Chabad Lubavitch in the news
Moshe
Moshe
Boston Globe
Menorah gets its night to shine
Wellesley, chabad reach compromise
By Lisa Keen, Globe Correspondent | December 5, 2004
An attorney for a local Hasidic missionary movement drew a line in the
sand for Wellesley: Either sit down with the head of the local chabad
and find a place to display the menorah during Hanukkah or face a
lawsuit in federal court. The deadline was Thursday.
At about 4 p.m. Thursday, an agreement was struck.
It calls for the Board of Selectmen to approve a display of the menorah
on one day, Dec. 14, in front of Town Hall. Moshe Yehuda Bleich, the
executive director of the Wellesley-Weston Chabad, a Hasidic missionary
movement, will light the menorah and recite an invocation, but not any
prayers. The chabad will remove the menorah after about two hours.
Bleich said Thursday that he appreciates town officials coming up with
an agreement "so everyone can be happy."
"It's not that they were so much against what we wanted to do or that
we didn't appreciate their concerns, but a matter of not having had
enough dialogue," Bleich said.
The issue arose with an Oct. 25 letter from Bleich to the town's
executive director. In the letter, Bleich asked for the town's
involvement in Hanukkah, which will run from Tuesday through Dec. 15
this year. The town's acting executive director, Chris Clark, wrote
back, saying the town is a "nonsecular" entity and could not take part
in the effort.
Bleich had argued that the menorah was a symbol of religious freedom
and liberty, principles everyone can share. His attorney, Robert N.
Meltzer, responded to Clark with a letter suggesting that the town's
refusal to display the menorah was a form of "interfering" in the
observance of the holiday. He noted that he has "routinely been
compelled" to file suit in federal court against municipalities for
such interference. At the same time, he cited a US Supreme Court
decision that regarded the menorah as a secular symbol.
Rabbi Joel Sisenwine, senior rabbi for Wellesley's Beth Elohim
synagogue, said Thursday that he considers the menorah to be a
religious symbol. He said he does not believe town property is the best
place to display it, and he offered to have the menorah displayed on
Beth Elohim's property.
Bleich said he appreciated Sisenwine's gesture, but said that Beth
Elohim's does not have the visibility of Town Hall or the Clock Tower
park -- at the intersection of routes 9 and 16. Beth Elohim is just off
Cedar Street, between Route 9 and Walnut Street. Bleich said it is
important that the menorah be positioned such that many people can
share in its message.
In his letter to town officials, Bleich wrote, "The Menorah symbolizes
the liberty to express oneself ethnically, culturally, and
religiously." He said "a component of it is secular" but that the
menorah's purpose in a public setting is to celebrate freedom of
religion and liberty.
According to chabad.org, Hanukkah commemorates "the rededication of the
Temple in Jerusalem after a group of Jewish warriors defeated the
Syrians who had defiled the Holy Temple and attempted to force the Jews
to assimilate."
By tradition, a candle is lit in a menorah each of the eight nights of
the festival of Hanukkah.
The Board of Selectmen will meet at 6:45 Monday evening in the Middle
School auditorium. The agreement invites Bleich to attend the meeting,
at which time the board will discuss developing a policy relating to
such displays.
© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Moshe
Baltimore Jewish Times
Chabad Rabbi For Annapolis
Marcia Hillary Kay
Special to the Jewish Times
DECEMBER 03, 2004
It is often said that wherever one travels in the world, there will be
a Chabad rabbi there to greet you. Now, those who drive or sail into
Annapolis will find Rabbi Nochum Light, the newest addition to the
Chabad network in Maryland. Rabbi Light, 25, and his wife, Hindy, along
with their 8 1/2-month-old son, Menachem Mendel, two weeks ago opened
the newest Chabad House in Maryland, at 948 Yachtsman Way in Annapolis,
in an area called Marines Point.
This isn't the first Chabad House to open its doors in Maryland's
capital. According to Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, director of Chabad of
Maryland, "There are more Jews now in Anne Arundel County [than a
decade ago]. We decided to revive it now. We found a committed young
couple."
Rabbi Light, much like other Chabad rabbis who venture into new
communities, arrived in Annapolis through a circuitous route.
After graduating from the Holy Torah Yeshiva in Brooklyn, N.Y., in
1995, he found himself in Brunoy, France, for two years. He then spent
two years at "770," the epicenter of Lubavitch learning in Crown
Heights, N.Y.
In 1999, he taught at the Yeshiva Gedolah of London in England. "We are
sent out as outreach," said Rabbi Light. He found that while in London,
he was teaching students not too much younger than himself, "18 or 19
years old," he said. "This was a year of intense learning."
After time in London, Rabbi Light traveled to Melbourne, Australia,
where he received his ordination. He returned to 770 in 2001, where he
spent another two-and-a-half years. He married during that time.
Rabbi Light said he does have his work cut out for him, but it is work
he relishes and enjoys.
"We have a mailing list of approximately 10,000 people," he said,
noting that not all are affiliated with any particular Jewish movement.
There is a Jewish day school in Annapolis, the Aleph-Bet School, and
two synagogues. In addition, the U.S. Naval Academy has a Jewish chapel
where Jewish cadets and Jews in the surrounding area attend services.
"The Lubavitcher Rebbe wanted people to locate where there were Jews,"
said Rabbi Light. "Every Jew is counted. That is our mission." Even
though the Lights are new to Annapolis, they say they already have a
plan. "We are setting up a class" to find out exactly what the
community needs and wants, Rabbi Light said. The first meeting will be
a "get-to-know-you" session. "We are getting the word out, mostly by
word-of-mouth.
"There are many people out there who are unaffiliated. Judaism has a
rich culture," he said.
Said Rabbi Kaplan: "One of our important principles is that you have to
live among the people you are trying to serve. You have to become a
part of the community" and have an "influence" on the community, in
this case Anne Arundel County. n
To contact Rabbi Light, call 443-321-4628.
Moshe
Shaloh House holds a party
Look at the future
Hasidic Jews celebrate with a feast honoring Yud Tes Kisley
By Patrick Hedlund/ Correspondent
Friday, December 17, 2004
The Hasidic Jewish community in Boston had reason to celebrate recently
by way of a feast in honor of Yud Tes Kislev, the Hasidic equivalent of
Rosh Hashanah, held at the Beis Menachem Mendel Shaloh House in
Brighton on Saturday.
Close to 100 people gathered inside the Jewish center to celebrate
the holiday with a Melave Malka, a traditional Jewish meal observed
during the Sabbath. The feast, which commemorated the founder of Chabad
Hasidism's release from prison more than 200 years ago in Czarist
Russia, featured a speech by Rabbi Shmuel Lew, one of the foremost
lecturers on Hasidism and a senior emissary to the Lubavitch center in
London, England.
"[This holiday] means a deeper commitment to the ideals of
Hasidism," said Yakov "Jack" Hanoka, a physicist and practicing Hasidic
Jew from Brookline. He joined Lubavitch representatives from around
Boston at the feast which Lew called, "a day which shows us the reality
of life."
Lew lectured an audience that included many Russian immigrants on
the importance of Hasidic devotion and inner-spiritual development. The
Shaloh House has become an unofficial center for Russian-speaking Jews,
some of whom fled Communist Russia after being persecuted by the
then-atheist regime.
"Commit yourself to becoming a better person," Lew beseeched of
the many practicing Hasidic Jews at the feast. "It is the challenge of
making the world a more Godly place."
The evening began with the screening of a short biopic on the life
of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneersohn, a Hasidic high priest who counseled
and advised Jews around the world, as the men, women and children in
attendance dined on traditional Jewish food. Then Rabbi Dan Rodkin of
the Shaloh House introduced Lew, a man who has addressed audiences on
six continents and whose message resonated a universal thread of
self-identity and inner peace.
"There's no person in this world that has a carefree existence,"
said Lew in his thick New York City accent. He went on to explain how a
dedication to religious ideals and a love of oneself are necessary to
living a fulfilled Hasidic life. "It will help you to understand who
you are in a way you never did before," Lew said as he raised his glass
to the crowd. "L'Chaim, everybody."
The feast concluded with the singing of traditional holy songs as
many shared celebratory hugs and spoke with family and old friends.
With the major Jewish holidays approaching, Lew made sure to stress the
value of this specific day for everyone.
"It exists to teach how important each one of us is."
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0.008883
Moshe
Moshe
By E.J. KESSLER
<P>
The White House's budding relationship with the Orthodox Jewish
community was on display last week at three public events that some
participants said signaled who's in and who's out of favor with the
administration as President Bush heads for a second term.</P>
<P>
An intimate December 9 meeting between the president and 15 communal
leaders featured 10 Orthodox rabbis, one Orthodox rebbetzin, four
Reform rabbis and not one Conservative Jew. The 500-person White House
Hanukkah party, held later that night, was choc-a-bloc with Orthodox
Jews in beards, hats and yarmulkes, according to participants. And the
family of a Lubavitch chaplain stationed in Iraq had the honor of
lighting the Hanukkah menorah at a White House candle-lighting
ceremony.</P>
<P>
Both supporters and detractors of the president said the events showed
that Bush was rewarding the religiously traditional elements of the
community that supported his re-election and sending a message to the
more liberal segments that did not. According to network exit polls,
about 75% of American Jews voted for John Kerry - but a majority of
the Orthodox, who comprise only 8% of Jews nationally, backed Bush. The
liberal branches of Judaism, including the Conservative and Reform
movements, together represent 79% of synagogue-affiliated Jews,
compared with 21% who belong to Orthodox congregations, according to
the most recent National Jewish Population Study.</P>
<P>
Communal insiders said that in addition to shining a light on the White
House's increasing ties to Orthodox leaders, the guest lists at last
week's various events reflected an attempt by the Bush administration
to bypass the long-established communal agencies that have historically
represented the Jewish community with federal officials. The national
director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, said the
administration's conduct showed that the White House wants to set its
own terms in its relations with the community, rather than rely on
umbrella groups like the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations.</P>
<P>
"This White House has been struggling with who and what the Jewish
community is and has tried to free itself from structural dictates,"
Foxman said. "There was a time when the umbrella groups would dictate
who goes [to functions]. It didn't always serve the administration's
needs. Since the Republican administration has ascertained that it has
more significant support in the traditional Orthodox community, they
want to encourage it."</P>
<P>
According to Foxman, the pre-eminent role vis-à-vis the White House of
the Conference of Presidents "hasn't been eliminated." The group,
however, "has lost their monopoly and lost their ability to control
access. The White House decides who and how. Some in the umbrella
groups are unhappy that they've lost the ability to call the shots...
[but] more in the community have access than they did in the past when
it was controlled by one funnel."</P>
<P>
"On the whole," Foxman concluded, "it's good."</P>
<P>
The chairman of the Conference of Presidents, James Tisch, countered
that it was "preposterous" to suggest that the umbrella group of 52
national Jewish organizations ever had a monopoly on controlling access
to the White House. "It seems to me that the story is the enormous
attention the president is paying to the Jewish community,
notwithstanding the fact that he got under 25% of the Jewish vote,"
Tisch said. "To hear people complaining now that they weren't invited
is extraordinary."</P>
<P>
But some of those left off the list were complaining.</P>
<P>
The head of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Rabbi Jerome
Epstein, expressed displeasure that no Conservative rabbis attended the
15-person rabbis' meeting with the president. (Several Conservative
rabbis were spotted at the larger Hanukkah party.)</P>
<P>
"He's got a right to invite who he wants to invite," Epstein said of
the president. " I don't know that people weren't invited. All I know
is that nobody attended." Epstein said he wasn't consulted.</P>
<P>
"It is clear I've had much less access than I did in any previous
administration since I got this position in 1986. I'd love to have a
relationship, but if they don't think a relationship is important,
that's okay....I would hope he's listening to other people who may not
have supported him on one issue or for president. The president is the
president of everyone."</P>
<P>
One organizational official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
complained that "this White House is so damn political about things
that never were political."</P>
<P>
"It's such a crying shame," the official said. "All these events are
looked at as a way to punish people who aren't on their side.... They
think they do better with a stick."</P>
<P>
Some communal officials said that in many ways the administration's
approach toward the Jewish community reflected the president's
preference for rewarding loyalty and keeping a tight lid on
information. One likened the president's lack of meetings with the
representatives of the mainstream Jewish organizations to his
parsimonious approach to holding press conferences. "They like total
control," the official said. "You can control more with fewer people."
</P>
<P>
Even supporters of the president acknowledged that the White House has
provided fewer opportunities to interact with the president.</P>
<P>
"This president doesn't have as many events," said the chairman of the
American Jewish Congress, Jack Rosen, who was once a major fund raiser
for Bill Clinton, but has established a good relationship with Bush.
"People tend to become bean counters."</P>
<P>
Rosen said that he has seen no evidence suggesting "that [the president
has] favored one group or another."</P>
<P>
"It didn't seem to me that anybody was excluded," said Rabbi Levi
Shemtov, the Lubavitch Washington representative. At least 10 of the
Hasidic sect's emissaries from around the country were invited to the
White House party.</P>
<P>
"There was obviously a larger Orthodox presence," Shemtov said. "But
that would be understandable given [the administration's] working
relationship with the Orthodox community."</P>
<P>
During the recent campaign, Republican operatives said they used
Lubavitch synagogues, called Chabad houses, as engines of Republican
turnout, but Shemtov bristled at that notion. </P>
<P>
"We were not a turnout machine specifically for Bush. We were a turnout
machine, period," he said. "We didn't tell anyone who to vote for," he
said, adding, "Invitations were extended to both camps to visit us. If
one camp responds more than the other, that's their prerogative."</P>
<P>
Despite the Orthodox-heavy guest lists, several officials with
liberal-leaning communal groups said that relations with the White
House had taken a turn for the better with the hiring of its latest
liaison to the Jewish community, Noam Neusner. The White House and
Neusner did not respond to requests for comment.</P>
<P>
The president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, who
attended the Hanukkah party, rejected the notion that the guest lists
to such White House events contained any significant message. Yoffie, a
domestic and foreign policy liberal, rejected such talk as "Washington
gossip."</P>
<P>
On Israel and the Middle East, Yoffie said, "We certainly feel we have
access to the people who have the president's ear." Still, he
acknowledged, "on domestic issues, we have differences that are very
real.... We have much less access."</P>
<P>
Yoffie and Orthodox supporters of the president praised the White
House's decision to hold a Hanukkah party for the Jewish community,
saying that it represented an advance over the generic holiday
celebrations hosted by the previous administration. </P>
<P>
A former liaison to the Jewish community in the Clinton White House,
Jay Footlik, defended its approach. "We didn't look at the community as
something you reach out to one time a year," he said. "I don't know if
there was a need to do a specific meeting around the holiday. There was
access and opportunity to interact with the community on a variety of
issues year round."</P>
<P>
In terms of its adherences to Orthodox Judaism's stringent religious
requirements, the party did well on two scores but struck out on
another. An all-male a cappella group that could make its voices mimic
various instruments sounded "fantastic," in the view of Shemtov (some
steams of Orthodoxy do not allow men to listen to female singers on the
grounds that their voices are sexually provocative). Several
participants mentioned with joy the evening prayer service held in the
White House Red Room.</P>
<P>
Some attendees were upset, however, about what they said were
misleading signs on a table with kosher food that seemed to indicate
all the food on table was kosher when only some was. Shemtov said he
was "in touch with officials at the White House to make it better next
time."</P>
<P>
Many who were interviewed for this story praised the patience, grace
and good humor of the president, who spent two-and-a-half hours
greeting revelers at the party and answered some pointed questions from
Rex Perlmeter, one of the Reform rabbis at the earlier meeting.</P>
<P>
Perlmeter, rabbi of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, challenged Bush on
his administration's approach to church-state separation. In response,
according to the rabbi, Bush stated that "democratic society and a free
press would prevent religious intolerance from becoming a dominant
force in society."</P>
<P>
"I found the man to be respectful, affable and well expressed,"
Perlmeter said. "He did try to listen."</P>
The Forward
Published Weekly in New York Since 1897
http://www.forward.com
Reply
Moshe
Rabbi decides to leave Westford congregation he founded
By PETER WARD
Sun Staff
Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - WESTFORD He was beloved by some, viewed
with skepticism by others.
Rabbi Mayshele Schwartz announced he will leave his post as leader of
the suburban congregation he founded about three years ago.
Schwartz, 32, said he's leaving to take on larger responsibilities. He
will work for the Chai Center in Brookline, where he will focus on ways
to help so-called unaffiliated Jews dedicate themselves more to
Judaism.
"While we do feel sad leaving Westford, I assure you that this is in
the name of growth," Schwartz told congregation members Sunday night in
his trademark e-mail.
While the rate of assimilation among Jews is rapid, Schwartz said he's
also seen a substantial number of Jews decide later in life to learn
more about their religion or attend synagogue with more regularity.
It's a trend he believes he can foster.
"The challenge of being able to reach out to so many more Jews appealed
to me and my wife, coming from the city. I very much enjoyed doing what
I was doing at that pace, but I thought that for the long haul, this
would be a better fit," the Los Angeles transplant said in an interview
yesterday.
Even though he's left Westford, he will continue to hold Wednesday
evening Torah classes for a while. His replacement is Rabbi Zalman
Gurakow and his wife, Malkie, from Newton.
"I would be honored if I'm remembered as a rabbi who cared," he said.
When he launched the Nashoba Valley Jewish Center as part of the
charismatic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, local rabbis worried that
Schwartz, was seeking to lure potential congregants away from
established congregations. That he used attractive direct-mail
advertising to do it, which some called glitzy, didn't help endear him
to them.
Schwartz was simply trying to revive interest in Judaism.
"I believe in pluralism, in many flavors. It's true the numbers are not
as strong in other areas and that we have to be sensitive to that, but
I'm not aware of any major problems here at all. If some people are
scratching their heads and wondering, I say there's more opportunities
and more of a smorgasbord of Judaism," he said.
He estimated his Friday night Sabbath ceremonies attracted 250
different people over time.
The high-energy Schwartz and his wife, Shifra, who taught Hebrew class
and hosted events, made their mark.
People were reminded of his controversial tenure during the recent
eight days of Hanukkah.
After he arrived in 2002, Schwartz won permission from Westford's
selectmen for his congregation to erect a menorah, the candle-holder
and symbol of the Festival of Lights, on the Town Common.
"It continues to be an issue in every town. Is it freedom from religion
or freedom of religion? Thank God we weathered that storm," Schwartz
said.
But critics such as Rabbi Shoshana Perry of Westford, who is with
Congregation Shalom in Chelmsford, said they abide by the principle of
separation of church and state which makes public religious displays on
a municipally-owned space inappropriate. Perry couldn't be reached
yesterday.
Schwartz prevailed, and the menorah-lighting on the last night of
Hanukkah will have been among Schwartz' last public appearances.
Peter Ward's e-mail address is pw...@lowellsun.com .
Moshe
משיח
Time Leading Up To משיח
תלמוד בבלי מסכת פסחים דף קיח עמוד א
וכי מאחר דאיכא הלל הגדול, אנן מאי טעמא
אמרינן האי? משום שיש בו חמשה דברים הללו:
יציאת מצרים, וקריעת ים סוף, ומתן תורה,
ותחית המתים, וחבלו של משיח...חבלו של
משיח – דכתיב +תהלים קטו+ לא לנו ה' לא
לנו. ואמר רבי יוחנן: לא לנו ה' לא לנו - זו
שעבוד מלכיות, איכא דאמרי, אמר רבי יוחנן:
לא לנו ה' לא לנו – זו מלחמת גוג ומגוג
מכילתא דרבי ישמעאל בשלח - מס' דויסע בשלח
פרשה ד ד"ה ויאמר משה
ר' אליעזר אומר אם תזכו לשמור את השבת
תנצלו משלש פורעניות מיומו של גוג ומגוג
ומחבלו של משיח ומיום דין הגדול לכך נאמר
אכלוהו היום.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת שבת דף קיח עמוד א
אמר רבי שמעון בן פזי אמר רבי יהושע בן
לוי משום בר קפרא: כל המקיים שלש סעודות
בשבת ניצול משלש פורעניות: מחבלו של
משיח, ומדינה של גיהנם, וממלחמת גוג
ומגוג. מחבלו של משיח – כתיב הכא "יום"
וכתיב התם +מלאכי ג+ הנה אנכי שלח לכם את
אליה הנביא לפני בוא "יום" וגו
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד א
פסיקתא דרב כהנא (מנדלבוים) פרשה ה ד"ה ד"א
ענה דודי
תנו רבנן: שבוע (seven year cycle) שבן דוד בא בו,
שנה ראשונה מתקיים מקרא זה +עמוס ד'+
והמטרתי על עיר אחת ועל עיר אחת לא אמטיר,
(rain in one city, none in another)שניה חיצי רעב
משתלחים, (arrows of hunger will be sent)שלישית רעב
גדול, (famine)ומתים אנשים ונשים וטף חסידים
ואנשי מעשה, ותורה משתכחת מלומדיה.
ברביעית - שובע ואינו שובע, (partial plenty)
בחמישית - שובע גדול, ואוכלין ושותין
ושמחין, ותורה חוזרת ללומדיה. בששית -
קולות, (heavenly sounds)בשביעית - מלחמות.
במוצאי שביעית - בן דוד בא. אמר רב יוסף:
הא כמה שביעית דהוה כן, ולא אתא! - אמר
אביי: בששית קולות, בשביעית מלחמות מי
הוה? ועוד: כסדרן מי הוה?
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד א
תניא, רבי יהודה אומר: דור שבן דוד בא בו
בית הוועד (assembly)יהיה לזנות, והגליל
יחרב, והגבלן יאשם, (gablan will be desolate)ואנשי
גבול יסובבו מעיר לעיר ולא יחוננו, (border
inhabitants will wander and not find a place) וחכמת הסופרים
תסרח, (in disfavor)ויראי חטא ימאסו, ופני הדור
כפני כלב, (dog faced) והאמת נעדרת. (truth
lacking)שנאמר +ישעיהו נ"ט+ ותהי האמת נעדרת
(וסר מרע משתולל((turns from evil will be made into prey).
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד א
תניא, רבי נהוראי אומר: דור שבן דוד בא בו
נערים ילבינו פני זקנים, (young will insult the
old)וזקנים יעמדו לפני נערים, ובת קמה
באמה,(daughters rise against their mothers) וכלה בחמותה,
(daughter's-in-law vs. mother's-in-law)ופני הדור כפני
כלב, ואין הבן מתבייש מאביו.
תניא רבי נחמיה אומר: דור שבן דוד בא בו
העזות תרבה, (impudence will increase)והיוקר יעות,
(esteem perverted)והגפן יתן פריו והיין ביוקר,
(vines will produce fruit, but wine will be valuable) ונהפכה
כל המלכות למינות, ואין תוכחה. (entire kingdom
will be of heretics)מסייע ליה לרבי יצחק, דאמר
רבי יצחק: אין בן דוד בא עד שתתהפך כל
המלכות למינות. אמר רבא: מאי קרא +ויקרא
י"ג+ - כלו הפך לבן טהור הוא (by a metzora - all white
= clean).
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד א
אמר רב קטינא: שית אלפי שני הוו עלמא וחד
חרוב, (6,000 years the world exists, 1,000 will be destroyed)
שנאמר +ישעיהו ב'+ ונשגב ה' לבדו ביום
ההוא. אביי אמר: תרי חרוב,(2,000 years) שנאמר
+הושע ו'+ יחיינו מימים ביום השלישי יקמנו
ונחיה לפניו, תניא כותיה דרב קטינא: כשם
שהשביעית משמטת שנה אחת לשבע שנים, כך
העולם משמט אלף שנים לשבעת אלפים שנה,
שנאמר ונשגב ה' לבדו ביום ההוא, ואומר
+תהלים צ"ב+: מזמור שיר ליום השבת – יום
שכולו שבת. ואומר: +תהלים צ'+ כי אלף שנים
בעיניך כיום אתמול כי יעבר.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד א
תנא דבי אליהו: ששת אלפים שנה הוי עלמא,
שני אלפים תוהו, שני אלפים תורה, שני
אלפים ימות המשיח. ובעונותינו שרבו -
יצאו מהם מה שיצאו (the years were lost)
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד ב
אמר ליה אליהו לרב יהודה אחוה דרב סלא
חסידא: אין העולם פחות משמונים וחמשה (no
less than 85 yovels) יובלות, וביובל האחרון בן
דוד בא. אמר ליה: בתחילתו או בסופו? אמר
ליה: איני יודע. כלה או אינו כלה? (completed or
not) - אמר ליה: איני יודע. רב אשי אמר: הכי
אמר ליה: עד הכא - לא תיסתכי ליה, (before this,
don't expect him)מכאן ואילך – איסתכי ליה.
Specific Time of משיח
תלמוד בבלי מסכת מגילה דף ג עמוד א
ועוד ביקש לגלות תרגום של כתובים, יצתה
בת קול ואמרה לו: דייך!\ מאי טעמא - משום
דאית ביה קץ משיח.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת כתובות דף קיא עמוד א
ורבי זירא? מיבעי ליה לכדרבי לוי, דאמר:
שש שבועות (6 warnings...)הללו למה? תלתא - הני
דאמרן, אינך – שלא יגלו את הקץ, (reveal) ושלא
ירחקו את הקץ, (delay)ושלא יגלו הסוד לעובדי
כוכבים.
חבקוק פרק ב פסוק ג
כי עוד חזון למועד (yet a vision for a time)ויפח
לקץ ולא יכזב (at the end it will speak and will not lie)אם
יתמהמה חכה לו (if he delays, wait for him)כי בא יבא
לא יאחר
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד ב
מאי ויפח לקץ ולא יכזב - אמר רבי שמואל בר
נחמני אמר רבי יונתן: תיפח עצמן (bones shall be
blasted) של מחשבי קיצין, שהיו אומרים: כיון
שהגיע את הקץ ולא בא - שוב אינו בא. אלא
חכה לו, שנאמר אם יתמהמה חכה לו. שמא תאמר
אנו מחכין והוא אינו מחכה - תלמוד לומר
+ישעיהו ל'+ ולכן יחכה ה' לחננכם ולכן ירום
לרחמכם. וכי מאחר שאנו מחכים והוא מחכה,
מי מעכב? - מדת הדין מעכבת, וכי מאחר שמדת
הדין מעכבת, אנו למה מחכין? - לקבל שכר,
שנאמר +ישעיהו ל'+ אשרי כל חוכי לו.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צז עמוד ב
אמר רב: כלו כל הקיצין, ואין הדבר תלוי
אלא בתשובה ומעשים טובים. ושמואל אמר:
דיו לאבל שיעמוד באבלו. (the galut was bad enough
regardless of teshuvah) כתנאי, רבי אליעזר אומר: אם
ישראל עושין תשובה - נגאלין, ואם לאו - אין
נגאלין. אמר ליה רבי יהושע: אם אין עושין
תשובה - אין נגאלין? אלא, הקדוש ברוך הוא
מעמיד להן מלך שגזרותיו קשות כהמן,
וישראל עושין תשובה ומחזירן למוטב תניא
אידך: רבי אליעזר אומר: אם ישראל עושין
תשובה - נגאלין, שנאמר +ירמיהו ג'+ שובו
בנים שובבים ארפא משובתיכם. אמר לו רבי
יהושע: והלא כבר נאמר +ישעיהו נ"ב+ חנם
נמכרתם ולא בכסף תגאלו, חנם נמכרתם -
בעבודה זרה, ולא בכסף תגאלו - לא בתשובה
ומעשים טובים... ושתק רבי אליעזר
ספרי דברים פיסקא קל ד"ה למען תזכור
משנה מסכת ברכות פרק א משנה ה
למען תזכור את יום צאתך מארץ מצרים, זו
היא שאמר רבי אלעזר בן עזריה הריני כבן
שבעים שנה ולא זכיתי שתאמר יציאת מצרים
בלילות עד שדרשה בן זומא שנאמר למען
תזכור את יום צאתך מארץ מצרים כל ימי
חייך, ימי חייך הימים, כל ימי חייך
הלילות. וחכמים אומרים ימי חייך העולם
הזה, "כל ימי חייך" להביא את ימות המשיח.
More Requirements / Signs
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צח עמוד א
אמר רבי חנינא: אין בן דוד בא עד שיתבקש
דג לחולה ולא ימצא...
אמר רבי חמא בר חנינא: אין בן דוד בא עד
שתכלה מלכות הזלה (smallest kingdom) מישראל...
אמר זעירי אמר רבי חנינא: אין בן דוד בא
עד שיכלו גסי הרוח מישראל...
אמר רבי שמלאי משום רבי אלעזר ברבי
שמעון: אין בן דוד בא עד שיכלו כל שופטים
ושוטרים מישראל ...
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צח עמוד א
אמר רבי יוחנן: אם ראית דור שמתמעט והולך
(continues dwindling) - חכה לו...
אמר רבי יוחנן: אם ראית דור שצרות רבות
באות עליו כנהר - חכה לו, שנאמר +ישעיהו
נ"ט+ כי יבא כנהר צר (ורוח) [רוח] ה' נססה בו,
וסמיך ליה ובא לציון גואל.
ואמר רבי יוחנן: אין בן דוד בא אלא בדור
שכולו זכאי, או כולו חייב...
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צח עמוד א
אמר רבי אלכסנדרי: רבי יהושע בן לוי רמי,
כתיב +ישעיהו ס'+ בעתה, (in its time) וכתיב,
אחישנה! (I will hasten it)זכו - אחישנה, לא זכו -
בעתה
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צח עמוד א (R.
Yehoshua Ben Levi)
...אזל לגביה, אמר ליה: שלום עליך רבי
ומורי! - אמר ליה שלום עליך בר ליואי. –
אמר ליה: לאימת אתי מר? - אמר ליה: היום.
אתא לגבי אליהו. - אמר ליה: מאי אמר לך? -
אמר ליה: שלום עליך בר ליואי. – אמר ליה:
אבטחך לך ולאבוך לעלמא דאתי. - אמר ליה:
שקורי קא שקר בי, דאמר לי היום אתינא, ולא
אתא! - אמר ליה: הכי אמר לך +תהלים צ"ה+ היום
אם בקלו תשמעו.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צח עמוד ב
אמר רב: אין בן דוד בא עד שתתפשט המלכות
הרשעה על ישראל תשעה חדשים
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צט עמוד א
רבי הילל אומר: אין להם משיח לישראל, שכבר
אכלוהו בימי חזקיה. אמר רב יוסף: שרא ליה
מריה לרבי הילל! חזקיה אימת הוה - בבית
ראשון, ואילו זכריה קא מתנבי בבית שני...
תלמוד בבלי מסכת עירובין דף מג עמוד א
תא שמע: הריני נזיר ביום שבן דוד בא - מותר
לשתות יין בשבתות ובימים טובים (מג:)
ואסור לשתות יין כל ימות החול.
תלמוד ירושלמי מסכת תענית פרק ד דף סח
טור ד /ה"ה
רבי עקיבה כד הוה חמי בר כוזבה הוה אמר
דין הוא מלכא משיחא אמר ליה רבי יוחנן בן
תורתא עקיבה יעלו עשבים בלחייך (grass will
grow on your face)ועדיין בן דוד לא יבא
Time of משיח
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סנהדרין דף צו עמוד ב
אמר ליה רב נחמן לרבי יצחק: מי שמיע לך
אימת אתי "בר נפלי"? (have you heard when he will come?)-
אמר ליה: מאן בר נפלי? (who is he?)- אמר ליה:
משיח. – משיח בר נפלי קרית ליה? - אמר ליה:
אין, דכתיב +עמוס ט'+ ביום ההוא אקים (צז.)
את סכת דויד הנפלת. אמר ליה: הכי אמר רבי
יוחנן: דור שבן דוד בא בו תלמידי חכמים
מתמעטים, (few sages) והשאר (and the rest)עיניהם
כלות ביגון ואנחה, (eyes weak from sorrow and
grief)וצרות רבות וגזרות קשות מתחדשות, עד
שהראשונה פקודה שניה ממהרת לבא.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות דף לד עמוד ב
ואמר רבי חייא בר אבא אמר רבי יוחנן: כל
הנביאים כולן לא נתנבאו אלא לימות המשיח,
אבל לעולם הבא - עין לא ראתה אלהים זולתך.
ופליגא דשמואל, דאמר שמואל: אין בין
העולם הזה לימות המשיח אלא שעבוד מלכיות
בלבד, שנאמר: +דברים ט"ו+ כי לא יחדל אביון
מקרב הארץ.
(the poor will not cease throughout the land)
משנה מסכת שבת פרק ו משנה ד
לא יצא האיש לא בסייף (sword)ולא בקשת
(bow)ולא בתריס (shield)ולא באלה (lance)ולא
ברומח (spear)ואם יצא חייב חטאת רבי אליעזר
אומר תכשיטין הן לו...
תלמוד בבלי מסכת שבת דף סג עמוד א
רבי אליעזר אומר תכשיטין הן לו. תניא,
אמרו לו לרבי אליעזר: וכי מאחר דתכשיטין
הן לו, מפני מה הן בטלין לימות המשיח? אמר
להן: לפי שאינן צריכין, שנאמר +ישעיהו ב+
לא ישא גוי אל גוי חרב - ותהוי לנוי בעלמא!
- אמר אביי: מידי דהוה אשרגא בטיהרא, (like a
candle at noon i.e. not necessary) ופליגא דשמואל, דאמר
שמואל אין בין העולם הזה לימות המשיח אלא
שיעבוד גליות בלבד, שנאמר +דברים טו+ כי
לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ. מסייע ליה לרבי
חייא בר אבא, דאמר רבי חייא בר אבא: כל
הנביאים לא נתנבאו אלא לימות המשיח, אבל
לעולם הבא - +ישעיהו סד+ עין לא ראתה אלהים
זולתך. ואיכא דאמרי, אמרו לו לרבי אליעזר:
וכי מאחר דתכשיטין הן לו, מפני מה הן
בטלין לימות המשיח? אמר להן: אף לימות
המשיח אינן בטלין. היינו דשמואל, ופליגא
דרבי חייא בר אבא.
קהלת פרק יב פסוק א
וזכר את בוראיך בימי בחורתיך (remember your
creator in your youth)עד אשר לא יבאו ימי הרעה
והגיעו שנים אשר תאמר אין לי בהם חפץ:(and
the bad years come where you say I have no pleasure in them)
תלמוד בבלי מסכת שבת דף קנא עמוד ב
אלו ימי הזקנה והגיעו שנים אשר תאמר אין
לי בהם חפץ - אלו ימי המשיח, שאין בהם לא
זכות ולא חובה. ופליגא דשמואל, דאמר
שמואל: אין בין העולם הזה לימות המשיח
אלא שיעבוד מלכיות בלבד
תלמוד בבלי מסכת יבמות דף כד עמוד ב
ת"ר: אין מקבלין גרים לימות המשיח; כיוצא
בו לא קבלו גרים לא בימי דוד ולא בימי
שלמה
Moshe
Editor's Notes: The Rebbe's army marches forward
David Horovitz, THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 18, 2004
As the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities was getting
under way in Cleveland this week, another convention, far more overtly
passionate and barely less numerous, was winding down a short flight
away to the east.
Converging on the vast 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan, these
delegates were instantly recognizable: Clad to a man in black suits and
white shirts, they were the shluchim - the Lubavitcher Rebbe's global
army of emissaries.
The late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson's legions of singular troops
were briefly occupying this headquarters of the more traditional
military at the finale of several days of consultation and
reinvigoration, before heading back to their branch offices at most
every outpost of Jewish life. (There were no women present; they have
their own gathering in February.) The scene in the minutes just before
the conference's culminating banquet, with the milling bearded crowd
unaffectedly incongruous beneath pictures of regimental ties and signs
pointing to army veterans' rooms, was chaotic and good-natured.
"About 2,100 of the 2,500 people here tonight registered ahead of
time," one of the three overworked Chabadniks manning the computers
shouted cheerfully to me amid the hubbub. "The other 400 are trying to
do so now."
Beneath the soaring curved roof inside the main hall, the Rebbe's
soldiers were hugging and catching up as Schneerson's features, at once
avuncular and filled with almost feline intensity and energy, gazed
approvingly from eight giant video screens.
"Twenty-two years ago," Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie from California, my host
for the evening, told me, "there were 43 of us in an upstairs room" at
770 Eastern Parkway, Chabad's Brooklyn headquarters. Now there are some
4,000 shluchim worldwide. He waved his arm across the sea of
celebrating emissaries, at tables so tightly packed the waiters could
hardly get through to serve them dinner.
"Look at us. We've outgrown all the hotels in this city. Soon there's
going to be nowhere big enough to hold us all. We open a new Chabad
center somewhere every 10 days."
For a movement that went into a shocked tailspin when the unthinkable,
Schneerson's death, happened 10 years ago, Chabad shows every sign of
having bounced back, and then some.
There are still many who cling to the notion of Schneerson as messiah
and impatiently anticipate his revelatory return - perhaps 30 percent
of the movement, another of my fellow diners estimated.
Eliezrie stressed that there was nothing blasphemous about the notion,
citing a Talmud suggestion that the redeemer may come from the ranks of
the living or the dead. And it was understandable, another voice chimed
in, that in the aftermath of the Rebbe's passing, many adherents found
it hard to accept that he had gone for good.
BUT CHABAD as a whole, all at my table chorused, is moving forward -
bent not on maintaining a supernatural vision of the Rebbe, but rather
on advancing his ideals. Those, said Eliezrie, kindly and
straight-speaking, "is to accept every Jew non-judgmentally and to
encourage him to grow in his observance and his knowledge of Torah."
The ultimate aim, he continued, "is to transform the world into a place
of goodness and holiness and thus to bring the messiah."
Unlike the modern Orthodox, "who seek to integrate with Western
culture," and the haredim, "who seek to insulate themselves from it,"
Chabad "wants to engage," Eliezrie said. "We're focused on Jewish
continuity and survival - on connecting, Jew by Jew."
It's working. The current estimate is that up to a million Jews
identify with their faith primarily through Chabad - even if only by
attending one of the movement's synagogues on Yom Kippur. With an
annual budget of some $1 billion, funded largely by private donations,
often from non-Orthodox Jews, Chabad's engagement campaign - carried
via day schools, Sunday schools, bar and bat mitzva programs, adult
education and much more - is the increasingly acknowledged envy of
rueful rabbis from all other streams of the faith.
Eliezrie: "Orthodox Judaism didn't used to exist in the [North
American] suburbs. It does now. The OU, not to denigrate it, has 20
synagogues in California; we have 140 Chabad centers."
Unlike other Jewish organizational and rabbinical hierarchies, the
Chabad shluchim, once dispatched, generally stay for life. That
guarantees a unique measure of familiarity with the local population.
They tend to spend less money on wages and overheads. "For every
Conservative rabbi, you get two from Chabad. For every Reform rabbi,
three. And for every Reconstructionist rabbi, four," a participant told
me, with the hint of benevolent triumphalism that proved a subtle
feature of several banquet conversations. "Philanthropists feel that
Chabad gives them the most for their dollar."
And Chabad is also bang up to date. One major indication: It has
introduced new programs offering "havrusa" study programs over the
Internet. A minor one: The slick, full-color autumn 2004 Lubavitch
International Update magazine, placed on the tables and filled with
page after page of photos of new Chabad community centers, teacher
academies and camps, already featured reporting from this conference,
detailing the sessions on fund-raising, media relations and campus
activism, and listing some of the more unlikely locales from whence my
fellow diners had traveled, including "the remote backwaters of China,
Peru, Siberia, Greece and the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
ITS WELCOMING, easygoing nature notwithstanding, Chabad stands for the
firmest Jewish Orthodoxy - in the Rebbe's image.
Eliezrie said that he and other Chabad rabbis have good relationships
with Reform and Conservative clergy. A local Reform rabbi, he said,
"comes to my house on Yom Tov and jokes, 'Rav, need any lights turning
on?'" Eliezrie also told me that the Rebbe barred him from getting
engaged to his beloved, whose father was a Conservative Jew and
disapproved of the match at first, until the latter was won over. And
that while some newly Orthodox Jews were overly zealous in their
practices, to the extent of offending their parents by refusing to eat
at their table, the Rebbe always emphasized the primacy of respect for
one's parents and the imperative not to humiliate them.
But Eliezrie also briskly recounted the story of a White House Hanukka
ceremony during Jimmy Carter's administration, when the president,
though it was only day four of the festival, wanted to see all the
candles burning. The Chabad representative, trying to be accommodating
and having failed to persuade Carter that the menora should blaze fully
only on day eight, resorted to having a young child kindle the
remaining lights. Far from being praised for gracefully averting a
potentially awkward stand-off, I was told, the Chabad man was
reprimanded by Schneerson with words to the effect of: "I thought you
would be stronger." The underlying point: There can be no compromising
on the essence of Judaism.
In similarly uncompromising vein, while every single person I spoke
with was adamant that Chabad does not meddle in Israeli politics (the
pro-Netanyahu campaign of 1996 was much disputed and is never to be
repeated, it is said), the Rebbe is perceived by his followers to have
laid down the law against territorial withdrawal.
A video that was screened during the banquet featured clips to
underline the point: the Rebbe, who was not a Zionist but regarded the
state as "a gathering of Israel" that had to be protected, was shown
insisting on the need for "a strong Israel including all the parts
which God gave us," and declaiming that "every one of us is the owner
of every inch, every part, of Israel."
Eliezrie: "We believe that giving up territory will endanger Israel. As
citizens we have a right to state our opinion. Sharon knows we are
motivated by love."
A fellow journalist covering the event remarked to me that it was
unfortunate that the Rebbe, so unusually broad-minded in so many ways
for an Orthodox leader, was now, in death, locked irrevocably by his
adherents into positions he elucidated a decade and more ago.
In that light, the answer he gave to the assassinated Moledet leader,
Rehavam Ze'evi, in a tete-a-tete included in the video presentation,
seemed particularly interesting.
Ze'evi, his deferential body language a testament to his respect for
Schneerson, asked the Rebbe what more he could be doing in the Knesset.
Schneerson's response, intriguing in this era of acute Jewish
demographic dilemmas between the river and the sea, was to urge Ze'evi
to make plain that the importance of Eretz Israel was not only in "the
piece of land," but that "it should be recognizable that the person
lives in a land where Judaism is inherent."
THE EMOTIONAL highlight of the almost five hours I spent at the banquet
(and it was still in full swing when I left) was Rabbi Moshe
Kotlarsky's roll-call of the shluchim from around the world - the
hugely amplified legacy, Eliezrie said, of that get-together 22 years
ago when the few dozens had first stood up and introduced themselves to
each other.
Continent by continent, Kotlarsky traversed the globe, as the video
screens offered photos and information on when Chabad first sent
emissaries to each country and how many were currently active.
Across Asia he swept, pausing to mention the 1,400 Jews who gathered
under Chabad's aegis on a Thai beach for Rosh Hashana services this
year.
On into Africa he went, and Australia and the Middle East (500-plus
shluchim in Israel). The 262 Chabad rabbis in the former Soviet Union
- "most of Judaism in the FSU," said Eliezrie - enjoyed a
relationship with the authorities that, given Judaism's recent terrible
history there, simply "defies belief," Kotlarsky said. Chabad was
active in a great list of FSU countries and many more in Eastern
Europe. Then it was on to America, north, central and south.
At every destination - I lost count of the countries somewhere in the
Sixties - the relevant shluchim in the Armory rose, cheered and were
cheered. In every continent, the numbers were up on last year. (That is
testament, said Eliezrie, to the fact that Chabad has the opposite of
the establishment's recruiting crisis, in that it is grappling with "a
surfeit of young, highly motivated people," anxious to go out into the
community.) When the roll-call was over, Kotlarsky invited those who
"went out" in the 1950s to rise; then those in the Sixties, the
Seventies, and on to the present day.
And when the whole hall was standing and clapping and cheering, the
music started, and snake lines of singing rabbis wended their way
around the hall, navigating the narrow paths between the tables in a
joyous display of camaraderie and accomplishment.
Inviting me to stand on my chair to better survey the scene, Eliezrie
put his mouth to my ear and made two assertions: "You won't see this at
any GA." And, "This is the future of the Jewish people."
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Reb Moshe
WEB EXCLUSIVE:
"A Hilula from the Women's Side"
June 25, 2004 Episode no. 743
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week743/exclusive.html
A Hilula from the Women's Side
by Juliana Ochs
Israel, June 24, 2004 -- In memory of their rebbe who died ten years
ago, 7,000 Lubavitchers from the Israeli Chabad movement gathered to
sing and dance to Hasidic pop star Avraham Fried at an assembly in Tel
Aviv's Yad Eliahu stadium.
In an amphitheater in Bat Yam, a seaside city near Tel Aviv, the
Lubavitcher rebbe's messianist followers united to rejoice.
And miles away, in the quiet city of Arad, where the Judean hills meet
the Negev desert, on a mountaintop 600 meters above sea level, a much
smaller but equally spirit-filled gathering took place. Arad, a desert
city of 28,000 inhabitants, is home to native-born Israelis, immigrants
from Russia, Ethiopia and Argentina, Bedouins, and a Chabad community
-- followers of the late Lubavitcher rebbe Menachem Schneerson.
In the week leading up to the event, hot pink posters featuring a large
photograph of the rebbe dotted billboards around Arad. The notice was a
public invitation from the Chabad House of Arad, one of 225 Lubavitch
communities in Israel: Dear Friends, You are invited to a gathering and
meal in a hilula (festive commemoration) that will mark "Gimmel
Tammuz," the Hebrew date of the departure of the Lubavitcher rebbe ten
years ago.
The rabbi of the city of Arad and its mayor will participate, the sign
promised, and there will be Hasidic dancing with musical accompaniment.
Smaller print indicated that entrance is free and that there will be
spaces for women.
I decided to attend, wondering if I would sense any of the
intercommunal tension I had read about in local Israeli papers the week
before. One segment of the "chabadnicks" (Lubavitch Jews) is messianic,
believing or hoping that the late Schneerson is the long-awaited Jewish
messiah. Those who do not declare his divinity, the anti-messianists,
comprise the mainstream Lubavitch community. The friction of this
sectarian and theological divide, however, was imperceptible at the
festivities of the Arad community.
The dining room of the Margoa Hotel, where the hilula was held, was
divided by wooden screens into two sections, each with a separate
entrance. Two doors leading into the hall were labeled "Men" and
"Women." This gender separation and a large color photograph of the
rebbe hanging over a raised stage on the men's side transformed the
hotel refectory into religious space. The rows of tables, set with
disposable place settings, were arrayed with foods uniquely Israeli:
plates of hummus and tehina and bowls of smoked eggplant salad and
pickled carrots, all devoured with swoops from a seeded challah roll.
Sitting at a table on the women's side, I was joined by three
non-religious, middle-aged women from Arad. One had thrown a black
shawl over her shoulders to cover up her tank-top shirt; another had
slipped a full skirt over her short pants shortly before walking into
the hotel. All three, in the last few years, had become interested in
Chabad and have been embraced by the warmth of the Lubavitch community.
They received animated waves from the other women filing into the hall
with children in tow. A number of these women, wearing wigs or scarves
and hats, long skirts, and heavy stockings under their open sandals
were Russian-speaking immigrants who had become religious within the
last ten years, only after immigrating to Israel and settling in Arad.
"A Chabad house is opened every ten days somewhere in the world," one
speaker at the large mainstream rally in Tel Aviv remarked to offer
proof of the Lubavitcher rebbe's presence. As I saw at the hilula in
Arad, evidence of the rebbe's presence took on a different form: a
friendly wink, a welcoming embrace, a platter of baba ganouj. At least
until the Messiah comes, meaningful meals and communal warmth, along
with the study of Talmudic texts and the introspection of prayer,
express and venerate the spiritual legacy of the rebbe.
Juliana Ochs is a doctoral candidate in social anthropology at the
University of Cambridge, where she is a Gates Cambridge scholar.
Close Window
© 2004 Educational Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Reb Moshe
At synagogue and on the streets,
Ukrainian Jews ready for another vote
By Vladimir Matveyev
KHARKOV, Ukraine, Dec. 20 (JTA) - Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz sees
firsthand the political divisions of Jews in Eastern Ukraine in the
run-up to the country's new presidential vote.
"We have no monolithic opinion in our community," said Moskowitz, a
U.S.-born Chabad rabbi who is chief rabbi of the city of Kharkov.
People who disagree about who should be president, he noted, often can
be found sitting "on the same bench in our shul."
As Ukraine prepares to end its protracted presidential campaign with a
revote Sunday, Jews, like other voters in this former Soviet republic,
continue to be divided between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whose
victory in last month's election was declared invalid because of
fraud, and the opposition candidate, Viktor Yuschenko.
The division was visible last Friday when the two candidates'
campaign routes intersected in Kharkov, the second largest city in
Ukraine, a country of 48 million people.
In the capital of Kiev or in cities in Western Ukraine, Yuschenko is
more popular, but Yanukovich drew much larger crowds in Kharkov.
Yuschenko spoke to a smaller audience and spent the day meeting with
the business and intellectual communities.
Yanukovich won a significantly larger share of the vote in last
month's balloting in Kharkov and across Eastern Ukraine, while Kiev
and the Western part of the country overwhelmingly supported Yuschenko.
There are an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 Ukrainian Jews. Members of
the community split their support in last month's vote, and are
likely to do so again Sunday.
Many observers here say ethnicity and faith have little effect on the
way people vote - unlike education, age, social status or the level
of attachment to Russian culture and language, which are seen as
decisive factors.
Many of those who value stability - as represented by Yanukovich -
are older voters and those whose financial security lies in the hands
of the state, such as pensioners and government workers.
"Our clients are clearly afraid of any changes," said an employee
of the local Hesed charity center, part of a network that provides
services to thousands of elderly and needy Jews across the former
Soviet Union.
But the prospect of change is precisely what attracts many younger Jews
to the challenger and his pro-democracy platform.
"Many young Jews want to change their life here for the better; that
is why many of us support Yuschenko," said Kira Karlina, a college
student who celebrated Shabbat last week with a group at the local Beit
Dan Jewish community center.
In what is generally seen as a maturation of Ukrainian society, Jewish
life is likely to remain unharmed no matter which candidate wins
Sunday, Jewish leaders say.
In another sign of that maturation, at least one candidate appears to
be courting the Jewish vote.
Last week the mayor of Kharkov, Vladimir Shumilkin - an outspoken
Yuschenko supporter - visited Moskowitz's synagogue to light
Chanukah candles. Yuschenko lit Chanukah candles in Kiev.
Despite the efforts of Yuschenko and his supporters, Jews in Eastern
Ukraine are likely to support Yanukovich because of their desire for
stability.
"I believe that with Yanukovich, Jewish life in Ukraine will be
stable. And I'm not sure what to expect from Yuschenko's
presidency," said Naum Volpe, executive director of the Kharkov
United Jewish Community.
Yanukovich backers emphasize their fear of the Ukrainian nationalism
associated with Yuschenko and their affiliation with the Russian
culture and language that Yanukovich seems to represent.
"My parents and I vote for Yanukovich because he promised dual
citizenship," said Altona Marazudina, a student visiting the local
Hillel center. She was referring to Yanukovich's idea to introduce
dual-citizen status for those who share Ukrainian and Russian
nationalities.
Supporters of Yuschenko, who is leading in nationwide polls a week
before the election, cite their desire to make Ukraine an open,
corruption-free, Western-style democracy, something the country has not
achieved in its 13 years of post-Communist independence.
"I believe in democracy," said Aleksandr Stanislavsky, who owns a
chain of restaurants in Kharkov. "To me, this means choosing
Yuschenko."
The events of the "Orange Revolution," as the popular movement in
support of Yuschenko has been dubbed, hasve led many Ukrainian Jews to
rethink their attachment to the country they live in, another local Jew
said.
"These events gave a rise to civil thinking in Ukrainians, including
Jews," financier Yevgeniy Chernyak said. "As a Ukrainian Jew, I
understand today better that I have my motherland here, and it is very
important that people, poor and rich alike, stood up to defend their
right to choose."
While the meetings and rallies the two presidential candidates held in
Kharkov last week stimulated Jews to discuss the issues, most of those
who spoke to JTA appeared to be fed up with the campaign.
"People don't have much trust left" in any of the leaders, Rabbi
Moskowitz said. "They are simply tired."
Moshe
This story was published on Thu, Dec 30, 2004.
by Paula Amann
News Editor
Yitta Halberstam learned early to believe in miracles. As daughters of
Jewish fathers who survived Nazi-occupied Europe, she and Judith
Leventhal, co-author with Halberstam of the Small Miracles series,
became aware at young ages of the coincidences that can change, even
save, lives.
"We were nursed and weaned on miracle stories of rescue and escape
during the Holocaust," said Halberstam in an interview last week.
The Brooklyn, N.Y., author will keynote Spa for the Soul, a one-day
retreat for women hosted by Chabad of Potomac at Rockville's Magen
David Sephardic Congregation on Jan. 9.
This event also will include workshops on topics ranging from marriage
to mitzvot and Kabbalah to Shabbat cuisine. Now going into its third
year, the spa drew some 125 people last year, said organizer Sara
Bluming.
"It attracts women from all backgrounds, all your denominations, and
they spend a day discovering the beauty of Judaism," said Bluming.
Participants, she hopes, will develop a "sense of pride and excitement
in who they are as Jewish women."
Silver Spring's Arleeta Lerner will be leading a session on "The
Sandwich Generation: The Delicate Balance -- Parents, Marriage and
Children."
A resource teacher at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Day School in
Rockville, Lerner plans to clarify what Jewish law demands of parents
and children. The Torah, she notes, spells out more obligations on
children for their parents than the reverse.
"There is a natural instinct to take care of one's children, but not
necessarily a natural instinct to honor, respect and provide for the
needs of one's parents," Lerner said.
Previously the coordinator of Jewish marriage education in Cape Town,
South Africa, while rebbetzin of a 600-household shul, Lerner returned
to the United States in 2001 to care for elderly father.
Rabbi Mendel Bluming of the Chabad Shul of Potomac is slated to address
"Marriages are made in heaven: Making them work on earth."
For Bluming, the biblical story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah offers
insights into what it takes to make intimate relationships work.
Slated to marry the stunning Rachel, Jacob, through trickery, finds
himself wed to the homely Leah. This turn of events, the rabbi says,
offers a metaphor for the gulf that often separates expectations and
reality.
"The challenge in marriage is not to marry the perfect person and live
a blissful life," Bluming explained, "but to mutually bring out the
deepest wellsprings within each of us and thereby build the
relationship into the marriage of our dreams."
>From Congregation Ahavat Israel-Chabad in Fairfax, Rabbi Leibel
Fajnland will be offering a session on "Women Through the Eyes of the
Talmud."
In previewing his lecture, Fajnland stressed the diverging roles of
women and men in traditional Judaism.
"The rabbis of the Talmud were realists," he said, noting that women's
"abilities and responsibilities are different -- it's not a question of
better or worse -- so their obligations are suited to their abilities
and needs."
In her own remarks, Halberstam hopes to suggest that apparent
coincidences can offer important messages to those who note them,
whether as warnings or as affirmations.
"Small Miracles seriously looks at coincidences through a spiritual
prism, and says there are no coincidences," Halberstam said. "We
redefine them as God incidences."
The co-writer of some six books in the series, she gives the example of
a man who had trouble getting out his front door, opening his garage
and starting his car one day. Prompted by this trio of incidents to
check inside his home, he interrupted an accidental fire that had just
started.
As she tours the country, this best-selling author finds that most of
her audiences are Christian.
"We thought it was very cute, because we're both Orthodox Jews," noted
Halberstam of herself and her co-author.
Most of their readers also turn out to be female, she said.
"Ironically, it's the women who tend to be more attuned to coincidences
than men," Halberstam observed. "Women seem to be more open, more
intuitive, more mystically inclined."
This story was published on Thu, Dec 30, 2004.
