NORTH JERSEY/ROCKLAND

JANUARY 11, 2019

VOL. LXXXVIII NO. 17 $1.00 88 2019

THEJEWISHSTANDARD.COM

Ideas
in action
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2 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019


From [redacted]
with love
l A foreign country is
planning on trying to mess
with Israel’s upcoming
election, Shin Bet Chief
Nadav Argaman warned.
Though Argaman explic-
itly mentioned which coun-
try is trying to meddle, and
he made his comments to a
large crowd during an event
hosted by Friends of Tel
Aviv University, according to
Hadashot TV news, Israel’s
military censor is barring
publication of that detail and
others from his talk.
The military censor has
rules that are nothing if not
byzantine, though, and thus
it okayed the publication of a
comment by the head of the
Meretz party, Tamar Zand-
berg. She said, “We demand
the security services make
sure that Putin doesn’t steal
the elections for his friend, the
tyrant Bibi.”
Zandberg was talking about
Vladimir Putin, the president
of Russia, and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to Ron Ben
Yishai in Ynet and i24, Arga-
man’s statement was meant
to send a message to [re-
dacted] to think twice before
Page 3
messing around, even if
[redacted] can’t be named in
the Israeli press.
“Argaman made the re-
marks at a conference at-
tended by civilians, appar-
ently assuming that they will
be published — in order to
deter the very same country,”
Ben Yishai writes. “His inten-
tions were also perhaps to
tell Israeli citizens to beware
of fake news, and to recruit
them, in the effort to identify
those attempts, based on the
knowledge gained from what
happened in the U.S., France,
and Britain.”
Somehow feeling its ears
burning, Russian presidential
spokesman Dmitry Peskov
told reporters not to read
Israeli news outlets (which
by the way don’t mention
Russia).
“It is out of the question.
Russia has never interfered in
elections in any country and
has no plans to do it in the
future,” he is quoted as saying
in the Kremlin-run Tass news
agency.
At least they have a sense
of humor about it.
Joshua Davidovich/
Times of Israel

CONTENTS
Plot twist, with no dead bodies Noshes������������������������������������������������������������4
briefly local������������������������������������������� 16
cover story���������������������������������������������� 18
l The black hat should have been the test also showed
jewish world������������������������������������������27
a tipoff. that he is 22.4 percent oPINION���������������������������������������������������������28
Author George R. R. Martin is Ashkenazi Jew. That d’var torah��������������������������������������������� 34
always photographed in a cap that means that he had one dear rabbi zahavy������������������������������35
would do Tevye proud. Jewish grandparent. calendar��������������������������������������������������� 36
Maybe it’s genetic. To check their re- THE FRAZZLED HOUSEWIFE�����������������39
Martin, 70, is famous for “Games sults, researchers found crossword puzzle������������������������������39
of Thrones,” the popular HBO one of Louis’ sons from obituaries�������������������������������������������������� 41
show. He wrote the notoriously un- his second family and classified ads���������������������������������������� 42
finished book series it’s based on. tested him. If Louis was real estate����������������������������������������������� 45
Now, it seems that he has Jewish George’s grandfather, PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747) is pub-
ancestry. there should have been lished weekly on Fridays with an additional edition every October,
by the New Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road,
On Tuesday night, he appeared a partial match — about
George R.R. Martin, left, shown with “Finding Your Teaneck, NJ 07666. Periodicals postage paid at Hackensack, NJ
on the season premiere of the PBS 6 percent. But there was and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

celebrity genealogy show “Finding Roots” host Henry Gates, Jr., was shocked by his no match at all.
New Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ
07666. Subscription price is $30.00 per year. Out-of-state sub-
Your Roots” — and discovered that DNA test. Courtesy of McGee Media/Ark Media A test of Martin’s scriptions are $45.00, Foreign countries subscriptions are $75.00.

he has a dramatic secret Jewish
history.
Martin grew up in Bayonne. He
knew — or at least he thought he
knew — that his mother was part Irish
and his father was half Italian. Martin
was very close to his paternal grand-
mother, Grace, whose Italian husband,
Louis, left her and started a new fam-
ily without first getting a divorce .
(Grace was a devout Catholic.)
Martin believed that he was geneti-
cally one quarter Italian, but a test of
his genetic makeup revealed he actu-
ally has no Italian DNA at all. However,
maternal grandparents
showed only Irish ancestry, so the
show’s researchers speculated that
Louis left Grace after discovering she
had an affair with a Jewish man.
All a stunned Martin can say on the
show is: “You’ve uprooted my world-
view.” CURT SCHLEIER/JTA Wire Service
The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard does
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political advertisement does not constitute an endorsement of
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The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return unso-
licited editorial or graphic materials. All rights in letters and
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ditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and
subject to JEWISH STANDARD’s unrestricted right to edit and to
comment editorially. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part
without written permission from the publisher. © 2018

ON THE COVER: Isaac Levin, left,

and Zac Askinasi work together at
Candlelighting: Friday, January 11, 4:30 p.m. Shabbat ends: Saturday, January 12, 5:34 p.m. the Idea School at the Kaplen JCC
on the Palisades in Tenafly.

Jewish Standard january 11, 2019 3

Noshes
A TAIL-WAGGER:
‘Dog’s Way Home’
is right on course
“A Dog’s Way
Home” is a heart-
warming story
about Bella, an adorable
puppy who’s adopted by
Lucas (JONAH HAUER-
KING, 23), a young
medical student. The pair
is inseparable until Bella
gets lost and has to travel
400 tough wilderness
miles to get back to her
beloved owner. The
supporting cast includes
Ashley Judd and Bryce
Dallas Howard (as the
voice of Bella). This is the
first big film role for the
handsome Hauer-King.
He’s had a lot of British
TV roles, including a
major part — he was
Laurie — in the recent
British production of
“Little Women, which
was shown on PBS.
Jonah’s British father,
Jeremy King, 60ish, is a
famous U.K. restaurateur.
(I don’t know if Jeremy is
Jewish.) His American
mother, DEBRA HAUER,
60, was a theater
producer and now is a
therapist. Jonah, who has
a Cambridge University
degree in theology and
religious studies, told his
college magazine that he
frequently visits the San
Francisco Bay area,
where his mother grew
up, and that he grew up
in a “North London
Jewish family.” His sister
HANNAH, a theater
director, told a British
website: “I love being
Jewish. I feel like we
should all be spiritual. It
Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard
4 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019
“Please do not make a sour patch
kids hummus.”
— Washington Post food reporter Maura Judkis, talking
about the trend to put just about everything —
strawberries, mango, snickerdoodles — in hummus.
She’s not a fan.
doesn’t need to be Dapolito, deftly uses
through an organized Gilda’s diaries, home
religion; for me it just movies, audiotapes,
happens to be Judaism performance videos,
because that’s how I was and interviews with
brought up.” colleagues and family
“The Upside” is a members. Jewish inter-
comedy/drama about viewees include Gilda’s
how a recently paroled brother and nephew, her
ex-convict (Kevin Hart) writing partner ALAN
improbably gets a job as ZWEIBEL, 68 (he also
the personal attendant co-produced the film),
of a paralyzed billionaire SNL creator LORNE
(Bryan Cranston). The Jonah Hauer-King Julianna Margulies Nancy Meyers MICHAELS, 74, musician
star of “The Good Wife,” PAUL SHAFFER, 69, and
JULIANNA MARGULIES, SNL cast mate LARAINE
52, has a biggish sup- NEWMAN, 66.
porting role as Lily.
“What Men Want” New on regular TV
is a remake of “What A new sitcom,
Women Want,” a 2000 “Fam,” premiered
NANCY MEYERS film on CBS on Thurs-
in which a man, after an day, January 10, at 9:30
electric shock, magi- p.m. Nina Dobrev stars
cally could hear women’s as Clem, a woman who
thoughts. In the remake, seems to have a perfect
Ali, an African-American life that includes an
woman and a sports adoring fiancé (Tone
agent played by Taraji Adam Shankman Richard Dreyfuss Odessa Adlon Bell). But perfection
P. Henson, is constantly ends when her out-of-
boxed out of good cli- will premiere on Netflix viewed the Israeli series supporting roles. control 16-year-old
ents by male colleagues. on January 10. This “Fauda,” also on Netflix, Even CNN is get- half-sister, Shannon
After drinking a weird Hebrew-language you’ll recognize him. ting into the business (ODESSA ADLON, 17),
concoction, she can read English-subtitled series An original film, “The of showing films. On shows up unannounced,
men’s thoughts. After tells the story of four Last Laugh,” premiers January 1, they first needing a place to stay.
that, things go a lot bet- veterans of a special IDF on Netflix on January broadcast/streamed This is the first big role
ter for her. The director commando unit from 11. Chevy Chase plays “Love, Gilda,” a very-well for Adlon, who is the
is ADAM SHANKMAN, the 2006 Lebanon War Al Hart, a retired talent reviewed 2017 docu- daughter of actress/
54 (“The Wedding Plan- who reunite for a final manager in a retirement mentary about come- writer/director PAMELA
ner”). JOSH BRENER, mission 11 years later. community who reunites dian GILDA RADNER ADLON, 52. Pamela
34 (“Silicon Valley”) and They will try to rescue there with his first client, (1946-1989) that played Adlon’s hit FX series,
MAX GREENFIELD, 38 the girlfriend of one of a comic named Buddy in a limited number of “Better Things,” features
(“New Girl”) have sup- the commandos, who Green (RICHARD DREY- movie theaters last year. her as the single mother
porting parts. was kidnapped by a FUSS, 71). Buddy quit As I write this, “Love” is of three daughters. In
drug cartel in Colombia. showbiz 50 years ago, being re-shown regu- real life, she is the single
Over on TOMER KAPON, 33, a but Al convinces him to larly on CNN during its mother of three daugh-
Netflix/CNN real-life paratrooper hit the road for a cross- regular schedule and it’s ters — although her real
The 10-episode commander in the Leba- country comedy tour. available to subscribers daughters did not play
Israeli TV drama non War, plays one of Andie MacDowell and via CNN on-demand. her TV offspring.
“When Heroes Fly” the veterans. If you LEWIS BLACK, 70, have The filmmaker, Lisa –N.B.
California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at
Middleoftheroad1@aol.com
E L E V A T E Y O U R S T A N D A R D S
T W O L O C A T IO N S T O S ER V E Y O U B ET T E R - E N G L E W O O D , N J & H A RR IM A N , N Y - B E N Z E L B U S C H . C O M
SECOND ANNUAL MLK JR.
COMMUNITY LECTURE
SUNDAY, JANUARY 13TH, 8PM
AT THE
JEWISH CENTER OF TEANECK

FOR AN EVENING WITH

GURBIR GREWAL
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OF NEW JERSEY

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JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 5

Local
Kidney donor rabbi gives away part of his liver
Teaneck father of nine helps save a life for the second time
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

A
dam Levitz urgently needed a
new liver.
The 44-year-old father of
three from Syosset, Long
Island, was on liver transplant lists in
three states since March 2017. Twice he
was disappointed when cadaveric livers
failed to be the right match for him. He
knew that a liver lobe from a living donor
is the best option, but he never expected
that a total stranger from Teaneck would
step up to be that donor.
“To have someone I didn’t know be
willing to put his life in jeopardy to save
my life was the most unbelievable thing I
ever heard of. Why would someone want
to do this?” he recalls thinking.
And when he found out that the altru-
istic donor was a Chabad rabbi with nine
children — Ephraim Simon, director of
Friends of Lubavitch of Bergen County —
Mr. Levitz was even more amazed.
“You always hear a myth that Jewish
people aren’t donors,” Mr. Levitz said.
“And here’s a rabbi ready to sacrifice his
family and his well-being to help save the
life of another human being. I’m still try-
ing to wrap my head around it.”
What’s even more remarkable is that
this is the second time Rabbi Simon has
donated a part of his body to someone
who was gravely ill. In 2009, he donated
a kidney to a 51-year-old father of 10.
The Jewish Standard spoke to Mr. Lev-
itz and Rabbi Simon two weeks after the
procedure, which took place December
20 at the Cleveland Clinic. Both were still
in Cleveland for outpatient monitoring
before receiving clearance to go home.
“The experience of donating a kid-
ney was so powerful and amazing that I
wanted to see how I could do this again,”
Rabbi Simon said. “I spoke about kidney
donation publicly and encouraged others
to do so. My story went viral on the inter-
net and a lot of people wound up donat-
ing kidneys as a result. But I wanted to do
something even more tangible.”
Obviously he couldn’t donate his
remaining kidney. He found out, how-
ever, that it is possible for a person to
donate part of his or her liver because
the liver has a unique ability to regener-
ate itself after a few months.
So in 2012, Rabbi Simon got in touch
with Chaya Lipschutz of Brooklyn; it was
through her nonprofit organization, Kid-
ney Mitzvah, that he had been matched
with his kidney recipient. He asked if she
could help him find someone in need of
a liver transplant.
Ms. Lipschutz said that a request to
Rabbi Ephraim Simon, left, clasps hands with Adam Levitz at the Cleveland Clinic.
become a double donor is extremely
rare, but she agreed to use her vast social
network to help Rabbi Simon. Finding a
potential recipient turned out to be much
easier than finding a hospital willing to
accept a liver donor who already had
donated a kidney.
For a long while, it seemed that the
rabbi’s wish would go unfulfilled.
“I tried to match him up with numer-
ous others who needed a liver donor, but
their hospitals wouldn’t allow it,” Ms.
Lipschutz wrote on Facebook. “Thank
you to Cleveland Clinic, one of the very
few hospitals in the USA — or world — that
allow kidney donors to also donate part
of their liver.”
Neither donor nor recipient was
deterred by having to fly to Cleveland for
the procedure.
“Rabbi Simon was willing to go any-
where in the world to save another life!
What a very special person he is, to say the
least!” Ms. Lipschutz posted on January 1.
Rabbi Simon, 50, acknowledges that
some people were incredulous at his
decision. “Several people said, ‘It’s
crazy, why would anybody do this?’” he
reported. “‘You’ve done enough; you
don’t need to do more.’
“And a lot of people who love me were
really afraid for me to do this.”
Indeed, while the kidney removal was
done laparoscopically and involved a
relatively short recovery period, donat-
ing part of a liver — in this case, the left
lobe, or about one-third of the organ —
requires open surgery that comes with
greater risks and a longer hospital stay
and recovery. Furthermore, Rabbi Simon
knew from his previous experience that
opioid pain relievers are not effective for
him, and he’d have to soldier through the
inevitable post-op pain.
With all that, why was he so deter-
mined to donate?
“It’s a combination of two factors —
first and foremost, the ability to save
another human being’s life,” he said. “I
believe very strongly that Hashem blesses
us with various resources in life and not
everything He blesses us with we’re
meant to hoard.
“I was blessed with good health and as
a thank-you to Hashem, if I can give some
of that health to another human being
and restore his or her life, it’s a power-
ful motivating factor. Sometimes when
somebody is ill there is nothing you can
do. Here I had two situations where peo-
ple were suffering terribly, and I could do
something about it.”
His second motivating factor, he said,
is his children.
“I live my life to inspire my children
and, secondarily, my congregation and
community, to live meaningful lives,”
he said. “I educate them that our lives
are very fleeting and in the time we
have we must try to make a difference
in the world. Our kids look much more
at what we do than what we say, and I
have said before that a rabbi’s greatest
sermon and a parent’s greatest lecture
is how they live their life. That for me is
incredibly motivating.”
He said that his kids were all support-
ive of the liver donation. When some-
body asked his youngest, a 12-year-old
boy, if he was scared about his father’s
health, the child replied, “I was nervous,
but my father told me he’s going to be
okay and I trust him.”
Before beginning the operation, Rabbi
Simon’s transplant surgeon, Dr. Federico
N. Aucejo, asked if there was anything
the rabbi wanted to tell him before he
was anesthetized. Thinking of his son,
Rabbi Simon said, “I have nine children
at home. Please make sure I get back to
them. My 12-year-old trusts my word that
I’ll be okay.”
Two weeks after the surgery, Rabbi
Simon reported feeling well. He was
expecting to go home on January 9. “For
me, it’s only a few weeks of pain and dis-
comfort and then I’m back to my regu-
lar life,” he said. “But for the recipient,
who was so sick, he now looks healthy
and has a long life ahead of him. I’ll take
that trade.”
Mr. Levitz was told that the donated
liver lobe began functioning as soon as it
was transplanted into his body. The next
few months will be critical in the recovery
process, but he’s very optimistic, based on
the post-op monitoring thus far.
“There is no better person in the world
than Rabbi Simon,” Mr. Levitz said. “We
were amazed that he was thanking me
for the opportunity to save a life. He told
me the first time we met, ‘Adam, I’m 100
percent yours. I’m not going to back out. I
promise you this is your liver and you have

6 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019


nothing to worry about ever again.’ And
now I have a new lease on life. I’m going
to be 45 this month and I have long years
ahead of me.”
The perception that Jews don’t usually
donate organs stems from the relatively
low percentage of Jews with signed organ-
donor cards, according to the Halachic
Organ Donor Society, which works world-
wide to correct “a widespread mispercep-
tion … that Jewish law categorically pro-
hibits organ donation.”
However, in terms of living donation,
altruistic kidney donor numbers have
been rising particularly among religious
Jews. (We could not find statistics on living
Jewish liver-lobe donors, but such dona-
tions are much rarer anyway. According
to the American Transplant Foundation, in
2017 there were only 367 liver transplants
from live donors, compared to 5,811 living
kidney donor transplants.)
The Brooklyn-based nonprofit orga-
nization Renewal reports that Orthodox
and ultra-Orthodox Jews make up more
than 15 percent of living altruistic kid-
ney donors, even though Jews make up
only about 2 percent of the U.S. popu-
lation, and Orthodox Jews are just one-
tenth of that 2 percent. Moreover, in
Israel a recent research study found that
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the majority of Israeli altruistic kidney
donors are religious Jews.
This makes sense to Rabbi Simon.
“When you believe in a higher truth and
a God who asks us to emulate him, as he
gives chesed — kindness — to others, we do
too,” he said; being merciful is tradition-
ally considered a sure sign of Jewishness,
he added.
And he feels that he has been on the
receiving end of great mercy from his fam-
ily and community. “Saving this man’s life
was not me alone,” he said. “I could not
have done this without many partners.
The Teaneck community is one big part-
ner. They supported me emotionally and
supported the Chabad House financially,
because I raise all the money to keep it
going and when I am not there the respon-
sibility falls on others.”
One of his congregants, Juda Engel-
mayer, started a GoFundMe crowdfunding
campaign on January 2. The goal is to raise
$100,000 for Friends of Lubavitch of Ber-
gen County. Youth and teen director Rabbi
Michoel Goldin has been handling day-to-
day operations at the Chabad House in
Rabbi Simon’s absence.
“The other big partner is my incred-
ible children,” Rabbi Simon continued.
“We have two married children and seven
Local
Rabbi Ephraim Simon, director of Friends of Lubavitch of Bergen County, with
his wife and their children.
still at home, aged 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, and 22. I was in the ICU for 24 hours and in the
Our 19-year-old daughter, Sarah, and our hospital for six days. The Cleveland Clinic
22-year-old son, Mendel, basically ran the required a caretaker to be with me, and
house while my wife and I were gone.” she volunteered to do that and did it with
Rabbi Simon said that his wife, grace and beauty.”
Nechamy, is “the real hero behind this Asked what he looks forward to upon his
whole story. When I told her I wanted to return home, Rabbi Simon said, “When I
do this — a major operation with a huge get back to Teaneck, the first thing I’ll do is
recovery period — she was so supportive. hug my children.”
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Local

Dr. King ... in deed and words

Community will come together to honor and reinvigorate his legacy
LOIS GOLDRICH

O
nce again this year, Rabbi Daniel Fridman,
who leads the Jewish Center of Teaneck,
has invited the community to a celebration
in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rabbi
Fridman clearly is passionate about preserving Dr. King’s
legacy, and the communitywide gathering planned for
January 13 is meant to further that goal.
“Last year we invited Theodora Lacey” — an Ameri-
can civil rights activist and educator who fought for vot-
ing rights and fair housing, and helped lead the effort to
integrate schools in New Jersey, Rabbi Fridman said. “She
helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott, and Dr.
King was the pastor of her church, hired by her father.
Their youth leader was Rosa Parks.”
The crowd and the shul last year was both large and
diverse. Rabbi Fridman hopes that this year’s meeting,
featuring New Jersey State Attorney General Gurbir Gre-
wal, will draw a large crowd as well. (Mr. Grewal is the first
Sikh-American Attorney General in United States history.)
Rabbi Fridman is pleased that the celebration truly will
be communitywide. While the list of sponsoring syna-
gogues and community organizations still was in forma-
tion at press time, it included at least 10 shuls as well as
the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. Members
of the broader Teaneck community, “the mayor, the town
council, the superintendent, and the board of education,”
will be there as well, he said.
Perhaps most important, it will include all those
who “cherish the dignity of every human being created Martin Luther King Jr. gives his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the
b’tzelem elohim, in the image of God,” Rabbi Fridman August 28, 1963, march on Washington.
said. “Discrimination is an affront to the basic sense of
godliness. It’s meaningful that this is a communitywide
event. I’m glad we can stand together to uphold the notion
that someone should not suffer discrimination because of
race or religion.”
Martin Luther King Jr. Day “comes down to one line —
‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’”
words Dr. King wrote while he was in jail in Birmingham,
Rabbi Fridman continued. Although the words had a spe-
cific meaning in their historical context, they also have “uni-
versal lessons and implications. Dr. King did not say that
African Americans deserve x, y, and z because of their color,
but because they’re human beings.” You can’t truly value
King’s words if you don’t value the dignity of all people.
“We have to constantly work on this,” he said. “We State Attorney General Rabbi Joel Pitkowski Rabbi Daniel Fridman Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot
always have to be actively engaged.” He hopes that peo- Gurbir Grewal
ple who come to the celebration will be “energized to
realize that when they see injustice, they should speak honoring that disagreement — not allowing things to particular “is a living legacy of Dr. King in this country.
out against it [and] strive for a greater sense of honor- devolve into polarizing rhetoric.” Dr. King’s policy of The civil rights movement is not over. We have to con-
ing the dignity of the other person.” This can be done in civil disobedience reflected that concept, he said. stantly expand opportunities in this country. When
large ways or small, “even with something like engag- He feels strongly about the issue because he is a person the country is truly color blind, it will be an important
ing in a discussion where there is disagreement and of faith, Rabbi Fridman said. “At the core of my faith in God moment for everyone to celebrate — an achievement for
is that God is manifest in people, in human beings, who America and for our society. The Attorney General brings
are created in the image of God. This makes demands of a unique pride to his community, but we should see this
Who: New Jersey State Attorney General him when he interacts with anyone.” He noted that while as something we should all be proud of.”
Gurbir Grewal
in principle Dr. King’s words should resonate equally with While Attorney General Grewal will tell something of
What: Will speak at the second annual community all people, “in our own history, we’re not strangers to big- his own story, he will focus more on how that experience
commemoration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. otry or discrimination. We’ve drunk from a bitter chalice helped him formulate his goals, as reflected in the work
Where: At the Jewish Center of Teaneck, and have a unique sensitivity. of his office.
70 Stirling Place “The Torah speaks on dozens of occasions about how “I’ll touch on my personal experience a bit in dealing
When: On Sunday, January 13, at 8 p.m. our experience of historical suffering should sensitize us with injustice and how it shaped my passion” to ensure
Sponsored by: Many local synagogues to the plight of the stranger, the widow, and the orphan. It that other communities be protected from discrimina-
has a particular historical resonance.” tion, Mr. Grewal said. “But a more important focus will be
For more information: Go to www.jcot.org.
Because of Mr. Grewal’s unique attainment, he in SEE DR. KING PAGE 14

