Acknowledging the Pinchas Within
Last week we began the story of Pinchas, grandson of Aaron and great-nephew of Moses. Pinchas saw Zimri, a Jewish leader, and Cozbi, a Midianite princess, engage in a public display of immorality connected to the idol worship of the Midianites. Frustrated by Moses’ hesitation in responding to what Pinchas believed would destroy the Israelite people, he took matters into his own hands, grabbed a spear … and impaled the two of them through their genitals.
This week’s Torah portion begins with his reward for this act of zealotry: God gives him a covenant of peace and a covenant of everlasting priesthood.
This is a dangerous story. It’s dangerous because it seems to imply that when we see someone committing what we think of as an offense against God, we can take matters into our own hands. This is what Yigal Amir, the assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, apparently thought. And this is how the words of the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron might have been understood when, in 1996, he compared the Reform movement to Zimri and added that in times of plague it was sometimes necessary to take extreme action. He said that just as Zimri had tried to bring non-Jews into the Jewish people, so the Reform movement encouraged assimilation by bringing in non-Jews with “fictitious conversions.”
How should we respond to the story of Pinchas? We need to begin by admitting that our tradition, like other religious traditions we criticize, contains stories that, when read literally, could incite violence. Only then can we call on the religious leaders in other traditions to expose the violent teachings in their sacred texts. We must also publicly denounce anyone who acts out this violence or who uses rhetoric to incite and inflame. And we need to support those members of other communities who are willing to denounce the violence and the acts of terror that their co-religionists sometimes do in God’s name.
We’re not the only generation to be uncomfortable with the story of Pinchas. The rabbis of the Talmud make clear that his act should not be used as a model for anyone else. They explain that Pinchas ignored the appropriate legal process delineated in the Talmud: He did not warn the couple that this act could merit death, and even more problematic, he was the witness, judge and executioner. If Zimri had managed to kill Pinchas first, the Talmud says, Zimri would have been exonerated because it would have been self-defense. And if Pinchas had killed the couple at any moment but the actual moment of intercourse, then Pinchas would have been guilty of murder. In other words, don’t try this at home. In fact, don’t ever try this.
And yet God rewards Pinchas with the covenant of peace and his descendants with the covenant of eternal priesthood. How can we understand this reward?
Zealotry exists in our tradition, and it needs to be controlled. By making Pinchas a priest, responsible for the precise details of maintaining the sanctuary, Pinchas’ instinct to zealotry could be controlled and managed. Law is an antidote to violence. One can challenge the law, but that challenge must be done within the law.
Zealotry not only exists within our tradition, but it also exists within each of us. We need to confront our own “Pinchas” as well, the part of ourselves that is convinced we know what is “right” and is outraged when others cannot see what we know to be true. We need to acknowledge that “Pinchas” in us and be careful about what we say, including in conversations within our community on those issues about which we care most deeply, especially what is best for Israel and what is best for the United States. Perhaps this is what the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai suggests in his poem, “The Place Where We Are Right”:
From the place where we are right
Flowers will never grow
In the spring.
The place where we are right
Is hard and trampled
Like a yard.
But doubts and loves
Dig up the world
Like a mole, a plow.
And a whisper will be heard in the place
Where the ruined
House once stood.
Yes, Pinchas is given a covenant of peace. But in the giving is a warning. The words “my covenant of peace” are written in the Torah in a peculiar way. The vav in shalom is broken. Perhaps it is Torah’s way of emphasizing that Pinchas’ way is broken. Violence and zealotry can never lead to peace or redemption.
Laura Geller is senior rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, a Reform congregation.
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Budget Crisis Threatens Jewish Programs
Jewish social service programs that serve the elderly, disabled and at-risk children may end up as casualties of the state budget crisis, which leapt to a new level of urgency last week as California lawmakers failed to pass budget revisions before a July 1 deadline.
More than $4 million in state funding for four Jewish Family Service programs could be zeroed out if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has his way; budgets currently working their way through legislative committees also require significant cuts on top of previous cuts made during last September’s budget negotiations. If no budget compromise is reached in the legislature before California runs out of money, JFS could be forced to close down programs that aim to keep indigent elderly and disabled clients out of institutions, as well as one that gives shelter to victims of domestic abuse.
