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March 29, 2023

A Passover Reminder of Jewish Quarrels Gone By

Commentary /

The current turmoil in Israel may be unsettling to many outside observers, but a fascinating cartoon that appeared in the Hebrew press in British Mandatory Palestine just before Passover in 1939 reminds us that fierce quarreling long has been a feature of Jewish life in the Holy Land.

The cartoon was the handiwork of Yehoshua Adari (1911-1966), staff cartoonist for HaMashkif, the daily newspaper of the nationalist Revisionist Zionist movement, which was headed by Ze’ev Jabotinsky.

Titled “Our Ten Plagues” and appearing in the newspaper’s Passover holiday edition, Adari’s cartoon spotlighted ten problems afflicting Palestine Jewry — at least according to the perspective of the cartoonist and his editors.

The first plague was violence. The shooting depicted in the cartoon probably referred to a recent spate of Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks. Six days earlier, a teenage German Jewish immigrant who was serving as a police officer in Haifa was shot to death while escorting a delivery of mail. The day after that, terrorists shot and killed a rabbi in Tiberias and seriously wounded a telephone worker in Jerusalem.

The second and third plagues used images commonly associated with the biblical plagues. The frog, wearing a worker’s cap, was labeled with the acronym of the Palestine Communist Party, an extremist movement that opposed Zionism and defended Arab violence. The lice in the third plague bore the names of Palestine Jewish fundraising bodies that were controlled by the Labor Zionists, the arch-rivals of Jabotinsky’s Revisionists.

The fourth plague alluded to the frequently fluctuating prices of basic foods. A typical consumer was shown looking at scans of sugar and flour in a grocery store, and asking himself, “To hoard or not to hoard?”

Plague number five was the Labor Zionists’ daily newspaper, Davar. Articles and editorials in Davar frequently denounced the Revisionists and even compared Jabotinsky to Adolf Hitler.

Davar earned particular enmity among Jabotinsky’s followers when it led the campaign to falsely accuse the Revisionists of assassinating Labor Zionist official Chaim Arlosoroff in 1933.

The sixth plague was Robert Weltsch, a prominent German-born Jewish journalist who was a frequent thorn in the Revisionists’ side. Weltsch advocated creating a binational Arab-Jewish Palestine instead of a Jewish state.

The sixth plague was Robert Weltsch, a prominent German-born Jewish journalist who was a frequent thorn in the Revisionists’ side. Weltsch advocated creating a binational Arab-Jewish Palestine instead of a Jewish state.

The cartoon’s seventh plague was the array of British decrees, peace plans, and other proposals that were so numerous that they seemed like a torrential downpour. Among those named were “Binational proposal,” “Ban on land sales [to Jews],” “Partition, “Arab state,” “Cantons proposal,” and “Arab Federation.”

Plague number eight was the “Kofer HaYishuv,” a tax that the Labor Zionist-controlled Jewish National Council imposed on Palestine’s Jews in 1939. The Revisionists saw it as an unfair attempt by the Laborites to expand their domination of Palestinian Jewish society — hence the depiction of tax collectors swooping down on the community.

The ninth plague might be described as the general economic stress afflicting Palestine Jewry — an ordinary citizen was shown opening his safe and finding it empty.

The tenth and final plague, in the eyes of the Revisionist Zionists, was the Labor-dominated Zionist leadership — from left to right, Berl Katznelson, Chaim Weizmann, and Moshe Shertok — regarded by the Jabotinskyites as bearing responsibility for the woes of the yishuv.

Arab terrorism, social policy controversies, intense political rivalries, high taxes and other economic turmoil — old problems with new faces, it seems, in every generation.

Dr. Medoff is the author of more than 20 books about Jewish history and Zionism, including The Historical Dictionary of Zionism [with Chaim I. Waxman].

A Passover Reminder of Jewish Quarrels Gone By Read More »

Husband Divorces Wife After Disturbing Passover Revelation

Columnists /

The following is a work of satire. Anyone who is aggrieved by this column is encouraged to contact the author’s attorneys, or better yet, to look the other way in the spirit of the Passover holiday. 

The holidays can be a stressful time for Jewish families, but for one local couple, a disturbing revelation during Passover resulted in all-out divorce proceedings. Hamid Hamadanian, a Tarzana resident and Iranian American Jew, was horrified to recently learn that his wife had only married him so that she could enjoy rice and kitniyot (legumes) during Passover. Hamadanian had been married to his wife, who is Ashkenazi, for six months, when the young woman accidentally spilled the beans (no pun intended) that she was “sick and tired of matzah brei,” adding, “Matzah brei isn’t a side dish. Horseradish isn’t a side dish. I married a Persian man because I deserve rice and beans, don’t I?” In an exclusive interview, Hamadanian told the Journal, “I’m appalled that my wife married me for such painfully shallow reasons. You’re supposed to marry a man because he’s a good person, treats you well and his earning potential increases by 8% each year.” The couple is due in court in May. Hamadanian’s wife, Essie, declined an interview with the Journal, but later emailed this author to ask, “Do Moroccans get to eat rice and kitniyot during Pesach?”

While the aforementioned incident concerns a husband seeking divorce from his wife, in the case of one Pico-Robertson couple, a wife has served her husband with divorce papers, alleging that he’s “gone overboard” with Passover cleaning and that she can’t “take it anymore.” In an interview, Chaya R. told the Journal, “Each year, it seems to get worse. He [her husband] pulled down the nine-foot drapes and washed them in the Los Angeles River. Normally, I’d be disgusted. I mean, have you seen that ‘river’? But thankfully, all the recent rainfall made the river really lush, lovely and clean. But I digress. And he tore open our down comforter. There were feathers all over the bed. Then, he used a feather he’d bought at a Judaica shop and a candle to search the contents of our down comforter for chametz. I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you just pull a feather from the comforter itself?!’ But again, I digress.” When asked if there was a final straw to her husband’s obsessive cleaning, Chaya added, “I knew things had gone way too far when I woke up in the middle of the night last week and found him going through my eyebrows with a tiny comb, looking for bread crumbs.” Court proceedings have been scheduled for early June. 

