north jersey jewish standard, june 13, 2014, with bar/bat mitzvah supplement

5/24/2018 North Jersey Jewish Standard, June 13, 2014, with Bar/Bat Mitzvah Supplement

1/84

Solssummerschemes Page 2

JSTANDARD.C

201483

BARBARA SEIDEN, 1924-2014 page 7

REMEMBERING D-DAY page 8

TEANECK TEEN MAKES MIDEAST FRIENDS page 12

MIRIAM RINN FRIES ETHEL page 49

JUNE 13, 2014VOL. LXXXIII NO. 40 $1.00

NORTH JERSEY

1086TeaneckRoad

Teaneck,NJ07666

CHANGESERVICEREQUESTED


2/84

JewishStandard1086TeaneckRoad

2 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 13, 2014

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADUATES

Classof2014

Avital AbramovAlexa AlterAriana AnhaltLiad ArussyBenjamin Atwood

Jake BareketGabriel Baron

Eitan BenchabbatSabrina BenmohaSimon BentolilaAmelia BittonSteven BorodachLea BraunCaroline Brauner

Jonathan BraunerJesse BrennanEvan CohenShira DamariMichael DavisZoe DicksteinRichard DinowitzOriel FarajunNicole Feigenblum

Jacob FeligAshley Finkel

Jacob FinkelsteinMichael Finkelstein

Pamela KazerArielle Kempin

Jonathan KershnerSamantha KleinhausMeira KosloweAbraham Laifer

Jason Lang

Aaron LauerJamie LebovicsYael LednerAllison LemmerSamantha Lemmer

Jason LevineJacob LevyAsher LippeMarni LoffmanMelissa MazaEsther MeirEytan MendelowMaxwell MilsteinYosepha MorrisonMayan MossaiovYona NarboniZachary Narin

Jennifer Nir

Amanda NussbaumYonit Ollech

Kayla SchifferJulia SchneebaumJeffrey SebrowDaphne SecemskiIsaac SelterAbraham SettonMira Shapiro

Sarah ShevchukSivanna ShustermanSydney SilversteinAlan SoclofAlexa SonnenblickRachel SpiroLauren SteinRe'em SteinHannah SwiecaAaron SzydloAaron ToporovskyBenjamin TurnerTalia WaitmanEmily WeisbrotSolomon Wiener

Jonathan WietschnerRafael WindAlan Yomtobian

Eric ZeiriSophia Zeitz

Rebecca FischerDanielle Fishbein

Joshua FishmanMiranda FlamholzEliezer FoxBryan Frenkel

Joseph Friedman

Menachem FriedmanJacob FurerYakira GerszbergBenjamin Glass

Jonathan GoldmanNathan GoldmanSheri GoldmanMarla GoodmanAbigail GreenbaumMichael GreenblattYonatan HammermanTamara Hayardeny

Jeremy HikindJustin HodMichal JacobsMark KaplanAbigail KatcoffDaniel Katz

Noah Katz

Zachary OsterTamar PalgonElisha PennAyal PessarShahar PlattTal Platt

Jordan Plaut

Noah PotashRebecca RaabDaniel RaykherYitzchak Rayman

Jake ReichelMaxx RimbergEvan RischLital RitvoAriela RivkinSamuel RochlinEitan RolnickGabriel RubinZack RynholdElan SamoohiLiana SandorTalia SchabesRisa ScharfEliezer Scharlat

Elizabeth Schechter

Ms. Ronnie Schlussel, President Dr. Kalman Stein, Principal

...

Acknowledge Him in all your ways...

)( :

The Mordecai & Monique Katz Academic Building 120 West Century Road Paramus NJ 07652

Phone: (201) 267-9100 Web: www.frisch.org Email: [email protected]

frischschool @frischschool

ISRAEL ACCEPTANCES: Midreshet Amit, Ashreinu, Bar Ilan Israel Experience, Machon Maayan, Midreshet HaRova, Midreshet Lindenbaum, Midreshet Moriah, Midreshet To

VAvodah, Midreshet Torat Chessed, Midreshet Yeud, Migdal Oz, MMY, Nishmat, Orayta, Tiferet, Yeshivat Birkat Moshe (Maaleh Gilboa), Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi, Yeshivat Hakotel, Yeshivat H

Etzion, Yeshivat Lev Hatorah, Yeshivat Maaleh Adumim, Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh, Yeshivat Reis hit Yerushalayim, Yeshivat Torat Shraga

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES: Barnard College, Baruch College, Binghamton University, Boston University, Brandeis University, University of California at Davis, Carnegie Mel

University, University of Central Florida, Columbia University, Cornell University, CUNY- Macaulay Honors College, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Emerson College, Fairlei

Dickinson University, University of Hartford, Harvard College, Hofstra University, Hunter College, IDC Herzliya- Raphael Recanati International School, Indiana University at Bloomingto

Ithaca College, List College of Jewish Studies, Johns Hopkins University, LIM College, Lynn University, University of Maryland, M.I.T., University of Massachusetts Amherst, McGill Univers

University of Miami, University of Michigan, Monmouth University, Montclair State University, Muhlenberg College, New York Institute of Technology, New York University, Northweste

University, Ohio University, Pace University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, Princeton University, Queens College, Ramapo College of New Jersey, University of Rho

Island, University of Rochester, Rutgers University- New Brunswick, State University of New York at Albany, Stern College, Stony B rook University, Syracuse University, Ohio State Univers

Touro College, Tufts University, Tulane University, University at Buffalo, Washington & Lee University, Wesleyan University, University of Wisconsin- Madison, Yale University, Yeshiva Univers


3/84

Page

JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 13,

PUBLISHERS STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747) is published

weekly on Fridays with an additional edition every October, by the NewJersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

Periodicals postage paid at Hackensack, NJ and additional offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New Jersey Jewish MediaGroup, 1086 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Subscription price is

$30.00 per year. Out-of-state subscriptions are $45.00, Foreign coun-

tries subscriptions are $75.00.

The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard does not

constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of a paid political

advertisement does not constitute an endorsement of any candidatepolitical party or political position by the newspaper, the Federation or

any employees.

The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return unsolicited

editorial or graphic materials. All rights in letters and unsolicited edito-rial, and graphic material will be treated as unconditionally assigned for

publication and copyright purposes and subject to JEWISH STANDARDs

unrestricted right to edit and to comment editorially. Nothing may bereprinted in whole or in part without written permission from the pub-

lisher. 2014

NOSHES .......................................

OPINION ......................................

COVER STORY ...........................

GALLERY .....................................

TORAH COMMENTARY ...........

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ........... .

ARTS & CULTURE ........... ...........

CALENDAR ............. ............ .........

OBITUARIES ...............................

CLASSIFIEDS .............................

REAL ESTATE ............. ............ .....

CONTENTS

If What These Ten Men Say Wont

Make You Cry, What Happens Next

Will Get You For Sure!Facebook-style headline posted by Rabbi Avra

Bronstein for this weeks Torah portion, She

which tells the story of the s

Where the Jews areJudaism is the most popular non-

Christian religion in New Jersey.

Thats one of the at-a-glance find-

ings of a chart showing each states

second largest religious tradition,

based on data collected by the As-

sociation of Statisticians of American

Religious Bodies.

Judaism is represented by pink,

leading in only 15 states, mostly here

in the Northeast; Islam is green, out-

numbering Jews (and Bahai) in 20

states, including, surprisingly, Florida;

Buddhism, orange, has claimed the

West, from California to as far east

as Oklahama; Hinduism, red, leads

in Arizona and Delaware; andBahai,

aqua,claims South Carolina.

These charts show data collected

by congregations and reported back

to their national religious bodies,

which obviously limits the accuracy

of the data. This is particularly visible

on the map that shows the leading

non-Christian denomination for each

county, because many counties dont

have a non-Christian congregation,

though they might well have non-

Christian residents.

The data shown is from 2010 and

was published in 2012. The charts

went viral this week because, well, the

Internet works in mysterious ways.

LARRY YUDELSON

Candlelighting: Friday, June 13, 8:10 p.m.

Shabbat ends: Saturday, June 14, 9:19 p.m.

Eager to ind out what counts as akosher sport. Can we expect live

broadcasts of yeshiva floor hockeygames and the International Bible Quiz?Oh wait - the FOOD is kosher? Never min

Andrew Silow-Carroll of Teaneck, reac

Facebook to the news that a kosher spo

will be opening on the towns Palisade A

Brat Upsets Cantoris the name

of my bar mitzvah memoir.

Mother Jones editor Dave Gilson, reacting on T

to the unexpected defeat of House Majority Lead

Cantor by David Bratt in Tuesdays Republican p


4/84

Noshes

4 JEWISH STANDARD JUNE13, 2014

Erev tov, Tel Aviv. Chag Shavuot sameachYisrael. Anachnu HaAvanim Hamitgalgot. Mick Jagger, addressing the audience in Hebrew at last weeks Rolling Ston

concert in Tel Aviv, the bands first in Israel.

Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard

Sophie Okonedo

A TONY, AND MORE:

Okonedoeverywhere

Jonah Hill

Steven Lutvak, left, and Robert Freedman

If you arent aregular reader ofmy column, then

you might have beensurprised when SOPHIEOKONEDO, 46, refer-enced her Jewish back-ground when she ac-cepted the Tony for bestfeatured actress in a play(A Raisin in the Sun)last Sunday. She said theBroadway theater com-

munity had welcomeda Jewish Nigerian fromBritain. While Okonedoslooks favor her Nigerianfather, she was raised byher white English Jew-ish mother (her parentssplit up when she wasvery young). She identi-fies as Jewish and evenknows a smattering ofYiddish. Okonedo wasOscar nominated for herperformance in HotelRwanda.

