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Jewish Journal

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July 18, 2012

Over-the-top nuptials an Israeli specialty

Leave a Comment / Culture, Is Featured?, Mobile, News, Special Sections, Weddings /

Born into a poor Moroccan immigrant family that settled in the development town of Dimona, Yardena Ovadia always dreamed of giving her daughter a fairy-tale wedding.

A millionaire who made a fortune doing business in New Guinea, Ovadia spent almost $2 million on the Venetian-themed wedding, which featured close to 200 flower girls and boys, a river-front setting designed to look like a canal in Venice, and—of course—gondoliers.

Asked by an Israeli news show why she decided to splurge on such a grandiose wedding, Ovadia replied, “My daughter was getting married. That doesn’t happen every day!”

As the number of rich Israelis has grown in recent years, so, too, has the number of lavish weddings taking place in Israel.

“Last year was the year of huge weddings,” says Nikki Fenton, an Israel-based wedding planner. Yitzhak Tshuva, a self-made billionaire, spent nearly $2 million on his son’s extravagant wedding. Some 1,700 guests, nearly all of them rich and famous, including family friend Paul Anka, traveled to the Ben Shemen Forest, where, according to a Ha’aretz business columnist, “large stages were erected … around which gigantic hideous artificial flowers were placed. There was enough lighting to set the city of Ramat Gan aglow.”

“The Tshuva wedding took over the entire Ben Shemen Forest. It had four events, each with a different theme. It was absolutely on another level of crazy,” Fenton added.

Even that sum was paltry compared to the $5.2 million extravaganza billionaire Michael Cherney, an Uzbekistan-born aluminum magnate, threw for his daughter. It took 200 workers working 24 hours a day to prepare the indoor venue, which was the size of a football field or two. Guests who flew to Israel from all over the world, many in private jets, received engraved Czech crystal key chains as party favors. Specially made Italian textiles and magnificent crystal chandeliers were hung throughout the hall, and even the bathroom floors were carpeted for the event. A 36-member orchestra serenaded the couple.

Just as the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton lasted several days, so, too, do some Israeli wedding and even bar mitzvah celebrations.

Naomi Schwartz, the events manager at the venerable King David Hotel in Jerusalem, said wealthy families from abroad—the United States and especially France, Belgium and Brazil—sometimes book half of the hotel’s rooms, including all the suites, for four or five nights.

“It means starting celebrations on Thursday with a henna party and continuing with a very fancy private Friday night dinner and then lunch, often around the pool or in a tent, replete with carpets and draperies, in the garden.”

If the group is large, Schwartz said, the hotel creates a tented synagogue in its parking lot.

Often, the chuppah is placed on the hotel’s semi-circular terrace overlooking the beautiful garden, pool area, and the walls of the Old City. Paul Newman dines on this terrace in the movie Exodus.

While the King David’s vast garden has enough flowers to please any bride, one couple asked the hotel to import two planeloads’ worth of flowers for their special day.

Schwartz said the hotel does whatever it can to please its clients. Within reason.

“This past summer we had an amazing wedding,” she said, noting that the family, which was French, booked 100 of the hotel’s 240 rooms.  

“It was a nonstop celebration. A rich barbecue around the pool, a private breakfast on the terraces, and a menu geared toward the French Moroccan grandparents.”

Yaniv Hiumi, the assistant general-manager of the Dan Accadia Hotel in Herzliya, said his seaside hotel has hosted weddings of up to 800 people.

“They took 100 of our 209 rooms and the wedding was around the pool. At midnight, the guests went to the ballroom, where a well-known Israeli singer entertained until 3 a.m.”

Hiumi said the Dan Accadia is popular with both Israeli and foreign families. He added that all of the hotel’s simchas are at the highest standard.

“We don’t have regular and premium rates, and that’s the reason we don’t host a large number of weddings. But the weddings we do host are on a very high level,” Hiumi said.

While religious families, especially from abroad, often opt for Jerusalem-based venues that afford a view of the Old City, both religious and secular couples are drawn to ocean-front properties like the Accadia, which also has a vast garden. Aquariums are a popular centerpiece, because they reinforce the sand-and-sea atmosphere.   

One recent Accadia wedding boasted eight “open kitchens”—large outdoor work stations where chefs prepared a stunning assortment of food.

Fenton, who plans wedding both in Israel and England, believes Israel provides more options, as well as better value, for upscale weddings.

“The high-end Israeli market is really a level above what you see in London. What you can do here stretches far beyond what you can do in Europe or the U.S.,” Fenton said.

Thanks to “almost guaranteed weather” between April and November, when virtually no rain falls, “you can do a big fancy production outdoors,” whether in an Israeli vineyard or the desert.

In addition to being a lot more affordable (an elegant wedding at the Accadia can cost $150 per person), “menuwise, there’s more on offer here,” Fenton said. “There’s a lot more variety and caterers here are more flexible than kosher caterers abroad.”

And then there’s what Fenton calls Israel’s intangible “wow” factor.

“When you throw a wedding in an unusual location, the guests don’t know what to expect,” the wedding planner said, conjuring up images of circus tents and Arabian nights.

“The spectacle is heightened,” Fenton said of the adventure, “and people are amazed.”

