Professional Documents
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COM
2014 83
AUGUST 29, 2014
VOL. LXXXIII NO. 51 $1.00
NORTH JERSEY
Indian sabbatical helps
local scholar think about
Hindu-Jewish commonalities
J e w i s h S t a n d a r d
1 0 8 6 T e a n e c k R o a d
T e a n e c k , N J 0 7 6 6 6
C H A N G E S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D
Page 20
FROM NUREMBERG GIRL TO NEW JERSEY MAYOR page 8
FEDERATION HELPS DAY SCHOOLS MAKE THEIR CASE page 10
BY GUM! LOCAL STUDENTS HAVE BRIGHT IDEA page 12
HAVIVA NER-DAVIDS SECOND ACT page 33
Pointing
the way
2 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 22, 2014
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Sun, Sept 7- Oct 12, 8:30-11:45am & Wed,
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JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 3
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PUBLISHERS STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747) is published
weekly on Fridays with an additional edition every October, by the New
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The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard does not
constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of a paid political
advertisement does not constitute an endorsement of any candidate
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any employees.
The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return unsolicited
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unrestricted right to edit and to comment editorially. Nothing may be
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lisher. 2014
NOSHES ...................................................4
OPINION ................................................ 16
COVER STORY ....................................20
TORAH COMMENTARY .................... 31
CROSSWORD PUZZLE .................... 32
ARTS & CULTURE .............................. 33
CALENDAR .......................................... 34
OBITUARIES ........................................ 37
CLASSIFIEDS ...................................... 38
REAL ESTATE ......................................40
CONTENTS
LETTERS, P. 19
We Jews have a serious problem, however, when it
comes to organ donation.
KENNETH PRAGER, MD, ENGLEWOOD
Who vets the Doghouse?
The Doghouse, which bills itself
as Teanecks only kosher sports
restaurant, will finally open at 4 p.m.
this coming Thursday just in time
to catch the Red Sox play at Yankee
Stadium and the Green Bay Packers
play at Seattle that evening.
The restaurant will be certified by
Rabbi Yosef Zuche Blech of Mon-
sey, N.Y. Rabbi Blech literally wrote
the book on kashrut: Kosher Food
Production, published by Wiley-
Blackwell, which sells for $197.94 on
Amazon.
Doghouse mastermind Jonathan
Gellis hired Rabbi Blech after the
Orthodox Union failed to reply to his
application for supervision, and after
he was turned down by the Rabbini-
cal Council of Bergen County. While
neither kashrut organization would
comment on their actions, they had
both been urged not to allow the res-
taurant to open. The argument was
that because it would serve alcohol,
it would set a bad example for Te-
anecks Jewish teenagers.
The restaurant will not serve alco-
hol to minors. (It is, of course, illegal
to do so.)
Mr. Gellis has family roots in the
food business: His grandfathers half-
brother headed the famous Isaac
Gellis company, which began selling
kosher sausages on New Yorks Low-
er East Side in the 19th century. The
company now is owned by the giant
Conagra Foods conglomerate, whose
holdings in the kosher market include
the Hebrew National brand.
The Doghouse, however, will not
be serving the family hotdogs in its
hotdog bar.
Not kosher enough, Mr. Gellis
said.
LARRY YUDELSON
Help a Vanished World develop
From 1935 to 1938, photographer
Roman Vishniac traveled the cities and
shtetls of Eastern and Central Europe,
photographing impoverished Jews for
the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee.
The result was some of the classic im-
ages of pre-Holocaust European Jewry.
They were published in book called A
Vanished World in 1983.
Now Mr. Vishniacs archives are being
digitized by the International Center of
Photography and U.S. Holocaust Me-
morial Museum.
In addition to his JDC work, the ar-
chives include photographs he took in
Germany before and during the Nazi
rise to power.
The first stage, featuring scans of
9,000 of his negatives, can be seen at
vishniac.icp.org.
When she was cataloging and re-
searching the negatives as part of this
project, Maya Benton, a curator at the
photography center, discovered that
at times the photos description on the
contact prints did not always match the
text in the book. Now the center asks for
your help in setting the record straight.
It invites you to look at the online ar-
chives and if you can to help identify the
people and places you see there. - LY
Candlelighting: Friday, August 22, 7:17 p.m.
Shabbat ends: Saturday, August 23, 8:15 p.m.
Sunlight streaming into a railway station, probably the Bahnhof Zoo terminal in
Charlottenburg, Berlin, late 1920s-early 1930s.
MARA VISHNIAC KOHN, COURTESY INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Jewish
schoolchildren,
Mukacevo,
Ukraine,
ca. 193538
MARA VISHNIAC
KOHN, COURTESY
INTERNATIONAL
CENTER OF
PHOTOGRAPHY
Noshes
4 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-4*
Tank you my Jews at CAA.
Comedian Sarah Silverman, thanking her agents as she received an Emmy for
her HBO comedy special Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles
Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard
that they couldnt have
been brothers. Her father,
by the way, actually was
born in New Jersey not
in Poland, like all of Peres
family. In sum, Bacall was
Jewish and a big star
but BARBRA STREISAND
was the first A-list actress
to be, in every way, out-
and-proudly Jewish.
A new version of
Candid Camera
premiered on TV-
Land on August 11. (You
can watch new episodes
on Tuesday nights at 8
p.m. and catch up via
on-demand or on free
websites.) ALLEN FUNT
(1914-1999) created the
program in 1948 and it
ran until 1992, sometimes
on air as a regular weekly
series and sometimes as
a special. Funt always
appeared as the shows
co-host. The new ver-
sion is co-hosted and
produced by Allens son,
PETER FUNT, 67, who has
a distinguished career as
a TV/print journalist. In a
recent Sunday Morning
profile, Peter Funt said
that the program would
be contemporary in that
at times it would address
social issues in a funny
way. The first episode
included a very amusing
and thought-provoking
segment in which cus-
tomers seeking service at
an Arizona tire store were
told that the store served
only gay people and then
were asked if they were
gay. Peters co-host is
the charming and very
Jewish actress MAYIM
BIALIK, 38. She looks
much more stylish as a
co-host than she appears
in character on Big Bang
Theory. N.B.
Lauren Bacall
A TAD JEWISH:
On Lauren Bacall
Barbra Streisand
Peter Funt Mayim Bialik
Let me say at the
top that LAUREN
BACALL was tal-
ented, smart, and beau-
tiful. Also, when most
American Jewish film
fans found out, sometime
in the 1950s, that this A
list actress was Jewish,
there was a little psychic
kvell boost in the Jew-
ish community. But lets
not make her more of a
Jewish pioneer than she
was. Her style and look
was, perhaps, a bit more
urbane than most of her
contemporary female film
stars but they provided
no clue that she was Jew-
ish, and most Americans
didnt know that she was.
Also, while by her own
account she met with a
touch of anti-Semitism at
the start of her career, it
usually was in the form of
bigoted remarks made by
people who didnt know
she was Jewish. Lets
talk turkey: In Hollywood,
Jewish actresses rarely
had/have a problem with
being Jewish. They had/
have a problem if they are
thought to look Jewish,
and therefore somehow
less marketable. Lauren
Bacall didnt have this
problem. She also had
the career backing of
Humphrey Bogarts many
powerful film industry
friends most of them
not Jewish.
Bacall wrote three
memoirs. In them, she
mentions Israel once, in
passing she made a
film there in 1987. Regard-
ing her decision to raise
her children in Bogarts
Episcopal faith, she writes
that she and her husband
agreed that they had to
have some religious iden-
tity and there was a good
Episcopal school nearby,
but the kids had to be
baptized as Episcopalians
to go there so her chil-
dren were baptized and
raised Episcopal. Shes
honest to a point but
lets be frank. Although he
was not an anti-Semite,
Bogart was from a fancy
background, and if his
kids were going to have a
religion, he wasnt going
to let them be raised as
Jews. He was very much
the senior member of the
couple, and his wishes
easily prevailed.
I think the desire to
make Bacall more Jew-
ish than she was is one
reason that the tale of
her being a first cousin of
Israeli President SHIMON
PERES became wide-
spread. I dont have the
space here to go through
the various stories and
how they conflict. Suffice
it to say that the Bacall
and Peres met in Israel in
1987 and probably dis-
cussed whether Bacalls
long-estranged father
(WILLIAM PERSKE) and
Peres (born Perske, or
Persky) were related.
Neither claimed to be
actually related to each
other. As for first cousins
well, that would mean
that Peres father and Ba-
calls father were broth-
ers. Clear records (like
the U.S. census) prove
World Cup notes
I didnt tell you about any Jewish players at the recent
World Cup because I didnt know of any until very
recently. Then, last week, I followed a lead and helped
conirm that DeANDRE YEDLIN, 21, a defender on
the American team who saw action in two World Cup
Games, is Jewish. Born and raised in the Seattle area,
he most recently played for the Sounders professional
team and recently signed with a top British team. His
mother, REBECCA, now a college sports instructor, had
him when she was very young, and he was raised by his
maternal grandfather. DeAndre is now very close to
his mother it doesnt seem like the same is true of his
father (who isnt Jewish). N.B.
DeAndre Yedlin
California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at
Middleoftheroad1@aol.com
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An American tale
Closters mayor talks about her journey from Nuremberg to New Jersey
JOANNE PALMER
A
nyone trying to predict the
course of newborn Sofie Ditt-
manns life in 1928 would have
imagined a solid, possibly even
stolid upper-middle-class life, most likely
in her birth city Nuremberg, Germany.
It would have seemed an odd leap to
imagine Sophie Dittman Heymann as she
is today the Republican mayor of Closter,
coming to the end of her term as she com-
pletes eight years in office.
Her story, as Ms. Heymann tells it,
involves hats, salamis, of course ambition,
and a surprising but logical take on Frank-
lin Delano Roosevelt.
It began with Sofie, as her name then
was spelled, and her younger sister, Ilse,
growing up in a comfortable German-Jew-
ish home. Her father, Fritz Dittmann, a
leather dealer, was a World War I veteran,
and he had earned an Iron Cross fight-
ing for Germany in that war. Her mother,
Gerda, was the daughter of a banker. The
familys life in Germany ended abruptly in
1933, however, when one of her fathers
employees who was a Nazi, but also
very loyal to my father, Ms. Heymann
said warned him that the Nazis would
be coming for him the next day.
The family escaped that night by taxi.
Safely out of Germany, the Dittmanns
wandered through Austria, Italy, and
Switzerland before they settled in France,
where they lived for five years as Mr. Dit-
tmann tried to get the visas that would
allow them to immigrate to the United
States.
My father would go to the consulate
in Lyons every few months to try to get
us visas, Ms. Heymann said. He did that
for five years. But the American govern-
ment required safe conduct passes for
women or at least for my mother and
the Nazis in Nuremberg refused to give one
to her. The family was stuck. Eventually,
though, the consul in Lyon was replaced
by another one. Ms. Heymann does not
know that consuls name, although she
has tried to find it, but she credits her life
to his decency. He gave visas to her family,
as well as to other Jews stuck in Lyons; she
believes he should be recognized among
the righteous in Yad Vashem but has been
unable to learn enough about him to sub-
mit his case for consideration there.