8 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019

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JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 9

Local
‘Take my donkey, please…’
Jeremy Dauber to sketch out Jewish humor in Hoboken
JOANNE PALMER
You know how sometimes when people
try to explain jokes, they’re just not funny?
How there’s really nothing less funny or
more embarrassing than a flopped joke?
Luckily, Dr. Jeremy Dauber doesn’t
have that problem. He can talk about
jokes, study them, interpret them, con-
textualize them, be smart about them —
and still be funny.
He’ll display that rare gift at the United
Synagogue of Hoboken on Sunday as he
talks about his now-out-in-paperback
book, “Jewish Comedy: A Serious History.”
(See box.)
Dr. Dauber, who grew up in Teaneck,
went to Harvard as an undergraduate and
then to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar; he’s
now a professor of Yiddish language, lit-
erature, and culture and the director of
the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies
at Columbia. He has turned those deeply
serious credentials toward comedy.
In Hoboken, he’ll tell five representative
jokes that “are a way of illuminating some
of the ways in which Jewish comedy has
woven around Jewish history,” he said.
A Liora by any other name
Teaneck speaker will discuss Jewish languages and word infiltration
LOIS GOLDRICH
What’s in a name?
Quite a lot, actually. Important informa-
tion, such as history, culture, and religious
identity.
On Shabbat, Sarah Bunin Benor — pro-
fessor of contemporary Jewish studies at
Hebrew Union-Jewish Institute of Religion
in Los Angeles — will speak about Jewish
names, Jewish language, and the particu-
lar language of North American Jewish
summer camps.
Dr. Benor’s field includes many
Who: Professor Sarah Bunin Benor
What: Will deliver three lectures
When: Friday, 7 p.m., “From Harry
and Sally to Josh and Liora — Jewish
Names Around the World”; Shabbat
d’var Torah, “Do American Jews Speak
a Jewish Language?”; Shabbat, 1:30
p.m., “Ruach in the Dining Hall — Lan-
guage at North American Jewish Sum-
mer Camps”
Where: At Congregation Beth Sholom,
354 Maitland Ave., Teaneck
For more information: cbsteaneck.org
10 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019
Jeremy Dauber MARION ETTLINGER
The first jokes, the oldest ones, are in
the Bible; they tend to be more triumph-
alist than actually funny. Take Balaam’s
donkey. (Please take his donkey!) Not only
does it showcase the folk humor of talk-
ing animals, it shows that the Israelites are
disciplines — “I teach mostly social sci-
ence, anthropology, and linguistics, with
a focus on the language of contemporary
Jews,” she said — and her course offerings
are equally varied. She teaches under-
graduates at the University of Southern
California about language, race, and iden-
tity in the United States, and she guides
master’s students in the field of Jewish
social research, showing them how to do
research on contemporary Jews.
On Shabbat morning, Dr. Benor will talk
about what Jewish languages are and who
speaks them. “Historically, Jews have spo-
ken somewhat differently,” she said. Some-
times the differences are small — people
integrate a few Hebrew words into a local
language — and other times they are major,
rendering their speech incomprehensible
to outsiders.
“For the most part, when Jews moved
to a new land they picked up the local lan-
guage and Judaicized it,” she said. “They
spoke a Jewish version of the local lan-
guages. Sometimes it was not intelligible
to outsiders; sometimes it was.”
While the language of American Jews
has distinctive features, it is among those
with fewer distinctive differences, she said.
so much better than the neighboring peo-
ples that even their beasts of burden know
more than their wise men. “The kingdom
was expanding, God was in his temple,
so the humor is based on a certain kind
of Jewish superiority,” Dr. Dauber said.
“It’s often mocking humor against Israel’s
enemies.” But then the First Temple was
destroyed, and “at the same time we have
the covenant, we know we are the chosen
people, in our own land, yet we have to
make sense of the fact that we don’t feel
particularly chosen.
“By the Book of Esther,” in between the
First and Second Temples, “you have ner-
vous, anxious comedy.” As time passes,
“that comedy morphs until it becomes
recognizable to us.”
The comedy in the Book of Esther, Dr.
Dauber said, “is anxiety; as Freud would
say, one way of dissipating anxiety is in
comedy.”
There’s satire in the Bible as well, he said;
it’s hard for us to recognize because we’re
not familiar with its target. “In the books
of Judges and Prophets, there’s mockery
of Israel’s enemies, and of idolaters,” he
continued. “Ancient paganism really was
Sarah Bunin Benor
Noting the diversity of the American Jew-
ish community, however, she pointed out
that “among the Orthodox, there are more
differences.” For example, Orthodox Jew-
ish language is more likely to include Ying-
lish, the language of the immigrant genera-
tion, who then acquired some English, as
a complicated and rich religion, but in the
prophets’ view, it was simple idiocy.
“That’s what satire often does; it takes
a position and satirizes it, so the result is
that we wonder how anyone could have
been so idiotic as to believe in it.” By now,
we believe only the idea that idolatry was
lunacy, people bowing down to pieces of
stone and wood; the ancient satire has
stripped it of its sophistication by remov-
ing the idea that it was symbolic rather
than surface.
There were many centuries of the
Who: Dr. Jeremy Dauber
What: Will talk about his book, “Jewish
Comedy: A Serious History”
Where: At the United Synagogue of
Hoboken, 115 Park Ave.
When: On Sunday, January 13, from
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
What else: There’s brunch too.
How much: Members, $18; nonmem-
bers, $25
For more information: Call (201) 659-
4000 or email office@hobokensyna-
gogue.org
well as the language of their children.
Dr. Benor became interested in Yiddish,
and Jewish languages in general, when
she was a student at Columbia, majoring
in comparative literature and linguistics.
She later received a doctorate in linguistics
from Stanford. It was at Columbia that she
discovered the diverse varieties of Ameri-
can Jewish English. Indeed, her under-
graduate thesis was on how the Orthodox
Jews at Columbia spoke English.
Jewish English is not really one lan-
guage, she said.
“We use various Hebrew, Yiddish, Ara-
maic, Ladino, and Russian words and
phrases, depending on where our family
is from and which communities we’re in.
Sometimes we use distinctive grammatical
features or distinctive intonations.” Gener-
ally, American Jews don’t do this with out-
siders. But within the community, it helps
Jews identify each other and identify them-
selves as certain types of Jews.
Her field is not new. “Starting in the
1980s, scholars became interested in
Jewish language as a phenomenon,” she
said. Her research continues that tradi-
tion of practice, “and takes it into the 21st
century.”
 Local

Sandi M. Malkin, LL C
medieval and early modern periods; his book dis-
cusses “the period when Jewish modernity really
starts,” Dr. Dauber said. He has some of the jokes.
Interior Designer
“There’s a lot of great material, particularly from (former interior designer of model
Eastern Europe.” Most of it is in Yiddish, but it is rooms for NY’s #1 Dept. Store)
important to remember that Yiddish was a language
in which people lived. Yes, they joked in Yiddish, but
they also cried, sang, wrote, debated, lived, and loved
in that language. For a totally new look using
your furniture or starting anew.
And then of course there is the postwar period.
He tells an archetypical joke — not to worry, not
the one he’ll tell in Hoboken — about the Schwartzes’
campaign to join a local country club. “The club is
restricted,” he said. No Jews allowed. So “they go to
Staging also available
Paris, changes their names, come back as the Noirs.”
(Schwartz, Noir, Black — it’s all the same.) They do 973-535-9192
everything they have to do, and they do it right.
“Everything goes well. In the final interview, they’re
asked what they do. He says, ‘I dabble in oils,’ and
Madame says, ‘I work on my sauces. I’m a Cordon
Bleu chef.’ It’s all going well.
“And then the head of the admissions committee
says, ‘I think I’m done here. Just one more question.
What religion are you?’
“And the Noirs say, ‘Well, we’re goyim.’”
Dr. Dauber pauses, waits for the laugh, then con-
tinues. “Both the fact that the Jewishness comes out
SEE DONKEY 15

Dr. Benor notes on the website she edits, jewish-

languages.org, that “Throughout the world, wher-
ever Jews have lived, they have spoken and written
differently from the non-Jews around them. Their
languages have differed by as little as a few embed-
ded Hebrew words or by as much as a highly vari-
ant grammar. Learning about Jewish languages (also
known as Jewish language varieties) leads to a better
understanding of the diversity of the Jewish diaspora
and of the linguistic manifestations of contact among
diverse communities.”
What is noticeably different among American Jews,
she said, is that our language is not written in Hebrew
letters, while most other Jewish languages have been
written in that alphabet. That is one of the topics she
will discuss.
Her website identifies twenty different languages.
But how many languages there really are is a mat-
ter of dispute. “It depends how you count,” she
explained. “Do you consider Moroccan Judeo-Ara-
bic and Yemenite Judeo-Arabic to be separate lan-
guages, or varieties of the same language? How
about medieval Judeo-French and contemporary
Jewish French? Orthodox Jewish English in New
York and Reform Jewish English in San Francisco?
In other words, anywhere from 20 to hundreds.”
Dr. Benor suggested that the popularity of some
Yiddish words and expressions now “has a lot to do
SEE LIORA PAGE 40

JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 11

Local

Weaving a community
Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County
works to form the mechanism, one strand at a time

J
JOANNE PALMER

ewish federations are important

institutions, often vital to the health
of a community, but often they’re
hard to define.
From the outside, they may seem to be
about fund-raising; from a little bit farther
inside, they might seem to be about allo-
cations as well. Sometimes it’s hard to see
the bigger picture.
But of course there is a bigger picture.
The Jewish Federation and Foundation
of Rockland County, which covers the area
just north of the state line with New Jersey,
does fund-raising and allocations. That’s a
necessary part of its work. But like all fed-
erations, it does much more.
In Rockland, the bigger job, the job that
the fund-raising and allocation work sup-
ports, the reason it matters, is called “com-
munity weaving.”
Think of a piece of cloth, the federa-
tion’s CEO, Gary Siepser, said. Woven
cloth, where you can see the warp and the
weft. “You have the different strands, and
every one of them can be only so strong,”
Mr. Siepser said. “When you weave them
together, you have something that is so
much stronger than any one strand.” The community came together quickly to mourn the victims murdered in in Pittsburgh.
He’s been the CEO for three years. “At
my first board meeting, when we went
around the group to get acquainted,
I asked each person to say what they
thought the purpose of federation was,”
he said. Fund-raising and allocation, each
answered. “I said that you might fire me
tonight for saying this, but that is not the
reason for federation.
“That’s the mechanism we need to build
a community. That’s an important part — if
we could do community weaving without
raising any money, life would be so much
easier for all of us.
“But we can’t. We have to pay for pro-
gram costs. We have to have an office and
a staff and professionals. We have to have
a governance structure.
“But that’s not our purpose. Our pur- Gary Siepser
pose is to build a Jewish community.”
The phrase isn’t his, Mr. Siepser added; Out of the 15 organizations invited to
it’s what some federations around the coun- the meeting, 11 sent representatives, Mr.
try call the work they do, and it resonates. Siepser said.
After his first discussion with the board, Teenagers stand by empty chairs labeled with the Pittsburgh victims’ names. “We talked about the fact that we had
“we came out with the focus that federa- to work together,” he said. “Of course,
tion’s job was to convene the local Jewish points, then it becomes a question of how Hillel, the Holocaust museum, and the nobody was going to argue that we had to
community, to take collective action to we can get everyone working together. day school — which since has gone out of work separately. But then we found that
build the local community, and to advo- “Community weaving is the mechanism business — as well as the rabbis and pres- really we could work together.”
cate and innovate on behalf of Israel, to for that to happen.” idents of all the congregations that are The group continued to meet, “and we
fight anti-Semitism and bigotry, and to After the federation’s leaders decided members of the Rockland County Board concluded that innovation was the thing
help those Jews who can’t help themselves to work on community weaving, Mr. of Rabbis” — that’s the organization to that we all had to do. All the congregations
and who need our help. That’s our pur- Siepser said, “in the spring of 2016, we which all the local Conservative, Reform, and all the agencies had to focus on how to
pose, not to raise and allocate funds. convened a meeting and invited the Reconstructionist, traditional, and unaf- be more innovative.”
“And so when we zero in on those presidents of all the agencies, the JCC, filiated rabbis and their shuls belong. SEE COMMUNITY PAGE 34

12 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019

 ING HISTORY
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JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 13

Local
Dr. King
FROM PAGE 8
on how our office is working to promote
social, racial, economic, and even environ-
mental justice.”
What does Martin Luther King Jr. Day
mean to the state’s chief legal officer? “To
me, it’s a reminder that our fight for jus-
tice is still continuing. It’s a particularly
timely reminder given what’s coming out
of Washington. There’s a lot more work to
be done. This is best done by following Dr.
King’s example.”
Does he think that Dr. King’s voice would
be heard today, as it would have to com-
pete with the loud voices bombarding us
in this political environment? “I would be
listening,” Mr. Grewal said. “And based on
what I hear, people would be listening and
watching intently. That’s why we look at his
example.”
Since Mr. Grewal took office in January
last year, the Attorney General’s office has
focused on several initiatives targeted to
relations between law enforcement and
the wider community. Last November, his
office issued the Immigrant Trust Directive,
To me, it’s a
reminder that
our fight for
justice is still
continuing. It’s a
particularly
timely reminder
given what’s
coming out of
Washington.
clarifying the role of state law enforcement
in relation to federal civil immigration law.
“We don’t participate,” he said; the role
of state law enforcement authorities is to
enforce the state’s criminal law. “The activi-
ties ICE” — that’s the federal agency whose
full name is Immigration and Customs
Enforcement — “was engaging in were caus-
ing fear in our immigrant communities,”
preventing them from coming forward
to report crimes. “We want to show them
we’re here to protect them.” This, he said,
fits in well with the teachings of Dr. King.
He pointed also to community outreach
efforts “to promote understanding between
law enforcement and the community.” His
21-21 project calls upon the state’s 21 county
prosecutors to organize quarterly public
events to discuss issues relevant to commu-
nity policing in the 21st century.
Mr. Grewal said he hopes the audience
will leave with the feeling that while there is
a great deal of negativity coming from Wash-
ington, “where the president discusses law
and order in terms of fear of minorities and
14 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019
the other, we’re taking a different approach
in New Jersey. You can be pro-community,
pro-law, and pro-immigration, building a
model the rest of the country can look to.”
Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky, who leads Teaneck’s
Congregation Beth Sholom — another spon-
sor of the event — said that Martin Luther
King Jr. Day “is a day to celebrate the accom-
plishment of this extraordinary American
and understand that the work he cared so
deeply about, civil rights and equal rights,
is incomplete. It’s been left to the next gen-
eration to pick up his mantle and continue
his work.”
Dr. King was assassinated on April 4,
1968. “I think about what he said the night
before about having been to the mountain-
top and seen the Promised Land, but that
he might not be able to get there,” Rabbi
Pitkowsky said. “He’s paraphrasing the
ending of Deuteronomy. Just like Moses,
who saw the land of Israel but couldn’t
cross over to the other side. I think about
the unfinished work. It’s a day to celebrate
our common humanity and understand
that the work is incomplete.”
Rabbi Pitkowsky said that Dr. King was a
person “who wanted the African American
community to claim its part of the Ameri-
can dream. Not to ruin the dream, but to
enlarge it so they could be part of it. That’s
such an incredibly important part of what
it means to be an American. We say we
love our country because we claim that the
dream is open to all people, regardless of
race, color, or creed. But I worry that this is
less true than we want it to be.
“If Dr. King was still here, he’d still be
fighting the good fight.”
Rabbi Pitkowsky said he thinks the
upcoming meeting is important, and he is
grateful to Rabbi Fridman for organizing it.
“Although there are issues that divide the
community, whether the Jewish community
or the Bergen County community, there are
also issues that bring us together, that we
stand united to fight for,” he said.
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
These local organizations are also paying tribute to Dr. King:
Friday January 18
Wayne
Rabbi emeritus Israel S. Dresner
honors the life of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. during ser-
vices at Temple Beth Tikvah in
Wayne, 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Dresner
was a prominent participant
in the civil rights struggle of
the 1960s and was close to Dr.
King. President Barack Obama
honored Rabbi Dresner at the
White House in 2013 for the
50th anniversary celebration of
the March on Washington. 950
Preakness Ave. (973) 595-6565
or www.templebethtikvahnj.org.
I think the
community needs
to come together
not only in times
of great sorrow
or to remember
the past, but in
order for us to
remember people
who continue to
inspire us and
push us to create
a better future.
“I think the community needs to come
together not only in times of great sorrow
or to remember the past, but in order for
us to remember people who continue
to inspire us and push us to create a bet-
ter future. For me, Martin Luther King Jr.
Day is a time to think not only about his
life but also the legacy he leaves and look
around at the community and understand
that we, as Mahatma Gandhi said, need to
‘be the change that you wish to see in the
world.’ We should all want our country
to be a place where anyone can succeed
based on the merits of their character and
accomplishments.”
Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot, who heads
Teaneck’s Netivot Shalom — another
program sponsor — said, “I always try
to speak on the Shabbat before Martin
Luther King Jr. weekend on some topic
related to the work, life, or legacy of
Dr. King.” That’s because the civil rights
leader worked to “create a more just soci-
ety and a better America, more in touch
Emerson
Congregation B’nai Israel in Emerson
invites members of all faiths to its annual
“Freedom Shabbat” service honoring the
lives and messages of Rev. Dr. Martin Lu-
ther King Jr., and Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel, 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Debra Oren-
stein will lead the service with participa-
tion of local clergy members. Coffee,
desserts, and informal conversation will
follow. On Saturday, there will a “Torah
Town Hall” service as part of the Shab-
bat morning interactive Torah discussion
on the legacies of Rabbi Heschel and Dr.
King. 10 a.m. 53 Palisade Ave. (201) 265-
2272 or www.bisrael.com.
with its founding ideals. Our citizens
believe in that and want to see it happen.”
Many members of the Jewish community
have worked hard toward the same end,
fighting racism and prejudice and seek-
ing to ensure more equality, he said.
Rabbi Helfgot mentioned the special
relationship between Dr. King’s move-
ment and the Jewish community, “given
that so much of the rhetoric of civil
rights and of Dr. King is rooted in biblical
themes. His famous speeches use bibli-
cal imagery from Exodus and the proph-
ets, and so much of the movement was
inspired by the biblical notions of justice
and recognizing the dignity of all human
beings.” Dr. King was a profoundly reli-
gious leader, who “not only spoke to sec-
ular ideals like the pursuit of freedom but
also to the deepest beliefs and values of
our country as rooted in Judeo-Christian
ethics,” Rabbi Helfgot said
He noted that for many people, Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Day is used “as a day
of chesed.” (In 1994, Congress designated
Martin Luther King Jr. Jr. Day as a national
day of service.) This is a “positive thing,
to be able to give a push for people to get
involved.” His synagogue tries to make its
members aware of service programs going
on in the community, he added.
How would Rabbi Helfgot characterize
Dr. King’s message? “The message is that
unfortunately we live in a polarized age,”
he said. “There’s nothing wrong with
healthy debate, but sometimes that rancor
and polarization have led to expressions
of racism, anti-Semitism, and xenopho-
bia. On many sides of the political debate,
we’re not treating each other with dignity
and respect.
“Part of the democratic game is to play
by the rules. As religious people, we rec-
ognize a spark of divinity in every human
being. We need to unite — not just after
Pittsburgh or Charlottesville — but on a
regular basis, to reaffirm those values.”
Friday January 25
New City
Temple Beth Sholom in New City,
N.Y., will host members and the
choir of the Berea Seventh-Day
Adventist Church at its special an-
nual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. Shabbat service, 7:30 p.m. 228
New Hempstead Road. (845) 638-
0770 or www.tbsrockland.org.
 Local

Donkey
FROM PAGE 11
NEED SOMETHING PRINTED?
— this response to a kind of acculturation — and that
it comes out with a sting of Yiddishy humor — tells We pride ourselves on Quality and Service!
you a lot about the historical environment.” It’s both
telling and funny. • Stationery • Invitations • B/W and
Sometimes humor is based on stereotypes. That
kind of humor doesn’t age particularly well. Humor
• Business Cards • Booklets Color Copies
based on, say, stuttering, or on ideas about women • Carbonless • Postcards • Fax machine
in general or Jewish women in particular, often land
with a thud today. “When humor is based on the
Forms • Labels • T-Shirts, Vinyl Bags
persistence of a stereotype, when there is nothing • Brochures • Banners and more!…
behind it — that’s a lazy type of humor,” Dr. Dauber
said. “Sometimes people rely on old stereotypes,
and there’s a lag time. It’s when people rely on the UNDER NEW
stereotype of old Jews having heavy Yiddish accents, OWNERSHIP
when by now people of that age are almost all Ameri-
can born. The stereotype exists, but it’s not based
on reality.”
Sometimes, comedy writers can figure out “how
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to have their cake and eat it too,” he said. He’s fairlawn.minutemanpress.com · Monday - Friday 9-5
thinking about the Amazon series “The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel,” which can use the 1950s stereotypi-
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cal comedy because that’s when it’s set, as well as
today’s take on that period. It’s both double-edged
and blunted enough to be safe.
As he looks back over Jewish history and watches
its intersection with comedy, Dr. Dauber can see
that “periods of great transformation and transi-
tion can create great comedy. There is a remark-
able high water mark for Jewish comedy at the
beginning of the modern period, and a lot again
Please join us at the
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when all
sorts of political movements and geographic dis-
locations were going on. And then there was very
36th A N N U A L D I N N E R
powerful great comedy created in the immediate HONORING
postwar era, when American Judaism was chang-
ing, and Jews were taking stock of their position
after the Holocaust.” Comedy eventually can fol-
low trauma.
This is another ripe time for Jewish comedy, and
in fact for comedy in general, because the traditional
gatekeepers have lost their power, Dr. Dauber said.
“There are now all sorts of new venues, technologi-
cally speaking, for showcasing different kinds of
voices, so you are able to get the kinds of voices that
would not have been accepted before.” Those voices
include many more women.
“And they often come from nontraditional places,”
he said. Nomi & Yechiel Rotblat
He listed a few recent shows with inextricable Jew- Rabbi Joel Grossman Aaron Safier ‘01
Guests of Honor
ish content. “Rachel Bloom started as a YouTube fig- Faculty Service Award Alumni Tribute Award
ure, and then gets her own television show,” he said.
That was “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” “And then ‘Transpar- In support of the Bruce
ent’” — on Amazon — “forgetting about the transgen- Ritholtz z”l Scholarship Fund
der issue, just the sheer Jewishness of it. And then
‘Broad City.’ That would not have been able to air on
prime time. SUNDAY | FEB R U A RY 10, 2019 | 6:30 PM
“That’s the biggest change. And then there are - at -
all the people who do work on Twitter and on
Instagram and platforms like that. That’s the big- CONGR E G AT I O N KETER TORAH
gest excitement. 600 Roemer Avenue, Teaneck, NJ
“It’s much more bottom up than it has ever been
before,” he said. To RSVP and/or donate, please visit www.tabc.org/annualdinner
Dr. Dauber plans to talk about the history of this
For questions or more information, please contact Sharon Rifkind
comedy, but as he points out, there is far more space Director of Development, sharon.rifkind@tabc.org / 201-837-7696 x123
for it in his book than in even an hourlong perfor-
mance. “It’s never too late to give anyone a Chanu-
kah gift,” he said. “Or it could be an early afikoman
present…” R O A D to S U C C E S S
JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 15
Briefly Local

