north jersey jewish standard, june 13, 2015

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JUNE 12, 2015VOL. LXXXIV NO. 38 $1.00

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NOSHES ...................................................4OPINION ...............................................20COVER STORY .................................... 26TORAH COMMENTARY ................... 39CROSSWORD PUZZLE ....................40ARTS & CULTURE ...............................41CALENDAR ..........................................42OBITUARIES ........................................45CLASSIFIEDS ......................................46GALLERY ..............................................48REAL ESTATE ......................................49

CONTENTS

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lisher. 2015

Candlelighting: Friday, June 12, 8:10 p.m.Shabbat ends: Saturday, June 13, 9:19 p.m.

Bon Jovi to Israel: Ill be there for you New Jersey-born singer Jon Bon Jovi seems to agree that the anti-Is-rael Boycott, Divestment and Sanc-tions is bad medicine: He has booked his band for an October 3 concert in Tel Aviv.Weve toured around the world

performing over 2,900 concerts in more than 50 countries and today I am excited to announce that for the first time ever we are performing in Tel Aviv. See you on October 3, the bands representative said.Its not clear whether Israelis, for

whom Living on a Prayer is a way of life and not just a classic rock song, are dancing in the streets at the news. Tickets went on sale on Wednesday. The performance will be two days after the band has a gig in Abu Dhabi.Promoter Marcel Avram

told the Times of Israel that band frontman Jon Bon Jovi has always wanted to perform in Israel and doesnt care about pressure

to boycott it.Jon Bon Jovi couldnt care less,

Avram said, according to the Times of Israel. He is not the first or the last one to come to Israel We are a proud country where a lot of people enjoy music; everyone wants to per-form in Israel.He has a lot of Jewish friends,

Avram said of Bon Jovi. There are a lot of Jewish people in New Jersey and he wants to see Israel. He was never here before.Avram added that Bon Jovis Jew-

ish keyboardist, David Rashbaum, speaks a little Yiddish and is excited to be headed to Israel.The band announced in 2010 that it would put Israel on its list of stops during its 2011 world tour, but the promise never materialized.Bon Jovi, who has been friendly

with New Jerseys Governor Chris Christie, also announced this week that he is hosting a private concert

to raise money for former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons presidential campaign. LY

We have a winner Congratulations to American Pharoah on becoming the first horse with Te-aneck roots to win racings Triple Crown.Last Saturday, as everyone knows,

the horse won the Belmont Stakes, the first since 1978 to do so after winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.American Pharoah is owned by

Teanecks Ahmed Zayat we spoke with his wife Joanne for our May 15 issue. As Sabbath observers, the Zayats stayed in a trailer and walked to the track to watch their horse run.The 1978 Triple Crown winner, Af-

firmed, also had a Jewish owner: Louis Wolfson of Jacksonville, Florida. LARRY YUDELSON

Camels and ostriches on the track We dont usually spend Friday afternoons and evenings at the race track.But if anything could convince

us to trade Friday night Kiddush for Friday night betting, it would the sort of event scheduled at the Meadowlands today: a one-two punch of camel and ostrich racing.What?It turns out that while camels

and ostriches pose no threat to horses and that includes our local equine hero, American Pharoah this Friday, June 12, will be the fourth annual Ostrich Derby and Cameltonian.Last year, Hannah Keyser re-

ported on the event for Mental Floss. As she discovered, camel handlers apparently consider it a

victory if all four camels run in the correct direction which they did last year, finishing their run in 20 seconds.The ostrich race, in

which the large-bodied, small-brained birds were yoked to chariots, was even more speedy. Thats even though an ostrichs top speed, 25 miles per hour, is less than a camels, which at 35 miles per hour is as fast as a race horse. (American Pharoah aver-aged 36 mph.)To see last years races for

yourself, click over to the Mental Floss article and bit.ly/js-camel. And that you can do without missing Shabbat dinner.

LARRY YUDELSON

are dancing in the streets at the news. Tickets went on sale on Wednesday. The performance will be two days after the band has

Promoter Marcel Avram told the Times of Israel that band frontman Jon

to be headed to Israel.The band announced in 2010 that it would put Israel on its list of stops during its 2011 world tour, but the promise never materialized.Bon Jovi, who has been friendly

with New Jerseys Governor Chris Christie, also announced this week that he is hosting a private concert

to raise money for former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons presidential campaign.

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I have also successfully represented several rabbis accused of everything from tax fraud to inappropriate conduct. Letter sent by a criminal defense attorney to a rabbi, in case you, your congregants, or community needs my services. The attorney added that I am available 24/7/364. If anyone gets arrested on Yom Kippur, they should pray until sunset and then call.

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

same Hebrew school class when they were about 12. Greg thought that if he flirted with Rachel another girl the hot girl in the class would notice him. Although most of the main characters in the novel are Jewish, theres only one Jewish actor in the cast JON BERN-THAL, 38, who plays a non-Jewish character, Mr. McCarthy, Gregs easygoing and empa-thetic teacher.Dying Girl, which is

set and filmed in Pitts-burgh, Andrews home town, was a huge hit at Sundance, and advance reviews noted that ev-ery thing you thought wouldnt work in a film about a dying girl and the guy who comes to bond with her somehow does work. Variety said: This wonderfully funny, bittersweet, and inventive picture will headlock even the most cynical-hearted viewer and turn him or her into emotional mush.

Clipped pre-mieres on TBS on

Tuesday, June 16, at 10 p.m. It stars ASHLEY TISDALE, 29 (High School Musical), as one of several very different high school classmates who find themselves working at a barber-shop. It was created by the team of MAX MUTCHNIK, 49, and DAVID KOHAN, 51, who are best known as the creators of Will and Grace and Boston Common. Kohans

sister, JENJI KOHAN, 45, is now best known as the writer/producer of Orange is the New Black, the hit Netflix series. The third season of Orange will be released on June 12.

You probably would recognize

actor ERIC BALFOUR, 38, even if his name doesnt ring a bell immediately. I noticed him first playing Claires dangerous boyfriend on HBOs Six Feet Under. Not long after, he played Milo Pressman during the first two seasons of 24 and returned for the sixth season. Since 2010, he has played Duke Crocker, a starring role, on the SyFy network show, Haven, which will begin the second half of its fifth season in September.Balfour is tall, dark, and

has a prominent Indian-like nose, which I guess led some sources, a decade ago, to claim he had Native American an-cestry. Not so both his American Jewish parents are of European Jew-ish ancestry. On May 30, Balfour married his long time girlfriend, fashion designer ERIN CHIAMU-LON, 31. The wedding pics seem to indicate a rabbi conducted the ceremony. The brides mother is Jewish. N.B.

