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Tiger Moms tamed by American experience

Jewish Journal January 25, 2011

Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin earned two A’s, one A-plus and one A-minus during her first semester at the University of California, Santa Barbara. When she told her Chinese grandfather, she was disappointed but not shocked by his response. “He said: ‘You got an A-plus, but an A-minus, too,’ ” recalled Mates-Muchin, 36, now the associate rabbi of Temple Sinai in Oakland. Mates-Muchin, whose mother is second-generation Chinese-American and whose father is the son of Austrian Jewish immigrants, recognizes a lot of her own childhood in “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” Yale University professor Amy Chua’s controversial book about raising her daughters with traditional Chinese norms of strict discipline.

Stuart Levey stepping down as top Iran sanctions official

Jewish Journal January 24, 2011

Stuart Levey, the Obama administration\’s top Iran sanctions enforcement official, is leaving. Stuart Levey, who has been a Treasury undersecretary since 2005, will leave in about a month, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Levey, who is Jewish, devised a strategy of persuading not just governments but businesses to sanction the Islamic Republic for its defiance of international pressure to make its nuclear program more transparent.

Ban Ki-moon at N.Y. synagogue remembers Holocaust victims

Jewish Journal January 24, 2011

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the Holocaust \”the darkest chapter in history\” at a synagogue service remembering the victims. Ban wore a kipah during the Jan. 20 service at Park East Synagogue in New York City. \”We can never tolerate anybody who denies the Holocaust,\” Ban said in his comments, calling the Holocaust \”the darkest chapter in history,\” according to the French news agency AFP.

Washington Institute unveils land swap proposals

Jewish Journal January 21, 2011

A pro-Israel U.S. think tank released proposals that would reconcile allowing a majority of the settlers to stay in place with a Palestinian state through commensurate land swaps. The detailed proposal, released Thursday by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, nods to longstanding Palestinian demands for a return to 1967 lines by adhering to one-to-one land swaps. Under the proposal, between 68-80 percent of settlers would remain in place, and the Palestinian state would receive Israeli lands adjacent to the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Desert and parts of the West Bank.

German Neo-Nazi parties merge amid protests

Jewish Journal January 19, 2011

Berlin Jews joined hundreds of demonstrators to protest a meeting marking the merger of two neo-Nazi parties. Police estimated that fewer than 80 right-wing extremists showed up to the Jan. 15 meeting in which the National Democratic Party (NPD) of Germany and the German People’s Union (DVU) formally announced their merger. Meanwhile, nearly 100 times that number demonstrated on the streets outside the public school where the party meeting was held, in the Berlin district of Lichtenberg.\n

Limmud becomes a Jewish networking nexus

Jewish Journal January 19, 2011

Journalist and author Lisa Alcalay Klug flew across the country this month to present at the annual New York version of Limmud, one of the Jewish learning gatherings that occur worldwide. She’ll fly in the other direction next month to attend the fourth annual LimmudLA, Feb. 18-21 in Costa Mesa. LimmudLA will be Klug’s eighth Limmud gathering in 12 months. Like the hundreds of other Limmud presenters whose paths she crosses, she doesn’t get paid for her time. “I’ve met amazing people, developed new friendships and reinforced past relationships,” said Klug, who splits her time among California, New York and Israel. “My world has grown exponentially because of it.”

Ex-officials urge Obama to back U.N. resolution on settlements

Jewish Journal January 19, 2011

Former U.S. officials and policy writers are urging President Obama to endorse a proposed United Nations Security Council resolution blasting Israel\’s settlement policy and calling for a return to peace talks. \”At this critical juncture, how the U.S. chooses to cast its vote on a settlements resolution will have a defining effect on our standing as a broker in Middle East peace,\” says the letter, signed mostly by figures who have favored greater U.S. pressure on Israel in the past, sent Wednesday to Obama. \”But the impact of this vote will be felt well beyond the arena of Israeli-Palestinian deal-making — our seriousness as a guarantor of international law and international legitimacy is at stake.\”

Schultz urges release of Pollard

Jewish Journal January 12, 2011

Former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz has written to President Obama asking him to release Jonathan Pollard. The letter delivered Tuesday says that Pollard has \”now paid a huge price for his espionage on behalf of Israel and should be released from prison.\” In the letter, Schultz also said that he is impressed that people who are \”best informed\” about the classified material that Pollard passed to Israel favor his release.

Repairing the world, and your home, on Tu b’Shvat

Jewish Journal January 11, 2011

The Jewish green day of Tu b’Shvat is not just the new year for trees anymore. Jews are being asked increasingly to dedicate Tu b’Shvat to repairing the world. The Tu b\’Shvat seder at the Jewish Funds for Justice is called \”Tikkun [repair] and Transformation.\” Kolel, the Adult Center for Liberal Jewish Learning, suggests four tikkunim, or repairs, to interact with traditional Tu b’Shvat seder themes: social, cosmic/existential, national and ecological. On the Reclaiming Judaism website, Rabbi Goldie Milgram writes, \”Tu Bi-Shevat is meant to help repair this world.\” But before you go out and make your repairs to the world, don\’t you think you should fix up your home? Like what about that broken clothes dryer or dishwasher? You might be surprised, but this has a basis in Jewish tradition. The injunction of \”ba\’al taschit\” — do not destroy — is the Jewish version of waste not, want not. To avoid waste, we need to learn how to repair rather than throw things away.

Bibi sends Obama letter requesting Pollard release

Jewish Journal January 4, 2011

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neyanyahu wrote President Obama urging clemency for Jonathan Pollard. \”At the time of his arrest, Jonathan Pollard was acting as an agent of the Israeli government,\” Netanyahu wrote in his letter, sent Tuesday. \”Even though Israel was in no way directing its intelligence efforts against the United States, its actions were wrong and wholly unacceptable. Both Mr. Pollard and the Government of Israel have repeatedly expressed remorse for these actions, and Israel will continue to abide by its commitment that such wrongful actions will never be repeated.\” Netanyahu read his letter Tuesday evening to a Knesset plenum discussion. His letter, Israel\’s first formal request for Pollard\’s release, came a day after similar urgings from over 500 clergy in a letter to Obama.

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