north jersey jewish standard, dec. 26, 2014

8/10/2019 North Jersey Jewish Standard, Dec. 26, 2014

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JSTANDARD.COM

201483NORTH JERSEY

A SUMMER ISRAEL TRIP TO BOOST YOUR RESUM page 6

LAST LOOKS AT LATKES AND DREIDELS pages 8, 16

IT WAS A HAPPY HACKATHONUKAH. A WHAT? page 10

ISRAELI TELEVISION LAUGHS AT JEWISH HISTORY page 30

A new generation of rabbis

creates a new type of congregation

DECEMBER 26, 2014VOL. LXXXIV NO. 14 $1.00

In a different voice

JewishStandard

1086TeaneckRoad

Teaneck,NJ07666

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Page 3

JEWISH STANDARD DECEMBER 26, 2014

PUBLISHERS STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747) is pub-

lished weekly on Fridays with an additional edition every October, by

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The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard doesnot constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of a paid

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any employees.

The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return unsolic-

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ten permission from the publisher. 2014

NOSHES .................................................

OPINION ................................................

COVER STORY ............. ............ ........... 2

TORAH COMMENTARY ...................

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ....................2

ARTS & CULTURE ..............................3

CALENDAR ...........................................

OBITUARIES ........................................3

GALLERY .............................................. 3

CLASSIFIEDS .................................SS5

REAL ESTATE ................................XX5

For convenient home delivery,

call 201-837-8818 or bit.ly/jsubscribe

CONTENTS

Candlelighting: Friday, December 26, 4:16 p.m.

Shabbat ends: Saturday, December 27, 5:20 p.m.

This year Jews yearning for their own version of

the Elf on the Shelf Christmas doll-and-book sen-

sation could choose between two rival products.

One, Maccabee on the Mantel, offers a 10-

inch plush sandals-wearing, bearded Maccabee

and accompanying picture book that touches on

the Chanukah story. The other, The Mensch on

a Bench, is a 12-inch plush bearded doll named

Moshe, who also comes with a book that tells the

story of Chanukah. The Mensch on a Bench not

only has his own prayer shawl and black hat, but

also comes with an added accessory: a bench.

(Mantel not included with Maccabee on the Mantel.)

All of this made us wonder: Why only two Elf

on the Shelf knockoffs? And why limit ourselves

to plush dolls (and male ones at that) when theres

a whole universe of toy possibilities? So we came

up with a suggestion for each night of Chanukah. If

you make a fortune marketing any, be sure to send

a percentage our way.

JULIE WIENER/PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS

BY MOLLY TOLSKY/JTA WIRE SERVICE

Beyond Mensch on a Bench

GELT ON A BELT

You never know when youre going to feel the need for a

chocolate-y snack. This snazzy accessory lets you easily take

Chanukah gelt wherever you go without having to worry

about it melting in your hands. (We cant promise it wont melt

around your waist, however).

MOTEL AT THE KOTELThis miniature Motel 6 at Jerusalems Western Wall

Plaza comes with its own set of dolls each with a free

morning coffee in hand.

PRESENT ON A PHEASANT

This 12-inch plush fowl comes with

a beautifully wrapped surprise gift,

wrapped tastefully in Chanukah colors

HAGEL IN A BAGEL

Some critics thought former

Defense Secretary Chuck Ha

wasnt pro-Israel enough. Bu

here he shows his philo-Sem

bona fides as he surrounds

himself with American Jewr

favorite roll with a hole.

SHEITEL ON A DREIDEL

Get your wig into the

holiday spirit with this

dreidel-shaped sheitel

holder. Comes with a

jewel-studded hairbrush.

DORA THE EXPLORER

WITH A TORAH

The Nick, Jr. heroine comes ready to

chant the weeks Torah portion for you.

Purple and pink prayer shawl, matching

yarmulke, and the adventure book

Doras Menorah sold separately.

DREIDEL IN A CRADLE

Your dreidel gets tired after a

long night of spinning, so rock

it to sleep in this comfy cradle.

CANDLES ON SANDALS

With this Chanukah menorah, theres a place for a candle between each toe. (The shammash

hovers between the feet a modern Chanukah miracle!) Specify your shoe size when you order.


4/40

Noshes


Jesus is the reasonfor the season.

Springfield, Massachusetts, City Councilor Bud Williams, speaking at the town

Chabad-led menorah lighting ceremony last week

Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard

from 2009-2011.

The Gambler,

which opens the

same day, is a

re-make of a 1974 film of

the same name that

starred JAMESCAAN,now 74. The re-make

stars Mark Wahlberg in

the Caan role (a literature

professor with a gam-

bling problem who runs

into trouble with gang-

sters). The re-make

pretty much follows the

original script by JAMESTOBACK, now 69. Caanand Wahlberg, by the

way, are real-life buddies.

This is kind of

neat: the new

American ambas-

sador to New Zealand is

MARKGILBERT, 58, aprominent Chicago-

based fundraiser for

President Obama. Gilbert

is the first major league

baseball player to be a

regular ambassador (as

opposed to an honorary

goodwill ambassador).

Drafted by the Chicago

Cubs in 1978, he played

minor league ball for the

Cubs and Reds before

appearing in seven major

league games with the

White Sox in 1985. By the

way, JOHNKEY, 53, thePrime Minister of New

Zealand since 2008, is

the secular son of a

non-Jewish father and a

Jewish mother and,

yes, they play baseball

in New Zealand. The

website Baseball

New Zealand says that

there are now about

5,000 Kiwis playing

baseball in schools and

amateur leagues.

N.B.

Steven Spielberg

AWARDS REPLAY:

Kennedy Centerceremony to air

Graham Moore

Mark Gilbert John Key

The annual

Kennedy Center

Honors awards for

excellence in the arts

were presented on

December 7 and will be

presented again on Tues-

day, December 30, at 9

p.m., when CBS will show

a videotape of the

awards ceremony. It is

always a great show and

CBS never repeats. So, Iam giving you a heads-

up, even though this the

first year since 2005 in

which none of the five

honorees are Jew-

ish. The honorees

include all-around good

guy Tom Hanks. His

buddy and frequent

collaborator,STEVENSPIELBERG, 67, took thestage to praise Hanks,

calling him Americas

favorite son.

Two brilliant Brits,

Steven Hawking

and Alan Turing,

are the subjects of

major bio pics, The

Theory of Everything

and The Imitation

Game. Theory

opened several weeks

ago, but is still playing

in theaters, and I

recently became aware

that the British physicist

who supervised

Hawkings doctorate,

the late DENNISSCIAMA, was of SyrianJewish background.

Sciama is a larger

character in Theory

than I thought it would

be before it opened.

Imitation Game,

which opens on

December 25,

covers the triumphs and

tragedies of Turing, a

mathematical genius

who lead a diverse team

that cracked the secret

communication code

produced by the Nazi

Engima machine and

probably brought WWIIto an end two years early

thereby saving millions

of lives, including what

was left of European

Jewry. While the film

focuses on WWII

code-breaking, scenes of

Turings earlier and later

life, including his pros-

ecution, in the early

1950s, for being homo-

sexual, are cut into it.

English mathematician

and code-breaker PETERHILTON(1923-2010), animportant real-life

character, also is in the

film. (He was played by

Matthew Beard.) One bio

piece about Hilton says:

Occasionally he would

even break messages

sent by Hitler, himself.

The films screenplay is

by GRAHAMMOORE, 32,who describes himself as

a Jewish kid from Chi-

cago. He is also the

author of the best-selling

novel, The Sherlockian.

