vol. 85, no. 22 n f r i d ay , o c t o b e r 1 6 , 2 0 0 9 n 28 tishrei 5769 n jtnews.

net

JT
news
the voice of jewish washington
Joel Magalnick
Yael Shuval, with Lauren Brown looking on, sniffs an etrog during Jconnect’s Sukkot Harvest Festival Farm to Table dinner on Oct. 4. Read about the visit to the farm on page 4.

Obama’s Nobel, Israel’s problem? New JCC

Leslie Susser And on Wednesday, the House of Representatives head envisions
collaboration,
JTA World News Service passed the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009, which
ANALYSIS would allow state and local governments to divest from

partnerships with
companies that invest in Iran’s petroleum or natural gas
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Although warm and effusive sector, or do business with the country’s nuclear industry.

in their congratulations, Israeli officials fear President
Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize could limit his options on
Iran.
They argue that Obama, having won the prestigious
award for restoring the role of diplomacy in interna-
tional affairs, may be more inclined to take the military
option off the table, paving the way for Iran to advance its
nuclear plans with relative impunity.
The Israelis have similar concerns on the Palestinian
track, fearing the prize might encourage Obama to redou-
ble his efforts for an independent Palestinian state by 2012
by pressing Israel to make far-reaching concessions.
Even before news of the Nobel, Prime Minister Benja-
min Netanyahu had deep misgivings about the new U.S.
diplomatic engagement with Iran.
Successful dialogue could lead to pressure on Israel to
dismantle its reputed nuclear arsenal. One Israeli night-
mare scenario is that Iran demands Israeli nuclear dis-
armament as a condition of its agreement to drop its
nuclear weapons program.
Were this to happen, the Israelis fear the praise
the Norwegian Nobel committee heaped on Obama’s
advocacy of a nuclear-free world could exacerbate their
predicament.
What more worries Israeli strategic thinkers is the
more likely scenario of a U.S.-Iran dialogue that fails to
produce conclusive results, sucking the Obama admin-
istration into a long, meandering process the Iranians
would use as a cover to advance their nuclear activities.
The concern persists, despite U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s reassurance in London last
weekend that “the international community will not wait
indefinitely for evidence that Iran is prepared to live up to
its international obligations.”
In light of these considerations, the Netanyahu govern-
ment appears to be developing a pragmatic Iran strategy.
Netanyahu seems resigned to waiting out Washington’s
efforts at dialogue and to giving international sanctions a
chance if dialogue fails. Some of Netanyahu’s close advis-
ers say the dialogue stage is necessary so that when it fails
— as it is bound to do, they argue — Obama will be able to
muster an effective and widely backed sanctions regime.
The main plank of the Israeli waiting game, how-
ever, is to coordinate throughout as closely as possible
with Washington on intelligence and on possible mili-
tary action. Netanyahu, who has warned repeatedly that
Israel will not tolerate a nuclear Iran, does not want to act
without close U.S. coordination.
That’s where this month’s huge joint military exercise in
Israel’s Negev Desert comes in. In maneuvers dubbed Juni-
per Cobra, the Israel Defense Forces, the U.S. European
Command and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency will test
four defense systems against incoming ballistic missiles,
such as those from Iran. The main purpose will be to hone
the interoperability of Israel’s Arrow 2 and three state-of-
the-art American systems: The high-altitude THAAD, the
ship-based Aegis and the lower-altitude Patriot PAC 3.
All four will be coordinated by American X-Band
Radar, deployed in the Negev since last October and
capable of tracing an object as small as a baseball from
a distance of approximately 3,000 miles. This means that
with X-Band and the various interceptor systems, Israel
theoretically could shoot down Iranian Shihab missiles
shortly after take-off and possibly still over Iranian terri-
tory. Israelis also would get warning time of five to seven
minutes to take cover after Iranian missile firings.
u Page 14
Jewish community
Joel Magalnick
Editor, JTNews
Several weeks after taking the reins of the Stroum
Jewish Community Center, CEO Judy Neuman sat down
with JTNews to share her thoughts on how the JCC cur-
rently serves the community and her vision of what the
JCC can be in the future. A full, unabridged version of the
interview can be found at www.jtnews.net.
JTNews: What do you think of your new job so far?
Judy Neuman: I’m loving it actually, it’s wonderful.
I spent, really, the first several weeks looking inside the
box, if you will, really looking inside the JCC, meeting all
the team members. I’m not through everybody yet, but I
literally want to meet and spend time with every person
u Page 12
Haq trial to begin Monday
On Monday, Judge Paris K. Kallas is expected to
begin the retrial of Naveed Haq. Haq is charged with
shooting six women, killing one, at the Jewish Feder-
ation of Greater Seattle in July of 2006. His first trial
ended last year with a hung jury.
Selection for this trial’s jury is expected to end
by Friday. JTNews will provide coverage of the trial
throughout.

Page 5
inside

Community Calendar 2
M.O.T.: Member of the Tribe 7
Arts & Entertainment 14
Lifecycles 17
Jewish on Earth 20
www.jtnews.net
new at

