My parents live in another city and I am the only adult child caring from a distance.  My Mom was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago, and my Dad seems to be in denial.  My parents live in the same home that they’ve lived in for 30 years.  They do not have any help or support in the home even though I see more deterioration and an increase in my Mom’s symptoms.  My Dad loses his patience with her and seems stressed out from taking care of her 24/7.  I am so concerned, and I don’t know what to do or how to get help.  Please advise!

Signed,

A Worried and Loyal Daughter.

Dear Worried and Loyal Daughter,

What you have shared with me is typical in families where one aging parent is in denial about the other parent’s condition.  Their lives will go a lot smoother if there is help in the home for them.  At JFFS, our Older Adult Care Management program can help with providing support and referral, especially to reputable home care companies.  The most important thing is that your Mom is safe – SAFETY FIRST! Your Father should be wearing a Lifeline necklace, in case he falls and cannot get up.  That way, you are assured that both your parents’ needs will be met.  (Phillips Lifeline: www.philips.lifelinesystems.com.)

Your parents’ home may not be the safest environment.  Also, we need to make sure that she is never left alone by your father while he goes to the market, gas station or doctor’s appointment.  I don’t believe she could respond to an emergency situation, and I am assuming that she no longer drives or has access to any car keys.  She should wear a SafeReturn bracelet in case she wanders away and gets lost, which happens frequently with older adults with dementia. (www.alz.org/we_can_help_medicalert_safereturn.asp.)  Your Dad can wear one too, which will help responders know that he is the caregiver to a loved one with dementia, should something urgent happen to him.

If your Mom is still driving, make sure that her MD is aware of this, and you can contact the DMV to send her a Cease-Driving letter.  She can go to her local DMV to trade in her driver’s license for a Senior ID card.  You can learn more by reading this site: http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100413/when-should-dementia-patients-stop-driving

Being further away from them means that you need extra support to learn how to cope with these changes that you are seeing.  I encourage you to contact the Alzheimer’s Association.  It offers a wealth of information, classes and support groups and has a 24/7 hotline: (800) 272-3900.  Go to www.alz.org and type in “Orange County chapter.”  The local number is (949) 955-9000.  Ask for support group info, and you can address your concerns with an intake worker.

You are welcome to come to JFFS for counseling to help you cope with the practical and emotional aspects of caring for your parents. A few counseling sessions with a professional at JFFS can ease your burden and arm you with some useful coping tools.  We are here to support you!  Please make sure that you are doing something each day for yourself, if only for 5 minutes, so that your needs are being met.

Each month, the online edition of Orange County Jewish Life will present an advice column from Jewish Federation & Family Services.

Nadine Durbach, MSW is the Older Adult Care Manager at Jewish Federation & Family Services.  She can be reached at (949) 435-3460, x. 356 or nadine@jffs.org.

I could not believe my eyes.

A little over twelve years ago our daughter Rachel had done her second year of National Service there, trying her best to infuse the children and the community with her own love of Israel and their Jewish heritage.  Rav Monsenego, who had interviewed her for the position in Jerusalem, was the head of the struggling Jewish school, and Jonathan Sandler had been one of the older students there.

It was a small Jewish community back then, a bit raw and isolated.  All the men in synagogue were either over forty or under ten.  And it was impossible to ignore the growing Muslim presence in the city.  Only a year or two later, the town would suffer a massive explosion in a chemical factory.  While the police called it accidental, Toulouse was abuzz with the rumor that a Muslim factory employee had been found dead wearing multiple sets of underwear, a hint that he had been preparing to meet his multiple virgins.

I’ll never forget the hospitality of Rav Monsenego and his wife, Yaffa, on the Shabbat we came to Toulouse to visit our daughter.

Oddly, what sticks in my mind is how modest their little house was, and how I stood next to Rabbanit Yaffa as she carefully washed dishes in cold water with a metal scrubber permissible for use on the Sabbath.  There was something very young and girlish and sweet about her, a gentle light in her eyes as she flashed her beautiful, gracious smile.  It was so comfortable and easy to speak to her and her family over the wonderful Sephardi dishes she’d prepared.

They had four children then, some of whom had already been sent away to school because Toulouse had so few Jewish educational institutions.  As I recall, her two youngest children, son Benny and daughter Yael, were still there, beautiful, smart, lively kids who spoke to us in Hebrew.  Yaffa, Israeli-born to a distinguished Sephardic rabbinical family and a teacher in the school, was full of energy and goodwill.  She and the Rav could not have been kinder.  My husband, Alex, and I thanked them both for letting our daughter become one of the family during her year abroad, little realizing how much more important they were to become to her in the years ahead.

For as her year of National Service drew to a close, Rachel, who the entire year had been telling us how much she was looking forward to coming home, suddenly began hinting she’d like to prolong her stay.  The mystery was solved when a handsome young Orthodox Parisian came to visit her in Jerusalem that summer.  He had been studying engineering and computer science in Toulouse for the year and also learning Talmud with Rav Monsenego during every spare moment.

Their marriage brought his French-Jewish family to Jerusalem.  I remember all my Israeli guests talking about the fabulous hats the French women wore.

Soon after we visited Yaffa Monsenego in Jerusalem in the tiny Geulah apartment that belonged to her parents.  As always, her lovely smile lit up the room although things had not been going easily for her.  She was still struggling to have another child.

When my son-in-law, Ygael, completed his studies, he and Rachel and their new baby relocated from Toulouse to Paris to be near his family.  But my daughter always kept in touch with the Monsenegos.  I was happy to learn that after a decade of disappointed hopes and unanswered prayers, God had finally granted them another child, a girl they named Miryam.  Everyone who knew them said their joy was palpable.

And now eight year-old Miryam, the pretty, shy, beloved child that had brought so much happiness to the fine people who had single-handedly brought Torah and Jewish community to Toulouse, had been murdered.  The Monsenegos had lost their baby.

I thought nothing could be more horrifying than that single fact, until I heard the details.

While life in Israel should have inured me by now to Islamic-inspired atrocities against children, somehow the image of little Miryam’s soft, tender blonde hair yanked by a stranger, the cold revolver held against her childish temple was unbearable, harking back to the darkest nightmare of our people.  To the million children brutally slaughtered for being Jewish by Hitler, we now had to add three more: Miryam, and little Gabriel and Aryeh Sandler.

“It’s the same Europe,” my daughter said, far away in Paris.  “I feel like running to take my children out of school and locking them in the house.”

French police cars, which had been removed from the entrances of Jewish schools in France, were now back, she told me.  “But something’s shifted,” she admitted.  “The Jewish community is uneasy.  Things aren’t the same.”

The next day, when the news programs shifted to the manhunt for the lone killer, I turned the set off.  Who, honestly, cared about him?  They were all the same, those cowardly young jihadi butchers; all soul-less, Nazi wannabees inspired by hatred and death; morons with brains and hearts the size of pebbles.  Instead, I decided to use my ticket to visit the newly opened memorial for the victims of September 11.

It is an awesome sight to see those two new towers rising; to hear the voices of hundreds of men and machines as they strive to return that vital part ripped so brutally from the heart of this great city.

You hear the memorial long before you actually see it.  It sounds like massive waterfalls in some far-off forest.  The closer you get, the less you can believe your eyes.  Two identical, enormous square pits fill the areas where once the old twin towers actually stood.  On all four sides waterfalls cascade down, the water meeting in a square black hole which sucks everything down into its bottomless darkness.

I felt my knees shake and tears come to my eyes as I stood there.  There, chiseled into the long, low marble enclosure were the names of every victim who had perished in that particular building.  Right in front of me was the name Marie Lukas.

Marie Lukas was 32 years old, a beautiful, vivacious girl, beloved daughter and sister, who loved to dance and had so many friends when terrorist planes struck her building.  She was sitting at her desk on the 103^rd floor at Cantor Fitzgerald.  As the room filled with smoke, she dialed her father, a retired firefighter, and asked him what to do.  He told her to stay calm.

Miryam and Marie, I thought.  So far apart in time and space, and yet that dark, black hole had swallowed them both, leaving only darkness and endless pain behind.

I have always believed that evil is simply an absence of good, the way darkness is an absence of light. But now I can see that isn’t true. Evil is a real and separate thing: a tangible force in the world, like hurricanes or volcanoes.

Ten years have passed since my ears rang with the explosion of the terrorist bomb that tore apart the Park Hotel on Seder night.  Every time I get lulled into thinking the world is getting wiser or kinder, some other horror pops up to remind me that we should never fool ourselves into letting our guard down.  On the contrary, every good person in the world has no choice but to battle evil in any way every minute, every hour, every day.  The battle is never going to stop.  No peace treaty, no land giveaway, no distinguished gathering of slick-tongued politicians can, will or should make it stop.  Our journey from Egypt to freedom and peace continues.

This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post on April 6, 2012.

The summer is

I returned from my summer experience in Israel, and my love for the holy land was unmatched. I wanted more Israel, and I wanted it all the time. I searched every Jewish neighborhood in New York City finding any product that would bring me back to my summer in Israel. I loved that summer — the hiking, the sightseeing, the food, the people. Every part of Israel lived within me like nothing else in my life. No experience before or after that summer could match the connection I would have with Israel for the rest my life.

Ten years after my summer in Israel I found myself employed in the Jewish community. There is no doubt that my Israel experience inspired me to push Jewish teens to having an experience like I had. I was running a teen program at a congregation in New York City, and I had attended a workshop for congregants about making connections to the land of Israel. The rabbi running the workshop asked the crowd of more than 100 Jewish adults and teens, “How many people believe American Judaism can survive without the State of Israel being in existence?” I was shocked that more than 50 percent of the room didn’t think Israel existing impacted American Jewry. How could so many feel that way? I couldn’t figure it out. Finally, I realized that many of the people in the room had never been to Israel, or they had not sent their kids. There it was — no connection equals no sense of urgency to insure the survival of the place that inspired my Judaism.

That workshop came and went, and I was inspired in a new way. My mission was not just to inspire Jewish teens to discover their Jewish identities; it was to get them to Israel. To that point I really just cared about keeping teens connected in any way that I could, but now Israel had to be part of the connection. Fast forward to the present day, and that’s exactly how I try to shape experiences for Jewish teens here in Orange County. It’s not good enough to get them on a Camp Retreat or to a Jewbilation event; it’s about connecting those experiences with experiences that involve cultivating a love and passion for the State of Israel.

The Orange County Bureau of Jewish Education offers many different programs that begin cultivating a connection to Israel. This summer we are sending a group of teens to Israel on our TIES trip, and we currently have many teens running our I-ACT (Israel Advocacy Committee for Teens) leadership program. For more information about these programs contact Eric Nicastro, (949) 435-3450 or eric@bjeoc.org.

During the last

“In light of the things happening on campus, this is a great bridge building opportunity,” said Lisa Armony, director of the Rose Project, Jewish Federation & Family Services, Orange County. “It’s just fantastic in terms of the science coming out of the joint research projects that are going to happen.”

Armony and the Rose Council leadership held a meeting with Chancellor Drake shortly after he returned from Israel to discuss his trip and what it meant for the future. The chancellor talked about the importance of UCI’s relationships with the communities of Orange County and how crucial they are to the school’s success – part of them being his relationship with the Jewish community and the Rose Council that was so instrumental in organizing the trip.

“The chancellor talked about his meeting with Shimon Peres… He was very, very pleased to have that opportunity,” Armony said. “He also mentioned that UCI has no more than two dozen MOUs with international universities. Out of this fairly small number, UCI now has four with Israel. That’s significant, and a testament to Israeli academic excellence. Chancellor Drake talked about his vision of making UCI a global institution, and that, too, is a testament to the role he sees for Israeli academia at UCI.”

At the meeting, Chancellor Drake also updated the Rose Council about the upcoming collaborations between UCI and the Israeli universities, stating that he expects the partners to begin launching their projects within the next six to twelve months. One of these is a joint conference this fall titled, “Communications 2025.” The goal of the conference, Drake said, is to examine the technologies that will be needed for information technology and communications in the next decade. The Samueli Foundation, based here at UCI, has donated $2 million to find the program. Tel Aviv University will be organizing the Israeli delegation of the conference while the UCI Samueli School of Engineering will be organizing the American delegation.

“They’re able to start implementing [projects] right away,” Armony said of UCI and its Israeli partners, “so they want to hit the ground running. They’re looking at starting postdoctoral fellowships in the sciences as soon as this fall. We’re talking about med student exchanges, going on four-week rotation; we bring Israeli med students here, they bring some UCI med students there and then they come back after four weeks. UCI is planning workshops on water resources with Ben Gurion University… water is an important subject for Israel and UCI. They have a lot of mutual research they’ll be exploring and developing. And yet, these problems they’ll be working on are not limited to Irvine and Israel… they affect the whole world.”