MEH (Mediocre Express Holidays), a travel company that specializes in budget-friendly Passover programs (as opposed to those that charge between $10,000 and $25,000 for fancier programs in exotic destinations), has announced a record number of participants for this year’s Passover excursions. The programs include lodging, all meals (including seders), childcare and entertainment. Travelers will enjoy a relaxed, luxurious 10-day program, with destination choices including “exciting Slab City, decadent Carpinteria or bountiful Bakersfield,” according to MEH’s website. 

Crummy Dining, a catering service that mostly accommodates elderly Jews, recently hosted a “Pre-Pesach Seder” at a local Jewish seniors’ center. Tradition calls for the youngest person at the table to search for the afikomen, and in this case, Saul Blau, a spry 86-year-old, found the afikomen in no time, hidden inside a newspaper. “I don’t suppose you know what this is,” Blau said to this reporter as he pointed to the newspaper, “but this is why we can sit still for hours, while the younger folks have the attention span of a gnat.” In other news, Crummy Dining has informed the Journal of a future name change. “It was always supposed to be ‘Crumby Dining,” said a spokesperson, “but our intern who handles the legal paperwork grew up with autocorrect and doesn’t bother to spell-check anything himself.”

Meanwhile, at a seder in Venice Beach, Anheuser B. Hoffman (the B is for Busch), the oldest son in the Hoffman family, cleverly hid the afikomen in his father’s night stand. When his youngest brother, Michelob, found the afikomen after a thorough search of the house, he squealed with glee and ran into the dining room to announce the news to his family and their guests. Little Michelob, who is five, held up the afikomen, along with a clear Ziploc bag containing a butane lighter and what resembled small balls of herbs, and declared, “I found the afikomen, and I also found some dry maror (bitter herbs) from last year!” His father, Bud, immediately jumped across the table to retrieve his pungent herbs. As his wife chastised him in the kitchen, Bud could be heard mumbling, “I should have signed us up for a MEH Pesach program in Torrance.”

Meanwhile, during the same seder, the family’s great-uncle Morteza began choking on a large piece of meat in the Persian stew, but no one bothered to call the paramedics.

Across the country in Great Neck, NY, a 12-year-old was rushed to the hospital in what doctors described as “Dayenu gone wrong.” Jaydenette, the daughter of an Iranian American Jewish couple, survived an injury in her left eye when a cousin ambushed her with a particularly large scallion, per the Persian Jewish custom of batting one another with the allium during the Dayenu recitation of the seder. Jaydenette endured several hours of discomfort, but was eventually discharged from the hospital. Meanwhile, during the same seder, the family’s great-uncle Morteza, began choking on a large piece of meat in the Persian stew, but no one bothered to call the paramedics. “Great Uncle Morteza had been getting on everyone’s nerves for years,” said a relative who asked to remain anonymous, “ever since he encouraged every family member to move all their money to Silicon Valley Bank [SVB].”

Finally, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has announced a record number of applications in 2023 for immigration from the United States and Israel. Speaking on conditions of anonymity, a diplomat at an Egyptian Consulate in a major American city told the Journal, “For some reason, a bunch of American Jews don’t feel safe in the U.S. anymore and think Egypt would be better.” He added, “And we’ve hired a sophisticated data analyst team to help us assess why we’ve received over 300,000 applications for immigration from Israelis.” According to the official, Israelis flooded the Egyptian embassy with visa requests the day after Israeli leaders passed recent (controversial) judicial reforms that have sent hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets. “We believe they’re drawn to Egypt’s pleasant weather and history of positive Jewish relations, dating back to the time of the plagues,” said the official. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has launched a campaign to encourage even more American, Israeli (and French, British, Canadian, Mexican, Latin American, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and Jews pretty much everywhere) to immigrate to Egypt, with colorful brochures and digital ads that promise, “Next year in Cairo.”

Tabby Refael is an award-winning weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal, and an LA-based speaker and civic action activist. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TabbyRefael.

Husband Divorces Wife After Disturbing Passover Revelation Read More »

The Telling of the Exodus Story: What’s Missing

Holidays, Judaism /

We are all familiar with the telling of the story.  At the seder, after the youngest child recites the ma nishtana—”What makes this night unlike all other nights?”— we respond, “We were slaves to Pharoah in Egypt, and the Lord our God brought us out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.” The iconic story has no doubt been momentous. Yet, there’s something crucial missing.

The Exodus is, in many ways, defining for Jews. Our experience in slavery represents the culmination of the stories of our patriarchs and matriarchs. Being freed from slavery and subsequently receiving God’s words at Mount Sinai renewed our covenant with God under the commandments from God. 

The story confirms for us the dignity of every human being, each made in the image of God, and it informs our view of how to treat others—not to oppress the stranger, to be kind to servants—for we were once strangers in a strange land. It impresses upon us the importance of freedom for everyone.

Moreover, the story has not only been transformative for the Jews. It’s also been the enduring prototype for freedom movements throughout history, including the founding of the U.S. In 1776, Benjamin Franklin proposed for America’s Great Seal an image of Moses reaching out over the sea, overwhelming Pharaoh sitting in a chariot, with rays from a pillar of fire in the clouds, with the statement, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks mentions in his book “Haggadah,” “America was the great attempt to construct a society along biblical lines, following in the footsteps of Moses.” 

The Exodus story also lived on in the civil rights movement. It was perhaps best reflected in African-American spiritual songs, including the famous hymnal “Go down, Moses,” which dates back to the Civil War era. 

The telling of the story rightly focuses on the importance of freedom from tyranny, freedom from oppression, freedom from persecution and discrimination. All this entails the idea of freedom from. This, needless to say, has been crucial not only for the Jews, not only for the U.S., but also for Western civilization.

The idea of freedom from is only half the story of the Exodus. The other half is about freedom to. This other half is critical, and yet it’s often neglected. 

But the idea of freedom from is only half the story of the Exodus. The other half is about freedom to. This other half is critical, and yet it’s often neglected. 

