Rabbi Joshua Hammerman TBE Shabbat-O-Gram

May 16, 2008 – Iyar 11 5768 – Omer Day 26

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

This Shabbat-O-Gram is sponsored by Michael and Risa Pollack, in honor of Brian becoming Bar Mitzvah

Special Occasion? Sponsor a Shabbat Bulletin, (sent every Friday morning via e-mail),

the Shabbat Announcements (Distributed each Shabbat at the Temple)

& the Shabbat-O-Gram. Sponsor all three publications for only $72

All sponsors will be acknowledged at the beginning of each of these announcements

and also listed in our Bi-monthly Bulletin. Call Mindy in the office at 322-6901

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Prior Shabbat-O-Grams are archived at http://www.tbe.org/sog/index.php.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO MADE LAST WEEKEND’S SYNAPLEX SHABBAT SO SUCCESSFUL!!

A full collection of past articles, sermons and essays can now be found at my new blog at http://joshuahammerman.blogspot.com/

Contents of the Shabbat O Gram:

(Click to scroll down)

Just the Facts

The (Occasionally) Ranting Rabbi

Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunities

Ask the Rabbi

Spiritual Journey on the Web

The Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary

Masechet Cyberspace (NEW)

Required Reading and Action Items (links to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)

Joke for the Week

TBE Family Photos of the Week (NEW)

(send us your photos of a TBE event involving your family..

…because your family IS our family!)

“Scenes from a Naming”

New TBE member Hallie Sklar and Johanna just after Jo Jo’s naming last Sunday

Hallie and Jamie, along with Johanna’s grandparents, at the ceremony

Our newest member, resting

The secular TALI school...

Our Junior Choir sang proudly at last week’s Israel celebration at the JCC

For new photos, check our website

More Good News from the TBE Family:

Mazal Tov to Lisa Bloch Rodwin, daughter of Larry and Steffi Bloch,

on being confirmed by the NY Senate to serve as Family Court Judge in Erie County.

Read about Lisa here

See the full Buffalo News article at here

Quote for the Week

“Learn from yesterday,

live for today,

hope for tomorrow.

The important thing

is not to stop

questioning.”

Albert Einstein

This was the quote heading the program for the Israeli President's Conference, “Facing Tomorrow,”

convened in Jerusalem this week by Shimon Peres in honor of Israel’s 60^th.

Many dignitaries attended, including President Bush.

Here are Peres’ opening remarks:

Dear Participants,

We are gathered in Jerusalem to think together about ‘Tomorrow’. We wish for a better tomorrow for Israel, the Jewish people and the world. We think about tomorrow not passively - but with imagination, vision, and in no small measure - chutzpah. We are in need of this kind of presumptuous and non-conformist thinking, the kind that seeks to shape the future.

Across the millennia, the exhortations of the prophets of Israel have echoed in our hearts. The prophets envisioned a future of humane peace and social justice. Through their fervent faith, they encouraged us to shape a better tomorrow. The prophets have instilled in us - and the whole world - great inspiration, and taught us to rise up against evil and to never accept wrongdoing. They have also given the Jewish people an impatient temperament, a disinclination to rest on its laurels or settle for what is. They have given us the drive to change and strive for a better, more just future.

The history of the Jewish people oscillates between acceptance and rebellion - between the tragedy of a helpless people at the mercy of a cruel fate and the resurgence of that same people to take control of its fate and shape for itself the tomorrow it once only dreamt about.The establishment of the State of Israel after two millennia of exile is a remarkable expression of the weaving of history by humans. This chutzpah - of the refusal to accept things as they are - has its roots to the early dawn of the Jewish people. More than three thousand years passed between the time of Moses and that of Herzl, but in those two gigantic crossroads on the path of the Jewish journey through history we find the same people - a people that has taken control of its fate to emerge from slavery to freedom, and shape its national vision and human mission.

These enormous turns of history are made by humans. They teach us the extent to which all things are foreseen; yet the choice is given. Tomorrow does not await us locked and pre-determined. Tomorrow calls upon us to shape it. It presents us with empty pages and invites us to write on them the histories of tomorrow. The future awaits our decisions, our inventions, our dreams and our imagination. Facing Tomorrow will look closely at the trends and developments that are mapping the future, and serve as an incubator for some selected proactive responses. Participants will be charged with examining, confronting, and responding to three intertwining futures: the global tomorrow, the Jewish tomorrow, and the Israeli tomorrow.

Each “tomorrow” - Jewish, Israeli, and world - will be examined through a set of three critical lenses: The leadership necessary to navigate the challenges ahead, the values that are meant to guide our journey, and the creativity required to embrace the new and keep pace with a rapidly changing world. We wish for a conference that not only ‘talks’ but also drives action. We seek toencourage practical initiatives intended to positively shape our future. In honor of the Conference, gathered in Jerusalem is a unique group of people: leaders who hail from a wide variety of fields and courses: policy, science, economics, culture, art, religion and thought. These leaders are unlike each other but they share a common trait - they are determined to shape tomorrow. They are not content to settle for things as they are. They possess the courage to create the new.

If the role of historians is to explain how yesterday was shaped, our challenge is to show the path to shaping tomorrow. We must extend our understanding of the trends that will influence the face of tomorrow. We must be humble but courageous: Humble - to accept that not all trends can be shaped and changed and that sometimes our only choice is to be

well-prepared; Courageous - to insist that where change is possible, we should act, steer, innovate and make the difference between what could be to what should be.

In all my years, I have been party to many dreams. The ones that became reality had one thing in common: they were all blessed with the proper mix of imagination, will, and compassion. I am quite sure that all three of these very human qualities will be abundantly evident at this conference, and will afford it the intellectual fertility, curiosity, and enthusiasm any meaningful consideration of tomorrow requires.

With very best regards,

Shimon Peres, President of Israel

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting: 7:48 pm on Friday, May 16, 2008. For Havdalah times, other Jewish calendar information, and to download a Jewish calendar to your PDA, click on http://www.hebcal.com/. To see the festivals of other faiths as well, go to http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/. The United Synagogue has updated its candlelighting information. To learn more, click here.

THE FULL SERVICE SCHEDULE NOW APPEARS ON THE SEPARATE TBE ANNOUNCEMENTS E-MAIL

Friday Night Shabbat Services:

7:30 – Main Service – in the sanctuary – Join our third graders, who will be receiving their siddurim in a special ceremony

Tot Shabbat at 6:45, in the chapel

Shabbat Morning:

Mazal tov to Brian Pollack, son of Risa and Michael, brother of Jonathan,

who becomes Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat morning

Morning Minyan: 7:30 Weekdays, 9:30 Sundays

PLEASE COME TO MINYAN!

TO ENSURE A “GUARANTEED MINYAN” FOR THE DAY OF YOUR YAHRZEIT – GO TO THE ROSNER MINYAN MAKER AT WWW.TBE.ORG AND THEN NOTIFY OUR OFFICE.

Now you can become more comfortable with the prayers of our morning service by heading to…

http://www.tbe.org/site/sog/minyanmastery.htm

Parashat Behar

Torah Portion: Leviticus 25:1 - 26:2

1: 25:1-3
2: 25:4-7
3: 25:8-13
4: 25:14-18
5: 25:19-24
6: 25:25-28
7: 25:29-38
maf: 25:35-38

Haftarah Jeremiah 32:6 - 32:27

Text Studies and Commentaries on Behar

from www.myjewishlearning.com

Click here for a summary of B’har.

Text Studies

This Land Is God’s Land by Rabbi Marsha J. Pik-Nathan

Provided by Hillel’s Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning, which creates educational resources for Jewish organizations on college campuses.

Reaching Out To Those In Need by Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger

Provided by KOLEL--The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning, which is affiliated with Canada's Reform movement.

Sowing Seeds Of Redemption by Judith Ovadia

Provided by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the central body of Reform Judaism in North America.

Commentaries

The Mitzvah of Shemitah by Noam Yehuda Sendor

Provided by Canfei Nesharim, providing Torah wisdom about the importance of protecting our environment.