Over-the-top nuptials an Israeli specialty Read More »

Israeli lawmaker Michael Ben-Ari rips up, throws out New Testament

Leave a Comment / Israel, Mobile, News /

Israeli lawmaker Michael Ben Ari ripped up a copy of the New Testament and threw it in the garbage.

Ben Ari, of the National Union Party, had his legislative aide, Itamar Ben Gvir, photograph his destruction and released the photo Tuesday to the Israeli daily Maariv.

Lawmakers had received in their Knesset mailboxes copies of the new edition of the New Testament released by the Bible Society in Israel, which distributes Christian books in the country, Ynet reported. Some returned it to the society and others quietly disposed of it.

“Sending the book to lawmakers is a provocation. There is no doubt that this book and all it represents belongs in the garbage can of history,” Ben Ari said, adding that it “galvanized the murder of millions of Jews” throughout history, including during the Spanish Inquisition.

Government spokesman Mark Regev told Ynet that “We totally deplore this behavior and condemn it outright. This action stands in complete contrast to our values and our traditions. Israel is a tolerant society, but we have zero tolerance for this despicable and hateful act.”

Israeli lawmaker Michael Ben-Ari rips up, throws out New Testament Read More »

Cost-conscious weddings back in style

Leave a Comment / Blogs, California, Culture, Mobile, Mobile Sections, News, Special Sections, Weddings /

Lavish weddings featuring guest lists upward of 500 people were seemingly de rigueur in Southern California’s Iranian-Jewish community just five years ago. But the growth of six-figure simchas strained middle-class families, leading some couples to either call off a wedding or divorce a few months after getting married.

Religious leaders rallied around the issue, and now a growing number of Iranian-Jewish couples and their parents are curtailing the sky’s-the-limit spending of the past.

Whether it is live entertainment, kosher catering, décor and design, flower arrangements, or photography and videography, wedding vendors say that families are embracing cost-conscious budgeting. Today’s young couples are also more hands-on when it comes to planning, and the vendors say they are actively sharing insights to ensure that families don’t get shortchanged on quality as they seek out better deals.

“L.A.‘s Persian-Jewish community is very savvy, and they demand the very best for their weddings,” said Alen Nazarian, founder and musical director of the popular Kasha Ensemble and the band Vibe. “It is really critical for couples to choose vendors that can work well together to make things work smoothly on the day of the wedding and allow for everyone to have an incredible experience.”

Entertainment is an important factor in most Iranian-Jewish weddings. The costs range from $1,500 to $30,000 depending on whether a DJ, live band or a popular Iranian singer is hired for the event.

Nazarian, an Iranian-Armenian musician, said couples should watch videos of the band they’re considering or take note of the band’s performance as they attend other people’s weddings.

“Check to see whether the band has a vast repertoire of music that they play,” he said. “Also check if you can hear each and every single musical instrument played clearly at the venue or if they are using prerecorded computer-generated music, and make sure the band has a proper accompaniment of the music with the vocals.”

Nazarian said he encourages his clients to coordinate different aspects of the wedding closely with his band to create the most memorable experience.

“You should coordinate your floor plan to make sure the bars are situated close to the band, because most times when your guests are drinking near the music they will bring their energy to the dance floor and have a
more pleasurable experience,” Nazarian said.

With the average number of guests for an Iranian-Jewish wedding in Southern California ranging from 250 to 500 people, the cost for kosher catering alone can often vary from $10,000 on the low end to more than $50,000.

David Javaheri, owner of Pico-Robertson-based Sason Catering and Nana Catering, says his younger clients are increasingly tough on negotiating price. 

“What I really love about the Persian-Jewish community is that they truly appreciate great food and amazing design and presentation of food,” he said. “Despite the fact that they negotiate hard on the pricing, they still want the best, and that has been positive for us because it has made my catering businesses push for excellence.”

However, Javaheri says that cutting corners on food can backfire as a budget strategy. 

“Couples have to realize that while they may get a lower price for food at their wedding, at the same time that caterer may be cutting down on the quality of food, or offering a poor presentation of the food, or hiring employees who are not certified to properly handle food that meets the health code regulations,” Javaheri said.

Another area where couples should splurge a little is wedding invitations, said Ferial Senehi, the Iranian-Jewish owner of Beverly Hills-based Invitations By Ferial.

“No special occasion is complete without the appropriate introduction,” Senehi said. “I believe that for a wedding or any other event, everything from the envelopes to the response cards, colors and fonts used are very important because they make a special impression on every guest for the tone of the wedding.”

To accommodate the large number of guests, Iranian-Jewish couples are increasingly turning away from hotels and looking to banquet halls at local Iranian synagogues as a wedding venue. Locations such as the Iranian American Jewish Federation’s synagogue Temple Beth El in West Hollywood, the Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills and the Eretz Cultural Center in Tarzana are less costly than local hotels, saving anywhere from $7,000 to $15,000 in venue costs.

Capturing the special day with photos and video is a must, and photographers who work with the Iranian-Jewish community are offering cost-friendly package deals.

“Every couple is different when it comes to their desires and budgets — so most photographers are now providing packages that can fit how much the couple wants to spend,” said Vahik Rostamian, owner of Vahik Photography in Glendale.