COURTESY BRIS AVROHOM

PHOTO PROVIDED
Rabbi Wiener delivers invocation
for Bergen leader’s new term Legislators hear Rabbi Kanelsky
Rabbi Arthur Weiner, right, of the JCC of Paramus/Congregation Beth Tikvah gave the
invocation as Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III was sworn in for his sec- At the invitation of New Jersey Assembly members Lisa Swain and Chris Tully, Rabbi
ond term. The ceremony was held on January 1 at the Bergen County Academies in Mordechai Kanelsky of Bris Avrohom, at the center podium, gave the invocation for
Hackensack. the Assembly’s last session of 2018. Rabbi Kanelsky spoke of the concept of charity
and the belief “In God We Trust.” Afterward, Rabbi Kanelsky gave tzedakah boxes
from Israel to the speaker of the General Assembly, Craig Coughlin, Ms. Swain, and
Chris Tully.
Cantor Sokoloff participates
in Hadar holiday program
Cantor Alan Sokoloff of Temple Emanuel
of the Pascack Valley in Woodcliff Lake
attended the Hadar Singing Communi-
ties Intensive from December 24 to 27
in Manhattan. The event was led by Joey
Weisenberg.
Hadar is an educational institution that
seeks to empower a generation of Jews
to create and sustain vibrant egalitarian
communities.
“This music program enabled me to

COURTESY CHAI LIFELINE

experience the depth of Jewish music,
study traditional melodies, and share in
the creative process of bringing new music
PHOTO PROVIDED

into being,” Cantor Sokoloff said. “My

congregants at Temple Emanuel of the
Pascack Valley are the beneficiaries of my
participation in the Singing Intensive, as
our services are now enhanced with these
beautiful new melodies.”
Communitywide Rockland
commemoration to mark
Holocaust Remembrance Day
The Holocaust Museum & Center for Tol-
erance and Education marks International
Holocaust Remembrance Day with a com-
munitywide meeting on Wednesday, Janu-
ary 23, at the New City Jewish Center at
7 p.m.
Brenda Weisman and Amy Edelstein,
the daughter and granddaughter of the
youngest Bielski brother, present “Lega-
cies of Defiance.” They will discuss the
Bielski partisans, as portrayed in the
Cantor Alan Sokoloff
film “Defiance.”
International Holocaust Remembrance
Day commemorates the liberation of
Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27. The
museum is hosted by Rockland Commu-
nity College and receives funding from the
Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, and
the Jewish Federation & Foundation of
Rockland County.
For more information, call (845) 574-
4099 or go to holocauststudies.org.
Chai Lifeline annual winter retreat
Chai Lifeline brought together 500
people, including family members,
rabbis, mental health experts, vol-
unteers, and staff, for a weekend of
inspiration at its annual LH Financial
Winter Retreat for Families Living with
Pediatric Cancer from December 27 to
29 at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in
Asbury Park.
It offered professional and peer
support, educational programming,
respite and relaxation, and inspiration.
Speakers included Rabbi Mayer Gross,
a Chai Lifeline parent from Lakewood,
and Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, licensed
clinical social worker and senior rabbi
of Congregation Ahavas Achim B’nai
Jacob and David in West Orange.
Families received personalized bags
for each child, and games and room
packages. There was children’s
programming and an outing. The
mothers received a spa experience.
“Mutual support is vital for these
families who are bound together by
circumstance,” said Rabbi Simcha
Scholar, Chai Lifeline’s chief execu-
tive officer. “The goal of these retreats
is not only to provide these families
with a sense of normalcy and chizuk,
but to also let them know they are not
alone in battling their child’s illness
or in their emotional response to the
situation.”
There was a Motzei Shabbat carnival
with indoor inflatables, a concert with
Benny Friedman, Yitz Henkin, and the
Mezamrim Choir, and a Melava Malka.
To learn more about Chai Life-
line and its services, go to www.
chailifeline.org.

16 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019

UPCOMING AT KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades
Neil Klatskin Vacation Camps
School’s out? What now? We have you covered!
The JCC will fill your child’s day with fun and laughter.
With special half-day trips for the older kids, and fun
entertainers for the younger kids, there’s something for
everyone!
Martin Luther King Day
Grades K-5: Join us for a trip to Skyzone, swim, sports,
art, and more!
Ages 3 – Pre-K: Ari Safari animal show and much more!
Mon, Jan 21

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in a friendly, community atmosphere. Join a team today!
Practices take place on weekday mornings or evenings.
For more info, contact Shira at 201.408.1428 or

soap
szandani@jccotp.org

JCC PATRON OF THE ARTS AND THE

The Soap Myth:
KAPLEN FOUNDATION PRESENT A Reading with Ed Asner
and Tovah Feldshuh PA

myth
the The critically acclaimed Soap Myth, by
Jeff Cohen, questions how a survivor
survives surviving, and asks who has the
right to write history — those who have
lived it and remember, those who study and
protect it, or those who would seek
to distort and desecrate its very existence.
VIP $100, Exclusive for JCC Patron of the
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Includes reserved VIP seating, meet and greet
dessert reception with photo opportunity
Preferred $50, priority seating; General $25
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Sun, Jan 27, 7 pm

FAMILIES CHILDREN ADULT

Family Fun Day THE LEONARD & SYRIL RUBIN

Enjoy fun activities, face painting, moon bounce
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Sun, Feb 3, 1-3 pm, Free and open to the community
All offers valid Feb 3 only; restrictions apply;
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NURSERY SCHOOL
Tu B’shevat Seminar
WITH RABBI REUVEN KIMELMAN
Open House How and why do we make a Tu B’Shevat Seder?
3 Months-Kindergarten
Wed, Jan 16, 8:15 pm, Free and open to the community
Looking for a warm, child-centered
preschool with a progressive curriculum
rooted in Jewish values? Come see for
yourself! Join us for Tot Shabbat, tour PA Program offered as part of the JCC Patron of the Arts Program.
our facilities, meet our amazing teachers Find out more at jccotp.org/patrons.
and learn what makes our school
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appropriate for your child. For more info TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO
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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 JANUARY 11, 2019 17
Cover Story

Students and faculty talk together before morning tefillot at the school.
The adults in the photo include, clockwise from the front, Rabbi Tavi
Koslove, STEM teacher Rochie Summer, humanities teacher Nancy
Edelman, and the director of the Idea School Institute, Rabbi Alan Zelenetz.
ALL PHOTO COURTESY OF THE IDEA SCHOOL

How’s the Idea School doing?

We look at the new Jewish education ninth-graders. Next year, the school will in some way.”
add a new ninth grade; it plans to gradu- It’s about the importance of facts and
‘laboratory’ at the Kaplen JCC ate its first class in four years. It has seven of truth. It’s less about hierarchy than

midway through its inaugural year teachers, three of them full-time, includ- about the way learning and learners and
the world in which and from which they
learn all interconnects. It’s about melding
JOANNE PALMER whom you work. science and art and emotion and Judaism

S
tarting a school — going from the
daydream to the absolute reality
of actual ninth-graders looking at
you expectantly one September
day — is an extraordinary achievement.
The challenges are immense.
You have to find financial backers,
because it’s expensive. You have to find
space, because teaching takes up room.
You have to find teachers willing to give up
security, perhaps even tenure, to work in
what might not be a secure job. You have
to find parents willing to send their chil-
dren to a place with absolutely no track
record. You have to find students willing
to be pioneers in what might be a grand
experiment or a messy failure.
You have to have a firm vision, a clear
head, faith in yourself and the people with
You need courage.
But if you can do it, the reward will be
great.
If you have the courage and the heart
and the tenacity to go through with it,
then you get to start from the beginning,
to institute the educational philosophy
that you think will be best for the students
from the beginning, instead of having to fit
it into existing corners of the curriculum.
You get to shape students’ lives.
That’s what Tikvah Wiener of Teaneck
did with the Idea School, a new Jewish
high school whose freshman class started
in September. The school’s set at the
Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly;
the intergenerational programming inside
the building and the wooded acres outside
seem a necessary part of it.
There are 13 students now, all
It’s not that the
information the
students learn is
different, it’s that
it’s organized
differently.
ing Rabbi Tavi Koslove, the school’s Judaic
studies principal, and it works with other
teachers. (Do you want to teach your stu-
dents to plan a garden? Work with Yoseph
Gillers of Grow Torah!)
The Idea School’s educational model is
project-based learning. “A big part of it is
authenticity,” Ms. Wiener said. “It’s about
authentic connections to the real world.
Your work should be part of the real world
in ways that are both challenging and real.
Sounds great but what does that mean
in the real world?
It could mean that as you learn about
environmental science or biology, “You
could, say, test water in the Hackensack
River or investigate whether people who
live close to Route 4 have higher levels of ill-
ness. Your research might yield something
authentic, and you could make connec-
tions with experts in the field, with a water
filtration specialist, say, or a chemist.”
That sounds complex. Is project-based
learning only for high school students, and
advanced ones at that? No, Ms. Wiener
said; an elementary school that did proj-
ect-based learning took a class pet’s death
and made a funeral, with invitations, writ-
ten in the children’s own invented spelling,
and went on from there, including as many

18 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019


Student Ezra Glasman works with GrowTorah’s Yosef Gillers.
elements from as many disciplines
as possible.
The Idea School works on tri-
mesters. There’s one big unit per
trimester, a concept that each disci-
pline uses in its own way. And then,
“presenting and reflecting on work
is very important,” Ms. Wiener
said. “We want the students pre-
senting their work to each other,
and to as wide an audience as pos-
sible; if you were investigating river
levels, if you found something
you’d want to present it to the town
water board.” But the students start
with each other, their teachers and
administrators, and parents.
“It naturally builds leadership
skills,” Ms. Wiener said.
The school’s first unit was about
cultivating good habits; the current
one, its second, is consideration of
what makes a good citizen. “There
is a lot of emotional learning that
goes on,” Ms. Wiener said. “We
rooted our first unit of the year —
the first unit of the school — in look-
ing at not only at how we develop
good habits as a person but how we
do it as a school. And for life.”
The school uses the same core
curriculum as other schools, she
added. “In ninth grade, social stud-
ies is ancient civilizations, math
is geometry, science is physics.
These are not outliers. It’s not that
the information the students learn
is different, it’s that it’s organized
differently. It’s how we’re choosing
to connect the courses.
“So take the unit they’re work-
ing on now, about what makes a
good citizen. How do we pursue
justice in society? So in Talmud,
the students are investigating the
Jewish version of that question.
Cover Story
How does my knowledge of Tal-
mud and my Jewish identity Idea School students walk through the JCC’s halls.
inform my sense of citizenship?
In humanities, they’re learning
about ancient Greece and Rome,
and how to trace our American
democracy to ancient concepts.”
In their literature class, students
are studying Antigone. “The ques-
tion is what happens when my
personal sense of right and wrong
conflict with the societal sense of
right and wrong? Then we get into
civil rights and civil disobedience
and the Freedom Riders,” and all
that happens right around Martin
Luther King Day.
The students also had to cre-
ate their own superheroes, com-
plete with backstories; they talked
about Bernie Madoff on this, the
tenth anniversary of his arrest and
unmasking, and they used biblical Jacob Louk and Emma Hasson work on coding.
and talmudic sources as they did
so. They studied the ethics of organ
donation. “It loops back to the ques-
tion of what is my personal moral
responsibility to society?” Ms. Wie-
ner said. “How much do I have to
give? It’s all interconnected.”
The Idea School is the first and
so far the only Jewish institution
“to be fully interdisciplinary and
project-based,” Ms. Wiener said.
Although the school may seem
unstructured, that’s far from the
truth, she said. It’s just that the
structure isn’t necessarily visible.
It uses the chavruta model — stu-
dents learning together in pairs
— but “it’s not the typical ‘let’s
go learn together,’” she said. “It’s
a protocol, with set criteria and
guidelines. When you give kids
protocols, they don’t have to won- Soon after the school year started, students gathered for morning tefillot as Rabbi Tavi
der what they are supposed to be Kosgrove unrolled a family sefer Torah and described some of its physical elements.
JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 19
Cover Story

doing. Those rules take the pres-
sure off.” The school also uses
Socratic seminars; those, too,
have rules.
“We are not interested only
in their scientific and academic
exploration and their cultural lit-
eracy,” Ms. Wiener said. “We are
very interested in those things,
but we also are very interested
in their moral character develop-
ment within their exploration of
science and the humanities and
their Jewish heritage.”
Teaching Talmud is a neces-
sary and valuable way to teach
students not only Jewish practice
but also Jewish values, she said. From left, the JCC’s chief experience officer, Leslie Meyers; Nancy Edelman; the JCC’s COO, Sue
“If you grow up to cheat on your Gelsey; Rabbi Tavi Kaslove; the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, Jason
taxes but keep Shabbat perfectly, Shames; Tikvah Wiener; board member Lisa Farkovits, and Jordan Shenker celebrate the school.
then we have failed.”
She talked about some of her intellectual heroes — the
Rav, Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik; Rabbi Moshe Lich-
tenstein, and Rabbi Norman Lamm. Each had combined
Torah, humanism, and morality. “Rabbi Lichtenstein said
the blessing that you say before you learn Torah also before
studying secular subjects,” she said. “He was a massive
Torah scholar, and a massive humanist. He said that any-
thing you do with a moral view is Torah. Of course there is
actual Torah, but if you look at the world through that lens
then you are never not a Jew. If you practice Torah, then brings a lot of that way of looking at everything she sees
there is never a world in which our laws don’t work.”
The goal is to make the integration of the morality and
truth and knowledge of the different worlds in which the
students live visible.
One important way to do that is through reflection and
presentation. “After students present their work — talk
about the superhero, and putting Antigone on trial — then really good for the kids.” She corrects assignments and
they reflect and say what they got out of it. Whether they gives them back for revision rather than filing (or disposal);
grew ethically.” They also consider
practical implications, because
there’s no point in thinking great
thoughts that you cannot express,
much less implement. So, “did they
meet their deadlines? Did they col-
laborate well?
“Reflecting makes them aware
of their areas of growth, and what
they were good at already.”
Exhibitions are like a science fair,
Ms. Wiener said; and then the pre-
sentations were made in front of
three to five teachers. “They were
awesome,” she said.
Nancy Edelman of Teaneck
teaches humanities — English and
social studies. She’s taught else-
where, mainly at the Torah Acad-
emy of Bergen County, for 19 years;
her training is in art history, so she
into her classroom as well.
She isn’t really teaching in a different way, she said;
instead, the change is more “in the way we are assessing
and connecting with the students. I have been teaching
literature for 26 years; this is the first time that nothing
has been a finished product. It’s really liberating, and it’s

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20 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019

 Cover Story

their work matters, and if it is to make a difference
it should be done right. But it should not be — and is
not — done harshly. “Talking about literature can be
a public thing, and then it becomes a piece of writ-
ing that has a public purpose,” she said.
Ms. Edelman thinks it’s valuable to be able to give
them what she calls rubrics —detailed assessments
of their work — rather than just unexplained letter
grades. She also values working with Rabbi Koslove;
“in the beit midrash, when we were studying the ten
habits of ancient civilization, he had the kids find the
same habits in the Talmud.” They could compare the
way the rabbis and the ancient Greeks confronted
the same ethical dilemmas. “We’re trying to educate
the whole Jewish young person,” she said. “Our inte-
grated curriculum allows us to break down barriers.”
She’s thrilled at being able to work in a brand- From left, Felicia Stendig, Leah Masri, and Gabe Shein work together.
new school. “It’s really exciting,” she said. “It’s the
first time in my career I’ve had the chance to help build
something from the ground up.
Tamara Levin of Teaneck is both the parent of a ninth
grade Idea School student and its business manager. “It is
life-changing,” she said of the school. “I have a child who
now is happy going to school. Who wants to be there. Who
is doing a lot more self-discovery than I ever could have
hoped for.”
She worked in corporate human relations for 20 years,
and she saw how often it was hard for people to speak
in public, to express themselves, to be themselves. She’s
impressed with the way that Idea School students seem to
have far less trouble with those often difficult feats than
those adults did. “It’s both highly structured and emotion-
ally liberating here,” she said. And it makes her child “so
much more confident, and so happy to be here.”
What’s it like to send a child to a brand new school? “It
is a leap of faith,” she said. “It’s a little scary.” She and her
family made that leap because it felt right — her child’s
previous situation just hadn’t been working, so why not
try a new one? — and it has paid off spectacularly. “After
the first exhibition, he pulled me aside and gave me a hug
and said ‘I want to thank you for letting me go here,’” Ms.
Levin said. “And he doesn’t talk like that.”
Speaking not as a parent but as “someone
who works here, I can say that I watch these
kids, and I’ve seen them come together,” she
said. “There is a group. Everyone contributes.
Everyone feels included and useful, and they
are able to talk to people.” She’s also pleased
with the way the school teaches Jewish subjects.
It allows students to think for themselves and
reach their own relationships with the texts
and with their own practice, always with an
understanding of the depth and beauty and
authenticity and relevance of the tradition. “It
is a beautiful thing,” she said. “When you forge
a deeper connection on your own, it means so
much more.”
The faculty works wonders, she added.
“Each of them individually brings so much
to the school, and they all bring a belief in
the educational model. We love each of those kids for
who they are and what they bring. We celebrate the indi-
vidual and still have structure. The teachers set boundar-
ies and the students are making their own. They want to
learn, and it is self-motivating.”
The school gives her child “a feeling of freedom. There
is an openness to have the freedom of the building,” the
entire JCC, with its huge windows looking out on space
and light and trees. “They know where everything is
here.” They’ve gardened; in the fall, around the High
Holy Days, “they were talking about tefilla and teshuva,
and applying it to the garden, and in the spring they will

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JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 21
Cover Story

harvest vegetables they’re growing.” The creativity.”

lessons about growth and renewal come
naturally there.
Felicia Stendig of Riverdale and Emma
Hasson of Manhattan Beach — two almost
preternaturally articulate and enthusias-
tic ninth-graders, both are blissfully and
realistically happy at the Idea School.
(They also both commute; Felicia’s
ride to school is against traffic and not
so bad, but Emma’s is epic. Manhat-
tan Beach is in Brooklyn. But she says
it’s nothing, certainly minor compared
with her desire to be at the Idea School.
Most of the students, however, are local.
Emma’s trek is unusual.)
“I love being at a new school,” Felicia
said. “It’s amazing how much input we
get at what goes on at the school, and in
the clubs and the teams.” She’s on the
track team, Emma’s on the model U.N.
and the drawing club, and Felicia also
is one of the two students who make up
the rock club. Leah Masri reads to children at the JCC’s Leonard and Syril Rubin Nursery School.
What’s that?
“We admire rocks,” she said. Can she explain? Yes,
she can. “I love nature, and I find it amazing,” she said.
“Rocks aren’t just rocks. If you take just three minutes out
of your day and just look at a rock, you can find beauty in
it. You can say ‘Oh it’s just a rock,’ and step on it, but you each other, and understand each other’s passions and
shouldn’t. You should respect it.” And the adult listening really accomplished, and I couldn’t stop smiling.” In fact,
to her knows exactly what she means.
“This is a diverse group of students, who all learn to
respect each other,” she said. “We are getting to know
Felicia talked about the presentation
of learning. “I was very stressed before
it happened, because I don’t like public
speaking,” she said. “I was stressed and
overwhelmed and I thought that every-
one would judge me based on what I
said. But then when I started to write the
notes and reflect on my learning, I saw
how much I had learned, and how much
I had grown.
“On the day of the presentation, I was
shaking, because it’s scary getting up in
front of people you don’t really know, and
I didn’t really know everyone yet then.
But then when I started I realized how
much I had learned, and how useful those
skills are, and when I was in the middle
of it I realized that it was a really loving
atmosphere. No one was making weird
faces at me. They all were supporting me.
And I could not have been happier.
“Afterward, I was a little shocked at
myself, and still a little scared, and then,
five minutes after the presentation, I felt
she was smiling broadly as she talked. “And now I am look-
ing forward to the next one, even though I still feel that
really hard to believe.”
“I also really like the presentation of learning,” Emma

