April 13, 2007

L.A. punk rock poet Rollins tours Israel — on TV

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Television / Karla S. Blume

Before Henry Rollins returns to the Independent Film Channel on April 13 with his alternative brand of celebrity interviews, the late-night host will precede the second season premier of “The Henry Rollins Show” with a half-hour special on the Jewish state. “Henry Rollins: Uncut From Israel” mixes tidbits of Rollins’ tour of the Holy Land with moments of his politically charged spoken-word show recorded in Tel Aviv earlier this year.

Rollins first gained notoriety in 1981 as the singer of Black Flag, the popular hardcore punk band from Manhattan Beach. The group’s songs inspired not only sweaty and sometimes dangerous mosh pits of alienated teenagers, but the group also gave fans an amplified voice, one that screamed of political and social issues infrequently sung about in mainstream music.

In his post-punk years, Washington, D.C.-born Rollins became known for his liberal outlook and his politically and socially inspired spoken-word shows. He is also a prolific writer of poetry and prose and has published independent writers through 2.13.61, Rollins’ publishing house named for his birth date.

Today, Rollins hosts a talk show with unique flair. The format works mostly because of Rollins’ easy-going and entertaining interviewing skills. “The Henry Rollins Show” is shown “uncut,” a term Rollins uses to indicate that swear words and heated opinions are OK and that artists can play songs in their entirety without fear of trimming a performance to make way for commercials.

His guests are frequently rebels by some standard, such as Marilyn Manson and John Waters, but each has achieved commercial success despite their controversial nature. The series also includes musical performances by boundary-pushers like Peaches, Mars Volta and The Stooges.

Rollins has visited Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran in the last few years as part of the USO. In his view, the more he learns about other cultures, the easier it will be to pass on the knowledge to others.

Led by Israeli photojournalist Ziv Koren, Rollins tours politically charged locations in Jerusalem as well as the West Bank security fence during “Uncut From Israel.” Rollins first visited Israel in 1998, but said he didn’t get a feel for it at that time because of the short length of his stay.

“This time I really felt a sense of the intensity of what it means to be Israeli, because in their reality, anytime, anywhere it could be the worst day of your life,” Rollins said. “Americans can’t really identify with that feeling easily.”

“Henry Rollins: Uncut From Israel” airs April 13, 9:30 p.m. on IFC.

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Briefs: Coalition protests modern-day plague of poverty, BBI branches out

Leave a Comment / Community / Jewish Journal

Coalition protests modern-day plague of poverty

It wasn’t quite the Red Sea, but the red undulating banners in front of the LAX Hilton did evoke the image of the Exodus as more than 200 people — including Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders — made their way across Century Boulevard demanding that the hotel end its opposition to living wages for all its workers.

The rally was the latest effort of a coalition of community, civic and faith leaders that has been focusing for the past year on the working and living conditions of hotel workers along Century Boulevard.

“Passover and Holy Week are times when we relive the stories in our faith traditions of suffering and redemption, and an important part of this is recognition of the suffering that exists today,” said the Rev. Anna Olson, deputy director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, which organized the demonstration.

“Workers at the LAX Hilton exemplify the modern-day plague of working poverty, and we stand with these workers in the faith that just as God heard the cries of the Israelites in ancient Egypt, the cries of these workers will be heard as well,” she said.

“The rally was intended to pressure the LAX Hilton to relax its often illegal and very oppressive policies toward it’s workers,” said Rabbi Jason Van Leeuwen of Congregation B’nai Tikvah, a Conservative shul located near LAX. He emphasized that he doesn’t “use those terms lightly.”

In addition to participating in protests and demonstrations, the leaders have also called for a boycott of the Hilton LAX. The hotel spent almost a quarter of a million dollars to oppose an extension of Los Angeles’ living wage ordinance, enacted last November, to the Century Boulevard Hotel workers, and is currently challenging a revised version of the ordinance which was passed by the City Council in February.

“Although there were references to Good Friday, the dominant theme of the demonstration was the Exodus,” Van Leeuwen said. “This Jewish experience resonated with people of all faiths.”
Extending the analogy, demonstrators carried signs charging the hotel owners with perpetrating modern plagues, including substandard wages, the lack of benefits for affordable health care and violating federal law by firing people for labor organizing.

To further underscore the parallels of moving from oppression toward a better life, Rabbi Van Leeuwen held a piece of matzah before the gathering.

“This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate, and some are still forced to eat,” he said, translating from the Seder service. “All who are hungry, all who are tired, let them come, eat and be nourished.”

— Naomi Glauberman, Contributing Writer

Brandeis Collegiate Institute branches out

For 60 years, the Brandeis Collegiate Institute (BCI) has brought 18- to 26-year-olds for an experiential summer on the Brandeis-Bardin Institute campus, which is now part of the newly created American Jewish University following a merger with the University of Judaism. The BCI recently added several new programs for young adults to explore their Jewish selves and Jewish community.