The Shouk Classifieds 19

Page 10
a j e w i s h t r a n s c r i p t p u b l i c a t i o n n $ 1 . 5 0
 2 jtnews n friday,
community calendar
The JTNews calendar presents a selection
of ongoing events in the Jewish community.
For a complete listing of events, or to add
your event to the JTNews calendar, visit
www.jtnews.net. Calendar events must be
submitted no later than 10 days before
publication.
Looking for the ongoing section? Find
recurring events online at www.jtnews.net.
Candle Lighting Times
10/16/09 6:03 p.m.
10/23/09 5:50 p.m.
10/30/09 5:38 p.m.
11/6/09 4:24 p.m.
October
Friday 16
■■12 p.m. – StandWithUs Northwest 2009
Community Luncheon
seattle@standwithus.com
A celebration of Israel and a fundraising
luncheon for Israel advocacy organization
StandWithUs Northwest. $72 couvert. At
the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 1400 6th Ave.,
Seattle.
■■5 p.m. – Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon reads from his collection of
personal essays, Manhood for Amateurs: The
Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father,
and Son. Chabon is also the author of The
Yiddish Policeman’s Union and The Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which won
the Pulitzer Prize in 2001. At Elliott Bay Book
Co., 101 S Main St., Seattle.
Saturday 17
■■4:30 p.m. – “The Mystery of Enoch”
Erica Curnutte at 206-323-5750, ext. 264
or ecurnutte@sha613.org
Text study with Rivy Poupko Kletenik. At
Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath, 5145 S
Morgan St., Seattle.
■■6 p.m. – Guest Rabbi on Whidbey
Stefan at 360-321-5206 or
schlesinger.stefan@gmail.com
Rabbi Zari Weiss of Seattle visits the
Whidbey Island Jewish community to lead
a Havdalah service and speak on the topic
“A Jewish Primer to Building Community.”
At Greenbank Progressive Hall, at the corner
of Bakken and Firehouse Roads, Whidbey
Island.
Sunday 18
■■10:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. – JFS Food Sort
Jane Deer-Hileman at 206-861-3155 or
volunteer@jfsseattle.org
Volunteers are needed to help sort the food
collected during Jewish Family Service’s
annual food drive. All ages welcome.
Advance registration required. At Acme
Food Sales Warehouse, address provided
upon RSVP.
■■10:30 a.m. – Penny Orloff
seattle@hadassah.org
Fall kickoff event for Seattle Chapter
Hadassah featuring guest speaker Penny
With 12 years experience
as a prosecutor,
Tom Carr
knows how
to beat crime
paid for by tom carr for city attorney u 5358 admiral Way sW u seattle Wa 98116 u 206.354.9966
www.tomcarrForcityattorney.com u tomcarrForcityattorney@comcast.net
october 16, 2009
october 16 – november 3, 2009
Orloff, a former Broadway actress. She will
discuss her book Jewish Thighs on Broadway:
Misadventures of A Little Trouper. At the
Seattle Yacht Club, 1807 E Hamlin St.,
Seattle.
■■1:30 p.m. – WSJHS Annual Meeting
Lori at 206-774-2277 or
reservations@wsjhs.org
At its annual meeting, the Washington State
Jewish Historical Society will mark the 1909
Alaska Yukon Pacific Exhibition centennial
with a celebration of Jewish businesses in
operation at the time. At The Summit at First
Hill, 1200 University St., Seattle.
Monday 19
■■7 p.m. – Women’s Night of Jewish
Learning
Anna Frankfort at 206-774-2226 or
annaf@jewishinseattle.org
Monthly interactive Jewish learning, dessert,
and schmoozing sponsored by Women’s
Philanthropy in conjunction with the Jewish
Federation of Greater Seattle. Location
provided upon RSVP.
Wednesday 21
■■12 - 1 p.m. – East-Side Lox ‘n’ Learn
Jacob at jacob@hilleluw.org
Lunch and a discussion led by Rabbi Jacob
Fine. RSVP requested. At Microsoft, building
9, room 2569, Redmond.
Tuesday 20
■■8 a.m. – City Council Candidate
Debates
Listen to Jewish city council candidates
David Ginsberg, Jessie Israel and Robert
Rosencrantz debate their opponents. At the
Seattle Public Library, Microsoft Auditorium,
1000 4th Ave., Seattle.
■■10 a.m. – Energy: New Technologies, the
Weather & Conservation
425-603-9677, www.templebnaitorah.org
Andy Wappler of Puget Sound Energy will
connect energy and climate change to local
weather, and will share simple changes he
made in his home to reduce his energy use.
Hosted by JFS’s Endless Opportunities
program. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE
4th St., Bellevue.
■■10 a.m. - 2 p.m. – Senior Resource and
Preparedness Fair
Ulla Rychter at 206-546-3053
A chance to meet representatives from
agencies offering services and resources for
seniors. Free. Co-sponsored by Temple Beth
Am. At the Meadowbrook Community
Center, 10517 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
Wednesday 21
■■11:30 a.m. – Daytimers Lunch & Film
Series
Leslie Reibman at 206-232-8555, ext.
207 or leslie@h-nt.org
Herzl-Ner Tamid’s seniors group presents
a screening of the movie Mendel, about a
German-Jewish boy born shortly after WWII.
Cost is $7 per person and includes a
homemade lunch. At Herzl-Ner Tamid
a FeW years ago, a seattle judge released an
abusive husband tom carr wanted in jail. shortly,
the batterer murdered his wife. as city attorney,
tom carr fights to keep you, your family, your
property, and your community safe. With tom as
city attorney, the crime rate in seattle dropped to
its lowest level in 40 years. tom made a difference.
people in the know, know tom will keep us safe.
Vote to re-elect tom carr, city attorney
chief prosecutor for the city of seattle, tom
prosecutes misdemeanors such as hate crimes,
driving under the influence, sexual assault,
domestic violence, along with assault, stealing
and trespassing. tom carr is nationally awarded
for his compassionate methods.
Conservative Congregation, 3700 E Mercer
Island Way, Mercer Island.
■■12 - 1 p.m. – East-Side lox n’ Learn
Jacob at jacob@hilleluw.org
Lunch and a discussion led by Rabbi Jacob
Fine. RSVP requested. At Microsoft, Building
9, Room 2569, Redmond.
■■6:30 p.m. – Daniel Goldhagen Reading
Daniel Goldhagen’s latest book, Worse Than
War, explains why genocides begin, why
societies support them, and how the inter-
national community can successfully stop
them. At Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave.,
Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Iran Forum
Kim Greenhall at 206-774-2221 or
kimg@jewishinseattle.org
AIPAC, the American Jewish Committee,
the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle,
StandWithUs and Temple De Hirsch Sinai
and a panel of experts explore questions
about Iran’s history, politics and nuclear
goals. At Temple De Hirsch Sinai, 1511 E
Pike St., Seattle.
Thursday 22
■■11:30 a.m. – Holocaust Center Fundrais-
ing Luncheon
206-774-2201 or admin@wsherc.org
The Washington State Holocaust Education
Resource Center will host its fifth annual
fundraising luncheon. The event’s theme is
“Voices for Humanity” and will honor three
hidden children from Holland who regularly
visit Seattle-area classrooms to share their
stories. At the Westin Seattle, 1900 5th Ave.,
Seattle.
■■7:30 p.m. – Understanding the Statewide
Ballot Initiatives
The National Council of Jewish Women
Seattle Section and The Summit at First Hill
present a discussion of the statewide initia-
tives that will be found on the ballot this
fall. At The Summit at First Hill, 1200 Uni-
versity St., Seattle.
Sunday 25
■■2 p.m. – Ride the Ducks
Josh at joshf@hilleluw.org
An outing to Ride the Ducks with Jconnect.
At Ride the Ducks of Seattle, 516 Broad St.,
Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Caring for Our Aging Parents
Marjorie Schnyder at 206-861-3146 or
familylife@jfsseattle.org
Jewish Family Service presents a workshop
series for adult children of aging parents.
The first event will address the topic “Sup-
porting Your Parents Long Distance.” $10.
Location provided upon RSVP.
Wednesday 28
■■6:15 p.m. – “Taking Charge of Your
Fertility”
Tamar Lieb at tamar007@aol.com
Author Toni Weschler will give a talk on
fertility for women looking for a more natural
form of birth control or trying to increase
their chances of pregnancy. Cost is $7 for
Hadassah members, $10 for non-members
Cynthia Williams
Call me for current market information
Call 206-769-7140
Russ Katz, Realtor
Windermere Real Estate/Wall St. Inc.
206-284-7327 (Direct)
www.russellkatz.com
JDS Grad & Past Board of Trustees Member
and $5 for students. At UW Hillel, 4745 NE
17th Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Intro to Genealogy and Family
History
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or
carolbenedick@bethshalomseattle.org or
www.bethshalomseattle.org
Carol Starin will examine primary documents
and provide tools, skills and resources
—Jewish and secular — for creating a family
tree and telling family stories. Cost is $60
for four sessions. At Congregation Beth
Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Tightwad Kosher: Building a
Jewish Home without Breaking the Bank
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or
carolbenedick@bethshalomseattle.org or
www.bethshalomseattle.org
Learn techniques for a kitchen kashered on
the cheap. Free. RSVP appreciated. At Con-
gregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE,
Seattle.
■■7:30 p.m. – Faith-Inspired Forum for
Healthcare Reform
Leaders from the three Abrahamic faiths and
Buddhism share teachings from their tradi-
tions that shed light on healthcare reform.
At Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle.
Thursday 29
■■9:45 - 11:45 a.m. – Architectural Tour
Ruth Dick at 206-328-6459
Two-hour architectural walking tour with
Temple Beth Am’s seniors group. $20. Meet
at Seattle Architecture Foundation gallery,
1333 5th Ave., 3rd floor, Seattle.
■■11 a.m. – Luncheon with Justice Bobbe
Bridge
Ellen Hendin at 206-861-3183 or
endlessopps@jfsseattle.org
Lunch and a discussion with former Wash-
ington State Supreme Court Justice Bobbe
Bridge, now president of the Center for
Children and Youth Justice. Hosted by the
JFS Endless Opportunities Program. At the
Temple De Hirsch Sinai foyer, 1441 16th
Ave., Seattle.
■■6 p.m. – Nimble Finger Knitting
Anna Frankfort at 206-774-2226 or
annaf@jewishinseattle.org
A group for beginning and advanced women
knitters, sponsored by Women’s Philan-
thropy in conjunction with the Jewish
Federation of Greater Seattle. Location
provided upon RSVP.
November
Tuesday 3
■■6:15 p.m. – A Taste of Ethnic Israel
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or
carolbenedick@bethshalomseattle.org or
www.bethshalomseattle.org
A special evening of food, storytelling and
cultural exploration with a group of women
from Kiryat Malachi, Israel. $10 for adults,
$3 for kids 5-12. Free for 4 and under.
Pre-registration required. At Congregation
Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE,
Seattle.
Associate Broker, EcoBroker
Quorum—Laurelhurst, Inc.
cwilliams@quorumseattle.com
www.seattlehomesforsale.net
Office 206-522-7003
Mercer Island High School Grad
University of Washington Grad
Misunderstanding the Iranian threat
Not all views will be represented at a panel on Iran
Richard Silverstein
Special to JTNews
On Oct. 21, several Jewish organizations
will host a community conference, “Under-
standing the Iranian Threat.” The Web site
of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
notes it “Will provide a look at Iran’s history
and political landscape; an in-depth anal-
ysis of the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran;
its strategic threat to Israel, the United
States and the world; and, an understand-
ing of how we can prevent it.”
While the panel speakers (from AIPAC,
the Jerusalem Post and the Israeli gov-
ernment) are qualified to represent the
views of the Israeli government, AIPAC
and StandWithUs, two of the sponsors, are
not qualified to discuss “Iran’s history and
political landscape” since they likely have
never visited Iran, do not speak Farsi, and
have no academic expertise in this field.
This event will present a partisan view
of the Iranian crisis. Expenses for this event
will be paid by AIPAC and StandWithUs,
hard-line pro-Israel advocacy groups.
Speakers will discuss “crippling sanctions”
(Bibi Netanyahu’s term) and, failing them, a
possible military attack on Iran.
Yaakov Katz, the speaker from the
Jerusalem Post, wrote that such an Israeli
military attack on Iran could cause the
current hard-line government to fall. In
The JTNews is the Voice of Jewish
Washington. Our mission is to meet
the interests of our Jewish community
through fair and accurate coverage of local,
national and international news, opinion
and information. We seek to expose our
readers to diverse viewpoints and vibrant
debate on many fronts, including the news
and events in Israel. We strive to contribute to
the continued growth of our local Jewish
community as we carry out our mission.
2041 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121
phone 206-441-4553 fax 206-441-2736
E-mail: editor@jtnews.net
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JTNews (ISSN0021-678X) is published biweekly by
The Seattle Jewish Transcript, a nonprofit corporation
owned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle,
2041 3rd Ave., Seattle, WA 98121. Subscriptions are
$39.50 for one year, $57.50 for two years. Periodi-
cals postage paid at Seattle, WA. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to JTNews, 2041 Third Ave.,
Seattle, WA 98121.
Staff
Reach us directly at 206-441-4553 + ext.
Publisher *Karen Chachkes 267
Editor *Joel Magalnick 233
Assistant Editor Leyna Krow 240
Account Executive Lynn Feldhammer 264
Account Executive David Stahl 235
Account Executive Stacy Schill 292
Classifieds Manager Rebecca Minsky 238
Art Director Susan Beardsley 239
Accountant Louise Kornreich 234
Production Artist Elisa Haradon
Board of Directors
Scott Michelson, Chair*; Robin Boehler; Don
Edmond; Lisa Eggers; Nancy Geiger; Cynthia
Flash Hemphill*; Allen Israel*; Stan Mark; Daniel
Mayer; Cantor David Serkin-Poole*; Sandy Sidell
Richard Fruchter, CEO and President,
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Ron Leibsohn, Federation Board Chair
*Member, JTNews Editorial Board
The opinions of our columnists and advertisers do
not necessarily reflect the views of JTNews.
We would love to hear from you! Our guide to writing a letter to the editor can be found on our Web site: www.jtnews.net/index.php?/static/item/611/
The deadline for the next issue is october 20 n future deadlines may be found online
friday, october 16, 2009
fact, almost every serious Iran analyst
believes that a military attack on Iran will
unite the nation behind the hard-line cler-
ics and doom the reformist movement.
The leader of the opposition, Mir-Hussein
Moussavi, has publicly warned that fur-
ther sanctions will hurt his movement.
We as Jews should think about the
long-term impact of U.S. and Israeli
actions. If we really wish a more dem-
ocratic Iran open to foregoing nuclear
weapons, then a pragmatic approach
advocated by the Obama administration
is the only way to go. As tempting as con-
fronting Iran is, we should think about
the impact of threats and harsh rhetoric
on political reality. Iran’s current hard-
line leadership is an unsavory lot. But a
policy of threats and confrontation will
strengthen it and not attain our goals.
The conference claims to represent the
consensus views of the local Jewish com-
munity. But the 2009 American Jewish
Committee national survey finds that
about one-third of Jews oppose an attack
on Iran. This realist strain in Jewish opin-
ion will not (as of the day I write this) be
represented by any panelist at the event.
The Israeli foreign ministry, AIPAC
and StandWithUs should not control this
debate within the Jewish community. For
that reason, a coalition of local commu-
nity groups, including some in the Jewish
community, will host a conference that
will present the alternative views that
should have been offered on Oct. 21.
In December, at Town Hall Seat-
tle, Keith Weissman, former director of
AIPAC’s Iran desk, Ian Lustick, politi-
cal science professor at the University of
Pennsylvania, and Trita Parsi, director
of the National Iranian American Coun-
cil, will present a pragmatic approach to
the Iranian crisis, which embraces diplo-
matic engagement and eschews force.
Unlike the Oct. 21 event, each of these
speakers has academic and direct per-
sonal experience of Iran along with deep
experience in Israel and its interests. I
invite Seattle’s Jewish community to hear
a point of view endorsed by one-third of
our fellow Jews, one that will unfortu-
nately not be otherwise heard.
Richard Silverstein writes the Tikun Olam
blog, found at www.richardsilverstein.com/
tikun_olam.
Approve Referendum 71
Referendum 71, which if passed will
enact into law Senate Bill 5688, giving
same-sex couples and domestic partners
over the age of 62 the same benefits given
to married couples, is supported by a large
number of Jewish institutions. It’s a list
that includes many synagogues and indi-
vidual rabbis across the state, the Anti-
Defamation League, the American Jewish
Committee, Jewish Family Service, the
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and
the Washington State Holocaust Educa-
tion Resource Center — among many
others. We urge approval of R-71 as well.
It’s an issue of fairness. As Jews, whether
it’s because we have experienced unequal
rights so many times in the past, or because
we live in the belief of loving thy neighbor
as thyself, it should be of utmost impor-
tance to ensure that our neighbors, our
coworkers, our fellow synagogue members
n jtnews
Housing for all
I read with interest your article about
housing and the Jewish community (“Yes
for homes!” Sept. 11). I am glad you men-
tioned the danger in the Eyman initiative.
It is important that people know to vote
no on 1033.
I would like to emphasize the impor-
tance of renewing the Housing Levy Prop-
osition.
Yes, that is renewing, not something
added. Since it was instituted in 2002,
the levy has established nearly 2,000 new
affordable apartments, many of which
have won awards for green design. The
housing built by the levy will remain
affordable for at least 50 years, provid-
ing homes for thousands of households
over the years. This levy creates high-
quality, affordable apartments for many
of the most vulnerable in our city: seniors,
people with disabilities, families with chil-
dren and people working at low-wage
jobs. Rent assistance to prevent homeless-
ness as well as home loans for low-income
home buyers are also included.
I would like to point out that this is what
I call an “upstream” solution to the hous-
ing problem. For example, if a factory is
polluting a river and the people down-
stream are getting sick, it is important
have the same rights as everyone else.
While we recognize that many people
in the Jewish community do not sup-
port same-sex marriage rights, we must
emphasize that R-71 is not about mar-
riage. It is about the rights of some family
members who do not have the neces-
sary access to their loved ones in times of
crisis. It is about conferring those rights
that people who can legally be married
may take for granted — hospital visita-
tion, state pension and death benefits,
guardianship, even dissolution of the
relationship — to those who do not have
them even though they have loving part-
ners and families.
R-71 also allows seniors who, whether
because of economic or familial rea-
sons, find living with a partner best for
their health and well-being, and give that
partner the ability to act in the event of
page
viewpoints
3
Letters
to help the people who are getting sick.
However, stopping the pollution upstream
keeps the problem from continuing.
Renewing the Housing Levy, Proposi-
tion 1 is a good choice for everyone.
Kayla Weiner
Seattle
Stop the swinging
Your column in defense of kaparot
was so upsetting I am just getting the
strength to write now (“What’s Your JQ?”
Sept. 11).
How can inflicting pain on a helpless
creature make us better people? Do you
know that many people who inflict pain
become desensitized?
I feel very sad that Jews need to make
other beings suffer to make themselves
think of their own mortality. This part of
being Jewish I completely reject and no
amount of “scholastic” interpretation will
ever make it correct. Judaism is a religion
of compassion and any other “interpreta-
tion” is twisted. God gave us dominion
over and with nature to protect, care and
be in mutual harmony and benefit each
other, not to torture them to give dramatic
“lessons” for our own mortality.
Eileen Weintraub
Seattle
editorial
an emergency or death but does not strip
away benefits conferred upon them by
a former spouse. We do have concerns
about ethical issues surrounding what
could be construed as “double dipping”
from pensions or the ability to continue
receiving alimony or other spousal sup-
port, and whether this aspect of SB5688,
as often happens with any new law, could
result in unintended consequences. It’s
an aspect of the law that may need to be
revisited by the Legislature in the future.
While we think it is absurd that the
happiness and rights of others must be
subject to popular vote, it is the situa-
tion in which we find ourselves. And it is
because of that we urge voters to approve
passage of Referendum 71.
JTNews runs editorials with the backing
of its editorial committee on an ongoing
basis. If you would like to comment on
this editorial, please send an e-mail to
editor@jtnews.net.
 4 jtnews n friday, october 16, 2009
community news

Back to the land

Local focus of Jconnect Sukkot dinner brings food picked that morning, just feet away from the table

