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Jewish Journal

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September 16, 2016

Shalhevet head urges Orthodox community to take on LGBT acceptance

Leave a Comment / Los Angeles /

Something’s eating Rabbi Ari Segal.

That’s why the head of school at Shalhevet High School, an Orthodox Jewish day school on Fairfax Avenue, penned a nearly 2,000-word editorial for the school’s student newspaper, The Boiling Point, on LGBT acceptance within the Orthodox community.

“The moment has arrived,” he wrote in the Sept. 14 op-ed. “We can no longer sit on the sidelines. As individuals and as a community, we must tackle this issue head-on.”

Titled, “The biggest challenge to ‘emunah’ [faith] of our time,” the editorial calls on Orthodox scholars to reconcile the Torah’s prohibition on homosexual activity with the lived experience of young gay Jews.

“The reconciliation of the Torah’s discussion of homosexuality represents the single most formidable religious challenge for our young people today,” Segal wrote.

In particular, he called on leaders at Yeshiva University (YU), where he received his ordination, to tackle the issue head on.

“I beg the YU roshei yeshiva [heads of school] and the gedolim [luminaries] of our community to take up the discussion now,” he wrote.

In an interview with the student newspaper, Segal urged readers to “stay tuned” for changes at Shalhevet aiming to boost tolerance and acceptance of LGBT students.

Responding to a request from the Journal to explain his reasoning behind the editorial, Segal responded via email from Israel:

Over the last few years, I have worked to create a loving, supportive, and safe environment for LGBT students in our school. More recently, however, I’ve realized we have not done enough to clearly demonstrate our full acceptance of these young men and women in our community. They’re still scared, and in pain.  And it’s not just gay students themselves, but so many young adults in our community who have lost faith in the divinity of the Torah on account of this particular issue. 

And while halakha is explicit in regards to homosexual activity, I felt I could not sit on the sidelines as we lose so many of our young people — physically and spiritually.  I started searching for that space between tolerance (the current status quo of “hate the sin, not the sinner”) and full-fledged acceptance/celebration. I felt the first step in achieving that is having this conversation, finding the words and the wherewithal to express the challenge, to release ourselves from the theological paralysis that we may feel around the issue. 

In short, what motivated me to write this piece is my deep love of these students and my deep belief in the divinity of the Torah. 

 Read the full editorial here.

Shalhevet head urges Orthodox community to take on LGBT acceptance Read More »

What to Expect From a Trump Administration

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

This, mercifully, may be my last say on the matter.

Initially, expect much happy talk b.s. about how President Elect Trump will be coopted and neutered by the Beltway Establishment, Republican and Democratic. It may even look this way early on in his administration with the appointment of reassuring economic and national security types, e.g., a loud but safe Larry Kudlow and an over-the-hill former CIA head James Woolsey who has just, surprisingly, endorsed Trump.

But don’t expect a reign by the wise heads and grey beards to last very long. The alt-right and Breitbart crowd represented by his co-campaign manager, Steve Bannon, has Trump’s ear, heart, and probably private parts—more so than co-chair pollster, Kellyanne Conway. I expect them relatively quickly to push him in a more confrontational direction with the Dems, regular Republicans, and media, at the same time he puts American foreign policy in Putin’s vest pocket and follows a zig-zag course in the Mideast: first pro-Israel, then erratic as even Netanyahu fails to stroke sufficiently Trump’s stupendous ego and Trump fails to square the circle between Tel Aviv and Putin’s Iranian clients.

There is also the potential of Trump exploding East Asia by unintentionally uncorking the unhinged nuclear North Korean regime of King Jong-un.

Here at home, I will be accused of alarmism, but I expect, not civil war as is brewing in the Philippines where bartender turned presidential hit man Duerte has already killed, disappeared, or displaced over 260,000 souls, but something approaching white/brown/black race riots whether Trump actually tries to deport 11 million undocumented or just causes his disappointed supporters to boil over by failing to do so. A severe recession, at the very least, seems a good bet, caused by a combination of trade wars with China, South Korea, Japan, and Mexico, plus soaring deficits and exploding interest rates. Trump's recent baiting Janet Yellen and the Fed Reserve to raise rates—and, if that is what he wants, he may get his wish.

We soon may be living the Chinese curse: “may you live in interesting times.”