Steven Spielberg

JURASSIC WORLD:

Fourth series entry holds no surprises

Colin Trevorrow Amanda Silver

Jesse Andrews Ashley Tisdale Jenji Kohan

Jurassic World is the long-de-

layed fourth entry in the Jurassic Park movie series. World is produced by STEVEN SPIELBERG, 68, who directed the first two Jurassic movies. The screenplay was co-writ-ten by COLIN TREVOR-ROW, 38, AMANDA SILVER, 52, Rick Jaffa, 53, and Derek Connolly. Silver, who is Jewish, and Jaffa (who has some remote Jewish ancestry), have been married for 25 years and have two children. (The family are regular synagogue-goers). The couple scored big as the co-writers of the two most recent hit Planet of the Apes movies.Trevorrow also directs

this is his first out-ing at the helm of a big studio movie. He earned this gig following critical acclaim of his indie films. Trevorrows mother is Jewish, and his maternal grandmother came from a long line of Sephardi Jews who settled in the Caribbean centuries ago. His parents run a California horse ranch that bears his maternal grandmothers maiden name (Rancho Tole-dano). They raise Paso Finos, a breed that origi-nated in the Caribbean.The plot of the new

Jurassic film is pre-

dictable: fast forward to the present day and the new owners of the park think they can run a tropic island park where humans can safely view genetically engineered dinosaurs. But some-thing goes terribly wrong and the parks operations manager (Bryce Dal-las Howard, who is Ron Howards daughter) and others have to contain the dinosaurs before they can cause more damage.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is

based on the young adult hit novel of the same name by JESSE ANDREWS, 33, and he also wrote the film script. The story is narrated by Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann), a Jewish high school senior who stays aloof from most people. He even describes Earl, his African-American friend, with whom he does really funny routines about classic foreign movies, as more of a co-worker than a friend. This changes when Gregs mother (Connie Britton) nags him into spending time with Rachel Kushner (Olivia Cooke), a high school classmate who has just been diagnosed with terminal leukemia. Greg and Rachel have history: they were in the

California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at [email protected]

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Self-expression through artSinai Schools special needs students display their workABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

Jewish students with learning or devel-opmental disabilities got to express their artistic talents for the benefit of the Sinai Schools scholarship fund last Monday in Teaneck.

More than 70 original artworks from sunsets and self-portraits to animal and abstract motifs were created by 60 7- to 16-year-olds during art therapy sessions at three Sinai locations. The artworks were framed professionally and displayed at an open student art show and sale at the Ave-nue, an event space.

The third annual Unique Inspirations show served many purposes: Giving Sinai students a platform for showing and selling their artworks, helping additional families access Sinais inclusive special-education schools and programs for adults, and rais-ing Sinais profile in the North Jersey com-munity. The evening raised nearly $3,500.

Each art therapy participant from Sinais programs at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey in River Edge and the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy and Rae Kush-ner Yeshiva High School in Livingston chose two or three finished projects to donate to the show, Sinai art therapist Sarah Tarzik said.

Our art therapy program is designed to help children express themselves in dif-ferent ways, sometimes in ways that come more naturally for children who have diffi-culty expressing themselves verbally, Ms. Tarzik said. It gives them a voice to share their inner world whether theyre con-scious of it or not and it relaxes them and helps them engage with peers.

Ms. Tarzik works with students all year on two- and three-dimensional artworks executed in a variety of media, including clay, oil pastels, acrylic and tempera paint, and wood.

It really empowers them when they see theyre able to create something they never thought possible, she said. Theyre extremely proud to show work that they feel very connected to, that rep-resents something personal about them-selves, and they are excited about being in the spotlight as others look at and buy their work.

Unique Inspirations is a development of the EmpowerArt program created by Bear Givers, a New York-based organization that provides children in need with opportu-nities to feel the pride and joy of engaging in acts of kindness and generosity.

EmpowerArt provides an opportunity for children with special needs or illnesses who are constantly in the position of

receiving to showcase their artwork in a professional gallery setting for the ben-efit of their schools, hospitals, and other programs.

The empowerment program is for kids who are usually recipients to experience the joy of giving, Bear Givers founder Joe Sprung of Manhattan said.

Mr. Sprung began his organization as a vehicle for donating teddy bears to

hospitalized Israeli children in 2003, but the focus evolved as he witnessed the emo-tional rewards the children earn from giv-ing. He began exhibiting artworks made by children in a special-needs school in the art gallery of his Manhattan company, JBS Financial Services.

I thought, Why not have a show where they could be recognized for their tal-ent? And for parents to see their kids art

displayed in a gallery setting is wonderful, he said.

Mr. Sprung became acquainted with Sinai when he was president of Chai Life-line and organizing basketball marathon fundraisers for this international Jewish organization, which offers family-centered programs, activities, and services for chil-dren with serious illnesses. Longtime Sinai supporter Michael Blumenthal asked Mr.

PHOTOS COURTESTY SINAI SCHOOLS

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Sprung to participate in a basketball marathon for Sinai several years ago.

I like how Sinai is an inclusion school, Mr. Sprung said. Sinai houses its special-needs school and its students within existing yeshiva day schools, includ-ing RYNJ, Kushner, Torah Academy of Bergen County, and Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls. We reached out to them to see if theyd like to participate in our programs. This is our third show together.

Sinai Dean Rabbi Yisrael Rothwachs said the Paley-Mironov art therapy pro-gram was instituted sev-eral years ago to provide an alternative means of expres-sion for many students who struggle with language-based disabilities.

I knew in theory that art therapy was an excel-lent therapeutic tool, but I never could have dreamed

how successful it would be, or how much it would mean to our students, Rabbi Roth-wachs said.

Art therapy has opened a window into the compli-cated thoughts of our stu-dents, many of whom are suffering silently but who discover art therapy as an outlet for their feelings. Through art therapy and Sarah Tarziks talented ther-apeutic methods, we have gained a better understand-ing of what our children are thinking and feeling, allow-ing our other therapists and teachers to address these issues throughout the day. We are so grateful to Steven and Laura Paley for estab-lishing this program, and for continuing to support it.

Steven Paley called the evening a home run, and said that he was very grati-fied to see how the gift he and his wife gave is making a difference.

OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEYJewish Federation

mm

PHOTOS COURTESTY SINAI SCHOOLS

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An unwavering Jewish compassAs he transitions out of his CEO job, supporters talk about Avi Lewinson

JOANNE PALMER

Last week, the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly announced a major change in its profes-sional leadership.According to a press release, the excit-

ing changes saw its CEO, Avi Lewinson of Demarest, leave that position to become a fundraising consultant. He will be replaced in the JCCs executive suite by Jordan Shen-ker, who had worked for the JCC Associa-tion of North America as a consultant to large JCCs, including to the Kaplen center.

Mr. Lewinson has been at the JCC for 25 years, and at its helm for most of that time. Since the announcement of his role change, his many supporters have been reminiscing about his work there.

Maggie Kaplen and her late husband, Bill (more correctly, Wilson R., but always Bill), were such strong supporters of the JCC that they lent it their names.

When I think of Avi, this is what comes to mind work hard, aim high, keep healthy, and stand out, Ms. Kaplen, who lives in Tenafly, said. And thats what he did. And not only did he do it himself, he got the whole JCC community to share those goals.

I spent a lot of time with him person-ally, she continued. I sat in class with him for six or seven years. It was on Thursdays, a lunch-and-learn with Reuben Kimel-man. (Rabbi Kimelman is the JCCs scholar in residence.) It was supposed to be for staff, but I went. Only a few of us came, so I really got to know Avi as a good friend.

And then, when Bill got so ill that I couldnt go, at least twice a month Avi came to visit Bill on those Thursdays, and wonderful conversations ensued. I love Avi. I adore him. He is a friend. He is car-ing. He is sensitive. He is a listener.

