Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 13, 2017

(JTA) Only one religious group in the U.S. has a federally proclaimed month celebrating their history: the Jews. In 2006, President George W. Bushofficially declared May as Jewish American Heritage Month.

Yet Jewish American Heritage Month, or JAHM, hardly seems a priority not in the government, not in the media, not even withinthe Jewish community. There is not a single paid employee working to organize the commemoration, and neither the federal government nor anyJewish organizations or foundations are funding its operations. (By contrast, for example, the organization that coordinates Womens History Month lists four staff members and 16 sponsors.)

To tell you the truth, Im very disappointed,said Marcia Zerivitz, who was one of the driving forces behind lobbying Congress to establish the month. We have struggled, we have been financially undercapitalized, we have struggled to get any money to do much of anything.

The current annual budget for JAHM is about$10,000 and consists entirely of individual donations, according to Ivy Barsky, the director of the National Museum of American Jewish History and a member of the JAHM advisory committee.

Its its own tiny little 501C3, all with people who run their own institutions volunteering some time to work on JAHM, Barskytold JTA. So like any of these things, until it has a dedicated staff person, its always going to be a little patched together.

Barsky hopes to change that. Her Philadelphia museum recently took over as JAHMspublic face and organizer from the American Jewish Archives. She hopes that with the museums support, the heritage month can raise its profile both within and outside the Jewish community.

One of the original goals of Jewish American Heritage Month that we havent necessarily realized as well as wed like is teaching the non-Jewish world in America about the contributions of American Jewry to this country,Barsky said.

The museum is providing some financial and staff support, but Barskyhopesto obtainfunding from corporationsand foundations. Manischewitz has served as a sponsor, promoting JAHM on its products, and Empire Kosher Poultry provided funding, but the two kosher food producers are no longer doing so.

Educating the wider American public was the goal of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who in 2005 introduced legislation in Congress to establish the month with the late Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican at the time (he later switched parties) and also Jewish.

If you educated and raised awareness about contributions throughout American history all over the country, it would make people more familiar with the Jewish community and our people and hopefully impact a reduction of anti-Semitism and intolerance,Wasserman Schultztold JTA about the inspiration for the legislation.

Shemanaged to get 250 Democrats and Republicans to sign on as co-sponsors for the bill, which the House passed unanimously. Zerivitz had lobbied for the month to be in January, to coincide with Florida Jewish History Month, but it was changed to May toconcur with Jewish Heritage Week, which President Jimmy Carter proclaimed in 1980.

Following the resolutions passage in the Senate,George W. Bush proclaimed the month. Itwas observed for the first time in 2006.

Wasserman Schultz, who resigned as head of the Democratic National Committee last year following an email leak that suggested the organization was biased against presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, recalled the joy she felt upon the heritage months proclamation.

It was exhilarating. It was the first legislation that I passed as a member of Congress, and Im the first Jewish woman to represent Florida in Congress, so it was very significant for me personally, she said, citing experiences with anti-Semitism both in New York, where she grew up, and in Florida.

But has the legislationlived up to its expectations?

While calling the month still a work in progress, Wasserman Schultz said she is very satisfied with how its been celebrated.

However, Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, disagrees. At the time of the proclamation, there was considerable excitement, but JAHM has yet to live up to its potential, he said.

So much money is spent on Jewish education in the United States that the fact that we have not been able to harness this golden opportunity given to us by the government, and really develop a month that would affect every American Jew, is a sign of the disorganization that weve seen ultimately its a sign of a problem, Sarna told JTA.

JAHMs website lists 17 events this month, most of them hosted by local groups, including a poetry reading organized by a social justice group in Connecticut and an event about Jews and jazz at a Florida library.The Library of Congress, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco are each hosting one event, and the National Museum of Jewish History is hosting two events.

Every Jewish newspaper and media outlet should be focused on American Jewish history during that month, Sarnasaid. Programming materials should be sent to every rabbi, every synagogue. Synagogues should be encouraged to have a speaker dealing with American Jewish history.