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JEWISH STANDARD
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said. “It is one of the things that really sets the Idea
School apart. Instead of just teaching us a subject that
we may or may not really need to know, we really end
up learning about learning. During our presentation
of learning, we present the actual information that we
learned, but the presentation is like the behind-the-
scenes part, and we can use that for the rest of our
lives.
“What we learn about ethics and morality and
responsibility, really interesting things, don’t have
easy answers, and thinking about them makes us grow
and learn.
“Antigone had to decide whether to bury her
brother — which is against the law — or not, and it is
not okay to just leave his body. In Greek tradition, if he
is not buried, if she leaves him, he will suffer forever.
She has to make a choice.
“Antigone had to make a big moral decision, and the
consequences of it mattered. That’s the theme we are
exploring — what is your civic or moral responsibility,
what happens when the law conflicts with your per-
sonal value system, to what extent is it okay to break
the law, and is it ever okay to break the law at all.”
When their assignment was to make superheroes,
“mine was Flat Stanley, who came from a 2D uni-
verse,” Felicia said. She worked with another student
on this project. “The backstory was that he was on a
school trip to a museum where there were only 3D
objects, and the guide said that it would be dangerous
for them to touch any of the objects.
“Unfortunately Flat Stanley touched a Chinese food
box.” Long story short, he turned into the box, “he’s
folded up like noodles.” He travels the world in the
box, exploring its wonders; “the moral of the story is
that it’s okay to be different,” Felicia said. “You have
your own story, and you should embrace it instead of
letting others define who you are.”
Emma’s superheroine is “Hamama Salaam, which
means ‘Peace Dove’ in Arabic,” she said. She’s from
the Middle East and has “a dark backstory”; her
family was murdered because of their ethnicity, and
Hamama has become a peace activist in response.
But she has a twin sister who has gone in the other
direction and advocates for war. Her name, in Ara-
bic, means “War Raven.” The story of the sisters is
complicated, and its moral implications are tangled
and provide Emma with many avenues for both
thought and plotting.
“The school really pushes your boundaries,” Felicia
said. “You don’t know how good you can be until you
try, and here they encourage you to do your best, not
the bare minimum. And it shows how much they care.”
“We’re working with the teachers, not against
them,” Emma said. “We’re working together to find
solutions.”
Jordan Shenker, the JCC’s executive director, “is
excited to have the school here,” he said. “We have
mission alignment. The reason that they exist and
the reason we exist is to build meaningful Jewish
experiences and to build and strengthen the Jewish
community. That’s the reason Jewish community
centers exists, and at base level it’s what the Idea
School says as well.
“When you start with mission alignment, every-
thing becomes easier,” he continued. “And what
excites me most is to see this play out not in theory
but in practice.
“One of the reasons the school was excited about
being at the JCC is because we serve as a laboratory
for the educational environment they wanted to cre-
ate. They couldn’t have created the depth of the facil-
ity and the population and the demographics and the
Cover Story
opportunity that exist here at the JCC if they weren’t here.” The Idea School has only one grade now. It’s small. The
For example? “A couple of students worked with senior JCC has many rooms to offer them, and the school not only
adults to create a hypophonic planter in the senior adult stu- is flexible but takes great advantage of the range of spaces
dio, and now they are growing plants together. They worked open to it.
with the maintenance department to revise and build the “One of the nuances of the space for the school is that
sukkah at Sukkot. They are doing work with the adult spe- they don’t want dedicated classrooms. Their educational
cial needs population, and in the preschool. model is enhanced by the opportunity to use multiple
“When they started, we both had the aspirational aware- spaces during the day.
ness that there would be opportunities to collaborate, with- “Not only are they flexible, they desire flexibility.”
out specific intentionality about what those things could be. But what happens when there are more grades? More stu-
But now that we see what some of them are, we realize that dents? More need for space? “We can have up to 50, 60,
the opportunities are endless.” SEE IDEA SCHOOL PAGE 26
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Cover Story

Idea School
FROM PAGE 23
even 70 kids without having to significantly change the facil-
ities,” Mr. Shenker said. “But scale the school forward. Say
there are 10 or 15 or 20 kids per class. And some of the seniors
would have been in the school for four years, and they would
have developed an intensive educational experience in ways
that can provide real significant value to the community.
“You could have 17- or maybe 18-year-old kids who could be Jonah Lumerman teaches a
interns in early childhood, or working with adults with special woman in a JCC program for
needs, or even working in finance or marketing. It doesn’t seniors about technology.
even necessarily have to be in programming. A significant part
of their day could be real-world applications of what they have
learned in school for three or four years.
“I have no idea what that would look like,” he added. “But
the thought of it is alluring to me. And it would provide a rich-
ness of educational experiences that the school couldn’t get
anywhere else.
“It would be a quadruple win. It benefits the Idea School
because it provides a richer educational experience. It ben-
efits the JCC, because the students are adding value to the pro- planning,” Mr. Shenker said. “We’re also looking at our often, we would help Jewish organizations and serve our
grams and services we offer. It benefits the students, because physical plant needs. And in the context of that plan- community better.”
they have access to experiences that they otherwise wouldn’t ning, if the schools scales up next year and continues to And what about Tikvah Wiener, whose vision and
have. And it benefits the constituencies the students would scale up, I think that there would be an intention for us drive created the Idea School?
be working with. to go together to look for potential funders to support “Tikvah is a rock star,” Mr. Shenker said. “She just
“It would be hard to invent an experience that could have our capital needs.” thinks differently as a person. I assume she thinks dif-
more benefits.” That of course has implications for both the Idea ferently as an educator as well, but I am not qualified to
So what to do? “We think that 75 students would be the tip- School and the JCC. It means that although the school comment on that. But when you pitch an idea to Tikvah,
ping point,” Mr. Shenker said; the point beyond which the JCC might have moved into the JCC thinking of it as a sort of she always listens to it. She is always open to it, on its
would be stretched too thinly in its existing space. And he’s starter home, a transitional space, now the Idea School face, without pre-judging it.
confident that the school will grow to that size. would have its permanent home at the JCC. “It seems to me that the first question she asks her-
“The JCC is now in the midst of doing some capital campaign “It is good business for both of us,” Mr. Shenker said. self is ‘How could this work?’ That’s as opposed to many
“They help us cover some of our infrastructure costs, people who approach any idea with the question ‘How
and we save them a ton of costs on the back end. It is a will this be a problem?’
mutually beneficial business relationship.” “Tikvah approaches the world from yes instead of no.
He stresses the underlying symbolic importance of That is so invigorating to be around!

S aam m yy’s’s the school at the JCC. “It is a really important example That’s one of the things I find most enticing about
S m m of how community organizations work together to ben- working with Tikvah and with the Idea School. It’s
efit not only the community but each other, he said. “If because the school has a leader who wants to figure out
only we as a Jewish community thought this way more how to say yes.”
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 Jewish World

Jewish umbrella group reprimands ZOA

for directing insults at other members
RON KAMPEAS The reports of the infighting, revealed earlier this year

T
he Conference of Presidents of Major Ameri-
can Jewish Organizations issued a confidential
warning to the Zionist Organization of America
over its attacks on other member groups, the
weakest sanction at the umbrella body’s disposal.
The umbrella group’s internal committee listed eight
instances of the ZOA and its personnel making “insults, ad
hominem attacks and name-calling” in violation of inter-
nal conference rules, the New York Jewish Week reported
on Tuesday.
“ZOA knew, or should have known, that its repeated,
patterned public criticisms of two of the complainants
were unnecessarily shrill and personally directed, and
that they would be seen as personal or organizational
insults as much, or more, than they would be seen as sub-
stantive criticisms,” the ruling said.
The Jewish Week said the Presidents’ Conference
declined comment on the leaked document.
Among the groups ZOA targeted are the Anti-Defamation
League — more than any other group — the American Jew-
ish Committee, the National Council of Jewish Women, the
Orthodox Union, the Reform movement, and HIAS, the
immigration advocacy group. ADL, NCJW and HIAS brought
Jonathan Greenblatt, left, is the CEO of the Anti-
Defamation League. Morton Klein, right, is the head
of the Zionist Organization of America. GETTY IMAGES
the complaints.
Among the insults were accusing ADL of legitimating
“despicable, Israel-hating groups” through its work with
other civil liberties groups and HIAS of receiving “tens of
millions of dollars of government grants to resettle Muslim
immigrants in America.” HIAS is one of nine faith-based
immigrant advocacy groups that the State Department
works with to funnel assistance to refugees. It does not
profit from the funds.
by JTA, exposed the depth of the acrimony among groups,
particularly during the Trump presidency. The ZOA has
gained influence with the president and many of the other
groups have been outspoken in their criticism of his poli-
cies and rhetoric relating to immigration and minorities.
All parties told the Jewish Week they were unhappy
with the outcome. Mark Hetfield, HIAS’s CEO, speaking
on behalf of the complainants, said they had questions as
to “how a confidential reprimand fits the litany of viola-
tions cited in the decision.” The 51-member Conference
of Presidents also may publicly censure a group; may sus-
pend it; or may expel it.
The ZOA’s president, Morton Klein, said the Presidents’
Conference statement “fails to provide any proper sup-
port for its inexplicable conclusion” and called for an
investigation of the leak to the Jewish Week.
The committee dismissed two complaints brought by
the ZOA against other members: one against ADL CEO Jon-
athan Greenblatt, allegedly for manhandling a ZOA staffer;
and another against Ameinu, a liberal Zionist group, for
fundraising literature in which it described ZOA as “dis-
crediting” Zionism as “ a violent, reactionary, anti-demo-
cratic movement.”
JTA WIRE SERVICE

Amazon buying Israeli startup

CloudEndure for $250 million
MARCY OSTER
JERUSALEM — Amazon is buying the
Israeli startup company CloudEndure
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Through its subsidiary AWS, Amazon
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services. CloudEndure, a cloud comput-
ing company founded six years ago, cre-
ates business software for disaster recov-
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multiple clouds operated by providers
including Amazon.
The final deal is expected to be
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announced in the next few days, the
Israeli business daily Globes reported.
“If Amazon added this kind of disaster-
resilience service to AWS, it could help
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spooked by high-profile ransomware
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Editorial
Remembering
KEEPING THE FAITH

Albert Burstein
Y F
ou might have noticed that the American
flags in New Jersey flew at half-staff this
Monday.
That was at the order of Governor
Philip Murphy, and it was to honor the memory of
Albert Burstein of Tenafly, who died on December
27. He was 96 years old.
I met Mr. Burstein in 2015, when he was a mere 92,
a lawyer who still went to the office in Hackensack.
Here’s how I started the cover story on him then:
“When you talk to Albert Burstein — World War II
vet, Columbia grad, lawyer, political reformer, state
legislator, education advocate, grand old-school
liberal, native and lifelong Jerseyan — you have to
reorient yourself.
“On the one hand, you feel
as if he’s a contemporary.
None of the subtly patroniz-
ing ‘he’s still so sharp’ assess-
ments can be applied to him.
He’s scary-smart, just as he
clearly always has been. Ask
him a question about this
week’s politics, and he’ll ana-
lyze it and answer it, elegantly,
cogently, convincingly.
“On the other hand, Mr.
Burstein is 92 years old. That
means that he has almost a
century’s worth of stored
knowledge. Ask him a ques-
tion about politics in the
1980s, or ’60s, or ’40s, and
he’ll analyze it and answer it,
elegantly, cogently, convincingly.”
And then I went on to write a long cover story
about Mr. Burstein, leaving out far more than I
could put in. The hook for the story was that the
New Jersey Law Journal had just given him its life-
time achievement award, but really, given that he’d
already earned a Bronze Star from the U.S. govern-
ment for his service during World War II, and that
the French government had named him a chevalier
of its Legion of Honor, the Law Journal award was
almost gilding the lily.
Almost.
As I learned for my story, “A very busy 92 years,”
from which I am quoting here, Mr. Burstein, the
son of immigrants, grew up in Jersey City, a seri-
ous Reform Jew, a basketball player, and a good stu-
dent. He went to Columbia — that’s always a very
hard school to get into, but it was far harder for
Jews during those quota years, but he made it. He
loved college, but he was too aware of the “huge
dark cloud” hanging over Europe to relax entirely.
He was drafted during his junior year, and sent to
a program for smart people — its formal name was
the Army Specialized Training Program. But then
the United States invaded Europe, and he became
an infantryman. “Hard times,” he said about it,
laconically. He got to Europe after D-Day but was in
combat for two months. He almost died, was sent
to the hospital to recover, and so missed the Battle
of the Bulge, where most of his unit were killed.
He saw concentration camp survivors. “It was
a terrible time,” he said; he was aware of his own
relative extremely good for-
tune, despite the horrors of
his war.
When he got back, he met
and married Ruth Appelb-
latt, the love of his life, who
survives him; so do his chil-
dren and grandchildren,
and his brother.
In the mid 1950s, the
Bursteins moved to New Jer-
sey; he was a lawyer by then,
and joined the Democratic
Party. He fought political
fights in Jersey City, where
they lived. They eventually
moved to Tenafly; from 1971
to 1981, he was elected to
the State Legislature, where
he represented the 37th district. He worked on
funding for public education, fighting to make it
fairer. After he decided not to run again, he worked
on public commissions, doing whatever he could
to make the world fairer.
Al Burstein was an old-fashioned liberal; he
believed in truth and justice and fairness, in hard
work and kindness, in education and decency. He
was lucky in many ways; he was brilliant, which is a
gift, although it must be cultivated, and he did. He
was loving, and he was well loved. He lived a long
and complete life, and although his survivors mourn
him they remember him with pride and love.
We as a Jewish community are lucky to have
had people like Albert Burstein fighting for us, and
even sometimes, when it was necessary, fighting
with us. We mourn him. —JP
Chews to be choosy
about being kosher
or those who see Jew- is “atom-for-atom identical to the
ish law as stuck in the heme molecule found in meat,” the
ancient past, with noth- company says.
ing to say to us in the 21st Impossible products are avail-
century, here is something meaty able only in restaurants for now
to chew on. The next generation of and they are OU certified. Another
faux meat is here, with yet another company, Beyond Meat, which also
generation only a couple of years is getting some notice, is available
away, presenting us with issues, in certain stores (like Whole Foods),
many of which are complex, that but is not yet kosher certified.
need to be addressed. If, in fact, one is unable to distin-
The current concern is a new guish between a real meat burger
type of veggie burger and these new plant-
that looks, acts, and based creations
tastes like meat-based (Business Insider
burgers. Specifically, rated it better-tast-
a number of kosher ing than a burger
eateries in our area served at a popular
now offer the Impos- hamburger chain),
sible Burger, a faux there is the thorny
meat product that issue of marit ayin,
has been getting a essentially perform-
great deal of media Shammai ing an act that only
buzz of late — CNBC, Engelmayer appears to be pro-
BBC, Forbes, Wall hibited. An onlooker,
Street Journal, Wired, however, may get the
to name just a few — precisely idea that the actual prohibited act
because it looks like a burger, cooks is now a permitted one. (“I guess
like a burger, and even “bleeds” cheeseburgers are okay now, since
like a burger. he’s eating one.”) Building a fence
The Impossible Burger is pro- around this rule, the Babylonian
duced by a Silicon Valley startup Talmud tractate Shabbat 64b says,
that claims —apparently with jus- “Rav Yehuda quoted Rav as saying:
tification (“apparently,” because I ‘Wherever the Sages prohibited [an
have yet to try one) — that its prod- action] due to marit ha-ayin, even
ucts “deliver all the flavor, aroma in private [where no one will see
and beefiness of meat from cows,” it,] it is prohibited.”
but is made entirely from plants. Not everyone agreed with Rav,
The key ingredient is a virtu- however, as the discussion in Shab-
ally unpronounceable protein the bat 64b notes. Based on its ruling,
company extracts from soy, called the Jerusalem Talmud also dis-
leghemoglobin. It sounds rather agreed. (See the gemara portion of
“bloody” (it is a close relative to JT Chullin, Chapter 9.1.)
myoglobin, which is found in the Obviously, eating an Impossible
muscle tissue of most mammals), Burger in a restaurant is not eating
and it is what makes the Impos- it in private, so marit ayin would
sible Burger “bloody” because it seem to apply, especially when
Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades,
now in Fort Lee.

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28 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019


eating a “cheeseburger.” Other
factors come into play, however.
For example, faux cheeseburg-
ers made with traditional veggie
burgers are no longer uncommon
for kosher consumers. Then again,
the Impossible Burger looks like
real meat. Is it fair to assume its
cheeseburger nevertheless falls
into the acceptable category?
One possible answer was pro-
vided by the late Rabbi Moshe
- Feinstein (see his Igrot Moshe,
w Orach Chayim, page 243.2). Some-
r thing that was once forbidden
because of marit ayin but now has
become commonplace no longer is
, subject to this rule. It is common-
-
place to use soy milk, or cashew
milk, or non-dairy creamer dur-
r
-
ing a meat meal, so why not add a
piece of real cheese to a faux meat
burger, even if it looks like real
r meat? Should it not be considered
- the same as faux milk?
r What, however, would be the
r case if the “faux meat” product
, was not “faux” at all, but was “real
y meat,” albeit made in a laboratory?
, “Lab meat” is a couple of years
- away, but it already also is getting
y lots of media buzz (from, among
- other sources, the New York Times,
, the Washington Post, the Econo-
mist, the Financial Times, Fortune,
t and Forbes). It also is subject to
heavy lobbying by the meat indus-
try, which considers these creations
to be “egregiously labeled imita-
tion products,” in the words of the
, National Cattlemen’s Beef Associa-
: tion. These products-to-be —includ-
ing “chicken” meat from an Israeli
company, SuperMeat, and “beef”
products from Memphis Meats —
are laced with halachic issues. The
, most important one is whether this
- “meat” is “real meat.”
, Meat comes from an animal, not
- from a test tube. Memphis Meats,
f for one, promises “to bring deli-
cious and healthy meat to your
table by harvesting it from cells
instead of animals. You can enjoy
the meat you love today and
feel good about how it’s made,”
because no animal has to die to
put juicy steaks on the table.
Says the SuperMeat website,
“We have the technology to grow
meat outside of the animal’s body,
and achieve the same mouth-
watering results, eliminating the
need to grow animals in mass for
meat harvesting.”
In other words, according to
both companies, the beef, or veal,
or lamb, or chicken they will pro-
duce will be real meat in every
way except one: The meat will not
come directly from the animal or
bird, but from its cells.
Halachic issues abound. A major
one is how to categorize a cell. The
Torah prohibits consuming the
flesh torn from a live animal (see
especially Genesis 9:4 and Exo-
dus 22:30). Are cells taken from
a live animal flesh ripped from
that animal? Even if it is so con-
sidered, can the same be said of
its “descendants,” or do they lose
their original identity and so can-
not be seen as “torn flesh”?
Are these even valid questions,
though? The Torah, after all, only
prohibits what the naked eye can
see, and that excludes cells. Then
again, that rule apparently applies
only to unintentional acts, such
as drinking water on Pesach from
a stream that may have had cha-
metz thrown into it earlier. There
is nothing unintentional about bit-
ing into a lab meat lamb chop.
Can a cell even be considered
a limb? We drink cow’s milk and
eat a chicken’s eggs. If they are not
“limbs,” why should a microscopic
cell be considered one?
Another question is whether lab
meat meets the halachic test for
real meat. If it does, (a) may meat
that was not kosher-slaughtered
(hard to do in a test tube) be con-
sidered kosher; and (b) is it still
subject to the restrictions of not
mixing meat with milk?
And then there is this ques-
tion: If lab meat does not meet
the meat test according to Jew-
ish law, may products produced
from a pig’s cells be consumed by
kosher consumers?
One prominent Orthodox
Israeli rabbi, Yuval Cherlow, says
absolutely yes. If the “cell of a pig
is used and its genetic material
is utilized in the production of
food,” he told the Times of Israel,
“the cell in fact loses its original
identity and therefore cannot be
defined as forbidden for consump-
tion. It wouldn’t even be meat, so
you can consume it with dairy.”
(Clearly, Cherlow also does not
see marit ayin as being a problem.)
There is a rabbinic principle,
however, that most authorities
studying these issues (Orthodox
and Conservative) invoke: What
derives from a kosher source is
kosher, and what derives from a
non-kosher source is not kosher.
(See Rashi’s comment to “forbid-
den for consumption by the rab-
bis” in BT Bechorot 24a.)
The Torah may have been given
3,500 years ago, as we will read on
Shabbat two weeks from now, but
its laws are for all times, all places,
and all situations. It continues to
be vital, vibrant, and highly rele-
vant. Chew on that for a while.
Opinion
Choose the women’s march ...
the one that’s free of prejudice
I
will be at the Women’s March on NYC orga-
nized by Women’s March Alliance on January
19. I will not be marching in Washington D.C.,
as I cannot support the anti-Semitic, anti-
LBGTQ, and hateful rhetoric that has been espoused
and endorsed by the national Women’s March Inc.
co-founders, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, and
Carmen Perez.
This week, Mallory told the New York Times
that “white Jews, as white people, uphold white
supremacy.…”
When white supremacists marched in Charlottes-
ville, they chanted “Jews will not replace us.” How
can Jews be targeted and blamed at
the same time? Mallory’s comment,
which is both ignorant and offensive,
suggests that Jewish people are com-
plicit in white supremacy.
As a Sephardic Jew, I have rela-
tives who would be categorized as
people of color. They are profiled
getting onto airplanes and when
pulled over by police. Twenty per-
cent of the Jewish population in the Jill Besnoy
United States is Sephardic, black,
Asian, Latino, or mixed-race; that
means that there are 1.2 million Jewish men and
women who do not identify as white.
The Women’s March Inc. leaders are confusing
white supremacy with white privilege. They also are
distracting us from the conversation about religious
discrimination. According to the FBI, Jews are the
most targeted religious group in America, and hate
crimes are increasing. Last year 58 percent of hate
crimes based on religion were against Jews.
The leaders of Women’s March Inc. seem deter-
mined to alienate Jewish women from the wom-
en’s movement. The most glaring example is their
refusal to repudiate Louis Farrakhan, a proud and
outspoken anti-Semite.
In March, Mallory was in the audience at a
Farrakhan rally when the Nation of Islam leader
gave her a shout-out. In the same speech, he
claimed that Jews control government agencies
and are responsible for “degenerate behavior in
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.
It was different last year.
From left, Nancy Kaufman,
CEO of the National Council
of Jewish Women; Rabbi
Tamara Cohen, chief of
innovation at Moving
Traditions, and Debbie
Hoffmann, NCJW’s board
president, at the National Mall
for the Women’s March on
Washington on January 21, 2017.
 RON SACHS
Hollywood turning men into women and women
into men.”
Despite a public outcry, the Women’s March Inc.
leadership refused to condemn Farrakhan. This is
not surprising since they frequently have met with
Farrakhan and praised him, and now they use the
Nation of Islam members as security.
The leaders claim they don’t agree with every-
thing Farrakhan says. But you cannot pick and
choose when it comes to hate speech. That is dan-
gerous, and a direct contradiction of the move-
ment’s principles of unity among all women. Preju-
dice should not be acceptable in any form.
For the record, if my rabbi said
during services that Muslims con-
trol government agencies or Hin-
dus were responsible for the slave
trade, I no longer be would attend-
ing my synagogue.
At a time when the women’s
movement is actively supporting
fairness, respect, equality, inclu-
siveness, and legitimacy, the con-
nection to leaders who are lacking
in these values is unacceptable.
Like many other sister marches
across the country, the Women’s March on NY,
run by WMA, has broken with the national Wom-
en’s March Inc. leadership. Similarly, the Women’s
March on New Jersey is not associated with the
national Women’s March, Inc. organization and it
is not accepting any financial help from the national
group for the march in Trenton, organizers say.
As women are elected into office in historic num-
bers and the women’s movement continues to grow,
we have a choice. We can choose to support leaders
(and marches) who attempt to lift up all women, or
we can choose to support leaders who intentionally
leave some women behind.
Jill Besnoy of Demarest is co-founder and co-president
of Stanton Strong, Inc., a nonprofit with a mission to
increase access to reproductive health care, including
abortion care, for all women, regardless of race,
class, religion, and sexual and gender identity.
JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 29
Opinion

