhere is not
talmudically acceptable.
One of the big 10, as we all know, is “Thou shall not
steal,” which has a broad application, including the mis-
leading or thievery of people’s minds for personal gain.
Accordingly, asking a salesperson or storeowner about
a product that you have no intention of purchasing at
that store is proscribed by the Talmud, as the salesper-
son would have been deceived and have wasted his time,
which might have been used to serve an actual paying
customer. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 228:4)
speaks to the prohibition of verbal exploitation, and specif-
ically notes that one may not inquire about the price of an
item if he has no intention on making a purchase. I know
that this column needs to appeal to a broad spectrum;
nevertheless, rabbis are expected to teach and guide, and
the limited response seems like a lost opportunity.
Len Fuld
Teaneck
Identifying the right rabbi
In your May 11 edition, in the calendar section, you incor-
rectly stated that Rabbi Isaac L. Swift, z’l, was the founding
rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood.
The founding rabbi was Moishe Gold, z’l, who died in
1951. He was the brother of Zev Gold, z’l, a signatory to
Israel’s declaration of independence. Rabbi Gold was suc-
ceeded by Rabbi Bernard Walfish, z’l, who was succeeded
by Rabbi Swift.
While you are correct in saying that Rabbi Swift was
rabbi emeritus, he was not the founding rabbi .
Stanley Turitz
Waretown
Thank a police officer
On Tuesday, May 15, flags across the United States were
flown at half-staff in recognition of Peace Officers Memo-
rial Day and in memory of all those law enforcement
Kadish
FROM PAGE 37
So, mug of coffee in hand (and cheesecake on the side),
what should we study on Shavuot night?
The answer varies according to the individual. Each
of us should find the area of Judaism that excites us
the most and embrace it on the anniversary of Matan
Torah. It can be Jewish thought or ethics, the Bible,
Prophets, or Talmud — but delve into the text and
material and find meaning in a way so that it becomes
part of your identity moving forward. Follow genera-
tions of Jews in seeking knowledge and God’s truth,
and find your own personal connection to God and
God’s Torah by pursuing the study of whatever speaks
to you in the strongest way.
This night, we were all given the unique opportunity
of perpetuating God’s word, and this tikkun leil Shavuot
is when we begin to accept that privilege for the next
year and into the future.
40 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the
safety and protection of others.
In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as
National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calen-
dar week in which May 15 falls (May 13 to 19 this year) as
National Police Week.
It is only appropriate for all of us to take a moment to
reflect on the sacrifice these men and women have made,
remember the friends and family they have left behind,
and also recognize the ongoing service of our current pub-
lic safety personnel who protect and safeguard our rights
and property each and every day.
Next week, or any week, when you see a police officer,
please take a minute to say “thanks” and let them know
that you value their service and commitment. Both you
and they will be happy that you did.
Yitz Stern
Teaneck
Israel is wrong on refugees
As I absorbed the news of Prime Minister of Canada Justin
Trudeau’s informal apology to the passengers of the MS St.
Louis, I could not help but reflect on the recent immigration
policies of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel.
Trudeau stated in early May that the country would be
offering a formal apology in the House of Commons for
turning away the MS St. Louis, a passenger ship full of
Jewish refugees fleeing from the Holocaust in Germany,
in 1939. The United States and Cuba turned away the
same ship that year, and the passengers were sent back
to Europe, where one quarter of the 907 passengers per-
ished in the Holocaust. Yet, as Canada prepares to issue
its formal apology to the remaining passengers and their
descendants, Israel’s immigration policies for those not
claiming the “right of return” bring shame upon the coun-
try and the reputation of the Jewish people. Starting in
2006, large numbers of Eritreans were escaping civil war,
and Sudanese were fleeing the starvation and violence of
the Darfur region of the country. These asylum-seeking
refugees of Christian descent have had children in Israel,
roughly 5,000 in number currently. Yet, the parents of
these “Dreamers” were only given conditional release
visas: and the Israeli Interior Ministry under Netanyahu
is refusing to renew many of these visas. Beginning on
April 1, the second day of Pesach, these African refugees
How should we study on Shavuot night?
There are two basic approaches. One is by listening to a
series of lectures on topics of interest and the other is by
finding a study partner and engaging in self-directed learn-
ing, focusing on one area in depth.
If you choose to find a partner, seek out someone who
will challenge you to push your intellectual limits and
inspire you to look at old texts in new ways. Your study
partner should be someone who shares your interest in a
particular Jewish topic and is knowledgeable in the area.
Advance planning is critical in order to make your eve-
ning of study meaningful. Line up the right study part-
ner, peek into the texts you wish to study, and confirm
that they indeed will be as appealing and manageable
at 3 a.m., when the caffeine high has dissipated, as they
appear to be now.
For most of us, even those who regularly dedicate time
for learning, the night tends to be a mix of peer-to-peer
learning with a partner and listening to lectures.
Personally, I have had positive experiences with both
were given a choice: self-deportation to either Rwanda or
Uganda, or “infinite detention” in a camp in the Negev.
Yet, neither Rwanda and Uganda are safe places to return,
and those who have left have been reported to have been
denied working papers and are subject to being taken
advantage of by gangs in those countries.
Israel does not have a naturalization process similar to
Canada’s or Italy’s, for example, where a naturalization
process begins after a few years of residency in the coun-
try, providing a pathway to citizenship. On the other hand,
the only people given immediate citizenship status in Israel
are Jews, under the 1950 Law of Return, and permanent
residency status, much less citizenship, is offered far more
sparsely to those who don’t have Jewish roots. As we reflect
on Yom Yerushalyaim and Yom Ha’atzmaut, it is crucial that
we as Jews take our own experiences as a persecuted people
and apply it to others who are currently suffering. We have
Israel, and are comforted by the fact that if we ever expe-
rienced anti-Semitism anywhere else, we would be able to
return to our homeland. And while Yom Yerushalyaim cel-
ebrates Israel as a religious center, that is not all that it is — it
is also a bastion of democracy in an area where chaos and
violence is rampant.
Thanks to God, the Jewish people have been able to sur-
vive immeasurable suffering, but still return to Israel, our
homeland. It is time that the historically persecuted people
take refugees of all faiths in and allow them to be part of a
nation as well. Prime Minister Trudeau stated on May 7 that
“When Canada denied asylum to the 907 German Jews on
board the MS St. Louis, we failed not only those passengers,
but also their descendants and community.” Holocaust sur-
vivors in Israel who are calling for the country to naturalize
these African refugees said: “We who know what it means to
be a refugee cannot understand how a Jewish government
can expel refugees and asylum seekers to a journey of pain,
suffering, and death.” We as Jews know what it feels like to
be cast away in times of immeasurable pain, to be told we
do not belong. As Canada rectifies its past transgressions to
the Jewish people, Israel would do well to take a leaf out of
Canada’s book. Just because the country is the homeland of
the Jewish people, that does not mean that it should deny a
feeling of belonging and security to others, simply because
they do not follow the creed that we, the eternal refugees
as Jews, do.
Ariella Weiss
approaches. One year, I attended a series of related
talks on the concept behind the prayer highlighting the
ten sages who were killed by the Romans. This prayer is
said on both Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av, but there are
important differences between the two versions that offer
unique insights into this tragic event.
On another occasion, a partner and I spent the night
studying Chronicles I and II and analyzing issues that
never had been addressed in my 12 years of formal Jewish
education. The opportunity to review a broad swath of
history in one night created a unique perspective.
For health reasons, I can no longer drink coffee, and
staying up all night now has become difficult to impossible
for me. But past experience still inspires me to challenge
myself and continue to learn in the great Jewish intellec-
tual tradition, even if I won’t be doing it at 3 a.m.
Dr. Alan Kadish of Teaneck is president of the Touro College
and University System. He is also a cardiologist, researcher,
and teacher.
 Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Older adults can benefit greatly

with the help of a certified home health aide

F
or the past 55 years, May has been designated
as Older Americans Month by the Adminis-
tration on Aging. This is an opportunity to
recognize the older members of our commu-
nity while reflecting on their many contributions. This
year’s theme, “Engage at Every Age,” emphasizes the
importance of being active and involved, regardless of
your age. For many, a professional home health aide
can significantly increase an older adult’s ability to be
engaged in their daily activities, in family life, and in the
community.
For older adults who are having difficulty maintaining
their lifestyle due to chronic health issues, mobility chal-
lenges, or changing cognitive abilities, hiring a certified
home health aide can enable the individual to become
involved with people and activities.
For starters, the aide can
help engage an elderly client by:
• Reminiscing and sharing stories
• Discussing current events
• Sharing information on their cultural background
• Participating in hobbies
The aide may also be able to facilitate
socialization with friends and relatives
in the following ways:
• Inviting friends and family to visit
• If the client lives in a senior building, the caregiver can
escort the client to activities and meals offered by the
residence
• Accompanying the client to activities at the local senior
center or library
• Accompanying the client to volunteer opportunities
• Escorting the client to religious services or the theater
• Escorting the client to lunch with friends
• While face-to-face interactions are optimal, caregivers
can help clients stay connected with friends and rela-
tives by assisting with phone calls and, if the client has a
smart phone or computer, they can Face Time or Skype.
Older Americans Month is a good time to honor the
older adults in your life and evaluate their ability to
remain active. If opportunities for engagement are becom-
ing limited, hiring an aide can be one way to help them
become re-engaged. The best way to find a qualified and
experienced aide, who can help you or a loved one remain
engaged, is to contact a licensed and accredited agency
Hiring a certified home
health aide can enable
the individual to
become involved with
people and activities.
like Freedom Home Healthcare. The agency can help
you establish hourly, live in or respite care. In addition
to providing assistance with light housekeeping, personal
care or escorts to doctor or hospital the aide can provide
opportunities to connect with others.
Freedom Home Healthcare, located in Hackensack, is
a CHAP accredited Health Service firm, founded in 2003.
Freedom represents more than 200 years of professional
experience in aging and provides care in private homes,
hospitals, and facilities.
Contact www.freedom-homehealthcare.com, or (201)
883-1200

Discover

at
more ways
to live well

home.
Call for a free consultation
201.750.3077
Do you want to live independently and stay in your
own home? We can help. Whether it’s stimulating
social activities at our Gallen Center, an aide to help
tt with housework, a care manager to help plan for
tt
the future, or guidance to keep your home safe —
tt

tt
we’re here. Talk to one of our experts today.
tt

tt

A Member of The Jewish Home Family

jewishhomeathome.org
A Family-Owned Residence. Jewish Home at Home is a not for profit, non-sectarian program
Keeping Seniors Active, Social, and Engaged for Over 50 years. open to all seniors regardless of race, religion or ethnic origin.

JH@H Ad 2k16 CL v2.indd 1 8/26/16

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 41
2:14 PM
18, 2018
Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

The state of your prostate: Why every man over 60 should get checked
It’s called the “silent killer” for a reason. Many men don’t
find out they have prostate cancer until the cancer has
spread, making it much more difficult to treat.
But now, new genetic testing may help predict not only
who is at greatest risk, but how aggressive the prostate
cancer is. It’s called genomic testing and it looks at the
genetic makeup of the cancer to determine how quickly
it will grow.
Dr. Elan Diamond, medical director of the urologic
oncology program at the Patricia Lynch Cancer Center at
Holy Name Medical Center, says several such tests have
already been approved by the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration including Prolaris, Decipher Score, and Oncotype
DX. All three have been shown to improve the ability to
predict the likelihood of the cancer progressing and there-
fore help the patient make the most informed treatment
decision.
Prostate cancer begins when cells in the prostate gland
start to grow uncontrollably. Located just below the blad-
der, the prostate is part of the male reproductive system
and is about the size of a walnut.
And while it’s not exactly known what causes prostate
cancer, Dr. Diamond says a number of things can increase
your risk. The older you are, for example, the more likely
you are to develop prostate cancer. Although only 1 in 403
men under age 50 will be diagnosed, this rate rises to 1 in
58 for ages 50 to 59, and 1 in 21 for ages 60 to 69, according
to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Family history also plays a large role. Men with a brother
diagnosed with prostate cancer are twice as likely to also
be diagnosed.
Race and ethnicity can also be factors. Members of
the Jewish community who trace
their roots to Central or Eastern
Europe, known as Ashkenazi Jews,
carry certain genetic traits associ-
ated with an increased risk of can-
cers, including prostate cancer.
Since the late 1980s, the most
popular screening tool for pros-
tate cancer has been the PSA Test.
PSA stands for “prostate specific
antigen” and it’s a protein pro-
duced by the cells of the prostate
gland. Abnormally high concen-
trations in the blood may indicate
cancer. But despite widespread
use of PSA testing, it’s not with-
out controversy. Elevated PSA lev-
els don’t always indicate cancer
and low PSA levels don’t always
ensure the absence of cancer. This Dr. Elan Diamond
conflicting evidence often leaves
many middle-aged men hesitant as to whether or not to sometimes be mind-boggling. But it doesn’t have to be,
get screened. Even if they do, vague results can make it says Dr. Diamond. Genomic testing not only helps to pro-
difficult to identify which men need rapid treatment and vide a clearer path, it can also help patients avoid over-
which can take a more wait-and-see approach. treatment or a lack of treatment — which can allow the
In addition to proper screening, Dr. Diamond recom- cancer to spread.
mends taking some preventative steps to reduce your risk Ultimately, the hope is, genomic testing will usher in
of prostate cancer. This includes eating a low-fat diet, exer- a new generation of prostate cancer profiling and help
cising regularly to maintain a healthy weight, and avoiding silence the silent killer.
smoking and excessive drinking. For more information about genomic testing at Holy
A prostate cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming Name Medical Center, visit http://www.holyname.org/
and trying to understand all the treatment options can RegionalCancerCenter/ or call (201) 541-6312.

MIRIAM APARTMENTS at 2014 2015 2016

DAUGHTERS OF MIRIAM CENTER READERS’

CHOICE
READERS’
CHOICE
READERS’
CHOICE

THE GALLEN INSTITUTE

Apartment Features:
• 24 Hour Security
• Beauty/Barber Shop
• Healthcare Counseling
• Housekeeping
• Kosher Dinner Meal
• Rabbi & Synagogue on-site
• Recreational Activities
In a beautiful, suburban setting, experience privacy in your one bedroom apartment with supportive services • Shabbot Elevators
while remaining independent with dignity. Apartments are available to seniors age 62 and over and/or • Social Services
persons with mobility impairments. The Miriam Apartments, located on the 13-acre campus of Daughters of • Transportation Assistance
Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute, are just over five miles from Routes 4 and 17 and directly off the Garden
State Parkway. In addition, we are easily accessible from the NJ Turnpike, Routes 80, 46 and 3 and less than For a tour and/
15 miles from New York City. Independent living at the apartments is just one facet of the continuum of care or application call
offered at Daughters of Miriam Center. Whatever your needs might be — independent living, rehabilitation, (973) 253-5311
or skilled nursing care — the Center offers it all, in a Jewish environment, in one location. All apartments are unfurnished.