The new Brandeis Leadership Institute (BLI) will afford up to 50 graduate students and young professionals of diverse educational and denominational backgrounds, ages 24 to 32, the opportunity to live and learn on the BCI campus from June 13 to 24.

“BLI creates a unique space for young adults to rejuvenate their spirits and connect to Jewish culture, history, ethics and community,” said Rabbi Laurie Hahn Tapper, director of BCI and Adult Programs.

The Sheva Fellowship, a four- to eight-month residential program that prepares Jewish adults to be environmental experiential Jewish educators, began last January. Currently three fellows are being trained in such areas as organic gardening, outdoor and wilderness skills, Jewish text and tradition and community building under the leadership of Dr. Gabe Goldman, director of experiential and environmental education.

The traditional BCI program, which was originally created in 1941 by Shlomo Bardin in Amherst, N.H., and relocated to Simi Valley in 1947, is now called the BCI Classic. This summer’s session, for up to 65 participants, will run from June 27 to July 22 and will combine artistic expression, trans-denominational learning, spiritual reflection and outdoor exploration.

Additionally, BCI Part II: Recharge and Renew was introduced as a new five-day session in January. Forty-one young adults, including recent BCI alumni along with their friends and significant others who had never participated, joined together for prayer, arts workshops, community service and learning. BCI Part II will be repeated next January, according to Hahn Tapper.

BCI is also reaching out to both distant and local constituencies. The new BCI on the Road brings the BCI experience directly to campuses and conferences outside of Los Angeles. Plus, a newly formed group of BCI and Camp Alonim alumni is creating spiritual, intellectual and social programming for the local Jewish young adult population.

Applications for BLI and BCI Classic are currently being accepted on a rolling admissions basis. For an application or for more information on any BCI program, visit www.thebbi.org/bci or call Rabbi Laurie Hahn Tapper at (805) 582-4450.

— Jane Ulman, Contributing Editor

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Good friends; Keeping the Covenant; Marvelous Mandy

Slavery, divestment, atheism, Sudan refugees

Leave a Comment / Letters to the Editor / Jewish Journal

Slavery today

I just wanted to commend Amy Klein and The Jewish Journal on the wonderful article on human trafficking (“We Were Slaves …,” March 30). It brought the story of Pesach new meaning for this year and brought light to a horrible situation occurring in our own backyards.
Regardless of one’s beliefs on illegal immigration, we as a people need to recognize the exploitation of trafficked persons crossing the border and the real price we are paying for their oppression. Next time I’m shopping and see U.S.-made clothes at rock bottom prices, I’ll be thinking about what hidden costs borne by others might not be shown on the price tag.

Alycia Seaman Witzling
Los Angeles

Your article, “We Were Slaves …” brings to light an egregious human rights violation that is occurring across the United States: modern-day slavery or human trafficking.

As the federal agency responsible for helping victims of human trafficking become survivors, Health and Human Services is working to promote public awareness of human trafficking and to connect victims with the services they need to restore their lives.

I encourage your readers to learn more about this issue and take action if they believe they have encountered a victim of trafficking by calling the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at (888) 373-7888, or visiting www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking.

Martha E. Newton
Director
Office of Refugee Resettlement
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Your cover story briefly mentioned the special task force combating slavery in L.A., one of the hubs of human trafficking. In an unprecedented spirit of collaboration, the L.A. Metro Task Force on Human Trafficking was created by two nongovernment organizations, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, as well as the Los Angeles Police Department and the U.S. attorney’s office, to promote a cooperative effort in combating human trafficking.

Its mission is to increase identifying and assisting trafficking victims and prosecuting traffickers in Los Angeles. As of now, about 60 governmental and nongovernmental organizations have joined the task force. We have put up 30 billboards throughout Los Angeles, with the slogan: Know human trafficking. Be alert. Be aware.

We need help creating public service announcements, editing, Web design, marketing, advertising, etc., to help stop human trafficking in Los Angeles Please contact the LAPD at (213) 485-2511 to participate in the task force and to contribute your expertise.

Daliah Setareh
Staff Attorney
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Chair
L.A. Metro Task Force on Human Trafficking — Public Outreach Committee

In your cover story on Passover, you have managed to redefine and ignore the Jewish essence of this holiday. It appears that The Journal is intent on eviscerating from its paper any significant religious and historical explanation of any Jewish holidays.

Many of your stories on Jewish holidays and traditions have been bastardized to accommodate and appease the nonreligious, the assimilated, the mixed-marrieds and others.

It is a shame that your writers make a mockery of our religion, our history and traditions by distortion, adulteration and ignorance.

Have you no pride in your past and in your heritage?

Abe Baror
Los Angeles

Atheism

Contrary to Rabbi David Wolpe’s statement, atheism is not an attack on religion (“Atheism du Jour,” March 30). Atheism is the declaration by those who wish to be free from religion. If there is any hint that atheists are critical of religion, it is their position that they adhere to rationality not belief.