By a happy coinci-dence, you can seeOkonedo for the nextseveral weeks in a juicyrole. She co-stars in aPBS/BBC mini-series,The Escape Artist,which starts on Sunday,June 15, at 9 p.m. Thetitle comes from thenickname of the leadcharacter, Will Burton(David Tennant), a bril-liant defense attorneywho gets his clients outof tight corners. Okene-do plays Maggie Gard-ner, a defense attorneywho has a critical role inBurtons relations with adangerous ex-client.

By the way, congrats toROBERTFREEDMANand STEVENLUTVAK,the co-authors of AGentlemans Guide toLove and Murder. Itwon the Tony for bestmusical, and Freedmanwon another Tony for his

book for the show.The hit FX cableshow Louie,written by and

starring comedian LouisC. K., began its fourthseason on May 5. On May24, Louis C.K. talked toNPR host TERRYGROSS,and for the first time helaid out his unusual fam-ily history in detail.

His paternal grandfa-ther, a Hungarian Jewishdoctor, settled in Mexicoin the 1930s when hecouldnt get into theStates. He remainedJewish, but allowed hischildren to be raised intheir Mexican mothersCatholic faith. Louis fa-ther, LUISSZEKELEY, aneconomist and university

professor, met and mar-ried Louis mother, Mary,an Irish Catholic fromMichigan, while theyboth were studying atHarvard. They divorcedwhen Louis was 10.

Louis, who follows nofaith as an adult, wasraised lightly Catholicby his mother. His fatherstayed in his life after thedivorce, and they are stillin touch.

Louis said that hisfather, Luis, went on to

Shocker: A&E doesnt

show schlock!The A&E cable station used to be called the Arts

Entertainment station, and it produced high qualit

inal programming. Then, about ive years ago, it tu

to presenting schlock like Dog: the Bounty Hunte

Storage Wars (which, by the was, was totally stag

However, it now is showing a quality miniseries tha

long has been available on-line: a four part series o

interviews done by the Hollywood Reporter called

Roundtable interviews. The series began on Sund

June 8, but you can catch up easily. (Check listings

encore showings.) Many big stars appear, including

SCHREIBERand ANDYSAMBERG.

Hollywood Reporter Drama Roundtable. Mar

Ruffalo, left, Liev Schreiber, Josh Charles, Jef

Daniels, Michael Sheen and Jon Hamm were

photographed March 30 at Mack Sennett Stu

in Los Angeles.

California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at

[email protected]

marry a Jewish womanand is now an Ortho-dox Jew. Luis, who nowteaches in Europe, hasheld several importanteconomic posts in earlier

Mexican governments.Most TV seriesthat have beenturned into feature

films have been disap-pointing or worse. A

notable exception wasthe 2012 action/comedyhit 21 Jump Street, co-starring JONAHHILL, 30,and Channing Tatum, asrookie cops who returnto their high school andpretend to be students.They bust a dealer sellinga dangerous drug. The80s TV series the moviewas based on had a hippatina but not muchdepth and very little hu-mor. Hill, who co-wrotethe 2012 film, saw that

the TV series plot hadunmined comic poten-tial, and he turned out afunny film script.

Hill is also the co-author of the sequel,22 Jump Street, whichopens today. Again, he ispaired with Tatum butthis time they are goingundercover at a localcollege. Sequels usually

arent that good butyou gotta give Hill thebenefit of the doubt. Hesurprised us before.

Winning theKentucky Derbyand the Preakness

is an achievement thatmost owners and trainersonly dream about.California Chrome, ahorse bred from twohorses that cost less than$10,000 combined, wonboth those races. Sadly,like many horses before

it, it couldnt win theBelmont Stakes, the thirdjewel in the three raceTriple Crown competi-tion.

The horse and its for-merly small-time trainer,ARTSHERMAN, 77, ex-ceeded all expectationswith their two victories.Sherman, unlike Chrome

co-owner Steve Corefused to cast blafor Chromes finishBelmont. He remaithe gentleman he hshown himself to bhis earlier interviewcertainly was kind wI spoke to him righhis Derby win.

benzelbusch.com

SPECIAL LEASE OFFERS*On select C, CLA, GLK, E, and M-Class Models

Hurry, offers end soon.

*See your Benzel-Busch Account Representative for complete details.2014 GLK-CLASS

t t .


5/84

JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 13,

$$ $

$$

oca

`

646 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666Tel: 201-855-8500 Fax: 201-801-0225

We reserve the right to limit sales to 1 per family. Prices effective this store only. Not responsible for typographical errors. Some pictures are for design purposes only and do not necessarily represent items on sale. While Supply Lasts. No rain che

PRODUCE

MEAT DEPARTMENT

BAKERY

$

GROCERY DEPARTMENT

FamilyPack

VisitOurWebsitea

www.thecedarmarket

STORE HOURSSUN - TUE: AM - PM

WED: AM - PMTHURS: AM - PMFRI: AM - HOURSBEFORE SUNDOWN

Sign Up For YourLoyaltyCardIn Store

e r L e T e e , J 7

1 - - F : 1 - 1 -

. t e e r r e t .

i t e e r r e t.

a r La T a c k , J 721-855-85 Fa:21-81- 225

. t c a r a r k t . ci f t c a r a r k t. c

R K E T

A R K E T

TERS ITI S:Thiscardisther ertyf edararket,Inc. andisintendedfrexclusiveusefthereci ientandtheirhusehldmem ers.ardisn ttransferale. ereservetherightt

changerrescindthetermsandc nditinsfthe edararketl yaltyrgramat anytime,andithutntice.Byusingthiscard,thecardh ldersignifieshis/heragreementt theterms

c n d i t i n s f r u se . t t e c m i n e d i t h a n y t h e r i s c u n t /S t r e u n / e r . * L y a l t y a r d

m u s t e r e s e n te d a t t i me f u r c h a s e a l n githI frverificatin. Purchasecannte

reversedncesaleis cmleted.

CEDAR MARKET

LoyaltyProgram

E K E T

FineFoodsGreat SavingsSale Effective

6/15/14 - 6/20/14

U.S.D.A.

OrganicBananas

lb..U.S.D.A.

OrganicStrawberries

/$1 lb conts.

CinnamonCocoshCake

Black & White

7 LayerCake

SpongeCake

$

$

$

Summertime Treats!!Summertime Treats!!

Mix & Match!!

Your Choice Your Choice

DAIRY FROZEN

SUSHI

Sweet PRoll

SpicyRoll

BlackDrago

$

$

$

SoleFlorent

FISH

e$

CHEESE

Ready To B

Baked Z

Cedar Markets Meat Dept.Prides Itself On Quality,

Freshness And Affordability.We Carry The Finest

Cuts Of Meat And TheFreshest Poultry...

Our Dedicated Butchers

Will Custom Cut AnythingFor You... Just Ask!

All Natural Steakhouse Quality

BlackenedBoneless

Rib Eye Steaks

American Black Angus Beef

BonelessCholent Meat

lb.

lb.

lb.

lb.

lb.


ShoulderLondon Broil

Drums & Thighs

ChickenCombo Pack

BonelessShoulder Lamb

Roast

Jerusalem Style

Dark MeatChicken Cutlets


DeckleRoast

Top of the Rib

PickledCorned Beef

Sweet RedCherries

$lb.YellowNectarines

lb.

Dill orCilantro

/$for

Escaroleor Chicory

lb.CollardGreensor Kale

/$for

Bunch ofSpinach

/$for

Fresh!!PackhamPears

lb.Black SplendorPlums

lb.

Summertime Treats!!

WessonCanola orVegetableOil128oz

$

Natures OwnAppleJuice64oz

/$

Whole & CutGefenBaby Corn15oz

/$

Realime orRealemon

Juice15oz

$

PolandSpring6 pack16.9oz

$

HerrsAssortedSnack Bags1oz

/$

AssortedEmerilsPasta Sauce25oz

$

AssortedSnapple6 Pack16oz

$

Assorted

VlasicPickles26oz

Kelloggs

FrostedFlakes15oz

/$/$AssortedFlavors

Apple & EveApple Juice3 pack 25.35oz

/$FleischmannsYeast3pack

/$

Save On!HeinzKetchup44oz

$Honey RoastedOr Roasted AlmondKashi TLCGranolaBars8.4Oz

SplendaBag9.7oz

/$ $

MikeeDuckSauce40oz

/$

KraftShake NBake5.5oz

/$

Original EnrichedRiceDream32oz

$

KingsfordCharcoal12-16lb

$

All Varieties

TropicanaOrange Juice59oz

$

All Flavors

DannonYogurt6oz

/$

AssortedSabra Salads8oz

/$

MillersSlicedMozzarella6oz

$

Original &ChocolateFarmlandSkim Plus64oz

$

Assorted FlavorsYobaby6pack24oz

/$

White Only!!MillersAmericanCheese3lb

$

Nature YokeOrganicBrown Eggsdozen

$

AssortedAxelrodCottage Cheese16oz

$

Assorted FlavorsPhiladelphiaCream Cheese8oz

/$

Dole SlicedStrawberriesIn A Tub16oz /$

Lightly BreadedDr. PraegerFish Sticks13oz

$KineretOnionRings20oz

$Assorted FlavorsAunt JemimaWaffles10ct /$

DagimTilapiaFillet16oz

$

Corn, Mix Veg,Green Beans, Peas

Birds EyeVegetables10oz

AaronsChickenFranks16oz

$AaronsSlicedTurkey Roll6oz

$

$lb.