135 Hazel Street, Clifton, NJ 07011 · (973) 253-5311 · www.daughtersofmiriamcenter.org

Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.

42 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018 43
Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Serving the Jewish community

of Bergen County for 12 years

Serving Serving
thehome
All certified the
JewishJewish community
community
health aides
licensed, of Bergen
bonded County
and for for
criminal 12 years
of Bergen County 13 years
background checks
All certified home health aides
• C ertified home health aides
licensed,
RN supervision bonded and criminal
& coordination
background checks
• Licensed and bonded
Hourly, live-in and respite care
• RN supervision and coordination
RN supervision & coordination
24/7
• H live on-call service
ourly, live-in and respite care Lavinia Walker, center, a longtime resident of South Orange B’nai B’rith
Hourly, social
Complimentary
• C omplimentary live-inwork
and respite care Federation House, with Artin Hagshenas, left, from Senator Robert
services
social work services
Menendez’s Newark office and Rebecca Schatz, his legislative counsel from
24/7 live on-call service Washington, D.C.
• C oordination of services with
Linkages to other elder care
options
other elder care providers
Complimentary social work Senator’s legislative counsel
services assures seniors on funding
Linkages to other elder care
for affordable housing
1.866.7FREEDOM
201-883-1200 options
(1.866.737.3336) South Orange B’nai B’rith Federation
www.freedomhh.com House hosted a visit by Rebecca Schatz,
www.freedomhh.com legislative counsel for Senator Robert
Menendez, who toured the community We thank Ms.
and heard from residents about what it
1.866.7FREEDOM means to them to have affordable hous- Schatz for
(1.866.737.3336)
www.freedomhh.com Brightview. ing available. making the
The visit provided Schatz with tan-
time to see our
Bright Life! gible benefits of HUD Section 202,
supporting housing for the elderly, a community
program that enables very low-income
seniors to live independently in an and hear how
environment that provides supportive strongly our
services. Senator Menendez is a sup-
porter of HUD Section 202. residents feel
Both B’nai B’rith Federation House about the need
and Jewish Federation Plaza in West
Orange, owned and managed by the for affordable
Jewish Community Housing Corpo- housing.
ration of Metropolitan New Jersey
( JCHC), offer HUD subsidies for seniors
and the disabled who qualify. The inde- Section 202 funding remains strong and
Independent Living: It’s the carefree
pendent living communities, for adults that there are funds available for Congress
retirement you’ve dreamed of! At Brightview, ages 62 and older, provide on-site ser- to allocate toward construction of new
Let Your all you have to do is what you want to do. vices and programs for residents. affordable housing units. She noted that

Life
These include educational programs, the Senate has fought to protect those dol-

Bright Assisted Living: Highly trained discussions, exercise and art classes, lars and that no funding cuts are on the
games and social activities, and transpor- horizon at this time.
associates provide the care you need.
tation to local shopping, area events and “We thank Ms. Schatz for making the

Shine Wellspring Village®:

Compassionate professionals
at Bergen County’s Premier
deliver our highly specialized
Senior Living Community
dementia care program
in a state-of-the-art
neighborhood.
Call Mary or Marianne to
schedule your personal visit.
201.479.9437
396 Forest Avenue • Paramus, NJ 07652
www.BrightviewParamus.com
outings. Both buildings have a long wait-
ing list for available apartments.
The residents who shared their
insights and stories with Schatz also
shared a common theme —that being
able to live at South Orange B’nai B’rith
Federation House provides them with
safe, affordable housing in a commu-
nity setting that has had a positive
impact on their lives. Some said they
would have nowhere to go if it were not
for the financial assistance provided
through HUD, due to the New Jersey’s
high rental rates and other financial
factors that have affected them.
Schatz assured the residents that
Menendez is committed to seeing that
time to see our community and hear
how strongly our residents feel about the
need for affordable housing,” said Har-
old Colton-Max, CEO of the JCHC. “Our
seniors are proof of what a vibrant and
engaged retirement looks like, and of the
benefits of providing high-quality housing
with services at rates they can afford on
restricted incomes.”
The JCHC also owns and manages Vil-
lage Apartments of the Jewish Federation
in South Orange and the Lester Senior
Housing Community in Whippany, which
offers independent and assisted living
and memory care. For more information
about the JCHC senior living communities,
visit www.jchcorp.org.

44 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

 Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Prolonged
acetaminophen use
during pregnancy Welcome Home to
tied to increased
ASD, ADHD risk
A study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem sheds
new light on the possible relationship between pro-
longed use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) during
pregnancy and the risk of neurodevelopmental disor-
ders in childhood.
Acetaminophen is one of the most common medi-
cations used for treatment of pain and fever reduction
during pregnancy and is considered safe in humans. Enjoy a life of luxury at Premier
However, evidence of neuro-disruptive properties is Residences of Teaneck. From our
accumulating: Past studies have shown that long-term Five Star Warmth & Hospitality, to
administration of low doses of acetaminophen may
affect the development of the fetal nervous system, and
our friendly, dedicated staff, you’ll
that this effect is often seen years after exposure during love to call us home.

Notes:
childhood.
Now, researchers led by Dr. Ilan Matok at the Insti- OUR COMMUNITY OFFERS:
tute for Drug Research in the School of Pharmacy at the
Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine, together with
• Exceptional Five Star Service for

K
doctoral student Reem Masarwa, have conducted a sys- over 28 years
tematic review and meta-analysis to assess the possible
• Five Star Dining Experience,

Y
association between prolonged exposure to acetamino-
phen during pregnancy and the risk for Attention Deficit featuring Signature Recipes and

M
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autistic Spectrum Local Ingredients

Colors
Disorder (ASD).

C
The analysis, which appears in the American Jour- • Choice of 1 and 2 Bedroom
nal of Epidemiology, shows that prolonged exposure to Apartments, some with Balconies
acetaminophen during pregnancy is associated with a

12.20.2017
30 percent increase in relative risk for ADHD (compared
• Lifestyle 360 Program offering a
to those who did not take acetaminophen during preg- full Daily Schedule of Activities
nancy) and a 20 percent increase in relative risk for ASD.

AM
AN
This is the first meta-analysis and the most compre-
• On-Site Medical Suite staffed by
hensive study ever conducted on the possible associa- Geriatric Internists and Specialists
tion between prolonged use of acetaminophen during

Date:
• 24 Hour Security and Concierge

De:
Ae:
pregnancy and risk of Autism Spectrum disorder or
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The research Assistance
data covered 132,738 mother and child pairs with a fol-
low-up period of 3 to 11 years.
Given the significant limitations of existing studies, 655 Pomander Walk
the researchers believe the results should be interpreted Teaneck, NJ 07666
with caution, as they may cause unnecessary anxiety
among pregnant women. It is important to understand 201-836-7474

PRT171205
6.5” x 9.5”
that pain and fever during pregnancy can have a det-
rimental effect on the developing fetus and that acet-
aminophen is still considered a safe drug for use during EXPERIENCE THE EXCEPTIONAL LIFE. CALL TO SCHEDULE
pregnancy. Therefore, if a pregnant woman has fever or A PERSONALIZED TOUR AND COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH.

Publication:
pain, acetaminophen can be taken for a short period,
and if the fever or pain continue beyond that, she should www.FiveStarPremier-Teaneck.com

Job#:
Size:
consult her physician regarding further treatment. INDEPENDENT LIVING • ASSISTED LIVING
Dr. Amichai Perlman and Dr. Hagai Levine of the ©2018 Five Star Senior Living Pet
Friendly

Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical

Center participated in the research.
“Our study provides the first comprehensive overview
of developmental outcomes following prolonged acet-
aminophen use during pregnancy,” said Dr. Ilan Matok,
head of the Pharmacoepidemiology Research Lab, Insti-
tute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Hebrew
More than 411,000 likes.
University Faculty of Medicine. “Our findings suggest an

Like us on Facebook.
association between prolonged acetaminophen use and
an increase in the risk of autism and ADHD. However,
the observed increase in risk was small, and the existing
studies have significant limitations. While unnecessary
use of any medication should be avoided in pregnancy,
we believe our findings should not alter current prac-
tice and women should not avoid use of short term acet-
facebook.com/jewishstandard
aminophen when clinically needed.”

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 45

Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Holy Name Medical Center repeats Englewood Hospital and Medical

as only New Jersey hospital named
to NJBIZ Best Places to Work list
Holy Name Medical Center is once again the
only hospital in New Jersey to rank among
NJBIZ Magazine’s Best Places to Work list,
where it’s held the distinction for 13 con-
secutive years. Holy Name is also ranked
among the state’s top 10 places to work in
the large company category, up from the
top 20 last year.
“Consistently making the Best Places to
Work list validates our efforts to differenti-
ate ourselves from other health care pro-
viders in our approach to providing quality,
affordable health care,” said Michael Maron,
president and CEO of Holy Name. “We have
created a culture of high-quality, compas-
sionate care that embraces innovation. One
of the greatest compliments I consistently
receive is when people come through Holy
Name, engage with our staff and say, ‘Wow,
this place is different.’”
NJBIZ Magazine’s Best Places to Work sur-
vey ranks 100 New Jersey companies based
on size in three categories: small (15-49
employees), medium (50-259 employees),
and large (250 or more employees). NJBIZ
looks at a number of areas, including work/
life balance, salary, and benefits. The pro-
gram also identifies, recognizes, and honors
the top places that benefit the state’s econ-
omy, workforce and businesses.
“Holy Name promotes an inclusive,
diverse, and supportive environment that is
reflective of the community it serves,” said
Manny Gonzalez, vice president of Human
Resources. “We understand the importance
of balancing work, life, health, and wellness,
especially in an industry that requires a 24/7
commitment. We pride ourselves in creating
opportunities for our employees to advance
professionally and for offering programs and
benefits that support a high quality of life.”
Organizations that participate in the Best
Places to Work program are rated on work-
place policies, practices, philosophy, sys-
tems, and demographics. Surveys are com-
pleted by employers and employees annually.
To see the full list of NJBIZ Magazine’s
Best Places to work, visit NJBIZ.com.
Brightview.
Center receives Healthgrades 2018
Patient Safety Excellence Award
Englewood Hospital and Medical Cen-
ter has received the Healthgrades 2018
Patient Safety Excellence Award, a des-
ignation that recognizes superior perfor-
mance of hospitals that have prevented
the occurrence of serious, potentially
avoidable complications for patients
during hospital stays.
The distinction places Englewood
Hospital among the top 5 percent of all
short-term acute care hospitals in the
nation reporting patient safety data for
its excellent performance as evaluated
by Healthgrades, the leading online
resource for comprehensive information
about physicians and hospitals.
Englewood Hospital is the only hos-
pital in Bergen County in the top 5 per-
cent of Patient Safety Excellence Award
recipients.
During the 2014 to 2016 study period,
Healthgrades found that patients treated
in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety
Excellence Award were, on average:
55.6 percent less likely to experience
an accidental cut, puncture, perforation
or hemorrhage during medical care,
than patients treated at nonrecipient
acquired at the hospital, than patients
treated at nonrecipient hospitals;
54.3 percent less likely to expe-
rience pressure sores or bed sores
acquired in the hospital, than patients
treated at nonrecipient hospitals
During the study period, Healthgrades
2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award
recipient hospitals demonstrated high
performance in safety provided for
patients in the Medicare population, as
measured by objective outcomes (risk-
adjusted patient safety indicator rates)
for 13 patient safety indicators defined
by the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality.
“As the health care industry contin-
ues to put more deserved attention
on quality and value, our efforts to
improve patient safety are unwaver-
ing,” said Warren Geller, president and
CEO of Englewood Hospital and Medi-
cal Center. “Earning the Patient Safety
Excellence Award from Healthgrades
is a testament to the tireless efforts of
our entire staff who work to ensure that
our patients receive the best, and saf-
est, medical care.”

Bright Life! hospitals;

52.4 percent less likely to experience a
collapsed lung due to a procedure or sur-
gery in or around the chest, than patients
treated at nonrecipient hospitals;
62.8 percent less likely to experience
catheter-related bloodstream infections
“We applaud the hospitals who have
received the Healthgrades 2018 Patient
Safety Excellence Award,” said Dr. Brad
Bowman, chief medical officer of Health-
grades. “Their dedication and commit-
ment to providing safe care creates tan-
gible results for patients.”

Science Center inspires students

with Live From Surgery program
Discover exceptional senior living IGEA Brain & Spine neurosurgeons fully
understand the critical importance of
for Mom and Dad giving back to the community and inspir-
ing the next generation of surgeons.
• Respectful, customized care That’s why the premiere neurosurgical
and spine-care practice in the tristate
• Cultural and social events area is providing New Jersey middle
Inspiring • Experienced associates
and high school students with the very
young people to explore the medical field.
“At IGEA, we feel it is incumbent upon us
that we mentor students in the medical
field and spotlight the leading technolo-
gies and thirst for continuous learning
that propels and inspires our own world-
class team of surgeons.”
The team at IGEA Brain & Spine is com-

Lives
unique opportunity to witness live sur- prised of medical professionals with top-
Bright • Luxury amenities geries through their Live From Surgery
program at Liberty Science Center.
notch education and training with state-
of-the-art technology to help diagnose
for All Our • Gourmet meals The procedures are performed by
renowned neurosurgeons Dr. Adam Lip-
and treat cranial and spinal cord tumors,
trauma, aneurysms, arteriovenous mal-

Residents • Specialized dementia son, Dr. David Poulad and Dr. Ciro G.
Randazzo. For Dr. Lispon, IGEA’s com-
care neighborhood mitment to educating young people
through a first-hand, exciting experience
is a chance to come full-circle.
Call Richard and Lindsay to “As a high school student, I was fortu-
schedule your personal visit. nate enough to participate in a similar
program,” Dr. Lipson said. “I was inspired
201.817.9238 on the spot to become a physician. Now
55 Hudson Avenue • Tenafly, NJ 07670 that I’ve achieved my dream, it’s impor-
www.BrightviewTenafly.com tant to me to give today’s students the
same possibility. Dr. Poulad said he’s
proud of IGEA’s dedication to motivating
formations and other neurosurgical disor-
ders. The members include Drs. Poulad,
Lipson, Randazzo, Anil Nair, Isha Gupta,
and Arun Rajaram. As a team, IGEA pro-
vides patients with comprehensive coor-
dinated, compassionate, high-quality
care in the fields of neurological surgery,
neurology, neuropsychology and special-
ized orthopedics. IGEA Brain & Spine is
located in New York and multiple loca-
tions throughout New Jersey. For more
information, visit igeaneuro.comor call
(908) 290-5631.