His mother, SUSANSTEINERSHER, 63,was Chicagos chief civil

attorney and Michelle

Obamas chief of staff

Into the Woods

onto the screen

Director Rob Marshall, who confounded skeptical pundits

when he turned the hit Broadway musical Chicago into a hi

film, tries again with Into the Woods, which was a Broadwa

hit in 1987. The movie retains the originalSTEPHEN

SONDHEIMscore and the screenplay was written by JAME

LAPINE, who wrote the book for the original stage show. It

a modern re-telling of a number of Brothers Grimm fairy tales

including Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. The large c

includes Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, and Anna

Kendrick. (Opens December 25.)

N

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine

California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at

[email protected]

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Local


This summer, intern in IsraelOnward Israel gives students hands-on experience in Tel Aviv companies

LARRY YUDELSON

Did the taste of Israel acquired

on Birthright or through a youth

group program leave you hun-

gering for more?

Are you between 19 and 27 years old?

Do you have June and July open on your

calendar?

Could your resum use a boost?

The Jewish Federation of Northern New

Jersey has the perfect program for you.

Onward Israel will immerse you in Israeli

life, letting you choose from hundreds of

possible two-month internships in Tel Aviv,

working with companies in ields as diverseas inance, music, fashion, and hi-tech.

At the same time, the program will take

care of the nitty-gritty of living in a foreign

county, providing dormitory accommoda-

tions, organized trips around the country,

and even Hebrew classes.

It was absolutely fantastic, said Joshua

Blumberg, a University of Michigan student

from Croton-on-the-Hudson who went on an

Onward Israel program last summer. The

trip was amazing. The group was amazing.

My internship was incredible.

Onward Israel will provide an extraor-

dinary opportunity for 20 young men and

women just setting out on their careers, said

Jayne Petack, the federations incoming presi-

dent. What could be better than interning

in Tel Aviv, one of the top business centers inthe world?

The Jewish Agency for Israel launched

Onward Israel four years ago as a middle

ground between the short-term Birthright

Israel trips and the long-term Masa programs

that last the better part of a year. This sum-

mer will be the irst time the Jewish Federa-

tion of Northern New Jersey is bringing the

program to area residents and their children.

The federation began considering appli-

cations for its 20 available slots last week.

Participants will pay $500 and provide their

own round-trip transportation to Israel; in

Israel, they will be provided with food and

board. The fee reflects a signiicant subsidy

from the federation as well as from the Jew-

ish Agency.

This is another high-quality programthat will help build Jewish identity and con-

nect young people to Israel and the world of

being Jewish today, said Jason Shames, the

federations CEO. We need to continue to

invest heavily in the youth and, in particu-

lar, in college and post-college [students] to

help connect them.

The North Jersey participants will be based

in a dormitory in Bat Yam 20 minutes

south of Tel Aviv. While Bat Yam is largely

a bedroom community for Tel Aviv these

days something familiar to natives of North

Jersey it also boasts Israels inest suring

beach.And Onward Israel participants will have

time for suring. The internships are sched-

uled for four days a week, with a ifth devoted

to educational seminars. But weekends Fri-

day and Saturday, as weekends run in Israel

are free.

Mr. Blumberg said that his Onward Israel

trip last summer was his fourth time in Israel.

He interned for Autodesk, a leading software

company whose Tel Aviv ofice does research

and development. That experience gave him

a bit of an edge. It has been a really great

beneit for me and certainly helped me in mystudies.

The previous summer, he had an intern-

ship in New York City. His colleagues in the

Tel Aviv ofice seemed happier to be there

than the experiences Ive had in the States.

Everything is more laid back. The dress code

is not as strict. I didnt have to wear business

formal attire to work. Nice jeans and a but-

ton-down shirt were perfectly acceptable. It

made for a more encouraging environment.

He found Israelis friendly and supportive

especially during last summers war, with

its missile alerts.

Several co-workers gave me their cell

phone numbers and said if you need any-

thing, dont hesitate to call, he said.

Ora Niknamfard graduated from New York

University last May, and now works for a soft-ware company. She said her internship in Tel

Aviv with Onward Israel was absolutely

useful. The perspective she brought from her

time with a Tel Aviv startup proved exciting to

the New York company that hired her.

Not being a fluent Hebrew speaker was no

problem for her. The company has a policy

where unless everyone in the room speaks

Hebrew as their native language, everyone

speaks English, she said.

She had traveled to Israel on Birthright the

previous summer. That was a fantastic exp

rience, but Onward Israel was incomparab

She said the educational seminars th

took place each Tuesday afforded a cool pe

spective on Israeli politics and culture. H

favorite was a day trip to Haifa. It was jus

really great day of seeing a new Israeli city.

She also made amazing friends, havi

lived with them in a new city for two month

These friendships I hope will continue for

long time.

Joshua Blumberg

An Onward Israel internship puts participants in the heart of hi-tech Tel Aviv.

This is anothehigh-quality

program that wilhelp build Jewish

identity andconnect young

people to Israeand the world o

being JewishtodayJASON SHAM


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www.jstandard.com

Menendez blasts dealfreeing Alan GrossSenator says groups welcoming thawwith Cuba are dead wrong

ROBERT WIENER

Sen. Robert Menendez (DNJ) wel-

comed the release of Jewish-Amer-

ican contractor Alan Gross by the

Cuban government, but disagreed

sharply with the administration over the

terms of the prisoner swap that freed Gross,

and with a thawing of relations between the

two governments.

Jewish organization are dead wrong if

they favor reestablishment of diplomatic rela-

tions between the United States and Cuba,

Menendez said in response to a reporters

question at a news conference last Thursday.

Sen. Menendez, a Cuban-American and

chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations

committee, joined colleagues, mostly

Republican, in criticizing the sweeping

changes announced Dec. 17 by the admin-

istration, including the resumption of full

diplomatic relations, the opening of an

embassy in Havana, and a loosening of

trade and travel restrictions.

Those changes were announced along

with the deal that saw the release of Gross,

65, who was jailed by the Cubans in 2009

while working as a contractor for the U.S.

Agency for International Development.

Alan Gross and his wife, Judy. Mr. Gross, freed from a Cuban prison earlier in th

day, waves after concluding his remarks at a news conference in Washington

shortly after arriving in the United States, Dec. 17. WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGSEE ALAN GROSSPAGE 24


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LARRY YUDELSON

If your idea of a good time

is staying up all night

wr it in g co mpute r pro -

grams, youre no doubt in

the minority and youre also

doubtlessly familiar with hack-

athons, which gather program-

mers together to do just that.

But if youre a Shabbat-observ-

ing Jew who thinks a hackathon

with its race-the-clock chal-

lenge to create something high-

tech and arguably functional

really would be fun, then youve

probably already discovered the

sad truth that most hackathons

start when the weekend does, onFriday night. And while it may be

fun, is anything less in the spirit

of Shabbos than hacking down

bugs in a computer program in

the middle of the night?

Of course, real hackers

among computer cognoscenti,

the term refers not to the male-

factors who break into computer

systems and disrupt lives, but to

those able to put together quick

if not always elegant solutions

to dificult problems see prob-

lems as challenges to solve. So it

was only a matter of time before

New York hosted its irst shomer

Shabbat hackathon.

Thats the back story to Hack-athonukah, held two weeks ago

for 25 hours starting 7 p.m. Satur-

day night December 13, and end-

ing 25 hours later.

It was organized by two Para-

mus brothers, Oren and Donny

Kanner. Both are graduates of the

Yavneh Academy and the Frisch

School in Paramus, and Cooper

Union in New York. Oren, 28, is

studying for a Ph.D. in robotics

at Yale. Donny, 23, works for The

Hackerati, a Manhattan engineer-

ing consultancy.

Donny and I had some ran-

dom conversation over the sum-

mer venting our frustrations

about the lack of frum-people-friendly hackathons, said Oren.

