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Jewish Journal

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October 28, 2015

Chat rooms, seniors and modern love in ‘Romance.com’

Leave a Comment / Culture, Theater /

Senior dating in the digital age is the comically rendered theme of “Romance.com,” a production of the West Coast Jewish Theatre at the Pico Playhouse in West Los Angeles. 

As the play opens, Nora (Marcia Rodd) has spent four years mourning the death of her husband and living with her granddaughter, Terry (Olivia Henry), who brings her a computer, hoping it will help Nora get more in touch with the world.  

The play, by the late Hindi Brooks, was first performed at Theatre 40 in 2002 and is now being revived by director Howard Teichman, artistic director of West Coast Jewish Theatre, who was drawn to the story by its relevance to how relationships develop today. 

“What attracted me was the way that Hindi created this, and the way the technology has developed. Back in the day, you might meet somebody at a social, or you might get invited to meet somebody through a friend. Now it’s through the computer, and so we have J-dating, we have chat rooms — people have these ways of communicating with one another, and she had the idea that even older people can do that.

“Nora’s a grandmother who loves her granddaughter, and the granddaughter is engaged to a man that Nora does not particularly like,” Teichman said. “So, she basically tries to undermine the relationship.”

From left: Olivia Henry, Michael J. Silver, Marcia Rodd, Joseph Michael Harris and Bart Braverman in “Romance.com.” Photo by Michael Lamont

Teichman described the granddaughter’s fiancé, Ira (Joseph Michael Harris), as extremely egotistical. “He’s a big body builder. He owns a gym, and he really is very self-centered, and he’s not very interested in her, other than being in love with love.  

“Eventually, she realizes that maybe she should find somebody who’s more interested in her.”

Nora’s journey begins when she decides to give the computer a try, despite her immediate disdain for it. After she comes upon a romance site, she starts an online conversation with someone who calls himself Romeo, so she starts calling herself Juliet. Under the misapprehension that she’s conversing with a young man, she pretends to be her granddaughter.

In reality, the man Nora has contacted is Benny (Bart Braverman), a former mattress salesman who is about her age and who was fired for lying down too much on the job. He connects with women on the Internet from a nearby deli and takes on the persona of a young waiter, Don (Michael J. Silver), who is an aspiring actor.

Benny’s goal, Teichman said, is to find love in a chat room, and, lacking confidence in himself, he keeps lying to women. “He says to them, ‘I like to play sports. I like to tango.’ He’s 70 years old. He can’t do any of these things, but he lies to the women to get them interested in him. And the grandmother gets online, and she starts lying, too.”

Teichman remarked that, underneath the gentle comedy, the play examines some universal issues. “I think the serious themes of the play have to do with growing old, and having to be strapped with the label that we put on older people today that they are not to be included … that they’re no longer an effective person in our society. And I also think that it talks about the sadness that people have about the loss of a loved one, and how do we re-create ourselves so we can be whole again.” 

Although the characters are written as Jewish, Teichman views their identities as more cultural than religious. The Theatre’s mission, he said, is to find plays by Jewish writers, but the plays don’t have to have specifically Jewish themes.  In fact, Teichman said he believes this show, which is currently being produced in Poland and has been playing in Germany for the past 11 years, has broad appeal.

“My goal,” he said, “will always be to bring an entertainment, an educational outlook and a view of the Jewish experience that can bridge other cultures. I think that, looking at the anti-Semitism that is going on in the world today — and it has really sprung up terribly in Europe and here in the United States — that the only way people will not have that feeling of anti-Semitism is if they understand that we are no different from anybody else. We as a people have the same wants and desires as everyone else does, and I think the more that is put out there — and I do it through the medium of theater — hopefully, people will not look at Jews and say they’re different, because we’re not.”

“Romance.com” is at Pico Playhouse through Nov. 29. 

Chat rooms, seniors and modern love in ‘Romance.com’ Read More »

UC holds forum on statement against intolerance

Leave a Comment / California /

Five weeks after the University of California’s Board of Regents rejected the “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance” drafted by UC President Janet Napolitano’s office, a UC-appointed “working group” held a forum Oct. 26 at UCLA, where the public was free to comment on the proposed principles.

The demand for such a statement was initially pushed by pro-Israel, Jewish UC students who wanted the university to define and condemn what are considered unacceptably intolerant actions and speech, while stopping short of legislating any punishments. Particularly worrying to many Jewish students has been a series of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions votes in student governments at seven of UC’s 10 campuses, and a number of anti-Semitic incidents. On Jan. 31, the exterior of the house of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi at UC Davis was spray-painted with swastikas. Last February, Rachel Beyda, a Jewish pre-law student at UCLA who had been nominated for a student-judicial role, was asked at her nomination hearing whether she could serve as an unbiased judge given that she is Jewish. And two weeks ago, again at UC Davis, swastikas and anti-Jewish slurs were keyed into 11 cars at a campus housing complex.

On Monday at UCLA’s Covel Commons, about 100 people gave comments (maximum of five minutes) throughout the day to the eight-person panel that is tasked with drafting a new “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance.” This was not a question-and-answer session, and the working group did not respond to public comments, but simply listened to what people had to say.