Return to Front
Copyright 2005, Washington Jewish Week
1500 East Jefferson St.
Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 230-2222
Moshe
Rabbi opens Chabad center in Boise
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
Posted on Sat, Jan. 08, 2005
BOISE, Idaho - Idaho may be one of the last frontiers for American
Orthodox Jews.
It's nearly impossible to keep kosher without shipping food from
out-of-state, there is only one Jewish synagogue in the state's largest
city, and the nearest mikvah -- a ceremonial immersion pool central to
traditional Jewish family life -- is hours away in Salt Lake City.
But all that could change now that Chabad Lubavitch is in town.
Rabbi Mendel Lifshitz, 28, his wife Esther, 23, and their two young
sons are part of Chabad, a Hasidic organization that sends its
emissaries around the world to convince Jews to become more observant.
The Lifshitzes came to Boise to open a Chabad center, where classes,
religious services and social gatherings are held.
''We're here to service a Jewish community. If I help even one person
grow, then that's enough,'' said Mendel Lifshitz, whose home currently
doubles as the center.
Until just a few months ago, Idaho was one of only six states without a
permanent Chabad center. The last one established in the United States
was in Utah nearly 12 years ago, Lifshitz said. The only states
remaining without permanent Chabad centers are the Dakotas, Montana,
Wyoming and Mississippi, he said.
In Idaho, where the majority of people are either Mormon or Roman
Catholic, the rabbi, with his long beard and yarmulke, is easy to spot.
His wife jokes that he is ''a walking advertisement for Judaism.''
''Being here gives me the opportunity to preach without even teaching,
as a living example of tolerance and diversity,'' Mendel Lifshitz said.
''It's an incredible experience for us.''
The exact number of Jews in Idaho is unknown, since the U.S. Census
does not ask about religion. But Boise boasts the oldest continuously
operating synagogue West of the Mississippi -- Ahavath Beth Israel,
built in 1895. The congregation there, mostly made up of Reform and
Conservative Jews, is very active. And the state was the first in the
nation to elect a Jewish governor, when Moses Alexander won the popular
vote in 1914.
However, Lifshitz, who estimates that 2,000 or so Jews live in Idaho,
believes the overwhelming majority are not affiliated with a branch of
Judaism.
''Jews looking for a very involved community would probably not have
settled in Idaho,'' Lifshitz said. ''But there are quite a few Jews in
our community, and they feel accepted here. Part of fighting
anti-Semitism is Jewish people feeling comfortable and seeing their own
culture being represented. That's what we do.''
The Lifshitzes are already trying to make their beliefs easier to carry
out in daily life. Mendel Lifshitz is lobbying to make more kosher food
available at local grocery stores. In the meantime, he and his wife
have started a kosher co-op, allowing residents to buy the kosher meats
the rabbi and his family stock in the deep freezer in their garage.
Esther Lifshitz leads a ''Mommy and Me'' program and a women's group in
the home focusing on Jewish issues. They hope to eventually start a
Jewish preschool.
Despite Idaho's mostly homogenous population and a hard-to-shake image
as a haven for racist groups, the Lifshitzes were not worried about
coming here from New York.
''It's an unfortunate stereotype that's out there. I have family in New
York that said, 'How could you live in Idaho?' But the fact of the
matter is there are larger anti-Semitic groups headquartered just four
hours away from New York. Here they're basically gone, and even if a
few linger in northern Idaho that's still an eight-hour drive,'' he
said.
He does encounter some ignorance. People often try to shake his hand --
which is fine, except that many Orthodox Jews do not touch members of
the opposite sex unless they are family.
''No offense, it's nothing personal,'' he says to those who try.
''There's your first lesson in rabbinical etiquette.''
Neither is Lifshitz offended by questions about his appearance or
religion.
''If people don't know much about Judaism, it's our own fault,'' he
said. ''What I would do is encourage them to get involved. Not become
Jews -- we don't believe in proselytizing -- but to welcome them into
the community.''
Idaho may be a late bloomer when it comes to Jewish observance, he
said, but that's OK.
''Sometimes the late bloomers are the best. Here we're able to build
upon all the experiences of Jews in America,'' he said.
''Every candle, every flame counts. Even those in Idaho.''
------
On the Net:
Chabad Lubavitch: http://www1.chabad.org/default.asp
© 2005 Monterey County Herald and wire service sources. All Rights
Reserved.
http://www.montereyherald.com
Moshe
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=rednews/2005/01/09/build/business/40-slaughterhouse.inc
Community rallies around kosher slaughterhouse
01/09/05
By GAYLE WORLAND
Chicago Tribune
POSTVILLE, Iowa - Ever since the arrival of their extraordinary
neighbors, folks in this tiny northeastern Iowa town have grown used to
being an anomaly.
When a family of Lubavitch Jews, an ultra-Orthodox sect, bought the
local slaughterhouse in 1987 and converted it to a kosher plant,
Postville became an experiment in cultural diversity as immigrants from
up to 30 nations flocked to the town for jobs.
Then, early last month, an animal-rights group released an undercover
video that it claims represents inhumane killing practices at the
slaughterhouse, and Postville found itself at the center of an
international squall involving religion, grass-roots politics, the news
media and the humble cow.
Since the Virginia-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
or PETA, set its sights on practices inside Postville's sprawling
Agriprocessors plant, "the buzz (in town) has been 'Leave us alone,' "
said Rob Dehli, general manager of KPVL-FM, a local public radio
station that broadcasts in English, Spanish, Russian and Hebrew.
"This company keeps people employed in this town."
At the same time, said Dehli, "People are really curious about how they
decided on our little town. And why this processing plant?"
PETA's complaint, like any alleged violation of the federal 1978 Humane
Methods of Slaughter Act, prompted an investigation by the U.S.
Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Meanwhile, both sides have dug into the trenches. PETA's allegations
have drawn heated debate, even within the kosher community.
PETA, best known for high-profile campaigns against fur and selected
fast-food restaurants, blasts on its Web site the headline "Undercover
Investigation Reveals Slaughter Horrors at Agriprocessors." It has
lined up outspoken critics, including Colorado livestock consultant
Temple Grandin, who says she has visited 30 kosher slaughterhouses
around the world but has never witnessed procedures like those at the
Postville plant.
"There are a lot of rabbis that are very, very upset" about the
material on the videotape," she said. "People in the (meat) industry
are just furious. It's a black eye to the whole industry."
Agriprocessors, in turn, has launched a public-relations campaign
against what plant manager Sholom Rubashkin calls an "extreme political
group" that "will do whatever it can for publicity" and "wants to turn
you into a vegetarian."
PETA subsequently threatened to sue Rubashkin, whose father in Brooklyn
owns the Postville packing house, for defamation.
"This story is not about Agriprocessors," said Rubashkin, 45, who runs
the plant along with his brother, Heshy, 40. "In my opinion, there's a
whole attack here on the ritual (slaughter) process. ... If a person
wants to belong to PETA, that's your right. But for heaven's sake, do
not attack our sacred religion."
With its name emblazoned across a water tank that towers over the west
side of town, Agriprocessors, called Agri by residents, is Postville's
largest employer. Fourteen nationalities are represented among its 700
workers, who have helped boost Postville's population from 1,500 in
1990 to 2,500 today.
But it's inside Agriprocessors' vast, white-walled plant, in an area
called the kill floor, that an employee collaborating with PETA
secretly filmed cattle put into a restraint pen called a Facomia box,
which encases a steer's body but not its head. The animal is then
turned upside down so that, in keeping with shechita, kosher
slaughtering practices, its throat can be cut with an extremely sharp
knife by a trained rabbi.
The method is supposed to slit the carotid arteries, causing anemia of
the brain and rendering the steer "insensible" within two seconds, said
Mike Thomas, a plant spokesman. In the PETA video, each steer's
esophagus and trachea are also ripped out by a worker after the rabbi's
cut is made.
Several animals are depicted struggling back on their feet after being
released from the box and staggering around the kill floor.
Agriprocessors and PETA remain at odds over whether this indicates the
involuntary movement of a dead steer, the equivalent of a chicken
running around with its head cut off, or the slow and tortured death
for an animal in pain.
"What's happening in this slaughterhouse is so horrifically cruel that
any compassionate person has to be shocked," said PETA's Bruce
Friedrich.
"It's not a pretty thing to see," said Thomas, who says that most
Americans don't know or don't want to know how their hamburgers travel
from barnyard to dinner plate.
"The animal is being killed. There's no way around that," he said.
Last month, the plant agreed to a USDA request to have a stunning
device on hand for steers that try to stand after release from the
Facomia box. Conventional slaughterhouses use a stunning device to
render an animal unconscious before slaughter, but the practice makes
the meat non-kosher.
The USDA keeps a veterinarian and four inspectors on site to regulate
beef production at the plant. Also present are nine rabbis to ensure
that the plant's meat is to kosher standards.
Along with fresh and frozen beef, chicken and turkey, Agriprocessors
produces processed kosher products such as hot dogs, salami and sliced
turkey roll. However, nearly half the meat to come out of the plant is
sold as non-kosher, Thomas said.
PETA approached Agriprocessors officials in mid-2003 and offered "to
work quietly with them" to improve animal-handling practices, said
Friedrich. The plant did not reply, he said.
"Kosher slaughter is supposed to be better than conventional slaughter
in this country," the PETA spokesman said. "That Rubashkin would hide
behind the torment that his plant has been afflicting on animals for so
many years ... is spitting in the face of Judaism's amazing history of
a commitment to compassion toward animals."
On the PETA issue, though, the town is coming to the plant's defense.
The city council passed a resolution in support of the business, noting
that Agriprocessors "currently employs approximately 700 local
residents and purchases over $100 million of livestock annually." The
resolution noted the city "renounces unfounded and unproven attacks on
Agriprocessors Inc., or its kosher processing."
"We're farmers here, and we make our livelihood from the land," said
Sharon Drahn, editor of the weekly Postville Herald-Leader. "So far I
have had no letters to the editor or phone calls (about PETA's
allegations). There are people who have said in passing, 'Well, if the
PETA people had their way, everybody would be vegetarians.' "
Moshe
by TJ Reporter - Jan 5
Scandanavia's only Orthodox Jewish school has been saved from closure
following a two-year battle.
Beit Menachem had been refused accreditation after failing to meet the
legal minimum of 20 pupils.
But following an appeal to the country's Supreme Court, Chief Justice
Marja Regner insisted last month that Jewish children in Sweden are
entitled to the kind of extensive Jewish education offered by the
Gothenberg school.
Supporters had argued that Judaism is a way of life rather than a
subject.
Welcoming the ruling that the school could be exempt, Leah Namdar,
co-founder of the Chabad-affiliated school with husband Alexander,
said: "It's a very happy day for us. The court accepted all the
points we made in presenting our case that our school is providing a
unique Jewish education that is critical to a Jewish way of life."
Professor Elinor Ben Menachem, a neurologist at Sahlgrenska University
Hospital, hailed the court's decision as "the greatest recognition
that Judaism has ever had in Sweden."
http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/stories/?disp_type=1&disp_story=qTB7el
Moshe
18:50 Jan 10, '05 / 29 Tevet 5765
Arutz Sheva
A joint assembly of rabbis from both the hareidi and
national-religious sectors declared Sunday night that the entire Land
of Israel belongs to G-d and the Jewish People, and not to the
government.
"No one in the world has the right to cede the Jewish People's right to
any part of the Land," ex-Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu declared, "and
such a move must be fought."
The rabbis, meeting in Tel Aviv, sharply condemned the United Torah
Judaism party for joining the coalition government. "This act was
against the majority of the Torah leaders in Israel," the rabbis
resolved, "and leads directly to an endangerment of the entire populace
of Israel."
Among the dozens of rabbis in attendance were the Admor of Sadigura, a
member of the Council of Torah Sages headed by Rabbi Elyashiv; Kiryat
Arba Rabbi Dov Lior; Kiryat Motzkin Rabbi David Druckman; and Rabbi
Meir Mazuz of Yeshivat Kisei Rachamim in Bnei Brak. Another Council of
Torah Sages member, the Bostoner Rebbe, sent a sharp letter of support
for their position to be read aloud.
Rabbi Mazuz said, "This disengagement story is our tsunami." He
emphasized the "ungrateful" behavior of Sharon towards the nation in
general and the Yesha residents in particular, and recalled that the
Lubavitcher Rebbe saved Sharon's life by advising him not to travel in
a helicopter that crashed. Rabbi Mazuz did not mention that the Rebbe
once advised Sharon not to enter politics altogether.
Rabbi Lior said, "This [disengagement] plan is a danger to the very
existence of the State. It is unprecedented. The rabbis must exude
special spiritual strength to deal with this very difficult situation."
He noted that this spiritual strength has been shown by the residents
of Yesha, and especially of Gush Katif, "and this is one of today's
miracles."
Rabbi Simcha HaCohen Kook, Chief Rabbi of Rehovot (pictured above; a
grand-nephew of the saintly Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook), said that he
visited Rabbi Elyashiv on Friday, after his decision to allow the UTJ
party to join the coalition. Rabbi Kook said that "wheeler-dealers"
misled Rabbi Elyashiv by telling him that Sharon has a majority even
without UTJ, which wasn't true. Rabbi Kook added that most of the
leading Torah authorities were against the decision.
Among the rabbis' resolutions were:
* We sadly determine that the Prime Minister is causing a terrible
civil war, the end of which cannot be foretold.
* We call upon all the leaders of world Jewry, led by the Rabbis of
Israel, to express their clear protest, echoing from one end of the
world to the other, in light of the evil behavior of the Israeli
government and its head.
* We will not refrain from expressing our protest and great
astonishment at the strengthening of this wicked government by
G-d-fearing Jews against the opinion of the clear majority of the
leading rabbis of Israel.
* We call upon our brothers and all of the Torah giants to help bodily,
monetarily and spiritually the residents of Yesha who face the decree
of evacuation.
Click here for our free Daily News Report from Israel
Published: 11:35 January 10, 2005
Last Update: 18:50 January 10, 2005
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Comment on this story
Readers' comments
27 comments have been published to this story.
1. Listen to the Rabbis
Terry, North Miami Beach (13:29, Jan-10, 05)
2. The Lubavitcher Rebbe is always right!
Yossi, Bklyn, NY (14:02, Jan-10, 05)
3. The top Torah Sage is The Lubavitcher Rebbe
Shmuley, Cleveland, Ohio (14:11, Jan-10, 05)
4. The Lubavitcher Rebbe is right and is Moshiach!
Stuart, LA, Califonia (14:15, Jan-10, 05)
5. Thank you, Torah Sages!!
Am Yisrael (14:22, Jan-10, 05)
6. We are in the time of Moshiach and the Rebbe is him...
Shirley R., Long Island (5 towns), NY (14:35, Jan-10, 05)
7. JOINT GLOBALIST, ISLAMIST FORCES SEEK DESTRUCTION OFTHE JEWISH STATE
Linda Rivera, New York (14:56, Jan-10, 05)
8. kol hakovod yossi!!!!
Hopeful (15:13, Jan-10, 05)
9. Precisely
Isaac Newsome, USA (15:54, Jan-10, 05)
10. misled Rabbi Elyashiv ? then change the decision!
aliza (17:02, Jan-10, 05)
11. rebbi right politics N.G. for Sharon
roger m pearlman CTA, temp l.A. (17:25, Jan-10, 05)
12. Only ONE meaningful question remains
Yaakov Kayman, Kew Gardens Hills (Queens), NY, USA (17:50, Jan-10,
05)
13. land given away
judy blagg, usa (18:00, Jan-10, 05)
14. Comments:Statement by Rabbis
Keith David, Mumbai,India (18:02, Jan-10, 05)
15. which rabbis are right?; following rabbis and petitions (to #1) END
ari sitnik, toronto, canada (18:08, Jan-10, 05)
16. Split hoof, Chew cud
Angela Jo Brittsan, Chicago (18:39, Jan-10, 05)
17. It's about time!
MosheYisraeli, Galut (19:16, Jan-10, 05)
18. Video of Sharon by the Rebbe
Meir, CH, USA (20:20, Jan-10, 05)
19. WHERE'S OPEN MINDS
ARTHUR, BALTIMORE (20:39, Jan-10, 05)
20. If only the rebbe heard Rav Elyashav...
Susan B, Clearwater, FL (22:05, Jan-10, 05)
21. the Rebbe
chaim, brooklyn (00:26, Jan-11, 05)
22. YES to G-d! NO, NO, NO-Sharon! (--)
marshal roth, Toronto, Canada (00:47, Jan-11, 05)
23. U.T.J- Resign From The Evil Coaliton
Chaim, Canada (01:33, Jan-11, 05)
24. HGRY"S ELYASHIV SHLIT"A
Yitz Lieberman, Brooklyn (07:51, Jan-11, 05)
25. Mashiach
Reuven, Melbourne, Australia (09:50, Jan-11, 05)
26. Flushing out the deluded "Schneerson is Moshiach" crowd.
Adam Neira, Melbourne, Great Southern Land (11:17, Jan-11, 05)
27. Dead messiah
Samuel, Helsinki, FIN (12:47, Jan-11, 05)
Moshe
found dead after tsunami disaster
By Henry Benjamin
SYDNEY, Jan. 9 (JTA) - Two young Jews missing since the Southeast
Asian tsunami struck have been confirmed as dead.
Nikki Liebowitz, 30, of Sydney, was formally identified by her
boyfriend's cousin and brother-in-law on the Thai island of Phi Phi
after a positive DNA test.
The body of her boyfriend Avadya Berman, 31, also an Australian
resident, was also found. Both Berman and Liebowitz are slated for
burial in South Africa.
Berman had planned to move to Sydney at the beginning of February to
start a new life with Liebowitz.
The couple had been working in their native Johannesburg before
Liebowitz left in July to start a new life in Australia.
She left Sydney at the beginning of December to attend a friend's
wedding in Johannesburg, where she met up again with Liebowitz. From
there the couple traveled to Asia for an extended holiday and planned
to settle down in Sydney.
A three-day scuba-diving holiday on Phi Phi was a scheduled highlight,
but those plans came to a tragic halt on Dec. 26.
Liebowitz and Berman had just finished breakfast with South African
friends Ilana and Gary Sweidan. Berman headed for the pool and
Liebowitz headed for Ilana Sweidan's room. Ilana Sweidan stopped in
the lobby of the Phi Phi Princess Hotel to make a phone call.
Tanya Bensimon, 29, and Leonard Hammersfeld, 37, of Melbourne, who had
just announced their engagement two days earlier, were sitting by the
pool and gazing out at the normally still waters of the lagoon.
"Suddenly there was this one wave in the middle of the lagoon ...
such a strange sight that people were laughing ... but the locals
looked quizzical," Hammersfeld said. "Then my mobile rang. A friend
from Melbourne was holidaying in Phuket where the tsunami had already
struck, to warn us of the imminent danger.
"The wave hit the beach, sweeping everything in its way. It sounded
like a jet. Twenty of us headed for the roof of the building, but five
didn't make it," he said. "We were stuck there for three hours
and watched the other five tsunamis hit the low-lying island. For those
down on the beach, there was no escape."
Back at the hotel, the first wave of the tsunami had struck. Ilana
Sweidan struggled to keep her head above the water flooding the lobby.
When the wave receded, Liebowitz was nowhere to be found. When the
second wave struck, a stranger dragged Ilana Sweidan to higher ground.
The Sweidans spent hours looking for their friends, to no avail.
Hammersfeld said he didn't know Berman, "but I can tell you, anyone
who rushed down to the beach to look for family or friends was doomed.
Six tsunamis struck Phi Phi that morning."
"Phi Phi was like a war zone," he said. "There were bodies
everywhere."
Hammersfeld, now back home in Melbourne, added, "The first help came
in from the Israel Defense Forces, closely followed by Chabad from
Thailand, before we saw assistance arrive from other countries. We feel
so much for the families" of Berman and Liebowitz.
Berman's sister Rama Klevansky, 35, told JTA from her home in Sydney,
"I had been looking forward so much to my brother joining us in
Sydney."
Berman had visited Sydney many times and was there in July for
Liebowitz's birthday, she said.
"He has South Africa in his soul ... but he was looking forward very
much to the challenges of setting up home in a new country," she
said.
Klevansky told JTA that Berman was a wonderful sportsman and soccer
player. But most of all, she said, Berman and Liebowitz "loved nature
and spent lots of weekends together going native."
Klevansky has 20 photographs of Phi Phi on the walls of her home in a
Sydney suburb.
"It will always remain one of my favorite places in the world. It
stole my heart," she said, "and it stole my brother. He was my
heart."
Klevansky's husband Howard and a cousin flew to Thailand with a
sample of Klevansky's DNA. They met up with Interpol, which had
collected DNA from Berman's parents in Johannesburg.
Ronnie Figdor, spokesman for Australia's Jewish Emergency Management
Plan, told JTA that all other members of the country's Jewish
community known to be in the disaster area have been accounted for.
© JTA. Reproduction of material without written permission is strictly
prohibited.
Moshe
for Chicago family seeking their son
By JTA Staff
CHICAGO, Jan. 6 (JTA) - A Jewish family from the Chicago area is
going through the excruciating process of waiting and wondering whether
their son survived the tsunami that engulfed 10 Asian nations, killing
an estimated 150,000 people.
In an Atlanta suburb, a Jewish family heard from their daughter for the
frist time since the Dec. 26 disaster.
And in Dallas, a congregation was overjoyed after two Jewish community
members reported that a fishing boat had rescued them from the deadly
wave.
Ben Abels, 33, a real estate salesman from Evanston, Ill., was on
Thailand's Phi Phi Island during a two-week trip to Asia when the
tsunami hit the bungalow where he and a companion were staying. As of
Tuesday, his family did not have any word on his whereabouts.
"We don't know if Ben was trapped under the debris or if he was
blown out," said his father, Bob Abels. "We don't know
anything."
Bob and his wife, Hope Abels, were joined outside their home Monday by
another son, David, and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
They last heard from Ben on Dec. 24, and asked for help from anyone who
might have information.
Ben Abels' companion, Libby North of Seattle, had been in touch with
the family, they said. North lost one of her hands and suffered a
serious leg injury before she was discovered by aid workers.
"She and Ben were sitting in the bungalow talking, and the bungalow
just collapsed," Bob Abels said.
Hope Abels added that North "remembers the rescuers taking her away
and saying, 'I don't know where my friend is, I don't know where
my friend is.' "
Ben Abels loved to travel for extended periods of time, family members
said. After extended travel in Central and South America and Europe,
this was his first trip to Asia. He already had been in Hong Kong and
Cambodia and was about to depart for Bangkok.
According to Schakowsky, the U.S. State Department believes there are
Americans stranded on Phi Phi Island. They are working with the Thai
government, which has not identified people by nationality.
"There are no American personnel on Phi Phi Island, and as far I can
tell there are no plans to go there," Schakowsky said.
Schakowsky said the Abels family is well known in Evanston, and belongs
to the same synagogue as Schakowsky, Beth Emet the Free Synagogue in
Evanston.
Herb Adelstein, a pharmaceutical salesman in Chicago, grew up with Ben
and last talked to him about three weeks ago.
Adelstein described Abels as someone who "was always looking to the
future. He was an ambitious guy. He had bought his own house in
Evanston and was a fixture of the community. He had a very positive
outlook."
Adelstein added, "I'm shocked. But I am keeping upbeat about it."
Meanwhile, Ditza Israeli, 24, of Alpharetta, Ga., is safe and sound.
Israeli reportedly was traveling in India when the tsunami swept across
southern Asia.
According to a link on a Web site run by Chabad, Israeli's last
e-mail to her parents, sent on Dec. 24, said she was spending the
winter holiday in Varkala, Kerala, on India's western coast.
Three e-mails posted on a BBC missing-persons site following an inquiry
by Terri Israeli, Ditza's mother, suggested that the area where Ditza
was traveling wasn't hit hard by the tsunami.
One posting came from a traveler who indicated that Varkala is on high
ground, but that Internet and phone access was "hard to find in this
area."
Another poster wrote that while he did not meet Israeli, "there was a
big wave" on Dec. 26, "but not too serious - no one was washed
away, just a few bags and cameras."
The third e-mail, sent by a man writing from Kovalam in Kerala, claimed
that "no one was lost" on either Kovalam or Varkala beaches.
"Although the effects of the tsunami were visible, it presented no
danger on either of these beaches," the e-mail read.
In Dallas, friends of two longtime community members were relieved to
get an e-mail alerting them that Gerald and Bobbie Nehman had survived
the tsunami.
Their biggest fear came when they lost touch with Bobbie Nehman's
brother, David, whom they had traveled to visit in southern India, the
Nehmans said.
"We were stranded and protected at the time on a memorial rock at the
tip of India, where three oceans meet, and watched the wave hit the
shore in front of us," Bobbie Nehman said in a Dec. 27 e-mail to
Lynda Nicholson, the music librarian for Temple Emanu-El's choir.
Both Nehmans have sung in the choir for many years and are active in
other synagogue programs.
"We were rescued by small fishing boats at night with up to 1,000
others," Bobbie Nehman wrote. "We had left my brother's island
resort less than 24 hours before the wave hit, after a beautiful visit
of three days. We are worried about my brother because all
communications lines are cut to the Maldive Islands, which were right
in the path."
On Dec. 31, however, they reported that David was well.
Bobbie, an artist and certified massage therapist, and Gerald, an
environmental expert, sent another message on Dec. 31.
"We are two hours from 2005 and are feeling both our good fortune and
the pain for those who have been so devastated," Bobbie wrote.
Temple members were told the good news at Friday night services. "I
gave a sermon on the tsunami, and I was able to mention that the
Nehmans had gotten through it," Rabbi David Stern told the Texas
Jewish Post.
(Daniel Dorfman of the Chicago Jewish News, Steve Israel of the Texas
Jewish Post and the staff of the Atlanta Jewish Times contributed to
this report.)
Moshe
By Rabbi Eli Hecht
Long Beach Press Telegram
Saturday, January 08, 2005 - It's a year since my mother Lieba's
untimely death, and we are going to have the unveiling ceremony. Her
wonderful life was snuffed in a horrific, tragic fire 12 months ago.
Jewish custom calls for a gravestone to be erected over her burial site
during the first year. I'm going to Brooklyn to meet the complete
family again - all nine brothers, sisters, spouses and their
children, uncles, aunts and cousins, with their families. In total
there will be over 150 souls.
I wonder - are we celebrating death or life? Do these events bring
fresh pain, grief and despondency? If so, why the unveiling ceremony? I
need something redeeming with this gathering. I need to be inspired. I
agonize with these thoughts and I'm sure others do at such times.
In the remarkable works of the late Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in
dealing with stages of life and death, there is a formula for
unpleasant events and death. They may be called stages of grief. First
there is denial (this isn't happening to me), and then comes anger.
After anger comes a stage of loneliness and bargaining. Then there is a
stage of finally letting go, darkness before the dawn, and a final
stage of acceptance.
Total acceptance of the fact is closure. We therapeutically heal with
the finality of things and learn how to move on. Unpleasant events are
not necessarily limited to death and may be applied to many other
traumatic experiences. Dr. Bruce Fisher in his wonderful book
"Rebuilding" integrates the stages of grief as a process that is
necessary for divorce closure. Whoever has a failed relationship, loss
of a job or self-respect, a position of influence, are all candidates
for cure through the stages of grief.
Eleven months of reciting a mourner's prayer called Kaddish and
attending religious services three times a day is a way to deal with
feelings and closure. By attending the minyan - services with a
quorum of 10 men - you meet people of all ages and social status. The
common goal is to deal with the loss. At the minyan friendships are
born. Interest in others is bound to surface. One notes how important
you become when you are gone from the minyan. The services can't be
conducted with fewer than 10.
As you recite the Kaddish you fall into the rhythm of others. A harmony
and song is created. The old and the young, the fast reader and the new
reader are all slowly but surely working it out, and after a while the
Kaddish becomes a melody, sweet and soothing to the wounded and
grieving. A support group is formed.
But at my New York gathering I discovered something new and wonderfully
awesome. It was a gathering of all the new babies named after my
beloved mother Lieba. A new energy force had been created.
No fewer than seven granddaughters or great-granddaughters have been
born and named Lieba during the years since my mother's death. Each
infant is different but carries the same name. Each has its own
personality and temperament. This is totally overwhelming for me. Out
of the ashes of a burnt house the seeds for seven new homes have
arisen. All dedicated to emulate the life of the matriarch of the
family, by carrying out her kindness and selflessness.
At the end of the unveiling ceremony the many infants and parents
surrounded my father and suddenly I knew what healing and grieving
means. The Jewish way for closure is not finality; it's opportunity.
One door closes while the other one opens.
I heard one of my sisters say, "Look at Lieba" and seven pairs of
parents turned and looked lovingly at their new baby Lieba. The love is
indescribably delicious.
My father could not stop saying, "If only Lieba was here to see the
beautiful babies." At that moment I felt her presence.
I am now home in California thinking about this emotional experience.
Paradoxically, the closure is over. No more grieving but the closure is
replaced with a new openness, making way for a new generation.
The little seedlings planted and growing in love called Lieba.
- Rabbi Eli Hecht is vice-president of the Rabbinical Alliance of
America and past president of the Rabbinical Council of California. He
is the director of Chabad of South Bay in Lomita, CA that houses a
synagogue, day school, nursery school and chaplaincy programs.
Moshe
Reviving Jewish life in the former Soviet Union is a tough task.
By Amiram Barkat
The Jewish community of Samara in southern Russia has come to life. On
a recent night late in December, the pillars of the community gathered
for a festive evening for the lighting of the eighth Hanukkah candle in
the main hall of the fanciest hotel in town.
Anyone who was expecting unctuous bigwigs from the stories of Shalom
Aleichem would have been disappointed, no doubt, at the sight of the
businessmen who sat around the round tables. The Chabad emissary to the
city, Rabbi Shlomo Deutsch, welcomed them in Russian and Yiddish in an
ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem accent. Later, when he delivered a fiery
sermon on the importance of commitment to the community, some of those
present writhed in discomfort. The kosher food, which was served by
waitresses in mini-skirts, was also not greeted with enthusiasm.
The evening was saved by a professional boys' band that came especially
from Moscow, which is about 900 kilometers northwest of Samara. Their
rendition of Dana International's "Diva" sent the guests leaping to
their feet. Even Rabbi Deutsch could not remain indifferent.
Ever since the fall of Communism in 1989, Jewish organizations have
been investing considerable efforts in rehabilitating Jewish life in
Russia and its neighbors. After 15 years of attempts, the "corpse" is
beginning to show signs of life, in the shape of budding Jewish
communities that have begun to appear in the huge expanses. But the
dependence on the Jewish organizations is still absolute and it is not
clear when, if ever, the day will come when it will be possible to
detach the Jewish communities in Russia from the life-support systems.
At the end of the 19th century, most of the Jews in the world lived in
Russia. In 1884, just before the start of the mass immigration to the
West, there were about 5 million Jews there. Some 120 years later, in
2004 - after three waves of mass emigration (at the start of the 20th
century, in the 1970s and in the 1990s), one Holocaust and 70 years of
oppressive Communism - an official census determined that no more than
240,000 Jews remain in Russia.
"Up until 30, even 20 years ago, there was still `a Jewish courtyard'
and they still remembered Yiddish," says Boris Maftzir, the head of the
Jewish Agency delegation to the Confederation of Independent States.
The communal fabric is dead
But in the most recent waves of immigration, anyone who felt himself to
be Jewish left. "The communal fabric is dead, and what is left is only
a collection of individuals who see themselves first as Russians," says
Maftzir.
The Jewish Agency emissaries in Russia today do not mention the word
"immigration." According to Maftzir, "I could speak all day long about
immigration to Israel, but I would find that I'm talking to myself."
The Jewish Agency is currently investing its efforts in Russia in
"soft" programs to strengthen "Jewish-Israeli identity," for example an
Israeli-Russian forum for businesswomen.
"Community building" is one of the specializations of the Joint
Distribution Committee, the largest Jewish organization that is
currently active in the CIS, in terms of budget. In 2004, the JDC
invested a record sum of $80 million in the CIS. Most of the money was
earmarked as aid for elderly Jews in general and Holocaust survivors in
particular, but a significant portion of it - $15 million - went toward
the developing area that the JDC calls "Jewish renewal."
The JDC's community activity focuses on some 180 community centers that
offer activities with Jewish content to all ages.
At the JDC, community building is implemented through a method that is
based on empowerment: It develops communal institutions, helps to set
up a leadership, and once it all starts working on its own steam, pulls
out of the picture. But it all is working very slowly in the meantime:
Nearly all the communities that were supported by the JDC are not able
to stand on their own two feet.
Sources at the JDC explain that in order to instill "from scratch"
American-style community commitment, there is a need for a period of
time far longer than 15 years. Beyond that, the JDC acknowledges that
democracy and pluralism are not values that are easy to instill in
countries like Russia and its neighbors, must of which are in fact
moving in the opposite direction.
Alongside the JDC and the Jewish Agency is the Federation of Jewish
Communities of the CIS, which, in contrast, offers a Judaism that does
not entail value dilemmas. Perhaps for this reason there is
considerable demand for its product. An Israeli diplomat in Moscow
notes that the activities of the Federation "reach tens of thousands of
Jews."
The organization, which was established in 1997, is controlled by
Chabad rabbis and Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. It does not enjoy the
support of the Israeli establishment and the Jewish establishment in
the United States - a fact that is indeed to its advantage in the eyes
of the suspicious local regimes. To the Jews of the CIS, the Federation
offers Jewish tradition pure and simple, without the JDC's pluralism
and without the Jewish Agency's Zionism, but also without the demand to
be religiously observant and lead a religious Jewish way of life.
"Frankly, if I say that every Jew must observe the Sabbath, they'll
laugh at me," explains the chief rabbi of Russia on behalf of the
Federation, Rabbi Berl Lazar.
The Federation's community center has a registry including the
particulars of some 40,000 Jews who live in the city and its environs.
On their birthdays, each of them receives a birthday card and an
invitation to a family meal at a discounted price at the kosher
restaurant at the federation center, to the sounds of a klezmer band.
Judging from one visit, the idea is popular mainly among pensioners. To
younger people, the center offers lessons in languages, body shaping
and computers. In the evenings, there are rock performances and a
discotheque for young people. Chabad sources explain that "they go
dancing at clubs in any case, so they should at least dance with Jews."
How many bigwigs do you have?
The Federation operates about 90 Chabad "branches" throughout the CIS.
They do not really try to make Jews devout, and their synagogues, for
the most part, stand empty. But the Federation has chalked up larger
successes than the other organizations in two areas - the building of a
Jewish education system, and the nurturing of donors within the local
business community.
Federation officials say that 30 percent of the budget for their
activities throughout the former Soviet Union now comes from local
donors. In most of the communities in the provincial cities, this still
means trivial sums, but there are a few communities, particularly in
Ukraine, that are funded entirely by the local philanthropists.
The Federation does not deny that a desire to benefit from the
organization's good ties with the regimes in Russia and other places is
the main spur for many of the donors; but as far as the Federation is
concerned, the ends justify the means.
"Nu, so how many `bigwigs' do you have already? This is the question
that most concerns the `branches,'" says a veteran Chabad activist who
worked in the CIS for many years.
The Or Avner education network that was established by Leviev in 1989
is comprised today of dozens of educational institutions in which some
14,000 students are enrolled. Even its competitors praise it.
"This is an amazing educational system," says Avi Gonen, a
representative of the Ort network, which operates departments in 15
trade schools.
The Or Avner schools are the main magnet for the Federation of Jewish
Communities, especially in remote states like Azerbaijan, where
previously there had been no Jewish educational institutions. About 70
percent of the children in the network have non-Jewish fathers.
Therefore, the primary stress at Or Avner is on the level of general
studies. Each student receives a full "official" program of studies in
addition to transportation, hot meals, professional teachers and four
to seven hours a week of Judaism, Hebrew and tradition. At most of the
schools tuition is free. Fifteen of the schools participate in the
Hephzibah program for Hebrew studies that is operated by the Jewish
Agency and the Israeli Education Ministry; Or Avner would gladly bring
in additional schools.
Or Avner is named after Leviev's father. Apparently, Leviev's attitude
toward the network is entirely emotional, as he named his youngest son
Or Avner, and it is difficult to find the slightest trace of business
logic in its management. He funds the activity of the network almost
entirely by himself, at an annual cost that is growing rapidly and now
stands at about $3,000 per student (according to Or Akiva data), or $42
million dollars a year altogether - a considerable sum even for a
billionaire like him.
The budgetary burden leaves its mark on Or Avner: The computers are
already outdated, the teachers' salaries are no longer as high as they
were in the past, and in the big cities, the network is having a hard
time competing with non-Jewish private schools. Another threat to its
future lies in increasing internal migration of Jews in the CIS from
the periphery to the major cities.
"I'm investing in children, not in communities," replies Leviev
laconically when he is asked whether his investments have a future.
"With all my optimism that Russia is improving, it is hard to see how
it is possible to build a community in the smaller cities," says Rabbi
Lazar. "Providing kosher food, with the distances in Russia, is very
hard work."
Lazar believes that only in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev and perhaps
another three or four cities in the CIS, real Jewish communities will
come to life, like the ones that used to be there and now remain only
in books. According to him, "In a city like Vladivostok or Krasnoyarsk,
establishing a genuine community simply won't work. In places like
that, the aim is only to help Jews."
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
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Last update - 01:42 09/01/2005
Moshe
By JANICE ARNOLD
Staff Reporter
Beth Chabad Cote St. Luc, which was involved in an acrimonious debate
in 1999 when it wanted to build near the Cavendish Mall, is finally
going ahead with construction of a community centre/synagogue.
A ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled to be held Jan. 19 for the
Hechal Menachem Youth Centre, to be built at the eastern limits of Cote
St. Luc at Kildare Road and Marc Chagall Avenue, on a site bordering
the municipal snow dump and across from Bialik High School.
Spokesperson Stephanie Assouline said the centre will house a youth
lounge, computer room, cafeteria and library, as well as two
synagogues, one Sephardi and one Ashkenazi, a social hall and a study
room.
The centre will be named after Maurice and Nicole Benisti and the hall
after Brina and Tzvi Hirsh Medicoff.
Assouline said the centre will run programs and events throughout the
year for all Jews in the Cote St. Luc area, regardless of background,
"including Jewish awareness programs targeted specifically to the
thousands of children and youth."
Beth Chabad is currently located in rented space in the Cavendish Mall
where the Eaton's store used to be. Assouline said the centre
currently attracts "thousands" to its programs, especially at
holidays.
The planned two-storey building is on 36,000 square feet of land
purchased from Cote St. Luc. It was at least the fourth site in Cote
St. Luc sought by Beth Chabad since it began its search to build a
centre seven years ago.
The sale for just over $385,000, which was the municipal evaluation,
was approved by Cote St. Luc in 2001 and reapproved by the Montreal
mega-city in May 2003. The rezoning of the land from municipal to
institutional use did not arouse any opposition, unlike in 1999.
Assouline could not confirm the cost of the project, but the amount
proposed in 1999 was $3 million. She could not say when the centre is
expected to be completed. Only Beth Chabad's founder and leader,
Rabbi Mendel Raskin, could answer that, she said, and he was out of
town last week.
The favourable price was offered as a form of subsidy by Cote St. Luc,
where Mayor Robert Libman has been an unwavering supporter of the
project throughout its history.
Close to 1,000 residents signed a registry in the fall of 1999 opposing
the construction of the Chabad centre on Kellert Avenue at Kildare,
behind the Cavendish Mall, twice the number needed to force a
referendum. The city council subsequently withdrew the bylaw amendment
to rezone the land from municipal to institutional use.
Opponents said the centre in that location would increase traffic and
noise, and cause parking problems. Users of a communal garden, most of
them seniors, also said the building would shade the area and make it
unsuitable for cultivation.
The eight-member city council was split down the middle on the
rezoning, and Libman twice broke a tie casting a vote in favour of
allowing the project to go ahead.
The controversy dragged on for months in 1999 and became increasingly
bitter between residents for and against the Cavendish Mall location.
Many observers described it as one of the most divisive issues in the
Jewish community in recent memory.
Beth Chabad, which is part of the worldwide Lubavitch movement, was
founded by Rabbi Raskin and his wife Sarah in 1986. After operating out
of their home for two years, they rented space in the Cote St. Luc
Shopping Centre from 1988-2001. As participation grew, the premises
expanded from 800 to 5,000 square feet, Assouline said.
Originally, Beth Chabad served mainly francophones. In 1998 when it
began its search for a permanent home, then-premier Lucien Bouchard
paid a visit to the cramped facilities and later promised $820,000
toward the project. It's not clear if that money was ever received.
The site behind Cavendish Mall was actually the third one Beth Chabad
hoped to build on.
The city council initially rejected the organization's proposal for
the current site in July 2000 because of new provincial standards for
municipal snow dumps, but these technical objections were overcome.
In September, the Montreal Torah Centre, another Lubavitch group,
inaugurated an $8.5-million community centre/synagogue in neighbouring
Hampstead.
Moshe
The ultra-Orthodox community has embraced the consumption of culture in
recent years. All good, clean fun
By Tamar Rotem
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Hours before the event began, the rumor of the expected screening
spread and the plaza in front of the Great Synagogue on Rabbi Akiva
Street in Bnei Brak gradually began to fill with people. After the
doors opened, scores of men and boys pressed into the hall and stood
mesmerized by the flickering screen. Above them, in the narrow women's
section, the women and girls craned their necks to try to get a peek
above the male heads. The film was none other than the Lubavitcher
Rebbe's weekly sermon, but the fact that a large part of the audience
consisted of people who were not even his disciples made no difference
to anyone. In any case, many of them weren't listening to the sermon
and entered and exited the hall in an endless promenade. For them, the
event provided a suitable reason to get out of the house.
Even among the ultra-Orthodox today, there are those who find it hard
to believe that two or three decades ago the entertainment
possibilities for the ultra-Orthodox audience were so limited that they
consisted only of participation in celebrations and "strengthening"
lectures. However, along with the development of the leisure culture -
and the growth of the ultra-Orthodox music and film industries on CD
and DVD - there has been a new and expanding trend in the image of the
consumption of culture among the ultra-Orthodox in recent years.
Rachel Greenwald, an ultra-Orthodox woman from Elad, introduces herself
as a producer and impresario for performing artists - a decidedly new
occupation. Most of the artists she represents are newly devout actors
and singers. Most of the plays and performances for the ultra-Orthodox
public come from private producers, she says. They are purchased mainly
by community centers and are shown at small halls in the various
locales that are hired for the purpose, or occasionally in banquet
halls. She says that many performances are booked for vacationers at
hotels and symposia. Girls' schools also buy plays.
Ultra-Orthodox culture is completely segregated for men and for women.
Women and girls are the main consumers of culture. For men, who are
obligated to devote their time to Torah study, this pastime is less
legitimate and limited to the ben hazmanim period, the annual vacation
from yeshiva study.
Large supply and demand
By its very definition and nature, ultra-Orthodox culture is openly and
explicitly committed. The plays are mostly morality ones that are set
during the Holocaust or in Jewish history of long ago. Even if the
characters stray from the straight and narrow path, in the end they
will be brought back to the bosom of Judaism, while along the way they
succeed in drawing bursts of laughter and tears from the crowd. The
audience, which is entirely made up of women, is especially tolerant of
mothers with babies. It is not unusual to see them standing on the side
and rocking a carriage throughout the performance, or changing a diaper
on the seat.
Though it is possible to argue with the quality of the plays, it is
hard to ignore the large supply and demand, not only in ultra-Orthodox
population centers in the cities of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, but also
on the periphery: Upper Modi'in, Upper Beitar and Ashdod. Before
Hanukkah, in the Kav Le'itonut ultra-Orthodox local weekly newspapers,
there were advertisements for the show "Queen+ of the Rejoicing," a
play aimed at "girls of 6 to 90," directed by Michal Rand, as well as
the sound and light shows "Giving is Life" (and, in English, "The Sound
of Music") and "Rubik, the Amazing Cube." The "sound and light show" is
a very popular form of entertainment among the ultra-Orthodox public.
This is simply both a recycling of plays that have been filmed and a
film substitute. The play is screened for the audience along with a
program that includes live performances, such as dancing or staged
connecting scenes. A ticket can cost NIS 25.
Even stern newspapers like Hamodia and Yeted Ne'eman regularly
publicize performances. As in the general public, the peak season for
such performances (and advertising) is during holidays like Hanukkah or
Purim and, of course, summer vacation (for women and girls) and ben
hazmanim (for men and boys).
Riki Gelbstein, the director of the Ma'aleh community center, which has
served the ultra-Orthodox community in Ashdod for seven years now, is
very familiar with the process. Initially, she says, there was a need
"to search high and low for performances suitable to our public."
Today, she says, there is a selection of suitable performances.
About a month ago, Gelbstein set up "The Ultra-Orthodox Women's Forum
for the Advancement of Ultra-Orthodox Art and Culture." Her partner in
the forum and the woman who heads it is Hannah Barda, the director of
the culture division at the Upper Modi'in municipal council and the
culture coordinator for the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox neighborhood
there, Kiryat Sefer.
`No awareness of our needs'
Barda and Gelbstein, who can be said to belong to the very core of the
ultra-Orthodox sector, want first and foremost to correct the
impression that has emerged among the general public that there is no
ultra-Orthodox culture. The organization, explains Barda, is aimed at
exposing ultra-Orthodox culture to various bodies that support culture,
such as the Culture Administration at the Education Ministry or Omanut
La'am, in order to get budgetary support like any other organization
through the "culture basket" for schools or annual budgets for culture.
According to them, the problem is that ultra-Orthodox culture does not
conform to the criteria of these bodies, due to the absence of
representatives of the ultra-Orthodox sector on the review committees.
Gelbstein talks about artistic freedom. She says that it is impossible
to demand of the ultra-Orthodox public that the actors be graduates of
drama schools. "In our community, even girls from the Bais Ya'akov
schools can perform, but the play will be of a high quality."
"The idea of establishing the forum grew out of our distress," explains
Barda. "For several years now we have been active in the field of
culture, making an effort to bring good performances to our audience,
but we are having a hard time because of the lack of funds. We have
found out that there is no awareness and recognition of our needs, not
only in the government ministries but also among the bodies that are
supposed to provide support in the communities themselves. No one
understands how hard it is for us to `get up an evening.'" Once a
month, women from Upper Modi'in can come to see a play in one of the
two small and completely full halls in the Kiryat Sefer neighborhood or
in nearby Brechfeld, Barda says. The men are invited to evenings of
cantorial and liturgical music. The budgetary difficulty also derives
from the price of a ticket for a performance. It is impossible to ask
for more than NIS 10 for a ticket to a show for children, because
"every family comes to the play with five children," Gelbstein says. A
ticket to an evening performance for women will cost about NIS 15.
Gelbstein says that the first meeting of the forum, which was
publicized by word of mouth and held in Upper Modi'in, was attended by
more than 30 women, cultural coordinators at community centers and
local councils, and ultra-Orthodox producers. The founders were
astonished by the interest. The forum was presented at the Knesset
Education Committee; Barda and Gelbstein met with Natan Eitan, the
director general of Omanut La'am, and with Micha Yanun, the head of the
Culture Administration at the Education Ministry.
Eitan says he is aware of the change that has occurred in the
ultra-Orthodox public and is trying to meet it halfway. "There are two
trends here: true ultra-Orthodox culture and secular culture that
enters the sector after receiving a kosher seal of approval," says
Eitan. According to him, now and then Omanut La'am funds performances,
mainly musical ones, as well as art courses, but not on a regular
basis. Not long ago, he says, he was at a performance in the Gur
Hassidic community in order to evaluate its level, and it was granted
the requested funding. "It is hard for us to evaluate the content," he
admits, "but we examine other criteria like diction and the level of
the scenery. Now we are looking for independent ultra-Orthodox people
who will be able to sit on our review committee and evaluate the
performances. This is what we do in the various sectors, such as the
Russian sector or the Arab sector."
Eitan is not concerned about the fact that the ultra-Orthodox plays are
too committed to the cause. "Are there no plays that are committed to a
cause in the secular schools?" he asks. According to him, plays that
talk about road safety, avoiding drugs and so on are also committed to
a cause.
Context of gentile culture
At the last minute, Barda obtained a budget for 2005 from Omanut La'am,
but this does not satisfy her and she is gearing up to fight for the
principle. It is only grudgingly that Gelbstein and Barda admit that
ultra-Orthodox culture had not been funded because there hadn't been
any available. Not only did the ultra-Orthodox public not take an
interest in theater or music, it also rejected them outright, because
of the perceived connection to gentile culture. Gelbstein, who is from
the Slonim Hasidic community and was educated at the strict Rabbi Wolf
Bais Ya'akov Seminary in Bnei Brak, says she was raised in a family
that was open to culture. "I don't know whether this is because my
mother grew up in Europe and immigrated to this country. Around me the
girls all studied something, painting or guitar, in after-school
classes." She relates that she had a talent for dance and at the end of
elementary school she was invited to direct the end-of-the-year plays
at various schools in the city. She also had private guitar lessons.
However, her parents objected to her continuing in secular settings,
and therefore she did not complete a formal education.
Now she is talking about the professionalization of education in the
cultural field: No more accordion or guitar or painting lessons in the
homes of private teachers, the way it was during her girlhood in Bnei
Brak, but rather at professional schools. At ultra-Orthodox community
centers like Ma'aleh, or the Neveh Hemed branch in Jerusalem, there are
now art, music and photography classes. At Ma'aleh there is a branch of
the private ultra-Orthodox art school Tsur in Bnei Brak, where a newly
observant woman who is a graduate of Bezalel teaches. Recently, 15
women completed a course in Judaica illustration that was offered
through the school. They studied styles of painting and visited museum
exhibitions. They did not go to the Tel Aviv Museum for fear of
exposure to lewdness.
A Yamaha conservatory will open at the community center next year. "Why
shouldn't ultra-Orthodox children study violin or piano?" she asks.
According to her, there is no objection to children learning to play
classical works by Beethoven or Bach.
Yet she still admits that the ultra-Orthodox public is pragmatic. Women
learn Judaica illustration as a profession and not simply painting in
order to become artists. They learn to play instruments in order to
become music teachers, not to become members of an orchestra. In any
case, both of her daughters, who play the electric keyboard, will be
able to get diplomas from an ultra-Orthodox school. After that, the
choice is theirs.
The kosher seal of approval
MK Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism, who was present at the forum's
meetings with the Knesset Education Committee, says that today there is
a gradual development in the ultra- Orthodox community of all the areas
that are familiar to the secular - plays, films, art and music. "This
isn't happening in a dramatic way. The ultra-Orthodox public is still
lacking in organization, so I am helping with this."
And hasn't there been rabbinical opposition, for example, in light of
the explosion of performances at Hanukkah? Isn't this gentile culture?
Apparently the supervision is not close. For the most part, it was
noted in the advertisements that "the program has been approved by
teachers and educators." With respect to some of them, it was noted
that they had been given a special kosher seal of approval by the
Guardian of Sanctity and Education, a body in Bnei Brak that sends its
representative, Rabbi Mordechai Blau, to see the performances and
approve them or disallow them as he sees fit.
According to the producer Greenwald, the best way to ensure that a
performance is kosher is by telephone inquiry. "If you know that one
performance or another was on at Belz, or some other place you can
trust, it passes. By this method, performances that were at Kiryat
Sefer, the bastion of the strictest Lithuanians,are suitable for
appearing anywhere else."
Last update - 02:09 07/01/2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moshe
A sketch of the proposed Aspen Jewish Community Center, as seen from
Main Street, includes the auditorium/sanctuary on the right, a
classroom building on the left (east) and the incorporation of two old
cabins. Rendering courtesy Arthur Chabon Architect.
By Janet Urquhart
January 14, 2005
Plans for an Aspen Jewish Community Center on Main Street remain in
limbo until the city and the congregation can agree on what should
happen to nine old cabins on the property.
After a fourth review Wednesday of conceptual plans for the project by
the Historic Preservation Commission, neither HPC members nor the
Chabad of Aspen, which wants to build the complex, are sure where the
project is headed. Representatives of both sides, however, are still
expressing optimism that an acceptable plan will emerge.
"At this point, we don't know what we're doing," said planning
consultant Alan Richman, whose clients have been sent back to the
drawing board yet again. "The Jewish congregation owns the property and
intends to build something on it."
"We're very disappointed, but not discouraged," added Rabbi Mendel
Mintz, who leads the congregation.
The Chabad of Aspen purchased the Main Street property between Third
and Fourth streets last year for $5.06 million, according to records on
file at the Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder's Office. The site,
currently known as L'Auberge d'Aspen, contains 19 cabins that have been
rented as lodge rooms. Ten of them are relatively new; nine date to the
late 1930s or early '40s. The old cabins were simple motel
accommodations - guests could pull up alongside the cabin they'd rented
for the night.
The old cabins aren't currently designated as historic structures, but
the property is within the Main Street Historic District, giving the
HPC oversight of what happens there.
As part of the redevelopment, the city would like to see the old cabins
protected through a formal historic designation. Too much change to the
look and location of the cabins, however, could make them ineligible,
said Amy Guthrie, the city's historic preservation officer.
"We haven't found the right balance yet," she said. "How much can they
relocate or alter the cabins before they don't qualify to be historic
anymore?
"I know there's a solution here," she added.
"We would be happy with the designation after we're done," Richman
said.
It's likely the congregation would not have been interested in the
property to begin with had the cabins already been designated as
historic and subject to the city's strict rules on alteration and
relocation, he said.
Preserving all of the cabins in their present locales effectively
"condemns half the property," Richman said.
The proposed project calls for a two-story classroom building along
Third Street, where two old cabins would have to be removed; and a
two-story auditorium/sanctuary building along Fourth Street that would
also contain offices, a library and other functions.
"It's very hard to make all that compatible with those small
buildings," Richman said.
The 10 new cabins and two old ones would be moved off site, but not
demolished, under the latest plan. The remaining old cabins would be
incorporated into the complex; four of them would be combined to create
two employee housing units, according to the proposal.
Historic integrity threatened
In her memo to the HPC, Guthrie said the proposal has evolved into one
"that has unacceptable impacts to the historic integrity of the
property." She urged the HPC to decide whether or not the cabins will
be designated as historic, as the uncertainty about their future status
is hindering discussion about what alterations will be acceptable on
the site.
"Having them unilaterally designated without our consent is not
something we find acceptable," Mintz said Wednesday. "We feel like the
[HPC] has been very responsive, but we're disappointed with the staff's
response to the project."
Despite the disagreement, HPC member Michael Hoffman said he believes
the conceptual plans are still moving forward.
"I wouldn't say it's bogged down. I don't think it is, frankly, but
some hard decisions have to be made," he said. "Do we agree the two
cabins can be removed and still be an appropriate historic designation
project?"
Potentially complicating the HPC's deliberations is a federal law, the
Religious Land-Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, and its
possible implications.
Among its prohibitions, the act reads, "No government shall impose or
implement a land-use regulation that unreasonably limits religious
assemblies, institutions or structures within a jurisdiction."
"Our attorneys are looking into it, but it's not somewhere we want to
go now," Mintz said.
Hoffman, an attorney, said he doesn't believe the legislation would
apply.
"We're not making it any more difficult for a religious institution to
build here than anyone else," he said. "Our land-use regulations are
what they are."
Janet Urquhart's e-mail address is ja...@aspentimes.com
Moshe
financial
ATLANTA, Ga (Jan. 14) - The Katherine and Jacob Greenfield Hebrew
Academy's administrators, faculty and staff know that their response to
the tsunami disaster is an opportunity to put into action the values
GHA imparts to its students daily.
PRAYER
Middle Schoolers incorporated a special prayer written by Hillel of
Harvard's Rabbi, Rabbi Shai Held, into their morning prayers. GHA's
Director of Judaic Studies Lon Covitz had received his "Prayer in the
Wake of the Asian Tsunami Disaster" from the Young Israel of Toco Hills
synagogue. In addition, GHA students of all ages created their own
individual prayers which they shared with each other.