As a result, we just decided to

make one.

They formed a company to run

it. They solicited sponsors. Theirs

was not an amateur production.

Sometimes Jewish events can

be cute or kitschy, said Oren.

We didnt want it to be cute or

kitschy. We wanted it to be at the

same level of technical rigor as

any hackathon.

Donny explained some of the

special fun of hackathons for

programmers.

Theres the element of doing

a complete product from start to

inish in a short period of time.

You dont often get the oppor-

tunity to very quickly come up

with a concept and execute it.

You get to meet people with

other skill sets and other back-

grounds. You get exposure to

other technologies you may

not be using in your day-to-day

work, he said.

The Kanner brothers decided

to add more variety by focusing

on hardware and, in particular

appropriately enough for theseason lights. Lighting manu-

facturers have begun enabling

their products to connect to

computers and smartphones in

what is being called the internet

of things.

Hackathonukah had corpo-

rate sponsors such as Philips,

which not only donated some of

their computerized Hue bulbs,

but flew two engi neer s from

their Netherlands headquarteto guide the hackers in using t

technoloy.

Oren and Donny had nev

been to a complete hackatho

before. We were able to ma

it to the end after Shabbat

never to the beginning.

Of course, having inally org

nized a post-Shabbat hackatho

the brothers were too busy ru

ning the show for much hand

on geek fun. They were most

bus y mak ing sur e the foo

showed up (all kosher) and th

participants could ind plac

to sleep. Oren did spend a fe

hours between midnight and

a.m. building a menorah out programmable light bulbs who

lights changed color based o

stock market data.

About 60 hackers showed u

The youngest was 14. Most we

in their 20s. Some came fro

as far away as Buffalo and Pit

burgh and Washingto n. Mo

than half had never been to

hackathon before. Probably h

of our attendees were Jewis

and half were not. Which w

great. Our message was acces

bility and openness that Je

ish people didnt have access

most hackathons.

We were really impresse

with the work that was donesaid Donny.

At the end, the inished pr

ects were judged on creativit

technical accomplishment, an

aesthetics. The winning team

which included two teens, used

motion-sensing armband (lent b

a sponsor) to play the video gam

pong. You could move yo

arm to control your panel, an

the color of a light would chan

depending on who was winnin

the game, said Oren.

We had a group that p

together a whole solution f

controlling lighting based o

arm gestures, in a way th

would be useful for theater. Whad a group that had a sma

panel of LEDs that could be sew

on your clothing that would d

play sports scores. It would be

ticker, if you wanted to keep u

on your scores and not watc

television on Shabbat, he said

Looking ahead, at the ve

least were going to want to d

a repeat of this event next year

said Donny.

Local


Happy HackathonukahParamus brothers plotted a frum-friendly programmers paradise

Donny and Oren Kanner kick off Hackathonukah

An LED binary clock in the

shape of a menorah

Akiva Lipshitz, a Teaneck high school freshman, demonstrates his winning Pong game.


11/40

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Accepting All InsurancesClergy presslawmakers onanti-hunger issuesROBERT WIENER

The states Jewish federations and otherJewish organizati ons are s pearheadingan interfaith effort to cope with the risingproblem of hunger in New Jersey.

In a Dec. 15 meeting in the State HouseAnnex in Trenton, Jewish, Muslim, Catho-lic, and Protestant clery and communityleaders teamed up with several New Jer-sey legislators to urge more state and fed-eral action, especially on behalf of the 20percent of families with children who lackadequate income for food.

Although not represented at the meet-ing, a Hindu community organization isalso supporting the effort.

The New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coali -tion, a program of the Center for Food

Action, is seeking state Senate passageof three separate bills that would expand

and expedite applications for the SpecialNutrition Assistance Program.

All three measures passed the stateAssembly within hours after the meetingsadjourned. No votes in the state Senatehave been scheduled as yet.

The SNAP program, formerly knownas Food Stamps, was cut drastically in themost recent Farm Bill to pass Congresslast fall.

We were very concerned when the Con-gress cut the budget making New Jerseyone of the 15 hardest-hit states on hunger,

said Melanie Gorelick, director of the Com-

munity Relations Committee of the JewishFederation of Greater MetroWest NJ. Inthe Jewish community itself, our kosher

food pantries cannot service the increasedneeds of people. We felt we could not sit

by; we are looking for a bipartisan solution,and we believe legislators on both sides ofthe aisle are committed to ending hunger.

Also present at the press conferencewas Joy Kurland, director of the JewishCommunity Relations Council of the Jew-ish Federation of Northern New Jersey.

Addressing the issue of hunger is a

major priority for JFNNJ, she said. Thisyear our federation invested nearly$590,000 in hunger relief locally and over-seas providing over 110,000 meals plusadditional food support through pantries.Locally this represents about $500,000 onnearly 67,000 meals plus pantry support.Overseas this represents about $87,000 on

nearly 43,400 meals plus pantry support.Other Jewish organizations involved in

the anti-hunger effort include the NJ StateAssociation of Jewish Federations; the

CRC; the Greater MetroWest federationsafiliated family service agencies, JFS ofCentral NJ and JFS of MetroWest; and vari-ous family service organizations and com-munity relations councils.

It is unacceptable to have one millionpeople in New Jersey who are food inse-cure, said Kenneth Rotter, the cochair ofthe MetroWest CRCs government affairs

committee. The majority of them arechildren and seniors.

At the event in Trenton, one by one,religious leaders insisted that faith-basedinitiatives alone cannot meet the enor-mous needs of the hungry. They cited sta-

tistics that more than one million peoplein New Jersey suffer from food insecurityand hunger, and some 45 percent of themare children.

Responding to religious leaders, State

Sen. Raymond Lesniak (DDist. 20) said,We are in your corner. We are your cham-pions. We need to help you bring our mes-sage to our fellow Democrats and Repub-licans. We all know that hunger is not aDemocratic or a Republican issue.

Among the other state legislators at themeeting were Assemblywoman ValerieVainieri Huttle ( Dist. 37), AssemblymanTimothy Eustace (Dist. 38), AssemblymanGary Schaer (Dist. 36), and AssemblymanCarmelo Garcia (Dist. 33).

There were no Republican lawmakers

present.

We invited Sen. Kean and Assembly-woman Munoz and several other Repub-licans to the meetings, but all of them saidthey had other committee meetings theyhad to attend, said Jacob Toporek, execu-tive director of the New Jersey State Asso-ciation of Jewish Federations.

We are going to have to drag themthere, Lesniak said of his GOP colleagues.All the faiths Christian, Jewish, and Mus-lim combined can impress both Demo-crats and Republicans to understand thathunger strikes everybody whatever their

faith is. We cannot fai l on this.It is clear that hunger affects every-

one, said Toporek. It crosses ethniclines and religious lines and affects all ofour Jewish family service agencies. It plays

on a nonpartisan basis.Other speakers included Ali Chaudry,president of the Islamic Center of Bask-ing Ridge; Father Tim Graff, director ofhuman concerns at the Roman Catho-lic Archdiocese of Newark; ArchdeaconPeter Jackson of the Episcopal Diocese ofNewark; the Rev. Sara Lilja, director of theLutheran Ofice of Government Ministries;

and the Rev. Guy Campbell, president ofthe General Baptist Convention of New

Jersey.Looking ahead, the North Jersey Jewish

Community Relations Council will be initi-ating The Food Stamp Challenge the weekof March 16. The Food Stamp Challenge isa national effort to raise awareness of theissue of hunger. Community members andlegislators will be enlisted to live on the

nationwide average food stamp beneit of$29. 40/week or $4.20/day.

