March 25, 2004

Stuff Your Way Through the Week

Leave a Comment / Celebrations/Simchas / Leora Alhadeff

In biblical times, long stalks of barley and lush fields of green garlic signaled that Passover was near. The holiday’s food was a reflection of the harvest.

In today’s industrialized society, where our foods are imported from around the world, seasons and their unique foods often have become meaningless.

Now Phyllis and Miriam Glazer’s new cookbook, "The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking," takes us back in time to celebrate the foods of ancestral Israel, where our holidays originated.

"We discovered that [since] the roots of the festivals were in nature, then the food had to reflect that," Phyllis said.

Their cookbook features one of the latest trends in cooking, informally known as "seasonal cooking," where chefs scour local markets and use the produce nature intended for their daily specials.

The festival of Passover, the first month of the Jewish lunar New Year, opens the book with delectable treats highlighting the earth’s renewal from the dormant winter months. Jews used the resources that were available to them. As they found themselves dispersed around the world, they adopted new symbols for the holidays. The recipes reflect the culinary traditions of both worlds. The European invention of gefilte fish and the British tradition of lemon curd on Pesach were not, of course, fare in ancient times, yet they pop up in many Jewish homes.

More than just recipes, the book is laden with the historical and religious origins of the symbols marking Passover. Miriam, a professor of literature at the University of Judaism and a rabbinical student at the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies, was responsible for adding the commentary to the book. She reveals the origins of the hagaddah, the seder plate, matzah and kitniot (the Sephardic tradition of eating legumes). The book, Miriam said, "is about rediscovering our heritage and the richness of it, and how our cuisine has echoed the miracle of our survival all over the world."

The cookbook gave the Glazers a chance to rediscover their sisterly bond, since Miriam moved away from their home in New York when Phyllis was a young girl.

"The love for healthy food and cooking has been in our family for generations, and it has been a precious opportunity to reconnect with each other, with our mom and, in absentia, with our grandmother in the process of doing this," Miriam said.

Although the process was rewarding, the sisters faced challenges. Phyllis, a well known food writer in Israel, and Miriam, a published scholar, had to find a way to weld their different writing styles.

"We screamed at each other over the phone," Phyllis said.

The cookbook highlights many recipes for all of the Jewish holidays, and recognizes a time to bond with family over food. Food is a major component of Passover — ridding the house of chametz, preparing the kitchen, assembling the seder plate and, of course, making the meal. The preparations for Passover are often what makes the holiday memorable. Everyone wants to contribute, even the little kids, and moms are always searching for ways to engage them, while keeping them away from the hot stove.

Stuffing food is a safe way to involve the kids in the cooking tradition. Walnut-and-Herb-Stuffed Eggplant, Iraqi Chicken-Stuffed Patties and Marzipan-Stuffed Dates are some of the many delicious recipes where kids can lend a helping hand. Moshe b’Tayva (Moses in the Basket), is a kitschy spin on marzipan-stuffed dates traditionally served at a Memunah, the celebration immediately following Pesach for North African Jews. Kids can roll out body parts for baby Moses and stuff them in the large Medjool dates — symbolic of the basket in which he floated.

When children grow up, they will remember the seder, but more so they will reminisce about the foods. The Glazers hoped to reclaim our old and new traditions through food, and give those who have no culinary history an opportunity to tap into the rich flavors of Jewish festival cuisine.

"I realized that if we do not pass on things with meaning to our children then we will have been responsible for the demise of those things," Phyllis said. "We can pass on food with meaning."

Nanuchka’s Fabulous Walnut-and-Herb-Stuffed Eggplant

Contributed by Phyllis’ best friend, Natasha Krantz, this Georgian (former Soviet Union) recipe of rich walnuts herbs and spices is perfect for an appetizer. Make extra of this flavorful filling and spread it over matzah as a snack.

3 3/4 pounds eggplant (two or three medium size)

Coarse sea salt or kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups walnut halves (about 1 pound)

2 medium garlic cloves, pressed (1 tablespoon)

1/2 teaspoon white or red wine vinegar

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

1 small dried hot pepper or cayenne to taste

1/2 cup packed chopped cilantro

1/3 cup packed chopped fresh Italian parsley

Cut the stem end off the eggplant and slice the eggplant lengthwise into 3/8-inch slices. Sprinkle both sides with a little coarse salt and pepper and rub in. Let stand for 10 minutes, rinse off and pat dry.

Heat half the oil in a skillet and sauté half the eggplant slices on both sides until golden brown. Remove and place between two sheets of paper towel to absorb excess oil. Repeat with the rest of the oil and eggplant.

In a food processor, grind the walnuts to a powder. Add the remaining ingredients, blending until the paste forms a ball. Lay the eggplant slices on a work surface and place two or more tablespoons of filling (depending on type of eggplant) at the base. Carefully roll from the bottom into a compact roll. Serve on a serving platter decorated with fresh greens if desired.

Makes about 20-30 pieces.

Variations:

Cabbage Walnut Salad: Cook 1/2 medium cabbage in boiling water until very tender, and squeeze out excess moisture by hand. Chop coarsely by hand together with a few tablespoons of the walnut mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Roasted Eggplant Walnut Salad: Roast one to two small eggplants. Chop by hand, blending in a few tablespoons of the walnut mixture. Use the filling to stuff fresh mushrooms, celery ribs and cherry tomatoes.

Iraqi Chicken-Stuffed Patties

Moshe Basson, a famous chef in Israel shared this Iraqi Passover treat. Biting into crispy mashed potatoes filled with sweet raisins, toasted pine nuts and chicken flavored in aromatic spices made all the stuffing preparation worth it.