Fresh

ChickenCutlets

$ $ $lb. lb. lb.

Don PepinoPizzaSauce15oz


6/84

Local


Changing the world,

one model UN session at a timeLocal student, now living in Israel, wins MUN award for Bar-Ilan

ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

During two post-high-school

years in Israel, Rachel (Ro)

Yeger made a habit of asking

cab drivers and other native

Israelis about life in the Jewish state. I

wanted to understand what it means to be

here, said Ms. Yeger, whose mother and

youngest brother live in Teaneck.

Since she moved to Israel in October

2012, Ms. Yeger, 24, can answer that

question herself. And she can do so quite

articulately, thanks to public-speaking

skills honed through her involvement in

the Model UN (which goes by the nick-

name MUN).

Recently, she was one of ive Bar-Ilan

University students to win an award at

the International Model UN Competition

in Barcelona. Nearly 200 students from

13 countries took part in this Catalonian

Model UN. Israel sent 27 students the

second-largest delegation in the states his-

tory and the Israelis took home 13 out of

the 20 prizes.

Just like an authentic UN diplomatic ses-

sion, the competition featured roll calls,

open debates, speaking time limits, posi-

tion papers, alliance building, resolutions,

and committees focused on different

topics.

Ms. Yeger, co-president of BarMUN, won

Outstanding Delegate on the Alliance of

Civilizations committee.

Now in her second year in the univer-

sitys interdisciplinary BA program in

macro-economics, political science, and

socioloy (which is taught in English),

she works two jobs to support herself and

hopes to get a masters degree in political

communications so she can enter politics

for real.

I want to impact change, and politics

is a good place to do it on a macro scale,

Ms. Yeger said. Fresh ideas are needed

in this country, and I spend a lot of time

grooming myself to be able to make that

difference. MUN is a good tool for that,

because it teaches you diplomac y and

conflict negotiation; its all about the give

and take, being accommodating of others

ideas, learning how to listen and how to

resolve differences. Often politicians close

themselves off to other ideas, and I feel

that can change in the future generation

of politics.

Ms. Yeger also is vice president of the

campus Young Likud and is a member

of Im Tirtzu, a movement whose goal is

to strengthen Zionist values in academia

and in society. She also is a fellow with

the Israel advocacy organization Stand

With Us.

Her mother, Mindi, says she is in awe of

her daughter. Ro is going to change the

world, she predicts.

At the competition, Ms. Yeger was very

aware of representing Israel. She even

befri ended a Catholi c Spaniard whom

she describes as initially borderline

anti-Semitic.

I needed to portray what it really

means to be a Jew and an Israeli, and

that I dont necessarily live my life in con-

flict, Ms. Yeger said. It was an incredible

chance to show a different face of Israel.

Ms. Yeger, who was born in Lakewood,

moved to Monsey with her family when

she was 10. She went to high school at a

Beis Yaacov, where she had to stifle the

questions she yearned to ask. Her mother

encouraged her to go to the gap-year pro-

gram Machon Maayan, then in Beit Shem-

esh, to provide a more open environment

for her daughter. The family by then had

moved away from ultra-Orthodoxy, and

Mindi Yeger relocated to Teaneck with her

two younger children while her daughter

Rachel was in Israel.

When I came to Israel I was very con-

fused religiously, Rachel Yeger said. I

didnt know what modern Orthodoxy was,

so it was complete culture shock for me. I

spent the irst year reprogramming myself

and relearning Judaism. Machon Maayan

became a place where I knew I could have

my questions answered and feel at home.

The schools program includes lots of

traveling. During our trips, I fell in love

with the country, she said. I star ted

speaking to Israelis and asking about their

lives, and when I went home to start col-

lege at Touro, I knew I had to come back

to Israel because I couldnt stay away any-

more. Eventually I convinced my mother

to let me make aliyah.

Mindi Yeger, who is a research analyst,

also is an aspiring standup comic; she will

compete in the Ladies of Laughter, which

kicks off on July 21 at Manhattans Gotham

Comedy Club.

When Ro told me she had interest in

aliyah I said, Thats great; youll ind a guy

and then settle in Israel, because I didnt

want her to go through this alone, she

said. Ro explained that this was where

she needed to be now, and when I visited

and saw her in her own environ

saw a light in her that wasnt there e

Teaneck. It was very soothing to m

I miss her, but thats not the

issue.

After high school, Rachels br

Yehuda Yeger, now 22, joined his

Academy of Bergen County classm

a gap year in Israel. Unlike most o

he decided to stay. Hes now inish

service in the Israel Defense Forc

tank gunner, and plans to enter B

in the fall.

At the beginning I planned to s

year and a half in the army, then go

to America] to go to law school, h

At the end of the year and a half I r

I wasnt going anywhere, and I sig

for another year of duty.

Two and a half years later Im

and Im not going back.

The youngest Yeger, Yakov, soon

in Israel for his gap year.

I raised them to spread their win

fly, and theyre flying, Mindi Yege

with obvious pride in her children.

Will she follow the same flight pa

Ill tell you this: I dont see mys

Skype grandma, she said.

Ro Yeger, far left, with fellow BarMUN award winners in Barcelona. BAR-ILAN UN


7/84

Lo

JEWISH STANDARD JUNE 13, 2

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

6:00 P.M. BBQ DINNER

6:45 P.M. ANNUAL MEETING

YOU A RE C OR DI AL LY I NV IT ED T O A TT EN D T HE

A N N U A L M E E T I N G S

OF THE

PLEASE R.S.V.P. TO DANA ROBERTS

201-784-1414 X5532 OR

[email protected]

TO BE HELD AT THE

JEWISH HOME AT ROCKLEIGH

10 LINK DRIVE, ROCKLEIGH, NJ

cordially invites you to its

Congregation Keter Torah

14th Annual Dinner

Tammy & Ken SecemskiGuests of Honor

Gila & Gary ElbaumEsther & William B. Manischewitzservice award

Monday, June 16, 2014 at 6:30 pm

Congregation Keter Torah600 Roemer Ave, Teaneck, NJ 07666

RememberingBarbara SeidenJOANNE PALMER

Barbara Cohen Seiden of Tenafly,

who died on June 6 at 90,

embodied determination, hon-

esty, an iron-strong will, and

the resilience of hope, according to her

good friend Dr. Sandra Gold.

Barbara Cohen was born in South Bend,

Ind., in 1924, the only daughter in a loving,

close-knit Orthodox family. It was the cus-

tom in many such families for their chil-

dren to go to college but to live at home as

they studied, so she graduated from Pur-

due University. There she both earned a

degree in mathematics a ield in which

she excelled and met her future hus-

band, Norman Seiden.

The Seidens moved to Tenafly, where

they flourished. Mr. Seiden went from

heading Melnor Industries, a lawn sprin-

kler and garden supply company that

was ideally situated to take advantage ofthe suburban postwar boom, to becom-

ing a leading developer and builder as

well. Both soon became leaders in the

community.

Like the county itself, Bergen Countys

Jewish community was growing, and both

Seidens helped shape and guide it. Ms.

Seiden supported a huge range of Jew-

ish communal organizations. The list of

those groups is long. It includes but is not

limited to the Jewish Home at Rockleigh,

Hadassah, ORT, the National Council of

Jewish Women, the Zionist Organization

of America, UJA Federation, Israel Bonds,

Englewood Hospital, the Arnold P. Gold

Foundation, and the Technion.

Her husband was one of the guid-

ing forces spearheading the building of

the new JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly,

but he only agreed to take that role after

SEE BARBARA SEIDENPAGE 16 Barbara and Norman Seiden


8/84

Local


Join us on the morning of June 15th (Father's Day) for the 4th annual Ride to Fight Hungerat the Jewish Home at Rockleigh10 Link DriveRockleigh, NJ

CELEBRATE WITH DAD AND HELP US MEET OUR GOAL!

Fun Walk: for all ages50 Mile Ride: for advanced cyclists

25 Mile Ride: for a fun challenge

10 Mile Ride: great for teens

3 Mile Ride: for families and youngsters

JFS Wheels for Meals is a family-friendly cycle and walk event for peopleall levels and ages. Breakfast and lunch provided. Funds raised supportJFS Meals on Wheels, emergency aid and the JFS food pantry.

For more information visit www.ridetofighthunger.org

Its about the mission, says D-Day veteranHackensack gunner describes landing on Omaha Beach

LOIS GOLDRICH

Hy Wagner of Hackensack, a

member of the 747th Tank Bat-

talion during World War II,

often thinks about DDay.

Thats not surprising. The 92-year-old,

a gunner in one of the tanks that stormed

Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, lost many

friends that day.

I think about the men who were lost, he

said. They were boys, 19, 21, 22.

Mr. Wagner was 21 at the time, but I would

be 22 in September, so I always said I was 22.

He began his military service in January 1943.

Im a lucky man, he said. Thats all I can

say. In all, DDay claimed the lives of more

than 9,000 Allied troops.

Growing up in Paterson, Mr. Wagner who

lived in Fair Lawn for many years before he

moved to Hackensack was inducted into

military service as Hymen Vagovsky. His

father changed the family name while the

gunner was overseas.

