New Book: Crown Heights

Crown Heights
Blacks, Jews, and the 1991 Brooklyn Riot
Shapiro, Edward S.

The first full-length scholarly study of the only antisemitic riot in American history

On the afternoon of August 19, 1991, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Lubavitch Hasidic movement headquartered in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, visited the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens to pray at the grave of his predecessor. A police car from the 71st Precinct accompanied him. On their return, they were joined by a station wagon containing four young members of the Lubavitch community, who had arrived earlier at the cemetery to prepare for Schneerson's arrival.

Traveling west, the procession reached Utica Avenue. Gavin Cato, the seven-year-old son of Guyanese immigrants, was on the sidewalk near his apartment on President Street, repairing his bicycle chain. His seven-year-old cousin Angela was playing nearby. The police car and Schneerson's automobile crossed Utica on a green light and proceeded along President Street at a normal speed. But the third car had fallen behind. Not wishing to lose sight of Schneerson's car, it either crossed Utica on a yellow light or ran a red light--and collided with a car moving north on Utica. The station wagon veered onto the sidewalk on President Street, knocking over a 600-pound stone pillar from a building and striking both Gavin and Angela Cato, pinning them beneath the car. Angela survived; Gavin did not.

Gavin Cato's death set off three days of riots. Yankel Rosenbaum, an Australian Orthodox Jew doing research in New York City for his doctoral dissertation at the University of Melbourne, was stabbed to death a few blocks away by a group of young black men. Cato's and Rosenbaum's deaths became heated symbols in a political and cultural struggle that pitted not just Hasidic Jews against black residents of Crown Heights, but also black radicals against the black-dominated Brooklyn political establishment; the black mayor and his black police commissioner against the largely white police force; the United States Department of Justice against New York politicians; and the leadership of Manhattan-based Jewish organizations against Jews from the outer boroughs. The riot strained race relations in the city, led some to question the viability of urban liberalism and the black-Jewish political entente, raised concerns about the extent of black antisemitism, and led the federal judiciary to broaden the scope of federal civil rights legislation to include Jews.

“Combining crisp reportage with astute historical interpretation, this elegantly written, richly documented, and deeply insightful book furnishes a superb portrait and chilling analysis of the August 1991 Crown Heights riots . . . the book judiciously parses with great sensitivity and clarity the dynamics and pathologies of racial/ethnic politics in America. The result is contemporary urban history at its best.” --Professor Benny Kraut, Director, Center for Jewish Studies, Queens College, City University of New York

“Because the Crown Heights riot was pivotal, painful moment in the tangled history of New York City's blacks and Jews, a dispassionate elucidation of this terrible incident is badly needed--which Edwards S. Shapiro has admirably provided. Blending narrative with analysis, drawing upon impressive research, he has probed the social, political and legal ramifications of the lethal violence, has laid bare the tensions that characterized relations within each minority group, and has traced the consequences of the riot for urban politics. Shapiro's riveting yet balanced account is unlikely to be superseded.” --Stephen J. Whitfield, Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Brandeis University

"The riot acted as a searchlight illuminating the tensions present in the city," writes Shapiro, emeritus professor of history at Seton Hall University and author of "A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II." He provides a historical analysis of the events, examining the impact on American popular culture and on black-Jewish relations. Although he made efforts, he was not able to interview former Mayor David Dinkins or the Jewish victim's brother, Norman Rosenbaum. —Jewish Week (NY)

"Perhaps no single event shook the notion of a black-Jewish alliance like the 1991 unrest in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, which began after a Hasidic Jewish motorcade accidentally killed a black child. As Shapiro shows in this comprehensive, dispassionate account, the accident and what followed touched off a political firestorm in New York City: both black and Jewish activists exploited the death and the ensuing black unrest-during which a Jewish student was killed-for their own purposes. Shapiro deconstructs the simplistic readings of the event given at the time: some thought the Hasidic community received favored treatment, others that then Mayor David Dinkins was unwilling to use force against the black community. Historian Shapiro (A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II ) writes with detachment but is willing to make judgments: a guilty verdict in the first of four trials in the death of the Jewish student "would have dissipated much of the anger of Jews over the mayor's handling of the riot." A myriad of factors-sociological, personal, religious and economic-had to be in place for the unrest to occur, says Shapiro, and he goes a long way toward providing the context necessary to understand them." —Publishers Weekly



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments • Introduction • Two Deaths in Brooklyn • Days of Rage • A Sundered Neighborhood • The Politics of Fear • Conflicting Narratives • Judges and Juries • Efforts at Healing • Index



EDWARD S. SHAPIRO is Professor of History Emeritus at Seton Hall University. He is the author of A Time for Healing: American Jewry since World War II (1992) and Letters of Sidney Hook: Democracy, Communism, and the Cold War (1995).

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Mideast war tangles travel industry

ISRAEL, LEBANON BECOME 'IFFY' DESTINATIONS

By Verena Dobnik
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Even Hezbollah missiles couldn't keep Hilda Goodman and her husband from canceling a trip to Israel they planned 13 years ago, when their grandson was born.

For his bar mitzvah in October, the couple plan to be in Jerusalem.

Since hostilities in Israel and Lebanon started in July, Americans looking at the Middle East as a travel destination have had to answer a pressing question: to go or not to go.

While tens of thousands of would-be visitors canceled flights, at least as many others are going to Israel, including tourists, college students, devout Jews and some Christians.

"We're going on the belief that things will work out," said Goodman of Miami, adding that she knows dozens of other Americans going to Israel for the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah this fall.

"People who really want to go to Israel for spiritual reasons don't cancel," said Batia Plotch, an Israeli-raised Manhattan trip organizer whose siblings live in northern Israel.

Of the more than 40,000 monthly U.S. visitors to Israel, as many as 35 percent canceled their trips in the month after the violence started in July, said Ari Sommer, Israel's tourism commissioner for North and South America.

Christian groups that planned Holy Land pilgrimages later this year are holding off, with promises that they won't have to pay any flight or hotel penalties should they decide not to go, Sommer said. If they do travel, their itineraries will omit a standard tourist stop, the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, which was under fire.

At Tel Aviv University, about 20 Americans originally planning to attend classes have canceled so far, said Olivia Blechner, director of academic affairs at Israel's Consulate General in New York.

But more than 500 college-age students who belong to the Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish movement will attend a dozen yeshivas in Israel starting next month.

"If we were not to go, the message we would be sending is one of despair," said rabbinical student Levi Schectman, 22, of Milwaukee.

Across the border in Lebanon, travel is practically impossible except using side roads.

The city's airport, bombed by Israelis trying to cut supply arteries to Hezbollah, means any trip into the nation amounts to Russian roulette on wheels: a flight to Amman, Jordan, or Damascus, Syria, then a cab or car ride over side roads to Beirut, bypassing highways and other major roads and bridges that were destroyed in aerial attacks.

"It's a total risk. Any moving thing could be a target," said Jack Stepanian, who owns the Panorama travel agency in New York. He said the trip costs "a fortune," with the cab ride from the Syrian border to Beirut alone adding up to as much as $400.

The American University in Beirut, which usually hosts about 250 American students, "is not sure we can expect any at all," said spokeswoman Ada Porter. "The current condition of the infrastructure in Lebanon will make it very difficult for anyone to reach the university."

Rabbis reach out to the community

Chabad Jewish Center of T.O. has welcomed visiting Rabbis Arye Eichler, 24, and Yehuda Glick, 23, who will be here through Aug. 23. They'll be reaching out and acquainting themselves with the Jewish community in T.O. and Newbury Park.

"They will be the ultimate onthe-spot, one-stop Jewish resource center," said Rabbi Chaim Bryski, director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Thousand Oaks.

Eichler and Glick will travel with a mobile Judaica store (Jewish books, tapes, Kippot and videos), religious articles (mezuzot, tefillin, tallit) and information and brochures on all aspects of Jewish life.

Eichler and Glick are part of the Chabad Jewish Peace Corps. More than 275 rabbinical students will also be participating worldwide.

This approach to outreach- called Merkos Shlichus-was created by Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the seventh leader in the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, in 1945.