DISCUSSION AND UNDERSTANDING
GHA teachers and students focused grade-level discussions on:
sharing support and caring for the victims; understanding why we, as
Jews, need to act to help both spiritually and financially; and how GHA
can respond to help the victims. Educational support came from a
website about which The Center for Jewish Education and Experiences
(CJEE) had informed all local Jewish educational institutions:
http://jwit.webinstituteforteachers.org/~naphhoff/tsunamiwebquest/.
FUNDRAISING
Children, asked to bring in tzedakah (charity) from their "own money"
(on a grade-based sliding scale), rose to the occasion. Over $1000 thus
far raised will be distributed evenly between JFGA Tsunami Relief
Efforts and those of the Jewish Community of Thailand/Chabad of
Thailand. Why Chabad of Thailand? Middle School teacher Rabbi Yossi Lew
had shared firsthand accounts with the Middle Schoolers of relief
efforts from a Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Wilhelm, in Thailand. Rabbi
Wilhelm's colleague Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, is the director of
Chabad-Lubavitch activities in Thailand, is a friend of Rabbi Lew, and
had even once visited in Atlanta. You can find Rabbi Wilhelm's moving
report from Phuket, in which he describes the work Chabad is doing
onsite, at http://www1.chabad.org/magazine/article.asp?AID=247234
GHA 6th grader Erica Halpern has taken the initiative to help.
Together with her neighbor, Carly Herbert, Erica is selling silicon
bracelets which say TSUNAMI RELIEF on them for $3 each. As of Tuesday
January 11th, the girls had pre-sold close to the entire first shipment
(about 500 bracelets), and have placed two more orders since. Once the
bracelets arrive, they expect to sell even more. The girls realize that
every dollar counts, and have been fortunate enough to have found a way
to count each dollar three times! Erica and Carly found a family which
will match their donation; Turner Broadcasting will match it as well.
Proceeds will be donated to UNICEF.
E-mail: weekl...@mindspring.com
Mailing address: P.O. Box 921141, Peachtree Corners, GA 30010-1141
http://www.theweekly.com/news/2005/January/14/GHA.html
Moshe
Chabad emissaries from Thailand reunite with 1,000 backpackers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mati Wagner, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 26, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two Chabad hassidim, visiting from tsunami-wracked Thailand, reunited
with a thousand friends this weekend at the Sha'arei Yerushalayim
Hotel.
The friends, all veteran Israeli backpackers who have trekked through
Phuket, seen Ko Samui and wandered the streets of Bangkok, came to
share memories with the two and their families and to thank them again
for all their help in times of need.
There were young women wearing low-rise jeans and sporting bare
midriffs, but there were also long skirts and blouses that covered
elbows. There were pierced noses and gelled hair and images of colorful
snakes on bare skin, and there were knife sheathes slung so low that
underwear showed, but there were also embroidered kippot and tzitzit
and pressed white shirts.
There were young people who spend Friday nights at dance clubs, bars
and coffee shops, and others who light candles and say Kiddush.
But all had something in common: their positive experience with
Chabad's emissaries in Thailand - Rabbis Nehemia Wilhelm and Yosef
Kantor.
"Nehemia loves every Jew," said Shahar Wolf, who, like thousands of
young Israelis visited Thailand after army service. "It doesn't matter
if you were jailed, had your money stolen, missed your plane, got
beaten up, are wiped out on drugs, he is there for you. You don't even
have to even ask him, he is always looking to help someone. He is
really a beautiful, amazing guy."
The meeting happened to fall almost exactly a month after the tsunami
devastated large portions of Southeast Asia.
"Ten minutes after the first tsunami hit, my phone starting ringing. It
hasn't stopped since, Wilhelm wrote on Chabad Thailand's Internet site.
But since the meeting had been planned months in advance and could not
be cancelled, Kantor and Wilhelm and their families made the trip to
Israel, staying just three days before they were back on the plane to
Thailand.
"It was important to us to make the trip to reinspire people we haven't
been in touch with in awhile," said Kantor. "I like to tell people we
have a 99 percent success rate. That doesn't mean everyone becomes
observant Orthodox Jews; it just means they become a little more
comfortable with their Judaism, which is really another way of saying
they become a little more comfortable with themselves."
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This article can also be read at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1106623165498
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Copyright 1995-2005 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/
Moshe
On celebrating the spriritual and the material
By Caroline Cummins
As the sun slides down the sky and the air fills with a golden haze, a
small crowd gathers in front of a gray house just south of the
University of Oregon campus. The youngest are teenagers; the oldest are
graying. Some have made an effort to dress up, but many are clad in
jeans, even shorts. A few of the men are wearing yarmulkes and some of
the women have tied scarves over their hair. It's Friday night, and
they are here to celebrate Shabbas, the Jewish Sabbath.
Outdoors, cigarettes glow in the fading light; indoors, people fill the
front hall. Two young children, a boy and a girl, run giggling through
the rooms. Old friends introduce strangers, saying "Good Shabbas!"
to each other. The sky deepens into lavender, and the windows blaze
with electric light. All the guests move inside and slowly separate:
the women into the front room, the men into the hall.
Twenty minutes before sunset, the women are responsible for lighting
the Shabbas candles. Rebbetzen Aviva Spiegel, the evening's hostess,
asks for a show of hands: How many know the blessing? Several hands go
up, some more tentatively than others. Candles cover a corner table,
and Aviva invites the women to take turns lighting them; the tea lights
and silver candelabra begin to flicker. The women watch Aviva, a petite
woman who always looks taller on Shabbas, clad tonight in black and a
trailing red scarf. They follow her lead, waving their hands slowly
towards their faces, wafting the smoke of the flames towards them,
welcoming the arrival of Shabbas.
Together they place their palms over their faces, fingertips up, and
chant the brakha, or blessing: "Barukh atai Adonai, Elohaynu, melekh
ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu l'had'lik
neir shel shabbat. Amen." 'Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of
the Universe, who sanctifies us with his commandments, and commands us
to light the candles of Shabbas.' Some women remove their hands and
watch the candles for a minute before moving away; others hold their
hands over their faces for a while, swaying slightly. The men all stand
in the hallway, a little awkward, watching and waiting. Some murmur
"Amen" along with the women, sotto voce, as if their deeper voices
would break the spell. Shabbas has begun.
Aviva and her husband, Rabbi Asi Spiegel, moved to Eugene with their
two small children (now three) in the fall of 2002. They are members of
Chabad Lubavitch, a branch of the mystical Orthodox Jewish movement
known as Hasidism. Every aspect of their lives is Jewish, from the
clothing they wear (modest) to the food they eat (kosher) to the work
they do: sharing their approach to Judaism with other Jews they meet.
There are no Jews quite like the Spiegels in Eugene. But that's why
they're here.
With the candles lit, the men head across the hall into the library and
shut the French doors, while the women pull chairs into a circle in the
long front room. Aviva passes out blue Siddurs, or prayer books,
written in Hebrew with English translations. Every Friday night, the
Spiegels open their home to all comers; usually they welcome about 15
guests. But tonight, in addition, there are at least seven
first-timers, members of Eugene's Havurah group. There are Havurahs
all across the U.S., and they usually function as religious-study and
social-action clubs for Jewish adults. Weeks before, the Eugene Havurah
had invited itself over to check out the Chabad experience, and Aviva
is slightly nervous about making sure she does everything right.
She opens by asking the women to introduce themselves by giving their
names and then their mother's name, going back as far as they know,
using the Hebrew word bat to signify "daughter of." The women
struggle with this for a minute, then get into the rhythm: I'm
so-and-so, bat so-and-so, bat so-and-so. One woman knows only her own
mother's name; everything beyond that, she says, is lost in the
Holocaust. Everyone also shares what they like about Shabbas, whether
it's seeing friends or having to walk everywhere for a day. A few
women are puzzled by this last response until it's explained that
observant Jews do not drive cars, carry objects outside, turn on light
switches or do other activities that could be considered "work" on
Shabbas. They shrug, accepting. Some of the women know blessings and
songs in Hebrew; some are also familiar with the many subtleties of
being an observant Jew. Others know little beyond the fact that they
are Jewish. But they're curious, and Aviva doesn't want them to
leave unsatisfied.
http://etude.uoregon.edu/winter2005/fields/index.html
Moshe
Feeling isolated in a new city, and camping out in Etobicoke with his
girlfriend's family, Ben Kaplan began to feel cut off from his roots.
What's a nice Jewish boy from Manhattan to do? Go shopping for a
synagogue, of course!
Ben Kaplan
National Post
Saturday, January 22, 2005
CREDIT: Peter Redman, National Post
Ben Kaplan scoured the city for a place he could call his spiritual
home. Finally, Lottie Glass, centre, invited him and his girlfriend,
Julie Tsatsaronis, to visit the Beth Radom Synagogue in Downsview.
The best thing about moving to a new city is that it's a chance to
start fresh. Last year, my girlfriend, Julie, and I were working on a
tobacco farm in northern Greece, where we lived across the street from
a church. The church had speakers on the rooftop that blasted out
prayers over the neighbourhood. When my parents paid a visit, they
tripled the Jewish population, which until then had consisted of me.
So when I returned to North America, I was eager to elevate my
spiritual side. After packing up my digs in New York, I moved in with
Julie and her family in Etobicoke, and I've been trying to make it feel
like home.
The thing is, Julie's family is Greek Orthodox. And while most of my
best friends in Manhattan were Jews, I hadn't been to temple in years.
"Call my Jewish friend," Julie kept telling me again and again. But I
was reluctant.
Finally, I dug out the phone book. The search for a temple was on.
There are 44 listings in the Super Pages under "Synagogue," and when I
begin to inquire, I'm stunned. It's the High Holidays, and the first
place I call, Adath Shalom, is charging $75 a seat. I'd intended on
inviting Julie's parents, but my Judaism can't stand up to a $300 test
of faith. Maybe there's a reason I skipped shul last year.
I find the Darche Noam, which ordains gay and lesbian rabbis; Temple
Beth Shalom, where a family friend told me you have to be grandfathered
in; and the Village Shul, which costs $187.50 a ticket for a High
Holiday service, but offers subsidy requests that must first go before
a financial board. No, thank you -- I had enough problems with college
loans. I contact the Oraynu Community, where spiritual leader Karen
Levy invites Julie and me to a potluck dinner. They don't pray or
follow the Torah, Levy says, but I'm discovering my own Judaism has
quirks -- not only am I non-practising; apparently I'm traditional,
too.
I remember the last time I went to temple, before Alzheimer's took my
grandmother away. I begged my mother not to make me go, and during the
service I counted down the seconds in my head. Now I'm searching for
something I rebelled against. Calling the United Jewish Appeal, whose
slogan is "Doing Jewish in Toronto," sounds like the last thing I would
do, yet call I do.
The UJA recommends a place called Chabad. Chabad is a global
organization for unaffiliated Jews that puts people like me into
temples. "I'm displaced," I tell Rabbi Beitch, who speaks English with
a Yiddish accent, just like my Uncle Chet after a few glasses of wine.
"Relax," Rabbi Beitch says, "you're displaced no more."
Chabad, on Bathurst Street near St. Clair Avenue West, is headquarters
for the Hasidim, and it offers a pretty sweet deal: Pay what you can,
and they throw in Danish and punch. But the rabbi and I get to talking.
"You need a nice Jewish girl," he says. And though he's just being a
mensch, it's Julie who would be making a leap of faith. She deserves
better than this.
So I get on the phone again and ring up something called the Jewish
Information Service Line. Think of it as a kind of Judaic Batphone:
When I dial, I imagine a huge Jewish star being projected high in the
air over Bathurst, and a superhero named Israelman, in long beard and
black cloak, picking up the phone. Instead I reach a woman who asks:
"You live in Etobicoke?"
"Yeah, between Pizza Pizza and Pizza Nova," I say.
"No wonder you haven't seen any Jews," she replies with a laugh. "You
should call Anshei Minsk, one of the oldest temples. It's on the
outskirts of Chinatown, once nearly all filled with Jews."
I call Anshei Minsk and speak to a wonderful rabbi, and end up
unloading three decades' worth of Jewish guilt. "I mean, Jesus Christ!
Easter was the last religious thing that I went to," I whine, and
unleash a string of blasphemies the good rabbi takes in stride.
"You can always come home," he says. I'm prepared to board the Anshei
Minsk spiritual express, though it'll cost me $60 a head for a holiday
service, until he tells me the congregation is Orthodox, which means
men and women sit apart. This is something I want Julie and I to do
together, so I'm back to shul-shopping again.
And then I'm put in touch with Lottie Glass, a member of temple Beth
Radom. "We're going to someone else's house after services, otherwise I
would invite you to ours,' " Glass says, adding she's been a member
since 1962: Day One. She tells me Beth Radom has stained-glass windows,
a young rabbi, public seating and a donate-what-you-can door policy.
"What the hell," I say. "See you Saturday night." Now all that remains
is to go.
Julie calls my mother to find out what to wear. That day, I go with her
father to church. It feels good that our parents are supportive. Of
course, they'd prefer anything to our spending all night at the bars.
On Saturday, I take Highway 427 north to the 401 East, and get off at
Bathurst Street. We see fathers with ringlets pushing strollers past
the Kosher Grocer, and my stomach groans. (In an attempt to atone for
religious foot-dragging, I decided to fast.) Security greets us at the
door. Julie and I freeze. Will this be the end of my spiritual quest?
An older man approaches, and asks why we're standing with our arms
crossed in front of our beautiful clothes.
"Just waiting to see if there are any seats," we tell him.
"Don't worry," he says, "there always are."
Sure enough, we're shown into temple, and Julie takes Dorothy Shessel's
empty seat. Someone introduces us to Lottie Glass.
"I'm leaving soon for a cruise," she says.
"You must be excited," Julie replies.
"I am. We got such a bah-gain you wouldn't believe."
An older woman with an accent talking about bargains at temple? It's
like I'm back in New York with my grandmother again.
The rabbi wears running shoes with his suit. A kid in the row in front
of me falls asleep, and I yearn to teach him my counting trick. I even
get up and stand in front of the Torah, feeling nervous and curious,
embarrassed and proud.
I shake hands with the rabbi and give Julie a smile. Maybe I will call
her friend after all.
© National Post 2005
Copyright © 2005 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global
Communications Corp. All rights reserved.
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2005/01/21/news/world/aaa.txt
Moshe
This year, the rabbi lost power:
Yuschenko's win weakens Jewish leader
By Walter Ruby
DNEPROPETROVSK, Ukraine, Jan. 23 (JTA) - Ukraine's elections were
widely seen as a triumph for democracy. But the ascension of President
Viktor Yuschenko - who officially took the post Sunday - leaves the
man widely characterized as the most powerful Jew in Ukraine outside
the circles of influence.
Still, few observers believe Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky, spiritual leader
of the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk and one of the most
influential political operators on the Ukrainian Jewish scene, will be
in the political wilderness for long.
The Israeli-born and Brooklyn-bred Kaminetzky, 39, is a Chabad
wunderkind who was dispatched in 1990 by the Lubavitcher rebbe as an
emissary to the rebbe's hometown of Dnepropetrovsk, a heavily
industrial city of about 1.5 million in what was once the industrial
heartland of the Soviet Union.
Kaminetzky quickly set about building what many consider to be the most
united and smoothest-functioning Jewish community in the former Soviet
Union.
In a region where Jewish infighting is intense, most agree that
Kaminetzky has been an effective bridge-builder.
Largely thanks to Kaminetzky's efforts, the Jewish Agency for Israel,
the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Dnepropetrovsk
Jewish community all "work together here without the turf wars that
are common in cities throughout the FSU," said Sophia Morovina,
associate director at the Jewish Agency's local office.
The community boasts state-of-the-art facilities including a home for
the aged, a teacher-training institute, a day school serving 600
students and extensive programs for orphans and children with
disabilities.
It also offers a variety of services to both Jews and non-Jews in
Dnepropetrovsk, including a network of soup kitchens and a
gynecological clinic that tests women for cervical cancer.
Due in part to his political acumen and networking ability, and due
also to the support he enjoys among a loyal set of new millionaires and
"oligarchs" serving on the Board of Directors of the Jewish
Community of Dnepropetrovsk, Kaminetzky gained access to top Ukrainian
government officials that was unmatched among the country's leading
Jews.
Affording Kaminetzky direct access to the then-president of Ukraine,
Leonid Kuchma, was the most powerful member of the Jewish community and
the country's largest media mogul, Viktor Pinchuk. In the late 1990s,
Pinchuk married Kuchma's daughter, Olena.
Kaminetzky frequently jetted to Israel with top Ukrainian government
leaders, and his praise for Kuchma's successful efforts to prevent
anti-Semitic violence in this traditionally anti-Semitic country helped
Kuchma in his interactions with the United States and other Western
countries.
But Kuchma's reign ended this January with the ascension of
Yuschenko, who defeated Viktor Yanukovich in a third-round election
after weeks of street protests in Kiev. Results of an earlier round in
which Yanukovich claimed victory were thrown out after the country's
Supreme Court ruled there had been massive fraud.
Pinchuk backed Yanukovich in both rounds of the election - meaning
that Pinchuk's ally, Kaminetzky, now finds himself out of favor.
"I won't have the privilege anymore of going to Kiev for a cup of
tea" with the president, Kaminetzky said a little wistfully. "The
party is over for me. It was a nice friendship while it lasted."
But Kaminetzky, who lives in Dnepropetrovsk with his wife and seven
children, is putting the best possible twist on the election results.
"Everyone is very happy and excited and hoping for change," he said
in a recent telephone interview with JTA. "People in our city are now
looking forward to the prospect of someday getting E.U. passports. We
also are more hopeful that the ecological situation, which is very bad
in Dnepropetrovsk, will begin to get better."
Kaminetzky acknowledged that the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk,
which is located in a mainly Russian-speaking part of the country,
voted for Yanukovich by a margin of about 60 percent to 40 percent.
An estimated 40,000 Jews live in the city, with about 20,000 more in
the outlying region.
Many Ukrainian Jews voted for Yanukovich out of fear that there may be
anti-Semites in Yuschenko's camp. But Kaminetzky believes Yuschenko
has done everything he can to make the country's Jews feel
comfortable, including appearing at a Kiev synagogue during Chanukah.
"Yuschenko's movement does have a Ukrainian nationalist
perspective, but that seems to me a case of feeling positive about
being Ukrainian, rather than being against another people,"
Kaminetzky said.
In building the city's Jewish community, Kaminetzky has shown a
talent for working with people whose level of Jewish observance is far
less than his own, including a powerful community lay leadership headed
by many of Dnepropetrovsk's leading industrial barons. An estimated
70 percent of the heavy industry in the region, including large steel
mills and other giant plants, are Jewish-owned.
In addition, a range of international and Israel-based organizations,
including the Jewish Agency and the JDC, have worked fruitfully
together under Kaminetzky's aegis, providing a wide range of social
services.
The Dnepropetrovsk community also has a longstanding relationship with
the Jewish community of Boston, a politically liberal bastion that does
not at first glance appear to be a logical fit for a community headed
by a Chasidic rabbi.
Together the two communities have collaborated on several social
service projects, including the home for the aged and the gynecological
clinic.
According to Barry Shrage, president of Boston's Combined Jewish
Philanthropies, "What Rabbi Kaminetzky has accomplished has been
amazing. Our connection to Dnepropetrovsk has given hundreds of our
people a chance to see and take part in a miracle - the rebirth of
Jewish life out of nothing."
Shrage acknowledged that the two communities were unlikely allies.
"Yes, we disagree on some issues, but we have been able to join
forces for the good of the Jewish people. This isn't about politics
but about serving people in need," he said.
Among the businessmen active in the Dnepropetrovsk community is Yevgeny
Zeldis, who was born there in 1955 and today runs a construction
company.
Zeldis, who first got involved in Jewish life in the 1990s when he
decided to send his two children to the Jewish community day school,
says his growing involvement with the community leadership has changed
him.
"I am no more of a believer in God than I was a decade ago, but I am
certainly more informed and educated as a Jew," he said.
Businessman Edward Sartan said Kaminetzky plays another sensitive but
necessary role - reconciling clashing business interests that
otherwise might settle their differences in a less civilized fashion.
"We have had situations where our Jewish businessmen are fighting
each other over a factory and they come to Reb Shmuel, who is friends
to both of them, and he works out an agreement to reconcile them,"
Sartan said, referring to Kaminetzky. "There is no Beit Din; he is
the one who decides in such cases."
But not everyone in the community is pleased. Some say there is a
certain Soviet-style feeling to Chabad's dominance of Jewish life
here, with a photo of the late Lubavitcher rebbe in almost every room
of community-run institutions.
Vladimir Levy, a leader of the Reform movement in the nearby city of
Zaparozhe, said efforts several years ago to create a Reform
congregation in Dnepropetrovsk failed because Kaminetzky used his
influence with top officials, including the then-governor of
Dnepropetrovsk province, to make sure the Reform group didn't receive
required authorizations.
Kaminetzky acknowledges that he wasn't happy about the prospect of
the Reform group operating in his city but denies interceding with the
authorities. The Reform group may have given up after realizing that
the city's secular Jews, their natural constituency, preferred a
united community to a fractious one, he said.
Kaminetzky dismisses the contention that Chabad plays an outsized role
today not only in Dnepropetrovsk but throughout the Jewish communities
of Russia, Ukraine and the rest of the former Soviet Union.
"Look, it should be clear that Chabad has no hidden agenda to
dominate Jewish life or to take over anything," he said. "But we do
get offended when people look at us as some kind of cult. Chabad is the
Jewish people and works on behalf of the Jewish people. It's as
simple as that."
This article was made possible, in part, by support from the Charles
and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff
Family Charitable Funds and the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee.
Moshe
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2005
By Kristin Colella
Collegian Staff Writer
At sundown last night, many local Jewish people celebrated a little
known yet important holiday, Tu B'Shvat, which marks the New Year of
the Trees.
The holiday is rooted in ancient Israel and was a way for people to
keep track of the ages of trees according to the Jewish calendar.
Each tree is one year older on Tu B'Shvat.
According to ancient Israeli law, a tree's age dictated whether
citizens were allowed to eat its fruit.
"The first three years you wouldn't be able to eat fruit, the fourth
year you'd have to bring the fruit to Jerusalem, and on the fifth year
you could eat the fruit," said Rabbi Nosson Meretsky, director of
Chabad House, 324 E. Prospect Ave.
Today, many Jewish people celebrate the holiday by attending Seders
where they eat different types of fruit, read lines from the Torah
concerning fruit and growth, and drink from the four cups of blessed
wine.
Meretsky said Tu B'Shvat is not a major Jewish holiday.
"It's a smaller holiday, definitely lesser known," he said.
Meretsky said Jewish people try to eat the seven fruits that Israel is
praised for, including wheat, barley, figs, dates, grapes, olives and
pomegranates.
He added that the New Year of Trees also carries deeper meanings.
"We focus on what we can learn through trees," he said. "Trees are
always growing and giving fruits, just as every person is growing and
learning and becoming a better person."
Avia Reuveni (senior-science and Jewish studies) said she observes the
holiday because it is important to keep the custom alive.
"There's a lot of meaning behind it actually," she said. "It's
important to speak of the trees. It's passing down tradition."
Jeremy Weisblatt, coordinator of a Penn State Hillel Seder held last
night in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, said Tu B'Shvat is not
celebrated by nearly as many people as other Jewish holidays, such as
Passover and Hanukkah.
"Most people are not aware of it because it's not a major holiday," he
said. "We are not commanded to observe it."
Weisblatt added that the holiday first came about in the seventeenth
century as a way to connect with Israel.
"It is not an official holiday, but it is important," he said. "We eat
exotic fruits and think about the earth."
One student said this is the first year he chose to celebrate the New
Year of the Trees.
"I've always known that it was happening," said Avi Sadiky
(junior-kinesiology), who attended a Seder last night. "Now I'm trying
it out."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Nina Reznik
Rabbi Nosson Meretsky reflects on the Tu B'Shvat, which marks the New
Year of the Trees, at Chabad House, 324 E. Prospect Ave., last night.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/01/01-25-05tdc/01-25-05dnews-09.asp
Moshe
Posted 1/19/2005
By RABBI YAAKOV KLASS
A Sabbath Desecrator Leading Services
(Conclusion)
QUESTION: What are the requirements for a sheliach tzibbur? May someone
who desecrates the Sabbath lead the services?
C.M. Siegel
Rockland, NY
ANSWER: We discussed the importance of the Sabbath and its centrality
in Judaism as well as the Jewish people`s love for and awe of the
Sabbath, which are legendary. Tremendous self-sacrifices were made in
honor of our Shabbat. We continued with the Biblical commandment to
observe the Sabbath and its relevance to choosing a sheliach tzibbur.
Last week we listed some well-known qualities of and requirements for
someone who leads services, as they appear in Yitzchak "Izzy" Broker`s
booklet, "To Stand Before Hashem: How To Lead The Prayers."
* * *
My uncle, HaRav Sholom Klass, zt``l, whose yahrzeit is on the 10th of
Shevat, noted that he would include a mechallel Shabbat in a minyan (a
quorum of ten) but he was not comfortable with such a person leading
the services. To shed some light on his view, he referred me to the
She`elot U`teshuvot HaBach (the classic work of the Bach, the author of
Bayit Chadash - R. Yoel Sirkis), where we find the following actual
case discussion in the very first responsum (Orach Chayyim):
If an individual stole or seized bread from his fellow man, may he say
the benediction of Hamotzi prior to eating it or the Birkat Hamazon
after consuming it?
After a lengthy discussion of the issues, he rules that such an
individual may not make a blessing before eating the bread because he
did not acquire it with any shinui (change in the bread`s essence) but
he may make a blessing after consuming it, as there is no greater
shinui than its being consumed - though he must pay for what he took.
He cites the Gemara (Bava Kamma 94a, Perek Hagozel Etzim), where we
find the statement of R. Eliezer b. Yaakov who asks: if one
misappropriated a se`ah of wheat, kneaded it, baked it, and set aside a
portion of it as challah, how would he be able to recite a blessing on
it? This surely is not considered a blessing but rather a blasphemy, as
the verse states, ". . . u[b]otze`a berech, ni`etz Hashem - ... and
the brazen robber pronounces a benediction but in fact he blasphemes
Hashem" (Psalms 10:3).
The Bach seems to imply that even one who has made a substantial change
in the item, causing him to acquire it, is still one who blasphemes
Hashem. Thus, we may be able to apply this concept to a Sabbath
desecrator who leads the services.
The rule regarding blessings over a stolen item is found in the
Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayyim 25:12, Hilchot Tefillin), where R. Yosef
Caro states that one may not recite the blessings on tefillin if the
tefillin were stolen. The Mishna Berura (ad loc. 25:54) refers to this
as ``mitzva haba`ah be`avera,`` a precept fulfilled through the
violation of a prohibition. As the verse states (Psalms 10:3), such a
person is not blessing Hashem, but engaging in blasphemy.
Similarly, this applies to the mitzva of lulav, the Four Species used
on Sukkot, where the first Mishna in Perek Lulav Hagazul (Sukka 29b)
states that in the event one steals a lulav to accomplish the mitzva,
the lulav becomes disqualified for him and he may not use it.
Rashi (ad loc. s.v. Gazul) explains that the lulav would not be valid
because the verse (Leviticus 24:3) states, "U`lekachtem lachem... -
You shall take for yourselves..." (it has to belong to you).
The Gemara in its discussion specifies that this is the halacha for the
first day of Sukkot (the first two days in the diaspora), for the verse
continues, "... bayom harishon... - ... on the first day... [of
Sukkot]." However, on the remaining days of Sukkot, on which the
obligation is Rabbinical, a stolen lulav would be invalid on the
grounds that it would serve a mitzva haba`ah be`avera.
The above ruling follows the opinion of R. Shimon b. Yochai. However,
Shemuel rules that since it is only a Rabbinical obligation, it is not
considered a mitzva haba`ah be`avera.
According to the view of R. Shimon b. Yochai, we might similarly assume
that if one who desecrates the Sabbath is leading the services, he is
not blessing Hashem but rather blaspheming Hashem. We thus might
classify such a tefilla as a mitzva haba`ah be`avera.
The Gaon R. Yitzhak Yaakov Weiss (Minchat Yitzhak III 26:4) discusses
Sabbath desecrators in a responsum addressed to Rabbi Aharon Westheim
of Paris, who had noted the following in his question:
"There are many different categories of mechallelei Shabbat.
"There are some who are completely unaware that there is a prohibition
to do any labor on the Sabbath, especially regarding hotza`a [carrying
from one domain to another].
"There are others who have heard of the prohibition against doing any
sort of labor on the Sabbath, but are completely unaware of the gravity
of the situation, especially in regard to such labors as turning on an
electric switch or carrying. Many of the masses do not understand what
type of labor is involved [note: assuming that if it is effortless, it
is not considered labor]."
Rabbi Westheim suggests that we might compare this to the Gemara
(Shabbos 69a), where R. Yochanan addresses the case of shegaga, the
accidental violation of the Sabbath. R. Yochanan states that if one
erred as to its karet punishment, even though he sinned intentionally
regarding its lav (the prohibitory commandment), he would not be
liable.
"There is another type of individual who is knowledgeable about the
entire matter of hotza`a. However, due to his conceit and obstinacy, he
continues to carry on the Sabbath, ignoring all reprimands in this
regard.
"There are still others who, even while aware of the transgression,
attempt to conceal their desecration of the Sabbath from others. The
Gemara (Erubin 69a) refers to one who was carrying a jewel on the
Sabbath, but when he saw R. Judah the Prince he sought to conceal it.
R. Judah considered such a person to be a Jew in good standing, and not
a mummar, an apostate."
R. Westheim then asks what the rule would be regarding all the above
categories of Sabbath desecrators when it comes to letting them touch
wine, including them in a minyan, and allowing them to serve as a
sheliach tzibbur, as well as similar situations.
In his response R. Weiss notes that some rule leniently in this regard
while others rule more stringently. Referring to the case mentioned in
Tractate Erubin, we find that we do not consider one to be a flagrant
Sabbath desecrator unless he does not hide from the Nassi, lit. Rabbi
Judah the Prince - but actually any sage (Tosefot Shabbat 385, citing
Torat Chayyim). However, if he attempts to hide his transgressions from
the Nassi (any sage), we refer to him as a hidden desecrator.
R. Weiss proceeds to say that he has seen a different opinion in
Darchei Teshuva (Yoreh De`ah 119:34), who cites the Taharat Yisrael to
the effect that this only refers to one who violates a Rabbinical law;
but if a Biblical law is violated, and ten individuals know about it,
he would be considered a public desecrator of the Sabbath.
There are two teshuvot of the Gaon R. Moshe Stern, zt``l, in his
Responsa Ba`er Moshe (Vol. 5:94) regarding a mohel who is a mechallel
Shabbat lete`avon (to satisfy his desire), but exhibits other Jewish
traits, such as donning tefillin, allowing his sons to be circumcised,
and praying in the synagogue. Due to the importance of milah in its
proper time, it is permitted to allow him to perform circumcisions.
However, if his violation of the Sabbath is intentional and he is not
seen to observe any other mitzvot, then it is better to delay the
circumcision for a day in order to find another mohel to perform the
circumcision.
R. Stern qualifies this by stating that the above ruling was issued in
the Hungarian city of Debrecen, where the rav and the congregation were
regulated closely by the state authorities. However, in places such as
the U.S., where we are free to accept or reject whomever we wish, there
is no reason to be lenient.
Thus we see that different circumstances tend to create different
rulings.
Indeed, we find R. Sternbuch`s decision (Teshuvot Ve`Hanhagot Vol. I,
Yoreh De`ah 474) regarding a remote community where, due to an
emergency, there was only a choice between two men to lead the
services: a kohen who was a Shomer Shabbat but who lived with a gentile
woman (she did not convert because, as a kohen, he would not be able to
marry her in any event) and a blatant Sabbath desecrator. R.
Sternbuch`s opinion was that, as a last resort, the Sabbath desecrator
was preferable, for at least this does not directly lead to Jews
intermarrying. Yet he adds, ``Woe to us that we have sinned so much
that we have to deal with such questions.``
Similarly, I recently heard that R. Chodokov, who was the longtime
secretary to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson,
zt``l, said in a speech at a Shluchim convention that he would permit a
Sabbath desecrator to lead services in extenuating circumstances, such
as the American heartland, ``because at that moment, when he leads a
congregation, is he desecrating the Shabbat?``
In analyzing the theory of mitzva haba`ah be`avera in light of R.
Chodokov`s statement, we cannot compare the aforesaid sheliach tzibbur
with one who, for example, steals tefillin and now wishes to fulfill a
mitzva with this stolen object. When the sheliach tzibbur is leading
the services, he is not in the act of desecrating the Sabbath.
My uncle, HaRav Sholom Klass, was only reluctant about a Sabbath
desecrator leading the services, but as far as joining the quorum, he
steadfastly felt that we must extend our hand to those who come to the
synagogue to pray, as that in itself is a sign of their good
intentions. Indeed now, especially during the period of his yahrzeit,
we apply that which we learn in Tractate Yevamot (97a), "The lips of a
[deceased] scholar, in whose name a traditional statement is reported
in this world, move gently in the grave (siftotav dovevot ba`kever)."
In conclusion, if there is a minyan of yere`ei shamayim, it is far
better to choose an individual with an undistinguished voice who is
free of taint in order to lead the prayer services than a Sabbath
desecrator who may possess a fine voice. ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2001, The Jewish Press Inc. (ISSN 0021-6674)
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article_print.asp?article=4606
Moshe
Translator's note: the following are translated excerpts from an
account by Israeli activist, writer and former Knesset member Geulah
Cohen of her meeting with the Rebbe. The original Hebrew version was
published in the Israeli daily, Maariv, December 18, 1964.
I've met wise people, I've met scholars, I've met artists, but to
meet a believer is an altogether different experience. After meeting a
wise person, you remain what you were before-wise or stupid; after
meeting a scholar, you remain what you were before- learned or a
boor; after meeting with an artist, you remain what you were
before-artist or artisan. But when you take leave of a believer, you
leave his presence different than you entered it. For even if the
believer's faith does not infect you, it affects you. For the
believer believes in you, too.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the spiritual
leader of the international Chabad movement, is a wise man, a learned
man, but above all, he is a believer. And if faith is the art of truth,
he's also an artist. A particularly creative artist. His creation: an
entire army of believers whose commander-in-chief he is. The faith army
of Israel, dedicated to the G-d of Israel and the people of Israel.
***
The Midrash does not anywhere describe how the supernal angels are
received in audience before the divine throne. But were it to describe
this, it might well take its cue from the manner in which one is
received by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Of course, there is a secretary, a
line, and reception hours, as with every human being. Here, however,
the secretary doesn't ask what you wish to discuss with the
Rebbe-your questions to the Rebbe are between you and him. Here,
though it might be necessary to wait weeks or months for your turn,
anyone who so desires can be received by the Rebbe. And here, the
reception hours are not during the daytime, but at night-all night
long.
"Eleven in the evening?" I repeated in amazement when Rabbi
Chodakov, the Rebbe's secretary, notified me of the time of my
appointment with the Rebbe.
"Tomorrow night at eleven," came the clear reply through the phone
from the Rebbe's Brooklyn headquarters.
"Why not during the daytime?" The chassid to whom I addressed this
query gave me a look as if I had asked the most bizarre question in the
world. "During the day the Rebbe studies," he stated with finality.
Instead of asking why the Rebbe doesn't study at night and receive
people during the day, I found myself thinking that, perhaps, this is
as it should be; that perhaps at night the hearts speak more freely and
the heavens are more open to listen.
***
When I read a book, I always skip the introduction. But the long
introduction that preceded the moment of my meeting with the Rebbe
taught me that there are introductions that should not be skipped, for
the simple reason that in them the story really begins. The Rebbe's
chassidim are a part of his personality, just as Chassidism believes
that all of humanity is part of G-d's personality. My audience with
the Rebbe began when I arrived at his headquarters and met his
disciples.
I hesitate to refer to the young Talmud-studying men who filled the
place as "students." Yes, each sat with open book before him, but
none of them looked like someone who is learning something he did not
already know. They looked more like one who stands in a laboratory and
manipulates spirit and the letters of spirit as a scientist manipulates
matter, dissecting, deciphering, building structures and forging forms.
And all this with a melodious song. What has not already been written
on the Chassidic melody? What will not be yet written of it? For it has
neither beginning nor end. It sounds like a continuation of your own
melody, like a song that you are singing for someone else to come and
continue for you. At that moment it occurred to me that the Ten
Commandments ought to have been said with a Chassidic melody...
Those students who were not engrossed in their studies but stood around
talking-perhaps of ordinary, everyday matters-nevertheless wore the
expression on the face of a front-line soldier, and the hushed
atmosphere was that of impending battle. Their commander was not
visible here, but his presence somewhere in the building was
well-sensed. No audible command had been sounded, but all were poised
for the moment it would be given...
***
I, too, am awaiting word-word that I am to enter the Rebbe's room.
It's already eleven-fifteen, eleven-thirty-when will my turn come?
I'm about to ask one of the young men in the office, when a
fashionably dressed young woman, heels clicking and a scream of blonde
hair spilling out from under her hat, enters the room. I hear her voice
before I can catch a glimpse of her face.
"Is there an answer yet?" she asks in choked, fervent voice.
In lieu of a reply, the young man walks over to a mound of letters,
removes one-the letter that the woman had written to the Rebbe-and
tells her that the answer is inside. The woman grabs the letter from
his hand, opens it, and reads. Her eyes freeze for a moment, then fill
with tears-whether from joy or sorrow one cannot tell. Wordlessly,
she leaves the room.
Immediately she is back. "If so, I have another question. Can one ask
the Rebbe again?"
"Of course," says the young chassid. "Anytime, anything."
Her face lights up with joy...
***
When the door closed behind me and I stood alone with the Rebbe in the
room, it was midnight. But the Rebbe rose behind his desk to greet me
with a midday smile.
If you will, before you is a handsome face, a black hat slanting above
it and a gray beard flowing beneath it, expressing grace and
benevolence. But if you will, a pair of eyes alone confront you, gazing
at you not to see but to reveal. In such case, you feel quite
uncomfortable if you have something to hide, quite uncomfortable if you
have thought of uttering an untruth. You sense a need to do up all your
buttons to the very last one-somehow it feels as if they have all
become undone. Does the Rebbe really have such magical eyes, or have
you brought this magic in with you, the result of the night and the
impression made on you by his disciples? But now's not the time to
ponder questions of this sort. You came here for a purpose, didn't
you? So I begin to introduce myself.
But it turns out there's no need-he already knows more about me
than I've intended to tell him. He tells me not only what I've
done, but also what he thinks I ought to do; not only what I'm doing,
but also what he feels I'm not doing...
"I hear that you're now working as a journalist. Nu, that's also
good. Writing is very good, but it's not the main thing. The main
thing is the youth. To the youth one must speak, not write. Why don't
you speak to the youth? The youth is waiting to be spoken to, and no
one is doing it. They make speeches at them-but they don't speak to
them. And then they wonder why they aren't motivated.
"The youth," continued the Rebbe, "is waiting for a command-a
command issued in the same voice that all the great commands in Jewish
history were issued. Where are all the commanders? In the Knesset! What
happened to all the leaders who burned with a holy fire? What are those
who know how to command doing? Today they're arguing about whether to
increase or reduce the income tax by a percentage point...
"A basic law of physics is that no energy is ever lost. What once was
will always be. The youth of Israel has shown its power in the past;
this power still exists, and will return. All that lacks is the force
that will rouse it..."
***
When I left the Rebbe's room, it was past two in the morning.
Scarcely a second had gone by before the students pounced upon me.
"What did the Rebbe say?" they wanted to know.
My acquaintances who had accompanied me on my midnight trip to Brooklyn
immediately wanted to know: "So, what did you think of the Rebbe?"
Today, many weeks after my encounter with the Rebbe, I can say only
what I felt at the time. When I first entered his presence, I thought:
"Here is a believer." As I sat there listening to him speak, I
reassessed: "No, a wise man." When I left his presence, I said to
myself: "Yet a true believer."
Moshe
Center of Jupiter, FL
TCPALM.COM
Age: 29
Birthplace: New York City
Education: Rabbinical College of America
Family: Wife, Sarah; daughter, Chana, 2.
How did you get into your vocation? I always wanted to be able to share
my passion for Judaism. I also noticed that there is a tremendous
craving for spiritual fulfillment in people today. These two factors
moved me to become a rabbi and later establish a Chabad Jewish Center
in Jupiter.
If you couldn't be a rabbi, what would you be? I would do medical
research.
What do you do to relax? I ride my bicycle.
What book have you been recommending lately? "Toward a Meaningful
Life," by Simon Jacobson, published by Harper Collins.
Written any books? No.
Do you have a hero? My heroes are the men and women who put their lives
at risk to protect our country.
What makes you laugh? Watching my 2-year-old daughter learn and
discover the skills of communication.
What makes you cry? Thinking about the sad and tragic history endured
by the Jewish people.
Treasured memory? My first trip to Israel with my family.
Is there one thing you can't stand? Justification for the murder of
innocence.
Have you ever doubted your faith? I have questioned but not doubted.
How were those questions resolved? Through studying Torah, Talmud and
Kabbalah I have seen that everything is so consistent. It does not
leave much room for doubt.
Life motto or favorite Scripture verse? "A person must see himself and
the world as equally balanced on two ends of the scale; by doing one
good deed, he tips the scale and brings for himself and the entire
world redemption and salvation." - Maimonides
Do you know someone in the clergy that should profiled in Faithkeeper?
Please write to Faithkeeper, The Jupiter Courier, 800 W. Indiantown
Rd., Jupiter, FL. 33458, fax to 745-2403 or e-mail
jeff.al...@scripps.com
Reb Moshe
By Aspen Times Staff
January 26, 2005
Two Basalt men pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges Tuesday for
damaging a menorah in Paepcke Park during Hanukkah last month.
Richard Kemp, 26, and Nathan Goad, 29, must write a letter of apology
to the congregation of Aspen's Jewish Community Center-Chabad and
perform community service as part of their sentences. The hearing of a
third man involved, Levi Bones, 23, of Carbondale, was continued
yesterday to Feb. 8.
The three were arrested on Dec. 13 after they were allegedly spotted
vandalizing the menorah. City employees were able to reconstruct it.
The suspects told police they did not know what the religious symbol
was.
"There was no information that we gleaned from them that would indicate
that this is a premeditated hate crime," Aspen police Sgt. Steve Smith
said at the time.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20050126/NEWS/101260018
Moshe
By Jason Bedrick/ Special To The Townsman
Thursday, January 27, 2005
On Dec. 29, a group of Babson College students and Wellesley's own
Chabad rabbi, Moshe Bleich, joined dozens of Jewish students from
around the country on a 10-day excursion through the Israel, the Holy
Land of Milk and Honey.
Upon arriving at Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, we
immediately boarded buses and headed to Caesarea, a port city built by
King Herod the Great in honor of Caesar Augustus. It was amazing to see
how archeologists and historians had reconstructed the city as it had
looked throughout the ages, from Roman-controlled Judea through the
Byzantine era, the Crusades, and into the modern era.
>From there, our group spent the next week and a half hiking the
highest mountains in the Golan Heights, floating in the Dead Sea (the
lowest place on Earth), riding camels at a Bedouin camp in the Negev
desert, planting trees in the rain, walking through the ancient roads
of Jerusalem and the modern streets of Tel Aviv, and more.
In the mystical city of Tzfat we visited the synagogue of the
famous Ashkenazi Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as "the Ari" ("the Lion"), a
place where miracles are said to have happened. For example, during one
of the attacks against Israel, there was a gunfight outside of the
synagogue; just as one observant Jew bowed down at the name of the
L-rd, a bullet came through the synagogue door and hit right where his
head would have been but a moment before.
One day we hiked to Masada, a mountain fortress which became the
last Jewish stronghold to fall in the war against the Romans. Like
Caesarea, Masada was built by King Herod the Great. While there, we
learned about the difficult choice the Jewish soldiers and their
families made to die rather than to be enslaved by the Romans.
We spent another day in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel,
in the archeological dig underneath the Western Wall, which served as a
supporting wall of the Second Temple, the holiest place for the Jews.
In fact, Jews still pray facing the Temple Mount almost 2,000 years
after the Romans destroyed it. A few days later, we celebrated the
Jewish Sabbath with 50,000 other Jews at this holy site.
In Tel Aviv we visited Independence Hall, the site where Israel's
first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, declared Israel's independence
from the British in 1948. Independence Hall is, in fact, a bunker
because the Jews knew that the neighboring Arab countries would attack
immediately after learning about Israel's independence.
One thing that struck me at Independence Hall was that so many of
the biblical prophesies had come true in Israel. For example, the
prophet Jeremiah explained that G-d told him, "Behold, I will bring
[the Jews] from the North Country and gather them from the uttermost
parts of the Earth." (Jeremiah 31:8). When Israel declared
independence, Jews from every corner of the world came to Israel to
make a home where their ancestors lived, most of all those who had
survived the Holocaust in Europe and the pogroms in Russia.
The prophet Isaiah had proclaimed, "The wilderness and the parched
land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose." (Isaiah 35:1) Israel was the only country in the world to enter
the 21st century with more trees than it had when it entered the 20th
century. Through modern irrigation techniques and the "plant a tree"
programs, like the Jewish National Fund, Israel is making the desert
bloom.
The free trip was provided by "birthright israel," an organization
dedicated to bringing Jewish students to Israel, in conjunction with
the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, a Chabad-run yeshiva in
Jerusalem. Chabad is a movement of observant Jews inspired by the
teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Their
mission is to bring non- and semi-observant Jews closer to Judaism
through performing mitzvot, which means "commandments" or "good deeds."
Chabad shluchim ("emissaries") like Rabbi Bleich leave their
communities to live in non-observant communities all over the world to
fulfill their mission. In fact, there are Chabad houses in more
countries than there are United States embassies.
At the "birthright israel" Mega-Event in Jerusalem, thousands of
Jewish students from America, Canada, Argentina, Great Britain,
Uruguay, South Africa, France, Brazil, and dozens of other countries
get together. It was amazing to see that after thousands of years, Jews
everywhere still have a special place in their hearts for the
birthplace of their faith, the Promised Land.
http://www2.townonline.com/wellesley/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=172679&format=text
Moshe
Thursday, January 27, 2005
>From its rapid rise on the popularity map just about a decade ago, the
study of Kabbalah - Jewish mysticism - has remained all the rage, with
Jews and non-Jews alike, from celebrities to unknowns, finding more
meaning in life through ancient spiritual teachings.
And now, thanks to the Chabad Jewish Center, Kabbalah comes to
town.
Rabbi Laibl Wolf, an authority on the intersection of psychology,
spirituality and Kabbalah, will be lecturing in Needham. The Australian
native Wolf, an attorney, educator and ordained rabbi, will appear at
Wingate at Needham on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Admission for the lecture is
$15 at the door, $10 for reservations made before Feb. 7.
Wolf, a global teacher of psycho-spiritual training and leadership
development, is now back in the United States for a series of seminars
and retreats. Through his disciplined approach entitled MindYoga,
Laibl's audiences are able to master their emotions and empower their
lives.
Although a Hassidic rabbi, his teachings are universal, open to
people of all backgrounds and spiritual orientations. His teachings
focus on personal growth and emotional mastery.
The son of Polish Holocaust survivors, Wolf is also a lawyer and
educational psychologist, specializing in teenage rebellion. He is the
founder and director of the Human Development Institute, which is
dedicated to the progress of humankind through insight and personal
mastery. He received his rabbinic ordination from the chief rabbi of
Israel, and has studied under great Hassidic masters, his foremost
mentor being the revered Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was known globally for
the passionate wisdom he bestowed on humankind.
He has written and produced a highly regarded series of meditation
and self-mastery audiovisual materials, which are sold internationally,
and is the author of the best-selling book, "Practical Kabbalah" (Three
Rivers Press of Random House, Inc., 1999). He is a much sought-after
speaker, having lectured in more than 370 cities around the globe. Wolf
lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife Leah and the youngest two
of their seven children.
Wolf's seminar (or "spiritual adventurem" as he likes to call it),
will teach:
????what Kabbalah really is
????tools for self-mastery and insight
????comparison of Kabbalah and Eastern tradition
????spiritual wisdom for self-change
????the application of Kabbalah to your family and business
????modalities of Kabbalah-based management
????Kabbalah meditation techniques
For more information and/or to schedule an interview with Laibl
Wolf, please contact Rabbi Mendel Krinsky at 781-455-9096 or
CHA...@gis.net.
http://www2.townonline.com/roslindale/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=170807&format=text
Moshe
teachings
BY KATHLEEN MELLEN - DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE
NORTHAMPTON, MA - Adding to an already rich array of religious options
for the Jewish community here, a Hasidic rabbi who recently moved to
Northampton is preparing to offer Orthodox Chabad teachings to local
Jewish families.
Rabbi Yosef Moya moved three months ago to Northampton, with his wife
and four young children, from New London, Conn., where he worked
certifying kosher food.
Moya is not creating a synagogue, but works from his Winter Street
home.
Chabad is a branch of Hasidism, a mystical form of Orthodox Judaism.
Lubavitch, which in Russian means ''city of brotherly love,'' is the
name of the Russian town where the movement was based for more than a
century. Moya said the 250-year-old movement strives to improve the
education and welfare of Jewish people worldwide.
Already in the region are a Jewish day school, a Conservative
synagogue, a Reform group, and other local Chabad houses, which speak
to the range of needs in the Jewish community.
But, to date, local experts say, there have been very few Orthodox Jews
in Northampton.
''Jews have always had diversity in their ways of expressing Judaism,''
said Rabbi Daveen Litwin of Beit Ahavah, a Reform synagogue in
Northampton.
But, she said, it is difficult to be an Orthodox Jew without the
support of others who share your strict lifestyle.
''It's a way of life that needs that community,'' Litwin said.
Chabad is particularly known for its outreach to Jews all over the
world, said Hampshire College history professor Penina Migdal Glazer,
an expert on Jewish practices in Northampton.
Chabad emissaries
For example, she said, after the fall of communism, Chabad emissaries
moved into Russian towns and villages and reintroduced Judaism to
people ''who had forgotten they were even Jewish.''
The movement has some 4,000 full-time emissary families who direct more
than 3,300 institutions and have a workforce that numbers in the tens
of thousands, according to Moya. Chabad families live and work in the
far reaches of the globe, including in China and Thailand, Moya said.
But, say some experts, only time will tell whether there is enough
interest locally in the strictly Orthodox Chabad teachings to sustain
the new rabbi's efforts.
While Glazer said, to her knowledge, this is the first Chabad-Lubavitch
group, or any such ''ultra-Orthodox group,'' to come to Northampton,
Litwin said the addition of Chabad to the mix of religious offerings
for Northampton Jews may in fact signal a growing vitality in the
Jewish community.
But she noted that the teachings of Chabad are, at times, at odds with
those of her own Reform beliefs and traditions.
''If there is a respectfulness about it, this can be positive and
exciting,'' she said.
Moya said that though he is a ''Torah-observant Jew,'' he does not
proselytize. He calls Chabad a ''civic group,'' and said it is not
affiliated with any specific denomination of Judaism. He said Chabad is
open to any Jew, or non-Jew, for that matter, interested in learning in
depth about the Jewish religion and the teachings in the Torah.
''People I talk to tell me they have a weak background, or are not
affiliated with a synagogue,'' Moya said in a recent phone interview.
But, he added, many people in Hampshire County who identify themselves
as Jews are not affiliated.
''Many feel the synagogue is the pinnacle of Jewish life, and many feel
excluded if they don't belong to a synagogue,'' said Moya, who himself
has no such affiliation. He said Chabad speaks equally to those who are
synagogue members, and to those who are not.
''This is for those people who have a deep interest in having a
connection to their spiritual heritage,'' Moya said. ''We are not
creating a synagogue or a community, but are taking a broader
perspective ... the Jewish experience is more than sitting in a
synagogue. It could be eating a bowl of chicken soup at a Chabad table,
or singing songs and telling stories.''
What it means
The word ''Chabad'' is an acronym for the three intellectual faculties
of chachmah (wisdom), binah (comprehension) and da'at (knowledge),
according to Moya's Web site.
Locally, there are already Chabad houses in Amherst, Springfield and
Longmeadow.
In the midst of this already rich Jewish tradition, Moya said he views
the opportunity to offer local Jews the chance to expand their
knowledge about their spiritual heritage a ''tremendous opportunity.''
Glazer, who is a co-author of the book, ''The Jews of Paradise:
Creating a Vibrant Community in Northampton, Massachusetts,'' said,
''This city has had a tradition of a very different kind of Judaism.''
Though the original Jewish settlers who came 150 years ago to
Northampton were Orthodox - bringing with them the traditions of the
small European towns from which they immigrated - they quickly
assimilated to American life, giving up Orthodox practices, Glazer
said.
Nevertheless, there is currently a small group of modern Orthodox Jews
who meet at B'nai Israel, the city's Conservative synagogue.
Glazer said Moya's program may address a need for those Orthodox Jews,
some of whom, she said, have moved away to larger communities where
there are others adhering to the strict lifestyle.
''It's the one thing we didn't have in the wide spectrum of
contemporary Jewish practice in Northampton,'' Glazer said.
An opportunity
Participation in programs offered by Chabad-Lubavitch does not require
membership or the payment of dues, but offers the opportunity to search
for meaning in the philosophy, spirituality and mysticism of the Jewish
religion, Moya said.
Guided by the teachings of its seven original rabbis, the Chabad
movement focus largely on the mysticism of Judaism, as well as on the
biblical qualities of piety and leadership.
But the teachings, Moya said, are as much concerned with things that
pertain to day-to-day life.
Chabad focuses on the 610 teachings in the Torah that speak to the
mundane, such as property ownership, eating, sleeping, raising children
- a fact with which, Moya said, most Jews are unfamiliar.
'This is about the awareness of the divine aspects of our mundane lives
- an awareness of G-D and the world as a living organism,'' Moya said.
In fact, Chabad doesn't rely on denominational divisions within the
religion, Moya said. Instead, proponents say they believe in ''the
oneness'' of Judaism.
''Jewish people are really one unit, one nation, one organism,'' Moya
said. By educating and inspiring both adults and children through
Chabad, he said ''it strengthens the whole.''
Moya said he will hold a variety of classes and workshops designed to
make the esoteric teachings of the Torah accessible to local Jews.
For example, at Passover, he will offer a matzoh-making workshop for
children so they can learn how to make the unleavened bread Jews eat
each year on that holiday.
''It makes it a living experience for them,'' Moya said.
Currently Moya offers a class in Jewish mysticism that meets Wednesdays
at 7:30 p.m. at his 11 Winter St. home. Most classes and workshops are
free of charge.
For information, call Moya at 586-6774, or log on to
www.chabadnoho.com.
Kathleen Mellen can be reached at kme...@gazettenet.com.
Moshe
By Christopher Moss
Friday, January 28, 2005
Zak Kaufman/The Dartmouth Staff
Daniel Pipes' controversial lecture focused on the impact of the Oslo
Accords on Middle-Eastern conflict.
Despite police presence and rumored threats of violence, Daniel Pipes'
speech to a packed crowd in Dartmouth Hall was a relatively civil
affair. The controversial scholar of Middle-Eastern studies spoke on
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict Thursday afternoon.
Safety and Security greeted attendees at the doors, and members of the
Al-Nur Muslim Student Association distributed pamphlets slamming
Dartmouth for allowing Pipes to speak and challenging his position as a
scholar.
The event, however, turned out to be tame, with the only outburst
occurring during the question-and-answer session following Pipes'
lecture. A member of the audience angrily asked Pipes about his
website, Campus-Watch.org, and alleged that it attacked academics who
were in opposition of his views.
Students expressed surprise with the relative civility of the event,
which was rumored to occur amid terrorist threats and potential
protests.