He recalls DDay clearly. The 747th an

independent tank battalion that participated

in combat operations throughout northern

Europe steamed toward shore at H hour

plus 10, Mr. Wagner said, noting that the

battalion comprised almost exclusively men

from New Jersey and New York.

A destroyer cut across our bow telling us

to hold the tanks back, he said. The beach-

head hadnt yet been secured. Indeed, the

tank battalion on its flank had just been

destroyed by Nazi guns iring out of concrete

bunkers. So we held off till early dawn.

Mr. Wagners tank came across the Eng-lish Channel from Southampton, England,

on an LCT an amphibious assault ship

used to land tanks on beachheads.

It was not a big kind of thing, he said,

pointing out that many of these vessels cap-

sized on June 6. There were three tanks on

our craft, he said. His tank carried a major.

I didnt know the game plan, he said. I

knew that we had to land on the beach and

go wherever we had to go. I was a gunner,

not a tank commander. You do whatever

youre going to do.

Mr. Wagner explained that from time to

time, his battalion was assigned to different

combat divisions. On DDay, One of our

platoons was attached to the 1st Infantry

Division. The others were attached to the

29th Infantry Division. At one time, we were

attached to the English. We got all the way

up to the northern part of Germany.

While the thought of DDay conjures up

images of countless dead and wounded

Allied ighters for many of us, Mr. Wagner

said that as a gunner, you dont really see

anything except for whats in front of you.

The tank commander had a better view.

Most of the action took place after we

landed on the beach, he said, noting that

after leaving the tank, the major never got

in it again. So we were on missions with

just a fou r-man crew, where I served as

gunner and tank commander, bobbing up

and down.

I think about it many times, he said.

About how ill-prepared we were, and how

even Dwight D. Eisenhower couldnt con-

trol everything. On paper, it was a beautiful

attack, timed well. But on June 7, it would

have been a completely different attack

because it was a beautiful day. June 6 was

clouded over. The bombers went in irst,

but they bombed away f rom the beach.

The cost in lives was multiplied because the

beach area was not destroyed.

Mr. Wagner sponsored a lunch at a Hack-

ensack restaurant on June 6 for dozens of

friends and family members including

widows of military personnel who died on

that day in 1944 Sigmund Westerman of

Fair Lawn, also a veteran of that period,

was among his guests.

This is the irst time he has pulled together

an event to commemorate the Normandy

landing, Mr. Wagner said. I didnt do this

before, but now its 70 years after the inva-

sion a memorable year. Also, before we

were all hustling to make a living.

We had one reunion of the tank group not

long after the war, but then we went about

the business of making a life for ourselves,

he added.

Eventually, Mr. Wagner owned a New

York public relations company, Media

Distribution Services.

What bothers him most today

in most schools they dont really

history anymore, Mr. Wagner sa

recently met a man who was as

40, who didnt know what DDay w

he was born, raised, and educated

country. He wasnt even taught abo

When I went to school, we had a fu

of history, like we did literature and

mar, he said.

Hy Wagner in his World War II uniform the jacket was too small when it f

was issued, he says.

Somebodydepends on you.

You dont thinkabout country

or flag,youthink aboutthose men.

SEE MISSIONPA


9/84


It is with great sorrow that we mourn the passing of our belovedfriend and supporter, Mrs. Barbara Seiden. While she will begreatly missed, her memory, spirit, and legacy will continue tolive on in our hearts and in our community.

In Sympathy

e Board of Trustees, Staff,and Volunteers of EnglewoodHospital and Medical Centeroffer sincere condolences to herdevoted husband, Norman, andto the extended Seiden family.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

BSeidenEHMC.pdf 1 6/10/2014 3:33:54 PM


10/84

Local


Blogging AlzheimersFort Lee man charts his mothers course and writes letters to the Times

JOANNE PALMER

Robert Nussbaums mother,

Dorothy Smith Nussbaum, is

almost 97 years old.

Although in reality she lives

in Fort Lee, for the last few years her

Alzheimers-attacked mind often tells her

that, instead, she is in the candy store her

family used to own in Lodi.

Often speaking in Yiddish, she relives

those days. They were happy ones. She

had three sisters each of whom not only

graduated from college but also went to

graduat e school and a brother, Ha r-

vey Smith, who later went on to become

a prominent judge. (It was Mr. Smith, in

fact, who was responsible for the judicial

decision that allowed 274 acres of Tenafly

woods to beco me the Tenafl y Nature

Center.)

Mr. Nussbaum, who lives with his wife,

Joanne, in Fort Lee, is a lawyer by profes-

sion, but increasingly he has found that li fe

as he lives it compels him to write about it.

One of his subjects is his mother.

A few things distinguish Mr. Nussbaum

from the other would-be-writer attorneys

who similarly have much to say and would

like an audience for their work.

For one thing, he started small. He began

blogging in 2008; tooearlytocall.com holds

a range of his writing on dementia, poli-

tics, the Yankees, and golf, among many

other subjects, as well as some iction.

Now, one of his pieces on Alzheim-

ers is about to be published in the latest

Chicken Soup for the Soul book, this one

subtitled Living with Alzheimers & Other

Dementias. It will be his ifth contribution

to the series.

Mr. Nussbaum also specializes in letters

to the editor; he has had more than 35

published in that Holy Grail of American

letters-to-the-editor, the New York Times.

(If you are English, for generations the

Times of London has been the summit.)

Another of Mr. Nussbaums distinctions

is that he is a third-generation Bergen

County boy. When his mother grew up in

Lodi, she belonged to one of ive local Jew-

ish families. When she married, she and

her husband, Richard Nussbaum, moved

to Teaneck, where Robert and his sister,

Gail Nussbaum Kaplan of Englewood,

grew up. The family belonged to Temple

Emeth, then in its glory days; the rabbi,

Louis Sigel, who helped the township

become the irst in the country to desegre-

gate its school system voluntarily, presided

at his bar mitzvah and later performed his

wedding.

After he graduated from law school,

Robert Nussbaum married Joanne Fried-

land, who grew up in Tenafly. (The only

time either of them lived outside Bergen

County was when they were in college,

Mr. Nussbaum reports.) They began their

married life in Fort Lee, moved to Tenafly

to raise their children, and now, as empty-

nesters, have moved back to Fort Lee.

Richard Nussbaum, a lawyer who grad-

uated irst in his NYU law school class,

died when he was 61 years old, in 1971.

Dorothy Nussbaum, who had been a

high-school English teacher in Hacken-

sack until she became a mother, lived

alone, happily and competently, occa-

sionally complaining about her failing

memory but exhibiting no troubling

symptoms, until she turned 90.

Then it became clear that she could

no longer live without a caretak

son said. The problems he and hi

faced are familiar to many middl

people lucky enough still to have p

His mother drove longer than she

have. By the time her last licen

not renewed, She could rememb

to go to only a few places Mont

Golf Club, on Route 9W, or Bisc

and Louies Charcoal Pit on Ceda

in Teaneck, her son said. Towa

end of the time she was still driving

or twice shed call me and say, Im

but I dont know how to get there

had a minor accident, could not r

ber either how it happened or how

home, and needed a police escor

was when she stopped driving.

We were very lucky that nothin

signiicant happened, Mr. Nussbau

Still, the decision to stop his mothe

driving was agonizing. Their car a

ing alone are the last two vestiges

ples independence, he said. Wh

take those things away, people fe

their lives are over.

Ms. Nussbaum had a fear of livi

nursing home, even a very good o

son said. She would always say, Do

me there. That stuck with my sist

me. We couldnt do it.

He sometimes questions that de

Robert Nussbaum and his mother, Dorothy Nussbaum, at one of her last family outings, around 2008.

In the late 1980s, Ms. Nussbaum sits with her grandchildren; from left, Lindsay

Kaplan, Alexandra Nussbaum, Brett Kaplan, and Richard Nussbaum.


11/84

Local


1440 QUEEN ANNE ROAD TEANECK NJ 201.862.10

Buy one Zahler product get second Zahler product freePlus all Zahler products 35% of **

30% of the enre store **

**specials cannot be combined

Take Zahler AllergEase

Natural Juice Bar, FrozenYogurt, Organic Cofee Coming Soo

Zahler AllergEase is now

$20.98**super special

savings!!

Like us

on

Facebook.

facebook.com/jewishstandard

Mr. Nussbaum said, although he does not think it was

the wrong one. But it hasnt been easy not for us, not

for the caretakers, and not for her.

Mr. Nussbaums writing about his mother is direct and

honest; it is moving, and at times it is lovely. It addresses

head-on some of the issues about which other people,

those not in his situation, might wonder.

His mother now is blind; when she does speak, which

is infrequent, it often is not easy to understand what she

is saying, even when it is in English. Both Mr. Nussbaum

and Ms. Kaplan visit her frequently; they try to enter her

world because she no longer can return to theirs, Mr.

Nussbaum said. They talk to her, even though she can-

not answer them.

The story he contributed to Chicken Soup for the

Soul describes how one day he walked into her room

and heard Frank Sinatras voice coming from her stereo.

His was the music of her adolescence and young adult-

hood, and it comforted her. This time, in the middle of

Mr. Nussbaums one-sided conversation, all of a sudden

my moms arm came up, as if she were conducting, he

said. And then she started to sing. She sang along per-

fectly with the Sinatra song for a verse or two, and then

she was quiet again.

Since then, Sinatra often plays in her room, and Mr.