In addition, Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services and the Aviva Family and Children’s Services may be unable to continue operating residential programs for children after a likely state cut of 10 percent to already underfunded programs.
Service providers fear clients’ lives are in the balance.
“As a result of all this the safety net is going to be broken,” said Paul Castro, CEO and executive director of JFS, a beneficiary agency of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. “Where in prior years when the net was broken we had been in a position to catch people if they fell through, our best hope now is to just help break the fall, because we aren’t going to be able to catch them.”
Schwarzenegger and the legislature passed an 18-month budget last February that was supposed to remain in effect through June 2010. But California’s declining revenues and the failure of the May 19 propositions to free up initiative-locked dollars rendered the February budget worthless, a situation lawmakers failed to remedy when they couldn’t come to an agreement on budget revisions by July 1. A gap of $25.3 billion now lingers, on top of the $15 billion in cuts made in February.
Medi-Cal-funded programs will continue to be paid through July, though other budget areas may receive IOUs from State Controller John Chiang, which the state started issuing July 2.
JFS is bracing for the worst. It is prepared to begin informing clients of potential closures. Layoff notices that it hopes it won’t have to implement already went out to staff, and JFS and the union that represents most of its staff have agreed to a 45-day closure of affected agencies so it can regroup if funding disappears.
The largest JFS program targeted is the Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), a case management program that provides frail, needy seniors with community-based aid — nurse and social worker visits, taxi vouchers, home aides — to allow them to stay in their own homes and out of nursing facilities.
Forty-two MSSP programs operate across the state, and JFS sees 800 clients at the program it operates with a budget of $2.8 million, cut from $3.3 million earlier this year. While state legislators are hoping to keep the program intact in the budget they are currently working on, the governor’s proposal eliminates the state’s $1.4 million contribution — which is currently matched dollar-for-dollar by the federal government. The governor’s plan, or a long-term failure to pass a budget, would mean the closure of MSSP. Because it is a Medi-Cal supported program, it will continue to receive state dollars through July.
“In my conversations with Sacramento, I’ve been very straight about the reality. They ask what will happen if MSSP closes, and I say that some families — if the clients have family — will figure out ways to care for their elderly, and some clients will have to stay home, and they will die,” Castro said. “One of the things this program does is monitor them…. When nobody else is around, they may forget to take their medications; they may forget to eat. It won’t be long before many clients deteriorate.”
Castro said one estimate demonstrates that if half the MSSP clients statewide end up in nursing homes, it will cost Medi-Cal $200 million — not counting emergency room visits that will skyrocket — as opposed to the $28 million required to support the program statewide.
“It will balance the budget today, but you’ll have to pay for it tomorrow,” Castro said.
The same is true for Partners Adult Day Health Care, which is also a Medi-Cal-reimbursed program. The program shuttles 230 frail, medically challenged and disabled clients to a center in West Hollywood, where they receive meals, nursing care, social work and other services that keep them out of institutions.
The governor is proposing cutting the entire $736,000 in state support, effectively ending the program. The budget legislators failed to present but are still working on requires minor belt tightening.
“If a caregiver has to stay at home to take care of their mother, that means they have to quit their job, which means welfare or food stamps. The ripple effects are not being quantified as additional costs,” Castro said.
Linkages, another JFS program being targeted, uses a case management model to provide resources and services to about 125 disabled adults, costing $217,000 a year. The governor’s proposal would eliminate all funding, and the legislators’ version would cut it by one-third.
Two domestic violence shelters that also offer related services for 450 battered women and children would lose $347,000 in state funding in the governor’s version of the budget, and would be cut by 20 percent in the current legislators’ version. The JFS Family Violence Project would likely survive the cuts, as it also gets county and federal money, but it might need to be scaled back — perhaps to just one shelter instead of two.
Two programs that serve children whom the state has removed from their homes are facing an almost certain 10 percent reduction in funds, a cut that will be hard to absorb since state funding for residential programs has been stagnant for 14 of the last 19 years, with only a 5 percent increase since 2002-2003.
“We are witnessing the greatest threat to providing critical services to children who cannot remain at home that I have seen during my 20 years as CEO of Aviva Family and Children’s Services,” said Andrew Diamond, adding that government-mandated standards require a certain level of staffing and service, but government funding — a combination of state, federal and county dollars — doesn’t come close to covering the requirements, creating high fundraising demands difficult to achieve in this economy.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to make it up in charitable dollars, and I don’t know what is going to happen,” said Elias Lefferman, president and CEO of Vista Del Mar, a historically Jewish agency that still receives some funding from The Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation. “We’re going to have to take a look at our programs that we think are effective and efficient and make some tough choices.”