Rostamian says he likes to share the intricate details of the costs involved, time required for editing photos and video as well as important facts regarding the quality of finished products he offers in order to develop long-term relationships with his clients.

“You really have to ask around about your photographer from other couples and get referrals,” Rostamian said. “Some photographers will quote you a price that may seem lower — but they may not share the fact that they will be using a lower grade of printing for the photos that may not retain its colors for as long, or they may not tell you that you should incorporate certain special lighting in your ballroom to enhance the quality of your wedding video.”

Despite some couples’ tight budgets, many vendors working with the local Iranian-Jewish community say they are willing to work with what resources are made available to them because they realize the importance of weddings to their clients.

“For me, the biggest compliment is having clients who are happy with the décor or lighting even though the budget they gave me was very tight,” said Hovik Mehrabian, owner of North Hollywood’s L.A. Event & Design, which provides lighting, décor, table settings, chairs, wall coverings and dance floors.

Even after attending to numerous details just prior to the start of each wedding, Mehrabian says the right vendor will stay behind to ensure a smooth ceremony and celebration.

“By and large, couples getting married are really unaware of all the small details that I go through to make their venue look incredible for that day,” he said. “A good wedding vendor should stick around after his work is completed, even for the ceremony in case something should go wrong for whatever reason. Clients remember things that I’ve done to help them out when something did go wrong.”

For more tips from vendors handling Iranian-Jewish weddings, visit Karmel Melamed’s blog.

Cost-conscious weddings back in style Read More »

Diversity is good for Jewish college students

Leave a Comment / David Suissa, Mobile, News, Opinion /

In case you haven’t heard, Orthodox Judaism has pretty much taken over Jewish life on U.S. college campuses. I say this not because I’m smug and happy about it, but as a wake-up call to the Conservative and Reform branches to get their acts together.

If diversity is good for the Jews, then it’s even more important for college students.

College life is the ideal time for students to experiment and search for their own truths. If they’re exposed to a diverse religious menu, they’ll be more likely to find their personal Jewish path.

Unfortunately, they’re not finding much religious diversity these days.

According to a report last week in The Jewish Week by Sam Cohen, a senior at New York University, the non-Orthodox branches of Judaism have virtually abandoned their outreach efforts on campus. As he writes, “Last month the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism drove the penultimate nail into the coffin of KOACH, its college-programming branch, by announcing it would end the program unless supporters raised $130,000 by the end of the year.”

As if that weren’t bad enough, Cohen adds that “KOACH lasted three years longer than its Reform companion Kesher, which the URJ [Union for Reform Judaism] closed down after a similar stretch of inadequate funding and underwhelming impact.”

Meanwhile, Cohen notes how Orthodox outreach efforts are thriving: “The Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program (JLIC), which places young Orthodox rabbis and their wives to live full-time on college campuses, has grown to include 15 locations. Chabad on Campus continues to expand rapidly with a $28.8 million budget (equal to the URJ’s entire annual budget), and other Orthodox outreach programs (such as 21-campus Meor, with a budget of $5.7 million) have grown as well.”

He laments that “what’s at stake here is not merely denominational pride. It’s the future of non-Orthodox Judaism in this country.”

I think it’s worse than that: What’s at stake is the future of Judaism itself — or at least its vitality.

As Cohen reminds us, “Going to college is the single most common factor for American Jews — 85 percent of all college-age Jews in the U.S. are in college. Every year, 100,000 Jews begin their freshman year, and 100,000 graduate and begin making decisions about the Jewish life they want to live and the family they want to raise.”

So, if we don’t engage this hugely influential group in a rich and diverse way, what kind of future will Judaism have in this country? Sure, if it were up to me, every Jew on the planet would observe the Sabbath and eat kosher. But an “Orthodox-only” model is a fantasy. That’s not the world we live in. The new generation must make its own decisions on what Jewish connection they will have, if any.

The Orthodox, God bless them, are making their pitch. But what about the non-Orthodox?

In my view, they’re too consumed with labels and self-definition. And even when they’re not, they use labels like “egalitarian” or “non-denominational.”

For my money, there’s only one label worth its salt in Jewish outreach: Passionate Judaism.

I don’t care if it’s a Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Chasidic, Orthodox, post-denominational or Sephardic experience. Just make it passionate.

Passionate could mean Chabad’s “unconditional love” approach, or a Carlebach minyan’s “ecstatic joy” experience or creating your own lively “medley minyan.” It could also mean offering passionate engagement with Jewish texts, Jewish history and Jewish culture. In other words, passionate means that whatever style of Judaism you practice, make it pulsate with passion and excitement.

Labels like “Reform” or “Conservative” don’t convey passion. You don’t think of passion when you think of “reforming” or “conserving.” The Orthodox label is not as much of a problem, because people assume that the more observant you are, the more passionate you are.

That’s why the non-Orthodox “spiritual communities” and independent minyanim that have sprung up in recent years don’t label themselves as Reform or Conservative. It’s no longer about the label. It’s about the experience.

Religious diversity on campuses is a must, but it’s not enough. If Jewish organizations want to make a lasting impact with today’s Jewish college students — whose hearts and minds are more loyal to their careers and their iPhone screens than to their religious tradition — they will need to offer a lot more than Judaism Lite or Judaism Friendly.