We Are All God's Creatures by Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels

Provided by American Jewish World Service, pursuing global justice through grassroots change.

Divine Lottery by Ari Weiss

Provided by American Jewish World Service, pursuing global justice through grassroots change.

Elevation or Obstacle? by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky

Provided by the Jewish Outreach Institute, an organization dedicated to creating a more open and welcoming Judaism.

Fairness In The Marketplace by Steve Greenberg

Provided by CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a multi-denominational think tank and resource center.

Our Love For The Land Of Israel by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, which ordains Conservative rabbis at the University of Judaism.

Responding Swiftly To Need by Rabbi Shimon Felix

Provided by the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel, a summer seminar in Israel that aims to create a multi-denominational cadre of young Jewish leaders.

A New World by Rabbi Asher Brander

Provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox congregations.

Economic Justice For Insiders And Outsiders by Rabbi Joshua Heller

Provided by the Jewish Theological Seminary, a Conservative rabbinical seminary and university of Jewish studies.

Masters Of Servitude by Rabbi Michael Bernstein

Provided by SocialAction.com, an on-line Jewish magazine dedicated to pursuing justice, building community, and repairing the world.

No More “Three-Day” Jews

by Joshua Hammerman
Special To The Jewish Week

If there were a graveyard for the outmoded, it would be filled with typewriters, telephone dials, shortwave radios and three-day-a-year Jews. These items don’t exist any more, except in museums, attics and the nostalgic yearnings of those caught up in the imagery of yesteryear.

All are victims of the technological revolution. Typewriters have been replaced by the computer; dial phones with touch tones, shortwave with Web sites, and three-day Jews have been rendered obsolete by radically new modes of connection providing grass-roots Jewish empowerment 365 days a year.

A few weeks ago, a congregant came up to me and the conversation turned to one of those moral perplexities that seem to confound us with greater frequency these days. As we parted, he said,

“I guess the answer will never be fully understood, just like the red cow.”

“Right,” I said as I walked away, impressed that he knew all about that obscure law, categorized by commentators as one of those few mitzvot that defy human

understanding. It’s complicated stuff, indicating a high level of curiosity and inquiry.

Now this particular congregant is hardly of the legendary three-day ilk. He attends services often, but his erudite allusion was typical of comments I’ve been getting lately,

even from congregants whom I rarely see between High Holy Days.

I’ve always felt that this three-day thing was overrated. Even the most marginal Jew occasionally finds his way to a synagogue for bar mitzvahs, funerals, concerts or lectures. The “three-day” moniker was just another way to foster guilt and degradation, to reinforce the hierarchical nature of Jewish life and to highlight the alienation many feel from institutional Judaism. But it never had much to do with true levels of Jewish engagement.

Centuries ago, the Baal Shem Tov literally blew the whistle on such derogatory labels with his tale of the shepherd who came to services on Yom Kippur, and who, when moved to pray, pulled out his shepherd’s whistle and blew. The congregation was outraged, until the founder of modern Chasidism asserted that only the shrill blasts of this uninitiated stranger had enabled everyone’s prayers to pierce the gates of heaven.

The Dalai Lama hasn’t seen the inside of his holy place since 1959, yet no one calls him a three-day Tibetan. It’s time to stop bemoaning the drop in institutional affiliation and recognize that Jewish identification is now being fostered in ways that community leaders cannot possibly measure — much of it anonymously, online.

Now, everyone has complete access, in the office or at home, to a Jewish library larger than the cumulative libraries of every great rabbi for the past two millennia. The entire Talmud, the venerable Jewish Encyclopedia and reams of Torah commentary are just a click away.

It’s a new era. As we’ve seen this year in domestic and foreign politics, the operative direction for the flow of information is no longer top-down but rather bottom-up. The old hierarchies no longer hold the power they used to, from the Chinese government, which struggles to control grassroots protests against repressive policies, to the Catholic Church, which faces dissent from within.

Good thing we don’t have such hierarchies in Judaism.

And if we did, we won’t. Now every Jew is theoretically his or her own rabbi. The Torah, after all, calls us a “nation of priests.” But while we no longer need rabbis or synagogues to access Jewish information, it helps to have someone capable of interpreting it, who can help people choose from the dizzying array of options. Just as the WebMD generation still needs doctors, we still need trained rabbis — but the training needs to be more befitting a non hierarchical age of empowerment.

Behold, the birth of the Wiki Jew.

According to — what else? — Wikipedia, “A wiki is software that allows users to collaboratively create, edit, link, and organize the content of a website... Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites.”

Wikipedia has many flaws, but the enormity of the collaboration that creates it is awe-inspiring. The community that is constructing this vast compendium of accumulating knowledge is nothing less than the entire human race. Anyone can contribute to this trove of information — even those less than qualified. But in the end, the power of numbers enables Wikipedia, more often than not, to be self-correcting. One recent study pointed out that it rivals even the Encyclopedia Britannica (also now online) for accuracy.

For millennia, Jewish tradition has evolved in much the same collaborative, incremental manner, and now it is finding a home in the global cyber-yeshiva. While rabbis still play a major role, everyone is now welcome to join in this timeless conversation. As new halachic questions mount — on subjects ranging from intellectual property rights and workplace privacy to the forwarding of third-party e-mails, rabbis are weighing in online; but so is everyone else. On my own blog (http://joshuahammerman.blogspot.com), I’ve initiated “Masechet Cyberspace,” a “halachic wiki” of sorts, for the discussion of these issues. Fittingly, “Masechet” means both a Talmudic tractate and a web.

So the three-day Jew is no more. During the rest of the year, she may be tapping into the Jewish stream in a brand-new way: frequenting the enchanted Wiki-room.

Post a Comment

The Natural and the National

Last week I had the opportunity to lead a Synaplex Learner’s Service, focusing on how our prayers transport us to the land of Israel. As we journeyed through the opening Psalms, (called Pesukei d'Zimra), we noticed a progression of Zionist imagery equating the natural with the national. Psalm 147, for example, describes the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of exiles along side natural wonders like ice storms. Anyone who has ever seen snow in Jerusalem knows how awe inspiring this synthesis of national and natural can be. Then, Psalms 148, 149 and 150 continue this interplay, juxtaposing the rejoicing of pilgrims and the harmony of the heavens, Israel’s new sanctuary with God’s. Scholars have often seen the Temple in Jerusalem (and the sanctuary in the Wilderness before it) as being constructed from a blueprint analogous to the one God used in the Creation of the Universe. So now that idea is played out in the liturgy.

While the wonders of nature can be found everywhere, they achieve their greatest glory in the Land of Israel. “Wherever I go,” said Nachman of Bratzlav, “I go to Jerusalem.”

The Pesukey d’Zimra section concludes with the prayer Nishmat Kol Chai, “The Breath of Every Living Thing,” known in the Talmud as Birkat ha-Shir (Blessing of the Song). Subsequent generations picked up on the idea that every creature prays, each in its own way, simply by breathing. A few years ago in Israel, I picked up a booklet known as Perek Shira, in which appears the precise prayer that each creature utters, derived from biblical verses. You can download a 16-page booklet containing the text of Perek Shirah with an English translation by clicking here, and you can see a video presentation here.

Some say that uttering these verses can bring blessing and a deeper connection to the Land (hence, Perek Shira became especially popular among Israeli settlers before the evacuation of Gaza in 2005). I’m not sure about blessing, but they certainly bring peace of mind and reinforce the mystical connection between nature and nation, between the people and land of Israel. In these prayers, all of creation is profoundly linked, and the holy land becomes our frame of reference for viewing all reality.

In Israel, you don’t look west, you look “seaward,” (yamma) and similarly, the word south is Negev, because that’s where it is, and the north, tzafon, means hidden, because northern Israel is covered with mysterious mountains and dark forests. Abstract natural concepts become firmly rooted in sacred soil.