The Rose Project has been coordinating the chancellor’s trips to Israel since 2008, when the Rose Council began to meet with the chancellor and UCI administration about the importance of academic exchanges with Israel, the value they would bring to the school and how they would create a positive climate for Israel and the Jewish community on campus.

“UCI has been limited in the way it can react to the discourse about Israel on campus… you know, First Amendment rights and everything,” Armony stated, referring to the Muslim Student Union’s often vitriolic rhetoric and hostile behavior towards Israel and Zionists. “But when you change the dialogue and open Israel up to people who wouldn’t normally go there or learn about it on their own, it can have a tremendous impact on their perception. It’s a major transformative experience to go to Israel, and we’re opening that opportunity up to so many more people at UCI. They’ll come back with a much richer and more educated view of what Israel is about. That’s what’s been driving these conversations.”

Armony noted that David Siegel, the current consul general of Israel, played a vital role in helping to make the mission a reality.

The chancellor’s trip to Israel is a momentous one not only for the Jewish community in Orange County, but for UC Irvine as well. In light of the hateful and aggressive anti-Zionist behavior the UCI Muslim Student Union has chosen to employ over the past few years, the chancellor’s recent activities in Israel send a strong message. In light of the calls to boycott Israel that have been pushed on some universities around the globe in the past few years, the MOUs Chancellor Drake has signed ring with certain clarion for the Jewish community in Orange County.

“UCI has set in place a very positive path and vision for its relationship with Israel,” Armony explained. “It’s important to note that other schools in North America and Canada are exploring ties with Israel, too. The President of USC recently got back from Israel, entering the school into relationships with Israeli universities similar to those UCI has entered… And there are others. While we do hear these calls for boycott, there are universities in North America making a clear statement about Israel and the importance of having academic relations with its universities.”

Readers can find further information about these developments at www.roseprojectoc.org.

Two words brought

Although many Jewish mothers hoped TribeFest was a convention to have their young professional children find a beshert, it was an opportunity to engage with like-minded folks who are interested in the Jewish communal experience. This was the coming together of our nation, including 36 participants from Orange County. These 36 OC locals were able to go because of generous donors who underwrote their conference registration expenses.

The irony is that Jews, who historically have flocked to the desert, had two conferences with only a hash tag to differentiate them. The physical conference was created by JFNA, but the social media conference became a grassroots evolution that promoted more dialogue and is continuing the conversations that took place at TribeFest.

TribeFest, the physical conference, was where Jews from around the nation came, to share Jewish communal ideas and work on projects that enhance their communities. With more than 81 North American communities represented and more than 91 partnering organizations, JFNA, through TribeFest, has demonstrated how symbiotic relationships help benefit all parties involved.

What would a meaningful conference be without awareness and social action? TribeFest provided its participants with the profound experience of hearing Rachel Dratch, from “Saturday Night Live”; Jonathan Greenblatt, the creator of Ethos water; Brooke Goldstein, a children’s rights activist; Talia Leman, the CEO and a founder of RandomKid and much more. These speakers provided value and content to a receptive audience.

JFNA also addressed issues that challenge Jewish prosperity and compromise the health of unborn children. With such insight, JFNA provided attendees with sound education about Jewish genetic testing. Many were unaware that the Jewish community has more to fear than just Tay Sachs. Eighteen other genetic diseases threaten our happiness. After the education came action. For a ridiculously low price of $25, participants were able to undergo testing for all 19 diseases.

The second conference was “#TribeFest,” which JFNA intended and encouraged participants to utilize as a tool for deeper conversation. The virtual conference was happening on Twitter and was broadcast on screens whose only purpose was to display the Twitter feed. JFNA masterminded a Jewish convention that touched the people not only in Vegas, but globally. Many times it was clear that those who were physically at TribeFest were desperately trying to tweet a quote or fact fast enough so they could post another. Those who did not utilize Twitter on a daily basis still became engaged in the conversation. The brilliance of TribeFest in utilizing Twitter is that the physical conference is over, but the dialogue is continuing between communities. This promotes more community action and individual participation.

Jewish conferences have taken new flight. At the physical conference there was a kosher buffet of food and breakout sessions. The virtual conference was a place to kvetch or give social props to those around you. TribeFest was an inclusive place for Jews of all kinds to gather and promote Jewish communal values. JFNA is able to see the potential that young professionals have in creating positive communal changes. So whatever conference was attended, TribeFest or #TribeFest, both ignited the Jewish community for change, growth and movement.

Dr. Lauren Gavshon,

Dr. Gavshon, who assumed her position in November, is a clinical psychologist who has held the position of director of programs and services at several healthcare facilities in Southern California, including both Orange and San Diego counties. For the past 11 years, she has worked with both for-profit and non-profit organizations to effectively develop and manage programs that provide mental healthcare services to the community. Before coming to JFFS, Dr. Gavshon managed a unique residential care program for adults with chronic mental illnesses in Orange County. She successfully created a program that offered a high quality of clinical care, while also maintaining financial sustainability.

She has developed partnerships with many community organizations, as well as Argosy and Alliant University Graduate Departments of Psychology and the UC Irvine Department of Psychiatry, where she has provided training, education and clinical supervision to trainees in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. In addition to authoring a scholastic book and several academic articles, Dr. Gavshon lectures at mental health conferences and training seminars on topics of mental illness, clinical care, and professional development.

With the dual mission of overseeing clinical care and expanding and enriching the program for unmet needs in the community, Dr. Gavshon and her staff are working with trainees and graduate students as interns to extend their reach. Not only does that help people in the community; it helps the interns to gain valuable experience.

“I’m lucky to have a staff that is highly motivated to help people,” she added. “We have really good people who help with special needs resources, senior services, transportation, career counseling, financial counseling and general counseling.”

In addition, Dr. Gavshon – who grew up in Orange County – is delighted at the involvement of members of the community. “There are retired therapists and people who just want to visit or bring baskets of food to those in need,” she said. “People who are not directly involved don’t realize how much help is needed.”

“Because of the economy our clients are different from those who came in a few years ago,” Dr. Gavshon added. Sometimes her team puts a lot of resources on one case – providing couples counseling about financial issues, helping a child with special needs and discussing resources for the care of an aging parent.

The team is developing a strategic plan going forward to 2020. The whole agency – staff and lay leaders – is involved in the process.

To facilitate that and to understand the needs of the community, Dr. Gavshon is working with Orange County Jewish Life to create a feedback mechanism. She invites the community to submit questions to her at lgavshon@jffs.org. Every month the appropriate person on the JFFS staff will respond to a question about special needs, senior services or some other aspect of community concern. Please see this month’s installment at www.ocjewishlife.com.

Jewish Family Services, part of Jewish Federation & Family Services

As the social service arm of Jewish Federation & Family Services, Jewish Family Services provide an array of services across the age spectrum to over 3,600 individuals and families each year in Orange County. Counselors serve the entire Orange County community, inclusive of people of all races, religions and national origins. Services offered are:

Older Adult Services

Silver Streak Transportation, Active Living, Holocaust Survivors, Caregiver Support, Care Management, Bereavement Support

Lifelines

Crisis Case Management, Emergency Financial Assistance, Jewish Free Loan, Women Forward Employment Program

Center for
Special Needs

Consultation, Social Inclusion, Social Skills, Community Workshops, IEP/IFSP Advocacy, Programs and Events

Counseling

Sliding Scale Individual and Family Counseling, Support Groups, Chaplain Services

“It has been

It was Rabbi Allen Krause (zt”l), who suggested Kalir-Merton become a cantor upon hearing her perform. She entered the cantorate and completed the four-year course of cantorial studies in three years under the tutelage of Cantor William Sharlin in Los Angeles. Her background had prepared her well.

Born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel, Kalir-Merton is the daughter of the late Rabbi Joseph Kalir and Hilda Kalir, both Holocaust survivors from Germany. Having a father as a rabbi meant Kalir-Merton was well versed in liturgy. In Israel her father was a teacher, unable to serve as a rabbi because he wasn’t Orthodox. She was always musically inclined and studied piano as a child. She has been taking voice lessons for decades.

After many years in Israel, the Kalir family moved to Sweden, where her father served as a rabbi. The family ultimately moved to the east coast of the U.S. There, Rabbi Kalir was a professor. He then served as the chair of the religious studies department at Cal State Fullerton until his death in1988. Kalir-Merton’s mother, who died in 2003, was the artist; she painted, danced, sang, played the piano “and luckily transmitted that gene to me,” said Kalir-Merton.
While Kalir-Merton received her early education in Israel and her secondary education in Goteborg, Sweden, she attended Boston University and the Hebrew Teachers College in Boston, Massachusetts. Then came her move to the west coast to work in the field of Jewish education and to exercise her passion for Jewish music. She performed as a vocalist on the local Jewish scene, in several tours of college campuses in the western states and in concerts throughout Europe. It was during this time that Rabbi Krause heard her sing.

“I felt that all the paths I have traveled led me to Temple Beth El,” said Kalir-Merton. “While I love the musical aspect of my work (to me God lives in the music), I love the connection with the congregants just as enthusiastically. I love the feeling that our interactions can make a positive difference in their lives.”

Through the years, Kalir-Merton served the congregation in many capacities. Certainly the centerpiece of her position was the traditional cantorial role on the bimah, where she has had the pleasure of introducing several world premiere Shabbat services by local composers including Ami Aloni, Meir Finklestein and Gordon Lustig.

But there were many other roles she played: training the many Bar/Bat Mitzvah students, teaching classes in Hebrew and Torah cantillation and a variety of other subjects, both Judaic and musical, to adults and children. And let’s not forget her role as clergy member in all manner of pastoral care, including visiting ailing congregants, counseling and more. In the early days she was also in charge of the chavurah program.

“My favorite thing was teaching the adult B’nai Mitzvah,” she said. “They have such an appreciation and love of learning – that is all a teacher could ask for.”

“And now it is time to retire,” said Kalir-Merton. She explained that if she weren’t a cantor for whom the voice is a centerpiece of the profession, she would have retired later. “But the voice” she said, “is one of the things that has created a powerful connection between the congregation and me.”

And while Kalir-Merton continues to nurture her voice and has taken voice lessons every week since becoming a cantor, “you reach a certain age and along with everything else, vocal chords begin to age as well.” Kalir-Merton maintains a high standard, and, “I want to leave while I am still at the top of my game. I vowed that to myself a long time ago upon hearing a highly renowned, but aging cantor sing and not able to hit the right notes. That was not going to be me!”

Kalir-Merton is facing the future with the same enthusiasm and energy that she brought to her congregation. “I see the future as a question mark and am open to grabbing what comes my way; very clearly there will be music involved, because my soul is music,” she said. And learning will also be a part of her future.

“I’ve always loved learning languages, and so I am going to sign up for many language classes,” she said. “I’ll probably be involved in a variety of volunteer activities; and at some point my son and his wife will bless me with a grandchild. That’s probably one of the things I look forward to the most!”

And so as Kalir-Merton looks back over the years she served as cantor, it is not so much the growth in numbers that she marvels at, but the interrelationships between people and intensity of feeling that developed between the clergy and congregants. “It has been the ultimate journey of my life, experiencing all that we have given each other – the congregation and myself,” she said. “I am just so grateful to have had this kind of privilege.”

Shortly before Rabbi Krause’s death, Kalir-Merton visited him, mostly to say goodbye. “I told Rabbi Krause that serving as cantor at Temple Beth El felt had been a highlight of my life and that I knew this is where I was supposed to be; and that he had been God’s instrument. His parting words were ‘we really built something good.’ Yes, we did!”

Cantor Shula Kalir-Merton will be honored along with Linda Kirsch who has been the director of education at Temple Beth El since 1987, and Administrative Assistant Fay Zeramby at Temple Beth El’s annual gala event, Sunday, May 6, at Harborside in Newport Beach. For details, call (949) 362-3999.

The Olam Jewish Montessori of Beth Jacob in Irvine and Bubbe & Zayde’s Place (A Jewish Assisted Living Center) in Santa Ana realized the importance of this concept and decided to bring both groups together to enjoy a shortened version of the Seder.

On Friday, March 30, just before the traditional lunch hour, Bonnie Curkin, owner of Bubbe & Zayde’s Place, hired a bus and with the help of three aides brought over 11 residents to Congregation Beth Jacob to share this special time with the 16 children enrolled in the pre-school. The class ranges in age from 2 to 5. It is the only Jewish Montessori School in Orange County.

