jewish journal archives

jewish journal archives the jewish journal archive april 25 - may 8, 2003 local stories national news international news features arts & entertainment singles editorial local columnists op-ed letters/commentary local stories robertson backs israel, blasts arabs brett m. rhyne jewish journal staff framingham — “there is a virulent minority who seeks our destruction,” declared christian coalition founder pat robertson in a hotly contested appearance at temple beth sholom, framingham. “we must join hands: jews, christians, israel, the united states. we have common aims, share a common heritage and we have common enemies.” throughout his hour-long, staunchly hawkish address, the former presidential candidate and host of the internationally syndicated christian religious program, the 700 club, criticized arab muslims in general and palestinian leader yassir arafat in particular. “arafat is a liar and a dangerous person,” roberson said. “those people are the most artful liars.” “the plo does not solve the problems because they want to keep a cancer going as a provocation to destroy israel,” he said. “that is the game.” “yassir arafat is a terrorist,” robertson maintained. “no amount of land will secure peace, because in the minds of the militants, they want to destroy israel.” “the land can’t afford a horde of arabs it probably can’t accommodate anyway,” he said. robertson made clear his unilateral support of israel when he insisted, “israel cannot make concessions that will compromise its security.” he rejected international action in the conflict, saying, “it’s up to israel to decide — not the u.n., not france or germany or russia.” rather than directly answering the question posed by the title of the april 13 talk, “why evangelicals support israel,” robertson instead spoke anecdotally, relating stories about meeting with yitzhak rabin in 1974, broadcasting on radio from southern lebanon after the six-day war and meeting surreptitiously with arafat at the tomb of rachel in bethlehem. of evangelical zionists, robertson said, “we are part of the heritage of abraham, isaac and jacob. we identify with the prophets — they set the standard for how we live.” “there has never been a gulf between evangelicals and jews,” he said. “this is a commitment that transcends the political reasons. of course, the other reasons are true,” he noted, including the u.s. using israel as its “aircraft carrier” in the region and both countries’ “affinity to democracy.” during the abbreviated question-and-answer period, robertson was asked if he believed that at ‘the end of days’ all jews would either be converted or destroyed, as stated in christian scripture. “i’ve heard that canard,” robertson replied. “there may be some people who believe that, but i’m not one of them.” the 73-year-old robertson appeared factually and syntactically confused several times during his talk, at one point calling the dome of the rock mosque “a church” and then “a synagogue” and another time saying, “hezbollah used cars filled with explosions [sic].” boston globe columnist jeff jacoby introduced robertson by declaring, “if you want to hear israel bashed, listen to npr. if you want to hear israel supported, watch the 700 club.” a dozen members of the reserved audience greeted robertson with a standing ovation, eventually joined politely by many others. robertson received a similar response at the end of the program. according to jack bushinsky, chair of the beth sholom adult education committee, which organized the event, 285 tickets were sold for robertson’s talk, far less than the 500 originally expected. “we thought we’d have to turn people away. we thought there’d be thousands,” bushinsky said. of the 275 who attended, bushinsky estimated 70 percent were beth sholom members, 50 were members of nearby temples and another 30 were from robertson’s christian broadcasting network (cbn). according to bushinsky, beth sholom sold between 30-40 seats at the premium $25 rate and the balance for $10. he said robertson took no fee for his appearance and paid his own travel expenses; beth sholom will give cbn a $500 honorarium and will donate another $500 to an as-yet-unnamed christian zionist organization. “we should make about $1,000 when all is said and done,” bushinsky said. many of the assembled were acquaintances and followers of robertson’s. “i know pat,” said richard csaplar, former chair of the board of trustees of regent university, the school robertson founded. “i came to hear some of the reasons and thinking pat has for being a long-time supporter of israel. “if not for the right-wing christians, israel would be alone in the world,” csaplar continued. “they’re so strongly pro-israel.” “like robertson, i’m also a zionist and a christian evangelical,” said lane hoffman, a member of the greendale avenue worship center in needham, a group that meets regularly to pray for israel. “i’m interested to hear what he says because i suspect i agree with him.” due to his ultra-conservative social policies, robertson’s address drew criticism immediately upon being announced two months ago(jewish journal, march 14, p. 1). an ad hoc group of 14 peaceful demonstrators, jews saying no to the christian right, picketed and held a press conference on the road leading to beth sholom before robertson’s talk. “robertson’s views run counter to many long-cherished values within the organized jewish community,” stated protest organizer sarah hershey. “inviting robertson into a jewish house of worship does an even greater disservice to those members of our own community who identify as members of the glbt community, who identify as feminists, and who identify as jews of color.” robertson seemed to confirm the dissenters’ charges of chauvinism when he said, during an anecdote about surveying land he owned in the gaza strip, “when you fly in a single-engine plane with a lady pilot and you feel like i do, you’re scared.” framingham police arrested another demonstrator, martin federman, for leafleting cars in the parking lot after robertson’s talk. charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, the former northeastern university hillel director and former temple beth shalom, cambridge, executive director faces arraignment may 19. back to top last warsaw ghetto leader remembers uprising lennard lindskog special to the jewish journal lodz, poland — on april 19 every year, marek edelman receives a bouquet of flowers from some unknown person. a florist delivers them to him but refuses to say who ordered them. the flowers are always yellow: marsh marigolds, roses, and daffodils. only one year did the flowers fail to appear. that was in 1968, when the polish communist party’s anti-semitic campaign was in high gear. “certainly i do not expect any flowers,” he says. “they just keep coming.” edelman receives the flowers on the anniversary of the warsaw ghetto uprising, the day when the germans stormed the warsaw ghetto in 1943. together with his comrades in the jewish battle organization lydowska organizacja bojowa (lob), he led the resistance against the germans. at 82, he is the only surviving leader of the uprising. all the others are dead. born in 1921 in warsaw, edelman refused to talk about the warsaw uprising for more than 30 years. after world war ii, he settled in lodz, where he worked as a cardiologist. in the 80s, he took an active part in the solidarity trade union movement. it was on april 19, 1943 that the germans stormed the warsaw ghetto, at 4 a.m. in a scene immortalized in roman polanski’s the pianist, german troops penetrated the enclosed ghetto area in groups of four or five. three hours later, tanks and armored vehicles lumbered into the ghetto. heavy artillery were placed outside the walls of the ghetto and formations of ss soldiers haughtily and loudly marched into the central parts of the ghetto. “the firing woke me,” edelman remembers. “but because of the chilly morning and the fact that the firing seemed to come from far off, i found no reason to get up... it was not until the next day (april 20), that the germans penetrated our area. they advanced towards the gate of the brush-making factory, where we had placed a mine. at the very moment when the germans reached the gate, we sprang the mine. over one hundred ss soldiers were blown up and the germans who survived were fired at by the partisans. it was a great triumph for us. later that evening, three ss soldiers with lowered tommy guns and white armlets appeared in the ghetto. they wanted to negotiate with us. our answer was firing. we fired with our sole machine gun. certainly we missed. but that was less important. the important thing was that we showed the world that we could shoot.” the warsaw ghetto was established on october 2, 1940 to create a totally enclosed internment area for the jews in warsaw. a wall 10 miles long, 10 feet high, surrounded the ghetto; behind it dwelled over half a million people. day by day, they were dying of starvation, diseases such as spotted fever and tuberculosis raged uncontrollably. many people had nowhere to live. when the first report of death by gassing reached ghetto inhabitants in early 1941, most refused to believe it. the news was brought by three people who miraculously escaped the gas chambers of chelmno in northwest poland. remembers edelman: “only a few of us took the reports seriously. it took a whole year before (most) inhabitants of the ghetto accepted what was really happening. when, in the beginning of 1941, it became clear what was in store for everybody in the ghetto, we decided to offer resistance against the germans. we did not want to die like the victims in chelmno, resigned and humiliated. we wanted to defend ourselves to the bitter end.” by april 19, 1943, the germans had deported 400,000 jews from the ghetto to the extermination camp treblinka, 50 miles east of warsaw. most people were deported voluntarily because they were promised work and better living conditions. marek edelman, who worked at the hospital in the ghetto, was a witness to that deportation. “my task was to stand at the gateway to the umschlagplatz, the place outside the ghetto where the jews were forced on board the freight cars. but to witness 400,000 jews being sent away to the gas chambers, that could break anyone down.” edelman has described the atmosphere at the umschlagplatz in an article this way: “everybody’s eyes have a wild, crazy, fearful look. people look pale, helpless, desperate. this is a moment of revelation that soon the worst, the unthinkable, the thing one would not believe to the very last moment is about to happen. here, in this crowded square, all the continually nursed illusions collapse, all the brittle hopes that ‘maybe i may save myself and my dearest ones from total destruction...’ collapse. a nightmare settles in one’s chest, grips one’s throat, shoves one’s eyes out of their sockets, opens one’s mouth to a soundless cry. an old man imploringly and feverishly hangs on to strangers around him. a helplessly suffering mother presses three children to her heart. one wants to yell, but there is nobody to yell to; to implore, to argue — there is nobody to argue with; one is alone, completely alone in this multitude of people. “at the umschlagplatz there was a field hospital where probationers from the nursery school worked. there, young girls in white coats and starched caps were breaking the legs of people in order to rescue them. they blocked up the person’s leg with one piece of wood and hit with another, entirely without anesthesia. people also crowded in the hospital, waiting to be loaded onto the freight cars. “the germans came and fetched them floor by floor. so people escaped from the ground floor to the first floor, from the first floor to the second and from the second to the third. but then they could not get any higher. up there was a large gymnasium where hundreds of people lay on the floor waiting for the germans to come. they just lay there, paralyzed with fear, waiting for their own death. so firing was the only worthy thing to do,” he explains. “it was zygmunt (one of our leaders) who fired at the ss soldiers first. he was the only one who had done military service before the war. when i saw the officers approach with white armbands, i shouted at zygmunt: “fire!” and he fired. “the officers withdrew. our resistance took them by such surprise that the germans were forced to abandon their ordinary fighting methods. later in the evening, a boy came running, screaming that the entire brush-maker’s block was burning. all over the block the fire was raging. backyards were flooded by the sea of flames, walls collapsed and black choking smoke filled the air. out of that inferno, people tried to escape to parts of the ghetto that were not yet on fire.” he continues: “the flames were now able to accomplish what the germans could not do: thousands of people perished in the conflagration. the flames chased the people out of their shelters and made them an easy prey for the germans who imprisoned them or killed them outright. exhausted and emaciated, people would collapse in driveways and entrances and become easy targets for a passing german’s bullet. nobody would even notice that an old man sleeping in a corner would never again wake up, that a mother feeding her baby had been cold and dead for days and that her baby’s crying and sucking for her breast was futile. hundreds of mothers committed suicide together with their children, thus ‘saving’ their children from dying a terrible death in the flames.’” on may day, the inhabitants of the ghetto gathered in a common appeal. some short speeches were delivered and the international was sung. marek edelman says that never had it been sung in such tragic circumstances, at a moment when the last remains of warsaw’s jewish population was about to perish. on may 8, the germans found the headquarters of the jewish battle organization. the fighting lasted two hours, and when the germans eventually realized that they would be unable to storm the bunker, they tossed in gas bombs. for the members of the resistance that had made it this far, it was now clear that there was no way out. at that point all in the bunker committed suicide, and 80 per cent of the jewish battle organization perished. two days later, a group of men from the home army managed to penetrate the ghetto and rescue 34 people. one of those was marek edelman. only two small armed forces now remained in the ghetto. on may 16, the german commanding officer, general stroop, announced that the ghetto had ceased to exist. still, sporadic contact was maintained with the ghetto until the middle of june. by that time, every trace of them disappeared. three days after marek edelman was rescued, he was approached by representatives from the political parties. they wanted to hear his account of the uprising. he declared that they would have been able to kill more germans and save more of their own if they had been better fighters, but pointed out that the germans had been good fighters too. not everyone appreciated marek edelman’s account. often people did not understand him, or they did not want to hear what had happened, he says. some also claimed that he spoke without passion. his response to the criticism was to become silent for 30 years. when he started to speak about the ghetto uprising again, the world had changed. the truth about what had happened in the ghetto had become common knowledge, and the world had lost its innocence. thirty years after the extermination of the warsaw ghetto, the world was ready to listen to marek edelman. today, edelman is 82 years old and a living testimony to one of mankind’s greatest tragedies. he says that it is important to recount the struggle that took place in the ghetto, that it is important to keep up the courage for people who fight for freedom. “what happened in warsaw can hardly be called an uprising,” he observes. “we were no more than 220 fighters. for us it was a question of not letting ourselves be slaughtered. it was a question of choosing a way to die.” an exhaustive account of the warsaw ghetto uprising can be found in marek edelman’s article “the ghetto fights” on www.dept.english.upenn.edu. lennart lindskog is a swedish journalist who writes about the fate of polish jews during wwii. back to top kosher nursing homes protest medicaid cuts mark arnold jewish journal staff five of the state’s eight kosher nursing homes, including the jewish rehabilitation center (jrc) in swampscott, are appealing cutbacks in the state’s medicaid reimbursement schedule that make no allowance for the higher cost of kosher food. it costs roughly $5 more to serve a kosher meal than a non-kosher meal in a nursing home, according to an analysis by coolidge house in brookline, the main party requesting an adjustment in medicaid reimbursement rates to offset the costs of keeping the facility kosher. that facility’s petition to change the current reimbursement formula has been joined by the jrc; tower hill rehabilitation and nursing center, canton; chelsea jewish nursing home, chelsea; and new bedford jewish convalescent home, new bedford. an increase in medicaid reimbursement to kosher homes of $5 per patient is one of two strategies being pursued, according to genesis eldercare, owner-manager of the brookline nursing home. the other is to apply for a $5 per patient grant as an “innovative and special” program to offset the added cost. the lack of a subsidy for keeping kosher hits nursing homes particularly hard. many of them are still reeling from a 1996 change that radically revised the medicaid reimbursement system. under the old system, nursing homes were reimbursed for the cost of servicing medicaid patients on a dollar for dollar basis. under the change, they are reimbursed at the rate of the median cost of medicaid services at nursing homes in the state. in addition, the state reimbursed exceptional costs such as the cost of maintaining a kosher facility. recently, those additional costs were disallowed. “what this means,” explains stephen r. roizen, ceo of the jrc, “is that facilities that provide higher quality care at higher cost, like ours, lose out.” roizen says it costs the jrc $40 to $50 a day per medicaid resident more than the state currently reimburses. “we received $14,000 a month less in march than previously.” that shortfall, he notes, has to be made up by fund raising, by grants, and, if all else fails, by raising rates to private patients. in an e-mail april 15, roizen invited north shore jewish community leaders to share information about the appeal with local congregations and members of other jewish organizations. he emphasized that the jrc “is not entertaining going non-kosher at this time.” coolidge house announced earlier this year that it would stop keeping kosher due to cutbacks in the state reimbursement schedule, but it later reversed itself and began seeking to overturn the state’s decision. “we have gotten good support from politicians, including rep. barney frank and state house leaders, as well as from rabbis and other community leaders,” said a spokesman for corrigan communications, which is helping the nursing homes in their effort to recover the kosher costs. rabbi ilana rosansky, of salem’s temple shalom, responded to roizen’s appeal with an e-mail pledging her support. she told the journal: “i stand with all those working to keep these facilities kosher. it’s a sad day when people don’t care. they put their parents in a facility where they can’t get a kosher meal. it may not be important to the children, but to many of their parents, it’s a matter of deep conviction. let’s hope they get what they’re seeking.” back to top earth day blossoms at salem state brett m. rhyne jewish journal staff salem — dozens of salem state college students, faculty and community members gathered across north campus on a sunny spring monday for the school’s third annual earth day celebration. according to lynn nadeau of healthlink, the co-sponsoring organization that works to link health with the environment, the event was “so excellent” ssc president nancy harrington announced “she was going to be sure that it is ‘institutionalized.’” “this is a thrill for healthlink,” nadeau told the journal. “we are so glad that the event is now sustainable!” activities during the april 14 event included an exhibit of environmentally-themed