November 2014 | 8 Heshvan - 8 Kislev 5775 The Scroll A Publication of Mosaic Law Congregation Is the Metropolitan Opera Fueling the Flames of Anti- daughters of the Klinghoffer Semitism? It Certainly Feels That Way family who have expressed out- rage at what they say is the ex- (A portion of this article was published as an op-ed in the ploitation of their parents and the October 21st edition of the Sacramento Bee). cold blooded murder of their father because he was Jewish. Now I will be the first to admit that I don’t know much An excerpt from the lyrics cer- about opera. I do love most genres of music, but somehow tainly supports that allegation sung and spoken by opera never grabbed me. I remember officiating at a wed- “Rambo” who is, in reality, not Sylvester Stallone, but ding many years ago for a rabbinic colleague and the bride terrorist Mohammed Zaidan: and groom gifted me a three album set of the 33 rpm re- cording of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” I listened to it for about “You are always complaining of your suffering but wher- ten minutes before replacing the album with the sound ever poor men are gathered you can find Jews/getting fat./ track from West Side Story. You know how to cheat the simple/Exploit the virgin,/ Pollute where you have exploited/Defame those you have So, why is it that now, I am particularly interested in an cheated/And break your own law with idolatry. America is opera that has made headlines, not just these last months, one big Jew.” but for more than twenty years since it debuted on the stage? A bit of background: “The Death of Klinghoffer” is Now fast forward to New York in February, 2014. The an American opera, with music composed by John Adams world famous New York Metropolitan Opera scheduled to an English-language libretto by Alice Goodman (more “The Death of Klinghoffer” to be performed live on Octo- about Alice Goodman in a moment). The opera was first ber 20th with seven additional performances through the produced in Brussels and New York in 1991 and it is month of November. Because of protests, the opera com- based on the hijacking of the passenger cruise ship, Achille pany cancelled an international simulcast and radio broad- Lauro by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 1985, and the cast of the opera to theatres throughout the world due to an murder of a Jewish-American passenger, Leon Kling- outpouring of concern that it would fuel the flames of global anti-Semitism. hoffer by throwing him overboard. I remember that inci- dent well. I was living in Israel with my family while stud- Now I certainly understand that concern. With the rise of ying at a rabbinical seminary when we heard the news. anti-Semitism in Europe and in other continents through- On October 8, after being refused permission by the Syri- out the world, the opera company is doing just that. In an government to dock at Tartus, the hijackers murdered September and October there have been protestors who Klinghoffer, a retired, defenseless, wheelchair-bound Jew- have picketed outside of the Metropolitan Opera in New ish American businessman, shooting him in the forehead York. On October 20th, the opening night of the opera, and chest. They then had his body and his wheelchair hundreds stood outside the opera house, many in wheel- thrown overboard. chairs to protest the opening night of the opera’s perfor- The opera has drawn considerable controversy; many have mance. asserted that the opera is anti-Semitic, including the (Continued on page 3) Inside this Issue B’nai Mitzvah 12-13 Community Notes 15-16 Men’s Club 14 Birthdays/Anniversaries 18 Women’s Network 15 Donations 21-22 From The President 5 Services & Festivals 10 Condolences, From the Cantor 6 MLC Events 16 Kiddush & Oneg Sponsors, Treasurer’s Corner 7 KOH Library 17 and Mazel Tov! 23 Education & Youth 8-10 2300 Sierra Boulevard | Sacramento, CA 95825 | (916)Page 488 1 -1122 | Fax: (916) 488-1165 | www.mosaiclaw.org The Scroll November Services & Festivals Shabbat Candlelighting Times November 7 - 4:41pm November 14 - 4:35pm November 21 - 4:31pm November 28 - 4:28 Shabbat Friday Kabbalat Shabbat – 6pm Shabbat Under the Stars - 7:30pm Shabbat Morning Service - 9:00am November 1 - Parshat Lech Lecha Havdalah - 6:47pm November 8 - Parshat Vayera Havdalah - 5:39pm November 15 - Parshat Hayei Sarah Havdalah - 5:34pm November 22 - Parshat Toldot Havdalah - 5:30pm November 29 - Parshat Vayetze Havdalah - 5:28pm Minyan Schedule Mornings Sunday – 9:00am Monday & Thursday - 7:15am Rosh Chodesh – 7:15am Federal Holidays – 8:30am Afternoons Monday – Thursday – 5:45pm Page 2 The Scroll vania and into the Pentagon? How would the victims’ fam- Rabbi (Continued from page 1) ilies feel if an opera was written and performed suggesting a moral equivalence between their murdered