jewish observer, june 2011
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A publication of the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle TennesseeTRANSCRIPT
bserver
VOL.76 NO. 11June 10, 20118 Sivan 5771
theJewish
www.jewishnashville.org
inside:The Hamas - Al-QaedaAlliance 2
Physician helps the world,one prescription at a time 3
Howard Kirshner installed as president of GJCC 3
Circumcision battle shapes up 4
SectionsCommentary & opinion 2Lifecycles 5Community calendar 6
A Publication of
Middle East and Israel. “It’s been crisisafter crisis in the region for the last sixmonths,” he said in a telephone inter-view. “You can be a strong supporter ofIsrael and not get a sense of what’shappening behind the headlines.”
He is uniquely equipped to bringfresh information to audiences.Schanzer is vice president of researchfor the Foundation for Defense ofDemocracies (www.defenddemocra-
By Kathy Carlson
Middle East analystJonathan Schanzerspeaks both Hebrewand Arabic, hasworked as a terror-ism finance analyst
for the U.S. Treasury Department andhas co-written a book on what policy-makers can learn from social media,in particular, Palestinian social media.
He will share his perspective andfindings in Nashville on Mon., June20, when he speaks at the GordonJewish Community Center at 7:15p.m. His visit will initiate theFederation’s Community RelationsCommittee’s series, “Increase yourIsrael IQ – From Argument toAdvocacy.” It is funded by a grantfrom the Jewish Federation ofNashville’s New Initiatives Fund.
Schanzer’s talk, “PalestinianPolitics, Arab Protest and IsraeliSecurity,” will inform the communityabout the latest developments in the
Schanzer to address ‘Palestinian Politics,Arab Protests and Israeli Security’
cy.org), which describes itself as anonpartisan policy institute dedicatedexclusively to promoting pluralism,defending democratic values, andfighting the ideologies that threatendemocracy. He earned a B.A. fromEmory University, a master’s degreefrom the Hebrew University ofJerusalem, and a doctorate from KingsCollege London. He also studiedArabic at the American University inCairo in 2001.
With so much going on so quick-ly in the region, Schanzer doesn’tstick to a formal, prewritten speechthese days.
For people trying to stay abreastof developments, Schanzer said, “thereare a lot of voices out there. I fervent-ly defend Israel but also feel I try tobring some balance to my analysis.”
He offered his suggestions onhow to become better informed onIsrael, for different levels of experi-ence and interest. “For those who aregetting feet wet,” he said, “follow one
Continued on page 2
Marchers representing the Jewish Agency for Israel were among the 30,000 peoplewho marched in the Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City on June 5, 2011.(Jewish Agency for Israel)
Jonathan Schanzer
Ahead of Palestinian U.N. gambit, Europe is in playBy Leslie Susser
JERUSALEM (JTA) — It was asign that ties between the Obama andNetanyahu administrations remainstrong despite the apparent tensionsrecently when the two leaders met atthe White House.
On June 6, U.S. Secretary ofState Hillary Rodham Clinton shotdown a French proposal for renewedIsraeli-Palestinian peace talks that hadput the Israeli leader in a quandary.
If Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu had accepted the Frenchproposal, which included a settlementfreeze, his right-leaning coalition part-ners might have bolted the govern-ment. If he refused, it would havemade it seem like he was the intransi-gent party in Israeli-Palestinian negoti-ations — a perilous position as Franceand other leading European states con-sider voting for Palestinian statehoodat the United Nations in September.
During a visit to Israel and theWest Bank in early June, FrenchForeign Minister Alain Juppe out-lined his plan for restarting the stalledpeace process: The goal would be toestablish two states for two peoples onthe basis of the 1967 lines with landswaps; borders and security would bediscussed first, Jerusalem and refugeeslater. That part of the proposal mir-rored Obama’s call for renewedIsraeli-Palestinian talks.
But the French proposal alsoenvisaged achieving a full-fledgedpermanent peace deal within a yearand a freeze of any unilateral steps inthe interim. For the Palestinians, thatwould mean not petitioning theUnited Nations for statehood inSeptember. For Israel, it would meanhalting settlement construction inthe West Bank.
Juppe invited Netanyahu and
Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmud Abbas to an internationalconference in Paris in July to kick-start the process. Abbas quicklyreplied in the affirmative.Netanyahu said he would first con-sult with the Americans.
The package was attractive to thePalestinians because of its clear focuson the 1967 lines and its relatively
Continued on page 8
2 June 10, 2011 The Observer
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Schanzer to address ‘Palestinian Politics, Arab Protests and Israeli Security’Continued from page 1or two trusted sources” – an analyst or anews organization – and read whatthey’re saying once a week or so.
