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t h e v o i c e o f j e w i s h w a s h i n g t o n
may 27, 2011 23 iyar 5771 volume 87, no. 11 $2
professionalwashington.com
connecting our local Jewish community
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a new patriotism all for teens rescued spring celebrations
Pirkei Avot, a section o the almud traditionally studied between
Pesach and Shavuot, begins with the passing o the orah to Moses, then
to Joshua, the elders, the prophets and, nally, the rabbis.
Tis may be read as a kind o ranchise. Seven weeks aer their exodus
rom Egypt, the dening oundation o Judaism is given to the 12 tribes
and their leaders are charged with passing its wisdom down through the
generations.
Similar, in a sense, is the experience o a orah with columns about
14 inches high, about hal the standard size, that was made by a young
soerabout 120 to 150 years ago in a part o czarist Russia that is now
Ukraine.
oday, the product o this unknown scribes precise, painstakingly
delicate lettering is one o the worlds most widely traveled orahs, a trea-
sured keepsake o my ar-fung amily through ve generations.
Some o the most moving moments o my lie have been hearing it
read at the Kotel, the western retaining wall o the ancient emple in
Tim Klass JTNew CorrepondentJerusalem, or the Bnai Mitzvah o two cousins, Yonatan Gralnek
December 2009 and Ariel Gralnek, his younger brother, in the wee
beore the rst seder this spring.
It was my grandmother and their great-great grandmother, u
Kastelman Gralnek, who made it possible. Largely to honor her, I u
Ashkenazi, the Hebrew she knew, in the transliteration or this article.
Te story begins in Nikolayev, a shtetl between Kiev and Lvov. Facin
conscription into the Russian army, my grandather, Kolman Gralne
and his older brother, Morris (Moishe) Gralnek, fed one winter nigh
on oot, eventually reaching Le Havre, France, and boarding a ship to th
United States.
Five years later, with help rom the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Societ
they resettled in central Iowa and sent or their wives and children.
Beore leaving, my grandmother went to a synagogue the amily ha
Page 1X
Tim Kla
Jut beore the rt Paover eder thi year, Arie Granik read rom hi amiy miniature (and koher) Torah at the Kote in Jeruaem a he become a Ba
Mitzvah.
The story of the traveling Torah
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For complete details about these and other upcoming JFS events and workshops, please visit our website: www.jfsseattle.org
FOR ADULTS AGE 60+
Endless Opportunities
A community-wide program offered inpartnership with Temple Bnai Torah & TempleDe Hirsch Sinai. EO events are opento the public.
The Paradigm Shit:Measuring AmericaWith Linda Clark, Inormation ServicesSpecialist o the Census Bureau
mTuesday, June 1410:00 11:30 a.m.
Three Feet Under:Digging Deep or the Geoduck
With Jack Bookey
mThursday, June 2310:00 11:30 a.m.
Not or the Faint o Heart The Restaurant BusinessWith Susan Kauman o Serafna
mThursday, June 3010:00 11:30 a.m.
RSVPEllen Hendin, (206) 861-3183 [email protected] regarding allEndless Opportunities programs.
1601 - 16th Avenue, Seattle
(206) 461-3240 www.jfsseattle.org
June Family Calendar
FOR THE COMMUNITY
AA Meetings at JFSmTuesdays at 7:00 p.m.
Contact (206) 461-3240 or [email protected]
Kosher Food Bank EventA special Food Bankopportunity or amilieswho keep a kosher kitchen.
mWednesday, June 15:00 6:30 p.m.
Contact Jana Prothman, (206) 861-3174 or
Jewish Single Parent FamilyMini-RetreatmSunday, June 12
11:00 a.m. 4:30 p.m.
ContactMarjorie Schnyder, (206) 861-3146or [email protected].
Pride ShabbatmFriday, June 24
6:00 8:00 p.m.
ContactMarjorie Schnyder, (206) 861-3146or [email protected].
Pride FestivalStop by the Jewish Community Booth
mSunday, June 26
FOR AGING ADULTS
Baby Boomers: Getting the MostOut o Getting OlderJune 1: Becoming your own health
advocate with nationally recognizedauthor, Andrew Schorr
June 15: Financing your future
mWednesdays
7:00 9:00 p.m.
ContactEllen Hendin, (206) 861-3183 [email protected].
FOR INTERFAITH COUPLES
Braiding TraditionsA chance or interaith couples to bake andlearn together!
mThursday, June 236:30 8:30 p.m.
ContactMarjorie Schnyder, (206) 861-3146or [email protected].
FOR JEWISH WOMEN
Programs of Project DVORA (DomesticViolence Outreach, Response & Advocacy)are free of charge.
Confdential Support GroupPeer support, education and healing orJewish women with controlling partners.
mOngoing
Confdential location, dates and time.
ContactProject DVORA, (206) 461-3240or [email protected]
The Mosaic o Wisdom:A Writing Workshop orSurvivors o IntimatePartner AbusemSunday, June 5
2:00 4:00 p.m.
ContactProject DVORA, (206) 461-3240or [email protected]
FOR PARENTS
Bringing Baby HomeKeep your relationship strong and be a greatparenting team.
mThursdays, June 16 July 216:15 8:30 p.m.
ContactMarjorie Schnyder, (206) 861-3146or [email protected].
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friday, may 27, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTN OpiNiON
letters to the editorthe rabbis turn
The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine.
President Obama, stating his administrations policy on a future Palestinian state. Analysis is on page 4.
Write a letter to the editor: W w fm ! o w
c f www.jw./x.?/_.m
m xm 350 w. t f x
M 31. F m f
Te National Museum o American Jewish Military History is located at the headquar-ters o a little-known historic veterans organization, the Jewish War Veterans o the USA.
Founded by 76 Civil War veterans in 1896 and located in a quaint two-story brownstone
in Washington, D.C., a brisk walk or short cab ride rom the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum, the museum lists at present 42 Jews who have given their lives in the deense o
our country in the Iraq and Aghanistan theaters o the international war on terror. Te
JWV is sure that many more will be identied as Jewish in the uture.
While their amily and riends cry or them and think o them, who is thanking them?
Who is standing at attention or them? We all must remember them!
Te National Museum has begun a project to honor these American Jewish heroes
this year marks the rst National Service Honoring the Jewish Fallen Heroes o Iraq and
Aghanistan. Tis Memorial Day weekend, and hopeully countless Memorial Day week-
ends thereaer, we are asking all synagogues throughout our nation at their Shabbat ser-
vices to read their names in memorial.
Please cut this list out o the paper and present it to your rabbi and ask him or her to
read it with reverence on this Memorial Day weekend. Our allen heroes must not be or-
gotten.
Tis list is current as o March 14, 2011:
Pfc. Daniel J. AgamiUSA, 25, Coconut Creek, Fla.
Sgt. Howard P. AllenUSANG, 31, Mesa, Ariz.
Spec. Benyahmin ben YahudahUSA, 24, Bogart, Ga.
1st Lt. David R. BernsteinUSA, 24, Phoenixville, Penn.
Cpl. Albert BittonUSA, 20, Chicago, Ill.
Sgt. Aron C. BlumUSMC, 22, Tucson, Ariz.
Petty Ocer 3rd Class Nathan B. BruckenthalUSCG, 24, Smithtown, N.Y.
Cpl. Ryan J. ClarkUSA, 19, Lancaster, Calif.
Cpl. Michael R. CohenUSMC, 23, Jacobus, Penn.
2nd Lt. Seth J. DvorinUSA, 24, East Brunswick, N.J.
Lance Cpl. Mark E. EngelUSMC, 21, Centennial, Colo.
Cpl. Mark A. EvninUSMC, 21, Burlington, Vt.
Pfc. Aaron E. FairbairnUSA, 20, Aberdeen, Wash.
1st Lt. Daniel FarkasUSA, 42, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sgt. Zachary M. FisherUSA, 24, Ballwin, Mo.
Pfc. Jacob S. FletcherUSA, 28, Bay Shore, N.Y.
Spec. Daniel J. FreemanUSA, 20, Cincinnati, Ohio
Sgt. Foster L. HarringtonUSMC, 31, Ft. Worth, Tex.
Airman 1st Class Elizabeth N. JacobsonUSAF, 21, Riviera Beach, Fla.
Lance Cpl. Jeremy M. KaneUSMC, 22, Towson, Md.
1st Lt. Nathan M. KrissoUSMC, 25, Reno, Nev.
Sta Sgt. Robert J. PaulUSAR, 43, e Dalles, Ore.
Maj. Mark E. RosenbergUSA, 32, Miami Lakes, Fla.
Cpl. Dustin H. SchrageUSMC, 20, Indian Harbor Beach, Fla.
1st Lt. Roslyn L. SchulteUSAF, 25, St. Louis, Mo.
Capt. Robert M. SecherUSMC, 33, Germantown, Tenn.
Spec. Marc S. SeidenUSA, 26, Brigantine, N.J.