Chabad of Northwest Corner Celebrates Decade of Growth

Julia E.M. Halewicz

LITCHFIELD-

Eleven years ago, Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach and his wife, Mina, followed their religious faith and passion to Litchfield. Young and newly married, he was 23 and she was 19, they assumed their roles as emissaries of the centuries-old Chabad-Lubavitch movement in a town where being Jewish was rare and practicing Chabad Hasidism was more so.
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Six children later-one more is on the way-the Rabbi and Mrs. Eisenbach are celebrating the Chabad Lubavitch of The Northwest Corner's 10th anniversary and a move to a larger and more prominent facility on West Street in Litchfield.
"It is a tremendous milestone," said Rabbi Eisenbach. "We have been blessed that the community has supported us."
When the new building opens at 85 West St. in the next 12 to 18 months, it will house all religious services with enough capacity for the approximately 200 full-time families of the Chabad and add diversity to the center of a town spotted with churches. It is also a sign of the growing Jewish population in the county, whose members are increasingly touched by the Chabad's outreach.
"The Jewish presence here is fairly new," said Rabbi Eisenbach. "We introduce people to Jewish music, art and culture no matter what race or religion they are."
The Northwest Corner is "one of the smallest" of the more than 3,000 Chabads worldwide, according to the rabbi. All have one common mission-to spread understanding of their culture, religion and history where a Jewish presence is needed. The word Chabad is a Hebrew acronym for the words wisdom, comprehension and knowledge, and is the philosophy that guides a person's every action. Lubavitch is the name of the town in Russia where the movement began in the mid-18th century and means "city of brotherly love."
As emissaries, Rabbi and Mrs. Eisenbach, called shluchim in Hebrew, evaluated their community, established programs to suit their surroundings and follow the teachings of the seven dynastic leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch Dynasty, called rebbes. Many Chabads run soup kitchens, but in Litchfield, the focus is more cultural and religious.
People of all faiths have enjoyed annual holiday programs that include a Shofar factory, where they make rams' horns for Rosh Hashana, and Chanukah On The Slopes in Woodbury, where people carouse to the tune of "Hava Nagilla."
Since opening, Chabad has put on Klezmer On The Hills, a celebration of a genre often referred to as Jewish Jazz that hails from Eastern Europe. The Chabad also offers Friday night dinners with speakers like Alan Veingrad, a Super Bowl-winning NFL player who speaks about being an outsider because of his faith, and services like drug counseling, job and home placement programs.
"Our biggest effort for years has been with the youth," said Rabbi Eisenbach. "There is a crisis among Jewish people that they don't have knowledge of religion." It is often a byproduct of living in an area where Jews are definitively a minority.
To engage the youth, Rabbi and Mrs. Eisenbach started a local chapter of Camp Gan Israel in Washington Depot. Now in its third year, the camp had its largest enrollment yet with just under 40 campers. It offers sports and arts and crafts, brings in children from Torrington and Waterbury by bus and awards partial scholarships to families in need. Following the Chabad philosophy, the camp focuses on education, but under the guise of fun. Mrs. Eisenbach, the director, frames each day with a theme like "honor your parents" and uses relay races to teach religious terms.
Michele Eykelhoff, who has a Jewish mother and Methodist father and grew up celebrating both traditions, now has four of her own children. She married a Catholic man, but her children attend the camp because it helps them get acquainted with Judaism.
"I met [Mrs. Eisenbach], and she is so nice and caring and a wonderful person that it was easy to be welcomed into the Chabad," she said. "We help any time we can and the girls thoroughly enjoy the camp. We are still not extremely religious, but they still welcome us."
"We make something tangible to the child-we want it to be fun and entertaining for the kids to connect," said Mrs. Eisenbach. "Even if kids don't get the lesson, they come out with pride."
Mrs. Eykelhoff is also a member of the Jewish Women's Circle, which Mrs. Eisenbach runs. Once a month women have an informal gathering with themes like African drumming or the role of women in Egypt. The program will soon include the Jewish House Tour, where women will rotate hosting the event. In the past, Niles Golovin of the Bantam Bread Company taught a Challah bread class.
"Women have the most important role in Judaism," said Mrs. Eisenbach. "I consider myself a feminist even though many people might not think so because I have so many children. I believe rearing my children is the most important thing I can do. At [a dinner] I made a speech and people were surprised. I'm not the 'rabbi's wife.' We are partners."
That partnership and faith has helped them through challenging times. Leaving behind their families in Montreal, Canada, and West Hartford-both of their parents are emissaries and Rabbi Eisenbach is the fifth generation-they moved to an unfamiliar town that was not always accepting. Someone once shouted, "Where's your horse and buggy?" at them thinking they were Amish.
"With the Rebbe there were never obstacles, only challenges," said Rabbi Eisenbach. "There were challenges because we are all human beings. In Litchfield, if you are not part of the old school, there are challenges."
Beyond cultural hurdles, there are also logistical ones, as each Chabad is in charge of its own funding. The Eisenbachs need to raise $500,000 annually to run the Chabad, which they cover through fund-raising, Hebrew School and camp tuition, and donations. They network, are in touch with realtors and contact Jews in the area for their database.
When the Chabad held its first program, only one person showed up. Valuations of success do not hinge on numbers for the couple. When asked how many members they have, Rabbi Eisenbach replied, "You don't pay to pray, so there are no members." By his count, the Chabad reaches as many as 5,000 people with its mailings and there are six full-time employees.
"It brings you together," said Mrs. Eisenbach. "We came from West Hartford where you put up a sign and get crowds." With time, they learned to adjust their expectations.
Rabbi and Mrs. Eisenbach's commitment to their mission has impressed those who have passed through the Chabad's walls.
Alain Levy and his wife, Maureen, of Thomaston have gone to the Chabad for eight years and sought guidance from Rabbi Eisenbach while Mrs. Levy converted to Judaism. It was after meeting the rabbi that Mr. Levy embraced his religion by following the Sabbath and reading the Torah instead of spending Saturday gardening and washing the car.
"He is one of the only rabbis I know who preaches what he does," said Mr. Levy. "This is a person who believes in God. He follows all of the commandments, not just half. When you get invited to his home, you are part of the family."
"The backbone of our mission is loving and caring for everyone," said Rabbi Eisenbach. "Everyone can come in once a year or once a week. Everyone has to feel loved and welcome."
As the Chabad prepares for the Annual Community Awards Dinner Oct. 29 and the first annual cocktail reception and silent auction to benefit The Children's Fund of Camp Gan Israel Aug. 27 with the help of honorary chairwoman Joan Rivers, it continues to look to the future. In the upcoming months, it will launch two new programs: the Jewish Institute, a three-semester religious education course, and Friendship Circle, a program that matches teens with special needs children for companionship. Two Hebrew Schools will welcome 54 students.
When they came to Litchfield, Rabbi and Mrs. Eisenbach were told they wouldn't last six months. Ten years later, they are still friends with Nathan Zimmerman of Bantam, the owner of Northwest Corner Properties who found them their first home and also gathered their first minion, or group of 10 worshipers, for their first service.
"The rabbi and his wife are wonderful humanitarian people," Mr. Zimmerman said. "The are open arms to all. They have established a presence there to say, 'If you are interested in your faith and you would like to participate in any type of religious event you are welcome.' It is a wonderful outreach to the community at large."
"It is a beautiful lesson of how love can break all boundaries," said Rabbi Eisenbach. "Litchfield has given a lesson when you educate people, you will break through."


©Litchfield County Times 2006

Day Tripping Through The Hamptons

Hilary Larson - Travel Writer

The Parrish Art Museum in Southampton contains a small gem of a collection with big-name support.

If you have a house in the Hamptons and know the place like the back of your hand, you can stop reading now.

But if you�re like many New Yorkers who haven�t quite got around to exploring Long Island�s East End, who maybe have ventured out to a friend�s place or partied their way through a series of summer shares years back, this might be the perfect time to rediscover New York�s seaside playground (where I happened to live for three years).

After all, who wants to get on an airplane right about now? Jump into the car or onto the Hampton Jitney and you can pack all the hair gel and toothpaste you want. Terrorists may be stalking the West�s big cities, but it�s doubtful they�re planning an attack on Bridgehampton.

