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JEWISH WaSHIngton
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W W W . J t n E W S . n E t
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august 31, 2012
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13 elul 5772
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volume 88, no. 18
/jtnews
professionalwashington.com
connecting our local Jewish community
J
T
news
find your high holiday services page 9the corrie verdict page 6
An exocise in dybbuk extemination
On page 23
Diyah Pera
2
JTN .
www.JTNews.NeT
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friday, augusT 31, 2012
For complete details about these and other upcoming JFS events and workshops, please visit our website: www.jfsseattle.org
Early Fall Family Calendar
FOR THE COMMUNITY
AA Meetings at JFS
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Tuesdays: 7:00 p.m.
Contact
(206) 461-3240 or ata@jsseattle.org
1601 16th Avenue, Seattle
(206) 461-3240 • www.jfsseattle.org
FOR ADULTS AGE 60+
Endless Opportunities
A community-wide program offered in partnership with Temple B’nai Torah & TempleDe Hirsch Sinai. EO events are opento the public.
VOLUNTEER TOMAKE A DIFFERENCE!
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or volunteer@jsseattle.org
FOR SURVIVORS OFINTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE
Programs of Project DVORA (DomesticViolence Outreach, Response & Advocacy)are free of charge.
Support Group for Jewish Womenwith Controlling Partners
Location, Date and Time are strictlyconfdential
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FOR PARENTS & FAMILIES
Bringing Baby Home
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Sundays: October 7, 14 & 219:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
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Marjorie Schnyder at (206) 861-3146or
familylife@jfsseattle.org
Preparing Nutritious Meals on a Budget
Nutrition
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Tuesday: September 44:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Food Budgeting & Resources
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Wednesday: September 124:00 – 6:00 p.m.
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agoren@jfsseattle.org
The “War” in Cyberspace
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Thursday: September 1310:30 a.m. – Noon
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to Ellen Hendin, (206) 861-3183 or
endlessopps@jfsseattle.org
L’Chaim: Eat with Good HealthDuring the Holidays!
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Thursday: September 2710:30 a.m. – Noon
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to Ellen Hendin, (206) 861-3183 or
endlessopps@jfsseattle.org
Food Drive Food SortVolunteer Activity
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Sunday: September 3010:30 a.m. – Noon
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to Jane Deer-Hileman, (206) 861-3155or
volunteer@jfsseattle.org
Food Drive
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September 17 – October 9
Contact
Carol Mullin, (206) 861-3176 orcmullin@jsseattle.org
Food Collection Blitz atGrocery Stores
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Sunday: September 23 •
All day
Truck Unloading inSouth Seattle
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Thursday: September 27 • Morning
Food Drive Sort Event
Pre-registration required
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Sunday: September 3010:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
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Jane Deer-Hileman(206) 861-3155 or
volunteer@jfsseattle.org
Kosher Food Bank Event
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Wednesdays: September 5
& October 3 • 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
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with
Jana Prothman(206) 861-3174 or jprothman@jsseattle.org
Challah Palooza
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Friday: September 7
4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
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Marjorie Schnyder at (206) 861-3146or
familylife@jfsseattle.org
Shaarei Tikvah: Gates of Hope
A Celebration of Rosh Hashanahfor People of All Abilities
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Monday: September 174:00 – 6:00 p.m.
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Marjorie Schnyder at (206) 861-3146or
familylife@jfsseattle.org
friday, august 31, 2012 .
www.jtnews.net
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jtnew OpiniOn
“She didn’t move away like anyone of sound mind would.”— Judge Oded Gershon, in his verdict against Rachel Corrie’s family’s wrongful death suit. See the story on page 6.
the rabbi’s turn
Write a Letter tO the eDitOr: W would lov o fom you! Ou gud o wng l o do cn b found www.jnw.n/ndx.pp?/l_gudln.ml, bu pl lm you l oppoxmly 350 wod. t ddln fo nx u spmb 4. Fuu ddln my b found onln.
Stning up fr yursf:Intrfith igu
Rabbi James L. miReL
Tmpl B’n Torh
Rabbi Raphael Levinewas a great mentor to meand many other rabbis andministers over the years.Rabbi Levine came toSeattle and emple DeHirsch in 1942, and servedthe temple until his deathin 1985. Beginning in 1960,Rabbi Levine with FatherWilliam reacy and a rotat-ing panel o clergy led theweekly V program “Challenge,” whichor 15 seasons discussed issues o the day in a multi-religious context.He was one o the oremost advo-cates or interaith dialogue in our nationand he was duly honored or that duringhis long lie. One o the most impor-tant lessons he taught and lived throughexample was that there was no room orundue deerence in true dialogue. He wasalways proud o his Jewish aith and neverminced words or kowtowed to anyone,whatever their status.I believe, as he did, that respectul inter-aith — and indeed, intraaith — dialogueserves an important purpose; but only i conducted on a level playing eld. He wasadamant that he would not be set up as astraw man or be anyone’s patsy, which isnot uncommon when asked to representJudaism in a Christian or Muslim setting.Recently, we hosted a Muslim groupat our synagogue as part o a joint ishaB’av/Ramadan pray-and-break-the-astevent. It was one o the rst times thesetwo holy days o Judaism and Islam,respectively, were marked together. As webegan to plan the gathering, I was directand absolutely clear that it had to be agathering o equals and that each aithmust have a balanced role in terms o timeand content.It worked out quite well, given thechallenge. My remarks ocused on thestrengths and beauty o our heritage. My Muslim counterpart spoke poetically and clearly. However, there was one di-erence, which was to be expected. Heasserted in a subtle way that Islam is animprovement on Christian-ity and Judaism and that theirprophet was superior to thosewho had come beore and thatthere would be no one greaterin the uture.Islam is a proselytizing reli-gion and that is part and parcelo its message. Fair enough.I knew that while some Jewsmight be oended, there was virtually no chance any wouldembrace Islam. It is air to say that webelieve that Judaism is the best religion,but we do not eel the need to assert that orto try to make converts. It really is a mattero style and not o substance.But the principle is important: Insist onbalance and equality. For example, i thereis a presentation o Islam, Christianity andJudaism, do not accept that it will be in theorder o origin: Judaism, Christianity andthen Islam. Tat implies a kind o hierar-chy. Historically, Christianity portrayeditsel as the ulllment o Judaism; just asIslam says the same about the other two.I insist that we ip a coin or draw lots todetermine the order.In a similar way, when the Summit atFirst Hill invited an Orthodox rabbi and aConservative rabbi along with me to dis-cuss the meaning o lie (a light topic) Isimilarly insisted that our denominationsbe listed alphabetically in the publicity —which turned out O, R and C — no hier-archy implied.Some people might argue that suchinteraith and intraaith gatherings are somuch “sound and ury signiying noth-ing.” Maybe so. I preer to believe thatwe can learn rom one another and be asource o light and not just heat. We canmodel respect while maintaining our ownsense o integrity and strength.Tat is what Rabbi Levine was ableto do in the 40-plus years he served ourcommunity as our emissary to the largercommunity. We who engage in interaithollow in his ootsteps as Joshua and Calebdid in those o Moses.
