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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 5 MARCH 8, 2018 Trump administration to move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem in May, Israel’s 70th birthday BY RON KAMPEAS At right: A view of the small team,” the spokesman said of the WASHINGTON (JTA) – The Trump Dome of the Rock on Jerusalem operation. administration will formally move the Jerusalem’s Temple Trump administration officials had said U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Mount on December previously that the embassy move would Aviv in May to coincide with Israel’s 10. The Trump take place in 2019. President Donald 70th anniversary. administration has Trump has heralded his December 6 rec- “We’re planning to open the new U.S. now said it will ognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May,” formally move the one of the highlights of his administration. a State Department spokesman told JTA U.S. Embassy to He earned “lengthy applause” on February 23 from the CPAC annual conservative in an e-mail. “The Embassy opening will Jerusalem from Tel th conference in Washington, DC, when coincide with Israel’s 70 anniversary.” Aviv in May to coincide he mentioned the Jerusalem recognition. The spokesman did not reveal a specific with Israel’s 70th date, but May 14 would mark 70 years Another source apprised of the move anniversary.(Photo since Israel’s establishment. provided JTA with a timeline for the move: by Chris McGrath/ The spokesman said the embassy would In the first phase, starting in May, Ambas- be located in a southern Jerusalem neigh- Getty Images) sador David Friedman and some staff will borhood on the side that Israel held before that currently houses the consular operations suggested that, at least for now, much of begin working out of the consular section 1967, but running along the seam of what of Consulate General Jerusalem,” he said. the daily operation of the embassy would at a cost of about $300,000 to $500,000. was then the border. “The embassy will ini- Building a new embassy will take remain in Tel Aviv. “At least initially, In the second phase, by the end of 2019, tially be located in Arnona, on a compound at least three years, and the spokesman it will consist of the ambassador and a an annex on site will be constructed for a more permanent working space for the ambassador, staff and a classified process- ing site. That will cost $10 million to 15 Corruption allegations may steer Israel million, and the security arrangement will cost at least $45 million. The third phase, the site selection and construction of a toward elections new embassy, will take up to nine years. if one of Likud’s partners bolts or, alter- ANALYSIS nately, threatens to topple the government unless another Likud member replaces BY MATI TUCHFELD Netanyahu as its leader. (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS Until now, Netanyahu has been able Pay it forward & give to via JNS) – As both ongoing and newly to stay ahead of the political game by the 2018 Jewish Federation launched investigations involving Israeli maintaining the power to call early of Northeastern Pennsylvania Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu elections. He wielded this power at his Annual Campaign! continue to agitate the political sphere, convenience, which usually did not suit it is becoming increasingly likely that he other parties, and only after a calculated will announce early elections, and that and meticulous assessment of the situa- $905,245 his government will not complete a full tion. If Netanyahu is forced to call early as of March 2, 2018 four-year term, according to those in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu elections, he may lose this advantage, For information or to political circles. and his wife, Sara, left Israel to attend especially the ability to control events make a donation call 570-961-2300 ext. 1 or The coalition partners, particularly Ha- the World Economic Forum in Davos, and manage them as he wishes. send your gift to: Goal: bayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett and This may be the worst-case scenario, Jewish Federation $910,000 Switzerland, on January 23, 2018. of Northeastern Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon, have made (Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO) but it is also, at least for now, the most far- Pennsylvania it clear that the investigations, including fetched. Likud’s coalition partners have 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 the recent development of former Minis- no interest in elections at this time, each (Please MEMO your try of Communications Director-General Australian billionaire James Packer; Case for its own reasons. What they do have pledge or gift 2018 Shlomo Filber – one of the prime minis- 2000, which focuses on an illicit deal in common is their respective electorates’ UJA Campaign) ter’s closest associates – turning state’s Netanyahu allegedly tried to strike with desire to see Netanyahu retain his position witness in Case 4000, will not change Yediot Achronot publisher Arnon Mozes as prime minister. Therefore, exiting the anything. (See sidebar related to Case to ensure positive coverage; and Case coalition prematurely could backfire. 4000 on page 4.) 3000, which revolves around an alleged Another reason that the coalition part- Case 4000 centers on the potentially conflict of interest with regard to the 2016 ners are reluctant to leave the government illicit dealings and conflict of interest in- procurement of three German submarines. lies with recent polls that show Likud is volving Israeli telecom corporation Bezeq Case 3000 does not implicate Netanyahu still going strong. The fact that the polls and the Walla news website, which Bezeq directly, but rather his attorney and cousin, predict that toppling the current govern- owns. The police allege that Bezeq’s David Shimron. ment and seeking re-election would still controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch Bennett and Kahlon reiterated re- see Netanyahu lead the next government Federation ensured positive coverage of the Net- cently that they do not plan to make any is more than enough to give the parties’ anyahu family by Walla in exchange for decisions regarding their parties’ future leaders pause. the prime minister promoting government in the coalition until Attorney General In a different possible scenario,- Ne on Facebook regulations worth hundreds of millions of Avichai Mendelblit announces a decision tanyahu could decide to resign from The Jewish Federation of Northeast- dollars to the company. on whether or not to indict Netanyahu. politics. While this more drastic option ern Pennsylvania now has a page on Case 4000 comes on the heels of three Still, it doesn’t seem a stretch that is not on the table at this time, according Facebook to let community members other corruption cases involving the prime one of the parties will succumb to public to sources close to the prime minister, it know about upcoming events and keep minister: Case 1000, which centers on pressure and quit the coalition. This is the could become a reality should Netanyahu’s connected. gifts Netanyahu allegedly received from worst possible scenario for Netanyahu; legal predicament worsen. Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and he stands to lose control of the situation See “Elections” on page 4 Candle lighting INSIDE THIS ISSUE March 9...... 5:45 pm March 16...... 6:52 pm And the winner is... Telling her story The final frontier March 23...... 7 pm Young Russian Jews win trips The youngest Schindler’s list An exhibit in New York looks at the PLUS to Europe by studying Judaism survivor continues to tell her Jewish relationship with space, Opinion...... 2 through the Eurostars program. story, including at the U.N. astronomy and science fiction. D’var Torah...... 10 Story on page 5 Story on page 6 Story on page 7 Book Review...... 12 2 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018 A MATTER OF OPINION The land where antisemitism still fails BY JONATHAN S. TOBIN think that 1,825 incidents in a country of phenomenon in a country where Jews are Just as, if not far more, alarming than (JNS) – The numbers are pretty scary. 326 million people constitute an epidemic readily accepted in virtually every sector the possibility that some extremists got The Anti-Defamation League’s annual of antisemitism? of society. According to the ADL’s own the wrong message from Trump’s tweets audit of antisemitism in America shows a Equally important, it’s vital to see global audit of antisemitism, the United is the fact that incidents of antisemitism whopping 57 percent increase in incidents what has happened in America and States has among the lowest levels of on college campuses nearly doubled in from 2016 to 2017. (See related newsbrief measure that with global trends because antisemitism in the world. 2017 with an astonishing 89 percent on page 15.) That’s a big number, and to be sure, a genuine rising tide of hate Whatever levels do exist in America, increase. This goes hand in hand with it’s likely to generate alarm in the Jewish is calling into question the future of they are nothing compared to those in the virus of hate sweeping through community and nationwide as news out- Jewish life in Europe. Moreover, before Europe, where hatred for Israel comes Europe that focuses on delegitimizing lets seize on the figure to ponder what’s we return – as the ADL, and a host of from both liberal elites and Muslim im- Israel and its friends via the BDS (boy- going wrong. liberal organizations and pundits, did a migrants – two very different sectors that cott, divest and sanctions) movement. That also means that everyone should year ago at the time of the fake bomb have combined to create a wave of preju- Though it masquerades as concern for get set for a barrage of think pieces about threats – to blaming antisemitism on dice leading to violence and intimidation. human rights, BDS is, like anti-Zionism, the rise of hate in President Donald Trump and his administration, we should When it comes to the United States, a form of Jew-hatred. And it is far more Trump’s America, debating whether the also be pressing for the real sources of however, who’s driving the increase of of a threat than stray graffiti incidents White House Twitter account and sup- antisemitism and the most potent threats what is still a low level of Jew hatred? The because it seeks to make life intolerable posed rising influence of the alt right are to Jews. popular answer remains Trump. for Jewish students. shaking the foundations of tolerance to the One fact is incontrovertible: The num- The president’s tone-deaf response to It is to this problem, which is gaining point where we all should be very worried. ber of reported incidents of antisemitism incidents like the racist rally last summer ground and legitimacy on the left, rather But a closer look at the numbers, in- in this country has nearly doubled in the in Charlottesville, VA, has lent credence than the isolated and despised hate of cluding the raw totals rather than just the last two years. to efforts to credit the bump in hate inci- the alt-right or the Ku Klux Klan, that percentages, tells a slightly different story Fortunately, most of it is confined to dents to his Twitter account, as well as we should be devoting the most energy. than the screaming headlines. Incidents vandalism, which accounts for more than to the general lowering of the level of Even as we rededicate ourselves to of reported antisemitism did increase in half of the total. The fact that the number discourse that makes extremism seem dealing with these threats, let’s not forget the United States in 2017 and any such of assaults related to antisemitism actually more acceptable. where we live. The United States is not rise is lamentable. Even a single incident went down – a 47 percent decrease from But it would be a mistake to fall into the the hellhole of hate that the headlines is one too many. 2016 – is also encouraging. same trap that the ADL fell into last year about the ADL audit seem to indicate. As it turns out, a big slice of the up- Yet even if all we were discussing were when it jumped to the false conclusion American exceptionalism is the main tick stems from the bomb threats made cases of cemetery desecration or swas- that the wave of bomb threats at JCCs reason why official hatred of the Jews against Jewish Community Centers last tikas drawn on synagogues or schools, was inspired by Trump. He is, after all, never quite caught on in the United year by a disturbed Israeli teenager. it would still be worth asking why it is the same man who has implemented the States. For all of its problems, America Take those out of the totals – and argu- that these sorts of crimes are increasing. most pro-Israel foreign-policy agenda is still the land where antisemitism con- ably, that is something the ADL should Is it, as the ADL implies in its summary in history. Trump is also the one with tinues to fail. Anyone who forgets that have done even before the report was of the audit, because perpetrators felt observant Jewish children and grandchil- understands nothing about this country released – and the percentage drops to more emboldened to break the law in dren, all of which would be considered or antisemitism itself. 