In Perek Shira - the lions aren’t merely models of brute strength but symbols of self control (because they sublimate their power to coexist in groups). This idea of quintessential strength and self restraint is profoundly Jewish, homegrown (see Pirke Avot 4.1) in the land of Israel. The grasshopper, whose eyes and body are angled heavenwards, sings the verse from Psalm 121, “I lift my eyes up to the mountains; from where shall my help come?” And those mountains that the Psalmist invokes are the mountains surrounding Jerusalem.

If you listen closely enough, you just might hear the grasshopper singing a Carlebach melody.

Wherever I go…I go to Jerusalem.

Memories of the March

I invited teens and adults who have just returned from the March of the Living to contribute their share their experiences and reactions. My thanks to Dr. Harry Romanowitz and Danielle Shapiro for sharing the following moving accounts:

A flood of memories, moments. Too numerous to list - many still need "processing". Both internally, and through family, friends, and co-Marchers.

Here are but a few:

Lowest of low points:

- Standing in hallowed ghetto spaces hearing histories of Lodz (first hand from "Uncle" Phil Ravski), Warsaw, Krakow;

Of course, Auschwitz/Birkenau, but, perhaps, even more draining - Majdanek;

Final farewell and El Moleh/Kaddish at Treblinka ash pit, followed by soft, united, uplifting, hand-in-hand Hatikvah at the site of mass killing. Then, directly off to Israel.

Highest of "highs":

- Shabbat morning service at Nozyk shul in Warsaw - with a Bar-Mitzvah no less! The rafters were raised by the joyful noise and excitement of the packed, restored synagogue; the only remaining pre-war shul. (Sadly, it's probably this dynamic and inspiring only a few times year round.);

- March itself on Yom Hashoah in Auschwitz - a quiet, solemn sea of blue.

Over twelve thousand young people (and adult marchers) from around the world. U. S. delegations included L. A., Ohio, Florida, N. Y., MidWest, etc. Major contingents from Canada, France, Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Australia/New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Japan, Israel, and numerous others;

- Just boarding El Al jet in Warsaw and landing in Lod 3 hours later. Wheels setting down in Israel - always thrilling !

- New Ben-Gurion International Airport - WOW !

- Wild, wonderful Yom Ha'Atzmaut eve at Zion Square and Ben Yehuda. Reminiscent of (though more personally exciting) descriptions of Mardi Gras and Rockin' New

Year's Eve. Followed by fireworks over downtown Jersusalem;

- Same Marcher groups gathering in Safra Square (opposite Town Hall) next day for

more outdoor partying - Oh, those Brazilians and Panamanians really have rhythm and boundless energy!

- A dozen Israeli security guards dancing the hora;

- Followed by festive, uplifting March through glorious, sun-drenched Jerusalem streets culminating at the Kotel;

- Most touching moment for me - final night in Israel: Our New England group, 85 strong, (Stamford, Darien, New Haven, Hartford, Rhode Island, plus Harrisburg) gathered for farewells:

One large circle at sunset Shabbat eve - individuals describing moments, feelings, personal enlightenment. Some profound, some insightful, some funny, some unable to express fully.

United all, hand-in-hand, making Havdalah - separating Shabbat from the week. Symbolically separating ourselves as well. Quickly rushing to finish packing and prepare for our return home to the more mundane. Knowing that, just as Shabbat is always there, so too is Israel and our people's history.

Indescribable pride and appreciation for each and everyone of our beautiful, energetic, empowered Marchers (including, of course, the incredibly dedicated and tireless Staff).

Clearly, for all participants the experience was memorable. For some, emotionally or spiritually enlightening. For a few, perhaps life altering.

With a lump in my throat, and tears welling up, looking at their magnificent souls, I could only think - DOS YIDDISHER NACHAS !

Harry (Hesh) Romanowitz

Putting something short in writing that would convey an experience or the impact this trip has had on me turns out to be nearly impossible. As I sit staring at my computer wondering what I could tell others to make them understand what I did, what I saw, how I felt; I begin to realize that nothing I say could ever express the feelings I had on this incredible life changing trip. I know how cliché that sounds. As I think back to over two weeks ago before I left for the March of the Living trip I remember everyone asking me “Are you excited?” “What do you imagine it will be like?" "Will you cry?” I also clearly remember not having a single answer to anyone’s simple questions. I had no idea what to expect when I walked inside the concentration camps and ghettos in Poland or being in Israel to celebrate the 60th anniversary. I still find myself unable to describe or tell you what I witnessed, it’s all a blur of emotions and feelings that I know will stay inside of me forever. Many of them both private and personal for me. One thing is for certain: the memories I have, the friends I have made, and the things I’ve seen have shaped me not only as a person but have also greatly affected my commitment to the Jewish faith and how proud I feel to be part of such a painful yet very rich cultural history. "Never give up," is etched within my heart and soul. As I returned back to school thinking I’d be overwhelmed with work, I quickly realized that what I learned in those two weeks in Poland and Israel is more than I imagined possible and has enriched me as a person and a student more than I could have ever experienced in those two weeks in school. I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to be part of this extraordinary journey.

Danielle Shapiro

More on Storahtelling’s “Becoming Israel”

Here’s what Storahtelling’s founder, Amichai Lau Levi, wrote last week on Storahtelling's blog. For those of us who were moved to tears by last week’s production, these words provide helpful commentary and inspiration:

So what do we celebrate this year? For me - the power of process, the art of becoming. The very name ‘Israel’ means the ‘god wrestler’ – the one engaged in the process of transformation, honoring that which is continually evolving.

There is a story in the Midrash about two sages who travel one night in the valleys of the Galilee. As dawn approached in the horizon, one said to the other: “this is what the redemption of Israel resembles – at first she rises, little by little, then she begins to sparkle, then gathers strength, and spreads over the sky.” (Midrash Rabbah - The Song of Songs 6:25)

Beth El Cares:

Inreach and Outreach

I asked the President…

…to do the right thing: boycott the Olympics to show support for those oppressed by the Chinese, in particular those in Darfur.

To take action by signing the petition, go to the American Jewish World Service petition site – but you need to do it now.

Mitzvah Suggestions for the Week

Special Request from Nancy Leferman

I will be going through a desensitization protocol at the Dana Farber Cancer Center, which involves a procedure that will allow me to get the medicine that put me into remission a number of years ago. Unfortunately when we tried to use it again, I had had a bad allergic reaction. This desensitization program (under very controlled circumstances and environment) will hopefully allow me to get the medication without incident. And again hopefully will put me into a long remission while the cancer researchers are diligently working on finding magic bullets for all kinds of cancers including mine.

As you all know, I have relied on my village for both support and laughter as a way of getting through so in that vein I have two requests.

1. One of my healers suggested that I ask a few people (she has no idea what a “few” means to me!!!!!) to send me a funny card. I will collect them and open them while I am in the ICU at Dana Farber on an extremely slow drip IV and I will laugh. So please start sending me cards and ask your other friends and their other friends and so on and so on and so on to send me the funniest card they can and mail them to me at:

Nancy Leferman

143 Hoyt Street Apt 7N

Stamford, CT 06905

I am not sure when I will be starting this program but I am asking you all to start this funny card chain now.

2. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of prayer so every time I cross your mind, please say two prayers (if you don’t mind) -- the first one would be that I get through the desensitization protocol without incident and the second one would be that it of course puts me into remission.

I thank you all in advance.

With lots of love,

Nancy

UJC/Federation Supports JDC's Myanmar Relief Effort

UJC's overseas partner, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), has opened an emergency mailbox to raise relief funds for victims of Cyclone Nargid, which devastated portions of Myanmar on May 3.

Funds are being collected for non-sectarian aid for the estimated several hundred thousand cyclone victims left without shelter and safe drinking water. The efforts are part of JDC’s International Development Program, which responds to natural and man-made disasters, providing immediate emergency relief and long-term assistance.

Federations may download Web banners, found in UJC's central library, for use on their Web sites to help support the JDC efforts. For more information on the Web tools, contact UJC's Andy Neusner.