Joel Magalnick
Editor, JTNews
As little as 100 years ago, the Jewish
people lived primarily agrarian lives. It’s
something that can often be forgotten,
said Rabbi Jacob Fine, associate direc-
tor of Hillel at the University of Washing-
ton, to a group of 80 young adults sitting
at tables set up on the grassy driveway of
Oxbow Farm in rural Carnation.
“It’s important for us to keep in mind
that our ancestors would be at home
here,” Fine told the attendees at Hillel’s
Sukkot Harvest Festival Farm to Table
dinner on the evening of Sun., Oct. 4.
But it’s that history that brought so
many of the participants, most if not all
of them city slickers, to this farm whose
business is predicated on sustainable
growth practices. Many have, for the past
year, participated in Hillel’s Jharvest,
the community-supported agriculture
program that brings boxes of Oxbow’s
organic produce to Hillel each week.
The salmon, topped with baby fennel and a confit of roma
tomatoes, was the main dish.
“Today, in our modern society, it’s very flower soup, which One of the side dishes was made with
easy for us to lose touch with what the
farmers inherently understood,” Fine said. just days earlier, to from the farm.
“There are so many variables that contrib- the lavender atop
ute to the food landing on our plate.”
Participants learned first-hand from
farmer Adam McCurdy, who grew much
of the meal, and the chef who designed
and cooked it, about what they were
eating based upon what was ready for
picking.
“It’s really easy to cook when you have liqueur and freshly picked pear. The lav-
such beautiful produce to work with,”
Chef Linda Lantos told the group.
All photos by Joel Magalnick
Attendees of the Jharvest dinner enjoy appetizers as the meal gets underway.
According to Lantos, 90 percent of
the food was sourced locally, from the
wild, troll-caught salmon to the cauli-
had been picked three types of beets harvested directly
the tort made from chocolate donated by
Seattle-based Theo Chocolate.
Theo was not the only local company to
donate its goods. The Pike Brewing Com-
pany provided beer, while Dry Fly Distill-
ing of Spokane provided vodka, which set
the base for the aperitif that included etrog 500-year flood in two years.
ender tea that accompanied dessert was
provided by Joshua Russert and Becca
Campbell, a couple who are active in
Seattle’s Jewish community and recently
founded B. Fuller’s Mortar & Pestle.
“I have never encountered such gen-
erous people in the food world,” Lantos
said.
Fine tied the meal’s return to the land to
Sukkot as the harvest holiday, noting that
in ancient Jerusalem people would make
three treks each year to the Temple to
give thanks to God for the crops they had
grown and to leave an offering. He con-
trasted this with today, when hundreds of
different types of produce can be found at
the supermarket, but with no real connec-
tion to where the items came from.
“Sukkot is a spir-
itual challenge, and
a wakeup call to get
back to our roots and
recommit w it h t he
most essential ele-
ments of life: Food,
community, shelter,”
Fine said.
McCurdy, who is
Jewish, gave a tour
of the grounds and
wove in connections
to Sukkot throughout
his explanations of
the farm. He talked about not only organic
farming practices but the challenges of
land stewardship, particularly in a flood
plain: The tent in which participants ate
dinner, McCurdy said, was under four feet
of water last November during the second
The nature of the farming Oxbow does
is to specifically avoid monoculture, the
practice of putting the same crops in the
same fields year after year. They might
do four plantings of lettuce in a season,
McCurdy said, but in any given row, “if
it’s lettuce the first time it’s not lettuce the
second, third or fourth time.”
Even between the rows, the farmers
plant different types of crops and move
them around. A lot of what they plant are
things unknown to most American pal-
ates such as cardoon, a relative of the arti-
choke family popular in Europe and sold
to such local restaurants as Tilth in Seat-
tle’s Wallingford neighborhood, or the
Ozette fingerling potato that was paired
with a creamy herb dip as one of the din-
ner’s appetizers.
Much of what Oxbow plants is experi-
mental, not only in the variety of the veg-
etable but in the timing of how, where and
when it’s planted. Because of unpredict-
ability of the weather from year to year
and the crops’ placement in the farm’s 15
arable acres, there’s as much danger of
failure as there is potential for success.
“Trials can be expensive,” McCurdy
said. There are “a lot of judgment calls,
true to life.”
It doesn’t always work: Oxbow lost
two successions of beet plantings due
to a noxious weed known as dock. That
didn’t prevent the success of three variet-
Josh Furman, assistant director of Hillel
at the UW’s Jconnect program, planned
and worked out the menu with Chef
Linda Lantos.
ies of beet ending up on the plates of the
attendees at the dinner, however.
Avoiding a lot of what might be con-
sidered tried-and-true farming practices,
such as using monoculture and pesti-
cides, requires a lot more management
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 friday, october 16, 2009 n jtnews 5
community news

Back-to-school giving
Temple De Hirsch Sinai collects backpacks for
elementary school students

Courtesy Rabbi Alan Cook

From left to right, Wendy Sidlofsky, Jody Cook, Rachel Rasmus, and Kim Fuqua Alben
prepare backpacks filled with school supplies for the students at John Muir Elementary.

Adam McCurdy, one of the farmers at Oxbow Farm, explains to his Jharvest visitors
techniques he uses for farming.
Back to the Land t Page 4
and experimentation in figuring out how
to keep out pests and cold while retaining
the richness of the soil’s nutrients.
That includes the planting of cover
crops, items planted a longside t he
intended crops as a way to
increase the soil’s fertility
and usefulness.
“We do a nice thick cover
crop and hope it’s a tooth-
brush for the soil,” McCurdy
said.
A nd O x bow ac t ua l l y
encou rages t he g row t h
of weeds. Once they have
gotten big enough, the farm-
ers turn them over, and they
eventually become soil.
Due to some of the timing
and laws of supply and
demand, not ever y t hing
the farm grows gets sent
to market. While the farm
allows gleaning projects
— members of the Kavana
Cooperative, who also pur- A yellowjacket, enticed by the sweetness of the freshly
chase CSA sha res f rom picked pear and the etrog liqueur in the aperitif, likely
Oxbow, had been doing just flew a little off-kilter after tasting some of the vodka.
that earlier in the day —
Oxbow donates 15 CSA boxes each week
to local food bank, Food Lifeline. Doing
so “keeps local land in farming and gives
folks at food banks produce fresh-picked
that day,” McCurdy said.
Rabbi Fine, whose wife Julie works
for Rotary International’s First Harvest,
reminded attendees that while the dinner
should be considered a celebration of the
land, it should also be a reminder that
people do go hungry, something brought
to light by many Jewish organizations
during the Sukkot holiday.
Julie Fine told the group that 16 mil-
lion children in the U.S. go to bed hungry
every night and that in this region alone,
the food distribution organization North-
west Harvest saw an increase of 100,000
people per month in need of food from
food banks from a year earlier.
Built into the cost of both the Jharvest
and Kavana CSAs, she said, is money ear-
marked specifically for food banks as well.
It was a reminder that hit home as the
moon lit up the clear autumn sky and the
richness of the evening’s food settled into
the participants’ stomachs for their drive
back into the city.
For more information on the Jharvest
community-supported agriculture program,
contact Rabbi Jacob Fine at jacob@
jconnectseattle.org or 206-527-1997.
Leyna Krow
Assistant Editor, JTNews
When students at John Muir Elemen-
tary in Seattle’s Mount Baker neighbor-
hood returned to school in September,
they were greeted with a pleasant sur-
prise — brand new backpacks filled with
school supplies for every kid, provided by
congregants at Temple De Hirsch Sinai.
The backpack collection project was
conceived of by Rabbi Alan Cook and
coordinated by Cook’s wife Jody and De
Hirsch members Kim Fuqua Alben and
Gayle Carrol, with the help of John Muir
principal Awnie Thompson. Cook said
that prior to coming to Seattle, he had
worked for a congregation in Denver,
Colo. that had done a similar project with
a school there.
“It was a great way of building com-
munity in Denver, and we had been look-
ing for something similar to do here in
Seattle,” Cook said.
The idea to partner with John Muir
Elementary was suggested by a former
Muir teacher who is also a member of
Temple De Hirsch Sinai.
According to Cook, congregants were
asked to actually purchase the backpacks
and school supplies themselves, rather
than just making a monetary donation
to the school. That way, the project would
feel more personal for both the kids and
the volunteers.
“We wanted to make it as hands-on
a project as possible,” Cook said. “This
project really captured the imagination
of a segment of our congregation who
have not participated in social action
before.”
Through the efforts of their members,
Temple De Hirsch Sinai collected close to
400 backpacks, which they filled with pen-
cils, glue sticks, markers, and erasers.
According to principal Thompson, she
and the Temple De Hirsch Sinai organiz-
ers discussed a variety of ways the syna-
gogue could help the school before they
finally settled on the backpack project.
“We probably brainstormed 20 dif-
ferent ideas, some of the others of which
we may do together later in the year,”
Thompson said.
But with school just beginning, the
need for every kid to start off on the same
page with basic supplies seemed the most
pressing.
More than 60 percent of students at
John Muir Elementary qualify for free or
reduced-cost lunches.
“Anything they don’t have to buy
helps,” Thompson said. “We always have
kids who come to school without back-
packs and essential supplies.”
In the past, she added, teachers have
picked up the slack and provided supplies
for students in need. This year, that wasn’t
necessary.
Thompson said that the kids were
thrilled to receive the backpacks, each
of which came with a personalized note
to its intended student, and they were
surprised to learn that people whom
they had never met cared about their
education.
“They were so excited,” she said of the
students. “Not only did they think it was
so cool, they were so amazed. They were
all asking, ‘Why did they want to do this
for me? They don’t even know me.’”
To say thank you, students wrote let-
ters and took classroom photos to send to
Temple De Hirsch Sinai.
Temple De Hirsch Sinai plans to con-
tinue its partnership with John Muir
Elementary. In November, a group of
De Hirsch congregants will paint the
walls in a number of the school’s class-
rooms. There has also been talk of De
Hirsch members volunteering to tutor
John Muir students or to act as chap-
erones for field trips as the school year
progresses.

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 6 jtnews n friday, october 16, 2009
The 3rd Annual Herzl-Ner Tamid community news