Sta Sgt. Michael B. ShackelfordUSA, 25, Grand Junction, Colo.
Sgt. Alan D. ShermanUSMCR, 36, Brick, N.J.
Capt. Benjamin A. SklaverUSA, 32, Medford, Mass.
Chief Warrant Ocer Eric A. SmithUSA, 41, Rochester, N.Y.
1st Lt. Andrew K. SternUSMC, 24, Germantown, Tenn.
Capt. Michael Y. TarlavskyUSA, 30, Passaic, N.J.
Pfc. Morris L. WalkerUSA, 23, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Tech. Sgt. Timothy R. WeinerUSAF, 35, Tamarac, Fla.
Sgt. Robert M. WeingerUSA, 24, Round Lake Beach, Ill.
Spec. Jerey M. WershowUSANG, 22, Gainesville, Fla .
Pfc. Colin J. WolfeUSMC, 19, Manassas, Va.
Maj. Stuart A. WolferUSA, 36, Coral Springs, Fla.
Sgt. Elijah Tai Wah WongUSA, 42, Mesa, Ariz.
Senior Airman Jonathan A.V. YelnerUSAF, 29, Lafayette, Calif.
Lt. Miroslav (Steven) ZilbermanUSN, 31, Columbus, Ohio
Robert Bob Shay is a leader of Jewish War Veterans, Northwest Post 686.
Honoing the aen Jeish heoes
o Iaq and Aghanistan
RobeRT shay specil to JTNew
Civility, please
I have followed the series of letters on the Israeli-Palestinian conict going back and forth
over the last several issues. One thing has become increasingly clear the two sides have
both exaggerated their claims and, as a result, may have damaged their own argument.
Let me try to bring some reality to these arguments. First, Mr. Segan has written about
the 1948 displacement of 750,000 Palestinians and that they languish intergeneration-ally in camps. In 1948, the nascent Israeli government pleaded with those people not to
leave. Most ed voluntarily (probably out of fear), and certainly many were involuntarily
displaced. As for the camps, it was the surrounding Arab nations who would not permit the
refugees to be resettled, but instead forced them into those camps. Resentment was an
inevitable result, but it was not aimed at their hosts. Rather that resentment was chan-
neled against the one nation that had asked them to stay.
Further, I ask Mr. Segan this question: Should any nation support the creation of a new
country that has as one of its stated aims the destruction of the neighboring state that
helped in its creation? I think that would be one denition of insanity.
Mr. Basson on the other hand, referred to Israel as including 20 percent Palestinian cit-
izens. Actually, that 20 percent is better described as Arabs, Druze, Bedouin, and Bahai,
among others. Does that include some who see themselves as Palestinian? I suspect it
does, but I further believe that it is far from all of them.
Every time a writer uses errors such as these to support his or her position, it becomes
more difcult for the two sides to talk to each other rather than talk at each other. We can
engage in dialogue only through civility and accuracy.
d. J b
s
providing Cover
My thanks to Carole Glickfeld for her thoughtful letter (World view, May 13) about
my column, (American Jews are Twice Chosen, April 29). I write to create a political dia -
logue on issues left and right, and Ms. Glickfeld is helping to fulll that goal. We agree I
am a chauvinist. We represent poles of a spectrum: I am a chauvinist and she apparently
believes all cultures are equally valid and valuable. While I may be faulted, its clear we
have a lot to be proud of. America builds shelves of ever-more-rened case law on Miranda
warnings while in other places a woman who has been raped is sentenced to stoning for
adultery in a tribal court where her testimony is inadmissible. If people cant see that one
is better than the other, they are blind.
I nd it ironic that she mentions public opinion in Spain as commentary on American
leadership. After the horric bombing attack by al Qaeda in Madrid in 2004 that killed 190
and wounded 1,800, Spanish voters booted out the Aznar government and pulled their
troops from Iraq. How is it that people in Spain could choose to do nothing after such an
attack? Because they have America to protect them they are safe in Spain because our
cowboy president had the courage to lead the world.
r Wk
b
need to see all sides
On May 11 I was escorted out of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, where I had signed up to
attend a lecture by Prof. John Esposito of Georgetown U., who characterizes fears of radi-
cal Islam as Islamophobia.
I had prepared information challenging his views and pointing out some gross omissions
of fact in his previous writings. I was asked not to put these on the seats and was passing
them out in the lobby when I was ordered to leave. They explained that they have a stand -
ing policy of not allowing literature critical of a speaker. I admit that I violated that policy,
and am writing to ask them to change it.
I was told I should have attended the lecture and raised my concerns at the end. My
friend Jack Greenberg did just that, asking: Can you name a Muslim country where Jews
and Christians lived with the same rights as the Muslims? His reply; Im not going to
answer that question because it is front loaded!
Others who had attended told me he had ducked every pertinent question, and this
expert on Islam provided no quotes from Muslim sources to back up his thesis. My paper
Page 8X
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TEMPLEDe Hirsch Sinaionn
earnWorship
206.323.8486 | [email protected]| www.tdhs-nw.orgSeattle Campus: 1441 16th Ave. Street, Seattle, WA 98122
Bellevue Campus: 3850 156th
Avenue SE, Bellevue, WA 98006
Celebrate the giving of the Ten Commandmentsand the Torah.
Join Rabbi Daniel Weiner on Wednesday, June 8th at7:00pm in Bellevue for an evening of tasting chocolates,sharing books, and studying Torah. Bring samples ofyour favorite chocolate treats and a book to share, andRabbi Weiner will lead a special study session in honor
of the most important book of all The Torah.
To celebrate the publication
of the communitys fabulous
new cookbook, the Washington State
Jewish Historical Society is sponsoring
Wed like to invite you to host a dinner anytime
between now and Rosh Hashanah. It could be in
your home, on a boat, at a picnic spot. The
dinners are designed to be fun, social, and to
support the work of The Washington State
Jewish Historical Society. Youll have fun creating
an idea and entertaining your own friends.
Heres the way it works:
You develop an idea or theme and invite a
few friends.
The hosts provide the food and ask the
guests to make a donation to support
the work of the Washington State
Jewish Historical Society.
Ystdys Mvns,Tdys Fds
Tdtns n Ntst Js Ktcns
If you would like to host a food event, please call
Carol Starin for details and ideas at 206-325-1631 or [email protected].
DiNe arouNDThe TowN
163daYSTola
unCH!
WASHINGON (JA) President
Obama knew he had some damage con-
trol to do when he took the podium beore
thousands o Israel supporters on themorning o May 22 at the opening plenary
o the annual AIPAC conerence.
But he wasnt oering any apologies for
his speech three days earlier that called or
1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps
to serve as the basis or Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations.
Rather, Obama oered mostly reassur-
ances and clarications. He also issued a
blunt warning that doing nothing under-
mines U.S. eorts to fend o Israels diplo-
matic isolation and the Palestinians plan
to obtain recognition o statehood at the
United Nations in September.
Tere is a reason why the Palestinians
are pursuing their interests at the United
Nations, Obama said. Tey recognize
that there is an impatience with the peace
process or the absence o one. Not just
in the Arab world but in Latin America,
in Europe and in Asia. Tat impatience is
growing, and is already maniesting itsel
in capitals around the world.
Te march to isolate Israel interna-
tionally and the impulse o the Pales-
tinians to abandon negotiations will
continue to gain momentum in the
absence o a credible peace process and
alternative, the president added.
Its unclear i Obamas maneuvering
will do anything to stanch the Palestinian
statehood eort or the campaign to isolate
Israel. But either way, Obama said, Israel
and its supporters should not be alarmed
by his remarks about the 1967 lines: All he
did was go public with a well-established
ormula, he said, one that by denition
means the parties themselves Israelisand Palestinians will negotiate a new
border taking into account new demo-
graphic realities on the ground and the
needs o both sides.
However, a close reading o what
Obama said and le unsaid in his two recent
speeches hints at a ew signicant ways that
Obamas approach to resolving the confict
may dier from that of his predecessors.
But scant on details, his remarks also raise
more questions than they answer.
First, Obamas call or an Israeli-Pal-
estinian settlement based on the pre-1967
lines with mutually agreed swaps endorses
the principle that Israel compensate any
annexation o West Bank settlements with
territory rom Israel proper. While prior
administrations had raised the possibil-
ity o certain land exchanges, Obama was
more public and clear in endorsing that
approach as a basis or negotiations.
For Israelis, the position assumes Israel
will annex parts o the West Bank; Obama
made clear on May 22 that he believes the
nal border will be dierent than the one
that existed on June 4, 1967.
On the other hand, it implicitly embraces
the principle that the West Bank belongs to
the Palestinians by requiring any Israeli
annexation o West Bank land to be com-
pensated. What Obama le unclear was
whether he sees rightul compensation as a
one-or-one swap, as do the Palestinians.
President George W. Bush never went
this far. He oered Israel assurances in
a 2004 letter that large Jewish settlement
blocs in the West Bank would not be
uprooted in a nal peace deal, speciyingthat a ull and complete return to the
pre-1967 border was unrealistic.