art by students from bates and bowditch colleges, the phoenix and carlton schools and the ssc pre-school; a display of ssc student research projects; an environmental employment and volunteer opportunity fair; free food provided by the organic garden of beverly and food, not bombs; and a ‘campus to coast’ cleanup. educational activities included a panel on “cities for climate protection” and “plan colombia: war on drugs, or war on people and environment?” at an evening dessert reception, ssc and healthlink presented two friends of the earth/champion of public health awards, to clean water fund organizing director cindy luppi and to writer and environmentalist ross gelbspan. “cindy has demonstrated outstanding vision and persistence in shaping local grassroots and regional campaigns to clean our air and water and protect our health,” nadeau said. “she instills the hope of democracy in all of us.” gelbspan was honored for his “outstanding work in raising the consciousness of people all over the world about the dangers of global climate change,” nadeau said. “his advocacy for the responsible use of resources and the need to act to protect our world inspires us all.” back to top let our people in: andover man advocates for ethiopian jewry gary band jewish journal staff reuben parker of north andover is not your average senior citizen. at age 83, this african-american man, who converted to judaism in 1986, spends most of his time advocating for ethiopian jewry, arguing and helping raise money for the absorption of the remaining 17,000 ethiopian jews — the majority of whom live in extreme poverty in addis ababa and gondar province — into the land of israel. with some assistance, parker, who lost his eyesight in 1974, composed and sent letters to every u.s. congressman, senator, governor, some mayors, and each presidential candidate in 1999, asking for their support in helping these ethiopian jews make aliyah. the only response was from then governor george w. bush who said he would support the effort. but now more pressing concerns dominate bush’s middle east agenda. ethiopian jews were first brought to israel under operation moses in 1984, airlifting 8,000. operation solomon followed in 1991, bringing another 14,000. convinced they had saved them all, israel shut down its rescue operations. the israeli government has since been slow to qualify these people, known as falashas or falas mura, under the law of return, at a rate of about 2,000 a year. but many are disqualified because they had ancestors who, under pressure, converted to christianity over a century ago. the government of ethiopia seems to have no problem letting their jewish people go if they want to. some believe other forces preventing their exodus are at work. “it’s not difficult to get them out, the problem is getting them in,” said yosef abromowitz of newton. he, along with his wife rabbi susan silverman, adopted an ethiopian jewish child. a journalist who has covered this issue here and abroad, and who is also a member of the jewish community relations council’s ethiopian jewry task force, abromowitz contends there is a double standard with regard to absorption of ethiopian jews into israel. “never in the history of zionism have we not brought any of our people home, even in worse economic times than now. why is there a double standard with these people? the state of israel can and must absorb them.” some 85,000 ethiopian jews now live in israel, mostly in netanya, gedara and be’ersheva. “israel is currently being approved for $9 billion in loan guarantees,” abromowitz says. “the cost of absorption over five years is $400 million. it’s a question of political will. the israeli cabinet has voted unanimously to bring the rest in, but they have been undermined by bureaucracy. those remaining are at terrible risk because of famine.” molly mantasnot has lived in netanya, israel since 1984. she made aliyah through operation moses, walking through the sudan at age 4 along with her parents and some 3,000 others under cover of darkness. she has spent the last eight months living with abromowitz and silverman at their newton home caring for their adopted ethiopian child, now age 4. though the adjustment to life in israel was difficult at first, and there are still problems, she says her life has been good. an officer in the army, she now works as an au pair and plans to enter university at netanya or bar elan university when she returns to israel in june. mantasnot very much hopes that the remaining ethiopian jews will be allowed to make aliyah. “if they say they are jews, we should go get them. i think it’s politics [that prevents action].” though she allows that part of the problem is not knowing for sure which ones are really jewish, because many have converted, mantasnot believes that exerting pressure on the israeli government may help turn the tide. “there are a lot of people working on this,” she says. “they need help from the outside, from the american government.” parker is friendly with abromowitz, silverman and mantasnot, with whom he shared a thanksgiving dinner in 2002. they met after silverman’s mother saw a 30-second video on ethiopian jewry that parker produced and distributed that was aired on cable stations throughout the u.s. two years ago. abromowitz got in touch with parker and a friendship developed. but despite parker’s efforts to engage members of the merrimack valley jewish community in this campaign, he has not received much support. “it bothers me,” he says. “how can we say jews should take care of jews and act like this. not one jew here will help me.” but parker’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. he was written up in the boston globe, the lawrence eagle tribune, hartford courant, andover townsman, and the jewish advocate. since moving to andover from california in 1997, parker says that he and his assistant, umass lowell student patrick murphy, have written thousands of letters and emails to temples, churches, organizations, and government leaders asking for their help. his website, houseofreuben.org provides information on the plight of ethiopian jews and ways to help. on the national front, the north american conference on ethiopian jewry (nacoej) in new york, a grass-roots non-profit organization founded in 1982, works to help ethiopian jews survive in ethiopia; assists them in reaching israel; aids in the absorption into israeli society; and helps them preserve their culture. parker held a fundraiser in 2000, raising an undisclosed amount that was donated to barbara ribakoff gordon, executive director of nacoej. parker’s reasons for continuing his tireless efforts for this cause are deeply held but simply put. “because i’m a black man... ethiopian jews are a minority among a minority and have suffered more than any other people. i will devote the rest of my life to make sure all jews live together.” to find out more about ways to support ethiopian jewry, visit www.houseofreuben.org and www.nacoej.org. back to top polish jew who feigned nobility to survive speaks deborah willwerth special to the jewish journal beverly – “sylvio mendelsohn…count boguslaw marian zamoski… robert melson. all one and the same,” stated temple b’nai abraham congregant hinda sterling in her introduction of robert melson, author of false papers: deception and survival in the holocaust and featured speaker for the temple’s first lecture series. for jews who did not have the means to escape countries swallowed up by the nazi regime, going into hiding was seemingly the only option to avoid arrest, deportation to a concentration camp and certain death. it took chutzpah to remain in plain sight and live openly among the nazis day after day. but that was precisely what author robert melson, a child of four known as sylvio mendelsohn, when his ordeal began, and his polish jewish family did. melson’s mother, a singer and performer, acquired false identity papers that allowed herself, her husband, and her son to live, not as the jewish mendelsohns but as the polish catholic zamoskis, a well-known aristocratic family. during the war years, the count and countess zamoski and their son, count bobi, lived side by side with nazis and gentile poles, hiding behind “a façade of elegant good manners and cultivated self-assurance, even arrogance.” melson’s father willi, a german by birth, worked for a schindler-type german entrepreneur and built up a lucrative business career. his mother, nina, became a well-regarded hostess. in fact, invitations to the zamoski’s parties were sought-after prizes. the success of their charade allowed the zamoskis to acquire homes in the german quarter of krakow and in prague. in addition, they also helped save an uncle and three jewish women, one of whom would eventually join the family by marriage. from czechoslovakia, the family moved to belgium, switzerland, the united states (where he took the name robert melson), japan, and back to the united states, attaining and losing fortunes along the way. during his childhood, melson learned to speak polish, czech, french and english — all by the age of 10. at 13, he began his formal jewish education and became fluent in hebrew. he attended high school in japan, returning to the united states to earn a b.s. in mathematics and humanities at m.i.t. he did graduate work at yale and returned to m.i.t. in 1967 for a ph.d. in political science. melson is presently a professor of political science at purdue university, where he co-founded the jewish studies program. his major area of teaching and research has been ethnic conflict and genocide, and he is the author of revolution and genocide: on the origins of the armenian genocide and the holocaust. melson is married to the former gail freedman of beverly and has spent many summers on the north shore enjoying the seashore. back to top national news arab groups oppose pipes’ nomination matthew e. berger washington (jta) — mideast scholar daniel pipes will be making the rounds of the u.s. senate in the next several weeks, drumming up support for his controversial nomination to the board of a government-funded think tank. pipes, an author, lecturer and jewish journal columnist who has