Regent Beverly Wilshire
Regent Beverly Wilshire Read More »
November 3, 2005
A Local Witness to Darfur Tragedy
John Fishel has seen hell, and he wants to share his impressions with the Jewish community.
The president of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles recently visited refugee camps in the African country of Chad to bear witness to the pain and suffering of more than 250,000 victims of genocide from neighboring Sudan. During the five-day, mid-October trip, Fishel, along with four other American Jewish leaders, watched doctors, relief workers and others help the refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region begin the long, difficult process of putting shattered lives back together.
Fishel said he was stuck by the physical isolation of the refugee camps and the refugees’ abject poverty. Fishel also wondered where all the grown men were. The answer: Many had fallen victim to the atrocities. And then there were the children. Fishel, a social worker by training, said he worries about the long-term effects on children who witness all the murder, rape and destruction wrought by a Sudanese government-backed militia known as the Janjaweed.
A primary goal of the trip was to lay the groundwork for Fishel and his colleagues to speak out loudly to their constituents. Fishel was accompanied by Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS); Rabbi Rick Jacobs of Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, N.Y.; Rabbi David Stern of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas; and Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism.
In an Oct. 27 teleconference call with community leaders who went to Africa, Fishel said he plans to raise awareness in the local Jewish community: “Having had this first-hand experience to visit the region and see the work on the ground, I’d like to go out and meet with opinion leaders in our community and give them my personal impressions about what’s going on and why it’s our obligation to get involved.”
Coming on the heels of Asia’s devastating tsunami and the Gulf Coast’s Hurricane Katrina, Fishel said he realizes many Jews, like other Americans, might feel tapped out and suffer from donor fatigue. Still, Fishel said, the historical experience of the Jews makes them likely to respond to humanitarian appeals once they learn about the horrors in Sudan.
“As a people who were victims of the worst genocide of the 20th century, the Holocaust, we do have an obligation to speak out when we see a genocide happening anywhere in the world,” Fishel said.
A more assertive response from the U.S. government also would help, Messinger said. She urged Jews and Jewish groups to lobby the government to increase humanitarian aid and also to better support African Union troops who are trying to restore order in Darfur. Messinger’s organization, the AJWS, which sponsored the trip, dedicates itself to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease around the world.
“Genocide is only stopped when people are indignant, organized at the grass-roots level and urging government to intervene,” she said.
AJWS has raised and distributed $700,000 for projects in Darfur and Chad, with much of the money going to support international relief agencies. In addition to the refugees in Chad, nearly 2 million displaced persons remain in Sudan. Refugees in both countries need better medical care, more food and assistance in the reunification of their families.
“The bottom line is … the Jewish community needs to do more,” Jacobs said.
A Local Witness to Darfur Tragedy Read More »
Sharon Emerges as Rabin’s Heir
As world leaders gathered in Israel to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, Israelis are asking to what extent the killer’s bullet changed the course of Israeli-Palestinian history.
An Israeli assassin, a right-wing extremist, killed Rabin on Nov. 4, 1995. Had Rabin lived, would the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been resolved? Or would the peace process he started still have unraveled?
The latter possibility raises additional questions: If Rabin realized that the Oslo process was a debacle, would he have continued to insist on a negotiated peace deal? Or, like Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, would Rabin have concluded that without a credible Palestinian peace partner, Israel should set its borders unilaterally?
The legacy Rabin left is not simple. His life as soldier and peacemaker underlined the Sisyphean struggle to keep Israel strong and, when possible, to cut peace deals with its neighbors. His death highlighted the need for greater tolerance in Israel’s politically divided society.
A decade after the assassination, it’s not clear how much of Rabin’s legacy is firmly in place. Though left-wing politicians such as Yossi Beilin, who sponsored the “Geneva Accord” peace initiative, try to present themselves as the successors to Rabin’s legacy, a recent poll in the Yediot Achronot newspaper suggests that 24 percent of Israelis see Sharon — the Likud Party leader who vehemently opposed Oslo during Rabin’s lifetime — as Rabin’s true heir.
Only Shimon Peres, with 27 percent, outpolled Sharon in that survey — but 73 percent hold that Rabin’s and Peres’ own Labor Party is doing little to promote the slain leader’s legacy.
The poll also indicates that nearly 70 percent believe another political assassination is likely in Israel.
Rabin wanted to be a water engineer, but his belief in the need for a strong army made him a general. He was always defense-minded, a man with limited faith in the goodwill of Israel’s neighbors and a conviction that only a militarily strong Israel can survive in the Middle East.
For Rabin, the main strategic goal was to secure Israel’s survival in a tough neighborhood. Peace was a means to that end, not an end in itself.
In 1993, Rabin cautiously embraced the Oslo peace process with the Palestinians in the hope that it would lead to Israel’s acceptance in the region, but he insisted that it be reversible: If the process threatened Israel’s security instead of advancing it, he insisted, Israel would be able to revert to the pre-Oslo status quo. Some see that as a shocking bit of naivete from a man who at other times displayed keen strategic thinking.