"I figured there would be more outbursts," said Allan Jackson '07, who
attended the event because of his interest in the conflict and
participation in Chabad.
The lecture itself focused on what Pipes saw as the failure of the 1993
Oslo Accords to establish peace in the Middle East. The Oslo Accords
promoted conflict, Pipes said, by giving the impression of Israeli
weakness and fueling the Palestinian radical element.
"As a result of Oslo, of Israeli weakness, Palestinian confidence went
up," Pipes said.
Pipes said Palestinians are to blame for the conflict in the Middle
East. Unlike the Israelis who are fighting for Palestinian acceptance,
Pipes said, Palestinians are fighting to destroy the state of Israel.
Pipes' argument centered on his assertion that a majority of
Palestinians needed to accept an Israeli nation before any progress
toward peace could be made.
Dale Correa '06, president of Al-Nur, disagreed with Pipes' statements.
She said she felt only a minority of Palestinians want to destroy the
Israeli state.
"I do not believe the Palestinians are entirely at fault or want to
destroy the Israeli state," Correa said.
Despite disagreeing with Pipes, Correa said she was glad Pipes came and
that his speech kept strictly to the issues.
Others, including Jackson, expressed agreement with Pipes.
"I thought he was wonderful and spot-on," Jackson said.
Pipes argued against the notion that the conflicts in the Middle East
were the result of small terrorist sects, arguing instead that it is
the result of widespread Palestinian attitudes towards Israel.
"I think this is about war -- not terrorism," Pipes said. "Each of us
must choose: do you want Israel destroyed or do you want it accepted?"
Peace is dependent on a Palestinian change of heart, Pipes said as he
drew parallels between the Germans and the Palestinians and said the
radical attitudes prevalent in 1930s Germany are similar to those today
and that the threat of weapons of mass destruction could result if
attitudes were not changed.
Pipes steered clear of proposing any solutions to the problem, but he
did say a adjustment must be made. A change in the Palestinian attitude
would benefit the Palestinians more than the Israelis, Pipes said.
"Whereas Israel is a functioning society, Palestine is not," he said.
The event was sponsored by Chabad, the Judaic studies department, DIPAC
and the Ufurazta campus fund.
The Dartmouth
Copyright © 1993 - 2005 by The Dartmouth, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Moshe
By Jessica Peet
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Courtesy of Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes, a New York Sun columnist who once argued that
Muslim-Americans should be placed in internment camps, will bring his
contentious views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Dartmouth Hall
on Thursday. Pipes' presence on campus is provoking strong feelings
among students and faculty on both sides of the issue.
Muslim students expressed concern about Pipes' speech, which is
sponsored by Chabad, the Dartmouth Israel Public Awareness Committee,
the Jewish studies department and the Ufurazra Campus Fund. They said
his views are not credible.
"He has such a bias that it's hard for me to call him an expert," said
Dale Correa '06, president of Al-Nur.
Correa said she felt Pipes' work has promoted "Islamophobia." She cited
examples where Pipes allegedly referred to 10 to 15 percent of all
Muslims as "potential killers."
A prize-winning columnist and a frequent guest on television broadcasts
including CNN's "Crossfire," Pipes has earned praise and drawn ire for
his extensive work in Middle-Eastern studies. After receiving his
doctorate from Harvard University, Pipes has since devoted his career
to studying the conflict in the Middle East.
"If Pipes's admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a
9/11," Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote in a June 2003 article.
Jewish students defended the choice to bring Pipes to campus and add to
the debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinions, making this debate not
one-sided, two-sided or even three-sided. It is important that
Dartmouth as an academic institution showcase as many sides as
possible," DIPAC president Michele Nudelman '05 said.
According to Chabad Rabbi Moeshe Gray, Pipes was an attractive
candidate to speak on campus because of his credentials as the author
of eleven books addressing the turmoil in the Middle East, four of
which focus on Islam.
"Israel is one of the few places on earth that practically everybody in
the world has an opinion about," Gray said. "Unfortunately, a lot of
the time, their opinions are uninformed, and I hope Daniel Pipes will
set the facts straight."
Many other Dartmouth students agreed.
"We don't support his views. For the sake of free speech, we think it's
okay that he says what he needs to say, but the way that I look at it
it's kind of like bringing someone who is a racist against blacks yet
who has a Ph.D. in African-American studies to come talk," Sara Ludin
'08 said.
Chabad president Ilya Feoktistiov '06, however, said he did not expect
Pipes' talk to be tainted with ideology.
"It's more of a sober, realist look at the conflict. [He's] judging all
the evidence before him in a serious way," Feoktistov said.
Feoktistov is a staff columnist for The Dartmouth.
The lecture is expected to include a lengthy question-and-answer
section, giving students a chance to voice objections to Pipes'
comments.
"I would encourage anyone that specifically disagrees with him to come
and to question him, because that's why he's coming," Gray said, adding
that even the sponsoring groups did not necessarily support all of
Pipes' views.
"I think he'll be disappointed if no one is challenging him during the
Q-and-A," Gray added.
Copyright © 1993 - 2005 by The Dartmouth, Inc. All Rights Reserved
http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2005012701010&action=print
Moshe
By DONNA CALLEA
Staff Writer
Last update: January 21, 2005
DAYTONA BEACH -- It's a women's ritual as ancient as the Hebrew
scriptures.
But in modern times, the concept of visiting a ritual bath -- or
"mikveh" -- has become as foreign to most Jews as it is to the rest of
the population.
So it was with more than a little curiosity that about 100 Jewish women
from Volusia and Flagler counties gathered Tuesday night at Chabad
Lubavitch of Greater Daytona to see the Ormond Beach synagogue's lavish
new spa-like mikveh building, and hear a New York expert describe the
benefits of marital relations -- biblical style.
Orthodox Jews believe that Sarah, wife of the biblical patriarch
Abraham, was the first to regularly immerse herself in a mikveh -- a
body of "living water" -- in compliance with the religion's laws of
family purity.
And through the centuries, observant Jewish women have followed suit,
going to ritual baths filled with rainwater as brides, and then monthly
unless they were pregnant or too old to bear children.
But a mikveh (sometimes spelled mikvah) is "not for the cleansing of
the body," Sarah Karmely, an author and lecturer specializing in Jewish
intimacy, explained at the opening event. Rather, a mikveh is "for
purity of the soul."
And one of the biggest benefits of following the ritual is that it
eliminates "the monotony from monogamy," she said.
For at least 12 days each month -- during menstruation and for seven
days afterward -- an observant Jewish woman is supposed to be totally
off-limits to her husband. Not even kissing or touching is allowed.
The couple has "no recourse but to talk to each other and develop
respect for each other," said Karmely. Typically, during that time,
both husband and wife start to long for what they can't have -- "like
forbidden fruit," she said. Then, the woman goes to the mikveh, and
they're able to rekindle the physical side of their marriage.
"God wants you to always be on a honeymoon," she said.
Eva Maman, who, along with her husband, Pinchas, funded and oversaw
construction of the $320,000 Chabad mikveh as a gift to the Jewish
community, likens the days of abstinence to longing for chocolate.
If you're on a diet, she said, and deny yourself chocolate for 12 days,
when you finally have some "you enjoy every bite of it."
Maman, a 41-year-old a native of Israel, grew up as a secular,
nonobservant Jew, but did go to a mikveh once before her wedding 20
years ago. Then, after moving to Ormond Beach, and joining Chabad
several years ago, she was reintroduced to the concept by the rabbi's
wife, Chani Ezagui.
"It changed my life," said Maman, whose four children range in age from
18 to 5-months old.
Ezagui, a 38-year-old mother of seven, estimates that there are about a
dozen women in the community who regularly traveled to a mikveh in
Orlando or Jacksonville before the local one was built.
But interest is growing, and there appears to be a resurgence of the
mikveh concept worldwide.
"It's a spiritual cleansing . . . a spiritual pillar of Judaism," said
Ezagui, that benefits the entire family.
"Many societies have ritual practices around menstruation," according
Susan Starr Sered, an anthropologist at Suffolk University in Boston,
who has written extensively on the subject. Humans have long been
fascinated by the "enigmatic cyclical nature" of women, she said in a
recent telephone interview.
But by the 1960s and '70s, the idea of a mikveh was interpreted by many
Jewish women as sexist, she noted. And old-fashioned ritual baths were
anything but appealing to modern sensibilities.
Over the past 15 years, however, a growing number of mainstream Jewish
women, including feminists, have begun embracing the ritual as a
liberating celebration of life transitions.
Women who have experienced a rape, surgery or other trauma sometimes
also participate in the ritual to renew themselves, noted Sered. "There
is a whole different way of thinking about women's bodies that is
attractive to women right now," she said.
Chaya Sarah Zarchi of Mikvah.org, which offers a worldwide directory of
Jewish ritual baths and information about the practice, confirms that
the number has been growing steadily in recent years.
"There is a reawakened interest in this beautiful, beautiful mitzvah,"
she said in a telephone interview from Brooklyn, N.Y. (A mitzvah is a
commandment or good deed.)
There are about 450-500 mikvehs in the United States in Canada, about
500 in Israel, and an estimated 200-300 in the rest of the world. The
majority are new and attractive facilities such as Chabad's, according
to Zarchi.
Rainwater at the Ormond Beach mikveh is collected in a specially
constructed receptacle beneath the marble-encased immersion pool, and
is kept lightly chlorinated and at a comfortable temperature. There are
connecting shower and changing rooms. And a specially trained attendant
assists with the ritual. Only one woman goes in at a time, completely
naked, immersing herself under the water. Appointments are required and
a $36 fee is charged.
There is also a separate mikveh in the building for orthodox men, some
of whom traditionally immerse themselves before prayer and holidays.
"A man can go to elevate himself," said Karmely, the family purity
expert. The mikveh is also used for conversions. But it's for women
that the ritual has special relevance.
"This is for us, it's our mitzvah," she told the overflowing crowd of
curious women -- answering everything they ever wanted to know and
weren't afraid to ask.
The ritual bath also is a time for contemplation and prayer.
"All over the world women are looking for meaning in life," she said.
And for an increasing number of Jewish women, the mikveh is helping
them to find it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2005 News-Journal Corporation. ® www.news-journalonline.com. Do not
republish or distribute without permission.
Originally appeared on News-Journal Online at:
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/03AreaEAST02012105.htm
Moshe
Carol Porter
Town Crier Online
Wellington, FL
28.JAN.05
Wellington resident and Holocaust survivor Bernard Fainer is doing
something quite remarkable. At the age of 74, Fainer is studying for
his bar mitzvah, which will take place on Feb. 19.
Fainer, a tailor by trade, was born in Poland in 1930 in a town called
Bendzin. Shortly after the Germans invaded Poland in the fall of 1939,
they rounded up Fainer and his family. Fainer was separated from his
mother and siblings and put in the Flossenburg concentration camp in
Germany. He was later sent to the Blechhammer forced labor camp in
Poland, which was converted to a concentration camp. Fainer was then
separated from his father and was numbered prisoner 178873, one of the
Auschwitz series of prisoner numbers as Blechhammer was a satellite of
that notorious camp.
The inmates were put to work in an ammunition factory. In the course of
the war, Fainer was transferred to the infamous Buchenwald
concentration camp and finally back to Flossenburg. In this series of
transfers, Fainer said, it is hard to remember how long he spent in
each camp because there were no calendars. The inmates traveled
sometimes by train, where they were packed on top of each other like
cattle, and sometimes had to march. "When we were marching, we slept
in the forest," he recalled.
Fainer said his size helped him survive when so many others perished.
Like his father, Fainer said, he was big for his age. At ten and a
half, he was five foot six and stocky, so he was mistaken for someone a
lot older, and he kept going just through sheer determination and
faith. He also remembers during the forced marches that you had to stay
awake if you wanted to live, as the Germans would shoot anyone who fell
asleep. He would tell his fellow inmates to stay awake in order to stay
alive. "You want to live, you'd better stay awake," he recalled.
"Otherwise, they will shoot you and push you over the side."
Living conditions were also deplorable. In the barracks, there were men
living on top of each other with five or six guys on one bed. The food
was horrible, and the Germans often fed them spinach with sand. "Pigs
eat better food than we used to eat," Fainer said.
Many thousands of people died in the camps, but Fainer somehow managed
to stay alive. With the approach of Allied troops, the Germans
evacuated over a thousand Flossenburg inmates, including Fainer, and in
the forced march south, many were killed. American troops liberated
Fainer outside the town of Cham on April 23, 1945. Fainer was put in a
camp for displaced persons near Frankfurt for a short while, but was
allowed to travel freely, and he spent 18 months traveling around
Germany, visiting sites such as the Bergen Belsen camp in attempt to
learn the fate of the rest of his family. They had all died, except his
cousin Ruben, who eventually immigrated to Canada. Fainer found out
that most of his family died at Auschwitz.
Fainer said despite his treatment at the hands of the Nazis, some
Germans went out of their way to help him after he was liberated at age
16. Returning to the town of Cham, a German woman gave him a place to
live. "I lived with a lady for a time," he said. "She had a dry
goods store."
Fainer eventually left Germany for Dublin, Ireland, where resettlement
workers had managed to locate some relatives on his mother's side,
and he got married there to a woman who eventually bore him seven
children. In 1957, Fainer and his wife left Ireland for the United
States, settling in St. Louis, Missouri, where his first wife passed
away in 1995. He met his second wife, Margie, in his St. Louis
neighborhood, and they were married a little over five years ago. They
moved to West Palm Beach in 2002. He now lives in Grand Isles off of
Lake Worth Road. The move to Wellington was a sheer accident, he said.
"I met a guy at the bank," Fainer said. "He said there was a
house across the street from him. I looked at it. I loved the
neighborhood, and we moved there."
As a child Fainer attended cheder or Hebrew school for two years before
the Germans came. After he was married to Margie, they began talking
about the fact that Fainer never had a bar mitzvah, but Fainer didn't
do anything about it until he moved to Wellington. There, his friend
Baruch Edelstein asked him to come to services at Chabad of Wellington
one evening because they didn't have the required eight men for
services. He hadn't thought about the need to have a bar mitzvah
until he joined the temple. Fainer said he is going through the
ceremony largely to honor his mother Hannah, who died in the Holocaust.
"I'm doing it because I'm a Jew," Fainer said. "It's
important what I am doing."
A few weeks ago, Marcie Rosenberg of director Steven Spielberg's
Shoah Foundation interviewed Fainer for five hours. Fainer said he told
Rosenberg his story, but has never seen Spielberg's Schindler's
List or any other film about the Holocaust.
"I have never seen Schindler's List - I lived through it,"
Fainer said.
http://www.gotowncrier.com/print_this_story.asp?smenu=77&sdetail=1210
Moshe
By Anthony Weiss
On Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, African-style
hairdressers sit next to kosher butcher shops, and Lubavitcher Hasidim,
members of a devout sect of Orthodox Judaism, shop alongside
African-Americans and Caribbean-Americans in a colorful bustle of garbs
and dialects. Bob Matthews, chairman of Project CARE (Community
Alliance Revitalization Effort) and an African-American, says that the
media "perceive [Crown Heights] to be a tinderbox. That's not true.
We work our issues out." Daniel Botnick, executive director of the
Crown Heights Jewish Community Council and a Lubavitcher, concurs:
"It's as integrated as any neighborhood could possibly be."
The perception of Crown Heights as a tinderbox stems from the riots
that took place there in 1991 and serves as a starting point for most
press coverage of the neighborhood. The Lubavitchers' religious
values receive scant mention, yet one cannot understand Kingston Avenue
without them. In 1969, when most whites, Jewish and otherwise, were
fleeing America's cities in fear of rising crime and falling property
values, Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitchers' religious
leader, delivered a speech to his followers-translated from the
Hebrew for the first time for this article-saying that Jewish values
required the Lubavitchers to stay put. They complied, and found that
their ancient values had landed them on the front lines of American
race relations. Hasidim are members of a Jewish sect that originated in
18th century Eastern Europe, one characterized by intense piety and
exuberant prayer. Like most branches of Hasidim, the Lubavitchers were,
until recently, led by their Rebbe, the spiritual guide of the
community. Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, who died in 1994, was the subject
of intense veneration; to this day, his bearded, beneficent face looks
out from the walls of nearly every Lubavitcher household. He came to
Crown Heights in 1941, following his father-in-law, the then-Rebbe
Joseph I. Schneersohn. They escaped the Holocaust with a small
contingent of Lubavitchers thanks to Irwin Steingut, Crown Heights's
Jewish assemblyman, who convinced President Roosevelt to allow them
into the country. More survivors arrived after the war, settling around
their Rebbe in Crown Heights and in the adjacent, poorer Jewish
neighborhoods of Brownsville and East New York. Crown Heights was home
to a large, middle-class Jewish population, though by the strict
religious standards of the Hasidim, these Jews were not observant.
Mendel Shemtov, a longtime community leader, recalls that when he
immigrated in 1950, on Kingston Avenue "there was not one Shomer
Shabbos store, not one store closed for Shabbos [the Jewish
Sabbath]."
The Crown Heights that Shemtov moved to in the 1950s was almost
completely white, except for a few black professionals living on Union
Street. In the 1960s, however, the neighborhood changed rapidly. A
spate of muggings, break-ins, and murders created a panic that
predatory real estate speculators, known as blockbusters, moved to
exploit. Gerson Jacobson, a Jewish journalist who moved to the
neighborhood in 1965, remembers their pitch: "Look, this street,
everybody is selling. Now is the time to get a good price. You're
going to have rapists, criminals, dope addicts."
All across the nation, blacks were moving into urban neighborhoods and
whites were moving out. In retrospect, the blockbusters' predictions
inevitably proved true: the neighborhood did go to pieces, but that was
because white flight meant plummeting property values and destabilized
communities, and because the blockbusters themselves would buy the
buildings cheap, pack them with tenants, and then leave them to decay.
Upwardly mobile African-Americans and Caribbean-Americans found
themselves caught in the middle-the first to move into safer
neighborhoods, their mere presence became the unfortunate catalyst for
neighborhood collapse. The process could be rapid and destructive, as
in East New York and Brownsville, where poor but stable Jewish
communities became even poorer black slums.
In Crown Heights, "people started to run," says former Crown
Heights Jewish Community Council head Rabbi Yosef Spielman, and not
only assimilated Jews. Another Hasidic group, the Bobovers, sold their
bes medresh (house of study) and yeshiva (Talmudic academy) and moved,
en masse, from Crown Heights to the burgeoning Orthodox Jewish
neighborhood of Borough Park. Some Lubavitchers made plans to move out
to Flatbush, where there was already a Lubavitch yeshiva. In the spring
of 1969, Schneerson delivered a sicha, or discourse, in which he urged
Jews nationwide to preserve their neighborhoods. In this discourse,
translated into English here for the first time, the Rebbe grounded his
argument in halakhah-Jewish law-and, as rabbis often do,
interpreted the law in response to the new, modern problems he faced.
Schneerson saw that abandoning neighborhoods threatened to harm fellow
Jews and even weaken Jewish faith itself; halakhah demanded that Jews
strengthen rather than abandon their communities.
The Rebbe observed that selling houses led to falling property values,
and thus had harmed the income of fellow Jews. Even the act of selling
was harmful because "the spread of the news itself, that a non-Jew
[i.e., a black] is going to buy a house, causes the neighborhood real
estate prices to fall, bringing confusion and fear." Migration also
destroyed the synagogues, schools, and charities that constituted the
essence of a resident's Jewish life. "In the neighborhood where he
lived for days and years, he also had a fixed spiritual inheritance,"
said the Rebbe. For those who stayed, these communal institutions would
be passed from generation to generation, ensuring a continuity of
faith. One who left would tear adrift from these communal moorings,
with the result that "this holy inheritance is diminished and lacking
for him." The loss would be even more acute for those who could not
afford to move, and who depended on these institutions for support.
These, said the Rebbe, were the most vulnerable, "the poor person,
orphan, and widow in your midst" that the book of Deuteronomy
requires the community to protect.
Beyond those injuries specific to the community, the Rebbe warned that
mass exodus "sometimes also has ramifications of life and death."
He saw rising violence as part of an organized anti-Semitic effort to
displace Jews. "The very act of selling and moving houses and
neighborhoods from Jews to idolaters weakens (God save us) the strength
of Israel [i.e., the Jewish people] and adds strength to the Haters of
Israel, whose intention in buying houses in Jewish neighborhoods is to
expel (God forbid) Israel from its inheritance." The term the Rebbe
applied to the neighborhoods-inheritance, or nachalah in
Hebrew-commonly refers to the land of Israel, and its use implies a
sacred bond. Schneerson's depiction of a tightly knit Jewish
neighborhood, besieged by hostile forces, drew upon the idea of the
shtetl, the small Eastern European Jewish enclaves where Hasidism
originated. During World War II, the Rebbe had watched his own
community destroyed by the Nazis. He was determined that such a fate
would not be repeated. The Lubavitchers accepted the Rebbe's decree.
Mendel Shemtov spearheaded an effort to keep Jewish institutions in
Jewish hands rather than selling them to non-Jews. "Most of the
rabbis from the synagogues cooperated with us, they sold it very
cheap," says Shemtov. When a rabbi would not cooperate, the Lubavitch
took him to court, arguing that the synagogue belonged to the
congregation and that the rabbi had no right to dissolve it. "Every
synagogue was a fight for itself to keep. And from thirty synagogues,
maybe we lost one or two."
Concerns about rising crime led one Lubavitch, Rabbi Samuel Schrage, to
organize a nighttime community patrol called the Maccabees. Some saw
the rising crime rate as part of the anti-Semitic thrust described by
the Rebbe. "Part of the game was to make crime to instill fear in the
residents," says Spielman. "I can't point a finger at an
individual. It's just that this is the pattern that was
happening-muggings, attacks, a couple of murders." The Rebbe's
stance might seem racist, but Lubavitchers insist that he was only
referring to hostile elements, not to the black community as a whole.
"The whole thing that we could live together with the blacks, this is
what the Rebbe planted," says Shemtov. "He said we have to live
together. Running away is not a solution."
Immigration and high birth rates swelled the ranks of the Lubavitchers,
creating a housing shortage. The Lubavitchers responded by founding a
non-profit organization called Chevra Machazikei Hashcunah [Society for
Strengthening the Neighborhood]. This development came at a time when
the Lubavitchers were becoming more politically sophisticated. They
were one of the first groups to join the mayoral campaign of Abe Beame,
one of the old Crown Heights Jews. In 1976 he returned the favor when
he convinced the Board of Estimate to split the Crown Heights Community
Board in two parts, one of which contained the entirety of the
Lubavitch community. Chevra secured government funds for housing
renovation and other community programs. Non-Hasidic tenants of
Chevra-owned buildings, however, complained that Chevra was attempting
to force them out, and the City Council investigated charges of fraud
involving government funds. These accusations of fraud soon spread to
the Lubavitch community itself, forcing Rabbi David Fischer, a Chevra
employee, to flee the country under accusations that he had stolen over
$100 million worth of assets. His name still draws rancor among some
Lubavitchers.
The competition for housing, the Maccabee patrols, and the
Lubavitchers' growing influence in city politics stoked interracial
tensions in the neighborhood. In Hasidic People, sociologist Jerome
Mintz recorded the inflammatory rhetoric of some Caribbean-American and
African-American leaders: Reverend Heron A. Sam, a frequent antagonist
of the Lubavitchers, complained of "Zionist expansion" in the
neighborhood; Reverend Herbert Daughtry took aim at the Maccabees,
saying, "When the people of the long black coats meet our men, let us
see what will happen." They and other leaders repeatedly complained
about the police car that the city kept stationed outside Lubavitch
headquarters, which they interpreted as a sign of favoritism. They also
complained that the Lubavitchers received a disproportionate level of
city funding-although later newspaper investigations proved this
claim unfounded. Ultimately, the tension between the groups hurt both
sides. "The city fathers could get away with telling one side that
the other side was getting everything," says David Pollock, executive
director of the Jewish Community Relations Council a non-Hasidic
organization. "In reality, both sides were getting nothing."
In spite of the confrontational atmosphere, some people built alliances
that crossed racial and religious lines. In 1982, Joan Gil joined Rabbi
Israel Rosenfeld to run on a coalition ticket for District Leader. She
was interested in better race relations, but also saw the alliance as a
means to improve the lot of the black community: "I look at someone
successful, and I see they've got the jobs, they've got the
housing. I said, 'We've got to find out what they're doing, so we
can do it too.'" A number of black leaders criticized her as a
sell-out, including Reverend Sam. Nonetheless, she and Rabbi Rosenfeld
ran two successful campaigns in the face of opposition by powerful
local Assemblyman Clarence Norman, Jr. But in 1986, Norman defeated
Rosenfeld in a bitter race that trafficked heavily in racial loyalties.
According to Mintz, a frustrated Rosenfeld was left to ask, "Who
believes in integration?"
The tensions continued. "Every Monday or Tuesday night, black
activists would march, saying 'Our streets, our neighborhood,'"
says Rabbi Spielman. "Basically, push the Jews out." Yet the issues
cut both ways. Some blacks, too, felt they were being harassed out of
the neighborhood. In the late 1980s, a group of Lubavitchers made it a
practice to go about the neighborhood on Sundays and knock on the doors
of houses without mezuzahs-religious scrolls affixed to the doorways
of Jewish homes-asking the occupants if they wanted to sell. South
Crown Heights, where the Lubavitchers live, has long had a significant
population of homeowners, not only among the middle class but also
among poorer residents, including the Caribbean immigrants. According
to Bishop Owen Augustine, a local religious leader and native of Saint
Lucia, these immigrants place great emphasis on home ownership: "The
first thing they do is get a job; the second is to buy a home." The
Lubavitchers "thought they were being nice," says Pollock, but to
local homeowners, "it was an affront."
Hostilities exploded on August 19, 1991, when a Lubavitcher driver
struck and killed Gavin Cato, a seven-year-old Guyanese immigrant.
Enraged blacks spread out across the neighborhood, looting stores and
attacking Lubavitchers. That night, Lemrick Nelson, Jr., an
African-American resident of neighboring East Flatbush, stabbed and
killed a Lubavitcher named Yankel Rosenbaum in apparent retaliation.
For three more days, gangs of youths, some from other neighborhoods,
roamed through Crown Heights, chanting "Get the Jews!" Rioters
clashed with police and vandalized property-including many
black-owned properties.
To this day, the Lubavitchers call the riots of 1991 "the pogrom"
in reference to organized attacks by Eastern European Cossacks in the
late 19th and early 20th century that killed thousands of Jews. The
riots frightened many of the black residents of Crown Heights as well.
"The newspapers focused on what it was like for Jews during the
riots," said the late Councilman James E. Davis. "They didn't
focus on what it was like for African-Americans and Caribbeans during
those three days."
In the aftermath, Lubavitchers and blacks sought to reestablish common
ground. Richard Green, an African-American, and David Lazerson, a
Lubavitcher, organized a much-publicized interracial discussion group
and basketball game. The Jewish Community Council founded Project CARE
as an umbrella organization for local community groups and as a conduit
for better communication.
By all accounts, Crown Heights has become more peaceful. Recently, a
car driven by a Hasid from another community struck a black girl in
North Crown Heights. Project CARE's leaders quickly met with the
girl's family, spoke to members of the community, and addressed the
press. The incident passed without a disturbance, and the girl
recovered.
Some Lubavitchers remain skeptical of the reconciliation. Rabbi Jacob
Goldstein, chairman of the local Community Board, dismisses the
basketball games as "social engineering." Rabbi Spielman instead
credits Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for calming the neighborhood. Under
Giuliani's administration, crime fell steeply in Crown Heights-the
former Mayor often pointed with pride to the 89 percent drop in murders
-and confrontational protests were kept under strict supervision.
Recently, white professionals have returned to Crown Heights, and
housing prices have skyrocketed. Whenever Lubavitchers discuss the
panic of the 1960s and '70s, they invariably refer to how much prices
have risen since-one bought his for $25,000 and estimates its current
worth at $350,000; another bought at $25,000 and estimates it would now
fetch $600,000.
Despite stereotypes to the contrary, however, many Lubavitchers are
poor. Because their community is in Crown Heights, they cannot move
somewhere cheaper. The high prices, while a boon for homeowners, bring
hardship to the rest.
The level of true integration in Crown Heights remains uneven. Botnick,
who moved into Crown Heights on the day the riots broke out, says he
has developed close friendships with several black neighbors. "The
level of tolerance has increased tremendously over the years," he
says. "On Rosh Hashanah [the Jewish New Year], walking along the
street, I can't tell you how many black people say 'Happy New
Year' to me." Richard Green points to a higher level of
understanding in the black community. "Most people that want to be
enlightened, they're enlightened. Those that aren't...you're
never going to get a hundred percent."
Other Lubavitchers, however, aren't interested in more than a cordial
relationship with their black neighbors. "We don't bother anyone,
and we expect not to be bothered," says Rabbi Spielman. Rabbi Jacob
Goldstein, chairman of the Community Board, agrees: "We're not
intermarrying, we're not going to social dances, we're not going to
church. What else is there?"
The Lubavitchers were not the only Jews who tried to fight the tides of
racial change that swept through American cities-idealists who
believed firmly in integration tried to stay in neighborhoods like
Brownsville, but there were too few to counteract the social and
physical decay that set in around them, and most eventually left. The
Lubavitchers stayed because they were united behind the Rebbe's
decision. The religious institutions that the Rebbe spoke so
passionately about preserving stabilized and nurtured the community. In
nearby decimated Brownsville, it was another religious organization,
the predominantly black East Brooklyn Congregations, that revived that
neighborhood in the 1980s by rebuilding housing under the Nehemiah
program. In both cases, religious institutions proved powerful because
they enabled their members to act collectively in a way that the logic
of economics, geared as it is towards individual self-interest, does
not accommodate. In the case of the Lubavitchers, though, their insular
loyalty to one another has been one of the great barriers to
integration with the surrounding communities. Though they may wish to
be left in peace, peace ultimately depends on forming lasting bonds
with those around them.
Crown Heights's Councilman James E. Davis, who was assassinated by a
political rival during the writing of this article, was a firm advocate
of communication. Just as Rebbe Schneerson looked to Jewish law to
respond to the white flight of the 1960s, Davis, too, learned to draw
inspiration from unexpected sources. Seeking to emphasize the
importance of a unified community, he recounted a conversation between
Rebbe Schneerson and then-Mayor David Dinkins in the wake of the Crown
Heights riots. "Dinkins said to the Grand Rebbe, 'We have to get
these two communities together.' And the Grand Rebbe said, 'No,
it's one community.'"
The Next American City Inc. ©2003
Moshe
Matisyahu finds an upbeat melody in Hasidic Judaism
By Quibian Salazar-Moreno
Special to The Denver Post
The Denver Post
Monday, January 31, 2005 -
When Matthew Miller was a teenager, he was a hippie. He loved the
Grateful Dead, he grew dreadlocks and wore his Birkenstocks year round.
He even dropped out of high school to follow Phish on tour.
"In high school I got into Bob Marley and reggae music too, so that's
how I lived," he said.
Now Miller, 25, sans the dreads, is known as Matisyahu - or Matis - a
Hasidic Jew who promotes positivism and spirituality through hip-hop
reggae music. In the past year and a half, Matis said his career has
grown quickly, capping off 2004 with an appearance on ABC's "Jimmy
Kimmel Live." He is on a nationwide tour that stops at Dulcinea's 100th
Monkey on Wednesday and Trilogy in Boulder on Thursday.
"I've always done music, but it's really taken off in the last couple
of years," Matis said. "For this tour, I'm hoping for a huge response."
Matis grew up in White Plains, N.Y., with his nonpracticing Jewish
parents, whom he calls "reconstructionist," or secular, Jews. He
attended public schools but didn't do well academically. As teenager,
he felt a void in his life. He filled it when he came to the Rocky
Mountains.
"I was on a wilderness trip one summer, and I think we were mainly in
Durango and different parts of Colorado," Matis said. "That was one of
the first times I was connecting to nature, away from home and thinking
about God."
His faith grew after a visit to Israel. When he returned to the States,
he went to school in Oregon, where he delved deeper into his musical
side and studied reggae and hip-hop. Artists like The Roots, Common, De
la Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Nas all have influenced Matis' music.
AUDIO
Click here to download songs from Matisyahu.
He returned to New York two years later, and started at The New School,
where he continued to work on music and in theater. During this time he
also attended the Carlebach Shul, a synagogue known for its hippie vibe
and free-form singing. His life changed ultimately, however, when he
met a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement is a branch
of Hasidic Judaism that Matis eventually took on. It was at this point
he went from Matthew to Matisyahu.
Though his band, consisting of a drummer, guitarist and bass player,
has been together only two years, it released an album in 2004. "Shake
off the Dust ... Arise," is an array of reggae dance hall, dub and
hip-hop tunes with a focus on the spiritual and uplifting parts of
life. Matis says his purpose is not to sell records, but to send a
message.
"The Lubavitch community that I'm a part of (is) in Crown Heights,
Brooklyn," Matis said. "The whole thing is based upon the rebbe. A
rebbe is sort of the spiritual guru or leader of the people. Our rebbe,
Lubavitch Rebbe, we believe to be the Moses of our generation.
"The rebbe's message was to go out into the world and let the people
know. Get the world ready and promote spirituality and promote God and
turn the world over."
Creating and performing music may be considered edgy in most orthodox
religions, but Matis said most of the people in his Lubavitch community
are supportive. At his shows, especially in the New York City area,
everyone from teenagers and young adults to the influential seniors of
his community come out to enjoy the music.
"All the elders and all the leaders in Lubavitch are pretty much
positive on my going out and performing music and being on TV and being
in newspapers," Matis said.
The upcoming tour is his first major nationwide excursion, and because
of some Jewish laws and beliefs, there are some things he cannot do,
such as perform on Fridays and Saturdays because of the Sabbath. When
going to his shows, though, don't expect to be preached to or told that
you have to switch beliefs.
"In Judaism we don't look for converts," he said. "We believe that
everyone has a mission and a purpose in the world, and non-Jews have a
mission and a purpose just like Jews.
"We're not trying to convert people; we're just trying to promote
spirituality, godliness, making godly decisions and living a godly and
spiritual life. That's for everybody."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Matisyahu
Matisyahu brings his brand of hip-hop reggae to the metro area this
week. Here are details on the two shows.
DENVER|Dulcinea's 100th Monkey, 717 E. Colfax Ave; 9 p.m. Wednesday|$8
at the door; 303-832-3601
BOULDER|Trilogy Lounge, 2017 13th St; 8 p.m. Thursday|$8-$10 at the
door; 303-473-9463.
Moshe
Washington Jewish Week
01/13/05
American Friends of Lubavitch's Washington office will be providing a
Chumash to every Jewish member of the House and Senate after one newly
elected House Democrat had trouble locating a copy of the Hebrew Bible
at her swearing-in last week.
The Forward reported that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) called
around to other Jewish House members after learning that Speaker of the
House Dennis Hastert only had copies of the Christian Bible. She
finally found one in Rep. Gary Ackerman's (D-N.Y.) office.
"Now every Jewish member of the House and Senate is going to have a
Chumash for the swearing-in or any other purpose they would need it
for," Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of Lubavitch's D.C. office, said on
Tuesday.
Some on the Senate side, of course, already bring their own Five Books
of Moses to their swearing-in ceremony. Observers say Sen. Charles
Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been seen toting the Chumash he received as a bar
mitzvah.
Copyrighted.
Moshe
Monday, January 31, 2005 / 21 Shevat 5765
Arutz 7
The rabbinical organization Pikuach Nefesh released a statement
rejecting the Jerusalem demonstration's call for a referendum - but
other rabbis explain why a referendum is the only option.
One of the anti-disengagement rally's themes was, "Let the People
Decide." Though this demand can be fulfilled by holding new elections,
it is more commonly understood as calling for a national referendum on
the question of whether the State of Israel should hold on to the
entire Land of Israel.
The demand for a referendum on Jewish rule over the Land of Israel, the
Pikuach Nefesh [Saving Lives] rabbis explained, is anti-Jewish and even
inhumane. Rabbi David Druckman wrote in the statement that "the people"
have no moral right to decide to uproot Jews from the Land of Israel,
which G-d gave to the Jewish people. The Pikuach Nefesh director
further wrote that Torah law forbids taking the security risk inherent
in uprooting Jews from the lands of Gush Katif.
No "democratic" law, the letter states, "can uproot even a single comma
from our holy Torah.... Just as a 'democratic majority' cannot repeal
brit milah (ritual circumcision) or move the Sabbath to Sunday, neither
can a 'democratic decision' legitimately uproot Jews from their land."
Many of the Pikuach Nefesh rabbis are associated with the Chabad
movement - the Rabbinical Court of which called on its followers to
attend last night's rally.
Rabbi Shabtai Sabato, head of Yeshivat Netivot Yosef in Mitzpeh Yericho
and a strong supporter of the call for a referendum, explained why a
referendum is the right option at this time:
"There are three reasons: One is that there is seemingly no other way
to stop this terrible decree, and the second is that it is very likely
that with a great effort, we can convince most of the public to object
to this plan - and this will grant us the bonus of stopping all Prime
Ministers in the future from trying something like this.
"But the third point is the most important of all, and outshadows the
other two. It is based on the fundamental approach that G-d created the
world and mankind not so that He can force His will upon us, but rather
that we should follow the right path of our own choice. This is a basic
tenet of the Torah: it is given to our free choice, and we are not
forced. Of course, there is always some measure of pressure - for
instance, though Aaron the Priest was able to choose whether to accept
that position, his offspring may not. The same is true for the
Patriarch Abraham... Similarly, the nation of Israel did not receive
the Torah by force, but rather chose it; G-d gave them reasons to
accept it, and they did - as we read in the public Torah reading this
week (Exodus 19, 3-8).
"It will be asked that we have a Medrash that says that G-d forced
Israel, by 'dropping' the mountain upon them, to accept the Torah. But
what this means is that the entire situation was one of pressure -
the miracles, and the smoke, and the ability to see sounds, and the
like - and that is what 'forced' them. Similar to the pressure that
was put upon Adam when he was told that if he eats from the tree he
would be killed - and in the end, he utilised his free will, and ate,
and was punished. We have free will.
"Sometimes, a critical question is put up for a major decision - such
as with Elijah the Prophet at Mt. Carmel, when he gave the people the
option of following Baal or of following G-d [Kings I 18]. People today
would ask, 'How could he have placed the basic tenet of belief in G-d
up for a popular decision? Is that how we praise G-d, by putting His
commands up for our approval?' The answer is that we see that Hashem's
will is that we should decide; He doesn't want robots. He is praised
via our choosing the right path, and not by our behaving like robots.
"In our current situation, we never really truly decided about the Land
of Israel. The areas we received in the Six Day War, for instance,
basically fell into our laps - miraculously, and not because we chose
them. Now it's up to us to decide. Sharon's inexplicable 180-degree
turn and the looming threat of 8,500 Jews being thrown out of their
homes can give us the push and strength we need to actually go from
house to house and persuade the people of the importance of our
connection with this Land. We saw that we were able to do it in the
Likud referendum a few months ago, but that was just practice for the
real thing coming up.
"More and more people are now realizing that this referendum is the
only option, because they see that the only other alternative is civil
war and many deaths... We're not prophets; we can't predict exactly
what will happen or what are G-d's Divine moves - and therefore we
also rely on the other two reasons [mentioned above: no choice, and
good chance of winning]. But they are just a platform for the real
reason, as I explained."
Moshe
mood optimistic among Ukrainian Jews
By Vladimir Matveyev
KIEV, Jan. 30 (JTA)
Ukrainian Jews have high hopes that their nation's new president will
bring real changes to this former Communist republic.
Like other Ukrainians, many of the country's estimated 200,000 to
500,000 Jews are banking on the promises of democracy, wealth and
increased participation in international bodies made by Viktor
Yuschenko in the days after he was sworn in earlier this month.
On Jan. 25, Yuschenko spoke at the Council of Europe session in
Strasbourg, France, and declared his firm intention to see Ukraine part
of the European Union.
Ukraine, a nation of roughly 48 million, is eager to start the
application process as soon as this winter, although it may take years
to complete, analysts say.
"Yuschenko showed his direction toward turning Ukraine into a
democratic European nation with full respect for freedom of speech and
a fair judicial system," said Eduard Gurvitz, a Jewish member of
Parliament and a longtime Yuschenko supporter.
"This is a total contrast to Kuchma's corrupt regime," he said,
referring to outgoing president Leonid Kuchma, who held office for 10
years.
Many of the country's Jews - perhaps a majority - backed
Yuschenko's opponent, Viktor Yanukovich, in last fall's the heated
election campaign.
Some of these Jews are fearful of a possible rise in anti-Semitism
coming from radical nationalist groups and individual politicians who
were part of Yuschenko's election coalition, but others are speaking
the language of reconciliation.
"The new president stretches out his hand of collaboration to all who
want to shake it," said Alexander Feldman, a Jewish lawmaker and a
prominent community leader who backed Yanukovich. "I do believe that
Yuschenko's politics will be aimed at protecting the interethnic
peace and concord in Ukraine. Otherwise we shall correct him. But today
I have more hopes than fears."
Those Jews who share Yuschenko's Euro-focused vision of Ukraine have
faith in his ability to make Ukraine a more prosperous nation.
"I believe in the transparency of his politics," said Mila Milner,
a Jewish activist in Kiev, a city that overwhelmingly backed Yuschenko.
"This was something we totally lacked during the previous regime,"
she said. "Today, Yuschenko has a historic chance to forge better
ties between Ukraine and the West. To his credit, he has a good
starting capital, as Ukraine's current economic situation is
generally seen as promising."
Alex Dukhovny, a Reform rabbi in Kiev and the only Jewish religious
leader who spoke at pro-Yuschenko rallies during last year's street
protests, which eventually helped Yuschenko become president, says
people in his congregation hope for simple things. "People talk about
bigger salaries and pensions," he said.
Josef Ostashinsky, a 56-year-old member of Kiev's Jewish community,
agreed. "I hope to see in new Ukraine the same standards of life as
in Europe," he said.
He added that a recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents in neighboring
Russia, including an anti-Semitic letter signed by a group of Russian
lawmakers, showed what Ukraine may have averted by defeating
Yanukovich, who was backed by pro-Russian voters and the Kremlin.
"Today, we can better understand what Putin's Russia, which backed
Yanukovich, really means," he said.
Some Jews say the key to Yuschenko's success at home will depend on
his ability to win the support of the regions that voted overwhelmingly
for his competitor and to spread Kiev's standard of living to other
parts of the country.
"It is very important to spread the positive changes from Kiev to the
regions," said Rudolf Mirsky, a Jewish activist in the city of Lvov.
But some Jews are less optimistic.
"I have both hopes and fears," said Grigory Shoikhet, the Jewish
community president and director of a Chabad day school in Kharkov, an
eastern city where both non-Jews and Jews supported Yanukovich.
Shoikhet fears the anti-Semitism that has often developed in Ukraine
during times of instability and change.
Yuschenko has tried to alleviate these fears. On Jan. 27, addressing an
audience in Krakow, Poland, where he traveled to participate in
commemorations of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz,
Yuschenko said, "I publicly swear that the so-called Jewish question
will never be raised in Ukraine."
Meanwhile, some of the first appointments in Yuschenko's
administration suggests that politicians of Jewish descent may be as
powerful during his presidency as others were during Kuchma's reign.
Yevgeny Chervonenko, another Jewish lawmaker and a close aide to
Yuschenko, is expected to be appointed to a key post in the new
government. Chervonenko, 45, is also vice president of the United
Jewish Community of Ukraine, an umbrella group.
Another public personality with Jewish ancestry already has been
appointed secretary of the Council for National Security and Defense.
Pyotr Poroshenko, a member of the Parliament, a financier and media
magnate, has never publicized his Jewish background but it is known to
many in the Jewish community.
There is a possible pitfall, however. Now that expectations have been
raised, they can be dashed if improvements do not follow.
"Now people will simply not allow the authorities to treat them as
before," said Semyon Gluzman, head of the Ukrainian-American Bureau
for Human Rights in Kiev. "The only thing I'm afraid of is the
disappointment of people."
But for now, optimism seems to be prevailing.
"We ourselves must help Yuschenko and his team to change our lives
for the better," Gluzman said.
One of Kiev's chief rabbis, Moshe Reuven Azman, echoed this
sentiment.
"What I hear from the members of the Jewish community is that it
should be us who will help Yuschenko build a flourishing democratic
society."
Moshe
Candidates Parade to Doors of UFT Chief, City's Chasidim
New York Sun
BY JILL GARDINER - Staff Reporter of the Sun
February 1, 2005
On a Saturday night in early December, two of the Democratic mayoral
candidates, Gifford Miller and Anthony Weiner, found themselves under a
massive tent in Williamsburg, wearing black yarmulkes, at a religious
celebration with the chasidic Satmar community.
The fresh-faced Mr. Miller, 35, a Protestant who represents Manhattan's
Upper East Side and serves as speaker of the City Council, wore a
yarmulke with the word "Gifford" embroidered in gold-colored thread in
Hebrew lettering.
Though it is not surprising that either Mr. Miller or Mr. Weiner, a
member of Congress who is Jewish, paid the chasidic community a visit -
it is essentially a prerequisite for anyone running for citywide office
- their appearances signal that the candidates who want to replace
Mayor Bloomberg have begun the delicate process of courting support
among a group that will undoubtedly have influence in the upcoming
election.
"The chasidic community has always been a swing district," one person
in the community, who did not want to be identified, said. "These
candidates know that they need Satmar support. They know that
rank-and-file Satmars will vote like their leaders tell them to."
Political scientists said the process is not quite that clear-cut,
because the chasidic community is a notoriously fractious assemblage of
groups with different concerns, and a complicated world to navigate.
Still, the individual chasidic groups have high voter turnout and often
throw their support behind a single candidate, sometimes generating
enough votes to tip a primary or an election in one direction.
Mr. Miller, who is leading his four Democratic challengers in
fund-raising but is still lagging in the polls, raised at least $14,000
in Williamsburg, Boro Park, and other parts of Jewish Brooklyn in the
past six months and had at least two fund-raising events in private
homes during that time. Most of the Miller money, according to records
of the Campaign Finance Board, was raised by a consultant named Abe
Leichtenstein, and donated in $250 sums by people with Old Testament
first names. Mr. Leichtenstein could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Weiner, meanwhile, acknowledged last week that he'd accepted
contributions from relatives of an Orthodox rabbi at Boro Park, the
dean of the Bais Yaakov Orthodox girls school, who was accused two
years ago of misappropriating $700,000. Though Mr. Weiner immediately
announced that he was returning the contributions linked to Rabbi
Milton Balkany, the incident highlights his already formed
relationships within the community.
Some said the Brooklyn-Queens congressman will probably have an edge
since he is the sole Jewish candidate in the race and already
represents several Jewish neighborhoods in Congress.
Mr. Weiner, who in 1998 defeated Noach Dear, an Orthodox Jew, in the
Democratic congressional primary, called the Jewish community his
"base" and said his presence there was not part of a campaign strategy.
"This is not an election-year push for me," he said. "There are other
places that I'm trying to grow, but this is my base, these are my
constituents.
"I would imagine," he said, "that it's like the relationship Freddy
Ferrer has with the Puerto Rican community in the Bronx."
Mr. Miller and Mr. Weiner are not the only candidates reaching out to
chasidic rabbis and community leaders.
The Democratic front-runner, Fernando Ferrer, a Hispanic who, in his
last bid for mayor, went out of his way to cultivate a strong
relationship with Jewish communities, recently hired the head of
external affairs at the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, Kalman
Yeger, as executive director of his campaign. Though Mr. Ferrer's
campaign declined to comment for this story, Mr. Yeger is expected to
help the former Bronx borough president maintain and strengthen his
relationship with the Jewish community.
On Friday, the chairman of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council,
Chanina Sperlin, told The New York Sun that he is scheduled to have
lunch with Mr. Ferrer.
"I want to sit down with Fernando Ferrer. We have a personal
relationship. We've been in touch for the last few years, " Mr.
Sperlin, whose group is a nonprofit Lubavitcher social-service
organization, said. "I want to sit down with Gifford Miller. I want to
sit down with Anthony Weiner. I want to sit down with all of the
candidates. After we sit down with everyone, we'll make a decision."
The other candidates on the Democratic side are a Brooklyn council
member, Charles Barron, and the borough president of Manhattan, C.
Virginia Fields. The Republicans who said they will challenge Mr.
Bloomberg in a primary are a former council minority leader, Thomas
Ognibene of Queens, and an investment banker from Park Slope, Steven
Shaw.
Mr. Sperlin's group endorsed Mr. Ferrer in the 2001 primary runoff
against Mark Green, who is Jewish, and then backed Mr. Bloomberg, who
also is Jewish, in the general election. Mr. Sperlin said that he would
not rule out endorsing Mr. Bloomberg again, but that it was too soon to
decide.
In 2001, Messrs. Ferrer and Green clashed in the Democratic primary
campaign over leaflets circulated in mostly Jewish areas of Brooklyn,
which had a cartoon lampooning the chummy relationship between Mr.
Ferrer and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Mr. Green said his campaign had
nothing to do with the leaflets. But the spat ended up causing an ugly
division in the Democratic Party that helped Michael Bloomberg win a
good chunk of the vote.
With that incident in the past, this year's candidates seem to be
refining their strategies with this community, much as they are with
other groups in the city.
The mayor, too, is said to be ramping up his outreach.
No political consultant is suggesting that chasidic and Orthodox Jews
will carry any candidate. To earn the mayoralty, the winner will have
to attract hundreds of thousands more voters from a wide range of
backgrounds.
Mr. Miller's campaign manager, Brian Hardwick, said the chasidm have
the same concerns as most New Yorkers - housing, education,
transportation, and jobs - and that the Miller forces do not "target"
any group.
"A primary campaign is all about piecing together your support," he
said. "You start with your base and you expand out. And the way you
build that support is to address the issues that each community cares
about.
"He has been doing that for the last three years in his capacity of
speaker," Mr. Hardwick said of his boss.
A former council member from Brooklyn who represented parts of
Williamsburg, Kenneth Fisher, said the Orthodox and chasidic groups can
be valuable because they tend to be politically involved and can
provide candidates with forums to communicate to secular Jews that they
are sensitive to Jewish issues.
"It is not at all surprising that any of the mayor candidates would be
looking for support in the chasidic community," Mr. Fisher, a lawyer
who now also works as a lobbyist, said. He added, however, that the
Jewish constituencies in Brooklyn range from the modern Orthodox in
Brooklyn Heights to the ultra-Orthodox in Boro Park, and that they care
about different things. The Satmars, for example, are anti-Zionist,
while other groups are intensely concerned with the relationship
between America and Israel.
A political consultant who works closely with the Satmar community, Bob
Liff, made a similar point.
"There is a perception that you can accomplish a lot through the
one-stop shopping approach," Mr. Liff said, explaining that most rabbis
open their doors to any candidate that wants to come through. "But
these communities have needs. In Williamsburg, housing is the issue. So
essentially, what goes on in these communities is the same thing that
goes on in every community in this city."
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/8531
A primer on Kabbalah
Coram class follows popular moviement with 'Dummies' class
BY INDRANI SEN
STAFF WRITER
February 6, 2005
In entertainment magazines and newspaper gossip pages, the growing list
of Hollywood and pop music stars studying Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish
mysticism, has been well-documented.
But sitting around a conference table at the Chabad House of Coram
Tuesday night, Rabbi Mendy Goldberg evoked Kabbalists whose celebrity
has endured even longer than Madonna's.
His "Kabbalah for Dummies" course focuses on Abraham and Adam, said to
be among the first Kabbalists. It touches upon the teachings of Rabbi
Moshe Cordevero and Rabbi Isaac Luria, both 16th century Jewish
scholars from Safed, in what is now Israel. And it references the
awe-inspiring story of the Golem of Prague - a giant creature created
from clay which, the story goes, was enlivened by Kabbalist formulas to
protect the Jewish people from their enemies in 1580.
Celebrities make it hot
Goldberg, 28, the associate director of the Lubavitch of the East End,
acknowledges that the association of celebrities such as Madonna, Demi
Moore, Donna Karan and Paris Hilton with Kabbalah has increased
interest in the practice. And, he said, he welcomes anyone who wants to
learn more about it.
"People are trying to figure out what this thing is," he said. "And
that's what we're going to discuss." He added that there are "a lot of
myths out there, and basically this course is to dispel the myths."
In the flurry of media attention, Kabbalah has been dismissed by some
as a cult, a simplistic self-help program or a fad. But to Goldberg and
the 10 people at Tuesday night's class, there's much more to the
ancient practice than that.
"It's an in-depth learning," said Betsy Shurack, 55, of Coram, a senior
regional director for the American Heart Association. "So much about
what goes on in life, we just don't understand. It takes you into a
deeper thinking and deeper knowledge. It makes you think a bit more in
your regular life."
An ancient study
Kabbalah is based on the Zohar, or the Book of Splendor, a multivolume
cosmological interpretation of the Torah that was published in Spain in
the 13th century. But adherents say Kabbalah's history goes back
millennia, or, indeed, to the creation of the world. Traditionally, the
study of Kabbalah was limited to Jewish scholars.
Goldberg's course, advertised on postcards as "a crash course on the
basics of Jewish mysticism" and "Torah study for the rest of us," is
one of a handful on Long Island, mostly at Chabad centers, where they
are taught by rabbis in the Lubavitch Hasidic movement.
The course, one of several offered at the Chabad House of Coram over
the past three years, is open to anyone, Goldberg said.
"We do target Jews, because that's who the spiritual mysticism was
geared for when it was made," he said. "But anyone who wants to can
come."
Esther Costa, 63, a secretary at the Chabad House of Coram who lives in
Mount Sinai, started her study of Kabbalah three years ago, she said.
"Once your appetite is whetted a little, you really are curious to find
out more, so it opens a door for you," she said. "It's like a baby. A
baby starts with mother's milk, and then moves on to baby food. That's
exactly what you do. You start learning the very, very beginnings, and
then you want to learn more and more."
Attracting a mix
Tuesday's class attracted an assortment of men and women, mostly
middle-aged or older, some wearing yarmulkes and beards, others
sporting Yankees caps, stylish glasses or jewelry.
The point, Goldberg told them, is that "everybody and anybody has the
power to connect to God. It doesn't matter how intellectual or how
scholarly you are."
Studying Kabbalah is part of an ongoing spiritual journey, said Susan
Kapner-Fischer, a special education teacher from Coram.
"It's our heritage," she said. "I'm learning. I guess life continues to
be a learning process. I don't have the answers right now."
The classes, Goldberg said, are a way of continuing to seek those
elusive answers, in the texts of Kabbalah and in oneself.
On the agenda for next week, he announced at the end of the class: "The
soul, reincarnation and the cosmos."
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.
At the end of its 100 days of grace, the new airport terminal remains
labyrinthine, and the possibilities for going the wrong way there are
rife.
Last update - 08:11 06/02/2005
By Yossi Klein
About three months ago, two weeks before the opening of the new
Terminal No. 3 at Ben-Gurion International Airport in Lod, Rafi took
the big cardboard box that had accompanied him during all his years
there and disappeared. Rafi, whose full name is "Rafi Terminal," or
sometimes "Rafi-Babi," had lived at Terminal No. 1 for almost 30 years.
According to workers there, he is "somewhere between 50 and 60" years
old, short, wears glasses with thick lenses and his hair has become
increasingly white, like his wispy mustache. He showed up in the
terminal in the mid-1970s and became a permanent resident. He acquired
his rights slowly but surely and in the end displayed the mannerisms of
a strict male partner in an apartment of uninhibited female students.
Rafi Terminal was not a great talker, but demanded order and
discipline. Every morning at 6 he presented himself at the information
counter. Talk was unnecessary, every stewardess knew: Half a cup and
two sugars - that's how he liked his coffee. With time he let the
stewardesses know how vital it was for him to have his morning coffee
served by an experienced, veteran stewardess. "Is Lisa here?" he would
ask, raising himself slightly on tiptoe and trying to locate an
experienced veteran behind the shoulder of the polite young thing who
was serving him his coffee. Yes, the stewardesses remember today, Rafi
was very punctilious when it came to his morning rituals.