But how you think should not be grounds for conflict. When it is, as is the case in our turbulent world, then it is not hard to conclude that doing away with religion might be a prescription for peace.

Most atheists will concede that they are no better or no more virtuous than those guided by belief. It is the religious who like to say that without their beliefs, kindness and charity could not exist, that values were presented to the world by religion.

Yet atheists seem to be as charitable and kind as their religious counterparts. Since both are involved in improving the world, we should not waste time in name calling.

As an atheist, I respect my religious friends. I just ask the same from them.

Larry Shapiro
Rancho Mirage

Bitter Herb

To settle the problem in the article, “Is Pot Kosher for Pesach?” (April 6), in November 1997, Rabbi David Golinkin, representing the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel, in response to a question concerning kitnyot, responded with an unequivocal yes and even went so far as to say that it was perhaps obligatory “to eliminate this custom,” because it was a divisive issue between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews, because “it diminished the joy of the holiday” (a plus for the pot smokers), and “because it has little authoritative sanction.”

More lenghthily, he wrote: “In our opinion, it is permitted (and perhaps even obligatory) to eliminate this custom. It is in direct contradiction to an explicit decision in the Babylonian Talmud (Pesahim 114b) and is also in contradiction to the opinion of all the sages of the Mishna and Talmud, except one….”

As for smoking pot during Passover or any other time, that’s up to you. The sages are mum on this.

Roberta Kalechofsky
Marblehead, Maine

Divestment

Your editorial shocked and angered me (“Divestment Doubts,” April 6). It makes me wonder whether you are a responsible or an irresponsible investor.

For yourself you can do anything, but when you act on behalf of the teachers’ and firefighters’ pension funds, it is your fiduciary responsibility to invest safely. AB 221 stands to protect the funds and secures the California teachers and firefighters in their retirement. Twenty-four billion dollars is a huge amount to look after, and safety is foremost. Iran is neither stable nor safe.

As editor of The Journal, you have a responsibility to your readers. Instead of highlighting the benefits of AB 221, you are misguiding them with a personal viewpoint.

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Obituaries

Leave a Comment / Obituaries / Jewish Journal

Nelly Rosenfeld, Oneg Shabbat Queen, Dies at 97

Nelly Rosenfeld died in her home on April 2 at 97 — just prior to Pesach. Nelly organized the oneg Shabbat for Temple Israel of Hollywood for 18 years, never missing a week.

Her history is an extraordinary one that mirrors the experience of the Jewish people in the 20th century. It took her from the country of her birth, Czechoslovakia, to Paris and then to the small village of Le Brueil, France, where she, her husband, Roger (z”l), and daughter, Monique (z”l), were hidden by the LaRoche family in their barn from 1943 to 1945. Nelly continued to enjoy a close friendship with the descendants of the LaRoche family over the past 62 years.

Upon the liberation of France by the Americans in 1945, the family returned to Paris, eventually immigrating through Kansas City to Hollywood. Some of her family immigrated to Israel in the early part of the 20th century and were among the pioneer founders of the Jewish state.

Nelly is a beloved icon of our community and will be sorely missed by everyone on staff, in sisterhood, among our children and in our community at large.

She is survived by her grandchildren, Ben (Chris) and Sasa (Edward); and great-grandson, Jacob.

Zichronah livrachah. May the memory of the righteous be a blessing.

— Rabbi John Rosove

Burt Topper, ‘War Is Hell’ Director, Dies at 78

Burt Topper, 78, was born July 31, 1928, in Coney Island, N.Y. He moved to Los Angeles when he was 8. He served in the Navy during World War II. After the Navy, Burt pursued a career in movie directing and production, with such films as “War Is Hell” in 1963.

He sold “War Is Hell” to Sam Arkoff’s company, American International Pictures (AIP), and then was hired as head of production. He wrote, produced and directed more than 26 films for AIP, as well as fundraising pictures, such as “Touch of a Child.” He was also involved with Variety Clubs of America, giving years of his time and talent.

He is survived by his wife, Jennifer; sister, Muriel Kreeger; and nieces Patricia Wakefield and Rhonda Kreeger.

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Rose Alper died March 13 at 95. She is survived by her sons, Philip and Richard; three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Helen Altman died March 12 at 90. She is survived by her children, Judith (Jerry) Behney and Susan Ford; stepson, Jay; five grandchildren, Christopher, Michael, Peter, Kenna and Keith; and one great-grandchild. Mount Sinai

Lee Aronson died March 9 at 86. She is survived by her son, Garry (Marie); daughter, Nina (Ron) Shipp; and five grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Sara Bernstein died March 13 at 94. She is survived by her sister, Regina Aichler (Joseph).
Marc Cohen died Feb. 28 at 88. He is survived by his wife, Natalie; daughters, Mindy (Charles) Armstrong and Karen (Zevi) Kahn; and granddaughter, Rachel Kahn.

