NORTH JERSEY/ROCKLAND

JUNE 14, 2019

VOL. LXXXVIII NO. 39 $1.00 88 2019

THEJEWISHSTANDARD.COM

American biker
Larry Prager's two two-wheeled
journeys across the continent
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Teaneck, NJ 07666
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Jewish Standard
 JS-2

An Evening with Jimmy Choi

American Ninja Warrior and Parkinson’s Disease Advocate

Wednesday, June 19, 2019 Englewood Health – Main Campus

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Chiang Auditorium
Light refreshments will be provided 350 Engle Street, Englewood, NJ

At the age of 27, Jimmy Choi was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s disease. Upon receiving
the diagnosis, Jimmy went into denial and “did nothing” for the next 7-8 years to manage his
Parkinson’s symptoms. Physical therapy led him to running and other activities that helped both his
physical and mental symptoms. His passion to push beyond his limits led him to the national stage
as he took on a new challenge and competed as an American Ninja Warrior in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

The event is free, and open to all, but registration is required. Send e-mail confirmations to
parkinsons@jewishhomefamily.org, visit englewoodhealth.org/calendar, or call 855-JHF-PARK.
 JS-3*

Lebanese monkey caught, returned
● No more monkey bouncing
around northern Israel.
Tachtouch — as he turns out
to be named — is home at last.
With the help of the United
Nations, the wayward vervet
monkey who ran wild in north-
ern Israel for two weeks was
returned to his home in Lebanon
last week.
The monkey belongs to a nun
named Beatrice Mauger. She
had promised that there would
be bananas handed out when he
returned. But, apparently oblivi-
ous to Sister Beatrice’s urgent
Facebook postings, Tachtouch
declined to turn himself in.
Instead, it took the expertise
of three women from from the
Yodfat Monkey Forest to lure
him into a cage after they spent
five days tracking him.
“I’m very proud to say that
there was girl power in the
Page 3
field,” Nora Tavor, manager of
the Monkey Forest in Yodfat,
told Haaretz. “The monkey es-
caped from a nun, and it was us
women who captured him, with
patience, determination, faith,
and love.”
Returning him “is an act of
peace,” Tavor said. “Women
making peace.”
That sentiment was shared
back home in Lebanon.
“He took the drama out of the
border by ignoring the wall and
the barbed wire,” Sister Beatrice
told AFP after being reunited
with Tachtouch.
“This vervet is a peace mes-
senger,” she said.
“Peace to all of Tachtouch’s
fans who helped him to cross a
sealed border, a prophetic sign
of the reopening of the Israeli-
Lebanese border,” she added.
LARRY YUDELSON

Through time and space with the Israel Museum CONTENTS

● Restored pages from the diary
of the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan
Ramon, found in a Texas field after
the fatal 2003 explosion of the Co-
lumbia Space Shuttle, and sections
of the apocalyptic Enoch Scroll
discovered among Dead Sea scrolls
dating from 300 to 100 BCE,
are on display in
“Through Time and
Space,” an unusual
exhibit that opened
last month at the Israel
Museum in Jerusalem.
Though separated
by millennia, these two
documents reveal sur-
prising similarities.
Both the ancient Enoch and the
modern Ramon can be thought of
as “space explorers” writing about
NOSHES .........................................................4
BRIEFLY LOCAL ........................................ 18
COVER STORY ...........................................22
JEWISH WORLD .......................................28
OPINION ..................................................... 34
THE FRAZZLED HOUSEWIFE .............40
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ..........................40
CALENDAR ................................................ 42
OBITUARIES .............................................. 44
CLASSIFIED ADS ..................................... 46
REAL ESTATE............................................ 48
The Enoch Scroll of the Dead
Sea Scrolls. Courtesy of the Israel PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747)
is published weekly on Fridays with an additional edition
Antiquities Authority. SHAI HALEVI every October, by the New Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086
Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Periodicals postage paid
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Send address changes to New Jersey Jewish Media Group,
1086 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Subscription price
is $30.00 per year. Out-of-state subscriptions are $45.00,
Foreign countries subscriptions are $75.00.
The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard
does not constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of
a paid political advertisement does not constitute an endorse-
ment of any candidate political party or political position by
A fragment
the newspaper or any employees.

their journey through the cosmos. from the diary of

And both handwritten texts were
reduced to torn fragments, with
most of the writing completely
obliterated. Both required intensive
restoration to stabilize the pages
and allow readers to decipher the
words.
The Enoch Scroll’s remnants were
found among the Dead Sea Scrolls,
which were hidden in a Judean des-
ert cave for 2,000 years.
One deciphered passage reads:
“So I, Enoch, saw the vision of the
end of everything alone; and none
among human beings will see as I
have seen” (1 Enoch 19:3).
In the case of Ramon’s diary,
Israeli astronaut
Ilan Ramon.
ELI POSNER/
ISRAEL MUSEUM
joint conservation work by the Po-
lice Criminology Department and
the Israel Museum succeeded in
reconstructing significant parts of
the text.
In one passage, Ramon writes to
his wife, Rona, just before the Co-
lumbia mission was to go into outer
space:
“Rona, I had fun opening your
email in the evening and reading
what you wrote! Tomorrow I’ll tell
The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return
unsolicited editorial or graphic materials. All rights in letters
and unsolicited editorial, and graphic material will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright
purposes and subject to JEWISH STANDARD’s unrestricted
right to edit and to comment editorially. Nothing may be
reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from
the publisher. © 2019
you to write to me every day! It’s
important. Love you, love you all.
The whole four-and-a-half-years
Candlelighting:
that we waited and wished for this Friday, June 14, 8:11 p.m.
moment — suddenly they all seem Shabbat ends:
like nothing! It was worth it! I hope Saturday, June 15, 9:20 p.m.
you feel that way too. What an
experience! It’s like something out
of the movies. From the world of For convenient home delivery,
tomorrow. From a world that only a
few get to experience. This float-
call 201-837-8818
ing… beautiful Earth.” ISRAEL21C.ORG or bit.ly/jsubscribe

JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14 2019 3

 JS-4*

Noshes “The aptness of the comparison between

these mythical sports figures and
rabbinic sages, farfetched though it may
seem, is crystallized by their respective
styles of play and approaches to study.”
AT THE MOVIES: — Jonathan L. Milevsky, writing in Tablet about the similarities
Will it ever dawn between tennis players Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and
for ‘Late Night’ talmudic rabbis Yohanan ben Nappah and Simeon ben Lakish

“Late Night,” a California. All are
comedy/drama, mothers, and all but
opens wide on one are quite well-off.
June 14. It stars Emma In the first season, it
Thompson as Katherine gradually was revealed
Newbury, the longtime that the husband of one
host of a popular of the women is a rapist
network entertainment and wife-beater. He is
talk show. Newbury’s murdered in the last
whole writing team is first-season episode
male and she’s attacked and the women make a
in the press as a pact to conceal the real
“woman-hating circumstances of his
woman.” In response, death. In the second
she hires Molly Patel season, the husband’s
(Mindy Kaling), a writer mother, played by
without much of a Meryl Streep, arrives in
resume. This hire town, determined to
doesn’t stop criticism find out how her son
that Newbury is an really died. The stellar
out-of-touch dinosaur, cast includes Nicole
and her ratings fall. Kidman, Reese Wither-
Newbury asks her spoon, Laura Dern,
writers to make her Shaliene Woodley, and
more relevant again, ZOE KRAVITZ, 30.
and Patel takes up that ROBIN WEIGERT, 49,
challenge. The large resumes her recurring
supporting cast role as therapist Dr.
includes MAX Amanda Reisman. Yes,
CASELLA, 51 (his she is the same Robin
father is Jewish), IKE Weigert who just
BARINHOLTZ, 42, reprised playing a very
HALSTON SAGE, 26, different character,
and Broadway Calamity Jane, in HBO’s
musical star MARC “Deadwood” movie.
KUDISCH, 52. Wouldn’t it be great
if the new Netflix film
Over on HBO “Murder Mystery,”
and Netflix co-starring ADAM
The second SANDLER, 52, and
season of the hit Jennifer Aniston, ac-
HBO series “Big tually is good? In 2011,
Little Lies” started last Sandler co-starred with
Sunday, June 9. The Aniston in the romantic
series centers on five comedy “Just Go with
women in Monterey, It.” This re-make of the
Max Casella
Zoe Kravitz
hit 1969 movie “Cactus
Flower” got scath-
ingly bad reviews but
still made mucho gelt.
Since then, Sandler
has made 17 live action
movies. Most got bad
reviews, one got good
reviews, and a very
few got mixed reviews.
About half of these
flicks made money.
His new film is the last
entry in a four-pic deal
he made with Netflix.
The previous three got
panned. If Sandler were
a talentless hack with
Halston Sage
Ben Platt
unexplainable box-of-
fice appeal, I’d under-
stand why he makes so
many bad movies. But
he’s proved over the
years that he can be
funny and dramatically
effective, most recently
in the very good 2017
film “The Meyerowitz
Stories,” directed by
NOAH BAUMBACH, 49.
I can only guess that
Sandler lives to work,
and the quality of his
movies’ scripts is a sec-
ondary consideration.
In his new movie,
Sandler plays a New
York City police officer
who takes his wife,
Aniston, on a Europe-
an vacation. A chance
meeting with a strang-
er on their flight leads
to them getting invited
to a family gathering
on a billionaire’s yacht.
The rich guy gets mur-
dered, and the couple
become the prime
suspects.
The family tours
and more tribe
members in
“Booksmart”
SARAH JESSICA
PARKER, 54,
and her hus-
band, MATTHEW
BRODERICK, 57,
toured Israel for a
week, starting on May
31. They were accom-
panied by their son
JAMES, 16, and their
twin girls, MARION
and TABITHA, 9.
Parker’s late father was
Jewish, as was Broder-
ick’s late mother. Both
were raised secular,
but identify as cultural-
ly Jewish. According
to Parker, Broderick
always has been very
interested in Jewish
history and has spent
considerable time
studying it.
In April, I noted that
the coming-of-age
comedy “Booksmart”
had three Jewish cast
members: BEANIE
FELDSTEIN, 25, SKY-
LER GISONDO, 22, and
NOAH GALVIN, 25.
Gisondo’s last name
comes from an Italian
non-Jewish grandfa-
ther. The rest of his
grands were Jewish.
Galvin has a Jewish
mother and identifies
as Jewish.
I should have also
mentioned support-
ing cast members
MOLLY GORDON, 23,
and DIANE SILVERS,
21. Gordon has been
friends with Tony-win-
ner BEN PLATT, 25,
since childhood, and
co-starred in a “Fiddler
on the Roof” produc-
tion with him when
they were teens. She
has a big role (“Nicky”)
in the TNT crime family
drama “Animal King-
dom,” starring ELLEN
BARKIN, 65. “King-
dom” just premiered
its fourth season (first
three seasons are free
for Prime members
on Amazon Prime).
Also, I just learned that
Silvers has a Jewish
father. She got on the
media radar (includ-
ing a New York Times
profile) with her role
in “Booksmart” and a
starring role in “Ma,”
a horror thriller that
opened on May 31. –N.B.

Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at
Middleoftheroad1@aol.com

We’ve added a new feature to

the car buying experience: dignity.

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 JS-6*

Local
From early onset Parkinson’s
to American Ninja Warrior
Community program to feature a fighter — in every sense of the word
Lois Goldrich

W
hen Marshall McCluhan said that the
medium is the message in the late
1970s, he had no idea how aptly that
would describe an upcoming event at
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
On June 19, American Ninja Warrior Jimmy Choi, who
is 43, will deliver a powerful message about his athletic
achievements. Even more powerful, however, is Jimmy
himself. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease
when he was 27.
The program — sponsored by the Jewish Home Family,
EHMC, and the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades — will offer
both information and inspiration to people with Parkin-
son’s and their families, said Carol Silver Elliott, the Jew-
ish Home Family’s president and CEO.
Responding to the increased, and increasing, number
of residents with Parkinson’s, JHF — encompassing the
Jewish Home at Rockleigh, Jewish Home Assisted Living,
Jewish Home @ Home, and the Jewish Home Foundation
of North Jersey — has been working to provide a variety of
programs for this population.
“While the number of people with Parkinson’s is
large anyway, it’s growing all the time,” Ms. Elliott
said. “While I’m not an expert, we speculate that
people are being diagnosed earlier. It’s a difficult con- Jimmy Choi, 43, who was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s, shows his agility during the
dition to diagnose. It’s called a ‘snowflake disease,’ competition as an American Ninja Warrior.
since each case is different, and symptoms are not
the same in every person. Also, since people are living Neuropathologica noted that “Earlier The Jewish Home Family has run
longer, we see more of chronic diseases.” detection could enable more effective one large community program devoted
EHMC neurologist Dr. Rikki Racella agrees that we are treatment for the incurable, progressive to this issue every year. “Last year, we
seeing more of Parkinson’s as people live longer. “There’s neurodegenerative disease affecting the had a smaller internal program with
a high risk of getting it when you’re older,” he said. Of speech, posture, gait, digestion, sleep, Bret Parker, who did seven marathons
course, there can be early onset, he added, citing the case impulse control, and cognition of an on seven continents in seven days,” Ms.
of actor Michael J. Fox, whose much-publicized personal estimated one million Americans and Elliott said. “Remarkable.
experience has helped increase awareness of the disease. 10 million people worldwide.” “As we’ve gotten more involved, we’ve
Dr. Racella said that there are medications that “can Signific antly, the piece also gotten more plugged in to the people out
help dramatically, especially when you’re young,” but the announced the development of a there who are well known in the Par-
best way to slow the progression of the disease is “good new method for tracking the early kinson’s community.” That is how they
old exercise.” The medical center, he said, has both neu- stages of the disease, by tracking Hagit Tal found Jimmy Choi. “We reached out to
rologists, who treat Parkinson’s medically, and physical the early stages of protein aggrega- him, and he’s coming.”
therapy that allows people to move. tion known to be involved in its development. Still, Ms. Elliott estimates that JHF serves a few hundred
The importance of early detection of Parkin- Dr. Racella said, while testing may be available, it is people with Parkinson’s each year, at Rockleigh, in
son’s cannot be overstated. A recent article in Acta important to see a neurologist or other physician who assisted living, and at the Gallen Day Center. One of its
has your medical history. most popular programs is rock steady boxing, intro-
“A lot of people think it’s a movement problem, duced several years ago, which serves both residents
Who: The Jewish Home Family, Englewood
Hospital and Medical Center, and the Kaplen JCC like a tremor,” he said. “But it’s more than that. It and people in the community. “We have 100 boxers
on the Palisades can affect different types of movement, as well as in various locations who are community people who
the speed of movement. You can have no tremor come for the program,” she said.
What: Will sponsor a community program
but be slow in movement. Or your walking might be In March, JHF opened a second boxing location, at
featuring Jimmy Choi, an American Ninja Warrior
living with Parkinson’s impaired, or you could be rigid or tight. There are the Kaplen JCC in Tenafly, and its plans to open a third
also a lot of non-motor muscle symptoms — consti- center, on the Rockleigh campus.
When: On June 19 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
pation, for example, or a drop in blood pressure, Hagit Tal, the JCC’s group exercise director, said the
Where: EHMC, 350 Engle St., Englewood dementia, or acting out your dreams during sleep. program takes place twice a week and now serves six
How much: It’s free These can be even more disabling.” people, though she expects it to grow significantly.
For more information and registration: Dr. Racella said the June 19 program is important “People are very appreciative,” she said. “They’re
Go to parkinsons@jewishhomefamily.org or call “because you can always learn more about the dis- happy to hear that it’s here at the JCC.” She receives
(855) JHF-PARK (855-543-7275). ease, which might affect you or a loved one. Educa- phone calls about the program; she just talked to
tion helps.” someone in the Bronx, asking about it on behalf of her
6 Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019
 JS-7*

Local

brought in and have their nurses with
them to do workout.”
The JCC definitely should cater to
people with special needs, Ms. Tal said.
Collaboration with EHMC has allowed
the JCC to offer a cardiac program; now,
working with the JHF, it also is address-
ing Parkinson’s. “We’re becoming a
triangle,” she said. “We’re all getting
involved in all of this.”
The Jewish Home already has created
a substantial program for people with
Parkinson’s. “We’ve really established a
The Jewish Home Family has established the rock steady boxing Parkinson’s center, and we have a whole
program for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s. It is offered in host of programs under that,” Ms. Elliott
several locations to a growing number of participants. said. “First, we have a monthly commu-
nity support group on the Rockleigh cam-
brother. “This would be the closest loca- helps strengthen joints. But the class pus, which includes about 40 people.
tion for him,” Ms. Tal said, stressing that also includes floorwork, such as planks Some are from here, some are from the
there’s a need for such services and peo- and push-ups, to help increase students’ outside, and it also includes care partners
ple have to know where the places that overall fitness level. who come for 1 l/2 hours to get education
offer these programs are. The JCC uses levels to categorize peo- and support from one another.
Participants in the boxing class are “55 ple with Parkinson’s,” Ms. Tal continued. “We also have special programming in
and up,” she said. Most are older. When “In Levels 1 and 2, they’re still working the rehabilitation department focused on
you’re younger, “you’re not thinking out and moving. In Levels 3 and 4, their people with Parkinson’s. The rehabilita-
you should do this to keep your tremors activity level has already deteriorated. tion staff is specially trained, and there’s
from becoming more severe,” Ms. Tal Nurses call us, wanting to come and special equipment for anyone who needs
said. “You realize that at a certain age.” observe what we do so they can do it at a particular therapy.”
Boxing is particularly helpful since using home. We cater to both groups as long Two days a week, the Gallen Day Center
a punching bag provides impact, which as [those in the higher levels] can be offers a specialized Parkinson’s program,
open to community members who partic-
ipate in the center. The center also offers
boxing, Pilates, Tai Chi, yoga, “and other
special exercises that delay the disease” to
residents of all the JHF facilities
“We’ve trained 350 members of our
staff about Parkinson’s, what it is, what it
isn’t,” Ms. Elliott said. “We’ve added new
therapeutic interventions and we’ve
brought in experts. In June, we’re bring-
ing together all the boxing coaches to get
training from yoga teachers on how to
use yoga warm-ups and cool-downs.”
Ms. Elliott said the June 19 program
will interest people in the community
who come to meet an incredible ath-
lete as well as those concerned with the
notion of overcoming adversity. “It’s not
just about Parkinson’s but an inspiring
story about determination,” she said.
“It’s going to be an incredible evening.
Not ‘here’s my battle against Parkin-
son’s,’ but ‘here’s what I had to confront
to accomplish this.’”
Of course, she said, it will be espe-
cially helpful to people who are newly
diagnosed with Parkinson’s or who
know someone with the disease. In addi-
tion to the speaker, there will be exhibits
See Ninja page 16

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Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 7


Local
Graduating seniors from the Frisch School in Paramus join other members of the NCSY group and local youths outside the center in San Juan.
NCSY goes to Puerto Rico
Local high school seniors work to help clean up from Hurricane Maria
Larry Yudelson
L
ast month, 15 graduating seniors from the
Frisch School in Paramus went to Puerto Rico
with NCSY, the Orthodox Union’s youth group,
to help with relief efforts.
“It was a great time,” Noah Rothner of Teaneck said.
“We landed and did some touring in the rain forest. Then
I spent the next two days tiling a house that was damaged
by the hurricane.” That was Hurricane Maria, which hit
in September 2017.
“It was nice to help out and do something,” Noah said.
With graduation looming, and all the mixed feelings that
arouses, “it helped me feel better about myself.”
After laying down tile and grouting, his group spent
Shabbat mostly at the Chabad of San Juan. And then on
Sunday they went to a youth center, where they helped
kids make surfboards and then went with them to the
beach.
Noah had taken two years of high school Spanish. “I was
able to say, “Hi, what’s your name, and how are you.’”
The Spanish was helpful — “though they definitely
spoke more English than we spoke Spanish. The lan-
guage barrier wasn’t so tough.” Noah and his friends took
the opportunity of a van ride to the beach to introduce
the Puerto Rican kids to the music of Mordechai Shap-
iro, an Orthodox Jew who sings reggae-inflected Hebrew
songs on topics such as the reward of performing mitz-
vot. “It was a good time,” he said.
Hannah Karben of Pomona agreed that the trip was
“amazing.”
She was part of a group that worked to prep a house
for painting. “We scraped all the loose paint that hap-
pened because of water damage,” she said. “We washed
the house so it was clean.”
She also spent a day helping on a farm. “It was very
fun. We planted coconuts and corn and trees.” Her two
years of Spanish didn’t help so much with the kids at the
youth center on Sunday. “I didn’t really remember it that
well,” she said. “We just used hand motions.
“It was easier for the boys to hang out with the kids —
they did sports with them.”
8 Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019
JS-8*
Besides making surf boards, they also painted a mural
on the youth center. Then they went to the beach together.
The Puerto Rican teens “all have a negative outlook on
Americans,” Hannah said, because of the failure of the
United States to aid Puerto Rico, which is a U. S. territory,
and whose citizens are U.S. citizens. ( Just last week, after
a great deal of political turmoil, the president signed a
bill granting emergency aid to the island.) “We showed
them that people in America still care about them, that
they’re not alone.”
She said that “it was a great way to end my senior year.
It definitely gave me a perspective and appreciation, that
a lot of people don’t have everything I have.”
That, says Rabbi Ethan Katz, was a key goal of the trip.
Rabbi Katz is director of NCSY’s New Jersey region. He
Frisch School graduating seniors help decorate
surfboards during a visit to a youth center in
San Juan.
led this trip, his seventh to Puerto Rico, for NCSY. The
idea of bringing NCSY kids to provide post-disaster relief
came to him in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That first
trip, to New Orleans, was 13 years ago.
Rabbi Katz credits the Israeli army, where he spent 20
years as a paratrooper, for inspiring the NCSY missions.
“The Israeli army sends people to help after tsunamis and
hurricanes and earthquakes,” he said. “After Hurricane
Katrina hit, I started talking to TABC,” — the Torah Acad-
emy of Bergen County, the boys’ high school in Teaneck.
“Wouldn’t it be great to bring a group of teens to New
Orleans to help? It was a one-time trial thing, and it it
worked out fantastically. From there it kept building.”
All told, New Jersey NCSY has led more than 100 of
these missions. “It caught on big in the past five or six
years,” he said.
And next month, Rabbi Katz will take up a new post at
NCSY, as its national director of relief missions. He expects
to continue running 15 missions a year from New Jersey,
supplemented by another 15 from across the country.
“We’re trying to create future Jewish leadership,” he
said. “We want to teach the kids what it means to make
the world a better place, in the name of Judaism and in
the name of God. The entire Jewish community is run by
volunteers. Shul boards, school boards. We’re trying to
create future volunteers.
“We’re trying to create people who are much more
aware of poverty. Growing up in Teaneck, you don’t
know that poverty exists. I’ll ask kids, ‘Do you know peo-
ple who can’t afford food?’ They’ll say, ‘Of course not.’ I
say, ‘Where does the food donated for Tomchei Shabbos
go to? To people in your class who can’t afford it.’
“‘How many of you have had tutors and parents who
help you with your homework?’ The answer is all of
them. ‘Do you think the kids in Puerto Rico have the same
opportunity you have?’ Is it really true that everyone is
born equal? They’re not given the same opportunity.”
He said moments of insight happen all the time on
these trips.
“Most kids write their college essays about these expe-
riences. We have hundreds upon hundreds of quotes,
saying that it’s the most impactful Jewish experience of
 JS-9*