Rafi Terminal didn't have the charm of Viktor Navorski, whom Tom Hanks
plays in Steven Spielberg's film "The Terminal." Nevertheless, the
tenants in the old terminal treated him like Navorski is treated in the
movie. The cleaners swept around him, the staff at the information desk
fed him, the taxi drivers took him on long trips, and even the tough
security guards invited him to parties.
For almost 30 years Rafi was a protected tenant. At first he spread his
cardboard box on the floor next to the synagogue. Occasionally he would
be allowed to lay it on the floor of a room that had been vacated.
Afterward his living conditions improved and his "official" residence
became a small room. One stewardess declares that she even saw a
mattress and blankets. Half a year ago he was approached by a social
worker and after they huddled for a bit, he got into a taxicab with a
relative who suddenly cropped up and disappeared from the terminal.
It is the way of homeless people at the terminal that they vanish as
suddenly as they appear. Not every permanent airport resident knows
that he is going to achieve that status. In the old terminal there were
people whom no one met when they landed and remained lost in the
airport; there was one old woman who for eight years made the lawn in
front of the building her official residence, with the fence as a
laundry rope.
There are no permanent tenants in the new terminal yet. There are
candidates: chronic insomniacs, the severely lonely and pensioners who
stare at the arrivals and departures. It's not such an off-the-wall
idea to live in the terminal. It's definitely a pleasant place in which
to spend long years. The air is conditioned, the lighting is not
intrusive, the washrooms are clean, the neighbors are cordial, and even
the most irritating ones disappear with the next flight.
Where the world ends
Two weeks ago I arrived at the terminal by train. Traveling to the
airport by rail is the first step on the road to the bliss that usually
exists overseas. It's a pleasant trip. The seats are comfortable and
the train clickety-clacks along as contentedly as a well-fed cat. The
train's double-decker red cars zoom by and around dusk, from the second
story, the outskirts of Tel Aviv look low and dangerous. Sitting with
your back to the direction in which the train is traveling is
recommended: that way the landscape gets swallowed gently as it fuses
with the horizon and is not cut off savagely. The traveler only has to
make a quick decision whether "the train to Lod" mentioned over the
loudspeaker system on the platform is also the train to "Lod airport."
At the last minute I was saved from boarding the train to the city,
though not before I dispatched an innocent passenger there who wanted
only to get to London.
The new airport terminal at Lod denotes the end of the world. Its
architectural glory contradicts the businesslike efficiency of a
workaday terminal - in Belgium, say. A terminal is only a
transportation facility, but at the end of the world it is more than
that. It is a statement, a visiting card, a desire to show the world
that it's possible to integrate "a state national commemoration site -
and a mall," as Esther Zandberg wrote in Haaretz. The differences of
approach between the terminal in Lod and other terminals resemble the
differences between the presidential palace in a banana republic and
the residence of the British prime minister at 10 Downing Street.
This is not a place where you simply come by chance or pass through en
route to somewhere else. The human diversity that characterizes transit
stations abroad doesn't exist here. There are no turbaned Sikhs en
route from Kashmir to London, there are no dapper gentlemen carrying
leather briefcases on the way from Zurich to New York. Every entrance
and exit from here is solemn and singular.
It's hard to believe that Rafi Terminal would be able to find himself a
quiet corner in the present palace. Visiting the arrivals hall in the
early morning, one is first of all thrilled by prodigious, temple-like
pillars that support an overarching ceiling. Only the trickle of the
water from the fountain in front attests to the existence of organic
life here. The hall is empty; the next flight isn't due until 3. An
industrious worker crosses the vast hall and the clack of her heels
reverberates for almost five minutes in the terrible space until it is
swallowed up by a small opening in the wall.
On the fringes of the palace, employees gather, holding cups of coffee
with both hands and hunching up their shoulders for protection against
the cold. First thing in the morning a procession of people in uniform
sporting name-tags passes by. They are the human face of a place that
projects cold anonymity. I, too, sporting the tag of a junior visitor,
was asked a few times during the day where the washrooms are and how
one actually gets out of the place. The steps of those who pin all
their hopes on signs and directions grow smaller and less resolute as
they are compelled to navigate their way with the help of mysterious
inscriptions such as "The Lobby," "The Square," "The Avenue" and "The
Gallery."
Where chutzpah flourishes
Terminal No. 3 is a place of solace. Those who enter its gates are free
of thoughts about income tax, Abu Mazen and layoffs at work. This place
serves up the duty-free shops and plies one with whispered
announcements through the loudspeakers for which one's attention is
requested, please. The only effort needed is to commit your body, like
an important piece of baggage, into the hands of those who know exactly
what is good for you. The terminal will decided what the optimal
lighting intensity is and what the right temperature is. Afterward, on
the plane, the passenger will try to sleep when the lights are dimmed
and will open his beak like a newly hatched bird when it's decided that
he is hungry.
The passenger recoils from an apparatus that suddenly assumes a human
face. Behind such a face lurk human needs, and he, after all, has paid
for having his needs satisfied. In the morning it's still possible to
distinguish the staff from the others; afterward they blend into the
mute, transparent machinery that transports the travelers abroad. The
cleaning women are completely see-through. With their absence of
substance they fuse with the conveyor belt, the mechanized walkway
which, like a pampering train in Disneyland, takes passengers on a
delightful ride. The passenger begins with a painless farewell to a
heavy suitcase, and makes his way via passport control directly to the
duty-free area, from there to the pre-flight coffee and then to the
mysteries of the "sleeve" at the end of which a come-hither air hostess
beckons. The cleaning women (dark pants, white blouse, tag) are not
part of this journey of pleasures. Because they are transparent in the
eyes of the passengers, the passengers likewise become transparent in
their eyes.
Sometimes the transparency is uglified. "What are workers doing using
this elevator?" a passenger once asked Martha, who has been working as
an office cleaner for nine years now.
In the absence of other travelers the Israeli identity markers stand
out. The stewardesses manning the information counter talk about the
passengers in terms that offer no new insights: They are demanding,
brazen and loud. Apparently confronting the expressionless face of an
immigration official abroad is the most effective way to separate the
Israeli from his demanding chutzpah. Until then he refuses to part with
it. The natural place for him to display it is at the information
counter at the entrance to the departure hall ("The Square").
Two weeks ago the passenger hall was as relaxed as a person who is
recovering from a heavy meal. The passports were stamped, the coffee
was sipped and the plastic bags of the duty-free were placed within
reach on a chair. The information staff sit behind a horseshoe-shaped
counter. The line in front of them has a distinctive Israeli identity:
Its width exceeds its length.
Four questioners plunk their elbows on the counter and each tries to
catch the attention of the helpful stewardesses before the others. If
these women can be compared to a bodily organ, it's to a large ear. The
body of Nava, with 20 years' experience in information, leans forward,
her face turned slightly to the side so that the question can rush
straight into her ear, her eyebrows raised in expectation, eyelids
fluttering in concentration. The questions are routine: Where is the
washroom? Where is D-2? But also: Would you be willing to send me a
letter? And: How can I find my car in the parking lot?
The visitor's tag attached to my sweater draws a tourist who speaks no
known language. He taps two fingers on his wrist in the international
gesture that asks what the time might be. In the departure lounge there
is a fountain, a synagogue and a store that rents mobile phones, but
not one clock.
Where the traps are laid
The information department at the airport is a good place to work. Many
stewardesses have worked there for 20 years and more. The working
conditions are addictive: two night shifts a week followed by a day
off. Many of the women make use of the extra time for studies. But with
education comes frustration: Why should these educated and industrious
women spend their time directing people to the washroom?
The veterans tell about the money they themselves put up to help
travelers who were stuck and unfortunates who were lost. They also have
plenty say about the famous demanding Israeli. They have already seen
passengers who leaped up and sat themselves down on the counter,
protesting a flight that was late in leaving. One stewardess
demonstrated quick reflexes in dodging a telephone hurled at her face.
They have already heard comments of which "Who do you think you are,
anyway?" was the most refined and "You stupid jerk" was not the worst.
Between question and revilement, the passengers leave souvenirs behind
- from humdrum umbrellas to credit cards and expensive telephones.
Hasidim have forgotten sandwiches that were supposed to nourish them
during the flight (they won't eat the food served on the plane) and
someone forgot a shoe. Crutches and a walker have also been found in
the departure hall and with them came odd reflections about their
fleet-footed owners. The information counter is apparently the only
place in the airport where you can get something for nothing.
(The Chabad movement has a booth where a barter arrangement takes
place: Say a prayer and get qualified guarantees for a safe flight now
and a good life afterward).
The convenient working conditions are a honey trap for the information
women. For the passengers traps of a different kind lie in wait. They
are well-hidden and the passengers fall into them happily and
willingly. For example, H. Stern, the jewelry store, presents the
about-to-depart person with a large square table whose jewelry-packed
displays are aglitter in colors of silver and gold. The saleswomen -
who wear dark uniforms, and earrings and a watch that belong to the
store - seem disinterested, but the slightest movement of someone in
the direction of the table is immediately picked up by their highly
tuned sensors. It could be just some bored passenger who has 20 minutes
until boarding. He doesn't yet know that his indifferent curiosity will
lead him to lay out $1,000 for a pin - or, who knows, a diamond
necklace that goes for $27,000 (reed-thin gold fingers studded with
small diamonds bursting like fireworks from a gilded pendant).
The saleswomen are proficient, efficient and vigilant. Simply cruising
with one's hands crossed behind one's back is for them a flashing
warning light accompanied by a wailing siren. It's not the closest
saleswoman who approaches, but the one whose turn has come according to
a fixed order. The order is important and every minute is, too. A
considerable portion of the employees' salary is based on sales
commissions, so that a cigarette break or a quick pee could represent a
loss of hundreds of dollars. A 10-minute break is allowed every hour.
During the rest of time, throughout the seven-hour shift, the women are
on their feet and wait with the patience of a spider awaiting its prey.
Every sign of interest gets an enthusiastic response. The prices are
carefully hidden to ensure that the conversation does not deteriorate
into a graceless discussion about lucre. The saleswomen prefer to talk
about the world of design in general and about the taste of one's
beloved woman, in particular. The form of address to the potential
client is not left to chance. The text is committed to memory during
the employees' preparation course. Evaluating clients by the way they
are dressed is a strict no-no. Who knows whether the nondescript fellow
in the corner is not about to whip out a platinum card from his sweat
pants? Things like this have already happened, so the sizing-up process
is cautious. The people who walk around the airport nattily attired are
the one-time travelers of tourist class. The richer types are getting
ready for a good night's sleep in first class, wearing their
nondescript sweat suit. Look at the watch on their wrist and the shoes
on their feet and you will know how much they're worth, one experienced
saleswoman advises.
The ultimate coupling
In the James Richardson duty-free shop, the absolute symbol of the
overseas flight, the traps conceal their sharp teeth behind the smiles
of the uniformed saleswomen (white blouse with small colored
decoration, dark pants). What do people buy here? Roi Aharoni, 24,
goatee, ponytail, tie, is shift manager in the liquor and tobacco
department. You'll be surprised, he says, but they buy whiskey.
Maybe whiskey. But the promotional props he makes use of on a prominent
stand at the entrance are actually vodka bottles and colorful liqueurs.
The euphoria of flying seems to induce the visitors in the shops to
take unplanned paths. The shock of already having spent hundreds of
dollars on the plane ticket thrusts the passenger into a cheerfully
spendthrift frame of mind. Otherwise it is difficult to explain how
someone who is on his way to Milan suddenly buys a piece of jewelry for
$5,000, or on the way to Turkey, abruptly decides to pamper himself
with Remy Cognac at $1,000 a bottle. The joy of buying enjoyed only by
possessors of plane tickets is preserved here zealously. I can't buy
anything here, Aharoni says exultantly.
About 30 meters diagonally from Richardson, Aya Dobkin, who is
responsible for the six stores of Bar Books Express, is trying to
explain what the term "plane book" means (in the new terminal the
ubiquitous Steimatzky's chain has shrunk to two stores which sell
Hanukkah menorahs, amulets and the like). Does the relaxed plane trip
make passengers dull and slow, or alert and alacritous?
For an instant, no more than a split second, Dobkin twists
uncomfortably in her chair, but then she snaps out of it and begins to
talk about readability and lightness. Those qualities lead directly to
the current best-selling title in the shops she manages, Dan Brown's
"The Da Vinci Code." Heavy, barely readable nonfiction works get a
token representation, whereas perched on a respectable stand in
mid-shop, the ultimate act of coupling is played out: the Israeli
best-selling author Ram Oren (complete works), hand in hand with Daniel
Steele (almost the complete works). Up front are children's books, ones
that are based on television series. Far, far in the back: cookbooks.
Where's the plane around here?
As usual these days, the huge new airport hosts only locals. There are
no tourists, with the exception of pilgrims. Two weeks ago dozens of
them, from Nigeria, sat by the gate of their flight, waiting in
silence. They did not pack the duty-free shops and didn't even buy
books in English about the Six-Day War. They wandered about the hall in
black-and-white checkered skirts and in black-and-green baseball caps.
Tourists like these buy little and complain little. The complaints
arena is the province of the locals, who want to exploit to the hilt
the price of the ticket they have bought, ask nonsensical questions and
lodge complaints of no substance.
For years the information staff collected the passengers' thoughts and
brilliant quips in a thick notebook, which was lost during the move to
the new terminal. Still, they can't forget, for example, the bitter
reproach of the woman who was asked to board the bus that would take
her to the plane on the tarmac. "I have no intention of going to Turkey
by bus," she said, tears flooding her eyes. Or another woman (or maybe
the same one?) who wanted to know "where the plane for classical
Europe" was.
The process of mutual adjustment between passengers and terminal is not
a short one. Some three months ago I landed at the new terminal, which
had just been inaugurated two days earlier. I went outside to look for
a cab, not knowing that the authorized cabs had been moved to the
second floor, of all places. As I walked out I was caught by an
unauthorized driver who was waiting in ambush for errant passengers
like me. Afterward I swore to travel only in authorized taxis because
the driver tried to prove to me that it's possible to get to Tel Aviv
so slowly it costs NIS 120 even at 3 A.M. The complaints apparently did
the trick, because now the cabs await the passengers as they leave.
Despite everything, the terminal is still labyrinthine, the direction
signs are modest and the choice of ways to go wrong is large and
varied. On the day I visited the floor where the administrative offices
are located, I ran into a young couple pushing a cart crammed with
luggage. Their faces were pale from a lengthy flight, their
navigational error was ruinous and their chances of extricating
themselves meager. "Honey, I'm sure you'll get me out of here," the
young woman said, hugging her companion's elbow. They are no longer
there. Maybe. After all, that's how Rafi Terminal got his start, too.
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 02:01 04/02/2005
By Nadav Shragai
The protest tent opposite the Prime Minister's Office was dismantled
this week after a month of being manned round the clock by
disengagement opponents, but settlers plan to replace it with smaller
protest tents in cities throughout the country.
Three such tents are already up, in Netanya, Petah Tikva and the Golani
Junction. Others are planned for Tel Aviv and the south. They will be
run by a group called The Right's Municipal Headquarters, which has
activists in some 100 towns. This group also handled most of the
right's street protests against the Oslo Accords.
The main protest tent was taken down because occupancy has been sparse
over the past few days.
Another group that is entering the fray comprises members of the
working settlement movement, the Labor Zionist movement that set up
most of the pre-state agricultural settlements. Movement activists from
Nahalal, Ein Harod, Kinneret, Tel Adashim, Alon Hagalil and Kfar
Yehoshua are planning a conference in Nahalal in 10 days aimed at
recruiting additional kibbutz and moshav members. Their advertisements
urge "anyone with a human and national conference to come and raise his
voice against the illegal and immoral attempt to uproot and destroy the
Katif bloc and Northern Samaria." Activists Adi Lahavi of Kinneret and
Ahuvya Tabenkin of Ein Harod explained that they fear Gush Katif is
only the beginning, and will be followed by a withdrawal from the West
Bank and Jerusalem.
Ultra-Orthodox activists have also joined the struggle, though so far
in small numbers. Two weeks ago, dozens of Haredi yeshiva students from
the Mir, Brisk and Ponevezh yeshivas visited Neveh Dekalim in Gaza;
they then recruited fellow students to visit the protest tent in
Jerusalem. The Chabad Movement has been active as well, and publicly
urged its members to attend last Sunday's mass demonstration in
Jerusalem.
On the political front, lobbying efforts are focusing on the Likud and
Haredi parties. MK Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism) visited Gush
Katif yesterday and surprised his hosts by announcing that he favors a
referendum on the disengagement - though he stressed that he would have
to clarify this position with his party's spiritual mentor, Rabbi
Shalom Elyashiv. MK Nissim Zeev of Shas, who attended Sunday's
demonstration, also pledged to seek the backing of his party's
spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, for a referendum.
Settler activists also said that MK Michael Eitan (Likud), who chairs
the Knesset Constitution Committee, is considering adding a clause to
the disengagement bill that his panel is now preparing to make the
withdrawal conditional on a referendum.
Within the Likud, in addition to bolstering ties with the 13 "rebels"
who have pledged to vote against the 2005 budget unless the government
agrees to a referendum, activists are collecting signatures from
hundreds of central committee members on a letter demanding that the
committee convene to pass a resolution conditioning the disengagement
on a referendum. Eliezer Hasdai, who is spearheading this operation,
said he believes that pressure from the Likud, instead of other
parties, is what ultimately will force Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to
hold a referendum.
Marblehead Reporter
Townonline.com
02/03/05
The Lynn-Swampscott-Marblehead Chapter of Hadassah and Chabad of
the North Shore announce this year's Jewish Woman's Day of Learning.
Now in its seventh year, the Day of Learning is Sunday, March 27
at Chabad's Education Center, 44 Burrill St., Swampscott. Co-chairmen
Judith Drachman and Lisa Mulman, both of Marblehead, are bringing
together a talented roster of speakers for the program. In addition to
text study for beginners and experienced learners, the day will include
a kosher luncheon, book sale and more. For information, contact
Hadassah at 781-581-5790 or hadas...@comcast.net.
http://www2.townonline.com/marblehead/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=177905
Brookline Tab (MA)
Townonline.com
FRIDAY, FEB. 4
Join Chabad at Chestnut Hill, 163 Bellingham Road, for an exciting
weekly Shabbat party, complete with Challa making and Kiddush, singing
and fun, interactive circle time with Hebrew songs, finger play and
stories, as well as arts and crafts and time to play and interact with
other moms and kids. For children up to 3. Meets Fridays, from 9 to 10
a.m. $60 per semester; $8 drop-in class. Semester 2 dates: Feb. 4, 11,
18 and 25; March 4, 11, 18 and 25; and April 1 and 8. For more
information, call Rabbi Mendy Uminer at 617-571-1900 or visit
www.Chabadch.org.
By MARK MIETKIEWICZ
Canadian Jewish News
02/03/05
Although cholent may not seem to be exotic fare, there are countless
varieties and many closely held recipes.
The bubbie of all cholent lists can be found at the Jewish-Food Cholent
Archives. At last count, there were almost 50 cholent recipes. But if
you are really daring, why not try out the Chocolate Cholent or the
Yogurt Curry Cholent. [www.jewish-food.org/recipes/choindex.htm] Add to
that the offerings from the RFCJ Archives (tofu and shiitake mushroom,
rib-sticking and vegetarian "lo-cal") and you can prepare a
different recipe every Shabbat for a year. [http://tinyurl.com/6u55g]
Or you may want to try yaptzok, a Polish potato cholent in which nary
is a bean is found. (I grew up on yaptzok, so I don't even want to
get into the controversy over whether it is a genuine cholent or a
variation of a potato kugel!) [http://tinyurl.com/6g89n] For more
variations, take a look at Oded Schwartz's Cholent - The Ultimate
Shabbat Food. [www.gemsinisrael.com/shabbat.html] And if you're game
for something a bit different, try bison cholent.
[http://tinyurl.com/4k9ja]
It's not uncommon to enjoy cholent while downing an alcoholic
beverage. But instead of washing down your cholent with a drink, why
not pour it into your cholent? Cantor Joel Kessler of Adas Kodesch Shel
Emeth of Wilmington, Delaware, has graciously supplied his recipe for
Beer Cholent. [www.kashrut.com/recipes/beer_cholent/]
Rabbi J. Hershy Worch, a Lubavitch rabbi living in Australia, paid a
visit to the Jews of Uganda and prepared for them something they had
never had - cholent. The Abuyadaya Jews always knew that cooking is
forbidden on Saturday, but they weren't aware that Jewish law does
allow food to be precooked and kept warm on Shabbat. Rabbi Worch
explains how he built an oven into the packed earth floor of his
bedroom, filled it with kidney beans, onions, garlic, salt, pepper,
cloves and cumin, and served the Jews of Uganda their first hot Shabbat
afternoon meal. [http://tinyurl.com/7y8zs]
George Erdosh enjoyed his family's cholent in Hungary before the war.
He has tips about the ingredients and flavouring, along with practical
cholent advice I hadn't seen on other sites. Check out Indigestion on
Shabbat at JewishMag.com. [www.jewishmag.com/43mag/cholent/cholent.htm]
"Kayla Kuchleffel's" CHA-CHA-CHA CHOLENT doesn't offer any
recipes. Rather, she examines cholent as a social phenomenon. "It is
a known fact that in shuls where the rebbetzin serves cholent every
week, there is 100 per cent attendance by men, women and children.
Cholent is the glue (or should I say cement) that holds the congregants
to their shul." [www.countryyossi.com/jan00/humor.htm]
Rabbi Reuben Poupko of Montreal's Beth Israel Beth Aaron's
Congregation discloses the recipe for his "famous" cholent. Don't
miss the minuscule note at the bottom of the page: "DISCLAIMER:
Making cholent is an art, not a science." [www.shul.org/cholent.html]
All those recipes; all those recommendations. Sounds a bit daunting,
doesn't it? That's how a couple of self-described "cholent
virgins" felt when they embarked on preparing a Shabbat meal. So they
turned to the Chowhound's kosher community message board for cholent
help. [http://tinyurl.com/4tr3v]
And if you want to find a community that is devoted to the Sabbath
stew, you need not go further than the Cholent Mix blog. "There are
four necessary ingredients in my cholent," Velvel writes in the blog.
"If any of these are missing, it's not cholent: meat, beans,
barley, potatoes. I prefer the addition of the following ingredients,
but Weight Watchers dietary restrictions, spicy-heat tolerance and the
common sense of my wife may limit these: kishke, bourbon/beer, hot
peppers, liquid smoke and maple syrup or honey."
[http://cholentmix.blogspot.com/]
Perhaps delighting in a good cholent pays spiritual dividends. The Ohr
Somayach site adds that the Jewish commentator, the Be'al HaMeor,
composed the following poem in praise of those who eat hot food on
Shabbat: [http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/70/Q2/]
"Who prepares cooked foods/ And wraps them 'round/ Delights in
Shabbat... / Gains a pound... / He's the one whose faith is sound;/
When Mashiach comes/ He'll be around."
Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Internet producer who writes,
lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached at
hig...@rogers.com.
Interest in Greek Life increasing at ASU
by Jourdan Rassas
02/09/05
Shaina Levee / THE STATE PRESS
Psychology sophomore Danyella Garcia, left, and justice studies
sophomore Desire Chavez recruit members Monday by the Memorial Union
for Delta Zeta, a sorority added to Greek Life this semester.
Greek Life at ASU expanded this semester with the addition of sorority
Delta Zeta and fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu, which were added to
accommodate the increased number of students interested in the Greek
community.
"There have been an increased number of women interested in Panhellenic
sororities over the past five or six years, so another sorority was
brought on," said Lara Klinkner, Greek Life Student Activity adviser.
Delta Zeta, the second-largest national sorority, started its
operations this week on campus, said Kathi Heatherly, national director
of extension for the Delta Zeta National Council.
"I think ASU is ready for a new sorority because numbers are so good
for interest [in Greek Life]. We have always wanted to have a chapter
at ASU," Heatherly said. "We think we are a good fit because Delta Zeta
offers women another opportunity to get involved in the Greek
community."
According to Delta Zeta's national Web site, www.deltazeta.org, the
mission of the sorority is to "advance the sorority's educational and
philanthropic purposes through the development of financial and human
resources in support of the sorority's leadership, scholarship,
philanthropic and educational programs."
Delta Zeta members will have housing available in the Adelphi Commons
on Apache Boulevard as soon as the University says it's ready,
Heatherly said.
Sigma Alpha Mu, known across the country as Sammy, wanted to expand to
ASU because it has several alumni in the area, Klinkner said.
Sammy is a predominately Jewish fraternity. It has strong associations
with Hillel and Chabad, the two non-Greek Jewish organizations on the
ASU campus.
The fraternity is historically Jewish, which means that men of any
religious belief can join.
"We have a reputation of excellence in both academics and community
service. We furthermore plan to create one of the most outstanding
social fraternities on the ASU campus," said Jarred F. Elias, Sigma
Alpha Mu president and communication junior.
"I'm looking forward to hanging out with great men and continuing to
build and watch this thing [fraternity] grow that I helped make," said
Kenneth M. Rotter, Sammy member and finance, accounting and philosophy
sophomore.
"We are a new fraternity, so whoever joins can shape it to be what they
want it to be," Elias said.
The fraternity's housing situation has not been determined yet, but
they have expressed interest in the Adelphi complex and plan on
building a house on or close to campus in the near future, Elias said.
"I am thrilled that Sigma Alpha Mu and Delta Zeta have joined the Greek
community," Klinkner said, "They are outstanding organizations who will
contribute a great deal to the ASU community."
Reach the reporter at jourdan...@asu.edu.
Scroll marched to new home
By Bond Brungard
Monday, February 7, 2005
For the Poughkeepsie Journal
NEW PALTZ -- As David Krowtworth finished working on a restored Torah,
a garish rendition of ''Havah Nagilah,'' a popular traditional Jewish
song,digitally screamed from his cell phone.
''It's ancient and modern together,'' said Krowtworth, a ritual scribe,
as he took a short break from his meticulous duties to answer the
ringing phone.
Krowtworth was putting the finishing touches on a restored Torah.
The scroll is many feet long and contains 304,805 hand-written letters.
The Torah was going to Chabad of New Paltz after being restored. The
donation was sponsored by a foundation created by a Holocaust survivor.
Krowtworth spent more than an hour scanning the Torah, believed to 70
to 100 years old, for any blemishes that still needed correction.
Sandra Brand lost a husband and son during the Holocaust. She survived
by posing as a Catholic in Poland during the war. Now in her 90s, she
started a foundation to restore Torahs for college campuses, such as
New Paltz,that lacked this fundamental element of Jewish life. She did
not attend Sunday's ceremony.
''She wanted to do something to further Judaism in America ... to fight
back at what Hitler tried to do to her," said Rabbi Moshe Plotkin of
Chabad of New Paltz.
During Sunday's ceremony, about 40 people watched the completion of the
Torah. Afterward, the crowd walked en mass to the Chabad, a few blocks
from the campus. The Torah was wrapped in a white ceremonial covering
and carried under a canopy.
The restored Torah was obtained from a closed New Jersey synagogue. Now
the scroll will educate students at Chabad New Paltz, a new student
center, where it can be read every day.
Mark Apelbaum, a New Paltz senior from Queens, said the new Torah
brings Chabad together, along with a new rabbi and student center.
''It gives us an opportunity to become a complete synagogue,'' said
Apelbaum, who is active at the center.
Bond Brungard can be reached at news...@poughkeepsiejournal.com
Contact
To learn about the restored Torah, contact Rabbi Moshe Plotkin at
ra...@jewpaltz.com
A Developer Finds Many Opportunities
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
The Wall Street Journal ?
IN a little over two years, Shaya Boymelgreen, an Israeli immigrant who
came to New York in 1969 to study at a yeshiva, has gone from being an
obscure builder of low-rise apartment houses to become one of the
city's busiest residential developers.
In partnership with Lev Leviev, an Israeli billionaire and diamond
magnate, Mr. Boymelgreen has plans to build some 2,200 apartments in
Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, at a total cost of more than $1.3
billion - with more on the way. His buildings have attracted wealthy
buyers and media attention, and along the way he has clashed with the
city's powerful construction unions.
Three years ago, Mr. Boymelgreen's company had about 20 employees; now,
as president of Leviev Boymelgreen, he oversees a staff of more than
200 (including six of his eight children). The new company, jointly
owned by Mr. Boymelgreen and Africa Israel Investments - the holding
company for Mr. Leviev's real estate interests - has also branched out
to Miami and Las Vegas, with real estate investments there totaling
more than $500 million.
But perhaps the most intriguing thing about Mr. Boymelgreen, 53, is his
ability to see real estate gold in the most disparate places. In
mid-December, Leviev Boymelgreen paid $170 million for 20 Pine Street,
a 35-story office tower a block from Wall Street, which Mr. Boymelgreen
plans to convert to luxury condominiums.
About a month later, the partners paid $8 million for a property on the
Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, the last piece in an assemblage of
industrial parcels he hopes to turn into a hip village of 400
apartments beside the still-murky waterway. While he is a long way from
getting zoning changes and myriad approvals, he has hired the
cutting-edge architect Enrique Norten to start shaping the complex,
complete with waterfront esplanade and sidewalk cafe, into a dream of
urban reclamation.
Not every developer has the imagination to tackle two projects as
economically and spiritually far apart. The common thread, it seems, is
that, in its own way, each is helping expand what New Yorkers think of
as livable neighborhoods.
Richard Marans, a lawyer who handled the closing on the Gowanus
property, said he has seen Mr. Boymelgreen plunge into risky ventures
before, in fringe areas shunned by others. "It's an example of his
convictions, his vision for the market and where things are going to go
and his ability to stand by those convictions," he said. "You have to
be a tough guy to do that. He's not afraid of the risk."
After buying their first building in August 2002, Mr. Boymelgreen has
taken his partnership with Mr. Leviev from zero to 60 in a New York
minute, embarking on an impressive variety of projects.
They are building a boutique hotel with 50 luxury apartments at
Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street in downtown Brooklyn. And he is
building the tallest building in Dumbo in Brooklyn, Beacon Tower, with
23 floors and 79 apartments, at 85 Adams Street.
They have an agreement with the Empire State Development Corporation to
turn the Empire Stores, a group of Civil War-era warehouses in Dumbo,
into a Chelsea Market-like complex of shops and restaurants.
In Queens, they have plans to build on top of the historic RKO theater
in downtown Flushing, to create some 250 apartments.
And then there is Manhattan. Mr. Boymelgreen has pushed the fringes of
TriBeCa, with a 68-unit development called River Lofts at West and
Laight Streets. In trendy NoLIta, he is converting the former East
River Savings Bank building at 60 Spring Street into 42 condos. He has
changed the face of the financial district, hiring the flamboyant
designer Philippe Starck to carry out the high-concept conversion of
the old J. P. Morgan offices at 15 Broad Street into 326 condos with a
view of the New York Stock Exchange across the street.
"Right now he's one of the most active developers in the New York City
area," said Richard Bassuk, president of the Singer & Bassuk
Organization, a real estate investment banking and advisory firm that
helped Mr. Boymelgreen put together tax-free Liberty Bond financing for
yet another project: a 19-story, 352-unit rental building by the
architect Costas Kondylis, under construction at 88 Leonard Street in
TriBeCa. "Shaya is an unusual guy," Mr. Bassuk said. "He hasn't been on
the screen for a very long time, but he's able to juggle a lot of
things."
Pinchas Cohen, the chief executive of Africa Israel Investments, said
the company is looking for even more deals in New York. "We believe the
market is strong and we want to be a part of it," Mr. Cohen said.
The transformation of Shaya Boymelgreen began a little more than three
years ago, in late 2001, on a Lubavitcher-sponsored cruise from Miami
to the Caribbean. A friend introduced him to Mr. Leviev, an Israeli
businessman born in Uzbekistan, who, like Mr. Boymelgreen, is a Hasidic
Jew who belongs to the Lubavitcher movement.
In Jewish circles Mr. Leviev is well-known for his philanthropy. In
business circles he is known as the man who challenged the powerful De
Beers diamond cartel and won. Thanks to his diamond business, which
includes mines in Africa and a farflung cutting operation that is one
of the largest in the world, Mr. Leviev was ranked at No. 277 last year
on the Forbes magazine list of the world's richest people, with an
estimated net worth of $2 billion.
Part of that fortune comes from Africa Israel, which has diversified in
recent years into gasoline stations, swimwear, telecommunications and
construction. The company was begun some 70 years ago by a group of
Jewish investors from South Africa that bought land in Israel. It now
owns property or does business in Israel, Russia, Eastern Europe, the
United States, Canada, Angola and Namibia. Mr. Leviev bought a majority
stake in the company seven years ago.
Mr. Leviev and Mr. Boymelgreen hit it off during a walk on the beach in
San Juan, Puerto Rico. By the end of the cruise, Mr. Leviev asked Mr.
Boymelgreen if he was interested in forming a partnership to do
business in the United States, where Africa Israel was looking for real
estate opportunities.
Until then, Mr. Boymelgreen's real estate ventures had been successful,
but on a more modest scale. He was born in Israel and came to New York
in 1969 to study. He went into business, opening a religious bookstore
in Brooklyn, working a diamond mine in the Brazilian jungle and then,
in New York, running an asbestos-removal company.
In August 1991, his life intersected briefly with the broader life of
the city. He was driving home to his house in Crown Heights, Brooklyn,
one evening when he saw a man staggering in the street. He stopped and
got out, and the man collapsed against him. "I feel on my clothes this
blood," Mr. Boymelgreen said. "He held my hand and said, 'I'm scared,
I'm scared.' I said, 'What's your name?,' and he said, 'Yankel.' " It
was Yankel Rosenbaum, the Hasidic student who had just been stabbed in
the Crown Heights riots. Mr. Boymelgreen comforted the wounded young
man until an ambulance took him away. He wanted to go along to the
hospital, but the police would not let him. He said he still blames
himself for not being more insistent. Mr. Rosenbaum died after
emergency room doctors failed to detect a chest wound and Mr.
Boymelgreen feels that if he had been there he might have been able to
demand the kind of care that could have saved his life.
In the mid-90's, Mr. Boymelgreen turned to real estate. He built his
first building, with 35 apartments, on a lot at Avenue A and Third
Street in Manhattan.
That was followed by another building on Avenue B (on a whim, he wired
it with T1 lines for direct Internet connections, making it perhaps the
first such apartment building in the city), then a condo conversion in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a building on the Upper West Side, and the
conversion of an old Daily News printing plant on Dean Street, in
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Next came a conversion in Dumbo and several
buildings on the fringes of Park Slope, off Fourth Avenue.
But with the backing of Mr. Leviev and Africa Israel (they have called
their joint company both A. I. & Boymelgreen and Leviev Boymelgreen),
Mr. Boymelgreen took his game to another level. In August 2002, he made
his first purchase with Africa Israel, paying $26.5 million for a group
of adjoining properties between West and Washington Streets, north of
Laight Street, in TriBeCa. One of the properties was a 19th-century
warehouse that is being converted to condos. The rest of the parcel
will hold a new 13-story building. He dubbed the complex River Lofts
and hired the architects Ismael Leyva and Calvin Tsao to design it.
The same month, he signed a contract to pay $36 million for 60 Spring
Street, closing the deal the following January. And in May of 2003, he
signed a $100 million contract for 15 Broad Street, which is being
called Downtown by Philippe Starck.
That was only the beginning. Mr. Boymelgreen now oversees 15 projects
financed jointly with Africa Israel in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
The former bank building at 60 Spring Street, a creation of the
architect Cass Gilbert, is the first of the Leviev Boymelgreen projects
to near completion, with 17 owners closing on their apartments last
month. The 42 apartments, which were also designed by Mr. Tsao and Mr.
Leyva, cost from $895,000 for a 936-square-foot one-bedroom, to $2.98
million for a two-bedroom with 2,063 square feet. They have dark
Brazilian oak floors, flush baseboards, marble bathtubs, Bosch stoves
with recessed hoods that slide out silently at the touch of a finger,
and, in every unit, a safe.
Inevitably, however, there are growing pains. The Spring Street
apartments were initially to have been delivered last spring, and time
is the essential, invisible component of a developer's work. Delays of
weeks or months can mean enormous extra costs as interest payments pile
up on large construction loans.
Time was clearly on Mr. Boymelgreen's mind last month during a visit to
River Lofts, the TriBeCa development, where about 125 workers bustled
around the two buildings, old and new. "Every day costs me over here,"
he told Alan J. Krause, his director of operations, urging him to
coordinate the work of the many subcontractors to avoid delays.
Much of the work at River Lofts and virtually all of it at 60 Spring
Street and several other projects has been done without union labor,
and this has put Mr. Boymelgreen on a collision course with the city's
construction unions.
Union members have held almost daily rallies outside 15 Broad Street
-sometimes setting up a large inflatable rat - and during a recent
interview they could be heard chanting outside. Mr. Boymelgreen said he
decided to handle the conversion of 15 Broad Street without union labor
for the simple reason that it was cheaper that way and it allowed him
to bring his condos to market at a more competitive price.
But pressure from the unions has clearly taken a toll. Mr. Boymelgreen
says union protestors have threatened his workers. He accuses them of
putting sugar in gas tanks and pouring cement down sewers. He says a
bulldozer was stolen from the River Lofts site, and another disappeared
from a construction site in Brooklyn. But he has done business with
union contractors on some of his projects. Most notable is the building
at 88 Leonard Street, an all-union job where work has begun on the
foundation.
Edward J. Malloy, the president of the Building and Construction Trades
Council of Greater New York, said he was unaware of any interference by
union workers with Mr. Boymelgreen's projects. He said he hopes the two
sides can work out their differences. "He is a major new player in real
estate in New York City," Mr. Malloy said. "We would like to just
hopefully convince him that building union has more positives than
doing the work the way it's being done today."
Mr. Boymelgreen combines the bottom-line mind-set of all developers
with an almost quixotic sensitivity that reveals itself in unexpected
ways. At such moments, he seems blithely unaware of the fact that for
many New Yorkers, developer is a dirty word.
Mr. Boymelgreen and his partners chose 20 Pine Street to piggyback on
the success of Downtown by Philippe Starck, a block away. But instead
of tapping Mr. Starck for a reprise, Mr. Boymelgreen said he is in
talks with a well-known fashion designer to lead the team that will
transform the office building into about 400 luxury condos.
It would have been easy, he said, to repeat the formula and simply do
another Philipe Starck building. Easy, but boring. And then, too,
there's the seduction of the new.
"It's second nature to a developer to do new things," Mr. Boymelgreen
said. "We're kind of artists, to come up with new things, new ideas. An
artist paints the 'Mona Lisa,' he's going to do a second 'Mona Lisa'?"
Sunday, February 13, 2005 / 4 Adar 5765
(IsraelNN.com) Kfar Habad Chief Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi released a
condemnatory statement following last week's reported attack aimed at
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was attending a wedding in the
town.
It was widely reported that youths yelled at Netanyahu, threw something
at him, and slashed his tires. It was quietly reported afterwards,
however, that they did not throw anything at him, nor were any tires
slashed. The driver of Netanyahu's car saw that his tire was low on
air, and had the Minister travel in a different car. No police
complaint was submitted.
Rabbi Ashkenazi used strong words to condemn the incident, adding the
disruptive incident has no bearing on Habad's continued call for
preserving a "Greater Land of Israel." The late Rebbe, Rabbi
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, adamantly opposed the handing over of any
portions of the Land of Israel to foreign control.
By IBRAM ROGERS, The Virginian-Pilot
© February 13, 2005
Last updated: 8:17 PM
A couple raising seven kids shouldn't have any spare time or energy.
Let alone the ability to organize a religious movement that has
affected the lives of thousands of Jews in the Tidewater area.
Aron and Rychel Margolin , who have seven children ranging in age from
14 to 25, have managed to do both.
Since establishing the Chabad Lubavitch of Tidewater in 1979, the
Margolins have worked to guide Jewish people closer to their faith, in
between changing all those diapers.
Tonight, the Jewish community will say thanks for their 25 years of
service in a tribute and fund-raiser for Chabad at The Reba and Sam
Sandler Family Campus in Virginia Beach.
"I can look at families and see grandparents, parents and children
who have all been impacted by the Margolins' presence here," said
Alene Kaufman, a longtime friend.
The Margolins are one of 4,000 full-time emissary families worldwide
that make up the Orthodox movement known as Chabad Lubavitch. The
movement, dedicated to improving the welfare of Jewish people, is the
world's largest Jewish educational outreach organization, according
to chabad.org.
"What we are trying to do is reach people in their hearts," Rabbi
Margolin said. "And almost whatever it takes is what we need to
do."
He presides over weekly religious services at Chabad House in Ghent
that usually draw about 50 people. That's just the beginning of the
couple's outreach.
Over the years, they've hosted dinners, seminars, cruises, concerts,
holiday bashes and various celebrations - whatever it takes to get
the Jewish community closer to Judaism.
They teach Hebrew and offer religious instruction to children. They
visit the sick and the shut-in and Jews who are incarcerated. Each
year, they mail information on important religious dates and rituals to
about 4,000 local Jews.
Every Tuesday at lunchtime, Rabbi Margolin brings food and lessons of
Judaic studies to the Jewish student group Hillel at Old Dominion
University.
Rychel Margolin teaches at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater.
And every Hanukkah, they organize a caravan of cars topped with
electric menorahs that cruise through Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
All this while raising six sons and a daughter.
"We don't get any free time. We don't get a vacation. We never
have extra money," Rychel Margolin said. "We have been blessed with
hardwood floors that have never had their shines because they've
always been scraped by the many people that have come through our
doors.
"I can't think of a more rewarding life."
Coming from Brooklyn, the headquarters of the Chabad movement, the
Margolins married and then immediately settled in Virginia Beach in
1979.
Their home doubled as Chabad House for the first 22 years, until they
acquired a building on Colley Avenue. They now live in a separate house
around the corner.
Before the Margolins arrived, most Jewish organizations' emphasis
rested on how Jews can be more like their neighbors, said Rabbi Arthur
Ruberg of the Conservative Congregation Beth El synagogue in Ghent.
"It was mostly the Margolins who said, 'No, we have to show that Jews
have a way of our own,'" Rabbi Ruberg said.
Rychel Margolin contends that some holidays were almost forgotten in
the Jewish community when she came to town.
"We started doing parties for certain holidays, and other synagogues
followed our lead," she said.
Now there are more people practicing traditional rituals, following the
kosher dietary laws and observing the Sabbath, Rabbi Ruberg said.
Even amidst this traditional revival, there seems to be little friction
between the three major denominations: Orthodox, Conservative, and
Reform.
"I've lived in some of those communities where there have been
tensions, but you don't get that here," said Daniel Z. Lepow,
assistant executive director of the United Jewish Federation of
Tidewater, the central community charitable fund or kupah. "Whether
you're Orthodox, whether you're non-Orthodox, the community here
just loves them, admires them, and respects them."
"I've been part of the Conservative Judaism my whole life," Lepow
added. "And I'm more than welcome in their synagogue. They say,
'This is the way we live. This is our teaching. We accept you for who
you are.'"
Their example is carrying over to the next generation.
"My parents always having their house open for people - that has
definitely molded the way I will live my life," said their son Levi,
20. "Other people always came first. Other people always come first.
Other people always will come first."
Reach Ibram Rogers at 446-2301 or Ibram....@pilotonline.com.
© 2005 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com
Doctor Takes Recreational Activities to the Extreme
By MAX GROSS
February 18, 2005
The Forward
N.Y., NY
At a certain martial arts studio in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Tuesdays are
known as "Beat Up the Jew Night." At least, that's what the Jew in
question calls it.
Every Tuesday at around 8 p.m., Dr. Barry Grossman sheds his yarmulke
and ritual fringes, puts a bite plate in his mouth and takes his place
with his "extreme fighting" class at the Universal Defense Systems
studio. The teacher, Ralph Mitchell, is a former Kung Fu champion; a
cop, a fireman and a former boxing champion all take their turns
fighting Grossman - and each other.
For those who never have seen extreme fighting, it can be called
"fighting" in the same way that a hydrogen bomb can be called a
"weapon"; it is the most intense synthesis of boxing, karate, judo and
other martial arts imaginable, so violent that it has been banned in
several states.
Such a dangerous sport can leave participants needing medical
attention, so it's a good thing Grossman is a doctor. "I've stitched up
people" after fights, he said.
But Grossman is not intimidated easily. "Barry holds his own," Mitchell
said has he watched the 44-year-old student spar recently with an
opponent roughly half his age.
Extreme fighting is not Grossman's only source of excitement. He surfs
and scuba dives, runs marathons and, perhaps more dangerous than
anything else, rides a Harley Davidson motorcycle. These are not, he
concedes, activities typically associated with Orthodox Jews.
Sporting a dark-brown beard, a black yarmulke and serene brown eyes, he
was disarmingly mellow as he spoke to the Forward in his quiet, tidy
internal medicine office in Stuyvesant Town, the massive Manhattan
apartment complex opposite Beth Israel Hospital. On the wall was a
picture of a bearded Orthodox Jew running through a swimming lane that
had been parted by Moses.
"I just got back from Micronesia," Grossman said late one afternoon,
after his last patient of the day had left. "It's one of the scuba
hotspots in the world." He raved about the diving, and explained that
he had brought a suitcase filled with kosher food. He also brought his
own hot plate and cooking pot.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Grossman began surfing and scuba diving when
he was still a kid. "Malibu was the place to surf," Grossman recalled
with a grin. As a diver he would catch lobsters and trade them with
non-Jewish divers for kosher fish. He got his junior scuba card when he
was 14.
"They all thought I was crazy," Grossman said of his family's reaction.
"They supported me 100%, [but] they were concerned with my safety."
Raised in a Conservative household, Grossman opted for an Orthodox
education when he was a teenager. He moved east to the Crown Heights
section of Brooklyn, the Lubavitch Hasidic enclave, where he still
lives today. He enrolled in a Lubavitch yeshiva, where he learned to be
a scribe and a kosher butcher, but after graduation he stayed at the
school and taught biology and math.
At 30, Grossman decided he wanted to be a doctor. He enrolled in
Brooklyn College. While working on his degree, Grossman rediscovered
athletics. His partner in a chemistry course encouraged him to start
running. Three months later she signed him up for the New York City
Marathon. He spent the summer training and finished the race in five
hours. (In the three marathons he has run since, he has slashed his
time by an hour.) A photo of Grossman crossing the finish line hangs
proudly in his office.
After medical school, Grossman finally decided to settle down and start
a family; today he has 3-year-old twin daughters and an infant son,
with his wife of four years, Jackie. But Grossman didn't want to let a
subdued family life make him go soft, so he decided to get back into
shape. That's what drew him to extreme fighting.
Grossman rode to his extreme fighting class last week on his Harley
Davidson, with a Forward reporter perched nervously on the back. It was
the reporter's first time on a motorcycle. As they sped through the
streets of Crown Heights, past Grossman's black-hatted Hasidic
neighbors, he turned to the reporter and shouted, "You know, if we fell
off now we would probably die." The doctor, the reporter mused, might
have to work on his bedside manner.
When they arrived at Mitchell's class, Grossman said the evening would
be limited to training - no serious fighting. But after Grossman
stripped down to a blue tank top and black shorts, he sparred with the
other members of the class until he was sweaty and exhausted. As
Grossman and his partner fought, one of the people in the class
approached the Forward reporter and said, pointing to Grossman, "He's
the fighting Doc - that's what we call him."
By Nick Escobar
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
With the Jewish teachings of Kabbalah becoming increasingly popular,
Rabbi Laibl Wolf, a renowned master of Kabbalah teachings, will present
an interactive presentation entitled "Mind Yoga: a Journey through
Practical Kabbalah," at the Levis Faculty Center today. The
presentation, located on the third floor, will begin at 7:15 p.m.
Kabbalah is a teaching of Jewish mysticism that dates back thousands of
years. Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel, director of the Chabad Jewish Center,
referred to Kabbalah as the soul of Judaism.
Tiechtel describes Kabbalah as beautiful flower within a garden where
the flower is the center. He said that if removed, the flower from the
garden begins to wither and die. It needs the garden to survive.
Wolf's presentation will deal with what Kabbalah exactly is and will
aim to teach how one can use Kabbalah for spiritual wisdom. Wolf will
also compare Kabbalah to Eastern traditions and give examples of how to
use Kabbalah practically in every day life.
Tiechtel described Kabbalah as an intimate connection between the
revealed and hidden mysteries of Judaism. He stresses that Kabbalah is
not its own sect of Judaism.
"Pop Kabbalah comes and goes," Tiechtel said. "Kabbalah teaches us and
guides us. It gives us insight into the soul of Judaism."
Wolf, author of the book Practical Kabbalah, holds a degree in
educational psychology and is a trained lawyer. The child of holocaust
survivors, Wolf was born in Poland and immigrated to Australia with his
family. While at the University of Wisconsin, he helped to reveal a
Nazi cell located on campus.
"(Wolf) learns and explores with people of all faiths and backgrounds,"
Tiechtel said. "I heard him lecture in New York and it had a profound
impact on me."
Wolf created Mind Yoga in the hopes of fusing esoteric Kabbalistic
concepts with contemporary psychology.
The event is co-sponsored by the UIUC program in Jewish Culture and
Society and the UIUC program for the Study of Religion, and is free to
all.
Tiechtel hopes that people outside of Judaism attend the event as well.
"Everyone can get something out of it," Tiechtel said.
The Jerusalem Report
March 7, 2005
As part of the extraordinary outpouring of aid to post-tsunami
Southeast Asia, Jewish and Israeli relief efforts are making a
difference on the ground
Tibor Krausz
The sea that devoured Chai's home and killed several of the 3-year-old
Thai Muslim boy's relatives lies invitingly placid in the sweltering
tropical sun, like a reformed criminal. Hardly a ripple ruffles the
water lapping at Phuket's pristine Kamala Beach.
Until six weeks ago, Chai played all day long in the shallow eddies on
this beach, and the ocean provided his mother and grandmother with
modest incomes as they hawked snacks of barbecued shrimp and iced
drinks to sunbathing foreign tourists. But now the little boy, his
21-year-old mother Sirilat and 44-year-old grandmother Jinda won't go
anywhere near the treacherous sea. Instead, along with some four dozen
other penniless Thais whose homes and simple lives were washed away by
Southeast Asia's killer tsunami, on December 26, they're living as
tolerated squatters, crammed into one of three makeshift
corrugated-iron shanties erected uphill on a better-off local's
dung-littered grazing land.
They can count themselves lucky. A third of the more than 9,000 people
(half of them tourists) killed in Thailand died on Phuket, the region's
most popular beach resort, among nearly 300,000 victims of the giant
wave. But if the tsunami caused massive death and destruction in 11
countries around the Indian Ocean, it also triggered an unprecedented
outpouring of global support. Some regional Jewish organizations, such
as Chabad of Thailand, have been at the forefront of on-the-ground
relief operations and were among the first to respond to local
survivors' most immediate needs. (For a survey of other Jewish and
Israeli aid, see box page 29.)
While memories of death and destruction still haunt the grownups, Chai
is ready to play. He's just been given a shiny red tricycle, which he
pushes around with wide-eyed zest, stopping just long enough to take a
closer look at his benefactors - two bearded young men dressed, despite
the enervating heat, not in sandals and shorts like everyone else but
in black trousers with fringes dangling at the hips and immaculate
white T-shirts with "Chabad Tsunami Relief Effort" emblazoned front and
back. The two strangers urge Chai on jovially in English, while
bare-chested Thai men unload the six-wheel rental truck that came with
the foreigners. Sacks of rice, cartons of instant noodles, boxes of
oyster sauce, thick mattresses, tarpaulin sheets, new rice cookers,
hot-water kettles, charcoal grills and myriad other items are now
enriching the penniless locals' meager provisions.
Residents in this camp for tsunami survivors, one of dozens along
Thailand's ravaged southwestern coast, are gladdened by the arrival of
these benefactors yet clearly mystified by their exotic appearance -
and they're about to get still more bewildered. Zalman Shneur and Yosef
Zaklos, both newly ordained 23-year-old Chabad rabbis from Montreal on
leave from Brooklyn's Central Lubavitch Yeshiva, slip into black hats
and jackets and fetch tefillin from their chauffeured car. One of the
five volunteer relief workers (tourists turned helpers), who have
dropped by to evaluate residents' specific needs, Aaron Roots, 25, a
lanky soft-spoken Californian in Hawaiian shorts with a furry chinstrap
of a beard framing his clean-shaven face, turns out to be a Jew who has
never donned tefillin.
So here's a chance for another mitzvah. Zaklos puts tefillin on Roots
and leads him in a recital of the Shema. Then the three men dance in a
circle, holding hands and singing. "We're on a spontaneous humanitarian
mission of kiddush Hashem [sanctification of God's name]," Zaklos
explains. That's Rabbi Yosef Kantor's way, too. Melbourne-born Kantor,
36, head of Chabad's ministry of six resident rabbis in Thailand, is a
perpetual-motion machine who has turned his decade-old Bangkok-based
mission into a powerhouse of Judaism, with outposts as far away as
India and Nepal. On an annual operating budget of $1.8 million, Chabad
of Thailand runs two centers in Bangkok and one each in the northern
trekking hub of Chiang Mai and the diving paradise of Samui Island.
Their mission: to give Jewish backpackers a dose of Judaism and a home
away from home.
Chabad's relief center in Phuket may turn into another permanent
outpost. Six weeks ago, in the deadly aftermath of the tsunami, Kantor
phoned Chabad headquarters in New York, seeking two volunteers to help
local Thais. Two days later, Shneur and Zaklos were on a plane.
On arrival in Phuket, the two set up shop in a rented apartment in the
middle of hard-hit Patong Beach's rowdy gay district - next door to
Uncle Charlie's Boys, a flashy cabaret showcasing human-size art-deco
statues of homoerotic cherubim and prancing girlie-boys bedecked like
preening peacocks - and began their non-stop relief work. They scouted
survivor camps in a 100-mile radius, quizzed Western volunteers about
local Thais' needs and set about procuring for survivors what Zaklos
calls required "enhancement necessities." Using funds from the $300,000
that Chabad of Thailand has raised for tsunami relief from
international Jewish aid agencies like the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee as well as through its own charity network,
Shneur and Zaklos purchased supplies from Super Cheap, a sprawling
provincial market under corrugated roofs supported by logs and bamboo
canes, acquiring and distributing mosquito nets, wash buckets, futons,
stoves, bottles of fermented fish sauce and even new bicycles and
tricycles.
In Tap Tawan Camp, they saw large heaps of Western-style clothes
donated by foreign relief agencies lying unwanted by residents who
preferred their own tattered but more traditional garments. So they
bought a large quantity of Thai sarongs at a local store. "You should
have seen this old lady clutching a new sarong as if it was a long-lost
relative," Shneur remembers. An estimated 10,000 Thais, a third of them
children, still live in temporary shelters, and Chabad's Tsunami Relief
Effort hopes to reach as many of them as it can.
Rabbi Kantor, who has flown down from Bangkok today to escort an
American Jewish financial consultant around Phuket while they
brainstorm ways to underwrite new rehabilitation projects, drives onto
Kamala Beach, and a contented smile steals across his face as he
watches villagers eagerly unpacking the boxes of supplies that Chabad
has just brought them. "OK, on to the next case!" he says, summoning
Shneur and Zaklos. The next case is a 15-minute drive uphill on a
winding asphalt road whose outside lane has collapsed into a ravine,
most likely shaken loose by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the tip of
Sumatra Island that triggered the tsunami. Scattered around the woody
backyard of a portly Thai woman's homestead are a dozen brand-new
camping tents housing some 50 people. Here, too, the Jews unload large
cardboard boxes from their rented truck and give kids kosher lollipops
taken from supplies at Chabad's school in Bangkok. Then they're off to
the next makeshift survivors' camp.