43 percent. That’s still distressing. But 2017 than before? milestones of acceptance and ecumenical Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of before everyone starts setting their hair At the same time, the amplified num- harmony were they associated with any JNS – the Jewish News Syndicate. Follow on fire about the likelihood of pogroms ber of incidents represents a marginal other president. him on Twitter at @jonathans_tobin. in America, it’s also important to put the numbers in context. Does anyone really The racism associated with “human- rights” organizations “ The Reporter” (USPS #482) is published bi-weekly by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, 601 Jefferson BY JUDITH BERGMAN The verdict concluded that the P.A. is By so openly showing that they discard Ave., Scranton, PA 18510. (JNS) – The numerous foreign-fund- responsible for the torture and, therefore, human beings as worthless of assistance, President: David Malinov ed “human rights” organizations that is liable for damages to the victims whose when they are not the “victims” of Jews, Executive Director: Mark Silverberg operate in Israel do not actually care lives it ruined. However, in order to re- these human-rights organizations have alize the compensation, the victims need finally proven that Arab lives mean noth- Executive Editor: Rabbi Rachel Esserman about human rights. In fact, recent Layout Editor: Diana Sochor events have shown that they do not to provide medical evaluations of their ing to them unless they can exploit them Assistant Editor: Ilene Pinsker seem to care about human beings as conditions by medical experts, which is to further the political agendas that their Production Coordinator: Jenn DePersis such, either. Instead, they are what most a very costly procedure. European and other sponsors are funding Advertising Representative: Bonnie Rozen Israelis have always suspected them of According to a report by Israel Hayom, them to pursue. Bookkeeper: Kathy Brown being – namely, political actors who attorneys Barak Kedem and Aryeh Arbus It is rare to see such cynical instru- have organized themselves cleverly in turned to 15 human-rights organizations mentalization of human lives, especially OPINIONS The views expressed in benign-sounding “rights” organizations to obtain their assistance in paying for coming from organizations whose very editorials and opinion pieces are those in order to better pursue their nefarious the costly evaluations. “These are broken raison d’etre is supposed to be about caring of each author and not necessarily agendas of destroying the state of Israel people in their bodies and souls, who... for those lives. Treating human beings as the views of the Jewish Federation of through “ Lawfare.” cannot afford to pay professional opinions, means to an end constitutes a particularly Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Jerusalem District Court deter- which cost thousands of shekels for every foul kind of racism. LETTERS The Reporter welcomes mined in the summer of 2017 that the opinion,” the attorneys wrote in their plea Notably, there has been no outrage on letters on subjects of interest to the Palestinian Authority was responsible to the 15 organizations. the part of these organizations’ funders, Jewish community. All letters must be for the kidnapping, torture and murder Among these organizations were Ada- just as there has been no outrage over signed and include a phone number. lah, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, the actual heinous torture. There have The editor may withhold the name of dozens of suspected Arab “collabora- upon request. tors” within Israel, several of them with the New Israel Fund, Rabbis for Human been no threats by European and other ADS The Reporter does not necessar- Israeli citizenship, between 1995 and Rights, Yesh Din, Physicians for Human governments to halt all aid to the P.A. ily endorse any advertised products 2002. The court proceedings unveiled Rights and the Committee for the Preven- in the face of the “shocking” revelations and services. In addition, the paper grueling testimonies of Arabs who had tion of Torture. Only the last two offered that it engages in torture on an almost is not responsible for the kashruth of been subjected to the most heinous torture assistance, whereas the rest either ignored unimaginable scale. The E.U. and its any advertiser’s product or establish- in the cellars of detention centers run by the plea or responded negatively. member states, clearly, could not possibly ment. the Palestinian Authority. Adalah said the organization “only care less. DEADLINE Regular deadline is two The P.A. naturally denied all allega- helps the Palestinians who are suing the It is the exact same mechanism that is at weeks prior to the publication date. tions, but the presiding judge ruled that state of Israel.” Amnesty International work in the international media’s deliber- the accumulation of evidence made it clear said its organization “does not have the ate refusal to report on P.A. human-rights FEDERATION WEBSITE: that the P.A. was guilty of severe torture, professional tools to address the needs” violations in general. Reports about torture www.jewishnepa.org as well as murder. The torture included of the victims, whereas Yesh Din ex- of detainees in P.A. prisons do not attract HOW TO SUBMIT ARTICLES: the so-called shabah position, widely pressed “feelings of anger and pain,” but the interest of the overwhelming number Mail: 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA used in P.A. prisons, in which the victim explained that it could not help because of journalists who cover the Israeli-Arab 18510 is hung from the ceiling for several hours it represents “victims of violations when conflict and hence the mainstream media E-mail: [email protected] and beaten all over his body. they are harmed by Israeli authorities or never write about it. Fax: (570) 346-6147 According to the verdict, the torture Israeli citizens.” Foreign governments do not care one Phone: (570) 961-2300 also included electric shocks, the pouring Let us properly digest this informa- wit about the human-rights violations that of boiling plastic on the body, tearing out tion: “Human rights” organizations that occur in the P.A. because it has never been HOW TO REACH nails and breaking teeth, sterilization, the European Union, Western European about Arab lives, who are destroyed every THE ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE: sleep deprivation, food and drink depriva- governments and other foreign bodies day all over the Arab world as the rest of Phone: (800) 779-7896, ext. 244 tion, sexual assault and the rape of family lavishly fund – ostensibly in order to fight the world community barely blinks. It was, E-mail: [email protected] members. The P.A. also asked doctors to for the human rights of Arabs – callously and is, always about one thing: destroying SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: worsen the conditions of the prisoners, disregard the heinous violations of those the Jewish state. Phone: (570) 961-2300 such as injecting urine into the prisoners’ very human rights when the violations are This article originally appeared in blood veins. perpetrated by the P.A. Mida and was provided exclusively to JNS. MARCH 8, 2018 ■ THE REPORTER 3 COMMUNITY NEWS Congregation B’nai Harim announces community Passover seder Break matzo with Congregation B’nai Harim at carrot tzimmes, fresh fruit with macaroons, coffee, tea restrictions to Congregation B’nai Harim, PO Box 757, the community Passover seder on Sunday, March 25, and soda. Pocono Pines, PA 18350. at 3 pm, at Lake Naomi Club House, 135 Miller Dr., Reservations are required by Tuesday, March 20. The Congregation B’nai Harim is located at 1530 Pocono Pocono Pines, PA 18350. The menu will include ge- cost is $30 per person and $13.50 for children ages 3-12. Crest Rd., just off of Route 940 and Sullivan Trail in filte fish, chopped liver, matzo ball soup, pot roast or Send a check with the number of guests, choice of pot Pocono Pines, PA. The message center is 570-646-0100 baked chicken breast, potato kugel, vegetable medley, roast or baked chicken, phone number and any dietary and the website is www.bnaiharimpoconos.org. New Israeli line of Passover wine launched by former NBA all-star Amar’re Stoudemire BY JNS STAFF produce such great wines from a land like the land of following year, but remains a part-owner of the team. (JNS) – At a news conference at the Jewish National Israel, so we’re constantly counting our blessings for Stoudemire, who was raised Christian, began explor- Fund House on February 20, 6-foot-10 former NBA that,” Stoudemire told reporters. ing Judaism on a trip to Israel in 2010, and stated that he star Amar’e Stoudemire discussed his new line of ko- Stoudemire’s interest in his own Israeli wine label be- felt “spiritually Jewish, culturally Jewish.” He identifies sher-for-Passover wines, grown and produced in Israel. gan when he relocated to Israel to play for Israel’s Hapoel with the Hebrew Israelites, an African-American group “It’s a blessing for me and my family to be able to Jerusalem team in 2016. He retired from basketball the that believes they are descendants of the biblical Israelites and keeps some Jewish practices. Stoudemire’s line includes two red wine blends and one Cabernet Sauvignon, all limited-edition vintages JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE NOTES produced in cooperation with the Tulip Winery in northern Israel. Stoudemire said he is open to producing additional wines, but only in Israel. The joy of laughter “I prefer to keep the wines strictly from the grapes in Israel,” Stoudemire told reporters. “It’s my way of giving BY DON MINKOFF � Don’t stop yourself from laughing at those back to the land. I try to do what I can to stay rooted.” In the movie “Singing in the Rain,” there laughable moments. However, be aware of are athletic dance scenes that Gene Kelly when laughter is appropriate and how the was famous for. There is the famous scene people you are with will react to the humor of Gene Kelly dancing in the rain to the and/or laughter. DEADLINES movie’s theme song, “Singing in the Rain.” It has also been suggested that fake laughter The following are deadlines for all articles and when one is anxious, depressed or angry will However, the scene that comes to my mind is photos for upcoming Reporter issues. Donald O’Connor dancing while singing the have a positive effect on how you feel. There song “Make ‘Em Laugh.” In this scene, Gene is a Yiddish proverb that states, “What soap DEADLINE ISSUE Kelly is despondent about his career. Donald is to the body, laughter is to the soul.” So go Thursday, March 8...... March 22 Don Minkoff O’Connor reacts to him by singing about the ahead, make ‘em laugh. Thursday, March 22...... April 5 benefits of laughter while flying around a set, SOURCES: Tuesday, April 3, early...... April 19 wrestling with a mannequin and flying through a wall. ‹‹ http:// www.lsughterremedy.com/humor2.dir/hu- What did the writers of this 1952 musical, Adolph Green, mor12_99.html Thursday, April 19...... May 3 Betty Comden and Arthur Freed, know that research is ‹‹ http:// www.aath.org/art_wootdunk.html teaching us about the effect of humor and laugher today? ‹‹ http://www.jesthealth.com/artantistress9.html Laughter has been shown to stabilize blood pressure, ‹‹ http://www.chausg.org/PUB/PUSP?ISSUE=H- Visit the stimulate circulation, assist digestion, increase the sup- P9024&ARTICLE=C Jewish Federation ply of oxygen to the blood, decrease muscle tension, ‹‹ http://www.goldensurf.com/laughter.gif on Facebook! strengthen the immune system and stimulate hormones Don Minkoff is a JFS social worker. that relieve pain. Laughter and humor relieve stress, improve depression and decrease anger. Humor and laughter can help overcome fear and gain confidence. Humor enhances relationships by providing a means of expression for people to connect. Ok, so what does all this mean? Investing more humor and laughter into one’s day-to-day life creates perspective when dealing with daily problems. Humor enhances emotional and physical health and, when used to laugh with and not at, doesn’t hurt relationships either. Here are suggestions to increase your sense of humor: ‹‹ Give yourself permission to stop and take time to laugh. ‹‹ Spend more time around people who are good laughers. Don’t feel guilty about your own laughter. ‹‹ Learn what makes you laugh and enjoy yourself. Listen to comedy audio tapes when driving, read comedy books and articles, watch comedies and go to performances by comedians. Save the Dates... (Spring will be here before we know it!) Sunday, April 15 Wednesday, May 16 Sunday, June 3 The Jewish Federation The Jewish Federation Celebrate and the Scranton JCC of NEPA Trip to the Israel invite you to celebrate Museum of the 70th birthday of the Jewish Heritage, Parade, State of Israel NYC NYC ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook 4 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018 Why “Black Panther” might also be a milestone in black-Jewish relations BY GABE FRIEDMAN Reginald Hudlin, who more than a decade (JTA) – If you have checked in on the ago wrote a Black Panther TV series, called pop culture zeitgeist the past few weeks, the duo’s character “perfect.” Stephen you know that the film “Black Panther” Bush, writing in the New Statesman, called is breaking box office records and Hol- them “genius.” lywood assumptions about race. The As for Lee, who is now 95, he has been well-received Marvel flick was written and rooting for the “Black Panther” film for a directed by African-Americans (co-writ- while. “Congratulations @marvelstudios, ten by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, #RyanCoogler, and the entire cast & crew and directed by Coogler) and features a on the soaring success of Black Panther! mostly African-American cast anchored What a thrill it is to be able to witness by Chadwick Boseman in the title role as all the records this dynamic, thoughtful a black superhero. movie is smashing,” he tweeted. But some fans might not realize that So perhaps it’s time to celebrate the the original Black Panther character was message of reconciliation that “Black actually created by two white Jews. The Panther” represents, just like Kirby – who superhero was the brainchild of writer passed away in 1994 – might have done. Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber) and artist Posters for “Black Panther” filled Edwards Houston Marq’e Stadium 23 and In an interview with The Hollywood Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg), who IMAX at a screening of the blockbuster film for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Reporter, Kirby’s family compared him already were veterans of the comic book Houston on February 15. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images for IMAX) to Bernie Sanders, saying that he would industry when they started working togeth- have been delighted to see the character er at Marvel at the dawn of the 1960s. The rights movement to an outsized extent, Israel became another unjust colonial empower such a wide audience. first comic book series they produced in and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. often regime. Jews felt betrayed, as did blacks “A black superhero with both amazing tandem was the Fantastic Four in 1961, praised them for their activism. when some major Jewish groups began mental as well as physical powers, from but they would go on to create a slew of Jews “demonstrated their commitment to oppose affirmative action. a technologically advanced society in superhero characters, from the Hulk to to the principle of tolerance and broth- So perhaps “Black Panther” represents Africa, sends as strong a message now as Iron Man to the X-Men. erhood not only in the form of sizable an opportunity for healing. The film’s it did over 50 years ago. Today, my grand- Lee and Kirby’s Black Panther char- contributions, but in many other tangible creators and a number of black writers father’s message will reach tens of millions acter debuted in July 1966, in a Fantastic ways, and often at great personal sacri- have been praising Lee and Kirby for of people of all races and nationalities, a Four comic strip. He would get his own fice,” King said in 1965. reaching out to non-white audiences and concept my grandfather could never have series later in the ‘70s.) The leader of the However, relations strained over time, imagining an empowered African culture conceived of,” Kirby’s granddaughter fictional African country of Wakanda as Jews found their way into the upper free from colonialism. Coogler called Jillian Kirby said in a separate interview was the first black superhero featured in echelons of America while blacks re- them “amazing” in a recent interview. cited by THR. a mainstream comic book. In addition mained stifled in comparison, even after to having supernatural physical abilities the passage of multiple civil rights bills in (granted in part by a heart-shaped herb the ‘60s. In October 1966, Huey Newton Continued from page 1 he eats), the Black Panther is a scientist and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther Elections with a degree from Oxford University. Party (which did not take its name from A third possibility could see Netanya- criminal proceedings, it’s clear that an In the Marvel universe, Wakanda, which the character), and kick-started the Black hu call early elections. The advantage of indicted premier cannot remain in office. resisted Western colonization, is also the Power movement, which scrutinized the this course of action is that it will allow The fourth scenario could see Net- most technologically advanced nation on ways that any whites – Jews included – Netanyahu to control events, despite anyahu bide his time. This seems to be earth – a concept meant to shatter stereo- interacted with blacks. the inherent, calculated risk of seeking his preferred course of action, as it will types about Africa. The aftermath of Israel’s victory in the re-election, as no one really knows how allow him to observe how the legal pro- Besides being a pop culture milestone, 1967 Six-Day War subtly added to the such early elections will end. Winning the cess evolves before making a decision the Black Panther’s debut came at a crucial groups’ separation. After Israel repelled election will prove Netanyahu’s claim that on whether or not to call early elections. juncture in black-Jewish relations. The attacks from many of its Middle Eastern the public has faith in his ability to govern; Netanyahu does not believe Mendelblit years after World War II and up to about neighbors, it took control of the Arabs therefore, demanding that he step down will indict him, which is why he prefers the 1966 (yes, that exact year, as explained living in the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Pen- or suspend himself pending the attorney current status quo. But what if Netanyahu below) have been referred to as a “golden insula and territory known as the West general’s decision is irrelevant. is re-elected and then indicted? This could age” in the relationship between the two Bank. It was a turning point in the way Seeking re-election, however, comes go one of two ways: If Netanyahu faces groups. American Jews, who empathized that many groups – including blacks, who with a major disadvantage – namely, that minor charges that do not carry moral tur- with blacks as they themselves struggled sympathized with other groups they con- it will not resolve a situation in which he pitude, he will probably be able to pressure to fit into white American society before sidered oppressed – viewed Israel and in may face criminal charges several months Mendelblit into signing a plea bargain that and after the war, participated in the civil turn some American Jews. In their eyes, or a year into his next term. While Israeli would allow him to remain in office. But if law does not mandate prime ministers to he faces serious charges, such as bribery, suspend themselves or resign while facing he’ll have no choice, but to resign. Judge, attorney purportedly discovered colluding in case against Netanyahu (JNS) – A leaked text conversation between the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court judge overseeing an investigation against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the attorney representing investigators has sent shockwaves through the country, showing that the two colluded to extend the remands of suspects in the case, even planning how the judge would react in court. An exposé on Channel 10 news on Feb. 25 revealed that Judge Ronit Poznanski-Katz, presiding over Case 4000 – in which members of the Netanyahu camp are suspected of conspiring to benefit the Bezeq telecommunications company in exchange for favorable coverage from Walla news, owned by the same person, Shaul Elovitch – corresponded with Israel Securities Authority attorney Eran Shacham-Shavit privately via WhatsApp. In their commu- nications, Shacham-Shavit told Poznanski-Katz that he would seek an extension of remand for several Bezeq-affiliated suspects. “Look surprised,” he told the judge. The attorney then went on to explain how she should conduct the remand in response to statements he would make in court, to which the judge replied: “If you continue to reveal everything to me, I will have to look really surprised.” She also referenced a plan they had made previously, though did not elaborate. Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Chief Justice of Israel’s Supreme Court Esther Hayut have filed a com- ewish Federa the J tion plaint against Poznanski-Katz, who has stepped down from the case. Shacham-Shavit on ’s e u ma has also stepped down as prosecutor. Both parties are under investigation. All of the yo il re lis remanded suspects are filing requests for immediate release. A t? We send updated announcements and special Effective please event details weekly to those who wish to receive them. immediately, send note! all articles and ads to Send Dassy Ganz an email if you would like to join the list. our new E-mail address, [email protected] jfnepareporter@ jewishnepa.org.

Effective immediately, please send all articles & ads to our new E-mail address, [email protected]. MARCH 8, 2018 ■ THE REPORTER 5 Jews from all over Russia win trips to Paris – by studying Judaism BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ they flew from Nice to visit Auschwitz MOSCOW (JTA) – Growing up in a before returning to Russia. working-class family in Russia’s Far East, Matchmaking is part of the Eurostars Sergei Aryeh Zolotov knew the French raison d’etre, according to Rabbi Mendy Riviera only from what he’d seen in Wilansky, head of the Yahad special James Bond movies. A student in his 20s programs platform, which is responsible from the city of Khabarovsk, 4,000 miles for Eurostars within the Federation of east of Moscow, Zolotov had neither the Jewish Communities. The cruise featured means to travel to the sunny beaches of speed dating evenings, he said. “In a huge southern France nor to obtain the visa country like Russia with massive assim- that Russian citizens need to enter the ilation, of course it’s an opportunity for European Union. shidduch,” he said. Luckily for Zolotov, he didn’t need Among those seizing the opportunity to worry about any of that. All he had to were Yosef and Sarah Vasilyev, partici- do to visit the beaches of Cote d’Azur pants on the 2015 Eurostars trip. Yosef, was to show up for a few months of a Jew from the Siberian city of Tyumen, weekly Judaism classes at his local became engaged to Sarah from the nearby synagogue, thanks to Russia’s Eurostars city of Chelyabinsk just days after return- program for young Jews from the former ing from France. Their wedding in the Soviet Union. synagogue of her hometown was a rare Launched in 2012 by the country’s celebration for her graying community and branch of the Chabad Chasidic move- Participants in the Eurostars trip to France in 2015 at the Louvre Museum in featured prominently in its newsletter that ment, the program takes hundreds of Paris. (Photo courtesy of Yachad) month. Zolotov also came on the Eurostars Jewish men and women aged 18-28 program hoping to meet his “other half,” on fully subsidized trips each spring to I signed up because a friend told me it’s Soviet Union gathered in Moscow for a but it was the visit to Auschwitz that ended Europe. The Eurostars trip features a a classy cruise with guys and girls for weeklong trip costing many millions of up changing his life, he said. visit to the former Nazi death camp of free,” he said. dollars that was paid for in donations to “It burned a hole in my soul,” Zolotov Auschwitz in Poland along with different But Zolotov said the utilitarian Chabad of Russia. recalled. “It made me think of how we, destinations every year. But to earn a approach changed as he connected to With visas pre-arranged for them by Jews from Russia, walked and sang in free ticket, participants must attend 85 Rabbi Yaakov Snetkov and his “small, the Chabad-affiliated Federation of Jew- Hebrew in Spain, before remembering percent of a yearlong program studying but warm,” community. The connection ish Communities of the Commonwealth our brothers killed in Poland,” he said, Torah and Jewish traditions. “changed me forever, more than any cruise of Independent States, the approximately referencing the bloody history of antise- Coming from Khabarovsk – a land- ever could,” he said. Following the trip, 1,000 participants boarded two chartered mitic persecution in all three countries. “It locked and icy place situated 800 miles Zolotov had a belated circumcision. airplanes to Barcelona, Spain. They made me feel what the Jewish tradition of northeast of the North Korean capital of For eight months in 2016, Zolotov toured the sites connected to that city’s survival and renewal is about.” Pyongyang – “I never thought I’d get to joined a handful of other Eurostars par- Jewish heritage. Traveling in 20 bus- To Berel Lazar, a chief rabbi of Russia, go on a Mediterranean cruise,” Zolotov ticipants in Khabarovsk who studied the es, they boarded a Grandi Navi Veloci the program’s success – participation has told JTA recently in Moscow, where he weekly Torah portion on Sundays. Last cruise ship to Italy and Monaco, giving quadrupled over the past six years – is moved last year to work as an economist. May, they and groups like theirs from the latter’s tiny Jewish community the indicative of a major shift in European Zolotov attended the 2017 trip. “Frankly, more than 40 cities across the former largest Jewish event in its history. Then See “Trips” on page 6