Isabelle Harris, director and co-founder of the school, feels it is so important to create intergenerational events. According to Harris, “The two age groups have so much in common. We need to keep things short and fun for them. And according to several articles, the Montessori teaching methods are one way to help the elderly population retain their new memories, which tend to be forgotten sooner than those of their own youth. And this is such a major part of our culture to give tribute and listen to the older members of our community. It’s a very natural combination that I hope we are able to do on other holidays.”

“We were so thrilled when Isabelle called us for this mitzvah project,” Curkin said. “Our residents sometimes feel very down and ask me why they’re still alive. I tell them that it’s up to us to pass on our knowledge of Jewish history and our feelings on to the younger generations. Outings like this, where we get the little ones and the elderly together, help to take away the fear on both sides.”

She added, “Small children don’t always know what to make of older people, so this gives them a chance to get to know them on an intimate level. And it gives hope to our grandparents and great-grandparents that they still have something wonderful and exciting to teach and share with them. That puts a smile on their faces. More importantly, it really gives them hope. And we all want to live with hope.”

Robyn Farber, another one of the school’s co-founders, explained what the hope is for events of this nature: “Right now, it’s hard for both of these groups to stay up late and sit through a traditional Seder, so we want to make it a fun event that’s easy for them all to follow. The children need to know about the story, why the Seder plate has the items it does and we need to give them a sense of the importance on the need of family and community. This intergenerational component fulfills all of these points.”

It is no easy task to get a group this large and of this nature together. It was fun to watch the little ones doing the kiddush with their older counterparts, the explanation of why they need to wash hands, the blessing and the faces given over the tasting of the salted parsley, the reading of the Maggid (the group didn’t get to the four questions in a formal manner), both the blessing over and the hiding of the matzo. The group explored the significance of why we eat the unleavened bread over the course of the entire holiday.

While Harris served as the “leader,” teachers Sonya Neutel and Symone Sass got into the excitement of acting out the story, getting themselves and the children who helped with the ceremony into costumes.

Sass said it took several classes to prepare the children as to what to expect, letting them hear the story, listening to the music and talking to them about the change in their schedule, as well as the idea that they would be having visitors. As she explained, “At these tender ages, it’s hard to change what the kids feel is their norm. It upsets their sense of security. We need to get them ready as much as we possibly can.”

Congregation Beth Jacob’s Chief Operating Officer Adam Reingold was on hand to help the preschool staff keep the morning Seder running smoothly and on time. According to Reingold, “It’s an amazing school. All the parents involved had a hand in creating Olam Jewish Montessori of Beth Jacob. They have truly made it an important part of their lives to create a great community for all the families and, of course, the children. This is a wonderful way to keep the ideals of the Jewish culture continuing from one generation to another.”

Orange County Jewish Life caught up with Len Lawrence, the general manager of Mt. Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries. Mt. Sinai, which has parks in Hollywood Hills and the Simi Valley, is committed to providing expert counsel and caring support at the time of need. Serving all streams of Judaism for more than 50 years, Mt. Sinai honors life while respecting the family’s traditions and wishes, according to Lawrence.

What are the key factors that distinguish Jewish funerals from other funerals? The quickness of the burial – within 24 to 48 hours after death – is a key factor, although families are usually committed to wait for the whole family to gather. The emphasis of Jewish burial rituals is to care for the living while honoring and protecting the deceased. It is important to help the living to get through the grief.

Since everyone will deal with a funeral at some point, how do you suggest that people prepare for the eventuality? It’s clear from my experience and tenure that preplanning is a gift that people should give to their families to eliminate stress and pressure, both emotionally and financially. By preplanning the wishes of the deceased can be known. Individuals can plan what they want and provide the structure to take care of it.

How does Mt. Sinai educate people about Jewish funeral customs and about Judaism’s views on cremation? We conduct seminars at various times of the year. We provide information during the pre-planning process and at the time of need. We also provide information on our website (www.mountsinaiparks.org).

We explain all options open to the family without judging their knowledge or level or observance. We discuss cremation in a way that doesn’t judge. We are opposed, but the family can bury the ashes, and Mt. Sinai will facilitate it under the rules that we abide by. It’s a tiny part of what we do.

Given Judaism’s views on quick burial, how much preparation time is needed to arrange a Jewish funeral properly? We can arrange a funeral in 8 hours or less. It depends on how quickly the family wants to react and how quickly the family can get the death certificate, which in turn depends on the family dynamics and circumstances of death. Sitting with a counselor can take 1 to 2 1/2 hours if just arranging the funeral. If purchasing the plot, the time goes up. We can do a preplanned funeral over the telephone.

We’ve had Orthodox funerals in which we’ve been notified of the death on Friday morning and arranged the burial for Friday afternoon, so that it was completed before Shabbat. We work with the full spectrum of people from the most Orthodox to the most secular, but the funeral itself has to fit within Judaism.

In what ways does Mt. Sinai give every family 100 percent of its attention for a funeral? We are well staffed and well trained as professionals. We’re fully concentrating on service. Staff members are assigned to particular families. It all boils down to people and the training of those people. We will stop a business meeting to become a minyan, because we’re dedicated to doing things the right way. In burials where the deceased has no family, we become the family.

How does Mt. Sinai accommodate people of all streams of Judaism? We do this by being versed in the tradition, being able to adapt the tradition to the needs of the family and having property that meets the needs of the community. We even have “pathway property” where you don’t step on another grave.

We train our employees to listen. They hear what the family wants, hear what the family needs and make it work within the constraints of Jewish law.

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Ph.D., rector and philosophy professor at American Jewish University, is Mt. Sinai’s Halachic (Jewish law) expert. He was chosen for his broad knowledge of every stream of Judaism.

We also make adjustments based on what individual rabbis want. For instance, we were told that the washing fountain at the memorial park was not kosher because the water recirculated. We built a new one.

Does Mt. Sinai arrange for a rabbi when the family does not belong to a synagogue? We have a list of rabbis willing to do funerals, and we assign them to people based on their needs. We work with rabbis who are traditional, Conservative, Reform, male, female and so on. We have an established relationship with dozens and dozens of rabbis from all over Southern California who are willing to do the memorial service for non-members. Funerals can also be conducted by cantors. These rabbis and cantors meet with the family and help the family.

What is a ballpark estimate of Jewish funeral costs – casket, plot, rabbi and other factors? The cost depends upon the family’s individual selections. A funeral can cost $5,000 to $6,000 if pre-planned and using a simple pine coffin (starting at $900), or it can be $5,000 and up to purchase a plot now. Smaller costs include the rabbi’s fee (about $500), the death certificate and the limousines if desired.

Why would an Orange County resident want to work with Mt. Sinai on a funeral? We have a nationwide if not international reputation as a Jewish mortuary. We are here 24/7, so that nobody has to deal with an answering service. We have professionally trained staff to handle any circumstances, beautiful parks and the finest Jewish burial services anywhere. We’ve been here for more than 50 years, and we spare no time, effort, training and expense to serve people.

In summary, what distinguishes Mt. Sinai from other memorial parks and mortuaries? Our founding fathers made a commitment and a covenant with the community to serve it in a meaningful way for all aspects of Judaism. We will bury the non-Jewish spouse of a Jewish person, we will work with Jewish agencies and not turn an indigent family away and we will bury a child under 13 free. This is a different kind of place with serenity, peace and quiet. We honor and protect the deceased while we serve the living.

For more information call 800-600-0076 or visit
www.mountsinaiparks.org.

“The use of dairy to celebrate this holiday is not a Biblical injunction, nor is it mentioned in the Talmud,” Marks told me. “Shavuot falls when the animals are beginning to be weaned away from the mother, so you have a surplus of milk and therefore cheese, yogurt and other dairy products. Once you have a tradition, you will find Biblical reasons for it.”

Herdsmen of almost 6,000 years ago stored milk in the waterproof stomachs of animals (the first “bottles”), he explained. These ancient people discovered that when the milk separated, it coagulated into curds – the first fresh cheese – which not only tasted good, but lasted longer than milk. (Blintzes would come much later!)

“Remember, for most of history people didn’t drink milk straight,” Marks noted, “because, until pasteurization, it was dangerous unless it came straight from the animal. So fermented forms like yogurt, cheese and butter, which have a longer shelf period, are what people ate.”

More importantly, Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. “No Jews existed before the giving of the Torah,” Marks said. “One of the new laws concerned keeping kosher, and since their utensils and any meat products they had produced before were no longer kosher, for the first Shavuot they ate dairy products.

“In addition, the tradition exists that when they came back to camp after receiving the Torah, their milk had curdled into cheese, so you have a variety of mystical and somewhat Biblical reasons that developed for the association with dairy.”

Milk suggests purity, so white foods, such as rice and white corn, are eaten in some communities at this time. Romanians, for example, prepare mamaliga – their beloved cornmeal mush – with white corn meal instead of yellow on Shavuot.

“Milk also suggests the purity of the people not only having received the Torah,” said Marks, “but having accepted it and having agreed to become a holy nation.”

Eggplants with White Cheese from The Turkish Cookbook: Regional Recipes and Stories by Nur Ilkin and Sheilah Kaufman is perfect for the holiday.

Ilkin and Kaufman became friends through a diplomatic group both belong to in the Washington, D.C., area. Ilkin is the wife of the former Turkish ambassador to the United States, and Kaufman is a food writer, cooking instructor and author of 26 cookbooks. “I attended a luncheon at her magnificent home where she served 23 different dishes,” Kaufman recalled. “I just had to have the recipes. When I suggested we do a cookbook together, she said, ‘I don’t know how to write a cookbook.’ I told her, ‘I don’t know how to cook Turkish.’”

The resulting collaboration became The Turkish Cookbook (Interlink Books, $35) with more than 250 healthful, tantalizing recipes from a very unique cuisine accompanied by stunning color photos.

“Turkey is the only country in the world that lies on two continents” (Europe and Asia), explained Kaufman. “It has seven regions, all with different cuisines, combining Venetian, Roman, Persian, Mongolian, Arab, Phoenician and Byzantine, as well as Greek food.”

So many cheesecakes, so little time! How to choose? I turn to The Cheesecake Bible (Robert Rose, $24.95) by George Geary, with 200 delectable cheesecake recipes, from White Chocolate Crème Brûlée Cheesecake to Carrot Cake Cheesecake – there are 20 chocolate cheesecake recipes alone! – to no-bake and savory varieties, sauces and even cheesecake bars, plus tips and techniques that eliminate the intimidation factor. Try Fresh Raspberry Hazelnut Cheesecake, perfect for spring, a delicious way to celebrate the holiday!

Eggplants with
White Cheese

There are dozens of eggplant recipes in Turkish cuisine. Italian eggplants are about 4 to 5 inches long. If unavailable, substitute with Japanese, Dutch or small American eggplant. Turkish white cheese is similar to Greek feta.

Yield: 6 servings

Water for soaking eggplant plus 1/3 cup

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

Sea salt

5 medium (about 2 pounds) Italian eggplants

2 large onions, thinly sliced into half circles

16 cloves garlic, slivered (quartered lengthwise)

2 green bell peppers, seeded, ribs removed, cut into ½-inch cubes

2 medium tomatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 medium tomatoes, peeled and puréed

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup Turkish white cheese, Bulgarian cheese, or ricotta salata, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

4 tablespoons finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

1 In large bowl combine water, lemon juice and salt. Cut stems off eggplant. Leaving an inch of peel on top and bottom, peel off ½-inch strips of skin, lengthwise, at ½ -inch intervals, making a striped effect. Cut eggplant into 4 lengthwise slices and then into 1-inch-thick crosswise pieces.

2 Place eggplant pieces in the bowl of water and let sit for at least 30 minutes.

3 Line bottom of large skillet with onion and garlic slices and top with green pepper pieces. Cover with cubed and pureed tomatoes.

4 Season with salt and add 1/3 cup water and olive oil. Bring to a boil for one or two minutes, then turn heat to low, cover and continue to cook for 40 to 45 minutes, shaking pan by the handles 3 or 4 times.

5 Arrange eggplants on serving dish. When cool, add cheese and parsley.

Source: The Turkish Cookbook by Nur Ilkin and Sheilah Kaufman

Fresh Raspberry Hazelnut Cheesecake

Almonds may be substituted for the hazelnuts if you prefer.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Crust:

1¼ cups sugar cookie crumbs

½ cup hazelnuts, toasted and ground

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sour cream

1¼ cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup raspberries, cut into quarters, if large

½ cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely ground

Decoration:

½ cup raspberries

¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Whipped cream (optional)

1 Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

2 Crust: Combine crust ingredients. Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan and freeze.

3 Filling: In a mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar on medium-high speed until very smooth, 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in flour, lemon juice and vanilla. Fold in raspberries and ground hazelnuts by hand.