This is directly tied into advocacy for

the passage of federal and state legislationfor the Supplemental Nutrition AssistanceProgram (SNAP) which assists nearly 45million low income people to purchasefood for their families. More than 900,00residents in New Jersey received SNAP

beneits in September, said Ms. Kurland.

New Jersey Jewish News. Larry Yudelson

contributed to this story.


12/40

Local


The guru of kashrutRabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg and the

transformation of kosher certification in AmericaTIMOTHY D. LYTTON

If you had asked someone a hundred

years ago to name the deining char-

acteristic of kashrut in America, they

would probably have answered cor-

ruption. In 1925, the New York City Depart-

ment of Markets estimated that 40 percent

of the meat sold in the city as kosher was

actually treif. Industry associations and con-

sumer groups thought the true igure was

between 50 and 65 percent.

Fraud was not the worst problem.

Organized crime dominated kashrut. In

perhaps the most notorious example,

the Live Poultry Commission Merchants

Protective Association operated a price-ixing scheme and distribution racket that

dominated New York Citys kosher chicken

trade from 1906 to 1911. Local butchers

who refused to knuckle under would ind

stores set up next door to undersell them

and drive them out of business. In some

cases, nonconforming butchers suffered

physical violence. Finally, a store owner

named Bernard Baff testiied against

the association in a trial that put an end

to the associations illegal activities and

landed its leaders in prison. Following the

trial, Baffs horse and chickens were poi-

soned, his summer cottage and one of his

stores were bombed and

he was gunned down in

broad daylight in Manhat-

tans Washington Marketby unknown assai lants,

who fled in a getaway car.

Suspicions, of course,

focused on the defunct

Live Poultry Commission

Merchants Protective

Association. However, it

turned out that the mur-

der was arranged not by

the imprisoned gangsters,

but by a group of one hun-

dred ordinary poultry

retailers who resented Baffs successful

efforts after the trial to take over New York

Citys poultry distribution.

The problems of fraud and corruption

in kashrut proved too big for even the gov-

ernment to handle. Six full-time kosherinspectors in the New York City Depart-

ment of Markets and ten in the New York

State Kosher Enforcement Bureau were

insuficient to oversee the 18,000 kosher

food establishments in New York City by

the late 1930s.

Reform inally came to

kashrut with the rise of a

new institution: the inde-pendent private kosher

certiication agency. And

no one did more to shape

the modern kashrut sys-

tem than Rabbi Alexan-

der S. Rosenberg, rabbinic

administrator of the OU

Kosher Division from 1950

to 1972.

The OU Kosher Division

had been founded in the

mid-1920s. When Rabbi

Rosenberg took charge of it, the division

employed about forty mashgichim to certify

184 products for thirty-seven companies.

By the end of Rabbi Rosenbergs tenure,

the OU employed more than 750 mashgi-

chim to certify more than 2,500 productsfor 475 companies. This extraordinary

expansion was due to Jewish demand for

kosher certiication for the rapidly growing

number of industrially produced and pre-

pared packaged foodsfrom canned soup to

cake mixesthat emerged in the twentieth

century and that helped free homemakers

from the time-consuming labors of mak-

ing everything from scratch. By provid-ing kosher certiication to Americas lead-

ing food companies, the OU, under Rabbi

Rosenberg, helped satisfy this demand.

Rabbi Rosenberg was a handsome man

with an aristocratic bearing and a charm-

ing manner. His passionate commitment

to making kosher-certiied food available in

every supermarket in America earned him

a reputation among food-industry execu-

tives as the guru of kosher marketing. He

cultivated personal relationships with key

executives, coaching them on marketing

stratey and even, on occasion, providing

counseling on personal matters. And they

believed in himlike a Chassid believes in

his rebbe, according to Rabbi [Beryl] Wein.

Rabbi Rosenberg believed passionately

in the importance of making kosher foodwidely and easily available. At the end of

World War II, he had been attached to the

US Army in Germany, where he success-

fully advocated and established kosher

meat slaughter for Jewish survivors in dis-

placed persons camps. Rabbi Rosenbergs

ambition was rooted in his religious faith.

In the words of Rabbi Wein, his deputy

at the OU, Rabbi Rosenberg was always

working for God . . . he was working for

the Jewish people.

Rabbi Rosenberg explained to food com

pany executives that kosher consume

were a small but highly in fluential demgraphic because t hey were concentrate

disproportionately in major metropolit

markets, such as New York, Chicago an

Los Angeles. By increasing a company

share in those major markets, the comp

nys products would achieve better po

tioning on store shelves, where all consum

ers, not just kosher consumers, would

more likely to see and buy them. Accor

ing to Rabbi Wein, a marketing manager

Duncan Hines recalls that Rabbi Rosenbe

taught him that the whole grocery busine

depends on shelf space. As a result of O

certiication, sales of the companys ca

mix to kosher consumers in key urban ma

kets increased, leading to more promine

placement on grocery shelves, so that sa

among ordinary consumers rose dramacallymore than 40 percent in two month

Even more important than his effor

to make kosher food more widely ava

able, Rabbi Rosenberg helped make wid

spread fraud and corruption in kashrut

thing of the past. Some of the reductio

in fraud and corruption resulted from th

increased focus on dairy and pareve pac

aged foods, which, unlike meat, requi

much less supervision and therefore litt

Rabbi Alexander S.

Rosenberg

Timothy D. Lytton is the Albert and Angela Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law

School. Readers can ind more about the turbulent history of kashrut in America and the OUs

leading role in its transformation in his new book, Kosher: Private Regulation in the Age of

Industrial Food, published by Harvard University Press. SEE GURUPAGE 2

And the mystery rabbi is.Recently, we ran a photograph on the occa-

sion o f Rabbi Abraham Zig elmans death

that featured an errant photo caption [issue

of Dec. 5, page 25]. That caption sparked

a conversation with our readers, who rec-

ognized one rabbi who had been misidenti-

ied. But th at left us with the unanswered

question: Whose hand was the young Rabbi

Zigelman shaking on the day of his installa-

tion at Temple Beth Abraham in 1951?

We believe we have found the answer,

and that the unidentiied rabbi was, in his

day, a shining star in American Judaism.Accordingly, we h ereby reprint, f rom the

Fall 2013 issue of Jewish Action magazine

of the Orthodox Union, a proile of Rabbi

Alexan der S. Rosenbe rg. First, though ,

from our correspondents:

Rabbi Ziegelman was installed at Temple Beth Abraham in 1951; a pho-

tograph from that day shows him, wearing a bow tie, shaking the hand of

Rabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg.

Rav Moshe is immediately to Rabbi Zigelmans right. For a devoted

yeshiva student, Rav Moshes image is as recognizable as Honest Abe

Lincolns would be to most grown-up Americans. I was privileged to

see Rav Moshe hold a grandson on his lap in a Lower East Side park

in 1973 and have a picture of him in my dining room. May his memory

and that of his student, Rabbi Zigelman, be a blessing for all of us.Reuven Escott,Bergenield

I believe that the tall man Rabbi Zigelman is

shaking hands with in the photograph is Rabbi

Alexander S. Rosenberg, who was head of the

OU and rabbi at Congregation Ohab Zedek in

Yonkers, New York. He was my rabbi when I was

growing up.Edward S. Zizmor, Teaneck


13/40


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14/40

Local


Yavneh Academy celebrates 72 yearsYavneh Academy will hold

its 72nd annual dinner on

Saturday, January 10, at

Congregation Keter Torah

in Teaneck. Nancy andEric Fremed are guests

of honor, and Shoshana

Susie Ammer and Rabbi

Yitzchok Furst are fac-

ulty award recipients. The

Yavneh Youth League and

its commissioner, Howard

Eisenstadter, will receive

the Volunteer Service

award. Yavneh also will

celebrate the graduating

class of 1989.