For more advanced news-gatherers orthose who are more interested, he suggest-ed looking at what Israelis, Palestiniansand others are saying. After a while, read-ers may notice recurring, consistentthemes along with occasional surprises inwhat each group says. At that point, peo-ple may want to check social networks forbreaking news. And for a broader frame ofreference that includes history and con-text, he suggests reading books.
In making presentations to groups,Schanzer said he tries his hardest “to notwater down what I’m saying but to givepeople both history and current events.”Those who know the history will havetheir knowledge reinforced and thosewho don’t will be better informed.
The biggest misperception about theMiddle East that Schanzer sees in hisaudiences is a jaded attitude expressedwhen people say, “ ‘Well, you’re eitherpro-Israel or pro-Palestinian. Everythingyou’re going to say is polemic.’ That’sincorrect,” he said. “You can be an advo-cate and support” one side or another“but there are certain things you can’t getaround being true or false.”
Despite the fact that some peoplehold rigid opinions, Schanzer said he hasbeen able to open people’s eyes, as, forexample, when he talks about what hecalls “internecine conflict betweenHamas and Fatah.” They are two differentfactions with two different ideologies thatwent to war in 2007 in Gaza and “can’tagree on the color of hummus,” he said.“That creates problems for peacemaking.”
“There’s a lack of reform in thePalestinians,” he continued. Hamas andFatah are “violent in ideologies and atwar with one another. We need new andfresh blood to come in.” There was sensethat the Arab spring would reach theWest Bank and Gaza, but what happenedwas a “marriage of convenience (betweenthe two factions); they’re not reformingin any way.” Unless a PalestinianMahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther Kingappears, he said, “I think we are runningin place.” c
commentary & opinion
By Jonathan Schanzer
Editor’s Note: The author will speak inNashville on Mon., June 20, at 7:15 p.m.at the GJCC. His visit will be the kick-off tothe Federation’s Community RelationsCommittee’s series, “Increase your IsraelIQ – From Argument to Advocacy,” fund-ed by a grant from the Jewish Federation’sNew Initiatives Fund. Look for announce-ments of additional speakers in upcomingissues of the Observer.
While most of theworld celebratesthe U.S. militaryoperation thatkilled al Qaedaleader Osama bin
Laden in Pakistan, the sentiment is notunanimous. In the Gaza Strip, Hamasleader Ismail Haniyeh has condemnedthe United States, accusing Washingtonof assassinating a “Muslim and Arabicwarrior” and the “continuation of theAmerican oppression and shedding ofblood of Muslims and Arabs.”
Haniyeh's reaction underscores theideological roots Hamas and al Qaedashare: Hamas was founded by SheikhAhmed Yassin, a prominent PalestinianMuslim Brotherhood figure; al Qaedawas cofounded, along with bin Laden, byAbdullah Azzam, another prominentPalestinian Muslim Brotherhood figure.
But this only partially explains whyHaniyeh and his ilk are now mourning
the death of the most notorious terroristin modern history.
While Hamas insists that it has nooperational ties to al Qaeda, in the earlyand mid-1990s Hamas members receivedparamilitary training and attendedIslamist conferences in Sudan, alongsidebin Laden and his supporters.
The operational ties were confirmeda decade later, when bin Laden reported-ly sent emissaries to Hamas on two sepa-rate occasions (September 2000 andJanuary 2001). While most analystsbelieve Hamas rejected al Qaeda's offerto coordinate violence against Israel, itappears Hamas never closed the door. In2002, the Washington Post quoted offi-cial U.S. government sources as confirm-ing a loose alliance “between al-Qaeda,Hamas, and Hizbullah.”
In 2003, Israel arrested three Hamasfighters returning from al Qaeda trainingcamps in Afghanistan. That same year,Jordanian security officials confirmed toTime magazine that two Hamas memberswent on a recruiting mission inAfghanistan hoping to bring al Qaedafighters back to the Palestinian territories.
Arab media also reported in 2006that Syria-based Hamas chief KhaledMeshaal had met in Yemen with Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, whom the U.S. Treasuryofficially designated as a terrorist in 2004for his ties to al Qaeda. Zindani has open-ly boasted of providing funds to Hamas.
Thus, over the course of two decades,Hamas has maintained a relationshipwith the al Qaeda network. This explains
Haniyeh's lamentations after hearing ofbin Laden's death, and further explains,in part, why the United States has desig-nated Hamas a terrorist organization.
But Hamas's sympathies for binLaden hold a deeper meaning now than[previously]. Last [month], Hamasentered into a unity government withthe rival Fatah faction, the ruling partyof the Palestinian Authority. The dealimmediately raised questions aboutwhether Washington could recognizesuch a government.
If the group's grisly record of suicidebombings and attacks against civilians
since its inception in 1988 were notenough, the aforementioned tiesbetween Hamas and al Qaeda shouldserve as further warning to Washingtonabout the terror group that now appearsto have a controlling stake in thePalestinian Authority. c
Jonathan Schanzer, a former intelligenceanalyst at the U.S. Treasury, is vice presidentof research at the Foundation for Defense ofDemocracies, and author of Hamas vs.Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine(Palgrave Macmillan 2008). This article firstappeared in The Weekly Standard Online.
