OpinionThe JewishPost&Presenting a broad spectrum of Jewish News and Opinions since 1935.

Volume 81, Number 6 • September 9, 2015 • 25 Elul 5775www.jewishpostopinion.com • www.ulib.iupui.edu/digitalscholarship/collections/JPO

The Bureau of Jewish Education Dalet Class of 2015Photo by: Scott Romer

Cover art by Bruce David(see About the Cover, p. 3).

National Edition

2 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

Editorial Inside this IssueEditorial.....................................................2Rabbi Brian Besser

(High Holidays).......................................3About the Cover ......................................3Rabbi Benzion Cohen

(Chassidic Rabbi).....................................4Rabbi Dennis Sasso ................................5Rabbi Sandy Sasso..................................5Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.

(Wiener’s Wisdom)..................................6Rabbi Herbert Horowitz

(High Holy Day Message) ......................7Ted Roberts

(Spoonful of Humor) ...............................8Amy Hirshberg Lederman

(Jewish Educator) ....................................8Rabbi Jon Adland

(Shabbat Shalom).....................................9Melinda Ribner

(Kabbalah of the Month) .........................9Rabbi Ben Asher & Bat Sarah

(Gather the People)................................10Bernie De Koven

(A Playful Path) ....................................11Dr. Miriam Zimmerman

(Holocaust Educator) ............................12Rabbi Elliot B. Gertel

(Media Watch).......................................14Niagara-on-the-Lake Canada Theatre

(Travel) ..................................................15Rabbi Israel Zoberman

(Book Review)........................................16Sybil Kaplan

(My Kosher Kitchen) .............................17Rabbi David Wolpe ..............................18Sybil Kaplan

(Seen on the Israel Scene)......................20

1427 W. 86th St. #228Indianapolis, IN 46260email: jpostopinion@gmail.comphone and fax: (317) 405-8084website: www.jewishpostopinion.compublisher & editor: Jennie Cohengraphic designer: Charlie Bunes

OpinionPost&The Jewish

Jewish News and Opinion since 1935.

workbook arrived in a spiral binding with these dimensions: 5-1/2 x 8 inches.Being easy to flip through the pages andto tote, all one needs to get started is awriting implement.

The author uses the word “H.E.A.R.T.”from the title as an acronym. With this the“H”stands for Heritage and Hopes for thefuture; the “E” for Ethics and Experiencesin life; “A” is for Atonement andAppreciation; “R” for Religion, spirituality,and core beliefs; and “T”stands for TikkunOlam and Treasures.

The result is five chapters that start witha brief explanation of what the chapter isabout, the first one being “Heritage andHopes for the future”. Then on left handpages he provides interesting quotes on thatsubject and on the opposite right handpage are not only “challenge” questions to ask oneself, but also several blank linesin which to write the answers. Weiner says there are no “correct” answers onlyreflections that come from your heart.These chapters end with examples of whatothers have written on the subject.

An example of a question I did notexpect to see in this workbook: “What isyour favorite book and why?”Learning onesfavorite family recipe, jokes, movies, musicand so forth, reveals much about a person.

Here is an example from the chapter onethics. On the left is a Jewish Proverb: “A bird that you set free may be caughtagain, but a word that escapes your lipswill not return.” On the right it says: Thewords we use and how we use them canbe powerful. Can you think of times whenyou used your words for either good orbad? What would you like others to learnfrom your experiences?

At the end of the chapter is this examplefrom the book, Tuesdays with Morrie byMitch Albom. Do the kinds of things thatcome from the heart. When you do, youwon’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious,you won’t be longing for somebody else’sthing. On the contrary you’ll be over-whelmed with what comes back.

Even if one is not ready to write an ethicalwill, with so many evocative questions andmeaningful quotes to ponder, this workbookcould be an ideal adjunct to your HighHoliday prayer book and worth having onhand for additional inspiration. In fact, itwould be a nice addition to any prayerservice or meditative, quiet time alone.

Dr. Weiner gives presentations and facilitates discussions about passing wealthfrom one generation to the next. Havingfamily legacy conversations about the thingsthat matter most (e.g. values, philanthropy,etc.) can make a huge difference in retainingassets and keeping the family united. Dr.Weiner emphasizes the use of ethical willsas one tool to start a family conversation.Visit his website at www.jewishlegacyletters

.com. He can be reached at ericweiner@familylegacyadvisor.com.

Last year during the Hebrew month ofElul, the last month before RoshHashanah, I wrote that this would be agood time to create an ethical will becausethe goals of both are similar. The task forthe month of Elul and for writing an ethical will require one to think aboutone’s priorities and values.

During Elul ,the shofar is blown everyday except Shabbat as a wake-up call. Wedo this so that when we enter the house ofworship for Rosh Hashanah we are prepared.It would be difficult to examine our missteps over the past year and determinehow we are going to improve in the newyear if we simply show up for services.To get the most out of any effort worthmaking, it is helpful to make substantialpreparations. One would not expect to runa marathon without serious training.

Unlike a legal will in which one allocatesone’s accumulated material possessions,for the ethical will – a spiritual legacy – aperson must think about what one haslearned from years of life experience. Thenafter much thought, one decides what is soimportant that it is worth writing down inorder to leave a record of “who you are”tothose who will live on and those yet unborn.

About the time I was pondering what I hope to learn from the upcoming HighHolidays, I received an email about aworkbook to help one write an ethical willtitled, Ethical Wills: Words from the JewishHeart. The author Dr. Eric L. Weiner had given presentations on this topic forseveral years but only recently wrote aJewish version. He says he wrote theworkbook because for most people “thewriting itself can be intimidating” andsome “may not know how to begin.”

He writes,“My mission is to help peopleopenly discuss and stay inter-genera-tionally connected around issues of legacy.With ethical wills, people can define whatis meaningful and, with some luck, bringhealing where healing is needed.”He addsone caution: “to avoid writing the ‘grudgefrom the grave.’ If your intent is to shamesomeone, then these are issues thatshould be worked out elsewhere.”

I requested a review copy and the

Editorial

See Historical Digtial Issues of The Jewish Post & Opinion since 1930 atwww.ulib.iupui.edu/digitalscholarship/

collections/JPO

Read recent digital issue online at:www.jewishpostopinion.com

Follow us on Facebook at:Jewish Post & Opinion, newspaper

Follow us on Twitter at:#JewishPostOpin

(see Editorial, page 3)

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 3

We wish all of our dear readers a rewardingholiday season resulting in a joyful 5776!

Jennie Cohen, August 26, 2015 AAAA

“Jonah’s Journey of Discovery”(based on a glass mosaic)

By Bruce David

The Book of Jonah contains many lessonsthat are still extremely relevant. As has alwaysbeen the case in the HolyScriptures, even the great-est of the prophets andteachers are portrayed ashumans, with flaws in their character.

Jonah was no different. He was at timesrebellious and stubborn, even choosing togo so far as to ignore direct instructionsfrom God.Yet, eventually, after many trialsand ordeals, Jonah came around.

The nature of Jonah’s quest was notonly in coming to terms with recognizingthe existence of a knowledgeable andcompassionate Entity. It also includeddeveloping the understanding that eventhough we are flawed, God accepts us andseeks our well-being.

For these reasons the Book of Jonah isread on Yom Kippur, a holiday whichemphasizes the themes of repentance,forgiveness, and acceptance. One of thefirst lessons Jonah learned was that youcannot run away from God.

When God told the prophet to go toNineveh and warn the people to repenttheir evil ways or suffer the consequences,Jonah instead boarded a boat to escape toTarshish. Although the story does notspecify the reason for Jonah’s actions, hereare two possible theories.

Some think Jonah was afraid he wouldlook foolish if the people of Nineveh didlisten to him and repented. As such, theywould avoid the destruction he hadprophesied. If this was the case, then perhapsthe lesson here is that we cannot alwaysworry about how others will see us. Themost important thing is to do what is right.

A second possibility is that perhapsJonah was afraid. After all, he would beone man alone facing an evil city of over100,000 people. Finding the courage toconfront our fears is something we allendure at one time or another. Here Jonahshould have recognized the power of theOne who assigned him this chore and hadmore faith in the ability of God to give himthe means to carry out his mission.

About the Cover

Bruce David

Regardless of the reasoning, Jonahchose to flee. In the lower right section ofthe design there is a depiction of the boatthat Jonah chose for his escape attempt.Here the ship is shown being tossed in anenormous storm that God sent downupon Jonah’s vessel. Jonah learned fromthis that you cannot hide from God.

As the power of the storm increased, theother sailors on the boat with Jonah cameto realize that he was the reason for theirdilemma. Eventually they were forced tothrow Jonah into the raging sea. This ledto Jonah’s adventure “down under” andwas certainly the classic example of thephrase “going overboard.”

This, in turn, allowed God to once moredisplay the ability of a magnificent powerover nature as a large fish was instructedto swallow Jonah and prevent him fromdrowning. In the center of the composition,this large fish is depicted as a whale.

Jonah prayed to God seeking forgivenessfor his shortcomings. God then decided togive him another chance. Soon the fishfound that Jonah was “hard to swallow”and that you “can’t keep a good mandown,”and it deposited Jonah on dry land.

Jonah then proclaims God’s word to thepeople in Nineveh. In the mosaic, Jonah’srobes are also the tail of the great fish.

The people of Nineveh repented theirwrongdoing and God decided against thedestruction of the people. This upsetJonah, who felt that the people of Ninevehshould be punished. He went outside thecity to watch and see what would happen.

It was extremely hot where Jonah sat,and God made a gourd plant to grow upand provide Jonah some shade. This madeJonah glad, and in the picture he may beseen sitting beneath the gourd and lookingon at the city nestled into the plains.

But the next day, when the sun came up, God caused a worm to destroy thegourd, leaving Jonah unprotected from the sweltering temperature. This greatly distressed Jonah, and you could literallysay that he was “feeling the heat” as thisleft him madder than ever.

God uses this opportunity to teachJonah another important lesson. First,God points out how upset Jonah becameover the loss of a single gourd that he hadnot planted nor had anything to do withits growth. Next, God compares this withthe lives of the over 100,000 people inNineveh that were part of God’s life and

(see Cover, page 7)

On Rosh Hashanah, we stand at thethreshold of past and future. Every experience we have ever lived through,every person we have ever encountered,contributes to who we are at this juncture.But our lives are not just a series of random, disjointed events happening tous. Rather, we get to author our lives byhow we arrange those events into thestory we choose to tell about ourselves.

A person who gets laid off can dwell inhurt and resentment, (“After all I’ve donefor them, this is how they repay me?”) orcan focus on opportunity. (“This is a signfor me to pursue the job of my dreams.”)The one who struggles with a longstandingpersonal challenge or relationship canfocus on continued shortcomings, (“I can’tbelieve I still let him/her/it upset me somuch.”) or view progress over the courseof a lifetime. (“I’m so much better at handling this than I used to be.”) The waywe frame the past determines whether weface the future with optimism or dismay.

Tradition speaks of two books associatedwith Rosh Hashanah: the Book ofRemembrances (Sefer Ha-Zichronot), andthe Book of Life (Sefer Chayyim). In theclassic interpretation, God records all ourdeeds in the Book of Remembrances,judges us, and – if we deserve it – inscribesus in the Book of Life for another year.There is another view, introduced andpopularized by the Hasidic sages.

We write our own remembrances byshaping our past. We can find ways to castnegative experiences in a positive light.For example, “yes, I was angry, but I’mover it now,” or “here’s the insight thatcame from my suffering,” or simply: “Inever thought I would get through it, but Idid!” Furthermore, we decree our owndestiny in the Book of Life by narrating aforward trajectory that begins with pastevents and includes our present state, butwhose future outcome is still undetermined(and may yet be glorious). The two booksare continuous. The Book of Life simplypicks up where the Book of Remembrancesleaves off.

There is enormous power in story-telling, especially when it comes to tellingour own story. Place the episodes of yourlife into an overall context. Look for deepersignificances and hidden benefits in the

How we frame our own story

BY RABBI BRIAN BESSER

HighHolidays

things that “happen” to you. Celebrateprogress. Spur growth with positive messages. Leshanah tovah tikateivu. Writeyourself into the Book of Life!

Rabbi Besser has been leading CongregationBeth Shalom in Bloomington, Ind., since 2012. AAAA

j i EDITORIAL(continued from page 2)

j i

4 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

What more does the Torah teach usabout the final redemption? Hashem (G-d)will be revealed in this world. Until ourfinal redemption, Hashem is hidden fromus to a great extent. Thirty-eight hundredyears ago our father Abraham foundHashem. This was amazing, when we con-sider that all of his family and countrymen were idol worshippers. Since thenAbraham and his followers and descen-dents have helped a large portion ofmankind to believe in Hashem.

We believe that our final redemption isvery close, and if we look around, we seethat Hashem is already beginning to revealHimself to us. I grew up in Indianapolis 60years ago. At that time there was noJewish Day School, and not much interestin starting one. The only day of the yearthat I felt Hashem was Yom Kippur.Religion meant very little to me.

The year 1967 was a big turning pointfor me and all of Israel. The Six Day Warwas one great miracle. We were outnum-bered 100 to 1, yet we defeated all of ourenemies in just 6 days. What are miracles?One way that Hashem reveals Himself to us. He makes an amazing thing happen, and we realize that this was thehand of Hashem.

