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Page 3
Pokmon goes too far
The Pokmon craze is back and in

an example of the should-have-beenexpected consequences of merging the

virtual and real worlds, you can apparently catch em all at your local former
concentration camp.
Pokmon Go, a smartphone version
of the popular late 1990s video and
trading card game, has become an omnipresent phenomenon since its release
last week. To put it in perspective: The
game soon will have more Android
phone users than Twitter does, and it
sent parent company Nintendos stock
up 23 percent in one day.
The game is an example of so-called
augmented reality it allows players
to experience capturing Pokmon (the
games various cartoon creatures) in
real life, with the help of their phones
GPS systems. A high-tech scavenger hunt, the game takes place out of
doors, and sends users to PokStops
real-life places marked as checkpoints
by the game to get in-game items.
Even though the game has only been
released so far in the United States,
Australia, and New Zealand, the Pokmon Go craze already has swept Israel.
The cartoon creatures have been
found at sites such as the Western Wall.
More officially, Haaretz reported that
the Israeli Navy Facebook page has
joked about hunting Pokmon on the
high seas.
There are some Pokemon that only
we can get to #gottacatchemall, reads
one post.
The Home Front Command is using Pokmon to highlight the need for
civilian preparedness, asking Israelis to
post pictures of the virtual creatures in
their real-life home shelters. Even Israeli
President Reuven Rivlin has joined the
fun, posting a picture of a Pokmon
found in his official residence.
However, the ubiquitous game has

also made its way into much more

controversial territory.
New York Magazine reported that a user found a virtual
Pokmon (a Rattata, to be
exact for all you gamers) at
the museum at Auschwitz.
Since then, others have
discovered the animated
creatures through their
phones at the former
Holocaust camp.
The Washington
Post reported
that the U.S.
Holocaust
Museum in
Washington,
D.C. is home
to three different PokStops and therefore is attracting
people who are glued to their phone
screens. One user circulated an image
online of a Pokmon named Koffing (for the poisonous gas it emits)
appearing in the museums Helena
Rubenstein Auditorium, which features
testimonials of Jews who survived
Nazi gas chambers. Although the image appears only in the players phone,
its virtual presence is enough to get
players scrambling to the spot.
Playing the game is not appropriate
in the museum, which is a memorial to
the victims of Nazism, Andrew Hollinger, the museums communications
director, told the Post. We are trying
to find out if we can get the museum
excluded from the game.
Jewish cultural sites are not the only
ones acting as controversial Pokmon
playing grounds New York Magazine pointed out that users can play at
Ground Zero in lower Manhattan and
near a North Carolina statue of a confederate general.

According to New York, the games

developer, Niantic, ran into similar trouble last year, when one of its games,
Ingress, allowed players to battle for
control over real-life locations which
happened to include many former con-

centration camps, such as Auschwitz,

Dachau, and Sachsenhausen.
The company apologized last July.
Looks like it might need to issue another statement this July.
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CONTENTS
NOSHES ...............................................................4
OPINION ............................................................14
COVER STORY ................................................20
HEALTHY LIVING &
ADULT LIFESTYLES...................................... 27
DVAR TORAH............................................36
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ................................ 37
CALENDAR ...................................................... 38
GALLERY .......................................................... 39
OBITUARIES .....................................................41
CLASSIFIEDS .................................................. 42
REAL ESTATE..................................................44

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JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 3

Noshes

I think that enough immigrants

entered this country.
Rosa Berezovskaya, as quoted in the Forward. Shes an 86-year-old Jew
who emigrated to Brooklyn from Kiev in 2003.

THE INFILTRATOR:

Mom, son team up

for Cranston film
The Infiltrator, a
crime thriller, is
based on a real
story. In 1986, Federal
agent Robert Mazur,
played by Bryan Cranston, went deep undercover to infiltrate Pablo
Escobars drug trafficking gang by posing as a
slick, money-laundering
businessman. The case
he helped build led to
the indictment of 85
drug lords and corrupt
bankers. It also led to the
collapse of BCCI, one of
the largest money
laundering banks in the
world. Co-stars include
Amy Ryan as BONNI
TISCHLER, who was
Mazurs boss in the
Customs Service Tampa,
Florida, office. (Opens
July 15.)
Tischler, who died of
breast cancer in 2005,
age 60, was a pioneering woman in federal law
enforcement. She started
as a sky marshal and
rose to be a top national
Customs Service official
before retiring in 2002.
She told the Washington Post in 1987 that her
parents were horrified
when she became a sky
marshal: My mother
always said that nice
Jewish girls dont go
into law enforcement. I
should add that Infiltrator is based on Mazurs
account of his undercover work. He had a tense

relationship with Tischler

and later they differed on
what happened. So the
film may depict her from
his, possibly not true,
perspective.
The advance Infiltrator review in Variety
is a total rave, praising
Cranston, the screenplay,
and BRAD FURMAN,
41, the director. Furman,
who had been directing
small films and ads for
about 10 years, got his
big break in 2007 when
he helmed The Take, a
taunt crime thriller. He
followed up in 2011 with
The Lincoln Lawyer, a
hit legal thriller. When he
first decided to go into
filmmaking, his mother,
ELLEN FURMAN, now 67,
asked him to reconsider
and find something
more stable. His mother
then was a practicing
attorney and his father
still practices law. Well,
his mother wrote The
Infiltrator screenplay!
Mother and son told the
Tampa Tribune that they
had written 10 films over
the years, but none sold.
But after Ellen retired she
had more time to hone
her writing; she turned
out a script for The Infiltrator that Variety called
ingeniously layered.
A Tampa film professor
told the Times that he
couldnt think of another instance in which a
mother wrote a film that

Brad Furman

Winona Rider

Jolie Gabor

Magda Gabor

Zsa Zsa Gabor

Eva Gabor

her son directed. By the

way, Ellens late mother
was a president of the
National Council of Jewish Women.
On July 15, Netflix
will release
Stranger Things,
a 10-episode supernatural series that harkens
back to the creepy
STEVEN SPIELBERG/
Stephen King horror
fantasies of the 1980s.
WINONA RYDER, 44,
stars as Joyce, a smalltown mother whose

young son, Will, goes

missing. The town thinks
shes crackers when she
says she says that she
can communicate with
Will via a ouija board, but
they change their tune
when monsters appear in
the shadows.
Before Paris Hilton
and the Kardashians became
famous for being famous
there were the three
Hungarian-born Gabor
sisters and their mother,
JOLIE. Baby boomers

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and those older will

remember that the
beautiful sisters
(MAGDA, ZSA ZSA, and
EVA) were constantly in
the news in the 1950s
and 1960s. This despite
the fact that Magda had
very few film credits; Zsa
Zsa has only one big film
on her resume, Moulin
Rouge, and Eva had few
credits until she costarred in the 60s TV
series Green Acres.
Years ago, a correspondent of mine

became obsessed with

the idea that the Gabors
were Jewish. He contacted Zsa Zsa by mail, but
got no answer. At that
time, I could only tell him
what I could find online.
There were rumors that
the sisters were born
Jewish, but all Zsa Zsa
would admit to, in her
autobiography, was that
she had one French Jewish grandmother.
Well, another friend
recently told me that
family history experts
have since poured over
the Gabor familys vital
records. The documentation now is overwhelming Jolie and her husband, VILMOS GABOR,
were just plain Jewish.
Jolie and Vilmoss respective parents were all
Jewish, too. But, for reasons I can only guess at,
the sisters brushed away
questions about their
Jewish background as
they proceeded to marry,
collectively, 20 men. Zsa
Zsa, now 99, is the only
surviving sister and the
only sister to have a child
(just one). Her daughter,
FRANCESCA HILTON
(the great aunt of Paris),
died childless in 2015. By
the way, Eva had a Catholic funeral even though
there are numerous clues
she never formally converted. Probably she just
played a Christian part to
N.B.
the end.

California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at

Middleoftheroad1@aol.com

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Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016 5

Local
The big book of women rabbis
Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu of Teaneck contributes to writing
The Sacred Calling: Four Decades of Women in the Rabbinate

Joanne Palmer
ts a really big book.
The Sacred Calling: Four Decades
of Women in the Rabbinate is 776
pages, plus LVI pages of frontmatter
(translated from Roman numerals and publishers jargon, thats 56 pages of introductory
material before page 1) and eight blank ones
at the end. Its a paperback, and the paper is
thin, but still its massive.
When you think about it, though, it
makes sense. Were it to have been printed
even 30 years ago, this book about women
rabbis would have been a pamphlet. But
since then, women have transformed
the liberal rabbinate, even as the world
around them has changed. It takes at least
776 pages, plus LVI of frontmatter (but no
index), to tell that story.
The book is published by the CCAR Press,
which is part of the Reform movement, but its
contributors look at the progress of women
rabbis in all the movements; Rabba Sara Hurwitz of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in
the Bronx, who is modern Orthodox, contributed an essay, and so did a few Conservative
and many Reconstructionist and Reform rabbis, mainly but not exclusively women.
Rabbi Sally Priesand, who retired from
the pulpit of Monmouth Reform Temple in
Tinton Falls, was the first modern American woman to be ordained; she wrote the
foreword, and her story recurs as model,
inspiration, and in some ways a cautionary tale of the perils of being a pioneer
throughout the book.
Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu of Teaneck, who
heads Rabbis Without Borders for Clal, is
one of the Conservative rabbis who wrote for
The Sacred Calling. Her chapter focuses on
her movements decision to ordain women,
which followed Rabbi Priesands 1972 ordination and the Reconstructionist Rabbi Sandy
Sassos in 1974 by more than a decade. Amy
Eilberg, the first American woman to be a
Conservative rabbi, was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1985.
Rabbi Sirbu thinks that the concept of
the rabbi as symbolic exemplar is a subject
under discussion right now, at least in part
because womens leadership often uses a different model. The idea of being an exemplar traditionally is that you are set apart, but
many women do leadership through relationship-building, which is diametrically opposed
to the theory of symbolic exemplar, she said.
Thats also a generational change, she
said. We have seen a real shift in that both
women and men are moving away from that
model, and we see it in synagogue architecture as well. The bimah used to be very high
6 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr, above,

is one of the editors of The Sacred
Calling: Four Decades of Women in
the Rabbinate. Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu
of Teaneck, right, wrote an essay for
the book.

up and in the front; that is no longer the case.

Now it is often in the center.
The book is timely because of whats
going on in the world outside the rabbinate,
Rabbi Sirbu added. Womens leadership is
being discussed a lot right now, given Hillary Clintons campaign for the presidency.
There are many different styles of leadership, that depend on many factors, not
just gender, but it is clear to me in the work
that I do that female leadership tends to
be viewed differently, and often is enacted
somewhat differently.
Shes encountered that difference herself.
I direct Rabbis Without Borders myself, she
said. I put the whole thing together, from
soup to nuts bring in speakers, construct
the curriculum, find the space, build relationships. Sometimes I do direct teaching, in
front of the group, but a lot of what I do is
directing group activities. My style is not to
be a frontal teacher, but I often bring in great,
charismatic rabbis who are frontal speakers.
Every year, I will have some male participant come up to me and say, Rebecca, this is
great, but why dont you lead more? I want
to hear your voice more. And I go, Huh? I
am mystified by that, even though I know its
a compliment.
And women say to me, You are such
a leader! You know how to put a group
together, how to organize, how to get the
timing right.
I have been doing this almost eight years
now, and every year I get this comment, and

every year it blows my mind.

We are socialized to understand what
leadership is. Some people understand only
charismatic leadership, and others understand that there are a lot of different facets
that go into making a leader. I dont think that
a man would get the same comments. Participants would be more aware that when a man
does what I do, hes leading. People expect a
female rabbi to be more adept at the relationship and pastoral pieces. There are charismatic female leaders. There are men who are
phenomenal at the relationship stuff.
I think we bring a lot of preconceived
ideas into this realm, Rabbi Sirbu concluded.
Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr, a
Reform rabbi who lives in eastern Pennsylvania, is one of the books editors. There
were some topics and voices we knew we
wanted in the book, she said. We also
wanted a cross section of the generations
of women rabbis. The experiences of
someone in the first wave of women, when
she was the only woman on campus, was

a very different experience that those of

us whose classes were 50 percent women,
and who had women professors.
Its funny we often are asked how many
women were in our class, as if that was the
only thing we were aware of, but part of it
also was who was at the helm of the institution? It was about sitting in five years of
classes and never having a female professor.
The lens through which text was read was
entirely male, and therefore limited. Now,
there are more lenses to focus on the same
text, and therefore more insights, from those
new vantage points, to be garnered.
At first, even the most basic logistics
caused problems. When women first were
admitted, rabbinical schools had few bathrooms for them. I cant imagine arriving on
a campus where there is not a womens bathroom on every floor, Rabbi Schorr said, but
at first the only womens bathrooms were on
schools ground floors, which were open to
the public.
For years, the Reform movement had been
giving different ordination certificates to
women and to men, Rabbi Schorr said; it was
Rabbi Mary Zamore, now the executive director of the Womens Rabbinic Network, whose
husband noticed that the wording on the smicha certificate the document that makes
public its recipients status as an ordained
rabbi was different for men and women.
(The mens version says, in Hebrew, that he
is Our Teacher the Rabbi. The womens version says that she is Rabbi and Teacher.) In
2012, 15 years after she earned smicha, she
brought the disparity to the attention of the
Reform movements leaders; now its standardized, but it has taken all these years,
Rabbi Schorr said.
Part of the problem is that there wasnt
any intentional misogyny, but when you are
dealing with people and committees, things
move slowly, she continued. And because
there is history behind the original wording,
and because that wording has been handed
down for all those years, my guess is that
there has been deliberate conversation to
hammer out what it is we really want the
smicha to say. In making the womens like the
mens, there was an opportunity to do things
a little differently.
Although the Reform movement was the
first one to ordain women as rabbis in North
America, and although The Sacred Calling
is a Reform movement publication, there
is no way that this book could have been
complete if we did not include voices and
stories from the other movements, Rabbi
Schorr said. There is a fascinating look at the
very few similarities and many differences
between the moves to ordain women in the

Local
Reform and Conservative movements. That
chapter, JTS, HUC, and Women Rabbis
Redux is by Rabbi Dr. Gary Phillip Zola. The
Conservative movement tends to be about 15
years behind the Reform movement, Rabbi
Schorr said. Sometimes thats a negative
thing. Sometimes its not.
In the case of ordaining women, the decision went backward. Sally Priesand starting
taking classes at HUC, and at a certain point
she said, Why cant I be ordained? and there
was no good answer. And then Dr. Glueck of
blessed memory thats Dr. Nelson Glueck,
who then was president of HUC said
okay. Yeah. He did that without really going
through any of the official channels or committees or anything that would have bogged
it down. And then, in the aftermath, the committees and subcommittees and ad hoc committees were formed to figure it out.
The Women of Reform Judaism had been
advocating for this change for decades,
Rabbi Schorr continued. It wasnt something that hadnt been coming down the
pike. If someone had had really good vision,
they would have assumed that it would happen it was the 1970s, and womens lib,
and it makes perfect sense that it happened
when it happened but it wasnt heralded
with much fanfare. She started classes, and

okay, she was ordained.

And then they had to figure out how
women rabbis could be hired. There was no
plan to help them overcome congregations
resistance to them.
In the Conservative movement, it was a
much more contentious fight, Rabbi Schorr
said. Even once the decision was made, it
was not entirely accepted across the board.
There were stories about synagogues that
hired women to be on the bimah but always
had another service where they werent
counted. Or stories about women who could
do the wedding ceremony but couldnt sign
the ketubah.
Still, the Conservative movement
approached it much more methodically. If
they were going to agree to ordain women,
they asked themselves, when we accept
her, we have to think forward six years, to
whether she will be hirable. That didnt really
happen at HUC.
And, she added, We had to have Rabba
Sara Hurwitz and the maharats, the modern Orthodox women ordained as clergy
although not as rabbis at Yeshivat Maharat,
the womens yeshiva started by Rabbi Avi
Weiss. We wanted the book to reflect the
entire Jewish spectrum, not just liberal Jews,
Rabbi Schorr said. To that end, the book

We wanted
the book to
reflect the
entire Jewish
spectrum, not
just liberal Jews
Rabbi rebecca Schorr

begins with a fascinating look at some chasidic women. The chapter, by Rabbi Renee
Edelman, is chasidic Women Rebbes from
1749 to 1900. It includes the daughter of the
Baal Shem Tov, the founder of chasidim, she
said. These women were learned, and functioned as de facto rabbis. And what really
made me sit up is that they were having the
same struggles I have.
Its the calling to serve the Jewish community, and to serve God, but at the same time
society is telling me or has conditioned me
or expects me to be a wife and a mother. So
how do I juggle it? In the 1700s, the 1800s,
the 1900s, they were talking about juggling
the same darn things. How do we juggle our

innate desire to parent and to partner with

the desire to be Gods instrument?
These arent conversations that men have
traditionally had in the same way, although
they are starting to have them.
Like Rabbi Sirbu, Rabbi Schorr believes
that the presence of women rabbis, along
with changing cultural expectations about
the balance between work and life, will benefit everyone.
There never had been conversation about
family balance. Before, the mentality for male
rabbis was that if you were a good, successful rabbi, you were working all the time. You
had your wife, who was taking care of the
home front. I cant tell you how many male
colleagues have gloated, with pride, that they
had never taken a vacation day in their lives.
Thats so unhealthy. Research has done
much to substantiate the notion that we
burn out. Shabbat is a wonderful time to
recharge for the Jew in the pew but not
for the pulpit rabbi.
Yes, the book is long, Rabbi Schorr said.
I recommend that people look at the section introductions. Theyre a good solid
overview. Find what most interests you,
and jump in. In another decade or so,
there will be many more chapters to add
to the updated version.

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Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016 7

Local

Teens unbottle Israeli creativity

Area student brainstorms at Eitanim hackathon on water conservation
LARRY YUDELSON

eet Jordan Efraim of Washington Township.

Hes the chief technology
officer of Project Bakbuk.
Bakbuk means bottle in Hebrew, and the
team going by that name wants to build an
app that would promote water conservation
and awareness of Israels leading role in water
conservation technology.
Earlier this summer in Los Angeles, Jordan
and his 12-member team sketched out their
preliminary design.
We were pretty much focused on the
game-ification of logging your daily water
usage, to help you cut back on your water
bill, he said. We didnt exactly have a working beta. We had a very basic outline, images
of everything we wanted it to do.
Project Bakbuk isnt a real company. Jordan, 17, is a senior at Westwood Regional High
School.
The planning, design, and team-building,
however, were real. They took place at a Los
Angeles hackathon run by Eitanim, a new
program from the Israeli-American Council.
Eitanim brings teens together to learn and
experience design and problem solving and
how to promote Israel at the same time.
Its start-up-nation meets hasbara.
Jordans weeklong Los Angeles experience

followed his participation last year in the

Eitanim program, which met at the Kaplen
JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly. Beginning in
the winter, the group of 10 teens convened
monthly. The three-and-a-half-hour meeting
would begin with a presentation, and then a
period of intense brainstorming, planning,
and creativity would follow, as the kids tried
to solve a problem related to promoting Israels image.
We did a lot of work that pushed you to
think outside the box, Jordan said.
In one session, the challenge was to use
3D modeling software to create a logo for
Eitanim.
Another time, Amir Sagie, the deputy consul general of Israel in New York, spoke to
them about BDS. Afterwards, the teens brainstormed about branding Israel.
Every time we would have a different
task, Jordan said. Basically you start and
finish a project in one meeting.
I got to walk them through the different
stages of how to create something new, said
Einat Katzir, a synagogue educator with her
own start-up on the side. Ms. Katzir served as
the mentor for the group.
The idea was for me to allow them to
learn something, engage them with a new
technology, and come up with a semi-complete project, she said.
Jordan is an Israeli citizen. He was born

Teenagers unleash their creative prowess at an Eitanim meeting in Tenafly.

Jordan Efraim holds the microphone at the Eitanim hackathon in Los Angeles.

in America to an Israeli father and a mother

from Connecticut. After graduation, he plans
to serve in the Israeli army. For a long time,
he has been a member of Tzofim, the Israeli
scouts organization that has chapters in Fair
Lawn and Tenafly.
Last year, the local Eitanim chapter met
only in Tenafly. This year, Eitanim plans plans
to open two new chapters, one in Fair Lawn
and the other in Hoboken.
The IAC wants to add Eitanim programs
catering to American Jews, working in parallel with the groups targeting Israelis. We
want to create a bonding and bridging
between the communities, Ms. Katzir said.
She said that Eitanims twin focus on defending Israel and developing problem solving
skills makes a lot of sense.
Thats how Israel became what it is, she
said. Israelis came to a new country and
had to deal with a new situation. People had
to step up and create something new constantly. In the modern day, we see that as the
way initiatives and startups take place.
That mindset of innovation of Zionist pioneers now is in demand around the world, all

the time. People have to step up and create

something new constantly, she said. They
have to deal with technologies that are constantly changing. They have to work with
people from different backgrounds. Thats
the reality we want to give our teens experience with as they step into the real world.
Project Bakbuk was one of 10 teams at the
Los Angeles hackathon. Teenagers went to
Los Angeles from across the United States
and were divided into teams at the beginning
of the exercise. The most successful teams
will present their ideas at the September
conference of the Israeli-American Council
in Washington.
Jordans project was not a winner, but he is
proud of his groups idea nonetheless.
One of our biggest ideas was a shower
timer, he said. You would start a timer and
see how long your shower was. It would compare that to a national average, a local average, and the apps average. Every time you
get lower than that shower time, you score
points. On the main screen would be a water
bottle, a bakbuk, that would fill up as you
saved water.

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Local

Illumination in Israel
Students travel with Meor, an outreach group that offers a unique lens
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

ve Litvak of Fair Lawn went to

Israel on a 10-day Birthright trip
in the winter of 2013. After graduating from Brandeis University
this May, she headed back to the Jewish
homeland for an 18-day identity-building
experience sponsored by Meor ((Illumination), a privately funded nonprofit Orthodox organization that hones future Jewish
leaders at 21 universities and at an alumni
center in Manhattan.
I really wanted to find my way to Israel
for the summer of 2016 to figure out
what the country means to me and work
towards understanding my relationship
with the land, Ms. Litvak said. Meor provided an opportunity to go and offered a
very unique lens on being in Israel.
Ms. Litvak was one of 145 students participating in the journey; they came from
Boston University, Emory, George Washington, Harvard, Brandeis, Cornell, NYU,
Temple, Rutgers, Binghamton, the University of Maryland, and the University of
Pennsylvania.
The students are handpicked for their
interest in growth, learning, and connecting, Adar Breuer, Meors director of operations and Israel trips, said. Members of
Meors on-campus staff, who know the students, invite some of them to apply, based
on their assessment of the students interests, and their readiness to learn. A formal
application and interview process follows.
Our goal is to show the students how
relevant Israel is, and to give them inspiration, Ms. Breuer said. Some of them
went on the Meor Poland trip in the winter, and going to Israel in the summer is a
nice way of bringing it all together.
Headquartered in Jerusalem, Meor
offers classes in Judaic texts to interested
Jewish students at some of the top American campuses, according Debra Kodish,
Meors executive vice president. Meor
aims to inspire, educate, and empower
the next generation of Jewish leaders, she
said.
Meor Israel, which is not free like Birthright but can offer subsidies to students
who need them, has an itinerary that
includes classes on such topics as Jewish
leadership, relationships, and philosophy,
in addition to the historical background of
significant places participants later tour.
We hope that our students experience
the relevance of Jewish wisdom to their
everyday lives, the excitement of Jewish learning, and the passion of our rich
heritage, said Meors Israel educational
director, Rabbi Yehoshua Styne. (Rabbi
Styne also teaches at Machon Shlomo,
an Orthodox mens yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Most of the yeshivas students are formerly

Eve Litvak, left, and Pauline Loulier of

France, a UC Berkeley student, relax
on the Meor trip.