To be sure, JAHM celebrationshave had some highlights over the years.

In 2010, President Barack Obama hostedthe first Jewish American Heritage Month reception at the White House with such Jewish luminaries as Sandy Koufax and musician Regina Spektor, but the program was cut in 2013 due to the budget sequester. Also in2010, Jewish-American astronaut Garret Reisman brought the original proclamation with him aboard the Atlantis space shuttle.

Jewish groups, however, have been hesitant to commit money to the commemoration.

I would think that all these national [Jewish] organizations would get behind it, but everyone is struggling for funding, said Zerivitz, who is on the JAHM board.

[The] Holocaust gets the emotions going in the American Jewish community, and Holocaust things are much easier to fund than American Jewish history things, she added.

Barsky said she looks to more prominent national commemorations for inspiration.

We hope well be able to fundraise and get some great attention for Jewish American Heritage Month, so that this can grow into something a little more akin to Womens History Month in March or African-American History Month in February, she said. Weve definitely got a vision for making it pretty big.

Sarna also is optimistic about JAHMs future.

This is a lot easier than making peace in the Middle East, believe me, he said.

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May Is Jewish American Heritage Month. Here's Why You Didn't Know That. - Forward

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Posted By admin on May 13, 2017

Annesheila and her late husband Leonard Turkel were honored for their contributions to the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s-60s to end segregation for African Americans at a Jewish American Heritage Month event that took place May 7 at Hallandale High School in Hallandale Beach.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-23), who organized the JAHM event, honored Turkel and moderated a discussion of contributions by Jewish Americans to the Civil Rights Movement in a program titled "Standing Up in the South," which was attended by 200 people.

Along with Turkel, other speakers at the JAHM event were U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-20), and Former Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, Jr.

"Leonard and I were horrified to see segregation in Miami as a Jim Crow city when we moved there in 1956," said Turkel.

"Before moving, we thought of Miami as a paradise. Coming from New York, a liberal city, it was shocking to learn that blacks were restricted to residing in only three neighborhoods and were not allowed to be seen in Miami Beach after sundown, except for domestics."

"Woolworth's and other cafes did not welcome Negroes, which is what African Americans were called at the time. Burdines (a now defunct department store in Miami) did not allow Negroes to use elevators. Even a famous entertainer like Sammy Davis, Jr. was not allowed to stay in the Miami Beach hotels where he performed."

A video made by Turkel's three children (Amy, Bruce, Doug) shown at the JAHM event illustrated the work of Annsheila and Leonard Turkel in organizing the first "sit-in" in the country to fight segregation on April 29, 1959 and the events leading up to the protests.

"My father and his black friend, Dr. John Brown, would test segregation policies by going to the restricted downtown Miami lunch counters, only to be thrown out when they requested service," wrote Bruce Turkel in his blog "bruceturkel.com."

"My parents decided that the best way to promote equality for all of Miami's residents was to stage 'sit-ins' at the restricted lunch counters in downtown Miami."

Following the end of segregation, Annsheila Turkel was active in Miami with Congress of Racial Equalty (CORE).

Leonard Turkel, a property developer, built the Ann Marie Adker Community Health Center in Overtown and restored Miami's first black library, among other projects.

"Leonard and I believed strongly in social justice as part of our mission as Jews in tikkun olam or repairing the world," said Annsheila Turkel.

In praising Turkel, Wasserman Schultz stressed that Jews and African Americans were bonded in the battle for civil rights and the end of segregation.

"Jews knew firsthand the issues of discrimination when they were restricted from residing in some sections of Miami Beach in the 1930s and 40s. Jews helped form the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and over 50% of the civil rights attorneys pushing to end segregation were Jews," said Wasserman Schultz.

"We must continue to build a bond between blacks and Jews to fight for the end of intolerance, hatred, racism and anti-Semitism," said Wasserman Schultz.

Hastings and Young each shared with the audience anecdotes in which they bonded with Jews to fight to end segregation.