4 Pour over frozen crust, smoothing out to sides of pan. Bake until top is light brown and center jiggles slightly, 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours before decorating or serving.

5 Sprinkle with raspberries and chopped hazelnuts. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Source: The Cheesecake Bible by George Geary

It’s been just

Both the driver and passenger of the black BMW that mowed down Zeitouni early Friday morning, September 16, 2011, were French citizens. Within four hours of the crash — before police had traced the damaged vehicle to the parking lot of their upscale Tel Aviv apartment — the two fled with their families to France.

To date, the two perpetrators of the crime are walking free in France — a fact that has incensed many Israelis who want to see the two prosecuted and sentenced in Israel, and see it as another example of criminals fleeing from Israeli justice. The problem? France has no extradition treaty with Israel and will only extradite its citizens to European Union member states. French authorities have stated that, if requested, they will arrest and try the two men, but, as yet, no formal request has been received from the Israeli authorities. Zeitouni’s family and friends insist that the men be sent back to Israel where they will be subject to far harsher sentences.

Claude Isaac Khayat, 40, and Eric Rubic, 38, had been living in Israel with their families but are not Israeli citizens. Both men allegedly have a history of involvement with some of Israel’s most notorious criminal clans — Khayat allegedly had ties to crime boss Charlie Abutbul — and since their return to France, Khayat was arrested for speeding and released after paying a fine.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are reportedly continuing their investigation into the case, although details of the investigation have been placed under a gag order. A spokesperson for Israel’s Justice Ministry said that officials from the state attorney’s department of international affairs have visited France and are cooperating in the ongoing investigation.

At a January 3 session of the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, several MKs asked officials from the state attorney’s office about the progress of the investigation but were told they could not comment. Committee chair Danny Danon (Likud) promised to demand a closed meeting to investigate why the investigation is dragging on.

An active public campaign headed by Lee Zeitouni’s boy friend Roy Peled is quickly gathering support via Facebook (Justice for Lee) and through a series of actions designed to galvanize public support to force a change in the law and to extradite Khayat and Roubi.

Roy Peled says that 83 Knesset members have so far expressed their support, and he believes the lobbying efforts are beginning to bear fruit. “People in Israel and in France are waking up,” he said. An online petition demanding the suspects be extradited to Israel has almost 41,000 signatories to date.

“We’ve also started a lobby movement to recruit support in France,” Peled said, noting that many French parliamentarians tell him that the existing law is “ridiculous.”

Peled traveled to France in December and in a widely-aired segment of the popular Ilana Dayan “Uvda” (Facts) Israel TV investigative journalism show, managed to get Khayat on tape admitting that he drove the vehicle that killed Zeitouni and subsequently fled the country.

During the visit, Peled tried to convince Khayat to agree to be tried in Israel, but Khayat rejected the idea, telling Peled, “Even if I spent 100 years in an Israeli jail it wouldn’t bring Lee back.” For Peled and the Zeitouni family, anything less than seeing the criminals serve time in Israel “won’t let us or Lee rest in peace.”

Lee’s father, Itzik, a member of Kibbutz Neve Or where Lee grew up, has also visited France to ask for the suspects to be extradited. Zeitouni urged French Jews to support the campaign, saying, “Our aim is to ask those who caused Lee’s death, and the community in which they live, to shoulder the responsibility of their act. We turn to you so that an end can be put to this injustice. Their behavior has to be absolutely reprimanded; they must be excluded, banished. They must be tried in Israel and punished according to Israeli laws and customs.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has weighed in on the case and said that those who killed Lee Zeitouni “are accountable” to justice, but he stressed that France doesn’t extradite its nationals.

In a speech to the annual dinner of the representative group of French Jewry last January, Sarkozy raised the extradition issue.

“I want justice not just for the family but also for them,” Sarkozy said, adding that France doesn’t extradite its citizens. “There is no exception to this principle,” he stressed.

“But if the family of this young girl and the Israeli government file a lawsuit in France, then the suspects will be brought to justice here immediately,” he said.

“We must not let this crime go unpunished,” the President concluded.

For Roy Peled and an increasing number of Israelis, bringing legal proceedings against people who have committed serious crimes in Israel to justice in a foreign country is not in the cards.

Peled hopes to activate public opinion in the same way as the campaign for Gilad Shalit successfully raised consciousness and led to intense pressure on the government to come to terms with Shalit’s captors.

“Once Lee’s killers are brought to justice here, we will continue the struggle for other victims of hit-and-run tragedies and to make criminals accountable where they commit crimes,” pledged Peled.

To raise funds for the huge legal costs involved in the campaign, the Justice for Lee Committee’s next event will be an art show in Tel Aviv featuring the best of Israel’s artists who will all donate their work to benefit the effort.

Justice for Lee

Contributions can
be made to:
Tsedek Bishvili at:
Justice for Lee
Shahar Israel st. 8\22
Rehovot. 76450
Israel.

Iban: IL 120111470000110926333

The non-profit organization association number: 580551067
Discount bank, branch number 147, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Account number: 39962

The association is under legal advice of Dr. Y. Weinroth and Co. Law office and is managed under the supervision of Y. Gabay Accountants.

On May 12

Stern, a past president and executive vice president herself, describes University Synagogue as a synagogue living in two civilizations: today’s moral and ethical issues and the morals and values based on Torah, which go back thousands of years. “People attend University Synagogue for ethics and enrichment,” said Stern. And this is evident in the programs the synagogue provides. From its burgeoning pre-school and religious school to the dozens of adult classes and Tikkun Olam projects, University Synagogue takes great pride in being a center of learning.

“It’s not just about preserving the past,” said Rabbi Arnold Rachlis, the synagogue’s rabbi of 21 years. “We are creating the future of Judaism. Judaism is ‘for life’ – lifelong learning and for the sake of life for the entire planet.”

According to Rachlis, you might say, “[University Synagogue] reflects the reality of the Jewish community…” There is an incredibly diverse membership at University Synagogue – from people comfortable with tradition (both religiously and Hebraically) to people who feel disenfranchised from Jewish life due to life style, education or religious practices. University Synagogue finds diversity interesting. Regardless of whether you are part of an intermarried couple, a Jew by choice, or lesbian or gay, “we have created a congregation that embraces everyone with love,” said Rachlis.

Rachlis was a White House Fellow and a fulltime rabbi in Chicago when he met the couple that would change not only his life, but the face of the Jewish community in Orange County. “I met Hal and Hinda Beral in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., while Congress presented an award to Natan Sharansky. Then we ran into each other the following evening, and they told me about their chavurah studying Reconstructionism.” It just so happened that Rachlis was ordained as a Reconstructionist rabbi. The chavurah invited Rachlis out to speak in Newport Beach.

As he explained, “I expected to fly back to Chicago and not return to Orange County… I went to give a talk on Reconstructionism… My intention was to help spread the Reconstructionist movement.” There were marathon weekends starting with Friday night services and ending with Sunday morning discussions. With the help of Rachlis and other rabbis, such as Rabbi Abraham Winokur (z”l), the founding rabbi of Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades, the congregation grew from a dozen people in a living room to almost 200 households. It was then the congregation asked Rachlis to leave his congregation in Chicago and become the spiritual leader… That was 21 years ago. Today the synagogue has more than 600 households.

Rachlis said, “I was deeply inspired by the ‘pioneer’ spirit. The ‘match’ worked!” The organization and diligence was also apparent from the beginning, and Rachlis admired the group for its tenacity and vision.

According to Rachis, it is the origin of the synagogue that makes it different from others. “Many synagogues are started with the primary goal of religious education for children – this synagogue was started by adults with grown children. These people had their own intellectual and spiritual needs.” The synagogue has grown in both directions, from young families with preschool children all the way through to senior citizens.

Unlike a lot of fundraisers and galas, University Synagogue is lay-driven, with support of synagogue staff. Co-chairs Debbie Stern and Alice Rochverger represent the direction of the synagogue. Stern is a past president and vice-president and longtime member of the synagogue; Rochverger is the mother of a pre-school child and new to University Synagogue. But both bring necessary ingredients to the gala: Stern knows what has worked in the past and Rochverger knows what it takes to reach the new leadership and “younger families.” Together they can continue to support and grow the youth education (in the form of preschool, religious school and the new Adventures in Jewish Education) and generate interest that may not have existed previously. And it is a place of sustained membership – when making calls to renew membership, Schreiber was often told, “It’s the only place I want to be!”

The honorees were chosen, on this most significant anniversary, as a representation of the synagogue. “We are honoring two past presidents who are incredibly hard-working and dedicated. They had a real vision of where they wanted the synagogue to go in the future,” said Rachlis. With regard to Chermerinsky, Rachlis said he “represents the idea that the synagogue is not just about its members, but our goal as a congregation is to have an impact on the world… Dean Chermerinsky represents the religious and intellectual aspirations of the synagogue.” Chermerinsky is not only a distinguished lawyer and law school dean; he has argued before the highest courts in the nation and served as a commentator on local and national issues. His representation of Constitutional law and civil rights is tantamount to the values and ideals of University Synagogue. In addition, he is a published author (both books and in journals) and has been an active member of University Synagogue.

Step into the University Synagogue on any given day and witness its rich diversity and passion. It is a place that uses the talents and diversity of everyone involved to integrate amazing and successful programs. Perhaps the best word that can be used to describe the history and future of the synagogue is Beshert – “evident or preordained.” From a chance meeting between a chavurah member and a rabbi 25 years ago to the matches made today, University Synagogue is a center for making things happen. It is for many, including Schreiber, “Like my second home… All my friends are here.”

Please join University Synagogue
for an evening of dining, dancing, & celebration to benefit the synagogue

Honoring: Erwin Chemerinsky,
Lisa Metzger, and Marc Alexander

May 12, 2012, 5:30 p.m.

At the Island Hotel
690 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA

Sponsorships, tributes, tickets and more information are available at:
www.universitysynagogue.org
or call: (949) 553-3535

What are the

ZOA speakers, who are personally and professionally involved in this matter, shared their expertise with about 100 people in a timely discussion geared to students, parents and educators on how to recognize and respond effectively to anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on campus,. The organization shares the axiom of former ZOA President Justice Louis D. Brandeis that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Presenters were:

Susan Tuchman, Esq. Director, ZOA’s Center
for Law and Justice

Named in 2006 by the Forward newspaper as one of 50 most influential members of the Jewish community, Tuchman has effectively advocated for Jewish students facing anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing on their college campuses. Under her leadership, the ZOA filed a landmark civil rights complaint on behalf of Jewish students at UC Irvine who allegedly had been subjected to years of anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation. Largely due to the ZOA’s efforts, the U.S. Department of Education issued a new policy in October 2010, making it clear that Jewish students at federally-funded schools are protected from anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation under federal law.

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin Lecturer in Hebrew
and Jewish Studies,
UC Santa Cruz

Benjamin writes and lectures on academic anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism and on the growing threat to the safety of Jewish college students. She co-chaired a 2010 scholarly workshop at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. entitled “Contemporary Anti-Semitism in Higher Education.” Her complaint under Title VI of the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Law, alleging harassment and intimidation of Jewish students at UC Santa Cruz, is currently under investigation by the Department of Education.

Dr. Leila Beckwith Professor Emerita
in Pediatrics, UCLA

Dr. Beckwith is a developmental psychologist who has taught and conducted research for more than 30 years. The Second Intifada and the 9-11 assault against America led her to become politically active within the University of California system. Ms. Rossman-Benjamin and Dr. Beckwith recently founded the AMCHA Initiative, a grass-roots advocacy coalition dedicated to protecting Jewish students on campuses within California. They also co-founded the Investigative Taskforce on Campus Anti-Semitism, which investigates and reports on campus incidents throughout the entire U.S. and makes recommendations for improvement.

The presentation offered information on the extent of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on college campuses, including Cal State and University of California systems as well as private colleges, where and how anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are most often encountered (e.g. classrooms, anti-Israel rallies, campus clubs, actions and inaction by administrators), how to recognize anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist sentiment and harassment, how to tell the difference between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism, the rights of Jewish students under United States law and available legal tools and steps students should take if they fall victim to anti-Semitism. Also cited were reasons behind the demonization of Israel on campus.

The Holy Land

“There will be hikes from Israel Bible Valley [IBV] to nearby areas where famous Biblical events took place,” said Dr. Efraim Warshaw, former rabbi at Beth El of La Jolla and current director of resources and development at IBV. “Take Samson and Delilah. Samson’s home is not far from there. It’s also close to the route that Joshua and the spies took to scope out the land.”