spoken out about the threat of muslim funda-mentalism, was nominated by the white house earlier this month to sit on the board of the u.s. institute of peace, a non-partisan think tank that promotes peaceful resolutions to international conflicts. pipes’ nomination has been criticized by arab groups and others, including the editorial board of the washington post, which said pipes’ nomination was like “salt in the wound” caused by government treatment of arabs since the sept. 11 terror attacks. pipes has found friends in interesting places, however, such as from some moderate muslims. while pipes is not speaking publicly about the controversy, sources familiar with the situation say he has contacted members of the senate health, education, labor and pensions committee about meeting with them on capitol hill, when they return from easter recess. only one lawmaker, sen. charles schumer (d-n.y.), has come out in support of pipes, but he is not on the help committee. the committee’s ranking minority member, sen. edward kennedy (d-mass.), will speak at a banquet of the arab american institute, one of the strongest opponents of pipes’ nomination. a spokesman for kennedy said the committee is reviewing the paperwork for pipes’ nomination. little is known about when pipes’ nomination will be voted on, though it would need to be approved by the help committee and then the full senate. there has never been an actual hearing on the appointment of a usip board member, and votes on nomination can happen at any time in the senate’s schedule. there are rumors that lawmakers could place a hold on pipes’ nomination. if even one senator places an anonymous hold on the nomination, pipes’ appointment may never come up for a vote. jewish groups are rallying behind pipes. the american jewish committee sent a letter to president bush earlier this month, praising the appointment. “you have selected an eminently qualified candidate with broad knowledge of the threats posed by extremist, anti-american interpretations of islam — and with the wisdom not to confuse the militants who make up that movement with the vast body of decent, moderate adherents of a proud and vibrant faith,” said the letter, signed by the organization’s president, harold tanner, and executive director, david harris. the american israel public affairs committee supports the nomination and is “making sure the appropriate people know about it,” spokeswoman rebecca dinar said. arab groups claim pipes has “bigoted” views against islam and that his appointment would not be in keeping with the usip’s mission to promote peace. “throughout his career, mr. pipes has been a virulent critic of the islamic faith and muslims in general,” wrote jean abinader, aai’s managing director. “indeed, his bigoted point of view does little but stir the already enflamed [sic] passions of people who are searching for a hero or a villain to either emulate or degrade. mr. pipes happily fills both roles.” pipes has been a frequent target of the arab community. a website, www.danielpipes.com, was launched in 2000, forwarding visitors to a site run by the council on american-islamic relations. pipes threatened to sue, and he won the rights to the domain name. last year, pipes launched a site called campus watch, which tracked professors on college campuses who denigrated israel and the united states and justified terrorism and radical islam. critics, however, said the site smacked of academic mccarthyism. back to top international news israel weighs iranian nuclear terror threats leslie susser jerusalem (jta) — on the face of it, the american military victory in iraq has significantly enhanced israel’s national security, removing a threat from weapons of mass destruction and opening new chances for peace between israel and the palestinians. but there is a downside: israeli leaders are concerned that iran could emerge strengthened from iraq’s defeat and continue to promote terror while developing nuclear weapons that could pose a threat to israel’s very existence. one worry is that the defeat of iraq could lead to a fundamentalist backlash in the region spearheaded by iran, using its close ties with syria and the lebanon-based hezbollah to wage a campaign of terror. another is that shi’ite iran could build close ties with a new shi’ite-dominated iraq, projecting fundamentalist influence across the region. but of most concern by far is that, according to some western experts, iran is barely two years away from producing a nuclear bomb. israeli officials maintain that the two prongs of the iranian threat — nuclear weapons and terrorism — are related. ra’anan gissin, a senior aide to prime minister ariel sharon, declares that iran uses terror to “create deterrence as it builds a nuclear weapons capability that has not yet become operational.” in other words, the threat of iranian-inspired terror is intended to make the united states or other would-be aggressors think twice before taking military action to stop iran’s nuclear program. over the past few months, sharon has been urging visiting u.s. legislators and administration officials to take action to stop iran from going nuclear. the message seemed to be getting through: after mid-march meetings in jerusalem, u.s. undersecretary of state john bolton announced at an israeli-american strategic forum in washington that “the u.s. will focus on stopping iran getting nuclear weapons.” but it could be too late. over the past few years, undetected by the world’s most vaunted intelligence agencies or the united nations’ watchdog international atomic energy agency, iran developed two sites capable of producing the fissile materials from which nuclear bombs are made. one, near the desert town of natanz, 200 miles south of tehran, will be able to produce weapons-grade uranium. the other, farther west at arak, will be able to make plutonium from heavy water. the tip-off on the two sites came last august from an iranian dissident group, the national council of resistance. until then, the iranians had claimed that the natanz site was for “desert irrigation.” satellite pictures, released in december by the american institute for science and international security, proved otherwise. and when mohammed baradei, an egyptian who heads the international atomic energy agency, visited the natanz site in late february, he counted 160 brand-new centrifuges capable of producing weapons-grade uranium, as well as parts for assembling 1,000 more. baradei’s iranian hosts acknowledged that by 2005, they planned to have 5,000 centrifuges fully operational at the desert site. experts say that would enable iran to produce enough enriched uranium for at least two nuclear bombs a year from 2005 onward. experts believe iran had some help from pakistan in developing the natanz technology, but the centrifuges are unique in shape and clearly were engineered by the iranians themselves. moreover, iran has begun mining its own uranium ore in the yazd area, 400 miles southeast of tehran. taken together, these two facts mean that iran has passed the point of no return: its nuclear program can no longer be stopped by getting third parties to withhold materials or technologies. the same is true of iran’s missile technology. “the iranians cannot be stopped anymore. they have their indigenous capability now, and they will continue their programs regardless of what the international community thinks,” said uzi rubin, former head of israel’s arrow anti-missile defense program. one of the iranian-developed missiles, the shahab-3, has an estimated range of nearly 800 miles, able to reach targets in israel from western iran. what makes the iranian threat most chilling is that iran’s fundamentalist leaders remain formally committed to israel’s destruction. for example, akbar hashemi rafsanjani, a former iranian president who retains an influential post, in december 2001 called publicly for the muslim world to develop nuclear weapons in order to annihilate israel. iran also has shown a marked capacity to act against israeli interests. according to israeli intelligence, iran was behind the 1992 and 1994 terrorist attacks on the israeli embassy and a jewish cultural center in buenos aires, argentina; iran regularly supplies hezbollah with weapons, including long-range rockets, through damascus, syria; and in 2002, iran tried to sell arms to the palestinian authority for use against israel. indeed, israel experts say, it was the january 2002 interception by israel of the karine a, a vessel loaded with iranian arms for the palestinians, that led president bush to include iran in the “axis of evil” of his state of the union address later that month. so what can be done to contain or assuage the iranian threat? first, israeli experts say, israel must enhance its defensive and deterrent posture. the arrow, which could intercept incoming shahab missiles, does both. moreover, according to foreign sources, israel has mounted special launchers on its submarines that are capable of firing nuclear warheads. this would give it a “second strike” capability, hopefully deterring potential enemies from contemplating a first strike. to weaken iran’s terrorist capacity and ability to spread its fundamentalist message, israeli experts propose putting pressure on syria rather than iran. syria, they maintain, is more susceptible to western pressure and also has the power to disarm hezbollah relatively quickly. once hezbollah is disarmed and damascus distances itself from tehran, iran’s scope for terror and political influence will decline, the argument goes. no one in the israeli establishment believes that after the war in iraq, the united states will be in any mood for a far more difficult military campaign against iran. moreover, many are convinced that it is too late to stop iran from going nuclear; therefore, they argue, the best way to neutralize a nuclear iran is to promote regime change from within. david menashri of tel aviv university’s dayan center proposes a dialogue with young reformist forces in iran, while hanging tough with the conservative clerics who run the country today. that way, in case of regime change, at least the weapons would be in more enlightened