Her parents documentation did not
allow them to work in France, but they
supported themselves by the funds that
they, like other well-to-do Europeans, had
deposited in countries other than their
own. Some of that money was accessi-
ble to them. There wasnt a lot, but the
demands werent very high, Ms. Hey-
mann said. They lived in a working-class
neighborhood in Dijon, and went to school
there.
Where we lived, there werent many
Jews, she said. There was one congrega-
tion of Sephardic Jews from Algeria and
Morocco, and a few refugees started trick-
ling in. My teachers treated me very well,
and my classmates didnt think anything of
my being Jewish.
Still, her parents wanted out. They knew
that the Nazis were coming. Members of
Mr. Dittmanns family had moved to Pal-
estine in 1936 his widowed mother and
her daughter joined them there two years
later and he went to visit them, to see
if living there was a possibility for us, his
daughter said.
It was not.
A man used to comfort and decorum,
he was very disappointed in the way
people lived in Palestine, she said. So that
route to freedom was out.
In 1939, their visas finally came through,
and the family embarked on the ocean
liner Ile de France. At least at first, they
were going to live with their fathers cousin
in Brooklyn
Like many things that sound glamor-
ous, the reality, at least for the 10-year-old
Sofie, was not. Reality revolved around
seasickness.
Berths on ocean crossings came in three
levels, and the Dittmann family traveled on
the middle one, in second class. But the
Mayor Sophie Heymann, third from left in the back row, is surrounded by her children, their spouses, and their children.
Local
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 9
JS-9*
children on the boat were corralled by a
teacher, and we were allowed to go into
first class because thats where the nursery
was, she said. If I hadnt been seasick, it
would have been a very nice voyage.
It also was the little girls first exposure
to Americans and their odd habits. There
were cold water coolers on the deck, Ms.
Heymann said. I thought it was kind of
strange. I asked what they were for, and
they said Americans like cool water, and
I said What?
In France, she said, children did not
drink water at all, no matter the temper-
ature. It wasnt sterilized. They did not
drink milk either it was not pasteurized.
They drank tea water was acceptable
once it was boiled or wine, or tea and
wine mixed together.
On the day the boat docked in New York
Harbor, my mother woke us up very
early in the morning, Ms. Heymann said.
She said that we had to see the Statue of
Liberty.
The boat really should have sunk, she
added. Everyone was standing on the
same side, looking at the statue.
She remembers another boat ride, years
later, with a professional organization.
We had guests from all over the country,
and we took them on a boat ride in the har-
bor. When we got to the Statue of Liberty,
all these Americans all burst out with the
Star-Spangled Banner, all on their own.
Safely in her cousins house on Brook-
lyns Eastern Parkway, Ms. Heymann
met cousins shed heard about but never
known, and they took her roller skating.
Shed never done that before either, and
ended up breaking her leg. For the next
two months, as they adjusted to life lived
in a new language on a new continent,
Sofie also had to adjust to dragging her
plaster-encased leg up and down subway
stairs, in and out of new experiences and
adventures.
Her family moved to the burgeoning
German Jewish colony in Washington
Heights. They Anglicized their names
Sofie became Sophie, Dittmann lost the
last n, and Fritz became Fred.
They learned English, and the children
became trilingual. I spoke French to my
sister, German to my parents, and English
to my classmates, Ms. Heymann said.
Her father never worked again he was
in his 50s, and when we got to America it
was the Depression, Ms. Heymann said.
He was relatively lucky, though, at least
compared to survivors and other refugees
he had been able to get enough money
out to support his family. His adjustment
to his new circumstances was slow he
kept saying My God! And I won an Iron
Cross but he was very realistic about
it. And he still thought that the Germans
did some things very well, and that they
were very efficient. It was hard on her
mother as well; she was quite a young
woman, and she was totally displaced.
When Sophie started school, she did not
yet speak English, so she was put in a class
with children two years younger than she
was. She was moved up regularly, how-
ever, eventually graduating junior high
with older children. Establishing friend-
ships was pretty much out of the ques-
tion when I see my children and their
friends I never had an opportunity like
that, she said. But it was a different time,
and expectations were different.
Next, she went to Hunter High School,
and then on to Hunter College, graduating
at 19. She earned an MBA from NYU, and
then began to work in the garment center.
Throughout all of that, she lived at home.
Her career trajectory began with a
friend who taught me how to be a book-
keeper in two easy lessons, Ms. Heymann
said. She got a job keeping books; her
employer happened to be a milliner. Those
were the days when a hatless woman by
definition was not a well-dressed woman.
They also were the days when a well-
bred woman by definition was not an MBA
student. Ms. Heymann, though, worked
full time during the day and went to night
school for her MBA. There were two or
three other woman who graduated with
me, but I never was in a class with another
woman, she said.
NYU promised that they would place
all their MBA graduates, she continued.
I went to the placement office, and they
looked at my record, and said Were
sorry. We cant find a job for you. I said
I thought that you promised everyone a
job. They said, Yes, but you are a woman,
and our jobs are in banking, and banks
dont hire women.
So Ms. Heymann found her own job,
going through at training program at Alex-
anders, a successful department store
whose niche was low-cost, high-end dis-
counts. She became a buyer, specializing
in hats. Hats had so much more variety
then, she said wistfully. More ornamen-
tation, different fabrics. And our sales
forces had an understanding of how dif-
ferent hat shapes complemented different
face shapes.
She was happy there. She was happy
in general. In 1951, Sophie Dittman mar-
ried Lee ne Leopold Heymann. They
met through a mutual friend. Kurt Silber-
mann, now of River Vale, the longtime
cantor at Temple Emanu-El when it was in
Englewood, and Mr. Heymann had been
friends since childhood, and met again
in this country. Ms. Heymann met Cantor
Silbermann at youth group at Beth Hillel,
the Conservative shul to which they both
belonged.
Mr. Heymann, who had escaped Ger-
many and came to New York alone at 15,
joined the U.S. Army, where he served for
four years. As he established his life here
after the war he used the GI Bill to appren-
tice for an uncle, who was a butcher. Soon
he and a partner went into business for
themselves as Abeles & Heymann, manu-
facturers of salamis, hot dogs, and other
kosher fleischig delights.
The Dittmanns posed
for a formal photo-
graph in Nuremberg;
Sofie stands in front
of her mother.
Gerda and Fred Dittman were part of the German-Jewish com-
munity that flourished in Washington Heights.
Sophie Dittman and
Lee Heymann, shown
here on their wedding
day, shared 50 happy
years.
SEE MAYOR PAGE 30
Local
10 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-10*
Got day school?
Federation launches marketing effort
for nine area Jewish schools
LARRY YUDELSON
Got milk?
That famous advertising campaign has been credited
with raising milk consumption in California.
Now, area day schools are taking a page from the
playbook of the California Milk Processor Board, which
launched the Got Milk campaign. They are band-
ing together to promote the idea of Jewish day school
education.
And just as the California Milk Processor Board brings
together competing dairies, and looks to the Califor-
nia Department of Food and Agriculture to administer
the program, nine cooperating Jewish day schools have
looked to the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey
to administer their campaign.
The campaign launches with the September issue of 201
magazine.
You see students with Israeli flags, reads the ad. We
see future champions of Israel on college campuses.
The ad is part of a multichannel campaign to communi-
cate the important achievements of the schools and their
contribution to Jewish life, said Linda Scherzer of Old
Tappan, who is running the campaign for the federation.
The impetus for the campaign comes from the day
schools. After first banding together a few years ago to
raise money under the NJGives banner, their cooperation
migrated to regular meetings of principals and school
presidents convened by the federation.
Last year, the federation provided the schools with
training to help raise money through bequests.
This new effort was launched in April. It reflects a joint
decision by the schools to redirect the funding the federa-
tion had been given the schools on a per-student basis to
this project.
We can accomplish more together by pool-
ing our resources for a common goal, explained
Rabbi Jonathan Knapp, head of school of the
Yavneh Academy in Paramus.
Through this project, we hope to raise aware-
ness across the broader community about the
benefits of a stellar dual curricular Jewish educa-
tion, he said.
Were trying to educate different audiences
within our community about the value of a Jew-
ish education and the importance of investing in
these schools, Ms. Scherzer said. These are the
schools that produce leaders.
In addition to the advertising campaign,
planned marketing efforts include a short video,
a website, and parlor meetings to take the case
for day schools directly to community leaders.
Were trying to reach influencers within our
community, people on the board of the feder-
ation, the Rockleigh Home, the JCC people
who dont send their children to the Jewish
day schools, who are not normally tuned in to
the value these schools provide, Ms. Scherzer
said.
Thats the first target audience.
The second are former day school parents and current
day school grandparents.
They understand the value and importance of the
schools, she said. Were seeking to remind them of the
importance of putting their dollars into the schools.
Finally, there are parents of kids who are not in the day
school system yet, who might consider sending their kids
there if they understand the value they provide.
Ms. Scherzer describes herself as a Hebrew school drop-
out. But living in Israel for eight years she was a CNN
Movie Jews
Local film maven looks
at cinematic Hebrews
JONATHAN E. LAZARUS
A Lebanese-Christian playing a can-
tors son in the lesser-known ver-
sion of The Jazz Singer?
This and other priceless cin-
ematic lore forms the basis for the
latest Projected Image on Turner
Classic Movies. The popular series
focuses on The Jewish Experience
on Film in five segments that will
air from Tuesday, September 2,
through September 30.
The ambitious effort was guided
and influenced in large part by Eric
Goldman of Teaneck. Dr. Goldman,
the Jewish Standards film critic,
teaches American Jewish history
as reflected through film at Yeshiva
Universitys Stern College. He joins
longtime TCM host Robert Osborne
in introducing, discussing, and con-
textualizing the 22 pictures that
made the final cut.
Bob Osborne is a gentlemans
gentleman, Dr. Goldman declared,
summing up the good vibes given
off during the 10-month project
to evaluate, locate, and curate the
selections. Mr. Goldman was tasked
by TCM producer Gary Freedman,
who reached out to him after read-
ing his book The American Jewish
Story Through Cinema, which was
published last year.
Hes a Jew who loves Israel, Dr. Danny Thomas plays the original Al Jolson role, with Eduard Franz as his father, in the 1952
version of The Jazz Singer.
Jewish Day Schools in Northern New Jersey.
Foundation of Excellence. Cornerstone of our Community.
Jewish
Federation
of Northern
New Jersey takes
pride in our Jewish
day schools which inspire
students with a deep love
for the State of Israel. These
students, infused with a strong
sense of commitment and purpose,
will help lead the pro-Israel movement on
college campuses across North America.
OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY
Jewish Federation
For more information about Jewish day schools in your
community contact LindaS@jfnnj.org | 201.820.3931
Transform Lives. Including Yours.
correspondent there gave her a strong connection to
Israel. To pass that on to her children, and to teach them
Jewish values, she sends them to the Solomon Schechter
Day School of Bergen County in New Milford.
I really feel a strong investment in this effort, she said.
Its crucial for the leaders in our community to under-
stand the value these schools bring to the Jewish commu-
nity, particularly their role in creating leaders for the next
generation.
Local
JS-11*
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 11
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Jewish Day Schools in Northern New Jersey.
Foundation of Excellence. Cornerstone of our Community.
Jewish
Federation
of Northern
New Jersey takes
pride in our Jewish
day schools which inspire
students with a deep love
for the State of Israel. These
students, infused with a strong
sense of commitment and purpose,
will help lead the pro-Israel movement on
college campuses across North America.
OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY
Jewish Federation
For more information about Jewish day schools in your
community contact LindaS@jfnnj.org | 201.820.3931
Transform Lives. Including Yours.
correspondent there gave her a strong connection to
Israel. To pass that on to her children, and to teach them
Jewish values, she sends them to the Solomon Schechter
Day School of Bergen County in New Milford.
I really feel a strong investment in this effort, she said.
Its crucial for the leaders in our community to under-
stand the value these schools bring to the Jewish commu-
nity, particularly their role in creating leaders for the next
generation.
Goldman said of his producer, describing
Mr. Freedman as a strong ally and partner
in the venture. The film critic called the
process of assembling Projected Image
a give-and-take collaboration, and he
praised TCM for its efforts to find the best
prints available, and to remaster and digi-
tize very old, neglected ones.
Dr. Goldman noted that Projected
Image already has tackled series on Native
Americans, Arabs, Latinos, and gays, and
that the movies always have provided a
provocative backdrop for religious, ethnic,
and cultural groups whose members have
been persecuted or marginalized.
In the end, Im quite pleased with the
selections, Dr. Goldman said. My sug-
gestion to viewers is to take the histori-
cal framework of the film and consider
what it was trying to do and when it was
made. As an example, he cited The
House of Rothschild, released in 1934
just on the cusp of the Hollywood code.
It stars George Arliss and will air during
the September 23 show titled Tackling
Prejudice.
Dr. Goldman explained that Hollywoods
only major non-Jewish mogul, Darryl F.
Zanuck of 20th Century-Fox, made Roths-
child where his colleagues feared to tread.
The film calls unflattering attention to Jews
of the period as moneylenders, a vocation
into which they were forced by the restric-
tive laws of European nations.
Mr. Zanuck, whom Dr. Goldman
describes as ardently philo-Semitic,
showed courage in green-lighting the
production, which some viewers today
might view as politically incorrect or
squirm-inducing because of the stereo-
types it includes. Mr. Zanuck continued
to play the role of maverick, accord-
ing to Dr. Goldman; he also produced
the groundbreaking 1947 Gentlemans
Agreement, starring Gregory Peck and
John Garfield, which will air the same
night as Rothschild.
Two versions of The Jazz Singer will
open the Projected Image as it debuts
on September 2 in a segment called The
Evolving Jew. The 1927 movie, starring
Al Jolson, famously was ballyhooed as
the first feature-length talkie. Mr. Jolson,
of course, was Jewish. The lesser-known
1952 remake thrusts Danny Thomas, a
comedian of Lebanese-Christian ancestry,
into the role of the cantors son who must
choose between a Broadway career and
his religious obligations.
For Dr. Goldman, thats just another
example of Hollywoods tendency to cast
non-Jewish actors in Jewish roles. The bal-
ance of the opening evenings offerings,
under the heading of The Immigrant
Experience, are Hester Street (1965)
and Avalon (1990).
Israeli productions will be screened in
later segments. Dr. Goldman said that the
1964 film Sallah provided him with his
first glimpse of Israel. Calling it a touch
anti-British, he said that it was difficult
for him and Mr. Freedman to track down a
print. They eventually found a copy in, of
all places, the British Film Institute.
Robert Osborne, left, chats with Dr. Eric Goldman during a session of Projected
Image on The Jewish Experience on Film.
Local
12 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-12*
As easy as chewing gum
Sweet Bites launches program to prevent tooth decay
LOIS GOLDRICH
Convincing children to chew gum is easy.
Distributing gum that prevents tooth decay
to children in urban slums is a bit trickier.
Still, given the success they enjoyed dur-
ing their pilot year in India, the creators of
Sweet Bites stand a good chance of making
widespread gum distribution a reality.
According to 22-year-olds Josh Tycko
of Demarest and Eric Kauderer-Abrams
of Englewood, who joined with several
friends at the University of Pennsylvania
this year to found the group, tooth decay
has been a terrible burden on the lives of
millions of slum dwellers.
Sweet Bites wants to popularize the use
of 100 percent xylitol-sweetened gum to
reverse the trend. The students point out
that clinical trials in both the United States
and India have proved the gums efficacy
in re-mineralizing enamel and reducing
tooth decay.
The Sweet Bites project has been nomi-
nated for a Hult Prize, which aims to iden-
tify and launch compelling social business
ideas. Partnered with the Clinton Global
Initiative, it challenges teams to create a
business plan to solve grave global prob-
lems. Winners receive $1 million in seed
capital, as well as mentorship and advice
from the international business commu-
nity. Sweet Bites won a regional competi-
tion in Boston this spring. Its creators are
looking forward to the next, and final,
decision in September.
Mr. Tycko, a math and biology major,
said that the idea for Sweet Bites took
shape in December, but the college friends
had been brainstorming wacky ideas for
quite some time before that.
We had a really complicated plan for
a diabetes diagnostic device based on
the field of biology research, he said.
We were going down the wrong path
for a while. We realized that complicated
high-tech strategies do not work in
these environments. The largest hur-
dle is making sure a project is culturally
appropriate.
The chewing gum idea answered all
those problems. Its very easy to embed a
health care solution into something people
already love.
We had always wanted to do something
together, said Mr. Kauderer-Abrams, a
recent University of Pennsylvania gradu-
ate. After throwing around ideas, one team
member came up with the idea of bringing
the gum to the developing world.
We got really excited about it, Mr.
Kauderer-Abrams said, adding that the
friends also recently learned about the
Hult Prize. We worked on it all semester
and then presented a business plan to a
panel of judges in Boston. As a result, we
were accepted into a summer incubator,
allowing the group to pilot the project in
India during of July. Funding came from
Hult, the university, and the Wharton
School, he said, as well as from a crowd-
funding appeal on indiegogo.com.
Because co-founder Morgan Snyder
already had worked with an NGO in Ban-
galore, the Sweet Bites team decided to
incubate the venture in India.
According to Mr. Tycko, Bangalore was a
good place to launch the initiative.
Its the start-up capital of India, he
said, comparing it to New York, Boston,
and the Silicon Valley in the United States.
In addition, he said, it is where xylitol is
manufactured.
While the people in Bangalore liked the
gum, offered in three flavors, they didnt
Above, Josh Tycko with children in Bangalore, India, considered the nations start-up capital. Inset, Eric Kauderer-Abrams.
Local
JS-13
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 13
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like the cinnamon, Mr. Tycko said, noting that they
generally preferred fruity flavors. Sweet Bites now
uses privately produced gum, but were trying to ver-
tically integrate to drive costs down, he said, explain-
ing that Sweet Bites hopes to set up its own gum manu-
facturing facility.
Weve brought locals on board to put together
what we need or local production, he said, adding
that while none of the five group founders has direct
experience setting up a factory, he is confident that
they will succeed.
Mr. Tycko said the best way to reach people in a
marginalized community is through the mom and
pop shops, which are everywhere. They get smaller
and smaller the deeper you go into tiny neighbor-
hoods, with winding pedestrian streets. Those are the
perfect distribution points. The kids go with pocket
change to buy gum and candy.
The vendors are interested, he said, and a few of
them have been brought into the project.
Our experience in India was incredible. Life chang-
ing, Mr. Kauderer-Abrams said. I didnt know what
to expect. At Penn we were used to doing business in a
certain way, by phone or email. There you couldnt do
that. We had to find a way of operating. To find some-
one, we had to just show up at their office or house.
This was an idea before we went; now its a reality,
he continued. We went with lots of gum and some
promotional materials. Now its being sold in more
than 50 stores around the city.
Sweet Bites also arranged for student ambassadors,
as they are called, to run educational programs for
children in 20 local schools to teach them about oral
health. Now 40 schools host the program.
Were trying to secure partnerships with NGOs and
large organizations that can help us, Mr. Kauderer-
Abrams said, adding that the team hopes the project
will become self-sustaining through the sales of gum in
corner stores and in markets.
If Sweet Bites wins the Hult Prize, it will enable them
to set up a factory and to get it going for the first year
or so of operation, Mr. Tycko said. The name of the
game is to make gum as cheaply as possible, taking
shipping costs out of the equation.
Step two, he said, is to build up brand awareness
through marketing and media.
The idea now is for us to win, he said, but whether
they win or lose the prize, the project will continue,
and four locals have already been brought on board,
distributing a crazy number of pieces of gum, tens of
thousands. In addition, teammate Thoba Grenville-
Grey still is in India, moving the project forward.
The word has gotten out, Mr. Kauderer-Abrams
said. This week we received tons of offers from other
countries governments and private individuals to
bring the program to them. Were talking with peo-
ple in Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Turkey, Cambodia,
and Laos. We need to set up manufacturing as quickly
as possible.
The Clinton Global Initiative will host the final round
of the Hult competition on September 23.
I think we have a good chance, Mr. Kauderer-
Abrams said. But were doing this with or without
winning. Its exciting to see that we can go out and
accomplish high-impact things.
Its rare you get an opportunity to set up a com-
pany, said Mr. Tycko, who now is finishing up his
work at the university. (He took a semester off to work
on medical research.) He looks forward to a light
semester, giving him plenty of time to work on Sweet
Bites.
Local
14 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-14*
JEC hires new funding director
The Jewish Educational Center
of Elizabeth which includes
the Yeshiva of Elizabeth, Bru-
riah High School, and Rav
Teitz Mesivta Academy hired
Andrew Schultz of Fair Lawn
as its new director of institu-
tional advancement.
Mr. Schultz has 13 years
of communal experience,
most recently as the execu-
tive director of Community Alliance for
Jewish-Affiliated Cemeteries.
His objectives at JEC, he said,
include increasing the number
of new donors, particularly
alumni who have not yet made
a charitable commitment to
the JEC.
He and his wife Jessica have
three sons, Ari, Coby, and Rafi.
To speak to Mr. Schultz, call
(908) 355-4850, ext. 6206, or
email him at aschultz@thejec.org.