1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes (about four to five medium), cooked, peeled, mashed and chilled

1/4 cup matzah meal plus extra meal for dipping 3 eggs, beaten

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive or vegetable oil, for frying

Stuffing

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup finely chopped red onion

2 butterflied chicken breasts, deboned, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

1/3 teaspoon each black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom

Combine the mashed potatoes, matzah meal and eggs in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and let stand 10 minutes.

For the stuffing: Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a skillet and cook the onion until golden. Add the chicken, raisins and pine nuts, if using, and stir in the spices. When the chicken turns opaque, remove from the heat. Let cool slightly, then cover and chill.

Oil hands and make a ball of potato mixture the size of a large egg. Flatten it out between your palms and make an indentation for the filling. Put a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center, and fold the edges over it. Close and flatten out to make sure that there are no holes with stuffing peeking through.

Dip both sides in matzah meal and deep-fry as the Iraqis do, or fry in a generous amount of hot oil until golden. Turn carefully, and fry the other side. Place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Serve hot.

Makes about 25.

Moshe b’Tayva (Moses in the Basket) — Dates Stuffed with Homemade Marzipan

Crunchy pistachios garnish these marzipan-made Moses bundled in a date basket. Encourage your kids to get creative, suggests the Glazers and make his/her own Moshe with personality.

14 to 16 large Medjool dates

Marzipan

Slightly Rounded 1/2 cup slivered or whole blanched almonds, ground

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon "kosher for Passover" vanilla extract

A few drops rose water or almond extract 1 to 2 teaspoons hot water. Garnish 1/4 cup crushed, toasted, unsalted pistachio nuts, whole cloves as needed, coriander seeds or mustard seeds (for the eyes).

Makes 14-16.

Stuff Your Way Through the Week Read More »

Q & A With Moshe Wein

Leave a Comment / Celebrations/Simchas / Julie Gruenbaum Fax

All-inclusive Passover hotel programs cost anywhere from $1,200 to $3,000 per person and take place all over the country — from ski resorts in Utah to the legendary scene in Miami. Most have one thing in common: Lots and lots of good food.

Moshe Wein and Elisa Septee Lunzer at Kosher Travels Unlimited have been running programs for 23 years in Southern California, at locations like La Costa and the Desert Princess in Palm Springs (now the Doubletree). This year the program is at the Rancho Bernardo Inn near San Diego, where they are expecting around 450 people, many of them extended families.

Aside from the hotel chefs, waiters and other hotel staff assigned to the program, Kosher Travels Unlimited brings in a panel of scholars and entertainers, 10 kashrut supervisors, about a dozen counselors for the day camp and another dozen staff members for other tasks.

The quantity of food is enormous, when taken as a total: 400 pounds of handmade shmurah matzah, 350 pounds of other assorted matzah, 1,500-2,000 pounds of chocolate just for the 24-hour tea room, not including what is used for baking.

Jewish Journal: Tell me about this 24-hour tea room.

Moshe Wein: I fast and pray for three days before I order the cake and the candy and all the junk for the tea room so that I should order enough. We have dried fruit, fresh fruit, chocolate, candy, cake, soda, potato chips, baked goods — anything you can think of. It’s a kid’s dream and a parent’s nightmare. We’ve had kids sneak down at 3 a.m. to look to see what new things will be out for the next day. Every day we put new things out — a new chocolate or gum or candy. We keep them wondering.

JJ: Do you ever run out of food?

MW: No. Never. No. That is my worst nightmare, so I make sure it never happens.

JJ: But you must have some leftovers at the end of the holiday. What do you do with those?

MW: They go to Tomchei Shabbos [which distributes it to needy families]. Some years I truck the leftovers up to L.A., some years to San Diego, depending on how much it is and who wants what.

JJ: How do the chefs feel about having to work within the laws of Pesach?

MW: The chefs are extraordinarily excited by the opportunity. A person who is really a master of the art and a professional is not afraid of something new and wants to broaden his horizons and add it to his own resume. I say to them I am going to give you a blank canvas and you paint a picture. There are no constraints except that it has to be kosher products and there are some traditional foods we want to have. It’s an opportunity for them to learn a whole new area of cooking.

JJ: Can you give me a sample menu?

MW: Let’s do the first night: We start with an appetizer of gefilte fish and an Italian antipasto salad and then matzah ball soup. There is a choice of entrées: slow roasted prime rib with horseradish whipped potatoes, basil-scented vegetables in red wine sauce; marinated grilled duck breast with orange star-anise spicy glaze with basil-scented vegetables and quinoa pilaf; or poached halibut with spinach and olive oil lemon garlic sauce.

Dessert is an ice pyramid sorbet with papaya and raspberry coulis, served with assorted cakes and cookies.

In addition, there is always just plain roasted chicken or boiled flanken or chicken, and we always have early dinner for the children with hot dogs and hamburgers and fries.

JJ: Have you had to adjust your menu to popular diets, such as low-fat a decade ago and low-carb now?

MW: We always have available a vegetarian choice, low-fat, low-salt — whatever people need. There is always someone in the back of the kitchen preparing special meals and needs.

JJ: But I bet most people give up on dieting for the whole week.

MW: Absolutely. One-hundred percent correct. I know people who go on diets two or three weeks before Pesach in anticipation of coming to the hotel and absolutely blowing it.

JJ: Do you ever take a step back and say, ‘Wow, this is really a decadent display of gluttony?’

MW: Not really. The truth of the matter is that given the natural advance in food technologies and the products available for Pesach, I would estimate that the cumulative consumption of people staying home for Pesach would not be very different from what they consume as a group in a hotel for Pesach…. It only sounds unreasonable when we add up all the numbers. When you break it up and divide it into people, it’s quite reasonable.

For more information on upcoming programs, visit www.koshertravelsunlimited.com .

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Will Sheik’s Assassination Bring Stability?

