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Jewish Journal

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August 2, 2011

Master class helps Israelis learn the art of film, TV

Leave a Comment / California, Community, News /

A point of pride within the Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership is the annual Film and Television Master Class, a weeklong seminar that pairs emerging Israeli creative talent with Hollywood “masters” — a handful of big names from the major networks, talent agencies and movie studios — who share trade secrets and expertise with the Holy Land hopefuls.

When the idea for a master class first percolated through Federation, it was considered a good match for the partnership: “We asked ourselves, ‘How do we create kesher — connections — between Israelis and Americans so that they can know one another?’ And the best way to do that is through an interest, a passion,” said Jill Holtzman Hoyt, Federation’s senior director for leadership development.

The master class was born when Federation decided it could offer an incipient Israeli film and television industry unique access to Hollywood. Now in its 13th year, the master class, which usually meets during the summer in Tel Aviv, took place in Los Angeles this past July for only the second time since its inception.

“We wanted to do it here in honor of our centennial celebration,” Hoyt said. In the past, Federation had to foot the bill to fly the masters to Tel Aviv. Staying local was more economical, to be sure, but also more convenient: “We can offer better and more access to the industry from Los Angeles.”

This year, Federation accepted 26 participants into the master class —14 from Israel and 12 from Los Angeles — for a rigorous week of meetings that ran daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and included visits to CBS, Warner Bros., Sony and William Morris Endeavor as well as the private production offices of producers Jerry Bruckheimer and J.J. Abrams. The highly secretive program — participants were not made privy to the following day’s schedule until the night before — was coordinated by Federation’s Entertainment Division co-chairs: CBS President Nina Tassler and Danny Sussman, a talent manager with Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Their combined industry connections scored the group an audience with a number of heavyweights, including “Two and Half Men” producer Chuck Lorre (ostensibly recouping from the Charlie Sheen debacle), the cast of the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” WB President Peter Roth and Electus CEO Ben Silverman, producer of “The Office” and “Ugly Betty,” among others. On any given day, session topics ranged from “The Impact and Merits of Social Networking” to “Jewish Communal Responsibility,” and, according to participants, these forums were dispensaries of pragmatic, if not obvious advice.

“This experience seems like a big dream,” Ofira Gold Alfenbaum, a 37-year-old actress and screenwriter, said. “When we saw Jerry Bruckheimer yesterday, I looked at him and I thought, ‘Wow, what’s more than what he’s got?’ If I was him, I’d go to sleep and never do another thing. But you know what he said? He said that you always want more. You can’t stop.”

The scope of Hollywood’s appetite, as well as its sheer size, was especially awe-inspiring among the Israelis. “Everything is so big! I mean, even the buildings,” exclaimed Shmuel Beru, an Ethiopian Israeli filmmaker who had been to Los Angeles twice before to screen his feature “Zrubavel” at local film festivals. But until this week, he had only imagined the inner workings of Hollywood from half a world away, and the glamorous images took some getting used to: “I was expecting that these people are from another planet — like, they don’t eat what we eat; they do everything different. Even their sex is not like our sex,” he said.

On a Friday morning, during a break from one of the sessions at the Federation building, Giyora Yahalom, the 36-year-old creator of the TV drama series “Reviat Ran” (“The Ran Quadruplets”), which aired for two years on Israeli television, expressed his frustration at the apparent gulf between the Israeli and American entertainment industries.

“I feel kind of depressed because most people think they have to give us advice we cannot use in Israel, because the industry is way too small; it works by other scales, other rules,” Yahalom said. For instance, the Israelis discovered that Hollywood’s strict and often tortuous formalities — no unsolicited material, artists must have representation, networks compete for shows with bidding wars, etc. — can make something as simple as pitching a project seem impossible.

“In Israel, when you have an idea, you just pick up the phone,” Alfenbaum said. “Here everything is so complicated; you have to deal with that agent, and that other agent, and the producer, and the agent of the producer, and the sister of the producer. I thought to myself, ‘What great luck I’m an Israeli because I don’t know if I could handle this.’ ”

“But,” Yahalom added, “I can also feel a bit proud because once we saw how things are made in Hollywood, we cannot believe how such a miracle as an industry of TV is existing in Tel Aviv — it is a miracle in the desert!”