Pro-Israel students and activist groups want UC’s Board of Regents to adopt the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism, which labels demonization and delegitimization of Israel as anti-Semitic. Muslim and Jewish activists from groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace argue that such a definition would stifle freedom of speech.

Philippe Assouline, a political science instructor at UCLA, spoke at the public forum in favor of adopting the State Department’s definition, and said that given how many other minority groups on UC campuses are given special protections, he believes Jewish students should be given the same. “The only group that doesn’t get that attention is Jewish students,” Assouline said. “They have to decide between pride in their heritage and being welcome on campus.”

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a UC Santa Cruz lecturer and co-founder of the AMCHA Initiative, a campus watchdog of anti-Semitic incidents, was in Los Angeles for the forum and said she believes the working group “has all the input it needs at this point to be able to do its job.” As of press time on Oct. 27, no deadline for the working group’s draft had been announced.

UC holds forum on statement against intolerance Read More »

There’s no business like Israel business

Leave a Comment / Los Angeles /

Rob Anders, co-founder and CEO of software company Niio, said his company is poised to become the “iTunes of art” when it launches next year with a product that allows consumers to purchase and rent digital artwork and exhibit it on screens in their homes.

At the recent Israel Conference, the British-born, Israel-based businessman had the opportunity to turn others into believers.

“You’ll be thinking of us when you have digital art on the walls,” said Anders, one of hundreds of entrepreneurial business leaders connected to the Jewish state who turned out for the conference. 

He spoke to the Journal shortly before pitching his company to a panel of potential investors during a program at the conference that recalled ABC’s hit reality TV show “Shark Tank.” The panel included Audrey Jacobs, vice president of OurCrowd, a crowd-sourcing platform for Israeli capital startups.

Other companies pitched during the program included Lishtot (Hebrew for “to drink”), which produces a water-quality testing technology capable of detecting within a few seconds whether a glass of water is safe to drink, and Wispa, a Craigslist-like online marketplace for sneakers.

The Israel Conference is an annual networking event — this is its seventh year — full of panels and guest speakers focusing on companies that were “founded in Israel, have R&D in Israel, do business in Israel, or invest in Israeli companies,” according to the conference’s program materials. This year, it took place Oct. 21-22 at the Skirball Cultural Center.

An estimated 1,000 attendees turned out for this year’s edition, 40 percent of them CEOs of companies, according to Katherine Tempel, business development associate at the conference. 

“We make some really big introductions here. It’s a place for introductions, for growth and business. Deals are made on the spot. People don’t come here to learn,” Tempel said. “They come here to make deals.” 

Dozens of speakers lectured on technology, fashion, advertising and more over the course of two days, including Frank Melloul, CEO of i24 News, a Tel-Aviv-based international 24-hour news station. Melloul said he hopes his TV company will go beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to report on news affecting the daily life of Israelis.

“Most of the people in my life don’t know anything about Israel,” he said during a 45-minute panel titled “In the News!” with Los Angeles Times reporter Michael Hiltzik.

Inbal Baum, CEO of food-tour company Delicious Israel, spoke during a presentation about how high-end food has become big business in Israel. She went so far as to say that, in Tel Aviv, food was the “original startup.” 

Representing the entertainment sector was Gideon Raff, an Israeli writer and director known for his work on “Homeland” and the Israeli television show from which it was adapted. He participated in a panel titled “Mesmerizing Thrillers, Mysteries and Miniseries.” Additional panels examined cybersecurity, the comedy business and more. 

Producer Nancy Spielberg’s film, “Above and Beyond,” a documentary about the birth of Israel’s air force and the foreigners who served in it during the War of Independence, was broken into two parts and screened during lunch, half on the first day, the other half on the second.

The event has come a long way since its launch in 2009, when it was limited to small dinners and coffee, Tempel said. In 2014, the conference relocated from the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel to the Skirball. Yossi Vardi, chairman of International Technologies, is conference co-chair.

Beyond the panels taking place indoors, Israeli success stories such as ReWalk, maker of a robotic exoskeleton that allows people with spinal cord injuries to stand and walk, and SodaStream, producer of a home beverage-carbonation product, were among the 35 companies that were represented at booths outside in the museum courtyard. 

Lesser-known companies also turned out at the conference, hoping to make a splash. 

“We’re all trying to succeed. The only way we’ll succeed is [if we work together],” said Amos Angelovici, founder and executive vice president of business at Babator (“Haba bator” is Hebrew for “next in line”). His company monitors online video content viewing habits of consumers on behalf of video publishing websites. “In the Israeli community or the Jewish community, there is a lot of help here. You might say it’s a joint effort to succeed,” he said.

Sharona Justman, managing director at STEP Strategy Advisors and the conference co-chairwoman, said bringing together entrepreneurs who love Israel is her way of expressing Zionism.

“I’m known as a connecter, and I’m trying to increase engagement with Israeli companies at all business levels,” she said.

Guy Ruttenberg, an intellectual property attorney, said the conference’s strength is the variety of professionals and businesses it attracts every year.

“It’s a good conference. It really is a collection of entrepreneurs, financiers and general thinkers,” he said on Wednesday as attendees prepared to enjoy an evening reception of live music, cocktails and hors d’oeurves. “It’s pretty cool.”

