A Chicago synagogue is shocked when its longtime rabbi quits after

Transcription

JEWISH NEWS
THE CHICAGO
September 12 - 18, 2014/17 Elul 5774
www.chicagojewishnews.com
THE LAST
STRAW
A Chicago synagogue
is shocked when its
longtime rabbi quits
after increasing tensions
about his views
on Israel
and the
Palestinians The Jewish year that was
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chapter, the author details his
trips to Israel as a young boy, including how his family stayed
with his mother’s parents in a
By Robert Gluck
JNS.org
Idan Ravin’s friends chipped
in to buy him a humble but lifechanging bar mitzvah gift – a
basketball hoop his father attached to the roof of his garage.
Little did his friends know that
years later, he would be the personal trainer of National Basketball Association (NBA) stars
Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, and
Stephen Curry.
Ravin’s new book, “The
Hoops Whisperer: On the Court
and Inside the Head of Basketball’s Best Players,” details his rise
from a Jewish upbringing to becoming a well-respected figure in
NBA circles despite the fact that
he never played college or professional basketball. Using unorthodox drills and improvisational techniques to improve
their games, Ravin is sought after
by many players and has reportedly turned down full-time positions with NBA teams to keep
working one-on-one with the
stars.
“I never imagined that when
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his loyalty, friendship, and guidance. He is passionate about
everything he does; and while
some consider his methods unorthodox, the end results for me
have been remarkable.”
Born to an Israeli mother and
Russian father, Ravin grew up in a
Conservative Jewish home. His
parents were raised in observant
families and chose careers in Jewish education. Both taught Judaic
studies at Jewish schools and synagogues, spoke mostly Hebrew,
and lived modest lives.
“All of it made me who I
am,” Ravin said. “When I was
younger, religion and faith had
one meaning, but as I grew up it
took on a broader meaning. It
became more of living a life of
faith. The [NBA] players and I
sort of live parallel lives because
we both found something that
we love very much, and only
faith can push you through such
a non-traditional journey.”
How does Ravin connect
with high-profile NBA stars?
“There are several levels,”
he says. “Obviously, when I walk
into a room with them they are
sophisticated guys and they are
incredibly bright even though
some people don’t think they are.
If I don’t believe in my gospel,
small two-bedroom apartment in
the Hadar neighborhood of
Haifa.
“Fast-forward 20 years. I returned to Israel dribbling a ball,
this time with New York Knicks’
All-Star forward Amar’e Stoudemire,” Ravin writes. “Amar’e
felt spiritually connected to Israel
and Judaism, inspired by his
mother’s affinity for the religion.
To prepare for his [2010] trip,
Amar’e studied Hebrew with my
mom. She taught him some expressions he could toss at the Israeli media.”
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and my gospel doesn’t make
sense, they won’t listen. Within
two seconds they’ll let you know
you’re selling magic beans and
they’ll never let you have another moment with them. Something about what I’m saying and
doing resonates substantively
with them.”
While he attended the
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day
School in Rockville, Md., basketball took hold of Ravin. He
practiced shooting alone in a
nearby park, ran sprints in the
cold, shoveled snow for a patch
of driveway to practice ball-handling skills at home, and came up
with his own drills because he
had no access to coaches, mentors, or trainers.
Although he played varsity
basketball for most of his high
school career, Ravin was never
recruited to play college hoops
and ended up majoring in finance and marketing at the University of Maryland. He went on
to attend law school, and
coached a middle school YMCA
basketball team through a successful season in California while
unhappily practicing law. His
deep love for the game and his
refusal to give up led him to his
current line of work, starting
when he helped Maryland acquaintance and future NBA
player Steve Francis.
“Just because someone plays
the game doesn’t mean they have
a monopoly on wisdom,” Ravin
says. “Not every CEO is a Harvard MBA. Not every amazing
director has a film degree from
USC’s film school. It is sort of an
institutional judgment that has
been created in sports. Yes, there
are some things that those guys
have that I do not have. But obviously there are a lot of experiences and knowledge that I have
that those other guys don’t
have.”
“The Hoops Whisperer” reveals Ravin’s gifts of intuition, a
sensitivity to players’ rhythms,
and the ability to motivate, inspire, and communicate with
them. Readers get a behind-the-
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Contents
THE CHICAGO
JEWISH NEWS
Joseph Aaron
Vol. 20 No. 49
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Torah Portion
CANDLELIGHTING TIMES
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Accentuating the positive
Blessings, curses:
we can decide
which to focus on
By Rabbi Vernon Kurtz
Torah Columnist
Torah Portion: Ki Tavo
Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8
I once read the following
story concerning identical twins:
One twin was a hope-filled optimist. “Everything is coming up
roses,” he would say. The other
was a sad and hopeless pessimist.
The worried parents of the boys
brought them to the local psychologist, who suggested a plan to
balance the twins’ personality.
“On their next birthday, put them
in separate rooms to open their
gifts. Give the pessimist the best
toys you can afford, and give the
optimist a bale of hay.” The parents followed the instructions and
carefully observed the results.
When they peeked in on the
pessimist, they heard him complaining: “I don’t like the color of
this computer. I’ll bet this calculator will break. I don’t like this
game. I know someone who has a
bigger toy car than this.” Across
the corridor, the parents looked
in the other room and saw the
little optimist gleefully playing
with the manure. He was giggling. “You can’t fool me. Where
there’s this much hay, there has
got to be a pony.”
Our Torah portion this
Shabbat is filled with blessings
and curses. The Torah describes
for us the scene that is to take
place when the Children of Israel
cross the Jordan River. The people are to be divided into two
groups: six tribes will stand on
Mount Gerizim and six on
Mount Ebal. The first group will
proclaim the blessings that will
come from faithfulness and following G-d’s word. The second,
the curses that will follow disobedience. Immediately thereafter, the Levites will proclaim
them in a loud voice and the
people will answer “Amen” to
each of them.
While it looks like there
may be stark differences between
the blessings and curses in our
text, there are times when the
contrasts may not be as differentiated as they initially seem.
Oscar Wilde was correct when
he wrote that there are two
tragedies in life: One is not getting what one wants and the
other is getting it. Too often we
spend our time bemoaning what
we don’t have, rather than seeing
Rabbi Vernon Kurtz
the blessings that have come our
way.
We have in our society more
wealth than we could ever imagine. And I am not just talking
about what we have in the bank
or our 401Ks. At our command is
instant communication, scientific and medical endeavors beyond anything our grandparents
could have imagined, and the
conveniences of transportation,
cooking, cleaning and entertainment that were impossible but a
few decades ago.
Just think how far we have
progressed technologically in but
the last decade. Yet how satisfied
are we? If our computer takes too
long to boot up, we complain. If
our cell phone loses reception,
we become dissatisfied. We are
always in search of upgrades. We
are never satisfied with those
things that we have and don’t
appreciate the blessings that are
ours.
We may be familiar with the
statement in Pirke Avot in
which Ben Zoma states, “Who is
rich? One who is happy with his
portion,” but sometimes we don’t
really understand the impact of
that statement. In Jewish pietistic literature, Mussar, there is a
concept of Histapkut, contentedness. A Chasid once asked
Rabbi Abraham Yaakov of
Sadagora about social ethics:
“Since our sages say there’s no
thing that does not have a place,
then each person must have his
own place. Then why do people
sometimes feel so crowded?”
The master replied, “Because each wants to occupy the
place of the other.” The grass is
always greener somewhere else.
When we accumulate toys,
wealth, almost anything of material value, we always want more.
We need to internalize the lesson
from the 11th century Spanish
poet-philosopher Solomon Ibn
Gabirol, who wrote, “Who seeks
more than he needs, hinders
himself from enjoying what he
has. Seek what you need and
give up what you need not. For
in giving up what you don’t need,
you learn what you really do
need.”
This week we commemorated 9/11 and recalled those
who were murdered on that day.
There have been many reflections on 9/11. I found one of
them most touching.
Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman of Passaic Park, N. J. wrote
that a few months after 9/11 a
woman who was visiting his congregation overheard the rabbi
and his friends discussing the terror attack.
She decided to tell them the
following story: “I have just returned from a shiva home of a
family that lost a father in the
9/11 attack. The man left a family of young children and one of
the girls, not more than 12 or 13,
was sitting silently with her sisters and mother as everyone else
was gathered around them crying. Suddenly, the girl looked up
and said, ‘Imma, I am happy for
one thing. Remember the night
before Abba went to work for the
last time? You came home from a
bar mitzvah and Abba said he
was very thirsty. He asked
whether anyone could bring him
a cold glass of water with ice in
it. I was the one who jumped up
and brought him the water and
he said to me, ‘Thank you so
much Malkie; that is exactly
what I needed right now.’ Imma,
that was the last time I was able
to do the mitzvah of Kibbud Av,
respect for my father. I remember
so clearly Abba’s face as he drank
the water and how happy I felt
that I was able to make him
happy. That is the last memory I
will ever have of Abba.”
Rabbi Eisenman in his reflection then writes: “I will never
forget that story and think about
it often, especially when I have
to decide if I should spend more
time with my children, my wife
or someone else whose company
I cherish.” It is unfortunate that
we only appreciate what we have
when we hear these types of stories or lose the blessings that
were once ours. Which twin are
we, the pessimist who was never
pleased with what he possessed,
or the optimist who found a
blessing in everything?
We are two weeks away from
Rosh Hashanah. We will ask for
many blessings from G-d for ourselves, our families, our community, and our world. When we
offer these petitions to G-d we
should first appreciate what we
have already been given.
May it be a year of blessing
for us all.
Rabbi Vernon Kurtz is the
rabbi of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El (Conservative) in
Highland Park.
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THE LAST STRAW
A Chicago synagogue is shock ed when its longtime
rabbi quits after incr easing tensions about his views
on Israel and the Palestinians
By Pauline Dubkin Yearwood
Managing Editor
Little more than a week
after Rabbi Brant Rosen shocked
congregants and much of the
Chicago Jewish community by
announcing his resignation from
the Jewish Reconstructionist
Congregation in Evanston, the
synagogue, by all accounts, remains mired in divisiveness.
The conventional wisdom,
expressed on many blogs and in
social media, is that Rosen’s outspoken criticism of Israel and
pro-Palestinian activism made
the resignation inevitable.
Countering that argument is
the fact that the synagogue board
offered him a 10-year contract
just three years ago – a time
when his activism on behalf of
Palestinians was already well
known – and never asked him to
step down.
Rosen says the decision was
solely his own and was born out
of much anguish.
One thing is clear: Few congregants, on whatever “side,” are
happy, and Rosen leaves a congregation divided and badly in
need of healing.
A
quick recap: Rosen, who
has been at JRC for the last
17 years and has consistently appeared on such lists as
Newsweek’s “top 25 pulpit rabbis,” began drawing attention as
a public and outspoken critic of
Israel around 2008 with the advent of Israel’s Gaza campaign,
Operation Cast Lead. His criticism of the Jewish state and advocacy for Palestinians was
sometimes strident, but was
mostly confined to his personal
blog, Shalom Rav. While congregants knew how he felt, he
seldom spoke of such matters
from the pulpit, members say,
and he put a disclaimer on his
writing that his views were his
own and not those of the synagogue.
Rosen subsequently founded
and became co-chair of the rabbinical council of Jewish Voice
for Peace, an organization that
has harshly criticized Israel and
that promotes the BDS (boycotts, divestments and sanctions)
movement, which Rosen also
embraces. In June he and other
JVP members traveled to Detroit
to encourage the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) to pass a resolution divesting from some companies that do business with
Israeli companies in the West
Bank.
He has also marched in proPalestinian demonstrations in
Chicago and was involved with
a JVP group that disrupted speakers, including Mayor Rahm
Emanuel, at a Jewish United
Fund dinner in Chicago last
month, although he did not participate in the disruptions.
Of course, a rabbi espousing
such views would not have lasted
a month – a week – at most synagogues. But JRC is different in
many ways – from its distinction
as the first LEED-certified, entirely energy-efficient synagogue
in the country to its reputation
for supporting points of view far
to the left and to the right and
everywhere in between.
As Joshua Karsh, president
of the congregation from 2009 to
2011, put it in a Facebook post,
“At JRC, Brant (Rosen) had a
home in a congregation committed to the proposition that rabbis
should have freedom to speak
their minds – when they’re right
and when they’re wrong … JRC
did not limit Brant’s activism or
silence him.”