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26
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think are spoiled suburban kids, get up to do farming
when you say that have to be up at 6 a.m. because in May, 2019
that’s when the farming day. They’re up and excited
to help other people.
“It’s such a credit to how we’re raising our kids that
this is what they want to be doing.”
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Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 9
 JS-10*

Local

Old friends, new paradigms

New City’s Beth Sholom, Nanuet Jewish Center consider intermovement partnership
Joanne Palmer 2012 — “strongly committed Jewish fam-

A
zeitgeist isn’t necessarily a
simple thing.
It’s the spirit of the times,
yes, but that doesn’t neces-
sarily mean that the spirit goes only in
one direction. Sometimes its winds blow
things down, and sometimes they blow
things together. Sometimes that recom-
bination brings new growth.
Rabbi Brian Leiken is a Reform rabbi,
the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Insti-
tute of Religion-ordained leader of Tem-
ple Beth Sholom. Rabbi Paul Kurland’s
Conservative ordination comes from the
Jewish Theological Seminary, his move-
ment’s flagship institution; he heads the
Nanuet Jewish Center. Both synagogues
are in New City; in fact, they’re less than
three miles apart.
The two rabbis’ congregants know
each other, and the same landmarks fig-
ure in their lives. But until a few years
ago, although the two rabbis liked what
little they saw of each other through
meetings of the Rockland Board of Rab-
bis, that was the end of it.
Now, Rabbi Kurland and Rabbi Leiken
are planning on combining their syna-
gogues in a new model that retains their
ability to lead separately according to
the practices and theology of their sepa-
rate movements, but also to join in ways
that not only allow them the practical
benefits of economies of scale but also
gives them the intangible assets of expo-
sure to new people, new points of view,
new ideas, and therefore new energy
and life.
The background — the most obvious
part of the zeitgeist — is that shifting
demographics, increasing intermar-
riage, and decreasing interest in the post-
World-War-II models of suburban Jewish
life have eaten away at the comfortable
synagogue life that lasted for half a cen-
tury at least. As the famous 2013 Pew
Research Center survey showed, Jews
are leaving organized Jewish life in
Rabbi Brian Leiken, left, of Temple Beth Shalom and Rabbi Paul Kurland
of the Nanuet Jewish Center are working on a new model of cooperation
between their synagogues.
droves. (As are millennials in general;
Jews are like everyone else in that way.)
Even as there are generalized truths,
each place has its own specific truths
that make it unique. Rockland Coun-
ty’s Jewish life is unusual because of the
large and growing charedi and chasidic
groups that extend their eruvin and thus
their geographical boundaries, have
large families, and flourish, but have lit-
tle to do with the rest of the Jewish com-
munity. “The demographics are chang-
ing enormously all over the country, but
particularly since the Schechter school
in Rockland closed” — that was the Reu-
ben Gittelman Day School, shuttered in
ilies who want to raise their children in
a day school that is not Orthodox are not
attracted to Rockland,” Rabbi Kurland
said. “It is particularly hard for Conser-
vative families. The ultra-Orthodox com-
munity is growing so quickly that they
fear that if they move here, by the time
their children are teenagers the whole
neighborhood would be ultra-Ortho-
dox.” That means that the non-Orthodox
community seems to shrink even more
quickly in Rockland than it does in other
places.
Rockland also is a fairly small place.
“We drive by each others’ buildings all
the time,” Rabbi Leiken said. “But that
intimacy and closeness also means that
there is more competition, and that
has bred mistrust in some parts of the
community. Over the years, there have
been attempts to merge congregations,
because in truth the synagogues in the
county matched the needs of the county
in the 1970s. So congregations talk about
it” — and some have merged success-
fully — “but usually it doesn’t happen,
because neither community wants to
give up its identity.” The result of those
failed talks not infrequently are “syna-
gogues that have closed their doors,” he
said.
But then there’s the other part of the
zeitgeist — the search for spirituality and
meaning that drives many Americans,
particularly but not only young ones,
including many Jews, to religious expe-
riences that fulfill them. Synagogues can
provide those experiences, if only they
can figure out how.
The goad that prodded Rabbi Leiken
and Rabbi Kurland to acknowledge the
community’s problems and desires and
devise a new way forward came about
four years ago when Gary Seipser, the
then-new CEO of the Jewish Federation
& Foundation of Rockland, took a del-
egation of lay and rabbinic leaders to
Israel. It was part of his ongoing commu-
nity weaving initiative, a way of looking

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10 Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019


at communal life that sees the web
that connects organizations as being
as vital as each separate organization;
that sees the whole as even more valu-
able than the sum of its parts because
it also counts the web when it does its
calculations.
Rabbis Kurland and Leiken are not
talking about a merger, they both
say; mergers usually are intra rather
intermovement, and they rarely are
entirely equal. The model they are
building is a different, less usual one.
Rabbi Leiken, who has been at Beth
Sholom since 2012, “grew up in Cleve-
land, and I truly found my Jewish iden-
tity through the JCC and JCC camps,”
he said. “My father was the president
of the JCC, and my mother taught nurs-
ery school there. I grew up in the Con-
servative movement, but I was always
meeting people from different Jew-
ish denominations and backgrounds,
some affiliated, many not, and I had
always appreciated the diversity of
Jewish practice that I saw at the JCC.”
He chose to become ordained in the
Reform movement, “but I heard from
my cantor that there’s a synagogue in
Newburgh that combines Reform and
Conservative, two that came together.”
He’s talking about Temple Beth Jacob,
part of Orange County’s Kol Yisrael.
“My cantor, Anna Zhar, is from
there, and she talked about it in ways
that made it sound like a success
because it protected both identities
but allowed there to be a new aware-
ness of the diversity of Jewish prac-
tice, and of Jews. It strengthens both
communities.”
Rabbi Kurland is a birthright Con-
servative Jew. “I went to USY and
Camp Ramah and then to JTS,” he said.
But he took a job as an educator in the
1990s, when his children were young,
and it was “at a shul in Tarrytown,”
he said. It was Temple Beth Abraham,
which, according to its website, “offers
worship services in both the Reform
and Conservative traditions,” in two
separate sanctuaries, and has done so
since 1945.
He’s thought a great deal about
something he heard Dennis Prager
say about authentic Judaism. “There’s
no such thing as authentic Judaism,”
Rabbi Kurland paraphrased. “There
are only authentic Jews.
“In Tarrytown, I saw authentic Jews
who were not Conservative,” he con-
tinued. “It was authentic, and it was
holy. Having that experience allows
me to see and respect all sorts of Jews.
“I remember being a youth group
adviser in the 70s. We would never
do a program with the Reform group,
because they were Reform. The times,
they are a-changin…”
So, if you listen to the similarities
JS-11
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try to work together. “We realized that
we both had an awareness of each oth-
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This is not a merger, they both
stressed; instead, it’s the creation
of something new, based on a deep
respect and understanding of the
past, and the desire to keep parts of
it intact, while creating something else
brand new.
They also stressed that they are
planning this partnership unusually.
“Usually the clergy are put to the side,”
Rabbi Leiken said. “They are not part
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one interest is financial, they just don’t
think about vision.
“We are making sure that the whole
process is guided by vision.”
Once you look at it from that angle,
you see parts of it differently. “It some-
times can be frustrating for congre-
gants to have to say that we chose one
synagogue over another,” Rabbi Kur-
land said. “You have to pick Reform or
Conservative, because usually you join
only one. Not many families choose
to join two. This will allow people to
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Local
‘Seventh Grade vs. the Galaxy’
Teaneck author’s sci-fi for middle-schoolers takes on the world
JOANNE PALMER
T
here are some conventions
that middle-school fiction
follows.
The child protagonist — pre-
teen or young teenager, usually — learns
something about him or herself through
an unexpected adventure. Those young
heroes generally are exposed to lessons
about trusting, sharing, developing intu-
ition, exercising courage, overcoming
self-doubt and awkwardness, understand-
ing more about their parents, including
accepting that parents are people, and
generally growing up. Their sidekicks
learn many of those same lessons, just a
little bit off to the side.
The trick for a writer isn’t setting up
these conventions. It’s how well he or she
turns stock characters into believable,
likeable, or engaging people.
In his first novel, “Seventh Grade vs.
JS-12*
Joshua S. Levy
the Galaxy,” Joshua S. Levy of Teaneck
has created characters who not only are
believable, likeable, and engaging, but also
funny. (For an adult reader, in fact, they’re
actively adorable, but that’s something
less likely to appeal to the middle-school-
ers at whom this book is aimed.)
The book begins in a poorly funded
public school, a middle school, a good-
enough school, that also happens to
be on a spaceship. It’s Public School
Spaceship 118, an old beater that’s orbit-
ing Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s many
moons. It’s full of students — regular
human students, pretty much like stu-
dents everywhere — some are smart,
some are not so smart, some are bul-
lies, some are geeks, many of them
are funny, often but not always on
purpose. Each one is different, but it’s
hard to tell when you look because you “I’ve always wanted to write fiction,”
see an undifferentiated mass of kids. Mr. Levy said. “For my whole life. I wrote
And then the adventure starts, and my first manuscript in fifth grade.” It
the three main characters, Jack, Ari, and was the novelization of a video game, he
Becka, have to save the school — and, said, and it is not accidental that like so
we’re teased, in a sequel, the world. many first works of literature written by

fifth-graders it was not published. But Mr.
Levy kept writing.
Mr. Levy, 33, grew up in Florida; he
went to Orthodox day schools, graduated
from the Weinbaum Yeshiva High School
in Boca Raton, and then went to Yeshiva
University. He trained as a teacher, and
taught in Yeshivat Noam in Paramus,
among other places. But then he realized
that perhaps he’d be happier as a lawyer,
so he went to law school at Seton Hall,
clerked for a magistrate judge in New
York’s southern district, and now prac-
tices commercial litigation at Gibbons PC
in Newark. “Which is very different from
writing about kids having adventures in
space,” he said. But all that background
prepared him well.
The characters all are named for the
places on earth where their families had
lived. Jack, for example, is named after
Jacksonville. Ari is for Arizona. And their
last names have to do with Supreme
Court decisions. (That one is harder
for the uninitiated reader to grasp, but
there are students named Tinker and
Koramatsu.)
“I have an elaborate spreadsheet that
explains what the name is and what the
JS-13
connection is,” Mr. Levy said. “That’s really
just for me, because I’m a giant nerd.”
While the book isn’t overtly Jewish,
there are Jewish bits scattered throughout.
Ari might be named for Arizona, but still,
his nickname is Ari. More specifically, he
has had a bar mitzvah; Jack mentions his
party. He had fun. At one point, Jack says
that there must be about 1,000 reasons for
a plan not to work; he mentions points 1,
18, and 613.
“I don’t want the Jewish connection
to be obvious. It’s not about that,” Mr.
Levy said. “I just want to mention how
hundreds of years from now,” where the
book is set, “people are just having bar
mitzvahs. There’s nothing remarkable
about that.”
The book, he said, “is about average
kids who experience extraordinary cir-
cumstances that they have to navigate
with an ordinary set of tools that they
are equipped with by virtue of their ordi-
nary lives. I wanted the kids to begin
their adventure in really ordinary circum-
stances, even if the context is extraordi-
nary for us.
“Their lives are so ordinary. So hum-
drum. I want a lot of it to be accessible
because science fiction often is an inac-
cessible genre. I as a reader don’t mind if
I have to catch up on the world the book
has built in order to get into the story, but
that’s harder for kids to do.
“A lot of speculative fiction for kids
starts this way for a reason. When you
start with a place that is familiar, it is eas-
ier to identify with the characters.” And
although the place where his book starts
is in many ways not familiar to us — it is,
after all, on a spaceship orbiting Gany-
mede — it’s a middle school.
“I had a blast writing it,” Mr. Levy said.
“In those first chapters, where the book
frames the school, with the teachers, the
assembly, the student council president,
the principal — that is so familiar to me as
a former middle-grade student and then
teacher. I wanted it to be fun. There’s
something about the juxtaposition of
the familiar and the extraordinary that I
always find compelling as a reader, and I
hope that kids find enjoyable.”
And it’s funny. “I did not want to write
a serious middle-grade sci-fi space opera,”
Mr. Levy said. “Some of the best mid-
dle-grade adventures have a wonderful
sense of humor about them. Whenever I
Local
get feedback from a parent or a teacher or
a kid that it is so funny that they laughed
out loud, that’s the most gratifying thing I
can hear.”
Not only is his book aimed at mid-
dle-school readers, but it creates its char-
acters using the traits that middle-school
students have, Mr. Levy said. “If adults
had been faced with this adventure, they
wouldn’t have done it with such good
humor. Kids are flexible and resilient at that
age. If you flip a kid’s world upside down,
they will struggle through it and accept the
results in a really natural way, which allows
them to keep their sense of humor.
“That’s why fantasy stories about kids’
worlds being turned upside down are best
when they are told through kids’ eyes. It’s
the best way to look at it, through those
kids’ eyes.”
Mr. Levy and his wife, Talia, who like
her husband is a southerner — she grew up
in the Orthodox community in Memphis,
and who teaches at the Solomon Schech-
ter Day School of Bergen County — have
two children, a 4-year-old and a 7-month
old. He looks forward to continuing to tell
them stories, at least one more about the
kids of Public School Spaceship 118.
Local

LETTER FROM ISRAEL

Who made that bima?

An eye-opening visit to world’s largest synagogue furniture factory
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

T
he first time we spent Shabbat
at Kibbutz Lavi, in 2007, my
jaw dropped when I entered
the hotel’s synagogue on Fri-
day night.
There were photographs on its walls
of synagogue interiors — including that
of Congregation Beth Aaron in Teaneck,
where we had been members for
20 years!
And then I remembered why: Kibbutz
Lavi is the home of Lavi Furniture Indus-
tries, the world’s largest designer and
manufacturer of synagogue furnishings.
Beth Aaron is one of more than 5,800
shuls across the globe outfitted by Lavi
Industries since 1962.
“We have done work in 70 countries,
from Tahiti to Venezuela, Moscow to
Panama,” CEO Micha Oberman told my
husband and me as we took a tour of the
factory during one of our recent return
visits to this pastoral place in the east-
ern Galilee.
“Most of our overseas customers are
in the United States and after that France
and England,” Mr. Oberman said. “Right
now, we are doing a job in Germany.
Wherever the customer is, we ship door
to door, and our installation team comes
to handle everything.”
Kibbutz Lavi was founded in 1949 by The handiwork of Lavi Furniture Industries is displayed on the wall of the showroom at its factory in
members of Bnei Akiva of England and eastern Galilee.
it is part of the Orthodox branch of the
kibbutz movement. Like most kibbutzim that the Nazis had burned to the ground “We work only with hardwoods,” but not all, are Jewish; some live on the
at the time, its bread and butter were in 1939. The piece de resistance is the Mr. Oberman said. “Mainly beech- kibbutz and others, like Ms. Leshem, in
agriculture and dairy farming. But in replica of the Polish shul’s 11.5-meter- wood, and also oak, cherry, walnut, surrounding villages.
1962, its two most successful enterprises high Torah ark. and mahogany.” This being the land of innovation, the
were begun: the kibbutz hotel and the Among other special projects: out- Walking around the factory, we saw a synagogue furniture factory always is
synagogue furniture factory. fitting the largest synagogue built in carpenter named Eli working on a Torah enhancing its offerings. Stackable, fold-
“We started a small workshop, and the last 15 years in Russia, in a Moscow ark and a craftsman named Vladimir able chairs — more versatile than pews
from there we grew and grew,” Mr. Ober- suburb near President Vladimir Putin’s creating decorative beaten metalwork. — will soon be sold online. An emerging
man said. “In Israel there are now 5,000 residence; putting new interiors in a A worker named William was sand- line of accessible furnishings for congre-
synagogues we have furnished. Our first renovated 300-year-old synagogue in Car- ing; every wooden piece is sanded and gants with physical limitations includes
export was in the 1970s, to Australia. pentras, France; and furnishing a London painted twice, customer service man- a Torah ark with low, pullout shelves,
Every year, we work in around 200 syn- Chabad shul built in memory of Rabbi ager Ortal Leshem said. lecterns and bimas that can be low-
agogues from very traditional to very Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the Chabad She showed us huge drying racks for ered and tilted mechanically with a foot
modern in design, and in every segment emissaries murdered in Mumbai in 2008. small wooden items that reminded me pedal, and retractable mechitza dividers
of Judaism. Each one is custom designed.” Seating was the factory’s main prod- of the racks used in large bakeries to cool for one-handed setup.
The factory’s biggest project so far uct for decades. “In 2008 we started to loaves of bread. She showed us the lathe Mr. Oberman said that Chabad
is the 5,500-seat Belz Great Synagogue go more into craftsmanship,” Mr. Ober- that shapes wood into massive columns Lubavitch synagogues represent the
in Jerusalem. Israel’s largest shul, dedi- man told us. “In 2012, we acquired Avra- for the arks. She showed us a bookshelf company’s fastest-growing client seg-
cated in 2000, Belz holds a world record ham Fried Studio in Kiryat Gat, the larg- system under construction for the cus- ment, especially in the United States.
for the size of its Torah ark: 12 meters est craft studio in Israel, and moved its tomer in Germany, and rows of uphol- But there’s no cookie-cutter approach
(39.3 feet) high and 18 tons in weight. factory here in 2016.” stered pews wrapped in plastic, waiting to any synagogue interior here. “Each
Lavi soon will add another 1,600 seats Lavi Furniture Industries annu- to be shipped. The upholstery is done is very different from the other,”
to the sanctuary. ally handcrafts about 100 Torah arks in a workshop in Katzrin, about 33 miles he emphasized.
At the Forest Hill Jewish Centre in and 60 bimas (the raised platforms on northeast of Lavi in the Golan Heights. Next time you’re in Israel, take a trip up
Toronto in 2015, Lavi Furniture Indus- which the Torah is read). All the wood is The Lavi factory employs about 80 to Kibbutz Lavi to see the workshop for
tries worked from photographs to rep- imported, mostly from Eastern Europe, people in design, engineering, produc- yourself, and maybe you’ll spot your own
licate the entire interior of a Polish shul and reaches Israel through Haifa Port. tion, shipment, and installation. Most, synagogue in the pictures on the wall.
14 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
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Local
Ninja
FROM PAGE 7
with information and resources to help
people “network and connect. They
can sign up for programs and support
groups. People may feel isolated and
alone. We’ll make sure they have the
connections they need.”
Jimmy Choi was newly married, a new
homeowner, and a professional in the
technology industry when he received
his Parkinson’s diagnosis.
“My wife and I were planning a family;
we became adults,” he said, recalling his
shock on receiving the news. “Only 10
percent of people with Parkinson’s have
young onset.” (He defined young onset as
being diagnosed when you are younger
than 40. He was 27.) Now a father of two
— son Mason and daughter Karina — he
recalls “a moment of disbelief. I think I
swore at the doctor.”
He had just bought life insurance, and
his journey began when he went for a
physical for that insurance. “The nurse
worked for a neurologist, and she noticed
things that I hadn’t put together, that I
could explain away,” he said. “I played
golf, so that could explain the stiffness.
The twitches I could attribute to stress,
since I worked in the technology industry
and the dot.com boom was a very stress-
ful time. A conversation with the nurse
led me to talk to a doctor. There were
months of follow-up appointments. Then
the neurologist said I had Parkinson’s.”
He was the first in his family to have this
diagnosis. His grandmother was later
diagnosed; she has died.
“The first few years, I ignored the pro-
gression,” Mr. Choi said. “I figured I was
Old friends
FROM PAGE 11
people real Jewish meaning,” he said.
It will address both spiritual and prac-
tical concerns, and it will demand the
informed consent of all the stakeholders.
“It will work only if we get the lay
leadership on board, and let them
know that they are part of the spiri-
tual vibrancy of the synagogue,” Rabbi
Leiken said. “That has always been
the challenge.”
The most likely plan is to have both
congregations meet in one building,
to sell the other building, and to use
some of the proceeds to enlarge the one
they’re keeping. Which building would
stay, and which would go? “The board
is doing due diligence,” Rabbi Leiken
said. “We have explored all possibil-
ities,” Rabbi Kurland added. “We are
leaning in one direction.” Once the pro-
cess is complete, the conclusion will be
made public.
“Under the one roof, there still will be
16 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
young and there was plenty of time. If I
ignored it, it would go away. I did noth-
ing, and unfortunately, that didn’t work
out too well. I became less active, and
in 2009 I was 240 pounds and walking
with a cane.”
His wake up call came when he was
walking down the stairs with his then-
baby son, and they both toppled down
the steps. “It was time to do something
or throw in the towel. I decided to take
back control. I didn’t know how. There’s
no cure and I wasn’t smart enough to
find it or rich enough to fund it.
“I decided to give up my body for sci-
ence and participate in as many clin-
ical trials as I could. I did it for selfish
reasons. Maybe I would be the first to
receive some miracle treatment.”
My daughter
fell in love with
the show early
on. She begged
for classes to
learn how to do
the challenges.
And every year,
she said,
‘Daddy, why
don’t you try
to get on.’
a Conservative congregation and a sepa-
rate Reform congregation, and they will
function in the way they always have
functioned, especially in terms of reli-
gious services,” he continued.
Because the Reform movement’s main
Shabbat service is on Friday night, and
the Conservative movement focuses
on Saturday morning, for example, it
shouldn’t be hard to have the Reform
service in the main sanctuary on Fri-
day nights while the Conservative group
meets in the (to-be-enlarged) chapel.
They’ll switch the next morning.
As for children’s programming, “the
idea, based on the models we have
looked at so far, is that there will be one
nursery school and religious school,
and the religious school at some point
will have two tracks,” one for students
from Conservative families, the other
for the children of Reform families, the
rabbis said. Students would learn how
to pray in their own movement’s way,
and also they’d learn the basic etiquette
What Mr. Choi did get was informa-
tion. He began educating himself on the
disease, to understand how his body
was affected. He found that the more
physical activity he did, the better he
felt. “I put it into everyday life. I started
to exercise around the house, walking
around the block, still using the cane.
I would try to do more and more each
day, first two times around the block,
then three, then four. The more I did,
the better I felt.”
Next he tried jogging, running his first
5K in 2012. “I kept pushing my limits.
Every time I reached a goal I would push
it further. I ran a 10K, then a half-mar-
athon, and then I decided to run a full
marathon. My mantra was to do more
each day — 5 miles today, 5.5 miles
tomorrow.”
He enjoyed the full support of his
family. “My family was at every race, at
every finish line.”
How did he come to be an American
Ninja Warrior? “My daughter fell in love
with the show early on. She begged
for classes to learn how to do the chal-
lenges. And every year, she said, ‘Daddy,
why don’t you try to get on.’
“I said, I can’t because of the Par-
kinson’s. The first year I said I couldn’t
because I didn’t have the upper body
strength; the next year I said I had no
balance, but I was getting stronger and
stronger. Finally, in 2016, I was watching
and they were featuring stories of oth-
ers with disabilities. They were in way
worse condition than me. So when my
daughter said, now what’s your excuse?,
I applied, just to shut her up.”
To his surprise, the program called
of the other; details like when you say
the second line of the Shema (in a
Reform temple!) and when you don’t
(in a Conservative synagogue!). Adult
education and speakers and other pro-
gramming will not be divided along
movement lines.
Beth Sholom uses the pay-what-you-
think-you-should (not the hard-to-live-on
pay-what-you-want) model. Nanuet
does not. That will change. Most likely,
all members will pay dues to the same
combined institution.
The goal is to have a new name,
shared by the members of both old
synagogues and the new members yet
to come.
The groups will retain their member-
ships in their movements’ synagogue
organizations, so the new shul will be a
member of both the Union for Reform
Judaism and the United Synagogue of
Conservative Judaism. “It is my belief
that memberships in the movements
are vital,” Rabbi Kurland said. In fact, he
him back and said they’d give him a
shot at the contest. That was televised in
2017. At 43, he was twice the age of the
average competitor. “One of the cool-
est things was that Michael J. Fox sent
me a message and they broadcasted it.”
While he fell off at the third obstacle,
“It still put me in the top 50 percent of
competitors. I was brought back in 2018
and again fell but finished in the top 50
percent.” They brought him back a third
time, and, he said, we’ll find out how he
did by watching the show on July 1.
The show “brought a lot of aware-
ness” about Parkinson’s, Mr. Choi said.
While he’s still working in technology,
“I’m accepting more and more motiva-
tional speaking engagements, and not
just in the Parkinson’s community but
for corporations as well. I tell them to
get out of their chairs and do more exer-
cise. I want to inspire others to be the
next voice.
“My 15 minutes is coming up,” he said,
and he wants his message to get more
exposure.
“The hardest step to reaching your
goal is taking the first step, but you won’t
get anywhere if you don’t take those
steps.” He said he participated in some
local support groups but now enjoys a
“virtual support group with friends I’ve
made all over the country. We challenge
each other. It’s really important — talking
to people who understand.”
In the meantime, his daughter com-
peted last season on the children’s ver-
sion of the show, American Ninja War-
rior Junior, “and finished second in the
world in the Ninja competition,” her
proud father said.
added, leaders from United Synagogue’s
Metny office — that’s the movement’s
Metropolitan New York region — “came
and shared what they know about other
places that have done things similar
to what we are doing,” he added. And
that’s new. “In the 1970s, there is no way
that they would have approved.”
The two rabbis also look forward to
being able to work together, co-equal
religious leaders in one divided but
whole institution. “It can be lonely being
a rabbi or clergy member,” Rabbi Leiken
said. “This gives us the chance to have
a partnership.”
They want this to happen soon; both
their boards will vote on the proposals
by the end of this summer. “Our goal is
to have this done in September of 2020,”
Rabbi Kurland said.
That way, they can head into the new
year of 5781, less than a year and a half
from now, as one separate but united
community. A new paradigm for a
new year.
 JS-17