Religion and State: Fundamentalism or Freedom?,”

As Israel turns 60, religious fundamentalism and the resulting political extremism pose a major threat to Israel’s democracy. There, without a written Constitution and with a political system that rewards minority parties with power out of proportion to their numbers, the Orthodox rabbinate maintains a stranglehold on personal status issues, ranging from marriage to divorce to conversion, even to burial. For Israeli Muslims and Christians, too, religious coercion is an ongoing concern.

As you know, in Israel, everyone’s personal liberties and religious consciences are frequently held hostage to their respective religious authorities. In a neighborhood where religious fundamentalism often goes hand-in-hand with extremist ultra-nationalism, the unwillingness to recognize and accept diverse religious beliefs and practices threatens Israeli democracy and freedom – and the fragile peace process itself.

The New Israel Fund’s first virtual International Town Hall will take place on Sunday, May 18 at 1:00 PM EST, when we will host an interactive discussion with four of Israel’s leading experts on religious pluralism and fundamentalism. “Religion and State: Fundamentalism or Freedom?,” our pilot interactive webcast, will allow Diaspora Jews, Israelis and everyone interested in a more progressive Israel the opportunity to learn, think and ask questions – from the convenience of their home computers or at viewing events organized by NIF or by our friends.

To register for the Town Hall, or send your congregants our way, visit the NIF website at www.nif.org/webcast and read the easy instructions. The web site also will explain how your synagogue or other organization can host a viewing event, put the webcast from a computer onto a TV, and, using a specially prepared discussion guide, facilitate a lively debate after the webcast. And feel free to send this e-mail to your friends, colleagues, students – anyone who takes an interest in religious freedom, and who wants to join a community of people who think for themselves about Israel.

STAND UP FOR ISRAEL!

Join Rabbi Hammerman at the AIPAC Policy Conference, June 2-4

For more information, go to www.aipac.org

Just Confirmed!

AIPAC Policy Conference 2008 – Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, June 2-4

AIPAC's 2008 Policy Conference is just over a month away. With thousands of delegates already registered, this year's conference promises to be the
largest and most exciting ever.

The following speakers are already confirmed for this year's Policy Conference:

The Honorable Ehud Olmert

Prime Minister, Israel

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

Speaker, United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Harry Reid

Majority Leader, United States Senate

The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Republican Leader, United States Senate

The Honorable John Boehner

Republican Leader, United States House of Representatives

Mr. Natan Sharansky

Chairman, Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies, Shalem Center

Stay tuned for more…..

The Honorable Ephraim Sneh Former Deputy Defense Minister, Israel	Mr. David Horovitz Editor-in-Chief, The Jerusalem Post
Ambassador Dennis Ross Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy	Ms. Elizabeth L. Cheney Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, U.S. State Department
Dr. Daniel Gordis Senior Vice President, Shalem Center	Dr. Michael B. Oren Senior Fellow, Shalem Center
Mr. William Kristol Editor, The Weekly Standard; Panelist, FOX News Sunday	Dr. Robert Satloff Executive Director, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Don't miss this opportunity to impact the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship!

Sign up Today

The Three Most Important Days Affecting Israel's Future

AIPAC Policy Conference 2008
June 2-4, 2008
The Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.

Blood Drive

Give the Gift of Life! Get involved in a short term mitzvah project that will save lives.

Who benefits from these blood donations? People who are born prematurely, people with auto-immune and other blood disorders,

people involved in accidents…

Many people, including temple members,

have received blood transfusions including some people who need regular blood transfusions.

On Sunday, May 18th between 8:45 am and 1 pm we need 125 healthy adults who are at least 17 years old,

weigh at least 110 pounds and have not given blood since the beginning of March.

Contact Alison Wolff at 203-968-6361 to schedule your donation time or to volunteer to help.

Daffodil Days

Thank you to Ronni Ginsberg for organizing a Daffodil Days sale at Temple Beth El. Proceeds from the sale of daffodils benefited the American Cancer Society.

Volunteer at The Jewish Home for the Elderly

The Jewish Home (in Fairfield) is starting a new program called “Monthly Mitzvah Day” and is asking for groups like ours to select one day per month for members to volunteer at the Home.

Please contact me if you’d like to organize this endeavor.

Cathy Satz 968-9191 (csscounsel@yahoo.com)

Chair, Beth El Cares

BAR/BAT MITZVAH PROJECTS

Blood Drive

Temple Beth El

350 Roxbury Road, Stamford

THIS Sunday, May 18th

8:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

To schedule your appointment, please call

Alison or Cheryl Wolff today at 203-968-6361

or email cwolff@optonline.net

The blood drive is part of Alison Wolff’s Mitzvah Project

in co-operation with Beth El Cares.

Please help her make this drive successful.

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Dear Friend,

As part of our Bar and Bat Mitzvah projects, we are conducting a walk-a-thon to raise money and awareness for juvenile diabetes. Juvenile diabetes is a disease that causes the body to have trouble regulating its blood sugar levels. Also known as type 1 diabetes, juvenile diabetics must either take two insulin shots a day, or use an insulin pump for continuous injections. In addition, they have to test their blood sugar six times a day by pricking their finger. 13,000 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with juvenile diabetes each year. That is 35 new cases every day! This disease affects almost 200 million people worldwide. Both of us have friends and family members with diabetes, which is why we have chosen this organization and cause to contribute to.

We thank you for supporting our cause and we hope you do your best to help support juvenile diabetes. Here’s how you can help:

Make your own donation to JDRF (www.walk.jdrf.org) or send a donation to JDRF, 200 Connecticut Avenue, 5H, Norwalk, CT 06854 and mark in the memo Westhill High School Walk.

Ask your friends and family to donate to JDRF. People can donate online at www.JDRF.org -- just look up Brian Pollack or Lindsay Bralower (they are listed separately). Or people can write a check

Come and support JDRF by participating in our walk on Sunday June 1^st at WESTHILL HIGH SCHOOL (125 Roxbury Road) at 12:15 pm. Your friends and family can sponsor you! We will collect your donation forms there (see attached form).

If you would like to donate or participate, or if you have any questions, please let us know. You can contact us at:

Brian Pollack: (203)967-4756 Bpollack5@yahoo.com

Lindsay Bralower: (203)329-8394 Linzdb1234@yahoo.com

Sincerely,

Brian Pollack and Lindsay Bralower

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I love baseball and many other sports, like basketball, lacrosse, football and soccer. For my mitzvah project, I would like to gather new or used sports equipment to donate to organizations in Stamford, such as the Boys and Girls Club, to use in their children’s afterschool and summer recreation programs. As spring training comes to an end and you buy new equipment to start your regular season, please see if you have any old equipment that you can donate such as-balls, bats, mitts, shin guards, cleats, etc. A donation bin will be set up outside the Temple office.

Thank you.

Adam Satz

Why should a non-observant teen take SATs on Sunday?

There is a little tip that I want to share with our teens: take your SATs and SAT2s on Sunday, rather than the traditional Saturday date. It is almost certain to increase your score, and, BTW, you’ll be doing something very important for the Jewish people as well.

When I bring this up to teens, they often respond that it would be hypocritical for them to do so if they do not otherwise observe the Shabbat in a traditional manner. Here is my response:

· First of all, I rarely use the term “hypocritical.” I prefer “inconsistent.” I would much prefer to set the bar high and never quite reach it than to say that Jewish observance must be an “all or nothing” proposition. It thrills me to know that so many of our kids (of all ages) bring matzah to school for lunch on Passover, for example, even if they are not completely observant in other ways. This public expression of Jewish pride is extremely beneficial precisely because it is so public. It says to the world – to both your non-Jewish and especially to your Jewish friends – that our customs teach important moral lessons and that you love being a Jew. We all make compromises. It was easy for my family when my kids were at day school. Now they are at Westhill, and we have to make tough decisions, but in each case we try as a family to maintain some integrity in our inconsistency. Recently, I walked down to the street to see Dan’s play on a Friday night, with tickets paid for in advance. We’re pre-paying prom expenses in a similar manner. In short, it is perfectly OK to observe Shabbat by taking SATs on Sunday, even if your general practice is to be less than fully observant. It’s more than that – it’s exemplary.