Further, it’s problematic in the context of much of today’s current thinking, especially among young people. The question is: Freedom to do what? To be true to one’s feelings? To pursue one’s happiness? To promote the common good (presuming one knows what it is)?

As noted throughout Torah and our liturgy, it’s the freedom to serve God. In the Torah, Moses is repeatedly referred to as “His servant.” For Hallel (prayers of praise for God read on special days), we recite the words “Give praise, you servants of the Lord.”  

What does it mean to serve God? With the revelation at Mount Sinai, with the divine words of Torah, with the commandments, we are given plenty of instructions. Still, it’s not always so simple. In a famous Talmudic passage, a non-Jew asked Hillel to convert him on condition that Hillel teach him the entire Torah while the non-Jew stands on one foot. Hillel converted him, and said, “That which is hateful to you do not do to another. That is the entire Torah, and the rest is commentary. Go study.”

For the already religious, this is basic. “Of course we’re here to serve God. This is who we are. This is what we’re about.”

But while the idea of serving God is natural for observant Jews, it’s a problem for others, including many young Jews. Many might say, “I don’t even know who God is. I don’t even know if I believe in God. Moreover, if I’m compelled to be a servant of God, in what sense then am I really free?”

Many prefer to think that, if we’re really free, then we should be free to think what we want, say what we want, and do what we want—not compelled by anything or anyone, God or no God. We should be able to find our own way, to become good people on our own, to learn right from wrong from our own life experiences. We may follow some value or values, but we’re more comfortable following something of our own choosing. 

It’s not unreasonable. After all, we are in an age where, for many, religion and the Bible and God are quaint theological remnants of the past.

But for those who subscribe to this viewpoint, it’s not evident how one should discern the particular value or values to follow. The search continues, though—without God.

With regard to young people who head to college, will traditional secular subjects—history and science, psychology and philosophy, political science and economics—help clarify the values that one should follow?

At its core, this is an epistemological issue. How do we know what the right values are? How do we know how we ought to think, to speak and to behave? Ultimately, how do we know what we ought to follow?

Traditional secular subjects, while undoubtedly useful in many ways, fall short. History can, of course, be illuminating, but it’s largely descriptive. Science produces innumerable amazing discoveries, but it’s focused on physical reality, particularly cause and effect theories that describe physical reality. Psychology gives us insights into our inner world, but it’s not prescriptive. Political science is a social science that is largely descriptive. Economics, while applicable to our financial world, is also a social science. None can tell us what we ought to do.

Philosophy, while not a science, has its own limitations. At the risk of over-simplifying, especially considering the perennial tension between Athens and Jerusalem, philosophy can illuminate how we can best use our reasoning. However, as a guide to what’s morally right and wrong, philosophy has often not been very helpful.  

Quite the contrary. It’s worth quoting the German-Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas, who lived in the middle of the last century. Jonas said, when reflecting on the conduct of the preeminent philosopher Martin Heidegger (who was Jonas’ teacher), “When the most profound thinker of my time fell into step with the thundering march of Hitler’s brown battalions, it was not merely a bitter personal disappointment for me but in my eyes a debacle for philosophy.  Philosophy itself, not only a man, had declared bankruptcy.”

In sum, notwithstanding the many benefits of higher education, none of the traditional secular subjects can tell us what values we should follow. None can tell us right from wrong. None can tell us how we ought to live. None can tell us that we ought not gossip, ought not bear a grudge, ought not covet, ought not bear false witness, ought not favor the rich nor the poor in matters of justice, ought not oppress the stranger, ought not steal, ought not murder.

Nor do these secular subjects tell us that we ought to love our fellow as ourself, that we ought to honor our father and mother, that we ought to keep the Sabbath, that we ought to care for the orphan and the widow and the needy. The secular subjects do not give us ought commandments. They cannot give us the values that we ought to follow.

Where do ought commandments come from? Yes, from the Torah. From the revelation at Mount Sinai. From the Divine. From God.

The ought commandments reflect a transcendent reality that we all experience that entails moral laws—laws that are absolute, eternal and universal—that were revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai.  

No doubt, the revelation seems miraculous. It can seem mysterious. It can be difficult to comprehend.  

But that is our tradition, that is our covenant with the Divine, that is what we are to follow, and that is the basis for our being servants of God and not servants of anything else.  

And, as the famous English writer G.K. Chesterton said, “The problem of disbelieving in God is not that a man ends up believing nothing. Alas, it is much worse. He ends up believing anything.”

Yes, the Exodus is about freedom from: our freedom from bondage. But just as importantly, it’s about freedom to: the freedom to follow God’s commandments, the freedom to be servants of God and not to be servants of anything else. This is what we ought to be talking about with young people at our Passover seders— the freedom to follow what our ancestors heard at Sinai 3300 years ago.

Curt Biren, an investment advisor in LA, has written for First Things, Religion & Liberty, The American Mind, and the Journal of Markets and Morality.

The Telling of the Exodus Story: What’s Missing Read More »

Campus Watch Mar. 30, 2023

Campus Watch, Community /

GWU Investigation: “No Evidence” Behind Allegations of Antisemitism Against Psych Prof

George Washington University (GWU) President Mark S. Wrighton announced on March 27 that a third-party investigation has found that the allegations of antisemitism and retaliatory behavior by Assistant Professor of Psychology Lara Sheehi did not have merit.

The third-party investigator, the Crowell & Moring law firm, found that the allegations listed in the January complaint filed by StandWithUs to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights were “either inaccurate or taken out of context and misrepresented.” Additionally, Cromwell found that the remediation measures taken against the students after they complained to university administrators about Sheehi were not retaliatory and that most of the faculty supported it “for students’ professional development.”

StandWithUS CEO and Co-founder Roz Rothstein called the investigation’s findings were “blatant whitewashing” and did not comport with the facts of the situation, accusing the university “of disregarding the rights of its Jewish and Israeli students.”

San Diego State Menorah Vandalized

The menorah in front of San Diego State University’s Chabad House has been vandalized.