Thank you to our

PERPETUAL ANNUAL CAMPAIGN ENDOWMENT DONORS
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and leadership in establishing PACE funds.
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Beth and Mark Metzger Steven Morey Greenberg
Henry Taub Harry Immerman
BENEFACTORS Daniel Jarashow
Eva Lynn and Leo Gans Morton Jarashow
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BUILDERS Selma and Charles Pariser
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Leonard Cole
COMMUNITY SUSTAINERS
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Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 17

 JS-18*

Briefly Local

Worn U.S. flags collected

by Rockland patriotic groups
Rockland County legislators Alden
H. Wolfe and Aney Paul have joined
John Leighton, past commandant
and current adjutant of Rockland
Detachment 243 of the Marine
Corps League, and Patrick Casper,
past commander of Fromm-Max-
well-Debaun American Legion Post
859 in Suffern and current com-
mander of the Rockland County
American Legion in a drive to col-
lect worn American flags.
According to Mr. Wolfe, “Our flag
is a symbol of America’s democracy,
and when the flag becomes worn, it
should be properly retired. Our col-
lection effort has proven very popu-
From left, Simone Wilker, Rabbi David Zuckerman, Rabbi Paula Mack Drill, Rich- lar as our residents and businesses
ard Schnaittacher, Alain Sanders, Leslie Levinson, Allen Levinson, Matan Kogen, seek a convenient drop-off site along
and NJ-AJC’s development director, Morgen Kronenberg, stand together in with the assurance that the U.S. flags
Washington. Courtesy AJC will be properly retired.”
The collection effort provides
AJC leaders lobby senators
Members of the New Jersey American Jewish Committee gathered in Washington, D.C.,
to lobby New Jersey’s U.S. senators, Robert Menendez and Cory Booker.
visitors to county government
offices, as well as county workers
and anyone else who wants to stop
by, with a convenient place to drop
off their worn U.S. flags.
All flags placed into the collec-
tion box will be hand-delivered to
the Fromm-Maxwell-Debaun Amer-
ican Legion Post. The post annually
receives about 800 worn U.S. flags,
which are properly retired in time
for Flag Day.
The U.S. Flag Section 8K says
that the flag, “when it is in such
condition that it is no longer a fit-
ting emblem for display, should be
destroyed in a dignified way, prefer-
ably by burning.”
The legion’s offices are at 11
New Hempstead Road in New
City. Call (845) 638-5100 for more
information.

Fair Lawn shul

joins Israel parade
Members of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation
B’nai Israel marched in New York City’s 55th annual
Celebrate Israel parade last week.
From left, Ellen Teitelbaum, Susan Cohen, Denise
Holzsager, Howard and Gerry Kessel, Evan and Carol
Marcus, Seth Seigel-Laddy, Heidi Seigel-Laddy, Spencer
Seigel-Laddy, Toby Smulewitz, David Teitelbaum, Roz
Wistosky, Alyssa Seigel-Laddy, Anne and Bill Benlisa,
Courtesy FLJC/CBI

Kayla Seigel-Laddy, Sofia Vorobyov, Elayne and Ofer

Kalina. Mike Vorobyov and Rabbi Keven Friedman are
not pictured.

Norpac to host
two senators
The Gontownik family hosts an event in
Englewood for Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday,
June 16, at 3 p.m. The meeting will focus
on matters of importance to U.S.-Israel
relations.
Photos courtesy Norpac

On Sunday, June 23, at 7 p.m., Lori

and Kevin Lemmer host a Norpac meet-
ing in Englewood for Senator Shelley
Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
Reservations are required for both
events. For more information, call (201)
788-5133 or email Avi@NORPAC.net.
Lori and Kevin Lemmer flank Senator Shelley Senator Mitch McConnell stands between Anne and Jerry
Moore Capito. Gontownik during a Norpac event in 2014 .

18 Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019

 JS-19

UPCOMING AT KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades

START YOUR SUMMER OFF
RIGHT! Ready for our
JOIN THE J & GET 1-MONTH FREE!* first swim lesson Baby Shark
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Transportation and extended care
options available.
Register today jccotp.org/camps or
call 201.567.8963.

CHILDREN MUSIC SENIORS

Looking for a Hebrew After SHIRAH Choir PA

School Program? Try Emek! 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
Emek is an after school program for children Marsha Bryan Edelman, Conductor
grades pre K-10th that teaches modern,
Honoring SHIRAH’s Founders: Bernie
spoken Hebrew language and Israeli culture
and Ruth Weinflash z”l, Avi Lewinson,
in a fun, hands-on way. Open to native and
and Matthew Lazar. With celebratory
non-native Hebrew speakers.
songs in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish.
Registration now open for the
Featuring the world-premiere of
2019-20 school year!
“Do Justice,” by Benjie Ellen Schiller.
Visit jccotp.org/emek. Dessert reception to follow.
Sun, Jun 23, 7 pm, $18/$25.
Sponsor options available.
For more info, 201.408.1466 or
Program offered as part of the JCC Patron of the Arts
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A social group for individuals with mild cognitive
impairment. Maintain brain vitality and cognitive
skills through meaningful self-selected programs and
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KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades TAUB CAMPUS | 411 E CLINTON AVE, TENAFLY, NJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org

Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 19

 JS-20*

Briefly Local

NCJW Bergen Section

honors state Attorney
General Gurbir Grewal
The Bergen County section of the National represents NCJWBCS on the Bergen Volun-
Council of Jewish Women presented New teer Medical Initiative, which provides free

Photos courtesy NCJWBCS

Jersey’s attorney general, Gurbir S. Gre-
wal, with the Hannah G. Solomon award at
NCJW’s annual spring luncheon at the Estate
at Florentine Gardens in River Vale on June
4. Gladys Laden, the section’s past president,
received the Woman of the Section award.
The luncheon, which celebrated the orga-
nization’s 96th anniversary, included instal-
lati of officers, raffle, silent auction, and a
journal.
Governor Phil Murphy appointed Mr. Gre-
wal to serve as New Jersey’s 61st Attorney
General; he took office on January 16, 2018.
Before becoming New Jersey Attorney Gen-
eral, Mr. Grewal was Bergen County pros-
ecutor. His successor in that office, Mark
Musella, was at the luncheon.
The Hannah G. Solomon award is named
after NCJW’s founder. In 1893 Hannah G. Sol-
omon was asked to organize the participa-
tion of Jewish women at the Chicago World’s
Fair. When she discovered that women’s
participation meant pouring coffee, she
walked out. By the end of the World’s Fair,
she had founded the National Council of
Jewish Women, which changed the nature
of Jewish women’s volunteerism.
Gladys Laden, who won the Woman of
the Section award, is an NCJW past presi-
dent and has been a member since 1964.
She has chaired many committees and now
primary care to low-income working fami-
lies with no means to pay. Before she retired
in 2010, she was the financial aid director at
Cornell University Medical College in New
York City.
The two honorees were presented with
Joint Legislative Resolutions of the Sen-
ate and General Assembly by State Sen-
ate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Members of the NCJWBCS executive committee convene at
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle. the lucheon.
Officers who were installed included Bea
Podorefsky as the new honorary president.
Marcia Levy continues as honorary vice
president. New co-president Bari-Lynne
Schwartz joins co-presidents Elizabeth
Halverstam and Ruth Seitelman, who were
installed for their third year of service. Joan
Cooper, Joan Schnuer, and Virginia Wasser-
man are new vice presidents. Phyllis Betan-
court, Marilynn Friedman, Karen Kurland,
Nanette Matlick, Elaine Meyerson, Joan Orn-
stein, and Ilene Wechter will continue as vice
presidents. Norma Goldsmith is recording
secretary and Elizabeth Roditi is treasurer.
Proceeds from the annual spring lun-
cheon benefit the work of NCJW’s Bergen
County section, which includes 1,000 mem-
bers who are committed to improving the
lives of women, children, and families. For
more information, go to ncjwbcs.org or call From left, Gladys Laden, State Senator Loretta Weinberg,
(201) 385-4847. State Attorney General Gurbir A. Grewal, and Assemblywoman
Valerie Huttle. Ms. Laden and Mr. Grewal hold the plaques they
received from the New Jersey Legislature.

Amir and Alysa and Cohen

Jewel and Dr. Walter Brenner z”l Yiskah and Rav Yishai Klein Amir and Alysa Cohen

Jewish Center of Teaneck will pay tribute to six

The Jewish Center of Teaneck holds its annual
dinner on Monday, June 24, at 6 p.m.
The shul’s Aron Kodesh will be dedicated in
memory of Dr. Walter Brenner z’l and in honor
of Jewel Brenner, for their outstanding contri-
butions to the JCT synagogue community. An
ambulance will be presented at the event at
5 p.m. to a representative from Magen David
Adom in memory of Dr. Brenner.
Alysa and Amir Cohen, the community ser-
vice awardees, will be honored for their con-
tributions to JCT synagogue life. The JCT’s
outgoing youth directors, Rav Yishai and Yiskah
Klein, will receive a special community service
award for helping to transform the shul’s youth
department.
To register for the dinner or place an ad, go to
jcot.org or call (201) 833-0515.

20 Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019

 JS-21*

Briefly Local

Leading investigative journalist

discusses global anti-Semitism
Lisa Daftari, who grew up in Paramus,
discussed “The Rise of anti-Semitism
Globally and in the U.S.: A Focus on
the Media, College Campuses, and the
BDS Movement” for Paramus Bat-Sheva
Hadassah’s annual Jean Lipshitz Memo-
rial Meeting. The talk was at the JCC
Lisa Daftari
of Paramus/Congregation Beth Tikvah in
Paramus. Ms. Daftari is an award-win-
ning investigative journalist, political
analyst, and commentator who fre-
quently appears on Fox News, CBS, NBC,
PBS, Voice of America, and SiriusXM. A
meet and greet with her followed.

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes and Sir Paul

McCartney.

Sir Paul McCartney

greets Leon Wildes
at Cardozo Law
School graduation
Leon Wildes, senior partner at Wildes & Wein-
berg, was singled out by a former Beatle, Sir Paul
McCartney, at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of
Law’s graduation ceremony last week. During the
graduation, held at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center, Sir
Paul received the International Advocate for Peace
award from the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Reso-
lution. He also was there to see his stepson receive
his Juris Doctorate degree.
Leon Wildes’ son Michael is Wildes & Weinberg’s
managing partner, and Michael’s wife, Amy Wildes,
is an immigration attorney at the firm. Amy and
Michael and their two older children all are Car-
dozo alumni, and Michael is an adjunct professor
of law there.
At the graduation, Sir Paul said he is “especially
proud to receive the award from Cardozo, which
for many years has been known for its work on
behalf of peace and justice, helping people who
have been wrongfully convicted, and assisting
immigrants seeking asylum from violence and
poverty. When my mate John Lennon wanted to
become an American citizen, he had an immigra-
tion fight on his hands with President Nixon. It was
a Cardozo professor that won that fight for him —
Leon Wildes.”
Leon Wildes is best known for his successful
representation of former Beatle John Lennon and
his artist wife Yoko Ono in deportation proceed-
ings. Between 1972 and 1976, he represented them
in their struggle to remain in the United States,
despite the concerted attempts of the Nixon admin-
istration to deport them. The case (which included
bringing four separate federal lawsuits) resulted in
John and Yoko getting their green cards and being
able to remain in the United States, and in substan-
tial changes in immigration law.
Wildes & Weinberg has offices in Englewood, New
York City, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 21

Cover Story
Larry Prager, left and below, and his nephew, Eric Burstyn,
biked from San Diego to Saint Augustine this year.
Cycling across America
One-time Jersey City boy
takes two coast-to-coast bike rides
JOANNE PALMER
T
he United States of America is a very big
country.
Yes, of course anyone looking at a map
knows that. So does anyone who’s ever
driven across it, or even flown across it.
But, Larry Prager says, you don’t really under-
stand how big it is, not viscerally, at any rate, until
you try to bike across it.
He’s done it twice. He knows.
Larry, who just turned 63, grew up in Jersey City,
the son of German Jewish refugees. His mother,
Susan Heyman Prager, got to the United States in
1946, at 26; her parents, who were “petit bour-
geois,” her son said, owned a clothing store in Sile-
sia, and didn’t try to get out until after Kristallnacht.
They were able to send Susan and another daugh-
ter to Sweden; they and their other children were
murdered. “By the time my grandparents tried to
get out, they couldn’t,” Larry said. “It would be like
trying to buy an airline ticket to San Francisco for
tomorrow. All the seats were gone.”
Larry’s father, Steven, was born in Bavaria; he
22 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
and his family — his father was a tobacco broker —
left when he was 18, in 1937.
“My parents met at some kind of Jewish event in
Jacob Reiss Park,” in Queens, Larry said.
So Larry and his sister, Deborah, grew up with an
understanding of history — of time and place.
He went to the College of New Jersey (which then
had the less grand name Trenton State College),
moved across the country to San Francisco, and
began a decades-long career, logically enough, teach-
ing high-school history. He’d always been in good
physical shape. “I began biking when I was a kid, like
we all did, but then when it became uncool, I stopped.
But then in college I began to bike from my off-cam-
pus apartment to school.” It was well before cycling
caught on. “I was an anomaly,” Larry said. “People
always would say to me, ‘Oh! You’re the biker!’”
And “I’ve always been interested in travel,” he
added.
So when he retired, at the end of the 2017 school
year, he thought “it would be an interesting experi-
ence to bike across the United States, for a few rea-
sons. Just to see if I could do it, and to see what it
would be like to do it, and to see parts of the United
 Cover Story

A field of flowers off Route 10 in Texas forms the

backdrop for Larry’s photos of a house in Mobile’s
historic district; one of what Larry calls the
“omnipresent freight trains,” this one in Texas;
and a cactus standing east of Phoenix.

JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 23

Cover Story
States that I never had seen before.
“The U.S. is so huge! How much of it
can you see in one lifetime? I haven’t
explored a lot of it. I’m no John Muir,”
the Scottish-born American natural-
ist, writer, and environmentalist who
walked through and advocated to pre-
serve much of the wildest parts of the
country. “He would take a loaf of bread
and a bag of tea and walk around the
United States.” But he was inspired by
Muir’s adventures.
“I thought of going to Europe, but first
there’s the United States,” Larry contin-
ued. “It’s an existential thing. I only have
so much time left. I could spend all of
that time just seeing Montana.
So first last year and then again this
year, Larry began his planning. Last
year, he and an old friend, Jay Kozak,
took three months to bike from coast
to coast. Jay, who grew up in Teaneck,
cycled to his 50th Teaneck High School
reunion. They took a very challenging
route, pedaling through the Rockies.
This year, Larry took a slightly easier
ride — a mere two-month-long jaunt —
accompanied by his nephew, Eric Burs-
tyn. They rode from San Diego, Califor-
nia, to Saint Augustine, Florida.
How do you start preparing for a bike
trip like his? “The ACA” — that’s the
Adventure Cycling Association — “puts
out maps,” Larry said. “They’re very
detailed.” You can map a route, accord-
ing to what you want to see or do, with
those details. “There are some stretches
with nothing, and they tell you that.
You have to prepare for it. You might
be going for 70, or 80, or even 90 miles
with nothing. For a bicycle, that’s a big
deal. You ride on average 10 miles an
Left, Larry “met this guy” — an alligator — “by chance” on the side of the road in eastern Texas. Right, Eric Burstyn
silhouetted on the California dunes.
24 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
Larry encountered a Jewish truck driver who carried the Zohar, a book of
mysticism, with him.
hour, and when you add in stops for
things like going to the bathroom, it
might be longer than that. If it’s hilly, it
might take longer. You might have to fix
a flat — between my nephew and me, on
this trip, we had six flats. You also have
to add in error time, so if you’re going
70 miles, you have to assume it will take
10 hours.”
The ACA has checklists. When he pre-
pares for a long trip, “first I think about
what I need,” Larry said. “And I follow
the checklist. I put everything down on
the floor, and then I check it off as I put
it in.” He knows that if he doesn’t do
that meticulously, he’ll make small but
annoying errors. He remembers when
“I packed and I forgot what I packed, so
I had three nail clippers and no tooth-
brush.” So now he checks his list, and
then he takes a photo of that completed
list and keeps it on his phone.
“I bring like three sets of clothing,”
he said. “I am constantly washing my
clothing. It’s lightweight polyester. And
I bring a tent and a sleeping bag and a
pad.” How much does it weigh? “I guess
that my bike weighs about 30 pounds,
and so does the weight I usually carry.”
Often his burden also included the
food that they’d buy in the last possi-
ble store before mercantile civilization
ended. “Every gas station has a food
mart, and we’d stop at gas stations con-
stantly,” he said.
On the first trip, he and Jay camped
out often; on the second one, he and
Eric more frequently stayed at motels.
Eric preferred them, Larry explained.
“We started off in the desert,” he said.
“We saw the wall between Mexico and
the United States.” Past that, “the dunes
were amazing. You could have filmed
‘Lawrence of Arabia’ there. It’s just sand.”
As always, even in a country as
vast and as generally not-Jewish (not
anti-Jewish, just not-Jewish, please note)
as the United States, there were Jewish
interludes.
“When we got to Terre Haute, Indi-
ana, we were staying at a motel, on a
road, a major thoroughfare, an ugly
road, with a Wendy’s and a Burger King,
and I looked on Trip Advisor to see what
we could do, and it said there was a
Holocaust museum 30 yards away. And
I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
They went. It’s called Candles Holo-
caust Museum and Education Center,
and it’s run by Eva Mozes Kor, who
had been at Auschwitz. Mengele exper-
imented on her and her sister. She got
to Indiana in the early 1960s, and later
she founded the museum. “She wasn’t
there when we were there, but there was
a big hologram of her, and you could ask
her questions,” Larry said. “Very simple
questions,” he amended. Still, he was
awed by it.
He saw an old synagogue in Jefferson
City, Missouri — he thinks it’s 19th cen-
tury — and in Mobile, Alabama.
“I ran into a truck driver who was
Jewish,” he said. “His father was Jewish,
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from Europe, and after his parents sepa-
rated, his father married an anti-Semitic
Polish woman. But this truck driver
here. You have to help with the seder,
because no one else Jewish is going to
be there. So we did, and it was freakin’
hard biking in this ridiculous weather.
He got desperate. There was nothing
at all around, and then he saw a farm-
been a truck driver, and she was very
independent. Jay and I read the weather
report, and we saw that it was going to

