For the Pope

$1.00 WWW.5TJT.COM VOL. 9 NO. 28 30 NISAN 5769 grumn-ghrz, APRIL 24, 2009 INSIDE FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK REMEMBERING THE SHOAH Always Another Story BY LARRY GORDON Hannah Reich Berman 26 MindBiz Is Israel Too Jewish? Esther Mann, LMSW 30 After decades of talking one Jewish and one Arab—and Our Aliyah Chronicle about negotiating peace, and throw away the keys. Shmuel Katz 34 15 years since the Oslo But not so fast. With the Accords, someone forgot to arrival of the Obama adminis- Back To Normal? ask what the character of the tration in Washington and P h o t Phyllis J. Lubin 40 o two states in the so-called two- with his government’s and B y I v a state solution is supposed to State Department’s natural n H . R’ Yehoshua Hutner, a’h N o be. On the surface it seems tilt toward a smaller and vast- r m a Hillel Fendel 65 n like a nice and tidy solution to ly shrunken State of Israel, an otherwise impossible prob- the issue of whether or not The Five Towns communitywide observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day lem. Israelis and Palestinians Israel should be a Jewish state took place on Monday evening, April 20, at Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence. A moving ceremony featuring the lighting of six memorial candles seemingly cannot live together, has finally emerged. for the six million who perished in the Holocaust was held. Professor Yaffa so let’s separate them once and Eliach was the keynote speaker. Above, Andres and Sidi Gluck light one of for all, and create two states— Continued on Page 7 the memorial candles along with their grandchildren. See Page 77 ALL FOR THE POPE HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE A Hybrid Holiday B Y TOBY KLEIN My credentials: I am an Bat Mitzvah of GREENWALD Orthodox Jew and a Zionist BY LARRY GORDON was as spectacular as it was Rebecca Yitzhaky. who believes that we should challenging. See Page 73 I received an e-mail this welcome people of all nations The deed is done—or let’s I have to admit, though, week from a friend, Ellen W. and religious persuasions to say the deeds are done. As that even after all these years, Horowitz, author of The Oslo Israel, as long as they do not recorded here several weeks it’s still sometimes a little dif- Years, a Mother’s Journal. try to missionize us. I have ago, our planned resolution to ficult to grasp and appreciate Ellen’s mail is never junk. She some dear Christian friends, the classic Passover dilem- the brilliance of the fashion in sent me a link to the website including one who is a ma—stay home or travel out which we celebrate our chag- recently created by Israel’s Catholic nurse. of town?—was a compromise. im. The old joke is that our Ministry of Tourism in honor But this is not about friend- We decided to do both. Now, holidays seem to never come of the pope’s upcoming visit in ship. It’s not even about sitting here on the other side on time, but rather are always May (www.holyland-pilgrim- Christians. It’s about Israel of the experiment and reflect- way too early or far too late on age.org). She added a terse, ing upon the experience, the “Don’t miss the video.” Continued on Page 5 conclusion seems to be that it Continued on Page 14 Ohel golf invitational in Florida. See Page 52 Rabbi Celebrates 40 The Five RAUCOUS Cosmic Cups of ELECTION TIME Redemption BY LARRY GORDON BY RABBI JAY YAACOV SCHWARTZ It was an angry crowd that filled the main auditorium of In defense of the Rebbe of the Lawrence Middle School Ostrovtza’s comments regard- on Tuesday night. One look at ing the phenomenon of birkas the calendar and the jam- ha’chamah on erev Pesach. packed audience attending The observance this year of this meeting, and it was con- A great yom tov read birkas ha’chamah, last cele- firmed—the Lawrence School in the Catskills. brated in 1981, saw an District Board of Education See Page 78 On Sunday, April 19, friends, family, and supporters of Rabbi Zalman unprecedented number of elections are less than four Wolowik, Director of Chabad of the Five Towns, organized a unique participants—fifty thousand weeks away, and people seem CANDLE LIGHTING celebration for his 40th birthday. At least 40 men who are not regular at the Kotel in Jerusalem and to be proverbially mad as heck April 24 – 7:25 PM minyan attendees or “tefillin daveners” joined for Sunday-morning tens of thousands of others at and on the verge of announc- May 1 – 7:33 PM Shacharis. Rabbi Wolowik was delighted by the “spiritual” birthday present. See Page 53 Continued on Page 23 Continued