At that time began a new movement inJudaism, the Movement of Return. For 100years Jewish observance had been waning.My great-grandparents were Chasidic andultra Orthodox. My grandparents wereOrthodox. My parents were Conservative.I was even less. After the Six Day War thetide turned. Slowly but surely more andmore Jews are coming to believe inHashem, learn His Torah and fulfill Hiscommandments. Today when you countall of those who have come closer toHashem, and their children and grandchil-dren, they number in the millions! Andeach one of them has a story of the mira-cles they experienced.

A few months after the Six Day War, I,myself, came to believe in Hashem. I grad-uated High School in 1967. The Jewishcommunity of Indianapolis offered me afree trip to Israel. We arrived in Israel twoweeks after the Six Day War, and touredthe country for two months. Wherever wewent we found happy people. I askedthem why they were so happy. They toldme that for 6 months the Arabs had beenthreatening to wipe them out, and nowthey had defeated all of them. I wasimpressed. In Indiana I didn’t know toomany happy people. I changed my plans

BY RABBI BENZION COHEN

Chassidic Rabbi

The Final Redemption 2

and decided to stay in Israel. Instead ofIndiana University I started attendingHebrew University in Jerusalem.

At the time I didn’t know where all thiswould lead me, but now I realize that thiswas the first step in the right direction, thiswas the hand of Hashem. Hashem hadbrought me to Jerusalem, His holy city.

Today I am a Chassidic Rabbi. I pray toHashem and talk to Hashem a few timesevery day. I witness and hear about mira-cles all the time. Just last week I wasstanding outside an army base near KfarChabad. A soldier passed by. I asked him tocome over and put on tefillin. He smiledand agreed. Then he told us that he hadvowed that if Hashem would help him, hewould put on tefillin every day. Why did hemake this vow? He had gotten into trou-ble with the army, and was worried thatthey would put him into jail. Sure enough,Hashem helped him, and they didn’t puthim into jail. Now he was going to put ontefillin, to keep his side of the deal.

This column that you are reading is alsodue to many miracles. A few weeks agomy computer that I use to write this col-umn started to make problems. I calledour local technician to fix it, but he nevershowed up. A few days later Tzvi, one ofour nephews from Vancouver arrived for avisit. He was able to get my computerstarted, but it still shuts down sometimes.So every time I want to use it I ask for amiracle that it should work.

Last Thursday was another miracle. Iwent to bed, but didn’t fall asleep. I usual-ly fall asleep in 5 or 10 minutes. An hourpassed, and I was still awake. I tried all mytricks to fall asleep, but nothing helped. Ithought that maybe Hashem is keeping meawake because I have to write a columnfor the Jewish Post. I got up and checkedmy emails. Sure enough, my sister Jenniehad sent me an email that she needs mycolumn by Sunday!

The Lubavitcher Rebbe told us that ourfinal redemption is already beginning tohappen. Hashem is already revealingHimself to us in many ways. We only needto open up our eyes and look around care-fully and we will see that this is true. Andby learning more Torah and doing moreMitzvahs (good deeds) we can make ithappen faster. We want Moshiach now!

What else does the Torah tell us aboutour complete and final redemption? ThatHashem (G-d) will rebuild Jerusalem andgather into the land of Israel all of theexiles. This is written in the book ofPsalms, chapter 147, verse 2.

Is this really happening? It is happening,this very moment. I myself am an example.I was born and raised in exile, inIndianapolis. What is an exile? Someonefar from home. Here I was, 7,000 milesaway from Jerusalem, our real home.

Materially, our family did rather well,baruch Hashem. We had a nice house, anice car, plenty of food, medical care andnice vacations. But was I happy? Not verymuch. What did I know about the spiritualaspects of life, about what is really important? Almost nothing. What connection did I have with our Creator,our Father in Heaven? Very little. At timesI believed in Him, at other times I didn’t.

I was indeed in exile till the age of 18.Not only physical exile, but even worse,spiritual exile, until Hashem brought me tothe Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad, in our HolyLand. In Yeshiva I learned that Hashem isreally everything and everywhere. With alittle effort I can feel His presence every-where, any time. He is the source of ourlife and existence. Without Hashem there isabsolutely nothing. How can we be closeto Hashem? By learning His Torah and fulfilling His Commandments.

I learned about my soul, which truly is apart of Hashem, right here in my brain andin my heart. I learned to love my fellow man.They also have a soul, a part of Hashem.

The bottom line? I am leaving exilebehind. I am coming home.This took place48 years ago. At that time 2,000,000 Jewslived in Israel. Today 6,000,000 Jews live inIsrael. I am not alone. I am together withmillions of my fellow Jews who are com-ing closer to Hashem and to our holy land.

Note: Our Rebbe did not say that every-one should move right now to Israel.Rabbis and teachers in Jewish schools,for example, are doing necessary jobswherever they live. So wherever you live,do all that you can to be close to Hashem,and leave at least your spiritual exile behind.

Jerusalem is close to my heart. I livedthere for a year and a half while learningin Hebrew University. Since then I havewatched it grow tremendously, and it isnow the biggest city in Israel.

For 1,800 years, since the destruction ofthe Second Temple, Jerusalem remained asmall city, less than one square mile. Onlyrecently it began to grow and spread out,especially after the Six Day War.

Why are all of these amazing thingshappening now? We believe that now ourcomplete and final redemption is reallyhappening.Two hundred seventy years agothe founder of the Chassidic movement,the Baal Shem Tov, asked Moshiach (theMessiah): “When are you going to come?”Moshiach answered him: “When yourteachings will spread out to all of the world”.

As the Chassidic movement began to growand spread out, more Jews began to moveto our holy land. New neighborhoods werebuilt in Jerusalem, for the first time in1,800 years! Today the Chassidic teachingshave reached every corner of the world.Every major city, and many smaller cities,

(see Benzion, page 5)

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 5Parenthood receives 41 percent of itsfunding from the federal government.It does not use that money to provideabortions. It uses those funds to secure the health of millions of women. Only 3 percent of its work involves abortions,legal abortions.

Planned Parenthood services actuallyreduce the number of abortions. By preventing one million unintended pregnancies a year, 350,000 abortions arepotentially averted. Of the abortions thatare done, a small number result in thedonation of tissue for research. In thesecases, Planned Parenthood strictly followsfederal guidelines. The mother must giveher consent. There is no profit made.

In the early 1990s there was governmental bipartisan support for collection of fetal tissue research. BothIndiana Sen. Dan Coats and KentuckySen. Mitch McConnell, who were leadersin the recent effort to defund PlannedParenthood, voted in favor of that decision. Why? Fetal cells, which otherwise would have been discarded, areused to save lives. Those cells are used toproduce vaccines for hepatitis A, rubella,chicken pox and shingles. How manypoliticians have had one or more of thesevaccines and have made certain that theirchildren, grandchildren and parents wereprotected from these diseases? How manywant crucial research into spinal cordinjuries, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s andheart disease to continue?

Ultimately, what is at stake in the debateabout Planned Parenthood is women’shealth care and access to contraception.Family planning funding has fallen bytwo-thirds over the years and is nowbeing threatened by more cuts. It makesno sense. Unfortunately, good sense andscience are too often discarded in favor ofpolitical expediency and blind ideology.

Sasso is rabbi emeritus of CongregationBeth-El Zedeck and director of the Religion,Spirituality and the Arts Initiative at ButlerUniversity. Reprinted with permission fromthe Indianapolis Star Aug. 11, 2015. AAAA

What if we could invent an organizationthat would provide cancer screening, birthcontrol and annual health exams for poorwomen? What if that organization couldtest for and treat sexually transmitted diseases and urinary tract infections,provide counseling for ending smokingand obesity and screen people for highblood pressure, anemia and diabetes?What if that organization were to have theability to impact the lives of 11.4 millionpeople in the United States, to reduce thenumber of unwanted pregnancies andabortions and make for healthier adults,especially among women? Wouldn’t itmake sense to ensure that funds are available for such a group?

But the truth is, we have such an organization, and our government is talking about defunding it. PlannedParenthood is the largest U.S. provider ofreproductive health services. The millionsof women who are or who have beenPlanned Parenthood patients attest to itslife-saving work. Planned Parenthood ofIndiana and Kentucky serve 67,000patients a year.

A series of undercover videos showPlanned Parenthood executives discussingthe sale of fetal tissue from abortions. Inone, a Planned Parenthood official statedthat affiliates exist to serve patients andnot to make money. An edited version ofone of the videos did not include thatstatement or other pertinent words as itscreators sought an end to governmentfunding of Planned Parenthood. Despitethe Senate’s decision not to proceed witha bill that would stop funding, this issuepromises to be part of the election yeardebate and of a government spending bill.

Let us consider the facts. Planned

PlannedParenthoodprovides vitalaid to womenBY RABBI SANDY EISENBERG SASSO

Transformlives throughacts of justiceand kindnessBY RABBI DENNIS C. SASSO

Last week I had the good fortune toparticipate in a “Multi-faith Prayer Service,”welcoming new students and families atButler University. I vividly remember myown first day of college some decades ago.The experience was heightened by the factthat I was a foreign student, coming to theUnited States for the first time, fromPanama, to start a new chapter in my life.

The beginning of college is a time of joyand anxiety, of hope and uncertainty, notonly for the student, but for the parentswho bring them to campus, help themunpack, attend orientation sessions andthen, tearfully depart. It is, in many cases,the first time that a son or daughter will beaway from home for a lengthy period oftime, on the threshold of adulthood.

The service planned by the Butler Centerfor Faith and Vocations was a thoughtful,sensitive and reflective opportunity tohelp ease the transition and give meaningto that life cycle experience. In keepingwith the Jewish tradition to teach and praythrough story, I began with a story:

“Once, addressing a gathering of students not unlike this one, a belovedteacher said: ‘We Americans pride ourselves on having coined the saying:‘Time is money.’ This is a false statementthat leads to serious mistakes.

“The only case in which time andmoney are alike is that there are somepeople who don’t know what to do withtheir time and some who don’t know whatto do with their money.

“But time is infinitely more preciousthan money and there is nothing in common between them. You cannot accumulate time; you cannot regain time lost; you cannot borrow time; andyou can never tell how much time youhave left in the “Bank of Life.”Time is Life.

(Dr. Louis Finkelstein, adapted)Dear students, these college years are

often said to be the “time of your life.”What you do with this time will make allthe difference.Time can be wasted or be ofworth; it can be spent learning just how tomake a living or spent also discerning howto fashion a life. You can merely use timeor sanctify it; you can seize the moment orsimply watch it go by.

May you look back upon these years astime you sanctified by opening your mindsto new ideas, expanding your relationshipsthrough new friendships, and transformingyour lives and the lives of others throughacts of justice and kindness.

Today is a time of new beginnings; a timefilled with uncertainties and challenges,but also with great hope and promise. Forall the experiences that have brought youto this moment, for the hope and thepromise yet to be, we give thanks: “Praiseto the Holy Source of Blessing, for life,sustenance and the joy of this day. Amen.”

I share these hopes and wishes with allstudents, parents and teachers for a fruitfuland fulfilling year.

Rabbi Sasso has been senior rabbi atCongregation Beth-El Zedeck in Indianapolissince 1977. Reprinted with permission fromthe Indianapolis Star Sept. 2, 2015. AAAA

j i BENZION(continued from page 4)

have their own Chassidic centers.Chassidic teachings are available on line inmany languages, and even in Braille!

Each one of us has an important part toplay in the process of our redemption. Wehave to spread the Chassidic teachings, bylearning them ourselves, and helping oth-ers to learn. This will also help to insurethat all of us will be inscribed for a goodand sweet year. We want Moshiach now!

Rabbi Cohen lives in K’far Chabad, Israel.He can be reached at bzcohen@orange.net.il. AAAA

j i

6 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

physical resurrection if you are not whole.Interesting theory. I would suggest that if God could create why not be able torecreate, even if parts are missing? Afterall, the organs, and such are no longerviable and have been absorbed by theearth. So what good is the rest if theessential parts are still missing? Thereagain, if one can be recreated, why not all?

These, perhaps are morbid references tothe future. The future I am talking aboutdeals with life, not death. We cannotexplain the unexplainable, but we canimagine the future because we haveframes of reference which include thepast. The past is the gateway to the future.There can be no future without a past.

Here we sit, time creeping up on us and we wonder, what future? There is atendency to become despondent becausewe cannot imagine a future. Our thoughtsrevert back to our younger days when wethought about the future and evenplanned for it. It has arrived. Now what?Are we to stop dreaming? Is there nothingto look forward to? What we used to do allnight, now takes us all night.

Today our thoughts certainly include thepast. We remember sitting with our parentsor grandparents, not understanding, butstill part of a glorious experience. We ranaround the shul getting into mischief, gettingscolded, and maybe even punished. Nowonder some were turned off and rebelled.

Some of us remember the cheder or religious school, and the strict teacher or teachers who would scold or evenmore. That too turned many away becausethe essence of those experiences werefear, not love. We asked questions andwere told not to ask – just do. Is this anyway to teach or encourage faith?

That was yesterday. What about todayand tomorrow?

Rosh Hashanah is a time to celebrate aswell as contemplate. How do we expressgratitude to God? How do we appreciatewhat we have? One way is through prayer,just as we do on that holiday. It remindsme of a story about a father and motherwho took their children to a restaurant.The youngest, about 6 years old asked if he could say a prayer before eating.As they bowed their heads and heldhands, the boy said, “God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food, and Iwould even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And libertyand justice for all! Amen!”

Along with the laughter from the othercustomers close by, the father heard awoman remark,“That’s what’s wrong withthis country. Kids today don’t even knowhow to pray. Asking God for ice cream!Why, I never!”