Sure, the Hamptons can be pricey, trafficky and scene-y � but you can avoid a lot of that if you day-trip. In the world of Spielbergs and country clubs, there are still plenty of leafy, secluded spots where the city seems a world away, the salty breeze cures whatever ails you and old-fashioned pleasures like outdoor concerts and small-town shopping await.

Labor Day Weekend signals the official end of the summer �season,� but there�s still plenty to do: the arts calendar is going strong through September, the water is warm and farm stands spill over with mouth-wateringly flavorful tomatoes, corn and peaches. An ideal way to avoid the notorious Hamptons-bound traffic is to travel when most people don�t: in the mornings. By noon on a Saturday, traffic has thinned out along Montauk Highway, and if you leave before noon on the last day of a weekend, you�ll zip home.

Despite rampant construction and unremitting hype, the villages and hamlets that compose the South Fork � salty-casual Hampton Bays, elegant Southampton, historic Bridgehampton, rural Sagaponack and glamorous East Hampton � still retain distinctive identities. They�re also all small enough that a visitor can easily while away an afternoon strolling around each of three or four towns, whose centers are compact, walkable and generally quite charming.

Many beaches are restricted to those whose cars sport a resident pass, but there are plenty of places where an out-of-towner can splash happily in the clear blue surf.

For those who like calm waters and picturesque views, the cliff-framed beach along Peconic Bay in Hampton Bays is ideal. To get there, take a left on Squiretown Road from Montauk Highway and take a right on East or West Landing Road.

Several premier ocean beaches are available to non-residents who pay a day fee, generally $15. The nicest of these include Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays, a sprawling expanse with an equally sprawling parking lot, located over the Ponquogue Avenue Bridge; Mecox Beach off Job�s Lane in Bridgehampton; and Sagg Main Beach at the end of Sagg Main Road in Sagaponack.

The days when Jews were unwelcome in these WASPY precincts is long gone, and today large numbers of young Jewish families are settling the East End � especially East Hampton, Bridgehampton and Westhampton. The hottest (free) ticket on Friday nights is the service at the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, a formerly sleepy village that is becoming livelier each year, in large part due to the Manhattan-based Jewish community that has coalesced around this 16-year-old shul. Technically Orthodox, the Hampton Synagogue�s laid-back, friendly services draw worshippers from across the spectrum.

If you�re single, Rabbi Marc Schneier might introduce you to someone interesting. If you�re still hungry after the shul�s legendary kiddush, kosher food is freshly prepared at the nearby Beach Bakery on Main Street.

Other synagogues include the stately Jewish Center of the Hamptons in East Hampton, where some of Hollywood�s biggest names attend services. Chabad holds a variety of Orthodox services throughout the East End. Consult its Web site for up-to-date information, as locations tend to shift around. Visit the Parrish Art Museum, a small gem of a collection with big-name support, before it moves in 2009 from its grand, turn-of-the-century building in downtown Southampton Village. On view through Sept. 12 is �Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art,� featuring works by Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent and others.

Art lovers in East Hampton can take in two high-profile exhibits at Guild Hall, the town�s premier arts space, through mid-October: 40 never-seen works by Elizabeth Peyton and 100 major works by Andy Warhol, his first Long Island retrospective. This Saturday, Aug. 19, the much-talked-about jazz pianist Peter Cincotti is scheduled to play at Guild Hall. This weekend is also the last chance to catch a performance of the East End�s finest and most enjoyable summer music event, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. Friday�s and Sunday�s concerts offer works by Mozart, Dvorak, Suk and a special premiere at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church; Saturday brings two performances featuring Brazilian percussion sounds at the Children�s Museum of the East End.

For a perfect finish to a Hamptons day, spread a picnic blanket on the grass, pop open a cold drink and take in an outdoor concert in a park � one of summer�s classic pleasures, and one that doesn�t cost a thing. A great place to pick up picnic supplies is Schmidt�s Market, a gourmet-but-not-too-fussy grocery store with a devoted local following on North Sea Road in Southampton Village.

Outdoor concerts take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the green in East Quogue, at 6:30 on Wednesdays at Agawam Park in Southampton Village, and at 7:30 on Thursdays on the central green in Westhampton Beach. For more information, check the Southampton Chamber of Commerce Web site.

Schmidt�s Market: www.eastendcatering.com

Southampton Chamber of Commerce: www.southamptonchamber.com

The Hampton Synagogue: www.thehamptonsynagogue.org

Chabad: www.chabadofeastend.com

Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival: www.bcmf.org

Guild Hall: www.guildhall.org.

Help on the way for victims of both sides

Money, medical supplies going to those in Israel, Lebanon

Thursday, August 17, 2006
By Mary Niederberger and Laura Pace, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As Israeli and Lebanese families return to their homes after Monday's United Nations-imposed cease-fire, South Hills ethnic and religious groups are trying to round up money and medical supplies to send to the war-torn areas.

Over the weekend, Our Lady of Victory Lebanese Maronite Church in Scott raised $20,000 to be sent to Lebanon to help meet the needs of people displaced by the recent fighting, said the Rev. Claude Franklin, a parochial vicar at the church.

That money, and any other donations the church collects for the effort, will be forwarded to the congregation's bishop in Brooklyn, N.Y., who will combine it with other church collections and forward it to the humanitarian organization Caritas Libon, which, Father Franklin said, is the Lebanese version of Catholic Charities.

He said the money would be used to help meet the basic human needs of people in the areas affected by the war, regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.

"It will go to whoever is in need, whether they are Christians, Jews or Muslims," Father Franklin said.

In addition, the church formed a partnership with Brother's Brother Foundation, an international humanitarian aid organization based on the North Side, to collect medical supplies to send to Lebanon.

Jewish organizations in the South Hills are focusing on raising money to send to national organizations that provide relief to Israelis. The groups said money was needed more than hard goods such as diapers or canned goods at this point.

The relationship between Brother's Brother and Our Lady of Victory came about after the foundation reached out to the church.

"We didn't have the idea originally to collect medical supplies. When they contacted us, we saw this as a blessing through the Holy Spirit. If anybody is trying to help Lebanon, we wanted to be part of it," Father Franklin said.

Brother's Brother recently sent a shipment of $400,000 worth of hypertension drugs and pediatric antibiotics to those in need in Lebanon. As of early this week, the shipment was sitting in Syria, Mr. Hingson said. Those supplies were collected with help from the Life For Relief and Development agency.

Our Lady of Victory hopes to be involved in the gathering of medical supplies for future shipments, Father Franklin said. He said parishioners who are doctors or work in other areas of the medical and pharmaceutical fields are trying to obtain donations of medical supplies for shipment.

To make a donation to the Lebanon fund of Our Lady of Victory Maronite Church, checks can be made out to the church, with a notation in the memo area that the money is for Lebanon. Checks can be mailed to the church at 1000 Lindsay Road, Carnegie PA 15106.

Donations can be made to Brother's Brother Foundation/Lebanon and mailed to the foundation at 1200 Galveston Ave., Pittsburgh 15233.

Other groups are taking donations as well. Beth El Congregation of the South Hills is referring those who would like to help Israel to donate to B'nai Zion in Squirrel Hill for its Israel emergency fund. The group is a charitable, nonpartisan foundation which, among other things, supports the B'nai Zion Medical Center in Haifa, a large city in northern Israel.

Its emergency fund goes to support the hospital, which treats all patients, regardless of their ethnicity, as well as soldiers and civilians.

Dr. Amnon Rofe, director general of the hospital, will give a free talk about the situation there, including answering questions, at the Jewish Community Center, Squirrel Hill, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12.

Haifa has become a ghost town, said Ellen Primis, regional director of B'nai Zion. For questions about B'nai Zion, call 412.421.6789 or e-mail questions to bnaizion@aol.com.

Temple Emanuel of the South Hills is having a coin harvest for Israel, with collection boxes around the synagogue, on Bower Hill Road, temple Executive Director Saralouise Reis said. The congregation will collect money at the Labor Day Picnic at 4 p.m. Sept. 4, when young members of the temple will be rolling the coins. Paper bills and checks also will be accepted.

The temple has not decided which of the Israeli relief funds that money will go to.

