The (New York) Jewish Week . . . Connecting the World to Jewish
News, Culture, Features, and Opinions – Monday, 30 December 2013
News and Features
It's Time For Us To Say 'Thank You' by Jeffrey K. Salkin
Last week, it was the appalling news that the American Studies
Association had voted to boycott Israeli universities. The academic world did
not stay silent. To date, 25 American universities have refused to join the ASA
boycott. In many cases, they have also issued strongly worded protests against
the Association's actions. Here are the names of the presidents or chancellors
of each university, along with their contact information.
We are a community that seems to go from crisis to crisis, and a
part of our communal psyche seems to almost relish it. Whether it’s the Pew
Report, or our fears about Iran, or an anti-Semitic attack, it gets our Jewish
juices flowing. Last week, it was the appalling news that the American Studies
Association had voted to boycott Israeli universities. We screamed. We wrote
impassioned op-ed pieces. Like leftover latkes, we sizzled in the oil of our
collective disappointment at the brazen cooperation of a piece of America’s
intellectual elite in the willful academic ghettoization of the Jewish state.
And we were right to have done so.
However, something was happening behind our backs – something by
no means insidious, but, rather, redemptive.
The academic world did not stay silent. Quite the contrary. To
date, 25 American universities have refused to join the ASA boycott. In many
cases, they have also issued strongly worded protests against the Association’s
actions.
Here are the names of the presidents or chancellors of each
university, along with their contact information. Because it is not enough to scream
gevalt when we have been wounded. We also have to call out “thank you” to those
who are our friends, to those who stood up for truth, to those who have refused
to have their educational institutions seduced by all too common siren song of
anti-Israeli behavior. We need to thank those institutions, especially if we
are alumni of them, and/or our children or grandchildren attend them. Because
the best way to induce people to continue doing good is to thank them for what
they have already done.
Take a look at the list. Yes -- some, even many, of those
institutions of higher learning have significant Jewish populations. Some of
the officials are Jewish. But that cannot begin to tell the whole story.
A larger story exists in the geographic diversity of the
universities’ locations. Moreover, we don’t know how many Jewish students are
enrolled at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Perhaps more than we think.
But Willamette is not exactly located in one of the queen cities of the
American diaspora.
And that is, precisely, the point. There’s an old Jewish joke. A
pair of Jews is walking in a dangerous neighborhood late at night. Suddenly,
they hear footsteps behind them. One says to the other: “We had better be
careful. There are two of them, and we’re alone.”
As it turns out, we are not alone. Not even close.
This is the mitzvah of hakarat ha-tov – recognizing the good.
Thank these university officials for their universities’ courage in standing up
to the American Studies Association. Thank them for their commitment to truth
and to intellectual honesty. Thank them for the generosity of spirit that they
demonstrated towards the State of Israel. Get your children and grandchildren
to write as well – especially if they are students at those universities.
Now that the winter solstice has passed, the days are getting
longer again.
There is more light than we could have imagined.
Boston University. Dr. Robert A. Brown, President. John and
Kathryn Silber Administrative Center, 1 Silber Way (8th Floor), Boston, MA.
02215. president@bu.edu
Brandeis University. Fred Laurence, President. Office of the
President, Irving Enclave 113, MS 100, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453
Office of the President
Brown University. Christina Paxson, President. Office of the
President, Brown University, Box 1860, 1 Prospect Street, Providence, RI 02912
Cornell University. David J. Skorton, President. Office of the
President, 300 Day Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
president@cornell.edu
Dickinson College. Nancy A. Roseman, President. Dickinson
College,
Post Office
Box 1773,
Carlisle, PA
17013. presofc@dickinson.edu
Duke University. Richard A. Brodhead, President. Office of the
President, Duke University, 207 Allen Building, Box 90001, Durham, NC
27708-0001. president@duke.edu
George Washington University. Steven Knapp, President. Rice
Hall, 2121 I Street, NW, Suite 801, Washington, DC 20052
Harvard University. Dr. Drew Faust, President. Office of the
President, Harvard University, Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138
president@harvard.edu
Indiana University. Michael A. McRobbie, President. Office of
the President, Indiana University, Bryan Hall 200, 107 S. Indiana Ave.,
Bloomington, IN 47405
Kenyon College. Sean M. Decatur, President. Office of the
President
Ransom Hall
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio
43022-962.