The government of Thailand has refused to accept any substantial
financial help, insisting the country was more than capable of getting
its six ravaged southern provinces back on their feet. But if tsunami
camps in Phuket are any indication, it's Chabad and other volunteer
groups, Jewish and non-Jewish, that are doing most of the heavy lifting
in aid and relief.
It was a different tragedy that launched Mark Weingard, 38, on a
charity mission, but the tsunami changed his direction. In 2002,
Weingard lost his British fianc?e in the Bali Al-Qaeda bombing. A
cabdriver's son from Manchester who earned a fortune as an on-line
stock broker, Weingard, who now divides his time between homes in
Bangkok and Phuket, pulled himself out of his "big black hole" by
establishing - and raising $1.65 million for the Annika Linden
Foundation, to mount educational and community projects in Bali. After
the tsunami struck, the foundation earmarked $500,000 for relief, and
Weingard in early February staged an "Out of the Darkness" fundraiser
at Bangkok's classiest nightclub that brought in another $100,000.
But Weingard's primary aim is not more money but rather sensible
allocation of existing resources. To keep the torrent of relief
programs from wasting their resources through mismanagement and
disorganization, Weingard has set up Thai Together, a command center
and think tank to keep grass-roots relief agencies in Thailand (such as
business associations, wildlife funds, dive operators, schools and
universities) from working at cross purposes.
Amy Ellenberg is one of those volunteers whose boundless energy and
goodwill Weingard hopes to channel most efficiently. Ellenberg, 42, a
professional masseuse and trained health therapist, was due to return
home to Santa Cruz, California, on December 27 after a few months on
Phuket. Already in Bangkok when she learned of the tragedy unfolding in
the south, she flew back down to pitch in wherever she could help.
She's visited emergency wards to hold hands with tourists lying in
agony on the operating table, raised $12,000 from friends in the United
States for buying necessities for Thai survivors, and helped Shneur and
Zaklos map out tsunami camps, gauge residents' needs and buy supplies.
No natural disaster in recent memory has brought a comparable
outpouring of global support, as donor nations and organizations
worldwide have pledged billions of dollars in relief and reconstruction
aid. But two months after the calamity, homeless locals are not moving
into shiny new homes. Rather, most of them continue eking out
precarious existences as mendicants living in makeshift shanties. In
Thailand's south, locals have received 8,000 baht ($200) each in
compensation from the Thai government, but that's all, several say. So
Ellenberg sees Chabad's and her own role as making a difference between
hope and desperation. "All the help that's supposed to be on its way is
fine, but people need to eat and brush their teeth today, not
tomorrow," she insists. "What the rabbis are doing is happening today.
Sure, we can't build homes for everyone, but let's buy scrubs, pots,
sanitary napkins for people right now."
Or buy boat motors, like Yariv Rozen. In late January, the 30-year-old
handicrafts merchant from Tel Aviv came to Khao Lak, an old fishing
village with a new upscale resort town beside it in Phang-Nga province,
which bore the brunt of destruction in southern Thailand. Thousands
were killed; another 1,000 are still missing. A mile inland, as an
indication of the wave's power, a large blue junk rests on the concrete
porch of a stone house, its nose wedged into the living room.
The entire neighborhood in front of it has been wiped out. A child's
soiled Winnie the Pooh schoolbag lies abandoned among a wreckage of
plastic toys where a bedroom must once have been. Scrawny men scavenge
for usable materials, sifting through rubble and pools of seawater
festering with rotting refuse and animal flesh. "Locals are afraid to
go back to the sea with bodies still lying about out there," says
Rozen, who volunteered to assist the Royal Thai Army's recovery
operations. A former officer in a paratroop unit of the IDF, he scoured
fetid ponds, mangled cars and wrecked buildings in search of corpses.
"I've found half a female body and four fingers," he reports.
But it's the living who need help. In Ban Nam Kem, the fishing village
beside Khao Lak beach where half of the 5,000 residents perished, the
tsunami obliterated wooden shacks and smashed fishing vessels to
smithereens. "We've lost nets, boats, everything," laments Saicheo
Khetkling, who is 52 but looks 10 years older, in the nearby Buddhist
temple where she is being sheltered. "Fishermen here only know how to
fish, but now they have nothing to fish with. Many are going crazy;
they drink and fight and wish they'd died, too." Through a network of
Jewish friends in the United States, Rozen is now spearheading an
individual initiative to raise $16,000 to buy eight new motors for
local fishermen's patched-up vessels. He's pitched his case to Zaklos
and Shneur, who are now buying several engines of their own for
villagers.
Cathy Wienburg, a 46-year-old Jewish jewelry retailer, booked a ticket
to Phuket when she could no longer bear watching the horrifying news
reports at home in Cape Town, South Africa. She and Rozen ran into each
other in Khao Lak and are now making common cause. Wienburg has just
bought a boat engine for one of the fishermen out of her own pocket,
and she is dedicating all her time to victims, helping out at a nearby
volunteer center, where foreign aid workers prioritize and apportion
tasks among themselves. With money sent by Jewish friends in South
Africa, she has bought bicycles, toys and dolls, and though not a
teacher, helped out in a school where several teachers were killed by
the tsunami.
"I'll dedicate five years of my life to this if I have to!" Wienburg
vows, explaining her motives as in part specifically Jewish. "We should
all do more to help non-Jews, because the world sees us as insular
people who take care only of their own," she says.
Like Wienburg, Rabbi Kantor is particularly concerned for the children.
"As I walked down Khao Lak beach right after the disaster, I was
stunned by all the broken toys lying around," remembers Kantor, a
father of six. In response, he initiated a toy drive in several Jewish
and some public schools across North America and elsewhere. By now,
enough toys to fill a shipping container, donated by students in dozens
of schools, are waiting in Chabad's New York warehouse to be dispatched
to Thailand. He proudly shows me an e-mail from Daniella Seidl, a
12-year-old American girl who has decided to use her upcoming bat
mitzvah as an occasion to collect toys for Thai children.
Daniella's toys will be among those Kantor plans to distribute during a
Chabad-sponsored carnival for tsunami survivors in Phuket at Purim, in
late March. While the children are playing, Kantor plans to engage the
adults in carpentry workshops to equip locals with the tools and skills
to rebuild their homes and to offer no-interest loans to kick-start
small businesses. While providing physical help, he too feels he is
introducing Thais to "Jewish concepts of morality in a non-invasive
way." He explains with the words of a Hasidic master "who asked, ?Where
is God?'" The answer? "?Anywhere you let Him in.'"
The Jerusalem Report, March 7, 2005 issue
By David Ertischek/ Staff Writer
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Needham Times
(MA USA)
Rabbi Mendel Krinsky's First Amendment rights are being violated by the
town of Needham, and in turn he will be suing the town, according to a
letter sent to the Needham Times.
After months of the Chabad Jewish Center of Needham, at 472 High
Rock St., trying to negotiate with the town so it could conduct worship
peacefully, Krinsky is suing as a last resort.
"It's definitely not what I planned to do," said Krinsky. "It was
definitely not our first choice. We've tried to work with the town for
over a year now. Any gesture we have made has not been accepted."
The lawsuit, also naming Building Inspector Daniel Walsh, was to
be filed today in the U.S. District Court in Boston, according to
Robert Meltzer, Krinsky's lawyer.
Town Administrator Kate Fitzpatrick explained the town's side.
"The building inspector had requested additional information to
determine if there was a change in use. And he assumed that if he
didn't receive the information, it would change his opinion that there
was a change in use."
Walsh was could not be reached for comment for this article, but
Fitzpatrick commented on behalf of the town.
Fitzpatrick said that after not receiving any information from the
Chabad Center to determine if there had been a change of use in the
property from a residential use to a place of worship, which is
allowed, a written order was issued on Jan. 20 requiring Chabad to stop
its use of the property as a worship center until the proper permits
were granted.
Fitzpatrick said the town feels because the property is being used
as a place of worship, it is required to meet Americans with
Disabilities Act requirements, fire codes and parking requirements.
Previously, the town tried to get Chabad to sign an agreement,
after neighbors complained about parking and building code issues, that
would outline incidental use of the property.
But Richard Csaplar, a lawyer for Krinsky, said the agreement
limited the worship of Chabad.
"It said we couldn't advertise or be under the phone directory as
the Chabad. It set the limit of people at 20," he said. "It was
interference by the government with practicing religion. ... They
would've negotiated with it, but we're not negotiating. They don't have
the right to tell us how to worship.
"There wasn't a change of use. The codes specifically say that
being a place of worship under 50 people is not a change of use. This
is the building code in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is
what they're following."
Csaplar, who does pro bono work for institutions that are affected
by the government's interference with any religion, said that as legal
counsel for the Chabad he wrote a letter to the town, pointing out that
it was wrong regarding the codes. But the town disagreed with his
assessment.
Meltzer argued that his client's civil rights are being violated
by the town, specifically his First Amendment rights of freedom of
speech, freedom of assembly and exercise of religion.
"He's not required to follow these building codes," said Meltzer.
"It's a residence being used for small, intimate gatherings. It's the
same thing as having a poker club at your house. When the Chabad Center
does have larger events, they have them elsewhere. They rent space."
Meltzer said there are more than 20 other Chabad centers operating
in the same manner around the area. He added he has represented other
Chabads from Wellesley, Natick and Milford, and that he has never lost
a case on behalf of a Chabad.
"You can say whatever you want in America. This is a free
country," said Meltzer. "You can speak and advertise if you want. He's
advertising that his property is a parsonage. It is a parsonage under
the law. And the Constitution says that the town cannot tell him what
he can and cannot say."
Along with citing the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit states that
the town's attempts to impose building code restrictions on the rabbi's
home violates the Dover Amendment, a state ruling that nullifies many
zoning restrictions on property belonging to religious groups.
Meltzer said other lawsuits may be filed against Chabad's
neighbors and the Longwood Orthopedic Associates of Chestnut Hill,
which he said has some unknown involvement in filing complaints against
Chabad.
The lawyer said that depositions against neighbors will involve
talking to neighbors' friends, families and employers to determine
their involvement and motivation in letters that have been written to
the town.
"To me, it looks like true bigotry," said Meltzer. "There is no
reason to harass neighbors, especially a synagogue. What should amaze
the town of Needham is that we're not talking about a fraternity. We're
talking about quiet, law-abiding people. These are the kind of people
that I would want as my neighbors."
Meltzer said he has seen the letters written by neighbors that are
on file at Town Hall. He said the letters complain about building code
violations, permits, cars and people coming in and out.
"It makes me wonder why these people have so much time on their
hands to spy on their neighbors," said Meltzer. "I don't know about
you, but I don't have time to spy on my neighbors. We will be taking
depositions from their friends, families and employers to see if they
have a history of bigotry."
But Meltzer said there still is time for the lawsuit to be called
off.
"I hope so," he said. "I can't imagine the taxpayers in Needham
are interested in paying the costs of at least $250,000 by willing to
fight this."
"I hope to have the town stop its unlawful activity and will leave
the Chabad alone," Meltzer said. "We're expecting the town to take
appropriate action against neighbors who are violating my client's
civil rights. One thing that needs to be made very, very clear is that
the Chabad Center is not violating any laws or ordinances. What people
need to understand is the town is ordering people not to pray in their
house. It's appalling.
"We prefer to not go to court. Let's hope they can acknowledge
when they're wrong and accept it."
David Ertischek can be reached at dert...@cnc.com.
Rabbi says rights denied, seeks $10m
NEEDHAM, MA
By Christina Pazzanese, Globe Correspondent
February 24, 2005
The nearly yearlong dispute between the Chabad-Lubavitch Center of
Needham and the town appears to be headed from the bargaining table to
the courtroom.
Last week, attorneys Robert Meltzer and Richard C. Csaplar Jr. filed a
complaint in US District Court in Boston stating that the town and
Building Inspector Daniel Walsh "intentionally and with malice" tried
to deny the chabad center its constitutional rights to free speech and
to the free exercise of religion and assembly.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Rabbi Mendel Krinsky, who is
seeking $10 million in damages. The chabad is located in Krinsky's
house on High Rock Street.
Csaplar said the lawsuit was prompted by a Jan. 20 letter from Walsh
ordering Krinsky to cease using the house as a worship center until it
receives the necessary permits and town board approvals. Walsh stated
in the letter that neither he nor another qualified professional has
been allowed to inspect the home to see if it meets state building and
fire codes. Complying with Walsh's demand would mean closing down the
center, Csaplar said.
"We feel we have exhausted all efforts and areas to bring this to a
better result," Krinsky said. "I regret it didn't work out that way. We
would've been a lot happier to agree to something reasonable. I didn't
want to limit ourselves to something when it's just a good-will
gesture. We're not doing anything against the law."
Csaplar said the town unfairly tried to curtail the center's activities
over the last year by limiting the number of people who could gather
there to 20 and where in the building they could worship. The lawsuit
compares the center's religious gatherings to lawful residential
assemblies, such as poker games and watching football on Sunday.
"They came up with a document about what they could and could not do,"
Csaplar said. "I eventually told [Town Administrator Kate Fitzpatrick]
we're not going to enter into any agreement."
Fitzpatrick said she was instructed by legal counsel not to discuss the
lawsuit.
"I sue cities and towns all the time," said Meltzer, a Framingham-based
trial lawyer. "In my 12 years in this business, I've never seen the
kind of pigheadedness and stubbornness in [refusing] to listen.
"It's a crusade against the rabbi; they are refusing to comply with the
law. We are very, very confident what the law is and what we cannot
do."
"As a son of Holocaust survivors, it's disheartening when anti-Semitism
charges are thrown around loosely," said Leonard H. Kesten, an attorney
and partner with Brody, Hardoon, Perkins and Kesten LLP in Boston who
will represent the town and Walsh in the lawsuit.
"We're anxious to get this moving quickly," Kesten said, adding that he
expected that the two sides would appear before a judge within two
months and that the case could take between a year and a year and a
half to resolve.
Krinsky and his attorneys say they are considering action against
neighbors who have complained to town officials about parking and
illegal remodeling.
"I think they can expect that," Meltzer said. "The neighbors tend to
have a misconception about what property can and cannot be used for."
Csaplar said neighbors have harassed worshipers as they entered and
left the center, taking their photos, asking them questions such as
"Why are you here?" and trying to get head counts. He also said a
neighbor parked a large truck and trailer in front of Krinsky's home in
January for 11 days straight in an effort to annoy and disrupt
religious services and instruction inside.
"Everyone on this street is very upset," said Wayne Anastasia, who
lives next door to the center. Anastasia denied that neighbors are
harassing worshipers, saying that he and others are often approached
for directions to the center.
Anastasia acknowledged that he and other neighbors photographed parked
cars and people renovating Krinsky's house. The residents did so after
the town responded to their initial complaints by requesting
substantiation.
Anastasia said he parked the truck and trailer in front of Krinsky's
house as a way of demonstrating what the neighbors were contending
with.
"He and his lawyers have transformed it into bigotry, which it isn't,"
Anastasia said. "He wants to be a business in a residential area and he
didn't go through the right channels. He feels this Dover Amendment
allows him to say '[too bad for] everyone else.' "
The amendment is a state law that prohibits zoning restrictions in
residential areas on the use of property for religious and educational
institutions.
Anastasia said neighbors are primarily concerned that additional
traffic and parking on their road is posing safety hazards, that
remodeling work to the chabad is being done without the permits other
homeowners would be required to obtain, and that Krinsky may be using a
private home as a business.
"People who complain or raise issues are protected," said Kesten,
referring to a state statute designed to shield citizens from
retaliatory lawsuits called Strategic Litigation Against Public
Participation. "That threat is an empty one."
Meltzer said the lawsuit could cost Needham taxpayers at least $250,000
or more to defend. "It's a long, divisive process. The question the
Needham government needs to be asking itself is: 'Is this a good use of
their resources?' "
Kesten disputed that claim. "I don't anticipate this'll cost anywhere
near that," said Kesten, adding that because the town is part of the
Massachusetts Intralocal Insurance Association, a statewide insurance
pool, taxpayers would not foot any legal bills.
Some hope the matter can be resolved outside the courtroom like a
similar conflict that erupted in Newton last year.
"Our view would be to get all the parties in a room and have an
opportunity to have a real discussion," said Robert Liekind, regional
director of the New England Anti-Defamation League. Liekind was not
aware of the Needham chabad conflict but said the ADL would be willing
to help mediate if asked to by either party.
Meltzer is confident the case will go Krinsky's way. "My feeling is
when you have someone like Rabbi Krinsky [who wants to be] simply left
alone, the town is under obligation to leave him alone."
© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
marbl...@yahoo.com
Feb 24, '05
15 Adar 5765
IsraelNN.com
A Chabad spokesman Thursday night denounced hate slogans that were
unfurled during the organization's massive "Whoever Is for the
Almighty, Join Me" rally against the government's disengagement plan.
Menachem Broad repeated Chabad rabbis' statements that hate is not in
keeping with the Chasidic movement's principles.
Israeli media reported that right wing extremists attending the rally
displayed slogans comparing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Roman
dictators who were cruel to Jews.
Reb Moshe
By William J. Kole
Associated Press
Boston Globe
2/24/2005
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) It was a firm presidential handshake. But
technically speaking, since he didn't take off his gloves, President
Bush didn't press the flesh when he greeted top Slovak officials.
And that was an apparent violation of protocol in Slovakia, where
leaders always shake with bare hands. The wardrobe malfunction caused a
stir Wednesday night in Slovakia, where Bush's arrival for Thursday's
meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown live on
national television.
Deana Lutherova, an expert in Slovak manners and protocol, said Bush's
failure to remove his black leather gloves when greeting the country's
president, prime minister and other dignitaries was unheard of here.
Bush kept the gloves on even when shaking hands with the Slovak
leaders' wives. First Lady Laura Bush also remained gloved at
Bratislava's airport Wednesday night, when the temperature was just
above freezing.
A call to the State Department's protocol office inquiring what U.S.
guidelines say about gloves and handshaking at the highest levels was
not immediately returned.
Still, the president got it better for his departing handshakes at the
airport Thursday night. The gloves had come off.
Bush and Putin hoped to keep their joint appearance focused on their
agreements and close ties. One curious, rambling query gave them
something to unite around irritation with their questioner.
''The regimes in place in Russia and the U.S. cannot be considered
fully democratic, especially when compared to some other countries of
Europe, for example for example, the Netherlands,'' the Russian
reporter said, his preamble taking so long that Bush pursed his lips in
apparent impatience.
He then asked Bush how the ''great powers that have been assumed by the
security services'' in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks square with democratic values.
''We could probably talk at length,'' the journalist said.
Bush clearly wasn't interested in that. He offered a brisk retort that
democracy is doing just fine in America.
''I live in a country where decisions made by government are wide open
and people are able to call people to me to account, which many out
here do on a regular basis. Our laws and the reasons why we have laws
on the books are perfectly explained to people,'' he said.
Putin, staging his own defense of Russian democracy, took all the talk
about the Netherlands to heart.
He said it's unproductive to compare which country is more democratic.
Then he couldn't resist a little dig.
''You have cited a curious example, the Netherlands,'' Putin glared.
''The Netherlands is a monarchy, after all.''
The Orange Revolution and now a purple one. With all the elections and
revolutions going on in the world, it's hard to keep your colors
straight.
Bush gave a pro-democracy address awash in color on his stop in
Slovakia.
He said the recent Iraqi elections recalled the 1989 so-called Velvet
Revolution that peacefully toppled communism here, when the country was
still part of Czechoslovakia.
Because Iraqi voters dipped their fingers in purple ink to prove they
had voted, Bush dubbed last Iraq's election the ''Purple Revolution.''
He noted Ukraine's ''Orange Revolution'' the campaign color of newly
elected President Viktor Yushchenko that came to symbolize the nation's
turn toward democracy.
And he talked about the ''Rose Revolution'' in Georgia that in 2003
propelled the reformist President Mikhail Saakashvili to power,
bringing down Eduard Shevardnadze, a Soviet foreign minister. The
revolution was named after the red flowers carried by protesters to
underline their peaceful intentions.
On Bush's checklist for topics to bring up in his meeting with Putin:
political freedom, press freedom and Jewish book freedom.
All 100 lawmakers in the U.S. Senate signed a letter urging the Russian
government to return sacred books to a New York-based orthodox Jewish
group known as the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
The Russian government returned some of the books, seized during a
Soviet crackdown on religion more than 80 years ago, to the group in
December 2002. But the balance remains in the possession of the Russian
State Library.
Rabbi Chaim Cunin, who has been helping fight to get release of the
books, said the White House told him Friday that Bush would personally
deliver the senators' letter to Putin. Cunin and his brother, also a
rabbi, quickly arranged flights to Bratislava and got a quick moment
with Bush on a rope line.
''We thanked him for everything he is doing and wished him our blessing
in persuading President Putin to do what is right,'' said Cunin, who is
from Los Angeles. ''These were books that our ancestors held for years
and now they are just sitting in storage.''
Reb Moshe
Needaham Times
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Over the last year or so I have casually kept up with the Chabad Jewish
Center issue through articles in the Needham Times. There are several
things that make me angry after reading your article ("Chabad Center to
sue town," Feb. 17).
I certainly don't profess to have much understanding about the
legal issues. However, I do have an understanding about human nature.
If any religious organization attempted to establish itself in my
residential neighborhood, I would want to understand what its motives
and aspirations were, as it potentially would have a major impact on
the value of my and most others' most valuable asset, my home.
If I felt my house may be less marketable if a prospective buyer
knew there was an active religious center next to or very close to it,
I would pursue every legal maneuver I could think of to prevent it.
That would include writing letters to the town, etc.
I certainly don't condone bigotry, and if that took place in this
case it is not defensible. However, if you take free speech to its
limits, even bigotry would be allowed under the First Amendment.
It would seem from your article that Rabbi Krinsky is the only
victim here, but that's not totally fair. If Rabbi Krinsky didn't reach
out to neighbors and explain his intentions to operate a religious
center, are the neighbors not victims as well? Maybe not legally, but
certainly within the framework of what being a neighbor means.
By not communicating with the town, one has to wonder what his
aspirations are, which in my mind would cause me to monitor what was
going on around that home. It isvery provocative in my opinion to call
the neighbors bigots unless their is unequivocal proof of it.
I guess what makes me angry here is the lack of common sense. Most
of this could have been avoided if people were willing to communicate
and explain their intentions and be inclusive. Lack of communication in
this instance has bred distrust, and now the situation has escalated
into something no one wanted.
It almost seems endemic in American culture. When in doubt, let
the lawyers figure it out.
Matthew Wilder
Birds Hill Avenue
marbl...@yahoo.com
West Boca man teaches Jewish history, memorializes Holocaust survivor
stories and creates award-winning sculptures
Published Monday, February 21, 2005 1:00 am
by By Dale M. King
BOCA RATON NEWS
Chaim Rosov discovered his muse around mid-life.
Actually, it was more of a lateral move.
Brooklyn-born Rosov had been a teacher for many years before he and his
wife, Reva, moved to Valley Stream, N.Y., in 1960.
There, he began to create Judaic art from pieces of oak and walnut
wood. Reva sold the items to temples in Long Island.
The effort took off, though Rosov, 76, now a resident of Mission Bay in
West Boca Raton, says it is more a labor of love than a job.
"This is not a career," Rosov told the Boca News. "It is more of
a talent that was inside me."
Art seems to flourish in the Rosov household. Reva "is a wonderful
pastel artist," said her pride-filled husband.
Rosov has reason to be proud of himself as well. His works have won
three awards at the Jewish Museum of Miami Beach. To honor the
multi-faceted winner, the museum plans to put some of his works -
perhaps as many as 30 to 40 - on display from May through November.
Of that honor, Rosov said, "I am absolutely thrilled." Although
most of the art work at the museum is there temporarily, some of
Rosov's creations are part of the permanent display.
"He is far superior to other artists," said Marcia Zerivitz from
the Jewish Museum of Miami Beach. "His art is so professional. And
because he was a teacher, he gets to the essence of the piece."
Zerivitz said Rosov won first prize for a Seder plate. This year, his
Challah plate also won top honors. "His work is exquisite," she
said. "He puts a lot of love in his work."
Rosov says he picks up some inspiration from his wife, whom he lists as
"my greatest supporter - and critic!"
Some of the fire in the artist's belly came from his dad, a Jewish
legionnaire who fought beside Israeli war heroes David Ben Gurion and
Zev Jabonitzky. Early in life, Rosov was exposed to the customs and
traditions of European orthodox Jews by his parents and grandparents,
who came to the United States from Russia and Poland.
He said his "passion for knowledge and the fields of Jewish history
and English literature" led him to a teaching career. He was an
elementary school instructor in Merrick, N.Y., then taught English and
journalism at South High School in Valley Stream.
Rosov has never given up teaching. He is now an instructor of Judaic
courses at Yeshiva High School in Boca Raton - touching on topics
such as the evolution of anti-Semitism and Holocaust studies. He also
offers instruction in sculpting.
Rosov said it was kind of a fluke that he discovered his knack for
creating Judaica pieces. "My wife and I were going to visit friends,
so I thought of bringing a bottle of wine. But then I said, 'Suppose
I make something for them.' So I made something, put it in a package
and brought it."
The muse was out.
By the 1970s, Rosov was taking master classes in New York with top
Judaica designers Yehudah Wolpert and Moshe Zabari. Over time, he would
move from wood to brass and then to silver as his artistic media.
The Rosovs moved to Boca in 1990. He set up a workshop at the Levis
Jewish Community Center and taught Judaic sculpting for three years.
He joined the faculty of Yeshiva High School, teaching modern Jewish
history, and in 1994, he volunteered as an interviewer for director
Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. He helped establish a library of
spoken word stories by more than 100 Holocaust survivors.
He has created a number of Holocaust memorials for synagogues on Long
Island and in Florida. When Chabad Lubavitch Synagogue of West Boca
moved to its new quarters, he designed and created a number of the
temple's artifacts.
That won him accolades from the rabbi there, Zalman Bukiet. "He is a
very talented individual who has great soul," the rabbi said. "He
designed our tree of life, our memorial board and the everlasting
light. He has done all this with the goodness of his heart. He has a
talent for creating and a talent for giving."
For Rosov, life is good. "Even my name, Chaim, means life," he
noted.
And he enjoys sharing it with his wife, their daughter, who lives a
couple of blocks away, and their two grandchildren.
Dale M. King can be reached at dk...@bocanews.com.
By Rogel Alpher
Haaretz
02/2005
In search of meaning
Every statement that Keshet executives utter about their broadcast
schedule seems to end with the terms "meaning," "value" or "Israeli" -
mantras that reflect the organizational culture that is instilled from
above, the same culture that is manifested even in the company slogan,
"Keshet - We do Israeli television" (as opposed to the less national
"You can see that it's Telad" and "Reshet - The home of us all").
"It's reality with an extra layer, a certain meaningfulness that
connects with something Israel, that provides a reason to watch, beyond
pleasure," says the CEO, Avi Nir, explaining how he made the decision
to air "The Ambassador." Like Shenar, Nir believes wholeheartedly in
the meaningfulness slogan. He is aware that this is minor-tone
meaningfulness, but declines to take responsibility for its
unreasonable weight in the Israeli way of life, reaffirming the
community's values, like the farbrengen. If the question of who ended
up as the winner in "The Ambassador" is reverberating too powerfully -
well, he is not the person who invented commercial television, he is
only flourishing there. And of course he is a vigorous supporter of
reading books, especially Le Carre, though not when Keshet is on the
air.
Like Shenar, Nir is educated and intelligent, and like him, he declares
that his programs do not reflect his entire television taste but that
he personally loves them. "If we don't reach a lot of people, the thing
will shut down," he says. "But we aspire to create content that carries
some sort of meaning, that says something about the world we live in.
Something, even if it's small. If you want to say something big, then
write a book, write a newspaper article."
On the morning of our conversation - before we watched with great
pleasure one of his favorite episodes of "Seinfeld," as though we were
not bitterly divided over "Take Me, Sharon" - he got a stomach ache
from perusing the daily ratings chart. "This is the most behaviorist
profession there is," he says. Before coming to Keshet, Nir, 43, was on
his way to completing a doctoral thesis in Business Administration in
which he examined, using theories from the psychology of art, what
television stimuli people like to be exposed to repeatedly and which
ones turn them off after one viewing. "Every morning you get a report
card. The behaviorist stimulus-reaction system, just like the one that
is used on mice, is deadly. Very difficult and very scary. I get
stomach aches from putting on a new program, terrible stomach aches
from every program-related decision: what time to air it, where to
insert it. The case of `Seinfeld' - a series that didn't take off until
its fourth season - no longer
exists in the television industry. There is no such thing. Certainly
not in Israel. The time ranges are too short. We are judged every
moment. Ratings are addictive. It's very hard to get off them."
A few days ago we spoke by phone about "The Ten Commandments," Keshet's
new program, which will be broadcast in mid-March and which Nir asked
me to watch. "Well, what did you think?" he wants to know.
Moving. Touching. It deals with universal subjects that appeal to a
very wide range of people, from a Jewish-Israeli angle. I can watch,
and so can someone with whom I have nothing in common. It says
something, albeit small, but it can generate thought or some instant
spiritual stocktaking. It's one of your typical products, one of the
better ones.
"I believe in it. The broadcast time is a tiny bit late, the ratings
pressure is not great. It won't be terrible if it doesn't score high.
My stomach is fine."
This, too, is a way to sum up the difference between Israeli and
American television. There, they watch late at night - Letterman and
Leno, pure entertainment - and here we watch a morality program with a
biblical name and a tormented atmosphere. That's a lesson that Channel
10, the other commercial station, which tried to do late-night
American-style with Asaf Harel, has perhaps not internalized.
Great opportunity on Channel 1
Both the shareholders and the Keshet staff will be happy to acknowledge
that Shenar is a talented manager. It is also self-evident that CEO Nir
has had no little input in shaping Keshet, as have others, but Shenar
is the head honcho. When he tours the building, being chummy with
whoever he meets on the way, he projects paternal authority. He has
never endorsed his programming schedule for the board of directors and
they have never intervened in the content. The success of his
subordinates is his success and is the product of the powers he is
capable of delegating, the talent he knows how to spot and cultivate,
and the confidence he is good at imparting, even in cases of failure.
The thought given to the schedule as an analysis of trends in Israeli
society has proved itself as a macro-view that increases profits.
Beyond the search for value and meaning, this is thought that is based
on the correct reading of the media map, which dictates his attitude
toward the competition - Channel 1
(state television) and Channel 10 - and how to position himself
opposite them.
What was your conception of the situation of Israeli identity before
Channel 2 came into being, when all we had was Channel 1?
"The Israeli Zionist myth was that society is a melting pot. That
perception was shattered. What remains of the melting pot? The army.
The society has become multicultural, with a lot of divisions and
confrontations. Very few common denominators are left. Not even Jewish
culture. So, in the place where the media is supposed to play such a
meaningful role, a vacuum was created. That vacuum disturbed me as a
person and a citizen and a father in Israel."
But you also spotted a professional opportunity?
"True. Channel 1 did not reflect the Israeli way of life in anything.
It was not connected to anyplace."
And they didn't know how to do TV, either, did they?
"I was program director in the founding directorate of Channel 2. Every
week I had to go to the director general of the Israel Broadcasting
Authority and he had to sign off on the broadcast schedule. One day I
come to the director general and he tells me, `I am not signing off on
the schedule. I don't like these short things you're doing.' I asked
him what he meant. `Those short trailers.' `Promos,' I told him. He
said, `I don't know from promos, I don't know what they are. Previews
is a program. Either you make it half an hour or you dump it, because
otherwise it's commercials.' I replied, `It's not commercials, it's
television.' It was a hallucinatory conversation. Promos had been
broadcast all over the world for 20 years, the IBA has a half-hour
program of program previews and because of that he won't approve the
broadcast schedule.
"Channel 2 in its experimental stage connected between [French
television cultural presenter Bernard] Pivot's `Apostrophe' and `The
World Tonight,' I heard Avri Gilad and Erez Tal doing `What's
Happening' on the radio. I had no idea how to turn it into television,
but I thought it had the potential to reach publics that Channel 1
would not get to. And you have to remember that there was nothing on
television even for people of my age. In those days people watched
Jordan and Cyprus. `The World Tonight' was a breakthrough. I was proud
of it."
The Israeli broadcast channels are showing the opposite trend to the
international scene, where they are in a constant decline. You are
constantly increasing your ratings. Channel 2 is the public, the public
is Channel 2. It's a symbiosis. You are broadcasting to "the whole
country." Isn't that an anomaly?
"The background is a very large vacuum in terms of competition. This
anomaly of Channel 2 was created in part by the fact that there is no
real competition in Israel. That is a temporary anomaly."
Why temporary? Do you anticipate a change in Channel 1?
"No."
And in Channel 10?
"Let me put it this way: It's no secret that at various stages we were
close to negotiating with Channel 10. I believe the anomaly I mentioned
would have ended if Keshet had taken over Channel 10. It's not a law of
nature. If an investor had put $40-45 million into Channel 10, which is
what you need to make a go of it, the picture could have been
different. It's a matter of circumstances. Channel 1 is more complex.
There are two major ills in Channel 1: the anachronistic vestiges of
politicization from the monopoly period, and a very poor organizational
culture, without the joy of creation, without a spark in the eyes. But
there is a tremendous opportunity there. To do a public television
channel is, I believe, the most valuable and meaningful development on
the Israeli television map, and it could happen."
It sounds like something that might even interest you.
"Look, I was offered the post of IBA director general twice. I told the
person who made the offer that I would be prepared to consider it only
if a law was passed to shut down the channel and reopen it, to replace
the infrastructure and the political system. There are excellent people
in IBA. With a budget of NIS 900 million, you could work magic. To
forge the BBC of Israel is not only possible and necessary, it is also
a huge challenge. Now it can't happen, because it requires a
revolutionary change, not something cosmetic. A structural change. But
to create a public television channel is truly something with
tremendous potential, and it would change Channel 2.
"I think that the natural place of programs like `Bulldozer' [a
muckraking documentary program], `Bat Yam New York,' `The Brown Girls,'
`The Bourgeois' and `East Wind' [a documentary series about Iraqi
Jewry] was not on commercial television but on a public channel. On
Channel 2, because of the structure, the division among the franchises,
you can't really engage in programming with a comprehensive broadcast
conception, a macro-view, with a beginning, middle and end, programming
slots and so forth. And a commercial channel has its constraints and
rules of the game. Still, we are effectively also doing public
television. I have no competition today, not at content level and not
in the ratings. Like Channel 4 in England, Channel 1 is supposed to
fire up the industry and make manifest its forces. That would inject
adrenaline of a different kind into Channel 2. Competition really does
create a situation in which everyone wins."
Are you worried that new technologies will weaken Channel 2?
"There is a pattern of adopting new technologies in Israel that does
not exist anywhere else, both in terms of the pace of the penetration
and the scope. In terms of number of channels per capita, Holland and
Israel lead the world. It's astonishing. There are 148 channels in
Israel, four times the world norm per capita. Israelis are freaks of
new technologies - but despite everything, television broadcasting is
on the rise. An amazing phenomenon. There isn't one program in America
that is the national talk of the day at the level of `A Wonderful
Country.' There is no such thing. The bottom line is that the new
platforms are incapable of creating winning content by themselves."
Do you ever see yourself engaging in fringe media, in a niche outlet?
"No. I find that esoteric."
Problems at food bank build, point at managers
By Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 27, 2005
Management practices at the San Diego Food Bank were much looser than
previously disclosed, according to documents and other information
obtained last week by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
In addition, food bank officials acknowledged late last week that six
of the top seven participants in the charitable food-distribution
program have now been expelled, suspended or had their accounts placed
on hold. Combined, those obscure ministries collected 638 tons of
groceries meant for the poor - almost 45 percent of the program's
goods handed out in the last six months of 2004.
The newspaper reported Feb. 6 that the food bank's charitable food
distribution program had delivered hundreds of tons of products to
little-known charities without making sure the merchandise was given
to the needy.
Since then, the newspaper has learned that:
A pastor who withdrew more goods than any other agency operates a
retail store in Imperial Beach. Owning a grocery business is a major
breach of food bank policy.
Internal food bank documents show that for years one questionable
charity was allowed to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid
fees, another violation. At one point, Zeev Buchler's tiny nonprofit
owed nearly$51,000.
A San Diego businessman told the Union-Tribune last week that he
routinely purchased food bank products from dishonest ministries and
sold them in a discount store he owned.
That businessman said he stopped the practice four years ago, after
his conscience got the better of him. He said he told food bank
officials what he had done and named the charity operators who sold
him canned goods, laundry soap and other donations that were supposed
to go to needy families.
But even after his confession, he said, the food bank allowed the
violators to continue withdrawing merchandise.
"I stepped up to the plate four years ago and nothing was being done
about it," said the shopkeeper, who asked that his name not be
published for fear of retribution from food bank cheats or from
prosecutors. It is a federal crime to sell donations designated for
hunger-relief efforts.
"These guys had vans in the streets selling that merchandise," he said.
The newspaper's investigation previously found that food bank
officials failed to tighten oversight even after two employees and
independent auditors warned managers that theft was a serious problem.
Donations were handed over to people whose backgrounds include a
criminal conviction, multiple lawsuits, court orders and bankruptcy.
Two participants were involved in businesses that sold groceries, the
investigation found.
Food bank officials continue to downplay the extent of the problems,
saying they were limited to relatively few organizations and that
officials did their best to respond to reports of wrongdoing.
Peter Callstrom, hired as the food bank general manager last month,
declined to discuss the agency's prior business practices. "The past
is past," he said. "I'm looking forward to the future."
Officials from the Neighborhood House Association, which runs the food
bank and other social-service programs in San Diego County, steered
questions to a public-relations consultant.
Scott Maloni of Public Policy Strategies said Friday that the apparent
food bank abuse was "isolated" and involved only "a handful of
groups."
But the documents obtained last week show that theft and inadequate
oversight have been a persistent issue at the food bank for at least
10 years.
Buchler, for example, was granted what amounted to a revolving charge
account at the food bank, records show. Other agencies also were
permitted to take food without paying all the fees, which help cover
the food bank's operational costs.
Mario Aguirre, the pastor of a South Bay ministry called New Life
International, collected 225 tons of food bank products in the last
half of 2004, more than any other agency. He runs Buy 4 Less in an
Imperial Beach strip mall, according to court records. The small shop
offers many of the same items distributed by the food bank.
Aguirre has collected an additional 15 tons from the food bank since
Jan. 1.
On Thursday, the food bank said it placed New Life's account "on hold"
Feb. 9 - two weeks after food bank acting general manager Jim Greene
had personally vouched for Aguirre.
Aguirre said he has never profited from his food bank withdrawals, and
added that he is meeting with the food bank this week to sort
everything out.
Auditors from America's Second Harvest, the national food-distribution
charity that sanctions the San Diego Food Bank and 210 other
affiliates, cited the local food bank last year for shoddy
record-keeping and failing to make sure goods were going where they
are needed.
Historically, the food bank has invested less effort investigating
where donations end up than in moving goods through its Miramar
warehouse. Most goods handed out in the charitable food program are
donated by manufacturers who receive tax breaks of up to half the
products' retail value.
The San Diego Food Bank distributes more than 6,500 tons of food and
groceries each year.
The charitable food effort, the most popular of the agency's four
programs, gives away approximately 2,500 tons a year. All of it is
free, but participants pay a shared maintenance fee of up to 18 cents
a pound.
Buchler, who operated a charity called Chabad Chai, repeatedly
declined requests for an interview to discuss where he got the money
to pay his fees, which some years came to more than $100,000.
Court records show Buchler was being sued for back rent on a discount
shop he ran on El Cajon Boulevard at the same time he owed the San
Diego Food Bank tens of thousands of dollars.
Rabbi Josef Fradkin said Buchler was a longtime volunteer for Chabad
of San Diego, the well-known Jewish center that runs a synagogue and a
private school in Scripps Ranch and other projects.
Chabad removed Buchler from all food bank accounts last month, hours
after the Union-Tribune asked Fradkin about where the donations were
being distributed. Buchler still owes the food bank $1,200, Callstrom
said.
Chabad of San Diego put Buchler in charge of a food bank account it
opened in the late 1980s to assist Russian immigrant families. But the
program has been inactive for more than a decade, Fradkin said.
Chabad officials said they had no idea that Buchler was still
withdrawing huge amounts of food and other products from the food
bank. However, a July 2000 letter from the food bank to Rabbi Yonah
Fradkin, Josef's father, specifically called on the elder Fradkin to
help the food bank collect almost $40,000 Buchler owed at that time.
Josef Fradkin said last week that Chabad responded to the letter by
telling the food bank it wasn't responsible for the debt.
"What was alarming at that time was that we did not know this was
happening," he said. "When (the food bank) came to us asking for
payment, they were told very clearly that this was not a Chabad
operation."
The Chabad also directed the food bank to close any and all Chabad
accounts, Fradkin said.
"Having not heard from them in five years, we can assume that this was
not a problem," he said.
The food bank is waiting for results of another audit performed by
America's Second Harvest this month. Callstrom has pledged to make
those findings public.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Union-Tribune library researcher Cecelia Iniguez contributed to this
report.
Jeff McDonald: (619) 542-4585; jeff.mcdon...@uniontrib.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More online The Union-Tribune's special report on the San Diego Food
Bank can be found at uniontribune.com/news/more.html
Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050227-9999-1n27food.html
--
http://lubavitchnews.tk
JDC to convene meeting here to seek united effort as groups go their
own way.
Adam Dickter - Staff Writer
01/07/2005)
>From million-dollar fund-raising operations at national organizations
to toy drives and cookie-baking by yeshiva girls, the Jewish community
here is increasing its response to the tsunami devastation in
Southeast Asia as the scale of dead, missing, homeless and destitute
continues to unfold.
The American Jewish World Service fund on Wednesday had reached $3.25
million, and numerous other organizations and schools pitched in by
starting drives or steering donations toward larger relief funds.
Hadassah, the largest Jewish membership organization in the United
States, announced Monday that it would collect funds to allow medical
staff from the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem to provide aid and
forensic services in Sri Lanka, where some 30,000 people have died.
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations called on its nearly1,000
synagogues in North America to collect donations that it would forward
to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee fund, which had
reached $2 million Wednesday.
UJA-Federation of New York, which provides some funding for JDC
operations, is running its own fund and had collected about $500,000
by early this week. The charity took out two quarter-page ads in The
New York Times last week announcing its drive, and also sent out a
direct-mail solicitation three days after the tragedy announcing an
"emergency mailbox" for relief funds.
The American Jewish Committee put up $60,000 of its own funds and
raised another $200,000 for its relief fund.
These approaches indicate how various groups operate according to
their individual identities, agendas and constituencies. But they also
offer a glimpse at how coordination can be elusive in the gargantuan,
somewhat unwieldy world of Jewish communal organizations, where
duplication is commonplace and all compete for philanthropic dollars.
"Each particular organization has their expertise and know-how that
the other organization does not have," said Rabbi Arthur Schneier of
Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, founder of the Appeal of Conscience
Foundation, which helped organize relief for earthquake victims in
Turkey several years ago. "They each pursue their outreach to their
respective constituencies. But it would be very important and
productive to have a coordinating relief body of all the
organizations, so that each would know what the other is doing."
A step in that direction will be taken Monday when the Joint
Distribution Committee convenes a large panel of organizations and
synagogue groups to discuss how to unify their efforts.
"We want to try to speak with one voice about the needs we are
serving," said Steven Schwager, vice president of JDC, which founded
the Jewish Council on Disaster Relief about 15 years ago. Most
recently, the council coordinated 24 groups and the Israeli government
in providing aid to refugees from genocide in Sudan.
Schwager said the extent of participation by the some 50 groups
invited by JDC will vary.
"I would expect that for this disaster, everyone will be in," he said.
"They will each open their own mailboxes and put in all or a portion.
There is no rule."
Potential participants, Schwager said, "range from ultra-Reform to
ultra-Orthodox, across the political spectrum."
Morris Offit, the president of UJA-Federation of New York, said Monday
that his agency created its own fund because "we have the
infrastructure for fund raising. We're the ones with the community
identity and the trust factor."
Raising their own funds allows organizations to retain control over
and make choices about how the money is spent. Offit said the JDC
would be a "primary partner" in receiving the funds raised by
UJA-Federation, but "other organizations on the ground" in Asia also
would benefit.
The American Jewish World Service is channeling its money directly to
organizations in India and Thailand with which it has long been
working on development projects.
The Union for Reform Judaism announced Monday it was distributing
$100,000 - one third of the sum it has collected - to four aid
groups:
International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, International Medical
Corps and Direct Relief International.
AJCommittee has distributed more than $115,000 to JDC and AJWS, as
well as to agencies with whom AJCommittee has long been working on
interfaith cooperation. They include the Catholic Relief Agency and
Church World Service, a Protestant group. AJCommittee has also
supported work in Asia by an Israeli group, IsraAid, as well as sent
money to its own office in Mumbai, India, for relief work.
"We are not in competition with the other agencies," said David
Harris, AJCommittee's executive director. "Because we have an
international and intergroup agenda, it is very important for us to
support that agenda through humanitarian assistance."
Officials of Chabad Lubavitch said the chasidic movement has deployed
substantial resources in Thailand through its outreach centers in
Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui. More than 3,000 people have died in
Thailand, and thousands more are missing.
Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor of Chabad has traveled to the disaster areas
to help locate missing Israelis, and he and other staff, with help
from Israel's Zaka recovery agency, have worked to identify Jewish and
non-Jewish victims.
This week, the Chabad houses turned to offering aid to the victims,
providing funds for rebuilding, purchasing refrigerated trucks to
deliver food and even launching a toy drive. Chabad has also started a
fund to continue its work in Thailand.
Across the New York Jewish community, individuals and groups deeply
moved by the scale of suffering and overwhelming need overseas found
ways large and small to contribute.
Rabbi Rolando Matalon of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in Manhattan, who
before the disaster had planned to visit India this week on a
volunteer mission with AJWS, said he would proceed with the journey
with a new focus.
"I had planned to volunteer with a grantor and partner [of AJWS] in
Chennai that works with destitute children," said Rabbi Matalon, who
was battling a virus he hoped to overcome before his flight Tuesday
afternoon. "My plans have changed."
He will now work on aid efforts with the Chennai Disaster Relief
Coalition, helping to distribute medical supplies, water purification
equipment and other goods in impoverished areas.
"The places where I am going are fishing communities, where people
have lost their fishing boats and nets, and it is now fishing season,"
Rabbi Matalon said.
The Jewish Community Relations Council's Center for Community and
Coalition-Building organized a briefing Thursday to advise a range of
organizations on how to direct aid where it is most needed.
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty donated some 40 boxes of
clothing to Sri Lankan authorities.
At Park East Synagogue, Rabbi Schneier hosted a Sabbath memorial
service with diplomats from the affected countries. Rabbi Yotav Eliach
of the Rambam Mesivta yeshiva high school in Lawrence, L.I., was to
deliver $5,000 from students and parents to Sri Lankan Airlines for
its efforts on behalf of child victims. Fifth-graders at the Yeshivah
of Flatbush organized a chesed, or kindness project, in which students
solicited donations to the relief fund by performing good deeds for
family members and friends.
In Riverdale, students at the SAR Academy baked and sold 40 dozen
"chesed cookies," raising $500 as of Tuesday for disaster relief.
"We're hoping to split the money between AJWS and JDC," said Rabbi
Brad Hirschfeld of the Center for Learning and Leadership, whose
daughters, Dassi, Avi and Dinni, started the project.
On Sunday, Rabbi Avi Weiss, of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale,
organized children to sing outside the consulate of Indonesia to send
a message of unity. Rabbi Weiss also hosted that country's ambassador
on Shabbat.
"It was the first time he had ever been in a synagogue," the rabbi
said.
This Sunday, the Hebrew Institute congregation was to hold a food and
fund-raising drive to be attended by local Buddhist leaders.
"So many souls have been lost," said Rabbi Weiss. "But if anything
good can come out of it, perhaps it is the coming together of people
of such diverse religious backgrounds." n
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency contributed to this report.
Here is a list of other articles in this section
By Any Means Necessary?
Settler leaders, teetering between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X,
turn up the heat against disengagement.
Harsh Talk Raises Fresh Abbas Fears
'Zionist enemy' remark on eve of election termed 'dangerous,'
'intolerable.'
Israelis Look Outward To Help Others
Opening their hearts, wallets for tsunami victims after years of
intifada suffering.
'I Want To Be Part Of The Land'
Birthright participants continue to find program, now in its fifth
year, profoundly moving, vow to return.
© 2000 - 2002 The Jewish Week, Inc. All rights reserved. Please refer
to the legal notice for other important information.
03/02/05
The New Chabad house in London, Ontario. At left is fourth-year
psychology student, Caryn Walt, and on right is Rabbi Mordechai and
Nechamie Silberberg.
By FRANCES KRAFT
Staff Reporter
For many Jewish students in London, Ont., Chabad of Western has become
the in place to go for Shabbat dinner.
Two years ago, when Caryn Walt, a fourth-year psychology student, began
attending Chabad's Friday night services and dinner, she was one of
only a dozen to two dozen people there.
The dinners now attract two to three hundred people a week, a
phenomenal increase Walt attributes in large part to Chabad shlichim
Rabbi Mordechai Silberberg and his wife Nechamie, who arrived in London
five years ago.
Gary Diamond, president of Canadian Federation of Jewish Students and
past president of Hillel at the University of Western Ontario, makes
time to help out Friday nights at Chabad. "It's just the
atmosphere," he said. "It's not like you have to dress up. You
just come, and can meet people. It has all the ingredients: good
people, free food. It's a place to catch up [with friends]."
In addition to Shabbat dinners, Chabad runs Saturday morning and
holiday services. The 28-year-old rabbi has a Tuesday evening campus
radio show, and runs educational programs, including Talmud classes,
lunch-and-learns, and a late-night discussion group in which topics
range from premarital sex to bioethics. Nechamie, 25, has taught
monthly Rosh Chodesh classes for women, and now teaches occasional and
one-on-one classes.
But, says Rabbi Silberberg, a native of Brooklyn, the most important
aspect is befriending the students. That way, students who have
concerns have someone to talk to, he said.
The Silberbergs are "so non-judgmental, and they help everyone,"
said Walt, immediate past Chabad student club president.
In spite of the difference in Jewish observance level and upbringing
between the Silberbergs and most Jewish students at Western, the Chabad
shlichim say it was not difficult to find common ground. Their age was
"a great advantage," said Nechamie, who was younger than many of
the students when she arrived.
The social aspects of having friends and having a good time are the
same for everyone, says Nechamie. Because she feels free to be herself,
she said, students are open with her, and friendships have developed.
"We don't impose anything," said Rabbi Silberberg, explaining
Chabad's philosophy. "The most beautiful part is to sit with all
types of Jews. Everybody leaves their labels outside."
And in spite of the numbers, the Silberbergs feel it's important to
have a family atmosphere at the dinners. Part of that feeling comes
from having their four-year-old twins and one-year-old baby boy at the
meals.
Not to mention that Nechamie, 25, prepares all the meals, with the help
of student volunteers. For the potato kugel alone, she uses 30 pounds
of potatoes a week.
"I really love what I do," she said. "It's fun. So many of the
students are good friends of mine.
"To come and see so many people enjoying themselves, having a good
time with Shabbat - it's a pleasure for me. I really love it. I'm
not just saying that."
A typical Friday night meal, beginning with Kiddush and challah, will
include - just for the first course - gefilte fish, eight different
salads and dips like hummus and baba ghanouj. Then there's chicken
soup with matzah balls and noodles, chicken, and a rotating array of
side dishes like farfel, broccoli kugel, orzo and crunchy apple bake.
Dessert is usually a birthday cake, said Nechamie (née Rosler), who
grew up in Toronto and is a niece of Rabbi Zalman Ahron Grossbaum,
executive vice-president of Chabad Lubavitch of Southern Ontario.
Sometimes, especially on birthdays, parents join the crowd and sponsor
a meal.
"It's a huge expense every Friday night, $1,000 easy," said
Nechamie, who also teaches part-time at the local day school and at the
Conservative supplementary school.
Lubavitch has had a presence at Western since 1961, when Yitzchok
(Irving) Block became a faculty member as well as the staff person for
then two-year-old Hillel. He is now the official shaliach for Chabad in
London, while the Silberbergs serve as campus shlichim or shluchim (the
Lubavitch pronunciation for shlichim, the Hebrew word for emissaries).
In 1961, there were only 71 Jewish students of about 5,000 at the
university, compared to an estimated 3,000 out of 30,000 today, Block
said.
Because a high percentage of current and former students are from
Toronto, only 200 kilometres east of London, a celebratory
fundraiser/reunion is being planned in Toronto to honour the Berg
family, benefactors of Chabad of Western, and belatedly inaugurate the
house. The event will be held on the evening of May 15 at Shaarei
Shomayim Congregation, and will feature Harvard law school professor
Alan Dershowitz.
The London organization's first house dates back to 1985, when
Friends of Lubavitch of London purchased a bungalow on Bernard Avenue,
a few blocks off-campus. The house was run by Block (who left Hillel at
the time to avoid a conflict of interest) and subsequently by married
couples who were Chabad shlichim.
The Silberbergs are the first couple to fill that role on a full-time
basis. They have counterparts on-site at more than 100 campuses,
including half a dozen in Canada, and not including many that are
served by off-site Chabad houses.
"We are the biggest Jewish organization in the world," said Rabbi
Silberberg, citing 2,500 centres in 70 countries. The organization's
campus outreach dates back to the 1960s when it was begun to counteract
"experimental drugs, cults and communes," according to a 2003
Lubavitch publication.
"It's a serious player in the Jewish community," said Rabbi
Silberberg. "People are starting to understand that organizations
have to work together. There's something everyone can contribute."
At Western, Chabad and Hillel representatives say they have a good
relationship. Celebrations for holidays like Purim and Chanukah are
organized jointly, and Chabad dinners do not run on the Fridays when
Hillel runs dinners.
"We get along really well," said Walt, who served as an affiliate
college representative to Hillel in her first year.
Jared Isaacson, executive director of Western Hillel, noted that some
of his colleagues on other campuses do not have the same type of
positive relationship with Chabad.
With an increase in attendance at Chabad dinners in the Silberbergs'
third year, a decision was made to start looking for a larger facility.
"There was a special heimishkeit - closeness - that we enjoyed
[in the old house], but our goal was to get as many people as
possible," said the rabbi.
When the Greek church that is now the Berg Family Chabad House was put
up for sale a couple of years ago, its 9,000-square-feet, 40-car
parking lot, and social hall with a capacity for more than 300 people,
"actually seemed a little too big," he recalled.
Its features, including a commercial kitchen and even closer proximity
to campus, made it very appealing.
And Chabad programs there have had broad appeal among the students.
"We have students from liberal Reform families who would never dream
of talking to somebody Orthodox, and they're literally our best
friends - not because they're becoming religious. Most students are
not becoming religious," said Rabbi Silberberg.
Walt, who comes from a Conservative background and attends Chabad
services while in London, said, "It's convenient, and I like the
way they do it. It's not too religious for me. Shul has never been so
fun for me. They're young, everyone sings together, and there's
dancing during prayers. There's a mechitzah, but in each of our
sections we dance with each other. It's very spiritual, very
uplifting. It's a great atmosphere to practise your Judaism in."
Chabad means "so much" to her, she said. "When I don't go home
[for the weekend], I have a place to go here. It provides me with such
a comfort, and a place I can go and feel proud to be Jewish."
By Julie Waresh
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Rabbi Sholom Ciment has big plans for the expansion of the synagogue he
leads west of Boynton Beach.
Completed just three years ago, Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton
already is seeking to double its size and add a satellite location in
fast-growing areas even farther west of the city.