Intimidation, self-assessment and comparison to one’s peers were running themes during the week. The Israelis were intimidated by Hollywood, and the local American participants were intimidated by the Israelis.

“All the Israelis are so established,” gushed Sharon Rennert, 45, an editor for the television shows “The Bachelorette” and MTV’s “The Real World.” Rennert said that, in general, the Israelis were more accomplished than their American counterparts with solid credits in television and film. “They’ve done way more [than the locals]. You’d think that if they’ve directed features and run television shows as they are done here, they’d be living in Beverly Hills.”

But even as the Israelis had more concrete credits under their belt, the Americans, who came with projects in development, could benefit more from the practical advice offered by the masters. Rennert, for example, is developing a feature documentary based on the life of her grandfather, the partisan resistance fighter Tuvia Bielski. “There’s already a feature film starring Daniel Craig as my grandfather,” she said, referring to the 2008 film “Defiance” — evidently well-practiced on her pitch-perfect selling point.

“Most of the Americans are newcomers,” Yahalom agreed. “The advice the mentors are giving them is kind of practical; they can use it, and we can only be inspired by it.”

Reasons to participate in the program were many and various. Omri Marcus, writer of the popular comedy series “Eretz Nehederet” (“What a Wonderful Country”), who recently signed a multiyear deal to partner with the European media conglomerate ProSiebenSat.1, was most amused observing the psychological impetus prompting beginners and masters alike to pursue entertainment careers. “This business is divided by people here for the power and people that are here for the money,” Marcus said. “I’m here because I didn’t have friends in elementary school.”

“TV and film are the mediums,” he continued, “but psychology is the thing that we are dealing with. It doesn’t matter if we’re doing reality shows or game shows or comedy or documentary. The question is, ‘Did it touch you? Did you learn something new about yourself?’ ”

Introspection was apparently a program requirement. Although participants agreed the week was free of any awkward political tension (Federation explicitly discouraged the interference of Israeli politics, several participants said), a heated discussion took place regarding a question of Jewish identity: Are you a Jewish filmmaker? Or a filmmaker who happens to be Jewish?

“If I can get money as a Jewish filmmaker, I’ll do it Jewish,” Beru said, only half kidding.

Not everyone was as well-humored on the topic. “The subject of being Jewish is so irrelevant for all the people in Israel because we don’t have this identity crisis [that Americans do]. For us, being Israeli and being Jewish are the same,” Marcus said.

Yahalom agreed, channeling a proclamation from “The Godfather” to make his point: “It reminds me of that famous line, something like, ‘I wanted to get out, but they put me back in.’ Because, for me, I don’t care about being Jewish; I’m atheistic. But always someone has to ask me about [being Jewish], and although I don’t want to deal with it, I’m always forced to. And this is what it means to be Jewish.”

Master class helps Israelis learn the art of film, TV Read More »

Newsflash! Women Need to Weight Train, too.

Leave a Comment / News, Worldwide /

Depression. Insomnia. Cellulite. Muscle Loss. Back Pain. Arthritis. High Blood Pressure. High Cholesterol. Osteoporosis. Heart Disease.

If all 10 of these common female problems sound about as fun as an enema, you should weight train. The benefits of strength training, at any age, are way more than just a tight tuches. Increased strength, reduced body fat, improved athletic performance, and decreased health risks like the ones listed above. Looking good is just a bonus. You’ll also have more energy and sleep better, too.

The belief that weight training will make a woman look like Lou Ferrigno is B.S. Men produce 10 to 30 times more testosterone than women. It just isn’t possible. It also isn’t possible for you to get the body you really want with cardio alone. Cardio only burns calories while you’re doing the workout. After a few weeks of the same old workout, your body will begin burning less calories and you’ll quickly plateau.

Your muscle determines your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn throughout the day and even while you sleep. For each pound of muscle you gain, you can burn up to 50 calories more every day. Keep it up for 10 weeks and you can kiss another pound goodbye! Here’s more: strengthening lower back muscles can eliminate lower back pain and adding muscle helps support your bones, which means less breaks, better bone density, and stronger joints. That sounds sweeter than a Godiva bar!

Weight training doesn’t have to mean an expensive gym membership and overdosing on protein. You can do it at home and save the egg whites for breakfast.