Stop Antisemitism tweeted out a photo of the menorah on March 27 that appeared to show the menorah tilted toward its left side and one of its arms broken off; they also tweeted out a video of an individual shaking the menorah until it broke. “We are disgusted to hear the menorah at San Diego State University Chabad Jewish Center has been vandalized once again,” they wrote. “Jewish students deserve to feel safe on your campus
@SDSU @PrezdelaTorre — please investigate and take appropriate legal action to put a stop to this bigotry.”

The menorah was previously vandalized in 2017 and 2021.

SF State Student Calls Hillel “Extremist Zionist Organization” During Zoom

San Francisco State University (SFSU) Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Jamillah Moore issued a statement denouncing a student who called Hillel an “extremist Zionist organization” during a March 9 Zoom.

The Jewish News of Northern California (The J) reported that the Zoom was about a Cesar Chavez mural on campus and Hillel was on the call “to offer a Jewish perspective” and was not planning to address any Israel-related topics. The student, per The J, said: “Why is Hillel here? They’re an extremist Zionist organization.” Moore wrote: “As a campus community, we encourage a rigorous exchange of scholarly ideas and debate about Zionism, Israel, and any other world issue.  That debate, however, cannot exclude people from participating in meetings and events based on an assumption of their political stance or religious identity.”

Report: CUNY “Most Systematically Antisemitic” University in America

A 12-page report released by Students for Faculty and Equality at City University of New York (SAFE CUNY) on March 23 detailed how CUNY became the “most systematically antisemitic” university in America over the past couple of years.

The report lambasts CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez for skipping two New York City Council hearings on antisemitism and opposing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Instead, Matos-Rodriguez supports a whitewashed definition of antisemitism supported by the anti-Israel organization Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), per the report. The report also states that Matos-Rodriguez is supportive of CAIR, pointing to his hiring of former CAIR Diversity Officer Sally Abd Alla as CUNY’s Chief Diversity Officer, who “leads CUNY’s antisemitism diversity initiative.”

The report also notes that, among other things, the CUNY School of Law faculty adopted a resolution supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and invited former Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour to speak at CUNY’s School of Public Health’s commencement address in 2017. The report concluded with a call for CUNY to adopt IHRA.

Source: BDS Resolution to be Discussed at Yale Student Gov’t

A Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution will likely be discussed — and possibly even voted upon — at the Yale College Council’s (YCC) next meeting on April 2, a source familiar with the situation told the Journal.

The resolution, obtained by The Daily Caller on March 2, calls for the university to terminate its contract with the British multinational security company G4S because the company supplies Israel “with the security equipment for its prisons, military checkpoints, police buildings, illegal settlements, and apartheid wall … Yale University cutting ties with G4S would be one step towards the end of the military occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem; the destruction of the apartheid wall; the actualization of equal rights for the Palestinian citizens of Israel; and the recognition of the Palestinian right of return,” the resolution states, per the Caller.

A source told the Journal that while the resolution is not currently listed on the April 2 agenda, it will be discussed during the meeting and the YCC could decide to add it to the agenda then. At the YCC’s previous meeting on March 5, the resolution was tabled for further discussion, per the source.

Campus Watch Mar. 30, 2023 Read More »

Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Stewart Vogel: Serving Multiple Generations

Community, Rabbis of LA /

When Stewart Vogel was looking to lead his first congregation after becoming a rabbi, he had specific goals. “I wanted to go to a place where I could stay for a long time, where I could know people, know the community members themselves in a larger context. I wanted to be there for multiple generations, celebrating with the children and grandchildren.”

Thirty years later, his wish has been granted. A few weeks ago, grateful members of the temple honored Rabbi Vogel on the occasion of his 30th anniversary of leading the Conservative congregation on a hill in West Hills.

Who is surprised? Aliyah has only changed rabbis once in the last 55 years, when Vogel succeeded Rabbi Melvin Goldstine in 1993.

It’s kept the rabbi close to home. The Tarzana native who graduated from Taft High School lives 10 miles from where he grew up.

He has had opportunities to change addresses over the years. “But I never seriously considered any offers,” the rabbi said. At the age of 63, how many career men or women can echo Vogel’s sentiments?

“I lov-v-v-e being a rabbi,” he says, “because of the relationships you develop, the way you are able to share sacred moments with people. The longer you are able to share that, the more meaningful they become.

“Now I am going to second-generation weddings. I did their parents. Now I get to do their children. There is nothing better than that.“ 

“Now I am going to second-generation weddings. I did their parents. Now I get to do their children. There is nothing better than that. B’nai mitzvah, the same.” More succinctly, “In terms of those relationships, I am living the dream.”

In the early 1990s, when Vogel was in his early 30s, he sensed that Temple Aliyah was fertile ground for experiencing what community could feel like. 

His arrival aimed at developing a relationship and trust after a quarter-century of Rabbi Goldstine. “It’s like a marriage – it takes time to develop trust.” Both parties must open their hearts to trusting the other. Otherwise, pain and disappointment often follow, the rabbi said.  “Over time, we have recognized each other.”

Rabbi Vogel’s initial optimism was rewarded when Aliyah “grew tremendously,” from around 400 families to more than 900 – although Aliyah, like other communities, is dealing with what many synagogues are facing —  declining membership. 

Instead of claiming credit, he takes a step sideways and says “we grew together.” Vogel’s plan was for Aliyah to continue to evolve into a community with relationships with synagogues around them, that it wasn’t isolated.

When your neighborhood is around the corner from the western end of Ventura Boulevard, isolation can happen. 

Verbally and otherwise, the rabbi’s optimism never loses its glow. “We don’t talk about failure,” he said. “No such thing. You figure out what is going to work. We have given ourselves that permission. Seldom do we make grand changes. Instead we say, ‘why don’t we experiment and see how it goes?’”

Lauding “the great longevity we have had in so many areas,” Vogel notes naturally there have been many staff challenges across almost 360 months at Aliyah.