There’s no business like Israel business Read More »

Meet the family behind Burma’s last synagogue

Leave a Comment / Culture, Travel /

In the center of downtown Yangon (formerly Rangoon), just off the city’s main thoroughfare of Mahabandoola Street, stands Burma’s only remaining synagogue, Musmeah Yeshua. Each year, hundreds of tourists visit the colonial-era synagogue, one of the few remnants of this country’s once-thriving Jewish community. In this majority-Buddhist country, the synagogue’s continued existence can be attributed largely to the efforts of one family: the Samuelses. 

Shortly after Burma — also known as Myanmar — gained its independence from Britain in 1948, Moses Samuels took over the care of the synagogue from his father, who had taken over from his father before him. For decades, Moses would open the synagogue doors every morning, eager to greet Jewish and non-Jewish visitors alike. 

Moses’ son, Sammy, told the Journal that his grandfather had exacted a promise from his father “that as long as we are here, the synagogue will be open and there will [be a] community. All [the] credit goes to my father.” 

When the Journal contacted Moses in late April, he was suffering from throat cancer and could hardly speak; he responded via email.

“For many years I [have] been receiving visitors from all over the world, and I treat everyone with equal respect and dignity … no matter if they are Jewish or Buddhist, Muslim or Christian, Hindu or Baha’i — [no] matter if they come from America or India, Europe or Asia,” Moses wrote to the Journal on April 29. 

“I am always proud to share the history of the community. This is great for [the] city of Yangon and tourism, to show the diversity of this beautiful city and religious tolerance of its people.” 

A month later, Moses died at the age of 65. Sammy, who has been active in the synagogue’s upkeep and support for many years, said he will continue taking care of both the synagogue and cemetery, as his father had for 35 years. 

Sammy Samuels is the fourth generation of his family to serve as the synagogue’s caretaker. 

“Before my father passed away, I had made [a] promise to keep the Jewish spirit alive in Myanmar, and I will continue to do so,” Sammy said. 

The synagogue, with its soaring ceiling and graceful columns, was rebuilt in 1896 from a smaller wooden structure that had been erected in the mid-1850s. Listed as one of 188 Yangon heritage buildings by the Yangon Development Council, Musmeah Yeshua in its heyday contained 126 silver Torah scrolls. Only two remain today; various Jewish families took the others when they left Burma for other countries over the years. The city’s Jewish cemetery is about six miles from the synagogue and contains more than 600 gravestones, the oldest dating to 1876. The community once boasted a Jewish school, which at its peak in 1910 had 200 students.

Burma’s Jewish community dates to the mid-19th century, when Jewish merchants migrated to Burma and became a conduit between British colonial rulers and the export-import community abroad. Most of these merchants, including Sammy’s great-grandparents, came from Iraq. By 1940, there were approximately 2,500 Jews living in Burma. Many became successful in business and industry, some owning ice factories and bottling plants, others dealing in textiles and timber. The rest were primarily customs officials and traders. 

As Jewish prosperity increased, so did philanthropy, and Jews donated large sums to local institutions such as schools, libraries and hospitals. 

But Jewish life in Burma changed drastically during World War II. In the colonial era, the Jewish community had formed close ties with the British. The Japanese occupied Burma in 1941 and, believing Jews were spying for the British, forced them — and most of the British colonial population — to flee to other countries. 

Only about 300 Jews remained in Burma under Japanese occupation. Another 200 returned after the war, but with their homes and wealth gone, most were unable to resume or rebuild their prewar lives. Over time, many of these families also left Burma. By the time Burmese dictator Ne Win’s regime nationalized business in 1962, there were only 150 Jews remaining in the country. With nationalization, more families lost their businesses and factories and also decided to leave. Today, approximately 20 Jews live in Burma, including Sammy’s family. 

For more than five decades, the country remained isolated from much of the outside world, largely because of the economic sanctions Western governments imposed on Burma for its poor record on human rights. But in 2011, when the quasi-civilian government led by President Thein Sein opened up the country, business opportunities and foreign investments began mushrooming and tourism increased dramatically. According to Myanmar’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, about 800,000 tourists visited in 2010-2011; this number increased to 1.5 million in 2012, 2 million in 2013 and 3 million in 2014.  

The Samuels family’s role in Jewish life in Burma has kept pace with the country’s changing status.

In 2002, Sammy left Burma to study at Yeshiva University (YU) in New York. While he was there, he promoted a Jewish-Burmese connection by telling everyone he met about the small Jewish community in Burma. He also assisted many Americans in planning and arranging visits to Myanmar. 

“I [spoke] about Burma at Jewish Communal events, at the Yeshiva University, some synagogues, Jewish Federations,” Sammy said. “That’s why my friends called me the ‘Ambassador of Jews to Burma.’ ” 

When he graduated from YU in 2006, Sammy wasn’t sure what to do next. “I had only $870 extra money. … In my last semester, I got the idea to open a travel agency.” With the goal of increasing tourism and awareness of Jewish heritage in his country, Sammy named his company Myanmar Shalom. He hired one staff person who, along with one of his sisters, helped to run his company in Yangon. His father also helped. 

“Now it’s been almost eight years since I started the agency. And I now have a staff of over 25 at a 2,500-square-foot office in Yangon and branch offices in other cities.” Besides the travel agency, Sammy also created MS Global Consulting Company, and owns and runs two guesthouses in Yangon — the York Residence Bed & Breakfast and the Lotus Inn. 