IBV is meant to be a large-scale interactive theme park that will engage both young and old to educate them about the Bible and life in Biblical times. Park visitors will be treated to reenactments of Biblical stories throughout the park in environments conducive to creating the feeling that the spectacle is real. Park-goers will be able to stroll through fields, orchards, vineyards and farms being tended to, using conventional Biblical tools and techniques. The park will feature a large village created to look and feel as if it were pulled right out of the pages of the Bible; visitors will be invited to buy fruits and vegetables grown and harvested on farms in the park, assist in the harvesting of grapes and pressing of wine, basket-weaving, pressing of olives to make olive oil, and watch glass blowers, potters, and leather makers hard at work. The park will also feature many other events and activities, including puppet shows of Bible stories for children, opportunities to participate in digs at more than 150 archeological sites from the Bible, hikes and tours to Biblical sites around the park and prophets such as Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah and Amos wandering the park.

The IBV Society sees the park as a chance for Israelis and the three million tourists who journey to Israel each year to experience the Bible in an exciting and hands-on way. This “living museum,” as Dr. Warshaw described it, will be based on the Renaissance Faire in the way it will strive for accuracy, authenticity and interactivity.

“IBV is being planned by historians, Bible scholars both Christian and Jewish, as well as architects and city planners,” Dr. Warshaw explained, “and will be extremely authentic, meaning it is rooted in the land of the Bible. This authenticity will be demonstrated foremost in the model Biblical village, which is what I would recommend first to any park visitor. The village will be surrounded by all the farms, which will be growing and harvesting the crops described in the Bible: pomegranates, grapes, wheat, barley, many things like that. They will all be planted throughout the valley and grow in orchards or plantations, whatever is necessary to create a real Biblical feeling.”

Rabbi David Wolpe, the Chairman of the Advisory Council for IBV who was named as America’s most influential rabbi in Newsweek’s April 2012 issue, sees IBV as an important bridge between today’s modern youth and a world that existed thousands of years ago. “Young people today find it difficult to relate 21^st century culture with a book written thousands of years ago,” Rabbi Wolpe said, “yet the Bible is amazingly as relevant to our modern world as it was to ancient Israel. IBV will help a new generation from around the world to discover the Bible for itself.”

IBV has already received several glowing endorsements from high-profile figures in Israeli society, including Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netenyahu, prominent Israeli writer Amos Oz, former Knesset member and current Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Yael Dayan and the Israeli Ministers of Tourism and Social Welfare, Stas Misezhnikov and Isaac Herzog, respectively.

“A half million tourists a year… will be exposed to the foundation stories and Biblical literature of our people, as well as the flora and fauna, archaeology and architecture, farming, and settlement culture of ancient times in the Land of the Bible,” Netanyahu wrote in an endorsement letter from 2009. “We seek the support of influential community leaders in the US and across the world to join us in making this historic undertaking a true success.”

In a time when spirituality and religious interest appear to be waning, Israel Bible Valley is presenting a unique solution to Jewish families seeking to keep the history of their people alive in the minds of their children. Surrounded by Biblical villagers, walking through ancient orchards, listening to prophets spread the word of God, IBV park attendees may very well find themselves believing they really are walking through the Holy Land of old.

Readers can find additional information on IBV at www.israelbiblevalley.com.

Israel Bible Valley Fast Facts
Opening spring 2013 – Stage 1

• Being built in stages, with the first stage to open in Spring 2013

• Constructed over 6 years, to be completed in 2018

• Encompassing 25,000 acres between Jerusalem and Bet Shemesh

According to Rabbi

“Say My Name, Say My Name!”

In exploring Sefer Bamidbar, we see that the Torah emphasizes the importance of each and every person in this world.

Merely stating that there were approximately six hundred thousand male Jews from the ages of twenty to sixty only give us a statistic. Most statistics are faceless, impersonal and often meaningless. They never carry a moral or even educational lesson to the reader.

It is one thing to say that the Holocaust destroyed six million Jews; the stated fact remains impersonal and cold, unfeeling and without emotion. However, reading or listening to the story of just one survivor gives the historically horrific episode both immediacy and dimension.

Lifting the count of the Jewish people from mere statistics to a position of human empathy and understanding is part of the goal of the entire book of Bamidbar.

MAY 2012
Iyar-Sivan 5772
Candle Lighting Times
and Torah Portions

Friday, May 4
Light candles at 7:21 p.m.

Saturday, May 5
Torah Portion: Ahare Mot/Kedoshim (Leviticus 16:1-20:27)

Friday, May 11
Light candles at 7:27 p.m.

Saturday, May 12
Torah Portion: Emor
(Leviticus 21:1-24:23)

Friday, May 18
Light candles at 7:32 p.m.

Saturday, May 19
Torah Portion: Behar/Behukotai
(Leviticus 25:1-27:34)

Friday, May 25
Light candles at 7:37 p.m.

Saturday, May 26
Torah Portion: Bamidbar
(Numbers 1:1-4:20)

F

This year, Israel Expo, coordinated by Jewish Federation & Family Services of Orange County and sponsored by a variety of community organizations and synagogues, has a new twist. May 20, Israel Expo day, coincides with the fourth annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Sunday. That morning, millions of CUFI worshippers in churches in more than 60 countries will recite special prayers for Israel. Later that afternoon, local CUFI worshippers will join the Orange County Jewish community and other supporters of Israel at the Israel Expo from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Samueli Jewish Campus in Irvine to celebrate Israel’s 64th birthday and Jerusalem Day.

“Israel Expo 2012: Coming Together for Peace” marks the first time the Jewish and CUFI communities will come together at the Israel Expo. One highlight will be a peace and prayer ceremony featuring blessings from CUFI and Jewish clergy and wishes for peace from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (recorded), Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang and other community leaders. After the ceremony, there will be an inspiring “Concert for Peace,” featuring international Israeli singer, songwriter and peace activist Liel Kolet and the Los Angeles-based Christian band, {l.a.}god performing songs of peace together on stage for the first time.

Born on a kibbutz in northern Israel near the Lebanese border, Kolet, 22, experienced war as a child and decided to use her voice and music to promote peace and send the message that her generation should stop the cycle of hatred and create a new beginning. She started her career at age 12 when she won a European talent contest in Italy. Her historic duet with President Bill Clinton gave her mission for peace world-wide exposure.

International legends such as Andrea Bocelli, Herbie Hancock, Patti LaBelle and The Scorpions have recorded peace songs with Kolet, in support and admiration of her dedication to promote peace and tolerance. She is currently recording her first American album with legendary producer and 16-time Grammy winner Humberto Gatica. The first single, “Till Tomorrow,” will be released in June 2012 in conjunction with her national PBS special and USA tour.

“At a time when Israel is facing formidable threats from Iran’s nuclear agenda and from those who seek its demise through terrorism and delegitimization campaigns, we are delighted to stand in solidarity with our Christian neighbors who share our deeply rooted commitment to a secure Israel,” said Blossom Siegel, co-chair of the 2012 Israel Expo. “It is especially fitting that we come together on the day we celebrate Jerusalem, a city with tremendous, religious significance to both Christians and Jews and one that cherishes the principles of religious tolerance and unimpeded worship at its holy sites.”

Co-chair Idit Ferder expects more than 10,000 people to attend the Expo, which will also include live music and dance performances showcasing Israeli culture, educational exhibits and films, children’s games and rides, an Israeli-style market with more than 100 vendors, falafel stands and other Israeli delicacies. The event is free with free parking and shuttle services from 1 p.m. at Mariners Church, free parking for persons with disabilities and V.I.P parking for $10. Every guest who registers at the Expo entrance will join the opportunity drawing for an El Al Israel ticket and a two-night stay at the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel, as well as a free eco-friendly shopping bag filled with coupons and gifts from JFFS and the Expo vendors.

In celebration of Jerusalem Day, Israel Expo 2012 will present the third annual children’s Jewish Unity Parade, the concept of Israel Expo founding chair Gordon Fishman, M.D. Hundreds of Jewish youngsters will be joined by the Fishman Family All-Community Children’s Choir in a festive march around the Expo, concluding with a performance by the choir onstage. Each participating child will receive a FREE parade t-shirt, souvenirs and treats and a chance to win an iPad3 in a special opportunity drawing for kids.

Eight children’s choirs will be on stage, all at the same time, singing together. They represent Congregation B’nai Israel, Congregation Shir Ha Ma’alot, the Hebrew Academy, Tarbut V’Torah Community Day School, Temple Beth David, Temple Beth Sholom, Temple Beth Tikvah and University Synagogue. Cantor Arie Shikler from Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot will conduct the choirs.

Other entertainment at Israel Expo 2012 includes: Israeli singer Michal Bonet, an international singer who sings in many languages and conducts Hebrew singalongs throughout the U.S.; the Amazing Bottle Dancers, who have been adding a touch of tradition to weddings, B’nai Mitzvahs, birthdays, anniversaries and tribute dinners throughout the world; Israeli dancing with Yoni Carr, who has been teaching dance in Southern California for many years; Franklin Haynes Marionettes, presenting “Marionette Magic,” a half-hour variety puppet show; Kidotopia, arts, crafts, performances by and for children and interactive activities coordinated by Lisa Cohen of Creative Arts and Parties for Kids; a Packard car show, a display of 1948 Packards, furnished by Robert Escalante of Custom Auto Service in Santa Ana; and movies and videos.

There will also be an Israeli Scouts rope course and pita making, a Segway experience, camel rides, a school bus loaded with video games, carnival rides, clowns and jugglers, a rock-climbing wall, arts and crafts, balloon artists, air brush face painting, inflatable slides and obstacle courses, a trackless train and a mechanical bull.

Israel Expo 2012:
Coming Together For Peace

Sunday, May 20, 1 to 6 p.m.

Samueli Jewish Campus, Irvine

Free admission • Free public parking and shuttle services from 1 p.m. at Mariners Church (5001 Newport Coast Dr.) • Free parking for persons with disabilities: 5200 Bonita Canyon Dr. (TVT Lower School)

V.I.P parking – $10: 5 Federation Way (TVT Upper School)

Opportunity drawing for a trip to Israel • Entertainment, food and fun

Gordon Fishman M.D., Israel Expo Founding Chairman
Blossom Siegel and Idit Ferder – Israel Expo 2012 Co-Chairs

www.IsraelExpo.org

As Jews, we have to ask the question in a different light. How do the Torah, Jewish law and tradition view this crucial question? What should be the deciding factor?

The legal principle is embedded in the Jewish legal tradition on the issues of life and death. Who decides if a sick patient should fast on Yom Kippur? Is it the rabbi, the patient himself or the doctor? Jewish law is clear; it’s up to the medical professional who is intimately involved with the patient. If his professional medical judgment is that by fasting, the person’s life would be at risk, we are forbidden to fast.

The same principle applies to Israeli security. Does Jewish law permit Israel to give up land in the quest for peace? If the military experts currently involved with the security of the state are of the opinion that by relinquishing the territory, there is no real danger to country, then it can be permitted. If not, we are forbidden to put lives at risk. We cannot put life at risk for just a hope of peace.

During the disengagement from Gaza, a senior military commander of Gaza privately beseeched a friend of mine with political connections in Israel, “Please do something. Withdrawing from Gaza will endanger Israel.”

Then-Prime Minister Sharon made the decision. He was an experienced general. Wasn’t he qualified to decide? Jewish law is clear: you have been a great general, but today you are a politician. In that role you may be driven by different considerations, political pressures from abroad, your chance of reelection or place in history.

One of Sharon’s top aides confided to me: “He thought he would always be around to take care of Israel.” The military leadership at the time opposed Sharon’s decision. Now it is clear that the withdrawal from Gaza has caused a serious erosion of Israel’s security and political position. Hamas, an Iranian proxy, seized control of Gaza. Southern Israeli towns are under bombardment. Israel had no choice but to launch another costly defensive war. Internationally, support for Israel has dropped significantly. In recent weeks the press has reported that the Army is suggesting another incursion to curtail the slowly rising number of missile attacks — even the retaking of the Philadelphia Corridor, the strip of land that buffers Gaza to Egypt, to stop the flow of weapons across the border.

Halacha, Jewish Law, mandates that the crucial factor is the expert opinion of the current military experts. They are driven not by political considerations, rather by one factor: If we give up this ground, will the security of the country be put at risk?

The same principle can be applied to the question of a preemptive strike on Iran. If the military experts now in command perceive that there is a real threat to Israel that can be mitigated by an attack with a good chance of success, then, according to Jewish law, it would permissible to attack. A strong argument could be made that an attack would be required if the military experts assess an imminent threat to Israel.