Hearing this, the boy burst into tearsand asked his father,“Did I do wrong? Is

God mad at me?” As the father held hisson to console him and assured him thathe had done a terrific job and God wascertainly not mad at him, an older manapproached the table. He winked at theboy and said,“I happen to know that Godthought that was a great prayer.”

“Really?”the boy asked.“Cross my heart,“the man replied. Then

he leaned closer and in a whisper addedabout the woman who made thoseremarks,“Too bad she never asked God forice cream. A little ice cream is good for thesoul sometimes.”

Naturally, the mother bought the boy ice cream at the end of the meal.The boy stared at it for a while and didsomething the father and mother wouldlong remember. He picked up his icecream without a word, walked over andplaced it in front of that woman. With abig smile he told her,“Here, this is for you.Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes;and my soul is good already.”

What if we could see the future? Wewould see that life is good. We would seethat extending ourselves to others, notonly makes those we reach out to feelgood, but we in turn will feel good too. Wewould see that even with all the difficultieslife throws our way, there is tomorrow. Wewould see that hate and anger hasten theinevitable. We would see that pain is tem-porary, but joy can last forever. We wouldsee that even though we may feel aban-doned by God, God may also feel aban-doned by us. We would know that a littleice cream is not only good for the soul, butfor the tummy as well.

If you feel a tap on your shoulder do not be afraid to turn around. We certainlymay find happiness and want to live forthe future, not dread it. And, we can dothat by dreaming and imagining, most ofall by living.

This is part of what Rosh Hashanah saysto us. Contemplate and celebrate – the keyto the best that is yet to come! Shanah Tovah.

Rabbi Wiener is spiritual leader of the SunLakes Jewish Congregation near Phoenix,Ariz. He welcomes comments at ravyitz@cox.net. He is the author of two books:Living With Faith and Why Is This NightDifferent: The Passover Haggadah. AAAA

Wiener’sWisdomBY RABBI IRWIN WIENER, D.D.

What if?What if we felt someone or something

tap our shoulder, and we turned aroundand saw tomorrow? Awesome, as ourgrandchildren would say. To look into thefuture can both be adventuresome and atthe same time frightening.The unexpectedis not necessarily what we need to know.That is the beauty of life. We do not knowfrom one moment to the next what is in store. Even when we think about death, we only dwell on it for a short time because the thought of it gives us chills. How thoughtful God was by not announcing in advance when we conclude this journey and start the next.I guess we would focus all our attentionon the end and not enjoy the present.

We hear stories about the soul being the essence of our being and the body the vessel in which is contained the connection to God who breathed life intous. Numerous writings have and continueto be discussed regarding this aspect ofcreation. The Talmud is filled with inter-pretations of the meaning of life asdescribed in the Torah. The Mishnah andcomplementary writings present parablesattempting to illustrate the eternalness ofthe spirit and the inheritance which iseveryone’s, that of eternal life.

The Prophet Isaiah explains that eventhough we have never been told by theAuthor, nor seen evidence, still we know itis our portion or reward for having beenborn. The Five Books of Moses make nomention of Heaven or Hell in terms ofreward and punishment. Heaven is whereGod resides and the place where we willeventually travel to as our essence windsits way to that blissful destination. We areeven told of rebirth. All this is found in thesubsequent writings such as the Prophets.

The most amusing thing I learned aboutreturning was told to me by one of rabbisI had the privilege to study with. He wouldsay that it is necessary for us to say blessingsover any food we eat. Some in the classwondered why this is so important. Heillustrated this by saying that if, for example,we neglect to recite a blessing before weeat chicken, we will return as a chicken.

Then there are those who suggest thatreferences to eternal reward indicate acomplete physical return. That is whymany Orthodox adherents, after losing alimb, will have it buried where they will be put to rest because you cannot have

On this date inJewish historyOn September 9, 1836Congregation B'ne Israel is

dedicated as the first synagoguebuilt in Cincinnati, Ohio.

~ From thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com.

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 7

BY RABBI HERBERT HOROWITZ

One mitzvahleads to another

The great sage Ben Azzai, writing in thePirkei Avot, (Ethics of the Fathers) states:“Mitzvah goreret mitzvah, averah goreretaverah, schar mitzvah mitzvah, schar averahaverah.” One good deed draws anothergood deed and one transgression leads toanother; for the reward of a good deed is agood deed, and the reward of a transgressionis another transgression. This Mishnah isan illuminating thought for reflection atthe time of Yizkor on Yom Kippur. The following moving story poignantly illustrates Ben Azzai’s insightful message.

Tess went to her bedroom and pulled ajelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.She poured all the change out on the floorand counted it carefully. The total had tobe exactly perfect. Carefully placing thecoins back in the jar, she slipped out theback door and made her way six blocks tothe drug store. She waited patiently forthe pharmacist to give her some attentionbut he was too busy at the moment. Tesscleared her throat, but nothing happened.Finally she took a quarter from her jar andbanged it on the glass counter. That did it.

“And what do you want?” the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone.“I’m talking to my brother from Chicagowhom I haven’t seen in ages,”he said.

“Well, I want to talk to you about mybrother,”Tess answered back.“He’s really,really sick…and I want to buy a miracle.”

“I beg your pardon?”asked the pharmacist.“His name is Andrew and he has

something bad growing inside his headand my daddy says that only a miracle can save him now. So how much does amiracle cost?”

“We don’t sell miracles here. I’m sorrybut I can’t help you,”the pharmacist said.

“Listen, I have the money to pay for it,”said Tess.“If it isn’t enough, I will get therest. Just tell me how much it costs.”

The pharmacist’s brother, a well-dressedman, stooped down and asked the littlegirl, “What kind of a miracle does yourbrother need?”

“I don’t know,”replied Tess.“I just knowhe’s really sick and Mommy says he needsan operation. But my daddy can’t pay forit, so I want to use my money.”

“How much do you have?” asked theman from Chicago.

“One dollar and eleven cents,” Tess

answered, “and it’s all the money I have,but I can get some more if I need to.”

“Well, what a coincidence,” smiled theman.“A dollar and eleven cents – the exactprice of a miracle for little brothers!”He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mittenand said, “Take me to where you live.I want to see your brother and meet yourparents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”

That well-dressed man was Dr. CarltonArmstrong, a surgeon specializing in neurosurgery.The operation was completedwithout charge and it wasn’t long untilAndrew was home again and doing well.Mom and Dad were happily talking aboutthe chain of events that had led them tothis place.

“That surgery,” her mom whispered,“was a real miracle. I wonder how much itwould have cost.”Tess smiled. She knewexactly how much a miracle cost…onedollar and eleven cents. Plus the faith of alittle child. Mitzvah goreret mitzvah.

Albert Schweitzer wrote,“Not one of usknows what effect his life produces, andwhat he or she gives to others; that is hidden from us and must remain so,though we are often allowed to see some little fraction of it, so that we maynot lose courage.”

The Jewish philosopher EmmanuelLevinas wrote of this eloquently: “Howdoes one preserve oneself from evil? By each taking upon him or herself the responsibilities of the others. Jewish tradition teaches that the greatest intimacyof me to myself consists in being at everymoment responsible for the others. Youare not just free; you are also bound toothers beyond your freedom.Your liberty isalso fraternity.”

The poet Kate Robinson wrote: “Grantme that graceful moment in which painbecomes learning and tragedy survivorship.Let my tears be as a river or a mighty seafloating my soul beyond this rocky shore.”

Nothing is as primal as a stone. TheTorah tells us: “Ki tavo el haaretz…”Whenyou come into the land, keep this commandment – pile up large stones andinscribe on them all the words of thisteaching.” At the holiest moments of the year, during Yizkor on Yom Kippur,meditate deeply. What places in your lifehave given you lessons to share? Have you experienced tragedy, built a business,come to terms with an illness? Are thesethoughts etched in stone?

Don Isaac Abravanel, the great Jewishcommentator and Finance Minister in15th century Spain, said: “Empires erectmonuments to boast of what they haveconquered. Jews use plain and simple stories to write the lessons of our journeythroughout life.”

In life, nothing matters more than thelessons we learned from our mothers andfathers, grandparents and elders. At thetime of Yizkor, let us remember that thiseternal moment conveys the extraordinaryimportance of every ordinary life.Wherever we are, wherever we have come from, we are obliged to leave behinda “pile of stones” inscribed with what we have learned and what we and ourloved ones have bequeathed for futuregenerations.

Let us remember: Mitzvah goreret mitzvah– one good deed that leads to anothersaves the world. Shana Tova Umetukah.

Herbert Horowitz is Rabbi Emeritus ofShore Parkway Jewish Center, Brooklyn,NY. He is a popular lecturer and scholar-in-residence. He can be reached at rabhh18@gmail.com. AAAA

High Holy DayMessage creation, and teaches Jonah that he should

at least be as concerned with the people ashe is with the gourd.

Additionally, this demonstrates God’sconcern for all people. Since all are part oflife, we need to do all that we can to helpeach other. As God gives those who havedone wrong a chance to turn from theirinappropriate activities, so we are alwaysbeing presented with the opportunity to change our ways and improve thedirection of our lives.

Because this book is a parable, filledwith hidden insight, a second large face ofJonah is concealed within the design todenote the obscured understandingsincluded in the text. This face may befound on the left side of the glass mosaic’sdesign, with the nose of the large face alsobeing the pants of the smaller Jonah formsitting beneath the gourd.

As Jonah found out, his journey was notonly to help the people of Nineveh, but tolearn his lessons as well. By applying thesesame understandings to our own lives, wetoo can come to recognize the importance ofJonah’s lessons as a means for supportingus in our own growth and assisting us onour life journey.

Bruce David is a Judaic artist and headsLight of the Nations, a non-profit Jewisheducational outreach organization whichuses art, music and other forms of creativeexpression to share the modern day values of Judaism to our world. He welcomes comments at: davidart@davidart.com.

David will be glad to share the link toLight of the Nation’s YouTube Playlist,which includes a Jonah animation, for thoseinterested in viewing samples of their art-music videos. David’s art may be viewed onhis own Web site at www.davidart.com. AAAA

COVER(continued from page 3)

j i

8 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

On the High Holidays my mind turnsto a Talmudic legend – a story that offers asolution to the puzzle of why we are hereand where’s our next stop. What happenswhen we get off the bus? The gloom of thegrave or a new world of sweet dreams? Iinterpret the legend loosely as follows:

A rich and benevolent Master is highlypleased with his slave. He releases him.But wait, that’s not all. There’s more. Hegives him a ship loaded with preciousgoods, accompanies him to the dock andwaves a hardy farewell. But, alas, soon afterleaving port the ship strikes a reef and allis lost. Due to heavenly intervention theex-slave survives the wreck and swims toa nearby island – this guy could win theaquatic Olympics – where he is lavishlygreeted by the inhabitants. Riches arethrown at him. He is even declared King.

David, let’s call him, the former slave,doesn’t get it. Maybe he’s dizzy and hallucinating from his Olympic GoldMedal swim. Why this generous andenthusiastic reception? One of theislanders gives him the background. TheIslanders prayed with passion to the Lord.“Send us annually a king,” they pleaded.(That word “annually” is the key to thepuzzle.) And so it was.

Every year the Lord blesses them with aKing. For one year the new King reignsluxuriously. But at the end of his one-yearterm, he is deprived of all his possessions– his ermine robes stripped from his back– shoved in a boat with a one-way ticketin his pocket, if he’s lucky enough to beleft with a shirt with a pocket. Naked youcame and naked you shall go. This boatthat seems to have a mind of its own takeshim to a desert island. No friends, no subjects. Misery and loneliness are hisonly companions.

“But if you’re smart,” says the islandadvisor to this newly crowned King,“you’ll prepare for that day of departure.”The temporary king had a one-wordanswer,“How?”

The advisor pointed out that he couldprepare for his sojourn on the Island ofBanishment while he still had his imperialresources. Beautify this second island with luxurious landscaping. Colonize it

Preparing for thenext world – AHigh Holiday story

Spoonful of HumorBY TED ROBERTS

with fascinating people. Send workmen.Make it a civilized paradise. Fertilize the fields. “Thou wilt have established anew kingdom for thyself with subjects towelcome thee in gladness.”

David enthusiastically took this adviceand even looked forward to the day whenhe would lose his kingship. He knew aparadise awaited him. Like all Midrashim,there’s a lesson entangled in the words. Prepare for the life to come. Buildyour second home while you’re enjoyingthe first.

The humor of Ted, The Scribbler on theRoof, appears in newspapers around the US,on National Public Radio, and numerous websites. Check out his Web site: www.wonderwordworks.com. Blogsite: www.scribblerontheroof.typepad.com. His collected worksThe Scribbler on The Roof can be bought atAmazon.com or lulu.com/content/127641. AAAA

j i

others and God. We get a jumpstart onthis process 30 days before Rosh Hashanahbegins during the Jewish month of Elul.This is the time when we are challengedas Jews to take stock of our lives, to reviewthe things we are proud of as well asacknowledge when we have let ourselvesand others down. We are beckoned to take a hard look at our relationships andinteractions, our commitments and goals,our successes and failures. This type ofpersonal introspection is called HeshbonHa Nefesh, which in Hebrew literallymeans “an accounting of the soul.”

It’s not easy and often uncomfortable toadmit the simple truth that we have mademistakes. We aren’t perfect and have donethings that have betrayed the best personwe know we can be. We have let our egorule our decisions, hurt and disappointedothers, said and done things we deeplyregret. And we have done these things notin spite of being human but because we arehuman. Because being human means beingflawed, imperfect, a work in progress. Andbeing Jewish means recognizing that it’sup to us, each and every day, to choosewhat to do and how to do it.