Eve Litvak floats in the Dead Sea.

unconnected Jews from the English-speaking world.)

We achieve this through a combination
of engaging classes from expert teachers,
lively interactive questioning and discussion, and exposure to the special sites of
Israel. We see each student as an individual with his or her own unique expression
of and connection to Judaism. With this in
mind, we strive to design a program that
allows for exposure to all aspects of our
tradition; we work hard to get to know
each individual and address their questions and topics of interest.
Julianne Goodman of Wyckoff, a junior
at the University of Pennsylvania, said that
she signed up for the tour because she felt
her Jewish ties loosening when she was
away at college. When she was younger,
she attended religious school and confirmation class at Temple Beth Rishon.
So much of my connection to Judaism
has been through my family, she said.
However, in college, my parents are not
there to tell me to go to temple or seders
or Sabbath dinners; its just me and my
self-discipline. I had let something so special to me slowly slip away. I decided to

The sermon was conducted on a gorgeous balcony that overlooked the Kotel
and then we went down to the
Kotel for the prayers. All the
women were dancing, singing,
chanting, and holding hands in
large circles. It was incredible. I
had never felt so connected to people that I had never met before.
You even had Israeli soldiers with
large guns strapped to their backs
joining in and dancing. I finally
understood the power of Judaism
and the Jewish people.
At the same time, it was also at
the Kotel that she experienced a
scary moment when a firework
went off.
Most people did not see it,
only heard it, Ms. Goodman said.
Everyone crouched down and
took cover. It was a rude awakening to the lifestyle of always being
Eve Litvak stands at an overlook in Jerusain fear. I was surprised that there
lems Old City.
PHOTOS COURTESY EVE LITVAK
can be so much hate in a country
that is so rich in culture and love.
participate in the Meor trip to reconnect to
Ms. Litvak was disappointed to observe
my Jewish identity and find a Jewish comthat whether by ethnicity or religion,
munity in a meaningful way.
towns and cities are really noticeably
She said that this goal was met. I now
divided; there isnt as much coexistence
have a significantly better understanding
as I had imagined.
of Judaism and Jewish values. I have found
Seeing different facets of Israel, however, made an overall positive impact in
and created meaning in being Jewish. The
terms of personal growth.
biggest thing is that I can now be Jewish for
I can now, undoubtedly, say that I
myself, not just for my family.
am Jewish, said Ms. Litvak, who did not
Both Ms. Litvak and Ms. Goodman mentioned spending Shabbat in Jerusalem as a
have any formal Jewish education but has
highlight of their time in Israel.
been active in Judges for Israel, a Brandeis
One week, we celebrated the Sabbath
Israeli culture club, Coalition Against Antiat the Kotel, Ms. Goodman said, referring
Semitism in Europe, and Every Day Antito the Western Wall of the ancient Second
Semitism. Previously, I would say I am
Temple compound built by Herod the
culturally or ethnically Jew-ish, but after
Great.
SEE MEOR PAGE 40
JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 9

Local

Jewish facilities bolstered in terror fight

Department of Homeland Security allocates funds to 60 area nonprofits
Rachel Okin
Federal security grants provide
money for security enhancement
to nonprofit organizations and
facilities that are at risk of terrorist threats or defacement. A total of
$20 million has been allocated and
will be spent on enhancements,
including security equipment, new
doors, shatter-resistant windows,
physical access control systems,
fencing, gates, improved lighting
Jason Shames
Josh Pruzansky
and alarm systems, and a CCTV
(closed-circuit TV) system.
The funding is seen as even more necThis year, nearly 60 facilities in northern New Jersey will receive up to $75,000
essary than it has been in other years,
each in funding from the Department of
given the recent attacks in Orlando, San
Homeland Security. These grants will help
Bernardino, and South Carolina, among
enhance security initiatives. I hope that
many others. The shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church
the increase of recipients will continue,
in Charleston in June 2015, in which nine
said Josh Pruzansky, the Orthodox Unions
people were killed and a tenth wounded
New Jersey regional director. We are very
by a young white supremacist, gave all
pleased with the amount of funding and
houses of worship and religious-affilithe impact it has had. Kudos to the Department of Homeland Security for doing this.
ated organizations a heightened sense of

We are very pleased with the

amount of funding and the
impact it has had. Kudos to the
Department of Homeland
Security for doing this.
vulnerability.
The Department of Homeland Security posted a bulletin
on its National Terrorism Advisory System
page on June 15 in which it repeated its
December 2015 assessment of the global
threat environment, but emphasized the
increased concern over homegrown violent extremists and the need for increased
public vigilance and awareness.
While attack targets seem to have been
varied, Jewish institutions traditionally are
at high risk. Highlighting this is a recent
incident that received media attention in

southern Florida. This spring, FBI agents

foiled a terrorist attack on the Aventura
Turnberry Jewish Center during Passover
services. The accused, James Medina, cited
Allah and ISIS as his motivation. In addition to general terrorist risks associated
with ISIS threats, the Jewish community
in New Jersey has faced an increased number of anti-Semitic bias attacks recently.
The Anti-Defamation League reports on its
website that violent and nonviolent antiSemitic incidents are sharply on the rise.
In the past, local synagogues have faced
attacks and incidents of vandalism. In the

JWV Post 651 mourns death

of its longtime commander
Mel Kaplan tried to help everyone through leadership
has been able to award a cash scholarship each year to two top students
Melvin Kaplan of Elmwood Park, the
chosen by Fair Lawn High School. It
longtime commander of Jewish War
also donates to a wide variety of Jewish
Veterans Lt. J.I. Platt Post 651, Fair
organizations, including synagogues in
Lawn, died last week at the age of 89.
the West Point area and in Annapolis.
According to fellow veterans, he will
We donate to all Jewish organizations, said Mr. Rosenblatt, crediting
be sorely missed.
Mr. Kaplan for the philanthropic bent
He was a good leader, really
of the post, which has contributed to
devoted to the post, Julius Corn,
Jewish National Fund, Israel Bonds,
JWVs treasurer for the last five years,
Hatzalah, and various causes in Israel.
said. He bent over backwards for it.
In addition to monetary donations, on
Indeed, he added, since Mr. Kaplans
Memorial Day the group brings Ameriwife, Millicent, died, about 16 years
Mel Kaplan during his service
can flags to the gravesides of veterans
ago, he spent almost 100 percent of
in the Navy.
at several local cemeteries.
his time working for the post.
In May, Mr. Kaplan, a naval veteran
In an interview with this paper in
of the Korean War who served from 1949 to 1953, said he
May, Mr. Kaplan said that his goal was to make 651 a viable post and to service veterans and the veterans cause.
was an electrician aboard the U.S.S. Mississippi. The battleship was built in 1917, saw service in both world wars,
And, he added, to try to do good. He cited the posts
and then was converted to test guided missiles.
many philanthropic endeavors.
I went from boot camp to a Grade A electricians school,
You have to give great credit to Melvin Kaplan, said
a civilian college in Tuxedo Park, Maryland, he said. I
Edward Rosenblatt, the posts new commander. He tried
lived on campus. When I graduated, I went to the ship.
to help everyone and do the right thing. For example,
A realist, the commander was quite aware that veterthrough fundraising efforts such as the Shake the Can
ans groups around the country are rapidly shrinking. All
collection in front of ShopRite in Fair Lawn, the group

Lois Goldrich

10 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

Mr. Kaplan and post members brought American

flags to the gravesites of veterans.

Local

Sandi M. Malkin, LL C
Interior Designer

(former interior designer of model

rooms for NYs #1 Dept. Store)

winter of 2011, Temple Beth El in Hackensack was sprayed with anti-Semitic

graffiti. Additionally, Congregation Beth
El in Rutherford was firebombed in January 2012. This March, Anthony Graziano,
the man who firebombed the Rutherford
synagogue, was found guilty of terrorism
and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The federal grants were created to prevent such attacks. Debbie Gottlieb negotiates group discounts and better pricing
for Jewish Federation of Northern New
Jersey. When the applications for the
grants came out this spring, she, a representative from Bergen Countys security service, and a representative from
the countys prosecutors office met with
synagogue and religious and day school
administrators at the federations offices
to help them fill out the forms. About a
dozen local synagogues applied for the
grants, and seven received one.
The grants were to be used only for
target hardening physical barriers that keep terrorists and their weapons, including their cars, from entering

veterans organizations are falling by the

wayside, he said. We sold our building
and the Veterans of Foreign Wars sold
theirs. Its a difficult thing to maintain.
Still, suggesting that young people are
not joining because theyve got two
jobs, theyre busy, and theyve got children, he joked, if you feed them, they
will come. Some nonmembers have
attended when a free breakfast or free
show is offered, he reported.
Mr. Kaplan was born in Manhattan
and lived in Elmwood Park for 59 years.
He worked for Allmake Appliances in
Teaneck, retiring in 2005. While he
devoted himself to his JWV post, he also
served on the Elmwood Park Planning
Board and was a former vice chairman
of that body. In addition, he served on
the towns rent leveling board and on
the Bergen County Veterans Council and
other veterans groups throughout New

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We had information and we shared
it, the federations CEO, Jason Shames,
said. Our goal is to offer expertise to
help institutions get the training, guidance and security that they need and to
lessen the vulnerability that the Jewish
community is subject to.
It is important to know that the federation is a connector. We have the knowledge to connect people in the right way,
Miriam Allenson, the federations communications director, added.
Local Jewish institutions that received
the grants include the Chabad Center of
Passaic County in Wayne, Congregation
Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, the East
Hill Synagogue in Englewood, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey in
Paramus, Congregation Shomrei Torah
in Fair Lawn, Shomrei Torah in Wayne,
the Solomon Schechter Day School of
Bergen County in New Milford, Temple Beth Sholom in Fair Lawn, Temple
Emeth in Teaneck, and Yeshivat HeAtid
in Bergenfield, among others.

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Jewish standard JULY 15, 2016 11

Briefly Local

PHOTO PROVIDED

Partnership art exhibition in Tenafly

Last month, the Jewish Federation of
Northern New Jerseys Partnership2Gether, in collaboration with the
Kaplen JCC on the Palisades Waltuch Art
Gallery, sponsored an art exhibition and
opening reception. This was the sixth
annual juried art collaboration between
northern New Jersey and its sister community in Nahariya, Israel, and the first
time the winning work was shown at the
Waltuch Gallery.
All works in the exhibit, created by 21
American and 27 Israeli artists, reflect
the artists interpretation of the theme
Fruitful Trees. It comes from Deuteronomy 20:19-20, which prohibits the
destruction of fruit-bearing trees during
times of conflict, so that they can provide for future generations.

The leaders of Partnership2Gether

show here include chair Susan Penn,
Physician Task Force chair Deane Penn,
Young Leadership chair Martha Cohen,
Art Task Force chair and curator Sheryl
Intrator Urman, and Art Task Force
members Fred Spinowitz, Danielle
Kaplen, and Adele Grodstein.
Partnership2Gether was established
to strengthen the ties between the
United States and Israel and to promote
Jewish unity and identity. Over the last
few years delegations of teen leaders,
physicians, first responders, mental
health professionals, educators, environmentalists, female business owners, and
artists have been hosted in Israeli and
American homes and have exchanged
information and developed friendships.

Celebrating
50 years of
Cantor Romalis
Cantor Charles Romalis was honored
by the community at the Preakness
Hills Country Club to mark his 50th
Jubilee and retirement year at Temple
Beth Tikvah, the Reform congregation
in Wayne.
Cantor Romalis will be transitioning for the coming year with the shuls
new rabbi and cantor, Meeka Simerly.
He will teach bar/bat mitzvah students, lead some High Holy Day services, and conduct some Shabbat services throughout the year.

Top, friends applaud Cantor

Charles Romalis. Above, Passaic
County Freeholder John W.
Bartlett with the cantor.
PHOTOS COURTESY PETER BLACKSBERG

Jewish Family Service of North Jersey is

forming a spousal bereavement group
to help participants cope with their feelings of loss and to learn how to deal with
practical adjustment issues. The group,
facilitated by Dina Niewood, provides a
safe, confidential, and non-judgmental
environment; participants can express

their feelings and feel supported. Groups

are held at a time and location most convenient for group members; usually but
not always they meet in JFSNJs offices in
either Wayne or Fair Lawn.
Pre-registration is required. Call Ms.
Niewood at (973) 595-0111 or email her
at dniewood@jfsnorthjersey.org.

Rabbi leads global

summer Maariv service

Rabbi Deborah
McKenzie

As a scientist, educator, and one of seven children

raised in an African American Jewish family in upstate
New York, Rabbi Deborah McKenzie fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a spiritual leader. She is one
of six online synagogue Sim Shalom rabbis who offer
Maariv services, Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m.,
at www.simshalom.com.
Rabbi McKenzie graduated from the Jewish Spiritual
Leaders Institute in 2015.

12 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016

MIKE LOVETT

Bereavement group forming

for widows and widowers

LORIN KLARIS

Leaders of the Partnership2Gether with contributing artists.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Mother-daughter authors
at Hadassah convention
Celebrated mother-daughter authors
Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Abigail Pogrebin will be featured at the Like Mother,
Like Daughter plenary session at Hadassahs 98th national convention. According
to Hadassahs national president, Ellen
Hershkin, Letty and Abigail Pogrebin
represent two different generations of
highly respected, accomplished women
in both the Jewish and mainstream communities. Their passionate discourse on

Abigail Pogrebin

such topics as feminism, parenting, relationships, Zionism and Judaism is the

embodiment of the power of women
who do. Their Like Mother, Like Daughter plenary session on July 27 is one of
the most anticipated events on the convention schedule.
The convention will be held later this
month at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in
Atlanta. For information, go to www.
hadassah.org/convention.

upcoming at

Kaplen

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Come play Golf, Tennis, Mah Jongg, Bridge, Canasta
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with special needs. The event continues with a dinner
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auction at biddingforgood.com/KaplenJCC. Bidding
opens on Monday, July 18. Register, bid and win
incredible items!
Monday, August 1, Alpine Country Club, Demarest, NJ
Register at jccotp.org/golf
For more information, please contact Michal Kleiman at
201.408.1412 or mkleiman@jccotp.org.

MakhelaAn Israeli Style Choir

Join this exciting Israeli choir for adults and sing along
with the conductor and musical director Zvi Klein.
Participants must know how to read Hebrew. Reading
music not required.
Alternate Wednesdays, 8-10:30 pm
Call Esther at 201.408.1456.

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JCC on the Palisades taub campus | 411 e clinton ave, tenafly, nJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org
JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 13

Editorial
Season of despair

he Republican National Convention

will begin this Monday, July 18, and
end on Thursday, July 21.
The Democratic National Convention will begin the Monday after that, July 25,
and end on Thursday, July 28.
The Three Weeks that lead to Tisha BAv,
when observant Jews fast, sit on the floor,
and listen to the haunting, beautiful melody
and haunting, horrifying words of Eicha, the
Book of Lamentations, begins on the evening
of Saturday, July 23. (Tisha BAv starts this year
on the evening of Saturday, August 13.)
Surely, the way that those things fall, the
American political events and the Jewish
ones, are coincidental. Still, we can learn
from them.
The monstrous images in Eicha withered
young men and women struck down in
what should have been their prime, desperate mothers eating their own children are
meant to be a cautionary tale. The strongly
visual words enter our heads on the wings of
the plaintive music, and they get stuck there,
forever part of our own internal library of
horror. The book ends with hope, but it gets
there slowly, and the price is terribly high.
We are taught that the reason for the siege
and fall of Jerusalem, the most basic of the
historical nightmares said to fall on Tisha
BAv, was sinat chinam. Senseless hatred; the
hatred for one Jew against another, the willingness to allow that hatred out of the limits
of the Jewish world and to infect the Romans
as well.
The echoes of that ancient tragedy lap up
against the walls of the debacle playing out
now on our national stage.
Political campaigns are not for the thinskinned or faint-hearted. Thats always true.
Politicians successful politicians, at any
rate have to master the art of the bland
insult, the rapier put-down, the blunt insult,
along with the ability to be polite and at
least pretend to listen to pompous blathering while eating very bad chicken. Those are
necessary skills. A certain amount of invective aimed at opponents always seems to be
necessary as well.
But the level of insult, of nastiness, of crudeness, of second-grader potty-mouthedness,
has reached a new level during this campaign,
and now we see it as having consequences.

Jewish
Standard
1086 Teaneck Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666
(201) 837-8818
Fax 201-833-4959
Publisher
James L. Janoff
Associate Publisher Emerita
Marcia Garfinkle

A raft of gun violence has riveted the nation,

culminating in the deaths last week of two
black men by police officers, and then with
one deranged gunman, who was black but
more saliently, it seems, also absolutely crazy
and armed to the teeth, who murdered five
police officers, because they were white.
A few weeks before that on Shavuot, in
fact a deranged Muslim gunman killed 49
people, mostly Latino, mostly gay or lesbian.
The gunmen were insane, their arsenals
were insane, and they might have committed their crimes anyway, but it is easy to think
that the climate of hatred and fear fomented
by the unhinged sounds of the presidential
campaign made it all worse.
If this is not sinat chinam senseless
hatred it is hard to see what might be. We
we Americans, that is, the larger body politic are encouraged to hate everyone different from us Mexicans, immigrants, black or
white people, perhaps even, in a dog-whistley nod-nod-wink-wink kind of way, Jews.
It didnt work for the Jews of Jerusalem, and
it wont work for us. All that can work is the
attempt to overcome senseless hatred, to see
each other as real people, each one of us just
trying to do our best, to make sense of our
world, to hang on, to hold on, to keep going.
If we can do that, if we can model ourselves
after Dallass police chief, David Brown, who
feels the despair but refuses to give into it;
who confounds easy categorization because
he is both black and the citys top policeman,
and if we can model ourselves after Dr. Brian
Williams, who is the trauma surgeon in Dallas who was unable to save the police officers,
and whose pain as a doctor, a black man, a
father, and a feeling human being was so palpable we could feel it all the way here; if the
political conventions can end without violence, with genuine policy disagreements but
without name-calling, without petulant nicknaming and churlish curled-lip threats; if we
somehow can head into the election with at
least some dignity and decency intact, then,
like Jews at the end of Tisha BAv, we can walk
blinkingly but hopefully into the future.
Then, if those things happen, then, like
Jews in the week after Tisha BAv, we can
take comfort in the soft autumn that will follow the harsh summer. Nachamu. We will be
JP
comforted.

Editor
Joanne Palmer
Associate Editor
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thejewishstandard.com
14 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

keeping the faith

Correspondents
Warren Boroson
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When being right

is wrong RCBC
bans Israeli produce

he Rabbinical Council of BerYet I respectfully submit that there is

gen County is prohibiting all
another law the RCBC should consider.
local establishments it cerLeviticus 18:5 says, You shall keep
tifies as kosher from using
My laws and My rules, by the pursuit
imported Israeli produce.
of which man shall live: I am the Lord.
Halachically, the RCBC is doing the
The Talmud, in several places, interprets this to mean that in all but three
right thing based on its understanding
specific areas, life takes precedence
of Jewish law, but it is doing so at the
over law. Thus, Shabbat stands aside
very wrong time.
when life is merely suspected of being
The RCBCs concern is whether all
in danger. (See, for example, the brohalachic requirements are applied to
ken bone discussion in the BabyloIsraeli produce. The Torah alone has
58 mitzvot associated with agricul- nian Talmud tractate Shabbat 148a.)
ture, and the sages of blessed memory
In BT Yoma 83a, the Talmud calls it
modified and added to these mitzvot. obvious that even in a case of safek
They include forbidding eating fruit
nfashot, where there is merely a possibility that life is danger, concern for
that comes from trees planted within
life takes precedence over strict adherthe previous three years, any produce
ence to the law.
grown and harvested in a sabbatical
The Talmud, however,
year (such as occurred
never put forth a genlast year), and whether
eral principle. Perhaps
the produce was tithed
the sages assumed, as
properly. Torah legislation requires Jewish
BT Yoma stated, that the
farmers in the land to
principle was so obvious
separate from their prothat it did not need statduce a small portion
ing. Maimonides, the
for the Levites, another
Rambam, did codify it in
small portion for the
his own way in his Mishneh Torah, the Laws of
priests, and a third por- Rabbi
Shammai
tion for the poor.
the Foundation of the
The tithing is of great- Engelmayer
Torah, 5:1. The Torahs
est concern, because
laws, he explained, were
Israels chief rabbinate does not regu- given so that a person may live by
late it as it does the sabbatical year
them, not die by them.
restrictions.
Rashi earlier made a similar observation, albeit as a commentary to a
Tithing, of course, made sense in
statement in BT Sanhedrin 74a. For
biblical times. Priests and Levites are
the Merciful One said to violate the
prohibited from owning any land, and
mitzvot because of by the pursuit of
their careers are tied to the needs of
which man shall live, because the souls
the sacrificial cult. Tithing provided
of Israel are precious to Him. (See his
the Levites especially with an income
commentary to sevarah hu.)
they could not get otherwise. That is
Most of these discussions center
not the case today, but the Torah law
around the question of what a person
itself still stands.
Shammai Engelmayer is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades in
Cliffside Park.

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Opinion
should do if offered the choice of either violating a
law or being killed for refusing to do so. Only in three
instances being told to kill someone else, being told
to commit a sexual crime, or being told to apostasize
is death to be chosen (and apostasy may be limited
to a public display).
The principle, however, is much broader. When life
is in danger, the law must stand aside. A case in point
is a discussion of fasting on Yom Kippur that is found
in BT Yoma 83a. If there is a possibility of danger to
human life, it says, the law takes a back seat. Specifically, if a person says he is ill, he must be given food,
even if 100 physicians who are present say that he is
not in any danger.
Life takes precedence over law.
This is an incontrovertible fact: The lives of the
people of the State of Israel are in danger if the economy of the State of Israel collapses. A country with no
money is a country without the ability to defend itself
adequately.
This, too, is a fact: The whole point of the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions movement is to bring Israel
to its economic knees. The BDS movement is of Palestinian origin, and it demands not only an end to
Israels presence on the West Bank and the Golan
Heights, but Palestinians right of return to their pre1948 homes and properties.
The impact BDS has is negligible today, but its power
grows as its support grows. World leaders support BDS,
even if only unofficially. In the first half of 2016, officials of the Swedish, Dutch, and Irish governments
have cheered on the BDS movement publicly. For
example, Irelands foreign minister, Charles Flanagan,
said that the BDS movement holds a legitimate political viewpoint, adding that it is wrong to demonize
those who advocate this policy.
In January, the New Yorker reported on the growing
list of BDS supporters, especially in the United States:
These include the student councils of seven of the
10 University of California campuses, which have
voted at various times to demand that the Board of
Regents divest from American companies allegedly
profiting from the occupation, including Caterpillar
and Hewlett-Packard. The pension board of the United
Methodist Churchhas blacklisted Israels five major
banks.The American Anthropological Association,
the American Studies Association, and the National
Womens Studies Association have voted to boycott
Israeli universities.
The magazine also noted that Israeli exports fell
in 2015, including a drop of about two billion dollars
to the [European Union], its biggest trading partner.
Expect those exports to drop even further in the coming year.
Given this, I respectfully submit, now is not the time
to damage the Israeli export market further. The RCBC
has legitimate concerns about the halachic acceptability of Israeli produce. Yet those concerns should be
made to stand aside, as long as an existential threat
looms over the heads of Israels citizens.
To again quote Rashi, the Merciful One said to violate the mitzvot becausethe souls of Israel are precious to Him.

The opinions expressed in this section are those

of the authors, not necessarily those of the
newspapers editors, publishers, or other staffers.
We welcome letters to the editor. Send them to
jstandardletters@gmail.com.

