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Jewish Journal

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July 11, 2012

Dog bites man: American Jews vote (overwhelmingly) Democratic, says new study

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With Republican leaders predicting a massive shift of Jewish voters away from President Barack Obama this November, a new study shows just how reliably Democratic Jewish voters are.

The study, conducted by Democratic pollsters Mark Mellman and Aaron Strauss with University of Florida professor Kenneth Wald, analyzed exit poll data from 1972-2008 and found that Jews vote for Democrats in far higher numbers than the rest of the electorate. Furthermore, most Jews (57 percent in 2008) identify as Democrats, and many identify as liberals – 45 percent in 2008, far higher than the overall rate among Americans, 22 percent of whom identified as liberals in a Gallup poll taken that year.

The new study (pdf), which was released by the Solomon Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit, comes after months of speculation about the decline in Jewish support for Obama. It also found that Obama only received 74 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008, not the 78 percent that was found by a survey of only Jewish voters and that has been oft-repeated by both supporters and opponents of the President.

In what is perhaps its most significant conclusion, the study found that American Jewish voting in presidential elections can be divided into two distinct eras:

In the first period, from 1972 through 1988, Republican candidates for president attracted between 31 percent and 37 percent of the Jewish vote. In the second period, from 1992 through 2008, the GOP share of the Jewish vote dropped to between 15 percent and 23 percent.

The trend becomes starker still when votes for third-party candidates are excluded. Considering only the Jewish Americans who voted for one of the two major party’s presidential candidates, Republicans got between 31 and 46 percent of Jewish votes in that first period and between 16 and 24 percent in the second one.

What changed, the pollsters conclude, is that the Republican party, “became more strongly influenced by the religious right during the early 1990s.” As “Republican candidates at all levels increasingly aligned themselves with the evangelical community,” they write, Jews and mainline Protestants headed elsewhere.

Will Jews buck this decades-long trend of supporting the Democratic presidential candidate support this year?

In a word: no.

The most recent Gallup poll shows Obama taking 64 percent of Jewish registered voters to Republican Mitt Romney’s 29 percent, according to Politico. Obama’s number is 10 points lower than the 74 percent of Jews who voted for him in 2008, but it’s still in the range of Jews who have voted Democratic in the earlier era, between 1972 and 1988.

Still, as my colleague Shmuel Rosner wrote in a recent blog post, even if this tiny fraction of the American electorate (there are about 6 million Jews in America) won’t have much of an impact on the presidential election in November, “Jews are news.”

And as this study shows, that news happens to be of the “Dog Bites Man” variety.

Dog bites man: American Jews vote (overwhelmingly) Democratic, says new study Read More »

Chevra Kadisha conference highlights Jewish way of honoring the dead

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“This is a universal thing that everybody goes through,” Rabbi Stan Levy emphasized during the 10th North American Chevra Kadisha and Jewish Cemetery Conference, a three-day event last month at American Jewish University. Appearing as a guest speaker at the annual conference, Levy was describing one of life’s few certainties — death.

The conference highlighted Jewish funeral tradition — with the take-home message that not just rabbis and staff at cemeteries and mortuaries have a role to play in planning and carrying out these rituals, but that the deceased’s family, friends and community members should have an active role, too.

This is the mission of the Chevra Kadisha movement, a community of volunteers that works with the bereaved on end-of-life issues.

Kavod v’Nichum, an educational organization that provides information and assistance with traditional Jewish practices, organized the conference. The Board of Rabbis of Southern California and the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion co-sponsored.

This was the group’s first conference in Los Angeles, and it featured more than 50 lectures, workshops and discussions, and drew more than 150 attendees from across the country and abroad, including Chevra Kadisha leaders and participants, rabbis and cantors, chaplains, educators and others.

Among the weekend’s bigger draws was Rabbi Elliot Dorff, American Jewish University’s rector and its Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy, who lectured on “Ethical, Environmental and Financial Issues in the Burial vs. Cremation Discussion.”