· It feels good to take these tests in a room with a dozen people, all of whom have chosen to express Jewish pride just as you have. The alternative is to take them in a room filled with many more people, who share nothing but nervousness. You enter the exam in a positive frame of mind. It’s like coming home to take the test…. Think about it: would you rather take a huge exam in your own kitchen, chomping on your mom’s warm toll house cookies, or at a packed McDonalds?

· Having that one extra day to study, a quiet Saturday, can be a real asset. Just ask Ethan, who has now taken these tests on Sunday several times, following a relaxing but study-centered Shabbat.

· It is much easier to do that you might think. When you sign up for the tests online, the application allows for Sunday testing options. We are lucky to have a testing site right here in Stamford, at Bi Cultural. Seeing Lillian Wasserman proctoring there, as she has for years, brought an additional smile to Ethan when he went a few weeks ago. Once you have done this once, the process becomes even easier for future test dates.

· Oh yes. For the first one, you will need a note from your rabbi. HELLO! HERE I AM! RIGHT OVER HERE! Needless to say, I would be delighted to help.

One of the byproducts of my having to sign off on these is that I have the first hand knowledge of how few of our teens are taking advantage of this easy opportunity to say to the world, “I’m Jewish and Proud!” It’s quite possible that many have not been aware of how easy it is. For that, I accept complete responsibility.

But now, you know.

Jerusalem of Gold…and Love

With Lag B’Omer coming up next week, and Jerusalem Day soon to follow, this week’s web journey takes us back to a place, and a song, that can help us understand what all the fuss is about. I discovered the "Jerusalem of Gold" Web site totally by serendipity (which is exactly where these spiritual journeys are supposed to begin), while looking for something else. I was immediately taken by the story of the song, just as its music has long enraptured me. So saunter over, if you please, to http://www.jerusalemofgold.co.il/. Once you're there, click on "music," and search for a file with the song so that you can hear it, or if you're a reformed Napsterite like me, find it in your own MP3 files.

The story of the song is almost as enchanting as the song itself. Like the fact that the title came to Naomi Shemer from a Talmudic story of Rabbi Akiva, who romantically dreamed of being able to offer his wife a "Jerusalem of Gold," which to him must have been the most precious gift imaginable. He, after all, lived in amidst the rubble of the recently destroyed (and never completely cleaned up) second temple. Akiva's yearning is matched by Shemer's own, as for her, this song was as much a dirge as a tribute, bemoaning the still deserted marketplaces and empty Dead Sea road. Recall that this song was written just BEFORE the Six-Day War. Recall also, that those marketplaces were in fact well populated at the time -- by Arabs, who were essentially invisible to the Jewish dreamers and songwriters of that era. No, we are not totally blameless in the tragedy that has since followed this miraculous June victory.

Check out "Jewish Sources" and you'll see that for the sages, the "Jerusalem of Gold" was an actually article of jewelry, one that Akiva presented to his wife Rachel in gratitude for her steadfast devotion to him during the hard times. Read about it with greater clarity at Rabbi Judith Abrams' excellent Maqom site http://www.maqom.com/jun17_99.html. It turns out that the Akiba - Rachel story is sort of a Jewish version of the "Gift of the Magi. (http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html"). A perfect way to imagine Jerusalem -- a city that can be attained not simply with great sacrifice, but with an infinite love for one's fellow human, and an infinite desire to give. That is also seen in the famous account of the Two Brothers, another seminal Jerusalem story. See it at http://www.ou.org/yerushalayim/threeweeks/love.html.

Now here's a twist. Is it possible that the Jewish Two Brothers story has Palestinian parallels? Check it out at http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/940505_Pal_Midrash.html. With all this love, why is there so much hate? God only knows….

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Back to Akiva: The love story between Akiva and Rachel is one of the most beautiful in Jewish literature. Read about it at http://www.bjeny.org/images/Judaic_Curricula_/Rabbi_Akiva__From_Shepherd_to_/rabbi_akiva__from_shepherd_to_.htm, which will also help prepare you for the upcoming minor festival of Lag B'Omer.

Then go to http://www.jewishscouting.org/other/lagb_omer.html, and you'll read something else about Lag B'Omer and Rabbi Akiva. (Actually, you’ll no longer find it there, but this is what it USED to say)

"The Talmud speaks obscurely of a plague occurring on one Omer that killed 24,000 students of the second-century Rabbi Akiva. What kind of a plague was it that apparently only affected Rabbi Akiva's talmudic students and nobody else and came to an end on Lag Ba'Omer (the thirty-third of the forty-nine days)? Most modern scholars assume that the plague referred to was not an illness.

Rabbi Akiva supported a rebellion against the Roman conquerors of Israel led by a famous Jewish military leader by the name of Bar-Kochba. Moreover, Akiva declared Bar-Kochba to be the Messiah who would liberate the Jews from Roman domination. Although Bar-Kochba did achieve some early military successes, eventually the Romans suppressed his revolt with incredible brutality. Among Bar-Kochba's leading soldiers were thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students. Thus, it is likely that Lag Ba'Omer was a day on which the Jews either achieved a short lived victory over the Romans or gained some respite from the slaughter of battle."

There are fascinating parallels to our time. There is no real respite for Israel from the plague of terrorism right now – there never has been. But Israelis, whether in Sderot, Ashkelon, the north, or anywhere, are a resilient lot. They celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut last week with gusto (the street life in Tel Aviv is as energized as ever). Let us not lose hope that soon, in our lifetime, we'll all be able to go down to the Dead Sea together, without war, without fear, Jews and Arabs alike, by way of Jericho.

The Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary

Stay tuned…

Masechet Cyberspace

A Netiquette Primer

An entirely new ethical field is growing regarding proper online behavior. A nice summary of some of the issues can be found at http://digiteen.wikispaces.com/Digital+Etiquette, a site that was just sent to me from colleagues working on new initiatives regarding the impact of Cyber Culture on Jewish education. This is being coordinated by the Lippman Kanfer Institute Learnings and Consultation Center at JESNA, a Jewish education think tank. I’ve become involved in the project and will be attending special sessions on the topic at this summer’s big annual happening in Jewish Education, the CAJE Conference.

So if you look at this site you’ll find the following definition:

Digital etiquette, or netiquette as its sometimes called, is a basic set of rules you should follow in order to make the internet better for others, and better for you. It’s just as important to treat people with courtesy and respect online as it is in real life. When you instant message, chat, or email someone over the Internet, they can’t see your face to tell if you’re teasing them or saying something in jest. How do you practice good Netiquette? It’s simple – just treat others as you want to be treated – with courtesy and respect. People know these rules but usually do not follow when using the Internet. This includes hacking others computer, downloading illegally, plagiarism and using bad language on the Internet. Not a lot of schools teach students how important it is to follow these rules that everyone knows. If all of us follow this it could make the Internet a better space to share and use.

Interesting that it always comes right back to the Golden Rule.

They must have been thinking of Leviticus 19:18 when they wrote this. In fact at Tech Blorge.com they even call them “Golden Rules” – and here they are:

1. Keep e-mails short and to the point
Office e-mail has a specific business purpose such as getting results, communicating an important fact or getting a response. The chances of quickly accomplishing that purpose increase when your e-mail is short, easy to understand and gets to the point.

2. Write the action you are requesting and topic in the ’subject’ line
Describe what you need the recipient to do and the topic in the “subject” line. Something short and to the point. For instance: “Please review Jones proposal letter;” or “Need blueprint for Jones project.” By clearly identifying the purpose of your e-mail in the subject line, the recipient will quickly know what you are writing about; it’s easy to find; and it separates your e-mail from spam.

3. Check your grammar and spelling
Grammar and spelling are often overlooked, but remember that your e-mail may be going out to a client, a prospective client, your employees or maybe your boss. You want to look smart, not sloppy. Use any built-in spell check before sending an e-mail.