president@kenyon.edu
Michigan State University. Lou Anna K. Simon, President. Office
of the President, Michigan State University, 426 Auditorium Road, Hannah
Administration Building, Room 450, East Lansing, MI 48824-1046.
presmail@msu.edu
New York University. John Sexton, President. Office of the
President, New York University, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012
john.sexton@nyu.edu
Northwestern University. Morton Shapiro, President. 2-130
Rebecca Crown Center, 633 Clark Street, Evanston, Illinois 60208.
nu-president@northwestern.edu
Princeton University. Christopher L. Eisgruber, President.
Office of the President, 1 Nassau Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
08544
Tufts University. Anthony P. Monaco, President.
Office of the President
Tufts
University
Ballou Hall,
2nd Floor,
Medford, MA
02155. amonaco@tufts.edu
Tulane University. Scott S. Cowen, President. Tulane University,
218 Gibson Hall, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118-5684
University of California-Irvine. Michael V. Drake, MD,
Chancellor. University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
chancellor@uci.edu
University of California-San Diego. Praddep K. Khosia,
chancellor-elect. Office of the Chancellor, University of California, San
Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive # 0005, La Jolla, California 92093-0005.
chancellor@ucsd.edu
University of Kansas. Bernadette Gray-Little, Chancellor.
Chancellor's Office, University of Kansas, 230 Strong Hall, Lawrence, KS
66045-7518. chancellor@ku.edu
University of Maryland. Wallace D. Loh, President. University of
Maryland, 1101 Main Administration Building, College Park, MD 20742-6105 president@umd.edu
University of Pennsylvania. Amy Gutmann, President. Office of
the President,
University of Pennsylvania,
1 College
Hall, Room 100
Philadelphia,
PA 19104-6380. presweb@pobox.upenn.edu
University of Pittsburgh. Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor.
University of Pittsburgh,
107 Cathedral
of Learning,
Pittsburgh, PA
15260
University of Texas-Austin. William Powers, Jr., President.
Office of the President, 110 Inner Campus Drive, Stop G3400, Austin, TX.
78712-3400
Washington University in St. Louis. Mark Stephen Wrighton,
Chancellor. Campus Box 1192, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130
wrighton@wustl.edu
Wesleyan University. Michael S. Roth, President. 229 High
Street, Middletown, CT. 06459. presoffice@wesleyan.edu
Willamette University. Stephen E. Thorsett, President. 900 State
Street, Salem, Oregon 97301 president@willamette.edu
Yale University. Peter Salovey, President. President's Office, Yale
University,
PO Box 208229,
New Haven, CT 06520-8229
presidents.office@yale.edu
Jeffrey K. Salkin is the rabbi of Temple Beth Am in Bayonne, NJ.
He is the author of numerous books on religion and Jewish identity, including
Righteous Gentiles In The Hebrew Bible: Models For Sacred Relationships (Jewish
Lights).
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Gilad Shalit Appeals For Pollard's Release
Former captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit wrote an open letter
calling on all Israelis to demand that the United States free Jonathan Pollard.
Israeli officials have said that the revelation over the weekend
that the United States spied on at least two sitting Israeli prime ministers
opens the door for Israel to demand the release of Pollard, who has served 29
years of a life sentence in a U.S. prison for spying for Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that
Israel has constantly pressed the United States to free Pollard and does not
need a special event in order to do so.
“After Israel has released terrorists with blood on their hands
as a gesture to the Palestinians, a return gesture is all that is being
requested,” Shalit said in his open letter, published on Ynet.
Shalit appears to be reacting to reports, including one by
Israel’s Channel 2, that Israel is linking a Pollard release to the current
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and will ask that Pollard’s release be linked
to Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners. The third group of prisoners is
scheduled to take place at the end of the week.
“I believe, and I think that, like myself, all of the people of
Israel believe that the prime minister’s request for such a simple gesture, the
release of Jonathan Pollard, is owed to us by right, and is not a favor,”
Shalit wrote. ”Please, everyone, join me, in a clear demand to our friends, the
Americans: W have already freed scores of murderous terrorists with blood on
their hands at your request – now it is your turn to make a gesture to us! It
may even save Pollard’s life.”