Vista has already cut its residential program from 88 beds three years ago to 36 beds now. An additional 24 kids are in a locked community treatment facility. Aviva closed a six-bed home this year, and now has 36 in its group home and high school in Hollywood. If state funding falls far enough, or if IOUs and payment delays gum up cash flow, credit lines and reserves may not suffice; programs may have to shrink or close.
During past budget crises — California is consistently late in passing budgets — JFS has been able to float threatened programs by dipping into reserves or borrowing from its line of credit. But Castro isn’t sure JFS would be able to carry the programs past August.
And Castro hasn’t been able to get a clear answer from Sacramento about any transition plan if the programs are forced to close.
“Are we to abandon these clients? Do we suddenly turn off the spigot?” Castro asked. “We’re dealing with people’s lives — this is not about bureaucracy.”
JFS, Aviva and Vista are all appealing to the Jewish community not only to lobby Sacramento, but to step up charitable contributions to make up for where the state is leaving them hanging.
“The part that is troubling is that nobody is thinking about what California is going to look like after this,” Castro said. “What is the state going to be about if we shut down all these programs that help the most vulnerable?”
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Is Twitter Just for Birdbrains?
I have this practice of jotting down my article ideas in a file and then coming back to them later when I’m ready to write. Ideas come freely. On the other hand, planting my rear down on a seat long enough to write a full article is far more daunting. As a result, the list grows progressively longer and, given the pace of change in technology, earlier ideas become dated very quickly.
In reviewing my list of article concepts today I noticed one item a few months back about an up and coming micro-blogging site called Twitter. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Figuring that it’s better later than never I thought I’d write a review for the last two of you left on the planet that don’t use Twitter. The rest of you are invited along as well.
For most of its initial, formative years the internet was comprised of websites that had static content composed by programmers. As internet technology developed we reached a platform commonly referred to as “Web 2.0” which contains a host of tools that allow anyone, with any skill level, to post web content in a variety of new formats. One such tool is the “blog” – a shortened form of the term “web log”. What you’re reading now is a blog. It’s a web page maintained by an individual that contains entries with thoughts and opinions on any topic. It’s usually displayed in chronological order and adding entries is similar to typing a word processing document.
From Blogs to Micro-Blogs
Just as we became comfortable with blogging, along came a new concept called “micro-blogging”. If blog entries are discussions on a topic then micro-blog entries are brief snippets. Twitter – ” title=”www.twitterfall.com” target=”_blank”>www.twitterfall.com – and type in a search term such as “global warming”. Watch live as posts about global warming from people all around the world scroll on screen. Corprate execs have also started to wake up to the potentials of using Twitter. Companies such as ” title=”Amazon ” target=”_blank”>Amazon actively use Twitter for marketing and research.
There’s no question that Twitter can be another one of those incredible wasteful activities that keep us glued to our computer screens while everything that needs to get done sits waiting for attention. It can however also be an amazing communication tool that lets you know instantly about things that you care about. Someone is online tweeting about it right now.
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Comedian Steve Harvey: atheists are idiots
I missed this gem last month. Appearing on “Larry King Live,” comedian Steve Harvey says that if you don’t believe in God, then you’re an “idiot.” I think what he meant was that when he looks around at creation, he sees nothing but ample evidence that God exists. That’s an argument the Apostle Paul made in his letter to the Romans. But that’s not exactly how Harvey said it.
How do I know there’s a God? Well, because one of his many Twitter profiles shared this video with me.
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No New Settlement Approval, So Far
Although the pounding of jackhammers and the dull roar of bulldozers still can be heard across Jewish settlements in the West Bank, no new construction has been approved for Jews in the area since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government came to office.
“Everything you hear about being built now was approved long ago,” Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said.
Settler leaders and anti-settlement activists confirmed Dror’s assessment.
Amid heightened tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over the issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the Netanyahu government’s withholding of approval for new building plans in the settlements is a concession intended to head off a major confrontation with the United States, some analysts said.