The actual decider in a democracy must be the political leadership of the country. Driving the decision-making process should be the question of the security and welfare of the Jewish people. Binyamin Netanyahu was a commando in the Israeli Army (his unit commander: Ehud Barak). Today he is a politician. He has a fateful decision to make in the upcoming months. Hopefully, he will follow the guidelines of Jewish tradition and listen to the advice of his military experts in this crucial issue.

As for my view, I defer to the military experts.

The goal is simple: keep the doors open to everyone. To do this, TVT awards over $3,000,000 in need-based financial aid, administered confidentially through a blind process, ensuring that each award is given without bias. This amounts to approximately one-fourth of the school’s overall budget.

“Everyone benefits from this process,” Rabbi Seth Linfield, TVT’s Head of School, noted proudly. “We are carrying forward our founders’ dedication to a socially inclusive and economically diverse student body. These commitments elevate the learning experiences of the entire TVT community.”

“As teachers, we’ve always considered our students to be an extended part of the family,” noted veteran teacher, Mrs. Sandy Bruss. Bruss, who takes joy in attending senior graduation, when many of her past students – having attended TVT for all thirteen grades – march proudly across the podium, added, “There’s a sense here that we are all responsible for these students, we all dote on them; cheering their successes, mitigating their losses. Eventually you become so much a part of each other’s lives that the idea of tearing people away because their financial situation has changed would be unbearable.”

Among other major donors, Eric and Sheila Samson, grandparents of TVT students David (Class of 2007), Jessica (Class of 2010) and Leora (Grade 10), certainly agree. When the scope and effects of the economic downturn became apparent, the Samsons felt compelled to step forward, founding the Samson G’mi’lat Chesed (Kindness) Fund, to help make a TVT education financially accessible to more Jewish students in light of the growing need for financial aid.

In the words of Mr. Samson, “This fund is not a free ride. It is a support for those of sincere good will who need assistance.” More than 300 students receive some form of financial aid. Mrs. Samson added, “Two of the principal historic strengths of the Jewish people have been our emphasis on education and our communal orientation toward helping those in need. Through the Samson Kindness Fund, we are gratefully able to achieve both of these lofty goals.”

Irving Gelman, who founded TVT with thirty-seven students in 1991, has found kindred spirits with the Samsons: “We have seen the demand for financial aid rise by nearly a third this year alone. For me, the purpose of TVT is to perpetuate the Jewish people as a light to the nations. I am delighted the Samsons and the community have adopted this vision.”

Without philanthropic support, the opportunities and programs at Tarbut V’Torah simply would not exist. As is the case for all Jewish schools and independent schools nationwide, tuition alone does not cover the full cost of educating a child. Everyone from the board to the custodial staff pitches in for the kids.

Naturally, the TVT gala for 2012 honors Eric and Sheila Samson. “What they are doing for this community, the example they are setting, is phenomenal,” said Reega Neutel, chair of TVT’s annual gala committee. “Though they would prefer to perform their mitzvah anonymously, we felt that it did the community a disservice to withhold such inspiration. As a result, this year’s gala will be special – and the entire community is invited to attend.”

“We are transforming our future,” said Rabbi Linfield. “From our perspective, financial aid at TVT is an investment in the Jewish future, plain and simple.”

TVT’s annual benefit will be held Sunday, June 3, 2012, at the St. Regis Monarch Beach. More information can be found online at http://www.tvtgala.myevent.com or by calling (949) 509-9500 ext. 1136.

New Yorkers boycotting

As my Jewish studies professor said of Sholem Aleichem’s philosophy, “Whatever they do to us, we can do to ourselves – but worse!”

I’m not naïve enough to believe that Israel is always right – or that we should never criticize the Jewish state. But the world is filled with people who jump at every opportunity to demonize the Jewish state – not to mention the Jewish people (See: United Nations). Trust me, the screaming lynch mob doesn’t need the addition of our voices.

We need to remember that we are the children of Israel. Your mom’s not always right, but you wouldn’t throw her under a bus, would you?

In reviewing Peter Beinart’s book, The Crisis of Zionism, Rabbi David Wolpe disagrees with Beinart’s assertion that the world takes Israel to task, not out of anti-Semitism, but from an anti-Western sentiment: “Were the British not Western when they used brutal methods to undermine the Irish Republican Army? Never mind the Middle East or Africa. And where was the repeated worldwide condemnation for the brutality of Latin American dictatorships, or the Russians when they obliterated Chechnya? Why did none of these regimes merit the constant, unrelenting pounding condemnation of the world? If you don’t see the specter of anti-Semitism, it is not because of its absence. It is because you are either not looking or you refuse to see it.”

Conversely, if you don’t see a compelling need to speak up on behalf of Israel in the face of so much hostility and vitriol, you are either self-loathing or exceedingly dim.

This past Yom Ha’atzma’ut I kept thinking about the early days of Zev’s life. He spent a month in neonatal intensive care, sharing a floor with newborns who needed periodic X-rays. Because these babies were too fragile to be wheeled down to radiology, mobile X-ray machines were brought up to the NICU. Before each X-ray, a technician would urge the adults in the room to leave to avoid radiation exposure.

This sounded insane to me. Not only did I stay in the room, but I stood between the X-ray machine and my newborn. Other parents left. I don’t judge them, but I can’t say that I understand them. Every decision I had made in my life – every sacrifice my ancestors had ever made – led to the birth of this beautiful baby boy. I was going to absorb whatever radiation I could to spare his precious soul.

Similarly, I may take a few hits from my mostly left-leaning friends, but if someone wants to throw ugly words at Israel, he or she has to go through me first. As Jews, Israel is not just our past, but our future. When we lose sight of that, we leave the future of our people exposed, vulnerable to an atmosphere more toxic and lethal than any X-ray machine could create.

I am hopeful, though, that those Jews screaming hateful words at Israel will eventually come around. It’s in our DNA to protect our own: The first time I stood in front of Zev’s crib during an X-ray, it took me a few seconds to realize it, but right behind me, between my back and the X-ray machine, stood my mother.

Springtime suggests “renewal”

Parks and beaches throughout Israel are beginning to fill with Frisbee-throwing, sandwich-eating people as the bone-chilling cold of this past winter fades happily into memory. In saying goodbye to winter, most Israelis remain grateful for the copious rainfall we received and happy with the news that Lake Kinneret has risen impressively. Although water levels are still lower than the normal reading, there seems to be a freer-than-normal attitude to water-fun vacations in the north of the country.

So what is this subtle nagging that lies beneath the surface of my otherwise placid mien? Searching for a jar of date honey in the overstuffed pantry, I suddenly came across an opened box of matzah, left over from last month’s Passover observance. Breaking off a piece to smear with my favorite apricot jam, I found myself transported, suddenly, to the final section of the Seder where we are instructed to eat the afikoman, ensuring that the taste of humility and redemption linger in our mouths long after dessert has been digested. Was I still feeling humble and grateful for my personal geulah from a prison called Egypt? Do I remember each day the things that God has done for me?

When I came to Israel nearly 17 years ago, I was ineligible for assistance from any sector. Because legal constraints were imposed on me that required me to remain a tourist for the non-foreseeable future, I was denied discounts on appliances, paid full price for language classes that were provided free-of-charge for immigrants, received no tax breaks for anything and truly suffered. Nefesh B’Nefesh had yet to be created, and existing government frameworks for immigrant absorption were weak/non-existent on their best day. Many who made aliyah at the same time as I did returned to America both crestfallen and sporting bitter attitudes toward Israel. Even today, I’m quite an outsider in my reclaimed homeland and do not have any close Israeli friends. Still, I’ve accepted this reality as the price one pays for uprooting herself and believe that my children will have an easier time of fitting in than their mom.

This morning my daughter, again, brought several liters of bottled water to the Ethiopian protest tent next to the Prime Minister’s home. This daily/sometimes nightly vigil of hers has created a lot of heated discussion in our home, beginning at Pesach, and shows no sign of abating. The tent was erected almost immediately after the Gilad Shalit gazebo was dismantled, and sloppily painted signs denouncing “Israeli racism” were quickly hoisted, replacing large photos of the captured (and subsequently released) Israeli soldier. All of this occurred at the height of the Jewish and Christian tourist season.

Opinions at my holiday table were mixed as some felt that the Ethiopian Jews were being sold a protest policy by outside inciters who are using the cause for their own political advancement and, as history has shown, will abandon them the moment a better cause célèbre arises. Some felt that their charges of discrimination are fully justified and cited several blatant examples of exclusion based on skin color. One guest gently reminded all present that Israel is only 64 years old and has made mega strides in terms of immigrant absorption and will not offer anything less to those who came via the aegis of the respective 1984 Operation Moses and 1991 Operation Solomon. Despite my steadfast opposition to this protest, I was happily surprised to hear my daughter deliver forceful arguments on behalf of the protestors and deflect the surrounding criticism with relative aplomb and no histrionics. My oldest son responded to Ethiopian charges with cogent descriptions of hardships faced by immigrant groups both in Israel and the United States, resulting in tales of perseverance and success. The Yemenites, the Moroccans, the Russians; “Now it’s the Ethiopians’ turn. Why must they have shortcuts that others weren’t afforded?” As the volume rose and the discussion grew more heated, words and phrases such as “entitlement” and “Affirmative Action” were bandied about and the yom tov mood suddenly morphed, resembling the 1972 bombing of Hanoi.

My husband – usually silent and happy to observe my offspring “go at it” – spoke up.

“The Ethiopians will get absorbed into Israel just the way all of the other groups were. They will marry Israelis and the army will blur all distinctions, adding them to the tossed salad. You know who will never fit in? Anglos. Because the only way to be Israeli is to become Israeli and the only way for an Anglo to get accepted is to give up everything western. Moroccans are Moroccan Israelis. Yemenites are Yemenite Israelis. And Ethiopians – even with their dark skin or because of their dark skin – will be Ethiopian Israelis. English speakers just don’t make the cut; we live parallel lives despite being the most Zionist of the entire lot.”

Ironically, everyone agreed and raised examples of “exclusion” that seemed pointed toward Anglos. Once they were able to agree on that one point, Ronney challenged them to another “ism” that seemed to fall beneath their moral radar.

“It takes everyone time, sometimes more than a generation, to have a chance to prove himself according to his ability. But just try proving yourself or standing on history or laurels when you’re older. Who will give a job to an immigrant accountant who is 60 years old in this country? He can sit home and wait to be rewarded for his aptitude or drive a delivery truck. If a doctor from Wisconsin can’t take her qualifying examination in Hebrew, she isn’t given a ‘grade curve’ to compensate for a lack of language proficiency. And if you want to take a course in Tel Aviv University to become certified in your field, your work is due at the same time as the native speakers, even if it means that you have to glue yourself to Google Translate for an additional twelve hours. Where is your umbrage?

“Can ‘pride’ be legislated? I think not,” he continued. “Pride is something earned – not demanded – and it is the stuff that creates family history, giving all of us something to strive for. When you talk about us in fifty years, it would make me happy to think that we were remembered for being ‘grateful for our lot,’ joyous for the chance to live in Israel at any cost.

“Both your mother and I are ‘under-recognized and under-compensated.’ What is it that kids say? ‘Suck it up.’ We had our chances and now it’s your turn. You can ‘demand’ fairness or just get down, dirty and do the job. Who knows?

“You might even find ‘honor’ in the process.”

Most of us have chosen to embrace the latter two courses of action. Why? For one thing, we have great role models. They may not have found the fountain of youth, but they have found meaning in each and every day. Obviously, it keeps them going as it rubs off on new generations.

Such a person is Adeline Cohen, recently honored at the Merage Jewish Community Center Celebration Ball. Cohen, who is in her 90s and a Heritage Pointe resident, has an infectious smile and a good word and a motivational comment for everyone. She thinks the secrets to longevity are to live with a purpose, to embrace age and to keep paying it forward. She reasons that if a person goes into his or her senior years with the idea of living every day meaningfully, there is no time to worry about the trivial things. “At the end of the day I know why I’m here,” she explained.

Cohen pays forward the lessons her mother taught her about helping other people, whether as a volunteer for the JCC, the Bureau of Jewish Education, Jewish Federation & Family Services, Jewish Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy, B’nai Brith, Working Wardrobes or Girls Inc. She has helped to create the senior adult program at the JCC, has tutored immigrants, has helped to train people for jobs and has gotten involved with a program that connects seniors with kids and helps them to discover the importance of doing mitzvah projects. She loves to connect with kids, not just as a mentor but as a friend.