In 2005, Bush added that a Palestin-
ian state must be contiguous and that
any changes to the 1949 armistice lines
the pre-1967 border must be mutu-
ally agreed. But he did not speak o Israel
ceding parts o its land as compensation.
For their part, Israeli leaders long have
viewed the West Bank as disputed land,
arguing that U.N. Resolution 242, which
requires Israeli withdrawal rom the territo-
ries captured in 1967, purposely never spec-
ied withdrawal rom all the territories.
While successive Israeli leaders have rec-
ognized that the vast majority o the West
Bank will become part o a Palestinian state
Ehud Olmert reportedly oered land
swaps to compensate or Israeli settlements
to be annexed Israel in principle has not
ceded its right to West Bank territory.
Second, Obama said last week that
Israel and the Palestinians should agree on
borders and security rst, and only later try
to deal with the dicult issues of Jerusalem
and the right o return or Palestinian re-
ugees. In his ollow-up speech Sunday, he
mentioned neither o those issues.
On the reugee issue, Bush had made
clear in 04 that he elt Palestinian reugees
would not have the right to settle inside
Israel something Israel views as tanta-
mount to destroying the Jewish character
o the state.
But Obama ailed to make a similar
statement. Rather, his remarks appeared
to move the reugee issue back to the nego-
tiating table.
In his May 19 speech, he said that wo
wrenching and emotional issues remain:
Te uture o Jerusalem and the ate o
Palestinian reugees. But moving orward
now on the basis o territory and security
provides a oundation to resolve those two
issues in a way that is just and air, and
that respects the rights and aspirations o
Israelis and Palestinians.
Perhaps Obamas mention o reuge
and Jerusalem in the same breath in h
May 19 speech is a hint that he believresolving the reugee issue to Israels sati
action will have to be counterbalanced b
an Israeli concession on Jerusalem.
Tird, Obama in both speeches repeat
a line that surely was grating or Israe
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah
to hear: Te United States believes th
negotiations should result in two state
with permanent Palestinian borders wi
Israel, Jordan and Egypt, and permane
Israeli borders with Palestine.
Netanyahu wants Israel to maintain
corridor o Israeli control along the We
Bank-Jordan border, which he views
essential to Israels security. Obama
delineation o Palestines borders as sha
ing a boundary with Jordan suggests th
idea is a nonstarter.
Finally, Obama did go a step urth
than any U.S. president in his explicit ca
or the Palestinian state to be non-milit
rized. While that has been the U.S. unde
standing rom as ar back as the Cam
David negotiations o 2000, Obama is th
rst to say so on the record.
So what is the Obama administration
game plan or the next ew months?
Obama declared in both his speech
that the United States cannot impose a se
tlement upon the parties; they must decid
on their own to reach accord.
But with events rapidly reshapin
the neighborhood around Israel, ro
regime change in Egypt to the violence
Syria to the recent reconciliation betwee
Fatah and Hamas, is it enough or Obam
merely to lay out his vision?
For us to have leverage with the Pa
estinians, with the Arab states and wi
the international community, the basis
negotiations has to hold out the prospe
o success, Obama said May 22.
With no sign o Israeli-Palestinia
negotiations getting back on track, how
ever, the prospect o success appears
o.
I Obama charting a n cour on Irai-Patinian iu?
URiel heilman JTa World New serviceanlyi
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JTNewsis the Voice o Jewish Washington. Our mission is to
meet the interests o our Jewish community through air and
accurate coverage o local, national and international news,
opinion and inormation. We seek to expose our readers to
diverse viewpoints and vibrant debate on many ronts, includ-
ing the news and events in Israel. We strive to contribute to
the continued growth o our local Jewish community as we
carry out our mission.
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Transcript, a nonproft corporation owned by the Jewish Federation o
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The opinions o our columnists and advertisers do not necessarily
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STAffReach us directly at 206-441-4553 + ext.
Publisher *Kren Chchke 267
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BoArd of direcTorSPeter Hrvtz, Chair*; Robin Boehler; Andrew Cohen;
Cynthia Flash Hemphill*; Nancy Greer; Aimee Johnson; Stan Mark;
Daniel Mayer; Cantor David Serkin-Poole*; Leland Rocko
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P U b l I SH E d by J E w I S H T r A n S c r IP T m Ed I A
T H E v O I cE O f J E w I S H w A S H I ng T O n
Remember when
inside this issueladino lessonby isaac azose
Ech el punchon, i se fuy
He placed his sting and he ran away
A man is so mean and nasty, he instigates and creates a bad situation or injects ill-eelingbetween two riends. Ten he slips away and acts innocently as i hes a disinterested person.
From the Jewish ranscript, May 6,
1957
Te hoopsters o the Evergreen chapter
of the AZA youth group show that it really
was the Jews who invented basketball as
they show o their trophy that they won
in the Junior Basketball League champi-
onships. Find out what todays AZAers
are doing in our special J.een pullout
section.
ceating the toos to ounte deegitiization o Isae
A large consortium o Jewish organizations is coming together to create tools and provide experts to
counter the growing movement o delegitimization against Israel. The leader o the eort recently visited
Seattle.
ive woen to wath: Po lsen-Hapen 1
The last in our series o Five Women to Watch is a nurse and cancer survivor who has started a clinic to
help survivors navigate what happens once treatment is fnished.
Jeish studies oes to Idaho 1
Based on the College o Idahos de acto Jewish community, a proessor named Howard Berger, a new
chair has been created or the Jewish Studies program o this small college.
The ast peoane 1
In his fnal JTNewsinterview, Maestro Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphonys outgoing music director,
discusses his commitment to Judaism and how it has set his course in lie.
bak o a fth 1
The ounder o the Northwest Jewish literary journal Drashdidnt anticipate reaching its fth anniversary,
but shes both elated and relieved to have the latest edition at local bookstores.
Jeish at SI 1
This years Seattle International Film Festival has several flms o Jewish interest. Weve got short reviews
o many o them here.
J.Teen is ak! cente puou
Our magazine by and or teens returns with one local students Passover spent in Qatar and a BBYO
chapter that adopted a teenager in Arica. Plus, a letter to a Congressman. And meat!
mOrE
Sping ceeations 1
m.O.T.: The ne patiotis
cossod 1
whats you JQ?: The jo o haah 1
The Ats 1
counit caenda 1
liees 2
The Shouk cassifeds 2
Ho did ou Jeish ounit
ae in Opia this ea?Te state legislatures special session was expected to end Wednesday, but
because nothing was signed and set in stone beoreJNews went to press, we dont
have inormation in this weeks issue. Check online at www.jtnews.net or an
update, and well have a ull session wrap-up in our June 10 issue.
Look for
June 10Graduation
June 24Ten Under 40
As an MOT member, receiveweekly editions ofThe Chosen Offer, our
e-newsletter featuring MOT onlyevent
invitations, exceptional offers for MOT Chosen merchandise
and goodies, and even the occassional prize (coming next, the
MOT simply superb, Simply Barbra ticket giveaway).
Join today at jtnews.net. It's a great way to help support local
Jewish journalism. If you currently subscribe, send your e-
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Are you*MOT?(*a member of the tribe)MOT
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at ynagogue, chool, retailer, caf, librarie, fetival, and event.
The annual print editionhit the tand
July 22To be part of it, reerve pace today.
Professional Directoryto Jewish WashingtonNtworking Our Locl Jwih Community
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friday, may 27, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTN cOmmu NiTy News
Compared to a vote this week by a
municipality in Scotland that will no
longer allow books by Israeli authors on its
librarys shelves, the removal o a ew itemsrom a ood co-op might seem like, well, a
tub o hummus. In this context, the issue
o delegitimization and boycotts o Israel
has become very complicated, says Martin
Rael, senior vice president of the Jewish
Council for Public Aairs, an umbrella
group or community-based organizations
that advocate on behal o Israel.
You remove some Israeli products
rom shelves, then because the world is fat
and we live in this social media worldthat
message is sent out in neon lights across the
world, Rael said. It becomes a valuable
message that can get communicated glob-
ally and creates certain associations in peo-
ples minds that can be very destructive.
Te question then becomes, when should
the Jewish community react? o counter
such philosophical attacks on Israel, Rael,
through the JCPA, is spearheading an ini-
tiative launched in partnership with Jewish
Federations o North America, the umbrella
organization or local Jewish ederations.
e eort, called the Israel Action Network,
will provide both materials and experts to
assist communities dealing with such so-
called delegitimization campaigns and to
advise on whether counter-
eorts should utilize a scalpel
or a sledgehammer. Rael vis-
ited Seattle on May 16 to meetwith Jewish communal leaders
about such recent campaigns.
Our job is to help and
give a wider lens so that
Seattle is not operating in a
vacuum, Rael toldJNews.
Rael said the Israel
Action Networks goal is to
nd people both in and out o
the Jewish community who
want to help both Israelis
and Palestinians, regardless
o whether theyre critical o
either governments policies.