The Hamas - Al-Qaeda Alliance
The Observer June 10, 2011 3
By Kathy Carlson
For Bruce Wolf, tikkun olamcomes in little orangey-brownplastic pill bottles. TheNashville physician has pio-neered an approach to healthcare that uses medications
that otherwise would go to waste, aims toimprove medication philanthropies, andmost importantly helps people in needget the prescription drugs they need tostay healthy.
Wolf has developed two nonprofits– Dispensary of Hope and Hope BeyondHope – to implement his vision fordelivering selected prescription drugs(no scheduled drugs or controlled sub-stances) to people who cannot affordthem. Dispensary of Hope began inMiddle Tennnessee and now suppliesmedications at more than 70 locations in16 states. It has filled more than 250,000prescriptions in Middle Tennessee alone.Hope Beyond Hope, a newer organiza-tion, focuses on advocacy and innova-tion related to medication philanthropy.
The germ of an idea that becameDispensary of Hope dates to about 1997,when Wolf realized that about 10 per-cent of the roughly $300,000 in medicalsamples he received from pharmaceuti-cal representatives that year weren’t usedbecause they had reached their expira-tion dates on his shelves. Most of hispatients were insured and didn’t needhelp to obtain prescription meds. “Whydon’t I just tithe that medicine on thefront end?” he thought.
If, like him, other doctors weren’tusing or could spare $30,000 worth ofsample drugs each year, it would add upto quite a lot of medicines for uninsuredpatients. Wolf took the idea to St.Thomas Hospital, where he practices,and suggested that they incorporate theconcept into a clinic the hospital wasbuilding on Charlotte Pike. He thenenlisted other doctors and a nonprofitdispensary was born.
Wolf kept working to extend hisvision. He had a satellite office inRutherford County where there were
many poor, uninsured patients but littleinfrastructure to take care of them. Twosteps were needed to dispense medica-tions to people in need: first, prescriptiondrugs needed to be provided to meetimmediate, short-term needs, and sec-ond, there had to be a way to make iteasier for doctors and patients to takeadvantage of pharmaceutical companies’own free-prescription programs, whichwould meet the patients’ long-termneeds. The paperwork for the drug com-panies’ programs was too cumbersome tofill out, Wolf said. Just half of all doctorshad ever filled out the forms, and ofthose doctors, many only filled them outone to three times in their careers.
Wolf started the Dispensary of Hopeof Murfreesboro upstairs in his office andlater moved it to 400 square feet of rentedspace. A pharmacist and technician,along with volunteers, came to eventuallyrun the service. A group of retiree volun-teers regularly collected doctors’ excesssamples. Eventually, Dispensary of Hopecame to have more samples than it coulduse, so it started sharing them with clinicsaround Tennessee. Another dispensarybegan at St. Thomas Hospital, and each ofthe two dispensaries has grown to give outmore than 25,000 prescriptions per year.
In 2006, Dispensary of Hope experi-enced another milestone when one phar-maceutical concern asked if the groupwould like a donation of 10 million pillsof one medication. Wolf wanted to sayyes, but he had nowhere to keep a hugequantity of pills nor did he have a largeenough network to give all of them to.With the help of Nashville’s SecondHarvest Food Bank providing space,Dispensary of Hope was able to receiveand store several hundred thousand pillsand distribute them. Dispensary of Hopenow has its own 10,000-square-footwarehouse in MetroCenter.
Wolf notes that pharmaceuticalcompanies manufacture excess drugseach year because of regulatory require-ments and their own sales projections.When drugs aren’t sold or used, it’sexpensive to safely dispose of them.Alarmingly, it has been extrapolated
that upwards of 23 million pounds of use-able medications are destroyed each yearin our country. Ensuring that these med-ications don’t go to waste is an expressedgoal of Hope Beyond Hope.
“The beauty of efforts likeDispensary of Hope and Hope BeyondHope is that they are win-wins,” Wolfsaid. Pharmaceutical companies are ableto help others and have the assurancethat their extra medications are going topeople in need. People benefit becausethey can maintain their health and pre-
vent future health care bills such asemergency room care they might need ifthey didn’t have their medications.They also don’t have to choose betweenfood and medicine.
Dispensary of Hope’s efforts havewon recognition from Justmeans, a com-munications company for sustainablebusinesses, which in 2010 cited its supplychain management strategy as mostinfluential. A new dispensary justopened in Connecticut.
Wolf now spends about a third of histime on his charitable efforts, concentrat-ing these days on Hope Beyond Hope.That organization hosted the Summit ofHope this spring, a two-day meeting thatbrought together diverse stakeholdersincluding seven major pharmaceuticalcompanies from around the country toinnovate about how to increase the flowof medication to the underserved.