Cohen, who has a master’s degree in psychology, also attracts interesting people and takes great pleasure in connecting them with one another. That was evident at her 90^th birthday party, and it’s evident every week when she conducts “The View for Women of All Ages” on Tuesday mornings. She brings together distinctive women with different viewpoints to share coffee and conversation while discussing topics of interest to women.

“May you live to be 120” is a blessing Jews often wish upon one another. Some of Judaism’s important leaders, including Moses, supposedly lived to be 120.

We hope that Adeline Cohen and many other inspiring seniors in the Orange County Jewish community live to be 120. Knowing Adeline, she will still be motivating and helping people.

Ilene Schneider

When making a concerted effort to not let my mind wander, I was amazed at the things I noticed and appreciated. The chirping birds made such beautiful music. The sun shining on the water formed pretty twinkling prisms of light at the bottom of the pool. The recent rain left the air smelling fresh and clean. As my body glided through the water, I felt strong and noticed that each time my arm chopped through the water, a trickle of bubbles was formed and the stronger my stroke, the more the bubbles. The colors were so vibrant – the blue sky, the white clouds, the green leaves. The water was cool and soothing. Using my senses, I felt strong, powerful, healthy and more spiritual than ever before. I don’t really consider myself to be a very spiritual person and am not even sure what it means. We are “involved” in our temple and Judaism and “observant” in the way that works for us. But when we are at synagogue, in a service or celebrating a holiday at home, I’m not sure if I’ve ever really felt “spiritual.” That morning I began to understand what that word means to me. What’s more, I loved the feeling.

Being in the moment and taking time to smell the roses and appreciate the world around us is part of Judaism’s teachings and beliefs. In Foundations of Torah 2:2, Maimonides stated that the way a person can come to reverence and love of God is through recognizing His enormous wisdom as contained in nature. Moreover, Psalm 104, which is recited every morning by Orthodox Jews, describes the ongoing acts of God in bringing the world into existence. In this lengthy blessing, which extols the greatness of God as seen in the various aspects of nature such as the sun, the wind and the water, we read “How great are Your works, O God. You make them all with wisdom and the world is full of Your possessions.” (Psalms 104:24). This blessing teaches us that we have the ability to see the greatness of God and nature and, when we do so, we are being spiritual.

As parents, we teach our children right from wrong, show them how to be independent thinkers and guide them as they develop their own thoughts, beliefs and ways of behaving. Demonstrating to them how important it is to live life to the fullest, to take time to smell the roses and appreciate the nature around us and to embrace some degree of spirituality is one of life’s lessons that will be important to impart to them. As with most things, the most effective lessons are taught by example.

I fondly recall shortly before the ceremony on our wedding day, Marlon’s (now 95-year-old) grandmother said to me “I’m so glad Marlon found you. My grandson is a great man, but he needs to be reminded to take time to smell the roses, and you will do that.” Sometimes I, too, get caught up in the busy-ness of life and forget to do it myself, to remind him to do so and to teach our children about how important it is. Too soon that morning’s swim ended, leaving me feeling relaxed, refreshed and energized and with the momentous realization that I had discovered my spirituality and the reminder that our family is going to make time to smell the roses!

There are only nine weeks between Purim and Lag Ba’omer (which this year begins on Wednesday night, May 9), and the preparatory work is difficult and time-consuming. Since the bonfire is the central ritual of Lag Ba’omer, the main job preparing for the holiday is gathering kindling wood, known as krashim. Anything and everything that looks like it can burn is lugged, roped, pulled and carted off.

Once harvested, the wood and semi-wood is typically hoarded in the backyard of your home, unless you have forbidden your children from storing krashim. Every parent has his or her breaking point in this area. For our friend, Suzanne, it was when she woke up on the day before Passover and realized that she was unable to see out of her kitchen window because of the huge pile of wood that her boys had stacked in her yard. My breaking point actually came a few weeks after one Lag Ba’omer several years ago, when I happened to walk through my yard and stepped on a plank with an exposed nail that perforated my sandal and the sole of my foot, requiring me to get a painful tetanus shot (yes, the kids are so successful in gathering krashim that they do not use all they gather). Following my doctor’s visit, I promulgated the NIMBY rule concerning krashim: not in my back yard.

The other preparatory work leading up to Lag Ba’omer is finding a group of kids with whom to celebrate. (The job of finding an appropriate place for the bonfire, which might prove difficult in the States, is relatively easy — it’s apparently part of one’s right as a citizen of Givat Ze’ev to start a fire wherever one wants.) Just as in days of old, when the Israelites gathered in groups to eat the paschal lamb, so the children of Israel today divide into groups to light bonfires and barbecue meat, potatoes and marshmallows.

When the big day arrives, it’s time to take all the krashim that have been squirreled away and bring them to one’s designated bonfire area, where the krashim will be kept under constant guard against poachers. The program for the evening reads like something out of a manual for bad parenting: children playing with fire, a meat dinner beginning at 10 or 11 p.m. and bedtime? Well, the whole goal, the very raison d’etre of Lag Ba’omer is not to go to sleep on this night.

In some of the more popular spots, there are five or six separate bonfires. The whole of Givat Ze’ev smells of smoke and soot. The wise have closed up their windows, and only the foolish have forgotten to take in all of their clothes from the clothesline. The kids at some of the bonfires (especially the boys) seem rather serious. These are kids with grim determination, grim enough and determined enough to carry them through the night. Trial by fire, if you will.

The morning after, as I make my way to synagogue for the 6 a.m. service, the fires have mostly died down, but quite a number of loyalists are still minding their embers. For the children, there’s a strong feeling of completion, a feeling of closure and accomplishment. All is right with the world.

Israel’s Poverty Statistics:

In Israel, according to the National Insurance Institute’s 2011 poverty report, there are 1,774,800 living below the poverty line.  What this means is that almost two million people are struggling to survive on a daily basis.  They are struggling to feed themselves and they are struggling to feed their children.

Meir Panim’s Response:

Meir Panim, which literally means “lighting up (peoples’) faces,” was founded in the year 2000 in order to provide relief to some of Jerusalem’s most disadvantaged population.  What started off as a small, unambitious enterprise consisting of just one soup kitchen, rapidly developed into one of Israel’s leading relief organizations which today operates over thirty food and social service centers throughout the country.  These include nine free restaurants, servicing five thousand needy people daily.

Varda & Stella:

Varda and Stella are both fifth generation Jerusalemites in their late seventies.  They met at the Jerusalem Meir Panim Free Restaurant six months ago and became fast friends.  Varda lives with her one hundred and two year old mother, who is too frail to walk to the restaurant herself, so Varda brings food back for her every day.  Stella has lived alone since her husband died and has no idea what she’d do without Meir Panim.  “I love coming here,” she says.  “There is always a comfortable, friendly atmosphere and I never feel like people are taking pity on me.  I feel like a guest in a restaurant, where the chef and the waiters know me and make me feel at home.”  In fact, that is exactly the feeling that Meir Panim strives to instill in its recipients.  The soup kitchens are called “restaurants,” and the “guests” are served by volunteer “waiters.”  This contrasts sharply to the image of the classic soup kitchen, with people lining up, bowls in hand, almost begging for a minimal portion of food.  Varda smiles and adds, “Aryeh (the manager) always laughs and jokes with us and makes us feel so welcome.  I always go home feeling full and happy.”

Vivi:

Vivi is from Baltimore, Maryland, and is a 19-year-old seminary student who volunteers as a “waitress” in the Jerusalem Free Restaurant.  “I was walking by one day and saw the sign”, she says.  “My curiosity got the better of me so I stepped inside to see what was going on.  After volunteering once, I was hooked!  Seeing all these people and how appreciative they are makes me really appreciate what I have.  It’s such a warm environment and I’ve developed some really special relationships.”  In fact, just as she says this, one of the guests calls out her name and Vivi bounds over, serving tray in hand, smiling and ready to help.

Ilanit:

Each of Meir Panim’s nine free restaurants is run autonomously with its own individual twist.  Ilanit has been the manager of the one in Ohr Akiva (a city in the north of Israel) for the last seven years.  But the branch in Ohr Akiva is more than just a restaurant.  Ilanit has developed it into a whole center offering a variety of services to the city’s most needy people.  The center offers food, after-school clubs, summer camps, holiday activities and even an “event management” facility, which organizes weddings, brit milahs and other simchas for those who need it.  “The best part about my work is seeing the smiles on peoples’ faces,” Ilanit comments.  “It’s worth everything.  We’ve become one big family who love each other and would do anything for each other.  It’s a powerful feeling — one that’s hard to put into words.”

Special Pesach Initiatives:

Meir Panim recognizes that Pesach is a particularly hard time for many families and individuals.  This year, as the organization has done in the past, food packages and food shopping cards will be distributed to 5,000 people across Israel.  And again, the idea of dignity is at the forefront of Meir Panim’s efforts.  The food card is designed to look like a credit card and is worth a specific value of money.  A person can take it to the supermarket, choose whatever foods he/she wants, and then “pay” like a regular customer at the check-out counter.  “Meir Panim strives to provide its services in a way that makes every single person feel worthy and dignified,” explains Ilanit.  Then she smiles and adds, “From the amount of people we help and the positive feedback we receive, I think it’s quite clear we’re succeeding.”

Other services Meir Panim provides include: meals-on-wheels for the homebound; meals for children in schools; vocational training for the unemployed; youth clubs for at-risk children; and clothing, furniture and home appliances for the needy.  For more information about Meir Panim, visit www.meirpanim.org.

So wrote Abraham (Wexler) Timor, Hagana commander of Neveh Ya’acov, many years later in a newsletter to his eight children and 120 grandchildren and great grandchildren.

I found it on the coffee table in his modest house in Moshav Nehalim, a place he’d helped to found, during a shiva call.  A few days earlier, Abraham had passed away peacefully in his bed at the age of 96.

I was one among hundreds who gathered to mourn and pay tribute to a quiet giant of a man, a true Jewish hero, microcosm of all that was best in that generation to which we all owe so much, a generation that demanded, expected and needed nothing less than superhuman heroism to achieve the miraculous goal of creating anew an ancient homeland to shelter and revive a ravaged and decimated nation.

Like the Biblical Abraham, Abraham Timor was a man of faith, courage and strength who rose to every challenge.

Trained as a book publisher, he became a Hagana commander in his early 30s and went on to found the religious Moshav Nehalim.  An autodidact with a massive library that included books of the Talmud alongside the novels of Oscar Wilde and books on history, philosophy and art, he was a talented calligrapher.  Next to his books there is a shelf of awards bearing witness to decades of selfless volunteer work.

But perhaps his greatest enterprise was his family.  On the wall is a photo collage of eight grandchildren in IDF uniforms, all serving at the same time.

Born in Latvia in 1915, he and his devout Jewish family made their way to Hamburg to seek greater educational opportunities.

After graduating Talmud Torah Reali, Abraham entered a program to become a book publisher and editor, all the while cooking and cleaning and working to help his sick mother.  He completed his degree in 1934, the year his mother succumbed to her illness.

In that same year, the Nazis made it impossible for a Jew in Hamburg to graduate.

So Abraham went to Bremen to take his exams, earning his certification.  But he was finished with Germany.  The next day he boarded a train to Florence to join a religious, Zionist training program run by Brit Halutzim Dati’im (Bachad), a forerunner of B’nei Akiva.

In between courses in agricultural technology, the repair of farm instruments and Jewish history, the tall, strikingly handsome young pioneer met a lovely young baby nurse named Naomi Zilberschmidt from Hungary, who had trained in the famous children’s home run by Bertha Pappenheim.

The two fell in love.  But Abraham already had his “certificate” from the British to move to Palestine, and Naomi did not.  He had no choice but to board the Galila ship to Haifa in September 1935, leaving her behind.

Members of Poalei Mizrahi met him in Haifa and took him to the Rodges training camp, members of which eventually founded the religious communities of Tirat Zvi, Kfar Yavetz, Sde Eliahu, Ein Hanatziv and Kvutzat Yavne.  Three months later, Naomi finally arrived.  They were married by the rabbinate in Jerusalem the day after her arrival in Rodges, and immediately returned to the camp, where they received a tent, two bed frames and two bales of hay from which to make mattresses.  Two years later, expecting their first child, they decided to join a pioneering settlement in northern Jerusalem called Neveh Ya’acov.

Founded in 1925 by devout families from the Old City and Mea She’arim, it was abandoned by the original settlers in the wake of murderous Arab riots and repopulated by German Jewish immigrants who created a new agricultural cooperative and residential housing, where scholars, writers and artists from Jerusalem came to settle, including the composer Karl Solomon.