A vocal supporter of burial because it is the traditional way of handling the deceased, Dorff admitted that there is not a “slam-dunk argument” to be made against cremation, particularly because it costs much less than burial.

Throughout the three days of learning, sessions at the conference included David Zinner, executive director of Kavod v’Nichum, lecturing on “State of the Chevra Kadisha Movement”; “Muslim Practices Around Death and Burial,” featuring Kenan Kapetanovic, funeral director and technology coordinator at the Islamic Center of Southern California; workshops on tahara, the Chevra Kadisha task of washing the deceased’s body prior to the funeral; Rob Eshman, The Journal’s publisher and editor-in-chief, discussing “How Do We Get Media for the Chevra Kadisha; Rabbi Anne Brener’s discussion of “Grief as a Spiritual Path”; and a field trip to Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries in Simi Valley.

Chevra Kadisha conference highlights Jewish way of honoring the dead Read More »

MATCH to donate $9M to Jewish day schools

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The MATCH program will hold its fourth launch this August to encourage expanding the donor base for Jewish day schools.

The program, founded by the AVI CHAI and Kohelet Foundations in 2004, aids Jewish day schools by matching donations from new sources at a rate of 50 cents to the dollar. Donations above $10,000 qualify for the grant, and individual schools can receive up to $50,000.

In partnership with the Jewish Funders Network (JFN) and the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), the AVI CHAI and Kohelet Foundations will match the first $6 million in donations to Jewish day schools throughout the United States with an additional $3 million.

JFN Director of Communications Avi Zollman said the program has helped support Jewish day schools nationwide.

“Since 2004, our matching grant programs for day schools and Jewish education have brought more than $51 million of new funding to the field,” he said, “and 385 donors have supported 232 schools and programs.”

The latest launch of MATCH, beginning Aug. 1, features a new rule that prohibits schools from going to parents for donations. Alumni parents, grandparents and community members are the target donors for this year’s program.

“There has been a recognition among funders that these schools are a community resource and that they need to be funded not just by parents but by members of the community as well,” Zollman added.

The last program was held in 2007, with $14.9 million raised by 200 donors, with an additional $4.9 million raised by JFN donors.

Miriam Prum Hess, director of Centers of Excellence in Day School Education at Builders of Jewish Education (BJE) in Los Angeles, said that BJE coaches participant schools on how to fundraise effectively.

“We are very excited about the launch,” she said, “We will work with schools and train them so they can meet the needs of schools and help them learn how to fundraise.”

She also said the program has experienced a lot of growth since its founding.

“In its first year, we had two schools in L.A. taking part in the program,” she said. “The second time, we did some training and coaching to help them develop strategies to achieve their goals; 15 schools got involved, and several were successful with reaching their targets with more than one donor.”

Applications will be accepted from Aug. 1, 2012, until Jan. 15, 2013. Applicants will be notified on a rolling basis until the entire amount has been allocated.

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The Jewie

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It’s hard for me to live a private life now that I write a blog that gets 200 hits a week. I miss the days when I could casually walk through the streets of Los Feliz and not get asked, “Are you Elliot Steingart, blogger for “Some Reservations?”

When I am asked to sign someone’s copy of the Jewish Journal, I do even if I’m not featured in the print edition; anything for my readers.

I’m not just a critically adored blogger. I am a human being who should not have to look in his rearview mirror to find cars following him, and passengers snapping photographs and shouting “Steingart! Steingart!”

What if I didn’t write about myself at all? What if I took a vacation from blogging and took up golf? No one would know where to find me, nor my golfball.

What if I kept my relationship private? I could harmoniously argue with my girlfriend without involving anyone else.

I’ve considered taking an extended vacation where I could enjoy the summer months without the added pressure. Who would I be letting down? You or me?

Besides there has been much speculation about the upcoming Jewish Blogger Awards. I’ve been nominated in the past, but this is my year. This is the time where I will finally win the Jewie for “Some Reservations!”