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Authorized signatureDate DR. JOEL AND LEAH LAURY, CO-CHAIRS OF THE 2018 UJA CAMPAIGN THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook 6 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018 The youngest Schindler’s list survivor is still telling her story BY BEN SALES about how best to perpetuate Holocaust the Academy Award for best picture. One NEW YORK (JTA) – Eva Lavi’s earli- memory. On the one hand, she acknowl- scene featuring her as a child, she says, is est memories are of the Holocaust. edges that survivors’ stories are exten- mostly accurate: Nazis separated her from She remembers how her mother made sively documented. On the other hand, her mother, but Schindler saved her by tell- her hide outside in below-zero weath- she knows nothing is more powerful than ing the guards he needed her small fingers er, clutching a standing pipe, as Nazis a first-hand account. to operate machinery. She believes that searched her home in Poland. She remem- One way to transmit the experience, movie and those that have followed play bers her father telling her to swallow a she says, is movies. She’s grateful for the a positive role in educating people about spoonful of cyanide – better than death research work that Spielberg did while what happened – even if some are fictional. at the hands of the Nazis – only to have making “Schindler’s List,” which won See “Story” on page 10 her mother object at the last minute. She remembers seeing her twin cousins shot to death as they ran up a hill at a labor camp. Lavi was 2 years old when Nazi Ger- Trips Continued from page 5 many took over her hometown of Krakow Jewry. It was vividly on dis- in September 1939. Now 80, she wants play during the 2015 trip to to make sure her stories aren’t lost after Eva Lavi, who was 2 years old when the France, Lazar said, when he she’s gone. Nazis invaded Poland, addressed the led participants on a solidar- “There was no childhood for children United Nations recently. (Photo courtesy ity visit to the Hyper Cacher my age,” she said recently in a speech to the of the Israeli mission to the U.N.) kosher shop in Paris, where United Nations General Assembly follow- earlier that year an Islamist ing International Holocaust Remembrance happened in the world.” killed four Jews. Day on January 27. “Regularly, we saw, Although Lavi now regularly returns “I remember a time when heard and understood everything the Nazis to Auschwitz, she says the experience still the Chabad emissary to were doing to us. At 6 years old, children isn’t easy. Each time, she finds herself France would go around ko- were cynical old people trying to survive.” looking around in horror and crying. But sher shops to collect nearly Lavi is the youngest survivor to have by now she’s used to it. expired products to send been on Schindler’s list, the Jews saved “Every time I go, I cry here and there them” to Russia, he told JTA. L-r: Sergei Aryeh Zolotov and Lev Aryeh Osipov at by German industrialist Oskar Schindler because it’s a terrible thing,” she told “Now we are returning to Moscow’s Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center on and immortalized in Steven Spielberg’s JTA. “Every person that went there saw France to extend our support January 31. (Photo by Cnaan Liphshiz) 1993 film. Lavi was put in a ghetto in the ovens, the gas chambers. Everything to that community.” Poland with her family immediately after was real. It’s very scary, but because I’ve At a time of record immigration to to take part in Jewish studies programs the Nazi takeover, transferred to a labor gone so many times, I take it differently. Israel by French Jews because of France’s by Jews (or at least to those Jews who camp and then to Auschwitz. I don’t think about myself. I think about antisemitism problem, Lazar said, “It’s a meet Chabad’s definition, which is people After being saved by Schindler, who how the kids are reacting.” very important sign of solidarity.” whose mother is Jewish according to Or- sheltered hundreds of Jews who worked in Lavi also feels a sense of urgency in Some Eurostars participants had a thodox law or who have been converted his kitchen goods and armament factories, telling her story because she thinks the better idea than Zolotov of what to ex- under Orthodox auspices). Lavi lived a quiet life in Israel. She served world hasn’t gotten better since she was pect, including Lev Aryeh Osifov of the “Some rabbis were having trouble in the Army, lived on a kibbutz, worked liberated. There are groups that still seek Siberian city of Tomsk. A graduate of the attracting people to class even with pay- as an administrative assistant and raised to annihilate Jews and other minorities, Taglit-Birthright program of subsidized ments; other rabbis felt it tainted their a family. She remembers the early years she says. trips to Israel for young adult Jews, he had congregations,” Wilansky said. “That’s in Israel when survivors were disparaged And she called the Polish bill that would been to Western Europe before coming how we arrived at the idea of giving a as weak and passive. But as interest in the criminalize those who blame Poland for with Eurostars. “I didn’t need Eurostars trip, though in many cases the social Holocaust increased, she became more the Holocaust a “disaster.” Yes, she says, to see Europe, I can afford going on my dynamic that forms in the study groups vocal in recounting her experience. Now Poles were killed, too, at the Nazi death own,” Osifov said. “But liked that feeling is its own reward.” she speaks to groups at Yad Vashem and camps. But she adds that the Poles were of togetherness.” That was the case for Ruth Galeyeva, the Israeli Holocaust authority, and travels no angels, citing Polish violence against Unlike the Taglit-Birthright program, a participant on the 2015 trip. She hails to Poland every year with a group of high Jews during and after the war. which participants can only attend once, from Orenburg, a city located 800 miles school students. “I was in Auschwitz and there were Eurostars students can go up to three times. east of Moscow, near Russia’s border with “It’s true testimony from someone who Polish prisoners,” she said. “But what they Despite having little knowledge about Kazakhstan. Galeyeva attended Jewish was there. It’s not a story,” she told JTA say, that the Poles were all sweetness and Judaism, Zolotov had a “powerful con- education programs as a child, but as a in a separate interview, adding that once light? No. In any case, they didn’t really nection” with Jewish texts early on in the university student “I felt suddenly that I no Israelis became interested in the Holo- like the Jews.” study program, according to Wilansky, longer had that framework in my life,” she caust, “the survivors opened their mouths As the Holocaust survivor population the rabbi. said. “So I joined the Eurostars program and began to tell the story. It’s not just a shrinks – Lavi was born just two years Nonetheless, financial incentives are a just to belong to a community again.” story. It’s the worst and cruelest thing that before the war – she sounds conflicted necessity in a poor country where Jewish And as a former design student, she life had been driven to the point of near also wanted to see Paris. “Everything was extinction amid communist repression, so beautiful there,” Galeyeva recalled. assimilation and mass emigration. The But all that beauty, she added, “seems so Eurostars program, he said, grew out superficial now compared to the feeling of an earlier framework in which rabbis I got just by being surrounded again by offered cash payments to Jews who agreed my own people.”

At right: Rabbi Berel Lazar placed tefillin on a participant of the Eurostars trip to France in 2015. (Photo courtesy of Yachad)

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Pledge or Donate online at www.jewishnepa.org/donate MARCH 8, 2018 ■ THE REPORTER 7 All spaced out: Exhibit boldly goes where Jews go... into the final frontier BY SHIRYN SOLNY Visitors are taught about the connection between astron- (JNS) – A new exhibition debuted in New York on omy and Judaism, rabbinical figures who studied lunar Febrauary 26 that explores the connection between Jews activity and the various Jewish astronauts (with a nod and something outside of our own world: outer space. to Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut for NASA, who (And no, it’s not a reshowing of the Mel Brooks short died along with six other Columbia shuttle crew members movie by the same name – that rather ingenious rip-off upon re-entry on February 1, 2003) who participated in of “Star Wars” – though it eventually comes into play.) space exploration programs and missions. At the heart of “Jews in Space: Members of the Tribe On display at the exhibit, presented by the Center for in Orbit” is the story of the Jewish relationship with the Jewish History in collaboration with the Yivo Institute for solar system, rooting all the way back to the B.C.E. era. Jewish Research, are roughly 40 artifacts, including rare 18th- and 19th-century rabbinic texts on astronomy and cosmography in Hebrew, German and Yiddish; Judaica taken into space; rare science fiction periodicals; and other materials from literature and pop culture. Melanie Meyers, the Center’s senior manager for reference and outreach and the exhibit’s co-curator, said the exhibit “traces all the various accomplishments in these different areas of talking about space, thinking about A photograph of Jewish actors William Shatner and space, going into space – and that Jews were involved in Leonard Nimoy on the set of “Star Trek.” (Photo all of them. People don’t necessarily know that.” courtesy of Center for Jewish History) The initial idea, related Meyers, popped up while she and her husband were watching an episode of “Star Trek.” Mel Brooks comedy film “History of the World, Part I,” “It was actually his idea,” acknowledged Meyers. which featured a parody trailer called “Jews in Space” “He was the one who came to me and said, ‘I can’t that eventually inspired the movie “Space Balls.” believe you’ve never done an exhibition on Jews in Quite appropriately, an autographed photo of Brooks, science fiction.’” which personally belongs to Meyers, is on display at She started thinking about it, eventually approaching the exhibit. Yivo’s Edward Portnoy, who became the co-curator. A large chunk of the exhibit focuses on the Jewish “‘Let’s toy around with a bunch of astronomy books,’” connection to modern-day science fiction and pop culture. she recalled. “Once we started talking about it, we were Materials include original covers of “Amazing Stories,” just rolling.” the first magazine composed solely of science fiction, Portnoy told JNS that when Meyers approached started in 1926 by Jewish inventor Hugo Gernsback, who him with the idea, he was already working on another coined the term (though he was said to have preferred the exhibition about rare rabbinical material from the 16th, term “scientifiction”). A number of Jewish science fiction 17th and 18th centuries, which included many books on writers are represented in the exhibit, as well as a sci-fi astronomy written in Hebrew. He suggested that they do story written in Yiddish in 1929, and various images of a “much broader exhibit” about Jews in space that would the main characters in the “Star Trek” television series, An encyclopedic book discussing astrology, theology include his findings connected to astronomy, cosmology Capt. James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, played by Jewish and other sciences on display in the “Jews in Space” and its roots in the Jewish culture. Together, they decided actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, respectively. exhibit. (Photo by Shiryn Solny) to pull the name for the exhibit from the popular 1981 See “Frontier” on page 16 P A C E Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment Your gift to the Annual Campaign DOES A WORLD OF GOOD. Endowing your gift allows you to be there for the Jewish community of NEPA forever. A Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment (PACE) is a permanent fund that endows your Jewish community Annual Campaign gift as a lasting legacy. 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For more information contact Mark Silverberg at [email protected] or call 570-961-2300, ext. 1. ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook 8 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018 SCIENCE SNIPPETS Israeli, U.S. astronomers may have uncovered proof of “dark matter” BY JNS STAFF However, when the scientists studied the radio signal (JNS) – A team of American and Israeli astronomers from the early universe, they found that it had a larger may have uncovered the first-ever proof of the existence amplitude than predicted, indicating that the primordial of the mysterious “dark matter,” one of the building gas was colder than expected. This suggests that the blocks of the universe, while attempting to detect the gas cooled through the interaction of hydrogen with earliest stars in the universe through radio wave signals. dark matter. The discovery by the team, led by Professor Judd “I realized that this surprising signal indicates the Bowman of Arizona State University, which was pub- presence of two actors: the first stars and dark matter,” lished the week of February 28 in the journal Nature by stated Barkana. “The first stars in the universe turned on Professor Rennan Barkana, head of the Department of the radio signal, while the dark matter collided with the Astrophysics at Tel Aviv University’s School of Phys- ordinary matter and cooled it down. Extra-cold material ics and Astronomy, suggests that the signal is proof of naturally explains the strong radio signal.” interactions between normal matter and dark matter in Physicists have long expected dark matter particles the early universe. to be heavy, but the recent discovery indicates that they “Dark matter is the key to unlocking the mystery are likely low-mass particles, which has the potential to of what the universe is made of,” said Barkana. “We reorient the search for dark matter in the universe. Based know quite a bit about the chemical elements that on this, Barkana predicts that dark matter produced a make up the earth, the sun and other stars, but most very specific pattern of radio waves that can be detected of the matter in the universe is invisible and known with large array of radio antennas such as the SKA, the as ‘dark matter.’” The pattern of