Steve Mitchell/The Post
Rabbi Sholom Ciment stands inside the sanctuary at the Chabad-Lubavitch
of Greater Boynton Beach. Prominent developer Ned Siegel has pledged to
help the temple pay off its $1.5 million mortgage, which will enable
the temple to pursue a planned expansion.
It's hard to move forward, however, when there's a payment on the $1.5
million mortgage to meet each month. That's how much the temple owes on
its $4 million campus on El Clair Ranch Road just north of Woolbright
Road.
"All these projects are going to take lots of money," said Ciment,
whose plans also include adding a preschool and social hall. "We were
fearful to proceed while we were shackled with this debt."
That was before Boca Raton developer Ned Siegel stepped in, pledging to
help the temple pay the debt off.
In a letter to friends last month, Siegel urged them to join him in
support of Ciment and the Boynton center, which he said is "in one of
the fastest growing Jewish communities" in the United States.
"Under his leadership," Siegel said of Ciment, "a spiritual desert in
our community has turned into a booming oasis of vibrant Jewish life."
Siegel helped fuel the growth by building the 55-home Wyndsong Estates
next door to the temple, allowing residents to adhere to Chabad's
Orthodox traditions by walking to services. Siegel's Paramount Group is
building a second development, 47-home Wyndsong Isles, about a
half-mile north of the temple.
The relationship between the temple and Siegel, a former owner of T-Rex
Technology Center in Boca Raton, has grown closer in recent months,
following the death of Siegel's father, Howard Siegel.
According to his letter, Siegel's pledge to retire the temple's debt is
a tribute to his father.
"This project has become exceptionally important to me at this time in
my life," the letter said.
The temple is hosting a fund-raising dinner on April 3 at Woodfield
Country Club in Boca Raton to honor Siegel, a Republican activist who
contributed $100,000 to President Bush's inauguration. Siegel expects
the $1,000-a-plate affair, for which Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will serve
as honorary chairman, to raise the needed money, Ciment said.
In return, the temple's main building will be named the Siegel Family
Jewish Center, Ciment said.
The mortgage payoff will allow the temple to begin its second decade
unshackled - free to take on new debt to build its much-needed
expansion, Ciment said.
While the Chabad-Lubavitch building was completed in 2002, Ciment
founded the congregation 10 years ago starting with a few people who
met in a two-bedroom apartment.
Alan Zavodnick joined five years ago, after services had moved to a
house on the El Clair Ranch Road property. Members later met in
double-wide trailers while walls went up for the synagogue, which "at
the time seemed massive compared to the number of congregants," said
Zavodnick, a member of the temple's executive board.
"It was definitely one of those build-it-and-they-will-come deals," he
said. "Every week it continues to grow - it's amazing."
Indeed, the sanctuary, which comfortably seats about 440, regularly
accommodates 600 or more. Plans call for putting a second floor on the
17,000-square-foot main building, which would allow the addition of a
balcony in the sanctuary.
Also planned are a two-story preschool, a playground and a stand-alone
mikvah, a $500,000 ritual bath that will be much like a high-end spa,
Ciment said.
In all, the expansion is expected to cost about $5 million, he said.
That's not counting the cost of establishing a satellite temple farther
west, probably in the vicinity of Hagen Ranch and Lyons roads.
"There are thousands of homes being built there as we speak," said
Ciment, who added that he hopes to nail down a site in the next three
months either to build on or to rent.
"There is no question there will have to be a facility serving their
spiritual needs as Jews," Ciment said. "We are putting the building
blocks in place now."
Find this article at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/boynton_beach/content/neighborhood/boynton_beach/epaper/2005/03/02/npb1_chabad_0302.html
With Lubavitch's project opening soon, some are wary about
inclusiveness.
Gabrielle Birkner - Staff Writer
Eye catching amid the clusters of modest brick buildings and
brownstones in Crown Heights, with a modern metal facade and art
deco-style dreidel sculpture in front, the $31 million Jewish
Children's Museum is the city's newest, and perhaps most
architecturally bold, major Jewish institution.
Whether it is the most inclusive and appeals to the widest swath of
Jewish children is a question being raised by some Jewish leaders this
week.
The museum, a project of Tzivos Hashem, the youth movement of
Chabad-Lubavitch - the worldwide chasidic outreach organization -
held
its inaugural reception Tuesday, two weeks before it opens to the
public on Dec. 23.
The six-story museum, believed to be the first Jewish children's
museum of its kind in the country, was designed by the prestigious
architectural firm of Gwathmey Siegel and Associates, responsible for
major renovations at the Guggenheim Museum and the Naismith Basketball
Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. It was the firm as well for the
U.S. Mission to the United Nations, university projects at Princeton,
Harvard and Cornell, and the Duke University Center for Jewish Life.
The museum, which has 12,000 square feet of exhibition space, a
100-seat movie theater and a multimedia production studio, is located
across Kingston Avenue from Chabad's headquarters, where Lubavitchers
pray daily in a Spartan basement synagogue. It also features dozens of
colorful and tactile exhibits targeted to children aged 8 to 11.
Among the exhibits are a mock kosher supermarket; a colossal model of
a Shabbat table; a replica of an Eastern European shtetl; and a game
show set where pint-sized contestants of "Jewpardy" and "Spiel of
Fortune" can test their knowledge on Jewish history and rituals.
At the museum, children can crawl through a massive model of a braided
challah; play miniature golf on a course where each hole represents a
traditional Jewish lifecycle event; and walk atop a colorful mural
that traces the Bible story of the six days of creation.
Asked about the exhibit on creationism, Nissen Brenenson, the museum's
education director, said: "We're not presenting it as history, we're
presenting it as 'This is what the Torah says.' "
Since all the exhibits were not yet completed Tuesday, it remains
unknown if and how the exhibits will approach more sensitive topics
like the Holocaust and modern Zionism.
Organizers said the Jewish Children's Museum, seven years in the
making, was the brainchild of the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, who was deemed the messiah by some of his
followers. The rebbe's photograph and personal artifacts are
prominently displayed in the lobby.
But Yerachmiel Benjaminson, the museum's executive director, said the
exhibits champion no particular denomination, sect or movement.
"We're not promoting Chabad," he said. "We're promoting classic
Judaism, what the Torah tells us."
City, state and federal grants accounted for about two-thirds of the
museum's financing.
"The city and state made it clear that there will be no proselytizing,
and the museum concurred," said Richard Davis, a New York-based
attorney who consulted with museum administrators. "This is a museum
about the history of the Jewish people, and there will be no
advocating any brand of Judaism or of Judaism itself."
Some Jewish leaders are skeptical.
"I expect they'll present Jewish tradition from an Orthodox
perspective, and distinctly Chabad perspective," said Rabbi Eric
Yoffe, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, who had not toured
the museum. "I don't think there is anything to be terribly concerned
about if children visit the museum with a knowledgeable adult who can
explain that not all Jews observe the rituals of the Orthodox.
"We want our kids to explore all aspects of Judaism, even those that
we don't accept," he said. "But might I be happier with a children's
museum that represented a wider spectrum of observance? Obviously."
Elliot Spiegel, the headmaster of the Solomon Schechter School of
Westchester, affiliated with the Conservative movement, echoed Rabbi
Yoffie's sentiments.
"It's hard to be nonsectarian if you're part of a movement," he said.
"My concern is that the exhibits will present only one legitimate way
of doing things. Are children going to be ashamed of the way they
observe?"
Spiegel said he and other Solomon Schechter administrators need to
visit the museum before determining if it's worth a schoolwide field
trip.
"The Lubavitch have the right to open a museum, and we have the right
not to go," he said. "It's our job as educators to evaluate what's
there and if it's somewhere we want to send our students."
Benjaminson said museum curators went to great lengths to ensure that
its exhibits would not be construed as offensive to any Jews, "from
the ultra-ultra-Orthodox to the ultra-ultra-Reform."
"It's a very pareve setting, very non-threatening," he said.
Benjaminson also voiced his hope that the museum would teach children,
Jewish and non-Jewish, more about the history, rites and rituals of
the Jewish people.
"I think it will bring about tolerance," he said. "Non-Jewish children
will understand why we wear kipas and why we light Shabbos candles,
and why we eat matzah on Pesach. When you educate children, later in
life you don't see as much hatred."
Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, where Jews and blacks live side
by side, was a flashpoint of racial tension in August 1991 when Jews
were attacked by blacks following the accidental death of 7-year-old
Gavin Cato, a black child. The riots led to the death of chasidic
scholar Yankel Rosenbaum.
Thirteen years later Pearl Miles, director of the community board
representing Crown Heights, said race relations in the neighborhood
have improved dramatically.
"I don't know if I would say there's a great deal of integration," she
said. "But are we living together in peace? Yes. Can we walk around
the community and feel relatively safe? Yes."
Miles said she welcomes the Jewish Children's Museum to the
neighborhood.
"It's going to bring a lot more information, knowledge and
enlightenment to the community and to the city," she said. "It will
give children a chance to learn more about the Jewish culture and
religion, and the more we know about our neighbors, the better we're
able to coexist."
About 50 public, private and parochial schools in the New York
metropolitan area already have requested docent-guided tours of the
museum. Museum organizers expect about 1,000 visitors daily.
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attended the inaugural
reception, where the building was formally dedicated to Ari
Halberstam. Halberstam was 16 in 1994 when a Lebanese gunman opened
fire on a van full of chasidic students crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.
A large and colorful collage on the museum's outside wall pays a
permanent tribute to him.
"Millions of children are going to walk through those doors over the
years," said Halberstam's mother, Devorah, who was instrumental in
securing the funds for the project. "I know my son is going to be
remembered forever, and there is no greater tribute." n
The Jewish Children's Museum is at 792 Eastern Parkway. Admission is
$10. For information, visit www.jcm.museum.
Posted 12/22/2004
By RABBI YAAKOV KLASS
QUESTION: Rashi and the Midrash teach us that both Joseph and his
wife, Osnat, were orphans who were raised by others. (Bilhah raised
Joseph, and the wife of Potiphar raised Osnat.)
I am not sure whether I asked this question once before: Is there any
merit in raising another person`s child, especially if one is
infertile? If one is unavoidably prevented from doing something, the
Divine Law exempts him. Similarly, if one is physically unable to
perform a mitzva, he should be exempted from that mitzva (in this
case, ``Peru u`revu`` - be fruitful and multiply).
Y. Kirschner
Via E-mail
ANSWER: Indeed, you asked a similar question a number of years ago,
which we assumed to refer to the merits of adoption.
However, your present mention of Joseph and his wife adds another
dimension to this question.
The Torah describes the scene when Joseph tells his father, in the
presence of his brothers, the dream he dreamed (Genesis 37:10):
``Va`yesapper el aviv ve`el echav va`yigar bo aviv va`yomer lo: mah
hachalom hazeh asher chalamta ha[b]o na[b]o ani ve`imcha ve`acheicha
lehishtachavot lecha artza - And he told it to his father and his
brothers; his father scolded him and said: ``What is this dream that
you have dreamt! Would I and your mother and your brothers come to bow
down before you?``
Rashi, citing the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 84:11), explains that
Jacob sought to calm the feelings of anger of Joseph`s brothers and
show that the dream was of no value since Joseph`s mother, Rachel, had
already died.
However, the Midrash explains that Joseph was referring to Bilhah, who
had raised him. He referred to her as his mother.
We find a similar situation in the case of Osnat who, according to
Midrashic sources, was the daughter of Dinah. She was sent to Egypt
and raised by Potiphar - to whom the Torah (Genesis 41:45) clearly
refers as being her father: ``... Vayiten lo et Osnat bat
Potifera...`` ``... and he (Pharaoh) gave him Osnat, daughter of
Potiphar ... [as a wife] ...`` - and his wife [see Rashi 39:1, who
states that the wife of Potiphar had foreseen by astrological signs
that she would in the future have descendants of children by Joseph,
but she did not know whether it would be through her or through her
daughter, Osnat.] Thus we see again that Osnat is considered her
child, and Osnat`s children, in turn, are considered to be the
offspring of Eshet Potiphar.
My uncle, HaRav Sholom Klass, zt"l, discussed this matter when he
answered a similar question many years ago. His reply, upon which we
somewhat base our answer, appears in Responsa of Modern Judaism vol.
2.
The Talmud (Ketubbot 50a) attributes great reward to people who raise
orphans, especially those who teach the child virtue and the fear of
G-d, as we see from the following discussion.
A verse in Tehillim (106:3) states as follows, ``Ashrei shomrei
mishpat oseh tzedaka [b]echol et - Praiseworthy are they who keep the
laws of the Torah and perform charity at all times.``
The Gemara questions: ``Is it indeed possible to do acts of charity at
all times?`` Thus the sages in Yavneh explain this pasuk as referring
to a father who supports his sons and daughters while they are young
[and unable to care for themselves].
R. Shmuel bar Nachmani differs and explains that the verse actually
refers to one who raises [adopts] an orphan boy or girl in his home
and then marries them off.
We find a statement in the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 46:6) that the one
who raises a child is called its father [or mother] and not
necessarily the person [physically] responsible for its birth.
Indeed, we find this concept elaborated in greater detail in Tractate
Sanhedrin (19b), where R. Yehoshua b. Korha comments about the five
sons of Michal mentioned in II Samuel (21:8). He questions: Did Michal
indeed bear them? [We find in I Samuel (18:19) that Merav, King Saul`s
older daughter, was the one married to Adriel, who is named as the
father of those five. We also find that it is stated in II Samuel
(6:23) that Michal, daughter of Shaul, bore no child until the day of
her death. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 21a) indeed suggests the possibility
that she had children, either before she publicly embarrassed King
David (II Samuel 6:20) or at the time of her death. Yet our Gemara
seems to conclude, as does R. Yehoshua:] ``No, it was Merav who bore
those children [to Adriel] but it was Michal who reared them;
therefore they were referred to as her children, to teach us that
whoever rears an orphan in his home, Scripture ascribes it to him as
if he [she] had borne them.``
The Gemara offers other views that support this rule. R. Chanina
deduced it from Ruth (4:17): ``And the women, her neighbors, gave him
a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi.`` Again the Gemara asks,
``Did Naomi bear him [Obed]? Was it not Ruth who bore him?`` The
answer given is that though Ruth bore him, it was Naomi who reared
him; therefore he is referred to as Naomi`s child.
The Gemara also cites R. Eleazar, who quotes the pasuk in Tehillim
(77:15), ``You have, with Your arm, redeemed Your people, the children
of Yaakov and Yosef, forever.`` Again the Gemara asks, Was Yosef their
father? Surely it was rather Yaakov who begat them. To which the
answer given is that, indeed, Yaakov bore them, but Yosef nurtured
them. Therefore they were referred to as his children.
The Gemara gives yet another view of R. Shmuel B. Nachmani [consistent
with his previously quoted view, which he now states] in the name of
R. Yochanan, ``Whoever teaches the son of his friend Torah is
considered as if he gave birth to him, as it states (Bamidbar 3:1-2),
``These are the generations of Aaron and Moses,`` and further on it
states, ``These are the names of the sons of Aaron`` - which teaches
us that while Aaron begot them, Moshe taught them, and thus they are
[equally] considered his children.
In a similar vein, as regards Moshe himself, the Gemara (Megilla 13a),
quoting from I Chronicles (4:18), refers to him as the son of Batya,
the daughter of Pharaoh, and the Gemara thus concludes that whoever
rears an orphan is considered as if he/she gave birth to that child.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, zt"l, states
(Sha`arei Halacha U`Minhag, Even HaEzer 41): ``Unfortunately, not all
can fulfill the mitzva of `be fruitful and multiply` and, indeed, some
have another mission in this world; however, when a woman (or
conversely, a man) aids in the raising of a spouse`s children, this is
what the pasuk refers to as having given birth to them.``
Maharsha (Chiddushei Aggadot, Sanhedrin 99b) offers what appears to be
the most compelling reason for adoption when he explains the Gemara`s
citation of the pasuk in Parashat Lech Lecha (Bereishit 12:5):
``...and the souls they [Abraham and Sarah] made in Haran...`` Reish
Lakish deduces from this that one who teaches his fellow`s child Torah
is as if he created him.
Maharsha cites the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 39:21), which explains
the same pasuk in the following manner:
``The souls they [Avraham and Sarah] made`` refers to the people they
converted to the ways of the Torah.
Thus Maharsha explains that the ``soul of man`` - when the knowledge
of Torah and its laws are imbued within it - is differentiated from
that of the animal, as it states in Kohelet (3:19), ``...U`motar
ha`adam min habe`hema ayin... - ...and man possesses no superiority
over the beast.`` King Solomon tells us that were it not for that
special soul, man is no different from any beast. Indeed, when one
teaches Torah to a young child, one is perfecting the child`s soul,
which is the sole purpose of his/her being created.
Though it is true that one who is physically prevented from
accomplishing a mitzva is exempt from its performance, one may attain
the end result of the mitzva of ``peru u`revu`` through adoption, and
when a soul is perfected through a life of Torah learning and
observance, both parent and child have much to gain not only in this
world but in the world to come as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2001, The Jewish Press Inc. (ISSN 0021-6674)
by Aliza Karp
December 08, 2004
"You hush up your mouth!" howled the mighty King Yertle.
"You've no right to talk to the world's highest turtle.
I rule from the clouds! Over land! Over sea!
There's nothing, no, NOTHING, that's higher than me!"
As a child, I loved Dr. Suess books. What a relief from Mother Goose
and Babar. I knew Cat in the Hat so well, I can still recite it.
Yertle the Turtle was not one of my favorites, but it must have made
an impression on me, because every time there are more negotiations
between parties to form a coalition, I picture Ariel Sharon as Yertle
the Turtle, ruling only by the fact that other turtles are stacked one
upon the other, allowing themselves to be used as a throne to elevate
the King Turtle, who cares not about their welfare.
Party A can quit the government and Parties B and C can join, but the
reason Sharon has the luxury of jumping into 'a relationship' with
whichever party can be wooed for the lowest price, is because he is
sitting on his stack of 39 Likud turtles.
Why don't religious MK's and religious parties unite to bring the
deadly disengagement plan to its death? Why are they ready and willing
to allow themselves to keep Sharon in a position of power?
"My throne shall be higher!" his royal voice thundered,
"So pileup more turtles! I want 'bout two hundred."
Recently, a mover and shaker from Eretz Yisroel held a meeting in New
York with a group of Lubavitcher Chassidim (not to be confused with
the official spokesmen type). It was the first such meeting that I
have attended, but I rather doubt it was the first of its kind. The
gentleman had a plan for Lubavitch to be more directly involved in
politics. It was a plan with lots of curves, twists and ragged edges
and the great wisdom of getting involved without publicly using the
Lubavitch name. When he saw he was not getting anywhere too quickly,
he pulled out the carrot of carrots, the lure of all lures.
"And then you could get money for your yeshivas!" he said.
Now, our yeshivas need money, as do a million other Chabad projects.
But even so, we answered the man succinctly, we could not get involved
in such a scheme, because Chabad deals with emet, truth.
Yet, there are religious politicians who will risk the sacrifice of
Gush Katif, which would allow for the establishment of a global terror
center in its place, in return for money for yeshivas.
And meanwhile, the 39 Likud turtles are all in place. And MK Uzi
Landau is again promoting a referendum in order to keep the Likud
powerbase intact rather than face new elections.
Years ago, during an interview with Shmuel Katz, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
was addressing the possibility of a referendum in regards to
negotiations with Egypt. The Rebbe was adamant that the act of the
referendum is detrimental to the security of Jews in Eretz Yisroel,
because it will reinforce the convictions of the enemies regarding the
Jews considering the option of giving up land.
That was years ago. By now, there has been so much talk of concessions
and referendums that the enemies are saturated with encouragement and
the positive reinforcement that terror is a highly profitable
enterprise. Tragically, the correlation has been proven - the more
talk of concessions, the more bloodshed; referendums included.
The Rebbe continued. If there would be a referendum, he said, the
wording is of utmost importance. The question should not be, "Do you
want to surrender land for peace?" The correct wording would be: "Do
you agree that it is worthwhile to place in danger, the lives of bais
v'bais, each and every household in Eretz Yisroel, to place each
household under the peril of war, without oil and without safe
borders, with the enemies near our population centers, in exchange for
the signature of Anwar Sadat on a piece of paper, at a time when it is
clear the Egyptians have already, several times, violated their
signatures? It is clear that Sadat will not live a long time, that he
will not rule Egypt forever. It is clear that he does not have any
influence over the Arabs of Juea and Samaria, who announce openly
their intentions to destroy and to kill the entire nation that lives
in Zion. It is clear that even if a specific group will agree to make
peace, dif! ferent groups will not agree. The question is whether it
is worthwhile to create this scenario of endangering our people, by
handing over territories in exchange for a piece of paper that does
not obligate anyone to do anything."
The Rebbe's wording would have to be altered only slightly to be
relevant to a referendum today. The enemies are even closer to our
population centers. The Egyptians have violated even more of their
commitments and are just as dangerous, if not more, and there is a
chance they would enter Gaza. Alternately, should Egypt not enter
Gaza, we would not be dealing with an organized army that presumably
takes orders from a central command, but with barbaric groups of
terrorists. As far as the enemy is concerned, any sacrifice in Gush
Katif is not relevant to the Arabs of Judea and Samaria, except that
it will be a precedent and they will demand the same type of exchange,
i.e., land for nothing (or should we say, land for increased terror?).
The main point being that a referendum is not recommended, but should
one take place, at least the wording should communicate the actual
facts involved in the choice.
But the referendum is still only one of the bargaining cards in the
political barnyard today. Eventually, there will be true unrest
amongst the stack of turtles, and if the "Yertle the Turtle" theory is
correct, the ending will be...
"For Yertle, the King of all Sala-ma-Sond,
Fell off his high throne and fell Plunk! In the pond!
And today the great Yertle, the Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free
As turtles and maybe all creatures should be."
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Letter: Town, neighbors need education on Chabad
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Let me add my comments to the articles about Rabbi Krinsky and Chabad
Jewish Center. I went to visit them when they first arrived and parked
in front of a nearby house. This is rather an innocent act, but a man
came running over to me and my wife on the sidewalk as we walked toward
the entrance and started ranting and raving, even using profanity in
front of my wife.
If this ever gets to court and this man is brought into the case,
I am prepared to tell my story! This is a very nice town, and this
man's actions against this wonderful rabbi and his family are beyond
contempt. I have attended worship service at the house several times,
and there has never been a crowd parked in front of the house, which by
the way would be perfectly legal.
I understand that in response to complaints from a neighbor, the
town was even going to cite the rabbi for building a Sukkah until they
learned that this is a temporary structure built by religious Jews
during the religious celebration of Sukkos.
I guess the town never knew that thousands of these are built
throughout America during this holiday. The town's governing bodies
need some education, and the neighbors should start to get to know
their new neighbor.
Barry D. Hoffman
Chestnut Street
03/2005
Approximately one year ago, Isaac and Miriam Arguetty commissioned a
scribe to write a torah in memory of their beloved daughter Leonie.
Today, almost a year later, their vision will become a reality, as the
torah will be brought to the Chabad Jewish Center in Wellington on
March 20.
This community torah will take its place in the holy ark and will be
used at regular intervals for services and prayers. The community is
invited to join in the celebration and participate in the first service
with the new torah, which will include the traditional hakafot
(dancing) usually reserved for the joyous holiday of Simchat Torah.
To make the torah part of the community, the Arguettys are encouraging
people to "purchase" a parshah (section) of the torah. Chabad is
taking dedications for each parshah for a donation of $180. To reserve
yours, call Rabbi Mendy Muskal at 333-4663. Chabad of Wellington is
located in the Wellington Plaza.
http://www.gotowncrier.com/print_this_story.asp?smenu=86&sdetail=1497
Ten years after Lubavitcher rebbe's death, Chabad movement is
thriving as Messiah wars dim.
Jonathan Mark and Michael Kress - Associate Editor
(06/18/2004)
On a June afternoon 10 years ago, Lubavitch buried their rebbe and the
experts buried Lubavitch.
The experts - sociologists, journalists, academics - said that no
chasid could survive without a rebbe. That Chabad-Lubavitch, without
this particular rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, would lack
direction. And that Chabad would implode from the bitter split between
those who believed the rebbe was the Messiah and those who did not,
leading to charges in the wider Jewish world of "idol worship."
The experts could not have been more wrong.
Chabad, in fact, is thriving. The group, which has about 15,000
adherents in Crown Heights, headquarters for the movement, is currently
involved in $100 million worth of construction projects around the
world. The rebbe's picture hangs in Chabad institutions from the
Congo to Idaho, from Cypress to Siberia. Somewhere in the world a new
Chabad House is opening on the average of one every 10 days. There are
now more than 4,000 Chabad emissaries worldwide, double the number a
decade ago, according to Chabad officials.
"Chabad's growth since the rebbe's death has been phenomenal,"
said Sue Fishkoff, the non-chasidic author of last year's "The
Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad Lubavitch" (Schocken
Books), which chronicles Chabad today. "The power the rebbe had to
motivate others has continued unstopped since his death."
The rebbe died on the third day of Tammuz (which falls out this year on
June 22), childless, at the age of 92. And though he was identified
with a movement as old world as chasidism, in the rebbe's later years
he was one of the first to utilize such 21st century technology as the
Internet, with www.Chabad.org attracting 50,000 visitors a day (500,000
before holidays), and satellite television transmissions and
international link-ups broadcasting major Chabad events.
Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis
University, said the rebbe's followers were made to feel that "they
were involved in the most important activity in the history of the
world, i.e., bringing the Messiah."
But the rebbe's messianism was not insular. He spoke of the need to
help far-off groups, such as the Kurds, and taught his chasidim that
they could hasten the Messiah's coming by loving nonobservant Jews
and lighting sacred sparks within each Jewish soul.
Chabad has made inroads within Modern Orthodox communities, especially
in the past 10 years. Thanks in no small part to the rebbe's chasidic
innovation in allowing Jews to consider themselves Lubavitcher chasidim
despite not conforming to chasidic dress or style, Chabad has opened
schools and day camps in communities as non-chasidic as the North Shore
of Long Island and the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
In the last generation Chabad has opened 130 preschools and day camps
across the United States, along with 47 high schools, 84 elementary
schools and 71 Chabad Houses on college campuses. Much of that has
taken place in the past 10 years.
In the former Soviet Union, Chabad opened or was building 22 Jewish
community centers and 30 mikvehs in the past year alone. More than 230
shluchim have made a lifetime commitment to serving as the rebbe's
emissaries to cities and towns there. The former Soviet Union is where
they will raise their children, and it is where they have built more
than 160 yeshivas and day schools.
In Israel, the rebbe's emissaries have opened 230 Chabad Houses and
150 schools, many in the past decade.
But the numbers alone are only part of the story. From drug counseling
to public Chanukah lightings, Jewish organizations are adopting the
projects that Chabad pioneered. Most telling, some say, is the success
of Chabad's spiritual outreach - and the proliferation of such
efforts throughout the Jewish world.
"There are dozens and dozens of stories of people whose children
encountered a Chabad shaliach [emissary] and really did become
transformed by it," said Queens College sociologist Samuel Heilman.
"Although Chabad didn't invent [outreach], they certainly mass
produce it. They certainly have made it an important part of the
contemporary world."
Chabad's emphasis on spiritual connection has gained currency among a
broad range of Jewish institutions. Today, "any Jewish organization
of any relevance has an outreach department," said Hirsh Zarchi,
director of the Chabad House at Harvard.
One of those organizations is the Union for Reform Judaism, whose
liberal worldview could hardly be more different from Chabad's and
which now has an office of outreach.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the URJ president, speaks warmly about certain
aspects of Chabad.
"Whatever our disagreements with them - and we have significant
disagreements with them - nonetheless there's admiration for the
simple fact that they serve Jews who otherwise would not be served,"
Rabbi Yoffie said. "Anyone who's serious about his Judaism has to
admire that."
In a 1999 speech, Rabbi Yoffie called on Reform Jews to take a lesson
from Chabad, saying, "Many, many Jews will tell you that a Chabad
rabbi was the first one to care, to really care, about their spiritual
lives."
But respect for every Jew does not translate into respect for every
Jewish movement, and that is where Rabbi Yoffie's admiration turns to
criticism.
"To say that they're welcoming to all Jews does not suggest that
they are accepting of all forms of Judaism because of course they are
not," he said.
It is a point that Chabad leaders do not deny. The rebbe opposed
non-Orthodox movements, saying they compromised Jewish law and changed
the Torah's teachings, according to Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a
Lubavitch spokesman.
Paul Golin, assistant executive director of the Jewish Outreach
Institute, which is focused on reaching out to unaffiliated Jews and
the non-Jewish spouses of Jews, credits the rebbe with bringing Judaism
to the "public square."
"In other words, that it's OK to take Judaism out to where people
are rather than waiting for people to come to us," Golin said. "I
think it's especially relevant for today's Jewish community because
the majority of Jews, intermarried or otherwise, are not walking
through the doors of our communal institutions."
Tainted Legacy?
For all the kudos, some observers say the messianism controversy
threatens to cloud the rebbe's legacy.
Though Rabbi Schneerson rejected the idea that he was the moshiach, or
messiah, supporters of the idea continued promoting it in his final
years, especially after a stroke limited his ability to communicate.
Nor did his death quiet the fervor, with the messianists saying he
would return from the dead as King Messiah.
Such talk led David Berger, a history professor at Brooklyn College and
ordained Orthodox rabbi, to write a book charging that the belief in a
dead man coming back as messiah is outside the boundaries of Judaism.
A decade later, Chabad leaders said only a small group of vocal
messianic activists remain, though they continue to control the
basement synagogue at Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in
Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Others, however, said the messianists are more prevalent than Chabad
leaders admit.
"Within the Lubavitch community, you still have a schism," said
Bryan Mark Rigg, an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University
who has been studying Chabad for several years.
Chabad members often deny being messianists when speaking with
non-chasidim but are part of this faction within the community, Rigg
said.
Heilman said there is a battle within Chabad over the rebbe's legacy.
"People argue that it's a tragedy for him because instead of being
remembered for his great and successful outreach work and for his
revolutionary capacity to make a chasidic message relevant in a new
world, he'll be remembered as just one more in a long line of false
messiahs," Heilman said.
There are still some incorrigible messianists concentrated in Crown
Heights and Kfar Chabad, the Lubavitch village in Israel, but their
dwindling influence can be seen at conventions when Chabad emissaries
gather in New York. The non-messianist shluchim fill the largest
Brooklyn Marriott ballroom; the messianist emissaries fill a relatively
small room in Crown Heights.
Of those who agitate for the belief that the rebbe was or is the
messiah, Rabbi Shmotkin, the Chabad spokesman, said Chabad-Lubavitch
leaders have "repeatedly condemned them in the strongest possible
terms."
On a walk through Crown Heights, visitors can see the old messianist
bumper stickers and placards now faded and weather-beaten by the years.
A large children's museum is about to open at the corner of Kingston
Avenue and Eastern Parkway, once the epicenter of the Chabad universe.
The museum, under non-messianist leadership, makes scant mention of the
rebbe. One can spend hours in the museum and not sense any Chabad
"propaganda." There is absolutely no messianic speculation about
the rebbe in an exhibit explaining Jewish messianism.
The widespread acceptance and obviousness of his death may be seen by
the fact that the epicenter of Lubavitch has moved from the messianic
feuds and faded memories of Crown Heights to the decidedly
non-messianist Cambria Heights in Queens, near Belmont Park and the
Nassau County line, where the rebbe's "Ohel," an open-roofed
tomb, has become the destination of pilgrims and a serene center of
meditation. Thousands of the faithful are expected to gather there for
prayer on the rebbe's yahrzeit on Tuesday.
The rebbe is never alone. The Ohel complex - several small private
homes, including a shul and study hall, a "cheder" for several
dozen children, a mikveh and a visitors' center - sees visitors
coming from around the world, around the clock. Scores of guests
sometimes sleep over for Shabbat to have a more prolonged experience
than a simple visit.
On a recent weekday, visitors came in twos and threes, parents with
young children, a middle-aged woman with an elderly mother, each coming
to be energized by the rebbe, to continue "a conversation" that was
started long ago.
At the visitors' center, videos of the rebbe, sold to chasidim by
subscription from the Jewish Educational Media, are seen on a
continuous loop. The rebbe is seen in his full rainbow of activity -
counseling a new convert and giving instructions for that convert's
welcome into his new community; advising politicians; waving his arm
like a cowboy wielding a lasso when leading wild singing at a
fabrengen, his famous gatherings of Torah learning, vodka and chasidic
camaraderie.
Nearly 800 faxes arrive daily, each containing notes to the rebbe, many
times requesting blessings for spiritual, medical, financial or other
personal issues, according to the traditional Jewish concept that the
dead are capable of interceding in Heaven on behalf of the living.
Rabbi Abba Refson, 33, carries the faxes to the grave.
The rebbe, accompanied by his closest aide, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky (now
one of the administrators of international Chabad), used to come to the
Ohel tomb several times a week when only his father-in-law, the
previous rebbe, was interred there. Now the two rebbes rest side by
side, tall marble stones overlooking an enclosure into which hundreds
of letters are folded or ripped up, according to tradition, not unlike
the letters placed into the Western Wall.
The rebbe now rests beneath that stone.
But as Rabbi Zarchi of the Harvard Chabad, said, "The rebbe's
teachings and the unique energy of his soul is something that will live
forever." n
Michael Kress contributed to this report.
Jewish South Magazine
>From Crown Heights to Nashville and Beyond,
Chabad Puts Down Roots
BY VIVI ABRAMS & AMY ROSNER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HAROLD ALAN PHOTOGRAPHERS
Rabbi Zalmon Fisher of Chabad of Augusta
It's a mikvah, y'all.
Chabad Lubavitch is spreading its message throughout the South,
complete
with mikvahs, daily prayer and strict kashrut in the land of the pig.
And despite some
initial uneasiness about appearances of mitzvah-mobiles and bushy
beards, the
South has been welcoming Chabad Lubavitch with open arms,
its rabbis say.
It makes sense, they add, since essentials of Southern culture -- lots
of
food, hospitality and friendliness to strangers -- are Chabad
trademarks as well.
Chabad, a Chasidic movement based in Crown Heights, N.Y., has been
sending
young couples to do outreach to Jews across the country since the
1950s.
There are now 24 Chabad centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,
Kentucky,
Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, with
three more
in north Florida. (Central and South Florida, another region
altogether, have 37).
But though their approach may be slightly different in North Carolina
than New
Jersey, Chabad emissaries or shlichim, say the same programs,
principles and
passions apply everywhere.
In Birmingham, Ala., Yossi and Frumie Posner have been part of the
Jewish
community for 16 years. They replaced Birmingham¹s first Chabad rabbi.
He stayed
just four years, even though a placement is usually for life.
"We were very, very young,
really idealistic," says Frumie
Posner of her first days in
Birmingham. "We wanted to
expose the Jews, we wanted
to present traditional Judaism
in a positive light."
At first, it wasn't easy. Yossi
Posner, an Israeli, was just
learning English. And the local
Jewish population, which
already supported Orthodox,
Conservative and Reform
synagogues, was not all that
friendly.
"The Southern mentality in general, it doesn't like change," says
Frumie Posner. "The
challenge was to become part of the community, not separated. We
understood we
were a new breed. We didn't expect a welcome party. At the beginning,
we had a
difficult time defining our role in the community."
But through personal connections and Frumie Posner's job teaching at
the local
Jewish day school, perceptions changed. "When people got to know us as
people
rather than 'those fanatical Jews,' that helped financially as well,"
says Frumie
Posner.
Then the Posners started children's programming, Purim parties and took
Chabad's trademark matzah bakery and shofar factory to the religious
schools.
Soon, they had enough support to hire another couple: Frumie Posner's
nephew,
Rabbi Yossi Friedman, and his wife Miriam.
Five years ago, they built a large community Chabad center that serves
as
synagogue, camp and offices. Last year, the Friedmans started a
preschool that
enrolled 12 children. This year it will have 28.
"Something I learned from moving to Birmingham is how important it is
to
reach out and be friendly to everyone," says Frumie Posner.
Now the couple is established with friends and supporters "across the
board" of
Judaism, they say.
Rabbi Yitzchok Teichtel, who arrived in Nashville to start up a Chabad
center six
years ago, uses people's curiosity, and sometimes opposition, to teach.
He considers it is a kiddush hashem (sanctification of God's name) when
people
stop him or his family on the street to ask them questions about where
to find kosher
food or what tzitzit (the fringes on a ritual garment) are.
"We feel privileged to be here and reach out to others," he says. "We
started from
almost nothing," and now Nashville is home to a "very vibrant center."
The Friday night program "T.G.I.S." (Thank God It's Shabbos) usually
attracts about
70 people weekly from Nashville¹s Jewish community of about 8,000.
Teichtel says people in Music City enjoy "the Chabad way -- services
and programs
that are uplifting, joyous and musical.
"We have affected hundred of families," he says.
Still, living in the South can be difficult for an ultra-Orthodox
family because there are
few options for kosher food and fewer options for education.
For example, says Frumie Posner, it can be hard on her eight children
to be the only
kids in their classrooms who can't participate in a pizza party or a
Saturday birthday
party. So when the Posner children reach age 13 or so, they're sent out
of town to a
Jewish school.
Until recently, school wasn't an issue for Rabbi Hirsch Minkowicz, who
started
Chabad of Alpharetta in Atlanta's northern suburbs in 1998.
Now, though, Minkowicz's 3 1/2-year-old son is ready for preschool, so
Chabad of
Alpharetta is starting one this fall. When it comes time for elementary
school, the
rabbi says, he and his wife will send their children to day school.
Minkowicz says Alpharetta's Jewish community has grown tremendously
since
his arrival five years ago.
He says the two challenges most Chabad rabbis face are finding Jews and
getting
them interested. But because of Atlanta's large Jewish population (an
estimated
100,000), Minkowicz says he needs only to get them interested. (Chabad
of
Alpharetta has between 150 and 200 families involved in its activities,
he says.)
But another challenge Minkowicz faces is people staying in Alpharetta.
When they
become more involved in Judaism and want to move closer to the city to
be near
Atlanta's Jewish day schools and agencies, Chabad of Alpharetta loses
financial
support and participants, he says.
Rabbi Schneur Oirechman of Tallahassee, Fla., meanwhile, laments the
lack of a
kosher restaurant in the college town where he can hang out.
"It's not easy [to live in Tallahassee]," he says. "It's hard in many
ways, especially
about keeping kosher. Our standard of keeping kosher is really high."
The Oirechmans order milk and bread from Miami and New York and
generally only
buy vegetables at local stores.
"But the place itself is a very nice place to live in. People are very,
very nice," he says.
And in the last three and a half years Tallahassee is catching up --
the grocery stores
now sell really good gefilte fish," Oirechman says.
Teichtel faced the same problem when he arrived in Nashville.
"When we first came, we had to import kosher food," he says.
But the rabbi created a solution: Kosherfest. The annual event, now
held at the
Jewish community center, allows supermarkets to showcase their kosher
offerings,
making the community aware of what¹s available.
The festival has been expanded and now includes nutritionists and
chefs'
demonstrations.
"We're reviving kosher in this town," Teichtel says, adding that
several Nashville
grocery stores now carry fresh kosher meat and cheese and there is a
kosher bakery.
Teichtel even worked with Loew's Vanderbilt Hotel to implement a kosher
banquet
kitchen and recently held his son's upsherin (ritual haircut)
celebration there.
Oirechman, too, solved a problem he and his wife encountered when they
arrived in
Tallahassee three years ago. People in the area were not very
knowledgeable about
Chabad. The region has no Orthodox synagogue and the closest mikvahs,
or ritual
baths, are in Jacksonville or Orlando, three to four hours away. So the
Oirechmans
are building a $160,000 mikvah in Tallahassee.
"I think people have misconceptions about Chabad," says Oirechman.
"People think
we come here to try to force people to be religious or destroy the
other communities.
Some people think we want black hats and jackets running all over the
place.
"Our purpose is showing the Jewish people they can practice their
religion, that there
are a lot of beautiful things that they can do," he says.
Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman of Chabad Intown in Atlanta echoes this
sentiment.
The stereotype for Chabad, he says, is that it is dogmatic and no place
for
secular Jews.
In reality, though, he says, Chabad is not rigid and is in fact aiming
to service the
general Jewish population.
"Grow in your Judaism," is his motto, and growth is determined by the
individual.
"We value every mitzvah," Schusterman says, explaining that he
considers it a
success if a person who didn't have a mezuzah hangs one on his door or
if
someone who didn't keep kosher now does.
Sue Fishkoff, author of the recently published "The Rebbe¹s Army,"
interviewed more
than 100 shlichim from around the country and world for her book and
says she
didn't see much of a difference in their approaches around the world.
"What surprised me in my research is the homogeneity," Fishkoff says.
"I would go to
a Chabad home in Bangkok, or Fresno, California or Miami Beach, and it
would be
the same. I expected greater regionalization."
Still, Chabad rabbis say that each place is unique.
"We listen carefully to the needs of local Jews and respond
accordingly, so our
activities are basically tailored to the needs of the local community,"
says Rabbi
Zalman Fischer of Augusta, Ga. ³The small size of our community, I
think, requires
these measures."
This is true even in a larger Jewish community such as Atlanta,
Schusterman says.
Because of his intown Atlanta location, his Chabad must offer broader
programming
than a suburban center, including activities for couples, singles and
children.
Schusterman says that hailing from southern California as he and his
wife do
exposed them to many types of people and helps them take into account
what is "hip
and popular in the secular world" and translate it into meaningful
programming.
That means any given month will find sushi, tai chi, kabbalah, bowling
and
meditation classes on Schusterman¹s calendar.
Ten years ago, there was one Chabad in the Atlanta area; now there are
six. But for
shlichim who arrive in a city where Chabad is unknown, opposition from
the
established Jewish community may arise.
"They're drawing from Reform and Conservative communities," Fishkoff
says. "Also,
what they stand for is real ultra-Orthodoxy and that is distasteful to
a lot of people."
But Fishkoff adds, the Chabad centers she visited are extremely
effective in drawing
Jews and raising money for their programs and buildings.
"When they ask someone for money they believe they are offering you a
favor," says
Fishkoff. "Many Jews respond to what they perceive is authentic Judaism
that the
Chabad rabbi and his wife represent and exude. It's absolutely
sincere."
Oirechman, who lights Chanukah candles each year with Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush,
says after the mikvah is complete he will start a building campaign so
his family
won't have to have its home double as a synagogue. After that, he's
looking to the
future in Tallahassee and his children, who are 4, 3 and 6 months.
The question of where to send children for Jewish education is a common
one.
In Tallahassee, Oirechman's challenge is a lack of Jewish education
that mirrors the
intensity of what he was raised with.
For now, his wife supplements what the children learn. But there will
come a time, he
says, "when they are 10 or 11 and it will be time to send them away to
Miami or New
York." Unless, he adds, "by that time we have a Jewish day school in
Tallahassee.
That is one of the dreams."
Russian Chabad, AJCongress Ally
Lev Krichevsky
Special to the Jewish Times
MARCH 06, 2005
Moscow
A U.S. Jewish group known for its historical commitment to church-state
separation has forged a partnership with a Russian Jewish group known
for its ties to religious Judaism.
The new partnership was formalized in Moscow on Tuesday with the
signing of a memorandum between the American Jewish Congress and the
Federation of Jewish Communities, a Chabad-led umbrella group that says
it unites Jewish groups in 500 communities across the former Soviet
Union, including 170 within Russia.
Officials with both groups said the agreement aims to combat anti-
Semitism in Russia and improve U.S.-Russian relations.
The agreement also provides each group with something each wants: the
AJCongress, which has been seen as declining in status in recent years,
gets as its partner the most active Jewish group in Russia, while the
federation gains a foothold in the mainstream American Jewish
community.
The AJCongress president, Jack Rosen, and the president of the
federation, Lev Levayev, agreed to work together to protect civil and
religious rights of Russian Jews, consolidate efforts and resources to
fight anti-Semitism and develop Russian-American and Russian-Israeli
political relationships.
AJCongress leaders said they realize that it might seem odd on the
surface for it to partner with a group known for promoting religion.
But Rosen said religious orientation isn't an issue.
"It's not about religion. We don't have favorites. We're working with
different Jewish organizations overseas," Rosen said. "The federation
does excellent work on behalf of the Jewish community in the region."
If Jewish groups "that are part of the federation want to participate,
we are here to lend them help," he added.
Aside from consultation on the issues and occasional joint statements,
the new partnership may intensify contacts between American and Russian
political leaders, Levayev, an Uzbek-born diamond merchant who now
lives in Israel, told reporters on Tuesday at a news conference here.
"We should bring U.S. senators here so that they see for themselves how
things have changed" in Russia, said Levayev, who has been instrumental
in helping the federation develop new Jewish institutions and programs
throughout the region.
He added that this political contact eventually could help to repeal
the Jackson-Vanik amendment, a 30-year-old piece of U.S. legislation
linking trade policy to human rights that Kremlin officials - with whom
the federation has close ties - see as anachronistic.
He said he expects some U.S. lawmakers to visit later this year,
although he declined to go into specifics.
The AJCongress leaders said they believe the partnership will help
Russian Jews battle anti-Semitism more effectively at a time when
anti-Jewish rhetoric appears to be on the rise in this part of the
world.
Rosen said the organizations scheduled this week's agreement before a
recent anti-Semitic letter signed by some Russian lawmakers was
publicized.
"But the fact that we are doing this now is a very public statement" on
how important both groups think it is to fight anti-Semitism, he said.
Jewish observers in Russia tend to agree that the issue of Russian
anti-Semitism requires international pressure to be put on the Kremlin.
But it may be difficult for the newly forged alliance to be critical of
the Kremlin on democracy in Russia even though many believe Russia is
sliding away from a commitment to human rights.
U.S. Jewish groups are "handcuffed on the Putin issue" mainly out of
fear that such direct criticism may backfire at Russia Jews, a U.S.
Jewish leader told JTA on condition on anonymity.
But leaders of the AJCongress, which recently formed another, similar
partnership with a French Jewish group, said that their organization is
not necessarily going to agree with its new Russian partner on all
political stances.
"Neither of us is giving up independence," Rosen said.
Both groups could gain from the arrangement.
This week's memorandum marks a certain breakthrough for the federation,
which has become the most influential Jewish group in the former Soviet
Union and has made great strides in rebuilding Jewish communal life in
the region but until recently felt it was often on the sidelines when
it came to contacts with American Jewry.
Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, the federation's executive director, said the
new partnership could show that the group - although directed by Chabad
rabbis and supporters - is very different from what Chabad is usually
seen to stand for.
Berkowitz acknowledged that "by having a formal relationship" with
AJCongress, a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations, his group will now "have a voice in the States."
David Twersky, the director of the AJCongress-Council for World Jewry,
the group's international affairs branch, spoke of a "distortion" that
has taken place among American Jews.
"When the organized Jewish community in America deals with Russian
Jews, it only deals with the Russian Jewish Congress," he said
referring to another leading Jewish group here that until late last
year was widely regarded as the federation's major competitor on
political and community- building issues.
The RJC was once the pre-eminent group among Russian Jewry but it has
lost influence to the federation in recent years.
The RJC's new leader, Vladimir Slutsker, is seen as an ally of the
federation, and this week he tried to dispel the fears that a new
partnership between the American and Russian groups would worsen the
relations between the two Russian Jewish groups.
In a news release this week, the RJC welcomed the signing of the
memorandum and noted it had its own partner in the U.S. Jewish
community, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations, an umbrella organization of 52 Jewish groups.
For its part, the AJCongress, through the federation, could enjoy
increased access to Russian and political leaders throughout the
region.
It was the federation - and Levayev, its politically well-connected
president - who organized a Moscow meeting between President Vladimir
Putin and the Conference of Presidents in June 2003.
Rosen said the federation was instrumental in increasing the
participation of mayors from the former Soviet Union - including
Belarus and Georgia - at the annual AJCongress-sponsored mayors'
conference in Jerusalem.
The Israeli government "didn't have any headway in this part of the
world," Rosen said. "The federation opened the gates. Is it bad when we
had a mayor from Belarus coming to a pro-Israel conference in
Jerusalem?"
The new U.S.-Russian Jewish partnership did not go unnoticed by other
Russian Jewish organizations.
The Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Communities of
Russia criticized the agreement as a "publicity stunt" that the
federation has undertaken in order to obtain a more legitimate status
as the sole representative of Russia Jewry in the eyes of American
Jewish groups.
Boruch Gorin, a spokesman for the federation, called this criticism
regrettable and inaccurate.
By Henry Meyer
The Associated Press
Itar-Tass / AP
Friday, March 4, 2005. Page 2.
Lazar speaking with Putin at the presidential residence outside Moscow
on Thursday.
Russia's chief rabbi, Berl Lazar, called on President Vladimir Putin on
Thursday to do more to combat rising anti-Semitism in the country.
In a televised meeting at the presidential residence outside Moscow,
Lazar thanked Putin for acknowledging the problem when he attended
ceremonies in January commemorating the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
But the Jewish religious leader said that the government needed to take
concrete steps to confront the growing trend of anti-Semitism and
xenophobia.
Putin promised to make the issue a central priority, although he linked
it to wider problems of intolerance including Russophobia -- which
Russian officials say exists in former Soviet bloc countries,
especially the Baltic states.
"The authorities, the government and president will always keep in
their sights the fight against anti-Semitism, and any other forms of
extremism, xenophobia, including anti-Russian sentiment," Putin said.
Lazar said after the meeting that he wanted to see action, not words.
"I was satisfied with what the president said, but we want to see the
results, at a lower level," he said.
Just before the Auschwitz commemorations, a group of nationalist
lawmakers called for an investigation aimed at outlawing all Jewish
organizations, accusing Jews of fomenting ethnic hatred. Authorities
have ignored calls by human rights groups to prosecute the legislators.
The state no longer perpetuates anti-Semitism following the Soviet
collapse, but many rights groups accuse Russian leaders of being silent
in the face of xenophobia, expressed in the occasional desecration of
Jewish cemeteries and more frequent skinhead attacks against
dark-skinned foreigners.
"It's not that this is what the government wants to see, but not enough
is being done by law enforcement bodies," Lazar said, pointing as
evidence to Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov's dismissal of the
nationalist lawmakers' anti-Semitic call as "kitchen talk."
Lazar, from the Lubavitch-dominated Federation of Jewish Communities,
is seen as a figure close to the Kremlin. His election as chief rabbi
in 2000 created controversy because it displaced a rival linked to
media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky, who was chased into self-imposed exile
by Putin's administration.
A million Jews live in Russia, according to the Federation of Jewish
Communities
By NATHANIEL POPPER and MARC PERELMAN
The Forward
March 4, 2005
The American Jewish Congress, a group known for its historic role at
the cutting edge of liberal Jewish activism, signed a strategic
agreement this week with a Russian Jewish organization that has close
ties to the Kremlin and that is dominated by the Chabad-Lubavitch
Hasidic movement.
The agreement, pledging to fight "religious and ethnic bigotry," was
signed Tuesday at a ceremony in Moscow by the chairman of the American
Jewish Congress's Council on World Jewry, Jack Rosen, and by the
president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the former Soviet
Union, billionaire diamond dealer Lev Leviev.
At a time when American officials have begun criticizing Russia openly
for recent rollbacks in democratic structures, the accord is raising
some eyebrows because of the close links between Leviev's federation
and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Under Rosen, who became president of its newly formed Council for World
Jewry in 2002, AJCongress has developed a reputation for jumping into
controversial international situations. Two years ago, AJCongress
signed a pact with a small French Jewish group known for its combative
stance against antisemitism in that country. The move initially caused
anger in France's main Jewish representative body, which accused the
American group of aggravating local conflicts and insulting the French
government.
In Russia, by contrast, AJCongress has allied itself with a Jewish
group known for its close ties with a government often criticized for
anti-democratic tendencies.
Rosen said that in both countries his group had a single goal -
putting the protection of local Jewish communities above politics. "I'm
willing to compartmentalize issues that impact Jewish communities, and
separate religious issues from political and social-service issues,"
Rosen told the Forward this week.
In Russia, the entry of foreign groups into local Jewish affairs is
complicated by a history of feuding between Leviev's Hasidic-led
Federation of Jewish Communities, and the Russian Jewish Congress, an
older group that includes Reform,
Modern Orthodox and secular components. The two groups have competed to
be seen as the main representative body of Russian Jewry, even
appointing competing chief rabbis. The acrimony has cooled down since
last November, when a new leader took over at the Russian Jewish
Congress.
The AJCongress decision to sign an agreement with the federation
appears to indicate the dominant position of the Hasidic-led group as
the dust has settled. The new leader of the Russian Jewish Congress,
Vladimir Slutsker, congratulated the federation and AJCongress on
signing their agreement Tuesday.
Rosen said the agreement does not preclude his organization's working
with the Russian Jewish Congress. But the agreement acknowledges the
Hasidic-led federation as the representative of Russian Jewry.
The vaguely worded memorandum, signed in the presence of Jewish
community leaders from 15 former Soviet republics, deals primarily with
cooperation between the two groups in fighting antisemitism in the
former Soviet Union. "It's about two Jewish groups uniting to fight
forces of evil," said Avraham Berkowitz, executive director of the
federation.
Fears of resurgent antisemitism have been acute in recent weeks,
particularly after a group of 20 Russian parliament members signed a
letter in January calling for the state prosecutor to ban all Jewish
organizations in Russia. The call was repudiated by a 306-58 vote in
parliament.
But the agreement also talks about the "development of civil society."
Putin has come under fire internationally in the last year for a series
of moves seen as curtailing democracy, including a press crackdown and
a decree ending the free election of provincial governors. President
Bush, long considered a friend of Putin, criticized the Russian leader
openly in a speech in Brussels last week: "We must always remind Russia
that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the
sharing of power and the rule of law."
Both Russian Jewish groups, the Russian Jewish Congress and the
Federation of Jewish Communities, have been supportive of Putin and
avoided criticizing his moves on democracy.
"We are standing up for the rights and defense of the Jewish
community," Berkowitz said. "Through that, we are hopeful that this
will benefit all of society."
In America, too, Jewish groups have largely avoided criticizing Putin.
The president of the Washington-based Union of Councils for Soviet
Jews, Yosef Abramowitz, said the agreement between AJCongress and the
federation could only hamper efforts to be more vocal.
"What's needed," Abramowitz said, "is the independence to be more
thoughtful toward Russia, and less at the behest of the Kremlin or its
Jewish allies."
The chief rabbi of the federation, Berel Lazar, a Chabad emissary who
was named chief rabbi of the Russia Federation by Putin two years ago,
is known for his friendly relationship with the Russian president.
Until recently, the Russian Jewish Congress was considered more
critical, but the new president, Slutsker, a Russian parliament member,
has called for unity with the Kremlin.
The decision by AJCongress to focus its attention narrowly on Jewish
communal needs - rather than on larger political issues - is one
sign of a historic shift the group has undergone since its heyday
between the 1930s and the 1960s, when it was considered the leading
American Jewish voice on civil rights issues, with leaders who were
outspoken liberals on foreign policy issues. Today it focuses much of
its attention narrowly on Israeli security and international
antisemitism.
Domestically, AJCongress remains an outspoken advocate of church-state
separation, traditionally the group's top priority. That legacy makes
for a particularly unlikely alliance with Chabad-Lubavitch, an
ultra-Orthodox group that has led efforts to lower the church-state
barrier in America and elsewhere.
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement, headquartered in Brooklyn, has been
extremely active in rebuilding Jewish religious life across Eastern
Europe in the last decade. The entry of its representatives into local
communities has often led to conflict with existing community leaders,
many of whom are secular or followers of other Jewish denominations. In
Russia in particular, the growing influence of Chabad-Lubavitch has led
to some conflict with rabbis from the Reform movement, who are not
recognized by Chabad-Lubavitch. That lack of recognition probably will
not be helped by the current agreement, according to Rabbi Uri Regev,
executive director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.