They’ll need to offer Judaism Deep, Judaism Spiritual and Judaism Never Boring.

I’ve sat on the board of UCLA Hillel for years, and the challenge of attracting students to Jewish life is consistently at the top of our agenda. The programs that work best always seem to have a passionate and pluralistic flavor — such as our Friday Night Unity Shabbats and our Challah for Hunger baking sessions.

We need many more such efforts. I’d love to see the non-Orthodox branches of Judaism team up to launch a campus movement with the simplest of labels — as simple as “The Jewish Center” — and offer a vibrant Judaism that Jewish students will want to keep for life.

Passion doesn’t belong to the Orthodox. For Judaism to thrive in America, we need every branch to show intensity and enthusiasm for the Jewish practice of its choice.

That will make it a lot easier for young Jews to choose that label called Judaism.

David Suissa is president of TRIBE Media Corp./Jewish Journal and can be reached at davids@jewishjournal.com.

Diversity is good for Jewish college students Read More »

Kosher WHAT?

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Food /

Last week, we launched our newest blog at jewishjournal.com. It’s called “Kosher Bacon.”

Just about everyone who hears the name is offended by it. They assume we’re being cheeky just for the sake of provocation. After all, would we call a funeral blog “Shivah Me Timbers”? Would we call a dating blog “Plenty o’ Shiksas”?

No—but in this case there’s a perfectly good explanation.

A few months ago, I met a chef named Michael Israel for coffee in Culver City. He chose the place—The Conservatory for Coffee, Tea & Cocoa, a small cafe across from Sony Studios where the centerpiece is a huffing, puffing coffee roaster and the family behind the counter manages to turn out one perfect cup after another with exacting standards and zero attitude.

Michael struck me as the same sort of person. In 2005, he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. He went on to work in restaurants throughout Italy, then at Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-star Per Se in New York City—considered by many the best restaurant in the country.

“It was the best food education I could ever get,” Michael told me. “The standards were so high, and the focus on detail was incredible.”

After several years, Michael, eager to work for himself, decided to move on. He ended up in Los Angeles, where he started a kosher food truck business, M.O. Eggrolls. In many ways, it was a return to his roots. In his native Montreal, evidently, eggrolls, stuffed with a variety of fillings and fried, are the rage.  

The truck has been a success. Not only is he offering a convenient fried food—“convenience” and “fried” are practically food groups in America—but Michael’s craftsmanship and high standards ensure that the quality of the eggrolls is far above fast food.

The kosher food truck was Michael’s first step in his journey to reconcile his love of food and cooking with his deepening Jewish observance. Step two has been the blog—that’s what he came to discuss at The Conservatory.

“I’ve struggled,” Michael said, “with these two parts of me.”

There’s the part of him that really cares about great food, about curing his own meat, about sourcing the best-quality ingredients—the part of him that wants to cook and eat and try everything great. The part that knows just what a strip of bacon can do for a coq au vin. And then there’s the part of him that honors his tradition.  

In many ways, Michael is the poster child for the next generation of Jewish foodie. For him, kosher is necessary, but it’s not sufficient:  Food has to be excellent; it has to make at least a nod toward ethics and sustainability; it has to strive for Per Se, not a temple sisterhood buffet.

Michael is a young father, hardworking and soft-spoken—he doesn’t come across as a snob or an evangelist. And he is not alone. Last week, I attended a Southern barbecue dinner hosted by Pico-Robertson’s Kosher Supper Club. I expected to find a room of elderly Jews complaining about the mediocre food (“And such small portions!”), but instead I found 20- and 30-somethings listening to Best Coast, enjoying excellent kosher versions of grits and shrimp (sea bass) and greens and ham hocks (home-smoked turkey) prepared by chefs Katsuji Tanabe and Daly Thompson. (Tanabe is the Japanese-Mexican owner of MexiKosher on Pico Boulevard. Thompson owns Memphis Bar-BQ Catering and used to own a restaurant called The Pig next to the Yeshiva Rav Isacsohn on La Brea Avenue. It closed.) Like Michael, they are dissatisfied with much of what passes as “gourmet” kosher—they want to show, if only through their dining group—that it could be better.

Michael’s “Kosher Bacon” blog shares that goal.

“I just want people to know they can cook ‘Jewishly’  and celebrate Judaism,” he said. “You don’t have to choose between a good meal and a kosher one.”

In other words, you can find a way to infuse kosher food with the same power, the same umami, the same indispensible, ineluctable attraction … as bacon.

The way Michael plans to do this is by reviewing the more than 300 recipes in Gil Marks’ definitive book, “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.”

“My goal,” Michael wrote in his initial entry, “is to cook every recipe in Gil Marks’ brilliant book, with a new approach and an undying respect for everyone who has contributed to Jewish cuisine.

“Discovering ‘Encyclopedia of Jewish Food’ has changed my life as a cook. I have always wanted to explore classic Jewish cuisine and find ways to contribute to its modernization. I am a firm believer that any craftsman, whether carpenter or chef, must understand the classics before trying to create something different. Gil Marks codified historic Jewish recipes. With the help of this text, I am able to study classic Jewish cuisine and begin creating new recipes.”

Lucky us, we get to eat it.

Find Michael Israel’s recipe for Agraz Pico de Gallo here, and follow me on Twitter @foodaism.