What to Expect From a Trump Administration Read More »

Fall holidays and more: New books for kids, and parents, too

Leave a Comment / Books, Culture /

The fall holidays are here and so is the new crop of holiday-themed children’s books. Again this year, Yom Kippur proves to be a challenging holiday for publishers, but it seems that each of the other Jewish holidays are represented — even Shemini Atzeret, for the first time. 

There are other notable additions to children’s literature, too, including the new illustrated biography of beloved Jewish Angeleno — and “Star Trek” star — Leonard Nimoy. Kids reading this one will find out how pride in his Jewish heritage truly did influence his life and career choices. 

For adults, we conclude this list with an insightful and funny parenting book written especially for Jewish mothers.

Rosh Hashanah

“Gabriel’s Horn” by Eric A. Kimmel. Illustrated by Maria Surducan (Kar-Ben, 2016).

Times are tough, economically, for Gabriel and his family this Rosh Hashanah — their antique store and other neighborhood businesses are on the verge of shutting down. As a round challah is baking in the oven, a U.S. Army soldier (astute readers will note his name tag reads “Tishbi” — as in “Eliayhu ha-Tishbi,” Prophet Elijah, the Tishbite) knocks on the door hoping to find a place to store a precious family heirloom while he is on duty overseas. He tells Gabriel and his mother that this old French horn brings good luck. They do their best to clean it, but it remains stubbornly tarnished. However, as time passes, the family’s good fortune improves as they perform various mitzvot and give tzedakah throughout their neighborhood. After seven years, the soldier returns, opens the case and is astonished to see how shiny his old horn has become, and offers it to Gabriel as a gift. This story about the importance of tzedakah and Elijah the Prophet is loosely adapted by famed children’s author Eric Kimmel from Yiddish writer I.L. Peretz’s story titled “Seven Good Years.”

“Little Red Rosie” by Eric A. Kimmel. Illustrated by Monica Gutierrez (Apples & Honey, 2016). 

The prolific Eric Kimmel provides another adapted story with a Rosh Hashanah theme: This time, it’s the old English folktale “The Little Red Hen,” turned on its head. When Rosie asks her bird friends who will help her bake a challah, instead of the familiar, “Not I!” they all cheerfully reply, “I will!” Unfortunately for the capable Rosie, her friends exhibit the characteristics of typical young, eager and “helpful” children, and often make a mess of things. “I think I’d better do it myself,” says Rosie, but she remains cheerful and follows the author’s philosophy that “children learn best by doing things themselves, even if they don’t get it right at first.” The emphasis here is the value of hachnasat orchim (“welcoming guests”), which is a mitzvah at holiday time and throughout the year.

Sukkot

“Sky-High Sukkah” by Rachel Ornstein Packer. Illustrated by Deborah Zemke (Apples & Honey, 2016).

Leah wants to build a sukkah, but is sad because she lives in a high-rise apartment building and has no backyard. When she greets Al, the neighborhood greengrocer, she explains the holiday. In Hebrew school, Leah and her friend Ari are excited to hear about a contest for making sukkah posters in hopes of winning first prize: a sukkah! Ari’s poster depicts a sukkah on top of a tall city building, which he titles “Sky-High Sukkah,” and he wins the coveted prize. Many in the neighborhood volunteer to help build and decorate the sukkah, which has been brought to the roof of Ari’s apartment building, but it seems to be lacking. Al saves the day by bringing over enough fruit and schach to make the sukkah extra special. The author based this story on her childhood growing up in Queens, N.Y., and her memories of an annual eight-day period when neighbors “were in and out of the sukkah all the time.” “Being part of a community is an important Jewish value,” she writes in her author’s note at the end of the book, and she encourages children to consider other activities they can do to build a strong kehillah (“community”) after the holiday is over.

Shemini Atzeret

“Maya Prays for Rain” by Susan Tarov. Illustrations by Ana Ochoa (Kar-Ben, 2016).