46 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

 Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles A Reason to Smile

Answering the Gamma Knife questions

If your doctor has said that he or she would like you
to undergo Gamma Knife treatment for your head
or neck condition, you may be a little unsure about
what exactly that means. The first thing most patients
will wonder is, “what is Gamma Knife?” The follow-
ing information from the Valley Gama Knife Center
will help you better understand what Gamma Knife
is, along with other frequently asked questions, so
you can be more comfortable with your upcoming
procedure.
What is the technology?
Gamma Knife is a form of stereotactic radiosurgery, a
specialized type of radiation therapy that offers unique
benefits over traditional radiation therapy. Despite its
name, stereotactic radiosurgery is completely non-
invasive and does not involve surgery or an incision.
This can be confusing to some patients, which is why
it is a great idea to learn more about your procedure
beforehand.
The Gamma Knife system uses 192 individual beams
of radiation, which are focused directly on the area of
interest. Each individual beam contains only a low dose
of radiation, but the additive effect is enough to deliver
effective treatment. This is in contrast to other forms
of radiation therapy, which treats a large area at once
with a uniform high dose, affecting both healthy and
unhealthy tissues and leading to many of the unpleas-
ant side effects associated with radiation therapy.
Because it is noninvasive, Gamma Knife radiosur-
gery does not require a hospital stay and is typically
completed in 15 to 75 minutes. Many patients can be
treated in a single session. However, treatment dura-
tion and frequency will depend on your personal case,
including the size and location of the treatment area
and your individual health factors.
What is the procedure?
During your Gamma Knife procedure, you will be
awake and aware of what is going on around you.
Your care team will explain each step of the proce- TEANECK DENTIST
dure, ensuring you are comfortable with your entire
treatment.
At the beginning of your procedure, your doctor We put the Care
will either place a special frame over your head or a into Dental Care!
mask over your face. The frame will keep your head in
the proper position throughout your treatment. If it is Richard S. Gertler, DMD, FAGD
decided that the frame is better suited for your case it Ari Frohlich, DMD
will be secured with four small pins, which hold the Sami Solaimanzadeh, DMD
frame in place but do not enter the skull. You will be
given anesthesia at the pin sites to ensure you do not 1008 Teaneck Road • Teaneck
feel any discomfort.
Once the frame is positioned correctly, your doctors 201.837.3000
will take and review several MRI images to determine www.teaneckdentist.com
the exact location of the area to be treated. When they
Visit us on Facebook
have finalized your treatment plan, you will be placed
on the treatment table, which simply moves into place Convenient Morning, Evening & Sunday Hours
SEE GAMMA PAGE 48

START A NEW TRADITION IN SUNNY SOUTH FLORIDA

It’s Our Tradition

to Take Care of
Every Single Need.

Spacious, Beautifully-Appointed Apartment Suites | First-Class Service | Gourmet Kosher Dining

Indoor Pool | Luxurious Spa | Fitness and Wellness Center | On-Site Medical Office
Synagogue | Exciting Social Events and Enriching Cultural Activities

RESERVE YOUR APARTMENT TODAY | 561.220.8492 | MorseLife.org

Marilyn & Stanley M. Katz Seniors Campus

4920 Loring Drive, West Palm Beach, FL 33417

License #AL10577
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. We encourage and support an affirmative
advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 47

 Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles
 a pt
of  Fily...

(Resident, Lillian Grunfeld with her daughter,

Dir. of Community Relations, Debbie Corwin)

…WHERE OUR RESIDENTS MAINTAIN THE LEVEL OF INDEPENDENCE

THEY DESIRE WHILE RECEIVING THE CARE THEY NEED.

• FAMILY OWNED COMMUNITY The professional team at the Valley Gamma Knife Center
THE PROMENADE
• SPACIOUS, FULLY FURNISHED APARTMENTS AT CHESTNUT RIDGE
which treats the entire brain, healthy
• DAILY LIFESTYLE ACTIVITIES TO ENRICH MIND, BODY & SPIRIT 168 RED SCHOOLHOUSE RD.
Gamma and unhealthy tissues alike. As a result,
FROM PAGE 47
• RN DIRECTOR OF WELLNESS PROGRAM CHESTNUT RIDGE, NY 10977 Gamma Knife patients can expect:
• RESPITE PROGRAM AVAILABLE so treatment can begin.
845-620-0606
• LICENSED BY NYSDOH The duration of your treatment will • Fewer treatment sessions
PROMENADESENIOR.COM depend on your individual condition, • Less fatigue
• CONVENIENTLY LOCATED ON THE ROCKLAND/BERGEN BORDER but most patients will be treated for 15 • Less nausea

Come Fe O Wm
minutes to just over an hour. Once your • Less hair loss
treatment is complete, your doctor will • Fewer cognitive deficits
remove the frame from your head and
discuss any follow-up instructions or What are benefits of
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT PROMENADESENIOR.COM medications. Most patients are released Gamma Knife radiosurgery
to recover at home within two hours of over traditional surgery?
the completion of treatment. Some conditions can be treated with
Gamma Knife radiosurgery as an alter-
Alovedoneisdi
schar
g edfrom t
hehospi
tal
,butst
il
lneeds Other frequently asked native to traditional open surgery.
del
icat
ecareandprofessi
onalmedi
calsuppor
t..
. questions When available, benefits of Gamma
While your doctor is the best person to Knife over surgery include:
address questions regarding your per-
NowWhat
? sonal condition and treatment plan,
there are some frequently asked ques-
• Less pain
• N one of the risks associated with
tions which will generally apply to most surgery
Al
ari
sHeal
thatTheChat
eau patients. • No hospital stay required
S
ubAc
uteRehabi
lit
ati
veCar
eCent
er • It can be used as an adjunct to other
forHos
pit
alAft
erCar
e What conditions can be treatments
treated?
Generally speaking, Gamma Knife How many people have
radiosurgery can be used to treat con- been treated using Gamma
ditions of the head and neck, includ- Knife radiosurgery?
ing brain tumors, vascular malfor- Over one million patients have been
mations and management of chronic treated worldwide using Gamma Knife
pain. Potentially treatable conditions radiosurgery. It is quickly becoming the
 Vent
ilat
or Tr
acheot
omy include: preferred treatment for many condi-
Care Care tions because of its effectiveness, con-
• Acoustic neuromas venience and safety.
I
VTher
apy  Physi
cal/
• Brain metastases
Speech/& Continue the discussion
 On-Si
te • Craniopharyngiomas
Occupati
onal with your doctor
Phys
ici
ans& 13Mi
nut
est
oTeaneck • Gliomas
Therapy7
Speci
ali
sts • Meningiomas Now that you have a better under-
daysaweek 17Mi
nut
est
oEngl
ewood • Pineal tumors standing of Gamma Knife radiosurgery,
7Mi
nut
est
oFai
rlawn • Skull base tumors chances are you have more confidence
• Vestibular schwannomas in your upcoming treatment. Should
BikurChol i
m Room 96Par
kway • Arteriovenous malformation you have any lingering concerns, or
withameni tiesonpr emi ses Roc
hel
lePar
k,NJ07662 • Trigeminal neuralgia even new questions, be sure to bring
Rabbii nRes idence • Vascular malformation them up with your doctor at your next
201.
226.
9600 appointment.
Connec twithRabbiKanner
personallyat973- 246-2672 What are the benefits over Self-education and discussion is a
other radiation therapy? fantastic way to play an active role in
ShabbosRooms Because of its focused delivery system, your treatment and can help give you
forf amil
ies Gamma Knife radiosurgery targets only peace of mind by helping you to better
Kos herFood the area of interest, sparing healthy understand your procedure.
forr esi
dentsandv i
sit
ors surrounding tissues. This is in stark For more information on The Valley
PrivateRoomsAvai l
able
30Mi
nut
edsf
r om Mo
contrast ton s ey radiation therapy,
other Gamma Knife Center, please call (201)
such as whole brain radiation therapy, 431-8434.
I
nthemi
ddl
eofBer
genCount
y
48 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
96Par
kway
Roc
hel
lePar
k,NJ07662
 Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Dr. Baruch Barzel at Bar-Ilan University hopes to prevent future calamities

On August 14, 2003, a massive power outage struck
the northeastern United States, shutting down lights,
phone service, air conditioning, and mass transit for
more than 55 million people. Most did not get their
power back for two days. Others were left in the dark
for as many as two weeks. This was the second larg-
est power outage in history, and the most significant
blackout ever to hit North America.
In early 2015, a widespread epidemic of Zika fever,
caused by the Zika virus in Brazil, spread to other
parts of South and North America. It also affected sev-
eral islands in the Pacific, and Southeast Asia. In Janu-
ary 2016, the World Health Organization said the virus
was likely to spread throughout most of the Americas
by the end of the year. It was a scare that terrorized
millions and had health workers the world over scram-
bling for secure methods of treatment.
What do the above calamities have in common. And
how do we prevent these catastrophes from plaguing
the masses in the future?
The answer lies in network science.
And the man at the forefront of this monumental
task for Israel is Dr. Baruch Barzel, a top researcher,
physicist, applied mathematician and network special-
ist at Bar-Ilan University.
“Network science has greatly evolved in the past
decade, and is currently a leading scientific field in the
description of complex systems, which affect every
research anywhere in the world. Yet, he feels strongly com- Can we detect the weak spots? Can we create incentives to
mitted to conducting his vital work in Israel. create a more resilient infrastructure? The pertinence of
“I believe that Israel has three primary advantages for this problem is crucial to the Israeli state-of-life. I believe
this kind of endeavor,” he explains. “First of all, it’s the per- that these kinds of problems should be solved here in Israel
tinence. These questions that we are addressing are actu- where there is true motivation to actually solve them. From
ally at the heart of Israel’s many security platforms. Infra- there, we share our findings with the rest of the world.”
structure today is much more than a convenience. Breaches For more information on how to help contribute to Dr. Bar-
through cyber-attacks that can cause a cascading failure are zel’s contact American Friends of Bar-Ilan University at (212)
national security breaches. Is our infrastructure vulnerable? 906-3900, or AFBIU.Org.
Valley Health System, the healthcare provider you Medicine at Mount Sinai, fostering close collaboration
know and trust, is proud to announce the expansion between colleagues from both organizations.
of its partnership with the Mount Sinai Health
Working together, physicians from Valley and
System, the world-renowned New York academic
Mount Sinai are changing the landscape of cancer
medical center. Our powerful alliance now brings
care for you and your loved ones.
cancer care innovation and access to clinical trials
to the communities of northern New Jersey.
Now patients can see Mount Sinai specialists for
treatment of pancreatic, head and neck, lung and
skin cancers at Valley’s Cancer Center in northern
New Jersey. Valley’s cancer specialists all have
academic appointments at the Icahn School of

CHANGING
aspect of our daily life,” says Dr. Barzel. “We inhabit
a world more interconnected and interdependent
than ever before. Today, an Ebola breakout in Africa
can rapidly spread across the globe; one disaster on a
highway or water source can break the flow of trans-
portation or drinking water for an entire city. And an
THE LANDSCAPE OF CANCER CARE
attack on computer infrastructure can cut off power,
communications or finances for millions.”
Dr. Barzel and his team of network scientists are
working to uncover weaknesses in real world systems
and find the best ways to make them more stable
and resilient. This includes improving the stability of
power grids, ecosystems, populations vulnerable to
disease and more.
Dr. Baruch Barzel arrived two years ago at Bar-Ilan
University. His Complex Networks Dynamics lab is in
the math department, although his background was in
physics. Barzel completed his Ph.D. at Hebrew Univer-
sity, then pursued his postdoctoral training at theCen-
ter for Complex Network Research at Northeastern
University and at the Channing Division of Network
Medicine atHarvard Medical School.
Says Dr. Barzel: “It’s not impossible that maybe
within the next five years, that just as today, after
the headline news we get a weather forecast, we’re
instead going to receive a forecast for diseases. What
strain of the flu will be coming to which cities in the
world? And how can we prevent an outbreak? I think
that within ten years, something like Ebola or Zika,
which is now a global scare, is not going to be as scary
when we know how to predict how they will spread,
control their spread, and be able to mitigate it online
as the path penetrates social networking.”
The scientists in Dr. Barzel’s Network Science
Impact Center create new mathematics, advanced big
data techniques, sophisticated computational models,
and high-powered computer simulations. And they
incorporate their discoveries into automated frame- To reach a Valley cancer care specialist
works so they can deploy their tools quickly for states, today, please call 201-634-5339.
corporations, and others aiming to avoid the next cas-
cading collapse of their networks.
Dr. Barzel could easily lead his network science