The Fremeds have been

involved with Yavneh for

more than two decades

and are parents of four

Y a v n e h g r a d u a t e s .

They also are foundingmembers of Congrega-

tion Netivot Shalom in

Teaneck.

In addition to serving as Yavnehs immedi-

ate past president, Eric has sat on Yavnehs

board, its executive board, and committees

including inance, tuition assistance, din-

ner, and accreditation, as well as the newly

formed endowment committee. He is a part-

ner in the practice of Drs. Rabin, Fremed,

Prince PC in Englewood Cliffs, the practice

has sponsored many Yavneh events.

Rabbi Furst, Yavnehs ifth grade rebbe,

has taught Chumash, Mishnah, and dinim

for the last 23 years. He served on the com-

mittee for the Development of Holocaust

Studies for lower grades and was among

the founding faculty members on the anti-bullying program committee.

Shoshana Susie Ammer began teach-

ing third grade at Yavneh Academy 22

years ago. She is an active member of

the teachers liaison committee and on

the task force of the Israel Partnership

2-gether Program. Her classes have part-

nered with the Rambam School of Naha-

riya for ive years. She has eight grand-

children enrolled in Yavneh.

Howard Eisenstadter, parent of three

Yavneh graduates, has been leading the

Yavneh Youth League since 2009 and has

been involved with it since 2003. YYL pro-

vides a competitive shomer Shabbat soft-

ball league to children in the north Jersey

area. In 2014 there were 325 players across

27 teams.

For information about the dinner andad journal email Michelle Weinraub at

[email protected]

or go to yavnehdinner.adjournal.com

Nancy and Eric Fremed Shoshana Susie Ammer

Rabbi Yitzchok Furst Howard Eisenstadter

Emunah dinner fetesTeaneck residentsThe Emunah Circle of Life beneit din-

ner was on November 15 at the SheratonNew York Hotel. The presidential lead-

ership award was given to Shaindy and

Daniel Brothman, Amy and Daniel Gib-

ber, and Felicia and Steven Hoenig, all of

Teaneck. They were recognized for their

efforts on behalf of Emunahs children

and families in Israel. The three women

are co-presidents of the local Libby Kolb

chapter of Emunah.

The dinner also paid tribute to Shari

and David Shapiro of Lawrence, N.Y

and honored the memory of panational president, Gladys Baruch. Li

and David Zaslowsky from Cedarhur

N.Y., were the dinner chairs.

The dinner also celebrated Emunah

accomplishments in Israel, as the organ

zation continues to provide outstandi

social welfare, and educational, cultur

and humanitarian services to every se

ment of Israeli society.

Steven and Felicia Hoenig, Shaindy and Daniel Brothman, Amy and Danie

Gibber COURTESY EMUN

Moriah annual dinner in FebruaryThe Moriah School in

Englewood, which will

be celebrat ing its semi-centennial, will host its

50th annual dinner on

Saturday, February 28, at

8:30 p.m., at the Hilton

Meadowlands Hotel in

East Rutherford.

Michelle and Evan

Sohn (Moriah class of

1981) are the guests of

honor. It also celebrates 50 years of the

Moriah Association of Parents with the

MAP award, and honors alumni fac-

ulty and staff with the Rabbi J. Shelley

Applbaum award.

Evan Sohn has served on Moriahs

board since 2005, chaired the develop-

ment committee for several terms, and

joined the executive committee in 2008,and he is now in his third and inal year

as Moriahs president. He is also its irst

alumni president. Michelle Sohn volun-

teers at Moriah and in the community.

Michelles career in product develop-

ment at OXO International has woven

its way into Moriah through her annual

presentation to the 4th grade Invention

Convention. Kehillat Kesher honored the

Sohns, of Englewood, in 2010 for their

role in the founding and leadership of

the synagogue and com

munity. They have thr

children, Justin, Juliand Andrew.

The dinner also w

celebrate 50 Years

MAP, honoring an

remembering all wh

wer e/are inv olv ed

leadership roles with t

organization. MAP pr

vides programming an

events for students, services for familie

and dedication to working with facul

and administrators.

The Rabbi J. Shelley Applbau

Award will be presented to 13 Moria

graduates who work at Moriah in som

capacity. The honorees are Rabbi A

Bernstein (91), Zeva Epstein (06

Mindy Getzler (04), Alana Green (93Jennifer Kollender (02), Jessica Levn

(03), Chana Meyers (88), Lauren Pr

zansky (03), Rebecca Rauch (03

Racheli Schwartz (05), Roberta Wal

man (80), Lea Wohlfarth (04), an

Aliza Zeffren (03).

For information on Moriah or the di

ner, call Nila Lazarus, the schools dire

tor of development, at (201) 567020

ext. 373, email nlazarus@moriahscho

org or www.themoriahdinner.org.

Michelle and Evan Sohn

Ohel hosts Teaneck trainingfor counseling groupThe Ohel Northern New Jersey Regional

Family Center recently hosted the Yeshiva

Counseling Network. The group, a net-

work of school psychologists and mental

health support staff from the tristate area,

met with Dr. Norman Blumenthal, Ohels

director of t rauma and bereavement andthe leader of its crisis response team.

Participants included staff from Ben

Porat Yosef, Bruriah, Frisch, Rae Kushner

Yeshiva High School, Maayanot Yeshiva

High School for Girls, Magen David

Yeshiva, Yeshiva University High School for

Boys (MTA), Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North

Jersey, SAR Academy, Torah Academy of

Bergen County, Yavneh Academy, Yeshiva

Ketana of Passaic, Yeshivat Noam, and

project S.A.F.E.

Dr. Aliza Frohlich, a school psycholo-

gist at Yavneh Academy in Paramus, orga-

nizes the Yeshiva Counseling Network. Dr.

Frohlich and Rabbi Jeremy Donath, Ohelscommunity coordinator for northern New

Jersey, organized the event.

Clinical supervisor Dr. Zipporah

Tokayer-Torbiner, who has also spent

many years as part of Ohels crisis

response team, leads Ohels Northern

New Jersey Regional Family Center in

Teaneck.


15/40

Loca


Teanecks Grunstein family dedicatesTorah to Yeshiva UniversityLeonard Grunstein of Teaneck and his

family dedicated a sefer Torah to Yeshiva

University in memory of his father, Mor-

ris Grunstein. The elder Mr. Grunsteins

real estate deals include the sale of

Stuyvesant Town and the development of

Battery Park City. The gift was celebrated

in an all-day ceremony on December 7; aspart of the celebration, the Torah, held

under a chuppah, was paraded through

the streets surrounding YUs Wilf cam-

pus in Washington Heights in northern

Manhattan. The Torah will be used for

services at the university.

After a class presented by Rabbi Yaakov

Neuberger, rosh yeshiva at YU-afiliated

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Semi-

nary, YU students and family illed in the

inal letters of the Torah.

Leonard Grunstein and his wife, Chanie,

and their three children all are YU alumni.

A longtime supporter of the school, Mr.

Grunstein was named a member of the

Board of Overseers of the Bernard Rev

Graduate School of Jewish Studies in 20

He has been involved with an array

other Jewish causes, such as the Hebro

Fund and the YIVO Institute.

Richard Heisler and David Heisler of Butterflake, Beryl and Harold Steinbach,

and Janet and Ken Hoffman. PHOTOS BY GERALD BERNSTEIN

Yedidya Harush

Area JNF dinner benefits HalutzacommunityMore than 140 people attended the Jewish National

Funds 47th annual buffet dinner and dessert recep-

tion earlier this month.Yedidya Harush, the Israeli shaliach from Halutza, a

community in the Negev, was the speaker. The event

raised money for a medical and dental clinic in that

area.