loved ones What is of great concern to me is the fact that the opera and the terrorists? For the Met to cancel the simulcast and presents a moral equivalence between the terrorists and radio broadcasts but to allow the live performances in New their victims. Maybe that is one of the reasons that many York City is just incomprehensible. opera houses in the US have refused to allow “The Death of Klinghoffer” to be presented. Even New York Times Jonathan Tobin hit the nail on the head when he wrote in music columnist and critic Richard Taruskin criticized Commentary, “To say that art should challenge its audi- Adams and the opera for “romanticizing terrorists.” ences to rethink their positions on issues or values is one thing. But to rationalize terrorism and the murder of a It appears that Mr. Adams and Ms. Goodman, creators of helpless old man simply because he was a Jew and spoke this opera, wanted to humanize the terrorists who mur- up against his tormentors does more than push the enve- dered Klinghoffer by delving more deeply into justifying lope of conventional tastes. It treats the indefensible as their acts of terror for ‘their cause.’ But regardless of ‘their arguable. It portrays actions which are, in any civilized cause,’ civilized human beings do not hijack ships or society, considered immoral and base and treats them as planes and murder innocent people as those Palestinian merely a question of one’s point of view. As such, terrorists did to Leon Klinghoffer. To create a moral ‘Klinghoffer’ must be considered as not merely offensive equivalence between the victim and the terrorist essential- but morally corrupt.” ly attempts to portray the terrorist with a human heart. He may have a heart in the physical sense, but his acts of ter- The New York Times in a September editorial defended ror clearly demonstrate that he is devoid of a heart in the the Metropolitan Opera’s decision to allow the live perfor- moral sense. Terrorism is immoral. To compare terrorists mances of the opera to go on. I applaud Judea Pearl, father with their victims is immoral and reprehensible. Imagine of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was doing this for the Islamic State, Boko Haram, or Al- beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan. Dr. Pearl responded to Qaeda. Imagine the expression of moral revulsion of peo- the editorial in a letter to the editor when he wrote: “What ple throughout the world. we are seeing in New York is not an artistic expression that challenges the limits of morality but a moral deformi- Now to Ms. Goodman. More than two decades ago Alice ty that challenges the limits of the art.” Goodman, who wrote the libretto to “The Death of Kling- hoffer” was quoted in an interview about Leon Kling- Mark Arnold who lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts hoffer’s murder. This is what she said: “I think in many summed up what I and so many people feel about the ways he was killed as a wheelchair user more than any- opera house’s decision to allow the live performances of thing else." Goodman, who converted from Judaism to this controversial opera. His letter to the New York Times become a Church of England Parish Priest, rejected her eloquently stated: “Certainly, the Metropolitan Opera has Jewish heritage and joined a church whose leadership has a right to stage the opera, but for what purpose? And why been consistently known for its animosity toward Israel. now? Some events are too raw, too sensitive, too wrench- For Goodman to publicly state that Leon Klinghoffer was ing, too immoral to be depicted evenhandedly and without murdered because of his disability rather than because he judgment. And if this opera seeks to communicate some was a Jew is a gross misrepresentation and speaks for it- larger truth, some cosmic message for our times that justi- self. fies its being performed now, trumping the pain that it causes, what is it?” To those who suggest that the cancellation of the simulcast is an affront to free speech and censoring the cultural arts, The New York Metropolitan Opera did the right thing by I certainly do understand the slippery slope argument. But cancelling the simulcast and radio broadcast of “The I also think that sometimes there are situations where a Death of Klinghoffer” throughout the world. Now the Met stand ought to be taken, even though it may go against our should do the right thing by cancelling the remainder of inclination to allow everything. We still cannot yell “fire” live performances of the opera. Failure to cancel the opera in a theater although some would argue that is a “right.” will be viewed by many as a breach of the obligation to foster the moral quality of what is perhaps one of the most I would ask those who feel strongly about the Metropoli- influential of all art forms.