Answering questions on Iran

3 Nights — 33 Scholars
November 4, 11 and 18th
7:00–9:30 p.m.
$12 per evening or $30 for all three evenings
Register online at www.h-nt.org
Join us for Torahthon 3
Enrich Your Brain and Delight Your Senses
WedNeSday, November 4
opening reception: Ethnic Flavors of Israel featuring chefs from
our sister cities Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon
david balint: A Fresh Look at The Book of Job
Professor Gad barzilai: The Political and Constitutional Structure
and Culture in Israel
rabbi Chaim Levine: Life in the Fast Lane — A Jewish Guide
to Wealth, Wisdom, Honor, and Fame
Tehiya Levine: Zip It! What Judaism Has to Say about What Not to Say
rabbi Jay rosenbaum: Judaism on the Offense — The Next
Thousand Years of Jewish History
rabbi Jim mirel: The Afterlife as Seen by the Rabbis of the Talmud
rabbi marna Sapsowitz: On the Vilna Gaon, Learning Yiddish,
and Holocaust Obfuscation
rabbi mark Spiro: Isn’t It Enough to be A Good Person?
And Deep Impact: Our Free Will and Reality
Guest chefs from Kiryat malachi/ashkelon: Tales of Aliyah and
Adaptation and Ethnic Spices of Israel
rabbi Chaim Weiss: The Prayer Formula — What Does It Really Mean?
WedNeSday, November 11
dr. Shirah bell: Liberate the True Nature of Your Soul —
An Introduction to Classical Musar
rabbi olivier benHaim: The Secret of Redemption
rabbi bernard Fox: Miracles — What are They? How Often Do
They Happen?
rabbi Josh Hearshen: Parsha and Poker
rivy Kletenik: The Leviathan: a Literary Exploration
Wendy Marcus: From Shtetl to Internetl: The Resurgence of
Klezmer and Yiddish
rabbi Jay rosenbaum: Time Maps As A Key to Personal and
Jewish Identity
Professor michael rosenthal: Maimonides: Exploring the ‘Guide
to the Perplexed’ and Spinoza: Heretic, First Modern Jew, or
Radical Atheist?
rabbi barry Schlesinger: Midrash Naomi: A Closer Look at
Yerushalayim Shel Zahav and Freezing the Building in the
Settlements and Jewish Law
Jay Weiner: Lessons in Mentoring and Leadership from the Torah
Sid Weiner: Let’s Talk about Ethiopian Jews Past and Present
bob Zimmerman: The Many Facets of the Book of Esther
rita Zohav: Midrash: How the Rabbis Found Hidden Meanings
in the Biblical Texts
WedNeSday, November 18
Nance Adler: Zachor Versus Sh’mor: Why Memory Becomes
Stronger When it is Active Rather Than Passive
david balint: An Introduction to the Book of Daniel and
an Introduction to the Book of Jonah
rabbi Simon benzaquen: God, The Jewish People, and the
Structure of the Jewish Family
Professor Paul burstein: Are American Jews Abandoning Israel?
Anti-Zionism or Anti-Semitism? Are American Jews
Acquiescing?
Irit eliav: Shalom Bayit — Creating Positive Relationsips at Home,
at School, and in Your Community
rabbi Josh Hearshen: Is the Force with the Jews?
Cantor brad Kurland: A Good Old-Fashioned Kumsitz
david Isenberg, ddS: I’ll Drink to That! Wine-Making and
Viticulture in Jewish Antiquity
moti Krauthamer: How Do You Treat Others in Business?
And Other Practical Applications of Jewish Ethics
rabbi yechezkel Kornfeld: Come Join My Class!
rabbi Jay rosenbaum: All of Jewish History in One Hour
mark Sandler: Beautiful Poems of the Prayerbook — A Closer
Look at Piyyutim
rabbi daniel Septimus: When I Pray: Jewish Theology of Prayer
rabbi Zari Weiss: Jewish Wisdom for Uncertain Times
Co-sponsored by Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue, Congregation Beth Shalom,
the Jewish Day School of Greater Seattle and the Jewish Federation of
Greater Seattle/TIPS Partnership in Israel.
3700 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island 98040
206-232-8555 • info@h-nt.org • www.h-nt.org
Two events hope to educate the public on the threat
from the Iranian government’s actions
Leyna Krow
Assistant Editor, JTNews
Iran has been a source of concern for
Israel advocates for several years. But in
recent months, as Iran has made headlines
around the world for its contested elec-
tions and growing talk of nuclear weap-
ons development, the Jewish community
in the United States has increasingly been
taking notice. And they have questions.
In hopes of providing insight — and
concise answers — about Iran, several
local Jewish organizations are partner-
ing together to host a panel discussion
on Iran at Temple De Hirsch Sinai on
Oct. 21.
According to Tana Senn, director of
communications at the Jewish Federation
of Greater Seattle, the event called “Facing
the Iranian Threat” will focus on “the polit-
ical realities inside Iran, what the Obama
administration’s options are and what
they’re discussing, and what can people do
if they care about this issue,” she said.
Panelists will include Israel’s consul
general to the Pacific Northwest Akiva
Tor, Jerusalem Post correspondent Yaakov
Katz, and AIPAC’s national policy deputy
director Jeff Colman. The panel will be
moderated by Dave Ross, host of “The
Dave Ross Show” on KIRO 97.3 FM.
Sponsoring organizations are the
Jewish Federation, the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, the American
Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation
League, and StandWithUs Northwest.
“There is a lot of need for education
in our community about Iran, around
both the history, and the seriousness of
the threat,” said Wendy Rosen, executive
director for the Seattle chapter of the AJC.
“A lot of people are concerned about Iran,
particularly with relation to Israel. This is
a very timely event.”
But assuming responsibility for edu-
cating the entire Jewish community about
Iran is a big undertaking, and not every-
one feels that the sponsors of the Oct. 21
panel are the best organizations for the
job. Richard Silverstein, who writes about
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other
issues involving Israel on his Tikun Olam
blog, said he contacted the Jewish Fed-
eration after the event was announced
to express his concern that the panelists
might be presenting a biased opinion.
“The Federation event is part of a cam-
paign to massage [the United State’s]
policy in the direction Israel wants it to
go, which is confrontational and hawk-
ish, and to use sanctions and the threat
of force to get the outcome that it wants
to see — the end of Iran’s nuclear efforts,”
Silverstein told JTNews.
Silverstein said he would like to see
someone on the panel who will advo-
cate diplomatic engagement, rather than
sanctions and possibly war with Iran
as the only ways to halt the country’s
nuclear ambitions.
Silverstein pointed to a recent Amer-
ican Jewish Committee poll, stating
that 36 percent of American Jews would
oppose an attack on Iran.
Rob Jacobs, regional director for
StandWithUs Northwest, insisted that
Silverstein’s interpretation of what will be
said by the panelists is inaccurate.
“I think he’ll be disappointed because
if he thinks this is going to be a group of
people saying ‘let’s all go to war,’ that’s
not what he’ll find,” Jacobs said.
He stressed that both Tor and Katz,
whom Silverstein has criticized for what
he considers to be overtly hawkish writ-
ing, have been pushing for both “diplo-
macy and economic incentives” for Iran
to give up its nuclear aims.
Senn, however, acknowledged that
the panel may not represent the full spec-
trum of political thought on the Iran
issue, allowing that the possibility of a
military strike against Iran would not be
out of the question for any of them.
“I think it’s fair to say the present-
ers agree that to talk about the first step
but not to talk about the next step is fool-
hardy,” she said. “But sanctions does not
mean diving into military action.”
She stressed that the aim of the event
is not to advocate for one course of action
or another, but instead to provide those
in attendance with the facts about Iran so
they can decide for themselves what they
think ought to be done.
But even to that end, Silverstein is crit-
ical of the panel’s capabilities, claim-
ing that none of the speakers qualify as
experts on Iran. Although they all may be
qualified to speak about Israel, none have
a solid background in Iranian history or
politics, he said.
“I guess it depends on what you would
define as an expert,” Senn countered.
“But these are all extremely educated
people who are dealing with this issue in
their professional lives.”
Senn did note that the Federation
had hoped to bring in an Iran scholar to
speak about the issue from an academic
perspective, but couldn’t make it work
within their budget constraints.
“We scoured the state, but there was
not one [expert] to be found. And we don’t
have funding to fly someone in,” she said.
“Ideally, we wanted this to be a local sym-
posium,”
Two of the three panelists are coming in
from out of town, however. StandWithUs is
flying in Katz from Israel — he will also be
speaking at other StandWithUs functions
while in Seattle — and AIPAC is flying in
Colman from Washington, D.C.
When he felt his request that a more
diverse and qualified range of participants
be added to the Oct. 21 panel fell upon deaf
ears, Silverstein decided to host his own
Iran panel to make sure that the other per-
spective is heard in Seattle as well.
Silverstein’s event will take place Dec.
16 at Town Hall Seattle. Speakers will
include Keith Weissman, former director
of AIPAC’s Iran desk, Ian Lustick, politi-
cal science professor at the University of
Pennsylvania, and Trita Parsi, director of
the National Iranian American Council.
“My goal was to seek people who had
particular expertise in either the Israeli or
Iranian side of this,” Silverstein explained.
The panelists are people whom Silverstein
has come across during his research for
his Tikun Olam blog posts.
Silverstein said his event w ill be
funded, he hopes, primarily by dona-
tions. Unlike the event at Temple De
Hirsch Sinai, attendees will have to pay
for tickets to the discussion at Town Hall.
He stressed that he wants to be sure
the wider Seattle community is aware of
the possible dangers of imposing harsh
economic sanctions against Iran and
that sanctions and war are not the only
options for dealing with the country.
“Most specialists in this countr y
say sanctions won’t work — they didn’t
work in Iraq, and they aren’t working
now. And a military attack would be
u Page 17
 friday, october 16, 2009
m.o.t.: member of the tribe
Celebrated musicians and
artists move to North Bend
Also: Student appointed to UW Regents
Diana
Brement
JTNews
Columnist
Why North Bend?
That was the foremost question in my
mind when I heard renowned concert
violists Emanuel and Lenore Vardi had
moved to Seattle’s far east side.
There is a story, of course, with two
parts.
In 1992 Manny, as he’s called, injured
his hand in a fall and “knocked him-
self out of playing completely,” explains
Lenore. When it became evident that he’d
never perform again, the Vardis decided
there was “no point remaining in New
York,” turning their desire to see the
country into a search for a new home.
Manny taught for two years in Illinois,
then they spent time visiting family and
friends around the country. Sedona held
them for a while, but Lenore says “I’m
not a desert person;” then Dallas, which
“wasn’t for us.”
A good friend in Port Townsend raved
about the Seattle area.
“After one particularly brutally hot
day in Dallas, I said to Manny, ‘Want to
move to Washington?’” said Lenore.
Port Townsend proved to be too far
away from things, so while looking at
houses in Issaquah their realtor showed
them a listing in North Bend.
Lenore and Emanuel Vardi at the Bellevue Jazz Festival, where their artwork was
on display.
“When we saw [the view of] Mt. Si,”
says Lenore, they knew they’d found
a home, close to mountains with easy
access to Bellevue and Seattle.
Part two of the story is that Manny,
who turned 94 in April, and Lenore are
also painters. He started painting at age
4 and used the G.I. Bill to study in Italy
after World War II. He is best known for
his semi-abstract paintings of musi-
cians. She started painting more recently,
inspired by her husband.
“She became quite a good painter,”
observes Manny, while Lenore adds,
“[he]…never let me feel I was lesser.”
The Vardis met as student and teacher,
then toured as the Vardi Duo. Lenore
mostly teaches now, performing occa-
sionally on violin, having returned to the
smaller instrument, finding the larger
one “hard on my body.”
They’ve also been busy here setting up
relationships with galleries.
n jtnews 7
The Jerusalem Post
Crossword Puzzle
By David Benkof
“At this point we’re so new,” says
Manny, “nobody knows we’re here.”
Manny was born in what is now Israel,
when it was still under Ottoman control.
His parents had fled there from Russia,
and met and married in Jerusalem. Man-
ny’s father was a violinist and his mother
was a pianist. In fact, growing up in Vilna,
she often accompanied the violin prodigy
Jascha Heifetz (she was a few years older
than him). The family emigrated to the
States when Manny was 4.
Creative people who pursue two arts
have always fascinated me. Manny con-
firms that in the past there “was more
prejudice,” against this. “You were either
a master of one discipline or…none,”
but having been painting since he was
so young, he’s always believed strongly
artistic people “can express themselves
in any way. It’s a matter of learning.”
“I think it’s unusual to be married and
have two people” with the same artis-
tic interests, Lenore adds. The couple
encourages each other, she says, and
don’t compete. They both enjoy combin-
ing exhibits of their art with musical per-
formances and they’ve done this once or
twice since moving here. Across Down
The Vardis are associated with two 1. Fatah leader 1. LSD
galleries, Revolution in Issaquah and The 6. It might be beaver-built 2. Word with funny or marrow
Laurel Tree in Duvall, where you can see 9. Become lighter 3. Friends
their paintings and hear Lenore play and 13. ___ Jew 4. Prime Minister Sharon
answer questions during the Duvall art 14. Methuselah’s was 969 5. Glared
walk, Friday evening, Oct. 23. (Call 425- 15. Assassinated leader 6. The Nine ___
788-2590 for more information.) 16. Asian giant 7. In the past
The Edmonds Center for the Arts will
17. Tenth letter 8. ___ of honor
display the Vardis’ work in conjunction
18. Anointed 9. Equitable
with the opening of the Cascade Sym-
19. Negev and Gobi 10. Fit
phony Orchestra’s season, and one of
21. Rebbetzin or Rebbe 11. Goes to the world to come
23. Lynched Georgian Frank 12. They may justify the means
24. Dershowitz or Greenspan 15. Jokester Dangerfield
25. Israeli tree 20. Da’as ___ (seeking advice of
28. Disengagement word rabbinic scholars on all matters)
30. Oscar Goodman’s state 22. Tribe of Israel
35. Ritual ___ 24. Versus
37. Cultural Zionist Ha’am 25. Gives the pink slip
39. Archeologist Yigal 26. Primo Levi’s country
40. Undercooked 27. Bugs
41. They may be gray 29. Jezebel’s husband
43. Like the Altalena 31. It may be Greek
44. Film-score composer Bernstein 32. Past Bar or Bat Mitzvah
46. Word with mitzvah 33. See 57-Across
47. One way to get to Israel 34. Joint
48. Parliamentary ___ 36. Encounter
Courtesy Diane Dutweiler 50. Full extent 38. Gum ___
52. With 53-Across, Jerusalem’s 42. Israel, e.g.
English newspaper 45. Do teshuvah
53. See 52-Across 49. Two days after Shab.
their paintings has been selected to be on 55. ___ Hai 51. Spring product
the cover of the orchestra’s program for
57. With “The,” novel about 33-Down 54. Cartoonist Greenberg
the season as well.
61. More food 56. “Saturday Night Live” producer
They’ve been busy updating their web
65. Pacific or Indian Michaels
sites so even more information — and
some wonderful music—can be found at: 66. Mesozoic or Second Temple 57. American diplomat Dennis
www.vardiart.com; www.vardiartgifts. 68. Take care of, as a medic 58. Repeat
com (for prints, CDs and notecards); and 69. It may be a Tee 59. ___ Yassin (site of massacre)
www.lenorevardi.com (for instruction). 70. Lamed-___nik 60. Hamentasch, perhaps
••• 71. Author of 57-Across Diamant 61. Rescue
University of Washington law school 72. Array 62. Playwright Simon
student Ben Golden has been appointed 73. Adam’s madam 63. Brent Spiner’s Star Trek role
by Governor Chris Gregoire to be the 74. Kind of race 64. Don’t move
student representative on the university’s 67. ___ Kook (Pre-state intellectual
board of regents.
leader)
“I am one of 10 voting members on the
board,” Ben explained. “Major decisions
come through us for approval,” including
real estate and housing issues as well as
faculty appointments (as a student, Ben
is not eligible to vote on those). Answers on page 16
u Page 17
 8 jtnews n friday, october 16, 2009
national & international news

Above: Nathanzon St. used to be part of Jaffa St., so named because it was the road
through which the city’s merchants traveled to Jaffa. Close by you can also find
remnants of the wall that once surrounded the old city of Haifa.

Left: The Carmel center is both the major commercial center of the city as well as the
geographical center of Mt. Carmel. Though many shopping malls have sprung up all over
the place, this area is still the center of attention and is always overflowing with traffic.

Haifa then and now

A look at northern Israel’s capital city as it used to be and as it is today
Erez Ben-Ari
JTNews Correspondent
One summer day in 2003, I visited the Haifa Science
Museum and noticed some photographs of Haifa taken
before the state of Israel was founded. Though some were
more than 100 years old, I could still recognize most of
the landscape of my home town, and an idea sprang to
mind: Go to the same places and photograph them as
they are today, modernized and industrialized in today’s
fast-paced Israeli society. This is not the most original
idea in the world – even in Washington State you can
find several books that depict the same transitions — but
for Haifa this had never been done, so I went ahead and
made it happen.
The Haifa History Society, which has an archive of old
photos of the city, came to my assistance as well as other
local media. Yair Safran, the society’s secretary, helped
me choose and fine tune the best scenes and the result is
a collection of 20 photo sets that illustrate how the world
has changed around us. A byproduct of this project was
the digitizing of the society’s collection, which I helped
jumpstart, and now serves many historic researchers
throughout the world.
I’ve attempted to find the photos that show not only
the buildings, but also the local population and how it
has changed from the farmers of last century to the busi-
nessmen of today; from the carriages and horses of then
to the sleek, powerful automobiles of the 21st century. A
lot has changed, but just like many of the stone buildings
that remained, another unique trait of Haifa is still with
us — the unusual blend of different lifestyles and cul-
tures. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Baha’i and many other
religions and cultures peacefully coexist on the streets of
Haifa. For me, this answers the age-old question “Why
can’t we just get along?”
The answer is: “If we can do it in Haifa, we can do it
anywhere!”
Contact Erez Ben Ari at bena@mindactiva.com for more
information or to see additional photos. The Haifa History
Society can be found at www.haifa.org.il.