Andrew Schultz
NCJW bolsters emergency aid
for two Israel womens centers
At its board meeting on August 12, the Ber-
gen County section of the National Council
of Jewish Women voted to send $1,000 to
NCJW Inc.s Emergency Grant Fund. The
fund supports NCJW programs in Israel
including Women to Women Jerusalem
Shelter for Battered Women and the Eden
Residential Treatment Center for Teenage
Girls.
NCJW Inc.s emergency grant helped
fund a respite retreat from the blare of
sirens for mothers and their children at the
Jerusalem Shelter. The victims of domestic
violence, they live in the shelters halfway
house in the south of Israel, near the mis-
sile attacks from Gaza. The Eden Residential
Treatment Center for Teenage Girls is just a
mile from the Gaza border.
Yoni Greenberg returns for holidays
at Jewish Center of Teaneck
Jonathan Zev Yoni Green-
berg of Teaneck will be at the
Jewish Center of Teaneck to
assist Rabbi Lawrence Zierler
as the baal Shacharit and baal
Tokea for the upcoming High
Holy Days.
Mr. Greenberg has more
than 17 years of experience
as a baal tefillah and Torah
reader in congregations across
the Northeast and as the High
Holy Day cantor at Beth Israel
Synagogue in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.
He comes from a long line of
cantors and rabbis and has
been a member of youth cho-
rales and a cappella groups.
The center will provide free
child care for children 3 and
older on both days of Rosh
Hashanah and on Yom Kippur,
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Snacks
will be served.
The JCT is at 70 Sterling
Place. Call (201) 833-0515, ext.
200.
Jonathan Zev
Greenberg
MICHAEL LAVES
Wayne shul takes Shabbat outdoors
More than 75 people came to Shomrei Torah Wayne Conservative Congrega-
tions Shabbat Under the Stars barbecue and services earlier this month.
NJ campers and staff at Camp Kaylie
Campers from New Jersey who were at Camp Kaylie this summer wave greetings. The camp operates under the umbrella of Ohel
Childrens Home and Family Services.
Modern Israel history talk in Closter
Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner recently gave an overview of modern Israeli history and a
talk about the situation the nation now faces to an audience of nearly 300 at Temple
Emanu-El in Closter.
C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y
S
H
O
M
R
E
I
T
O
R
A
H
C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y
T
E
M
P
L
E
E
M
A
N
U
-
E
L
C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y
O
H
E
L
The holidays
after loss
The Glen Rock Jewish Center is host-
ing a lecture Handling the Holidays
After Loss on Thursday, September
4, at 12:30 p.m. The program is jointly
sponsored with GRJC, Villa Marie
Claire, and Holy Name Hospice.
Guest speakers are Lenore Guido, a
bereavement counselor at Holy Name
Hospice, and Tracey Arnauer, a hos-
pice liaison at Holy Name Hospice and
Villa Marie Claire. Ms. Guido, who has
a masters in clinical psychology, facil-
itates bereavement groups and pro-
vides grief counseling. Ms. Arnauer
has a masters in social work and is a
licensed clinical social worker.
The GRJC is at 682 Harristown Road.
For information, call (201) 652-6624, or
email office@grjc.org.
JS-15
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 15
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Learning from our day schools
O
ne of the reasons that
Jewish unity shone so
brightly as the sole light
of this horrible summer
is that unity is such a scarce commod-
ity among us.
It has been thus since the 10 sons of
Israel sold their brother Joseph into
slavery, and later 10 tribes of Israel
broke away from Solomons kingdom.
As Romans lay siege to Jerusalem in
that most horrific summer centuries
ago, Jews within the walls fought over
how to respond.
And if Jewish unity has seldom
reached that depth again, in our time
we have seen how even well-meaning
Jewish organizations with a common
goal have found themselves at cross-
purposes, prey to institutional pride
and jealousy.
This is what makes the story we
report on page 10 remarkable as
well as admirable: Nine local Jew-
ish day schools, both Orthodox and
Conservative, have joined to create a
common campaign to promote day
schools as the cornerstone of our
community. Even more impressive
is that this joint activity is not new;
it began a few years back, when the
schools banded together under the
umbrella of NJGives, and then contin-
ued as day school leaders met under
the auspices of the Jewish Federation
of Northern New Jersey. In so doing,
they placed the groundwork for the
present initiative.
Our day schools are a key pillar of
Jewish education in our community.
In working together, they have an
important lesson for us all. LY
KEEPING THE FAITH
Synagogue
or sin-agog?
F
our words leaped out at me in studying
this Shabbats Torah reading: Lo tasig gvul
rei-achah Do not move your neighbors
boundary marker.
Nearly 20 years ago, I used a mailing list I had to
invite people to join a start-up congregation. On that
list, however, were members of other synagogues. I
was guilty, albeit unintentionally, of hasagat gvul,
moving my neighbors boundary marker. When this
was called to my attention, I sent a personal letter of
apology to all of that congregations members.
Hasagat gvul is not a throwaway phrase. It is a very
serious proscription.
It is theft, pure and simple, but of a subtle kind.
Imagine two poorly arable fields existing side by side.
On one side, the owner invests in improving irriga-
tion and nourishing the soil. The crops on that side
are plentiful and lush. On
the other side, the owner
refuses to make such an
investment. Instead, he
plants his crops near the
edge of his neighbors field
in such a way that the roots
travel under the bound-
ary marker into the richer
soil on the other side. In
essence, he is stealing his
neighbors livelihood.
Over the years since I
have been with my syna-
gogue, Temple Israel Community Center | Congrega-
tion Heichal Yisrael in Cliffside Park, we have sent out
similar mass mailings, but with two essential modifica-
tions. First, we eliminated addresses in towns already
served by a Conservative synagogue, and we began
our letters with this sentence: If you already belong
to a synagogue, please ignore this letter any syna-
gogue, not just a Conservative one.
This is the season when people look for a synagogue
to join, and when synagogues send out similar mass
mailings. There is nothing wrong with that, unless
they include people who live in towns already served
Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of Temple Israel
Community Center | Congregation Heichal Yisrael in
Cliffside Park and Temple Beth El of North Bergen.
16 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-16
Smelling roses,
naming terrorists
J
uliet asked a question:
Whats in a name? that
which we call a rose
By any other name would
smell as sweet
She is, of course, correct. If your
friend hands you a full, deep-colored,
fragrant rose, and tells you that it is
stinkwort (which, by the way, is an
actual thing), it wouldnt smell like
stinkwort. It still would smell like a
rose.
But what if there really was no rose?
What if your friend took some stink-
wort, renamed it rose, and told you
to smell it? It still would smell like
stinkwort.
To paraphrase:
Whats in a name? that which we
call a militant
By any other name would be as
innocent
The word militant has a neat,
official sound, because it evokes
echoes of the military, all in straight
lines, standing stiffly on parade. A
militant is just someone who feels
very strongly about something, and
takes action to fix it, right? Its all
about fixing the world, isnt it?
The word terrorist doesnt evoke
daylight or right angles. Its at least
straightforward. Its about fear. Its
about horror. Its about darkness and
evil, death and mud and filth.
We know that news outlets want
to use the word militant because
there is something inherently politi-
cal about deciding who is to be called
a terrorist; in a politicized world one
persons hero is someone elses vil-
lain. There are no doubt times when
it is unwise, unsafe, or just plain inac-
curate to use the label terrorist.
But anyone who beheads anyone
else is a terrorist.
As the unbearably terrible story
of the foul murder of James Foley
was told, the savages who murdered
him were called militants. They are
not. They are psychopaths. They are
monsters.
They are terrorists.
It doesnt help when news outlets,
ranging from National Public Radio
to the Times of Israel, go all mealy-
mouthed, writing about the militants
who kidnap, torture, and behead. Its
as if we should refrain from calling
them names because if we arent so
nasty to us, maybe theyll be nice to
us. Maybe theyll even like us.
No, they wont.
We are faced with a waking-night-
mare threat from enemies who wish
us dead. That, it seems increasingly
clear, is true for Israel, for the United
States, for Jews, for Westerners in
general.
We cannot possibly best those ene-
mies if we cannot call them what they
really are.
Language matters. Honesty mat-
ters. Words matter.
A terrorist by any name is evil. JP
Shammai
Engelmayer
Opinion
by a synagogue of the same stream.
Recently, a Conservative synagogue in a town bor-
dering ours sent similar invitations to my congregants,
even though they lived in communities we directly
serve, especially Cliffside Park itself. It would be easy
to dismiss this hasagat gvul violation as unintentional,
but not for one thing: The synagogue has done this
several times in the past.
It is not the only one. Over the years, there has been
an unseemly development in synagogues generally.
Lay leaders want their shuls to run the way businesses
run. This is a good thing if it means the shuls financial
affairs and office must be run in a businesslike way. If
it means the shul should engage in the same cutthroat
competitive practices common in the business world,
there is something terribly wrong. This is not Stop n
Shop vs. ShopRite. This is one khillah kdoshah (holy
congregation) vs. another khillah kdoshah and it
is a sin.
Shuls never should be in competition with each
other. They never should be engaged in trying to cut
the ground out from under another shul. If we are
one people, one community, we should be engaged in
helping each other stay alive, and even thrive.
Two years ago, a distressed synagogue in a commu-
nity to the south of Cliffside Park hired a new rabbi.
The Friday night that he assumed the pulpit, members
of my synagogue and I attended services, as a show of
solidarity and friendship.
In the months that followed, and with the rabbis
enthusiastic blessing, we offered help when needed.
When the rabbi was planning to be away, for example,
he would ask us to send one of our prayer leaders to
help run services that Shabbat. We held some events
jointly, such as a Yom Hashoah service and Slichot.
Last year, when Rosh Hashanah fell in the waning days
of an unusually hot summer, and the shuls air condi-
tioning system was not working, we suggested that it
come to us for the High Holy Days, keeping the income
from seats it sold for itself. It did not take us up on that
offer, but it was appreciated.
We were not vultures circling overhead, but fellow
Jews wanting to help a sister synagogue survive in its
own building, with its history and culture intact. It did
not even bother us to learn that the synagogue was
reaching out to other synagogues much nearer than
ours looking for a merger. We saw it as a way for that
synagogue to continue to serve its community.
As it happened, there were no serious merger pos-
sibilities nearer to home, and the synagogue, Temple
Beth El of North Bergen, eventually came to us. From
the start, we approached our discussions with the
mantra a merger of equals. We have proceeded on
that basis since then, despite huge disparities in mem-
bership units and bank accounts, and despite the fact
that a merger will require us to expend funds to main-
tain two buildings for an undeterminable amount of
time, which could put us at risk down the line.
Businesses do not run that way (although Jewish-
owned businesses should). Synagogues, which at their
core are the symbols of Jewish life and Jewish values
in their communities, must run that way.
There are hordes of unaffiliated Jews out there.
Rather than trying to shut shuls down by attracting
away people who are members, we should be pool-
ing our resources to find better ways to fill them up by
attracting those who are not.