Acknowledging regret is also a majortheme of the High Holidays. Maimonides,the Medieval philosopher, taught that thereare three stages of regret; repentance,rejection and resolution. First, we feelremorse and apologize for our wrongdoings.Second, we don’t repeat the act whenfaced with it again, showing that we trulyhave repented and changed. And finally,we commit to living a better, more righteous life with the intent of becominga better person in the days ahead.

Acknowledging and responding to feelings of regret plays a big part in helping us become our best selves. Butsetting an intention to live life with NO REGRETS can inspire us to do thesame. In this way, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur remind us of the interplay ofopposites that is often required for us toevolve and reach our highest potential.

When it became clear that the finalmonths of Ray’s life were at hand, “noregrets” was the compass that directed us in our interaction with others. Weattempted to do all we could to ensurethat our children, family and friendswould have no regrets after Ray was gone. He was able to tell people what he wanted them to know and hear whatthey needed to say. It was a gift of time,honesty and truth, for Ray and for all ofthose who knew him. Living with noregrets takes a great deal of intentional living. Dying with no regrets takes a lifewell-lived and well-loved.

It goes without saying that I deeplyregret that Ray’s life ended too soon. But I

JewishEducatorBY AMY HIRSHBERG LEDERMAN

To Regret or Not to Regret:That is the HighHoliday Question

When my husband, Ray, was diagnosedwith cancer almost four years ago, webecame a team, determined to face thechallenge of living with cancer head on.From the onset, we talked openly aboutrisks and probabilities as we aggressivelyresearched and pursued treatments andclinical trials. We sought counsel fromoncologists, nutritionists, integrative carespecialists, loving friends and cancer survivors. And rather than avoid the elephant in the room, we decided to ride it.

“Live with no regrets” became themantra we used to prioritize our decisionsand frame the issues which confronted usdaily. Should we take a family cruise toAlaska? Yes, no regrets. Should we remodelour 35 year old bathroom? Do it now. Noregrets. Should Ray contact a friend in thehopes of resolving a painful interaction?Definitely. No regrets. Should we maketime for each other every day to really talkabout what was in our hearts and on ourminds? Absolutely. No regrets.

Living with no regrets is one of thethemes of the Jewish High Holidays. Ourliturgy inspires us to stop and think aboutliving a meaningful life, a life where wewill have no regrets for what we do andsay, and for how we relate to ourselves,

(see Lederman, page 11)

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 9

Pirke Avot 4:2 – Ben Azzai said: Be eagerto fulfill the smallest duty and flee fromtransgression; for one mitzvah inducesanother and one transgression inducesanother transgression. The reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, the reward of onetransgression is another transgression.

September 4, 2015, Ki TavoDeuteronomy 26:1–29:8, 20 Elul 5775

We have Rabbi Andy Vogel to thank forputting the above verse to song. Just likelast week’s “Eizeh Hu,” this week it is“Mitzvah goreret mitzvah.” (Some of youmay know Rabbi Vogel who grew up inCleveland, was a NELFTY president andwent to GUCI.) The idea behind thisverse at the top is that by doing a mitzvahit will lead you to do more mitzvot, butviolating a mitzvah (or doing an aveira ortransgression) will lead someone downthe path of doing even more aveirot.

Rabbis and teachers and leaders acrossthe spectrum of Judaism so often use the simplicity of this verse without evenquoting it. We say to you that you mightwant to try lighting Shabbat candles on aweekly basis, even before you go out forwhatever evening activity you have, andthen maybe at some point add reciting the Kiddush over the wine. Eating a bit ofchallah never hurts either.

Maybe this year try putting up a sukkahor at Chanukah light the chanukiyah everynight. Make tzedakkah a regular part ofyour life and then maybe add in somestudy to go along with it. Mitzvah goreretmitzvah! I can’t make you do more Jewishthings or embrace Jewish practice morefervently, but I can urge you to never stopthinking about how to embrace Judaismmore passionately in your life.

Sometimes I just can’t pass up the connection between the verse I cite fromPirke Avot and the weekly Torah portion,and this is one of those times. I put theseverses up in the order they come in thetext and the fact that this week talks aboutmitzvot and aveirot is quite apropos forParashat Ki Tavo.

About half way through the parashah,Moses begins with a list of curses forwhich the people respond with amen.They include not worshipping idols orinsulting your parents or subverting therights of the stranger. It is hard to argue with these aveirot in chapter 27. Tobalance it out, the next chapter begins

ShabbatShalomBY RABBI JON ADLAND

with a series of blessings. And then thechapter turns to one of the most difficultsections in Torah, the curses connectedwith terrible aveirot in Deut. 28. These are so terrible to read, and when they areread in the synagogue on Shabbat, they aresaid in a whisper. (This is one of the Torahsections that isn’t taught in religious schooland if you don’t read the Torah on your ownor go to Torah study or attend weeklyShabbat services you may never know thissection exists unless your rabbi writes aboutit in Shabbat Shalom.)

Moses, in this frightening section lists all the things that will happen orcould happen if you don’t follow God’scommandments. You will just have toread this on your own as I can’t or won’tput it in this week’s message. Suffice it to say, I don’t think these curses wouldmotivate me to be a better Jew today. Theopposite may be true and I’d have to turnaway from living a Jewish life.

Judaism should not be lived in fear ofwhat happens if you don’t follow God’slaws. I believe that we should encouragemitzvah goreret mitzvah. By holding upthe beauty of living a Jewish life and theinner peace that can come from living in Judaism this way, I truly believe thatone’s life can be enhanced and deepened.Sometimes it is hard to know which doorto open into this beautiful Jewish world.How does one take the first step?

A little knowledge and education doesn’thurt, but there is no better place to start in Judaism than with Shabbat. It is thereevery week. It is so beautiful to see the lit Shabbat candles standing next to a beautiful Kiddush cup with a challahnearby. Participating and observingJewish holidays and holy days is the next door and we are just about to begin the season of beautiful, meaningfulholy days: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur,Sukkot, Simchat Torah. And from here,there are countless doors to open and step through.

This is done out of love and beauty, notfrom the fear of punishment as spoken inDeut. 28. Yes, one transgression may leadone down the wrong path, but let’s focuson what can happen when you engage inthe mitzvot.

When you light your Shabbat candlesthis week, light one for the opportunity tolive a positive Jewish life that is filled withhopes for tomorrow and the memories ofyesterday. Light the other candle for thewisdom of Ben Azzai who understoodthat we need to walk down the right pathon our journey.

Rabbi Adland has been a Reform rabbi for more than 30 years with pulpits inLexington, Ky., Indianapolis, Ind., and currently at Temple Israel in Canton, Ohio.Email: j.adland@gmail.com. AAAA (see Ribner, page 18)

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of theJewish calendar. The Torah says, “On thetenth day of the month (Tishre) it is a dayof atonement, a holy convocation, and youshall afflict yourselves.”(Lev. 23:27) And theTorah tells us that on Yom Kippur,“You shallbe purified from all your sins.”(Lev. 16:30)This purification is the awesome gift of the day.

On the external, outside, level, YomKippur is a day of affliction, not eating, notwashing, confessing all our sins, feelingsad, and remorseful for all the mistakes wehave made individually and collectively.There is much pain and suffering on microand macro levels in the world today that ifwe are not mindful and do not understandthe essence of the Yom Kippur, we can beeasily disheartened on this day.

But on the internal level, on the inside ofthe inside, Yom Kippur is the most joyousand awesome day of the year. By being inspiritual community and uniting with theCommunity of Israel on this most awesomeof days, that was established thousands of years ago, we are given the opportunityas well as the support, both divine andcommunal, to liberate ourselves fromthe stifling hold that materialism andphysicality have held in defining who we are. We release ourselves from thetyranny of the ego self that inflicts us and others with its fragmented, narrow,self-serving limiting conversation.

On Kol Nidre, we release all such vowstaken consciously and unconsciously thathave blocked the flow of goodness in ourlives in a way that we could not do atanother time.

Though we do not eat or wash and we pray all day, we are happy for we experience paradoxically that the restrictionsof Yom Kippur do not make us enslaved orlimited. They actually make us free,enabling us to become the kind of vesselable to receive the transmission of holiness, love and forgiveness of the day.On Yom Kippur, we do not eat physicalfood but rather we are fed heavenlymanna of love. We do not wash for we arebathed in divine compassion. On YomKippur, our slate is wiped clean. We arelike new born babes, ready to be usheredinto the succah for seven days of coddlingand fun with Hashem and each other.

Kabbalahof the MonthBY MELINDA RIBNER

Yom Kippur – ourslate is wiped clean

10 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

Every year, like clockwork, the Jewishpeople – even those of us who insist we’renot “religious” – reemerges, reconvenes,and restores itself for the High Holy Days.

But why should this occur so predictably? What motivates so many ofus to make this occasion a priority on our calendar again and again, year afteryear? What do we expect to find in thesynagogue during these few days?

We come for as many reasons as thereare individuals, of course. But notwith-standing that each of us has a somewhatunique motivation for coming to serviceson the High Holy Days, the list of reasonsmay not be very long: We come to work onour self, to work at becoming better people. We come to reaffirm our Jewishidentity. We come to renew our member-ship in the Jewish community. We come tosee old friends and acquaintances. Wecome because someone arm-twisted orguilt-tripped us. And we come for reasonswe may not even really understand.

No matter what the initial motivation,most of us will spend several hours atservices on High Holy Days. Since in ourday-to-day life we rarely have the luxuryof wasting hours in a day, maybe weshould consider this time in the samelight: it’s valuable and not to be wasted.

How can we productively use this time,even if we’re full of doubt or cynicismabout the usefulness of congregationalprayer, Judaism, or God?

Since both of us grew into our adulthoodwithout a Jewish education, we know personally how difficult it is to ascribe toGod, Judaism, or a congregation, thepower to make a difference in our day-to-day pressures and hopes.

Entering middle age we may find ourselves living with a 12-year-old’s ideasof God, prayer, repentance, ritual, etc.Imagine trying in middle age to live yourbusiness or professional life, your sex life,even your hobby, or any other part of yourlife, on what you knew at 12 – but that’swhat many of us do with religion.

But if we’re not going to believe in childishnonsense, what are we to believe in?

While there are no simple answers, one

way we can begin as adults to know God,Judaism, and congregational life is tosearch for and act out the highest and bestparts of ourselves in a more disciplinedway, based on the tradition of wisdom thathas sustained our people for thousands ofyears. We can take the time we’re going tospend in synagogue to examine ourselves,to see if we’re carrying around dead parts that depress us and drag us downthroughout the year, parts that cause painto ourselves and the people we love andcare about. And we can use the time to seeif Judaism offers any practical help to leavebehind those parts of ourselves that aredead and destructive, and to lift up theparts that are alive and loving.

Using the time this way is sometimesvery difficult. Self-assessment in the harshlight of truth can be very painful.

So why do it?Because like all investments in which

gratification is deferred, teshuvah – turningour lives for the purpose of healing ourselves – leads to exceptional rewards,both for those we love and for us.And when guided by Torah, evaluatingand turning ourselves according to theattributes that our tradition ascribes toGod, our pain is lessened by the goodnessof realizing our highest potential.

What prevents us, then, from doingteshuvah?

In a word, fear. We fear not being incontrol. We fear admitting to ourselvesthat we are not the greatest power in our lives. We fear being judged by otherswith our defenses down. We fear that therealities upon which we have built ourlives, the fictions we’ve told others andourselves, if we don’t hold onto themtightly, will destroy us somehow. We fearthat we’ll have to give up all the sensualand material pleasures in our lives. We fearadmitting our fear.

Yet, ironically, we have little or no fear ofGod, thinking that we alone, among allcreatures, can escape the consequences of our actions. Some of us reject God and Torah by rejecting our own childishnotions of reward and punishment, thatpunishment is designed expressly to correct our bad behavior. In this way weavoid the reality that so-called punish-ment is a natural result of our behavior –part and parcel of the universal educativeconsequences for misbehavior, built intothe creation, as unavoidable as drowningif we jump into the deep end of the pooland fail to move our arms and legs.

How are we to overcome our fears?The requirements for overcoming fear

are always the same when the conditionsof our lives demand courage. We have toact on our faith – that is, do what’s right,despite our reason and experience. That’sthe essential definition of faith, the doing

of what we know to be right despite reason and experience that argue for the immobilization which follows fromdespair, futility, and powerlessness to do good.

And we have to find others, those with whom we can ally ourselves, to dowhat we’re called upon to do. Judaism hasno expectation that as individuals we candiscern the will of God and manage ourlives to meet it. Throughout our lives we require teachers and, in turn, we areobligated to teach others what we havelearned. There is no more compelling purpose for the establishment of a congre-gational community than to support andsustain its members in their efforts tolearn how to live their lives every day inmoral spiritual faithfulness to the visionand path of Torah.

Why is it that sometimes we seem tohave the needed faith and at other timeswe don’t?

Faith is a function of hope. The morehope, the more faith. Hope grows in proportion to the possibilities we see forgoodness in the world. Hope increases ifwe see others stand up for what is right,if we see others tell the truth, if we seeothers combat injustice, if we see othersfight for freedom, if we see others work to make peace, and if we see others show kindness. If we see others increasegoodness in the world, our hope isenlarged, and we will have the faith weneed to overcome our fear.

But who are these others? They are noneother than us when we choose and commit ourselves to do these things as a congregational community. Then wepotentiate hope and faith far beyond ourown personal power.