Shemini Atzeret may be the least likely holiday to be showcased in a picture book, but it’s about time for kids to learn a bit about this Jewish holiday that seems to be part of Sukkot, but actually falls after Sukkot is over. Because of the harvest and Israel’s rainy season, the prayer for rain is an important aspect of this day. But as young Maya walks down her (quite multicultural) street on this beautiful fall afternoon, she encounters her neighbors preparing for a variety of fun outdoor activities — all of which would be ruined if it were to rain. When she learns that people in synagogue are planning to pray for rain that evening, she rushes out to warn her friends that rain is surely coming, then runs to beg the rabbi not to pray the ancient words. He reassures her that when Jews pray for rain on Shemini Atzeret, “We’re not praying for the rain to fall here. We’re praying for the rain to fall in Israel!” The adorable, brightly colored illustrations of Maya’s street and neighbors, along with the depiction of perky, frizzy-haired Maya herself, make this book a likely candidate for reading multiple times.

Simchat Torah

“How It’s Made: Torah Scroll” by Allison Ofanansky. Photographs by Eliyahu Alpern (Apples & Honey Press, 2016).

Impressive use of white space and typography, along with colorful photographs and kid-friendly information, provide curious children (and adults) easy access to important information about how Torah scrolls are made. Children may be surprised to learn how many rules are involved, and how these regulations have not changed for thousands of years. “Not a single letter has been changed,” the author writes. “Many of the same materials are used now as in ancient times. … But some things are done differently.” The major difference that is highlighted in some photos is the depiction of women scribes and rabbis. Other interesting photos show traditional Jewish scribes etching lines with a tool, making quills from feathers and ink from gallnuts and tree sap, stretching cow skin on a frame, and even erasing the rare mistake. Instructions for making quills, ink and a yad to read with are attractively highlighted in the sidebars. Families will be better informed for Simchat Torah and throughout the year after reading this book together.

Biography

“Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy” by Richard Michelson. Illustrated by Edel Rodriguez (Alfred A. Knopf, 2016).

This illustrated biography of Leonard Nimoy geared toward kids opens in 1939, as a 9-year-old Leonard is chosen to sing “God Bless America” at the settlement house theater in Boston because the “new social director had heard Lenny chanting the Shema prayer” at shul. Always attentive to his surroundings at services, Nimoy often witnessed the priestly blessing and practiced doing it at home by taping his fingers together in that particular way. From his Boston tenement beginnings he made his way to Hollywood and worked in minor acting roles until he got a call from producer Gene Rodenberry in 1965. Wearing “pointy ears and a silly haircut” on the “Star Trek” series made Nimoy famous, and his choice of the Vulcan greeting reflects his childhood memories of the priestly benediction. His close personal relationship with popular children’s author Richard Michelson, as related in the author’s end notes, adds a poignant dimension to this appealing picture book that will surely touch readers.

Parents

“Mamaleh Knows Best: What Jewish Mothers Do to Raise Successful, Creative, Empathetic, Independent Children” by Marjorie Ingall (Harmony Books, 2016).

Nora Ephron meets child psychologist Wendy Mogel in this new and wise look at Jewish mothering from Tablet Magazine’s popular parenting columnist. Author Marjorie Ingall breaks down the issues into 10 amusing chapter titles such as “Distrust Authority,” “Encourage Geekiness” and “Value Money (but Not Too Much)” and concludes with an important chapter on “How to Make a Mensch.” She intersperses funny personal anecdotes about her life and children along with a great deal of Judaic information — all of which helps the reader to combat typical Jewish stereotypes while picking up tips on how to make the world a better place. Dealing with the ups and downs of parenting in the modern age has never been such a fun and rewarding read.

Fall holidays and more: New books for kids, and parents, too Read More »

After closing, rallying cry for Perutz Etz Jacob Hebrew Academy

Leave a Comment / Los Angeles /

For more than 20 years, a Jewish Orthodox day school in West Hollywood strived to provide a quality education to children from immigrant families who couldn’t afford to pay a private school tuition. 

But in recent months, Perutz Etz Jacob Hebrew Academy fell behind on rent payments and it was forced to close in July. Now, supporters are fighting to reopen its doors somewhere else. 

“I want to cry when I think about what happened,” said Kenneth Lowenstein, 35, an alumnus who is trying to raise money for the school. “Where is the outcry from the philanthropies? Where is the community outrage?”   

The academy’s financial troubles started a few months ago, after its landlord raised the rent, Lowenstein said.

The school occupies a corner near the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, just a short walk from the glitz and glam of The Grove and other luxury boutiques that have popped up in the vicinity. The academy paid $8,000 a month until its landlord nearly tripled the rate to $22,000 earlier this year, according to Lowenstein. 