Al-Estiklal is the largest mosque in Haifa, nicknamed “the

The clock tower on Herzl Street was always the spiritual
center of Hadar, which was the first modern neighbor-
hood in Haifa back in the 1930s. Despite being over 70
years old, the clock still works, and the area is still
heavily populated and home to the Haifa City Hall.
grand mosque.” Just a few years ago, the government
center of Haifa and the House of Justice were relocated
to that area, but some of the big attractions are still the
antique shops that surround the mosque, as well as the
popular Abu-Maroon hummus restaurant nearby.
The Ahuza neighborhood is named for Herbert Samuel,
the first British high commissioner to Israel, and is now
the hottest wine-and-dine location in the city. Dozens
of restaurants, pubs and shops are scattered along
Moriah St. and the area is always full of life and music.
 friday, october 16, 2009 n jtnews 9
national & international news

The neighborhood of Bat Galim used to be one of the fanciest places in the city,
This area suffered a lot of damage during the War of Independence, but has recovered with high-class housing next to the water and a big casino that served the British
well and now serves as a critical traffic conduit for the city, as well as home to some of aristocracy. Today this is one of the only places in the country where you can find
the best restaurants in Haifa. waterfront living at a reasonable cost.

W h E R E To Wo R S h i p
GREATER SEATTLE K’hal Ateres Zekainim (Orthodox) 206/722-1464 bREmERTon TAcomA
Chabad House (Traditional) 206/527-1411 at Kline Galland Home, 7500 Seward Park Ave. S Congregation Beth Hatikvah 360/373-9884 Chabad-Lubavitch of Pierce County
4541 19th Ave. NE Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation (Orthodox) 11th and Veneta 1889 N Hawthorne Dr. 253/565-8770
Bet Alef (Meditative Reform) 206/527-9399 6500 52nd Ave. S 206/723-3028 EVERETT / EdmondS Temple Beth El (Reform) 253/564-7101
16330 NE 4th St., Bellevue (in Unity Church) The Summit at First Hill (Orthodox) Chabad Jewish Center of Snohomish County 5975 S. 12th St.
Congregation Kol Ami (Reform) 425/844-1604 1200 University St. 206/652-4444 2225 100th Ave. W, Edmonds 425/967-3036 TRi ciTiES
16530 Avondale Rd. NE, Woodinville Temple Beth Am (Reform) 206/525-0915 Temple Beth Or (Reform) 425/259-7125 Congregation Beth Sholom (Conservative)
Cong. Beis Menachem (Traditional Hassidic) 2632 NE 80th St. 3215 Lombard St., Everett 312 Thayer Drive, Richland 509/375-4740
1837 156th Ave. NE, Bellevue 425/957-7860 Temple B’nai Torah (Reform) 425/603-9677 FoRT LEWiS VAncouVER
Congregation Beth Shalom (Conservative) 15727 NE 4th, Bellevue Jewish Chapel 253/967-6590 Chabad-Lubavitch of Clark County
6800 35th Ave. NE 206/524-0075 Temple De Hirsch Sinai (Reform) Liggett Avenue & 12th 9604 NE 126th Ave., Suite 2320 360/993-5222
Cong. Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath Seattle, 1441 16th Ave. 206/323-8486 iSSAquAh E-mail: Rabbi@ChabadClarkCounty.com
(Orthodox) Bellevue, 3850 156th Ave. SE 425/454-5085 Chabad of the Central Cascades (Hassidic Traditional) www.chabadclarkcounty.com
5145 S Morgan 206/721-0970 SOuTH KING COuNTy 24121 SE Black Nugget Rd. 425/427-1654 Congregation Kol Ami 360/574-5169
Capitol Hill Minyan-BCMH (Orthodox) Bet Chaverim (Reform) 206/577-0403 oLympiA Service times and location can be found at
1501 17th Ave. E 206/721-0970 25701 14th Place S, Des Moines Chabad Jewish Discovery Center www.jewishvancouverusa.org
Congregation Eitz Or (Jewish Renewal) WEST SEATTLE 1611 Legion Way SE 360/584-4306 VAShon iSLAnd
6556 35th Ave. NE 206/467-2617 Kol HaNeshamah (Reform) 206/935-1590 Congregation B’nai Torah (Conservative) Havurat Ee Shalom 206/567-1608
Cong. Ezra Bessaroth (Sephardic Orthodox) Alki UCC, 6115 SW Hinds St. 3437 Libby Rd. 360/943-7354 15401 Westside Highway
5217 S. Brandon Street 206/722-5500 Torah Learning Center (Orthodox) Temple Beth Hatfiloh (Reconstructionist) P O Box 89, Vashon Island, WA 98070
Congregation Shaarei Tefilah-Lubavitch 5121 SW Olga St. 206/938-4852 201 8th Ave. SE 360/754-8519 WALLA WALLA
(Orthodox/Hassidic) poRT AnGELES And SEquim Congregation Beth Israel 509/522-2511
6250 43rd Ave. NE 206/527-1411 WAShinGTon STATE Congregation B’nai Shalom 360/452-2471 E-mail: nsleavitt@hotmail.com
Congregation Shevet Achim (Orthodox) AbERdEEn poRT ToWnSEnd WEnATchEE
5017 90th Ave. SE (at NW Yeshiva HS) Temple Beth Israel 360/533-5755 Congregation Bet Shira 360/379-3042 Greater Wenatchee Jewish Community
Mercer Island 206/275-1539 1819 Sumner at Martin puLLmAn, WA And moScoW, id 509/662-3333 or 206/782-1044
Congregation Tikvah Chadashah AnAcoRTES Jewish Community of the Palouse WhidbEy iSLAnd
(Gay/Lesbian) 206/355-1414 Anacortes Jewish Community 360/293-4123 509/334-7868 or 208/882-1280 Jewish Community of Whidbey Island
Emanuel Congregation (Modern Orthodox) bAinbRidGE iSLAnd SpokAnE 360/331-2190
3412 NE 65th Street 206/525-1055 Congregation Kol Shalom (Reform) Congregation Emanu-El (Reform) yAkimA
Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation 9010 Miller Road NE 206/855-0885 P O Box 30234, Spokane 99223 509/835-5050 Temple Shalom (Reform) 509/453-8988
(Conservative) 206/232-8555 Chavurat Shir Hayam 206/842-8453 www.spokaneemanu-el.org 1517 Browne Ave.
3700 E. Mercer Way, Mercer Island bELLinGhAm Temple Beth Shalom (Conservative)
Hillel (Multi-denominational) Chabad Jewish Center of Whatcom County 1322 E. 30th Ave. 509/747-3304
4745 17th Ave. NE 206/527-1997 717 High St. 360/933-4818
Kadima (Reconstructionist) 206/547-3914 Congregation Beth Israel (Reform)
12353 NE 8th, Seattle 2200 Broadway 360/733-8890
Kavana Cooperative kavanaseattle@gmail.com
 10 jtnews
community news
A vineyard in Sunnyside, a small town in the Yakima Valley, with Mt. Adams in the distance.
Joel Magalnick
Editor, JTNews
Tumbleweeds amble across the roads
between the central Washington towns
of Prosser and Sunnyside. Between the
dusty desert scrub and the perfectly lined
orchards and grape vines, this vast area
known as the Yakima Valley can be a
lonely place. Even more so during the fall
harvest season when a minyan of Ortho-
dox rabbis, most of them from the East
Coast and as far away as Israel, checks
into Sunnyside’s Best Western hotel and
hunkers down for six or more weeks of
constant hashgacha, supervision, ensur-
ing the grape juice that consumers find
on their store shelves over the next year
will, in fact, be kosher.
The vast majority of concord grapes,
the sweet varietal that makes up most of
the bottled grape juice in this country,
comes from the Yakima Valley. The con-
tainers of grape juice that show up on
shelves of grocery stores across the coun-
try are the results of about six weeks of
work every year.
The man in charge of this operation is
Rabbi Yitzhak Gallor, a longtime Seattleite
sip savor
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A Stomping Good Job
and the man responsible for ensuring that
the products he and his team are super-
vising can halachically bear the Orthodox
Union’s ubiquitous OU symbol.
Unlike other crops grow n in the
area such as apples or pears, where the
machinery can get cleaned, checked, and
certified kosher at the start of the har-
vest, grapes are a sacramental fruit with
Like all the workers are required to do, rabbis Edward Shapiro, left, Yehudi Marga-
retten, center, and Yehuda Steinberg wear hardhats and nets to cover their hair and
beards while on-site.
specific rules set forth in the Torah about
how they can be handled. As a result, the
making of juice, which for all intents and
purposes is considered the same as wine,
celebrate
� . .
small plates large plates share plates
All photos by Joel Magalnick
must have a mashgiach, a Sabbath-obser-
vant Jew, on hand 24 hours a day, seven
days a week until the harvest and subse-
quent bottling is finished.
It means that even through the High
Holidays — with the sweet essence of
grape embedding itself in the clothes
of these rabbis while they conduct their
Yom Kippur fast — they are working and
performing the same tasks they must per-
form on any other day.
Relatively speaking, ensuring kashrut
for the apples at facilities such as Tree-
top, which as of this year is the larg-
est kosher juice facility in the Yakima
Valley, is a simple task. The rabbis gen-
erally only need to go in once to certify
the equipment, and barring any unfore-
seen glitches, Gallor makes trips to the
area every few weeks throughout the year
to ensure compliance and to answer any
questions.
With the grapes, however, the process
is more painstaking — and mechanized
— than some guy with hopefully clean
feet jumping up and down in a barrel.
All day, every day throughout the harvest, trucks with large bins dump millions of
just-picked concord grapes into the de-stemming machine.
Most of the
grape juice in this
country comes from
Washington’s
Yakima Valley, and
one crack team of
rabbis is on hand to
make sure it’s kosher
“I had images of Lucille Ball in a vat,
but the scale is way too big,” said Rabbi
Edward Shapiro, one of the mashgichim
on contract with the OU who came in
from Denver.
For one thing, unless the guy who
would be doing the stomping — or who
does the picking or any actual step in
the juice-making process — is a Shab-
bat-observant Jew, the grapes must be
pasteurized so they become mevushal,
meaning they can be handled by non-
Jews in any type of situation.
In kosher winemaking, the wine is
flash heated to near boiling point — the
OU uses 175ºF as a benchmark, though a
buffer of 10º additional or more is general
practice. For juice, however, the process
is different. The grapes, pre-mashing, are
continuously cycled through a series of
heated tubes until they reach the set tem-
perature, and are then released into a vat
that can be as large as 60,000 gallons.
The mashgichim are charged with
making sure the computer that sets the
temperature is in working order, as well
as the seismograph that puts the readings
onto paper, which must then be signed by
a rabbi on duty. They also check container
labels and that any additives to the juice
are kosher and properly labeled.
“People in New York want to know that
the bottle of grape juice they put in front
of their kids is kosher,” Shapiro said.
Being on-site at these factories means
understanding how the juice is made and
staying out of the way of the employees,
many of whom are migrant workers.
“To be a good supervisor you have to
know as much as the operators,” Gallor
said.
The relationship between the rabbis
and the workers and management at the
grape processing facilities is congenial
— if not outright friendly.
“A lot of people don’t see Jews,” Sha-
piro said, which means they must act as
ambassadors for the entire religion. “It’s a
big piece of being rabbis here.”
Much of the positive relationship is
due to Rabbi Aharon Steinberg, who died
in 2004 but initiated processes that would
u Page 11
 friday, october 16, 2009 n jtnews 11
community news

A Stomping Good Job t Page 10

work for both kosher consumers and the

people running the plants, including one in
which the grapes would be made mevushal
before they were mashed instead of after,
as it had historically been done. What
brought juice companies on board was that
Steinberg’s idea retained more of the color
and sugar content — both big money in the
juice industry — if the heating took place
before the grapes were mashed.
Steinberg then worked with the compa-
nies to build the heating systems, includ-
ing at least two failsafe detectors and the
seismic charts — he wanted to ensure that
the big financial outlay by the factories
would not result in work stoppages.
If a single grape that hasn’t been made Factory workers at the TreeTop plant ripped the roof off an unused outbuilding, Rabbi Edward Shapiro checks out some
mevushal gets through, workers must allowing the rabbis to cover the top with schach and use it for a sukkah. Rabbi Yitzhak machinery inside TreeTop’s juice-making
stop the line, segregate the tub, stop pro- Gallor, wearing his cowboy hard hat, shakes his lulav and etrog inside. facility.