4. Be cautious. Think before you send an e-mail
It’s so easy to hit the “reply” button and write a message. This can be a problem if you act spontaneously. Temper and tone matter.
In most instances, once an e-mail is sent, it’s gone. You cannot take it back. So if you have written any harsh words or forwarded an inappropriate e- mail to several colleagues and inadvertently added your boss’s name to the distribution list, once you hit “send” they will be reading it shortly.

5. Remember that e-mail is not private
When you send an e-mail to someone, it goes through many networks before it reaches your recipient and may even leave copies of your e-mail on a server, which can be accessed. It may seem as though you are communicating only with that person (and in most instances you are); however, your e-mail can be forwarded by the recipient to others.
A number of companies, including Verizon, offer e-mail encryption products, which encrypt a sender’s e-mail message and digitally sign it. The services also verify and authenticate that the message has not been altered and prevent it from being opened by anyone except the intended recipient. Additionally, users can lock e-mails so that they cannot be viewed by others.

6. Use out of office response, if available, to alert others of your absence
Many e-mail systems and services let you set up an automatic reply advising senders that you are not available. For efficiency of communications, trigger this auto-reply tool when you are away so senders know not to expect a timely response.

7. Keep it strictly business
It is best not to use the business e-mail systems for personal communication. Use your personal e-mail instead.

8. Be courteous, considerate and responsible when writing an e-mail message
Communication via e-mail is often considered informal, but you shouldn’t treat it that way. Remember, your e-mail may be going to your boss, your clients, your prospective clients, your colleagues. Be courteous and reply in a timely manner. It’s good to have a signature in your e-mail so the recipient can easily contact you. Additionally, it clearly identifies you and your company. Before e-mailing a large file, it’s wise to alert the recipients to be sure they want the file and in case they need to make room for it.

9. Keep your computer virus free
Lastly, make sure your computer is virus-free because you don’t want to be the person sending everyone a virus.
As an aside, with the success of this book every computer journalist and writer (me included) is thinking “doh”, why didn’t I think of email etiquette as a topic for book? Just goes to show that the next hot topic may be something as unlikely as email…

Use technology in ways the minimize negative effects on others

Technology is a great way to connect us all, but can also be used to cause harm onto others. Harm isn't necessarily talking about physical harm, it can also mean losing a persons files on the computer, or actual possessions, like money or property. Just like in actual society, you should not be trying to harm others, and others should not be trying to harm you. For example, hackers do this all the time. watch out for them. They bad.

Use technology when it is appropriate//

Sometimes, its not a good idea to use technology. For example, say person A (we'll call him Bob) is sitting near to person B (we'll call him Joe.) Joe and Bob are having a disagreement over something such as messing up an assignment, etc. Joe decides to write a long, grueling and very inflammatory email. STOP. Person C (Mr. Jorb, the teacher) suggests that instead of writing an email to someone sitting near you, you can discuss it in a civilized manner after class. Should Joe have written the email, they may get into a larger argument, and someone could get hurt. However, if they discuss it after the said class, then they can be civilized and maybe become friends again.
Another example would be this. Say I (Rory) am sitting next to Spencer. We can talk about various things over MSN or AIM. However, this is using technology inappropriately because we are sitting right next to each other, and can talk like regular people. This could prevent the degrading of our English abilities, due to the fact that most people who talk on MSN talk lik ths, w/o cmplt sntncs. n us shrthnd lolkthxbai.
That is a no-no. This will just make you less likely to get an A in English, as you get more and more accustomed to using shorthand, not using punctuation, and also saying such famous quotes as Lol, BRB, Rofl, Lmao, Roflmao, or Roflcopter.

Respect others online: no cyber bullying, flaming, inflammatory language, etc.
You should not abuse other people online example sending them a message insulting there weight or size, you should also not curse at people online and you should not send spam messages because every time they check their message they will think they have a real message (and this wastes their time). You should also not repeat E-mails because every time someone checks there E-mail they will get loads of the same E-mail and that wastes there time because they think each E-mail they get is different and it is not. You should also not download programs onto public computers.
The last but most important rule is "respect others as you way you want to be respected."
Don't change peoples account if you know there password and don't change peoples computer background if they are not looking.

Helpful Links

Cell Phone Etiquette
This site gives you 12 rules for cell phone etiquette. It makes you a little more aware of how we use our mobiles and also, if you have no idea what digital etiquette is, how it works and how its important, mainly on the idea of cellphones though. Hopefully, following these rules, mobiles can be more pleasant to use for everyone.

List Of Digital Etiquette Sources
Basically, this is a giant list of links on anything you could possibly want. Check this site out if you need some ideas on what to write. I'm going to steal a few of the links from here and use them as links for this page.

These suggestions are very helpful, but the conversation about Netiquette is only beginning…

Download an mp3 file of the recent Jewish Week panel, in which I participated,

“Is the Internet Good for the Jews?” here or at

http://www.thejewishweek.com/podcast.html

and see video highlights by clicking here

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For Some GOOD NEWS check

http://www.israel21c.net/ - THE BEST ISRAELI NEWS PORTAL!

Why Israel Is the World's Happiest Country - Spengler (Asia Times-Hong Kong)
Envy surrounds no country on Earth like the State of Israel, and with good reason: by objective measures, Israel is the happiest nation on Earth.
It is one of the wealthiest, freest and best-educated; and it enjoys a higher life expectancy than Germany or the Netherlands.
But most remarkable is that Israelis appear to love life and hate death more than any other nation.
As a simple index of life-preference, I plotted the fertility rate versus the suicide rate of 35 industrial countries - that is, the proportion of people who choose to create new life against the proportion who choose to destroy their own. Israel stands alone at the top.
"As much as you love life, we love death," Muslim clerics teach; the same formula is found in a P alestinian textbook for second graders.
Apart from the fact that the Arabs are among the least free, least educated, and (apart from the oil states) poorest peoples in the world, they also are the unhappiest, even in their wealthiest kingdoms. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia ranks 171st on an international quality of life index, below Rwanda.
The contrast of Israeli happiness and Arab despondency is what makes peace an elusive goal in the region.

Secular Israelis reclaim their heritage – (Evelyn Gordon, Jerusalem Post) According to the Education Ministry, the number of ordinary secular schools offering extra hours of elective Jewish studies has doubled over the last two years, while the number of students choosing to take these classes has soared by 92 percent, from 18,000 to 34,500.

TALI Schools (associated with the Masorti movement) bring Jewish content to secular Israelis.

The secular TALI school system, which boasts enhanced Jewish studies, has grown 30 percent in the past three years.
These figures reflect a growing trend of secular interest in Israel's Jewish heritage, which has also sparked numerous programs for adults in recent years. These include the establishment of several secular mechinot, where students spend a year between high school and army engaged in Jewish studies; a secular yeshiva; secular batei midrash (study groups); and numerous institutions that offer adult education programs in Jewish studies for the secular public. The TALI school system - secular schools with a mandatory enhanced Jewish studies curriculum - has also boomed, growing 30 percent in the last three years alone, to 165 schools with some 35,000 students.

