Dear Reader,
Despite the creation of an "early warning" effort to spot potential financial problems brewing within its agencies, UJA-Federation appears to have been taken by surprise by the unexpected financial shortfall that led to the impending demise of FEGS, one of the largest social service agencies in the U.S. Staff Writer Stew Ain reports.
NEW YORK
New Fiscal Guidelines Failed To Sound Alarm
UJA-Fed’s accountability document, drawn up after Met Council scandal, didn’t provide ‘early warning’ of FEGS or NYLAG financial troubles.
Stewart Ain
Staff Writer
In the wake of financial scandals at two of its most prominent agencies, the board of UJA-Federation adopted new accountability guidelines for its beneficiary agency boards and senior management.
The November 2013 guidelines stressed that “as a major funder of its network agencies,” UJA-Federation “has a vital role in ensuring the strength of this partnership,” and that the goal of the new guidelines was to “ensure that agency boards have the tools needed to meet their responsibilities and to provide UJA-Federation with early warning of potential financial challenges at agencies.”
It went on to detail UJA-Federation’s “minimum” expectations of each agency and said its “evaluation of how well an agency meets these expectations will be an integral part of UJA-Federation’s grant-making decisions beginning with FY15 grants that are awarded next spring.” It added that each agency would be required to certify compliance, and that those receiving a core operating grant of at least $200,000 would be required to provide material proof of their compliance. For fiscal year 2015, FEGS, one of its major beneficiary agencies, received a UJA-Federation grant of $5.13 million.
But just over a year after those new guidelines were adopted, FEGS announced that it was forced to close because of a major deficit that it put at $19.4 million, though at least two sources said the losses were more than double that figure. Although officials of UJA-Federation chose not to discuss the closing or when they learned of FEGS’ financial collapse, one source said the gravity of FEGS’ financial situation came as a shock to UJA-Federation officials and board members.
“They did not see it until they were told in December — just one week before it became public,” said the source, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
He said FEGS’ senior officials and board members did not realize “until late in the game, the late fall” — that they were in dire trouble. They then hired a turnaround company and a public relations firm.
“The turnaround company had no experience with nonprofits or the Jewish community,” the source said. “My sense is that it did not have the skills to make the right moves and so it said close it down.” (FEGS would not say which company the agency worked with.)
Historically, UJA-Federation would step in to help save such a major agency by having it merge with another organization.
Such actions in the past “saved the services and the reputation of the Jewish community,” said the source.
But FEGS had reportedly been borrowing money for at least a year in order to meet expenses. Sources said money from the city and state programs FEGS was contracted to operate was insufficient to pay expenses and that FEGS had too many failed performance-based contracts.
A spokeswoman for FEGS (Federation Employment and Guidance Service) said in astatement that the financial losses stemmed from many factors, “including poorfinancial performance on certain contracts, contracts that did not cover their full costs, investments in unsuccessful mission-related ventures, write-offs of accrued program revenue, and costs resulting from excess real estate.”
The statement added that “FEGS reached this decision after rigorous evaluation to ensure the best possible outcome for FEGS’ clients and staff, working with outside financial and restructuring experts, and consulting with all of its government funders and other partners. This analysis showed that the financial situation which FEGS confronts was too deep to be resolved by continuing to run its programs.”
Not only did the new accountability guidelines fail to provide UJA-Federation with warning signs of a financial collapse at FEGS, they failed to reveal financial improprieties at another UJA-Federation agency, New York Legal Assistance Group, or NYLAG.
A founder of the organization, Yisroel Schulman, 51, abruptly resigned last week after learning that a federal grand jury was investigating financial irregularities at his agency.
A spokeswoman for the organization at first insisted that Schulman, who co-foundedNYLAG in 1990, was not available for comment and had simply retired to pursue other interests.
But after the New York Law Journal reported that Schulman had actually resigned because a Manhattan federal grand jury was investigating “accounting irregularities” at NYLAG, sources confirmed the probe and revealed that Schulman was the focus of the grand jury investigation.
A spokeswoman for NYLAG issued a statement saying: “We are confident the matter involving our former CEO will not interfere with the important legal services our dedicated team provides New Yorkers on a daily basis.”
A source insisted that the organization “is not out any money and its endowment is intact. … There is no question about the integrity of the current management.”
Beth Goldman, a former New York City commissioner of finance, is slated to replace Schulman next week.
The federal investigation of NYLAG comes as Allison Sesso, executive director of the Human Services Council, said “an autopsy on their [FEGS’] autopsy is being conducted by government and private funders” to learn what caused FEGS to decide to shut down.
The Daily News reported that the government probes were launched by both the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. Both offices declined to comment.
A spokeswoman for FEGS said that to date, the forensic analysis has not found evidence of “fraud or malfeasance.”
The probes of these two agencies follows scandals at two other UJA-Federation agencies: the 92nd Street Y, in which an alleged kickback scheme led to the firing of the executive director and two other employees; and the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, in which the former CEO and other top executives were convicted and imprisoned for running an insurance kickback scheme.
“It is certainly clear that the Jewish community is going to have to do a certain amount of soul searching given the significant number of scandals and mismanagement that we have seen in recent years,” said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University.
He said the mismanagement at FEGS is “particularly unfortunate because it is clear that so many of our most neediest” may suffer because of the closure. Efforts to move FEGS’ many state and city programs to other agencies are now taking place. Sesso said it is up to the state and city governments to announce such moves because “they are not FEGS’ contracts anymore.”
Sarna said the scandals and mismanagement at these UJA-Federation-funded agencies “highlight the growing importance of transparency — and there are more and more donors who are demanding transparency precisely because of these kinds of situations. The fear is that they are not getting what they expect. If these concerns are not addressed, it will have a bad impact on philanthropy in general and Jewish philanthropy in particular.”
Asked to make someone available to address the possible impact the agency scandals and mismanagement might have on fundraising, a spokeswoman for UJA-Federation sent the following email:
“We are ahead in both the dollars raised and the number of donors to our annual campaign over last year. We’re grateful for the generosity of our donors who come to us because they want to have an impact on a broad range of issues and because they understand that the strength of our network allows us to leverage the collective expertise and services of leading agencies throughout the city so that clients are best served today and every day.”
It is believed that FEGS officlals asked UJA-Federation staff not to comment on the situation, and that the request was honored. A spokeswoman at FEGS declined to make anyone available to the press to discuss the decision to close. She emailed a statement similar to one issued a week ago that spoke of FEGS’ efforts to transfer programs and services to other providers.
“FEGS is committed to ensuring that this process is undertaken in a sensitive, constructive, and orderly manner that ensures continuity of services for clients and supports FEGS’ staff. Wherever possible, FEGS will work to facilitate transfers of staff to other organizations, or where that is not possible support them in identifying other opportunities,” the statement said.
An examination of FEGS’ 2012 990 financial statement — the latest one available — revealed that the organization was having financial difficulties that year; its annual fundraising dinner, for instance, actually lost money — at a time when the organization’s 17 top salaried employees were earning a total of $4.2 million. Fifteen of them earned between $200,000 and $482,436, the top salary going to former CEO Gail Magaliff, who also was receiving more than $156,000 in benefits. Her top assistant, Ira Machowsky, earned a salary of $454,739.
The Daily News reported that internal documents revealed that, even as FEGS’ bosses borrowed money to keep the 80-year-old organization alive, none of its employees took a pay cut — including 81 of them who earned at least $100,000 last year. It said also that some senior employees actually received pay hikes, including the organization’s comptroller, Michael Kirshner, whose salary jumped from $190,000 in fiscal year 2013 to a budgeted $215,000 this year.
Both Magaliff and Machowsky left FEGS just as the extent of its financial difficulties were becoming clear. The FEGS spokeswoman declined to reply when asked how much of a pension they would receive.
Sesso, of the Human Services Council, a membership association of non-profit human service providers of which UJA-Federation and FEGS are members, insisted that although “mismanagement caused the problem [at FEGS], the level of the salaries for the size of the agency” was not a factor. FEGS had an annual budget of about $250 million, employed about 3,000 people, and served 135,000 New Yorkers annually — among them about 20,000 Jews — in such areas as health and disabilities, home care, job training and immigrant services
“If you look at the for-profits, they have much larger salaries for managing the same level of business,” she said.
But Sarna, the Brandeis professor, said the high salaries paid at FEGS “raises anew questions about compensation in the nonprofit sector and the hidden costs of those very high salaries — which in some cases endanger the very mission of the organization and in other cases are unseemly given the charitable nature of the work.”
stewart@jewishweek.org
How do Israelis feel about Prime Minister Netanyahu's controversial decision to address the U.S. Congress on the perils of the Iran negotiations? Our Israel Correspondent Michele Chabin went to a Jerusalem mall to find out.