In fact, in 2010 the congregation put in place a formalized
process for facilitating discussion
on sensitive topics among members. Called Sicha – Hebrew for
conversation – and based on a
model devised by a Philadelphia
organization whose mission is to
foster dialogue on Israeli-Palestinian issues with the Jewish
community, Sicha seemed to be
working in bringing together
congregants with disparate views
for discussions, often led by
trained facilitators.
What happened?
Rosen said he isn’t sure why
the Sicha process broke down,
but that he is “regretful that we
did not keep this effort going. I
think we weren’t as scrupulous
about keeping it going as we
should have been. I was very
proud of the process and I think
it’s a model of what congregations can and should be doing,
creating real conversation on the
most difficult and divisive issues,” he said in a phone conversation days after his resignation.
But Marty Rosenheck, JRC’s
former head of Social Action,
and his wife, Kirsten D’Aurelio,
who headed the Sicha Task Force
from 2009 to 2012, have a different view. They say a small group
of congregants, representing
about 25 families out of 500, sabotaged the process.
“I felt that JRC has been one
of the few places within the Jewish community where all viewpoints on Israel could be heard
and discussed. Look, I don’t personally agree with Brant on Israel, but he should be able to be
to speak out on his beliefs, as
should those who strongly support the policies of the current Israeli government, with whom I
also disagree. We put the sicha
process in place to enable that, to
have civil discussions about difficult issues in a safe environment, so that everybody could
have their voices heard whether
to the left or the right,” Rosenheck wrote in an email to
Chicago Jewish News.
He continued, “What happened was a small group on the
right was not satisfied with just
having their voices heard. It became clear that what they really
wanted was to shut down voices
they didn’t agree with, including
our rabbi’s. The sad thing is that
this small group was able to make
enough noise to make it untenable for the rabbi to stay on in his
role.
“I want to make clear that
there is a misconception that our
rabbi resigned because he was espousing views that most of our
congregation disagreed with.
The truth is that the vast majority in our congregation wanted
him to stay and loved having
him, which is why the Board
unanimously approved a renewal
of his contract only two years ago
and there has been an outpouring of support for him and pleas
that he reconsider his resignation,” he wrote.
D’Aurelio wrote in an email
to Chicago Jewish News that
“(the) vocal minority is JRC’s
Tea Party, acting in divisive and
closed-minded ways in an otherwise progressive, inclusive com-
Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation president David Tabak.
munity. JRC is not an ‘Israelright-or-wrong’ congregation,
and it is very misguided for these
longtime congregants to expect
that, as much as they may yearn
for it.
“The simple truth here is
that the sicha process asked congregants to value community and
free speech over Israel stances,
and this tiny group was not willing to accept those priorities.
There were several particularly
vehement and obstructionist
congregants who went beyond
just attacking Brant; they also
blocked Israel programming they
disagreed with at the committee
level, or tanked community-led
initiatives such as a proposed
moderated discussion board on
Israel news events, by exploiting
technicalities from the JRC bylaws,” she wrote.
On one point, at least, there
is agreement. The board consistently backed Rosen, synagogue
president David Tabak said in a
phone conversation this week.
“Ultimately he really did resign for his own purposes. The
way he expressed it to me was it
was a matter of self-preservation
for himself and his family,” he
said.
“JRC is a very broad-spectrum congregation,” he said.
“There are people who occupy
every conceivable position. Yes,
there was anger and frustration,
over everything from a matter of
(what his) priorities were to feeling hurt by positions he took that
were antithetical to (people’s)
own.”
But he said that while some
people did leave the congregation over Rosen’s views, others
joined because of those views.
(Final numbers, he said, won’t be
available until after the High
Holidays, a time when people
traditionally renew their synagogue memberships.)
7
Tabak said that in May a
group that was dissatisfied with
Rosen’s activism sent a letter to
the board expressing their frustration, and an open meeting
shortly afterwards took up the issues.
The main one, Tabak said,
was whether Rosen represented
himself as the rabbi of JRC or as
a private citizen in his activism,
speaking and writing. Another
question centered on his pastoral
duties to synagogue members,
which some congregants felt he
was neglecting due to his increasing involvement in activism.
Tabak said he felt the board
laid both issues to rest. Rosen
generally put a disclaimer on his
writing, he said, and “the board
asked that he codify that. He had
to say” that he was not representing the entire congregation.
“The board brought more seriousness to it. We really wanted
him to say, I’m speaking as myself, and I felt he made a good effort,” he said.
On the issue of pastoral care,
one he said the board took very
seriously, “there was confusion,”
Tabak said. “We are a 500-family
congregation, and the rabbi and
cantor form a pastoral team. If
someone received a call from the
cantor and not from the rabbi
some people felt the rabbi didn’t
care. They didn’t know they were
a team.”
The congregation purchased
tracking software to determine
how quickly those who called received follow-up. “With so many
congregants, people did sometimes slip through the cracks”
but not because Rosen was neglecting his duties, he said.
A
former congregant, who
did not want his name
used, took a different view
of the May meeting..
“People who supported
(Rosen) came, people who complained came, and nothing really
got settled,” he said.
The man said he and his
family were members since 1989
and became more and more disenchanted with Rosen, whom he
considered a friend, as his views
on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict progressed.
“We really tried to deal with
it. We talked about it and for a
while (Rosen) and I agreed to
disagree,” he said. “But over the
years Brant got more and more
strident. He became the rabbinical representative of Jewish
Voice for Peace, and they are
supporters of BDS. At that point,
a lot of people said, oh boy, that’s
a problem, I really don’t want to
support someone who wants to
boycott Israel. He got into partnership with a lot of organizations that Jews should not really
be partners with – anti-Semitic
organizations.”
The board did ask Rosen to
put a disclaimer on all his writings, the former members said,
but “he is Brant Rosen, rabbi of
what? Some people thought he
didn’t try hard enough” to keep
JRC’s name out of his writing, he
said.
From that point on, he said,
“the congregation got increasingly alienated. There were people who agreed with him, and
over the years the people who
agreed with him got on the board
and the people who didn’t separated themselves out.”
He left the congregation, he
said, “because everybody kept
saying, nobody is quitting because of Brant’s behavior. I said,
I’m quitting, so you can’t say that
anymore.” Many others also quit
eventually, he said. (Board president David Tabak said the number of families that quit is “in the
10s” but that the final figures are
not yet known since many members renew just before the High
Holidays.)
The former member said,
“This year something changed.
When the Gaza war started, a lot
of longtime members decided
they couldn’t take it anymore.
Look at his tweets – he would
tweet anything that was anti-Israel, nothing in favor of Israel.”
When he went to services, he
said, “I felt it wasn’t about the
services, it was, are you for or
against him?”
The former member, who
has joined another synagogue,
said he felt “betrayed” because
Rosen’s stance was “if you support the Israelis then you don’t
have ethics, you’re immoral,
you’re unethical, without saying
why. They’re killing babies so
you’re a murderer. That’s the
camp he is in, and there is no
talking about it.”
He said he was surprised that
Rosen resigned but “thought it
was the best thing he had done
in years.” He said he would go
back to JRC if “the congregation
got itself together” but he doesn’t believe that will happen
quickly.
“People are throwing accusations around, people are upset,”
he said. “All the people who
were nice and quiet when things
were going their way, now they’re
starting to get mad, saying people cyberbullied him, that this
small group forced him out. No,
he resigned. People were looking
for a change in his behavior but
he decided to resign rather than
change his behavior. G-d bless
him, may he be unsuccessful in
everything he does from this
point on. (He should) go work
for JVP.”
His anger is not shared by
most board members, Tabak, the
board president, said, and
Rosen’s resignation came as a
surprise to board members, employees and congregants.
JRC Executive Director
Sharon Diaz said Rosen “is much
loved by many members of the
congregation” and “there was a
lot of surprise” at his resignation.
“This is not unique to our
congregation. These conversations are going on in every congregation across the country,” she
said. “The whole subject of Israel
has become divisive for the
whole community, and our community prides itself on having an
open and honest dialogue. The
rabbi’s resignation won’t really
stop the dialogue.”
O
ne of the quieter voices in
all the tumult has been
Rosen’s. The letter he sent
to congregants “says it all,” he
said in the recent phone conversation. In that letter he expressed
his sadness, reiterated that the
decision to resign was his alone,
and stated that “recently it has
become clear that my activism
has been a lightning rod for division at JRC.”
There was no one event that
precipitated the crisis that led to
his resignation, he said. “I’ve
been doing this activism for
many years, and many of the
things I did upset some members
of the congregation. It was a cumulative effect,” he said.
He described himself as
“enormously sad” and said the
resignation will also greatly impact his wife, Hallie, and their
two sons, both now in college,
who grew up at the congregation.
His family supports his decision,
he said.
Rosen will stay on at the
synagogue for another six
months. He said he knows that
will be uncomfortable at times,
“but I want to say a proper goodbye to the members. It’s always
tragic when rabbis leave abruptly,
it’s traumatic for congregants. I
don’t want my legacy to be characterized that way. I want to have
a process over the next few
months,” he said.
He said he will seek another
position, but not another pulpit.
Rather, he plans to move professionally into activism.
“I think this is one of those
areas where my pastoral duties
and my prophetic duties come
into tension, and it’s very hard to
work through it,” he said. “I love
this congregation,” he added. “I
will always love it regardless of
what has happened. It will always occupy a special place in my
heart. The last 17 years have
been some of the most important
of my life.”
S
o what’s ahead for JRC?
Tabak said a search committee has been formed, but may not
be looking for a rabbi right away.
“The first charge of the committee is to find out what the
needs of the community are,
what the community wants. I
don’t have any preconceived notions. I can’t think of things that
would disqualify somebody (as a
rabbi) right off the bat,” he said.
“We will really delve into what it
means to be a spiritual community that has very different views
Marty Rosenheck, JRC’s former head of Social Action, and his wife,
Kirsten D’Aurelio.
on certain topics and how we discuss this respectfully and vigorously. That won’t change with
Brant leaving.”
Perhaps even more urgently,
the congregation is attempting to
reenergize the Sicha process with
a series of programs, town hall
meetings and other events.
Robin Trilling, vice president for
tikkun olam and chairperson of
the Israel Programming Committee, is in charge of many of these
efforts, including an Israel Task
Force, created in October 2013
and designed to ensure balanced
programming.
“At our initial meeting, we
began to share our thoughts
about Israel/Palestine and JRC as
we introduced ourselves. We had
a facilitator from Jewish Dialogue
(the Philadelphia-based grassroots group) at our second meeting lead and begin to teach us
how to have the difficult discussions/how to stay in the room
when you get uncomfortable.
The goal was for the task force to
model the behavior we would ultimately replicate with our JRC
community. It was a very powerful experience and we decided to
adopt the principles in a section
on values, in what would become
our programming policy,” Trilling
wrote in an email.
An Israel programming policy, a mission statement and the
formation of an Israel Programming Committee were put in
place at the June board meeting,
she wrote, in a continuation of
the Sicha process begun in 2010.
That committee is now working
on a “Conversations About Israel” series for the coming year.
“We were working on this
before Brant resigned and we are
moving forward as planned. Our
goal is to foster an environment
of openness, curiosity and above
all respect for all parties and
points of view. Our goal is to respectfully discuss our differences as we strive to achieve
mahloket l’shem shamayim – sacred disagreement,” Trilling
wrote.
Tabak said he thinks such
entities as the Israel Programming Committee and a revitalized Sicha “can create vehicles
for divergent political views on
any issue to really have a respectful debate. The Sicha, we
kind of dropped the ball on that.
It devolved into factions. Part of
this (new effort) is to codify that
more at JRC, to take a more balanced, broad view of Israel and
make sure there was balance
throughout the year. Brant was
very much in favor of that.”
He pointed out, too, that
there are a large number of congregants at JRC who take little
interest in the politics of the
Middle East but pursue many
other interests at the synagogue
and may have had no part in the
upheaval that resulted in Rosen’s
resignation.
Kirsten D’Aurelio agrees.
“For congregants who don’t follow the politics of Israel, this recent upheaval has robbed them
of the rabbi they love for reasons
that don’t play any part in their
personal Jewish identity. That is
very painful,” she wrote.