"My family worked for a Jewish family and we attended many bar mitzvahs since 1949. I recall working with many Jewish people to fight against segregation in Broward County," said Hastings.

"I learned from the Torah how blacks and Jews shared the burden of slavery. I admire Jews for overcoming struggles and turning them into strengths. Anti-Semites blamed Jews for their own problems because they were successful," said Young.

"I fondly remember that Dr. Martin Luther King had many blacks and Jews join him in a trip to Israel. Both blacks and Jews also learned from the Six-Day War of 1967 that we have a common heritage from the same God who created us all."

"We gather inspiration today from Mrs. Turkel to go forward as blacks and Jews together to fight for the end of anti-Semitism and racism," said Young.

Jewish American Heritage Month is celebrated during the month of May as an annual celebration and recognition of Jewish Americans for their achievements and contributions in the United States.

Wasserman Schultz is credited, along with the late Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican-turned-Democrat from Pennsylvania and the Jewish Museum of Florida, with founding the annual JAHM celebrations, beginning in 2006.

To learn more about Jewish American Heritage Month, go to http://www.jewishamericanheritagemonth.us.

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Posted By simmons on May 13, 2017

Handout

The Cook sisters at Fenway Park.

Leading civil rights and education groups directed a torrent of criticism at a Malden charter school Friday for disciplining black and biracial students who wear hairstyles that administrators say violate the schools dress code.

The state association of charter schools disavowed the actions of administrators at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, saying they had trampled on students cultural heritage. The Anti-Defamation League questioned whether the school was equitably applying discipline policies.

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And the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice demanded public records from Mystic Valley to assess the impact of the schools dress code on students of color.

Denying young black women their opportunity to express their cultural identity will not make the school safer, more orderly, or less distracting, the committee said in a statement.

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Students at the Malden school who wear hair extensions have faced detention and suspension by administrators, who said the hairstyle could highlight economic differences among students because of its cost.

The girls at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School have been given detention, kicked out of after-school sports, and banned from the prom.

Administrators sent a letter to parents Friday insisting that rules on attire and appearance are consistently enforced.

They are designed to permit students to focus their attentions on academics and on those aspects of their personalities that are truly important, the statement said.

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The specific prohibition on hair extensions, which are expensive and could serve as a differentiating factor between students from dissimilar socioeconomic backgrounds, is consistent with our desire to create such an educational environment, one that celebrates all that our students have in common and minimizes material differences and distractions, the statement said.

Any suggestion that it is based on anything else is simply wrong.

School administrators were not available for interviews Friday.

More than 40 percent of the schools students are people of color, but state education data show Mystic Valley has just one black teacher on a staff of about 170. Those records also show that black students at Mystic Valley were more than twice as likely last year to be suspended for any infraction compared with white students.

The schools desire to erase economic differences among students to, in effect, create a level playing field is reasonable, said Tomiko Brown-Nagin, a Harvard Law School professor who teaches education law and policy. But such policies, she said, can rub up against the equally reasonable imperative to be culturally sensitive.

Brown-Nagin said courts have given employers and schools wide discretion in grooming codes but have challenged schools discretion when grooming codes infringe on cultural expression.

It strikes me as a laudable goal to try to reduce visible economic disparities among students, Brown-Nagin said. But the way the policy is enforced and the penalties for the policy raise serious questions.

Parents of Mystic Valley students who have faced discipline decried the schools action as racist. They said students are being punished for wearing hair extensions, additional hair that is woven in. The parents said white students who color their hair also against the schools dress code are not facing discipline.

Hair extensions woven into braids cost about $50 to $200, and can last up to three months, a price on par with or less expensive than other hairstyles, according to a random sample by the Globe of salons from Boston to Malden.

Outside the school Friday, a handful of students said they were outraged but not surprised by administrators actions.

Jordan Towle-Jackson, a 17-year-old junior, said she had encountered racial ignorance from some students, and indifference by some administrators.