Going home
The power of Jewish
summer camp, 40 years later

n Sunday, I traveled back to the North Woods

of Wisconsin to my summer home.
As I stood on the shores of Lake Buckatabon at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, the
dreams and ambitions of a 15-year-old washed over me.
Though 40 years had gone by since I swam in the lake
and played ball on the fields, the magic was ever present.
I had returned with members of the board of directors
and the senior professional team of the Foundation for
Jewish Camp. Each summer, we travel to different parts
of North America to visit camps. Together, we speak
with the camp professionals and seasonal staff, observe
programs, recognize the differences between one camp
and the next, and relish the joy and spirit of the campers. These invaluable visits deepen our understanding
of the field and stimulate our thinking, allowing us to
explore opportunities where our foundation can truly
make a difference, for today and for tomorrow.
But to see my camp my second home through my
Jeremy Fingerman, left, and Julie Eisen of Upper
companions eyes heightened my own appreciation for
Saddle River, a Foundation for Jewish Camp board
the experiences I had so many moons ago.
member, stand together at Camp Ramah
I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, the youngest of four in
in Wisconsin.
a Jewishly engaged family and as a public school kid.
I have recalled the story of how, at the
Our communal visionaries, beginning
time of my bar mitzvah, my rabbi encouraged my parents. You should send him to
more than a century ago, had the foresight
Ramah, he told them. Back then, a rabbi
to secure properties for the community to
was a rabbi, and my parents followed his
ensure the future of the community. They
strong advice and encouragement.
knew instinctively that providing summer
Something profound happened to me
experiences away from the city would create
during those summers in Wisconsin, somea second home for Jewish kids that would
thing that changed the trajectory of my
remain in their hearts and minds forever.
In their groundbreaking study, done 15
life. I remember feeling something powJeremy J.
erful even then, but I did not really have
years ago, called Limud by the Lake,
Fingerman
the words or the perspective to adequately
Brandeis professors Len Saxe and Amy
describe what I was experiencing. I used to
Sales captured the essence of what I was
muse to my friends, What happened there that created
feeling personally. Jewish camp is an intentional educational experience in an immersive Jewish space, led
such deep and lasting connections and friendships?
How could my Jewish experience at camp so natupowerfully by role models. Our behind-the-scenes
rally and vibrantly fit into my year-round life?
tour showed us the thoughtful intentionality of every
How could eight weeks, for four consecutive sumprogram, of every activity, of every day at camp, led
mers, have had such a powerful effect on my lifes path?
especially by those college-aged counselors who are the
My visit sent a flood of memories racing through my
campers joyfully Jewish role models.
mind. As we walked the grounds, I remembered my
The community that is built at camp and the unique
own dreams dreamt, friendships forged, and future
culture that is created there leads to an intense, but
paths defined. We entered the Beit Am (auditorium)
safe, environment, where young people can explore
where 40 years ago I played the role of Nathan Detroit
and grow.
in our performance of Guys and Dolls in Hebrew!
This all happened to me. I am proof-positive that
We viewed the newly-improved baseball fields where
camp works. And returning to that summer home this
I remember playing second base in the camper-counweek for me, now 40 years later, meant paying homage
selor game. We peeked into the beautiful Beit Knesset
to a place and an experience that has remained so
where I remember leading services, with the proper
much a part of me.
nusach (melody).
I certainly encourage others to go back home if
I spent part of my visit looking at the smiles and listeneven in your mind. Visit your camp, and reflect on
ing to the laughter of the campers and reliving my own
the power of those long summer days and the ways in
experiences in those same spots. I found myself peering
which those days still endure.
out at the natural beauty of this special location, which
Lets make those experiences accessible to secure a
has remained ingrained in my mind all these years. I
more vibrant Jewish future.
also contemplated how I have visited this same scene
repeated in Jewish camps across North America: When
Jeremy J. Fingerman is the CEO of the Foundation for
we visited the camps where each one of them had spent
Jewish Camp. He lives in Englewood with his family; he
their own summers, they, too, must have the same lastis vice president of Congregation Ahavath Torah there.
ing memories of their own unique experiences.
Write to him at Jeremy@jewishcamp.org

Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016 15

Opinion

Modern Orthodoxy: A Guide for the Perplexed

Orthodox Judaism and change

here have been several articles about Orthodox Judaism

in the Jewish Standard in the
last few months, one by Rabbi
Shmuel Goldin and another by Rabbi
Tzvee Zahavy. Rabbi Zahavy responded
to a questioners appeal for clarification
about what modern or open Orthodoxy
is. He defined authentic Orthodoxy
by the degree it refuses to change any
aspect of traditional belief or behavior.
Therefore, according to him, modern
Orthodoxys rapprochement with contemporary values and the changes that
rapprochement brings means that modern Orthodoxy a term that he seems
to say is an oxymoron is not actually
a form of Orthodoxy at all. At best, if it is
Orthodox in any way, it is on the road out
of the Orthodox camp.
Contrary to general perception,
including Rabbi Zahavys, change in
practice is far from foreign to Orthodox Judaism. For example, womens
Jewish education as it existed in Eastern Europe in the nineteenth and early
twentieth century was completely
changed when Sarah Schenirer founded
the Bais Yaakov schools in 1917. Previously, women received no formal Jewish education; boys universally attended
cheder and some of them the intellectual elite attended yeshiva. This new
educational system for girls had the
approbation of the three of the most
influential Orthodox rabbinic figures of
the period: R. Yisrael Meir Kagan, representing the Lithuanian yeshiva world,
and the Gerer and Belzer rebbes from
the Polish chasidic world. Bais Yaakov
soon was taken under the wing of Agudath Israel, an ultra-Orthodox religious
and political movement active in Germany and Poland. Clearly, this shows
that change was not foreign even to the
right wing of the Orthodox community,
and it is not foreign to the Orthodox
community today.

Orthodox Judaism
is not monolithic
Diverse expressions of Orthodox Judaism in the Orthodox camp have been the
norm rather than the exception. Orthodox groups frequently have been at
war with one another one of the best
examples is chasidim and its opponents.
Modern Orthodoxy, centrist Orthodoxy,
and ultra-Orthodoxy simply continue a
historical pattern that has characterized
Orthodox Jewish life since the eighteenth
century, and in some instances earlier.
That each of these varieties of Orthodox
Judaism declares the other illegitimate or
unrepresentative of authentic Orthodoxy does not validate those claims.
Rather than participate in this battle,
16 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

my aim here is to present a sense of modern Orthodoxy by laying out its basic
attributes. I believe that once this is
accomplished, those who are perplexed
about what modern Orthodoxy stands for
will see how it is part of an Orthodox continuum, even as it diverges from alternate
expressions of Orthodox Judaism.

Beliefs and behaviors

characteristic of
modern Orthodoxy
1. Modern Orthodoxy shares with Orthodoxy in general the belief that God
revealed the Torah to the Jewish people.
It holds that the foremost expression of
Torah revelation is halacha, Jewish law, as
developed by the sages in the Mishnah, the
Talmud, and the literature that developed
from these formative works.
2. While modern Orthodox Jews and
their leadership carefully weigh the variety of opinions of great halachic authorities, past and present, it is modern Orthodoxys position that halachic decisions
for a particular community ultimately are
the province of that communitys mara
datra its local rabbinic authority. Since
diversity is the mark of the halacha, starting with Mishnah and Talmud and going
forward in the literature that developed
from them, uniformity of halachic decisions is not required, because each community and its individual members face
specific circumstances.
Modern Orthodoxys view of the autonomy of local rabbinic authority is where
modern Orthodoxy parts company with
centrist and ultra-Orthodox (henceforth,
charedi) forms of Orthodox Judaism.
These two forms of Orthodox expression
overwhelmingly rely on those whom
they consider the great men of the generation the gedolei ha-dor to make
halachic decisions for their communities. Local pulpit rabbis are relied upon
for relatively straightforward questions
on Shabbat and holy day observance,
kashrut, mourning, and family purity
laws. Beyond this, halachic questions are
directed to the great men.
In charedi and some centrist circles,
these halachic decisors views are considered to be daas Torah, the single
authentic Torah viewpoint on any given
matter. Modern Orthodoxy rejects the
notion of daas Torah on two grounds:
a) it denies the principle of diversity in
halachic interpretation; and b) it grants
the authority to adjudicate halachic matter only to charedi or right-wing decisors.
These groups exclude erudite modern
Orthodox rabbinic scholars from the halachic decision-making process because
they are never considered sufficiently
learned or pious.
3. Thoughtful modern Orthodox Jews

recognize that while halacha

of Orthodoxy get refusal,
is the lifeblood of authentic
which chains women to
Orthodox Jewish communidead marriages. Further,
ties, it is not sufficient for
the entire modern Orthodox community supports
living the ideal Torah life.
high-level Torah education
Rather, meta-halachic values, such as compassion
for women who seek it,
(chesed), equity (tzedek),
and a significant number of
honoring the dignity of all
modern Orthodox Jews are
Rabbi Dr.
human beings because they
prepared to have women
Michael
are created in the image
act as their spiritual leaders
Chernick
of God, and adjudicating
by whatever name they are
according to the spirit of the
called maharat, rabba, or
law as well as its letter (lifeven rabbi.
nim mi-shurat ha-din) must inform halaWhen it looks at the halachic tradition,
chic decision-making in order to estabcentrist and charedi Orthodoxy sees a
lish an authentic Torah life.
long history of women being assigned
Here, too, modern Orthodoxy parts
roles in the private domain of the home
ways with centrist and charedi Orthoand family. Since centrist and charedi
doxy. In perhaps overly simplified
communities hold halacha to be given
terms, modern Orthodoxy holds that
by God, who certainly knows the nature
ethical and moral principles that conof women better than any human being
form to the best values in contemporary
does, these roles should not be viewed
society should be used as guidelines in
as second-class but rather in consonance
deciding halachic questions, especially
with womens essential nature. Since
those of a serious and often vital nature.
feminism and egalitarianism are movements whose principles often are in conFor centrist and charedi Orthodox Jews,
flict with traditional halacha, it is ethiJewish law encompasses Jewish ethics
cal to oppose these movements and the
and is their source.
The situation of women in Judaism
changes they seek for the sake of both
demonstrates the difference between
women and the Law of the Torah.

Modern Orthodoxys view of the

autonomy of local rabbinic
authority is where modern
Orthodoxy parts company with
centrist and ultra-Orthodox
forms of Orthodox Judaism.
these two approaches. Modern Orthodoxy agrees with the contemporary
ethical position that inequality in status
between individuals is unacceptable.
This view is not just a bow to modernity; it is rooted in the Torahs statement
that human beings are created in Gods
image. This idea of equality is summed
up in the traditions statement: I call
upon heaven and earth to witness for
me that whether one is a non-Jew or Jew,
or whether one is a man or a woman, or
whether one is a male or female slave,
according to the actions of that person
does the holy spirit (of God) rests on
him/her (Yalkut Shimoni to the Book of
Judges, section 42).
Therefore, modern Orthodox halachic decisors seek to extend the range
of participation of women in Jewish religious life, especially in the synagogue, to
the extent that halacha allows. They are
working assiduously to create a complete
solution to one of the greatest scandals

In sum, for centrist and charedi Orthodoxy, the halacha dictates the ethic,
rather than the other way around.
4. Modern Orthodox Jews hold that the
Torah obligates us to be responsible for
the welfare of the entire Jewish people,
both collectively and individually. As the
Talmud puts it, All Israelites are responsible for one another (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shebuot, 39a). Hence,
modern Orthodox Jews strive to work
with and include as many of our fellow
Jews in Jewish communal and Torah life
as possible.
It is this sense of obligation to the
entire Jewish people that impels modern Orthodox Jews to participate in the
work of Jewish community service organizations, including local federations,
the American Jewish Committee, the
Anti-Defamation League, the Joint Distribution Committee, and the American
Jewish World Service. Similarly, the modern Orthodox community sees itself as

Opinion
responsible for the welfare of Jews worldwide, and especially in Israel. Therefore,
modern Orthodox Jews take a major role
in Israel defense, support, and lobbying.
5. Modern Orthodoxy also tries to
make its synagogues and homes welcoming places for Jews of all observance
levels and persuasions. Modern Orthodoxy holds that this is the key to civility
between Jews. It also creates the means
by which Jews can connect to traditional
Jewish life without coercion, or barring
that, come to respect Orthodoxy as a
meaningful expression of Jewish living. In
this respect, we share the Orthodoxy of
Chabad-Lubavitch chasidut.
This inclusiveness has generated the
term open Orthodoxy. I understand the
stratey of rebranding modern Orthodoxy
as open, because centrist Orthodoxy
hijacked modern for its own purposes.
Nevertheless, the term open is confusing
and, in my opinion, flawed.
The use of the designation open Orthodox demands the questions Open to
what? and Open how far? Like all principled entities, Orthodoxy has defined
limits. The Catholic church wouldnt be
Catholic if it accepted the principles of
Protestantism, and vice-versa. Therefore,
Orthodoxy cannot possibly be open to
all things. Hence, modern Orthodoxy is in
my opinion the appellation of choice. This
is so because it points to modern Orthodoxys fidelity to Orthodox beliefs and
behaviors and its will to incorporate the
best of modernity into the Jewish tradition.
6. Finally, modern Orthodoxy recognizes that many conditions of Jewish life
today are unprecedented; therefore, creative halachic responses to these new conditions are required in order to live Gods
Torah fully and successfully. Modern
Orthodoxy generally does not shy away
from confronting these matters. Theologically this is rooted in the Orthodox notion,
shared across the board in the Orthodox
community, that Gods Torah is timeless
and eternally applicable.
Among the unprecedented conditions of
contemporary Jewish life is the existence
of the State of Israel, which modern Orthodoxy considers one of the most explicit
examples of Gods intervention in history.
Among modern Orthodox halachic questions related to Israels reality are How do
we celebrate Israels rebirth liturgically?
Or How does Israels existence and Jerusalems being in Jewish hands change our
understanding and observance of fasts
that mourn the destruction of the Temple
and the devastation of Jerusalem?
Another case is the question of how the
Orthodox community will deal with emerging understandings of homosexuality. It is
clear from a plain reading of Leviticus 18
and 20 and the Talmud that homosexuality
is regarded as sinful behavior. How, then,
does Orthodoxy confront the reality of there
being gay and lesbian Jews in its community,
and that many of them are, minus this one
matter, observers of the Torahs laws?

While centrist and charedi Orthodoxy in

general feel no particular need to address
the issue of homosexuality, because the
Torah is clear regarding it, modern Orthodoxy has chosen to deal not so much with
disembodied homosexuality as with with
the real people who are homosexual. In
2010, modern Orthodox rabbis issued a
statement of principles about how gay and
lesbian Jews in the Orthodox community
should be treated. The statement continues
to garner signators. Right now, hundreds of
rabbis and laypeople, most of them modern
Orthodox but some from other Orthodox
persuasions, have signed it.
The content of the statement of principles shows the tensions with which modern
Orthodoxy lives: it calls for compassion and
understanding for Jews with homosexual
orientation while refraining from abrogating the Torahs and Talmuds prohibition of
homosexual acts. This means that the statement inevitably will fail to satisfy gay and
lesbian Jews who are looking for a higher
degree of acceptance than compassion and
understanding.
Here modern Orthodoxy stretches its bigtent approach as far as it can. Nevertheless,
it accepts that the Torah, which Orthodoxy
across the board holds to be God-given, is
not subject to human abrogation. And modern Orthodoxy is prepared to suffer the
slings and arrows of criticism from the left
and the right to live its principles.

Modern Orthodoxy
is reawakening
Despite dismissive statements by some,
modern Orthodoxy is organizing to resist
the marginalization it has experienced
since the 1970s, when it was the primary
expression of Orthodox life in America.
There already is a sizeable cadre of modern
Orthodox rabbis who have formed a rabbinic organization called the International
Rabbinic Fellowship. The fellowship probably will pass the 300-membership mark
by the time of its next conference in May.
A modern Orthodox lay organization
is in formation. It has held one meeting
and promises more to come. While some
have mocked its lack of a clear direction, I
would counsel them to wait and see. Modern Orthodoxy is waking from an almost
50-year slumber. It needs time to rub its
eyes until it can see clearly enough to chart
its path forward. But when that happens,
and given the new organizations leadership
there is considerable likelihood that it will,
the face of American Orthodoxy and American Judaism in general will change.
And I believe it will change for the better.
Professor Michael Chernick of Teaneck
holds the Deutsch Family Chair in Jewish
Jurisprudence and Social Justice at the
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion in New York; his area of expertise is
the Talmud. He received his doctorate from
the Bernard Revel Graduate School and
rabbinic ordination from R. Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary.

Letters
My son and I need help

I have been looking for help for my

son for years now, but as he has aged
out of the official system, he is not
eligible for it.
The Jewish community offers
nothing. Absolutely nothing for
a boy who is very intelligent and
charming and good looking, but
lacks direction and focus.
I am the victim here. I am a single parent. It is hard enough having
raised four adopted Israeli children,
one of whom is so far gone, he cannot come back, but for the younger
one it is inexcusable to have no Jewish services for him. No services
period.
There is more than enough help
for developmental problems. There
is a part of Zahal that includes those
with mental limitations and physical disabilities, but nothing for those
who have ambiguous problems with
facing adulthood and life in general.
I am not speaking of drug addiction; I am not speaking of heroine or
cocaine. I am speaking about certain
slip-between-the-cracks disabilities.
Those who wont work. Those who

Dont blame the police

The vast majority of the approximately 800,000 police officers

throughout America are dedicated
soldiers who consistently put their
lives on the line to protect all of us
from harm and promote peace and
security. Without them our civilization would be unable to function
effectively, and progressively. Chaos
would prevail.
Police officers are not biased
against any group, race, or ethnicity. Rather, their focus is the suppression of crime and danger wherever it appears. All law enforcement
agencies insist on this ideal in their
training academies.
In light of the decline and worsening of economic conditions, education, and opportunity, which is
most pronounced in minority areas,
these vulnerable communities see
the greatest increase in destructive
criminal activity. Police are drawn
there to an inordinate degree. This
in turn creates the false illusion of
hostile police bias toward minority

isolate themselves. Those who are

scared of growing up.
I no longer have a family, and I
no longer have a support group of
friends who would help me take on
these issues I deal with every day. I
have reached out to so many people,
and so many agencies, and I am left
hanging. No one can offer help. I
reach out to Nami, the national organization for the mentally ill. Yet they
are still dealing with the stigma of
mental illness.
Our Jewish community is secretive. It is a closet community of drug
addiction, sexual predators, wife
beaters, and mentally ill individuals.
It is a lot of work to keep these things
sufficiently out of the media so that
they dont scare our perfectly chosen people and their offspring.
Is this a Jewish community? Is this
a family of Jews, or is it just a fraud?
I am limited in what I can say, but I
am very very angry. I need help for
two of my children, and cannot buy
it or find it.
Sandra Steuer Cohen
Teaneck

citizens. The result is suspicion

and hostility towards police. They
are additionally stressed by severe
limitations imposed on them by
government.
As we have seen, this noxious cycle
has led to a disastrous increase in
destructive confrontations. We appear
to be descending into racial war.
In my opinion, what is required
is ongoing consultation and communication between prominent
and respected community leaders. Responsible citizens on all levels (especially the young) must be
included in these discussions.
Perhaps consideration can be
given to the formation of unarmed
groups of well vetted young people
(male and female) similar to the
Guardian Angels organization of
Curtis Sliwa. These can be a helpful bridge between law officers and
the community when they establish
mutual confidence.
Jerrold terdiman M.D.
Westwood

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Opinion

Always keep
celebrating, Jamie!

Happy special birthday

Ill always have your back
Love, your sister, Beth, and Rob,
Meri, family, and friends

And good wishes from the

Jewish Standard staff always!

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have differed in their treatment and handling of anti-Semitic
incidents during the campaign.
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emocratic presidential candidate Hillary

let anyone silence you, bully you, or try to shut down
Clinton is hardly in a happy place at the
debate, especially in places of learning like colleges and
moment. Now that shes avoided federal
universities.
prosecution for compromising national
But what do you do when one of the most notorious of
security through her use of a private email server a
those bullies is the son of your closest adviser? This isnt
breathtaking turn of fortune that, critics say, would be
a hypothetical question. Clintons long-serving confidenied to lesser mortals the public is going to regard
dante Sidney Blumenthal is the father of the anti-Semitic
everything she says and does as a test of her basic integwriter Max Blumenthal, whose ravings about Israel are
rity. You might even say that Clintons fate
quoted liberally by extremists who range
is to be assumed guilty unless she expressly
from white supremacists to leftist campus
proves otherwise.
activists.
With Novembers face-off with Donald
The younger Blumenthal has attracted
Trump bearing down upon us, its clear
the ire of American Jews for years. More
that many Americans see the contest as
recently, several liberals and left-wingers
involving the selection of the least trouhave denounced him for offenses rangbling candidate. In terms of making a deciing from pitiful argumentation to careless
sion in the voting booth, we will need to
sourcing but most of all, for his enthurely, perhaps to a greater extent than we
siasm in deploying the most hackneyed
Ben Cohen
would normally be comfortable with, on
anti-Semitic tropes. Lest little Max should
the public statements and on-the-record
doubt his influence on the less salubrious
positions of both candidates, as well as on
members of our society, recall that Frazier
their reactions to the broader themes underlying this
Glenn Cross, the Klan devotee who went on a shooting
election.
spree at a Kansas City Jewish center in 2014, cited BluSadly, and almost inexplicably, one of those themes
menthals screeds approvingly.
is anti-Semitism, which has had a presence throughout
Clinton has been aware of Max Blumenthals activimost of the current campaign cycle. Both candidates
ties for some time. Among the emails examined in the
have had to deal with it. And each has done so in difwake of the brutal 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in
ferent ways.
Benghazi were several exchanges with Sidney BlumenLets consider Hillary Clinton first. Some readers will
thal, who sent his boss links to Maxs articles. A very
remember that during her speech to the AIPAC convensmart piece and hes so good were just two of the
tion back in March, Clinton delivered a rousing message
comments Clinton sent back.
of support to Jewish students confronting anti-Semitism
Over the last few days, however, it became untenable
and anti-Zionism on university campuses. I hope you
for Clinton not to address the deep anxieties among
stay strong, she told them. Keep speaking out. Dont
Jews over her connections with the Blumenthal family.