Leave a Comment / Worldwide / Leslie Susser

No one believes Israel is a safer place just after the assassination of Sheik Ahmad Yassin, leader of the terrorist group Hamas.

The question is whether the assassination and continued Israeli pressure on Hamas will contribute to stability over time.

In targeting Yassin, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had clear political goals. Sharon said he intends to crush Hamas so that when Israel withdraws from Gaza as he plans, it will not seem to be forced out by terrorism. As such, Yassin’s boast that Hamas would make Israel leave under fire may have cost him his life.

Sharon also hopes to tilt the balance of power in Gaza dramatically in favor of the more moderate Palestinian Authority, so that when Israel pulls out, the Palestinian Authority will be strong enough to maintain law and order.

But will Monday’s attack really help achieve such objectives?

In the short term, few doubted that there will be more terrorist attacks and that more young Palestinians will swell Hamas ranks.

The uncertainty is about the longer term. Advocates of the assassination said relentless pressure will eventually wear down Hamas and help the Palestinian Authority take control of the Gaza Strip after Israel’s planned withdrawal.

These advocates pointed to the unilateral cease-fire declared by Hamas last summer after intense military pressure by Israel.

Opponents maintained that the pressure will backfire and that Hamas, with the “martyred” Yassin attracting more recruits than ever, will become stronger and even more radicalized. If so, it could forge alliances with major players in the international terrorist network, such as Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, endangering not only Israel but Jews and possibly Westerners everywhere.

The immediate fear is that Hamas will redouble its efforts to carry out a so-called megaterror attack to retaliate for Yassin’s death. Palestinian terrorists have attempted such megaterror acts before.

The decision to kill Yassin came after terrorists earlier this month attempted a megaterror attack to blow up deadly stores of chemicals and gases at the Ashdod port. They failed, however, but killed 10 Israelis in a double suicide bombing at the port.

There are several precedents for strong terrorist reaction when Israel kills terrorist leaders. A similar assassination 12 years ago of Hezbollah leader Sheik Abbas Musawi resulted in a retaliatory attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people.

Likewise, the killing of Hamas master bomb maker Yehiya Ayash in 1996 was followed by a wave of bus bombings that killed dozens of Israelis. The August 2001 targeting of Abu Ali Mustapha, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was followed by the assassination of Israeli Cabinet minister Rehavam Ze’evi.

With the terrorist organizations constantly trying to attack Israel, many regard their claims of specific retribution with skepticism. But some analysts warned that Sharon’s pressure on Hamas is likely to backfire.

Reuven Paz, an expert on fundamentalist movements at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, argued that it could trigger such widespread Palestinian support for Hamas that P.A. Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei’s days in office could be numbered.

Pressure on Hamas also could undermine local strongman Mohammed Dahlan, whom Israel eventually would like to see imposing order for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.

Other analysts suggested that chaos after the assassination could adversely affect Sharon’s projected withdrawal from Gaza. That might make it necessary to leave Israeli troops there, deferring plans for a full withdrawal indefinitely.

But Sharon appears determined to smash Hamas and avert the kind of disorder the analysts fear. Beyond the political tactics surrounding the withdrawal, the government has defined Hamas as a strategic threat that must be destroyed. That’s because Hamas rules out any compromise with Israel, advocates the destruction of the Jewish State and its replacement with an Islamic theocracy and is ready to use any means to achieve its goals.

Government spokesmen said Sharon in effect has declared war on Hamas. The assassination of Yassin, whom Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called Israel’s Osama bin Laden, was only the opening shot. From now on, the officials said, the Israel Defense Forces will focus almost solely on Hamas, targeting its leaders, militiamen and funding.

“No Hamas leader will be immune,” Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared.

The Israelis believe they have a green light from Washington for all-out war against Hamas. Unlike the Europeans, who condemned Yassin’s assassination as contrary to international law, U.S. officials at first expressed tacit understanding for Israel’s position, drawing parallels to the U.S. war against global terrorism. Later in the day, however, a U.S. spokesman called the attack “deeply troubling.”

Since the eruption of the violent Palestinian uprising three and a half years ago, Hamas has committed 425 terrorist attacks, leaving 377 Israelis dead and 2,076 wounded. It has been responsible for 52 suicide bombings that claimed 288 Israeli lives.

According to Lt. Gen. Aharon Ze’evi, the Israel Defense Forces intelligence chief, Yassin was directly involved in planning and approving military operations.

Some pundits, like Ha’aretz’s Danny Rubinstein, claimed that Yassin was a relative moderate within Hamas. Unlike some of his potential successors, Rubinstein maintained, that Yassin could have agreed to a temporary cease-fire with Israel and made it stick.

Also writing in Ha’aretz, Zvi Barel noted that Yassin insisted that the war against Israel not transcend Israeli-Palestinian borders, but his successors might not be similarly restrained.

Barel said new Hamas leaders will lack Yassin’s authority, and that Hamas could break up into small splinter groups, some of which may ally themselves with global terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. Hamas, Barel suggested, now could decide “to turn its back on years of strategy and begin operations outside the country, striking at Israeli, Jewish or American targets overseas.”

Abdel Aziz Rantissi, named Tuesday as Hamas’ new chief for the Gaza Strip, vowed that the group would attack Israelis everywhere.

“We will fight them everywhere,” Rantissi told thousands of mourners gathered in Gaza’s main soccer stadium on Tuesday. “We will chase them everywhere. We will teach them lessons in confrontation.”

It’s too early to say to what extent targeting an Islamic symbol like Yassin may have opened up a wider front for Israel with the Muslim world. Al Qaeda, at any rate, has vowed to avenge Yassin’s assassination.

Israeli army officers described the Yassin assassination as heralding “a new era in the fight against terror,” which Israel has entered with its eyes wide open. But as the struggle with Hamas escalates, it could take on new forms, raising the stakes for both sides.