Hope Beyond Hope is working tobuild what Wolf calls a coalition of thewilling, a broad base of like-mindedindividuals, organizations and politi-cians committed to such principles andtheir execution.
“We’re doing so much good, but it’sonly the tip of the iceberg,” Wolf said.“For me, for my life and for my Jewishlife, it’s about trying to give back to peo-ple in need. This is a way for me to dotikkun olam.” c
Physician helps repair the world, one prescription at a time
Bruce Wolf, M.D.
At the GJCC’s AnnualMeeting on May 31, anew slate of officers wasinstalled for 2011-2012.They include: HowardKirshner, president;
David Lewis, president-elect; CarlaRosenthal, vice president; and RaymondJacobs, secretary.
In his induction speech, Kirshnerspoke about focusing on membershipduring his tenure and how important itwas for all members of Nashville’s Jewish
Community to support and be involvedin the GJCC.
The GJCC welcomed new boardmembers: Hillary Kaplan, Roger Shepardand Rachel Johnson.
Kim Lapidus, Laurie Luecke andPatti Stein are completing their boardterms this year.
Outgoing President Dina M.Biesman was thanked for her work byEric Goldstein, GJCC executive direc-tor, on behalf of the GJCC ExecutiveCommittee and board. c
Howard Kirshner installed as president of GJCC
4 June 10, 2011 The Observer
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TORONTO (JTA) — A lawsuitfiled in Toronto is seeking to blockCanadian participation in the secondinternational Freedom Flotilla to Gaza.
Cherna Rosenberg, 68, a citizen ofCanada and Israel, filed her lawsuit June2 in the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice in Toronto against the CanadianBoat to Gaza and AlternativesInternational. The complaint chargesthe groups with raising funds for and pro-viding material support to Hamas, whichgoverns Gaza and was declared a terroristgroup by Canada in 2002.
Under Canadian law, it is illegal tohelp or support “a designated terrorgroup,” said Rosenberg’s lawyers, NeilSher of New York and Ed Morgan ofToronto, in a statement.
Rosenberg, who divides her timebetween Israel and Canada, is seeking aninterim and permanent injunction pro-hibiting the defendants “from continu-ing to raise funds, purchasing equipmentor supplies, and purchasing or renting avessel for the purpose of delivering goodsor funds to the Gaza Strip.”
According to a statement of claim,which outlines a plaintiff ’s cause foraction, the suit also seeks to block thedefendants “from sending goods, funds orany other material support, directly orindirectly, to Hamas or any of its repre-sentatives, and/or from aiding and abet-ting Hamas by assisting in bringingimports and exports to and from theGaza Strip.”
An umbrella group representingabout 100 Canadian organizations hasunveiled plans to send a Canadian boat,called the Tahrir, to the Gaza Strip aspart of the second internationalFreedom Flotilla. c
Lawsuit seeks to block Canadian ship in Gaza flotilla
The Nashville Chapter of Hadassah installedits new officers at a May 2 cocktail receptionat the home of Sylvia Rapoport. From left:Victoria Cohen-Crumpton, immediate pastpresident; Jill Melody Pankowsky, incomingpresident; and Edria Ragosin, former presi-dent. Other members of the ExecutiveBoard are: Denese Kassman, membershipvice president; Keren Levy-Rotem, educationand programming vice president; and MarisaMayhan, fundraising vice president.
What happens whenZionism meets YouTube and othersocial media?Pretty much any-thing, and that’s
the beauty and challenge of what RabbisSaul Strosberg and Flip Rice call YouTube Zionism, the topic of a recentHadassah meeting.
The two rabbis interspersed theirown comments and audience commentswith 10 You Tube videos on an assortmentof Jewish topics during the meeting onJune 1 at the Gordon Jewish CommunityCenter. About 50 people attended.
The Internet video site You Tubeallows individuals, organizations, eventhe government of Israel to use it andtheir videos “to educate the world from acertain perspective about Israel,” saidStrosberg, rabbi at Congregation SherithIsrael. You Tube allows regular folks tocreate their own videos, self-publishthem and embed them on their personalWebsites and on social media sites likeFacebook. Videos can take on a life oftheir own and be viewed by millions ifenough people like them.
There’s a catch, however: If yousearch on You Tube for Zionism, you’lloften be directed to the same videosyou’d get if you searched for anti-Zionism, the rabbis said.
Their selection of videos includeddry, academic, black-and-white presenta-tions; clips from 1970s TV shows format-ted for the Internet, including one ofBarbra Streisand interviewing Israeli
Prime Minister Golda Meir; and currentamateur and professional productions.They illustrated how individuals, smallgroups and large organizations are usingthe platform of You Tube to inform peo-ple and advocate for their points of view.