Letters From Jerusalem, 1947 by Chedva Margolit; foreword by Steve Kramer

now for the rest

Prime source: Daily Alert of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Palestinian Rocket Attack: "Instead of a Party, We Have a Funeral" - Tovah Lazaroff
Yariv Katz knew his mother Shuli was dead when he saw blood spilling from her crumpled body after Monday's Palestinian rocket attack in Moshav Yesha on the Gaza border. The two had gone to Moshav Yesha to visit his aunt who was staying on the moshav with friends. Yariv had not understood that he was entering an area where Palestinian rockets regularly fell, since the rockets have not fallen on Kibbutz Gvar'am near Ashkelon, where both he and his mother lived, even though it is within rocket range. "If I had known that there would be Kassams I would not have gone there," he said.
Shuli and her husband Rafi were childhood sweethearts who were born in Israel, grew up on the kibbutz and married at age 20. Shuli worked for 35 years as a nurse, and they had four children and five grandchildren. The family had begun to organize a large party to celebrate her 70th birthday next month, Yariv said. "Instead of a party, we have a funeral." (Jerusalem Post)
See also Palestinians Aim Rockets at Ashkelon
Palestinians in Gaza fired two rockets on Tuesday evening that landed in the Ashkelon Beach region. (Jerusalem Post)

Hizbullah Takes Charge in Lebanon - Editorial
In reality, if not politically, Hizbullah, the terrorist group that takes its orders from Iran and Syria, now commands Lebanon. Where was the Lebanese army during the crisis? Nowhere. The army remained officially "neutral" while Hizbullah thugs trashed and burned the offices of a government-allied satellite television station and its newspaper affiliate. It did nothing while Hizbullah broke its promise never to turn its guns on fellow citizens. (Chicago Tribune)
See also Why Hizbullah Should Be Condemned - Dean Godson
Why does Hizbullah's putsch of 2008 not excite stern criticism? When the legitimate, democratic government of Lebanon dared to challenge Hizbullah, it went on a sectarian rampa ge, murdering scores of opponents and destroying much of the country's free media. Yet there has been not a peep from concerned humanitarians. Hizbullah and its allies - which command only 30% of the Lebanese vote - seek to make good its democratic deficit at the polls through the use of force. Hizbullah claims that it is an entirely indigenous "resistance" movement, but if so, why have pictures gone up of the Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, and the Syrian President, Bashar Assad, for the first time in Beirut since the Cedar Revolution of 2005? The writer is research director of the Policy Exchange think-tank. (Times-UK)
The Tehran-Berlin Axis - Matthias Kuntzel
The Iranian media reported that Iranian Vice Foreign Minister S.E. Mehdi Safari visited Berlin for three days in mid-April at the invitation of the German government, where he met with officials at the foreign, interior and economics ministries, as well as with lawmakers and businessmen. It is strange, to say the least, that neither the German government nor the media said a word about the visit. While Chancellor Angela Merkel argues for tougher sanctions if necessary to stop the Iranian bomb, Germany's foreign policy establishment preaches accommodation, even a "strategic partnership" with Iran.
"Sanctions get us nowhere," wrote Christoph Bertram in the weekly Der Spiegel last month. Bertram used to head the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and later the German Foundation for Science and Politics, a think tank that advises the government and parliament on foreign policy. According to Bertram, the West must recognize "the immense advantage of a close and cooperative relationship with this country [Iran]." After slowing between 2005-2007, German exports to Iran surged 13% in January. Germany is the world's second largest exporter to Iran, and its products are crucial for Iran's economic survival. (Wall Street Journal Europe)

Bush Denounces Extremists in the Middle East - Jennifer Loven (AP/Washington Post)

President Bush on Thursday criticized the deadly tactics of extremist groups like al-Qaeda, Hizbullah and Hamas and said he looks toward the day when Muslims "recognize the emptiness of the terrorists' vision and the injustice of their cause."
In a speech to Israel's Knesset, Bush said: "Some people suggest that if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away. This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of our enemies, and America rejects it utterly. Israel's population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because America stands with you."
Bush took special aim at Iran and said the U.S. stands with Israel in opposing moves by Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons. "Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations....For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
"This struggle is waged with the technology of the 21st century, but at its core it is the ancient battle between good and evil....The killers claim the mantle of Islam, but they are not religious men. No one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers."

See also Bush: We Must Be Firm in Face of Those Who Murder the Innocent - Sara Miller (Ha'aretz)

Israel and the U.S. needed to be "steadfast in the face of those who would murder the innocent" in pursuit of their goals, President Bush told a presidential conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Bush said Israel and the U.S. shared a "powerful" belief "to advance the cause of hope, freedom and liberty, as the great alternative to tyranny and terror."
The U.S., he said, was "Israel's oldest and best friend in the world" and the bonds between the two countries grew stronger "with every passing year."

Australian Prime Minister Mulls Court Action Against Ahmadinejad
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says his government is taking legal advice on whether it will take Iran's president to the International Court of Justice for inciting violence against Israel. "We will take legal advice, which the attorney-general is currently doing, on whether there is a profitable way forward here through the appropriate international legal mechanisms and we'll study that advice carefully," he told Sky News. (AFP)
See also Referral of Iranian President Ahmadinejad on the Charge of Incitement to Commit Genocide (ICA/Jerusalem Center)

Olmert: No Gaza Truce If Israeli Soldier Is Not Released - Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff
Israel will not agree to an Egyptian proposal for a truce in Gaza unless it includes the issue of arms smuggling and the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told visiting Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Monday. "Hamas must not only halt its attacks but also the arms smuggling that has allowed the group to turn itself from a ragtag militia into a well-armed force," Israeli officials told Suleiman. (Ha'aretz)

From Lebanon to Hizbullahstan - Bret Stephens (Wall Street Journal)
Christians have been fleeing Lebanon for decades. Though a census hasn't been taken in 75 years, Nizar Hamze of the American University of Beirut estimates that there are between eight and nine births per Shiite household, compared to five for Sunnis and two for Christians and Druze.
These numbers must ultimately count against an outmoded constitutional order geared to favor Christians first, Sunnis second, and Shiites third.
But even if Lebanon cannot escape its Shiite destiny, it is not ordained that it must also become a Hizbullah state, taking its orders from Tehran.

Palestinian Rocket Kills Israeli Woman - Yonat Atlas
Shuli Katz, 70, of Kibbutz Gvaram, was killed Monday by a Palestinian Kassam rocket while she was visiting Moshav Yesha, 15 km. east of Gaza near the Negev town of Ofakim. (Ynet News)
See also Israel Asks UN Security Council to Condemn Palestinian Rocket Attacks
Israel's UN mission submitted a complaint Monday to the Security Council over Kassam attacks from Gaza, hours after Shuli Katz was killed by a Palestinian rocket. Israel asked the UN to condemn Palestinian terror as well as those countries providing assistance to terror organizations. It is the second such complaint filed by Israel in as many days. (Jerusalem Post)

Lebanon Turns into Iranian Colony - Alex Fishman
The events in Lebanon are a painful reminder that in a year Iran will be officially situated on Israel's northern border. Barring any surprises, in the next parliamentary elections Lebanon will fall into the hands of Hizbullah and turn into an Iranian colony. Hizbullah's siege on government offices was meant to remind everyone who the master of the house is.
An Iranian base in Lebanon is a base for eliminating the State of Israel. We should keep in mind that Israel's ability to take care of this base while Iran does not yet possess nuclear weapons is completely different from the abilities we shall have once Iran does possess nukes. Therefore, the question is not whether we should be taking care of this problem, but rather, when. (Ynet News)
See also Nasrallah Lost, For Now - Guy Bechor
The latest developments completely exposed Hizbullah's grave deception, which in the past argued that it will be using its arms only against Israel. Shiite Hizbullah entered Sunni areas of Beirut it doesn't belong in and lost quite a few points in Lebanese public opinion in the past few days. Through this belligerent move Nasrallah united many Lebanese around the position that he is the greatest danger to Lebanon's stability. Yet it is only a matter of time before the Shiites take over Lebanon, a move feared by all other ethnic groups. (Ynet News)

Bush's Inauspicious Middle East Visit - Editorial
The occasion of Israel's 60th-anniversary celebrations has drawn President Bush into a Middle East trip he would be better off not taking. In Israel, Mr. Bush will face the crumbling Israeli-Palestinian peace process he attempted to launch last year; in Saudi Arabia, he will find a regime that has been deaf to his pleas to help with soaring oil prices or support the Iraqi government. In Egypt, Mr. Bush will meet a ruler, Hosni Mubarak, who not only defied the president's "freedom agenda" but also forced the administration to retreat to its old policy of backing corrupt autocracies.
Then there is Lebanon, where what was once one of the administration's clearest achievements is unraveling. The pro-Western government of Fouad Siniora, in which the administration invested some $1.3 billion in aid over t he past two years, has already meekly retreated from an attempt to curb Hizbullah's creeping takeover. The Lebanese army, which has received $400 million of the U.S. aid, has been facilitating Hizbullah's disarmament of pro-government militias and its destruction of pro-government television stations and political offices. (Washington Post)