Rabin called Oslo “an experiment in laboratory conditions,” which he believed could be stopped at the first signs of failure. It’s not clear whether Rabin would have stuck to that principle had he lived, since many Israeli politicians who initially were skeptical of the peace process felt constrained to see it through, even as evidence that the process was failing became overwhelming.
Five years after Rabin’s death, the Oslo concept was put to the test at Camp David in July 2000. It failed: Then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak was unable to reach agreement with then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The result was nearly five years of Palestinian terrorism. Yet Barak, and many in Labor and parties further to the left, insist that if negotiators do get back to work one day they should pick up roughly from where Barak’s team left off.
Some speculate that Rabin might have succeeded where Barak failed, arguing that he would not have labored under the burden of the three-year interruption under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Palestinians claim eroded their confidence in the Oslo process.
Moreover, unlike Barak, Rabin was trusted and even liked by Palestinian leaders — although it’s not clear if Arafat’s protestations of affection for Rabin after his death were anything more than crocodile tears.
And no one will ever know whether, by force of his personality, Rabin could have overcome the huge differences between Israel and the Palestinians on basic issues such as refugees, Jerusalem and borders.
Many believe that if Rabin had failed to bridge those gaps, he would have called an end to the Oslo experiment and gone down the unilateral route — the way Sharon has done, and for much the same reasons.
Rabin’s strategic outlook was very close to Sharon’s: Like Sharon, he put a premium on close ties with the United States, prioritized the achievement of a state of non-belligerency with potential adversaries and recognized the long-term demographic problem caused by Israel’s presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
That in itself could have been enough to lead Rabin down the unilateral road.
The fact that so many Israelis see Sharon as Rabin’s heir is one of the most significant facts in Israeli politics today: It’s symptomatic of the blurring between security-minded peacemaking in Labor and Likud and the creation of a new ideological center in Israeli politics, in which both Rabin and Sharon are iconic leadership figures.
Sharon’s image as a security-minded peacemaker in the Rabin tradition wins him the support of large segments of Labor’s right wing, one of the main reasons for his enormous cross-party popularity in Israel.
Even if Rabin’s legacy continues to dominate the political scene through Sharon, however, the drive for tolerance and reconciliation in the wake of the assassination has been far less successful. The Yediot Achronot poll shows a disturbing degree of support on the far right for Rabin’s jailed assassin, Yigal Amir.
Some 20 percent of those polled believe Amir should be eligible for parole. Carmi Gillon, head of the Shin Bet security service at the time of the assassination, says the findings show that the chances for another political assassination in Israel are high.
“There is a group of hundreds of thousands of people, not all of whom are killers but who all think the Rabin assassination achieved its purpose by stopping the Oslo process,” Gillon said in a recent interview. “They think today that if Sharon were to disappear, the moves in the West Bank would disappear/evaporate, too.”
Amir’s family feels confident enough to make inflammatory remarks and demand his early release. In a television documentary, Amir’s mother declared that she would like to see all the politicians who supported Sharon’s withdrawal plan “hanged in the city square.”
One of Amir’s brothers, Amitai, said Amir had served a long enough sentence because the man he killed was “a criminal.” Amir himself is said to want a retrial because of “new ballistic evidence.”
The chances of Amir being paroled or retried are negligible, and the danger posed by his family’s rhetoric isn’t great. But Gillon and other experts say another potential assassin could be lurking somewhere in the extremist, religious milieu that produced Yigal Amir.
On the 10th anniversary of Rabin’s assassination, they reiterate a chilly warning: Israel’s brittle democracy withstood one assassination, but may not be able to withstand another.
Sharon Emerges as Rabin’s Heir Read More »
The Circuit
Clothes That Care
The Family Violence Project of Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles (JFS) launched its first Clothesline Project exhibit in recognition of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The exhibit, on view at the Bell Family Gallery of The Jewish Federation at 6505 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, is co-sponsored by JFS, The Jewish Federation and the Gabe Kapler Foundation.
Colorful T-shirts hanging on a clothesline, once a symbol of domesticity, have become an unusual but powerful call to join the fight to end domestic violence. This exhibit is a collection of T-shirts, each designed by a survivor or child-witness of domestic violence, that tell the artists’ stories through pictures and words.
The opening reception on Oct. 10, attended by more than 100 people, featured Lisa Kapler, wife of Boston Red Sox player and Los Angeles native Gabe Kapler, who was also in attendance. Lisa Kapler grew up in Southern California and was abused by a violent boyfriend when she was a teenager.
“One of the strongest messages of the Clothesline Project is that this kind of brutality can happen to anyone, anywhere,” she said.
The Clothesline Project originated when 31 shirts were displayed on a village green in Hyannis, Mass., in October 1990. Since then, more than 7,000 women and children have created artwork exhibitions worldwide, with exhibits in 41 states and five countries.