hands. moreover, menashri adds, if the reformists come to power, the once-flourishing ties between israel and iran might even be renewed. leslie susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the jerusalem report. features jta news briefs study: intermarriage still rising new york (jta) — homes of intermarried american jews soon will outnumber purely jewish households if high intermarriage rates keep pace, a new report suggests. a study out this week by the new york-based jewish outreach institute says that intermarriages have climbed above 33 percent since the mid-1960s, meaning that the ratio of intermarried households to jewish households is rising. with intermarriage estimates since 1990 ranging between 40 percent and 52 percent, the report says, the ratio of intermarried homes to in-married homes runs between 4:3 and 2:1. the institute, which promotes outreach to unaffiliated and intermarried jews, says there is hope for jewish survival because an estimated 30 percent of interfaith families raise their children as jews, an amount that the institute believes could be increased to 50 percent. france to fight anti-semitism in schools paris (jta) — french education minister luc ferry said he would tighten the law against religious practice in schools in order to combat the growth of anti-semitism in the classroom. “we are faced with the rise of a new type of anti-semitism which does not come from the extreme right but from islamization and the radicalization of the muslim community,” ferry told europe one radio on tuesday. “i believe that faced by this rise in racism and anti-semitism, we must very strongly reaffirm republican and secular principles. that is what the new law will do.” back to top people engaged terban — stone aimee heather terban and jason david stone announce their engagement. the bride-to-be is the daughter of robert terban of peabody and roberta minkovitz of saugus, and works as a sales rep for sullivan-schein dental. the groom-to be is the son of jeffrey stone and roberta goldberg of boca raton, fl and works as an attorney in boston. a november wedding is planned. birth announcements paul and beth tassinari of nashua, nh announce the birth of their daughter, katie lois, on march 20 st. joseph’s hospital. katie was welcomed home by her 5-year-old brother, joshua. katie is the granddaughter of leslie and joan rosen of marblehead and dr. roberto and barbara tassinari of estero, florida. hilary (morrison) and david roman of boca raton, florida announce the birth of their daughter, lily rose on april 17. she is the granddaughter of nina and joel morrison, wilma and howard pinstein and philip and leslie romano. lily was welcomed home by a big brother, jacob age two. lily rose is named for her three great-grandmothers, lottie morrison, rose brooks and rose sochin all originally from revere. yawnick performs in florida former swampscott high school student steven yawnick played the lead role of the leading player in a performance of “pippin” at celebration high school in florida. he has previously performed in several shows including west side story, sweet charity, faust, my fair lady, anything goes, annie, the wizard of oz, grease, and joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat with donny osmond. back to top arts & entertainment kevin pollack makes an impression storytelling brett m. rhyne jewish journal staff while perhaps best known for his acting in such films as a few good men, casino and the grumpy old men series, kevin pollack is also an accomplished stand-up comedian. the jewish journal spoke with him before his upcoming appearance at boston’s comedy connection. jewish journal: are you an observant jew? were you raised religiously? kevin pollack: i hid the afikomen beautifully. my family was so reform we were catholic. i was bar mitzvahed and confirmed, and went to hebrew school on sundays. for my family, temple was a place of social gathering more than education. of course, as the class clown, i was rebelling against my religious education just like i was rebelling against everything else. today, i would say i take tremendous pride in being jewish, but i’m a lot less observing than a religion-respecting jew ought to be. it’s more of a spiritual thing for me. jj: has being jewish shaped your work as an actor? in the barry levinson film avalon, you played a new jewish immigrant. kp: the jewish experience in life was realized in that movie. the parallels were uncanny between the character i played in avalon and my father. both my character and my father were first generation americans. both were in the appliance business, and both had to have their businesses financially restructured. not to mention all the family stuff [quoting from the film]: “you cut the turkey without me?” jj: has being jewish shaped your work as a comedian? kp: without question. i think every comedian draws from the family environment when we are speaking of life — this is especially true of the jewish family experience. in my act, i’m guilty of playing the jewish card, the self-deprecating angle: you know, not moving heavy machinery, if the mike stand is giving me trouble… my family experience also shaped a lot of my storytelling. of course, jewish comics have also influenced my humor. primarily woody allen and albert brooks, but also robert klein and alan king — he was a great storyteller. jj: speaking of great jewish comedians, you worked with jack lemmon and walter matthau in the grumpy old men movies. how was that? kp: phenomenal. for a comic actor, it was ‘earn while you learn.’ studying at the feet of the masters. great stories came out of it. they’re in my act now. although i’ve been mostly making films for the past 10 years, i have been doing some talk shows, just to keep my hand in it. i would tell anecdotes about working with all these big stars — jack nicholson, tom cruise, lemmon and matthau. but what made them better was, i would pepper the stories with impersonations of the people i was talking about. matthau was a great storyteller. the thing was, he would tell stories in chronological order. so he would start by saying [doing matthau], “that reminds me of when i was doing a movie in 1948…” and he would end by saying, “…then this morning…” matthau was also the only one who ever corrected one of my impersonations. i was doing that famous scene from the odd couple when they’re arguing whether it’s spaghetti or it’s pasta, and oscar takes the plate and throws it against the wall, screaming, ‘now, it’s garbage!’ matthau told me [doing matthau], “there’s no ‘r’ in it. it’s gahbage!” jj: you’ve worked with some great, albeit different, directors. tell us about working with martin scorsese (on casino), barry levinson (on avalon) and rob reiner (on a few good men). kp: scorsese knew exactly what he wanted in every square inch of the frame, when it came to composition. within that, he let the actors do anything they wanted. levinson loves to write and loves to cast, and isn’t controlling when it comes to the actors. i called him ‘the phantom.’ reiner was more controlling — he was like vince lombardi, coaching the actors to make the best film they could make. jj: which do you prefer, stand-up or acting? kp: i prefer not to choose. each one offers such vastly different things. a lot of stand-up comedians have difficulty acting, portraying lots of different characters. stand-up is a solo endeavor from top to bottom — acting is completely about collaboration. recently, i’ve also discovered writing, which is like nirvana. i’m currently working on a script for disney. jj: what can we expect when we see your act? kp: you can expect to laugh a lot. i give a lot of first-hand accounts of what it was like to work with these great people. you might get some insight into my view of the world. the response has been tremendous when i’m open and honest with people. kevin pollack appears at the comedy connection in boston on friday and saturday, april 25 and 26. back to top ridiculous douglas redux tom tugend los angeles (jta) — in his 86th year and his 86th movie, kirk douglas has fulfilled a long-cherished dream by uniting his clan in the film it runs in the family. the picture’s gromberg family, for whom the word “dysfunctional” could have been invented, consists of patriarch alex (kirk, naturally), son mitchell (kirk’s son, michael douglas), and grandson asher (kirk’s grandson, cameron douglas). rounding out the family is diana douglas, kirk’s ex-wife and michael’s mother, who plays the patriarch’s wife, evelyn. the grombergs of manhattan are over the top in every conceivable way. they are gratingly jewish — kirk sprinkles his comments with yiddish vulgarisms, he screams out a kaddish as he sets fire to a boat carrying the corpse of his senile brother, and for good measure, there is a family seder from hell. adding to the stereotypes, the grombergs are obscenely rich, thanks to the patriarch’s successful career as a corporate lawyer. at the seder, when the youngest grandson, eli (rory culkin), finds the afikomen, kirk whips out a $1,000 bill, and has another greenback of the same denomination for the 24-year-old grandson asher, who didn’t find the afikomen. there is almost constant intramural bickering between the crusty gromberg patriarch and his son, between the son and his wife, rebecca (bernadette peters), and between this couple and their children. ultimately, the family rallies around one of its own when asher is busted for growing and selling marijuana. relief comes occasionally, as in the warmly portrayed relationship between the gromberg grandfather and his wife, and the brotherly bonds between the two grandsons. but most of the time, the film is as dysfunctional as the gromberg family, running off in a dozen different directions and with a convoluted plotline that defies description. hollywood veteran fred schepisi directed the film, with co-star michael douglas doubling as producer. it runs in the family, released by mgm and buena vista international, opens april 25. back to top shir hadash (new songs) matthew s. robinson warren byrd & david chevan — avadim hayinu: once we were slaves traveling the ‘afro-semitic continuum’ from gospel to hebrew liturgy, bassist