There have been racist comments, and when I went to the schools director, he basically told me to go make a club to try and fix it, she said.

Mya Cook, one of the students who recently served multiple detentions for wearing braided extensions, said her hairstyle is not hurting anyone. Cook and her twin sister, Deanna, 15-year old sophomores, have refused to give up their extensions.

Why call me out instead of calling out these Caucasian girls who have dyed their hair and dont get in trouble at all? Cook said. You have to stand up for what you believe in, thats the only way things change.

Kiryannah Burkett, a 17-year-old junior, said the schools dress code is especially challenging for black students because black hair grows differently than white hair, making it hard to follow rules that also ban hair that is more than 2 inches in thickness or height.

That is discriminatory, Burkett said. Our hair grows up, but other hair grows down.

The dress code drew the ire of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association.

The policy and enforcement actions by the administration at Mystic Valley run counter to everything we as parents, educators, as association board members stand for and teach in our schools, the statement said.

We nurture our students to learn from each other. Our doors are open to all families, the statement said. The association disavows Mystic Valleys discriminatory policy and its decision to punish students who express their cultural heritage.

Leaders of the states Anti-Defamation League had scheduled a phone conference for Friday with Alexander Dan, Mystics interim school director, after the parents of the Cook twins sought help dealing with the school. But the appointed time came and went, and no call came from Dan, said Robert Trestan, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League of New England, a nonprofit that fights anti-Semitism and other expressions of hate.

Instead, the Anti-Defamation League received a one-line e-mail. According to Trestan, it said, This constitutes our written response to your inquiry. Attached to the e-mail was the statement Dan released Friday morning to parents.

Trestan said the Anti-Defamation League was concerned the schools policy is potentially being implemented in a discriminatory way. . . . When students go to school, they need to know that every policy is going to be applied in an equitable manner.

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Posted By admin on May 10, 2017

Organizers of Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM), which celebrates contributions American Jews have made to the nation, has chosen this year to honor the communitys accomplishments in the medical research field.

Many of those being remembered, such as polio vaccine inventor Dr. Jonas Salk, are well known to Philadelphia, as theyve been part of the Only in America exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH).

But according to Ivy Barsky, the museums CEO, even lesser-known figures are getting their due. Biochemist and pharmacologist Gertrude Elion, for instance, won the Nobel Prize for work in the development of drugs used for organ transplants and childhood chemotherapy.

Shes hardly a household [name], Barsky said of Elion, so one of the things were trying to do is really celebrate some of the unsung or less sung Jewish American heroes whove made great contributions to the world, and trying to educate others about this great work and how because of the freedoms theyve been afforded in this country, theyve been able to contribute mightily to medical science and curing disease.

The NMAJH is celebrating the heritage month with different events and speakers. It recently hosted guest speaker Kathy Fields, CEO of Proactiv, and a symposium surrounding its 1917: How One Year Changed the World exhibit. David Ben-Gurions grandson will speak May 11, and an upcoming cooking event on the evolution of Jewish cooking in America with Molly Yeh, Joan Nathan, Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov is scheduled for May 16.

The NMAJH has gradually taken over as the home base of JAHM over the past couple years. Prior to that, programs were planned at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.

One of the things that our museum does thats so very interesting is it makes a connection from American Jewry to the State of Israel, said Barksy. Im not even sure that all Americans, young Americans, understand the role that American Jewry played in the establishment and nurturance and sustenance of Israel.

Called for in a joint resolution of Congress and first proclaimed by President George W. Bush in 2006, JAHM has occupied the month of May for 12 years.

Its goal is to communicate with Jews and non-Jews about Jewish contributions made to the country.

Weve been fairly successful thus far at celebrating this within the Jewish community, but were hoping in the next few years to make it something that is celebrated outside the Jewish community, Barsky said. Were just trying to bring the thing up to scale; raise the visibility of Jewish American Heritage Month; make sure that it lives up to its promise and its purpose that [Rep.] Debbie Wasserman Schultz and [Sen.] Arlen Specter saw for it when they founded it.