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clung to the religion, and he had a book awesome. It was fantastic.” house. He went in, stood by the door, be bad, so although we usually didn’t do

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of Jewish mysticism with him” — it was a
copy of the Zohar, shown in the photo-
graph Larry took on the previous page.
(Also, and not so Jewishly, except for the
connections between Jews and Italians,
at least in New York, “he looked a lot like
Al Pacino.”)
Another Jewish story was when Larry
and Eric stopped in San Antonio. There
Larry and his companions had yelled ‘Hello. Hello! Hello!!’ Nobody was that, we stayed for another day, and the
non-Jewish adventures as well. there. He stayed by the door. next day we pushed onward.
“When Jay and I were biking through “And then a woman who must have “Nevada is the most mountainous
Nevada last May, there was a ridiculous been five months pregnant must have state when you look at the frequency of
storm,” he said. “Ice and hail. And sud- just come out of the shower. She had a mountains. It’s a tough state. And once
den. You look up and see a blue sky, towel around her. She said, ‘Just a sec- again here come the big clouds, scary as
and suddenly it’s like someone is taking ond,’ and he stayed by the door. She got hell. And it is cold again; 30 or maybe 40
black ink and throwing it in the sky. It’s dressed. And then her husband came, degrees. It will be rough.
coming right at you. The sky behind you and eventually they gave Jay a ride to “So I look at Jay. I can see that he’s not

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is an app called Warmshowers that bik-
ers use for free hospitality; it’s a service
they provide to each other because they
all know what it’s like to crave running
water. “It was going to be Passover,”
Larry said. “Eric did Warmshowers, and
we found a guy, Nate, in San Antonio, a
social worker there.
“Guess what he was doing? Having a
Passover seder. He said, ‘You can stay
is blue and in front it is turning black and the hotel. dressed warmly enough. I don’t know
the wind is picking up and it’s getting “Jay said he told them, ‘I felt really bad what I would do if he gets hypothermia.
cold. Very cold. because I scared you.’ So we try to get the tent up. It’s very
“I have a bell on my bicycle that you “And she said, ‘Don’t worry. I had a hard, because it’s so windy, but finally
click from the side, and all of a sudden gun.’” we do, and we’re in it, but it’s just pour-
my bell was ringing. It was hail, hitting Larry has another weather story. ing and hailing and it’s scary. Jay goes in
the side of my bell. The hail was coming “After Jay and I got hit by this storm, the tent and somehow he manages to
at me sideways. And all of a sudden it we made it to Austin, Nevada, and call his wife from there — it’s unbeliev-
was in the 30s. we found a motel owned by a woman able, he’s been trying and usually he
“Jay and I got separated. It was really named Sara. She was 30 years old, she’d can’t get through, but this time, in the

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Have any other coverage needs? JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 25
Cover Story

middle of nowhere, in the tent, he gets her. And
we say we don’t know how we’ll get out of this.
“And then it clears up a little, and we get out of
the tent, and a van pulls up, and a woman rolls
down the window and asks me, ‘Are you Larry?’”
He is astounded. How could she possibly know
his name?
“And then she says that Sara was concerned
about you guys, and she said to look out for you.
“And then they opened the back of the van,
and they had a spread of food, chicken salad,
chocolate-covered berries. They were Australian,
and they had stayed in Sara’s motel, and they
looked out for us because she asked them to.”
Larry learned many things about the United
States, and about himself, on the trip.
One of the first things he learned is that the
country is surprisingly hilly. “Eric and I had been
under the mistaken impression that once we had
gotten out of San Diego, it would be all downhill
from there,” he said. “We were quite mistaken.”
Among other places, they found the Texas hill
country — so named because it is not particularly
flat — a great challenge.
He met people from all over — he is particularly
moved by the ambitions of the two Australians
who were working to set a world record biking
tandem across the world. “They were in their 30s,
A scene from an old hotel in Van Horn, Texas. and they were both very fit, very barrel-chested
and bearded. They looked like they were mem-
bers of Jethro Tull. They said that when they were
biking across Russia, they came across a big bear.
They said that it just stood and breathed and then
walked away. They were freaked.”
The pair had almost completed their tandem
trip. They planned to finish in San Francisco.
The ride, Larry said, “made me realize how
amazingly beautiful this country is, and how
friendly people are.” He rode through neighbor-
hoods that he might have been intimated out of
walking through, but he found that the people he
passed were friendly.
He rode through black communities in the
South, places that were entirely foreign to him,
and people’s friendliness felt particularly good
there. “It was pretty cool,” he said. He went to
museums and saw mythic places like the Alamo
and rode on unexpectedly beautiful paths next
to urban rivers.
“America is amazing,” he said.
Larry’s not exactly sure what he wants to do
next, but he realizes that his love for teaching
possibly could be combined with his curiosity
and love of travel. “I would like at some point
maybe to be a docent or a travel guide,” he said.
But there still are many routes across the
United States to explore, and many many more
stories to find and tell, before he does that.

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 10”

SAR High School Congratulates the Class of 2019

Ayelet Bar-David! Adam Cohen Brenna Pearlstein Lia Solomon

Leora Belitz
Esther Ben-Meir
Illeana Cohen
Emanuel Cohen
‫ מזל טוב‬to Our Graduates Shamma Pepper Fox
Yoni Perla
Sarah Sommer
Moshe Sopher-Harelick
Yakira Bergman Orli Cohen Elisheva Picker Eliezer Spirgel
Yona Bergman Leo Danishefsky Micah Gentin David Kahane Aliza Meller Jonah Pitkowsky Aryeh Stein
Zoe Bernstein Sarah Daube Adin Gitig Gavi Kaplan Zoe Melzer Maxim Roitman Shelomzion Steinmetz-Silber
Sarah Best Zachary Davis Jacob Glasman Gavriel Karsch Rebecca Metzman Malkey Rosensaft Benjamin Stern
Andie Bigio David Dinkevich Aura Glazer Raffaella Kestenbaum Shira Michaeli Zachary Rothstein
Gabriel Storfer
Dean Bilenker Danielle Dorfman Daniella Goodman Henri Kolb Abigail Minkove Zachary Saks
Abe Teicher
Zachary Blitz Isaac Duitz Ethan Green Coby Kranz Ari Mitchell David Samuels
Sophia Teitel
Rachel Blumenstein Amir Eaddy Drew Greenbaum Talya Kronisch Elinoa Moerdler-Green Eliana Sastow
Emma Tropper
Aaron Blustein Benjamin Eden Daniel Greenblatt Eli Landes Tal Najman Isaac Schildkraut
Joseph Tropper
Hanna Botbol Andrew Eisenberg Darius Gross Gabriel Lang Ezra Najman-Franks Amichai Schleifer
Ruben Tsigutkin
Shira Bousbib Meital Eisenberger Akiva Haberman Matthew Leifer Yonatan Najman-Licht Leora Schloss
Lindsay Brandwein Renna Ekstein Jonathan Haims Jordan Levine Abigail Nelkin Eliana Schochet Louis Tuchman
Ranya Braverman Goldstein Lela Fand Matt Shapiro Hannah Vorchheimer
13” Seth Halper Hannah Levinson Noah Niyazov
Kyra Wachtenheim
Jonah Brooks Samuel Feder Leo Heller Liat Levy Judah Oppenheimer Rebecca Shillingford
Sophia Bruder Rita Feder Debo Helwaser Kobi Lindenbaum Adira Orbach Simone Shteingart Nathaniel Waxman
Amalia Cedar Kellner Danielle Feit Adina Hirschfield Ariella Linhart Emily Packer Naftali Silvera Aytan Waxman
Adi Chen Leah Fenster Tamar Hoch Jessica Major Jenna Parker Aron Simkhayev Moshe Wolff
Dani Chutter Jonah Garbuz Julia Hornblass Ryan Meiteles Max Parness Rosalie Sohn Ellie Zafrin

We are proud of our graduates who will attend outstanding yeshivot The universities and colleges our graduates will attend reflect their
and programs in Israel for the 2019-2020 academic year. commitment to learning, Jewish life and their individual aspirations.
Women’s Yeshivot: Men’s Yeshivot: Coed Programs: Barnard College Fashion Institute of Mercy College Queens College
Amudim Yeshivat Aish Gesher Bar Ilan XP Baruch College Technology University of Miami Rutgers University,
Midreshet Amit Yeshivat Ashreinu Beit Yisrael Binghamton Hofstra University University of Newark and
University Hunter College Michigan, Ann Arbor New Brunswick
Midreshet Emunah v’Omanut Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi Hevruta
Midreshet HaRova Yeshivat Hakotel Kivunim Brandeis University Indiana University, Muhlenberg College University of
Bloomington Southern California
Midreshet Lindenbaum Yeshivat Har Etzion Kol HaNearim Brown University New School
List College/Jewish SUNY Polytechnic
Midreshet Moriah Yeshivat Hesder Birkat Moshe - Nativ University of Chicago New York University
Theological Seminary Institute
Midreshet Torah V’Avodah Maale Adumim
City College University of North Syracuse University
Yeshivat Lev Hatorah We are proud of our students Macaulay Honors
Midreshet Torat Chessed Carolina, Chapel Hill
who will be serving in the IDF Columbia University College of the CUNY Technion – Israel
Migdal Oz Yeshivat Maale Gilboa
and Sherut Leumi next year. Cooper Union Northwestern Institute of
Shaalvim for Women Yeshivat Migdal HaTorah University of University
Cornell University Maryland, College Technology
Tiferet Yeshivat Orayta University of
Dartmouth College Park Washington
Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim Pennsylvania
University of University in St. Louis
Yeshivat Shaarei Mevaseret Zion Drexel University Princeton University
Massachusetts, Yale University
Yeshivat Torat Shraga Duke University Amherst Purchase College - Yeshiva University
Yeshivat Torah V’Avodah Emory University SUNY

Israel Guidance Department: Michael Courtney, Director of College Counseling

Laura Frank, Director Rabbi Akiva Block Eliana Mitnick Cari Cohen, Associate Director of College Counseling
Lisa Birnbaum Rabbi Shua Lindenbaum Shuli Taubes Lisa Birnbaum, Assistant Director of College Counseling
Rachel Margolin Jamie Vichinsky, Coordinator, College Counseling

SAR High School: 503 West 259th Street • Riverdale, New York 10471 • 718-548-2727 • www.sarhighschool.org
Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Principal Nancy Lerea, Associate Principal, Director of Admissions Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz, Associate Principal
Gloria Schneider, Director of General Studies Lisa Schlaff, Director of Judaic Studies Rabbi Daniel Kroll, Assistant Principal

It’s not just what you learn. It’s who you become.
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 27
Jewish World
Famed French-Jewish philosopher stays home
after being accosted on the streets of Paris
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
PARIS — As a French celebrity philosopher, Alain
Finkielkraut belongs to a tiny group of VIPs who get to lead
normal, paparazzi-free lives, despite having film star-like
recognizability here.
Unlike most countries, France makes celebrities out of
intellectual heroes. They’re revered, quoted, and featured
regularly on prime-time television and even in film.
But unlike many celebrities, intellectual stars are
spared the spying and harassment from the media and
over-eager fans. French VIP thinkers have enjoyed the
best of both worlds since before the 1930s, when the likes
of Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso could be seen rub-
bing shoulders with ordinary Parisians at Café de Flore in
the Latin Quarter here.
For Finkielkraut, though, this privileged existence has
become increasingly difficult because he is a Jewish sup-
porter of Israel.
Amid growing anti-Semitism and social unrest in France,
Finkielkraut, a best-selling author and university history
professor retired from the prestigious École Polytechnique
in Paris, has been accosted repeatedly by street protest-
ers in violation of the law and the unwritten pact between
French society and its brightest minds.
“I can no longer show my face on the street,” Finkielkraut,
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28 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
Alain Finkielkraut mulls a question at an appearance in Belgium on April 3, 2016. The philosopher
has been confronted by hostile crowds of yellow vest protestors.
69, told the magazine Marianne in April, after pro-
testers nearly prevented him from speaking at a Paris
university. His lecture was announced as canceled —
but it actually was moved, in a cat-and-mouse game
designed to throw off far-left demonstrators.
While Finkielkraut is reviled in some far-right cir-
cles for his Jewishness and pro-establishment sen-
timents, he increasingly has become reviled by the
radical left for his criticism of political Islam and sup-
port for Israel (but not its control of the Palestinians:
Finkielkraut is a founder of the dovish European Jew-
ish J Call group styled after J Street).
In 2016, amid booing and calls accusing him of
fascism, Finkielkraut and his wife were chased away
from a pro-labor protest against government auster-
ity polices.
But that incident paled in comparison to what hap-
pened in February, when marchers from the popu-
list yellow vests protest movement spotted him on a
street near his home on Boulevard du Montparnasse
in the heart of this capital city.
“I was curious to see the procession, so I came out-
side,” he said during a recent talk before members
of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jews. “I was
shocked by how quickly I was recognized.”
The encounter, which was filmed and widely shown
in the media, was brief but violent. Finkielkraut, a
tall, soft-spoken and at times self-effacing man sport-
ing a trademark disheveled hairstyle, is seen stand-
ing silently as men approach him to hurl insults while
dozens boo in the background.
“F••• off, you dirty piece of s••• Zionist,” one man
hollers, adding an obscenity about Finkielkraut’s late
mother, a Holocaust survivor from Poland. As police
usher Finkielkraut to safety, more men and women
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converge on him, screaming about Palestine, Zionism
— and his mother.
One of the accosters then points to his own scarf,
a kaffiyeh, or Palestinian shawl, shouting: “France
belongs to us! You racist! You hater! You’re going
to die!”
At the CRIF talk, Finkielkraut said the video is more
dramatic than how he experienced the exchange.
“I’ve been commended for my dignified demeanor
during this exchange, but I’m afraid that’s only an
interpretation of my attempt to understand what
these people were shouting,” he said.
The French public reacted with shock and disgust
to the incident, which was a flagrant violation of the
unwritten code of conduct vis-à-vis a celebrity philos-
opher. (It was ironic considering that Finkielkraut had
spoken out in favor of the yellow vests movement.) It
received front-page coverage and uniform condemna-
tions, even from Finkielkraut’s enemies.
Among them was Jean-Luc Melenchon, a far-left
populist with many supporters from the anti-estab-
lishment yellow vests. Melenchon, whose party has
faced repeated accusations of anti-Semitism — includ-
ing by Finkielkraut — called a special news confer-
ence over the incident. “His detestable opinions not-
withstanding, in that incident not his opinions were
attacked. It was denying his humanity,” Melenchon
said of the philosopher.
The incident prompted an indictment for racist
offensive discourse against the man who had said that
Finkielkraut was “going to die,” a 36-year-old convert
to Islam named Benjamin Weller.
Nothing about the incident suggests that France
is an anti-Semitic country, Finkielkraut said at the
CRIF talk. “On the contrary, as the response to this
1245 Teaneck Rd.
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 Jewish World

incident demonstrates the opposite,” he said. What multiculturalism. French Muslims.

it does show, though, is that “the historical role of In 2005, Finkielkraut was one of the first well-known His parents, Daniel and Janka, fled their native Poland
anti-Zionism is to install anti-Semitism as a form of thinkers to address what he called the “ethnic and reli- for France in the 1930s. In 1941, Daniel, a bag maker, was
anti-racism.” gious dimension” of rioting in heavily Muslim French betrayed by a neighbor in Paris, arrested by French offi-
He also interpreted Weller’s assertion about whom neighborhoods — a taboo at that time. cers working for the Germans, and sent to Auschwitz,
France belongs to as a claim that “France belongs to In April this year, Finkielkraut said that the “integration which he survived. Janka survived in hiding. Both their
Islam — not to the French, not at all. And I have no of immigrants has clearly failed” in France because last nuclear families were all murdered in the Holocaust.
place there. This is anti-Semitic violence that is new, year, 18 percent of newborn babies were given Muslim So when Alain was born in 1949, his parents commem-
that echoes other modalities of anti-Semitism.” names. orated their fathers in the distinctly French name of their
Finkielkraut has positioned himself at the fore- “The first gesture toward integration is a French first only child, the philosopher said during the CRIF talk.
front of those warning against a rise in violent name,” he opined. “And a name dignifying a different “But naming me Aharon-Lazar Finkielkraut would’ve
anti-Semitism in France, and a creeping tolerance identity is separatist.” been a bit too much of a good thing,” he said, drawing
of that anti-Semitism. In 2017, he joined other It’s a common mainstream sentiment in France, where laughs.
intellectuals in an open letter alleging a “denial of much of the country’s founding ethos seems to revolve Finkielkraut said his parents were “angry, the fury was
reality” by authorities and the media. It followed around a secular and unhyphenated French identity. there” for the betrayal they had experienced by France.
the relative silence about the murder of a Jewish But here, Finkielkraut was speaking out of his family’s “But they gave me a French first and middle name:
woman by her anti-Semitic Muslim neighbor. own experience as integration-seeking immigrants. He Alain for Aharon and Luc for Lazar,” he said.
(In April, he signed on to another letter wonder- often juxtaposes that story with the sectarianism of many JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY
ing whether “psychiatry is the new tool for denying
reality” over the unusual decision of the judge pre-
siding over that case to signal his support for the
defendant’s insanity plea.)
Such pessimistic questions are typical of
Finkielkraut.
During a now-famous private exchange in 2014,
Natan Sharansky, the former refusnik and one-time
chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, asked
Finkielkraut whether “European Judaism has a
future in Europe.” Finkielkraut replied with his own
question: “Does Europe have a future in Europe?”
Sharansky said the comeback showed “pessimism
much deeper than mine.”
Some consternation over the incident involving
Weller and Finkielkraut had little to do with Jews.
In a country where a jihadist in 2015 murdered
16 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine,
the intimidation of a writer on the street seemed
to many like a dangerous transgression. Bernard
Henri-Levy, another Jewish centrist French phi-
losopher, often is assigned police protection these
days. But then, by his own admission Levy is no
stranger to brawling.
The attacks on Finkielkraut, by contrast, were
particularly shocking because of the juxtaposi-
tion between their vulgarity and his own meek
demeanor and literary genius. A prolific and inno-
vative writer of essays and books about everything
from cultural identity to nuance in art, Finkielkraut
was admitted in 2009 to the Legion of Honor — his
country’s highest recognition. In 2014, he received
the ultimate honor for an academic when he was
named a member of the Academie Francaise, a
council of 40 greats elected for life.
Bearing such accolades, his admission to the
Academie alarmed and infuriated some critics,
including Pierre Nora, a left-of-center fellow histo-
rian, who also is Jewish. Nora accused Finkielkraut
of “provocative simplicity” in his letter welcoming
Finkielkraut to the forum.
Nora’s criticism notwithstanding, Finkielkraut is
an enemy of far-right populism: In 2017 he called
Bruno Gollnisch, a European Parliament lawmaker
for the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen, a suc-
cessor of French Nazi collaborationists.
But some left-wing critics — including pro-
test leader Frédéric Lordon, who in 2016 called
Finkielkraut “perhaps the most notorious prop-
agator of capitalist and identity-driven racist vio-
lence” — resent Finkielkraut’s speaking out early on
about the perceived failures and excesses of liberal
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 29
Jewish World

David Friedman gave Netanyahu half a nod
for the West Bank annexation. Now what?
RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON— David Friedman, Washington’s ambas-
sador to Israel, said that Israel “has the right to retain”
some of the West Bank.
Palestinians fumed, Jewish settlers rejoiced, and the
punditocracy predicted gloom and doom.
What was it exactly that Friedman said in a New York
Times interview? And what happens next? War, war
crimes trial, one state, two states?
What Netanyahu said
Before we get to what the ambassador said, we first have
to deal with what prompted his comment. The Times
asked Friedman to talk about Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s pre-election promise.
Days before the April 9 vote, a TV reporter ques-
tioned Netanyahu about what was next on the ter-
ritorial agenda now that the United States had rec-
ognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
“Will we move ahead to the next stage?” the
reporter asked.
“Yes. I will extend sovereignty,” the prime min-
ister responded. “But I don’t distinguish between
the settlement blocs and the isolated ones, because
each settlement is Israeli and I will not hand it over
to Palestinian sovereignty.
“I will not divide Jerusalem, I will not evacuate
any community, and I will make sure we control
the territory west of Jordan.”
As the Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon wrote on
Monday, Netanyahu appeared to be carefully avoid-
ing the term “annexation,” which could be a war
crime under international law. The problem with
that semantic maneuver is that there is no distinction
between “extending sovereignty” and “annexation.”

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What Friedman said
Friedman used neither the “annexation” or
“extend sovereignty” terms. Instead he spoke of
Israel “retaining” parts of the West Bank. “Under
certain circumstances, I think Israel has the
right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West

Wednesday, July 10, 2019 Bank,” he said.