david chevan and pianist warren byrd fill in each other’s musical pockets as they fill in each other’s histories. their after-hours reading of shalom aleichem and the somewhat dirge-y ani ma’amin contrast with the sunday morning praises of we’ll understand it better by and by and the lord will make a way somehow. the title track pops and snaps while avinu malkeinu swirls and swings. byrd’s original choir arrangement, he is real fits in contemporarily among the standards and his recitation of the unsung lyrics to precious lord edify and uplift. as chevan reaches all over his long neck, byrd reaches inside his piano as the duo strum and pull at our hearts and minds. back to top singles manners maven: lost on a deserted aisle? jodi r.r. smith special to the jewish journal dear maven, is it ever acceptable for a bride to walk down the aisle by herself, or must one or both of her parents always accompany her? in this day of multiple marriages for parents, how’s a bride to balance the needs and wants of her parents with her own feelings and desires about who gets to give her away? —a bewildered bride to be dear bewildered, mazel tov on your upcoming marriage. traditionally in a jewish wedding ceremony, the bride is accompanied halfway down the aisle by her parents (both mom and dad). she is then kissed by them and met by her groom. the groom greets the parents (handshakes, hugs and/or kisses). the bride’s parents proceed to the bimah followed by the bride and groom. if the bride has already been married once, she will walk herself down the aisle halfway to meet the groom. brides who have been raised by a mother and stepfather generally have the birthfather and his partner walk her one third of the way, where she is met by her mother and her partner who walk with the bride for the next third, and is then met by her groom. must a bride be accompanied down the aisle? no. there are no etiquette police who will come to issue a citation on your wedding day. the symbolism here is that those who helped to raise, guide and mentor you as a child are obligated by jewish law to bring you to your chuppah. wedding days, while days of great joy and happiness can also be days of great stress and hurt feelings. it is in your best interest to think about this aisle issue well in advance of your wedding day and to speak to all of the parents involved. jodi r. r. smith, president and owner of mannersmith (www.mannersmith.com), works with organizations, corporations and individuals to increase their social savvy and confidence levels. for answers to your etiquette emergencies, email the maven of manners at editor@jewishjournal.org. © 2003 mannersmith etiquette consulting. all rights reserved. back to top editorial don’t look now but the economy isn’t improving these past 12 months been tough economically — for americans, for jews, for north shore jewish agencies, for just about everyone we know. the stock market tanked in march 2001 and has yet to recover. the standard and poor’s index, a key measure of the stock market, sank 22 per cent in 2002 and has already dropped another 20 per cent this year. everyone is hoping that because the war in iraq was short and decisive, things can return to normal. let the good times roll once again. don’t bet on it. we’re in a kind of twilight zone between prosperity and depression — and most of us are affected to one degree or another. in our own community, people in their sixties who were looking forward to retiring on fat nest eggs — built up over years of employment — have seen their net worth plummet; many are back in the work force, competing with men and women in their prime bread-winning years. there are a dozen households in our community who were saved from being left out in the cold — literally, in some cases — by the recently established jewish community emergency fund, managed by the jewish community foundation of the north shore and administered by jewish family service. almost a hundred job-seekers — most of them solid middle-class professionals with growing families and mortgages to pay — showed up in march to network at a jewish business & professional association breakfast. many lost steady jobs to successive ways of downsizing and are unemployed for lengthening periods of time. given the trend in industry to avoid fringe benefits and pension obligations by hiring temporary and part-time workers, some may never find full-time jobs again. it’s the economy stupid. that became the democratic mantra in 1992, the key to the defeat of george h.w. bush’s bid for a second term. the economy could also be the achilles’ heel of his son, president george w. bush. the president has just promised alan greenspan an unprecedented fifth four-year term as head of the federal reserve bank. that may reassure wall street, but the fed has cut interest rates no less than 12 times in the past few years, and the recession continues. as former u.s. labor secretary robert reich pointed out in the financial times recently, low -interest rates are making it easy for cash-strapped consumers to borrow against their homes. many are using the proceeds to pay down credit card debt, which is fine as long as homes keep rising in value. but that bubble will likely burst one day too. many forces are pulling against this country’s return to prosperity. there are objective factors such as the widening trade gap, the weakening dollar, the mounting price of oil, the federal budget deficit ($300 billion this year and a like amount next), and the threatened bankruptcy of some of our major airlines. then there are the psychological factors: continuing fear of international terrorism, the new sars epidemic, and the fact that virtually the whole world is angry at the united states for its pre-emptive war in iraq. it’s not a pretty picture. and it isn’t likely to improve anytime soon. mark arnold jewish journal editor/publisher back to top local columnists only in israel: a modern passover story dov burt levy jewish journal north of boston i moved to israel in 1979 to do some honest hard physical work i needed to rebuild a body ravaged by rib steak, chopped liver, a few bad cholesterol genes plus the after effects of recent coronary bypass surgery. i traded an american career as a professor and government administrator for a career planting, pruning and picking in a kibbutz orchard. i already knew that i loved israel; i had been there twice before for a total of four months. after three years of kibbutz work, i moved to tel aviv, bought a small car,a lawn mower and some tools. i found customers for garden maintenance. i was addicted to physical work. leaving my apartment one morning, i spoke to a young israeli turning the soil in the garden around my own building. yoni had formal training at an agricultural school and also loved the outdoor work. i told him of my own garden work but that my kibbutz stint had not taught me about grass, flowers and irrigation systems for urban homes. days passed, we chatted some more, and he offered to teach me while working with him on some larger jobs. i happily accepted. as israelis do, a few months later yoni invited me to his parents’ home for the passover seder. his father was a knesset member. the seder was a small family gathering at their modest apartment in ramat aviv. the next passover, the family seder was at the prime minister’s official residence. yoni peres’ father is shimon peres, who was then prime minister. in what other country in the world could an immigrant of three years, a gardener, be invited to the prime minister’s residence for a private-family holiday dinner? power and place shut down my spontaneity. the previous year, the usual israel conversation about current political, social and economic events was easy. but, what do you say to a prime minister when you can see, or think you see, under his forehead all those incredible problems for which he must find solutions? i didn‘t think of much. could i say “did the president show you around camp david?” or, “how was the cabinet meeting today?” or, “would you telephone my mother next time you are in washington?” (phone calls from israel cost more than a buck a minute and israelis asked that favor of travelers.) the point is that israel is the most informal, egalitarian country in the world. though the income gap has regrettably grown, as it has in the united states, great social informality still exists. is there any other place in the world where the son of a prime ministerplants grass and flowers in people’s gardens for a living? prime ministers peres, natanyahu and sharon are known as shimon, bibi and arik, and the ordinary israeli addresses them as such when they meet in restaurants or public places, as they often do. public school teachers are called by their first names too. yoni went on to hebrew university’s veterinary college and took graduate training in the united states. he is a now a veterinary doctor/surgeon/ teacher and has done important work with the israel guide dog center for the blind. i, on the other hand, became a writer. and shimon. well, i guess he didn’t have as much ambition as his son or me. he just stayed in the knesset. dov burt levy is a columnist who splits his time between salem, mass. and jerusalem. he can be reached at dblevy@columnist.com. back to top mapquest: the modern route out of egypt ellen golub jewish journal north of boston after weeks of rehearsal, my daughter’s class performed the passover play they had been practicing at cohen hillel academy. zoe was so excited about her role, so giddy with delight, that our entire family went to share the event: big sister back from college with the boyfriend, both brothers skipping the morning at high school, the two grandparents proud and present, and steve and me, her personal photographer and videographer. zoe was great as a slave, laboring with invisible bricks while dressed in the pillow case she had cut herself for a costume. the whole third grade was magnificent, each kid in his or her respective role, in the musical rendition of the going out from egypt. by 8:30 that morning, i had observed the birth of moses, the burning bush, and the ten plagues. by 9 a.m., i had witnessed the israelites leaving egypt