The Clothesline Project exhibit will be open to the public until Dec. 31. Admission is free. For more information, contact Sherri Kadovitz at (323) 761-8800, ext. 1250 or visit The Circuit Read More »
Letters
Though I am somewhat ashamed to admit it, I had barely heard the name Rabbi Eliezer Silver (z”tl) before my arrival in Cincinnati, OH a little over seven years ago. As I quickly became more acquainted with the life of this great leader, I was awed by the extent of his service to our people- Founder and President of the Vaad Hatzalah Rescue Committee (he helped save thousands during and after the Shoah), Founder and President of the Agudat Israel of America, President of the Vaad HaRabbanim of the U.S. and Canada (his determination to improve the religious standards of his day laid the foundation for the fine Jewish infrastructure we now enjoy in this country). There is much more to tell. At a certain point I stopped and asked myself, “Why hadn’t I known of this giant Jew before arriving here?”
And now the Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (CHDS), the school that Rabbi Eliezer Silver (zt”l) was instrumental in founding (then known as Chofetz Chaim) is reaching its 60th anniversary. In recognition of this significant milestone our school is once again turning to Rabbi Silver-this time for inspiration. A younger generation wants to know-his life, Torah insights, stories, historical vignettes-anything that will bring the memory of this great man back to life. If you or your family knew Rabbi Eliezer Silver in whatever capacity could you please forward your contact information to us-we’d love to hear what you have to say.
E-mail: rabbiesilver@juno.com
Phone: 513-351-7777
Fax: 513-351-7794
or Write to CHDS 2222 Losantiville Ave
Cincinnati, OH, 45237
c/o Rabbi B. Travis.
Thanks in advance for your help.
More Articles of Faith
I read your latest piece, and as usual I am always thankful we have such a high-quality newspaper in Los Angeles (“Read All About It,” Oct. 28), in many respects better than the L.A. Times.
Your article highlighted the demographics of an increasing unaffiliated community. Newspapers such as yours serve as a portal for this population. Reading The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles might be a person’s only means to identify as a Jew.
Would you consider increasing the religious content? I suggest a couple of things. First have a commentary on the attendant haftorah in addition to the Torah portion.
Second, we could be the first to also begin weekly articles from Ketuvim. With the plethora of classes one could take from your advertising pages, obviously your readership is receptive to further religious education.
If this resonates with readers and advertisers, you could expand this section further to include Reform, Conservative and Orthodox commentaries on the aforementioned. It would be interesting for laymen to see the interpretative differences among our great branches.
Finally if this works, you could start a rabbinic history section, including background information on historic rabbis of our past. There are some pretty interesting stories.
Bill Kabaker
via e-mail
Skinhead Shock
Adam Wills’ article on his visit to the German Phoenix Club Oktoberfest celebration (“Shocktoberfest,” Oct. 28) and the sudden, ominous feelings he described after noting that Nazi-loving skinheads had “entered the building” reminded me of the Bob Fosse film “Cabaret.” One of the scarier scenes in the film features Liza [Minelli] and friends visiting a beer garden in a small village, where a younger crowd transforms into Nazi-style garb while singing “Tommorrow Belongs to Me.” I would imagine Wills and his group felt extremely uneasy among a crowd that, as he described, wasn’t the warmest toward them. Oy! Some things never change.
Milt Cohen
Chatsworth
Hatikvah’s End
How sad to learn Hatikvah will soon be closed (“Fairfax Shop Feels The Squeeze,” Oct. 21). I fear the other mom-and-pop businesses in the area will also close and the entire area converted to strip malls. Although I currently live in Fort Collins, Colo., I grew up in the Los Angeles area and have fond memories of frequent visits to Fairfax to shop, eat and folk dance. It was possible to absorb Yiddishkayt through sight, sound and taste. As the only Jewish child on my suburban street, visiting Fairfax enabled me to experience an authentic Jewish neighborhood, had a very powerful influence on my sense of connectedness and community, and gave me great exposure to Jewish culture.
There’s a wonderful group of Jews in Fort Collins, but no physical community outside our synagogue, and even less Jewish culture. Whenever I visit Los Angeles I make it a point to spend some time on Fairfax, to recharge that spark of Yiddishkayt that tends to get buried as I go about my daily life. It is particularly important for me to bring my children there, and hopefully fan that same spark inside them. I lament this particular way to reinforce their Jewish identity will soon be lost forever.
Judy Petersen
Fort Collins, Colo.
The Interfaith Age
In your article on the movie “Prime” you quote from the study “Will Your Grandchilren Be Jewish?” (“What, Meryl Worry?” Oct. 28). The author of the study states that the likelihood of an intermarried Jewish parent having any Jewish descendants is close to nil.