Rabbi Yitzhak Gallor checks out logs by
the tube system that heats the grapes so
they can be made mevushal.
duction and then rabbis must re-kosher
the vats. It’s a big deal — and expensive
— because it interrupts an already tight
timeline and often results in juice that
can’t be sent to market.
“If we get to that point, there’s really a
problem,” Gallor said.
But the idea appears to have been suc-
cessful: In a video Gallor created last year
for new recruits to the harvest, the owner
of one of the factories in the valley tear-
fully recalled the strong friendship he
had had with Steinberg.
Despite the long, often boring hours,
being a couple hundred miles from fresh
kosher food, and even farther from their
young families, Gallor said people line up
to try to get one of the coveted mashgiach
positions. Turnover, he said, is practi-
cally nil.
“They get paid pretty well,” Gallor said.
“The ones that are learning, living off the
dust of the earth, this is all their money
all year.”
Rabbi Aaron Weitz, who followed
his father into the supervision business
and traveled from Israel for the job, said
it’s difficult because he’s away from his
family for the holidays, but it’s also satis-
fying for him.
“I build a relationship with the work-
ers,” he said. “If there are problems, they
let us know.”
Most of the workers are deeply reli-
gious, Weitz noted, and he said that one
of the benefits of being at the plant is that
they will on occasion talk about some
personal issues they’re having because
they have that common spiritual con-
nection.
Still, Gallor said, being that far from
home can be trying.
“Usually their wives are crying on the
phone,” he said.
For Gallor, who is used to the long
drives from Seattle and the sparse scen-
ery, this work in Washington’s farmland
is a reminder of how Jews used to live. The
Jews are a people of the earth, and the cal-
endar, and the festivals, and celebrating
what God provides, and we forget about
that, he said.
“It’s all about reconnecting,” he said.
“It’s all about reconnecting.”
 12 jtnews
community news
Judy Neuman t Page 1
on our payroll so I understand who they
are, how they got there, why they’re there,
what they do, so it gives me a chance not
only to meet them and understand a little
more about them, but it’s also my intro-
duction to all the programs and services
that we offer.
I call it my sponge period. I’m absorb-
ing a lot, and filtering and stepping back
and assessing and really just learning. I
have a very steep learning curve.
JT: Are you already feeling a sense of
ownership?
Neuman: Absolutely. I’d like to think
I’m a pretty quick study, and even while
I’m observing I’m forming opinions and
thinking through how do we get at really
talking about, in a very specific way, all
the really strong and wonderful pro-
grams we offer and then how do we start
talking to the community more broadly
to find out what the community wants
and needs from a JCC that really is a tre-
mendous outreach arm — and can be.
It’s a very non-threatening environ-
ment to walk into and we really need to
examine the gaps, because there clearly
are gaps. But I don’t want it to be my
assumptions on what the gaps are. I really
want to hear it from a good cross section
of the community to understand how we
can do more innovative programming
and meet some of the needs that just
aren’t being met anywhere else.
JT: Have you set any short-term goals for
yourself?
Neuman: I created a 90-day plan for
myself. I shared that with my board and
with my team members….I’m a big col-
laborator, and I think the J has an oppor-
tunity to collaborate in a much fuller way
in the community and with the commu-
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nity. Each agency doesn’t have to invent
it all and run it all and own it all them-
selves. How can we work more collab-
oratively to really make this a special
Jewish community for people at every
level of engagement? We’re not there yet
as a community, and I’d like the J to be an
active voice at the table and work to bring
that to fruition.
JT: You’ve touched so many differ-
ent people with your involvement in so
many local Jewish agencies. Based on
your lay experience, do you see that col-
laboration being possible?
Neuman: I do, and I’m a cockeyed
optimist, so I’m going to keep asking the
question until I get a no…. I think the
community, and I’m talking about the
professional leaders in the community,
if we want to survive, we have to work in
a different way together, and we have to
help each other more.
JT: What are some of the challenges
you’re seeing right off the bat?
Neuman: I think some of the chal-
lenges are, [and] certainly would include:
We could do a better job talking to the
community as an agency. We could do a
better job, not marketing ourselves neces-
sarily, but bringing people into the know,
helping people understand what business
is the J in, really evaluating “Does every-
thing we do map to our mission?”
Probably the most critical eye is
around how do we ensure that we are rel-
evant to our community today and going
forward so that we can sustain ourselves
and so we can be that link to Jewish con-
tinuity — not the only link, but a key link
to that. That’s sustainability, it’s not just
green and solar panels — it’s really per-
petuating the Jewish people in a mean-
ingful way through this kind of an agency
that really touches so many people.
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Judy Neuman
JT: Any tough choices you’ll have to
make early on?
Neuman: Well there’s always financial
tough choices. I wish somebody could
wave a fairy wand and say, “don’t worry
about the finances.”
As a professional now in the Jewish
communit y and running an agency,
and the board, we have a stewardship
responsibility and we have a fiduciary
responsibility, and I think that’s always
challenging being able to do as much as
you want to do and figuring out how you
can fund it accurately and where you take
the risks and where you don’t and what
requires seed money and seed energy to
see if there’s something really there that
can become sustaining on its own.
JT: Paying attention to the JCC over the
years, I’ve sort of seen a lot of fits and
starts, false starts, layoffs — a lot of
issues with the money. Knowing that the
silent phase of its capital campaign is
underway, how can the J get out of this
cycle of trying to do a campaign but
not getting there, and almost being left
behind in the community? Where is the J
right now and what needs to happen?
Neuman: I think the J is in a very good
place, in that we’ve got a cleaned up and
strong foundation. We have a driven and
passionate and unbelievably commit-
ted board…. I’ll tell you, this is a group of
people that have J blood running through
their veins.
They’ve done the right thing…in put-
ting the blocks in place. So my coming in
now, fundraising will be a critical role, as
it is with any nonprofit [executive direc-
tor] or CEO, but that’s not the only thing
to focus on, because really you’ve got to
be able to speak to why you need money,
right? Prove why you need it and how
you know that, raise the money and then
deliver and execute and implement flaw-
lessly. That takes time.
JT: In talking to people around the com-
munity, I learned you weren’t interested
in this job unless you were given the
opportunity to make this a true center
for the community.
Like it or not, [Mercer Island is] where
the building was built, and it’s important to
have a facility, “a center” where people can
gather and come and participate as they
see fit. It’s also important, as our demo-
graphics have moved so dramatically
over the last 20 years in greater Seattle,
not to exclude the rest of the community
that either does not live within a five-mile
radius or doesn’t want to schlep over two
bridges. There certainly is no shortage of
bricks and mortar in greater Seattle.
It’s a matter of where do you do pro-
gramming, how do you do programming,
and if you need four walls, how can you
partner? Again, it’s back to that partner-
ship to deliver that in places where people
have easy access to. A JCC engagement is
so much less about the building and so
much more about the experience. We’re
a very experiential model, and we should
be, right? So you should walk in and feel
it and touch it and see it and do it and
participate in it. We’re not passive, we’re
active. So how you take that activity to the
community is part of the puzzle.
JT: But does that hold true when we’re
talking about things like the health
club? A lot of people think of the JCC as a
place to go work out.
Neuman: Well do they really? Certainly
we have a core group of members where
that is their gym, and that is their J gym — I
wish I had the discipline they have to come
every day and do what they do…. Think
about when the model of this JCC and
including the health club was built, there
clearly weren’t as many options for fitness
facilities in our community, so it’s a very
important ingredient, but it’s not the only
ingredient. And sometimes I think people
think of the JCC here as bookends: We have
our ECS, our early childhood school on one
side, and we have the health club on the
other, and we have this whole middle part
with real engagement opportunity. That’s
where we need to focus a lot of energy.
JT: Where is the J in the JCC? What about
the agency and its mission needs to be
Jewish?
Neuman: Within the Jewish world we’re
very non-denominational, if you will. We
have a big spread of people to create those
relationships with. It gives us a lot of lat-
itude. It’s also really challenging, right?
You can’t be everything to everybody. But
it’s important to this board, it’s impor-
tant to our membership, it’s important
to me personally — this is one of the rea-
sons why I was attracted to the opportu-
nity — to make sure that the Jewish values
system, and the Jewish lens and the Jewish
thread is woven deeply into everything we
do, and sometimes that means just being
in a room with a lot of Jewish people when
working out or taking a spin class.
JT: What sort of non-Jewish organizations
do you think would be ones with which
you would try and build relationships, for
physical space and collaboration?
Neuman: Two thoughts come to mind
initially, and one is as you look at the YMCA
movement and the models of older YMCAs
and newer YMCAs just in terms of the pro-
grams and services and the physical spaces
that they offer. Again, thinking through
brick and mortar, is there a way to partner,
is there a way for reciprocity for using each
other’s buildings? Are there schools that
can be used in neighborhoods?
Back in the Jewish community, you’ve
got everything from all the synagogues
to Hillel to office buildings in which you
could potentially have programming in
after-hours. So I think what we will have
to try really hard to do is not get myopic
and sort of take off the blinders and look
at all the possibilities.
JT: Have you been in a situation where
you’ve seen the situation get to the point
of myopia that you’ve had to step back
and break out? What happened?
Neuman: I think we’re all creatures
of habit and there’s comfort in that. And
so it’s traveling that fine line of being
really comfortable in what you’re doing
with just enough discomfort to keep you
honest about what it is you’re not doing
that you should get after…. Complacency
has an end date.
Hopefully before you get right up
against that curve you step back and say,
“Okay, time to think bigger, time to think
better, time to figure out how we’re going
to get this done and, what are the possi-
bilities?”

The family reunion
Maimon family’s 85th anniversary in Seattle highlights city’s Sephardic history
Eugene Normand
Special to JTNews
Nearly 140 members of the Maimon
family gathered in Seattle for three days in
August to celebrate the 85th anniversary of
their arrival in the city. Family members are
direct descendants of Rabbi Abraham and
Victoria Maimon, along with their spouses.
The entire family numbers approximately
344 members, spread around the United
States, Israel and England.
In 1924, Rabbi Abraham Maimon was
called from Tekirdag, Turkey to serve as
the rabbi of the Sephardic Bikur Holim
congregation. He arrived with his wife
and six of his eight children; the two
eldest daughters remained in Turkey
and joined the family in Seattle a few
years later. Unfortunately, he died pre-
maturely in January of 1931, but his five
sons and three daughters all married
and raised their families in Seattle. Thus,
the Maimon family was joined with the
Adatto, Azose and Benoliel families as
the three Maimon sisters married.
Only one of the eight children is still
living, Rabbi Solomon Maimon, and so
fittingly, the first event was a party to cel-
ebrate Rabbi Maimon’s 90th birthday
at the home of one of the Seattle cous-
ins. This was the fifth major reunion that
the family has held, the first being in
1974 (the 50th anniversary) and the last
one in 2004, with two smaller reunions
in the 1980s. The family lore is that they
are direct descendants of the illustrious
Jewish sage, Maimonides, although there
is no hard proof at this time.
At the time of the 50th anniversary
reunion, the majority of the family lived
in the Seattle area. Now, there are about
60 family members in the state of Wash-
ington, and a larger number in New York,
with sizable numbers in Israel, Califor-
nia, New Jersey. Illinois and England.
All eight of Rabbi Abraham Maimon’s
children attended the 50th reunion in
1974, where they exchanged stories of how
things were when they were growing up.
This tradition was continued at the Shab-
bat luncheon this year as each of the eight
branches of the family gave brief summa-
ries of highlights within their respective
a housecleaning service
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Eugene Normand
Rabbi Solomon Maimon, and his wife,
Esther, celebrating his 90th birthday at
the Maimon family 85th anniversary
reunion
families. In this way, younger members,
especially those living outside Seattle,
were able to reacquaint themselves and
learn firsthand about their family. A com-
Holocaust Center
fundraising luncheon
The Washington State Holocaust
Education Resource Center will
host its fifth annual fundraising lun-
cheon on Thurs., Oct. 22 from 11:30 a.m. to
1:30 p.m. The event’s theme is “Voices for
Humanity” and will honor three hidden
children from the Netherlands who regu-
larly visit Seattle-area classrooms to share
their stories. The guest speaker will be
James Waller, the author of Becoming Evil:
How Ordinary People Commit Genocide
and Mass Killing. For more information
or to RSVP, contact 206-774-2201 or
admin@wsherc.org. At the Westin Seattle,
1900 5th Ave., Seattle.
“Caring for Our Aging
Parents”
Jewish Family Service presents a
workshop series for adult children
of aging parents. The first event
will take place Mon., Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
and will address the topic “Supporting
Your Parents Long Distance.” Cost is $10
per person per workshop. Scholarships
are available. For more information or
to register, contact Marjorie Schnyder at
eastside Gift
425/454-1512 Certificate
Available!
friday, october 16, 2009
mittee of Seattle cousins prepared most of
the food items served at lunch, including
Sephardic favorites such as bourekas
(potato-filled pastry) and fritada de spinaca
(a type of spinach soufflé). With a large
number of rabbis in the family, several were
given the honor of delivering the sermon,
including Rabbi Abraham Maimon, son of
Rabbi Solomon Maimon, and giving shiu-
rim (lessons) at the SBH synagogue, while
other members collectively led all of the
services throughout Shabbat.
The reunion was organized by family
members living in Seattle, with the par-
ticipation of several out-of-towners via
e-mail and phone calls. The family has an
award-winning Web page managed by
Rabbi Abraham Maimon, and it was used
to inform the out-of-town family mem-
bers of the details of the reunion.
Sunday was a big, fun-filled event —
an all-day picnic in the Sephardic Bikur
Holim social hall. It began with a brunch
206-861-3146 or familylife@jfsseattle.org.
Location provided upon RSVP.
“Taking Charge of Your
Fertility”
Toni Weschler, author of Taking
Charge of Your Fertility and Cycle
Savvy: A Smart Teen’s Guide to the
Mysteries of Her Body, will give a talk on
fertility for women looking for a more
natural form of birth control, those
trying to increase their chances of preg-
nancy, and teenage girls trying to get a
handle on how their bodies work. This
event is sponsored by Hadassah. Cost
is $7 for Hadassah members, $10 for
non-members and $5 for students. For
more information, contact Tamar Lieb
at tamar007@aol.com or Peg Elefant at
rivertooth@comcast.net. Wed., Oct. 28
at 6:15 p.m. at Hillel at the University
of Washington, 4745 NE 17th Ave. NE,
Seattle.
Faith-inspired forum for
healthcare reform
Leaders from the three Abraha-
mic faiths and Buddhism, includ-
ing Rabbi Ted Falcon, Rev. Don
Experience the Joy of Judaism
Explore Jewish religion, texts, history and culture.
Introduction to Judaism
with Rabbi Jonathan Singer and Rabbi Beth Singer
Sundays, 10-11:15 AM
CLASS STARTS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18
See more details at www.templebetham.org
REGISTER TODAY!
Call 206-525-0915 or
email alysa@templebetham.org
n jtnews 13
community news
and included displays of various items
related to the family history and lore such
as books and writings authored by family
members, and included a DVD contin-
uously running the video from the 1989
reunion. Many of the children enjoyed
playing on the “moon walker,” the out-
door playground and indoor games.
Before lunch, all of the approximately
130 family members in attendance
assembled for a family photo, with Rabbi
Maimon, the birthday boy, and his wife,
Aunt Esther, in the center.
Lunch consisted of barbeque (hot
dogs, hamburgers and chicken) and all
the fixings, which was followed by com-
petitive games outdoors for children,
teenagers and adults.
Cousins who didn’t know one another
before the event became acquainted
with each other and their common his-
tory. The group included about 10 young
children under the age of 5, all of whom
were born after the last reunion, and all
great, great-grandchildren of Abraham
and Victoria Maimon.
Mackenzie, Sheikh Jamal Rahman and
others will share teachings from their
traditions that shed light on health-
care reform. This event will also include
musical performances by The Total
Experience Gospel Choir, Rafe Pearl-
man, and Ancient Sounds. Tickets are
free, but can be reserved in advance
through www.brownpapertickets.com.
Wed., Oct. 28, 7:30–9 p.m. at Town Hall,
1119 8th Ave., Seattle.
Understanding the
statewide ballot initiatives
The National Council of Jewish
Women’s Seattle Section and The
Summit at First Hill present a dis-
cussion of the statewide initiatives that
will be found on the ballot this fall.
This event will address Referendum
71, which would maintain the state law
that provides legal rights for domes-
tic partners; Initiative 1033, proposed
tax limitations; and Proposition 1, the
Seattle low-income housing levy. Free
and open to the public. Thurs., Oct. 22
at 7:30 p.m. at The Summit at First Hill,
1200 University St., Seattle.
TEMPLE BETH AM
2632 NE 80th Street
Seattle, WA 98115
206-525-0915
 14 jtnews n friday, october 16, 2009
arts & entertainment