The host, my friend and editor Jay Firestone will present the Jewie to me in person at a privately held luncheon in West Los Angeles.We will harken back to the early days of “Gifelte Bitch” when we took the written word for granted.

“How could I follow up such highly acclaimed blogs as “My Dad’s an Asian Male Model?” I would ask Jay.

“You did. That’s what’s important.” He’ll assure me with a pat on the back.

I’ll remember that as I continue to strive for excellence in blogging, the benchmark for any freelance blogger. I know this blogging comes at a price. There are people that know way too much about me. There are people who judge me.

Even my girlfriend said recently, “I like you because you are controversial. That’s why some people don’t like you, but it’s what I respect about you.”

“Controversial?” I asked.

I’ve never made a racist comment or spoken bad about a political party. I wrote about her period, but I thought it flowed.

Out of respect to her I have never once mentioned my girlfriend’s name. She has one too. It’s a nice, unusual name that means something in a foreign language. She is not some imaginary girlfriend I conceived for this blog. She is real and alive and maybe sharing this blog with a friend of hers. She is supportive and has pushed me to continue on. For that, I thank her.

I cannot control if someone will read this blog and judge me. He or she should as long as the judgment is fair, and positive.

As long as I can remain honest I will remain relevant to my readers. I will not be stricken with writer’s block. For no writer will ever cock block me from coming up with a new idea. It’s up to me. And that’s the speech I’ll make to thunderous applause while finally holding my Jewie high in the air.

The Jewie Read More »

Friendship Circle cyclists bound for N.Y.

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Traveling 3,279 miles in seven weeks — on bicycles?

That’s the plan for 11 cyclists riding from Los Angeles to New York City this summer to raise money for Friendship Circle programs.

The coast-to-coast ride began just after 4 p.m. on July 1 at the Friendship Circle of Pacific Palisades’ office, where organizers held a brief opening ceremony. The initial leg of the trip took the group and 25 local-segment riders approximately 20 miles to the Valley Friendship Circle’s office in Studio City.

The cyclists expect to reach New York City on Aug. 17. Participants in the cross-country ride hail from the United States, Israel, Canada, England and Australia.

Mendel Groner, a Friendship Circle International staff member who is coordinating the ride, said that while it wasn’t necessary to be an experienced cyclist, all participants had to begin training for the ride no later than April.

“It’s amazing and cool that these people are [spending] their summer, half a year really, to put in their hard work for this cause,” Groner said. “Each one of them has taken the responsibility to raise $5,000. These people are amazing.”

Riders will cover an average of 85 miles per day and will make about 36 stops visiting various Friendship Circle chapters across the country to meet with families and volunteers.

Friendship Circle, affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, pairs primarily Jewish teenagers and children with special needs in their area for bonding and social events.

The annual ride began last year, when three rabbis decided to ride their bicycles from Central Park in New York City to Los Angeles in just less than seven weeks. One of the men, Zalman Perlman, is originally from Los Angeles. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared July 6 — the day the trio left New York — Bike 4 Friendship Day. 

Around 25 additional segment riders, who will also raise money for the charity, are expected to participate at some point during the ride.

For more information or to register for a segment ride, visit bike4friendship.com.

Friendship Circle cyclists bound for N.Y. Read More »

Sinai Temple welcomes new cantor

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Congregants of all ages came to Sinai Temple’s main sanctuary on June 10 to welcome the newest member of the clergy, Cantor Marcus Feldman, who officially took over as the congregation’s senior cantor on July 1. Feldman’s first concert, performed with Sinai Temple Cantors Joseph Gole and Arianne Brown, was designed to showcase his diverse musical background, including Hebrew, Ladino and Italian songs.

“I wanted to give Sinai Temple an opportunity to share in my passion for Jewish music,” he said, explaining his choice of songs by great Los Angeles Jewish composers as well as some of his own teachers. Feldman said he sees his work as a “solemn responsibility to preserve our incredible musical tradition and to facilitate its continuity within the context of 21st century Judaism.”