We may choose to remain alone andisolated, lacking in hope and faith, fearfulof turning our lives; or we may choose tojoin with others, build community together,increasing our hope and faith, allowing usto overcome our fear and do the teshuvahnecessary to change our world.

In one respect we’re right not to fearGod. The judgment that will be leviedupon us will be a consequence, most of all,of our communal failure to take advantageof this precious time, which has beendesigned and arranged for us together toturn our lives. Mostly what we have to fearis our own failures.

Where do we start if we want to turn, ifwe want to forsake that which is deadwithin ourselves?

Somewhere, somehow, we must want tofind within ourselves at least a small voiceof regret. That requires some moments ofsilence, when we are neither talking norlistening to others, which is a legitimatefunction of prayer.

BY RABBI MOSHE

BEN ASHER, PH.D.AND MAGIDAH

KHULDA BAT SARAH

Let’s look for away out together

Gather the People

(see Ben Ashe/Bat Sarah, page 11)

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 11

BEN ASHER/BAT SARAH(continued from page 10)

We can ask ourselves: What have I donethis past year that was self-destructive ofthe goodness in me – and do I want tochoose to forsake that part of myself yet?

We can ask those we love: How have Ihurt you this past year? We can listencarefully to what they tell us. And then wecan take responsibility for our wrongdoingand do all within our power to makethings right.

We can ask ourselves: What have I donethis past year that lessened hope in mycongregation and thus undermined thefaith of its members – and do I want toforsake that part of myself yet?

We can choose not to allow the painothers have caused us to rule our lives,to define who we are and how we willreact, but instead to forgive those whoexpress a genuine regret and a desire to be reconciled.

We can support each other by joining in communal confession to sins that we,personally, have not committed, so noneof us have to experience the shame of confessing our wrongdoing alone.

We can accept and support the teshuvahof our family, friends, and congregationmembers, instead of automaticallypigeonholing those whom we’ve summedup and judged in the past.

We can affirm by how we treat otherpeople in our congregation that all of ushave the capacity to change, acceptingthem and ourselves as we seek to be, notas we have been.

Rabbi Hayyim of Zans, who lived in the nineteenth century, told a parable that comes to teach us about the role ofcongregational community in teshuvah:

A man had been wandering about in a forest for several days, unable to find his way out. Suddenly he sees anotherman approaching him. His heart is filledwith joy. “Now I’ll get out of here,” hethinks to himself.

When they come face to face, he asksthe other man, “Brother, tell me which is the way out of this forest. I’ve been wandering about here lost for severaldays.”

The other man says to him, “Brother, Ido not know the way out either – I’ve alsobeen wandering here for many days. I cantell you this: don’t take the way I’ve beentaking, for you’ll surely stay lost. But let’slook for a way out together.”

© 2015 Moshe ben Asher & Khulda bat SarahRabbi Moshe ben Asher and Magidah

Khulda bat Sarah are the Co-Directors ofGather the People, a nonprofit organizationthat provides Internet-based resources forcongregational community organizing anddevelopment (www.gatherthepeople.org). AAAA(see De Koven, page 18)

A PlayfulPathBY BERNIE DE KOVEN

The Planetary JewIn my previous column in the July edi-

tion with the headline “The HomegrownJew” I wrote: Though we’re vegetarians,mostly, every now and then we eat a pieceof fish – because, you know, it jails our freeradicals or something. And there it is onour plates, this piece of a beautiful, power-ful animal. And we have to say something.So we started saying “Thank you, Fish.”And that was pretty much as far as we got.

Most recently, though, I’ve been trying itout, thanking the planet for my food andstuff – though my sacred wife still wants tothank the fish personally. I’ve been not somuch trying it out as thinking about tryingit out – especially about the planet-Godconnection. I don’t know how kosher it isto thank the planet. It’s not exactly idolatry.And it’s hard enough thinking about theplanet – the whole planet – as one singlething, something I could personally thankfor anything.

Now that I’ve seen pictures of it fromspace, I can imagine it as just one thing,small, huggable even, compared to someof its neighbors. I can even think of it as aliving being because this is where I findmy life and all the lives I encounter. But tothink of it as listening to me, as appreciatingmy gratitude, as something like God, aseven wanting my gratitude… I might aswell thank a dead fish.

No, it doesn’t seem to work for me,thanking the planet, or praying to it either.I can love it, though. I can’t hold it in myimagined embrace but I can appreciate itsbeauty, its complexity, its life-givingness.

There’s a thing we Jews call TikkunOlam. It means to repair the world. As apractice, even picking up a piece of litter isTikkun Olam. Or reusing a plastic bag, orrepurposing, or conserving energy, orplanting a garden, or designing a little toyor game or playground that makes thingsa little more fun. And so is visiting the sick,bringing a nice nosh at a shiva, celebratinglife events with family, community andstrangers. Traditionally, it is all a mitzvah –a commandment, a good thing to do, holyeven, just in the doing. It’s what I mightcall “active prayer”, like celebrating,serving, enriching, healing, and loving. Soif there were such a thing as a PlanetaryJew, that’s the kind of thing we’d be doinga lot of.

Jew? You ask. Call this Jewish? You scoff.Well, see, I have to approach my planet as

a Jew would, because, that’s me, Jewish, bybirth, by blood. Judaism is in the DNA ofmy spiritual genetics. And if I were aChristian, I would have to approach it as aChristian would; a Buddhist, a Muslim,Hindu, Taoist…as they would. And yet, nomatter through what lens we see it all, wewould all be worshipping together.Despite our differences, we’re all on thesame planet, if you know what I mean.

And then there’s a mitzvah called BalTaschit – another commandment whichsays, basically, Agent Orange is not kosher.Don’t destroy what you don’t have to. Infact, don’t destroy unless you haveabsolutely no alternative. This extends tothe whole plant, naturally; as in conserva-tion of life, of the planet.

And Tzedakah, which has something to do with being just and charitable andthat, too, can be extended to all life. Andeven more important: Gemilut Hasadim –the “gift of lovingkindness.” All are commandments, straight from the hand of God and the heart of the planet.

As a Jewish, um, Planetarian, some ofthe books of my conceptual Talmud wouldbe written by the poets and authors andartists and scientists whose works enrichmy understanding of the world, widenand deepen my embrace of the whole offamily, the whole of community, ofhumanity, of life, of the planet I live in and serve. Other books would be by geologists, geographers, geophysicists,ecologists, hydrologists, physicists, biolo-gists, astronomers, and cosmologists – thelegions of researchers, experimenters,explorers, and scholars who help me perceive the world more clearly, perceivethe whole of it. Still others would be by playwrights, musicians, dancers, andartists who help me love it more deeply,more widely. Finally others would be byplayers, lovers, children, and mystics whohelp me open my soul to it.

As a Jewish Planetarian, it is my mitzvah

am aware that a certain burden has beenlifted from my heart as I walk through thecomplex grieving process. I believe this is aresult of having made the effort to live andlove with no regrets as we faced the lastyears of our life together.

Amy Hirshberg Lederman is an author,Jewish educator, public speaker and attorneywho lives in Tucson. Her columns in the AJPhave won awards from the American JewishPress Association, the Arizona NewspapersAssociation and the Arizona Press Club forexcellence in commentary. Visit her websiteat amyhirshberglederman.com. AAAA

LEDERMAN(continued from page 8)

j i

12 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

Similarly, philosopher Theodor Adornoteaches that fiction died in crematoria ofAuschwitz, in keeping with this aestheticdiscussion. For an in depth analysis by thisrenown German sociologist, critic, andphilosopher, browse to www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/adorno/#4. Specifically, readhis section entitled,“Ethics and Metaphysicsafter Auschwitz.” His erudite discussionexceeds the limitations provided by thiscolumn and perhaps requires a degree inphilosophy to explain fully, something thisauthor lacks.

When the program director of the SFJFFpromised a beautiful fictional film aboutthe Holocaust, I felt like running as faraway as I could. But I saw In Silence anyway,feeling an imperative to do so as aHolocaust educator.

Directed by Zdenek Jirásky, In Silence,from the Czech Republic and Slovakia,is a mash up of the concentration campexperience. I kept trying to figure outwhether the characters were in Auschwitz-Birkenau or someplace else. I recognizedscenes from Terezin (Theresienstadt), the“model concentration camp,” used byHitler for propaganda purposes. Fromhaving been to both Auschwitz-Birkenauand Terezin, I found myself wanting tointerrupt the narrative loudly,“That couldnot have happened there,” or “That is nothow it was.”

The filmmakers evidently used Terezinas the backdrop for events that happenedat Auschwitz and at other concentrationcamps including a slave labor camp,which, to this Holocaust educator, under-

mined the credibility of the whole film. Tome, it was not beautiful but a fiction thatdid not do justice to its subject matter.

Never mind that I could not keep thecouplets of five musicians and theirromantic interests apart. Cutting back andforth among stories of a composer, jazzperformers, singer, and a ballet dancer andtheir romantic interests, felt rushed. Therewas not enough time to establish an ethosfor everyone, other than their commonalityas subjects persecuted by the rising Nazi tide.

Once they were deported and reducedto concentration camp garb, I was unableto distinguish musician from singer fromballet dancer. I would file In Silence underthe category, “Do Not See,” along withJakob the Liar (starring Robin Williams,1999) and Quentin Tarantino’s 2009Inglourious Basterds. The latter is my alltime favorite Holocaust-themed movie todiscourage students from seeing. (See myearlier review on page 10 in the P&O at:www.jewishpostopinion.com/pdf/NAT_9-9-09_LR.pdf.) My list of do-not-seeHolocaust movies is long – perhaps thesubject of a future column.

The Festival’s organizers encouragedmoviegoers to watch both a documentaryand a narrative film on the same subject,to contrast and compare how the differentgenres treat the same subject. Theunwieldy but descriptive title, GermanConcentration Camps Factual Survey, is adocumentary that accomplished so muchmore than In Silence.

Using footage taken by British, U.S.,

HolocaustEducatorREVIEWED BY MIRIAM L. ZIMMERMAN

“It’s a beautiful film,” promised JayRosenblatt, Program Director of the SanFrancisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF). Allthe more reason not to see In Silence. TheSFJFF program brochure described a“poetic and hypnotic exploration of atroubling history: the expulsion andexpunging of brilliant Jewish composersand performers following the Nazi invasion.

“Five artists are profiled in a stylized,beautifully crafted fictionalization thatconveys the promise of the 1930s, whenclassical music and popular jazz were sitesof innovation and seduction. Then camethe camps, a place of ‘unbearable silence.’”

I agree with Holocaust activist and survivor Elie Wiesel who would discouragefictionalizing the Holocaust. Google easilyfound his eloquent article, “Art and theHolocaust: Trivializing Memory,”publishedin the NY Times on June 11, 1989.

Mr. Wiesel pointed out, “Auschwitz represents the negation and failure ofhuman progress; it negates the humandesign and casts doubts on its validity.Then, it defeated culture; later, it defeatedart, because just as no one could imagineAuschwitz before Auschwitz, no one cannow retell Auschwitz after Auschwitz.”Tocontinue reading Mr. Wiesel’s thoughts,browse to www.nytimes.com/1989/06/11/movies/art-and-the-holocaust-trivializing-memory.html?pagewanted=1.

I strongly endorse Mr.Wiesel’s admonitionnot to use artistic form to depict theHolocaust. By definition, art selects,transforms, teases, and entertains. It also beautifies. The Holocaust should notbe beautified nor should it be used forentertainment.

If life imitates art, as some philosopherstheorize, then Auschwitz has interruptedthis progression. If no one could imagineAuschwitz before Auschwitz, as ElieWiesel pointed out, then Auschwitzrequires that we rethink the relationshipbetween art and life. No doubt Mr. Wieselwould agree; his statement that Auschwitzdefeated culture and art supports thisidea. Perhaps that is why there is so muchreality television. Art has lost the capacityto invent. Only the nonfictional momenthas meaning.

New Holocaustfilms – one fiction,one documentary

Sidney Bernstein (left) the Producer of German Concentration Camps Factual Survey,on a visit to North Africa in 1943. Next to Bernstein is Lt Cdr Anthony Kimmins(Admiralty Public Relations) and Major Hugh Stewart (Commander of the British ArmyFilm and Photographic Units [AFPU] in North Africa and North West Europe). At thetime of this visit, Bernstein was head of the Liberated Territories Section, Films Divisionin the British Ministry of Information. Note also, it was Major Stewart who ordered thatthe AFPU cameramen should provide full coverage of Bergen-Belsen concentrationcamp after its liberation. © Imperial War Museums (HU 38069)

centration camps opened for the first time.Jay Rosenblatt welcomed the audience

members and pointed out that it was fitting to view such a film now, for “todayis Tisha b’Av.”He originally saw the film inBerlin with a packed German audience.The audience was riveted throughout thescreening and remained for a very long Q&A.

Many of the images have never beenseen before, Rosenblatt explained. TheImperial War Museum added a prologueand a short epilogue to give the film somecontext. A decision was made to includethe flaws and historical discrepancieswithin the film, even though subsequenthistoriography proved otherwise. The epilogue at the end explained some ofthese discrepancies, including the prominent omission of the word “Jew”throughout the narration.

Rosenblatt introduced Morgan BlumSchneider who indicated that producerSidney Bernstein was well known at thetime. He came from a large OrthodoxBritish family and assembled an interna-tional crew of filmmakers, includingAlfred Hitchcock, who worked on the filmfor less than a month as a treatment adviser. Hitchcock did not direct this film.