Former president Josh Karsh
noted on his Facebook post that
“JRC lost a popular, inspirational, and charismatic rabbi
once before. (Rabbi Arnie Rachlis, JRC rabbi from 1975 to 1992,
did not return to the congregation after a year’s sabbatical.)
Then, as now, the rabbi resigned,
the resignation was not planned,
and many members did not see it
coming. They were shocked, hurt
and angry.”
When Rachlis resigned,
congregants “despaired, believing that the rabbi was JRC. But
JRC survived and, as it turned
out, prospered. … We’ll survive
again now and prosper too. Every
great congregation is bigger than
its rabbi, and conflating the two
is a mistake,” he wrote.
How much JRC congregants
take the message to heart remains to be seen.
8
CHARITABLE GIVING
Ameinu
(847) 910-2990
Our name Ameinu, “Our People” in Hebrew reflects our organization’s progressive Zionist
membership organization, dedicated to promoting a negotiated
peace and to social and eco-
nomic justice for all in Israel
and America.
As Ameinu’s Midwest affiliate, Chicago-area Ameinu, together with like-minded organizations, co-sponsors a variety of
informative programs, many focusing on Israel, and others on
local concerns. Chicago-area
Ameinu is a long-time participant in Chicago’s Jewish Community Relations Committee (JCRC).
American Friends of
The Hebrew University
(312) 329-0332
www.afhu.org
The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem was founded by Albert
Einstein, Chaim Weizmann and
other visionaries. Since opening
its doors in 1925, The Hebrew
University has contributed to Israel’s strength and educated the
nation’s leaders in every field.
Each year, approximately 23,000
“A Voice
for Women
and Children
Working for peace, social justice and pluralism
in Israel and America.
Leon Goldwater & Lee Silverglade
Co-Presidents
A Voice
for Israel”
10024 Skokie Blvd #224
Skokie, IL 60077
847-675-7275
[email protected]
1001 Green Bay Road, Suite 132, Winnetka, IL 60093-1721
(847) 910-2990
Please contact us for more information
or to join the thousands of women
who are a part of NA’AMAT USA.
MAOT CHITIM OF GREATER CHICAGO
purchases the food that volunteers deliver.
This kosher holiday food will feed more than
12,000 people for Rosh Hashanah 2014.
To accomplish this, we need your help!
We rely on the entire Jewish community to make this happen!
BE A VOLUNTEER!
Help us continue the tradtion that was started in 1908.
Give of your time
so that we can continue to help those in need celebrate the holidays in a traditional and dignified manner.
Delivery Day is Sunday, September 21st
Join us to pack perishables beginning at 6:00 a.m.
Food package delivery will start at 9:00 a.m.
Warehouse Location
3411 Woodhead Drive, Northbrook, IL
Visit our website for directions. Must wear closed shoes.
No one under the age of 12 permitted in the warehouse.
To volunteer to pack,
email our group coordinator at [email protected].
For more information, call our office at 847-674-3224
or visit our website at www.maotchitim.org.
MAOT CHITIM OF GREATER CHICAGO
7366 N. Lincoln Avenue • Suite 301, Dept. RHJN
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
Joel H. Schneider, President
Joellyn Oliff, Executive Director
L’Shana Tovah
students from throughout Israel
and more than 70 countries
choose Hebrew University for its
seven academic Faculties, which
include: The Humanities, Law,
Science, Social Sciences, The
Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment,
Medicine, and Dental Medicine.
A top-ranked institution
worldwide, The Hebrew University one-third of Israel’s civilian
research and has placed 12th
globally in biotechnology research and patents. The university’s faculty and alumni have
received seven Nobel Prizes in
just one decade, and have been
awarded Wolf Prizes, Israel
Prizes, the Fields Medal in
Mathematics, among other international honors. An incubator for talent, The Hebrew
University ranks third in the
number of European Research
Council (ERC) grants received in
support of outstanding research. Much of this research is
commercialized by Yissum, Hebrew University’s technology
transfer company.
American Friends of The
Hebrew University (AFHU) is a
national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising
awareness of, and support for,
The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. Founded by the
American philanthropist and
business leader, Felix M. Warburg in 1925, AFHU has been a
central force in Hebrew University’s rise to international
prominence as an academic and
research powerhouse. The
largest member of an international network of Friends organizations, AFHU helps to ensure
Israel’s well-being by nurturing
the nation’s greatest natural resource: the intellectual strength
of its people.
The ARK
(773) 973-1008
www.arkchicago.org
Two years ago, as a single,
self-employed IT consultant,
Marcia* had no health insurance, but at age 31, she didn’t
think she really needed it. Then
she found out she had breast
cancer. When she’d used up her
savings on doctors’ bills, The
ARK helped Marcia with her rent
and utility bills, and provided
medications from The ARK’s free
Pharmacy. When the chemotherapy caused the typical nausea
and loss of appetite, Marcia became weak and dangerously
thin. A volunteer nutritionist at
The ARK helped Marcia devise a
special diet, and for her to receive these foods and high-protein supplements from The
ARK’s Food Pantry. Now the
cancer is in remission. Marcia’s
doctor notes that good nutrition played a vital role in her
CONTINUED
O N N E X T PAG E
9
CHARITABLE GIVING
CONTINUED
F RO M P R E V I O U S PAG E
treatment. “Even during the
worst part, I felt like I had the
stamina to get me through the
treatments, because the food I
was eating was helping me stay
strong,” Marcia said. “And not
having to constantly worry
about being able to afford the
food I needed to get well – that
was a real blessing.”
Each year, thousands of
Chicagoland Jewish families
find themselves in crisis because they lost a job, have no
health insurance, or because of
illness, divorce, or other circumstances beyond their control. The ARK provides
life-saving assistance to get
them back on their feet. The
ARK is the Chicagoland Jewish
community’s main address for
caring, supportive, personalized
help for whatever is needed.
No matter the nature or size of
the need, The ARK steps in to
cover the gaps by helping with
the electric or gas bill; providing medical and dental care,
eyeglasses, and prescription
medications; food, clothing, diapers and baby formula; mental
health counseling; shelter and
transitional housing for people
who lose their homes; holiday
meals; and a caring community.
All services are provided free of
charge.
The ARK’s High Holiday
Food Drive is now underway.
More than 30 local synagogues
are participating in this annual
community effort to replenish
the dwindling stock of the Rhea
Segal Food Pantry. If yours
isn’t, please urge them to join
in helping fill the empty
shelves. Or, donate food on
your own! Thousands of your
Chicagoland Jewish neighbors
depend on The ARK to keep
food on their tables–and The
ARK depends on you to keep
food on the Pantry’s shelves.
Contact Diane Krugel at
[email protected] or 773681-8979 for drop-off locations
or more information.
The ARK offers services at
two locations in Chicago and
Northbrook. For more information about services for yourself
or someone you know, please
contact Dr. Vicki Hass, Clinical
Director, at 773-681-8962 or
[email protected]. All inquiries are strictly confidential.
In keeping with its mission
to build bridges between volunteers and those in need, The
ARK relies upon hundreds of
volunteers – from physicians,
dentists and lawyers to retirees
SEE GIVING
ON
HADASSAH IS ISRAEL
ISRAEL IS HADASSAH
Hadassah Chicago-North Shore Chapter
Joseph & Mae Gray Hadassah House
60 Revere Drive, Suite 800, Northbrook, IL 60062
Ph: 847-205-1900 Fax: 847-205-1909
Email: chicago-northshore @hadassah.org
PAG E 1 0
YOUR LEGACY matters.
Y
ou have poured your heart and soul into this Jewish community
and made a difference. Whether your greatest passion is your
congregation, an organization or a day school, that commitment
stands as a testament to your values.
Now is the time to take the next step in making it an enduring
part of your Jewish legacy.
As you plan for the future, think about what your Jewish legacy
means to you. And please consider the institution closest to your heart
in your will or estate plan.
To learn more about how to create your Jewish legacy, please contact
Naomi Shapiro at 312.357.4853 or [email protected].
10
CHARITABLE GIVING
Giving
CONTINUED
F RO M PAG E
and schoolchildren – to provide
all kinds of help. For more information about volunteering,
please contact Caroline
9
Berkowitz, Director of Volunteers and Outreach, at 773-6818982 or cberkowitz@ark
chicago.org
Hadassah ChicagoNorth Shore Chapter
(847) 205-1900
chicago-northshore@
hadassah.org
Fast, free pickup—IRS tax deductible
As rockets flew from Gaza
and Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge, Hadassah
was there. Whether in times of
crisis or peace, Hadassah, The
CONTINUED
O N N E X T PAG E
Donate Your Vehicle
CAR tMOTORCYCLE tRV tTRUCK tBOAT
to
The ARK
Help The ARK help the thousands
of needy families who depend on us.
Call 773-681-8978
www.arkchicago.org
Scan the QR code
to visit us online.
Illinois Non-Profit Organization.
Community Funded. JUF Grant Recipient.
Join us in support of
the children of Keshet
Keshet
Benefit
Concert
Ted Sperling
Kelli O’Hara
Nathan Gunn
Julie Gunn
An Afternoon Featuring Ted Sperling,
Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn & Julie Gunn
Proceeds
P
roceed
d s ffrom
ro m tthe
h e Celebration
Cel ebr
b ation
ti
25th
25t h A
Anniversary
nniversary
i
benefit concert will improve the quality of life
for those with physical disabilities.
See www.otrassn.org
for more information.
35.$!9/#4/"%2s0Pick Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern University
Tickets on sale at the Pick Staiger box office: www.pickstaiger.org/event/rainbow or 847-467-4000
After my diagnosis of chronic myelogenous
leukemia (CML) a leukemia specialist
said, “let’s try you on Gleevec®”.
Saturday night
Motzei Shabbos
November 15
at 8:00pm
Just 56 days later, following my next
biopsy, I was handed a piece of paper
that read: “no evidence…of the
Philadelphia Chromosome*.”
Thank you ICRF - Your brilliant
Israeli scientists helped save my life.
Rabbi Andrew R. Sklarz,
Greenwich, CT
Israel Cancer Research Fund is the largest organization in North America solely devoted to
supporting cancer research in Israel. ICRF has provided more than 2,000 grants and approximately
$50 million to outstanding cancer researchers in all of the leading research institutions, universities,
and hospitals across Israel leading to the development of major cancer breakthroughs including the
drugs Doxil®, Gleevec®, and Velcade®.
Visit Keshet.org
or call Dave Gendel,
847-205-1234
Hosted by Keshet’s
Professional
Leadership Board
Keshet is a partner in serving our our community,
supported by the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation.
For the benefit of all mankind.
For information on Israel Cancer Research Fund contact,
[email protected] or
847.914.9120 | 790 Frontage Road, #322 | Northfield, Illinois 60093
11
CHARITABLE GIVING
CONTINUED
Women’s Zionist Organization of
America, stands with Israel.
Wounded soldiers receive care
at our hospitals; children and
families in the line of fire take
refuge at our Youth Villages;
members and donors rush to
send much needed funds to
support the well-being of our
homeland.
Hadassah IS Israel and Israel IS Hadassah. From our
humble start in 1912, the goals,
the needs and the future of Israel is what Hadassah is all
about. At 330,000 members
strong nationally, with 11,000
members in the Chicago area,
the women and men of Hadassah embody a passion for and
commitment to its partnership
with the land and people of Israel. Bring your passion and
join Hadassah. For Israel. For
Life.
Israel Cancer Research Fund
(847) 914-9120
[email protected]
ICRF was founded in 1975
by a group of American and
Canadian physicians, scientists
and lay people who sought to
prevent the permanent loss of
Israel’s most promising cancer
researchers to foreign universities due to the lack of funding
(a phenomenon known to many
as Israel’s “brain drain”).
ICRF annually sponsors a
rigorous grant review process
conducted by an expert panel of
U.S. and Canadian scientists
and oncologists, and modeled
on the NIH grant-making
process. Members of this Scientific Review Panel (SRP) are respected leaders from across
North America from renowned
institutions such as Northwestern University’s Robert H. Lurie
Cancer Center and Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute.
ICRF awards are granted directly to the most promising
and capable Israeli cancer researchers at all of the leading
(more than 20) academic and
biomedical research centers
throughout Israel. ICRF has
funded more than $52 million
in awards to Israeli cancer researchers resulting in over
2,100 fellowships, project
grants, career development
awards and professorships. This
year 94 scientists are receiving
over $3.4 million in grants from
ICRF. Through the hard work of
ICRF-funded scientists, cancer
drugs such as Gleevec, Doxil,
and Velcade were developed and
have been used to treat hundreds of thousands of cancer
patients worldwide. We support
individuals at all of the major
research institutions in Israel.