If that happens, will the Palestinian Authority and its main Fatah movement stand aside, happy to watch Israel create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority’s political hegemony? Or will they feel forced by Palestinian public opinion to join Hamas in fighting Israel?

The answers to those questions could determine whether Sharon’s bold attempt to single out Hamas succeeds or fails — in other words, whether new violence leads only to more carnage or to some sort of political accommodation.

Will Sheik’s Assassination Bring Stability? Read More »

Sheik Yassin and Me

Slaying Raises U.S. Peace Plan Concern

Leave a Comment / Worldwide / Ron Kampeas, JTA

The death of Sheik Ahmad Yassin will pave the way to Palestinian moderation, Israel and its friends in Washington say.

But others, including Bush administration officials, are worried that the road just got a lot bumpier.

The United States scrambled Monday to reassure the world — and particularly Hamas — that it had no foreknowledge of Israel’s predawn assassination of the Hamas leader in Gaza.

“The consequences of this action, in terms of raising tension and making it harder to pursue peace efforts — those are things of concern to us,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, calling the killing “deeply troubling.”

The White House ultimately concurred, after initially affirming Israel’s right to defend itself.

The law of unintended consequences, which has dogged other recent major Israeli initiatives, had struck again: An attempt to stem terrorism instead had sparked in Washington and European capitals a fear of revenge attacks.

Administration insiders described Monday as a day in which Boucher started by contemplating a mild rebuke, then toughening it as European and Arab countries expressed alarm and concern that the attack would strengthen Hamas and not weaken it.

“It’s like a starfish: You cut off one leg, another grows in,” one administration official said. “We’re expecting alerts to go up everywhere.”

By Tuesday, CNN was quoting an Iraqi cleric as calling on Muslims to “unite against Israel,” raising the prospect that Yassin’s killing could hinder U.S. efforts to disengage from Iraq by sparking more violence there.

After Hamas reportedly threatened to broaden its attacks beyond Israeli targets, European Union foreign ministers said in a statement that the killing “has inflamed the situation.”

Kofi Annan, U.N. secretary general, “strongly condemned” the killing and said he was worried that “such an action would lead to further bloodshed and death and acts of revenge and retaliation.”

The U.N. Security Council called a meeting to discuss the assassination.

Especially aggravating, U.S. officials said, was the prospect that the assassination would scuttle the possibility of a new peace initiative from next week’s Arab League summit.

American officials also were frustrated because they see the attack as undermining support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, which they support.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom had planned to spend Monday in Washington describing plans for the withdrawal and probing U.S. proposals to contain Syria and Iran. Instead, much of his time was spent explaining the Yassin killing.

A senior Israeli official traveling with Shalom said the concerns about destabilization in the region were unfounded. The Palestinian Authority is well equipped to deal with Hamas, the official said, noting that the authority has 22,000 men under arms in the Gaza Strip, as opposed to about 1,000 loyal to Hamas.

“Whatever the pictures show you — the protests, the riots — it won’t influence what’s happening in Gaza,” he said.

Israel’s friends on Capitol Hill agreed. Democrats, mindful of election-year pressure to outflank President Bush on support for Israel, took the initiative.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was on vacation, but a spokesman said Yassin’s history couldn’t be ignored. “It’s important to remember that Sheik Yassin was responsible for organizing dozens of deadly terror attacks in Israel,” Mark Kornblau said.

Democratic Reps. Eliot Engel and Anthony Weiner of New York and Shelley Berkley of Nevada issued statements supporting the strike on Yassin. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) told a United Jewish Communities gathering Tuesday in Washington that Americans should stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, “including going after those who direct” terrorism.

Officials at pro-Israel groups minimized the administration criticism and said they didn’t expect it to last.

“The administration is even more concerned than the Israelis that the disengagement go through and that Hamas not take control of Gaza, and any action the Israelis take to prevent that happening, they support,” said one pro-Israel official based in Washington.

“The more the leaders of Hamas are running for cover,” the official said, “the less likely they are to be undermining someone like Mohammed Dahlan,” a former P.A. security official and a relative moderate in Gaza.

Efraim Halevy, a former chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, said moderate Arab nations might suffer unrest in the short run but also would benefit down the road.

“The less leaders there are who support and who champion violence as a method of pushing policy, the more the chance there will be more moderation in the region,” Halevy told reporters Tuesday in a conference call.

Halevy also said concerns that Hamas would now aim attacks at U.S. targets were unfounded, because such attacks would open the group up to direct U.S. retaliation. “It would expose Hamas to the kind of pressures it has not had until now,” he said.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said he expected the criticism to dissipate, especially given U.S. actions to pursue Al Qaeda leaders.

“It should not be troubling that we go after Yassin,” he said. “Then we would have to be troubled by the effort on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to go after Osama bin Laden.”

Some analysts wondered if Sharon was losing control of events.

“Is Sharon once again being the great tactician and the terrible strategist?” asked David Mack, a vice president at the Middle East Institute and former assistant deputy secretary of state for Near East affairs.

It’s a charge that Sharon has fought for decades. Fairly or not, he is known as the general whose tactical brilliance won crucial battles in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the defense minister who plunged Israel into a strategic morass in Lebanon in 1982.

Whatever Sharon’s intentions when he announced his plan to uproot settlements and leave Gaza and parts of the West Bank, they have been overtaken by the intentions and actions of others.

The United States is pressing Israel hard for far-reaching concessions in the West Bank, as well as Gaza; the Palestinian Authority is seeking to build bridges to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, terrorist organizations that Israel reviles, and Egypt wants to rewrite the 1978 Camp David peace accords, a precedent Israel wants to avoid at all costs.