Here is a 30-minute workout to get you going. If you are a beginner, you can do this set once, and if you are a little more advanced you can repeat it twice. Do this 3 times a week at home with a couple of dumbbells, a chair and a yoga mat:
Start by stretching your soon-to-be buff muscles. Raise your arms above your head and across your chest to stretch them out. Get into lunge position and switch to stretch both legs. Bend over and touch your toes to stretch your Hamstrings. Then, run in place or jump rope for 3 minutes. Now you’re limber!

25 Wide-Leg Squats
25 Squat and Kick (alternate legs)
25 Bent Over Reverse Flys
25 Overhead Tricep Extension

25 Side Leg Extensions (alternate legs)*
25 Reverse Lunges (alternate legs)
25 Tricep Dips on chair
25 Bicep Curls sitting on chair

Cool down:
Stand up, raise your arms above your head then bend your knees slightly and place your hands on the back of your ankles or calves.
Return to standing position and spread your legs wide. Raise your arm above your head and lean to one side. Switch.
Put your hands behind your back and link your fingers. Bend forward and pull your arms up as far as you can.

*Here you can hold on to the chair for balance.

For more workout tips and information go to our website at http://www.meetsima.com

Peace and Muscles,
Sima

Newsflash! Women Need to Weight Train, too. Read More »

Washington state court upholds kosher slaughter law

Leave a Comment / Food, Is Featured?, Leisure, News /

A Washington state appellate court ruled against an animal protection group’s bid to strike down as unconstitutional a law protecting religious slaughter.

The three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals on July 25 was unanimous in rejecting the suit brought by Pasado’s Safe Haven.

The state law defines as humane stunning an animal before slaughter, which is the conventional means of slaughter, and severing the carotid artery, which it says is “in accordance with the ritual requirements of (a) religious faith.” The latter method is used in Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter.

Pasado’s said the law was unconstitutional in part because it favored religious ritual over other methods. The court rejected the claim, saying that invalidating part of an act while upholding another would usurp the state Legislature.

The Orthodox Union, an umbrella body for synagogues and a kosher certifier, praised the ruling. 

“Kosher slaughter has been targeted by various fringe activists, but it is a necessary component of our community’s religious life,” it said in a statement. “We appreciate that elected officials, such as those in the Washington legislature, recognize the humane nature of shechita, and ensure its protection and thereby the flourishing of Orthodox Jewish life. “

Washington state court upholds kosher slaughter law Read More »

Miranda July on sex and Judaism

Leave a Comment / Culture, News /

I had a hard time with “Me and You and Everyone We Know.” I remember walking out of the theater, which I rarely do, and not because I hated the film but because I made the mistake of seeing it with my mother and sister and they hated the film. It was too edgy and downtempo and weird. I remember strange sex scenes that made me a little bit queasy. It wasn’t just the stuff the you don’t want to watch next to your Mom, it was the stuff you don’t want to think exists. So it made perfect sense when I read the following in Katrina Onstad’s recent New York Times Magazine profile of July as journalist and muse were driving through Berekely, July’s hometown:

“That’s where I lost my virginity,” she said casually. “I was 16. He was a 27-year-old grad student at Berkeley.” This revelation seemed in line with how July uses sex in her films: as both a sudden surprise and a way to illuminate the inner lives of her characters. “I was always interested in sex, even as a kid. Sex includes shame and humiliation and fantasies and longing. It’s so dense with the kinds of things I’m interested in.”

Turns out July now lives in Silver Lake with her husband Mike Mills, the director of “Beginners,” a film I’d say I really liked, so much so that I included it in an upcoming story on Jewish actresses (French actress Melanie Laurent, last seen burning down a red velvet theatre full of Nazis in “Inglourious Basterds” plays Anna, who—you guessed it—is a Jewish actress. Of actors, and really, all public performers, she wisely says: “They’re good at looking one way and being another way”).

July figures in here because she seems to be the kind of filmmaker who is most interested in the human interior. She wants to get past the surface to the place most people try to hide. And in her view, that is often a dark place of repression and denial. It’s messy and complicated and psychologically perverted.