Nussbaum, in one of the role reversals that is a primary

feature of dealing with parents with Alzheimers, sings

to her. She likes my singing, even though no one else

does, he said.

Mr. Nussbaums letters to the New York Times are dif-

ferent in tone than his writing about his mother. Last

week, the newspapers new Times Insider section its

new pay wall, where once again it is trying to ind some

way to monetize its web presence featured a look at

some of its most proliic letter-writers, including Mr.

Nussbaum.

The editor of the Letters section, Thomas Feyer,

emailed 35 of the papers most faithful and most pub-

lished correspondents. He asked each of them three

questions, including one about the effect that having

written so many letters has had on the writers life.

Insomnia, Mr. Nussbaum wrote. That, too, was

published.

The Smith family in 1956 and 1965; the people

have grown older but the horse has not.


12/84

Local


Some of his best friendsHow Seeds of Peace made the political personal for a Teaneck teen

LARRY YUDELSON

The course at the Bergen County

Academies in Hackensack would

have been impossible to imagine

when we were going to school.

Its not the topic: Empathy and Dialogue

in the Middle East.

Its the medium: Each session, students

videoconference with a different teen in

a different place Israel, Jordan, Gaza,

Eypt, etc.

The class provides a personal introduc-

tion to understanding a part of the world

that is far away but often in the news.

Most astonishingly, its taught by a fel-

low student: 11th grader Ben Sharp, 17. An

American Jew from Teaneck, he knows

peers throughout the Middle East through

taking part in a program called Seeds of

Peace last summer.

(Ben will speak about his Seeds of Peace

experience on Saturday at his synagogue,

Teanecks Temple Emeth.)

Seeds of Peace is a nonproit organization

that runs a camp, also called Seeds of Peace,

in southern Maine. The camps program-

ming combines traditional summer-camp

fare sports, waterfront activities, arts and

crafts with an encounter group.

Last June, when Ben met his bunkmates,

he found he was the only American Jew in a

group with three Israelis, four Palestinians,

one Jordanian, and one Eyptian.

There were three counselors, which was

a good thing, given that when the Israelis

entered the bunk and met the Palestinians

who had arrived before them, you saw this

tense awkwardness you can almost cut with

a knife, Ben said.

For most of the Palestinians and Israelis

who, remember, all were high school stu-

dents it was the irst time they had ever

come in contact with the other side.

Yet by the end of the three-and-a-half-

week sessi on, we were all brothers in

everything except blood, he said.

Ben believes that going on the program

was the best thing he ever did.

I met the most interesting, most kind,

most passionate, most humorous people

in the world, he said. Beside the countries

represented in his bunk, he made friends

with students from Afghanistan, Pakistan,and India.

Theyre people I still keep in touch with,

he said.

Learning to swim at summer camp

requires hard work by the camper and expert

guidance by swim instructors. Similarly, the

friendships Ben developed at Seeds of Peace

didnt happen accidentally.

The multinational group swam in the lake

together and played soccer together. But the

central activity was when the group gathered

in the dialogue hut for 90 minutes of sched-

uled dialogue each day.

It was the most challenging thing Ive ever

done in my life, Ben said. It was challenging

emotionally.

It was frustrating, because at irst we were

just yelling at each other. We were trying to

get out what we wanted to say and what our

opinions were. It took us a really long

time to realize that if we wanted our

own words to have an impact on oth-

ers in the dialogue hut, we would have

to offer our ears to what everyone else

has to say also.

I know it sort of sounds like a kin-

dergarten concept, but when you put it

into practical use it still applies to teen-

agers. It still applies to the adult world.

Unfortunately, I dont think its

widely practiced.

One of the key secrets of the dia-

logue process was to speak in the irst

person, to share your own personal

stories, how the conflict has affected

you, Ben said. When you leave your

house in Ramallah, what do you see?

What do you feel?

I saw how that had a more mean-

ingful impact on me, he said.

Every day for a week, the group gathered

in the dialogue hut and yelled at each other.

We were stuck, Ben said. They told us

we were one of the most dificult dialogue

groups to work with. I started to lose hope

and not trust the process. You expect to move

forward and not be yelling at each other the

same things over and over, who was right and

who was wrong in 1948. You want to reach a

level of understanding but we couldnt.

That was so disheartening, to just be

stuck and hear these really vicious tirades be

thrown across each other between friends.

Then, on the seventh day, all of a sudden

found we a way to respect each other and

listen to each other. That was huge, that was

everything. It was such a relief.

The stories Ben heard from the people who

were becoming friends people with whom

he was playing every day were dramatic,

painting the Israeli-Arab conflict as anything

but abstract.

I remember my friend Ahmed sharing a

story of how he was walking home to his refu-

gee camp outside of Bethlehem, Ben said.

He was with his younger brother and his

younger brothers best friend. They were

right by the checkpoint to enter the refu-

gee camp. There was a demonstration. He

hears a shot. The next thing he knows his

brothers best friends brains are scattered

all over his shoe.

That hit me like a rock.

I had to watch him say that. I had to watch

the emotions on his face and the tears come

out of his eyes. I could see how hard it was for

him to share that story with us.

My friend Idan was saying how his uncle

was sent to neutralize a bomb that was on

a bus in Tel Aviv. Something happened and

he wasnt able to deactivate it properly. Idan

and his father were on the phone with the

uncle as he was dying.

That was also a dificult story to listen to

that had a major impact on all of us, he said.

In the end, the success of the dialogue

and its intimacy forged friendships. They

probably know me better than some of my

friends here who Ive known all my life,

said Ben, who stays in touch with his friends

through Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype

private social network run by Seeds of

With friends around the world

headlines have become personal.

Shortly after he got back from cam

summer, 500 people were killed in o

in the streets of Cairo. Ben imme

texted all his friends there: Are you

Are your family and friends okay?

One such Cairo friend is N

Mohamed Sobhy, who will also be sp

at Temple Emeth. The two became

at an evening concert put on by coun

One of the Eyptian kids introduc

and she started dancing to a song w

knew, he said.

Nouran lives across the street fr

presidential palace. Shes been th

the revolution, Ben said. It de

makes me worry a lot.

The experience also taught Ben sk

hes putting into practice as he lea

course at his high school. I feel th

able to understand the dynamics of a

of a conversation, and how to influen

make progress, he said.

The class is a collaboration with on

schools Spanish teachers, an Argen

woman who lived in Israel and serve

IDF. She long had wanted to teach an

course on the Middle East and Ben a

overseas friends served as the catalys

The students in the class includ

who was born in Israel and anothe

Turkey. Most of the remaining st

have no prior knowledge or expe

with the conflict, Ben said. The

experience is entirely new to them

adventure.

What:Is the Person Eating

Hummus Next to Me My Enemy?

A Summer at Seeds of Peace

Who:High school students

Nouran Mohamed Sobhy, a

Muslim-Egyptian from Cairo, and

Ben Sharp, a Jewish-American

from Teaneck

When:Saturday, June 14, noon.

Where:Temple Emeth, Teaneck,

1666 Windsor Road

Ben Sharp and Nouran Mohamed Sobhy

Ben Sharp and his Seeds of Pea

bunkmates.


13/84


Affordable luxury with amenities that include:

Scan with your smart phonefor more information

To Schedule a Tour, Call 973.929.2725

Lester Senior Housing CommunitHELLER

Independent Living Apartments

WESTONAssisted Living Residence

Glatt kosher dining

On-site dental/MD/physical therapy suites

Computer lab

Full activities/cultural & creative arts programs

Movie theatre

Elegant dining

Advanced resident emergency response

On-site synagogue and rabbi

Concierge service

And much, much more...

Owned and Managed by the Jewish Community Housing Corporation of Metropolitan New Jer

903-905 Route 10 East, Whippany, NJ

Low and moderate income units also available, as low as $1600 per month

www.jchcorp.org

Dont Just Live Life

Love It!


14/84

Local


Nahariya doctorsvisit Holy NameHoly Name Medical Center in Teaneck

recently welcomed three medical profes-

sionals from Western Galilee Medical Cen-

ter in Nahariya, Israel, who toured the

medical centers Regional Cancer Center.

Dr. Deane Penn, Chair of the Jewish

Federation of Northern New Jerseys

Partnership2Gether Medical Task

Force, discusses HNMCs newest linearaccelerator with Dr. Benjamin Rosen-

bluth, Director of Radiation Oncology,

HNMC during the Western Galilee

Medical Center delegations visit.

Front row, from left: Galeet Lipke, Medical Task Force Coordinator, JFNNJ; Avia

Kauffman, Head Oncology Nurse, Western Galilee Medical Center (WGMC) ; Dr.

Alejandro Livoff, Senior Pathologist and Cytologist, WGMC; Dr. Yadyra Rivera,

Director of Medical Oncology, Holy name Medical Center (HNMC); Dr. Hadassah

Goldberg, Chief of Oncology, WGMC ; Marylou Anton, Executive Director of On-

cology, HNMC; Michael Maron, President and CEO, HNMC. Back row, from left:

Dr. Ravit Barkama, Executive Director of HNMCs Institute for Clinical Research;

Edwin Ruzinsky, member of the board of trustees, HNMC; Dr. Deane Penn, Chair

of the JFNNJ Medical Task Force; Dr. Adam Jarrett, Executive Vice President and

Chief Medical Officer, HNMC.