Part of Sharon’s problem, associates said, is his penchant for playing his cards so close to his chest. Only three or four officials are privy to what shape the withdrawal will take. Members of Sharon’s Cabinet who have been kept in the dark say such steps are far-reaching and require consultation.

“It’s very unusual that the prime minister is pushing forward a plan in Washington that the prime minister did not bring to Cabinet, to the coalition,” Housing Minister Effi Eitam said in an interview last week in Washington, where he was lobbying against the withdrawal. “It is totally improper as far as how a democratic country should be handled.”

A similar secretiveness by Sharon in plotting Israel’s security barrier last year led to a breakdown in U.S.-Israel communications. The resulting friction was behind the U.S. refusal to appear on Israel’s behalf when Palestinians brought the fence issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in February.

Sharon has promised a finalized withdrawal plan in time for an April 14 summit with Bush. Sharon’s bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, is in Washington this week for another round of talks with U.S. officials, discussions that have been shuttling back and forth between Washington and Jerusalem since early February.

It’s an open question whether Sharon will meet the deadline. American officials and others have expressed frustration with the vagueness of the proposals so far.

“What are the parameters?” David Satterfield, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, said at the Israel Policy Forum recently. “Not just for Gaza, but for the West Bank, for the separation barrier. What’s out there?”

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World Briefs

Leave a Comment / United States / JTA Staff

State Ousted Clarke Because of Israel

The first Bush administration forced Richard Clarke out of the State Department in 1992 because it said he ignored Israeli arms transfers to China. Clarke, a White House counterterrorism expert at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, rattled the White House this week with allegations that the current President Bush ignored Clarke’s warnings about Al Qaeda. Clarke moved to the White House in 1992 after leaving the State Department after its inspector general accused him of “looking the other way” when Israel transferred U.S. technology to China, The New York Times reported Wednesday. In 1999, Clarke argued that he had simply refused to go along with a plan to set up Israel in order to pressure it to make concessions in talks with the Palestinians.

Anti-Semitic Attacks Unchanged

More than 1,500 anti-Semitic incidents were reported nationwide in 2003. The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents tracked 1,557 reports of Jews or Jewish institutions being targeted, with 40 percent involving vandalism and the rest harassment or threats. New York led 43 states that suffered anti-Semitic acts — 364 followed by California and Pennsylvania. The highest reports of anti-Semitic incidents typically correlate with the states with the most Jews. The frequency of anti-Semitic incidents was slightly higher than in 2001.

“There’s good news that it stayed the same, and bad news that it stayed the same,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said. “The levels continue to be disturbing and unacceptable.”

The full audit is available at “>www.scopusfilms.com/haggadah .

Briefs courtesy Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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7 Days In Arts

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Picks and Clicks / Keren Engelberg

Saturday

Harken back to the beginning, when it was Adam, Eve and some girl named Little Suzy. Playwright-producer Ron Petronicolos takes some liberties with the Genesis tale in “The Adam and Eve Show.” On Sunday, Petronicolos presents “The God Monologues,” “an ode to the Big Guy Upstairs” from every religious perspective, including atheist.
“The Adam and Eve Show”: $15. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, through April 17. “The God Monologues”: $7. 6 p.m. Sundays, through April 18. The Space Theatre, 665 N. Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles. (323) 839-7738.

Sunday

“The Cat in the Hat” converts today, as the Skirball presents a performance of “Di Katz der Payatz,” a Yiddish retelling of the beloved Dr. Seuss classic, based on the new book of the same name. A hat-making workshop is sandwiched between morning and afternoon presentations of the book by translator Zachary Sholem Berger and his wife and publisher, Celeste Zollod. For more grown-up fun, hit the cultural center at 1:30 p.m. as special-effects maven Ron Magid presents a double feature of “Invaders from Mars” and “Invasion USA” as part of the Skirball’s “Red Menace” film series. A moderated discussion follows the screenings.
“Di Katz der Payatz”: $9. 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. “Red Menace” series: $5-$8. 1:30 p.m. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 655-8587.

Monday

Stay in tonight for the made-for-TV biopic we’ve all been
waiting for. Jamie Lynn DiScala (née Sigler) stars in “Call Me: The Rise and
Fall of Heidi Fleiss” (formerly “Going Down: The Rise and Fall of Heidi
Fleiss”). Brenda Fricker (“My Left Foot”) and Corbin Bernsen (“L.A. Law”) also
star in this film about the infamous Hollywood Madam. March 29, 9 p.m. and 11
p.m.; April 3, 5 p.m. USA Network. “>www.laemmle.com

Wednesday

Yet another flick worth checking out opens this week. Sony Pictures Classics’ “Bon Voyage” represents a reunion for “Cyrano de Bergerac” director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and actor Gérard Depardieu. Isabelle Adjani and Peter Coyote also star in this French film about a young man facing adulthood, just as the world is sobering as well, with the start of World War II.
Laemmle Theaters: Royal in West Los Angeles, Encino Town Center 5 and Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. www.laemmle.com.

Thursday

A Passover musical montage for the dancing fountain might be too much to hope for, but the Grove does welcome some Jewish holiday cheer today. The Jewish Community Library takes its act on the road to Third and Fairfax, where puppeteer Marilyn Price will celebrate Passover by animating objects from Nerf balls, to feather dusters to toilet paper tubes.
11 a.m.-1 p.m. The Grove, Third Street and Fairfax Avenue. (323) 761-8648.