What I didn’t know about July was that she has some Jewish blood coursing through her veins (Ah ha! That explains the Freudian worldview). She was born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger, a name that the Times article says her father, Richard, adopted at age 9, when a shrink told him he was really a Grossinger—of Catskills fame—but after spending several summers there trying to dig up his past, he discovered he was really the product of an affair and therefore, not a Grossinger at all. Miranda changed her name from “Grossinger” to “July” when she was in her 20s. “It was part of being self-authoring,” she told Onstad. “And it was vanity.”

According to The Times, the other bit about her Jewish background is this:

Her dad was born Jewish—there was “the occasional Hanukkah candle,” she says—and her mom was raised Protestant, but the family trade was New Age. “There was no one specific belief but a kind of looser spiritual believing in just about everything,” July says. “I think there’s something spiritual in a very day-to-day, mundane existence. It’s impossible to articulate, and it’s happening now, almost like a perverse secret….That’s always sort of fascinating to me.”

 

Two things I find odd about that last graph: First, who lights the ‘occasional Hanukkah candle’? Referring to a Hanukkah candle in the singular is sort of an oxymoron, since no night of Hanukkah is celebrated with one light. I suppose what’s she’s saying is that every few years the one thing her family would do Jewishly is light the shamash? Brownie points for religious freedom; very New Age-y. Second: How can one believe in ‘everything’? Belief, by its very nature, implies a choice of some kind. Separating out that which moves you or appeals to you from the other things that don’t. If you believe in everything, what you’re really saying is that you believe in nothing. It’s like that line from “The Incredibles”: If everyone is special, than no one is special.

But Miranda July is special because the New York Times thought it factually fitting to name her “one of the most talented filmmakers of her generation.” Her next movie, “The Future,” which is only her second feature, comes out this summer. The New Yorker’s Elizabeth Minkel wrote a clever response to the piece, questioning why Miranda July is so “infuriating” as Onstad repeatedly describes her. It does seem hyperbolic when “weird” or “strange” or “bizarre” would suffice. Though Minkel admits she has not seen July’s films, she suggests that to cultivate an interest in July, one should read her short stories in which she employs techniques Minkel describes as “strange” and “indescribable.”

No, July is not exactly infuriating, but more or less amusing.

Miranda July on sex and Judaism Read More »

My single peeps: Ryan S.

Leave a Comment / Culture, My Single Peeps, Singles /

It might be my own prejudice, but there’s this really odd side to Ryan — the one that believes God sent him a message to become more religious. And then there’s the really normal side — the one that’s a sweet, hardworking accountant for charter schools in Los Angeles. Because of the latter, I found it difficult to do what I’d normally do — write him off as a kook. Because he’s not. He’s a nice guy looking for spiritual fulfillment and on a journey to better himself. When he e-mailed asking me to help him find a woman and told me he had an interesting story to tell, I was intrigued. 

“A couple of years ago, I had a vision from God. I closed my eyes to go to sleep and saw the Torah as if I were watching a 3D movie. From that moment on, I felt I had to study Torah and become more observant.” A month earlier, his mother had a vision of the Ten Commandments. “I was skeptical at first, and then I had the same experience.” He wasn’t asleep yet, and he was completely sober. “I asked my rabbi if anyone told him anything like that. He said, ‘No.’ ”

Ryan’s parents, unaffiliated Jews from Chatsworth, became ba’alei teshuvah (newly religious Jews), though his three younger siblings aren’t religious. I ask how people react to hearing his story. “I’m glad I can get the message out there. In every person’s own way, God sends messages, but it’s up to you to determine what that message is and how to react to it. You can ignore it, too — write it off to a weird coincidence. But I felt it couldn’t be ignored. It was so strong that it erased all my doubts. I was an atheist up to that point. I’m the type of person who won’t do something just to do it. I needed physical proof, and that kind of gave it to me.”

He says that dating’s been nearly impossible now that he’s changed his outlook on what he wants. He wants a ba’al teshuvah who’s committed to becoming religious. “People who were born frum [religious] write me off. I don’t wear a yarmulke 24/7 — not yet — and they worry that I’m not committed. But this is something I’m committed to for the rest of my life.”