Winklers to be honored in Fort LeeYoung Israel of Fort Lee will host a

dinner in honor of Rabbi Neil Win-

kler and his wife, Andrea, who are

planning to make aliyah after 36

years of service to Fort Lee and Ber-

gen County. The celebration is set

for the Fort Lee Doubletree Hotel

on Sunday, June 22 at 5 p.m. The

Winklers have ive grown children

and nine grandchildren. For infor-

mation, call (201) 5921518 or email

[email protected].

Andrea Win

Sara Lederer

Rabbi Neil Winkler

Local graduate among Touro/NCSYscholarship awardeesSara Lederer of Bergenield was among seven outstanding high

school graduates from across the nation selected to receive the

prestigious Sarah Rivkah and Dr. Bernard Lander ztl Scholar-

ship, given jointly by Touro College and the Orthodox Unions

National Council of Synagogue Youth.

Touro College, which has a close working relationship with

the Orthodox Union, offers scholarships to outstanding NCSY

graduates who choose to attend one of Touros Lander Col-

leges in New York City Lander College for Men in Queens,

Lander College for Women/The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten

School in Manhattan, and Lander College of Arts and Sci-

ences in Flatbush.

Secemskis and Elbaumsare Keter Torah honoreesCongregation Keter

Torah in Teaneck will

host its 14th annual din-

ner on Monday, June16, at 6:30 p.m. Tammy

and Ken Secemski are

the guests of honor and

Gila and Gary Elbaum

are the Esther and Wil-

liam B. Manischewitz

Community Service

awardees.

The Secemskis moved to Teaneck 16

years ago with their ive children and

joined Keter Torah, where they are active

members. Ken, a senior vice president at

Merrill Lynch, attends the daily minyan

at Keter Torah before work. Tammy, the

owner of Teanecks Glatt Express Super-

market and Lazy Bean Caf, provides

refreshments for Rabbi Baums weekly

morning shiur as well as meals for those

in need.

Since moving to Bergenield in 19

Elbaums have been active in Keter

and the community. Together they

teer with their children at shul eve

fundraisers. Gila served ive year

president of ATARA and is a mem

the Keter Torah Advisory Council.

The shul is at 600 Roemer Av

information, call (201) 9070180

www.ketertorah.org.

Ken and Tammy

Secemski

Gary and Gila Elba

JECS Rabbi Taub wins honorRabbi Shmuel Taub, a faculty member at the Jewish Educa-

tional Center in Elizabeth, was selected as the 2014 Grin-

spoon Award-winner for Excellence in Jewish Education in the

Greater MetroWest New Jersey region.

According to the Grinspoon Foundation, the awards are

designed to recognize, honor and support outstanding class-

room Jewish educators worthy of national recognition and

are presented to professionals in communities across North

America in conjunction with their central agencies for Jewish

education or Jewish federations.

Rabbi Shmu

Taub

Rutgers Hillel is award-winnerFive students active with Rut-

gers Hillel have been elected

to the ranks of the Scarlets,

recipients of the Universitys

Student Life-Student Involve-

ments highest annual recog-

nition. In addition, Hillel staff

member Gregory Yellin of

Edison, its director of engage-

ment, received the Arrigo O.

Rogers Award as the Univer-

sitys Outstanding Advisor of

the Year.

The Scarlets awards program is con-

ducted annually to recognize organiza-

tions and people who have shown an

immense amount of dedication or service

and leadership to the uni-

versity and community. Out-

standing students, student

organizations, faculty, and

staff members are nominated

for awards in campus pro-

gramming, individual excel-

lence, and organizational

achievement.

Mr. Yellin is the third Hil-

lel professional to receive

the award. He follows Rabbi

Esther Reed of Highland Park, the senior

associate director at Rutgers Hillel, and

Sarah Portilla of Marlboro, development

manager at the Jewish Federation of Mon-

mouth County, who were earlier winners.

Gregory Yellin


15/84


TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO, VISIT

jccotp.orgOR CALL 201.569.7900.

UPCOMING AT KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades

KAPLEN JCC on the PalisadesTAUB CAMPUS| 411 E CLINTON AVE, TENAFLY, NJ 07670|201.569.7900| jccotp.or

Play Fore! The KidsGolf ClassicReserve your foursome today and join us

for cocktails, auction and dinner and enrich

the lives of hundreds of individuals with

special needs. Help us provide summer camp

for children with cancer and other blood

disorders; help children with special needs

develop life skills; provide summer camp

for children with autism, and much more.

For more info and sponsorship opportunities,

contact Sharon Potolsky at 201.408.1405 or

[email protected].

Foursome Registration Deadline July 7.

Mon, July 14, Montammy Golf Club, Alpine, NJ

Yoga on the GreenWITH BRENDA BLANCO

FREE AND OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY

Enjoy a one hour, fun, all-level yoga class

with Brenda Blanco, expert yoga teacher,

trainer and wellness expert. Stretch out on

our expansive lawn with your mat, towel &water bottle. Participants are invited to use

our pool facilities, so bring your bathing suit!

For more info contact Barbara Marrott at

201.408.1475 or bmarrott@ jccotp.org.

RSVP to [email protected].

Sun, June 29, 10 am, Free, baseball field

lawn, auditorium if inclement weather

EGL FOUNDATION COMPUTER CENTER

FOR ADULTS 40+

Free Open House& OrientationSharpen your computer skills, meet

our instructors and coaches, recieve

FREE information on Most Interesting

Websites, participate in hands-on

practice sessions, and enter to win a free

computer course. Classes start July 7;

Register for classes by July 2 and get 20%

off all classes (excludes workshops).

For more info call Michele at 201.408.1496

Thur, Jun 26, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, Free

FOR

ALLADULTS MUSIC

15TH ANNUAL SANDRA O. GOLD

Founders Day ConcertFREE AND OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY

A magical and inspiring annual event honoring Sandra

O. Gold and featuring the Thurnauer School of Musics

incomparable student ensembles performing a wide range

of exciting repertoire. This concert is made possible by theSandra O. Gold Music School Founder Endowment Fund

established by Russ and Angelica Berrie.

Thur, Jun 19, 6:30 pm

Call 201.408.1448, email [email protected], or bring in this

ad to save! Take a tour & get a one-week pass for your

entire family! Individual, family, youth & senior membership

options available. Must take a tour to receive guest pass.

SIGN UP IN

& GET 1 MONTHJUNE OR JULY

FREE!Not just a gym,

A Family Wellness Center


16/84

consulting with her. (Once the Seidens decided

onto the new JCC, their friends added their su

and the dream became reality.)

Ms. Seiden, by all accounts, was happy at

raising her three children, Stephen, Pearl, andBehind the scenes, she and her husband we

life partners. He was their public face, but she

heart and soul. Mr. Seiden made no philanthro

without clearing it with his wife, Dr. Gold said.

Love was a constant theme in all her re

ships, Dr. Gold added. Her three children ma

the grandmother of 13, and those 13 irst cou

far have 11 children between them. Ms. Seiden

them all.

Beyond all that, Dr. Gold said, was her love

husband and her husbands for her. It was

romance, according to Dr. Gold, who quoted

Alan Poes ode to his lost child bride, Annabel

to describe it. He loved with a love that was

than love, and that described both of them, sh

In 1976, the Seidens life changed. A nightm

and avoidable accident in a hospital, whe

Seiden had gone for what should have been a r

procedure, put her in a coma, one from whi

doctors assumed that she could not awaken.

But she did wake up. Against all odds, her stro

and desire to live pulled her out of the coma. Al

she was left with physical deicits, she did not le

conquer her; instead, she conquered them.

Dr. Gold and her husband, Dr. Arnold Gold, oft

eled with the Seidens, and she always was struck

Seidens tenacity, her determination not to be d

or hobbled by her disabilities. She climbed stair

climbed up the Pyramids. She used her medica

tion as a way to learn to be positive rather than ne

and she developed a sense of humor.

She always had a strong sense of justice.

family learned after the accident, Ms. Seide

struck a pact with her housekeeper; if Inel

after the Seidens when she worked for them

Ms. Seiden pledged to look after Inel in her o

Before Ms. Seiden regained consciousness, h

band, knowing nothing of that pact, laid Inel

did not need a housekeeper. Ms. Seiden had

about that before she regained enough stren

be able to talk; once she could talk, her irst

were a question about Inel, and a demand th

be taken care of. (L ater, Inel returned to wor

again for the Seidens.)

Everything Barbara accomplished in her l

totally unexpected by the experts, Dr. Gold sai

was super. Her determination her steel will s

went ahead. She forged ahead.

Neither she nor Norm ever accepted defeat

And the community Barbara Seiden left be

stronger for that iron will.

Local


www.ssdsbergen.org

We Congratulate ThisYears Award Recipients

Valedictorians inGeneral and Judaic Studies

Danielle Bash and Tal Kamin

Award for Academic Excellence

in General StudiesAlexandria Murad

The Stephanie vrhaPrezant zl okug iue,AwardDalia Rotman

Presented to a student who demonstrates like Stephanie did a love for okug iue,,building positive relationships among peers, and creating a more cohesive community.

The Rabbi Jehiel Orenstein zlRighteous Pathvrah lrsAwardAriel Abergel

Presented to the Schechter graduate who in the words of our ancestors, ihsv ,ruan ohbpk,has gone beyond our high standards of decency to cultivate ,uhrcv sucf(respect for others) and a

cuy ck(a good heart, disposed to create good perspective, good friendships, good neighborliness, and goodjudgment and consequences), thus enhancing the character of our entire Schechter community.