ISRAEL NEWS
A Rift On The Israeli Street
At a Jerusalem mall, Bibi’s Congress speech and an alliance in the balance.
Michele Chabin
Israel Correspondent
The Malcha Mall in Jerusalem, where shoppers mulled over the election campaign’s hottest issue. Wikimedia Commons
Jerusalem — Pavel Gadakshan thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should stand up before the U.S. Congress on March 3 and speak his mind about the threat Iran poses.“Netanyahu must go to the Congress and tell them that Iran is the biggest sponsor ofIslamic terrorism, and that Iran is a real threat not only to Israel but to the rest of the world,” Gadakshan, 66, said as he delivered garments to a shop in Jerusalem’s Malcha Mall.
“Netanyahu needs to remind Congress that this isn’t the first time Iranian leaders have tried to deceive the world about their intentions,” Gadakshan continued, “and that Israel cannot be the only country fighting to prevent Iran from turning nuclear.”
Gadakshan, originally from Armenia, insisted that opposition to the visit from the White House, some House Democrats and even some Jewish groups, must not prevent Netanyahu from delivering his warning.
“Some things transcend politics, and this is one of those things,” he said with finality.
Not so, says Shlomi Ezrachi, as he waited his turn in the mall’s barber shop, echoing a split on the Israeli street about the hot-button issue of the moment as elections near next month.
Netanyahu should not go to Washington, “not because he doesn’t have the right, but because it’s fostering antagonism from the Obama administration and even a lot of Democrats who ordinarily support Israel,” the 27-year-old student said.
“Just because someone can do something doesn’t mean he should,” he added. “Who knows? Maybe the Iranians will reject the American deal and this tiff will have all been for nothing.”
Israelis, polls show, are divided over the visit as Netanyahu’s stewardship of Israel’s relationship with its key ally, the United States, has emerged as a defining issue in the election. In an Israel Army Radio survey released Monday, 37 percent of respondents said Netanyahu should proceed with his address before Congress, while 47 percent said he should cancel it. Sixteen percent were undecided.
Left-wing commentators and even a few in the center have bashed Netanyahu for what they consider his political move to bolster his image as the “Savior of Israeli Security” just two weeks before the March 17 election. Others, while not denying the unfortunate timing, think Netanyahu’s warnings at such a key juncture in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks must take precedence over politics.
Obama has said he cannot condone a speech by a foreign leader so close to the Israeli election because it “could be perceived as partisan politics.” House Republicans, who reportedly did not inform the White House of their invitation to Netanyahu, dispute this. The debate is forcing House Democrats to choose between angering Obama by attending the speech or offending Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has spent the past week trying to shore up domestic and international support for his congressional address.
“The American secretary of state and the Iranian foreign minister held talks over the weekend,” Netanyahu noted during Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “They announced that they intend to complete a framework agreement by the end of March. From this stems the urgency of our efforts to try and block this bad and dangerous agreement.”
Addressing the accusations directed at him, Netanyahu said during an election event, “While some are busy with protocol or politics, a bad deal with Iran is taking shape. This is not a political issue or a party issue, neither here nor there. This is an existential issue, and I approach it with the fullest responsibility.”
On Monday Obama said he has no intention of extending the Iranian negotiations beyond the end of March and that it was time for Iran to decide whether or not to move forward with an agreement.
“I don’t see a further extension being useful if they have not agreed to the basic formulation and the bottom line that the world requires to have confidence that they’re not pursuing a nuclear weapon,” the president said during a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“And as I’ve said to Congress, I’ll be the first to work with them to apply stronger measures against Iran. But what’s the rush?” he added.
Israeli newspapers have carried reports from American media sources that some American Jewish leaders believe the speech will exacerbate the already hostile relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.
Yet a JTA article run by the left-wing Haaretz newspaper noted that the right-wing Zionist Organization of America, the Emergency Committee for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition are all supporting Netanyahu’s visit and its timing.
On Monday Haaretz ran an editorial calling for Netanyahu to call off the speech. (It was a sentiment echoed by Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman and Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs in comments made to the Forward.)
“Instead of acting responsibly as a prime minister should, Netanyahu insists on deepening the rift he has created with the Americans,” the Haaretz editorial said. “He is thus endangering Israel’s most important relationship, behaving rashly as far as strategy is concerned and trampling the remnants of Israeli diplomacy.”
Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Hebrew University, said the Israeli public is watching the unfolding drama with concern.
“In Israel the relationship with the U.S. is seen as important, so this kind of crisis is seen as important,” he said. “At the same time, if Netanyahu is trying to win the many undecided voters, he may try to find a way to extricate himself from this standoff, possibly by addressing AIPAC instead of the Congress.”
Rahat theorized that Netanyahu’s “close relationship” with billionaire Republican Sheldon Adelson, whose Israeli newspaper, Yisrael Hayom, is a staunch supporter of Netanyahu and his Likud party, could be one reason he is so intent on speaking to Congress.
“It could be because the speech helps the Republican cause,” he said.
But Rahat also believes Netanyahu’s motivation “is not solely political in the partisan sense.”
“I imagine he believes that Obama doesn’t get it” and that to protect Israel, Netanyahu needs to convince Congress that “his world view is the right view,” Rahat said.
David Jablinowitz, a political correspondent at the Israel Broadcasting Authority, told The Jewish Week that the Obama administration has also been playing politics.
As it stands now, the impression is that Vice President Joe Biden prefers to meet with the Israeli opposition leader instead of hearing Netanyahu, and that Secretary of State John Kerry prefers photo-ops with the Iranian foreign minister over the possibility of a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.
Further, Jablinowitz said, the Israeli election rules governing candidates’ actions and the media coverage they receive aren’t as relevant as they once were.
“Let Netanyahu address Congress. Gone are the days when Israeli television could not show Prime Minister Menachem Begin meeting with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat because it was just before a Knesset election,” he said.
Back at the Malcha Mall, Etti Sorin, 60, who runs the clothing store, sounded a somewhat more cautious note about the upcoming visit, which this week an Israeli official confirmed is still slated to take place, regardless of the brouhaha.
“On the one hand, I personally wouldn’t go to a place where I’m not wanted,” Sorin said. “On the other hand, sometimes you can’t sit passively by when there is a threat. I just don’t know,” she said.
Aryeh Shalem, a pensioner, said, “I’m in favor of the speech. Why not? We need to warn the world how dangerous a nuclear Iran would be for the Middle East and the entire world. The U.S. president has his own agenda, and however well intentioned, he doesn’t want Israel interfering in it.
Doing some shopping, Hussein Dawish, an Arab who lives in Jerusalem, said he hopes Obama and Netanyahu can iron out their differences.
“It is difficult to go against the wishes of the president of the United States, but Netanyahu has an important message to tell the Congress. Inshallah [God willing], they will work it out.”
editor@jewishweek.org
Also this issue, the founder of Israel's Iron Dome security system predicts more success; YU-Montefiore merger talks back on track; parents of murdered Israeli teens visit to New York to promote unity; Culture Editor Sandee Brawarsky on contemporary Hebrew manuscript design; and our Spring Arts Preview looks at new films, theater, music, visual arts and books.
THE JW Q&A
Iron Dome Ready For Future
The system was built to 'cope with changes in technology,' Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold says.
Stewart Ain
Staff Writer
Daniel Gold: Designer of Israel’s Iron Dome defense system says it is never truly finished.
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold was awarded the Israel Defense Prize in 2012 for his role in inventing and managing the development of the Iron Dome anti-missile/rocket defense system that is credited with protecting much of Israel during last summer’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He is CEO and founder of Gold R&D Technology and Innovation Ltd., and headed R&D at the Israel Ministry of Defense and at the Israel Defense Forces. He was interviewed in connection with his receipt here Sunday of the Protector of Israel Award from the Times of Israel online news organization. Q: It is said that Iron Dome was very successful in intercepting rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli population centers. Can you quantify that?
A: It intercepted only rockets that the Iron Dome determines were going to land in populated areas rather than open areas or the sea. Its success rate was 90 percent, which is an unprecedented number. Should there be another round of fighting, I’m confident the rate will be even higher.
Why is that?
The product itself is a finished product but it is never finished. It was built to cope with changes in technology.