By celebrating researchers who are not as prominent geneticist Baruch Samuel Blumberg, who discovered the first Hepatitis B virus vaccine; Mathilde Krim, who was committed to AIDS patients and research; neuroscientist Eric Richard Kandel, who researched the physiological basis of memory storage in neurons; and medical physicist Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, who became the second woman to win a Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine through her development of radioimmunoassay the month promotes a deeper understanding of positive Jewish contributions, Barsky said. In its own way, that combats anti-Semitism.

[Kids] know who Albert Einstein is, but they dont necessarily know that he was Jewish, Barsky explained. They dont necessarily know he came here as a refugee from Nazi Germany. So those are the kinds of things that are very important, an important role Jewish American Heritage Month can play in transmitting that information.

For more information, visit JAHM.us.

Contact: [emailprotected]; 215-832-0737

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Posted By admin on May 10, 2017

Jewish American Heritage Month is an annual recognition and celebration of Jewish American achievements and contributions to the United States of America. It is observed annually in the U.S. during the month of May. Signed by President George W. Bush on April 20, 2006, the legislation was the culmination of efforts by individuals and groups in the Jewish community that resulted in resolutions introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). They urged the president to proclaim a month that would recognize the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture.

Jews make up less than two percent of the population and yet there is a lack of understanding that Judaism is both a religion and a culture.

Jewish immigrants came to our country, hoping to fulfill their dreams by participating in the American promise of socio-economic mobility, democracy, and cultural acceptance. With a culture that places a strong value on education and community, Jewish Americans have enriched our society and contributed to the economic and cultural vitality of our nation.

To celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month, Beth Judah Wildwood will present a program on Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m. called the Jewish Voice in American Song. The program will be held in Beth Judahs social hall; it is free and open to the public.

Dr. Karen Uslin, adjunct professor of Musicology at Rowan University, accompanied by Jonathan Delgado, director of music and liturgy at Notre Dame De Lar Mer Parish, will explore the unique role of Jewish composers, lyricists and performers in the creation of the modern American Musical. The performance will provide a back-and-forth between narrative and songs.

It may seem paradoxical, but it took a Russian-born cantors son, Irving Berlin, to write God Bless America and the musical of quintessential Americana, Annie Get Your Gun. It was Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, both Jews, who wrote the American masterpiece Show Boat. George and Ira Gershwin composed Porgy and Bess, often considered Americas first and best opera. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II created and defined aspects of the American landscape in Oklahoma! and explored American values in South Pacific. And, in the latter half of the twentieth century, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick wrote the prototypical Jewish musical, Fiddler on the Roof.

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In Celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, the Jewish Voice in American Song - Cape May County Herald

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Posted By admin on May 10, 2017

By Gina Martinez

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A new resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives to recognize the contributions of Jewish Americans.

The resolution, a bipartisan effort from U.S. Reps. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY) just in time for Jewish American Heritage Month, recognizes Israeli-American heritage and the contributions of the Israeli-American community.

May is Jewish American Heritage Month and Israeli Independence Day was celebrated May 2.

Israeli-Americans have made outstanding and lasting contributions to many facets of American society, Meng said. From creating technological advancements that we use every day, to starting businesses that employ tens of thousands of Americans, the Israeli-American community continues to thrive, thereby strengthening our economy. As the representative of many hardworking Israeli-Americans, Im proud to help introduce this important resolution.

Zeldin said he was proud to introduce the resolution that celebrates the up to 800,000 Israeli-Americans in the United States who have a critical role in our society, specifically in the economy, culture and national security.

Israeli-Americans contribute in many ways that create jobs and help grow our economy, while strengthening our nations national security to protect Americas interests at home and abroad, Zeldin said. I encourage all of my House colleagues to support this resolution.

Israeli-American Council CEO Shoham Nicolet said he was grateful to Meng and Zeldin for leading the effort to recognize the Israeli- American communitys contributions.