Ruth Harriette Comarr died March 11 at 89. She is survived by her daughter, Cynthia Berchan. Groman

Lewis Geiger died March 13 at 86. He is survived by his sons, Warren (Olivia) and Larry (Leanna); four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; sister, Barbara Goldstein; and brother, Arthur. Mount Sinai

Edith Geisinger died March 11 at 91. She is survived by her son, Don (Sandra). Malinow and Silverman

Mickey (Mildred) Gilbert died at 82, She is survived by her daughters, Pamela (Gary) Glick and Andrea (Eddie) Klapova; five grandchildren; and companion, Ned Kass (Jerry).

Joseph Glotzer died March 11 at 92. He is survived by her friends. Sholom Chapels

Leona Goldring died March 12 at 99. She is survived by her daughter, Roberta Weintraub; stepson, Irwin; and nephew, Steve. Malinow and Silverman

Leonard Goodman died March 11 at 75. He is survived by his wife, Madeline; daughter, Heather; son, Gary (Alison Hatter) Bachman; three grandchildren; and brother, Peter (Joan). Mount Sinai

Irene Kraus died March 11 at 91. She is survived by her son, David; and one grandchild. Groman

Louis Klein died March 13 at 84.He is survived by his sister, Sylvia Roth; brother, Joseph; and nephew, Joel Roth. Malinow and Silverman

Norma Silnutzer Libby died March 8 at 92. She is survived by her son, Allan (Sheila); and brother, Cecil Sills. Malinow and Silverman

Robert Loew died March 12 at 83. He is survived by his wife, Rita; daughter; son; and grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

Florence Elaine Mann died March 15 at 89. She is survived by her son, Darrell (Christine) Mann; two grandsons; and four great-grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

Ethel Moskowitz died March 8 at 99. She is survived by her granddaughters, Susan Hendel and Ronni Giller. Malinow and Silverman

Edith Etelka Mottow died March 9 at 88. She is survived by her daughter, Dr. Linda S.M. Lippa. Malinow and Silverman

Henry Orenstein died March 12 at 85. He is survived by his wife, Rhoda; sons, Mark (Jane) and Craig (Renee); daughter D. Max Anne (Ken) Masukawa; five grandchildren; and sister, Edith Freedman. Mount Sinai

Elliot Peikoff died March 15. He is survived by his wife, Corinne; sons, Howard, Richard and Michael (Suzanne);daughter Lori; and grandchildren, Lauren and Natalie.

George Ross died March 12 at 79. He is survived by his companion, Frances J. Apland; children, Stephanie (Lincoln Conti) and Ivan (Phyllis); son-in-law, Burt (Kathy) Brooks; 11 grandchildren; sister, Gloria (Nat) Lebowitz; relative Doris Brenner; and former spouse, Elinore. Mount Sinai

Victoria Rousso died March 10 at 91. She is survived by her sons, Martin, Ronny and Sam; daughter, Rochelle Goldman; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Groman

Norma Rubenstein died March 10 at 81. She is survived by her daughter, Debra Thomas. Sholom Chapels

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Pledge to survivors — we will carry the torch

Leave a Comment / Personals / Menachem Z. Rosensaft

Growing up, we whose parents had emerged out of the Shoah believed that they were indestructible. After all, they overcame the German efforts to murder them, survived
ghettos and death camps, and rebuilt their lives after the war. They also had a special appreciation and zest for life. In our eyes, they were truly the “greatest generation.” It seemed to us that our parents would be here forever, and that they would always protect us, their children.

But age and the frailties of the human body are proving to be inexorable. The ranks of those who suffered alongside the murdered victims of the Holocaust are steadily dwindling. All too soon, their voices will no longer be heard. Many sons and daughters of survivors have already lost one or both of their parents. My father, the fiery leader of the survivors of Bergen-Belsen, died in 1975 at the age of 64. My mother, one of the founders of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., died 22 years later. More recently, the passing in late 2006 of Sigmund Strochlitz and Benjamin Meed, two of the most prominent Holocaust survivors in the United States, served to remind us all that we truly are at a moment of generational transition.

The responsibility for transmitting the survivors’ legacy of remembrance into the future must now increasingly shift to us — their children and grandchildren. In his keynote address at the First International Conference of Children of Holocaust Survivors in 1984, Elie Wiesel mandated us to do what the survivors “have tried to do — and more: to keep our tale alive — and sacred.” We are fortunate that the survivors are most ably represented by Sam E. Bloch, Roman Kent and Max Liebmann, the leaders of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, but it is now incumbent on us, the members of the second and third generations, to stand and work alongside them more closely than ever before in perpetuating remembrance and challenging the conscience of humankind. Our task is to integrate our parents’ memories, spirit and perseverance into the Jewish community’s and the world’s collective consciousness.