One of Mr. Lewinsons prime accom-plishments, just about everyone agrees, was his ability to balance the needs of all the groups that came to the JCC. First, there is the strong group of wealthy, suc-cessful people, who either already were donors or had the potential to become big givers. Next, there are the people who are not particularly wealthy but who are

looking for the community and the spe-cific programs, facilities, and education the JCC offers. And then there are the peo-ple in need whom the JCC helps.

The Kaplen JCC, like other JCCs but to a far larger extent than almost any other (or perhaps that should be an unqualified any other), is at its heart a social-service agency. It is also an educational and social center, and then, perhaps uniquely, it is a place of glitter and glamour, where high-profile people feel at home and understood. And, of course, it is profoundly Jewish.

Avi has an unwavering Jewish com-pass, Tani Foger of Englewood, a psy-chologist and the chair of the JCCs Judaic department, said. Under his watch, the JCC grew and it remained Jewish.

He understood the importance of the J in the JCC. For him, it was more than a health club and a swimming pool and a pre-school and a summer camp the revenue-producing parts of the organization. He understood that there is a need for an insti-tution that is grounded in our rich tradition and culture. He was synonymous with the J in the JCC, and that is what propelled him and the organization forward.

That is what built this incredibly

thriving and robust organization, Dr. Foger concluded. I hope that continues. I cant imagine the JCC without him.

Rabbi Kimelman thinks it wise to have Mr. Lewinson continue to fundraise for the JCC. He has a remarkable ability to sell the center, he said. Thats because hes so passionate about it, and he gets other people to share his passion and vision.

He lives for the center.Mr. Lewinson is trained as a social

worker, and that background helped him as a fundraiser, Rabbi Kimelman said. Fundraising is all about personal

relationships and group dynamics. By training, he knew about personal relation-ships, and through experience, he learned about group dynamics. And so he became a consummate fundraiser.

The key to success is that it is very dif-ficult for someone to say no to someone they like, and whose cause they like. Most people do not give to a what, they give to a whom. There are many good causes out there you invest in those people who can excite you about the goal. That was his specialty.

Maggie and the late Bill Kaplen

Sandra Gold

Rabbi Reuben Kimelman

Tani FogerPraise mounts for Avi Lewinson, leaving his desk after 25 years at the Kaplen JCC.

SEE AVI LEWINSON PAGE 10

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www.ssdsbergen.org

Co-Valedictorians

Miri Goodman & Abigail Pomeranz

Award for Academic Excellence in General Studies

Shira Shans

The Stephanie vrha Prezant zl okug iue, AwardJonah Pitkowsky & Abe Teicher

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 zl Righteous Path vrah lrs AwardJustin Yehuda

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 good judgment and consequences), thus enhancing the character of our entire Schechter community.

Mazal Tov to Our SSDS graduates!Our graduates will attend Abraham Joshua Heschel High School, Golda Och Academy, Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, SAR Academy High School, Solomon Schechter School of Westchester High School, The Ramaz Upper School, as well as public and private high schools.

SOLOMONSCHECHTERD AY S C H O O LOF BERGEN COUNTY

275 McKinley AvenueNew Milford, NJ 07646

Tel: 201-262-9898

Award for Academic Excellence in Judaic Studies

Jonah Pitkowsky

sg eh Jesse Abedeus h Aidan Advocaterhg sgkh Gilad Amir

vu ihru Orian Amonaish r, Esther Avidan

uv v' vhkg Jenna Besthofi huk hsg Adi L. Chen

iv uk Almog Cohensuhs egh Jake Diamond

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heueh s vuh Jonah Pitkowskyru khh Abigail Pomeranz

isr eh ovr Noah Benjamin Randmanur vh kh Abbey Rose

ur ,hk vrha Sophie Rosekur khr Arielle Rosenblatt

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kra vuh Jonah Scherla vrha Shira Shans

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vsuvh ohh Justin Yehuda

We Congratulate This Years Award Recipients

Graduating Class of 2015

SOLOMON SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL OF BERGEN COUNTY

Or, he corrected himself, one of Mr. Lewinsons specialties. I have never known anybody else who paid attention to every individual, no matter what their means or their giving capacity, he said. He did not esteem people by their wealth, and this is an unusual and extraordinary phenomenon. The result was that he endeared himself to a wide variety of people.

I have worked with many people who run Jewish fed-erations, and I have rarely met anyone with that quality. It is part of his Jewish vision. He perceives himself as a Jewish leader, caring about all Jews.

Some Jews are financiers, some Jews are partici-pants, and some Jews are in need. All three became his constituents. It is very difficult to find anyone in the cen-ter who would not say that they like him personally and hes been there over 20 years.

And then there is the question of Mr. Lewinsons commitment to study and growth. Avi and I have been learning Torah almost every week for years, Rabbi Kimelman said. He is one of the few Jewish leaders who is constantly growing Jewishly. In that sense, he is a model for lay leaders and professionals alike.

Dr. Sandra Gold, a one-time JCC president and long-time active member, is a strong fan of Mr. Lewinsons.

From George Hantgan forward, I have had the privi-lege of working with every executive director who has ever served the Englewood JCC, now renamed the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, she said. This unique platform allows me to appreciate the integrity, executive talent, enlightened Jewish background, dedication to liv-ing Jewish values and extraordinary ability to connect with members, staff and lay leaders which Avi Lewinson brought to his 25 years of visionary leadership.

It is during his tenure that our JCC attained promi-nence as one of the flagship community centers in North America. Avi, steeped in the wisdom of our tradition, possesses an ethical and moral compass well suited to carry out the pluralistic mission of our JCC. Outreach and inclusion are his passions; concern and respect toward all those who seek services; and a love of both the Center community and the community at large motivates Avis support of vulnerable populations. Thus, the special needs department, for example, grew signifi-cantly during his administration.

It has been a pleasure to serve with him and I look forward to continuing our relationship as Avi transitions to his role as consultant and mentor.

Mr. Lewinson looks back at his tenure as the JCCs CEO with pride, dedication, and no little sense of wonder.

I dont love the gym, but I love that we have a robust membership as a result of the gym, so that we can do the important social-service work, he said. I love the way it all comes together, because its for everyone.

Its a bustling, exciting community, and the lobby is like Main Street. You see people of all ages, all sizes and shapes, people with special needs, seniors, everybody.

Seniors we have a 105-year-old man and he sings and he dances, and hes alive. We have seniors with nursery-school kids; they can be 97 years old, but they know theyre alive.

Each nursery-school kid has a grandparent who reads on Shabbat, he continued. (He doesnt mean the real Shabbat, which begins on sundown on Friday, but the school Shabbat, the childrens last school day before the weekend.) And the Orthodox are comfortable with the secular, with Conservative and Reform, with people who arent Jewish. Everyone is valued. Its the Jewish people that matters and the people who arent Jewish get to learn Jewish culture, values, and history.