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 49

D’var Torah
Bemidbar and Shavuot:
Revelation unfolds in the wilderness
I
n the summer of 2016, presenting a
lecture on the issues of ritual at the
Shalom Hartman Institute in Jeru-
salem, Dr. Elana Stein Hain com-
mented, “You have no idea what is going
through a person’s head while they are say-
ing the Shema.” Dr. Stein Hain explained
that the mysterious, ambiguous quality of
ritual practice is something that we need
to “live in” and “live with,” preserving and
exploring further in our world. Ritual is not
intended to serve as an avenue to funda-
mentalism, but as a means toward explor-
ing the beautiful depth, the meaning, the
majesty, and even the murkiness of Judaism
and life itself.
But the key is to be with that ambigu-
ity, with that uncertainty. By nature, if it’s
uncomfortable, or unfamiliar, we seek to do
something else with it or avoid it entirely.
But what Dr. Stein Hain suggests is that rit-
ual (among other things in our lives) means
markedly different things to different peo-
ple at different times. And rather than wash
over that, the discomfort is something we
need to sit with. Don’t seek to explain it,
form it, determine it, design it, build it, fix
it, shape it, or shift it. Just. Let. It. Be. And
go from there.
But! But! But! The reader wants to inter-
ject. You expect me to...and your Dr.
Stein Hain person also expects me to feel
Guns
FROM PAGE 11
“His resolve came through,” she said.
Mr. Guttenberg has been speaking
“anyplace he is asked to go,” Ms. Wein-
berg added, including at a meeting of the
National Council of Jewish Women.
Ms. Weinberg “has never had a big
sense of optimism when it came to gun
safety,” she said. “I have been working
on it for a long time, and it is one of the
few issues I’ve worked on over the years
where I never quite saw the light at the
end of the tunnel. But this time, I sense a
change, and it’s because of the leadership
of the young people.”
She was at Teaneck High School on
TALLESIM CLEANED • SPECIAL SHABBOS RUSH SERVICE
50 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
uncomfortable? Okay, what’s
on the next page of The Jew-
ish Standard? Precisely.
But there’s no escaping the
wilderness. Like our ancestors,
we have to allow ourselves to
be bemidbar, in the desert,
in the wilderness. It is fitting
that Bemidbar is not only the
Hebrew name given to the Paul
book of Numbers, the fourth Jacobson
book of the Torah that we Temple Avodat
Shalom, River
begin reading this Shabbat, but Edge, Reform
also the name of this week’s
parashah in which repeated
censuses of the Israelites are
taken and listed, presenting an image and
headcount of their various encampments
around the Tent of Meeting, as they prepare
to conquer the Promised Land.
Yet we pause to consider that there were
603,550 men, aged twenty and higher, and
that number doesn’t even include women
and children. We are a people who joke
that for every two people there are three
opinions. Would we even consider that this
moment of encampment means the same
thing to 603,550 people at precisely the
same time? It doesn’t. There is danger in
fundamentalist thinking, in believing that
there is only one approach. But once we
peel away from “everything having to be
March 14, exactly a month after the massa-
cre, “and I was able to watch the members
of the activism club there organize a walk-
out,” she said; in California, her grand-
daughter Shayna Graff, 14, just as Jaime
had been, organized a walkout in her own
high school.
At the press conference, Mr. Murphy
talked about statistics. “We are not talking
about taking legal guns away from legal
gun owners,” Ms. Weinberg said. “We are
talking about where illegal guns come
from, and how to stem the flow.”
Most of the guns used to kill people in
New Jersey come from elsewhere; many
come from next-door Pennsylvania, where
the laws are far more lax. Mr. Murphy has
signed an executive order that makes the
a certain way” life becomes
ambiguous and uncomfort-
able. Or perhaps, life becomes
real and more possibilities
begin to open, more opportu-
nities present themselves.
It is fascinating when we
consider the calendar and
the placement of Bemidbar
amidst the larger picture of
the Jewish year. Bemidbar is
always read before Shavuot,
and in most years, it is read on
the Shabbat immediately pre-
ceding Shavuot. Sometimes
Naso precedes Shavuot as it
did in 2011 and 2014, but until 2035, Bemid-
bar, “being in the wilderness” immediately
precedes Shavuot.
What might we glean from this connec-
tion between Bemidbar and Shavuot, espe-
cially as Shavuot, which happens “in the
wilderness” of Sinai, is our celebration of
receiving the Torah? The medieval Midrash
contains a powerful text on how Torah was
revealed individually, even though “all of
us were standing at Sinai.” Exodus Rabbah
5:9 offers, “Come and see how the voice
went forth to all Israel, to each and every
one in keeping with his particular capacity
-- to the elderly in keeping with their capac-
ity, to the little ones in keeping with their
statistics not only public but also easy
to find; they’re at the New Jersey State
Police’s website, njsp.org. There’s a link to
gun statistics at the top of the homepage.
Mr. Murphy also has hired Bill Castner to
be his senior adviser on issues relating to
gun control. “He has a long history in the
anti-gun-violence movement,” Ms. Wein-
berg said. “They are looking at all sorts of
things, beyond the strong legislation that
we passed, and hopefully we will continue
to pass in New Jersey, whether it is public
health issues, or litigation hitting the NRA
in their pocketbook, making sure that our
public pension system doesn’t invest in
NRA-type endeavors.”
So what can people who have been pro-
voked by the shooting deaths of high school
WE OFFER REPAIRS
AND ALTERATIONS
We want your business and we go the extra
mile to make you a regular customer
capacity, and to the women in keeping with
their capacity.”
Following the citation of this text, Rabbi
Yose bar Hanina makes a connection to
manna, claiming how different it tasted
from person to person. If manna could be
changed into many kinds, then the strength
of God’s voice can vary, how much the more
so, “according to the capacity of the indi-
vidual.” Midrash takes the concept further,
expressing that God’s voice mutated into
seven voices, and the seven voices into sev-
enty languages, so that all the nations might
hear it (Exodus Rabbah 5:9).
Different voices. Different sounds. Differ-
ent perspectives. So ambiguous, uncertain,
and the joy of ours is to celebrate it, wade
through, and unearth deep meaning by
which to live by, literally, busying ourselves
in the words of Torah, like the blessing we
recite at the start of each day. We have to be
given Torah bemidbar Sinai, because life is a
journey of learning that unfolds in the open
wilderness.
So what does the revelation of Torah
mean to us? It’s an uncomfortable ques-
tion, perhaps. There are so many answers.
So how do we let the question be? And how
can we allow the question, and the journey,
to mean different things to different people?
Embrace your wilderness ... and let others
embrace theirs.
I sense a
change, and it’s
because of the
leadership of the
young people.
students do? “We have so many wonderful
groups,” Ms. Weinberg said. “Local chap-
ters of Moms Demand Action, and of the
Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence.”
There is much to do, Ms. Weinberg said.
And, she repeated, now, for the first time,
she feels some hope.
1245 Teaneck Rd.
Teaneck
837-8700
 D’var Torah/Jewish World

Shavuot: The redemptive nature

of hard work in the Book of Ruth

T
he biblical account of the exo-
dus from Egypt and the story of
Ruth the Moabite each explores
the process of human suffering
and salvation. The element of avdut or hard
work plays a different role in each narrative.
The story of the exodus in the book of
Shemot is punctuated by three key words
that describe the experience of the Israel-
ites in Egypt. The first is avdut or servitude
(va-ya’avidu mitzrayim et benei yisrael be-
farekh) — the Hebrews are condemned to
slave labor. The second is inui or oppres-
sion (ve-kha’asher ye’anu oto, ken yirbeh ve-
khen yifrotz) — the Israelites are tormented
by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The third is
gerut or foreignness (ki ger hayiti be-eretz
nokhriyah) — the Israelites are foreigners in
the strange land of Egypt.
It is striking that the first chapter of the
book of Ruth, which we read on Shavuot,
describes the experience of Naomi, her hus-
band and sons in Moab with the very same
language that the Torah uses to describe
the exodus experience. There is the gerut:
Elimelekh, Naomi, and their family journey
to the foreign land of Moab to escape famine
— lagur b’sdei Moav. There is also the inui:
Naomi declares to the women of Bethlehem
that she and her family feel oppressed by
God (va-Hashem anah bi).
There is one key element of the Egypt
experience, however, that is missing in the
description of Naomi’s experience in Moab.
Unlike the Exodus narrative, the word
avdut — oppressive labor and
servitude — is never used to
describe the suffering of Nao-
mi’s family. Interestingly, the
root of avdut appears only in
the closing verses of the book
of Ruth. The child born to
Ruth and Boaz, who supports
and cares for Naomi in her old
age, is named “Oved” — liter- Dean Rachel
Friedman
ally translated as someone
who continually engages in Lamdeinu, the
hard work.
Center for Jewish
Learning in
There is a powerful les-
son to be learned from this
Teaneck, Orthodox
literary comparison. In the
story of the exodus, avdut is the problem:
The Jews are forced into slavery, bondage,
and oppressive labor. In the story of Ruth,
however, avodah (Oved) — continuous hard
work, which derives from the very same
root as avdut — is the solution. The redemp-
tion of Naomi is in her grandson Oved, who
symbolizes the hard work and devotion of
her family and most of all, of her daughter-
in-law Ruth.
The events of recent Jewish history and
the ideals of religious Zionism reinforce
the message of the book of Ruth. Religious
Zionism is about human initiative and
hard work guided by Divine providence. It
believes that avodah is not the trademark
of slavery but rather the key to redemp-
tion. It took devoted, human labor to drain
swamps, build kibbutzim, yishuvim, cities,
infrastructure, businesses,
and communities in the land
of Israel in the last 70 years —
as well as schools, hospitals,
synagogues, and houses of
Torah study. It is telling that
the motto of the early Zion-
ist pioneers was precisely
the idea of avodah — human
enterprise and creativity. As
the song goes — “zum golly,
golly… he-chalutz lemaan ha-
avodah…” — the pioneer is for
the work, and the work is for
the pioneer. And the mantra
of religious Zionism is Torah,
avodah, and eretz yisrael.
This season between Passover and Sha-
vuot is marked not only by ancient Jewish
anniversaries — the redemption from Egypt
on the fourteenth day of Nisan and the rev-
elation at Mount Sinai on (or around) the
sixth day of Sivan. Modern Jewish history
marks historic moments in this season as
well. Yom HaShoah, recalls the tragedy of
the Holocaust, Yom Hazikaron pays solemn
tribute to the soldiers who made Israel a
national homeland in 1948, Yom Ha’atzmaut
celebrates the establishment and vitality of
the state of Israel, and Yom Yerushalayim
marks the moment in 1967 that Jerusalem
became again the physical center of the Jew-
ish universe.
The seventy years since the establish-
ment of the State of Israel has witnessed the
As we celebrate
Yom Yerushalayim
and the holiday of
Shavuot, we must
acknowledge that
we are not only
the children of
the Exodus but
also the children
of Ruth.
transformation of the nation of Israel from
the avdut (slave labor) of the Exodus nar-
rative to the oved (hard work and human
enterprise) of the story of Ruth. As we cel-
ebrate Yom Yerushalayim and the holiday
of Shavuot, we must acknowledge that we
are not only the children of the Exodus
but also the children of Ruth. We must rec-
ognize that it is the very combination of
Divine providence and human initiative that
ensures both the posterity and prosperity of
the Jewish nation.
Dean Rachel Friedman is the founder and
dean of Lamdeinu, the Center for Jewish
Learning in Teaneck. Visit lamdeinu.org.

Gaza
FROM PAGE 35
terrifying. It is extremely difficult to show restraint,
and it requires calm, mature professionalism.
Fifty-five dead is an enormous number. But I can
testify from my first-hand experience, that every bul-
let and every hit is carefully reported, documented
and investigated, in Excel spreadsheets. Literally. I
was there and I saw it with my own eyes.
This isn’t the time or place to discuss the situation
in general and the desperate plight of the residents
of Gaza. I’m not interested in starting a political dis-
cussion here, although I do have a clear position.
What I’m trying to do is present, for everyone who
really wants to listen, the extent of the IDF’s enor-
mous effort to protect Israel’s borders while mini-
mizing injuries and loss of life on the other side.
And despite all this — the situation on the border
with Gaza is deteriorating. I hope that we won’t be
called up again soon for reserve duty to protect our
country. But if we are, we will go with the knowl-
edge that we are serving a just and morally correct
cause. We do not rejoice when we must go to war,
but we also don’t go like sheep to the slaughter. Not
anymore.

Moshe (Kinly) Tor-Paz is an Israeli reservist who was

in Gaza. This was posted on his Facebook in Hebrew
and English.