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VISIONS
LIGHTING &
SOUND

Opinion
The trigger was Max Blumenthals libelous rant on Twitter about the legacy of
Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and
human rights advocate who died on
July 2 at the age of 87.
Wiesel was a moral giant who spoke
out not just on behalf of Jews. I remember in particular his impassioned
defense of Bosnian Muslims facing
genocide at the hands of Serb militias
in the mid-1990s. But none of that prevented Blumenthal from slandering
Wiesel as a supporter of apartheid and
a friend of the very same people who
incarcerated him in Auschwitz.
Faced with this sickness, and worried about the impact it might have on
Clinton, her campaign issued a most
welcome rejection of Blumenthals
comments as hateful and patently
absurd. The key point is this: Whether
or not you believe Clintons sincerity,
she is now on record as condemning
one of todays most noxious anti-Semites, in spite of her myriad connections
with his father. This at least gives us a
basis to judge her future responses on
the same subject.
Donald Trump has done the same
thing, except that his response to the
latest of the several anti-Semitism
scandals that have plagued his campaign merely expands our concerns,
rather than contracting them. After
retweeting an image sourced to a white
supremacist website that showed a
grinning Clinton superimposed onto
a pile of money and a Star of David,
Trump compounded the offense by
blockheadedly sticking to his guns, criticizing his staff for deleting the tweet
instead of defending it.
At the same time that Trump engages
in anti-Semitism denial something he
does every time the issue of his white
supremacist supporters comes up his
campaign pursues the tiresome tactic
of putting his Jewish daughter and Jewish son-in-law before the media in his
defense. Jared Kushner, Trumps sonin-law, went as far as publishing an
op-ed in the Observer, the newspaper
he owns. In that op-ed he insisted, in
a faux hurt tone, that Donald doesnt
hate Jews.
Except that nobody serious has
called Trump an anti-Semite. The

What both
candidates need
to do is declare
a zero tolerance
policy for
anti-Semitism
around their
respective
campaigns.
charge is that he tolerates anti-Semites
and even enables them when it suits
him to do so. Citing your Jewish relatives and friends is a favored method
of the Israel-haters Some of my best
friends are Jews! and most Jews
arent fooled by it. They also arent
fooled by Trump, who further insults
our community by insinuating that
were stupid enough to believe that he
understands what constitutes anti-Semitism better than we do.
What both candidates need to do is
declare a zero tolerance policy for antiSemitism around their respective campaigns. As things stand, Clinton has
responded to that demand far more
satisfyingly than has Trump.
Thankfully, we havent reached a
stage in this country where anti-Semitism is tearing up established political
parties as it has done in Europe, with
both the United Kingdoms Labour
Party and Germanys nationalist AfD
Party. Nor is anti-Semitism serious
enough to be the issue upon which voters, Jewish or otherwise, make their
choice. But come November, if the odor
of this garbage persists, it could be a
JNS.ORG
very different story.
Ben Cohen, senior editor of TheTower.
org and the Tower magazine, writes
a weekly column for JNS.org on
Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern
politics. His work has been published
in Commentary, the New York Post,
Haaretz, the Wall Street Journal, and
many other publications.

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Cover Story

Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath holds an issue of Afn Shvel, the magazine of the

League for Yiddish; thats her father on the cover.

Words
with friends
Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath of Teaneck
finishes her fathers Yiddish dictionary

LARRY YUDELSON
iven its physical heft, its no surprise
that the new Comprehensive EnglishYiddish Dictionary published last month
by Indiana University Press is the work
of generations.
Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, its editor,
worked on the 856-page, 4 1/2-pound volume for some 20
years in her Teaneck basement. At its core are words collected a generation earlier by her father Mordkhe Schaechter in the familys house in the Bronx. For many of those
years, when Gitl was a teenager, she helped her father as
he cataloged Yiddish words at the dining room table.
But before that, the family legend goes, there was
her grandfather, Khayem-Benyomen Shekhter, and his
20 Jewish standard JULY 15, 2016

enthusiasm for the Yiddish language. The memory of his

enthusiasm is tied to a date more than a century ago: 1908,
the year he made sure to attend the great Yiddish language
conference in his hometown of Czernowitz, at the time
part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Of course, all languages are the work of generations. It
took time for Yiddish to evolve from the medieval German that was picked up by Jews living in the Rhineland,
mixed with their inherently Jewish Hebrew and Aramaic
vocabulary, and then given Slavic vocabulary (e.g. bubbe
and zeide) and even touches of syntax. (Thats the most
accepted, broad-brush origin story for Yiddish, notwithstanding recent clickbait headlines arguing for more
exotic origins.)
And it took time for Yiddish to be seen as a language
worthy in its own right, something worth cataloging and

defining and even writing in. Where people speak two languages, those languages seldom are on equal footing; people always are inclined to value one more than the other.
Jews may have loved the dialect they spoke among themselves more than the language of the neighbors, which
they generally mastered as well, but in Jewish culture
pride of place went to Hebrew, the language of the Torah
and the rabbis. Popular demand led to the publication of
the first Yiddish books in the 16th century, even though
the rabbis objected to it. (The first Yiddish bestseller was
Bovo Bukh, a rhymed retelling of an Italian poem about
Bevis of Hampton; this knightly romance is the origin
of the term bubbe meise; rather than the popular, and
wrong, etymology linking it to bubbe, or grandmother.)
And in the 19th century, with the spread of printing and
newspapers, came the great Yiddish writers: Sholom
Aleichem, I.L. Peretz, and Mendele Mocher Sforim.
Which brings us to the 1908 Czernowitz conference.
The 20th century was young. Change was in the air. And
Nathan Birnbaum, the 44-year-old Austrian Jew who had
coined the word Zionism and advocated for Jews in Eastern Europe, championed Yiddish as the Jewish national
language. Peoples throughout Europe were coming to
understand themselves as separate nations, wearying of
being under the rule of the grand European empires, and
Mr. Birnbaums Yiddishism offered an equivalent national
identity to Jews without demanding that they leave for
Palestine. (He later would abandon Jewish nationalism
altogether and help found the Orthodox Agudath Israel
movement.) He sent out a call for everyone interested in
Yiddish to come to the Yiddish language conference.
Practical matters dominated its agenda, rising from

the languages existential dilemma: The

younger generation was beginning to
abandon its mamaloshen for either the
vernacular or the newly reviving Hebrew.
Perhaps inevitably, discussions of how to
train Yiddish teachers and promote Yiddish publications were overshadowed by
the political, or perhaps talmudic, question of the role of Yiddish for the Jewish
people. Was Yiddish the language of the
Jewish people? But what about Hebrew?
In the end, the approved compromise was
that Yiddish was a language of the Jewish people.
Perhaps that compromise with the realities of 3,000 years of Hebrew tradition, as
well as swelling Zionism, was inevitable.
But for Khayem-Benyomen Shekhter and
most of the others at the conference, the
reality was that even if there were other
Jewish languages that had to be acknowledged, Yiddish was the most important. It
was the living language of the people.
Over the next decades, Khayem-Benyomen Shekhter continued to advocate
for Yiddish. He and his wife owned a dry
goods store in Czernowitz, which after the
Great War World War I became part of
the new Kingdom of Romania. But he was
an intellectual and writer as well perhaps, his granddaughter would later aver,
he was a better writer than shopkeeper.
Khayem-Benyomen did not survive
World War II. In 1940, the Red Army occupied Czernowitz, and he was deported to
Siberia, where he died. But his wife, Lifshe; their daughter, Beyle; their son, Mordkhe; and their son-in-law, Yoyne Gottesman, survived the war, moving from town
to town, sometimes overnight. It helped
that Yoyne was a doctor.
The family ended up in a postwar displaced persons camp in Vienna. There,
Mordkhe worked for YIVO the Yiddish
Scientific Institute and earned his doctorate in linguistics at the University of
Vienna. The topic: Yiddish verbs.
The family all four of them came to
America in 1952. In 1956, Mordkhe married Charne Saffian, who was born in the
Bronx in a Yiddish-speaking home. They
shared an unusual determination to raise
their children as Yiddish speakers.
That was a rare choice in America.
If only I had a penny for every time I
heard someone say their parents spoke
Yiddish so the children couldnt understand, Gitl said.
Instead, she and her siblings had to put
a penny into a jar every time they slipped
up and uttered an English word at home.
If you know anything about raising
children bilingually, you have to be consistent. and have to insist on it, or they only
know it passively, she said. I know a lot

Mordkhe and Charne Schaechter are surrounded by their children and

grandchildren, all of whom speak Yiddish.

Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath and Meylekh Viswanath raised their children

speaking Yiddish and Tamil. Gitls father, Mordkhe Shaechter, published
an English-Yiddish lexicon, right, of words relating to pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood in 1991.

of children of survivors who didnt insist

on it, and they couldnt put a Yiddish sentence together.
The penny jar was only part of the
Schekhters plan to raise Yiddish-speaking
kids or as they called them, kinder in
America.
There were after-school classes five days
a week in the Yiddish Sholem Aleichem
School and summers at Yiddish-speaking
Camp Hemshekh.
And there was Beynbridzhifke what
her parents called the corner of Brainbridge Avenue in the north Bronx, where

they settled alongside Mordkhes sister

Beyle, who published poems in Yiddish,
and the family of Joshua Fishman, an
American-born Yiddishist who became
a dean at Yeshiva University, an expert
in bilingualism and author of Yiddish in
America. (He also wrote the article on
YIVOs website about the Czernowitz conference; the Yiddish world is not so large
these days.) From the Yiddish perspective,
it was a three-house shtetl.
Three Yiddish-speaking families may
not seem like a lot it would have been
an unimaginably small galus half a century

earlier but it was enough for a satisfying Yiddish-speaking game of hide-andseek. Gitls father created a childrens club
that he dubbed Enga-Benga the Yiddish
equivalent of the nursery rhyme eeny
meeny miny mo.
He was the pied piper, Gitl said, leading the children in games, lessons, and
walks in Van Cortland Park.
My father was very big on nature, she
continued. He knew the names of all the
trees in Yiddish and English. (He later
would publish a monograph, Di GeviksnVelt in Yidish Plant Names in Yiddish: A
Jewish standard JULY 15, 2016 21

Cover Story
Handbook of Botanical Terminology.)
Primarily, he was a naturalist of the Yiddish language, collecting words and occasionally coining new ones. He believed
everything could be said in Yiddish, his
daughter said.
In the new world, where English was
the undisputed lingua franca, even those
determined to speak Yiddish mixed in
English when they reached the limits of
the childhood vocabulary.
Mordkhe demanded that that temptation be resisted.
Why say table when you can say tisch?
And why say marshmallows if you could
say shney-kishelekh a portmanteau
meaning snow pillow, which his daughter
Rukhl invented?
By day, Mordkhe was able to make Yiddish his profession. He taught it at the
Jewish Theological Seminary and Yeshiva
University and YIVO, ending up as senior
lecturer in Yiddish at Columbia University.
Along the way he worked as a researcher
for a project documenting Yiddish. The
language and cultural atlas of Ashkenazi
Jewry is one of several unfinished projects of Yiddish linguistics; it produced
5,755 hours of reel-to-reel tapes. Its goal
was to chart the regional variations within
the language. Galizianers and Litvaks pronounced words in different, easy-to-notice
ways; the atlas aimed to track subtler local
variations in the lost world of Eastern
European Yiddishland.
He would go out with this huge doublereel recorder, Gitl said. He would interview immigrants, shoemakers, tailors,
musicians. He would ask, how do you say
this in Yiddish? How do you say that in Yiddish? He collected dozens and dozens of
terminologies. The sciences, music, the
terminology for the military.
All told, he filled 87 card catalogs and
shoe boxes with his cards. The card catalogs lined the walls of his study and his
basement, jostling for space with the overflowing shelves of Yiddish books. How
many cards did he have? A million, he
once guessed.
Gitl was 12 when her father asked if she
wanted to earn some money helping him.
He would read through his huge pile of
Yiddish newspapers, noting the interesting words, the unusual phrases, the neologism. She would clip them and label them
and file them.
That was my entree into being my
fathers colleague, Gitl said. That continued for many, many years. Its was
father-daughter time, connecting time. I
connected with my father ideologically,
linguistically.
She has a newspaper clipping, from an
Israeli Yiddish newspaper, labeled in her
handwriting with the date, August 29,
1976. A phrase is underlined: luft luft roket
air-to-air missile.
Thats not a word that Sholem Aleichem
ever used.
But now, thanks to Mordkhe and Gitl, you
can find luft luft roket (you should never
22 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

know from one) in a Yiddish dictionary.

Gitl went to Barnard, majoring in Russian. Clearly growing up as a linguists
assistant had an impact. Then she went
to nursing school and became a nurse a
profession she still practices.
Of the four Schaechter siblings, only the
oldest, Rukhl, went on for advanced formal studies in Yiddish. She taught Yiddish
at the Kinneret Day School in Riverdale
before being recruited as a writer for the
Yiddish-language Forverts newspaper. In
March she became the papers editor the
first American-born chief of the 119-yearold publication.
As a teenager, Rukhl picketed the Forverts with other members of Youth for
Yiddish, an organization her father helped
start. Their beef with the Yiddish newspaper was that it was published in the traditional Yiddish spelling, rather than the
modernized, systematized spelling that
Mordkhe and YIVO had fought for. It took
a generation, but the Forverts changed its
spelling. Now, Rukhl has overseen a partial
retreat from YIVO style, as she welcomes
in chasidic writers without insisting on a
spelling makeover.
The Yiddish blood runs thick in the
other Schaechter siblings too.
The youngest sister, Eydel, became an
artist. She also became charedi, moved
to Tzfat in Israel, and has raised her
seven children speaking Yiddish. She
also teaches Yiddish to new mothers who
have married into her Yiddish-speaking
community.
Binyumen, their brother, entered the
world of musical theater. His work has
been performed in Yiddish and non-Yiddish theater (including the off-Broadway
musical Naked Boys Singing) and he is
conductor of the Jewish Peoples Philharmonic Chorus.
One more thing they share: A commitment to raising their own children as
Yiddish-speakers.
For Gitls three children, it wasnt
enough just to be fluent in Yiddish. They
also had to speak Tamil with their father,
Meylekh Viswanath, a native of India (and
an occasional writer for this paper). Gitl
and Meylekh met at a Yiddish retreat.
Where else?
Their youngest, Mallika, was late in
learning to speak. They brought her to a
speech therapist.
The speech therapist told my parents
to stop speaking two languages to me,
Mallika said. Both my parents refused,
because they both loved their languages
so much. Im very glad they made that
decision.
Back in 1908, Yiddish advocates at the
Czernowitz conference insisted that promoting Yiddish would also help Hebrew.
Among them was Matisyohu Mieses, who
went on to publish several books on the
Yiddish language.
He told the conference: Yiddish and
Loshn-koydesh Hebrew will be able
to be good neighbors. This didnt stop

In Czernowitz, Mordkhe Schaechter, with his

arms crossed, stands in front of his parents.

Gitl sits on her mothers lap and Rukhl is on

her fathers, in 1959.

The Yiddish-speaking Enge Benge club meets

on Chanukah 1967.

Cover Story
some Hebracists from crying by the end of
his speech, and coming near to blows with
Yiddishists.
Mallika Viswanath, however, found
that the two languages indeed were good
neighbors when she and her siblings began
studying Hebrew at the Yavneh Academy
and later at the Frisch School.
We finished high school and were
pretty comfortable speaking Hebrew, she
said. Whereas our classmates had put
in less effort and cared a little less about
being able to speak in Hebrew. Being
exposed to different types of language
and sentence structure helped me. I am
just more familiar with linguistic jargon.
In high school and college, she also studied French. Last year, she studied Hindi.
The values our parents instilled in
us translated into learning different languages and being exposed to different
types of culture, she said.
When Mordkhe retired from Columbia University in 1993, he began thinking
about his vast collection of Yiddish words.
Gitl began to spend her spare time entering his word lists on her computer.
Starting around 2000, he finally
decided, were going to do it. Were going
to start this dictionary, she said.
At first, he didnt want it to be comprehensive. His colleague Uriel Weinreich had
compiled a Yiddish-English and EnglishYiddish dictionary. The dictionary was

published shortly after Mr. Weinreich died

in 1968, at 40.
My father was a very close colleague of
Weinreichs, Gitl said. There was an aura
about Weinreich; no one wanted to touch
it. It was almost like a helige zach a holy
thing.
But Weinreichs dictionary included
only 20,000 terms. It was deliberately
incomplete, a first draft. He had wanted
to work on another edition but it wasnt
bashert, Gitl said. It was an amazing
achievement. It was the first modern Yiddish dictionary. But there were so many
words missing.
How do you say high heel in Yiddish?
Its not in Weinreich. How do you say knit
one, purl two when youre knitting? Its
not in Weinreich.
The idea was to be a supplement to
add the words that werent in Weinreichs
dictionary instead of combining them
into one work. I thought from the beginning, thats a weird dictionary. I was able
to convince him, she said.
Mordkhe had a stroke in 2002 and died
in 2007.
Somewhere along the way I vowed I
was going to finish this book, Gitl said.
Her father had collected the uncommon
words. Now it was time to assemble the
basic words.
I took a random Hebrew-English pocket
dictionary, she said. I went from A to Z to

see what was missing.

She knew the Yiddish translations for
many of the missing words. For others,
she looked to Weinreichs dictionary.
Another linguist, Alexander Harkavy, had
published a similar work in the 1920s, and
she used it for reference too. And her college Russian proved useful when she discovered a Russian Yiddish dictionary published in the Soviet Union in 1984.
Then she brought in Dr. Chava Lapin of
Queens College, who reviewed the entries
and added synonyms, and Paul Glasser, a
former student of her fathers who lived
with her aunt and uncle on Bainbridge
Avenue for three years.
I couldnt have done it without these
two people, she said.
And she brought in a broader network
of people knowledgeable in subfields of
Yiddish. One had Yiddish math textbooks
from Europe; he helped with words like
binomial and repeating decimal. Another
friend is a chemist. He doesnt know Yiddish from home, but he learned Yiddish
and has chemistry textbooks from Eastern
Europe, Gitl said.
In the end, the dictionary included
nearly 50,000 entries.
All of this was a labor of love. She took
no money not that Indiana University
Press or the League for Yiddish offered
any. (Her father led the league; now she
does. It owns the copyright to the work.)
Work on the dictionary accelerated
three years ago when the youngest of her
three children went off to college. I would
come home, have a cup of coffee and work
until my eyes closed sometimes until
two or three in the morning.
At a key moment, the dictionary
received a key assist from the next generation. Over the years of work, operating systems advanced. Software was upgraded.

And one day Gitl discovered that the files

she had labored over for years were stuck
in a word processor that was no longer
compatible with her new computer.
All that work could not be transferred
to the new system, she said. I thought I
was going to have a nervous breakdown.
Really, I didnt know if I would live to see
this dictionary. My father didnt. I just said,
Im forging ahead, somehow well figure
it out.
Five years ago, my daughter MeenaLifshe marries a young man who is a math
Ph.D., James Conway. He happens to have
some computer skills. The first Mothers
Day he was in her life, my daughter gave
me a gift and then handed me something.
Its five pages. Im looking at it. It looks like
pages from the dictionary but its different.
My daughter gave him the files. He
was able to convert them into another
language and then into a PDF. He literally
from a technological standpoint saved the
dictionary, she said.
Dr. Conway has taught himself Yiddish;
he and Meena are speaking Yiddish to
their year-old son.
To say I have naches is the understatement of the year, Gitl said.
Throw in the joy of finally holding a
copy in her hand and its a lot of naches.
Rukhl already has a copy at her desk.
Were using it all the time, she said.
Like all Yiddish projects, the dictionary
acknowledges the past Golden Age of Yiddish. A stylized map of Czernowitz and
environs is on its cover. But, Gitl said, even
more than that, the dictionary is an investment in the future of the Yiddish language.
There are those of us who want to continue it and remain optimistic in the face
of odds that are probably amazing, she
said. Im hoping this dictionary will play
an important role.

Left, a page from the English-Yiddish dictionary. Below, a Yiddish

word for a missile underlined in a Yiddish newspaper by Mordkhe
Schaechter and cataloged by his daughter Gitl.

Jewish standard JULY 15, 2016 23

Jewish World

Turkey, Egypt, Africa

How hard-liner Netanyahu pulled off a diplomacy trifecta
Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON The conventional wisdom is that earning
the sobriquet the most right-wing government in Israeli history does not lead to diplomatic successes.
In recent weeks, on the Turkish, Egyptian, and African
fronts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is proving the
conventional wisdom wrong.
How is it that the head of a government beating a hasty
retreat from the two-state solution scored a triumphant
tour of Africa, hosted a convivial summit with an Egyptian
foreign minister for the first time in nearly a decade, and
renewed full ties with Turkey?
Heres a look at what Netanyahus diplomatic successes
mean and also a look at their limitations.

Oh, Bibi, Bibi, its a wild world

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee, talks about retreating from Americas pre-eminent role in the world. Although he is adamant that he is
pro-Israel, Trump has suggested he could charge Israel for
the billions in defense assistance it receives.
Similarly, Europe, overwhelmed by a refugee crisis, is
becoming more insular. For the first time in decades it faces
the prospect of falling apart as a common political force,
with Britains planned exit from the European Union and
other countries contemplating similar actions.
Meantime, calls to target Israel or its settlements with
boycotts are increasing across the continent.
In Israel, theres broad recognition for no substitute for
the U.S-Israel alliance. It remains crucial, said Jonathan
Schanzer, a vice president at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies, a think tank with a focus on the Middle East.
Theres also a recognition that we are going through a turbulent period, and from a diplomatic perspective there are
ways to defray some of these challenges.
Among them: Enhance security ties with Egypt, reinvigorate decades-old ties in Africa, and mend ties with Turkey.

The shared Sinai threat

The vastness of Egypts Sinai peninsula, its strategic
positioning between Asia and Africa, and the porous
nature of its Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea coasts have
been like catnip to terrorist groups like al-Qaida and the
Islamic State.
That poses a shared challenge to Israel and Egypt, and
has helped already friendly ties between the nations;
Israel was one of the few countries to celebrate the 2013
coup that removed the Muslim Brotherhood-led government and brought Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi
to power.
In recent months, Israel quietly has allowed Egyptian
forces to re-enter the peninsula, effectively allowing Israel
to abrogate one of the tenets of the 1979 Camp David peace
agreement demilitarization. Commensurately, Egypt has
allowed Israel to target terrorists with drones.
You have a closely coordinated counterterrorism strategy in the Sinai, Schanzer said. You have intelligence
sharing, increased numbers of Israelis are operating in
the Sinai.
That helps explain why Sissi was willing to send his foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, to Israel this week for a
high-profile visit effectively warming up a peace that Sissis predecessors preferred to keep cool. Keeping the Sinai
secure trumped the domestic blowback Sissi knew he would
endure for the visit.
24 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry meet in Jerusalem
on July 10 to discuss heightened security arrangements in Sinai.
GPO

Pre-empting the Palestinians, France

and (maybe) the Obama administration
The French are trying to kick-start peace talks with the
Palestinians under an international umbrella. The Palestinians hope to advance statehood recognition during the
U.N. General Assembly launch in September. And President Barack Obama may deliver his own post-U.S. election
surprise, setting out the U.S. parameters for a final-status
arrangement.
All are anathema to Netanyahu, who favors direct talks
with the Palestinians, where Israel is able to exercise greater
leverage. Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister, appeared
to favor the direct talks track, saying his visit was part of
Sissis vision for establishing peace between the Israeli and
Palestinian peoples bringing this long conflict to an end.
Bringing Egypt into the configuration increases pressure
on the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, to
return to direct talks, said David Makovsky, a fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Egypt is the PAs
lead patron in the Arab world, and Abbas can ill afford to
alienate Sissi.
While the PA president has had no problem rejecting
Netanyahus call to resume talks amid disbelief that anything
concrete will emerge from them, bringing Egypt into the picture raises the cost of any such rejection, Makovsky wrote
on the think tanks website.

Turkey is more about

what Erdogan needs
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkeys president, pressed for
the rupture with Israel in 2010, after Israels deadly raid
on a Palestinian convoy aiming to breach Israels blockade
with Gaza. Now hes the force behind the reconciliation.
Erdogan is dealing with restive Kurds in the south, the
chaos in Syria across his countrys border, and the blowback
from his recent decision to take tougher measures against
the Islamic State. He needs to smooth waters elsewhere.
Reestablishing ties with Israel not only returns an
important trade partner to eminence and restores
full security ties at a time of crisis, it also addresses a

longstanding U.S. demand that its two most important

allies in the Middle East reconcile.
Erdogan is starting to realize hes overstretched; Turkey
is dealing with so many problems at once, said Ilan Goldenberg, the director of a think tank, the Middle East Security
Program at the Center for a New American Security. Erdogan is realizing he has to pull back.