“If [my] family had left Burma like others, I think the synagogue [would] be closed, and there [would] not be Jewish spirit alive in the country,” Sammy said. He added, proudly, that the synagogue ranks No. 4 out of more than 96 attractions in Yangon and in the top 10 landmarks in Burma by TripAdvisor.

“This is pretty amazing,” Sammy said. “Who [would] think the synagogue with a handful of Jews [would] rank so high in a country with thousands of beautiful pagodas and temples?”

Saw Yan Naing is a Burmese journalist for The Irrawaddy magazine and was the Jewish Journal’s Alfred Friendly Fellow earlier this year.

Meet the family behind Burma’s last synagogue Read More »

The Shabbat heard ’round the world

Leave a Comment / Judaism /

A 3,000-person Shabbat dinner along Pico Boulevard and challah-baking events around the city were among the local events organized for the month of October under the auspices of The Shabbos Project. As part of a collaborative initiative between hundreds of synagogues and Jewish organizations, the Project curates Shabbat mega-events around the world throughout October, including Shabbat dinners and lunches, Havdalah concerts, Kabbalat Shabbats, communal challah-bakes and women’s shiurim —Torah-study sessions.

The Shabbos Project 3000, a community Shabbat meal and celebration, was held in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood on Oct. 23. Josh Golcheh, founder of the United Nation of Hashem, partnered with Dara Abaei, the founder and executive director of the Jewish Unity Network, and volunteers Josh Banaf and Daniel Braum to organize the event, which included 21 co-sponsors such as My Aish and Pico Shul. 

Golcheh said he began planning the Shabbos Project 3000 dinner in mid-August. He realized that no local venues could accommodate an anticipated guest list of 3,000, so he decided to create one large venue by closing down Pico Boulevard between South Beverly Drive and Doheny Drive. The event organizers and volunteers set to work, setting up tables and chairs for five city blocks. 

Ticket prices ranged from $18 to $52, and all proceeds were applied to the costs of the massive meal. Many individuals and community organizations stepped up to cover the rest of the costs, Golcheh said. 

The group sold all 3,000 tickets, and 500 additional people arrived after the dinner to shmooze and attend Rabbi Shlomo Yisraeli of Westwood Bet Knesset’s class, “How to Be Sane in an Insane World.” Sharon Catering and Diamond Catering created a full array of salads, dips, chicken, vegetables and rice, all of which were served hot and fresh to each table. 

“There was no waiting in line for any buffets,” Golcheh said. 

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein of Pico Shul was impressed. 

“It was so inspiring to see so many people come together for Shabbat dinner, especially with all the difficulties of our brothers and sisters in Israel. It was a real show of Jewish unity,” Bookstein said.

Golcheh said he hopes to throw an even “bigger and better” event next year.  

“This event showed how the entire community comes together,” he said. “We put aside our differences in tradition and background and shared one meal.” 

On the previous evening, also under the umbrella of The Shabbos Project, thousands of women and girls gathered at various Southern California venues to participate in The Great Big Challah Bake.

The event brought women from all over Los Angeles to the Ace Gallery on La Brea Boulevard to share in the ritual of challah baking. 

“Judaism is about taking what is mundane and elevating it. We turn something simple into something sublime,” event speaker Jackie Engel, an Australian psychologist, told the more than 1,100 Jewish women and girls assembled at the Ace. 

“We are about to change something as ordinary as dough into the mitzvah of challah, something holy,” she said.

Each participant had her own bowl and dry ingredients such as flour and yeast; they shared water and oil, helping each other measure and create the dough. Helpers circulated around the tables to demonstrate kneading the dough, showing how much “punching” goes into making it smooth and malleable. 

Leanne Praw, a West L.A resident originally from Zimbabwe and one of the organizers of the event, said it exceeded her expectations. 

“I don’t think we could have anticipated the special moments that came out of the evening. It was amazing to see the [local Jewish schools] coming together beforehand to help us measure ingredients. There were a lot of families who had three or four generations of women at one table,” Praw said.

Some of the tables were sponsored by local synagogues and organizations. Joanne Feldman of Marina del Rey came with her synagogue, The Pacific Jewish Center, in Venice. 

“Of course we wanted to come bake challah with everyone. We got a table and 10 people came out. We are making a dinner tomorrow night for 65 people,” Feldman said.

The night was especially meaningful for Rose “Grandma Rosie” Kamin of Pico-Robertson, who turned 100 years old on the night of the event and was given the honor of saying a blessing over the challah dough. Her daughter, Devorah Marcy, beamed with pride. 

“She gives blessings to everyone. She sees the good in everything and everyone. Her motto is, ‘Never say never.’ ” 

“I bless you all with good health, and an extra special for our brothers and sisters in Israel,” Grandma Rosie said, addressing the auditorium. 

The night ended with an energetic round of singing and dancing. 

Each person got to take home her freshly braided challah dough to bake on Friday morning. 

Great Big Challah Bakes occurred at other venues across Los Angeles, including at the Calabasas Shul. Louisa Frahm of downtown L.A. went to the Calabasas event to learn more about her boyfriend’s Jewish identity. 