Ms. Reis said the synagogue is encouraging donations to the United Jewish Federation and the Union of Reform Judaism, known as URJ. Funds from both organizations will go to help move children out of northern Israel, pay for medical treatment and help support refugees.

For information about the URJ fund drive, see urj.org. Temple Emanuel's phone number is 412-279-7600 and its Web site is: www.templeemanuelpgh.org.

Chabad of the South Hills is funneling contributions to Colel Chabad-Emergency Relief, which is helping to feed Jews in northern Israel. During the summer, the fund helped send children from northern Israel to camps in safer southern areas, Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum said.

To donate to the fund or for questions, contact Chabad at 412-278-3693 or check out its Web site at www.chabadsh.com.

The United Jewish Federation in Pittsburgh, in Oakland, is accepting donations for its Israeli Emergency Fund, which is an overall campaign to help the country deal with all of its special expenses, UJF representative David Shtulman said.

Examples of bills it is helping to cover include getting kids out of northern Israel and sending them to safer summer camps in the south of the country; TVs, DVDs, air conditioners, VCRs for the kids who are confined to bomb shelters; meals for the elderly who are in shelters; hospital needs and help for new immigrants into the country, he said.

For questions, call UJF's campaign department at 412-992-5213 or go to the Web site at www.ujfpittsburgh.org.

One year after Katrina, New Orleans Jews rebuilding

NEW ORLEANS

One year after "the storm," as New Orleanians refer to Hurricane Katrina, Jewish communal leaders describe the health of the community with certain expected terms � loss, trauma, devastation, and challenge.

Unexpected is the word "blessed," used repeatedly in reference to the outpouring from the American Jewish community of financial support, volunteerism, and donations of everything from teddy bears to challah covers.

Funds from the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella of the North American federation system, and the national religious movements have kept New Orleans� Jewish agencies and synagogues afloat this past year and are expected to do so through 2007.

To date, the UJC has contributed more than $17 million to the rebuilding efforts; the Reform movement has contributed some $800,000 to local Reform congregations, with another $800,000 available for recovery efforts not covered by insurance. Other movements have sent funds as well, though exact figures were not available.
One year after Katrina...

NEW ORLEANS � One year after "the storm," as New Orleanians refer to Hurricane Katrina, Jewish communal leaders describe the health of the community with certain expected terms � loss, trauma, devastation, and challenge.

Unexpected is the word "blessed," used repeatedly in reference to the outpouring from the American Jewish community of financial support, volunteerism, and donations of everything from teddy bears to challah covers.

Funds from the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella of the North American federation system, and the national religious movements have kept New Orleans� Jewish agencies and synagogues afloat this past year and are expected to do so through 2007.

To date, the UJC has contributed more than $17 million to the rebuilding efforts; the Reform movement has contributed some $800,000 to local Reform congregations, with another $800,000 available for recovery efforts not covered by insurance. Other movements have sent funds as well, though exact figures were not available.

What will happen in 2008 and beyond is the worry that both drives many planning meetings during the day and keeps communal leaders up at night.


The interior of Beth Israel Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue in New Orleans, which was damaged by 10 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina. Hannah Chalew/JTA

"Fortunately, the Jewish community has not had to depend on the help of government, given its failure at all levels," said Allan Bissinger, president of the New Orleans federation. "UJC has taken the place of what the government should normally have done."

Roselle Ungar, interim executive director of the federation, said, "What UJC and the many generous contributions from individuals across the country have given us is the opportunity to take a deep breath, step back and take the time to make the hard decisions that will be necessary, so that in 2008 we can stand on our own two feet again."

A community-wide task force is in the beginning stages of implementing a recovery plan. The plan focuses on such issues as how to retain current residents while encouraging new ones to resettle here. It also is determining how the organized Jewish community can work smarter to make the best use of limited dollars.

One of the positive outgrowths of the storm has been the burgeoning spirit of cooperation among all the New Orleans Jewish institutions. Beth Israel Congregation, the Orthodox synagogue that took on 10 feet of water, is now holding a Shabbat minyan at the Reform Gates of Prayer Congregation.

The Anti-Defamation League is sharing federation office space. Interagency programs are on the upswing, and a Hebrew free loan program is in the works. The JCC is getting needed revenue by renting out its facilities to community groups.

Tackling the population issue will not be as easy. Current estimates are that the Jewish community will stabilize at about 65 percent its pre-storm strength of about 10,000 individuals.

Although there are no hard and fast data about the population exodus, the increasing number of "For sale" signs attests to residents� continued impatience with the slow pace of recovery, frustration with the government, and concern about the rising crime rate. And it would be difficult to exaggerate the impact another hurricane would have on people�s decisions to move.

Although all age groups have joined this exodus, people in their 60s and 70s with grown children in other communities have been leaving in large numbers.

Communal officials count the loss of these individuals particularly troublesome because these are the big machers � those with the money and the time to make significant contributions. Every institution has lost some of its biggest donors and officers.

At the same time, each of the five synagogues surveyed has reported new members, mostly young people drawn by the pioneer spirit of rebuilding and the opportunity to make a difference.

Indeed, despite the loss of members, synagogue attendance seems to have remained stable. As Rabbi Andrew Busch of the Reform congregation, Touro Synagogue, put it, "In their new lives after the storm, people have a greater need to come together in the synagogue."

Rabbi Ted Lichtenfeld of Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation agreed. "Though I have not had people battering down my door for pastoral counseling, in a sense, the storm underlines everything. Fortunately, very few of my congregants lost family members to the storm, but most are rebuilding their homes and almost everyone�s job was affected in one way or the other. That is taking up so much of their energy. They come to synagogue to be in community."

Undaunted by the storm, Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana has committed to build a new student center at Tulane University; the cornerstone ceremony is scheduled to be held Aug. 27, two days before the storm�s anniversary.

The New Orleans Jewish Day School, a community school supported by the federation, has been hit hard by the population exodus. From a pre-storm enrollment of nearly 90 children in kindergarten through eighth grade, it will begin the coming school year with 23 children in just two classes: a combined kindergarten-first grade and a second-third grade class. This precipitous decrease comes despite a halving of tuition, made possible by outside contributions.

Because the local Jewish Family Service helps individuals cope with the challenges in their lives by providing counseling and financial support, it has been a lead agency in the post-storm year.

And it has transformed its way of doing business.

Although it had always provided small grants of $500 to $1,000 to individuals in need, that activity increased exponentially over the past year, when it distributed $900,000 in UJC funds directly to individuals affected by the storm, according to agency officials.

By requiring individuals to come to the JFS office to pick up their checks, JFS staff had the opportunity to see how they were doing, to hear their concerns and to offer help that went beyond the financial.

Anne Freedman, associate director of JFS, said of its clients: "All that some people needed was the chance to cry and tell their story to the staff, people who really understood them because they had gone through the same thing.

"Many people were so used to giving to others that they were embarrassed about accepting aid. I would tell them that the sooner they were made whole, the sooner they could be back to their traditional role of helping others."

The traditional counseling role of JFS has changed as well. With many families now living with several generations while their homes are being repaired, more clients are coming in for family counseling. In Baton Rouge, which received many older evacuees, JFS plans social events that bring isolated older adults together; the JCC in New Orleans puts on similar activities.

The agency�s suicide prevention and education program, Teen Life Counts, is needed more than ever. One volunteer reported that pre-Katrina, when she would ask high-schoolers what they thought of teens who committed suicide, they would characterize them as selfish and foolish. This past year, the responses were much more sympathetic. She heard students say, for example, that peers who committed suicide "must be real sad because their parents were crying all the time."

Yet even against the backdrop of government incompetence and uncertain levees, many residents are buoyed by optimism.

On Sunday, community members gathered in the afternoon for a chanukkat habayit, a home dedication ceremony in which a mezuzah is hung, for Georgette Somjen, a physician moving to town. Later, a brit milah, or circumcision, was celebrated for the son of Gary and Susan Lazarus, who are committed to remaining in New Orleans.

Dan Alexander, a fourth-generation New Orleanian, and his wife, Lazelle, also a native, attended both celebrations.

Katrina destroyed their home and surrounding neighborhood, where they had lived for 43 years. The house was bulldozed a few weeks ago.