Before joining Temple Aliyah, Vogel was mentored for five years by the legendary Rabbi Harold Schulweis at Valley Beth Shalom, who taught him the pathways for life. 

Vogel says he learned humility from Schulweis. “He never knew he was Rabbi Harold Schulweis … One Monday morning I came into the office when he was just hanging up the phone,” Vogel said. “He looked disgusted. When I asked, he said ‘Somebody just called me from New York about my Shabbat morning sermon.’ He said ‘How did they hear about it?’  This was in the 1980s, before social media — I said ‘You are Rabbi Harold Schulweis.’ He didn’t understand that. Great sense of humility.”

To hear Vogel tell it, Schulweis taught him how to be a successful rabbi by example.   While many leaders seek to surround themselves with the best personnel, the difference-makers are trusting them and elevating them. “Rabbi Schulweis was wonderful at giving credit and sharing the space,” not coincidentally traits for which Rabbi Vogel is known.

Perhaps the humility he learned from Harold Schulweis is Rabbi Vogel’s most valuable gift.

“I am convinced my sermons will not change – in significant ways – what people are thinking, especially on the challenging issues of relationships,” he says. “In a sermon, I don’t think, with logic, you can convince someone over a matter that is very personal, something of the heart.”

Another lesson was sharing the spotlight, accepting that the pulpit was wide enough for multiple personalities. “The bigger and better they were, the better the community was for it,” Vogel believes.

And he learns from the community as well. On his first day at Aliyah, he made a pledge not to interfere with experts and avenues of congregational business. “Over time, we have grown together,” said the rabbi. 

Crucially, he “doesn’t deal with politics. They don’t exist in our congregation. Through the model of Hillel and Shammai, we have learned how to have respectful dialogue. We have learned you can disagree with somebody and to still respect the person.” But in the last several years, politics has seeped into the Temple, as they have for much of the world.

Rabbi Vogel, though, has planted his feet. 

“I have done everything I can to say we are not going to talk politics from the bimah. We are going to create a synagogue where people of all political stripes are welcome.”

While Vogel has taken hits from both sides, he remains committed to perhaps his most fundamental principle: “My job as a rabbi is to hold the Jewish people together in difficult moments.”

Fast Takes with Rabbi Vogel

Jewish Journal: What is your favorite Jewish food?

Rabbi Vogel: Even though it’s not good for your health, kishka.

JJ: What superpower would you like to have?

Rabbi Vogel: To be invisible – fits my personality, preferring to be in the background.

JJ: Favorite place in Los Angeles?

Rabbi Vogel: The beach – this is one of few places where you can go to the beach, and same day go skiing in the mountains.

JJ: Favorite place to travel outside of Israel?

Rabbi Vogel: Florence, Italy. Tile roofs, walkable city, the art, something that feels otherworldly.

Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Stewart Vogel: Serving Multiple Generations Read More »

“Hamantaschen Monologues,” USHMM Tribute, Shalhevet Basketball, Temple of the Arts

Movers & Shakers /

An estimated 120 people and 300 virtual attendees gathered to hear “The Hamantaschen Monologues,” a live storytelling event centered on the stories, the myths and the meanings around sexuality informed and misinformed by Judaism.

The event was held March 19 at progressive congregation IKAR’s event space on La Cienega Blvd and featured nine storytellers—four live from Los Angeles, five virtually from around the world — offering first-person personal stories on topics including queerness and Judaism, “sex while Jewish” and the chaos of dating.

“The feedback has been pretty remarkable,” Molly Brodsky said in a virtual interview with the Journal two days before their event.

Brodsky and Rachel Olshin are the co-founders and co-organizers of the “’Hamantaschen Monologues.” The two met at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, a modern Orthodox school in Teaneck, New Jersey. They’ve been close friends and collaborators since. Today, Olshin is based in Pico-Robertson while Brodsky lives in Oakland.

IKAR, JQ International and Moishe House copresented this year’s program. It was the first time “Hamantaschen Monologues,” which was established in 2021, was held as a hybrid event offered in-person and virtually.

“This is an event, this is a show, but we hope the impact goes beyond this moment,” Olshin said. “We know these kinds of conversations are really important.”

Shalhevet High School’s championship-winning girls basketball team appeared at Los Angeles City Hall on March 21. Earlier this month, the squad known as the “Firehawks” made history when it became the first Jewish school to win a CIF championship.
From left: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum honorees Kelly and Lou Gonda; Lorena Gonda; and Amy and Morton Friedkin. Courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) held its 30th anniversary Western Region tribute event on March 16 at the Beverly Hilton.

The event drew more than 300 guests and raised more than $1.2 million.

Honorees were Kelly and Lou Gonda along with Lorena Gonda and Lucy Gonda from Los Angeles and Amy and Morton Friedkin from San Francisco. They were recognized for their contributions to preserving Holocaust history and helping the museum carry its lessons far beyond its walls.

The museum opened its doors 30 years ago in an unprecedented partnership of survivors with the American people. A nonpartisan federal institution, USHMM is the country’s national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance.

“This is an unprecedented time as the museum celebrates its 30th anniversary while antisemitism and other forms of hate are rising throughout the United States and abroad,” the museum’s regional director Marla Eglash Abraham said. “The ongoing commitment and leadership of this year’s honorees recognizes their roles in Holocaust education and support of the Museum’s mission to educate people about the Holocaust and the consequences of unchecked antisemitism and hate.”

From left: Mensch Foundation Award Recipient Barry Gordon, Mensch Award Founder Steven Geiger, Mensch Award Recipient Arieh Warshel, Rabbi David Barron, and Professor G.K. Surya Prakash. Photo by Steve Moyer
From left: Temple of the Arts Rabbi David Baron and actor Lainie Kazan. Photo by Steve Moyer

On March 17, Temple of the Arts held a lively pre-Passover Shared Heritage Shabbat service, featuring special guests, musical performances and informative discussion. 

Participants in the Shabbat service included the Agape International Choir, members of the Turkish American community and the temple’s staff. Notables in attendance included Mike Stoller and Corky Hale Stoller, Lainie Kazan and Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles Sinan Kuzum.