on Page 20 2 April 24, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES April 24, 2009 3 4 April 24, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES All For The Pope Continued from Front Cover and the image we want to present to the world. During a time that Israel is strug- gling to maintain, both within and without, an image as the Jewish state, and as a state for the Jews, her Ministry of Tourism has produced a video that is a manifesto promoting Christian doctrine as indisputable truth, Israel as the land of Christianity, and Jesus as god and the messiah. What I saw in this video left me speechless—feeling ill, actually. And whereas the latter occurrence happens occasionally (especially when follow- ing the news on the Middle East), the former never does. Some examples of the rhetoric employed in the film: The story of Jesus is referred to as “in fulfillment of biblical prophecy” (not “in fulfillment of Christian belief” or even “in fulfillment of New Testament prophecy”). The narrative declares: “The Heavenly Host appeared and said, ‘Here is born to you this day, in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ, the Lord.’” After we are told of his baptism, we hear: “…and a voice came from Heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Afterwards, [he] began the ministry that would transform the world.” Then it moves to passive voice, stat- ing that Israel, too, “is being trans- formed.” (By whom?) “Israel’s high- tech and biotech industries help make the world a better place to live.” Not our contribution through the Bible, through our prophets, through our continuing spiritual wealth. As a mat- ter of fact, at no point do we hear the word “Jew,” “Jewish,” or “Judaism” in the video. I watched the 5.14-minute film four times. “Today Israel is also fulfilling an ancient prophecy…” we hear, over some shots of high-tech industrial establishments, agricultural develop- ments, and immodestly dressed girls. There is a visual of the menorah that stands outside the Knesset, of a modern Magen David sculpture, and a long shot of the Kotel that dissolves to a close-up of the previous pope inserting a note between the stones. There is also the obligatory shot of the pope lay- ing a wreath at Yad Vashem. And then: “In the Galilee, J____ drew his first disciples and performed many great miracles… On the mount of the beatitudes, the words of the Lord’s Prayer were heard in the world for the first time… ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.’ … When it was his time, J_____ traveled up to Jerusalem. Entering the city as a savior, here [he] died on the cross for the sins of the world, to be reborn in triumph, as promised.” There you have it. The theology that Judaism disputed for two millennia, offered here on a silver platter by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism. The film continues: “Today, Jerusalem is also being reborn, as the capital of modern, democratic Israel. Continued on Page 22 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES April 24, 2009 5 6 April 24, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES FROM THE EDITOR Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. probably won’t work. And when it is withdrawal from Judea and Samaria as Continued from Front Cover Let it also not pass us by that President demonstrated that it cannot work, what well as from vital and historic parts of Obama has taken it upon himself to will be the next move by Washington, Jerusalem, which the plan fundamen- The odd thing about this issue is lend a measure of credibility and the Europeans, and the peacemakers, tally says must be the capital city of the that Israel itself has been grappling humanity to vicious dictators who rose et al.? The way Mr. Obama and new Arab state within the very gut of with this identity problem for decades, to power by torturing and wantonly Secretary of State Clinton speak about Israel. Anything short of these conces- wondering whether in essence there is murdering any political opposition that the Middle East, you would think that a sions will be interpreted as Israeli a distinction between an Israeli and a stood in their way. It’s puzzling how, at a two-state solution will solve all the intransigence that will be the catalyst Jewish state. Israelis are themselves time when Obama extends a hand to problems that have plagued the region for an inevitable clash between Israel confused. Is the issue that the world is dictators, he simultaneously speaks out for the last century.

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