When I ask him about his hobbies, he says, “I wake up at 5, 5:30 a.m. and try my best to make it to services. I get to work at 8 and go home at 5 and drive an hour to an hour and a half to get home. I have a couple of hours to myself before I sleep and have to do it all over again. I have very little time for working out or dating,” though he does want a woman who’s in shape.  “There’s a hiking trail by my house which I still do. I’m into sports — basketball. I’m a big Lakers fan. Sports was my religion, before religion.”

Ryan says he doesn’t need a girl with the same interests he has. “They don’t need to match mine. If you’re on the same page with religion, then everything else will fall into place. I know what I want now, finally.”

If you’re interested in anyone you see on My Single Peeps, send an e-mail and a picture, including the person’s name in the subject line, to mysinglepeeps@jewishjournal.com, and we’ll forward it to your favorite peep.

Seth Menachem is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. You can see more of his work on his Web site, sethmenachem.com, and meet even more single peeps at mysinglepeeps.com.

My single peeps: Ryan S. Read More »

Obituaries: Aug. 5-11, 2011

Leave a Comment / Obituaries /

Sarah L. Abramovitch died June 16 at 80. Survived by daughter Gail (Sequoia) Schroeder; 1 grandchild; sisters Miriam (Eddie) Kasman, Jessie (Joe) Murray. Chevra Kadisha

Sandra Barbach died July 19 at 69. Survived by brother Harry (Eleanor). Mount Sinai

Agnes Neuman Berkowitz died July 11 at 82. Survived by daughter Sharon Gluck; son Allan Gluck; 1 grandchild; brother-in-law Leon Metz. Mount Sinai

Julius Blum died July 19 at 90. Survived by daughter Bunnee; son Ricky. Mount Sinai

Frederick B. Bofird died July 16 at 90. Survived by nieces Nancy (Bill) McPherson, Gail (Joe) Vella, Robin (Jim) Best; 7 great-nieces and nephews; 2 great-great nieces. Mount Sinai

Ellen Brener died July 12 at 68. Survived by sister Barbara Parker; nephew Adam Parker. Hillside

Hal Cohon died July 15 at 83. Survived by wife Adrienne; son Rob (Ande); daughter Lori (Rich) Oster; 2 grandchildren; 1 great-grandchild. Mount Sinai

Donald Alan Diamond died June 19 at 90. Survived by wife Louisa; daughter Maxine Roxanne; stepdaughters Fortuna Israel, Emily Israel; sister Muriel Krems; brother Neal. Chevra Kadisha

Irma Dispeker died July 14 at 93. Survived by daughter Louise Goodchaux; 2 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Ruth Duze died July 16 at 102. Survived by daughter Glenda Levy; son Burton Norman; 5 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great-grandchild. Mount Sinai

Sherry R. Elkin died July 10 at 75. Survived by daughter Cara; son Eric. Mount Sinai

Elliott Feinberg died July 6 at 30. Survived by mother Kathleen; father Martin. Hillside

Mose Firestone died July 6 at 96. Survived by granddaughter Karoline Tomacich. Hillside

Sol Frankel died June 29 at 84. Survived by wife Josephine; daughters Gail Turett, Debra, Judith Lamb; 2 grandchildren; brother Carl. Mount Sinai

Melba Franklin died July 11 at 92. Survived by husband Ben; daughters Alana Megdol, Frenda; son Howard; brother Harold (Norma) Green; 8 grandchildren. Hillside

Eugen Friedman died July 13 at 84. Survived by sister Natalie; brother Arthur. Hillside

Hillard Friedman died July 14 at 96. Survived by wife Beatrice; daughter Rhonda “Ronnie”; son Robert (Aly); 1 grandchild. Mount Sinai

James T. Gaspar died July 15 at 69. Survived by wife Carol; daughter Jennifer Naomi; son Noah Daniel. Mount Sinai

Shirley A. Gelfand died July 14 at 80. Survived by husband Sander; daughters Roberta (Wally) Korhonen, Alayne; son Joel; 3 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; brother Michael (Patricia) Cohen. Mount Sinai

Irving Gronsky died July 13 at 85. Survived by wife Audrey; daughters Barbara (Thomas) Card, Janet (Alex) Kahan; son David (Wendy); 5 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren. Hillside

Richard Halpert died July 16 at 92. Survived by daughters Edythe (Patrick) Iversen Martin-Prevel, Betsy (Larry) Orman; son Lew (Patty); 5 grandchildren. Hillside