Were not trying to support divest-
ment rom the Palestinians or sanctions
against the Palestinians, we want to create
win-win scenarios, he said. Critics can
be allies. Delegitimizers cannot.
Delegitimization eorts here have
included boycotts and attempted boycotts
o Israeli products at supermarkets or on
college campuses; the cancelled campaigns
o advertisements that had been scheduled
to run on the sides o King County Metro
buses and on billboards; and citizen initia-
tives, such as one three years ago that would
have orced the City o Seat-
tles retirement board to
divest rom some companies
that do business with Israel.All o this energy is
w r o n g h e a d e d , R a e l
believes.
I they believe that cer-
tain tactics ought to be used
to move the Israeli govern-
ment in a dierent direc-
tion that are one-sided and
punitive toward Israel, I
would argue strongly that
theyre making a huge mis-
take, he said. heyre
making it even more di-
cult or Israel, ultimately i a negotiation
were to ever take place.
Locally, a consortium o Israel-ocused
organizations has been meeting on a peri-
odic basis to work toward a two-old plan
against delegitimization.
Its to prepare people to be able to
respond when the viliication o Israel
comes up, that they eel like they have the
tools, whether its on campus or amongst
their riends, or when something public
happens like the bus ads, that they eel like
they can respond in a constructive way,
said Richard Fruchter, president and CEO
o the Jewish Federation o Greater Sea
tle. Tis isnt the kind o thing that shou
happen privately. In addition, we have
be strong as a community. We believe thIsrael has a place in the amily o nations.
Fruchter said the Federation is crea
ing a committee to look at broader publ
policy issues that aect the Jewish com
munity beyond Israel.
It will be a small group o people wh
are representing many dierent view
within the Jewish community and can tur
on a dime or us when an issue like the bu
ads come upwhere we can be able
make a community statement, he said.
Given the activity in Washington Sta
over the past ew years, this communi
can also act as an inormation source
the nationwide network, Fruchter noted
One place where these eorts w
require dierent thinking, however,
with college students.
elling them what to think and ban
ing my st has not been very eective
Rael said. e messages will have to b
in the idiom o the constituency to whic
[theyre] being addressed.
o that end, the network will be wor
ing with college organizations such as Hill
Undr dvopmnt: N too to countrcampaign againt Ira
Joel magalnicKEditor, JTNew
PageX
CouRTEsy JCPa
Martin Rae, the eader o the
ne muti-organizationa Irae
Action Netork.
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8 leTTers JTN . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 27, 201
cited both the Koran and contemporary lead-
ers using these texts to justify hatred and
violence against Jews. The issue of our rela-
tionship with Muslims is controversial, and
people of good will can disagree, but they need
access to information from all sides.
I believe the rise of radical Islam is a threat
to Israel, America and Christians in the MiddleEast. At a time when we are in need of a wake-
up call our academics and media pundits are
singing us a sweet lullaby. There is no excuse
for a major synagogue to assist them in their
deception.
r Kfm
s
teMple de hirsCh sinai responds
Temple De Hirsch Sinai has a 112-year
tradition of leadership in social action, civil
rights, and free exchange of ideas. We strive
to provide the opportunity for respectful
dialog and even disagreement. At the same
time, we have a policy regarding invited
speakers that we enforce in an evenhanded
and straightforward manner.
We do not permit passing out of litera-
ture inside our facilities (vitriolic or not) by
those who attend our public forums. Rather,
we encourage that dissent take place within
a civil and thoughtful context. We also never
act precipitously. My old friend, Bob Kauf-
man, was a guest at our annual Clergy Insti -
tute, which is primarily intended to foster
dialog between clergy of different faiths in
the Puget Sound region. The Clergy Institute
is also open to members of our congregation
and the public.
Bob was seen placing his sheet of infor-
mation on seats in our sanctuary prior to
the lecture. He was respectfully asked not to
pass out his literature, warned he would be
ejected if he failed to comply, and was told
he would have the opportunity to address the
speaker and the issues during the scheduled
Q&A session over lunch. Bob then proceeded
to pass out the same literature to attendees
in our foyer. He was again asked to desist and
warned that he would be removed if he failed
to heed our direction. He continued to pass
out his literature and was then, most respect-
fully and quietly, escorted from our building.
Other participants trying to pass out litera-
ture received the same response from us and
chose, instead, to participate in the post-pre-
sentation dialogue discussion. This resulted in
an honest thought-provoking discussion, in
which all sides and all voices were heard.
Temple De Hirsch Sinai is open to, and cel-
ebrates the diversity of, our members with
a commitment to respect the dignity of each
person in our midst in a safe, secure enviro
ment. We also mean what we say. While Bo
may have preferred not to have been asked
leave the premises after two warnings abo
his conduct, even he can agree that he w
treated fairly and with respect.
l b
exc dc
tm d hc s
disappointMent
I am disappointed by Obamas speech ca
ing for Israel to return to its pre-1967 lines
the basis for a two-state solution. Those bo
ders have been determined by military exper
as indefensible borders. Sadly, he becom
the rst U.S. president to do so.
Israels Prime Minister Netanyahu right
took issue with Obamas call stating that t
viability of a Palestinian state cannot com
at the expense of the viability of the one an
only Jewish state. U.S. commitments we
made to Israel in 2004 that it would not ha
to return to the 1967 lines.
Obama appears to have thrown our mo
reliable ally, Israel, under the bus. He sends t
wrong message to the Palestinians and embol
ens people who seek Israels destruction.
Lasting peace between Israel and th
Palestinians cannot come through a unila
eral declaration, but can only come throug
negotiations that settle all the outstandin
issues to the satisfaction of both sides an
mutual respect and security.
A majority of U.S. voters oppose a unila
erally declared Palestinian state and suppo
Israels right to exist, according to a rece
national survey.
The Palestinians are seeking recognitio
for a state that includes in its governme
Hamas, an Iran-backed, U.S. State Depa
ment-designated foreign terrorist organiz
tion that is responsible for ring thousan
of rockets at civilian targets in Israel.
The Palestinians seek recognition of
Palestinian state, while refusing to recogni
Israels right to exist as a homeland for t
Jewish people.
If the Palestinan/Muslim world wou
simply recognize the Jewish peoples right to
sovereign homeland there would be absolu
peace and security for all. It is time to put th
sandal on the other foot and let Palestinia
Muslims start making concessions.
The Palestinians must stop teaching the
children to hate Israelis and Jews and sto
naming streets and squares after terrorist
They should return to negotiations witho
pre-conditions with Israel immediately if th
want an independent state.
J b
s
leTTeRsW Page 3
and the JCPAs Israel on Campus Coalition.
Much o their methodology will come rom
studies that have analyzed what specic
segments think about dierent issues.
Were going to pour a lot o this exper-
tise and analysis and best practices o what
seems to work around the country through
the lter o the Israel Action Network so
that all the communities will have the ben-
et o this wider look and wider perspe
tive on these issues, Rael said. But, h
cautioned, each community will have
tailor its own eorts.
Ultimately, the goal o both the Isra
Action Network and the communities
will serve is to send this message: Te
are any number o ways you can be expos
to the real Israel and not the distorted, gr
tesque Israel that is being portrayed by th
delegitimization movement, Rael said.
raffelW Page 7
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friday, may 27, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTN m.O.T.: member Of The Tribe
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425-369-3308
1heres a new organi-
zation in town and
around the country.
Founded by local phi-lanthropist Mark Bloome,
AP-America olerance,
Americanism, Patriotism
inspires tolerance and eco-
nomic viability.
Calling it spiritual, not
political, Mark says AP grew
out o many years o his own
spiritual work. Specic inspiration came
last year when he participated in Call to
Conscience, a celebration o Arican-
American history and culture in acoma.
As a speaker, and the rst white person to
co-chair the event, the issue o tolerance
certainly became clear, he says.
Mark elt strongly that tolerance and
patriotism had to be linked, something all
o America had to be engaged in. Patrio-
tism, he notes, has been used too oen by
extremist groups to bash minorities.
Were the rst organization where tol-
erance and patriotism are equated, he
says. A country divided cannot stand.
Eective videos at the AP web-
site (www.tapamerica.org, Facebook and
witter) show young people around the
country stating why they love America
and declaring, Im made in America!
In a public relations coup, AP-Ameri-
cas message is running hourly on CBSs
imes Square Jumbo ron reader board
through the beginning o July and APs
website will eature public reaction to it.
A second, more somber message rom
the organization is to buy American to
revitalize our economy.
From an economic point o view we
are being hollowed out by the deliberate
policies o the Chinese gov-
ernment through currency
manipulation, through steal-
ing our intellectual ideas,through [Chinese] regula-
tions about doing business in
China, Mark says.
Although inexpensive Chi-
nese products have created a
vicious circle of aordability for
many consumers, Mark says
research shows i consumers
spend an extra dollar a day on
things made in the USAwe
can save a million jobs.