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 51

Crossword
“HARDWOOD WORDS” BY YONI GLATT
KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: CHALLENGING
Across
1. King David and King George: Abbr.
4. Draw in
10. Quintet in “Hamlet”
14. Have a mortgage, e.g.
15. Brie or Gary
16. Streetcar, in Liverpool
17. Observing the mitzvot of pe’ah and
leket, perhaps?
19. Like a Hasmonean coin
20. “Let ___”
21. The Mexican sun
22. Sad work by Yirmiyahu
23. Aspire laptops, e.g.
25. Arthur Miller?
28. Hollers
30. Indian Boudreau
31. “___-wee’s Playhouse”
32. Black, Red or Yellow
33. “Curious George” writer
34. What Owens captured in Berlin?
35. Middle of the Sanhedrin?
38. “Beowulf” and others
40. Fly by Green or Greenberg, for short
41. Diagnostic scan, for short
42. Jewish sch. in Riverdale, N.Y.
43. Krypton, for one
44. Bavli and Yerushalmi
48. Gush Katif and the Sinai?
51. Buffalo athlete
52. George of literature
53. Paper and pencil game winner
55. It may be checked
56. Bona ___
57. Ends of 17 Tammuz and 9 Av?
60. In a bit, in a poem
61. Singer Krauss
62. Indy driver Fabi
63. Not quite a jock
64. David Irving or Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, e.g.
65. Fig. in identity theft
The solution to last week’s puzzle is on page 59.
52 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
Down
1. Vergara and Coppola
2. Sharp movement
3. “If I Had a Hammer” composer
4. Former times, poetically
5. Noodges
6. Golani members
7. “That ___” (closing words)
8. Klink’s rank, for short
9. Ends of Sivan and Cheshvan?
10. Parts of hearts
11. Loon
12. Jordan, once
13. Bad-mouthed
18. Slow primates
22. Flightless Aussie
24. Perceived
26. Knighted Guinness
27. Big name among cello virtuosos
29. Moshe who was President of Israel
33. Jewish sem. in Wyncote, Pa.
34. Anguished expression
35. Hallway
36. Simplicity
37. Some links
38. Gloria or Emilio
39. Critic Kael
43. Fetched
44. 2005 Best Foreign Film from South
Africa
45. Some WWII crafts
46. Devil Dogs maker
47. Assails
49. ___ in sight
50. It’s in the bag, on the mound
54. An English horn is lower than it
57. Fidget spinners, e.g.
58. Not a lager
59. Vacation letters
The Frazzled Housewife
The royal wedding
— and cheesecake
C
elebrations are important.
They are beacons of light at
the end of long, dark tun-
nels. That baby who won’t
stop screaming every night eventually
has a bar or bat mitzvah (or commu-
nion or other milestone events that I am
unaware of — please forgive my igno-
rance). We look forward
to the bar or bat mitzvah
because it signifies that
we have mastered toilet
training (hopefully) and
temper tantrums in public
(hopefully) and chocolate
on the carpet (hopefully),
which, unfortunately,
sometimes turns out not
to be chocolate….We get Banji
to this milestone where we Ganchrow
can celebrate a measure of
growth in our child’s devel-
opment, we can celebrate with people
we love/tolerate being with — and then
there is always the good food. (As you
know, with me it always comes back to
food.) We make speeches that make all
of our children straight A and perfectly
behaved students. We hear the school’s
principal make the same speech with a
different kid’s name read in the appro-
priate spots — you all know the drill.
In any event, in a world where so
many tragic and sad things happen,
celebrations become a goal. This week,
Son #1 graduated college. Some might
think that the milestone for me is that
my child is culminating the majority of
his academic career. And the truth is
that it is a huge accomplishment (espe-
cially with having two academically
challenged parents) — but for me it is a
different accomplishment. I always feel
that the sign of a really good writer is
honesty. Putting it all out there for peo- any Judaic studies teacher that I have
ple to read. And as much as some of you
might think I have done that, it isn’t the forgive me in advance for my take on
case. And I am still not ready to do it in this yom tov. Shavuot is the holiday of
this column yet.
But I will say that Son #1 graduat-
ing college has been a totally different
experience for me then when my par-
ents experienced their eldest child grad- are celebrating cheesecake. And blin-
uating college. I also will say that I am tzes. And quiche. And if you don’t like
grateful for the difference, and I hope
that Son #1 continues to follow the path
that he has set for himself, even though
I think wearing black and white all of
the time is quite boring. Sometimes, you
need a little color — in your wardrobe,
in life — but he is an adult now and he
will have to learn those things for him-
self. Where is the real celebration? One
tuition down and only two to go!!!! ( Just which is probably surprising to some of
kidding, Son #1, we are very proud of
you.)
Another celebration that is happening
this week is the royal wedding. Prince
Harry is marrying Meghan Markle. I
cannot believe that her party planner
didn’t consult with me, and is mak-
ing this wedding on Shabbos. Are you
kidding me? How can I get away with
accidentally leaving the television on?
(I can’t.) An American,
divorced, former Deal or
No Deal model is marry-
ing a PRINCE!!!! And I am
missing it!!! That is the
epitome of celebration —
for Americans, anyway. I
cannot imagine that the
House of Windsor is too
happy about it…
But can you imagine?
I have said before that
in the case of Prince Wil-
liam and Kate, Kate’s mom
knew how to handle her daughter. The
restraint it must have taken not to fall
apart after they broke up — that Kate
really played her cards right, and she
got her prince. But Meghan?? You go
girl! She is pushing 40 and she is walk-
ing down that aisle to a man who is
worth billions of dollars and fifth in line
to throne! And I can’t watch it! And all
the drama with her family — does she
talk to her siblings? Is her father walk-
ing her down the aisle? Drama drama
drama — just like a real person, and she
is going to be a princess! With an Ameri-
can accent! God save the Queen….
OK, now that I have recovered about
not being able to watch the wedding,
back to celebrations. Celebrating the
holiday of Shavuot is upon us. My non-
religious friend asked me what the
meaning of this holiday is and this is
what I told her. Son #1 and Son #2 (and
had in the past who reads this) please
cheesecake because we didn’t know
about all of the laws regarding meat
until after we got the Torah. Which hap-
pened on this holiday. So, basically, we
my explanation, then you don’t have to
eat any of those foods.
But just remember how precious
celebrations are, and perhaps you
will reconsider. Unless, of course, you
are lactose intolerant — and that is an
entirely different column.
Banji Ganchrow is a fan of cheesecake,
you since she eats so healthy the rest of
the year…#idrinktab #yestheystillmakeit
 Arts & Culture
Imad Mughniyeh Yasser Arafat
‘Rise and Kill First’
Jonathan E. Lazarus
T
here exists within Israel’s extraordinary assassi-
nation establishment (let’s call it what it is) a tip-
ping point for each targeted kill.
It can come following weeks, sometimes
months, or even years after choosing the subject, plotting
a takedown, fabricating cover stories, equipping the team
with documents, weapons, explosives, wigs, and poisons
as needed, and mapping an exit strategy.
The sum and substance of this tradecraft is distilled into
what is called, appropriately enough, a Red Page, which is
circulated to the chiefs of Israel’s main intelligence/secu-
rity/counterterrorism services, Mossad, Shin Bet, and
AMAN, a directorate of the Israel Defense Forces. This
triad of agencies, augmented with specialists culled from
the army, navy, and air force, forms the tightly integrated
(now, not always), extrajudicial response mechanism
deployed against the nation’s threats short of full-throated
war. Its highly screened, remarkably skilled agents func-
tion as the tip of the spear in Israel’s relentless battle to
exist and flourish.
The Red Page then goes to the prime minister for green-
lighting. Over decades, hundreds have landed on the desks
of Labor and Likud chiefs, with the overwhelming majority
receiving approval. Yitzhak Shamir, perhaps conditioned
from his guerrilla days in the Irgun, rarely reflected before
signing off. Yitzhak Rabin, a chief of staff and defense min-
ister, proved more meticulous in vetting a hit. Golda Meir
Jonathan E. Lazarus, a former editor at the Star-Ledger, is
a proofreader at the Jewish Standard.
Bergman’s persistence in penetrating the many
veils, lockboxes, censorship laws, and triple-entry
bookkeeping of his nation’s liquidation community,
and his rare access to its leaders, is remarkable.
would invite her favorite operative, Mike
Harari, over for tea and ask if there weren’t
an alternative. Then she would usually sigh
and sign.
In theory, that’s how the process was
supposed to work. In fact, Ariel Sharon
often dispensed with procedural niceties
painstakingly put in place by military and government
experts. He simply ordered renditions done off the books,
and allowed operational euphemisms for cover stories
and mission workarounds. For this he had an enthusias-
tic and complicit partner in the legendary (critics might
say reckless and bloodthirsty) Meir Dagan, tasked by Sha-
ron with revitalizing the Mossad after it had been caught
flatfooted during the First Intifada, having devolved into
more of an archival service than the superb action agency
it had been in earlier iterations.
Dagan’s priority: systematic assassination of scientists
working on Iran’s nuclear capabilities (until Israel learned
the Obama administration was secretly negotiating with
Tehran and folded the initiative). This would not be the
first time Mossad agents drew a bead on a specific class
of experts. Fifty years earlier, the agency’s pioneering
chief, Isser Harel, ordered letter bombs mailed to Ger-
man rocket specialists helping Egypt’s Nasser develop mis-
siles. Maimings resulted but the program pressed on. As
distasteful as it seemed, the deus ex machina came after
Israeli agents struck a Faustian bargain with one of Hitler’s
favorite generals, the notorious Otto Skorzeny, to influ-
ence the scientists in exchange for “immunity.” The rocket
initiative quickly foundered.
In the following decades, constraints governing targeted
assassinations and black ops loosened roughly in propor-
tion to the brazen barbarity of Israel’s neighbors and guer-
rilla foes. Until Ronen Bergman’s intensively researched,
profoundly unsettling (or deeply satisfying, depending on
one’s point of view), and utterly compelling “Rise and Kill
First: “The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassina-
tion,” what was known about the breadth and depth of
these missions seemed sketchy and lacked context and
continuity. Israelis often learned of their own antiterror-
ism exploits through the Arab press.
Bergman’s persistence in penetrating the many veils,
lockboxes, censorship laws, and triple-entry bookkeeping
of his nation’s liquidation community, and his rare access
to its leaders, is remarkable, given Israel’s penchant for
opaqueness as the world’s most robust practitioner of tar-
geted assassinations since World War II (about 2,000 and
counting). A lawyer by training, Bergman kept tabs on the
country’s extrajudicial feats as a senior correspondent for
Yedioth Ahronoth and wrote five best-selling nonfiction
works in Hebrew. His title hearkens back to the talmudic
injunction: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill
him first.” One caustic reviewer proposed that the book be
recast as “Israel’s Greatest Hits.”
Consider just two of the operations:
• After a manhunt spanning 30 years, Israel finally took
out Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in 2008 by
planting a bomb in the duplicated spare tire of his car.
Agents hemmed in the vehicle while Mughniyeh visited Syr-
ian intelligence headquarters. When he emerged and sat
in the driver’s seat, the blast detonated, with brutal mul-
tiplier effect. Mughniyeh’s bloody signatures included the
massive Beirut explosions claiming scores of U.S. Marines
and CIA operatives, many plane hijackings, the high-toll
See rise page 56
Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018 53
Calendar
Blintzes and cheesecake.
Participants welcome
to submit 10-minute
Torah “TED Talk” to
rabbi@chabadplace.
org. 375 Pulis Ave.
(201) 848-0449 or www.
chabadplace.org/ted.
at meeting of REAP
Monday  (Retired Executives
and Professionals)
MAY 21 at the Kaplen JCC
on the Palisades in
Shavuot Yizkor/lunch Tenafly, 10:45 a.m.
and learn: Rabbi Aaron 411 East Clinton Ave.
Katz leads Yizkor, noon, (201) 569-7900 or www.
followed by lunch jccotp.org.
and current topics, at
Congregation B’nai
Jacob in Jersey City. Thursday 
176 West Side Ave. MAY 24 R
(201) 435-5725 or Info@
bnaijacobjc.com. S

Rabbi Daniel Fridman

Shavuot in Teaneck: The
Jewish Center of Teaneck
offers Tikkun Leil Shavuot
with learning focusing on
“Communal Leadership
in the 21st Century,”
11:15 p.m. Speakers will
be CB Neugroschl,
head of school at
Yeshiva University High
School for Girls, who
will talk about female
leadership through the
lens of Megillat Ruth;
Mechi Jenkelowitz,
who will discuss lay
Acclaimed Israeli-American pianist Daniel leadership; and Rabbi
may
Gortler performs in recital at the Jewish Daniel Fridman, who will
Alyson Chananie
Dr. Daniel Rynhold Parkinson’s support:
The Jewish Home Family
Shavuot in Teaneck: Dr.
continues a monthly
Daniel Rynhold, Jewish
support group for
philosophy professor
people diagnosed with
and coordinator of the
Parkinson’s Disease,
Ph.D. program at Yeshiva
their families, and
University’s Bernard
Revel Graduate School of
caregivers, with chair
yoga at the Jewish M
Jewish Studies, discusses
“Creation, Revelation,
Home at Rockleigh, M
10 a.m. At 10:30,
and Prophecy” at
Congregation Rinat
Alyson Chananie, MS, C
CCC-SLP, Hackensack

24
speak about rabbinic Yisrael, 6:55 p.m.
Meridian Health, JFK
Museum in Manhattan at 7:30 p.m. The leadership. 70 Sterling It’s part of the shul’s
Johnson Rehabilitation
“Rambam and Moreh
concert, honoring American composer Place. (201) 833-0515 or
Nevuchim: Innovation
Institute, will discuss
www.jcot.org.
John Corigliano’s 80th birthday, features works by and Controversy” shiurim
“Cognition, Speech, and
Swallowing: Speech
Corigliano, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Schumann. in memory of Rabbi
Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street. (212) 423-3337 or Sunday  Ozer Glickman. Shiurim
Therapy for Those
Living With Parkinson’s.”
MAY 20 continue through June
TheJewishMuseum.org/calendar. 9. 389 W. Englewood
Refreshments. 10 Link
Drive. (201) 750-4246
Shavuot in Tenafly: Ave. (201) 837-2795 or
or email parkinsons@
Lubavitch on the Rinat.org.
jewishhomefamily.org.
Shavuot in Paramus: Palisades offers a
Friday  Saturday  The JCC of Paramus/ chanting of the Ten Tuesday  Poker/dinner/
MAY 18 MAY 19 Congregation Beth Commandments and entertainment in
a family party with
MAY 22 Demarest: The Jewish
Tikvah offers a
Shabbat in Woodcliff Shabbat in Jersey City: community Torah ice cream, blintzes, Federation of Northern
Lake: Temple Emanuel Congregation B’nai Jacob learning session cheesecake, and other New Jersey holds its
of the Pascack Valley holds a family service, beginning with Mincha, dairy foods, 10:30 a.m.. 11 Federation Full House
hosts Shabbat Yachad, 10:30 a.m.-noon, followed 8 p.m., and including a Harold St. (201) 871-1152 at the Alpine Country
with Hebrew prayers set by a kiddush, at Hamilton Shavuot Jewish trivia or chabadlubavitch.org. Club, 6:30 p.m. Vegas-
to easy-to-sing melodies, House. 255 Brunswick St.; contest. Annual Shavuot style Texas Hold ‘Em
luncheon with ice cream Shavuot in Fort Lee: poker tournament,
8 p.m. 87 Overlook Drive. building entrance on 10th Congregation Beth
(201) 391-0801 or www. Street, where free parking and holiday foods follows blackjack, dinner, scotch,
services, Sunday, at 9 Israel of the Palisades and stogies, and silent
tepv.org. is available. bnaijacobjc. holds Torah study,
com. a.m. East 304 Midland auction. All net proceeds
Shabbat in Teaneck: Ave. (201) 262-7733 or “One For All, or All For will fund JFNNJ’s
Temple Emeth offers Erev Shavuot in Closter: jccparamus.org. One? — The Role of the hunger relief efforts. 80
klezmer services, 8 p.m. Temple Beth El has Individual in the Jewish Anderson Ave. Andi,
1666 Windsor Road. services led by Rabbis Shavuot in Franklin Community,” 1:15 p.m. (201) 820-3930 or www.
(201) 833-1322 or www. David S. Wizder and Lakes: The Chabad Services and a lunch English-Yiddish jfnnj.org/fullhouse.
Emeth.org. Beth Kramer-Mazer and Jewish Center holds precede the session at dictionary: Gitl
student cantor Julie “TED Talks,” short 9:30 a.m. 1585 Center Schaechter-Viswanath of
Staple, 7:30 pm. 221 talks showcasing Ave. (201) 945-7310 or Teaneck, co-editor of the
Schraalenburgh Road. important, inspiring shul@cbiotp.org. “Comprehensive English-
(201) 768-5112. Jewish ideas found Yiddish Dictionary,”
on the internet, 9 p.m. discusses the book