Hitchcock wanted large standing shotswithout much zooming in so that theaudience could see everything. It wasimportant to Hitchcock to fight Holocaustdenial, to provide evidence of atrocities inthe camps. This, in contrast to In Silence,which depicted close up after close up ofactors feigning the pain of the concentra-tion camp experience. There are so manypowerful individual Holocaust memoirs, I

have to ask, why is it necessary to concoctan amalgamation of many? The moviecreated its own truth, but it was not a truthof the Holocaust experience.

According to Blum Schneider, originallythree versions of the documentary wereplanned: one for German audiences inGermany, a version for German POWs incaptivity, and a third for Allied audiences.

The film shut down because it missed itsmoment, taking too long to be completed.A year after the war, the Allies now wanteda good relationship with Germany. TheMarshall Plan and rebuilding Germanyreplaced de-Nazification and war crimestrials. The leadership of the Allies evidentlyfelt there was enough guilt from theNuremberg Trials; Germany and the restof the world were ready to move on.

Also, the plight of Jewish refugees going to Palestine had become a difficultinternational issue. Allied leaders did not need powerful visual justification ofthe refugees’ right to emigrate to the Holy Land. After the film was shut down,producer Bernstein went to Hollywoodwith Hitchcock where both enjoyed successful film careers.

The question arises for me as aHolocaust educator, is it necessary for thegenerations after Auschwitz to see suchfootage before they can understand thereality of the concentration camps? Thefilm accurately and horrifically under-scored the “what” of Auschwitz in terms of its impact on people. But even afterviewing this film, I came no closer tounderstanding the “why”of Auschwitz.

As someone who has grappled with theimplications of Auschwitz for a lifetime, Ino longer believe that understanding thewhy of Auschwitz is the primary goal.Instead, I would rather students ponder,what does humanity need to learn so thatAuschwitz never happens again? Whatdoes humanity need to do so thatAuschwitz never happens again? Howcan humanity ensure that Auschwitz willnever happen again?

In my opinion, In Silence has the capacityto entertain for 86 minutes. Six weekslater, my husband and I barely remem-bered the film. German ConcentrationCamps Factual Survey will remain with usfor the rest of our lives.

To read more about GermanConcentration Camps Factual Survey,browse to: www.iwm.org.uk/research/german-concentration-camps-factual-survey-film. It may not be a film everyonewants to see, but everyone is affected bywhat happened at Auschwitz.

Dr. Zimmerman is professor emerita atNotre Dame de Namur University (NDNU)in Belmont, Calif., where she continues toteach the Holocaust course. She can bereached at mzimmerman@ndnu.edu. AAAA

French, and Russian cameramen whoaccompanied the Allied troops as they liberated concentration camps in 1944–1945, the yet to be completed film wasshelved for over 60 years. The ImperialWar Museums’website relates the story ofits recent restoration and completion. In away no fictional film can, this documentaryfilm vividly depicts atrocity that defies language to describe it. Pictures belowwere provided by the San Francisco JewishFilm Festival, used with permission,courtesy of the Imperial War Museums(UK). Commentary is from an email to me from SFJFF when I requested morethan just a number to identify the picturesprovided in the press packet.

German Concentration Camps FactualSurvey had its North American premiereon July 26, 2015, at the SFJFF. No oneunder the age of 18 was allowed to viewthis film, per edict of the Imperial WarMuseums (or the British Ministry ofInformation). I agree with this decision.The images are too stark, too close to theunspeakable reality Mr. Wiesel describedfor young people to be able to processwithout a context of the Holocaust experience.

After the screening, a facilitated discus-sion at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, led by Morgan Blum Schneider, the Directorof Education of the Jewish Family andChildren’s Services Holocaust Center inSan Francisco, helped audience membersmake sense of what they had just seen.About 50 audience members made the 15minute trek from the Castro Theatre to Sha’arZahav. It was an opportunity to processthe images revealed after the gates of con-

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 13

The still of the distressed young woman watching a burial at Belsen (right), is describedin the shot sheet as, ‘Reaction of girl.’ Sergeant Lewis, 17 April 1945. © Imperial WarMuseums (IWM FLM 1002).

14 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

who calls Josh out for his disinterest infootball: “You’re all substance over style.”(Alonzo with Kevin Hench, 11-7-14). Joshwants Cristela to teach him the basics ofsports talk so that he won’t look foolish toclient Mark Cuban. (Josh is capable, by theway, of giving Cristela some basics ofphysics when she jokes about it, andknows Broadway plays.)

The theme of manhood was explorednicely in an episode (12-5-14, JuliusSharpe) in which Cristela helps Felix tofind work in a difficult off season whenCulpepper decides to remodel the firm’soffices. Sensing her nervousness regardingfamily at the workplace, Josh observes,“We’re all oversensitive when it comes toour families. They’re never as bad as wethink.” Of course, Felix and employeeAlberto, Cristela’s cousin with a big crushon her, bond with Culpepper, and allimpose menial errands on Cristela.

Amidst all the construction turmoil andfamily nonsense, Cristela does manage tocome up with the best way to prosecute acase. Felix comes to appreciate what shedoes, and Josh hopes for at least a littlecredit by association. But when the heavy-set and working class Alberto sees Cristelasharing laughs with Josh, he becomescompetitive with the slim white collarJewish lawyer. “I work with my hands,bro,” he boasts. Josh responds with hisown boast, “Me, too. Ninety words aminute on the computer,” and does repswith folder files. Alberto retorts that heuses his whole,“real”hand, and impressesJosh by recognizing a reference to Of Miceand Men.

The implication is that men will compete, but that they are multi-facetedcreatures. At times both Alberto and Felixwill show great sensitivity to Cristela andto others. The series will make the pointthat Josh is not the only man who is Josh-like, and that when Josh is being Josh hecan do some very nice things for people.

Alonzo’s respect and affection for herJosh character was evident in two moving,memorable episodes that she penned. Inthe Christmas episode (12-12-14) Cristelajokes about inviting Josh to her family’s4:00 a.m. tamale-making ritual to experi-ence their “living, laughing, loving.”Takingher seriously, Josh shows up for a Christmasconflict precipitated by Cristela’s invitationto her brother Eddie, resented for beingAma’s favorite.The family squabbles causeCristela to jokes in frustration, “Tell meabout Chanukah.” But Josh respondskindly, “I kinda like seeing you outsidework. I like seeing how much you likeyour family to be happy.” He gives herhelpful insight into how she is like hermother, at least in one good way, in welcoming the floundering Eddie, and on why Ama is attached to some strange

research kinds of coffee when given thetask of providing the boss’s daily cup.From the start Cristela tries to tell truth topower, though she must do her share ofholding back. She has had to overcomepoverty and prejudices.

The first episode emphasized that Joshhas been sheltered. When Cristela askshim what his toughest job was, heresponds that his parents felt that workwould interfere with his education. Butthen again, he has applied himself and isworking hard without pay to find his nichein a law firm. He has been raised to pleaseparents and bosses, which is no sin orcrime. In the season finale (4-17-15, KevinAbbott), Josh will ask: “Why couldn’t Ihave had parents who made me feel I was a failure?” Cristela will respond: “Trust me, it’s not as great as it sounds.”

Is Josh too unwavering? He admits half-jokingly (but only half),“I kinda like to bethe last person to leave. You know, thatway I don’t feel like anyone’s gettingahead of me.” (3-27-15, Daley Haggar).Josh is indeed reluctant to leave the officebefore anyone else does, whether becauseof obsession or paranoia or both, even whenCristela requires some after work privacyto try to improve Maddie’s job performance.But he is sympathetic and helpful.

Indeed, Josh is no mere apple polisher.He is good-natured. He has a good senseof humor, and appreciates Cristela’s intel-ligence and humor. Josh is also acceptingand encouraging of the success of others,and eminently fair-minded. Uncomfortablewith being chosen by Trent as a courtintern because she is Latina (PeterMurrieta, 3-27-15), Cristela chides Josh forbeing delighted for her, “O my God, canyou just be a sore loser?” Josh, who suggested that a Latina presence wouldhelp an employer being sued for discrimi-nation, conjures up the comforting after-thought that Cristela “won because ofsomething I have no control over.You can’tstudy to be Mexican, can you? I was discriminated against because of the colorof my skin, by me.”

Like Cristela, Josh has moral scruples.When Cristela is dropped from that case,Josh refuses to take her spot, insisting,“She didn’t do anything wrong.”Josh willobserve (1-9-15, Alonzo and Hench),“Believe it or not, I didn’t go to law schoolso that some day I could…desecratesacred grounds [by manipulating zoninglaws so that a client can demolish an historic church].”

Josh’s manhood offers an alternative toFelix’s and Culpepper’s stylized swagger.Though ambitious and competitiveenough, Josh can also be sensitive andunderstanding. But he is aware that hissensitivity and single-mindedness canisolate him from clients and from his boss,

MediaWatchBY RABBI ELLIOT B. GERTEL

CristelaIn Cristela, TV’s first series produced

and written by a Latina performer, CristelaAlonzo played the title character withcharm, pathos and aplomb.The ABC showwas a sweet, creditable effort. While it didn’t win a large enough audience, it wasa warm, winsome sitcom that challengedstereotypes, with integrity and earnestness,even if sometimes exploiting those verystereotypes.

Cristela Hernandez is a bright lawschool graduate anxious to break into anyfirm of note, even without pay. It is nosecret to her or to anyone else that she ishired by Dallas Attorney Trent Culpepper(Sam McMurray) because, though some-what bigoted and even more clueless or,better, oblivious, he decides that a Hispanicemployee would be good for business.Theother ambitious young lawyer clerking at the firm is Josh (Andrew Leeds), whohappens to be Jewish, and Culpepper’s“legally blond” daughter, Maddie (JustineLupe), who enjoys coming across as, butprobably isn’t, shallow. As Trent jokes inthe pilot episode, “A blond, a Jew and aLatina come into an office…”

Cristela lives in the home of her attractiveworking mother sister, Daniela (RoxanaOrtega) and Daniela’s vain contractorhusband, Felix (Carlos Ponce), their young son and daughter, and the familymatriarch, “Ama” Natalia (Terri Hoyos),who is overbearing, disparaging, andunrelenting in her old village mentality.

Family members can’t comprehendCristela’s sacrifice of personal life andlivelihood for the promise of a career.Theybring up her being a non-paying boarderand they want her to lose weight and tofind a husband. While it seems that Amawill not change her way of thinking, thereare glimmers of understanding fromCristela’s sister and, surprisingly, from theseemingly antagonistic brother-in-law.One could not find a more likable orexpressive cast, including the children,and the writing was generally quite good.

Through the male Jewish character, Josh,the show attempted to strike a balancebetween parodying stereotypes and promoting self-awareness and respect forothers. From the pilot episode (10-10-2014, Alonzo with Kevin Hench), Josh was depicted as an apple polisher whosedesire to please the boss sometimes borders on obnoxiousness. He will

ritual objects. Josh says that Cristela’smom reminds him of his grandmother,that both are “set in their ways, both lovetradition.”

In another touching episode by Alonzo(3-20-15), Ama wants Josh to be Cristela’sdate to a quinceanera (coming out) party,so that Ma can show off her daughter’s“white trophy.” When Cristela declines,admitting that she might want to go outwith Josh “in the far distant future,” Mathreatens to torpedo that possibility if shedoes not appear with him now. Josh fits inwell and even dances creditably. Just bybeing himself, he enables a rather dys-functional situation to iron itself out toeveryone’s benefit. “Don’t tell my mom,”he says,“but this is way better than a barmitzvah.”He adds: “I guess I was the rightguy at the right time.” In this episode,Alonzo managed to make her characters(with the exception of Ama) look good,and most rose to the occasion.

Did the series hint at the inevitability ofa budding romance between Josh andCristela? Josh is treated as a gold – or atleast admirable – standard. In theHalloween episode Cristela observes: “Ifeven a guy like Josh goes for one of these[good-looking but superficial women],what chance does a girl like me have?”(10-21-14, Kay Cannon) In an episodeabout a dating service (10-17-14, Alonzowith Kevin Abbott) Josh does observe:“With our schedules we’ll only be able tomeet people that we work with.”

Some of the jokes about Jews requiredcommentary. In the episode just cited,Josh says that he has had ten and twentyyear plans that started in junior highschool to which he has stuck, culminatingin trying his first Supreme Court Case atage 50. Cristela shares a similar plan,adding that she wants to retire at age 65 torun a non-profit to help Latin immigrants.Josh continues,“I was going to say,‘under-privileged Jewish kids.’” Cristela asks: “Isthat even a thing?”Maybe it was necessaryto say that, unfortunately, in all too manycases, there is.

Despite the likability of this show, ormaybe because of it, I was wary of whereit would have headed. It did, after all,dismiss tradition as the bailiwick of grand-mothers, one very bitter; and suggestedthat a romance between Josh and Cristelawould do wonders for her family andenable him to resolve some of his issues.In the finale, Josh fails the bar exam andCristela rescues him from returning homeby appointing him her assistant until thenext exam. That didn’t bode well for thedepiction of Josh or his family or of hisloyalty to Judaism and to Jewish life.

Rabbi Gertel has been spiritual leader ofcongregations in New Haven and Chicago.He is the author of two books, What Jews

Know About Salvation and Over the Top Judaism: Precedents and Trends in the Depiction of Jewish Beliefs andObservances in Film and Television. Hehas been media critic for The NationalJewish Post & Opinion since 1979. AAAA

j i

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 15

come for the ambience, the comfort, theexcellent restaurant facilities and the spa.But mostly The Shaw Festival draws them.This season, which continues throughNovember, has a dazzling array of enter-taining vehicles including Neil Simon’sSweet Charity, Moss Hart’s Light Up theSky, Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea, CarylChurchill’s Top Girls, J.M. Barrie’s TheTwelve-Pound Look, and Shaw’s You NeverCan Tell, as well as, the prose predecessorof My Fair Lady, Pygmalion.