At least one critic, MIT professor Theodore Postol, had claimed early last year that Iron Dome was not as successful as supporters insisted. He argued that his analysis found that Iron Dome anti-missiles struck only a portion of the enemy rocket, which still exploded anyway.
That is not true. Even in November 2012, it was successful against 1,500 rockets. Last summer, some 4,500 rockets were fired at us. Iron Dome prevented them from reaching the ground. The objective was to explode the enemy missile in mid-air, not just move it.
Iron Dome was conceived and developed within a few years. To what do you attribute that success, given the heavy criticism and skepticism you received when you first broached the idea?
In 2004 and 2005 people objected to us because they thought it could not be done. They said it would take 20 years and billions of dollars. But somehow we finished in three years — from operation to development in three years instead of 15 or 20 years. And the price of development is around 5 percent of any other anti-missile defense system.
How much are the missiles?
About $50,000 to $100,000, depending on how many you buy. It’s a reasonable cost given that the key is damage protection — it allowed the Israeli economy to continueand not be shutdown.
I understand you were prepared to undertake the development of Iron Dome even if the Israeli government could not be persuaded to finance it.
When they told me no, I said OK and I told my people that we gong to start on it tomorrow. I refused to say we couldn’t do it because we had to save people’s lives. I raised about $14 million from private investors. But in the end, I didn’t need it. I used R&D money at first that I had for other projects, and then I persuaded the government to finish development and to buy a few batteries. Then [President Barack] Obama came into the game and helped us to buy more batteries and missiles, and the rest is history.
When you were given the green light for this project, is it true that you were able to choose from the cream of the crop to help you?
There were about 300 to 400 people throughout Israel working on this. They were the cream of the cream. You saw 24-year-old young ladies working shoulder-to-shoulder with 70-year-olds who were expert in their area.
Hezbollah is said to have more than 150,000 missiles pointed at Israel. Were it to launch hundreds of those missiles at once, would Iron Dome be able to handle them?
The system can cope with it. The question is how many missile batteries you buy and deploy. The system has a fully automatic capability. … Iron Dome is prepared for the future.
stewart@jewishweek.org
NEW YORK
YU, Montefiore Merger Back On
Agreement saves Yeshiva University from massive cuts.
Hannah Dreyfus
Staff Writer
Einstein students gather at a rally last week in support of the Montefiore/Einstein merger. Julie Nadel
The on-again, off-again merger between the Albert Einstein School of Medicine andMontefiore Health System is back on according to a joint statement released by the two schools.Key terms of an agreement between Yeshiva University and Montefiore Health System have finally been reached according to the statement, which was released last week. The merger, an attempt by Yeshiva University to shed its costly medical school, had faltered in early December, after the two parties were unable “to agree on certain material terms,” according to a YU spokesperson.
Moody’s could not comment as to whether this move could cause it to upgrade YU’s debt rating, which it put at the junk grade of B3 in March. “We are aware of the new development but have no change to the rating or outlook at this current time,” a Moody’s representative told The Jewish Week.
A Dec. 9 report by Moody’s affirming YU’s B3 status said the medical school is responsible for two-thirds of the deficit and that the termination of the merger agreement greatly increased “uncertainty” over YU’s financial state by assuring the continuation of “acute losses.”
Einstein Dean Allen Spiegel broke the news at a student rally last Tuesday morning attended by over 200 students, according to one attendee. Students had organized the rally to show support for the merger after hearing that Einstein would endure severe cuts if the agreement with Montefiore failed.
“The Plan B was to destroy the graduate program,” said Dayle Hodge, an M.D.-Ph.D. student and president of the M.D.-Ph.D. student council. Hodge, in his fifth year of an eight-year program, found out that they were planning to fire his advisor, a junior level professor, as well as all other non-tenured faculty. “There would be no guarantee that I could finish my training,” he said.
Plan B also consisted of drastically reducing the salaries of tenured faculty who did not have “active grants” in order to “force out those who weren’t producing,” Hodge said.
The details came out at a Jan. 23 meeting of Einstein’s faculty-student senate, where, according to Jeffrey Segall, Einstein’s senate speaker, members unanimously supported the merger.
There were also plans to rent or sell the Price Center/Block Research Pavilion, a 223,0000-sqaure-foot, five-story, $220 million facility that houses 40 research teams and 400 scientists. When opened in 2008, Einstein described the facility as the “largest and most significant research building to be constructed in the Bronx in half a century.”
“They were going to get rid of most of the faculty in the Price center, move them across the street into vacant labs, and try and rent the building,” said Hodge. “Which is insane — who was going to want to rent out a quarter of a million square feet of state-of-the-art labs in the middle of the Bronx?”
Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC, the corporate restructuring company hired by YU in May 2014 to help manage the undergraduate college, was called in to orchestrate the Einstein cuts, said Hodge.
A YU spokesman said the school couldn’t confirm the details of the cuts that were planned after the deal faltered but noted that that the two schools are working together to finalize the details of the merger.
According to Alyssa Casill, a second year Ph.D. student at Einstein and co-chair of the graduate student council, Einstein faculty unanimously took a symbolic vote of “no confidence” in Yeshiva University at the meeting, demonstrating the depth of unease among faculty since the partnership stalled.
“Uncertainty is the right word,” Casill said, describing the mood in the student body after news of the merger’s failure in December. “No one knew exactly what the fallout would be, but everyone was worried.”
Casill was one of the student leaders responsible for organizing the rally on Feb. 3.
“When we realized that the situation was dire, we had to rally the troops,” she said.
Upon hearing the news of the agreement’s revival, Casill said she and her fellow students were “excited and relieved.”
“We hope the deal closes soon,” she said. “Until then, we can’t really rest.”
While the new agreement is still subject to final documentation and regulatory approval, negotiations, begun in July 2014, are hoped to finish by the end of 2015, according to a Montefiore spokesperson.
“Montefiore wants to make sure Einstein remains the preeminent medical institution that it is,” he said. “Montefiore and Einstein have a 50 year relationship — the two are completely integrated,” he said, noting that Montefiore pays for 75 percent of the clinical faculty at Einstein.
President Richard Joel of Yeshiva University first announced the plan to merge in May of 2014. Under the arrangement, Montefiore would take responsibility for the financial management of Einstein, but YU would remain the degree-granting institution with “a key role in the educational aspects of the entity,” according to a joint statement released in June.
Montefiore in the Bronx is the teaching hospital for Einstein. Founded in 1955, Einstein has 734 medical students, 236 doctoral students and 106 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program
hannah@jewishweek.org
NEW YORK
Parents Of Slain Teens: ‘We Want Unity, Not Uniformity’
Rafaeli Fraenkel and Ofir Shaer come to New York to promote new prize for Jewish unity.
Doug Chandler
Jewish Week Correspondent
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, left, with Racheli Fraenkel, center, and Ofir Shaer. Courtesy of UJA-Federation
Discussing the concept of Jewish unity, the idea behind a new prize in memory of her son and two others murdered in Israel last June, Racheli Fraenkel acknowledged that the term sounds like a cliché at times.But in a panel discussion last week before a local, Jewishly diverse audience, Fraenkel spoke of Jewish unity as if it was something tangible, a substance she could hold and feel.
“I’m not a politician,” Fraenkel told The Jewish Week after the discussion. “I’m here as Naftali’s mother. We felt something outstanding [last June] and wanted to further it. People were amazing. They went out of their way to care, to connect and to comfort” the three families.
Fraenkel acknowledged that “there are no easy solutions” to the issues on which many Jews are divided. “But,” she said, “we can work on them if we’re intent on our common goal — respecting our differences.”
The panel discussion took place during “An Evening of Jewish Unity” at UJA-Federation of New York, a key supporter of the newly established Jerusalem Unity Prize. Moderated by Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of the Forward, the discussion brought together three of the people who initiated the prize: Racheli Fraenkel, Naftali’s mother; Ofir Shaer, terrorism victim Gilad Shaer’s father; and Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem. Others who helped initiate the prize included the family of Eyal Yifrah, the third Israeli teen who went missing for 18 days and was later found dead, and leaders of Gesher, an Israeli group devoted to bridging the differences among Jews.
“It all began with the shiva,” Shaer told The Jewish Week, referring to the period of mourning that took place after the bodies were discovered. During the nearly three weeks leading to that discovery, as well as after that point, the families received gestures of support from Jews across religious and political lines, he explained. It was the mayor who, during shiva calls to each of the three families, noted that something “unique” was taking place and suggested a way to continue the spirit of Jewish unity.