54 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


Rabbi Yosef Adler
Speaking of Israel: To
mark Rabbi Isaac L.
Swift’s 26th yahrzeit,
Rabbi Yosef Adler of
Teaneck’s Congregation
Rinat Yisrael will discuss
“The Sanctity of the
Flag: A Tribute to Israel
on its 70th Birthday” at
Congregation Ahavath
Torah in Englewood,
after Mincha at 8:15 p.m.
It is co-sponsored by
the shul and the Rabbi
Isaac L. Swift Chair of
Judaic Studies at the
Kaplen JCC on the
Palisades. 240 Broad
Ave. (201) 568-1315.
Monday  a New York Times op-
MAY 28
Cedar Lane family
festival: Teaneck’s Cedar
Lane Management Group
hosts the annual Memorial
Day Cedar Lane Family
Festival on Cedar Lane
between Elm Street
and American Legion
Drive, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Memorial Day ceremonies,
performance by the
Teaneck Community
Chorus, family
entertainment,
including competitive
eating competitions, a
performance by Linda
Miller, formerly of the
Marvelettes, a special
Singles
tribute to Frank Sinatra
and Dean Martin by
Caranza, exhibits from Sunday  Pianist Carolyn Enger offers a multi-
local merchants and
artisans, nonprofit booths
MAY 20
from local organizations,
Lunch in Nyack: Singles
and an array of
international foods. www.
cedarlane.net.
In New York
Thursday 
MAY 24 Wednesday  the Holocaust. Carolyn’s father and
MAY 30
Singles meet in NYC:
Bret Stephens
Leadership and
Trump: Bret Stephens,
ed columnist, former
Jerusalem Post editor-
in-chief, and Wall
Street Journal Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist,
discusses “Leadership in
the Age of Trump: Does
Character Matter More
Than Action?” with Rabbi
Shmuley Boteach, 8 p.m.,
at the World Values
Network headquarters,
313 W. 71st St., New York
City. (212) 634-7777,
WorldValues.us, or
EventBrite.com.
65+ from the JCC
Rockland meets for lunch
at the Golden Mushroom
in Nyack, N.Y., 12:30 p.m.
Individual checks. 425
North Route 59. Gene,
(845) 356-5525.
Join a L’Chaim party for
singles 55+, with dinner
at Jerusalem Café, 6 p.m.
35 W. 36th St., New York
City. Jay, (732) 618-0948
or email Mojo796@gmail.
com.
Announce
your events
We welcome announce-
ments of upcoming events.
Announcements are free.
Accompanying photos must
be high resolution, jpg files.
Send announcements 2 to 3
weeks in advance. Not every
release will be published.
Include a daytime telephone
number and send to:

pr@jewishmediagroup.
com • 201-837-8818 x 110
Calendar
Concert pianist
to play Teaneck
media performance including parts
of her latest project, “The Mischlinge
Exposé,” for the Jewish Family & Chil-
dren’s Services of Northern New Jersey
on Wednesday, May 30, at 7 p.m., at
Temple Emeth in Teaneck. The project
focuses on stories of Mischlinge (half-
Jews) and German Jewish converts in
Germany before, during, and after
godmother were both Mischlinges.
The shul is at 1666 Windsor Road. For
information, call (201) 978-8492 or
email Linda Poleyeff at LindaP@JFC- Carolyn Enger
SNNJ.org.
Save June 10 for Israel celebration
Jewish Federation of Northern NJ plans a family afternoon, “Celebrate Israel @ 70 —
Israel in the Park.” It will include food trucks, craft tables, ice cream, photo booth,
giveaways, and it’s set for Sunday, June 10, from 2 to 5 p.m. The Maccabeats will per-
form at 3.
The celebration is at JFNNJ headquarters, 50 Eisenhower Drive in Paramus. Pre-
register and be entered in a raffle for an Apple watch, SodaStream, and more. For
information, call (201) 820-3900 or go to JFNNJ.org/Israel70.
Broadway
in Closter
Temple Beth El of North-
ern Valley in Closter hosted
Broadway stars Jarrod
Spector and Kelli Barrett
performing “Funny How It
Ha pp e n s .” T h e s y n a -
gogue’s annual “Jerome
Music Night” is Temple
Beth El’s music commit-
tee’s only annual fundrais-
ing event.

Architects
to show
plans for
Teaneck
memorial
Rodney Leon Anthony Lovino Alan Hantman

Architects will present their visions for
the proposed Garden to Nurture Human
Understanding on Teaneck’s Municipal
Green on Thursday, May 24, at 7:30 p.m.,
at the Teaneck public library. They will rep-
resent both the Northern New Jersey Holo-
caust Memorial & Education Center and the
Enslaved African Memorial Committee, as
well as the library. This is the first of many
multicultural events to be held under a
grant from the New Jersey Council on the
Humanities and the first event co-spon-
sored by the three groups.
Rodney Leon, who designed the
African Burial Ground Memorial in
Manhattan, will represent the Enslaved
African Memorial Committee; Alan Hant-
man will represent the Northern New
Jersey Holocaust Memorial & Education
Committee; and Anthony Iovino will rep- Calling hippies to bergenPAC
resent the Teaneck Public Library, which
is committed to allocate space in the HippieFest 2018, bringing back flower featuring Joey Molland, return to cel-
facility for indoor exhibits and technol- power, peace, love, and happiness, is ebrate an incredible era in American
ogy to supplement the two group’s out- at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in music and culture.
door exhibits. New Jersey State Senator Englewood on Wednesday, July 25, at 8 Get tickets at online at www.ber-
Loretta Weinberg and Teaneck’s Mayor p.m. Members of bands including Vanilla genpac.org or www.ticketmaster.com,
Mohammed Hameeduddin will give Fudge, Rick Derringer, Mitch Ryder or call bergenPAC’s box office at (201)
opening remarks. The meeting is free and & The Detroit Wheels, and Badfinger, 227-1030.
open to the public. www.eamcnj.org or
nnjholocaustmemorial.org.

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 55

Jewish World

Rise
FROM PAGE 53
Buenos Aires bombing of a Jewish center,
and the nimble masterminding of Hezbol-
lah forces against Israel in the Lebanon war.
Mossad killed his brother in an unsuccess-
ful attempt to lure him to the funeral. And
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert canceled an
assassination mission at the last moment
when collateral damage appeared likely,
something he had promised president
George W. Bush would not happen.
• Probably no target in Israel’s pantheon
of enemies had higher value or evoked
more hatred than Yasser Arafat. And Arafat,
quite literally, kept dodging bullets. From
1968 until his death in 2004 — which was
attributed to a mysterious disease — the
head of the PLO was “protected” by the
two prime ministers who loathed him the
most, Menachem Begin and Sharon. Begin
made good on a promise to the United
States to let Arafat and his entourage evac-
uate safely from Lebanon. To prove it, he
sent Washington a photo taken by an Israeli
sniper team showing Arafat in the cross-
hairs, an easy shot if it had been ordered.
And Sharon, vexed for years by the cunning
and corrupt PLO leader, pledged to George
W. Bush a hands-off policy and allowed
Arafat to fly to Paris for medical treatment
before he died. But Bergman strongly hints
through Sharon’s aides that he backed off
the Bush pledge and might actually have
ordered Arafat poisoned.
So infuriating was the bearded, fatigue-
clad leader’s ability to escape traps that
IDF chief of staff Rafael Eitan violated
all protocol during Lebanon operations
by commandeering a Phantom jet and
personally dropping bombs on a build-
ing where Arafat was supposed to be (he
actually showed up moments after the
blast). And Sharon and Eitan continued
their obsessive pursuit following his Bei-
rut exit. They pressed for a shootdown of
a plane thought to be carrying Arafat from
Athens to Cairo. Despite double identifi-
cation by Mossad agents, air force chief
David Ivri felt that something was off and
stalled. Fortunately, operatives radioed in
last-minute doubts and the mission was
aborted. Turns out the plane was ferrying
Arafat’s younger look-alike brother and 30
wounded Palestinian children.
“Rise and Kill” blends the intrigue of a
Daniel Silva thriller with the fact-based
imperatives of a young nation asserting
itself. The book’s cumulative intensity, as
another critic suggested, might plunge read-
ers into overload similar to one induced
by scanning an unabridged police blot-
ter. Additionally, it poses an enigmatic and
uncomfortable question for Jews, either
Israeli-born or diaspora bred: As a people
who place outsized emphasis on ethics,
values, and the rule of law, what degree of
satisfaction, smugness, or schadenfreude
should those who have been the historically
hunted and are now the efficient, ruthless
hunters allow themselves, no matter how
seemingly justified the reprisal?
Mindset and morality do matter, espe-
cially when threats to nationhood are
both existential and Manichean. Israel at
70 most assuredly is not the Israel of 1948.
To many younger citizens, it may be hip,
high-tech, and start-up, but it still is in the
thrall of Orthodox inegalitarianism, settle-
ment ferment, and right-wing ascendancy.
Despite significant political, religious, and
lifestyle fault lines, however, one traumatic,
unifying constant remains: The Holocaust,
serving as the rallying (or shaming) point
across generational and ideological divides.
Bergman’s Israel lives in a constant,
never-again crouch, coiled and ready to
unleash its armed forces in the macro
moments of national peril (wars of 1948,
1967, 1973) and its intelligence services in
the more micro, nuanced, ongoing battles
against terrorism. The operative empiri-
cism still obtains: Nobody has ever come
to help the Jews, and nobody ever will. But
now they have the considerable means to
help themselves and others.
The United States, according to Berg-
man, went to school on Israeli techniques
after 9/11, when Shin Bet ground down and
virtually ended the wave of suicide terror
bombings in the early 2000s through a
combination of assassinations, the intro-
duction of a high-tech Joint War Room,
and the deployment of a new generation
of drones. The CIA developed a degree of
cooperation with Israeli counterparts that
survives today.
While all of this proved tactically bril-
liant, the larger issue of covert ops’ long-
term strategic effectiveness remains open.
Bergman’s intent seems not to impugn the
morality of such exercises as much as to
question their efficacy. Despite astonishing
achievements, did Israel sanctify their use
at the expense of diplomacy or other ave-
nues of resolution? Unfortunately, this isn’t
quantifiable, or perhaps it is as the nation’s
continuing existence provides testimony.
Meir Dagan believed targeted killings
were “a lot more moral” than all-out
war. Bad actors continue to stalk Israel’s
immediate street (the West Bank, Gaza,
Lebanon strip), the immediate neighbor-
hood (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Egypt) and
the far beyond (Europe, South America,
Africa, the Mediterranean). The situation is
becoming even more asymmetrical as Iran
attempts to connect a new Hezbollah “land
bridge” from Tehran to Beirut while Hamas
stokes deadly demonstrations in Gaza and
Syria remains a combustible wild card.
Israel is forced to play the eternal long
game. It never has caught a breather, nor
will it anytime soon. And targeted assas-
sination continues to provide a significant
weapon in its arsenal. Ronan Bergman’s
sprawling examination helps us appreci-
ate not only how much, but also the men
and women who live as the nation’s ulti-
mate risk-takers.

Revere Fealty to the Covenant earns a reward.

FROM PAGE 19
In addition to offerings for Sabbaths and Feasts.
A spiritual regimen carried out by the priests,
Inspiring for Israelites, but tough on the beasts.
Matot makes clear your vows must be fulfilled.
In the war against Midian all their menfolk are killed.
Menashe, Reuben, and Gad settle in the Trans-Jordan,
An alluring sub-region to worship the Lord in.
Moses agreed; the three tribes were just thrilled.
Cities of refuge protect the offender
Whose act of manslaughter is absent intent.
Providing a Biblical bill of attainder,
The poor victim’s family vengeance forewent.
The Torah’s fourth Book ends with Parshat Masei,
The Israelite encampments day after day.
The thirty-third chapter’s sung with festive trope:
A musical detour, a melodic hiccough.
With the Book’s final verse you know your Numbers up.
In Parshat Devarim, Moses starts an address,
Reviewing the wilderness trek, placing stress
On the spies’ mission, on Moab and Ammon,
The inhospitality and defeat of Sichon,
His concern that the People might lose faith
and regress.
Va’etchanan says “Love the Lord your God,”
Israel is told: You are God’s Chosen People.
You will conquer Canaan, riding rough-shod,
Thou shalt destroy any idolatrous steeple.
Moses is informed he won’t enter the Land
Notwithstanding his forty-year leadership grand.
So he continues to reminisce,
The Ten Commandments appear, please
understand this:
With textual variants — mutatis mutandis.
Ekev threatens punishment for behaviors untoward.
Israel’s Promised Land flows with milk and with honey.
Prospects for its conquest are certainly sunny,
So long as God’s Laws do not go ignored.
Free will means choosing between blessing
and curse.
We are to choose freely and refrain from swine.
Self-mutilation is out; idolatry’s worse.
Re’eh requires establishment of one central shrine.
Festivals are observed three times every year.
To a schedule of pilgrimage the faithful adhere,
As they must to tithing at ten percent:
Saving the poor indignity and torment.
Hebrew servants, after seven years, to freedom
are sent.
“Justice, justice shall you pursue.”
A judicial system is the proverbial glue
That Shoftim asserts holds nations together,
And determines in times of crisis whether
To our founding principles we will remain true.
Commandments in Ki Tetzei number seventy-four:
Sexual probity and ritual fringes,
Returning lost property, the ethics of war,
The first year of marriage, on which so much hinges.
Ki Tavo consists of blessings and curses,
Truly the Torah’s most unseemly verses.
The Parshah includes the rite of first fruits,
Along with a liturgy recalling our roots.
Faith in God and our mission: moral absolutes.
Parshat Nitzavim marks ratification
By Israelites of high social station
And low: everyone giving assent
To live by the terms of God’s Covenant,
Equally binding on each generation.
Should we fall short of that spiritual mark,
We can repent and try again harder.
God wants us back, though our misdeeds be dark,
Renewing our passion, commitment, and ardor.
Moses gives Joshua an inspiring charge.
He has sandals to fill, sized extra large.
Moses is ready to meet his demise.
In Vayelech he prepares to summarize
God’s message for Israel; he’ll rhapsodize.
Moses delivers his valedictory,
In poetic form, no banal oratory.
In Parshat Haazinu, he speaks of God’s grace:
His willingness Israel’s sins to efface.
V’Zot Ha-Berachah brings an end to his story.
At one hundred twenty, Moses has finished
His prophetic career and long leadership.
His vision’s still clear, his strength undiminished.
A feat all but unequalled by his readership.
He takes leave of each tribe with an apt benediction,
Affirming his faith with abiding conviction.
Atop Mount Nebo, He approaches his Maker.
The Almighty Himself serves as Undertaker,
Laying Moses to rest at long last in God’s Acre.
The cycle of Reading ends on Simchat Torah,
Amid singing and dancing, quite often the Hora.
But it’s on Shavuot we recall Revelation,
Scriptural Law, prose, verse, and narration.
We decorate pulpits and homes with fresh flora
As a true “Tree of Life” we esteem Holy Writ:
Offering meaning and manners refined,
Ours to embrace, explore, and transmit.
Priceless this gift God gave humankind!
Fresh wisdom is constantly mined from its pages,
Though this ancient text has endured countless ages.
Rapt our attention to codex or Scroll,
Searching this roadmap to earthly life’s goal.
Food for the mind. And the heart. And the soul.