SOLOMON SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOLOF BERGEN COUNTY

Graduating Class of 2014

kdrct kthrt Ariel Abergel in hkrut Orly Manndzunt kgh Yael Amozeg .hcuern rhput Ofr Markowitz

ihkuxt ohhj Henry Asulin .hcuern rha Shir Markowitzac kzn Danielle Bash .hcuern rhn, Tamir Markowitz

rfc ktgs Dael Bejar .hcuexn vra vbhr Renee Moskowitz;uvyxc ihnhbC Benyamin Besthof srun kdhx Alexandria Muradkhas kthbs Daniel Dachille ebr,xp vabn i,buh Jonathan Pasternakrdzbs kthbs Daniel Danzger rmkhp vruthk Leora Piltzerzckt kfhn Alexia Elbaz hbcr gkx Sela Rabbani

drcskud rurs i,ht Eitan Dror Goldberg izur vra Sari Rosenihhyxbhrd vhtn Maya Greenstein inyr vhks Dalia Rotman

dhbuv vtk Leanne Honig inyr vhrfz Zachary Rotmanihne ky Tal Kamin inra van Max Sherman

ihkre van ohhj Moshe Karlin rukhx sus David Silverxnvrct-rrsue i,ht Jesse Kauderer-Abrams ktyx ktuna Sean Stahl

ihsud-rkxe kyhct Avital Kessler-Godin ihhp-tubry hbur Ronen Tarnow-Fineihhke ,hnuka Sydney Klein skpbcy ruchd Gordon Taubenfeldidue i,n Matan Kogen rnhz vhrfz Zachary Zimmer

rtuk vatc Blake Lower inreuz vrpha Shifra Zuckerman

Salutatorians inGeneral and Judaic Studies

Yael Amozeg and Zachary Zimmer

Mazal Tov to Our SSDS graduates!

Our graduates will attend Abraham JoshuaHeschel High School, Golda Och Academy,SAR Academy High School, SolomonSchechter School of Westchester HighSchool, The Ramaz Upper School, and otherelite private high schools.

275 McKinley AvenueNew Milford, NJ 07646

Tel: 201-262-9898

Award for Academic Excellence

in Judaic StudiesDaniel Danzger and Sela Rabbani

Barbara SeFROM P

She was super.Hdetermination h

steel will she jwent ahead. S

forged aheDR. SANDR


17/84

Local


,tc ihtn gs.lkuv v,t itku

SOLOMON SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL

OF BERGEN COUNTY

Kol HaKavodto our SSDS Alumniwho will attend the following

colleges, universities, andIsrael gap-year programs:

Know from where you came,and to where you will go.

(Pirkei Avot 3:1)

www.ssdsbergen.org

275 McKinley AvenueNew Milford, NJ 07646

Tel: 201-262-9898

Art Institute of ChicagoBar-Ilan University

Bergen Community CollegeBinghamton University

Boston UniversityBrown University

Carnegie Mellon UniversityCase Western Reserve University

Columbia UniversityCornell University

Elon UniversityGeorge Mason University

George Washington UniversityHarvard University

Hunter CollegeIsraeli Army

Johns Hopkins UniversityLynn University

Manhattanville CollegeMuhlenberg College

NativThe College LeadershipProgram in Israel

Northeastern UniversityPennsylvania State University

University of Pittsburgh

Quinnipiac UniversityUniversity of Rochester

Rutgers UniversitySyracuse University

Trinity CollegeTulane University

University of Rhode IslandVanderbilt University

Washington University in St. LouisWesleyan University

Yale University

SSDS Class of 2010 at their 8 thGrade Graduation

SSDSClassof2010ataRecentClassReunion

While DDay claimed many more lives than was

expected, I dont think they could have planned it

very differently, Mr. Wagner said. You just cant pre-

dict in that type of situation. DDE [President Eisen-

hower] had a limited period of clear sky. He gambled

with it.

When something goes wrong, then it depends on

the people on the ground: how they respond, how

they react, how they ield their mission. The mission is

the most important thing in their thinking. They have

a job to do.

When Mr. Wagners tank inally was able to storm the

beach on DDay, it took up a position overlooking a high-

way. Below it were infantry troops from K company,

which had been decimated, he said.

It stands out in my mind. I think of the guts these guys

had. Four or six of them would go ahead and scout the

highway until they were out of sight. Then they would

come running back. Some would lose their helmet or

their gun. They had to get back quickly.

They had a job to do, he continued. It was their mis-

sion. Theres something that happens to a person that is

superior to reasoning, to logic, to anything else. Some-

body depends on you. You dont think about country or

flag, you think about those men.

It happened to me deep in the war, when we were

overlooking the Siegfried Line. Everyone had withdrawn

to the bivouacs, but they asked us to stay behind. A group

of infantry men were trapped.

The tank remained even in the face of German ire. Mr.

Wagner even got out of the tank to try to ix the tanks gun,

which had jammed.

I could have left then and there, but those men were

important to me, he said. Theres a sense of comrade-

ship even when you dont know the other people.

When the German ire got dangerously close, Mr. Wag-

ner told the tank driver to leave, and he returned to the

bivouac on foot.

Now retired, Mr. Wagner who returned home from

Europe on December 12, 1945 is busily searching out

a complete history of what took place with the tank bat-

talion, hour by hour, until we reached the end of the war.

He will not soon forget the events of June 6, 1944.

That day has always been very important to me,

he said. I lost some very good friends.

MissionFROM PAGE 8

Hy Wagner with his wife, Norma, and their

daughter, Beth, at the reunion.

www.jstandard.com


18/84

Editorial

1086 Teaneck RoadTeaneck, NJ 07666(201) 837-8818Fax 201-833-4959

PublisherJames L. Janoff

Associate Publisher EmeritaMarcia Garfinkle

EditorJoanne Palmer

Associate EditorLarry Yudelson

Guide/Gallery EditorBeth Janoff Chananie

Contributing EditorPhil Jacobs

About Our Children EditorHeidi Mae Bratt

CorrespondentsWarren BorosonLois GoldrichAbigail K. LeichmanMiriam RinnDr. Miryam Z. Wahrman

Advertising DirectorNatalie D. Jay

Business ManagerRobert Chananie

Classified DirectorJanice Rosen

Advertising CoordinatorJane Carr

Account ExecutivesPeggy EliasGeorge KrollKaren NathansonBrenda Sutcliffe

International Media PlacementP.O. Box 7195 Jerusalem 91077Tel: 02-6252933, 02-6247919Fax: 02-6249240Israeli Representative

Production ManagerJerry Szubin

Graphic ArtistsDeborah HermanBob O'Brien

BookkeeperAlice Trost

Credit ManagerMarion Raindorf

ReceptionistRuth Hirsch

JewishStandard

jstandard.com

FounderMorris J. Janoff (191119

Editor EmeritusMeyer Pesin (19011989

City EditorMort Cornin (19151984

Editorial ConsultantMax Milians (1908-200

SecretaryCeil Wolf (1914-2008)

Editor EmeritaRebecca Kaplan Boroso

TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES

Wake up andsmell the hatredWhy Israelis and all Jewmust begin to fight back

Spending a week delivering lectures

many, Holland, and Switzerland gav

renewed perspective on European Jew

and attitudes toward Jews. Many of

tures were based around my new book Koshe

which led to the frequent question, Is it true th

have sex through a sheet with a hole in the mid

I responded that the Jewish law allowing a

to have sex through a sheet with a hole in the

is actually a lenient rabbinic position, mostl

ticed by Reform Jews. The truly Orthodox ha

in two different bedrooms through a hole in th

while the ultra -Ort

are in the habit of d

full body armor just

sex. (Incidentally,

ish law any and al

ing is prohibited d

sex, because love-m

is about becoming

of one bone, flesh

flesh. Even condom

prohibited as a con

tive for the artiicial

they impose betwe

band and wife the

a diaphragm is preferred.)

There seems to be no lie that the Jews

accused of that the rest of the world esp

Europe will not absorb. First, we were charge

killing God. Next, that we poisoned Europe

during the Black Death. Then we tortured the

rist wafers to cause further suffering to Jesus,

flesh was incarnate in it. After that, we killed Ch

children, and, like vampires we drained their

into our matzahs. Of course, countless people

the world believe that in an ongoing conspirac

plot and scheme about taking over the world.

In 2014, many Europeans believe that tiny

is the cause of most of the strife in the Midd

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is founder of This World

Values Network, the foremost organization influe

politics, media, and the culture with Jewish value

has just published Kosher Lust: Love is Not the An

Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.


Mourning a toddler

L

ast Shabbat, Chana Tova

Poupko, the daughter of

Dr. Shoshana and Rabbi

Chaim Poupko, died. She

was 2 years old.

We can write obituaries about peo-

ple who died after long lives. We can

celebrate their accomplishments, link

them to their ancestors, name their

descendants, and describe their place

in our world.

Often we inish such assignments

feeling the hole in the world left by

the absence of someone we had

never known.

And then we are confronted with

the death of a child, and everything

goes black.

A child has young parents and no

descendents, no accomplishments

beyond walking, talking, the irst smile,

the irst tooth, the way she pronounced

her words, hugged her friends, played

with her toys, petted her cat. Her world

was supposed to lay open in front of

her. Her path should have been long.

It is neither our place nor our incli-

nation to consider the theological

implications of a childs death. We

know that Rabbi Poupko, the associate

rabbi at Congregation Ahavath Torah

in Englewood for the last decade,

comes from a prominent Chicago rab-

binic family. We hope that he and Dr.