A grassroots buy local movement is
already in place, but our buy local says
[local is] between the Atlantic and the
Paciic, Mark
says. ese eorts
help businesses
and also gener-
ate local tax rev-
enue or police,
education and
programs or the
poor.
Mark was a
ounder o Sae
Washington, a
partnership o
local Jewish organizations that prepares
our communities or all kinds o emergen-
cies whether natural disaster or terrorist
attack. He is also working with the Jewish
Federation o Greater Seattle to oppose the
boycott, divestment and sanctions move-
ment against Israel.
Tis grandather o six, and an avid
biker and skier, says his priorities are rst
local and then my American commu-
nity, which has given him and his amily
N organization tr toranc and conomic viabiity Ao: High art o Roo Boo undr th big tnt
Diana bRemenT JTNew Columnit
so much, but reedom in particular.
Whether its the Jewish people in the
United States or the American people, he
says, deep in my heart I want to preserve
reedom. Tats one o the greatest gis
God can give us besides our health.
2
If youre going to Teatro ZinZan
any time soon Seattles cab
ret theater on lower Queen AnnHill pay close attention to the charact
Sheikh Zabier. French-born Israeli Be
nard Hazen has the role in which he n
only juggles, but perorms Rolo Bolo,
balancing act involving numerous cylin
ders and boards stacked up almost to th
top o the tent.
Bernard, 30, was entranced by circ
programs he saw on V growing up
Ashdod.
When I saw [the shows], he says,
knew this was what I wanted to do.
Active in an aerschool youth mov
ment, he started juggling at 15 and quick
turned to perorming and teaching oth
kids. (He continues his love o teachin
as an instructor in ZinZannis summ
camps.)
Beore leaving or his required milita
service as an IDF paratrooper, he tried
study with a Russian migr circus pe
ormer, who continually rejected him. T
stepped up the challenge or Bernard, wh
kept on improving his skills. Admitted
tribe
Mark Boome
alisoN HazEN
Bernard Hazen jump and jugge at a Teatro
Zinzanni perormance.
Page 1X
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10 five wOmeN TO waTch JTN . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 27, 201
It all started with bad news and really
poorly timed bad news at that.
On my 35th birthday over eight yearsago I was diagnosed with stage-three
breast cancer, recalls Polly Lysen-Halpern.
I ound the lump three days earlier.
Her sons, Noah and Elliott, were six
and two-and-a-hal at the time.
Overwhelming, is how she describes
it. Diagnosis was ollowed by 18 months
o chemotherapy, radiation and multiple
surgeries.
When her oncologist nally declared
her cancer-ree, as with many cancer sur-
vivors, I elt kind o lost I didnt know
where to go, she says. I had all these
issues struggling with recovering rom
the treatment itsel[and] a lot o anxiety
around ears o reoccurrence.
rained as a nurse practitioner, Polly
became interested in how cancer survivors
navigate the eelings o loss and anxiety
that oen strike even aer a cure is pro-
nounced. She ound very limited resources
were available to patients post-treatment.
She hersel stumbled through it, she says,
with the help o a support group o other
young women with breast cancer.
Hired to work at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center, she developed a
survivors program unded partly by the
Lance Armstrong Foundation.
I knew there was such a huge need in
the community, Polly says.
Te job there showed her that a large
segment o the post-cancer population
wasnt returning or the kinds o attention
it needed. Some patients were reluctant to
enter the medical clinic where they had
once been treated; others were in popula-
tions that just werent being reached once
treatment had ended.
I became interested in developing a
clinic that was outside the cancer center,
she says.
Tis past February she ormed Survi-
vorship Partners, a practice that addresses
multiple needs o cancer survivors. Phys-
ical and psychological ramications are
addressed, including anxiety about recur-
rence, atigue, and anxiety about the health
eects of treatment, which are quite toxic.
hese atereects are not studied
enough, says Polly, and most o what we
know are drawn rom pediatric studies.
While at the Hutch she came to know a
variety o health proessionals in the com-
munity who were providing services to
cancer survivors, including psychologists,
physical therapists and nutritionists.
I developed a network o providers,
she says. We discussed [providing] an
integrated, multi-disciplinary approach
to post-cancer treatment.
Right now Polly works by hersel in the
clinic. She hopes it will become a group
practice at some point, with dierent prac-
titioners under one roo.
Polly shared one recent success sto
about a colon cancer survivor who ha
ollowing chemo and surgery, developechronic stomach problems so bad she w
unable to leave the house. Following th
plan Polly developed, the client worke
with a nutritionist and a physical therapi
and over time was able to return to norm
lie. She called Polly recently to say she ha
gone skiing with her grandchildren or th
rst time in our years.
We try to provide an integrated mult
disciplinary approach, Polly explain
Survivors need lots of dierent expe
tise.
Part o Pollys approach is to empow
her patients.
Aer experiencing cancer you oe
eel powerless, you have no control, sh
says.
Survivorship Partners clients com
mostly by word o mouth, with some phy
sician reerrals. Polly is doing a lot o ne
working and outreach in the communi
as well as writing articles and blogging
www.survivorshippartners.com.
Polly also sees a number o adult surv
vors o childhood cancers, who oen ha
their own set o physical and psycholog
cal issues, but also she observes, develop
resiliencythey all go on to do somethin
incredible.
Polly, her husband Neil Halpern, an
their three kids belong to emple Be
Am. Lilly was adopted aer Polly reco
ered rom cancer, but not because o th
cancer. She and Neil had already planne
to adopt. With three kids in two schoo
and a new business, Polly has a little tim
le or cooking, gardening and, she say
cheering my kids on rom the sidelines
whatever theyre doing.
Ha thy, thn ha othr
Diana bRemenT JTNew Columnit
5 women to watch:
NEil HalP
Poy Hapern poe by the Mediterranean on
recent trip to Itay.
Answers on page 17
This Weeks Wisdom
Teach Your Child to Swimby Mike Selinker and Andrew Marc Greene
2011 Eltana Wood-Fired Bagel Cae, 1538 12th Avenue, Seattle.
All rights reserved. Puzzle created by Lone Shark Games, Inc. Edited by Mike Selinker and Mark L. Gottlieb.
ACROSS1 Mid-90s compliment5 Fraudsters oer9 Surrounded by13 See 11-Down14 Island between Florida and
Jamaica15 Second opening?16 Lesson #119 Devoured20 Wash. neighbor21 Major record label
headquartered in the UK22 Lesson #228 Ann Arbor sch.29 A mouse!30 20-vol. book o spells?32 Like Eltanas garlic cream
spread35 ___ o lies36 Prominent credit card co. prior
to 200637 Lesson #341 Cat on a Hot Tin Roofactor
Burl42 Biblical lie preserver?43 Berts roommate44 Microsot Word fle extension45 Gold, in Seville46 Wield a pickax, perhaps48 Lesson #454 Center opening?55 Point value o a ree throw56 The Gold-Bug author57 Lesson #563 Cartoon supplier o rocket-
powered roller skates64 No longer carrying a torch or65 Tragic Verdi heroine66 ___ Hogg67 Josie and the Pussycats
actress Reid68 Looking up
The Talmud, in the volume about marriage, contains a passage about a parents
responsibilities to ones child. One of these is, One must teach ones child to swim.
Why? Because it may save his life!
DOWN1 It was demoted in 20062 Key card issuer3 In the past4 Great deal5 Harum-___6 More adorable7 Grampa Simpson8 Dent or scratch9 Feminine side, according to Jung10 Winnipeg resident11 Dutch fnancial giant whose 13-Across
eatures an orange lion12 Shindigs16 Oom-___ band17 Peke speak?18 Eight Days a ___23 Huey, Dewey, and Louie, e.g.24 It goes around the world25 Augment, with up26 Singer McEntire27 Matisse or Rousseau31 Miami-___ County32 Need anti-lock brakes33 Turn on a dime34 Mocha chip and peanut butter ripple,
or two35 Stir-ry vessel36 State mushroom o Minnesota38 Card game similar to baccarat39 Recipient o a princesss kiss40 Crook45 The All-Father, in Norse mythology46 Hindu incantation47 Logical opening?49 Belgian city devastated in WWI50 Clout51 Apple tablets52 Youre pulling my leg!53 Type o toothpaste57 Chocolate dog58 System opening?59 How some like it?60 Some gametes61 Train component62 Carnival city
-
8/6/2019 JTNews | May 27, 2011
11/32
friday, may 27, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTN cOmmu NiTy News 1
endowed and took rom it the orah,
which according to amily lore had been
written by a cousin or other relative o
hers. Knowing little about Iowa except that
the state had ew Jews, she wanted her chil-
dren to have at least that source o instruc-
tion in their ancestral heritage.
Te two amilies arrived at Ellis Islandon the Fourth o July, 1909, cleared immi-
gration the next day and began their long
train journey: uva, her ve children and
the orah to Marshalltown and Moishes
wie and their our children to Newton,
about 30 bumpy miles away.