radio waves on the sky caused by the largest radio telescope in the world, which is currently Barkana said that while the existence of dark matter combination of radiation from the first stars and the under construction in South Africa. is inferred from its strong gravity, astronomers have no effect of dark matter. Blue regions are those where the “Such an observation with the SKA,” said Barkana, idea what kind of substance it actually it is. As such, dark dark matter cooled down the ordinary matter most “would confirm that the first stars indeed revealed dark matter is one of the top remaining mysteries of physics. strongly. (Photo by Professor Rennan Barkana, via JNS) matter.” NEWS IN BRIEF From JNS.org refusal to allocate electricity, as well as on the ongoing energy crisis in Gaza due to Amid energy crisis, Gaza might dump raw sewage into tensions between Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. the Mediterranean Sea U.S. think tank draws attention to political censorship by Officials in the Gaza Strip announced on Feb. 21 that if Hamas doesn’t loosen its tech companies grip on fuel provisions to the towns, they will be forced to begin dumping sewage The Middle East Forum continued its campaign for tech companies to stop politically directly into the Mediterranean Sea. “The beaches of the Gaza Strip will be completely censoring material, warning on Feb. 20 about the recent trend of the suppression of anti-Is- closed, and sewage will be pumped into the sea because the municipalities are unable lamist information published by moderate Muslim activists. The Philadelphia-based think to provide fuel” for treatment facilities, said Gaza City Municipal head Nizar Hejazi. tank calls on the public to send it information on documenting this trend, particularly related “We announce a state of emergency in the cities and municipalities of the Gaza Strip,” to the censorship of anti-Islamist content, by e-mailing it to [email protected]. The he added, noting that services to residents would be cut in half. The week of Feb. 16, forum has previously written about Google’s collaboration with The New York Times, The Gaza’s only power plant stopped producing electricity due to a lack of fuel and was Guardian and Wikipedia on ways to automate censorship of “offensive” content. YouTube forced to import it. Pollution from Gaza has been a decades-long concern for Israelis and Google are now following Twitter’s practice of “shadow-banning,” defined as hiding and other nations on the Mediterranean coast. The local waste-treatment facility, built or down-ranking content that tech companies find politically unpalatable. The practice by with $100 million of international funding, does not fully function because of Hamas’ these companies of deleting posts and suspending accounts is becoming more common.

Your Name(s) MARCH 8, 2018 ■ THE REPORTER 9 10 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018 D’VAR TORAH The truest form of unity BY RIVKAH SLONIM, EDUCATION DIRECTOR, each particular vessel and component of the Tabernacle. CHABAD CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDENT LIFE Vayakel stresses the value of cohesion, while Pekudai AT BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY focuses on the importance of drawing distinctions and Vayakel-Pekudai, 35:1-40:38 the value of individuality. It is well-known that the names of the parashot were Indeed, taught the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the juxtaposi- not chosen simply because they are the first or second tion of the two parashot every few years comes to remind word of each parasha, but because that particular word us of a fundamental teaching in Jewish philosophy. On best encapsulates the essence of the parasha in its totality. the one hand, we are a small people who understand only This year, the two parashot of Vayakel and Pekudai are too well that there is strength in number, that we must read together on one Shabbat. They are treated, for all unite in order to accomplish what needs accomplishing. intents and purposes, as one parasha. Strangely, a cur- From that perspective, there can be no greater personal sory glance at their names would seem to indicate that contribution on the part of each individual than the nega- the parashot are simply too divergent to lump together. tion of individuality for the sake of the community. At the Vayakel, which means “and he (Moses) gathered,” same time, we dare not lose sight of the unique qualities speaks of Moses gathering all of the Jews together in and gifts that each individual can and must contribute one great assemblage to command them concerning the to the larger whole. In fact, says the Rebbe, the truest concept of the Sabbath and about the building of the Tab- form of unity is only when each individual retains their ernacle. As the name indicates, the salient theme of this individuality and does not allow their personality to be parasha is the gathering together of all Jews. Pekudai, obfuscated by the larger group. on the other hand, which literally means “the specific In our cohesion and unity, we dare not lose sight of accounts” or “enumeration,” underscores the essence of the unique and singular contributions we each need to this parasha, which is the specificity and uniqueness of make. Only then are we truly whole. Deciphering the past Eighth-century clay seal with “signature of prophet Isaiah” BY JNS STAFF (JNS) – A historic archaeological discovery near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount may be proof of the life of the biblical prophet Isaiah, according to an article in the Biblical Archaeology Review. A broken, eighth-century B.C.E. clay seal impression, or bulla, appears to be in- scribed with the words “Belonging to Isaiah,” as well as a partial word containing letters of the word “prophet.” “We appear to have discovered a seal impression, which may have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, in a scientific, archaeological excavation,” said Eilat Mazar, Ph.D., a Hebrew University archeologist, whose team uncovered the find at the Temple Mount’s southern wall Ophel excavation. In addition to the words on the bulla, a grazing doe is impressed on the seal, which is “a motif of blessing and A broken, eighth-century B.C.E. clay seal found find protection found in Judah, particularly in Jerusalem,” at the Temple Mount’s southern wall Ophel excavation according to the article. appears to be inscribed with the words “Belonging to Isaiah ministered to the Jewish people during the reigns Isaiah.” (Photo by Eilat Mazar via JNS) of Judean Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, and prophesied that “out of Zion shall come forth Torah, of Isaiah is recalled [in the Bible] (2 Kings 19-20; Isaiah and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” 37-39),” said Mazar. “No other figure was closer to King The Isaiah bulla was found just 10 feet from where Hezekiah than the prophet Isaiah.” Mazar’s team found a groundbreaking, intact bulla bearing the inscription “of King Hezekiah of Judah” in 2015. Hezekiah, the 12th king of the Kingdom of Judah, ruled between 727 B.C.E. and 698 B.C.E. “The names of King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah are mentioned in one breath 14 of the 29 times the name

Story Continued from page 6 Maimonides Scholars Program “They did a lot of movies that had influence,” she The Maimonides Scholars Program for told JTA. “They engaged the heart, even if they’re not high school students will take place from true, but they have to be faithful to truth.” June 24-July 8. It is an immersive summer After decades of telling her story around the world, institute for high school juniors and seniors Lavi says addressing the United Nations gave her a sense that is hosted at Yale University. The mission of the of closure. For years she has carried guilt for surviving program is to immerse students in the foundational texts where so many perished. But with this speech, she said, and great questions of Jewish and Western civilization; she achieved something to justify her life. to explore the history and future of modern Israel; and “It was very hard to be a child survivor,” she told to prepare them to be civically engaged, intellectually JTA. “I felt guilty. I began to talk to God: Why did he curious Jewish citizens and leaders. Among those sched- save me? I imagined my Jewish brothers, me and them uled to be at the program are Daniel Gordis, Dara Horn, together, we’re walking, and then God pulls me out. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and Danny Danon. Now that they’ve sent me to the U.N. to speak in front For more information, visit https://tikvahfund.org/maimon- of the world, it’s as if I did something to satisfy God ides-scholar-program/maimonides-overview/?utm_source=- after my death.” jrb&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=speakers. MARCH 8, 2018 ■ THE REPORTER 11 With theme of “Together We Will,” BBYO convention sounds prescient note on teen action BY PAMELA RUBEN as far away as China, for the celebra- (JNS) – Mike Signer, who served as the tion of Jewish teen spirit, listening and mayor of Charlottesville, VA, during the learning from speakers in the worlds of rally and protests last August that brought entertainment, social justice and Jewish white supremacists to the forefront of organizational life. international attention, recalled that he But before they got into the bulk of was about 8 or 9 when he heard his first the program, a moment of silence was antisemitic slur. held in memory of the 17 people – 14 “Growing up in Northern Virginia, the students and three staff members – last thing I wanted to be was different, so killed in the mass shooting at Marjory I assimilated,” he told more than 3,000 Stoneman Douglas High School in Jewish teens attending the annual BBYO Parkland, FL, some 200 miles south of International Convention held recently in Orlando, on February 14, the first day Orlando, FL. of the conference. The BBYO International Convention in Orlando, FL. (Photo by Jason Dixon It wasn’t until his late 30s, when Recognition of that loss continued Photography) Signer made his first trip to Israel, that throughout the next few days. Yet despite he said he became comfortable with a lingering pall of sadness, a sense of In addition to Signer, speakers in- hate is first-hand,” he said, “you can his Judaism. excitement also seemed to prevail. cluded Susan Bro, whose 32-year-old see why we need to combat extremism That didn’t seem the case for the Jew- “I love going back to connect with daughter, Heather Heyer, was killed and antisemitism.” ish teens who packed convention halls friends from all over the world; it is the when a car drove into the crowd of Focusing on the event’s theme, “To- and meeting rooms during the four-day only way we can all see each other in one counter-protesters last summer in gether We Will,” Signer shared that BBYO conference. Delegates traveled from 49 place,” said Lexi Sussman of Cleveland, Charlottesville; two-time Olympic gold teens would be part of the generation that states and 36 countries, including from who was attending her third convention. medalist Aly Raisman, who just a few takes leadership to the next step – some- weeks before the convention publicly thing being exhibited in real time in the confronted Larry Nassar, the USA Gym- wake of the school shooting in South nastics physician convicted of sexually Florida. There, teens the same ages as the abusing her and hundreds of other young conference participants were becoming athletes; Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO budding activists, trying to make sense of the Anti-Defamation League; and of lethal attacks in America’s schools 31-year-old actor Josh Peck. (at press time, 18 school shootings have Throughout his remarks, Signer, who occurred since January 1). now sits on the Charlottesville City Coun- For her part, Bro is seeking a way to cil, implored the young people gathered bring meaning and something positive to go into public life with “courage and from her daughter’s death. The room confidence. ...Fringe elements are unac- was pin-drop quiet as Bro, too, em- ceptable,” he said. The Jewish people can braced the convention’s theme, asking have a place in “healing the breaches and participants to be the force of change wounds of the world.” that eradicates hate. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addressed the BBYO Wisconsin delegate Andrew Kazan Bro described Heyer as an ordinary International Convention. (Photo by Jason Dixon Photography) agreed. “When you see how terrible See “Teen” on page 13