Back to Africa
The last time there was a movement on the rise to isolate
Israel in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when
the Arab League used oil leverage to pressure third parties to join their boycott Israel countered by quietly
reinforcing ties in Africa.
The ties, established in the 1950s and 1960s, already
were a point of pride for Israel, identifying the Jewish
state not as a colonial anomaly, as the Arab nations
would have it, but as a postcolonial triumph of an indigenous people.
That very much was the point of Netanyahus fournation African tour, Schanzer said. One gets the sense
were revisiting history amid the new boycott movement
and its yielding dividends.
The tour coincided with the 40th anniversary of the
Israeli commando raid on Entebbe in Uganda, where terrorists were holding Israeli airplane passengers with the sanction of the countrys then dictator, Idi Amin. Netanyahus
elder brother, Yoni, was killed leading the rescue effort.
But the tour was more than symbolic, participants
said. Netanyahu traveled with 80 men and women representing some 50 businesses, and was well prepared
to assist them, according to Yosef Abramowitz, CEO of
Energiya Global Capital, a Jerusalem-based solar energy
and social development enterprise.
Abramowitz said he shook hands on $1 billion worth
of deals during the four-nation tour.
A fully coordinated government initiative brilliantly
executed in every country by the prime ministers office,
the embassies, and the Israel Export Institute; it was
JTA Wire Service
clockwork, he said.

Jewish World

With London prices skyrocketing,

Manchester beckons Jews from far and near
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
PRESTWICH, ENGLAND When
Yitzchak Horwitzs family opened one of
the first Jewish businesses in this leafy
suburb of Manchester a bookstore that
also sold Judaica items it served a small
Jewish community that had only recently
moved there from the citys downtown.
The center was run-down after the war,
living conditions deteriorated, we had to
get out, said Horwitz, a man in his 80s
who runs and owns Judaica World, a store
that his family opened here in 1960. A few
Jewish families, a small synagogue, and
that was pretty much it.
Nevertheless, Horwitz stuck it out. And
half a century later, his business is among
dozens of Jewish shops serving thousands
of people from the Jewish community of
the Manchester area, some 200 miles
north of London. Now this community
is among the fastest growing in Western
Europe, providing Horwitz with income
from selling Jewish and Hebrew holy
books, textbooks, and stationery.
At a time when many Jewish communities outside London are dwindling, the one
in the Manchester area is growing almost
beyond its own capacity, a result of the
high birthrate of its charedi nucleus and
an influx of Jewish newcomers. The latter
are drawn here by the excellent infrastructure for observant Jews and a cost of living
that is roughly half that of pricey London.
People in London seem to think they
earn loads more money, said Selena
Myers, a Liverpool-born observant Jewish
journalist in her 20s. Four years ago she
moved from London to Manchester, where
she lives with her husband. In fact, the
cost of living is maybe three times higher
than in Manchester, whereas the salaries
are not. London, she said, doesnt make
financial sense.
London is the worlds most expensive

Trains travel to and from Victoria Station in Manchester

city in which to live and work, according

to a study that Savills, an international
real-estate agency, published in March.
Accommodation for the average Londoner
calculated as a total of housing and
office rental costs comes to $105,000 a
year, putting London ahead of New York
($103,000) and Hong Kong ($96,800).
Not only is renting in Manchester half
the cost of what it is in London, but the
average price of a home in the greater
Manchester area is $144,000 a full fifth
of the average price in London.

The cost of living is especially important

for Orthodox families with many children,
like that of Simon Rudich, a Rome-born
property investor and lawyer who has
raised eight children in Manchester with
his British wife.
If you want to live in England as an
observant Jew, which I do, then you have
two main options: London or Manchester, Rudich said. But you only have one
sensible option, which is the one I took.
The only downside to living in Manchester, he said, is living without sunshine.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Manchester gets 256 rainy days and 34

inches of precipitation annually respectively 30 and 21 percent more than London.
When the sun does shine, however,
Prestwich is bustling with activity by Jews
of all denominations. It has five kosher
supermarkets near its center. One features
a sushi bar where customers line up for
freshly prepared glatt kosher rolls.
There are clothing shops catering to the
modest standards of observant women,
several kosher butchers, a vegetable shop
SEE MANCHESTER PAGE 43

British lawmaker Luciana Berger meets with members of the Jewish Representative Council of the Manchester area on May 8.
COURTESY OF THE JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL OF GREATER MANCHESTER AND REGION

This kosher supermarket in Manchester includes a sushi corner.

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ

JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 25

Jewish World

Lookstein, Sharansky call for

rabbinic reform, not revolution
Ben Sales
NEW YORK Three months after Israels
chief rabbinate rejected his authority to
perform conversions, one of Americas
most prominent modern Orthodox rabbis
joined with Natan Sharansky to advance a
message: The rabbinate needs to become
more open. But not too much more.
A widely respected rabbi in New Yorks
Orthodox community, Haskel Lookstein
saw his credentials called into question
when a conversion he performed was
deemed invalid by a rabbinical court in
the Tel Aviv suburb of Petach Tikva. The
courts decision has amplified calls for the
charedi-dominated rabbinate to reform.
On July 6, Sharansky spoke at a 200-person protest on Looksteins behalf in front
of the Chief Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem.
But in a joint interview in New York on
July 7, the changes Lookstein and Sharansky proposed were relatively mild. They
want the rabbinate to recognize a wider
range of Orthodox rabbis. Sharansky
the chairman of the Jewish Agency for
Israel wants the Israeli government to
accept or reject rabbis according to a set
of objective criteria.
The two men, however, stopped short of
backing calls for the rabbinate to dissolve,
to recognize non-Orthodox movements, or
to surrender its monopoly on Jewish marriage and conversion in Israel. Theyre not
asking the rabbinate to change its core philosophy or mission only its procedures.
My specific overall goal is to reach a
point where the chief rabbinate of Israel
will recognize the conversion work done
by recognized rabbis, respected rabbis,
in America, Lookstein said. I believe it
should be broader than the RCA rabbis
who are communally recognized as halacha-abiding rabbis.
The Rabbinical Council of America is the
main professional association for modern
Orthodox rabbis in the United States.
Lookstein, who has performed hundreds of conversions, is the former rabbi of
Kehilath Jeshurun, a tony modern Orthodox synagogue on Manhattans Upper East
Side. He also was the head of the Ramaz
School, an elite Manhattan modern Orthodox preparatory school.
A woman who converted under Looksteins auspices last year applied for marriage registration with the rabbinical court
in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petach Tikva
in April, only to have her conversion
declared invalid. The court did not recognize Looksteins authority because he was
not on its list of approved rabbis.
The woman has appealed her case to
Israels Chief Rabbinical Court, which held
the hearing on July 6 and is expected to
deliver a judgment soon. Israels Ashkenazi
26 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

After Israels chief rabbinate rejected a conversion performed by prominent modern Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein,
right, the Jewish Agency for Israels chairman, Natan Sharansky, protested on his behalf.
Ben Sales

The two men,

however,
stopped short
of backing calls
for the rabbinate
to dissolve,
to recognize
non-Orthodox
movements, or
to surrender its
monopoly on
Jewish marriage
and conversion
in Israel.
chief rabbi, David Lau, has vouched for
Lookstein, making it likely that the Petach
Tikva courts decision will be overturned.
They are guilty of persecuting a convert,
for which the Talmud says there are 46 prohibitions, said Lookstein, who also supervised the conversion of Donald Trumps
daughter Ivanka. They are guilty of every
single one of these prohibitions. This is very
serious persecution of a person, and it casts
doubt on the whole system that doesnt

trust American rabbis.

The case has shined light on how the charedi-dominated rabbinate has begun to alienate even its Orthodox allies. The rabbinate
has never recognized non-Orthodox rabbis
or ceremonies, over the last few years it has
questioned the credentials of a few leading
liberal Orthodox rabbis as well.
In 2013, the rabbinate rejected then
later accepted a conversion by Rabbi Avi
Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in
the Bronx, who founded the liberal Yeshivat
Chovevei Torah. Last year, it threatened to
revoke the appointment of American-born
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, who advocates progressive Orthodox policies, as chief rabbi of
the West Bank settlement of Efrat. Sharansky said that as long as the rabbinates protocols stay the same, American rabbis will
continue to be delegitimized.
We are lucky it happened with Rabbi
Lookstein, because it makes a lot of noise,
Sharansky said. OK, we accept Rabbi Weiss.
OK, we accept Rabbi Riskin. OK, Im sure
they will say we accept Rabbi Lookstein. And
tomorrow it will be some rabbi from Phoenix
or Omaha.
Lookstein said that the rabbinate should
accept conversions by all U.S. Orthodox rabbis, including members of the Rabbinical
Council of America and graduates of Chovevei Torah. Sharansky suggested that Israels
Interior Ministry could set out objective criteria for Orthodox rabbis to meet: a congregation of a certain size, for example, and certification from a recognized Orthodox seminary.

Conversions should be accepted as long

as theres a community that is a recognized
Jewish community, and there is a rabbi who
got semicha, or rabbinic ordination, Sharansky said. If there is a group of people who
for years have this community, everyone can
check if it is a real one.
But neither Sharansky nor Lookstein
called for more radical changes to the rabbinate, change for which a coalition of Israelis Orthodox and not have pushed. Pluralism activists in Israel long have called for the
rabbinate to be abolished or replaced with
a system that also recognizes non-Orthodox
movements. According to polls by Hiddush,
a group that advocates religious pluralism
in Israel, solid majorities of Israeli Jews support instituting civil marriage and recognizing
non-Orthodox conversions in Israel.
Lookstein did not comment on calls to
abolish the rabbinate or remove its monopoly
over Jewish marriage in Israel. Sharansky said
that despite the bodys flaws, it provides valuable religious services to Israelis.
I think the chief rabbinate is playing an
important role in the life of Israelis, he said,
crediting it for connecting the Jewish state
with Judaism.
Lookstein said he generally refrains from
criticizing Israeli government actions. But he
spoke out on this issue, he said, because of
the hurt it caused one of his converts.
I did not start this fight, Lookstein said.
The rabbinate in Petach Tikva rejected a
convert who was converted properly and was
JTA Wire Service
living a religious life.

Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Holy Name Medical Center Golf
Classic raises nearly $300,000
Proceeds benefit
programs and services
Nearly 300 golfers took to the links of
Hackensack Golf Club in Oradell to participate in the 22nd Annual Holy Name
Medical Center Classic Golf Tournament
on June 20.
Sponsored by the Holy Name Foundation, the event raised nearly $300,000
that will benefit advanced research and
comprehensive patient care at the medical center.
The Classic Golf Tournament is one
of our events that is beneficial to all
involved its not only fun and social,
but also productive, said Michael
Maron, president and CEO of Holy Name
Medical Center. The people who participate our friends and colleagues are
essential to the medical centers mission,
providing the support that helps us make

investments in patient care, technology

and clinical talent.
With both morning and afternoon shotgun starts, participants enjoyed a day of
golf, food and camaraderie with professional athletes, including O.J. Anderson,
former New York Giant running back and
MVP of Super Bowl XXV in 1991; Stephen
Baker, former wide receiver for the New
York Giants, and Stanley Cup champion
Ken Daneyko of the New Jersey Devils
Alumni Association.
This years tournament was the largest outing since 2009, both in attendance and financial support, said
Celeste Oranchak, vice president of
development and executive director of
the Holy Name Medical Center Foundation. Holy Name and its staff extend a
special thank you to all of the golfers and
sponsors who made this tournament
such a success.

Nate Mintz of Woodcliff Lake combines cake ingredients with Bristal resident
Miriam Berizin.

Celebrating Shavuot with seniors

Teens from Valley Chabads Teen Leadership Initiative celebrated the Jewiah holiday of Shavuot with senior residents at the
Bristal Assisted Living in Woodcliff Lake.
The students baked blueberry cheesecakes with residents
Valley Chabads Teen Leadership

Initiative provides middle and high school

Jewish teens with meaningful experiences
through community service, education,
and recreation and is open to all.
To learn, more email rabbiyosef@
valleychabad.org or call 201-476-0157.

T H E B R I S TA L A S S I S T E D L I V I N G W H E R E E V E RY DAY M E A N S M O R E

After 81 years, heres what

I know for sure

Doing what you love

helps you grow.
For 40 years, my home garden was my pride and joy, yielding
bushels of veggies and flowers. I could grow just about
everything. I worried about having to give that up, coming to
The Bristal, but I couldnt have been more mistaken. Our
community garden here keeps me buzzing spring through fall.
Plus, there are seminars, cooking classes, bridge games, fitness
sessions, and more. But what do I love growing most of all?
Closer to new friends. Exceptional lives. Extraordinary living.

WOODCLIFF LAKE
364 Chestnut Ridge Road
(201) 505-9500
THE BRISTAL.COM
R E S I D E N T O F T H E B R I STA L

LICENSED BY THE DEPT OF HEALTH ELIGIBLE FOR MOST LONG TERM CARE POLICIES EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY QUALITY COMMUNITIES BY THE ENGEL BURMAN GROUP

JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 27

Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Summer health tips for seniors
Stress, pain, headaches, anxiety,
insomnia part of your daily routine?
Maybe its time you tried acupuncture
safe, effective, drug free.
Many insurance plans now cover acupuncture.

Its easy. Just come in... lie down... feel amazing!

Stress Relief Specialists
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140 Sylvan Ave. Englewood Cliffs 201-585-5120

Join Us

& TAKE THE HEAT

OUT OF SUMMER

Open House & Luncheon at

FountainViews Clubhouse
Sunday, July 31
12 2 p.m.
Enjoy cool summer salads
and desserts personalized
for you by FLIK Lifestyles
while learning about the
exciting changes coming to
FountainView. Best of all,
mingle with friends who share
your interests and traditions.

RICHARD PORTUGAL

Leave with a
Beach Towel!

www.FountainView.org
2000 Fountainview Dr.
Monsey, NY 10952
Partner JCC Rockland | Supporter of the Jewish Federation of Rockland County

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28 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016

an adequate amount of sunscreen, and

reapply it frequently.
Tick inspection can prevent Lyme disease. An increased amount of time spent
outdoors puts people at higher risk for
attracting ticks. This also applies to
your furry friends. Before heading back
indoors, inspect yourself and your pets
for any signs of ticks.
The Bristal at Woodcliff Lake is fully
licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health and provides independent living, assisted living and memory
care. For more information, call (201)
505-9500.

An inch of time

By Reservation Only. Call 888-831-8685 today.

N E W

Summertime is the perfect time to get

outdoors and enjoy parks, beaches, hiking trails and backyard barbecues. But it
is important for seniors to be mindful of
increased health risks while having fun
in the sun.
The Bristal Assisted Living at Woodcliff Lake suggests a few tips to help
keep seniors feeling their best during the
warm months.
Stay hydrated. Youve probably heard
it many times, but it is important to
make drinking water a priority especially when outdoors. Staying hydrated
can help prevent heat-related illness and
sun stroke.
Limit sun exposure. Enjoy outdoor
activities in the early morning or later in
the evening to avoid the hottest part of
the day. Wear sunglasses and a hat that
shades your face.
Review medications for side effects.
Certain drugs commonly prescribed to
seniors can increase the risk for heatrelated illnesses like heat exhaustion and
sunstroke. Consult with your doctor to
find out if any of your medications pose
a potential problem.
Dont skimp on sunscreen. As we
grow older, our skin becomes thinner.
This means that seniors can experience
sunburn more quickly and potentially
develop sun poisoning. Be sure to use

R O C K L A N D

Mankind can trace its history back

10,000 years and recognize its hominid
beginnings to over 2 million years ago.
As individuals, however, we really only
inhabit but an inch of time. We can only
be humbled by the age of our ancestry,
and concurrently be attentive to the
small measure of time that is granted
to us.
Yet in that inch of time, why do
we squander what our ancestors
bequeathed to us? We are animals that
move, but we surrender that magnificent
ability too early and too easily. To walk,
to run, to jump, to climb, to sprint are
all bodily actions that our modern society cultivates in our youth, but forsakes
as we age. Our inch of time is too short
in duration to so easily abandon what
nature holds so dear. We were made to
be active, not to sit!
I have met many individuals who
will not permit their inch of time to be
populated by an ineffective and aged
body. They have the will to emulate
their ancestors by remaining strong,
active and conditioned. I also have met
many individuals who share their inch
of time with menacing enemies. They

are attacked by Parkinsons, dementia, strokes and heart attacks. Yet some
refuse to surrender their bodies easily. They fight back through hard work,
sacrifice and positive motivation. They
refuse to relinquish their allotted time to
some arbitrary illness or fated accident.
We have the bodies of hunters and
those bodies demand activity even until
advanced age. Its that old but faithful
adage, if you do not use it, you will lose
it. Your body is similar to a cluster of
levers. Every lever has a purpose; every
muscle has a purpose. Muscles lengthen
and shorten and, in so doing, move various parts of the body, either voluntary
or involuntary. Muscles move your arms,
legs, diaphragm, neck, eyes, mouth, and
other parts and also protect joints and
bones from damage. They need to be
strong; they need to be exercised. You
need to be a hunter!
Richard Portugal is the founder and
owner of Fitness Senior Style, which
exercises seniors for balance, strength,
and cognitive fitness in their own
homes. He has been certified as a senior
trainer by the American Senior Fitness
Association. For further information, call
(201) 937-4722.

Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

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Teaneck, NJ

Donna and Glenn Hoffman

When life changes

in a heartbeat
Sometimes life can literally change in a heartbeat. For
Midland Park residents Glenn Hoffman and his wife,
Donna, these words could not be more accurate. The
active couples world was turned upside down by a
series of life-threatening diagnoses.
The couples healthcare journey began with Donnas breast cancer diagnosis in October 2014. The
diagnosis was shocking because Donna always had
timely mammograms. Donna underwent a biopsy,
lumpectomy, and chemotherapy under the care of Dr.
Thomas Rakowski, director, hematology-oncology, at
Valleys Daniel and Gloria Blumenthal Cancer Center,
and Dr. Laura Klein, medical director, The Valley Hospital Breast Center.
For the next year, Donna received chemotherapy
and radiation treatments at Valley. According to
Glenn, all of the people who took care of Donna were
fantastic. As she underwent her final radiation treatment with Dr. Chad M. DeYoung, their lives fell back
into a normal routine.
On June 9, 2015, Glenn said he felt sick and began
sweating profusely. Donna rushed Glenn to Valley
where he went into cardiac arrest. The staff, led by
Dr. Robert Saporito spent 35 minutes fighting to save
Glenn before bringing him to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab for stabilization. In the cath lab, Dr. Saporito
inserted an Impella Cardiac Assistance Device (a
mechanical pumping device designed to help the
heart pump more blood) and placed a coronary stent.
Within 48 hours of his initial surgery, Glenn underwent a second surgery with cardiac surgeon Dr. Juan
Grau that included a double bypass and a heart valve
replacement. Glenn then spent a month in Valleys ICU.
Two months after his heart attack, and following
a stint in a rehabilitation center, Glenn went home
with the assistance of Valley Home Care. He was very
impressed with the staff because they were all great
and punctual. With their help, Glenns overall physical wellness kept improving.
Glenn was then approved to begin working with the
team at Valleys outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Glenn feels that the program worked wonderfully for him and says I feel great. Its like nothing ever
happened to me. I dont think I could feel any better.
With his cardiac rehabilitation now complete, Glenn
is amazed at how much he and Donna faced, and conquered, together. Donna received the all clear from
her physicians and Glenn is also doing very well. As
the couple looks toward the future, Glenns parting
message is to Let everyone know were both eternally
grateful that were still here.

Book Online

Join the thousands of patients who have made their primary and
urgent care appointments online with ZocDoc. All seven of our
Centers are now accepting online, real-time appointments.

DUMONT | MONTVALE | NANUET

TEANECK | WALDWICK | WAYNE

RIVERDALE

www.ValleyMedicalGroup.com

JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 29

Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

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Holy Name one of three hospitals

to win two top national awards
Holy Name Medical Center has been
recognized for its advanced technology with two national awards from the
American Health Association Health
Forum: 2016 Most Wired Innovator
Award and a Most Wired hospital. Only
three hospitals nationwide earned the
Innovator award, which was given to
Holy Name for its free hepatitis testing
for eligible patients. Hospitals make the
Most Wired list when they can show
they are using information technology
(IT) to improve healthcare performance
in infrastructure, business and administrative management, quality and safety,
and clinical integration.
This is important recognition for
Holy Name, to be one of just three
hospitals nationwide to receive this
award, said Michael Maron, president
and CEO, Holy Name Medical Center.
It affirms the hospitals commitment
to developing innovative IT strategies,
and real world solutions to improve the
patient experience.
Holy Names Hepatitis C FOCUS project was created to offer at-risk patients
those born between 1945 and 1965
and who come to the Emergency
Department free hepatitis C testing.
To ensure this service is offered equally
and efficiently to all eligible patients

without duplicative testing or disruption to the Emergency Departments

work flow, Holy Names Information
Technology Department automated the
process as much as possible. Working
within the medical centers self-developed Information System, known as
WebHIS, software developers created
processes to screen patients for eligibility, provide patients with hepatitis C
education, link clinical documentation
to laboratory orders, notify patients of
test results, and track follow-up communication for care.
The technology and programming
developed for the FOCUS project offers
a more patient-friendly experience by
providing information about Hepatitis C testing in the four most common
languages of our population, as well
as a worklist and process to document
follow-up to care, ensuring no patient
is left uninformed, said Michael Skvarenina, chief information officer, Holy
Name Medical Center. New work is
under way to provide automated tracking of mailed communications. All of
these advances are possible because
Holy Name self-develops its core information system and reacts to ever-changing needs without having to rely on vendor priorities or timetables.

Assisted Living
Minds rest easy knowing highly trained, energetic associates are providing
care in accordance with professionally prepared Personal Care Plans.

Social isolation is a concern of the past, replaced by friends, family and a

full calendar of tailored programs addressing all dimensions of wellness.
Worries about medication dosage and timing and nutrition evaporate, not
to mention the deleterious effects of dining alone.
Everyones quality of life is enhanced by specially designed amenity and
gathering spaces, apartment homes, gardens and outdoor recreational
areas.

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30 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016

Touro College of Dental Medicine

welcomes its inaugural class
One hundred and ten students began
classes last week at the first new dental
school to be approved in New York State
in nearly 50 years.
Part of Touro College and University Systems growing cadre of schools
devoted to improving healthcare by
training professionals in medicine and
related disciplines, the Touro College
of Dental Medicine (TouroCDM) resides
on Touros New York Medical College
(NYMC) campus in Valhalla. TouroCDM
received more than 2,100 applications
for the 110 seats of the inaugural class at
the school in Westchester County.
Touro College of Dental Medicine has
received an overwhelming response from

applicants across the country, said Jay P.

Goldsmith, D.M.D., founding dean of TouroCDM. As a result, in a relatively short
period of time we have secured a highly
talented and ambitious group of students
to comprise our inaugural class.
TouroCDM joins an established network of medical institutions in New
York State, including the Touro College
Graduate School of Health Sciences,
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine,
Touro College Graduate School of Pharmacy, and NYMCs Schools of Medicine,
Speech Pathology, Physical Therapy, and
Public Health, which collectively graduate more than 2,000 healthcare professionals every year.

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Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

From left, state Senator Bob Gordon; Todd Von Deak, executive director of
Aphasia Access; Chuck Berkowitz, Adler Aphasia Center board president;
Elaine Adler, founder of the Adler Aphasia Center; Karen Tucker, executive
director of the Adler Aphasia Center; state Senate Majority Leader Loretta
Weinberg; and state Senate President Steve Sweeney.

New Jersey recognizes

Aphasia Awareness Month
Adler Aphasia Center recently accepted a
formal resolution in Trenton as the State
of New Jersey declared June as National
Aphasia Awareness Month. Each year,
the legislature passes a joint statewide
resolution which is introduced on the
floor of the state Senate. This awareness effort is spearheaded by the Adler
Center and sponsored by longtime center advocates, Senate Majority Leader
Loretta Weinberg, Assemblywoman
Valerie Vainieri Huttle of the 37th Legislative District, and Assemblyman Tim

Eustace of the 38th Legislative District.