This is contrary to my experience in Grand Rapids, Mich., where I lived until two years ago. In this very typical American city, a controversy has raged for more than a decade in the local Conservative synagogue as to the extent of participation in bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies by the non-Jewish parents. In other words, there are a considerable number of intermarried Jewish parents who are raising their children Jewish. Apparently, the non-Jewish parents want to have a part in this important ceremony. One of the worries of our Conservative shul was that the local Reform temple was more liberal in this area, and we might lose membership to them. The board of directors solemnly passed a resolution allowing the non-Jewish parent at a bar mitzvah ceremony to recite the prayer for our country in English. (What if a non-Jewish parent wanted to recite it in Hebrew?)
It seems to me that to a large segment of the general population, Jews are no longer considered pariahs. They look on Judaism as another sect among the many in our country. For better or for worse, we are living in an age when a marriage between a Baptist and a Jew is not much different from a marriage between a Baptist and an Episcopalian in the minds of much of our population; and the children of such a marriage might take up either faith.
Marshall Giller
Winnetka
A Simple Mistake
I was appalled to see the glaring misspelling on your kids page in this week’s issue (Oct. 28). When I showed the page to my 7-year-old son and asked him what was wrong with it, he immediately said that the Hebrew word lo (no) should be spelled with an aleph rather than a vav after the lamed. If something that basic (and visible) is missed by the Journal’s editors, it calls into question the accuracy of everything else within the paper. Please make sure you do not teach our children incorrect information.
Nedra Weinreich
West Hills
A big thank you to those who spotted the mistake on last week’s kids page. We deeply regret the error. On our next kids page, we will print the names of all the kids who detected it, and award a prize to the first to notify us at kids@jewishjournal.com.
Obituaries
Harold Adams died Oct. 9 at 93. He is survived by his wife, Mildred; daughters, Suki (Michael) Sporer and Abigail Stricker; and four grandchildren. Mount Sinai
Harry Alpert died Oct. 6 at 95. He is survived by his daughter, Gloria (Dan) Less; granddaughters, Jennifer (Meir) Amiel and Michelle (Robert) Tepper; stepgrandson, Jake (Bea) Tepper; brothers, Sol and Mendel (Eva); and sister, Miriam Beir. Mount Sinai
Masiach Bacshian died Oct. 2 at 72. He is survived by his wife, Asira; and daughter, Malka Amitay. Chevra Kadisha
Jerry Berk died Oct. 2 at 85. He is survived by his wife, Shirley; and daughters, Michelle (Herman) Desser and Penny. Chevra Kadisha
Kenneth Board died Oct. 8 a 91. He is survived by his son, Nathan; two grandchildren; and sister, Betty Shepherd. Groman
Martin Philip Braude died Oct. 10 at 77. He is survived by his wife, Harriette; daughter, Leslie Brander; two grandchildren; and brother Jerry (Marilyn). Malinow and Silverman
Reba Brier died Oct. 3 at 96. She is survived by her son, Alan. Malinow and Silverman
Eduardo Cabrera died Oct. 5 at 78. He is survived by his wife, Ana Delia; and sisters, Gloria Tobias and Rosario Combas. Malinow and Silverman
Hilda Elson died Oct. 4 at 100. She is survived by her daughter, Joy (Jerry Ponitzman); three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai
Zahava Farbstein died Oct. 6, at 90. She is survived by her son, George; daughter, Tzipy (Buzzy) Bookman; granddaughters, Debbie (Mark) Kramer and Caryn (fiance, Jeff) Bookman; sister, Rose (Ira) Schy; and many nieces and nephews. Mount Sinai
Bessie Farkas died Oct. 8 at 95. She is survived by her sons, Dr. Theodore (Dr. Anita), Dr. David (Susan) and Dr. Daniel (Dalia); daughter, Saundra (Dr. Allan) Stark; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Groman
Samuel Fein died Oct. 8 at 94. He is survived by his wife, Claudia; daughter, Nancy (Eric) Ritter; grandsons, Gabriel and Zachary Ritter; sisters, Dorothy Pogoff, Geraldine Ryanes and Laura Lyons; and sister-in-law, Dorothy. Mount Sinai
Rita Fogel died Oct. 8 at 76. She is survived by her husband, Herbert; daughters, Cheryl Bernstein and Adirenne Slutzah; and one grandchild. Groman
Mildred Forman died Oct. 8 at 95. She is survived by her son, Jerry Mash. Malinow and Silverman.
Devery Freeman died Oct. 10 at 92. He is survived by his sons, Seth (Julie Waxman) and Jonathan; and granddaughter, Lindsay Freeman. Mount Sinai
Harriet Gellert died Oct. 9 at 85. She is survived by her husband, Irving; and son, Jay. Groman
Jack George died Oct. 5 at 90. He is survived by his wife, Gloria; son, Richard; and three grandchildren. Mount Sinai
Iris Joyce Gerry died Oct. 4 at 70. She is survived by her sons, Michael and Dennis Koch; daughter, Sharon Leviton; five grandchildren; sister, Joan Kroll. Groman
Rochelle Siegel Gorfine died Oct. 5 at 87. She is survived by her sons, Larry and Barry (Mary); grandsons, Joshua and Daniel; and sister, Cynthia (Phillip) Blank.