and the giving of the torah on mount sinai. exhausting? revelation sometimes is taxing. to most events in life, especially when going through it again with my fourth child, i am very jaded. “been there, done that,” i say all too frequently. but how can you look at the going out from egypt as anything other than miraculous? i am moved every time i tell the story. i actually get goose flesh every time i imagine us all assembled at sinai, in our shorts and our suvs, waiting for revelation. i was brought up not to believe in miracles. hanukah was a military victory, succot, the harvest holiday. passover celebrated the good fortune of the jewish people to have such a leader as moses. the brilliant politician went up on a mountain and, worried that he was responsible for a motley crew of uncivilized indigents, composed the ten commandments and brought them down with a story about a powerful god who would enforce them. in the judaism of my childhood, everything was explainable as a rational human achievement, the foresight of some pretty bright people who stumbled upon inventing monotheism, the law, and a bunch of hygienic ordinances and washing rituals that kept us healthy, feisty, and wise for thousands of years. so if i ate a little corn syrup or rice or peanut butter on passover— even if i ate bread— it would not be such a big deal. because matzah and passover foods are just symbols of a people who liberated themselves from egypt-and from faith. the torah tells us that the jewish people quickly got sick of manna and begged to go back to the fleshpots of egypt. i can see how it might have happened. sitting at work surrounded by forbidden bagels, i am sorely tempted. my children, home for passover vacation, stand by the cupboard and bemoan their diet. “remember pasta?” one asks the other. “i would give anything for a peanut butter sandwich,” says another. over the past five days, i have made fifteen pounds of fried matzah, and still they wail. day six-not matzah again! but no one thinks of eating hametz (prohibited unleavened foods). i may be too old to believe in god, too steeped in hygienic judaism to step back toward faith. but i am not beyond believing in miracles, especially as they involve my children committing to jewish life. dreaming of carbs, they believe that once we were slaves and now we are free. munching for eight days on the bread of affliction, each one clings more tightly to the shared fate of the jewish people. the story goes that with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, hashem brought the children of israel out of mitzraim. so with a little horseradish, potatoes, and cardboard , my children continue to celebrate the blessings of freedom. ellen golub teaches journalism at salem state college. she may be reached at elkele@attbi.com back to top slice of life lining up for last-minute passover pastries phyllis dinerman jewish journal north of boston last year i went to a friend’s home for passover. i asked what i could do to help. she told me i could either do desserts or prepare the seder plate. it took me two seconds to say, “i’ll do desserts.” i figured that was the easy way out. wrong ! i had no intention of baking so i inquired where to buy “real passover” pastries. i was told the place to go was to flakowitz’s bakery in boca. i went there on day of the first seder. when i arrived, at sunset, there was a line outside the bakery a mile long. it looked like the line began in boca and ended in tampa. when i finally reached the doorway, hours later, i received a number. imagine, receiving a number just to enter a bakery. of course, don’t forget there are thousands of jews in southern florida… and they were all in line with me. the bakery’s owners had hired a guard to keep everyone in line. he was 110 lbs. and could hardly stand. what were they expecting from hundreds of jews waiting to buy bakery goods — a stampede? and, this guard, believe me, would have been trampled one, two, three. while waiting in line, i began a conversation with an elderly lady. she told me that she had hired a driver for $15 an hour to drive her to the bakery. i told her i’d take her home and even walk her upstairs for $10 an hour. she laughed. i was serious. when i was finally allowed entrance, there were 200 other yentas in there. i was standing at the back of the store listening to people shouting, “that looks dry. i hope you have more in the back. i want the middle piece. what kind of fruit is in the middle?” i stepped on people to get to the counter to see what was displayed in there. it truly was an assortment of passover baked goods like i had never before seen. the sight was so breathtaking it belonged on the cover of a gourmet magazine. this was truly new york-style baked goods. they had sponge cake on the counter for customers to taste. some people were making a meal of it. all they needed was a cup of coffee. it was an experience not to be forgotten — and not to be repeated. i called my friend as soon as i returned home. i told her next year i’d prepare the seder plate. postscriptl: this year, i got together with some neighbors in my community. guess what course i was assigned? you guessed it. here we go again... @phyllis dinerman 2003. phyllis dinerman is a resident of marblehead and boynton beach, fl. she may be reached at phyllis@dinerman.com back to top op-ed hints of hope in the middle east now jonathan friendly it is good to see some faint stirrings in jerusalem and ramallah that suggest a possible reopening of meaningful discussions after the awful two and half years of palestinian terrorist violence. under strong pressure from the west, and particularly washington, responsible palestinian officials chose a prime minister who could counter yasser arafat’s incompetence and corruption. on the west side of the green line, israeli prime minister ariel sharon is now showing a willingness to make painful israeli concessions to achieve a stable peace, including surrendering some west bank settlements under the right circumstances. perhaps the fall of the saddam regime has awakened arab leaders to the consequences of their continued failure to deal with the realities of their region. resolving some of the palestinian issues and ending the violence against israel would hardly make for better leadership in egypt or saudi arabia or syria. but it would remove the major excuse those governments use to avoid addressing their internal problems. the fall of the hussein regime in baghdad may create useful momentum for progress. we need to be prepared for the palestinians missing a chance for a much better future — as they have so often in the past under arafat — while hoping that the cataclysm in iraq at last awakens them to a historic opportunity. jonathan friendly is the national editor of jewish renaissance media back to top no apology from this war critic leonard fein what shall those of us who opposed the war now say and do? for the most part, the victory has been swift, comprehensive and without the tens of thousands of civilian iraqi casualties that some of us feared likely. is it time, as right-wing columnists have already begun to claim, for us to hang our heads in shame? sorry, no apology warranted. was there ever any doubt that the united states would prevail? true, those of us who cautioned that wars most often do not go as their planners intend, that great and unpleasant surprises are the norm, were in this instance largely mistaken; surprises here were few and not entirely unpleasant — for example, the feebleness of iraqi resistance. the war was hardly the “cake-walk” the planners and the media predicted, but still less was it the debacle the war’s opponents had forecast. might peace and democracy now prove easier than we have thought? the other night, on television, an “expert” analyst took a strangely pollyanaish view of the immediate political prospect: look how successful we’ve been in transforming afghanistan; surely we can do the same in iraq. heaven help us if afghanistan is our standard of success — afghanistan, where the taliban are now re-emerging and the islamist warlords have never disappeared, where president karzai seems to have become, in effect, the somewhat feckless mayor of kabul, the liberated nation towards whose reconstruction the entire international community contributed a paltry one billion dollars last year. but even if, somehow, the general good of the iraqi people will be dramatically advanced as a result of the war we condemned, and even if, mirabile dictu, contrary to what we who have opposed the war and, for that matter, the cia as well have predicted, regional peace eventuates, and even for that matter a transformation of the entire arab world, the war’s opponents will have no cause for shame. this war was specifically and explicitly a war born of 9/11 and intended to prevent (or at least inhibit) its sequel. in the beginning, the heart of the matter was destroying saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. so far, we have located no such weapons, even though the president along with secretary powell assured us, more than once, that the united states had specific information regarding their existence. then we were spun by an effort to have us believe in a connection between iraq and al qaeda, a connection the war would sever. that was, to put it mildly, doubtful all long, and doubtful it remains. but let’s suppose weapons of mass destruction and destructive connections are discovered. let’s even suppose an early ending to the current chaos, and then the emergence of a competent iraqi government. the reason such discoveries and developments would not vindicate the promoters of the war is that we who opposed it were not in fact opposed to “the” war; we were opposed to this war — this war that from the first so cavalierly dispensed with diplomacy, that treated the united nations as an obstacle to be overcome rather than as a resource to be recruited, this war that knocked europe off its developing center, this war whose planners enthusiastically rendered the sometime need for preemptive american action a virtue — nay, a commitment — this war that has soured, perhaps poisoned, america’s capacity for leadership in