On a child flying solo — and how Jewish education helps

A
nnals of Appreciation: In 2018 I
reached a milestone both mun-
dane and magnificent — one of
my birdies flew from the nest,
and she is soaring.
This child, who when last I checked
could barely pour her own milk and whose
room resembles Times Square after the
ball drops (only with way more trash on
the ground) has made it through her first
semester of college with flying colors. She
studied! She ate! She made new friends!
She found someone willing to room with
her, who apparently loves stepping on
trash! I could hardly ask for more.
But there is more! University administra-
tors talk about college as the “real world,”
something I question given that all meals
are prepared by others and the bills go
to mom and dad. But leaving home did
offer real-world moments, and again, she
succeeded. My baby bird managed to get
her own passport, a process that involved
many complicated new procedures, like
entering a post office and filling out a gov-
ernment form. It required reading long
boring instructions and gathering multiple
documents at the same time, not to men-
tion remembering where to put stamps on
an envelope, a task she last did when her
first grade class did a unit on mail. (The
other class learned how to make choco-
late, a much more useful life skill.) She
learned a new subway system and navi-
gated airports and security lines and flight
delays — actual flying! And she even called
her Bubbe and Saba once in a while. Such
nachas!
As for her actual studies, Gemara? How can they com-
I found it hugely satisfying pete with hours and hours of
to see how much her Jewish Jewish studies taking up time
education propelled her to that could be spent on math
success, and how much she and grammar and other criti-
acknowledged this to be the cal knowledge?
case. We chose to send our How gratifying, then, to see
children to Jewish schools that the Jewish studies actu-
for many reasons — to learn ally were the foundation for
their religion and heritage, Laura Fein her success in every subject.
develop their spirituality and Yes, in all the ways building
ethics, connect to their com- character and good work
munity, ensure the continuity of the Jew- habits help, but also in unexpected ways.
ish people. We want quality secular educa- Acquiring a huge body of knowledge few
tion too, but rarely consider how each part possess is like wearing a superhero costume
improves the other. More often, parents — it may not show on the outside, but you
bemoan the tradeoffs of the dual curricu- know you have special powers. And when
lum. Such a long day! So much pressure! So it’s revealed, admiration and awe abound.
many subjects! Do they really need all that When the TA in her archaeology course

Losing Amos Oz ... but savoring his insights

O
n December 28, 2018, Amos
Oz, one of Israel’s foremost
literary figures and thought
leaders, died. Those of you
who have read any of his novels or short
stories know how deep in feeling his writ-
ing could be, as in the case of his autobio- do if your neighbor across the street sits
graphical “A Tale of Love and Darkness,”
and how amazingly it caught the compli-
cated and conflicted soul of Israel, as in
Oz’s 1968 novel, “My Michael.”
Less known are his political essays and
cultural writings. He clearly was the most
eloquent and well-known
voice of Israel’s left. He was
among the first to propose
a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and he was an ongoing and
trenchant critic of the Israeli
occupation of the territories
conquered in 1967, of the gov-
ernment support for settle-
might have opened the way to greater clar-
ity about borders.
He also supported Israeli actions in Gaza
during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, criti-
cizing Hamas’s use of human shields and
terror tunnels, asking: “What would you
down on the balcony, puts his little boy on
his lap, and starts shooting machine-gun
fire into your nursery? What would you
do if your neighbor across the street digs a
tunnel from his nursery to your nursery in
order to blow up your home or in order to
kidnap your family?”
Oz was a truth teller, and
as such he was willing to
be castigated by the Israeli
left as much as he was will-
ing to draw fire from the
right. As part of his obitu-
ary, Haaretz’s Ofer Aderet
wrote, “In the early 1960s he
opposed David Ben-Gurion’s Amos Oz  STEPHANIE PILICK/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES

ment there, and of those set- Rabbi fierce grip on power, and in
tlers who turned to violence Dr. Michael the ‘70s he was a spokesman ideas it contained. I sent the essay with There was some small talk, but then
sometimes directed against Chernick for Peace Now. As an adult my comments back to Miri, thinking things turned more serious. He asked
IDF soldiers, sometimes he identified with the Labor that would be the end of it. I never imag- about some of the views I expressed in
directed at local Arabs. Party. He was close to Peres ined she’d send my comments on to my comments.
For all that the Israeli right denounced and Yitzhak Rabin, but has said he never the author of the essay, but she did. His I had been particularly struck by his
him as a traitor, his love for the Land and voted for either of them.” response was, “I would like to meet this idea that the Jewish people definitely
People of Israel and his army service in Amos Oz up close and personal fellow.” I couldn’t believe it. had the right to the entire biblical Land
their defense showed him to be a consum- One day I received an email from Miri In fact, Amoz Oz, the Varons, and the of Israel. He noted, however, that just
mate patriot, the quintessence of “the Varon, a close friend of our family and a Stern-Chernicks did meet for breakfast on because someone has a right doesn’t
loyal opposition.” writer who was close to Oz. In it was an the shores of the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv. I mean it is necessary to use it. For him,
For example, Oz fully supported the sec- attachment containing a political essay wasn’t sure whether I was going to a social that meant that while Judea and Samaria
ond Lebanese war until the government by Oz. The email contained a request, event or a repeat performance of my doc- might by right be ours as a matter of his-
decided to extend the action beyond the “Make this essay your homework.” I am toral orals. Was I going to be angrily grilled tory, for the sake of peace with the Pales-
destruction of Hezbollah, thereby caus- pretty sure Miri just wanted me to read about my comments on Oz’s article by Oz tinians it was prudent to use it in a shar-
ing one of the worst military disasters in what Oz had written, and to emphasize himself? Was my Hebrew going to be suf- ing manner.
Israeli history. how important reading it was she called ficient for a conversation with this giant of Knowing how dedicated Oz was to the
He fully supported the security wall it “homework.” As I read it, however, I Hebrew literature? It was with excitement two-state solution, I found his view pater-
that snakes through Israel, with the pro- could not refrain from commenting on it, and trepidation that I went to breakfast nalistic. On one hand, he wanted the
viso that it hew to the Green Line, which because of some of the very provocative that morning. State of Palestine to exist. On the other,

30 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019


asked how she knew so much about ancient
Mesopotamia, she felt like a genius.
In the social sciences and humanities,
learning Torah is like having the Force.
Bible study is rarer than ever for enter-
ing college students, yet it remains fun-
damental to any topic dealing with the
last few thousand years of Western civi-
lization. Literature, history, political sci-
ence, philosophy, art, music, sociology,
and psychology all draw on this univer-
sal source of shared morality and mem-
ory. My daughter’s Chumash teacher
found her knowledge ordinary, but her
tenured professors of art and history
thought it outstanding, God bless them.
She may have laughed when they com-
plimented her “rare” knowledge of the
Bible, but she also recognized it as an
his view seemed to be that a Palestinian
state actually would belong to us by vir-
tue of our historical right to the entire
biblical Land of Israel. He seemed to be
saying, “Out of our graciousness, due to
our quest for peace and security, we will
allow you Palestinians to have a part of
our patrimony.”
He saw my point, but said that it was
simply too hard for him and for many
other Israelis on the left and right to dis-
miss our history with the Land of Israel
along with our attachment to those places
that figured so prominently in the founda-
tional document of the Jewish people, the
Tanach. He pointed out that his position
was not all that different from King Solo-
mon’s. Did he not made a gift of 20 Gali-
lean cities to King Hiram of Tyre for his
help in building the first Temple in Jeru-
salem? Oz was clear about the fact that
the Palestinians hadn’t helped the Jewish
people build the State of Israel, with an
aside about that being an understatement
if there ever was one, but the principle of
giving up part of the biblical Land of Israel
for a reason was there.
As a means of keeping the options for
peace open, he also contended in his
essay that Jews should not make use of
their right to pray on the Temple Mount.
Jewish prayer now is forbidden on the
Temple Mount by Israeli law out of def-
erence to the Wakf, the Arab guardians
of the Muslim holy places there. That
injunction is enforced by Israeli police.
As it stands, a bracha over so much as a
sip of water can land you in jail for a few
hours and prevent you from ever going
up to the Temple Mount again.
I reiterated the point I made in my
comments on his article: Freedom of
religion was a right everyone should
academic superpower.
And she had yet another secret weapon
forged from ancient texts. Jewish studies
classes develop incomparable analyti-
cal skills, which in turn lead to original
insights. In what other curriculum do stu-
dents study the same text repeatedly, year
after year, accruing depth and nuance with
each rereading? What program shares our
focus on close readings, finding infer-
ences, and comparing multiple critiques of
the same text, all routine in every Talmud,
Chumash, and Navi class? The analytical
abilities and habits of mind most college
students work hard to acquire flow natu-
rally to those accustomed to traditional
modes of Jewish learning.
Most of all, my daughter’s lifelong immer-
sion in Jewish education developed her
have. It is ensconced in Israel’s Declara-
tion of Independence. Why should Mus-
lims have it and not Jews? As a liberal,
would he not admit that freedom of con-
science, of which freedom of religion is
a part, could not be a bargaining chip
in order to gain peace? Where was the
share-and-share-alike he was proposing
coming from the Arab side when a Jew
caught whispering a prayer in the Jew-
ish people’s most historically and reli-
giously sacred site could be jailed for
that act? Did Jewish civil and religious
rights count for nothing?
His response was telling about how
complicated a person he was. He said,
“You are right. The Temple Mount and
the deprivation of our rights there are
painful and unjust. But we have the
choice of demanding our rights and wind-
ing up with violence and bloodshed on all
sides because of the inflamed passions of
both Jews and Muslims or holding back in
order to advance the cause of two states
for two peoples. The sooner movement
toward a two-state solution happens, of
necessity there will be a reckoning of
the rights of access to the places sacred
to various groups in Jerusalem. I cannot
believe that even a cold but acceptable
peace would not include sharing the
Temple Mount. Unwillingness to do so,
depending on who was the intransigent
party, would show who really was seek-
ing a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and who was not. Should that
intransigence emerge, then my country-
men and I would have to resign ourselves
to endless conflict, which indeed may be
our fate.”
Woe for those whom we have lost and
cannot be found
I sense that before Israel lost Amos
comfort with choosing a path of her own,
the root of all success in life. Disregard-
ing the standard advice to take some intro
classes and knock out a requirement or
two, she devoted what seemed like exces-
sive time to selecting her courses, and chose
several with narrowly focused subjects,
including two with no other freshmen and
only a few undergrads. What appeared odd
choices in fact showed wisdom. Instead of
fretting that her learning differences pres-
ent challenges, she searched out classes that
played to her natural academic strengths.
Recognizing that her inner slacker would
be tempted if she could hide in the back of
a large lecture hall like a normal freshman,
she chose tiny classes, knowing it would
force her to show up prepared. Her comfort
making decisions that differ reaped rewards
Oz, to a great extent Amos Oz lost Israel.
People describing themselves as left wing
in their politics numbered 8 percent of
the entire Israeli Jewish population as of
2016. (That’s from a Pew study, Israel a
Religiously Divided Country.) It might
be argued that Amos Oz was part of the
center-left that has a greater share of the
Israeli population’s allegiance, but he
was neither perceived that way nor did
he present himself to the public as such
when it came to the most burning politi-
cal issues roiling the country. When he
opposed something, he did so in caustic
and provocative terms. Perhaps that was
a mistake, one that caused his positions
to go unheard.
Here is a potpourri of those positions
cited in his Haaretz obituary so you can
hear the voice that has been lost and can
no longer be found in most Israeli circles:
“A great many Israelis, too many Israe-
lis, believe — or are being brainwashed
into believing — that if we only take a very
big stick and beat the Arabs with it just
one more time, very hard, they will take
fright and once and for all let us be, and
everything will be fine. For almost 100
years the Arabs haven’t let us be, despite
our big stick.”
“I have said that in contrast to some
of my friends in the dovish left, I cannot
guarantee that if we leave the territories
with a peace treaty, everything will be
wonderful. ... It also might not hurt the
dovish left to share in that fear a little.
There is something to be afraid of. A per-
son who is afraid, rightly or wrongly,
never deserves contempt or ridicule, or
scorn either. We have to debate the idea
of peace for land not with ridicule or
scorn, but as people who weigh one dan-
ger against another danger.”
Opinion
of loving every class, developing close rela-
tionships with her professors and class-
mates, and strengthening her confidence in
her abilities and her choices..
In a world that grows more complex
every day, and requires ever more skill to
navigate, all parents wonder how to best
give their children the education they
need to succeed. I’m grateful to know that
the time my daughters spend pursuing
their heritage also gives them the lift they
need to fly high. May you continue to soar
in 2019, baby bird! And please, clean up
your nest!
Laura Fein is an attorney, writer, and
consultant. She lives in Teaneck with her
husband and five daughters. Reach her at
Laura.E.Fein@gmail.com.
“I have fears about the kind of seeds we
will sow in the near future in the hearts
of the occupied. Even more, I have fears
about the seeds that will be implanted in
the hearts of the occupiers.”
“The idea of a binational state that
we hear about these days from both the
extreme left and the lunatic right is, I
believe, a sad joke. After 100 years of
blood, tears and disasters, it is impos-
sible to expect Israelis and Palestinians
to jump suddenly into a double bed and
begin a honeymoon. No, we and the
Palestinians will not be able to become
‘one happy family’ tomorrow. We need
a fair divorce.”
“They called me a traitor. I’m in good
company.”
After an ongoing battle with cancer,
Amoz Oz died. His life was, at least as far
as I am concerned, a blessing. To have
met him was an even greater one. He
provided me and millions of others with
hours of good reads in gorgeous and
moving Hebrew and in translation. His
cultural essays opened vistas of under-
standing into the nature of Jews, Judaism,
and the meaning of language in the Jew-
ish tradition. He spoke his sharp truths to
his people and to power.
May his memory be a blessing as well.
Yehi zikhro barukh.
Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick and his wife,
Miriam Stern, live in Teaneck. He received his
doctorate from the Bernard Revel Graduate
School and rabbinic ordination from the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
He holds the Deutsch Family Chair in Jewish
Jurisprudence and Social Justice at the
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion in New York; his area of expertise is
the Talmud.
JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 31
Opinion

Rashida Tlaib should at least understand

the history behind the dual loyalty canard

A
great American Jewish jurist once argued against
the idea of a “hyphenated American.” He said
there was no place in America for immigrants
and their children to hold on to differences
based on “race or creed.”
“[T]o keep alive difference of origin or to classify men
according to their religious beliefs are inconsistent with
American idea of brotherhood, and are disloyal,” he argued.
A few years later, a great American Zionist leader
argued that there is nothing more American or patriotic
than holding “multiple loyalties” — to God, to country,
to your land of origin.
“Multiple loyalties are objectionable only if they are
inconsistent,” he wrote. “Every Irish American who con-
tributed towards advancing home rule was a better man
and a better American for the sacrifice he made. Every
American Jew who aids in advancing the Jewish settle-
ment in Palestine, though he feels that neither he nor his
descendants will ever live there, will likewise be a better
man and a better American for doing so.”
Of course, it was the same leader who said both things:
Louis Brandeis, the Supreme Court justice and Zionist
leader of the first half of the 20th century. Brandeis’ contra-
dictory views on “dual loyalty” represent his own evolution.
(The first comment was in 1905, the second in 1915.) But they
also hit on a tension that American Jews still deal with more
than 100 years later.
The Brandeisian notion that “multiple loyalties” make Representative Rashida Tlaib, right, and Representative Gwen Moore leave a meeting of the House Demo-
you a better American has guided and justified Jewish cratic Caucus in the Capitol on January 4, 2019. TOM WILLIAMS/CQ ROLL CALL

activism for Israel even before its founding in

1948. It’s based partly on Brandeis’ theoreti-
cal notion that loyalty itself is an admirable
and fungible quality, like honesty or sobriety.
And it assumes, as Brandeis did famously, that
American values, Jewish values, and Zionist
values are fully aligned.
As Jeffrey Rosen explained in his biography
of Brandeis, the jurist envisioned the Jewish
state “as a secular, liberal democracy ruled by
ethical values of equality and social justice, Andrew
and not by Jewish law.” Silow-Carroll
Brandeis did not have the last word, of
course, and in almost every decade since he
defended the hyphen, the loyalty of Jews has been called
into question — whether for their support of a Jewish state,
for Jews being persecuted under the Nazis, or for Jews
trapped behind the Iron Curtain.
It’s not clear whether or not Rashida Tlaib knew or for-
got this history in her tweet this week suggesting that back-
ers of a series of pro-Israel bills “forgot what country they
represent.” Jews quickly called her out, saying the new con-
gresswoman from Michigan seemed to be leveling the despi-
cable “dual loyalty” charge: that Israel’s supporters put its
interests ahead of those of the United States. (Critics of the
legislation, which would make it easier for states to legislate estinians and Muslims.
against those who back the Boycott Israel movement, say it
violates the Constitution.)
When backers of the bill, like Senator Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.), complained that the “dual loyalty canard is a typi-
cal anti-Semitic line,” Tlaib returned to Twitter to insist that ing! The point is not that if Jewish Americans are disloyal, so to be sworn in as a United States congresswoman wearing
she hadn’t directed her comments at Jews.
“Sen. Rubio, it’s clear my earlier tweet was critical of U.S.
Senators like yourself, who are seeking to strip Americans of
their Constitutional right to free speech,” she wrote.
That may be, but she is either uninformed or being dis-
pointed out, “The legislation discussed is
sponsored by four non-Jewish Senators, any
charge of dual loyalty has special sensitivity
and resonance for Jews, particularly in an
environment of rising anti-Semitism.”
Suggestions that the pro-Israel camp
works against American interests is a
staple of pro-Palestinian activism, given
a scholarly veneer by Stephen Walt and
John Mearsheimer in their 2007 book,
“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.”
Pro-Palestinian media also track the ways
that Jews are sensitive to the dual loyalty
charge, and defend the right to criticize the pro-Israel
lobby’s influence without being called anti-Semites.
My point is that even if she didn’t aim her tweet at Jews,
Tlaib should have been aware of the toxicity of her for-
mula, and avoided it. In making their case against Presi-
dent Trump, progressives will note how he traffics in dog
whistles — and say that whether or not he does so on pur-
pose is beside the point. A dog whistle is a dog whistle.
If Tlaib was unaware of the dual loyalty debate, which I
doubt, she at least should acknowledge the ways that
words like hers have been used against Jews and, yes, Pal-
The American Jewish Committee tried to make that point
in a tweet, but it stumbled. Sharing a photograph of Tlaib
embracing a fan wrapped in a Palestinian flag, AJC wrote,
“Tell us more about dual loyalty, @RashidaTlaib.” Not help-
are Palestinian-Americans.
The point is this: It is not dual loyalty or unpatriotic for ebrated that image should also celebrate the history and
an American to love her homeland and lobby for its people.
And Tlaib, of all people, should know that.
And then there were critics of Tlaib who were com-
The point is this: It
is not dual loyalty
or unpatriotic for an
American to love her
homeland and lobby
for its people. And
Tlaib, of all people,
should know that.
Congress, “covered herself in the flag of a foreign people,
not the American people.” Again, no. Israeli flags hang in
nearly every American synagogue — and I bet in not a few
congressional offices. Tlaib’s support for the Palestinian
cause is no more un-American than American Jewish sup-
port for Israelis.
Brandeis’ defense of what Rosen calls “the value of group
differences for preserving American ideals” has benefited
any ethnic or religious group that advocates for its causes
overseas. It has allowed Irish Americans to back indepen-
dence for Ireland and Cuban Americans to lobby over U.S.
policy toward the island.
It also made it safe and fully American for Rashida Tlaib
a thobe, a Palestinian embroidered dress. Anyone who cel-
legacy of American diversity that owes no small credit to
Brandeis, the Jews — and yes, Zionists.
 JTA WIRE SERVICE

ingenuous about the history of a phrase like “forgot what pletely off base, like the foreign policy pundit who shared
country they represent.” As the Anti-Defamation League the AJC photo and complained that Tlaib, as a candidate for Andrew Silow-Carroll of Teaneck is JTA’s editor in chief.

32 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019

 Opinion

The human future in the age of great computers

W
ill self-learning
computers,
initially pro-
grammed by
humans, continue to be gov-
erned by the judgments of our
relatively slow-thinking homo
sapiens species?
According to Yuval Noah
Harari, whose three nonfiction Steven R.
books each has spent months Rothman
on the best-seller lists, humans
have created ever-more-pow-
erful computers to examine, draw patterns from, and cre-
ate new insights and more effective approaches to improve

PHOTO BY ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

human productivity, health, happiness, and longevity — and
perhaps even immortality.
Among other questions, Harari asks: What if the human-
programmed mission for these computers causes those
machines to shape the human experience itself?
Many theorists, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, the late
Stephen Hawking, and others, are concerned about a world
turned over to computers to make all decisions for all indi-
viduals and societies. Some other scholars believe these
fears are overblown. But it is always wise to think about
these problems in advance and to proceed with appropri-
ate caution.
After all, given the very “humanness” — read emotional,
at many times illogical, destructive, and clearly avaricious
human impulses and actions — it may be that computers
— again, designed by humans to achieve our goals — may
determine that it is their mission-directed duty to take the
reins of decision-making from us.
Just as we note that humans are far more civil, rational,
and productive than chimps and bonobos, perhaps these
self-learning, ever-advanced computers will realize that
homo sapiens no longer should be calling the shots about
activities here on Earth or out into the universe.
I speak of a future dominated by computers with artifi-
cial intelligence capable of studying and learning from past
human and machine errors, providing solutions to all prob-
lems. The fear is that these “solutions” may well involve
the complete takeover of what information each individual
receives about ourselves, each other, and the condition of
the world and the universe.
It might be a future where most, if not all, tasks are
accomplished by machines; where humans are rele-
gated to lives of simulations, drug-induced pleasures,
and immortality. It would be a personal world manipu-
lated entirely by computers.
Lest anyone claim that I am missing the benefits of such a
time, many are foreseeing the day when computers make a
future for us free from physical or emotional want. They also
predict that humans will be able to download each of our
memories, individual knowledge, and experiences into an
“artificial body” of our own choosing, which will carry our
“minds” for eternity, here on Earth and perhaps beyond.
While that scenario might sound appealing to some, those
memories, knowledge, and experiences might, nonetheless,
be solely the product of the computers’ best “judgments”
for what humans need to think about, as opposed to what
we as individuals might like to ponder, according to our own
individual “free will.”
The question of whether these computers still will deem
it necessary to keep purely flesh-and-blood humans around
is even more harrowing. After all, we do make a mess of
many things.
As for me, a future without the carnal, poetic, adven-
turous, ambitious, daring, loving human spirit might be a
future we’ll want to avoid. Perhaps that is a choice that our
deepest thinkers, including our spiritual and ethical guides,
can help us make for ourselves.
But the time for that choice is fast approaching.
As the theft of hundreds of millions of people’s personal
data recently has been revealed, we know that all of human
behavior is being analyzed by artificially intelligent comput-
ers tasked with the advancement of the programmer’s goals.
We know that these super-computers eventually will out-
pace us, exponentially, in their ability to crunch data and to
offer or impose their “solutions” to our problems.
It is up to us to start thinking about how much control
of this problem-solving we wish to turn over to these
remarkable machines, and how, when, and if we will
allow that to happen.
Steven R. Rothman of Englewood served eight terms in the
U.S. House of Representatives. He is an attorney of 40 years
and formerly served as Englewood mayor and as the Bergen
County Surrogate Court judge.
This article originally appeared in the Record on
January 4, 2019, under the title “In The Great Age of
Computers, Considering the Human Future.”