Videos help illustrate how Israel “isnot just this dream,” CongregationMicah’s Rice said. “It’s a real place andIsraelis are real people.”
Those attending the programenjoyed both the blasts from the past inold videos, and the vibrant sense of Israeland being Jewish in newer ones. “I thinkit’s a stark contrast from what you see onthe major news networks,” NiliFriedman said. Added Denese Kassman,“You’ve got to be careful what you lookat” on You Tube.
The program coincided with YomYerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) in Israel,which celebrates the 1967 reunificationof Jerusalem. The event aimed to cele-brate the holiday and educate the com-munity about Israel and Hadassah’s pro-grams in Israel and the United States,such as the Hadassah Medical
Organization in Israel and Young Judaeain the United States, HadassahNashville chapter president Jill MelodyPankowsky said afterward.
For more information on Hadassah,contact Pankowsky at [email protected]. c
Hadassah explores Zionism and new social media
By Sue Fishkoff
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — InNovember, San Franciscans will vote ona ballot measure that would outlaw cir-cumcision on boys under the age of 18.
Although experts say it is highlyunlikely the measure will pass — veryfew state propositions pass, much lessone this controversial — the mere factthat it reached the ballot, and in such amajor city, has caused much concern forJews and their allies.
Opponents of the bill see it as a vio-lation of the Constitution’s protection ofreligious rights and an infringement onphysicians’ ability to practice medicine.More than that, however, the measure isbeing seen as a frontal attack on a cen-tral tenet of Judaism.
“The stakes are very high,” saidNathan Diament, director of theOrthodox Union’s Institute for PublicAffairs. “Circumcision is a fundamentalaspect of Jewish ritual practice and Jewishidentity. While we certainly hope theprospect of its being enacted is remote, theprecedent it would set and the message itwould send would be terrible, not just inthe United States but around the world.
“We don’t just want it defeated,” hesaid, “we want it defeated resoundly.”
Anti-circumcision activists havebeen around for decades, particularly onthe West Coast.
They range from the Bay AreaIntactivists, a loosely organized group thatprotests outside medical conferences inand around San Francisco, to MGM Bill(MGM stands for male genital mutila-tion), a San Diego-based advocacy groupthat has prepared anti-circumcision legis-lation for 46 states. MGM has managed tofind a legislative sponsor in only onestate: Massachusetts, last year. The billdidn’t even make it out of committee.
Matthew Hess, who founded MGMBill in 2003 and spearheads its legislativeefforts, says he is trying to protect boysfrom what he considers a barbaric muti-
lation of their bodies. He became anactivist in his mid-20s, he says, when hedecided that his own circumcision as aninfant resulted in diminished sexual sen-
sitivity as an adult.“Freedom of religion stops at anoth-
er person’s body,” he told JTA.Continued on page 6
Battle over circumcision is shaping up in California
The Observer June 10, 2011 5
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lifecyclesBar Mitzvah
Riley Raff will be called to theTorah as a Bar Mitzvahon Sat., June 18, at10:30 a.m. at Congrega-tion Micah. He wasborn on June 17, 1998,in Calhoun, Ga., toRobyn and Jay Raff.His grandparents areSharon Gilner, the lateMorton Gilner, the late Reeda Raff, andthe late Morris Raff.
A seventh grader at David LipscombMiddle School, Riley is in NationalJunior Honor Society and on the soccerteam. His favorite activities includeplaying year-round soccer, video gamesand cheering on the Georgia Bulldogsand Pittsburgh Steelers.
For his mitzvah project, Riley choseto work with Second Harvest Food Bankof Middle Tennessee by on-site volun-teering efforts and donating food.Second Harvest depends on volunteers,as well as donations, to help solvehunger issues in the community.
GraduatesIlana Weinberger, daughter of
Jessica and Cantor Stanley Weinbergerof New York, formerly of Nashville, grad-uated magna cum laude from Universityof Hartford, West Hartford, Conn.
HonorsSullivan Fleming, an honors college
freshman at City College of New York,participated in a group competition heldby The Groves School of Engineering Apanel of judges awarded second place toher all-freshman team for designing alow-cost electronic Braille interface. Theteam received $10,000 to implementtheir ideas in the lab this summer.
Sullivan an Akiva alumna and agraduate of Franklin High School, is thedaughter of Tony and Jan Fleming.
Sympathy. . . to the family of Richard Tenzel,
M.D., 82, who died May 31 in Florida.He was preceded in death by his parents,Jack and Dr. Pauline Tenzel; his wife,Shirley; and son, Jack Tenzel, M.D. He issurvived by his sister, Doris Fleischer; chil-dren, David (Dr. Heather) Tenzel, M.D.,Vicki Tenzel (Dr. Howard) Loff; daugh-ter-in-law, Haydee Tenzel; and six grand-sons. He was raised in Nashville, was agraduate of Vanderbilt University and theUniversity of Tennessee Medical School.