A Los Angeles native, Feldman grew up at Stephen S. Wise Temple singing on the High Holy Days and helping to lead Friday night services. But it wasn’t until his junior year of college that Feldman was encouraged by his mentors, Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin and Cantor Nathan Lam, to become a cantor.

After graduating from USC in 2007 with dual degrees in Vocal Performance and Business Administration, Feldman was ordained as a cantor by the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, in May 2011, where he earned a Masters of Jewish Sacred Music. Feldman said he continued his training with Cantor Lam from 2005 onward.

Although just 28, Feldman already has served in a number of prior cantorial positions throughout California, leading services at Sun City Jewish Services in Palm Desert, and as cantorial intern for four years at Stephen S. Wise Temple, before becoming second cantor there, for a year, until his move to Sinai.

Trained in opera, Feldman traveled to Jerusalem two years ago to study under Cantor Naftali Herstik, a 14th-generation traditional cantor. “I learned how to better improvise within the context of the prayer modes, to paint emotions with the words.”

Sinai’s Senior Rabbi David Wolpe lauded Feldman’s “deep knowledge of Jewish musical tradition,” adding that “he’ll bring a wonderful energy to our services and programs.”

“I come to the community as a representative of the newest generation of cantors,” Feldman said. “It is my humble duty to ensure that the incredible 1,000-year-old musical tradition of Ashkenazic music and the 100-year tradition of music at Sinai Temple will continue to thrive and be a central part of Jewish life.”

“He’s an exceptionally mature person for someone of his years,” Wolpe said.

Cantor Gole will continue to serve Sinai in the new position of Cantor Emeritus.

Feldman said he will be working closely with Wolpe throughout the summer to prepare for the High Holy Days and will also play a role in continuing Sinai’s “Friday Night Live” programming, working with Wolpe and Craig Taubman.

Sinai Temple welcomes new cantor Read More »

They just want kosher Dodger Dogs

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If kosher-observant L.A. Dodgers fans want to buy a hot dog at a game, they’re out of luck: Dodger Stadium doesn’t sell kosher hot dogs.

Hoping to change that, a scrappy group of Dodgers season ticketholders is making every effort to get a concession to sell fresh kosher dogs at the stadium. Calling themselves the Lou Barak Memorial Kosher Hot Dog Committee (named in honor of group founder Paul Cunningham’s late father-in-law), the group’s members, made up of six accomplished professionals, have been working for more than a decade on the issue.

“We are really just a group of people who feel very strongly that the second-largest Jewish community in the country should have the ability to eat a Jewish hot dog at a ballgame — given that so many other ballparks around the country have that option,” committee member and attorney Stuart Tochner said.

To be fair, Dodger Stadium sells kosher sandwiches, including a turkey-pastrami sandwich and a tuna salad sandwich that are premade and delivered to the stadium at least twice a week by Emuna Foods, a Van Nuys-based kosher catering company. These are sold at the Club Marketplace, a grab-and-go station behind home plate on the field level.

Only on the annual Jewish Community Day, which this year takes place on July 15, does the stadium sell kosher hot dogs. On the morning of the game, Emuna Foods delivers the precooked dogs to the stadium, and then they are reheated during game time and sold at locations throughout the stadium, according to Eric Boujo, who oversees Jewish Community Day as group sales account executive at Dodger Stadium.

But kosher Dodgers fans who want a hot dog at any regular home game have to stop at a kosher restaurant on the way to a game for takeout to bring into the stadium. Ballpark security allows ticketholders to bring in their own food, but at least for this group, the by-then lukewarm (at best) dogs don’t cut it. So they’re hoping the Dodgers’ new owners will make a difference.

In the past, the committee has reached out both to previous Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and to food vendor Aramark, the company that was once responsible for all concessions at the stadium.