Play the Game Monday, October 26, 6 p.m.

Film Oy Vey, My Son is Gay
Opens Fri., Oct. 16 Film
Play the Game is a romantic comedy written, directed and produced by first-time Jewish Lainie Kazan, Carmen Electra and Saul Rubinek star in this
filmmaker Marc Fienberg, and based on his own grandfather. “Papa Joe,” played by Andy comedy about two Jewish parents coming to understand
Griffith, decided at 89 years old to jump back into the dating game, and he asked Marc for their gay son. Much of the film was shot in Washington
advice. Also stars Doris Roberts of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and Liz Sheridan of “Seinfeld.” State, with some scenes taking place in front of Temple De
At local theaters. Check listings for showtimes. Hirsch Sinai. Proceeds from this screening will support the
Approve Referendum 71 campaign. Tickets are $25 for

the arts Oct. 17 – 29 general admission, $71 for VIP seating and the post-film
reception. Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater
Seattle, Vulcan, Gemini Events, and the Baltic Room. At
Now – October 28 Cinerama, 2100 4th Ave., Seattle.
Sculptures by Joan Rudd
Visual art Tuesday, October 27, 6:30 p.m.
www.joanruddsculpture.com The Jewish Touch: Exploring the Cultural Connection of Jews and the Arts
Lecture
Artist Joan Rudd’s clay figures, inspired by Yiddish proverbs and songs, are currently on
display Mon.-Fri. from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. at the Kirkland City Hall, 123 5th Ave., Kirkland. The Stroum Jewish Community Center presents a lecture series on the cultural connection
and heritage of Jews to music, theater, film and other art forms. The first lecture is titled
Saturday, October 17, 7 p.m. “Bernard Herrmann: A Composer who Wrote for Film” and will be presented by conductor
Drash: Northwest Mosaic and music educator Adam Stern. Cost is $10 for the general public, $5 for seniors. For more
Author reading information or to RSVP, contact Roni Antebi at ronia@sjcc.org or 206-232-7115, ext. 269.
Contributing writers and poets will share their work from the At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
newest volume of Drash: Northwest Mosaic, and Drash editor
Wendy Marcus will read from her award-winning short story
collection, Polyglot: Stories of the West’s Wet Edge. At Havurat
Ee Shalom, 15401 Westside Hwy. SW, Vashon Island.

Thursday, October 29, 8 p.m.

October 24-25 Soulico
Seattle Bookfest Music
Literary event
The Tel Aviv-based band Soulico blends
The Seattle Bookfest will feature more than 100 local authors, including poets and writers together Israeli folk songs and Jewish melodies
of fiction, nonfiction, mystery, romance, fantasy, and children’s books, as well as a with hip-hop tracks. Soulico is currently
showcase of more than 50 area bookstores, nonprofits, and small publishers. Local Jewish touring in support of their new album, Exotic
authors include Garth Stein, Kim-An Lieberman, Jane Adams, Nancy Pearl, Mary Guterson, on the Speaker, which was released at the
Adam Eisenberg and contributors to the third volume of Drash: Northwest Mosaic. At beginning of the month. At Chop Suey, 1325
the Columbia City Events Center, 3528 S Ferdinand, Seattle. E Madison, Seattle.

Obama’s Nobel t Page 1
About 1,000 U.S. soldiers and 15 U.S.
naval vessels are taking part in the exer-
cise, the fifth of its kind since 2001 and by
far the biggest and most complex.
After the exercise, the Americans may
leave behind some PAC-3 interceptors and
deploy Aegis vessels in the Mediterranean
and Red seas. Washington is consider-
ing deploying parts of the missile defense
system it had intended for Eastern Europe
in Israel, Turkey and the Balkans. U.S. Sec-
retary of Defense Robert Gates says this will
enable the United States to have a partial
system working by 2011, whereas in East-
ern Europe it would have taken until 2017.
All this sends a strong message to Iran.
Attacking Israel would mean confronting
an Israeli-American defensive umbrella
at the very least, and possibly a lethal
Israeli-American counter-offensive.
But it also sends a strong message
to Israel. If it can count on a strong
American umbrella, it should feel less
compelled to act against Iran on its
own, less concerned about giving up
its reputed nuclear arsenal, and more
inclined to make concessions to the
Palestinians.
Of course, that still leaves the $64,000
question unanswered: What happens if
the United States gets sucked into a
long, seemingly aimless dialogue with
Iran, and Israel sees smoking-gun evi-
dence of an incipient Iranian nuclear
capabilit y t hat A merica chooses to
ignore?
That’s the scenario Netanyahu hopes
his coordination strategy will help avoid.
Otherwise he is facing one of the hardest
choices of any Israeli leader: To antago-
nize America or face the consequences of
a nuclear Iran.

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 friday, october 16, 2009 n jtnews 15
arts & entertainment

Getting serious
Coen Brothers unspool funny and biting bubbe meises

Michael Fox sotan, of course, as are the Coens. But it

Special to JTNews
A Serious Man, the most Jewish and
the most personal film in the Coen Broth-
ers’ 25-year career, is pitched squarely
between the musical magnetic poles of
Ukrainian-born vocalist Sidor Belar-
sky and Haight-Ashbury’s Jefferson Air-
plane.
Belarsky’s regal, soothing tenor pro-
vides an unexpected anchor for secu-
lar Midwestern physics Professor Larry
Gopnik as the world shakes and shudders
beneath his feet. Son Danny, meanwhile,
tunes into Grace Slick on his transistor
radio, finding her words immeasurably
more relevant and compelling than the
unfathomable haftarah he’s learning.
It’s 1967, and as his family splinters
into shards of breathtaking selfishness,
Larry is left to wander through his sub-
urban house impotently asking, “What’s
going on?” He’s a living, breathing mani-
festation of Bob Dylan’s iconic lyric about
middle-class complacency, “Something
is happening here but you don’t know
what it is/Do you, Mister Jones?”
Dylan is Jewish and a native Minne-
If you go:
A Serious Man opens Friday, Oct. 16 at
Lincoln Square Stadium 16, 700
Bellevue Way, Bellevue.
would have been predictable, and a little
too on-the-nose, to use Robert Zimmer-
man’s tunes on the soundtrack.
These are the kind of inside jokes (and
skipped jokes) that make A Serious Man
a rare pleasure for Jewish audiences, and
something of a mystery for non-Jewish
moviegoers. I’d go further, in fact, and
deem the movie required viewing for all
American Jews above the age of, well, 17 (at
least without a parent, per the R rating).
That’s not to say that you won’t have
a queasy moment or two of self-recog-
nition on the way home, or the next day.
A Serious Man is precisely and elegantly
structured as simultaneously a deli-
cious, deadpan comedy of manners and
a savage exposé of internecine, passive-
aggressive, Jewish warfare.
The movie depicts the unraveling of
Larry’s neatly ordered life into a parox-
ysm of uncertainty. What we’re really
witnessing, though, is the first buffeting
of outside forces against an insular and
insulated Jewish community. (This sum-
mer’s Taking Woodstock, about a Jewish
family in the Catskills invaded by the
counterculture, is a breezier and more
melodramatic take on the same theme.)
In desperate need of wisdom and advice
at a time when few people outside of New
York or L.A. saw a shrink or a therapist,
Larry calls his rabbi. He ends up approach-
ing all three rabbis at his shul, but not one
of them turns out to be a serious man.
Richard Kind stars as Uncle Arthur in Joel and Ethan Coen’s new film, A Serious Man.
The senior rabbi tells Larry a long,
marvelously entertaining story that ulti-
mately provides no comfort and offers
no moral. This is what Jews do, the movie
suggests — spin self-satisfied fables while
the world races ahead.
Danny’s Bar Mitzvah certifies him as a
man, and grants him entrée to this com-
munity. But there’s not a single moment
that suggests he will become a man of
character, or a serious man. Nor, for that
matter, are we shown a Jewish establish-
ment that encourages much respect or
admiration.
A Serious Man will be viewed in some
quarters as a pointed rebuke of assimi-
lated American Jews, thoughtless mate-
rialism and the cruel hierarchy of status.
But I think Joel and Ethan Coen include
themselves in the indictment, through
Danny. They’re revisiting their child-
hood, albeit in a stylized, metaphori-
Wilson Webb
cal way. But they recognize that Danny’s
indifference to Jewish values will leave
him, a few decades on, in a predicament
not unlike his father’s: Bobbing on the
sea of life with no anchor and a malleable
moral compass.
It would be a stretch to call A Serious
Man a family picture, but I entertain the
perverse notion that in time it will attain
the status in Jewish households that A
Christmas Story has among non-Jews. The
Coens depict a kind of shared experience
and — unlikely as this may sound — pro-
vide a rare opportunity for Jewish kin to
bond around the DVD player.
But it will have to wait until the chil-
dren are college age, and home for
Hanukkah. In other words, when they’re
old enough to recognize both the fatal-
istic chuckles in A Serious Man, and the
whiff of impending disaster that hovers
over Larry Gopnik, as distinctly Jewish.