JS-17
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 17
KEEPING THE FAITH
Synagogue
or sin-agog?
F
our words leaped out at me in studying
this Shabbats Torah reading: Lo tasig gvul
rei-achah Do not move your neighbors
boundary marker.
Nearly 20 years ago, I used a mailing list I had to
invite people to join a start-up congregation. On that
list, however, were members of other synagogues. I
was guilty, albeit unintentionally, of hasagat gvul,
moving my neighbors boundary marker. When this
was called to my attention, I sent a personal letter of
apology to all of that congregations members.
Hasagat gvul is not a throwaway phrase. It is a very
serious proscription.
It is theft, pure and simple, but of a subtle kind.
Imagine two poorly arable fields existing side by side.
On one side, the owner invests in improving irriga-
tion and nourishing the soil. The crops on that side
are plentiful and lush. On
the other side, the owner
refuses to make such an
investment. Instead, he
plants his crops near the
edge of his neighbors field
in such a way that the roots
travel under the bound-
ary marker into the richer
soil on the other side. In
essence, he is stealing his
neighbors livelihood.
Over the years since I
have been with my syna-
gogue, Temple Israel Community Center | Congrega-
tion Heichal Yisrael in Cliffside Park, we have sent out
similar mass mailings, but with two essential modifica-
tions. First, we eliminated addresses in towns already
served by a Conservative synagogue, and we began
our letters with this sentence: If you already belong
to a synagogue, please ignore this letter any syna-
gogue, not just a Conservative one.
This is the season when people look for a synagogue
to join, and when synagogues send out similar mass
mailings. There is nothing wrong with that, unless
they include people who live in towns already served
To a daughter
on her way to Israel
W
e spend much of Thursday
at Marshalls.
What do you think? I
ask you, frowning. Here.
Add up these numbers. I read you the mea-
surements of the cute red wheelie bag, and
you punch the figures into your phone.
It comes to 44, Mom. Perfect! Perfect
for El Al, that is. Height plus width plus
depth, the dimensions of your carry-on lug-
gage may not exceed 45 inches.
Thats great, sweetie! I say cheerfully,
and we wheel it to the cashier. One more
thing we can cross off the list.
Truthfully, I am in complete denial. In a few days, you
will be flying to Israel, where you will spend your gap year
at a seminary in Jerusalem. Any other year, I would merely
be crying my eyes out because my little girl is all grown up.
But this year, I am riven with anxiety.
You know why. Rockets are falling. All over Israel, civil-
ians are running for bomb shelters. Palestinians in East
Jerusalem neighborhoods are rioting. Hamas is gleefully
warning of terrorist attacks and targeting Ben Gurion air-
port. As I write this, an American yeshiva boy is missing,
last seen hiking in the Jerusalem Forest. And lets not for-
get that anti-Jewish sentiments are raging worldwide at a
level not seen since 1945.
So, along with shopping for knee-length skirts and argu-
ing over how many pairs of shoes you should take, I find
myself questioning my sanity. What kind of a parent sends
her petted, beloved child into a war zone?
We are stuffing 15 pairs of shoes into a rolling duffel.
I fret that the pocket on the side of the bag takes the
dimensions to 65, a full three inches over the limit. So
we dont put anything in the pocket. Again, I tell you,
This is your opportunity to meet Jews from all over the
world, from faraway cities, countries, and continents.
Walk the land, immerse yourself in the culture, say yes
to new experiences, see amazing sights you can never
see here. I want you to fall in love with Israel. But inside
my mind, I am screaming, Stay with the group! Dont go
anywhere by yourself! Let people know where you are
at all times! Dont get in a taxi! Dont get on a bus! Dont
talk to strangers! These words buzz at the back of my
brain, desperate to get out, like a fly batting itself against
a closed window.
Finally, were done shopping. We bought all those Amer-
ican products that cost twice as much if you buy them in
Israel. The book you were supposed to read over the sum-
mer has been downloaded onto a Kindle. The pretty new
sheets you picked out for your dorm room will be deliv-
ered to your apartment building, as will your Israeli sim
card. We stuff in a travel clock and a travel mug, a leather
diary for recording your thoughts, a set of machzors, sum-
mer and winter wardrobes, a sleeping bag for camping
trips, shoes for hiking through deserts and rivers.
Time to zip up your bags. I sit on the duffel to smush
all the extra air out of it, and look, now your Uggs will
fit. I watch as you, my lovely, bright, capable daughter,
hoist the heavy bag in your graceful arms and step on the
scale. It weighs 48 pounds, just below the allowable 50. I
exult, Great! Now you can take your gluten-free noodles!
Privately, Im thinking, Is it too late to pull out
and just go straight to college?
When you go out to buy Luna bars, I troll
the Israeli news sites, worrying myself sick
over each new development. I gaze at the
map of the Middle East, at the tiny sliver that
is Israel, registering anew how it is dwarfed
by the surrounding Arab countries, a tiny
island of hope, progressive thinking, and
democracy in a region of pitiless religious
fanaticism. This is tearing me apart. Are we
doing the right thing?
After I graduated high school, I went on
Hachshara, a year-long Bnei Akiva program
focusing on kibbutz, hiking, Jewish history, and Torah
learning. Torah VAvodah. It was a year that changed my
life.
I collected eggs from furious chickens. I washed mud
from potatoes the size of shoes. I shook the soil from
peanut plants and turned them over to dry in the sun. I
walked the walls of the Old City. I shopped for shirts in
the Arab shuk. With a pickax and then a brush, I exca-
vated the floor of a Herodian palace in Jericho. I discov-
ered that I had claustrophobia by crawling through caves.
I fell madly and irrevocably in love with the undulating
wilderness of the Judean desert. I listened with astonish-
ment as our Morah Derech planted us before a plain sur-
rounded by rolling hills and described the battles that took
place there thousands of years earlier, battles fought by
King David, the Maccabees, and more recently, the Israeli
Army. I read Stephen King and Kurt Vonnegut. I read Exo-
dus. I read The Source. God help me, I read Portnoys
Complaint. I picked apples, I stood before purple fields
of cotton swaying with the breeze, I climbed through the
ruins of ancient synagogues and Roman ports. I lived with
Jews from New York, Texas, Mexico, and California. I hung
out with Jews from England, France, Africa, Sweden, Nor-
way, India, and Ireland.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most intense, impor-
tant, and formative years of my life. And despite my logi-
cal, well-founded, and rational fears, I want you to have
these experiences, too. We may live in New Jersey, but
Israel is our homeland, our past, and our future.
At last, the bags are checked. The El Al terminal at JFK is
filled with throngs of happy teenagers and their parents. I
wonder, are they worried too? You wave hello to girls who
pass by, girls in pajamas, girls hugging teddy bears, girls
you knows from school, or camp, or the volunteer ambu-
lance corps, or shul. I smile, smile, smile. If I dont smile,
I will burst into tears.
You see, I am just now realizing that in addition to what-
ever is going on in Israel, a chapter in our lives is coming
to an end. You are boarding that plane as my little girl. By
the time you return to us a year from now, you will have
become an independent woman.
You would be embarrassed if you knew I was writing all
this down, so I am typing it while you are still airborne,
soaring through the skies over Europe. I wish for you a
year of growth. I wish for you a year of insights, of mar-
velous experiences, deep friendships, and unforgettable
sights. I wish for you a year of learning and laughter. But
mostly, I find, I wish for you a year of peace.
Helen
Maryles
Shankman
Opinion
18 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-18
Carpe diem and around again
R
osh Chodesh marks the new
month, another lunar cycle
where we can begin again.
This phenomenon implies a
new hope, ushering our approach from
darkness to light as the new moon begins
its journey toward fullness. Similarly, Rosh
Hashanah fits this mold on a larger scale.
We prepare for a new beginning, readying
ourselves, in prayer, to be inscribed and
sealed in the Book of Life. Also coincid-
ing with the High Holidays is the school
year, which is a kind of new beginning of
its own. Id like to think of the new moons,
months, and seasons as new beginnings.
Opportunities to start fresh.
As I began writing this column, my
plan was to expand on the concept of the
school year and how it connects to Rosh
Hashanah, the New Year.
How we get to start class,
the next grade up, with fresh
eyes; how we have a chance
to reform any negative hab-
its from the previous school
year; how we find ourselves
excited about new subjects,
classmates, and teachers;
how we stand at the ready
in anticipation for what this
new school year may bring.
I planned to throw in something about
Labor Day as well. I even planned a cute
little analogy of apples and honey to an
apple for the teacher.
And then Robin Williams happened.
I use the word happened as a safe
medium between those who argue that
his depression was an illness
over which he had no more
control than if it had been,
say, a virus, versus those who
argue that he actively chose
to kill himself. I hold what I
deem to be a more construc-
tive approach that Robin
Williams died by suicide as
a result of his depression.
Thats what happened.
In the wake of this tragedy,
there has been much public communica-
tion about depression and suicide. I can
go on and on about how important it is to
have such dialogue (as I mentioned in my
February 14 column, I have bipolar disor-
der), and I can try to navigate through the
details of his later months, but Id rather
do neither. Instead, Id like to find some-
thing positive to relate to by focusing on
his life.
Some readers are scratching their heads
now, wondering how Williamss life has
anything to do with the Jewish New Year.
As we approach the holidays, I as a
human being who, naturally, wants to put
order to chaos, make sense of something
tragic, and find some trace of a silver lining
want to talk about what we might learn
from his body of work as well as from his
persona.
Williamss comedic timing and dra-
matic touch popped right off the screen;
he made us laugh and put us in awe. He
was known for his quick wit and manic
ramblings, accompanied by an exuber-
ance that was contagious. We see this in
Dena Croog
Why Ferguson matters to Jews
S
tanding on the parted
shores of history, we still
believe what we were
taught before ever we
stood at Sinais foot:
That wherever we go, it is eternally
Egypt; that there is a better place, a prom-
ised land; that the winding way to that
promise passes through the wilderness.
That there is no way to get from here
to there except by joining hands, march-
ing together.
This passage is read every Friday night
at my synagogue, Barnert Temple, and I
am moved each time it is read. Ever since
I was a teenager, I would picture Rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel and Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. walking hand in hand in
1965, marching for voting rights in Selma,
Alabama.
Rabbi Heschel famously said, Our legs
uttered songs. Even without words, our
march was worship. I felt my legs were
praying. There was such incredible unity
among clergy of different faiths in the
fight for equal rights and privileges. I have
always been proud that Jewish Americans
marched arm in arm with black Ameri-
cans, fighting for justice during the civil
rights movement.
Unfortunately, the issues that Dr.
King and Rabbi Heschel protested have
not gone away. Ferguson, Missouri has
become symbolic of how much change
is still necessary in the struggle to defeat
institutionalized racism.
Why should Jews care? Why do the
events in Ferguson matter
to us?
My friend Jared is a black
Jewish man. He wrote a har-
rowing personal story in the
Jewish Week about driving
home from a Purim party.