56 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018


Andrea Delman
Andrea Delman, 63, of Oakland died May 14.
She was an education professional.
She is survived by her husband, Charlie, mother,
Maxine Siegel, daughters Lauren Binder ( Jeff ), and
Leslie, and a brother, Jeff Siegel (Patty).
Arrangements were by Gutterman and Musicant
Jewish Funeral Directors, Hackensack.
Lester Kempner
Lester T. Kempner, 89, of River Vale died May 13.
A U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, he earned a
Bronze Star as a second lieutenqnt at the Battle of Pork
Chop Hill, and was a Roosevelt University graduate. He
was an executive at Bargain Town and Toys ‘R’ Us, then a
stockbroker and financial planner.
Predeceased by a brother, Marvin, he is survived by
his wife, Lois, née Neiman, children, Ellen Kempner
(Lee Sucherman), Michael ( Jacqueline), and Brian
(Laura); grandchildren, Jamie O’Berry (Bentley), Emily
Sucherman, and Zachary, Melissa, Olivia, Ethan, and
Ross Kempner; a great-grandson, Wyatt O’Berry, and
sister-in-law, Eleanor Kempner.
Donations can be made to Caps or Kids. Arrangements
were by Robert Schoem’s Menorah Chapel, Paramus.
Gloria Krieger
Gloria “Sug” Sugar Krieger, 89, of Paramus, formerly of
Lake Worth, Fla., River Vale, and Fair Lawn, died May 16.
Predeceased by her husband of 70 years, Herbert,
in January, she is survived by children, Beth Krieger
(Ira Deutchman) of New York City, and Marc (Pat) of
Hillsdale; a sister, Claire Goldberg; grandchildren Jeff,
Kate Groob ( Jason), and Emily and Doug, and nieces,
nephews, and cousins.
Donations can be made to the Scleroderma
Foundation tri-state chapter, or Jewish Federation of
Northern NJ.
Arrangements were by Robert Schoem’s Menorah
Chapel, Paramus.
Harriet Mann
Harriet Mann, née Griss, 85, of Old Tappan, formerly of
Fair Lawn, died May 14.
A Hunter College graduate, she taught elementary and
junior high school and was an artist whose works were
featured in area exhibitions.
Predeceased by her husband of 46 years, Dr. Sidney, and
a sister, Joan Ziegler, she is survived by children, Steven
(Robyn) of Riverdale, N.Y., and Linda Spelling (Ian) of
Woodcliff Lake; grandchildren, Justin, Molly, Sydney and
Giselle Mann, and Max and Jamie Spelling; nephews Larry,
Sam, and Ted; a niece, Susan, and a sister-in-law Racelle.
Donations can be made to American Cancer Society.
Arrangements were by Robert Schoem’s Menorah
Chapel, Paramus.
Obituaries
Fredda Penofsky
Fredda Penofsky, née Strausberg, 95 of Fair Lawn
died May 5.
Before retiring, she was a bookkeeper at Unlimited
Obituaries are prepared with
Software in Fair Lawn.
Predeceased by her husband, Benjamin, children, information provided by funeral homes.
Penny Carenza and Elliot, a brother, Seymour Correcting errors is the responsibility of the
Strausberg, and a grandchild, Stacy Siegel, she is funeral home.
survived by a grandchild, Barry Carenza (Michelle).
Donations can be made to the ASPCA or to Cancer
Care. Arrangements were by Louis Suburban Chapel,
Fair Lawn.
Carolyn Schiff
Carolyn Goldstone Schiff, 98, of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.,
formerly of Monroe Township, died May 11.
She was an executive secretary before retiring.
Predeceased by husbands Herman Goldstone
and Morris Schiff, she is survived by children and Funeral Planning Simplified
stepchildren, Philip Goldstone (Heidi), Sandra BergenJewishChapel.com
Rosenberg ( Jay), David Schiff (Devora), and
Carol Hakala (Bill); grandchildren, Lori, Erica, 201.261.2900 | 789 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666
Ezra, Samuel, Joseph, Brett, and Chad; six great-
grandchildren; nephew, Jeffrey Layne, and niece Owner/Manager Daniel W. Leber, NJ Lic. No3186
Beth Layne, and families.
Donations can be made to Visiting Nurse Association
of Englewood, American Heart Association, Cycle Robert Schoem’s Menorah Chapel, Inc
for Survival, or the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Jewish Funeral Directors
Arrangements were by Robert Schoem’s Menorah Family Owned & managed
Chapel, Paramus. Generations of Lasting Service to the Jewish Community
• Serving NJ, NY, FL &
Throughout USA
• Our Facilities Will Accommodate
Your Family’s Needs
Shirley Smith • Prepaid & Preneed Planning • Handicap Accessibility From
Shirley Smith, née Kleinman, 97, of Clearwater, Fla., • Graveside Services Large Parking Area
formerly of New York, died May 9. Gary Schoem – Manager - NJ Lic. 3811
Jordan E. Schoem – Funeral Director - NJ Lic. 5146
Predeceased by her husband, Felix, she is survived
Conveniently Located
by children, Dr. Bruce of Clearwater, Craig of W-150 Route 4 East • Paramus, NJ 07652
Riverdale, and Janis Mills of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.; five 201.843.9090 1.800.426.5869
grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
Arrangements were by Eden Memorial Chapels,
Fort Lee.
Deena Heller Linzenberg
Established 1902
It is with a heavy heart and lifetime
Headstones, Duplicate Markers and Cemetery Lettering
With Personalized and Top Quality Service
of happiness that we share Deena
Heller Linzenberg died peacefully Please call 1-800-675-5624
in her sleep, Friday morning, May www.kochmonument.com
11, 2018, at the age of 55. Deena
76 Johnson Ave., Hackensack, NJ 07601
was born and raised in Queens, NY
to Jacob and Shirley Nussbaum.
She graduated with a Bachelors in
finance from Adelphi University and later moved to We continue to be Jewish family managed,
Bergen County, NJ. where she raised a wonderful knowing that caring people provide caring service.
family. She was full of life and personality. She had
the biggest heart and was the most outgoing, funny, GUTTERMAN AND MUSICANT
caring and loving individual to all that knew her. A
beautiful soul inside and out.
JEWISH FUNERAL DIRECTORS
Deena is survived by her husband, Jerome 800-522-0588
Linzenberg, and her children Jessica and Brandon
Heller. She is also survived by her mother, Shirley,
WIEN & WIEN, INC. MEMORIAL CHAPELS
her sister Pearl, her two brothers, Alan and Eric, and
800-322-0533
many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her 402 Park Street, Hackensack, New Jersey 07601
father, Jacob, and brother, Jeffrey.
ALAN L. MUSICANT, Mgr., N.J. Lic. No. 2890
Deena showed us the true definition of strength and
unconditional love. Her love for life — and sheer will MARTIN D. KASDAN, N.J. Lic. No. 4482
to survive — lives on in all of us. Advance Planning Conferences Conveniently Arranged
Contributions can be made to the Lustgarten
at the Funeral Home or in Your Own Home
Foundation in Deena’s name.
— Paid Obituary — GuttermanMusicantWien.com
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 57
Classified
Cemetery Plots For Sale Situations Wanted Cleaning Service
(201) 837-8818
Handyman Masonry Plumbing
chha looking to work with elderly,
live-in. Over 10 yrs experience; ex- A Team of Your Neighbor with Tools PICCA Masonry APL Plumbing & Heating LLC
Beth ISRAEL CEMETERY
cellent references. 732-689-0052 Polish Women Home Improvements & Handyman Est. 1955 Complete Kitchen &
Woodbridge Clean Shomer Shabbat · Free Estimates Waterproofing · Steps Bath Remodeling
2 plots - adjacent chha with 5yrs experience look- • Apartments • Boilers · Hot Water Heaters · Leaks
ing to work with elderly, hourly, ex- Over 20 Years Experience Walls · Tile · Repairs
Asking $2500 ea Homes • Offices EMERGENCY SERVICE
973-731-6103 cellent references, driver’s license, Experienced • References Adam 201-675-0816 Lic #13vh00258800 Fully Licensed, Bonded and Insured
own car. Call 201-989-7982 amark2@hotmail.com · NJ Lic. #13VH05023300 NO JOB IS TOO SMALL!
201-679-5081 201-967-9295
chha with New Jersey and NY
Instagram: yourneighborwithtools 201-358-1700 · Lic. #12285
lics. looking for 24/7 live-in posi-
Help Wanted tiion. 10 years experience. Refer-
companion Sundays, 9am-8pm, ences. Lt cooking/cleaning. 908- Cleaning & Hauling Home Improvements For Sale
to work with senior couple. Call 275-7728

BESTof the BEST

B”H

ALL Must sell at rock bottom prices

Mrs. G 914-589-4673
Male and FEMALE CHHAs look-
Situations Wanted ing to care for elderly, years of ex-
Home Repair Service
A responsible woman looking to
care for elderly. Live-in or out. Re-
perience, references on request,
551-244-4004 CLEAN OUTS Carpentry Painting
Gorgeous 2-piece breakfront, fruit wood,
velvet-inlaid cutlery drawers, lots of storage
liable! Pleasant! Experienced! Ref- Home or Business Decks Kitchens
erences. Waiting for your call 347- Cleaning Service Basement-Garage-Apartment Locks/Doors Electrical space, Ethan Allan cocktail table 42” square
816-1363 Basements Paving/Masonry
Yard & Renovation Debris Bathrooms Drains/Pumps with thick glass top, chandeliers, more
A POLISH CLEANING WOMAN
caregivers available to care for - Homes, Apartments, Offices-
Fire Damage- Flood Debris Plumbing Maintenence
tables, bedroom sets, mirrors, couch 3-seater
elderly, live in/out/overnight. Cook, Tiles/Grout Hardwood Floors
15 years experience, excellent Free Estimates
clean, drive; starting at $10/hour. references. General Repairs and 2 matching clubchairs, wood legs and
201-814-4412 Call Pete McDonnell
Affordable rates!
NO JOB IS TOO SMALL reupholsterd in beige ultra suede, dining
Izabela 973-572-7031 201-286-8462 24 Hour x 5 1/2 Emergency Services
NJHIC# 13VH07259700 Shomer Shabbat Free Estimates room table and 10 chairs, and much more!
No Hazardous Waste 1-201-530-1873 All in perfect condition.
Antiques Call for appointment 201 647-7799

Sterling Associates Auctions

SEEKING CONSIGNMENT AND OUT RIGHT PURCHASES Help Wanted
Sculpture • Paintings • Porcelain • Silver
Jewelry • Furniture • Etc. Seeking Early Childhood Teachers Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls
TOP CASH PRICES PAID for 2018-2019 located in Teaneck, NJ seeks dynamic
Community Jewish Day School in Northwest Bergen educators to accommodate our growing
201-768-1140 • www.antiquenj.com County seeks experienced early childhood teachers population for September 2018.
info@antiquenj.com and assistants for 2018-2019 ages 21 months –
Full-time Science Teacher to teach Physics,
70 Herbert Avenue, Closter, N.J. 07642 Kindergarten. Knowledge of Jewish holidays and
Hebrew fluency a plus. Engineering, and AP Computer Science. This
FREE APPRAISALS TUESDAYS FROM 12-2 Please send your resume to: Sscher@ssnj.org position will be part of our renowned STEAM
team who continue to develop cutting-edge
IN OUR GALLERY. CALL FOR APPOINTMENT. curriculum.
Antiques
Part-time teaching positions in the following

Antiques Wanted
disciplines: English · Math · Music · ASL
We pay cash for Coaches and assistant coaches for our
Antique Furniture competitive athletic teams in the following sports:
Hockey · Soccer · Basketball
WE BUY Modern Furniture Interested candidates should please
Modern Art submit resumes to kahanr@maayanot.org
• Oil Paintings • Silver
Paintings
• Bronzes • Porcelain
Bronzes ❖ Silver
• Oriental Rugs • Furniture Chinese Porcelain & Art ADVERTISING
SALES REPRESENTATIVES
• Marble Sculpture • Jewelry Men’s & Women’s Watches The Jewish Standard is looking for professional,
• Tiffany Items • Chandeliers Top Dollar for any kind of ambitious, highly motivated and reliable full
and part-time outside sales representatives
• Chinese Art • Bric-A-Brac Jewelry, including costume for Bergen, Hudson and Rockland counties.
Candidates should have solid sales experience.
Print media and digital sales a plus. Work out of

Tyler Antiques ANS A

our Teaneck office.
• Good organizational, presentation
• Established by Bubbe in 1940! • and writing skills
Over 25 years courteous service to tri-state area
• Communication skills in person,
We come to you ❖ Free Appraisals by phone and email
tylerantiquesny@aol.com Shommer
Call Us! Shabbas
• Visit businesses and establish relationships

201-894-4770 201-861-7770 ❖ 201-951-6224

• Prospect via email and phone
Salary + commission. Car allowance.
Shomer Shabbos www.aadsa726@yahoo.com Send resume to natalie@jewishmediagroup.com

58 Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018

 Classified

rooFing

PARTY
Solution to last week’s puzzle. This week’s puzzle is
on page 52.

ALL ROOF Call us.

REPAIRS
Shingles | Flat | Slate
Englewood area
We’re waiting
for your PLANNER
Call Pete McDonnell
201-286-8462
classified ad!
Free Estimates 201-837-8818
36 yrs exp
NJHIC# 13VH07259700

ROOFING · SIDING
HACKENSACK GUTTERS · LEADERS Jewish Music with an Edge

Free ROOFING
OOFING Roof
Ari Greene · 201-837-6158
AGreene@BaRockorchestra.com
Estimates CO. Repairs www.BaRockOrchestra.com
INC.
201-487-5050 83 FIRST STREET
HACKENSACK, NJ 07601

“ Being hungry affects

your appearance,
Inspired by Jewish values and ideals,
MAZON is a national advocacy
how you act. When I’m
hungry, I’m not in the
“ organization working to end hunger
mood for anything. among people of all faiths
and backgrounds in the
United States and Israel.