Adler Aphasia Center, a nonprofit
organization based in Maywood and
West Orange, is a post-rehabilitative
therapeutic program that addresses the
long-term needs of people with aphasia
and their families. This communication
disorder affects 40 percent of all stroke
and brain trauma survivors.
For more information about the Adler
Aphasia Centers programs and services,
visit www.AdlerAphasiaCenter.org or
call 201-368-8585.

Serving the Jewish community

of Bergen County for 12 years

All certified home health aides

licensed, bonded and criminal
background checks
RN supervision & coordination
Hourly, live-in and respite care
24/7 live on-call service
Complimentary social work
services
Linkages to other elder care
options

Dawn Diamond, Rita Krell, Abe Friedman, and Ray Tirado, members of the
Senior Adult Center at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly, helped
collect adult briefs for seniors in the community.

1.866.7FREEDOM
(1.866.737.3336)

www.freedomhh.com
JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 31

Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

Valley and Mount Sinai partner to provide
comprehensive cancer care in northern Jersey

Jewish Home Assisted

Living invites
community to senior
cybersecurity seminar
The Jewish Home Assisted Living in River Vale
will hold a free informational seminar for seniors
about cybersecurity on July 18 at 11 a.m.
The seminar, Identifying and Avoiding Scams,
will be presented by Veronica Ross, vice president/
small business banker, Kearny Bank. The presentation was crafted by the American Bankers Association and covers common scams targeting seniors,
tips for avoiding identity theft, and guidelines for
safely purchasing goods and services online.
The program will take place at Jewish Home
Assisted Living, 685 Westwood Ave., River Vale,
NJ 07675. Light refreshments will be served.

Valley Health System is pleased to partner with Mount Sinai

Health System to offer state-of-the-art, comprehensive
cancer care in northern New Jersey. This partnership will
enable Valley to provide enhanced inpatient and outpatient
cancer services by offering access to an expanded roster of
clinical trials and Mount Sinais nationally renowned experts
in the field of cancer care, and the development of new programs and services.
In December 2015, Valley and Mount Sinai announced
plans to join forces on clinical programs, research, and educational offerings. The oncology alliance is one of the first
such collaborations between the two organizations. Mount
Sinai and Valley will work together to enhance patient care
both at Valleys Blumenthal Cancer Center in Paramus and
the main campus in Ridgewood by:
Establishing new clinical programs and services
Enhancing existing programs and services through
access to and coordination with Mount Sinais nationally
renowned cancer experts
Expanding access to clinical trials
Initiating research programs to advance education and
medical science
Establishing clinical information system linkages that
will enhance quality, continuity, and evaluation of care; and
Collaborating in the development of a clinically integrated physician network for the delivery of high-quality,

cost-efficient care.
We are proud to partner with Valley Health System to
offer cancer care services, said Dr. Steven Burakoff, the Lillian and Henry Stratton professor of medicine, professor
of oncological sciences, and director of The Tisch Cancer
Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,
a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center. We
recognize the high quality of cancer care that Valley Health
System has traditionally provided, and see many opportunities to offer patients in northern New Jersey the foremost in
cancer care through this partnership.
Dr. Arthur Klein, president of the Mount Sinai Health
Network, said of the alliance, The clinical and academic
affiliation between the Valley Health System and the
Mount Sinai Health System will lead to better coordinated,
higher quality health care in many arenas across our tristate Metropolitan region.
New York City-based Mount Sinai comprises seven hospitals and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Valley
Health System, headquartered in Ridgewood, New Jersey,
includes The Valley Hospital, Valley Home Care, and Valley
Medical Group.
This relationship with Mount Sinai will benefit our
community by offering access to an expanded roster of
clinical trials, programs, and services for patients diagnosed with cancer, said Audrey Meyers, president and

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Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

CEO of Valley Health System and The Valley Hospital.
We look forward to working with Mount Sinai to bring
world-class cancer care to the residents of northern
New Jersey.
According to Dr. Robert Korst, medical director of
Valleys Blumenthal Cancer Center, among the first
Mount Sinai clinical trials that Valley patients will have
access to include new treatments and treatment protocols for cutaneous malignancies, including melanoma
and other skin cancers; genitourinary malignancies,
including prostate and kidney cancers; and hematologic cancers and serious blood disorders, including
leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes. Some treatment protocols will
include bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapeutic vaccines.
Many of these new treatments are at the vanguard
of cancer care today, Dr. Korst says. We are very
excited that our patients will experience expanded
access to these treatments and to Mount Sinais physician network all integrated within the personalized
high-quality cancer care that they receive at Valley
and from their Valley physicians and cancer specialists. Our Valley cancer experts also look forward to
expanded clinical research opportunities with their
colleagues at Mount Sinai.
An important aspect of this Valley-Mount Sinai
partnership is the opportunity for prospective

Come Smile with Us

multidisciplinary videoconferences, during which cancer care experts at both hospitals will discuss patient
cases with a goal toward determining optimal treatment,
follow-up, and management of individual patients. Physicians, researchers, nurses, social workers, and other
members of the cancer care teams at both cancer facilities will participate in these videoconferences.
Our relationship with Mount Sinai also enables our
physicians and other members of the cancer care team
to reach Mount Sinai providers easily for consultations
on specific patient cases and for combined educational
opportunities, which will allow them to learn from each
other, notes Dr. Thomas Rakowski, director of medical
oncology at Valley.
The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons has awarded Valleys Cancer Program
a Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation Gold
Level, the highest level of recognition and one attained
by only 30 percent of cancer centers in the U.S. It has
also been honored by the commission with a prestigious
2015 Outstanding Achievement Award. Valley is the only
hospital in northern New Jersey and one of only two in
New Jersey to receive this award in 2015. Other recognitions include a Womens Choice Award as one of Americas Best Hospitals for Cancer Care and six Gold Seals for
cancer care from The Joint Commission.
For more information, please visit www.valleyhealthcancercenter.com.

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Convenient Morning, Evening & Sunday Hours

The Valley Hospital

adds kosher pantry
The Valley Health System has added a new kosher
pantry to the many resources it provides Jewish
patients and their families. It is stocked 24/7 with a
variety of kosher snacks and beverages, religious literature, and Jewish books and magazines. The hospitals original kosher pantry in the Mother/Baby
Unit continues to serve new parents.
Other services include kosher meals served by
Valley Dining which meet the highest standards of
kashrut. Dairy meals are chalav yisrael and meat
meals are glatt, with the certification of the Volover
Rov (Rabbi N. E. Teitlebaum) and the Vaad of Staten
Island. These meals are offered at no cost to one family member for patients in the Mother/Baby and Pediatric units; additional meals may be purchased in any
unit by calling (201) 447-8094 or asking a Valley Dining Ambassador. Juice and challah are available upon
request with Friday night dinner, as well as matzah for
Passover and apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah.
Valley Hospital is committed to supporting the
unique needs of Orthodox Jewish patients and their
families, both physically and spiritually, said Rev.
Mason Jenkins, supervisor of pastoral care. Jewish
volunteers visit patients each weekday and a rabbi
is available upon request. The hospital provides
battery operated Shabbat candles, builds a sukkah to celebrate Sukkot, and welcomes the Jewish
New Year with the blowing of a shofar throughout
the hospital on Rosh Hashanah. In addition, family members in need of lodging during Shabbat can
speak with the Patient and Family Relations Department at (201) 447-8015.
For more information on The Valley Hospitals
facilities and services for the Jewish community,
please contact Rev. Jenkins at (201) 447-8150 or
mjenkin@valleyhealth.com.

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Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

 a pt
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Jewish Home Family

convenes experts
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(Resident, Lillian Grunfeld with her daughter,

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At Rochelle Park

96 Parkway
Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
201 226-9600

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At Rochelle Park

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After care is so important to a patients recovery once a patient is released from the
hospital the real challenges often begin the challenges they now have to face as they
try and regain their strength and independence.

to fellow professionals and community

members in attendance, followed by a
question-and-answer period.
I think we are all well aware that
elder abuse is a huge problem, Ms. Silver Elliott said In the U.S., estimates
are that there are 3.5 to 5 million victims of elder abuse every year. We
also know that a very small number of
these people are identified or receive
any help. Many of these cases go unreported and unrecognized and many
of these people live out their lives in
ways that none of us would like them
to experience. We got involved in the
elder abuse movement about a year
ago, when we opened SeniorHaven for
Elder Abuse Prevention, the 14th elder
abuse shelter in the country and the
only one in New Jersey.

Nursing home throws dream

wedding for couple of 58 years

Wishing you a
Happy Passover

Love can be celebrated

anywhere, even within
the walls of a nursing
home. On June 16, Evalyn and Irwin Brownstein pledged their love
and commitment to one
another, for the second
time. The first time was
58 years ago and the
wedding of their dreams
never occurred due to
the challenges of wartime
and the recent death of
Evalyns mother. The
Evalyn and Irwin Brownstein
result was a quick, tearful
wedding with less than a
bash at the Jewish Home. First came a
dozen guests.
bachelor party, with residents enjoying
Irwin is a resident of the Jewish Home
a belly-dance. Some of the residents and
at Rockleigh and Evalyn a frequent visitor. In a conversation with the recreation
staff even joined the belly dancer for a
staff about special events in June, all
few lively dance moves!
focused on the theme of the month of
Following the bachelor party, all of
love, the Brownsteins shared the story
the guests (residents and staff ), gathered in the Jewish Homes synagogue,
of their wedding that wasnt. Thats all
with Chaplain Rabbi Simon Feld officiit took for the staff to spring into action
ating the ceremony under a chuppah,
and plan a very special renewal of vows.
followed by the traditional breaking of
The Brownsteins, originally from
a glass and boisterous singing and dancBrooklyn, moved to Teaneck in 1963,
ing. Later in the day, residents dressed
where Evalyn taught. Irwin was the
in their finest attire joined the happy
director of student life at City College
couple for dancing, toasts and a wedand taught special education in New
ding cake.
York, where he developed the first environmentally-based special education
We are so grateful to be celebrating
curriculum. They have two children and
with all of you here at the Jewish Home,
four grandchildren.
Evalyn said following the ceremony.
Now in their 80s, the Brownsteins
This truly is a happy place. And Irwin
were treated to a full-fledged wedding
added: This is a gift from God.

The Chateau
At Rochelle Park

96 Parkway
Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
201 226-9600

Here at The Chateau we combine the very same sophisticated technologies and
techniques used by leading hospitals with hands on skilled rehabilitative/nursing care.
Sub Acute care ensures that patients return home with the highest degree of function
possible.

Our Care Service

The Jewish Home Family assembled a

panel of professionals to speak about
identifying and helping to prevent elder
abuse at a community breakfast held
on June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
The panel included a police officer
(Detective Peter Martin, River Vale
Police Department), pharmacist (Bryan
Brunner, lead clinical pharmacist,
IPPC), elder law attorney (Michael D.
Lissner, Lissner & Lissner LLP), banker
(Nancy M. Mackowiak, Sussex Bank
compliance and Community Investment Act officer) and physician (Dr.
Harvey R. Gross, medical director, Jewish Home at Rockleigh).
Moderated by Jewish Home Family
President and CEO Carol Silver Elliott,
the panelists offered anecdotes and tips

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34 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016
hospital the real challenges often begin the challenges they now have to face as they
try and regain their strength and independence.

Healthy Living & Adult Lifestyles

What would someone at a bank know
about elder abuse? asked Sussex Banks
Mackowiak. It may surprise you to find
out that the teller at your branch who
you see regularly is one of your greatest
allies. She explained that bank tellers
get to know clients through small-talk
and are obligated to report anything suspicious, whether it comes up in conversation or through red flags in the form of
transactions.
Detective Martin spoke about the
steep rise in cases of scammers targeting seniors. He also spoke about the difficulty of police getting involved when the
abuse is familial and financial a common form of elder abuse.
Elder attorney Lissner had a number
of cautionary tales. Nobody calls me
with good news, he said. He told of a
client whose beloved home health aide
had drafted a completely new will, leaving all of her possessions to her, when she
clearly had advanced dementia. That case
remains in court. He advises clients to
leave money out on purpose in the early
days of hiring a new home health aide, to
ensure that the person is not a thief.
Pharmacist Brunner spoke about the

pharmacists role, not only in spotting

abuse, but identifying doctor-shopping and misuse of prescription meds
by caregivers, using the senior to obtain
narcotics.
Lastly, Dr. Gross spoke about official
tools developed for screening for abuse.
The one I like best is the Elder Abuse
Suspicion Index, he said. The index
involves five simple questions that can
be highly predictive in identifying an
elder abuse situation. He lamented that
the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force
decided that there was insufficient evidence to screen for elder abuse, but
said that the situation is improving,
with many other groups encouraging
screenings.
The entire panel can be viewed at:
http://goo.gl/AKLNVD
In additional providing shelter, part
of the mission of SeniorHaven is to offer
educational seminars throughout the
community. If you would like to bring
a speaker to educate about elder abuse
prevention at your communal organization, school or workplace, write to
seniorhaven@jewishhomefamily.org or
call 201-518-1176.

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Dvar Torah
Chukat: Look up or look out

n less than two weeks, we enter

our Republican and Democrat conventions. Our political landscape is
pitted with fear and anxiety, even
anger. Theres a perceptible shift in our
receptiveness to social debate; the tension
is ripe with judgment.
American Jews are divided in politics.
With rancor we argue over Israel, immigration, or refugees. We mostly read those we
agree with, mocking other opinions.
Jonathan Haidt, in his brilliant book
The Righteous Mind, explores why
good people are divided by politics and
religion. His research reveals three ethics
that shape us: autonomy, community, and
divinity. Western society prioritizes the fulfillment of personal needs and wants, as
long as we coexist peacefully without too
much interference on one another. Yet,
we also value being part of family, teams,
tribes, peoples. And we draw meaning
from being part of something purposeful,
a sacred order.
Its the latter that brings us deep fulfillment. Haidt teaches, We may spend most
of our waking hours advancing our own
interests, but we all have the capacity to
transcend self-interest and become simply
part of the whole. Its not just a capacity;
its the portal to many of lifes most cherished experiences.

When political tension

Promised Land, were they
divides us to our core, we
ready for it?
God, it seems, didnt think
harm ourselves. We need
so. The Eternal sent seraperspective. Because we
phim, serpents, against the
need one another.
Parshat Chukat begins with
people. They bit the people
the strange ritual of burning
and many of the Israelites
the red heifer and reducing
died. The people came to
it to ashes. Mixed with water
Moses and said, We sinned
Elyse
and applied, they make an
by speaking against the EterFrishman
nal and against you. Intercede
unclean person clean. What
The Barnert
with the Eternal to take away
sin do the ashes cleanse?
Temple, Franklin
the serpents from us! And
The Holy Blessed One said,
Lakes, Reform
Moses interceded for the peoLet the heifer come and
ple. Then the Eternal One said
atone for the incident of the
to Moses, Make a seraph figure and mount
(golden) calf, (Chukat Rabbah 19:8). The
it on a standard. And anyone who was bitgolden calf episode isnt only one of idolatry; it is a full-out rebellion against Moses
ten who then looks at it shall recover. Moses
leadership. Thirty-eight years have passed
made a copper serpent and mounted it on
since then. Perhaps the ashes, stored
the standard; and when bitten by a serpent,
within the Ark, are a warning to the new
anyone who looked at the copper serpent
generation of Israelites. Yet these Israelwould recover. (Numbers 21:6-9).
ites do not seem very different from their
This is a paradox. The serpents bite
parents, complaining bitterly and antagowould kill; yet gazing upon the copper sernistically of Moses and God. The people
pent would heal.
grew restive on the journey, and the people
The midrash observes that the Israelites
spoke against God and against Moses, Why
have to look upward to see the serpent
did you make us leave Egypt to die in the
standard, that is, to look to up to God,
wilderness? There is no bread and water,
(Bamidbar Rabbah 19:23). In Hebrew,
and we have come to loathe this miserable
the word for serpent is nachash,
food! (Numbers 20:4-5).
and copper is nchoshet. The differWe have to wonder as the new genence between them is the Hebrew letter
eration of Israelites drew close to the
tav on the word nchoshet, copper.

The letter tav symbolizes Gods seal or

imprint almost like a fingerprint. The
addition of the tav turning the serpent into copper suggests that when
Gods imprint is seen, evil can be transformed into good.
The very things that will harm the people if they only look at one another will
bring healing if they look up to God. They
will fail utterly unless they look upward,
beyond themselves.
Like us, the Israelites are influenced
most by the ethic of autonomy; despite
redemption and revelation, punishment
and wandering, they do not mature easily
into a people, let alone a people of faith.
The peoples physical landscape is still the
desert wilderness. But what of their spiritual landscape? Will they be able to see
beyond the desert of their fears? Will they
have the spiritual courage to make the
land Promised?
Moses and Aaron, as Gods agents, dont
merely guide the people from one location to another. They struggle to help them
evolve and mature into a people ready to
own the Promised Land.
Are we ready? Lets demonstrate so
during these upcoming conventions. Lets
look upward. Lets be more attentive and
less judgmental. Less certain and more
humble. Lets seek and find the divinity in
one another.

endanger life, cause death and/or serious

bodily harm and the destruction...to such
structures, the indictment stated, according to South African media.
Such conspiracy and incitement was
intended to cause and spread feelings of
terror, fear or panic in the civilian population of South Africa and in particular
the U.S. and Jewish sector thereof, and
to intimidate the government of the
United States of America, the indictment added.

allows researchers to tell the story of the

Philistines, said one of the heads of the
excavation, Daniel Master, a professor of
archaeology at Wheaton College. Master made his comments during a press
conference at Jerusalems Rockefeller
Museum that coincided with the opening
of an Israel Museum exhibit showcasing
archaeological artifacts from the area in
and around Ashkelon.
Ashkelon was a major seaport in ancient
times and was built on a main coastal trade
route, sustaining a large population relative
to other cities at the time due to its focus
on commerce. The city was also one of the
five main Philistine cities for six centuries
along with Gaza, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron
from about the 1100s (BCE) until the city
was destroyed by the army of Babylonian
king Nebuchadnezzar in 604 BCE.
Were going to be able to reconstruct
what the Philistines as a group were like,
Master said. Weve [also] uncovered their
houses, weve uncovered their trading networks, weve uncovered all aspects of their
culturewere finally going to see the people themselves.

BRIEFS

Republicans reinstate
undivided Jerusalem
language into their
partys platform
The Republican Party has reportedly reinstated language endorsing an undivided
Jerusalem into the partys platform ahead
of its national convention in Cleveland
later this month.
According to CNN, which cited a first
draft of the party platform that it obtained,
the Republicans would reinstate a reference to an undivided Jerusalem while
removing a reference to Palestine in support for a two-state solution.
The Republicans move comes after
a lobbying effort by an affiliate of Pastor
John Hagees influential Christians United
for Israel (CUFI) organization. The CUFI
Action Fund lobby had called on the GOP
to reiterate its historically strong support
for Israel by declaring Jerusalem as the
undivided and eternal capital of the Jewish state.
In a letter obtained by JNS.org that
was sent to Republican convention
36 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016

delegates on July 6, former Ronald Reagan administration official Gary Bauer,

director of the CUFI Action Fund, called
for the Republican Party platform to
strengthen its language in support for
Israel with Jerusalem as Israels undivided, enteral capital.


JNS.ORG

Brothers indicted for

bomb plot against
Jewish institutions in
South Africa
Two brothers with links to the Islamic
State terror group were indicted Monday for allegedly plotting to bomb Jewish
institutions and the U.S. Embassy in South
Africa.
Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie were
indicted at the Johannesburg Magistrates
Court.
The accused unlawfully and intentionally conspired to commit the crime of terrorism by planning to cause explosions
at a Mission of the United States of America and Jewish institutionsin order to

JNS.ORG

Israeli archaeologists
discover ancient
Philistine cemetery
Israeli archaeologists excavating near
the city of Ashkelon have discovered a
cemetery that belonged to the ancient
Philistines, a biblical archenemy of the
Israelites.
The newly discovered cemetery dating back to between the 11th and eighth
centuries BCE, and containing more than
210 graves is a critical missing link that

JNS.ORG

Crossword

Briefs

IDENTITY QUESTION BY BY YONI GLATT

KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULT LEVEL: MEDIUM

Foreign ministry official urges UNESCO

to reject effort to distort Jerusalems history
Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General
Dore Gold sent a scathing letter to the head
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization on Monday, criticizing a draft UNESCO resolution that calls
for a return to the historic status quo on
the Temple Mount.
UNESCOs 21-member World Heritage
Committee is set to vote on the resolution, a
joint Palestinian-Jordanian initiative, during
its annual meeting in Istanbul, which begins
Sunday and runs through the week.

In his letter, Gold wrote: UNESCO is

considering the adoption of a completely
one-sided draft resolution on the Old City
of Jerusalem that deliberately ignores the
historical connection between the Jewish
people and their ancient capital. The resolution also fails to acknowledge Christianitys
ties to Jerusalem. It refers to the area of the
Temple Mount only as a Muslim holy site of
worship.
Gold added, We urge you to oppose this
JNS.ORG
effort to distort history.

eBay buys Israeli start-up SalesPredict

to try and better understand its users

Across
1. Rock of Ages accompaniment
6. Yutz
9. Rebar fruit
14. Shneur Zalman of ___
15. Daughter of Tzelafchad
16. Rental to help get stuff from
Lakewood, N.J. to Lakewood, Pa.
17. Bohr bits
18. Tolkien creature that might have to
observe the laws of Bikurim
19. An Israeli
20. Kosher company that makes Italian
dressing
23. Major general Israel
24. 38-across, for one
25. One in the Ark
28. Here, to Gracia Mendes Nasi
31. Chomsky banned from Israel in 2010
34. Ahava target, perhaps
36. ___ of Siddim, Genesis locale near
Sodom
38. Hebrew acronym of Rav Judah Loew
40. Billy Joels ___ It Goes
42. Freud topic
43. Bacteria that could ruin the Passover
offering
44. 15th century Spanish Hitler
47. Sharp, like Woody Allen
48. Rosters that might include Spielberg
and Abrams
49. Shiluach HaKan locale
51. Jewish school on L.I. or reggaes
cousin
52. Went for, as the Knesset
53. Disco man on Simons The
Simpsons
55. ___ in Israel
57. Famous question asked by Juliet...or
another title for this puzzle
63. ___ Aviv (Bet Shemesh neighborhood)
66. Sons of Haman
67. Dudi Sela lost to him in the 2015
Australian Open
68. Judean animal in The Chronicles of
Narnia
69. Kosher caribou kin
70. Prepares a shirt for Shabbat
71. ___ So Vain
72. Goosebumps author, initially
73. Like many Middle East relationships

The solution to last weeks puzzle

in on page 43.