The prize will actually consist of three awards, said Anat Schwarz Weil, director of the Jerusalem Unity Prize, who’s working with the mayor, the families and Gesher to bring the idea to fruition. One will go an individual or organization working to promote “unity in the Jewish community over an extended period of time”; another to a social initiative that addresses “the challenge of disunity within the greater Jewish community”; and the third to an individual or group that has “advanced programs that strengthen the connection between Israel and diaspora Jewry.”
The prizes will be awarded on June 3, the day on which the Israeli public will observe the yahrzeit of the three teens, after a full-day conference on Jewish unity, said Yoni Sherizen, a Gesher director. Each prize will carry an award of 100,000 shekels, roughly $25,000.
The day will also include activities throughout Israel aimed at uniting disparate elements of the Jewish community, Sherizen said, adding that he and his colleagues are now hoping to make that day into a global event with the help of partners in other countries.
Echoing sentiments felt by all three of the families, Shaer told last week’s gathering that he and his wife decided they had “two options” as the search for the boys stretched on and as “the picture grew darker.”
“We could close ourselves off or we could open our home and open our hearts,” translating tragedy to something positive, he said. He and his wife chose the second option.
“We’re trying to create a new language” for the Jewish community, Shaer said at another point. “We can say we want unity, but not uniformity.”
“We really hope to keep the better part of the last summer,” Fraenkel said. “After this summer, I’m really convinced that [Jewish unity] is not an illusion. It’s really about who we are, and we’d really like to promote it.”
In addition to the parents, the evening included brief remarks from Eric S. Goldstein, UJA-Federation of New York’s CEO and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, as well as an address by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of Britain’s Orthodox community, a member of the British House of Lords and a member of the prize committee.
The Federation has been particularly supportive of the new prize, giving Gesher a grant of $500,000 over three years to create the awards, said David Mallach, managing director of Federation’s Commission on the Jewish People.
In words that appeared to resonate with the audience, Rabbi Sacks said there was “only one people on earth capable of destroying the Jewish people — the Jewish people.” More humorously, he said that Judaism was the only faith “all of whose canonical texts are anthologies of arguments.”
But the rabbi also gave a succinct definition of unity, saying, “I don’t need you to agree with me. I need you to care about me.”
The evening’s only speaker who referred to the Israeli-Arab conflict, one of the issues that divides Jews, was Barkat, who said that “our enemies” believed “they could pull us apart” through terrorism. But the outpouring of support for the families empowered him, the prime minister and other Israeli leaders, giving them the “ability to face our enemies.”
Both Fraenkel and Shaer, meanwhile, acknowledged some of the challenges that stand in the way of Jewish unity. One is the rhetoric of Israel’s current election campaign, but both suggested that it was part of the Israeli firmament and they expected it to blow over once the campaign ends.
A member of the Jerusalem City Council, speaking by phone from Jerusalem, said that while she believes the prize is a positive step, she’s dismayed that it doesn’t promote unity among all Israelis, including Arab citizens.
“One of the disturbing things that’s happening in Israel is that there’s more and more of an emphasis on religious identity rather than national identity,” said Laura Wharton, one of two council members from the left-wing Meretz Party, “and I don’t think it’s healthy for Israelis. It only widens the abyss” between Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis, she said.
But Sherizen said the prize does honor Israeli unity and that Israel’s population consists mostly of Jews. He also said the prize committee would seriously consider any application for an award that “comes from someone outside the Jewish faith.”
Meanwhile, Yuli Tamir, a former cabinet minister from the Labor Party and a human-rights activist in Israel, said she asked about some of the same issues before she joined the prize committee.
“I hope and believe the projects that will be awarded won’t be for things that emphasize Jewish unity at the expense” of Arab-Jewish relations, she said. “I made this very clear to members of the board, and they were very comfortable with that.”
Tamir also said that both Jewish unity and Israeli unity are important.
“I think there’s enough room for both,” she said. “It’s not one or the other.”
editor@jewishweek.org
MUSEUMS
‘It’s Magic, Turning These Pieces Into Gold’
Barbara Wolff brings medieval artistry to contemporary Hebrew manuscript design.
Sandee Brawarsky
Culture Editor
“Among the branches they sing”: Wolff’s works illuminate Psalm 104. Courtesy of Morgan Library & Muse
In the lush greens of a great Taboroak tree, 24 species of birds perch in their finery, with a black stork, a great white egret and a black-crowned night heron poised in the reeds below, and a yellow-breasted bird in mid-air. The tree is indigenous to the Middle East, and each of these birds is native to the Land of Israel or part of the large migration of birds that flies over in the spring and fall.In Barbara Wolff’s work illuminating Psalm 104, now at the Morgan Library & Museum, each bird is brilliantly colored and artfully realistic. The tree is set against a background of gentle hills, a stream of water whose waves look etched, and a gold sky adorned with line 12, which concludes, “Among the branches they sing,” the title of the piece. Ten of Wolff’s folios illuminating the psalm are now onview along with the Rose Haggadah, her original illuminated text.
The exhibition, “Hebrew Illumination for Our Time: The Art of Barbara Wolff” is significant for its spectacular beauty, and for the artist’s workmanship: She uses the elements and methods of medieval illumination. It can take her months to prepare her materials.
This is only the Morgan Library’s second show of Hebraica in its more than 100-yearhistory, the first being a 1989 exhibition, “Hebraica from the Valmadonna Trust.” The exhibit marks the first time the Morgan has been able to draw from its own collection — both of the works on view (the rendering of the Psalm and the Rose Haggadah) were commissioned by Joanna S. Rose and recently donated to the Morgan. This is the first Haggadah in the Morgan collection.
The Morgans —bankers Pierpont Morgan and his son, J.P. Morgan, Jr. — were collectors of rare books and manuscripts but did not collect Judaica, explains Roger Wieck, the Morgan’s curator and acting head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, who curated this show. “We’re very happy for this gift. It fills a lacuna in our holdings.” The museum already had scrolls of Esther and a hand-written Hebrew Bible from France (1422) in its collection.
For Wieck, whose specialty is Western illumination of the late middle ages, particularly Books of Hours (Christian prayer books), this is the first show he has worked on with a living artist.
“She has an ability to work with gold, silver and foils in a manner I’ve never seen anybody in the modern age command,” he says.
The French Hebrew Bible is on display in a glass vitrine, along with other medieval illuminated works, including Hebrew manuscripts borrowed from JTS and private collections, in order to provide context for the exhibition, according to Wieck. By juxtaposing the works, he hopes to show parallels between Christian and Jewish illuminated work, in particular Christian Psalters, or collections of psalms; to show the historic manuscripts that directly inspired the work of Wolff, who frequently visited the Morgan; and to show her work as part of a long tradition and in conversation with that tradition.
For her depiction of the Zodiac in “Bless the Lord, O My Soul” (104:1-2), referring to the heavens, Wolff presents the sign for the twins in gold, in a direct inspiration from an illustrated Book of Hours from Italy, ca.1470, that is in the Morgan’s collection. Similarly, she dyed the vellum folio for “To Bring Forth Bread” (104:14) a deep red, in the tradition of another Italian Book of Hours known as “Rose Hours.” The walls of the exhibition are painted a close shade called pomegranate.
Wolff’s drawings are beautifully detailed and executed with precision — it’s no surprise to learn that she worked as a botanical and natural science illustrator before turning to this work. In the fullest sense, she illuminates the text, interpreting the words through her art and teasing out new meaning, and, through the shining gold and deep colors, bringing light to the room. She’s inventive, often playful — again echoing the medieval artists, who sometimes added small elements of surprise. If you keep looking, you’ll find something new.
In “The Mountains Rose” (104:6-8), she shows layers of earth — gold angular stripes, adorned with carvings and letters of the text — with the mountains above and the sea rising, its waves like a gold tsunami. On another page, a wisp of greenery flows out beyond the border, with a column of ants marching along.
Wolff explains that she always loved Psalm 104, as a “song in celebration of all creation.” The English she uses is drawn from a 1917 translation of the Psalm, which Wieck recognizes may sound archaic, but these were the words that inspired her. She points out that she’s not a calligrapher; these letters are drawn and filled in.
In a film that’s part of the exhibit, Wolff talks about how she prepares the gold, glues and pigments she’ll use on animal skins. Her work is very much in the tradition of medieval artists who painstakingly and patiently illuminated pages of manuscripts. When she’s at work, even the slightest breeze or even a breath can make the gold leaf crumble.
“It’s like being an alchemist,” she says in an interview. “It’s magic, turning these pieces into gold.” She adds, “You live a 13th-century timeline in the 21st century.”