The sons and daughters of the survivors are diverse, multitalented and anything but homogeneous. Among us are Holocaust remembrance activists such as Rositta Kenigsberg, Romana Strochlitz Primus and Leonard Wilf — with whom I had the privilege of serving on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council; Dr. Joel M. Geiderman, co-chair of the Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the Council’s present vice-chairman; and psychologist Eva Fogelman, who pioneered support groups for children of survivors in the 1970s.

Our ranks also include Helen Epstein, author of the influential 1979 book, “Children of the Holocaust: Conversations With Sons and Daughters of Survivors”; Israeli clinical psychologist Yaffa Singer, an internationally recognized authority on post-traumatic stress disorder in military personnel and veterans; former World Jewish Congress Executive Director Elan Steinberg, the brilliant strategist behind the successful effort to wrest $1.25 billion of Holocaust assets from Swiss banks; my wife, Jean Bloch Rosensaft, an art historian and museum director who has curated numerous exhibitions of art by survivors and children of survivors as well as an international traveling photo exhibition about the displaced persons camp of Bergen-Belsen; talented novelists Lily Brett, Thane Rosenbaum and Melvin Jules Bukiet; Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic artist Art Spiegelman; CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer; New York Times journalist Joseph Berger; Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former senior aide to New York Governor George Pataki and U.S. Sen. Alphonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.); Vivian Bernstein, co-chief of the Group Programmes Unit of the Department of Public Information at the United Nations; Rabbi Kenneth Stern of Manhattan’s Park Avenue Synagogue; Detroit psychologist Charles Silow, who devotes himself to the care of elderly survivors; Holocaust historian and educator David Silberklang; film historian Annette Insdorf and documentary filmmaker Aviva Kempner; American Jewish Committee Executive Vice President David Harris; Serena Woolrich, the founder of Allgenerations, an Internet clearinghouse of information for survivors and their families; Forward publisher Samuel Norich; museum architect Daniel Libeskind; and Israeli singer Yehuda Poliker who composed the classic rock ballad, “This Is Treblinka Station,” to name only a few.

Each one of us implements our parents’ legacy in a unique, personal way. Together, we personify our generation.

Because we are our parents’ children and grandchildren, we have a greater understanding of and sensitivity to their experiences than anyone else. We, who are the personal witnesses to the survivors, must ensure that their horrendous experiences, the brutal mass murder of their families, our families, and the attempted annihilation of European Jewry as a whole will never be forgotten, and that our parents’ and grandparents’ values and souls will remain core elements of the national and international institutions of memory they helped create.

We must carry on their unwavering struggle against all attempts to diminish the Jewish essence and centrality of the Shoah. We must intensify their allegiance and commitment to the centrality of the State of Israel.

And we must maintain their staunch opposition to all manifestations of Holocaust denial or trivialization.

That is our pledge to our parents this Yom HaShoah.

Menachem Z. Rosensaft, a lawyer in New York, is the founding chairman of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and vice president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants.

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Religious Fire

Leave a Comment / Torah / Rabbi Joel Rembaum

Religious zeal is on the rise around the world. It can be a wonderful blessing, and it can be a horrible curse. It all depends on how humans with free will manage it.

When God allows a Divine Flame to be ignited within the soul of an individual or within the collective soul of a community, the Almighty is empowering people to let the flame inspire them to live the godly life, to take the principles and ideals they associate with God into their hearts and souls and, in so doing, to draw closer to God in sacred intimacy. The ideals of love, compassion and justice then shape how they live their lives and how they define their relationships with other human beings, and they become partners with God in the daily process of renewing and completing the act of creation.

But God also runs a risk when a Divine Flame is shared with humankind. People can abuse the flame by believing that they and no one else are its sole bearers. They can be impelled by their egos — individually or collectively — to determine that the flame should be used to burn and destroy other humans whom they have defined as being devoid of the flame and, hence, in need of being purged.

They can allow themselves to play God and choose who shall live and who shall die. Sometimes they are willing to destroy themselves in the process, which they falsely interpret as opening a direct route to union with the Divine. This abuse of the flame results in the unleashing of primal chaos into the world and the undoing of God’s creative activity, threatening the world’s very existence.

The Divine Flame plays a central role in Parshat Shemini. Moses instructs Aaron and his sons, the priests and the elders of Israel to prepare to offer certain sacrifices as mandated by God. He concludes with exciting news: “For today the Lord will appear to you!” (Leviticus 9:4).

Once the offering is prepared and placed on the altar by the priests in conformity with God’s command, and once Moses and Aaron had blessed the people, “the presence of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar.

And all the people saw, and shouted and fell on their faces” (Leviticus 9:23-28).

What an awesome, powerful moment of engagement between God and the Children of Israel. It was intended to demonstrate to the people that when God’s will was carried out, the Divine Presence, represented by the flame that came down from heaven, would be with them.