My mother, Merry, the youngest o
nine, was born in 1917. Te two ami-
lies celebrated Jewish holidays together in
Marshalltown, and the orah remained in
the household until Sons o Israel Congre-
gation was organized in 1939.
Growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, I
attended services a ew times in Marshall-
town and must have seen the little orah,
but never was I told it was rom our amily.
Nor were any o my siblings or, to my
knowledge, any o our cousins in either
the Newton or Marshalltown branches o
the amily.
When Sons o Israel disbanded in 1985,
my aunts Esther and illie Gralnek took
the scroll to my mother or saekeeping in
Sioux City, again without a word to any
o us.
In January 1989, our days beore my
mothers death, my brother Kalman ound
the orah in her dresser drawer, alongside
the documents that established its prov-
enance.
At the seudas havraah, the traditional
meal ollowing the uneral, we asked Rabbi
Sol Bolotnikov, a Lithuanian-trained
Orthodox rabbi in Sioux City, whether it
was ritually acceptable.
He examined the ragile parchment
and the text, especially the eathery orna-
mentation over the letters shin, ayin, tet,
nun, zayin, gimeland tzadi.
Ah, the crowns, he marveled. Te
soerwho wrote this orah was a young
man. An older soercould not have been
so steady with the hand.
Yes, he said, with repairs to replace
missing and faking letters, rebind a ew
sections o parchment and patch some
holes, it would be a kosher orah.
wice the orah has undergone these
repairs, a staple o orah maintenance.
Any aw in the 304,805 letters that com-
prise the 79,847 words o the text renders a
scroll unusable or ormal services.
orahs this small are uncommon, and
rarely does one o any size remain in a
non-rabbinic amily or so long. Tere
may be none that have traveled as many
miles as ours Ukraine to Iowa to Seat-
tle, coast to coast or amily events in the
U.S. and twice rom Seattle to Israel and
back. Rabbis and cantors have borrowed it
or Bnai Mitzvah in unrelated amilies in
remote parts o Alaska and Colorado.
Kal, who now owns the orah, has put
it on indenite loan at emple Bnai orah
in Bellevue. It has been read by both o us,
our three sisters, my two daughters, their
eight rst cousins and other cousins and
TORAHW Page 1
in-laws rom both the Marshalltown and
Newton branches o the amily.
It was some time aer the orah was
read at a amily reunion in Minneapo-
lis that Ian Gralnek, a rst cousin once
removed, asked i I would bring it to Israel
or Yonis Bar Mitzvah in 2008. How could
I say no? Beore I le to return home, Ariel
asked i Id bring it again or his.
On a bright spring day, amid the exu-
berant cacophony o prayers and candy-
throwing at reading tables lined up or
Bnai Mitzvah all along the mechitzah, the
ence that separates men and women
the Kotel, the orah quickly gained nea
celebrity status.
Some waiting their turn and othe
preparing to leave aer the completio
o Bnai Mitzvah stopped to ask i it w
indeed a kosher orah. Te story travele
through the crowd. A young Chasidaske
i he could have it to keep at home or h
amily. I couldnt tell i he was joking. Hwent away looking sad.
Te shaliach, a layman who led th
service or Ariel, sighed with relie as h
opened the scroll to nd I had alread
rolled it to the start o the reading.
Small, wiry and intense, Arieli chante
with assurance in a high, powerul voi
that must have carried to the readin
tables at least two away rom ours on eith
side.
As with his brother a year and a ha
earlier, I elt the stirring oam Yisroel cha
the nation o Israel lives, the traditio
that all Jews o every age should see th
exodus rom Egypt as their own liberatio
rom slavery and that all stood together
receive the orah at Sinai.
I recalled how, in 1917, the Jewis
essayist Asher Zvi Hirsh Ginsburg, bett
known by his pen name Ahad Haam
amously wrote, More than Israel h
kept Shabbos, Shabbos has kept Israel.
In the same vein, it seemed to me, mo
than I took our orah to Israel, our ora
took me to Israel to a sense o peopl
hood as well as nationhood.
DusTy Klass
Arie Granick grandather, Danie Niim, hod up the miniature Torah. A pot in the midde ho
a repair to keep the cro koher.
LChaim: Songs for Life
PHOTO COURTESY OF ILYANNE PHOTOGRAPHIC ART
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Seattle Jewish Chorale is a
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Th brad o ov
Rivy PoUPKo KleTeniKJTNew Columnit
JQ
Dear Rivy,
We are becoming newly
involved in Judaism, thanks
to our litt le one being
enrolled in a Jewish early
childhood program. EachFriday she proudly brings
home a freshly baked chal-
lah. She is so thrilled that
Im thinking I should hop on
board and start baking chal-
lah with her and maybe
even try out having Friday night dinner
as well. I am ready to give it a shot,
but there must be something more
to making challah than simple bread
making. Where should I begin?
Challah is a Jewish ood like no other.
It is inused with ritual and meaning rom
about as ar back as we go. It is a com-
pelling teacher, instructing us with three
essential Jewish ideas around eating, sus-
tenance and Jewish womens spiritual lie.
All this rom an unassuming though
stately loa o bread.
Strictly speaking, challah reers to the
rich braided egg bread eaten on Shabbat
and holidays. Te word challah appears
only once in the entire orah, in the Book
o Bamidbar:
When you enter the land to which
I am taking you and you eat o the
bread o the land, you shall set some
aside as a gi to the Lord as the frst
yield o your baking, challah, you
shall set aside a loa as a gi
Challah is the name o the portion that
is separated and then given to the Kohen
rom each and every batch o dough
kneaded in ancient times. Te idea o the
commandment is that bread, as the sta
o lie, the essential element o our suste-
nance, should always have as a part o its
routine production an element o chari-
table giving, tzedakah. We should never
take its blessing or granted, and we must
share our gis o the land with the priests
who have no portion o their own. Te rst
yield is given, not unlike the bikkurim, the
rst fruits oered yearly from the rst pro-
duce o the land.
Tis giving o the rst is powerul. Te
temptation to pluck that rst grape, pome-
granate, g or date o the tree and pop right
into our hungry mouth is quite human, but
to oer the rst as a gi is a
discipline that teaches grati-
tude and humility.
hough there is no
emple, a remnant o this
practice continues. Aer pre-paring the dough, we recite a
blessing and simply separate
a small piece about wal-
nut-sized make a blessing,
burn it, and then dispose o
it respectully. How the word
challah became the name o
our weekly Sabbath bread, I
do not know. But how poignant is it that
Jewish bread took on the identity o the
mitzvah associated with it? Lesson number
one? Tere is no eating without giving.
Next lesson: Challah comes in twos,
teaching us to trust that the Lord will indeed
provide. Manna, bread rom above, is the
quintessential object lesson or aith. It ell
rom heaven in the desert and sustained
the people Israel or 40 years. o inscribe
this core experience into our collective
memory, generation aer generation, we
place a double portion o bread, two chal-
lahs, under a cover every Shabbat. Trough-
out our 40 years in the desert, not only were
we dependent upon Gods daily delivery o
groceries, but even more a double por-
tion o dew-covered manna was delivered
every Friday so the Shabbat would not be
desecrated by gathering o manna.
Right there, on our weekly Shabbat
table, the challah becomes our teacher.
Te cover is an enchanting reminder o the
layer o dew that sheltered the newly allen
manna, while the two challahs represent
the double portion that ell miraculously
rom heaven. Our weekly challah may
not have allen rom heaven, but it surely
appears no less, by the grace o God.
On to lesson three: heres history
baked in that challah! Jewish womens sto-
ries are braided into those crusty loaves.
Women, traditionally the bread
makers, came to express themselves cre-
atively through two challah-related prac-
tices. Te rst is the very shaping and
creation o challah. My grandmother, not
unlike many a bubbie rom the alter heim,
the old country, would ashion various
challah shapes for the each of the dier-
ent holidays; a ladder challah or Shavuot,
a hand challah or Hoshanah Rabbah, a
bird challah or Rosh Hashanah (along
with the more traditional sweet raisin-
crown challah). As my children and I
would bake together, we allowed our cre-
ativity to come to shape loaves that resem-
bled menorahs, Jonah in the whale the
skys the limit!
Te second venue or creativity was thewriting o prayers, tchines, or the taking
o the challah ritual. chine is the Yiddish
name or the womens devotional prayers
created by and or women among Ashke-
nazic communities. According to Chavah
Weissler, in her work, Voices o the Matri-
archs,manytchinesevolved around mitzvot
and rituals unique to women, among them,
o course, challah baking. Here is a sampling
o this most lovely o prayer genre:
May my challah be accepted as the
sacrifce on the altar was accepted.
May my mitzvah be accepted just as
i I had perormed it properlyMay
God grant that I and my husband
and my children be able to nourish
ourselves.