Shalit was freed in October 2011 after being held captive by
Hamas in Gaza for five years. His release was part of a prisoner swap in which
more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were released.
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A Jewish, Gay Voice Of Weimar Germany And Beyond by Sharon
Anstey
Charlotte Wolff died in 1986 and today is little known beyond an
esoteric reading public. Plunkett Lake Press has just released an electronic
edition of her autobiography, “Hindsight,” first published in 1980.
Wolff led a remarkable life. As a student, she studied
philosophy with both Husserl and Heidegger. Multi-faceted, she published poetry
but ultimately she chose to study medicine and practiced as a physician in
Berlin in the 1920s, attending to working class women.
She began to study the hand and this niche led her to cross
paths with distinguished international artists, writers and painters including
Andre Breton, Balthus, Walter Benjamin, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley and Man
Ray, who photographed her in 1935.
From childhood, she was attracted to women; as she entered
adulthood, the Berlin of the Weimar Republic was the perfect milieu in which to
express and discover erotic love. The Weimar idyll ended brutally -- unlike
many other German Jews, Wolff was quick to recognize the need to flee Germany.
“My language was German,” she writes, adding, “I did not know
then that there was a difference between German Gentiles and German Jews.” Her
innocence shattered, she left for Paris where she spent a number of years
before moving to London where she lived until her death, shortly before her
89th birthday.
Wolff was unable to practice as a physician for decades and as a
psychotherapist turned her attention to more extensive research in chirology
(hand reading) and sexology.
Judaism did not inform her daily life and in later life, her
closest relationships tended to be with Quakers or devout Christians. Yet she
lived her life as a Jew. “I was an international Jew for good, whether I was a
stateless person or a citizen of another country,” she writes.
While institutionalized religion was not for Wolff, she
describes how when confronted by anti-Semitism in England, in a moment of acute
stress, “I shall never forget how suddenly I prayed and gave this problem over
to whatever power there might be to take it on. I said in my prayer: I am
committing this to a ‘higher court’. From that day onwards I was free.”
She was drawn to the prophets who inspired her poetry and to the
Jews of Spain who gave her “a sense of pride, glamour and awe.” Maimonides
particularly fired her imagination. “I worshipped his image as a disciple
worships his teacher, and made him the model for my own aspirations.”
The book ends with her return to Berlin in the late 1970s where
she was feted by younger generations of German feminists and gay women.
Sharon Anstey is a business consultant and writer in New York.
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New York Times Polls Hungarians On Anti-Semitism
The New York Times is conducting a survey of Hungarian Jews to
help deepen its coverage of anti-Semitism in that country.
The survey, published online Tuesday, asks respondents whether
they experienced anti-Semitism and considered emigrating as a result, among
other questions.
“An openly anti-Semitic political party has gained power in
Hungary’s Parliament in recent years, fueling fears that the Eastern European
nation is experiencing a rise in anti-Jewish sentiment,” the paper wrote in an
introduction to the online survey form.
“The Times will be taking a deep look at anti-Semitism in
Hungary this coming year. As we report on this issue, we are hoping to hear
from Hungarian Jews on their experiences,” the paper wrote.
Questions include: “What if anything are authorities in your
community doing to curb or encourage anti-Semitism?” And: “What if anything are
authorities in your community doing to curb or encourage anti-Semitism?”
Ninety percent of 517 Hungarian respondents to an EU survey on
anti-Semitism conducted last year said anti-Semitism was either a “fairly big
problem” or a “very big problem.”
Hungary, which is believed to have 100,000 Jews, also led in the
number of Jews who said they had considered emigrating because of anti-Semitism,
with 48 percent of Hungarian respondents replying in the affirmative, compared
to 18 percent in Britain and a 29-percent average overall.
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Musings
Two Lofty Principles by Rabbi David Wolpe
When the Torah reading is completed in most synagogues, the
scroll is held aloft and the congregation chants, “This is the Torah that Moses
placed before the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 4:44). Ashkenazim add “at
the Lord’s bidding through Moses” (Numbers 9:23). In Sephardic synagogues, the
scroll is generally raised before, not after, the reading.