Zilla Gurfein died Oct. 1 at 88. She is survived by her husband, Mark; son, Murray; daughter, Sonja Hemple (Stuart); and granddaughter, Danielle Hemple. Chevra Kadisha
Morris Gurse died Oct. 7 at 88. He is survived by his son, Alan; daughters, Robin and Cheri; two grandchildren; and sister, Miriam Zalben. Groman
Ida Jacobs died Oct. 5 at 88. She is survived by her husband, Leon; and son, Norman. Mount Sinai
Rose Kalfus died Oct. 8 at 90. She is survived by her daughter, Marilyn. Malinow and Silverman
Albert Nissim Karni died Oct. 8 at 71. He is survived by his sons, Erez and Zack. Chevra Kadisha
Edgar Frank Klass Jr., died Oct. 5 at 79. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn; daughters, Kathie and Evelyn; son-in-law, Daniel Rumelt; brother, Dr. Morris; and four nephews. Groman
Evelyn Kogon died Oct. 7 at 79. She is survived by her son, Richard (Sarah) Hoffenberg; three grandchildren; and brother, Harry. Mount Sinai
Judith Sicoff Kraus died Oct. 6 at 74. She is survived by her daughter, Elaine; and sons, Paul and Howard. Malinow and Silverman
Syrelle Laner died Oct. 9 at 93. She is survived by her sons, Harvey (Rochelle) and Erwin (Bari); four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai
Gerald Lifson died Oct. 2 at 76. He is survived by his wife, Francene; sons, Hal (Brigitte) and Robert; daughter, Byrdie (Bruce) Lifson-Pompan; grandsons, Noah and Simon Pompan; and sister-in-law, Renee. Mount Sinai
Moussa Massachi died Oct. 2 at 84. He is survived by his wife, Javaher; and son, Issac. Chevra Kadisha
Ralph Matza died Oct. 2 at 89. He is survived by his son, Nathan; daughters, Arlene Jackson and Evalyn Wheeler; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and sisters, Simone Apple, Rose Goldstein and Esther Frisbe. Groman
Esmail Moravaty died Oct. 4 at 92. He is survived by his daughter, Nayehreh Sefaradi; 11 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. Groman
Kate Newman died Oct. 5 at 94. She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Faith; four grandchildren; great-grandddaughter, Brandy Stone; and nieces, Sheree (Orva) Kelman and Gale (Jackie) Marcus. Mount Sinai
ANAT NILO died Sept. 24 at 38. She is survived by her husband, Bruce; son, Gilad; and daughter, Karin. Sholom Chapels.
Sylvia Osinov died Oct. 9 at 82. She is survived by her daughter, Deborah (Ralph) Sarkin; grandchildren, Adam (Heather) and Tamara; and sister, Ruth Schwartz. Mount Sinai
Yakov Rabinovich died Oct. 4 at 90. He is survived by his wife, Sophia; daughter, Polina Preys; one grandchild; and two great-grandchildren. Groman
Parvis Roufeh died Oct. 4 at 83. He is survived by his wife, Malihe; son, Solomon; and daughter, Soheila Yaghoobian. Chevra Kadisha
Mark Stefan Samet died Oct. 6 at 53. He is survived by his mother, Jean (Kermit) Drosman; sister, Rochelle Rands; and uncles, Jack and Theodore Silver. Mount Sinai
Martha Shaffer died Oct. 6 at 89. She is survived by her daughters, Diane (Jim) Seiple and Barbara Radin. Malinow and Silverman
Michael Sher died Oct. 6 at 64. He is survived by his wife, Gloria; daughters, Barbara (David) Weiss and Karen (Brian Colon); son, David; and three grandchildren. Mount Sinai
Simon Sherman died Oct. 6 at 97. He is survived by his niece, Linda (Gene) Weiss; sister, Dora Weinstein; and brother, Daniel. Malinow and Silverman
Susan Ruth Sherman died Oct. 9 at 89. She is survived by her niece, Sheila Randall; nephew, Leonard Midler; and cousin, Bernyce Roth. Groman
Dr. James Jamshid Showghy died Oct. 5 at 62. He is survived by his wife, Mina; sons, David and Daniel; daughter, Rachel; sisters, Parvaneh Satbaui, Mehri Nikkou, and Menjaheh Emrani; and nephew, Sia Showhgi. Mount Sinai
Robert Silvertrust died Oct. 4 at 83. He is survived by his wife, Harriet; son, Mark (Julie); daughters, Melissa (Jack) Berenstein and Debbie (Joe) Williams; and four grandchildren. Mount Sinai
Ida Stoffmacher died Oct. 7 at 98. She is survived by her daughter, Elaine Simon; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Groman
ROBERT MURRAY TEPPER died Sept. 17 at 77. He is survived by his wife, Renee; and son, Larry. Sholom Chapels.