Netta Handler died July 17 at 90. Survived by daughters Laurie, Dana, Shelley. Hillside

Alan Roy Josefsberg died July 18 at 68. Survived by wife Vickie; brother Steven (Susan). Mount Sinai

Joseph Klein died June 9 at 85. Survived by daughter Susan Ungvari; sons Steven, George; 8 grandchildren; 1 great-grandchild. Chevra Kadisha

Victoria L. Klein died July 20 at 80. Survived by son Mark (Monica) Nolan; daughter Robin Everett; 2 grandchildren; sister Charol Furnstein; brother Ken Gutapfel. Mount Sinai

Aimee Leon died July 16 at 78. Survived by daughters Julie (Jon) Drucker, Janette (Robert) Speyer; 4 grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Bernard Levin died July 14 at 82. Survived by wife Deborah; daughters Dana (Stephen) Shrager, Kathy Gallagher; 3 grandchildren. Hillside

Constance Matz died July 22 at 77. Survived by daughter Jill Ann (Robert); son Randy; 5 grandchildren; brother Dennis Slee. Mount Sinai

Eli Melcer died July 17 at 81. Survived by sons Bruce, Stuart (Wendy); daughter Ellen (Jerrold) Korn; 3 grandchildren; brother Leon. Mount Sinai

Arlene Eisenberg Newman died July 15 at 73. Survived by companion Leon Kassorla; daughter Leslie; son Randy; 3 grandchildren; brother Leonard (Audrey). Hillside

Loretta Pearlstein died July 15 at 94. Survived by son Alan. Hillside

Paul Pollock died July 7 at 93. Survived by wife Shirley; daughter Eileen (Charles) Weber; son Robert (Karen); 5 grandchildren; sisters Jeri Margolin, Esther Solter. Hillside

Adrienne Pomerantz died July 3 at 59. Survived by husband Michael; brother Joel Delman; sister-in-law Ellen. Mount Sinai

Jerome Rapoport died July 19 at 85. Survived by wife Dorothy; son Russell (Jan); daughters Janice (Curtis) Beach, Lois (David) Puretz; 5 grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Mollie Richman died July 14 at 91. Survived by daughter Barbara; son Allen (Ann); 7 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; 5 great-great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Jean Rovner died July 15 at 91. Survived by daughters Beverly (Alan) Eugelberg, Janis (Brian); son Daniel; 3 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren; brother David Martinez. Hillside

Amy Schwartz died July 17 at 27. Survived by fiancé Joseph Port; father Neil D.; brother Scott. Mount Sinai

Sherwood Schwartz died July 12 at 94. Survived by wife Mildred; daughter Hope (Nico) Juber; sons Lloyd, Elroy, Ross. Hillside

Bernice “Bookie” Silberman died July 14 at 79. Survived by daughter Ivette; sons Malury (Tokiko), Sabin (Karen); 3 grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Fawnn Lank Sneddon died July 11 at 53. Survived by husband Thomas; sons Hank, Bennett; brother Mark Lank. Mount Sinai

Inge Sternberg died July 14 at 91. Survived by stepdaughter Ruth Furst; stepson Martin Sternberg; 5 grandchildren; 9 great-grandchildren. Hillside

Mara Viner died July 21 at 86. Survived by husband Izyaslav; daughter Aleksandra (Vladamir) Bass; 1 grandchild. Mount Sinai

Eleanor Yudkoff died July 10 at 91. Survived by sister Rhoda Kappllow. Mount Sinai

Mania Zajf died June 22 at 90. Survived by daughter Helena (Ira) Katz; son Bernard; 2 grandchildren; sister Klara Kislowicz. Hillside

Frances Roberta Zamir died July 13 at 66. Survived by husband Avner; father Martin Swede; brother Earle Swede; brother-in-law Gary (Carol). Mount Sinai

Obituaries: Aug. 5-11, 2011 Read More »

Revisionist History: Parashat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22)

Leave a Comment / Is Featured?, Judaism, News, Torah /

My grandmother loved to tell family stories in which key details were changed. Sometimes she swapped out one time period or location for another. Sometimes key characters were replaced or motivations recast. More than slips of memory, these alterations were her way of putting the past into perspective, of teaching lessons and of casting a favorable light on the generations gone by. I lovingly called this trait “Nana’s revisionist history.”