It’s not clear, however, how many plans — if any — have come across the government’s desk for authorization. The approval process for new West Bank construction is lengthy and bureaucratic.
“The relationship with the United States is more important to Netanyahu than settlements,” said Jonathan Rynhold, an expert in U.S.-Israel relations at Bar-Ilan University, where the prime minister announced last month for the first time that he would conditionally accept the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.
“He does not want to lose his credibility with the Americans. He says that you don’t have to do everything they say, but that you do have to be reasonable. Otherwise you will lose all your backing when there are more important issues on the agenda, like Iran.”
On Sunday at his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu used the phrase “two states for two peoples” for the first time.
On the issue of illegal outposts, the Netanyahu government has assured U.S. officials that it will dismantle some of the settlement outposts built without Israeli permission. There is some dispute over just how many Israel should dismantle: the 24 unauthorized settlements established before 2001, or the 100 or so illegal outposts documented in both Israeli and U.N. reports.
A handful of tiny and more recently established outposts have been dismantled since Netanyahu came to power in March. But their occupants have quickly re-established their presences — part of an ongoing cat-and-mouse game between some settlers and the Israeli government.
President Obama has called for an immediate halt to all settlement building.
Netanyahu has countered that settlements should be able to expand for “natural growth” — not expropriating or buying any new lands, but building where land already has been acquired in order to accommodate the natural growth of existing settlements.
While the Netanyahu government has not approved any new settlement construction, even for “natural growth,” enough building plans already have been approved to keep settlement construction going for years, say Israeli critics of the settlements.
Hagit Ofran, who heads Peace Now’s Settlement Watch division, says Netanyahu could go further.
“He could say today that all construction is stopping and we would see no building at all,” Ofran said.
She said some 3,000 housing units are currently under construction using permits granted under the previous government. Settler leaders say that is an inflated figure.
Ofran also said that funding for settlements and their development are part of the recently approved national budget — including the ongoing construction of several roads and other building sites.
Pinchas Wallerstein, a senior leader in the Yesha Council, the umbrella settler organization, said the movement has been heartened that, at least verbally, Netanyahu supports them and their demands for natural growth. But with no new construction permits on the immediate horizon, Wallerstein said his neighbors in the settlement of Ofra are building additions to their existing homes.
As crunch time approaches with the Americans and the call for dismantling illegal outposts grows louder, Netanyahu knows he might need new coalition partners for his government, which relies on right-wing parties, to survive.
By saying, as he did in the Cabinet meeting, that his government has made a two-state solution part of the national consensus, he appeared to be reaching out to the largest of his potential partners — Tzipi Livni’s Kadima Party. But in a sign that any attempt to woo Kadima into his coalition faces great hurdles, Livni on Monday dismissed Netanyahu’s talk of two states for two peoples.
“The prime minister still does not really believe that this is the right path for Israel,” Livni said at the Knesset, “but he understands that this is the right thing to say.”
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UJC Taps Silverman as Chief Executive
The umbrella organization of the North American Jewish federation system has hired Jerry Silverman, a key player in raising tens of millions of dollars for Jewish summer camps, as its next president and CEO.
Silverman was tapped to take the reins at the United Jewish Communities, which serves as the North American arm of a federation system that raises and distributes about $3 billion annually from its general campaigns, endowments and special fundraising drives.
Since 2004, Silverman has served as the executive director of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, overseeing the growth of the organization’s budget from slightly more than $1 million per year to more than $22 million.
A former high-level executive at the Levi Strauss and Co. and at the Stride Rite Corp., Silverman will succeed Howard Rieger on Sept. 30, a month after Rieger’s term as chief executive ends.
At UJC, Silverman faces a series of challenges, starting with a shrinking budget and increasing questions about the need for a national system.
“I am going into this really clearly with my eyes open,” he said. “I will be doing an inordinate amount of listening as we really look to put our agenda together going forward,” he said.
Federation campaigns across the country have been down or stagnating in recent years, a problem that has been exacerbated by the recession. In the past week, UJC officials said they project a 13 percent decrease in the system-wide campaign this year.
Groups Set Major Iran Push for September
U.S. Jewish groups are planning a mass push in September to press for Iran sanctions.