Down
1. Tikkun follower
2. Female lead in Ramis Groundhog
Day
3. Notable one from Vilna
4. Allow into an Alex Clare show
5. Car that sounds like a month
6. Shomeiah K___
7. Sof haderech, in America
8. 1996 Bin Laden declaration against
America, e.g.
9. Borat or Groucho feature
10. Judean king who died at 36
11. Break the Eighth Commandment
12. ___ Aryeh (work by 38-Across)
13. Suffix with schnozz or pay
21. The Nile certainly didnt do it during
the first plague
22. Big furniture store in Netanya
25. Many Stan Lee characters
26. Zachor group
27. Josh of The West Wing
28. 2009 sci-fi film where Stephen Lang
plays the villain
29. Latke liquid, perhaps
30. Buzz who could have seen Israel
from the moon
32. Bvakasha
33. Fox in Bays Transformers
35. Greinke who was like the Drysdale to
Koufaxs Kershaw
37. Abbr. for Kagan and Allred
39. Airplane ___ (possible synagogue
setting)
41. What virtually every younger brother
will do to his oldest brother in the
Bible
45. Cmo ___ usted?
46. What eating pork is (2 words)
50. Esther, e.g.
54. Say a blessing quietly
56. Esau might have used one on a hunt
57. Don (tzitzit)
58. Disown, like chametz
59. Works as a sofer
60. ___ Olam
61. Staffs the INS Lahav
62. Anything ___ (2003 Woody Allen
film)
63. Lo, to a Scot
64. Disney Special Agent voiced by
Sean Astin
65. Swine thats avoided by Jews and
non-Jews alike

The online retail giant eBay announced

the acquisition of SalesPredict, an Israeli
start-up that forecasts consumers buying
behavior. It is believed that eBay agreed to
pay between $30 million and $40 million
for SalesPredict, although neither company released financial information on the
transaction.
Netanya-based SalesPredict was founded
in 2012. Its technology is a form of artificial
intelligence that uses various techniques to
study consumers buying habits through
database analysis. eBay, which is a popular

online marketplace that allows users to sell

the products to each other and bid on them,
has increased its presence in the Israeli hightech sector over the years, and eBay Israel,
which is also based in Netanya, employs
hundreds of people.
For our buyers, [SalesPredict] will help
us better understand the price differentiating attributes of our products, and, for our
sellers, it will help us build out the predictive models that can define the probability of
selling a given product, at a given price over
JNS.ORG
time, eBay said in a statement.

JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 37

Calendar
Sunday

Tuesday

JULY 17

JULY 19

Charity walk in Verona:

Hadassah Northern
N.J. holds Every Step
Counts, its first annual
Heart Health Awareness
walkathon, at Verona
Park. Registration,
8 a.m.; walk at 8:30.
(973) 530-3996 or www.
hadassah.org/events/
hhaw.

Religious school open

house: Congregation
Adas Emuno in Leonia
holds its Family Meet
and Greet, 10 a.m.noon. School begins
on September 11. Meet
school director Cantor
Sandy Horowitz,
educators, families,
and congregants, and
nosh on waffles and ice
cream. 254 Broad Ave.
(201) 592-1712 or www.
adasemuno.org.

Book discussion in
Paramus: The JCC of
Paramus/Congregation
Beth Tikvah offers
a discussion on
Angelas Ashes
by Frank McCourt,
6:45 p.m. Refreshments.
Suggested donation.
East 304 Midland Ave.
(201) 262-7691.

Wednesday
JULY 20

Temple Israel and JCC of Ridgewood offers its Summer Music

Friday concert on Friday, July 22, featuring congregants Irene
Bressler on harp and Artie Bressler on woodwinds. Doors open
at 6:45 p.m.; the recital is at 7, followed by services and a festive
oneg. 475 Grove St. (201) 444-9320 or www.bisrael.com.
JOHANNA RESNICK ROSEN

JULY

22

354 Maitland Ave. Shari,

(201) 837-9090, ext. 237,
or sharib@jfsbergen.org.

Film in Franklin Lakes:

Temple Emanuel of
North Jersey shows the
Harold Lloyd silent film
comedy Speedy, 2 p.m.
Popcorn and ice cream.
558 High Mountain Road.
(201) 560-0200 or www.
tenjfl.org.

Monday

John F. Kennedy
JFK discussion in
Tenafly: Marty Alboum
offers a discussion with
seniors on John F.
Kennedy at the Kaplen
JCC on the Palisades,
11:15 a.m. Lunch available.
411 E. Clinton Ave. Helene,
(201) 408-1451.

River Dell Hadassah

plans a visit to the Jewish
Historical Society of
North Jersey to look
at Bergen County and
Hadassah memorabilia,
noon. 17-10 River Road,
Suite 3A, Fair Lawn.
Handicap accessible. All
welcome. (551) 265-1573.

Paramus Yiddish club:

JULY 18
Senior cybersecurity:
The Jewish Home
Assisted Living offers
Identifying and Avoiding
Scams, a senior
cybersecurity seminar
by Veronica Ross, vice
president/small business
banker, Kearny Bank,
at JHAL in River Vale,
11 a.m. Presentation
crafted by the American
Bankers Association.
Refreshments. 685
Westwood Ave.
(201) 666-2370 or www.
jhalnj.org.

Hadassah field trip:

Fred Miller
Holocaust survivor
group in Teaneck:
Caf Europa, a social
program sponsored by
Jewish Family Service
of Bergen and North
Hudson for Holocaust
survivors, funded in
part by the Claims
Conference on Jewish
Material Claims Against
Germany and the Jewish
Federation of Northern
New Jersey, meets at
Congregation Beth
Sholom, 11:30 a.m. Kosher
lunch and Lecturesin-Song by Fred Miller.

38 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016

Khaverim Far Yidish

(Friends for Yiddish)
meets for an end-of-year
celebration at the JCC of
Paramus/Congregation
Beth Tikvah, 2 p.m.
Program with readings,
song, and conversation
in Yiddish and English.
Group meets the third
Wednesday of the
month. $10 yearly dues.
East 304 Midland Ave.
Varda, (201) 791-0327.

Thursday
JULY 21

Vocals and sax in

Tenafly: Vocalist/

saxophonist Ilya Grusdev

performs for seniors
at the Kaplen JCC on
the Palisades, 11:15 a.m.
Lunch available. 411 E.
Clinton Ave. Helene,
(201) 408-1451.

Reconstructionist
Judaism: Get an insiders
look at Reconstructionist
Judaism at a Recon
Salon led by Rabbi
Jacob Lieberman of
Reconstructionist
Congregation Beth
Israel in Ridgewood,
7:30 p.m. Attendees
will find out what the
movement is about,
why it was founded,
and how it has evolved
in congregations today.
Light refreshments. 475
Grove St. (201) 444-9320
or office@synagogue.org.

Friday
JULY 22
Shabbat on the
Palisades: Temple
Beth El of Northern
Valley in Closter invites
the community to the
informal Prayers on
the Palisades Shabbat
service led by Rabbis
David Widzer and Steven
Sirbu and Cantor Ellen
Tilem at 6:30 p.m. at the
State Line Lookout off
the Palisades Parkway.
The exit is northbound
on the PIP two miles
north of Exit 2. Bring

a lawn chair and bug

spray. If the weather is
inclement, services will
be held at the shul, 221
Schraalenburgh Road,
Closter. Next service
August 19. (201) 768-5112
or www.tbenv.org.

Thursday

Seniors meet in
Orangeburg: Singles
65+ of the JCC Rockland
meets for dinner
at Hogans Diner in
Orangeburg, N.Y., 6 p.m.
Individual checks. 17
Dutch Hill Road. Gene,
(845) 356-5525.

JULY 28

Friday

BBQ/whiskey tasting:

JULY 22

The Chabad Center of

Passaic County hosts
Grill and Chill at a
private home in Wayne,
6:30 p.m. Whiskies
to taste by the USA
Wine Traders Club of
Wayne with a discussion
about their origins.
(973) 694-6274 or
jewishwayne.com.

Singles
Thursday
JULY 21
Widows and widowers
meet in Glen Rock:
Movin On, a monthly
luncheon group for
widows and widowers,
meets at the Glen Rock
Jewish Center, 12:30 p.m.
682 Harristown Road. $5
for lunch. (201) 652-6624
or email Binny, arbgr@
aol.com.

Singles Shabbaton in
Teaneck: Sharon Ganz &
Friends hosts a Summer
Shabbaton weekend for
Orthodox Jewish singles,
20s-40s, at Congregation
Bnai Yeshurun. It will
include Shabbat meals,
home hospitality, mixers,
discussions, guest
speakers, and programs.
Sharon, (646) 529-8748
or (718) 575-3962.

Announce
your events
We welcome announcements of upcoming events.
Announcements are free.
Accompanying photos must
be high resolution, jpg files.
Send announcements 2 to 3
weeks in advance. Not every
release will be published.
Include a daytime telephone
number and send to:

pr@jewishmediagroup.
com 201-837-8818 x 110

Gallery
1

n 1 Fifth-grade girls from Tenafly and

Englewood who attend Kesher, Ahavat
Torah, and East Hill Synagogue received
certificates for completing a year of chesed
service projects, including making friendship bracelets for IDF soldiers, cookies and
cards for Englewood firemen, supporting
an art program with J-ADD, and working
at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades Purim
carnival, and at the Englewood Shalom
5K. The program was run with the help
of Chabad of Teaneck. PHOTO PROVIDED

n 2 The Glen Rock Pops performed

at the Jewish Home Assisted Living
in River Vale for residents and community members. JEWISH HOME FAMILY
n 3 Teanecks shomer Shabbat Boy Scout
Troop 226 held its end-of-year barbecue, Court of Honor awards ceremony,
and Webelos Bridging Ceremony. The
event was at Phelps Park in Teaneck. For
information, email dchazin@aol.com.

n 4 The Moriah School held graduation

for its 87 eighth-graders, and for its early
childhood kindergarteners, who will be
going to Moriahs lower school next year.
Students entertained the crowd with musical numbers orchestrated by Rabbi Michael
Nadata, Moriahs musical director. Speakers
included early childhood director Divska
Tolinsky; Sandy Yahalom, president of the
Moriah Association of Parents; and Head
of School Rabbi Daniel Alter. Following
Moriah tradition, 16 students received di-

plomas from their Moriah alumni parents.

Moriah graduates will be attending area
high schools including Frisch, SAR, Ramaz,
TABC, and Maayanot. COURTESY MORIAH
n 5 Last month, Bris Avrohoms executive director, Rabbi Mordechai Kanelsky,
center, and its associate director, Shterney
Kanelsky, hosted a dinner at their home in
honor of Rabbi Kanelskys birthday. Friends,
family, and Bris Avrohom supporters were
among the guests. COURTESY BRIS AVROHOM

JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 39

Jewish World/Local

Republican convention shapes up

as short on Jews, long on mystery
RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON Theyre elusive but
show up in the right place at the right time,
and you might find one!
No, were not talking about the latest
iteration of Pokemon Go. This is about
tracking prominent Jewish GOPers and
Jewish organizational representatives who
will be at the Republican National Convention next week in Cleveland.
Theyll be barely visible, and the reason
has everything to do with the presumptive
nominee, Donald Trump.
The Republican Jewish Coalition usually rolls out major shebangs at party conventions, starting with a news conference
where you can count on director Matthew
Brooks to confidently project growth in
the GOP share of the Jewish vote.
Not this year, an RJC spokesman said
in an email that noted plans for a couple
of events closed to the media. One is a
salute to pro-Israel elected officials in
governors mansions, in the U.S. House of
Representatives and in the Senate. This is
typical of past conventions.
Jewish donors who have undergirded
much past campaigning? Try to find them.
Im going to watch on TV, emailed
one donor who has been a constant at the
conventions and asked not to be named.
Should be quite a show.
He said many of his GOP Jewish donor
compadres also had cats to clean and hair
to shampoo and long walks in the woods
planned for next week.
Among the major fundraisers staying away, according to a list compiled by
Jewish Insider, are Charlie Spies and Yitz
Applebaum. The list says they will be
joined on the sidelines by George W. Bush
administration alumni Noam Neusner,
Tevi Troy, and Jay Zeidman.
The American Israel Public Affairs
Committee and the Jewish Federations
of North America, usually ubiquitous at
conventions, are maintaining low profiles not just at the Republican event but
also the Democratic assembly later this
month in Philadelphia. That means no
breakfasts with mishpocha organized
by AIPAC to bring together its activists
with Jewish lawmakers and congressional staffers.
A Salute to Israel in AIPACs name
appears on some Democratic National
Convention schedules in circulation, but
an official at the prominent Israel lobby
said that it is not an AIPAC event.
The JFNA, through its Israel Action Network and in partnership with the Israel
Project, is organizing a single event at
each convention honoring state legislators who have countered the anti-Israel
40 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016

Theyll be
barely visible,
and the reason
has everything
to do with the
presumptive
nominee,
Donald Trump.

Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland is ready to welcome the Republican National

Convention.
ANGELO MERENDINO/GETTY IMAGES

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. But unlike past years, there is no
convention-specific event planned.
Two Jewish groups are maintaining a
profile typical of their past participation
at venues near the conventions, but
raising issues not directly related to the
nomination. The American Jewish Committee is running the same series of panel
discussions in both cities on anti-Semitism, U.S. demographics, U.S. foreign
policy, and the Middle East. The AntiDefamation League is running a session
in Cleveland on bipartisanship; its Philly
session is on hate language.
Even as many Jewish Republican insiders are steering clear of the convention,
Trump seems to be considering moves
that would please many of the partys
pro-Israel activists and donors.
The Republican Platform Committee
approved language that does not mention the two-state solution as a favored
outcome in the Middle East. It also says
that Jerusalem is Israels indivisible
capital and rejects calling Israels presence in the West Bank an occupation.
Both plank items are big wins for the
right wing of the pro-Israel community.
And the author of the revised language,
Alan Clemmons, a South Carolina state
representative, worked closely with top
Trump aides to formulate the language.
Clemmons, who carefully described
himself as a delegate bound for Donald

Trump a tad short of someone who

enthusiastically supported the candidacy
was careful when asked if he thought
Trump would endorse the policy.
Ill have to let Mr. Trump speak for
himself, he said. Let me just say his
advisers at the highest level are in support of the language.

Meor
FROM PAGE 9

this program, I know 100 percent that

there is nothing not Jewish about me.
Learning about Judaism through
Meor, I also recognized that the beliefs
and values I already held are inherently
Jewish, despite not having learned them
at a Jewish day school, she continued.
Moreover, I really began to understand who is a Jew and what it means to
be Jewish. I always made the joke that
to be a Jew, you must suffer. Jewish history is a bowlfull of tragedy, observance
is peppered with fasts, and the oil and
vinegar of a Jew is memory. However,
the piece I was missing is that the bowl
that holds the tumultuous salad together
is itself comprised of appreciation. This
is the most important ingredient of
Jewishness.
I learned on this trip that being Jewish is not about suffering, but it is about
celebrating struggle and opposition,
because that which comes out of such

There may yet be joy for pro-Israel people at the Republican convention: Of the
five purported names in circulation for
the vice presidential nod, three of them
former House speaker Newt Gingrich,
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence have longstanding
close ties with the pro-Israel community.
A fourth, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, has
worked hard to forge ties with the community since her 2014 election between her
November election and taking her seat,
she visited the country. The fifth, Lt. Gen.
Michael Flynn, left the Obama administration as the Defense Intelligence Agency
chief in 2014 in part over concerns shared
by Israel about U.S. policy on Iran.
Now if, as rumored, Trump names his
daughter, Ivanka, as running mate well
thats one Jew, at least, who doesnt mind
making appearances with him.


JTA WIRE SERVICE

trial and tribulation is much greater

for overcoming, being resilient, and
persevering.
Ms. Kodish said participants in the
trips typically return home inspired to
seek out additional Jewish engagement
opportunities and ways to connect to
Israel.
That is the case for Madeline Lefkowitz of Teaneck, a student at Rutgers University. Meor Israel helped me gain a
better understanding of Judaism, Israel,
and Jewish connection, she said. I am
so thankful for this experience and for
the gift of finally understanding why it is
so special to be Jewish. Moving forward,
I am going to try to live every day with
meaning. To me, that means incorporating Judaism into everything I do.
Other Bergen County participants
in Meor Israel were William Fried of
Englewood and Harvard, Dillon Japko
of Upper Saddle River and Binghamton,
and Jake Steiner of Montvale and the
University of Maryland.

Obituaries
Margot Harris

Margot Harris, 95, of

North Bergen died July 5.
Born in Germany, she
came to the U.S. in 1939
to escape the Holocaust.
She was a bookkeeper and
volunteered at Palisades
General Hospital.
Predeceased by her husband, Al, she is survived
by sons, Dr. Robert (Ann)
and Warren (Adrianne);
four grandchildren, and
three great-grandchildren.
Arrangements were by
Robert Schoems Menorah
Chapel, Paramus.

Carl Reinach

Carl Kurt Reinach, 101, of

Fair Lawn died July 7.
Born in Germany, he
came to New York City
in 1937.
A U.S. Army veteran, he
served in the Battle of the

Bulge and was awarded

the Bronze Star, the Good
Conduct Medal, and the
Croix de Guerre. He was a
business executive in New
York before retiring and a
member of the Fair Lawn
Jewish Center/CBI.
Predeceased by a sister,
Ilse Strauss, he is survived
by his wife of 70 years,
Ilse, ne Stern, children,
Dr. Norman (Amy), and
Linda Reinach Friedland
(Steven); grandchildren,
Amy Cohen (Dr. Micah),
Alexander and Alissa Reinach, and Jason ( Jamie),
Michael and Jillian Klein;
three great-grandchildren,
and two nephews.
Donations can be sent
to the Fair Lawn Jewish
Center/CBI. Arrangements
were by Robert Schoems
Menorah Chapel,
Paramus.

Mildred Solomon

Mildred A. Solomon, ne
Finkelstein, 89, of Fair
Lawn, formerly of Old
Bridge, died July 12.
Before retiring, she
worked for the Hanover
Insurance Company
and belonged to Temple
Beth Ohr in Old Bridge.
Predeceased by her
husband, Jerome, and
sisters, Martha Levine
and Sylvia Weiner, she
is survived by children,
Riesha Rosenblum
(Steven) of Fair Lawn,
and Geoffrey (Nancy) of
Butler; a grandchild, and
nieces and nephews.
Donations can be
sent to Valley Hospice,
Paramus. Arrangements
were by Louis Suburban
Chapel, Fair Lawn.

Jerry Weinstein

Jerry Marvin Weinstein, 85,

of Delray Beach, Fla., formerly of Oradell, died July 5.
A New York University
graduate, he was a tax auditor in New York City and a
former member of Temple
Sholom in River Edge.
He is survived by his wife
of 62 years, Rosalyn, children, Shari of Hackensack
and Howard (Ellen) of Florida, and one grandchild.
Donations can be made to
Pap Corps Cancer Research,
Delray Beach. Arrangements were by Louis Suburban Chapel, Fair Lawn.

Harold Zafeman

Harold Zafeman, 81, formerly of Wayne, died

July 10.
Arrangements were by
Robert Schoems Menorah
Chapel, Paramus.

Obituaries are prepared with

information provided by funeral homes.
Correcting errors is the responsibility
of the funeral home.

Robert Schoems Menorah Chapel, Inc

Jewish Funeral Directors

Family Owned & managed

Generations of Lasting Service to the Jewish Community
Serving NJ, NY, FL &
Throughout USA
Prepaid & Preneed Planning
Graveside Services

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Handicap Accessibility From Large
Parking Area

Gary Schoem Manager - NJ Lic. 3811

Conveniently Located
W-150 Route 4 East Paramus, NJ 07652

201.843.9090

1.800.426.5869

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Headstones, Duplicate Markers and Cemetery Lettering
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Jewish DNC staffer, 27, killed near his home

WASHINGTON A young Jewish staffer for the Democratic National Committee was shot dead in an apparent robbery near his home in Washington, D.C.
Seth Conrad Rich, 27, was shot early in the morning
of July 10, in the Bloomingdale neighborhood, near the
Capitol, about a block from his home.
Police did not ascribe a motive for his death, but his
father, Joel, told the Washington Post that the police
believe his son may have been the victim of a botched
robbery.
He wanted to make a difference, Joel Rich said.
Seth Rich, the voter expansion data director for the
DNC, worked on databases to help voters identify polling stations, the Washington Post reported. Colleagues
said that he was also engaged in Jewish outreach.
Our hearts are broken with the loss of one of our
DNC family members over the weekend, Rep. Debbie
Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the DNC chairwoman, said
in a statement. Seth Rich was a dedicated, selfless

www.kochmonument.com

public servant who worked tirelessly to protect the

most sacred right we share as Americans the right
to vote. He saw the great potential of our nation and
believed that, together, we can make the world a better place.
Rich, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, was the boating
education director and staff programming director at
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin in 2011, according to his
LinkedIn profile.
Seth communicated proactively to facilitate the
success of the campers with special needs who were
in his class and went above and beyond to provide
opportunities for all of my campers to participate successfully in the boating program, said a reference on
the LinkedIn site from the camps special needs head,
Talia Kravitz.
A colleague and friend, speaking anonymously, said
Rich was proud of his Jewish upbringing in Omaha.


JTA WIRE SERVICE

A Traditional Jewish Experience

Pre-Planning Specialists Graveside and Chapel Services

76 Johnson Ave., Hackensack, NJ 07601

Veterans are Honored Here

We are committed to celebrating the significance of lives that
have been lived, which is why we have always made service
to veterans and their families a priority.
We assure that all deceased veterans have an American
Flag and a Jewish War Veteran Medallion flagholder placed
at their graves at the time of interment. Our Advanced
Planning service has enabled us to expedite military
honors, when requested, because the need for the
documentation is immediate and it is part of the pre-need
protocol. And if requested, an American Flag may drape the
casket at a funeral service.
We have also established an Honor Wall of veterans names,
and it is a part of our Annual Veterans Memorial Service.

GUTTERMAN AND MUSICANT

JEWISH FUNERAL DIRECTORS

800-522-0588

WIEN & WIEN, INC.

MEMORIAL CHAPELS

800-322-0533

Barry Wien - NJ Lic. No. 2885

Frank Patti, Jr. - NJ Lic. No. 4169
Arthur Musicant - NJ Lic. No. 2544
Frank Patti, Sr. Director - NJ Lic. No. 2693
327 Main St, Fort Lee, NJ

201-947-3336 888-700-EDEN

402 PARK STREET, HACKENSACK, NJ 07601

ALAN L. MUSICANT, Mgr., N.J. LIC. NO. 2890
MARTIN D. KASDAN, N.J. LIC. NO. 4482
IRVING KLEINBERG, N.J. LIC. NO. 2517
Advance Planning Conferences Conveniently Arranged
at Our Funeral Home or in Your Own Home
GuttermanMusicantWien.com

www.edenmemorial.com

JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 41

Classified
Co-ops For Sale

Co-ops For Sale

1 HORIZON RD. PH3,

Fort Lee, N.J.
Fully renov., approx 3,500 SF
w/Hudson River views from
GWB to tip of Downtown Manhattan, 900 SF terrace, atrium,
MEIK, 2 BDRMS, plus den,
huge Master BDRM Suite.
A Must See! Asking $900,000
Contact: DORIS COHEN
PROMINENT PROPERTIES
SOTHEBYS
201-218-0731

3 HORIZON RD PH4,
Fort Lee, N. J.
Spectacular, Move-in Cond.
Approx 3500 SF/ PH + 900 SF
Terrace. Overlk Hudson River,
Atrium, 3 - 4 BDRM, Large
Master BDRM suite,
. 4 units on a floor.
A Must See!
$845,000
Contact: Doris Cohen
PROMINENT PROPERTIESSOTHERBYS
201-218-0731

(201) 837-8818

Cemetery Plots For Sale

. Cemetery Plots

Beth El/Cedar Park

Paramus, N. J.
Gravesites Available
$1150 each
Excellent Location
Call Mrs. G 201-429-2585
914-589-4673

Writing Service
Writer/Marketer

Advertising & Publicity

Editorial Services
Research & Marketing
Call Barry 201-289-6948
GardenStateWriter.com

Houses For Sale

BERGENFIELD
OPEN HOUSE 1 - 4

Sunday, July 17
55 Spring Avenue
Stunning younger, 4 Bedroom, 3 Bath home, beautiful new granite
kitchen with breakfast bar & stainless steel appliances, banquet sized
dining room, oversized family room, fireplace & sliding glass doors to
gorgeous 54 x 202 property & beautiful in-ground pool! Great location!
Close to Houses of Worship.
$679,000

dir: New Bridge/Prospect/Spring

Car Service

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at all times for your transporation needs.
Our professional and courteous team works together for you.