An 81-year-old retired public schoolteacher, Dan Alexander, said, "When you lose your home, it is like losing a relative."

Buying and moving into a new house was "the farthest thing from my mind," he said. "But what�s the alternative? You have to move on and establish a whole new type of existence."

Declaring that he and his wife are satisfied in their new home, he added: "I couldn�t have made these changes without the support of Lazelle and my family and the community. We just have to be strong and work together as a team."

JTA

As area north of Toronto grows, Jewish groups struggle to keep up

By Bill Gladstone

TORONTO, Aug. 15 (JTA) —

Seven years ago, when Rabbi Ezriel Sitzer opened a storefront Jewish educational center north of Toronto, the area was just “pasture and sheep.”

It’s a lot more than that today.

Construction of new homes has been rapid since developers arrived in the area known as Thornhill Woods four years ago. Today about three-quarters of some 6,500 planned single-family homes have been built and sold.

So far the area is at least 50 percent Jewish, with young married couples predominating, drawn by the slightly lower housing prices.

As many as 80,000 Jews — about 40 percent of the greater Toronto area’s Jewish population — live in the area immediately north of the city’s northern limit.

A magnet for new immigrants from Montreal, Winnipeg, Israel, Russia, South Africa or Argentina in recent years, the York Region, which boasts one of the fastest-growing Jewish communities in the Diaspora, is the fastest growing census division in Canada.

Its population has grown by 19 percent since 2001 and is nearing the 1 million mark. Jews are just one of many burgeoning ethnic groups.

“I had my eye on this area, hoping and thinking it would become Jewish, and thank God I was right,” said Sitzer, dean of the Jewish Center for Learning and Living, which recently purchased a five-acre site for an expanded spiritual facility.

“This community, including Dufferin Hills and Coronation, is well represented by many different Jewish groups — Russian, Sephardic, Israeli, South African — and we intend to develop this project with all of their needs in mind,” Sitzer said. “Rather than one large sanctuary, we’re planning to have a ‘synaplex’ consisting of smaller sanctuaries for each of these groups.”

Other new residential areas in the region include Elgin Mills, Coronation, Dufferin Hills and Shaftesbury.

Three miles north of older and more developed areas like Thornhill and Concord, Sitzer’s neighborhood of Thornhill Woods still has no operating synagogue, though several congregations meet in private homes.

“It’s still so raw here,” he said. “There’s not a kosher restaurant here in this part of the Woods. There’s not even a kosher pizzeria here yet.”

Several restaurants have opened to the south, including a branch of the Israeli chain Me-Va-Me, to cater to the estimated 12,000-15,000 Israeli-Canadians living in the “905” region, as the area is known, based on its telephone area code.

Numerous synagogues have been built in the more established southern section of the region, including the 25-year-old Temple Har Zion, which shares a parking lot with a mosque.

Rebecca Soberman and her husband and infant daughter moved into a house in Thornhill Woods eight months ago, which at the time was just the third house occupied on their street. Now all the houses are built and occupied.

“People called us true pioneers, because it was just dust and mud,” Soberman said.

“It’s an area of young couples, newlyweds and very young families. We wanted to be among our peers,” she said. “A lot of young people are moving into the new areas all at the same time and will be growing together.”

According to Bryan Keshen, a strategic planner for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, there has been no corresponding drop in Jewish residents within the city to account for the sustained Jewish growth along its northern fringe.

It’s not a case of “people moving out of the city and into the suburbs,” he said. The York Region “is growing organically unto itself as the rest of Toronto is growing. Nothing else is shrinking Jewishly.”

Community planners first recognized the demographic trend in the mid-1990s, and in 2001 arranged the purchase of a 50-acre tract for future community needs.

Conducted quietly and covertly through agents, the deal relied upon the generosity of scores of benefactors and donors, who each contributed some US$110,000, or about the price of an acre. The land, which lies adjacent to a nine-acre protected woodland, has since risen significantly in value.

Last year the federation broke ground on a mammoth northern campus to house schools, service agencies, conference facilities, a health and fitness pavilion, restaurants and cultural enterprises, all in an environment of public gardens, courtyards and streets. A main boulevard has been named after Col. Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut who died in the 2003 Columbia shuttle crash.

With an estimated cost of nearly US$89 million, the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus is scheduled to open in stages, beginning in September 2007, when the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto opens. Four elementary schools also are planned for the complex, which reportedly will boast the largest gathering of Jewish day school students outside of Israel.

“We know that the population is growing so rapidly that we absolutely have to be there,” said Karen Paikin, spokesperson for the UJA Federation’s Jewish Family and Child Services. The agency is planning a branch office in the Lebovic campus to help it provide counseling and programs related to child protection, domestic abuse and other social services.

The Chabad-Lubavitch organization long has had a presence north of Toronto. It operates five centers in the region, including the eight-year-old Chabad Flamingo, which is set to undergo a major expansion costing nearly $5.8 million.

Some new residential areas, such as the Shaftesbury neighborhood, are 70 percent Jewish, Keshen said, adding that the 200,000-strong Jewish population in the metropolitan area gives many residents the confidence to live as Jews.

Even so, many still have to drive two or three miles to get to the nearest kosher butcher or supermarket with a wide range of kosher products.

“The infrastructure just hasn’t kept up with the community needs,” Keshen said.

Koptsev Back on Trial for Knife Attack

The Moscow Times

Yury Mashkov / Itar-Tass

The retrial of Alexander Koptsev, charged with attacking worshipers in a synagogue on Jan. 11, got under way Tuesday in the Moscow City Court, Interfax reported.

The court heard testimony from three victims on Tuesday. Statements from two other victims were also read aloud during the trial's opening session.

In late March, the court found Koptsev guilty of attempted murder motivated by ethnic hatred for stabbing and wounding nine men at the Chabad Synagogue at 6 Bolshaya Bronnaya Ulitsa in downtown Moscow.

Witnesses of the attack said Koptsev shouted "Heil, Hitler" as he ran amok in the synagogue, stabbing wildly with a knife before he was overpowered by the synagogue's chief rabbi, Yitzak Kogan, and other worshipers.

The court, however, dropped a related charge of inciting inter-ethnic hatred. In announcing its verdict, the court noted several mitigating factors, including Koptsev's eye ailment and the fact that he was a first-time offender.

Koptsev was sentenced to 13 years at a maximum-security penal colony and mandatory psychiatric treatment.

In June, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial. The decision came after both the prosecution and the defense appealed the city court's verdict.


Koptsev's lawyers appealed to have his sentence reduced, arguing that the court had not considered his unstable mental state. Prosecutors appealed the decision to drop the charge of inciting inter-ethnic hatred.

The Moscow City Court previously denied Koptsev's request for a jury trial on procedural grounds. It also denied the defense lawyers' request to have Koptsev released on condition that he not leave the city.

The retrial began in an atmosphere of acrimony, as Vitaly Khavkin, a lawyer representing the victims, called into question the professional competence of Koptsev's lawyers.

Israel still draws US travelers; Lebanon's a no-go

By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press Writer

August 15, 2006, 11:02 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- Even Hezbollah missiles couldn't keep Hilda Goodman and her husband from going forward with a trip to Israel they planned 13 years ago _ when their grandson was born.

For his bar mitzvah in October, the Miami couple plan to be in Jerusalem.

Since hostilities in Israel and Lebanon started in July, Americans looking at the Middle East as a travel destination have had to answer a pressing question: to go or not to go. Tens of thousands canceled flights, but at least as many others are proceeding with travel to Israel _ including tourists, college students, devout Jews and some Christians.

Across the border in Lebanon, despite a tense cease-fire this week, travel is practically impossible except using side roads _ until now at the risk of one's life.

"We planned our trip to Israel 13 years ago. And we're going on the belief that things will work out," said Goodman, adding that she knows dozens of other Americans going to Israel for the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah this fall.

"People who really want to go to Israel for spiritual reasons don't cancel," said Batia Plotch, an Israeli-raised Manhattan trip organizer whose siblings live in northern Israel. She speaks with her relatives regularly, but has no plans to go there any time soon.

Hundreds of college-age Americans also are heading to the region, or are already there.