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Table for Five: Tzav

Judaism, Torah /

One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist

Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. – Malachi 3:23
from Haftorah of Shabbat HaGadol

Judy Gruen
Author, “The Skeptic and the Rabbi: Falling in Love With Faith.”

Malachi and his contemporaries Ezra and Nechemia lived through the exile from Jerusalem and our near annihilation that we recently read in the Book of Esther. These were the last of the prophets and this Haftorah is the final prophecy in our sacred books. 

Like all Haftorot that begin by chastising our failures, this one ends with hope. We are first admonished for failing to tithe and support the Leviim, and for praising and copying the behavior of the wicked, who seemingly flourish. God is quite clear about the consequences in store for those who don’t reassess their values and begin a course correction. (It isn’t pretty.) 

But the narrative then turns, promising blessings for those who believe in God and follow His ways. The Haftorah ends with this promise of redemption but the pasuk needs the full context to appreciate it: “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, that he may turn the heart of the fathers back (to God) through the children, and the heart of the children back (to God) through their fathers.” 

This is exactly what we have seen in recent generations: a wholly unanticipated ba’al teshuva movement, one that continues to grow worldwide. Sometimes children lead parents; sometimes parents influence children. In my life, I haven’t brought along parents but have had the merit to raise children with love of Torah and the emotional and spiritual security that our relationship with God brings. 

Rabbi Aryeh Markman
Executive Director, Aish LA

To understand the Jewish bottom line, let’s take a page from Stephen Covey’s best seller, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Habit 2: “Begin with the end in mind.” The last Jewish (or otherwise) prophet’s prophesy is Malachi warning us that the Messiah/Moshiach is coming, and he will be heralded by Elijah the Prophet. That’s our compass and end game. Elijah’s job will be to rectify Jewish thought and behavior by rewiring our outlook and motivating us to become really who we are meant to be in Jewishly. Spoiler alert: Moshiach is a Torah scholar to the max and will strengthen and captivate our understanding and observance of the Torah. The result will be unparalleled Jewish unity. Tranquility will reign throughout the Land of Israel and worldwide. I’m in! 

Ultimately, every Jewish organization is trying to bring about total redemption, be it by fighting antisemitism, advocating politics, or the like. These are essential but accessory to Malachi telling us that integrating the Torah into our lives will transcend and solve current events. Today’s headlines are a distraction. They are the symptoms, not the disease. They mirror our fallen spiritual state. We are currently in exile from who we are truly meant to be. 

Destiny is in our hands. We are the solution. Malachi is sending us into history with the message that a God-awareness lifestyle, which is what Judaism is all about, is the only thing that will move the needle in our favor. Have a Happy Passover!

David Brandes
Screenwriter

“In each generation, every individual should feel as though he or she had actually been redeemed from Egypt.” Every year at the Seder we repeat this hope of experiencing the redemption. And every year most of us fail. Let’s face it, feeling what we have not experienced is almost impossible. So, how is this to be accomplished? 

I think that the paradigm is found in “The Four Quartets” by the great poet and unlikely Torah scholar, T.S. Eliot: 

“Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable…” 

The Seder night is about our redemption in the past as well as in the future. And Elijah in his fiery chariot connects the two together. 

Consider the beautiful Hasidic tradition of inviting everyone at the table to help fill Elijah’s cup from their own cups of wine. As Elijah’s cup is passed around everyone symbolically remembers the redemption from Egypt and anticipates the future redemption. 

Throughout the Seder we are reminded that Seder night is like messianic times — “time which is neither day or night.” This is not linear time, it is a metaphysical dimension of time. Also, as we fill the fourth cup of wine and open the door for Elijah we are showing that we are safe. The past and future Egyptians have been smitten and the world is at peace.

During the Seder all time is eternally present. 

Cantor Michelle Bider Stone
Temple Beth Am

Do you think it’s weird that Elijah gets invited to the end of the seder? After we’ve already eaten? He doesn’t even get dessert. Well, it may surprise you to learn that Elijah’s cup wasn’t originally for Elijah. I don’t have space to explain (look it up!), but medieval rabbis debated about whether there should be four or five cups at the seder. So, what did they decide? Teiku, “let it stand,” is a Talmudic dictum used when a disagreement isn’t resolved. We won’t decide now. The answer will be revealed when Elijah comes to herald in the messianic age (which is why the fifth cup became associated with Elijah). In the end, we pour the fifth cup, but we don’t drink it. The rabbis didn’t know who was right, so they compromised. 

Recently, a friend posted a picture that read, “The other person might be right.” It is so obvious, yet so hard to do in our polarized world. We live in a time when people fear that giving an inch guarantees giving a mile. Our sages disagreed about the cups of wine, but in the end, they respected each other’s opinions and compromised. 

Maybe the fifth cup wasn’t originally for Elijah, but there’s a lesson in welcoming him to our seder. Elijah is our tradition’s promise for a better tomorrow. When we open the door, we express hope for a better world, perhaps one where people do a better job listening to each other and engaging in compromise.

Michael Berenbaum
Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, American Jewish University.

Passover never creeps up upon us, it demands preparation, perhaps too much preparation. In synagogue, we prepare from the beginning of Adar with special Haftorah readings culminating in this last verse that closes the Haftorah of Shabbat HaGadol. 

The Exodus is one of the two most formative events in Jewish history – we were slaves in the Land of Egypt and then we were freed. All freedom-seeking people who have been touched by the Hebrew Bible can understand the journey. Egypt and Pharaoh, Moses and the Exodus, crossing the Sea, and the long journey to the Promised Land. 

For Biblical Jews the Exodus was a past event; for later Jews who no longer dwelled in the Promised Land or for whom the Promised Land had lost its Promise, the past was but prelude to Final Return, to the End of Days, to a Promise that would endure. 

As Jewish anguish intensified, as the distance gap between the Promise and the Present deepened, this verse was reinterpreted to have Elijah herald in the coming of the Messiah. 

Malachi is more modest. ‘He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction.” 