LETTER

Actually, Obama was far better
I completely reject Mr. Milchen’s reliance on the tired
canard, which the right wing always resorts to when pre-
sented with valid criticisms of Donald Trump (and suc-
cinctly used to title his letter): “But Obama was worse!”
( January 4).
While Cuba’s human rights record remains wanting,
it has made great strides from higher education to medi-
cal technology, in spite of a decades-long crushing U.S.
embargo. Does Mr. Milchen seriously compare President
Obama’s reasoned, partial rapprochement with our neigh-
bor to the south to Trump’s poorly planned and recklessly
executed summit with Kim Jong Un?
Does he seriously draw a comparison between Obama’s
thoughtless offhand remark to the prior Russian president
to Donald Trump’s disgraceful and uniformly criticized
Helsinki press conference with Vladimir Putin in July 2018?
Mr. Milchen likely cites a 20-year-old GAO report, whose
own authors clearly pointed out its limits. There are other,
more recent reports that find the opposite conclusion. I
don’t favor illegal immigration, but I do know that Ron-
ald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control
Act (that led to the I-9 form) into law in 1986 in order to
criminalize the act of engaging in a “pattern or practice”
of knowingly hiring an “unauthorized alien.” That’s right,
Congress and the president rightly found employers partly
encouraged illegal immigration.
And yes, Obama’s Justice Department overstepped its
bounds regarding reporters’ right to protect their sources,
but does Mr. Milchen seriously compare that to Trump
and surrogates’ relentless attack on the media as a means
of distortion and misdirection, blurring the lines between
what is fake and what is genuine?
The fact is, Rabbi Aryeh Meir’s fear (“I am very afraid
for my country,” December 28) is grounded in reality, but I
too hope better times and better government are to come.
Louis Osman
Teaneck

JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 33

D’var Torah
Bo: Mission possible

T
he Torah repeats over and over that God took
us out of Egypt. But in Parashat Bo, we see that,
actually, Pharaoh expelled the Hebrews from
his kingdom.
We understand that would never have happened if it
wasn’t for God’s intervention. But by reading the text
closely, we’ll see something strange: Not only did Pha-
raoh order the Hebrews to leave, he added two instruc-
tions, he gave them two tasks to fulfill. The Torah
reports of Pharaoh, “He summoned Moses and Aaron
in the night and said: Up, depart from among my people,
you and the Israelites with you! Go worship the Lord as
you said… and may you bring a blessing upon me also.”
(Exodus 12:31-32).
Amazingly, the king of Egypt is telling us that the pur-
pose of our liberation is to worship and to bless. He is
reminding us about what God had in mind when He estab-
lished a covenant with Abraham: “I will make of you a
great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name
great, and you shall be a blessing... and all the families of
the earth shall bless themselves by you.” (Genesis 12 : 2-3 )
So it is logical to ask ourselves: Are we fulfilling our
mission? Do we have a relationship with God
in which we say “thank you” for all the bless-
ings He bestowed upon us? Are we a blessing
for others: family members, employers and
employees, our nation, or the Jewish People?
Egypt was a place for slavery. The pur-
pose of its lifestyle was to build monuments.
It was a civilization defined by its material
objects. Ironically, Pharaoh, the master of
that people, was the one to send us the mes- Rabbi
sage: “leave this place, go away and build a Alberto
society of kindness, justice, compassion and (Baruch)
love. Use your freedom to be free of enslav- Zeilicovich
ing materialism, and, by following God’s Temple Beth
Sholom, Fair Lawn,
instructions, build a society that will became
Conservative
a model for others.”
The Torah is clear on this issue. We read:
“See, I have imparted to you laws and
rules... for you to abide by.… Observe them faithfully,
for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment
to other peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will
say: ‘Surely that great nation is a wise and discerning
people.’ For what great nation is there that
has a god so close at hand as is the Lord our
God whenever we call upon Him? Or what
great nation has laws and rules as perfect
as all this Teaching that I set before you this
day?” (Deuteronomy 4: 5-8)
Sometimes it is normal to “hear voices,”
like in our Parasha. We can hear Pharaoh
and Moses (three times he talked about
teaching the children ) saying to us: “Don’t
let anti-Semitism keep you Jewish. In any
place you go and live, let Jewish education
and observance be the source that shapes
yours and the next generation’s identity.
Fulfill the mission and become God’s part-
ner in making this a better world. Human-
ity still needs the Jewish People to become
a blessing; and we deserve the naches to
see our continuity in our children.”
May Hashem give us the strength to continue doing
the good work, and the wisdom, humility, and courage
to start anew out of our inner Egypt.

Community
FROM PAGE 12
So in February 2017, 30 people from
that group went to Israel for a five-day
seminar. “It was a seminar, not a mission,”
Mr. Siepser said. The group didn’t tour or
travel; instead, “we parked ourselves in
Jaffa, in a hotel that was sitting on top of
biblical-era ruins. You would look through
the plexiglass floor to the lobby to see the
ruins underneath.
“It was the perfect metaphor for what
we were doing,” he continued. “We were
constantly looking at our roots,” and they
were taking flight.
Why was the meeting in Israel? Surely
it could have been held more conve-
niently, far closer to home. “It was in Israel
because Israel is the wellspring of Jewish
inspiration and of Jewish innovation, and
it is the hub of innovation, the start-up
nation,” Mr. Siepser said.
The group worked with an international
business consulting firm, SIT — Systematic
Inventive Thinking — and brought in such
Israeli business superstars as the founders
of SpaceIL, the firm that plans to launch a
lunar rover in the next few months. “They
talked to us about how three guys having
a beer came up with this idea,” he said.
“How hard can it be?
“It turned out to be very hard,” he added.
“But hopefully they are going to do it.”
Back in Rockland, “people tell me that
our demographics are wrong,” he said.
“That we’re an aging community, that
there is huge growth in the charedi com-
munity, and that the federation is shrink-
ing. That everything is going against us.
“But I am an optimist. And the leadership
of the federation — co-presidents Lisa Green
and Stephen Cohen, and former president
Bob Silverman — all are optimists.
“We all believe in our mission, and we
believe that with innovation and good will
and hard work, we can make a difference.
We can build a vibrant Jewish community.”
So that’s theory. What about practice?
“When we came back, we started
asking ourselves what we needed to
do together — we talked about commu-
nity leadership development, we talked
about teens, and we talked about the life
and legacy situation,” Mr. Siepser said.
None of the shuls had more than a small
endowment then; “we began to work on
a program that everyone would be in,”
he continued. “We applied to the Harold
Grinspoon Foundation life and legacy
program, and now we are in the pro-
gram. Everyone is working together and it
is a wonderful collaboration. It’s not that
there are no disagreements and there is
never any tension, but with the level of
trust that exists now, I feel totally com-
fortable picking up the phone and talking
to any of my colleagues.
“Community weaving has made a big
difference.”
Community weaving made last spring’s
Israel at 70 program a success. And it has
even begun to draw in some Orthodox
institutions. Ateres Bais Yaakov of New
Hempstead is an ultra-Orthodox girls’
yeshiva that has started working with the
federation; now another two schools are
joining as well. “It started with their ask-
ing for help with security,” Mr. Siepser
said. “And then we began having a cup
of coffee together here and there.” He
hopes that those relationships will con-
tinue to grow.
Mr. Siepser also points to “the most
recent and painful” tragedy where the
new community network has made a dif-
ference. “The shooting in Pittsburgh hap-
pened on Saturday morning,” he said.
“On Saturday night, I sent out a message
to everyone that federation is going to do
a community gathering on Monday night,
and please plan to participate in it.
“That Monday night, 1,500 people
attended. And no congregation had a sep-
arate program.
“And that is community weaving.”

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34 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019

Your talmudic advice column
Dear Rabbi Zahavy,
What is the meaning of life?
Wondering in Weehawken
Dear Wondering,
Sure, at this time of the new year it makes
sense for a person to wax philosophical
and to ask such a big question.
However, let me consider that perhaps
you were not really serious in sending in
this question to begin with.
In that case, I will answer by quoting to
you from the epilogue, the last scene of
the 1983 Monty Python comedy film “The
Meaning of Life.” There the host opens an
envelope containing, well yes, the mean-
ing of life. She reads it out loud and here
is her profound advice: “Try and be nice
to people, avoid eating fat, read a good
book every now and then, get some walk-
ing in, and try and live together in peace
and harmony with people of all creeds and
nations.”
While that may not be the momentous
meaning of life, that is not bad advice.
Now, let me consider the alternative,
and take your question as a serious inquiry
and try to reply in kind.
It would be nice if I could answer you
with a straightforward, focused reply, like
the lady in the movie. But you do know
when you address your ultimate inquiry to
a talmudic advice columnist, you will get a
complex response.
Since I got your question, I have tossed
and turned many nights wondering (if you
are serious) how I could possibly reply to
you. I could never claim enough personal
wisdom to begin to settle such an issue.
I decided to rely on the sacred writings
of our religion, the Talmud and the Tan-
ach, for some direction. Surprisingly, for
the Talmud the answer from many cita-
tions is clear and to the point. First and
foremost, the primary meaning of life is to
be found in the study of the Torah. And
secondly, the rest of the answer is for a
person to keep the commandments and
live the life of the Torah.
You may say, hold on, study Torah and
keep the commandments? That sounds
like the meaning of life for a rabbi. Yes,
true, it does, but the Talmud assumes that
all Jews aspire to be like the rabbis and
The Dear Rabbi Zahavy column
offers mindful advice based on
Talmudic reasoning and wisdom.
The author aspires to be equally
open and meaningful to all the
varieties and denominations of
Judaism. You can find the column
here usually on the first Friday
of the month. Please mail your
questions to the Jewish Standard
or email them to zahavy@
gmail.com
accordingly, the meaning of
life for the common Jew is the
same as for the rabbi.
Putting prudence aside,
rather than stop there, I
decided to go the Tanach to
confirm that this is the mes-
sage of Judaism for the mean-
ing of life.
There are many compet- Rabbi Tzvee
ing messages in the complex Zahavy
composite collection of writ-
ings of the Hebrew Bible. So
I homed in on the one book that seemed
particularly pertinent to your question,
that is the book of Kohelet, also known as
Ecclesiastes, in the Writings (Ketubim), the
third section of Tanach. (Kohelet is the bib- is dismissed in chapter 2: “I looked at all
lical scroll that we read in synagogue once
a year on Sukkot.)
Kohelet is known to many of us as that
pessimistic philosophical work attributed
to King Solomon that ponders, in its own
ways, the meaning of life.
You may recall the familiar refrain of this of the wisdom, the wise one, expressing
scroll — havel havalim — most often trans-
lated as vanity of vanities — applied as an
assessment of many aspects of human
endeavor. The pessimism of the preacher
comes through loud and clear. Some of us
listen to the proclamations of the book on
Sukkot, or have studied the scroll, and per-
haps have decided that it was too much of
a downer for us to pay to it serious heed.
In fact, the Mishnah teaches that the
sanctity of this scroll was the subject of
controversy in the second century C.E.
The rabbis were going to exclude the book
from the canon of the Tanach. But it was
saved. According to Rabbi Simeon ben
Azzai, on the day that they elected Rabbi
Eleazar ben Azariah to the high political
position of patriarch of the academy, it
was decided to keep Kohelet in the canon
as a sacred scroll of the Tanach (Mishnah
Yadaim 3:5).
And so, seeking out the meaning of life,
to answer your query, I took a fresh long
look at this book and found new insights
into the work. First, it’s clear to me now
that this book is a composite anthology of
writings by more than one author. Yes, it
is true that the work purports at the open-
ing to be by Kohelet, son of David, King
in Jerusalem — that is, King Solomon. But
going back to 1898, renowned Bible schol-
ars have posited that multiple sources
make up the work. And because of its lan-
guage and contents, critical evaluations of
the work date it to about 250 BCE — many
centuries after the reign of Solomon.
In a wonderful recent book, “Ani Kohe-
let” (“I am Kohelet”), Israeli rabbis Yoel
Bin Nun and Yaakov Medan systemati-
cally identify four distinct voices in the
work. The rabbis characterize the book
as a dramatic play, a chorus of these four
voices articulated via one character: the
Dear Rabbi Zahavy
hedonist, the toiler, the wise
person, and the God-fearing
person.
First, these rabbis hear
scenes in the book where
the hedonist expresses his
view of the meaning of life.
And right up front, Kohelet
derides this choice: “I said
in my heart, Come now,
I will try thee with mirth,
therefore enjoy pleasure:
and, behold, this also was
vanity.” (Ch. 2)
Next, in other passages those two mod-
ern rabbis hear the toiler opining on his
view of the purpose of existence. But that
the works that my hands had wrought,
and at the labor that I had labored to do:
and, behold, all was vanity and a striving
after wind, and there was no profit under
the sun.”
They also hear in the book the voice
insight into life’s purpose. But at the out-
set Kohelet summarily dismisses the value
of wisdom: “And I gave my heart to know
wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I
perceived that this also was a striving after
wind. For in much wisdom is much grief:
and he that increases knowledge increases
sorrow.” (Ch 1)
And finally, they hear the God-fearer —
a voice proclaiming his angle of vision on
life’s meaning.
But time and again Kohelet ridicules that
angle of vision too, as in this passage liken-
ing the fate of humans and beasts: “I said
in my heart, God shall judge the righteous
and the wicked … that that which befalls
the sons of men befalls the beasts; even
one thing befalls them both: as the one
dies, so the other dies; yea, they have all
one breath; so that a man has no preemi-
nence over a beast: for all is vanity.” (Ch. 4)
You can see from these examples (and
others repeated many times over in the
scroll) how Kohelet may not provide a sat-
isfying answer to the meaning of life. Many
aspects of the book pop out to the reader
as dismissive and sarcastic attacks on ways
of life, not as a thoughtful philosophical
Tzvee Zahavy of Teaneck has published
numerous books and articles about
Judaism and Jewish law. He’s working now
on a genuine study of Kohelet’s caricatures
and sarcasms. He has been a professor of
world religions, Talmud, Jewish law codes,
Jewish liturgy, Jewish history, Near Eastern
studies, and Jewish studies at major U.S.
research universities and seminaries. He
received his Ph.D. from Brown University
and his rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva
University. Visit www.tzvee.com for
more details.
JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 35
observation.
The scroll verges on insulting the value
of the life endeavors of many kinds of peo-
ple. It is not surprising, then, that some
rabbis wanted to prevent the scroll from
entering the canon.
My one main positive discovery upon
rereading the work was that I found cues
in this book for a few rudimentary medita-
tions and visualizations. One of those con-
templative passages was made into a song
lyric by Pete Seeger and was popularized
by the singing group the Byrds in 1965 as
the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!”
“To everything (turn, turn, turn) / There
is a season (turn, turn, turn) / And a time
to every purpose, under heaven.” (Ch.3)
I reflected on the idea of the medita-
tive qualities of some of the passages and
concluded finally that the compiler-editor
of Kohelet wanted not to show the value
of meditation, but rather to expose the
fruitlessness — the vanity — of a meditative
approach to life.
Overall, I found on my latest foray into
Kohelet that it appears to be a superficial
caricature of several archetypes of people
— all of whom the compiler of the book
decided from the outset to deride and dis-
miss. The hedonist pleasure seeker; the
materialist toiling at work, career, or pro-
fession; the academic, student, scholar,
writer, thinker; and even the God-fearer,
chasid, righteous person. And the first
to be dismissed is the meditator, seeking
to reach a state of compassion and joy
and achieve a better affective mode of
consciousness.
Nevertheless, like the Monty Python
movie that I cited above, this book ends
with an epilogue in which the narrator
opens “an envelope” and reads from it the
words we were waiting for all along:
“The end of the matter, all is said and
done: Fear God, and keep his command-
ments: for that is the whole duty of man.”
(End of chapter 12)
Indeed, that’s the end of the matter,
after all has been considered. I wondered
then how to answer your query after con-
sulting anew the (now to me more than
ever before) puzzling book of Kohelet.
And so here it is, my reply, contrary to
Kohelet (and contrary to Monty Python).
You can find life’s meaning in many ways
— in a pleasure-seeking hedonist life, in a
hard-working materialist life, in an inquisi-
tive critical academic life, in a pious God-
fearing life, and in a contemplative medi-
tative life.
My advice: Be here and now in every
case — be firmly present in your immedi-
ate life — whichever path that is — that is
the first part of my answer to your inquiry.
And for me (and for you too, if you
choose) beyond all that, I seek out another
element — namely the opportunity to find
SEE ADVICE PAGE 46
Calendar community members.
Friday  345 Maitland Ave. Dinner
and lunch reservations,
JANUARY 11 (201) 833-2620 or www.
cbsteaneck.org.

Dr. Edwin Susskind

Rabbi Larry Rothwachs
Shabbat in Fair
Lawn: Bris Avrohom Shabbat in Teaneck:
of Fair Lawn hosts its Rabbi Larry Rothwachs
“CommUNITY” Shabbat, of Congregation Beth
with learning, laughter, Aaron continues the
and l’chaim, 4:30 p.m. “Talking in Shul” series
Psychotherapist Dr. for teens and adults with
Edwin Susskind of “Frum a Distance: When
Monsey discusses Family and Friends Leave
“Women Are from Mars, Orthodoxy,” 7:45 p.m.
Men Are from Venus, It concludes February 1.
Jews Are from Sinai,” 950 Queen Anne Road.
followed by a gourmet (201) 836-6210 or www.
dinner with wine. bethaaron.org.
Program continues on
Shabbat with services, Saturday  JAN. Morgan Treni and the Landscapes perform jazz/funk/cabaret/
9:30 a.m., followed rock at the Glen Rock Jewish Center, 4 p.m. 682 Harristown
13
by lunch and learning JANUARY 12
and a discussion by Dr. Road. (201) 652-6624 or office@grjc.org. COURTESY GRJC

Susskind, “Sensitivity
to the Emotional Needs
of Teens & Raising
Your Child To Be a hosted by its Association on the Palisades offers
Mensch.” 30-02 Fair of Parents and Teachers,
with prizes, snacks, and
Sunday  free student concerts,
9:30 a.m. Also January
Lawn Ave. Register at JANUARY 13
(201) 791-7200 or www. make-your-own sundaes, 20. 411 E. Clinton Ave.
jewishfairlawn.org. beginning with Havdalah, (201) 408-1465.
7 p.m. East 304 Midland
Shabbat in Teaneck: Ave. (201) 262-7691,
Sarah Bunin Benor, a Joseph J. Levin julieleopold@yahoo.com,
contemporary Jewish or www.jccparamus.org.
studies professor at the Shabbat in Teaneck:
Hebrew Union-Jewish Temple Emeth’s adult
Institute of Religion education committee Rabbi Geoffrey A.
in Los Angeles, is hosts a “One Book One Mitelman
scholar-in-residence Community” Shabbaton
at Congregation Beth exploring the themes Shabbat in Ridgewood:
Sholom. After Shabbat of this year’s Jewish Temple Avodat Shalom Rabbi Menachem
dinner at 5:30 p.m., she Federation of Northern of River Edge joins Leibtag
will discuss “From Harry New Jersey’s OBOC Temple Israel & JCC
and Sally to Josh and book selection, “Among as Rabbi Geoffrey A. Shiur in Teaneck: Rabbi Book brunch: The United
Liora: Jewish Names the Living,” a novel by Mitelman speaks for the Menachem Leibtag Synagogue of Hoboken
Around the World.” Jonathan Rabb. Joseph Rabbi Selig Salkowitz discusses “The Exodus hosts a book brunch
Her Shabbat d’var J. Levin Jr., co-founder Distinguished Speaker According to Sefer focusing on “Jewish
Torah is “Do American of the Southern Poverty Series, 4:30 p.m. Tehillim — An Alternate Comedy: A Serious
Film in Teaneck: Tradition, or a Biblical
Jews Speak a Jewish Law Center, who is Havdalah, dinner, and History” presented by
Congregation Rinat Commentary?” at
Language?,” and after among the speakers, another lecture follow. Columbia University
Yisrael shows the Congregation Rinat
Shabbat services and will discuss “Hate in 475 Grove St. professor Jeremy
film “93Queen”; wine Yisrael, 8:45 a.m. 389
lunch at 1:30 p.m., she’ll America: Then and Now,” (201) 444-9320 or www. Dauber, 10:30 a.m.
and cheese follow, West Englewood Ave.
look at “Ruach in the a look at his Jewish synagogue.org. Brunch. 115 Park Ave.
7 p.m. Reserved (201) 837-2795.
Dining Hall: Language upbringing in Alabama (201) 659-4000 or office@
seating available. 389
at North American during segregation. Havdalah/bingo: hobokensynagogue.org.
West Englewood Ave. Music in Tenafly: The
Jewish Summer 1666 Windsor Road. The JCC of Paramus/
(201) 837-2795, ext. 115, Thurnauer School of
Camps,” including a (201) 833-1322 or Congregation Beth
or www.rinat.org. Music at the Kaplen JCC
panel discussion with emeth.org. Tikvah offers family bingo