The groups are planning a Washington Day on Sept. 10 that would bring together 300 to 500 leaders from across the United States to press for sanctions legislation, as well as a mass protest outside the United Nations in New York City on Sept. 24 — about the time Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to address the General Assembly.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations established a working group last month to examine how the post-June 12 elections crisis in Iran would affect efforts to isolate the hard-line regime as long as it sustained its suspected nuclear weapons program. The elections, widely regarded as rigged, have sparked a major protest movement.
“We held off for a little while to see what the outcome would be,” Presidents Conference vice-chairman Malcolm Hoenlein was quoted as telling member groups in a conference call Monday to announce the dates. “While it’s not completely clear, Ahmadinejad announced he was coming to the United Nations and the nuclear program continues.”
The Washington day will include meetings at the White House and with congressional leaders.
Alan Solow, the chairman of the Presidents Conference, was quoted as telling those on the call that a huge turnout at the Sept. 24 rally was critical. Hoenlein said groups should reach out to non-Jewish groups as a means of emphasizing the broader threat the Iranian regime poses; he said he would seek Muslim and Christian participation.
Empire Launches Organic Poultry Line
Empire Kosher poultry is launching lines of organic and antibiotic-free (ABF) poultry.
The Pennsylvania company announced last week that it is ready to roll out both lines nationally.
“As we’ve seen demand for ABF and organic products grow in the non-kosher world, we decided to enter these markets with kosher products,” CEO Greg Rosenbaum said in a statement.
ABF designates poultry that is not injected with any antibiotics or hormones. Organic chicken also adheres to ABF standards, as well as U.S. Department of Agriculture standards for organic poultry.
Empire also announced last week that new equipment design would enable the company to increase its peak production volume from 350,000 chickens per week to nearly 800,000.
Israeli Witnesses Testify Before U.N. Panel
Witnesses from Israel testified before a U.N. commission investigating human rights violations during the Gaza military operation.
The Israeli witnesses, including the father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who is being held in Gaza, testified Monday in Geneva since they were unable to testify before the commission last month in Gaza.
South African Judge Richard Goldstone, a war crimes prosecutor in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda probes, is heading the commission. Israel did not allow the commission to enter the country to carry out its investigation, saying it would be biased.
Noam Shalit had already submitted a written statement asking the committee to call for his son’s release.
A resident of Ashkelon who was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza testified before the committee Monday, as did Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin, lecturers from the Sapir College and several representatives of the Sderot Information Center, Ynet reported.
“What was my crime — that I’m a Jew living in Ashkelon?” Dr. Mirella Sidrer of Ashkelon told the committee, according to Ynet. “I studied medicine in order to help people from all over the world. I helped women in Gaza.
“I am a common civilian who has never had a hand in any kind of act of war. I also regret the casualties and the innocent victims on the other side. Enough with the blood and the suffering; it has to stop.”
Briefs courtesy Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Cohen’s ‘Brüno’ Raises Stakes on Jewish Humor
Universal Pictures’ highly anticipated mock documentary, “Brüno,” opens July 10, with a story line that is as hilarious as it is controversial. But whether Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest comic opus is perceived to be provocative or offensive, homophobic or passionately pro-tolerance, this saga of a gay fashionista who aspires to become the “biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler” has some of the most sidesplitting Jewish moments of any movie of the year. Here are some favorites:
1. When Brüno fails to achieve uber-fame by solving the problems in Darfur, he comforts himself with the knowledge that “luckily, there is still one sh__hole left to fix in the world: The Middle East” (or “Middle Earth,” as he calls it). But he doesn’t make many friends while traipsing in a black hat, payot and a Speedo through a religious area in Israel, where enraged residents chase him out of the hood.
2. Brüno conducts dialogues between Israeli and Arab leaders, including an ex-Mossad chief and a former Palestinian minister. Alas, he confuses the word “hummus” with “Hamas.”
3. Brüno decides the best way to become famous is to be kidnapped by Muslim extremists, and so visits a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade in a refugee camp in Lebanon. “I want the best guys in the business. Al Qaeda is so 2001,” he tells the man. “Your king Osama looks like a dirty wizard or a homeless Santa Claus,” he adds. Needless to say, Brüno gets kicked out rather than kidnapped.
4. Brüno and his manager, desperate to land celebrity interviews, consult a chart they have made of top actors. There is Wilhelm Schmidt (Will Smith), Adolf Pittler (Brad Pitt) and lastly, a man Brüno calls “Der Fuhrer.” The camera pans to reveal the photograph of said star: Mel Gibson.