Honorees were Beryl and Harold Steinbach of Con-

gregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck, who received a Cir-

cle of Excellence award; 11 members of Congregation

Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, recognized as Sderot sup-

porters, in recognition of their visit to the indoor bomb shelter in Sderot last sum-

mer; and David Heisler and Richard Heisler, owners of Butterflake Bakery in Teaneck,

Community Service award winners, for their dedication and contributions to schools

and organizations with their baked goods.

Leonard Grunstein fills in final letters

of the new sefer Torah.

PHOTOS COURTESY

Leonard Grunstein,

holding a Torah as

he, his family, and

the community dancthe Torah across the

Wilf campus.

Norpac dinner in EnglewoodOn November 20, Lori and Kevin Lem-mer welcomed Senator-elect Shelley

Moore Capito (RWV) to their Engle-

wood home for a Norpac dinner event.

Ms. Capito, who is completing her sev-

enth term as a representative of West

Virginias second district, will replace

Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller, who

is retiring after having spent 30 years

as an elected oficial. Ms. Capitos vic-

tory marks the irst time in more than

50 years that West Virginia has elected a

Republican U.S. Senator. She is now on

the House Financial Services Committee

and the House Transportation and Infra-

structure Committee.

During the two-hour dinner, Ms. Cap-

ito spoke with the nearly two dozen Nor-

pac members and guests before sharing

her perspective on issues that affect

Israel and the United States.

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16/40

Editorial

1086 Teaneck RoadTeaneck, NJ 07666(201) 837-8818Fax 201-833-4959

PublisherJames L. Janoff

Associate Publisher EmeritaMarcia Garfinkle

EditorJoanne Palmer

Associate EditorLarry Yudelson

Guide/Gallery EditorBeth Janoff Chananie

Contributing EditorPhil Jacobs

About Our Children EditorHeidi Mae Bratt

CorrespondentsWarren BorosonLois GoldrichAbigail K. LeichmanMiriam RinnDr. Miryam Z. Wahrman

Advertising DirectorNatalie D. Jay

Business ManagerRobert Chananie

Classified DirectorJanice Rosen

Advertising CoordinatorJane Carr

Account ExecutivesPeggy EliasGeorge KrollKaren NathansonBrenda Sutcliffe

International Media PlacementP.O. Box 7195 Jerusalem 91077Tel: 02-6252933, 02-6247919Fax: 02-6249240Israeli Representative

Production ManagerJerry Szubin

Graphic ArtistsDeborah HermanBob O'Brien

Credit ManagerMarion Raindorf

ReceptionistRuth Hirsch

JewishStandard

jstandard.com

FounderMorris J. Janoff (19111987)

Editor EmeritusMeyer Pesin (19011989)

City EditorMort Cornin (19151984)

Editorial ConsultantMax Milians (1908-2005)

SecretaryCeil Wolf (1914-2008)

Editor EmeritaRebecca Kaplan Boroson

One last spinaround Chanukah

Shortly after we send this weeks

Jewi sh Standard to the prin t-

ers, but before you read this,

we wi ll have lit the Chanukah

candles for the last time this year. But

while we have put away our chanukiyot,

the spirit of winter, marker of Northern

Hemisphere Chanukah, lingers on.

It is not quite too late, in other words,

for some parting thoughts about Chanu-

kah past and Chanukah future.

By the standards of the Jewish calen-dar, Chanukah is a middle-aged holiday.

Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, and Yom

Kippur are ancient they are recorded

in the Torah. Yom Haatzmaut and Yom

Hashoah, commemorations of 20th-cen-

tury events, are newborns. Between lie

Chanukah and Purim younger than

the Bible but, with origins centuries

before the Common Era , consi derably

older than springtime.

Old, even ancient, does not have to

mean moribund, and Chanukah has

proved to be a poster child for change.

In the late 19th century, as historian

Jonathan Sarna has shown, a c ircle of

young American Jews notably includ-

ing Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold

reinvented Chanukah as an American-themed holiday of religious freedom.

The Zionist movement shifted the

focus of the holiday from the talmudic

emphasis on the miracle of the light to

the (possibly original) celebration of the

Maccabees victory. In 1936, Menashe

Ravina a Zionist and a Communist

composed Mi Yimalel, which praised

Jewish acti on rather than Gods mira-

cles: In our day all the people of Israel

will unite, rise up, and be redeemed.

Of course, holidays change not only

in the broader sense but also through

small changes in implementation. In

the Middle Ages, the original oil lamps

cited in the Talmud were replaced with

wax candles. In recent years, olive

oil has made a comeback, with a

variety of oils to choose from.

All this is a long wind-up to

reflect on a small tweak to

Chanukah customs

that we count as a

great improvement.

We are referring

to the new rules

for Speed Dreidel

published last weekby Slate.com.

It says something

about the role of

Judaism and Chanukah

in American Jewish life that

Slate could unapologetically

devote an article to the topic with the

headline: The classic Hannukah game

is painfully slow. Its time to speed it up.

Note that rather than reporting on the

dreidel game as a quaint Jewish practice,

Slate takes it seriously as something its

readers play.

Ben Blatts article makes clear that as

much as he loves being Jewish, dreidel is

not his favorite game. (That would prob-

ably be baseball, the subject of his recent

book, I Dont Care if We Never Get Back:30 Games in 30 Days on the Best Worst

Baseball Road Trip Ever.) Mr. Blatt is a

sports analytics wizard, and he isnt

afraid to bring numbers to bear in his

dreidel critique. Dreidel takes too long,

he complains, but he didnt rely on his

gut instinct to make the case.

Instead, he writes, I ran 50,000

simulations of 171 different starting con-

ditions, for a grand total of 8.5 million

simulated dreidel games. Heres what I

mean by starting conditions: one start-

ing condition was a game of six play-

ers with 10 tokens each. Another was

a game of three people with 15 pieces

each. All assumed eight seconds per

spin, and, again out of generosity

to dreidel, I assumed there was no

delay between player turns.

(Showing further generosity, the

article included an interactive

Dreidel Duration Esti-

mator, where you can

try out different sce-

narios for yourself. For

example, if a minyan

of people play dreidel,

each starting with 20pieces and spending

10 seconds on each

spin, you can expect

the game to last more than

two and a half days. Oy!)

Rather than simply call for the

game to no longer be played, Mr. Blatt,

in keeping with the resourceful spirit

of the Maccabees, revised the rules

rather than scrap them. And thus we

have Speed Dreidel.

The basic idea is this: Instead of tak-

ing turns with the spin, everyone spins

their own dreidel at the same time.

Depending on the spin, players take

out a token from the pot, put one in, or

share in dividing the tokens. Simultane-

ous play makes for less boredom. It alsoresults in the inal conquest of the pot

happening much sooner.

This is, as he points out, good news

for dreidel manufacturers. But it is good

news for all of us who play the game,

and wish to keep traditions alive in an

increasingly fast-paced age and one

where, frankly, we have more compel-

ling entertainments.

So count that as among this years

Chanukah miracles: that a game our

ancestors converted to Judaism (it had

started off as the European game of tee-

totum) can be renewed and improved

so we can pass it on to our children.

L.Y.


The

seasonafter Tis

February got shafted, and I don

think thats very nice, no, n

very nice at all.

But lets go back to the holida

fest that precedes it:

November is a time for thanks, where w

evaluate all the good things we have in o

lives and show our appreciation for the

over a nice feast of turkey and marshm

low sweet potatoes.