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With best wishes, Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Jewish Federation of NE Pennsylvania 601 Jefferson Avenue Scranton, PA 18510 ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook 12 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018 BOOK REVIEW Divorce, religion and romance BY RABBI RACHEL ESSERMAN part of being good was a willingness to hide what you now has to decide what her religious practice will or In listings of stressful life events, divorce is considered really thought.” won’t be without rabbinic input. She juggles holidays one of the most difficult; some psychologists say only At one point, she saw marriage as the answer to all of and home observances as her children travel between the death of a loved one ranks higher. Tova Mirvis and life’s questions and challenges. Mirvis tried desperately her new home and that of her husband. Deciding what Ilana Kurshan discovered this in their personal lives, to follow the correct path: “I had followed the rules, had to do on a childless Friday night becomes a challenge. although they also learned that life does continue and done what was expected of me – gone to Israel, then to An even greater challenge begins when she starts dating can take unexpected – even joyous – turns. However, college and had fallen in love with someone like myself. a Jewish man who is completely secular. How Mirvis the two women had very different marital experiences I’d ventured outside, but hadn’t let it change who I was. balances all the different aspects of her life is a major before their divorces. In “The Book of Separation: A At the end of the wedding, as our guests started to leave, part of the story she tells. Memoir” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), novelist Mirvis we set off into the promised land of married life. I was While Mirvis had difficulty with the strictures of -Or writes about leaving not only her marriage of more than in love with him. I was in love with the story.” Mirvis thodox Judaism, Kurshan does not feel the same about 15 years, but the world of Modern Orthodoxy. Kurshan, forced herself to accept that story, but after three children, her Conservative practice. Even ancient rabbis’ comments on the other hand, was married less than a year before cracks began to emerge. The first time, though, that she about women and mitzvot don’t interfere with her love of her marriage ended, but she’d left behind her family admitted that she could no longer stay in the community talmudic text because she feels the rules don’t apply to her: and friends in the U.S. to follow her husband to Israel. was after taking part in a conference about Orthodoxy and “It soon became clear to me that by the Talmud’s standards, In “If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir” (St. Martin’s the arts. She realized that she could no longer live inside I am a man rather than a woman – if ‘man’ is defined as Press), Kurshan, the daughter of a Conservative rabbi, the box of Modern Orthodoxy: “That moment, standing an independent, self-sufficient adult, whereas ‘woman’ is shows how daf yomi (the study of a page of Talmud in front of this room of rabbis, was the last time I ever a dependent generally living in either her father’s or her daily) helped her through difficult times and increased considered myself inside... No, their limits weren’t ones husband’s home. In some ways this was a relief because I her personal connection to Judaism. I was willing to accept, and no, I didn’t want to teach my could regard the Talmud’s gender stereotypes as historical Mirvis’ decision to leave her marriage was not an easy children to heed these lines, and no, it wasn’t just about curiosities rather than infuriating provocations. The Talmud one. Born to a Modern Orthodox family in Memphis writing freely, it was about living honestly and freely, did not offend me because I was defying its classifications and now living in Massachusetts, she was well aware and no, I couldn’t tuck away this feeling, and no, I was through my engagement with the text.” that leaving her husband and no longer defining herself no longer willing to follow without believing, and no, After her divorce, Kurshan must choose whether to as religious might mean not only losing her friends, but I was no longer willing to pretend in order to belong.” remain in Israel or return to the U.S., but it seems that custody of her children. Mirvis notes that her decision However, leaving her marriage was easier than rather than make a firm choice, she just continues to live was not taken rashly. She had long chafed at Orthodox leaving behind her religion because it had served as the her daily life – working, studying and running. The author practice, but as a good girl, tried to hide her feelings, cornerstone of her life. At her religious divorce, Mirvis makes it clear that she loves to keep busy. In fact, that even when she was attending day school: “I said nothing realized that she now faced the world without a road desire to be doing something is what sometimes makes it because to outwardly challenge a teacher would have map for how to behave. Until that time, the religious difficult for her to pause and pray. She admits she lives in been worse than not doing your homework or talking world – the only world that existed for her – gave her two civilizations: her quotations about life not only come out of turn. I sunk lower in my seat and focused on the the answers: “Every decision I’d made up to this point from the Talmud, but the English literature she clearly hem of my skirt. Be good, said this teacher. Be good, the had been stacked on top of these [religious] truths. But also loves. Being part of a community is important to her, community said. Be good, my name [Tova] reminded me... once the foundation began to shake, everything else did so much so that she supports her egalitarian minyan by I knew without needing to be told that an indispensable as well. One by one the pieces began to fall.” Mirvis being one of its regular Torah readers. Yet, the majority of her work focuses on her daf yomi learning, which she uses to comment on her life. For example, when reading about how the rabbis mourned both the destruction of the Temple and the sacrificial system, she notes the same was true for her about her marriage: “I, too, felt that I was mourning not just my marriage but all my romantic dreams – dreams that involved late-night roving and star-crossed love. I’m not sure if, after the destruction of the First Temple, the Jews dared hope that there might someday be a second. I only know that in my life I har- bored no such expectations.” Readers already know that Kurshan will marry and have children – something she reveals in her introduction. Learning how she arrived at that state is what propels the text. The most interesting sections of “If All the Seas Were Ink” are Kurshan’s discussions of how the talmudic text related to her life situation. For example, when she discuss- es studying Talmud with a boyfriend who did not become her husband, she writes, “Although [he] and I learned Torah together, we were not learning the same Torah. It is impossible for any two people to learn the exact same Torah, because the moment someone internalizes what he or she has learned, that learning begins to assume his or her shape.” Kustan suggests that “there is some sort of chemical reaction that takes place between me and the Torah I learn. I am transformed by the Torah I study, and the Torah I study is transformed by my insights.” What makes Kurshan’s second marriage work is that her husband accepts who she is, rather than expecting her to fulfil some type of religious template. That means she continues attending her egalitarian minyan, while he prays at an Orthodox synagogue. Just how observant he is is not noted: Kurshan keeps kosher and is shomer Shabbat (a strict Shabbat observer), so there doesn’t seem to be any conflict between their observance. Kurshan’s theology is not Orthodox, though. She believes “the Torah is divine. But for me this does not mean that God handed the entire Written and Oral Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai. Rather, Sinai is the human record of an encounter with God. As a human record, this document is historically contingent: it was written at a particular historical moment, and reflects the biases of its times.” She mentions how future generations adapted the text to suit their needs, but also says that belief forms the basis of her life: “Ultimately I believe in God because I cannot live my life any other way.” Although I enjoyed both memoirs, “The Book of Sep- aration” was the more compelling, partly due to Mirvis’ skill as a novelist, which she used to create drama and suspense. My favorite parts of “If All the Seas Were Ink” – the discussions of talmudic rabbis – actually slowed the pace of of the work. Plus, readers already know from the beginning that Kurshan will marry and have children, while Mirvis only reveals where her life now stands at the end of her book. What both works had See “Romance” on page 15 MARCH 8, 2018 ■ THE REPORTER 13 Teen Continued from page 11 person, but one who was willing to stand up for Czechoslovakia, Ariana Rabinovich of Fort Collins, what she believed. The crowd buzzed in support as CO, videoed the presentation to share with classmates Bro passed on a quote from Heyer: “If you are not for a school project. outraged, you are not paying attention.” The convention also featured learning labs, leadership Asked where she finds the energy to carry on, Bro activities, Shabbat and Havdalah celebrations, and en- responded, “I have to make something out of her tertainment by Daya and Fetty Wap. First-hand accounts death. I can’t just let it go. I am not allowing that.” from Holocaust survivors reinforced the responsibility She also looked to the teens for help, saying “you of remembrance, and off-site visits to local nonprofits have to be the force for change.” emphasized the importance of communal involvement To that end, she invited the teens to speak with her, for all ages. Teens visited sites that included Clean the but with one caveat: “Tell me what difference you’re World; Emeril Lagasse Foundation Kitchen House and making, so the world can be a better place.” Culinary Garden; and the Renaissance Senior Center. Raisman, who received the BBYO “Stand UP” award, They also heard from two-time Olympic soccer gold spoke of the importance of Judaism in her life. She noted medalist and LGBTQ activist Abby Wambach, and “amazing memories of Jewish holidays,” which were a U.S. gymnastic’s Olympian Aly Raisman addressed watched videos sent to them from Canadian Prime Min- time of bonding in her tight-knit family. “If you are not the BBYO convention. (Photo by Jason Dixon ister Justin Trudeau and U.S. Ambassador to the United close to your family, surround yourself with people that Photography) Nations Nikki Haley. support you,” she said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs During a live session moderated by BBYO’s in life, and it’s important to have people you can go to limb from a 3-D printer created with the help of Israeli Teen Press Corps, actor Peck – known to parents for for advice.” engineers and Limbitless Solutions, a nonprofit organi- Nickelodeon’s “Drake and Josh,” and to teens as a The native of Needham, MA, also expressed con- zation dedicated to providing children with affordable YouTube and social-media influencer – answered cern about bullying on social media, including victim bionic limbs. questions from Eva Hayman (Northern Region East, shaming, body-shaming and judging. “What you guys Pamboukas’ enthusiasm for his super-hero-like ap- Northern Virginia) and Olivia Landsman (Gold Coast have to think about is no matter how many followers pendage drew both smiles and tears as he insisted, “I do Region, Florida) about a variety of topics, including someone has, everyone has feelings. Always be kind to everything everyone else can; I just do it in my own way.” self-acceptance, and the rewards and challenges of one another,” she encouraged. Jonah Rubenanko from BBYO’s Ohio Northern growing up in the public eye. Asked what it was like Alluding to the gymnastics sexual-assault scandal, Region said Pamboukas inspired him: “I’m studying having his awkward years chronicled on television, the Raisman acknowledged that “everyone is a survivor of 3-D modeling at school and someday hope to be part actor quipped: “Kids going through the same stages something.” of these solutions.” can feel a little better knowing it’s going to end up In a more intimate leadership question-and-answer Omer Bar-Lev, a member of the Israeli Knesset who OK.” (He then posed for pictures with more than 500 session titled “It’s a Woman’s World,” Raisman told founded Acharai (“Follow me”), which works to empower teen delegates.) BBYO delegate and moderator Gabrielle Gorowitz thousands of marginalized Israeli youth each year, told BBYO’s CEO Matthew Grossman noted the con- from the Gold Coast Region in Florida that “if some- the gathering that “youth organizations are the key to vention was the largest of its kind, gaining 500 new one is suffering abuse, they to need tell someone, and success, to what we can do.” delegates since the 2017 summit in Dallas and first-time then someone else, until someone finally listens.” Self-acceptance, repairing the world and eradicat- delegates from Australia, China, Colombia, Mexico Caryl Stern, president and CEO of UNICEF USA, ing hate were all common convention themes, made and Spain. He attributed the strong growth of the event described the audience as pieces of a puzzle who more relevant by the presence of several Holocaust to the organization being teen-led, coupled with its could make a difference. She invited the delegates to survivors, who addressed the group. In “Zikaron BaSa- pluralistic environment. join her in helping kids in need fulfill their potential. lon: Survivor’s Stories,” more than 50 teens helped “There’s no need for focus groups when kids are Speakers also included Jason Kander, president support a movement to bring Holocaust remembrance planning exactly what they want,” he said. “Teens of Let America Vote and a former secretary of state beyond a yearly commemoration and “into people’s are more than the center of conversation; they’re in Missouri; singer Melanie Galiardo; and Zachary living rooms,” as the project name imparts. Along running it.” Pamboukas, a third-grader who was born with a partial those lines, when survivor Trudy Album told of her Pamela Ruben is an author and freelance writer based arm. The 8-year-old received a “Spider-Man”-inspired experiences during World War II in Hungary and in Orlando, FL.

ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook 14 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018

February 2018

Feature Films *A Tale of Love and Darkness - Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman directs and stars in the emotional and thought-provoking story about Fania, a young wife and mother in war-torn Jerusalem, during the early years of the State of Israel. Stifled in her relationship and weary from the tedium of her new life, Fania creates fantastical stories for Amos, her 10-year-old son, amazing him with tales of adventure and beauty— stories that would influence the boy to become a writer himself. Based on the international best-selling memoir by Amos Oz. Denial - Based on the acclaimed book Denial: Holocaust History on Trial, Denial recounts Deborah E. Lipstadt’s legal battle for historical truth against David Irving (BAFTA nominee Timothy Spall), who accused her of libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier. In the English legal system, in cases of libel, the burden of proof is on the defendant, therefore it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team, led by Richard Rampton, to prove the essential truth that the Holocaust occurred. *Fanny’s Journey- In 1943, 13-year old Fanny and her younger sisters were sent from their home in France to an Italian foster home for Jewish children. When Nazis came to Italy, their caretakers organized the departure of the children to Switzerland. Based on a true story. Hidden in Silence- During the Nazi occupation of Poland,Catholic teenage Stefania Podgorska chooses the role of a savior and sneaks 13 Jewish into her attic. *Loving Leah: A Hallmark Hall of Fame Classic - A handsome Washington, D.C. doctor and a young New York woman fall in love at an unusual time...after they get married. Leah Lever is married to an Orthodox rabbi, Benjamin Lever, whose brother, Jake, is a successful cardiologist and a non-practicing Jew. Jake is stunned when Benjamin dies suddenly, but not as stunned as when he is told that, under an ancient Jewish Law, he is expected to marry the childless Leah to carry on Benjamin’s name. The only alternative is to go through a ceremony where Jake must deny his brother’s existence. For Jake, that’s unthinkable, so impulsively he suggests to Leah that they get married and maintain a secretly platonic relationship. Eager to pursue her own dreams, Leah gladly accepts. Their oversimplified plan to live separate lives under the same roof proves challenging when Leah’s suspicious mother shows up unexpectedly. The harder they try to disguise their “pretend” marriage, the more their appreciation for each other’s worlds grows - and out of understanding, a real love develops. Loving Leah is a heart-warming story. Munich - Inspired by real events, Munich reveal the intense story of the secret Israeli squad assign to track down and assassinate the 121 Palestinians believed to have planned the 1972 Munich massacre of 11 Israeli athletes. ( The Jewish Film Library also owns the movie “Twenty One Hours in Munich” about the massacre at the Olympics). Music Box - In this intense, courtroom thriller, Chicago attorney Ann Talbot agrees to defend her Hungarian immigrant father Mike Laszlo against accusations of heinous war crimes committed 50 years earlier. *Norman - Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) lives a lonely life in the margins of New York City power and money, and strives to be everyone’s friend. His incessant networking leads him nowhere until he ends up befriending a young but charismatic politician, Micha Eshel at a low point in his life. Three years later, the politician becomes the Prime Minister of Israel. Norman uses Eshel’s name to leverage his biggest deal ever: a series of quid pro quo transactions linking the Prime Minister to Norman’s nephew ,a rabbi, a mogul, his assistant and a treasury official from the Ivory Coast. Norman’s plans soon go awry, creating the potential for an international catastrophe he must struggle to prevent. Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer is a comedic and compassionate drama of a man whose downfall is rooted in a human frailty all too easy to forgive—a need to matter. Remember - Remember is the suspense-filled story of Zev, an Auschwitz survivor who discovers that the Nazi guard who murdered his family some seventy years ago is living in America under an assumed name. The Devil’s Arithmetic - Sixteen year old Hanna Stern was a typical American teenager who ignores her family’s heritage until a mystical Passover seder takes her back in time to German-occupied Poland on an emotional journey of life, death and survival. The Impossible Spy - The story of the life and death of Israel’s most celebrated spy, Elie Cohen. *The Last Butterfly -This World War II drama stars Tom Courtenay as the famous French Mime Antoine Moreau. Ordered by the Nazis to provide ‘the greatest show of his life’ for use as propoganda showing the kinder side of the Nazis as the war draws to a close, Moreau decides to risk everything to tell the world the real truth behind this monumental lie, and although as a mime he is pledged to keep his lips sealed, his voice must be heard. *The Women’s Balcony - Discover Israel’s #1 film of the year! An accident during a Bar Mitzvah celebration leads to a gender rift in a devout community in Jerusalem. *The Wedding Plan - A poignant and funny romantic comedy about love, marriage and faith in life’s infinite possibilities. *The Zookeeper’s Wife - In 1939 Poland, Antonina Zabinska (two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain) and her husband successfully run the Warsaw Zoo and raise their family in an idyllic existence. Their world is overturned, however, when the country is invaded by the Nazis and they are forced to report to the Reich’s newly appointed zoologist (Daniel Brühl). To fight back on their own terms, the Zabinskis risk everything by covertly working with the Resistance and using the zoo’s hidden tunnels and cages to save families from Nazi brutality. Non-Feature Films Above and Beyond - In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish-American pilots answered a call for help. As members of Machal- “volunteers from abroad”- this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they also embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride. *Body and Soul: The State of the Jewish Nation - A powerful documentary sets the record straight eloquently and comprehensively. It not only shows the undeniable historical connection between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel, but also succeeds in debunking propaganda, myths and misinformation that have become accepted as truth by many people. Follow Me - The story of the fantastic rescue at Entebbe and the loss of Yonatan Netanyahu (brother of the Prime Minister). The Jewish Film Library also owns an Israeli film about the rescue at Entebbe entitled “Operation Thunderbolt” Hava Nagila (the Movie) - Hava Nagila is a documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard. *I’m Still Here - Real Diaries of young people who lived during the Holocaust. Jews and Baseball (narrated by Dustin Hoffman) Israel: The Royal Tour - A delightful tour headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and travel correspondent Peter Greenberg. Nicky’s Family - The amazing story of Sir Nicholas Winton who created, on his own, a Kinder-transport in Czechoslavakia saving 669 children from the Nazi inferno. No Place on Earth - The harrowing story of Esther Stermer and her family and friends who escaped extermination by the Nazis by hiding in an underground cave is unearthed by accident when cave explorer, Chris Nicola stumbles upon remnants left behind by the cave dwellers. *Rosenwald - Rosenwald tells the incredible story of Julius Rosenwald, the son of an immigrant peddler who never finished high school, who rose to become the President of Sears. Influenced by the writings of the educator Booker T. Washington, this Jewish philanthropist joined forces with African American communities during the Jim Crow South to build 5,300 schools, providing 660,000 black children with access to education in the segregated American South. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg *The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers and Soldiers and Peacemakers - A two disc-set based on the international best-seller by Ambassador Yehuda Avner (New films denoted with an asterisk *)

MARCH 8, 2018 ■ THE REPORTER 15 NEWS IN BRIEF From JNS.org score the Israeli government’s successful economic stewardship and its praiseworthy Jewish group outraged by BDS founder’s address to E.U. efforts to boost Israel’s peripheral communities. “The CBS figures are proof that we are pursuing correct, responsible and wise economic policies,” he said. Parliament Permits requested to expand egalitarian prayer section at (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS via JNS) – The American Jewish Committee con- demned the European Parliament on Feb. 28 for hosting Omar Barghouti, the founder Jerusalem’s Western Wall of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Barghouti was invited The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has recently requested permits to expand the to address the European Union’s legislature by the radical left-wing parliamentary egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. According to The Jerusa- group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. In his talk, he accused Israel lem Post, the Prime Minister’s Office made the request, which was approved by the of being an “apartheid state.” This comes several weeks after a Norwegian politician Jerusalem city engineers department without a committee hearing. In early February, nominated the BDS movement for a Nobel Peace Prize, despite its antisemitic calls construction began to upgrade the egalitarian prayer section under the direction of for Israel’s destruction. In light of recent political and legal successes in the battle the Prime Minister’s Office, which has invested NIS 19 million ($5.4 million) in the against the BDS movement across Europe, BDS supporters have recently doubled project. According to the report, the permits requested will expand the size of the down on efforts to promote the boycott efforts and drum up recognition for the move- prayer area in accordance with the original plans laid out in a January 2016 Western ment. Daniel Schwammenthal, a representative of American Jewish Committee in Wall resolution, which was suspended last June by the Israeli Cabinet after political Brussels, where the European Parliament sits, remarked that Barghouti’s address was pressure from Netanyahu’s haredi coalition partners. At the time, the suspension caused “a grave assault on the dignity of the European Parliament, the Jewish communities outrage among non-Orthodox Jewish groups in the United States, and a straining of in Europe and around the world and, not least, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process ties between Israeli and Diaspora Jewish groups. The report said that upgrades to the itself.” Schwammenthal leveled harsh criticism at lawmaker Ana Gomes, from the egalitarian prayer section are being carried out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Portuguese Socialist Party, who spearheaded efforts to bring Barghouti to the European Netanyahu, who wants to implement physical improvements to the site without other Parliament. According to Schwammenthal, Gomes “has done a great disservice to critical aspects of the agreement to appease non-Orthodox Jewish groups and the the Palestinian cause and the peace process by giving a stage to an extremist activist Israeli Supreme Court, The Jerusalem Post reported. who openly rejects the two-state solution.” Report: U.S. peace plan to include eastern Jerusalem as A 1946 State Department report suggests Poles persecuted Palestinian capital Jews “vigorously” during the Holocaust (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s Israel-Palestinian In a bid to end the debate surrounding Poland’s Holocaust law, the Simon Wiesen- peace plan will call for an independent Palestinian state with eastern Jerusalem as its thal Center released a declassified report on March 1 highlighting Polish complicity