Help us end hunger.

Please donate today.

10850 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 400

Los Angeles CA 90024
(800) 813-0557 | mazon.org

Jewish standard MaY 18, 2018 59

60 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018
  Real Estate & Business

Bergen Jewish Chapel THINKING FLORIDA? TM

offers online access

for funeral planning
Bergen Jewish Chapel has announced its new online
funeral service arrangement process. This simplified
process focuses on nonaffiliated, Reform, and liberal Now selling
Jewish families and greatly helps relieve the stress and Valencia Bay
burden of dealing with end-of-life issues, without visit- Houses, condos, and rentals in active adult,
ing the funeral home. country club, and beachside communities TEANECK - $372,900 BOGOTA - $499,900
“We understand and are very empathetic to families Advantage Plus GLENPOINTE 506 River Road
wishing to eliminate the burden of a face-to-face meet- 601 S. Federal Hwy • Boca Raton, FL 33432 7 Carlyle Ct Open Sunday May 20 1-5
ing at a funeral home.” said Daniel W. Leber, owner Elly & Ed Lepselter Open Sunday May 20 1-4
and manager of Bergen Jewish Chapel. “Our online (561) 302-9374
service provides the ability to meet loved ones’ needs
TENAFLY
ALPINE/CLOSTER
and traditions while continuing to benefit from our Orna RIVER VALE
Jackson, TENAFLY
Sales Associate CRESSKILL
201-376-1389
201-768-6868 201-666-0777 201-894-1234 201-871-0800
894-1234
commitment to personal attention.”
This new concept consists of a clear, web-based
funeral arrangement process. It includes selecting
one’s desired services and products, along with allow-
ing families to provide all necessary vital statistical
Open House
information.
Families who prefer to meet with our experienced
Sunday, May 20 • 1-5 pm
506 River Road, Bogota OPEN HOUSES
funeral professionals are welcome to do so at our loca- SUNDAY, MAY 20
tions at 789 Teaneck Road, or at 268 Kinderkamack t TEANECK t
Road, Oradell.

JTS selects honorees

for Louis Marshall gala
Job # 4371
The 2018 Louis Marshall Award Dinner, an annual gala
presented by The Jewish Theological Seminary, will
Size: W = 3.125" x HT = 2"
celebrate the JTS community and its new 21st century
campus. Relax on the porch. Warm up by the fireplace.
The dinner will recognize Ira Schuman and David 5 bedrooms, 3 baths. Eat-in-kitchen. Hardwood floors
Years ofGorgeous
experience and2d 1043 Wilson Ave. $594,900 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Carlos from Savills Studley, a commercial real estate throughout. woodwork. edication
zone CAC.
One of a Kind Eng Tudor. Stunning LR/Fplc, FDR, Gorgeous Mod Kit/
advisory firm, as well as Tod Williams and Billie Tsien A must sara
aresee. ’s to
Priced Hsell! $499,900
allmark of s uccess
Bkfst Rm. 5 BRs, 4.5 Bths. Fin Bsmt. 2 Car Gar.
from Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners,
for their work on the project. SaraLopatin
Sara Lopatin
Broker/Sales Associate
293 Glen Ct. $759,900 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Sunlit, Sprawling Bi-Lev. C. Club Area. 2 Story Ent, Grand LR, Formal
JTS is in the process of reimagining its campus to Broker/Sales Associate
DR, Ultra Isle Kit/Deck. 4 BRs, 3 New Bths incl Master Suite. Lg Fam
serve the growing and evolving needs of students, fac- Friedberg Properties
Office: 201-227-4060 Rm, New Roof/Siding/Windws/Cent Air. 3 Zone H/W Heat. 2 Car Gar.
ulty, and the community at large. Designed to support Office:201-647-7799
Cell: 201-871-0800 149 Circle Drvwy. $314,900 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
world-class scholarship, the new JTS campus will cre- Cell: 201-647-7799 Perfect Starter Home. Quiet Street. Liv Rm, Din Rm, Eat in Kit, 3 BRs,
ate a dynamic hub for Jewish learning and living, for saralopatin@yahoo.com
saralopatin@gmail.com 2 Full Baths, Fin Bsmt. Fenced Yard.
building community, and for exchanging ideas with
the world around it. Formerly the Burgdoff Cresskill Office • 46 Union Ave. • 201-569-1100 140 E Lawn Dr. $414,900 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
©2010 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE C Club Area. Custom Cape. Spacious 4 BR, 2 Full Baths. 76' x101'
The dinner will be held May 23 at the Mandarin Ori- Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT LLC.
Prop/Rm to Exp. LR/Fplc open to DR/Built-ins, Granite Kit, Fin Bsmt.
ental, 80 Columbus Circle, Manhattan, beginning with 3 Season Porch. C/A/C. $414,900
cocktails at 6:30 p.m.

FOR SALE BY APPOINTMENT

Teaneck jewelry sale
Looking for sterling silver jewelry that never tarnishes?
Prefer 14k gold? Or great gifts for children, teens, and
adults, including for brides, grads, and campers?
Come to Bunny Hain’s Jewelry Super Sale Tuesday,
May 22, and Wednesday, May 23, from 10 to 2 p.m. and
5 to 9 p.m. at 526 Rutland Ave., Teaneck. Call Bunny @
(201) 837-8437 for information.
thejewishstandard.com
+25,054 SF t TEANECK t
730 River Road · New Milford, NJ W Eglw Area. Quiet Street. LR/Fplc, DR, Gorgeous Lg Grnt Isle Kit
leads to Encl Porch+Huge Yard/Gazebo, Den. 3 BRs, 1.5 Baths. H/W
Flrs, C/A/C, Gar. $479,000
Stunning Eng Tudor. Hosp Area. Completely Updated. 4 BRs, 3.5
Baths. LR/Fplc+Alcove, Formal DR, Lg Grnt Cntrd Kit to Deck, Fin
Bsmt. H/W Flrs + Chestnut Trim. C/A/C. $624,900
Fabulous Contemp. Move-in Cond. Lg LR open to Formal DR, Ultra
Isle Grnt Kit, Skylighted Great Rm. 3 BRs, 3 Full Baths. Grnd Flr
Game Rm+2 Ofcs. 2 Car Gar. C/A/C. Prime W Eglwd Area. $699,000
• Ideal for user/purchaser
ALL CLOSE TO NY BUS / HOUSES OF WORSHIP /
• Purchaser can occupy up to 12,427 SF/possibly more HIGHWAYS / SHOPS / SCHOOLS
• Three existing tenants occupy portion of 2nd floor
For Our Full Inventory including
• Just 2.2 miles to Route 4 at Riverside Square Mall
Details & Pictures, Visit our Website
Mark Siegler Mark Hirschinger
www.RussoRealEstate.com
201 528 4422 201 528 4417
(201) 837-8800
mark.siegler@am.jll.com Marc.hirschinger@am.jll.com

JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 61

Real Estate & Business

St. Paul’s in Englewood features ‘Music of the Jewish Tradition’

St. Paul’s in Englewood is presenting its 8th
Annual Spring concert, “Music of the Jewish
Tradition,” on Sunday, May 20, at 5 p.m. This
exciting event features the music of Ernest
Bloch, Kurt Weill, and Leonard Bernstein’s
“Chichester Psalms.”
St. Paul’s has a long history of serving the
greater community, with a congregation
that represents more than 20 countries and
cultures. It is proud to share its space with
St. Michael’s Orthodox Ethiopian Church
and Kol HaNeshama, a Conservative Jew-
ish community. Mark Trautman, director
of music, explained, “We offer a series
of concerts throughout the year as a gift
of beauty and refreshment to the greater
Englewood community and beyond.” St.
Paul’s is known for its community spirit,
professional musical performances, and
historic ambiance.
The concert celebrates the 100th anni-
versary of the birth of Leonard Bern-
stein: American composer, conductor,
author, music lecturer, and pianist who
wrote in many styles; symphonic and
orchestral music, ballet, film and theater
music, choral works, opera, chamber
music and piano works. Bernstein com-
posed “Chichester Psalms” for the 1965
Southern Cathedrals Festival at Chiches-
ter Cathedral in England, combining bib-
lical Hebrew verse with Christian choral
tradition. Bernstein himself chose
the texts, including a setting of “The
Lord is my shepherd” that is expressly
designed to be sung by a boy or male
countertenor, underscoring the text
as a true “Song of David.”
Ernest Bloch’s “The Sacred Service”
was based on the prayer book of the
Reform movement of American Juda-
ism and has been called “a high-water
mark of 20th-century synagogue song.”
Kurt Weill’s best known work is the
“Three Penny Opera” — with the song
“Mack the Knife” becoming a jazz stan-
dard recorded by popular performers.
The piece in this concert, “Kiddush,” is
probably the only liturgical work Weill
wrote for worship.
The St. Paul’s Choir and St. Paul’s
Choir School will make this concert
come alive with their resounding voices
and will be joined by members of Kol
Emet, the adult choir of Anshe Emeth
Memorial Temple in New Brunswick.
The public is invited to hear this
appealing musical concert at the his-
toric St. Paul’s Church 113 Engle St.
There is a suggested donation of $25
or $20 for seniors and students, and a
reception will follow. For further infor-
mation, check stpaulsenglewood.org or
call (201) 568-3276.

Kaplen JCC on the Palisades

SELLING YOUR HOME? offers three new exercise
classes for senior adults
The Kaplen JCC on the Palisades is now can engage in “fitness boxing” which
offering three new free exercise classes adapts key movements of the sport to
for seniors that can increase flexibility provide a healthy, high-energy exer-
and strength, as well as boost cogni- cise routine that forces people to think
tive activity, through simple, repetitive quickly, while constantly changing their
and challenging movements that can position and posture. Like dance, fit-
be done while standing or sitting. The ness boxing gets the heart pumping
goal is to get seniors in the community and helps lower the risk of high blood
to commit to a program that will engage pressure, heart disease, stroke, and dia-
their mind and body and provide health betes. It can also strengthen bones and
benefits that will keep them happy and muscles, improve eye-hand coordina-
independent. tion and balance, lift mood and boost
endurance. These all-around benefits
Yoga, Tai Chi, and Dance become particularly helpful for seniors
for Parkinson’s Disease when it comes to climbing stairs, carry-
Tuesdays, 1 p.m. ing groceries, taking walks, and feeling
Parkinson’s disease (PD) severely
self-reliant. Join the group for light box-
ing and resistance training that will train
impacts quality of life with symptoms
your mind and body.
such as slowed motion, rigidity, trem-
ors and postural instability. The best
Call Susan Laskin Today
treatment for such symptoms is balance Cardio Dance Party
To Make Your Next Move A Successful One! Thursdays, 1 p.m.
intervention that can come from disci-
BergenCountyRealEstateSource.com Cell: 201-615-5353 plines such as Tai Chi, yoga, and dance. As one can easily guess, dance can serve
©2018 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Since PD impacts the part of the brain as a form of physical therapy for seniors.
An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT LLC.
responsible for initiating movement, As an effective aerobic activity, dancing
dance seems to be particularly helpful burns calories, elevates the heart rate to

J J
J
because it provides auditory, visual and pump oxygen faster through your blood,

immy im
im
tactile stimuli. Yoga and Tai Chi offer
similar benefits as they stress balance
and breath, which naturally activate
the body’s relaxation response. Weight
and is appropriate for any age and fit-
ness level. People who dance boost
their energy levels, reduce their risk of
high blood pressure, heart disease and

the Junk Man the

the
training and high-endurance exercise
training are also recommended for PD
diabetes, strengthen their hearts, and
improve their overall mood. Other ben-

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL RESIDEN patients as evidence now indicates that

endurance training can improve cogni-
efits include improved gait and balance,
increased stamina, and a decreased risk
WE CLEAN OUT: tion or stop the rate at which it declines. of falling, whichWEis a particularly serious
Basements •Basements Attics • Garages • Fire Damage Join this group for an enjoyable and concern • when it comes Att to the elderly.
Construction Debris •
Construction Hoarding Specialists uplifting exercise experience. According to the American Council on De
Exercise, dancing may also help improve
WE RECYCLE W
CALL TODAY memory. Join this group and dance your
Boxing for Seniors
CALL TODAY FOR A FREE ESTIMATE Wednesdays 1 p.m. way to better health!

201-66•1845-600-5941
201-661-4940 - 4940 201- 6
Boxing has become a popular way for
older adults to stay fit. Minus stepping
The JCC is located at 411 East Clinton
Ave., Tenafly. For more information call
We do not transport solid or hazardous waste We into do a ring and taking punches,not seniors (201) 569-7900. trans

62 JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018

 HOUSE
CALLS BOGOTA
ANTIQUES & ESTATE BUYERS
WE PAY CASH FOR
SINGLE ITEMS TO
ENTIRE ESTATES!
• Watches, Clocks, Pocket Watches
• Paintings, Prints, Bronzes
• Estate Jewelry
• Coin & Stamp Collections
• Judaica • Costume Jewelry
• Antique Furniture • Lamps
• Chinese & Japanese MOVING or
Artwork & Porcelain DOWNSIZING?
Call Us!
Military • Sports Collectibles
Collections
Wanted • Comic Books • Old Toys • Records
Swords,
Knives,
• Cameras • Sterling Flatware Sets
Helmets, etc.
HUMMELS & LLADROS

TOP $
for Antique
Sterling!
201-880-5455
CELL 917-887-6465
CELL
CELL 917-887-6465
917-887-6465
ANTIQUE & ESTATE BUYERS
346 Palisade Ave, Bogota
WILL TRAVEL
ENTIRE
TRI-STATE!
We
We buy
buy anything
anything old.
old. One
One piece
piece or
or house
house full.
full. FREE
Estimates!
WILL TRAVEL.
WILL TRAVEL. HOUSE
HOUSE CALLS.
CALLS.
JEWISH STANDARD MAY 18, 2018 63
 HAPPY

CHAG SAMEACH
FROM CEDAR MARKET

64 Jewish Standard MAY 18, 2018