The work is slow, she says, “in the best sense of the word. By slow I mean with thoughtfulness, deliberation, great care.” It’s also the kind of work that requires a patron “who can afford an artist medieval kind of time to work.” For the Haggadah, she spent three years, sending folios back and forth to the calligrapher, Izzy Pludwinski, who wrote the text in Jerusalem. Once she designed the pages, he would write the letters, and then she would do the illumination and gilding around his work. English captions in the margins were done by New York calligrapher, Karen Gorst.
Wolff’s illuminations combine traditional decorative elements with scenes that specifically illustrate the text, such as Hebrew slaves at work in Egypt, grouped in the shape of a pyramid, and the symbols of the seder floating in a blue sky above a Manhattan skyline with the words “Ma Nishtana” in Hebrew and the caption, “Why is this night different,” above. In her depiction of the Ten Plagues, frogs escape through the frame. Among the most beautiful images is a simple olive branch at the very end of the text, suggesting the longing for peace.
In a nearby vitrine, the “Prato Haggadah,” one of the earliest surviving illuminated Haggadahs, from Spain, ca. 1300, on loan from JTS, is open to a page with decorative panels and enlarged letters. (During the course of the show, someone from JTS will turn the page, to limit any one page’s exposure to the light.) There are also examples of 18th-century Hebrew illumination from an unnamed private collection, a Book of Genesis from Vienna, 1716, with letters so perfect it looks printed, and a magnificent and tiny prayer book, Me’ah Berachot (100 Blessings), probably from 1740s Vienna.
Wolff, who lives and works on the Upper West Side, has exhibited at JTS, Yeshiva University Museum and The Museum of Biblical Art. She “backed into” this kind of work about 15 years ago, when she began to see that with the advent of the computer, there would be less need for her hand illustrations of the natural world. She thought that she might like to do botanical drawings on parchment, so she signed up for a weeklong course on manuscript illumination. As part of the course, she began working with Hebrew words. The week was transformative.
“I felt as if I was intended to be in this world, as if I had been doing it all my life,” she says.
“Hebrew Illumination for Our Time: The Art of Barbara Wolff” will be on display at the Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave., through May 3rd. On Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m., Wolf and Sharon Liberman Mintz will speak in conversation about “Hebrew Manuscripts, the Creation of the Rose Haggadah, and Psalm 104” at 7 p.m. Marc Michael Epstein will speak on Wednesday, April 1, at 6:30 p.m., on “Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Barbara Wolff and her Place in the History of Jewish Manuscript Illumination.” Tickets for each talk are $15, $10 for members; the exhibition is open is prior to the program.
The New Season In Theater, Film, Music, The Visual Arts And Books.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
INSIDE THIS SPECIAL SECTION
A More Perfect Union?
The Elkabetz Siblings’ Films Are Personal And Political
The ‘Divine’ Miss Dardashti
Judaica Gets A Fresh Look
Books
The Film List
The Music List
The Theater List
The Visual Arts List
Enjoy the read,
Gary Rosenblatt
P.S. Our website is always there for you for breaking news and exclusive videos, blogs, advice columns, op-eds, features and more.
http://www.thejewishweek.com/
Gary Rosenblatt
From Hoboken to Houston to Albuquerque, Jewish life bubbling up.
Phoenix — Doing a book tour is an enlightening, enriching, though often humbling, experience. My sporadic travels over the last six months, courtesy of a Jewish Book Council program encouraging communities to host Jewish authors, have given me new insights into how Jewish life plays out around the country, marked by both great contrasts and strong similarities.
One of the comic low points for me in my dozen or so talks so far at JCCs, synagogues and book fairs around the country, discussing “Between The Lines,” a collection of some of my Jewish Week columns, came when I spoke at the Tenafly (N.J.) JCC one week night last fall. The turnout was small, and at the end of the evening an older woman was one of a handful of people who purchased my book. (All proceeds, by the way, go to The Jewish Week, which published it.) She asked me to sign it for her, and when I asked her how I should make it out, she looked at me as if I was a half-wit, and said slowly, “How about signing your name?”
By contrast, the presentation I gave Feb. 1 in Albuquerque, N.M., at an all-day Jewish educational, social and cultural program called “A Taste Of Honey,” drew more than 150 people, quite a feat for a Jewish community that numbers under 25,000 for the entire state, according to officials there.
Carolyn Hessel, the outgoing director of the book council, had encouraged me to accept the local JCC’s offer to speak in Albuquerque, noting that the community was “small but appreciative,” and she was right. (One welcome sign was that all 40 copies of my book there were sold, a high for me on the tour that has included lows in the single digits. Like I said, book tours can be humbling.)
On a clear, sunny day, with snow-capped mountains only a 10-minute drive from the JCC, about 200 people came from hundreds of miles away to hear talks on a variety of subjects from Jewish liturgy to the music of Irving Berlin, with a special emphasis on crypto-Jews and conversos, often described as “hidden Jews” whose ancestors were forced by the Inquisition to convert to Catholicism.
New Mexico is believed to have a significant number of crypto-Jews, and the day after the program I met with a local woman who tearfully described the emotional pain she has endured, being cut off from most of her family for identifying as a Jew. She asked me not to use her name for fear of further alienating herself from her Catholic-practicing relatives, but encouraged me to explore the topic, insisting that there are many people like her who seek acceptance in and understanding from the Jewish community.
On Sunday I was one of dozens of presenters at LimmudAZ, an inaugural event for the Phoenix Jewish community and neighboring cities. Held on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, the daylong program fostered the spirit and goals of Limmud, a volunteer-based, pluralistic, international network that promotes Jewish life and learning. To the delight of its organizers, it attracted more than 400 enthusiastic participants.
In addition to the over-50 crowd, which makes up the majority of audiences at Jewish book events around the country, there were a number of students from ASU. Four Hillel interns discussed their efforts to counter anti-Israel activity on campus, which is considered “moderately active.” Hillel approach, they explained, is to sponsor proactive, pro-Israel programs rather than react directly to pro-Palestinian campaigns.
Last summer I spoke at the Modern Orthodox synagogue in West Hampton, L.I., and the Reform congregation in East Hampton. Despite their theological differences, the issues raised were quite similar. Since my talks touched on the challenges of a Jewish journalist to be both a loyal member of the community and an independent and sometimes critical voice, there were thoughtful questions and comments that reflected the deteriorating relationship between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Those anxieties about the U.S.-Israel bond, once deemed unshakeable, seemed only to deepen in the ensuing months, regardless of where I visited, from Hoboken to Houston. I tried to explain that Israelis have two major concerns that are at odds these days: One is a deep desire for Israel to be on good terms with the White House, and the other is the need to feel that the Jewish state is secure against external threats.
I found it refreshing to get away from New York and remember the challenge of sustaining and deepening Jewish life in places where Jews are not necessarily a strong presence. When I spoke at the United Synagogue of Hoboken, a revitalized congregation, more than a century old, housed in a beautifully restored historic building, only a few miles from Manhattan, I saw how congregants volunteered their time and talents to help make the synagogue relevant. And during my brief visit to Houston I understood why its annual Jewish book fair is considered one of the best in the country in terms of size, content and professionalism.
On my Southwest swing I spoke Monday night at Valley Beit Midrash in Phoenix, an innovative adult Jewish education program headed by the talented and dynamic Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, who is seeking to infuse new energy into the community. It’s an uphill battle there and in so many other cities where there are distinct divides in Jewish communal life related to age and denominational divisions. Those who turn out for local Jewish activities tend to be older people, and there is little shared activity between Orthodox and religiously liberal adherents.
Having visited Sedona, the high-desert Arizona town best known for its breathtaking red-rock landscapes and its appeal to spiritual seekers, I learned that many people believe the area has powerful energy vortexes. These are specific sites that bubble up from the earth and can have a positive impact on an individual’s inner well-being, according to believers.
One could make the case that programs like those in Albuquerque and Phoenix mentioned here — and like those in so many other places far removed from New York — could be thought of as Jewish vortexes, sources of renewal that can bubble up and inspire those that seek them out. May they flourish and grow — and I hope to learn more about them on future travels.
Gary@jewishweek.org
Rabbi David Wolpe
Choosing And Being Chosen
Perhaps no concept in Judaism has been more misused and misunderstood than chosenness. It is not a doctrine of racial superiority, though some have interpreted it as such. The first statement in the Torah about human beings is that all are created in the image of God and all have a common ancestry. The choice is one of service, not of being served. And it does not preclude the notion that other nations too are chosen for other tasks.