Jared was the designated
driver for hi s group of
friends. He was pulled over
by a police officer and told
to walk in a straight line to
prove his sobriety. After this,
he was accused of plotting to
conspire in acts of terrorism!
When 10 policemen pointed guns at
his head, Jared began reciting the Shema
under his breath. Luckily, he made it
home, uninjured, without having been
arrested. As Jared told me this story, he
said somberly, I was almost another
Michael Brown.
There are far too many stories like Jar-
eds that reflect the prejudice that per-
vades our country. Too many people are
afraid to walk near police. Too many peo-
ple are afraid that their children will never
come home.
If you have light skin like me, you prob-
ably dont worry about people following
you around in stores because they worry
that you might steal something. If you
do steal something, you probably wont
have to worry about getting killed by
the police. If someone near you is hurt,
you probably wont be the first person
blamed.
If you are caught with mar-
ijuana, you probably wont
be arrested. In fact, you are
four times less likely than
someone with darker skin
to be arrested for marijuana
possession.
If you have light skin, you
have the power to be under-
stood and listened to. Your
status can be used to help
change our system by being
an advocate for equality and
transparency.
This weeks Torah portion, Shoftim,
teaches that unlawful action is the indi-
rect responsibility of the community. If a
murdered persons body is found lying in
an open field, the nearest governing body
must sacrifice a healthy young cow. The
people then plead with God, asking to be
free of guilt for this death. With the gov-
erning body attempting to prove its inno-
cence, the underlying implication is that
the community has transgressed and must
acknowledge its role in this loss of human
life in order to be forgiven.
This is a beautiful example of how we
Jews have an obligation to seek out justice
on behalf of those who suffer, whether
they are Jewish or not.
Justice, justice shall you pursue, God
insists. In other words, God says: Be my
hands. Create a just world. Listen to those
who cry out. Remember that we are all
together.
Rabbi Heschel said, In a free society,
some are guilty; all are responsible. How
true this is.
Here are eight things we can do to make
a difference. Pick one today (google key-
words to find them online):
1. Organize a discussion within your
community or perhaps host a workshop
on conflict-resolution or view a documen-
tary about race in America.
2. When people focus on the small
minority of looters in Ferguson or on
Michael Browns theft at a convenience
store, remind them that killing someone
who is unarmed is never justified.
3. Share news articles about Ferguson
on your social media pages. Keep your
friends in the loop about whats going on.
4. Sign the petition to create Michael
Brown Law, which would make police
action more transparent.
5. Donate to the St. Louis Area Food
Bank.
6. Donate to the National Lawyers Guild,
which helps protesters who have been
arrested in Ferguson.
7. Donate to the Michael Brown Memo-
rial Fund to help Michael Browns family
with legal fees.
8. Write to your local clergy organiza-
tions to ask how we can work together to
spread awareness and pray for peace.
There is no way to get from here to
there, except by joining hands, marching
together.
Thalia Halpert Rodis of Glen Rock is a
Hebrew school teacher and writer.
Thalia
Halpert
Rodis
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Letters
JS-19
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 19
Organ donation a mitzvah
I agree entirely with your editorials main point
that the N.Y. Times rarely misses an opportunity to
give a black eye to religion in general and to Judaism
and Israel in particular (Whats up with the Times?
August 22). I cant recall the last article that showed
religious Jews in a positive light.
We Jews have a serious problem, however, when it
comes to organ donation. It is a fact that Israeli Jews
have been in the forefront of illegal and unethical
transplant tourism, where Jewish patients in need
of a kidney have no ethical qualms about exploiting
impoverished people in poor countries who are paid
relatively little to donate their kidneys. This is chillul
Hashem desecration of Gods name on a grand
scale.
In addition, the unwillingness of many posekim
(halachic decisors) on the right wing of the halachic
spectrum to recognize brain death as death (although
many learned Orthodox posekim do accept brain
death) and thereby relegate Jews to becoming takers
but never donors of vital organs other than live kid-
ney donations is a further stain. These posekim say
that it is murder to remove vital organs from brain-
dead patients for transplant, but they allow Jews to
accept these organs. It would seem ethically and hala-
chically more correct to disallow Jews from accepting
organs from patients whom they view as having been
murdered.
I am a proud member of the board of the Halachic
Organ Donor Society. HODS seeks to educate Jews
about the mitzvah of organ donation and to teach
them that there are many esteemed Orthodox pose-
kim who accept the brain dead definition of death.
But we have a long way to go. Until Jews become
less prominent in the ugly field of black market organ
donation, and become more willing to donate as well
as to accept organs, we can be sure that these facts will
be grist for the mills of those who wish to show Jews
and Judaism in a negative light.
Kenneth Prager, MD
Englewood
Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, and countless other per-
formances, as well as in interviews and comedy clips.
I witnessed this once in real life, when, in between
takes for a movie, he entertained the crew with flail-
ing arms and, from my vantage point, inaudible ram-
blings. He had everyone in stitches. I had no idea what
he was saying only that there were a whole lot of
smiling faces. Robin Williams made us laugh.
As I see it, few endeavors are more important than
providing happiness to others. Williamss humor
uplifted many people, and I would like to think that
for each laugh or smile he extracted, he was credited
with a mitzvah. We could all strive to bring more joy
and happiness to others.
Even in his more dramatic performances, Williams
showed an awareness and appreciation for living life
to its fullest. The finest example is in Dead Poets
Society, where the overarching theme carpe diem
relates, as I believe, to the meaning of our own Jew-
ish New Year, and very much so. Carpe diem. Seize the
day. In one scene with his students, Williams follows
up this sentiment with a portentous whisper: Make
your lives extraordinary. This, because life is fragile,
and for the most part, we dont know when our own lives
might come to an end.
We address the finality of life when, in Unetaneh Tokef,
we recite, Who will live and who will die? and then, most
hauntingly in light of this recent event, Who will die at his
predestined time and who before his time? We pray to be
inscribed in the Book of Life. How can we make the best of
our prayers during the Ten Days of Repentance? How can
we each, in our daily living, bring meaning to this inscrip-
tion? I think that learning from our past and current trans-
gressions allows us to look forward to a fresh start in the
coming years.
A new year; a fresh start. How close this ties to carpe
diem, not just in our day-to-day lives, but also in our view
of life in general. Despite his problems with addiction and
depression, I dont know if Robin Williams felt that he had
an enriched life. What I do know is that his acting, per-
sonality, and wit enriched the lives of others. In the end,
he, alone, knew what was going through his mind. With
his tragic death, conversation about the need to continu-
ously address mental health and illness has been brought
to life. And in his death, maybe we can also internalize this
reminder of lifes fragility.
Carpe diem. Chai. Because life is fragile: Who will live
and who will die? Live it to the fullest, and in doing so,
also remember that laughter is good for the soul. We are
reminded of this cycle of renewal on Rosh Hashanah. We
should be reminded of it, thereafter, with each new month.
Cover Story
20 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-20
Passage to India
Local academic
finds Jewish
parallels in
Hindu university
LARRY YUDELSON
D
r. Alan Brill of Teaneck faced his students.
The classroom reminded him of British Man-
date era buildings in Jerusalem. It obviously had
been built in the 1940s, or at least refurbished
then. All the desks had inkwells.
Among the students earnestly taking notes were three
Buddhist monks from Cambodia wearing orange robes; two
Tibetans, one of whom looked like a Sherpa in his yak-wool
vest; an Australian Christian dressed like a hippie trying to
dress like an Indian, and several Indians dressed in modern
clothing. Up front, wearing a traditional long golden coat,
was the professor of Hindu religion and philosophy who
normally taught this course. He was particularly diligent in
his note-taking.
The days topic was the Bible.
And then came a question that highlighted both the
vast gulf between Indian and Jew, and the commonalities
between Indian and Jewish religion:
Do Jews still sacrifice animals?
Thats not a hard question for Dr. Brill, an ordained Ortho-
dox rabbi, to answer.
In fact, there are probably few Christians in America who
dont know that Jews stopped sacrificing animals nearly two
thousand years ago.
But in India, the question made perfect sense. After all,
in Indian, animal sacrifices only ended in the early 20th
century.
The question was emblematic of Dr. Brills six-month stay
in India a place where Judaism doesnt register on the
religious awareness of even the most educated, but where
peoples intensely religious lives full of household ritual,
frequent prayers and hand washings, and elaborate food
Cover Story
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 21
JS-21
regulations makes it in some ways much
closer to Judaism than Christianity.
Dr. Brill was in India on sabbatical from
Seton Hall University, where he teaches in
the department of Jewish-Christian stud-
ies. He was based in the graduate school of
religion and philosophy at Banaras Hindu
University in the city of Varanasi, where
he had a Fulbright-Nehru fellowship, cour-
tesy of the U.S. State Department.
The interactions between Dr. Brill and
his students embodied an encounter
between two ancient religious traditions
that have had relatively little interaction.
(Dr. Brill was able to catalog those encoun-
ters many consisting simply of medieval
rabbis responding to reports of Indian
religion in Arabic writings in just one
chapter of his 2012 book, Judaism and
World Religions.)
Dr. Brill taught an introduction to Juda-
ism course as part of the Introduction to
Western Religions course required of grad-
uate students in the religion school. Even
the courses usual instructor had never
heard of Talmud or midrash, Dr. Brill said.
And he too was surprised to learn that
Jews long ago stopped bringing animal sac-
rifices, that the practice wasnt ended by
Judaisms 19th century Reform movement
as it has been by Indias 19th century reli-
gious reformers.
Wait. Animal sacrifices? Arent Hindus
vegetarians?
Yes and no.
India is a big place With 1.2 billion peo-
ple, it is the second most populous coun-
try on earth. Unlike China, the most pop-
ulous, religion has not been repressed
there. Instead, in India it flourishes. As of
the 2001 census, 80 percent of Indians are
Hindu; 13 percent Muslim (making India
the country with the worlds third largest
Muslim population), and the rest mostly
divided between Christianity, a Western
import, and the homegrown religions of
Sikkhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. But
what is called Hinduism by the West and
the Indian national census is really a col-
lection of related religious traditions with
common roots and practices but great
differences that are recognized by individ-
ual practitioners.
Dr. Brill compares it to someone who
sees Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as
essentially one religion. (He met many
people like that in India.) After all, the
three monotheistic religions share the
same theology of one God who created the
world and rewards and punishes sinners;
and they share many religious figures,
such as Abraham and Moses.
In reality, Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam are at least three religions and the
closer you look at any one them, the less
monolithic is appears to be. (Is the differ-
ence between Reform and Orthodox Juda-
ism significant? How about the difference
Left: Dr. Alan Brill and
a cow share a street
in Varanasi. Above:
Boatmen wait for pas-
sengers on their ghats
sacred staircases
that lead down to the
Ganges river. Right:
Brightly colored infor-
mal art tells some of
Indias sacred stories.