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Devarim, Moses presents his own case of revisionist history. As he stands before the Israelites and recalls many of the events that took place during their wandering years, he includes the retelling of how, as the people grew in number, his task of serving as judge over all of their disputes proved to be too burdensome. As a result, he explains, he began delegating his authority to other able leaders. In the retelling, Moses says, “Thereupon I said to you, ‘I cannot bear the burden of you by myself’ ” (Deuteronomy 1:9). From Moses’ point of view, this was a story about him relieving himself of certain arduous tasks in order to become a more effective leader.

But when we compare Moses’ recollection of this experience to its first recounting in Exodus, it becomes evident that Moses skipped over some key elements of the narrative. First, according to the book of Exodus, Moses was not the one to realize that he was overwhelmed in his position of judge. It was his father-in-law, the Midianite priest Yitro, who took notice of his plight, inquired about his judging process and suggested a new way of managing the situation (Exodus 18:13-27). It was Yitro who said, “What is this thing that you are doing to the people? Why do you act alone, while all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” (Exodus 18:14). Second, from Yitro’s words, we realize that what Moses experienced as his own overburdened schedule was actually a much bigger issue. Moses may have been overburdened, but the people were also without justice — waiting all day to be heard.

In his retelling, Moses falls into two of the common pitfalls of people engaged in self-reflection: He fails to recall the significant input of others, and he places his own experiences at the center of a much larger narrative. Essentially, either way you slice it, Moses presents the past as being all about him.

And I wonder: What can we learn from Moses’ process of introspection? How might it inform our own soul-searching in the weeks ahead?

Parashat Devarim is always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, the 9th of Av, the day on which we commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. In this sense, Devarim serves as one of the gateways into the period of reflection preceding the High Holy Days.

The ancient rabbis teach that the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam, senseless hatred that existed between people (Yoma 9b). In the wake of destruction, people were asked to reconsider their place within their own societal narrative. In that generation, people failed to realize that their individual actions had very real repercussions on a more global level. In contrast to Moses, they failed to see that they were, in fact, at the center of a much larger narrative. In this case, the situation had everything to do with them.

And so, this week, we are presented with two moral lessons, which seemingly lead us to opposite conclusions. Both Moses and our Second Temple period ancestors remind us that, when looking backward, it is important for us to keep a sense of perspective regarding our own place in history. On the one hand, we are cautioned not to see our own stories and actions to the exclusion of others. On the other, we are reminded not to cede a sense of responsibility so completely that we fail to see the broader ramifications of our actions.

The real work of teshuvah comes when we are able to understand the difference between that in our past which was about us (mistakes made, hurts inflicted, etc.) and that which was not (actions taken by others, decisions made that affected us, the random and natural course of the universe, etc.). Our real learning lies in being able to differentiate between that which we could have changed and that which we could not.

At different points in our lives, each of us will be a Moses or a Second Temple-ite. Meaningful introspection comes when we are able to rise above these polarities. As the Serenity Prayer so wisely intones, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

Revisionist History: Parashat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) Read More »

Moroccan murder mystery weaves web of deception

Leave a Comment / Books, Culture, Entertainment, Is Featured?, Judaism, News /

From the opening passage of “The Honored Dead: A Story of Friendship, Murder, and the Search for Truth in the Arab World” by Joseph Braude (Spiegel & Grau: $26), we suddenly find ourselves in an atmospheric scene right out of “Casablanca” — an empty alleyway in the storied Moroccan city, a morning mist, a warehouse where the deep silence is suddenly broken by a squad of soldiers and detectives, and the sight of a mutilated corpse.

“Rather than refer to the murder victim by name,” Braude writes of Lt. Rashid Jabri, the investigator in the case, “he always called him ‘al-Marhum,’ Arabic for ‘he who has been granted mercy.’ ”

“The Honored Dead” may read like an elegant Levantine version of hard-boiled detective fiction, but it is a rich and wholly remarkable work of nonfiction by an American journalist of Iraqi Jewish descent. While spending four months as a reporter embedded in the Judiciary Police of Morocco to report on “the intersection between authoritarian states and the masses they patrol,” Braude was eyewitness to a criminal investigation that penetrates the innermost secrets of a tumultuous Arab country.

