Community Briefs

UCLA Hosts Conference on ItalianJews

When Guido Fink was growing up in Ferrara in the late 1930s,the northern Italian city had 1,000 Jews and a German synagogue — where hisgrandfather served as cantor — an Italian one, a Spanish one and a fourth ownedby a private family.

After a pogrom in the city on Nov. 15, 1943, the young boyand his mother went into hiding on a farm and survived the Holocaust, whichclaimed his father and 14 other relatives.

Today, Fink represents the Italian government as director ofthe Italian Cultural Institute, located in Westwood, during a leave of absenceas professor of English and American literature at the University of Florence.The animated scholar accepted a four-year assignment at the institute,partially because he missed UCLA, where he had spent a year in the 1960s, andpartially because “I asked myself what it means to be Jewish.”

He frequently drops in at Valley Beth Shalom, welcomes manyJewish patrons at the institute’s varied cultural events, and hopes to co-sponsor a program with the Israeli consulate.

To his considerable amazement, his son, Enrico, afterteaching astrophysics at Cornell, gave it all up and became a professionalklezmer musician. Currently, he is featured on the Italian stage in “Fiddler onthe Roof,” in which the dialogue is in Italian and the songs in Yiddish.

As an Italian Jew, “I am not an outsider,” said Guido Fink,”but when I see an anti-war rally in Italy and notice signs equating Israeliswith Nazis, it makes the situation difficult.”

Currently, he is readying for a scholarly conference onApril 4, 6 and 7 on “Acculturation and Its Discontents: The Jews of Italy fromEarly Modern to Modern Times.” Sponsored by UCLA, Clark Library and the ItalianCultural Institute, speakers from Europe, Israel and North America will examinethe “complex process of Jewish interaction with non-Jewish Italians,” focusingon the 16th to 19th centuries.

Advance registration is required and closes March 28. Forinformation on registration, fees and location, call (310) 206-8552. — Tom Tugend, Contributing Editor

CAMERA Puts Anti-Israel Bias inFocus

“National Public Radio [NPR] has an Israel problem,” saidAndrea Levin, executive director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle EastReporting (CAMERA), to a crowd of 100 people at Sinai Temple on Sunday, March23. “While the network continually emphasizes what a superior, enlightened anddistinctive news source it is, in fact NPR is one of the most unremittinglyskewed, shoddy, and unresponsive outlets we’ve ever encountered.”

NPR was only one of the media outlets under fire at CAMERA’sannual Los Angeles conference, where various journalists and media experts fromaround the country addressed concerns and provided guidance for combatinganti-Israel bias.

Throughout the conference, speakers offered explanations forthe prevalence of skewed reporting.

“In most cases it’s probably not anti-Semitism. In mostcases it’s probably a tendency of the press to root for the perceivedunderdog,” said Dr. Alex Safian, adding that ignorance, successful Palestinianpropaganda and a lack of vigilance by the Israeli government toward fightingmedia bias, are also factors.

Jeff Jacoby, a columnist for the Boston Globe, blamedphysical intimidation.

“Journalists don’t have to fear that the Israeli governmentis going to punish them or kill them if they don’t print exactly what theIsraelis want to hear,” Jacoby said. “But that wasn’t true for journalistscovering the PLO in the 1980s and it’s not true for journalists covering thePLO now.”

Levin gave examples of the current work that CAMERAvolunteers and staff are doing to combat the problem, including writing lettersand Op-Eds; speaking out on radio and giving feedback on television toproducers, hosts and reporters; suggesting story ideas; and encouragingbalanced reports and challenging false reports.

 We are positive because we see progress as a possibility ofmore progress,” Levin said. — Rachel Brand, Staff Writer

Conservative Rabbinical Assembly Comes toL.A.

More than 300 Conservative rabbis from around the world willgather at the Sheraton Universal hotel next week for the annual RabbinicAssembly (RA)convention to explore such issues as the war and how it affectsIsrael, the message of Conservative Judaism and how God fits into therabbinate.

“The day to day rabbinate can be pretty highly stressful,and you need a few days with colleagues to discuss ideas, to talk about whatworks in your place and doesn’t, find out what works for others and to learnfrom each other and get strength from each other,” said Rabbi Steven Tucker ofRamat Zion in Northridge, who is chairing the convention. “I think it makes usbetter rabbis and ultimately better Jews.”

Rabbi Joel Rembaum of Temple Beth Am will receive an awardfrom Israel Bonds, and Rabbi Elliot Dorff, rector at the University of Judaism,will be honored by the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Masorti movement inIsrael for distinguished service.

While the schedule includes some study sessions on humansexuality, there are no major sessions where the question of homosexuality willbe examined, despite the fact that the movement is currently engaged in ahigh-profile discussion over whether to ordain gay rabbis or perform same-sexcommitment ceremonies.

Tucker said that RA executive vice president Rabbi JoelMeyers believed that the question should remain within the private andscholarly realm of the law committee, where it is currently on the agenda andis expected to be resolved next year.

“We are not putting our heads in the sand. We know it’s abig issue and a hot-button issue,” Tucker said. “Our leadership has decidedthere is nothing effective we can do with it at the convention, so we’releaving it for the law committee to handle.”

Sessions and plenaries are open to registered rabbis only. Afair featuring Israeli vendors and publishers is open to the public, Wednesdayfrom 2-10 p.m. at the Universal Sheraton, 333 Universal Terrace, UniversalCity. For more information, call Shira Dicker at 917-403-3989. — Julie Gruenbaum Fax, Religion Editor