ICRF-funded researchers have
been making significant
progress and have been able to
develop improved chemotherapies, advanced techniques in
bone marrow transplantation,
and an enhanced understanding
of tumor suppressor genes.
Jewish Legacy/Chicago
(312) 357-4853
[email protected]
Create a Jewish Legacy/
Chicago guides local Jewish
schools, synagogues and other
communal agencies through the
challenges of building and
growing endowment funds that
will sustain their futures.
Through seminars, marketing
materials and individualized
coaching, each organization
gains the skills it needs to effectively secure bequests to
support its fund.
Part of an expanding national program operating in 15
cities, Create a Jewish
Legacy/Chicago is supported by
the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and an anonymous donor,
and is managed by the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Chicago. Participating in the
2014 program are Am Yisrael
Conservative Congregation; The
ARK; Chicago Jewish Day
School; Chicago Sinai Congregation; CJE SeniorLife; Hebrew
Theological College; Hillel Torah
North Suburban Day School;
Illinois Holocaust Museum &
Education Center; Jewish Child
& Family Services; Keshet;
North Shore Congregation Israel; North Suburban Synagogue
Beth El; Oak Park Temple B’nai
Abraham Zion; Solomon
Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago; and Temple
Jeremiah.
To learn more, contact
Naomi Shapiro at 312.357.4853
or [email protected].
Keshet
(847) 205-1234
www.keshet.org
Keshet is the premier
provider of educational, recreational, vocational and social
programs for individuals with
intellectual disabilities operating according to traditional
Jewish values. Keshet was
founded in 1982 by a small
group of Jewish parents concerned about the futures of
their children with special
needs, and looking for ways to
provide them with a Jewish education and identity.
Keshet’s goal is to enable
children with disabilities to
participate as fully as possible
in the mainstream of community life while providing an excellent education. Woven into
the fabric of everyday life,
Keshet programs enrich the
lives of these young people as
well as those in the greater
community.
The following are testimonials
from Keshet parents and friends
that illustrate the powerful impact Keshet has had on our
community:
“As parents, Scott and I
were more nervous about Zoe
going away to overnight camp
than she was. She had the time
off her life! Thank you Keshet!”
“Michelle can’t wait for Sundays
and Keshet Buddy baseball. She
loves being part of the team
and has a look of pure joy on
her face throughout the game.
SEE GIVING
ON
PAG E 1 5
Lifetime Income
for Retirement.
And an even greater outcome
for Israel, science and education.
Learn why Ruth chose her plan.
See a video profile: afhu.org/cga3
Sample AFHU Hebrew University Gift Annuity Single-Life Rates
Age
67
70
75
80
85
90
Rate
6.2%
6.5%
7.1%
8.0%
9.5%
11.3%
Rates are calculated based on a single life. Cash contributions produce partially tax-free annuity income.
CALL OR EMAIL NOW.
THE RETURNS ARE
GENEROUS. THE CAUSE
IS PRICELESS.
For information on AFHU Hebrew University
Gift Annuities, please call AFHU Executive
Director, Midwest Region, Judith Shenkman at
(312) 329-0332 or email: [email protected]
500 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1530
Chicago, IL 60611 s 877-642-AFHU (2348)
afhu.org/CGA3
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Research engine for the world. Engine of growth for a nation.
12
A year of
loss
May their memories be for blessing
By Joseph Aaron
Editor
The Jewish year 5774, now
coming to a close, was a year, more
than anything, of loss.
5774 was a year in which the
world became less funny.
We lost Joan Rivers, whose
caustic wit brought so much laughter to so many, for more than 50
years. We lost David Brenner, one
of the first comedians to poke fun
at life’s everyday occurrences. We
lost Harold Ramis, the writer and
director who brought us such classics as “Groundhog Day” and
“Ghostbusters.” We lost Sid Caesar, who invented sketch comedy
on TV. We lost Al Feldstein, the
editor of Mad magazine whose humor delighted teenage boys for
decades. And we lost Robin
Williams, who called himself an
“honorary Jew,” because in so
many ways that is exactly what he
was.
world became less musical.
We lost iconic folk singer Pete
Seeger, whose songs were so full of
wisdom, heart and soul. We lost
Arik Einstein, the best known and
most loved of all Israeli singers,
whose songs captured the essence
of Israeli life, expressed better than
anyone or anything the nature of
life in the only Jewish country on
earth.
world became less glamorous, with
the passing of Lauren Bacall, born
Betty Joan Perske. A year in which
the world became less spiritual,
with the loss of Rabbi Ovadia
Yosef, the brilliant Torah scholar
who by memory knew every word
of literally thousands of Jewish
texts. We lost Rabbi Zalman
Schachter-Shalomi, the father of
the Jewish Renewal movement,
which sought to introduce more
music, dance and meditation into
prayer and Jewish life.
5774 was a year in which we
lost inspiring individuals who lived
very long lives. Alice Herz-Sommer, the world’s oldest Holocaust
survivor, who spent the years after
the war bringing the joy of music
to many as a concert pianist, died
at age 110. A week after her death,
a documentary about her life won
an Oscar. And we lost Gisela
Kohn Dollinger who after Kristallnacht persuaded the Gestapo to
release her husband rather than
send him to a concentration camp.
They fled Austria to Shanghai and
while she had no children of her
own, Gisela spent her life bringing
joy to her many nieces, nephews
and their offspring around the
world. She was 111.
5774 was a year in which we
lost inspiring individuals who lived
much too short lives. We lost Sam
SEE JOSEPH AARON
ON
PA G E 2 1
A true mensch, Chicagoan Philip Esformes,
the father of renowned philanthropist
Rabbi Morris Esformes.
Actress Lauren Bacall, born Betty Joan
Perske
An heir to the Seagram’s beverage fortune,
Edgar Bronfman was an advocate on behalf
of Jewish causes.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Folk singer Pete Seeger
Comedian Joan Rivers
Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz, director of Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois.
Eight year old Chicago boy Samuel Sommers’ struggle with leukemia was documented on a popular blog by his parents,
two Chicago rabbis, called “Superman Sam”
Talmudic sage and former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Kidnapped on their way home from yeshiva, Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach were brutally murdered..
13
Rosh Hashanah Food
A honey of a holiday meal
“Apples and …”
is just the start
of its versatility
By Eileen Goltz
Food Editor
namon, butter or margarine and
vanilla and mix until the butter
is melted. Whisk in the eggs,
then fold in the nuts. Pour the
nut mixture into pie shell and
sprinkle pecan and cashew
halves on top. Bake 30 to 40
minutes or until the center is set.
Best served warm or at room
temperature. Serves 8.
Honey Maple Pecan Chicken
Is September National
(Meat)
Honey Month because the High
Holidays always seem to fall somewhere in September or is it just a
happy coincidence? No matter
what the answer this, is the perfect
time to explore that wonderful liquid nectar that our ancestors
prized so highly as the perfect food
to ensure a sweet new year.
The logistics of honey is astounding. Of the typical 50,000
or so bees in a hive they can log
in visits to over a million flowers
to gather enough nectar to make
a pound of honey. The honey of
every hive is special and dependant on the types of flora they
visit. I’ve been told that there are
more than 300 types of honey
and the lighter honeys are milder
and darker honeys tend to have
a stronger flavor. One thing you
should know is that all honey
will crystallize in time, but when
you’re shopping for it you should
know that there are lots of ways
you can get your honey fix and
serve it with apples.
Comb honey is honey in its
original form, and yes the comb
is edible. A cut comb is honey
with chunks of the comb in the
jar. Liquid honey is strained from
the comb. Crystallized honey is
exactly what it sounds like. One
of my favorite and hardest to find
treats is whipped (creamed)
honey. This is a spreadable
honey that is soooooo delicious
that when I find it I don’t share.
What I do share are these special
recipes that will enhance any
holiday meal.
Bee My Honey Mixed Nut Pie
(Dairy or Parve)
1 cup honey
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup cashews, chopped
1 pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup pecan and cashew halves
for topping
1 ready-made deep dish pie crust
Preheat oven to 350°. Pour
the honey into a sauce pan and
bring it to a boil. (Honey boils
quickly so watch it closely.) Remove from heat and add the cin-
8 skinless, boneless chicken
breasts
1/4 cup maple syrup (use the real
stuff, not the fake stuff)
2 cups chopped pecans
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 tablespoons oil
In a bowl combine the
pecans, flour and salt. Brush the
chicken breasts on both sides
with maple syrup and then roll
(coat) the chicken breasts with
the flour/nut mixture. In a large
skillet melt the butter and oil.
Cook until the chicken is
browned on both sides, 7 to 8
minutes each side. Serves 8.
Submitted by Carin Ogilvie,
Baltimore
Honey Salmon With Corn
Salsa (Fish)
For the salsa:
1 1/2 cups corn
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and
chopped
1 Spanish onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
For the salmon:
2/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons + 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons oil
8 salmon fillets with skin intact,
each 6 to 8 ounces
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large bowl, combine the
corn kernels, tomatoes, onion,
olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt,
pepper and hot sauce. Mix to
combine. Cover and refrigerate
for at least 1 hour but no more
than 12 hours before you want to
serve it. Stir in the parsley just
before serving.
In a small saucepan combine
the honey, balsamic vinegar and
1 tablespoon oil and bring to a
boil, then reduce the mixture to
a simmer. Cook, stirring to prevent burning, for about 3 minutes.
In a skillet heat the remain-
ing oil. Season the salmon with
salt and pepper and place, skin
side down, in the pan. Brush the
We cater
for all
occasions
tops generously with the honey
mixture and cook for 5 minutes.
Turn the salmon over and brush
again with the honey mixture.
Cook, turning occasionally and
SEE HONEY
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1910 First Street
Highland Park, IL
Cuisine
ON
PAG E 1 8
Ask for our
divine
specials
for the day
847.266.9990
Please join us for a wonderful
ROSH HASHANAH HOLIDAY PACKAGE DEAL
Wednesday Sept. 24, 2104 • Rosh Hashanah Eve
Starters:
Apples & Honey, Challah Bread, Chopped Liver and Assorted
Homemade Pickles
First Course:
Chicken Soup with Matzo Ball
Fresh Spring Lamb served with Organic Green Beans, Marinated
First Choice:
Red Cabbage, Tomato Sauce and Herbs, and Roasted Potatoes,
with a side of Fresh Cranberries and Date Sauce
Second Choice: Fresh American Pacific Red Snapper grilled with Fresh Herbs & Spices
All entrees served with potato latkes/sour cream, dessert, fruit and a glass of wine.
Reserve your table ASAP at
847-266-9990 or 847-409-5331!
$
36
95
per person
Serving the best of kosher quality beef, lamb, veal, and chicken
Famous for grilled snapper & wild salmon
Our soups and sauces contain no dairy products, chicken or beef base...
Only natural herbs and spices
DO YOU COOK
FREQUENTLY
USING YOUR
RANGE HOOD?
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Residential range hoods should be cleaned periodically
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www.northsidechicago.hoodz.us.com
14
Senior Living
Seniors and the High Holidays
PROVIDING
Compassionate & Reliable
HOMECARE
From live-in or an hourly basis,
temporary or long term care,
CSA tailors services to each clients needs:
■ Personal care assistance
bathing, showering,
grooming, housekeeping,
etc.)
■ Toileting/Incontinence
assistance
■ Diet monitoring
■ Meal preparation
■ Medication reminders
■ Companionship
■ Ambulation and exercise
■ Alzheimer’s/Dementia
care
■ Transportation, errands
and escort services
■ Post hospital/Surgery
rehabilitation care &
more...
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Licensed, Insured And Bonded
For A FREE Consultation,
Call Jamie Shapiro:
Tel: (847) 948-0860
Fax: (847) 948-9819
420 Lake Cook Road,
Suite 112
Deerfield, IL 60015
www.companionserve.com
On a regular basis, Hedy
Ciocci, B.S.N., Administrator of
the Selfhelp Home will answer
some of the many questions we
have around aging. Hedy specializes in dementia care, and has extensive experience working with
families and elderly patients.