By way of contrast, we learn in a Midrash found in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Yoma 1:5) that during the seven days of the consecration of the priests, when Moses functioned as high priest, the Shekhinah did not descend. Only after Aaron, wearing the vestments of the high priest, officiated at the altar, did the Shekhinah descend.

This means that the Divine Flame could appear in the midst of the people only when those whom God had designated to tend that fire — Aaron and his sons — were in charge of the worship in the Tabernacle. As great as he was, Moses could not bring the Divine Flame into the midst of the people.

Realizing the power of the flame, it was God’s intention that it be managed and channeled only by people whom God had chosen and to whom God had given specific instructions. They would be responsible tenders of the flame.

But, alas, God did not take into account the power of the human ego. Immediately after the wondrous appearance of the flame, the zeal of the moment engulfed Aaron’s two eldest sons, Nadav and Avihu, but with disastrous results. On their own initiative — and contrary to the will of God — they brought strange fire into the Tabernacle (Leviticus 10:1). And, in an instant, “a fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord” (Leviticus 10:2).

Note the language. It is nearly identical to language that describes the first appearance of the Divine Flame in 9:24. I suggest that the Torah’s message is clear. The Divine Flame and the religious fervor that accompanies it can be a blessing, when the flame is handled with care and the fervor expresses itself in a way that conforms to the wishes of the Author of the flame. When the zeal engendered by the flame is abused by the power of human ego, the same flame becomes a destructive force.

Devoted adherents of the three religions that affirm a belief in the one God, who shared the Divine Flame through the faith and zeal of Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Miriam and the like, espouse a profound commitment to making God’s love, compassion and justice realities in the world.

Let the zeal of these true people of spirit fill all of God’s creation, allowing no room for the egotistical zeal of the false prophets of destruction.

Joel Rembaum is senior rabbi at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles.

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Briefs: Carter condemns, Ban meets, students protest

Leave a Comment / Worldwide / Jewish Journal

Carter: Israel backers demand ‘subservience’

Mideast peace is possible only with forceful U.S. engagement, former President Jimmy Carter said as he received the Ridenhour Courage Prize for speaking out on controversial topics. Carter — whose recent book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” infuriated much of the Jewish community with its allegedly one-sided presentation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — addressed some 400 people in Washington on April 4 as he received the award.

Carter lamented what he called a six-year lapse in substantial peace efforts by the United States and said the Bush administration and pro-Israel groups, such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, prevent Americans from having a real debate on Middle East policy.”The American friends of Israel, who demand such subservience, are in many cases sincere and well-intentioned people; I know them,” Carter said. “But on this crucial issue, they are tragically mistaken. Their demands subvert America’s ability to bring to Israel what she most desperately needs and wants — peace and security within recognized borders.”

Rabbi Leonard Beerman, founder of the Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles and a member of committees such as the U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East, presented the award to Carter, saying his career had been fashioned “out of a persistent moral sensibility, even about the most sensitive and contentious issues, such as the rights of the Palestinians, for example.”

U.N.’s Ban meets With AJCommittee

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with American Jewish Committee leaders. The April 3 meeting focused on plans for peace in the Middle East, as well as Israel’s treatment at the United Nations.

“We welcomed the opportunity to engage Secretary-General Ban in a discussion of Middle East issues of utmost concern to the international community,” AJCommittee Executive Director David Harris said. “We were impressed by his deep commitment to advancing the search for peace in the region and his keen understanding of the challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve progress.”

Among topics discussed in the 45-minute meeting were the recent Arab League summit in Riyadh, Ban’s recent visit to Israel and efforts to implement U.N. resolutions in Lebanon, including Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended last summer’s war between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolutions calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for the Lebanese government to assert its control in the south of the country. Ban also acknowledged the U.N. Human Rights Council’s obsessive focus on Israeli actions.

Jerusalem police clash with chametz protesters

Some 100 ultra-Orthodox youths protesting the sale of chametz in Jerusalem restaurants during Passover clashed with police. Following a rally Sunday in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, the protesters sought to march toward Hillel Street, an area with a number of restaurants that sell chametz, or leavened bread products, and nonkosher meat. Police instructed the protesters to disperse.

After some protesters blocked the street, the police tried to disperse the crowd by force, which led a few of the demonstrators to throw rocks at the police.

Some 20 protesters reached Hillel Street; another group trying to reach the Nahalat Shiva promenade were blocked by police forces.

Israeli university students to strike over budget cuts, tuition hikes

Student associations at Israeli universities and colleges have planned a nationwide strike over budget cuts. The students are demanding that about $225 million in cuts to higher education be reversed and that the government not raise tuition. The strike was to begin Tuesday.

The strike will affect 250,000 students. According to the student associations, the planned strike has been coordinated with the lecturer associations and has the support of senior and junior faculty.

The Tel Aviv University Students’ Union announced that it will allow students to enter the campus in order to hand in papers and have access to the libraries. Classrooms, lecture halls and laboratories will all be locked and inaccessible in coordination with the faculty union.