One of the most popular shows is MossHart’s Light Up the Sky, a portrait of theNew York City theatre crowd and its cuddlingof a young playwright whose reputation ischallenged by his play. His supportersdesert him until his work is recognized forits truth and originality – whereupon hisformer boosters return to their previousaccolades. Hart is at his best here.

A thematic thread runs through several ofthe plays this year – the plight of womenand their struggle to attain freedom, inde-pendence and dignity. Caryl Churchill’sTop Girls, set in today’s England, presentsthe dilemma of an accomplished executivemanager battling anti-feminist bias (evenfrom women) as she struggles to confrontunresolved family problems. A slightly different dilemma is found in Ibsen’s TheLady from the Sea, in which a beleagueredsecond wife has to contend with two stepchildren, a husband and a former loverwho mysteriously turns up to claim hisparamour. The resolution of this dilemmaproposed by Ibsen is unlike what we findin his other plays.

There is some tension but a lot morecomedic flavor in J.M. Barrie’s delightful oneact play, The Twelve Pound Look. The titlerefers to monetary values rather than weightgain. In this short masterpiece a soon-to-be knighted gentleman hires a secretary toanswer his voluminous congratulatorymail. The female secretary-typist whoshows up turns out to be his first wife.Their verbal exchanges pivot on the reasonfor the divorce – which she advances toexplain her decision. The twelve Englishpounds she pays for a new fangled pieceof technology – a typewriter – in order togain her independence, gives the play itscurious title and the last line uttered by his

BY HAROLD JACOBSON AND ROSE KLEINER

Travel

Niagara-on-the-LakeCanada Theatre: rest, recreation,music, and wineries

PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO CANADA – In 1812, theAmericans launched a massive invasion ofCanada centered on the rich farm lands inthe Niagara region of Ontario. Judgingfrom the license plates seen in the areatoday New York, Ohio, Michigan, Florida,(even California) Maryland and Kentuckythere now is a new American invasion.

Two centuries later, this is a differentkind of invasion bringing Americans to theNiagara region and especially to Niagara-on-the-Lake – hereinafter referred to as(NOTL). A small town it is sui generis forits cultural attractions, architecture, floralbeauty, orchards, wineries and the worldfamous Shaw Festival. A repertory theatre,The Shaw Festival, with four venueswhich offer a selection of great 19th century and modern plays in addition toGeorge Bernard Shaw’s eloquent recon-structions of English society of his day. (Itshould be noted that Shaw, unlike manyof his contemporaries, never expressedintolerance towards minority groups,preferring to target primarily the Englisharistocracy and its Victorian ways.)

NOTL is unique among small towns inOntario. In general the latter do not contain hotels of great distinction butNOTL is the exception. Since its foundingin the late 19th century and renovated tothe most exacting luxury hotel standardstoday, The Prince of Wales Hotel (picturedabove), provides guests with richmahogany interiors in the public rooms,original oil paintings (the 19th century’sPrince of Wales himself is pictured in one),an indoor swimming pool, elegant roomsand suites, ultra modern bathroom andother facilities and amenities – and staffmembers who are gracious and efficient.High tea is offered in late afternoon in itsglass enclosed tea room, which faces astreet ablaze in flower bedecked sidewalks.

Most of the guests at the Prince Wales

(see Travel, page 18)

The Prince of Wales Hotel.

16 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

ment, and gradually moving toward deepimmersion in synagogue life and learning.Instructively, the book’s project originatedin a school assignment for the author andillustrator’s daughter, Sierra, who chose to“resurrect” Noah’s wife who is absent inthe Bible.

The author’s following penetratingvoice for Noah’s wife captures the book’sspecial spirit,“And through it all, I laboredon, doing the hard work and never complaining…I cleaned up after thoseanimals, watched the signs and shared the journey with him as we replanted andour sons repopulated the earth. At night Ithink of all that was lost forever in thosedark waters; the memories come floodingback to me in a torrent of tears.” Theauthor can be reached at www.Barrylou.com.

A clip of historyThree Minutes in Poland (Discovering a

Lost World in a 1938 Family Film). ByGlenn Kurtz. New York: Farrar, Strauss andGirioux. 2014. Pp.415. Hardcover $33.

It began on July 23, 1938, almost a yearbefore the outbreak of WWII in theEuropean theater, when David and LizaKurtz from Brooklyn, author GlennKurtz’s grandparents, boarded the NewAmsterdam on a vacation journey withfriends to England, France, Holland,Belgium, Germany and Poland. GrandpaDavid, whom the author never knew,brought along his color 16mm moviecamera. Three minutes out of fourteen inthe film are from the visit to Nasielsk,Poland, David’s hometown, which he hadleft for the United States 45 years earlier.

No one couldpredict when thethree minuteswere shot on Aug. 5, 1938, thatthe world theycaptured would so soon face its demise. Theyfortunately piquedthe author’scuriosity enoughto devote fouryears of his life to painstakingly explorewhat those three minutes implied for hisfamily’s roots, and a community so cruellydestroyed among many others during the Holocaust.

Glenn Kurtz, who grew up in Roslyn,Long Island, miraculously found the damaged film in an aluminum can in hisparents’ house in Palm Beach Gardens,Fla., in 1999. (The restored film is availablenow for viewing in the Steven SpielbergFilm and Video Archive, United StatesHolocaust Memorial Museum inWashington, D.C. as well as at Poland’sAuschwitz Museum and Memorial,

Jewish Pavilion.)The film is a significant witness of a

rare kind to the very life of a small Jewishpopulation of 3,000 out of 7,000 residents.It salvages from the jaws of mercilessdeath, Holocaust deniers and time’s forgetfulness, irreplaceable memories ofwhat once was a lively Jewish communityonly 35 miles northwest of Warsaw,Poland’s capital.

On Dec. 3, 1939, unsuspectingNasielsk’s Jews were placed on cattle carswithout basic provisions. Following daysof inhumane travel they ended up in theLublin district’s towns of Lukow andMiedzyrzec. (This writer’s father’s family isfrom that area.) All but 80 were murderedupon arrival in Treblinka in the fall of 1942.

The author’s keen and observing eyewas intrigued by the film’s brief yet richthree minutes of images of people of allages, fascinated no doubt by the well-groomed visitors from distant America, andthe various buildings in the background.He probingly asked himself, “Who arethese people? What brought them to beon the street in view of my grandfather’slens, on that day, in that moment? Whatrelation, if any, do they have to my grand-parents? And what became of them, eachone, individually?”

Glenn Kurtz’s own journey of the film’sdiscovery and reconstruction by a faithfulgrandson – who admits to coming from anon-active though affiliated Jewish family– took him to multiple places and person-alities in the United States, Canada,England, Poland and Israel. He dug into archives and left no stone unturned,figuratively as well as literally. By 2012 he found eight living survivors ofNasielsk’s one hundred survivors in 1945,and was able to identify twenty of thepeople in the film.

A key person proved to be 87-year-oldMorry Chandler from Boca Raton, Fla.,who in the film is 13-year-old MoszikTuchendler of a prominent family, withDNA testing confirming his relationship tothe author’s family. Chandler’s sharp mindand memory, despite his age and elapsingtime, critically assisted the detective-likework with a web of unfolding pertinentrelations which the author doggedly pursued. A point of light in much darknesswas Morry’s protection by Gentiles nearTrebklinka during the war.

The author movingly shares,“My grand-father’s film preserves the few moments of Nasielsk’s life that survive. We must be grateful for this precious record which adds nuance to the broad strokes of history, preserving the identities of individuals and the few slender factsabout their lives…For the survivors,Nasielsk is preserved only in mourning,

Children’s book on Genesis

Retelling Genesis. By Barry LouisPolisar. Illustrations by Roni Lynn Polisar.Rainbow Morning Music. Silver Spring,Maryland. Pp.32. $7.95

Author, recording artist, and musicianBarry Louis Polisar was born in Brooklyn,and grew up in the Washington DC area.Through the years, his children’s bookshave already made a difference. His contribution to the song “All I Want is You” in the movie Juno have made himwell-known, and he continues to delightus in his latest literary adventure, RetellingGenesis.

Though slim in size – which can be anasset – it is a thoughtfully sensitive, poeti-cally touching. It is a creatively engagingrendition of 13famous stories inthe Biblical Book of Genesis, thewondrous book of relationships,divine and human.The accompanyingcolorful and strik-ing illustrations bythe author’s wife,Roni Lynn Polisar, who grew up inPortsmouth, Va., immeasurably add to the carefully crafted words. This fruitfulcollaboration by a gifted family team isbound to be an appreciated addition toone’s Jewish library as well as a catalyst for much needed conversation amongJews of all ages.

The book’s attractive format from withinand without reflects well on a religioustradition that bids us to ever probe, renewand enlarge our sacred texts. It enhancesthe rich Midrashic literature which is thehallmark of the fertile rabbinic mind andheart that searches deep into our people’sfoundational stories. Barry Polisar’s wisechoice to have the characters address us inthe first person, allows for the reader’simmediate, intimate and intertwinedencounter in a fresh way with an accountthat may not be as familiar as in past generations.

This unique collection of timeless andtimely lessons for Jews and Gentiles is the proud culmination of the author’s ownuneven Jewish journey humbly beginningin an uninvolved Jewish home environ-

BookReviewREVIEWED BY RABBI ISRAEL ZOBERMAN

(see Zoberman, page 18)

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 17Apple and Honey Granola(6–8 servings)1/3 cup honey1/4 cup vegetable oil2 Tbsp. light brown sugar2 tsp. ground cinnamon1 tsp. ground ginger1/2 tsp. kosher salt2-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats1 cup roughly chopped walnuts1/2 cup roughly chopped

unsalted almondscup chopped dried apples1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a largerimmed cookie sheet with parchmentpaper. Whisk together the honey,vegetable oil, brown sugar, cinnamon,ginger and salt in a small bowl. Combinethe oats, walnuts and almonds in a largebowl. Drizzle with the honey mixture andstir to completely coat. Spread the granolaon the prepared baking sheet. Bake,stirring occasionally until deep goldenbrown and tasty smelling, 20–25 minutes.Remove the baking sheet from the oven,add the apples and raisins and stir to combine. Set the baking sheet on a wirerack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

The following recipe is suggested for anAshkenazic menu.

Red Wine and Honey Brisket(Serves 8–10)4–5 pound brisketsalt and ground black pepper1 Tbsp. vegetable oil3 large thinly sliced yellow onions8 sprigs fresh thyme8 thinly sliced garlic cloves2 bay leaves1-1/2 cups dry red wine3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar1/4 cup honey1 tsp. onion powdertsp. garlic powdercup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 325°F. Generouslysprinkle both sides of brisket with salt andpepper. Heat vegetable oil in Dutch ovenor large pot. Add brisket and cook overmedium heat, turning once until brownedon both sides, 8–10 minutes total. Removebrisket and set aside. Add onions, thyme,garlic, bay leaves, 1/2 wine and vinegar.Cook until onions soften slightly, about 5 minutes. Whisk together 1 cup wine,honey, onion powder, garlic powder,broth, and 1 tsp. salt in a bowl. If using aDutch oven, lay brisket atop onions. Ifusing a pot, transfer onion mixture to aroasting pan and top with brisket. Pourwine mixture over the top. Cover tightlywith foil and transfer to the oven. Cook

for 2 hours. Remove from oven, uncoverand turn meat to other side. Recover andcontinue cooking 2 to 2-1/2 hours moreuntil meat is fork tender. Remove fromoven, transfer to cutting board. Cover withfoil and let rest 10–15 minutes. Slicebrisket, remove thyme and bay leaves.Remove onions and arrange aroundbrisket. Spoon pan juices over brisket andserve hot.

This following recipe is suggested for a Sephardic menu. Moroccan Jews customarily serve couscous topped withseven vegetables on Roth Hashanah (RoshHashanah falls on the seventh month ofthe Jewish calendar.

Couscous with Winter Squash and Chick Peas(Serves 6–8)1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil2 thinly sliced yellow onions4 cored, seeded, chopped ripe

plum tomatoes2 finely chopped garlic cloves1 tsp. ground cinnamon1 tsp. ground ginger1/2 tsp. ground cumin1/2 tsp. ground coriander1 tsp. sweet paprika1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes15 ounces drained chick peas3 cups cubed, peeled butternut squash2 peeled 1/2-inch chunked carrots1/4 cup golden raisinssalt and freshly ground black pepper2-1/2 cups vegetable broth2-1/2 cups water2 cups couscousroughly chopped fresh cilantro

or flat leaf parsley

Heat olive oil in saucepan over mediumheat. Add onions and cook until lightlybrowned, 7–10 minutes. Add tomatoesand cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Addgarlic, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander,paprika, red pepper flakes and cook 1–2minutes. Add chickpeas, squash, carrots,raisins, broth and 1 tsp. salt. Turn heat tolow, cover and simmer about 15 minutes.Uncover and continue simmering, stirringoccasionally until very slightly thickened,about 5 minutes. Bring water to boil insaucepan on high heat. Turn off heat andstir in couscous. Cover pan and let stand5–10 minutes until liquid is absorbed.Uncover couscous and fluff with a fork.Mount couscous onto a large platter. Makea well in the center and fill with vegetablesand chickpeas. Spoon generous amount of liquid over couscous and sprinkle withcilantro. Serve immediately.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, food and featurewriter, and author of nine kosher cookbooksliving in Jerusalem. AAAA

My KosherKitchen

Recipes for Rosh Hashanah

Modern Jewish Cooking. By Leah Koenig.Chronicle Books. 350 pp. $35 hardcover.