As Louis Jacobs writes, “Jewish particularism is never exclusive: Anyone can become a Jew by embracing the Jewish faith.” Some of our greatest teachers and scholars were themselves converts or descended from converts. It is a choosing as well as a being chosen. And the responsibility is to live according to the Torah and so bring a model of God’s will into the world, however imperfectly realized.
The world does indeed owe to the Jewish people the notion of one God and the ethical demands that God makes on human beings. Unlike other traditions, Judaism does not ask that one be Jewish to attain salvation. Chosenness is a blessing and a burden, a call to sanctity and a summons to goodness.
Rabbi David Wolpe is spiritual leader of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter: @RabbiWolpe. His latest book, “David: The Divided Heart” (Yale University Press), has recently been published.
Iron Dome Founder Predicts More Success
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold was awarded the Israel Defense Prize in 2012 for his role in inventing and managing the development of the Iron Dome anti-missile/rocket defense system that is credited with protecting much of Israel during last summer’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He is CEO and founder of Gold R&D Technology and Innovation Ltd., and headed R&D at the Israel Ministry of Defense and at the Israel Defense Forces. He was interviewed in connection with his receipt here Sunday of the Protector of Israel Award from the Times of Israel online news organization.
Q: It is said that Iron Dome was very successful in intercepting rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli population centers. Can you quantify that?
A: It intercepted only rockets that the Iron Dome determines were going to land in populated areas rather than open areas or the sea. Its success rate was 90 percent, which is an unprecedented number. Should there be another round of fighting, I’m confident the rate will be even higher.
Why is that?
The product itself is a finished product but it is never finished. It was built to cope with changes in technology.
At least one critic, MIT professor Theodore Postol, had claimed early last year that Iron Dome was not as successful as supporters insisted. He argued that his analysis found that Iron Dome anti-missiles struck only a portion of the enemy rocket, which still exploded anyway.
That is not true. Even in November 2012, it was successful against 1,500 rockets. Last summer, some 4,500 rockets were fired at us. Iron Dome prevented them from reaching the ground. The objective was to explode the enemy missile in mid-air, not just move it.
Iron Dome was conceived and developed within a few years. To what do you attribute that success, given the heavy criticism and skepticism you received when you first broached the idea?
In 2004 and 2005 people objected to us because they thought it could not be done. They said it would take 20 years and billions of dollars. But somehow we finished in three years — from operation to development in three years instead of 15 or 20 years. And the price of development is around 5 percent of any other anti-missile defense system.
How much are the missiles?
About $50,000 to $100,000, depending on how many you buy. It’s a reasonable cost given that the key is damage protection — it allowed the Israeli economy to continue and not be shutdown.
I understand you were prepared to undertake the development of Iron Dome even if the Israeli government could not be persuaded to finance it.
When they told me no, I said OK and I told my people that we gong to start on it tomorrow. I refused to say we couldn’t do it because we had to save people’s lives. I raised about $14 million from private investors. But in the end, I didn’t need it. I used R&D money at first that I had for other projects, and then I persuaded the government to finish development and to buy a few batteries. Then [President Barack] Obama came into the game and helped us to buy more batteries and missiles, and the rest is history.
When you were given the green light for this project, is it true that you were able to choose from the cream of the crop to help you?
There were about 300 to 400 people throughout Israel working on this. They were the cream of the cream. You saw 24-year-old young ladies working shoulder-to-shoulder with 70-year-olds who were expert in their area.
Hezbollah is said to have more than 150,000 missiles pointed at Israel. Were it to launch hundreds of those missiles at once, would Iron Dome be able to handle them?
The system can cope with it. The question is how many missile batteries you buy and deploy. The system has a fully automatic capability. … Iron Dome is prepared for the future.
stewart@jewishweek.org
Tips For Winter Driving Journeys
Hilary Larson
Travel Writer
Somewhere east of Providence, R.I., the winter finally caught up with me.
I was driving up toward Cape Cod after a week of reporting work that had taken me around the mid-Atlantic. About halfway down the New Jersey Turnpike, those depressing, muddied mounds of snow had given way to blessedly clear roadways; the city streets were dry in Philadelphia, where I parked my Civic with ease, though the wind chill made for some uncomfortable walks.
As soon as I hit Connecticut, however, the Interstate was enclosed in walls of snow that grew ever-taller as I plowed my way north. Highway exit ramps became narrower; parking lots, where I stopped to fuel up or grab a snack, were increasingly dodgy with piles of slush, ice, or both.
By the time I started hunting for a motel around Fall River in Massachusetts I knew I’d gone too far. It was past 10 at night, a light snow was falling and I felt like the only traveler still braving the elements.
A week and a half after the blizzard, the highways were clear — but the small South Coast towns, buried under nearly four feet of accumulated snow, looked more like rural Alaska. Main roads were piled helplessly with slushy drifts; parking lots were frozen over like skating rinks. At one Quality Inn, I saw cars literally buried under snow.
The Civic fishtailed one too many times, and I knew I had to backtrack to Providence, where somewhere in the snow-battered downtown there had to be a garage. And that’s where I took refuge — gratefully forking over $25 to a valet parking attendant, sparing both my Civic and my badly frayed nerves. I’d had an Econo Lodge budget, but as I sipped my coffee in the vaulted dining room of a historic hotel, I considered the cost of repairing either a twisted fender or a twisted ankle — and concluded it was a splurge well earned.
Winter travel requires strategy, patience, flexibility, and a budget for contingencies. From roughly April through November — barring the occasional hurricane or violent thunderstorm — travel is relatively uncomplicated from a weather perspective. Heavy rain rarely derails travelers for more than a few hours; heat waves can be managed. And if you’re crossing hemispheres, the winter is, as a rule, far milder in Santiago and Cape Town than in Boston or Kiev.
But once the December solstice sets in above the 40th parallel, travel gets dicier. A January or February itinerary is never as firm as one set for, say, June. Any transit plan — be it by car, bus, plane or even train — should be taken with a grain, or a hefty supply, of salt.
And since the groundhog predicts another six weeks of winter, it seems appropriate to pass along a few things I’ve re-learned the hard way on my recent peregrinations.
♦ Build extra days into your schedule, especially if you have an important event on the calendar. I missed the wedding of a very good friend when the first leg of a Spain-to-U.S. flight was cancelled due to snow … and because it was the week of Christmas, there were no other flights available for days.
♦ Budget for bad-weather contingencies. Depending on the country and the circumstances, there are varying rules for who pays for a hotel when you’re stranded at the airport. But whether it’s a cancelled flight, an unexpectedly bad snowstorm or a worn-down car battery, winter weather can force even the most determined traveler to recalibrate — and often at a cost.
♦ Learn to interpret the forecast. Since sometime in early January, I’ve been scanning Weather.com on a near-hourly basis in an attempt to determine exactly how the confluence of temperature, precipitation and wind speed might affect my plans. Here’s what I’ve learned: While no prognostication is a sure bet, if there is precipitation somewhere in the forecast, there will be precipitation somewhere along your route. Temperature trends are usually accurate, too. It’s just the specifics that vary — exactly when, how much, and what kind of precipitation will fall.
♦ Stock up on supplies. If using mass transit, lay in snacks in case you’re stranded on a tarmac or in an airport or train station after the concessions close. If driving, along with food, water (not in the trunk, please) and a reliable cell phone charger, it’s a good idea to stock the trunk with cold-weather battle gear: rock salt (or even kosher salt) for ice and kitty litter, which — spread liberally around spinning, snowbound tires — is a low-tech miracle.
♦ A good blanket, gloves, and a flashlight are also trunk essentials for cold-weather road trips. And it always amazes me how many people aren’t members of AAA, whose roadside assistance service has bailed me out of calamities — from locked doors to dead batteries — more times than I care to count.
editor@jewishweek.org
Michele Chabin
Israel Corresondent
Jerusalem — Pavel Gadakshan thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should stand up before the U.S. Congress on March 3 and speak his mind about the threat Iran poses.
“Netanyahu must go to the Congress and tell them that Iran is the biggest sponsor of Islamic terrorism, and that Iran is a real threat not only to Israel but to the rest of the world,” Gadakshan, 66, said as he delivered garments to a shop in Jerusalem’s Malcha Mall.
“Netanyahu needs to remind Congress that this isn’t the first time Iranian leaders have tried to deceive the world about their intentions,” Gadakshan continued, “and that Israel cannot be the only country fighting to prevent Iran from turning nuclear.”