Recently, Hedy interviewed
Rabbi Raphael Jaworowski,
Chaplain and Senior Center Coordinator of the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign on the topic of
upcoming holidays and their
meaning, message and inspiration as it relates to seniors.
Q Rosh Hashanah can be
an especially meaningful time
for older adults. Why does this
holiday hold so much meaning
for people?
A Rosh Hashanah means
“Head of the Year.” Aside from
the translation of “year”, the
word “shanah” is closely related
to two other words – one is “repetition” and the other is
“change.” This shows that when
we reach important milestones in
our lives – whether it be a significant birthday, anniversary, or
New Year – we always have two
opposing drives that we need to
juggle and bring into harmony.
On the one hand, we want to
continue all of the family traditions and personal practices that
are based on belief systems and
principles that have proven
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Ask
Hedy
themselves successful and true
over many generations. But on
the other hand, there is always
an impetus to be innovative, to
strive for improvement and to
implement change. So Rosh
Hashanah brings together the
idea of continuity while at the
same time being innovative and
dynamic. Seniors have long
memories and they want to keep
their traditions alive, while at
the same time bringing new energy to the holiday and to their
lives. After all, if we don’t keep
cultivating aspirations to learn
new things or take on new resolutions, things may become stale
and we may experience a sense of
stagnation.
Q Why is it important for
older people in particular to
keep the holiday traditions
alive?
A The truth is that the
holiday traditions, like every part
of Judaism, are just as important,
necessary and enriching for older
individuals as they are for the
younger generations. And in
some respects it may be even
more important for older people
to keep their holiday traditions
alive, as this helps them keep up
their connection with the community, which may be of tremendous benefit. It is true that “no
man is an island” and we take
that to heart especially during
the holidays. In general, this
community aspect is one of the
most important benefits of the
tradition, as it helps us all to remain connected to our families,
to our local communities, and to
our people as a whole. And seniors should know that as individuals, they are just as an important
part of the community as are
younger adults and children! We
value their experience and cherish their participation and input
in celebrating the traditions together.
Q What can seniors do to
retain their traditions if they are
not close to family and/or may
not have the opportunity or
ability to travel to see them during the holidays?
A I think that wherever
we are in life, we have to make it
a priority to carry our own traditions with us and try to make
them part of our lives. Generally,
when we are young we receive
our traditions from the older generation, but as we become adults,
we are the ones who have the responsibility to carry the traditions forward on our own, and
the younger generation learns
that from us. Now fortunately, for
older adults who live in a senior
living community, it can be
much easier for people to keep
their traditions alive. Even
though they may not be with
their own family, the seniors are
still living within a community
of fellow Jewish people and staff
members who provide structured
programs and celebrations. In
contrast, for seniors who are
home alone, it can certainly be
very challenging during the holidays. Thankfully though, many
local synagogues do try to reach
out to homebound seniors. For
every Jewish holiday the Chicago
Mitzvah Campaign sends out
dozens of volunteers to visit hospital patients, nursing home residents and homebound seniors,
bringing them traditional food
and the opportunity to celebrate
the holiday in a joyous and
meaningful way. People can always contact us and our Rabbis
and Mitzvah volunteers will be
more than happy to come out
and celebrate with them.
Q Forgiveness and reflection are a part of the holidays –
these can be difficult to think
about for seniors – do you have
any suggestions on how to make
this more positive or meaningful for them?
A As we age we reflect on
our lives and look for the greater
meaning to life, and forgiveness
is an important part of that. It is
important to be able to let go of
the little things, the day-to-day
offenses and annoyances. I would
add that most things are “little
things.” Still, forgiveness may be
the most difficult and the most
important thing to ask for and to
give. But there is great power in
forgiveness. We all need to be
willing to grant forgiveness to
others, because it brings us healing and because the way we treat
other people is the way in which
G-d will treat us. If we forgive
others, then G-d will forgive us.
It may be difficult, but it is a
guarantee that He has given us.
15
Giving
CONTINUED
F RO M PAG E
11
Thank you Keshet!”
“This was the first Special
Olympics Yosef attended. We
were so proud of him and so
grateful for the encouragement
he has been given by Keshet.”
“Having a friend within Keshet
has allowed me to open my
eyes and recognize different
talents and strengths within
different individuals.”
“One of the aspects we love
about Keshet is its seamless integration between special and
typical kids. The Keshet summer
camps are the only time during
the year where our special son
gets on the same bus as his
typical sibling and they go to
the same place. Keshet programs give them this wonderful
opportunity to have fun together, as siblings.”
“GADOL took my sister in,
and gave her a place to work,
to play, to grow, to learn and to
thrive. My sister has enjoyed
making new friends, learning
new work skills, art and drama
activities, and has even participated in a book club and exercise activities. None of this
would have happened outside
of GADOL’s nurturing environment, with the support of excellent directors and staff.”
Maot Chitim of Greater
Chicago
(847) 674-3224
www.maotchitim.org
For more than 100 years,
Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago
has been serving our community. We purchase kosher holiday food (no food is donated)
for Passover and Rosh
Hashanah. Volunteers pack and
distribute this food which enables 24,000 needy Jews including elderly, children,
homebound, those with special
needs, and others who are perhaps the most vulnerable in our
community to celebrate the
holidays in a traditional and
dignified manner.
Maot Chitim provides a
unique opportunity for the entire Jewish community to come
together to perform a great
mitzvah. Families come together, along with individuals
from all segments of the community; they gather and unite
to work in the spirit of Judaism, realizing how necessary
we all are to one another.
It is more important than
ever that Maot Chitim is able to
help all those that need our
help, especially during these
challenging economic
times. Maot Chitim’s ability to
make it possible for the community to perform this great mitzvah is dependent upon the
generosity of those who support
us both financially and by vol-
unteering to help pack and deliver the holiday food.
Voice for Israel.” Your voice
needs to be heard.
NA’AMAT USA
(847) 675-7275
[email protected]
Over the Rainbow
(847) 328-6633
www.otrassn.org
For more than 90 years,
NA’AMAT USA has had one mission: to support the women and
children of Israel. To accomplish this mission, NA’AMAT –
through its sister organization
in Israel - provides a broad
range of social services, from
day care centers to domestic violence shelters; from legal aid
to technological high schools
for at-risk teens. NA’AMAT has
services and facilities in communities throughout the country, from Kiryat Shemona in the
north, to Eilat in the south.
Join the thousands of
women who are a part of NA’AMAT USA. Be a part of “A Voice
for Women and Children, A
Over The Rainbow Association is dedicated to increasing
the quality of life for people
with physical disabilities
through the creation of affordable, barrier-free housing solutions that encourage
independence.
Our residents cope with a
wide variety of physical disabilities arising from either birth or
circumstance. Some have cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy,
spina bifida or multiple sclerosis, while others are wounded
veterans, have had strokes or
have had diving or car accidents, leaving them paralyzed
or without limbs.
In all of these cases, our
residents have one thing in
common – they are extremely
low income, have no independent source of funds, and have
difficulty fully engaging in the
work force because of their disability. Consequently, they cannot afford market-rate housing,
let alone find accessible housing to accommodate their
wheelchairs. While some of our
residents were homeless at one
point, a significant number
have come from state-funded
nursing homes or institutions,
although none of them wanted
or needed to be there any
longer.
Further, the cost for you as
a taxpayer to support these institutions is astounding. The
annual cost to house one person in a state-funded nursing
home is about $143,000 while
our housing costs just $33,000.
Today, we own and/or manage seven apartment communi-
ties in Chicago and the metropolitan area. With respect to
our Future Housing Program, we
are proud to share that we are
opening an eighth apartment
community this month, a ninth
in early 2015, and a tenth in
early 2016. These additional
communities will create another
97 units, which means we are
doubling the number we serve.
We also offer a Resident
Services Program for all our
properties. Our objective is to
help residents navigate and utilize existing community resources that affect quality of
life and encourage independence, and in some cases, help
meet basic needs to maintain
housing. In 2014, we are continuing several initiatives designed to broaden the reach of
this program, including wheelchair clinics, community gardening, a volunteer program,
and isolation prevention.
Life Enrichment | Supportive Resources | Healthcare | Research & Education
The Friend Center for Memory Care
Serving Individuals With Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
An inviting, nurturing and safe community with
enriching programs geared toward memory support.
Located at newly-renovated Weinberg Community for Senior Living.
Residents enjoy 3 meals a day, 24-hour nursing and personal care services.
Announcing major new additions and updates!
Completely updated and renovated décor, including shower and spa rooms.
The Bernard Heerey Annex with 5 new private suites and renovated space
for Adult Day Services, a stimulating program for residents or community
members with Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
TAKE A TOUR AND SEE OUR
BEAUTIFUL NEW INTERIORS!
CALL 847.374.0500.
Weinberg Community for Senior Living
1551 Lake Cook Road
Deerfield, IL 60015 | www.cje.net
CJE SeniorLife™ is a partner in serving our
community, supported by the Jewish United
Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
759.8.2014
16
H I G H H O L I D AY
High Holiday Services
SYNAGOGUE FOCUS
at NORTHWESTERN
Understanding Shmita, Israel’s agricultural Shabbat
Join friends, family, and a warm
and welcoming community as we
celebrate the start of 5775 with
engaging and uplifting Reform, Conservative,
and Orthodox services for Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur.
By Ben Sales
JTA
✡ Any college student: FREE (with ID)
✡ Young Adult: $100
✡ General Adult: $225
✡ NU Faculty/ staff: $180 ✡ Child: $18
Buy your tickets today!
www.nuhillel.org
847-467-4455
When Rosh Hashanah
comes later this month, Israel’s
Jewish farmers won’t just be celebrating the start of a new year.
They’ll be marking a year in
which they are prohibited from
doing their jobs.
Called Shmita, the Torahmandated, yearlong farming hiatus is felt across Israel, affecting
its fields, supermarkets and, of
course, its politics.
The genesis of Shmita is Exodus, which commands the Israelites, “Plant your land and
gather its produce for six years.
A Thai worker picking decorative flower leaves on the Kibbutz Sde
Nitzan flower farm, near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. (JTA)
A vibrant,
diverse,
of
A vibrant,
diverse,caring
caringcommunity
community of
Reform
ReformJews
Jewscommitted
committed to lifelong
lifelong
Jewish
worship.
Jewishliving,
living, learning
learning, and
and worship.
Rabbi
RabbiMichael
Michael A.
A. Weinberg
Weinberg
RJE, Director
Director of
of
Lori B.
B. Sagarin,
Sagarin, RJE,
Congregational
Congregational Learning
Learning
Temple Beth Israel
Marla
MarlaAviva
Aviva Bentley,
Bentley
Music
Director
Music Director
A warm, welcoming, and diverse Reform congregation.
We invite you to join our Temple Beth Israel family.
Large enough
to offerat
varied
programming,
Prospective new members
are welcome
our upcoming
family friendly services.
small enough for each member to make a difference.
Friday,
August 17,
the Park, 6:30
p.m.committed
- Lovelace Park
in Evanston
(Grosspoint
& Isabella)
Experienced
andShabbat
caringatprofessional
staff
to the
community
and Jewish
life.
Bring dinner for your family and a dessert to share
NATE-accredited Religious and Hebrew School.
Meaningful and
spiritual
worship 7,
onKabbalat
the HighShabbat
Holy Days
Friday,
September
at and
TBI all year long.
5:30
p.m.
Likrat
Shabbat
a
light
nosh;
6:15
7:00
p.m.
music-filled
services
Join us for Rosh Hashanah Services September 24-26 and Yom Kippur Services
October 3-4.
FreeW.
Young
Families
services
Hashanah
and Yom Kippur.
3601
Dempster
Street,
Skokiefor. Rosh
847-675-0951
. www.tbiskokie.org
3601 W. Dempster Street, Skokie • 847-675-0951 • www.tbiskokie.org
Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation
L’Shana Tova 5775
High Holidays start September 24th.
vcuy vba
Tickets are available.
Join Rabbi Jeffrey Weill and
Cantor Benjamin Warschawski
as we celebrate the High Holidays.
The public is welcome to attend
our Selichot service on
Saturday, Sept. 20th at 9:30 p.m.
HIG
H HO
WE’L BON LIDAY
L CR
US
FEE EDIT YO :
S* TO
U
2015 R TICKET
DUES
*Non-member ticket fee
For schedule and information
visit our website at www.ehnt.org or call 847-675-4141.
Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation
4500 Dempster Street, Skokie, IL 60076 • 847-675-4141 • www.ehnt.org
But on the seventh let it lie fallow and it will rest …” Other
biblical mandates prohibit planting, trimming or harvesting crops
during Shmita, amounting to a
total prohibition on farming.
In advance of Shmita,
which takes place every seventh
year, here are seven things you
should know about Israel’s sabbatical year.
What is Shmita?
According to the Torah
mandates, the Shmita year is
something like an agricultural
Shabbat. Just like everyone is
commanded to rest for a day at
the end of every week, Shmita is
a chance to let the land rest for a
year after six years of work.
It’s easy to calculate when
Shmita comes around: Start from
year zero in the Jewish calendar
– that would be 5,775 years ago
– and count off every seven years;
this is Israel’s 466th Shmita.
The concept of the sabbatical year has spread to academics
and clergy, many of whom receive sabbaticals to travel and
study. And the root of the word
“shmita” has found contemporary usage in Hebrew. Israelis use
the word “mishtamet” to refer to
someone who dodged mandatory
military conscription.
How was Shmita observed
in the past?
Because the commandment
applies only in the biblical land
of Israel, it became largely theoretical once the Jews were exiled
by the Roman Empire after the
Bar Kochba revolt in 136 C.E.
Generations of Jewish farmers in
Europe, the Middle East and
elsewhere had no religious imperative to let the land rest.
But once Jews started returning to Palestine in the 1880s
and founding kibbutzim, Shmita
again became relevant – and
problematic. At a time when
Jewish farmers were struggling
just to keep their farms viable, a
year of no production would
have been a deathblow.
To skirt that problem, rabbis
in Israel created something
called the “heter mechirah,” or
sale permit – similar to the before Passover. The permit allowed Jewish farmers to “sell”
their land to local non-Jews for a
token amount, then hire nonJews to do the forbidden labor.
That way, because it wasn’t
“their” land, Jews could keep
their farms going without sin.
How is Shmita observed in
contemporary Israel?
As Israel’s population and
agricultural sector expanded, so
too has the hand-wringing over
Shmita. Here are some of the
Jewish legal acrobatics they use
to get around it.
The sale permit: Israel’s
Chief Rabbinate allows every
farm to register for a sale permit
like those allowed in the 1880s,
and the Rabbinate “sells” all the
land to a non-Jew for about
$5,000 total, according to Rabbi
Haggai Bar Giora, who oversaw
Shmita for Israel’s Chief Rabbinate seven years ago. At the
end of the year, the Rabbinate
buys back the land on the farmers’ behalf for a similar amount.
Bar Giora chose a non-Jewish
buyer who observes the seven
Noahide laws – the Torah’s commandments for non-Jews.
Greenhouses: Shmita only
applies if the crops are grown in
the land itself. Therefore, growing vegetables on tables disconnected from the land steers clear
of violating the commandment.
Religious courts: Farmers aren’t
allowed to sell their crops, but if
crops began growing before
Shmita started, people are allowed to take them for free. So
CONTINUED
O N N E X T PAG E
17
H I G H H O L I D AY
SYNAGOGUE FOCUS
CONTINUED
through another legal mechanism, a Jewish religious court will
hire farmers to harvest the produce and the religious court will
sell it. But you won’t be paying
for the produce itself; you’re only
paying for the farmer’s labor. You
get the produce for “free.” Wink.
Nudge.
Not observing Shmita: Most
large-scale Israeli farmers use a
sale permit in order to obtain
rabbinic certification for their
crops, Bar Giora says. But some
small, nonreligious farmers who
sell their produce independently
ignore the sabbatical year completely and do not receive kosher
certification.
What happens to fruits,
vegetables and other plants that
grow on their own during
Shmita?
Just like Jewish environmentalists can connect to the
idea of letting the land rest, social justice-minded Jews can appreciate that whatever grows on
the land during Shmita is, in theory, supposed to be free for anyone, especially the poor.
When Shmita is first mentioned in Exodus, the Torah says
the crops should be for “the poor
of your nation, and the rest for
wild animals.” But given that almost all farmers in Israel get
around Shmita in one way or another, walking onto a farm looking for a free lunch is ill advised.
How does Shmita affect
you if you’re not a farmer?
Because all kosher-certified
produce cannot violate Shmita,
Israelis shopping in major grocery stores and outdoor markets
don’t have to worry about
Shmita.
But religious Jews – and
businesses – that don’t trust the
legal loopholes just buy their produce from non-Jewish farmers in
Israel. An organization called
Otzar Haaretz, or Fruit of the
Land, seeks to support Jewish
farmers specifically and is organizing farmers who use religious
courts and the greenhouse
method to sell to supermarkets in
Israel. Customers who wish to
buy from Otzar Haaretz can pay
a monthly fee to get a discount
on its produce.
Shmita has an impact beyond the produce stands, too.
Mickey Gitzin, founder of the religious pluralism organization Be
Free Israel, says that while the
“the idea that the land should
rest” is a positive one, Shmita
can have a negative effect on
public parks. As public property,
the parks cannot be sold to a
non-Jew. And because they remain under Jewish ownership,
some public community gardens
don’t receive care during Shmita.
What does this mean for
Jews outside of Israel?
Although they’re not obligated to observe Shmita, Jews
outside of Israel have found ways
Wishes for A Peaceful
NewYear 5775
from
Congregation Kol Emeth
Join us for
High Holiday
& Year-Round Services,
Programs and Classes
Congregation Kol Emeth
5130 W. Touhy Ave., Skokie IL 60077
(2 blocks west of Edens Expressway)
847/673-3370
[email protected]
www.kolemethskokie.org
of commemorating the year. At
Hazon, a Jewish sustainability organization, the Shmita Project
aims to engage in a study of the
textual sources of Shmita and develop programs to mark the year
without letting the land lie completely fallow.
Another group, the Shmitta
Association, has purchased a grid
of 4-square-foot plots of land in
Israel that Jews abroad can purchase for $180 and then let lie
idle, enabling them to observe
Shmita without being an Israeli
or a farmer.
What does this have to do
with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Because they don’t want to
buy from Jewish farmers during
Shmita, some haredi Orthodox
Jews buy from Palestinian West
Bank farms. But during the past
couple of Shmita cycles, there
has been backlash against buying
Palestinian-grown produce.
Jerusalem Post columnist
David Weinberg urged Israelis to
avoid supporting Palestinian
farms.
“Primary reliance on Arab
produce is neither realistic nor
acceptable for health, nationalistic and religious reasons,” he
wrote.
During the Shmita year that
began in 2007, Israel’s health and
agriculture ministries said there
was no elevated risk to eating
produce grown in the Palestinian
territories.
Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken E.H.C.
6601 S. Kedzie Ave.
Chicago, IL 60629
Rabbi Capers C. Funnye
Our best wishes for a
uc,f, vcuy vbak
Happy and Prosperous
New Year
A Temple in the
liberal Reform
tradition invites
Chicago
Sinai
Congregation
you to join us for
HIGH HOLY DAYS SERVICES
our 2014 High Holy Rosh Hashanah Eve
Wednesday, September 24, 8 pm
Days community
worship services
at Fourth
Presbyterian
Church located at
Delaware Place &
Michigan Avenue.
Rosh Hashanah Day
Thursday, September 25, 11 am
Kol Nidre Service
Friday, October 3, 8 pm
Yom Kippur Service
Saturday, October 4, 11 am
Memorial/Yizkor Service, 1 pm
Cards will be available during regular business hours at the Temple through
Wednesday, September 24. The Temple office will be open on September 8, 9, 10,
11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22 and 23 until 7:00 pm. On Sunday, September 14 and 21,
and Wednesday, September 24 the office will be open from 9 am to 1 pm.
15 W. Delaware Place • Chicago • 60610 • 312.867.7000
Worship for Families
with Special Needs
This multisensory Rosh HaShanah worship service
will include music, prayers, healthy snacks, and a
story geared for individuals with special needs and
their family and friends.
Learn more
Scan this QR code to watch a
video about our Worship for
Families with Special Needs
(or you can check it out at
www.templejeremiah.org/
highholydays).
Rosh HaShanah (Day 1)
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, 3 p.m.
at Temple Jeremiah
937 Happ Road, Northfield
Free and open to the public
If possible, please RSVP to Caren
at [email protected].
Rabbi Barry Schechter
Part of Chicagoland’s Jewish Community
for almost 50 years
For more information on Temple Jeremiah, including our other High Holy Day
worship opportunities, please visit our website at www.templejeremiah.org.
18
Rosh Hashanah Food
WELCOME TO THE SKOKIE CLUB!
MAIN STREET • SKOKIE
SKOKIE CLUB OPEN TO4741
THE PUBLIC DAILY from 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
DINE-IN
We thank you, our guests, for your continued support! ~ Nick & George
Join us for
ROSH HASHANAH DINNER
2 DAY FEATURED MENU
Tender beef brisket
Oven roasted chicken
Lake Superior whitefish
ALL ENTREES INCLUDE
matzo ball soup, salad, potatoes, veggies, and dessert.
FOR EACH TABLE
complimentary gefilte fish, chopped liver,
and one glass of wine per adult.
Two seatings 4:30 & 6:30
Adults $34.95 • Children $16.95
RESERVATIONS REQUESTED • CALL 847-673-9393
FOR COMPLETE MENU and MORE SPECIALS go to SKOKIECLUB.COM
Honey
CONTINUED
F RO M PAG E
13
brushing with the honey mixture, until the salmon is glazed
and opaque throughout, 5 to 7
minutes more. Serve with the
salsa. Serves 8.
Modified from WilliamsSonoma Outdoors Series, “Beach
House Cooking” by Charles Pierce.
In the bowl of a food processor or blender combine all ingredients. Process to combine. Great
drizzled over a fruit salad or sliced
melons. Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Honey Lime Fruit Salad
Dressing (Parve)
Mexican Chopped Salad With
Honey-Lime Dressing (Dairy)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
Salad:
2 1/2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
FRESH PRODUCE,
DELI, MEATS and
EUROPEAN IMPORTS
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Phone: (847) 933-0900
Fax: (847) 933-9147
1 15.5 ounce can black beans,
rinsed and well drained
3/4 cup chopped seeded tomato
3/4 cup chopped peeled jicama
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels, uncooked (or frozen or canned)
3/4 cup thinly sliced radishes
½ ripe avocado, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat
feta cheese
Honey-Lime Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons finely chopped
fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño
pepper (use canned for less heat)
Toss all salad ingredients in
a large bowl. In separate bowl,
mix dressing ingredients. Pour
dressing over mixture and toss
again. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4-6.
Modified from SELF magazine, July 2003.
Honey Sesame Salmon (Fish)
1 1/2 pounds salmon filet, cut
into 4 pieces
5 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 1/2 teaspoons honey
4 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice
powder
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 slices (1/4 inch thick) peeled
fresh ginger
2 green onions, sliced thin
Lime wedges, for serving
Rinse the salmon under cold
running water, then drain and
blot dry with paper towels. Combine 3 tablespoons of the sesame
oil, the rice wine, soy sauce,
honey, sesame seeds and fivespice powder in a large bowl and
whisk to blend. Stir in the garlic,
ginger, salmon and green onions
and toss to coat, then cover and
let marinate in the refrigerator
for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the salmon from the marinade
to a bowl and toss it with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame
oil. Pour the marinade into a
saucepan. Using the slotted
spoon, remove and discard the
garlic, ginger, and green onions.
Bring the marinade to a boil over
medium-high heat and cook, uncovered, until it is a thick, syrupy
glaze, about 3 minutes. Remove
from the heat and set aside.
Grill the salmon on a hot,
greased grill or grill pan for 4 to 5
minutes per side. Brush the
salmon with the glaze as it cooks.
Transfer to serving plates or a
platter and serve with lime
wedges. Serves 4.
19
Point of View
Standing strong with Israel
By Seth Jackier
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated, I
found myself glued to my phone,
following the news 24/7. I grew
increasingly frustrated with the
media coverage that portrayed Israel as the villainous aggressor
and the terrorists as freedom
fighters. I firmly supported Israel
from afar – but I felt an overwhelming need to do more.