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 16 jtnews n friday,
arts & entertainment
Music for the planet
World Music Days concert at Kline Galland honors slain journalist Daniel Pearl
Morris Malakoff
JTNews Correspondent
It’s been nearly eight years since Wall
Street journalist Daniel Pearl was kid-
napped and brutally murdered in Paki-
stan.
In that time, his family and friends,
along with many others, have built a pow-
erful and effective organization dedi-
cated to his memory, The Daniel Pearl
Foundation.
While it goes about its educational
and journalistic work, the foundation has
also successfully put together a month
of worldwide music events that occur
throughout October on an annual basis.
“Daniel Pearl World Music Days” may
seem an incongruous way to celebrate
the life of a man known best for his writ-
ing and reporting. But, in fact, music was
a large part of his life.
According to the foundation’s Web
site, “Music turned out to be an essen-
tial form of expression for Danny and
led him to become a fixture in several
bands throughout the world, where
he improvised on the electric violin,
fiddle, or mandolin. Today, friends and
colleagues still recall how quickly he
would pick up an instrument when he
sensed an occasion, such as writing a
song for a pregnant friend past her due
date, or the Christmas night when he
entertained downhearted co-workers
at his office.”
Camp
Solomon
Schechter
registration
has begun.
Sign up
today!
Check us out…
www.campschechter.org
Info@campschechter.org
206-447-1967
october 16, 2009
Courtesy Marina Belenky
Marina Belenky, left, and Anna Vasilevs-
kaya are principals in Marianna, a trio
that plays traditional Jewish and world
music. They are joined by Oleg Ruvinov
(not pictured). They will be performing
at a concert dedicated to the memory of
journalist Daniel Pearl on Oct. 25 at the
Kline Galland Home in Seattle’s Seward
Park neighborhood.
Started in October 2002 in celebra-
tion of what would have been Pearl’s 39th
birthday, Daniel Pearl World Music Days
has grown to a festival with more than
3,100 events in 85 countries.
JoIn uS
for the
Summer
of 2010
“Last year, we had Daniel’s father,
Judea, here as a guest speaker and he told
us about the World Music event,” he said.
“It was already October, but we were able
If you go: to put together an event and be a part of
it. This year, we are ready and have been
Daniel Pearl World Music Days, a getting ready to enthusiastically have our
part of the International Harmony for second annual event.”
Humanity Concert Network, is Judea Pearl, president of the founda-
scheduled for Sun., Oct. 25 from 2 to tion bearing his son’s name, said the most
4 p.m at the Kline Galland Home, important part of any of the performances
7500 Seward Park Ave. S, Seattle. under the World Music Days banner is
Admission is free. letting the audience know about the prin-
ciples for which the younger Pearl stood.
“Danny was a talented musician and
This year, the Seattle segment of the principled journalist who respected all
World Music Days event, a part of the cultures,” said Judea Pearl. “World Music
International Harmony for Humanity Days is part of his legacy to raise aware-
Concert Network, is scheduled for Sun., ness of our common humanity. All musi-
Oct. 25 at the Kline Galland Home in cians, no matter their genre, are invited to
Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood from dedicate performances held from Octo-
2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. ber 1-31 each year.”
The eclectic line-up includes Rabbi
Jim Mirel; the Seattle All Star Klezmer
Band; Jacquelina’s Dances of Spain;
Crossword answers
(from page 6)
Marianna, which features with cantor/
keyboardist Marina Belenk y, guitar-
ist Anna Vasilevskaya, and bass player
Oleg Ruvinov; vocalist Gabby Bonner;
musica l t heater diva Joanne K lein;
jazz musician Marc Smason; guitarist
Ari Zucker and Nick Heiting & Bonnie
Burch.
According to David Brumer, director
of social services at Kline Galland, this
is the second year Kline Galland Home
will dedicate their concert as part of the
annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days
network.
It is never to early to think about next summer!
Priority registration for returning
campers now open!
Don’t miss out on the
Contact our office today to register for
the Summer of 2010!
URJ Camp Kalsman
Phone: 206.443.8340
E-mail: campkalsman@urj.org
www.kalsman.urjcamps.org
Send submissions to: JTNews — Lifecycles, 2041 Third Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 friday, october 16, 2009 n jtnews 17
lifecycles@jtnews.net Phone: 206-441-4553 Submissions for the October 30, 2009 issue are due by October 20. lifecycles
Download forms or submit online at www.jtnews.net/index.php?/lifecycle

Birth Birth Bat Mitzvah Bar Mitzvah

Zev Israel Schnitzer Jonah Shaia Negrin Hannah Jo Piatok Joshua Reuven Powazek

Rachael and Roy Schnitzer announce the
birth of their son Zev on October 2, 2009 at
Overlake Hospital in Bellevue. He weighed
6 lbs., 9 oz. and was 19 inches long.    weighed 4 lbs., 8 oz. and was 17 inches
Zev is the younger brother of Chana and
the grandson of Jacob Engelstein of Mercer
Island, Amy Granat of Clarksburg, Calif.,
Avraham Schnitzer of North Hills, Calif.,
and the late Barbara Ann Engelstein.
He is named after his great grandfathers
Zev and Isidor.  Junior High. Her interests include hip hop,
M.O.T. t Page 7
Ben, 23, grew up in Bellevue and had
his Bar Mitzvah at Temple B’nai Torah,
and attended the UW as an undergrad-
uate. He is greatly enamored of over-
seas travel. After sophomore year he went
to Israel on a Birthright trip and back-
packed through Europe before studying in
Greece. As a senior, he spent time working
on farms in Nicaragua through American
Jewish World Service, and between gradu-
ation and starting law school he traveled
and worked abroad for 15 months in places
like Taiwan and South Africa.
Jodi and Rick Negrin of Mercer Island
announce the birth of their son Jonah on
August 13, 2009 at Swedish Hospital. He
long at birth.
Jonah is the brother of Josh and Daniel
and the grandson of Saralyn and Marvin
Negrin and Pnina and Edwin Mirsky, all of
Mercer Island.
He takes his regent duties very seri-
ously.
“I like the public service aspect of it,”
he says. “The university’s done a lot for
me,” adding that “this job is a lot of fun,
believe it or not…I’m learning a ton.”
After graduation, “if I could do any-
thing, it would be in international devel-
opment policy,” Ben says.
In the short run he hopes to work with
emerging and startup companies as an
attorney.
Hannah will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah
on October 17, 2009 at Temple De Hirsch
Sinai in Bellevue.
Hannah is the daughter of Robert and
Sandy Piatok of Redmond and the sister of
Jake. Her grandparents are Milton Piatok
of Renton, Susan Nir of Kiryat Yam, Israel
and the late Joseph and Geraldine
Bitterman.
Hannah is in the 7th grade at Timbercrest
basketball, fashion and hanging out with
friends. For her mitzvah project, Hannah
sold Washington State picture note cards,
with the proceeds going to the Kline Galland
Home’s activities department.
Iran t Page 6
even worse — a catastrophe. The only
approach that would work is diplomatic
engagement. Put all issues on the table,
sanctions, the nuclear program, sup-
port for Hamas, and work through them.
That’s the only way to get outcome both
parties can live with.”
He acknowledged that the speak-
ers at his event won’t represent a par-
Joshua will be called to the Torah as a Bar
Mitzvah on October 24, 2009 at Herzl-Ner
Tamid Congregation on Mercer Island.  
Joshua is the son of Laurie and Alan
Powazek and the big brother of Sarah and
Jonah. He is the grandson of Linda and
Mervyn Gerson and the late Regina and
Ben Powazek.
Josh is a 7th grader at Issaquah Middle
School. He enjoys most sports, but espe-
cially likes baseball, skiing, basketball and
football. For his mitzvah project, Josh vol-
unteered at the summer games of the Special
Olympics of Washington, where he helped
and encouraged other athletes in their love
of sports.
ticularly broad range of views on how
Israel and the U.S. ought to deal with
Iran, either.
“This is not a panel that’s diverse ideo-
logically,” he said.
He defends his decision of speaker
choice because he said anyone who
wants to hear arguments in favor of sanc-
tions and military action will have had
the opportunity to do so at the October
panel.

Rhonda Mittenberg
May 19, 1928–August 18, 2009 Serving the community with dignity & respect.
Rhonda Mittenberg of Cottehill, N.Y. died August 18,
2009 at the age of 81. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on
May 19, 1928, she was the daughter of the late Morris
and Anna Rifkin.
In her early years she worked in insurance and was
a volunteer English teacher to immigrants in Brooklyn.
Upon moving to Seattle she worked at the University
of Washington, where she was employed for over 20
Burial  Cremation
years. As a lifelong member of Hadassah, she served as
a president of the Golda Meir chapter. Rhonda moved Columbarium  Receptions
back to upstate New York in 2008.
She is survived by two sons, Michael and Robert
On Queen Anne
(and Robert’s wife Valerie); granddaughter Hannah; at 520 W. Raye St.,
sister Barbara Peltz and her husband William. She is Seattle
pre-deceased by her son Steven. Rhonda enjoyed the (In front of Hills of Eternity Cemetery)
love of her many nieces, nephew and great nieces and Barbara Cannon
nephews. A graveside service was held in August in
Kingston, N.Y. PleAse cAll 206-622-0949 or 206-282-5500

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Networking Our Local Jewish Community
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 the shouk @ jtnews october 16, 2009

volunteers wanted tutoring photography real estate

volunteer improve your child’s photography by anat neW listing!

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 20 jtnews n friday, october 16, 2009
jewish on earth

Harvest Time: organic or petrochemical?

With the new year, we should think new thoughts about how the food we eat affects our planet
two-thirds of all our fresh water — more
than any other human activity.
Why, you may ask, is this cheaper
than buying locally grown and organic
foods? According to the Organic Farmers
Martin Research Foundation (ofrf.org/resources/
Westerman organicfaqs.html), “factory” farms plant
JTNews one-time hybrid and genetically modified
Columnist seeds, and grow them using petroleum-
based inputs that more “cheaply” substi-
With Sukkot, the harvest holiday, tute for the labor and intense soil and pest
having just passed, now is a good time management that organic farms use. Curi-
to remind ourselves about how much we ously, conventional and organic each get
depend on petroleum products for our the same yield per acre, but where organic
industrially produced food — the fertiliz- farms create no environmental harm,
ers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, conventional farms dump pollutants into
and for the fuel to power irrigation, farm farm workers, air, soil and water, and the
machinery, processing plants, shipping costs for handling pollution-related health
and distribution systems, and the car you and environmental problems are not paid
drive to the store to buy it. by factory farms; they’re passed on to us.
Sukkot is also a good time to look at the Finally, organic farms are regulated more
schach draped over our sukkah roofs, and strictly than factory farms.
remind ourselves of our available local So in buying organics, we’re paying
resources. See the contrast? more of the “true cost” of growing the
Depending on t he distance your food. As petroleum prices rise, however,
“conventional” food travels, 50 to 90 so will all the costs of inputs to factory
percent of the price you pay simply farming, and all the prices of the fruits
covers its petroleum inputs. To feed and vegetables they grow. Which means,
each A mer ica n each yea r, requires economically, prices for conventional
about 400 gallons of oil equivalents foods will eventually equal, or become
(782.5 tons of greenhouse gases). You “less competitive” against organics.
may bring some home, in the form of How soon will that happen? It already
pesticide residues on up to 71 percent has. Meanwhile, at a rate of 20 percent-
of the produce you buy (see the Baker, per-year, prices of organics are steadily
et al. study at w w w.omri.org). Also, coming down. One day, they may actually
agricultural production requires about be cheaper than conventionals.
“Factor y fa r m” is a n ox y moron,
anyway. A farm is a biotic system that
depends on soil and water. If all the soil’s
organisms are killed, and its nutrients
depleted by unrelenting crop production,
and if the water is polluted or depleted,
the only ways to keep growing crops
are through uses of artificially modi-
fied seeds, and artificial growing media,
such as petro-chemicals. (Michael Pollan
notes in The Omnivore’s Dilemma that
America’s chemical-based farm “indus-
try” grew out of World War II explosives
manufacturers looking for peacetime
opportunities to market their phos-
phates, nitrates, and poison gases). Since
the 1950s, nearly one-third of the world’s
cropland has been abandoned because of
soil erosion and degradation, according
to World Resources Institute. Most of the
replacement land has come from remov-
ing forests, and reducing the world’s bio-
diversity.
And then there’s the weather. Your
parents and grandparents remember
the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s, and Stein-
beck’s epic The Grapes of Wrath, when
millions of tons of America’s best topsoil
blew away from poorly managed farms
in a drought that virtually emptied the
Midwest of its population. America has
not improved its soil management poli-
cies since the 1930s, but it has loaded the
atmosphere with enough greenhouse
gases to alter the planet’s weather.
In times when we did not know so
much about science, we prayed for rain,
made sacrifices, and bargained with God,
as in the second paragraph of the shema:
If we kept God’s commandments, God
would supply rain in its season, abun-
dant harvests, and contentment. We can
use the same formula today: Prayer and
mitzvot. While prayer gives us focus — “it
couldn’t hurt,” — the mitzvot to do now
involve supporting our health and sur-
vival on the planet:
• Buy local and organic, rather than dis-
tant and petro-chemical. If your budget
is tight, get tips from the eHOW list
(w w w.ehow.com/how_4877887_buy-
organic-tight-budget.html);
• Reduce your, and your employer’s
carbon/greenhouse gas footprints. Start
with the Jewish Climate Challenge’s
Carbon Calculator (www.carbonsalon.
net);
• And, if you’re motivated, grow your own
food — blueberries, a fruit tree, straw-
berries — to re-connect yourself with the
earth.
Amory Lovins is often quoted as saying,
“We didn’t leave the Stone Age because we
ran out of stones.” He is familiar with how
to create change: He invented the “soft
path” energy conservation structure by
which we live today. Now that we have re-
rolled the Torahs and moved into the New
Year, know that new ideas are the seeds of
change, and they can grow into wonderful
new ways of life, if we nurture them with
daily attention.
Author and teacher Martin Westerman
writes and consults on sustainable living.
He can be contacted with questions at
artartart@seanet.com.

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