Recently, Mr. Lewinson said, Ilan Ramons widow,

Avi Lewinson FROM PAGE 8

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www.ssdsbergen.org

SOLOMONSCHECHTERD AY S C H O O LOF BERGEN COUNTY

275 McKinley AvenueNew Milford, NJ 07646

Tel: 201-262-9898

Bergen Community CollegeBinghamton University

Boston UniversityBrandeis UniversityChapman UniversityColumbia University

Cornell UniversityDartmouth College

George Washington UniversityNativ: The College Leadership

Program in IsraelIsrael Defense Forces

Midreshet HaRovaMontclair State University

New York UniversityNortheastern

Stevens Institute of TechnologyTulane UniversityTemple University

University of DelawareUniversity of HartfordUniversity of Maryland

University of PennsylvaniaYoung Judea Year Course

SSDS Class of 2011 at their 8th Grade Graduation

SOLOMON SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL OF BERGEN COUNTY

Kol HaKavodto our SSDS

Alumni (Class of 2011)

who will attend these

colleges, universities,

and Israel gap-year

programs:

".lkuv v,t itkuKnow from where you came,

and to where you will go.(Pirkei Avot 3:1)

Rona Ramon, spoke at the JCC. Her husband, who was in the Israeli Air Force, was onboard the space shuttle Columbia when it blew up in 2003. Years earlier, Mr. Lewinson had met Mr. Ramon, and had been touched by his kindness.

And I think about Hurricane Sandy, and how we helped, and about how we did a fundraiser at the JCC after the Japanese tsunami hit, Mr. Lewinson said. Thats what we do at the JCC.

He is now involved in developing an ambitious inter-national program that takes 30 JCCs 10 from the United States, 10 from Israel, and 10 from around the rest of the world and brings them together physi-cally if possible, virtually if not through music. The Kaplen JCC would be matched with sister organizations in Romania, Bulgaria, and Israel.

I have gotten to do amazing things, meet amazing people, and run amazing programs, Mr. Lewinson said. Its been a good run.

His emotions run deep. I love my staff, he contin-ued. Theyre my family. (Of course, they are not his only family; he and his wife, Susan Shlanger, have two sons, Elie and Jacob.) Through good times and bad, we have been there for each other. I care about them deeply, and I look forward to working with them in a different way.

He plans to keep fundraising for the JCC, but I am going to get another job, he said. I love this community.

I will be doing a little bit of development at the center, but I am looking at the next chapter. Im excited! People will still see me at the center hopefully Ill be exercising.

There have been some major personnel changes at the JCC lately. Its CFO, Danny Rocke, has been gone since February, and its COO, Deann Forman, who is now the CEO of the Riverdale YM-YWHA, since last fall. Those positions have been filled by interims.

The centers president, Tina Guberman, left that position in April; the volunteer job was filled by Danny Rubin, who was interim. The JCCs new president, JoJo Rubach of Tenafly, who was installed at the May 17 board meeting, said, Tina was supposed to put in a two-year stint, and she did. She left about a month before the annual meeting, when the new officers are voted in. But generally the outgoing president gives the State of the Center speech at that meeting. Moreover, the board presidents term, which had been set at two years and was renewable once, had been changed to a nonrenew-able three years. Ms. Gubermans term in office would have ended next year.

We are thankful for the 20-plus years that Avi has served us, Mr. Rubach said.

Mr. Lewinson will transition to his fundraising duties and Mr. Shenker will take over the reins as CEO on June 15.

And I think about Hurricane Sandy, and how we helped, and about how we did a

fundraiser at the JCC after the Japanese tsunami hit. Thats

what we do at the JCC.

AVI LEWINSON

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Very, very coolFrisch students learn high-level engineering

ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

I f three high school boys put many months of work into tricking out a walker not a bike, a walker you know there has to be a mighty strong motivation pushing the project along.

For Justin Sohn, Izzy Selter, and Harry Kramer, all students at the Frisch School in Paramus, that motivation was a strong interest in engineering, combined with the tools to create a useful health-related prod-uct. The interest was innate; the tools came courtesy of CIJE-Tech, a discovery-focused interactive curriculum for Jewish high schools including Frisch, developed in col-laboration with the Israel Sci-Tech network of schools and New York-based Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education.

CIJE-Tech offers a year each of scien-tific and biomedical engineering geared to introducing a diverse range of science and technical knowledge while encouraging multidisciplinary and abstract thinking as well as leadership and teamwork skills. CIJE also provides intensive teacher training and mentoring and it also gives students labora-tory equipment.

At the end of May, all 100 Frisch students in Rifkie Silvermans CIJE-Tech classes pre-sented their three-person projects at a sci-ence symposium that packed the Paramus schools cafeteria. The symposium also fea-tured posters describing college-level biore-search by 25 juniors in Dr. Mindy Furmans elective course through the Waksman Stu-dent Scholars Program at Rutgers University.

The projects encompassed researching a problem to solve, finding out what else is out there to solve that problem, and researching the parts for making a prototype product, Ms. Silverman said. Working in threes, the students are given a budget. We order the parts and then they have to look up schemat-ics and figure out how to use the microcon-troller to read the parts. Every project uses sensors to gather info from the environment and process that information and do some-thing useful with it.

Our project was a smart walker, said Jus-tin, a sophomore from Englewood. We did a lot of research and there were no tricked-out walkers on the market to enhance qual-ity of life. People using walkers cant always see whats on the ground and dont want to be looking down constantly. So we calculated the distance between the walker and the next object in front of it, and if that object is within four inches the walker vibrates, indicating theres something ahead. Another feature was pressure sensors on the handles, display-ing how much pressure is being applied from each hand.

Too much could lead to scoliosis, or off-balance pressure could lead to falling, Justin explained.

In addition, every group was required to design and make something using a part printed on the schools 3D printer. Ours was a pillbox with three compartments for morning, noon and evening, and at the cor-rect time that section would light up, Justin said. We found existing pillboxes that made noise, but none that light up.

Bracha Getter, a Fair Lawn sophomore, and two other 10th-graders created a high-tech glove that transmits sign-language gestures onto an LCD screen. One of my group partners was learning sign lan-guage, and I have a friend whose sister is deaf and Ive learned a few words in sign language, she said.

Bracha also worked with two seniors to build a Shabbos lock to bypass the problem of hotel room doors that open electronically. Strictly Sabbath-observant travelers need a workaround solution, because the direct use of electricity is forbidden. If youre in the hallway near your room and your key is in Shabbos mode, it will lock and unlock your door automatically, and in regular mode you can open the door with the click of a button, Bracha said.

The latter project was inspired not only by a practical need but also by Frischs launch of a guided independent-study elective in cooperation with Israels nonprofit Zomet

Institute, which designs high-tech solutions for modern needs within the boundaries of Jewish law such as telephones, pens, and keyboards for medical personnel that do not violate Sabbath restrictions on writing and electricity.

Frisch students who chose to design proto-types of Sabbath-compliant devices received feedback from Zomet engineers, and the institutes Rabbi Binyamin Zimmerman came to speak to them about the institutes work.

A huge component of my engineering pro-gram is contact with professionals in action, Ms. Silverman said. I invite parents, alumni, and friends to speak about everything from intellectual property laws to animation engi-neering, computer science, and telecommu-nications. We observe live robotic surgery at NYU Medical Center. We take a trip to Google to see their engineers at work.

Bergenfield freshman Benjamin Katz said he took the course because his older brother recommended it, and went in without any knowledge of coding. Toward the end we were pretty good at it, he said.

For his project, he and Gregory Presser and Zechariah Hahn rigged up a joystick that allows a user to draw on paper. Pressing dif-ferent buttons on the stick produces differ-ent colors. Like everyone else, they had to deal with some glitches a motor that wasnt powerful enough, a joystick that broke but its all part of the learning experience. Ive learned more in engineering than in any other subject this year, Benjamin said.