Finding work in the local quarry, Abraham was soon put in charge of establishing a gravel factory.  In 1937, following the birth of their first child, Yedida, the quarry closed and Abraham was forced to scramble to support his growing family.  He tried his hand and succeeded at building, plumbing and electrical work, while also terracing the hillside to plant apple and plum trees (the glory of Naomi’s famous cakes), and maintaining coops for hundreds of chickens, 40 geese and four goats he had brought by train from Beit She’an.

Naomi, in no less heroic efforts to support her family, worked as the yishuv’s nurse, made goat-hair slippers, coconut-soled sandals, raffia ribbons and oil lamps, and sewed gloves and clothing to sell in Jerusalem stores.  On top of that, she established a soup kitchen in her home to feed members of the Hagana who arrived secretly to practice shooting and grenade-throwing in the abandoned quarry.  During all this, she managed to give birth to four more children – Uri, Yael, Gideon and Shiraleh.

In the meantime, the Hagana sent the young family man to numerous training courses, entrusting him with establishing secret weapons caches in places like the Hebrew University at Mount Scopus, Sdom and the Hulda forest.  At the age of only 33, Abraham was appointed commander of Hagana forces in Neveh Ya’acov.

His firsthand description of events following the historic UN vote on November 29, 1947, reveals the heavy burden of that responsibility:  “The Arab Legion sent foot soldiers and a fleet of armored vehicles to attack us.  The situation was dire.  One of our men was killed, and twelve were injured.  Their canons destroyed our fortressed positions.

“The houses nearest the gate were evacuated, and the Legion entered with locals who looted everything.  Just then, I saw someone raise his head outside the armored truck giving soldiers the orders to advance. I took aim and shot him.  As fate would have it, he turned out to be the company’s top commander.

“His death ended the attack, and the Legion retreated.  This didn’t stop Radio Ramallah from announcing Neve Yaakov had fallen ‘after the Jews attacked our forces.’”

Things only got worse.  By May 1, 1948, the Hagana ordered women and children evacuated from both Neveh Ya’acov and Atarot.  Pregnant Naomi and their five children left with only her sewing machine, clothes and a few mattresses, finding shelter in Katamon in a house hurriedly abandoned by a fleeing Arab family.  Abraham and the other men remained behind to defend the yishuv.  They were soon joined by the men of Atarot, who had been ordered to abandon their yishuv.

On May 14, the State of Israel was declared.  The final battle for Neveh Ya’acov took place the following Sunday.  At 7 a.m., two divisions of the Arab Legion and seven armored vehicles and artillery struck the yishuv, once again reaching its gates.  Abraham told the fighters that reinforcements were on their way.  It was a lie.  The truth was, the Hagana had told him they had no one to send, and he should surrender.

But surrender was the last thing in the world the young commander was prepared to do.  Only several days earlier, Naomi’s brother, Moshe Zilberschmidt, had been killed as he heroically led the defense of the Gush Etzion bloc.  Desperately outnumbered, the Hagana had raised the white flag.

In response, the Arab legion slaughtered them all.

By 8 p.m., Neveh Ya’acov was still standing, but at a terrible cost.  Out of 100 fighters, four had died and 18 had been seriously wounded.  There was a lull in the fighting.  At 1 a.m., the decision was taken to evacuate under cover of nightfall.  After burying the dead and the Torah scrolls, the exhausted fighters piled the wounded onto mattresses and carried them all the way to Mount Scopus.

Along the way, there were those who were tempted to leave the wounded behind.

“We are not leaving anyone behind,” Abraham insisted, taking out his gun and threatening to shoot anyone who refused to continue shouldering the burden.  As a result, everyone arrived together safely.  Among the evacuees was Supreme Court Justice Tsevi Tal, who also paid a shiva call, telling Abraham’s family that he owed his life to the intrepid commander.

But there was to be no rest for Abraham, who was next put in charge of defending Mount Scopus.  During a lull in the fighting, he heard the news that his sixth child, Efrat, had been born.

She was destined to be the mother of my son’s wife, Anat.

This article was first published in the Jerusalem Post on February 24, 2012.

Cindy Mirsky, past president of Temple Beth El of South Orange County in Aliso Viejo, is one of a select group of Reform Jewish leaders in North America chosen to sit on the Board of Trustees for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ).  The URJ represents the congregational arm of the Reform Movement with nearly 900 congregations and approximately 1.5 million members.

Representing Reform congregations in North America, URJ offers them ways to strengthen and grow, engage the next generation in Jewish life and extend their reach to unaffiliated Jews.  As a member of the URJ Board of Trustees, Mirsky will contribute to this effort through quarterly board meetings and work on one or more focused committees.  She is currently a member of the URJ MUM Committee, which helps determine congregational dues to the URJ.

Mirsky and her family joined Temple Beth El of South Orange County in 1992.  Her first volunteer role was as the religious school children’s librarian, a job she held for seven years.  She then served as the temple’s vice president of education and later as president.  During her time as president, she worked with the board to revise the temple by-laws, hire an executive director, change the governance structure, hired two rabbis and establish an organizational savings account.  She also wrote a president’s column in the temple’s newsletter and conceived the idea of a satellite Hebrew school for families living in more distant areas.

Mirsky was also involved with the Jewish Community Center’s strategic planning by participating in focus groups and heading the committee to get the Maccabi Games to South Orange County.  She recently joined the board of directors at Heritage Pointe, volunteers in the “Reading Partners” program offered through Women’s Philanthropy of Jewish Federation & Family Services and sits on the foundation board of directors at Mission Hopsital in Mission Viejo.

In the for-profit world Mirsky is the director of marketing for Pacific Rim Capital, Inc, a leasing company in Aliso Viejo, which she co-owns with her husband and Marc Mills.  In May 2012, Mirsky will receive the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award from CSULB.

United Synagogue Responds to Board Vote Supporting New Bylaws

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s board took a bold step, approving a new set of bylaws that will modernize the organization’s governance and change the way it works.

As a result of the new bylaws, United Synagogue’s board will become smaller and more nimble, and there will be more philanthropic demands placed on it.  The new bylaws will increase the organization’s accountability to its affiliated kehillot – the sacred communities that are United Synagogue’s members – demand a new focus on priorities, use metrics to measure whether those priorities have been achieved and empower staff to implement the changes.

United Synagogue was founded in 1913 to represent the synagogues that declared themselves as Conservative Jewish institutions, and over these 99 years it has provided the bedrock for the Conservative Jewish world.  Conservative Judaism, at the center of the North American Jewish world, always deals with the tension between timeless Jewish wisdom and law and the ever-changing world.  As United Synagogue’s centennial approaches, so must its organizational priorities.

Increasingly, United Synagogue has begun to see its mission as helping its member kehillot to transform and strengthen themselves into places that inspire meaningful prayer and a culture of lifelong Jewish learning, places that nurture religious and spiritual growth as well as deep friendship and a sense of connection and belonging. The vision that fuels that mission is the understanding that our kehillot make up a community committed to a dynamic Judaism that is learned and passionate, authentic and pluralistic, joyful and accessible.

Rabbi Steven Wernick, United Synagogue’s CEO and executive vice president, said, “The vote is a major achievement in United Synagogue’s reorganization.  It aligns new strategies with governance, staff and structures.  Our leaders affirmed the wisdom of our mission, vision and strategic plan, our commitment to excellence and the value we add both to our affiliated kehillot and to the larger Jewish world.”

Birthright Trip Addresses Special Population

Taglit-Birthright Israel: Amazing Israel and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles are offering a 10-day visit to Israel in July for young Jewish men and women 18 to26 years old with inflammatory bowel disease.  The Taglit-Birthright Israel gift covers round trip airfare (from designated cities), hotel, transportation, two meals and other associated land costs.  A physician and registered nurse will accompany the group on the trip.

Those who are eligible should contact Beverly Daley, Ph.D., LCSW, Social Work Faculty, USC Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., Mailstop 38, Los Angeles, CA 90027; (323) 361.2490; bdaley@chla.usc.edu.

French Jewish school attack that killed four linked to shootings of soldiers

The shooting attack that killed four people — a teacher and three students — at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, is linked to recent deadly attacks on French soldiers, forensic tests indicate.

In March a man riding a motorbike reportedly opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah School, where students were waiting to enter the building at the start of the school day.  The shooter then entered the building and continued shooting at students and teachers before fleeing on his motorbike.

Several students also were injured inside the building.  The dead were a 30-year-old rabbi and his 3-year-old and 6-year-old sons, as well as the 10-year-old daughter of the school’s principal.  Some 200 students attend the school.

Forensic tests found that the weapon used in the attack at the school was the same one used in a pair of fatal shooting attacks targeting off-duty French soldiers in and near Toulouse.  Those shootings, which were also committed by a gunman on a motorbike, left three soldiers dead and another seriously wounded.  The soldiers who were shot were of North African or Caribbean background.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant ordered security to be tightened around all Jewish schools in France after the attack, the French news agency AFP reported.  Gueant and French President Nicolas Sarkozy traveled toToulouse.  Sarkozy called the attack a “national tragedy” and vowed to find the killer.

John Demjanjuk, Convicted of War Crimes in Germany, Dies Stateless and in Limbo

While the death last weekend of John Demjanjuk brought a close to the seemingly never-ending quest for justice in the case of a man long accused of being a Nazi war criminal, it also brought a premature end to the legal battle over his legacy.

Though Demjanjuk, 91, was convicted by a German court of being an accessory to the murder of 27,900 Jews in the Sobibor concentration camp, he was living freely in a German nursing home pending appeal.  His son said Demjanjuk’s death before the legal process was exhausted meant he had died an innocent man. But the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Jewish leaders said he should be remembered as being guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Demjanjuk died Saturday at an old-age home in southern Germany, where he was free while he appealed his conviction last year for his role as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Poland. “My father fell asleep with the Lord today as both a victim and survivor of Soviet and German brutality from childhood till death,” Demjanjuk’s son, John Demjanjuk Jr., said in a statement from his home in Seven Hills, a Cleveland suburb.

The elder Demjanjuk, who was born and raised in Ukraine, moved to suburban Cleveland after immigrating to the United States following World War II.  In 1952, living in the U.S., he changed his first name to John from Ivan.  He died stateless, in the process of trying to regain his U.S. citizenship.

“Ivan Demjanjuk died guilty of his service in the Sobibor death camp, and that is how he should be remembered, not as a person falsely accused, but as an individual who volunteered to serve in the SS, and who at the height of his physical powers spent months helping to mass murder innocent Jews deported to that death camp,” said Efraim Zuroff, the Jerusalem-based chief Nazi hunter for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, in a statement following the announcement of Demjanjuk’s death.

Demjanjuk in the 1970s had been identified as “Ivan the Terrible,” a notoriously sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp.  Holocaust survivors had identified his photo during a photo spread as part of the investigation of Treblinka concentration camp guard Feodor Fedorenko.  The U.S. Justice Department in 1977 requested that Demjanjuk’s citizenship be revoked since he lied about his Nazi service on his application to enter the country.
In 1986, U.S. authorities deported Demjanjuk to Israel to stand trial on charges of being Treblinka’s “Ivan.”  A special Israeli court sentenced Demjanjuk to death, but the Israeli Supreme Court in 1993 in a 400-page decision overturned the verdict, saying there was reasonable doubt that Demjanjuk actually was “Ivan the Terrible.”  However, substantial evidence did emerge during the trial identifying Demjanjuk as a guard at Sobibor.

Demjanjuk returned to the Cleveland area in 1993, where he was greeted by protests outside his home by Holocaust survivors and activists, some wearing striped prison garb, led by activist Rabbi Avi Weiss of Riverdale, N.Y.  Demjanjuk’s citizenship was restored by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Matia in 1998.

One year later, the Justice Department again filed a request to strip Demjanjuk of his citizenship, citing his service in Sobibor.  Matia ruled in 2002 that Demjanjuk’s citizenship should be stripped.  His attorneys appealed the case up to the 6^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court rulings.

Demjanjuk was deported from the U.S. in 2009 and flown to Germany, which had requested his extradition.  Judge Dalia Dorner, who sat on the Jerusalem District Court panel that convicted John Demjanjuk of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 1988 — the ruling that was overturned — remains convinced that the verdict was just.

“I believe without a shadow of a doubt that he was ‘Ivan the Terrible,’” Dorner told Ynet following his death.  “But I still support the Supreme Court verdict that ruled he could not be convicted due to reasonable doubt.  The most important thing is that these terrible times are on the public agenda again and they must be remembered, so such things never happen to us again.”

****

Orange County Jewish Life wishes to thank the people who were motivated by our last issue and stepped up to save the Moishe House, as well as people who make a difference in the community in so many ways on a daily basis.  Happy Passover to one and all.