As a Jew I love the Passover story, I cherish our remembrance of the past and I revere the fact that despite our anguish Jews have continued to hope. Yet as a historian, I know that every pronouncement of coming of the Messiah has been a disaster in Jewish history, sans the most limited and most restricted secular messianism of the Zionist movement which aspired to create a Jewish homeland and later a Jewish state in our historic homeland. 

Dayenu, it is sufficient. 

The easiest belief I hold as a Jew is that the Messiah has not yet come. Proof positive: the news. So I support the most narrow reading of the text. Elijah shall bring reconciliation between the generations, nothing more. At this point in Jewish life, that sounds Messianic. 

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Streaming Guide for Passover in Film and TV

Film, Television /

When you think of Passover in films or on television, do you have a favorite? Here are some of ours. From Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to Leighton Meester in “Gossip Girl,” the Journal has you covered. We even threw in a few for the kids.

Curb Your Enthusiasm
“The Seder”
Season 5, Episode 7
Airdate: November 13, 2005
Streaming: HBO Max

Larry David inadvertently invites a sex offender Rick (Rob Corddry) to his wife Cheryl’s seder. Jeff Garlin’s brother-in-law (Stephen Tobolowsky) is accused of rigging the Afikomen.

Family Guy
“Family Goy”
Season 8, Episode 2
Airdate: October 4, 2009
Streaming: Hulu

Lois Griffin learns that her mother is a Holocaust survivor and as a result, learns she is Jewish herself. Lois then hosts her first Passover seder, much to the chagrin of her boorish husband Peter.

Gossip Girl
“Seder Anything”
Season 2, Episode 21:
Airdate: April 20, 2009
Streaming: HBO Max

Dan Humphrey takes a catering job for extra money, and his first day as a waiter is at the Waldorf family seder. Blair Waldorf’s stepfather, Cyrus Rose (Wallace Shawn), attempts to host a Seder, but things get awkward and heated as a love triangle between Dan, Serena and Gabriel comes to a head.

Rugrats
“A Rugrats Passover”
Season 3, Episode 26
Airdate: April 13, 1995
Streaming: Currently unavailable

Grandpa Boris gets accidentally locked in the attic with the kids during the Passover Seder. He decides to pass the time by telling them the story of Passover.

South Park
“Jewpacabra”
Season 16, Episode 4
Airdate: April 4, 2012
Streaming: HBO Max

Cartman feigns interest in Passover and spreads rumors of a murderous Jewish creature, much to Jewish classmate Kyle’s disdain. After a series of hijinks, Cartman dreams that he is in Ancient Egypt experiencing the Ten Plagues.

Saturday Night Live
Host: Jerry Seinfeld — “Elijah the Prophet at a Seder”
Season 17, Episode 18
Airdate: April 18, 1992
Streaming: Peacock

Elijah the Prophet, played by Jerry Seinfeld, actually appears at the Seder of a Jewish family. And he’s not very kind to them.

Saturday Night Seder
Airdate: April 11, 2020
Streaming: YouTube (Buzzfeed’s “Tasty” channel)

This might be too soon for those still reeling from the memory of the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic. But three years ago, a celebrity-studded, song-filled virtual Passover Seder took place on the fourth night, and was hosted by Jason Alexander. Nearly 50 familiar faces took part, including Mayim Bialik, Fran Drescher, Ben Platt, Richard Kind, Henry Winkler and IKAR Rabbi Sharon Brous.

Sesame Street
“Passover”
Airdate: 1991
Streaming: YouTube

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Kid-friendly option and quite the throwback to Sesame Street 32 years ago.

Sesame Street
“It’s Passover, Grover!”
Season 2, Episode 2 (Shalom Sesame)
Airdate: March 7, 2011
Streaming: Prime Video ($1.99 to rent, $7.99 to buy)

Another kid-friendly option, from the Israeli version of “Sesame Street,” with one segment featuring actor Jake Gyllenhaal explaining the Afikomen.

And for the sake of space, we’ve listed a few of our favorite Passover films and where you can watch:

“Prince of Egypt” (1998)
Streaming: Peacock, or rent on Amazon.

“When Do We Eat” (1995)
Streaming: Tubi, The Roku Channel, or rent on Amazon.

*Co-written by Nina Davidovich and the Accidental Talmudist Salvador Litvak.

“Uncut Gems” (2019)
Streaming: Showtime

“The Ten Commandments” (1956)
Streaming: Rent on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+; airing Saturday, April 1 at 7:00 PDT on ABC Television.

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How to Conquer Aging

Columnists /

Aging is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting and frightening things I’ve ever experienced. This April, if the dice are hot and the good Lord sees fit, I turn 71. According to most literature, I’m timeworn. Ask a 20-year-old, and I’m almost dead. Ask my 97-year-old friend George Stanley, I’m just getting going. 

My assessment: I’m not old, but I’m certainly at its foothills, puffing my way up. 

Climbing the numbers ladder attacks a person on two fronts: mind and body.

Let’s start with the body. Waking, I used to pop up like a warm piece of toast.  Now, I wake with feet that feel like they have been hanging out of a car window during winter in Siberia.  Getting out of bed, I stand tall one vertebra at a time for fear that if I go vertical too quickly, I’m in danger of fainting or falling out an open window. With at least one eye open, I stumble around trying to find my slippers. Most old people have backless ones they can walk right into.  

At around 50, I made two life-changing decisions. The first was no more drinking two hours before bed. The second was to start eating soup. One day out of nowhere, I was gripped with an urge for soup. The desire for soup in an old person is only equaled to the urge a 20-year-old has for sex. Now, before heading to a restaurant, I phone first and ask about the soup of the day. To hear my phone call, you would think I was probing about a sick person. “So, how’s the soup today?”  Every morning my local bagel joint has gallons of fresh soup. If you are not there by 10 a.m., the neighborhood elderly have already convened and drained the consommé. 

Another reminder of aging is the bathroom mirror. Fifteen years ago, I noticed that I looked tired in both morning and evening. I have a short window between 10:06 and 10:59 a.m. where whatever youth I still have left rears its disappearing head.