36 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019


Music in Tenafly: The
Thurnauer School of
Music at the Kaplen
JCC on the Palisades
offers a free student
concert by the Young
People’s Chorus,
7 p.m. 411 E. Clinton Ave.
(201) 408-1465.
Jenna Hammond
COURTESY TBR
Thursday  7:30 p.m. Rabbi Debra
JANUARY 17
Author/book signing in
Wyckoff: Local author Parkinson’s support:
Jenna Hammond reads
and signs copies of her
The Jewish Home Family
continues a monthly
new children’s book, support group for people
“Downward Mule,” for
Temple Beth Rishon’s
with a diagnosis of
Parkinson’s Disease, their
Activities Committee, families, and caregivers,
noon. 585 Russell Ave. All with Boxing for
welcome. (201) 891-4466 Parkinson’s at the Jewish
or www.bethrishon.org. Home at Rockleigh,
10 a.m.; followed by a
Monday  presentation, “Fight Back
Against Parkinson’s…
JANUARY 14 Box with Us!” by
Marella Gevera, Jewish
Genealogy: Senior Home at Rockleigh’s
Source welcomes recreation supervisor.
Michele Silver of the Refreshments. 10 Link
Genealogical Society
of Bergen County, who
Drive. (201) 750-4246
or email parkinsons@
will give an introduction jewishhomefamily.org.
to genealogy for Senior
Source at the Shops at
Riverside, Second Floor, Friday  Congregation B’nai
in Hackensack, 1:30 p.m. JANUARY 18
(201) 342-0962 or
seniorsourcenj.org. Shabbat in Fair Lawn:
Rabbi Leiah Moser leads
School open house in an informal discussion
New City: Schechter about the weekly Torah
Westchester holds
a Rockland County
portion at its monthly
“Dessert & Discussion”
parlor meeting at a and in lieu of a service,
private home, 8 p.m. for Reconstructionist
Reservations, Jackie Congregation Beth Israel,
Grosser, Swadmissions@ Ridgewood, 7 p.m. Event
SchechterWestchester. in a private home in Fair
org, or www.
Lawn. Reservations to
schechterwestchester.org. rcbi@syngaogue.org.
Shabbat in Emerson:
Congregation B’nai
Israel invites members
of all faiths to its annual
“Freedom Shabbat”
service honoring the lives
and messages of Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. and Rabbi Abraham
Joshua Heschel,
Orenstein will lead the
service; area clergy
members will join her.
Coffee, desserts, and
informal conversation will
follow. 53 Palisade Ave.
(201) 265-2272 or www.
bisrael.com.
Shabbat in Tenafly:
Temple Sinai of Bergen
County in Tenafly
offers Shabbat Shirah
commemorating the
“Song of the Sea” with
flutists Lois and Elliot
Roman and new chants
arranged by Cynthia
Powell, 7:30 p.m. 1 Engle
St. (201) 568-3035.
Saturday  breakfast featuring Chani
JANUARY 19
Shabbat in Emerson:
Israel holds its “Torah
Town Hall” service as
part of the Shabbat
morning interactive
Torah discussion on
the legacies of Rabbi
Dr. Abraham Joshua
Heschel and Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.,
10 a.m. 53 Palisade Ave.
(201) 265-2272 or www.
bisrael.com.
Sunday  10:30 a.m. She will
JANUARY 20
Music in Tenafly: The
Thurnauer School of
Music at the Kaplen JCC
on the Palisades offers
a free student concert,
9:30 a.m. 411 E. Clinton
Ave. (201) 408-1465.
Children’s program:
The JCC of Paramus/
Congregation Beth
Tikvah offers a preschool
program on Tu B’Shvat
for 2- to 4-year-olds
and an accompanying
adult, 9:30 a.m. Monthly
activities include music,
bouncy house, crafts,
and fruit is served.
East 304 Midland
Ave. (201) 262-7733
or edudirector@
jccparamus.org.
Breakfast in Teaneck:
Temple Emeth’s
B’Yachad and Viewpoint
groups co-sponsor a
Getter, an ordained One
Spirit Interfaith Minister
who was raised in an
ultra-Orthodox home,
discuss “The Process
of Change: Living
Your Authentic Life!”
Viewpoints is a shul
committee that was
formed to celebrate
the diversity of the
Jewish community.
1666 Windsor
Road. Reservations,
(201) 833-1322 or
viewpoints@emeth.org.
Film in Franklin Lakes:
Temple Emanuel of
North Jersey screens the
1938 English language
tragicomic “Two Sisters,”
in a restored video
screening starring
Yiddish theatre’s Jennie
Goldstein, 1:30 p.m.
Popcorn and ice cream.
558 High Mountain Road.
(201) 560-0200 or www.
tenjfl.org.
Music in Tenafly: The
Thurnauer School of
Music at the Kaplen
JCC on the Palisades
offers its Teen Town
Jazz Winter Concert,
4 p.m. 411 E. Clinton Ave.
(201) 569-7900.
Calendar
Tu B’Shevat in Tenafly:
Temple Sinai of Bergen
County holds a Tu
B’Shvat seder, 5 p.m.
Guest speaker Rabbi
Dr. Jill Hammer will
discuss “Biblical and
Mystical Texts With
Experiential Moments
of Tu B’Shevat. 1 Engle
St. Dinner reservations,
(201) 568-3035 or hhans@
templesinaibcs.org.
Singles
Thursday 
JANUARY 17
Widows and widowers
meet: Movin’ On, a
monthly luncheon
group for widows and
widowers, meets at
the Glen Rock Jewish
Center, 12:30 p.m.
682 Harristown Road.
(201) 652-6624 or
arbgr@aol.com.
C
C
m
A
a
g

Tuesday  Shabbat in Leonia:

COURTESY JCCOTP
Congregation Adas
JANUARY 15 Emuno celebrates
Tu B’Shvat with a
Bella Abzug talk in lively Shabbat service Joel Chasnoff
Tenafly: Dumont including delicious fruits,
historian Dick Burnon 7:30 p.m. 254 Broad Ave. Comedy and rock music
talks about “‘Battling (201) 592-1712 or www. fundraiser: The men’s
Nursery open house in Tenafly
   

Bella’ Abzug, The adasemuno.org. club of Temple Emanu-El

Feisty New York in Closter holds “Comedy
Congresswoman,” at Shabbat in Wayne: & Rock Night” with
a meeting of REAP Rabbi emeritus Israel The Leonard & Syril Rubin Nursery solving skills, social and emotional
comedian Joel Chasnoff,
(Retired Executives S. Dresner honors the music by the Sinai
School at the Kaplen JCC on the Pali- growth opportunities, fine and gross
and Professionals) at life of Dr. Martin Luther Sessions Rock Band, sades in Tenafly holds an open house motor skill activities, sensory experi-
the Kaplen JCC on King Jr. during services food, and open bar, on Friday, January 18, from 9:15 to 10:30 ences, Judaic programming, art, music,
the Palisades, 10:45 at Temple Beth Tikvah, for those 21 and older,
a.m. Abzug was the 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Dresner a.m. Participants will have the oppor- dramatic play and cooking, gym and
7 p.m. Event celebrates
first Jewish woman was a prominent rabbinic the community and is a tunity to join in the school’s weekly Tot swimming, and preparation for kinder-
elected to the House of participant in the civil fundraiser for the Patnoi Shabbat program and receive a tour of garten and beyond.
Representatives. 411 East rights struggle of the family. (201) 750-9997 the school, which offers a warm, child- The state-licensed, accredited pro-
Clinton Ave. (201) 569- 1960s and was close or www.templeemanu-el.
7900 or www.jccotp.org. to Dr. King. President centered, progressive curriculum rooted gram provides unique, multidimensional
com/neverGABEup.
Obama honored Rabbi in Jewish values that encourages chil- activities for 3-month-olds to 5-year-olds.
Wednesday  Dresner at the White
House in 2013 for
Film in Teaneck:
Temple Emeth’s adult
dren to become confident, responsible, To meet the varying needs of individual
and successful learners by exploring families, the school offers half-day, full-
JANUARY 16 the 50th anniversary education group screens
celebration of the a Jewish-themed movie, new concepts in a fun and nurturing day, and extended-day options.
Aging well: Jewish March on Washington. 7:30 p.m., as part of a environment. Registration is open for the 2019-2020
Family and Children’s 950 Preakness Ave. “Movies That Matter” The school’s core curriculum features school year. For more information, go
Services presents an (973) 595-6565 or www. series. Refreshments.
templebethtikvahnj.org. exposure to reading and math readi- to jccotp.org/nsopenhouse or call (201)
interactive program, “The 1666 Windsor Road.
Art of Aging,” at the JCC (201) 833-1322 or ness skills, logical thinking and problem 408-1436.
of Paramus/CBT, 1 p.m. emeth.org.
East 304 Midland Ave.
(201) 262-7691.

JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 37

r Calendar
JTS offers book talk with Royi Shaffin
The Jewish Theological Seminary will host
a book talk with Rabbi Royi Shaffin, author
of “The Hollywood Bible,” on January 17, at
7:30 p.m. Dr. David Kraemer, JTS librarian
and a professor of Talmud and rabbinics,
will moderate.
“The Hollywood Bible” uses movies to
explore deep truths about spirituality and
Judaism. Analyzing hit films from “Star
Wars” to “The Creature from the Black
Lagoon” for Jewish meaning and symbol-
ism, Rabbi Shaffin’s book offers discussion
of both religious traditions and important
life issues.
Admission to the talk is free, but reser-
vations are required. Please arrive early
and have a photo ID. For more informa-
tion, go to www.jtsa.edu.
Teen leadership group reconvening
Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey’s
iCAN Teen Task Force, a group of teens
from more than 20 public, private, and Jew-
ish high schools, will meet again on Tues-
day, January 15, at 7 p.m., at JFNNJ Paramus
Challah bake in Fair Lawn
Children who are 8 or older can bring their
moms to a challah bake hosted by Bris
Avrohom of Fair Lawn on Sunday, Janu-
ary 13. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the pro-
gram will begin at 5:30. Using step-by-step
COURTESY JCCOTP
Women schedule ‘a night out’
Jewish Federation of Northern New Jer-
sey’s Women’s Philanthropy hosts its first
Girls’ Night Out dance party on Thursday,
January 24, from 6:30 to 11 p.m.
More than 300 women are expected to
Wayne Y bills kids’ musical
On Sunday, January 27
at 3 p.m., the Rosen
PAC at the Wayne
YMCA presents “Pol-
kadots: The Cool Kids
Musical!” The show
follows 8-year-old Lily Polkadot who just
moved to the “Squares only” small town
of Rockaway. As the first “Polkadot” in
an all-Square school, Lily faces an almost
impossible task of gaining acceptance
from her peers. From daily bullying to
segregated drinking fountains, Lily’s quest
7 38 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019
Rabbi Royi Shaffin
headquarters. The students are learning
how working together with other campus
organizations is a way to counter the BDS
movement. For more information, email
AriellaN@jfnnj.org or call (201) 820-3946.
instructions, each participant will make
his or her own batch of challah.
To register, go www.jewishfairlawn.org
or call (201) 791-7200.
attend the event., which features the disco
cover band Dancin’ Machine. For more
information, call Meli Rozenbaum at (201)
820-3906 or email melinar@jfnnj.org.
seems hopeless until
she meets Sky, a shy
Square boy whose curi-
osity for her unique
polkadot skin blooms
into an unexpected
pal-ship. Lily’s story teaches us all that
uniqueness should be celebrated.
Tickets can be purchased online at
metroymcas.org. There will be a character
meet and greet after the show. For more
information, call (973) 595-0100. The
Wayne YMCA is at 1 Pike Drive.
Artist David Zomick
JCC gallery in Tenafly presents
a ‘Reality Enhanced’ exhibition
The Kaplen JCC on the Palisades’ Waltuch
Art Gallery presents “Reality Enhanced,”
an exhibition of more than 40 portraits,
still lives, and streetscapes by artist Dr.
David Zomick of Teaneck. The varied
subjects and styles reflect the artist’s
background and interests. The show will
be on display through January 31.
After experimenting with pastels and
oils, Dr. Zomick discovered acrylics and
developed his skills in this vibrant and
accessible medium. His paintings gen-
erally are realistic, though he occasion-
ally paints something that is abstract or
decorative. Although he began painting
only when he retired as a leader in aero-
space technology 15 years ago, his paint-
ings and sculptures have won dozens of
awards in juried competitions.
Dr. Zomick recently won first place
awards in the Focus New Jersey Open
Juried Art Show, Celebrating Bergen
County’s Diversity Exhibit, and the
New Jersey Juried Senior Art Competi-
tion. He is a member of the Northern
New Jersey Art Affiliates and has had
one-man exhibits at Fairleigh Dickinson
University’s Weiner Library and at the
Kaplen JCC on the Palisades. His work
has also been exhibited at Marcella Gelt-
man Gallery and local public libraries in
Teaneck, Englewood, and Dumont.
“My objective, when I begin a paint-
ing, is to portray reality in a way that
will make the painting more interest-
ing to the viewer than reality itself,”
“New York Nights” 
PHOTOS COURTESY DAVID ZOMICK
“The Scribe”
Dr. Zomick said. “I may try to make
it more beautiful by varying color or
form; more mysterious by exaggerating
the lights and darks; or more interest-
ing optically by creating a balanced (or
disconcerting) composition. As I pro-
ceed with a painting, it is a constant
struggle. My education as a physicist
and my career as an aerospace technol-
ogist would have me portray precisely
what I see, in excruciating detail, with
no embellishment or personal com-
mentary. I need to constantly remind
myself that my camera can achieve that
far more efficiently and effectively than
I can. When I look at a finished paint-
ing and conclude that my camera could
‘never do that,’ I am happy.”
Dr. Zomick continues to study at
the Art Center of Northern New Jer-
sey, sculpts in marble and alabaster,
and has studied ceramic sculpting. He
holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and
masters’ degrees in physics and busi-
ness administration and has been a
member of the JCC since 1991. He and
his wife live within walking distance of
their three married children; they have
13 grandchildren, and four great grand-
children, all of whom have been the
subjects of his paintings and drawings.
His hobbies include playing the piano
and tennis.
For more information, call Nina
Bachrach at (201) 408-1406 or email her
at nbachrach@jccotp.org.
COURTESY JCCOTP
 The Frazzled Housewife
Yes, you are old
E
very so often, a few days go
by and you are feeling pretty
good. Your clothes seem to fit, the day it first aired because it was right
your hair is looking just right after my sister was born. I grew up with
— and then, all of a sudden, something
happens to make you realize that you are
getting older. That you are no longer 16
years old.
It could be something obvious, like
how can you be 16 when you have three
boys who are older than you are? Or it
could be a sudden pain in an area where
there was no pain previously. I like to call it years ago, but the other day, husband
it the “newitis.” A “newitis”
is an “itis” that you haven’t
had before. It could be
many things, but since I
am writing this, I will talk
about what happened to
me. My lower leg started to
hurt, which made me sad
because it affected all of
the walking I do. I decided
I would go to the “friendly” Banji
urgent care to see what was Ganchrow
going on.
Long story short, an
actual doctor diagnosed me with
cellulitis.
Now those of you who know what cel-
lulitis is, you know that it can be serious. and Kayla, and she hasn’t aged either!
One Facebook friend even cautioned me
that once her mother had it, she would
keep getting it over and over again.
Though this fb friend probably thought
she was being helpful, she just added to
my already ever-present anxiety. Fortu-
nately, I soon found out that my celluli-
tis was actually tendonitis! That meant
no more antibiotics but hello new ACE
bandage, three Advil every four hours,
and the occasional pain med to make
everything all better. But my walking was
restricted by my very mean, but ador-
able, orthopedist. In any event, I was
diagnosed with two new-itis’s in just one
week! Yay late 40s! So much fun!
And then, if you aren’t feeling old
enough, you have a conversation with
one of your kid’s friends about soap
operas. They had never heard of soap
operas. Remember soap operas? Who
didn’t know about the wedding of Luke
and Laura? Even if you didn’t watch
“General Hospital,” unless you were in a
coma for most of the 1980s, you knew
about Luke and Laura. And then there
was “All My Children” — Greg and Jenny.
Again, even if you didn’t watch the show,
you knew about them. Erica Kane and
her eight or so husbands. And then there
In any event, I was diagnosed
with two new-itis’s in just
one week! Yay late 40s!
So much fun!
Kosher Crossword
“STAR SETTINGS” BY YONI GLATT
KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: EASY
was “my” show — “Days of Our Lives.”
My mother started watching that one
everything working around “Days of
Our Lives.” It was on from 1 to 2 p.m.,
and before the days of VCRs and DVRs,
sometimes we had to watch it in shifts
so my mother wouldn’t miss anything.
Hope and Bo, Patch and Kayla, Roman
and Marlena, the other Roman and Mar-
lena — what a show. I stopped watching
#1 was home because it
was either Christmas or
New Year’s Day and we
happened across Channel
4 and “Days of Our Lives”
was still on!
It was like time had
stood still. Julie, from Doug
and Julie — not sure of their
last name or what hap-
pened to Doug. They may
or may not be Hope’s par-
ents — anyway, Julie looks
amazing. She has not aged
in over 30 years and she was old over 30
years ago. God bless her plastic surgeon!
Across Down
And then there was Kayla, from Patch
1. Sound of a mosquito biting the dust 1. Steve in “That Thing You Do!”
4. Like Aly Raisman 2. Juice berry, nowadays
Who is her surgeon? Also incredible! 9. Frasier or Niles 3. Salon job
But don’t get too excited. The “other” 14. It’s better than a king 4. It’s made moving to Israel
Roman also looked good, but he couldn’t 15. Place for a pin 5. Fracking extraction
move his face when he spoke. It was like 16. She had “the face that launched a 6. It certainly beat out the Zune
thousand ships” 7. Funny Jay
the words were coming out, but noth-
17. Indiana Jones star riding a Bronco? 8. Visitor to a 69-Across
ing was moving. So his plastic surgeon’s 20. Notable co-star of Shatner 9. When doubled, a dance
number is not one that I will be needing. 21. Martial arts school 10. Chorus
But it got me thinking, if Kayla’s face 22. 1990 World Series champs 11. Ahava ingredient, often enough
looks the same, does her knee crack 23. Mouth 12. Screech, e.g.
25. Away from port 13. Breaks off
every time she gets up? Does she say “oy
27. “Moneyball” co-star atop a Bunker? 18. Met defeater in 2015
vey” every time she gets out of the car? 34. Like Haman 19. Honker
Does a face that doesn’t age translate 35. Knight’s title 24. Shrek’s cat friend
into a body that doesn’t age either? How 36. A wedding, for one 26. Barak of Israel
does Julie, who has got to be in her 80s, 38. Low grade 27. Sith foe
39. Wow 28. Pizzeria fixtures
still walk up and down the stairs unas-
42. Half of sei 29. Dina, to Esau
sisted? It’s a soap opera miracle! 43. Ancient Peruvians 30. Plum’s center
But maybe that is why there is a gen- 45. Finish, with “up” 31. Best player in baseball, according to
eration of folks who still watch soap 46. Early Bond villain many
operas, because if those characters 47. “The Italian Job” co-star finishing a 32. Petrol unit
Master’s course? 33. Producer Michaels
never age, neither to do the people who
51. Jekyll’s counterpart 37. Glowing gas
follow them… 52. Famous Dr. who doesn’t have a Ph.D. 39. Far from ruddy
Gee, I answered my own question. The 53. Airline since 1948 40. Work the aisles
power of denial. Good times! 56. “Time ___ the essence” 41. Water, for life
59. They should be taken seriously 44. Sue Bird, e.g.
63. “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” star at 46. Great fear
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck is happy
Liberty to take a boat ride? 48. Thor’s pop
to report that she got her money back 66. Perón of note 49. Mama bird
from her misdiagnosis. Husband #1 was 67. Singer Katz (brother of singer Shlomo) 50. ___ meat
even happier that she is walking again… 68. “Exodus” hero 53. Just makes, with “out”
(Nope, he is happier about getting the 69. Exodus commemoration 54. Cleanse
70. Dahl who said “There is a trait in the 55. Yesh party lead by Lapid
money back, let’s be honest.)
Jewish character that does provoke 57. Kasich’s land
animosity...” 58. Greek salad cheese
71. Make like Nissim 60. Ivan the Terrible, e.g.
61. Israeli dance with few moves
62. Scissors sound
The solution to last week’s puzzle is
on page 43.
64. Crew need
65. Actor Linden (born Lipshitz)
JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 39
Local

Liora
FROM PAGE 11
with Jews being well integrated into Amer-
ican society. There’s also influence from
the media. The mid-20th century Bor-
sht Belt is becoming more mainstream.”
As one example, words like “chutzpah”
pop up increasingly on television and in
the press.
She also noted that “the phenomenon
of non-Jews using Jewish words is not
unique to American Jews. At various times
and places, non-Jews have used Hebrew
words and other features of the language. It
became part of the professional jargon for
cattle traders and jewelry makers.” Exam-
ples abound in Dutch and German, she said.
In addition, Jews themselves are using a
few more “Jewish words.
“In the last few decades, there’s been a
shift in American Jewish communities in
using more Hebrew and Yiddish words
in certain realms. I didn’t grow up saying
‘shul’ but now I do, and now my parents
do too. It’s one of those shifts you might
not notice happening,” she said.
Asked whether there is a stereotypical
Jewish voice — one you might hear in your
head when thinking about the issue — Dr.
Benor said, “I think of the sketch ‘Cof-
fee Talk’ on Saturday Night Live. There
absolutely is a connection between New
York speech and Jewish speech.” Indeed,
she added, non-Jews typically think of
New York speech when thinking of Jew-
ish speech.
In discussing Jewish names, she will
focus on where common names through-
out the world come from. She also will
explore such questions as why men are
more likely to have biblical names. Inter-
estingly, Dr. Benor put to rest to the myth
that immigrants’ new surnames were a
product of Ellis Island functionaries.
“The names were not changed on Ellis
Island,” she said. “They were changed
later, either by official petition or infor-
mally. It happened for reasons of eco-
nomic advancement related to anti-Semi-
tism.” When they Anglicized their names,
history,” she said, especially in Ashkenazi
communities. There’s a midrash that says
we were redeemed by keeping our names.”
In the last few (The midrash in question suggests that not
adopting Egyptian names was one of the
decades, there’s three merits for which the Jewish people
been a shift in were redeemed.)
On the topic of summer camp Hebrew,
American Jewish Dr. Benor said that the use of Hebrew at
communities in camp “is not generally about proficiency.
It’s about making camp into a distinctly
using more Jewish environment. Language plays a
Hebrew and huge role in it, more than in any other
domain. Hebrew is used to name places
Yiddish words in and activities, and even in camps that are
certain realms. not as Jewishly engaged, they still have
some Hebrew words, Hebrew songs and
Jews “were more likely to pass as non- cheers, or word of the day.
Jews.” Still, she said, even when families “ The purpose i s to foster Jew-
changed their names, they did not tend to ish identity.”
drop their Jewish identities. Dr. Benor and her husband, Mark, have
On the subject of Hebrew names, she three daughters, Aliza, Dalia, and Ari-
said that the practice of giving such names ella, who range in age from 10 to 16. This
to newborn Jewish babies is still very com- summer, her oldest daughter will attend
mon. “It’s been happening throughout Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim.