Jihadists Unfazed By Israel's Many Attempts to Make Peace - Robert Fulford
Maclean's magazine headlines the article, "Why Israel Can't Survive," by Michael Petrou, who argues that the future is bleak because West Bank settlements enrage the Arabs. But eliminating settlements wouldn't impress a single jihadist warrior and wouldn't alter the program of Hamas. The jihadists don't want a nicer Israel, they want no Israel at all. Closing the settlements would make conversation more agreeable at thousands of dinner parties. But it would contribute nothing to Israel's security.
Petrou doesn't mention Israel's many attempts to make peace. He writes as if the Oslo Accords and everything following them hadn't happened. And he doesn't realize that Fatah, the likeliest peace partner now on offer, is a chaotic parody of a government, without popular support. (Natio nal Post-Canada)

Countering Iran - Reuel Marc Gerecht
Iran is on a roll. Its development of a nuclear weapon progresses. Anxiety in Tehran about the possibility of an American military strike against the regime's nuclear facilities almost vanished in December with the publication of the National Intelligence Estimate, which incongruously asserted that Iran had stopped its quest for a bomb in 2003. Spurred by its nuclear success against the Europeans and Americans, the clerical regime is causing trouble on the West Bank and in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the Persian Gulf, and Iraq. The Hamas-Hizbullah axis is a dream come true for Tehran. They allow Iran's rulers to be frontline combatants against the Jewish state. (Weekly Standard)

Israel's Right to a State - Jeff Jacoby (Boston Globe)

It is not unheard-of for a nation to vanish from the map and later reappear. Poland, for example, was partitioned out of existence in 1795 and regained its independence in 1918. But the restoration of Israel was unlike anything the world had ever seen.
Through all the generations of dispersion that followed, the Jews never lost their self-awareness as a nation or their connection to the Land of Israel. By the 1860s, a majority of Jerusalem's population was Jewish once more. Zionism - an organized movement to renew Jewish independence in the Jewish homeland - was formally launched in 1897. Five decades later, against steep odds and every historical precedent, Israel was reborn.
Under siege since the day it was born, Israel has never known a day of true peace. It is the only nation in the world whose legitimacy is routinely called into question. It still has enemies who want it wiped off the map. Uniquely, the Jewish state came into being with the imprimatur of both the League of Nations and the United Nations. Few nations can present a birth certificate as storied as Israel's.
Ultimately, the right of statehood accrues only to those who can fashion and sustain a nation. "Why does the United States belong to Americans?" Yale's David Gelernter wrote in 2002. "Because we built it. We conceived the idea and put it into practice bit by bit."
For the same reason, the Land of Israel belongs to Israelis: "Because Israelis conceived and built it - and what you create is yours. If you want a homeland, you must create one. You drain swamps, lay out farms, build houses, schools, roads, hospitals." "That's how America got its homeland. And that is why Israel belongs to the Israelis."

Israel: Myths and Facts

MYTH

“The Arab states have provided most of the funds for helping the Palestinian refugees.”

FACT

While Jewish refugees from Arab countries received no international assistance, Palestinians received millions of dollars through UNRWA. Initially, the United States contributed $25 million and Israel nearly $3 million. The total Arab pledges amounted to approximately $600,000. For the first 20 years, the United States provided more than two-thirds of the funds, while the Arab states contributed a tiny fraction.

Israel donated more funds to UNRWA than most Arab states. The Saudis did not match Israel’s contribution until 1973; Kuwait and Libya, not until 1980. As recently as 1994, Israel gave more to UNRWA than all the Arab countries except Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Morocco. After transferring responsibility for virtually the entire Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority, Israel no longer controlled any refugee camps and in 1997 ceased contributing to UNRWA.

In 2008, the United States pledged nearly $150 million (39%)⁶⁶ of UNRWA’s more than $384 million cash budget.⁶⁷ UNRWA’s biggest donors are the United States, the European Commission, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway. Despite their rhetorical support for the Palestinians, all of the Arab countries combined contributed only about $2.5 million , a tiny fraction (less than 1%) of UNRWA’s budget. For 2008, only four Arab countries made pledges to UNRWA: United Arab Emirates ($1 million), Kuwait ($1.5 million), Oman ($25,000) and Egypt ($10,000).⁶⁸ Notably absent from the list is Saudi Arabia.

I n addition to receiving annual funding from UNRWA for the refugees, the PA has received billions of dollars in international aid, most of which has come from Europe, the United States and other countries outside the region.

“I think that states that have resources ought to be looking not for how little they can do but how much they can do,” said US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in response to the Arab states’ pledges to the Palestinian cause.⁶⁹ “Clearly if you made a pledge, you ought to fulfill it,” she added, after several states failed to follow through on their promises, including much of the Arab League.⁷⁰

Given the amount of aid (approximately $900 million every year) the PA has received from the international community, it is shocking that more than half a million Palestinians under PA control are being forced by their own leaders to remain in squalid camps. The PA has failed to build a single house to allow even one family to move out of a refugee camp into permanent housing. In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians had insisted before the disengagement that Israel demolish all the homes of the Jewish settlers so they could build high-rise apartment buildings for refugees. Two years later, not a single brick has been laid.

⁶⁶United Nations Press Release, “US Pledges near 150 million dollars to UNRWA,” (March 5, 2008).
⁶⁷ UNRWA Finances (as of November 30, 2007).
⁶⁸United Nations Press Release, “Budget for United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees Promised Contributions,” Ad Hoc Committee for Voluntary Contributions to UNRWA (December 4, 2007).
⁶⁹Agence France-Press, “Rise says Arab states give insufficient aid to Palestinians,” (May 2, 2008).
⁷⁰Reuters, “World powers urge Arabs to honour Palestinian Pledges,” (May 2, 2008).

This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths2/Refugees.html#m12

Joke for the Week

Not so much a joke, but funny in its own way…

I received this e-mail on Wednesday:

Hi Rabbi,

I was getting ready to email you the information for Sadie’s baby naming, when I realized I never asked you how many aliyas there are this Saturday.

Are there enough to give out 6?

My Hebrew name is Soorah Yita

Chris is Akiva Ben Avram

Sadie’s will be Aleeza Shaiya

The aliyas (if there are 6 available) will be

Chris and Sharon Fullerton

Carol and Calvin Freedman and Irene Schwartz

Philip and Mindy Freedman

Jay and Nancy Samuels and Madeleine Samuels

Arlynn and Mark Joffee

Ruth Southland

As for the readings …

Chris will be doing J (explanation of name)

There was only one problem: I had no idea who any of these people were, or that there was a naming scheduled for this weekend at all…

Or that we give out 6 aliyahs…especially since we have a bar mitzvah…

Did we over book??? Did we forget???

Or did they just send it to the wrong rabbi@tbe...?

So I wrote back:

From: Rabbi Joshua Hammerman [mailto:rabbi@tbe.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:44 PM
To: sharon
Subject: RE: aliya question and sadie baby naming info

Hi Sharon

I think you might have sent it to the wrong address – though I wish I were wrong!

And she replied

Oops. Sorry about that.

Wrong Temple Beth El.

Kind regards,

Sharon

Somewhere out there, a real baby named Sadie will be named this Shabbat. We have no idea where.

Maybe someday, Sadie will move to Stamford. And when we call her to the Torah and ask her Hebrew name, she’ll proudly say,

“Aleeza Shaiya bat Akiva v’Soora”

And we’ll look at her and say, “That name sounds so familiar.

Are you sure you haven’t been here before?”

Previous Shabbat-O-Grams can be accessed directly from the archives on our web site (www.tbe.org)

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