Gadakshan, originally from Armenia, insisted that opposition to the visit from the White House, some House Democrats and even some Jewish groups, must not prevent Netanyahu from delivering his warning.
“Some things transcend politics, and this is one of those things,” he said with finality.
Not so, says Shlomi Ezrachi, as he waited his turn in the mall’s barber shop, echoing a split on the Israeli street about the hot-button issue of the moment as elections near next month.
Netanyahu should not go to Washington, “not because he doesn’t have the right, but because it’s fostering antagonism from the Obama administration and even a lot of Democrats who ordinarily support Israel,” the 27-year-old student said.
“Just because someone can do something doesn’t mean he should,” he added. “Who knows? Maybe the Iranians will reject the American deal and this tiff will have all been for nothing.”
Israelis, polls show, are divided over the visit as Netanyahu’s stewardship of Israel’s relationship with its key ally, the United States, has emerged as a defining issue in the election. In an Israel Army Radio survey released Monday, 37 percent of respondents said Netanyahu should proceed with his address before Congress, while 47 percent said he should cancel it. Sixteen percent were undecided.
Left-wing commentators and even a few in the center have bashed Netanyahu for what they consider his political move to bolster his image as the “Savior of Israeli Security” just two weeks before the March 17 election. Others, while not denying the unfortunate timing, think Netanyahu’s warnings at such a key juncture in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks must take precedence over politics.
Obama has said he cannot condone a speech by a foreign leader so close to the Israeli election because it “could be perceived as partisan politics.” House Republicans, who reportedly did not inform the White House of their invitation to Netanyahu, dispute this. The debate is forcing House Democrats to choose between angering Obama by attending the speech or offending Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has spent the past week trying to shore up domestic and international support for his congressional address.
“The American secretary of state and the Iranian foreign minister held talks over the weekend,” Netanyahu noted during Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “They announced that they intend to complete a framework agreement by the end of March. From this stems the urgency of our efforts to try and block this bad and dangerous agreement.”
Addressing the accusations directed at him, Netanyahu said during an election event, “While some are busy with protocol or politics, a bad deal with Iran is taking shape. This is not a political issue or a party issue, neither here nor there. This is an existential issue, and I approach it with the fullest responsibility.”
On Monday Obama said he has no intention of extending the Iranian negotiations beyond the end of March and that it was time for Iran to decide whether or not to move forward with an agreement.
“I don’t see a further extension being useful if they have not agreed to the basic formulation and the bottom line that the world requires to have confidence that they’re not pursuing a nuclear weapon,” the president said during a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“And as I’ve said to Congress, I’ll be the first to work with them to apply stronger measures against Iran. But what’s the rush?” he added.
Israeli newspapers have carried reports from American media sources that some American Jewish leaders believe the speech will exacerbate the already hostile relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.
Yet a JTA article run by the left-wing Haaretz newspaper noted that the right-wing Zionist Organization of America, the Emergency Committee for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition are all supporting Netanyahu’s visit and its timing.
On Monday Haaretz ran an editorial calling for Netanyahu to call off the speech. (It was a sentiment echoed by Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman and Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs in comments made to the Forward.)
“Instead of acting responsibly as a prime minister should, Netanyahu insists on deepening the rift he has created with the Americans,” the Haaretz editorial said. “He is thus endangering Israel’s most important relationship, behaving rashly as far as strategy is concerned and trampling the remnants of Israeli diplomacy.”
Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Hebrew University, said the Israeli public is watching the unfolding drama with concern.
“In Israel the relationship with the U.S. is seen as important, so this kind of crisis is seen as important,” he said. “At the same time, if Netanyahu is trying to win the many undecided voters, he may try to find a way to extricate himself from this standoff, possibly by addressing AIPAC instead of the Congress.”
Rahat theorized that Netanyahu’s “close relationship” with billionaire Republican Sheldon Adelson, whose Israeli newspaper, Yisrael Hayom, is a staunch supporter of Netanyahu and his Likud party, could be one reason he is so intent on speaking to Congress.
“It could be because the speech helps the Republican cause,” he said.
But Rahat also believes Netanyahu’s motivation “is not solely political in the partisan sense.”
“I imagine he believes that Obama doesn’t get it” and that to protect Israel, Netanyahu needs to convince Congress that “his world view is the right view,” Rahat said.
David Jablinowitz, a political correspondent at the Israel Broadcasting Authority, told The Jewish Week that the Obama administration has also been playing politics.
As it stands now, the impression is that Vice President Joe Biden prefers to meet with the Israeli opposition leader instead of hearing Netanyahu, and that Secretary of State John Kerry prefers photo-ops with the Iranian foreign minister over the possibility of a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.
Further, Jablinowitz said, the Israeli election rules governing candidates’ actions and the media coverage they receive aren’t as relevant as they once were.
“Let Netanyahu address Congress. Gone are the days when Israeli television could not show Prime Minister Menachem Begin meeting with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat because it was just before a Knesset election,” he said.
Back at the Malcha Mall, Etti Sorin, 60, who runs the clothing store, sounded a somewhat more cautious note about the upcoming visit, which this week an Israeli official confirmed is still slated to take place, regardless of the brouhaha.
“On the one hand, I personally wouldn’t go to a place where I’m not wanted,” Sorin said. “On the other hand, sometimes you can’t sit passively by when there is a threat. I just don’t know,” she said.
Aryeh Shalem, a pensioner, said, “I’m in favor of the speech. Why not? We need to warn the world how dangerous a nuclear Iran would be for the Middle East and the entire world. The U.S. president has his own agenda, and however well intentioned, he doesn’t want Israel interfering in it.
Doing some shopping, Hussein Dawish, an Arab who lives in Jerusalem, said he hopes Obama and Netanyahu can iron out their differences.
“It is difficult to go against the wishes of the president of the United States, but Netanyahu has an important message to tell the Congress. Inshallah [God willing], they will work it out.”
editor@jewishweek.org
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Getting Out The Israeli-Arab Vote
Steve Lipman
Staff Writer
Arab mayors from Israel met at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun. Courtesy of Givat Haviva Educational Foundation
A get-out-the-vote campaign by Israeli Arab mayors, combined with the creation of a united slate for Arab parties is likely to increase Israeli-Arab turnout by up to 10 percent and elect one of the Knesset’s largest electoral blocs, according to political observers.The get-out-the-vote campaign goes against the tactic supported by some Israeli Arabs of boycotting Israeli elections in order to deprive the government from tacit approval. But a delegation of Arab mayors said during a visit to New York last week that they’re trying to get the message out to their constituents that voting is in their own self-interest.
“It’s very important [that they vote] — it’s not important for whom they vote,” said Walid abu Leil, the mayor of Ein Mahel, near Nazareth.
Despite anger caused by Israel’s costly war this summer against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, most of the Israeli Arab voters will cast their ballots because of local “bread-and-butter” concerns, not national issues like the Israeli-Arab peace process, said Abu Leil.
For example, in Ein Mahel, top concerns include gaining permission to build homes and establish industrial zones as well as increasing the number of Israeli Arabs admitted to Israeli universities, said Abu Leil.
Abu Leil discussed the issue with The Jewish Week after taking part in a session last week hosted at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side about micro-entrepreneurial opportunities for Israeli Arab women. He said working within Israel’s political system is one key to effecting change. “We can influence the Knesset,” he said.
Abu Leil was among 30 Israeli Arab mayors who participated in a study tour of New York City and Washington, D.C., that ended this week. Under the auspices of the Givat Haviva Educational Foundation, the tour focused on minority-oriented municipal leadership, democratic civic engagement and economic empowerment. The itinerary included meetings with politicians, academics, religious leaders and representatives of U.S.-based Arab organizations.
The mayors represent communities with about 40 percent of Israel’s Arab population, a Givat Haviva spokesman said. Because of their day-to-day contact with citizens, the mayors have greater influence than national legislators, and can serve as an effective bridge between the Arab “street” and the national government, he added.
The mayors’ visit coincided with the campaign for Israel’s Knesset elections on March 17, in which the Arab vote has played a prominent role. The country’s 1.6 Israeli Arabs represent some 20 percent of the country’s population. Faced by a higher threshold to qualify for Knesset seats, disparate Israeli-Arab parties have decided to run on a unified slate composed of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party and the three Arab parties — the United Arab List, Balad and Ta’al. The joint ticket is composed of both secular Arabs and militant Muslims.
The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu, or Israel Our Home, party has called for a ban of joint slate while the leader of the Labor Party-Hatnua slate reportedly broached the possibility of a coalition in the next government should he become the next prime minister.