On its face, this is not unusual: The Clinton, George
W. Bush, and Obama administrations all envisioned
6:30pm - 9:00pm Israel retaining parts of the West Bank — but under a
peace agreement, with mutual land swaps.
The difference is that the Times reporter, David
Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey Halbfinger, asked Friedman what the Trump
50 Eisenhower Drive, Paramus administration would do if Israel annexed the
West Bank unilaterally.
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problems than it solves,” Friedman said. “These
campaign to empower each one of us to
are all things that we’d want to understand, and I
help in a bleeding emergency. don’t want to prejudge.”
One way to interpret this is that the United States
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could see fit to accept a move by Israel to treat
• Hands-on demonstrations some areas of the West Bank as fully part of Israel,
short of formally annexing them. That represents a
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Comes in a nylon carry bag. Israeli settlers celebrated Friedman’s comments
as a signal that the Trump administration was not
debbieg@jfnnj.org gerardd@jfnnj.org interested in the two-state solution reviled by Isra-
201.820.3928 201.820.3978 el’s right-wing parties.
“It’s time Israel decided its future and it’s good
that we have a friendly power like the U.S. work-
ing with us,” Oded Revivi, who heads the Efrat
30 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019

U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman speaks at the AIPAC policy
conference in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 2019.
Regional Council, told Arutz Sheva,
a media outlet close to the settlement
movement.
Palestinians said Friedman’s remarks
were another reason to skip the summit
that President Donald Trump’s son-in-
law, Jared Kushner, has planned in Bah-
rain later this month, where he plans
to unveil the economic portion of his
Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
Friedman’s New York Times inter-
view made Palestinians, who already
are boycotting the Trump administra-
tion after its recognition of Jerusalem
as Israel’s capital, even more furious.
“In what logic does Friedman think
that Israel has the right to annex
parts of the West Bank?” the Palestin-
ian Authority Foreign Ministry said in
a statement.
Shoshana Bryen, the senior direc-
tor of the conservative Jewish Pol-
icy Center, said Friedman was being
appropriately cautious.
“Friedman takes the position that
you can’t comment on what you don’t
know about, which is the only proper
position for a diplomat to take,” she
said in an interview. “Wait for some-
thing to happen, see what happens,
hold it up against a variety of conse-
quences and make a decision.”
What happens next?
War crimes: The International Crim-
inal Court is considering Palestin-
ian Authority complaints that Israel
has committed war crimes, among
them actions related to its settle-
ment activity. Palestinians say Israel
violates international law because it
is treating as its own occupied terri-
tory seized during a war. The Trump
administration has made clear
repeatedly that it will vigorously
challenge any ICC attempt to charge
Israel, including administering sanc-
tions on ICC officials. Annexation
could force the ICC’s hand.
War: Trump’s Jerusalem announce­
ment helped trigger the sustained
Jewish World
right to exist,” she said in an email. Netanyahu will find difficult to resist,
“Palestinians would intensify efforts will be the ruin of the Zionist dream of
for equal citizenship and rights for all Israel as a democratic national home for
between the Mediterranean Sea and the the Jewish people.”
CHERISS MAY/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Jordan River, and their calls would gain Coincident to the Times’ interview
support internationally, including in the with Friedman, the Wall Street Journal
U.S. Ambassador Friedman’s green-light- ran a story on growing support among
ing of annexation, which Prime Minister SEE FRIEDMAN PAGE 44
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Jewish World
AIPAC, J Street support bipartisan effort
to restore Israeli-Palestinian peace funding
RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON— An array of pro-Israel
groups are backing a bipartisan bill that
would seed investment in the Palestin-
ian areas and restore funding to peace
dialogue programming that the Trump
administration removed as a punitive
measure against the Palestinians.
The bill reads in part as a rebuke to
the administration for ending funding
for dialogue groups last year. It also rein-
forces backing for a two-state solution at
a time when the Trump administration
and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net-
anyahu are playing down the prospect of
Palestinian statehood.
The bill, announced on Wednesday,
has drawn support from groups that
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32 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
Jewish Federations of North America
and its Israel advocacy affiliate, the
Israel Action Network, and the Jewish
Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella
for Jewish public policy groups.
Representative Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.),
the pro-Israel stalwart who represents
Rockland and part of Westchester coun-
ties and chairs the powerful U.S. House
of Representatives Appropriations Com-
mittee, and Representative Jeff Forten-
berry (R-Neb.), a member of the commit-
tee, lead the bill’s introduction.
In the Senate, it is being backed by
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who chairs
the foreign operations subcommittee of
the Appropriations Committee, along
with Cory Gardner (R-Col.), Tim Kaine
Representative Nita Lowey speaks at the AIPAC conference in Washington, (D-Va.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.).
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 Jewish World

emphasizes investment.
Kushner is convening a summit later this month
in Bahrain to include investment by Arab states in
Palestinian economic development.
“Although economic development is an import-
ant tool for stabilizing conflict-prone settings and
establishing connections between communities,
economic development by itself will not lead to
lasting peace,” the bill says in its preamble. “Peo-
ple-to-people peacebuilding programs further
advance reconciliation efforts by promoting greater
understanding, mutual trust, and cooperation
between communities.”
The bill also asserts, “It is the sense of Congress
that building a viable Palestinian economy is cen-
In her release, Lowey said that one of the purposes
of the fund was to lay the groundwork for a two-state
outcome.
“Time and time again, Congress has reiterated its sup-
port for a two-state solution that leads to two states for
two peoples,” she said. “To aid the pursuit of this dream,
this bipartisan legislation would stimulate economic
development and build community ties between Israelis
and Palestinians. There are no shortcuts to peace, and
JEWISH FEDERATION
this bill lays the foundation for this generation and those
to come to engage in the hard work of peace-building.”
Right-wing figures in Israel have lambasted some of
the groups under the ALLMEP umbrella for bringing
together former fighters on both sides, and families
of victims of violence on both sides, saying it creates a
false equivalence between Israeli soldiers and Palestin-
ian terrorists.
 JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY

2019
of Northern New Jersey
tral to the effort to preserve the possibility of a two-

ANNUAL
state solution.”
Lobbying for the bill was spearheaded by the Alli-
ance for Middle East Peace, an umbrella for doz-

MEETING
ens of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue groups and pro-
grams, including educational programs like Givat
Haviva, Hand in Hand, and Neveh Shalom. ALLMEP
swung into action last year after the Trump admin-
istration slashed the $10 million these groups get
annually as part of the hundreds of millions it was
ending in assistance to the Palestinians.
Wednesday, June 26
embassies.gov.il

7:00pm

It was never made Keynote Speaker

at

clear why the Trump Ambassador Jewish Federation

administration Dani Dayan
50 Eisenhower Drive, Paramus
Consul General of Israel
ended the relatively in New York
small amount
of funding for
dialogue groups.
Elections and
“At a moment when important norms around
resolution of this conflict are being eroded, and Presentation of
dehumanizing and violent attitudes — most mark-
edly among the young — are growing, this is a crit-
Community Awards
ical ‘win’ for our community, and its collective Leon Sokol
mission to counter such trends,” John Lyndon, ALL- Marge Bornstein Award
MEP’s incoming executive director, said in a state- for Outstanding Volunteerism
ment Wednesday.
The Trump administration cut the assistance in Ruth Gafni
part because the Palestinian Authority refused to Howard E. Charish Award
end subsidies to the families of Palestinians jailed for Professional Excellence
or killed for attacks on Israelis, but also because
Palestinian leaders opted out of peace talks after Aliza Strassman
Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Grinspoon Award for Excellence
It was never made clear why the Trump admin- in Jewish Education
istration ended the relatively small amount of Free and open to the community
funding for dialogue groups, which did not reach
the Palestinian Authority. Trump administration
Kosher dessert reception Suzette & Harry Diamond
insiders have suggested that the programs never
Annual Meeting Co-Hosts
proved their efficacy, because there was no Israe-
li-Palestinian peace. Supporters say the programs RSVP marlac@jfnnj.org
aim to tamp down tensions and create opportu-
Roberta Abrams Jason M. Shames
201.820.3915 President Chief Executive Officer
nities for Israeli-Palestinian interaction and leave
peace-making to diplomats.
Israel’s right wing prioritizes interactions with
Palestinian individuals over those associated with
dialogue groups, saying the latter reinforce a sense @JFNNJ
of Palestinian national identity at the expense of
peace-making.
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 33
Editorial
Truth — and goats
O abortion debate
n Shavuot, Rabbi Gordon
Tucker talked to us about
truth.
On the one hand, of course,
the abstract idea of truth always should
resonate with us, just as the Hebrew word
for truth, “emet,” rings throughout our
litugy. But on the other hand, as adults,
shouldn’t we assume that the searching
for and paying attention to the truth is a
bedrock value that needn’t be constantly
repeated? Aren’t we all grown-ups?
Apparently not.
Given that we find ourselves in a time
and place where lies are constant, almost
like oxygen, surrounding us always, we
have to remember their toxicity.
Yes, very often truth is subjective, but
it’s not always. There is objective truth.
Rabbi Tucker talked about the two
directions in which our culture seems
to be pulled right now; there are always
dangers, he suggested, but at different
times one or the other looms larger. Now,
the danger of legalism replacing truth —
of a firm dedication to process making it
possible that we might forget that process
can build a structure that no longer rests
on the basic truths that once supported
it, that it’s grown too high, too inflexible,
to unconnected to its roots for it to retain
its hold on us — is always present but it is
not the main danger we face.
That danger, Rabbi Tucker said, is of
nihilism. Old-school classical liars know
and respect the truth, he said; they work
hard to bury it, to deny it, to dance around
it, maybe even to kick it in the teeth, but
they know it’s there. Nihilists have no
idea what the truth is, and they don’t care.
They say whatever’s convenient. It might
even be true. They wouldn’t know.
To succumb to nihilism leads to
disaster.
I was thinking about that as I walked
my dogs past the goat enclosure in Riv-
erside Park.
At the end of last month, the River-
side Conservancy, a nonprofit group that
joins New York City’s Parks Department
Jewish Editor
Joanne Palmer
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James L. Janoff
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thejewishstandard.com
34 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
in caring for the park that runs along part
of Manhattan’s western border, next to
the Hudson, brought a herd of 25 goats
to a very hilly, rocky, weed- and poison-
ivy-filled patch in the park. The herd —
now down by eight, because they were
so efficient that they were going to be
done too soon, so some of them were
sent back home, awaiting reassignment
— sits or stands or walks or stares, with
those weird creepy sharp-edged rectan-
gular-pupilled goat eyes. They eat, they
consider their options (which seem to
consist of what to eat next), they remain
unconcerned about the dogs who stare at
them, even as their inaccessibility drives
many of the dogs outside the fence loudly,
barkingly crazy. The goats are serene.
They lead me to think about the nature
of truth.
These goats are in Manhattan. They’re
not in nature. Not really. They’re fenced
in. But the enclosure looks like nature.
It’s not a zoo. Not really.
So what is truth? For goats, truth is
whatever we tell them it is. But we’re
not goats.
For us, I think, Rabbi Tucker is right.
Goats can afford nihilism. We can’t.
As we move on from Shavuot, from our
commemoration of having been given
the Torah, which is truth, it would be
good if we could remember that. —JP
Correspondents
Warren Boroson
Lois Goldrich
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Abigail K. Leichman
Miriam Rinn
Dr. Miryam Z. Wahrman
Advertising Director
Natalie D. Jay
KEEPING THE FAITH
Judaism and the
J
une is when the U.S. Supreme imposes prison terms of up to 99 years
Court announces its most import- on physicians who perform an abor-
ant decisions and closes up shop tion, unless there is “a serious health
until the first Monday in Octo- risk” to the mother, or if the embryo
ber. The most anticipated rulings this “has a lethal anomaly” (defined in med-
month relate to challenges to the use of ical dictionaries as “a defect which is
excessive partisan gerrymandering to incompatible with life and leads to
distort election outcomes, and whether the natural death or euthanasia on
the controversial citizenship question humane grounds” of the fetus), or if
proposed for next year’s census should the fetus has attached itself outside
be allowed to remain there. the uterus (known as an ectopic preg-
Most eyes, however, already are nancy). There are no other exemptions,
looking ahead to June 2020, when the not even for pregnancies resulting
High Court most likely will decide the from rape or incest.
fate of its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. There also is the spate of so-called
In anti-abortion quarters it was “heartbeat” laws that various states
almost a given that the have passed, prohibit-
court, with its new con- ing abortions if a heart-
servative majority, would beat can be detected in
overturn the 46-year-old the fetus. Since this usu-
ruling that abortion is ally occurs around the
constitutional. A flood of sixth week of pregnancy,
severely restrictive abor- before most women
tion laws came pouring know they are pregnant,
down this year, in antic- this is an abortion ban in
ipation of that outcome. everything but name.
In late May, however, Shammai While Judaism does
the court shook up both Engelmayer not encourage abor-
sides of the abortion tion, its opposition is
divide. While it upheld on moral grounds, for
an Indiana law that required abortion the most part, not halachic ones
providers to bury or cremate fetal (although, as will be seen, this is open
remains, it avoided the main issue by to interpretation). It certainly does
refusing to consider whether to rein- not support “abortion on demand,” in
state a law outlawing abortion based the broadest application of that term,
on such fetal characteristics as race, but it favors the fewest governmental
sex, or disability. restrictions on the procedure’s avail-
The most likely candidate to come ability. That is because such restric-
before the court when its new term tions could clash with our “religious
begins on October 7 is a new and right” to allow an abortion in order
severely restrictive Alabama law to safeguard the health of the mother.
passed in mid-May. It seeks to skirt Roe Since most halachic authorities have a
v. Wade by targeting physicians rather more liberal view of what that means
than their pregnant patients. The law (many include a woman’s mental
Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades, now
in Fort Lee.
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Israeli Representative

health) than our government
ever will have, that religious
right is impeded by legislative
initiatives such as those we have
been seeing in recent months.
It is true that midrashic com-
mentaries and rabbinic lit-
erature painted an idealized
picture of the fetus (including
having it studying Torah while
in the womb), but they are
commentaries and individual
opinion; they are not law. Jew-
ish law does not recognize the
fetus as an actual human life
until the moment it begins to
emerge from its mother. Until
that moment, halacha does not
view the fetus as having an iden-
tity independent of its mother.
“Gufa he,” it is her body until
the baby’s head crowns, the
Talmud declares (see the Baby-
lonian Talmud tractate Arachin
7a). For that reason, as well,
the Talmud in Arachin denies
the father any right to decide
the embryo’s fate. The Sages of
Blessed Memory based these
decisions on Exodus 21:22.
Their interpretation of that
verse also allowed them to
choose between the life of the
mother and the life of the fetus
when a pregnancy endangers the
mother’s life. (See Mishnah Oho-
lot 7:6.) This is in spite of the fact
that the Talmud elsewhere states
that the fetus “is fully fashioned
on the 41st day” of pregnancy
(see BT Nidah 30a) and despite
ruling that “one life may not be
taken to save another” (see BT
Sanhedrin 72b). Maimonides cod-
ified the Oholot decision in his
Mishnah Torah, the Laws of Mur-
der 1:9, and the Shulchan Aruch
included it in Choshen Mishpat
425:2. Until it begins to be born,
the fetus is not a life, according
to established Jewish law.
This would seem to suggest
that Judaism, in fact, supports
a woman’s right to choose. After
all, “it is her body,” and the
fetus, regardless of its stage of
physical development, is not an
independent life. And, indeed,
the more liberal authorities
agree, albeit with reservations
on moral grounds. It is one thing
to allow — and even encourage
— a woman to have an abortion
because her health, mental or
physical, may be endangered by
the fetus; it is quite another to
look with dispassion on an abor-
tion performed when no danger
exists or, worse, is performed
for frivolous reasons.
In one respect, though, Juda-
ism does offer a backhanded
support for “a woman’s right to
choose” — if her health is at risk
and she refuses to abort. In that
case, a bet din theoretically can
order her to have one. (Enforc-
ing that is another matter.) It
would be more accurate, there-
fore, to say that Judaism sup-
ports a woman’s right to have an
abortion for reasons it considers
valid, while recognizing that the
decision on whether the reasons
are valid must be the mother’s.
The effect may be the same, but
the position is not.
Some authorities, of course,
insist abortion is proscribed by
Torah law itself. Their reasoning,
however, is convoluted. In con-
text, Genesis 9:6 states, “Who-
ever sheds man’s blood, by man
shall his blood be shed.” How-
ever, the Hebrew (shofech dahm
ha’adahm ba’adahm) literally
means “whoever sheds man’s
blood within man.” Said Rabbi
Yishma’el (BT Sanhedrin 57b):
“What is a man within another
man? An embryo in his moth-
er’s womb.”
As noted immediately after
this statement, however, the
Hebrew also can mean “whoso-
ever sheds man’s blood, within
man shall his blood be shed,”
thereby becoming, not a bibli-
cal command against abortion,
but a mandate for a method
of execution, for “how can
man’s blood be shed and yet be
retained within him? [Only] by
strangulation,” by which hang-
ing is meant.
What the rabbis holding such
opinions cannot answer is why,
if abortion is murder, it is never-
theless not classified as a capital
crime either in Exodus 21:22 or
any other Torah verse (none of
which deal directly with abor-
tion), or in the deliberations of
the Sages, and, in fact, carries
no punishment, as such.
Clearly, there is no easy
answer to where Judai sm
stands on the abortion ques-
tion, but we nevertheless have
a stake in preserving Roe v.
Wade and our voices need to
be heard: Tampering with it in
any substantive way infringes
on our First Amendment right
to freedom of religion.
Just like with freedom of
speech or freedom of the press,
tampering in any way with free-
dom of religion opens a door we
should never have to go through.
Opinion
I’VE BEEN THINKING
Venturing outside the
campus comfort zone
and beyond — Part I
A
short while ago I wrote about the
Davar Institute in Teaneck and
noted jocularly — but only some-
what jocularly — “that a basic qual-
ification of a Davar speaker is that he or she is
someone who would not be invited to speak in
any of Teaneck’s many Orthodox shuls.”
And in its closing program this season,
Davar lived up to this reputation by having
Hillel Halkin as its guest for Shabbat.
Halkin is a highly regarded Israeli essay-
ist, novelist, biographer, and literary critic,
though probably best known as a translator
into English of Yiddish and Hebrew literature.
Born into an observant family in Brooklyn
but not personally observant since his teens,
Halkin went on aliyah in 1970
and self identifies as a secular
Zionist. And it was as a secular
Zionist that he gave a Friday
evening talk to a group of 80 to
100 mainly Orthodox Zionists
on Zionism, Jewishness, and
Israel, both historically and
today. His presentation was, on
the one hand, thoughtful, artic-
ulate, and scholarly, and on the Joseph
other, at times provocative and Kaplan
to some, offensive.
Several attendees — not I —
felt so offended and uncomfortable by this
presentation that they did not return for the
Shabbat morning program. In a change of
plans, however, Halkin devoted that entire
time not to a new lecture but rather to a fol-
low-up no-holds-barred Q&A session. The
discussion was spirited, combative at times,
and often interesting and educational, even
if there was frequent disagreement.
In thinking about that program and speak-
ing to some who did not return on Shabbat
morning, I began to consider what it means
to be uncomfortable with ideas or their pre-
sentation and how best to react to those feel-
ings. And this led me to think about the cur-
rent much-discussed issue of how unpopular
and offensive ideas and speech are handled
on college campuses today, including the use
of trigger warnings and safe spaces.
But I did more than simply think about it.
Joseph C. Kaplan, a regular columnist, is a
longtime resident of Teaneck. His work has
appeared in various publications including
Sh’ma magazine, the New York Jewish Week, the
Baltimore Jewish Times, and, as letters to the
editor, the New York Times.
The opinions expressed here are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the newspaper’s editors, publishers,
or other staffers.We welcome letters to the editor. Send them to jstandardletters@gmail.com.
I spent several hours online reading articles,
op-eds, editorials, and blogs discussing and
debating this issue. And I came to one very
clear and definitive conclusion — boy (or girl),
is it complicated!
Interestingly, I found much agreement on
some of the broad strokes of the issue; the
devil, as is often the case, is in the details.
For example, most agree that in addition
to preparing students for their work life
after college, other important purposes of a
college education are to help them mature,
grow personally and intellectually, and
learn how to think critically and commu-
nicate clearly. And in order to accomplish
these goals, students need to be exposed to
new disciplines and concepts
and challenged by ideas and
people they are unfamiliar or
strongly disagree with and per-
haps even find offensive.
At times, though, some
of these goals can clash. For
example, while we want stu-
dents to learn critical thinking,
it’s often hard to think criti-
cally if you’re being insulted or
personally judged and found
wanting. So how do you find
the proper balance?
One possible answer is a safe space program.
But here we run into a definitional problem.
Some see safe space as a cocoon where only
acceptable speech is allowed and uncomfort-
able or disagreeable ideas and issues cannot
be discussed. Such safe spaces, especially if
they extend to the classroom, impinge on the
concept of freedom of speech, which, beyond
its constitutional mandate with respect to gov-
ernmental action, is a critical element in the
American ethos.
Others, however, see safe space as places
where students can let down their guard,
places they can visit to recharge themselves,
places where they are surrounded by peo-
ple who understand and do not judge them,
places like Hillel or Black Houses, or Catholic
or Women’s Centers.
In the first definition, where safe space
runs amok, not only are there problems
with freedom of speech, but critical think-
ing is inhibited because students’ beliefs
and values aren’t challenged, thus prevent-
ing the possibility of their forming new
ones. Students may feel safe, but they’re not
being educated adequately.
SEE COMFORT ZONE PAGE 37
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 35
Opinion
A laboratory for alignment and partnership
L
ast week our nation commemorated the 75th
anniversary of D-Day. The allied invasion at
Normandy changed the trajectory of World
War II and truly transformed our world.
Years ago, my father, of blessed memory, shared
with me his experience on that very day, as a cap-
tain in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying a supply plane
from North Africa back to England. He recalled look-
ing down as he crossed the Channel, and seeing the
armada, manned by his fellow servicemen, approach-
ing the French coast for the largest amphibious inva-
sion in history.
He spoke with great appreciation about the essen-
tial role each person played in the success of this mis-
sion, and how proud we should be of their dedication
and sacrifice.
The media coverage of D-Day reminded us of the
incalculable human cost represented by this effort,
and the profound gratitude we have for those who
paid the ultimate price for our freedom. It is astound-
ing to try to comprehend what was achieved by this
single-minded, focused, and aligned effort. The allies
spent much time in advance strategizing, planning,
assembling, preparing, and training for this coordi-
nated assault. Less than a year later, Hitler was dead,
the Nazis were defeated, and the concentration
camps were liberated.
Less than three years later, the modern State of
Israel was declared.
Perhaps by serendipity, I spent D-Day this year
in the concluding session of a three-day interna-
tional “laboratory” convened by the Jewish Agency
for Israel. Distinguished communal leaders, both
A new visa to bridge the silicon wadi
The E2 could usher in an era of Israeli-American cooperation and investment
O
ver the course of the last 30 years, Israel
has positioned itself as a leader in the
development of some of the world’s
most promising technological advance-
ments. Yet despite boasting a pool of talented pro-
grammers, engineers, and data scientists, Israeli
entrepreneurs in the tech industry have been lim-
ited in the scope and nature of the work they could
perform in the United States due to limited access
to employment visas.
With the introduction of the E2 investor visa
between Israel and the United States in May of 2019,
however, things are about to change.
The E-2 visa is reserved for citizens of select foreign
countries who have invested, or are actively in the
process of investing, a substantial amount of capital
in a bona fide enterprise in the United States. Certain
employees of such companies also are potentially eli-
gible, if they can show they are executives or supervi-
sors, or that they have certain special qualifications.
The E-2 visa is a great one to have, and the options
to renew it generally are easier than for many other
visas. Applicants should be prepared to prove that
the business is at least 50 percent owned, directly or
indirectly, by Israeli citizens. Given the complexity of
36 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
volunteer and professional, came
together, representing 15 countries from
around the world, to consider, focus,
and align efforts to better connect the
Jewish people.
While in no way comparing our situa-
tion today to the 1940s, our Jewish world
confronts challenges that at times may
seem almost insurmountable. Anti-Sem-
itism spreads across the globe. Israel has Jeremy J.
become a toxic issue on college cam- Fingerman
puses and beyond. Often we fight among
ourselves, in ever more disturbing and
divisive ways. We make choices that fuel the growing
fragmentation, negativity, and disconnection. We feel
a growing anxiety about forces from the outside, and
increased frustration emanating from within.
Participating with 150 colleagues from around the
world in the JAFI Laboratory inspired me and served as
a reminder of the essential role we each play in strength- selves on the front line to protect us. They remind us
ening Klal Yisroel. Looking forward, I choose to remain
ever the optimist.
In that spirit, let me share three examples of issues
we discussed during the three days together and that
our local community has started to address. While
admittedly small initial efforts, they give me hope as
we work to address our larger communal challenges
together, and build a deeper connection with our
global Jewish community.
1. Safety and security of our communal institutions.
Over the last few years, our community has priori-
tized safety and security. In particular, our Bergen
many holding structures, this require-
ment sometimes can get tricky.
In addition, the reviewer will have to
be satisfied that the investment is sub-
stantial. What “substantial” means in
this context is highly dependent on the
particular business in question, and the
calculus will be very different for tech-
nology startups as opposed to capital-in-
tensive factories, for instance. Michael
So far, the news has been quick to Wildes
spread among Israelis. My office has
been inundated with calls from people
excited to take advantage of this new visa option,
and to bring their talents and families to America’s
shores. With processing times for many types of visas
being delayed and much uncertainty about President
Trump’s approach toward immigration, this new
opening is sure to become a hot ticket.
As both an immigration attorney and the mayor of
a dynamic city that is just across the Hudson River
from New York City, I am particularly intrigued by
how Israeli technology promises to modernize infra-
structure. At a recent “smart cities” conference I
attended, it was clear that innovations that emphasize
County Jewish institutions have bene-
fited from support and guidance pro-
vided by Jewish Federation of Northern
New Jersey and Jewish Federations of
North America, including grants from
Department of Homeland Security.
Increased federal funding will help, as
will our own philanthropic investment
and learning from our global Jewish
communities, to provide training, site
security enhancements, and a culture
of communal safety.
Local synagogues have partnered
with Community Security Service to train and protect
our thriving congregations. In fact, on Thursday eve-
ning, Englewood’s Congregation Ahavath Torah hon-
ored its CSS leaders and volunteers — past, present,
and future — who protect our community each Shab-
bat. These people dedicate their time and put them-
that we each have a role to play in the success of our
communal mission.
2. Connections with Israel and the Jewish world.
Addressing the growing divide between Israel and
the diaspora must remain at the top of our agenda.
Research confirms that a mifgash — spending time
with others — fosters lasting connections. Perhaps the
reason why Jewish camp has long been so effective
in creating an emotional attachment to Israel is the
presence of Israeli shlichim, counselors, living in the
bunks and participating fully in the camp experience
with campers and other counselors alike.
interconnected data technologies and
the internet of things are fueling growth
in Israel; there’s little doubt that these
advances can be enormously beneficial
to the next generation of development
in the United States. The challenge,
however, is in bringing talented engi-
neers and developers into the country.
Traditional nonimmigrant visas such
as the H-1B, the O-1, and the employ-
ment-based green card categories
often are not viable options for many
extremely qualified Israelis working
in the tech sector. One reason is because many of
these visas, such as the H-1B, require degrees. Isra-
el’s national service program often sees some of its
best tech minds opting out of traditional educational
paths, leveraging skills they honed while in the mili-
tary to find jobs in the private sector.
This is particularly true for elite programmers and
security experts who worked on cutting-edge intelli-
gence and cybersecurity projects for the famed Unit
81, an incubator for some of Israel’s most successful
hi-tech innovators and entrepreneurs. Similarly, the O-1
and employment-based extraordinary and exceptional