BRIEFS

Spielvogels give $2 million
to U.S. Holocaust Museum
MARCY OSTER
Carl Spielvogel, a former U.S. ambassador to
the Slovak Republic, and his wife, Barbaralee
Diamonstein-Spielvogel, have donated $2 million
to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
President Ronald Reagan appointed Diamon-
stein-Spielvogel as a Museum Council member in
1987, and she was a founding chair of the subcom-
mittee that commissioned the original artwork
created for the museum.
The New York couple’s gift will go to the muse-
um’s endowment. The museum will name a gal-
lery in its permanent exhibition that houses the
artwork “Consequence,” by Sol LeWitt, as the
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Ambas-
sador Carl Spielvogel Gallery.
Spielvogel was appointed ambassador under
President Bill Clinton. JTA WIRE SERVICE
New England Patriots owner Kraft wins $1 million ‘Jewish Nobel’
JOSEFIN DOLSTEN
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has won the $1 mil-
lion Genesis Prize. That’s the so-called Jewish Nobel.
Kraft, 77, will give the money “to initiatives combatting anti-
Semitism and other forms of prejudice as well as attempts to de-
legitimize the State of Israel,” according to a statement.
In an announcement, Genesis Prize chairman and co-
founder Stan Polovets called the NFL owner and business-
man “one of the world’s most generous philanthropists whose
charitable giving reflects the Jewish value of tikkun olam —
repairing the world.”
The award honors people who serve “as an inspiration to
the next generation of Jews through their outstanding profes-
sional achievement along with their commitment to Jewish
values and the Jewish people.”
The Kraft family has given more than half a billion dollars over
many years to causes including health care, education, the Jew-
ish community, Christian organizations, and local needs.
With a net worth of $6.6 billion, Kraft is the 79th richest
American, according to Forbes. Kraft grew up in an Orthodox
Jewish family in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is the chairman
and CEO of Kraft Group, a holding company with assets in
sports, manufacturing, and real estate development.
“This award amplifies my ability to raise both awareness and
additional funds to fight anti-Semitism, attempts to de-legitimize
Israel and other forms of prejudices,” he said in the statement.
Kraft will receive the award at a gala in June in Jerusalem.
He joins artist Anish Kapoor, violinist Itzhak Perlman, for-
mer New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and actor-
director Michael Douglas as previous winners. The foundation
sometimes has been criticized for giving the prize to million-
aires, but it says the goal is to leverage the recipients’ influence
and example to improve the world.
Last year, the foundation recognized Natalie Portman but
canceled the ceremony after the actress said she would not
travel to Israel to receive the award in protest of Prime Minis-
ter Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.
The prize, started in 2013, is financed through a permanent
endowment of $100 million established by the Genesis Prize
Foundation. JTA WIRE SERVICE

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BRIEF
Moshe Arens dies at 93;
Israeli defense minister
under three leaders
MARCY OSTER
JERUSALEM — Moshe Arens, a veteran Israeli politi-
cian and defense minister under three prime minis-
ters, has died.
Arens, who first hired Benjamin Netanyahu and
is credited with helping him get his start in politics,
died on Monday in his sleep at his home near Tel
Aviv. He was 93.
Arens was a member of the Knesset for the Likud
party from 1973 to 1992 and again from 1999 to 2003.
As ambassador to the United States beginning in 1982,
Arens brought on Netanyahu as part of the diplomatic
corps and later appointed him as ambassador to the
United Nations.
Arens was defense minister under prime ministers
Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, and Netanyahu; he
was the country’s foreign minister as well.
“I loved you as a son loved his father,” Netanyahu
said in a tribute on Monday. “There was no greater
patriot. Moshe Arens’ great contribution to our people
and our state will be remembered forever.”
“Misha was one of the most important ministers of
defense the State of Israel ever had. He was not a com-
mander or a general, but a devoted man of learning
who toiled day and night for the security of Israel and
its citizens,” Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin said in a
statement on Monday.
The Israel Defense Forces said that Arens “led the
shaping of the face of the Israeli defense establish-
ment over the years,” noting that Arens “laid down
important elements in the IDF’s building of strength,
SEE MOSHE ARENS PAGE 46
Curt deJonge
Curt deJonge passed away peacefully on December
20, 2018, at age 96. He kept his sense of humor and
his knowledge of history until the very end.
His family’s departure from Frankfurt, Germany
shortly after Kristallnacht was done in haste. He and his
father took the train to Holland. When the train pulled
into Amsterdam, someone met them at the station. Our
grandfather said,” I think we’ll be safe here, why don’t
we stay.” Thank goodness that man had the foresight
to respond, “Absolutely not. Get out of here.” They
stayed in London for six months. England was not very
welcoming, considered more German than Jewish. In
December of 1939 the deJonge family boarded a ship
to America. The family settled into their new home in
Washington Heights.
Curt proudly served in the U.S. Army as a translator.
He graduated from NYU and earned his master’s degree
from City College. He owned George Glove Company in
Englewood.
He met Marion Mahler at a BBYO event and they
married on September 7, 1947. She predeceased him by
just 7 months.
They moved to Teaneck in 1953, to Tenafly in 1970,
and Fort Lee in 1997.
Curt was an active member and volunteer in several
organizations. Temple Emeth, Teaneck; Temple Emanu-
El, Closter; Fort Lee Jewish Center, Kaplen JCC on the
Palisades, the Jewish Home, and The Jewish Theological
Seminary.
Curt is survived by his daughters, Audrey de Jonge
and Ellen deJonge-Ozeri; his 4 grandchildren, Jeremy,
Alexis, Gabby, and Chloe; and his 5 great-grandchildren,
Kate, Myles, Dylan, Ethan, and Neely.
Donations can be made to “Cycle for Survival”
Memorial Sloan Kettering, a charity for all pediatric and
rare cancers, Team: We’re In it For Ellen.
— Paid Obituary —
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42 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019

 Classified

Solution to last week’s puzzle. This week’s puzzle is

on page 39.

“ Being hungry affects your

appearance, how you act.
When I’m hungry, I’m not in the
“
mood for anything.

PARTY
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JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 43
Jewish World
Dutch couple finds forgotten Holocaust history
while renovating their countryside home
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
AMSTERDAM — Despite its rustic charms,
the dream home that Roxane van Iperen
and her partner bought nearly ruined
their marriage.
Van Iperen, a 42-year-old novelist,
underestimated the amount of renovation
the countryside estate east of Amsterdam
would need. She and Joris Lenglet bought
the place in 2012 as a home for the couple
and their three children.
“We almost separated by the time it was
done,” she recalled in a November inter-
view on NPO1, a Dutch television channel.
But amid “the arguing, misery and work,”
as she described it, the couple made discov-
eries whose significance they realized only
months later. During the Holocaust, their
new home had been the center for one of Lien Brilleslijper and her daughter Jalda in Berlin in the 1970s.
Holland’s most daring rescue operations
conducted by Jews for Jews.
Recounted in a best-selling book that van Iperen pub-
lished last year, the story generated strong media interest
amid a wave of introspection about the Dutch society’s
checkered Holocaust-era record. In bookstores, “The High
Nest” stayed on the top-10 list of locally produced nonfic-
tion for weeks.
“Many Jews resisted, but of most of them we know very
little,” said the Jewish filmmaker Willy Lindwer, who has
produced several documentaries on the Holocaust in his
native Netherlands. He said the “High Nest” story “shows
not all Dutch Jews went like lambs to the slaughter, and
that’s very important.”
But to general readers, part of the book’s appeal lies in
the strong characters of the people who did the rescuing
at van Iperen’s home — sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper
and their families.
Daring anti-fascist activists — Janny also fought as a vol-
unteer combatant in the Spanish Civil War — they used
connections to hide from the Germans in the house in
Naarden, 10 miles east of Amsterdam. But at great per-
sonal risk, they opened their safe house to Jews and oth-
ers in need.
Van Iperen found evidence of the sisters’ ingenuity
as soon as the renovations began. She discovered dou-
ble walls, secret doors, and walled-off annexes that had
been concealed so well that they were left undetected for
decades. In one secret space, van Iperen even found war-
time resistance newspapers.
Dozens of Jews passed through the safe house, which is
“perfectly located near Amsterdam but in the middle of
nowhere,” van Iperen said. The nine-room estate is mostly
hidden from view by large trees that afforded privacy to
the tenants.
The operation’s secrecy kept it out of the history books
even though it was a rare case in which Dutch Jews not
only escaped the genocide but helped others avoid
capture.
Even as they were making these discoveries, van Iperen
and her partner did not register their significance — at first. That was the highest death rate in Nazi-occupied Western
“The discovery story sounds romantic but the truth
is, we just weren’t aware of the findings,” she said in the
interview. “It was an old house — that’s also what drew
us to it — and so you naturally discover things. We talked
about it. But then we just closed the hidden space and
installed a new floor on it.”
44 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019
The renovations coincided with
major developments in attitudes to
the Holocaust in the Netherlands,
which received its first national
Holocaust museum only in 2016.
In 2012, the Netherlands saw
the creation of a grassroots net-
work of homeowners whose prop-
erties once belonged to Holocaust
victims. They now open dozens of
houses in some 20 municipalities
for visits by the public each year
on the Dutch memorial day.
Amsterdam, meanwhile, is
preparing a huge Holocaust mon-
ument at its center.
This year, the city and the
Hague paid millions of dollars
in restitution to victims from
whom it had unjustly collected The cover of Roxane van Iperen’s
taxes. book “The High Nest.”
In November, the national COURTESY OF VAN IPEREN
railway company announced it
would look into compensating victims that its workers
helped transport. That triggered similar action last month
by Amsterdam’s GVB transportation company.
Amid these developments, which were accompanied by
a steady stream of news reports and books on the Holo-
caust, the secrets of van Iperen’s house kept beckoning.
They eventually put her on a six-year journey of discov-
ery, conducting interviews, studying archive material, and
cross-referencing information with survivors’ testimonies.
The sisters, intellectuals from a Liberal Jewish family,
arrived at the estate near Naarden in 1943, amid deporta-
tions to death camps and growing awareness of Hitler’s
annihilation of Europe’s Jews.
By that time the Nazis had killed 75 percent of the Neth-
erlands’ prewar Jews — there had been about 140,000.
Europe.
“Everyone who could was in a panic to find a hiding
place,” van Iperen said.
And yet at the Brilleslijpers’ house, “there was actually a
lot of music and lust for life during that time, which makes
it different to the typical survival-in-hiding story we know in
this country,” van Iperen said.
She found sheet music that the sisters
and their guests composed and performed
on musical evenings. (Lien was a well-
known singer.)There were worldly debates
and garden dinners — several of the people
in hiding were artists — amid the laughter
of children.
One of the rug rats was Robert Brandes,
COURTESY OF THE BRILLESLIJPER FAMILY
the 5-year-old son of Janny and her hus-
band, Bob Brandes. Robert Brandes,
now 79 and an artist, gave van Iperen,
who tracked him down, a yellowing pho-
tograph taken at her home in 1943. He is
seen splashing in a metal tub on a sunny
day in the backyard flanked by his cousin,
Lien’s daughter Kathinka Rebling, and
another child.
Around the corner from the Jews in hid-
ing lived the lover of Anton Mussert, the
head of the pro-Nazi NSB party and
the top collaborator with the Nazis. He
would often stay over, van Iperen also
discovered.
But in June 1944, Eddy Musbergen,
one of the hundreds of Dutch gentiles
who betrayed or hunted Jews in hiding,
reported his suspicions about the estate
to the authorities.
It was an eventuality for which the sis-
ters had planned, according to Rebling,
Lien’s daughter. During the Gestapo
raid, her mother removed a vase from a
window sill overlooking the access path
— a secret sign for other tenants that the
house had been compromised.
The raid occurred when Janny and her
son were out. Janny saw the vase as they
returned and attempted to catch up to
Robert, who was skipping along ahead of
her. But the Germans saw them and they
were arrested.
The sisters and their families were sent
to the Westerbork concentration camp,
Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.
At Bergen-Belsen, Janny met the family of Anne Frank.
“She was concealed in a blanket,” Janny, who died in
2003, recalled in a 1988 documentary by Lindwer. “She
had no more tears to cry. They had run out a long time
before.”
Janny went to check on Anne a few days later and saw
Anne’s sister, Margot, lying dead on the floor. Anne died
shortly thereafter, Janny said.
Both Brilleslijper sisters survived the Holocaust — partly
because they were persons of interest to the Nazis due to
their anti-fascist credentials, van Iperen discovered. This
prevented them from being sent directly to the gas cham-
bers at Auschwitz.
Robert Brandes was spared deportation because after
his detention, the Nazis deemed him only half Jewish.
Rebling, who was 3 and whose parents both were Jewish,
was spirited away from a detention facility by a resistance
fighter and survived the war in hiding.
“That we are still alive can only be explained by an
unbroken chain of miracles,” Rebling said during the
November interview with NPO1.
JTA WIRE SERVICE

Englewood Health
offers 3 programs
for a new year
The Graf Center for Integrative Medicine at Englewood
Health announces three new programs for 2019.
Over six sessions, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduc-
tion will teach participants powerful and effective heal-
ing therapies — meditation, guided imagery, biofeed-
back, breath work, and mindful eating — to help with life
changes, stress, and illness. Pre-registration is required.
Jennifer Graf, LSW, certified in mind body medicine
and positive psychology, and also a yoga instructor, and
Reiki Master will teach the class. It runs from Wednes-
day, January 16, through Wednesday, February 27, (no
session on February 20), from 6 to 8 p.m.
Jennifer Graf will also teach Gentle Movement
and Meditation, an eight-week program on Tuesdays
through February 26, from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Participants
will learn how to establish a personal meditation prac-
tice, balancing mind and body. The class is developed
for all levels — beginners welcome. Pre-registration is
required.
Ketogenic Challenge – New Year, New You! will
introduce participants to the benefits and keys to suc-
cess of the ketogenic diet. This three-part series (lecture,
food store tour, and challenge) will explain what ketosis
is, provide participants with keto food and meal lists,
and teach them how to shop all things keto -– all before
participants engage in a three-week challenge. Pre-reg-
istration is required. A food tour will be at Healthway
Natural Foods, 35 Riveredge Road, Tenafly. The course
will be taught by Nina Spiegel, a holistic nutritionist, and
runs on Thursdays through February 27, with no session
on February 20.
All classes, except as noted, are held at the Graf Cen-
ter at Englewood Health, 350 Engle St., Englewood. For
information, call (201) 608-2377 or go to englewood-
health.org to learn more and to register.
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Israeli techs cause a stir at CES extravaganza
BRIAN BLUM
The annual Consumer Electronics Show, now in its 51st
year, has become a mecca for Israeli tech firms. From
software for autonomous vehicles to drones delivering
pizza to walking and talking robots, if there’s a con-
sumer angle, CES — with 180,000 attendees and 4,500
exhibitors from 150 countries — is an essential part of
any company’s international roll-out.
This year, there were dozens of Israeli startups
exhibiting across the sprawling Las Vegas World Trade
Center, where CES was held from January 8-11. Here
are some that caught our eye:
Innoviz makes smart LiDAR systems — the “eyes”
in next-generation autonomous vehicles. Innoviz’s
LiDAR sends out pulsed laser beams to measure
and monitor a car’s surroundings. The company has
already received a pre-CES “innovation award” in the
vehicle intelligence category. BMW is now integrating
Innoviz into its autonomous vehicles scheduled to be
launched in 2021.
Vayavision acts as a brain to sensors installed in cars
from companies like Innoviz, determining which sen-
sor to use at any given moment to keep drivers and
pedestrians safe. Vayavision takes its data from radar,
LiDAR, and camera sensors. The Vayavision “brain”
is intended to reduce false alarms and missed detec-
tions. The company raised $8 million in October.
Broadmann17 is similar to Vayavision, in that it
aims to improve processing in autonomous vehicles.
The company’s artificial intelligence allows cars (and
drones) to see, identify, and process large amounts
of data at once. Broadmann17’s deep neural network
software enables “edge” devices (with limited process-
ing power) to take advantage of the power of AI.
Cognata uses artificial intelligence and computer
vision to simulate real cities in 3D so autonomous vehi-
cle makers can test their cars virtually before hitting
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the streets. Given the recent revolt against Waymo’s autono-
mous vehicle tests in Arizona, where pedestrians attacked the
vehicles with rocks and knives, Cognata’s tech may receive
particular interest this year at CES.
Phantom Auto is building a “remote control” for autono-
mous cars. If there’s a problem with a self-driving vehicle and
there’s no steering wheel, brakes or driver, Phantom Auto can
insert a human operator to control the vehicle from a remote
location. Will that be enough to help passenger (and angry
mobs) get past their fear of driverless cars?
Engie plugs into a car’s dashboard and helps drivers of
“regular” vehicles (you know, the ones we’re driving today)
diagnose problems and find the closest mechanic (along with
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JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 45
Real Estate & Business
Israeli techs
FROM PAGE 45
rates) from the app’s mechanic mar-
ketplace. Engie can tell you if your car
will pass its next air-pollution test or if
the engine is running hot. It can even
remember where you parked your car.
C2A, Karamba Security, SafeRide Tech-
nologies and Argus Cyber Security all
help protect cars of today and tomorrow
against cyber-threats. They work in dif-
ferent ways: Argus embeds its security
software directly into a car’s systems,
Karamba secures the infotainment cen-
ter to keep out hackers, C2A is making
its firewall-type “Stamper” product avail-
able royalty-free, while SafeRide detects
vulnerabilities before a hacker even
arrives by flagging any abnormal behav-
ior and reporting it to the connected
car’s Security Operation Center.
Tactile Mobility helps self-driving cars
“feel” the road. The company uses the
data coming from a vehicle’s sensors to
tell how tightly a car is gripping the road,
whether the vehicle is bumping up and
down over potholes or how steep a hill
is. Tactile Mobility can help autonomous
vehicles drive faster and be less wary of
fast-moving highway on and off ramps.
Drone technology
Flytrex wants to be the FedEx of the
drone-delivery world. Its soft ware
allows operators to set pick-up and deliv-
ery points and see information about
weather, topography and other drones
Advice
FROM PAGE 35
some new insight each day in the life that I
have chosen. I call this the sheer joy of hid-
dush — of discovering the novel interpreta-
tion, a new way of living the life that I have.
(And by the way, for me this means that
once a month I have sought to publish
some words describing fresh perspectives
on Jewish thought and life, in this Jewish
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46 JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019
in the air. The service is now operational
at the King’s Walk Golf Course in North
Dakota where it delivers food and bever-
ages to golfers on-demand, and in Iceland
where AHA which uses Flytrex to drop
goods in customers’ Reykjavik backyards.
Edgybees’ First Response software
suite brings augmented reality, map lay-
ers, and visual markers to allow drone
pilots to monitor more than the drone
itself can; it allows commanders to moni-
tor drones remotely; and it integrates
a drone’s visual progress into video
streams and maps. The software was
used during last year’s devastating Camp
Fire in California and during several
major US hurricanes.
Consumer drones today mainly carry
packages. But will a fully flying car be in
our future? Startup NFT hopes to bring
a bit of the Jetsons to our cities. The
company will be displaying a prototype
vehicle with VTOL (vertical takeoff and
landing) capabilities — no landing pad or
heliport required. NFT’s electric-pow-
ered flying car has a range of 60 miles
driving and 310 miles flying at a projected
price of $50,000.
Robots and more
Lumen is a personalized nutrition device
that measures users’ metabolism by
analyzing their breath. The company’s
hand-held product includes carbon-diox-
ide sensors and flow meters to measure
the breakdown of fat, carbohydrate and
protein. The results are displayed on an
accompanying smartphone app.
Standard column of talmudic advice.)
That’s my answer for you, based in a
new examination (and questioning) of the
its power, and its technological renewal.
wisdom of the past. It is what I have to say
“A man of vision, Moshe Arens suc-
today about the meaning of life.
ceeded in creating a long list of impor-
To conclude with my wish for this year:
tant, forward-looking changes in the
Let’s all try to avoid sarcasm and cynical
defense establishment and the IDF that
dismissals. Let’s be sincere, and let’s have
have enabled and still enable a more
a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019, liv-
ing fully in the meaningful lives that we
correct and adapted confrontation to
have chosen.
the challenges of the present and the
future,” the statement continued.
Before he entered politics, Arens was
the deputy director general at Israel
Aircraft Industries, where he oversaw
major development projects, including
the Kfir fighter jet project. Before that,
from 1957 to 1962, he was a professor of
aeronautics at the Technion.
Arens was born in Lithuania and
immigrated to the United States with
his family in 1939. During World War II
he was a technical sergeant in the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. Arens moved
Specialists to Israel shortly after it declared inde- made
pendence in 1948 and joined the Zionist
CALL
paramilitary organization, the Irgun.
In 1951 he returned to the United States
20
to study engineering at the Massachu-
1
setts Institute of Technology and aero-- 6
We nautical
do engineering at the California
not
Watergen makes GENNY, a 50-kilogram
home and office water generator that
uses ambient air to extract and produce
between 25 and 30 liters of water a day.
One liter of GENNY-made water costs just
2 cents. The company was named a “Best
of Innovation” nominee in CES’s “Tech
for a Better World” category.
Intellithings also won a CES 2019 Inno-
vation award for RoomMe, a personalized
automation solution for smart homes.
Install RoomMe in a selected space and
its Bluetooth tech identifies who’s in
the room based on their smartphone.
RoomMe then automatically adjusts
lights, thermostats, and other devices to
preset preferences.
TechSee uses cameras and augmented
reality to troubleshoot users’ tech prob-
lems remotely. Just bought a new router
but don’t know how to set it up? Fire
up TechSee’s “Eve” app and point your
phone at the router. Eve will identify the
model and walk you through installation
by demonstrating the steps you need to
take on an augmented visual overlay. The
company raised $18 million in December.
Handy with computers but hate house-
work? Foldimate will be demonstrating
its robotic laundry-folding machine at
CES. A ship date is estimated for later this
year with a target retail price of $980.
You feed your clothes into the top of the
machine, which looks a bit like a giant
upright printer, and the clothes come
out neat and folded. Foldimate adjusts
its folding technique based on item size
and user preferences.
Moshe Arens
FROM PAGE 41
Moshe Arens, former Israeli diplomat
and politician, speaks in the Israeli
J
Knesset in 2012. MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90
im
im
Institute of Technology.
In his later years, Arens was a colum-
nist for the left-wing Israeli daily news-
paper Haaretz. He also was chairman of
the International Board of Governors of
RESIDEN
Ariel University Center of Samaria.
The Jewish Agency’s chair, Isaac Her-
zog, called Arens WE “a true leader with
integrity,
• reason and eloquence
Att who
great contributions to Israel’s De
security and global standing. Despite
TODAY
our differences, there was always mutual
respect between us.”
Arens is survived by his wife, Muriel,
four children, and nine grandchildren.
 transJTA WIRE SERVICE
Centaur Analytics wants to be the
“Internet of crops.” The startup’s plat-
form tracks data from sensors installed
along the produce supply chain from
farm to train to truck to retail facility.
The app applies environmental informa-
tion and predictive models to decide how
best to reduce the amount of poor quality
product (no more wilted lettuce!) which
in turn should increase stores’ revenues.
Robots are always showstoppers at tech
events, which practically guarantees per-
sonal robot-maker Temi a big CES splash.
Use Temi ($1,499) to video chat with a
loved one using its mobile telepresence
functionality, ask Temi a question or to
play your favorite song (think of Temi as
Amazon Echo on wheels) or tell Temi to
fetch some tea from the kitchen.
Intuition Robotics’ ElliQ has a similar
home use as Temi, minus the wheels, and
is aimed at chatting with seniors to help
them stay active and engaged. The prod-
uct won a “Best of Innovation award” in
the Smart Home category at last year’s
CES.
42 Game Changer might just be the
perfect product for vendors at a trade
show like CES. The company makes
interactive mobile games branded for
its corporate customers. When visitors
approach the customer’s booth, they’re
offered a chance to play a game and win
a prize by entering their contact details.
The company also will power customer
interaction at the booth of another Israeli
company at CES, Human Eyes.
 ISRAEL21C.ORG
the
the
W
JEWISH STANDARD JANUARY 11, 2019 47
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