 A representative of Hayworth Property Management, the leasing management company, declined to comment for this article, and Rabbi Shlomo Harrosh, who has been the principal of the school since 1994, said he preferred not to discuss the reason for the academy’s closure.

Bernard Suissa, president of the school’s board, said rising costs forced the academy to close but there are no hard feelings. The property’s landlord has been Jacob’s biggest donor for many years, he said.“Sometimes we didn’t pay for many months and they looked the other way,” Suissa said. “They were incredibly patient and gracious with us.”

More than 80 percent of the school’s income came from donations and only 20 percent from tuition, Harrosh said. On top of that, the majority of students whose families struggled with financial problems received a significant discount. The tuition was set at $10,000 a year, but only a fraction of students paid the full amount, according to Harrosh. “If you could pay $600 a month, they would take you,” Lowenstein said. “If you could afford only $200 a month, they would still take you.”

That proved to be an unsustainable business model.

“Rabbi Harrosh has never been a successful fundraiser, but he has always been an excellent teacher,” Lowenstein said. “He has touched so many lives though his education and impacted so many children.” 

The Perutz Etz Jacob Hebrew Academy, named after Holocaust survivor Rachela Silber Perutz, was founded in 1993 by Rabbi Rubin Huttler as an emergency school for children who immigrated from Russia and Iran. It enrolled 55 students last year in grades one to eight, some of them with learning disabilities and behavioral problems.

“We took in children who other schools couldn’t handle,” Harrosh said. “We enrolled children who struggled emotionally, academically and financially.”

Since the school’s closure in July, some families placed their children into public schools, while others are still scrambling to find a new school.

One parent is Ross, the father of a 9-year-old son who has a pervasive developmental disorder, or PDD, characterized by delays in the development of social and communication skills. (Ross preferred his full name not be published in order to protect his son’s privacy.) 

He reached out to the academy two years ago after other Jewish Orthodox schools refused to accept his son, and was welcomed. Over time, he said, his son fell in love with Perutz Etz Jacobs. Once a day, the boy spent at least an hour studying one on one with Harrosh or other teachers. During holidays, the boy begged Ross to take him to school. 

In August, Ross found out that the academy was forced to close, news that his son didn’t take well. Now, Ross is scrambling to find a new school for his son. 

“It was very traumatic for him,” Ross said. “He has nowhere to go now, and he is very upset about it.”

Unlike some other schools, Perutz Etz Jacob, situated in an unimposing, one-story structure, could never brag about a state-of-the-art building, spacious grounds or classrooms equipped with iPads, said Lowenstein, who spent two years there before graduating in 1995. 

But its teachers provided plenty of love and support for their students, according Harrosh. 

“Our students saw Judaism in action,” the rabbi said. “When you care about every child, you see Judaism in action.”

Lowenstein, who now runs a security firm, said he was a troubled child with learning disabilities when he was accepted to the school, which quickly became his second home. 

“I had combative relationships with my parents and sometimes I asked my teachers to stay a little longer,” he said. “The school became my home away from home.” 

Many other children had similar experiences, said Ross, who reached out to the academy after several people told him how Harrosh changed their lives. “More than one person told me something like, ‘When I was a kid, Rabbi Harrosh saved my life,’ ” he said.

On a recent weekday afternoon, the yellow one-story stucco building located at the intersection of Beverly and Hayworth Avenue showed no sign of the day school. Construction materials were seen in empty rooms through a dusty window. 

Just recently, Lowenstein posted a message on Facebook about the closure of the academy, calling on the school’s alumni, including lawyers, doctors and real estate developers, to give back to the school that “has done so much for so many families.” His hope is that with the community’s support, the school will find a new building so that it can relocate.  

“I want to reach as many people as possible, make phone calls, and track alumni via social media,” he said. “I want to do as much as possible to help the school.” 

In the meantime, Harrosh is planning to meet and work with some students one on one. He said it breaks his heart knowing that some children still have not started the school year. 

“Those children need more love and attention,” he said. “I don’t blame other schools, but they are too big to give attention that those children need.” 

After closing, rallying cry for Perutz Etz Jacob Hebrew Academy Read More »

Letters to the Editor: Pot, ‘occupation,’ Donald Trump

Leave a Comment / Letters to the Editor /

Going to Pot

The marijuana/Judaism article you published (“A Guide for the Perplexed Stoner,” Sept. 9) ignored Bereshit 1:29 when God said, “Every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth … shall be yours for food.” What about pot brownies?