"I'm very disappointed to hear that the AJCongress, which is known for
its commitment to religious freedom and equality, would be granting
that kind of approval to a religious movement that is so explicitly
discriminatory against the bulk of world Jewry, represented by the
non-Orthodox movements," said Regev.
The AJCongress decision to work with the federation, despite
philosophical differences, highlights the tremendous success the
Hasidic group has had in building a network of Jewish institutions
throughout Russia. While the Reform movement has four rabbis in Russia,
Chabad has 95. The federation counts 430 local communities under its
umbrella. In addition to religious services, it operates some 1,500
local institutions, including day schools and community centers,
according to Berkowitz.
This week's agreement does not provide financial support for the
federation, as was the case in AJCongress's accord with the French
group. There is little mention in the agreement of specific projects
that the two partners will carry out, but AJCongress and the federation
have already held joint meetings with several Russian government
ministers. They are also working together to bring mayors of Russian
cities to an international conference of mayors hosted by AJCongress
each year in Jerusalem.
Berkowitz said the agreement will benefit his federation when they have
delegations in Washington, as it no longer will have to rely solely on
the contacts of the local Chabad rabbi, who has organized and
shepherded their meetings in the past.
Copyright 2005 © The Forward
names
by Paula Amann
News Editor
Washington Jewish Week
Thu, Mar 3, 2005.
For years, Kesher Israel Congregation has carried a neighborhood tag,
the Georgetown Synagogue. Last fall, another District synagogue
expanded its name and seemingly its mission, as Ohev Sholom Talmud
Torah also became the National Synagogue.
At the same season, the American Friends of Lubavitch in the city's
Kalorama area took on the title, Shul of the Nation's Capital, as it
launched weekly Saturday morning Shabbat services, in addition to
holiday and Friday evening worship.
The name change, says Rabbi Levi Shemtov, AFL's Washington director,
have flowed out of the expanded religious menu, which in past years,
was confined to major Jewish holidays.
"We are not the pedestrian synagogue with a large board of directors
and an overarching bureaucracy," said Shemtov. "We're simply a place
where anyone who wants to come to enjoy services is welcome to do so."
He has also invited guests to the shul, including author-congregant Tom
Diaz this week and on Friday, Cantor Jeff Nadel of Potomac's Beth
Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Ohev Sholom justifies his modern Orthodox
congregation's new moniker as one more inviting to newcomers.
"We're living in Greater Washington, the least affiliated Jewish
community in the country. We need a tag line that makes us accessible,
that makes people feel welcome," said Herzfeld. "While we're proud of
Ohev Shalom Talmud Torah, it's a mouthful."
Kesher Israel's Rabbi Barry Freundel declined to comment on the
nomenclature changes at neighboring Orthodox congregations.
Meanwhile, Ann Chernicoff, 23, a coordinator of the D.C. Beit Midrash,
which meets weekly at the Washington DC Jewish Community Center,
applauds the wider range of services now available to District Jews.
"Having more Jewish options in the area definitely strengthens our
program," said Chernicoff, a District resident and federal contractor.
But she suggested that recent name changes by District congregations
might prove puzzling to some Jews seeking a spiritual home.
"Particularly as the establishment of these new groups enhances the
variety of options in D.C., I think it makes the pull to brand that
much stronger, but it also makes it more confusing to newcomers,"
Chernicoff said.
Jeremy Kadden, a steering committee member for the traditional DC
Minyan, which holds services at the DCJCC, hails the religious
explosion in the District.
"The more, the merrier. We feel whatever brings Jewish life to this
area is a good thing," said Kadden, 27. "Each group is filling a
different niche. We don't feel like there's a competition."
Herzfeld, meanwhile, is widely credited with bolstering what was seen
as a flagging congregation. Former synagogue president Leonard Goodman
points to a "complete transformation" at Ohev Sholom.
As recently as a year ago, daily morning and Friday evening services
had ceased there, for want of people.
"There's no comparison," said the District's Goodman, 71, a member
since 1979. "We had trouble meeting a minyan" or Jewish quorum of 10
men, at that time.
He recalls keeping the 16th Street shul open on Friday evenings, just
in case a visitor happened by.
"I didn't want them to find a locked door," said Goodman.
Now, he reports, between 40 and 200 people attend Friday and Saturday
morning services, depending on the program and the weather. He credits
the young new rabbi, who joined Ohev Sholom last summer, with the
shul's metamorphosis.
"The biggest magnet is Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld; he is so warm, so
welcoming," Goodman said. "I have had a person say they would not want
to join an Orthodox congregation -- except this one."
Herzfeld has instituted an array of new programs, including such guest
speakers as scholar-educator Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg and
author-speaker Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who both visited the shul last
fall.
A promotion in December offered a free pair of tefillin to "make you
feel like a minyon" for the first 20 people who attended morning
services 30 times in the next 60 days.
Last October, Ohev Sholom partnered with the young adult constituency
of the DC Minyan on a Sukkah Party. For the first time in years, says
Goodman, families with young children are flocking to services at Ohev
Sholom.
Asked about the congregation's name adjustment, he suggests that any
District shul might have taken the title of national synagogue.
"Why didn't they? Now that someone had come forward, they're waking up
to the fact that it's a missing ingredient," Goodman said. "What's more
fair is that Rabbi Herzfeld is laying claim to that title for our
synagogue and making it a reality -- because of the outside speakers,
because he is welcoming all Jewish denominations and because he is
reaching out to the Christian community as well."
In that regard, Goodman cites January's joint program for Martin Luther
King Day with the District's Greater First Baptist Church of Mt.
Pleasant Plains.
Ohev Sholom board member Joshua Kranzberg, 46, credits Herzfeld for
drawing new families, including half a dozen new homeowners and some
six to 10 other households that are house-hunting in the neighborhood.
Turnout at services is up at both Friday and Saturday services, he
confirmed.
But while conceding the new tag's usefulness for marketing, Kranzberg
calls himself "not a big fan of it."
"I suspect we'll be well known because of Rabbi Herzfeld, not because
we're the national synagogue," he said.
Over in Kalorama, Shemtov voices pride in the diverse crowd drawn to
his own shul.
"It could be a student, a tourist, a government minister or a member of
Congress," said Shemtov of the typical attender. "They all daven here
from time to time."
The open character of this congregation reflects the Lubavitch approach
to outreach. While Orthodox and chasidic in practice, the movement's
emissaries seek to engage Jews at varying levels of observance.
"Some people need a portal which is very casual and noncommittal," said
Shemtov. "Judaism is all about commitment, and I believe in accepting
every Jew wherever they are, as a starting point."
He cites a woman who came to him early last fall, waving a newspaper
advertisement for Yom Kippur services, amazed she could pray for free.
"I'm not criticizing synagogues that have tickets, because they need
that to survive, but there are definitely people who are not being
reached and I just want to reach as many of them as we can."
Potomac's Jonathan Baron, lauds Shemtov's ability to reach out to a
disparate congregation.
"The warmth and overwhelming concern that the Shemtovs have for people
who frequent the shul ... has opened up a path for many people to
Yiddishkeit," said Baron.
Rosalyn Millman, a federal employee living on the District side of
Chevy Chase, has attended Shemtov's services for about a decade.
Millman, 42, credits their appeal to the intimacy of the services and
scholarship of Shemtov and his wife, Nechama.
Asked if the new tag, Shul of the Nation's Capital, is apt to confuse
the larger public, she says she views it as a valid tool for attracting
Jews.
"Frankly, it's not that much of a concern for me," said Millman.
In response to the same question, Baron framed the spiritual situation
in economic terms.
"I believe in free markets and competition," Baron said. "I don't think
too many choices is a problem for Jews in Washington."
For neighborhood resident Diaz, the expanded service menu meets a need
and does not threaten existing Orthodox services.
"If you build it, they will come," said Diaz. "Critics are always
afraid of another congregation. ... It's not a zero sum game."
The price of housing keeps many Jews, he suggested, from the environs
of Kesher Israel and is driving the development of other traditional
davening places around the District.
"There's a tremendous amount of ferment in D.C.," Diaz explained.
"Downtown, there's a lot of interest in leading a Jewish life, and
because Washington attracts so many people from so many different
backgrounds, people are looking for something within the box, but not
excluding this growth of individual views."
Reb Moshe
By Karen Gardner
North Adams Transcript
North Adams Transcript
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
- WILLIAMSTOWN --
Williams College is making plans to better accommodate students who are
Orthodox Jews.
Major hurdles to clear include the availability of kosher meals and an
opportunity for the students to observe the Shabbat -- the Jewish
Sabbath -- on Saturday mornings.
"Dining services has been working very hard at accommodating kosher
dining at Williams," said Carrie Greene, coordinator of the Williams
Jewish History Project and a research assistant in the classics at the
college. "They don't have kosher dining per se, but they have pre-made
meals and they're trying to work out the kinks. But they are trying to
make it possible for students who want to be kosher to come to
Williams."
At the new Baxter Hall, Greene said, the staff at dining services hope
to have a kosher option there, too.
Greene explained that a minyan -- a group of 10 people -- is required
to observe Shabbat morning services. However, one incoming freshman who
is an Orthodox Jew -- who has deferred for a year and will matriculate
in fall 2006 -- plans to hold study sessions with a college chaplain on
Saturday morning in lieu of traditional services.
A regular Friday night service already takes place at Williams.
Although the student could attend Saturday morning services at one of
the local temples, in North Adams or Bennington, Vt., Greene explained
that an orthodox student probably would not want to travel on the
Sabbath.
"That's a real limitation," she said. "Most [Orthodox Jews] would not
want to drive in a car or even be driven on the Sabbath."
Another option an orthodox student might have would be to go to rent a
car from the college and go to Albany, N.Y., to a local family's home,
or to the Chabad in Pittsfield on Friday afternoon and stay until
sundown on Saturday.
"But that means leaving the campus," Greene said. "... It can be done.
There have been orthodox students at Williams in the past."
Because they are more likely to be located in metropolitan areas,
larger colleges and universities tend to be more accommodating of
students who are Orthodox Jews.
"We're in a very isolated area," said Greene. "You really have to go
out of your way to make it work if you want to make it work. A student
really has to want to be here at Williams."
Between 10 and 13 percent of the graduating classes at Williams consist
of Jewish students.
According to Matthew Piven, the Williams student who hosts the weekly
"Air Williams" talk radio show and who is Jewish, about 30 percent of
students at Ivy League schools like the University of Pennsylvania,
Harvard, and Yale are Jewish.
Colleges like Mount Holyoke, Greene said, have gone out of their way to
be accommodate many different religions, and has part-time chaplains
from a variety of different faiths.
"Williams does not do that at this point. It's a real question --
should this be the responsibility of a higher education institution?"
Greene said.
The first Williams Jewish student, Emmanuel Cohen, graduated in 1876.
He was followed by Charles Gross in 1878. Nearly 6 percent of the class
of 1914 was Jewish. However, numbers declined in the 1920s and '30s.
Some Jews may have experienced anti-Semitism on the campus as there was
a time when Jews had a very difficult time getting into fraternities,
said Greene.
On Piven's radio show last week on the topic of the history of
anti-Semitism at Williams, Greene explained that former college
President Harry A. Garfield said aside from courses in Jewish history
or Hebrew, Williams did not have much to attract Jews.
Quoting Garfield, Greene said, "Orthodox students would not have an
easy time here. They wouldn't be let into fraternities. There's no way
that they would be able to practice."
However, after World War II, "Things began to open up," said Greene.
During the war, fraternities at Williams were on hiatus, so when
students returned to campus around 1947, "[Fraternities] were of a much
different nature," said Greene.
In 1952, fraternity policies started to change when the college voted
for "preferred rushing," where the fraternities became more selective.
In the previous rushing system, fraternities selected students without
knowing much about them.
After the war, students were less tolerant of things like
anti-Semitism, Greene said.
"Things just started to snowball," she said. "... By the mid-50s, just
about every fraternity had several Jewish members."
Around 1957, the college voted for "total opportunity," where all
students received bids to join fraternities, meaning they were no
longer exclusive. Just prior to the college eliminating fraternities in
the 1960s, several fraternities had Jewish presidents, Greene said.
Published in the Asbury Park Press
03/12/05
By PATTI MARTIN
STAFF WRITER
(STAFF PHOTO: MICHAEL J. TREOLA)
Vivian Goodman and Barbara Crane are being honored Sunday by the Chabad
of Western Monmouth County.
Ask Vivian Goodman and Barbara Crane why they volunteer their time with
Chabad, and the women explain it's their small way of giving back.
"Chabad helps everyone and is always there when people need them," says
Goodman, a resident of Manalapan. "They never ask for anything in
return."
"I definitely feel that Chabad does so much to help people in the
community," says Crane, of Marlboro, "that it's so important to help
them to achieve their goals."
For their work in publicizing Chabad of Western Monmouth County, Crane
and Goodman will be honored with the Eishet Chayil (Woman of Valor)
award during Jewish Woman's Day on Sunday.
The annual program - now in its 17th year - is scheduled prior to
Purim and celebrates the strength of Jewish women throughout history
- from Queen Esther in ancient Persia to modern heroines.
"Vivian Goodman and Barbara Crane are totally dedicated to getting the
word out to the community," says Tova Chazanow, coordinator of the
program. "They are wonderful examples of volunteers in the community,
and they have raised children who care about their Judaism."
In its entirety, Chabad is a Hasidic movement, Chazanow explains. In
Manalapan, where the Chabad of Western Monmouth County is located, it
is an educational, outreach program.
"As my husband (Rabbi Boruch Chazanow, executive director of Chabad)
says, "We're here to expose Judaism, not impose Judaism.' "
Chabad of Western Monmouth County was established in Manalapan in 1986.
It serves the community is a variety of ways, including lectures,
prison chaplaincy, speakers bureau, Friendship Circle, L'Chaim
publications, Gan Israel day camp, Judaica Treasures, Mishmar youth
groups, Institute of Jewish Studies, women's symposium, hospital
visitations, nursing home visitations, Torah library and holiday
awareness programs.
While the event recognizes the women's volunteer efforts, Chazanow says
it also recognizes the strengths of women in the family and society as
a whole.
"One of the reasons we do this at this time of the year, just before
the Jewish holiday of Purim, is to celebrate Queen Esther, who was able
to turn around the decree (to kill the Jews) and save her people,"
Chazanow says. "We celebrate the indomitable spirit of the Jewish
woman."
Crane is being recognized for publicizing Chabad events through the
written word. As chief staff writer for its newspaper, L'Chaim, she
writes about the many events, holiday celebrations, educational
offerings and volunteer programs that are sponsored by Chabad. In
addition, she serves as a liaison to secular and Jewish media by
sending press releases about Chabad activities.
And it is through the written word that Crane became involved with the
Chabad of Western Monmouth County, which was founded in 1986.
"I wrote a feature story about Rabbi Boruch and Tova Chazanow when they
moved to Manalapan to establish a Chabad house and I've been writing
about them ever since," says Crane, who was working as a staff writer
for the News Transcript at the time. "So many people in our community
are involved in wonderful Chabad programs that educate, entertain,
inspire and help people. I'm only doing doing a small part by
publicizing their efforts."
The possibility that people will read about Chabad and be motivated to
participate makes her job very rewarding, Crane says.
"I'm just so grateful for this honor," she says. "First, because it's
coming from Chabad and also because the work that I do on behalf of
Chabad is very meaningful to me."
Chabad has enriched her family, Crane adds, "by being there for us in
good times and bad, and by helping us not only to learn about Judaism
but to live it."
Goodman became involved in Chabad quite by accident.
"When I moved here several years ago after retiring, I wasn't going to
do anything," Goodman says. "I said to myself I'm not going to have any
responsibilities, I going to relax, go to classes, spend time with my
grandchild and live it up."
It was toward the end of a class he was giving at the Marlboro Library
that Rabbi Boruch Chazanow asked if anyone had a little time later that
day to help with a mailing at the Chabad House on Wickatunk Drive.
"I had a little time, so I decided, why not," Goodman recalls. "When I
got to the Chabad House, what do I find but the rabbi and two young
reluctant children stuffing envelopes."
That "little time" several years ago has now led to Goodman
coordinating a team of volunteers who prepare all outgoing mail for
Chabad. At a moment's notice, Goodman is able to organize a group in
her home to fold, collate, stuff envelopes and label anywhere from
1,000 to 4,000 pieces of mail.
"Sometimes when you walk in my house, you can't see the color of my
carpet (because of the number of mailings)," Goodman says, laughing.
"There's no way I could do all this without the volunteers who are
willing to help morning, noon and night."
When a mailing needs to go, it's not unusual for up to a dozen people
to make their way to Goodman's Covered Bridge home.
"People come with walkers and canes, in all kinds of weather," says the
Brooklyn-born Goodman. "They ask me if I have work and they give above
and beyond."
For her part, Goodman says she is happy that God has blessed her with
the ability and good health to do something for others.
"There's a lot of work to be done in the world, and if you have the
time, health and ability, why shouldn't you volunteer?" says Goodman,
an active member of the Union Hill Congregation, Englishtown. "It's
wonderful to be involved with people who are so willing to give of
themselves and give to others. This is God's blessing for me."
While going about it in different ways, Crane says she and Goodman
share a single purpose: "We help so people will know what Chabad is
doing."
Mati Wagner
THE JERUSALEM POST
Feb. 13, 2005
Mainstream Chabad leaders are vehemently opposing an assembly of
thousands of their more extreme colleagues who equate disengagement
with the Holocaust and have called on soldiers and police to die before
evacuating Jews from their homes.
The tension between vying factions within Chabad has reached a new high
in the wake of an altercation at Kfar Chabad last week in which Finance
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was verbally attacked while attending a
wedding.
Rabbi Menachem Brod, who represents the mainstream Chabad leadership in
Israel, told The Jerusalem Post that the Chabad Rabbinical Court may
outlaw the assembly, which is being organized by more extreme messianic
elements within the movement and is slated to take place on Thursday,
February 24, at Jerusalem's International Convention Center.
"Battles against the government can only cause damage to Chabad," said
Brod.
"Chabad's mission is not to lead demonstrations - although we did
join demonstrations organized by the Council of Jewish Communities in
Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip. Our mission is to bring every
single Jew closer to his own Judaism, to teach and to assist in the
performing of mitzvot. That is Chabad's job."
Rabbi Shalom Dovber Wolpo, one of the Chabad rabbis in favor of active,
albeit nonviolent, opposition to disengagement, said he is faithfully
communicating the will of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the
Lubavitcher Rebbe.
"The Rebbe ordered me to promulgate his writings on the danger of
ceding the land of Israel, to write his thoughts in books," Wolpo said.
"Many people did not believe me, but he predicted that the State of
Israel would build a Palestinian army."
In an article that will appear in this week's Beis Moshiach, a magazine
printed in the United States by messianic Chabadniks, Wolpo, who is a
synagogue rabbi in Kiryat Gat, explained the impetus for the meeting.
"Many of our followers have been demanding to know why the official
Chabad leadership has not taken up God's battle against the banishment
of settlers and the relinquishment of the security of millions of Jews,
despite clear directives by the Rebbe to organize massive
demonstrations," he wrote.
Wolpo said Rabbi Moshe Landau, head of Bnei Brak's rabbinical court,
supported the idea of active demonstration, as did Rabbi Gedalia
Axelrod, the retired rabbinic judge of Haifa.
Brod disagreed, saying the Chabad Rabbinical Court, the ruling body of
the movement in Israel, opposed initiating demonstrations. He said the
eight-man court, which includes Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi of Kfar
Chabad and rabbis from Eilat, Rehovot, Kiryat Malachi, Holon, Arad and
two Jerusalem neighborhoods, abstained from ruling on the issue of
disobeying army orders.
Brod said Wolpo and his followers had broken ranks with the accepted
ruling bodies of Chabad that derive their power from the Rebbe.
Many of the more extreme Chabadniks, who support an aggressive campaign
against disengagement, reportedly are also extremely messianic.
"There are extremists who believe the Rebbe is alive," said a haredi
journalist and resident of Kfar Chabad. "They are a really intense
group of people who believe in spreading this idea that the Rebbe is
the messiah. People who are attracted to this fundamentalist
understanding of the messiah are also less likely to see the
intricacies of the disengagement issue.
"In contrast, the more mainstream Chabadniks may believe he is the
messiah, but they have a slightly more complex understanding of it. As
a result, they are also more likely to be sensitive to the complexities
of disengagement."
Both Wolpo and Brod said reports of violence against Netanyahu were
exaggerated and that no proof could be found that Netanyahu's tires had
been purposely punctured.
However, while Brod denounced the verbal attack, Wolpo said: "Netanyahu
could not be allowed to leave without being censured, nonviolently of
course, for his policies. It would have given the impression that
Chabad was behind him."
Wolpo said Chabadniks who were behind the 1996 prime ministerial
campaign slogan "Bibi is good for the Jews" were responsible for
spreading rumors that the finance minister had been physically
attacked.
"It is not a coincidence that Yoni Kahana [who was arrested for
allegedly attacking Netanyahu] is helping with organizing the upcoming
assembly," he said.
This article can also be read at:
RICHARD ILGENFITZ,
Special to The Times
Delcotimes.com
The Daily Times
03/16/2005
MERION -- It's been a long time coming, but finally the historic
General Wayne Inn is about to undergo a major and much needed
renovation project.
When the building opens sometime later this year, it will serve as a
restaurant and a center for Jewish life. But for the man behind the
renovation, it's been a bit of learning experience.
Rabbi Shraga Sherman readily admits that he never learned much about
historic preservation while he was a student in rabbinical school. But
suddenly, he finds himself getting plenty of on-the-job training.
Advertisement
As director of the Chabad-Lubavitch of the Main Line, Sherman's
upcoming preservation task is a formidable one. He is working on
preserving and renovating one of the Main Line's oldest buildings,
the 300-year-old General Wayne Inn on Montgomery Avenue.
The restaurant, built in 1704, thrived for years, but was the scene of
a murder involving its chef in 1996. Later, another restaurateur tried
to revive the business, but again closed the doors in 2002.
About two years ago, Sherman's organization bought the building and
now Sherman and others have embarked on a long journey to restore the
building. He hopes to have part of the building ready for use before
the High Holy Days this October.
Although the General Wayne Inn has never been abandoned, it has
suffered from neglect - and the notoriety of a murder on its premises
-- over the past several decades. The last restaurant closed in August
of 2002. Sherman hopes he can reverse that trend.
"We want to preserve the history and structure, while at the same time
bring the building into compliance with modern (building) codes,"
Sherman said.
The past 300 years has taken its toll on the building. Today, thousands
of cars drive by the building each day, and the constant vibrations
from the traffic have weakened the building's walls, Sherman said.
Sherman added he is working with a structural engineer in order to
strengthen the walls.
Once the renovations are complete, Sherman said, his congregation is
planning on using a portion of the building for programs and offices.
In keeping with a long tradition, the front part of the building will
remain a restaurant open to the public. Sherman is still working on the
details of what type of food would be served at the inn.
The other unknown is how much the renovation project will cost.
The congregation has raised $1.2 million since buying the building for
nearly $700,000.
The next step for Sherman is to begin launching a capital campaign to
raise the rest of the money needed to complete the project.
His concern is that once the renovation has begun, they could find
unexpected
Believed to have been built in 1709, the General Wayne Inn is among the
oldest buildings in Lower Merion.
Lower Merion Township designated the General Wayne Inn and its
neighbor, the Merion Friends Meeting, as one of the five historic
districts in Lower Merion Township.
For more information or to help contact Sherman at (610) 660-9192 or
ra...@lubavitchmainline.org.
©The Daily Times 2005
Long Beach Press Telegram
Family matters
I attended my own father's bar mitzvah
By Nicole Giladi
Long Beach Press Telegram
Family matters
Sunday, March 13, 2005
No, I didn't borrow the DeLorean from the "Back to the Future" movie.
My Jewish father at the tender age of 60 decided it was time to get bar
mitzvah'd.
It all started when my sister and I decided to get married.
Let me explain. My father grew up in a nonpracticing Jewish household
and his parents did not arrange a bar mitzvah for either of their sons
at the usual bar mitzvah age of 13. This tradition continued once my
father married my mother, as my sister and I were also raised as
nonpracticing Jews and not bat mitzvah'd.
However, things changed as we got older. I stumbled across my besheret
at a singles Jewish dance. My soon-to-be husband attended Yeshiva and
introduced me to a life of Judaism. We married in a conservadox fashion
in the summer of 2001. Since the religious ceremonial marriage
practices were all new to me (Tish, bedeken, seven blessings), I wasn't
sure what to expect. So I decided I would follow whatever instructions
the wedding coordinator gave me. Since I was in the dark, unfortunately
so was my father. Once we arrived at the temple, most of the wedding
party gathered in special rooms to conduct the ceremonial traditions.
When the time came for my father to lift my veil and recite the formal
bedeken blessings, he was enjoying hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the
reception hall. Thankfully, my stepfather stepped in.
I later found out my father was disappointed he was not able to
participate in the preceremonial practices. A year later, my sister,
Nina, formally announced her engagement to a neighboring Orthodox man
named Benjamin. My father made a point of informing her he would like
to participate somehow. Being it was an orthodox wedding, there were
just a few months to plan. My sister immediately contacted her friend
who put her in touch with her father, an Orthodox Chabad Rabbi near my
father's home in Long Beach. After my father and the Rabbi met, they
decided he would recite one of the seven blessings under the chuppah at
my sister's wedding. There was only one problem: my father didn't know
a word or alphabet letter of Hebrew. "Let the Hebrew lessons begin."
Once a week this patient man taught my father how to read and recite
Hebrew. What was more surprising is that my father not only enjoyed
these weekly sessions, but my stepmother and he also joined his lovely
family on many occasions for Shabbat dinners and holidays.
You see, my physician father is a man of few words. I wouldn't
necessarily categorize him as exceptionally spontaneous. That is, if
you find eating the same granola cereal for 35 years amusing. With that
being said, meeting this Chabad family in some ways changed his life.
They welcomed my father into their home and prayers.
As my sister's wedding day appraoched, my father's Hebrew lessons
continued with another man from the schul. This new teacher and his
hospitable family also embraced my father's newfound Judaism and
welcomed him for Shabbat meals.
His experience with these generous families revitalized not only his
burgeoning Judaism but his need to connect to his Jewish community.
These relationships were able to blossom because these individuals
sincerely wanted to know my father. They took the time to call and
check on the progress of his Hebrew homework as well as comfort him
during a mournful time when a childhood friend of my father's passed
away.
One evening, on the close of Shabbat, my father received a call at 9
p.m. from the Rabbi. Mind you, my father was already fast asleep in
bed. He compassionately asked my father to join him immediately at the
Shul as he was trying to conduct the evening prayer but was missing the
10th person for a minyan to begin. My father rose to the occasion and
was greeted with high fives and big bear hugs upon his arrival at the
Shul.
Fast forward to my sister's wedding day. He delivered the blessing
flawlessly. Fortunately, we have it on video to replay this monumental
moment.
After the wedding, the Rabbi suggested he continue his Hebrew studies
so he could be bar mitzvah'd. My father was greatly enjoying his
lessons and decided to move ahead. He was already so far along, why not
go for it?
So on a hot summer day in July 2003, my whole family attended his Shul
and witnessed my 60-year-old father go up to the Torah and recite the
appropraite blessings and become officially bar mitzvah'd.
Afterwards, everyone in the congregation kept coming up to me with
mazel tovs and congratulations. I felt more like the proud parent than
my father's daughter.
Rabbis from around Southern California heard of my father's unwavering
commitment to earn his bar mitzvah degree. My husband and I were
attending a Shabbat dinner at our Rabbi's home in Studio City when he
began speaking of a 60-year-old man who was recently bar mitzvah'd. Of
course, we all had a huge laugh when I informed him it was my father.
I am so proud of my father after all these years for bringing Judaism
into his life and inspiring me to also begin studying for my own bat
mitzvah. To this day, my father continues to attend a weekly Torah
class and study Hebrew.
Sometimes, it's never really too late to begin experiencing what we
were all along: Jewish.
Neil Steinberg - Columnist
03/2005
ENOUGH ALREADY
Speculation that Mayor Bloomberg's lapsed practice of Judaism might
upset more observant Jewish voters displays a lack of understanding of
the dynamics of the faith. To the Orthodox, nonobservant Jews might as
well be gentiles. To the Lubavitch, every born Jew is a potential
zealot. And to the rest, he's on the home team and that's enough.
SATIMES.com
Web Posted: 03/19/2005 12:00 AM CST
Vincent T. Davis
Express-News Staff Writer
When Rabbi Chaim Block arrived in San Antonio in 1985 to found an
outreach center promoting religious and cultural traditions among Jews,
it was without fanfare.
Block was a rabbi in search of a synagogue, rather than the traditional
case of a synagogue searching for a rabbi.
But his sole purpose wasn't to establish a synagogue. It was to inspire
a sense of belonging among Jewish residents at a place where they could
appreciate their religion and how it affects their daily lives.
As the 20th anniversary of the Chabad Lubavitch approaches, both Jewish
and non-Jewish residents are aware of the cultural strides made by the
center, at 14535 Blanco Road.
The center offers Sabbath services in which instructors teach children
how to make a shofar, a ram's horn used during the Rosh Hashanah
synagogue service and at the end of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement,
which closes the High Holy Days.
There's a summer day camp for children, individual counseling and
speakers covering Jewish culture. On Friday nights, the center provides
dinners where people can assemble, socialize and talk about Judaism.
And in 1998, Block created the annual Chanukah on the River
celebration, featuring barges bearing menorahs floating down the San
Antonio River in front of more than 700 people at the Arneson River
Theater.
"It's an incredible success story for the San Antonio Jewish community
and the greater San Antonio community," said Robbie Greenblum, a
co-host of the anniversary gala for the center and river celebration.
"It's a wonderful occasion for Jewish children to enjoy and take pride
in their heritage."
Founded in 1985, Chabad Lubavitch inspired a sense of belonging and
matured into a place that Block and many others call home.
The Chabad celebrates its 20th anniversary March 27 with "L'Chaim to
Life," a dinner and concert at the Empire Theater. The featured
performer will be international singer Dudu Fisher, who has performed
with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony and for
President Clinton.
The event honors Dr. Steve and Elaine Cohen and Dr. Eric Schaeffer.
Tickets for the event, which will start at 5 p.m., are $125 per person.
For more information call (210) 492-1085.
The Lubavitcher movement, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, began in the
18th century in Lubavitch, Russia, and moved its headquarters to New
York from Eastern Europe during World War II.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, considered one of the great figures
of 20th century Judaism, revived the organization after the Holocaust
and expanded it to 28 countries. There are more than 250 Chabad
Lubavitch centers in 42 states.
Schneerson, Block's mentor, inspired him to move to an "outpost"
community and make an impact in other's lives. Schneerson died in 1994.
The center features a pre-school and has offered courses in Kabbalah,
Jewish mysticism, and studies of the Torah at local businesses. It
welcomes members of any Jewish sect to attend its religious ceremonies.
"Chabad has been able to integrate into the wider Jewish community, in
particular the outreach and educational services to enhance Jewish
knowledge and Jewish observance" said Mark Freedman, director of the
Jewish Federation of San Antonio.
He said the Chabad's work also has had an impact within the broader
community, helping people learn about Jewish traditions and customs.
And that's enough for the Chabad's founder
"If one person has taken one step further than where they were, then
it's a success," Block said.
Online at:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031905.1R.chabad_lubavitch.14f9cb338.html
By Patty Pensa
Staff Writer
March 27, 2005
A decade after building a congregation from humble beginnings in a
two-bedroom apartment, Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach is
turning to prominent developer and Republican fund-raiser Ned Siegel to
help it expand again.
Siegel, 53, has pledged to help the Orthodox synagogue wipe out its
$1.5 million debt so it can launch new plans designed, in part, to
attract Jewish residents moving into the area. The synagogue's plans
come as the congregation and the community around it continue to grow.
The most recent demographic survey showed about 2,300 Jews moving to
the Boynton Beach area each year, making it one of the fast-growing
Jewish populations in the nation.
Synagogue leaders are looking at a $5 million expansion, including
building a school, adding a second floor to the main building and
expanding the 600-seat sanctuary on El Clair Ranch Road. They also plan
to build a satellite synagogue west of Florida's Turnpike, somewhere
near a 1,500-home GL Homes community along Boynton Beach Boulevard,
Rabbi Sholom Ciment said.
"There's no question in my mind there will be a heavy influx of the
Jewish population there," he said. "We want to be standing and ready to
facilitate their needs."
The area encompassing Boynton Beach and its unincorporated suburbs had
a Jewish population of almost 40,000 in 1999, when the last demographic
study was done.
Ciment estimates the Boynton Beach area's Jewish population is closer
to 50,000 today. With membership at about 500 families,
Chabad-Lubavitch represents less than 10 percent of that population.
But it has grown in recent years, partly because of the development of
two communities adjacent to the synagogue, which cater to Orthodox
Jews. Siegel, chief executive officer of The Siegel Group of Boca
Raton, backed these projects of more than 100 homes combined.
Strict observance of Jewish law prohibits driving on the Sabbath, so
building communities close to the synagogue was important. The
communities, Wyndsong Estates and Wyndsong Isles, have large family
homes that feature kitchen amenities to help Jews keep kosher.
With about 90 percent of Wyndsong residents belonging to the
Chabad-Lubavitch, Ciment points to Siegel for his contribution in
helping to create a cohesive community. Siegel will be honored as "Man
of the Year" at a fund-raising gala early next month.
Gov. Jeb Bush, a close friend of Siegel, was selected the gala's
honorary chairman and a slew of influential Floridians, Democrats and
Republicans, fill the guest list for the $1,000-a-plate affair.
Siegel is a member of the board of directors of the Republican Jewish
Coalition in Washington, D.C., and is chairman of the Republican Jewish
Coalition of Florida.
Siegel said his relationship with Ciment and Chabad-Lubavitch has
extended beyond business.
Siegel said he found solace through the synagogue when his father died
from colon cancer last fall. "I feel connected to Chabad," he said.
"[Ciment] was truly inspirational. Part of what I'm doing is giving
back."
Patty Pensa can be reached at ppe...@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6609.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Reb Moshe
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Many Jewish families celebrate the Passover holiday with a
seder -- a meal where the Exodus story is retold and special dishes are
served. If you're away from home this year on Passover, which begins on
April 23 at sundown, you may be able to find a public seder to attend.
Visitors should contact the sponsor beforehand; reservations are often
required, even for informal events, to ensure adequate food. Fees vary;
some seders are free, others ask participants for voluntary donations,
and others require advance payment.
Groups affiliated with Hillel, the world's largest Jewish campus
organization, host seders that are open to students as well as
non-students throughout North America, South America, the former Soviet
Union and Israel. Go to www.hillel.org, find the calendar on the right
and click on "Passover," then click "Find a community seder near you."
Chabad Houses, run by Lubavitcher Jews, will be hosting more than 500
seders around the world. They range from events in hotels in Honolulu
and Barcelona to a massive seder in Katmandu attended by 2,000 people
each year, many of them young Israeli backpackers. The five Chabad
seders in Thailand include one being held for the first time in Phuket.
In Russia, the resurgent Jewish community turns out for seders in
places like Moscow and Irkutsk. Chabad seders can also be found around
the United States, from Las Vegas to Birmingham, Ala. Go to
www.chabad.org/passover and click on "Find a seder" for details.
Some hotels and restaurants host seders. In Miami Beach, the Alexander
Hotel -- (305) 341-6510 -- can cater a seder on site or you can join a
communal seder at the hotel led by a rabbi. At Chef Allen's, in
Aventura, Fla. (305) 935-2900, a gourmet seder menu will incorporate
ingredients from around the world. In Manhattan, you'll find seders at
kosher restaurants like Levana (141 W. 69th St.) and Abigael's
(Broadway and 39th Street).
marbl...@yahoo.com
"One Shabbat, One World"
By The Independent
Leading Jewish organizations have declared Friday as the "Shabbat
Devoted to Unity and Redemption." In response to global turbulence,
rabbis worldwide have joined to promote this universal Shabbat, to
increase unity and peace through heightened Shabbat awareness.
"The Talmud tells us that unified Shabbat observance can usher in the
final redemption," explains Rabbi Leibel Baumgarten of Chabad
Lubavitch in East Hampton. "As 'a light unto the nations,' Jewish
people have a responsibility to lead the way to the era of universal
peace. Judaism teaches that an intimate bond exists between the
physical and the spiritual. Spiritual acts - the Mitzvot - affect
the physical world, and none affect it more than the Shabbat."
Rabbi Yankel Wilschanski, campaign coordinator, said, "The important
thing is to do more, to participate one step at a time. If you don't
usually make Friday night Kiddush blessing over wine, do it this
Shabbat. Invite a guest to your Shabbat dinner. Help organize a Shabbat
afternoon study group. There are hundreds of activities. The sky's
the limit!"
Contact Chabad Lubavitch at 329-5800 or 907-8612 for more info on this
worldwide event.
http://www.indyeastend.com/cgi-bin/indep/news.cgi?action=article&category=News&id=6662
marbl...@yahoo.com
times.
Building on the ritual pool, to be established at the city's Chabad
centre at a cost of around £100,000, is set to begin after Pesach.
Totallyjewish.com
Center to teach life skills to children
By Eileen McCarville
Staff Writer
04/05/05
West Bloomfield Eccentric
A new facility for special needs children is also a dream-come-true for
their parents and friends.
A decade in the making, the new Ferber Kaufman LifeTown Building offers
real-life, hands-on situations for children of all levels.
"It's a dream I never thought would happen," said Bassie Shemtov, 32,
who, with her husband Rabbi Levi Shemtov, brainstormed the idea 10
years ago. The 20,000-square-foot $4.5 million facility nestled on six
acres of woodlands will house a therapy and activity center, social
meeting place, and a hub for volunteers, professional staff and
supporters.
The grand opening dinner is April 5 at the Meer Family Friendship
Center, 6890 West Maple in West Bloomfield, and the facility will open
to the public when children return to school in September.
LifeTown is designed to enhance Friendship Circle, a program that
enables teenage volunteers to spend time with special needs children,
founded in 1994 by Lubavitch Foundation of Michigan.
The facility was funded entirely by individual and corporate donations.
"This is the model for the first in the world," Shemtov said.
The most striking feature is Life Village, an interactive area on the
first floor that emulates a real town with a bank, drug store, library,
workshop, medical office, pet store, movie theater and more.
Children will learn real-life skills like opening and managing bank
accounts, following stop signs and traffic lights, making appointments
for haircuts and turning in library books on time. And just like life,
those who don't return books on time will have to pay a fine.
Children will also be able to tool around the village in battery
operated cars, parking at spots with working parking meters that demand
change.
It's all designed to teach special needs children about responsibility
and living in the real world.
"They're going to learn how to be quiet in the library. They're going
to learn how to cross the street. They're going to learn how to get a
haircut," said Shemtov, of West Bloomfield. For example, at the pet
store, they can buy goldfish and learn to take care of them, she added.
Sponsors include Henry Ford Medical Centers, Huntington Bank and Sav-On
Drugs, which have signs hanging above the storefronts. The first floor
also includes a large gymnasium, which can double as a party room, and
a live tree that stretches through an opening to the second floor.
The second floor Therapy Center features a dozen rooms designed for
learning skills such as cooking, computers, art, music and developing
coordination.
A water room, for example, features a variety of different showerheads,
designed to soothe, stimulate and entertain children. Observation
windows at each room allow parents to see in - but don't let children
to see out and become distracted, Shemtov said.
One of the most innovative features is the "Snoezelen Room," a concept
developed in the Netherlands.
The room is filled with sights, sounds, textures, and aromas that can
stimulate or relax and children as they explore.
As future users tested areas last week, Cathy Fogel of West Bloomfield
was having a hard time getting her daughter Rebecca, 8, to leave the
Snoezelen Room.
Rebecca and her teenage volunteer friend Shoshannah Newman, 15, were
nestled in a corner, watching the fascinating array of neon colors.
"This is her first time here and she's very excited," Fogel said. "This
is amazing."
Once the facility opens, programs, classes, membership fees and other
areas will be established. It will be available to anyone with special
needs children.
For more information, visit friendship.org_lifetown or call (248)
788-7878.
Lubavitcher
Rabbinical College students about his experiences. Bob Karp / Daily
Record
Rabbinical College grad returns to get aid for distant land
Rabbi recruits students for tsunami relief
By Abbott Koloff, Daily Record
04/07/05 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
MORRIS TWP. -- Rabbi Yosef Kantor visited his old school on Wednesday
to recruit students for a tsunami relief effort in Thailand, his home
for the past 12 years.
He also needs their help for a Passover dinner he has planned for about
a thousand people. He expects it to be one of the largest Passover
celebrations in the world, and someone has to help unpack more than 11
tons of matzos.
They also will be part of a relief effort that will bring toys to Thai
children and has helped people living in remote villages to catch fish,
find fresh water and build furniture and houses.
Kantor stood before about 300 students at the Rabbinical College of
America on Wednesday and told them what he has been doing in Thailand.
He gave some of them a glimpse of their futures.
He was sent to Thailand 12 years ago because the small Jewish community
there asked the Lubavitch movement, based in Brooklyn, to send a rabbi
to open a Chabad center. After he was chosen, Kantor asked his wife
what she thought of the idea.
He said she was thinking "no."
"She was thinking somewhere on Long Island," said Kantor, 36, who grew
up in Australia and graduated from the Rabbinical College in 1988.
But Kantor said he and his wife were raised to be emissaries of the
Lubavitch. They were taught to go where they were needed.
So, after some discussion, he accepted the position and moved his
family to Thailand, a country with a Jewish population of fewer than
1,000 but which hosts many thousands of Israeli visitors every year.
Kantor said those visitors mostly are young people just completing a
high-stress hitch in the Israeli army, letting off some steam as they
backpack through Asia.
Kantor was attending a wedding in New York in December when the tsunami
hit. He said he prayed at the grave of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the
longtime leader of the Lubavitch movement, before returning home.
Kantor said he didn't have a plan when he started coordinating relief
efforts from the Chabad center in Bangkok. Then he visited a resort
area in the south, where the tsunami hit.
He arrived on a beach, and he was struck by the smell of dead bodies,
the sight of a navy vessel hurled inland by the tsunami, resting far
from the ocean. He saw a lot of debris. When he took a closer look, he
saw broken toys. That's when he found a direction for his relief
efforts.
He figured that his people could replace some of those toys. Other
relief organizations were sending food and building supplies. Other
relief organizations were taking care of big needs.
Kantor said he wanted to fill some of the gaps. He wanted to provide
for needs that were not so obvious.
The Lubavitch relief effort had begun as an attempt to help locate
Israelis and Jews in Thailand when the tsunami hit, and to contact
their families. Members of the community helped coordinate efforts of
Israeli forensics experts, who helped identify dead bodies. Then the
Lubavitchers broadened their efforts to help anyone else who needed
help.
A group of tsunami volunteers had been hitchhiking around the country,
so the Lubavitchers supplied cars. The government built too many wooden
coffins, so Kantor's people arranged for a Jewish craftsman to teach
villagers how to take apart coffins and use the wood for other things,
such as furniture and housing. They helped some villages get credit for
bank loans to make repairs. They arranged for the purchase of food --
even pork, which they are not allowed to eat for religious reasons --
for people living on dried noodles.
They helped dig a well in one village that needed fresh water and
arranged for a fishing net to be purchased for another village that
needed fresh food. They responded to the people of one village who had
an unusual request.
"We sponsored a toilet," Kantor said.
Kantor plans to hold a big Passover celebration in a couple of weeks,
and to follow it in early May with a presentation of toys for the
children of Thailand.
Kantor said he received donations from all over the world. But the
toys, he said, had been held up for a time in customs until the Israeli
embassy got involved on Wednesday. They are now expected to arrive
today at the Bangkok Chabad center.
Kantor told students on Wednesday that all of those efforts are part of
the mission of any Lubavitch community. He told them that their mission
is not just to help their own people. He said he planned to select as
many as a dozen students to go back to Thailand with him.
Two students -- Chaim Goldstein and Arik Denebeim -- were picked on
Wednesday afternoon, apparently because of their similar family
histories.
Both students said their fathers attended the Rabbinical College and
started Chabad centers. Goldstein grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich., while
Denebeim is from Palm Springs, Calif. They had similar reasons for
wanting to go to Thailand.
"It's a privilege to help others," said Goldstein, 19.
"Rabbi Schneerson explained that a student gives something to the next
person, even if he knows only one little thing," said Denebeim, 20.
They know that one day they might be asked to go to another part of the
world, and to build a community.
Kantor said he had to go back to school to prepare for his mission to
Thailand. Because there is no place to get kosher food in Thailand, he
said he had to learn to kill a chicken in a ritual that makes it
kosher. He said that is not something he ever imagined doing.
Then again, he said he never imagined going to Thailand. He never
imagined a disaster like last year's tsunami. He never imagined being
in charge of a relief effort that would, among other things, help
adults to catch fish and children to play.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbott Koloff can be reached at ako...@gannett.com or (973) 989-0652.
Lubavitcher
Florencia Arbiser
Special to the Jewish Times
Baltimore Jewish Times
APRIL 09, 2005
Buenos Aires
Its death certificate was all but signed and sealed, but the Wolfsohn
School didn't close its doors.
Instead, when the new school year began early this month, the formerly
Conservative Jewish day school was able to keep going, thanks to
Chabad-Lubavitch.
The school is located in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Belgrano.
The school turned 61 years old last Rosh Hashanah, while Belgrano's
Jewish community center will turn 100 next year.
But Argentina's financial crises took its toll on the school, which has
struggled in recent years. It was staggering under $2 million in debt.
Many attempts were made to rescue it, but until the end of the last
school year all were unsuccessful.
That's when Chabad took over.
Chabad runs four elementary schools and nine kindergartens in
Argentine. Three of them are for Orthodox children; the others,
including Wolfsohn, are not.
School administrators expect a certain level of ritual observance, but
less than they would demand in schools aimed at Orthodox children.
Though the curriculum's Jewish content is stronger now than it had
been, Chabad acknowledged that it still is not comprehensive enough for
Orthodox families.
Chabad has spent a generous amount of money to fix up the building and
invest in high-quality education. Chabad also added to the school's
name; it is now the Center for Jewish Education Menajem M. Tabacinic
- Wolfsohn School.
"I'm happy to have saved the school. Now we have the big responsibility
of carrying out a project of excellence, in making this school the best
not only among Jewish schools but the best in the country," Rabbi Tzvi
Grunblatt, Chabad Lubavitch's Argentina director, told JTA.
With some 30,000 Jews, Belgrano is one of the largest Jewish
neighborhoods in South America. For decades, Wolfsohn has been an
important part of the comfortably middle-class Jewish neighborhood's
life.
When a local psychologist, Monica Azar, decided to send her daughters
to Wolfsohn in 1990, she was comfortable with her choice.
The school was "vigorous, with a solid tradition of excellence," Azar
said. It was "a well-known place in the heart of Belgrano."
But it didn't work out as she had hoped.
"Every year we've been witnessing how the school was declining, how the
management was unable to sustain it," Azar said. The family has spent
years considering whether they should change schools.
There aren't many options. Since 2000, three Jewish kindergartens,
three Jewish primary school and two Jewish secondary schools have
closed, said Batia Nemirovsky, general director of the Central Council
for Jewish Education in Argentina.
Since 2001, Jewish educators have been worried about Wolfsohn's future,
she added.
Despite the school closings, the number of children registered at
Jewish schools in Argentina grew 6 percent over the past four years.
The last figures, compiled in late March, showed 18,030 children
enrolled in Argentine Jewish schools for the 2005 academic year, which
started in March, Nemirovsky said.
The three Azar daughters stayed at Wolfsohn. Now, just as the youngest
daughter is finishing primary school, the family is watching the school
revive.
"If you believe in miracles, this certainly is one of them," said
Wolfsohn's new director, Gustavo Dvoskin, at the Sunday night party
school officials threw the day before it opened.
Dvoskin couldn't hide his pride at overseeing the renovation, which
took only two months. He also was proud of retaining most of the 150
students who had been in the school through the 2004 academic year.
"But I am also aware we have a long way to go," he said.
Many students left the school in 2000 and few enrolled. There was no
first grade formed that year, so this year the fifth grade - whose
members would have started the school in 2000 - is missing.
Daniel Filmus, Argentina's education minister, was at the party, where
he helped put a new mezuzah on the door.
To Viviana Resnik de Ravel, a mother of two Wolfsohn students, the
evening represented a victory.
"The past four years were full of ghosts about the future. As a family,
we decided to stay and fight for school continuity," she said. "Now we
are so pleased."
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Lubavitcher
with top 25 picks
Letters April 6, 2005
The Acorn
I enjoyed your recent pictorial featuring the "Top 25 People" of the
area. I know several of the people and agree with your choices. I
imagine that pieces like this also draw criticism for the ones you did
not pick.
Your choice of Rabbi Bryski was particularly appreciated and
appropriate. While we have many wonderful rabbis in the Conejo Valley,
nobody has had more of an impact on so many people like Rabbi Bryski.
Conservative and reform congregations tend to grow just by the influx
of Jewish people into the area. Yet, despite a small number of Orthodox
Jews living in the area, Chabad of the Conejo has grown amazingly.
In my opinion, the growth of all religious institutions is very good
for the community. Under Rabbi Bryski's leadership, Chabad has
brought hundreds of disenfranchised Jews back to their roots.
Congratulations on a great tribute to our community leaders. I look
forward to seeing who you pick next year!
Michael Feinman
Westlake Village
Lubavitcher
Clarion Ledger - Mississippi
April 9, 2005
The Associated Press
MOSCOW - The World Union for Progressive Judaism condemned Russia's
Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar for a magazine article in which he said Reform
Judaism violates scriptural law and "can't be labeled as a religion."
The union responded to an article by Lazar, who comes from the Orthodox
and Lubavitch-dominated Federation of Jewish Communities. Lazar was
writing in a federation magazine.
According to the union's translation, Lazar also said "Reform Judaism
treats the Torah as an anthology of laws created by man for his own
convenience. God has no place. What Reform Judaism is are clubs to meet
their interests and it seems odd to me that the directors of these
clubs call themselves 'rabbis.' "
World union executive director Rabbi Uri Regev replied: "It is
regrettable that (the Lubavitch movement) ... so easily returns to its
old, hateful bashing."
Reb Moshe
by Lev Krichevsky, the JTA
In the principal's office of a Jewish day school in Dnepropetrovsk, a
mother is fighting to hold back tears.
"You cannot turn my son down," says the woman, who came to register
her teenage boy for school in this Ukrainian city. "He will be a good
student."
Grigoriy Skorokhod, principal at the Levi Yitzhak Schneerson School -
which, with 630 students, is the largest Jewish day school in the
former Soviet Union - later says he had a hard time explaining to the
woman why her son couldn't be accepted.
"She didn't make a secret that her family had no Jewish connection
whatsoever," says Skorokhod, sitting under two portraits: one of
Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine's president at the time, and the other of the
late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
"But she says ours was a very good school, and another foreign
language wouldn't hurt her son anyway," Skorokhod says. "Jews are
caring parents and their education cannot be bad. That's what she and
other parents like her think."
Most of the Jewish day schools in the former Soviet Union register
exclusively or predominantly those children who are Jewish according to
halachah, or Jewish law.
That's the official policy of all Chabad-run schools and schools that
operate under the auspices of other Orthodox groups.
However, there is hardly a school in the area that doesn't have at
least some non-Jewish students - not to mention children of mixed
families who aren't halachically Jewish because their mothers are not
Jewish.
Not all schools are ready to face the issue openly, so some parents try
hard to conceal the fact that they have no connection to Judaism - a
huge irony in a country where generations of Jews tried to hide their
Jewishness in order to get ahead.
Some schools have opened their doors to non-Jewish students because
they can't enrol enough Jews to fill their classrooms.
"Many schools, especially in the smaller communities, have begun
accepting non-Jews, primarily because of the lack of Jewish
children," says Hana Rotman, a leading expert on Jewish education in
the former Soviet Union and head of the St. Petersburg-based New Jewish
School research center.
The number of Jewish schools in the former Soviet Union has grown
exponentially in recent years - but, as in other countries, most
Jewish children attend public schools. There are now nearly 100 Jewish
schools with approximately 15,000 students in the former Soviet Union.
Jewish educators across the region have become accustomed to the fact
that most Jewish and mixed families still prefer to send their children
to non-Jewish public or private schools.
"Many Jews prefer to stay away from anything Jewish," Dmitriy
Tarnopolsky, Jewish community chairman in the Ukrainian city of
Dneprodzerzhinsk, which has a Jewish day school operated by Chabad.
"They don't want to stick out, and there are plenty of mixed
families with one non-Jewish parent against sending their child to a
Jewish school," Tarnopolsky says.
"We have more new applications from non-Jews than from Jews, whom we
usually have to persuade," he says.
The lack of Jewish kids is evident at Jewish Day School No. 41, a
school for children in grades 1-11 in the western Ukrainian city of
Chernovtsy - and the demographic situation, the result of a high rate
of emigration and an aging community, isn't promising, principal
Irina Savchuk says.
The 14-year-old school, one of the oldest in the former Soviet Union,
receives municipal funding. As a result, it has to comply with
government regulations that require a minimum number of children -
often 25 - in each grade.
To meet that minimum and remain in operation, the school had to begin
to accept non-Jewish students a few years ago.
Today at least one-third of the students are non-Jews, and the ratio is
even higher in the primary school, Savchuk says.
Savchuk is not Jewish, although the principal she replaced a few years
ago was.
In her school, all students are required to study Hebrew and Jewish
history and tradition. Every boy is required to wear a yarmulke in
classes on Jewish subjects.
"In our history lessons, non-Jewish students also say 'we' or
'our ancestors' when referring to the episodes from the Jewish
past," says Savchuk, explaining that her goal is to maintain the
Jewish character of the school despite the community's declining
Jewish population.
It was natural for Savchuk to become the principal of a Jewish school,
she said. She had many Jewish friends as she grew up and then went to
work in this city, which until recently had a large Jewish community.
Most of the local Jews immigrated to the United States and Israel
between the late 1970s and today. The 1989 census registered 16,500
Jews, while the 2001 census counted slightly fewer than 1,500.
Because the issue is touchy in some schools, some parents try hard to
conceal the fact that they have no connection to Judaism.
In St. Petersburg, the mother of a primary-school student at a Chabad
day school in St. Petersburg, which officially only accepts children
who are halachically Jewish, asks that the family name not be used.
"Please don't write in your article that we are non-Jews. Write
that we are real Jews," says Anna.
Anna says her family had no relation to Judaism, but that the Jewish
school is the closest to her home.
She also likes the idea of very small classes, so she asked a Jewish
friend to help her child get into the school.
"There are other non-Jews in this grade," she says.
Anna admits there's a conflict between the Jewish education her
daughter receives in school and what she as a mother is ready to accept
at home.
"If she asks me to light [Shabbat] candles at home, I tell her she
can do it in school," Anna says. "But we did celebrate one Jewish
holiday at home, the one when you have to light a candle a day, and
this was fun," she says, referring to Chanukah.
Some Jewish educators believe the influx of non-Jewish students in
Jewish schools may not be a bad thing.
"This is the result of some positive stereotypes about Jews that many
non-Jews share," such as the Jewish value on education, Skorokhod
says.
But some experts say Jewish schools should face the issue openly
instead of pretending it doesn't exist.
"The Jewish schools generally have a very good reputation, especially
in the provinces," Rotman says.
"So non-Jewish kids are coming to Jewish schools for better
education. But if their percentage has reached some significant level
- which already happened in many schools - the school cannot
continue working as if nothing has changed."
For their part, Chabad school officials were unwilling to publicly
acknowledge the issue.
(This article is one of a five-part series of articles about Jewish
education in the former Soviet Union. This series was made possible, in
part, by support from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family
Foundation, the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds and
the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.)