Friday

Up your Kafka quota tonight with two events incorporating old Franz. First, Perino’s Restaurant gets its last hurrah before being demolished. The pink landmark presents Collage Dance Theatre performing “A Hunger Artist after Franz Kafka” in two performances this evening, Saturday and Sunday. Guests are requested to wear pink. Later, it’s Write Act Repertory Theatre’s production of “The Trial,” a social satire about a man who is falsely accused of a crime, by guess who.
“A Hunger Artist”: 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. $25-$40. April 2-4. (April 1 gala performance costs $125.) 4101 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 655-8587.
“The Trial”: 8 p.m. Runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday, through May 1. $15. Write Act Theatre, 6128 Yucca St., Hollywood. (323) 860-8894.

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Members Rally to Save Centers

Leave a Comment / Community / Marc Ballon

In a forceful display of support for the beleaguered Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center (JCC), an estimated 150 preschoolers, teachers and parents rallied March 23 in front of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles to protest the possible closure of their thriving JCC.

Protestors, many clad in orange T-shirts stamped with the word "Shalom," cheered speakers who alternately pled for the center’s survival and criticized The Federation and the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles (JCCGLA) for failing to do more to save it. Holding placards that read "Save Our Center," and "They Don’t Sing Shabbat Songs at Strip Malls," JCC members chanted, "Let my people stay!" Passing cars honked in support.

"If we don’t speak now, we’ll be gone," said Nelson Handel, a 44-year-old freelance journalist who attended the march with his 3-year-old son, Charlie. "We’ve become a real estate Ping-Pong ball. When [The Federation and JCCGLA] look at our building, they see dollar signs, not the faces of our children."

The clock is ticking.

JCCGLA has received several offers of $2.4 million or more for the Silverlake property, organization President Randy Myer said. Silverlake supporters, whose $1.8 million bid JCCGLA recently rejected, have until March 26 to submit another offer.

Some JCCGLA board members have said they would accept $2.1 to save the center. However, if the JCC eventually went under, JCCGLA would want any profits from the sale of the property, JCCGLA executives said.

The two-hour rally at The Federation came less than a week after an emergency meeting at the Valley Cities JCC, which is scheduled to shut down in late June. JCCGLA, which owns Silverlake and Valley Cities, said it must sell the JCCs to pay off its debts, including $2.2 million to The Federation, $450,000 to banks and $1 million to a special agency fund it tapped during the systemwide crisis two and a half years ago.

Critics blame JCCGLA for financial mismanagement and the declining health of the city’s community centers. They are equally upset with The Federation for failing to forgive JCCGLA’s debts and deeding the properties to JCC supporters.

Federation Chair Harriet Hochman said The Federation could do only so much given the demand on its resources.

"We’ve got people living below the poverty line, people not getting the proper food," she said. "We are up to our necks in needy Jews here. They’re our first responsibility."

She said The Federation has discussed forgiving a portion of JCCGLA’s debt so that the group will have resources to support the operations that remain under its control. However, Hochman said she expected JCCGLA to sell both Silverlake and Valley Cities because of that agency’s shaky financial condition.

In related news, JCCGLA directors voted March 23 to create separate, independent boards for the Westside JCC, the Zimmer Children’s Museum and the Shalom Institute. The future of the Conejo Valley JCC is still under discussion with center leaders.

Silverlake members said they feel especially frustrated because their center has grown enrollment and makes a small surplus, despite receiving no Federation funding. By contrast, The Federation gave the West Valley JCC $1.3 million last year. That center is located on Federation’s Milken campus in West Hills.

The demonstration at 6505 Wilshire marks a shift in tactics by Silverlake leaders from behind-the-scenes accommodation to in-your-face confrontation. They recently ran a full-page ad in this paper asking The Federation and JCCGLA to work with them to save the center.

"Mommy and Daddy say you are fighting about money," a caption beneath a picture of a little girl read. "When we disagree at school, we use our words and talk about it. Why can’t you?"

Federation President John Fishel said he doubted the Tuesday morning demonstration would be the "silver bullet" that would help the Silverlake group buy the property or continue offering services there. JCCGLA President Myer echoed Fishel’s sentiments.

"I don’t think it helps the board to feel warm and fuzzy toward that community when we’re being accused on all sorts of negativity," she said, adding that JCCGLA directors wouldn’t allow emotions to color any decisions.

Neither Fishel nor JCCGLA officials accepted invitations to address marchers.

Valley Cities supporters gathered March 17 to buoy their spirits and come up with ideas to save the money-losing center, which is scheduled to shut down June 30. Children spoke of the JCC’s importance, center veterans spoke about its history and Valley Cities officials assessed blame and offered a mixed picture of the center’s prospects.

"The JCC is kind of like my second home," said 12-year-old Jeffrey Bejian, who attends Valley Cities along with his two sisters. "If it closed, I don’t know what I’d do. I’d lose [almost] every single one of my friends."

The gathering had been billed as an emergency town hall meeting to demonstrate the community’s support for Valley Cities. A large banner hanging from the JCC read, "Our Community Center Is Not for Sale." Envelopes soliciting donations to buy the center blanketed every chair in the cavernous auditorium.

In a potentially ominous sign, only about 150 people showed up to the event. That compared to a standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 who turned out 2 1/2 years ago when JCCGLA first threatened to shutter the JCC amid its crisis. JCCGLA later rescinded the threat after coming under intense pressure.

Valley Cities leaders have asked JCCGLA for an extension to give them time to raise money to purchase the JCC, and, in the meantime, continue to operate the center. Center supporters received a dose of bad news recently when JCCGLA’s real estate appraiser valued the property between $3.2 million and $4 million, well above the $2.5 million estimate. That higher price tag makes it that much more difficult to raise money to buy the center.

Also, JCCGLA’s continued ownership might scare away potential contributors, said Miry Rabinovitch, a former Valley Cities board member whose three children attended the JCC. She said JCCGLA’s inability to right its finances since the last crisis made her and others reluctant to donate money, lest JCCGLA waste it.

"I refuse to give anything, much as I’d like to," she said.