Ellery Sorkin via email

It’s Not ‘Occupation’

I appreciated reading Shmuel Rosner’s article “50 Years After the Six-Day War” (Sept. 9), where he looked at the war diversely, including a realistic perspective of how Israel cannot today leave the lands gained in that war.

However, in the article, there is a word that is improperly used. I and many others believe it is wrong to use the terms “occupation” or “occupied territories” in suggesting that the 1967 lands are Palestinian and are illegally occupied by the Israelis.

Israel’s current borders were controlled by the Ottomans for 400 years and they signed away their claims in 1923 when they signed the Mandate for Palestine. The British walked away from the Mandate in 1948 when the Jews legally took over and established sovereignty.  The Jordanians illegally occupied the land of Judea and Samaria for 19 years and signed away their claim in 1988. The Partition Plan of 1947 was never signed by the Arabs, so it cannot legally delineate borders. Therefore, the Mandate boundaries still stand.

I know I am just a 15-year-old high school student, but every time I hear the word “occupied,” I don’t understand why that word is used. Hasn’t it been factually established that all legitimate and legal claimants to the land gave up their ownership claims? If the Jewish Journal claims to care about facts, why don’t the facts matter?

Liora Bentolila, Los Angeles

Must-See TV

I’m excited that “Speechless” will be on network TV and hope that the character with cerebral palsy won’t be tokenized or pitied (“When Your Life Becomes a Sitcom,” Sept. 9). I’m very pleased that the actor playing the person with cerebral palsy himself has the same disability (though not as severely.) It seems as though the show will depict the upsides and downsides of being a family with a non-neurotypical family member.

Merril Simon via jewishjournal.com

Trump Trending Up

Is Rob Eshman predicting a trend of Jews toward Trump? 

In his column in the July 29 edition (“All Together Now”), he stated almost all Jews are against Trump, which would put the percentage of Jews in favor Trump at slightly above zero. In his column in the Sept. 2 edition (“Donald Trump, the Jewish Savior”), he quoted a survey taken in Florida by GBA Strategies, a progressive-leaning polling group (translate: pro-Hillary group), which stated that 23 percent of Jews would go for Trump. If this trend continues, does that mean that we can expect to see 46 percent of Jews for Trump next month?

Does Mr. Eshman have any polling data from one of the more well-known reputable polling groups? I think he might find out that the percentage of Jews for Trump is higher than 23 percent.

Marshall Lerner, Beverly Hills

National Anthem’s Sour Note

David Suissa’s critique of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s position on the national anthem (“The Right to Protest Works Both Ways,” Sept. 9) omits a key point. Francis Scott Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” celebrates not only slavery but also efforts to capture slaves in order to return them to bondage. 

Verse No. 3 reads: “No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave …”

Even if this seems arcane to most Americans, can you imagine warplanes flying over our sporting events if, say, our national anthem was Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” or even “America the Beautiful”? In America, militarism trumps honoring the common man or even environmental beauty every time.

Gene Rothman, Culver City

Letters to the Editor: Pot, ‘occupation,’ Donald Trump Read More »

Moving and Shaking: Brindell Gottlieb, Shabbat in the Park and political debate

Leave a Comment / Los Angeles, Movers & Shakers, Moving & Shaking /

If the doctorate couldn’t go to the university, the university would come to the doctorate. Breaking with longstanding tradition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem President Menahem Ben-Sasson flew to Los Angeles especially to confer the degree of honorary doctorate on Brindell Gottlieb. It was the first time the university, founded in 1925 by the likes of Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann, has granted an honorary doctorate outside its Jerusalem campus.

The gala Sept. 10 outdoor, Roaring ’20s-themed affair at Gottlieb’s mountaintop Bel Air home drew hundreds of guests who feted the effusive, energetic honoree. Guests drank ’20s-themed cocktails, drank Prosecco poured by a flapper sitting in a giant, 7-foot champagne glass, and bopped to the sounds of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The nearly $1 million raised at the event — whose costs were underwritten by Gottlieb — will support student scholarships at The Hebrew University.

Brindell Gottlieb, recipient of the degree of Honorary Doctorate from The Hebrew University, with President Menahem Ben-Sasson.