Frisch started a branch of the interna-tional Girls Who Code club, mindful of the White House Office on Science and Technol-ogys goal to encourage more girls to pur-sue careers in the so-called STEM subjects science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Dr. Furmans bioinformatics elective includes nine female and 16 male juniors. Nicole Aranoff of Teaneck said she was always interested in biology and liked the idea of a challenge. I learned so much and it really broadened my horizons, she said. I think the course has opened me to the idea of possibly continuing in some sort of scientific research.

The Waksman Student Scholars Program engages high school students in an authen-tic research project. They acquire their own original data and have it published for use by scientists all over the world, Dr. Fur-man said.

The class researched duckweed, a plant with potential to be used as a biofuel and a water purifier. But we dont know a lot about the genomes and proteins it codes for, she said. Rutgers prepared a library containing pieces of the duckweed genome and they sent us those pieces of DNA cloned into bacte-ria. The project involves growing the bacteria and making many copies, then studying the gene youve isolated. The kids are involved in all the aspects of growing the colonies with techniques they would learn in a molecular biology class in college, with a very sophisti-cated set of lab techniques.

Once they purify the DNA, we send it back to Rutgers and they return the sequence. The

Ben Katz and Greg Presser demonstrate their Painterbot.

Gabriel Dardik presents his research data on the isolation of a plant protein.

Sammy Friedman, Daniel Koenig, and Bracha Getter created this hand signer.

SEE VERY COOL PAGE 19

Its incredibly eye-opening and inspiring. Their

projects are quite sophisticated

in terms of programming and circuitry.

RIFKIE SILVERMAN

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Brave new world?Speaker at Schechter explores implications of terrifying and exciting biotechnical revolution

JOANNE PALMER

Jamie Metzl is a formidably per-haps even intimidatingly well-educated man.But he was in town last week

New Milford, to be specific to talk not to academics but to the students at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Ber-gen County.

His subject was his two not-neces-sarily-obviously-connected intellectual passions human genetic engineering and the rise of China and Asia. His talk at Schechter was part of the schools program to bring what it calls experts, role models, and eyewitnesses to its middle-schoolers.

Dr. Metzl, who earned his undergrad-uate degree at Brown, a Ph.D. in Asian history from Oxford, and a law degree from Harvard, has a list of accomplish-ments so long that its hard to figure out how to list them. Hes a partner in an investing firm; a fellow at the Asia Soci-ety; a writer whose two novels have been published by the prestigious St. Martins Press; a former board member of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; a board member of the Brandeis Interna-tional Center for Ethics, Justice and Pub-lic Life, as well as other nonprofits; a tri-athlete who has completed 12 Ironmans and dozens of other races; an aspiring if not-yet-successful politician (he ran for a congressional seat in Missouri, where he once had been a Schechter student, a decade ago); and a public speaker. (This, readers should note, is an abbreviated summary of Dr. Metzls resume.

This polymathic background has led

Dr. Metzl to become absolutely obsessed with genetics, and with the biotechnical revolution, he said. That and the rise of Asia and China are two of the biggest driv-ers of change in our era.

More specifically, about biotech and genetics I think they are going to change aspects of who we are as human beings on a fundamental level, he said. Scientists knowledge, and along with it their ability to perform what not long ago would have seemed like miracles, is grow-ing quickly. Our understanding of the practical and moral implications of that growth is not growing as fast.

We have so many amazing scientists, but sometimes it is hard for them to see the big picture, Dr. Metzl said. Thats because they are so caught up in it. Thats the crazy thing; the science of genetic engineering is advancing so rapidly, and our society is on the verge of big change. But were not really talking about it.

In the near term, the genetic revolu-tion will be in embryo selection, Dr. Metzl said. In fact, there already have been advances in fertility treatments, and we have the technology to screen out single-gene mutations for things like Tay-Sachs, and Huntingtons disease, and others. Soon we will have enough knowledge of the human genome to be able to screen for so-called positive attributes, like intel-ligence, or height, or anything with a genetic foundation.

Such ability, of course, is not a straight-forwardly good thing. As befitting an idea of great complexity, its very complicated. The positive spin is that there is a chance to eliminate genetic disease and optimize our offspring, but the negative spin is that it has the potential to become a form of eugenics.

And no group is as sensitive to the issue of eugenics as Jews are, he said.

As Dr. Metz sees the future of human reproduction and thats the near future, he stressed embryo selection

Jamie Metzl takes questions from Schechter students after his talk. SSDS

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The Orthodox Unions Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus presents

OU-JLIC, a program administered by The Orthodox Union in partnership with Hillel helps Orthodox students navigate the college environment and provides avenues for spiritual

development and exploration for Jewish students from varied backgrounds.

a community weekendShabbat Parshat Shelach JUNE 12-13, 2015

9 am: Shabbat Morning Teen Minyan Rabbi Yaakov Taubes OU-JLIC Educator UPENN

Main Shul

6:55 pm: The Orthodox Student and the Secular College Campus: Opportunities and Challenges

A discussion led by Rabbi Friedman OU-JLIC Educator Columbia University/Barnard College Rabbi Haber OU-JLIC National Director

Congregation Rinat Yisrael 389 W. Englewood Avenue, Teaneck, NJ

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8:15 pm: Seudah Shlishit The Orthodox Student and the Secular College Campus: Opportunities and Challenges A panel discussion with Rabbi Ilan Haber, OU-JLIC Educators from Rutgers and UPENN, moderated by Dr. Shimmy Tennenbaum, OU-JLIC Chairman

Shabbat Morning Teen Minyan Hot Kiddush and Chaburaby Rabbi Adam Frieberg, OU-JLIC Educators at Rutgers University

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will become a much more important part of the reproductive process, and that means that increasingly people will have children through IVF in-vitro fertilization, when an egg is fertilized outside a womans body specifically to do embryo selection.

That will allow us to eliminate most genetic diseases, so over time people will come to see many of the genetic diseases as disease of choice, that for ideological reasons people have chosen not to screen. Over time, the idea of conceiving children through sex will be seen as an ideological choice equivalent to not immunizing your children, or being a Christian Scientist.

Although that might seem to be a class issue richer people can afford all sorts of fancy techniques outside the reach of the plebes its not necessarily so, Dr. Metz said. With the cost of IVF and genome sequencing going down, it will become less expensive to screen for genetic diseases than to treat them, over the course of a life-time. When that happens, governments and insurance companies will become huge stakeholders who will want to have people screen their embryos.

Moreover, he added, stem cells are at their best when they are taken from five-day-old embryos; when children are born through IVF, doctors will be able to take

and store their stem cells. That means that personalized medicine which uses those stem cells is likely to be the medi-cine of the future.

On the other hand, There are huge dangers in reducing the genetic diversity of the human species, he said. And to get all science-fiction-y, it is possible that the fact that there always will be some people who would have babies the traditional way would lead to the creation of an under-class, and it might be that in 200 years or so there would be a significant IQ differ-ence between those groups, Dr. Metz said.

To a horrified listener, it evokes images of H.G. Wells Time Machine, with the human-descended Morlocks preying on the Eloi, another but differently human-descended group.

I am not for or against the idea that that advances in genetics, IVF techniques, and personalized medicine will lead to this strange new world, Dr. Metz said. I am an agnostic on that.

What I know is that this technology is coming, and different societies will make different decisions, and they all will have huge implications.