I have spent time in Washington,
D.C., over the past few years in part-
nership with the American Camp
Association, successfully advocating
for the continuance (and expansion)
of the J-1 cultural exchange visas that
allow Jewish counselors from Israel
and around the world to spend sum-
mers creating connections and build-
ing lasting relationships. We need to
create more of these opportunities
for community members of all ages
to connect more deeply with Israeli
and our global Jewish brethren.
3. Breaking down barriers.
During our three days together, we
listened to one another with respect
and curiosity — appreciating the
many complexities and shared vul-
nerabilities — exchanging ideas and
approaches openly, with both can-
dor and care. I felt incredibly stim-
ulated to be in a true laboratory,
with engaged, dedicated, and expe-
rienced partners, seeking strength
from the collective.
Our rapidly changing world
requires adaptive leadership, acceler-
ating innovation based on an iterative
process of observing and learning.
On behalf of the field of Jewish camp,
we try to include diverse voices and
ability visas require compelling evi-
dence of an applicant’s elite creden-
tials in multiple categories, such as
coverage in major media or member-
ship in selective professional groups,
that often is uncommon for the major-
ity of even the most talented workers
in the tech sector.
The E-2 visa offers a real opportu-
nity for the United States and Israel
to make the most of technological
advances that will directly benefit
citizens of both countries. What’s
more, it represents one of the few
areas in immigration where there is
true bipartisan support. The seeds
for this important development were
sown by the prior administration,
while the move to finally adopt the
E-2, long stalled while negotiators
in the United States and Israel ham-
mered out a reciprocal agreement
that would benefit American inves-
tors seeking to do business in Israel,
seems to have been motivated by the
consider a range of perspectives as
we design and pilot possible solu-
tions for field-wide issues. I know
that by breaking down the barriers
between us, being open to experi-
mentation, and sharing knowledge
and resources, we have been able
to address and overcome the similar
issues we face.
While the anniversary of D-Day
reminded me of the somber costs
of battle, it also inspired me to con-
sider what can be achieved by such
an aligned, concerted effort. As we
continue to tackle the growing chal-
lenges of fragmentation and division,
I hope the smaller examples as I have
shared here can help build confi-
dences and support.
When we work together in partner-
ship and aligned with purpose and
focus, we can change the trajectory
of our world and co-create a stronger,
more connected Jewish future.
Jeremy J. Fingerman has been the CEO
of Foundation for Jewish Camp since
2010, and is a vice president of JPRO
Network, the network of North American
Jewish communal professionals. Jeremy
and his family recently moved from
Englewood to Fort Lee. Write to him at
Jeremy@jewishcamp.org.
current president’s avowed dedica-
tion to deal-making.
Regardless of who gets the credit
for the implementation of the E-2
visa, the benefits will be widespread.
2019 marks the beginning of an
exciting new step in the relationship
between the United States and Israel.
Through shared investment and
innovation, both countries will be
able to take advantage of new tech-
nologies that promise to improve
efficiency across a wide range of
industries and raise the quality of
life for millions. The E-2 visa marks
the first step on this exciting journey
toward an exciting future.
Michael Wildes is the mayor of
Englewood and the author of “Safe
Haven in America: Battles to Open the
Golden Door.” He is a former federal
prosecutor and an adjunct professor
of immigration law at the Benjamin
N. Cardozo School of Law.
Comfort zone
FROM PAGE 35
Under the latter definition, however,
not only is safe space a small, though
perhaps essential, refuge in a large and
often intimidating environment, but
sometimes the safe feeling engendered
there by acceptance and non-judgment
may result in the type of conversations
that can make college campuses vibrant.
As the president of Northwestern Uni-
versity has noted, the most spirited
arguments over the viability of a two-
state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict often may take place in a Hillel
House, and strong debate over women
serving as priests in the Catholic Center.
On the third hand, this latter type of safe
space can turn into an echo chamber like
Fox News or MSNBC, and most probably
there are fourth and fifth hands as well.
Are there no
exceptions?
What about anti-
Semites? Nazis?
Those who are
anti-Muslim or
anti-Islam?
Holocaust
deniers? White
nationalists and
other racists?
BDS supporters?
As I said, it’s complicated. Very little
black and white. Lots and lots of gray.
And there are more questions; many
more than easy answers. Who’s allowed
to speak on campus? Everyone wants
controversial speakers, diverse speak-
ers, speakers who will challenge stu-
dents’ deeply held ideas and ideals. And
almost no respected leader or thinker (as
opposed to some students and outside
agitators) supports use of the heckler’s
veto to drown out or physically bar speak-
ers from presenting their views. (I have
more to say about this and other ideas in
this column that I’m saving for Part II.)
But there is a but. Are there no excep-
tions? What about anti-Semites? Nazis?
Those who are anti-Muslim or anti-Islam?
Holocaust deniers? White nationalists and
other racists? BDS supporters? Should
they be barred from campuses?
And even if you answer yes about excep-
tions, which ones? And who fits into what
category? Is Milo Yiannopoulos a welcome
Opinion
conservative thinker or an unwelcome
white nationalist and agent provoca-
teur? Is Louis Farrakhan a welcome reli-
gious and African-American leader or an
unwelcome anti-Semite, homophobe,
and misogynist? Are Robert Spencer and
Pamela Geller welcome fearless advocates
of free speech or unwelcome anti-Muslim
bigots? Are Linda Sarsour and Omar Bar-
ghouti welcome anti-Israel proponents or
unwelcome anti-Semites?
Let me quickly note that by “wel-
come anti-Israel proponents” I don’t
mean that I support or welcome anti-Is-
rael advocates in my home or shul. But
if we truly mean that part of a college’s
job is to challenge its students with dif-
ficult, uncomfortable, perhaps even
offensive, ideas, that would entail wel-
coming anti-Israel speakers on campus.
Welcoming and then challenging them
in an appropriate manner, of course.
I’ve been out of college for more than
50 years, all my kids also have graduated,
and my grandkids are still in elementary
school or younger. The question of how
to deal with this issue on our college cam-
puses therefore is somewhat theoretical
for me. But listening to Hillel Halkin at
Davar was not. So I wondered why I didn’t
follow the example of my non-returning
friends, for whose opinions and wisdom I
have a deep respect.
And I came up with three reasons.
First, while I found some of the substance
of what Halkin said offensive, I didn’t feel
personally insulted or offended. That well
may be a personal failing of mine — per-
haps I should have taken it personally. But
it is what it is — and I didn’t.
Second, I realized that although I think
I’m fairly well educated on Jewish and
Israeli matters, I’ve never had a serious
opportunity to hear a well-educated,
highly articulate, extremely intelligent,
and deeply thoughtful secular Zionist tell
me directly what he and his community
think about issues that are so very import-
ant to me. It was about time, and I don’t
know whether I’ll have any future such
occasions. I therefore grabbed the oppor-
tunity to listen, to engage, to re-examine
my own views, and in this case, to con-
firm my position.
And third, while I might not be in col-
lege, it’s still important for me to listen to
viewpoints that are not my own, and not
necessarily to approach the landscape
of 2019 and maintain my opinions solely
with the backdrop and knowledge that
helped me form these opinions so many
years ago. As my millennial daughter
wisely pointed out to me, digging in one’s
heels as a 70-year-old is no better than
doing it as a 20-year-old.
I have a lovely home in which to spend
a comfortable Shabbat afternoon. I can
live with some discomfort in other ven-
ues. I know it’s good for my mind, and
perhaps even for my soul.
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 37
Opinion
Going golem ... or moving the letters around
T
he recent controversy over the final season
of the HBO series “Game of Thrones” brings
to mind the essay by Michael Weingrad pub-
lished in the Spring 2010 issue of the Jewish
Review of Books: “Why There is No Jewish Narnia.”
Weingrad poses that question, noting that fantasy lit-
erature represents “an entire literary genre — perhaps
the only such genre — in which Jewish practitioners
are strikingly rare.” He goes on to note that he “cannot
think of a single major fantasy writer who is Jewish, and
there are only a handful of minor ones of any note. To
no other field of modern literature have Jews contrib-
uted so little.”
Weingard speculates on the reasons for our lack of
representation in this area, which include our histori-
cal memory. While Christians retain a romantic image
of the medieval period as a time of knights in shining
armor following a code of chivalry, Jews were shut
out from this aristocratic system and often victimized
by Crusaders claiming to be on a mission from God.
For our people, modernity represented the moment
of emancipation and acceptance as citizens in newly
formed republics, with progress in politics following
progress in science and technology. No accident, then,
that there have been a great many Jewish science-fic-
tion writers, not the least of them Isaac Asimov, the
most prolific writer in any genre in American history.
While the question of whether there ever will be a
Jewish “Chronicles of Narnia” or “Game of Thrones”
remains to be seen — I imagine that someday there will
Democrats and Republicans: The Four Questions
A
diatribe has been circulating on the inter-
net since March. Its title is “One Pissed Off
Jew,” and it starts as follows:
“DEAR JEWISH AMERICAN LIBERALS,
It’s time for ‘the talk’.”
“The talk” consists of a harsh critique of — an
assault on — Jewish support for the Democratic Party.
One of my favorite lines from the piece is “You’re
forever for FDR, even though it was the Republi-
can Ronald Reagan who delivered approximately
6,000,000 Soviet Jews from bondage of Anti-Semitic
leftist oppression.” That statement, the part about
Reagan, is an exaggeration worthy of POTUS 45, as
if Reagan were a modern day Moses, single-handedly
responsible for glasnost and release of Soviet Jewry.
It also assumes that Russian anti-Semitism has been a
political ideology, when in fact it was, has been, and
still is a deeply cultural and religious phenomenon
dating from the time of czarist empires, or perhaps
even before.
Another part of the letter tells us “You voted for
Hillary Clinton, Democratic Presidential (sic) for
2016, who by her own admission, was mentored by
KKK member Senator Byrd…l You vote for the party
that gave us the KKK, David Duke and white suprem-
acy.” Hmmm, a potshot at the 1950s party of George
Wallace and the Dixiecrats, the same party that was
transformed by Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964. At
38 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
be — for now I do want to point to one
Jewish legend that has enormous fantasy
potential — the golem.
There are many variations of the leg-
end. The gist of it is a story about a
human being creating an artificial being.
A golem’s body typically is made out of
clay, following the description in the
Book of Genesis of God creating Adam’s
body out of clay. In the story of Creation, Lance Strate
God breathes life into Adam’s body. In
Hebrew, the words denoting breath and
wind also mean spirit and soul; breath is intimately
associated with life itself, and also with speech.
A golem typically is brought to life not by breath or
speech, but by the written word — it may be a series of
letters in the Hebrew alphabet or God’s name inserted
into the body. Letters also are used to spell out the
Hebrew word for truth, emet. Usually they’re on the
golem’s forehead. The golem can be deactivated by
erasing the first letter, the aleph, leaving the Hebrew
word met, meaning death. This reflects the idea of the
Hebrew alphabet as sacred, and certain inscriptions as
holy, for example, the Torah and mezuzahs.
A golem is not human. In some versions it cannot
speak — speech is the defining characteristic of our spe- follows the classic trajectory of a slave rebellion, with
cies — while in others eventually it turns on its creator, our own creations turning against us.
sometimes because it follows instructions too literally.
The story of the golem, then, often is a story of hubris, the cutting edge of contemporary technology. On the one
of human beings trying to play God, of trying to harness
the time, LBJ admitted that the Vot-
ing Rights Act would disembowel the
Democratic Party — and he was right.
Yesterday’s Dixiecrats are today’s red
Republicans.
And finally, the writer equates the
Democratic Party with extremism, say-
ing, “Today is 2019, not the 1950s. And
after the devastating failure of your
Party to stand with you unequivocally Eric Weis
against the rabid Nazi-era anti-Semitism
of Democratic Congresswoman Omar …
you march with anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour and
Tamika Mallory, women who rub shoulders with Far-
rakhan & Al Sharpton, men who proclaim your chil-
dren to be “Satanic Jews.”
Of course, there is a logical disconnect between accus-
ing 2019 Democrats of maintaining a 1950s mentality,
and then claiming that the 1950s were somehow a better
period. And factually speaking, Reverend Al used cheap
(his words, in a 2019 apology) anti-Semitic rhetoric in
1991, but he never sank to the level of Louis Farrakhan.
And no, most Democratic Jewish women do not march
with Linda Sarsour; in fact, the Women’s March suffered
a schism over this issue.
For every Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), there is a rabid, rac- — is Jewish, compared to 1.7 percent of the general
ist bigot on the other side. Or maybe more. Steven King
(R-Iowa) comes to mind. “The talk” adds heat, not light.
power that is beyond our control. It often
is a story of unintended effects.
The best known version of the story
takes place in the city of Prague during
a time of oppression and pogroms. The
golem there is brought to life by Rabbi
Judah Loew to protect the Jewish com-
munity. We can understand the wish
fulfillment fantasy behind this variation.
“Der Goylem” by H. Leivick, a Yiddish
dramatic poem and play, identifies Rabbi
Loew’s golem with the legend of the Mes-
siah ben Joseph, the messiah from the House of Joseph,
who will precede the messiah from the House of David,
and sometimes is associated with conflict and war.
The legend of the golem in all probability influenced
Mary Shelley in the creation of what often is considered
to be the first science-fiction novel, “Frankenstein, or,
The Modern Prometheus.” Prague, after all, is not too
far from the setting of Shelley’s story, Geneva, and the
Czech connection undoubtedly influenced Karel Čapek
in the writing of the play “R.U.R.” The initials stand for
Rossumovi Univerzáln’ Roboti, translated as Rossum’s
Universal Robots. This play introduced the term robot,
which is a Czech word for worker, and the narrative
The golem narrative is even more resonant today, given
hand, there has been a great deal of attention paid to the
There is extremism in both parties. The
right side (neo-Nazis and their like) hates us
more and engages in violence (to wit, the
massacre in Pittsburgh). Lefties (like Omar
and such) engage in bad speech, which the
media picks up all too willingly. There is a
difference. Remember the saying, “sticks
and stones...?”
Rants like “the talk” will never con-
vince me that mainstream Democrats
like Joe Biden and Michael Bennet
are anti-Semites, or that the party has
veered away from support of Israel. Bennet cannot
be anti-Semitic, since he is a member of the tribe. In
fact, his mother survived the Shoah in Poland, and
her family was in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Aside from anecdotal evidence, “the talk” caused me
to start counting heads in the Congress, to determine
how many Jews are in each party. It turns out that there
is a significant disparity between the two parties.
12 percent of elected Democratic Party represen-
tatives and senators are Jews. 0.8 percent of the
Republican Party in Congress is Jewish (with two
congressmen, and zero members of the Senate).
6.8 percent of the entire Congress — both houses
population, with a 15:1 ratio between Democrat and
Republican representation.