Riley Raff
Who says kids get tohave all the sum-mer fun? Certainlynot the GJCC.This summer,there is a wealth of
programs for adults to do by themselvesor with their families starting with:
Canoeing the Harpeth River: July10 — Leave the GJCC at 10:15 a.m.sharp after picking up a picnic lunch,which is provided, and head towards Tip-A-Canoe on Highway 70 to float downthe Harpeth River! There is a charge forthe rental and lunch.
Or you can have these five campswhich feature coffee from 9 – 9:30 a.m.followed by a program from 9:30 to 11:15and topped off with lunch from 11:30 –noon.
Mah Jongg Camp: June 15, 22, 29,and July 6 — Lee Becker and RhodaCohen will teach you all about MahJongg. The fee includes all materials,lunches and treats.
Yoga and Meditation Camp: June20 — Spend a morning relaxing and try-ing new yoga moves. The fee includes allmaterials, lunch and treats plus instruc-tion by yogi Robin Haynes.
Aaron Deter-Wolf…Tattoos! June14 — Aaron Deter-Wolf, prehistoricarchaeologist, will spend the morningsharing the story of prehistoric tattooingand how it has helped us discover ourroots, The fee includes all materials,lunch and treats.
Fresh Summer Cooking…What’sfor Dinner? June 24 — Shop the Farmer’sMarket and then cook with KevinAlexandroni, owner of Sova Catering.
Spanish Summer Nights…TheFlavors of Barcelona! August 1 — Thisis actually an “evening camp” from 6:30– 9. Join Kevin Alexandroni at hisdemonstration kitchen after he returnsfrom Spain. Cook, sip wine and learnabout the flavors of Espana.
In the fall, Amish, Hippies, Wine& Diners is planned for Sept. 14 and 15.Tour Amish Country in Ethridge, Tenn.;“The Farm” in Summertown, Tenn.;lunch at David Crockett State Park; alsolunch at the famous Santa Fe Diner inSanta Fe, Tenn.; dine in Lawrenceburg,Tenn.; and taste wines at the AmberFalls Winery & Cellars.
For information about these programsand their fees and to sign up, contactMeryl Kraft at [email protected]. c
GJCC: Camp’s not just for kids anymore
Thanks to the planning ofTara Biller at Green ProofYour Home, GJCC CampDirector Claire Bernsteinand Gardens of Babylon,the GJCC Community
Garden is under way. Located at the top of the hill by
the Holocaust Memorial on the GJCCcampus, the community garden is com-prised of four plots: two vegetable, oneflower and one herb. The gardeners
hope these gardens will be shared byall in the community and that thefruits of their labor will be used forcommunity events as well as be sharedwith a local food bank. They see thisas a way to bring multi-generations ofthe community together frompreschoolers to seniors.
The garden still needs volunteers,supplies and donations. Contact ClaireBernstein at [email protected] formore information. c
GJCC Community Garden is taking rootADVERTISE
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community calendar
Throughout the United Statesand in many parts of the world,there is a concerted effort to
delegitimze the State of Israel. One ofthe tactics being used is a boycott ofIsraeli products. This action has beenseen in several locations in our country.
In an effort to counter that boycottand support Israel, many Jewish com-munities and organizations have urgedAmericans to buy Israeli products. TheCommunity Relations Committee ofthe Jewish Federation of Nashville andThe Observer want to make it easier forNashvillians to find Israeli-made goodsby publishing a list of the products andwhere to find them, locally.
We need your help. If you know ofavailable products and the stores thatcarry them, email that information [email protected]. Food, cloth-ing, jewelry, wine, etc., whatever youhave found, please share it with ourcommunity.
See the updated list, below andsend your additions to [email protected] or call 354-1637.
Israeli silver jewelry - area TJMaxx stores
Geffen Pickles – Belle Meade Kroger
Sabra Hummus and dips – area grocery stores and Costco
Eden Feta Cheese – Trader Joe’sDorot frozen garlic and herbs –
Trader Joe’sTelma products – PublixMoroccan Hair Oil treatment –
Cosmetics MarketSweet Clementines (oranges) –
CostcoCedars Halva – Whole Foods
refrigerated sectionStreit’s Quinoa and Israeli
Couscous – Harris TeeterJaffa Oranges – PublixMuscato wine by Golan Wineries –
Bud’s Wine and Liquor, Green Hills
Carries musical instruments made in Israel – Gymboree Play & Music, Cool Springs
Yehuda Yahrzeit candles – Whole Foods
Yehuda matzos – KrogerYehuda and Aviv matzo products –
Whole Foods.
BuyIsrael!