“I loved learning more about Jewish culture and spending time with women who are so dedicated to their faith. It was inspiring. The free food was just a bonus!”

Still to come: the Mega Challah Bake at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza on Oct. 29, sponsored by the Chabad Jewish Centers of the Conejo Valley and surrounding areas. Rebbetzin Shula Bryski, co-director of Chabad of Thousand Oaks, said the event is expected to attract 500 women and girls from nonaffiliated and local Jewish organizations, including Hadassah, Reform and Conservative temples, and Chabad.

The Shabbat heard ’round the world Read More »

Ben Carson is a Seventh Day Adventist. Here’s why it matters

Leave a Comment / Election 2016, Is Featured?, Judaism, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News /

When Joe Lieberman became the first observant Jew with a reasonable chance at being president – after Al Gore named him his vice presidential running mate in 2000 – he faced a host of questions about how his Sabbath observance might impact his presidential duties.

Now that Ben Carson, a Seventh Day Adventist, has emerged at the top of the polls in the Republican presidential primary, he’s facing similar questions about his religion.

So far, Carson’s faith — which, like Judaism, celebrates the Sabbath on Saturday and abjures eating the non-kosher animals listed in the Book of Leviticus — hasn’t been an impediment to his campaign.

The neurosurgeon-turned-candidate doesn’t seem to be a Sabbath-observer in the strictest sense: He has held campaign rallies on Saturday and made Saturday stops on book tours. But Carson says he tries to respect the day of rest.

“Sabbath is still a precious day for us. We go to church as often as we can,” he told the Adventist News Network in 2013. “Even if we’re on the road we treat it as a different day than all the others.”

Carson is a member of the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Spencerville, Md. As a Seventh Day Adventist, Carson adheres to a little-understood Protestant religious group that emerged in mid-19th century America and now has some 1.2 million members nationwide and more than 18 million around the world.

While the religion shares some commonalities with Judaism, Adventists believe the second coming of Jesus may be imminent. The Adventist church also focuses on health and wellness, and members are encouraged, but not required, to forgo alcohol, tobacco and meat.

Carson is on a mostly vegetarian diet, but he does eat milk and egg products and occasionally chicken.

More relevant politically, Carson frequently cites his faith as the reason for his policy positions. On taxation, for example, Carson has proposed a tithing system.

“When I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe, God, and he’s giving us a system. It’s called tithes. Now we don’t necessarily have to do it 10 percent, but it’s the principle,” Carson said in a 2013 speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. “You make $10 billion, you put in a billion, you make $10, you put in one. Of course, you’ve got to get rid of the loopholes.”

Like many other Christian candidates, he also cites religion for his opposition to abortion, including in cases of rape or incest (though not if the mother’s life is in jeopardy).

“All you have to do is go and look up the many stories of people who have led very useful lives who were the result of rape or incest,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” this week.

Carson, who cites Jesus as his role model, also has some pronounced views about Americans of other faiths. He suggested in September that he’d have trouble with a Muslim in the White House, saying that any Muslim who became president would have to reject certain tenets of Islam that are incompatible with the presidency.

“I would have problems with somebody who embraced all the doctrines associated with Islam,” Carson explained on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “If they are not willing to reject sharia and all the portions of it that are talked about in the Koran — if they are not willing to reject that, and subject that to American values and the Constitution, then of course, I would.”

He also believes Jews shouldn’t take offense if someone wishes them a “Merry Christmas.”

“People are afraid of saying ‘Merry Christmas’ at Christmastime,” he said in his 2013 National Prayer Breakfast speech. “It doesn’t matter if the person you’re talking to is Jewish or whether they’re any religion. That’s a salutation of greeting, of goodwill. We’ve got to get over this sensitivity.”

More controversially, Carson suggested in a new book and in interviews in early October that gun control was partially responsible for Hitler’s slaughter of Europe’s Jews, allowing the Nazis to “carry out their evil intentions with relatively little resistance.” His comments came as part of his reaction to the deadly mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., after which Carson argued that better armed citizens, rather than gun control, is the best way to stop such mass killings.

Several weeks later, Carson defended his comments, saying on “Meet the Press,” “I’ve heard from many people in the Jewish community, including rabbis, who said, ‘You’re spot on. You are exactly right.’”

Like many devout believers of all faiths, Carson attributes his successes in life to God.

“There’s no question God sets these things up. My whole life, I feel, has been orchestrated by him,” Carson said in 2013. “We always have to remember that no matter what’s going on, no matter how much of a spotlight we have, that all of that comes from God and everything we do should reflect glory on his name.”

Ben Carson is a Seventh Day Adventist. Here’s why it matters Read More »

GOP debate analysis: Rubio earns top spot

Leave a Comment / Election 2016, United States /

Republican presidential candidates showed up on Wednesday to yet another audition in front of millions of Americans as they were supposed to debate each other and present their vision for the future in constricted soundbites for the third GOP debate on CNBC.

But instead of being able to address their vision and draw a contrast with one another, the candidates were grilled and skewed by the moderators. But it came back to haunt CNBC as the candidates and the audience fought back aggressively.