After presentations to Corie and Michael Koss for the 2016 Humanitarian Torch of Learning Award, and a spirited auction conducted by event co-chair Patricia Glaser, it came time for the degree.

“If this is not a woman of valor, what is a woman of valor?” asked Ben-Sasson before draping Gottlieb with the traditional purple sash. Gottlieb and her late husband, Milton, have been instrumental in providing funds for student scholarships, the neurosciences, building and professorships on campus. “There are cohorts of students, professors and projects carrying the name of Brindell Gottlieb and Milton,” Ben-Sasson said.

Gottlieb touchingly acknowledged her late husband, and then succinctly explained the source of her devotion to Hebrew University. “I was born with a sense of embracing people,” she said.

Humanitarian Torch of Learning honorees Michael and Corie Koss, with award presenters Barry Lippman, left, and AFHU chairman Richard Ziman. Photos by Robert Lurie

Among those celebrating with Gottlieb were American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) Western Region board chairman Richard Ziman and May Ziman, City Controller Ron Galperin and Rabbi Zachary Shapiro, Ada and Jim Horwich, Renae Jacobs-Anson and David Anson, Helen Jacobs-Lepor and Norman Lepor, Herta and Paul Amir, Joyce Brandman, Sharon and Mark Vidergauz, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Zachary Horowitz, and Western Region AFHU executive director Sheri Kaufer.

— Jewish Journal staff

Participants at Shabbat in the Park dance and cheer along, including, from left, Jill Namm, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles’ Valley Alliance chair; Carol Koransky, Federation executive vice president; Rabbi Stewart Vogel of Temple Aliyah; Rabbi Richard Camras of Shomrei Torah Synagogue; Rabbi Jonathan Hanish of Kol Tikvah; and Rabbi Ira Rosenfeld of Or Echad. Photo by Anja Lou Photography

More than 800 people took over Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills for Shabbat in the Park on Aug. 26. The night included arts and crafts, a drum circle, Israeli dancing, a musical performance by Capa’im Band, and a Shabbat service led by community clergy. 

It was organized by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles partnering with 15 organizations and synagogues from the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas. Carol Koransky, Federation executive vice president, and Jill Namm, Valley Alliance chair, lighted Shabbat candles. 

“Shabbat in the Park was an incredible success, and we are so glad everyone enjoyed themselves,” Koransky said in an email. “For the fifth year in a row, The Jewish Federation is proud to partner with synagogues and organizations across the San Fernando Valley to bring Shabbat into the greater community.”

Attendees included State Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D-Encino) and Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks). “The annual Shabbat in the Park unites the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley,” Sherman told the Journal.

— Virginia Isaad, Contributing Writer

George Haroonian is not thrilled about either presidential candidate this year, and he suspects many fellow members of the Jewish Iranian-American community here feel the same. That’s why he organized the “Decision 2016 Debate” at Nessah Synagogue, where he sits on the board.

On Sept. 8, an audience of about 100 gathered under the soaring ceiling of the temple’s main sanctuary to hear from four local politicos — two Republicans and two Democrats.

Elan Carr speaks with 12-year-old Zhak Goldemberg on Sept. 8 after answering his question about the presidential candidates earlier at Nessah Synagogue. “I'm voting for Zhak,” he said. Photo by Mati Cohen

Sitting, appropriately, to the audience’s right were the Republicans, Joel Pollak, senior editor-at-large for the conservative website Breitbart News, and Elan Carr, a criminal gang prosecutor and one-time Republican congressional candidate. To the left were California Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), who introduced a state bill targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and Leeor Alpern, an air quality regulator and former president of Los Angeles Democrats for Israel.

Simon Wiesenthal Center associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper moderated the discussion, sitting next to longtime friend Haroonian onstage; Jewish Journal staff writer Eitan Arom posed the questions.

For the first part of the evening, the conversation wandered cordially across the issues of race politics, the Iran nuclear deal and the Syrian conflict. Then, a question posed by 12-year-old audience member Zhak Goldemberg palpably changed the tone: Which candidate would be the better president for Israel?

Pollak ceded his time to his opponents, challenging them to name a single pro-Israel accomplishment of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Bloom answered that Clinton’s Senate voting record was staunchly pro-Israel, but Pollak maintained he would be voting for Trump.