Braude allows us to see the Arab world through knowing eyes. The shantytown of Casablanca, as he points out, is the home of “the country’s finest athletes, a handful of Arab movie stars and some of the region’s best-loved vocalists — not to mention a few of the world’s most deadly Al-Qaeda fighters.” Among the cops with whom he spends his time, however, the same neighborhood is known as “the beating heart of crime and vice.” One crime in particular is the focus of “The Honored Dead,” the brutal murder of a homeless man in a Casablanca warehouse that turns out to carry a rich variety of political, cultural and historic subtexts.

As an Arabic speaker, Braude is aware of details that would escape most American writers — the “vowel-snipped Moroccan slang,” for example, and the headlines in an Arabic newspaper: “Hollywood-Style Bank Robberies Roil Casablanca.” He allows us to see that a man who has slashed open a sheep’s stomach in the livestock market has committed “a crime of cosmic proportions” in the eyes of the police precisely because Islam, like Judaism, requires that animals be submitted to ritual slaughter. “It is a crime against the Moroccan people, a crime against Islam,” a cop tells him. “It is as if we are all his victims.”

But it’s also true that Braude’s protective coloration can be thin and treacherous. Because he speaks Arabic with an Iraqi accent, a cab driver hails him as “my Iraqi brother” and declares his solidarity with Saddam Hussein: “God destroy the enemies of Iraq, the enemies of the Arab and Islamic nation: the Americans, the Jews, the effeminate among the Arabs!”

A police lieutenant, by contrast, knows that he is Jewish and American: “Our distinguished brother is visiting from America,” he says of Braude. “Kindhearted people. Universal Studios. Disneyland!” The cop asks why Jews seem to love Morocco. “The answer, not short, is a mystery to many Moroccans,” the author writes. “I break off a little piece of it: ‘The late king, Muhammad V, God have mercy on his soul. He saved Morocco’s Jews from the Nazis.’”

All of these strands and more besides are woven together in the crime that is the centerpiece of “The Honored Dead.” The killer is an Arab with connections to the “security apparatus”; the victim is an Amazigh, that is, a member of the North African ethnic community that is known in the West as the Berbers; and the owner of the warehouse where the murder took place is a Jew whose family has been accused of trafficking in gold, silver and hashish. As Braude penetrates ever more deeply into the case, he comes across “a kaleidoscope of confusion” that touches on satanic magic-working, sexual scandal and “a lewd, dark story” about the victim and his murderer.

“What does it mean when an obscure, marginal, individual life brings together so many disparate elements of his society to mark his death?” muses Braude as he struggles to understand the explanation that the cop offers. “The story line he builds is tangled and weird. Maybe it’s so weird that it actually happened.”

“Tangled and weird” only suggests the tightening coils of tension and suspense that play out in “The Honored Dead.” As we follow the author through the intricacies and contradictions of the murder investigation, nothing is ever quite what it seems. For example, when the police introduce Braude to one of the witnesses — a book peddler called Sharif — a friend of the murder victim named Bari cautions Braude by reciting an enigmatic Arab proverb: “When the crow is your guide, he will lead you to the corpses of dogs.” This, too, is baffling until Bari explains: “His purpose is not to guide you but to mislead you.”

Nor is the warehouse murder the only intrigue in Braude’s book. The author pauses to fill in his own colorful background, which included a period of service in cooperation with the FBI on anti-terrorism cases and an arrest for international smuggling when he tried to retrieve looted antiquities that had been taken from the Iraqi Museum. “Like Bari, I’m wary of law enforcement, too,” he explains. “Not long after learning what it feels like to go after people, I learned what it feels like when people go after me.”

Raymond Chandler once confessed that he never really understood the plot of “The Big Sleep.” To Braude’s credit, the Chandleresque web of mystery that he weaves in the pages of “The Honored Dead” is ultimately untangled, and we are shown with shocking clarity how many extraordinary meanings can be read into a seemingly ordinary murder.

Jonathan Kirsch, author and publishing attorney, is book editor of The Jewish Journal. He blogs on books at books@jewishjournal.com.

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