Lord o all worlds, in your hands
is all blessing. I come now to honor
your holiness, and I pray you to give
your blessing on what I bake. Send
an angel to guard the baking, so that
everything will be well baked, will rise
nicely, and will not burn, to honor
your holy Sabbath and over which
one recites the holy blessing as
you blessed the dough o Sarah and
Rebecca, our mothers
Challah teaches by telling the story
long, but not lost, traditions embedde
delicately in womens everyday custome women of Yemen oered a prayer
the time o the grinding o the four, whi
the Marrano women o Portugal praye
secretly that their tithing would replica
the tithing practiced in the ancient ho
land. reasured are these precious expre
sions rom long ago they refect the de
connections and meanings that wome
created around their baking o challah.
As you ponder taking up this magni
icent o Jewish practices, the baking
challah, you will need a recipe thats o
sure and some patience with techniqu
But you will assume your place amon
all those that came beore you. You w
be actualizing the perpetuity o prooun
Jewish ideas o humility, appreciation
you draw out rom yoursel creativity, an
satisaction o passing on to your chi
the warm deliciousness o love, home an
Shabbat what could be better?
Rivy Poupko Kletenik is an internationally
renowned educator and Head of School at the
Seattle Hebrew Academy. If you have a questio
thats been tickling your brain, send Rivy an
e-mail at [email protected].
RaCHEl sCHaCHTER
The Irae Day ceebration in honor o Iraei Independence Day and lag BOmer on sun.,
May 22 brought out hundred to the stroum Jeih Community Center on Mercer Iand and
ater in the aternoon acro the treet to HerzNer Tamid Conervative Congregation or a
barbecue. Here a group o Iraei teen expatriate rom the oca Iraei cout group pay
ith the crat they oered at their air booth.
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friday, may 27, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTN cOmmu NiTy News 1
June 18 marks the Seattle Symphonys
last perormance with Gerard Schwarz
conducting as music director. Aer 26
years, the man who has infuenced notonly the orchestra and its work, but also
the shape o the city itsel, will become
Conductor Laureate, returning now and
then as guest conductor. Ludovic Morlot is
the orchestras music director-designate.
his arewell season has included
18 world premieres commissioned rom
American composers Schwarz himsel
has chosen (the Gund/Simonyi commis-
sions). Te nal two are by Jewish com-
posers: Paul Schoeneld (June 2, 4 and 5)
and Philip Glass (June 16 and 18).
Te name o Schoenelds Freilach,
(Yiddish or cheerul) is, in act, a classic
Jewish musical orm. Te composer calls
it a joyous and sometimes renetic style
o music.
Te Jewish musicians that perormed
in this style were called badchonim (liter-
ally, merry makers), he writes. Tere is
a story in the almud o a rabbi who asked
these musicians what was their proes-
sion.Teir response was, We are Bad-
chonim, and our job is to gladden the sad.
Schoeneld wrote that Schwarzs
warmth, kindness and encouragement
over the years have been invaluable. I could
think o nothing better than a Freilach to
express my appreciation.
Te concert version o Harmonium
Mountain, by the American Jewish com-
poser Philip Glass, is Schwarzs choice
or the premiere at his nal two concerts.
Glasss new music was heard earlier this
year in the orm o a lm score.
Te centerpiece o those June 16 and
18 concerts will be a monumentally spiri-
tual piece by Viennas most amously con-
licted Jewish-born conductor: Gustav
Mahlers Resurrection Symphony.
But besides all the new music, a slew o
Grammy nominations, and Schwarzs his-
toric contribution to the revitalization o
downtown Seattle the eorts that made
the now-world-amous Benaroya Hall
possible theres another Schwarz legacy
in Seattle: His Jewish one.
Im not just Jewish, Im a believer,
Schwarz emphasized. When you stand up
and embrace who you are, whatever it may
be, it is always gutsy. Because its always eas-
iest to blend in.... [But] i you make a state-
ment that says, I belong to this temple, and
I give these talks, and I work with the Milken
Archive o American Jewish Music, and I
write music or the Music o Remembrance,
and I helped them establish themselves,
youre actually going a little urther.
Schwarz has, indeed, gone that ar. He
and wie Jody and their amily are long-
time members o emple De Hirsch Sinai.
Hes given JCC talks on Jews in music
(including one on June 5). He has per-
ormed or, and advised, the multi-year
recording and broadcast project known
as the Milken Archive o American Jewis
Music. And he has nurtured, advised, co
ducted, and composed or Seattles Hol
caust-memorial chamber music projec
Music o Remembrance.
Schwarzs involvement in Holocaus
related music is personal: His Vienne
grandparents, Rudol and Jeanette Wei
denied exit visas, were murdered near
concentration camp in 1942. Schwarzs pa
ents managed to get to the U.S. in 1939. H
composed and conducted Rudol and Je
nette or MOR in 2007. So it makes sen
that, unlike many in proessional mus
amilies, the Schwarz children would b
raised with heightened Jewish awareness.
His MOR involvement has also include
his son Julian, now launching a conce
career as a cellist, who soloed in the 200
world premiere o Gerard Schwarzs com
position In Memoriam.
Julian, interestingly enough, is real
a committed Jew, says Schwarz o th
young cellist, who begins studies at h
athers alma mater, Juilliard, this all. H
loves to go to services. He reads Hebre
quite well cares about it deeply. So do
Gabriella, Julians older sister, now a pr
ducer at CNN.
Schwarzs entire amily plans to gath
or the season nale in June, including h
two older children, Alysandra, a surgeo
in Milwaukee; and Dan, a bass player wh
lives in Seattle and works with music h
dad doesnt touch country and rock.
here wont be lengthy partyin
though: One week aer his nal SSO con
cert, Schwarz will be on the podium
his other musical home, North Carolina
Eastern Music Festival, celebrating its 50
anniversary.
Meanwhile, Schwarz and his tea
still await nal unding or the ambitiou
V project called All-Star Orchestra
discussed in this papers Feb. 3 editio
Schwarzs chie undraiser or the projec
Seattle attorney Marlys Palumbo, says th
multimedia eort producing comple
orchestral perormances with interacti
video and other educational tools st
requires another $1.5 million beore th
can do the recording they hope to do i
New York in August.
We can do just the production side
A gacy both muicaand Jih
gigi yellen JTNew Correpondent
Ifyougo:
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sm Jw CmmC Jw tc c
s., J 5 5:30 .m.
$10/$5 JCC mm. rsvp
q. Cc 206-388-0832
www.jcc.. a 3801 e
Mc W, Mc i.
Te College o Idaho is a highly unlikely
uture center o Jewish learning, but the
small liberal arts school ounded in 1891
by William Judson Boone, a descendant o
American explorer Daniel Boone, is now
on the verge o another meeting with his-
tory Jewish history.
Te college, located near Boise in the
southwestern part o the state, has been
awarded a $500,000 matching grant rom
the National Endowment or the Human-
ities, and once the college meets its $1.5
million undraising goal, it will establish
one o the only Judaic Studies chairs in
the vast Intermountain West region o the
United States.
Te money will allow the college to
expand its Howard Berger Lecture Series,
created in May 2010 and named aer Pro.
Dr. Howard Berger, an American Intellec-
tual History proessor by training. Berger
is the only ull-time Jewish aculty at
Te College o Idaho; he has become the
schools de acto Hillel as well.
I never thought this would be my
ate when I was nishing up at the Uni-
versity o Washington, said Berger, who
earned a doctorate in History at the UW in
1973. He spoke with theJNews rom his
campus oce in Caldwell, Idaho. He vis-
ited and spoke at emple Beth Am in Seat-
tle earlier this month.
In 1982, while lling in at the college
or a colleague on sabbatical, he said he
knew he wanted to stay.
I ell in love with the college by about
Tanksgiving, and in January [my col-
league] called and said he would not be
coming back, Berger said. My one year
became 28.
Berger has inadvertently and single-
handedly become the ace o Judaism on
the C o I campus.
Suddenly it dawned on me, he said.
I represent something bigger than I
ever thought I would. Im the only Jew
that most o these students will ever have
encountered in their whole lie. I am the
Jewish people to this part o the country.
In a state known or its past ties to white
supremacy groups like the Aryan Nations,
the C o I is now able to boast such interna-
tionally known Jewish speakers as Israels
consul general or the Pacic Northwest,
Akiva or, and renowned biblical arche-
ologist Rabbi Dr. Richard Freund. Both
scholars spoke on campus and in Sun
Valley, a nearby resort community where a
Jewish population grows seasonally.
I think the idea o making this a public
intellectual position is what made the case
to the NEH, said Dr. Marvin Henberg, C
o Is president. o me, thats taking what
Howard has done or an internal audience
and taking the next step to the whole state.
Along with the required Western Civ-
ilization courses, Berger also teaches a
course titled National Socialism and the
Final Solution, where he draws a head
count o over 120 students. Te students
just call it the Nazi course.
His annual spring Jewish History sec-
tion draws a maximum registration o 50
students.