The Early ChildhoodLearning Center (ECLC)of the Gordon JewishCommunity Center hasbeen diligent in its desireto increase the resources
offered to its children. The ECLC hashired new JK teacher Holly Walker andpre-k teachers Charity Swift and AlanaSchneider.
Walker has a B.A. in early child-hood education from Harding University
and a Master of Education degree inreading, also from Harding. She comesto the ECLC from The Gardner Schoolin Franklin and has previously workedwith Cornerstone Christian Academyand Harding Academy in Searcy, Ark.,as a kindergarten teacher. Walker playsthe violin and teaches it .
Swift has a B.A. in humanities fromChatham College and a Master of Artsin teaching from Trevecca Nazarene.She is a certified elementary teacher and
GJCC’s Early Childhood Learning Center welcomes new teachersmost recently taught kindergarten atLakeview Elementary
Also a certified elementary teacher,Alana Schneider has a B.A. in communi-cation from the University of SouthFlorida as well as a Master of Science inprimary education, age 3 to grade 3. Shewas previously with Zale Early ChildhoodLearning Center in Florida where she wasworking as a pre-k support teacher.
Next year, all lead teachers in theECLC’s Young Scholarship Division will
have a minimum of an associate degreeand the majority will have a bachelordegree or higher.
The ECLC still has space availablefor this summer’s popular Camp K’Toni(for ages 3 and 4). There is also spaceavailable for the next preschool year,beginning in the fall. The ECLC offerstwo-, three- and five-day options and is a3-star facility. For more information,contact Melissa Worthington at [email protected]. c
Continued from page 4Last fall, MGM Bill changed its tac-
tics, deciding to bypass the U.S. Congressand go straight to voters. The group gath-ered more than 12,000 signatures in SanFrancisco, enough to have the measureplaced on the Nov. 8 ballot. If it passes,anyone who circumcises a boy under theage of 18 within city limits faces a $1,000fine and up to one year in jail. The onlyexception would be for “compelling andimmediate medical need.”
A similar effort is under way in SantaMonica, Calif., for that city’s November2012 election. Hess says no other citiesare being targeted — for now.
The Jewish community respondedimmediately and loudly to the SanFrancisco ballot initiative, with denuncia-tions from across the nation. TheAmerican Jewish Committee called it a“direct assault on Jewish religious practice”that was “unprecedented in AmericanJewish life.” The Orthodox Union said themeasure is “likely illegal” and is “patentlydiscriminatory against Jews and Muslims.”
Locally, the San Francisco Jewish
Community Relations Council organ-ized a wide-ranging coalition of religious,medical, legal and political leaders tooppose the ballot measure. It was the firsttime that the Jewish community organ-ized a formal counter effort because itwas the first time that such a measure hasmade it to the ballot, according to AbbyPorth, the JCRC’s associate director andthe force behind the Committee forParental Choice and Religious Freedom.
The newly formed committee, whichalso includes Muslim and Christian lead-ers, is still organizing its legal strategy;Porth declined to provide details.
Muslims also practice ritual circum-cision on boys, although it can takeplace at any time before puberty.
The fight against the San Franciscoballot measure has brought a number ofMuslim organizations into the JCRC-ledcoalition, including the Council onAmerican-Islamic Relations. Bay Areadirector Zahra Billoo notes that CAIRrarely finds itself on the same political sideas groups such as the Orthodox Union.
Continued on page 8
Battle over circumcision is shaping up
Monday, June 137-9 p.m. – Federation Campaign Cabinet
WRAP MeetingTuesday, June 147:30-9:30 p.m. – Gordon Jewish Community
Center Board MeetingWednesday, June 157-9 p.m. - Federation Grants Committee
MeetingThursday, June 165-7 p.m. – Federation Board Meeting7-9 p.m. – Federation Grants Committee
MeetingMonday, June 207:15-9 p.m. – Jonathan Schanzer speaking on
“Palestinian Politics, Arab Protests and Israeli Security,” open to community
Tuesday, June 217-8:30 p.m. – Temple Board Meeting7-10 p.m. - West End Synagogue Board
MeetingWednesday, June 227-9 p.m. - Congregation Micah Board of
Trustees MeetingThursday, June 237:30-9 p.m. – Jewish Family Service Annual
MeetingTuesday, June 287:15-9:00 p.m. –Federation Board MeetingFriday, July 16-10 p.m. - West End Synagogue Pray Eat &
Learn
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The Observer June 10, 2011 7
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8 June 10, 2011 The Observer
The Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of NashvillePresents the Kick-off for the Series –
Featuring
Jonathan SchanzerMiddle East Analyst, Vice President of Research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Author of Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestinechronicling the Palestinian civil war.
Speaking onPalestinian Politics, Arab Protests
and Israeli Security
7:15 p.m., Monday, June 20, 2011Gordon Jewish Community Center
RSVP to [email protected]
This program is made possible by a grant from the Jewish Federation’s New Initiatives Fund.