Kosher WHAT? Read More »

Law, politics and the settlements

Leave a Comment / Mobile, News, Opinion /

There are two striking features about the recent report written by retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy about the status of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank.  The first is that the Levy Commission’s “finding” that Israel is not an occupying power — and, thus, settlements and outposts alike are legal — flies in the face of decades of informed judgments by international lawyers, American government officials, and Israeli diplomats and experts themselves. It is no surprise that the U.S. State Department hastened to reject these claims following the release of the Levy Commission report.

At the heart of the matter is the interpretation of the 49th clause of the Fourth Geneva Convention from 1949, which states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” The Levy Committee rejected the standard reading of this key clause and instead accepted the argument of a number of right-wing Israeli organizations. Thus, it maintained that Israel does not occupy the West Bank since, prior to 1967, the territory of Judea and Samaria was “never a legitimate part of any Arab state.”

It is true that the status of Jordanian control over the West Bank from 1948 was never clearly settled. The United States and Britain recognized Jordan’s annexation of 1950, whereas Israel and the Arab states did not. But the Levy Commission leaps to a number of dubious conclusions. Not only does the contested status of the West Bank make it a kind of tabula rasa that defies the regulative authority of international law, but the fact that Israel’s occupation has lasted for decades, rather than months, inexplicably lifts the burden of enforcing the Fourth Geneva Convention. Even more disconcerting is the certainty of the Commission in its assertion that “we have no doubt that, from the perspective of international law, the establishment of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria is not illegal.”

It has not been lost on observers that this set of claims runs against the grain of the report commissioned by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005 to address the legality of outposts in the West Bank. That report, authored by attorney Talia Sasson, summarized large bodies of government documents in maintaining that Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank was based on illegal expropriation of land from local Palestinians. The upshot was that Israel has responsibilities as an occupying power that require it to abide by international law in terms of land purchase and settlement of its citizens.

The juxtaposition of the Levy and Sasson reports reminds us of the fickleness of law, which so often tumbles from its Olympian heights into the messy cauldron of mundane politics. But this episode is not just a case of Levy v. Sasson, one lawyer’s opinion against another’s. The overwhelming preponderance of legal observers accepts the view that the West Bank is occupied territory and, accordingly, Israeli settlements should not be constructed there. Setting the tone for every subsequent United States administration, the State Department under Lyndon Johnson spelled out its position in a diplomatic cable to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv with unmistakable clarity in April 1968: “(T)he transfer of civilians to occupied areas, whether or not in settlements which are under military control, is contrary to Article 49 of the Geneva Convention.” 

Tellingly, this was also the view of the legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Theodor Meron, who was asked by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in 1967 to issue an opinion on the status of the newly conquered territories. Meron, who would go on to establish a career as one of the most distinguished scholars and practitioners of international law in the world, stated simply in a memo from September 18, 1967 that “my conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

It is striking enough that the Levy Commission saw fit to rebut this long-established view, which has been echoed by many subsequent Israeli legal commentators and American diplomats, not to mention the international community. What is more striking is that the debate may no longer matter. It is deeply unsettling and more than a little annoying to have to listen to apologists try to work themselves out of the Geneva Convention pretzel by arguing that the occupation is not an occupation, that settlements are not intrusions on Palestinian land, and that Kiryat Arba or now Ulpana have the same legal status as Tel Aviv. 

But the more germane point is that the legal acrobats seem to have won the day, at least for now. Some commentators such as Shmuel Rosner dismiss the Levy report as irrelevant, arguing that the territories are essentially a political, rather than legal, matter. Alas, no, the report is quite relevant in adding powerful evidence of and validation for the irreversibility of Israel’s hold on the territories. As such, it hammers another nail into the coffin of a two-state solution. For indeed, if the settlements and the newer outposts are deemed legal — and remain where they are — there will not be a territorially viable Palestinian state. And without a Palestinian state, the populations of Jews and Arabs between the Jordan and the Mediterranean will dwell under one political sovereign. Either that sovereign will be a democracy, in which case Israel will cease to exist as a Jewish state; or it will not be a democracy, in which case Israel will treat Jews as first-class citizens and Arabs as second-class subjects.   

Israeli President Shimon Peres, as shrewd an observer of his country’s history as any, understands well the implications of dispatching with established international law and reasoned legal opinion. As he stated after the Levy Commission issued its report: “It is doubtful that a Jewish state without a Jewish majority can remain Jewish.” 

So the apologists can continue to promote their view of the settlements’ legality. But they should be mindful of the fact that this very position pushes the State of Israel ever closer to the precipice.

David N. Myers teaches Jewish history at UCLA.

Law, politics and the settlements Read More »

Global repertoire inspires international ensemble at iPalpiti Festival

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Mobile, News /

Among the pleasures of the summer music season is the annual iPalpiti Festival of International Laureates, now in its 15th year. iPalpiti (the name translates loosely as “the heartbeats”) is a string orchestra of 28 young professionals from Israel, Tatarstan, Azerbaijan, Norway and 14 other countries. Thirteen concerts are being performed in the Los Angeles area through July 29, but the grand finale at Walt Disney Concert Hall (July 28) has, over the years, become a much-anticipated gala-style affair.