In the remaining time they had to answer questions or address policy issues, there were two candidates who stood out, dominated the conversation and earned positive marks: Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Going into the debate, Rubio’s stakes were high. The eyes of potential backers – such as Sheldon Adelson and Paul Singer – were glued to the TV screen not only to examine his performance and answers on the issues of the day but to determine whether the moment has come to put their faith in his candidacy as a viable choice.

Rubio has done pretty well in previous debates. On TV and in public speeches, the Florida Senator inspires. He’s articulate, measured, but more importantly he’s appealing. And in recent months, Rubio has been climbing the ladder in public opinion polls and all of the post-debate polls. But somehow, despite his rise in the polls, situating himself in the top 5 spots in every single national and state poll, he hasn’t been able to break out. His fundraising numbers are far from impressing, and despite missing a substantial amount of time casting votes in the Senate, he hasn’t been seen too often in the early primary states, and the amount of time spending in attending fundraisers and meeting bundlers doesn’t seem to be too productive.

Politico reported Tuesday that Singer, who considers Rubio as his favorite, is still wondering if he can create a big-time national campaign and succeed in building a formidable political operation to compete or even win the early primary states. Adelson, too, is closing in on Rubio but was said to be waiting for tonight’s debate to make a final and unregrettable decision

Rubio’s hawkish views on foreign policy issues are a plus for him in courting the heavy Jewish Republican donors. But it hasn’t helped him, so far, to bite into Ted Cruz’s base.

That changed on Wednesday night. Rubio stood his ground to the questions hurled at him, stuck to his basic campaign theme, but more importantly, threw back a punch to his main rival Jeb Bush as the two sparred at the beginning of the two-hour debate.

When he was challenged for skipping more votes than any senator to run for president, Rubio made a fair comparison to previous senators running for president, including President Barack Obama and John Kerry. “This is another example of the double standard that exists in this country between the mainstream media and the conservative movement,” he said.

Bush, looking for a breakout moment against the charismatic Senator from Florida, countered that argument: “Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work,” he said.” I mean, literally, the Senate — what is it, like a French work week? You get, like, three days where you have to show up? You can campaign, or just resign and let someone else take the job.”

But Rubio threw the Romney kitchen sink right at Jeb. “Over the last few weeks, I’ve listened to Jeb as he walked around the country and said that you’re modeling your campaign after John McCain, that you’re going to launch a furious comeback the way he did, by fighting hard in New Hampshire and places like that, carrying your own bag at the airport. You know how many votes John McCain missed when he was carrying out that furious comeback that you’re now modeling after?,” he asked the former Republican frontrunner. “I don’t remember you ever complaining about John McCain’s vote record. The only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.”

Rubio also got positive marks for attacking the mainstream media, which is always a plus in the Republican primary.

If I were a fly on the wall in the Adelson living room tonight, I would’ve heard Sheldon telling his wife Miriam that the deal is closed, he has it. Rubio might have earned the Vegas casino mogul’s support, even though foreign policy wasn’t even mentioned once during the entire debate, for hitting a grand slam in a game he’s pitching perfect against the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Christie also had his moments. When the moderator asked Bush about the government getting involved in fantasy football, the New Jersey Governor chimed in: “Wait a second, we have $19 trillion in debt, we have people out of work, we have ISIS and al-Qaeda attacking us and we’re talking about fantasy football? Can we stop? Seriously, how about this? How about we get the government to do what they are supposed to be doing, secure our borders, protect our people and support American values and American families.”

Rand Paul, though wearing the best tie, failed to score a breakout moment just for the fact that he was given less time to speak, and the substantive answers he gave were diluted by the candidates continued clashes with the moderators.

Just like the Democratic debate early this month, Israel was not mentioned once during the debate. In fact, the fight against ISIS and the Iran nuclear deal was only mentioned by Trump and Christie during indirect answers on other issues.

Ohio Governor John Kasich, who had a good performance, quoted the Talmud in his closing remarks: “And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:9)

This also marked the first time in over three months that the frontrunner Donald Trump, already being challenged by Ben Carson for the first spot, failed to dominate the conversation and despite standing center stage, he was not the center of the discussion and was mostly ignored by the other candidates on the stage.

Other than the ten candidates standing on the stage, Senator Lindsey Graham also had a great night in the undercard debate aired on CNBC at 6:00 pm. His performance earned him a high five by the guy who became the nominee four years ago: former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. “After hearing @LindseyGrahamSC talk foreign policy tonight, it’s clear he belongs on the big stage,’ Romney tweeted.

Indeed, Graham with his knowledge of domestic and international affairs and sense of humor belonged on the main stage on Wednesday.

The 14 GOP hopefuls will get another opportunity to earn some support next month. But to sum up tonight’s debate, Jeb Bush failed to save his flailing campaign and he failed big in picking a fight with Rubio. Christie, who does well on stage, will likely benefit from Bush’s downfall in the short term. But most importantly, Rubio, as mentioned above, proved he’s ready to take it to top-tier by using to maximum his strength at the podium. Similarly, Cruz shined in the moments he was given the mic.

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Obama could learn from Bill Clinton how to be a true friend of Israel

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By now it should be obvious how absurd it is to call President Barack Obama Israel’s “best friend” ever, as Thomas Friedman of The New York Times has claimed.