"I'd never been to Israel before. But I have no sense of impending doom here _ I jog every morning and feel completely safe," said Carolyn Judge, a 28-year-old from the Chicago area who is of Catholic heritage.

She arrived three weeks ago with 46 other Americans to attend medical school at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the peaceful southern city of Beer-Sheva. The group had postponed its late July flight to Tel Aviv from Newark, N.J., for several days because of the Hezbollah attacks.

At Tel Aviv University, more than 170 students enrolled for the academic year that starts this fall. About 20 Americans originally planning to attend classes there have canceled so far, according to Olivia Blechner, director of academic affairs at the Israel's Consulate General in New York.

And more than 500 college-age students who belong to the Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish movement will attend a dozen yeshivas in Israel starting next month.

"If we were not to go, the message we would be sending is one of despair," said rabbinical student Levi Schectman, 22, of Milwaukee, who will study at the Chabad Lubavitch Mayanot Yeshiva in Jerusalem. "The fact that we're going strengthens the people who have to live through this; it boosts their spirits."

The American University in Beirut, which usually hosts about 250 American students, "is not sure we can expect any at all," said spokeswoman Ada Porter. "The current condition of the infrastructure in Lebanon will make it very difficult for anyone to reach the university."

For many, fear was the strongest factor in their travel decisions.

Of the more than 40,000 monthly U.S. visitors to Israel, as many as 35 percent canceled their trips in the month after the violence started in July, said Ari Sommer, Israel's tourism commissioner for North and South America.

Yitzchak Ariel, a Brooklyn doctor, his wife and two young children finally decided to go in early October for a joyous Jewish holiday, the harvest feast of Sukkot. Ariel convinced his wife by telling her that going to Israel "is just as safe as riding the subway in New York, with the possible terrorist threats here."

And the American Jewish Congress is planning four-day, three-night trips "to show our solidarity with the people of Israel." Departing from both New York and Los Angeles as soon as travel arrangements are made in the next few weeks, the groups will head to northern Israel _ a lush landscape now defaced by Katyusha rockets fired from Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.

Many other Americans "are waiting to see what happens," Sommer said.

Christian groups that planned Holy Land pilgrimages later this year are holding off _ with promises that they won't have to pay any flight or hotel penalties should they decide to not go, Sommer said. If they do travel, their itineraries will omit a standard tourist stop, the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, which has been under fire.

To help the decimated tourism industry there, the Galilee Spirit project offers Americans the chance to reserve nights in hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, which have lost about $2 million a day. But guests don't have to give a date for using the accommodations.

Commercial air travel to Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, is impossible _ at least, via the usual flight into Beirut. The city's airport was bombed by Israelis trying to cut supply arteries to Hezbollah, which the U.S. government lists as a terrorist organization.

On the Expedia travel Web site, queries for Beirut are answered with three bold-faced words: "Destination Currently Unavailable." And the U.S. State Department warns Americans not to travel there.

Any trip there amounts to Russian roulette on wheels: A flight to Amman, Jordan, or Damascus, Syria, then a cab or car ride over side roads to Beirut, bypassing highways and other major roads and bridges that were destroyed in aerial attacks.

"It's a total risk. Any moving thing could be a target," said Jack Stepanian, who owns the Panorama travel agency in New York. He said the trip costs "a fortune," with the cab ride from the Syrian border to Beirut alone adding up to as much as $400.

Misfortune, while prompting some travelers to cancel, is inspiring other Americans to not only visit the Middle East _ but to move there.

This summer, hundreds of American Jews are immigrating to Israel as part of a push for settlement sponsored by the private organization Nefesh B'Nefesh _ Hebrew for From Soul to Soul.

The organization's Web site urges American Jews to "live the dream."

___

On the Net:

U.S. State Department Travel Warnings: http://travel.state.gov

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

Good and Evil

My last post ended with a comparison of liberal and conservative which some people compare to good or evil. This is just as erroneous as making that comparison to peace and violence or life and death. I like the inspired definition in Toward a Meaningful Life (wisdom of the former Rebbe of Chabad) that describes evil as selfishness and good as selflessness which puts the determination on intent of action. This means things can't be evil (a knife can be used for good or evil) nor can generic actions (like killing during war) be evil. In fact if I give to charity so that I can benefit then that is evil. If I went to war to free the oppressed then my action is good. So too anger and death and other 'negative' attributes may be good.

The optimism Rebbe Schneerson's outlook is refreshing:

Goodness is a natural state of the world... All of man's good works throughout the ages are building blocks, leading up to a final triumph of goodness in the world. Moral relapses are not flaws, but by-products of this process. It is to be expected that when the forces of goodness show strength, the forces from where evil originates will endeavor to retaliate, and that they will make their final stand just on the verge of their total collapse.

Sounds like the situation in Iraq. Over at Iraq the Model you could witness the confusion as to why the US is there. Is it to subjugate the people or are we doing this out of the goodness of our hearts? I know of plenty of troops that are there because they believe they are doing good.

Unlike Darth Vader's convictions (kids are really into Star Wars right now) the dark side is not more powerful than the light side. Turn on the light and the darkness is vanquished, goodness is divine with the power that is inherent whereas darkness is simply the absence of light (all ego no real power). Goodness requires both thought and action which results in spiritual growth.

Technorati Tags: Chabad, Iraq, Star Wars, ego, evil, good, selfish, selfless

Chayyei Sarah reports

Full disclosure: As I've mentioned before (I think), I have a new client, this new web-content management company, and one of their clients is Chabad-Lubavitch. It was for their site that I went to Safed last week, to research the humanitarian activities of Chabad there, and the lives of the Lubavitch-chassidic families who have stayed in town for one reason or another, despite the rocket attacks. My story has finally been published, and you can read the whole thing, and see some photos taken by moi, here.

Groups dispel myths about Middle East conflict

Courtney Hagen

Monday, August 14, 2006

Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel lives by the motto that “labels are for shirts and not for people.”

With the increasing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Tiechtel’s motto has become even more important to him. Tiechtel is co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center at the University of Kansas.

With KU students returning to Lawrence, Tiechtel is preparing himself for an onslaught of questions and misconceptions from students about the conflict.

Last month, members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah crossed into Israel, killed three Israeli soldiers and kidnapped another two. The event set off a chain of violent events between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel began bombing the Lebanese city of Beirut and Hezbollah fired back with rockets.

“The greatest challenge today, especially with American youth, is simply the myths and confusion that strongly exist,” Tiechtel said. “It is simple confusion of people on the role of Israel today.”

Tiechtel said one of his goals for Chabad was to be a source of information for Jews and non-Jews alike to give everyone the opportunity to ask questions.

“Everyone is invited,” Tiechtel said. “Labels aside, our goal is to simply educate anybody and everybody who is interested in learning the true facts about the Jewish people or the land of Israel.”

Though on a different side of the conflict, Nick Kallail, Derby third-year law student, also understands the misconceptions. Kallail is Lebanese and understands that his peers may examine the conflict from a more American point of view. He thinks a different perspective is important to better understand the situation.

“The important part is making sure that the ones who care are gaining a better understanding of what is happening there,” Kallail said. “To get a more rounded understanding of what is happening, one can’t solely rely on CNN or Fox for the facts. You have to take what they say and supplement it with talking to people from the region and looking at media reporting from other countries as well.”

Kallail doesn’t feel strongly about labels either. He said he had noticed a strong misconception through people’s belief that it was Israel and Lebanon fighting and not Israel and Hezbollah, a small militant part of Lebanon.

Both Kallail and Teichtel agree that an open dialogue is necessary to combat the stereotypes and misconceptions. Kalleil said lectures or other programs might be valuable in helping people understand. Teichtel plans to host events at the Chabad center to strengthen solidarity of its members and educate others.

“We are told in the Jewish religion that the greatest weapon to combat darkness is light,” Teichtel said. “In this situation the best we can do is good deeds and educate our brothers.”

More information on Israel, Judaism and programs at Chabad can be found at www.JewishKU.com. Information about Lebanon can be found at www.arab.net/lebanon/.

Kansan staff writer Courtney Hagen can be contacted at chagen@kansan.com.