I also noticed that overnight I seemed to be dehydrating at a very rapid pace. I blame it on climate change.

My bathroom has a full-length mirror, and not long ago I caught a glimpse of my backside. Oy vey. For a second I thought a Pug had walked in. Ever since that day, I’ve taken to covering the lower half of the mirror as if there was a death and I was in mourning. We need not talk about my front.  

Dressed in my red-and-white-striped polyester Target tracksuit, my friend Eric recently took me to work out at Orangetheory. When I caught one of the young people observing me, they flipped their workout into high gear, fearing this could one day happen to them.  

And now the mind. Recently I noticed grabbing the right word while explaining something is getting harder and harder. 

The constant misplacing of things is also discouraging. Like when I was babysitting my grandchild. I know she was in the house somewhere. 

Recently talking with my wife on my cell phone, I said, “I think I lost my phone. 

“Where do you think you left it?” 

“I’m not sure.” 

“Did you check the car?” 

“Please call me on it?” 

Phone ringing. “I think I hear it.”  I then put the phone down and started looking for it. The race is on for who gets put away first.   

Here are a few tips to ensure old age doesn’t sneak up and hit you like a brick wall. 

First, you need to get out of shape as young as possible.  

So never exercise. And if possible, stop walking completely. Even if it’s just one block, Uber there. 

If you like TV, watch only the food channel. Especially if you’re hungry. Then try and make as many recipes (soups especially) as you can and don’t share any of them.  

Finally, only hang out with people doing the same thing you’re doing. Hanging out with non-slouches and health nuts defeats the purpose.  

If you follow my advice, and by luck you do make it to old age, you’ll be used to it long before it hits, and it won’t come as such a shock to the system.

Mark Schiff is a comedian, actor and writer, and host of the ‘You Don’t Know Schiff’ podcast. His new book is “Why Not? Lessons on Comedy, Courage and Chutzpah.”

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Elite Schools Are Not Ideal for Jewish Students

Commentary, Opinion /

Antisemitism is rampant on college and university campuses nationwide. Recent surveys have shown that 55 percent of students have had to hide their support for Israel and almost three-quarters of students state that they actively hide their Jewish identity on campus today. Over half of the students (55 percent) surveyed report being subjected to campus antisemitism and 72 percent do not believe that collegiate administrators take this threat seriously. The Anti-Defamation League tracks incidents of antisemitism on collegiate campuses and found that the numbers have increased more than threefold to 155 incidents in 2021 from 47 in 2014. The ADL has recorded hundreds of separate cases of anti-Israel incidents on campus in the past year alone. More troubling is that almost three-quarters of Jewish students reported that they had personally experienced or “were familiar with” a recent collegiate-based act of antisemitism. As a direct result of this dangerous environment, almost half of the Jewish students on campus have hidden their Jewish identities and have avoided expressing their often positive views on Israel in 2021.

Jewish families with high school students looking at colleges for the fall are right to worry about sending their kids into such a hostile climate. Fortunately, there is one course of action that these families can take: They can look outside the traditional paths most Jewish students take. They can think about schools in the South and in the West that are far more ideologically balanced and open to diversity at levels notably higher than those schools in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.

Data from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression reported in 2022 reveal that Jewish collegiate students tend to cluster in a particular set of schools. Yet these schools tend to be among the most problematic for Jewish students as they are ideologically monolithic and hold illiberal, anti-Jewish sentiments that are dangerous for Jewish students today.

According to the data, just under two-thirds (63 percent) of Jewish students attend private colleges and universities, while 63 percent of the students in the country attend public schools. Within the Jewish community, almost a third (32 percent) attend elite, top 25 schools, and another quarter (26 percent) attend the top 50 schools, per US News. Nationally, just a third (33 percent) attend colleges within the top 50.

About 45 percent of Jewish students attend schools within New England and the Mid-Atlantic, which is where a considerable cluster of elite schools are located. Yet nationally, just over a quarter (26 percent) attend schools in New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

This clustering of Jewish students matters because the elite, Northeast schools are associated with the presence of large numbers of progressive faculty members and activist administrators. These faculty and administrators are the types of academics and staff who typically see Israel as an occupier or apartheid state and who see Jews as members of the power elite and the oppressor class who have caused harm for decades, and who often hold other fairly antisemitic views.  At these schools, student bodies and administrations are open to canceling and disrupting speakers they find objectionable and fail to embrace the value of viewpoint diversity and open discourse.

It is critical that the Jewish community recognizes that these elite, northeast schools are overwhelmingly left-of-center and that means that they are not friendly to Jews regardless of their stated values of openness and acceptance for all. These schools have broadly adopted views that place American Jews on the wrong side of racial politics, link Israel to racism in the U.S., have created a campus climate hostile to Zionists, promote diversity programs that exclude Jews, and shun Jewish participation in campus culture and open expression more generally. Collectively these tendencies increase the likelihood that Jewish students will feel neither safe nor open to think, question and thrive.

It is critical that the Jewish community recognizes that these elite, northeast schools are overwhelmingly left-of-center and that means that they are not friendly to Jews regardless of their stated values of openness and acceptance for all.

Jewish students can try to push back but doing so may be dangerous for them and their reputations. While it is certainly hard to walk away from admission to places like Princeton or Tufts, Jewish students, and their families, may need to look into schools in other regions such as the West and the South. Students nationwide have realized that schools outside the northeast are far more open to diversity in all forms and are less progressively uniform—Jewish students should take note. While no region in America is a politically balanced utopia, the West and South see far lower rates of self-censorship, fear of cancellation, and significantly more ideological steadiness. Schools in states like Florida and North Carolina are pushing back against the dangerous thinking from diversity offices and departments infected by so-called “anti-racist” thinking that is dangerous to the Jewish community. Thus, Jewish students and their families would be well served to look away from the Northeast and think about schools elsewhere that actually care about learning as well as protecting, promoting and welcoming real forms of diversity.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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