Now is the time to have meaningful con-versations about these issues and implica-tions. Unfortunately, we are not having that

conversation as often as we should.The future is pretty close, he added.

I spoke to sixth- and seventh-graders I believe that every one of them will be touched by this technology. Its here now, in one generation or less. Thats what people dont understand. I am not talking about some technology in the future. This technology already exists.

It is exciting and it is terrifying, and the

exciting and terrifying pieces are interwo-ven. That is the challenge.

Children educated in a day school are well up to meeting that challenge, he added. These sixth- and seventh-grad-ers were as sophisticated as any group I talk to. Their Talmud training has taught them to grapple with complicated issues, when there is no right or wrong, but a process of exploration.

Seventh-grader Chana Berkman and sixth-grader Evan Block talk to Mr. Metzl. Daniel Jaye, the schools director of academic affairs, is in the background.

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Large crowd at Emunah luncheonA crowd of 230 attended the Emunah Spring Luncheon at the Prince George Ballroom in Manhattan last month. The party honored Empowering Women and raised funds for deserving young women in Emunahs high schools and col-lege in Israel.

Awards were presented to Alana Kessler, Dr. Joyce Weg Rydzinksi, Lisa Septimus, Dr. Micole Tuchman, and Susan T. Weg.

Along with the lunch co-chairs Sora Grunstein of Teaneck and Tova Gerson of Bergenfield, the committee included Cheryl Borenstein, Miriam Ellenberg, Ronnie Faber, Debbie Joseph, Lisa Schechter, and Debbie Siegler. Miriam L. Wallach, general manager of the

Nachum Segal Network and host of the radio program Thats Life, was the key-note speaker.

A table of Bergen County guests. PHOTOS COURTESY EMUNAH

Luncheon co-chairs Sora Grunstein, left, and Tova Gerson, right, flank honoree Dr. Micole Tuchman of Englewood and Emunahs national president, Karen Spitalnick of Great Neck.

Hadassah honoring the memory of Yvette Tekel

TriBoro Hadassah meets at the JCC of Paramus/Congregation Beth Tikvah to celebrate its 40th anniversary at a luncheon on Sunday, June 28 at 1 p.m.

All are welcome. There will be a special commemoration honoring the late Yvette Tekel, a past chapter president, by her daughter-in-law, Jill.

The JCCP/CBT is at East 304 Midland Ave., in Paramus. For reservations, call (201) 384-8005.

JTS names graduate school for former board chairThe Jewish Theological Seminary has announced that its graduate school will be named the Gershon Kekst Graduate School in honor of its longtime leader, advisor, and supporter.

I am truly delighted that the gradu-ate school at JTS site and source of the teaching and scholarship that has powered Jewish commitment, innova-tion, and community for many tens of thousands of Jews in North America and beyond will henceforth bear the name Gershon Kekst Graduate School, Professor Arnold M. Eisen, JTSs chan-cellor, said. Gershon is one of the most extraordinary human beings that many of us have been privileged to know. He cares about the Jewish people, about Conservative Judaism, and about JTS far more than words can say. Naming the graduate school in his honor is our way of expressing gratitude for who he is and what he has meant to JTS and the Jewish

community.Mr. Kekst is founder and chairman

emeritus of Kekst and Company Inc., a leading strategic communications firm. He has been a member of the JTS board since 1989, serving as chair from 1991 to 2009, and is now its chair emeritus. During his tenure as chair, he was instru-mental in shaping the direction of JTS and ensuring the quality of education and training of its students. His 18-year tenure is the longest continuous service in that role since Louis Marshall, the foremost Jewish communal leader of the early 20th century.

The Gershon Kekst Graduate School provides extensive Jewish studies gradu-ate program in North America, offering course work in nine areas of specializa-tion, including Jewish ethics, Jewish pro-fessional leadership, and Bible. More information is at www.jtsa.edu.

Sephardic minyan forming in TeaneckThe Jewish Center of Teaneck is about to start a Sephardic min-yan, set to meet once a month. The first two dates are July 11 and August. 8. Anyone interested in joining the minyan, which will be led and coordinated by Allen Ezrapour, a longtime JCT board mem-ber, should call (201) 833-0515, ext. 200, or email Esther Hirsch at [email protected]. Allen Ezrapour

MICHAEL LAVES

Rutgers University Hillel galaRecent Rutgers University graduate Mollie Kahn of Kin-nelon is among four students who will be cited as Student Rising Stars at Rutgers Uni-versity Hillels annual gala on Monday, June 22.

She was a member of Hil-lel and of Kol Halayla, Rut-gers premiere Jewish a cap-pella group, where she was a board member and assistant music direc-tor. She went on the Hillel and American Jewish World Services spring break ser-vice trip to Nicaragua, where she helped build a library for adult literacy and also participated in Birthright. She was a Peer Network Engagement Intern for Rutgers Hillel, and as a senior she established Hillel Senior Series events for graduating

Jewish seniors with contri-butions from young alumni of Rutgers Hillel.

Joseph Hollander of Holmdel and Mitch Frum-kin of Kendall Park, archi-tects of the recently created Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, which combined the federations of Monmouth and Middlesex

counties, will receive Visionaries in Part-nership awards; Beth and Marty Aron of Springfield will be given the Rabbi Julius Funk Alumni award, and Sara Sideman of Cherry Hill will receive the Young Alumni award. More than 300 people are expected to attend the event at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston.

Mollie Kahn

Announce your eventsWe welcome announcements of upcoming events. Announcements are free. Accompanying photos must be high resolution, jpg files. Send announcements 2 to 3 weeks in advance. Not every release will be published. Include a daytime telephone number and send to:

NJ Jewish Media Group [email protected] 201-837-8818

New benefits for ghetto survivorsNew German pension benefits have become available to ghetto survivors. Beit Ahava VeTorah, an organization that advo-cates for Holocaust survivors, is looking for help in finding them so they can apply for the benefits. Dr. Wallace Greene of Fair Lawn who has taught Holocaust studies at Upsala College, was among the first to debunk the Holocaust deniers, is a con-sultant to the International March of The Living, has produced the Yom Hashoah programs at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and is active in local Holocaust memorials is spearheading the groups efforts.

The funds are newly available because the German government stipulates that forced laborers in the ghettos qualify for a

pension. Elderly, frail, and impoverished Holocaust survivors should be notified that if they worked in a Nazi ghetto they can apply for new pension benefits. Ads must be placed in Jewish newspapers in cities with large populations of Holocaust survi-vors. PSAs, radio interviews, and newspa-per stories including in this paper have started this process. However the group feels that repeated newspaper ads will direct survivors to apply for the benefits.

Beit Ahava VeTorah has no salaried staff or office expenses. All funds collected will go toward media advertisements to attract ghetto survivors to apply for this benefit. For more information, go to jewcer.com/project/wanted-ghetto-survivors.