Meanwhile, Carr was not ready to declare for the Republican candidate: “I’m voting for Zhak,” he said.

— Jewish Journal staff

Moving and Shaking highlights events, honors and simchas. Got a tip? Email ryant@jewishjournal.com.

Moving and Shaking: Brindell Gottlieb, Shabbat in the Park and political debate Read More »

Israeli troops kill 2 allegedly attempting attacks

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Israeli troops killed two people in separate incidents during attempts to attack Israelis, an army spokesperson said.

A Palestinian shot Friday near Hebron inside a vehicle was trying to run over Israeli soldiers when they opened fire on the car, the troops said. A Palestinian woman who was with the driver was critically wounded in the shooting, the Maan news agency reported. A knife was found in the car, the army said in a statement.

Also Friday, in eastern Jerusalem, Israeli troops shot and killed a man reported to be a Jordanian citizen who allegedly was trying to carry out a stabbing attack outside the Damascus Gate.

On Thursday, a 30-year-old Palestinian, Muhammad Ahmad Abed al-Fattah al-Sarrahin, died of gunshot wounds he sustained during a clash earlier in the day with Israeli forces that raided his village of Beit Ula in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.

Israeli troops kill 2 allegedly attempting attacks Read More »

Graham blasts Netanyahu for snubbing Congress in new MOU

Leave a Comment / Jewish Insider, United States /

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “pulled the rug” from under pro-Israeli members of Congress by rushing to sign the new $38 billion 10-year “memorandum of understanding” with the Obama administration, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said on Friday.

“Here is what I would tell Bibi: ‘When members of Congress come to Israel, you do a great job talking about the State of Israel’s needs and threats. Well, don’t tell us about all those needs and when we try to help you, you pull the rug from under us,'” Graham said in a conference call with American Jewish community leaders. “I think that is bad for Israel.”

On Wednesday, the Obama administration and the Israeli government signed the new decade-long security assistance package, which was described as the “single largest pledge of bilateral military assistance in U.S. history.” Under the agreement, Israel also committed not to approach Congress for additional budgets for missile defense systems, and “volunteered” to give back any money Congress gives above the MOU’s limits, “>showed Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party would receive 27 Knesset seats, while the ruling Likud would go down from its present 30 seats to only 23.

“I think Bibi is in a bad spot, politically,” he added. “Well, I am not. You know what? We are not going to let this agreement be turned into something that is dangerous for the checks and balances in our government. We are not going to let this president take the power of Congress away when it comes to helping allies. And in the end of the day, I would tell our friends in Israel: Congress is your friend. Don’t pull the rug from under us.”

Graham also suggested that Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, would “give you a better deal than this.” He also said that Clinton (“I don’t know if she wins”) would be “more generous to Israel.”

Graham blasts Netanyahu for snubbing Congress in new MOU Read More »

The left’s record in the last three months

Leave a Comment / Dennis Prager, Is Featured?, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News, Opinion /

Progressives think of themselves as people who are making the world better. So I thought it would be helpful to review just a few things progressives have done and said just this past summer. My hope is that open-minded individuals on the left can begin to understand why some people do not see the left in quite the same way they see themselves.

In May, the New York City Council voted to de-criminalize urinating in public.

Last week, the Italian Supreme Court voted to legalize public masturbation.

According to a new poll from Ipsos Public Affairs, “Americans increasingly don't care if people swear in public . . . .  ‘The acceptability of it in the American public has just kind of skyrocketed,’ Kaitlyn McAuliffe, a senior research manager at Ipsos, explained . . . . Of those survey respondents who said they used the F-word one or more times a day, Bernie Sanders was their top presidential candidate.” (Italics added.)

In August, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank wrote that he will tell his daughter’s teachers that they should bring politics into the classroom and talk to their students against Donald Trump.

At least Milbank is honest about his desire to see schools indoctrinate rather than educate. Few progressives admit that that is what is happening in most American high schools and colleges.

In July, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC told an interviewer: “Over the past year I've been reading a lot about what it was like when Hitler first became chancellor. . . . because I think that's possibly where we are.”

Vice President Joe Biden, with Hillary Clinton on stage behind him, said to an audience of supporters twice on Aug. 15 that Donald Trump “would have loved Stalin.”

Stalin murdered about 30 million people and set up the genocidal Communist regimes of China and North Korea. Biden’s comments were barely reported – but imagine if Donald Trump or Mike Pence had said Hillary Clinton “would have loved Stalin”?