PHOTOS BY ROBERT CARROLL
Cover Story
22 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
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between Chabad and Satmar?)
All the more so in India with its more than 1,500
languages, representing myriad distinct ethnic groups.
Almost any obscure Hindu sect has more members
than there are Jews, said Dr. Brill. That includes one
group, dating back to the 13th century, that pretty much
adopts a Jewish-style theology of pure monotheism.
The most important thing I learned is not to trust
any of the generalizations, stereotypes, or almost any-
thing written in American popular literature, Dr. Brill
said. Even the most basic things that come on a Google
search are incorrect.
One example: The same way Jews are not still directly
practicing the religion described in Leviticus, no Hindu
is practicing the religions of the Vedic texts directly.
Theyve had dozens of points of changes. Like any other
religion, theyre practicing 20th century versions of it.
Banaras Hindu University is, as its name implies, a
religious college as are, in their way, Seton Hall and
Dr. Brills alma mater, Yeshiva University. But unlike the
two small New York-area institutions, Banaras University
is huge, boasting 20,000 students. It is in one of Indias
holiest cities, on the banks of the sacred Ganges river,
the city of a million residents that draws three million
pilgrims each year many with the belief that dying in
the holy city, or being cremated on the shores of the
Ganges, will prove auspicious.
Dr. Brill uses an Israeli metaphor. Its like Bar Ilan
University a modern Orthodox institution but
located within Bnai Brak, an ultra-Orthodox center.
In that metaphor, Dr. Brill likens his alien presence to a
Swedish Lutheran living in Bnai Brak.
Another difference between the Indian institution and
the American religious colleges: Conferences at Yeshiva
University and Seton Hall dont open with ceremonial
offerings to busts of their founding presidents.
But Dr. Brill found plenty of ways in which Banaras
reminded him of YU.
There were the pious students who kissed their
sacred Sanskrit texts, like yeshiva students kissing their
Bibles or Talmuds. Some went further and also kissed
their Sanskrit dictionaries, an extension of the realm of
holiness Dr. Brill also has seen in Jewish circles.
The pious students also paused at the doorway to
touch the floor reminiscent of the YU students who
would kiss the mezuzah on the door jamb.
The two holiday calendars posted on Banaras Univer-
sitys website point to Indias religious diversity. The first
records 17 days on which the campus is closed, including
Christmas and Good Friday; four Muslim holidays whose
exact date is subject to change depending on when the
new moon is sighted; national holidays like Indepen-
dence Day and Mahatma Gandhis birthday, and several
Hindu holy days. A second page offers 39 secondary hol-
idays. Employees can choose two to observe.
But an observant Jew seeking to take off the 13 tradi-
tional Jewish holidays would be met with understand-
ing, Dr. Brill believes. They would be fine with it. There
are many more regional holidays that are not on the
list, but for which practitioners take off.
Hindus do not have a Sabbath but they have at least
Street shrines give local workers the chance to
make offerings throughout the day.
A beggar sits before a closed Internet cafe.
Cover Story
JS-23
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 23
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one festival every 10 days, he said.
Dr. Brill has begun to write a book
that in some way explains the contours
of Hinduism for Judaism, or lets both of
the religions look at each other, the simi-
larities and differences. (This will fol-
low his soon-to-be-completed history of
Modern Orthodox Judaism from 1800 to
2000; his first book on interfaith topics,
Judaism and Other Religions: Models of
Understanding, is coming out in paper-
back this fall.)
With that in mind, he was particu-
larly keen to find out how his classes on
Judaism would resonate with the Indian
students.
He was thrilled to see them catch on to
subtle points.
When the students read Genesis,
they all said, Look! Adam was origi-
nally a vegetarian.
Another time, a professor sitting in on
his class called out, Oh, this is God in
search of man!
The Indian had unwittingly used Abra-
ham Joshua Heschels phrase to summa-
rize the Jewish Bible, where God speaks
to humankind in a manner that contrasts
starkly with the gods in Hindu scripture,
who speak only to each other.
And both the story of Adam and Eve
in Genesis and the philosophy of Mai-
monides in his Guide to the Perplexed
earned the high praise of being yogic.
For them, yogic is not the exercise
part, Dr. Brill said. Its how you go
from falsehood and false consciousness
to regaining the truth through correct-
ing your mind and your habits. Yoga for
them is a process by which you elevate
the falsehood of the human condition
through philosophy, through correct
ethics, and also meditation and physical
discipline. The Hebrew translation for
yogic is mussar, he added.
The Indian students found that some
of the most esoteric ideas of Judaism
were the easiest for them to grasp.
Theoretical kabbalistic discussions of
whether God is separate from the world,
whether the world is all God, and how
God infuses the world anything that
sounds scholastic, Dr. Brill said. Thats
what they spent their time studying.
Subtle points of how does emanation
work. It doesnt matter whether its from
a Hindu or a Buddhist point of view.
They could have three other courses all
on that topic.
Some of the things that seem least
Christian about Judaism make the most
sense to Hindus. Both Judaism and Hin-
duism have the same set of questions.
To take one example from the kitchen:
Both Jews and Hindus know that mush-
rooms dont fit into the category of veg-
etables. The Hindus I was with dont eat
them. Jews say a different blessing before
This temple to Shiva is at the center of Banaras Universitys campus.
Cover Story
24 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
JS-24
Bissli
Family Pack
eating them. The actual practice is different, but
theres a certain common way of thinking, of always
doing a taxonomy and creating a rule from it.
There was a court case in India recently where the
judge ruled that Hinduism is a way of life, not a reli-
gion the same way as many Jews see themselves.
Hinduism gives us a template for us as Jews to see what
were doing, as opposed to the Christian concept of
religion.
Dr. Brill found that the Hindu practice of vegetarian-
ism varied in different parts of India much as does
observance of kashrut in different parts of Israel.
In Jerusalem, not only is everything kosher, but
everything is under good certification, he said. The
majority of the country is keeping traditional dietary
practices, even if not so strictly. But there are cities
that are secular and ignore it entirely.
Vegetarianism is seen as the traditional practice in
India, he continued. Most people who live in Vera-
nasi, where he was based, are vegetarian. In the
modern cities, theres quite a bit of meat-eating. In the
completely secular parts, it doesnt exist.
But just as most Israelis avoid pork, in India, even
those who eat meat tend to avoid cow.
The result is that the most prestigious restaurant
chain is KFC because many Indians feel comfortable
eating American fried chicken. McDonalds is seen as
less prestigious. In India, the chain has modified its
menu; instead of serving beef burgers, it serves veg-
gie burgers, chicken burgers, and burgers made out
of cheese.
While Benaras is a coeducational institution, unlike
Yeshiva College, still men and women cannot touch.
When there was a school performance, it was very
much like a yeshiva day school play. One could prof-
itably compare how to do shomer negiah dramatics
in both faiths, he said, using the Hebrew phrase for
those who observe the traditional Jewish ban on unre-
lated males and females touching each other.
The lead male role in the play was given to a girl,
so that she could touch and hug the heroine. A minor
male role was performed by an actual male student, but
the rest of the individual roles were women. The men
served as a dance troupe, acting out selected events in
the narrative, he said. And like at a day school, there
was the awkward ending when the female students
only received flowers and a shawl from the female dean
and the male students from the male dean.
If the school was traditional, old-time Brahman,
there would have been no mixing allowed. If it was
fully modern then it would not have been a question
that is likely the case at Indias secular universities.
Instead, they try to walk the same tightrope as their
modern Orthodox counterparts.
A few words about Hinduism, monotheism, and
idolatry.
Judaism takes great pride in not worshiping idols.
Its right there at the beginning of the Ten Command-
ments: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor
any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth.
And the psalms of Hallel are full of mockery. Their
idols are silver and gold, the work of mens hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not.
Its not a surprise, then, that Jews are discomfited by
Hindu religion, with its devotional statues and images
dedicated to Krishna, Vishnu, and myriads of other
less prominent deities.
According to Dr. Brill, no matter how much ancient
Indian religion resembled the idolatry condemned by
Cover Story
JS-25
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 25
All kids supplements
the Torah, by the time rabbis first discussed Hindu
beliefs in the middle ages, they were responding to
reports filtered through monotheistic Islam, whose
empires stood at the borders of India or ruled portions
of it. In Judeo-Arabic translations of Hindu texts, dei-
ties was translated as angels.
At the same time, Hindu theology had undergone its
own theological shifts.
As a result, by the time of the first official encounters
between Jewish and Hindu leaders a 2007 summit
in Delhi featuring Israeli Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger
the two sides could sign a declaration that Their
respective traditions teach that there is one supreme
being who is the ultimate reality, who has created this
world in its blessed diversity, and who has communi-
cated divine ways of action for humanity, for different
peoples in different times and places. In a follow-up
meeting in 2008, the declaration went further: It is
recognized that the one supreme being, both in its
formless and manifest aspects, has been worshipped
by Hindus over the millennia. This does not mean that
Hindus worship gods and idols. The Hindu relates
to only the one supreme being when he/she prays to a
particular manifestation.
If you ask an Indian about the image of a deity,
whether in their home or in a temple, they would
say the image is just the way to direct your heart, Dr.
Brill said. Everyone understand these are just repre-
sentations. .
He added that Western views of Indian religion
arent helped by the choices made by the graphic
designers, who tend to put images of dancing gods on
the covers of books about Hinduism.
Those are actually decorations on the outside of
buildings, not the actual ones used in worship, he
said. Imagine if we took pictures of lions on the out-
sides of the Torah ark or zodiacs from old synagogues,
and put them on the cover of a book about Judaism.
But these questions about monotheism and idolatry
are seen as incredibly judgmental and provincial by
most Indians, because they start the conversation by
comparing Indian religion to Western conceptions, Dr.
Brill said. Indians want Westerners to recognize how
much their focus is on a personal God; on how much
they too want to get grace or repent before God. They
resent how Western textbooks dont present them
as concerned with charity, good deeds, helping one
another, and family life, and how much theyre doing
all that to help gain Gods merit or love.
Of all of Dr. Brills encounters with Hinduism in India,
probably the most alien was the death ritual. Like Jews
seeking to be buried in Jerusalem, people come from
across India to Veranasi and the Ganges with their
dead. Rather than being buried, the bodies are burned.
Cremation has very exact rules, Dr. Brill said.
Another major difference ties into the diversity and
its origins.
On his blog at kavvanah.wordpress.com, Dr. Brill
imagined a hypothetical world in which Judaism had
followed a Hindu-like path from biblical times.
Imagine if, instead of saying there has to be one
Temple in Jerusalem, the response to Jereboam was to
say, Its a great idea! Maybe we should have a separate
temple every days journey through the country, he
said. Imagine if Elijah and the priests of Baal said,
Theres only one God over everything. Why are we
fighting?
Its completely against Judaism, but to their way of
thinking, everyones heart is in the right place.