Yvette Tekel zl

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Kaplen JCC on the Palisades taub campus | 411 e clinton ave, tenafly, nJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org

upcoming at Kaplen JCC on the Palisades

Yoga on the GreenEnjoy a fun, one-hour, all level yoga class with Brenda Blanco, expert yoga teacher, trainer and wellness expert. Stretch out on our beautiful lawn with your mat, towel & water bottle. Please wear sun screen. In case of inclement weather, held in Kaplen gym. For more info, call Barbara Marrott at 201.408.1475.RSVP to [email protected], Jun 14, 10 am, Free

16th Annual Sandra O. Gold Founders Day ConcertThis years concert will feature the Holocaust-era childrens opera, Brundibar, written byHans Krasa, and performed by members of the Young Peoples Chorus @ Thurnauer. Thisconcert is made possible by the Sandra O. Gold Music School Founder Endowment Fundestablished by Russ and Angelica Berrie. For more information or tickets call 201.408.1465 or email [email protected], Jun 18, 6:30 pm, $8/$10

to register or for more info, visit

jccotp.org or call 201.569.7900.

Shirah Choirbernie and ruth Weinflash zl

memorial concertA night of beautiful Jewish choral music performed in memory of Bernie and Ruth Weinflash zl, Shirahs founding supporters and guiding spirits. Led by founding director and conductor Matthew Lazar, and associate conductor Marsha Edelman. Cantor Israel Singer, guest soloist.Sun, Jun 14, 7 pm, $8/$10Pre-concert reception for sponsors: $360Post-concert dessert reception sponsored by the Weinflash family

Asbury Shortsan evening of the Worlds best short filmsWhen the Best Short Film Oscar nominations come out, do you find yourself thinking Where are these films and why havent I seen them? Theyre here! Join us for the Bergen County premier of Asbury Shorts, a nationally acclaimed short film exhibition featuring award winning comedy, drama, and animation curated from the top global film festivals. To register call Kathy at 201.408.1454 or visit jccotp.org.Tue, Jun 30, 7:30 pm, $12/$15

Toddler Summer Fun Join other families and make new friends as your child learns and explores through interactive play in a multi-sensory environment. Parents and children enjoy social interaction through movement, music and outdoor play. Children have the opportunity for free play, outdoor playtime and other fun activities. For more info visit jccotp.org/not-quite-nursery.18-26 months: 6 Tue, 7/7-8/11 or 6 Thur, 7/9-8/13, 9:15-10:30 am 12-17 months: 6 Tue, 7/7-8/11 or 6 Thur, 7/9-8/13, 11 am-12 pm

Sign Up Between 6/1-7/19 & Get 1 Month Free!not Just a gym, a family Wellness centerCall 201.408.1448, email [email protected], or bring in this ad to save! Plus, 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.

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National OU leaders meet with U.S. officials in D.C.Last weeks Orthodox Union Leadership Mission in Wash-ington, D.C., included meet-ings with United States sena-tors and representatives that focused on Iran and key domestic issues. Less than a month remains until the June 30 deadline for a deal between the United States and its allies and the Iranian regime.

Nathan Diament, the Ortho-dox Unions executive direc-tor for public policy, opened the days session. Through its advocacy center, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congre-gations of America brought 120 national and congrega-tional leaders to Washing-ton to advocate for the non-profit security grant program, which helps nonprofits, such as synagogues and day schools, make their buildings more secure; the proposed nonprofit energy efficiency act, which will help nonprofits make their buildings more energy efficient and lower their operating costs; and the advancement of Israels security. The delegates, who represented nine states, met in small groups with 30 members of Congress, including Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ambassador Ron Dermer, Israels ambassador to the

United States, opened the program with a briefing on Iran. During a Senate luncheon, many senators, includ-ing Cory Booker, joined the OU delegation. Next, the OU group went to the White House, where they met with the chief of staff, Denis McDonough, and the undersecretary of the department of homeland security, Frank Taylor. The day ended with a meeting with French Ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud.

Rabbi Menachem Genack, left, CEO of OU Kosher and rabbi of Congrega-tion Shomrei Emunah in Englewood, with Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). PHOTOS COURTESY OU

From left, Rabbi Ephraim Epstein of Sons of Israel in Cherry Hill; Abraham and Shlomo Schwartz of Brooklyn; Josh Pruzansky of Teaneck, OU Advocacy-NJs regional director; Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ); Rabbi Judah Isaacs and OU board member Roy Spiewak, both of Teaneck; Rachel Klein of Cherry Hill, and Yehuda Kohn, executive director of Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison.

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kids use a computer program developed by Rutgers to analyze the DNA sequences and determine whether each sequence codes for a protein and what that protein might do in similar organisms and in duckweed. When they figure out what they have, they get their sequences published in the national center for bioinformatics where scientists all over the world upload their data for comparison.

For the symposium, each student chose one particularly interesting sequence and made a poster like those exhibited at professional scientific conferences.

Seeing the whole thing come together into one presenta-tion was very, very cool, said Nicole, who had never heard of duckweed before Dr. Furmans class.

Gabriel Dardik of Livingston said he learned three main skills from the course. First, I learned how to actually do science, starting an experiment and carrying it out to the end and interpreting the data. Second, I learned how to figure out what went wrong when something goes wrong.

And the third is teamwork. Gabriel said he wants to do a summer internship in research because I loved the class so much.

Zachary Abraham of Teaneck took the engineering elec-tive in ninth and 10th grade. I enjoyed it a lot, so biore-search seemed like another way, instead of building a proj-ect, to do real science. And this bioresearch class opened my eyes to a new way of looking at science. He will be in the summer program at the Governors School of Engineering and Technology at Rutgers.

Frisch was one of the first schools to join the nationwide pilot of the CIJE-Tech program four years ago. Engineering was added to other electives foreign language, music, and art from which incoming freshman may choose.

We started with 14 10th graders, and now we have over 100 students in the program, Ms. Silverman said. Its a four-day-a-week part of their curriculum, and its now a two-year program. In the second year, there is more of a bio-medical engineering thrust. Its incredibly eye-opening and inspiring. Their projects are quite sophisticated in terms of programming and circuitry.

Very cool FROM PAGE 12

JHR celebrates its senior classThe Jewish Home at Rockleigh celebrated another successful year at the Jewish Home University with its first annual Prom of the Century on Tuesday night, followed by the fourth annual graduation ceremony on Wednesday. Many residents, who dressed up for the occasion, went to the prom. A live DJ provided the music, and JHR staff, volunteers, family, friends, and residents danced together.

The university program gives residents the oppor-tunity to participate in activities including stimulating lectures.

For more information call (201) 784-1414 or visit www.jewishhomerockleigh.org.

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Marty Perlman dances with resident Frances Pargman, right, and JHR assistant director of recreation Marina Umansky, center.

PHOTOS COURTESY JEWISH HOME

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TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES

Jonathan Sacks should tell Jews to fight for Israel not to surrender

This week, Englands former chief rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, gave a speech described by the media as doom and gloom at a conference in Herzliya.Rabbi Sacks admitted a belief that the BDS move-

ment had succeeded in making the state of Israel a divisive factor in Jewish life, and he claimed that as a result, supporting Israel was almost impossible for European Jews.

It was an astonishingly defeatist speech, which is troubling enough. But most disturbing was the false dichotomy he presented to European Jews. In his own troubling words, he said, Jews have been faced with a choice: live in Europe and criticize Israel or be silent, or leave Europe In other words, the only solutions left for Europes Jewish community is to embrace and suc-cumb to BDS or get out. What he shock-ingly neglected to mention is the obvious third option: to stay in Europe, embrace Israel, and fight for the Jewish state.