Former Valley Cities President Tom Herman thinks both JCCGLA and The Federation bear equal responsibility for the center’s plight. In his opinion, the organizations have long favored two "super centers" on the Westside and West Valley rather than several smaller and older ones.

Federation President Fishel disputed that characterization. As a reflection of The Federation’s support for area JCCs, he said his group allocated $220,000 late last year for Valley Cities. At the time, he added, The Federation was not aware of the depth of the center’s financial problems.

Fishel said The Federation would not single-handedly prop up the center, although it would work with Valley Cities’ leadership to come up with a plan to save it or provide like services elsewhere.

JCCGLA, like The Federation, has allocated thousands of dollars to troubled Valley Cities over the past year. In 2003, the agency earmarked $300,000 to fund operations, cover the deficit and for such capital improvements as repainting the JCCs auditorium and replacing its 400 chairs. Lieberman Giladi said JCCGLA had not made a mistake by pouring money into Valley Cities, even though board members have worried about its financial stability since last spring.

"I absolutely believe they should have been given an opportunity to give it a go," she said. "You have to take that risk to see if they had the chance at viability."

Michael Brezner, Valley Cities board president, thought supporters might yet keep the JCC open. Still, he admitted it won’t be easy.

"In any business, you need money in the bank to operate, and Valley Cities doesn’t have any money in the bank," he said. "JCCGLA was the bank."

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Evangelical Media Gather Around Israel

Leave a Comment / Community / Gaby Wenig

"FIree soup’s on us!" That was the invitation David Suissa’s Los Angeles-based charity Meals 4 Israel extended to all 5,000 participants of the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Charlotte, N.C. last month — and it was pastors and ministers who made their way to the booth to sample some soup and learn more about the charity.

Suissa started Meals 4 Israel after reading an October 2003 Ha’aretz article that said that one in five Israelis live below the poverty line. He decided he could let the soup kitchens concentrate on making soup while he raised money for them.

And he turned to the Christian community to do it.

"We really want help from anyone," Suissa said. "But we felt that the Christian community was a huge group with a visceral connection to Israel and a special, biblical affinity to problems like hunger."

So Suissa teamed up with the Christian Coalition of America, a lobbying group affiliated with thousands of evangelical churches, to harness the fundraising potential of the Christian community. Meals 4 Israel went down to North Carolina to set up a booth at Feb. 13-18 event to capitalize on Christian love for Israel and raise more money for needy Israelis in the process.

Meals 4 Israel was only one of several Jewish or Israeli related booths at the convention, which brought together more than 250 publishers, radio and television stations, programs and ministries from across North America. But the largest booth was not a Christian one: it was Israel’s Ministry of Tourism.

The preponderance of Jewish- or Israel-related booths appearing among those featuring crosses and the Jesus paraphernalia made it clear that there is a dichotomy in the alliance Israel has with the American Christian community. While Christians attending the conference are ready to invest millions of tourist dollars in Israel and support Israel-related charities, they are also eager to evangelize Israeli and Diaspora Jews.

The Israel Ministry for Tourism sponsored both the Israel booth and a breakfast for about 1,000 convention participants, at a cost of almost $200,000.

"We view the evangelical Christian market as a powerful mechanism to increase tourism in the land of Israel," Israeli Tourism Minister Benny Elon said. "Evangelicals are visiting Israel in tremendous numbers, and we want to continue to increase tourism to the land of the Bible."

Other booths capitalized on Christian love for Israel. Holy Land Gifts sold Christian-friendly products made in Israel, such as shofars and tallises used in some evangelical services, while Mount of Olives Treasures, a Jewish-owned company, sold biblical teas and biblical oils that contain fragrances mentioned in the scriptures.

For all the goodwill toward Israel, there was an evangelical counterbalance. Jews for Jesus had a small booth but a big presence at the convention, with many people walking around carrying their distinctive red-and-white bags. Chosen People Ministries sought to attract young evangelists with a snappy brochure titled, "Jewish Evangelism — Who, Me?," featuring cute coeds. The brochure promised "exciting outreach" opportunities: "Our short-term Missions Department can show your church group the needs of the Jewish community through outreach, cultural understanding and prayer. Our experienced missionary staff will train and lead you in outreach to the different Jewish communities of New York."

Bible Voice Broadcasting, lead by a "spirit- filled believer," Rabbi Moshe Laurie, announced its inaugural Hebrew broadcast to Israel. The Messianic Prophecy Bible sought sponsors to create a Jew-friendly Bible that would "emphasize the messianic prophecies and explain how Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled those prophecies" and would help save the "14 million unsaved Jewish people worldwide."

Herschel W. Gulley of the Gulley Foundation, who has traveled to Israel dozens of times, told The Journal, "I get a little flutter in my heart every time I hear about Israel."

Gulley has plans for Israel: By the end of the year, he wants to set up free ultrasound clinics in Israel to stop abortions — "No woman who has ever seen her baby has aborted it," he said — and then go into poor communities and give residents presents, like free computers. "Then, they will say, ‘Tell us about this God of yours,’ and then we will tell them about Jesus," he said.

Also disturbing was the response that "The Passion of the Christ" got when it was screened at the NRB Media Awards. In what was possibly a veiled reference to the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a spokesperson from the Alliance Defense Fund, who spoke prior to the film, railed against "the groups who have done everything in their power to keep this film from ever being seen. [These ] groups would like to silence all of us."

Paul Lancer, the film’s public relations director, introduced the film saying, "This movie has been operating on a God level. [This film] is a work of God."

The sobbing and heaving of the 5,000 people attending the screening augmented its soundtrack. Afterward, various clerics and others told The Journal that the portrayal of the Jews was not negative per se, but "historically accurate."