In one case, the tradition shows an affirmation of reverence for
what one is about to hear. In the other, there is a confirmation of the
sacredness of what one has just heard. Each has its point, and its adherents.
The attitude with which one approaches things in this world —
work, relationships, study, anything — conditions the way one will react. If we
are prepped with purpose, we are far more likely to relish and to succeed. It
is nonetheless true that we cannot substitute preparation for experience. We
need to listen, to undergo the transformation that only comes with actual
participation. To hold the Torah aloft at the beginning is the right way to be
ready for the reading; to hold it aloft at the end is the right way to react to
the reading.
This is a characteristic Jewish solution: there are two
important principles, each with its adherents and each practiced in different
communities. All is literally L’hagdil Torah ul’ha’adirah, to glorify and
magnify the Torah.
Rabbi David Wolpe is spiritual leader of Sinai Temple in Los
Angeles. Follow him on Twitter: @RabbiWolpe.
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Matchmaker
How Yakira Met Michael by Leah Hakimian, Jewish Week
Correspondent
Yakira Wiesel was the only girl on the crowded rooftop of a
rickety bus. She was in Nepal, on a nine-hour ride, heading toward the Frozen
Lake Trek. She heard some of the guys speaking Hebrew, which was comforting for
a 20- year-old Israeli girl. When the bus began to shake, she turned to one of
them and asked: “Can I lean on you?” Michael Azulay, who was 23 at the time,
was happy to oblige. He recalls: “I immediately felt an attraction.”
Michael and Yakira had actually seen each other the Shabbat
before, but “seeing is not meeting.” Many young Israelis do see each other
traveling in Nepal off the beaten track. A trip to the Far East, following
their stint in the army or national service, is a rite of passage for them.
When she first came to Nepal, Yakira volunteered with Tevel
B’Tzedek, a nonprofit mission to help alleviate poverty. By the spring of 2011,
when she met Michael, she was ready for a new adventure.
Once again Michael was happy to oblige. They traveled for about
six weeks together with other Israelis. “I want to emphasize that we were not a
couple,” says Yakira. “But it is true that we flirted with each other.”
They were getting ready to go on an Everest trek, when a friend
raised the question: “Why aren’t you two a couple?” Yakira found the courage to
ask Michael: “Are we a couple?” Michael responded: Do you want us to be a
couple?
They were together for the rest of their travels.
When they returned to Israel in July, it wasn’t clear what would
happen next. Did they just have a “shipboard romance” destined to end when the
vacation was over? Some friends and family thought so, and some even hoped so
because Yakira and Michael seemed so very different.
Yakira was third generation from Chicago, Illinois. Her family
made aliyah when she was a young child, and she was raised in both worlds –
American and Israeli. Michael was born in Israel to Israeli parents of Moroccan
descent.
Some of the family was concerned that they were not yet on a
career path. Still, Yakira was accepted at Hebrew University and would study
communications. They weren’t too worried.
Most problematic was the religious issue – Yakira was from an
Orthodox home, went to religious schools, did Sherut Leumi (national service),
and was Torah observant. Michael was
from a secular home in Herzliya.
Many religious girls would never consider dating a non-religious
guy. “They think before they fall in love,” says Yakira. Michael and I fell in love, and then we had
to deal with it. But it is definitely worth it. Michael is so very sweet.”
“We deal with it by working really hard,” says Yakira. ‘We each
have our boundaries,” she emphasizes.
And Michael adds: “Most importantly, we have respect for each other’s
beliefs.”
They love hiking together. One evening in June 2012, as they
were walking along a cliff, Yakira looked down to the beach and saw the
marriage proposal set up by Michael’s friends. She happily accepted.
They planned a wedding with something for everyone – religious,
secular, Israelis, American, Moroccan, friends and family. Michael and Yakira
like to make people happy. They are inspired by Yakira’s great-grandparents who
recently celebrated their 74th wedding anniversary.
Yakira and Michael were married on September 4, 2012. Mazal tov.
Dr. Leah Hakimian currently researches the question: How Jewish
couples meet and marry. In the 90’s she
founded two nonprofit Jewish matchmaking programs, and continues to champion
the role of community in helping singles meet. She resides in Jerusalem and
Great Neck, New York.
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