So when the American
Technion Society arranged a Solidarity Delegation to Israel, my
only choice was to go. This intense trip included meetings with
Technion professors, discussions
with executives from defense industry stalwarts Rafael and Elbit
Systems, and briefings with Israeli thought leaders such as
Michael Oren, former ambassador of Israel to the U.S. We were
also afforded opportunities to
visit wounded soldiers at Tel
Hashomer hospital, to see an
Iron Dome installation, and to
meet student reservists and ordinary Israelis living under the
threat of terror tunnels and
rocket fire.
Our visit to a military cemetery where just two weeks earlier
20,000 Israelis came to mourn
the loss of a single “lone soldier,”
Sgt. Sean Carmeli from Texas,
was incredibly moving. The student reservists we met shared
their stories of being called up to
service. One minute they are
studying for final exams and,
within 12 hours of being called
up, they are reunited with their
units and defending their country. During ceasefires, they would
come right back to campus to
continue their studies. This puts
an incredible academic and psychological strain on these students, and I commend the Technion and other Israeli universities
for the overwhelming support
they provide to their reservists.
During our visit to the Technion campus, the incredible
world-improving
technology
being created in Israel was on full
display. Those who pursue boycotts of Israeli products have no
idea how much they benefit from
Israeli research and technology.
A true boycott would mean no
longer using cell phones or many
other modern technologies.
Boycotters would also not have
access to the most advanced
therapies for cancer or to breakthrough medical technology such
as ReWalk, which allows paraplegics to walk.
The consistent message we
heard from Israelis during our
visit was this: “Please learn the
facts. And once you do, please let
the world know the truth about
Israel and about this confrontation.” Technion President Peretz
Lavie echoed the sentiments of
many Israelis we met with his
poignant comment, “It’s like
black is white and night is day.
The truth does not seem to matter any more to the outside
world.” I would thus like to share
just a few truths either misrepresented or disgracefully ignored by
world governments and the
world press. I encourage you to
not take my word for it, but to research this information for yourself.
1) Hamas’ charter calls for
death to all Jews, and the annihilation of Israel. It also forbids
making a lasting peace with Israel. Like ISIS, Hamas’ charter
calls for the establishment of an
Islamic Caliphate the region.
2) When Israel unilaterally left Gaza in 2005, it left behind hundreds of working
greenhouses and related infrastructure. Instead of utilizing
these assets to provide food and
jobs for Palestinians, they were
summarily destroyed. Similarly,
Hamas prohibits its citizens from
utilizing an Israeli field hospital
on the Gaza border, which was
built during the current conflict
solely to care for wounded Palestinians.
3) Hamas used international aid to build a multitude of
terror tunnels to infiltrate Israeli
towns and kibbutzim. According
the IDF, the money spent on a
single terror tunnel could have
built 86 homes, 6 schools, or 19
badly needed medical clinics. Its
militants hide in these tunnels,
but civilians are not allowed in.
Cynically, Hamas has not built a
single bomb shelter to protect its
citizens. Hamas’ political leaders
live in comfort in Qatar, and are
believed to have amassed multibillion dollar personal fortunes largely siphoned from international aid.
4) Israel established a field
hospital on its Northern border
to care for Syrian civilians
wounded in that country’s civil
war. Even though Israel is not
involved in this fight, it is committed to healing its casualties.
Israel regularly sends elite teams
of doctors and trauma specialists
to natural disaster crisis zones
such as Haiti and the Philippines.
5) Israel is a pluralistic
democracy providing equal protections for Arabs, women, and
its vibrant LGBT community. In
fact, the most recent valedictoSEE STRONG
ON
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WHOM DO WE THANK
FOR IRON DOME?
Thank the Technion. As recently seen, Israel’s Iron Dome can intercept and destroy
missiles – and save lives. In terms of capabilities, speed and accuracy, there is
no system like it anywhere in the world. It was developed at Rafael Advanced
Defense Systems, whose CEO says, “We couldn’t have done it without Technion
graduates…some 80 percent of our engineering force are Technion graduates.”
Q And there are many more breakthroughs at the Technion-Israel Institute
of Technology. As one of the world’s leading universities in science, technology
and medicine, the Technion is a major source of innovation. The brainpower of
its graduates helps drive the Israeli economy and contributes to the health and
security of people in Israel and around the world. Q The American Technion Society
consists of thousands of people in the United States who support the Technion.
Please join us and help make the next generation of Technion breakthroughs
possible. For more information, visit www.ats.org/IronDome or call 312.553.2222.
American Technion Society | Chicago Chapter
111 W. Washington Street, Suite 1220, Chicago, IL 60602-3471
P: 312.553.2222 | E: [email protected]
www.ats.org
20
Strong
CONTINUED
F RO M PAG E
19
rian of the Technion’s Medical
School is an Israeli Arab woman.
Such equal rights do not exist in
Gaza or the West Bank.
6) Israel is a world leader
in environmental stewardship
and conservation. It recycles
75% of its wastewater, the highest percentage in the world. Israel has developed leading
technologies in drip irrigation
and water desalinization and has
helped California address its sig-
nificant issues with drought.
The Israelis we met, who are
putting their own lives and the
lives of their children on the
line, are overwhelmingly unified
in their knowledge that they are
fighting for their very existence
and for a way of life against an
ideological enemy that will never
accept Jews living in Israel or
anywhere on earth. Palestinian
leaders proudly proclaim, “We
love death more than you love
life.” Well, they have one thing
right: Israelis do love life. Despite
enduring constant rocket fire
from Gaza, the people of this tiny
state of Israel are living their
lives with amazing resilience as
they continue to provide knowledge, technological advancement, and Tikun Olam to the
world. As our war weary guide
lamented, “With this too, we
must go on.”
Seth Jackier is a finance professional in the Chicago area. He is
a member of the American Technion Society Chicago Chapter
Board of Directors. His father,
Larry Jackier, is Chairman of the
Technion International Board of
Governors, and his late grandparents, Joseph and Edythe Jackier,
were active supporters of the Technion and many other Jewish organizations.
CJN Classified
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HELP WANTED
SYNAGOGUE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Beth Hillel Congregation Bnai Emunah (BHCBE) is a mid-sized (500 +)
egalitarian and multi-generational Conservative synagogue located on Chicago’s North Shore. Our new Rabbi, along with our Cantor and Education Director
are all committed to BHCBE’s future success.
The Congregation features an award-winning, supplemental Hebrew School
overseen by a full-time Education Director, a robust adult education program,
and dynamic Sisterhood, Men’s Club and youth groups. There are two daily
minyanim and well-attended Shabbat morning services, and congregants enjoy
a sense of belonging as they participate in varied ways in the warmth of Jewish
tradition. Refer to: www.bhcbe.org
BHCBE is currently seeking a hardworking, dedicated and enthusiastic Executive Director to oversee the management and supervision of day-to-day
synagogue operations. Specifically, s/he will be responsible for managing the
office and staff of 10 people, budget and facilities management, and overseeing information technology. The qualified candidate will be an experienced and
skilled organizational manager who demonstrates innovation and enthusiasm.
Reporting directly to the President of the Board of Directors, this individual
will work closely with and collaborate effectively with clergy and lay leadership.
As a Synagogue ambassador, s/he must understand and be responsive to the
needs of current and prospective congregants.
This qualified candidate must have:
• A minimum of 5 years of management experience in a member driven
environment in either the for-profit or not-for-profit sector
• Demonstrated success in financial/operations/administrative management
• Collaborative management and leadership skills
• Outstanding ability to communicate sensitively and diplomatically with
all internal and external constituents
• An understanding of the use of social media and its role in new member
recruitment and relationship management with existing members
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and, ideally, familiarity with fundraising
software
• The energy and drive to manage efforts undertaken to promote BHCBE
• Knowledge of Jewish traditions and customs
• A Bachelor’s degree or higher
Compensation is commensurate with qualifications and experience and will
incorporate salary and benefits, including health insurance, paid vacation and
synagogue membership.
Interested candidates should submit resume and a cover letter that summarizes, in one paragraph, why you should be our next Executive Director.
Send to [email protected]
CEMETERY LOTS
MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY
Across the street from
Old Orchard Shopping Center
10 plots for sale
in Makom Shalom Annex Section.
Currently selling for $4,500 each,
asking $3,000 + transfer fees
Felix Dayan (847) 877-3485
[email protected]
Shalom Memorial
2 plots available
XII Gilboa
$4950 each including
fees & committal
Call Ken
702-750-1755
Westlawn Cemetery
3 plots available
$3000 each or
best offer
Call Batya
(847) 433-5991
Your Money
A home away from home
for Israel’s regular visitors
The success of apartment
rental sites such as Airbnb point
to an enthusiasm for a new type
of holidaying – one which doesn’t involve a hotel. In Israel,
those delicious buffet breakfasts
aside, there’s something to be
said for staying somewhere a bit
cozier.
“You could put me in the
nicest hotel in the world – I don’t
care if it’s Four Seasons, the Ritz
or Trump Tower – I’d rather be at
home,” says Yossi Waldman,
CEO of The Rothner Highgates
Group.
The Toronto-based businessman adds, “There are people
who come to Israel five or six
times a year and they want their
own place. They’re sick and tired
of staying in hotels.
By 2015, they could be enjoying hotel-style luxury in a
place of their very own, in
Jerusalem, thanks to the opening of Waldman’s new luxurious
housing project – Merom
Yerushalayim (www.meromyeru
shalayim.com). “It appeals
mostly to the Orthodox community – frum people who want
a high standard of living,” he explains. “When they come to Israel, they want to be in Mea
Shearim, but with the standard of Rechavia. They don’t
want to see cars on Shabbos, especially in a holy place like
Yerushalayim.”
Residents of the new development can expect the perks of a
car-free Shabbat to continue
throughout the whole week:
“There’ll be no retail, no
noise, and a tunnel from the
main road to underneath. From
the parking area you’ll go in an
elevator straight into your apartment. There won’t be cars anywhere at all in the area. Out of
the 5 acres, only 1.5 is buildings,
the rest is greenery, and lots of
stone and arches – just amazing.”
Built on the site of the historic Schneller army base, and
surrounded by nine historical
buildings, the location was an instant grab for Waldman, who has
purchased his own apartment in
the development to use during
his frequent stays. “It’s the best
location in the whole world for
an Orthodox Jew. Every
Jew wants to be in Israel, and
Yerushalayim is the best of the
best. Merom Yerushalayim is
right at the heart of the Orthodox neighborhoods. It’s a beautiful site.”
The site also had a personal tie for Waldman’s business
partner and “best friend,”
Chicagoan Eric Rothner. “He actually studied at yeshiva about a
block away, around 50 years
ago when he came here
from Chicago. So for him it symbolizes the closing of a circle.”
Yossi Waldman and other representatives of Merom Yerushalyim
will be in Chicago from Sept. 11 to
15. To arrange for a private appointment, call Waldman at (347)
424-5431.
4 NEVER USED GRAVES @
Shalom
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Best & Final Offer $3200.00 each
Inclusive of deed & endowments
1 Grave @ Memorial Park,
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Larry – 847-778-6736
[email protected]
4 Cemetery Plots Available
Shalom Memorial Park
Prime Location:
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Contact Dan Snyder
847-564-1220
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$7500 or best offer
for both
Call Harold
(847) 599-1944
Yossi Waldman, left, with Chicagoan Eric Rothner at one of their developments in Israel.
21
By Joseph Aaron
CONTINUED
F RO M PAG E
12
Berns who died at 17 of “old age,” suffering from progeria, a rare disease that rapidly increases the aging process. He spent his life lecturing on the joys of life, always maintained a positive outlook. We lost
Samuel Sommers, an eight year old Chicago boy whose struggle with
leukemia was documented on a popular blog by his parents, two
Chicago rabbis, called “Superman Sam.” And we lost Naftali
Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, three teens who were kidnapped on their way from yeshiva and brutally murdered.
It was a year in which we lost Ariel Sharon, the amazing soldier
who saved Israel from defeat during the Yom Kippur War, and the
courageous prime minister who both built the security wall that put
an end to terrorist acts from the West Bank, and who, despite being
the godfather of the settlement movement, completely evacuated
Gaza, believing it a step toward peace. And a year in which we lost
Andrew Madoff, the younger son of jailed Ponzi schemer Bernie
Madoff. He died of cancer at age 48. It was Andrew who tipped authorities off to what his father was doing. Both of Bernie Madoff’s sons
have died since he was jailed in 2009. Mark Madoff committed suicide in 2010 at the age of 46.