When my husband happened to openthe package with this book, he remarked,this one you’re going to like! And he was right becausewhen I review acookbook, thethree things thatare important tome are anecdotesor stories abouteach recipe, ingre-dients in bold orstanding out insome way, anddirections numbered. Modern JewishCooking has all of these and more.

Leah Koenig is a writer and author of The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook.When she is not living in Brooklyn, she is traveling around the country leadingcooking demonstrations.

Her philosophy is keeping a “loving eye on tradition,” infusing history with “a sense of innovation,” “making theJewish kitchen vibrant, exciting and ever evolving.” She has written this cookbook“for the next generation of Jewish cooks.”

After an introduction on Jewish cuisineand keeping kosher, she tells you how tostock your kitchen and some “how tos”.Then she dives in with 11 chapters –breakfast, salads and spreads, soups,vegetables, noodles-matzos-grains-beans,fish-chicken-meat, vegetarian mains,breads and pastries, cookies-cakes andother sweets, fillings and extras, and holiday essays and menus – 167 recipes.These are enhanced by 57 color photographs and 11 essays.

The subtitle is “Recipes and Customs forToday’s Kitchen.” This is indicated in thewide variety of origins including: NorthAfrica, Morocco, Spain, Eastern Europe(including Ashkenazi), Ethiopia, Hungary,Italy, Germany, Bukharia, Romania, Egypt,Israel, Sweden, Iraq, Persia and theMediterranean plus Sephardic.

For example, savory French toast withseared tomatoes and za’atar butter; mangoginger tzimmes, pumpkin-apple challah,sugar citrus gravlax, roasted eggplant andtahini crostini. Looking for special RoshHashanah recipes, I found three.

REVIEWED BY SYBIL KAPLAN

18 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

j i

j i

in the immediacy of their grief.”Rabbi Israel Zoberman is the spiritual

leader of Congregation Beth Chaverim inVirginia Beach. He is the son of PolishHolocaust survivors. AAAA

ZOBERMAN(continued from page 16)

KAPLAN/ISRAEL(continued from page 20)

Answer: “It is vanishing, close to zero.As long as Hamas is in power in Gaza, itis not on the table....Ramallah shouldcooperate with Israel against mutual enemies because none of the parties to theconflict really want it.”

Two issues Israel should be emphasizing:“the non-Arab peoples in the region,including the people of Israel; and theJewish communities from the Middle Eastwho were driven out, expelled from all ofthese countries.”

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, food writer,lecturer and cookbook author. SubmittedJuly 24, 2015. AAAA

DE KOVEN(continued from page 11)

to love the world completely, with all myheart and mind and soul. And to fulfillthat mitzvah, I need to begin with thethings and beings I already love so I canlearn love from them.

I learn about life from living. I learnfrom the seasons to celebrate the seasons,from the phases of the moon to celebratethe year, from the sunrise and sunset,the minor miracles of a cool breeze on aclear day, of the rain, and the end of therain, the change, the variety, the all, theglorious, incomprehensible all of it all.

I learn about love from loving. Forty-nine years with my wife, my primaryteacher, and I’m still learning love.Learning to love the children our lovebrought to us, and the children their love brought to them. Learning that it isimpossible to love her so completely without loving everyone that loves her,everyone that she loves, that brings herlife, that sustains her, inspires her, appre-ciates her, helps her find meaning, healsher, makes her whole. Learning what lovemeans. Learning how to bring it into theworld. Learning how it can possiblybecome large enough to embrace all ofher, and our children, and theirs, and thecommunities that sustain them, and theplanet that sustains us all.

Bernie De Koven is the author of TheWell-Played Game, A Playful Path andJunkyard Sports. A Playful Path is availableat: http://press.etc.cmu.edu/content/playful-path. One can also purchase and downloadthe book from http://aplayfulpath.com where

RIBNER(continued from page 9)

In Hebrew, “to sin” means “to miss themark.” In Judaism, human beings are notconsidered sinful, rather they may think,feel, and do things that are not in keepingwith their true nature. This is what ismeant by sin. Because sin does notemanate from the true essence of humanbeings, but rather results from a falseidentification with our ego, it is easy torelinquish what is not attached to our trueessence when we realize who we really are.

Everything on Yom Kippur is designedto facilitate this kind of psychological andemotional release which opens us to theclarity of who we really are. Out of ourwillingness to feel our brokenness andvulnerability, we become stronger andmore whole. In essence we are divine holybeings with pure shining loving souls. Wesimply need to let go of limiting, illusoryand false concepts of the self that we have

j i

TRAVEL(continued from page 15)

second wife in this brilliant little denoue-ment ends the play on a high note indeed.

The plangent fate of a luckless girl whoworks in a dance hall is Neil Simon’s storyin Sweet Charity. A raucous musical whichtraces her disappointments in love, startswith a cruel boyfriend, continues with afamous movie star and ends with a decentcompanion she meets on a stalled elevator.Each of these events is backed up by CyColeman’s music which reflects wonder-fully the torrid pace of New York City life.

Of George Bernard Shaw’s two plays at the Festival this year, You Never Can Tellis a complicated tale of divorce, reunionsand female empowerment, wrapped up inhis unparalleled comedic style.

But the surprise this season is hisPygmalion, an admirable juiced up versionof Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins dueling over the mastery of proper Englishpronunciation in the midst of 21st centuryelectronic technology including smartphones, iPads, wrap around televisionmonitors and other communication devices.Interestingly these modern tools enhancethe efforts of Professor Higgins to transformhis “guttersnipe”into a perfect lady!

For tickets and accommodations see theShaw Festival website: shawfest.com. AAAA

one can also be entertained and learn moreabout the author. AAAA

j i

j i

misidentified as ourselves.It is a tremendous gift to pray in a

congregation on Yom Kippur for what wecan do together is greater than what wecan do alone. To be in the company ofpeople who are strong enough toacknowledge that they are vulnerable andhave all made mistakes is a powerfulbonding experience. We also receive muchmore Divine light and grace when we feelresponsible for the community than wewould as isolated individuals.

Melinda Ribner L.C.S.W. is also theauthor of Everyday Kabbalah, KabbalahMonth by Month, New Age Judaism,and The Secret Legacy of Biblical Women: Revealing the Divine Feminine.Internationally known for her pioneeringwork in kabbalistic meditation and healing,she is also a spiritual psychotherapist and for more than 30 years has used kabbalisticwisdom as part of treatment. She offers a free newsletter on meditation, healing, kabbalistic energies of the months, holidays,and so forth. www.kabbalahoftheheart.com. AAAA

A disciple of the Baal Shem Tov yearnedto meet Elijah, herald of redemption. TheBaal Shem Tov told him it could happen.All he needed to do was to go to the homeof a very poor but pious family that lived inthe forest, bring them food and wine for RoshHaShanah, eat and pray with them, and atthe end of the holiday Elijah would appear.

The chasid did as he was told. But at theend of the holiday, Elijah did not arrive.Returning to ask why his request had notbeen granted, the Baal Shem told him,“Itdoes not happen all at once. Now for each ofthe 10 days of repentance, bring more food.Then, before Yom Kippur, supply themwith enough to sustain the family so theycan fast. Sit and pray and fast with them, andat Havdalah after Yom Kippur when yousing to Elijah, you will receive what you wish.

Once more the man did as the BaalShem instructed; he brought food andfasted and prayed. Yet when Yom Kippurended, Elijah did not appear. He returneddispirited to his teacher. “Why was I notgranted a vision?” he asked. “Because,”answered the Baal Shem, “it was notimportant that you see Elijah. It wasimportant that you be Elijah.”

All of us have the power to bring hopeand help to others in need. We can heraldredemption. This year, be Elijah.

From The New York Jewish Week 10-15-14.Rabbi David Wolpe is spiritual leader of

Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Follow him onTwitter: @RabbiWolpe. His latest book is,David: The Divided Heart. AAAA

Redemption SongBY RABBI DAVID WOLPE

September 9, 2015 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT 19

Last summer, no one was expecting Operation Protective Edge. But when rockets started flying, Magen DavidAdom paramedics were ready to rescue injured Israelis every day thanks to donors like you.As we welcomethe new year with reports of continued sporadic rocket fire, we don’t know when the next major attack willcome, but we do know now is the time to prepare.

Help provide MDA with medical supplies for the next emergency and make a gift today.Thank you and shanah tovah.

In Israel, the siren you have to worry aboutis the one you haven’t heard yet.

AFMDA Upper Midwest/ChicagolandCindy Iglitzen-Socianu, Director3175 Commercial Avenue, Suite 101, Northbrook, IL 60062Toll-Free 888.674.4871 • midwest@afmda.orgwww.afmda.org

20 The Jewish Post & Opinion – NAT September 9, 2015

1427 W. 86th St. #228Indianapolis, IN 46260

OpinionPost&The Jewish

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

US POSTAGEPAID

INDIANAPOLIS, INPERMIT NO. 1321

London-born Dr. Jonathan Spyer cameto Israel 24 years ago. He is director of the Rubin Center for Research inInternational Affairs at the IDC Herzliyaand editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs. He is a regularcontributor to a number of publications,guest analyst and author of Nationalismin the Middle East and The TransformingFire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict.

Honest Reporting was launched in 2000as a grassroots network of citizen activiststo respond to media bias and promoteprofessional and accurate reporting on Israel.

Recently, they sponsored an evening tohear Dr. Jonathan Spyer. He began his talkstating, “the Middle East is undergoing a process of profound change since2011....the removal of dictatorships hasled to the effective collapse of states,specifically Arab states which lackedstrong national identity and lacked strongnational institutions.”

While a revolution brought down Egypt,this led to a return to a military dictatorship.In Tunisia, after the dictatorship, thereemerged a new government and survival ofthe state. In Lebanon, the state institutionsare occupied by the Hezbollah.The countrieswhich collapsed are Syria, Iraq,Yemen andLibya; as a result of their collapse, waramong the region is taking place.

In 2012, the Assad regime in Syriadecided to pull back from the north andeast to a new defensive line, resulting in apartition of Syria.The Sunni rebels createdan Islamic state when Syria left. The separation continues and a major eruptionbetween Syria and Iraq occurred whichresulted in the main cities of Iraq beingtaken by June 2014.

“The conflict is raging today, leaving Iraq,Syria and Lebanon. Libya was invadedleaving two separate governments; inYemen, the fighting is going on and thegovernment has effectively collapsed.”

In his analysis, Dr. Spyer included thePalestinian Authority where there is division between Hamas and the GazaStrip and Fatah and the West Bank with

Seen on theIsrael Scene

The war in Iraq and Syria and itssignificance forIsrael and the region

“no sign of the two reuniting.” The collapse of these states is defined by thehegemonic ambitions of Syria; the growing attempt by the Sunni to resistthis; and the desire of the US to withdrawfrom close and active involvement inMiddle Eastern affairs.

The Iranian-led bloc is the easiest one todiscern; the purpose of which is the proxypara-military forces, a cadre of men whosemain purpose is spreading of the Islamicrevolution since 1979. The Iranian side of the line is the most coherent, wellorganized, and centralized. The Assadregime is a clear client of the Iranians. Ashortage of men caused the split in 2012;it was saved by the creation of a new force,the revolutionary guard.

In Iraq, the Shiite militias hold the power,while proxy military forces are in control.

Yemen is a direct client of the Iranians;the Palestinian Jihad is also a direct clientof the Iranians. Thus, the Iranian proxiesand clients are in control of the fouralready mentioned capitals.

The US is committed to the destructionof the Islamic State, but it is nowhere near being destroyed. The current USadministration is seeking rapprochementwith former enemies and a piecemealstrategy in the area.

Good or Bad for Israel?From an Israeli point of view, it is

not all bad. There has been the collapse of powerful old enemies, two large conventional enemies facing Israel – SyriaArab and Iraq republic. Neither reallyexists any more. The new challenges areHezbollah in Syria and Lebanon which isdangerous and the Iranian nuclear dealwhich is also worrisome.

“Israel is faced with a series of tasks:building fences along its borders,metaphorically and physically – withEgypt, Syria and Jordan; and making new friends” such as United Arab Emirate, Egypt, the Kurdish state, Jordanand Saudi Arabia.

Question: Should Israel reach out tothe Druze in Syria?

Answer:“It is a “fringe idea, not properlythought out,” because they are scattered;the population is not large enough. Even if a Druze state were to be formed, itwouldn’t be any use to Israel because ofno border with Israel. The Jordaniansshould be creating it because there is aborder. The Druze in Syria are largely loyalto the Assad regime and the Sunni Arabrebels are hostile to the Druze.

Question: How does the current USpresident view the Middle East situation?

Answer: “He has alienated his friendsand his enemies have been the focus of his attention.”

Question: What should the currentIsraeli government do about the presentsituation in the Middle East?

Answer: “They should look for thosewho wish to be America’s friends, workwith them and build with them,” forexample, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia,United Arab Emirate, Kuwait and theKurds, who all feel America doesn’t particularly want their friendship. Withregard to Syria and Iraq, “I don’t think they are our allies; we shouldn’t have aninterest in the victory of either.”

Question: What about the two-statesolution idea?

BY SYBIL KAPLANPHOTOS BY BARRY A. KAPLAN

Dr. Jonathan Spyer.

(see Kaplan/Israel, page 18)