“Through Dodger front office and Aramark sources, we’ve been given a number of reasons why, operationally, having kosher hot dogs isn’t workable — a need for separate storage and preparation facilities, existing concession contracts, etc.,” committee member Steve Getzug, a public relations executive, said.

The Dodgers’ new president and part-owner, Stan Kasten. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Farmer John provides the Dodgers with their signature dogs, but it doesn’t produce a kosher option.

No one can deny the popularity of the Farmer John pork-laden Dodger Dog, or its all-beef, but still non-kosher, alternative. A report from the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, a project of the American Meat Institute, which provides data, research and recipes to food manufacturers and reporters, states that the Dodger Dog was the No. 1 best-selling Major League Baseball ballpark hot dog in 2011, and it is expected to be the fourth-highest-selling this year.

But the Lou Barak Memorial Kosher Hot Dog Committee has no intention of trying to oust the classic Dodger Dog. “We’re not suggesting that the renowned Dodger Dogs supplied by Farmer John be replaced,” Cunningham wrote in a letter to McCourt in 2004.

McCourt did not respond. “It just sort of fell into the ether,” Tochner said.

Jewish community ties to the Dodgers date back to the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s, when the team’s hometown — Brooklyn, N.Y. — was predominantly Jewish. During the 1965 World Series, when Sandy Koufax refused to play on Yom Kippur, Jews further galvanized behind the team. And, when all-star player Shawn Green joined the L.A. version of the team in 2000, Jews rejoiced.

Michael Berenbaum, professor of Jewish studies and director of the Sigi Ziering Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Ethics at American Jewish University, has joined the committee in its quest for kosher dogs.

“The Dodgers offer Chinese food and Italian food and even ‘healthy food,’ ” Berenbaum wrote in a recent Jewish Journal op-ed.

So, why not kosher hot dogs?

Hebrew National hot dogs are served at the park, but for Jews who are strict in their kosher observance, Hebrew National is treif. In fact, the company currently is facing a lawsuit accusing it of unkosher practices.

So, will the Dodgers’ new owners — known, promisingly, as Guggenheim Baseball Management — be any more helpful? The new management team includes basketball legend Magic Johnson; Mark Walter, chief executive of the investment firm Guggenheim Partners; Todd Boehly, president of Guggenheim Partners; Peter Guber, chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group; Stan Kasten, former president of the Major League Baseball team the Washington Nationals; and Bobby Patten, an oil investor.

The committee has reason to be hopeful: Kasten has said he is working on bringing kosher hot dogs to Dodger Stadium, according to a May 2 tweet by Los Angeles Times’ baseball reporter Bill Shaikin.

Representatives for Guggenheim Baseball Management did not return calls for comment requesting verification of Shaikin’s tweet. However, Chad Vosler, regional purchasing manager for Levy Restaurants — which took over Aramark’s concessions contract at Dodger Stadium in 2005 — said Levy Restaurants would “absolutely” like to bring kosher hot dogs to the ballpark.

It’s just a matter of how.

The Dodgers could follow the lead of other baseball stadiums. At the New York Mets’ Citi Field, for example, there are pushcarts where kosher dogs are grilled and sold. At Miami’s Marlins Park, a kosher concession stand is integrated into the structure of the stadium. And at the Red Sox’s Fenway Park, vending machines refrigerate, cook and dispense kosher
hot dogs.

Vosler said the kosher vending machines, made by the company Hot Nosh Boston, might be a possibility for Dodger Stadium, as a vending machine would be less intrusive to the 50-year-old stadium’s structure than making structural adjustments in order to accommodate an integrated concession stand. “It’s something we really want to try in Los Angeles,” he added.

As for the tweet about Kasten’s plans, the hot dog committee is aware of it and is currently drafting a letter to Kasten.

Time will tell if this outreach to the new management leads to anything. But as kosher foods become increasingly popular, even among non-Jews, the economic benefits of carrying kosher dogs are becoming more apparent, according to Menachem Lubinsky, president and CEO of Lubicom Marketing, which specializes in the kosher market.