Inspired by support from the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin, iPalpiti was founded in 1997 by the violinist, teacher and conductor Eduard Schmieder, along with his wife, Laura (also a violinist). The couple, formerly refuseniks—Jews living in the then-Soviet Union and not allowed to emigrate—finally made their way to America in 1979.

Eduard is a professor of violin and artistic director for strings at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance, and he programs and conducts the music for the Disney Hall concert, while Laura curates the chamber events.

During an interview at a coffee house in Westwood, it also became clear that Laura takes care of nearly everything else. Musicians from around the world were about to arrive. Her cell phone rang—a much-needed donor’s check was almost in hand. The printer of iPalpiti’s elaborate program book showed up with questions and a proofreading deadline. Throughout, Eduard maintained the calm focus of a charismatic and soulful old-world Russian Jew.

“It is not possible to be an internationalist without being proud of your own people first,” Eduard said. “Besides my family, two things are important: my Jewish heritage and classical music.”

The international aspect is the heart, as it were, of iPalpiti. Last year’s multicultural Disney Hall audience was delighted by Syrian-born composer Kareem Roustom’s whimsical “Three Klezmer Dances” for violin, tambourine and strings. And this year, the Schmieders are featuring the 23-year-old Arab-Israeli virtuoso flute player Maron Anis Khoury.

At 20, Khoury was the youngest player appointed to the second flute position of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York. When Eduard asked him how he would like to be featured in the iPalpiti program book, Khoury, capturing the inclusive spirit of the orchestra, said, “I am an Arab, I am a Christian, and I want to be featured as an Israeli.”

“He is a spectacular talent,” Eduard said. “He is living proof that everyone is given an opportunity to succeed. He’s an Israeli citizen, but, more important, he feels it.”

Khoury has performed with Simon Rattle, James Levine and Christoph Eschenbach as well as with Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble of young Arab and Israeli musicians co-founded in 1999 by Barenboim and the late Palestinian-born literary scholar Edward Said.

“I grew up an Israeli,” Khoury, born in the small village of Tarshiha, said. “You didn’t feel left out. My friends, my music teachers—all of them were Jews. It’s a great culture, and I’ve learned so much.”

One work Khoury will be performing—on July 22 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art—is German-Danish composer Friedrich Kuhlau’s Flute Quintet No. 2. It’s a piece close to Laura Schmieder’s heart—she performed it in the 1980s with Julius Baker, one of the most highly regarded American orchestral flute players of his time.

Khoury said it’s a difficult four-movement score with exciting technical runs for the flute right from the start. “I had two weeks to learn it,” he said.

But Khoury’s most moving contribution to the string orchestra’s festival may come when he performs in the premiere of composer Sharon Farber’s “Only a Book,” six variations on a Jewish theme. The July 20 concert takes place at the Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre.

The first work commissioned by iPalpiti, with a matching grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, “Only a Book” was inspired by the poem of an unknown author suggesting different periods of struggle in the history of the Jewish people.

Farber, who is music director of Temple of the Arts in Beverly Hills, has written for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and is also a film composer, with credits including the powerful score to the 2011 documentary about the persistence of anti-Semitism, “Unmasked: Judeophobia.”

The highly rhythmic fourth variation, “Rage and Reflection,” introduces Khoury on flute. “Can a flute express rage and confusion?” Farber asked. This variation, which also features a percussionist, becomes more reflective, leading into the next, “Rebirth.”

“I wanted to tell the story of the Jewish people,” the Israeli-born Farber said. “There is so much to tell. As an Israeli, you take your Judaism for granted. When you live somewhere else, you realize your heritage is so important. You become even more attached to your roots.”

Farber said she’s fortunate to have Eduard Schmieder conducting the score. A remarkably sensitive conductor who elicits honest emotion from his players, he is known for conjuring a golden string tone and finely blended sonorities.

Schmieder has carefully chosen the Disney Hall program, which includes works by Handel and Bach in imaginative orchestrations. There’s also Schoenberg’s “Transfigured Night,” which Schmieder calls “a great piece based on primitive poetry.” And a rarity: Paul Hindemith’s comic “Minimax,” a 1923 parody of marches, polkas and bad playing.

“It’s a criticism of militarism, with wrong notes and bad ensemble,” Schmieder said.

Fun aside, what matters most to Schmieder is heart. “If we do not move audiences emotionally, we will lose classical music. Great music is about love and humanism. That is in our heritage. It started with Torah. We are compelled to introduce justice to people. I try to do it through music as much as I can.”

For more information and tickets, call 310-205-0511 or visit Global repertoire inspires international ensemble at iPalpiti Festival Read More »

Authors return to scene of Israeli espionage

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We think we have some important stories to tell, and thus we returned to the subject of Israeli espionage. Our first effort in that field was a book in 1990 titled “Every Spy a Prince.” Twenty-two years later, we spoke with more people and got more stories — about recent events, but also new details about important operations going back to the beginnings of the Jewish state in 1948.

We are not surprised that the news media put their focus on our description of Israel’s covert activities aimed at stopping — or at least slowing — Iran’s nuclear program. Many of those were accurate, if brief, summaries of what we reported: notably, a news article by the Associated Press on July 8.