5774 was a year in which we lost a shining example of courage
and allegiance to Judaism. Steven Sotloff was a journalist who went
to some of the world’s most dangerous places so he could tell the world
about what was going on there. He was beheaded by the jihadist group
ISIS.
It was only after his death that he learned he was a dual American-Israeli citizen who had studied in Israel. Sotloff, a grandson of
Holocaust survivors, made aliyah in 2005. A hostage who was held
with Sotloff and later released told how Sotloff was able to fast last year
on Yom Kippur without his captors knowing. “He told them he was
sick and did not want to eat, even though that day we were served
eggs.” He added that Sotloff also was able to pray in a hidden manner and in the proscribed way facing Jerusalem by looking which way
the Muslims prayed in order to determine the proper direction.
5774 was a year in which Chicago became a less holy place. We
lost Rabbi Moshe Kushner, longtime head of Camp Moshava and the
Chicago Rabbinical Council. We lost Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz, who
built the Lubavitch Chabad movement in Illinois into one encompassing more than 40 institutions. We lost Philip Esformes, who embodied the meaning of what a Jew is supposed to be, what a mensch
is.
And in 5774 we lost 66 Israeli soldiers, Israel’s best and brightest, courageous, beautiful young souls who gave their lives to defend
the Jewish homeland in the war in Gaza.
Now normally we’d leave it at that, but as I sit and look at their
smiling faces, their so young faces, their so sweet faces, I feel the least
we can do to honor their memories is to give their names. They gave
their lives for us.
First Sergeant Eitan Barak, 20. Major Amotz Greenberg, 45.
Sergeant Adar Barsano, 20. Second Lieutenant Bar Rahav, 21. Staff
Sergeant Bnaya Rubel, 20. Staff Sergeant Oren Simcha Noach, 22.
Sergeant Ben Itzhak Oanounou, 19. Staff Sergeant Daniel Pomerantz,
20. Sergeant Shon Mondshine, 19. Staff Sergeant Shachar Tase, 20.
Staff Sergeant Max Steinberg, 24. Major Tzafrir Baror, 32. Captain
Tsvi Kaplan, 28. Staff Sergeant Gilad Rozenthal Yacoby, 21. Staff Sergeant Oz Mendelovich, 21. Staff Sergeant Nissim Sean Carmeli, 21.
Staff Sergeant Moshe Malko, 20. Staff Sergeant Jordan Bensemhoun,
22. Staff Sergeant Yuval Dagan, 22. Staff Sergeant Tal Ifrach, 21. Sergeant Nadav Goldmacher, 23. Second Lieutenant Yuval Haiman, 21.
Sergeant-Major Bayhesain Kshaun, 39. Lieutenant-Colonel Dolev
Keidar, 38. Sergeant First Class Oded Ben Sira, 22. Non-Commissioned Officer Ohad Shemesh, 27. Staff Sergeant Avitar Moshe Torjamin, 20. Captain Dmitri Levitas, 26. First Lieutenant Natan Cohen,
23. Second Lt. Paz Elyahu, 22. Staff Sgt. Li Mat, 19. Staff Sgt. Shachar
Dauber, 20. Master Sgt. Yair Ashkenazi, 36. Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul,
20. Staff Sgt. Guy Levy, 21. Staff Sgt. Guy Boyland, 21. First Sgt. Amit
Yeori, 20. Second Lt. Roy Peles, 21. First Sgt. Gal Bason, 21. First Sgt.
Avraham Grintzvaig, 21. Capt. Liad Lavi, 20. Chief Warrant Officer
Rami Kahlon, 39. Sgt. First Class (res.) Barak Refael Degorker, 27.
Staff Sgt. Moshe Davino, 20. Staff Sgt. Adi Briga, 23. Cpl. Niran Cohen, 20. Cpl. Meidan Maymon Biton, 20. Staff Sgt. Eliav Eliyahu
Haim Kahlon, 22. Sgt. Dor Dery, 18. Sgt. Sagi Erez, 19. Sgt. Barkey
Ishai Shor, 21. Sgt. Daniel Kedmi, 18. Sgt. Nadav Raimond, 19. Staff
Sgt. Matan Gotlib, 21. Staff Sgt. Omer Hay, 21. Staff Sgt. Guy Algranati, 20. Staff Sgt. Shay Kushnir, 20. Capt. Omri Tal, 22. Sgt. First
Class Daniel Marash, 22. Staff Sgt. Noam Rosenthal, 20. Capt. (res.)
Liran Adir (Edry), 31. Staff Sgt. Liel Gidoni, 20. Mjr. Benya Sharel,
26. 2nd.-Lt. Hadar Goldin, 23. Netanel Maman, 22. Shachar Shalev,
20.
As heartbreaking as their loss is, they were soldiers, fighting in a
war. Another loss brought by the Gaza War was even more heartCONTINUED
ON
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22
By
Joseph
Aaron
Death Notices
Stan Goldberg, superhero of comic-book illustration
NEW YORK (JTA) –
Comic-book artist Stan Goldberg, the color designer for Marvel Comics’ classic superheroes,
has died. Goldberg, known to
comic-book fans as “Stan G,”
was 82.
He was inducted into the
National Cartoonists Szciety
Hall of Fame and awarded with
its Gold Key Award in 2012.
Goldberg started his career at
age 16, when he joined Timely
(now known as Marvel) Comics
as a staff colorist, quickly becoming its color department manager.
He colored interiors and almost
every Marvel cover published
throughout the 1950s and early
1960s, according to his family.
He also was the color designer for the classic Marvel superheroes and villains of the
1960s, including Spider-Man,
The Fantastic Four, The X-Men
and The Hulk.
Goldberg went on to illustrate romance comics, such as
Patsy Walker, My Girl Patsy and
Millie the Model. He also helped
write plots for Millie the Model.
In the late 1960s, Goldberg
began illustrating for Archie
Comics, where he worked for
more than 40 years.
Most recently, he worked on
several graphic novels, including
Nancy Drew and the Three
Stooges.
Leonard David Rood, age 85,
passed away on Sept. 8. Born
in Malden, Massachusetts on
October 20, 1928, he graduated with his Bachelors and
Masters degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in
Worcester, Massachusetts,
where he was a member of
Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He
served as a Civil Engineer in a
M.A.S.H. unit in the Korean
War, where he earned the
rank of 1st Lieutenant. He
lived with his wife of 57 years,
the late Ruth Krantzow Rood,
in Columbus, Ohio and Boynton Beach, FL. He held numerous patents in chemical
engineering, and later opened a real estate firm with his
wife in Columbus. He was
most recently a resident of
Cresthaven East in West Palm
Beach, FL. He is survived by
his sister Eleanor (Jerry)
Mitchell, his three sons
Richard (Shari), Mark (Robin)
and Howard (Wendy), and his
grandchildren, Emily (Brian)
Fishman, Allison, David
(Chelsea), Shaina, Michelle,
Rachel, Sarah, Miriam and Elyse. Leonard was a lover of
music and sang for many
years with the choir at
Shaarei Shalom in Boynton
Beach, and was a long time
volunteer with the Boy Scouts
of America. Donations in his
name can be made to the
Alzheimer’s Association, P.O.
Box 96011, Washington, DC
20090 (www.alz.org). or Congregation Or Tikvah, 330
North Barron Blvd., Grayslake, Illinois 60031 or online
at www.ortikvah.org.
Mitzvah
Memorial Funerals
Lloyd Mandel
Founder, 4th generation Jewish Funeral
Director, also licensed in Florida
(no longer with Levayah Funerals)
Seymour Mandel
3rd Generation Jewish Funeral Director
www.comparemitzvah.com
Why was Mitzvah Memorial Funerals entrusted
to direct more than 700 funerals in our first
4 years in business?
We provide compassionate professional service and
significant savings – usually $2,000-$5,000 less
than Chicago Jewish funeral homes with chapels
charge for the same or similar services and casket.
If your synagogue has a discounted funeral plan
with one of our competitors you can still use us.
We guarantee a minimum 25% savings.
William Goodman
Funeral Director, Homesteaders
Insurance Agent (no longer with
Goodman Family Funerals)
Ian “Izzy” Dick
Oldest licensed Jewish Funeral Director
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Director of Shmira
• Graveside Services
• Synagogue Services (yours or
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If you have prepaid funeral services with one of our
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This week's column begins on page 12.
CONTINUED
F RO M PAG E
22
breaking. Daniel Tragerman was the youngest Israeli victim of the
campaign. He was four years old. Tragerman was killed by shrapnel after a mortar landed outside his home. His family was packing up to
leave their hometown and head north when the attack occurred. “He
died in our hands, in front of his little sister and best friend Yuval, 3.5
years old. He died in front of Uri, only four months old and right before our eyes, his mother and father,” a letter from his parents said. “We
failed. We couldn’t protect our beautiful and talented baby.”
Yes, loss, devastating loss was predominant in 5774. The Gaza war
typified that in that it’s not clear if anyone won, but it is very clear that
everyone lost. So much damage of so many kinds for so little purpose.
Of course, not all the Jewish news in 5774 was sad. Some of it was
quirky, some curious, some funny, some even good.
The luckiest Jew in 5774 was David Blatt, who left as coach of
Israel’s best basketball team to take over as coach of the Cleveland
Cavaliers. Just a few days later, Lebron James announced he would be
returning to the Cavs.
Basketball also produced the most odious Jew of 5774 namely
Donald Sterling whose racist comments during a phone conversation
with his girlfriend were made all the worse when he went on TV to
defend himself and both constantly referred to his Jewishness and said
things that proved just what a racist he is.
It was a year in which something that almost never happens happened. Thanksgiving and the first day of Chanukah came out on the
same day. Thus it was dubbed Thankgivukkah.
And there was Jewish kvelling to be done about the fact that Jewish actress Scarlett Johansson was named Esquire’s sexiest woman alive
and Jewish singer Adam Levine was named People’s sexiest man
alive. Israeli actress Gal Gadot was signed to star as Wonder Women
in the upcoming movie “Batman vs. Superman.” Six of the 12 winners of the Nobel Prize were Jews. Two of the 10 sexiest rabbis named
by a Jewish website were Chicagoans, Rabbi Lizzie Heydemann and
Rabbi Benay Lappe. A Chicago woman, Stephanie Goldfarb, was
named “America’s best cook” by the Food Network. Janet Yellen was
the third Jew in a row to be named head of the Federal Reserve, and
the first woman ever.
What a country. Ritz bacon flavored crackers were given kosher
certification. Mitt Romney’s old company Bain Capital, bought the
iconic Jewish company Manischewitz.
A new survey showed there are actually more American Jews
than we thought. A Pew survey found there are about 6.8 million
American Jews and that 94 percent of them are proud to be Jewish.
Always there to be the pooper at the party, Abe Foxman, who announced he’d be retiring next year, said that a worldwide survey by his
ADL found that more than a billion people in the world are antiSemites. Many questioned the survey’s methods.
While Abe inflated the problem as always, anti-Semitism did rear
its ugly head more than in previous years, especially in Europe especially during the Gaza war. Perhaps the worst cases of anti-Semitism
in 5774 were a shooting at the Kansas City JCC that killed three, none
of them Jews and a shooting at the Jewish Museum of Belgium which
killed four, all Jews. The Chicago police department was found guilty
of having harassed a Jewish cop for years with anti-Semitic slurs. The
University of Illinois changed its mind and unhired a professor known
for his vicious anti-Israel tweets.
Eric Cantor, the highest ranking Jew in Congress, and the only
Republican Jew in the House, was defeated in a primary and resigned
as House majority leader. Reuven Rivlin, who once belittled Reform
Judaism calling it “idol worship, not Judaism,” was elected president
of Israel. It was revealed that the late archbishop of New York, John
O’Conner was actually Jewish, being born of a Jewish mother. Pope
Francis visited Israel.
5774 was the 20th yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the greatest Jew of the last century, one who loved all Jews, cared about all Jews
and very literally reached out to every Jew, with Chabad Houses in
every major city in the world.
The Rebbe’s yahrzeit reminded us of how much the Jewish world
lost when we lost him. Adding yet another layer of loss to a year so
very filled with it.
Thankfully, the year is just about over and our prayer is that the
new Jewish year 5775 will be one in which the Jewish people know
no loss, know only joy.
23
24
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A Chicago synagogue is shocked when its longtime rabbi quits after

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