Not that kosher dogs’ crossover appeal would threaten sales of the Dodger Dog, added Lubinsky, who also serves as editor of the trade newsletter koshertoday.com. “It’s not significant enough to make a dent in their sales, and it’s not a competition, in the sense that there are no alternatives for people who absolutely must have kosher,” he said.

Although there’s no kosher hot dog permanently stocked at the stadium, the 2012 Dodgers season marks the first season that the club carries kosher items. Attending a recent summer game against the Mets, Getzug tried out the kosher turkey-pastrami sandwich. It’s a good start, but it’s not enough, he wrote in an e-mail.

“The sandwich hit the spot (served up with a pasta salad) but it’s not a kosher hot dog.”

They just want kosher Dodger Dogs Read More »

Israel will bring in remaining Ethiopian immigrants

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Israel’s government agreed to expedite the arrival of the final Ethiopian immigrants waiting to come to Israel. 

Under the plan approved on July 8 by the Cabinet, some 2,200 Falash Mura — Ethiopians whose ancestors converted from Judaism to Christianity — will be brought to Israel by March 2014.

The Ethiopians are waiting in a refugee camp in the Gondar province before coming to Israel. Some have been waiting for 10 years.

The Israeli government in October 2010 reportedly had agreed to bring in 200 Falash Mura each month for a year, and then the remaining of those eligible until the last 4,500 approved for immigration were in Israel by March 2014. But the government had cut the number it was bringing per month in recent months due to dwindling available space in absorption centers.

Under the July 8 decision, an absorption center will be opened in September at Ibim, a student village in southern Israel located near Sderot , at a cost of more than $4 million. The funding will come in part from the Jewish Agency for Israel.

“We must act to bring all of the Falash Mura to Israel and close the immigration camp in Gondar as soon as possible,” said Harel Locker, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, who will monitor the arrival of the immigrants.

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Judokas Alice Schlesinger and Arik Ze’evi power Israel’s medal hopes

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One is nearing the end of his career, already has an Olympic medal and is eyeing another. The other is a decade younger, an up-and-comer who has enjoyed some success, but is aiming for her first medal at the Games.

Ariel “Arik” Ze’evi, 35, and Alice Schlesinger, 24, are standouts on the Israeli Olympic judo team and two of their nation’s best medal hopes at the London Games that begin later this month.

Ze’evi won bronze eight years ago in Athens and expects to win a medal this year after faltering in Beijing in 2008.

Holding a camera while the Israeli media photographed him on July 8, Ze’evi sounded like a soon-to-be retiree going on vacation. He talked about “enjoying the experience” and “staying calm.”

Beneath the relaxed air, however, was a determined and optimistic veteran. Ze’evi won the gold medal at the European Judo Championships in April, and as the 38-person Israeli Olympic delegation’s senior member, he has emerged as one of its leaders.

“I’m very calm, but there’s still time” before the Olympics, he said. “We don’t prepare for failure. We don’t set up scenarios where we don’t succeed. It’s better to have positive thoughts.”

Ze’evi says he is “sure” that this will be his last Olympics. If he were to participate in Rio de Janeiro four years from now, at age 39, he would “compete with little kids,” he said.

Another bronze-winning Israel judoka is heading to London: Oren Smadja is one of the five-person judo team’s coaches. Smadja, 42, believes that the medal he won in 1992 paved the way for more recent Israeli successes in judo, like Ze’evi’s bronze in Athens.

“[My] medal led to people practicing,” said Smadja, who acknowledged that he prefers competing to coaching. “I don’t remember a delegation this strong. Some of [this year’s] team didn’t think they could get into the Olympics. With my dedication and desire, I think I was” one of the impetuses for the team’s strong performance.

The Israeli judo team is coming off a strong performance at the European matches, where it earned four medals. Ze’evi and Smadja are hoping that Schlesinger finds her way to the podium at the Olympics.