"In the scourging scene, every time the whip dug into his skin, I was thinking, ‘That was for me; that was for me,’" said Sharon Hodde of the Proverbs 31 Ministry in Matthews, N.C. "The Jews are not portrayed positively in the film, but that was historical."

Nevertheless, evangelism and "Passion" fervor are not the main issues facing the Jewish community.

"The real unholy alliance," said Elon, the Israeli tourism minister "is the one between the radical leftists who sit in Hyde Park and the Jew-haters who look to destroy the state, instead of the alliance between people who love the land of Israel and love the land of the Bible."

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Emanuel’s Jumpin’ at the Synaplex

Leave a Comment / Community / Ellen Jaffe-Gill

It’s erev Shabbat, and this joint is jumpin’. As dusk deepens, seniors who have just emerged from a talk on globalization mingle with new arrivals in the lobby of Temple Emanuel’s school building on Burton Way in Beverly Hills, where "Cafe Synaplex" has been set up. In the building’s social hall, young professionals sample hors d’oeuvres and chat before a catered dinner.

Meanwhile, across Clark Drive in the Reform temple’s main building, Emanuel’s associate rabbi, Jonathan Aaron, and its assistant cantor, Judy Greenfeld, are beginning the service that caters to families with small children. As families stand around a U-shaped arrangement of tables covered with Shabbat objects and flowers, Greenfeld and Aaron lead them in song.

This programming comes at a time when ever-higher proportions of unaffiliated American Jews are causing synagogue professionals and lay leaders to search for ways to make the temple a more appealing place to be Jewish. The leaders often look to "synagogue transformation" ideas devised by think-tanks and organizations that have sprung up in recent years within and alongside the major Jewish movements.

Since last fall, Temple Emanuel has been participating in a program called Synaplex, sponsored in partnership with STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal), a nonprofit foundation. Offered once a month on Friday night and once on Shabbat morning, Synaplex seeks to bring members and unaffiliated Jews into the temple with different activities on Shabbat, much as a multiscreen movie theater caters to filmgoers with disparate tastes.

"We provide multiple entries to Shabbat," said Richard Tell, an Emanuel vice president who serves as general chairman for Synaplex. "To some, it’s prayer; to some, it’s study; to some, it’s Israel."

Accordingly, Synaplex starts at 4:15 p.m. with a current events/contemporary issues program geared to seniors in the mood for something to chew on intellectually. Gerry Nelson, coordinator for the current affairs program, arranges for speakers to facilitate "a host of economic, social and political discussions." Guest speakers are also brought in for the discussion program, "Israel Matters."

A recent addition to the Synaplex lineup is a healing service, added in response to calls from the Emanuel community after a much-loved congregant, Ilana Rosenberg, 16, was gravely injured in an automobile accident last month. More than 100 people, including many teenagers, sat in concentric circles as the afternoon light faded during the most recent Friday Synaplex to pray for Ilana, who is still in the early stages of a slow recovery.

Meeting the needs of the Emanuel community is an often-stated priority for Synaplex. "Sometimes we lead the congregation; sometimes the congregation leads us," Tell said.

The Shabbat dinner party has grown from a handful of couples last fall to up to 40 singles and couples, professionals in their late 20s to early 40s. Dinner chairperson Jody Podolsky said attendees typically include attorneys, academics, Jewish communal professionals, people in software, health care and politics, plus a variety of folks who work in the entertainment industry.

The centerpiece of the Friday night Synaplex is "Shabbat Unplugged," a mellow Shabbat evening service held in the round and featuring lots of singing led by Aaron and Emanuel’s cantor, Yonah Kliger. After the service, congregants are invited to share songs, stories and stand-up routines at "Open Mic Night."

Similarly, Emanuel’s Shabbat morning Synaplex is built around the temple’s New Emanuel Minyan and also offers classes, a mitzvah program, children’s programming and even yoga.

Twelve synagogues across the denominational spectrum were chosen by STAR for Synaplex funding, most of them in the Northeast or California.

Not all the Synaplex temples are nearly as large as the 1,000-household Emanuel, but they are synagogues that have an active volunteer corps and access to Jewish resources, such as professors and other rabbis, in the community, said Rabbi Hayim Herring, executive director of the Minneapolis-based STAR. The foundation also looks for temples that "are moving along a certain path: not just offering tefilot [prayers] but other programs" and are well-stocked with "risk-takers and innovators," Herring added.

Temple Emanuel, which had already established alternative Shabbat services and has a history of lively programming, was a good fit for Synaplex, said Rabbi Laura Geller, who made the match with STAR. She added that the temple’s board of directors, which embraced the program enthusiastically, is "willing to be playful and experimental" and, over the temple’s initial three-year commitment to Synaplex, to give the program "time to evolve and to grow and to take risks and make mistakes."

Ron Wolfson, vice president of the University of Judaism and co-founder of Synagogue 2000, the first of the "synagogue transformation" think tanks, lauded the Synaplex concept. "Any attempt to invigorate synagogue life is great, and I’m all in favor," he said.

Wolfson’s only caution was that "programming is essential but not the core of building a synagogue," explaining that a temple needed to create and maintain a culture in which congregants and potential congregants felt a strong emotional connection to the institution and its people. "My hope is that [Synaplex] goes beyond programming to address the issue of engagement with synagogue life," he said.

Whether Synaplex will result in more members for the already-thriving Temple Emanuel and a greater number of member hours spent in shul remains to be seen, but Geller sees the bustling rooms and halls of her temple as an answer to the question: "How do you turn Friday and Saturday into Shabbat?"

"How we reach people is a challenge," she said. "It’s been an interesting challenge and quite exciting."

For more information about Temple Emanuel and its Synaplex, call Yoni Rosenberg, director of membership and programs, at (310) 274 6388, ext. 236.

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