— Edited by Nicole Kelley

Israeli historian's talk marked by loss

By John Mitchell, jmitchell@VenturaCountyStar.com
August 14, 2006

Israeli physicist and historian Zeev Rav-Noy preceded his Sunday lecture on the history of Israel with the announcement that he had received news of a tragic personal loss.

He told the 50 or so people who filled the small main room at Chabad of Oxnard that his nephew had been one of five soldiers killed Saturday when a Hezbollah missile destroyed an Israeli helicopter in Lebanon.

At the conclusion of his lecture and a brief question-and-answer period, the speaker rushed out of the room to head to Los Angeles International Airport so he could fly home for his nephew's funeral.

Rav-Noy's grief was shared by Racheli Muchnik, his daughter and the wife of the chabad director, Rabbi Dov Muchnik. The dead soldier was Racheli's first cousin.

As her father was leaving the building, she stood in front of the assemblage, her infant cradled in her arms, and emotionally expressed her feelings of loss.

The title of Rav-Noy's lecture was "Israel: Past, Present (Future?)" He illustrated his comments with a series of maps projected on a screen that tracked the changing geography of the region from Abraham to the present day.

Rav-Noy, who fought in many of Israel's wars and was injured during a terrorist attack in the summer of 2005, made it clear that he wanted to explain the conflict between Jews and Arabs through religious and historical facts. He refrained from discussing the current fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

However, at the end of his presentation, several people queried him about the conflict.

"We live in a dangerous neighborhood. People are trying to kill us," he said to one questioner.

To another, he said: "I want to stop the bloodshed and go back to the drawing board. I don't think it is necessary to win this war. But it has shown clearly we have a problem with the military."

When asked about securing the release of the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah before the fighting, he said, "We can go back to haggling. Maybe we didn't need this war."

During the lecture, he portrayed the land of Israel as much more closely linked with Jews than Arabs. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible more than 700 times, he said, and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem has been the Jews' main place of worship for more than 800 years.

Rav-Noy also said Israel's cause is right.

"Our most important ally is not George Bush," Rav-Noy said. "It is justice. And even with all our troubles we've had, Israel loves justice because it is on our side."


Copyright 2006, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.

Myrtle Beach backs Israel

Gathering promotes solidarity

By Jessica Foster
The Sun News

A chorus of Jewish and Christian voices emanated from a room in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Sunday, singing songs about peace in Israel.

During the turmoil in what some call the holy land, the group demonstrated the kind of unity that the event's organizers hoped to foster on the area's first Israel Solidarity Day.

"We live in a world of dilemmas in Israel," said Yoram Adar, a Florida man who served 24 years in the Israeli Air Force and is an official of the United Jewish Communities. UJC represents 155 Jewish federations and 400 independent Jewish communities across North America.

The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel that has been raging for weeks was the main catalyst for the gathering, said Carrol Sallas, who goes to the Temple Beth Elohim, a Jewish temple in Georgetown, and who was involved in planning the event.

"I'm hoping that maybe this rally will make people here on the Grand Strand aware of what's happening," she said. "It's a sad situation. Men, women and children are being killed on all sides."

Several local and national groups - Chabad of Myrtle Beach, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Shalom, Hadassah, Temple Beth Elohim and the United Jewish Communities - sponsored the event.

Leaders of the Jewish and Christian communities spoke to justify Israel's stance in the conflict, which began on July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers. Since then, more than 1,000 people have been killed in the fighting, according to an Aug. 11 United Nations news release.

Many in the crowd on Sunday wore "I love Israel" shirts and held small Israeli flags.

Some were skeptical about the cease-fire scheduled to begin today, which Adar said would work only if both sides comply to its conditions.

"Those who got burned with boiling water are very careful with warm water," he said.

"[Israel] always end up on the short end, and hopefully this time we won't."

The event was not intended to exclude or cause harsh feelings within the Lebanese or Muslim communities in Myrtle Beach, said Rabbi Avi Perets, of Temple Emanu-El.

Many Lebanese people support Israel in its fight to uproot Hezbollah, he said, and the event Sunday was for everyone who stands behind that goal.

"It was an event for the entire community," he said. "I would encourage Muslims also to come and support us in that."

The event Sunday also featured a conference call with the mayor of the Israeli city of Haifa so that the group congregated in Myrtle Beach could extend its encouragement and support.

Even if the rally doesn't have a direct effect on the fighting, it can have a psychological effect on its participants, said Joan Piroch, psychology professor at Coastal Carolina University.

"What's happening in the Middle East is completely out of our control, but that doesn't mean that we still don't empathize with these people," Piroch said.

"We gain a certain amount of strength and confidence from other people."

The rally concluded with prayer and song that lamented war and uplifted their ancient land of promise.

Janice Sattele, who goes to Christ Church in Murrells Inlet, said these kinds of gatherings help forge a connection between Jews and Christians.

"I think the more that we get together, the more bonding there will be, the more trust," said Sattele.

Christians should stand with the Jewish community "to make sure that that light which is the state of Israel will never be put out," said Mark Goodman, pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church.

"I, like you, hope that the peace that God promises to us ... will be realized."

Purchase of ark stirs New Jerseyans’ memories of coal town congregation

by Debra Rubin
NJJN Staff Writer

When the Torah ark from a defunct synagogue in a small Pennsylvania coal mining town was purchased by the Chabad Jewish Center in Monroe, it triggered memories for at least three Middlesex County residents.

The three remembered the ark from their childhoods in Shenandoah, Pa., where it resided for 159 years in the Kehillat Israel Synagogue.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Rabbi Herman Cohen of East Brunswick, who read an article about the purchase of the ark in the July 11 issue of New Jersey Jewish News. Kehillat Israel was the Orthodox shul where his father, Pinchas, served as rabbi, town shohet (ritual slaughterer), mohel, and teacher in the 1930s.

Herman Cohen, who has a Conservative ordination, came to New Jersey in 1982 and served as rabbi at Congregation Beth Ohr in Old Bridge. Later he was the Bergen County Jewish chaplain at the county jail and at Bergen Regional Medical Center for 15 years before retiring.

After Cohen saw the article, he said, “I called my wife at work and told her, and she said she wasn’t going to believe it until she saw it for herself. It really stirred old memories.”

His father, a native of Jerusalem, earned $35 a week for all his services, but was fired and rehired because his salary was too extravagant for the congregation.

“I remember starting school there, and I remember the aron kodesh [holy ark],” said Cohen. “We lived in a small apartment that also had several other things, including the caskets used by the local hevra kadisha [burial society]. My brother and I were afraid to go in that room. I remember almost all the Jews were shopkeepers or peddlers, but when we were there, the town was already in decline.”

Fannie Kuflik, 81, of East Brunswick recalled that her family’s roots were deep in Shenandoah; her grandparents were married there. Her grandfather had come to the town from Russia, as did his five brothers.

“My grandfather had a grocery store there and owned some real estate,” she said. “When I was there, most of the stores on Main Street were owned by Jews.”

She said her own father, who died when she was 12, had a men’s clothing store, but he “lost everything” after the 1929 stock market crash.

Kuflik remembers Kehillat Israel fondly and recalled how the women would go upstairs to sit and the men downstairs, each worshiper always to the same seat.

“When I was there, Shenandoah was in its heyday,” said Kuflik, who left in 1942 after high school to work as a civilian employee of the Signal Corps in Philadelphia and later lived with an aunt and uncle in Utica, NY. “We had dances, a Jewish community center, a kosher meat market, and Hebrew school. It was nice.”

Although there are virtually no Jews left there, she noted that “the friends I had in Shenandoah are still my friends.”

Kuflik lived in Staten Island for many years before coming to East Brunswick 13 years ago to be near her daughter.

“I’m happy about it being here,” she said of the ark. “I’d love to see it. There were times I went back to visit my father’s grave, but I couldn’t get into the shul because it was locked.”

Sanford Aranoff, 68, also grew up in Shenandoah and now lives in the adult community of Clearbrook in Monroe, where he moved from Park Ridge in Bergen County.

“I was bar mitzva’d there,” he reminisced. “At that time there were about 100 Jewish families in town, but there were only two families who were Sabbath observant — our extended family and the rabbi’s. I went to heder there after school. Some uncles and my grandparents are buried there.”