We had mixed feelings, therefore, when The New York Times gave our book significant attention on July 11. The headline atop a full column on Page A8 said: “Tehran Abuzz as Book Says Israel Killed 5 Scientists.”

Several of our friends said there is no such thing as bad publicity when one has written a book and it is just out, and the project thrives or languishes depending on how much attention it can get.  

Yet the wording of the Times article would lead newspaper readers to think we were accusing Jews in Iran — where approximately 25,000 still reside — of participating in secret Mossad missions, including assassinations.

The article says that our book contains the “assertion” that five scientists were killed in Iran “by operatives, most likely of Persian Jewish heritage, employed by Mossad …”

We do not want to attack the reporter, who had contacted us with only two questions this week: Could he rapidly have a free, review copy, to help the Times Foreign Desk possibly write an article that might mention “Spies Against Armageddon”? And did we or our publisher have any plan to translate the book into Farsi, the language of Iran?

We feel, however, that while the main thrust of his article turned out to be reporting what the news media in Iran are saying about our book, he himself distorted what we wrote. We are not suggesting that it was intentional, but there were some exaggerations and too much certainty — whereas we were cautious in suggesting what might be true about covert Mossad operations in Iran.

In a carefully worded passage on Page 14 — in our first chapter, “Stopping Iran” — our book says: “The Mossad also had a human treasury: Tens of thousands of ex-Iranians now lived in Israel. Iranian Jews had fled, especially just after the 1979 revolution, and many of their children also were well acquainted with the Persian language and customs. Individuals who were brave enough — and then selected and trained by the Mossad — could move back to Iran and secretly serve Israel.

“Israeli operatives inside Iran were available for all kinds of espionage and even, if and when the time came, for pinpointing targets for air strikes.”

We were not reporting that the assassins in 2007-2012 were Persian Jews returning to their homeland. We said that the Mossad “could” call upon the repository of ex-Iranians as well as other Israelis in the secret agency.

The Times article also mentioned “the book’s assertion that the assassins were all Mossad agents who used agency safe houses maintained inside Iran since the era of the shah.”

Again, we carefully report in our book that the Mossad has had safe houses in Iran since pre-1979 days, but we don’t report that all the assassins stayed in such houses.

The key paragraph on Page 13 of our book speaks of “possibilities.” We do not claim to know or to reveal how the assassins traveled or where they stayed:

“Naturally, no one in Tel Aviv was talking about any operational details of how Israelis entered and left Iran — or where they stayed while inside the Islamic Republic.

“There were many possibilities. Obviously, Israeli operatives traveled using the passports of other countries, including both bogus and genuine documents. That fact had been inadvertently revealed several times, over many years. In addition, the Mossad continuously maintained safe houses in Iran, dating back to the pre-1979 years under the Shah. That was an investment in the future, typical for Israeli intelligence.”

The Times article then caused some discomfort to some Persian Jews in the United States — and we heard from some — when it stated that our book contains “assertions about the assassins’ nationalities or religious beliefs …” We never discuss their religious beliefs. Yes, their nationality is Israeli. We do report that, and we explain that against the background of Mossad operations that penetrated enemy countries in decades past.

Our book treads carefully on some very sensitive territory, but we would like to think that we got the balance right. It is the historian’s job to tell readers what happened and to set it in context — and as historians of the espionage world, we further endeavor not to endanger anyone by revealing too many details.

Let us be clear, and we have written about this elsewhere and will continue to do so: Israel’s Mossad does not use local Jews as agents, saboteurs or assassins. Bitter lessons were learned more than half a century ago in Egypt, Iraq and other countries, where early operations by Israeli intelligence sometimes did use local Jews— and, if caught, the individuals were hanged, and their entire communities suffered official retribution from the Arab regime.

The use of Jonathan Pollard, an American with a high-level security clearance in U.S. naval intelligence, as a spy for Israel was an aberration. The Mossad would not have hired him. It was a separate agency, Lakam (the Science Liaison Bureau), that ran Pollard — who is now serving a life sentence for an operation that most Israeli officials and intelligence professionals believe was a mistake.  

The Mossad, we believe, would have known not to put the important American Jewish community in peril — not the least, American Jews working in U.S. defense and intelligence jobs — by employing Pollard.

To read the Associated Press and New York Times articles mentioned above, visit:

Dan Raviv, a CBS News correspondent based in Washington, and veteran Israeli intelligence reporter and commentator Yossi Melman are co-authors of the new “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars.” They also wrote the best seller “Every Spy a Prince.” They blog at IsraelSpy.com.

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A (Slightly) Lighter Shade of Dark with ‘Dark Horse’

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The last time I interviewed Todd Solondz—one of independent cinema’s most acidic provocateurs—he joked that his agents were thrilled with his black comedy “Dark Horse” “because there’s no child molestation, masturbation or rape in it.”

“I was being a little bit flip,” Solondz said more recently, speaking by phone from the Czech Republic, where “Dark Horse” was screening in advance of its July 27 United States premiere. Even so, he admitted, he deliberately avoided the kind of “hot-button” topics that had sparked outrage in some quarters upon the release of his previous cringe-fests: Think sexually charged prepubescent bullying (“Welcome to the Dollhouse”), pedophilia (“Happiness”), abusive interracial sex (“Storytelling”) and a smug Jewish family, obsessed with the Holocaust, whose members are gassed to death by a disgruntled housekeeper (also “Storytelling”).