I was personally saddened by Rabbi Sacks most recent remarks. I served as rabbi at Oxford University for 11 years, and at first I was his biggest public cham-pion. His eloquence in promoting Judaism was thrilling. But as time went by and he refused to use his considerable pulpit, not to mention his extraordinary gifts, to fight for Israel and against the anti-Semites, he gradually lost me.

In all the years Rabbi Sacks spent as chief rabbi, all would agree that he had few equals in his mastery of language. That is what makes it all the more mystifying that he would not use that mastery in the war for the Jewish state. His chief rabbinate must be judged a failure, and not only because Anglo-Jewry continued to dimin-ish under his watch. Rather, the phenomenal growth of anti-Semitism and attacks against Israel while he was in office, without his joining the battle, rendered his lead-ership obsolete.

Under his watch, the BBC, to which he had unlimited access, began to orient itself toward demonizing Israel. The British universities, where he was and remains highly respected, likewise ran roughshod over Israel. Yet, though he was undoubtedly the one who could have done it, he didnt defend Israel, either in the media or on campus.

Im not sure what Rabbi Sacks was thinking. Perhaps he thought defending Israel in the media would brand him as partisan, or that doing so on campus would chip

away at his hard-earned academic prestige, which he hoped to use to promote Jewish ideas. Maybe he thought it would all be futile, that the tide turning against Israel was not something he could stop. I cannot enter the mans mind. But whatever the reason, it was a stunning abrogation of leadership.

By 2008, after about 18 years at the helm of British Jewry, Rabbi Sacks was forced to give a speech where he admitted that Jewish students were feeling intimi-dated on campus. We hope that university vice-chan-cellors will recognize the feeling of vulnerability that Jewish students have expressed at many university campuses, he said.

And it was not only his passivity but his active criticism of Israel that may have con-tributed to the hostility. That includes the infamous interview he gave to the Guard-ian in 2002. There, he said of the IDF that there are things that happen on a daily basis which make me feel very uncomfort-able as a Jew. In the same interview, he said the prolonged conflict had generated hatreds and insensitivities that are cor-rupting to a culture and said so about Israel. And even now, when European Jews are deeply concerned about their safety and experiencing rejection on an interna-

tional scale, he tells them, essentially, to give up.Interestingly, just days before Rabbi Sacks spoke in

Herzliya I was in Las Vegas, speaking at a conference hosted by Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson and Haim Saban. Far from admitting defeat, these modern Macca-bees brought together 50 Jewish organizations in order to arrange and coordinate an effective counter-offensive to take on BDS and eventually bring it down.

The contrast between the two responses is vast. A refusal to fight for Israel stems from long-standing Jew-ish fears and self-doubt dating all the way back to the story captured in this weeks Torah reading, Shelach, where the spies tell Moses that they saw terrifying giants in Israel, creatures that could not be defeated. We appeared in their eyes as if we were grasshoppers, and so we appeared in our own eyes as well, they said.

But the willingness to stand up for the Jewish state rises from Jewish courage and pride. The former

Shmuley Boteach of Englewood is the founder of the World Values Network and the author of 30 books, including the about-to-be-released The Israel Warriors Handbook. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.


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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Thank you, Avi

In our story about Avi Lewinson, we quote many people who have been touched by Avi in some way, but we retain our editorial distance.Here, in this space, we are able to eliminate that distance and add our feelings to everyone elses.

Avi Lewinson is a gem of a man. His love for the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, filtered as always through his Jew-ish heart and soul and his social-workers eyes, is pure, unstinting, and unending. Those of us who have had chil-dren in JCC programs knew that wed see him at drop-off or pick-up, and that hed know our kids names. Wed known that although he is a preternaturally gifted fund-raiser, his interest in those of us who did not have funds that could be raised was warm and deep and real.

We knew about the programs at the JCC that take care of the most vulnerable among us the autistic children at the therapeutic nursery school, the cancer-stricken children at Camp Dream Street, the older people who suf-fer from dementia at adult day care. And then there are the programs that develop talent the Thurnauer School of Music, the extraordinary drama and musical theater classes that stimulate both childrens and adults creativ-ity, their yearning to explore, and their sense of magic. And then there were all the performances, the talks, and the communal responses to joy and tragedy and natural disaster that so mark the JCC.

All of them are either Avis brainchildren or the results of his gifted midwifery.

We celebrate Avis nearly quarter century at the JCC, we are glad to learn that he will keep his hand in fundraising there, and we hope that he stays in the community as he explores his options. We know that any organization that he chooses as his professional home will be lucky, just as we have been lucky all these years. JP

Avi Lewinson

TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES

Jonathan Sacks should tell Jews to fight for Israel not to surrender

away at his hard-earned academic prestige, which he hoped to use to promote Jewish ideas. Maybe he thought it would all be futile, that the tide turning against Israel was not something he could stop. I cannot enter the mans mind. But whatever the reason, it was a stunning abrogation of leadership.

By 2008, after about 18 years at the helm of British Jewry, Rabbi Sacks was forced to give a speech where he admitted that Jewish students were feeling intimi-dated on campus. We hope that university vice-chan-cellors will recognize the feeling of vulnerability that Jewish students have expressed at many university campuses, he said.

And it was not only his passivity but his active criticism of Israel that may have con-tributed to the hostility. That includes the infamous interview he gave to the Guard-ian in 2002. There, he said of the IDF that there are things that happen on a daily basis which make me feel very uncomfort-able as a Jew. In the same interview, he said the prolonged conflict had generated hatreds and insensitivities that are cor-rupting to a culture and said so about Israel. And even now, when European Jews are deeply concerned about their safety and experiencing rejection on an interna-

tional scale, he tells them, essentially, to give up.Interestingly, just days before Rabbi Sacks spoke in

Herzliya I was in Las Vegas, speaking at a conference hosted by Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson and Haim Saban. Far from admitting defeat, these modern Macca-bees brought together 50 Jewish organizations in order to arrange and coordinate an effective counter-offensive to take on BDS and eventually bring it down.

The contrast between the two responses is vast. A refusal to fight for Israel stems from long-standing Jew-ish fears and self-doubt dating all the way back to the story captured in this weeks Torah reading, Shelach, where the spies tell Moses that they saw terrifying giants in Israel, creatures that could not be defeated. We appeared in their eyes as if we were grasshoppers, and so we appeared in our own eyes as well, they said.

But the willingness to stand up for the Jewish state rises from Jewish courage and pride. The former

Opinion

response incites despair and acceptance of the status quo, while the latter inspires a willingness to stand and bring change.

The essence of leadership is not great oratory or striking eloquence but moral courage. Moses, the archetype of all Jewish leaders, was a stutterer. Lin-coln, too, the greatest of all American presidents, had a high-pitched, raspy voice. Although when they are read his speeches are considered (by myself espe-cially) to be some of the greatest ever delivered, when they were spoken aloud they were mocked and jeered at by much of the American press. That is particularly true of the Gettysburg address. But Moses risked his life and princely standing to combat a single injus-tice, the beating of a slave by his master. Retaining his social position among the Egyptian aristocracy meant nothing to him. And Lincoln embraced widespread unpopularity and eventually gave up his life to bring the greatest injustice in American history to an end. What made Lincoln a leader was the moral convic-tion that slavery was an absolute evil that had to be defeated while the Union was an unalloyed good that had to be defended.

Winston Churchill was dismissed as a drunk and a crank by the British for sounding the alarm against Hit

north jersey jewish standard, june 13, 2015

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