Dr. Brill believes the biggest impact of his teaching
on the Indians he met was cultural. They had never
really thought of Judaism, of where it fits in, he said.
They only knew it through Christian or anti-Semitic eyes,
through Shylock or Mein Kampf.
Indians know far less about Judaism than do American
Christians, even those American Christians who have never
met a Jew before. At first, Dr. Brill found that ignorance to
be shocking.
So, what do you think about Hitler turns out to be a
common conversation opener.
They have no knowledge of World War II, he said. Its
like you would ask someone from the former Communist
bloc what it was like under Stalin, without meaning any per-
sonal offense. They only know Hitler as a strong leader. They
fought for the British, but their World War II ran through
Burma and Indochina.
For these future religious teachers and religious leaders
studying at Benaras, The whole course of Jewish history
and our self-conception as a people, the Holocaust, Israel
that didnt register. These sort of questions they put in
the history department. They tend to think of religion in
the abstract.
They do have a great interest in learning about Israel,
Dr. Brill said. The Jewish organizations have a great deal to
gain in creating a teaching guide about Judaism and about
Israel for the Indians.
Jewish World
26 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
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Mom grieves for 4-year old
killed by Gaza mortar
I just cannot come to grips with his death, she says
JERUSALEM Hundreds attended the
funeral for Daniel Tregerman, the 4-year-
old who was killed in a mortar attack out-
side his home near the Gaza border.
We were the happiest family in the
world, and I just cannot come to grips
with it, Daniels mother, Gila Tregerman,
said between sobs at the funeral on Sun-
day morning at a cemetery in the Eshkol
Region, near the family home in Kibbutz
Nahal Oz.
We wanted to protect you but even
the Code Red siren failed to save you. You
would always run first and call your little
brother [to the shelter], and then in a sec-
ond it ended.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also
spoke at the funeral.
He was too young to cross the street by
himself because it was dangerous, but old
enough to know what the Code Red siren
means because that too is dangerous, Riv-
lin told the mourners. You are everyones
child. We are burying a child for whose
sake we were fighting.
The Tregerman family reportedly had
left their home during the first three weeks
of Israels operation in Gaza, but returned
last week after security officials told resi-
dents it would be safe. But rockets began
hitting the area again when the cease-fire
was broken on August 19.
The family reportedly had planned to
leave the kibbutz later on Friday, the day
Daniel was killed by shrapnel from the
mortar attack.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a state-
ment Sunday that the mortar that killed
Daniel was fired from a launching site next
to the Jafar Ali Ibn Taleb School in the
neighborhood of Gaza City, which is serv-
ing as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the Times of Israel reported
that most of the families living in Nahal
Oz had left by Saturday, and that most of
those remaining were kibbutz employees.
A mortar shell scored a direct hit on the
kibbutz dining hall on Saturday morning.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said
in a visit to southern Israel last Saturday
that the IDF would provide assistance to
civilians leaving the area. He had been
scheduled to visit Nahal Oz, but his visit
was canceled by his security advisers
because of the large number of rockets
and mortars that struck the kibbutz over
the weekend.
Mothers eulogy
for little Daniel
calls him the
love of my life
My Danieli, I dont understand
whats going on here and dont
believe that I am at a cemetery to
take leave of you, Gila Tregerman
said as she eulogized her son.
You are the love of my life, a
perfect child, the dream of every
mother. So beautiful. I cant absorb
whats happening. We were the hap-
piest family. I want to say thank you
for teaching us to smile.
You were a child until the last
moment of the mortar shell (strike).
We wanted to protect you and go to
grandma and grandpas house, but
the sirens didnt save us. We have
left the Spiderman costume for you
that you loved. We always said that
you would be the youngest leader
who would bring peace.
Apparently if not in your lifetime,
then in death.
Daniel Tregerman, 4, loved to don his
Spiderman costume.
Jewish World
JS-27
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 27
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Israeli tech firm aims
to detect Gaza tunnels
BEN SALES
OR YEHUDA, ISRAEL Something that
looks like a can of soda could be Israels
high-tech answer to the network of tun-
nels that Hamas has created under the
Gaza border.
A sensor known as a geophone can
detect underground movement based on
the sound generated by the movement,
the Israeli defense firm manufacturing
the device says. The firm, Elpam Elec-
tronics, says the geophone is capable of
finding the location of a person crawling
as far down as 32 feet.
Israel has grappled with the danger of
the Gaza tunnels for years, but the threat
has gained greater urgency in the wake
of Protective Edge, the military operation
launched last month. A ground invasion
of Gaza that started five weeks ago had
the stated aim of neutralizing the tunnels,
32 of which were subsequently destroyed,
according to the Israeli military.
Now the mission is continuing in the
research labs of Israeli defense firms.
Both Rafael Advanced Defense Systems
and, according to several Israeli reports,
Elbit Systems are at work on equipment
to detect tunnels. Neither company
would comment on their research.
But Elpam agreed to provide JTA with
a look at the technology its been work-
ing on for decades and now is adapting
to address the current threat.
Iky Koenig, Elpams CEO, wants Israel
to bury hundreds of sensors in a constel-
lation around the Gaza border. By next
year the company hopes to have devel-
oped a monitoring system that can locate
tunnel activity and differentiate it from
other subterranean noise.
Lets say theres a suspicion of activity
from military intelligence or [the sound
of ] spoons digging, Koenig said. You
put these things in the ground and if
someone hears spoons, well hear it like
a bulldozer.
In 1988, Elpam created its sensors
to assist in search-and-rescue opera-
tions. The sensors were designed to
detect sound frequencies in the ruins of
destroyed buildings. Rescuers could hear
people trapped under the debris and the
trapped could respond. Dozens of the kits,
which can fit inside a lightweight vest,
were sold to the Israel Defense Forces.
Elpam also developed and sold two
tunnel detection systems to the IDF in
2005 and 2006. One was intended to
detect tunnels along the Philadelphi Cor-
ridor on the Egypt-Gaza border, but the
company could not say whether the sys-
tem was ever deployed.
In a statement last week, the IDF said
it had considered two tunnel detection
systems in 2005 and 2006 that were not
effective. The IDF said it is now combin-
ing those systems and readying them for
field testing.
The military expects deployment of the
system to take one year and cost between
$424 million and $565 million. The IDF
would not confirm whether those sys-
tems were developed by Elpam.
The sensor concept is not without its
critics.
Yiftah Shapir, a military technology
expert at Tel Aviv Universitys Institute
for National Security Studies, said rows
of sensors cannot detect tunnels that
turn or intersections between multiple
tunnels. Shapir also said the sensors do
not have the ability to detect tunnel open-
ings, which was among the key goals of
the ground invasion.
You think a tunnel starts in one place
and ends in another, he said. There
are three or four entrances. In the mid-
dle there are junctions. Its never just in
one place. [The IDF] went in essentially
to look at where the other openings are.
Atai Shelach, CEO of the defense firm
Engineering Solutions Group, said the
sensors will also have trouble pinpointing
tunnels that are only a few feet wide. At
best, he said, the technology will merely
complement the militarys intelligence
operations, not replace them.
If [the sensor] will be effective at
one point for a very great depth, it only
solves a small part of the problem, said
Shelach, a former commander in the
IDF Engineering Corps. If it only finds
one tunnel, that doesnt mean that there
arent other tunnels. Until theres a broad
solution, there wont be a choice but to
rely on intelligence. JTA WIRE SERVICE
Palestinians
viewing what used
to be a tunnel
leading from the
Gaza Strip into
Israel in the Rafah
area of southern
Gaza.
ABED RAHIM
KHATIB/FLASH90
Jewish World
28 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014
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Cease-fire takes hold
Marks end to Israels longest, bloodiest war in Gaza
BEN SALES
TEL AVIV A rocket barrage fell on Israel, a boom
sounded over Tel Aviv, and then it was over at least
for now.
After 50 days of missiles, airstrikes, ground opera-
tions, tunnel incursions, truce talks, cease-fire propos-
als, death, and destruction, Israel and Hamas agreed to
an open-ended truce on Tuesday.
The cease-fire announced by Egypt stipulates that
Israel and Egypt will open all border crossings to allow
international humanitarian aid and construction materi-
als to enter the Gaza Strip.
The agreement requires Israel and Hamas to cease
hostilities, but according to reports it does not include
commitments to allow an international airport and sea-
port in Gaza. After a month, should the quiet hold, Israel
and Hamas will restart indirect negotiations in Cairo on
easing Israels blockade of the coastal strip and disarm-
ing the enclave.
The end of the operation should not include any sig-
nificant political achievements for Hamas, which is a
terrorist organization that doesnt accept our existence
here, said Tzipi Livni, Israels justice minister.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had
not spoken publicly or released a statement about the
cease-fire as of press time on Monday evening. Two
days earlier, though, during a Cabinet meeting, he said:
We embarked on Operation Protective Edge in order
to restore quiet and security to you and to all Israeli
citizens. The more determined and patient we are, the
more our enemies will understand that they will not suc-
ceed in wearing us down.
The agreement is the culmination of Egyptian-led
cease-fire efforts that have been ongoing throughout
the conflict. Earlier this month, Israel and Hamas had
agreed to a string of temporary cease-fires. The lull
ended with Hamas rocket fire on Israel last week.
The fighting is Israels third major conflict with
Hamas since 2008, following hostilities in 200809 and
2012. This one, however, was the longest and costliest
between the sides since Israel withdrew from Gaza in
2005.
More than 2,000 Palestinians and 70 Israelis died in
the latest conflict, which wounded more than 10,000
Gazans and 500 Israelis, according to Israels Foreign
Ministry. Also, 20 Palestinians died in protests in the
West Bank against Israels operation, according to a
report in the Guardian.
The fighting created ghost towns across Israels south
and devastated Gaza, destroying thousands of homes.
Israeli forces delivered a punishing blow to Hamas dur-
ing the conflict, with airstrikes destroying thousands of
rockets and ground troops eliminating much of its tun-
nel infrastructure both under the Israel-Gaza border and
across Gaza.
Last week, an Israeli airstrike killed three senior
Hamas commanders. The chief of Hamas military wing,
Mohammed Deif, may have been killed in a separate
attack last week.
Israels aggressive military tactics, along with a high
Palestinian civilian death toll, drew widespread interna-
tional criticism. Last month, the United Nations Human
Rights Council said it would send a fact-finding mission
to investigate possible war crimes committed during
the fighting. Israel has indicated that it likely would not
cooperate with the investigation, alleging anti-Israel
bias.
Even the United States, an Israel ally, issued harsh
criticism following an Israeli airstrike that hit a United
Nations school on August 3, and tightened its controls
on weapons shipments to Israel. American assistance
to Israel continued during the conflict, though, as the
United States approved an added $225 million for Israels
Israeli soldiers at a ceremony at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem honor Lee Matt, who
died in July while fighting in Gaza. HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90/JTA
Jewish World
JS-29
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 29, 2014 29
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