Richard Wells died Oct. 9 at 72. He is survived by his wife, Karol; daughters, Marla Eby, Caryn Dates and Julie Sobel; and seven grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman
MICHAEL WNUK died Oct. 5 He is survived by his daughters, Rosalyn (Aleck) Chizeck, Hermine Schwartz and Phyllis (Larry) Tucker; sons, Marshall and Irving (Catherine); 18 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; many great-great-grandchildren; sister, Lillian Dektor; and many nieces and nephews.
Tribe
Cheating: The dreaded problem that faces every school across America — and not just the obvious sneak-a-peak-at-your-neighbor’s-quiz cheating. With thousands of essays, articles and book summaries at their fingertips, American students have discovered the Internet, expanding the opportunities both to cheat and plagiarize.
According to a survey by the National Educational Center at Rutgers University in New Jersey, 75 percent of 45,000 students surveyed partake in “serious cheating.” Many rationalize cheating by considering it something that competition forces them to do, and don’t even give their actions a second thought.
But cheating can quickly progress from bad choice to bad habit to addiction. If students become accustomed to dishonesty at a young age, what’s to prevent them from becoming dishonest adults? Although you may intend to only “semi-cheat” one time, each time you cheat it becomes a little easier, and the boundaries you once would not cross become a little more blurred.
Yet high school students today feel so much pressure to succeed that they aren’t even uniformly convinced that cheating is wrong.
“I know that a lot of people at my school copy other people’s homework when they don’t have time to do it — people now think that’s OK,” said Olivia Coffey, a senior at Marlborough School, a private girls school in Hancock Park.
Students “have so much stress and work that they are constantly overwhelmed, and feel that if they don’t do well on everything — which is most of the time impossible — then they’ll die,” Coffey said, echoing thoughts expressed by students at both private and public schools.
“It’s quite common around here, because it is common for all teenagers,” said Beverly Hills High School Senior Lisa Gross.
When students look around them and see other students doing well by plagiarizing off the Internet, or using work of students from previous years, they are encouraged to do the same — especially when that is the message they are getting from the wider society.
“I think students cheat because they learn from their mentors that cheating works and gets you ahead in life,” asserted Roni Cohen, a senior at Shalhevet School, a centrist Orthodox high school in Los Angeles. “Take sports for example. Steroids are being used by top athletes, and some of them are getting away with it.”
There also is not agreement as to what constitutes cheating.
Most people would agree that using an essay found on the Internet is a form of plagiarism, whether it is purchased from a Web site or lifted from, say, an encyclopedia site.
But what about using study guides?
Shalhevet sophomore Gaby Grossman thinks that using an Internet service like Sparknotes as “an outlet to review” is not cheating.
“If an author has a difficult-to-understand writing style, Sparknotes is almost necessary,” Grossman said. It does become a problem when students read Sparknotes in lieu of actual books, she added.
The Torah does not suffer from this confusion, said Rabbi Avi Greene, director of Judaic studies at Shalhevet. Cheating is “taking credit for any work that is not your own, knowingly or unknowingly. There is a concept in the Gemara of genevas da’as, which can be either keeping people from actually learning, or misrepresenting work. I think that’s what applies here, and it’s obviously unacceptable.”
Dr. Jerry Friedman, Shalhevet headmaster, adds that “cheating contradicts everything we stand for as a school, as a community and as Jews.”
James Nikrafter, a senior at the Orthodox high school YULA and an editor of the YULA Panther, believes that the root of the problem is competition, especially in Jewish schools.
“You’re doubling up on curriculum, work and time in school, and you still want to participate in extra-curriculars,” Nikrafter said. “What ends up happening is that students don’t have the time, patience or energy, but at the same time they are so scared to fail that they’ll go for the easy way out.”
Shalhevet senior Tamar Rohatiner suggests that schools should incorporate more things like tutoring or a place like her school’s Writing Center, where students help each other, so people don’t feel the urge to cheat.
“Let’s support the people who need help,” she said. “Kids need to learn how to deal with these struggles now, so they’ll be ready for the real world.”
Molly Keene, a senior at Shalhevet, is life editor of The Boiling Point, where a version of this article first appeared.
Speak Up!
Tribe, a page by and for teens, appears the first issue of every month in The Jewish Journal. Ninth- to 12th graders are invited to submit first-person columns, feature articles or news stories of up to 800 words. Deadline for the December issue is Nov. 15.
To participate in the Jewish Journal Teen Advisory Committee, submit up to 200 words on why you should be considered.
Send submissions to julief@jewishjournal.com.
Chemistry and the Torah: The Limits of Understanding
As teenagers living in America, we are often encouraged to take advantage of our natural capacity to question. Throughout a regular school day, I’ve heard that the average student asks 25 questions, which is 125 questions a week and 4,500 questions in a school year. It is indisputable that questioning enhances our knowledge and helps us grow as people.