5. After Congressman Ron Paul pronounces Brüno a “queer,” the fashionista laments, “I couldn’t even shtup RuPaul [sic]. How am I going to get famous?
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Bin Laden been in Los Angeles
Last week, Steve Coll, who has spent the past decade digging deep into the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, wrote on the New Yorker’s Think Tank blog that the question of whether bin Laden had ever been in the United States had finally been answered. Coll wrote:
The question of whether Osama bin Laden has ever visited the United States, a subject on which I have expended an unhealthy amount of energy in the course of various journalistic and biographical research, has now seemingly been settled. Osama was here for two weeks in 1979, it seems, and he visited Indiana and Los Angeles, among other places. He had a favorable encounter with an American medical doctor; he also reportedly met in Los Angeles with his spiritual mentor of the time, the Palestinian radical Abdullah Azzam.
This settling of the debate, Coll says, is thanks to a new forthcoming book by Osama’s first wife, Najwa bin Laden, and his son, “Growing Up bin Laden.”
“Not a particularly consequential experience, perhaps,” Coll wrote, “but surely one that has a life in Osama’s memory and imagination—and another indication, among many available in his life, that he should be understood not only as a self-isolating radical imbued with millenarian religious narratives, but also as a modern and globalized figure whose experiences and outlook belong very much to our age.”
Thanks to LAObserved for the link to Coll’s piece. After the jump, an excerpt from a bound galley of “Growing Up bin Laden” and a classic “South Park” clip mocking Osama:
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Record Attendance at Israel Film Festival
Despite founder and executive director Meir Fenigstein’s decision to tone down the festivities at the 24th Israel Film Festival in light of the stagnant economy, this year’s showcase of Israeli cinema was anything but dour. The June 3 opening-night gala at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre was tastefully modest, but the turnout was not — the grand old theater was teeming with boisterous film aficionados, local celebs and filmmakers, and actors flown in from Israel for the affair.
Far from toned down was the enthusiasm for the opening night film, “Lost Islands,” a touching family saga that sold out nearly every screening during the festival and prompted Fenigstein to add show times to meet audience demand. The founder himself was a little awed at the overwhelming turnout: “This year far exceeded our expectations, despite the economy,” Fenigstein said. The festival, which featured more than 30 features, documentaries and television series during a two-week run that ended June 18, reached a new record for the decade — more than 19,000 moviegoers attended screenings in Beverly Hills or West Hills, and box office receipts were up nearly 20 percent.
During the opening-night gala, Israfest Foundation honored Jewish Federation President John Fishel with the IFF Humanitarian Award. Other honorees included songwriter Diane Warren (IFF Visionary Award), Branko Lustig (IFF Lifetime Achievement Award) and Academy Award-winning producer Robert Lantos (IFF Lifetime Visionary Award). Eight Israeli graduate film students were honored with production scholarships and had their films screened during the festival. — Dikla Kadosh, Contributing Writer
Kriegsman Becomes 2009 Milken Scholar
Alixandra Kriegsman, a recent Milken Community High School graduate, was one of 10 students nationwide honored as a 2009 Milken Scholar. The Milken Family Foundation presents the award to students of all backgrounds who embody the intelligence, leadership qualities and drive to become the program’s model “lifelong leaders for a better world.”
The 10 winners, selected from 400 nominees, receive a $10,000 scholarship in addition to ongoing support and resources during their academic and professional careers.
Although Kriegsman attended Milken Community High School, the only link between the school and the foundation is Michael Milken, co-founder of the Milken Scholars program and benefactor of Milken School.
In the 20 years since the program was instituted, nearly 250 students have been honored with this award and the accompanying opportunities for success derived from the monetary support, mentors, networking opportunities and ongoing resources provided.
Part of Kol Echad, Milken Community High School’s a cappella group, Kriegsman also uses her singing talent to spread her love of music to children around the world by creating tutorials on reading music and singing and by forming the Rockaria band to play for children with special needs. She served as an editor-in-chief of Milken’s newspaper, was among 25 students from across the country chosen for the Bronfman Youth Fellowship and has won myriad awards in subjects ranging from science to music to English to service in tikkun olam (repairing the world). — Rebecca Abeles, Contributing Writer
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