A Blame Israel Firster, Obama won’t use his moral authority to try stopping the instigators of this latest spate of violence, the Palestinians. Unfortunately he never learned from his Democratic predecessor how to tell the good guys from the bad guys in the Middle East.

While Bill Clinton also endorsed a Palestinian state, and also felt frustrated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he blamed the Palestinians for terrorism and Yasser Arafat for derailing the peace talks in 2000. Clinton finger-pointed when necessary, not always retreating into “cycle of violence” moral equivalences.

He distinguished between Israeli willingness and Palestinian foot-dragging. He never confused Israeli innocents with Palestinian terrorists. This Democratic president clearly stated that “the PLO must do everything it can to end terrorism against Israel.” With his down-to-earth “Bubba” style, he denounced terrorists as “the forces of doom and gloom,” while advising the Palestinians that “struggle and pain and destruction and self-destruction are way overrated, and not the only option.”

Bill Clinton was an empath. He conveyed his love for Israel with words, gestures and flourishes. Heartbroken when an Israeli fanatic assassinated his friend Yitzhak Rabin, Clinton captured the world’s anguish with his famous “Shalom, chaver” sendoff. On Saturday, Clinton will speak at a rally in Tel Aviv to mark the 20th anniversary of Rabin’s murder.

Clinton charmed Israelis, reassuring many who felt he pressured Israel to relinquish too much territory to the Palestinians. Even when Netanyahu’s obstructionism exasperated him, Clinton palled around with Bibi. Obama has scowled.

Visiting Israel in March 1996 following two suicide bus bombings, Clinton defied the Secret Service by visiting Bet Chinuch, a Jerusalem high school mourning three students. The president called two recovering victims on the phone. Later that day, and visibly moved, he told young Israelis: “We know your pain is unimaginable and to some extent unshareable, but America grieves with you.” He called terrorists “destroyers” gripped by “that ancient fear that life can only be lived … if you’re hating someone else.” He backed up his words with $100 million in anti-terror funding.

Clinton differentiated between Israeli openness, even if wary, and Palestinian resistance, even if camouflaged. My new book, “The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s,” retells how when Arafat made his unprecedented 24th White House visit in January 2001, shortly before Clinton left office, the president was fuming. At Camp David the previous summer, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak had offered to withdraw from most of the 1967 territories and compensate the Palestinians with land swaps. Arafat never even counteroffered.

The oleaginous terrorist tried flattering the president, calling him a great man.

“I am not a great man,” Clinton replied, “I am a failure. And you have made me one.”

Clinton later explained: “Arafat never said no; he just couldn’t bring himself to say yes.” Mourning Arafat’s “error of historic proportions,” Clinton would speculate, “Perhaps he simply couldn’t make the final jump from revolutionary to statesman.”

Also in January 2001, Clinton, in his characteristically colloquial way, warned the Palestinians: “There will always be those who are sitting outside in the peanut gallery of the Middle East urging you to hold out for more, or to plant one more bomb.” He begged them to resist those luring them to “the path of no.”

Today, Palestinians have again erupted in violence, but Obama lacks Clinton’s moral clarity.

“We continue to stress to leaders on both sides the importance of condemning violence and combating incitement,” Obama’s press secretary, Josh Earnest, has said. This mealymouthed amoralism reinforces Obama’s technocratic urging of both parties to try to “tamp down rhetoric that may feed violence or anger or misunderstanding.”

The Clinton-Obama contrast reflects two conflicting worldviews. Clinton entered office as such a national security novice that Ronald Reagan had to teach him how to salute. But Clinton’s passivity amid massacres in Bosnia and genocide in Rwanda transformed him. He realized that when America doesn’t lead, evil flourishes. He became a neoliberal interventionist, deploying the military to advance Western values in Kosovo and expressing zero tolerance for terrorism.

A postmodern power skeptic, Obama harbors more doubt about Western values and America’s ability to lead the world constructively. Emphasizing America’s limits, morally and strategically, Obama wants to woo the developing world.

Regarding the Middle East, Obama should learn from Clinton that Palestinian desires to exterminate Israel — expressed through incitement and terrorism — remain the biggest obstacle to peace. If Obama, like Clinton, held Palestinians responsible for turning toward terrorism, he would be treating them as mature decision makers, not infantilized victims.

Even with Obama’s military generosity to Israel, a true friend, let alone a “best friend,” would not always blame Israel first, or obscure Palestinian responsibility by blaming both sides, especially when Palestinians attack Israel. Muddled morality emboldens Palestinian terrorists, who interpret such dithering as greenlighting their bloodlust.

Obama should duplicate Clinton’s moral clarity. Obama must finally, belatedly, blame the Palestinians directly, pressuring Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and company to stop the violence. Obama should disagree with Secretary of State John Kerry, who blamed the settlements — not lies about the Temple Mount — for this latest eruption.

Clinton understood something Obama cannot comprehend: The world’s one-sided condemnations of Israel compound the trauma of Palestinian terror, reminding Israelis of the long history of anti-Semitic oppression — which Clinton frequently acknowledged. As a lonely, too-often-abandoned democracy, Israel responds to support, warmth, protectiveness. Even though many Israelis disagreed with Clinton’s policies, they trusted him, loved him and thus were willing to compromise.

(Gil Troy is a professor of history at McGill University and a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution. His newest book, “The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s,” was just published by St. Martin’s Press.)