In both Judaic and secular subjects at Shalhevet High School, where I am a senior, my teachers are open to questioning and promote intellectual growth in that way. As a centrist Orthodox high school, Shalhevet expects us to adhere to halachic standards and, at the same time, our questions are encouraged and treated seriously.
What we need to ask ourselves, though, is at what point can we accept that answers might be beyond our understanding? Or, at what point are there no answers? And, if we don’t know or understand an answer, does that mean we can’t or don’t have to believe it?
In Judaism, we are always going to be faced with questions that contain answers that either we do not understand, or do not have answers for at all. Built in to the Torah are specific commandments that we don’t know the reason for. These commandments are known as chukim. As with everything in the Torah, these mitzvot must serve an essential purpose or they wouldn’t be there. It is even possible that chukim exist merely to promote the idea that we can’t or won’t understand everything we do.
A lack of understanding is something we deal with everyday. It is irrelevant how much I have paid attention in AP chemistry; I still do not understand colligative properties perfectly. I have questioned, and I have experimented, but the answers I have been given are just too complex. That does not mean that the properties aren’t accurate. It is merely a reflection on myself, and the fact that I am not learned enough to understand. I can still believe that when I mix salt with ice, I will raise the freezing point and therefore be able to make ice cream.
Similarly in Judaism, there are also commandments with reasons I may never understand. I cannot possibly understand why Hashem needs me to praise Him with the same words everyday (daven to Him, which is not a chok). I have heard many explanations, but I don’t understand them; they do not fully explain the requirement. Regardless, I am obligated to daven, whether or not I understand why.
I hope that in the future, after davening and learning, the answers will become clearer. The same way I do not completely understand colligative properties, I do not understand davening. But I never denied the validity of the properties, and I can also not deny the validity of davening.
Judaism is a simple religion containing many complexities. No one could realistically hope to understand everything. It is important to question and to learn. But when we don’t understand something, or don’t agree with something, we need to remember that it doesn’t give us license to not follow halacha or to not keep the Torah.
The Jew who believes in Hashem and the holiness of the Torah is not unlike the struggling chemistry student; if you believe in the foundations of the discipline, then you accept the validity of the parts you don’t understand and push for greater understanding in the future. Religion is simple and you must be loyal to Hashem’s every word regardless of your lack of understanding. But on top of that you are obligated to find out the answers to your questions and adapt them to your life.
It is extremely challenging to keep the commandments while not fully understanding them, but in reality we accept things constantly that we do not fully understanding (i.e., colligative properties). Commandments should, therefore, also be accepted without full understanding since they not only enhance our lives, but lead us in the correct derech (way) every day.
Alison Silver is a senior at Shalhevet High School. Her article originally appeared in The Boiling Point.
Chemistry and the Torah: The Limits of Understanding Read More »
Hava Flashback
“Bar Mitzvah Disco” (Crown, 2005) is part-coffeetable book, part-cultural relic, part-archive and wholly embarrassing.
Authors Roger Bennett, Jules Shell and Nick Kroll discovered in one long B.S. session that nothing quite engaged their friends, Jew and non-Jew alike, as a trip back down memory lane to the day of their or their friends’ bar or bat mitzvah. They started a Web site where people could post photos and memories, www.barmitzvahdisco.com, and that Web site became this book. It was, the authors explain, “an opportunity to tell the story of a generation” — and to embarrass people. Polyester suits, Farrah-bangs, tables of overfed relations, braces and acne — did we mention the word embarrassing? Along with plenty of photos — which are telling and even strangely brilliant divorced from the context of a bar mitzvah album — there are funny and poignant contributions by, among others, David Kohan, Sarah Silverman, Jonathan Safran Foer and Gideon Yago.
Buckeye State Gets a Jewish Museum
Stroll in the shadow of Jewish-owned factories like Glick Neckwear and Favorite Knitting Mills in Cleveland’s long-vanished garment district. Take a seat in an art deco theater where Ethel Merman belts out a song. Round a corner to see Superman bursting through a wall. These are among the sights, sounds and experiences visitors encounter in the new Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage.
Using state-of-the-art audio, visual and computer technologies, the museum illuminates Jewish history, both local and worldwide, setting these traditions and achievements against the backdrop of U.S. and world events. Within its walls, one meets a host of colorful characters whose personal stories are brought to life in film, interactive activities and exhibits of precious artifacts.
Cleveland media mogul Milton Maltz and his wife, Tamar, pledged $8 million toward the construction of the Beachwood, Ohio museum, and to begin an endowment. The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland contributed the remaining $5.5 million to the museum, which opened Oct. 11. Research support was provided by the Western Reserve Historical Society, and many of the historical documents and artifacts in the museum came from its Jewish Archives.
“Although this is seen through Jewish eyes, it is really an American story,” said Maltz who, with his wife Tamar, was the visionary behind the museum. Beyond chronicling Jewish history, the museum pays homage to the immigrant spirit that, nourished by freedom, built Cleveland and this country.