On NPR, Travis Rieder, a philosopher at Johns Hopkins University, advocated that Americans be penalized if they have more than one child — because Americans emit too much carbon dioxide. This is only the latest call of environmentalists since the 1960s asking people not to reproduce.

The Ford foundation just announced that it is committed to raising $100 million for Black Lives Matter. The liberals at the Ford Foundation are raising an astronomical sum of money for an America-hating, Israel-hating, and, of course, police-hating organization.

Black actor Jesse Williams, in accepting BET’s Humanitarian Award, described America as, “a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us [black Americans],” and concluded his speech saying: “We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil – black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”

Aside from the America-hatred, I have no idea what this last sentence means. But Williams received a prolonged standing ovation, and the media hailed his speech as a masterpiece.

Five days after Islamist terrorists cut off the head of a French Catholic priest while the priest was saying Mass, a reporter with a French Catholic news agency asked Pope Francis, “Holy Father, when you speak of these violent acts, why do you always speak of terrorists but not of Islam?. . . What concrete initiative can you launch or perhaps suggest in order to combat Islamic violence?”

The Pope responded:

“I don’t like to speak of Islamic violence because every day when I open the newspapers I see acts of violence, here in Italy: someone kills his girlfriend, someone else his mother-in-law. . . and these violent people are baptized Catholics! They are violent Catholics. . . . If I spoke about Islamic violence, I would also have to speak about Catholic violence.”

The pope responds that there is also Catholic terror, that a man who was baptized Catholic and “kills his girlfriend” is the moral and religious equivalent of Muslims who engage in mass murder in the name of Islam.

The pope added that the great terrorism of our time is “The god of money.”

Pope Francis, like so many other Catholic priests (especially from Latin America), Protestant ministers, and rabbis, is an example of one of the most important truths of our time: Leftism has influenced Judaism and Christianity far more than Judaism and Christianity have influenced anything.

Dennis Prager’s nationally syndicated radio talk show is heard in Los Angeles on KRLA (AM 870) 9 a.m. to noon. His latest project is the Internet-based Prager University (prageru.com).

The left’s record in the last three months Read More »

Arsonist who torched Orlando club shooter’s mosque has Messianic Jewish ties

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The Florida man who confessed to setting fire to the mosque of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen has ties to Messianic Judaism.

Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, of Port St. Lucie, was reported to be Jewish, but a photo on his Facebook page hints at ties to Messianic Judaism, a movement that combines Jewish practices with Christian ones, including the belief that Jesus is the Messiah.

Schreiber’s cover photo shows a messianic Jewish imagery, a menorah and Star of David above a fish, a traditional Christian symbol, as reported by The Daily Beast.

On the fish, “Yeshua,” the Hebrew version of Jesus’ name, is written.

Schreiber also liked a page for a messianic Jewish group, The Messianic Jewish alliance.

According to an arrest affidavit released Thursday, Schreiber confessed to lighting the Florida mosque on fire and said  he was embarrassed by his actions and had not meant to hurt anyone.

Schreiber was arrested Wednesday, two days after the fire struck the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce.

A large fire engulfed the mosque on the Muslim holy days of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. No one was in the mosque at the time of the blaze. The mosque was forced to hold its prayer services elsewhere.

The case is being prosecuted as a hate crime under Florida law, Reuters reported, citing the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, which carries a minimum 30-year prison sentence.

Surveillance video showed a man riding up to the building on a motorcycle and approaching the mosque with a bottle of liquid and papers right before the fire broke out, according to the report.

Schreiber owns a motorcycle like the one seen in the video, Sheriff’s Major David Thompson told reporters Wednesday. In addition, Schreiber’s Facebook page includes “multiple anti-Islamic posts and comments,” he said. Schreiber is considered a “prison release re-offender,” and his criminal record includes armed robbery, according to Reuters.

The FBI is investigating whether the attack included any federal civil rights violations.

In June, Mateen, 29, entered the crowded Pulse nightclub, a popular gay dance club in central Florida, and began shooting at the some 300 patrons with an assault rifle and a handgun. He then held hostages in a bathroom.

Forty-nine people were killed and 53 wounded in the attack, which Mateen said was inspired by the Islamic State. He was later killed by police during a shootout.

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