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A Tough Time to Live Here – Guest Post by an Israeli Christian Arab

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Noora, an Israeli Arab, shares with Israelife's readers her thoughts and feelings during these difficult times, with daily terror attacks and nation-wide fear.

Hatred, violence, incitement, provocation and in the final analysis – murders, are the sad reality of my country these days. Israel is a peaceful country, where Arabs and Jews live in coexistence with common interests and mutual respect. It is wonderful to see how many rifts respect the different opinions and religions and how they coexist and live a secure life although they differ.

I, who have been born and raised in serene Haifa- a city characterized by its diverse rifts and religions that live happily and peacefully together; and I, who have always lived side by side with Jews, and have Jewish friends from childhood, the military and from university- find it hard to live in the midst of these awful incidents and to accept this awful situation forced upon us.

Israel's routine is calm; the daily life, at least in Haifa, is filled with harmony, acceptance and respect. Nonetheless, the conflict is always there, hovering over our heads. It is so easy to inflame and incite hatred in people's hearts around the country, to the extent that they forget the values of humanity and go as far as killing those who run a different lifestyle.

This current wave of incitement-led violence is intimidating.  For the first time in my life, I do not feel safe in my own city and I am just waiting for this scary situation to end. I'm avoiding leaving my house to not take redundant risks, because everyone can get hurt, Arabs and Jews, no exceptions! It is just hard to comprehend physically offending someone based on their appearance alone. This leads to a vicious circle of violence, where innocent people are being hurt because they're mistaken for terrorists. As a result, and as a try to hurt the other side based on physical appearance, the incident could end-up hurting people from your own side; same ethnicity or Israel's supporters.

War brings war. Peace brings peace. Politicians, on both sides, are hypocrite, they are supposed to lead and represent their people, but in fact, they incite hatred and violence, instead of inspiring love and peace. But it's not just the politicians who stir violence. It is also social media, where the voices of extremists are the ones being heard. Social media can be an outlet for us all to unburden ourselves, but it can easily be used as a tool to incite hatred and have a very negative effect on the peaceful and mutual living of Arab and Jews. As an Israeli Arab, it rips me apart to read racist comments online, generalizing an entire population.

I know that what is happening is terrible; no words can describe this unbearable living under daily terror attacks. We all live in a complex reality, which is sometimes being over simplified by the media. It's hard to live under attack, and even harder seeing the consequences in the form of incitement and hatred, but I strongly believe in Jews and Arabs co-existence in Israel.

I know that many people believe in this, like I do. And if you're like me, then you've probably noticed some cheering and supportive comments from both Arabs and Jews appearing on the news, between one awful news report to another. It is also encouraging to see messages calling to enforce coexistence, and love. Messages saying how Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.  And you know what? We do.

Therefore, I hope for a better future, since I truly feel that Israel is my home and that I can call “Israel” MY country.

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Biting my Tongue at the Airport

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I was on vacation last week. It was a lovely vacation – very relaxing, which is exactly what I needed. A few days into it, my husband and I were sitting at the airport, awaiting our flight from one vacation spot to another, when I overheard a woman speaking from a chair across from us.

“I don’t understand,” she was saying, “how people can all read the same Bible and come up with different interpretations.” She went on to say there are people who believe there was a person named Jesus but don’t believe in him as the savior even though the prophecies about the Messiah were made a “couple hundred years” before he was born, and, “he fulfilled every one of them.” She went on to say that people who don’t believe in him “just gave up.”

I never heard her use the words, “Jew” or “Jewish,” but I felt like she was talking about us. The first thing that popped into my mind was that Jesus did not, in fact, fulfill the prophecies. The second thing was, “Ani mah amin,” the statement, turned to song, which says, “I believe with complete faith” in the coming of Moshiach. We have not given up.

I weighed in my mind whether I should say something to her. She was, after all, spreading misinformation about a topic I know something about.

These are the things I think about in these situations: If I speak up, what is the chance the person to whom I am responding will listen to me and reconsider their position? Even if I suspect there is no chance of that, what is the chance the person to whom this person is speaking will consider my point of view? Even if there is no chance of that, who else may be listening who may consider what I have to say?

I didn’t have any illusion that I would sway the speaker, but I didn’t know anything about her audience, so it seemed like I might have a chance to clarify things for them. I did have some concern that I may not be able to make a convincing argument about Jesus not fulfilling the prophecies, since I wouldn’t be able to quote chapter and verse off the top of my head (although in hindsight, I could have whipped out my phone and looked it up on the Internet of All Things).

I certainly could quote Maimonides’ statement of faith and refute the giving up part, I thought, with some authority. Based on the audience and what I thought was my ability to make a decent case for an opposing viewpoint, I felt like I should say something.

But I was on vacation, trying to relax, not get into an argument. And there was my husband sitting next to me, who I was fairly certain would prefer that I not get into a theological discussion with a stranger at the airport. So I bit my tongue, and she, I am happy to say, quickly moved on to talk about an entirely different subject.

When I told my husband about it afterward, he was glad I kept my mouth shut. If he hadn’t been with me, though, I hope I would have said something, and I hope it would have made a difference. I must say, though, that sometimes discretion does not feel like the better part of valor.

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