capital, the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on Feb. 28. A French in persecuting Jews during the Holocaust. The U.S. State Department report from diplomat told the Arabic-language daily that the Trump administration is expected to May 15, 1946 – released by the Simon Wiesenthal Center on the same day that the reveal its peace plan at an upcoming international conference in Cairo. The report says Polish Holocaust law went into effect – found “evidence that Poles persecuted the that under Trump’s peace plan, the United States will recognize an independent Pales- Jews as vigorously as did the Germans.” The report, declassified in 1983, found that tinian state with eastern Jerusalem as its capital on condition that the disputed old city, “native Poles” took part in anti-Jewish actions conducted by the Germans, and called home to sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is administered by an international antisemitism “a traditional feature of Polish political and economic life.” The report custodian. Under the plan, the future Palestinian state will reportedly have limited sov- also documents antisemitism in Poland prior to the Holocaust, such as the country’s ereignty and demilitarized security forces. Israel will not withdraw to the 1967 lines antisemitic policies following World War I, including a ban on ritual animal slaugh- and will retain sovereignty over the larger settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley. The ter, discriminatory tax laws and a limit on the number of Jews given admittance settlements near the large blocs will be absorbed into them, while isolated settlements to universities. At the same time, the report also documents attacks against Jews will be dismantled. A senior official in Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’ following the Holocaust, including reports that more than 350 Jews were killed in office told Israel Hayom that “at the moment, there is an ongoing disconnect with the Polish towns. The Polish legislation enacted on March 1 makes it illegal to attribute administration. Trump and his men know what they must do. The issue of Jerusalem’s crimes committed during the Holocaust to Poland. The law has sparked outrage in status comes first.” Commenting on the report, Mort Klein of the Zionist Organization Israel and among Holocaust survivors, and has also been condemned by the United of America, which has largely been supportive of President Trump’s policies toward States, considered a key ally of Poland. Israel, said that “if the reported provisions of the plan are true, the Trump Administra- Israeli unemployment rate lowest since early 1970s tion’s ‘deal of the century’ would be the ‘disaster of the century.’” Israel’s unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest in nearly 50 years, reported Annual ADL report: Antisemitism surged in 2017 the Central Bureau of Statistics. On Feb. 28, the bureau released figures for January, The number of antisemitic incidents in the United States soared in 2017, according showing unemployment at 3.7 percent, compared to 4 percent in the previous month to the annual report by the Anti-Defamation League. There were 1986 acts classified as of December 2017. The unemployment rate in January was also lower than the annual antisemitic in 2017, up 57 percent from 2016 at 1,267 and more than double the 2,015 total average in 2017, which stood at 4.2 percent. The last time unemployment was this of 941. That makes 2017 the second-most antisemitic year since the ADL began tracking low was in the early 1970s, before the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when it stood at 3.4 the incidents almost 40 years ago, and the highest-ever single-year spike. “It had been percent. The CBS said that in January, for the first time since the 1970s, the number trending in the right direction for a long time,” Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of ADL, told of people classified as unemployed dropped below 150,000, to 148,000. Israel’s The New York Times. “And then something changed.” However, included in the figures labor-force participation rate stands at 3.86 million, and for the first time includes are the 160-plus bomb threats to Jewish community centers and Jewish institutions in the more women than men: 1.840 million women compared to 1.82 million men. The rate early part of 2017, which were discovered to be mainly carried out by a Jewish teenager of employment for people ages 25 to 64 was 80 percent (68 percent for women and in Israel. Even without those threats, antisemitic incidents increased by 43 percent in 87 percent for men). Unemployment levels for men in that age range dropped to 3.5 2017, with seven Jewish cemeteries vandalized, 19 anti-Jewish physical assaults, and 457 percent (compared with 3.8 percent in December 2017), and for women in that age non-Jewish elementary and high schools experiencing antisemitic incidents, compared group fell to 3.9 percent (compared with 4.2 percent in December 2017). Economy to 235 in 2016 and 114 in 2015. The states reporting the most antisemitic incidents were and Industry Minister Eli Cohen lauded the figures on Feb. 28, saying they under- those with large Jewish populations, including New York, New Jersey and California.

Romance Continued from page 12 Jewish Federation of NEPA in common is that they explore how these whom retains his Orthodox practice, while two very different women found ways to the other rejects those strictures and fights balance religious differences in their new to break them. relationships. This is less of a struggle for Read together, these works offer a fas- Kurshan because, in Jerusalem, she finds cinating glimpse of contemporary Jewish a community that supports the choices she life. What makes them stand out is their and her husband make – even their decision authors’ honesty – their willingness to re- to attend different prayer services. Mirvis veal their true feelings about Judaism and had more difficulty finding a balance in Jewish practice. Their engagement with her life – with her ex-husband, with the finding a truth that fits their lives – one man she is dating and with the religious that speaks to their hearts – makes both Facebook ® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc choices of two of her children, one of memoirs worth reading.

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ÊCheck out the Federation’s new, updated website at www.jewishnepa.org or find it on Facebook 16 THE REPORTER ■ MARCH 8, 2018 NEWS IN BRIEF From JTA postpone the demolition in the Netiv Haavot outpost while 11 miles south of Jerusalem in the Etzion bloc. The proposal Demolition of homes in West Bank it prepares temporary housing for the 15 families who will includes funds to build the temporary neighborhood for the be displaced by the demolition. The court denied a request displaced families and a building plan for the construction outpost delayed by three months to only partially destroy six of the houses, which only reach of 350 new housing units at the outpost. Hundreds of settler Israel’s Supreme Court delayed by three months the into Palestinian land by a few feet, however. The court youth had been expected to flood the settlement to try to scheduled demolition of homes in a West Bank outpost stressed that it was the final postponement of its decision prevent the March 6 demolition. built completely or in part on Palestinian-owned land. to raze the homes. On Feb. 25, Israel’s Cabinet approved a Hate crime charges reinstated in trial of The court on Feb. 28 agreed to a government request to proposal to begin legalizing Netiv Haavot, which is located Muslim accused of killing Jewish neighbor The judge in the case of the murder of an Orthodox Jewish Frontier Continued from page 7 woman in Paris has declared the killing a hate crime, after But perhaps the most interesting items featured originally scrapping those charges from the indictment of in “Jews in Space” (and personal favorites of the murder suspect who confessed to killing the woman. Meyers) are the Judaica taken into space in 1993 The examining magistrate on Feb. 27 reinstated the charge and 1996 by Jewish astronaut Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman. of murder aggravated by racial hatred, after the Paris Pros- Hoffman’s inaugural space mission in 1985 made ecutor’s office appealed his dismissal of the charge earlier him the first Jewish American male astronaut in in February. Sarah Halimi, 65, was killed in April when orbit and, during his 1996 mission with the Space her neighbor Kobili Traore, a 28-year-old Muslim man, Shuttle Columbia, he became the first astronaut to threw her from the window of her third-story apartment. bring and read from the Torah in space. Traore was heard shouting about Allah and calling her “a The astronaut personally carried with him a devil” in Arabic. Halimi’s daughter said he had called the silver dreidel, a traveling menorah, silver Torah daughter a “dirty Jewess” in the building two years before yad (or “pointer”) and a mezuzah. Other items the slaying of Halimi. Traore is pleading temporary insanity, that were part of his PPK (Personal Preferred Kit) though he has though he has no history of mental illness. include a silver Kiddush cup, a Havdalah set and The psychiatric report, issued in September, concluded a plaque with the Hebrew prayer for safe travels that on the night of the incident Traore suffered an “acute written on it. All artifacts on display were donated delirium” after heavy cannabis use, but that the psychotic by Hoffman himself. disorder did not exclude his criminal responsibility, “not “It was wonderful that he lent them to us,” said incompatible with an antisemitic dimension,” Le Parisien Meyers. “We picked them up from him personally reported. A French antisemitism watchdog, the National in Massachusetts. We got to spend some time with Bureau of Vigilance Against Antisemitism, in a statement him and learn about his experience being a Jewish A look into “Jews in Space: Members of the Tribe in Orbit.” welcomed the judge’s decision, saying that to the group it astronaut, what the artifacts meant to him.... I was (Photo courtesy of Center for Jewish History) was “already obvious given the religion of the victim and sort of overcome [with emotion]. I barely make the perpetrator’s profile.” it out of New York City and these things made it Professor David N. Myers, president and CEO of the Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman reaches into orbit.” Center for Jewish History, said the exhibit is meant to At the February 26 opening event, Portnoy told JNS showcase that “just as Jewish history spans a huge span top 20 in world tennis rankings that the public response has been overwhelmingly pos- of time, so, too, does it range across a vast expanse of Argentine Jewish tennis star Diego Schwartzman itive. “I personally enjoyed the pop culture side of it. As space. And it turns out that Jews have been preoccupied won the Rio de Janeiro Open by defeating Fernando much as it was interesting to see the religious artifacts with space for thousands of years.” Verdasco of Spain, 6-2, 6-3, raising his ranking to 18th and what the Jewish astronauts brought with them to the “Jews in Space: Members of the Tribe in Orbit,” is in the Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP. It is space trips, my favorite part was seeing how the Jews presented at the Center for Jewish History until June. In the first time that a Jewish player is among the top 20 in influenced pop culture and sci-fi,” Miriam Spritzer, May, the museum will host an evening with Hoffman and the ATP rankings since 1990. Schwartzman grew up in a 32, told JNS. “I thought the exhibit was very well put Dr. Valerie Neal, curator and chairwoman of the Space Jewish family in Buenos Aires and rose as a tennis player together. It was small and to the point.” History Department at the Smithsonian Institution. in the Hacoaj JCC sport club in the Argentine capital. s on our bus t Join u rip to

Wednesday, May 16 The New York City trip includes lunch (at your choice of one of the fine restaurants near the museum), a guided tour of the museum, and a visit to the outdoor memorial at Ground Zero. Cost for bus and tour - $40.00 ease otat ass a at th uestos a reseratos