Although it illuminates large themes, the Maltz Museum is compact. The permanent exhibit occupies 7,000 square feet of the 24,000-square-foot minimalist building, which is faced in luminous Jerusalem limestone. Elsewhere, exhibits throughout the meandering rooms and alcoves engage and inform museum-goers.
The museum experience begins in a light-filled, high-ceilinged lobby hung with eight huge iconic images representing the museum’s major themes. These include dramatic photos of Cleveland Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld, his head bloodied during the 1964 civil rights march in Mississippi, and the smiling face of astronaut Judith Resnick, an Akron native, paired with the Challenger space shuttle in which she lost her life.
Superimposed on these, a multilevel timeline shows the history of the Jews from Abraham onward, placing it in the context of world civilizations and historical events.
In the 60-seat Chelm Family Theater, a short film sets the tone — literally — for the visitor’s tour. A hazy close-up of a man blowing a shofar on a deserted hillside gradually dissolves into a sharply focused shot of the Cleveland Orchestra’s principal clarinetist, Franklin Cohen, playing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Actor Peter Strauss narrates this film, which provides an overview of the museum.
Exiting the theater, one encounters a floor-to-ceiling photo of immigrants disembarking on Ellis Island. They hold tightly to their children, bundles and valises. Anxiety, loneliness and hope are etched on their faces. This tableau ushers one into “They’ve Arrived!” — the first section of the core exhibit, which focuses on Cleveland’s first Jewish families and the immigrant experience.
Prominently displayed is the Alsbacher Document, the handwritten “ethical will” addressed to the small band of villagers from Unsleben, Bavaria, who settled here in 1839. In it, their rabbi urges the immigrants to remember their Jewish faith amidst the temptations of the New World.
To better understand the experience of those setting out for a new land, an interactive station allows a visitor to assume the identity of an immigrant, faced with numerous decisions and problems. Further along, exhibits show how schools and settlement houses enabled Americanization. Here, an interactive display challenges visitors to try to pass the citizenship test.
“Building a City” transports museum-goers to Cleveland at the turn of the 20th century. One side of the “street” looks back at the mom-and-pop shops that dotted the old Jewish neighborhoods. The other highlights Cleveland’s once-thriving garment district and pays tribute to Jewish-owned commercial firms like Forest City Enterprises, Rose Iron Works and American Greetings Corp., which all got their start here.
At the end of the street, “To Serve” focuses on the military experience of Jewish servicemen and women from the American Revolution to the war in Iraq.
A film loop shows a re-enactment of a seder held during the Civil War. Photos of soldiers appear on screen, narrated by excerpts from their poignant letters home. A Marine reservist who served in Iraq, Josh Mandel, also speaks.
Other multimedia exhibits highlight the last century of Jewish history. Dark events such as the Holocaust and the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre are covered, as is the creation of the State of Israel. Lighter trends are not ignored — in one section, a larger-than-life Superman bursts through a wall into the gallery, drawing attention to the story of the comic book superhero’s creation by local artists Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Even Jewish gangsters have their stories told.
The final area, “From Generation to Generation,” showcases Jewish achievements from 1950 to the present in science, medicine, business, industry, literature and the arts. Alongside photos of contemporary Jewish landmarks, filmed interviews address the question on of what it means to be a Jew today.
Off the main lobby is The Temple-Tifereth Israel Gallery, which showcases treasures drawn from the collection of The Temple Museum of Religious Art. The Temple’s collection includes ancient ritual objects, sacred books and scrolls from around the world, textiles dating from the 18th century, Holocaust art, Israeli stamps, paintings, lithographs and sculpture by renowned Jewish artists such as Marc Chagall, Jacques Lipschitz and Isidor Kaufmann.
While the museum has generated much initial excitement in the Cleveland Jewish community, its success will depend on drawing a wider audience and offering reasons for visitors to return. Maltz and Carole Zawatsky, the museum’s executive director, say they expect the museum to have regional appeal, drawing 45,000 to 75,000 visitors a year.
The changing exhibition space should be a magnet for repeat visits. The first of these temporary exhibits is “The Jewish Journey: Frederic Brenner’s Photographic Odyssey” which opens Nov. 12.
Just as he hopes people from other ethnic backgrounds will see some of their own stories reflected in the museum, Maltz also hopes they will want to use its open space to mount exhibits showcasing their own heritage.
Special events and ongoing activities will also bring people to the museum, said Zawatsky, who was formerly director of education at the Jewish Museum in New York. She and her staff have created a full schedule of activities for museum-goers of all ages.
“It’s wonderful to have this in our own backyard,” said Cleveland-area resident Ruth Mayers, who attended the Oct. 11 preview gala. “This will bring an understanding of our history to Jew and non-Jew alike; it is a gift to our children.”
For more information about The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, visit Buckeye State Gets a Jewish Museum Read More »