The gratitude we feel on Thanksgivin

and the preparation for it, start not just

the actual day of, but also in the weeks leaing up to it. In school, children are taug

about pilgrims and the Mayflower, pr

schoolers dress up in Indian garb and feat

ered construction paper hats, adults crea

menus and assign whos in charge of wh

food item, young parents are faced wi

the headache of choosing which family

meal theyre going to attend, and so fort

But after all of that, after were stuffed wi

so much stufing that we can be stuffed n

more, the holiday has passed and to sho

for it we are left with protruding stomac

and divvied up leftovers.

Then we have December, when wint

tunes start playing on the radio (some ev

before Thanksgiving), warming our hea

until theyre played so much on every s

tion that eventually they annoy us. Thesongs culminate in the top 100 of the ye

as we approach the Big Day. We also ha

the holiday lights, which, regardless of yo

religion, arguably are a welcoming resp

from the darkness of early winter. And

course, the candles of our Chanukah men

rahs burning bright, an additional cand

as the holiday progresses. We also ma

encounter our irst snowfall before the Ne

Year, one that is met with wonder (as Wi

ter Wonderland loops in our heads) un

when, a couple of months later, it does n

After the big ball drops and confetti an

litter are cleaned up from Times Squar

theres a bit of post-holiday blues, as all th

hype from the previous two months a


17/40

Opinion


Opinions expressed in the op-ed and letters columns are not necessarily those

of the Jewish Standard. The Jewish Standard reserves the right to edit letters.Be sure to include your town. Email jstandardle [email protected]. Handwritten

letters will not be printed.

met with the rest of a looming

winter. But fear not, as there

is Yeshiva Break to look

forward to, thanks to it being

switched in most schools

from late December. Alas,

January is saved from gloom.

But then comes February.

Lets face it, as mentioned

earlier, February really got

left in the shadows. Sure, we

have the poor-excuse-for-

a-holiday called Groundhogs Day. Butcome on the shadow of a furry little ani-

mal is going to determine how long a set

season is going to operate, when its the

same result, regardless of that shadow,

every single year?

I mean, even March, though it still is

cold and dreary, carries with it the idiom

In like a lion, out like a lamb. And with

that in mind we hope for our Purim pack-

ages to be delivered on warm front door-

steps rather than in the snow.

And then April showers bring May

flowers. Spring fever, from April through

June, is marked by Passover and Shavuot.

First, the story of the Exodus, from slav-

ery to freedom, the ultimate transition

from darkness to light, celebrated with

matzah and maror and potato kugel andchildren asking questions and the Hag-

gadah and wine and children hiding the

aikomon (sometimes falling asleep before

we have time to ask where its hidden).

Shavout is a time to appreciate the Torah

by learning all through the night and eat-

ing cheesecake.

This, followed by July and August sum-

mer vacation! which consist of camp,

trips, and sun tans.

September is marked by the High Holi-

days, when, in between our new fruits

and apples and honey, we pray to cleanse

our souls. Then we look forward to the

festivities of Sukkot, often in

October, where we eat in our

bamboo and canvas huts and

hope the rain doesnt make

them unusable for more time

than they are usable.

And then, after all of this,

we arrive back at November.

And December. And Janu-

ary. Which, as noted, all

consist of their own distinct

attributes.

And then theres February, the sad-dest month on the calendar, with no

turkeys or cranberry sauce, no bright

lights, no holiday music, no dreidels or

latkes, no promise of warmer climates,

no small and modest mountains, no

dressing up as princesses and pirates,

no hamentashen (most of the time), no

flowers, no learning through the night,

no grand escapes from slavery, no

bright sunshine, no tri ps to the beach,

no apples and honey, no purity of fast-

ing, no shaking palm leaves or the sweet

smell of citrus fruit, no dancing with the

Torah, and all the way back to where

we started, which was a month of grati-

tude culminating in nice warm pumpkin

pie, followed by a season of light amidst

darkness.No, February gets none of this treat-

ment. February gets a pointless tradition

of a small little animal not determining

the coming of a season thats already set

by the cal endar. As I said, February got

shafted, and big time. The saddest month

of the year.

Well, at least its also the shortest.

Dena Croog is a writer and editor in

Teaneck whose work has focused primarily

on psychiatry, mental health, and the book

publishing industry. More information is

available at www.denacroog.com.

1245 Teaneck Rd.

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FOR SALEDena Croog


18/40

Opinion


As they lay dying

A

t some point in the life of

the average adult, the con-

versation shifts from Howare the kids? to Whats

happening with your parents?

If youre lucky, you can talk about

two silver-haired retirees, enjoying

their relative good health, their Road

Scholar vacations, and their time

with the grandkids. But no matter

how lucky you or they are, the

conversations will one day become

less pleasant and more fraught. Mom

or dad will inevitably decline, and youll start

to talk about options: perhaps an aide to help

around the house, or maybe a move to an assisted

living center. If, God forbid, one or the other dies,

you might ask the survivor if he or she wants to

live with you or would prefer to ind a place.

One week you are helping to ill out permission

slips and college applications; the next, you arecosigning advance medical directives and power-

of-attorney applications.

This is the territory Roz Chast stakes out in her

variously hilarious and heartbreaking graphic

memoir, Cant We Talk About Something More

Pleasant? The book is graphic in every sense.

Ms. Chast, an iconic New Yorker cartoonist,

chronicles her parents decline and fall in words

and drawings, using

the same spidery lines

and nervous enery

that has made her the

poet laureate of middle-

class neurosis. And the

book is unspari ng in its

details about her parents

pers o na l i t i es , the i r

medical issues, their inaldays, and the searing mood

swings from guilt to

amusement to exasperation

that have afflicted anyone

tasked with caring for an

elderly relative.

Ms. Chast gave the Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture

at the Jewish Theological Seminary last week,

although what she delivered was less a lecture than

a spellbinding performance based on her book.

Although charming and as funny as her wonderfully

weird cartoons, Ms. Chast seemed militantly

unphilosophical. When David Kraemer, the JTS

librarian and himself a scholar of Jewish death and

dying, sought to draw her out on the Jewish and

spiritual ideas in her work, Ms. Chast wouldnt

bite. (She didnt disagree when Mr. Kraemer

suggested that the book is a chronicle of the biblicalcommandment to honor ones mother and father,

but suggested Torah was Mr. Kraemers bailiwick,

not hers.) When an audience member asked what

she learned from watching her parents decline,

Ms. Chast advised hiring an elder lawyer to help

with the bureaucracy and buying a notebook to

write down your parents social security numbers,

medications, doctors numbers, etc.

Its clear that everything Ms. Chast has to say

on caring for ones aging parents is found on the

228 pages of Cant We Talk. She descr ibes her

parents as soul mates who were

born 10 days apart and who, Aside

from WWII, work, illness, and goingto the bathroom did everything

together. Mom, a former assistant

principal, is domineering and

oddly patrician; her dad, a former

schoolteacher, is submissive, easily

distracted, and anxious. When

the two seem no longer capable

of living safely in their Brooklyn

apartment (I worried about them

constantly, writes Ms. Chast), she

must convince them to consider assisted living the

kinds of places, she writes, with euphemistic names

like End-of-the-Trail Acres and Final Bridge Rest

Home.

Ms. Chast describes the options available for

those in lifes late stages (thats the clinical term,

not hers) as a series of painful, unsettling, and

obscenely expensive choices. Society, she suggestedin her remarks, hasnt adapted to the reality of

people living so long in poor or declining health.

We dont have the signposts we once had, she said.

We dont talk about it as a culture. She suggests,

only half-joking, that the frail elderly be allowed to

live out their inal years blissfully high on opium

or heroin, eating as much ice cream as they want.

Extreme palliative care, she calls it, for when

youve had it with everything else: the

X-rays, the MRIs, the boring food, and

the pills that dont do anything at all.

Would that be so bad?