Sen. Clinton seeks Polish restitution law

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) wrote to the Polish prime minister requesting that his country enact a restitution law for property confiscated during the Nazi and communist eras. Also signing the letter to Jaroslaw Kaczynski were Members of the Helsinki Commission.

The signers welcomed statements by Polish officials that they would work to pass legislation by the end of this year, but the commission expressed concerns that the victims have experienced numerous delays in their efforts to gain restitution.

Along with restitution or compensation, the commission’s recommendations include keeping burdens for filing a claim to a minimum, consistent involvement of the central government and the return of artwork to its rightful owners.

“The delay in resolving the property claims of elderly survivors and their family members has gone on for too long,” Clinton said.

The Helsinki Commission is a U.S. government agency that monitors and encourages compliance with the agreements of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as established by the Helsinki Accords. Thirty-five countries signed on to the accords in 1975.

Briefs courtesy Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Pelosi’s delegation to Syria — who said what to whom?

Leave a Comment / Worldwide / Ron Kampeas, JTA

Did Rep. Nancy Pelosi drop the ball in the Middle East? Was she fouled? Was there a ball at all?

Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, earned White House vituperation — unusual for its intensity in even these partisan times — after delivering what she said was a peace message last week from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“It was a nonstatement, nonsensical statement and didn’t make any sense at all that she would suggest that those talks could go forward as long as the Syrians conducted themselves as a prime state sponsor of terror,” Vice President Dick Cheney told radio host Rush Limbaugh. “I think it is, in fact, bad behavior on her part. I wish she hadn’t done it.”

The conservative Limbaugh chose not to challenge Cheney, but Pelosi (D-San Francisco), had not suggested “that talks could go forward as long as the Syrians conducted themselves as a prime state sponsor of terror.”

Immediately after their meeting, Pelosi told reporters that she had conveyed to Assad that ending his support for terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and no longer allowing insurgents to reach Iraq were necessary components in any resumption of relations.

In a statement, the bipartisan delegation of six House members that traveled to the Middle East wrote that Syria must “stop supporting terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and must end any interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs. We emphasized to President Assad that peace with Israel is essential to a U.S.-Syria relationship. We conveyed to him Prime Minister’s Olmert’s overture for peace talks when Syria openly takes steps to stop supporting terrorism.”

In fact, according to those present, the bulk of the meeting with Assad was taken up with the plight of Israeli soldiers missing in clashes with Hezbollah or from forays into Syria dating back to the 1960s.

Pelosi presented Assad with duplicate dog tags of three soldiers missing from last summer: two nabbed by Hezbollah in the July 12 cross-border raid that launched the second Lebanon war, and one captured by Hamas-affiliated gunmen in a June 25 cross-border raid.

Palestinian spokesmen said Saturday that a deal was close on the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, the soldier captured by Hamas. It was unclear whether Pelosi’s entreaties had anything to do with the deal.

Behind the heated rhetoric, however, there appeared to be a genuine breakdown in communication between Pelosi and Olmert. The question was who caused it.

Some Pelosi statements on Assad prompted an almost immediate “clarification” from Olmert’s office.

“We were very pleased with the reassurances we received from the president that he was ready to resume the peace process,” Pelosi had said. “He was ready to engage in negotiations for peace with Israel.

Also, the “meeting with the president enabled us to communicate a message from Prime Minister Olmert that Israel was ready to engage in peace talks as well.”

But in his meeting with Pelosi, Olmert’s statement said, the prime minister “emphasized that although Israel is interested in peace with Syria, that country continues to be part of the axis of evil and a force that encourages terror in the entire Middle East. In order to conduct serious and genuine peace negotiations, Syria must cease its support of terror, cease its sponsoring of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations, refrain from providing weapons to Hezbollah and bringing about the destabilizing of Lebanon, cease its support of terror in Iraq, and relinquish the strategic ties it is building with the extremist regime in Iran.”

The clarification baffled the delegation, which included Rep. Tom Lantos (San Mateo), the Jewish chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), its Government Reform Committee chairman and also Jewish; Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), an Arab American who is chairman of the House Resources Committee; Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a freshman who is the first Muslim American member of Congress; Rep. David Hobson (R-Ohio), a senior Republican; and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Rules Committee.

“The speaker conveyed precisely what the prime minister and the acting president asked,” Lantos said. That included the traditional Israeli caveat about Syrian backing for terrorism.
Dalia Itzik, the Knesset speaker who is acting president, emphasized the plight of the captive soldiers.

Lantos suggested there was pressure from the White House.

“It’s obvious the White House is desperate to find some phony criticism of the speaker’s trip, even though it was a bipartisan trip,” said Lantos, a Holocaust survivor who is considered the Democrat closest to the pro-Israel lobby. “I have nothing but contempt and disdain for the attempt to undermine this trip.”