“She’s been [training] with me since she was 16,” Ze’evi said of Schlesinger. “I’ve seen her go from a promising athlete into one of the best in the world.” Smadja calls her “a serious candidate for a medal.” 

Schlesinger, who is “very satisfied that Arik is 35 and still competing,” voices cautious optimism about her chances in London. She did not win a medal in Beijing but has since won three bronzes — at the 2009 world championships and at the 2009 and 2012 European championships.

But unlike Ze’evi, who sets the bar high for himself, Schlesinger says only that she hopes to “go home in peace” from London.

“Like everyone else, I want a medal,” she says, “but I want to enjoy it.”

Smadja notes that “not everybody says ‘I’m going to win a medal.’ ”

Close relationships and judo have always come together for Schlesinger. Her brother introduced her to the sport as a child, and she attributes her success to her parents, who took her to competitions on weekends.

Now her boyfriend, Pavel Musin, also is her coach. Schlesinger says Musin’s dual roles “help me a lot.”

“To be in such an intense situation and be so close makes the experience different, makes it fun,” she said.

Schlesinger says her romantic relationship relieves stress from practices rather than augmenting it.

“Between every coach and athlete there are moments of tension,” she said. “But we have to solve them because we have to go home [together] at night.”

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Woody Allen talks about Israel

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The Woody Allen Israel Project has created a mini-media frenzy.  My column calling for funding to have the filmmaker shoot a film in Israel—accompanied by a crowd funding campaign on jewcer.com—went viral.  The LA Times Patrick Goldstein weighed in with a particularly insightful post today in The Los Angeles Times. Earlier this week Vanity Fair, Haaretz, Hollywood Reporter, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting and papers in Spain, England, Germany and across the US (The Kentucky Democrat???)  all picked up on the story.

The campaign has been big news in Israel, where the leading entertainment show has run a daily countdown on the money raised to support the Woody Allen Israel Project.

But what does Woody think?

So far, no word from him or his producers and representatives.

But as the estimable J.J. Goldberg—the Jewish journalist’s Jewish journalist—reports online at forward.com, there is now a clue.  Goldberg, a fluent Hebrew reader, translated an interview with Woody Allen that appeared in last Friday’s entertainment supplement of the newspaper Yediot.  In Paris Allen sat down with Yediot correspondent Yaniv Halili, who asked him about his movies, his wife, and finally, Israel.

The Hebrew version has not appeared online, but Goldberg did translate.

Here’s what Woody said:

“I support Israel and I’ve supported it since the day it was founded. Israel’s neighbors have treated it badly, cruelly, instead of embracing it and making it part of the Middle East family of nations. Over the years Israel has responded to these attacks in various ways, some of which I approved of and some less so. I understand that Israelis have been through hard times, I don’t expect Israel to react perfectly every time and that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a wonderful, marvelous country. I’m just worried about the rise of fundamentalism in Israel, which I think damages its interests. I also have questions about your leadership, which doesn’t always act in Israel’s best interests. But even my criticism of Israel comes from a place of love, just like when I criticize the United States. It would be a mistake not to say something if you think a country you love makes a mistake and could hurt itself.”

Then why have you never visited Israel?

“I’m not a tourist. I travel regularly to three cities that I know and love — Paris, London and Rome — and that’s it. I don’t like to leave home because I’m a bit neurotic, and when I do leave home, it’s mostly for work. I don’t like flying and I don’t consider myself a curious person who wants to see new places. There are many states in the United States that I’ve never visited. My wife is of Korean origin and she’s been trying for years to convince me to go to South Korea with her — so far, unsuccessfully. She’s also very curious about Israel and wants to go there with the girls, so they can see and understand their father’s Jewish culture. I assume we’ll go and visit Israel soon. There’s no way around it.”

Does this mean Woody Allen would shoot a movie in Israel if the funding came through?  Sounds to us like a yes. 

Click on the jewcer button now and pledge your support for the Woody Allen Israel Project.

 

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