Mr. Kraemer, meanwhile, recalled

a line from Philip Roths Everyman:

Old age isnt a battle; old age is a

massacre.

Despite the medical emergencies

and the endless trips down theDepressing Aisle for adult

diapers and nutrition shakes, Ms.

Chast also inds moments of love

and grace during her parents

inal years. But she knows that as

much as we cherish our parents

and want whats best for them, c aregiving is a

clash of generous and selish impulses. The

gallant daughter-caretaker treasures the time

spent with her parents, because she knows that

soon, theyll be gone. Meanwhile, the goofus

daughter-caretaker mostly, when wi th her aged

parents, wishes she were somewhere else.

The evening at JTS ended on a sweet and

unexpected note. During the question-and-

answer period, three members of the audience

surprised Ms. Chast by explaining that they had

met her parents. One, a student of her fathers,thanked him for turning his life around. Another

met them in a hospital where they boasted about

their daughter, the cartoonist. And another, an

art teacher, said she taught the two how to make

paper cuts.

Funny and sad, Ms. Chasts book is about how

two people die. These strangers reminded us all

how they lived.

Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor in chief of the New

Jersey Jewish News, where this originally appeared.

AndrewSilow-Carroll

Time to rethinkHolocaustRemembrance Day?

Do we need Holocaust

Remembrance Day?

Since some of you

may be incredulous

that I even asked that question, let

me irst explain why I am doing so.

Over the last week, a scandal

has erupted in Ireland regarding

whet her or not Isra el can be

mentioned at the forthcoming

oficial Holocaust commemoration

on Sunday, Jan. 25. (The oficial

international remembrance day

follows two days later.) It was Yanky

Fachler, the avuncular Irish-Jewish

broadcaster who has been master

o f c er em o ni es

of the event forseveral years now,

who al er ted th e

outside world to

this development

when he relea sed

a letter from Peter

Cassells, the chair

o f H o l o c a u s t

Educational Trust

Ireland (HETI),

informing him that

he could not say the words Israel

or Jewish state in any of his

remarks.

After a subsequent tussle with

HETI, Fachler was informed that

his services as MC would no longer

be needed. At the same time, Jewishleaders around the world, along

with leading Irish personalit ies

like Alan Shatter, a Jew who until

recently served as Minister of

Justice, condemned the decision

on uttering the word Israel in

no uncertain terms. Ironically, at

this years ceremony in Dublin,

Shatter underlined the centrality

of Israel to our understanding of

the legacy of the Holocaust when

he said, Holocaust denial is the

favorite sport of some, in particular

in Europe, and in the Middle East.

It is the irst cousin of those who

still see Jews, for no reason other

than they are Jewish, as legitimate

targets for hate speech andrandom violence and of extremists

who would, i f they could, bring

about a second Holocaust by the

extermination of the 6 million Jews

who today are citizens of the state

of Israel.

In other words, to prevent

another Holocaust, Jews need to

be able to defend themselves from

outside persecutors and to do

that properly, they need a state.

For what its worth, HE

has since clariied that there

no ban on mentioning Israel

the Holocaust Memorial D

commemoration in Ireland. Isra

will be referred to and the Isra

ambassador has attended an

participated in the ceremo

since its inception in 2003 an

will do so again in January 201

But there was no apoloy f

the initial decision, and mo

importantly, no explanation

to how it was reached. When

recently spoke to Yanky Fachler,

told me that while it was unlike

that HETI wou

reinstate him as tcommemoratio

d a y s M C , h

wo u l d n t w a

the role anywa

give n the lac k

answers from t

organization ov

wh y it de em e

the mentioning

Israel to be, as t

Germans might sa

verboten.

I dont know whether HE

wil l ever provide us with

unvarnished account as to ho

it arrived at, and then apparen

revised, its ban on the mentioni

of Israel. Ive tried to get answefrom Peter Cassells, but his ofi

has remained silent.

What I do know is that t

controversy in Ireland neat

captures the tension betwe

those who want to emphasize t

universal lessons of the Holocau

and those who place the accent o

what the extermination of 6 milli

of our people means for futu

generations of Jews.

That tension shouldnt rea

be there. There is no reason w

we cannot irst mourn those Je

who died solely because they we

Jews and salute those who resist

the Nazi menace even as th

suffered from hunger and colwhile at the same time pointi

to the Jewish experience duri

World War II as a moral less

against both future genocides a

those that have occurred since t

Nazi defeat in 1945 (in Rwand

Bosnia, the Kurdish region of Ira

and too many other locations).

It seems that HETI, as Fachl

pointed out to me, cares mo

about dead Jews than living one

Ben Cohen


19/40

Letter


What was Standardthinking?I have read many offensive editorials

in the Jewish Standard over the past 30

years, but What were they thinking?

(December 19) ranks among the worst.

The board of the Jewish Center madea courageous decision to keep one of

Teanecks most important Jewish insti-

tutions within the Jewish community,

despite the fact that there was more

money available to them through a sale

of that institution to Holy Name Hospital,

and you have the unmitigated gall to cas-

tigate them for their decision!

Whats worse, you imply that the board

acted as it did because of some animus

toward the non-Jewish world.

Holy Name Hospital is a ine institution

and has gone out of its way to cater to the

Jewish community, but in the end it is not

a Jewish institution.

There is nothing shameful in maintain-

ing a Jewish institution in Jewish hands.

Indeed, I suspect that the founders ofthe Jewish Center would be proud of this

decision to provide a permanent home

for a Jewish school, despite the lucrative

offer from the hospital.

For the record, I have no association

with the Teaneck Jewish Center in any

capacity. But I do have ininite respect for

a courageous board of directors. While

the Jewish Standard is entitled to it s point

of view, it is sad that you have taken to

task these individuals who merely seek

to maintain the infrastructure of the

Teaneck Jewish community.

Jerry Milch

Teaneck

As regards your editorial What were

they thinking? about the Teaneck Jew-ish Center, the proper question is, What

was the Jewish Standard thinking?

The Jewish Standard seems to think

that the board of trustees of a synagogue

should be pursuing proits as if it were

representing shareholders seeking a

dividend. Nothing can be further from

the truth. The irst responsibility of the

oficers and trustees of any non-proit

corporation is to fulill the mission state-

ment of the organization. All discussions

about how to raise money, how to spend

money and when to acquire and di spose

of assets is governed irst and foremost

by how the decision reflects the core val-

ues and mission statement. The second

consideration is for decisions to be made

in accordance with the constitution andby-laws of the organization.

The editorial of December 18th about

the sale of the Teaneck Jewish Center

building decries their not even consider-

ing the highest cash offer. This specious

logic denies the very nature of non-proit,

for it fails to ask the most fundamental

question. What would the board do with

an additional $4 million (the reported

discrepancy between Holy Names offer

and Heichal HaTorah)? Who is to say that

keeping this valuable piece of real estate

in the heart of the Jewish community as

an active asset in daily use by a Jewish

High School is not the best way to honor

the mission statement, constitution and

by-laws of the Teaneck Jewish Center?

Large parcels of real estate that aresuitable for Jewish schools, synagogues

and community centers within easy

walking distance or short drives from the

population they are designed to serve

are hard to come by. Transferring such

an asset to a health care institution is not

a decision to take lightly and certainly

not an action to be taken just because of

the money involved.

The Board of Trustees of the Teaneck

Jewis h Cent er has some dif icult deci-

sions to make. They are the custodians of

a valuable asset that is no longer fulilling

the organizations mission to serve the

Jewish community. The changing demo-

graphics of the Jewish community in Ber-

gen County require the organizat ion to

make dificult decisions about how to ful-ill their mission. Criticizing them about

turnin

north jersey jewish standard, dec. 26, 2014

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