The White House had no comment on the allegations by Lantos that it pressured Olmert to offer a clarification.

In his interview with Limbaugh, Cheney gloated over Olmert’s role.

“Prime Minister Olmert immediately made it clear that she was not authorized to make any such offer to Bashar Assad,” he said. “Fortunately, I think the various parties involved recognize she doesn’t speak for the United States in those circumstances, she doesn’t represent the administration. The president is the one who conducts foreign policy, not the speaker of the House.”

In fact, White House frustration might have to do with a foreign policy spinning out of its control.

After the White House berated Pelosi for even daring to visit Assad, it was revealed that congressional Republican delegations were in Damascus at about the same time, just as eager to relay the same message as the Pelosi team: Talking is better than not talking.

“Dialogue is not a sign of weakness,” Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) told his hometown newspaper, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, after he returned home. “It’s a sign of strength.”

Pelosi’s delegation to Syria — who said what to whom? Read More »

Sin City is a nice place to visit, but not a Jewish oasis — yet

Leave a Comment / United States, Worldwide / Ira M. Sheskin

Jews were in Las Vegas when it emerged as the gambling capital of the country, and Jews have been coming to Las Vegas ever since.

Many of Las Vegas’ most important developers have been Jewish, as is the current mayor. However, despite previous “guesses” by various community leaders, there are not 100,000 Jews in Las Vegas. The Jewish community numbers 89,000 persons today, living in 42,000 Jewish households — but of those 89,000 persons, only 67,500 are actually Jewish.

This makes Las Vegas the 23rd largest Jewish community in the country, a new survey that I recently released has found.

Nor is Las Vegas the fastest-growing Jewish community in the United States. From 1995 to 2005, the number of Jews in Las Vegas increased by 21 percent (from 55,600 to 67,500), or about 1,200 per year. At least six other large Jewish communities have been growing considerably faster: Atlanta (4,800 per year); West Palm Beach, Fla. (4,700); San Francisco (4,500); Washington (3,100); South Palm Beach, Fla. (2,400); and Phoenix (2,000).

Despite the existence of almost 20 synagogues and three Jewish day schools, levels of religiosity in Las Vegas are well below those in most other Jewish communities. Among about 50 comparison Jewish communities, Las Vegas has the lowest percentage of households who always or usually participate in a Passover seder (50 percent), always or usually light Sabbath candles (11 percent), and keep a kosher home (5 percent); the second-lowest percentage of households who have a mezuzah on the front door (55 percent); and the third-lowest percentage of households who always or usually light Chanukah candles (64 percent).

The 48 percent intermarriage rate is the fourth highest of about 55 comparison Jewish communities. The 14 percent of Jewish households who reported current synagogue membership is the lowest of about 55 comparison Jewish communities.

Only 45 percent of Jewish children ages 5-12 attend formal Jewish education, the second-lowest level of about 30 comparison Jewish communities. Only 11 percent of Jewish teenagers between 13-17 currently attend formal Jewish education, which also is the second-lowest of the comparison Jewish communities.

Two important factors emphasize the difficulty that the organized Jewish community in Las Vegas will face as it tries to develop a more committed community. First, Las Vegas is not “home” for many Jewish households. Only 1 percent of adults in Jewish households in Las Vegas were born there and only 21 percent of Jewish households have lived in the community for 20 or more years.

Also, 5 percent of Jewish households said they would definitely move out of Las Vegas within the next three years, the fifth-highest percentage of about 30 comparison Jewish communities. People are simply not “rooted” in the area: Sixty-nine percent of Jewish respondents reported that they feel “not very much” or “not at all” a part of the Las Vegas Jewish community.

Second, the study shows the Jewish population of Las Vegas to be geographically dispersed and to have shifted location over the past decade, away from the central and southwestern parts of the city toward the northwest, southeast and northeast. It’s clearly more difficult to serve a Jewish community that is dispersed and is shifting location.

Almost all Jewish communities the size of Las Vegas, and many that are significantly smaller, have Jewish campuses often housing a Jewish federation, a Jewish community center and other Jewish institutions, such as a Jewish nursing home, Jewish independent and assisted living facilities for the elderly, one or more Jewish day schools, a coordinating agency for Jewish education, a Holocaust memorial, a Jewish museum and a Jewish Family Service building.

Las Vegas currently has its federation, JCC, and Jewish Family Service Agency operating from office buildings. The survey points to the need to establish such institutions on a Jewish community campus to “anchor” the community.

The organized Jewish community nationally needs to recognize the special challenges faced by Las Vegas, and the United Jewish Communities federation umbrella group has done just that. Local Jewish philanthropists need to react to this need, as Sheldon Adelson — who funded this study through the Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy of Las Vegas and the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas — and others are doing.

With appropriate attention, Las Vegas could become a Jewish oasis.

Ira M. Sheskin is director of the Jewish Demography Project at the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies at the University of Miami, and an associate professor of geography at the same institution.

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