For information, contact Judy Saks at 354-1637 or [email protected].
Increase Your Israel IQ:From Argument to Advocacy
Continued from page 1short timetable. The sweetener for Israelwas the explicit reference to “two statesfor two peoples,” implying that Israelwould be, as Netanyahu insists, recog-nized as the state of the Jewish people.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu foundhimself in a bind. He already had said noto negotiations structured that way whenObama raised the issue. Netanyahuinsists the Palestinians first recognizeIsrael as a Jewish state as a sign of readi-ness to end the conflict. In addition,Hamas, the terrorist organization that isnow part of the Palestinian leadershipfollowing the recent reconciliation withFatah, must recognize Israel’s right toexist, renounce violence and accept allprevious Israeli-Palestinian agreementsbefore a credible peace process can becontemplated.
But perhaps even more important,Netanyahu has serious issues with the1967 lines plus land swaps formula. Heinsists on maintaining an Israeli militarypresence in the Jordan Valley and,besides the large settlement blocs, hewants to retain security areas along theSamarian mountain ridge, as well as sitesof historic importance such as Hebron.
This goes well beyond anything thatcould be construed as being “based on the1967 lines.”
Were Netanyahu to accept theFrench proposal, coalition partners likeAvigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinuparty might quit the government, andLikud hard-liners like Benny Begin andMoshe Yaalon might challengeNetanyahu’s authority.
Still, despite these very seriousobstacles, the prize for taking up the
French offer was tempting: Palestiniandeferment of plans to seek U.N. member-ship this year. There was also a big stick:If Netanyahu rejected the French offer,Juppe intimated that France and severalof its European allies would vote for U.N.recognition of Palestine.
With Clinton’s nix, Netanyahu is offthe hook.
Meanwhile, the Israeli ForeignMinistry has quit trying to prevent thePalestinians from securing the two-thirdsmajority they need for recognition in the192-member U.N. General Assembly.Unlike in the U.N. Security Council,where Obama has promised that theUnited States will veto any unilateralvote on Palestinian statehood, GeneralAssembly votes do not carry the force ofinternational law.
Yet even in the General Assembly,
Israel hopes to secure as many “No” votesas possible from democratic countries.This, Israeli officials argue, would carryenormous moral weight.
Thus the European Union, with its27 democracies, is crucial. Over the pasttwo months, Netanyahu has traveled toBerlin, London and Paris in an effort toconvince key European leaders not toback Palestinian U.N. membership. Hadhe been the one to reject the French offer,his European strategy could collapse.
Netanyahu’s critics say that even ifIsrael wins this battle, a GeneralAssembly vote favoring statehood willdeliver the Palestinians a major diplo-matic triumph and possibly trigger a newwave of Arab Spring-style protests in theWest Bank.
The Israeli government’s failure totake serious action to pre-empt thePalestinian U.N. move and its conse-quences has drawn strong domestic criti-cism in Israel.
The most powerful voice in recentdays has been from Meir Dagan, whorecently retired from his post at the helmof the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.
Dagan says that Israel should haveresponded positively to the 2002 Arabpeace initiative, come up with an initia-tive of its own and pressed for a negotiat-ed solution with the Palestinians. He alsohas expressed deep discomfort with thejudgment of Israel’s current political lead-ers, hinting darkly that they might evencontemplate attacking Iran’s nuclearweapons program to divert attentionfrom the United Nations in September.
For now, a Palestinian U.N. movein September is still not a foregoneconclusion.
By quashing the French plan,Clinton kept the initiative firmly inWashington, where the Americans aretalking to both the Israelis andPalestinians in an attempt to create con-ditions for a renewal of peace talks thatwould render the Palestinian U.N. gam-bit superfluous.
In the next few weeks, in what couldbe the defining moment of his premier-ship, Netanyahu will have to decidewhether to embrace a last-chance initia-tive to avert the U.N. imbroglio inSeptember or to stay put and risk thepotential diplomatic fallout while keep-ing his coalition intact. c
Ahead of Palestinian U.N. gambit for statehood, Europe is in play
Continued from page 6It’s the assault on religious freedoms
that brings the two together, Billoo said.“The civil rights of Jewish and Muslimsare being impacted,” she told JTA. “Wedon’t agree on all things all the time, butwe do find common cause in many areas.An attack on one religion is an attack onall religions.”
A popular local mohel, Rabbi GilLeeds, director of the Chabad Center ofthe University of California, Berkeley,says he’s been fielding calls and e-mailsfrom all over the area expressing con-cern. “Jews from across the spectrum ofJewish observance, as well as many non-Jews, have responded in shock at thisattempt to undermine our basic humanrights as parents and as Jews,” Leeds said.
Proponents and opponents of aban on circumcision argue over thehealth benefits and legal aspects of thepractice. c
Battle over circumcision