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Fuel surcharge may add up to 10% Additional charge may be applied to credit card payment

201-641-5500 888-990-TAXI (8294)

Visit us online at: www.apluslimo1.com E-mail: apluslimo@earthlink.net

Situations Wanted
******.

Looking for
Professional Nurse/CHHA
to care for you or loved one

Call
Spendylove Homecare
732-430-5789
*****

AFFORDABLE, professional, very

warm and compassionate Certified
Nursing Assistant available for inhome care. Call anytime. 646-6180367. Able to travel.
CAREGIVER with 15 years experience looking to take care of elderly. Live out. Lt housekeeping, cooking, doctors appts, shopping, etc.
201-655-9618
CAREGIVER with Nursing Rehab
background looking to care for elderly. Years of experience! Pleasant! English speaking! Own transportation. 201-816-3760

Help Wanted

SINAI Schools is seeking motivated and

experienced special education teachers
to work as part of its highly collaborative
and interdisciplinary team for the
2016-17 academic year.

Situations Wanted

Situations Wanted

CARMEN is available anytime for

expert Elderly Care, cleaning, excellent cook. She is terrific! Call
201-261-2032

DAUGHTER
FOR A DAY, LLC

CHHA Certified Nurses Aide/Long

time care - 15 years experience
caring for the elderly with Alzheimers/dementia. Knowledge of
kosher food preparation, will shop,
clean, administer medication and
drive client to MD appointments.
References upon request. 201310-3149
CHHA Full-time, live-in/out. Experienced, Reliable, good References.
Will do light housekeeping, cooking. Speaks English. Available immediately. Call 201-800-5723
CHHA looking for full-time, live-in
position. Experienced with alzheimer and other disabilities. Will do
light housekeeping and cooking. I
drive. 973-855-0019
COMPANION: Experienced, kind,
trustworthy person seeking part
time work. Weekends OK. Meal
preparation, laundry, housekeeping. Will drive for doctors appointments; occasional sleepovers. 973519-4911
COMPANION: Experienced, kind,
trustworthy person seeking part
time work. Weekends OK. Meal
preparation, laundry, housekeeping. Will drive for doctors appointments; occasional sleepovers. 973519-4911

LICENSED & INSURED

FOR YOUR
PROTECTION

Handpicked
Certified Home
Health Aides
Hourly - Daily - Live In
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companionship
interactive,
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conversation &
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Downsize
Coordinator
Assist w/shopping,
errands, Drs, etc.
Organize/process
paperwork,
bal. checkbook,
bookkeeping
Resolve medical
insurance claims
Free Consultation

RITA FINE

Both Judaic Studies and General Studies

teaching positions are available in our
Elementary, Middle and High Schools.

ELDER CARE, mature, nurturing

companion, nursing skills, medical
experience. Will do cooking, shopping, daily routine. Live your life
call Shida 973-333-7878

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Please email resumes to

careers@sinaischools.org.

HHA with 11 years experience, 2

years Nursing School. Live-in/out.
Great references. Reliable, compassionate, dependable. Speaks
English. Drives/own car. 201-9823176

HOME Health Aide/Nurses Aide.

20 yrs experience with Elder Care
seeking live-in/out position. Call
973-356-4365

Qualified minorities and/or women

are encouraged to apply, EEO.

201-214-1777
Established 2001

Antiques

Antiques Wanted
WE BUY
Oil Paintings

Silver

Bronzes

Porcelain

Oriental Rugs

Furniture

Marble Sculpture

Jewelry

Tiffany Items

Chandeliers

Chinese Art

Bric-A-Brac

Tyler Antiques
Established by Bubbe in 1940!

tylerantiquesny@aol.com

201-894-4770
Shomer Shabbos
42 JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016

We pay cash for

Modern Furniture & Art
Judaica Art
Oil Paintings
Porcelain
Bronzes Silver
Chinese Porcelain Art
Jewelry & Costume Jewelry
Men & Women Watches
Other Antiques

ANS A

Over 25 years courteous service to tri-state area

We come to you Free Appraisals

Call Us!

Shommer
Shabbas

201-861-7770 201-951-6224
www.aadsa726@yahoo.com

NICHOL AS
ANTIQUES
ESTATES
BOUGHT & SOLD

Fine Furniture Antiques Accessories

Cash Paid

201-920-8875

Sterling Associates Auctions

SEEKING CONSIGNMENT AND OUT RIGHT PURCHASES
Sculpture Paintings Porcelain Silver
Jewelry Furniture Etc.

TOP CASH PRICES PAID

201-768-1140 www.antiquenj.com
sterlingauction@optonline.net
70 Herbert Avenue, Closter, N.J. 07642

FREE APPRAISALS TUESDAYS FROM 12-2

IN OUR GALLERY. CALL FOR APPOINTMENT.

Classified
situations Wanted
EXPERIENCED
BABYSITTER
for Teaneck area.

Handyman

plumBing

PANGIONE LANDSCAPING

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Lawn Maintenance Cleanups

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Please call Jenna

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201-358-1700 Lic. #12285

Home improvements

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Boilers Hot Water Heaters Leaks

Fully Licensed, Bonded and Insured

201-647-5814
201-290-8135

BBB

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BEST

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puBliC notiCe
The Frisch School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the
rights, privileges, programs, and
activities generally accorded or
made available to students at
the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational
policies, admissions policies,
scholarship and loan programs,
and athletic and other school
administered programs.

Solution to last weeks puzzle. This weeks puzzle is

on page 37.

Home Repair Service

VETERAN/COLLEGE graduate
seeks employment in telephone
sales. 25 years experience in purchasing and marketing of diverse
products. Proven success in generating new business through
building strong relationships, senior
buyer of toys, hobbies, hard goods
and bulk toys. Honest, hard worker. email:yendisid@optImum.net

Painting
Carpentry
Kitchens
Decks
Electrical
Locks/Doors
Paving/Masonry
Basements
Drains/Pumps
Bathrooms
Plumbing
Maintenence
Tiles/Grout
Hardwood Floors
General Repairs

NO JOB IS TOO SMALL

MATURE dependable caregiver

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Cleaning serviCe

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A Team of
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Apartments
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Experienced References

BBB

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Manchester

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FROM PAGE 25

masonry

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with exotic produce like gooseberries and mangos

from Israel, and a French-style kosher patisserie.
According to a 2011 census by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, in the last decade greater Manchester saw a 15 percent growth in its Jewish population, to
25,013. Conversely, the city of Manchester itself lost 463
Jews. The area is home to Britains second largest Jewish
population after London, where most of the countrys
250,000 Jews live.
In Manchester, as elsewhere in Western Europe, Jewish families that once lived in middle- and working-class
areas of the city have moved into the suburbs, partly to
improve their quality of life. Another reason for moving
has been the arrival of poorer African and Arab immigrants to neighborhoods that often saw an uptick in
crime, and more recently of anti-Semitic harassment.
I chose Manchester because Im from South Africa,
said Dianna Schwartz, an observant mother of four. She
immigrated to Prestwich from Cape Town five years ago
because of what she described as a deteriorating security situation after 1994, the year apartheid ended.
I cant live in a London apartment, I need space and
green, she said. Thats how I grew up. But getting that
in a part of London that is near a proper Jewish school is
just impossible for us.
Manchesters Jewish influx has left its 12 or so Jewish
schools and kindergartens in need of more space and
staff, which has helped generate work, particularly for
women.
When I first moved here, people immediately
assumed I was a teacher, said Myers, the journalist,
who works for the Manchester-based Jewish Telegraph.
Theyd ask me straight away where I teach.
While Manchester remains significantly cheaper than
London, the influx is nonetheless driving up prices and
creating a housing shortage in the citys heavily Jewish
areas.
Youre already seeing new Jewish presence in areas
around Prestwich, which used to have no Jews in the
past, Myers said.
Manchester is not the only affordable city in northern

Britain with an active Jewish community; Liverpool,

Leeds, and Bristol all have them. Yet Manchester
emerged as the largest because it retained an observant
and charedi nucleus, which over time produced community institutions that cemented it as the epicenter of Jewish life outside London, according to Rabbi Hillel Royde
of the Manchester Beth Din, or rabbinical court.
Thus Manchester is the only city in northern England with a large charedi school. Myers and her siblings
attended school in Manchester for that reason, even
when they were living in Liverpool, she said.
This inbound traffic is creating some problems that
are nice to have, but they are nonetheless problems,
Royde said.
His rabbinical court is one of the communitys main
tools for solving those problems. Established in 1902,
when heavy industry attracted thousands of Jewish
immigrants from Europe to the area, the court served
30 butcher shops, supervising ritual slaughter across the
region.
Over time it has taken over kashrut supervision for
the large food producers in the Manchester area, including the cereal giant Kelloggs. Supervision fees from such
companies are invested back into the community and
used to open new schools and fund projects that make
Manchester even more attractive for observant Jews
like setting up eruvs, the symbolic boundaries that allow
observant Jews to carry objects on Shabbat.
In 2014, the Manchester suburbs became the site of
Britains largest eruv, a 13-mile perimeter that includes
Prestwich, Crumpsall, and Higher Broughton. Without
an eruv, charedi families with children effectively would
go into weekend curfews. But setting them up is an
expensive and complex process that requires city permits and installing braces, strings, and poles to cordon
off the area discreetly. Work is ongoing on another eruv
in the Manchester suburb of Hale.
These improvements have made life easier for thousands of charedi Jews and are attracting thousands
more. And that is changing the nature of a community
that, according to Myers, is losing its middle ground.
Nowadays its either youre very observant or almost
not at all, she said. It didnt used to be like that.
JTA WIRE SERVIC

JEWISH STANDARD JULY 15, 2016 43

Real Estate & Business

Brightview Tenafly Senior Living joins
Alzheimers Foundation of America

Holy Name Medical Center offers

continuous mobile patient monitoring

The Alzheimers Foundation of America,

a nonprofit organization that unites more
than 2,500 member organizations nationwide with the goal of providing optimal
care and services to individuals living
with dementia, and to their caregivers and
families, is proud to welcome Brightview
Tenafly Senior Living as its newest member organization.
Brightview Tenafly Senior Living is
an assisted living facility that provides a
warm and friendly residence for many
Bergen County seniors. They also have
their innovative Wellspring Village neighborhood for dementia care. The staff
provides a greater quality of life for its
residents using its SPICE philosophy
Spiritual, Phyiscal, Intellectual, Cultural
and Emotional. Using this approach, they
run a blend of programs designed to create meaningful, healthy, stimulating and
positive lifestyles. They provide religious
services and activities which include baking, knitting, exercise programs, and horticultural therapy.
Our mission is to improve quality of care for people with Alzheimers
and their caregivers, said Charles J.

Holy Name Medical Center is the first hospital

in the metropolitan area to use digital monitoring technology to track patients vital signs
constantly. The ViSi Mobile device, about the
size of a business card, is worn on the wrist
and transmits patient information to clinicians on an ongoing basis. It is the first bodyworn monitor able to non-invasively measure
all core vital signs including blood pressure,
heart or pulse rate, electrocardiogram or
heart rhythm, blood oxygenation, respiration rate and skin temperature. The system will enhance patient safety by enabling
early detection of patient deterioration and
help ensure a successful response to rescue
situations.
We are always looking for ways to improve
the patient experience, said Sheryl Slonim,
executive vice president, patient care services and chief nursing officer. The monitoring system runs on the hospitals wireless network, and any abnormal changes in patients
vital signs are sent to their primary nurses so
they can receive immediate attention which
will help prevent adverse outcomes.
Typically, nurses check patient vital signs
during routine rounds that occur every 6-8
hours. The intermittent checks can disturb

Helene Stein
LISTING AGENT

Fuschillo, Jr., AFAs president and chief

executive officer. Brightview Tenafly
Senior Living does a tremendous job
in bringing health and happiness to
seniors, including those individuals with
Alzheimers disease. They offer a variety of activities to keep them engaged
and motivated. Also, providing a homelike environment provides comfort and
relieves some of the stress of being away
from home. We are proud to welcome
Brightview Tenafly to the AFA family.
The Alzheimers Foundation of America is dedicated to meeting the educational, social, emotional, and practical
needs of individuals with Alzheimers
disease and their families. AFA and its
member organizations collaborate on
education, resources, best practices, and
advocacy all resulting in better care for
people affected by the disease. AFAs services include a national toll-free helpline
(866-232-8484) that is staffed by licensed
social workers, educational conferences
and materials, professional training,
community outreach, a free quarterly
caregiver magazine, research funding,
and public policy.

patients, while only providing snapshots of

vital sign data rather than continuous information. With the ViSi system, if a patients
vital signs move beyond selected ranges the
systems alarm system will warn clinicians,
so the appropriate intervention can be taken.
In addition to supporting safety, the system also aligns with Holy Names ongoing
efforts to improve the overall healing experience. The lightweight device promotes
mobility patients are able to get out of bed,
walk around, shower and undergo physical
therapy all while remaining connected to
clinicians.
The number one benefit is improved
patient safety, says Michael Maron, president and CEO. While real-time patient monitoring is a trend that is just beginning to take
hold in leading medical institutions throughout the nation, Holy Name has been testing
this technology for years in conjunction with
the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology
Research Center of the U.S. Department of
Defense. Integrating the ViSi Mobile Technology System into our patient care model
supports the hospitals long-standing commitment to delivering the highest standard
of patient care and patient safety.

249 LINDBERGH BLVD, TEANECK

66 JOHN PL ACE, BERGENFIELD

4 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 1 Garage

6 Bedrooms 3.5 Bathrooms 2 Garages

Move-in condition cape cod house in the lovely country club

neighborhood. The kitchen has just been renovated. Interior is
freshly painted and the floors are newly scraped and polished.

201.615.5265

Young Colonial with custom designed interiors. Grand entry, banquet sized Formal Dining Room,
spacious, elegant Family Room, double appliance Chefs Kitchen. Stunning Master Suite plus
4 additional bedrooms on 2nd level. Located on upscale cul-de-sac, 2 car attached garage.
Wonderful back property with waterfall and Koi fish pond.

helene@vera-nechama.com

vera-nechama.com 201.692.3700
44 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

MORE listings. MORE experience. MORE sales.

Real Estate & Business

Its the first Butterfly Festival
at the Teaneck Farmers Market
July 21st marks the first Butterfly Festival at the
Teaneck Farmers Market. This delightful day features
the remarkable talent of Lauren Hooker of Musical
Legends and others.
Children can follow the journey of a monarch butterfly from Ms. Hookers vegetable and flower garden
all the way down to Mexico. Told and sung in both
Spanish and English, children learn about metamorphosis, transformation, migration, composting, and
the need to plant butterfly bushes in hopes of saving
the butterflies from extinction. With songs, percussion
instruments, and movement, children are actively
engaged from start to finish in this charming and original story created just for them.
Ms. Hooker is known throughout the Metropolitan area as an award winning jazz vocalist, pianist,
songwriter, educator, as well as a music and events
producer. She has been featured by WBGOs Jazz for
Childrens Series with her Jazz 4 Kids Show and she
has had several commissions from The Cathedral of
St John the Divine for innovative and interactive pro-

The day is designed

to celebrate nature
and summertime.
gramming which received rave reviews. For more
information about Lauren and Musical Legends, go
to: www.laurenhooker.com.
The day is designed to celebrate nature and summertime. Ms. Hooker will present two shows, at 2 and
3 p.m. Other interactive events include Teanecks own
New Jersey Bee, Rabbi Daniel Senter. Hell give a fascinating explanation of bees life cycle and their hives.
Kids can create butterfly poems with poet, Laurie
Ludmer. They can also have fun with arts and crafts,
sponsored by The Teaneck Creek Conservancy. And
for adults and children alike, plant a seed to make
your own garden with guest vendor, Mitchell Yarvin,
of Yard to Table, LLC. And children and others can
get their face and body painted by Indigo Studio Arts.
The Teaneck Farmers Market is developing into fun
community-wide events. There is still a wide selection
of farm fresh produce and gourmet items with: Sunden Stone Pointe Farm, Pure Potential Power Juices,
NJ Bees, Hoboken Farms, Picklelicious, Nanas Home
Cooking, The Amish Country Bakery, Gourmet Nuts
and Dried Fruits, Stoltzfus Produce. Stellas Argentine Empanada Grill, Angela Logans Mortgage Apple
Cakes, and Lefkowitz Wellness Center. Look for other
special vendors joining us throughout the market
season.
The Teaneck Farmers Market even has a rewards
program. Every fifth visit to the market will receive $6
in Market Money to be used at our vendors. Ask market manager Margie Aaker at the community table for
a rewards card and keep it in your wallet so you can
use it again, after each visit.
Just a reminder to mark on your calendars, August
4th for the Markets Cooking Tasting, a sampling of
dishes from our chefs from Robyn Samras staff from
Picklelicious.
For more information visit www.cedarlane.net or
call (201) 907-0493.

TM

ALPINE

STUNNING

$4,500,000

Overlooking the Alpine CC golf course & set on almost 1 acre manicured
property, custom French chateau offers slate roof, 10 ceilings, custom moldings,
5 fireplaces, kitchen w/French doors to pool, 6 bedrooms,
7.5 baths, home theater, billiard room, sauna.

ALPINE/CLOSTER
TENAFLY
RIVER VALE ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS TENAFLY

894-1234
768-6868

CRESSKILL
Orna Jackson, Sales Associate 201-376-1389

666-0777

568-1818

894-1234 871-0800

OPEN HOUSES

Lauren Hooker will present two shows at the

Teaneck Farmers Market.

t TEANECK t
SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2016

OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 7/17 1 - 4 PM

ENGLEWOOD, NJ
15 OAK TRAIL ROAD

$892,500.

Elegant and Serene Oak Trail Townhouse, Surrounded by

Nature, Minutes from the GW Bridge & Major HWYs.
Stunning 3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath, Totally Renovated Kitchen
with Dual Appliances.Corner Unit of Luxury Living.

Marilyn Budnick
REALTOR/ASSOCIATE

(201) 988-3494

1608 Lemoine Avenue, Fort Lee

Office 201 585.8080

FORT LEE THE COLONY

1 BR 1.5 Baths. Renovated. Sunset view. $119,000

1 BR 2 Baths. Updated. Mountain view. $149,900
2BR 2.5 Baths. Spectacular views. $310,000
Largest 2 BR 2.5 Baths. Total renovation with laundry.
High floor, 2 terraces. East Manhattan and west sunset
view. $489,900
Corner 3 BR 3.5 Baths. Total renovation. Spectacular in
size and layout. Must see! $748,000
Allan Dorfman

607 Standish Rd.

$699,900

1-4 PM

1342 Princeton Rd.

$499,000

1-3 PM

Fab 100' x 100' Prop. Elegant & Updated Eng Tudor. Dramatic LR/
Stone Fplc. Raised Formal DR, Mod Kit, 5 BRs, 4.5 Updated Baths.
Fin Bsmt/Hi Ceils. Huge Deck. H/W Flrs. 2 Car Gar. C/A/C. Beaut
Street.
Colonial on 50' x 132' Prop. 3 BRs, 3.5 Baths. Ultra Isle Eat in Kit.
C/A/C, 2 Car Gar.

BY APPOINTMENT

Charm Expand Ranch. Great for Extend Fams. High Ceils. Oak Flrs.
Grand LR/Fplc, DR, 2/3 BRs, 2 Full Baths, Fin Grnd Flr/Outside Ent.
C/A/C, 2 Car Gar. $310s
Colonial/150' Deep Prop. 3 BRs, 2.5 Updated Baths. Encl, Heated
Porch, LR/Fplc, Form DR, Updated Kit. Fin Bsmt. H/W Flrs, 2 Car Gar.
$390s
Prime W Eglwd. 5 BRs, 2.5 Baths. Fin Bsmt. Deck, Fenced Yard,
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Real Estate & Business

8 reasons why we love Israel in the summertime

It may be hot and humid, but theres something uniquely charming
about the summer months of July and August in Israel.
Israel21c staff

s temperatures climb into the

high 80s and 90s during the dry
summers in Israel, many Israelis escape the heat by traveling to
cooler climes. But for the tourists who come
visit, and the locals who stay at home, Israels
summer has its very own special charms.
After all, its no hotter in Israel during summer than it is in most of the United States and
many other places across the world, and there
is virtually zero possibility of rain from April
to October.
Here are some of our favorite things about
summer in Israel.

Watermelon
Red, juicy watermelon (avatiach) grown in
Israel and available only through the hot summer months is the quintessential refreshing
taste of summer. Eat it plain, blend it into a
smoothie or top it with Bulgarian cheese for a
flavor that really pops.

Wet and wild

Its important to stay hydrated in the hot
months, but you dont have to limit it to drinking water. Put on your swimsuit and cool down
at any Israeli beach, pool, natural spring, water
hike, waterpark or city fountain. Thanks to the
strong sun, youll dry off in a jiffy. If you prefer
to swim at night, the seawater is as warm as a

bath this time of year. In August, the average

sea water temperature of the Mediterranean is
about 84 degrees.

Festivals for all

Summer is high festival season throughout
Israel. There are also many outdoor concerts
taking place this summer in Israel. Pharrell Williams, Dire Straits, Joss Stone, Natalie Imbruglia, The Searchers, and Morrissey are among
the stars expected to perform.

Jerusalem at night
Among its other unique qualities, Israels capital city is famous for its deliciously cool nights,
even during summer. Pack a light sweater for
an after-hours stroll in the Old City, Machane
Yehuda marketplace, Emek Refaim, Mamilla
Alrov mall, The First Station leisure/dining complex or the Sherover and Haas promenades.
The 45-minute Night Spectacular soundand-light show on the walls of the Citadel at
the Tower of David Museum takes place twice
a night (except Fridays).

Kids everywhere
Israel is well known as one of the most childfriendly places on earth. During summer
vacation, special activities for youngsters are
available daily in museums, parks and malls
across the country. Kids are out in force on the

SELLING YOUR HOME?

Israelis swim in a natural pool at Nahal Kibbutzim in Beit Shean,

northern Israel. 
Mendy Hechtman/FLASH90

hiking trails, beaches and parks, and the

fun doesnt stop during the day. At night
youll find the streets, restaurants and cafes
are bursting with children enjoying the
cooler air of night. And dont expect them
to go to bed early; youll find kids still enjoying the night time fun long after midnight.

Rooftop bar/restaurants
Relax with a cocktail in the nighttime air
high above the city. In Tel Aviv, some of the
rooftop hotspots are the Brown boutique
hotel, 2C on the Azrieli Towers, and B on
Top at Hotel Indigo. In Jerusalem, try Rooftop at the Mamilla Hotel, or Rooftop Cheese
& Wine at the Notre Dame guesthouse.

Ice cream
Ice cream is a no-brainer on hot summer
days. The average Israeli eats about 10 liters

Puppet Festival in Jerusalem. FLASH90

of ice cream every year and most of it is

during the summer. Try Mideast-inspired
flavors such as hummus, halva, 10-spice,
fig and pomegranate, as well as fresh fruit
sorbets.
Two unusual ice-cream parlors in the
Galilee are Bouza, co-owned by a Jewish
kibbutznik and an Arab Muslim; and ILO
Natural Ice Cream (vegan) at Kibbutz
Hagoshrim.

Israeli lifeguards

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46 Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016

Rooftop bar at the Brown Tel Aviv.


Hg2.com

Israels lifeguards are a unique breed unto

themselves. Perched up in their towers
through the summer season in little red
shorts and sporting a dark tan, theyre
loud, abrasive, and occasionally rude.
While on duty they punctuate the seaside air with a string of assertive demands,
and often hilarious asides if you dont do
what they suggest. So if you are happily
bathing in an area you really shouldnt,
hear a loud voice on the tannoy, and find
the entire beach staring at you, just get out
Israel21c.org
of the water.

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Jewish Standard JULY 15, 2016 47