From high-tech to Hollywood, from agriculture to clean energy, Israeli-Americans are making their mark in the U.S. to strengthen our countrys security, economy and future. Nicolet said.

Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmartinez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 2604566.

Posted 9:10 am, May 10, 2017

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Posted By admin on May 10, 2017

Marco Rubio / AP

BY: David Rutz May 9, 2017 4:14 pm

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) told the Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday that his wife recently got a "very disturbing" voice mail from a stranger, and the lawmaker stressed that crimes against all different types of people merit urgent attention.

Rubio did not elaborate on the specifics of the threat against Jeanette Rubio, but he said it was "chilling" and delivered with an eerie calmness, according to the Tamp Bay Times.

"And the most disturbing part of his voice mail was the calmness in which that hateful message was delivered," Rubio said at the Mayflower hotel. "I'm not saying it would have been better. I'm saying it would have probably been less chilling if the person who left that voice mail was angry and screaming and using profanity. This person was making this argument as if it was a legitimate and credible political thought."

He did not elaborate other than to call it "not just eye-opening but chilling."

The Florida Republican spoke of being vigilant against Anti-Semitism but also espoused a broad view that people of all backgrounds should be protected, mentioning Arabs and Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs.

Rubio is currently serving a second term as a senator from Florida. He launched an unsuccessful bid for the 2016 Republican nomination for president, but he was reelected to his Senate seat in November.

The Rubios married in 1998, and they have four children.

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Posted By admin on May 9, 2017

Jerusalem Post Israel News

Lauder: Antisemitism and anti-Zionism are one in the same Jerusalem Post Israel News There's also something new, antisemitism that tries to hide itself and anti-Zionism. People who want to destroy the world's only Jewish state having failed to destroy Israel militarily and economically are now trying to destroy Israel politically ... The nation-state bill is crucialIsrael Hayom World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder Calls for Jewish People to Unite Against Anti-Semitism and Anti ...PR Newswire UK (press release) The difference between fate and destinySan Diego Jewish World Forward -Daily Sabah -Haaretz all 293 news articles »

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Posted By simmons on May 9, 2017

My rebbes are Rabbis Yehuda Amitaland Aharon Lichtenstein, of blessed memory, the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, located in Gush Etzion, a cluster of Jewish settlements located in the Judaean Mountains of the West Bank. I studied Talmud from them over 40 years ago, but have since left the derech (path); I no longer keep the Torah and its commandments.

I am at peace regarding the conflict between myself and my rebbes on the issue of Torah. Yes, I reject Torah, but I value Jewish continuity and since I cannot conceive a Jewish future (worthy of the name) without the input of a heavy dose of Torah, I value the rabbis. The question regarding Torah instead becomes: Am I the villain in that confrontation?

I say I am not. True, I value continuity, but I also value the search for truth, which requires radical emotional honesty and radical skepticism. My search for truth may have yielded few fruits, but still I cannot value continuity to the extent of denigrating the pursuit of truth.

Indeed, the project of Jewish continuity seems an imperiled one. Certainly there will be many Jewish futures, particularly assuming the continued hospitality of the American Jewish experience (experiment?). I would project this continuity in two directions: The group committed to Torah and the group for whom their commitments find Torah as a useful focus. As we get further from the big bang of American Jewish life (the Ellis Island immigrant experience) the commonalities of ethnicity are diluted and it is texts and rituals which must become our new commons. There are many ways of pursuing political, psychological and personal goals without involving God, worship, rituals and texts. But let us not in a fit of feigned faith in rationalism deny the deep roots of religion that have been a vital part of the human experience for thousands of years. There will be those who continue to find nutrition and guidance from Jewish texts and rituals. And my rabbis as teachers of Torah have played a positive role improving the chances for continuity.

No, it is not the issue of Torah, where the villainy of my rebbes concerns me; it is the issue of Israel. And regarding Israel there is a conflict for me very near its core:

On the one hand, I value the urge towards Jewish self determination, particularly in the period of 1881 to 1945. It was and is an urge towards survival and life. It is good.