Poupko ind comfort in their faith. We

know that ever since Chana was diag-

nosed with cancer, at 13 months, the

family has been supported by their

communitys ierce love.

We also know that the death of a

child can put her parents and the rest

of her family at the bottom of a black

hole, a slimy, airless, light-less place.

While there is not much anyone can do,

either for Chanas family or for the fami-

lies of other children who have suffered

through the death of their own beloved

children, we must do whatever we can.

Sometimes, standing close to

mourners, being there, being pres-

ent, can hold them up when their own

strength fails. We hope that the com-

munity will continue to provide com-

fort to the Poupkos, and to everyone

else in their situation.

Hamak om yena chem otam btoc h

shear aveil ei Tzion vYeru shalay im.

May God comfort them among the

mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

-JP

Its no joke

Last week, on our page 3,whic h is mean t to be a

light-hearted look at the

extremes of the weeks

news, seems to have struck many peo-

ple as being nothing of the kind.

We understand that the position of

women is the third rail of Jewish life, at

least in the Orthodox world. (The liberal

Jewish world is egalitarian.) Partnership

minyanim, womens teillah groups,

women and Talmud study, maharats

each one of those developments elic-its controversy. The debate between dif-

ferent interpretations of halacha rages

on. Normally we go near it only with

extreme care, but last week that seems

not to have been the case.

We admit to some surprise. The

issue was the far-right Jewish worlds

increasing tendency not to allow wom-

ens images to be shown, even in situ-

ations where women must be present.

One of the illustrations we showed

was of a charedi groom alone under a

chuppah, not waiting for his bride but

seemingly in the middle of the wed-

ding ceremony without her.

We have gotten letters telling us

that such illustrations convey only

stringent modesty this might not

be a level of observance we all can

attain, but it is one toward which we

all should aspire.

This is both new and surprising.

We did not think that anyone would

see these photos as anything other

than either funny or disturbing.

We know that no matter what this

community in general thinks aboutwomen, it does not shy from allow-

ing them in pictures. Yeshivot send

us pictures of girls playing sports, act-

ing on stage, working on science proj-

ects, competing for prizes, winning

awards. Colleges, including YU, send

us photos of young women in Israel,

working with young children, walking

in parades, working in laboratories.

Synagogues send us pictures of mar-

ried couples as they honor them.

We do not get the sense that we are

sent these photos as a concession to

weakness. Instead, i t is clear to us

that our community standards not

only allow but actively expect women

to be seen.

We also think that the people who

are upset with us have pictures of

their own parents and grandparents

weddings, showing the bride as well

as the groom.

We are sorry if our tone upset some

of our readers.

And they are right. Erasing women

is no joke. -JP

It is clear tous that our

communitystandards not

only allowbut actively

expect womento be seen.

RabbiShmuley

Boteach


19/84

Opinion

and that its 6,000,000 Jewish citizens are respon-

sible for the plight of the 400,000,000 who sur-

round it.

The Czech Republic is considered friendly to

Israel, given its history as an object of appease-

ment to Hitlers insatiable appetite. But that

friendship did not stop a government oficial tell-ing me, respectfully, that Israels stealing Pales-

tinian land had alienated most of Europe. When I

reminded him that Israel actually had conquered

the West Bank in a defensive war launched by

Jordan, had offered to create a Palestinian state

there many times, and that the Palestinians had

responded with a terror wave that killed thou-

sands of Israelis, he told me that none of that mat-

tered. He had negative feelings toward Israel.

The basic stratey of Israel and the Jewish com-

munity must change.

We easily could blame European anti-Semitism

for anti-Israel hostility. But although its true, its

too convenient, and it absolves us Jews of the

responsibility of communicating our message.

Until now, it has mostly been our policy to over-

look ludicrous lies against the Jews, believing that

responding to them was dignifying them. Israel

has lost the public relations battle because so many

Israelis believed that the justice of their cause was

so self-evident that it required no defense.

Well, wake up and smell the hatred. The policy

has failed miserably. If history has taught as any-

thing, its that the world will believe that we have

horns under our yarmulkes unless the falsehood

is aggressively challenged.

Hardly a week goes by when serious new alle-

gatio ns arent hurled against Israe l. The latest

was when the pope prayed in front of P alestin-

ian grafiti equating Bethlehem with the Warsaw

Ghetto. This made a fundamentally good man an

unwitting party to Holocaust trivialization. To us

Jews this is a grotesque, revolting lie, that should

require no rejoinder. But we are fooling ourselves

if we think that most of the world doesnt already

believe that Isra els anti -terror wall is a giant

Alcatraz.

In April my organization, This World: The Val-

ues Network, started a series on campus, inviting

Israels leading critics to defend their allegations

against Israel in open debate. The irst forum, at

Columbia, featured Peter Beinart, who calls for a

boycott against all pro ducts from t he West Ban k

including Soda Stream because of the Israeli

occupation. I asked him why he uses an iPhone,

given that it is manufactured in China, which has

been occupying Tibet for more than half a century.

He had no response.

A woman came over to me and said that she

believed that arguments like these, defending

Israel, should be a standard feature of Jewish

day school education. I could not agree more.

Every Jewish young adult should be equipped

to respond to lies about the Jewish people. The

world Jewish community should adopt the policy

that every lie should be convincingly rebutted

at a grassroots level, not dismissed as beneath

contempt.

Jews may not use a sheet with a hole in the mid-

dle for sex. But we do need a wall without any

holes to stop terrorists from blowing up more

Jewish children. And unless we can persuade the

rest of the world of the justice of our cause, they

will continue to pu t ba rriers in the path of ou r

barriers.


Should Bergdahl have gone free?On Sergeant Bergdahl, President Obama,and the halacha of pidyon shevuyim

The controversy surrounding the prisoner exchangeof Taliban terrorists for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is a

story that the Jewish people knows well.

The questions being raised of whether the

president agreed to too much, whether the deal puts more

Americans in danger, and whether Sgt. Bergdahl deserved the

release, are old questions to Jewish ears. The Jewish experi-

ence differs from the American experience here, because we

as Jews have a long history of victimization at the hands of the

powerful. From Roman times, when captured Jews became

slaves, sold in an international slave market, to the Middle

Ages, when Jews sailing the Mediterranean would face cap-

ture by pirates, Judaism always has seen it as a mitzvah to

ransom captives, called in Hebrew pidyon shevuyim. Rais-

ing money to ransom a Jewish captive was seen as saving a

life, whereas failing to so made someone a passive accessory

to murder.

The religious imperative to ransom captives is codiied in

the legal codes of Jewish law and is supported by the docu-

mentary evidence of the Cairo

Genizah, where an abundance

of fundraising circulars were

discovered raising money from

the Jewish community to pay the

ransom of Jewish captives. There

are some such appeals signed by

Maimonides himself. Jewish com-

munities like Cairo (Fustat), which

had means and were accessible to

the sea, were natural markets for

Mediterranean pirates seeking to

sell their Jewish cargo. The

important point here is that Jewish communities saw it as an

obligation to free their captive co-religionist, irrespective of

who she or he was and where he or she was from.

The Mishnah, the second-century code of Jewish law,

places a restriction on the imperative to ransom captives. The

ransom should be refused if the price is too high, the Mishnah

rules (Gittin 4:6). The explanation for the restriction is the

betterment of the world (what they called tikkun olam), and

is explained as concern either that buying high will raise

the price for captives and increase the inancial burden on

Jewish communities paying new ransoms, or that agreeing to

high conditions will lead to an increase in the number of Jews

being captured for ransom. The interplay of economics and

ethics is fascinating, but underlying the law is a debate over

the concern for the individual and the greater public good.

The subsequent history of Jewish law on this question

entails an ongoing debate, which has intensiied in recent

decades in Israel. The controversial questions raised regard-

ing Sgt. Bergdahl are miniscule compared to the scope of the

debate that rages in Israel every time the Israeli government

negotiates a prisoner exchange. In both America and Israel,

our captives are captive soldiers, and the ransom we pay are

prisoners we hold. Israel has freed hundreds to thousands

of Arab prisoners in exchange for individual Israeli soldiers.

While the prisoners freed in wartime were Arab soldiers, in

more recent years they have been imprisoned terrorists, like

those freed from Guantanamo Bay.

Israeli society has learned to live with the threat of terror-

ism, just as post-9/11 America has, and the release of murder-

ers who might go on to kill again always has been a heavy

pill for the public to swallow. Questions always are raised as

to whether it is the proper thing to do for national security.

One Israeli soldier, Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was set free

in 2003, had been captured by terrorists in Abu Dhabi, where

he was alleged to have been engaged in buying dru

other criminal activity. As with Sgt. Bergdahl, the mer

release was questioned. At other times, Israel traded

terrorists for the remains of Israeli soldiers. If there wa

bar for the price paid to ransom captives, the State o

has hit that bar repeatedly, leaving the Obama adminis

in the distance.

Each time this question resurfaces in Israel, rabbis

to the halachic debate over the meaning of the Mishn

restricts paying too high a ransom. Some continue th

pretive tradition of ignoring the restriction, and othe

argued that exorbitant ransoms should be resisted. W

remember the controversy over the arms-for-hostag

ment of the Reagan administrations Iran-Contra affa

question, then as now, was whether rewarding the

only encourages more captivities.

From my perspective, the very existenc

north jersey jewish standard, june 13, 2014, with bar/bat mitzvah supplement

Documents