“I was feeling burdened by all that I had addressed in my films,” Solondz, 52, said with a sigh in his trademark halting whine. “If I were to deal again with these sorts of subject matters, it might feel clichéd, or as if I were trying to shock for shock’s sake. But you don’t need those sorts of subjects to shock and surprise and provoke people.”

“Dark Horse” does provoke, albeit in a gentler way, by introducing viewers to Abe (Jordan Gelber), an abrasive, self-pitying shlub with a sequoia-sized entitlement complex. At 35, he still lives at home with his Jewish parents (played by Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow) in New Jersey, in a bedroom adorned with his meticulously maintained collection of action figures and comic books. The story unfolds, framed by a Jewish wedding and a funeral, as Abe meets Miranda (Selma Blair), a depressed beauty who also lives with her parents and who wonderingly remarks after their first kiss, “That wasn’t horrible.” Their often-humiliating courtship is Abe’s attempt to escape his underlying loneliness and despair—until a life-threatening accident violently rocks his worldview.

In some ways, Abe’s disappointments recall the character of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” but Solondz had a different sort of protagonist in mind. “The film is a kind of alternative to the popular man-child genre exemplified by Judd Apatow’s movies and TV sitcoms; he is a tragic, real-life version of someone like George Costanza in ‘Seinfeld’—but he’s not de-Judified,” Solondz said. “Often, the perception of the man-child is someone cute and cuddly, but I didn’t want to sentimentalize it.”

“In a sense, I present Abe as a kind of test for the audience—to test their sympathies,” he added. “To what extent can we connect with those that we would rather dismiss or demonize? Abe is probably someone you don’t want to have lunch with, but in fact, here is someone who has a heart beating, and bleeding at that.”

Todd Solondz

During rehearsals, Solondz often reminded Gelber of Abe’s vulnerability: “Some people critique Todd for being really mean to his characters,” Gelber said. “But even when they might seem unbearable, you laugh because you can see the ridiculous in them, as well as the humanity.”

Abe’s obsession with collecting is his drug of choice, which “blurs into a kind of idolatry,” Solondz said. And Judaism certainly provides no tonic for the character, who wears a hip-hop “matzo baller” T-shirt and includes among his collectibles a Coca-Cola bottle inscribed with Hebrew letters. “The closest he gets to any religious expression is through this piece of capitalism, or consumerism,” said the filmmaker, who was raised in a kosher home but now describes himself as “a devout atheist.”

Solondz said he didn’t relate to the Jewish milieu in which he grew up in New Jersey, where, he said, “The Holocaust was a lively source of material at the dinner table.” If his films depict the Garden State as a kind of prison, he said, “I certainly felt from early childhood that I needed to escape. My parents’ social life circled around accountants, dentists or lawyers, but my fantasy was to live and work among people in the arts.”

Yet as much as he has critiqued Jewish suburban ennui, Solondz’s humor seems to come from a particularly tribal place, mixing tragedy with hilarity. He recalls attending a celebration of his films in Poland last fall, where, he said, “I couldn’t stop telling Holocaust jokes the whole time. They show you this wonderful, very chic kosher restaurant and, just outside, they say, ‘This is where the Jews were rounded up by the Nazis.’ ” “Oftentimes when terrible things happen, it’s the absurdity that makes one laugh.”

For all of his prickly observations, Solondz appears to have settled into the life of a contented family man. He married several years ago and is now the father of a 3- and a 1-year-old “who give me a great deal of pleasure,” he said. His wife lights Shabbat candles, a practice he respects even though he himself does not practice any religion. He won’t talk about his next film, save to say it is set in Texas, in case, “keinahora, we shouldn’t get the funding.” 

But he dismisses the notion that “Dark Horse” reflects any midlife mellowing. “I’m not in therapy,” he said. “I’m not that self-analytical.”

“Dark Horse” opens at the Landmark Theatres in Los Angeles on July 27. The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival will screen the film on July 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, with Solondz in attendance. RSVP required by 5 p.m. July 23 as space is limited. Reply to RSVP@americancinematheque.com; the subject line must read “Dark Horse.” Please indicate your first and last name and whether there will be one or two persons in your party. If you do not receive an e-mail confirming your RSVP, you are not confirmed for the screening.

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USC seeks twins with Alzheimer’s for study

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Researchers at the University of Southern California are seeking twins with Alzheimer’s for a study that seeks to help researchers understand risk factors for the disease. Participants will be interviewed about their life histories and their experience with Alzheimer’s. The interviews can take place by phone, in the homes of the participants or at the university campus.

The families of twins with Alzheimer’s can also contact the university about the study.

Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia, affects memory and behavior as neurons in the brain begin to malfunction. One in eight older Americans is affected by the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Age is the strongest known risk factor influencing the development of Alzheimer’s. People with close relatives diagnosed with the disease are also at a greater risk. Although there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, there is evidence that many lifestyle choices, including mental, social and physical stimulation, can help decrease the risk of developing the disease or postpone its symptoms.

For more information about the USC study, call (213) 740-7555 or e-mail jsteuer@usc.edu.

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