While he was still a teenager, Aranoff and his family left for Miami Beach, where he graduated from high school and the University of Miami. However, other members of his extended family remained in Shenandoah, running the family wholesale bakery and grocery warehouse.

“After my uncle died, somebody bought the building and decided to keep it as a museum, so they did not touch the exterior of the building,” he said. “We went back a couple of years ago and it was very interesting. It still says ‘Aranoff Wholesalers.’”

Rabbi Eliezer Zaklikovsky of the Monroe Chabad acknowledged he was a little taken aback by the local reaction to the ark.

“I was surprised,” he said. “People feel very attached to it, like part of their past was coming alive. Some wanted to take part in the [rededication] ceremony.”

The ark was disassembled on June 25 at Kehillat Israel and transported to Monroe by a group of 10 people from Chabad, which is in a process of an expansion expected to be completed in about five months. Until the ark is reassembled, the congregation is using a makeshift ark.

Zaklikovsky had seen the ark and other synagogue furnishings when he made the almost three-hour trip there over the winter with the hope of buying a Torah scroll. Chabad members may make a second trip to bring back even more items from the historic shul.

Shenandoah, founded in 1860 in Pennsylvania’s coal-mining region, is 105 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Its Jewish population — once comprising approximately 100 families — has shrunk to 11 people. Its overall population was 30,000 in 1920, but the town was hard hit by the decline of the anthracite coal industry after World War II, and residents, including Jews, began leaving. The 2000 census put its population at 5,624.

Proceeds from the sale of the synagogue building and ritual items will be put into a trust for the Kehillat Israel Cemetery Association to maintain the graves of past generations.

Cohen, who has a private practice, works one day a week as a counselor for the Jewish Family & Vocational Service of Middlesex County, also in Monroe. But his and Zaklikovsky’s connection doesn’t stop at Shenandoah and Monroe. After leaving Shenandoah, the Cohen family moved to Winnipeg, Canada, where father and later son served as rabbis. Zaklikovsky’s wife, Chanie, is from Winnipeg, where her father is the Chabad rabbi.

“I feel like there is six degrees of separation between us,” said Cohen. “If there’s any kind of ceremony, I’d like to be part of it.”

Chabad students spread goodwill in Nyack

By SUZAN CLARKE
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: August 11, 2006)

NYACK — Dressed in their traditional black suits, pristine snow-white shirts and black hats, rabbinical students Yehuda Blotner and Yehoshua Dubinsky have been walking the streets of Nyack to spread the word about Judaism.

Blotner, 24, and Dubinsky, 22, are rabbinical students of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn.

The two are among 280 senior Lubavitcher rabbinical students who are spending the summer on Torah-spreading missions throughout the world.

The students, who travel in pairs, meet with Jews to discuss issues of Judaic literacy and piety.

The Lubavitchers seek to bring Jews closer to their roots through a variety of outreach efforts. The group's Chabad centers worldwide provide services for people who want to explore their faith.

Since Aug. 1, Blotner and Dubinsky have been networking in Nyack, making appointments with local leaders, residents and merchants, or just walking up to people.

"We don't try to missionize," Blotner said, speaking inside the Gallery of Metal and Stone, a fine jewelry shop on South Broadway where the students had stopped to chat with the owner and her clients. "We want Jewish people of all backgrounds — both Jews who are religious and those who are not observant — we try to share the rich traditions; not push, but in a welcoming way."

Stan Greenberg of Spring Valley was a recipient of their good will.

Greenberg and his wife, Edra, dropped into the jewelry store to visit with the store's owner, their friend Beverly Gopin. But, once there, they were drawn into conversation with the students, who draped Stan Greenberg with a tefillin — a long, narrow strip of parchment upon which prayers are inscribed and that Jewish men wear on their bodies.

Observant men use the tefillin during prayer. Greenberg, a member of the Monsey Jewish Center, does not always use the tefillin, so he was grateful to the students.

"It was a great opportunity and a great pleasure and a good feeling," he said of the experience. "I love them. I happen to love the Chabad rabbis, and these two young men. These two young students, they're just the warmest people you could possibly meet."

Describing herself as an observant Jew, Gopin spoke highly of the students' mission.

"No matter what you observe as a Jew, no matter what you call yourself ... we're all one people, one Jewish nation, and we need to be there for each other in good times and in bad times," she said.

Other summer missions have taken Dubinsky to Romania and Siberia and Blotner to Pennyslvania and Rhode Island. Both said they were enjoying Nyack, and had met many nice people.

Like fellow students, Dubinsky and Blotner carry everything they need to provide good service, including their Jewish "first-aid kit," Blotner said with a smile.

"We've got like a Jewish Mary Poppins bag with everything in it," he said, referring to a black leather case of religious items.

Holy Name Jewish Library

TEANECK – A life-sized statue of Jesus stands in the lobby of Holy Name Hospital here, a Catholic hospital that boasts a chapel, crosses decorating the walls — and now, a Jewish library.

"We’re a Catholic hospital, but we’re [smack] in the middle of a huge Jewish community," said Jonathan Hirsch, director of guest services at Holy Name. Thus many patients are Jewish.

"The nurses are sensitized to Shabbos observers," said Debbie Ross, the hospital’s director of clinical information systems. An extensive kosher menu is available, as well as Friday night candle-lighting.

Rivka Lewin, a township resident and a bikkur cholim (visiting the sick) volunteer, had noticed Jewish patients spending their days watching television. She thought that if the patients had something worthwhile to read, they might better occupy their time. Also, Lewin said in a recent interview, "patients need spiritual support." She brought her idea of a library of Jewish books to the hospital’s public relations department.

According to Hirsch, since Jews are such a huge part of the community, when Lewin offered to create a Jewish library in the hospital, "we jumped on the opportunity. And she offered to do all of the work, so it was easy for us."

Lewin sought out sponsors for the library, eventually raising enough money to buy five bookcases, one for each floor of the hospital. Lewin also approached Jewish publishers, asking for discounts, and many complied. As she raised more money, Lewin started buying books. So far nearly three bookcases have been filled.

Patients can borrow the books for as long as they are in the hospital, and then return them on the honor system. Family members are also welcome to read the books, since they spend a lot of time waiting with their loved ones.

Julie Zahavy, this reporter’s cousin, who was in the hospital for about a month, read two of the library’s books. "It was great," she said. "I felt bad that I couldn’t take them home with me," For Zahavy, an immigrant from Argentina, these were the first English books that she had ever read to the end. The books, which were about Jewish immigrants, "made me feel at home," she said.

Lewin said that she would place only books by Orthodox publishers in the library. According to Lewin, if the publisher is not Orthodox, someone in the book might violate Shabbat or kashrut, which would not send the message that Lewin wishes to send to the patients.

"HaShem [God] is the only one who heals," she said. "The doctor is healing through haShem. The way that a person gets healing is to petition haShem and to follow doctors’ orders."

Lewin hopes that the books will help people get closer to God. "I want the patients to live long lives," she said. "So I want to enable them to learn how to do mitzvot."

The library includes a whole variety of books with Jewish themes, including Tehillim, the Hagaddah, and the Kuzari, works of the Rambam, Rav Nachman, and various chasidim, and children’s books on mitzvot. Some books are organized thematically by floor. For example, on the labor and delivery floor there are books about childbirth and fertility.

The books are labeled "Property of Friends of Lubavitch in Teaneck."

"I wanted the books to belong to a good Jewish organization nearby," Lewin said. "And the phone number is there if a patient wants spiritual help." Around 20 volunteers have helped label and organize the books.

Lewin plans to continue to raise money and buy more books until all five bookcases are filled and she wants to expand the library to include Jewish videos.

The hospital also has a small secular library, a cart of books that volunteers bring around from room to room. But the Jewish library is already bigger.

"The hospital is very open to the Jewish community," Hirsch said. "And the library makes it much more comfortable for Jewish patients and their family."

Lewin agrees. "The hospital wants to satisfy its Jewish patients, which is very good," she said.

Sister Nora Molyneux, an administrator at Holy Name, enjoys the fact that a Jewish library is in this Catholic hospital. "I think it’s marvelous," she said. "After all, we [Catholics] read both the Old and New Testament every day, and we share the same Judeo-Christian heritage."