Berger has also arranged Purim parties
with the local Chabad House in Boise, has
taken three trips to Israel with groups o 40
students, and hosted a Hanukkah party in
2010 with 184 students in attendance. Berger
had to cut o registration for the event.
He is so popular on campus and
has generated such a great interest in
Jewish culture and history that alumni
approached him three years ago, seeking
to begin raising money or a chair in his
name to promote Jewish Studies there.
Michael Vandervelden, vice president
or college relations, has been meeting
with large oundations and other poten-
tial donors in New York and Washington,
D.C., hoping that the big one will step up
and give that million-dollar gi. Te chair
could be named aer them.
Speaking to the JNews in between
meetings in New York, Vandervelden
said he met with Hannah Rosenthal, the
Obama administrations special envoy
against the spread o anti-Semitism.
She was so thrilled and she had a lot o
ideas or me, said Vandervelden.
Rosenthal oered to lecture on the
campus as part o the Berger lecture
series.
Jih tudi com to Idaho
Janis siegel JTNew Correpondent
Page 1XPage 14X
CouRTEsy CollEgE oF iDaHo
Dr. Hoard Berger, third rom et, tak ith tudent on hi avorite bench on the Coege o Idaho
campu.
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14 The arTs JTN . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 27, 201
My 31 t 7:30 p.m.
bckfid with aviv gff
Cocrt
Blackfield, the alternative rock duo of
Steven Wilson and Israeli musician Aviv
Geffen, is on tour with its new album,
Welcome to my DNA. A little Sufjan
Stevens, a little Pink Floyd, with a dose
of pessimism thrown in for good musicalmeasure, the album has been described as a thing of fragile beauty by Metal
Hammermagazine. Check out Blackstones site for more details and a video
interview with a very-strung-out-looking Geffen. The band will perform in Seattle
with keyboardist Jordan Rudess.
At Studio 7, 110 S Horton St., Seattle. Tickets available through ticketmaster.com.
Visit www.blackfield.org for band information.
My 2730
northwt Fokif
Ftiv
This years Folklife festival
includes a preview concert of
the Seattle Jewish Chorales
LChaim: Songs of Life
program on Sunday, May 29
at 2:25 p.m. at the CenterHouse Theater, along with the
annual Jewish Showcase,
featuring Klez Chaos, Sasson and KletzerBalm, on Monday, May 30 at 11 a.m.
at the Bagley Wright Theater. HeAri Israeli Dance workshop takes place in the
Center House Court on May 29 at 11 a.m., and then at 5 p.m. head to Boeing
Green for the Klezmer Jam workshop.
At Seattle Center. Suggested donation $10 per person. Visit www.nwfolklifefestival.org.
sudy, Ju 5 t 5:30 p.m.
grrd schwrz
spki emt
As part of the Stroum JCCs Jewish
Touch lecture series, the Seattle
Symphonys outgoing music director
Gerard Schwarz will speak on life
after the symphony and his new
project, All-Star Orchestra. The
Emmy Award-winning conductor
will also share some of his own
compositions and reflections on his
Jewish identity.
At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer
Way, Mercer Island. 206-388-0832.
www.sjcc.org. $10, $5 for SJCC
members and seniors. Reservations
required.
Ju 13 t 7:30 p.m.
simpy brr
Crt
World-class Barbra Streisand impersonator
Steven Brinberg will (probably not so
simply) get dolled up and perform for the
Seattle leg of his show, Simply Barbra. The
dark, handsome Brinberg has been trans-
forming himself into the middle-aged blonde
diva and performing her repertoire across
the globe for over a decade, including on
Broadway with Whoopi Goldberg in Funny
Girl. His mother must be so proud.
Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland
Ave., Kirkland. Tickets $15. Call the box
office at 425-893-9900 or order online
through www.kpcenter.org.
Ju 12 t 7 p.m.
lChim: so of lif
Cocrt
The Seattle Jewish Chorale will
perform a vast repertoire of English,
Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino songs
across the multiple genres. Soloist
Jacob Herbert will perform Not in
Our Town, a string ballad based upon
the 1993 Billings, Mont. menorah
incident. Gigi Yellen narrates the
evening. At Town Hall, 8th Avenue at
Seneca. Tickets available through
brownpapertickets.com or by phone,
1-800-838-3006. Tickets are $15 in
advance, $18 at the door. Students
and seniors pay $12 in advance, $15
at the door.
handy, I would build props and practice
downstairs at home, he says. Its one o
the biggest reasons I got good, because he
said it was crap.
Aer his military service they nally
worked together until his teacher declared
him ready or Europe.
Europe and Russia take the circus
much more seriously than Americans or
Israelis do. Bernard constantly heard the
complaint, What are you, a clown? Go
be a lawyer or something, he says.
Ater studying intensely in France,
including with amed juggler Italo Medini,
and perorming around the world, he
entered an international competition
where only 26 out o thousands are chosen
to perform. He made it, and Teatro Zin-
zanni snapped him up right aer.
Hes been perorming here in Seat-
tle and at the theaters San Francisco
tent since 2005. He and his wie Alison,
a ormer waitress at the show, and their
daughter Naomi live in Seattle.
When Vandervelden visited the Israeli
embassy in Washington, D.C., they were
over-the-top delirious, he said.
Weve also received money rom the
Jewish community locally rom the Boise
area, explained Vandervelden.
Te C o I received a major gi rom one
o its Boise trustees, Skip Oppenheimer, the
chairman and CEO o Oppenheimer Com-
panies, Inc., and president and CEO o
Oppenheimer Development Corporation.
Mark Dawson, o Rainier Investment
Management, Inc., an investment irm
headquartered in Seattle, along with his two
brothers, David and Peter, gied the college
$25,000, according to Vandervelden. Tey
are not Jewish, he said, but they believe in
the importance o establishing the chair.
Te school has to raise $1.5 million
within our years. Tus ar, it has reached
approximately $800,000. Depending on
the nal undraising tally, the school could
then hire one or two proessors to teach
Jewish history, Jewish texts, and Jewish
philosophy and literature.
Regardless o the undraising, Berger
said his students are curious about Juda-
ism. He said he has never heard any hostile
or anti-Semitic rhetoric on campus.
I do think theres an inherent interest
in all things Jewish, added Berger. Tere
always was, there always has been and
there always will be.
less, says Palumbo, but we preer not
launch without the educational pieces.
Both Palumbo, a lietime Seattle Sym
phony board member, and Schwa
emphasize that they are proceeding wi
sensitivity to the needs o Seattle Sym
phony and other local arts organization
they are seeking donors whose prioriti
extend beyond Seattle.
What does Schwarz take greatest pri
in, among his accomplishments in Seattl
Aside rom his role in the creation o Be
aroya Hall, he says its his addition o gre
players to the orchestra. Calling the sele
tion o perormers the most important jo
o a music director, he describes his choi
o John Cerminaro, principal French hor
as his most important appointment.
Any regrets? Well, I would not use th
word regret. I see my time as music dire
tor in Seattle as vibrant, lively, energetic
But still: Maybe one exception. We didn
do any signicant touring. Teir one Ea
Coast tour, in 2004, including SSOs Car
egie Hall debut, was nearly cancelled, but
actually wound up making quite a pro
according to Schwarz.
And with a nod toward the orchestr
next generation o perormers and aud
ences, he adds, We could have and hop
ully will do much more to work wi
the technology community to bring t
orchestra into the 21st century.
M.O.T.W Page 9
U Of IDAHOW Page 13 sCHwARZW Page 13
It truck day at the JCC!
Thur., May 19 marked the
18th anniverary o the event
that bring a kind o
truck, bue, tractor,
emergency vehice, and
even a poice boat to the
stroum Jeih Community
Center or kid in the eary
chidhood program to cimb
on and expore. The ine a
ong or a chance to jump
around on Dizzy Tumbe
Bu.
JoEl magalNiCK
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By Margaret Kahn
Echad, shtayim, shalosh, arbaThe counting wasnt the sound emanating from a synagogues
kindergarten classroom. It came from the deck of a dhow, atraditional Arab sailboat, cruising through a harbor lled with opensky, twinkling city lights, and water glistening with oil.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine myself on the fthnight of my 17th Passover drifting lazily around the Persian Gulf nearDoha, Qatar. This, in addition to becoming the inadvertent Hebrewteacher to a duo of Qatari girls.
Last month I got the opportunity to spend a week in the smallcountry that sits nestled east of Saudi Arabia and a hop, skip, and
jump south of Iran. Thanks to the generosity of Qatar FoundationInternational, 35 high school students studying Arabic were grantedfull scholarships to experience Qatari culture. OneWorld Now!, a localleadership program I am involved with, selected 15 Arabic-languagestudents to travel to this country.
It took some time to fully understand that I was truly in theMiddle East, in a country where 80 percent of the population isMuslim. I asked one of our hosts whether the traditional Qatarigarments I had grown to love were religious or cultural. His answer,
J-TeenThelife&Timesof
norThwesTJewis
hTeens
that in Qatar there is no strong difference between the two, seemedto dene the relationship