Th UN scrtry-gnrn Mry Rbinsn’s Irninbc
GeRaLd m. steinbeRG
JNS.org
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon —who decided to visit ehran Aug. 29–31or the conerence o the Non-AlignedMovement (NAM) — would have beenwise to more careully ponder the lessonprovided by Mary Robinson.During her tenure as UN Commis-sioner or Human Rights in 2001, Rob-inson authorized, planned and chaireda disastrous meeting in Iran, and is stillpaying the price or this undamentalmoral ailure.Robinson’s Iranian misadventuretook place in the context o the Asianregional preparatory session or theUN’s World Conerenceon Racism — the ina-mous Durban coner-ence, which took placein September 2001. Teplanning or the Durbanhuman rights disaster,over which Robinsonalso presided, took placein the Iranian prepara-tory conerence, whichadopted the poison-ous anti-Israel texts thatlaunched a decade o political warare. Underthe açade o humanrights, Robinson wasresponsible or this moral debacle.Robinson’s record o ailure beganwhen she ailed to act to prevent the selec-tion o Iran as the venue or the prepara-tory conerence. In placating the powerulIslamic bloc in the United Nations, shelent her name and reputation to the white-washing o the Iranian regime. Te prom-ises that she and others made to hold aserious and civil discussion o humanrights, without the hate-lled and anti-Semitic language usually heard rom Iran’sleaders, were clearly not credible comingrom a country run by Islamist clerics whooppress Bahais, Jews and other minorities.Robinson also blindly repeated theIranian government promises to provide visas to the ocial Israeli delegates and theJewish NGO representatives, as requiredby UN regulations or any host coun-try. As predicted, the Iranians never pro- vided these visas, and while she could andshould have cancelled at that point, Rob-inson instead chaired a conerence with-out Israelis or Jewish NGO ocials. Tehate-lled texts were the entirely predict-able result.But instead o learning the lessons andchanging course, Robinson continued toturn two blind eyes to these results, as didher allies rom powerul groups such asHuman Rights Watch and Amnesty Inter-national, or whom moral objectives havebecome empty slogans. Te planning orDurban continued apace despite the Ira-nian debacle, with Robinson acting as i nothing signicant had happened. It wasonly aer the NGO Forum at Durban,characterized by blatant anti-Semiticattacks and crude Israel-bashing, thatRobinson was orced to pull back.By then, the damage had been done,and her reputation con-tinues to be tied to theehran-Durban disas-ters. Robinson’s prom-ising career, includingbeing the irst womanto have served as presi-dent o Ireland, and thenas the UN human rightscommissioner, reached adead end, and her cam-paign to become Sec-retary General o theUnited Nations nevergot o the ground.Instead, whenever sheappears on university campuses to speak or accept honorary degrees, particularly in the United States,demonstrators, oten including aculty members, remind her and her support-ers o her Iranian legacy. Members o theU.S. Congress voiced the same criticismswhen she received the Presidential Medalo Freedom in the White House.Tese are important lessons shunnedby Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Terecan be no compromise with the blatantracism, anti-Semitism and other ormso hate heard daily rom the leaders o the Islamic Republic o Iran. Te geno-cidal threats and the requent reerencesto Israel and Zionism as “cancers” haveeven drawn the condemnation o Euro-pean political leaders and ocials. Tehead o the UN’s decision to go to Iran willbe seen as an endorsement o the regime’slegitimacy and another whitewashing o hatred and anti-Semitism, as in Robin-son’s precedent.In addition, Iran has been ound to bein massive violation o its commitmentsunder international agreements — partic-ularly the 1970 Nuclear Non-Prolierationreaty — and is running an illicit nuclearweapons program, as the United NationsSecurity Council (belatedly) determined.Given Iran’s illicit drive or nuclearweapons and penchant or anti-Semitismand hatred, Ban Ki-Moon should haveavoided Mary Robinson’s ate by stayingaway rom ehran.
Gerald M. Steinberg heads NGO Monitor
and isa professor of political science at Bar IlanUniversity.
WorlD ecoNomic Forum
Bn Ki-Moon.
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