the family, yes family, of nations. on the morrow of 9/11, americans asked, “why do they hate us?” by “they,” we meant the maniacal terrorists, the suicide bombers, the cult of osama bin laden and his counterparts. but when we ask that question today, so short a time later, the “they” refers to tens of millions of people in virtually every corner of the globe. nor is the answer to that question a mystery: they hate us because we have displayed contempt rather than regard for the good opinion of mankind. we have courted their hate. the war that might one day have been necessary, the “last resort” war, was not the war we fought; we fought instead a war that gives a new meaning to the word “isolationism,” that henceforward means not antipathy to foreign adventures but a sympathy for such involvements only when they are unencumbered by significant partnerships and alliances. it is, alas, not churlish to wonder which nation this war’s planners are now thinking to attack, and which after that. yes, of course, good riddance to saddam hussein’s regime. but the arguments from morality and from prudence that counseled invigorated inspections before resorting to war are as valid, as compelling, today as they were two months ago. we did not oppose this war because we feared america would lose it; we opposed this war because we believed that america should not wage it. the presidency remains, of course, a bully pulpit, as teddy roosevelt was so fond of saying. but take care when the bully pulpit is occupied by a pulpit bully. leonard fein’s most recent book is against the dying of the light. back to top war critics: admit you’re wrong jonathan s. tobin unrepentant. unapologetic. unashamed. and as self-righteous as ever. that’s the way the critics of the war in iraq are sounding this week. if you were thinking that the people who see america as the focus of evil in the world were going to change their minds just because most of the people of iraq are happy that the united states has toppled saddam hussein, you were dead wrong. and while many — though certainly not all — of the people of iraq are saying ‘thank you, president george bush,’ his domestic opponents are choking on these words. though most of them eagerly anticipated a costly quagmire, they now proclaim that no one thought america would lose the war, and that their principled objections to the war remain valid. so before all of this goes down the memory hole and the war protesters start revising history to accommodate their folly, let’s briefly revisit those issues. was the war morally wrong? no. the war in iraq was in every sense a just war, in which a monstrous and dangerous regime was ousted. those who claimed that the iraqi people would prefer their domestic torturers to american liberators were mistaken. if any policy was immoral, it was the american past policy of appeasing saddam that the protesters would have continued. the tactics of the coalition forces were also designed and carried out to cause the fewest possible casualties to innocent civilians. though we mourn the deaths that did occur, the bloodbath that critics assumed was coming did not happen. was it illegal? no. president bush acted under the authorization granted him by congress in more than one vote. moreover, since iraq was in material breach of binding u.n. resolutions, the resolutions passed before the “axis of weasels” from france, germany and russia halted further multilateral action were still valid. has the decision by the united states and britain to go ahead despite the opposition of the united nations hurt the world body? yes. and so what if it did? though it has utility as a means for humanitarian aid and for mediating conflicts the great powers are uninterested in, it is also a sinkhole of anti-democratic sentiments and anti-semitism. and as far as giving the weapons inspectors more time to scour iraq — as the protesters insisted — as long as it’s being done by the u.s. marines, i agree: let’s give them more time. are there perils that lay ahead in the future? of course. no one should expect the transition from a ba’athist dictatorship to anything approaching democracy to be easy. but the people of iraq — and their neighbors — will be better off in the long run, no matter what the outcome of the process. more importantly, we have a right to ask why so many here and abroad were so passionate about the united states not liberating iraq. the answer is simple. both at home and abroad, those who opposed the war were likely to harbor doubts about the right of america to stand against evil because they thought america was itself evil. while it would be unfair to say that was true of all american critics of the war, there was another factor: blind partisanship. just as many republicans were so violently opposed to president bill clinton that they opposed his military actions in the balkans, so, too, were many democrats hobbled by their hatred for bush. though the majority of americans understood that sept. 11, 2001, changed the rules of american politics, many were so convinced of the illegitimacy of bush’s presidency that they were unable to support a war they probably would have backed had it been led by a democrat. if all of these arguments sound vaguely familiar, they should. change the names and places of america’s wars and enemies, and you’ve got the cold war all over again. as washington pundit mona charen has written in her new book useful idiots, the notion that america — and not the totalitarian communists of the soviet union — was the root cause of suffering in the world drove much of the opposition to u.s. policy from the 1960s to the late ’80s. charen’s book is especially timely because it reminds us that american resistance to the “evil empire” of communism was deemed illegitimate by large portions of the media, academia and political left. the echoes of their critiques were plainly heard in the nostalgic tone of anti-war demonstrations in the last few months. the aging children of the ’60s were able to recapture some of the spirit of their youth by opposing war in iraq as if it were vietnam. and, as charen points out, the historical memory of the anti-war nostalgia buffs is fatally flawed. just as the current crowd never honestly considered the interests of the iraqi people, they also never paused to consider that american failure in southeast asia left the people of that region prey to communist oppression and genocide that dwarfed the evils of the war. jonathan s.tobin is executive director of the jewish exponent in philadelphia. he can be reached via e-mail at jtobin@jewishexponent.com back to top letters/commentary speaker not insensitive as executive director of the russian community association of massachusetts, an organization representing a significant number of russian jews on the north shore, i would like to respond to your article concerning speaker thomas finneran (april 11, page one). writer brett rhyne suggests that speaker finneran has somehow slighted the jewish community by scheduling the release of the house budget on april 23 – the seventh day of passover. i beg to differ. speaker finneran has been a long-time supporter and a close friend of the jewish and russian jewish communities. just last year, in the midst of declining state revenues, he approved expansion of a program to lynn that addresses the needs of russian at-risk youth and is administered by the jewish family service of the north shore. ironically, in the same week of your attack on the speaker he was in the process of meeting with hundreds of members of the jewish community, including at least 250 russian jews. you can disagree with the speaker on politics and even on style but you need to be more careful with accusations of anti-semitism or “insensitivity” that would be better reserved for different circumstances. serge bologov russian community association of massachusetts, inc. boston finneran defended i am surprised at the tone of the article regarding house speaker thomas finneran’s scheduling of the period for submission of amendments for the fy 2004 budget coinciding with the final two days of pesach (april 11, page one). the direction the article takes is astonishing because it does not reflect the thomas finneran i have known for many years. actually, i, along with a host of others in our community, have always found him extraordinarily sensitive to issues of religion and faith. i have visited israel with tom finneran; i have davened in shul with tom finneran. tom finneran is not an anti-semite and, frankly, you trivialize anti-semitism as well as diminish yourself as a community newspaper by making the most specious allegations about one of the most caring and considerate human beings i’ve ever known. albert sherman vice chancellor university of mass. medical campus, worcester . definitions of good and evil definition of shrewdness, enlightenment and progress: dismembering a fascist dictatorship in the middle east, trying to prosecute its leader, and erecting in its territories a new democratic state. this is the policy of bush and blair. definition of stupidity, foolishness and evil: dismembering a democracy in the middle east, trying to prosecute its leader, and erecting in its territories a new fascist dictatorship state. this is the policy of the left. steven plaut haifa, israel glbt meetings planned we are parents of gay children. we are gay parents with children. we are glbt individuals, and we are all here to give and get support from others. if you would like to join us or would like more information including the dates and times of our meetings, please call our private, confidential line at 978-741-7878x21 .barbara sidman swampscott ‘yenta’ origin i see you use the term “yenta” (march 28, page 29). here is a point of interest: back in the early 1900s, my grandfather, jacob adler, wrote hundreds of short stories (pen name: b. kovner) about “yenta telebente” for the daily forward, which popularized this name, i am told. the gossipy character yenta became an off-broadway play called yenta telebente, in the 1920s. paul d. adler chilmark, ma back to top home | back to archives main page

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