On the other hand, the establishment of Israel involved doing great harm to the Palestinians. This violence done to human beings was, is, will always be wrong.

Part of the Zionist revolution of the new Hebrew man was a rejection of nonviolence as a form of weakness. A Jew like me raised and coddled in the North America of the 1960s, opposed to the Vietnam War ,would reflexively recoil at the Nakba, the exile forced on hundreds of thousands. I was trained by golus parents, by moral parents, to recoil at such violence. Still ultimately I must give my approval to Zionism on this level: It saved a branch of my family. I had four grandparents (who all died natural deaths), but their families did not all share their good fortune. My two grandmothers lost all or most of their families to the Shoah. One grandfathers family found refuge in America, but my maternal grandfathers family found refuge in British Mandate Palestine and that was only because of the existence of Zionism. If not for Zionism those cousins would never have breathed life on this planet. I cannot deny them life.

But the need for a Jewish state does not specify the choice of a location or destination for that state. Why in Israel and not in Uganda or a chunk of Germany? But in the real world the choice is obvious: When building a movement you pick a destination that will inspire rather than a destination that embodies desperation.

But this obvious choice leads us to the present tense: constant war. This history also leads us to the present tense: Gaza and the West Bank. Which will lead to the future tense: the American Democratic Partys future abandonment of Israel. Some time in the future it will reflect its grass roots and not its big donors.

My rebbes Amital and Lichtenstein taught Torah in the West Bank. Of course Gush Etzion is in the Israeli Jewish consensus, whereas Hebron is not. But if one views the occupation as demoralizing, which I do, then the liberal hearts of Amital and Lichtenstein do not matter, their roles in building a yeshiva in occupied territory is essential to the IDF raiding a Palestinian home at two in the morning. It isnt Levinger (of Hebron) alone whose ideas force the soldiers to wake up that Palestinian family and point weapons in their faces. It is Amital and Lichtenstein as well.

Solving the contradiction between the essential rightness of Zionism circa 1881-1945 and the essential wrongness of the Nakba, 1947-1948, may not be resolvable. But still the occupation of the West Bank is such an unmitigated moral and political disaster, that I have to wonder whether my rebbes were villains.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

The Forward's independent journalism depends on donations from readers like you.

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Posted By admin on May 9, 2017

The public is invited to the Bnai Brith Camps 7th Annual Spaghetti Dinner on May 18 with tours of the camp at 5 p.m. and dinner served at 6 p.m.

This years dinner will be created by camp Chef, Becci Bazen and will include spaghetti and meatballs, salad, French bread, dessert and beverages. The event is hosted to raise scholarships for local kids to attend day camp this summer.

Tickets for the event may be purchased online at http://www.bbcamp.org, at the Family Promise Day Center in the Taft area or at the door. There will also be baskets to be raffled off full of gift certificates, wine, music and even a dog lover basket.

At 5 p.m., camp tours begin with two new buildings to see plus all the activity areas where the kids spend their summer days. At 6 p.m. dinner is served and a short program about camp will be presented.

Bnai Brith Camp is an amazing part of a childs life with friends to meet, experiences that can challenge kids to try something new and memories to last a lifetime. Many local kids who receive scholarships would not otherwise get to experience this level of summer activity. Some kids might not even have full childcare while parents work. But with the help of this annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser and thanks to our giving community, these kids get to experience arts and crafts, swimming daily, sports, a ropes course, a zip line, reading, singing and dancing and the fun days boating on the lake. They get choices in which activities they want to try.

BB Camp, as it is known, is located on East Devils Lake Road across from the KOA campground. It is one of the hidden treasures we have in Lincoln City. The spaghetti dinner is an annual event where citizens can come and find out what more about this local camp.

For more details, call Dick or Sue Anderson at 541-996-8482.

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FOR THE KIDS: B'nai B'rith Camp's Annual Spaghetti Dinner - The News Guard

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