development and implementation of artificial intelligence, from
self-driving cars to facial recognition and surveillance to the
easy generation of fake videos that appear to be utterly authen-
tic. It’s not just about killer robots, terminators, and homicidal
HAL; Google searches and Amazon recommendations also are
types of AI. All these applications are brought to artificial life by
a form of writing — this time not a holy word or name or sacred
letters, but the zeroes and ones of computer code, which again
follow instructions to the letter, entirely literally.
And when it comes to the question of emet or truth, our
social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
so on come to mind as mechanisms that are so very effec-
tive at disseminating falsehoods, making them forms of com-
puter code that have turned a blessing into a curse.
On the other hand, we have unlocked the code of life,
DNA, and gained the ability to edit our own genes. Just
recently it was revealed that a Chinese scientist engaged in
gene editing to create “CRISPR babies” resistant to HIV infec-
tion had inadvertently shortened those children’s likely lifes-
pans. DNA is in a sense the sacred script inside our bodies
that animates us, and the question of whether clones have
souls also could be framed as whether clones are golems.
But with gene editing, we are in the process of turning our
children and so ultimately ourselves into modern golems.
Admittedly, all this better fits in with science fiction than
the fantasy genre, but my point is that a fantasy story featur-
ing the concept of the golem is one that would have great
relevance for the present day, just as Tolkien’s war of the
ring appealed to post-World War II readers, and “Game of
Thrones,” with its cynical view of conniving characters and
“The talk” is an
irrational and illogical
attempt to sell a bill
of goods to 70 percent
of American Jews who
either are Democrats
or identify with the
Democratic Party.
That’s just math, not opinion.
These statistics prompt four questions:
1. How can so many of these smart, successful Jewish
people in the Democratic Party be wrong or misguided?
2. Why do only two out of 533 members of Congress
both identify as Jewish and belong to the Republican
Party of 2019?
3. Why was Eric Cantor, arguably the highest-ranking
Jewish Republican in decades, drummed out of today’s
Republican Party?
4. With such a strong percentage of representation, how
Opinion
And when it comes to
the question of emet or
truth, our social media
platforms, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and
so on come to mind
as mechanisms that
are so very effective at
disseminating falsehoods.
political machinations, turned out to be the perfect narrative
for the McConnell, Ryan, and Trump era.
Whether the golem legend can serve as the basis of the kind
of grand fantasy that Tolkien or Lewis created, or even the
more mediocre version written by George R.R. Martin, will
depend on the inspiration and imagination of Jewish writers.
But I would suggest that the story, like the golem itself, has
a life of its own, and sooner or later it just may write itself.
Dr. Lance Strate of Palisades Park is a professor of
communication and media studies at Fordham University in the
Bronx and past president of Congregation Adas Emuno in Leonia.
can the Democratic Party possibly be accused of anti-Sem-
itism? I am sure that Nancy Pelosi and others would like
Omar and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) to be quiet, but the media
focuses attention on them because it sells papers. Does that
mean the Party is represented by these people? Hardly.
“The talk” is an irrational and illogical attempt to sell
a bill of goods to 70 percent of American Jews who either
are Democrats or identify with the Democratic Party. 30
percent of American Jews identify as Republican. The big-
ger question, in the aftermath of Charlottesville and Pitts-
burgh, is why.
To support the accusation that Democrats are the new
anti-Semitic party, and that Republicans are our saviors (thank
you, sweet Jesus) flies in the face of reality. It is nothing more
than total malarkey. There’s a lot of that flying around these
days. As it says in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), “Ayn chadash tahat
haShemesh.” There is nothing new under the sun.
Eric Weis of Wayne graduated from Bowdoin College and
was an early political junkie. He met Tom Hayden of SDS,
and worked with Representative Peter Rodino, Senators
Eugene McCarthy and Edmund Muskie, and later served in
the U.S. government with the Department of Commerce and
the U.S. Navy. His academic degrees include economics, with
a career spent in business administration. In Jewish life,
Weis has been the president of the Federation of Jewish Men’s
Clubs New Jersey Region and now is on the boards of FJMC,
Mercaz USA, and the American Zionist Movement.
Letters
It’s the pledge ... period!
Rabbi Craig Scheff ’s op-ed exposes yet
another example of the loose grasp of
language pervading society today (“I
pledge allegiance to three flags,” June
7). Here he expatiates on the three enti-
ties to which he pledges allegiance: the
United States; the State of Israel; the
LGBTQ movement. The problem with
this usage is that it ignores the status
of the term as a legal one, denoting the
duty of loyalty which a citizen owes
to one’s government in return for that
government’s protection. Therefore,
it would seem that the only entity to
which the rabbi could properly pledge
such fealty would be the United States.
It is a bit jarring to view this lapse com-
ing from a clergyman; for as the saying
goes, if gold rusts, what will iron do?
Sanford Kluger
Englewood Cliffs
Who will love him
when we’re gone?
My wife and I are elderly (ages 81 and
79) adoptive parents of a young man
of special needs. He is 32 years old. He
suffers from a disorder in the autism
spectrum.
He is high functioning, friendly,
and socially charming. He resides in
a group home and attends day pro-
grams in which he functions well and
has many friends. Although he is phys-
ically able, in good health, and intelli-
gent, he is not able to pursue gainful
employment.
We are devoted to him, as is he to us.
He is dependent upon us to provide the
the loving attention he craves.
Our health is declining, and we fear
for his future.
We are hopeful of finding a person
who is willing and able to develop a
longstanding loving relationship with
him that will fill the lonely emptiness
that he will face when we are gone.
Jerrold Terdiman M.D.
Woodcliff Lake
More than
411,000 likes.
Like us
on Facebook.
facebook.com/jewishstandard
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 39
Kosher Crossword
“TIKKUN OLAM” BY YONI GLATT
KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MANAGEABLE
Across
1. Dayan of note
6. Elected officials in Isr.
9. Arab leader
13. Like some gloves
14. Ending for “cash” or “front”
15. Created
16. rRoMbSuAN (singer)
18. Eye part
19. A-line designer
20. Give out
21. UwsiiNlVlEaSm (athlete)
25. Most white
26. “___ peanut butter sandwiches!”
(“Sesame Street” line)
27. “Olam” preceder, in song
28. Marc of fashion
30. Green prefix or a homonym of
28-Across
33. Tikun Olam... or a hint to solving
this puzzle’s themers
37. Three, in Torino
38. It might have a job done on it
39. Many a June celebrant, for short
40. “Breaking Bad” org.
41. British noblemen
43. drSNaeRlTeUAs (car salesmen)
48. Mossad operative
49. Doc Holliday’s pal
50. Open-___ (like some Naot)
51. mErAoHwRT (invertebrate)
56. Taylor who might compete with
19-Across
57. Sandler hosted it for the first time
in ‘19
58. NBC, of 57-Across
59. Market in the Big Apple: Abbr.
60. “Gangnam Style” singer
61. Loses it
The solution to last week’s puzzle
is on page 46.
40 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019
Down
1. Org. for Bregman and Braun
2. Blade for the water
3. Name that fits between R and V?
4. Kosher bird
5. Autobiography of Moses, maybe
6. Cat’s sound (var.)
7. Olympian Strug
8. Many June celebrants, for short
9. Clarke who faced a lot of fan back-
lash in May
10. She was once married to Donald
11. “When pigs fly” is one
12. Keeps the Sabbath
17. “Gorillas in the ___” (Dian Fossey
book)
20. Let
21. From his point of view the Jedi
were evil
22. Split to unite?
23. “99 Luftballons” German singer
24. George or Geneva
25. Role
28. Ewoks and Na’vi, in brief
29. Argentina’s Guevara
30. Unwanted computer message
31. Tribes
32. 7-2 or 18-1, e.g.
34. Like some gas elements
35. Gray-spotted horse
36. Mike Myers voices a famous one
40. Famed fictional Aussie of the 80’s
41. Milhouse’s toon friend
42. Pack leaders
43. “Adversary” in Hebrew
44. “... the ___ of defeat”
45. NCSY and USY participants
46. College list
47. What some might call Passover
starting in March
51. Subj. of parapsychology
52. Make like Gideon against the
Midianites
53. Singer Rita
54. Sales agent, for short
55. “ ___ Miniver”
The Frazzled Housewife
Hide and seek
T
he year was
1979, and I was
at Grossingers
for winter vaca-
tion. With me, I brought
my two favorite pieces of
jewelry at the time — the
gold ID bracelet that had
my name on the front
(Banji Dawn, not to be
confused with the other Banji
Banjis) and signed “Love, Ganchrow
Grandma and Grandpa”
on the back. The other
item was a silver heart locket that said
“Love, Mama and Papa” on the back.
I treasured both of them, because
they made me feel very loved and very
grown up.
Of course, that winter vacation
would be the last time I ever saw these
precious treasures, because someone
on the cleaning staff decided that she
needed them more than I did. Maybe
her name also was Banji Dawn, or
maybe she just missed her mama and
papa. We will never know. And then we
say “It’s a kapara!” Because in our reli- house to go to the airport.
gion, if you lose something expensive or
important to you, it prevents something
really bad from happening to you. Am
I understanding the concept correctly?
In any event, I have gone on to lose
many other things in my life. Earrings,
necklaces, important letters — the
usual. I try to keep things organized, I
really do. But with the combination of
getting older and trying to keep every-
thing in its place, sometimes it is hard
to do it all. And my role model for all
of this was my mom, the queen of mis-
placement and then misplacing blame.
One family vacation, I was in charge
of carrying my mom’s pocketbook
everywhere. I was about 8 years old,
which means my sister was 14, which
means that she was way too cool to
carry this bag filled with who knows
what that my mom wouldn’t leave in the
hotel room — but I was in charge. Eight-
year-old me. And wouldn’t you know it,
one night I forgot the bag in the restau- shelf. And there, amongst the awards
rant. It was not a pleasant evening,
because since we had to go back to the
restaurant to get it, we missed whatever
activity the parents had planned for that
evening, and the neglected middle child
was made to feel even more inadequate.
And then there was the box of cos-
tume jewelry that seems to have disap-
peared from our basement. My mom
had put all of this stuff into one box and Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck is truly
hid it — and we never found it again.
Thirty-eight years later, we still don’t
know what happened to this box of jew-
elry, but don’t you worry, it is still my company was not so appealing…
fault. Yes, because every-
thing is my fault. A lost
pair of reading classes, a
misplaced wallet, a ring,
a coat — it is all me. I am
very powerful, if you
didn’t know.
And then we fast for-
ward to winter vacation
2019. Husband #1 really
likes it when I wear a
wedding ring. Oh yes, my
very possessive spouse is
so sure that someone will
try to steal me away from him that he
demands I wear something that shows I
belong to him. (I am totally kidding, he
just likes when I wear it because, actu-
ally, maybe that is the reason, I have no
idea, and no one is stealing me away
anywhere, unfortunately.) We were
leaving for the airport and I decided
to hide my engagement ring and my
wedding band. I remember putting the
engagement ring somewhere and think-
ing, “This is a really safe place. No one
will find it here.” And then we left the
We come home from a lovely vaca-
tion and I go to put on my ring and it
isn’t where I thought I safely left it.
ARGGGG…I hate when that happens.
I can remember thinking and proba-
bly saying out loud, since I often talk
to myself, “This is a really safe place.”
Oh man, I have no idea where it is. I am
looking and cleaning and organizing
and looking and, sure, the house looks a
little better, but where is my ring?!?!?!?!
So the holiday of Shavuot was upon
us, and I still had not found my ring. I
am up on a stepstool, looking at all of
the higher shelves in my kitchen — no
ring, but I did manage to knock over
and break three Wedgewood teacups.
“Ah, It’s a kapara… And no one really
drinks tea anyway.” And then I had a
thought. I run up to son #2’s room — of
course, he is not home for the holiday
but learning somewhere in Washing-
ton Heights — and I start looking on his
from his secular days and his sefarim
( Judaic books) of his current days IS
MY RING!!!!!!!!!!!
The lesson here? You need both
secular and Judaic help to find some-
thing that you lost five months ago.
How’s that? Not great! I will try again
next week.
thrilled she found her rings because it
has been the bane of her existence and
the thought of calling the insurance
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 41
Calendar
Celebratory oneg.
Friday  10-10 Norma Ave.
(201) 796-5040.
JUNE 14
Shabbat in Teaneck:
Shabbat in Tenafly: Temple Emeth’s
Temple Sinai of Bergen Viewpoints group
County has a barbecue sponsors its annual
dinner at 6 p.m.; the Pride Shabbat in
rock Shabbat service honor of Gay Pride
is at 7:30. 1 Engle Month. Elaine Barrett
St. Reservations, from PFLAG will
(201) 568-3035 or discuss “I’m Good if
Templesinaibc.org. They’re Happy” during
the service, 8 p.m.,
and Temple Emeth
choir’s, Kol Emet,
will sing. Viewpoints
is a shul committee
that celebrates the
diversity of the
Jewish community.
1666 Windsor Road.
(201) 833-1322 or
viewpoints@emeth.
Rabbi David Widzer org.

Shabbat in Closter:
Rabbi David Widzer Monday 
and Cantor Elizabeth JUNE 17
Goldmann welcome J U N E Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Northern New Jersey
the community to sponsors JFCS Wheels-for-Meals — Ride to Fight Hunger,
Temple Beth El of
Northern Valley for
a service, 7 p.m. The
23 which begins and ends at Temple Emanu-El of Closter,
180 Piermont Road. Bike routes range from 3 to 50 miles
legacy of the shul’s through the scenic Hudson Valley; there also is a 2.4-mile hike through
past will be honored
as it prepartes to Rockleigh Woods Sanctuary. Bike rentals are available; call the Tenafly
transition with Temple Bicycle Workshop, (201) 568-9372. Information, (201) 837-9090 or
Beth Or to their new
shared congregation,
RidetoFightHunger.com. Use promo code JSTAND for 30 percent off
Kol Dorot. 221 Lisa Green registration fees. COURTESY JFCS

Schraalenburgh Road.
(201) 768-5112 or tbenv. Federation and
org. Foundation meeting (845) 362-4200, ext. East Midland Ave. Judaism at the
and graduation 115 or jewishrockland. (201) 262-7691. “Recon Salon” led by
Shabbat in Wayne: in Rockland: A org. Rabbi Leiah Moser
Temple Beth Tikvah
holds its volunteer
program to honor
Lisa Green, out-going Men’s club social: Tuesday  of Reconstructionist
Congregation Beth
appreciation erev Jewish Federation Temple Emanu-El of JUNE 18 Israel in Ridgewood,
Shabbat, including and Foundation of Closter’s men’s club at Land & Sea Diner,
presentation of the Rockland co-president, offers dinner, drinks, Blood drive in 20-12 Fair Lawn Ave.,
annual Georges Rafes for her ongoing and hatchet-throwing Teaneck: Holy Name Fair Lawn, 7-9 p.m.
award and board leadership, and adult at Bury the Hatchet, Medical Center holds Attendees will find out
installation, 7:30 p.m. education teachers 7:30 p.m. 49 East a blood drive with what the movement
950 Preakness Ave. and Life and Legacy Midland Ave., Paramus. New Jersey Blood is about, why it was Film in Teaneck:
(973) 595-6565 or Society charter (201) 750-9997 or Services, a division founded, and how Temple Emeth’s adult
templebethtikvahnj. members. The events templeemanu-el.com. of New York Blood it has evolved in education group
org. are part of the annual Center, 1:30-7:30 p.m. congregations today. screens a Jewish-
Jewish Federation and Adult ed class: Stu 718 Teaneck Road. Complimentary
Lehrer continues themed movie,
Shabbat in Fair Lawn: Foundation meeting (800) 933-2566 or coffee and snacks. “Private Benjamin,”
The Men’s Progress and graduation “What’s My Jewish nybloodcenter.org. Reservations
Line: The End Game” 7:30 p.m., as part of its
Club and Sisterhood of ceremony at the rcbi@synagogue.
at the JCC of Paramus/ “Movies That Matter”
the Fair Lawn Jewish Rockland Jewish Reconstructionist org; information,
Congregation Beth series. Refreshments.
Center/CBI hold Community Campus, Judaism: Get an synagogue.org.
Tikvah, 8:15 p.m., 1666 Windsor Road.
installations during 6:30 p.m. 450 insider’s look at
through June 24. 304 (201) 833-1322 or
services, 7:30 p.m. West Nyack Road. Reconstructionist emeth.org.

42 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019

 Calendar

“Dilemmas of a Jewish Shabbat service, a concert at Merkin

Wednesday Journalist in Israel” at
the United Synagogue
10 a.m. 334 East 14th
St. (212) 677-0368V,
Concert Hall, that
will include world
Thursday
JUNE 19 of Hoboken during tandv.org, or Bram at premieres of modern JUNE 20
services, 7 p.m. bramweiser@usa.net. choral arrangements
Shabbat dinner and of classic Yiddish Widows and
widowers meet:
Q&A follows. She is
the former editor-in-
Sunday songs, 3 p.m. 129
West 67th St. Movin’ On, a monthly
chief of the Jerusalem JUNE 16 kaufmanmusiccenter. luncheon group
Report and is Israel org. for widows and
editor for Moment widowers, meets at
Rabbi Robert the Glen Rock Jewish
Magazine. 115 Park Ave.
Scheinberg Dinner reservations,
(201) 659-4000 or
Singles Center, 12:30 p.m.
682 Harristown Road.
Jewish wedding (201) 652-6624 or
workshop: Rabbi hobokensynagogue.
Rabbi Arthur Weiner
Robert Scheinberg org. Wednesday arbgr@aol.com.

Gun control: Rabbi leads a class on JUNE 19

Arthur Weiner begins “Planning a Jewish
Shabbat in Teaneck:
Temple Emeth offers
Sunday
“God and Guns: What Wedding” at the musical services with Seniors meet: Singles JUNE 23
Does Judaism Say United Synagogue of the Temple Emeth 65+ of the JCC
About Guns and Gun Hoboken, 7:30 p.m. Band, Cantor Ellen Yiddish concert: Rockland meets for Seniors meet in West
Control?” a four- Meet other couples Tilem, and Rabbi Gitl Schaechter- dinner at Rocco’s Nyack: Singles 65+
session class at the who will be married Steven Sirbu, 8 p.m. Viswanath and Elaine Family Restaurant, meets for a social get
JCC of Paramus/ soon. 115 Park Ave. 1666 Windsor Road. Kallenbach, both of 6 p.m. 170 S. Main together at the JCC
Congregation Beth (201) 659-4000 or (201) 833-1322 or Teaneck and both St. New City, N.Y. Rockland, 11 a.m. All are
Tikvah, 2:30 and hobokensynagogue. emeth.org. members of the Jewish Individual checks. welcome, particularly
8:15 p.m. Classes org. People’s Philharmonic Reservations, Gene, those from Hudson,
continue June 26, July Chorus conducted by
3, and 10. 304 East Thursday sunday Binyumen Schaechter,
(845) 356-5525. Passaic, Bergen, or
Rockland counties.
Midland Ave., Paramus. JUNE 23 are among the Refreshments. 450
(201) 262-7691. JUNE 20 performers in “Yiddish West Nyack Road.
Charity bike ride/ Flavors of Love: A Gene, (845) 356-5525.
hike: Jewish Family Musical Celebration,”
& Children’s Services
of Northern New
Jersey sponsors
JFCS Wheels-for-
Meals — Ride to Fight
Hunger, beginning
and ending at Temple
Emanu-El of Closter,
180 Piermont Road.
Pride Month film This year also features
screening: In honor a 2.4-mile hike. Bike
of Pride Month, the rentals available.
Holocaust Museum & (201) 837-9090 or
Dual Parkinson’s
Center for Tolerance RidetoFightHunger.
events: American
and Education screens com.
Ninja Warrior Jimmy
“Dear Fredy” at the
Choi headlines two
Parkinson’s events
Rockland County Pride
Center, 7 p.m. The film Tuesday
co-sponsored by JUNE 25 Rabbi Leiah Moser
tells the story of Fredy
Englewood Health and
the Kaplen JCC on
the Palisades. Choi, an
Hirsch, an openly gay
Jewish youth leader Survivor webinar: Local rabbi reads
advocate for people
with Parkinson’s, leads
who ran a day care
in Auschwitz. 28 S.
Sharsheret presents
“Get Personal: Body from her new book
“Push Your Limits,”
Franklin St., Nyack, Image, Sexuality Rabbi Leiah Moser of Reconstructionist Congregation Beth Israel in Ridge-
NY. (845) 574-4099 or and the Impact of wood discusses her new book, “Magical Princess Harriet,” at the Fair Lawn
an athletic session he
holocaustrcc@gmail. Cancer,” a national
designed for people
com. webinar featuring Public Library on Monday, June 17, at 7 p.m. The coming-of-age fantasy fic-
with Parkinson’s, at tion story incorporates magical elements based on Jewish mysticism and
the Kaplen JCC on the psychotherapist Rachel
Palisades, 11:30 a.m., Friday Hercman and plastic folktales. Rabbi Moser also will talk about Judaism’s relationship to fan-
411 E. Clinton Ave., surgeon Dr. B. Aviva tasy fiction. For young adult readers and older. Books will be available for
JUNE 21 Preminger, 8 p.m.
Tenafly. Reservations sale and signing. Advance registration is required; go to bccls.libcal.com/
required; parkinsons@ A Sharsheret peer
supporter will tell her event/5446499 to sign up. The library is at 10-01 Fair Lawn Ave., Fair Lawn.
jewishhomefamily.
org or (551) 444 story; Q&A session
3183. At 6:30 p.m., follows. Transcript
Choi will discuss his and audio recording
story, his struggle,
and his hopes for the
available afterward.
sharsheret.org. Tour of ‘Stonewall 50’ exhibit
future at Englewood
Hospital & Medical
planned at museum in N.Y.
Center, 350 Engle St. In New York The Viewpoints Committee of Tem- anniversary of the Stonewall uprising
Refreshments at 6. ple Emeth in Teaneck plans a guided and the dawn of the gay liberation
Reservations, tinyurl. tour of the exhibit “Stonewall 50” at movement. This summer, New York
com/jimmychoievent. Saturday the New York Historical Society on City will welcome WorldPride, the larg-
JUNE 15 Sunday, June 23. The group will meet est celebration of its kind.
Eetta Prince-Gibson
ASL-Shabbat Across at the museum, 170 Central Park West Viewpoints is a Temple Emeth com-
COURTESY USH
America in NYC: at 77th Street, Manhattan, at 11:15 mittee that celebrates the diversity of
Shabbat in Hoboken: Town & Village a.m. An optional meal at the museum the Jewish community. For reserva-
Journalist Eetta Prince- Synagogue holds café follows the tour. tions, email Viewpoints@emeth.org
an ASL-interpreted
Gibson discusses The exhibit commemorates the 50th or call (201) 833-1322.
JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019 43
Jewish World Obituaries

Friedman
FROM PAGE 31
Palestinians for a single state, one in which they would
have a voice.
Jonathan Schanzer, a vice president at the Foundation
for Defense of Democracies, read that article and foresaw
a recipe for violence.
“Let’s be honest. The one state thing is not a solution,” he
tweeted. “And if it were somehow implemented, it would
effectively mean the eradication of Israel as we know it.”
At the very least, some Palestinian activists say, annexation
would force Israel to face the contradictions of fully govern-
ing millions of people who are not citizens of their state.
Annexation also would make advocacy for a single binational
state easier, said Yousef Munayyer, the executive director of
the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
“It’s always been easier to make an argument here in the
United States for equal rights than it was for separatism,”
Munayyer said. “The average American does not want to
get into a nationalist dispute between two foreign peo-
ples that they might not know the history of but everyone
understands equality before the law, equal rights, racism
and discrimination.” JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY
Eleanor Abramson
Eleanor Abramson, née Lazarus, 102, of
Carefree, Ariz., formerly of Bayonne, died
June 10
Predeceased by her husband, Henry,
and siblings, Jeanette Kusseluk and
Norman Lazarus, she is survived by
children, Ronald of Tenafly and Jerilyn
Hehre of Colorado; grandchildren, and
great- grandchildren.
Arrangements were by Eden Memorial
Chapels, Fort Lee.