One sign of a growing Israeli Arab influence during the current election campaign: President Reuven Rivlin last week called for the construction of a new Israeli Arab city during a meeting with 50 municipal and regional council leaders of the Arab community.
The Knesset has had Arab parliamentarians since it began in 1949. There are now 11 Israeli Arab members from six parties in the 120-member body. Political observers predicted an equal or greater number of Israeli Arab Knesset members following next month’s vote. But the joint slate, formed after the Knesset raised the qualification level for a Knesset seat from 2 percent to 3.25 percent, may rank as the fourth-largest, giving Israeli Arabs a stronger voice than in the past, observers said.
About 56 percent of eligible Israeli Arab voters participated in the 2013 Knesset election; It was 53 percent in 2009. The figure this year may be as high as 70 percent, nearly equaling the Jewish voting level in Israel, said abu Leil, who, like his fellow Arab mayors, has stressed the importance of voting during meetings with citizens in public forums and in prospective voters’ homes.
While some Israeli Arabs traditionally vote for left-wing parties most will probably vote this year for the unified Israeli Arab ticket, abu Leil said.
Imad Dahala, mayor of Turan, a village in Israel’s northern Galilee area, said he tells citizens, “If you do not vote, your vote goes [by default] to Liberman,” referring to Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman of Our Home, who is considered hostile to Israeli Arab interests. “That is the most effective [argument],” he said.
Based on his conversations with citizens of his village, Dahala said he thinks most people will vote.
But, he added, for the economic and civil rights issues most Israeli Arab voters care most about, Western “pressure” may still prove more effective than electoral strength in reaching those goals.
editor@jewishweek.org
Gay Marriage Supporters Plan To Flood Supreme Court With A Friendly Push
JTA
Washington - The U.S. Supreme Court is going to hear from a lot of people on same-sex marriage.
In an effort to win the hearts and minds of five or more justices, opponents of the gay marriage bans being challenged at the high court this spring are inviting average citizens to sign a “friend of the court” brief that will be filed in early March.
The first name on the brief will be that of Edie Windsor, who won her lawsuit in 2013 when the high court struck down a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act that had denied federal benefits to legally married gays and lesbians. Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, wrote the brief in conjunction with the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization.
Americans interested in signing the so-called “amicus” brief can go to HRC.org and add their names. The brief must be filed with the court by March 6.
“The word ‘amicus’ comes from the Latin for ‘friend,'” Kaplan said. “I hope that this brief will serve that function in helping to explain to the justices the remarkable sea change that our nation has experienced in terms of our understandings about gay people.”
Dozens of briefs are certain to be filed before the case is heard in late April. A decision is expected by late June.
editor@jewishweek.org____________________________
Nazi Drum Made Of Torah Scroll Brought From Poland To Israel
JTA
A Holocaust commemoration group brought from Poland to Israel a drum that was made out of a Torah scroll and belonged to a Nazi sympathizer.
The drum was found last month by volunteers of the From The Depths organization in the basement of a man who lived in a village near the central Polish city of Lodz and whose estate was put on sale.
The volunteers came to the sale after hearing that the objects belonging to the man, a former member of the Nazi Hitler Youth movement, contained several that were connected to Jews.
Jonny Daniels, the Israeli founder of From The Depths, bought the drum and, after consulting with the Israeli Chief Rabbinate on how it should be treated in view of religious laws on handling Holy Scripture, decided to incorporate it into a traveling exhibition that the group is preparing this year.
Daniels said the segment of parchment that was used to make the drum is “incredibly well preserved.” It likely came from one of the many synagogues that serviced the area’s Jewish communities, which before the Holocaust had tens of thousands of members.
“During the war all the synagogues were destroyed and no one knew what happened to the Torah scrolls,” Daniels said. “After 70 years, the generations of survivors are leaving us too fast, now we become responsible to carry on this memory.”
The action was carried out in memory of the family of Joe Levkovitch — a Poland-born, 88-year-old Jewish man whose parents, among other relatives, were murdered at the Belzec death camp and who last July immigrated from Canada to Israel.
editor@jewishweek.org
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Yeshiva University, Montefiore Merger Back On
Hannah Dreyfus
Staff Writer
Yeshiva University, Montefiore Merger Back On
Hannah Dreyfus
Staff Writer
Einstein students gather at a rally last week in support of the Montefiore/Einstein merger. Julie Nadel
The on-again, off-again merger between the Albert Einstein School of Medicine andMontefiore Health System is back on according to a joint statement released by the two schools.Key terms of an agreement between Yeshiva University and Montefiore Health System have finally been reached according to the statement, which was released last week. The merger, an attempt by Yeshiva University to shed its costly medical school, had faltered in early December, after the two parties were unable “to agree on certain material terms,” according to a YU spokesperson.
Moody’s could not comment as to whether this move could cause it to upgrade YU’s debt rating, which it put at the junk grade of B3 in March. “We are aware of the new development but have no change to the rating or outlook at this current time,” a Moody’s representative told The Jewish Week.
A Dec. 9 report by Moody’s affirming YU’s B3 status said the medical school is responsible for two-thirds of the deficit and that the termination of the merger agreement greatly increased “uncertainty” over YU’s financial state by assuring the continuation of “acute losses.”
Einstein Dean Allen Spiegel broke the news at a student rally last Tuesday morning attended by over 200 students, according to one attendee. Students had organized the rally to show support for the merger after hearing that Einstein would endure severe cuts if the agreement with Montefiore failed.
“The Plan B was to destroy the graduate program,” said Dayle Hodge, an M.D.-Ph.D. student and president of the M.D.-Ph.D. student council. Hodge, in his fifth year of an eight-year program, found out that they were planning to fire his advisor, a junior level professor, as well as all other non-tenured faculty. “There would be no guarantee that I could finish my training,” he said.
Plan B also consisted of drastically reducing the salaries of tenured faculty who did not have “active grants” in order to “force out those who weren’t producing,” Hodge said.
The details came out at a Jan. 23 meeting of Einstein’s faculty-student senate, where, according to Jeffrey Segall, Einstein’s senate speaker, members unanimously supported the merger.
There were also plans to rent or sell the Price Center/Block Research Pavilion, a 223,0000-sqaure-foot, five-story, $220 million facility that houses 40 research teams and 400 scientists. When opened in 2008, Einstein described the facility as the “largest and most significant research building to be constructed in the Bronx in half a century.”
“They were going to get rid of most of the faculty in the Price center, move them across the street into vacant labs, and try and rent the building,” said Hodge. “Which is insane — who was going to want to rent out a quarter of a million square feet of state-of-the-art labs in the middle of the Bronx?”
Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC, the corporate restructuring company hired by YU in May 2014 to help manage the undergraduate college, was called in to orchestrate the Einstein cuts, said Hodge.
A YU spokesman said the school couldn’t confirm the details of the cuts that were planned after the deal faltered but noted that that the two schools are working together to finalize the details of the merger.
According to Alyssa Casill, a second year Ph.D. student at Einstein and co-chair of the graduate student council, Einstein faculty unanimously took a symbolic vote of “no confidence” in Yeshiva University at the meeting, demonstrating the depth of unease among faculty since the partnership stalled.
“Uncertainty is the right word,” Casill said, describing the mood in the student body after news of the merger’s failure in December. “No one knew exactly what the fallout would be, but everyone was worried.”
Casill was one of the student leaders responsible for organizing the rally on Feb. 3.
“When we realized that the situation was dire, we had to rally the troops,” she said.
Upon hearing the news of the agreement’s revival, Casill said she and her fellow students were “excited and relieved.”
“We hope the deal closes soon,” she said. “Until then, we can’t really rest.”
While the new agreement is still subject to final documentation and regulatory approval, negotiations, begun in July 2014, are hoped to finish by the end of 2015, according to a Montefiore spokesperson.
“Montefiore wants to make sure Einstein remains the preeminent medical institution that it is,” he said. “Montefiore and Einstein have a 50 year relationship — the two are completely integrated,” he said, noting that Montefiore pays for 75 percent of the clinical faculty at Einstein.
President Richard Joel of Yeshiva University first announced the plan to merge in May of 2014. Under the arrangement, Montefiore would take responsibility for the financial management of Einstein, but YU would remain the degree-granting institution with “a key role in the educational aspects of the entity,” according to a joint statement released in June.
Montefiore in the Bronx is the teaching hospital for Einstein. Founded in 1955, Einstein has 734 medical students, 236 doctoral students and 106 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program
hannah@jewishweek.org
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