Mitchell Bloom
Mitchell R. Bloom, 67, of Spring, Texas,
formerly of Jersey City, died June 4.
BRIEFS He was an executive in the paint
industry.
Letter in Hebrew by Joseph Trumpeldor to be sold at auction He is survived by his wife, Evelyn, née
For years, there has been a debate proved himself to be a good soldier. Gaber, sons, Wayne of Texas and Steven
about whether Zionist hero Joseph Before the battalion departed for of Englishtown; a sister, Helaine Rapkin of
Trumpeldor actually uttered the the front at Gallipoli, Wertheimer Allendale, and a grandson, Mason.
famous declaration attributed to told Trumpeldor that he was afraid Arrangements were by Eden Memorial
him moments before he died of he would suffer a mental breakdown Chapels, Fort Lee.
his wounds defending the Jewish during the battle “and bring shame
settlement at Tel Hai in 1920: “It is upon the legion, upon the Jews.” Harold Gelman
good to die for our country.” But But in the moment of truth — Harold Gelman, 88, of Ringwood, formerly
a handwritten letter from Trum- which came that July — Wertheimer of Paramus, died June 5.
peldor to a bereaved father that is became a hero. A Fairleigh Dickinson University
being put up for sale by the King A letter of condolence from Joseph “When Wertheimer appeared graduate, he worked in retail management
David Auction House proves that Trumpeldor to a bereaved father is with his mules, the enemy kept and was a Korean War veteran.
even if he never said those words, being auctioned in Jerusalem on June up its fire. Wertheimer contin- He is survived by his wife of 63 years,
he believed in the sentiment. 24 and is one of the few written by ued calmly. Another few steps Nancy, née Walter, children, Susan, (Bob)
In a letter to the father of one Trumpeldor in Hebrew. Bidding starts and Wertheimer found cover and and Debby (Karl), and grandchildren, Jen
of the soldiers killed in the battle, at $100,000. would reach his goal. But then, sud- and Matt.
Trumpeldor writes, “I understand denly, he lost balance, made a great Donations can be made to the Ringwood
that your heart is full of pain, but know that your son fell as effort, took another few steps, and collapsed.” Ambulance Corps. Arrangements were
a hero for the sake of the people of Israel and for the Land A week later, Wertheimer succumbed to his wounds and by Robert Schoem’s Menorah Chapel,
of Israel.” was buried in Alexandria. Paramus.
The story began in April 1915, when the British Army estab- Some six months after his death, Trumpeldor received a
lished its Zion Mule Corps and Trumpeldor was appointed dep- letter from the dead soldier’s father, Yehoshua, in which he Mitchell Pariser
uty commander of the regiment. That is where he first met Bin- asked Trumpeldor to send him his son’s tefillin. Mitchell E. Pariser, 82, of the Bronx, and
yamin Wertheimer, the son of an ultra-Orthodox family from “The letter did not contain a shred of self-flagellation or an Franklin Lakes, died June 3 in Rockleigh.
Jerusalem, who volunteered to serve with the battalion. outcry of grief. The man from Jerusalem bravely showed his He worked for Riverbay Corporation
“Every day, new comrades joined our ranks,” Trumpeldor love for the land of Israel,” Trumpeldor wrote. in Co-op City for 33 years specializing in
wrote. “When young Wertheimer came, accompanied by his Trumpeldor responded to Yehoshua in Hebrew, because laundry room appliances and intercom
father, a skinny, uncared-for youth, his comrades immedi- Yehoshua did not speak or read Russian. The letter is believed repairs.
ately surrounded him and laughed at his long peyote, his to have been one of only a few Trumpeldor wrote in Hebrew. He is survived by his wife of 57 years,
dress, and his weak back.” Bidding on the letter starts at $100,000. The auction will Elinor, née Schoenfeld, daughters,
Wertheimer was shy, but despite his physical weakness be held on Monday, June 24. JNS.ORG Bonnie, Rachel, and Stacy Fishkin, and
grandchildren, Jonathan, Scott, Leah,
Zachary, Dominique, Lilly, and Matthew.
Arrangements were by Gutterman and
U.S. measles outbreak worsens as N.Y. school is shuttered Musicant Funeral Home, Hackensack.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has are to blame for the outbreak, and New York City has
reported that the measles outbreak in the United States is ordered the closure of several Orthodox Jewish schools Beatrice Zigelman
the worst in more than 25 years, and the City of New York for their failure to comply with city vaccination orders. Beatrice Sadie Zigelman, neé Naiman, 95,
closed another Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn because The Central UTA Satmar School for Boys in Williams- of Fort Lee, formerly of North Bergen, died
of its unvaccinated students. burg was shuttered as of Tuesday afternoon, the tenth May 28.
Forty-one new cases of measles have been confirmed as Orthodox school in New York City to be closed this year. Predeceased by a son, Dr. Lawrence
of last Monday; the virus has spread to Idaho and Virginia. Nine of the schools are in Williamsburg — a strongly David Zigelman of Fort Lee, and her
Twenty-eight states now have been infected, with 1,022 cases ultra-Orthodox neighborhood — and one is in Queens. husband, Rabbi Abraham I. Zigelman,
reported from January 1 to June 6, including 330 cases in New According to a JTA report, the schools will have to cre- 12 days later in 2014, she is survived by
York State outside Manhattan, and 262 cases in Rockland ate a plan to bar any student who does not comply with daughters Aviva Zigelman Horowitz and
County alone. vaccination orders, and must have the plan approved by Reena Zigelman Leider, and grandchildren.
An additional 588 confirmed cases have been reported the local authorities before the city will allow them to be Interment took place at Har Hamenuchot
in New York City since September 2018, and the city has reopened. Cemetery in Jerusalem. Arrangements were
ordered the vaccination of all Williamsburg and Borough Officials noted that nearly double the number of Wil- by Gutterman and Musicant Jewish Funeral
Park residents under the age of 19. liamsburg children were vaccinated in the past two Directors, Hackensack.
Health officials have argued that low vaccination rates months than during the same period in 2018. JNS.ORG

44 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 14, 2019

 JS-45*

Obituaries

Obituaries are prepared with information provided by funeral homes.

Correcting errors is the responsibility of the funeral home.
Why pre-plan a funeral?
The Jewish Memorial Chapel will provide you with timely
information and good advice
Pre-planning allows families the time needed to make decisions regarding funeral
options without the emotional stress related to the loss.
The Jewish Memorial Chapel funeral directors will lead you through the pre-
arrangement process and be attentive to your every need. They will answer all your
questions and never pressure you into making uncomfortable decisions. Call us for
our free color brochure or for more information at 973-779-3048.

Funeral Planning Simplified

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BergenJewishChapel.com 973-779-3048 • Fax 973-779-3191
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201.261.2900 | 789 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666 Vincent Marazo, Manager
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Owner/Manager Daniel W. Leber, NJ Lic. No3186
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Jewish Funeral Directors
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Exclusive Jewish Funeral Chapel Family Owned & managed serving the Jewish community
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• Serving NJ, NY, FL & Israel Throughout USA Your Family’s Needs
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“Always within a family’s financial means” Gary Schoem – Manager - NJ Lic. 3811
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13-01 Broadway (Route 4 West) · Fair Lawn, NJ Conveniently Located 973-942-0727 Fax 973-942-2537 973-835-0394 Fax 973-835-0395
Richard Louis - Manager George Louis - Founder W-150 Route 4 East • Paramus, NJ 07652 TOLL FREE 800-675-0727
NJ Lic. No. 3088 1924-1996 201.843.9090 1.800.426.5869 www.patersonmonument.com

Q&A on legacy with Gutterman & Musicant

Q: What is the “Your Life, Your Legacy”
seminar?
A: Most of us plan for important life
events, such as weddings, our children’s
education, and retirement. But few of
us plan for the inevitable. This program
addresses the importance of making your
final arrangements in advance and the
steps to take. Many people do not even
know they can prearrange a funeral or
they may feel uncomfortable coming into
our buildings. A pre-arranged funeral is
one of the greatest gifts you can give to
yourself and to your family, especially
a child. All of the difficult decisions are
made and paid, relieving the burden on
your family both emotionally and finan-
cially. You and your family will have
peace of mind whether the prearranged
funeral is for yourself or for another fam-
ily member, such as an elderly parent.
The number one reason why a person
prearranges is “so my family does not
have to be burdened with this,” followed
by “locking in today’s prices.”
For more information, call Patrick
Biondo at Gutterman & Musicant, (201)
489-3800.

You are personally invited to be our guest for

dinner and a free, informative presentation about
the benefits of pre-arranging your funeral
(Dietary laws observed)

Your Life.
Your Legacy.
...Plan to Make it Right Seminar
Wednesday, June 26th at 6 pm
Westwood Woman’s Club
205 Kinderkamack Rd.
Westwood, NJ 07675
Presented By:
Gutterman & Musicant Jewish
Funeral Directors
Alan Musicant Mgr, NJ Lic. No. 2890

402 Park St., Hackensack, NJ 07601

201-489-3800
Seating is Limited. Please RSVP by June 25th
Patrick Biondo NJ Lic. No. 4899
201-489-3800 ext. 111
Should this invitation reach your home where there is an illness or sorrow,
we deeply regret the intrusion, for this is not our intention
DIGNITY MEMORIAL

Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 45

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 JS-48

Real Estate & Business

HOUSE CALLS inspection by a licensed inspector.

Paid-off mortgage proof

EDITH LANK
Dear Ms. Lank: Once we have paid off our mortgage,
how long should we wait to get a clear deed? - K. F.
Answer: In a few states, you’re looking for a reconvey-
ance deed, but in most places, what you want is a certifi-
cate of satisfaction. Either way, it will prove your loan has
been paid off in full (satisfied).
If the lender has put this new document on file in your
county public records office, that’s all you need. In some
states, they’re required to do so within 90 days of the pay-
off. Your public records office can tell you how to check.
Lender’s Appraisal
Dear Ms. Lank: In regards to the recent question from
the reader about whether he or she was entitled to a copy
of the appraisal: I purchased a home last year, and the
lender supplied me with a copy of the appraisal without
OPEN HOUSES
SUNDAY, JUNE 16 • 1–3PM
me asking. I’ve had seven mortgages on five homes in
four states, and I don’t recall ever getting a copy of the
appraisal before.
The appraisal came in handy in getting my tax assess-
ment reduced somewhat.  - G. W.
Answer: See the next letter — sounds as if the law has
been changed, probably not too long ago.
Free Copy
Dear Ms. Lank: There is no need for kicking and scream-
ing in order to obtain a copy of your appraisal when
applying for a mortgage. Federal law requires that the
applicant receive a free copy. - D. M.
Seller Backing Out
Dear Ms. Lank: My grandson made an offer on a house.
It was accepted. He gave earnest money, was approved
for a mortgage, paid for an appraisal, and paid to have an
BANK-OWNED PROPERTIES
The seller now wants to cancel the deal.
Is this legal? What recourse does my grandson
have? His attorney advised him to ask for the mon-
ies spent in a polite manner and hope the seller
complies. — R. L.
Answer: It sounds as if your grandson had a bind-
ing contract to buy that house. If that’s the case, the
seller was legally bound to abide by it.
But it also sounds as if your grandson’s willing to
cancel the deal if he’s reimbursed for the money
he’s already laid out. And — most important — he’s
getting legal guidance along the way.
You ask for my advice. I’d say stay out of this.
Your grandson and his attorney know more about
the situation, more about the law and more about
that house than we do. We’d better just leave it to
them.
Home Seller Tax Break
Dear Ms. Lank: We moved into our lake house
in mid-July of 2018 as our primary residence and
left it for the winter months on January 3, 2019. We
resumed living in our lake house on May 1, 2019,
and will be there until November 2019.
When can we sell our lake house and avoid cap-
ital gains tax? Is the two-year rule cumulative, or is
it years calculated January to January?  - J. M.

High-Return Investment Opportunities Answer: To take advantage of the home seller tax
See all available properties at break, you must have owned and occupied the
property as your principal residence for at least
njhomeinfo.com
two of the five years before the sale. The occupancy
need not be all consecutive. You could accumulate
GARDEN STATE HOMES the required time every summer, for instance, as
25 Broadway, Elmwood Park, NJ
you’re doing. But it needs to be your real primary
Martin H. Basner, Realtor Associate residence. Where is your summer mail delivered,
(Office) 201-794-7050 · (Cell) 201-819-2623 for instance?
You could sell and take advantage of the tax
break as soon as your residence there adds up to 24
months. Assuming that’s within a five-year period,
õTENAFLYö your sale should qualify for a federal tax-free profit
35 Esmond Pl. $699,000
Renov & Expand. 3 BRs, 3 Full Baths. Ultra-Italian Design Lg Grnt Kit/Bkfst Area/ — for the two of you — of up to $500,000.
Sliders to Paver Patio, Yard, Det Gar. LR, Lg DR, Den/Fplc. Multi-zone Heat & C/A/C. FORT LEE Life Estate
õTEANECKö
528 Cumberland Ave. $469,000 Dear Ms. Lank: I am a recent widow, and I moved
Beaut Tudor. 4/5 BRs, 2.5 Baths. Fplc, FDR, Updated Custom Kit, Fam Rm, Fin Bsmt. in with my daughter. She has a 19-year-old daughter
752 Stelton St. $495,000 who currently is not living with us but is her heir.
C. Club Area. 4 BR Tri-Lev. 3 Full Baths. Fab Vaulted Ceil Mstr Ste+Glass Sit Rm, Skylit My daughter is concerned that if she were to die,
Loft Study, FR, Fin Bsmt, C/A/C. Deck. Gar. my granddaughter could sell the house without giv-
657 Northumberland Rd. $495,000 ing me time to find other accommodations.
Prime W. Eglwd. Compl Renov. 3 BRs. Fin Bsmt. Gar. C/A/C. Also For Rent @ $3,700/mo. I would be able to handle the expenses — mort-
gage, tax and insurance. Is there a way that I could
BY APPOINTMENT remain here other than by her giving me a life
õTEANECKö estate?  - T.
Beaut Tudor. Quiet St. LR/Stone Wall Fplc, Sunlit Den/Stained Glass Windows,
Gorgeous Designer Kit, FDR, Skylit Florida Rm, 3 BRs, 2.5 Baths. Game Rm Bsmt, Det Northbridge Park… 3 bedroom 2 bath. Updated with
Gar. $469,900
Answer: With a life estate, you’d be full owner, but
hardwood floors. Lower floor. Available fully furnished.
your granddaughter would automatically become
BY APPOINTMENT Building amenities include health club, tennis courts, lounge,
outdoor pool with upper level. Park-like setting. $289,900 owner at your death. If you were to want to sell
õTEANECK VIC/BERGENFIELDö before that, she’d have to agree, and she’d be enti-
Spac, Sugar Maple S/L. Conv Loc. Vaulted Ceil LR/DR open to Grnt Kit. 3 BRs, 2
Baths. Ceramic Tiled Fam Rm. C/A/C. Gar. $389,000
Happy Father’s Day! tled to a large part of the proceeds, based on your
life expectancy.
Allan Dorfman It sounds as if you folks have already consulted
ALL CLOSE TO NY BUS / HOUSES OF WORSHIP / Broker/Associate
HIGHWAYS / SHOPS / SCHOOLS a lawyer, and that does seem like a sensible way to
www.RussoRealEstate.com 201-461-6764 Eve handle the matter. CREATORS.COM

app.russorealestate.com 201-970-4118 Cell

201-585-8080 Office Contact Edith Lank at www.askedith.com, at
Realtorallan@yahoo.com edithlank@aol.com or at 240 Hemingway Drive,
(201) 837-8800
Rochester NY 14620.
48 Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019

Real Estate & Business
A race against time
to save a life …
This is the tale of a race against time,
a race from Israel to Kasol, India, and
back again.
It all began when a young Israeli
woman was identified as a poten-
tial bone marrow donor for a cancer
patient in Israel. The patient needed a
bone marrow transplant immediately.
But there was one huge obstacle — the
donor was in the middle of a long trek
across the Far East.
Staff at Ezer Mizion, the world’s larg-
est Jewish bone marrow registry, were
not deterred by this seemingly insur-
mountable challenge. They weren’t
quite sure where the young woman
was located, so they tried to contact
her in Thailand and Vietnam, without
success. They knew she was on her way
to Kasol, in the Kullu Himachal Pradesh
district in northern India. So Dr. Bracha
Zisser, director of Ezer Mizion’s Bone
Marrow Registry, contacted Rabbi Yoel
Kaplan of Chabad of Kasol and enlisted
his help in finding the traveler.
Rabbi Kaplan didn’t hesitate to do
his part and soon discovered that the
woman had just arrived in Kasol after
a 16-hour car trip. Despite her exhaus-
tion and weakness, the woman imme-
diately agreed to accompany the rabbi
to the hospital for blood tests the next
morning.
Adding to the challenge, Kasol is a
small village in the Himalayas and does
not have a hospital where this testing
could be done. In fact, it is so small that
most times the Chabad House runs on a
generator because of limited electricity.
The two drove for an hour and a half
to the nearest hospital where the rabbi
is well-known and they were ushered
in quickly. The samples for secondary
testing were taken, but Ezer Mizion’s
challenges were not over.
Rabbi Kaplan needed to find a way
to send the sample to Israel as soon as
possible so that it could be tested in the
Ezer Mizion labs. “I knew of an Israeli
JS-49*
Money for what matters.
couple who were on vacation hiking
in the mountains. They told me they
were considering changing their ticket
and wanted to leave India sooner than
they had originally planned. I contacted
them and found a ticket for Tuesday
afternoon, 24 hours after I had spoken
to them,” said the rabbi. The airport
was a 15-hour drive from Kasol, so that
didn’t leave much time for everything
to get done. When Rabbi Kaplan arrived
back in Kasol with the samples at 8 p.m.,
there was just enough time for the cou-
ple to eat dinner and get on the road in
a taxi with the blood samples in hand.
Almost 24 hours after the blood was
drawn, the couple arrived at Ben-Gu-
rion Airport in Israel. They were met by
Don’t settle for your mortgage. Get the terms you
Dr. Zisser who personally delivered the deserve from Visions. With the No Closing Cost
samples to the lab where they under-
went testing. If the donor is a good Mortgage from Visions, you get a low interest
match, the transplant can take place
within the next few weeks.
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“The entire process, from identify- thousands right from the start. Learn more and
ing the potential donor to getting the
samples to the hospital took only eight apply now at visionsfcu.org/noclosingcosts
days,” Dr. Zisser said. “This was made
possible by incredible people who liter-
ally went out of their way to help save a
life as quickly as possible.”
Rabbi Kaplan was modest about his
role. “This is a big zchus [privilege]
to save a life. For us, living in such a
remote place, it’s not a big deal to have
to jump through some very interesting
hoops, but stories like this happen to us
very often. It is an added zchus to work
visionsfcu.org
with Ezer Mizion and be a true partner
in saving a life.”
Over the past 20 years, the Ezer *Credit union membership required with a $25 minimum deposit – certain restrictions apply. Check with a Visions Federal Credit Union
representative for membership eligibility details. Promotion valid on the 10/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) product only. Applications
Mizion Bone Marrow Registry has grown are subject to standard credit criteria. New purchase or refinance. One- to four-family, owner-occupied, primary residence only. Maximum
to nearly one million potential stem cell mortgage dollar amount funded is based on region and property value. Estimated savings of closing costs, which varies by geographic market
and property, would be at least $3,370, including, but not limited to, the following costs: appraisal, flood determination, application fee,
donors and has saved 3,196 lives in 49 credit report, lender attorney fees, recording fee, title insurance, and mortgage tax. Borrowers are responsible for initial escrow setup, interim
interest, owner’s title insurance, tax service fee, borrower’s attorney fees, survey, and private mortgage insurance, if applicable. Property
countries around the world. Not all its insurance is required. Flood insurance may be required. This promotion is subject to change without notice (including the rate). Other
lifesaving stories are as exciting or har- restrictions apply. Rates are variable and can increase by up to 2% annually beginning in the 11th year, up to a lifetime rate adjustment of 5%.
Rate increases are based on the index at the adjustment time plus the margin. Please speak with a representative for current rate information
rowing as this one, but for thousands or visit visionsfcu.org/mortgage-rates. Cannot be combined with any other promotion or offer. Submit applications by Dec. 31, 2019.
of bone marrow recipients, the efforts
expended to save their lives are appreci-
ated immensely.  Ezer Mizion
Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 49
 JS-50*

Real Estate & Business

Gilbert Gottfried to perform at Black Box Arts Center in Teaneck

Famed comedian and actor the wise-cracking par- after joke doctor for established acts Gottfried is presented by BBPAC and
Gilbert Gottfried will per- rot, IAGO in Disney’s and top newcomers. As a comic, he J. Irwin Productions, based in Ber-
form a comedy show at the “Aladdin,” Gottfried has worked Atlantic City, Las Vegas, gen County. Tickets cost $50 plus a
Black Box Performing Arts became one of the most and a variety of corporate and private $5 service fee and can be purchased
Center in Teaneck on Thurs- recognizable voice­over events. Ambrogio was the editor and at http://www.blackboxpac.com/gil-
day, June 27, at 8 p.m. This talents, doing commer- publisher of Commuter Monthly, a bert. Tickets can also be purchased at
event will serve as a fund- cials, cartoons, and mov- humor magazine for New Jersey com- the venue, depending on availability.
raiser for various programs ies, including the frus- muters. He’s had several of his short Due to limited seating it is recommend
at the center, including the trated duck in the AFLAC stories published, among them, “Plas- patrons buy tickets ahead of time. The
upcoming Shakespeare in insurance commercials. tic Jesus” and “Deep Tux”. He has also show is for mature audiences only and
the Park in Bergen County Gottfried puts aside appeared in the independent films, is BYOB. The Black Box Performing
and educational programs. political correctness for “Secure” and “Time of Need.” Arts Center is at 200 Walraven Drive,
At the age of 15, Gilbert his live performances An evening of comedy with Gilbert Teaneck.  BBPAC
Gottfried began doing and fires an onslaught of
stand-up at open mic nights in New York jokes that know no boundaries.
City and, after a few years, became known Opening for Gottfried is Chip Ambro-
as “the comedian’s comedian.” The pro-
ducers of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”
gio, whose comedy career includes per-
forming on the road and major New York
Lester Senior Living hosts
added Gottfried as a cast member in 1980. clubs. Ambrogio has been a contributing an open house on June 19
A few years later MTV hired him for a writer for The Friars Club Roasts and the Lester Senior Living in Whippany learning courses.
series of improvised promos for the newly Hulu Plus project “Don’t Know Jack”. He invites area residents to an open The community also offers short-
formed channel. This led to several tele- is co-creator of “Room for Improvement,” house on Wednesday, June 19, from term respite stays in its assisted liv-
vision appearances on “The Cosby Show” a reality show pilot selected as a finalist at 3 to 5 p.m. Attendees will tour the ing residence for times when care-
and “Late Night with David Letterman.” the New York Television Festival. distinctive senior living community givers or family members are away
Gottfried’s work in television soon led to Currently writing for some of today’s and learn about its independent and cannot look in on their loved
roles in film. After his performance as top headliners, Ambrogio is a sought and assisted living options, hotel- ones. Respite stays are available
style amenities and enriching pro- from 10 days to two months and
grams. Those interested in attend- provide an excellent way to sample

“YA GOTTA”
ing should contact David Rozen, the Lester lifestyle.
admissions/marketing manager, For those interested in memory
at (973) 929-2725 or davidr@ care, there will also be informa-

GET GHADA!
jchcorp.org to reserve a spot or for
more information.
Lester Senior Living offers a
range of market-rate rental apart-
Exceptional Results Year After Year is ments for adults aged 62 and older;
Why Serious Sellers & Buyers GET residents enjoy a wide variety of
cultural, educational and social pro-
tion at the open house about the
Memory Care Suite, an intimate,
supportive environment for peo-
ple with dementia-related diag-
noses. It is accredited by Comfort
Matters, a recognized nationwide
leader in person-centered demen-

Ghada
Ghada Abbasi grams, wellness classes, and elegant tia care.

Cell 201-407-6630
glatt kosher dining, amid beautiful Lester Senior Living is located at
park-like surroundings. Programs 903-905 Route 10 East in Whippany
NJ Realtors® Circle include weekly exercise and mind- on the Alex Aidekman Family Jew-
of Excellence Sales Award®
fulness and meditation, creative ish Community Campus. For more
- Platinum Level 2004-2018
Top 1% Agents Nationwide
#1 Agent in the State of NJ arts, intergenerational activities information, visit www.jchcorp.org.
- Among 68,000 agents among all of Coldwell Banker 2017 with local students, and lifelong  Lester Senior Living

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We d

50 Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019

 JS-51

SPRING
LUNCHEON
LIVE

On May 29, almost 500 women gathered at the Rockleigh Country Club to celebrate Jewish
Federation and the impact women have in the Jewish community.
This year, Rena Klosk, Carol Newman, Rita Merendino and Sarah Nanus were honored for
their commitment and passion for our community. We pay tribute to them and all the
women of Women’s Philanthropy.

Lily Sponsor

Jewish Standard JUNE 14, 2019 51

Happy Father's Day

DAD

MEDIUM RARE

MEDIUM

MEDIUM WELL

WELL DONE

Dad, you’re the

Rarest of them all
from the family